Impacts on industry of Europe's emerging chemicals policy REACh

For Europe, a new regime in chemicals regulation is about to start. After the proposal of the European Commission concerning the Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACh) passed its readings in the European Parliament and some differences with the European Council of Ministers were resolved, the regulation will come into force in June 2007. This paper is focused on the question how serious the cost burdens for industry induced by REACh will be, and whether the New European Member States (NMS) which joined the European Union in May 2004 will be able to cope with the regulation. This evaluation has been done by assessing the legislative, administrative and economic framework in New Member States and by analysing real business cases in companies. The empirical showcase business impact studies are at the same time of interest for companies of EU-15 states, other European countries who may implement the regulation, and even for exporters of raw materials and chemicals outside Europe, who will also have to comply with REACh if they market in the European Community. The results give no indications that REACh adoption will bring significant drawbacks to companies in the NMS. The emerging regulation will bring challenges for individual companies, especially for small and medium-sized ones, but for the European chemical industry as a whole, there is no question that it will be able to cope with REACh burdens without losing its global competitiveness.     

2010—2019年成都市机动车排污特征分析及防控措施减排效果评估

为评估2010—2019年成都市机动车防控措施的减排效果,以2010年为基准年,采用排放清单法计算了各减排措施下2019年的减排量,对比分析了4种控制措施的减排效益。结果表明：成都市机动车排污总量逐年下降,2019年PM_2.5、NO_x、VOCs、CO、SO₂和NH₃的排放量分别为0.27×10⁴、4.63×10⁴、1.70×10⁴、28.99×10⁴、0.21×10⁴和0.45×10⁴ t,主要分布在中心城区,其中重型货车对PM_2.5和NO_x贡献最大,小型客车对VOCs、CO、SO₂和NH₃贡献最大;措施中加严标准的综合减排量最大,重点减排车型为小型客车、轻型货车、公交车等,2019年6种污染物减排量分别为0.14×10⁴、2.27×10⁴、1.29×10⁴、6.77×10⁴、0.07×10⁴和0.38×10⁴ t;优化城市交通管理对小型客车和摩托车的减排效果显著,2019年6种污染物减排量分别为0.04×10⁴、0.81×10⁴、0.38×10⁴、2.55×10⁴、0.05×10⁴和0.04×10⁴ t;淘汰高排放车辆对小型客车、轻型货车等的减排较明显,2019年6种污染物减排放量分别为0.13×10⁴、0.98×10⁴、0.34×10⁴、2.62×10⁴、0.01×10⁴和0.007×10⁴ t;推广清洁能源汽车的重点减排车型为出租车和公交车,虽然可有效减少PM_2.5、NO_x的排放,但VOCs却有小幅增加,2019年6种污染物减排放量分别为0.12×10⁴、0.62×10⁴、−0.13×10⁴、0.30×10⁴、0.004×10⁴和0.000 5×10⁴ t。     

When creativity enhances sales effectiveness: The moderating role of leader–member exchange

This study extends research on creativity by exploring the boundary conditions of the creativity–job effectiveness relationship. Building on social exchange theory, we argue that the extent to which employee creativity is related to sales—an objective work effectiveness measure—depends on the quality of leader–member exchange (LMX). We hypothesize that the relationship between creativity and sales is significant and positive when LMX is high, but not when LMX is low. Hierarchical linear modelling analysis provided support for the interaction hypothesis in a sample of 151 sales agents and 26 supervisors drawn from both pharmaceutical and insurance companies. Results showed that sales agents who were more creative generated higher sales only when they had high‐quality LMX. An ad hoc qualitative study provided a more detailed understanding of the moderator role played by LMX. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

海水电磁屏蔽体

目的将海水作为一种电磁屏蔽材料,研究其电磁屏蔽效能以及影响因素。方法基于海水和玻璃的电磁特性参数,并利用电场和磁场切向分量连续边界条件,推导由双层玻璃封装海水所构成的复合电磁屏蔽体结构的屏蔽效能计算公式。结果具有一定厚度和盐度的海水墙体可以展示出良好的电磁屏蔽效能。通过增加海水层的厚度,提高海水的盐度以及温度,均可以有效增强海水电磁屏蔽体的屏蔽效能。改变封装海水的玻璃层厚度,对海水电磁屏蔽体的屏蔽效能影响较小。结论海水可以作为一种有效的电磁屏蔽材料,并具有光波透明、电磁屏蔽效能易重构、可循环导热等独特的优势。在军事和民用领域,海水电磁屏蔽体将具有重要的理论和应用价值。     

A transportation network assessment tool for hazardous material cargo routing: Weighing exposure health risks,proximity to vulnerable areas,delay costs and trucking expenses

The inherent risks associated with accidental releases of hazardous materials during transport have drawn attention and concerns in the recent decades. The aim of this study is to propose a tool for evaluation and comparison of the transportation networks which can be used to assess the routing options between origins and destinations of the cargos for their suitability for transporting hazardous material cargos by tanker trucks and to identify routes which provide lower accidental release risks, lower public exposure risks, and offer economical benefits. Each route segment of transportation networks were evaluated using specific criteria which included health risk and cost of delay in case of an accidental release of materials, trucking cost and proximity to vulnerable areas. Since, the health impact of hazardous materials differ depending on the characteristics of the material being transported as well as release quantities and atmospheric conditions; this paper aimed in providing a tool that can be used to estimate the impact radius (for health risks) after accidental release of hazardous materials by taking into account different atmospheric conditions based on the meteorological data and solar elevation angle. The Gaussian air dispersion model paired with ArcGIS using Python programming were employed to estimate the health risk impact zones by considering the meteorological data, and accordingly to analyze road segments for cost impacts (delay and trucking costs), and the proximity to vulnerable areas. The route assessment tool was demonstrated with a case study. The results of this study can efficiently aid decision makers for transportation of hazardous materials.     

How certain are we about the certainty-equivalent long term social discount rate?

Theoretical arguments for using a term structure of social discount rates (SDR) that declines with the time horizon have influenced government guidelines in the US and Europe. The certainty equivalent discount rate that often underpins this guidance embodies uncertainty in the primitives of the SDR, such as growth. For distant time horizons the probability distributions of these primitives are ambiguous and the certainty equivalent itself is uncertain. Yet, if a limited set of characteristics of the unknown probability distributions can be agreed upon, ‘sharp’ upper and lower bounds can be defined for the certainty-equivalent SDR. Unfortunately, even with considerable agreement on these features, these bounds are widely spread for horizons beyond 75 years. So while estimates of the present value of intergenerational impacts, including the social cost of carbon, can be bounded in the presence of this ambiguity, they typically remain so imprecise as to provide little practical guidance.     

The influence of metal source uncertainty on cost-effective allocation of mine water pollution abatement in catchments

In mine water pollution abatement, it is commonly assumed that known mine waste sites are the major pollution sources, thus neglecting the possibility of significant contribution from other old and diffuse sources within a catchment. We investigate the influence of different types of pollution source uncertainty on cost-effective allocation of abatement measures for mine water pollution. A catchment-scale cost-minimization model is developed and applied to the catchment of the river Dalälven, Sweden, in order to exemplify important effects of such source uncertainty. Results indicate that, if the pollution distribution between point and diffuse sources is partly unknown, downstream abatement measures, such as constructed wetlands, at given compliance boundaries are often cost-effective. If downstream abatement measures are not practically feasible, the pollution source distribution between point and diffuse mine water sources is critical for cost-effective solutions to abatement measure allocation in catchments. In contrast, cost-effective solutions are relatively insensitive to uncertainty in total pollutant discharge from mine water sources.     

中国环评制度有效性评估指标的思考

中国环评制度备受关注,亦饱受争议。如何客观看待一项制度,其有效性是重要的判定依据。环评有效性体现在制度建设、制度执行和发挥效力全过程,具有多个维度的内涵。围绕经济、社会、环境可持续发展目标,从制度有效性、程序有效性、实质有效性和认知有效性4个维度,按照“制度基础→实践过程→发挥作用→社会认知”逻辑,探索构建了中国环评制度有效性评估框架,并结合中国环评制度设计和运行模式,提出了一套科学、适用,兼具可操作和灵活性的中国环评有效性评估指标,为客观系统看待中国环评制度提供了思路,也为建立中国环评制度有效性跟踪评估机制提供参考,支撑环评制度改革优化。

     

Deposition Inputs,Water Quality and Liming Effectiveness

Rainfall quantity and quality, and stream and loch water quality have been monitored throughout the Loch Fleet Project. This has allowed the effects of liming of parts of the catchment to be monitored, and assessments made of the effectiveness and duration of these treatments. Rainfall over 1989–1993 fluctuated around the long-term average of 2100 mm. Over this time, year by year variations in acid or sulphate loading from deposition was evident and quite substantial. There was no trend, however, reflecting reductions in national sulphur emissions. Liming parts of the catchment in 1986 increased stream and loch water pH and calcium concentrations and reduced inorganic aluminium concentrations. Improved stream and loch water quality has been maintained for more than eight years since liming.     

Monitoring,imperfect detection,and risk optimization of a Tasmanian devil insurance population

Most species are imperfectly detected during biological surveys, which creates uncertainty around their abundance or presence at a given location. Decision makers managing threatened or pest species are regularly faced with this uncertainty. Wildlife diseases can drive species to extinction; thus, managing species with disease is an important part of conservation. Devil facial tumor disease (DFTD) is one such disease that led to the listing of the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) as endangered. Managers aim to maintain devils in the wild by establishing disease‐free insurance populations at isolated sites. Often a resident DFTD‐affected population must first be removed. In a successful collaboration between decision scientists and wildlife managers, we used an accessible population model to inform monitoring decisions and facilitate the establishment of an insurance population of devils on Forestier Peninsula. We used a Bayesian catch‐effort model to estimate population size of a diseased population from removal and camera trap data. We also analyzed the costs and benefits of declaring the area disease‐free prior to reintroduction and establishment of a healthy insurance population. After the monitoring session in May–June 2015, the probability that all devils had been successfully removed was close to 1, even when we accounted for a possible introduction of a devil to the site. Given this high probability and the baseline cost of declaring population absence prematurely, we found it was not cost‐effective to carry out any additional monitoring before introducing the insurance population. Considering these results within the broader context of Tasmanian devil management, managers ultimately decided to implement an additional monitoring session before the introduction. This was a conservative decision that accounted for uncertainty in model estimates and for the broader nonmonetary costs of mistakenly declaring the area disease‐free.