Environmental hazards and waste management in Nsukka urban metropolis in Enugu State of Nigeria: how much are people willing to pay?

Solid waste management in Nsukka town in Enugu state of Nigeria has remained a major challenge despite the efforts of the state government through the Enugu State Waste Management Agency (ESWAMA). The current method whereby households dump refuse at designated locations by the road side to be cleared later has not yielded much improved sanitation of the town. In this study we propose an alternative waste management method that is believed to be superior to the status quo if properly managed. This study applies Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) to estimate the households’ willingness to pay (WTP) for this new method in order to ascertain its applicability in Nsukka urban. Data were collected from a sample of 500 households stratified according to major streets in the town. The results show that the mean WTP using different specifications of the model varies from N527.50 (about 2.68) to N530.90 (about 2.68) per month. The policy implication is that if the waste management agency adopts the proposed scenario and manages it well the average revenue realizable per month would be about N13,750,516 (about $69,800). The authorities can compare this with the cost of providing the service and see if it is worth the effort.     

北京与成都大气污染特征及空气质量改善效果评估

近年来我国空气质量持续改善,大气颗粒物浓度明显降低.为探究气象条件和减排措施对细颗粒物（PM_2.5）浓度的相对贡献,选取两个典型代表城市——北京和成都,对比分析两城市所处的地理环境条件、污染排放以及气象扩散条件.结果表明,北京与成都2013~2018年重污染天数及污染过程显著减少,SO₂和PM_2.5浓度降幅明显,与2013年相比,两城市2018年SO₂浓度的降幅分别为77.8%和70.9%,PM_2.5浓度分别降低了42.7%和48.5%.冬季PM_2.5浓度下降速率最大,每年分别以13.5μg·m^-3和14.1μg·m^-3的速率降低.2013~2018年成都较北京风速偏小,温度偏高约3℃,静小风日数偏多,冬季静小风频率高,混合层高度、大气容量指数以及通风系数明显偏小,大气扩散条件较差.综合静稳天气指数（SWI）和环境气象指数（EMI）结果表明北京大气扩散条件优于成都,但近几年的变化程度有所不同.2014~2018年两城市的EMI呈减小趋势,2018年成都地区EMI降幅最显著,气象条件明显好转.与2014年相比,2018年北京与成都全年大气污染减排对PM_2.5浓度的贡献分别为33.5%和24.0%,气象条件的贡献分别为7.2%和11.1%;冬季减排贡献分别为31.7%和32.5%,气象条件的贡献比全年的大.     

土壤环境中四环素类抗生素残留及抗性基因污染的研究进展(Tetracycline Residues and Tetracycline Resistance Gene Pollution in Soil: A Review)

近年来,致病菌耐药性的增加和扩散已成为全世界关注的热点问题,而人类医疗和畜禽养殖业抗生素的滥用正不断加剧这一问题.众多研究表明土壤环境作为一个巨大的抗性基因储存库,在抗性微生物和抗性基因的传播中起重要的作用,具有潜在的生态与健康风险.在总结国内外最新研究基础上,对土壤环境中典型抗生素-四环素类抗生素的主要污染源以及其在土壤中的基本环境行为等进行了分析,并探讨了土壤中四环素类抗性基因的来源、迁移和扩散及分子检测手段等问题.我国作为抗生素的生产和消费大国,抗生素污染问题较其他国家更为严重,而国内相关研究才刚刚起步,迫切需要开展有关环境中抗生素和抗生素抗性基因污染的系统研究.     

秸秆还田模式对农田土壤碳库特性及产量的影响

为探明南方稻麦两熟制农田秸秆还田模式对土壤总有机碳、活性有机碳、碳库管理指数和稻麦产量的影响,论文通过8 a的水稻-小麦轮作田间定位试验,设置了4个秸秆还田模式处理：秸秆不还田（CK）、秸秆稻麦季均还田（RW）、仅麦秸稻季还田（W）、仅稻秸麦季还田（R）。结果表明,与CK处理相比,秸秆还田显著提高了0~20 cm土壤的总有机碳、活性有机碳、稳定态有机碳（P<0.05）;不同秸秆还田模式处理之间的土壤总有机碳、稳定态有机碳差异均不显著（P>0.05）,RW处理的活性有机碳、碳库活度指数、碳库管理指数与R处理无显著差异性（P>0.05）,显著大于W处理（P<0.05）;RW与R处理的水稻产量均值无显著差异性（P>0.05）,显著大于W处理;活性有机碳、碳库管理指数与水稻产量均值呈极显著相关（P<0.01）,与小麦产量均值关系不密切（P>0.05）;上述结果表明,与稻麦两季还田模式相比,南方稻麦两熟制农田实施仅稻秆麦季还田模式,并不影响作物稳产性与土壤地力的提升。     

农户沼肥还田决策行为及其经济效应评价

论文基于江苏省淮安市和连云港市沼气池使用户调查数据,运用Probit模型考察农户沼肥还田决策行为的影响因素,构建产出供给方程评价农户沼肥还田决策行为的经济效应。结果表明：沼气池使用天数越多、户主年龄越小、户主是村干部或农民专业合作社成员以及人均承包地越多的农户,越倾向于选择沼肥还田,而家庭总资产较少或较多的农户都不愿意选择沼肥还田。控制其他条件,农户沼肥还田可能性每增加1%,单位面积农地产值提高0.07%（10.81 元/hm²）,若研究区域沼气池使用户全部选择沼肥还田,单位面积农地产值将提高356.55元/hm²,具有一定的经济效应,倾向得分匹配方法（PSM）的稳健性分析进一步证实这一结论。目前中国沼肥还田率总体不高且没有规范的沼肥还田管理项目,进而提出鼓励沼气池使用户充分利用沼气池,提高农户沼肥还田积极性的政策建议。     

近塌陷区矿山公路开采沉降规律及安全性研究

由于受到地下开采扰动的影响,如何保证矿山公路的安全性是研究者们关注的焦点之一。从工程实际出发,基于三维几何建模软件和MIDAS/GTS有限元软件的结合技术,通过建立地表三维模型和矿体三维模型,构建了关于塌陷区沉降模拟的精细三维模型,开展了地下开采过程中临近塌陷区矿山公路沉降特性及其安全性的数值模拟研究。结果表明,随着地下开采强度和范围的增大,地表沉降的规模和程度都在不断增加,临近塌陷区的矿山公路及沿线边坡受到了地下采动的影响也变大;虽然总体仍保持稳定,但是在公路的局部区域存在一定的安全隐患;计算结果和实地调查的情况一致,故得到矿山公路的沉降特性规律为下一步塌陷区的安全有效处治提供了基础数据。     

民用核能利用公众参与的权利表达和立法完善

涉核邻避事件表明,民用核能利用决策中公众参与的法律供给并不能有效满足现实的权利需求。民用核能利用公众参与权利分解为知情权、参与权和监督权,发挥着认知、沟通、认同、示助的功能,但也存在公众知识与能力有限、自利动机等局限性。本文认为,应理性对待公众参与权利,以防出现公众参与的效力过高或过低的情形。现行法中,我国民用核能利用公众参与呈现形式化保护到权利性保护的立法趋势,但权利内容并未达到完整表达,权利的实现途径和效力平衡的规定并不充分。因此,建议全面确立公众知情权;增强公众参与权的权能,包括保障公众的程序进入权、意见表达权,构建公众获得回应权和合理意见获得采纳权的保障机制;拓补公众监督权。     

超临界机组与凝改抽机组供热方案的能耗分析

针对北方某城市的一个规划采暖供热区域的350MW超临界机组供热和将原有2×220MW纯凝机组改为供热机组供热的两种供热方案,就两种不同供热方案的初投资能耗和运行能耗进行了综合能耗比较,从节能的角度就供热方案的选择给出了参考意见。     

A physically based statistical model of sand abrasion effects on periphyton biomass

The magnitude and frequency of discharge and fine sediment delivery to rivers can influence riverine food webs through the frequency of scour of algae from the streambed. Models that simulate changes in algal biomass are not very accurate for long periods with frequent low-magnitude flow events. During these periods, sand is mobilized over a stable gravel bed and periphyton losses are patchy at the reach scale. At the patch scale, we examine if an established threshold for rapid sand transport is also a periphyton perturbation threshold. We also develop and validate a statistical rock scale periphyton saltation abrasion model (PSAM) to simulate the abrasive effects of sand, transported by a hopping motion called saltation, on post-flow event biomass. Data were collected from 15 riffles of a Canadian Atlantic salmon river. The threshold clearly divided bed patches with high biomass and low transport rates, from those patches with low biomass and high transport rates. A dimensionally balanced PSAM regression model including explained 57% of the variance in post-flow event biomass. The validated model indicates that periphyton biomass decreases with increasing sand transport rates . Biomass was higher if the microscopic algae were protected from abrasion by growing either above the near-bed layer of saltating sand or within a mat containing more resistant macroalgae (e.g. Nostoc). The use of in our models facilitates testing of our findings in other hydro-sedimentary environments because W^* is a dimensionless scaling parameter that is well established in sediment transport literature. New insight is provided regarding modelling local heterogeneity in post-flow event biomass. These developments are essential to enable more accurate assessments of how periphyton biomass will change with the increase in the recurrence frequency of small flow events (and sand supply) associated with urbanization and climate change.     

Wildfire, landscape diversity and the Drossel-Schwabl model

How simple can a model be that still captures essential aspects of wildfire ecosystems at large spatial and temporal scales? The Drossel-Schwabl model (DSM) is a metaphorical forest-fire model developed to reproduce only one pattern of real systems: a frequency distribution of fire sizes resembling a power law. Consequently, and because it appears oversimplified, it remains unclear what bearings the DSM has in reality. Here, we test whether the DSM is capable of reproducing a pattern that was not considered in its design, the hump-shaped relation between the diversity of succession stages and average annual area burnt. We found that the model, once reformulated to represent succession, produces realistic landscape diversity patterns. We investigated four succession scenarios of forest-fire ecosystems in the USA and Canada. In all scenarios, landscape diversity is highest at an intermediate average annual area burnt as predicted by the intermediate disturbance hypothesis. These results show that a model based solely on the dynamics of the fuel mosaic has surprisingly high predictive power with regard to observed statistical properties of wildfire systems at large spatial scales. Parsimonious models, such as the DSM can be used as starting points for systematic development of more structurally realistic but tractable wildfire models. Due to their simplicity they allow analytical approaches that further our understanding under increasing complexity.