Socio-economic changes and sacred groves in South India: Protecting a community-based resource management institution

The sacred groves along the forest belts of south India, which were traditionally managed by village communities, are gradually disappearing. This study conducts an analysis of how this community‐based resource management institution has evolved over time and what socio‐economic factors have caused its gradual disintegration. Commercial agriculture, changing demographics and weak property‐rights systems are found to be some of the enabling factors. While the grass‐roots enthusiasm to save the sacred groves is still alive, government action is needed to strengthen the traditional village organizations, which are still perhaps in the best position to manage local resources. Several economic and financial incentive mechanisms at the local level that might lead to more efficient and equitable resource use outcomes are suggested.     

The common property resource problem and the fisheries of Barbados and Jamaica

Common property resources (CPR) tend to be particularly susceptible to depletion and degredation. This creates problems for sustainable development and for resource stewardship in general since many of the key global resources are common property. The article explores the different definitions of CPR and the traps associated with the harvesting of CPR without understanding the social, economic, and environmental costs related to their exploitation. The commons problem may be approached in terms of a private property solution, the allocation of individual quotas to fishermen, or a communal property solution in which communities of fishermen basically manage their own fisheries. The offshore fishery of Barbados lends itself to the private property solution, and the inshore fishery of Jamaica, to the communal property solution.Drawing from case studies of Jamaica and Barbados fisheries, four principles of CPR use are proposed: (a) the solution of the CPR problem starts with the control of access to the resource, (b) increasing production from a CPR depends on the conservation of the resource base, (c) the sustainable utilization of a CPR is closely connected to the use of technology appropriate for the harvest, and (d) local-level management improves prospects for the sustainable use of a CPR. The case studies illustrate that there may be local, national, and international levels of interest over the resource. Hence, the successful management of such resources as Barbados and Jamaica fisheries requires that conflicting demands for the resources be taken into account, perhaps using a cooperative management approach.     

利用模糊集理论评价公路客运站安全管理工作

利用模糊集理论建立一种模糊综合评价方法来评价交通运输系统内部的公路客运站安全管理工作。分别通过评价语言变量和权重语言变量将评价指标体系的定性指标和定量指标及权重全部转化成三角形模糊数,克服定性与定量指标不具有可比性的缺点,使评价更客观、精确。基于最优度概念,将权重模糊评价矩阵转化成模糊单一评价矩阵,避免传统模糊数之间比较的复杂性和不精确性。考虑到评价者在模糊评价环境下对风险的态度,将乐观系数引入评价的过程。采用TOPSIS方法计算出评价方案的综合评价分数并进行排序。结合桂林市10个客运站安全管理工作评价实例,通过改变权重值对评价结果进行敏感性分析。方法概念清晰,计算过程直观与简单,评价结果公正与合理,不但可在交通系统内推广,同样也可适合于其他各领域模糊环境下的评价问题。     

Generalized analytical expressions for safety instrumented systems' performance measures: PFDavg and PFH

Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS) constitute an indispensable element in the process of risk reduction for almost all of nowadays' industrial facilities. The main purpose of this paper is to develop a set of generalized and simplified analytical expressions for two commonly employed metrics to assess the performance of SIS in terms of safety integrity, namely: the Average Probability of Failure on Demand (PFD_avg) and the Probability of Dangerous Failure per Hour (PFH). In addition to the capability to treat any K-out-of-N architecture, the proposed formulas can smoothly take into account the contributions of Partial Stroke Testing (PST) and Common Cause Failures (CCF). The validity of the suggested analytical expressions is ensured through various comparisons that are carried out at different stages of their construction.     

敌百虫对鲤鱼组织乙酰胆碱酯酶和腺三磷酶活力的影响

在系列浓度的敌百虫农药暴露中,鲤鱼脑乙酰胆碱酯酶(Acetyl-cholinesterase,AChE)和鳃?肾腺三磷酶(Adenosinetriphosphatase,ATPase)的敏感性依次为脑AChE>肾ATPase>鳃ATPase?引起死亡的脑AChE抑制率在急性暴露中可大于95%,而鳃?肾ATPase抑制率达50%~60%时,鱼通常难以存活?实验结果表明,AChE抑制并非是有机磷农药中毒中引起死亡的唯一原因,非胆碱能毒性作用也具有重要的作用?      

Assessing the impact of Cross Compliance measures on nitrogen fluxes from European farmlands with DNDC-EUROPE

We investigated the effects of the agricultural Cross Compliance measures for European cultivated lands, focusing on nitrogen (N) fluxes from corn fields. Four scenarios have been designed according to some conservation farming practices, namely no-till, max manure, catch crop and N splitting. Results indicated that (1) in the no-till scenario the N₂O fluxes are decreased during the first simulated years, with a return to default fluxes in following years; no-till particularly decreased N₂O emission in the dryer and colder simulation spatial units (HSMUs); (2) the no-till and the N splitting scenarios slightly increased the N surplus because of a decrease in plant uptake; (3) introducing a rotation with alfalfa decreased the N leaching in the corn crops following the catch crops; and (4) the application of fertilizer and manure during the cold and wet seasons led to an increase of N leaching.     

Water management in the world of globalization

Water management is changing its paradigm. The millennia of economic indoctrination are to be replaced by the logic of ecology. The economic sector satisfying the demands for water and water‐related services guided until now by its own ideology and institutions, is gradually becoming an integral part of environmental protection and eco‐economy. Within the great diversity of national water policies, efforts towards sustainability are a dominant common objective. Discussions of the World Water Fora and other initiatives indicate that ecologically oriented water management is the emerging new challenge for achieving this objective. Ecological orientation emphasizes the unified system of the world water balance processes as transmitters of various human impacts leading to economic externalities. Water management is becoming a component of the processes of globalization primarily through its externalities requiring a comprehensive informational infrastructure as well as adequate institutional competence for their management. The paper analyzes fundamental features of the conceptual models incorporating such informational and institutional arrangements. The outlook of water is inseparably tied to the world order of the future, and water management in the world of globalization can either promote a genuine worldwide collaboration or can become a source of dangerous international tensions and conflicts.     

微波消解-火焰原子吸收光谱法测定芦苇笋中的镉

采用密闭微波消解-火焰原子吸收光谱法对洞庭湖区芦苇笋中的镉进行了测定.结果表明,密闭微波消解是一种非常有效的植物样品前处理方法,对国家标准物质灌木枝叶的测定结果与推荐值吻合,表明该方法准确可靠.     

Resource allocation in transboundary tuna fisheries: A global analysis

Resource allocation is a fundamental and challenging component of common pool resource governance, particularly transboundary fisheries. We highlight the growing importance of allocation in fisheries governance, comparing approaches of the five tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (tRFMOs). We find all tRFMOs except one have defined resources for allocation and outlined principles to guide allocation based on equity, citizenship, and legitimacy. However, all fall short of applying these principles in assigning fish resources. Most tRFMOs rely on historical catch or effort, while equity principles rarely determine dedicated rights. Further, the current system of annual negotiations reduces certainty, trust, and transparency, counteracting many benefits asserted by rights-based management proponents. We suggest one means of gaining traction may be to shift conversations from allocative rights toward weighting of principles already identified by most tRFMOs. Incorporating principles into resource allocation remains a major opportunity, with important implications for current and future access to fish.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s13280-020-01371-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Design principles and common pool resource management: an institutional approach to evaluating community management in semi-arid Tanzania

This paper analyses the role of institutions in the management of common pool resources (CPRs) in semi-arid Tanzania. Common property regimes have often been considered inadequate for the management of CPRs because of the problems of excludability, but they are becoming more widely supported as the way forward to overcome the problems of resource use and degradation in developing countries. A series of design principles for long enduring common property institutions have been proposed by Ostrom, but there is concern that they are not applicable to a wide range of real life situations or that they may be specific to certain types of CPR. Here, we compare these principles to the situation prevailing in 12 villages in six districts in semi-arid Tanzania. Data on management institutions were collected through semi-structured interviews and meetings at district and village level. The combined information was used to make a qualitative assessment of the strength with which each design principle appeared to operate in the management of forest, pasture and water resources. Boundaries, conflict and negotiation in CPR management are of key importance in semi-arid regions. However, the need for flexibility in order to deal with ecological uncertainty means that many management institutions would be considered weak or absent according to the design principle approach. This supports the view that the design principles should not be used as a 'blueprint to be imposed on resource management regimes' rather that they provide a framework for investigating common property regimes with the proviso that, certainly for semi-arid regions, they may highlight where management cannot be explained by institutional theory alone.