我国矿产资源开发生态补偿制度的探讨

矿产资源是经济社会可持续发展战略实施的资源保证,但长期矿产资源的开发造成我国生态破坏和环境污染,成为制约我国经济社会发展的重要因素。本文论述了我国矿产资源开发带来的生态问题,对现行生态补偿措施进行了评价,探讨了建立我国矿产资源开发生态补偿制度的基本思路,对我国矿产资源生态补偿制度的完善提出了建设性意见。     

生态足迹模型修正的初步探讨

针对生态足迹应用于区域可持续发展评价的不足之处,采取理论拓展、与其他指标结合、引入基于时间尺度的定量指标等方法,对生态足迹模型的修正进行了初步探讨,为生态足迹模型更好地应用于区域可持续性评价提供了科学指导,为进一步的实例研究提供了理论依据。     

无锡中心城区光环境现状调查与评价

对无锡市崇安区进行了光环境实地监测调查,并将调查结果与相关标准以及苏州市区的情况进行了比较,分析了该区光环境存在的问题,同时给出了一些改善光环境的建议。     

探讨“烟塔合一”技术在环评中大气环境的防护距离

归纳"烟塔合一"项目评估的共性要求,在分析德国模式不能充分反映特定条件下对近距离保护目标影响的基础上,阐明了环境防护距离设置的必要性,并就目前所采取环境防护距离计算方法及部分项目风洞试验结果进行解析,提出相关建议。     

实施规划环境影响评价条例的对策措施探讨

对规划环评存在的问题进行了系统分析,提出完善规划环评机制,规范规划环评程序,强化规划环评的审批管理,加强有关规划环评技术方法研究,提高规划环评管理者、评价者、审批者及有关专家的业务水平,制定地方性规划环评条例实施细则等推进规划环评条例的措施。     

Keeping the blood flowing—plasminogen activator genes and feeding behavior in vampire bats

The blood feeding vampire bats emerged from New World leaf-nosed bats that fed on fruit and insects. Plasminogen activator, a serine protease that regulates blood coagulation, is known to be expressed in the saliva of Desmodus rotundus (common vampire bat) and is thought to be a key enzyme for the emergence of blood feeding in vampire bats. To better understand the evolution of this biological function, we studied the plasminogen activator (PA) genes from all vampire bat species in light of their feeding transition to bird and subsequently mammalian blood. We include the rare species Diphylla ecaudata and Diaemus youngi, where plasminogen activator had not previously been studied and demonstrate that PA gene duplication observed in Desmodus is not essential to the vampire phenotype, but relates to the emergence of predominant mammalian blood feeding in this species. Plasminogen activator has evolved through gene duplication, domain loss, and sequence evolution leading to change in fibrin-specificity and susceptibility to plasminogen activator inhibitor-1. Before undertaking this study, only the four plasminogen activator isoforms from Desmodus were known. The evolution of vampire bat plasminogen activators can now be linked phylogenetically to the transition in feeding behavior among vampire bat species from bird to mammalian blood. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

The effect of contextual information on professional judgment: Reliability and biasability of expert workplace safety inspectors

Introduction: A critical aspect of occupational safety is workplace inspections by experts, in which hazards are identified. Scientific research demonstrates that expectation generated by context (i.e., prior knowledge and experience) can bias the judgments of professionals and that individuals are largely unaware when their judgments are affected by bias. Method: The current research tested the reliability and biasability of expert safety inspectors’ judgments. We used a two-study design (Study 1, N = 83; Study 2, N = 70) to explore the potential of contextual, task-irrelevant, information to bias professionals’ judgments. We examined three main issues: (1) the effect that biasing background information (safe and unsafe company history) had on professional regulatory safety inspectors’ judgments of a worksite; (2) the reliability of those judgments amongst safety inspectors and (3) inspectors’ awareness of bias in their judgments and confidence in their performance. Results: Our findings establish that: (i) inspectors’ judgments were biased by historical contextual information, (ii) they were not only biased, but the impact was implicit: they reported being unaware that it affected their judgments, and (iii) independent of our manipulations, inspectors were inconsistent with one another and the variations were not a product of experience. Conclusion: Our results are a replication of findings from a host of other professional domains, where honest, hardworking professionals underappreciate the biasing effect of context on their decision making. The current paper situates these findings within the relevant research on safety inspection, cognitive bias and decision making, as well as provides suggestions for bias mitigation in workplace safety inspection. Practical Application: Our results have implications for occupational health and safety given that inspection is an integral aspect of an effective safety system. In addition to our findings, this study contributes to the literature by providing recommendations regarding how to mitigate the effect of bias in inspection.     

A methodology for assessment of long-term exposure to whole-body vibrations in vehicle drivers to propose preventive safety measures

Introduction: The appearance of musculoskeletal disorders (MDs) in professional drivers due to exposition to whole-body vibration (WBV) makes it relevant to assess this exposure. The European Directive 2002/44/EC has two methods to evaluate exposure to WBV (defined in ISO2631-1:2008). These methods evaluate the exposure associated with an 8-hour working day; however, MDs due to WBV could also be caused by accumulated exposure to vibrations over long term, and hence, the methods defined in the European directive may be limited in their ability to ensure the safety of workers exposed to WBV throughout their years of employment. Method: A detailed comparison and discussion of methods defined in the European Directive and the ISO2631-5:2018 was used as a starting point of the main results of this paper. On this basis, a new methodology for the management and organization of preventive measures is proposed to consider the assessment of ISO2631-5:2018 standard and the full working life of workers. Experimental data to assess exposure to WBV in heavy equipment vehicle (HEV) drivers under different road surface conditions and range of velocities were considered to illustrate the process of the proposed methodology. Results: The methods defined in the standards provide different assessments leading to a different possible consideration of safe operations when the risks associated with them may actually be high. The proposed methodology can be used with the aim of ensuring safety of workers throughout their working lives and providing an easy implementation of the calculations of ISO2631-5:2018 standard. Conclusions: A procedure to assess the health risk probability to which the HEV worker is exposed in terms of the exposure years and a different range of operational vehicle speeds is proposed and exemplified with a study case. Practical applications: This study provides a practical tool for the management of WBV exposure related to work-tasks in HEV drivers. Safety managers should consider the global exposition to WBV throughout their working life, and this research provides an easy tool to accomplish it.     

One-step estimation method and nomogram to predict safety distances of pressurized gas pipelines from blast sources

Pressurized gas pipelines may be endangered by accidental or intentional activities causing excess ground vibrations leading to failure. Thus, many papers have been published on this issue, yet most of these efforts suffer from complexity and inability to ascertain that all engaged factors are taken into account. These factors are attributed, namely, to explosion source, explosion-ground interaction, energy transfer through the ground, ground-pipeline interaction, and response of the pipeline. The deterministic method developed previously by the author has derived useful prediction mathematical formulas that can be used to calculate, either the stand-off distance of purposefully used explosives, or the maximum quantity of explosives to be used at a given distance, or the equivalent stress of a pipeline induced by an explosive charge at a given standoff distance. The method can also be applied to accidental blast events in factories or other activities. Yet, the complex formulas developed are hard to be used in the field and a simpler approach is needed to facilitate and accelerate in-field estimations. Thus, a nomogram was prepared to make the safety estimations easy and fast and taking into account all engaged critical factors starting from the explosion source through the integrity of the structure.