A direct observation study of nighttime safety belt use in Indiana

INTRODUCTION: Nearly all direct observation studies of safety belt use are conducted exclusively during daylight hours. Recent work has suggested that safety belt use at night may differ from daytime belt use. METHODS: An observational study of nighttime safety belt use, utilizing specialized night vision equipment, was conducted in Indiana surrounding the Click It or Ticket 2006 safety belt mobilization activities. A pre- and a post-mobilization statewide direct observation survey was conducted at night coinciding with daytime safety belt use data collection conducted by the state of Indiana. Daytime and nighttime belt use rates were compared. RESULTS: The comparisons across the mobilization period revealed a significant increase during the day, but a significant decrease at night. Comparisons between daytime and nighttime belt use revealed no overall difference during the pre wave, but a significant difference during the post wave. Finally, many common daytime trends in belt use were also found at night, with the exception of the typical age and seating position effects. DISCUSSION: The mobilization activities had a positive effect on daytime belt use, but no effect on nighttime belt use, likely resulting in the differences between daytime and nighttime belt use observed during the post wave. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: The findings of this study suggest that safety belt mobilizations implemented only during the day do not influence nighttime safety belt use. Changes to how these programs are implemented or additional programs specifically targeting belt use at night should be considered, along with continued monitoring of nighttime belt use.     

Assessing field vulnerability to phosphorus loss in Beijing agricultural area using Revised Field Phosphorus Ranking Scheme

Guanting Reservoir,one of the drinking water supply sources of Beijing,suffers from water eutrophication.It is mainly supplied by Guishui River.Thus,to investigate the reasons of phosphorus(P)loss and improve the P management strategies in Guishui River watershed are important for the safety of drinking water in this region.In this study,a Revised Field P Ranking Scheme(PRS)was developed to reflect the field vulnerability of P loss at the field scale based on the Field PRS.In this new scheme,six factors are included, and each one was assigned a relative weight and a determination method.The affecting factors were classified into transport factors and source factors,and,the standards of environmental quality on surface water and soil erosion classification and degradation of the China were used in this scheme.By the new scheme,thirty-four fields in the Guishui River were categorized as"low","medium"or"high"potential for P loss into the runoff.The results showed that the P loss risks of orchard and vegetable fields were higher than that of corn and soybean fields.The source factors were the main factors to affect P loss from the study area.In the study area,controlling P input and improving P usage efficiency are critical to decrease P loss.Based on the results,it was suggested that more attention should be paid on the fields of vegetable and orchard since they have extremely high usage rate of P and high soil test of E Compared with P surplus by field measurements,the Revised Field PRS was more suitable for reflecting the characteristics of fields,and had higher potential capacity to identify critical source areas of P loss than PRS.     

Tropical deforestation in a future international climate policy regime—lessons from the Brazilian Amazon

The possibility of adopting national targets for carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from tropical deforestation in a future international climate treaty has received increasing attention recently. This attention has been prompted by proposals to this end and more intensified talks on possible commitments for developing countries beyond the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Kyoto Protocol. We analyze four main scientific and political challenges associated with national targets for emissions from tropical deforestation: (1) reducing the uncertainties in emission inventories, (2) preserving the environmental integrity of the treaty, (3) promoting political acceptance and participation in the regime, and (4) providing economic incentives for reduced deforestation. We draw the following conclusions. (1) Although there are large uncertainties in carbon flux from deforestation, these are in the same range as for other emissions included in the current Kyoto protocol (i.e., non-CO₂ GHGs), and they can be reduced. However, for forest degradation processes the uncertainties are larger. A large challenge lies in building competence and institutions for monitoring the full spectrum of land use changes in developing countries. (2 and 3) Setting targets for deforestation is difficult, and uncertainties in future emissions imply a risk of creating ‘tropical hot air’. However, there are proposals that may sufficiently deal with this, and these proposals may also have the advantage of making the targets more attractive, politically speaking. Moreover, we conclude that while a full carbon accounting system will likely be politically unacceptable for tropical countries, the current carbon accounting system should be broadened to include forest degradation in order to safeguard environmental integrity. (4) Doubts can be cast over the possible effect a climate regime alone will have on deforestation rates, though little thorough analysis of this issue has been made.

浅析电子废弃物回收利用及危害解决办法

随着高科技的发展和人们需求的增长,电子产品不断推陈出新,电子废弃物成为世界上数量增长最快的垃圾."电子垃圾",主要包括各种使用后废弃的电脑、通信设备、电视机、电冰箱、洗衣机等电子电器产品.电子废弃物不规范回收处理易造成污染.电子废弃物中含有很多可回收再利用的有色金属、黑色金属、玻璃等物质.严格意义上讲,这些电子废弃物,不应称其为电子垃圾,而应称作电子旧货.伴随着电子工业的高速发展,电子废弃物污染不可避免地摆在了我们面前.电子废弃物具有危害性和可利用性.     

江苏句容水库农业流域水塘和河流N_2O排放速率的研究

在句容水库农业流域的水塘和河流中,用密闭箱法于2007年8、11月和2008年2、5月采集水体表面排放的N2O气样,研究水塘和河流N2O排放速率的季节变化及其影响因素.结果显示,水塘N2O的排放速率范围在-0.42～16.76μg.m-.2h-1之间,河流N2O排放速率在0.29～8.41μg.m-.2h-1之间.由于...     

自然保护区生态补偿定量方案研究——基于“虚拟地”计算方法

自然保护区生态补偿的“补给谁”和“补多少”在理论和实践上都是生态补偿中的重点和难点所在。传统的通过计量保护区正外部性以确定生态补偿数量的方法存在两个主要问题：一是违背经济学原理,二是与管理体制不符且法理不足。据此,并考虑到中国相当数量的保护区“没有保护好”的主要因素是保护区社区居民生产生活的干扰,论文认为应通过控制保护区社区的负外部性来达成对保护区的生态补偿。通过生产函数理论分析,发现通常情况下保护区社区的经济产出与土地面积单调正相关,因此在没有生态补偿的情况下,保护区的划建会使周边社区居民经济收入减少,解决周边社区对保护区干扰的根本途径是利用生态补偿资金发展替代产业以提高单位面积土地的经济产出。以此认识为基础,文章提出了“虚拟地”概念并发展了定量方法来确定保护区的生态补偿最低标准,采用武夷山保护区的数据进行了这一方法的案例分析。     

基于ARDL方法分析福建省资源利用与经济增长关系

运用物质流分析方法以及最新发展的自回归分布滞后模型(ARDL),对福建省1990~2008年资源利用和实际GDP二者关系进行检验和分析.采用了物质流分析指标中直接物质投入来表征区域资源利用量.ARDL边界检验结果表明,资源利用和经济增长间存在稳定的长期均衡关系.进一步通过ARDL模型揭示了区域经济增长对资源利用长期弹性系数,其值约为0.73,通过误差修正模型揭示了短期弹性系数,表明了经济增长到资源利用的长期格兰杰因果关系.对福建省经济增长和资源保护战略提出了政策建议.这一研究思路和方法具有普适性,可以适用于其他地区关于资源利用和经济增长的问题的讨论和研究.     

1950-2009年洞庭湖流域农业水灾演变特征及分异规律

洞庭湖流域为我国重要农业生产区,而农业水灾却一直是制约农业可持续发展的最大障碍因素。以1950-2009年水灾统计资料为依据,用定性与定量相结合的方法,系统分析了该流域农业水灾演变特征及区域分异。结果表明:①年年发生流域性或区域性的农业水灾,其中重灾、特大水灾频率呈增大趋势;②在长时间尺度演变过程中,受灾率异常指数岀现2个波峰期和4个波谷期,成灾率异常指数岀现3个波峰期和3个波谷期,且水灾受灾率与成灾率大体上呈同步变化,但短时间內受灾率与成灾率却呈反向波动;③农业水灾具有突变性,但总体演变呈增加趋势;④受孕灾环境、洪涝致灾因子及经济发展水平组合差异的制约,农业相对灾情与绝对灾情在空间上的分布均呈明显的南北分异与东西分异。     

我国当前城乡建设用地置换的实践探索及问题剖析

当前我国城乡建设用地利用存在着城市建设用地指标紧缺、农村建设用地低效利用和城乡建设用地"双增"大量侵占耕地等问题。城乡建设用地增减挂钩政策推动下的城乡建设用地置换有望成为破解该问题的综合途径。2004年开始,伴随相关政策陆续出台,城乡建设用地置换实践在多个省市试点推进,其中江苏省万顷良田建设工程、天津市宅基地换房、山东省农村社区化、重庆市地票交易市场的实践较为典型。基于上述典型案例和系统要素分析,总结了实践的问题、根源与演进,认为目前系统中的要素与相应的操作环节中存在问题隐患且部分问题表现突出;实践中主要以涉及"非自愿"置换、补偿与保障不足、生产生活方式改变等的农民利益受损问题较为突出;问题的根源集中在三个方面,即国家层面的约束性的法律、法规、政策尚不健全,地方政府操作不合理和缺乏科学研究支撑。今后的实践中,应该建立统一的城乡土地市场并逐步完善政府主导下的城乡土地市场运行机制,建立科学合理的征地补偿机制,深入开展相关科学研究,遵循集约型用地增长模式,同小城镇建设紧密结合,注重保护村落景观风貌。