多场所实验室环境监测质量管理体系的构建与实践

在事业单位机构改革过程中,部分事业单位的法人资格被重组到上一级机构,而不再具有独立法人资格,其原有的CMA检验检测资质不复存在。撤并以后的环境监测机构各项业务如何融合开展,资质认定如何管理,多个实验室场所质量管理体系如何构建,是当前一些检验检测机构亟待解决的普遍性问题。为此,该研究在优化多场所实验室质量管理体系,制定科学、合理、全面、具备开放性和可拓展的多场所实验室质量管理体系文件方面进行了积极探索。以江西省生态环境监测中心“1+11”多场所实验室质量管理为例,结合江西省环境监测机构改革现状,兼顾资质认定有关法律法规要求,就环境监测多场所实验室提出了一套系统性的质量管理体系构建模式,希望为多场所检验检测机构的质量管理提供借鉴。     

放射源管理体制的改革

随着核技术应用领域的逐步扩展、放射源数量的增多及辐射事故突发频率的提高,2003年《中华人民共和国放射性污染防治法》发布并实施,该法明确了环境保护行政主管部门对放射源实行统一监督管理的职能。此项职能移交,逐步解决了放射源多家管理存在的问题和隐患,理顺了放射源监管体系,使我国放射源监管水平有望趋于国际化。     

A critique of the official report on the evacuation of the World Trade Center: continued doubts

This paper criticises the conclusions and the unanswered questions in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)'s official report on the evacuation of the World Trade Center in New York City, United States, on 11 September 2001. It reviews the extent to which the report disregards several conventional statistical methods and comments on the NIST's refusal to share the machine‐readable data file with the scientific community for replication and further analysis. Problems lie in the sampling methods employed, the treatment of missing data, the use of ordinary least squares (OLS) with binary dependent variables, the failure to document the scalability of the scales used, the lack of tests to check for constant error variance, and the absence of overall fit tests of the model. There are also conceptual and theoretical issues, such as the absence in the report of considerations of the influence of group‐level processes and their impact on the collective behaviour of evacuating collectivities.     

Towards guidelines for post‐disaster vulnerability reduction in informal settlements

Although the development community has long recognised that securing land tenure and improving housing design can benefit significantly informal settlement residents, there is little research on these issues in communities exposed to natural disasters and hazards. Informal settlements often are located on land left vacant because of inherent risks, such as floodplains, and there is a long history worldwide of disasters affecting informal settlements. This research tackles the following questions: how can informal settlement vulnerabilities be reduced in a post‐disaster setting?; and what are the key issues to address in post‐disaster reconstruction? The main purpose of the paper is to develop a set of initial guidelines for post‐disaster risk reduction in informal settlements, stressing connections to tenure and housing/community design in the reconstruction process. The paper examines disaster and reconstruction responses in two disaster‐affected regions—Jimani, Dominican Republic, and Vargas State, Venezuela—where informal settlements have been hit particularly hard.     

经济新常态下中国矿业供给侧改革发展战略研究

矿业是经济社会发展的基础产业。在当前中国经济进入新常态和矿业长期低迷的形势下,要合理推进矿业供给侧改革,必须理清经济增长、城镇化与矿产资源消费之间的长期关系,需要依次回答:是否存在长期关系,这些关系有什么作用特征,这些作用的变化趋势如何,不同矿产资源是否存在显著的区别,针对这些区别如何提出应对策略。基于上述问题的判断,本文选取9种矿产资源,利用多种方法进行了组合分析。应用脱钩指数刻画了1978—2015年中国经济增长与矿产资源消费的脱钩关系,发现呈现一种周期性的脱钩和复钩过程;选取经济增长、城镇化和任意一种矿产资源消费为变量,建立了VAR模型,揭示各变量间的因果关系,将显著的因果关系分为三种类型,包括循环因果链(三种变量之间存在显著的接替性循环变化的关系,包括煤炭、锌、原铝和钾盐等)、两两互为因果(某两种变量之间存在一种或两种显著的双向交替变化关系,包括原铝、锌、钾盐、石油、精炼铅、精炼镍等)和单向因果(某两种变量之间仅存在一种显著的先后变化关系,包括铁矿石、精炼铜、精炼镍)等;运用脉冲响应函数刻画了上述关系的长期变化趋势,发现矿产资源消费的长期效应的大小及其波动频率有显著差异,大多数矿产可以持续效应10年以上(如煤炭、石油、锌、原铝等消费变动对GDP变动的影响),少数响应仅在5—6年内显著(如铁矿石、钾盐、精炼铅等消费变动对GDP变动的影响),之后效应会逐渐消失。基于此,结合当前实际情况,提出了中国矿业供给侧改革发展战略选择,包括以去产能为抓手、提高资源效率、坚持底线思维、建立政府适当干预下的资源价格形成机制、促进矿业经济创新等政策建议。     

Changing household responses to drought in Tharaka, Kenya: vulnerability, persistence and challenge

Drought is a recurring challenge to the livelihoods of those living in Tharaka District, Kenya, situated in the semi-arid zone to the east of Mount Kenya, from the lowest slopes of the mountain to the banks of the Tana River. This part of Kenya has been marginal to the economic and political life of Kenya from the colonial period until the present day. A study of more than 30 years of change in how people in Tharaka cope with drought reveals resilience in the face of major macro-level transformations, which include privatisation of landownership, population growth, political decentralisation, increased conflict over natural resources, different market conditions, and environmental shifts. However, the study also shows troubling signs of increased use of drought responses that are incompatible with long-term agrarian livelihoods. Government policy needs to address the challenge of drought under these new macro conditions if sustainable human development is to be achieved.