Detecting Differences in Crown Transparency Assessments Between Countries using the Image Analysis System Croco

Estimates of crown transparency calculated using the semi-automatic image analysis system CROCO were compared withthe visual estimates of survey teams from 12 European countries.For each of five European species (Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.), silver fir (Abies alba Mill.), Scotspine (Pinus sylvestris L.), beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), oak (Quercus robur L.)) 15 trees were assessed. In 64\% of the comparisons, CROCO estimates and the survey teams' scores differed significantly, while differences between countries were significant in 58 % of all comparisons. We calculated Spearman's rank correlation and the standard deviation of the differences between CROCO and each country and between pairs of countries. We then computed the medians for CROCO and each country. CROCO and only a few countries hadfor all species a higher median correlation and lower median standard deviation than the median for the comparison between countries. In addition no country had a consistently higher correlation or lower standard deviation than CROCO. We concludethat CROCO can provide more consistent and less variable estimates of crown transparency than visual assessments and that it can serve as a reference to detect differences in visualtransparency assessments between countries over time.     

A national ozone biomonitoring program--results from field surveys of ozone sensitive plants in northeastern forests (1994-2000)

Ozone biomonitoring is a detection and monitoring techniquethat involves documenting ozone-induced visible injury toknown ozone-sensitive species under conditions of ambientexposure. The USDA Forest Service administers a long-term,nationwide ozone biomonitoring program to address public andscientific concerns about ozone impacts on forest health. Asystematic grid is used as the basis for biomonitoring sitelocations. At each site, trained field crews evaluate amaximum of thirty plants of up to six species and record the amount and severity of leaf-injury on individualplants. Injury from ozone was found more often on biomonitoring sites in the eastern Unites States than in theinterior or west-coast areas. Further results from thenortheast reveal that in any year, there is a higherpercentage of ozone-injured plants with more severe symptomsin areas with relatively high ozone concentrations than inareas with relatively low ozone. In very dry years (e.g.,1999) the percentage of injured plants and injury severityestimates are both sharply reduced even though ambient ozoneexposures are high. These findings demonstrate thatbiomonitoring data provide meaningful evidence of when highozone concentrations during the growing season have biologicalsignificance. Any assessment of ozone stress in the forestenvironment must include both biomonitoring (i.e., plantresponse) and air quality data to be complete.     

Use and abuse revisited: Response to Pluhar and Varner

In her recent Counter-Reply to my views, Evelyn Pluhar defends her use of literature on nutrition and restates her argument for moral vegetarianism. In his Vegan Ideal article, Gary Varner claims that the nutrition literature does not show sufficient differences among women, men, and children to warrant concern about discrimination. In this response I show how Professor Pluhar continues to draw fallacious inferences: she begs the question on equality, avoids the main issue in my ethical arguments, argues from irrelevancies, misquotes her sources, equivocates on context, confuses safety with morality, appeals to fear, confuses correlation with cause, fails to evaluate scientific studies, draws hasty conclusions from insufficient data, ignores a large amount of data which would call her views into question, does not follow good scientific or moral argumentation, objectionably exceeds the limits of her expertise, and resorts to scapegoating. I also argue that Professor Varner fails to make his case because he offers virtually no evidence from scientific studies on nutrition, relies on outdated and fallacious sources, makes unsupported claims, ignores evidence that would contravene his claims, draws hasty conclusions based on weakly supported hypotheses rather than facts, employs a double standard, appeals to ignorance, does not evaluate arguments from his sources, and makes anad hominem attack on a respected nutritionist when his focus should be on evaluating the evidence and arguments from the scientific studies themselves. Neither Varner nor Pluhar have responded sufficiently to the real issue in my arguments, that of discrimination and bias in the vegan ideal.     

生态系统健康评价的研究进展

回顾了生态系统健康的概念,阐述了水生态系统健康评价的三种指标体系:指示物种指标体系、结构功能指标体系、V-O-R指标体系.其中,结构功能指标体系从选取指标和指标分类两方面进行了方法归纳,分析了生态系统健康的几种评价方法,以及讨论了生态系统健康研究中存在的问题和发展趋势.     

自然环境中的元素对人体健康的作用

自然环境的优劣，会直接影响人体的健康。在良好的环境中，人们所依赖的物质是不受污染的，自然环境的物质中所含微量元素和微量元素对维持人类生命、保护人体健康起到了一定的基础作用。     

室内空气污染对人体健康影响与防护对策

介绍了室内空气污染的定义、室内空气中常见的污染物及其主要来源,分析了室内空气中主要污染物对人体健康的影响, 提出了保护室内环境的对策.     

Training Community Health Workers in refugee camps: A case study from Pakistan

In October 1983 a training programme for refugee community health workers was begun as the major part of a primary health care programme for Afghan refugees in Pakistan. The programme began with a pilot period in Badaber camp, situated near to Peshawar. The general issues involved in training auxiliary health personnel were answered by the use of a "knowledge, attitudes and practices survey" and involvement of the refugees from the beginning of the programme. The development of the training programme is discussed with reference to these issues and the constraints arising from the special circumstances of the refugees, in addition to those common to most national training programmes, are reviewed.     

中国石油集团公司HSE管理体系运行模式的研究

从1991年国际石油工程协会把健康安全与环境(简称HSE)作为一个完整概念提出以来,各国石油公司都进行了积极探索与实践,并逐步发展成国际石油届开展合作业务的基本运行规则.中国石油天然气集团公司结合企业生产实际和传统管理方法,在HSE管理体系探索、实践中,发展了一整套既符合中国石油企业管理实际的情况,又满足与国际接轨要求的HSE运行模式,对企业实施HSE管理体系有很好指导意义.     

生态系统健康的生态学理论及其评价方法

随着社会经济的发展,人类行为对生态系统产生越来越大的影响,对生态系统健康状况的研究也引起了国内外学者的普遍关注.本文从学科发展的角度论述了生态系统健康产生的背景、定义、生态学理论,及其与环境管理的关系.介绍了生态系统健康评价的指标体系和评价方法,并进一步分析了生态系统健康研究所存在的问题及前沿性研究内容.     

关注室内放射性环境污染 保护公众健康

室内的各种放射性环境污染影响人类健康，本文通过对各种室内放射性环境污染的简要评述，让人们对室内放射性环境污染有科学认识，并提出一些对策。