“Science is Everywhere,but No One Knows It”: Assessing the Cultural Distance to Science of Rural South African Publics

ABSTRACT

In science communication, a prerequisite for reaching different parts of a society is to find out how these publics experience and interpret science. Since rural South African publics are perceived to exhibit a large cultural distance to science, the present exploratory study aimed to know in more detail how rural South Africans perceive and understand science in their local and social contexts. Theoretical notions on cultural distance and the methodological approach of segmentation studies were considered. Semi-structured interviews with rural South Africans were carried out in four towns (n?=?52) that differ with respect to having a large scientific installation in their vicinity, or not. Sensitively comparing local and social contexts helped identifying three different publics who differed regarding their perceptions of science; however, the large scientific installations only made a difference in perceptions for those publics who were generally less exposed to and less knowledgeable about science.     

A new approach to spatial source apportionment of haze pollution in large scale and its application in China

Long-lasting expansion of haze pollution in China has already presented a stern challenge to regional joint prevention and control. There is an urgent need to enlarge and reconstruct the coverage of joint prevention and control of air pollution in key area. Air quality models can identify and quantify the regional contribution of haze pollution and its key components with the help of numerical simulation, but it is difficult to be applied to larger spatial scale due to the complexity of model parameters. The time series analysis can recognize the existence of spatial interaction of haze pollution between cities, but it has not yet been used to further identify the spatial sources of haze pollution in large scale. Using econometric framework of time series analysis, this paper developed a new approach to perform spatial source apportionment. We applied this approach to calculate the contribution from spatial sources of haze pollution in China, using the monitoring data of particulate matter (PM_2.5) across 161 Chinese cities. This approach overcame the limitation of numerical simulation that the model complexity increases at excess with the expansion of sample range, and could effectively deal with severe large-scale haze episodes.     

Indonesia’s Accidental Island: Composing the Environment in the Echo of Disaster

By presenting stakeholders’ competing representations of an extraordinary geological formation, an island with a surface that is comprised of runoff from an infamous mud volcano in East Java, this article explores the communicative openings and closures that arise during an environmental disaster. A particular concern is attuning communicative practices to the diverse human and nonhuman actors that not only produce disasters but also shape our understandings and responses to disasters. Drawing on the work of Bruno Latour, this article suggests that non-anthropocentric modes of inquiry present new communicative and political possibilities for pursuing both social justice and safe environments. While this article focuses on a specific set of incidents in Indonesia, this project develops tools and perspectives that can be applied to environmental conflicts at other places.     

Connecting the Dots: Public Engagement with Environmental Data

Air pollution and other environmental hazards are often imperceptible and need to be made publicly visible. The paper argues for the importance of visualizations in drawing public attention to imperceptible hazards and in providing the public with access to empirical data describing the risks. It also argues for critical inquiry into hazards’ selective visibility as it is produced by visualizations. The impact of visualizations and their selective visibility are considered through the example of a public art project called Particle Falls installed in 2014 in Pittsburgh, a city with a long history of both ignoring air pollution and working to ameliorate this problem. I examine the impact and selective visibility of Particle Falls by considering the underlying production of data, as well as context and support systems for this visualization, and by comparing it with other visualizations of local air quality.     

H∞ loop-shaping controller design for a grid-connected single-phase photovoltaic system

This paper presents a H_∞ loop-shaping controller for controlling dc-link voltage by regulating the switching signal of the inverter associated with a grid-connected single-phase photovoltaic system. To facilitate a robust control design, state-space realisation of the system model is made with uncertainties represented by linear fractional transformation. The controller is achieved through H_∞ synthesis followed by obtaining desired loop shapes through the choice of the proper weighting functions. The controller order is reduced by Henkel-norm method for facilitating its practical implementation. Controller performance is evaluated through carrying out simulations on MATLAB/Simulink platform under standard and changing atmospheric conditions, and fault condition.     

长三角典型村域次降雨条件下氮素非点源输出特征

研究长三角典型都市农业村镇不同土地利用下的氮素非点源输出特征,以期为治理该区域的面源污染提供科学依据.通过典型次降雨径流事件中氮形态和输出负荷变化的研究发现:监测点总氮(TN)的事件平均浓度(EMC)为20.01～22.83mg/L,其中溶解态氮(DN)占TN的比例最大;研究区非点源氮流失以溶解态为主,DN又以溶解态有机氮(DON)为主.耦合各形态氮浓度与径流量特征,发现非点源氮素输出呈现2个峰值,且出现在径流峰值之前4～55min;TN、DN和硝态氮(NO3--N)浓度随降雨时间增加呈现减少趋势;氮素负荷受其浓度和径流量的共同作用,基本上呈现与氮素浓度相同的变化特征,但起伏变化较为平缓.氮素污染负荷积累曲线分析表明,村域地表径流各形态氮素均存在初期冲刷效应.     

粉煤灰的改性及对刚果红的吸附

分别采用沸水浸泡、酸浸、碱浸和加热的方法对粉煤灰进行改性处理,利用FTIR仪和XRD仪对改性粉煤灰的成分和官能团进行了分析,并利用改性粉煤灰对模拟刚果红废水进行脱色。实验结果表明：碱改性粉煤灰中含有大量官能团,以及NaPl型沸石类物质,能够明显提高粉煤灰对刚果红的吸附性能;与活性炭相比,碱改性粉煤灰具有更高的性价比;在初始刚果红质量浓度为20mg/L、碱改性粉煤灰加入量为50g/L的条件下,废水的脱色率可达87.52%;碱改性粉煤灰对刚果红的吸附过程遵循二级反应动力学,较好地符合Langmuir等温式和Freundlich等温式。     

天津城市污水泵站恶臭气体组分浓度及污染现状

为了解天津城市污水泵站恶臭的污染程度,选取天津市一个典型的城市污水泵站进行为期3天的采样,采集该污水泵站距离污染源强不同距离处的恶臭气体样品,用气相色谱-质谱联用仪（GS-MS）和分光光度法对采集样品的组分含量进行检测,比较了恶臭排放源点和不同距离处的恶臭组分的浓度特征和污染现状。结果表明,该泵站恶臭污染物质以硫化氢、二氯甲烷和苯系物为主,还有一些烯烃和芳香烃衍生物;恶臭物质的浓度变化范围是n.d.~0.073 7 mg/m³,大部分恶臭物质浓度一般由高至低表现为源点>下风向5 m,源点>背景值,环境空气采样点与恶臭排放源相比,其降幅明显;虽然检测到的恶臭组分较多,但是其浓度与《恶臭污染物排放标准》（GB 14554—1993）等标准中规定的排放限值相比,均未超标。     

Low-carbon transition of iron and steel industry in China: Carbon intensity, economic growth and policy intervention

As the biggest iron and steel producer in the world and one of the highest CO₂ emission sectors, China's iron and steel industry is undergoing a low-carbon transition accompanied by remarkable technological progress and investment adjustment, in response to the macroeconomic climate and policy intervention. Many drivers of the CO₂ emissions of the iron and steel industry have been explored, but the relationships between CO₂ abatement, investment and technological expenditure, and their connections with the economic growth and governmental policies in China, have not been conjointly and empirically examined. We proposed a concise conceptual model and an econometric model to investigate this crucial question. The results of regression, Granger causality test and impulse response analysis indicated that technological expenditure can significantly reduce CO₂ emissions, and that investment expansion showed a negative impact on CO₂ emission reduction. It was also argued with empirical evidence that a good economic situation favored CO₂ abatement in China's iron and steel industry, while achieving CO₂ emission reduction in this industrial sector did not necessarily threaten economic growth. This shed light on the dispute over balancing emission cutting and economic growth. Regarding the policy aspects, the year 2000 was found to be an important turning point for policy evolution and the development of the iron and steel industry in China. The subsequent command and control policies had a significant, positive effect on CO₂ abatement.     

"两级质控、第三方运营"水质自动站管理模式初探

以江苏省太湖流域水质自动站管理模式为例,从运维管理、质控管理等角度介绍了“两级质控、第三方运营”水站管理模式的基本结构、概念和优势.