Are mere instructions enough? Evaluation of four types of messaging on community depot recycling

Curbside recycling efforts have made an important contribution to waste containment, but many communities have specific limitations on what products can be recycled within their community bins (e.g., no cartons, styrofoam, soft plastics) and must rely on depots for recycling these other items. These specialty depots typically take the form of local community or large central municipal sites. The purpose of this randomized trial was to examine messages targeting (1) awareness/instructions, (2) utility, (3) affect, and (4) planning upon community and central depot recycling across eight weeks. One hundred and seventy-six community-dwelling residents between the ages of 18–65 years who self-identified as having the potential to improve their depot recycling activities completed baseline recycling measures and then were randomly assigned to one of the four messaging conditions. One hundred and forty-four of these participants subsequently answered follow-up recycling behavior measures four and eight weeks later. Intention to treat analyses showed that depot recycling increased significantly from baseline to four weeks. The effect waned for community recycling while holding for municipal depot recycling at eight weeks. Distance to recycling depot (closer proximity resulted in greater community recycling), access to a car (low access resulted in greater community recycling), and baseline recycling behavior (no prior recycling resulted in greater behavior change) all acted as significant moderators of the effect. There was no time by group interaction among conditions. The findings support the use of basic instructions – as a minimum – for promoting depot recycling efforts and provide evidence that local community depots, in conjunction with municipal depots, are important to increasing recycling behavior.     

呼和浩特市交通要道氮氧化物浓度监测与分析

为获知呼和浩特市交通要道氮氧化物（NOx）污染现状,采用短期暴露扩散采样法,于2010年3月21至4月24日,在呼和浩特市区交通要道设置IN个采样点,对氮氧化物进行了监测并分析。实验结果为四个采样点的N0x浓度日平均值为0．012—0．14mg·m^-3,表明呼和浩特市交通要道附近氮氧化物浓度存在超标现象,有关职能部门应采取有效措施,防治NOx污染的发生。     

A calibrated auction-conjoint valuation method: Valuing pork and eggs produced under differing animal welfare conditions

This paper develops a valuation method which generates consistent and systematic estimates of people's preferences for complex multi-attribute goods by inextricably linking auction bids with conjoint ratings. The advantage of the valuation approach is that it permits the estimation of people's values for many potential goods, allows one to decompose people's values for a good into its sub-components, and permits the study of preference heterogeneity without distributional assumptions. We apply the method to an important and increasingly controversial topic: animal welfare. The method is used to determine people's preferences for eggs and pork produced from different production systems. Data from experiments conducted in three diverse U.S. locations (Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; and Wilmington, NC) indicates that people are, on average, willing to pay $0.95 more for a dozen eggs raised in an aviary, pasture system vs. a cage system, and are willing to pay $2.02 more for two-pounds of pork chops raised in a pasture system as opposed to a crate system.     

The role of agent-based models in wildlife ecology and management

Conservation planning of critical habitats for wildlife species at risk is a priority topic that requires the knowledge of how animals select and use their habitat, and how they respond to future developmental changes in their environment. This paper explores the role of a habitat-modeling methodological approach, agent-based modeling, which we advocate as a promising approach for ecological research. Agent-based models (ABMs) are capable of simultaneously distinguishing animal densities from habitat quality, can explicitly represent the environment and its dynamism, can accommodate spatial patterns of inter- and intra-species mechanisms, and can explore feedbacks and adaptations inherent in these systems. ABMs comprise autonomous, individual entities; each with dynamic, adaptive behaviors and heterogeneous characteristics that interact with each other and with their environment. These interactions result in emergent outcomes that can be used to quantitatively examine critical habitats from the individual- to population-level. ABMs can also explore how wildlife will respond to potential changes in environmental conditions, since they can readily incorporate adaptive animal-movement ecology in a changing landscape. This paper describes the necessary elements of an ABM developed specifically for understanding wildlife habitat selection, reviews the current empirical literature on ABMs in wildlife ecology and management, and evaluates the current and future roles these ABMs can play, specifically with regards to scenario planning of designated critical habitats.     

超网络上突发事件的信息传播模式构建

随着突发事件的发生频率不断增高,事件种类也不断增多,如何防范与应对已成为当前面临的最重要问题之一。超网络是高于又超于现存网络的网络,它可以用来描述和表示各种网络之间的相互作用和影响。在韦斯特利—麦克莱恩传播模式的基础上,建立了超网络模型上的突发事件的信息传播模式,并提出了突发事件的应对策略。     

Lenses for learning: visual techniques in natural resource management

In this study, we explored the use of selected visual techniques (e.g. video, photography, diagramming) in facilitating learning among Indigenous communities living in remote protected areas at sites in Vietnam and Australia. The techniques were employed during interviews and workshops aimed at accessing and enhancing local peoples' perspectives on their landscape and on specific natural resource management issues. The effectiveness of the different techniques for enabling learning varied markedly with the context, highlighting the need for facilitator skill and flexibility in application of techniques. Visual techniques helped to engage participants; encourage unrestrained and lateral thinking; provide opportunities for self-expression and reflection; and to expose participants to perspectives of other community members. Valuable insights emerged on broad aspects of learning and these were incorporated into a simple model that highlights three types of conceptualisation found to be important in these processes.     

卫星浮标天线技术及其在潜艇通信中的应用

结合目前卫星浮标天线的发展情况，重点介绍了可回收光纤系留浮标系统。简要阐述了该系统的概念，并对该系统的结构、工作原理、数据传输能力以及布放和回收过程进行分析，最后对该系统的未来载荷和最新进展进行了论述。     

Exploring the Use of Online Platforms for Climate Change Policy and Public Engagement by NGOs in Latin America

The engagement of environmental non-governmental groups in collaborative communication efforts and decision-making about climate change remains a significant challenge. In Latin America, the website Intercambio Climático was set up to attempt to play a breakthrough role in the region's discussion of climate change. This case study focuses on the development, accomplishments, and challenges of this unique online communication initiative among non-governmental organizations working in climate change issues in Latin America with a US-based partner, as a vehicle to achieve their goals. We used secondary data and in-depth interviews to examine this platform's role in disseminating information and influencing decision-making. The results suggest that generally the participants perceive the website positively, but there are also problematic aspects of the collaboration that are not fully recognized by the members, which prevents a more functional and effective communication strategy.     

一种识别低压电力线载波通信系统中随机脉冲噪声的新方法

目的从电力线载波通信系统中提取随机脉冲噪声并分析其来源。方法建立一个简单的检测随机噪声的测试系统。结果 FSV方法可以成功地识别热水壶在电力线上造成的随机脉冲噪声,同时也证明了统计分析的方法对于识别随机脉冲噪声效果不佳。结论可以通过对MAFFSV方法结果设定阈值来识别低压电力线载波通信系统中的随机脉冲噪声,进而可以确定低压电力线网络拓扑结构的改变。     

When is female leadership an advantage? Coordination requirements,team cohesion,and team interaction norms

This study seeks to understand to what extent and in what contexts women leaders may be advantageous for teams. More specifically, this study examines how team leader gender relates to team cohesion, cooperative learning, and participative communication. Furthermore, the study argues that advantages derived from female leadership may be contingent on teams' coordination requirements. I propose that as teams' coordination requirements increase (i.e., with functional diversity, size, and geographic dispersion), teams with women leaders report more cohesion and more cooperative and participative interaction norms than those with men leaders. I aggregated survey responses from the members of 82 teams in 29 organizations at the team level. Findings from hierarchical linear modeling analyses suggest that female leadership is more positively associated with cohesion on larger and more functionally diverse teams and more positively associated with cooperative learning and participative communication on larger and geographically dispersed teams. These results call for more research on boundary conditions on the relationship between leader gender and team outcomes, on the role of relational leadership on complex and diverse teams and, ultimately, on the potential mediating role of cohesion and team interaction norms on the relationship between leader gender and team performance. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.