Residential mobility and personal well-being

This research examines the relationship between personal mobility rate (number of lifetime moves/respondent's age) and health status. A contextual analysis is proposed in which the health consequences of relocation depend not only on the immediate circumstances surrounding a move, but also on the broader context of the individual's residential history, current life situation, and aspirations for the future. Two hundred and forty-two adult employees completed an initial survey of lifetime residential history, current residential desirability, employment experience, and perceived housing options for the future. Three months later, a panel group of 121 respondents completed a follow-up survey of emotional and physical well-being. Frequent relocation was directly associated with a greater number of illness-related symptoms, but the impact of mobility rate was largely mediated by psychological factors. Health problems were more prevalent among high-mobility individuals characterized by low rather than high levels of environmental exploratory tendency; among low-mobility persons reporting low versus high levels of residential choice and congruence; and among low residential-quality individuals who perceived future residential options to be unavailable rather than available.     

Environmentalism and elitism: a conceptual and empirical analysis

The frequent charge that environmentalism is elitist is examined conceptually and empirically. First, the concept of elitism is analyzed by distinguishing between three types of accusations made against the environmental movement: (a)compositional elitism suggests that environmentalists are drawn from privileged socioeconomic strata, (b)ideological elitism suggests that environmental reforms are a subterfuge for distributing benefits to environmentalists and/or costs to others, and (c)impact elitism suggests that environmental reforms, whether intentionally or not, do in fact have regressive social impacts.The evidence bearing on each of the three types of elitism is examined in some detail, and the following conclusions are drawn: Compositional elitism is an exaggeration, for although environmentalists are typically above average in socioeconomic status (as are most sociopolitical activists), few belong to the upper class. Ideological elitism may hold in some instances, but environmentalists have shown increasing sensitivity to equity concerns and there is little evidence of consistent pursuit of self-interest. Impact elitism is the most important issue, and also the most difficult to assess. It appears that there has been a general tendency for environmental reforms to have regressive impacts. However, it is increasingly recognized that problems such as workplace pollution and toxic waste contamination disproportionately affect the lower socioeconomic strata, and thus reforms aimed at such problems will likely have more progressive impacts.This is Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station Journal article no. 11508.     

220kV输变电工程电磁辐射环境影响研究

文章以黄石220kV向家咀输变电工程为研究对象,通过现场调研和监测,根据《500kV超高压送变电工程电磁辐射环境影响评价技术规范》(HJ/T24-1998)附录A、B、C推荐的计算模式并借助计算机软件定量的预测出该项目投产运行后对周边环境电磁辐射的环境贡献值,同时通过测量同电压等级、容量以及同导线型号的宜都220kV郭飞线(郭飞变电站至飞凤变电站)的电磁辐射现状验证预测结果,得出研究结论并对输变电线路电磁辐射提出保护措施和建议。     

How floral odours are learned inside the bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) nest

Recruitment in social insects often involves not only inducing nestmates to leave the nest, but also communicating crucial information about finding profitable food sources. Although bumblebees transmit chemosensory information (floral scent), the transmission mechanism is unknown as mouth-to-mouth fluid transfer (as in honeybees) does not occur. Because recruiting bumblebees release a pheromone in the nest that triggers foraging in previously inactive workers, we tested whether this pheromone helps workers learn currently rewarding floral odours, as found in food social learning in rats. We exposed colonies to artificial recruitment pheromone, paired with anise scent. The pheromone did not facilitate learning of floral scent. However, we found that releasing floral scent in the air of the colony was sufficient to trigger learning and that learning performance was improved when the chemosensory cue was provided in the nectar in honeypots; probably because it guarantees a tighter link between scent and reward, and possibly because gustatory cues are involved in addition to olfaction. Scent learning was maximal when anise-scented nectar was brought into the nest by demonstrator foragers, suggesting that previously unidentified cues provided by successful foragers play an important role in nestmates learning new floral odours.     

大连市农村居民环境意识调查分析

研究农村居民的环境意识对于确立环境管理的理论及把握农民的环境意识状况具有重要的意义。本文采用了问卷和访谈的方法调查了大连市农村居民的环境意识,并运用spas软件对调查数据进行了统计分析,得出大连市农村居民的环境意识水平高于2006年国家环保总局调查的全国公众环境意识的平均水平,但这一水平仍有待提高。最后,文章提出增强大连市农村居民的环境意识可以通过提高人们的文化水平、增加环境保护知识的宣传等途径来实现。     

A cultural model of private provision and the environment

This paper analyses an overlapping generations model of environmental externalities and capital accumulation where private contributions to environmental quality are motivated by a desire to socialize others into environmental attitudes. In this framework, the formation of environmental preferences is the result of a cultural transmission process depending on the extent of private contributions. In the short run, we show that three equilibria may arise: a first one where all green agents contribute to the environment, a second one where nobody contributes to the environment and a third interior one. We show that the capital-accumulation process and the change in preferences that occur in this economy lead the interior equilibrium to be selected, in which some, but not all, green agents contribute to the environment. The model thus provides an economic rationale for the gap between the number of people who care about the environment and the number who adopt pro-environmental behaviours. We also show that the fraction of contributors rises with capital, so that we explain the negative relationship between this gap and country income. Last, we show that this gap is particularly detrimental for welfare, and analyse the impact of a number of public policies.     

220kV高压输电线路工频电磁场影响因素研究

针对目前日益突出的输电线路电磁环境问题,采用理论计算法,以220kV单回、双回输电线路为例,研究导线对地高度、导线布置方式、导线参数、相序排列方式、相间距离等因素对工频电磁场分布的影响,提出减小高压输电线路电磁环境影响的措施。     

西气东输工程湿陷性黄土塬坡地生态型水工保护研究

西气东输工程靖边-临汾段的黄土地区地形破碎,黄土以粉粒为主,结构疏松,黄土易于完全崩解,浸水后粒状架空结构体系迅速崩解,其抗冲蚀能力极差。本地区降水多为暴雨,强降雨形成的洪水来势猛、历时短,导致黄土塬坡地受水力侵蚀强烈且集中。工程项目区的生态环境脆弱,一旦植被遭到破坏,就可能造成生态系统的破坏。根据西气东输工程和区域的实际情况,进行了生态型水工保护工艺的现场试验研究。试验结果表明,该工艺完全可以达到传统水工保护工艺对黄土塬坡地处理所能达到的强度及效果,并且在管线及水工保护施工完成后将使生态基本得到恢复。     

The promising spread of sustainable agriculture in Asia

Despite great successes in increasing food production, Asia still faces enormous food security challenges. Most commentators agree that there will have to be increases in food production from existing agricultural land, but many are pessimistic about the future, judging likelihood of success on the basis of past performance of 'modern' agricultural development. Sustainable agriculture, though, offers entirely new opportunities, by emphasising the productive values of natural, social and human capital, all assets that Asian countries either have in abundance or that can be regenerated at relatively low financial cost.
This paper sets out an assets-based model of agricultural systems, together with a typology of eight approaches for sustainable agriculture improvements. In the 16 projects/initiatives spread across eight countries that are analysed, some 2.86 million households have substantially improved total food production on 4.93 million hectares, resulting in greatly improved household food security. Proportional yield increases are greatest in rainfed systems, but irrigated systems have seen small cereal yield increases combined with added production from additional productive system components (such as fish in rice, vegetables on dykes). The additional positive impacts on natural, social and human capital are also helping to build the assets base so as to sustain these improvements in the future.
This analysis indicates that sustainable agriculture can deliver large increases in food production in Asia. But spreading these to much larger numbers of farm households will not be easy. It will require fundamental policy reform.     

长江经济带沿江城市群空间分布格局与联动机理研究

引导长江经济带沿江城市群协同发展是新时期我国重要的区域发展战略。基于空间平滑核密度估算法、空间溢出系数、局域空间聚类指数、关联度滞后效应模型和因果检验模型,系统分析我国长江经济带沿江城市群的空间分布格局以及上中下游地区联动机理。研究表明:1目前长江流域发育程度达到城市群界定标准的有长江三角洲、长江中游和成渝三个城市群;2长江经济带城市群之间经济发展存在正向关联;3在流域联动方向上呈现出自下游长江三角洲城市群→中游城市群→上游成渝城市群的单向联动关系,且引致关联存在滞后效应。因此,有效畅通长江经济带城市群的空间溢出渠道、提高沿江城市之间的空间关联度,是缩小长江流域上中下游地区之间空间分布差异,推动流域一体化实现的关键。