Hope in a hopeless age: environmentalism’s crisis

In this short essay it is argued that recent criticisms portraying the activist environmental movement as overly pessimistic are valid and that the communication of this pessimism to the public at large has been largely counterproductive to the objectives of environmentalists. It is argued that, in contrast to historic assumptions of a ‘progress paradigm’ that epitomized the widely held optimism of the past, the shock tactics and pessimistic media campaigns employed by the activist environmental movement, and the media that capitalizes upon those campaigns, have contributed to the creation of a figurative hopeless age. The key characterization of the hopeless age is the widely held assumption that the future will be worse than the present and that the lives of future generations will be diminished relative to our own. It is argued that the creation of this social-psychological phenomenon is counterproductive to the aims of the environmental movement and that the restoration of a collective vision and message of hope would be far more productive. Lastly, some reasons for a hopeful outlook are suggested.

加速溶剂萃取-高效液相色谱法测定环境空气中的苯并(a)芘

采用加速溶剂萃取一高效液相色谱法荧光检测器测定环境空气中的苯并（a）芘,以乙腈／水为流动相,检测器激发波长为290nm,发射波长为430nm。方法线性良好,检出限为0．08μg／L,当采样体积为1080m。时,最低检测质量浓度为3×10^-7μg／m^3（标准状态下）,实际样品加标回收率为87．2％～109％。与超声波萃取法相比,两种方法回收率相近,而加速溶剂萃取法乙腈用量更少。     

温度对现场荧光法测定水体中叶绿素a的影响

基于高温条件下叶绿素a易降解的性质,分别以纯品叶绿素a和活体藻为实验对象探讨了温度对荧光法测定叶绿素a的影响程度及影响机理。结果显示,温度升高会提高叶绿素a的降解率,在一定温度范围内叶绿素a的相对荧光强度与温度呈良好的负线性相关;首次计算导出了叶绿素a、斜生栅藻、蛋白核小球藻及铜绿微囊藻的温度系数分别为0.30%、1.09%、1.17%及1.14%;此外,验证了在现场测定中当环境温度为15~35℃时温度对水体叶绿素现场检测仪的影响甚微,测定结果在可接受范围内。     

基于STAMP模型的建筑事故致因因素定量分析方法研究

为揭示建筑安全事故致因因素间的相互关系从而对其进行有效预防和控制,探讨1种STAMP模型的定量分析方法,用于深入剖析事故致因因素间的逻辑关系和属性特征。基于STAMP系统事故理论模型,从建筑工程安全控制结构入手逐层定性分析事故的致因因素;引入灰色DEMATEL与ISM相结合的方法对系统事故间的复杂逻辑关系进行层级划分;运用MICMAC分析计算各致因因素的驱动力和依赖度数值并判断其属性类别。结果表明:提出的定量分析方法运用到江西丰城冷却塔坍塌事故中的分析结果与事故调查报告相契合,能较全面地说明各层次结构间的相互作用。     

Carbon black-benzo(a)pyrene complex-induced apoptosis and autophagy blockage in rat alveolar macrophages

Abstract

Cooking of foods and the burning of biomass and fossil fuels in stoves are the main sources of cooking fumes, with carbon black and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as main components. The toxicity of carbon black and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons has been well studied individually, but the combined toxicity is much less understood. Carbon black can adsorb benzo(a)pyrene to form a complex which displays an altered physical form which in this study has been constructed to simulate particles in the cooking fumes and explore the combined toxic effect on rat alveolar macrophages. The complex-induced cell apoptosis and blocked cell autophagy flux compared with both individually. The mechanism of toxicity may be by intracellular reactive oxygen species generation, impairing the mitochondrial membrane potential and activating apoptosis signaling pathways.     

Fundamental insights on when social network data are most critical for conservation planning

As declines in biodiversity accelerate, there is an urgent imperative to ensure that every dollar spent on conservation counts toward species protection. Systematic conservation planning is a widely used approach to achieve this, but there is growing concern that it must better integrate the human social dimensions of conservation to be effective. Yet, fundamental insights about when social data are most critical to inform conservation planning decisions are lacking. To address this problem, we derived novel principles to guide strategic investment in social network information for systematic conservation planning. We considered the common conservation problem of identifying which social actors, in a social network, to engage with to incentivize conservation behavior that maximizes the number of species protected. We used simulations of social networks and species distributed across network nodes to identify the optimal state-dependent strategies and the value of social network information. We did this for a range of motif network structures and species distributions and applied the approach to a small-scale fishery in Kenya. The value of social network information depended strongly on both the distribution of species and social network structure. When species distributions were highly nested (i.e., when species-poor sites are subsets of species-rich sites), the value of social network information was almost always low. This suggests that information on how species are distributed across a network is critical for determining whether to invest in collecting social network data. In contrast, the value of social network information was greatest when social networks were highly centralized. Results for the small-scale fishery were consistent with the simulations. Our results suggest that strategic collection of social network data should be prioritized when species distributions are un-nested and when social networks are likely to be centralized.     

Linking empirical estimates of body burden of environmental chemicals and wellness using NHANES data

Biomonitoring of industrial chemicals in human tissues and fluids has shown that all people carry a “body burden” of synthetic chemicals. Although measurement of an environmental chemical in a person's tissues/fluids is an indication of exposure, it does not necessarily mean the exposure concentration is sufficient to cause an adverse effect. Since humans are exposed to multiple chemicals, there may be a combination effect (e.g., additive, synergistic) associated with low-level exposures to multiple classes of contaminants, which may impact a variety of organ systems. The objective of this research is to link measures of body burden of environmental chemicals and a “holistic” measure of wellness. The approach is demonstrated using biomonitoring data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES). Forty-two chemicals were selected for analysis based on their detection levels. Six biological pathway-specific indices were evaluated using groups of chemicals associated with each pathway. Five of the six pathways were negatively associated with wellness. Three non-zero interaction terms were detected which may provide empirical evidence of crosstalk across pathways. The approach identified five of the 42 chemicals from a variety of classes (metals, pesticides, furans, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) as accounting for 71% of the weight linking body burden to wellness. Significant interactions were detected indicating the effect of smoking is exacerbated by body burden of environmental chemicals. Use of a holistic index on both sides of the exposure-health equation is a novel and promising empirical “systems biology” approach to risk evaluation of complex environmental exposures.     

黄河中下游水体中多环芳烃的分布及来源

对小浪底至山东东明段黄河干、支流水、悬浮物和沉积物进行了采样分析.结果表明,干流水相∑15PAHs浓度范围为179～369ng/L,其中除焦巩桥外其它断面苯并(a)芘均超过国家饮用水标准;支流水相浓度均高于相应干流,尤其是富含低环PAHs的孟州一干渠对干流沉积相浓度有较大影响.与水相相比,悬浮、沉积相中PAHs检出种类较多,干流悬浮相∑13PAHs浓度范围为54～155μg/kg,且各环PAHs与悬浮相中TOC含量间存在一定正相关.干流沉积相∑13PAHs浓度范围为31～133μg/kg,其4、5、6环P     

酶联免疫吸附分析法测定苯并(a)芘和多氯联苯

对苯并(a)芘作了五种不同的化学修饰,并与载体蛋白交联,制备出十四种单克隆抗体.经单克隆抗体的筛选和实验条件的优化,建立了测定苯并(a)芘的酶联免疫吸附分析法.以4,4'-二氯联苯为测定多氯联苯的酶联免疫吸附分析法的起始物,作了二种化学修饰,制备出九种多克隆抗体,建立了以羊抗多氯联苯抗体为基础的酶联免疫吸附分析法,并用于土壤中多氯联苯的测定.