Left to interest groups? On the prospects for enforcing environmental law in the European Union

ABSTRACT

There have been important changes in the enforcement of European Union environmental law over the last 25 years. Environmental law has traditionally been reliant on the European Commission, but the Commission has started to withdraw from enforcement. Instead, it is undertaking efforts to ‘outsource’ enforcement to environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs) by systematically promoting access for such groups to national courts. While the Commission has indicated that it sees centralised and private enforcement as substitutes, the advantages and drawbacks of each mechanism are evaluated and it is concluded that both mechanisms have an important role to play. In particular, the private enforcement of EU environmental law is dependent on national opportunity structures that are unlikely to ever be fully liberalised and harmonised by EU procedural law. Private enforcement is therefore not a panacea for compliance problems, and the growing absence of a central enforcing authority is a cause for concern.     

Comparative toxicities of the polychlorinated dibenzofuran (PCDF) and biphenyl (PCB) mixtures which persist in Yusho victims

The toxic Yusho oil contained a mixture of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) which were contaminated by other halogenated aromatics including the highly toxic polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs). It has been reported that the PCBs and PCDFs which persist in the liver of victims still suffering from Yusho poisoning include the following compounds; 2,3′,4,4′,5-penta-,2,2′,4,4′,5,5′-,2,2′,3′,4,4′,5- and 2,3,3′,4,4′,5-hexa, 2,2′,3,4,4′,5,5′- and 2,2′,3,3′,4,4′,5-heptachlorobiphenyls and the 2,3,7,8-tetra-, 1,2,4,7,8-, 1,2,3,7,8- and 2,3,4,7,8-penta- and 1,2,3,4,7,8-hexachlorodibenzofurans. All of these PCBs and PCDFs have been synthesized and reconstituted to approximate their composition in human liver. A comparison of the dose-response effects of the reconstituted PCB and PCDF mixtures in causing weight loss, thymic atrophy and the induction of cytochrome P-448-dependent monooxygenases indicated that the PCDF mixture was at least 700 times more active than the PCBs. Since the ratio of PCBs/PCDFs persisting in Yusho patients' blood and liver was less than 600:1 and 5:1 respectively, the results suggest that the PCDFs are the major etiologic agent in Yusho poisoning.     

Distribution of radiotin (Sn) in partially hepatectomised rats and its binding with subcellular components of liver cells

Distribution of radiotin (Sn¹¹³) in target organs and in the hepatic subcellular fractions was studied in sham and partially hepatectomised rats 72 hrs after the administration of tin (II) tartrate (2 mg Sn⁺⁺, 10 uCi/100 gm body weight) intraperitoneally. The results indicate that in both the groups Sn¹¹³ was maximally accumulated in liver followed by kidney and spleen. Partially hepatectomised rat however accumulated less Sn¹¹³ in liver while an increase was observed in kidney. Subcellular studies showed significantly high affinity of tin for microsomes. A compartmental shift of radiotin from cytosol to microsomal fraction was observed in hepatectomised rats when compared to sham operated rats.     

Phosphorus Losses to Water from Lowland Rice Fields under Rice–Wheat Double Cropping System in the Tai Lake Region

To assess P losses to surface water by runoff during the rice season and by drainage flow during the winter wheat season, serial field trials were conducted in different types of paddy soils in the Tai Lake Region (TLR) during 2000 and 2001. Four P application rates were set as 0 (CK), 30, 150, and 300 kg P/hm² for flooded rice trials and 0 (CK), 20, 80, 160 kg P/hm² for winter wheat trials respectively. Field experiments were done in two locations with a plot size of 30 m² and four replications in a randomized complete block design. A simplified lysimeter was installed for each plot to collect all the runoff or drainage flow from each event. Total P (TP) losses to surface water during rice season by runoff flow from four treatments were 150 (CK), 220 (T30), 395 (T150), 670 (T300) g P/hm² in year 2000, and 298, 440, 1828, 3744 g P/hm² in year 2001 respectively in Wuxi station, here the soil is permeable paddy soil derived from loam clay deposit. While the losses were 102, 140, 210, 270 in year 2000, and 128, 165, 359, 589 g P/hm² in year 2001 respectively in Changshu station, here the soil is waterlogged paddy soil derived from silt loam deposit. During the winter wheat season, total P lost from the fields by drainage flow in the four treatments were 253 (CK), 382 (T20), 580 (T89), 818 (T160) g P/hm² in year 2000–2001, and 573.3, 709.4, 1123.2, 1552.4 g P/hm² in year 2001–2002 at the Wuxi station. While these were 395.6, 539.1, 1356.8, 1972.1 g P/hm² in year 2000–2001, and 811.5, 1184.6, 3001.2, 5333.1 g P/hm² in year 2001–2002 at the Changshu station. Results revealed that P fertilizer application rates significantly affected the TP concentrations and TP loads in runoff during the rice season, and by drainage flow during the winter wheat season. Both TP loads were significantly increased as the P application rate increases. The data indicate that TP losses to surface water were much higher during the winter wheat season than during the rice season in two tested sites. The data also reveal that the annual precipitation and evaporation rate affected the soil P losses to surface water significantly. Year 2000 was relatively dried with higher evaporation thus P losses to water by both runoff and drainage flow were less than in year 2001 which was a relatively wet year with lower evaporation. Results indicate that texture, structure of the soil profile, and field construction (with or without ridge and deep drains) affected soil P losses to surface water dramatically. Annual possible TP lost to water at the application rate of 50 kg P/hm² year tested in TLR were estimated from 97 to 185 tones P from permeable paddy soils and 109–218 tones P from waterlogged paddy soils. There was no significant difference of TP lost between the CK and the T50 treatments in both stations, which indicate that there is no more TP lost in field of normal P fertilizer application rate than in control field of no P fertilized. Much higher TP lost in runoff or drainage flow from those other P application rates treatments than from the T50 treatment, which suggest that P losses to surface water would be greatly increasing in the time when higher available P accumulation in plough layer soil in this region.     

Moment and maximum likelihood estimators for Weibull distributions under length- and area-biased sampling

Many of the most popular sampling schemes used in forestry are probability proportional to size methods. These methods are also referred to as size-biased because sampling is actually from a weighted form of the underlying population distribution. Length- and area-biased sampling are special cases of size-biased sampling where the probability weighting comes from a lineal or areal function of the random variable of interest, respectively. Often, interest is in estimating a parametric probability density of the data. In forestry, the Weibull function has been used extensively for such purposes. Estimating equations for method of moments and maximum likelihood for two- and three-parameter Weibull distributions are presented. Fitting is illustrated with an example from an area-biased angle-gauge sample of standing trees in a woodlot. Finally, some specific points concerning the form of the size-biased densities are reported.     

Who cares? Individual contributions to pup care by breeders vs non-breeders in the cooperatively breeding banded mongoose (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Mungos mungo</Emphasis>)

Knowledge of the investment rules adopted by breeders and non-breeders, and the factors that affect them, is essential to understanding cooperative breeding as part of a life-history tactic. Although the factors that affect relative contributions to care of young have been studied in some cooperative bird species, there is little data on mammals, making coherent generalisations within mammals and across taxa difficult. In this study, we investigate individual contributions to pup escorting, a strong predictor of offspring provisioning, in the banded mongoose (Mungos mungo), a cooperatively breeding mammal in which reproductive skew is low. Contributions by those under a year old (which virtually never breed) increased with age and body weight but were generally low. Among older age classes (yearlings and adults), individuals that had not bred in the current litter generally contributed less to escorting than those that had bred (with the exception of yearling males). In addition, females that did not breed reduced their investment if they were heavy presumably because such females are more likely to breed in the following event and benefit from saving resources for this. The generally greater contributions by breeders in banded mongooses contrast with the recent findings in meerkats (Suricata suricatta), another obligatorily cooperative mongoose with similar group size but wherein reproductive skew is high. Our results suggest that relative contributions by breeders vs non-breeders are not dependent on group size but on the ratio of breeders to carers and the probability that non-breeders will breed in the near future.     

A stingless bee (Melipona panamica) indicates food location without using a scent trail

The study of location specification in recruitment communication by bees has focused on two dimensions: direction and distance from the nest. Yet the third dimension, height above ground, may be significant in the tall and dense forest habitats of stingless bees. Foragers of the stingless bee Scaptotrigona postica recruit to a specific three-dimensional location by laying a scent trail. Stingless bees in the genus Melipona are thought to have a more sophisticated recruitment system that communicates distance through sounds inside the nest and direction through pointing zig-zag flights outside the nest. However, prior research on Melipona has not examined height communication or even established that foragers can recruit newcomers to a specific location. We used identical paired feeders to investigate recruitment to food in M panamica on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. We trained foragers from an observation hive to one feeder and monitored both feeders for the subsequent arrival of newcomers. We changed the relative positions of the feeders to test for correct direction, distance, and canopy-level communication. A 40-m canopy tower located inside the forest enabled us to examine canopy-level communication. We found that M. panamica foragers can recruit to a specific (1) direction, (2) distance, and (3) canopy level. To test the possibility that foragers accomplish this by means of a scent trail, we placed the colony on one shore of a small cove and trained bees over 116 m of open water to a feeder located on the opposite shore. We also placed a second feeder on this shore, equidistant from the colony but 20 m from the first feeder. Significantly more newcomers consistently arrived at the feeder visited by the foragers. Thus foragers evidently do not need a scent trail to communicate direction. Inside the nest, a forager produces pulsed sounds while visibly vibrating her wings after returning from a good food source. She is attended by other bees who cluster and hold their antennae around her, following her as she rapidly spins clockwise and counterclockwise. Locational information may be encoded in this behavior. However, foragers may also directly lead newcomers to the food source. Further experiments are planned to test for such piloting and other communication mechanisms.     

科技期刊如何走向市场

科技期刊作为一种专业性较强的学术性刊物,不同于其他通俗性时尚刊物,它的受众面较为狭窄,读者群也受到相应的限制,而要在社会主义市场经济体制下求得生存与发展,必须走向市场、适应新形势,在市场竞争中取得社会效益与经济效益的统一,开拓出新的局面。     

Attitudes to nuclear energy: Beliefs,values and false consensus

Attitudinal differences regarding the use of nuclear energy were investigated. Results obtained in a random sample drawn from the population of four communities in The Netherlands within 30 miles of a nuclear power plant showed a strong relationship between subjects' attitudes towards nuclear energy and their perceptions of the possible consequences of nuclear energy. ‘Pro’- and ‘con’-subjects showed marked differences in the importance attached to the different possible consequences and their endorsement of the salience of more general social issues. Results provide support for the view that individuals perceive a false consensus with respect to the relative prevalence of similar attitudes among other people. Finally, subjects' perceptions of others with similar or opposing attitudes towards the issue of nuclear energy showed marked differences in evaluation especially for the extreme attitude groups.