Detection and quantitation of trace levels of low molecular weight halocarbons (LMHs) associated with commercial sodium humate

Examination of vapor above commercial sodium humate and above 10wt% aqueous humate solution by gas chromatography (GC) revealed the presence of chloroform and trichloroethylene. Further examination of the aqueous humate by the purge and trap procedure confirmed the association of chloroform and trichloroethylene with the humate. GC/mass spectrometry analyses of methylene chloride extract of the humate established the association of LMHs with the humate. Improved headspace capillary GC technique showed that the humate contained not only chloroform, trichloroethylene but several other LMHs in the range 190 to 4000ng·kg^‐1.     

Book reviews and notices

The aim of sustainable development is to balance social, economic, and environmental needs. In order to justify the decisions they make, stakeholders must quantify the different impacts found in the operations and developments of companies and/or projects throughout their life cycle. However, as some areas are subjective in nature, the quantification process of the different impacts and the assessment of sustainable development performance become arduous tasks of development, validation, and application of scientific and empirical methods with the intrinsic objective of finding an agreement among the involved parties (i.e., stakeholders). Several environmental and sustainability assessment tools, instruments, processes, and methodologies have been developed; rating systems stand out and have gained attention and credibility, as demonstrated by the vast number of certified projects around the world and the widely-known usefulness and advantages of their application. The Wa-Pa-Su project sustainability rating system presents an integrated approach to sustainability assessment by integrating three distinctive areas of knowledge: (1) sustainable development theory and fundamentals supports the ultimate goal of the rating system, which is to contribute to sustainability, with the aim of finding a path to balance social, economic, and environmental needs; (2) continual performance improvement becomes essential due to the duration of the projects, as it is critical to allow organizations or projects to improve performance over time; and (3) multi-criteria decision analysis assists with the assessment process through stakeholder engagement and participation, and the design and implementation of a criteria weighting system.     

Temporary site selection and decision‐making methods: a case study of Tehran,Iran

Decisions on selecting an appropriate site for temporary shelter used to be taken in a limited amount of time after a disaster. The need for a systematic method in this area inspired the MADM (multi‐attribute decision making) for complex disaster management decisions. This research proposes a model for appropriate and systematic site selection for temporary shelters, before an earthquake, using a geographical information system and MADM based on an earthquake damage assessment. After the effective criteria for site selection of temporary shelters are determined, the geographical layers of these criteria are prepared for Municipal District No.1 of Greater Tehran, the capital of Iran. Given these attributes and the required shelter area (415–610 hectares), 14 zones are proposed initially. Various MADM methods are used for the final selection. The mean of the aggregated ranking results are determined, and 10 of the 14 initial zones are ranked.     

The influence of caste,class and gender in surviving multiple disasters: A case study from Orissa,India

Sociological and anthropological studies in India reveal that caste, class and gender in everyday life are both rigid and dynamic, but little is known about how they influence the survival mechanisms of women during ‘multiple disasters’, nor about how women negotiate with these structural mores to meet their cultural and biological needs. This is explored through the experiences of 12 women-headed households from different social castes in Orissa, India. Multiple disasters or disasters that occur in ‘one specific place’ (such as floods, cyclone and drought) are regular events in coastal parts of the state of Orissa. The super-cyclone of 1999, two floods of 2001 and 2003 and drought of 2000 and 2002 form the case study. Participant observation, in-depth interviews and documentary evidence complement the fieldwork. The findings suggest a complex interplay of caste, class and gender in surviving the multiple disasters including structural mutability under the purview of social organization. In doing so, women demonstrated their individual and collective agencies in order to meet their cultural and biological needs under severe crisis. This research stresses that gender and disaster studies must include a consideration of caste and class for effective disaster management and social vulnerability reduction.     

Linking the stressors and stressing the linkages: Human—environment vulnerability and brownfield redevelopment in New York City

This paper suggests that the mitigation of one hazard—soil contamination—can unintentionally affect vulnerabilities and perceived vulnerabilities to additional stressors in the local human—environment system through a study of brownfield redevelopment in New York City. This study employs a Vulnerability Scoping Diagram (VSD) approach to identify components that contribute to vulnerabilities and perceived vulnerabilities in the local community, based on the thematic analysis of 55 interviews with residents from four neighbourhoods with brownfield redevelopment activities in New York City. This analysis of resident observations and perceptions of post-redevelopment hazard conditions indicates how mitigating vulnerability to one urban hazard—soil contamination—has the potential to affect vulnerabilities and perceived vulnerabilities to additional hazards like flooding and air pollution because of the complex linkages among multiple stressors. A causal model of vulnerability to the unintended impacts of brownfield redevelopment is subsequently developed to further demonstrate the interactive linkages among exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity to multiple stressors. This study also provides measures that stakeholders can monitor and evaluate over time to track the socio-spatial and environmental implications of brownfield redevelopment and subsequent changes in the local human—environment system.     

Eliciting expert knowledge in conservation science

Expert knowledge is used widely in the science and practice of conservation because of the complexity of problems, relative lack of data, and the imminent nature of many conservation decisions. Expert knowledge is substantive information on a particular topic that is not widely known by others. An expert is someone who holds this knowledge and who is often deferred to in its interpretation. We refer to predictions by experts of what may happen in a particular context as expert judgments. In general, an expert-elicitation approach consists of five steps: deciding how information will be used, determining what to elicit, designing the elicitation process, performing the elicitation, and translating the elicited information into quantitative statements that can be used in a model or directly to make decisions. This last step is known as encoding. Some of the considerations in eliciting expert knowledge include determining how to work with multiple experts and how to combine multiple judgments, minimizing bias in the elicited information, and verifying the accuracy of expert information. We highlight structured elicitation techniques that, if adopted, will improve the accuracy and information content of expert judgment and ensure uncertainty is captured accurately. We suggest four aspects of an expert elicitation exercise be examined to determine its comprehensiveness and effectiveness: study design and context, elicitation design, elicitation method, and elicitation output. Just as the reliability of empirical data depends on the rigor with which it was acquired so too does that of expert knowledge.     

低剂量丙烯酰胺多世代持续暴露对秀丽隐杆线虫的损伤作用

论文研究了丙烯酰胺(acrylamide,AA)低剂量多代持续暴露对模式生物秀丽隐杆线虫(Caenorhabditis elegans,C.elegans)的发育、生殖、寿命和捕食行为能力的影响。将线虫暴露于不同剂量水平的AA中,检测对当代线虫的发育周期、后代数量、寿命和捕食行为的影响,结果显示,1.0 mmol·L~(-1)AA水平可诱发当代线虫发育周期延长和后代数量减少(P 0.05),0.05mmol·L~(-1)和0.001 mmol·L~(-1)水平可分别诱发捕食行为能力下降和寿命缩短(P0.05)。进一步选取对当代线虫不产生明显损伤效应的AA剂量,将线虫进行多代持续暴露处理,结果显示,0.01 mmol·L~(-1)AA分别可在第2代g1和第3代g2诱发发育周期延长和后代数量减少(P0.05),0.005 mmol·L~(-1)AA可在第2代g1引起摄食行为能力下降,0.0001 mmol·L~(-1)(约7μg·L~(-1),低于推测人的平均AA暴露水平)的AA在第2代g1即可诱发寿命缩短(P0.05)。以上结果表明AA生物学毒性可以在后代间积累,极低剂量AA多代持续暴露仍可诱发生物学损伤。     

2016—2019年夏半年成都市区臭氧污染天气特征分析

为揭示成都市区臭氧污染气象条件特征,通过欧盟COST733天气客观分型软件对成都市区2016-2019年夏半年(5-9月)海平面气压场和500 hPa位势高度场进行大气环流形势分型,并结合同期臭氧监测数据、地面气象观测数据以及总云量实况分析产品,分析成都市区夏半年臭氧超标天气及气象要素特征.结果表明:成都市区2016-2019年夏半年共出现臭氧超标日数为159 d,超标率为26.0%,超标日主要集中于5-8月,小时超标多出现于14:00-17:00.臭氧污染日数最多的海平面气压场为弱低压型,其后依次为低压前部型、低压型、高压后部型.臭氧超标率最高的海平面气压场为低压前部型,其后依次为弱低压型、低压型、高压后部型.500 hPa位势高度场平直西风气流型臭氧超标日数最多,青藏高压型臭氧超标日数最少.青藏高压型是臭氧超标率最高的500 hPa位势高度场型,平直西风气流型臭氧超标率最低.成都市区臭氧超标日多出现在偏西北风下,近地面气象要素特征一般表现为风速1.2~1.6 m/s,气温在25℃以上,相对湿度多集中在70%左右,总云量和降水概率多低于60%,降水量级以小雨为主,太阳辐射和日照时数分别位于20.5~23.2 MJ/m2和6.0~7.8 h区间.小时臭氧超标近地面气象要素特征为气温和总辐射曝辐量相对较高,二者分别在30~36℃和0~3.5 MJ/m2之间,相对湿度在60%以下,总云量低于40%,以偏南风影响为主.研究显示,成都市区海平面气压场为低压型,500 hPa位势高度场为青藏高压型时,易发生臭氧污染.      

城市轨道交通突发大客流协同应急决策研究

为研究城市轨道交通突发大客流下的客流控制应急决策的制定与调整,对城市轨道交通客流特征进行分析,将协同矩阵与多目标规划理论运用到突发大客流下多车站协同客流控制应急决策研究中。在协同车站间路网拓扑结构的基础上,提出分别考虑各车站协同与不协同、协同车站加入或退出、协同车站评价标准变化等情况下,初始应急决策的制定与动态方案调整方法。研究结果表明:使用该方法能够表达城市轨道交通车站间协同作业的各种状态,实现突发客流冲击情况下的路网多车站动态协同应急决策的制定与动态调整,可为城市轨道交通网络化协同作业理论与方法的研究提供参考。     

聚硅酸铝铁-壳聚糖复合絮凝剂的制备与应用

采用聚硅酸铝铁与壳聚糖复合,制备低成本、高絮凝性能的新型无机-有机复合絮凝剂。结果表明:最佳复合条件为pH值1.4～2.0、原料配比(质量比)1:1、最佳温度70～80℃、反应时间16h。并将该絮凝剂用于造纸废水的处理实验,在投加量每500mL为5mL时,其对废水浊度、色度和COD的去除率分别为94.5%,61.5%和78.7%。