The sex disparity in risky driving: A survey of Colombian young drivers

Objective: The overrepresentation of young drivers in poor road safety outcomes has long been recognized as a global road safety issue. In addition, the overrepresentation of males in crash statistics has been recognized as a pervasive young driver problem. Though progress in road safety evidenced as a stabilization and/or reduction in poor road safety outcomes has been made in developed nations, less-developed nations contribute the greatest road safety trauma, and developing nations such as Colombia continue to experience increasing trends in fatality rates. The aim of the research was to explore sex differences in self-reported risky driving behaviors of young drivers, including the associations with crash involvement, in a sample of young drivers attending university in Colombia.

Methods: The Spanish version of the Behaviour of Young Novice Drivers Scale (BYNDS-Sp) was applied in an online survey to a sample of 392 students (225 males) aged 16–24 years attending a major university. Appropriate comparative statistics and logistic regression modeling were used when analyzing the data.

Results: Males reported consistently more risky driving behaviors, with approximately one quarter of all participants reporting risky driving exposure. Males reported greater crash involvement, with violations such as speeding associated with crash involvement for both males and females.

Conclusion: Young drivers in Colombia appear to engage in the same risky driving behaviors as young drivers in developed nations. In addition, young male drivers in Colombia reported greater engagement in risky driving behaviors than young female drivers, a finding consistent with the behaviors of young male drivers in developed nations. As such, the research findings suggest that general interventions such as education, engineering, and enforcement should target transient rule violations such as speeding and using a handheld mobile phone while driving for young drivers in Colombia. Future research should investigate how these interventions could be tailored specifically for the Colombian cultural context, including how their effects can be evaluated, prior to implementation.     

中国能源可持续发展区域差异及其因素分析

该文在明晰中国能源可持续发展内涵的基础上,从能源足量、可持续、合理供给;能源与水、土地、森林等资源配套能力;国家可持续能源政策与地区规划的融合,减缓环境资源的损耗;环境可持续性四个目标出发,构建了区域能源可持续发展指标体系。从定量的角度刻画中国能源可持续发展的区域差异,解析影响中国能源可持续发展的主要因素。研究结果表明,可持续能源政策与环境的可持续性是制约能源可持续发展的关键环节;能源与森林、土地资源的配套能力是重要基础;能源供应能力是核心所在;从中国东、中、西部来看,西部地区是中国能源可持续性最强的地区,中部次之,东部能源可持续性最弱;从中国八大区域来看,能源可持续性沿海地区最弱,东北和长江中游地区次之,大西北、西南和黄河中游地区最强。本文作者最后认为多元化发展,提升能源供应能力;建立健全环境税收制度,增强环境可持续性;因地制宜,是促进中国区域能源可持续发展的必然选择。     

Will photosynthetic capacity of aspen trees acclimate after long-term exposure to elevated CO2 and O3?

Photosynthetic acclimation under elevated carbon dioxide (CO₂) and/or ozone (O₃) has been the topic of discussion in many papers recently. We examined whether or not aspen plants grown under elevated CO₂ and/or O₃ will acclimate after 11 years of exposure at the Aspen Face site in Rhinelander, WI, USA. We studied diurnal patterns of instantaneous photosynthetic measurements as well as A/C_i measurements monthly during the 2004-2008 growing seasons. Our results suggest that the responses of two aspen clones differing in O₃ sensitivity showed no evidence of photosynthetic and stomatal acclimation under either elevated CO₂, O₃ or CO₂ + O₃. Both clones 42E and 271 did not show photosynthetic nor stomatal acclimation under elevated CO₂ and O₃ after a decade of exposure. We found that the degree of increase or decrease in the photosynthesis and stomatal conductance varied significantly from day to day and from one season to another.     

Total and Methylmercury in Soft Tissues of White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) and Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) Collected in Poland

Mercury (Hg) contamination in piscivorous birds, especially methylmercury (MeHg), has been drawing much attention worldwide in regard to its bioaccumulation and biomagnification in food chains. In this study on Hg in the soft tissues of white-tailed eagles (n = 22) and ospreys (n = 2) from Poland, total Hg (THg) range was 0.15–47.6 while MeHg range was 0.11–8.05 mg kg⁻¹ dry weight. In both species, median THg and MeHg concentrations were lower in the muscle and brain than in the liver and kidney. Median nephric residues were just under 3 and 5 mgTHg kg⁻¹ or 0.9 and 3.7 mgMeHg kg⁻¹ for white-tailed eagle and osprey, respectively. In Norwegian data from the 1970s and in our results, MeHg in the muscle of white-tailed eagle was ~60 % THg (%MeHg = MeHg/THg × 100), lower than in other piscivorous birds. A clear similarity in THg tissue levels was found between Polish and German populations of white-tailed eagles.     

中国区域创新能力差异变动实证分析

区域创新能力是决定区域经济发展水平和经济增长实力的关键,在建设"创新型国家"的战略背景下,各省市越来越注重区域创新能力的建设。区域创新能力作为一个动态的发展过程,其差异在不断变化,差异可能扩大也可能缩小,区域创新能力的差异性及随时间的波动性对政府相关管理部门的决策具有重要影响。本文以发明专利申请量和大中型工业企业新产品产值衡量区域创新能力,运用Theil系数模型测算了1990-2008年间我国发明专利申请量和大中型工业企业新产品产值的区域差异变动情况。结果发现:发明专利申请量区域差异变动呈现S型曲线;大中型工业企业新产品产值区域差异变动呈现近似倒U型曲线;区间差异和东部地区内部差异在总差异中占主导地位。在此基础上,本文进一步提出了缩小我国区域创新能力差异的针对性政策建议。     

中国省际能源效率差异及其影响因素分析

我国省际能源效率存在较大的差异.要进一步促进能源综合利用,需要在区域层面对能源效率差异形成的因素作更加全面深入的研究,以寻求更加合理有效的促进宏观能源效率改进的理论与方法.本文基于2007年的截面数据,运用能很好地消除各因素间多重共线性的偏最小二乘回归建模,选取了14个变量来代表经济发展水平、产业结构、工业结构、能源消费结构、对外开放程度、投资水平、政府影响力、制度因素、能源价格和地理因素这10个因素,分析了各因素对能源效率地区差异的影响方向和影响程度.研究结果表明,各地区固定资产投资中外商投资比重、工业增加值中高耗能产业比重以及煤炭消费比重的差异是造成能源效率地区差异显著的主要原因.这说明投资水平、工业结构和能源消费结构是造成能源效率地区差异显著的主要因素.要在短期内缩小地区间的能源效率差距,必须严格限制某些地区高耗能行业的过快发展,加强高耗能行业的结构调整,加快淘汰落后产能,大力提升煤炭的使用效率.     

试论宜居性城市绿地的规划与建设

在生态城市、可持续发展等社会思潮的推动下,宜居性城市已逐渐成为新的城市发展观。我国的城市绿地建设也由过去的点缀性工作上升为城市基础设施建设的重点内容。但从城市的宜居性角度分析,我国城市绿地的规划与建设主要存在定位比较模糊,重综合公园和专类公园绿地、轻社区绿地,重绿地美化亮化效果、轻绿地生态效益,重整体性评价指标、轻宜居性指标等问题。立足于城市绿地规划的宜居性导向,提出了合理定位、绿地工程与主体工程“四同时”, 按自然规律进行城市绿地的建设与管理,突出社区性绿地,推行“绿径＋缀块”的绿地网络布局,强调绿地的“可达性＋开放性＋复合性”,以及适度兼顾绿地规模等宜居性城市绿地规划与建设的策略。     

Choosing a Food Future: Differentiating Among Alternative Food Options

This article examines the diversity of food networks that fit within the alternative food system of the United States. While farmers’ markets, community supported agriculture schemes, and corporate organic food markets all fit within the alternative food system, they differ greatly in the conventions and beliefs that they represent. The alternative food system has divided into two movements: corporate, weak alternative food networks; and local, strong alternative food networks. The weak corporate version focuses on protecting the environment; however, it neglects issues concerning labor standards, animal welfare, rural communities, small-scale farmers, and human health. Local, strong alternative food networks not only assure environmental protection, but they also address the issues that weak alternatives neglect. Using three case studies from the Washington, D.C. metro area, the author explains that strong alternative food networks are better suited to create social and political change because they challenge the foundations of the conventional food system: standardized and generic products, price-based competition, consolidated power, and global scale. To affect true social and political change in the United States, the author recommends supporting strong alternative food networks by creating the requisite cultural and political space for them to succeed.     

自吸过滤式呼吸器对人体呼吸模式的影响

测定了在中等（100W）和高等（155W）劳动强度下,8名受试者佩戴5种自吸过滤式呼吸器（呼吸阻力及死腔不同）从事踏车运动时的呼吸模式变化。结果表明：口腔压力波动和外呼吸功因呼吸器而显著增加;随着呼吸负荷的增加,呼气压及吸气压相应增大;在呼吸负荷较大的情况下,呼气压及吸气压的增大更加显著;随运动负荷的增加,呼吸负荷对呼吸压的影响更加明显。     

城镇化对工业能源消费的门槛效应研究——以长江经济带省份为例

高效能源利用是推动工业发展,进而促使城镇格局演化的重要催化剂,同时城镇化的高速发展对工业能源的消费结构和利用效率提出了进一步的要求,这必将影响到低碳城市建设和环境保护等生态责任目标的实现。选取2003—2012年长江经济带11个省份(直辖市)的相关数据,运用门槛模型对城镇化率、城镇居民人均总收入、能源工业投资、工业总产值、城市人口密度、产业结构等影响工业能源消费的因素进行分析,重点研究城镇化率和工业能源消费的非线性关系和相应的地区差异。结果表明:(1)长江经济带城镇化发展存在着明显的地区差异,上海、浙江等东部地区城镇化发展速度和水平明显优于云南、贵州等中西部地区。云南和贵州2012年的城镇化率远远低于2003年上海、浙江的城镇化率,显示出长江上游和下游之间存在着巨大的发展水平差距。(2)城镇化对工业能源消费存在显著的门槛效应,以城镇化率为门槛变量,存在两个结构变化点,分别为36.9%和48.3%。(3)在第一个门槛点前,城镇化对工业能源消费起抑制作用,前期城镇化的发展导致资源和人口的集聚效应明显,资源的利用效率和配置效率得到提升,从而抑制工业能源消费。在越过第二个门槛点后,城镇化对工业能源消费起正向作用,此时工业的发展和生活消费水准的提升对能源消费提出了更多的要求。最后为促进长江经济带城镇化和工业低碳化的协调发展,提出以下建议:加快长江经济带沿线各省份联动发展,缩小城镇化发展差异;针对城镇化率和工业能源消费的非线性关系,采取相应的措施引导和控制工业能源消费的变化趋势;协调城镇化进程和地区工业能源消耗,促进城镇化的健康发展。