What happened to the Second World? Earthquakes and postsocialism in Kazakhstan

There is an assumption that with the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the Second World ceased to exist. Yet the demise of the Communist bloc as a geopolitical reality did not mean that it stopped exerting a defining influence over how people think and behave. This article examines how the postsocialist state in Kazakhstan deals with potential crises such as earthquakes and the extent to which the Soviet legacy still shapes intellectual debates, state structures, and civil society organisations in in that country. Drawing on fieldwork and interviews, this paper re-examines the Second World in its historical context and re-establishes it as a conceptual framework for considering disaster risk reduction in the former Soviet bloc. It argues that it is essential to pay attention to this legacy in Kazakhstan both in policy and practice if earthquake risk reduction is to be made more effective.     

Cancer and Non-Cancer Health Risk from Eating Cassava Grown in Some Mining Communities in Ghana

Food crops such as cassava, cocoyam and other tuber crops grown in mining communities uptake toxic or hazardous chemicals such as arsenic, and cadmium, from the soil. Cassava is a stable food for Ghanaians. This study evaluated human health risk from eating cassava grown in some mining communities in Ghana such as Bogoso, Prestea, Tarkwa and Tamso, which are important mining towns in the Western Region of Ghana. The study evaluated cancer and non-cancer health effects from eating cassava grown in the study areas in accordance with US Environmental Protection Agency’s Risk Assessment guidelines. The results of the study revealed the following: cancer health risk for Tamso, 0.098 (RME – Reasonable Maximum Exposure) and 0.082 (CTE – Central Tendency Exposure). This means that approximately 10 and 8 out of 100 resident adults are likely to suffer from cancer related cases by RME and CTE parameters respectively. For Prestea, we have 0.010 and 0.12, which also means that approximately 1 out of 100 and 10 resident adults out of 100 are also likely to suffer from cancer related diseases by RME and CTE parameters. The results of the study obtained were found to be above the acceptable cancer risk range of 1× 10⁻⁶ to 1× 10⁻⁴, i.e., 1 case of cancer out of 1 million or 100,000 people respectively.     

输美轮胎特保案对中国贸易的影响及对策

分析了2009年9月26日美国对中国轮胎进口实施的特别保护措施,运用国际贸易和国际经济学的相关理论,对美国轮胎特保法案进行了剖析。在目前中美轮胎贸易情况下,从宏观和微观的角度探讨了轮胎贸易顺差形成的原因,以及长期和短期内对中国经济的影响,并对中国轮胎出口贸易提出了几点政策建议。     

喀斯特峡谷区工程性缺水原因及解决途径——以贵州省花江峡谷示范区为例

喀斯特峡谷区河深坡陡,地下水深埋,水资源利用难度大,加之经济和水利工程薄弱,是贵州省工程性缺水的典型区域。通过对花江峡谷示范区工程性缺水的原因剖析,提出一系列解决工程性缺水问题的措施,如雨水收集、表层喀斯特水和基岩裂隙水的开发利用、节水、加强对水利工程设施的管理和维护、加大水利投入以及提高植被覆盖率等,这对解决喀斯特峡谷及类似区域的工程性缺水问题有一定的指导和参考意义。     

Understanding world metals prices—Returns,volatility and diversification

In recent times, the prices of internationally traded metals have reached record highs and there is considerable uncertainty regarding their future. This phenomenon is partially driven by strong demand from a small number of emerging economies, such as China and India. This paper uses a long time-series (1900–2007) on 21 metals prices to investigate their properties, and presents unique features of their volatility, including a decomposition into within- and between-group components. If most volatility is commodity-specific rather than “global”, then metals-exporting dependent economies can smooth income via diversification.     

基于复合生态系统理论的长沙湘江滨水区景观资源评价与优化

近年来,随着我国经济的飞速发展、社会经济的转型,以及人们环境意识的提高,滨水区开发已成为我国城市开发建设的热点。城市滨水区景观规划设计研究对于合理、充分利用城市滨水区景观资源,塑造特色鲜明的城市形象,提高城市生态环境质量,促进城市滨水区开发有着重要意义。从复合生态系统理论的角度,在湘江滨水区景观资源调查、景观资源分类的基础上,运用灰色聚类法对湘江滨水区景观资源进行定量评价,提出景观资源优化思路,探讨滨水区景观规划设计的途径。认为现代城市大规模滨水区更新改造和开发大背景下的城市滨水区景观规划设计,应尊重城市地域性特点、文化内涵和风土人情,并与传统的滨水活动有机结合,保护和突出城市历史格局和风貌特色。     

Transboundary governance of the Curonian Spit World Heritage Site

This study describes the governance and management structures of the Curonian Spit World Heritage Site, a transboundary protected area shared by Lithuania and the Russian Federation. Focusing on the national park authorities it presents the site from a local administrative perspective. The paper shows that due to strong state level influence and a lack of full stakeholder inclusion, different philosophies and priorities on both sides of the border challenge common management efforts and co-operation. Presenting the existing problems the paper points out the need for increased efforts at the state level as well as for the full inclusion of local communities to remove obstacles and foster co-operation. Hence, by adapting to certain environmental and transboundary governance principles, conflicts can be avoided and better results achieved.     

烟气同时脱硫脱硝化学反应的可能性分析

根据烟气气体组分情况,将可能发生的化学反应方程式进行筛选,确定独立反应个数。通过热力学计算得到了标准状态下热力学函数值,进而求得了不同温度下的热力学性质。通过标准生成自由焓、标准吉布斯自由能变、标准熵变的计算,分析了烟气同时脱硫、脱硝中发生化学反应的可能性,为烟气同时脱硫、脱硝动力学理论的研究打下了基础。     

能源利用中烃类气体检测技术研究进展

烃类气体作为地表油气地球化学勘查地下油气藏的直接指标,以及钻井液检测中指导钻井作业的重要因素,在挥发性烃类污染控制中也发挥着重要作用。通过对各类烃类气体检测技术现状和应用情况进行分析与整理,为该类技术针对不同目标的选择与组合提供了依据。     

Using multivariate regression modeling for sampling and predicting chemical characteristics of mixed waste in old landfills

Municipal solid waste landfills pose a threat on environment and human health, especially old landfills which lack facilities for collection and treatment of landfill gas and leachate. Consequently, missing information about emission flows prevent site-specific environmental risk assessments. To overcome this gap, the combination of waste sampling and analysis with statistical modeling is one option for estimating present and future emission potentials. Optimizing the tradeoff between investigation costs and reliable results requires knowledge about both: the number of samples to be taken and variables to be analyzed.This article aims to identify the optimized number of waste samples and variables in order to predict a larger set of variables. Therefore, we introduce a multivariate linear regression model and tested the applicability by usage of two case studies. Landfill A was used to set up and calibrate the model based on 50 waste samples and twelve variables. The calibrated model was applied to Landfill B including 36 waste samples and twelve variables with four predictor variables.The case study results are twofold: first, the reliable and accurate prediction of the twelve variables can be achieved with the knowledge of four predictor variables (Loi, EC, pH and Cl). For the second Landfill B, only ten full measurements would be needed for a reliable prediction of most response variables. The four predictor variables would exhibit comparably low analytical costs in comparison to the full set of measurements. This cost reduction could be used to increase the number of samples yielding an improved understanding of the spatial waste heterogeneity in landfills.Concluding, the future application of the developed model potentially improves the reliability of predicted emission potentials. The model could become a standard screening tool for old landfills if its applicability and reliability would be tested in additional case studies.