Influence of floc dynamic protection layer on alleviating ultrafiltration membrane fouling induced by humic substances

Cake layer formation is inevitable over time for ultrafiltration (UF) membrane-based drinking water treatment. Although the cake layer is always considered to cause membrane fouling, it can also act as a “dynamic protection layer”, as it further adsorbs pollutants and dramatically reduces their chance of getting to the membrane surface. Here, the UF membrane fouling performance was investigated with pre-deposited loose flocs in the presence of humic acid (HA). The results showed that the floc dynamic protection layer played an important role in removing HA. The higher the solution pH, the more negative the floc charge, resulting in lower HA removal efficiency due to the electrostatic repulsion and large pore size of the floc layer. With decreasing solution pH, a positively charged floc dynamic protection layer was formed, and more HA molecules were adsorbed. The potential reasons were ascribed to the smaller floc size, greater positive charge, and higher roughness of the floc layer. However, similar membrane fouling performance was also observed for the negative and positive floc dynamic protection layers due to their strong looseness characteristics. In addition, the molecular weight (MW) distribution of HA also played an important role in UF membrane fouling behavior. For the small MW HA molecules, the chance of forming a loose cake layer was high with a negatively charged floc dynamic protection layer, while for the large MW HA molecules it was high with a positively charged floc dynamic protection layer. As a result, slight UF membrane fouling was induced.     

区域产业结构转型升级水平与旅游扶贫效率耦合关系——以武陵山片区为例

以武陵山片区42个国家级贫困县（市、区）为案例地,综合运用SBM模型、改进的熵值法与耦合协调模型,揭示产业结构转型升级水平与旅游扶贫效率耦合协调关系的时空演化特征。结果表明:（1）武陵山片区整体及各分片区产业结构转型升级指数均呈波浪式变化,湖北片区、重庆片区以及武陵山片区整体的旅游扶贫效率呈上升态势,而湖南片区和贵州片区略有下降;（2）产业结构转型升级水平与旅游扶贫效率不耦合、不协调的县域单元主要集中在武陵山片区中部,数量逐年减少,实现耦合和协调的县域数量显著增加并向边缘地带形成集聚态势;（3）不耦合失调（类型1）向耦合协调（类型2）转变是核心转变路径,促使类型2的地区数量显著增多,并逐渐在研究区域边缘形成带状分布。研究可为集中连片特困地区产业结构优化升级和跨越贫困陷阱提供参考借鉴。     

城镇化建设中的减灾思考

十六大以来，我国迎来了全面推进城镇化建设的一个黄金时期，在小城镇建设当中要以“以人为本”的理念为指导，走科学规划、合理布局的道路。这就必然要将减灾概念融入城镇建设当中，对可能发生的地震等灾害进行设防，建设充满人文关怀的小城镇．本文对小城镇的减灾工作的若干问题进行了探讨.     

浅议云南省公路养护与环境保护对策

对公路养护施工中产生的环境影响进行了分析,提出了缓解措施和加强施工管理的建议。     

矿业权集聚、经济增长与区域贫困减缓

本文基于泰尔指数法,计算并测度了中国资源富集区的城乡收入差距与行业(矿业)收入差距,然后结合矿业权集聚度的测度结果和中国资源税改革的变动特征,建立面板数据回归模型,考察了2004—2014年中国资源富集区矿业权集聚与经济增长、贫困减缓的长期关系。本文的主要结论是:资源税对矿业权集聚水平和矿业经济增长具有正向刺激作用,但矿业经济增长并不利于地区经济的整体改进,也不利于区域贫困减缓。资源税低水平征收对"资源诅咒"和"区域贫困"具有传导效应,进而对资源富集区的贫困减缓形成阻滞作用。另外,矿业权集聚对地区贫困的影响存在异质性,异质性揭示了区域资源性收益分配存在的差异。短期来看,矿业权集聚使中央企业惠及更多,是引致"富饶中的贫困"怪圈的重要原因;但长期来看,随着矿业权集聚度的提升,地方政府获得的累积性资源性收益不断上升,渐次增强了地方政府通过社会保障支出实施收入调节的能力,总体上有利于区域贫困的减缓。因此,为实现资源富集区的精准扶贫,资源主管部门在制定减贫措施前,应根据不同区域特点区别对待,短期内应着力于调整资源性收益分配机制,赋予地方更多资源性收益,并加大对社会的保障性支出;长期来看,应探索建立合理有效的资源税体制,促进经济增长方式的多样化,并鼓励科技创新,进一步提高社会群体的受教育程度,从根本上改变区域贫困产生的内生性环境和外生性环境。     

产业精准扶贫作用机制研究

在精准扶贫的国家战略下,产业扶贫被赋予了新的内涵,承担起贫困户的"造血"功能,成为精准扶贫的核心,本文将其概括为"产业精准扶贫"。与已有研究不同,文章以产业精准扶贫与传统产业扶贫的区别以及产业精准扶贫怎样发挥作用这一科学问题为研究对象,综合运用了实地观察法、问卷调查法和深度访谈法,从微观尺度研究产业精准扶贫的作用机制。研究表明:(1)与传统产业扶贫停留在村一级或者大户层面不同,产业精准扶贫将产业透过村庄到农户,而且与贫困户的土地、资本和劳动力等生产要素有机地结合起来。(2)产业精准扶贫作用机制是通过利益相关方共同对土地、资本和劳动力等生产要素进行匹配的过程。产业精准扶贫突显了贫困户的主体性作用,着重强调贫困户自身拥有的土地、劳动力要素的参与,真正建构了多主体、多要素参与的长效机制。(3)产业精准扶贫是一个共同参与的过程。农户或是入股、务工或是自己发展产业,积极参与到农业生产中,通过政府引导、企业管理、村两委参与,促进贫困户参与在生产过程中,就产业过程中的事项达成共识,促进了贫困户的公民精神培育、实用技术掌握和思想观念转变。(4)产业精准扶贫是实现贫困人口增收发展的有效路径,但仍需注意风险防患。扶贫信息发布、帮扶单位责任人等扶贫利益相关者的组织和传播,为企业和社会资本进入贫困村奠定基础,但是,也相应地增加了产品销售问题和产业自然灾害的风险,产业贴补和金融扶持政策的稳定性也会影响产业精准扶贫的运行和成效。因此,要相应地加强对扶贫产业风险的预警,规避和降低产业扶贫风险。     

Cyclone mitigation, resource allocation and post-disaster reconstruction in south India: lessons from two decades of research

This paper opens with a history of development and disaster-prevention strategies in a cyclone-prone area of the east coast of India and traces the evolution in the area of British and Indian governments' programmes and policy over a century. Research over the last 20 years has shown, however, that the programmes and policies have failed to balance economic growth with safety. Resources intended for the benefit of all have been diverted by alliances of powerful people to a small minority, and recent developments have reduced the physical protection of the area. The result is that increasing numbers of people are vulnerable to the effects of cyclones and floods. The findings suggest that the best way to reduce vulnerability is to improve the socio-economic standing of the most vulnerable and for this to happen these people must have an assured income based on assets that will enable them to acquire social and economic credit-worthiness within the local economy. This paper presents evidence that suggests that non-governmental organisation (NGO)-supported co-operatives are the best way to achieve this through self-help and self-employment schemes. It also suggests that NGOs should be encouraged to take up environmentally and ecologically beneficial activities involving the poorest groups in the communities, in this way combining sustained self-employment with environmental protection.     

Transfrontier conservation areas: Integrating biodiversity and poverty alleviation in Southern Africa

Sub‐Saharan Africa continues to face the daunting challenge of alleviating poverty due to slow economic growth. In southern Africa, most countries are adopting policies that promote the integration of biodiversity conservation and rural development to contribute to rural poverty alleviation. Numerous approaches have been undertaken in this endeavour, including Transfrontier Parks (TFPs) and Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs). This paper discusses some of the limitations of the TFPs. In conclusion I posit that unlike TFPs, which are state controlled and managed, TFCAs, which promote multi‐land use and multi‐stakeholder participation are attainable and have a higher probability of sustaining biodiversity conservation and contributing to the alleviation of rural poverty, if: (i) areas of high biodiversity conservation within communal areas can be identified, zoned and leveraged to biodiversity conservation and managed in partnership between the communities and the private sector; (ii) local communities can secure legal rights to their customary land being devoted to biodiversity conservation and use such pieces of land as collateral in negotiating partnerships with the private sector in developing conservation‐based enterprises; (iii) functional community natural resource governance institutions can be established and empowered to represent their constituencies in securing fair equity from profits made from sustainable use of the conserved biodiversity assets and tourism businesses; (iv) concerted effort can be invested in developing and implementing family planning and fertility reduction strategies that would slow down human population growth to levels that can be sustained by the available natural resources; and (v) if sustainable financing mechanisms can be developed, and the governance of protected areas occurring in the TFCAs can be broadened to include other stakeholders.     

Implementing SDG 15: Can large‐scale public programs help deliver biodiversity conservation,restoration and management,while assisting human development?

Among the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the proposed SDG 15 promotes activities that, inter alia, “Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems”. An important potential contribution in achieving SDG 15 is through public programmes designed to jointly promote human development through poverty alleviation and improvement of human livelihoods and biodiversity conservation/management/restoration. An analysis of twenty public programmes with such joint objectives yielded twelve lessons learned. In addition to financial commitments, government and intergovernmental agency input for such public programmes includes ensuring political will and appropriate legal frameworks. Local communities and civil society provide input through traditional and indigenous ecological knowledge and stewardship. Appropriate shared inputs in development and the implementation of such public programmes, with communication between local community, broader civil society, the scientific community and governments will result in: better use and management of biodiversity; alleviation of poverty; security of livelihoods and better governance systems. The Ecosystem Approach of the Convention on Biological Diversity provides an ideal framework when planning and implementing new programmes. Application of the lessons learned to new public programmes will ensure that the answer to the question posed in the title is an emphatic “Yes”, and assist with the achievement of SDG 15.     

Sustainability and Local People’s Participation in Coastal Aquaculture: Regional Differences and Historical Experiences in Sri Lanka and the Philippines

This article discusses environmental sustainability in aquaculture and its contribution to poverty alleviation, based on field studies in Sri Lanka and the Philippines. The aquaculture practices studied are the monoculture of the black tiger prawn (Penneaus monodon) and milkfish (Chanos chanos) and the polyculture of the two species together with the mud crab (Scylla serrata). Factors affecting economic viability, social equity and environmental impacts in aquaculture are discussed and used to illuminate local and regional differences between aquaculture in Sri Lanka and the Philippines. Findings indicate that the most significant difference is the level of participation by local people (i.e., people originating ≤10 km away from the farm location). In the Philippines, 84 % of the people involved in aquaculture are locals, whereas in Sri Lanka, 55% are outsiders. Whether differences between the two areas can be explained by analyzing regional conditions, which might have resulted in different aquaculture practices, is discussed. In Sri Lanka, semi-intensive shrimp monoculture is currently the most common practice, whereas in the Philippines, extensive shrimp/fish polyculture is more common. Previous studies, as well as fieldwork, indicate that extensive culture practices reduce environmental impacts and benefit local people more. Sustainability in aquaculture is, however, also dependent on the extent of mangrove conversion into ponds. As such, extensive and locally owned farms do not necessarily result in an all but sustainable situation. Keeping this in mind, it is discussed if extensive polyculture practices might result in a more sustainable aquaculture, both environmentally and socioeconomically.