Sustainability: a Dissent

Abstract:  Broadly conceived and considered in its many usages, sustainability has grave defects as a planning goal, particularly when used by conservationists: it confuses means and ends; it is vague about what is being sustained and who or what is doing the sustaining; it is uninspiring; it is little more than Pinchot-era conservation (and thus ignores the many lessons learned since then); it need not be linked to land, to the land's functioning, or to any ecological science; it need not include a moral component; it is consistent with the view of humans as all-powerful manipulators of the planet; and, in general, it is such a malleable term that its popularity provides only a facade of consensus. When sustainability is defined broadly to include the full range of economic and social aspirations, it poses the particular risk that ecological and biodiversity concerns will be cast aside in favor of more pressing human wants. Given these many defects, the conservation movement should discard the term in favor of a more alluring goal, attentive to nature and its ecological functioning. A sound goal would incorporate and distill the considerable ecological and moral wisdom accumulated since Pinchot's day while giving conservationists the rhetorical tools needed to defend the land against competing pressures. In our view, conservation would be well served by an updated variant of "land health," Aldo Leopold's ecologically grounded goal from the 1940s. Land health as an independent understanding should set the essential terms of how we live and enjoy the earth, providing the framework within which we pursue our many social and economic aims.     

用好防灾科技学院教育平台 创建和弘扬防震减灾文化——恭贺母校升本暨校庆30周年

本文对防震减灾文化的组成、创建动力及其方法进行了探讨。初次提出了防震减灾文化的概念，并对创建防震减灾文化的目的和如何创建、弘扬防震减灾文化提出了看法和观点。     

Chorionic villus culture for prenatal diagnosis of chromosome defects: Reduction of the long-term cultivation time

We report in detail two series of chorionic villus cultivation for prenatal chromosomal diagnosis. Chorionic villi were sampled from both first- and second-trimester pregnancies. One hundred cultures were treated with trypsin–EDTA for 2 h and collagenase overnight, (method A) and 100 were treated with trypsin–EDTA for 1 h and collagenase for 2 h (method B). Using short-term enzymatic digestion, the cultivation time was reduced from 14 days to 6 days. Sufficient amounts of metaphases of good quality were present in 93 per cent of primary cultures harvested in situ, whereas enough metaphases of sufficiently good quality were in most cases present only after subcultivation of the cultures using method A. The decrease in cultivation time obtained is probably due to a higher yield of viable cells in monocellular suspension, an increased attachment efficiency, and a more rapid attachment of single cells (within 24 h).     

In vitro characteristics of human fetal cells obtained from chorionic villus sampling and amniocentesis

In vitro characteristics of human fetal cells have been investigated after chorionic villus sampling at the first trimester and amniocentesis at the second trimester of pregnancy. Light microscopy revealed heterogeneous morphology of cell types in both the chorionic villus culture and the amniotic fluid cultures. Based on the experiments performed, chorionic villus cells are more sensitive to pronase, trypsin, and versene during subculture and have a higher DNA content per single cell and release more [¹²⁵I]-Beta-human chorionic gonadotropin into culture medium than those found in amniotic fluid cells. The practical applications of this study are discussed.     

Acid resistance of methanogenic bacteria in a two-stage anaerobic process treating high concentration methanol Wastewater

In this study, the two-stage upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) system and batch experiments were employed to evaluate the performance of anaerobic digestion for the treatment of high concentration methanol wastewater. The acid resistance of granular sludge and methanogenic bacteria and their metabolizing activity were investigated. The results show that the pH of the first UASB changed from 4.9 to 5.8 and 5.5 to 6.2 for the second reactor. Apparently, these were not the advisable pH levels that common methanogenic bacteria could accept. The methanogenic bacteria of the system, viz. Methanosarcina barkeri, had some acid resistance and could still degrade methanol at pH 5.0. If the methanogenic bacteria were trained further, their acid resistance would be improved somewhat. Granular sludge of the system could protect the methanogenic bacteria within its body against the impact of the acidic environment and make them degrade methanol at pH 4.5. The performance of granular sludge was attributed to its structure, bacteria species, and the distribution of bacterium inside the granule. Translated from Acta Scientiae Circumstantiae, 2004, 24(4): 633–636 [译自: 环境科学学报]     

Exclusion of chromosomal mosaicism in amniotic fluid cultures: Efficacy of in situ versus flask techniques

Accurate diagnosis of mosaicism in amniotic fluid cell cultures represents a major problem. If insufficient cells are analysed, true fetal mosaicism may go undetected. False-positive diagnosis is also possible since a second cell line may arise in vitro and not reflect the true fetal genetic constitution. These difficulties apply to both flask and in situ culture techniques, to varying degrees. The relative accuracy of flask versus in situ culture techniques in excluding mosaicism was determined by statistical analysis of experimental data from ten pairs of mixed male-female amniotic fluid specimens. The data support the idea that the majority of in situ colonies are independent of one another. The following conclusions are drawn: (1) analysis of a single metaphase from a number of different colonies enhances the confidence for excluding mosaicism; (2) analysis of more than one cell per colony offers little advantage; (3) exclusion of a given level of mosaicism requires analysis of fewer metaphases using the in situ method; (4) the confidence for excluding mosaicism is high with both in situ and flask techniques, using the provided guidelines; and (5) it is shown that the two-stage approach used by many laboratories is currently the most efficient way to exclude mosaicism.     

甘蔗糖蜜酒精废液培养食用菌丝的研究

以甘蔗糖蜜酒废液作为唯一原料对多种食用菌丝进行培养比较，筛选出最适于废液生长的菌种--灵芝菌，并研究了种龄、温度、pH值等对菌丝生长的影响。在不需添加其它营养物质的情况下，培养周期力为4d，菌丝得率达1.1g/100ml。废液的糖浓度从2.1g/100ml降到0.5g/100ml，COD除去率为39％左右。     

利用PCR-DGGE技术分析生物陶粒硝化反应器中微生物群落动态

为了揭示生物陶粒硝化反应器中活性污泥的微生物种群多样性,从运行不同时期的反应器中提取活性污泥,利用PCR-DGGE技术初步分析了生物陶粒反应器细菌的种群演替情况.结果表明,随着进水COD值的逐阶段降低,氨氮去除率逐步提高到64.38%.群落结构和优势种群的数量具有时序动态性,微生物多样性与废水的处理效果出现协同变化的特征.测序结果表明,生物陶粒反应器中运行第21天的优势种群除了自养细菌,还有异养细菌存在.其中自养细菌为Nitrosospira.sp和Nitrobacter.sp,异养细菌为Bacillus.sp、Pseudomonas.sp和Pseudochrobactrum.sp.     

长炼第二污水处理场氧化沟工艺运行小结

臭伯尔氧化沟池容大，停留时间长，运行稳定，对氧化沟污泥培养及开工运行进行了小结，并结合运行过程中的几个问题进行了分析和探讨。     

高等工程教育与工程技术人员的安全文化素质的培养

从现代生产体系的特点以及产品设计缺陷对人的危害等方面阐述了提高工程技术人员安全文化素质的必要性。进而讨论了我国高等工程教育与安全文化素质培养相脱节的表现和原因。在此基础上，提出了改进高等工程教育，促进工程技术人员安全文化素质提高的一些设想