Understanding implications of consumer behavior for wildlife farming and sustainable wildlife trade

Unsustainable wildlife trade affects biodiversity and the livelihoods of communities dependent upon those resources. Wildlife farming has been proposed to promote sustainable trade, but characterizing markets and understanding consumer behavior remain neglected but essential steps in the design and evaluation of such operations. We used sea turtle trade in the Cayman Islands, where turtles have been farm raised for human consumption for almost 50 years, as a case study to explore consumer preferences toward wild‐sourced (illegal) and farmed (legal) products and potential conservation implications. Combining methods innovatively (including indirect questioning and choice experiments), we conducted a nationwide trade assessment through in‐person interviews from September to December 2014. Households were randomly selected using disproportionate stratified sampling, and responses were weighted based on district population size. We approached 597 individuals, of which 37 (6.2%) refused to participate. Although 30% of households had consumed turtle in the previous 12 months, the purchase and consumption of wild products was rare (e.g., 64–742 resident households consumed wild turtle meat [i.e., 0.3–3.5% of households] but represented a large threat to wild turtles in the area due to their reduced populations). Differences among groups of consumers were marked, as identified through choice experiments, and price and source of product played important roles in their decisions. Despite the long‐term practice of farming turtles, 13.5% of consumers showed a strong preference for wild products, which demonstrates the limitations of wildlife farming as a single tool for sustainable wildlife trade. By using a combination of indirect questioning, choice experiments, and sales data to investigate demand for wildlife products, we obtained insights about consumer behavior that can be used to develop conservation‐demand‐focused initiatives. Lack of data from long‐term social–ecological assessments hinders the evaluation of and learning from wildlife farming. This information is key to understanding under which conditions different interventions (e.g., bans, wildlife farming, social marketing) are likely to succeed.     

高强铝合金超塑挤压成形

主要介绍了工业牌号高强铝合金在供应态或经简单预处理后在通用油压机上超塑成形的实例,并分析探讨了非理想组织材料超塑成形中微观组织的变化。     

办公自动化系统的设计与实现

为满足公司长远发展需要，结合公司实际情况，设计并实现了办公自动化系统，解决了公文流转、电子邮件、信息发布等功能。     

杭州市办公场所室内空气中PBDEs的污染现状与特征

分析评价了杭州市办公场所中PBDEs的污染现状、污染特征.结果表明,办公场所中PBDEs气相和颗粒相总浓度范围为40.66~141.00 pg·m-3,平均浓度为93.22 pg·m-3,是家庭室内、室外浓度的1.87、5.01倍.BDE-47、BDE-99为办公场所中最重要的两种同系物,分别占总浓度的33.29%、31.99%.PBDEs气相浓度是颗粒相的1.34倍,其中BDE-28、BDE-47、BDE-99主要存在于气相中,BDE-153、BDE-183主要存在于颗粒相中.     

厦门室内多溴二苯醚的沉降通量、季节变化与人体暴露水平

室内灰尘是人体对多溴二苯醚(PBDEs)暴露的重要乃至主要途径.吸尘器收集的灰尘中PBDEs的含量与室内人员血液中该物质含量的相关性较差,不适用于估算人体暴露剂量,也不能研究其沉降通量及其季节变化,用被动采样法采集室内降尘则可弥补这些不足.在厦门市选取家庭、办公室、机房和家具厂等采样点49个,用水平放置的玻璃板(四周用洁净铝箔围起)采集一年四季的降尘样品,对降尘中PBDEs的沉降通量、含量、组成、季节变化与人体暴露水平等进行研究.厦门家庭、办公室、机房和家具厂中ΣPBDEs(16种BDE的和,含BDE-209)全年沉降通量几何均值分别为6.1、3.0、1.1和179.8ng·(m~2·d)~(-1),家庭室内ΣPBDEs沉降通量是办公室的两倍,但全年家庭室内降尘中ΣPBDEs的含量(445.5 ng·g~(-1))仅略高于办公环境(384.0 ng·g~(-1)).厦门家庭、办公室、机房ΣPBDEs年均沉降通量与国内外城市相比处于较低水平.家具厂PBDEs沉降通量远高于普通环境.秋季ΣPBDEs沉降通量最大.各类室内环境四季降尘ΣPBDEs中BDE-209的百分比几何均值都在80%以上.家庭、办公室和机房室内ΣPBDEs沉降通量和降尘通量显著相关,而家具厂ΣPBDEs沉降通量与降尘通量无显著相关性.家庭和办公室Σ_(15)PBDEs沉降通量与电脑年龄显著相关,而与电器和家具数量、装修等无统计显著相关性.室内降尘是人体对ΣPBDEs尤其是高溴BDEs的一条主要暴露途径.     

细水雾灭火剂在商用厨房中的应用研究

商用厨房火灾的最主要原因是油锅的持续高温引发食用油自燃起火,食用油极易复燃的火灾行为大大增加了其扑救难度,通过实验表明,细水雾灭火剂极强的冷却作用能够有效扑救食用油火灾.     

纳米镍/铁和铜/铁双金属对四氯乙烯脱氯研究

以实验室合成的纳米双金属颗粒(Ni/Fe和Cu/Fe)为反应材料,对四氯乙烯(PCE)进行脱氯试验研究.纳米金属颗粒(直径范围在1～100nm)比表面积比微米级铁颗粒高数十倍.结果表明,纳米Ni/Fe和Cu/Fe对四氯乙烯有明显的脱氯作用,且脱氯反应符合准一级反应动力学方程;在作为还原剂的铁表面镀上一薄层起催化作用的金属Ni或Cu,催化剂的存在大大降低脱氯反应活化能,提高了脱氯速率,并减少氯代副产物的产量.与零价铁及微米级双金属系统(Ni/Fe,Cu/Fe)相比,纳米颗粒对PCE的脱氯速率有明显提高,尤其是纳米Ni/Fe,标准化反应速率常数KSA为4.283 mL·m-2·h-1,分别比零价铁和微米级Ni/Fe系统快33.23倍和11.59倍.纳米Cu/Fe标准化反应速率常数KSA为1.194 mL·m-2·h-1,分别比零价铁和微米级Cu/Fe双金属系统快9.26倍和5.24倍.在相同条件下,纳米Ni/Fe脱氯速率常数KSA是纳米Cu/Fe的3.59倍.     

A Rapid Method for Assessing the Environmental Performance of Commercial Farms in the Pampas of Argentina

The generation of reliable updated information is critical to support the harmonization of socio-economic and environmental issues in a context of sustainable development. The agro-environmental assessment and management of agricultural systems often relies on indicators that are necessary to make sound decisions. This work aims to provide an approach to (a) assess the environmental performance of commercial farms in the Pampas of Argentina, and (b) propose a methodological framework to calculate environmental indicators that can rapidly be applied to practical farming. 120 commercial farms scattered across the Pampas were analyzed in this study during 2002 and 2003. Eleven basic indicators were identified and calculation methods described. Such indicators were fossil energy (FE) use, FE use efficiency, nitrogen (N) balance, phosphorus (P) balance, N contamination risk, P contamination risk, pesticide contamination risk, soil erosion risk, habitat intervention, changes in soil carbon stock, and balance of greenhouse gases. A model named Agro-Eco-Index was developed on a Microsoft-Excel support to incorporate on-farm collected data and facilitate the calculation of indicators by users. Different procedures were applied to validate the model and present the results to the users. Regression models (based on linear and non-linear models) were used to validate the comparative performance of the study farms across the Pampas. An environmental dashboard was provided to represent in a graphical way the behavior of farms. The method provides a tool to discriminate environmentally friendly farms from those that do not pay enough attention to environmental issues. Our procedure might be useful for implementing an ecological certification system to reward a good environmental behavior in society (e.g., through tax benefits) and generate a commercial advantage (e.g., through the allocation of green labels) for committed farmers.     

Gender differences in public office workers’ satisfaction,subjective symptoms and musculoskeletal complaints in workplace and office environments

This study investigates differences between male and female public office workers’ satisfaction levels, sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms and musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) complaints in workplace and office environments. Questionnaire surveys were performed in 30 offices from 15 public institutions. Male and female workers of the same age were coupled and selected from each office, gathering a total of 120 male and 120 female subjects. The results show that differences exist between genders in noise and lighting satisfaction levels, SBS-related symptoms (eye, nose, skin) and MSD complaints of hand/wrist/finger, while there is no difference in overall satisfaction level of office environments. The study also suggests that office design for public office workers should take into account gender differences in preventing MSDs and also SBS. The findings of this study are expected to serve as basic data for designing effective public office environments.     

Incidence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in central air conditioner filter dust from a new office building

This study examined polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in central air conditioner filter (CACF) dust from a new office building in Shenzhen, China. Human exposure to PBDE via dust inhalation and ingestion were also estimated. PBDEs level in CACF dust was lower than those in the other countries and regions. Approximately 0.671 pg/kg bw/day PM_2.5 (Particulate Matter up to 2.5 μm in size) bounded Σ₁₅PBDEs can be inhaled deep into the lungs and 4.123 pg/kg bw/day PM₁₀ (Particulate Matter up to 10 μm in size) bounded Σ₁₅PBDEs tend to be deposited in the upper parts of the respiratory system. The average total intake of Σ₁₅PBDEs via dust inhalation and ingestion for adults reached ∼141 pg/kg bw/day in this building. This value was far below the reference dose (RfD) recommended by United States Environmental Protection Agency. Human exposure to PBDEs via dust inhalation and ingestion in the new building is less than the old ones.