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.     

Toxicological Assessment of Wastewater and Runoff from the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill

Russian Journal of Ecology -     

Attitudes towards sex selection for non-medical reasons: a review

Early non-invasive fetal sexing is widely available over the Internet, leading to concerns about its possible use for sex selection. The aim of this review is to summarise the results of surveys describing lay attitudes towards sex selection for non-medical reasons to help address or inform such concerns. A search of electronic databases and key journals was supplemented by an Internet search and citation-tracking. Twenty-one quantitative studies were identified. Most were conducted in the US, with five recent studies in the UK and Germany. Most studies found that, overall, people were not in favour of sex selection. However, this varied from 94 to 18%. People may hold more negative attitudes when the method of sex selection is specified, particularly if this involves termination of pregnancy (TOP). Attitudes towards the general availability of sex selection are less negative than those towards personal use. Attitudes were consistently negative in German surveys. Little is known of such attitudes outside the US, the UK and Germany, and how such attitudes may change as new sex selection technologies become available. Studies of use of early non-invasive fetal sexing for sex selection for non-medical reasons are needed to assess the extent to which concerns about usage are justified and to assist in debates on how these might be most appropriately addressed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Training refugees as primary health care workers: Past imperfect, future conditional

Many problems have been encountered in the planning and implementation of health care in refugee camps, and more specifically in the training of refugees as primary health care workers. A review of the published literature and a "survey" of the opinions and experiences of refugee, national and international health personnel regarding training has therefore been undertaken to provide an overview of what has been done and to make recommendations for future work.
The review highlights the need to reallocate resources away from high visibility emergency aid to development activities, such as training, that will create an infrastructure for primary health care and promote self-reliance.     

基于腔衰减相移光谱法的二氧化氮分析仪的设计与应用

基于腔衰减相移光谱法设计了一套二氧化氮在线分析仪,通过优化测量参数,该仪器可长期稳定运行,其时间分辨率为60 s,检出限为0.191 ppb,在0~300 ppb范围内,NO₂气体浓度与相位正切信号值具有较好的二次拟合关系,R²为0.9995.另外,该仪器在泰安站进行了长期外场观测,并与改装后的进口商品化仪器PKU-Thermo 42i-TL进行比对实验,结果表明,两者的测量结果一致性较好,R²=0.9811,表明其具有良好的运行稳定性和测定结果准确性,适用于环境大气二氧化氮浓度的在线监测.外场观测结果表明,春季泰安站二氧化氮浓度均值为12.39 ppb,有明显日变化规律.     

离子色谱分析中的几个问题探讨

在掌握离子色谱技术最新发展动态的基础上,对离子色谱的新进展、前处理新技术、常用的改善分离度方法、若干注意事项、常遇到的问题等进行了分析探讨,以期用离子色谱技术更多更好地解决实际问题.     

亚铵法制浆造纸厂中段废水处理技术分析研究

通过对采用两级气浮做预处理 ,生物硫化床串联接触氧化做深度处理的治理技术的分析研究 ,结合废水处理工程实例 ,说明了用两级串联气浮 +硫化床 +接触氧化工艺处理造纸中段水技术切实可靠 ,该治理工艺对处理亚铵法麦草制浆造纸中段废水有较强的针对性和可行性。     

Integrating disciplinary research into an interdisciplinary framework: A case study in sustainability research

The complexity of today’s research problems increasingly demands that scientists move beyond the confines of their own discipline. In this special issue, the basics of a transdisciplinary framework are established and problems analyzed in a specific discipline are successfully integrated in this transdisciplinary network. The intent has been to go beyond only statements about the importance of enabling early stage researchers to work across disciplinary boundaries, and to show that important discoveries are being made at the intersection of disciplines. Embedding various research projects in a more global framework can meet the demands of an interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary approach (especially for early stage researchers) and contribute significantly to sustainable research.     

酸雨研究的现状和发展趋势

介绍了酸雨的起因和目前国内外开展的 1 1个研究领域 ,叙述了各个领域的研究现状和发展趋势 ,指出要解决酸雨问题 ,应通过对酸性污染物的排放、迁移扩散、转化、沉降、对水及陆地生态系统的影响等基础研究和信息 ,制定出控制污染源的排放、节能及生态恢复对策     

水体中酚类化合物分光光度分析方法的研究

对国内外水体中酚类化合物现有的分光光度分析方法进行了文献综述 ,内容包括可见光分光光度法、紫外光分光光度法、荧光分光光度法和流动注射分光光度法。在总结归纳的基础上 ,提出了水体中酚类化合物分光光度分析方法的发展方向。