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.     

2002年我国事故与灾害状况综述

本对我国2002年的安全生产事故及自然灾害情况进行了总结和评述。包括火灾(城乡火灾、森林火灾、草原火灾)、天气气候特征、农业自然灾害(干旱、洪涝、风雹、低温冻害)、海洋灾害(风暴潮、赤潮、海浪)、地质灾害(地震、泥石流、水土流失)等。     

Solar energy for electricity and fuels

Solar energy conversion into electricity by photovoltaic modules is now a mature technology. We discuss the need for materials and device developments using conventional silicon and other materials, pointing to the need to use scalable materials and to reduce the energy payback time. Storage of solar energy can be achieved using the energy of light to produce a fuel. We discuss how this can be achieved in a direct process mimicking the photosynthetic processes, using synthetic organic, inorganic, or hybrid materials for light collection and catalysis. We also briefly discuss challenges and needs for large-scale implementation of direct solar fuel technologies.     

Review of LCA studies of solid waste management systems – Part II: Methodological guidance for a better practice

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is increasingly used in waste management to identify strategies that prevent or minimise negative impacts on ecosystems, human health or natural resources. However, the quality of the provided support to decision- and policy-makers is strongly dependent on a proper conduct of the LCA. How has LCA been applied until now? Are there any inconsistencies in the past practice? To answer these questions, we draw on a critical review of 222 published LCA studies of solid waste management systems. We analyse the past practice against the ISO standard requirements and the ILCD Handbook guidelines for each major step within the goal definition, scope definition, inventory analysis, impact assessment, and interpretation phases of the methodology. Results show that malpractices exist in several aspects of the LCA with large differences across studies. Examples are a frequent neglect of the goal definition, a frequent lack of transparency and precision in the definition of the scope of the study, e.g. an unclear delimitation of the system boundaries, a truncated impact coverage, difficulties in capturing influential local specificities such as representative waste compositions into the inventory, and a frequent lack of essential sensitivity and uncertainty analyses. Many of these aspects are important for the reliability of the results. For each of them, we therefore provide detailed recommendations to practitioners of waste management LCAs.     

碳排放影响因子与碳足迹文献综述:基于研究方法视角

从研究方法的角度出发,对近年来国内外碳排放影响因子及碳足迹的相关研究进行文献综述。根据碳排放影响因子的研究方法—情景分析法、因素分解法中的指数分解法以及其他计量模型,介绍了国内外关于碳排放影响因子的研究现状,最后对方法进行归类和对比。根据碳足迹研究方法—投入产出法、生命周期评价法、IPCC法以及其他模型,分析了国内外关于碳足迹的研究进展。最后通过总结,对碳排放和碳足迹的未来研究方向进行了展望。     

硒汞相互作用及机理研究进展

硒汞相互作用研究在过去近半个世纪以来一直都是汞(硒)环境化学和毒理学及相关学科研究的重要领域之一,尤其在近10年内,对该领域的研究和认识取得了重要突破, 国际上几乎每年都会出现与之相关的综述或评论。相比之下,国内期刊报道与之相关的综述文献并不多见。本文对这一领域的研究进展进行了尽可能详尽的系统介绍,并就重要问题阐述了相关观点并提出建议。内容上涵盖了"自然条件环境下硒汞相互作用及机理(包括水生生态系统和陆地生态系统)"、"哺乳动物(及人体)的硒汞相互作用及机理",以及"汞污染风险的新评估模式及相关建议"等三大部分。希望能对国内感兴趣的相关科研人员和环境管理工作者了解该领域的发展和动态起到一定的帮助。     

环境决策技术评价方法研究述评

针对环境决策分析过程中存在的问题,介绍了对环境决策技术评价的意义和现状,探讨了在环境决策中几种技术评价的方法,目前有关技术评价的方法与观点众多,总体上可归纳为层次分析法、模糊综合评价法、灰色综合评判法、费用效益分析法。这些分析法的应用能够促进环境决策管理从粗放型向精细化转变。为环境投资效益分析和环境决策提供了科学、合理、高效的技术支撑。本文介绍了几种技术评价方法的概念和发展历程,分析了各种方法的适用范围和优缺点。     

含油废水处理技术

概述了含油废水的来源、特点、分类及危害,介绍了含油废水的处理方法的原理、优势及存在的问题,同时简述了各种处理方法的最新研究成果,最后提出了含油废水发展趋势。     

我国辐射环境自动监测系统建设的回顾与展望

辐射环境自动监测是我国辐射环境监测工作的重要内容,是核与辐射安全监管工作的重要手段.本文回顾了“十一五”以来,我国辐射环境自动监测系统建设的进展情况和在核与辐射监管工作中所发挥的作用,总结了辐射环境自动监测系统的建设和运行经验,并对今后的工作进行了展望,提出了完善系统建设和运行的合理化建议.研究指出,作为国家辐射环境监测网的重要组成部分,辐射环境自动监测系统初步具备了对我国省会城市和主要地级城市的辐射环境质量状况的实时监测能力.但由于我国辐射环境自动监测站于2008年底才开始在全国范围内建设,起步较晚、经验不足,依然存在点位数量和代表性不够、自动化程度不够高、软件系统功能不成熟、标准化和规范化问题比较突出,缺乏质量控制技术、运行维护难度大等问题.为此本文提出：第一,增加自动监测站数量,点位布设更有针对性;第二,增加自动监测站的类型;第三,加强软件系统的分析和控制能力;第四,完善相关标准、技术规范和质保体系;第五,完善运行维护体系;第六,增强国际学习和交流.