A Guide to Understanding Social Science Research for Natural Scientists

Natural scientists are increasingly interested in social research because they recognize that conservation problems are commonly social problems. Interpreting social research, however, requires at least a basic understanding of the philosophical principles and theoretical assumptions of the discipline, which are embedded in the design of social research. Natural scientists who engage in social science but are unfamiliar with these principles and assumptions can misinterpret their results. We developed a guide to assist natural scientists in understanding the philosophical basis of social science to support the meaningful interpretation of social research outcomes. The 3 fundamental elements of research are ontology, what exists in the human world that researchers can acquire knowledge about; epistemology, how knowledge is created; and philosophical perspective, the philosophical orientation of the researcher that guides her or his action. Many elements of the guide also apply to the natural sciences. Natural scientists can use the guide to assist them in interpreting social science research to determine how the ontological position of the researcher can influence the nature of the research; how the epistemological position can be used to support the legitimacy of different types of knowledge; and how philosophical perspective can shape the researcher's choice of methods and affect interpretation, communication, and application of results. The use of this guide can also support and promote the effective integration of the natural and social sciences to generate more insightful and relevant conservation research outcomes. Una Guía para Entender la Investigación de Ciencias Sociales para las Ciencias Naturales Katie Moon     

西藏日土县班公错地区晚更新世晚期植物群与古气候探讨

本文通过孢粉分析及¹⁴C年龄测定,恢复西藏班公错地区晚更新世晚期的植物群。约在距今40,000—42,000年（a）期间,班公错盆地曾以半荒漠-草原-荒漠交替出现;山地上有少量乔木植物。古气候比现今湿润、气温偏高,以距今3.6—2.8 × 10⁴年（a）期间的温湿最明显。     

Prospects for stakeholder coordination by protected‐area managers in Europe

Growing resource demands by humans, invasive species, natural hazards, and a changing climate have created broad‐scale impacts and the need for broader‐extent conservation activities that span ownerships and even political borders. Implementing regional‐scale conservation brings great challenges, and learning how to overcome these challenges is essential for maintaining biodiversity (i.e., richness and evenness of biological communities) and ecosystem functions and services across scales and borders in the face of system change. We administered an online survey to examine factors potentially driving perspectives of protected‐area (PA) managers regarding coordination with neighboring PAs and other stakeholders (i.e., stakeholder coordination) for conserving biodiversity and ecosystem services during the next decade within diverse regions across Europe. Although >70% (n = 58) of responding PA managers indicated that climate change and invasive species are relevant for their PAs, they gave <50% probability that these threats could be mitigated through stakeholder coordination. They thought there was a >60% probability (n = 85) that stakeholder coordination would take place with the aim to improve conservation outcomes. Consistent with the foundation on which many European PAs were established, managers viewed maintaining or enhancing biodiversity as the most important (>70%; n = 61) expected benefit. Other benefits included maintaining or enhancing human resources and environmental education (range of Bayesian credibility intervals [CIs] 57–93%). They thought the main barriers to stakeholder coordination were the lack of human and economic resources (CI 59–67% chance of hindering; n = 64) followed by communication and interstakeholder differences in political structures and laws (CI 51–64% probability of hindering). European policies and strategies that address these hindering factors could be particularly effective means of enabling implementation of green infrastructure networks in which PAs are the nodes.     

四氟乙烷（HFC—134a）急性,亚急性毒性的研究

本文研究了四氟乙烷（ＨＦＣ－１３４ａ）和二氟二氯甲烷（ＣＦＣ－１３，氟利昂１２）的急性．亚急性毒性，给大鼠吸入高浓度ＨＦＣ－１３４ａ或ＣＦＣ－１２，观察和记录体重，心电图，血象，生化指标，脏器系数和病理组织学变化，结果显示：实验动物均无病理改变，无死亡，二者的毒性相近，属基本无毒，因此以毒性为指标，ＨＦＣ－１３４ａ可作为ＣＦＣ－１２的替代品。     

某电容器加速贮存寿命试验设计研究

加速贮存寿命试验设计是设计一个最优的试验指导方案.一个好的试验方案可以提高模型参数估计精度和寿命外推的准确性,可以缩短试验时间、提高试验效率.本文在探讨该电容器的失效机理分析的基础上,在从应力加载方式、应力类型、水平、参试样品、截尾方式、测试、判据等多方面开展试验方案的设计.     

Changing tracks as situations change: humanitarian and health response along the Liberia–Côte d'Ivoire border

In recent years, protracted crises and fragile post‐conflict settings have challenged the co‐existence, and even the linear continuum, of relief and development aid. Forced migration has tested humanitarian and development paradigms where sudden‐onset emergencies, violence and displacement arise alongside ongoing development work. Drawing on Médecins Sans Frontières interventions in the region from December 2010 to May 2011, this paper examines aid and healthcare responses to displacement in Côte d'Ivoire and Liberia; it focuses on challenges to the maintenance of preparedness for such foreseeable emergencies and to adaptation in response to changing situations of displacement and insecurity. This ‘backsliding’ from development to emergency remains a substantial challenge to aid; yet, in exactly such cases, it also presents the opportunity to ensure access to medical care that is much more urgently needed in times of crisis, including the suspension of user fees for medical care.     

Environmental change and normalization of cash crop systems in Africa: preventing agrarian change in West Africa cocoa

ABSTRACT

In recent years, environmental and demographic crises have often been associated with increasing hunger and poverty in agrarian societies. The potential of such crisis to play a positive role in the evolution of agriculture and agricultural societies has been overlooked. Environmental crises such as deforestation for example (in a production where forestland is a production factor) are points of resource alteration that require corresponding alterations in farming systems. Normalization occurs when farmers are induced to defy such signals indicating the need to diversify and instead choose to continue along their existing path regardless of the changing resource endowment. In the absence is replacement of the vital production factor such continuity has to be paid for.