Performance assessment system of health,safety and environment based on experts' weights and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation

Performance evaluation of Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) is the measurement of a company's achievement in HSE management. In order to receive a comprehensive and objective evaluation result, it is necessary to consider all evaluation factors and experts at different levels when HSE performance assessment is conducted. To improve conventional HSE performance evaluation, where weighted average method was used, a Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation (FCE) method is used in this study by taking experts' weights into account. Further, an HSE operating performance assessment system is designed to simplify manual and complex assessment process and generate charts and analysis reports automatically. Finally, a case of petrochemical enterprise is used to illustrate the effectiveness of the method and system.     

The Ethical Contract as a Tool in Organic Animal Husbandry

This article explores what an ethicfor organic animal husbandry might look like,departing from the assumption that organicfarming is substantially based in ecocentricethics. We argue that farm animals arenecessary functional partners in sustainableagroecosystems. This opens up additional waysto argue for their moral standing. We suggestan ethical contract to be used as acomplementary to the ecocentric framework. Weexpound the content of the contract and end bysuggesting how to apply this contract inpractice. The contract enjoins us to share thewealth created in the agroecosystem (by ourjoint contributions) by enjoining us to carefor the welfare and needs of the individualanimal, and to protect them from exploitation(just as human co-workers should not beexploited). The contract makes promoting goodanimal welfare a necessary condition forbenefiting farm animals. Animals for their partare guaranteed coverage under the contract solong as they continue to contribute to thesystem with products and services.     

Human Diets and Animal Welfare: the Illogic of the Larder

Few moral arguments have been made against vegetarian diets. One exception is the “Logic of the Larder:” We do animals a favor by purchasing their meat, eggs, and milk, for if we did not purchase these products, fewer animals would exist. This argument fails because many farm animals have lives that are probably not worth living, while others prevent a significant number of wild animals from existing. Even if this were not so, the purchase of animal products uses resources that could otherwise be used to bring a much greater number of animals into existence.     

重构煤炭主体专业教育的公益性

从煤炭主体专业教育具有的公益性属性分析入手,指出煤炭主体专业的办学经费日紧和煤炭主体专业边缘化与去煤化,公益性日渐式微。建议从国家、高校、企业、个人家庭等各个层次全方位重构煤炭主体专业教育的公益性,加强国家利益至上,强化政府主渠道作用,在政策与教育投入要向其倾斜,优先发展与保障煤炭主体专业的教育,制定相关法规确保煤炭专业生源与人才培养质量,并在该领域就业。国家、企业、高校与个人家庭利益相关者都应在制度上强化各自应有的责任,从而形成一个多层次全方位良性互动发展的培养与吸纳人才的机制,确保煤炭主体专业教育的公益性,促进煤炭主体专业健康发展,满足安全生产的人才需求的供给,从而为煤炭安全生产提供重要保障。     

Global Trade in Exotic Pets 2006–2012

International trade in exotic pets is an important and increasing driver of biodiversity loss and often compromises the standards required for good animal welfare. We systematically reviewed the scientific and gray literature and used the United Nations Environment Programme ‐ World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP‐WCMC) Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) trade database to establish temporal and geographical trade patterns of live exotic birds, mammals, and reptiles and to describe trends in research, taxonomic representation, and level of threat and legal protection of species traded. Birds were the most species‐rich and abundant class reported in trade; reptiles were second most abundant but unusually the most studied in this context; and mammals were least abundant in trade. Mammalian and reptilian species traded as pets were more likely to be threatened than expected by random. There have been a substantial number of Appendix I listed captive‐bred mammals and birds and wild‐caught birds and reptiles reported in trade to CITES. We identified the Middle East's emerging role as a driver of demand for exotic pets of all taxa alongside the well‐established and increasing role of South America and Southeast Asia in the market. Europe, North America, and the Middle East featured most heavily in trade reports to CITES, whereas trade involving South America and Southeast Asia were given most emphasis in the literature. For effective monitoring of and appropriate response to the international exotic pet trade, it is imperative that the reliability and detail of CITES trade reports improve and that scientific research be directed toward those taxa and locations that are most vulnerable. El Mercado Global de Mascotas Exóticas 2006‐2012     

Welfare states and environmental states: a comparative analysis

A framework is presented for thinking about state intervention in developed capitalist economies in two domains: social policy and environmental policy (and, within that, climate-change policy). Five drivers of welfare state development are identified, the ‘five Is’ of Industrialisation: Interests, Institutions, Ideas/Ideologies, and International Influences. Research applying this framework to the postwar development of welfare states in the OECD is summarised, distinguishing two periods: up to 1980, and from 1980 to 2008. How far this framework can contribute to understanding the rise and differential patterns of environmental governance and intervention across advanced capitalist states since 1970 is explored, before briefly comparing and contrasting the determinants of welfare states and environmental states, identifying common drivers in both domains and regime-specific drivers in each. The same framework is then applied to developments since 2008 and into the near future, sketching two potential configurations and speculating on the conditions for closer, more integrated ‘eco-welfare states’.     

Multi-objective Programming and Social Welfare Analysis of Rural–urban Land Conversion Decision-making

Abstract

Rural–urban land conversion is an inevitable phenomenon in urbanization and industrialization. And the decision-making issue about this conversion is multi-objective because the social decision maker (the whole of central government and local authority) has to integrate the requirements of different interest groups (rural collective economic organizations, peasants, urban land users and the ones affected indirectly) and harmonize the sub-objects (economic, social and ecological outcomes) of this land allocation process. This paper established a multi-objective programming model for rural–urban land conversion decision-making and made some social welfare analysis correspondingly. Result shows that the general object of rural–urban land conversion decision-making is to reach the optimal level of social welfare in a certain state of resources allocation, while the preference of social decision makers and the value judgment of interest groups are two crucial factors which determine the realization of the rural–urban land conversion decision-making objects.     

The reliability of experts' opinions in constructing a composite environmental index: The case of ESI 2005

The complexity of the environment demands a well-constructed composite environmental index (CEI) to provide a useful tool to draw attention to environmental conditions and trends for policy purposes. Among the common difficulties in constructing a proper CEI are uncertainties due to the selection of the most representative underlying variables or indicators. A degree of uncertainty accompanies experts' judgments, and to deal with vague, subjective or inconsistent information, logic other than classic is required. This study analyzes a procedure that uses different experts' opinions in constructing a CEI, with the use of paraconsistent annotated logic. For this, a sensitivity analysis of the Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI 2005) was used as an example to assess the reliability of experts' opinions. The uncertainty due to the disagreement in experts' opinions clearly indicates that the forms we presently use to measure and monitor the actual environment are insufficient, that is, there is a lack of a “science of sustainability”.     

Applying the Kuhn–Tucker model to estimate the value of recreational ecosystem services in Sicily

This paper applies the Kuhn–Tucker model to estimate recreation demand of parks in Sicily. We estimate a fixed coefficient specification and a random coefficient specification to take into account heterogeneity across visitors. Estimates suggest a diversity of preferences across the population and that parks with higher level of quality attributes are more likely to be visited. We also simulate two sets of hypothetical policy scenarios to evaluate and compare the recreational value of each park and the welfare impacts of changes in a quality attribute.     

农地城市流转中农民集体福利均衡分析

农地城市流转中不同利益集团的福利状况韭已成为学者和政策制定者关注的焦点.农民集体作为影响最为深刻的利益集团之一,其福利在农地城市流转中能否实现以及如何实现均衡成为本文研究的核心内容.本文首先介绍了农民集体福利的概念及其测度方法,然后论述福利均衡的概念,提出农民集体福利均衡分析的三个假设,在此基础上,对农地城市流转中的农民集体福利进行分析,提出实现农民集体福利均衡的条件,结果表明农地城市流转中农民集体福利均衡的必要条件为农民集体获得的经济补偿大于或等于其福利损失.然后通过比较分析发现当前土地征收中农民集体获得的福利补偿不能弥补其福利损失,农地城市流转前后农民集体福利呈现不均衡状态.最后提出农地城市流转中要尊重农民集体的土地产权,进一步提高农地征收的补偿标准,使农民集体获得的货币补偿能够弥补其由于土地财产损失造成的福利损失,以实现农民集体福利的均衡;政府应当通过改善农村交通、通讯、电力、饮水、居住等条件,完善农村社会保障体系等措施提高农民集体的福利水平,以弥补农民集体土地发展权受限造成的二次福利损失.