Incorporating environmental justice into environmental decision making

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wolfe, A.K.; Vogt, D.P.; Hwang, Ho-Ling [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)] [and others

1995-07-01

Executive Order 12898, signed on February 11, 1994, broadly states that federal activities, programs, and policies should not produce disproportionately high and adverse impacts on minority and low-income populations. Moreover, the Order indicates that these populations should not be denied the benefits of, or excluded from participation in, these activities, programs, and policies. Because a presidential memorandum accompanying the order said that National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents should begin to address environmental justice immediately, much attention has been paid to assessment-related issues. Also important, a topic that appears to have received relatively little attention, is how decision makers should be expected to use information about environmental justice in their decision making. This paper discusses issues surrounding the use of environmental justice information in the decision-making process by focusing on the following five main topics: (1) the importance, or weight, attached to environmental justice within larger decision-making contexts; (2) the potential tension between localized environmental justice issues and regional or national issues and needs; (3) the use of environmental justice information to develop (perhaps in concert with affected minority and low-income communities) appropriate mitigation strategies, or to establish conditions under which activities, programs, and policies may be accepted locally; (4) the general implications of shifting the distribution of broadly defined risks, costs, and benefits among different population groups; and (5) the implications of implementing environmental justice on an individual, ad hoc basis rather than within a larger environmental justice framework. This paper raises the issues and discusses the implications of alternative approaches to them.

Context and systems: thinking more broadly about effectiveness in strategic environmental assessment in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Bina, Olivia

2008-10-01

China is an illustrative--and extreme--case of the difficulties of balancing the pursuit of economic, social, and environmental objectives. In 2003 it adopted a form of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for its plans and programs (referred to here as PEIA) with the aim of moving towards greater environmental sustainability. The literature has explored primarily the issue of methods and legal procedures. This research contributes to the analysis of PEIA through a different set of interpretative lens. Drawing on recent developments in the theory and practice of SEA, I propose a conceptualization of SEA effectiveness that combines direct and incremental impacts, and a need for context-specific systems as a way to focus on the relationship between assessment, planning, and their context, and thus maximize effectiveness. This framework underpins the analysis of China's experience, which I explore with the help of interview material and the literature. The result is an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of PEIA in terms of its purpose, assessment concept, process, and methods. The detailed analysis of six aspects of the context helps explain the origin of such shortcomings, and identify opportunities for its improvement. I conclude defining elements of a context-specific system for SEA that seeks to maximize the opportunity for incremental, as well as direct, effectiveness in China.

Enviromental Education as a Response to Chaos Socio-Environmental in the Context of Risk Society

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dayla Barbosa Pinto

2016-12-01

Full Text Available With the imbalance in the relation man-nature settled a social-environmental crisis, whose own humanity began to suffer the consequences of its consumerist onslaughts. Within this context, Environmental Education is a valuable tool, capable of freeing man from the living circle of consumerism and putting him on the axis of his own existence again. Thus, this study seeks to demonstrate that the equilibrium in the relationship between man and nature and the management of the socio-environmental crisis must start from the (re education of humanity regarding modernity and its effects, adopting for this the methodology of qualitative bibliographical research, Analysis of doctrine and scientific articles. Thus, the exploratory method of the proposed theme was used, pointing to environmental education as a response mechanism to the disorder imposed in the context of the risk society.

Development of the competitive business in the context of environmental legislation in Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Matesić, Mirjana; Kalambura, Sanja; Bacun, Dubravka

2014-03-01

Environmental protection has a key role in the context of crisis management. It is not just about development of the industry of environmental protection and implementation of new ways of management in innovative solutions in solving problems. Important area of improvement is also revision of environmental legislation aiming at simplification and reduction of costs of procedures for the business. This paper discusses problems of business sector in Croatia related to transposition of demanding environmental EU regulation, it suggests improvements such as simplification of special waste management systems, of environmental impact assessments processes, environmental permitting etc. The paper considers revision of environmental protection not by lowering environmental standards, but by introducing transparent and compromising models between business and environmental protection, based on sustainable development, with control mechanisms which don't impact functioning of business sector (and its competitiveness), therefore allowing successful protection of environment and its renewable and non-renewable resources.

Ecological and environmental education in the ethical context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Żeber-Dzikowska Ilona

2016-06-01

Full Text Available In the article, the authors elaborate on an important aspect concerning ecological and environmental education in the context of complex ethical issues. They make the reader aware of the crucial role education serves when it is connected with pro-ecological and pro-environmental education as well as ecological ethics, which aims at determining a man’s attitude towards nature. They stress the importance of ecological ethics for society to function properly. Ethics is an inherent element of the whole universe, and primarily of ecology and environmental protection, which the article tries to present and prove. Not only does ethics refer to environmental protection, but also becoming familiar with nature. Most people do not realise what danger they can expose one another to until they experience it themselves. A man is not capable of existing without the resources the nature provides us with, which is an adequate reason why we should take care of it the best we can. To achieve it, new regulations to be observed are introduced. They are designed to make us stop progressive environmental degradation and also, restore the environment. People perform an important role in the existence of the environment as long as they treat it rightfully by following the voice of their conscience, which can influence its survival. We should take care of nature, treat it as a family member with love and kindness and then we can be sure it will not surprise us with something unexpected. We should take care of everything nature consists of, that is, plants, animals, water, soil and air because when we take care of all these aspects, we also take care of ourselves and the whole society

The circumvention of obstacles during walking in different environmental contexts: a comparison between older and younger adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Gérin-Lajoie, Martin; Richards, Carol L; McFadyen, Bradford J

2006-11-01

Avoiding pedestrians is an integral part of our daily activities, yet this locomotor activity has received little attention in gait research. A recent study [Motor Control 2005;9:242] described the motor strategies used by young adults to circumvent an obstruction in different environmental contexts including obstacle movement, certainty about this obstacle movement and auditory distractions. The relationship between normal aging and such locomotor activity within these different environmental contexts, however, is not known. The purpose of this study was thus to compare the walking speed and the personal space-a protective zone preserved around the body-in healthy younger and older adults during obstacle circumvention in the above mentioned environmental contexts. The movements of nine younger adults (24.6+/-4.1 years) and nine older adults (69.7+/-3.2 years) were measured as they circumvented a stationary or moving mannequin with and without initial knowledge of the obstacle's displacements. Participants also had to pay attention to auditory messages, played in half of the trials, and to answer related questions. Results showed that all three environmental factors resulted in decreased gait speed in both groups, but the effect of auditory distractions was greater in older adults. Older adults also increased their personal space more than younger adults while paying attention to messages and they made more mistakes when answering related questions. Therefore, even if such an avoidance task is performed routinely, the increased information processing demanded by the environmental context affected both the motor and cognitive performance of older adults more than that of younger adults. Copyright 2005 Elsevier B.V.

Current policies, strategies and aspects of environmental impact assessment in a transboundary context

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-01-01

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) has already shown its value for implementing and strengthening sustainable development, as it combines the precautionary principles with the principle of preventing environmental damage and also arranges for public participation. EIA is already used as an effective instrument for improving the quality of the environment at the national level and it is understood that the EIA Convention will lead to environmentally sound and sustainable development by providing information on the interrelationship between economic activities and their environmental consequences in particular in a transboundary context. The Convention obliges Parties to assess the environmental impacts at an early stage of planning and includes measures and procedures to prevent, control or reduce any significant adverse effect on the environment, particularly any transboundary effect, which is likely to be caused by a proposed activity or any major change to an existing activity

Environmental Education and Sustainability: Reflections in a Management Context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leandro Petarnella

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This study aims to reflect and discuss on Environmental Education (EE and Sustainability Education in Management, particularly stricto sensu Postgraduate Programmes. For this, it studies the history and the subject longevity in its transience, therefore it is a review article. This study was conducted through an exploratory approach, with a qualitative method of inductive reasoning, based on literature and document review for conceptual appropriation. Its relevance addresses two inter, multi and transdisciplinary issues, which reveal and complement each other in a broader social understanding. The reflections here discussed under the administration context, point to the challenge of the respective area. This should devise and disseminate scientific knowledge from and related to management that can operate under changes in the current social paradigm in which this science is linked to the others paradigm that is expected in the future: management contextualized and articulated with the sustainability paradigm. The study’s conclusion is that the challenge of incorporating sustainability into the teaching of stricto sensu Postgraduation in Management should be addressed through environmental education.

Teaching Negotiation in the Context of Environmental Regulatory Enforcement: An Experiential Learning Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Choy, Marisa S.; Johnson, Stephen A.; Ortolano, Leonard

2011-01-01

This article describes a simulation-based teaching approach that helps university students learn about negotiation in the context of environmental regulatory enforcement. The approach centers on negotiation of a penalty between government agencies and a fictitious corporation that has violated provisions of the U.S. Clean Water Act. The exercise…

Environmental context effects on episodic memory are dependent on retrieval mode and modulated by neuropsychological status.

Science.gov (United States)

Barak, Ohr; Vakil, Eli; Levy, Daniel A

2013-01-01

Contextual change or constancy between occasions of memory formation and retrieval are commonly assumed to affect retrieval success, yet such effects may be inconsistent, and the processes leading to the pattern of effects are still not well understood. We conducted a systematic investigation of environmental context effects on memory, using a range of materials (common objects, pictures of familiar and unfamiliar faces, words, and sentences), and four types of retrieval (free recall, cued recall, recognition, and order memory), all assessed within participants. Additionally, we examined the influence of mnemonic challenge on context effects by examining both healthy participants and a group of patients in rehabilitation following traumatic brain injury (TBI). We found no effects of contextual factors on tests of recognition for either group of participants, but effects did emerge for cued and free recall, with the most prominent effects being on memory for objects. Furthermore, while patients' memory abilities in general were impaired relative to the comparison group, they exhibited greater influences of contextual reinstatement on several recall tasks. These results support suggestions that environmental context effects on memory are dependent on retrieval mode and on the extent to which retrieval is challenging because of neurocognitive status. Additionally, findings of environmental context effects in memory-impaired TBI patients suggest that by harnessing such preserved indirect memory (e.g., using reminder technologies), it may be possible to ameliorate TBI patients' difficulties in explicit remembering.

Development of environmental education in the Korean kindergarten context

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Keum Ho

Many environmental educators insist that environmental education (EE) should be started from a young age. The Korean Ministry of Education (1999) has also emphasized the importance of environmental education in early childhood by including content and objectives regarding EE in the 1999 National Curriculum of Kindergarten. However, many Korean kindergarten teachers do not sufficiently implement environmental education in their teaching practice. To address this issue, this study aimed at investigating and overcoming barriers to fully implement EE in the Korean kindergarten context. Four experienced Korean kindergarten teachers were involved in a fourteen-week critical action research project that included weekly group meetings. At these group meetings, teachers reflected on the barriers preventing the full implementation of EE in their classrooms and discussed possible environmental education actions to be attempted in the following week. These actions, individually implemented in teachers' classrooms, were reviewed at subsequent group meetings. Data from group meetings and teacher lessons were used to analyze the effectiveness of this critical action research project for developing environmental education. At the beginning stages of this study, Korean kindergarten teachers felt strongly uncomfortable participating in group communication. However, through the continuous encouragement of the researcher and with the involvement of participants who have similar educational backgrounds, age, and working experiences, participants came to actively engage in group communication. Participants in this study identified the following barriers to fully implement EE in kindergartens: insufficient understandings and awareness of EE, reluctant attitudes towards the environment, lack of educational support and resources, low parental involvement, and discomfort about going on a field trip to environments. Teachers came to understand the importance, objectives, potential topics

Psychopathic Personality Traits and Environmental Contexts: Differential Correlates, Gender Differences, and Genetic Mediation

Science.gov (United States)

Hicks, Brian M.; Carlson, Marie D.; Blonigen, Daniel M.; Patrick, Christopher J.; Iacono, William G.; MGue, Matt

2011-01-01

Theorists have speculated that primary psychopathy (or Factor 1 affective-interpersonal features) is prominently heritable whereas secondary psychopathy (or Factor 2 social deviance) is more environmentally determined. We tested this differential heritability hypothesis using a large adolescent twin sample. Trait-based proxies of primary and secondary psychopathic tendencies were assessed using Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ; Tellegen & Waller, 2008) estimates of Fearless Dominance and Impulsive Antisociality, respectively (Benning et al., 2005). The environmental contexts of family, school, peers, and stressful life events were assessed using multiple raters and methods. Consistent with prior research, MPQ Impulsive Antisociality was robustly associated with each environmental risk factor, and these associations were significantly greater than those for MPQ Fearless Dominance. However, MPQ Fearless Dominance and Impulsive Antisociality exhibited similar heritability, and genetic effects mediated the associations between MPQ Impulsive Antisociality and the environmental measures. Results were largely consistent across male and female twins. We conclude that gene-environment correlations rather than main effects of genes and environments account for the differential environmental correlates of primary and secondary psychopathy. PMID:22452762

The understanding of co-owners' rights in the context of the genesis of environmental rights

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kudeikina I.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Environmental rights obtain a special importance in the context of real distribution of joint property. The common practice, where the building regulations are applied to legal relationships when carrying out the real distribution of a joint property, is associated with the genesis of environmental rights, but cannot be supported by the doctrine of absolutism of the property rights. In this Article, the author analyzes the legal reasoning and legal consequences of applicability of environmental rights. The essence of real distribution of joint property is the termination of the joint property as a legal act without a target of environmental transformation. The real distribution of joint property is not an action leaving any environmental impacts. The author concludes that the application of the environmental rights to the real distribution of the joint property unreasonably limits the property rights of co-owners.

A change in competitive context reverses sexual selection on male size.

Science.gov (United States)

Kasumovic, M M; Andrade, M C B

2009-02-01

In studies of sexual selection, larger size is often argued to increase male fitness, and relatively smaller males are explained by genetic and/or environmental variation. We demonstrate that a size-development life-history trade-off could underlie the maintenance of a broad, unimodal distribution of size in male redback spiders (Latrodectus hasselti). Larger males are superior in direct competition, but redback males mature rapidly at small size in the presence of females. In field enclosures, we simulated two competitive contexts favouring development of divergent male sizes. Relatively smaller males lost when competing directly, but had 10 times higher fitness than relatively larger males when given the temporal advantage of rapid development. Linear selection gradients confirmed the reversal of selection on size, showing that it is critical to consider life-history decisions underlying the development of traits related to fitness.

An Innovative Context-Based Crystal-Growth Activity Space Method for Environmental Exposure Assessment: A Study Using GIS and GPS Trajectory Data Collected in Chicago.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jue; Kwan, Mei-Po; Chai, Yanwei

2018-04-09

Scholars in the fields of health geography, urban planning, and transportation studies have long attempted to understand the relationships among human movement, environmental context, and accessibility. One fundamental question for this research area is how to measure individual activity space, which is an indicator of where and how people have contact with their social and physical environments. Conventionally, standard deviational ellipses, road network buffers, minimum convex polygons, and kernel density surfaces have been used to represent people's activity space, but they all have shortcomings. Inconsistent findings of the effects of environmental exposures on health behaviors/outcomes suggest that the reliability of existing studies may be affected by the uncertain geographic context problem (UGCoP). This paper proposes the context-based crystal-growth activity space as an innovative method for generating individual activity space based on both GPS trajectories and the environmental context. This method not only considers people's actual daily activity patterns based on GPS tracks but also takes into account the environmental context which either constrains or encourages people's daily activity. Using GPS trajectory data collected in Chicago, the results indicate that the proposed new method generates more reasonable activity space when compared to other existing methods. This can help mitigate the UGCoP in environmental health studies.

Environmental influences on childhood obesity: ethnic and cultural influences in context.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumanyika, Shiriki K

2008-04-22

Ethnicity is associated with differences in food-related beliefs, preferences, and behaviors, and cultural influences may contribute to the higher than average risk of obesity among children and youth in U.S. ethnic minority populations. However, cultural attitudes and beliefs are not the only potential source of ethnic variation in childhood obesity prevalence and should not be studied in isolation. Demographic, socio-structural, and environmental variables must also be considered. Available evidence indicates ethnic differences along several pathways that may increase risks of obesity development during gestation, infancy, childhood and adolescence. These include above-average prevalence of obesity in adult females and of maternal diabetes during pregnancy, parental attitudes and practices that may lead to overfeeding children, above-average levels of consumption of certain high calorie foods and beverages, and inadequate physical activity. Environments with lower than average neighborhood availability of healthful foods and higher than average availability of fast food restaurants, along with exposure to ethnically targeted food marketing may contribute to reliance on high calorie foods and beverages, and these foods may be socially and culturally valued. Attitudes about and environmental contexts for physical activity are also relevant. Increasingly, it is acknowledged that individual behaviors and lifestyles, e.g. food choices or child feeding practices, are responsive to the ecological contexts in which they are practiced. Focusing attention on the fluid interactions of cultural influences with contextual factors, of recognized importance for the study of childhood undernutrition, can also lead to further understanding of how to address ethnic disparities in childhood obesity.

Aging in Context: Individual and Environmental Pathways to Aging-Friendly Communities-The 2015 Matthew A. Pollack Award Lecture.

Science.gov (United States)

Scharlach, Andrew E

2017-08-01

Reflecting the theme of the 2015 Gerontological Society of America (GSA) Annual Scientific Meeting, "Aging as a Lifelong Process," this paper examines intersections between aging processes and their environmental context, develops theory regarding constructive developmental processes and their environmental context, and considers potential implications for conceptualizing and creating aging-friendly communities. The first section examines the primary goals of aging-friendly communities, that is, promoting elder well-being. The second section explores the role of environmental pathways in fostering well-being throughout the lifecourse. The third section presents a new Process Model of Constructive Aging that identifies key developmental processes at the intersection of individual and environmental pathways. The final section considers potential implications for creating aging-friendly communities, including ways in which cities and towns can promote the ability of community members to live fully throughout their lives, and identifies some key conceptual and empirical challenges affecting the future of the field. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Strategic environmental assessment for development programs in the Colombian post-conflict context

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dávila, Juanita Gallego; Azcárate Venegas, Juan; Venegas Azcárate, Juan

2018-01-01

, potentially resulting in rapid and hyper-development conditions and causing severe environmental impacts. Theoretically, SEA can be seen as one way to assist the Colombian government in their strategic decision-making and planning. However, the use of SEA will be bounded by the post-conflict conditions......This article offers a critical analysis of the applicability and relevance of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in the post-conflict and recovery period in Colombia as a means to support societal sustainability transition and avoid the depletion of national resources and the emergence of new...... and the more general institutional setting in Colombia. This article is focused on identifying the opportunities and challenges arising from the post-conflict context and the SEA action arena in Colombia. By doing this, the article provides a better understanding of institutional processes and resources...

A Holistic Framework for Environmental Flows Determination in Hydropower Contexts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McManamay, Ryan A [ORNL; Bevelhimer, Mark S [ORNL

2013-05-01

Among the ecological science community, the consensus view is that the natural flow regime sustains the ecological integrity of river systems. This prevailing viewpoint by many environmental stakeholders has progressively led to increased pressure on hydropower dam owners to change plant operations to affect downstream river flows with the intention of providing better conditions for aquatic biological communities. Identifying the neccessary magnitude, frequency, duration, timing, or rate of change of stream flows to meet ecological needs in a hydropower context is challenging because the ecological responses to changes in flows may not be fully known, there are usually a multitude of competing users of flow, and implementing environmental flows usually comes at a price to energy production. Realistically, hydropower managers must develop a reduced set of goals that provide the most benefit to the identified ecological needs. As a part of the Department of Energy (DOE) Water Power Program, the Instream Flow Project (IFP) was carried out by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and Argon National Laboratory (ANL) as an attempt to develop tools aimed at defining environmental flow needs for hydropower operations. The application of these tools ranges from national to site-specific scales; thus, the utility of each tool will depend on various phases of the environmental flow process. Given the complexity and sheer volume of applications used to determine environmentally acceptable flows for hydropower, a framework is needed to organize efforts into a staged process dependent upon spatial, temporal, and functional attributes. By far, the predominant domain for determining environmental flows related to hydropower is within the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) relicensing process. This process can take multiple years and can be very expensive depending on the scale of each hydropower project. The utility of such a

Hippocampal Contribution to Context Encoding across Development Is Disrupted following Early-Life Adversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Lambert, Hilary K; Sheridan, Margaret A; Sambrook, Kelly A; Rosen, Maya L; Askren, Mary K; McLaughlin, Katie A

2017-02-15

Context can drastically influence responses to environmental stimuli. For example, a gunshot should provoke a different response at a public park than a shooting range. Little is known about how contextual processing and neural correlates change across human development or about individual differences related to early environmental experiences. Children ( N = 60; 8-19 years, 24 exposed to interpersonal violence) completed a context encoding task during fMRI scanning using a delayed match-to-sample design with neutral, happy, and angry facial cues embedded in realistic background scenes. Outside the scanner, participants completed a memory test for context-face pairings. Context memory and neural correlates of context encoding did not vary with age. Larger hippocampal volume was associated with better context memory. Posterior hippocampus was recruited during context encoding, and greater activation in this region predicted better memory for contexts paired with angry faces. Children exposed to violence had poor memory of contexts paired with angry faces, reduced hippocampal volume, and atypical neural recruitment on encoding trials with angry faces, including reduced hippocampal activation and greater functional connectivity between hippocampus and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC). Greater hippocampus-vlPFC connectivity was associated with worse memory for contexts paired with angry faces. Posterior hippocampus appears to support context encoding, a process that does not exhibit age-related variation from middle childhood to late adolescence. Exposure to dangerous environments in childhood is associated with poor context encoding in the presence of threat, likely due to greater vlPFC-dependent attentional narrowing on threat cues at the expense of hippocampus-dependent processing of the broader context. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The ability to use context to guide reactions to environmental stimuli promotes flexible behavior. Remarkably little research has

Environmental health literacy within the Italian Asbestos Project: experience in Italy and Latin American contexts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniela Marsili

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The adoption of multidisciplinary approaches to foster scientific research in public health and strengthen its impact on society is nowadays unavoidable. Environmental health literacy (EHL may be defined as the ability to search for, understand, evaluate, and use environmental health information to promote the adoption of informed choices, the reduction of health risks, the improvement of quality of life and the protection of the environment. Both public health and environmental health literacy involve access to and dissemination of scientific information (including research findings, individual and collective decision-making and critical thinking. Specific experiences in environmental health literacy have been developed within the Italian National Asbestos Project (Progetto Amianto in Latin American countries where the use of asbestos is still permitted, and in Italy where a specific effort in EHL has been dedicated to the risks caused by the presence of fluoro-edenite fibers in the town of Biancavilla (Sicily. Taking into account the different geographical and socio-economic contexts, both public health and environmental health literacy were addressed to a wide range of stakeholders, within and outside the health domain.

Demonstrating the value of larger ensembles in forecasting physical systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reason L. Machete

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Ensemble simulation propagates a collection of initial states forward in time in a Monte Carlo fashion. Depending on the fidelity of the model and the properties of the initial ensemble, the goal of ensemble simulation can range from merely quantifying variations in the sensitivity of the model all the way to providing actionable probability forecasts of the future. Whatever the goal is, success depends on the properties of the ensemble, and there is a longstanding discussion in meteorology as to the size of initial condition ensemble most appropriate for Numerical Weather Prediction. In terms of resource allocation: how is one to divide finite computing resources between model complexity, ensemble size, data assimilation and other components of the forecast system. One wishes to avoid undersampling information available from the model's dynamics, yet one also wishes to use the highest fidelity model available. Arguably, a higher fidelity model can better exploit a larger ensemble; nevertheless it is often suggested that a relatively small ensemble, say ~16 members, is sufficient and that larger ensembles are not an effective investment of resources. This claim is shown to be dubious when the goal is probabilistic forecasting, even in settings where the forecast model is informative but imperfect. Probability forecasts for a ‘simple’ physical system are evaluated at different lead times; ensembles of up to 256 members are considered. The pure density estimation context (where ensemble members are drawn from the same underlying distribution as the target differs from the forecasting context, where one is given a high fidelity (but imperfect model. In the forecasting context, the information provided by additional members depends also on the fidelity of the model, the ensemble formation scheme (data assimilation, the ensemble interpretation and the nature of the observational noise. The effect of increasing the ensemble size is quantified by

Environmental context determines community sensitivity of freshwater zooplankton to a pesticide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stampfli, Nathalie C.; Knillmann, Saskia; Liess, Matthias; Beketov, Mikhail A.

2011-01-01

The environment is currently changing worldwide, and ecosystems are being exposed to multiple anthropogenic pressures. Understanding and consideration of such environmental conditions is required in ecological risk assessment of toxicants, but it remains basically limited. In the present study, we aimed to determine how and to what extent alterations in the abiotic and biotic environmental conditions can alter the sensitivity of a community to an insecticide, as well as its recovery after contamination. We conducted an outdoor microcosm experiment in which zooplankton communities were exposed to the insecticide esfenvalerate (0.03, 0.3, and 3 μg/L) under different regimes of solar radiation and community density, which represented different levels of food availability and competition. We focused on the sensitivity of the entire community and analysed it using multivariate statistical methods, such as principal response curves and redundancy analysis. The results showed that community sensitivity varied markedly between the treatments. In the experimental series with the lowest availability of food and strongest competition significant effects of the insecticide were found at the concentration of 0.03 μg/L. In contrast, in the series with relatively higher food availability and weak competition such effects were detected at 3 μg/L only. However, we did not find significant differences in the community recovery rates between the experimental treatments. These findings indicate that environmental context is more important for ecotoxicological evaluation than assumed previously.

Cascading effects of predator-detritivore interactions depend on environmental context in a Tibetan alpine meadow.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Xinwei; Griffin, John N; Sun, Shucun

2014-05-01

Studies of grazing food webs show that species traits can interact with environmental factors to determine the strength of trophic cascades, but analogous context dependencies in detrital food webs remain poorly understood. In predator-detritivore-plant interaction chains, predators are expected to indirectly suppress plant biomass by reducing the density of plant-facilitating detritivores. However, this outcome can be reversed where above-ground predators drive burrowing detritivores to lower soil levels, strengthening their plant-facilitating effects. Here, we show that these trait-mediated indirect interactions further depend on environmental context in a Tibetan alpine meadow. In our study system, undulating topography generates higher (dry soil) patches interspersed with lower (wet soil) patches. Because the ability of detritivores to form deep burrows is likely to be limited by oxygen availability in low patches (wet soil), we hypothesized that (i) burrowing detritivores would undergo a vertical habitat shift, allowing them to more effectively avoid predation, in high - but not low - patches, and (ii) this shift would transmit positive effects of predators to plants in high patches by improving conditions in the lower soil layer. We tested these hypotheses using complementary field and glasshouse experiments examining whether the cascading effects of above-ground predatory beetles (presence/absence) on the density and behaviour of tunnel-forming detritivorous beetles, soil properties, and plant growth varied with patch type (low/high). Results revealed that predatory beetles did not reduce the density of detritivores in either patch type but had context-dependent trait-mediated effects, increasing the tunnelling depth of detritivores, improving soil conditions and ultimately increasing plant biomass in the high but not low patches. This study adds to an emerging predictive framework linking predators to plants in detritus food webs, demonstrating that these

The EU environmental policy context for monitoring for and with raptors in Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Duke, Guy

2008-09-01

This paper outlines the importance of the policy context for monitoring with and for raptors, and, conversely, of the importance of such monitoring for policy. It then outlines two key areas of European Union (EU) environmental policy most relevant to monitoring for and with raptors, namely biodiversity policy and pollution policy. For each of the policy areas, the pertinent objectives and actions of the current EU policy are identified, and their relevance for raptor monitoring is discussed. The potential contribution of raptor monitoring to the further development of these policy areas is also addressed.

[Gender inequity in health in contexts of environmental risk from mining and industrial activity in Mexico].

Science.gov (United States)

Catalán-Vázquez, Minerva; Riojas-Rodríguez, Horacio

2015-06-01

Analyze how gender inequity manifests in contexts of poverty in different environmental risk scenarios in Mexico. Qualitative design based on six discussion groups and 54 in-depth interviews with women from six exposed communities: two to environmental manganese in a mining district, two in an industrial corridor, and two bordering a sanitary landfill. A document review of environmental and health studies in each area was done to relate them to the women's perspective on the problem. In the three case studies, by gender roles, women stay at home and do housework and, therefore, are subject to intense environmental exposure when carrying out their daily tasks, such as house cleaning. Interview and discussion group results were found to be related to epidemiological study results. In the case of the mining district, women's perceptions are consistent with study comments on adverse cognitive effects of manganese exposure. In all three cases, there are serious limitations on women's political participation in environmental risk management. Due to conditions of inequity, women are highly exposed to environmental health risks and their social participation in solving environmental problems is quite limited. These results have social and environmental policy implications in the areas studied, especially with regard to risk assessment, management, and communication.

[Trends in environmental risks in the context of the economic crisis. SESPAS report 2014].

Science.gov (United States)

Ballester, Ferran; Llop, Sabrina; Querol, Xavier; Esplugues, Ana

2014-06-01

This article aims to analyze the impact of the economic and financial crisis on environmental determinants of health. The World Health Organization estimates that between 13% and 27% of the disease burden in countries could be prevented by improving the environment. These effects are larger in vulnerable populations, especially among the poorest. In the last decade, outdoor air pollution (the most significant environmental health risk in most European countries) has declined, mostly due to the European policy of reducing emissions and to the decrease in activity following the economic crisis. During the last few years, this improvement in air quality has occurred simultaneously with a reduction in investment in environmental protection and could therefore be offset in the medium-term. The economic crisis has not reduced the trend for higher temperatures in Spain and Europe because climate change is a global phenomenon that is not directly related to local emissions. To reduce the risk of an increase in the health impact of environmental factors, certain key aspects should be considered, such as the need to maintain or develop adequate monitoring and control systems and the opportunity to implement policies that help improve the quality of the environment and reduce the vulnerability of different population groups in a cross-disciplinary framework of transparency and citizen participation. Copyright © 2014 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Use of Context in Video Processing

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Chen; Aghajan, Hamid

Interpreting an event or a scene based on visual data often requires additional contextual information. Contextual information may be obtained from different sources. In this chapter, we discuss two broad categories of contextual sources: environmental context and user-centric context. Environmental context refers to information derived from domain knowledge or from concurrently sensed effects in the area of operation. User-centric context refers to information obtained and accumulated from the user. Both types of context can include static or dynamic contextual elements. Examples from a smart home environment are presented to illustrate how different types of contextual data can be applied to aid the decision-making process.

[Environmental context effects of background colors on recognition memory].

Science.gov (United States)

Isarida, Takeo; Ozecki, Kousuke

2005-02-01

Three experiments examined whether or not switching study background-color contexts among target words at testing reduces word-recognition performance. These experiments also examined whether or not presentation rate--one of the determinants of item strength--interacted with background-color context. Undergraduates learned 40 target words presented at a rate of 1.5 or 3.0 seconds per word in one of two background-color contexts in Experiment 1, and in one of ten contexts in Experiments 2 and 3. Recognition of the targets was tested by mixing 40 distractor words with the targets immediately after the learning session in Experiments 1 and 2, and with a 5-minute filled retention interval in Experiment 3. Experiment 1 failed to find background-color context effects on recognition, but Experiments 2 and 3 successfully found the context effects. Presentation rate did not interact with the context effects. The results conflict with the ICE theory. The implications of the present findings are discussed.

The effects of habitat management on the species, phylogenetic and functional diversity of bees are modified by the environmental context.

Science.gov (United States)

Sydenham, Markus A K; Moe, Stein R; Stanescu-Yadav, Diana N; Totland, Ørjan; Eldegard, Katrine

2016-02-01

Anthropogenic landscape elements, such as roadsides, hedgerows, field edges, and power line clearings, can be managed to provide important habitats for wild bees. However, the effects of habitat improvement schemes in power line clearings on components of diversity are poorly studied. We conducted a large-scale experiment to test the effects of different management practices on the species, phylogenetic, and functional diversity of wild bees in power line clearings (n = 19 sites across southeastern Norway) and explored whether any treatment effects were modified by the environmental context. At each site, we conducted the following treatments: (1) Cut: all trees cut and left to decay in the clearing; (2) Cut + Remove: all trees cut and removed from the plot; and (3) Uncut: uncleared. The site-specific environmental context (i.e., elevation and floral diversity) influenced the species, phylogenetic, and functional diversity within bee species assemblages. The largest number of species was found in the Cut + Remove treatment in plots with a high forb species richness, indicating that the outcome of management practices depends on the environmental context. Clearing of treatment plots with many forb species also appeared to alter the phylogenetic composition of bee species assemblages, that is, more closely related species were found in the Cut and the Cut + Remove plots than in the Uncut plots. Synthesis and applications: Our experimental simulation of management practices in power line clearings influenced the species, phylogenetic, and functional diversity of bee species assemblages. Frequent clearing and removal of the woody debris at low elevations with a high forb species richness can increase the value of power line clearings for solitary bees. It is therefore important for managers to consider the environmental context when designing habitat improvement schemes for solitary bees.

Global Communication with Icons in Environmental Contexts

OpenAIRE

Heimbürger, Anneli

2016-01-01

Icons are small signs with fixed meanings. Icons are usually context specific. For example in the context of a hotel, the client can often find icons in hotel room books and safety guides. Scandic Hotel chain, for example, currently provides the manual for its safety system in 14 languages. There are at least two major shortcomings of this system: (1) in emergency or panic situations, it is very difficult to find your own language from the leaflet, and (2) there are no Asian ...

Environmental context and trophic trait plasticity in a key species, the tellinid clam Macoma balthica L

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Törnroos, Anna; Nordström, M. C.; Aarnio, K.

2015-01-01

Species show varying levels of plasticity regarding morphology, physiology and behaviour in relation to their immediate environment, and several trait characteristics are habitat-dependent. Determining when and how the environmental context changes trait expression is of key importance...... for understanding the role of individual species for ecosystem functioning. The tellinid clam Macoma balthica can vary its feeding behaviour, shifting between deposit- and suspension-feeding. In order to study the context-dependency of this trophic plasticity in adult clams, we conducted an experiment assessing...... food uptake by using stable isotope signatures (delta C-13 and delta N-15). We transplanted individuals between and within two shallow bays differing in exposure (exposed sheltered) and sediment characteristics. Our results show that isotope signatures of clams differed between the two habitats...

The response of stream periphyton to Pacific salmon: using a model to understand the role of environmental context

Science.gov (United States)

Bellmore, J. Ryan; Fremier, Alexander K.; Mejia, Francine; Newsom, Michael

2014-01-01

1. In stream ecosystems, Pacific salmon deliver subsidies of marine-derived nutrients and disturb the stream bed during spawning. The net effect of this nutrient subsidy and physical disturbance on biological communities can be hard to predict and is likely to be mediated by environmental conditions. For periphyton, empirical studies have revealed that the magnitude and direction of the response to salmon varies from one location to the next. Salmon appear to increase periphyton biomass and/or production in some contexts (a positive response), but decrease them in others (a negative response). 2. To reconcile these seemingly conflicting results, we constructed a system dynamics model that links periphyton biomass and production to salmon spawning. We used this model to explore how environmental conditions influence the periphyton response to salmon. 3. Our simulations suggest that the periphyton response to salmon is strongly mediated by both background nutrient concentrations and the proportion of the stream bed suitable for spawning. Positive periphyton responses occurred when both background nutrient concentrations were low (nutrient limiting conditions) and when little of the stream bed was suitable for spawning (because the substratum is too coarse). In contrast, negative responses occurred when nutrient concentrations were higher or a larger proportion of the bed was suitable for spawning. 4. Although periphyton biomass generally remained above or below background conditions for several months following spawning, periphyton production returned quickly to background values shortly afterwards. As a result, based upon our simulations, salmon did not greatly increase or decrease overall annual periphyton production. This suggests that any increase in production by fish or invertebrates in response to returning salmon is more likely to occur via direct consumption of salmon carcasses and/or eggs, rather than the indirect effects of greater periphyton production. 5

A Framework for Integrating Environmental and Occupational Health and Primary Care in a Postdisaster Context.

Science.gov (United States)

Kirkland, Katherine; Sherman, Mya; Covert, Hannah; Barlet, Grace; Lichtveld, Maureen

Integration of environmental and occupational health (EOH) into primary care settings is a critical step to addressing the EOH concerns of a community, particularly in a postdisaster context. Several barriers to EOH integration exist at the physician, patient, and health care system levels. This article presents a framework for improving the health system's capacity to address EOH after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and illustrates its application in the Environmental and Occupational Health Education and Referral (EOHER) program. This program worked with 11 Federally Qualified Health Center systems in the Gulf Coast region to try to address the EOH concerns of community members and to assist primary care providers to better understand the impact of EOH factors on their patients' health. The framework uses a 3-pronged approach to (1) foster coordination between primary care and EOH facilities through a referral network and peer consultations, (2) increase physician capacity in EOH issues through continuing education and training, and (3) conduct outreach to community members about EOH issues. The EOHER program highlighted the importance of building strong partnerships with community members and other relevant organizations, as well as high organizational capacity and effective leadership to enable EOH integration into primary care settings. Physicians in the EOHER program were constrained in their ability to engage with EOH issues due to competing patient needs and time constraints, indicating the need to improve physicians' ability to assess which patients are at high risk for EOH exposures and to efficiently take environmental and occupational histories. This article highlights the importance of addressing EOH barriers at multiple levels and provides a model that can be applied to promote community health, particularly in the context of future natural or technological disasters.

Context awareness and sensitivity in SEA implementation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hilding-Rydevik, Tuija; Bjarnadottir, Holmfridur

2007-01-01

The Impact Assessment research community repeatedly asserts that the implementation of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) should take the issue of context into consideration. The primary aim of this paper then is to attempt to give substance to the concept of 'context' in relation to the implementation of SEA. The second aim is to discuss the relevance of context consciousness and sensitivity in relation to one of the main aims given to SEA implementation i.e. to contribute to the 'integration' of environmental perspectives in planning processes. Context must be defined in relation to a certain question. In this paper the question in focus is the assumption that SEA implementation will contribute to integration of environmental issues in planning processes. Research results relating to the use of environmental tools, like for example SEA, and experiences of integration efforts, strongly indicate that the use of a single tool like SEA is not enough to achieve this integration. The current 'context free' normative and procedural assumptions concerning the aim of SEA implementation and 'best practice' in term of SEA can be criticised on the same grounds as normative and procedural planning theories, as being context free. The assumptions behind the current formulations of the aim and best practice of SEA need to be revisited. A firm empirical and theoretical knowledge and discussion is needed, especially in relation to the issue of context and integration. This paper provides a starting point in this direction

Ecological tolerances of Miocene larger benthic foraminifera from Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Novak, Vibor; Renema, Willem

2018-01-01

To provide a comprehensive palaeoenvironmental reconstruction based on larger benthic foraminifera (LBF), a quantitative analysis of their assemblage composition is needed. Besides microfacies analysis which includes environmental preferences of foraminiferal taxa, statistical analyses should also be employed. Therefore, detrended correspondence analysis and cluster analysis were performed on relative abundance data of identified LBF assemblages deposited in mixed carbonate-siliciclastic (MCS) systems and blue-water (BW) settings. Studied MCS system localities include ten sections from the central part of the Kutai Basin in East Kalimantan, ranging from late Burdigalian to Serravallian age. The BW samples were collected from eleven sections of the Bulu Formation on Central Java, dated as Serravallian. Results from detrended correspondence analysis reveal significant differences between these two environmental settings. Cluster analysis produced five clusters of samples; clusters 1 and 2 comprise dominantly MCS samples, clusters 3 and 4 with dominance of BW samples, and cluster 5 showing a mixed composition with both MCS and BW samples. The results of cluster analysis were afterwards subjected to indicator species analysis resulting in the interpretation that generated three groups among LBF taxa: typical assemblage indicators, regularly occurring taxa and rare taxa. By interpreting the results of detrended correspondence analysis, cluster analysis and indicator species analysis, along with environmental preferences of identified LBF taxa, a palaeoenvironmental model is proposed for the distribution of LBF in Miocene MCS systems and adjacent BW settings of Indonesia.

To imagine and to observe the environmental impact - The ethnography in the context of the development management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carmona, Sergio Ivan

1999-01-01

The investigative activities of ethnographers, when applied to societies subjected to the environmental impact of large-scale infrastructure projects, can today be taken as a fundamental component for evaluations to guide decision-making and the design of solutions, but are the analysts and decision makers conscious of the quality, pertinence, reliability and applicability of this information in the context of the management design of modern-day development?

Intelligent Flood Adaptive Context-aware System: How Wireless Sensors Adapt their Configuration based on Environmental Phenomenon Events

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jie SUN

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Henceforth, new generations of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN have to be able to adapt their behavior to collect, from the study phenomenon, quality data for long periods of time. We have thus proposed a new formalization for the design and the implementation of context-aware systems relying on a WSN for the data collection. To illustrate this proposal, we also present an environmental use case: the study of flood events in a watershed. In this paper, we detail the simulation tool that we have developed in order to implement our model. We simulate several scenarios of context-aware systems to monitor a watershed. The data used for the simulation are the observation data of the French Orgeval watershed.

Context counts! Social anxiety modulates the processing of fearful faces in the context of chemosensory anxiety signals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dirk eAdolph

2013-06-01

Full Text Available During emotion perception, context is an important source of information. Whether contextual cues from modalities other than vision or audition influence the perception of social emotional information has not been investigated.Thus, the present study aimed at testing emotion perception and regulation in response to fearful facial expressions presented in the context of chemosensory stimuli derived from sweat of anxious individuals. In groups of high (HSA and low socially anxious (LSA participants we recorded the startle reflex (Experiment I, and analysed event-related potentials (ERPs; Experiment II while they viewed anxious facial expressions in the context of chemosensory anxiety signals and chemosensory control stimuli. Results revealed that N1/P1 and N170 amplitudes were larger while Late Positive Potential (LPP activity was smaller for facial expressions presented in the context of the anxiety and the chemosensory control stimulus as compared to facial expressions without a chemosensory context. Furthermore, HSA participants were highly sensitive to the contextual anxiety signals. They showed enhanced motivated attention allocation (LPP, Study II, as well as larger startle responses towards faces in the context of chemosensory anxiety signals than did LSA participants (Study I. Chemosensory context had no effect on emotion regulation, and both LSA and HSA participants showed effective emotion regulation (Study I and II. In conclusion, both anxiety and chemosensory sport context stimuli enhanced early attention allocation and structural encoding, but diminished motivated attention allocation to the facial expressions. The current results show that visual and chemosensory information is integrated on virtually all levels of stimulus processing and that socially anxious individuals might be especially sensitive to chemosensory contextual social information.

Analysis of technical alternative technologies for the development of context-driven composable environmental representations for JSB

Science.gov (United States)

Hummel, John R.; Bergenthal, Jeff J.; Seng, William F.; Moulton, Joseph R., Jr.; Prager, S. D.

2004-08-01

The Joint Synthetic Battlespace for the Air Force (JSB-AF) is being developed to provide realistic representations of friendly and threat capabilities and the natural environmental conditions to support a variety of Department of Defense missions including training, mission rehearsal, decision support, acquisition, deployment, employment, operations, and the development of Courses of Action. This paper addresses three critical JSB issues associated with providing environ-mental representations to Modeling and Simulation (M&S) applications. First, how should the requirements for envi-ronmental functionality in a JSB-AF application be collected, analyzed, and used to define an Authoritative Environ-mental Representation (AER)? Second, how can JSB-AF AERs be generated? Third, once an AER has been generated, how should it be "served up" to the JSB-AF components? Our analyses of these issues will be presented from a general M&S perspective, with examples given from a JSB-AF centered view. In the context of this effort, the term "representa-tions" is meant to incorporate both basic environmental "data" (e.g., temperature, pressure, slope, elevation, etc.) and "effects", properties that can be derived from these data using physics-based models or empirical relationship from the fundamental data (e.g., extinction coefficients, radiance, soil moisture strength, etc.) We present a state-of-the-art review of the existing processes and technologies that address these questions.

Context-dependent decision-making: a simple Bayesian model

OpenAIRE

Lloyd, Kevin; Leslie, David S.

2013-01-01

Many phenomena in animal learning can be explained by a context-learning process whereby an animal learns about different patterns of relationship between environmental variables. Differentiating between such environmental regimes or ‘contexts’ allows an animal to rapidly adapt its behaviour when context changes occur. The current work views animals as making sequential inferences about current context identity in a world assumed to be relatively stable but also capable of rapid switches to p...

Proposal for a protocol on environmental impact assessment in the context of incineration with energy recovery from municipal solid waste in Costa Rica

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Montero Salas, Alvaro Enrique

2015-01-01

A proposal for a protocol is performed for the evaluation of environmental impact in the context of incineration with energy recovery from municipal solid waste (MSW). An analysis of the related and current regulations is done at national and international level. The methodology of the Secretaria Tecnica Nacional Ambiental (SETENA) for environmental impact assessment has been exposed. Susceptible environmental factors and elements of the heat treatment of RSU that generate environmental impacts are identified. The air has been the environmental factor extensively addressed in the investigation. The aspects included in the protocol proposal are defined in order to generate conclusions and determinants recommendations on environmental viability of any work, activity or project [es

Impacts of Environmental Discourse on Environmental Art and its Traps

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tanja Plešivčnik

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The paper examines the field of environmental art and assesses the impacts of the prevailing environmental discourse on environmental and ecological topics in the development of art. It shows how the popularization of environmental discourse and environmental themes encouraged the growth of art that is entirely focused on its ecological and environmental contexts. In the context of researching art in terms of promoting deep and positive changes in the appreciation of the environment and nature, this research also stresses the importance of the aesthetic experience of the environment in artistic creation. Exploring this approach reveals key differences between artists who focus on solving ecological problems and aesthetically engaged artists who adopt a deep and inclusive focus on the environment itself.

Importance of context in adoption and progress in application of strategic environmental assessment: Experience of Thailand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wirutskulshai, Uma; Sajor, Edsel; Coowanitwong, Nowarat

2011-01-01

Following the example of other developed countries, strategic environmental assessment (SEA) tool is now being introduced in developing countries, with the expectations, among others, that it will influence decision-making process in planning, and also usher in the participatory and collaborative planning towards a more sustainable track in development. This article examines Thailand's own recent introduction of SEA. The authors underscore the particularity of the Thai planning context as well as the broader governance structure and processes in the country as the critical factor influencing the extent, substance and form of adoption of SEA. Top-down tradition of planning and serious limitation of public participation opportunity structures and institutional culture have minimized the tool's positive impact and influence in development planning. Thailand's experience in SEA introduction thus reaffirms the important lesson from a number of other developing countries: that legal framework for SEA is necessary and critical especially in its initial adoption; and, that public participation needs to be supported too and institutionalized for the tool to fulfill its promise of improving environmental governance and optimizing potentials of development projects vis-a-vis various social and environmental concerns.

Field trip method as an effort to reveal student environmental literacy on biodiversity issue and context

Science.gov (United States)

Rijal, M.; Saefudin; Amprasto

2018-05-01

Field trip method through investigation of local biodiversity cases can give educational experiences for students. This learning activity was efforts to reveal students environmental literacy on biodiversity. The aim of study were (1) to describe the activities of students get information about the biodiversity issue and its context through field trip, (2) to describe the students findings during field trip, and (3) to reveal students environmental literacy based on pre test and post test. The research method used weak-experiment and involved 34 participants at senior high school students in Bandung-Indonesia. The research instruments for collecting data were environmental literacy test, observation sheets and questionnaire sheets for students. The analysis of data was quantitative descriptive. The results show that more than 79% of the students gave positive view for each field trip activity, i.e students activity during work (97%-100%); students activity during gather information (79%- 100%); students activity during exchange information with friend (82%-100%); and students interested to Biodiversity after field trip activity (85%-100%). Students gain knowledge about the diversity of animal vertebrate and its characteristics, the status and condition of animals, and the source of animal with the cases of animal diversity. The students environmental literacy tends to be moderate level based on test. Meanwhile, the average of the attitudes and action greater than the components of knowledge and cognitive skills.

Sense of place among New England organic farmers and commercial fishermen: How social context shapes identity and environmentally responsible behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Mueller, Anneliese Marie

Given the prominence of sense of place in new environmental education curricula, this study aims to strengthen the conceptual and empirical foundations of sense of place, and to determine how sense of place may be linked to environmentally responsible behavior. For this study, five commercial fishermen and five organic farmers from the New England Seacoast region participated in a series of in-depth phenomenological interviews and observations. The data was systematically coded in order to allow themes and categories to emerge. The results indicate that aspects of the existing conceptual framework of sense of place, such as place attachment, ecological knowledge, and public involvement, do in fact describe the relationship between people and place. However, the results also indicate that two conceptual elements---attention to social context and awareness of moral theory---are missing from the current conceptual framework in EE theory. These results suggest that the current framework should be expanded to emphasize the role of human and non-human communities: the development of a sense of place and the learning of environmentally responsible behavior must be situated within a social context. This study lends support to the view that for sense of place to move people to ethical action, it is crucial for them to recognize, and to participate in, a community of support and care.

Scaling local species-habitat relations to the larger landscape with a hierarchical spatial count model

Science.gov (United States)

Thogmartin, W.E.; Knutson, M.G.

2007-01-01

Much of what is known about avian species-habitat relations has been derived from studies of birds at local scales. It is entirely unclear whether the relations observed at these scales translate to the larger landscape in a predictable linear fashion. We derived habitat models and mapped predicted abundances for three forest bird species of eastern North America using bird counts, environmental variables, and hierarchical models applied at three spatial scales. Our purpose was to understand habitat associations at multiple spatial scales and create predictive abundance maps for purposes of conservation planning at a landscape scale given the constraint that the variables used in this exercise were derived from local-level studies. Our models indicated a substantial influence of landscape context for all species, many of which were counter to reported associations at finer spatial extents. We found land cover composition provided the greatest contribution to the relative explained variance in counts for all three species; spatial structure was second in importance. No single spatial scale dominated any model, indicating that these species are responding to factors at multiple spatial scales. For purposes of conservation planning, areas of predicted high abundance should be investigated to evaluate the conservation potential of the landscape in their general vicinity. In addition, the models and spatial patterns of abundance among species suggest locations where conservation actions may benefit more than one species. ?? 2006 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Emerging environmental technologies and environmental technology policy

Science.gov (United States)

Clarke, Leon Edward

This dissertation explores the role and design of environmental technology policy when environmental innovation is embodied in emerging environmental technologies such as photovoltaic cells or fuel cells. The dissertation consists of three individual studies, all of which use a simplified, general model industry between an emerging environmental technology and an entrenched, more-polluting technology. It clarifies the situations in which environmental technology policy can achieve high welfare and those in which it cannot; and it separates the possible situations an emerging environmental technology might face into four scenarios, each with its own technology policy recommendations. The second study attempts to clarify which of two factors is having a larger limiting effect on private investment in photovoltaics: the failure to internalize the environmental costs of fossil fuel electricity generation or a broad set of innovation market failures that apply to innovation irrespective of environmental concerns. The study indicates that innovation market failures are probably having a significantly larger impact than incomplete internalization. The third study explores the effectiveness of adoption subsidies at encouraging private-sector innovation. The conclusion is that adoption subsidies probably have only a limited effect on long-term, private-sector research. Two important general conclusions of the dissertation are (1) that optimal technology policy should begin with technology-push measures and end with demand-pull measures; and (2) that the technological response to internalization instruments, such as emissions taxes, may be highly nonlinear.

The Policy Context

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Panagakos, George

2016-01-01

Green project. The term ‘green’ is used in the sustainability context, meaning that it features economic and social dimensions in addition to the usual environmental one. The most important EU transport policy documents are reviewed and briefly presented by transportation mode. Horizontal documents covering all...

The effect of normative context variability on recognition memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Steyvers, Mark; Malmberg, Kenneth J

2003-09-01

According to some theories of recognition memory (e.g., S. Dennis & M. S. Humphreys, 2001), the number of different contexts in which words appear determines how memorable individual occurrences of words will be: A word that occurs in a small number of different contexts should be better recognized than a word that appears in a larger number of different contexts. To empirically test this prediction, a normative measure is developed, referred to here as context variability, that estimates the number of different contexts in which words appear in everyday life. These findings confirm the prediction that words low in context variability are better recognized (on average) than words that are high in context variability. (c) 2003 APA, all rights reserved

IEA-SHC Task 27: Environmental performance assessment of glazing and windows - context, overview, main concerns

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chevalier, J.L. [Centre Scientifique et Technique du Batiment, Sustainable Development Dept., Saint-Martin D' Heres (France); Krogh, H. [Danish Building and Urban Research, Energy and Indoor Climate Div., Hoersholm (Denmark); Tarantini, Mario [The Italian National Agency for New Technology, Energy and the Environment, Bologna (Italy)

2006-07-01

While all industrial sectors are integrating the environment concern into their culture and strategy, actors of the construction field seem to be torn between motivation and suspicion in front of this new topic. In most countries, the economic situation of the passed years for building was not suitable for investing in new long-term approaches, and the strong particularities of the building world appear as many complicating elements for introducing new concepts easily. But now the awareness for a sustainable development of all human activities is also growing in our sector, and it is time to take benefit of some favourable habits like the use of multi-criteria analysis: beyond performances, suitability for use, and durability, environmental quality criteria will just widen the actual scope of the technical assessment of building products. The first question is a double one : Who will use environmental criteria related to the building products, and for which purpose? Because actors in the field are many, we will have several distinct answers, which may call for different tools. In other industrial sectors, two approaches have been experimented: the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) and the environmental labelling. Between LCA and green labels, several relevant tools are in development for the building products, each of them adapted to specific users and objectives, and most often of limited use in other contexts. A short review of the studies already performed on the environmental quality of glazing and windows revealed quite a small amount of available matter, and justifies the work undertaken within the programme of IEA/SHCP/Task 27, which will be presented in the third part of this paper. (au)

The TERRA framework: conceptualizing rural environmental health inequities through an environmental justice lens.

Science.gov (United States)

Butterfield, Patricia; Postma, Julie

2009-01-01

The deleterious consequences of environmentally associated diseases are expressed differentially by income, race, and geography. Scientists are just beginning to understand the consequences of environmental exposures under conditions of poverty, marginalization, and geographic isolation. In this context, we developed the TERRA (translational environmental research in rural areas) framework to explicate environmental health risks experienced by the rural poor. Central to the TERRA framework is the premise that risks exist within physical-spatial, economic-resources, and cultural-ideologic contexts. In the face of scientific and political uncertainty, a precautionary risk reduction approach has the greatest potential to protect health. Conceptual and technical advances will both be needed to achieve environmental justice.

Juvenile exposure to predator cues induces a larger egg size in fish

Science.gov (United States)

Segers, Francisca H. I. D.; Taborsky, Barbara

2012-01-01

When females anticipate a hazardous environment for their offspring, they can increase offspring survival by producing larger young. Early environmental experience determines egg size in different animal taxa. We predicted that a higher perceived predation risk by juveniles would cause an increase in the sizes of eggs that they produce as adults. To test this, we exposed juveniles of the mouthbrooding cichlid Eretmodus cyanostictus in a split-brood experiment either to cues of a natural predator or to a control situation. After maturation, females that had been confronted with predators produced heavier eggs, whereas clutch size itself was not affected by the treatment. This effect cannot be explained by a differential female body size because the predator treatment did not influence growth trajectories. The observed increase of egg mass is likely to be adaptive, as heavier eggs gave rise to larger young and in fish, juvenile predation risk drops sharply with increasing body size. This study provides the first evidence that predator cues perceived by females early in life positively affect egg mass, suggesting that these cues allow her to predict the predation risk for her offspring. PMID:21976689

Which Factors Contribute to Environmental Behaviour of Landowners in Southwestern Ontario, Canada?

Science.gov (United States)

Nebel, Silke; Brick, Jeff; Lantz, Van A.; Trenholm, Ryan

2017-09-01

Loss of natural heritage is a problem that is particularly prevalent in areas of high population density. We used a survey to understand the factors that drive environmental behavior of landowners in southwestern Ontario, Canada. The survey, which contained questions about environmental attitude, pro-environmental behavior and demographics, was mailed to 18,090 rural route addresses, and we received 3256 completed surveys (18% response rate). Two types of environmental behavior, namely voluntarily increasing the area of land set aside for conservation, and enrollment in a conservation stewardship program, were significantly correlated with a positive attitude towards conservation. Financial considerations also played a role. We showed that the biggest motivator to enroll in a wetland enhancement program was access to `more information on how the decline in wetland area affects them personally', while `public recognition' was the least motivating factor. We suggest that enrollment in voluntary land stewardship programs might be increased by providing information about the effects of ecosystem loss, and by providing financial incentives for participation. In a larger social context, outreach programs by government agencies could focus on improving pro-environmental attitudes, which in turn is likely to result in more pro-environmental behavior of landowners.

Which Factors Contribute to Environmental Behaviour of Landowners in Southwestern Ontario, Canada?

Science.gov (United States)

Nebel, Silke; Brick, Jeff; Lantz, Van A; Trenholm, Ryan

2017-09-01

Loss of natural heritage is a problem that is particularly prevalent in areas of high population density. We used a survey to understand the factors that drive environmental behavior of landowners in southwestern Ontario, Canada. The survey, which contained questions about environmental attitude, pro-environmental behavior and demographics, was mailed to 18,090 rural route addresses, and we received 3256 completed surveys (18% response rate). Two types of environmental behavior, namely voluntarily increasing the area of land set aside for conservation, and enrollment in a conservation stewardship program, were significantly correlated with a positive attitude towards conservation. Financial considerations also played a role. We showed that the biggest motivator to enroll in a wetland enhancement program was access to 'more information on how the decline in wetland area affects them personally', while 'public recognition' was the least motivating factor. We suggest that enrollment in voluntary land stewardship programs might be increased by providing information about the effects of ecosystem loss, and by providing financial incentives for participation. In a larger social context, outreach programs by government agencies could focus on improving pro-environmental attitudes, which in turn is likely to result in more pro-environmental behavior of landowners.

China's Environmental Problems: Selected Issues and Solutions in Context

OpenAIRE

Tisdell, Clem

1996-01-01

China has experienced outstanding economic growth in recent decades, but not without environmental problems and costs. Environmental costs have included increased air and water pollution, loss of natural vegetation cover and deforestation, soil erosion and a decline in the fertility of the soil and biodiversity loss. Consequently, some writers have questioned whether China’s rate of growth is environmentally sustainable and doubt if China will attain middle-income status in the next century b...

Habit and context

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mueller Loose, Simone; Jaeger, S. R.

, but like the influence of context, quantification of its importance is lacking. To contribute to a closing of this gap, we analyse food dairy data from 100+ New Zealand consumers quantitatively with a variance component analysis. Food diaries, recording the eating occasion, beverages and meal food...... was used to examine the contribution of context factors (eating occasion, where, with whom), habit (share of beverage in consumption portfolio) and socio-demographic characteristics (gender, age) to explain the binary choice of seven main beverage types (water, hot beverages, milk, carbonated beverages...... predictor for its consumption likelihood. The impact of this measure for habit differed across beverages, for instance it played a larger role for hot beverages and water than for the consumption of beer and wine. Eating occasions and its interaction with place of consumption had highest explanatory power...

The application of the Espoo Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context to nuclear energy-related activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-01-01

The Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context sets out the obligations to assess the environmental impact of certain activities at an early stage of decision making. It also lays down the general obligation for parties to notify and consult each other on all major projects under consideration that are likely to have a significant adverse environmental impact across national borders. The Espoo Convention was adopted in 1991 and entered into force on 10 September 1997. There are currently 45 states party to the Espoo Convention, including 23 countries that are also members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA). It should be noted that the European Union (EU) is also a party to the Espoo Convention and has transposed the provisions related to the environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedure in its legislation, thus imposing the Espoo Convention principles on all EU member states. The purpose of the Espoo Convention is to enhance international co-operation and allow environmentally sound decisions to be made, paying careful attention to minimising significant adverse impacts, particularly in a transboundary context. In order to do so, the Espoo Convention requires that an EIA be carried out for certain types of activities planned by a party, which are likely to have a significant environmental impact within an area under the jurisdiction of another party. The Espoo Convention specifies what must be considered at an early stage of the decision making and it lays down the obligation for countries to notify and consult each other and the public. It also requires that all comments received from the public and authorities, as well as the findings from the assessment, are taken into account when the final decision is made for the planned activity. In addition, the Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment was adopted in Kiev in 2003. It entered into force in 2010 and currently

Context-dependent decision-making: a simple Bayesian model.

Science.gov (United States)

Lloyd, Kevin; Leslie, David S

2013-05-06

Many phenomena in animal learning can be explained by a context-learning process whereby an animal learns about different patterns of relationship between environmental variables. Differentiating between such environmental regimes or 'contexts' allows an animal to rapidly adapt its behaviour when context changes occur. The current work views animals as making sequential inferences about current context identity in a world assumed to be relatively stable but also capable of rapid switches to previously observed or entirely new contexts. We describe a novel decision-making model in which contexts are assumed to follow a Chinese restaurant process with inertia and full Bayesian inference is approximated by a sequential-sampling scheme in which only a single hypothesis about current context is maintained. Actions are selected via Thompson sampling, allowing uncertainty in parameters to drive exploration in a straightforward manner. The model is tested on simple two-alternative choice problems with switching reinforcement schedules and the results compared with rat behavioural data from a number of T-maze studies. The model successfully replicates a number of important behavioural effects: spontaneous recovery, the effect of partial reinforcement on extinction and reversal, the overtraining reversal effect, and serial reversal-learning effects.

The Human - Nature Relationship i n t he Context o f Theo - Centric Environmental Ethics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gülşen YAYLI

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The environmental problems are one of the issues that intensively occupy the agenda of humankind. This fact mainly derives from the ambiguity of the s pan and the content of the issue. The concept of environmental problems can not be confined to th e soil, air and water pollution for the reason that it covers a scope wider than a classical pollution issues. Initially the form of the relations hip between h uman and nature has been relying on the “consumption at the level of content” which stands for a level that is enough to sustain the living. The perception of the nature used to be described with the metaphor of mother while natural environment was defined as the “mother earth”. However subsequent to natural environment definition of the Cartesian philosophy with its approach to the human nature relationship, the core metaphor to describe the natural environment has changed from the metaphor of “mother” to the “slave” which should serve by any means. The human - nature relationship within the context of ethics, both the parties an d their respective statues bear an importance. In terms of ethics of human - nature relationship, it is possible to mention three main approaches. First one is the anthropo - centric approach. Within the scope of historical process, human - nature relationship is addressed according to anthropo - centric ethics comprehension so human has remained at the center of discussion. Following the change of the perception regarding the issue of environment, new approaches have emerged that give emphasis not only on human beings but also others; on li ving and non - living beings with in the eco - system. In principle, this represents a departure from an anthropo - centric ethics to a new ethic approach which fall s into two categories, bio centric and eco - centric. The theo - centric ethics should also be included to these ethics approaches that are shaped within the sphere of positive sciences. The Abrahamic

Environmental chemistry of the actinide elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rao Linfeng

1986-01-01

The environmental chemistry of the actinide elements is a new branch of science developing with the application of nuclear energy on a larger and larger scale. Various aspects of the environmental chemistry of the actinide elements are briefly reviewed in this paper, such as its significance in the nuclear waste disposal, its coverage of research fields and possible directions for future study

Context and Crossmodal Interactions: An ERP Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beatriz R Sarmiento

2011-10-01

Full Text Available In a previous behavioural study, we reported that a particular context of stimulus congruency influenced audiovisual interactions. In particular, audiovisual interaction, measured in terms of congruency effect, was reduced when a high proportion of incongruent trials was presented. We argued that this modulation was due to changes in participants' control set as a function of the context of congruency, with greater control applied when most of the trials were incongruent. Since behavioural data do not allow to specify the level at which control was affecting audiovisual interaction, we conducted an event-related potentials (ERPs study to further investigate each context of audiovisual congruency. Participants performed an audiovisual congruency task, where the stimulus onset could be present on two different contexts mixed at random: a high proportion congruent context and a low proportion congruent context. The context manipulation was found to modulate brain ERPs related to perceptual and response selection processes, ie, the N2 and P3 components. The N2 amplitude was larger for the less common trials on both high and low congruent proportion contexts, while the P3 amplitude and latency were differentially modulated by incongruent trials on the two contexts.

Environmental management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Girard, M.; Mondino, M.

2000-01-01

Nowadays, unlike in the past, companies have to operate in a context of sustainable development, in which the economic and social development, production and consumption have to take into account the medium and long term impact on environment. The article sets forth some considerations about these subjects, which are assuming a growing importance in the management of companies: the variable environment may for instance be a factor of discrimination between being competitive or not. In order to characterise the context within which the environmental management has to be applied, some basic concepts about environmental management systems, Life Cycle Assessment, and Eco labeling are illustrated. As an example of application of the methodology described, a brief reference to the Italgas Group Environmental Report is given [it

The regional environmental impact of biomass production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Graham, R.L.

1994-01-01

The objective of this paper is to present a broad overview of the potential environmental impacts of biomass energy from energy crops. The subject is complex because the environmental impact of using biomass for energy must be considered in the context of alternative energy options while the environmental impact of producing biomass from energy crops must be considered in the context of the alternative land-uses. Using biomass-derived energy can reduce greenhouse gas emissions or increase them; growing biomass energy crops can enhance soil fertility or degrade it. Without knowing the context of the biomass energy, one can say little about its specific environmental impacts. The primary focus of this paper is an evaluation of the environmental impacts of growing energy crops. I present an approach for quantitatively evaluating the potential environmental impact of growing energy crops at a regional scale that accounts for the environmental and economic context of the crops. However, to set the stage for this discussion, I begin by comparing the environmental advantages and disadvantages of biomass-derived energy relative to other energy alternatives such as coal, hydropower, nuclear power, oil/gasoline, natural gas and photovoltaics

Encoding instructions and stimulus presentation in local environmental context-dependent memory studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Markopoulos, G; Rutherford, A; Cairns, C; Green, J

2010-08-01

Murnane and Phelps (1993) recommend word pair presentations in local environmental context (EC) studies to prevent associations being formed between successively presented items and their ECs and a consequent reduction in the EC effect. Two experiments were conducted to assess the veracity of this assumption. In Experiment 1, participants memorised single words or word pairs, or categorised them as natural or man made. Their free recall protocols were examined to assess any associations established between successively presented items. Fewest associations were observed when the item-specific encoding task (i.e., natural or man made categorisation of word referents) was applied to single words. These findings were examined further in Experiment 2, where the influence of encoding instructions and stimulus presentation on local EC dependent recognition memory was examined. Consistent with recognition dual-process signal detection model predictions and findings (e.g., Macken, 2002; Parks & Yonelinas, 2008), recollection sensitivity, but not familiarity sensitivity, was found to be local EC dependent. However, local EC dependent recognition was observed only after item-specific encoding instructions, irrespective of stimulus presentation. These findings and the existing literature suggest that the use of single word presentations and item-specific encoding enhances local EC dependent recognition.

The Effects of Environmental Context on Recognition Memory and Claims of Remembering

Science.gov (United States)

Hockley, William E.

2008-01-01

Recognition memory for words was tested in same or different contexts using the remember/know response procedure. Context was manipulated by presenting words in different screen colors and locations and by presenting words against real-world photographs. Overall hit and false-alarm rates were higher for tests presented in an old context compared…

Energy and environmental policy in the United States

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hibbard, P.J.; Tierney, S.F

2003-08-15

The energy and environmental policies of the United States are, like those of any nation, greatly shaped by a particular economic, institutional and political context. Understanding that context is useful for providing insights into the substance of US energy and environmental policy, the challenges and opportunities associated with it, and future potential for change. This article examines this policy context, focusing on the interaction of energy and environmental policies related to the electric industry. (author)

Energy and environmental policy in the United States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hibbard, P.J.; Tierney, S.F.

2003-08-01

The energy and environmental policies of the United States are, like those of any nation, greatly shaped by a particular economic, institutional and political context. Understanding that context is useful for providing insights into the substance of US energy and environmental policy, the challenges and opportunities associated with it, and future potential for change. This article examines this policy context, focusing on the interaction of energy and environmental policies related to the electric industry. (author)

Global Communication with Icons : Hotel Safety as an Environmental Context

OpenAIRE

Heimbürger, Anneli; Khanom, Sukanya

2015-01-01

Icons are small signs with fixed meanings. Icons are usually context specific. For example in the context of a hotel, the client can often find icons in hotel room books and safety guides. Scandic Hotel chain, for example, currently provides the manual for its safety system in 14 languages. There are at least two major shortcomings of this system: (1) in emergency or panic situations, it is very difficult to find your own language from the leaflet, and (2) there are no Asian ...

Burdigalian turbid water patch reef environment revealed by larger benthic foraminifera

Science.gov (United States)

Novak, V.; Renema, W.; Throughflow-project

2012-04-01

Ancient isolated patch reefs outcropping from siliciclastic sediments are a trademark for the Miocene carbonate deposits occurring in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. They develop in transitional shelf sediments deposited between deltaic and deep marine deposits (Allen and Chambers, 1998). The Batu Putih Limestone (Wilson, 2005) and similar outcrops in adjacent areas have been characterized as shallow water carbonates influenced by high siliciclastic input, showing low relief patch reefs in turbid waters. Larger benthic foraminifera (LBF) are excellent markers for biochronology and paleoenvironmental reconstruction. This study aims to reveal age and paleoenvironment of a shallow water carbonate patch reef developed in mixed depositional system by using LBF and microfacies analysis. The studied section is located near Bontang, East Kalimantan, and is approximately 80 m long and 12 m high. It is placed within Miocene sediments in the central part of the Kutai Basin. Patch reef and capping sediments were logged through eight transects along section and divided into nine different lithological units from which samples were collected. Thin sections and isolated specimens of larger benthic foraminifera were analyzed and recognized to species level (where possible) providing age and environmental information. Microfacies analysis of thin sections included carbonate classification (textural scheme of Dunham, 1962) and assemblage composition of LBF, algae and corals relative abundance. Three environmentally indicative groups of LBF were separated based on test morphology, habitat or living relatives (Hallock and Glenn, 1986). Analysed foraminifera assemblage suggests Burdigalian age (Tf1). With use of microfacies analysis nine successive lithological units were grouped into five facies types. Paleoenvironmental reconstruction of LBF fossil assemblage indicate two cycles of possible deepening recorded in the section. Based on high muddy matrix ratio in analyzed thin-sections we

Context effects: the role of collectivism as a moderator.

Science.gov (United States)

Puente-Díaz, Rogelio

2011-02-01

Social cognition experts have shown that participants' answers to research questions can be influenced by previous questions, something known as context effects. It has been suggested that participants from collectivist cultures pay more attention to the context, resulting in larger context effects. The present investigation examined context effects in an experiment that involved manipulating the order in which two questions, one about satisfaction with life as a whole and one about satisfaction with romantic life, were answered by a representative sample of participants from Mexico City. The results were consistent with other investigations that used samples from collectivistic cultures. Participants' responses to questions about satisfaction are influenced by a previous question, and country of origin affects the amount of attention given to the context. The implications of these results are discussed.

Ethics Guidelines in Environmental Epidemiology: Their Development and Challenges We Face.

Science.gov (United States)

Kramer, Shira; Soskolne, Colin L

2017-06-01

This review integrates historical developments and key events in bringing ethics into epidemiology in general and into environmental epidemiology in particular. The goal is to provide context for and discern among the various approaches and motivations that drive the need for ethical conduct in support of the public interest. The need for ethics guidelines in epidemiology is different from developments in other biomedical-related fields by virtue of its focus on populations rather than on individuals. The need for ethics guidelines in environmental epidemiology as a subspecialty of epidemiology stems from the larger scale of its mission than that of epidemiology per se. Ethics guidelines in the field of environmental epidemiology have been established. They articulate not only the profession's core values and mission, but more specifically, they address the environmental epidemiologist's obligations to the participants in research, to colleagues, and to employers. They are the product of consensus, scholarship, and diligent stewardship over several decades. The next challenge is ensuring their value and impact. The forces that support professional and institutional success, and the power of special interests, are the major threats to achieving the goals of ethical conduct and research for the public good. In environmental epidemiology, these threats have global implications.

A GIS-BASED ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH INFORMATION SOURCE FOR MALAYSIAN CONTEXT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lau Tiu Chung

2013-04-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we propose a GIS-based system for collection and targeted distribution of latest alerts and real-time environmental factors to the Malaysian population. We call it the Environmental Health Management System (EHMS. This GIS-based system is designed to facilitate and encourage research into environmental health quality issues by providing a comprehensive tracking and monitoring tool. This GIS-based system is embedded with Google Maps API and Geocoding API services to visualize the location and environmental health reports from the aggregated online newspaper and social media news feeds. We introduce the design and implementation of EHMS, including the web frontend, backend, ontology, database, data acquisition, classification engine, and the standard news feeds.

Effects of study time and meaningfulness on environmental context-dependent recognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Isarida, Takeo; Isarida, Toshiko K; Sakai, Tetsuya

2012-11-01

In two experiments, we examined whether the size of place-context-dependent recognition decreased with study time and with the meaningfulness of the to-be-remembered materials. A group of 80 undergraduates intentionally studied a list of words in a short (1.5 s per item) or a long (4.0 s per item) study-time condition (Exp. 1). Another 40 undergraduates studied lists consisting of words and nonwords in the long-study-time condition (Exp. 2). After a short retention interval, recognition for the targets was tested in the same or in a different context. Context was manipulated by means of the combination of place, subsidiary task, and experimenter. Significant context-dependent recognition discrimination was found for words in the short-study-time condition (Exp. 1), but not in the long-study-time condition (Exps. 1 and 2). Significant effects were found as well for nonwords, even in the long-study-time condition (Exp. 2). These results are explained well by an outshining account: that is, by principles of outshining and encoding specificity.

Cultural Context and Modification of Behavior Change Theory

Science.gov (United States)

Sanders Thompson, Vetta L.

2009-01-01

Although social and cultural contexts act on each level of the multilevel ecologic model to affect cancer risk, health behavior, and cancer screening and promotion in health behavior research, people have yet to develop theories that sufficiently integrate the social and environmental context with group and individual behavior. The "Behavioral…

Timor-Leste : Country Environmental Analysis

OpenAIRE

World Bank

2009-01-01

The Country Environmental Analysis (CEA) for Timor-Leste identifies environmental priorities through a systematic review of environmental issues in natural resources management and environmental health in the context of the country's economic development and environmental institutions. Lack of data has been the main limitation in presenting a more rigorous analysis. Nevertheless, the repor...

The ability of familiarity, disruption, and the relative strength of nonenvironmental context cues to explain unreliable environmental-context-dependent memory effects in free recall.

Science.gov (United States)

Rutherford, A

2000-12-01

The ability of environmental-context (EC) familiarity, movement disruption, and the relative strength of memory cues to explain unreliable EC-dependent free-recall memory effects was examined in two experiments. Experiment 1 replicated Smith's (1979, Experiment 1) results confirming that familiarity and disruption cannot account for free-recall EC-reinstatement effects. In Experiment 2, a level of processing manipulation varied stimulus item memory cue strengths, and memory was again assessed by free recall. Contrary to Murnane and Phelps's (1995) and Dougal and Rotello's (1999) recognition findings, an EC-reinstatement effect was observed with low, but not high, levels of processing. However, comparisons across the two experiments revealed inconsistencies with the relative cue strength hypothesis. Consequently, a variant of the relative cue strength hypothesis that highlights the role of retrieval processes was proposed to explain the interaction between the levels of processing and the EC-reinstatement effect.

A GIS-BASED ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH INFORMATION SOURCE FOR MALAYSIAN CONTEXT

OpenAIRE

Lau Tiu Chung; Lau Bee Theng; Henry Lee Seldon

2013-01-01

In this paper, we propose a GIS-based system for collection and targeted distribution of latest alerts and real-time environmental factors to the Malaysian population. We call it the Environmental Health Management System (EHMS). This GIS-based system is designed to facilitate and encourage research into environmental health quality issues by providing a comprehensive tracking and monitoring tool. This GIS-based system is embedded with Google Maps API and Geocoding API services to visualize t...

Carl Rogers and the larger context of therapeutic thought.

Science.gov (United States)

Wachtel, Paul L

2007-09-01

Carl Rogers' classic account (see record 2007-14639-002) of the necessary and sufficient conditions for therapeutic personality change is examined in light of developments in theory and practice since the time he wrote. Rogers' ideas, which diverged from and were very largely a challenge to, the dominant psychoanalytic ideology of the era in which he wrote, are considered in relation to new theoretical developments in what has come to be called relational psychoanalysis. They are also considered in light of the greatly increased influence of and substantial evidence supporting behavioral and cognitive-behavioral approaches. Points of convergence and divergence among these approaches are examined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

The Current Soviet Peace Program in its Larger Context

Science.gov (United States)

1988-06-01

budget but witholds money for MX production (December). 1983 - President Reagan announces SDI plans (March). - U.S. Catholic bishops call for nuclear...30. LTC John Langdon Strategic Institute Branch HQMC (PL-6) Arlingon Annex 2022 Washington, DC 20380 5S 31. Ronald S. Lauder DASD (Europeani’NATO

Port Environmental Management Challenges, Possibilities and Innovations in a Globalization Context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dione Iara Silveira Kitzmann

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Port activity within an overall port environmental system encompassing the whole coastal area in which ports are situated constitutes an important analytical tool. The considerable potential for controlling and influencing activities that occur in the same geographical area means that ports generate significant positive and negative environmental impacts. This importance and the significant expansion of the Brazilian port sector in recent years gave rise to the need for Port Environmental Management (GAP based on internationally accepted environmental standards. This article discusses nested elements in the concept of port environmental management which take into account new realities of Brazilian ports as well as international standards concerning environmentally appropriate measures for the sector. New international technical proposals are discussed with regard to Brazilian port policy and the port of Rio Grande (Rio Grande do Sul State is used as a case study, highlighting its structures and the model of port environmental management being implemented.

Context-Dependent Effects of Genome-Wide Association Study Genotypes and Macro-Environmental Factors on Time to Biochemical (PSA) Failure after Prostatectomy

Science.gov (United States)

Rebbeck, Timothy R.; Weber, Anita L.; Walker, Amy H.; Stefflova, Klara; Tran, Teo V.; Spangler, Elaine; Chang, Bao-Li; Zeigler-Johnson, Charnita M.

2010-01-01

Background Disparities in cancer defined by race, age, or gender are well established. However, demographic metrics are surrogates for the complex contributions of genotypes, exposures, health care, socioeconomic and sociocultural environment, and many other factors. Macro-environmental factors represent novel surrogates for exposures, lifestyle and other factors that are difficult to measure but may influence cancer outcomes. Methods We applied a “multilevel molecular epidemiology” approach using a prospective cohort of 444 White prostate cancer cases who underwent prostatectomy and were followed until biochemical failure (BF) or censoring without BF. We applied Cox regression models to test for joint effects of 86 genome-wide association study-identified genotypes and macro-environmental contextual effects after geocoding all cases to their residential census tracts. All analyses were adjusted for age at diagnosis and tumor aggressiveness. Results Residents living in macroenvironments with a high proportion of older single heads of household, high rates of vacant housing, or high unemployment had shorter time until BF post-surgery after adjustment for patient age and tumor aggressiveness. After correction for multiple testing, genotypes alone did not predict time to BF, but interactions predicting time to BF were observed for MSMB (rs10993994) and percent of older single head of households (p=0.0004), and for HNF1B/TCF2 (rs4430796) and macroenvironment per capita income (p=0.0002). Conclusions Context-specific macro-environmental effects of genotype may improve the ability to identify groups that may experience poor prostate cancer outcomes. Impact Risk estimation and clinical translation of genotype information may require an understanding of both individual-level and macroenvironmental context. PMID:20826827

Factors Influencing Environmental Scanning in the Organizational Context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zita Correia

2001-01-01

Full Text Available This paper identifies and analyses the factors internal to the organization, which affect the activity of environmental scanning, understood here as the information seeking activity of managers, directed at the company's external environment. These factors include individual factors, such as information consciousness and exposure to information, and organizational factors such as information climate and "outwardness". The main relationships among them are also analysed. These factors were identified in the course of research aiming to provide a comprehensive understanding of the environmental scanning process (Correia & Wilson, 1996. The methodology used - a case-study approach coupled with the grounded theory method of qualitative analysis - was of major importance in obtaining information that is grounded largely on the personal experience of managers.

Ecologies of Learning: Culture, Context and Outcomes of Workplace LES. Research Brief

Science.gov (United States)

Merrifield, Juliet

2013-01-01

There is a need to connect workplace learning and essential skills to a larger domain of workplace learning in general. To do this, the contexts in which learning takes place, and the cultures of the actors and environments involved, should be taken into consideration. Although research on the direct effects of contexts and cultures on workplace…

The Importance of Environment for the Tourism Sector Of Trnc Within The Context of Environmental Issues of the Mediterranean Region

OpenAIRE

Okan SAFAKLI

2001-01-01

The basic aim of this study is to emphasize the importance and necessity of the environment for the tourism sector of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) within the context of environmental. issues of the Mediterranean region. There are many types of tourism such as sea tourism (sea-sand-sun), ‘congress tourism‘, ‘health tourism‘, ‘yacht tourism‘, ‘cave tourism‘, ‘mountain tourism‘, ‘farm touris’, ‘hunting touris’, ‘golf touris’, ‘caravan touris’, ‘religion tourism’ and ‘history to...

Nuclear energy and the environmental debate: The context of choices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bertel, E.; Vate, J. van de

1995-01-01

Environmental issues are high on international agendas. Governments, interest groups, and citizens are increasingly aware of the need to limit environmental impacts from human activities. In the energy sector, one focus has been on greenhouse gas emissions which could lead to global climate change. The issue is likely to be a driving factor in choices about energy options for electricity generation during the coming decades. Nuclear power's future will undoubtedly be influenced by this debate, and its potential role in reducing environmental impacts from the electricity sector will be of central importance

Epilepsy, culture, identity and well-being: a study of the social, cultural and environmental context of epilepsy in Cameroon.

Science.gov (United States)

Allotey, Pascale; Reidpath, Daniel

2007-05-01

Epilepsy presents an identity of exclusion, which at multiple levels hinders the ability to engage with one's community. This article describes an exploratory, mixed methods study (N = 42) of the relationship between the social, cultural and environmental context and the experience of living with epilepsy in Cameroon. Participants were identified as 'epileptics', consequently restrictions placed on them reduced their ability to perform traditional roles, affected their social value and excluded them from their communities. Participants detail the effects of their reduced 'social value' and the challenges they face in attempts to be re-integrated as productive and functioning members of society.

The Effects of Altering Environmental and Instrumental Context on the Performance of Memorized Music

Science.gov (United States)

Mishra, Jennifer; Backlin, William

2007-01-01

Three experiments investigated whether musical memory was context dependent. Instrumental musicians memorized music in one context and recalled in either the same or a different context. Contexts included atypical performing environments (Experiment 1: lobby/conference room) or commonly encountered environments (Experiment 2: practice room,…

How Participatory Should Environmental Governance Be? Testing the Applicability of the Vroom-Yetton-Jago Model in Public Environmental Decision-Making

Science.gov (United States)

Lührs, Nikolas; Jager, Nicolas W.; Challies, Edward; Newig, Jens

2018-02-01

Public participation is potentially useful to improve public environmental decision-making and management processes. In corporate management, the Vroom-Yetton-Jago normative decision-making model has served as a tool to help managers choose appropriate degrees of subordinate participation for effective decision-making given varying decision-making contexts. But does the model recommend participatory mechanisms that would actually benefit environmental management? This study empirically tests the improved Vroom-Jago version of the model in the public environmental decision-making context. To this end, the key variables of the Vroom-Jago model are operationalized and adapted to a public environmental governance context. The model is tested using data from a meta-analysis of 241 published cases of public environmental decision-making, yielding three main sets of findings: (1) The Vroom-Jago model proves limited in its applicability to public environmental governance due to limited variance in its recommendations. We show that adjustments to key model equations make it more likely to produce meaningful recommendations. (2) We find that in most of the studied cases, public environmental managers (implicitly) employ levels of participation close to those that would have been recommended by the model. (3) An ANOVA revealed that such cases, which conform to model recommendations, generally perform better on stakeholder acceptance and environmental standards of outputs than those that diverge from the model. Public environmental management thus benefits from carefully selected and context-sensitive modes of participation.

Editorial Commentary: The Larger Holes or Larger Number of Holes We Drill in the Coracoid, the Weaker the Coracoid Becomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Brady, Paul

2016-06-01

The larger holes or larger number of holes we drill in the coracoid, the weaker the coracoid becomes. Thus, minimizing bone holes (both size and number) is required to lower risk of coracoid process fracture, in patients in whom transosseous shoulder acromioclavicular joint reconstruction is indicated. A single 2.4-mm-diameter tunnel drilled through both the clavicle and the coracoid lowers the risk of fracture, but the risk cannot be entirely eliminated. Copyright © 2016 Arthroscopy Association of North America. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Social contexts modulate neural responses in the processing of others' pain: An event-related potential study.

Science.gov (United States)

Cui, Fang; Zhu, Xiangru; Luo, Yuejia

2017-08-01

Two hypotheses have been proposed regarding the response that is triggered by observing others' pain: the "empathizing hypothesis" and the "threat value of pain hypothesis." The former suggests that observing others' pain triggers an empathic response. The latter suggests that it activates the threat-detection system. In the present study, participants were instructed to observe pictures that showed an anonymous hand or foot in a painful or non-painful situation in a threatening or friendly social context. Event-related potentials were recorded when the participants passively observed these pictures in different contexts. We observed an interaction between context and picture in the early automatic N1 component, in which the painful pictures elicited a larger amplitude than the non-painful pictures only in the threatening context and not in the friendly context. We also observed an interaction between context and picture in the late P3 component, in which the painful pictures elicited a larger amplitude than the non-painful pictures only in the friendly context and not in the threatening context. These results indicate that specific social contexts can modulate the neural responses to observing others' pain. The "empathic hypothesis" and "threat value of pain hypothesis" are not mutually exclusive and do not contradict each other but rather work in different temporal stages.

Exploring information seeking behaviour in a digital museum context

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skov, Mette; Ingwersen, Peter

2008-01-01

This paper describes the preliminary results of a case study of task-based interactive information seeking and retrieval behaviour of virtual museum visitors in context. The research described here is part of a larger study: this paper specifically looks at 1) leisure tasks/interests and derived ...

Protostellar Jets in Context

CERN Document Server

Tsinganos, Kanaris; Stute, Matthias

2009-01-01

This volume contains the proceedings of the Conference Protostellar Jets in Context held by the JETSET Marie Curie Research Training Network in July 2008. This meeting not only served to showcase some of the network's achievements but was also a platform to hear from, discuss and debate the recent findings of world-class astrophysicists in the field of protostellar jet research. Jets from young stars are of course not an isolated astrophysical phenomenon. It is known that objects as diverse as young brown dwarfs, planetary nebulae, symbiotic stars, micro-quasars, AGN, and gamma-ray bursters produce jets. Thus in a series of talks, protostellar jets were put in context by comparing them with their often much larger brethren and also by considering the ubiquitous accretion disks that seem to be necessary for their formation. With this spectrum of contributions on observations and the theory of astrophysical jets and accretion disks, this book serves as a comprehensive reference work for researchers and students...

Theorizing Environmental Governance of the World System: Global Political Economy Theory and Some Applications to Stratospheric Ozone Politics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brian J. Gareau

2015-08-01

Full Text Available This paper incorporates world-systems perspectives into an analysis of global environmental politics, thus adjoining a political economic analysis of scale with studies of global environmental policy. It is the ability of some social groups and institutions to jump scale that determines how global environmental policies are shaped. The United States’ carbon-intensive economy is seen to face larger short-term costs from global environmental agreements than many other countries in the core of the world-system, but what remains unexplored in the environmental politics literature is the question of why the United States sees its long-term economic condition hindered by these agreements. This analysis points to the ways industry actors intervene at multiple scales of global environmental negotiations to affect national policy positions as well as larger discourses about science and risk. The article reviews the methyl bromide controversy in the Montreal Protocol to explain why this agreement has recently failed to live up to expectations in removing ozone-depleting substances. The United States is particularly responsible for this impediment: rather than innovate in response to new information and changing international contexts, industry actors have drawn upon US hegemony to enforce their dominant market positions. As the parties to the Montreal Protocol remain polarized over questions of methyl bromide use, this analysis calls for attention to the ways capital, states, and other social institutions are embedded in international environmental agreements and how they use such arrangements to obstruct successful multilateral agreements. I conclude by suggesting that environmental and other social movements might strategize in two ways: 1 by helping support an emergent ‘green hegemony’ (most apparent in Chinese policy as a counterhegemonic alternative, and 2 by developing strategies that account for the ways industry interests overlap with declining

Comparing Distributions of Environmental Outcomes for Regulatory Environmental Justice Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Glenn Sheriff

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Economists have long been interested in measuring distributional impacts of policy interventions. As environmental justice (EJ emerged as an ethical issue in the 1970s, the academic literature has provided statistical analyses of the incidence and causes of various environmental outcomes as they relate to race, income, and other demographic variables. In the context of regulatory impacts, however, there is a lack of consensus regarding what information is relevant for EJ analysis, and how best to present it. This paper helps frame the discussion by suggesting a set of questions fundamental to regulatory EJ analysis, reviewing past approaches to quantifying distributional equity, and discussing the potential for adapting existing tools to the regulatory context.

Industrial integration of environmental issues into the organisation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

McAloone, Timothy Charles

2005-01-01

new dimensions, such as social and moral values, to the original agenda of environmental improvement. The increasing responsibility of the product developer, from environmentally conscious product developer to sustainably aware product developer has led to new insights into the way in which products......, a handful of companies have begun to take control over (and accept responsibility for) a larger portion of their products’ life-cycles. Where there are examples of companies taking control over larger product life areas for reasons other than environmental, there are a few examples where environmentally...... at the accounting and evaluation of environmental impacts of a given product or process; and a synthesis-oriented school of practice, targeted at the creation of environmentally improved products or processes, based upon life-cycle insight into the actual use and orientation of existing products on the market...

The fitness landscapes of cis-acting binding sites in different promoter and environmental contexts.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ryan K Shultzaberger

2010-07-01

Full Text Available The biophysical nature of the interaction between a transcription factor and its target sequences in vitro is sufficiently well understood to allow for the effects of DNA sequence alterations on affinity to be predicted. But even in relatively simple in vivo systems, the complexities of promoter organization and activity have made it difficult to predict how altering specific interactions between a transcription factor and DNA will affect promoter output. To better understand this, we measured the relative fitness of nearly all Escherichia coli sigma(70 -35 binding sites in different promoter and environmental contexts by competing four randomized -35 promoter libraries controlling the expression of the tetracycline resistance gene (tetagainst each other in increasing concentrations of drug. We sequenced populations after competition to determine the relative enrichment of each -35 sequence. We observed a consistent relationship between the frequency of recovery of each -35 binding site and its predicted affinity for sigma(70 that varied depending on the sequence context of the promoter and drug concentration. Overall the relative fitness of each promoter could be predicted by a simple thermodynamic model of transcriptional regulation, in which the rate of transcriptional initiation (and hence fitness is dependent upon the overall stability of the initiation complex, which in turn is dependent upon the energetic contributions of all sites within the complex. As implied by this model, a decrease in the free energy of association at one site could be compensated for by an increase in the binding energy at another to produce a similar output. Furthermore, these data show that a large and continuous range of transcriptional outputs can be accessed by merely changing the -35, suggesting that evolved or engineered mutations at this site could allow for subtle and precise control over gene expression.

Capturing community context of human response to forest disturbance by insects: a multi-method assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Hua Qin; Courtney G. Flint

2010-01-01

The socioeconomic and environmental features of local places (community context) influence the relationship between humans and their physical environment. In times of environmental disturbance, this community context is expected to influence human perceptual and behavioral responses. Residents from nine Colorado communities experiencing a large outbreak of mountain...

Why have microsaccades become larger?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Dan Witzner; Nyström, Marcus; Andersson, Richard

2014-01-01

-trackers compared to the systems used in the classical studies, in combination with the lack of a systematic algorithmic treatment of the overshoot. We hope that awareness of these discrepancies in microsaccade dynamics across eye structures will lead to more generally accepted definitions of microsaccades....... experts. The main reason was that the overshoots were not systematically detected by the algorithm and therefore not accurately accounted for. We conclude that one reason to why the reported size of microsaccades has increased is due to the larger overshoots produced by the modern pupil-based eye...

Environmental improvement with additional instruments for environmental protection in port areas

OpenAIRE

MARINSKI, Jordan; FLOQI, Tania; DROUMEVA, Gergana; BRANCA, Tatiana; VATRALOVA, Albena

2012-01-01

Abstract1. The context analysis of environmental situation in Corridor8 ports shows growing sensibility of the management authorities to the environmental issues and objective difficulties for development of appropriate environmental policies due to the following reasons: the complex legislation which has not found yet the balance between the business interests in sea transport and the environment protection and poor enforcement of the regulations. In order to mitigate the negative impact of ...

Environmental information in Colombia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Velez S, Andres

2005-01-01

This article is a chapter from the paper, Elements for the description of an environmental information system, which was written by the author as a requirement for the degree of specialist on environment and Geoinformatics at the school of engineering. Universidad de Antioquia. The original paper attempted a description of the context and development of a particular environmental information system, built at the eastern region of Antioquia by CORNARE (a regional autonomous corporation for the environment and the natural resources). This article refers to the Colombian institutional context for environmental information. With particular emphasis laid on the strategic character that must be conceded to the administration of information. Towards the construction of equitable and sustainable development models under autonomous orientation an efficient and transparent environmental administration as is needed by such models is only attainable through the design and application of environmental information systems committed to the pursuit of collective interests. Here a balance is sought between accomplishments and failures reached during the long standing discussion held in Colombia around the formulation of public policies that acknowledge and strengthen the role of information as a cornerstone of environmental administration, and a contribution towards the goal of human sustainable development

Context and consequences of liquor sachets use among young ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This article presents a relatively new phenomenon regarding alcohol related problems in Malawi; the context and consequences of the consumption of liquor sachets among young people. The results presented are part of a larger study looking at the prevalence and social norms related to alcohol use, as well as people's ...

Born-Infeld magnetars: larger than classical toroidal magnetic fields and implications for gravitational-wave astronomy

Science.gov (United States)

Pereira, Jonas P.; Coelho, Jaziel G.; de Lima, Rafael C. R.

2018-05-01

Magnetars are neutron stars presenting bursts and outbursts of X- and soft-gamma rays that can be understood with the presence of very large magnetic fields. In this setting, nonlinear electrodynamics should be taken into account for a more accurate description of such compact systems. We study that in the context of ideal magnetohydrodynamics and make a realization of our analysis to the case of the well known Born-Infeld (BI) electromagnetism in order to come up with some of its astrophysical consequences. We focus here on toroidal magnetic fields as motivated by already known magnetars with low dipolar magnetic fields and their expected relevance in highly magnetized stars. We show that BI electrodynamics leads to larger toroidal magnetic fields when compared to Maxwell's electrodynamics. Hence, one should expect higher production of gravitational waves (GWs) and even more energetic giant flares from nonlinear stars. Given current constraints on BI's scale field, giant flare energetics and magnetic fields in magnetars, we also find that the maximum magnitude of magnetar ellipticities should be 10^{-6}-10^{-5}. Besides, BI electrodynamics may lead to a maximum increase of order 10-20% of the GW energy radiated from a magnetar when compared to Maxwell's, while much larger percentages may arise for other physically motivated scenarios. Thus, nonlinear theories of the electromagnetism might also be probed in the near future with the improvement of GW detectors.

Social Environmental Accounting and Reporting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Huerter O, Gabriela Gutierrez; Moon, Jeremy; Gold, Stefan

Based on an embedded multiple case study of a UK-based MNC, FINEST, informed by 24 semi-structured interviews, this paper investigates the antecedents and outcome of subsidiaries’ absorptive capacity (ACAP) in the context of the intra-MNC transfer of social and environmental accounting and report......Based on an embedded multiple case study of a UK-based MNC, FINEST, informed by 24 semi-structured interviews, this paper investigates the antecedents and outcome of subsidiaries’ absorptive capacity (ACAP) in the context of the intra-MNC transfer of social and environmental accounting...

Current Problems of Improving the Environmental Certification and Output Compliance Verification in the Context of Environmental Management in Kazakhstan

Science.gov (United States)

Zhambaev, Yerzhan S.; Sagieva, Galia K.; Bazarbek, Bakhytzhan Zh.; Akkulov, Rustem T.

2016-01-01

The article discusses the issues of improving the activity of subjects of environmental management in accordance with international environmental standards and national environmental legislation. The article deals with the problem of ensuring the implementation of international environmental standards, the introduction of eco-management, and the…

Environmental Stewardship: A Conceptual Review and Analytical Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Bennett, Nathan J.; Whitty, Tara S.; Finkbeiner, Elena; Pittman, Jeremy; Bassett, Hannah; Gelcich, Stefan; Allison, Edward H.

2018-04-01

There has been increasing attention to and investment in local environmental stewardship in conservation and environmental management policies and programs globally. Yet environmental stewardship has not received adequate conceptual attention. Establishing a clear definition and comprehensive analytical framework could strengthen our ability to understand the factors that lead to the success or failure of environmental stewardship in different contexts and how to most effectively support and enable local efforts. Here we propose such a definition and framework. First, we define local environmental stewardship as the actions taken by individuals, groups or networks of actors, with various motivations and levels of capacity, to protect, care for or responsibly use the environment in pursuit of environmental and/or social outcomes in diverse social-ecological contexts. Next, drawing from a review of the environmental stewardship, management and governance literatures, we unpack the elements of this definition to develop an analytical framework that can facilitate research on local environmental stewardship. Finally, we discuss potential interventions and leverage points for promoting or supporting local stewardship and future applications of the framework to guide descriptive, evaluative, prescriptive or systematic analysis of environmental stewardship. Further application of this framework in diverse environmental and social contexts is recommended to refine the elements and develop insights that will guide and improve the outcomes of environmental stewardship initiatives and investments. Ultimately, our aim is to raise the profile of environmental stewardship as a valuable and holistic concept for guiding productive and sustained relationships with the environment.

Environmental Stewardship: A Conceptual Review and Analytical Framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Bennett, Nathan J; Whitty, Tara S; Finkbeiner, Elena; Pittman, Jeremy; Bassett, Hannah; Gelcich, Stefan; Allison, Edward H

2018-04-01

There has been increasing attention to and investment in local environmental stewardship in conservation and environmental management policies and programs globally. Yet environmental stewardship has not received adequate conceptual attention. Establishing a clear definition and comprehensive analytical framework could strengthen our ability to understand the factors that lead to the success or failure of environmental stewardship in different contexts and how to most effectively support and enable local efforts. Here we propose such a definition and framework. First, we define local environmental stewardship as the actions taken by individuals, groups or networks of actors, with various motivations and levels of capacity, to protect, care for or responsibly use the environment in pursuit of environmental and/or social outcomes in diverse social-ecological contexts. Next, drawing from a review of the environmental stewardship, management and governance literatures, we unpack the elements of this definition to develop an analytical framework that can facilitate research on local environmental stewardship. Finally, we discuss potential interventions and leverage points for promoting or supporting local stewardship and future applications of the framework to guide descriptive, evaluative, prescriptive or systematic analysis of environmental stewardship. Further application of this framework in diverse environmental and social contexts is recommended to refine the elements and develop insights that will guide and improve the outcomes of environmental stewardship initiatives and investments. Ultimately, our aim is to raise the profile of environmental stewardship as a valuable and holistic concept for guiding productive and sustained relationships with the environment.

LAGOS-NE: a multi-scaled geospatial and temporal database of lake ecological context and water quality for thousands of US lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Bacon, Linda C; Beauchene, Michael; Bednar, Karen E; Bissell, Edward G; Boudreau, Claire K; Boyer, Marvin G; Bremigan, Mary T; Carpenter, Stephen R; Carr, Jamie W; Christel, Samuel T; Claucherty, Matt; Conroy, Joseph D; Downing, John A; Dukett, Jed; Filstrup, Christopher T; Funk, Clara; Gonzalez, Maria J; Green, Linda T; Gries, Corinna; Halfman, John D; Hamilton, Stephen K; Hanson, Paul C; Henry, Emily N; Herron, Elizabeth M; Hockings, Celeste; Jackson, James R; Jacobson-Hedin, Kari; Janus, Lorraine L; Jones, William W; Jones, John R; Keson, Caroline M; King, Katelyn B S; Kishbaugh, Scott A; Lathrop, Barbara; Latimore, Jo A; Lee, Yuehlin; Lottig, Noah R; Lynch, Jason A; Matthews, Leslie J; McDowell, William H; Moore, Karen E B; Neff, Brian P; Nelson, Sarah J; Oliver, Samantha K; Pace, Michael L; Pierson, Donald C; Poisson, Autumn C; Pollard, Amina I; Post, David M; Reyes, Paul O; Rosenberry, Donald O; Roy, Karen M; Rudstam, Lars G; Sarnelle, Orlando; Schuldt, Nancy J; Scott, Caren E; Smith, Nicole J; Spinelli, Nick R; Stachelek, Joseph J; Stanley, Emily H; Stoddard, John L; Stopyak, Scott B; Stow, Craig A; Tallant, Jason M; Thorpe, Anthony P; Vanni, Michael J; Wagner, Tyler; Watkins, Gretchen; Weathers, Kathleen C; Webster, Katherine E; White, Jeffrey D; Wilmes, Marcy K; Yuan, Shuai

2017-01-01

Abstract Understanding the factors that affect water quality and the ecological services provided by freshwater ecosystems is an urgent global environmental issue. Predicting how water quality will respond to global changes not only requires water quality data, but also information about the ecological context of individual water bodies across broad spatial extents. Because lake water quality is usually sampled in limited geographic regions, often for limited time periods, assessing the environmental controls of water quality requires compilation of many data sets across broad regions and across time into an integrated database. LAGOS-NE accomplishes this goal for lakes in the northeastern-most 17 US states. LAGOS-NE contains data for 51 101 lakes and reservoirs larger than 4 ha in 17 lake-rich US states. The database includes 3 data modules for: lake location and physical characteristics for all lakes; ecological context (i.e., the land use, geologic, climatic, and hydrologic setting of lakes) for all lakes; and in situ measurements of lake water quality for a subset of the lakes from the past 3 decades for approximately 2600–12 000 lakes depending on the variable. The database contains approximately 150 000 measures of total phosphorus, 200 000 measures of chlorophyll, and 900 000 measures of Secchi depth. The water quality data were compiled from 87 lake water quality data sets from federal, state, tribal, and non-profit agencies, university researchers, and citizen scientists. This database is one of the largest and most comprehensive databases of its type because it includes both in situ measurements and ecological context data. Because ecological context can be used to study a variety of other questions about lakes, streams, and wetlands, this database can also be used as the foundation for other studies of freshwaters at broad spatial and ecological scales. PMID:29053868

LAGOS-NE: a multi-scaled geospatial and temporal database of lake ecological context and water quality for thousands of US lakes.

Science.gov (United States)

Soranno, Patricia A; Bacon, Linda C; Beauchene, Michael; Bednar, Karen E; Bissell, Edward G; Boudreau, Claire K; Boyer, Marvin G; Bremigan, Mary T; Carpenter, Stephen R; Carr, Jamie W; Cheruvelil, Kendra S; Christel, Samuel T; Claucherty, Matt; Collins, Sarah M; Conroy, Joseph D; Downing, John A; Dukett, Jed; Fergus, C Emi; Filstrup, Christopher T; Funk, Clara; Gonzalez, Maria J; Green, Linda T; Gries, Corinna; Halfman, John D; Hamilton, Stephen K; Hanson, Paul C; Henry, Emily N; Herron, Elizabeth M; Hockings, Celeste; Jackson, James R; Jacobson-Hedin, Kari; Janus, Lorraine L; Jones, William W; Jones, John R; Keson, Caroline M; King, Katelyn B S; Kishbaugh, Scott A; Lapierre, Jean-Francois; Lathrop, Barbara; Latimore, Jo A; Lee, Yuehlin; Lottig, Noah R; Lynch, Jason A; Matthews, Leslie J; McDowell, William H; Moore, Karen E B; Neff, Brian P; Nelson, Sarah J; Oliver, Samantha K; Pace, Michael L; Pierson, Donald C; Poisson, Autumn C; Pollard, Amina I; Post, David M; Reyes, Paul O; Rosenberry, Donald O; Roy, Karen M; Rudstam, Lars G; Sarnelle, Orlando; Schuldt, Nancy J; Scott, Caren E; Skaff, Nicholas K; Smith, Nicole J; Spinelli, Nick R; Stachelek, Joseph J; Stanley, Emily H; Stoddard, John L; Stopyak, Scott B; Stow, Craig A; Tallant, Jason M; Tan, Pang-Ning; Thorpe, Anthony P; Vanni, Michael J; Wagner, Tyler; Watkins, Gretchen; Weathers, Kathleen C; Webster, Katherine E; White, Jeffrey D; Wilmes, Marcy K; Yuan, Shuai

2017-12-01

Understanding the factors that affect water quality and the ecological services provided by freshwater ecosystems is an urgent global environmental issue. Predicting how water quality will respond to global changes not only requires water quality data, but also information about the ecological context of individual water bodies across broad spatial extents. Because lake water quality is usually sampled in limited geographic regions, often for limited time periods, assessing the environmental controls of water quality requires compilation of many data sets across broad regions and across time into an integrated database. LAGOS-NE accomplishes this goal for lakes in the northeastern-most 17 US states.LAGOS-NE contains data for 51 101 lakes and reservoirs larger than 4 ha in 17 lake-rich US states. The database includes 3 data modules for: lake location and physical characteristics for all lakes; ecological context (i.e., the land use, geologic, climatic, and hydrologic setting of lakes) for all lakes; and in situ measurements of lake water quality for a subset of the lakes from the past 3 decades for approximately 2600-12 000 lakes depending on the variable. The database contains approximately 150 000 measures of total phosphorus, 200 000 measures of chlorophyll, and 900 000 measures of Secchi depth. The water quality data were compiled from 87 lake water quality data sets from federal, state, tribal, and non-profit agencies, university researchers, and citizen scientists. This database is one of the largest and most comprehensive databases of its type because it includes both in situ measurements and ecological context data. Because ecological context can be used to study a variety of other questions about lakes, streams, and wetlands, this database can also be used as the foundation for other studies of freshwaters at broad spatial and ecological scales. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

LAGOS-NE: a multi-scaled geospatial and temporal database of lake ecological context and water quality for thousands of US lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Soranno, Patricia A.; Bacon, Linda C.; Beauchene, Michael; Bednar, Karen E.; Bissell, Edward G.; Boudreau, Claire K.; Boyer, Marvin G.; Bremigan, Mary T.; Carpenter, Stephen R.; Carr, Jamie W.; Cheruvelil, Kendra S.; Christel, Samuel T.; Claucherty, Matt; Collins, Sarah M.; Conroy, Joseph D.; Downing, John A.; Dukett, Jed; Fergus, C. Emi; Filstrup, Christopher T.; Funk, Clara; Gonzalez, Maria J.; Green, Linda T.; Gries, Corinna; Halfman, John D.; Hamilton, Stephen K.; Hanson, Paul C.; Henry, Emily N.; Herron, Elizabeth M.; Hockings, Celeste; Jackson, James R.; Jacobson-Hedin, Kari; Janus, Lorraine L.; Jones, William W.; Jones, John R.; Keson, Caroline M.; King, Katelyn B.S.; Kishbaugh, Scott A.; Lapierre, Jean-Francois; Lathrop, Barbara; Latimore, Jo A.; Lee, Yuehlin; Lottig, Noah R.; Lynch, Jason A.; Matthews, Leslie J.; McDowell, William H.; Moore, Karen E.B.; Neff, Brian; Nelson, Sarah J.; Oliver, Samantha K.; Pace, Michael L.; Pierson, Donald C.; Poisson, Autumn C.; Pollard, Amina I.; Post, David M.; Reyes, Paul O.; Rosenberry, Donald; Roy, Karen M.; Rudstam, Lars G.; Sarnelle, Orlando; Schuldt, Nancy J.; Scott, Caren E.; Skaff, Nicholas K.; Smith, Nicole J.; Spinelli, Nick R.; Stachelek, Joseph J.; Stanley, Emily H.; Stoddard, John L.; Stopyak, Scott B.; Stow, Craig A.; Tallant, Jason M.; Tan, Pang-Ning; Thorpe, Anthony P.; Vanni, Michael J.; Wagner, Tyler; Watkins, Gretchen; Weathers, Kathleen C.; Webster, Katherine E.; White, Jeffrey D.; Wilmes, Marcy K.; Yuan, Shuai

2017-01-01

Understanding the factors that affect water quality and the ecological services provided by freshwater ecosystems is an urgent global environmental issue. Predicting how water quality will respond to global changes not only requires water quality data, but also information about the ecological context of individual water bodies across broad spatial extents. Because lake water quality is usually sampled in limited geographic regions, often for limited time periods, assessing the environmental controls of water quality requires compilation of many data sets across broad regions and across time into an integrated database. LAGOS-NE accomplishes this goal for lakes in the northeastern-most 17 US states.LAGOS-NE contains data for 51 101 lakes and reservoirs larger than 4 ha in 17 lake-rich US states. The database includes 3 data modules for: lake location and physical characteristics for all lakes; ecological context (i.e., the land use, geologic, climatic, and hydrologic setting of lakes) for all lakes; and in situ measurements of lake water quality for a subset of the lakes from the past 3 decades for approximately 2600–12 000 lakes depending on the variable. The database contains approximately 150 000 measures of total phosphorus, 200 000 measures of chlorophyll, and 900 000 measures of Secchi depth. The water quality data were compiled from 87 lake water quality data sets from federal, state, tribal, and non-profit agencies, university researchers, and citizen scientists. This database is one of the largest and most comprehensive databases of its type because it includes both in situ measurements and ecological context data. Because ecological context can be used to study a variety of other questions about lakes, streams, and wetlands, this database can also be used as the foundation for other studies of freshwaters at broad spatial and ecological scales.

Environmental Sustainability and Quality Education: Perspectives ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Environmental Sustainability and Quality Education: Perspectives from a community living in a context of poverty. ... Southern African Journal of Environmental Education. Journal Home · ABOUT THIS ... AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO ...

New rather than old? For working memory tasks with abstract patterns the P3 and the single-trial delta response are larger for modified than identical probe stimuli.

Science.gov (United States)

Mathes, B; Schmiedt, J; Schmiedt-Fehr, C; Pantelis, C; Basar-Eroglu, C

2012-07-01

Memory-guided decision making is dynamic and context-dependent, even though many studies describe an enhancement of the P3 for recognized items in memory tasks ("old-new effect"). This study utilized a delay-dependent working memory task during which decision making could be optimized by focusing attention on detected changes instead of recognized similarities. Mean P3 amplitude and delta activity were analyzed from participants who classified probe stimuli as identical or modified. The P3 amplitudes were larger for modified than for identical probes, even when the probe occurred 4,000 ms after the primary stimulus. Enhanced single-trial amplitude, trial-by-trial consistency, and frontoparietal phase coherence of delta activity contributed to the larger P3 for the modified probe. Thus, context-dependent attentional resource allocation supporting memory-guided decisions might explain the enhancement of the P3 for specific probe types. Copyright © 2012 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Exploring the Effects of Communication Framed by Environmental Concern in Informal Science Education Contexts

Science.gov (United States)

Yocco, Victor S.

. A measure of future intention was taken to allow for comparison between messages. Lastly, interviews of visitors to a science center were conducted to uncover a deeper understanding of the results from the previous four studies. Findings suggest that while there is a relationship between individuals' feeling of overlap between nature and their level of environmental concern they are two separate psychological constructs. Visitors prefer the biospheric framed statement regardless of their level of concern or feeling of overlap with nature. Shultz and Zelezney's (2003) assertion regarding the effectiveness of egoistic framed messages was refuted by the results of the quasi-experimental studies, in which participants who received the biospheric framed messages expressed a significantly greater intent to engage in environmentally friendly behaviors than those who received the egoistic framed messages. Implications to theory from these results include that there is little evidence to support visiting a zoo increases one's feeling of closeness with nature, however it does seem that individuals' levels of biospheric concern increases, perhaps temporarily, by a form of perspective taking which occurs during the visit. Implications to practice include the need to consider context when developing a message (e.g. a visit to the zoo as opposed to a visit to a botanical garden). Future research suggested includes comparing samples gathered from other venues (e.g. sporting events), the need for research on memory or retention of these messages long term, and the need for studies on repeated exposure to messages over time.

Social and Cultural Contexts of Alcohol Use

Science.gov (United States)

Sudhinaraset, May; Wigglesworth, Christina; Takeuchi, David T.

2016-01-01

Alcohol use and misuse account for 3.3 million deaths every year, or 6 percent of all deaths worldwide. The harmful effects of alcohol misuse are far reaching and range from individual health risks, morbidity, and mortality to consequences for family, friends, and the larger society. This article reviews a few of the cultural and social influences on alcohol use and places individual alcohol use within the contexts and environments where people live and interact. It includes a discussion of macrolevel factors, such as advertising and marketing, immigration and discrimination factors, and how neighborhoods, families, and peers influence alcohol use. Specifically, the article describes how social and cultural contexts influence alcohol use/misuse and then explores future directions for alcohol research. PMID:27159810

Women's Environmental Literacy As Social Capital In Environmental Management For Environmental Security of Urban Area

Science.gov (United States)

Asteria, Donna; Herdiansyah, Herdis; Wayan Agus Apriana, I.

2016-02-01

This study is about experience of women's role in environmental management to raise environmental security and form of women's emancipation movement. Environmental concerns conducted by residents of urban women who become environmental activists based on environmental literacy. Because of that, women's experience in interacting with both physic and social environment have differences in managing the environment including managing household waste by applying the principles of the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) and their persuasive efforts on their communities. This is the key to achieving sustainable development by anticipating environmental problem and preserving the environment. This study is conducted qualitative research method and its type is descriptive-explanative. The result of this study is environmental literacy of women activist on pro-environment action in their community that has achieved spiritual environmental literacy. Environmental literacy may differ due to internal and external condition of each individual. Pro-environment activities conducted as a form of responsibility of environmental concern such as eco-management, educational, and economic action, by persuading residents to proactively and consistently continue to do environmental management and develop a sense of community in shaping the networks of environmental concern in local context for global effect.

Sustaining an Environmental Ethic: Outdoor and Environmental Education Graduates' Negotiation of School Spaces

Science.gov (United States)

Preston, Lou

2011-01-01

In this article, I draw on interviews with graduates from an Outdoor and Environmental Education course to explore the ways in which their environmental ethics changed since leaving university. I do this in relation to the graduates' personal and professional experiences, particularly in the context of teaching Outdoor Education and Physical…

Mindfulness in cultural context.

Science.gov (United States)

Kirmayer, Laurence J

2015-08-01

Mindfulness meditation and other techniques drawn from Buddhism have increasingly been integrated into forms of psychotherapeutic intervention. In much of this work, mindfulness is understood as a mode of awareness that is present-centered and nonevaluative. This form of awareness is assumed to have intrinsic value in promoting positive mental health and adaptation by interrupting discursive thoughts that give rise to suffering. However, in the societies where it originated, mindfulness meditation is part of a larger system of Buddhist belief and practice with strong ethical and moral dimensions. Extracting techniques like mindfulness meditation from the social contexts in which they originate may change the nature and effects of the practice. The papers in this issue of Transcultural Psychiatry explore the implications of a cultural and contextual view of mindfulness for continued dialogue between Buddhist thought and psychiatry. This introductory essay considers the meanings of mindfulness meditation in cultural context and the uses of mindfulness as a therapeutic intervention in contemporary psychiatry and psychology. © The Author(s) 2015.

Generative Contexts: Generating value between community and educational settings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dan Lyles

2016-12-01

Full Text Available As educators and researchers, the authors of this paper participated, at different points in time, in a National Science Foundation funded research program to place culturally responsive education into generative justice frameworks. We discovered that the mechanisms to create generative contexts—contexts where value can possibly be returned to the community where the people generating that value live and work—in-school, after-school, and not-school were not uniform and required individual attention and care. One can think of generative contexts as the educational preconditions for generative justice. We aim to show how generative contexts are crucial to understanding a larger theory of generative justice. To do this we provide three examples of generative contexts. First is a generative context in-school, where a technology teacher brought a community hairstylist into her classroom to help teach computer programming through cornrow braiding; a skill relevant to her African American students. Next is a generative context after-school where a student demonstrates soldering skills that she learned from family members. The third is a not-school “E-Waste to Makerspace” workshop where students created garden-technology designs for low-income communities. 

Stimulating environmental management capability deployment: towards a differentiated environmental policy. The case of the Dutch food and drink industry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Haverkamp, D.J.; Bremmers, H.J.; Omta, S.W.F.

2009-01-01

This paper investigates the influence of the institutional and network context on the adoption of environmental management capabilities. The aim is to gain insight into the managerial drivers for environmental pro-activeness and learn lessons for environmental policy renewal. A longitudinal

Sense of Place in Environmental Education

Science.gov (United States)

Kudryavtsev, Alex; Stedman, Richard C.; Krasny, Marianne E.

2012-01-01

Although environmental education research has embraced the idea of sense of place, it has rarely taken into account environmental psychology-based sense of place literature whose theory and empirical studies can enhance related studies in the education context. This article contributes to research on sense of place in environmental education from…

Equity Impacts of Environmental Policy

OpenAIRE

Antonio M. Bento

2013-01-01

This article surveys recent literature on the equity impacts of environmental policy. We focus on studies that look at the distribution of costs and benefits of alternative environmental policies. We also examine potentially important trade-offs between efficiency and equity that arise in the context of environmental policy, as well as transition effects. In many of the applications surveyed here, environmental policies can be regressive. Strategies are discussed to reduce this regressivity t...

Transgenerational plasticity in the sea: context-dependent maternal effects across the life history.

Science.gov (United States)

Marshall, Dustin J

2008-02-01

Maternal effects can have dramatic influences on the phenotype of offspring. Maternal effects can act as a conduit by which the maternal environment negatively affects offspring fitness, but they can also buffer offspring from environmental change by altering the phenotype of offspring according to local environmental conditions and as such, are a form of transgenerational plasticity. The benefits of maternal effects can be highly context dependent, increasing performance in one life-history stage but reducing it in another. While maternal effects are increasingly well understood in terrestrial systems, studies in the marine environment are typically restricted to a single, early life-history stage. Here, I examine the role of maternal effects across the life history of the bryozoan Bugula neritina. I exposed maternal colonies to a common pollution stress (copper) in the laboratory and then placed them in the field for one week to brood offspring. I then examined the resistance of offspring to copper from toxicant-exposed and toxicant-naïve mothers and found that offspring from toxicant-exposed mothers were larger, more dispersive, and more resistant to copper stress than offspring from naïve mothers. However, maternal exposure history had pervasive, negative effects on the post-metamorphic performance (particularly survival) of offspring: offspring from toxicant-exposed mothers had poorer performance after six weeks in the field, especially when facing high levels of intraspecific competition. Maternal experience can have complex effects on offspring phenotype, enhancing performance in one life-history stage while decreasing performance in another. The context-dependent costs and benefits associated with maternally derived pollution resistance may account for why such resistance is induced rather than continually expressed: mothers must balance the benefits of producing pollution-resistant larvae with the costs of producing poorer performing adults (in the

Dental ethics in a larger context: one point of view.

Science.gov (United States)

Baumrind, Sheldon

2007-01-01

Since the end of World War II, the practice of dentistry has been largely transformed from a "calling" into a cog in the ever-expanding "Healthcare Industry". In the process, the distinction between professional ethics and the ethics of commerce has been attenuated and, to a large extent, lost. Today's dentist is faced with an inherent conflict between the pledge of the health professional to hold the patient's interests primary (and above all, to do no harm), and the self-protective commercial principle of caveat emptor. Pressures towards commercialism come from the government and the insurance industry, the increasingly unfavorable ratio between professional fees and the cost of production, and the high cost of dental education. Viewed simplistically, much of dentistry today has an outward form resembling commodity production. Recognizing the substantial forces tending to attenuate ethical standards in our profession may aid us in resisting their encroachments.

Revisiting the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis in a tourism development context.

Science.gov (United States)

de Vita, Glauco; Katircioglu, Salih; Altinay, Levent; Fethi, Sami; Mercan, Mehmet

2015-11-01

This study investigates empirically an extended version of the Environmental Kuznets Curve model that controls for tourism development. We find that international tourist arrivals into Turkey alongside income, squared income and energy consumption, cointegrate with CO2 emissions. Tourist arrivals, growth, and energy consumption exert a positive and significant impact on CO2 emissions in the long-run. Our results provide empirical support to EKC hypothesis showing that at exponential levels of growth, CO2 emissions decline. The findings suggest that despite the environmental degradation stemming from tourism development, policies aimed at environmental protection should not be pursued at the expense of tourism-led growth.

Child poverty and environmental justice.

Science.gov (United States)

Hornberg, Claudia; Pauli, Andrea

2007-10-01

Child poverty and social inequality in Western countries are growing both in scope and in complexity. The clustering of income poverty in urban settings reflects the complex process of residential segregation. Living in segregated neighbourhoods with much poverty and predominantly substandard housing is usually associated with poor physical, chemical and social environmental living conditions at the individual and community level which influence and shape children's health both directly and indirectly. This paper shows research data on the link between child poverty and income-related health inequalities according to the unequal exposure to environmental hazards as well as the unequal distribution of environmental resources in the domestic environment and within the local context as an increasing public health issue in Germany. The links between these factors are drawn from the conceptual framework of environmental justice. Examples are shown of integrated approaches to alleviate social and environmental disparities at the community level. The implications of environmental justice for public health include the need to uncover the link between socioeconomic factors and environmental health disparities related to the man-made environment. Developing relevant indicators for environmental inequalities in the context of housing and health is an important task for public health research. More emphasis should be placed on a comprehensive holistic approach to understand the mechanisms by which socioeconomic factors modify children's susceptibility and exposure to environmental hazards, particularly in low-income areas.

Assessing environmental vulnerability in EIA-The content and context of the vulnerability concept in an alternative approach to standard EIA procedure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kvaerner, Jens; Swensen, Grete; Erikstad, Lars

2006-01-01

In the traditional EIA procedure environmental vulnerability is only considered to a minor extent in the early stages when project alternatives are worked out. In Norway, an alternative approach to EIA, an integrated vulnerability model (IVM), emphasising environmental vulnerability and alternatives development in the early stages of EIA, has been tried out in a few pilot cases. This paper examines the content and use of the vulnerability concept in the IVM approach, and discusses the concept in an EIA context. The vulnerability concept is best suited to overview analyses and large scale spatial considerations. The concept is particularly useful in the early stages of EIA when alternatives are designed and screened. By introducing analyses of environmental vulnerability at the start of the EIA process, the environment can be a more decisive issue for the creation of project alternatives as well as improving the basis for scoping. Vulnerability and value aspects should be considered as separate dimensions. There is a need to operate with a specification between general and specific vulnerability. The concept of environmental vulnerability has proven useful in a wide range of disciplines. Different disciplines have different lengths of experience regarding vulnerability. In disciplines such as landscape planning and hydrogeology we find elements suitable as cornerstones in the further development of an interdisciplinary methodology. Further development of vulnerability criteria in different disciplines and increased public involvement in the early stages of EIA are recommended

The Role of Social Context in Gifted and Talented Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Fetterman, David

1999-01-01

The dichotomy between individualism and conformity, the myth that gifted children will make it on their own, and the fallacy of equating equal opportunity with equal potential, ability, and results has fostered a climate in which simplistic thinking, ambivalence, and neglect is prevalent. Awareness of this larger social context can allow for new…

Social contexts and personal relationships : The effect of meeting opportunities on similarity for relationships of different strength

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mollenhorst, Gerald; Völker, Beate; Flap, Henk

2008-01-01

This paper examines the effect of social contexts on similarity in personal relationships. We argue that the effect of social contexts is larger for weaker, and smaller for stronger relationships. Using data from The Survey of the Social Networks of the Dutch (collected in 1999/2000, n = 1007), we

Social Media-Related Geographic Information in the Context of Strategic Environmental Assessment of Municipal Masterplans: A Case Study Concerning Sardinia (Italy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roberta Floris

2015-08-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a discussion concerning the use of social media-related geographic information in the context of the strategic environmental assessment (SEA of Sardinian Municipal masterplans (MMPs. We show that this kind of information improves, substantially, the SEA process since it provides planners, evaluators, and the local communities with information retrieved from social media that would have not been available otherwise. This information integrates authoritative data collection, which comes from official sources, and enlightens tastes and preferences of the users of services and infrastructure, and their expectations concerning their spatial organization. A methodological approach related to the collection of social media-related geographic information is implemented and discussed with reference to the urban context of the city of Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy. The results are very effective in terms of provision of information, which may possibly increase the spatial knowledge available for planning policy definition and implementation. In this perspective, this kind of information discloses opportunities for building analytical scenarios related to urban and regional planning and it offers useful suggestions for sustainable development based on tourism strategies.

OCEAN THERMAL ENERGY CONVERSION (OTEC) PROGRAMMATIC ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sands, M. D.

1980-01-01

This programmatic environmental analysis is an initial assessment of OTEC technology considering development, demonstration and commercialization; it is concluded that the OTEC development program should continue because the development, demonstration, and commercialization on a single-plant deployment basis should not present significant environmental impacts. However, several areas within the OTEC program require further investigation in order to assess the potential for environmental impacts from OTEC operation, particularly in large-scale deployments and in defining alternatives to closed-cycle biofouling control: (1) Larger-scale deployments of OTEC clusters or parks require further investigations in order to assess optimal platform siting distances necessary to minimize adverse environmental impacts. (2) The deployment and operation of the preoperational platform (OTEC-1) and future demonstration platforms must be carefully monitored to refine environmental assessment predictions, and to provide design modifications which may mitigate or reduce environmental impacts for larger-scale operations. These platforms will provide a valuable opportunity to fully evaluate the intake and discharge configurations, biofouling control methods, and both short-term and long-term environmental effects associated with platform operations. (3) Successful development of OTEC technology to use the maximal resource capabilities and to minimize environmental effects will require a concerted environmental management program, encompassing many different disciplines and environmental specialties.

Handbook of Research on Environmental Taxation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

, their environmental and economic impact and, finally, the larger question of the role of taxation among other policy approaches to environmental protection. Intermixing theory with case studies, the Handbook offers readers lessons that can be applied around the world. It identifies key bodies of research for people......The Handbook of Research on Environmental Taxation captures the state of the art of research on environmental taxation. Written by 36 specialists in environmental taxation from 16 countries, it takes an interdisciplinary and international approach, focusing on issues that are universal to using...... taxation to achieve environmental goals. The Handbook explores the conceptual foundations of environmental taxation, essential elements for designing environmental tax measures, factors that influence the acceptance of environmental taxation, the variety of ways to implement environmental taxes...

Strategic analysis of factors affecting the coupling of environmental management with business strategy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Lars Bjørn; Bjarnø, Ole-Christian

1997-01-01

This paper aims at introducing a framework through which companies can adress and overcome the uncertainty regarding their strategic environmental posture and formulate an appropriate environmental strategy in line with their business context, environmental pressures, internal strenghts and weakn......This paper aims at introducing a framework through which companies can adress and overcome the uncertainty regarding their strategic environmental posture and formulate an appropriate environmental strategy in line with their business context, environmental pressures, internal strenghts...

Is Parental Involvement Lower at Larger Schools?

Science.gov (United States)

Walsh, Patrick

2010-01-01

Parents who volunteer, or who lobby for improvements in school quality, are generally seen as providing a school-wide public good. If so, straightforward public-good theory predicts that free-riding will reduce average involvement at larger schools. This study uses longitudinal data to follow families over time, as their children move from middle…

Social thermoregulation as a potential mechanism linking sociality and fitness: Barbary macaques with more social partners form larger huddles.

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, Liz A D; Tkaczynski, Patrick J; Lehmann, Julia; Mouna, Mohamed; Majolo, Bonaventura

2018-04-17

Individuals with more or stronger social bonds experience enhanced survival and reproduction in various species, though the mechanisms mediating these effects are unclear. Social thermoregulation is a common behaviour across many species which reduces cold stress exposure, body heat loss, and homeostatic energy costs, allowing greater energetic investment in growth, reproduction, and survival, with larger aggregations providing greater benefits. If more social individuals form larger thermoregulation aggregations due to having more potential partners, this would provide a direct link between sociality and fitness. We conducted the first test of this hypothesis by studying social relationships and winter sleeping huddles in wild Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus), wherein individuals with more social partners experience greater probability of winter survival. Precipitation and low temperature increased huddle sizes, supporting previous research that huddle size influences thermoregulation and energetics. Huddling relationships were predicted by social (grooming) relationships. Individuals with more social partners therefore formed larger huddles, suggesting reduced energy expenditure and exposure to environmental stressors than less social individuals, potentially explaining how sociality affects survival in this population. This is the first evidence that social thermoregulation may be a direct proximate mechanism by which increased sociality enhances fitness, which may be widely applicable across taxa.

Affluence and objective environmental conditions: Evidence of differences in environmental concern in metropolitan Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Nawrotzki, Raphael J; Guedes, Gilvan; do Carmo, Roberto Luiz

2014-04-01

In an age of climate change, researchers need to form a deepened understanding of the determinants of environmental concern, particularly in countries of emerging economies. This paper provides a region-specific investigation of the impact of socio-economic status (SES) and objective environmental conditions on environmental concern in urban Brazil. We make use of data that were collected from personal interviews of individuals living in the metropolitan areas of Baixada Santista and Campinas, in the larger São Paulo area. Results from multilevel regression models indicate that wealthier households are more environmentally concerned, as suggested by affluence and post-materialist hypotheses. However, we also observe that increasing environmental concern correlates with a decline in objective environmental conditions. Interactions between objective environmental conditions and SES reveal some intriguing relationships: Among poorer individuals, a decline in environmental conditions increases environmental concern as suggested by the objective problems hypothesis, while for the wealthy, a decline in environmental conditions is associated with lower levels of environmental concern.

Uninformative contexts support word learning for high-skill spellers.

Science.gov (United States)

Eskenazi, Michael A; Swischuk, Natascha K; Folk, Jocelyn R; Abraham, Ashley N

2018-04-30

The current study investigated how high-skill spellers and low-skill spellers incidentally learn words during reading. The purpose of the study was to determine whether readers can use uninformative contexts to support word learning after forming a lexical representation for a novel word, consistent with instance-based resonance processes. Previous research has found that uninformative contexts damage word learning; however, there may have been insufficient exposure to informative contexts (only one) prior to exposure to uninformative contexts (Webb, 2007; Webb, 2008). In Experiment 1, participants read sentences with one novel word (i.e., blaph, clurge) embedded in them in three different conditions: Informative (six informative contexts to support word learning), Mixed (three informative contexts followed by three uninformative contexts), and Uninformative (six uninformative contexts). Experiment 2 added a new condition with only three informative contexts to further clarify the conclusions of Experiment 1. Results indicated that uninformative contexts can support word learning, but only for high-skill spellers. Further, when participants learned the spelling of the novel word, they were more likely to learn the meaning of that word. This effect was much larger for high-skill spellers than for low-skill spellers. Results are consistent with the Lexical Quality Hypothesis (LQH) in that high-skill spellers form stronger orthographic representations which support word learning (Perfetti, 2007). Results also support an instance-based resonance process of word learning in that prior informative contexts can be reactivated to support word learning in future contexts (Bolger, Balass, Landen, & Perfetti, 2008; Balass, Nelson, & Perfetti, 2010; Reichle & Perfetti, 2003). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

ICAO safety management systems (SMS) development in environmental contexts: A field study of greater China

Science.gov (United States)

Leib, Steven M.

This was a mixed-methods exploratory study to investigate association between environmental context and the implementation status of Safety Management Systems (SMS) at airports in Greater China. Using a framework of Institutional Theory, this study looked at three regions of Greater China and explored internal and external environments of SMS at airports within each region. It used ICAO standards to evaluate the implementation status of SMS at those airports based on the perceptions of 126 participants. This research also employed snowballing technique to spread a survey tool to participants in Greater China through several key gatekeepers, and then applied the Delphi method for interviews with key gatekeepers themselves. Analysis of the data suggested several associations between various sub-concepts of the external environment and different components of SMS in the three regions. In addition, the data suggested a relationship between the internal environment as a whole and the overall status of SMS implementation in each region. Lastly, the study makes several recommendations for future research regarding global standards implemented in local environments, the evaluation of SMS implementation status, and the theoretical implications of this study.

SME routes for innovation collaboration with larger enterprises

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brink, Tove

2017-01-01

The research in this paper reveals how Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) can contribute to industry competiveness through collaboration with larger enterprises. The research is based on a longitudinal qualitative case study starting in 2011 with 10 SME offshore wind farm suppliers...... and follow-up interviews in 2013. The research continued with a second approach in 2014 within operation and maintenance (O&M) through focus group interviews and subsequent individual interviews with 20 enterprises and a seminar in May 2015. The findings reveal opportunities and challenges for SMEs according...... to three different routes for cooperation and collaboration with larger enterprises: demand-driven cooperation, supplier-driven cooperation and partnerdriven collaboration. The SME contribution to innovation and competiveness is different within the three routes and ranges from providing specific knowledge...

Intrapreneurship in the Spanish context : a regional analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Turro Sol, A.; Alvarez, Claudia; Urbano, David

2016-01-01

The objective of this article is to examine the influence of internal and external (environmental) factors on intrapreneurship in the Spanish context, considering differences among regions. Methodologically, the study applies logistic regression and uses data from the Spanish Global Entrepreneurship

Context Aware Systems, Methods and Trends in Smart Home Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Robles, Rosslin John; Kim, Tai-Hoon

Context aware applications respond and adapt to changes in the computing environment. It is the concept of leveraging information about the end user to improve the quality of the interaction. New technologies in context-enriched services will use location, presence, social attributes, and other environmental information to anticipate an end user's immediate needs, offering more-sophisticated, situation-aware and usable functions. Smart homes connect all the devices and appliances in your home so they can communicate with each other and with you. Context-awareness can be applied to Smart Home technology. In this paper, we discuss the context-aware tools for development of Smart Home Systems.

Environmental fiscal reforms

OpenAIRE

Ashish Chaturvedi; Manjeet S. Saluja; Abhijit Banerjee; Rachna Arora

2014-01-01

The paper presents concepts and instruments of environmental fiscal reforms (EFR) and their application in the Indian context. EFR can lead to environmental improvement more efficiently and cost effectively than traditional regulation. There is substantial experience of successful EFR implementation in the European Union. India has also adopted some EFR measures such as deregulation of petrol prices, coal cess, and subsidy for setting up common effluent treatment plants. The challenges of imp...

Environmental Balance 2006

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-01-01

It is the intention of the Dutch government to evaluate and assess every year the quality of the environmental policy as has been executed in the previous year. Also in this State of the Environment attention is paid to the actual development of the environmental quality and accompanying changes in ecosystems and public health related to societal activities and the effect of the environmental policy. Different points of view of the policy are dealt with, in particular with regard to target groups, subjects, compartments and areas. Based on the results of the evaluation the targets can be adjusted. In this report special attention is paid to the Dutch environmental policy in the European context [nl

Proactive environmental strategy in a supply chain context: the mediating role of investments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Akin, M.; Bloemhof, J.M.; Raaij, van E.M.; Wynstra, F.

2012-01-01

There is a growing body of knowledge on the link between environmental management and supply chain management, but there is contradicting evidence on the impact of a proactive environmental strategy on environmental performance. Therefore, this paper investigates the impact of proactive

Environmental effects of exploratory drilling offshore Canada : environmental effects monitoring data and literature review : final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hurley, G.; Ellis, J.

2004-10-01

This study examined pertinent environmental effects monitoring (EEM) information and data associated with offshore exploratory and development drilling in Canada. Two approaches were used: (1) a review of scientific literature was conducted to provide a synthesis of knowledge concerning interactions between exploratory drilling and the environment; and (2) a review of pertinent Canadian EEM data was conducted to evaluate interactions between exploratory drilling and the environment. Virtually all the east coast Canadian data reviewed in the study related to the effects of multiple wells. Although the effects of drilling waste were a primary focus, the effects of accidental discharges, lights and flaring, atmospheric emissions and noise emissions were also considered. Changes in the diversity and abundance of benthic organisms were detected within 1000 metres of many drill sites. The fine particles in drilling wastes contributed to the environmental effects observed around drilling platforms, and elevated body burden concentrations of drill waste indicators were detected over larger scales in a wide range of taxonomic groups. The results of laboratory and field studies suggested a lower potential for toxicity on commercial finfish and shellfish species. However, it was observed that measuring the effects of elevated concentrations of contaminants remained a challenge due to high levels variability in literature studies. A precautionary approach to the management of seismic surveys was recommended. It was concluded that the potential cumulative impacts of exploration drilling should be considered in the context of other anthropogenic activities. 138 refs., 6 tabs.

Environmental Response of Small Urban Parks in Context of Dhaka City

Science.gov (United States)

Tabassum, S.

2018-01-01

Urban green spaces are essential element of urban life which, due to their structure and multi functionality, can play an exemplary role in the vitality and quality of urban life. Urban Parks are not only used as active recreational and leisure areas for its citizens but also an important catalyst for community development and enhancement. These spaces in the city act like its lungs and play a critical role in supporting the ecological and environmental system. In the dense urban areas, even Small Parks (less than one acre in size) can also contribute a lot to improve environmental quality of city life. In a populated city where it is difficult to incorporate large Public Parks, these small green area can complement large Public Park system. Accordingly the study is concerned to evaluate the environmental performances of Small Parks on the built environments of urban Dhaka. The analysis identifies that Small Parks has strong environmental impact, the intensity of which depends on the type and quality of its vegetation, its design parameters, connectivity and of course on surrounding urban morphology. And it is confirmed that park with more canopy tree is suitable for our environment and therefore a good combination of vegetation (wide canopy trees at periphery, medium canopy trees beside internal walkway and small canopy tree, shrub and grass cover elsewhere) are recommended for better environmental performance of Small Parks. The research will be an approach to find the ways and means to restore the Small Parks of Dhaka city to ensure the livability of the city and enhance the quality of city image.

Environmental influences on egg and clutch sizes in lentic- and lotic-breeding salamanders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jon M. Davenport

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Recent research indicates that social and environmental factors influence egg and clutch sizes in amphibians. However, most of this work is based on the reproductively diverse order Anura (frogs and toads, whereas less research has been conducted on Caudata (salamanders and Gymnophiona (caecilians. Researchers have suggested that a relationship exists between social and environmental factors and egg and clutch sizes in salamanders, but studies controlling for phylogenetic context are lacking. We could not identify a sufficient number of comparisons for social influences on egg and clutch sizes; therefore, we focused on environmental influences for this study. Data on egg size, clutch size, environmental factors, and phylogenies for salamanders were assembled from the scientific literature. We used independent, pair-wise comparisons to investigate the association of larval salamander habitat and egg size and the association of larval salamander habitat with clutch sizes within a phylogenetic framework. There is a significant association between larval habitat and egg size; specifically, stream-breeding species produce larger eggs. There is no significant association between larval habitat and clutchsize. Our study confirms earlier reports that salamander egg size is associated with larval environments, but is the first to use phylogenetically independent contrasts to account for the lack of phylogenetic independence of the traits measured (egg size and clutch size associated with many of the diverse lineages. Our study shows that environmental selection pressure can be quite strong on one aspect of salamander reproduction—egg size.

Generative Contexts

Science.gov (United States)

Lyles, Dan Allen

Educational research has identified how science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) practice and education have underperforming metrics in racial and gender diversity, despite decades of intervention. These disparities are part of the construction of a culture of science that is alienating to these populations. Recent studies in a social science framework described as "Generative Justice" have suggested that the context of social and scientific practice might be modified to bring about more just and equitable relations among the disenfranchised by circulating the value they and their non-human allies create back to them in unalienated forms. What is not known are the underlying principles of social and material space that makes a system more or less generative. I employ an autoethnographic method at four sites: a high school science class; a farm committed to "Black and Brown liberation"; a summer program geared towards youth environmental mapping; and a summer workshop for Harlem middle school students. My findings suggest that by identifying instances where material affinity, participatory voice, and creative solidarity are mutually reinforcing, it is possible to create educational contexts that generate unalienated value, and circulate it back to the producers themselves. This cycle of generation may help explain how to create systems of justice that strengthen and grow themselves through successive iterations. The problem of lack of diversity in STEM may be addressed not merely by recruiting the best and the brightest from underrepresented populations, but by changing the context of STEM education to provide tools for its own systematic restructuring.

Neural correlates of economic value and valuation context: an event-related potential study.

Science.gov (United States)

Tyson-Carr, John; Kokmotou, Katerina; Soto, Vicente; Cook, Stephanie; Fallon, Nicholas; Giesbrecht, Timo; Stancak, Andrej

2018-05-01

The value of environmental cues and internal states is continuously evaluated by the human brain, and it is this subjective value that largely guides decision making. The present study aimed to investigate the initial value attribution process, specifically the spatiotemporal activation patterns associated with values and valuation context, using electroencephalographic event-related potentials (ERPs). Participants completed a stimulus rating task in which everyday household items marketed up to a price of £4 were evaluated with respect to their desirability or material properties. The subjective values of items were evaluated as willingness to pay (WTP) in a Becker-DeGroot-Marschak auction. On the basis of the individual's subjective WTP values, the stimuli were divided into high- and low-value items. Source dipole modeling was applied to estimate the cortical sources underlying ERP components modulated by subjective values (high vs. low WTP) and the evaluation condition (value-relevant vs. value-irrelevant judgments). Low-WTP items and value-relevant judgments both led to a more pronounced N2 visual evoked potential at right frontal scalp electrodes. Source activity in right anterior insula and left orbitofrontal cortex was larger for low vs. high WTP at ∼200 ms. At a similar latency, source activity in right anterior insula and right parahippocampal gyrus was larger for value-relevant vs. value-irrelevant judgments. A stronger response for low- than high-value items in anterior insula and orbitofrontal cortex appears to reflect aversion to low-valued item acquisition, which in an auction experiment would be perceived as a relative loss. This initial low-value bias occurs automatically irrespective of the valuation context. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We demonstrate the spatiotemporal characteristics of the brain valuation process using event-related potentials and willingness to pay as a measure of subjective value. The N2 component resolves values of objects with a

Katrina in Historical Context: Environment and Migration in the U.S.

Science.gov (United States)

Gutmann, Myron P; Field, Vincenzo

2010-01-01

The massive publicity surrounding the exodus of residents from New Orleans spurred by Hurricane Katrina has encouraged interest in the ways that past migration in the U.S. has been shaped by environmental factors. So has Timothy Egan's exciting book, The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of those who survived the Great American Dust Bowl. This paper places those dramatic stories into a much less exciting context, demonstrating that the kinds of environmental factors exemplified by Katrina and the Dust Bowl are dwarfed in importance and frequency by the other ways that environment has both impeded and assisted the forces of migration. We accomplish this goal by enumerating four types of environmental influence on migration in the U.S.: 1) environmental calamities, including floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and tornadoes, 2) environmental hardships and their obverse, short-term environmental benefits, including both drought and short periods of favorable weather, 3) environmental amenities, including warmth, sun, and proximity to water or mountains, and 4) environmental barriers and their management, including heat, air conditioning, flood control, drainage, and irrigation. In U.S. history, all four of these have driven migration flows in one direction or another. Placing Katrina into this historical context is an important task, both because the environmental calamities of which Katrina is an example are relatively rare and have not had a wide impact, and because focusing on them defers interest from the other kinds of environmental impacts, whose effect on migration may have been stronger and more persistent, though less dramatic.

The environmental effect of subsidies for clean technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Vries, F.P.; Nentjes, A.

2001-01-01

Environmental subsidies for clean technology result in a larger diffusion of such technology. However, as a result emissions can increase in imperfect markets for products. When several companies compete each other with clean and dirty technologies, production and emission will rise because of price competition.This effect will be even larger in case subsidies are applied. Therefore, subsidies are not advisable for every market. In this article an evolutionary game theory has been used with respect to the diffusion of environment-friendly innovation of products and the role of environmental policy instruments (in particular subsidies). 7 refs

[Assessment of eco-environmental vulnerability of Hainan Island, China].

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Bao-rong; Ouyang, Zhi-yun; Zhang, Hui-zhi; Zhang, Li-hua; Zheng, Hua

2009-03-01

Based on the assessment method of environmental vulnerability constructed by SOPAC and UNEP, this paper constructed an indicator system from three sub-themes including hazard, resistance, and damage to assess the eco-environmental vulnerability of Hainan Island. The results showed that Hainan Island was suffering a middling level eco-environmental hazard, and the main hazards came from some intensive human activities such as intensive agriculture, mass tourism, mining, and a mass of solid wastes thrown by islanders and tourists. Some geographical characters such as larger land area, larger altitude range, integrated geographical form, and abundant habitat types endowed Hainan Island higher resistance to environmental hazards. However, disturbed by historical accumulative artificial and natural hazards, the Island ecosystem had showed serious ecological damage, such as soil degradation and biodiversity loss. Comprehensively considered hazard, resistance, damage, and degradation, the comprehensive environmental vulnerability of the Island was at a middling level. Some indicators showed lower vulnerability, but some showed higher vulnerability.

Inferring Human Activity in Mobile Devices by Computing Multiple Contexts.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Ruizhi; Chu, Tianxing; Liu, Keqiang; Liu, Jingbin; Chen, Yuwei

2015-08-28

This paper introduces a framework for inferring human activities in mobile devices by computing spatial contexts, temporal contexts, spatiotemporal contexts, and user contexts. A spatial context is a significant location that is defined as a geofence, which can be a node associated with a circle, or a polygon; a temporal context contains time-related information that can be e.g., a local time tag, a time difference between geographical locations, or a timespan; a spatiotemporal context is defined as a dwelling length at a particular spatial context; and a user context includes user-related information that can be the user's mobility contexts, environmental contexts, psychological contexts or social contexts. Using the measurements of the built-in sensors and radio signals in mobile devices, we can snapshot a contextual tuple for every second including aforementioned contexts. Giving a contextual tuple, the framework evaluates the posteriori probability of each candidate activity in real-time using a Naïve Bayes classifier. A large dataset containing 710,436 contextual tuples has been recorded for one week from an experiment carried out at Texas A&M University Corpus Christi with three participants. The test results demonstrate that the multi-context solution significantly outperforms the spatial-context-only solution. A classification accuracy of 61.7% is achieved for the spatial-context-only solution, while 88.8% is achieved for the multi-context solution.

Environmental science in a legal context: The Exxon Valdez experience

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shaw, D.G. [Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK (United States). Inst. of Marine Science; Bader, H. [Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK (United States). Dept. of Resources Management

1996-11-01

Following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, the government gathered environmental data about this accident`s environmental consequences. This was done primarily as part of natural-resource damage assessment, a focused process which is defined in United States law and which limits information gathering to a specific set of studies to meet those statutory requirements. The goal of the damage assessment process is to determine the extent of injury to natural resources so that biological restoration can be obtained; it was neither designed nor intended to study effects of oil spills in a broad sense. Other programs and funding sources exist for that purpose. In our opinion, however, two major problems arose when damage assessment was applied to the Exxon Valdez oil spill. First, the procedural constraints on environmental data collection severely compromised the state and federal governments` ability to demonstrate natural resource injury. Second, by the time it became generally understood what kinds of studies would and would not be conducted as part of the natural-resource damage assessment, numerous valuable research opportunities had either been lost or curtailed for lack of alternate funding. We suggest possible solutions to these problems including better understanding of the goals and limitations of the damage assessment process by those involved, decreased reliance on ecological baseline data, and replacement of restoration with mitigation as a goal of damage assessment. 45 refs

Gender Differences in Attitudes toward Environmental Science

Science.gov (United States)

Carrier, Sarah J.

2007-01-01

This study examined the role of gender in the areas of environmental education that included environmental knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and comfort levels in the outdoors. The current study was part of a larger study designed to explore the effects of a treatment that consisted of 14 weeks of outdoor lessons conducted in the schoolyard as…

Rio Grande Basin and the modern world: Understanding scale and context

Science.gov (United States)

Joseph A. Tainter

1999-01-01

Environmental problems are social issues, embedded in economic and political contexts at the local, regional, national, and global levels. Placing environmental issues on the scale from local to global clarifies conflicts between the level at which problems originate and the level at which they must be addressed. Local issues today often originate in sources distant in...

Games in the environmental context and their strategic use for environmental education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MAA Branco

Full Text Available This article aims to present the productivity of the assumptions of Philosophical Hermeneutics (Gadamer, 1996 and his discovery of the logical, ontological and structural model of the game that takes place during the experience that is the basis of comprehension. Thus, digital games are proposed as manners, methods and ways to improve the understanding, interpretation and application of the concepts of Sustainability and Environmental Principles. The attraction of the game as a pedagogic space lays in the fact that it takes over and allows the player to internalize ecological sensitivity, something that happens during the play. Finally, the results show an augment on students’ motivation, when using the game versus the traditional process.

Professional liability in the safety and environmental context

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matheson, J.A.; Price, A.A.; Scott, J.B.

1992-01-01

In Texas, the theories of liability under which professionals can be held liable are breach of contract, common law fraud or misrepresentation, failure to disclose, and the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Because case law involving safety or environmental professionals is scarce it is necessary to draw analogies from cases involving architects and engineers. These cases, however, may be directly applicable to those who are engineers. This paper reviews examples of these types of liabilities providing case references for each. The paper finishes with preventative steps for minimizing the liabilities of both consulting groups and practicing professionals

Designing a Business Model for Environmental Monitoring Services Using Fast MCDS Innovation Support Tools

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tuomo Eskelinen

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The free availability of open data provides opportunities to start new businesses and gain business intelligence. However, although data is often used to support decisions and actions, the possibilities offered by modern sensor technologies with connections to cloud-based data collection services are not being effectively capitalized. Data collection systems are also not generally open source solutions, even though open and flexibly adjustable systems would broaden the opportunities for solutions and larger revenue streams. In this article, we used action research methods to discover new business opportunities in a semi-open information system that utilizes environmental monitoring data. We applied a four-stage innovation process for industry, which included context definition, idea generation, and selection, and produced multi-criteria decision support (MCDS data to help the design of business model. This was done to reveal business opportunities for an environmental monitoring service. Among these opportunities, one service-style business model canvas was identified as feasible and selected for further development. We identified items that are needed in the commercialization process of environmental monitoring services. Our process combines open environmental monitoring data, participative innovation process, and MCDS support, and it supports and accelerates a co-creative business model creation process that is cost-beneficial in terms of saving time. The results are applicable to the creation of an open data information system that supports data-driven innovation.

Forestry and the aquatic environment: studies in an Irish context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. S. Giller

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Research on the interaction between plantation forestry and aquatic environments is essential to develop environmentally compatible and sustainable management further. Given, in Ireland, the generally low levels of atmospheric pollution, its geology and maritime climate, and the unique fauna and flora due to its island history, such studies are important not only in the regional context, but also internationally, as they provide an opportunity to examine the effect of forestry and forest management practices on aquatic systems per se, without the complications of acidification. Here, some of the major findings of forestry and water research in Ireland have been reviewed and compared with those from the UK and elsewhere. Plantation forests do not exacerbate acidification in the south of Ireland (Munster as a whole so that the influence of forestry on water chemistry is far less important than in other parts of the country (such as Wicklow and Mayo. The main forestry influence on streams in Munster is more likely through physical factors, but their nature is unclear. In a few catchments some negative effects are evident, but in many others apparently positive forest effects occur. In this context, smaller scale catchment-level effects appear to be more important in explaining the various relationships between plantation forests and stream ecology than larger scale regional factors. The management of riparian zones, particularly in forested catchments, is of major importance for the structure and functioning of aquatic communities and further work is needed on best management practices. It is suggested that it is unreasonable to base forest management on national Forest-Fisheries guidelines since regions vary too much and the signal from local conditions is too strong. The approach for environmentally benign, scientifically sound forestry management has to be at the catchment scale. Trees in the right places may be beneficial ecologically but

Studying the Water Cycle in an Environmental Context: The "Blue Planet" Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Ben-zvi-assaraf, Orit; Orion, Nir

The Blue Planet program aims to develop an understanding of and insight into the environment among students by introducing environmental problems such as pollution. This paper presents a study investigating junior high school students' previous knowledge and understanding of environmental issues and perceptions on the nature of the water cycle.…

Analysis of Insertion of Environmental Issues in two Degree Course Chemistry of a Public University

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thiago do Nascimento Silva

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This work consists in a research on the inclusion of environmental matters in two degree courses of Chemistry in a public university. We started from the idea that discussing environmental issues in the academic context, in particular in the context of the Degree in Chemistry, is being very necessary nowadays, due to what society is going through, which is what we call "environmental crisis". Our main objective was to identify how the formation of the Chemistry teacher in these two courses has contemplated the inclusion of environmental issues as defined in the guidelines of official documents which they are subjected to. To structure all our discussion, we had as the theoretical background the production cycle of the curriculum policies developed by Ball and Bowe (1992, establishing this research in three main contexts presented by them (context influence, text production context and practice context. Therefore, a documental research in the national curriculum guidelines that drive the training of teachers / Chemistry teachers and educational projects of each course was conducted as well as interviews with coordinators and teachers of these courses, trying to understand the inclusion of discussions and questions that lead to an environmentally oriented education.

A Vision for the Future of Environmental Research: Creating Environmental Intelligence Centers

Science.gov (United States)

Barron, E. J.

2002-12-01

The nature of the environmental issues facing our nation demands a capability that allows us to enhance economic vitality, maintain environmental quality, and limit threats to life and property through more fundamental understanding of the Earth. It is "advanced" knowledge of how the system may respond that gives environmental information most of its power and utility. This fact is evident in the demand for new forecasting products, involving air quality, energy demand, water quality and quantity, ultraviolet radiation, and human health indexes. As we demonstrate feasibility and benefit, society is likely to demand a growing number of new operational forecast products on prediction time scales of days to decades into the future. The driving forces that govern our environment are widely recognized, involving primarily weather and climate, patterns of land use and land cover, and resource use with its associated waste products. The importance of these driving forces has been demonstrated by a decade of research on greenhouse gas emissions, ozone depletion and deforestation, and through the birth of Earth System Science. But, there are also major challenges. We find the strongest intersection between human activity, environmental stresses, system interactions and human decision-making in regional analysis coupled to larger spatial scales. In addition, most regions are influenced by multiple-stresses. Multiple, cumulative, and interactive stresses are clearly the most difficult to understand and hence the most difficult to assess and to manage. Currently, we are incapable of addressing these issues in a truly integrated fashion at global scales. The lack of an ability to combine global and regional forcing and to assess the response of the system to multiple stresses at the spatial and temporal scales of interest to humans limits our ability to assess the impacts of specific human perturbations, to assess advantages and risks, and to enhance economic and societal well

From empowerment to response-ability: rethinking socio-spatial, environmental justice, and nature-culture binaries in the context of STEM education

Science.gov (United States)

Kayumova, Shakhnoza; McGuire, Chad J.; Cardello, Suzanne

2018-04-01

In this conceptual paper, we draw upon the insights of Feminist Science Studies, in particular Karen Barad's concept of agential realism, as a critical analytical tool to re-think nature and culture binaries in dominant science knowledge-making practices and explanatory accounts, and their possible implications for science education in the context of socio-spatial and environmental injustices. Barad's framework proposes a relational and more expansive approach to justice, which takes into account consequential effects of nature-culture practices on humans, non-humans, and more than human vitalities. In efforts to understand potentialities of Barad's theory of agential realism, we situate our argument in the "story" of local children who encounter a bottle of cyanide in a former manufacturing building. The story takes place in a post-industrial urban city located in the U.S., caught up in an inverse relationship between the technological and scientific advances observed "globally" and the deteriorating environmental and living conditions experienced "locally" as the result of erstwhile industrial activity. Based on agential realist readings of the story and taking into consideration children's developing subjectivities, we argue that equity-oriented scholarship in science education might not be able to achieve justice devoid of understanding of the relatedness to plurality of life forms. We invite our readers to consider (re)configuring socio-spatial and environmental issues as an ethical response-ability that is constituted through relationships of care, recognition, openness, and responsiveness to vitalities of humans and nonhumans equally, one which cannot be conceptualized from a priori and distant calculations, but rather continuous entangled relations.

Predicting Exemptions and Hardship in CISG Context

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lookofsky, Joseph

2016-01-01

In this contribution to the Liber Amicorum Festschrift in honor of Peter Møgelvang-Hansen, the author revisits and casts new light on force majeure and liability exemptions under the 1980 UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, including recent developments in CISG Article...... 79 theory and practice, as well as the advent of a highly controversial conundrum: how to handle ‘hardship’ in the liability-exemptions context? By way of introduction to this particular CISG topic area, the author sketches the larger Sales Convention picture and its relationship to domestic law...

Beauty in the Context of Particular Lives

Science.gov (United States)

Rautio, Pauliina

2010-01-01

This paper is based on empirical research by the author into the everyday lives of people living in a small village. Everyday life is approached as a subjective process in time and space, experienced by particular people in a particular environmental and social context. The data of this research has been collected through correspondence in which…

Ubiquitous Geo-Sensing for Context-Aware Analysis: Exploring Relationships between Environmental and Human Dynamics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Euro Beinat

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Ubiquitous geo-sensing enables context-aware analyses of physical and social phenomena, i.e., analyzing one phenomenon in the context of another. Although such context-aware analysis can potentially enable a more holistic understanding of spatio-temporal processes, it is rarely documented in the scientific literature yet. In this paper we analyzed the collective human behavior in the context of the weather. We therefore explored the complex relationships between these two spatio-temporal phenomena to provide novel insights into the dynamics of urban systems. Aggregated mobile phone data, which served as a proxy for collective human behavior, was linked with the weather data from climate stations in the case study area, the city of Udine, Northern Italy. To identify and characterize potential patterns within the weather-human relationships, we developed a hybrid approach which integrates several spatio-temporal statistical analysis methods. Thereby we show that explanatory factor analysis, when applied to a number of meteorological variables, can be used to differentiate between normal and adverse weather conditions. Further, we measured the strength of the relationship between the ‘global’ adverse weather conditions and the spatially explicit effective variations in user-generated mobile network traffic for three distinct periods using the Maximal Information Coefficient (MIC. The analyses result in three spatially referenced maps of MICs which reveal interesting insights into collective human dynamics in the context of weather, but also initiate several new scientific challenges.

Factors in Organisational Environmental Management System Implementation – Developed vs. Developing Country Contexts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Constance Kola-Lawal

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Country specificities and national cultures influence Environmental Management Systems (EMS implementation and pro-environmental behaviour in organisations. Previous studies have focused on organisations in developed or emerging economies, creating a need to establish the extent to which findings are applicable to developing counterparts. This paper presents EMS implementation from a developing country perspective, reporting on EMS implementation factors (drivers, benefits, barriers affecting Nigerian organisations’ pro-environmental behaviour, by analysing questionnaire responses from 136 Nigerian organisational respondents. Most commonly cited drivers were ‘environmental concern’ and ‘desire for improved organisational efficiency’. Key barriers were ‘cost of implementation/budget barriers’ and ‘regulatory agency bureaucracy’. Key benefits were ‘reduced environmental accidents and improved site safety’, ‘enhanced corporate image’ and ‘more efficient resource use’. To situate findings within a global construct, results were compared with previous studies in more developed economies. EMS implementation factors differed from those in more developed economies. Plausible explanations for differences are discussed.

Philosophical Aspects of Global Environmental Issues

Science.gov (United States)

Lazutinaa, Tatyana V.; Baksheev, Vladimir N.

2016-01-01

The relevance of this paper is determined by understanding of global environmental problems in the context of social ecology. The purpose of this paper is the analysis of main modern environmental global problems created by the equipment representing a public and social basis for the practical transformation of public relations and also the…

Environmental Interfaces in Teaching Economic Statistics

Science.gov (United States)

Campos, Celso; Wodewotzki, Maria Lucia; Jacobini, Otavio; Ferrira, Denise

2016-01-01

The objective of this article is, based on the Critical Statistics Education assumptions, to value some environmental interfaces in teaching Statistics by modeling projects. Due to this, we present a practical case, one in which we address an environmental issue, placed in the context of the teaching of index numbers, within the Statistics…

Capturing the Interrelationship between Objectively Measured Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour in Children in the Context of Diverse Environmental Exposures.

Science.gov (United States)

Katapally, Tarun R; Muhajarine, Nazeem

2015-09-07

Even though physical activity and sedentary behaviour are two distinct behaviours, their interdependent relationship needs to be studied in the same environment. This study examines the influence of urban design, neighbourhood built and social environment, and household and individual factors on the interdependent relationship between objectively measured physical activity and sedentary behaviour in children in the Canadian city of Saskatoon. Saskatoon's built environment was assessed by two validated observation tools. Neighbourhood socioeconomic variables were derived from 2006 Statistics Canada Census and 2010 G5 Census projections. A questionnaire was administered to 10-14 year old children to collect individual and household data, followed by accelerometry to collect physical activity and sedentary behaviour data. Multilevel logistic regression models were developed to understand the interrelationship between physical activity and sedentary behaviour in the context of diverse environmental exposures. A complex set of factors including denser built environment, positive peer relationships and consistent parental support influenced the interrelationship between physical activity and sedentary behaviour. In developing interventions to facilitate active living, it is not only imperative to delineate pathways through which diverse environmental exposures influence physical activity and sedentary behaviour, but also to account for the interrelationship between physical activity and sedentary behaviour.

Capturing the Interrelationship between Objectively Measured Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour in Children in the Context of Diverse Environmental Exposures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tarun R. Katapally

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Even though physical activity and sedentary behaviour are two distinct behaviours, their interdependent relationship needs to be studied in the same environment. This study examines the influence of urban design, neighbourhood built and social environment, and household and individual factors on the interdependent relationship between objectively measured physical activity and sedentary behaviour in children in the Canadian city of Saskatoon. Saskatoon’s built environment was assessed by two validated observation tools. Neighbourhood socioeconomic variables were derived from 2006 Statistics Canada Census and 2010 G5 Census projections. A questionnaire was administered to 10–14 year old children to collect individual and household data, followed by accelerometry to collect physical activity and sedentary behaviour data. Multilevel logistic regression models were developed to understand the interrelationship between physical activity and sedentary behaviour in the context of diverse environmental exposures. A complex set of factors including denser built environment, positive peer relationships and consistent parental support influenced the interrelationship between physical activity and sedentary behaviour. In developing interventions to facilitate active living, it is not only imperative to delineate pathways through which diverse environmental exposures influence physical activity and sedentary behaviour, but also to account for the interrelationship between physical activity and sedentary behaviour.

Affective Learning: Environmental Ethics and Human Ecology

Science.gov (United States)

Gough, Noel P.

1977-01-01

This discussion of home economics as a discipline which should focus on its affective foundations, covers the following areas: Affective context of home economics education, the adequacy of the home economics value complex for coping with environmental problems, and toward an acceptable environmental ethic. (SH)

Perception of User Criteria in the Context of Sustainability of Modern Methods of Construction Based on Wood

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jozef Švajlenka

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Recent developments in the construction industry have brought more efficient and sustainable technologies, technological procedures, and materials. An example of this are modern methods of construction, which offer larger production volumes with a higher quality and shorter procurement time. The goal of those methods is to improve construction sustainability through quality improvement, customer satisfaction, shortened construction time, and reduced environmental impact. The main goal of this research is to demonstrate, by means of theoretical assumptions, surveys, and analyses, the sustainability of modern methods of construction based on wood. The work focuses on identifying the user criteria for construction sustainability. Selected user criteria of construction sustainability are applied in a socio-economic survey whose purpose is to determine how users perceive the efficiency of selected construction systems. We evaluate certain user parameters in the context of sustainability by relying on the users of buildings (family houses which have already been built and compare the results with declared design parameters.

Green girls and bored boys? Adolescents' environmental consumer learning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grønhøj, Alice

2006-01-01

An untraditional method of data construction - written essays - was used to study consumer socialisation processes related to 'green' consumerism. The study primarily aimed at exploring how adolescents perceive of environmental issues and learn about these issues in a family context. Results show...... be identified. The method applied in this study was useful for eliciting young consumers' understanding of environmental issues. Moreover, the essays yielded interesting data to be used for highlighting gender differences in the environmental consumer socialisation process.......An untraditional method of data construction - written essays - was used to study consumer socialisation processes related to 'green' consumerism. The study primarily aimed at exploring how adolescents perceive of environmental issues and learn about these issues in a family context. Results show...

Environmental management the supply chain perspective

CERN Document Server

Wong, Christina W Y; Lun, Y H Venus; Cheng, T C E

2015-01-01

In view of the increasing quest for environmental management in businesses, this book provides a good reference to firms to understand how they may manage their supply chains to improve business and environmental performance. The book consists of six chapters covering such topics as environmental management, environmental management practices with supply chain efforts, collaborative environmental management, organizational capabilities in environmental management, environmental disclosure, and closed-loop supply chains. The book presents theory-driven discussions on the link between environmental management and business performance in the context of supply chain management. The book will be useful for firms to learn from the research findings and real-life cases to develop plans to implement environmental management practices jointly with supply chain partners.

When the proton becomes larger

CERN Multimedia

CERN Bulletin

2011-01-01

The TOTEM experiment at the LHC has just confirmed that, at high energy, protons behave as if they were becoming larger. In more technical terms, their total cross-section – a parameter linked to the proton-proton interaction probability – increases with energy. This phenomenon, expected from previous measurements performed at much lower energy, has now been confirmed for the first time at the LHC’s unprecedented energy.   One arm of a TOTEM T2 detector during its installation at interaction point 5. A composite particle like the proton is a complex system that in no way resembles a static Lego construction: sub-components move inside and interactions keep the whole thing together, but in a very dynamic way. This partly explains why even the very common proton can still be hiding secrets about its nature, decades after its discovery. One way of studying the inner properties of protons is to observe how they interact with each other, which, in technical terms, i...

Industrial Application Of Environmentally Conscious Design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

McAloone, Timothy Charles

in the design process is key to environmentally conscious design;- the environmental profile of a product is affected the most in the very early stages of the design process, particularly in the pre-specification stage, where tools for environmentally conscious design decision-making are lacking...... when companies have integrated environmental considerations into the design process.In the context of advanced practitioners of environmentally conscious design in the Western European and North American electrical/electronics industry sector, it is shown that:- the timing of environmental decisions...... into their product development processes. This starts with motivation, leading to widening communication and information flows and finally to whole-life thinking....

Socio-Demographic, Social-Cognitive, Health-Related and Physical Environmental Variables Associated with Context-Specific Sitting Time in Belgian Adolescents: A One-Year Follow-Up Study

Science.gov (United States)

Busschaert, Cedric; Ridgers, Nicola D.; De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse; Cardon, Greet; Van Cauwenberg, Jelle; De Cocker, Katrien

2016-01-01

Introduction More knowledge is warranted about multilevel ecological variables associated with context-specific sitting time among adolescents. The present study explored cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of ecological domains of sedentary behaviour, including socio-demographic, social-cognitive, health-related and physical-environmental variables with sitting during TV viewing, computer use, electronic gaming and motorized transport among adolescents. Methods For this longitudinal study, a sample of Belgian adolescents completed questionnaires at school on context-specific sitting time and associated ecological variables. At baseline, complete data were gathered from 513 adolescents (15.0±1.7 years). At one-year follow-up, complete data of 340 participants were available (retention rate: 66.3%). Multilevel linear regression analyses were conducted to explore cross-sectional correlates (baseline variables) and longitudinal predictors (change scores variables) of context-specific sitting time. Results Social-cognitive correlates/predictors were most frequently associated with context-specific sitting time. Longitudinal analyses revealed that increases over time in considering it pleasant to watch TV (p electronic gaming. Conclusions Future intervention studies aiming to decrease TV viewing and computer use should acknowledge the importance of the behaviour of siblings and the pleasure adolescents experience during these screen-related behaviours. In addition, more time parents or care givers spent sitting may lead to more sitting during TV viewing of the adolescents, so that a family-based approach may be preferable for interventions. Experimental study designs are warranted to confirm the present findings. PMID:27936073

Socio-Demographic, Social-Cognitive, Health-Related and Physical Environmental Variables Associated with Context-Specific Sitting Time in Belgian Adolescents: A One-Year Follow-Up Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Busschaert, Cedric; Ridgers, Nicola D; De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse; Cardon, Greet; Van Cauwenberg, Jelle; De Cocker, Katrien

2016-01-01

More knowledge is warranted about multilevel ecological variables associated with context-specific sitting time among adolescents. The present study explored cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of ecological domains of sedentary behaviour, including socio-demographic, social-cognitive, health-related and physical-environmental variables with sitting during TV viewing, computer use, electronic gaming and motorized transport among adolescents. For this longitudinal study, a sample of Belgian adolescents completed questionnaires at school on context-specific sitting time and associated ecological variables. At baseline, complete data were gathered from 513 adolescents (15.0±1.7 years). At one-year follow-up, complete data of 340 participants were available (retention rate: 66.3%). Multilevel linear regression analyses were conducted to explore cross-sectional correlates (baseline variables) and longitudinal predictors (change scores variables) of context-specific sitting time. Social-cognitive correlates/predictors were most frequently associated with context-specific sitting time. Longitudinal analyses revealed that increases over time in considering it pleasant to watch TV (p time of parents/care givers (p time of siblings (p time in considering it pleasant to use a computer in leisure time (p time of siblings (p importance of the behaviour of siblings and the pleasure adolescents experience during these screen-related behaviours. In addition, more time parents or care givers spent sitting may lead to more sitting during TV viewing of the adolescents, so that a family-based approach may be preferable for interventions. Experimental study designs are warranted to confirm the present findings.

Larger men have larger prostates: Detection bias in epidemiologic studies of obesity and prostate cancer risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Rundle, Andrew; Wang, Yun; Sadasivan, Sudha; Chitale, Dhananjay A; Gupta, Nilesh S; Tang, Deliang; Rybicki, Benjamin A

2017-06-01

Obesity is associated with risk of aggressive prostate cancer (PCa), but not with over-all PCa risk. However, obese men have larger prostates which may lower biopsy accuracy and cause a systematic bias toward the null in epidemiologic studies of over-all risk. Within a cohort of 6692 men followed-up after a biopsy or transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) with benign findings, a nested case-control study was conducted of 495 prostate cancer cases and controls matched on age, race, follow-up duration, biopsy versus TURP, and procedure date. Data on body mass index and prostate volume at the time of the initial procedure were abstracted from medical records. Prior to consideration of differences in prostate volume, overweight (OR = 1.41; 95%CI 1.01, 1.97), and obese status (OR = 1.59; 95%CI 1.09, 2.33) at the time of the original benign biopsy or TURP were associated with PCa incidence during follow-up. Prostate volume did not significantly moderate the association between body-size and PCa, however it did act as an inverse confounder; adjustment for prostate volume increased the effect size for overweight by 22% (adjusted OR = 1.52; 95%CI 1.08, 2.14) and for obese status by 23% (adjusted OR = 1.77; 95%CI 1.20, 2.62). Larger prostate volume at the time of the original benign biopsy or TURP was inversely associated with PCa incidence during follow-up (OR = 0.92 per 10 cc difference in volume; 95%CI 0.88, 0.97). In analyses that stratified case-control pairs by tumor aggressiveness of the case, prostate volume acted as an inverse confounder in analyses of non-aggressive PCa but not in analyses of aggressive PCa. In studies of obesity and PCa, differences in prostate volume cause a bias toward the null, particularly in analyses of non-aggressive PCa. A pervasive underestimation of the association between obesity and overall PCa risk may exist in the literature. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Context in a wider context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John Traxler

2011-07-01

Full Text Available This paper attempts to review and reconsider the role of context in mobile learning and starts by outlining definitions of context-aware mobile learning as the technologies have become more mature, more robust and more widely available and as the notion of context has become progressively richer. The future role of context-aware mobile learning is considered within the context of the future of mobile learning as it moves from the challenges and opportunities of pedagogy and technology to the challenges and opportunities of policy, scale, sustainability, equity and engagement with augmented reality, «blended learning», «learner devices», «user-generated contexts» and the «internet of things». This is essentially a perspective on mobile learning, and other forms of technology-enhanced learning (TEL, where educators and their institutions set the agenda and manage change. There are, however, other perspectives on context. The increasing availability and use of smart-phones and other personal mobile devices with similar powerful functionality means that the experience of context for many people, in the form of personalized or location-based services, is an increasingly social and informal experience, rather than a specialist or educational experience. This is part of the transformative impact of mobility and connectedness on our societies brought about by these universal, ubiquitous and pervasive technologies. This paper contributes a revised understanding of context in the wider context (sic of the transformations taking place in our societies. These are subtle but pervasive transformations of jobs, work and the economy, of our sense of time, space and place, of knowing and learning, and of community and identity. This leads to a radical reconsideration of context as the notions of ‹self› and ‹other› are transformed.

Health and environmental risk governance in the french context. The role of scientific expertise and economic analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Courvalin, C.; Boisson, P.; Dab, W.; Cohen de Lara, M.; Godard, O.; Heriard Dubreuil, G.; Hervouet, V.

1998-01-01

Full text of publication follows: increasing public concern as regards health and environmental risks makes it necessary, for public policies and regulation of risk assessment and management to comply with multiple and often non consistent expectations from the public in a rapidly changing environment. Evolution of risk assessment and management is currently observed as a consequence of this context. Whereas the former technical approaches were playing down the existence of residual risk as well as scientific uncertainties, current reflections rather aim at empowering the stakeholders of hazardous activities in the decision-making process in order to build up social trust and public confidence. This paper will present the conclusions of a work group entrusted by the French authorities with the task of proposing recommendations in order to update the risk assessment and management current approaches in the field of energy producing and consuming. The conclusions of this work are based on the analysis of three major issues as regards environmental health risks: climate change, atmospheric pollution, and radiation protection. It is also based on the 1997 report of the US Congress Commission on risk assessment and management. The report points out the difficulty for the French 'command and control' regulatory tradition to comply with public demand for transparency and more democratic involvement in the decision-making process. The conclusion presents various recommendations as regards the role of scientific expertise, the use of economic analysis and the decision-making process in risk assessment and management. The conclusion particularly emphasises key aspects of the decision-making process such as: the necessity of contextualizing risk assessment, the taking into account of scientific uncertainties and the need for stakeholders' involvement. (authors)

Summary of the Hanford Site Environmental Report for Calendar Year 2005

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hanf, Robert W.; Morasch, Launa F.; Poston, Ted M.; Dirkes, Roger L.

2006-09-28

This small booklet provides highlights of the environmental monitoring at the Hanford Site during 2005. It is a summary of the information contained in the larger report: Hanford Site Environmental Monitoring for Calendar Year 2005.

Defining and measuring cyberbullying within the larger context of bullying victimization.

Science.gov (United States)

Ybarra, Michele L; Boyd, Danah; Korchmaros, Josephine D; Oppenheim, Jay Koby

2012-07-01

To inform the scientific debate about bullying, including cyberbullying, measurement. Two split-form surveys were conducted online among 6-17-year-olds (n = 1,200 each) to inform recommendations for cyberbullying measurement. Measures that use the word "bully" result in prevalence rates similar to each other, irrespective of whether a definition is included, whereas measures not using the word "bully" are similar to each other, irrespective of whether a definition is included. A behavioral list of bullying experiences without either a definition or the word "bully" results in higher prevalence rates and likely measures experiences that are beyond the definition of "bullying." Follow-up questions querying differential power, repetition, and bullying over time were used to examine misclassification. The measure using a definition but not the word "bully" appeared to have the highest rate of false positives and, therefore, the highest rate of misclassification. Across two studies, an average of 25% reported being bullied at least monthly in person compared with an average of 10% bullied online, 7% via telephone (cell or landline), and 8% via text messaging. Measures of bullying among English-speaking individuals in the United States should include the word "bully" when possible. The definition may be a useful tool for researchers, but results suggest that it does not necessarily yield a more rigorous measure of bullying victimization. Directly measuring aspects of bullying (i.e., differential power, repetition, over time) reduces misclassification. To prevent double counting across domains, we suggest the following distinctions: mode (e.g., online, in-person), type (e.g., verbal, relational), and environment (e.g., school, home). We conceptualize cyberbullying as bullying communicated through the online mode. Copyright © 2012 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Potential stakeholders and perceived benefits of a Digital Health Innovation Ecosystem for the Namibian context

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Iyawa, GE

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the result of a study which aimed at identifying the potential stakeholders and perceived benefits of a digital health innovation ecosystem for the Namibian context as part of a larger study. Combining semi-structured interviews...

CSIR Contribution to Defining Adaptive Capacity in the Context of Environmental Change

Science.gov (United States)

2016-01-31

trends) and the corresponding human behavioural responses (eg. food access and migration patterns) will provide an input to metric creation...Task 2.2: Determine if significant changes in environmental variability data correspond to changes in human behaviour using both visual (GIS) and...14-1-0113 to the CSIR. The grant is based on the premise that human security and environmental security is inextricably linked and that a better

Environmental health literacy in support of social action: an environmental justice perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

White, Brandi M; Hall, Eric S; Johnson, Cheryl

2014-01-01

Different demographic groups in the U.S. experience unequal exposures to environmental hazards, i.e., 56% of the population in neighborhoods containing commercial waste facilities are people of color, with the associated poverty rates in those communities being 50% higher than in neighborhoods without commercial waste facilities. Developing programs to educate communities about environmental hazards affecting their health and quality of life is an essential component for a community to understand their true risk. The study described in this article examined the risk of environmental hazards as perceived by public housing residents and assessed the residents' preference for educational programs on environmental hazards. Residents perceived their risk factors in a broad context and they included environmental health risks caused by pollutants along with physical safety concerns from crime and law enforcement interactions. The most trusted sources of information on environmental health include community organizations, trusted individuals in the community, and television programs. Recommendations for developing community-specific environmental health education programs include using sources of environmental health information that community members trust.

Evaluating the environmental sustainability of energy crops: A life cycle assessment of Spanish rapeseed and Argentinean soybean cultivation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francisca Fernández-Tirado

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Rapeseed oil is expected to be increasingly used in Spain as raw material to produce biodiesel to the detriment of extra-EU imports of biodiesel mainly based on soybean oil from Argentina. Therefore, the environmental impacts produced throughout the life cycle of energy crops used to produce biodiesel which is consumed in Spain could be radically affected. In this context, the environmental impacts of rapeseed cultivation in Spain and soybean cultivation in Argentina, were compared under certain growing conditions using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA. Two methods of calculation for Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA and two functional units (FUs were used to test potential biases. The results showed that the cultivation of soybean in Argentina had, in general, fewer environmental impacts than rapeseed cultivation in Spain when the FU was the area of cultivation, but these findings are inverted when the analysis is conducted according to the energy content of the biodiesel obtained from these crops. Soybean in fact has very low oil content, meaning that larger areas of land are required to obtain the same amount of biodiesel and that consequently it has a higher environmental impact by energy content. Fertilization was, in general, the process that generated the greatest environmental burdens, and is an area in which improvement is necessary in order to increase sustainability, particularly with regard to Spanish rapeseed.

Evaluating the environmental sustainability of energy crops: A life cycle assessment of Spanish rapeseed and Argentinean soybean cultivation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fernández-Tirado, F.; Parra-López, C.; Romero-Gámez, M.

2017-01-01

Rapeseed oil is expected to be increasingly used in Spain as raw material to produce biodiesel to the detriment of extra-EU imports of biodiesel mainly based on soybean oil from Argentina. Therefore, the environmental impacts produced throughout the life cycle of energy crops used to produce biodiesel which is consumed in Spain could be radically affected. In this context, the environmental impacts of rapeseed cultivation in Spain and soybean cultivation in Argentina, were compared under certain growing conditions using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Two methods of calculation for Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) and two functional units (FUs) were used to test potential biases. The results showed that the cultivation of soybean in Argentina had, in general, fewer environmental impacts than rapeseed cultivation in Spain when the FU was the area of cultivation, but these findings are inverted when the analysis is conducted according to the energy content of the biodiesel obtained from these crops. Soybean in fact has very low oil content, meaning that larger areas of land are required to obtain the same amount of biodiesel and that consequently it has a higher environmental impact by energy content. Fertilization was, in general, the process that generated the greatest environmental burdens, and is an area in which improvement is necessary in order to increase sustainability, particularly with regard to Spanish rapeseed.

Evaluating the environmental sustainability of energy crops: A life cycle assessment of Spanish rapeseed and Argentinean soybean cultivation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fernández-Tirado, F.; Parra-López, C.; Romero-Gámez, M.

2017-09-01

Rapeseed oil is expected to be increasingly used in Spain as raw material to produce biodiesel to the detriment of extra-EU imports of biodiesel mainly based on soybean oil from Argentina. Therefore, the environmental impacts produced throughout the life cycle of energy crops used to produce biodiesel which is consumed in Spain could be radically affected. In this context, the environmental impacts of rapeseed cultivation in Spain and soybean cultivation in Argentina, were compared under certain growing conditions using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Two methods of calculation for Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) and two functional units (FUs) were used to test potential biases. The results showed that the cultivation of soybean in Argentina had, in general, fewer environmental impacts than rapeseed cultivation in Spain when the FU was the area of cultivation, but these findings are inverted when the analysis is conducted according to the energy content of the biodiesel obtained from these crops. Soybean in fact has very low oil content, meaning that larger areas of land are required to obtain the same amount of biodiesel and that consequently it has a higher environmental impact by energy content. Fertilization was, in general, the process that generated the greatest environmental burdens, and is an area in which improvement is necessary in order to increase sustainability, particularly with regard to Spanish rapeseed.

Outlines of environmental Law

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salzwedel, J.

1982-01-01

In this omnibus, ten members of the working group for environmental law attempt to present the respective fields of environmental law in a consistent context, and to show the autonomy of each subject-matter as well as their interdependence and interrelationships. In the long run, the complexity of basic facts of natural science, technology and that of practical execution will require subject-specific penetration and application. Relationships between systems have to be realized to an increasing extent. Structures of law and administration have to be harmonized, and statements on the environmental impact of projects have to be made possible on the whole. Fundamental issues of environmental law are dealt with in the chapters entitled 'Concept and levels of applications of environmental law' and 'Environmental law in general'. The international, supranational and constitutional conditions given in advance of any environmental legislation increasingly gaining in importance are presented in the chapter on 'International environmental law', 'Basics of European Law' and on 'Constitutional Fundamentals'. The necessity of interdisciplinary cooperation becomes evident in those contributions concerning individual fields of environmental law. (orig./HSCH) [de

Listing of nuclear power plant larger than 100 MWe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McHugh, B.

1976-03-01

This report contains a list of all nuclear power plants larger than 100 MWe, printed out from the Argus Data Bank at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. The plants are listed by NSSS supply. (M.S.)

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) Programmatic Environmental Analysis--Appendices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Authors, Various

1980-01-01

The programmatic environmental analysis is an initial assessment of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) technology considering development, demonstration and commercialization. It is concluded that the OTEC development program should continue because the development, demonstration, and commercialization on a single-plant deployment basis should not present significant environmental impacts. However, several areas within the OTEC program require further investigation in order to assess the potential for environmental impacts from OTEC operation, particularly in large-scale deployments and in defining alternatives to closed-cycle biofouling control: (1) Larger-scale deployments of OTEC clusters or parks require further investigations in order to assess optimal platform siting distances necessary to minimize adverse environmental impacts. (2) The deployment and operation of the preoperational platform (OTEC-1) and future demonstration platforms must be carefully monitored to refine environmental assessment predictions, and to provide design modifications which may mitigate or reduce environmental impacts for larger-scale operations. These platforms will provide a valuable opportunity to fully evaluate the intake and discharge configurations, biofouling control methods, and both short-term and long-term environmental effects associated with platform operations. (3) Successful development of OTEC technology to use the maximal resource capabilities and to minimize environmental effects will require a concerted environmental management program, encompassing many different disciplines and environmental specialties. This volume contains these appendices: Appendix A -- Deployment Scenario; Appendix B -- OTEC Regional Characterization; and Appendix C -- Impact and Related Calculations.

Females are sensitive to unpleasant human emotions regardless of the emotional context of photographs.

Science.gov (United States)

Kato, Ryousuke; Takeda, Yuji

2017-06-09

Previous studies have demonstrated that females exhibit higher sensitivity than males to the emotional state of a person in a photograph. The present study examined whether such females' sensitivity to human emotions could be observed even when the background emotional contexts were incongruent with facial expressions. The late positive potential (LPP) was measured while 19-female and 15-male participants viewed a photograph of a face with varied emotional expressions (pleasant, neutral, or unpleasant) superimposed on a background photograph with varied valences (pleasant, neutral, or unpleasant). The results showed that unpleasant background photographs elicited a larger LPP compared to pleasant and neutral background photographs in both female and male participants. In contrast, a larger LPP for the unpleasant face photographs was observed only in female participants. Furthermore, the effect of face photographs did not interact with the effect of background photographs. These results suggest that females are sensitive to human emotions regardless of the emotional context. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Environmental Foundations in Germany

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas Krikser

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Foundations in Germany were examined in the context of environmental issues. Data from environmental foundations show that there is huge difference between private and public foundations concerning financial settings. Furthermore, environment is often not the only objective and sometimes not even processed. Our analysis shows that there are different types of foundations with regard to environmental scopes and activities. Although “attractive topics” such as biodiversity and landscape conservation seem to be more important to foundations, less visible topics such as pollution prevention remain merely a “blind spot.” Together, these findings suggest that there is only a limited potential of private foundations compared with public foundations. Nevertheless, there might be an impact on environmental awareness and local sustainability.

Recording environmental assets in the national accounts

OpenAIRE

Carl Obst; Michael Vardon

2014-01-01

Accounting information is a core element of economic decision-making at both national and corporate levels. It is widely accepted that much economic activity is dependent upon natural capital and natural resources—generically termed environmental assets in an accounting context. Environmental assets are under threat of depletion and degradation from economic activity. Consequently, the incorporation of information on environmental assets into standard accounting frameworks is an essential ele...

Evolution and current thoughts about environmental policies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Long, B.L.

1994-01-01

In this work is presented an overview of trends and current thinking in environmental management, broadly defined, as a context for people consideration of the environmental and ethical aspects of the disposal of long-lived radioactive wastes. The author sets out a general framework of the principles and strategies which have been, and are being, used by OECD Member countries to manage environmental problems and risks. (O.L.)

Why borrowers pay premiums to larger lenders: Empirical evidence from sovereign syndicated loans

OpenAIRE

Hallak, Issam

2002-01-01

All other terms being equal (e.g. seniority), syndicated loan contracts provide larger lending compensations (in percentage points) to institutions funding larger amounts. This paper explores empirically the motivation for such a price design on a sample of sovereign syndicated loans in the period 1990-1997. I find strong evidence that a larger premium is associated with higher renegotiation probability and information asymmetries. It hardly has any impact on the number of lenders though. Thi...

Annual spatiotemporal migration schedules in three larger insectivorous birds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jacobsen, Lars Bo; Jensen, Niels Odder; Willemoes, Mikkel

2017-01-01

Background: Knowledge of spatiotemporal migration patterns is important for our understanding of migration ecology and ultimately conservation of migratory species. We studied the annual migration schedules of European nightjar, a large nocturnal insectivore and compared it with two other larger ...

Hydrogen energy in changing environmental scenario: Indian context

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leo Hudson, M. Sterlin; Dubey, P.K.; Pukazhselvan, D.; Pandey, Sunil Kumar; Singh, Rajesh Kumar; Raghubanshi, Himanshu; Shahi, Rohit R.; Srivastava, O.N.

2009-01-01

This paper deals with how the Hydrogen Energy may play a crucial role in taking care of the environmental scenario/climate change. The R and D efforts, at the Hydrogen Energy Center, Banaras Hindu University have been described and discussed to elucidate that hydrogen is the best option for taking care of the environmental/climate changes. All three important ingredients for hydrogen economy, i.e., production, storage and application of hydrogen have been dealt with. As regards hydrogen production, solar routes consisting of photoelectrochemical electrolysis of water have been described and discussed. Nanostructured TiO 2 films used as photoanodes have been synthesized through hydrolysis of Ti[OCH(CH 3 ) 2 ] 4 . Modular designs of TiO 2 photoelectrode-based PEC cells have been fabricated to get high hydrogen production rate (∝10.35 lh -1 m -2 ). However, hydrogen storage is a key issue in the success and realization of hydrogen technology and economy. Metal hydrides are the promising candidates due to their safety advantage with high volume efficient storage capacity for on-board applications. As regards storage, we have discussed the storage of hydrogen in intermetallics as well as lightweight complex hydride systems. For intermetallic systems, we have dealt with material tailoring of LaNi 5 through Fe substitution. The La(Ni l-x Fe x ) 5 (x = 0.16) has been found to yield a high storage capacity of ∝2.40 wt%. We have also discussed how CNT admixing helps to improve the hydrogen desorption rate of NaAlH 4 . CNT (8 mol%) admixed NaAlH 4 is found to be optimum for faster desorption (∝3.3 wt% H 2 within 2 h). From an applications point of view, we have focused on the use of hydrogen (stored in intermetallic La-Ni-Fe system) as fuel for Internal Combustion (IC) engine-based vehicular transport, particularly two and three-wheelers. It is shown that hydrogen used as a fuel is the most effective alternative fuel for circumventing climate change. (author)

Peat in environmental management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rinttilae, R.

1998-01-01

Peat is the largest natural resource of Finland. The DS-reserves of peat are more than seven times larger than those of wood. Peat is known as a domestic source of energy. Peat is, however, more than an energy source. The most significant problem of water protection in Finland is the eutrophication of the water courses. The reduction of concentrated loads and large emissions sources has up to now been the target for the water protection. The control of diffuse loads has been more difficult. The environmental use of peat can reduce the loads on watercourses, and especially the diffuse emissions. The natural and unique properties of peat can be utilized in several targets: agriculture, pisciculture, fur farming, in small and medium sized industry, and in processing of waste waters of both municipalities and rural areas, as well as in different environmental hazards. The present use of environmental peat is just a small fragment of the annual growth of peat reserves in Finland. The amount of protected mires is about ten times larger than the amount of peatlands taken into peat production. The use of environmental peat makes it possible to reduce the diffuse loads significantly in the future. This, however, requires willingness of cooperation and development by the entrepreneurs, authorities, and peat producers. The present use of agricultural peat binds about three times more phosphor and nearly one and a half fold nitrogen fertilizers compare to the emissions caused by peat production. It has to be noticed that the utilization of peat in reduction of environmental loads does not cause any secondary waste problem. The final product formed can usually be composted and used e.g. in soil remediation or in construction of green areas. The tightening environmental regulations and international agreements increase the utilization of peat. As the demand of peat increased the quality requirements for peat will be increased. Certain grain size and the restoration of the

Microbial transformation of xenobiotics for environmental ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Microbial transformation of xenobiotics for environmental bioremediation. ... anaerobic and reductive biotransformation by co-metabolic processes and an overview of ... of xenobiotic compounds in context to the modern day biotechnology.

Impairment of context memory by β-amyloid peptide in terrestrial snail

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2008-09-01

Full Text Available We examined influence of the β-amyloid peptide (25-35 neurotoxic fragment (βAP on Helix lucorum food-aversion learning. Testing with aversively conditioned carrot showed that 2, 5, and 14 days after training the βAP-injected group responded in a significantly larger number of cases and with a significantly smaller latency than the sham-injected control group. The results demonstrate that the amyloid peptide partially impairs the learning process. In an attempt to specify what component of memory is impaired we compared responses in a context in which the snails were aversively trained, and in a neutral context. It was found that the sham-injected learned snails significantly less frequently took the aversively conditioned food in the context in which the snails were shocked, while the βAP-injected snails remembered the aversive context 2 days after associative training, but were not able to distinguish two contexts 5, and 14 days after training. In a separate series of experiments a specific context was associated with electric shock, and changes in general responsiveness were tested in two contexts several days later. It was found that the βAP-injected snails significantly increased withdrawal responses in all tested contexts, while the sham-injected control animals selectively increased responsiveness only in the context in which they were reinforced with electric shocks. These results demonstrate that the β-amyloid peptide (25-35 interferes with the learning process, and may play a significant role in behavioral plasticity and memory by selectively impairing only one

Context-dependent memory under stressful conditions: the case of skydiving.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, L A; Williams, K L; L'Esperance, P; Cornelius, J

2001-01-01

Two experiments examined the effect of differing levels of emotional arousal on learning and memory for words in matching and mismatching contexts. In Experiment 1, experienced skydivers learned words either in the air or on the ground and recalled them in the same context or in the other context. Experiment 2 replicated the stimuli and design of the first experiment except that participants were shown a skydiving video in lieu of skydiving. Recall was poor in air-learning conditions with actual skydiving, but when lists were learned on land, recall was higher in the matching context than in the mismatching context. In the skydiving video experiment, recall was higher in matching learn-recall contexts regardless of the situation in which learning occurred. We propose that under extremely emotionally arousing circumstances, environmental and/or mood cues are unlikely to become encoded or linked to newly acquired information and thus cannot serve as cues to retrieval. Results can be applied to understanding variations in context-dependent memory in occupations (e.g., police, military special operations, and Special Weapons and Tactics teams) in which the worker experiences considerable emotional stress while learning or recalling new information.

Mediating multimodal environmental knowledge across animation techniques

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Maier, Carmen Daniela

2011-01-01

://www.sustainlane.com/. The multimodal discourse analysis is meant to reveal how selection and representation of environmental knowledge about social actors, social actions, resources, time and space are influenced by animation techniques. Furthermore, in the context of this multimodal discourse analysis, their influence upon......The growing awareness of and concern about present environmental problems generate a proliferation of new forms of environmental discourses that are mediated in various ways. This chapter explores issues related to the ways in which environmental knowledge is multimodally communicated...

Environmental Aspects of Transport in the Context of Development of Inland Navigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Galieriková Andrea

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Transport has an immense impact on the environment. The largest share of environmental pollution is caused by road transport. The atmosphere is threatened by fuel combustion of engines of road vehicles, thereby leading to the global warming of Earth. In addition to having an adverse impact on the environment, such as greenhouse gas emissions and carbon dioxide emissions, road transport also leads to external effects such as noise pollution, vibration, congestion and traffic accidents. The volume of transport in the world, notably on the roads, is increasing day by day. We should take the necessary steps to move to more environmentally-friendly modes of transportation, such as rail and inland navigation. Rail transportation is currently the largest competitor of road transport. If the waterways infrastructure is improved, there would be a decrease in the traffic flow of motorways and thus, we can move to a more environmentally-friendly transportation.

The Larger Linear N-Heteroacenes

KAUST Repository

Bunz, Uwe H. F.

2015-01-01

© 2015 American Chemical Society. ConspectusThe close structural and chemical relationship of N-heteroacenes to pentacene suggests their broad applicability in organic electronic devices, such as thin-film transistors. The superb materials science properties of azaacenes result from their improved resistance toward oxidation and their potential for electron transport, both of which have been demonstrated recently. The introduction of nitrogen atoms into the aromatic perimeter of acenes stabilizes their frontier molecular orbitals and increases their electron affinity. The HOMO-LUMO gaps in azaacenes in which the nitrogen atoms are symmetrically placed are similar to those of the acenes. The judiciously placed nitrogen atoms induce an "umpolung" of the electronic behavior of these pentacene-like molecules, i.e., instead of hole mobility in thin-film transistors, azaacenes are electron-transporting materials. The fundamental synthetic approaches toward larger azaacenes are described and discussed. Several synthetic methodologies have been exploited, and some have been newly developed to assemble substituted azaacenes. The oldest methods are condensation-based. Aromatic o-diamines are coupled with o-dihydroxyarenes in the melt without solvent. This method works well for unsubstituted azaacenes only. The attachment of substituents to the starting materials renders these "fire and sword" methods less useful. The starting materials decompose under these conditions. The direct condensation of substituted o-diamines with o-quinones proceeds well in some cases. Fluorinated benzene rings next to a pyrazine unit are introduced by nucleophilic aromatic substitution employing hexafluorobenzene. However, with these well-established synthetic methodologies, a number of azaacene topologies cannot be synthesized. The Pd-catalyzed coupling of aromatic halides and aromatic diamines has therefore emerged as versatile tool for azaacene synthesis. Now substituted diaza- and

The Larger Linear N-Heteroacenes

KAUST Repository

Bunz, Uwe H. F.

2015-06-16

© 2015 American Chemical Society. ConspectusThe close structural and chemical relationship of N-heteroacenes to pentacene suggests their broad applicability in organic electronic devices, such as thin-film transistors. The superb materials science properties of azaacenes result from their improved resistance toward oxidation and their potential for electron transport, both of which have been demonstrated recently. The introduction of nitrogen atoms into the aromatic perimeter of acenes stabilizes their frontier molecular orbitals and increases their electron affinity. The HOMO-LUMO gaps in azaacenes in which the nitrogen atoms are symmetrically placed are similar to those of the acenes. The judiciously placed nitrogen atoms induce an "umpolung" of the electronic behavior of these pentacene-like molecules, i.e., instead of hole mobility in thin-film transistors, azaacenes are electron-transporting materials. The fundamental synthetic approaches toward larger azaacenes are described and discussed. Several synthetic methodologies have been exploited, and some have been newly developed to assemble substituted azaacenes. The oldest methods are condensation-based. Aromatic o-diamines are coupled with o-dihydroxyarenes in the melt without solvent. This method works well for unsubstituted azaacenes only. The attachment of substituents to the starting materials renders these "fire and sword" methods less useful. The starting materials decompose under these conditions. The direct condensation of substituted o-diamines with o-quinones proceeds well in some cases. Fluorinated benzene rings next to a pyrazine unit are introduced by nucleophilic aromatic substitution employing hexafluorobenzene. However, with these well-established synthetic methodologies, a number of azaacene topologies cannot be synthesized. The Pd-catalyzed coupling of aromatic halides and aromatic diamines has therefore emerged as versatile tool for azaacene synthesis. Now substituted diaza- and

Context: The strategic management Rosetta Stone

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. V. Weeks

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse context as a means for interpreting and making sense of evolving strategic management theory and practice. Problem investigated: Traditional strategic management theory based on rational deductive methodologies assumes contextual predictability, yet contemporary conditions tend to contradict this assumption. In response, alternative theories and practices for dealing with complex contexts have emerged (Brews & Purohit, 2006; Grant, 2003; Kurt & Snowden, 2003and Stacey, 1995. Methodology: A literature study was undertaken to determine the nature of emergent strategic management theory and practice, in response to contextual complexity and how it differs from traditional practice (Mintzberg, 1994 and Weeks &Lessing, 1993. Findings: An important conclusion drawn from the study is that context acts as a determinant for making sense of the evolution of strategic management theory and practice. While traditional strategic management practice still assumes relevance in contexts of linear causality, it breaks down in complex contexts. Emergent strategic management theory, based on complex adaptive systems, is increasingly assuming relevance. Notably, many institutions are still attempting to make use of scenario planning in an attempt to deal with contextual complexity, a practice not supported by leading researchers(Stacey, 1995 and Kurt & Snowden, 2003. Value of the research: The insights gained from the study assume relevance, in view of the contextual complexity confronting modern-day institutions. The findings suggest that emergent strategy based on complex adaptive system theory needs to be considered as a means for dealing with increasing environmental turbulence. Conclusion: It is concluded that context serves as the Rosetta stone for making sense of strategic management theory and practice. In view of the research findings, as reflected in the literature, it would seem that the use of complex

Expertise and participation of the population in the context of nuclear risk: democracy and environmental licensing of Angra 3 nuclear power plant

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gláucia Silva

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This article discusses the specificity of citizens' "participation" in contexts of decision-making on the acceptance of nuclear risk, demonstrating that such acceptance depends on mediation by professionals who are willing to translate the typical scientific jargon of technical reports and/or produce their own reports, by way of counter-expertise; otherwise, lay people are unable to confer scientific legitimacy to their arguments. The basic empirical references for the current analysis are the recurrent themes from public hearings organized for the licensing of two Brazilian nuclear power plants using German technology, Angra 2 and Angra 3, with emphasis on the latter, now undergoing prior environmental licensing. The forms of "social control" engendered in France serve as a counterpoint for developing the article's argument.

On the perception of “segmental intonation”: F0 context effects on sibilant identification in German

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Niebuhr, Oliver

2017-01-01

of utterance tunes. This question is addressed here in a perception experiment in which listeners identified target words ending in either [ʃ] or [s]. The two sibilants inherently create low or high aperiodic pitch impressions in listeners due to their characteristically different spectral energy distributions....... The sibilants were preceded by high or low F0 contexts in the target words. Results show a clear F0-context effect. The context effect triggered more [ʃ] identifications in high-F0 and/or more [s] identifications in low-F0 contexts. The effect was larger for sibilants that were less clearly identifiable....... Furthermore, the results are discussed with respect to reaction-time measurements and an additional effect of the quality of the adjacent vowel phoneme on sibilant identification....

Environmental fiscal reforms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ashish Chaturvedi

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The paper presents concepts and instruments of environmental fiscal reforms (EFR and their application in the Indian context. EFR can lead to environmental improvement more efficiently and cost effectively than traditional regulation. There is substantial experience of successful EFR implementation in the European Union. India has also adopted some EFR measures such as deregulation of petrol prices, coal cess, and subsidy for setting up common effluent treatment plants. The challenges of implementing EFR measures in India are also discussed, including inadequate analysis, policy framework and institutional capacity, as well as conflict with poverty reduction and building political support.

Environmental controls

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, S.

1996-01-01

Members of the public are exposed to environmental radiations from a variety of sources. In terms of average dose received the major component is from natural sources of radiation for which there is little or no scope to reduce exposure. Where such opportunities do exist, in those homes with high radon concentrations, the householders tend to ignore the risks despite the availability of comparatively straightforward and inexpensive remediation measures. By comparison there is significant public concern about radioactive waste management and the disposal and discharge of radioactivity to the environment despite strict environmental controls. This paper describes the controls and the wider policy context for radioactive waste management following a major review of policy last year. (author)

Trust and cooperation relations in environmental management of Lebanon

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Abbas, Nivine; van der Molen, I.; Nader, M.R.; Lovett, Jonathan Cranidge

2014-01-01

This paper investigates trust and cooperation in the context of environmental management in Lebanon. Literature already indicated increasing environmental problems in this area that suffered from repeated episodes of armed conflict. The Lebanese government has been faced by many difficulties to

The importance of environmental education in the process of nuclear and environmental licensing of nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Araujo, Jefferson Borges; Ribeiro, Katia Maria Bruno

2009-01-01

Today, there is a thread with regard to the global environment. To reduce the environmental impact due to spending supplies to meet the basic needs of the global population. Can be considered as the power of these needs and in this context, the environmental impact occurs by the use of fossil fuels and loss of land for use of water resources. To minimize these impacts, governments are establishing appropriate laws towards the use of renewable energy. However it appears that there is still a great distance between the established law and implementation in practice. In this context nuclear energy is an attractive option, both economic and environmental. The facilities that are somehow associated with nuclear power plants are classified as radioactive or nuclear. These facilities are subject to two licensing procedures: Environmental (by IBAMA) and Nuclear (by CNEN). Nuclear installations such as nuclear power plants Angra 1 and 2, deposits and tailings facilities of the nuclear fuel cycle in Rezende that are more the attention of the population. As part of these processes are reports of analysis of safety and environmental impacts and socio-economic (EIA/RIMA RFAS), which are available to the public and then discussed at public hearings, where there is the opportunity for questions on these reports. These questions are mainly related with the social-environmental and economic due to construction and operation of these facilities. This work is a research, discussing the law, identifying the difficulties in the licensing process and presents a discussion on the importance of environmental education at all school levels, for adult audiences and is a connection between the environmental education and process of environmental licensing and nuclear, showing how the popular consciousness more informed can better discuss issues associated with these licenses, understand the advantages and disadvantages and obtain benefits. (author)

The Impact of the Environmental Documentary Movies on Pre-Service German Teachers' Environmental Attitudes

Science.gov (United States)

Alyaz, Yunus; Isigicok, Erkan; Gursoy, Esim

2017-01-01

This study examines the environmental attitudes of Turkish pre-service teachers of German as a foreign language using the German version of The Revised New Ecological Paradigm Scale (RNEP) and aims to compare New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) level of participants before and after a larger research project that uses documentary movies as a language…

Collision cascades and sputtering induced by larger cluster ions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sigmund, P.

1988-01-01

Recent experimental work on larger cluster impact on solid surfaces suggests large deviations from the standard case of additive sputter yields both in the nuclear and electronic stopping regime. The paper concentrates on elastic collision cascades. In addition to very pronounced spike effects, two phenomena are pointed out that are specific to cluster bombardment. Multiple hits of cluster atoms on one and the same target atom may result in recoil atoms that move faster than the maximum recoil speed for monomer bombardment at the same projectile speed. This effect is important when the atomic mass of a beam atom is less than that of a target atom, M 1 2 . In the opposite case, M 1 >> M 2 , collisions between beam particles may accelerate some beam particles and slow down others. Some consequences are mentioned. Remarks on the nuclear stopping power of larger clusters and on electronic sputtering by cluster bombardment conclude the paper. 38 refs., 2 figs

A strategy for the survival and enrichment of NAA in a wider context

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Byrne, A.R.

2001-01-01

A review of the current trends in NAA, its applications and the use of research reactors for NAA is given. A case is made for a more versatile, interdisciplinary approach towards NAA, operating in the context of a larger national or regional nuclear analytical center where other nuclear and non-nuclear analyses can be combined. (author)

Environmental policy. 2000 environmental expert opinion of the Council of Experimental Experts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2000-05-01

The reorientation of energy policy is a key issue. The Council of Environmental Experts considers the further use of atomic energy to be irresponsible and recommends a new orientation. Recommendations are made on ecology-centered taxation. Critical comments are made in the context of conservation of nature, where many species of plants and animals still continue to be endangered. The conservation programme of the Federal government, which also comprises a system of large, interconnected biotopes on 10% of Germany's total surface, is approved, and the potential contribution of sustainable agricultural and forestry policy is discussed in a separate chapter. Further subjects discussed are recycling and waste management, protection of water and soil, air pollution abatement, health protection and genetic engineering. The environmental aspects of Eastern European states becoming EC members are gone into in particular. The network of Europen Environmental Councils, for which the German Council of Environmental Experts currently acts as a coordinator, makes intensive efforts to improve environmental counselling in these states [de

Aspects of spatial policy planning and fundamentals of protection of the environment in the context of sustainable rural development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aneta Zaremba

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The formulated theme of the article was considered, in the context of the legal recourse to spatial planning in accordance with the countryside balanced development. In the work selected environmental aspects are discussed in the context of the legal instruments governing the spatial policy. The purpose of the article is not so much the presentation of spatial planning instruments as their verification from an environmental point of view.

Dispersal, phenology and predicted abundance of the larger grain ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The phenology and dispersal of the larger grain borer (LGB) in Africa is described, and comparisons are made between prediction of LGB numbers from laboratory studies and predictions from multiple linear models derived from trapping data in the field. The models were developed in Mexico and Kenya, using ...

Methods and Contexts in the Study of Muslim Minorities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Research on Islam and Muslim minorities in Europe has generally been focused on the active representatives of these groups, in the form of research on the development of movements and organizations, their legal and political status, activities and relations with the wider political contexts both ...... in the fields of race relations and migration have increasingly mobilized ‘Muslims’ and ‘Islam’ as a common denominator. Initially, among social scientists the motivation seems often to have been the necessity of refining larger unmanageable ethnic groupings....

Review of environmental issues in the context of biofuel sustainability frameworks

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Guariguata, MR

2011-01-01

Full Text Available With the rapid growth of biofuel production and consumption, and the proliferation of policy decisions supporting this expansion, concerns about the biofuel sector’s environmental and social impacts are increasing. Consequently, a range of actors...

Empirical research on international environmental migration: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Obokata, Reiko; Veronis, Luisa; McLeman, Robert

2014-01-01

This paper presents the findings of a systematic review of scholarly publications that report empirical findings from studies of environmentally-related international migration. There exists a small, but growing accumulation of empirical studies that consider environmentally-linked migration that spans international borders. These studies provide useful evidence for scholars and policymakers in understanding how environmental factors interact with political, economic and social factors to influence migration behavior and outcomes that are specific to international movements of people, in highlighting promising future research directions, and in raising important considerations for international policymaking. Our review identifies countries of migrant origin and destination that have so far been the subject of empirical research, the environmental factors believed to have influenced these migrations, the interactions of environmental and non-environmental factors as well as the role of context in influencing migration behavior, and the types of methods used by researchers. In reporting our findings, we identify the strengths and challenges associated with the main empirical approaches, highlight significant gaps and future opportunities for empirical work, and contribute to advancing understanding of environmental influences on international migration more generally. Specifically, we propose an exploratory framework to take into account the role of context in shaping environmental migration across borders, including the dynamic and complex interactions between environmental and non-environmental factors at a range of scales.

Thyroid nodules and thyroid autoimmunity in the context of environmental pollution.

Science.gov (United States)

Benvenga, Salvatore; Antonelli, Alessandro; Vita, Roberto

2015-12-01

Evidence suggests that in most industrialized countries autoimmune disorders, including chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, are increasing. This increase parallels the one regarding differentiated thyroid cancer, the increment of which is mainly due to the papillary histotype. A number of studies have pointed to an association between chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis and differentiated thyroid cancer. The upward trend of these two thyroid diseases is sustained by certain environmental factors, such as polluting substances acting as endocrine disrupting chemicals. Herein we will review the experimental and clinical literature that highlights the effects of environmental and occupational exposure to polluting chemicals in the development of autoimmune thyroid disease or differentiated thyroid cancer. Stakeholders, starting from policymarkers, should become more sensitive to the consequences for the thyroid resulting from exposure to EDC. Indeed, the economic burden resulting from such consequences has not been quantified thus far.

Effect of feeding strategy on environmental impacts of pig fattening in different contexts of production: evaluation through life cycle assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Monteiro, A N T R; Garcia-Launay, F; Brossard, L; Wilfart, A; Dourmad, J-Y

2016-11-01

Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been used in many studies to evaluate the effect of feeding strategy on the environmental impact of pig production. However, because most studies have been conducted in European conditions, the question of possible interactions with the context of production is still under debate. The objective of this study was to evaluate these effects in 2 contrasted geographic contexts of production, South America (Brazil) and Europe (France). The LCA considered the process of pig fattening, including production and transport of feed ingredients and feed, raising of fattening pigs, and manure storage, transport, and spreading. Impacts were calculated at the farm gate, and the functional unit considered was 1 kg of BW gain over the fattening period. The performances of pigs were simulated for each scenario using the InraPorc population model (2,000 pigs per scenario considering between-animal variability). The LCA calculations were performed for each pig according to its own performance and excretion, and the results were subjected to variance analysis. The results indicate that for some impacts there are clear interactions between the effects of the feeding program, the origin of soybean, and the location of production. For climate change, interest in phase feeding and incorporation of crystalline AA (CAA) is limited and even counterproductive in Brazil with soybeans from the South (without deforestation), whereas they appear to be efficient strategies with soybeans from the Center West (with deforestation), especially in France. Rather similar effects, as those for climate change, were observed for cumulative energy demand. Conversely, potential eutrophication and acidification impacts were reduced by phase feeding and CAA addition in a rather similar way in all situations. Individual daily feeding, the only strategy that took into account between-animal variability, was the most effective approach for reducing the life cycle impact of pig

Factors in Organisational Environmental Management System Implementation – Developed vs. Developing Country Contexts

OpenAIRE

Kola-Lawal, Constance; Wood, Mike; Alo, Babajide; Clark, Andrew

2014-01-01

Country specificities and national cultures influence Environmental Management Systems (EMS) implementation and pro-environmental behaviour in organisations. Previous studies have focused on organisations in developed or emerging economies, creating a need to establish the extent to which findings are applicable to developing counterparts. This paper presents EMS implementation from a developing country perspective, reporting on EMS implementation factors (drivers, benefits, barriers) affecti...

Cumulative Impact Assessment: Approaching Environmental Capacity in Development Area Using Environmental Impact Assessment Information

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, N.; Lee, M. J.; Maeng, J. H.

2017-12-01

Environmental impact assessment estimates the impact of development as a business unit and establishes mitigation plan. If the development is done, its economic effects can spread to the nearby areas. So that various developments can be distributed at different time intervals. The impact of the new developments can be combined with existing environmental impacts and can have a larger impact. That is, Cumulative impact assessment is needed to consider the environmental capacity of the Nearby area. Cumulative impact assessments require policy tools such as environmental impact assessment information and cumulative impact estimation models. In Korea, environmental information (water quality, air quality, etc.) of the development site is measured for environmental impact assessment and monitored for a certain period (generally 5 years) after the project. In addition, by constructing the environmental information as a spatial database, it is possible to express the environmental impact on a regional basis spatially and to intuitively use it for development site selection. Utilizing a composite model of environmental impact assessment information and Remote Sensing data for cumulative impact estimation, That can be used as a policy decision support tool that provides quantitative information for development area management, such as time series effect and sprawl phenomenon.

Environmental policy and public research in Germany; Politique et recherche publique environnementales en Allemange

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2003-12-01

The german government is highly engaged in the environmental protection at the economic, sociological and industrial level of the society. This document details the environmental political and scientific context of Germany. Facing the multiplicity of the concerned thematic, only particular topics are presented. Then a particular attention is done to the environmental research in the climatic change context with studies on the climate, the ecosystems protection, the energy, the biodiversity and the geoscience. (A.L.B.)

The influence of monetary incentives on context processing in younger and older adults: an event-related potential study.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmitt, Hannah; Ferdinand, Nicola K; Kray, Jutta

2015-06-01

Recent evidence has indicated that neuronal activity related to reward anticipation benefits subsequent stimulus processing, but the effect of penalties remains largely unknown. Since the dual-mechanisms-of-control theory (DMC; Braver & Barch, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 26, 809-81, 2002) assumes that temporal differences in context updating underlie age differences in cognitive control, in this study we investigated whether motivational cues (signaling the chance to win or the risk to lose money, relative to neutral cues) preceding context information in a modified AX-CPT paradigm influence the temporal stages of context processing in younger and older adults. In the behavioral data, younger adults benefited from gain cues, evident in their enhanced context updating, whereas older adults exhibited slowed responding after motivational cues, irrespective of valence. Event-related potentials (ERPs) revealed that the enhanced processing of motivational cues in the P2 and P3b was mainly age-invariant, whereas age-differential effects were found for the ERP correlates of context processing. Younger adults showed improved context maintenance (i.e., a larger negative-going CNV), as well as increased conflict detection (larger N450) and resolution (indicated by a sustained positivity), whenever incorrect responding would lead to a monetary loss. In contrast, motivationally salient cues benefited context representations (in cue-locked P3b amplitudes), but increased working memory demands during response preparation (via a temporally prolonged P3b) in older adults. In sum, motivational valence and salience effects differentially modulated the temporal stages of context processing in younger and older adults. These results are discussed in terms of the DMC theory, recent findings of emotion regulation in old age, and the relationship between cognitive and affective processing.

Monitoring radioactivity in the environment: context, objectives, challenges and prospects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Collet, J.; Jaunet, P.

2010-01-01

The aims of environmental radioactivity monitoring are multiples: protection of human health and environment, knowledge of the radiological status of the environment, early detection of radiological events, public information. This monitoring is ensured by several stakeholders (licensees, IRSN, ASN, state and local authorities, associations...) and in all environment compartments (air, water, soil, fauna and flora...). Within a European regulatory context, the Nuclear Transparency and Security Act 2006-686 of 13 June 2006 (TSN Act) reinforces the importance attached to consideration of safety, radiation protection and the environment. Other developments in the scope of environmental radioactivity must be noted: new stakeholders, lower background radiation, deployment of the French National Network of Environmental Radioactivity Monitoring (RNM), evolution of the ICPR thoughts to take better account of environmental protection, post-accident management doctrine, new concerns about environmental behaviour of some radionuclides. In order to maintain a quality policy in the field of environmental radioactivity measurements and to ensure the transparency of information, ASN will make sure that the strategy of environmental radioactivity monitoring will take into account these concerns. (author)

29 CFR 779.232 - Franchise or other arrangements which create a larger enterprise.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Franchise or other arrangements which create a larger... Apply; Enterprise Coverage Leased Departments, Franchise and Other Business Arrangements § 779.232 Franchise or other arrangements which create a larger enterprise. (a) In other instances, franchise...

Evaluation of the patient with an exposure-related disease: the occupational and environmental history.

Science.gov (United States)

Papali, Alfred; Hines, Stella E

2015-03-01

Although the process of taking an occupational and environmental history has remained largely the same, the context in which it is done has changed dramatically over recent years. This review examines the role of the occupational and environmental history in the context of the changing nature of medical practice and discusses methods for evaluating patients with contemporary exposure-related respiratory illnesses. Surveillance for occupational lung disease using mnemonic devices, screening questions and the use of structured questionnaires can significantly increase the likelihood and accuracy of detection. Electronic health records likewise can be adapted to include the most important elements of the occupational and environmental history. The emergence of new technologies and industries will lead to respiratory diseases in novel occupational and environmental contexts. Using the methods described herein can make detecting these diseases easier and less time-consuming.

Effect of emotion on memory for words and their context.

Science.gov (United States)

Riegel, Monika; Wierzba, Małgorzata; Grabowska, Anna; Jednoróg, Katarzyna; Marchewka, Artur

2016-06-01

Emotion influences various cognitive processes, such as memory. This beneficial or detrimental effect can be studied with verbal material, yet in this case a broad term of context has to be taken into account. The present work reviews recent literature and proposes that traditional differentiation between semantic and environmental context should be replaced with a novel conceptualization of hippocampus-dependent relational memory and item memory (related to the activations of cuneus and left amygdala). Additionally, instead of list-learning paradigms, words should be memorized in the context of sentences or stories for better control over their meaning. The recent evidence suggests that of particular importance for ecological validity in research paradigms is the presence of communicative and social context of verbal material related to such processes as theory of mind and brain activations in temporoparietal junction, posterior cingulate cortex, and dorsal medial prefrontal cortex. We propose that studying memory of verbal material within context gives a better understanding of enhancing and impairing effects of emotion as well as of the underlying brain mechanisms. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A paler shade of green : Environmental policy under induced technical change

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Di Maria, C.; Smulders, Sjak

2017-01-01

Conventional wisdom argues that environmental policy is less costly if it induces the development of cleaner technologies. In contrast to this argument, we show that once the second-best nature of actual economies is taken into account, the cost of environmental policy may well be larger with

Improving Environmental Health Literacy and Justice through Environmental Exposure Results Communication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Monica D. Ramirez-Andreotta

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Understanding the short- and long-term impacts of a biomonitoring and exposure project and reporting personal results back to study participants is critical for guiding future efforts, especially in the context of environmental justice. The purpose of this study was to evaluate learning outcomes from environmental communication efforts and whether environmental health literacy goals were met in an environmental justice community. We conducted 14 interviews with parents who had participated in the University of Arizona’s Metals Exposure Study in Homes and analyzed their responses using NVivo, a qualitative data management and analysis program. Key findings were that participants used the data to cope with their challenging circumstances, the majority of participants described changing their families’ household behaviors, and participants reported specific interventions to reduce family exposures. The strength of this study is that it provides insight into what people learn and gain from such results communication efforts, what participants want to know, and what type of additional information participants need to advance their environmental health literacy. This information can help improve future report back efforts and advance environmental health and justice.

Environmental change and human mobility in the digital age

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boas, Ingrid

2017-01-01

This intervention argues for the need of research to examine how information and communication technologies (ICTs) shape human mobility in the context of environmental change. ICTs are becoming increasingly central in the daily lives of migrants and communities at risk of environmental events.

Environmental considerations related to mining of nonfuel minerals

Science.gov (United States)

Seal, Robert R.; Piatak, Nadine M.; Kimball, Bryn E.; Hammarstrom, Jane M.; Schulz, Klaus J.; DeYoung,, John H.; Seal, Robert R.; Bradley, Dwight C.

2017-12-19

decreased the percentage of inhabitable land available to support society’s material needs. Presently, the land area available to supply the mineral resources, energy resources, water, food, shelter, and waste disposal needs of all Earth’s inhabitants is estimated to be 135 square meters per person. Continued global population growth will only increase the challenges of sustainable mining.Current trends in mining are also expected to lead to new environmental challenges in the future, among which are mine-waste management issues related to mining larger deposits for lower ore grade; water-management issues related to both the mining of larger deposits and the changes in precipitation brought about by climate change; and greenhouse gas issues related to reducing the carbon footprint of larger, more energy-intensive mining operations.

[Research progress of larger flexion gap than extension gap in total knee arthroplasty].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Weisong; Hao, Dingjun

2017-05-01

To summarize the progress of larger flexion gap than extension gap in total knee arthro-plasty (TKA). The domestic and foreign related literature about larger flexion gap than extension gap in TKA, and its impact factors, biomechanical and kinematic features, and clinical results were summarized. During TKA, to adjust the relations of flexion gap and extension gap is one of the key factors of successful operation. The biomechanical, kinematic, and clinical researches show that properly larger flexion gap than extension gap can improve both the postoperative knee range of motion and the satisfaction of patients, but does not affect the stability of the knee joint. However, there are also contrary findings. So adjustment of flexion gap and extension gap during TKA is still in dispute. Larger flexion gap than extension gap in TKA is a new joint space theory, and long-term clinical efficacy, operation skills, and related complications still need further study.

Environmental Tax Policy in Romania in the Context of the EU: Double Dividend Theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Magdalena Radulescu

2017-10-01

Full Text Available In the last decade, environment protection gained much more significance in designing the economic policies in the European Union (EU countries. There are many economic and policy differences between the European countries, despite of the harmonization process inside the EU area. The path of implementation of the environmental tax reforms in the EU countries differs greatly from one country to another and the effects of such taxation in the economic and environmental areas are manifold. The authors of this paper have agreed to undertake the task of testing the double dividend hypothesis of the environmental taxation in Romania (an energy-intensive country versus the EU area as a whole, using Vector Error Correction Model (VECM techniques and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS estimations. Our findings show that this hypothesis is validated neither in Romania (in the economic growth area nor in the EU area as a whole (in the unemployment area. Therefore, Romania cannot increase the level of the environmental tax for supporting economic growth, but it can grant environmental subsidies for decreasing the emissions and supporting the economic growth. This could be achieved by expanding the tax labor base and by collecting higher budgetary revenues to sustain such environmental subsidies. As far as the EU area is concerned, it is a necessary measure to continue the descending trend for the labor taxation to achieve the goal of improving the employment rate.

Listing of nuclear power plant larger than 100 MWe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McHugh, B.

1975-06-01

This report contains a list of all nuclear power plants larger than 100 MWe, printed out from the Argus Data Bank at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. The plants are listed alphabetically. The report contains also a plant ranking list, where the plants are listed by the load factor (12 months) (M.S.)

Listing of nuclear power plant larger than 100 MWe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McHugh, B.

1975-12-01

This report contains a list of all nuclear power plants larger than 100 MWe, printed out from the Argus Data Bank at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. The plants are listed by country. The report contains also a plant ranking list, where the plants are listed by the load factor (12 months). (M.S.)

Visualising the environmental appearance of audio products

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stilma, M. [Univ. of Twente, Enschede (Netherlands); Stevels, A. [Delft Univ. of Technology, Delft (Netherlands)]|[Philips Consumer Electronics, Eindhoven (Netherlands); Christiaans, H.; Kandachar, P. [Delft Univ. of Technology, Delft (Netherlands)

2004-07-01

Can environmental friendliness be communicated by the design style and appearance of products? (such as form, colour, style or material)? Consumers are interested in buying environmental products and design styles might be used as communicative tools. However, current 'green' products show something else. Environmental aspects are chiefly promoted by marketing programs based on technical items like the use of materials, hazardous substances, energy consumption, etc. By a qualitative and exploratory research the environmental design styles according to consumers' opinions were analysed with larger audio products as case study. Visible distinctive differences can be identified between the most and the least environmental rated products. A 'Green flagship', which claims to be environmentally orientated, wasn't recognised as such by consumers. And women and men perceive environmental friendliness in another way. From this research can be concluded that more attention is needed to visualise the good technical environmental performance of products. (orig.)

Defining criteria for good environmental journalism and testing their applicability: An environmental news review as a first step to more evidence based environmental science reporting.

Science.gov (United States)

Rögener, Wiebke; Wormer, Holger

2017-05-01

While the quality of environmental science journalism has been the subject of much debate, a widely accepted benchmark to assess the quality of coverage of environmental topics is missing so far. Therefore, we have developed a set of defined criteria of environmental reporting. This instrument and its applicability are tested in a newly established monitoring project for the assessment of pieces on environmental issues, which refer to scientific sources and therefore can be regarded as a special field of science journalism. The quality is assessed in a kind of journalistic peer review. We describe the systematic development of criteria, which might also be a model procedure for other fields of science reporting. Furthermore, we present results from the monitoring of 50 environmental reports in German media. According to these preliminary data, the lack of context and the deficient elucidation of the evidence pose major problems in environmental reporting.

Imagining Another Context during Encoding Offsets Context-Dependent Forgetting

Science.gov (United States)

Masicampo, E. J.; Sahakyan, Lili

2014-01-01

We tested whether imagining another context during encoding would offset context-dependent forgetting. All participants studied a list of words in Context A. Participants who remained in Context A during the test recalled more than participants who were tested in another context (Context B), demonstrating the standard context-dependent forgetting…

Environmental costs and renewable energy: re-visiting the Environmental Kuznets Curve.

Science.gov (United States)

López-Menéndez, Ana Jesús; Pérez, Rigoberto; Moreno, Blanca

2014-12-01

The environmental costs of economic development have received increasing attention during the last years. According to the World Energy Outlook (2013) sustainable energy policies should be promoted in order to spur economic growth and environmental protection in a global context, particularly in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. Within this framework, the European Union aims to achieve the "20-20-20" targets, including a 20% reduction in EU greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels, a raise in the share of EU energy consumption produced from renewable resources to 20% and a 20% improvement in the EU's energy efficiency. Furthermore, the EU "Energy Roadmap 2050" has been recently adopted as a basis for developing a long-term European energy framework, fighting against climate change through the implementation of energy efficiency measures and the reduction of emissions. This paper focuses on the European context and attempts to explain the impact of economic growth on CO2 emissions through the estimation of an Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) using panel data. Moreover, since energy seems to be at the heart of the environmental problem it should also form the core of the solution, and therefore we provide some extensions of the EKC by including renewable energy sources as explanatory variables in the proposed models. Our data sets are referred to the 27 countries of the European Union during the period 1996-2010. With this information, our empirical results provide some interesting evidence about the significant impacts of renewable energies on CO2 emissions, suggesting the existence of an extended EKC. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Place attachment and natural environmental risk

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bonaiuto, Marino; Alves, Susana; De Dominicis, Stefano

2016-01-01

Little is known about place attachment affecting natural environmental risk perception and coping. A systematic search of social science databases revealed 31 works (1996–2016) directly addressing place attachment in relation to different types of natural hazard risks (e.g., seismic, volcanic, etc.......). Across different contexts, the research shows: (a) positive and/or negative relationships between place attachment and natural environmental risk perception; (b) positive and/or negative relationships between place attachment and risk coping; and (c) mediating and moderating relationships. In particular......, results show that: (a) highly attached individuals perceive natural environmental risks but underestimate their potential effects; (b) highly attached individuals are unwilling to relocate when facing natural environmental risks and more likely to return to risky areas after a natural environmental...

Evaluation of the Environmental Supports Scale with a Community Sample of Adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Risco, Cristina M; Collado, Anahi D; Reynolds, Elizabeth K; Lejuez, Carl W; MacPherson, Laura

2016-05-01

Environmental sources of psychosocial support have been found to modulate or protect against the development of psychopathology and risk behavior among adolescents. Capturing sources of environmental support across multiple developmental contexts requires the availability of well-validated, concise assessments-of which there are few in the existing literature. In order to address this need, the current study explored the factor structure, concurrent and convergent validity of the Environmental Supports Scale (ESS; Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs, 117; 395-417, 1991) with a community sample of adolescents. An unconstrained exploratory factor analysis revealed a separate factor for home, school, and neighborhood settings. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were evaluated for each factor. Concurrent and predictive validity analyses revealed that the ESS was associated in the expected directions across a range of constructs relevant to adolescent development including internalizing symptoms, well-being, external influences, and engagement in risk behavior. Convergent validity for the neighborhood context was established with an assessment of neighborhood environmental adversity. A brief assessment of perceived environmental support across key developmental contexts provides an important tool for research on resilience processes during adolescence and may help illuminate key protective factors and inform intervention and prevention efforts.

Environmental information in Colombia; La informacion ambiental en Colombia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Velez S, Andres

2005-07-01

This article is a chapter from the paper, Elements for the description of an environmental information system, which was written by the author as a requirement for the degree of specialist on environment and Geoinformatics at the school of engineering. Universidad de Antioquia. The original paper attempted a description of the context and development of a particular environmental information system, built at the eastern region of Antioquia by CORNARE (a regional autonomous corporation for the environment and the natural resources). This article refers to the Colombian institutional context for environmental information. With particular emphasis laid on the strategic character that must be conceded to the administration of information. Towards the construction of equitable and sustainable development models under autonomous orientation an efficient and transparent environmental administration as is needed by such models is only attainable through the design and application of environmental information systems committed to the pursuit of collective interests. Here a balance is sought between accomplishments and failures reached during the long standing discussion held in Colombia around the formulation of public policies that acknowledge and strengthen the role of information as a cornerstone of environmental administration, and a contribution towards the goal of human sustainable development.

Facing global environmental change. Environmental, human, energy, food, health and water security concepts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brauch, Hans Guenter [Freie Univ. Berlin (Germany). Dept. of Political and Social Sciences; United Nations Univ., Bonn (DE). Inst. for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS); AFES-Press, Mosbach (Germany); Oswald Spring, Ursula [National Univ. of Mexico (UNAM), Cuernavaca, MOR (MX). Centro Regional de Investigaciones Multidiscipinarias (CRIM); United Nations Univ., Bonn (DE). Inst. for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS); Grin, John [Amsterdam Univ. (Netherlands). Amsterdam School for Social Science Research; Mesjasz, Czeslaw [Cracow Univ. of Economics (Poland). Faculty of Management; Kameri-Mbote, Patricia [Nairobi Univ. (Kenya). School of Law; International Environmental Law Research Centre, Nairobi (Kenya); Behera, Navnita Chadha [Jamia Millia Islamia Univ., New Delhi (India). Nelson Mandela Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution; Chourou, Bechir [Tunis-Carthage Univ., Hammam-Chatt (Tunisia); Krummenacher, Heinz (eds.) [swisspeace, Bern (Switzerland). FAST International

2009-07-01

This policy-focused, global and multidisciplinary security handbook on Facing Global Environmental Change addresses new security threats of the 21st century posed by climate change, desertification, water stress, population growth and urbanization. These security dangers and concerns lead to migration, crises and conflicts. They are on the agenda of the UN, OECD, OSCE, NATO and EU. In 100 chapters, 132 authors from 49 countries analyze the global debate on environmental, human and gender, energy, food, livelihood, health and water security concepts and policy problems. In 10 parts they discuss the context and the securitization of global environmental change and of extreme natural and societal outcomes. They suggest a new research programme to move from knowledge to action, from reactive to proactive policies and to explore the opportunities of environ-mental cooperation for a new peace policy. (orig.)

75 FR 14479 - Request for Comments Concerning an Environmental Review of the Proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-25

... raise significant environmental issues in the context of the negotiation. Public comments on...-related environmental issues in the context of the bilateral free trade agreement, as well as information... submitting comments must do so in English and must identify (on the first page of the submission) the...

A performance evaluation of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) processes within the South African context

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Retief, Francois

2007-01-01

SEA has been described as being more about process than about product. Yet very little research has been conducted to gain a better understanding of how SEA processes perform within developing country contexts. To address this gap in knowledge the research underlying this paper aimed to evaluate the quality of SEA processes within the South African context against specifically designed key performance indicators. Comparison of the different data patterns revealed general SEA process features as well as three broad models, namely the 'stand alone', 'central to decision making' and 'integrated' models. The research results suggest a particularly poor performance in terms of process quality for the SEA case studies investigated. Moreover, it shows that there is no one understanding of SEA process within the South African context. The main limitations related to a weak understanding of the decision making processes SEA aimed to inform, as well as an inability to incorporate flexibility into process design. To take the debate forward it is proposed that SEA follow-up and effectiveness research be explored to determine which of these models (if any) ultimately contributed to influencing decision making and promote sustainability

Learning to Teach Elementary Science through Iterative Cycles of Enactment in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Contexts

Science.gov (United States)

Bottoms, SueAnn I.; Ciechanowski, Kathryn M.; Hartman, Brian

2015-01-01

Iterative cycles of enactment embedded in culturally and linguistically diverse contexts provide rich opportunities for preservice teachers (PSTs) to enact core practices of science. This study is situated in the larger Families Involved in Sociocultural Teaching and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (FIESTAS) project, which weaves…

Economic and Environmental Effects of Airline Deregulation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schipper, Youdi; Rietveld, Piet

1997-01-01

This paper deals with the issue of regulatory reform in the airline industry, in connection with environmental externalities. Deregulation has led to shorter routes, higher frequencies, probably larger aircraft sizes and more intense peak traffic at airports. In addition, deregulation has led to

REFLECTIONS ON ROMANIA'S ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN THE CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

PAUL-BOGDAN ZAMFIR

2013-02-01

Full Text Available The destructive impact of antropic activities can no longer be ignored and all the human activities – from industry to domestic household - must impose a friendly behavior in relation to the environment. The environmental protection is an esential part of the enlarged reproduction and modern economic growth, aiming to ensure the dinamic ecological equilibrium, preserving and improving the quality of natural factors, the development of country's natural riches, ensuring better conditions of life and work for present and future generations. Thus, the whole activity for environmental protection in all of its components has a productive beeing creative of net income and value. On the long term, the achievement of dynamic economic equilibrium is illusory, without observing and respecting of ecological balance, the economic imbalances will cannot be resolved on the basis of creating some ecological imbalances, because these latter generate huge economic damage, a to which we can add a series of consequences, most often unpredictable.

A business perspective on environmental risk and cost reduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roper, U.V.

1998-01-01

The ways in which the petrochemical industry can enjoy successful business partnerships with environmental service companies was discussed. The petrochemical industry has traditionally viewed environmental service companies as an inherent cost in the context of risk management, and not in the context of business opportunity. Today, as environmental issues are integrated into business operations, there is a new potential for creating business opportunities in a number of operational areas, among them : (1) energy efficiency, (2) process efficiency, (3) waste minimization, (4) waste recycling, and (5) operational pooling. As environmental service companies became more competitive, they have become more attractive business partners. They are providing more diversified services and are better aligned with core competencies required to exploit business opportunities that are too small for major players in the oil,natural gas and petro-chemical industry. They also offer public recognition and financial upside for industry. Some examples of successful business partnerships along these lines are briefly described

Geospatial Technology In Environmental Impact Assessments – Retrospective.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Goparaju Laxmi

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Environmental Impact Assessments are studies conducted to give us an insight into the various impacts caused by an upcoming industry or any developmental activity. It should address various social, economic and environmental issues ensuring that negative impacts are mitigated. In this context, geospatial technology has been used widely in recent times.

Soil stabilization linked to plant diversity and environmental context in coastal wetlands.

Science.gov (United States)

Ford, Hilary; Garbutt, Angus; Ladd, Cai; Malarkey, Jonathan; Skov, Martin W

2016-03-01

and root biomass are positively associated with plant diversity. Diversity effects are more pronounced in biogeographical contexts where soils are erosion-prone (sandy, low organic content), suggesting that the pervasive influence of biodiversity on environmental processes also applies to the ecosystem service of erosion protection.

A Conceptual Framework of Consumers’ Pro-environmental Attitudes and Behaviours in the Tourism Context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Untaru E. N.

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The paper carries out an analysis of the literature that takes into account consumers’ pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours, with emphasis on the particular situation of the consumption of tourist services. The study of the bibliographic materials reveals the existence of significant differences between the consumers’ pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours at home and on vacation, as well as the increase in their preference for "green" hotels. Among the methods of studying the interrelationship between pro-environmental attitude and behaviour, the present paper describes the Theory of Planned Behaviour as the most commonly used one.

Pseudocontingencies and Choice Behavior in Probabilistic Environments with Context-Dependent Outcomes

Science.gov (United States)

Meiser, Thorsten; Rummel, Jan; Fleig, Hanna

2018-01-01

Pseudocontingencies are inferences about correlations in the environment that are formed on the basis of statistical regularities like skewed base rates or varying base rates across environmental contexts. Previous research has demonstrated that pseudocontingencies provide a pervasive mechanism of inductive inference in numerous social judgment…

More 'altruistic' punishment in larger societies.

Science.gov (United States)

Marlowe, Frank W; Berbesque, J Colette

2008-03-07

If individuals will cooperate with cooperators, and punish non-cooperators even at a cost to themselves, then this strong reciprocity could minimize the cheating that undermines cooperation. Based upon numerous economic experiments, some have proposed that human cooperation is explained by strong reciprocity and norm enforcement. Second-party punishment is when you punish someone who defected on you; third-party punishment is when you punish someone who defected on someone else. Third-party punishment is an effective way to enforce the norms of strong reciprocity and promote cooperation. Here we present new results that expand on a previous report from a large cross-cultural project. This project has already shown that there is considerable cross-cultural variation in punishment and cooperation. Here we test the hypothesis that population size (and complexity) predicts the level of third-party punishment. Our results show that people in larger, more complex societies engage in significantly more third-party punishment than people in small-scale societies.

China's Domestic Transformation in a Global Context

OpenAIRE

Song, Ligang; Garnaut, Ross; Fang, Cai; Johnston, Lauren

2015-01-01

The phrase ‘New Normal’ captures the ongoing shift in the pattern and drivers of China’s economic growth. China’s new growth rate is both slower and imposing difficult structural change. These new economic conditions are challenging yet offer opportunities for China and its economic partners. Reforms must be deepened but also make growth more inclusive and environmentally sustainable, over this decade and beyond. This year’s Update offers both global context and domestic insight into this ch...

Motivations for Prescription Drug Misuse among Young Adults: Considering Social and Developmental Contexts.

Science.gov (United States)

LeClair, Amy; Kelly, Brian C; Pawson, Mark; Wells, Brooke E; Parsons, Jeffrey T

As part of a larger study on prescription drug misuse among young adults active in urban nightlife scenes, we examined participants' motivations for misuse. Prescription painkillers, stimulants and sedatives were the primary substances of interest. Participants were recruited from nightlife venues in New York using time-space sampling. Subjects completed a mixed-methods assessment at project research offices. The data presented here are from a subsample of 70 qualitative interviews conducted during the baseline assessment. We identified experimentation and a "work hard, play hard" ethos as key motivations for misusing prescription drugs and argue that these motivations are specific, though not necessarily unique, to the participants' social location as young adults. These findings highlight the role of life stage and social context in the misuse of prescription drugs. Future studies of prescription drug misuse should pay attention to the larger social contexts in which users are embedded and, therefore, make decisions about how and why to misuse. Moving beyond the very broad concepts of "recreation" and "self-medication" presently established in the research, policies targeting young adults may want to tailor intervention efforts based on motivations.

Sustainable urban environmental quality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tošković Dobrivoje

2004-01-01

Full Text Available MEANING as the essential element of urban quality. The role of the three main factors for the urban quality achievement: PLANNING, DEVELOPMENT and PEOPLE. Next to that, it is important to assume the identity of the local CONTEXT as the essential base for designing and shaping of form development. The problems of the quality achievements in the situation of the permanent changes. In such an environment - the RENEWAL of the towns become the basic strategic orientation requiring - evaluation of the development policy instruments. On the road of changes there are PROBLEMS of a strategic nature which should be, firstly, defined and, then, solved before entering in the process of structuring and arrangement. One of these problems is NEW versus OLD. Transition to a new policy of urbanism relying, first of all, on the private investors and international funds of the local authorities - call for a NEW STRATEGY in urbanism, in the context of the sustainability of environment. The sustainability of quality and the categories of the influencing factors. The sustainability of quality as a twofold process of urban design. The quality of environment as an aesthetic phenomenon. The urban situation and environmental quality: feasibility of changes and effects; the environmental capacity as an indicator and quality determinant. The urban quality and international experience. The evaluation of our urban situation. INSTEAD OF CONCLUSION: A general review on the visions and urban quality policy and planning. Toward an evaluation of urban environmental quality: negative and positive indicators; sustainable communities environmental ruling and urban quality planning.

Impact of urban structure on personal transportation in the context of a large Danish provincial city

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Thomas Alexander Sick

2004-01-01

This paper presents the results from a detailed study of the land use ? transport connection, with special emphasis on the location of residences, in the context of a larger Danish provincial city (the city of Aalborg with approx. 120.000 inhabitants, situated in North Jutland). The study was car...

Homogeneous development and segregation - Power dynamics in the urban context: San Jose project case of Manizales city

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noguera de Echeverri, Ana Patricia; Gomez Sanchez, Diana Marcela

2013-01-01

This article seeks to show specific situations in which power is mobilized by urban dynamics in the context of development as discourse generator homogeneous models of the city. These models are imposed on local contexts to generate economic progress, but their implementation is linked to urban conflicts related with segregation and social exclusion. This aspect points out the inconsistency between the global discourses of development, with local conditions of communities facing directly the results of their application. The arguments presented below are the result of various investigations carried out in the research group Environmental Thought at the National University of Colombia, Manizales headquarters in the context of the environmental crisis, development and the urban environment. In the period 2011-2012, we addressed the topic of the environmental and aesthetic configurations of the city of Manizales, in terms of spatial planning and urban living. This research is the most concrete support of the contextual references expressed in this article, which are based on a strong fieldwork addressed since different social sectors of the city.

Features of the marketing mix in environmental marketing

OpenAIRE

Bohdana Oksentyuk; Andriy Oksentyuk

2013-01-01

In the article the concept of "environmental marketing", its essence, the term "marketing mix" are defined and the key elements of the marketing mix such as product policy, pricing policy, communication policy and the distribution of environmental goods are presented. In the context of each of the components of the marketing mix their need is justified, main characteristics are defined, elements of each component with regard to their particular environmental aspect of the enterprise are shown.

Caring about Tomorrow: Future Orientation, Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors

Science.gov (United States)

Carmi, Nurit

2013-01-01

Almost any pro-environmental behavior arouses a temporal conflict, as protecting long-term interests requires the sacrifice of short-term ones. Similarly, many health promoting behaviors may involve present discomfort for the sake of future well-being. In both contexts, health or environmental, developed future orientation (FO) is required to…

Workshop on the role of enhancement of utilization of primary and secondary hydro potential in the context of environmental protection. Part I

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-01-01

The publication has been set up as proceedings of the workshop on the role of enhancement of utilization of primary and secondary hydro potential in the context of environmental protection. The proceedings consist of the following chapters: (1) BOT schemes as financial model of hydro power projects; (2) Application of pumped storage plants in the control of the Slovak power system and the possibility of pumped storage plant Ipel exploitation towards the year 2010; (3) Use of hydro energetic potential of streams from the aspects of nature conservation on the example of north Slovakia; (4) Ecological aspects of the hydro power industry and possible means to improve ecological conditions of water reservoirs; (5) Preparation and realization of HPP Zilina; (6) Freudenau HPP. ecological measures and groundwater management; (7) Present state of hydro power development in Austria

Constructing, Consuming, and Complicating the Human-Nature Binary: Communication Practices in Forest Environmental Education

Science.gov (United States)

Dickinson, Elizabeth A.

2010-01-01

This project combines interdisciplinary conversations within the field of communication to examine environmental meaning systems and communication practices in the context of forest environmental education. Due to concerns over children's environmental alienation, there has been a continued push toward place-based environmental education. One such…

A contribution to radiotherapy of the larger-celled bronchial carcinoma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zoubie, I.

1982-01-01

This work consists of a retrospective definition of disease courses of 859 patients with lung tumors and the definition of the survival curves in their dependence on histology, radiation dose and sex. With 721 larger-celled bronchial carcinomas the ratio of men to women was 12:1. The age peak lay between 60 and 70 years. The one/five year survival rate of all included larger-celled bronchial carcinomas (n=701) was, independent from the therapy form, 35.7, resp. 4.78%. The one year/five year survival rates were for the squamous epithelia 31.08/0.58%, for the undifferentiated carcinomas 25.34/3.41%, and for the lung tumors without histology 35.4/5.14%. Lobectomized patients with squamous epithelium carcinoma had in comparison to pneumonectomized patients a clearly higher survival chance. A clearly sex-dependent predisposition for a certain type of carcinoma was not present. (TRV) [de

Internationalization and environmental disclosure: the role of home and host institutions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kolk, A.; Fortanier, F.

2013-01-01

Purpose - The domestic institutional context has emerged as a key determinant of firms' environmental disclosure, but studies have hardly addressed the extent to which exposure to foreign institutional contexts plays a role in the occurrence and contents of non-financial disclosure, which are

Environmental Loads of a Finnish indoor training iceskating rink in the Context of LCA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vaahterus, T.; Saari, A.

2001-01-01

In this study the environmental burdens generated by its essential building elements and systems of a typical new indoor training ice-skating rink during entire life cycle were calculated. The calculations were made by using a calculation method developed at Helsinki University of Technology at the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Construction Economics and Management. The developed method is based on LCA -methodology and follows the principle of the ISO 14040 Environmental Management standard. In the calculations the life cycle of the indoor training iceskating rink was divided in four main phases: new construction, maintenance and energy, repair, and demolition. In each life cycle phase all the material and energy flows and emissions were calculated. Almost all (99 %) of the building elements in the indoor training ice skating rink were made of non-renewable materials. Also the energy, consumed during the life cycle, was mainly (81 %) produced with non-renewable energy sources. The life cycle phases causing the most environmental loads were energy and new construction. The energy phase consumed 92 % of the total energy and produced 91 of the CO 2 equivalents and 74 % of the SO 2 equivalents. In the new-construction phase 6 % of the life cycle energy was consumed, and 64 % of the ethene equivalents were produced. In addition to these 79 % of the building materials were used in the new- construction phase. The calculations were also tested against the sensitivity to different presumption changes. Two kinds of presumptions were made: ones that could be influenced by project control and others which refer to the future of the building and could not be influenced by project control. The calculations of the environmental loads of the indoor training ice skating rink were most sensitive to changes in the usage profiles and indoor temperature. For example one of the usage profile increased the environmental loads of the indoor training ice skating rink

Do 'green' taxes work? Decoupling environmental pressures and economic growth

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Mikael Skou

2005-01-01

This essay intends to shed light on whether environmental taxation can help to decouple environmental pressures from economic growth, a policy outcome widely desired and particularly pressing in the context of climate change where radical measures are needed to curb CO2 build up....

Theoretical Approaches in the Context of Spatial Planning Decisions and the Relation with Urban Sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Kumlu, Kadriye Burcu Yavuz; Tüdeş, Şule

2017-10-01

The sustainability agenda has maintained its importance since the days, when the production system took its capitalist form, as well as the population in the urban areas started to rise. Increasing number of both goods and the people have caused the degradation of the certain systems, which generate the urban areas. These systems could mainly be classified as social, environmental, physical and economical systems. Today, urban areas still have difficulty to protect those systems, due to the significant demand of the population. Therefore, studies related with the sustainable issues are significant in the sense of continuity of the urban systems. Therefore, in this paper, those studies in the context of the effects of physical decisions taken in the spatial planning process on urban sustainability, will be examined. The components of the physical decisions are limited to land use, density and design. Land use decisions will be examined in the context of mixed land use. On the other hand, decisions related with density will be analyzed in the sense of population density and floor area ratio (FAR). Besides, design decisions will be examined, by linking them with neighborhood design criteria. Additionally, the term of urban sustainability will only be limited to its social and environmental contexts in this study. Briefly stated, studies in the sustainable literature concerned with the effects of land use, density and design decisions taken in the spatial planning process on the social and environmental sustainability will be examined in this paper. After the compilation and the analyze of those studies, a theoretical approach will be proposed to determine social and environmental sustainability in the context of land use, density and design decisions, taken in the spatial planning process.

Integrating medical and environmental sociology with environmental health: crossing boundaries and building connections through advocacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Phil

2013-06-01

This article reviews the personal and professional processes of developing an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the complex issues of environmental health in their community, political-economic, social science, and scientific contexts. This interdisciplinary approach includes a synthesis of research, policy work, and advocacy. To examine multiple forms of interdisciplinarity, I examine pathways of integrating medical and environmental sociology via three challenges to the boundaries of traditional research: (1) crossing the boundaries of medical and environmental sociology, (2) linking social science and environmental health science, and (3) crossing the boundary of research and advocacy. These boundary crossings are discussed in light of conceptual and theoretical developments of popular epidemiology, contested illnesses, and health social movements. This interdisciplinary work offers a more comprehensive sociological lens for understanding complex problems and a practical ability to join with scientists, activists, and officials to meet public health needs for amelioration and prevention of environmental health threats.

Economic instruments for environmental mitigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilkinson, A.

1995-01-01

A joint International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)/World Energy Council (WEC) Working Group has been studying a range of policy instruments which are being used or considered for use to address the question of ever increasing energy demand versus environmental protection, and pollution reduction. Economic instruments for such environmental protection include direct regulation, market-based instruments, and voluntary approaches. No single policy or device was likely to suffice in addressing the diversity of environmental problems currently faced. Altering energy prices must be seen in a social context, but some direct regulation may also be inevitable. Generally economic instruments of change were preferred as these were viewed as more flexible and cost-effective. (UK)

Urban Environmental Problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Situma, F.D.P.

1999-01-01

The rapid urbanization and resultant heavy concentration of population in urban centres have led to many urban areas failing to provide the necessary infrastructure and amenities as the demands placed on them have overwhelmed their financial and institutional capacities. In many urban areas, the capacity for resource mobilization and delivery of social services has either broken down completely or tethers on breaking point. Although in 1986 the GoK launched a new strategy for the balanced development of rural and urban areas aimed at avoiding excessive concentration of population in urban areas, the fruits of this strategy are yet to be realized. As a result, developments in urban areas have been unsustainable and environmentally unsound. The general quality of the environment has deteriorated so much so that urgent policy intervention is required. Appropriate environmental management measures and practices are needed to address the current trend of spiralling environmental problems in the context of the existing legal and institutional frameworks and makes some proposals for reform to address these problems in order to make urban areas environmentally

Distribution of living larger benthic foraminifera in littoral environments of the United Arab Emirates

Science.gov (United States)

Fiorini, Flavia; Lokier, Stephen W.

2015-04-01

The distribution of larger benthic foraminifera in Recent littoral environment of the United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi and Western regions) was investigated with the aim of understanding the response of those foraminifera to an increase in water salinity. For this purpose, 100 sediment samples from nearshore shelf, beach-front, channel, lagoon, and intertidal environment were collected. Sampling was undertaken at a water depth shallower than 15 m in water with a temperature of 22 to 35˚C, a salinity ranging from 40 to 60‰ and a pH of 8. Samples were stained with rose Bengal at the moment of sample collection in order to identify living specimens. The most abundant epiphytic larger benthic foraminifera in the studied area were Peneroplis pertusus and P. planatus with less common Spirolina areatina, S. aciculate and Sorites marginalis. The living specimens of the above mentioned species with normal test growing were particularly abundant in the nearshore shelf and lagoonal samples collected on seaweed. Dead specimens were concentrated in the coarser sediments of the beach-front, probably transported from nearby environments. Shallow coastal ponds are located in the upper intertidal zone and have a maximum salinity of 60‰ and contain abundant detached seagrass. Samples collected from these ponds possess a living foraminifera assemblage dominated by Peneroplis pertusus and P. planatus. High percentages (up to 50% of the stained assemblage) of Peneroplis presented abnormality in test growth, such as the presence of multiple apertures with reduced size, deformation in the general shape of the test, irregular suture lines and abnormal coiling. The high percentage of abnormal tests reflects natural environmental stress mainly caused by high and variable salinity. The unique presence of living epiphytic species, suggests that epiphytic foraminifera may be transported into the pond together with seagrass and continued to live in the pond. This hypothesis is supported by

Environmental Characteristics of Convective Systems During TRMM-LBA

Science.gov (United States)

Halverson, Jeffrey B.; Rickenbach, Thomas; Roy, Biswadev; Pierce, Harold; Williams, Earle; Einaudi, Franco (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

In this paper, data collected from 51 days of continual upper atmospheric soundings and TOGA radar at ABRACOS Hill during the TRMM-LBA experiment are used to describe the mean thermodynamic and kinematic airmass properties of wet season convection over Rondonia, Brazil. Distinct multi-day easterly and westerly lower tropospheric wind regimes occurred during the campaign with contrasting airmass characteristics. Westerly wind periods featured modest CAPE (1000 J/kg), moist conditions (>90% RH) extending through 700 mb and shallow (900 mb) speed shear on the order of 10(exp -4)/s. This combination of characteristics promoted convective systems that featured a relatively large fraction of stratiform rainfall and weak convection nearly devoid of lightning. The environment is very similar to the general airmass conditions experienced during the Darwin, Australia monsoon convective regime. In contrast, easterly regime convective systems were more strongly electrified and featured larger convective rain rates and reduced stratiform rainfall fraction. These systems formed in an environment with significantly larger CAPE (1500 J/kg), drier lower and middle level humidities (in the lowest 1-2 km, thus contributing to a more explosive growth of convection. The time series of low- and mid-level averaged humidity exhibited marked variability between westerly and easterly regimes and was characterized by low frequency (i.e., multi-day to weekly) oscillations. The synoptic scale origins of these moisture fluctuations are examined, which include the effects of variable low-level airmass trajectories and upper-level, westward migrating cyclonic vortices. The results reported herein provide an environmental context for ongoing dual Doppler analyses and numerical modeling case studies of individual TRMM-LBA convective systems.

Framework for integration of urban planning, strategic environmental assessment and ecological planning for urban sustainability within the context of China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He Jia; Bao Cunkuan; Shu Tingfei; Yun Xiaoxue; Jiang Dahe; Brwon, Lex

2011-01-01

Sustainable development or sustainability has been highlighted as an essential principle in urban master planning, with increasing recognition that uncontrollable urbanization may well give rise to various issues such as overexploitation of natural resources, ecosystem destruction, environmental pollution and large-scale climate change. Thus, it is deemed necessary to modify the existing urban and regional administrative system so as to cope with the challenges urban planning is being confronted with and realize the purpose of urban sustainability. This paper contributed to proposing a mechanism which helps to make urban planning with full consideration of issues with respect to sustainable development. We suggested that the integration of urban planning, SEA and ecological planning be a multi-win strategy to offset deficiency of each mentioned political tool being individually applied. We also proposed a framework where SEA and ecological planning are fully incorporated into urban planning, which forms a two-way constraint mechanism to ascertain environmental quality of urban planning, although in practice, planning and SEA processes may conditionally be unified. Moreover, as shown in the case study, the integration of the three political tools may be constrained due to slow changes in the contextual factors, in particular the political and cultural dimensions. Currently within the context of China, there may be three major elements which facilitate integration of the three political tools, which are (1) regulatory requirement of PEIA on urban planning, (2) the promotion or strong administrative support from government on eco-district building, and (3) the willingness of urban planners to collaborate with SEA experts or ecologists.

Multi-Contextual Segregation and Environmental Justice Research: Toward Fine-Scale Spatiotemporal Approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Yoo Min; Kwan, Mei-Po

2017-10-10

Many environmental justice studies have sought to examine the effect of residential segregation on unequal exposure to environmental factors among different social groups, but little is known about how segregation in non-residential contexts affects such disparity. Based on a review of the relevant literature, this paper discusses the limitations of traditional residence-based approaches in examining the association between socioeconomic or racial/ethnic segregation and unequal environmental exposure in environmental justice research. It emphasizes that future research needs to go beyond residential segregation by considering the full spectrum of segregation experienced by people in various geographic and temporal contexts of everyday life. Along with this comprehensive understanding of segregation, the paper also highlights the importance of assessing environmental exposure at a high spatiotemporal resolution in environmental justice research. The successful integration of a comprehensive concept of segregation, high-resolution data and fine-grained spatiotemporal approaches to assessing segregation and environmental exposure would provide more nuanced and robust findings on the associations between segregation and disparities in environmental exposure and their health impacts. Moreover, it would also contribute to significantly expanding the scope of environmental justice research.

Multi-Contextual Segregation and Environmental Justice Research: Toward Fine-Scale Spatiotemporal Approaches

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yoo Min Park

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Many environmental justice studies have sought to examine the effect of residential segregation on unequal exposure to environmental factors among different social groups, but little is known about how segregation in non-residential contexts affects such disparity. Based on a review of the relevant literature, this paper discusses the limitations of traditional residence-based approaches in examining the association between socioeconomic or racial/ethnic segregation and unequal environmental exposure in environmental justice research. It emphasizes that future research needs to go beyond residential segregation by considering the full spectrum of segregation experienced by people in various geographic and temporal contexts of everyday life. Along with this comprehensive understanding of segregation, the paper also highlights the importance of assessing environmental exposure at a high spatiotemporal resolution in environmental justice research. The successful integration of a comprehensive concept of segregation, high-resolution data and fine-grained spatiotemporal approaches to assessing segregation and environmental exposure would provide more nuanced and robust findings on the associations between segregation and disparities in environmental exposure and their health impacts. Moreover, it would also contribute to significantly expanding the scope of environmental justice research.

Using Inequality Measures to Incorporate Environmental Justice into Regulatory Analyses

Science.gov (United States)

Harper, Sam; Ruder, Eric; Roman, Henry A.; Geggel, Amelia; Nweke, Onyemaechi; Payne-Sturges, Devon; Levy, Jonathan I.

2013-01-01

Formally evaluating how specific policy measures influence environmental justice is challenging, especially in the context of regulatory analyses in which quantitative comparisons are the norm. However, there is a large literature on developing and applying quantitative measures of health inequality in other settings, and these measures may be applicable to environmental regulatory analyses. In this paper, we provide information to assist policy decision makers in determining the viability of using measures of health inequality in the context of environmental regulatory analyses. We conclude that quantification of the distribution of inequalities in health outcomes across social groups of concern, considering both within-group and between-group comparisons, would be consistent with both the structure of regulatory analysis and the core definition of environmental justice. Appropriate application of inequality indicators requires thorough characterization of the baseline distribution of exposures and risks, leveraging data generally available within regulatory analyses. Multiple inequality indicators may be applicable to regulatory analyses, and the choice among indicators should be based on explicit value judgments regarding the dimensions of environmental justice of greatest interest. PMID:23999551

Environmental Audit: 'A tool used to evaluate and improve the institutional environmental performance'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goulart, Helga

2009-01-01

The Environmental Audits emerged in the late 70 's in order to verify compliance with industrial activities with environmental standards. The same was done internally by the organizations to avoid late fines and penalties imposed by enforcement authorities. At present, environmental audits are used not only to identify environmental problems that must be corrected, but which now forms part of a procedure for identifying opportunities for continual improvement of the activities of a particular organization. Environmental audits undertaken by Management in the CNEA Environmental Activities meet this proactive role detailed above, whose main objective is also to verify compliance with environmental regulatory framework applicable to each site, to identify environmental improvements that must be applied activities to achieve better performance from them. This paper aims to present the results in the recognition phase of the CNEA 's environmental situation through conducting preliminary environmental analysis and comparison with results at the current stage of implementation of the Institutional Environmental Management System through environmental audits, showing the procedures, issues and standards considered and the evolution of each site's environmental performance in implementing the proposed corrections. The central idea of Management Environmental Activities is to show the different sectors and areas of the institution that the environmental audit, applied in the context of environmental management is an essential tool that enables to encourage staff in environmental issues, making that they are directly participating in management activities and is the most concrete to demonstrate both internally and externally achievements in a certain period of time and activities to achieve the policy of continuous improvement in environmental performance of the CNEA. (author)

Context Therapy: A New Intervention Approach for Children with Cerebral Palsy

Science.gov (United States)

Darrah, Johanna; Law, Mary C.; Pollock, Nancy; Wilson, Brenda; Russell, Dianne J.; Walter, Stephen D.; Rosenbaum, Peter; Galuppi, Barb

2011-01-01

Aim: To describe the development of context therapy, a new intervention approach designed for a randomized controlled trial. Method: Therapists were trained to change task and environmental factors to achieve parent-identified functional goals for children with cerebral palsy. Therapists did not provide any remediation strategies to change the…

Consumer acceptance and appropriateness of meat substitutes in a meal context

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Elzerman, J.E.; Hoek, A.C.; Boekel, van M.A.J.S.; Luning, P.A.

2011-01-01

The replacement of meat by meat substitutes could help to reduce the environmental burden of our food production systems. However, the acceptance of most meat substitutes is still low. This study investigated the role of meal context on the acceptance of meat substitutes. In a central location test

Odour-based context reinstatement effects with indirect measures of memory: the curious case of rosemary.

Science.gov (United States)

Ball, Linden J; Shoker, Jaswinder; Miles, Jeremy N V

2010-11-01

Previous studies examining environmental context-dependent memory (ECDM) effects using indirect measures of memory have produced inconsistent findings. We report three experiments that examined ECDM in an indirect memory paradigm (word-fragment completion) using ambient odours as environmental contexts. Expt 1 manipulated the odour present at learning and testing (rosemary or lemon) to produce reinstated-context or switched-context conditions. Reinstating rosemary led to a striking ECDM effect, indicating that indirect memory testing can be sensitive to ECDM manipulations. Odour ratings also indicated that rosemary induced a more unpleasant mood in participants than lemon. Expt 2 assessed the influence on indirect retrieval of odour-based mood induction as well as odour distinctiveness, and indicated that rosemary's capacity to promote ECDM effects appears to arise from an additive combination of its unpleasantness-inducing properties and its distinctiveness. Expt 3 partially supported these proposals. Overall, our findings indicate that some odours are capable of producing ECDM effects using indirect testing procedures. Moreover, it appears that it is the inherent proprieties of odours on dimensions such as unpleasantness and distinctiveness that mediate the emergence of ECDM effects, thereby explaining the particular potency of rosemary's mnemonic influence when it is reinstated.

Does Formal Environmental Knowledge Inform the Everyday ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

How do senior secondary biology learners from three schools in Lesotho use this ... environmental literacy as a goal of science education is mentioned. ..... formal schooling context) or actions informed by informal information, which we ...

Mining and territory: theoretical approaches to the field of environmental history through a case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesco Panico

2018-09-01

Full Text Available This article aims to outline an epistemological framework for placing the field of environmental history in the context of the current endeavor of social sciences and humanities. The methodology used is defined here as “metabolic landmarks” because it is inspired by the approach of social metabolism. The results suggest that, in the study of environmental history, the specific historiographical object plays an essential role in defining the epistemic context of that hybrid field of historiography and, more generally, of social and environmental analyses.

Nuclear and energies nr 57. Japan, another glance. The environmental and radiological impact. The international impact. The illusion of renewable energies in Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lenail, B.

2011-07-01

The contributions of this publication first address the Japanese local context (organization, mentality, cultural background, thinking and action modes), and secondly the environmental and radiological impact of the Fukushima accident, notably in comparison with Chernobyl (contamination is much more localized, sometimes higher; a larger concerned population but quicker and more efficient protection measures; more severe consequences due to population displacement). The third article discusses the international impact of the accident: known or foreseen consequences on nuclear programs, discussion on safety strengthening and on governance, evolution of public opinion, possible consequences on climate negotiations. The last article proposes an overview of the current situation of Japan which must mobilize all the available energy resources to face the difficulties in electricity supply

Effects of age and environmental support for rehearsal on visuospatial working memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Lilienthal, Lindsey; Hale, Sandra; Myerson, Joel

2016-05-01

The present study investigated whether older adults' visuospatial working memory shows effects of environmental support for rehearsal similar to those observed in young adults (Lilienthal, Hale, & Myerson, 2014). When the duration of interitem intervals was 4 s and participants had sufficient time to rehearse, location memory spans were larger in both age groups when environmental support was present than when support was absent. Critically, however, the age-related difference in memory was actually larger when support was provided, suggesting that young and older adults may differ in their rehearsal of to-be-remembered locations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

ContextProvider: Context awareness for medical monitoring applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Michael; Meyers, Christopher; Wang, An-I Andy; Tyson, Gary

2011-01-01

Smartphones are sensor-rich and Internet-enabled. With their on-board sensors, web services, social media, and external biosensors, smartphones can provide contextual information about the device, user, and environment, thereby enabling the creation of rich, biologically driven applications. We introduce ContextProvider, a framework that offers a unified, query-able interface to contextual data on the device. Unlike other context-based frameworks, ContextProvider offers interactive user feedback, self-adaptive sensor polling, and minimal reliance on third-party infrastructure. ContextProvider also allows for rapid development of new context and bio-aware applications. Evaluation of ContextProvider shows the incorporation of an additional monitoring sensor into the framework with fewer than 100 lines of Java code. With adaptive sensor monitoring, power consumption per sensor can be reduced down to 1% overhead. Finally, through the use of context, accuracy of data interpretation can be improved by up to 80%.

The use of engineering design scenarios to assess student knowledge of global, societal, economic, and environmental contexts

Science.gov (United States)

McKenna, Ann F.; Hynes, Morgan M.; Johnson, Amy M.; Carberry, Adam R.

2016-07-01

Product archaeology as an educational approach asks engineering students to consider and explore the broader societal and global impacts of a product's manufacturing, distribution, use, and disposal on people, economics, and the environment. This study examined the impact of product archaeology in a project-based engineering design course on student attitudes and perceptions about engineering and abilities to extend and refine knowledge about broader contexts. Two design scenarios were created: one related to dental hygiene and one related to vaccination delivery. Design scenarios were used to (1) assess knowledge of broader contexts, and (2) test variability of student responses across different contextual situations. Results from pre- to post-surveying revealed improved student perceptions of knowledge of broader contexts. Significant differences were observed between the two design scenarios. The findings support the assumption that different design scenarios elicit consideration of different contexts and design scenarios can be constructed to target specific contextual considerations.

Speciation imperatives for waste management and environmental pollution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wymer, R.G.

2001-01-01

This paper addresses speciation requirements in the context of problems produced by nuclear energy and nuclear weapons production. These problems are primarily in the areas of waste management, material contamination, and environmental pollution. They pose difficult and important measurement and speciation challenges. Examples of speciation requirements in the context of national and international regulations are presented to exemplify and make quantitative the types of problems posed by waste management, material contamination, and environmental pollution. The importance of identifying species present in the natural environment as well as in wastes from chemical and physical processing and from waste management activities and accidental releases is addressed. Differing speciation requirements for macro and micro concentrations of species are discussed. The role of speciation in modelling studies is discussed. (author)

Environmental sustainability of Alpine livestock farms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luca Battaglini

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The 2006 FAO report concerning the environmental impact of the livestock sector has generated scientific debate, especially considering the context of global warming and the need to provide animal products to a growing world population. However, this sector differs widely in terms of environmental context, production targets, degree of intensification and cultural role. The traditional breeding systems in the Alps were largely based on the use of meadows and pastures and produced not only milk and meat but also other fundamental positive externalities and ecosystem services, such as conservation of genetic resources, water flow regulation, pollination, climate regulation, landscape maintenance, recreation and ecotourism and cultural heritage. In recent decades, the mountain livestock, mainly represented by dairy cattle, has been affected by a dramatic reduction of farms, a strong increase of animals per farm, an increase in indoor production systems, more extensive use of specialised non-indigenous cattle breeds and the increasing use of extra-farm concentrates instead of meadows and pastures for fodder. This paper firstly describes the livestock sector in the Italian Alps and analyses the most important factors affecting their sustainability. Secondly, it discusses the need to assess the ecosystem services offered by forage- based livestock systems in mountains with particular attention to greenhouse gas emission and its mitigation by carbon sequestration. In conclusion, comparison between the different elements of the environmental sustainability of mountain livestock systems must be based on a comprehensive overview of the relationships among animal husbandry, environment and socio-economic context.

Is nuclear power just another environmental issue. an analysis of california voters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Webber, D.J.

1982-01-01

An analysis of 1976 California primary voters who voted on the nuclear power proposition indicates that both nuclear power opinion and general environmental attitude have similar patterns of demographic and political correlates, as earlier environmental opinion research has reported. Nuclear power attitudes, however, are characterized by a much larger partisan and ideological component than is the general environmental attitude. In explaining the 35% of respondents with ''inconsistent'' nuclear and environmental attitudes, only education and income are significantly linked to consistency

The environmental benefits of cellulosic energy crops at a landscape scale

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Graham, R.L.; Liu, W.; English, B.C.

1995-01-01

The objective of this paper is to present a broad overview of the potential environmental impacts of biomass energy from energy crops--particularly the cellulosic energy crops current under development. For this discussion, the term energy crop refers to a crop grown primarily to create feedstock for either making biofuels such as ethanol or burning in a heat or electricity generation facility. Cellulosic energy crops are designed to be used in cellulose-based ethanol conversion processes (as opposed to starch or sugar-based ethanol conversion processes). As more cellulose can be produced per hectare of land than can sugar or starch, the cellulose-based ethanol conversion process is a more efficient sue of land for ethanol production. Assessing the environmental impacts of biomass energy from energy crops is complex because the environmental impact of using biomass for energy must be considered in the context of alternative energy options while the environmental impact of producing biomass from energy crops must be considered in the context of alternative land-uses. Using biomass-derived energy can reduce greenhouse gas emissions or increase them; growing biomass energy crops can enhance soil fertility or degrade it. Without knowing the context of the biomass energy, one can say little about its specific environmental impacts. The primary focus of this paper is an evaluation of the environmental impacts of growing cellulosic energy crops especially at the landscape or regional scale. However, to set the stage for this discussion, the authors begin by comparing the environmental advantages and disadvantages of biomass-derived energy relative to other energy alternatives such as coal, hydropower, nuclear power, oil/gasoline, natural gas and photovoltaics

Zimbabwe's Better Environmental Science Teaching Programme: A ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

) programme within the context of education for sustainable development (ESD). The first part of the paper briefly reviews developments in environmental education in southern Africa within the broader scope and goals of ESD and draws some ...

Environmental concerns of deforestation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rahman, A.

1995-01-01

The loss of forests as a result of deforestation is a serious problem in Pakistan as well as in other developing world. The forests play important role in environmental protection through soil conservation, regulation of hydrological cycles and micro climate amelioration. At the global scale, forests act as carbon sinks, maintain biodiversity and regulate climate, especially in the context of greenhouse effect. The deforestation should be countered through enforcement of strict laws and elaborating environmental role of forests through media and local councils. Various economic analysis indicate that tropical forests have greater overall benefits if left intact, rather than destroying them for timber. (author)

Environmental Education: From Policy to Practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Barraza, Laura; Duque-Aristizabal, Ana M.; Rebolledo, Geisha

2003-01-01

Details a seminar held at King's College in London in March, 2001. Presents a reading and reflection upon two major aspects of the discussion, the meanings of environmental education and education for sustainable development in different cultures and contexts. (Contains 20 references.) (Author/NB)

Environmental management systems implemented in the Spanish nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Redondo, R.; Fernandez Guisado, M. B.; Hortiguela, R.; Bustamante, L. F.; Esparza, J. L.; Villareal, M.; Yague, F.

2013-01-01

The companies that own the Spanish Nuclear Power Plants, aware of social concern and in the context of a growing demanding environmental legislation, have a permanent commitment to the electricity production based on the principles of a maximum respect for the environment, safety, quality, professionalism and continuous improvement. In order to minimize the environmental impact of their plants they have implemented and Environmental Management System based on the ISO 14001 Standard. They minimize the environmental impact by identifying the significant environmental aspects and defining the corresponding objectives. This article describes the referred environmental management systems and their environmental objectives, as applied and defined by the Spanish Nuclear Power Plants. (Author)

The environmental effects of taxes on packages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schroten, A.; Nelissen, D.; Bergsma, G.C.; Blom, M.J.

2010-08-01

The results of an evaluation of the environmental impacts of taxes for packages are presented, differentiated for greenhouse gas emissions. The evaluation used a qualitative analysis of information from eighteen depth-interviews with experts in the packaging market, foreign experiences, relevant price elasticities and 'expert guesses'. It appears that tax package so far had a limited effect on the packaging market. For the longer term (ten years) larger, but probably also limited, effects are expected. The environmental impact of packaging tax can be increased if the taxes are substantially increased. [nl

Teaching Environmental Geology in the 21St Century: A Workshop Report

Science.gov (United States)

Mogk, D. W.; Wiese, K.; Castendyk, D.; McDaris, J. R.

2012-12-01

Environmental Geology encompasses a range of topics that include geohazards, natural resources, issues such as climate change, human health, and environmental policy. Instruction in Environmental Geology provides students the opportunity to address the grand challenges facing humanity regarding how to live sustainably and responsibly on Earth. Instruction in Environmental Geology ranges from dedicated introductory courses, instructional modules in upper division Earth Science "core" classes, to courses in related disciplines such as environmental science, ecology, and the social and political sciences. To explore the opportunities of teaching Environmental Geology in all these contexts, the On the Cutting Edge program convened a workshop in June 2012 to bring together instructors representing a diversity of instructional settings. The goals of the workshop were to: 1) Share innovative teaching methods, approaches, and activities for teaching Environmental Geology and share ideas on how to teach in various contexts. 2) Examine where and how environmental geology topics are taught in the geoscience curriculum from introductory courses for non-majors to "core" geoscience courses for majors. 3) Consider the ways that Environmental Geology courses and topical materials can contribute to public science literacy, particularly how to make personal and societal decisions about the range of issues facing humanity and to live responsibly and sustainably on this planet. 4) Develop a list of best practices for integrating emerging environmental issues, recent natural disasters, and issues related to natural resources into course work and identifying how scientific data and research outcomes can inform public discourse on topical issues. 5) Develop strategies to reach under-represented groups and expand the diversity of students who enroll in our courses. 6) Identify topics of high interest and need for future development as teaching modules and courses. The workshop program

Do Voluntary Pollution Reduction Programs (VPRs) Spur Innovation in Environmental Technology

OpenAIRE

Carrion-Flores, Carmen E.; Innes, Robert; Sam, Abdoul G.

2006-01-01

In the context of the EPA's 33/50 program, we study whether a VPR can prompt firms to develop new environmental technologies that yield future emission reduction benefits. Because pollutant reductions generally require costly reformulations of products and/or production processes, environmental over-compliance induced by a VPR may potentially spur environmental innovation that can reduce these costs. Conversely, a VPR may induce a participating firm to divert resources from environmental rese...

Class-Based Context Quality Optimization For Context Management Frameworks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shawky, Ahmed; Olsen, Rasmus Løvenstein; Pedersen, Jens Myrup

2012-01-01

Context-awareness is a key requirement in many of today's networks, services and applications. Context Management systems are in this respect used to provide access to distributed, dynamic context information. The reliability of remotely accessed dynamic context information is challenged by network...

Habit Discontinuity, Self-Activation, and the Diminishing Influence of Context Change: Evidence from the UK Understanding Society Survey.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gregory Owen Thomas

Full Text Available Repeated behaviours in stable contexts can become automatic habits. Habits are resistant to information-based techniques to change behaviour, but are contextually cued, so a change in behaviour context (e.g., location weakens habit strength and can facilitate greater consideration of the behaviour. This idea was demonstrated in previous work, whereby people with strong environmental attitudes have lower car use, but only after recently moving home. We examine the habit discontinuity hypothesis by analysing the Understanding Society dataset with 18,053 individuals representative of the UK population, measuring time since moving home, travel mode to work, and strength of environmental attitudes. Results support previous findings where car use is significantly lower among those with stronger environmental views (but only after recently moving home, and in addition, demonstrate a trend where this effects decays as the time since moving home increases. We discuss results in light of moving into a new home being a potential 'window of opportunity' to promote pro-environmental behaviours.

Habit Discontinuity, Self-Activation, and the Diminishing Influence of Context Change: Evidence from the UK Understanding Society Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Gregory Owen; Poortinga, Wouter; Sautkina, Elena

2016-01-01

Repeated behaviours in stable contexts can become automatic habits. Habits are resistant to information-based techniques to change behaviour, but are contextually cued, so a change in behaviour context (e.g., location) weakens habit strength and can facilitate greater consideration of the behaviour. This idea was demonstrated in previous work, whereby people with strong environmental attitudes have lower car use, but only after recently moving home. We examine the habit discontinuity hypothesis by analysing the Understanding Society dataset with 18,053 individuals representative of the UK population, measuring time since moving home, travel mode to work, and strength of environmental attitudes. Results support previous findings where car use is significantly lower among those with stronger environmental views (but only after recently moving home), and in addition, demonstrate a trend where this effects decays as the time since moving home increases. We discuss results in light of moving into a new home being a potential 'window of opportunity' to promote pro-environmental behaviours.

Households facing constraints. Fuel poverty put into context

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dubois, Ute; Meier, Helena

2014-01-01

The present paper discusses the concept of fuel poverty taking into account the arbitrages made by households when they are facing economic constraints. Fuel poverty is still lacking a common definition throughout Europe: while the UK and France have (different) official definitions, there is still no definition in a country like Germany, or at the European level. Where definitions exist, they often consider that fuel poor households have high energy needs. The possibility of being fuel poor even without having high energy needs and the various arbitrage possibilities of households - i.e. to under-spend and use too little energy - are not systematically discussed. Our paper tries to fill that gap by putting fuel poverty into the larger context of constraints faced by households. Based on a graphical analysis, it shows that different situations of fuel poverty might occur. It results in the identification of two distinct fuel poverty problems: an ''energy inequality'' problem, reflected by the fact that some households pay disproportionately high energy bills, and an ''energy affordability'' problem that can affect a larger share of the population. It finally explores the two types of fuel poverty for European countries and discusses policy implications.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SAFETY ATTRIBUTES GEOSTRATEGIC HEGEMONY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Bohan

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The article deals with modern aspects of manifestation geostrategic hegemony in the context of its environmental and safety attributes that determine the appearance of new determinants of economic development and progress of the world. Specificity of the geopolitical sphere in the context of a retrospective and prospects of development of civilization, which requires the use of new system-methodological approaches to its study. Defined mechanisms to enhance the status of the hegemon, which by their nature are accompanied by threats and challenges of globalization and conflict-military factors in the fight for resources and ecological imbalance in the world. The space competition geopolitical actors are increasingly extended to third countries, thus causing their economic instability, environmental vulnerability and permanent conflict. The factors, causes and conditions for the identification of new measurements geostrategic hegemony, which can affect the configuration of world order, the balance of economic power and the establishment of constructive international dialogue aimed at security, sustainable development and well-being of all mankind.

Larger error signals in major depression are associated with better avoidance learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

James F eCavanagh

2011-11-01

Full Text Available The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC is particularly reactive to signals of error, punishment, and conflict in the service of behavioral adaptation and it is consistently implicated in the etiology of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD. This association makes conceptual sense, given that MDD has been associated with hyper-reactivity in neural systems associated with punishment processing. Yet in practice, depression-related variance in measures of mPFC functioning often fails to relate to performance. For example, neuroelectric reflections of mediofrontal error signals are often found to be larger in MDD, but a deficit in post-error performance suggests that these error signals are not being used to rapidly adapt behavior. Thus, it remains unknown if depression-related variance in error signals reflects a meaningful alteration in the use of error or punishment information. However, larger mediofrontal error signals have also been related to another behavioral tendency: increased accuracy in avoidance learning. The integrity of this error-avoidance system remains untested in MDD. In this study, EEG was recorded as 21 symptomatic, drug-free participants with current or past MDD and 24 control participants performed a probabilistic reinforcement learning task. Depressed participants had larger mPFC EEG responses to error feedback than controls. The direct relationship between error signal amplitudes and avoidance learning accuracy was replicated. Crucially, this relationship was stronger in depressed participants for high conflict lose-lose situations, demonstrating a selective alteration of avoidance learning. This investigation provided evidence that larger error signal amplitudes in depression are associated with increased avoidance learning, identifying a candidate mechanistic model for hypersensitivity to negative outcomes in depression.

Lightweight genome viewer: portable software for browsing genomics data in its chromosomal context.

Science.gov (United States)

Faith, Jeremiah J; Olson, Andrew J; Gardner, Timothy S; Sachidanandam, Ravi

2007-09-18

Lightweight genome viewer (lwgv) is a web-based tool for visualization of sequence annotations in their chromosomal context. It performs most of the functions of larger genome browsers, while relying on standard flat-file formats and bypassing the database needs of most visualization tools. Visualization as an aide to discovery requires display of novel data in conjunction with static annotations in their chromosomal context. With database-based systems, displaying dynamic results requires temporary tables that need to be tracked for removal. lwgv simplifies the visualization of user-generated results on a local computer. The dynamic results of these analyses are written to transient files, which can import static content from a more permanent file. lwgv is currently used in many different applications, from whole genome browsers to single-gene RNAi design visualization, demonstrating its applicability in a large variety of contexts and scales. lwgv provides a lightweight alternative to large genome browsers for visualizing biological annotations and dynamic analyses in their chromosomal context. It is particularly suited for applications ranging from short sequences to medium-sized genomes when the creation and maintenance of a large software and database infrastructure is not necessary or desired.

Pushing the frontiers of equity as a means for environmental justice ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Whilst the usage of this principle to achieve environmental justice in other jurisdictions has been popularized, the reason for poor implementation of the principle in an African context is exacerbated by the placement of same constitutional environmental provision. The South African jurisdiction exemplifies a means to ...

A Context-Aware Indoor Air Quality System for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Prevention

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel H. De La Iglesia

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Context-aware monitoring systems designed for e-Health solutions and ambient assisted living (AAL play an important role in today’s personalized health-care services. The majority of these systems are intended for the monitoring of patients’ vital signs by means of bio-sensors. At present, there are very few systems that monitor environmental conditions and air quality in the homes of users. A home’s environmental conditions can have a significant influence on the state of the health of its residents. Monitoring the environment is the key to preventing possible diseases caused by conditions that do not favor health. This paper presents a context-aware system that monitors air quality to prevent a specific health problem at home. The aim of this system is to reduce the incidence of the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, which is triggered mainly by environmental factors. In the conducted case study, the system monitored the state of the neonate and the quality of air while it was asleep. The designed proposal is characterized by its low cost and non-intrusive nature. The results are promising.

Do preschool children learn to read words from environmental prints?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jing Zhao

Full Text Available Parents and teachers worldwide believe that a visual environment rich with print can contribute to young children's literacy. Children seem to recognize words in familiar logos at an early age. However, most of previous studies were carried out with alphabetic scripts. Alphabetic letters regularly correspond to phonological segments in a word and provide strong cues about the identity of the whole word. Thus it was not clear whether children can learn to read words by extracting visual word form information from environmental prints. To exclude the phonological-cue confound, this study tested children's knowledge of Chinese words embedded in familiar logos. The four environmental logos were employed and transformed into four versions with the contextual cues (i.e., something apart from the presentation of the words themselves in logo format like the color, logo and font type cues gradually minimized. Children aged from 3 to 5 were tested. We observed that children of different ages all performed better when words were presented in highly familiar logos compared to when they were presented in a plain fashion, devoid of context. This advantage for familiar logos was also present when the contextual information was only partial. However, the role of various cues in learning words changed with age. The color and logo cues had a larger effect in 3- and 4- year-olds than in 5-year-olds, while the font type cue played a greater role in 5-year-olds than in the other two groups. Our findings demonstrated that young children did not easily learn words by extracting their visual form information even from familiar environmental prints. However, children aged 5 begin to pay more attention to the visual form information of words in highly familiar logos than those aged 3 and 4.

Political and environmental attitude toward participatory energy and environmental governance: A survey in post-Fukushima Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakamura, Hidenori

2017-10-01

The Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent Fukushima nuclear accident triggered citizen dialogue on energy and environmental management in Japan. However, an international survey has shown that the willingness of Japanese citizens to participate in political and social activities has declined since the Fukushima accident. Employing an internet-based survey in four urban or nuclear power plant-hosting prefectures in Japan, this study examines the willingness to participate in random sampling deliberation on post-disaster energy and environmental policy. It focuses on the effects of political, environmental, and social attitudes towards willingness to participate in citizen dialogue. The survey shows around 40% of respondents may participate in energy and environmental deliberation. Statistical analysis reveals that environmental consciousness raises the propensity to participate in deliberation, while political obedience and social hesitation decreases the will to participate. The effect of environmental attitudes is larger than that of political and social attitudes. The survey also finds that governmental response to deliberation, i.e., information generation and disclosure based on requests from citizen dialogue, encourages participation in deliberation in a conservative prefecture, when citizen dialogue is held at the national level. Random sampling deliberation opens a new mode of environmental governance regardless of local political and social characteristics. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Individual in Context: The Role of Impulse Control on the Association between the Home, School, and Neighborhood Developmental Contexts and Adolescent Delinquency.

Science.gov (United States)

Fine, Adam; Mahler, Alissa; Steinberg, Laurence; Frick, Paul J; Cauffman, Elizabeth

2017-07-01

Social ecological theories and decades of supporting research suggest that contexts exert a powerful influence on adolescent delinquency. Individual traits, such as impulse control, also pose a developmental disadvantage to adolescents through increasing risk of delinquency. However, such individual differences may also predispose some youth to struggle more in adverse environments, but also to excel in enriched environments. Despite the prominence of impulse control in both developmental and criminological literatures, researchers are only beginning to consider impulse control as an individual characteristic that may affect developmental outcomes in response to environmental input. Using a racially diverse (Latino 46 %; Black 37 %; White 15 %; other race 2 %) sample of 1,216 first-time, male, juvenile offenders from the longitudinal Crossroads Study, this study examined key interactions between baseline impulse control and the home, school, and neighborhood contexts in relation to delinquency within the following 6 months. The results indicated that even after accounting for prior delinquency, youth in more negative home, school, and neighborhood contexts engaged in the same amount of delinquency in the following 6 months regardless of their level of impulse control. However, the effects of positive home, school, and neighborhood contexts on delinquency were stronger for youth with moderate or high impulse control and minimally affected youth with low impulse control. The findings suggest two risk factors for delinquency: low impulse control as a dispositional vulnerability that operates independently of developmental context, and a second that results from a contextual vulnerability.

“STRONG” AND “WEAK” GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CONCEPTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nikolay Dronin

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Many global environmental issues being subject of ambitious international environmental politics could look very different in terms of scientific justification. This was revealed during interviews made by the author with some leading American environmental scientists. All interviewed American scientists granted minor confidence to three environmental issues—deforestation, desertification and biodiversity loss, while two issues—the ozone depletion and climate change—were deserved high degree of confidence. The striking difference in evaluation of the global concepts of environmental issues is discussed in the context of the classical epistemological problem of coexistence of “strong” and “weak” theories in modern science. The normative character of epistemology suggests that some ways of raising scientific credibility of the backward environmental concepts can be proposed. Better justification of these global environmental issues can help to move forward the environmental politics which have shown mere stagnation during the last years.

Workshop on the role of enhancement of utilization of primary and secondary hydro potential in the context of environmental protection. Part II

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-12-01

The publication has been set up as proceedings of the workshop on the role of enhancement of utilization of primary and secondary hydro potential in the context of environmental protection. The proceedings consist of the following chapters: (1) Use of a part and a secondary hydroenergetic potential of the Slovak Republic for electric energy production and its impact on the environment; (2) Economic problems of utilization of hydroenergetic potential of the Slovak Republic and possibilities for their solution; (3) Modernization of control systems of primary and secondary hydro energetic sources of electricity from the point of view of their fulfillment of important functions in operation of a power engineering system in the Slovak Republic; (4) The most important structures utilizing primary and secondary hydroenergetic potential for electric energy production; (5) Progressive technologies, modernization of hydro power projects aimed at rationalization in a use of hydroenergetic potential and environment protection; (6) Possibilities of further utilization of hydroenergetic potential of the Slovak Republic.

Workshop on the role of enhancement of utilization of primary and secondary hydro potential in the context of environmental protection. Part II

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-01-01

The publication has been set up as proceedings of the workshop on the role of enhancement of utilization of primary and secondary hydro potential in the context of environmental protection. The proceedings consist of the following chapters: (1) Use of a part and a secondary hydroenergetic potential of the Slovak Republic for electric energy production and its impact on the environment; (2) Economic problems of utilization of hydroenergetic potential of the Slovak Republic and possibilities for their solution; (3) Modernization of control systems of primary and secondary hydro energetic sources of electricity from the point of view of their fulfillment of important functions in operation of a power engineering system in the Slovak Republic; (4) The most important structures utilizing primary and secondary hydroenergetic potential for electric energy production; (5) Progressive technologies, modernization of hydro power projects aimed at rationalization in a use of hydroenergetic potential and environment protection; (6) Possibilities of further utilization of hydroenergetic potential of the Slovak Republic

Larger miliolids of the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene seen through space and time

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vlasta Ćosović

2002-12-01

Full Text Available Spatial and temporal occurrences of the larger (complex miliolids are discussed to give more light on biostratigraphy and paleobiogeographic provinces distribution. Seven generaand 47 species from the Late Cretaceous to Oligocene inhabited shallow marine settings in the Indo-Pacific, Tethyan and Caribbean regions. Of all genera only four (Idalina, Periloculina, Pseudolacazina, Lacazina widespread throughout Tethys in theLate Cretaceous and Paleogene. Single occurrence of Lacazina was recorded further to east (Moluccas. By now the Late Cretaceous genus Adrahentina is known only from the Spain. The newcomer’s Eocene genera were Fabularia and Lacazinella. Fabularia reachedhigh diversity in species term in the Central and Western Tethys and occured as unique genus in Caribbean realm, too. Conversely, during the same period, Lacazinella spread over the southern border of Neo-Tethys reaching New Guinea.On the Adriatic – Dinaric Carbonate Platform, larger miliolids occurred from the Late Cretaceous to Cuisian, having the same biostratigraphically trends and distribution as contemporaneous larger miliolids from the Tethys.

The paradox of strategic environmental assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bidstrup, Morten, E-mail: bidstrup@plan.aau.dk; Hansen, Anne Merrild, E-mail: merrild@plan.aau.dk

2014-07-01

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is a tool that can facilitate sustainable development and improve decision-making by introducing environmental concern early in planning processes. However, various international studies conclude that current planning practice is not taking full advantage of the tool, and we therefore define the paradox of SEA as the methodological ambiguity of non-strategic SEA. This article explores causality through at three-step case study on aggregates extraction planning in Denmark, which consists of a document analysis; a questionnaire survey and follow-up communication with key planners. Though the environmental reports on one hand largely lack strategic considerations, practitioners express an inherent will for strategy and reveal that their SEAs in fact have been an integrated part of the planning process. Institutional context is found to be the most significant barrier for a strategy and this suggests that non-strategic planning setups can prove more important than non-strategic planning in SEA practice. Planners may try to execute strategy within the confinements of SEA-restricted planning contexts; however, such efforts can be overlooked if evaluated by a narrow criterion for strategy formation. Consequently, the paradox may also spark from challenged documentation. These findings contribute to the common understanding of SEA quality; however, further research is needed on how to communicate and influence the strategic options which arguably remain inside non-strategic planning realities. - Highlights: • International studies conclude that SEAs are not strategic. = The paradox of SEA. • Even on the highest managerial level, some contexts do not leave room for strategy. • Non-strategic SEA can derive from challenged documentation. • Descriptive and emergent strategy formation can, in practice, be deemed non-strategic.

The paradox of strategic environmental assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bidstrup, Morten; Hansen, Anne Merrild

2014-01-01

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is a tool that can facilitate sustainable development and improve decision-making by introducing environmental concern early in planning processes. However, various international studies conclude that current planning practice is not taking full advantage of the tool, and we therefore define the paradox of SEA as the methodological ambiguity of non-strategic SEA. This article explores causality through at three-step case study on aggregates extraction planning in Denmark, which consists of a document analysis; a questionnaire survey and follow-up communication with key planners. Though the environmental reports on one hand largely lack strategic considerations, practitioners express an inherent will for strategy and reveal that their SEAs in fact have been an integrated part of the planning process. Institutional context is found to be the most significant barrier for a strategy and this suggests that non-strategic planning setups can prove more important than non-strategic planning in SEA practice. Planners may try to execute strategy within the confinements of SEA-restricted planning contexts; however, such efforts can be overlooked if evaluated by a narrow criterion for strategy formation. Consequently, the paradox may also spark from challenged documentation. These findings contribute to the common understanding of SEA quality; however, further research is needed on how to communicate and influence the strategic options which arguably remain inside non-strategic planning realities. - Highlights: • International studies conclude that SEAs are not strategic. = The paradox of SEA. • Even on the highest managerial level, some contexts do not leave room for strategy. • Non-strategic SEA can derive from challenged documentation. • Descriptive and emergent strategy formation can, in practice, be deemed non-strategic

The interplay between interpersonal dynamics, treatment barriers, and larger social forces: an exploratory study of drug-using couples in Hartford, CT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simmons Janie

2006-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The drug treatment field tends to place emphasis on the individual rather than the individual in social context. While there are a growing number of studies indicating that drug-using intimate partners are likely to play an important role in determining treatment options, little attention has been given to the experience and complex treatment needs of illicit drug-using (heroin, cocaine, crack couples. Methods This exploratory study used in-depth interviews and ethnographic engagement to better understand the relationship between interpersonal dynamics and the treatment experience of ten relatively stable drug-using couples in Hartford, CT. Semi-structured and open-ended qualitative interviews were conducted with each couple and separately with each partner. Whenever possible, the day-to-day realities and contexts of risk were also observed via participant and non-participant observation of these couples in the community. A grounded theory approach was used to inductively code and analyze nearly 40 transcripts of 60–90 minute interviews as well as fieldnotes. Results This study builds on a concept of complex interpersonal dynamics among drug users. Interpersonal dynamics of care and collusion were identified: couples cared for each other and colluded to acquire and use drugs. Care and collusion operate at the micro level of the risk environment. Treatment barriers and inadequacies were identified as part of the risk environment at the meso or intermediate level of analysis, and larger social forces such as gender dynamics, poverty and the "War on Drugs" were identified at the macro level. Interpersonal dynamics posed problems for couples when one or both partners were interested in accessing treatment. Structural barriers presented additional obstacles with the denial of admittance of both partners to treatment programs which had a sole focus on the individual and avoided treating couples. Conclusion Detoxification and

Proactive interference by cues presented without outcomes: Differences in context specificity of latent inhibition and conditioned inhibition.

Science.gov (United States)

Miguez, Gonzalo; McConnell, Bridget; Polack, Cody W; Miller, Ralph R

2018-01-08

This report is part of a larger project examining associative interference as a function of the nature of the interfering and target associations. Lick suppression experiments with rats assessed the effects of context shifts on proactive outcome interference by latent inhibition (LI) and Pavlovian conditioned inhibition (CI) treatments on subsequently trained Pavlovian conditioned excitation treatment. LI and CI were trained in Context A during Phase 1, and then excitation treatment was administered in Context B during Phase 2, followed by tests for conditioned excitation in Contexts A, B, or C. Experiment 1 preliminarily established our LI and CI treatments and resulted in equally retarded acquisition of behavioral control when the target cue was subsequently trained as a conditioned excitor and tested in Context A. However, only CI treatment caused the target to pass a summation test for inhibition. Centrally, Experiment 2 consisted of LI and CI treatments in Context A followed by excitatory training in Context B. Testing found low excitatory control by both LI and CI cues in Context A relative to strong excitatory control in Context B, but CI treatment transferred to Context C more strongly than LI treatment. Experiment 3 determined that LI treatment failed to transfer to Context C even when the number of LI trials was greatly increased. Thus, first-learned LI appears to be relatively context specific, whereas first-learned CI generalizes to a neutral context. These observations add to existing evidence that LI and CI treatments result in different types of learning that diverge sharply in transfer to a novel test context.

Development of response inhibition in the context of relevant versus irrelevant emotions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Margot A Schel

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The present study examined the influence of relevant and irrelevant emotions on response inhibition from childhood to early adulthood. Ninety-four participants between 6 and 25 years of age performed two go/nogo tasks with emotional faces (neutral, happy, and fearful as stimuli. In one go/nogo task emotion formed a relevant dimension of the task and in the other go/nogo task emotion was irrelevant and participants had to respond to the color of the faces instead. A special feature of the latter task, in which emotion was irrelevant, was the inclusion of free choice trials, in which participants could freely decide between acting and inhibiting. Results showed a linear increase in response inhibition performance with increasing age both in relevant and irrelevant affective contexts. Relevant emotions had a pronounced influence on performance across age, whereas irrelevant emotions did not. Overall, participants made more false alarms on trials with fearful faces than happy faces, and happy faces were associated with better performance on go trials (higher percentage correct and faster RTs than fearful faces. The latter effect was stronger for young children in terms of accuracy. Finally, during the free choice trials participants did not base their decisions on affective context, confirming that irrelevant emotions do not have a strong impact on inhibition. Together, these findings suggest that across development relevant affective context has a larger influence on response inhibition than irrelevant affective context. When emotions are relevant, a context of positive emotions is associated with better performance compared to a context with negative emotions, especially in young children.

Environmental philosophy: from theory to practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarkar, Sahotra

2014-03-01

Environmental philosophy is a hybrid discipline drawing extensively from epistemology, ethics, and philosophy of science and analyzing disciplines such as conservation biology, restoration ecology, sustainability studies, and political ecology. The book being discussed both provides an overview of environmental philosophy and develops an anthropocentric framework for it. That framework treats natural values as deep cultural values. Tradeoffs between natural values are analyzed using decision theory to the extent possible, leaving many interesting question for philosophical deliberation. This framework is supposed to be applicable in practical contexts. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmental issues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grove-White, Robin

1985-01-01

There is still very little official acceptance that environmental factors will impose major constraints on the development of energy supply options in the United Kingdom in the future. This paper argues that such an acceptance is needed urgently and should begin to affect governmental policies immediately. UK energy policy ought to be to intensify energy efficiency and conservation throughout the economy and hence reduce the need to expand new supply sources. The general energy requirements in the UK are first considered. Problems of energy supply expansion, particularly nuclear power and coal are considered. Resolution of the problems identified in the UK political and administrative context is discussed. Then the environmental aspects are considered. A comment on the paper follows and raises two questions about market-based energy policy; does it preclude intervention to promote economic efficiency in the use of energy and, does it lead to economic efficiency. (U.K.)

Development of a decision aid for energy resource management for the Navajo Nation incorporating environmental cultural values

Science.gov (United States)

Necefer, Len Edward

Decision-making surrounding pathways of future energy resource management are complexity and requires balancing tradeoffs of multiple environmental, social, economic, and technical outcomes. Technical decision aid can provide a framework for informed decision making, allowing individuals to better understand the tradeoff between resources, technology, energy services, and prices. While technical decision aid have made significant advances in evaluating these quantitative aspects of energy planning and performance, they have not been designed to incorporate human factors, such as preferences and behavior that are informed by cultural values. Incorporating cultural values into decision tools can provide not only an improved decision framework for the Navajo Nation, but also generate new insights on how these perspective can improve decision making on energy resources. Ensuring these aids are a cultural fit for each context has the potential to increase trust and promote understanding of the tradeoffs involved in energy resource management. In this dissertation I present the development of a technical tool that explicitly addresses cultural and spiritual values and experimentally assesses their influence on the preferences and decision making of Navajo citizens. Chapter 2 describes the results of a public elicitation effort to gather information about stakeholder views and concerns related to energy development in the Navajo Nation in order to develop a larger sample survey and a decision-support tool that links techno-economic energy models with sociocultural attributes. Chapter 3 details the methods of developing the energy decision aid and its underlying assumptions for alternative energy projects and their impacts. This tool also provides an alternative to economic valuation of cultural impacts based upon an ordinal index tied to environmental impacts. Chapter 4 details the the influence of various cultural, environmental, and economic outcome information provided

Ubiquitous Supervisory System Based on Social Contexts Using Ontology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Satoru Izumi

2009-01-01

Full Text Available As described in this paper, we propose a supervisory system that considers actual situations and social aspects of users in a ubiquitous computing environment. To realize gentle and safe supervision while providing efficient supervisory services, the system must recognize the situations of a watched person, such as the person's physical condition. To achieve this, we have proposed a ubiquitous supervisory system "uEyes", which introduces Social Context Awareness: a distinguishing feature for supervision. Using this feature, the system can combine environmental information acquired from sensors in the real world and common-sense knowledge related to human activities in daily life. As described in this paper, we specifically examine design of Social Context Awareness using ontology technologies. Based on this advanced feature, a live video streaming system is configured autonomously depending on the users' circumstances in runtime. We implemented a uEyes prototype for supervising elderly people and performed some experiments based on several scenarios. Based on those experimental results, we confirmed that the social contexts are handled effectively to support the supervision.

Environmental change in south-east Asia. People, politics and sustainable development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parnwell, M.J.G.; Bryant, R.L.

1996-01-01

The interaction of politics and ecology in the quest for sustainable development in South East Asia is explored in this book by contributors who provide a broad range of perspectives. In the first of the four main sections, the political context of ecological change is examined. The topics discussed are: Indonesia and Thailand in a globalising pulp and paper industry; environmental organisations and different political contexts in Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam; Japan and South East Asia's environment. Some of the processes and forms of human-induced environmental change are illustrated in the second section. These include: the search for sustainable livelihoods in Indonesian transmigration settlements; the 210 MW hydro-power project on the Theun river in Laos which illustrates the tensions between environmental costs and potential economic benefits; forest management in Laos. Discussion of the various methods which strengthen understanding of human-induced environmental change in the region is integrated with further illustrations of its process and context in the third section where the following are considered: environmental change in Malaysian Borneo; the value of remote sensing and geographical information systems in mapping the environment; the weakness of Vietnam's tropical forestry action plan. In the final section, an examination of some of the options for change which are necessary if sustainable development is to become a reality includes: the sustainability of ecotourism in Indonesia; the potential stewardship role of the Bajau people in Indonesia's proposed marine parks; environmental degradation, non-timber forest products and Iban communities in Sarawak; conservation and development in Brunei's rainforests; Philippine community-based forest management. (27 figures; 23 tables; 752 references) (UK)

A microlevel analysis of residential context and travel time

OpenAIRE

Tim Schwanen; Martin Dijst; Frans M Dieleman

2002-01-01

The literature on the association between residential context and travel concentrates on distance traveled and modal choice, as these variables are the most important from an environmental perspective. Travel time has received less attention -- an unfortunate oversight in our view, as people's travel decisions are determined by time rather than by distance. By using data from the 1998 Netherlands National Travel Survey, we have considered travel time associated with trip purpose and transport...

Key Components of Collaborative Research in the Context of Environmental Health: A Scoping Review

Science.gov (United States)

Wine, Osnat; Ambrose, Sarah; Campbell, Sandy; Villeneuve, Paul J.; Burns, Katharina Kovacs; Vargas, Alvaro Osornio

2017-01-01

In a collaborative research process, the participation of interdisciplinary researchers and multi-sectoral stakeholders supports the co-creation, translation, and exchange of new knowledge. Following a scoping review methodology, we explored the collaborative research processes in the specific context of environment and human health research.…

Comparing Expert Driving Behavior in Real World and Simulator Contexts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hiran B. Ekanayake

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Computer games are increasingly used for purposes beyond mere entertainment, and current hi-tech simulators can provide quite, naturalistic contexts for purposes such as traffic education. One of the critical concerns in this area is the validity or transferability of acquired skills from a simulator to the real world context. In this paper, we present our work in which we compared driving in the real world with that in the simulator at two levels, that is, by using performance measures alone, and by combining psychophysiological measures with performance measures. For our study, we gathered data using questionnaires as well as by logging vehicle dynamics, environmental conditions, video data, and users' psychophysiological measurements. For the analysis, we used several novel approaches such as scatter plots to visualize driving tasks of different contexts and to obtain vigilance estimators from electroencephalographic (EEG data in order to obtain important results about the differences between the driving in the two contexts. Our belief is that both experimental procedures and findings of our experiment are very important to the field of serious games concerning how to evaluate the fitness of driving simulators and measure driving performance.

Nanotechnology development in Denmark - Environmental opportunities and risk

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, M.M.; Rasmussen, B.

2006-01-01

The present report represents the nanostudy part of a larger study entitled “Green Technology Foresight about Environmentally Friendly Products and Materials – Challenges from Nanotechnology, Biotechnology and ICT” (Jørgensen et al. 2006). The study wasmade for the Danish Environmental Protection...... (forthcoming in summer 2006). The analysis focuses not only on the environmental impact but even more on the dynamics involved in nanotechnology development ofwhich we currently know very little. Applying an innovation economic perspective focus is placed on analysing the direction of the nano search...... and technology development processes and how environmental issues enter into these. Hereby, the futuretrajectories of nanotechnology development is sought captured, indicating likely long-term perspectives of the Danish nanotechnology development. The content of the report is as follows: What is nanotechnology...

Environmental auditing: Theory and applications

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Dixon; Wilson, Melvin J.

1994-07-01

The environmental audit has become a regular part of corporate environmental management in Canada and is also gaining recognition in the public sector. A 1991 survey of 75 private sector companies across Canada revealed that 76% (57/75) had established environmental auditing programs. A similar survey of 19 federal, provincial, and municipal government departments revealed that 11% (2/19) had established such programs. The information gained from environmental audits can be used to facilitate and enhance environmental management from the single facility level to the national and international levels. This paper is divided into two sections: section one examines environmental audits at the facility/company level and discusses environmental audit characteristics, trends, and driving forces not commonly found in the available literature. Important conclusions are: that wherever possible, an action plan to correct the identified problems should be an integral part of an audit, and therefore there should be a close working relationship between auditors, managers, and employees, and that the first audits will generally be more difficult, time consuming, and expensive than subsequent audits. Section two looks at environmental audits in the broader context and discusses the relationship between environmental audits and three other environmental information gathering/analysis tools: environmental impact assessments, state of the environment reports, and new systems of national accounts. The argument is made that the information collected by environmental audits and environmental impact assessments at the facility/company level can be used as the bases for regional and national state of the environment reports and new systems of national accounts.

Integrating information for better environmental decisions.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

MacDonell, M.; Morgan, K.; Newland, L.; Environmental Assessment; Texas Christian Univ.

2002-01-01

As more is learned about the complex nature and extent of environmental impacts from progressive human disturbance, scientists, policy analysts, decision makers, educators, and communicators are increasingly joining forces to develop strategies for preserving and protecting the environment. The Eco-Informa Foundation is an educational scientific organization dedicated to promoting the collaborative development and sharing of scientific information. The Foundation participated in a recent international conference on environmental informatics through a special symposium on integrating information for better environmental decisions. Presentations focused on four general themes: (1) remote sensing and data interpretation, including through new knowledge management tools; (2) risk assessment and communication, including for radioactively contaminated facilities, introduced biological hazards, and food safety; (3) community involvement in cleanup projects; and (4) environmental education. The general context for related issues, methods and applications, and results and recommendations from those discussions are highlighted here.

Stereotactic Radiosurgery with Neoadjuvant Embolization of Larger Arteriovenous Malformations: An Institutional Experience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard Dalyai

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Objective. This study investigates the safety and efficacy of a multimodality approach combining staged endovascular embolizations with subsequent SRS for the management of larger AVMs. Methods. Ninety-five patients with larger AVMs were treated with staged endovascular embolization followed by SRS between 1996 and 2011. Results. The median volume of AVM in this series was 28 cm3 and 47 patients (48% were Spetzler-Martin grade IV or V. Twenty-seven patients initially presented with hemorrhage. Sixty-one patients underwent multiple embolizations while a single SRS session was performed in 64 patients. The median follow-up after SRS session was 32 months (range 9–136 months. Overall procedural complications occurred in 14 patients. There were 13 minor neurologic complications and 1 major complication (due to embolization while four patients had posttreatment hemorrhage. Thirty-eight patients (40% were cured radiographically. The postradiosurgery actuarial rate of obliteration was 45% at 5 years, 56% at 7 years, and 63% at 10 years. In multivariate analysis, larger AVM size, deep venous drainage, and the increasing number of embolization/SRS sessions were negative predictors of obliteration. The number of embolizations correlated positively with the number of stereotactic radiosurgeries (P<0.005. Conclusions. Multimodality endovascular and radiosurgical approach is an efficacious treatment strategy for large AVM.

More ‘altruistic’ punishment in larger societies

Science.gov (United States)

Marlowe, Frank W; Berbesque, J. Colette; Barr, Abigail; Barrett, Clark; Bolyanatz, Alexander; Cardenas, Juan Camilo; Ensminger, Jean; Gurven, Michael; Gwako, Edwins; Henrich, Joseph; Henrich, Natalie; Lesorogol, Carolyn; McElreath, Richard; Tracer, David

2007-01-01

If individuals will cooperate with cooperators, and punish non-cooperators even at a cost to themselves, then this strong reciprocity could minimize the cheating that undermines cooperation. Based upon numerous economic experiments, some have proposed that human cooperation is explained by strong reciprocity and norm enforcement. Second-party punishment is when you punish someone who defected on you; third-party punishment is when you punish someone who defected on someone else. Third-party punishment is an effective way to enforce the norms of strong reciprocity and promote cooperation. Here we present new results that expand on a previous report from a large cross-cultural project. This project has already shown that there is considerable cross-cultural variation in punishment and cooperation. Here we test the hypothesis that population size (and complexity) predicts the level of third-party punishment. Our results show that people in larger, more complex societies engage in significantly more third-party punishment than people in small-scale societies. PMID:18089534

Contexts Paired with Junk Food Impair Goal-Directed Behavior in Rats: Implications for Decision Making in Obesogenic Environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Kendig, Michael D; Cheung, Ambrose M K; Raymond, Joel S; Corbit, Laura H

2016-01-01

The high prevalence of obesity and related metabolic diseases calls for greater understanding of the factors that drive excess energy intake. Calorie-dense palatable foods are readily available and often are paired with highly salient environmental cues. These cues can trigger food-seeking and consumption in the absence of hunger. Here we examined the effects of palatable food-paired environmental cues on control of instrumental food-seeking behavior. In Experiment 1, adult male rats received exposures to one context containing three "junk" foods (JFs context) and another containing chow (Chow context). Next, rats were food-deprived and trained to perform instrumental responses (lever-press) for two novel food rewards in a third, distinct context. Contextual influences on flexible control of food-seeking behavior were then assessed by outcome devaluation tests held in the JF, chow and training contexts. Devaluation was achieved using specific satiety and test order was counterbalanced. Rats exhibited goal-directed control over behavior when tested in the training and chow-paired contexts. Notably, performance was habitual (insensitive to devaluation) when tested in the JF context. In Experiment 2 we tested whether the impairment found in the JF context could be ameliorated by the presentation of a discrete auditory cue paired with the chow context, relative to a second cue paired with the JF context. Consistent with the results of Experiment 1, the devaluation effect was not significant when rats were tested in the JF context with the JF cue. However, presenting the chow cue increased the impact of the devaluation treatment leading to a robust devaluation effect. Further tests confirmed that performance in the chow context was goal-directed and that sensory-specific satiety in the JF context was intact. These results show that environments paired with palatable foods can impair goal-directed control over food-seeking behavior, but that this deficit was improved by

Contexts paired with junk food impair goal-directed behaviour in rats: implications for decision making in obesogenic environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael D. Kendig

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The high prevalence of obesity and related metabolic diseases calls for greater understanding of the factors that drive excess energy intake. Calorie-dense palatable foods are readily available and often are paired with highly salient environmental cues. These cues can trigger food-seeking and consumption in the absence of hunger. Here we examined the effects of palatable food-paired environmental cues on control of instrumental food-seeking behaviour. In Experiment 1, adult male rats received exposures to one context containing three ‘junk’ foods (JF context and another containing chow (Chow context. Next, rats were food-deprived and trained to perform instrumental responses (lever-press for two novel food rewards in a third, distinct context. Contextual influences on flexible control of food-seeking behaviour were then assessed by outcome devaluation tests held in the JF, chow, and training contexts. Devaluation was achieved using specific satiety and test order was counterbalanced. Rats exhibited goal-directed control over behaviour when tested in the training and chow-paired contexts. Notably, performance was habitual (insensitive to devaluation when tested in the JF context. In Experiment 2 we tested whether the impairment found in the JF context could be ameliorated by the presentation of a discrete auditory cue paired with the chow context, relative to a second cue paired with the JF context. Consistent with the results of Experiment 1, the devaluation effect was not significant when rats were tested in the JF context with the JF cue. However, presenting the chow cue increased the impact of the devaluation treatment leading to a robust devaluation effect. Further tests confirmed that performance in the chow context was goal-directed and that sensory-specific satiety in the JF context was intact. These results show that environments paired with palatable foods can impair goal-directed control over food-seeking behaviour, but that this

A fatigue analysis including environmental effects for a pipe system in a Swedish BWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Steingrimsdottir, Kristin; Dahlberg, Magnus

2011-10-01

A BWR feed water piping system (austenitic steel) has been analyzed with two different fatigue curves and environmental factors. Original fatigue curve from ASME is compared to a new fatigue curve; ANL. The influence of environmental correction factors (Fen) is studied further for the piping system. It is noted that the results apply for this particular system, and general conclusions should be cautiously drawn. Typical for this system is that all dominant loads are within the low-cycle regime. This implies that the change of fatigue curve only leads to limited increases in usage factors. Larger changes can occur if larger number of cycles is within the high-cycle regime

A Procedure to Observe Context-induced Renewal of Pavlovian-conditioned Alcohol-seeking Behavior in Rats

OpenAIRE

Maddux, Jean-Marie; Lacroix, Franca; Chaudhri, Nadia

2014-01-01

Environmental contexts in which drugs of abuse are consumed can trigger craving, a subjective Pavlovian-conditioned response that can facilitate drug-seeking behavior and prompt relapse in abstinent drug users. We have developed a procedure to study the behavioral and neural processes that mediate the impact of context on alcohol-seeking behavior in rats. Following acclimation to the taste and pharmacological effects of 15% ethanol in the home cage, male Long-Evans rats receive Pavlovian disc...

Environmental epidemiology, Volume 1: Public health and hazardous wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1991-01-01

Environmental Epidemiology, Volume 1, represents the first of several planned volumes on the uses of epidemiologic techniques to study environmental public health issues. This text focuses on environmental epidemiology as it relates to hazardous waste in the United States. This study was commissioned by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to examine available data for evidence of adverse health effects on human populations exposed to hazardous waste. The committee was also asked to identify data gaps which were impediments to analyzing hazardous waste health effects and to suggest ways that such environmental health assessments might be improved. The committee's solution to the paucity of data on this issue was to concentrate in this volume on identifying the available, peer-reviewed data and, consequently, the major data gaps. The study opens with a recapitulation of the context of hazardous waste sites in the United States, the approaches currently used by state and federal epidemiologists in analyzing hazardous waste exposure and effects, and candid assessment of the problems associated with environmental exposure assessment. From that context, the committee then presents the data currently available to assess human exposures through air, domestic water consumption, soil, and the food chain. The general focus here is on biomarker data as the date of choice. As with all NAS reports, this one closes with general conclusions and recommendations. Environmental health risk assessors will find this volume a valuable resource

A Knowledge-Based Representation Scheme for Environmental Science Models

Science.gov (United States)

Keller, Richard M.; Dungan, Jennifer L.; Lum, Henry, Jr. (Technical Monitor)

1994-01-01

One of the primary methods available for studying environmental phenomena is the construction and analysis of computational models. We have been studying how artificial intelligence techniques can be applied to assist in the development and use of environmental science models within the context of NASA-sponsored activities. We have identified several high-utility areas as potential targets for research and development: model development; data visualization, analysis, and interpretation; model publishing and reuse, training and education; and framing, posing, and answering questions. Central to progress on any of the above areas is a representation for environmental models that contains a great deal more information than is present in a traditional software implementation. In particular, a traditional software implementation is devoid of any semantic information that connects the code with the environmental context that forms the background for the modeling activity. Before we can build AI systems to assist in model development and usage, we must develop a representation for environmental models that adequately describes a model's semantics and explicitly represents the relationship between the code and the modeling task at hand. We have developed one such representation in conjunction with our work on the SIGMA (Scientists' Intelligent Graphical Modeling Assistant) environment. The key feature of the representation is that it provides a semantic grounding for the symbols in a set of modeling equations by linking those symbols to an explicit representation of the underlying environmental scenario.

Patterns of species richness and the center of diversity in modern Indo-Pacific larger foraminifera.

Science.gov (United States)

Förderer, Meena; Rödder, Dennis; Langer, Martin R

2018-05-29

Symbiont-bearing Larger Benthic Foraminifera (LBF) are ubiquitous components of shallow tropical and subtropical environments and contribute substantially to carbonaceous reef and shelf sediments. Climate change is dramatically affecting carbonate producing organisms and threatens the diversity and structural integrity of coral reef ecosystems. Recent invertebrate and vertebrate surveys have identified the Coral Triangle as the planet's richest center of marine life delineating the region as a top priority for conservation. We compiled and analyzed extensive occurrence records for 68 validly recognized species of LBF from the Indian and Pacific Ocean, established individual range maps and applied Minimum Convex Polygon (MCP) and Species Distribution Model (SDM) methodologies to create the first ocean-wide species richness maps. SDM output was further used for visualizing latitudinal and longitudinal diversity gradients. Our findings provide strong support for assigning the tropical Central Indo-Pacific as the world's species-richest marine region with the Central Philippines emerging as the bullseye of LBF diversity. Sea surface temperature and nutrient content were identified as the most influential environmental constraints exerting control over the distribution of LBF. Our findings contribute to the completion of worldwide research on tropical marine biodiversity patterns and the identification of targeting centers for conservation efforts.

When Legitimacy Shapes Environmentally Responsible Behaviors: Considering Exposure to University Sustainability Initiatives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lesley Watson

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This study examines how perceptions of the legitimacy of university sustainability efforts—support by the administration (authorization or from students’ peers (endorsement—as well as the physical context in which students live, matter in shaping students’ environmentally responsible behaviors (ERBs. Using survey data collected from fourth-year students at a university in the Southeastern US, we employ Seeming Unrelated Regression to analyze the impact of perceived legitimacy and context on recycling and conservation behaviors, controlling for demographic characteristics, pro-environmental attitudes, and environmental identity. Our findings indicate that students’ perceptions of what university administrators support affect the likelihood of students to enact recycling and conservation behaviors, and peer support influences conservation behaviors. This research contributes to the literature on legitimacy by examining how legitimacy processes work in natural, rather than experimental, settings.

Free and Open Source GIS Tools: Role and Relevance in the Environmental Assessment Community

Science.gov (United States)

The presence of an explicit geographical context in most environmental decisions can complicate assessment and selection of management options. These decisions typically involve numerous data sources, complex environmental and ecological processes and their associated models, ris...

Great tits provided with ad libitum food lay larger eggs when exposed to colder temperatures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schaper, S.V.; Visser, M.E.

2013-01-01

The amount of nutrients deposited into a bird egg varies both between and within clutches of the same female. Larger eggs enhance offspring traits, but as a tradeoff, laying large eggs also infers energetic costs to the female. Income breeders usually lay larger eggs later in the season, when

Public-private partnerships as facilitators of environmental improvement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jeppesen, Søren; Lehmann, Martin

2004-01-01

Public-private partnerships in the environmental field have emerged as one option in the pursuit of sustainable development in different contexts. So-called ?Green Networks?, ?Cleaner Production Centres?, ?Waste Minimisation Clubs? are among others highlighted as alternatives to (governmental...

Personality-dependent differences in problem-solving performance in a social context reflect foraging strategies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zandberg, Lies; Quinn, John L.; Naguib, Marc; van Oers, Kees

2017-01-01

Abstract Individuals develop innovative behaviours to solve foraging challenges in the face of changing environmental conditions. Little is known about how individuals differ in their tendency to solve problems and in their subsequent use of this solving behaviour in social contexts. Here we

Personality-dependent differences in problem-solving performance in a social context reflect foraging strategies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zandberg, Lies; Quinn, John L.; Naguib, Marc; Oers, Van Kees

2016-01-01

Individuals develop innovative behaviours to solve foraging challenges in the face of changing environmental conditions. Little is known about how individuals differ in their tendency to solve problems and in their subsequent use of this solving behaviour in social contexts. Here we investigated

Gene-Environment Interplay in Internalizing Disorders: Consistent Findings across Six Environmental Risk Factors

Science.gov (United States)

Hicks, Brian M.; DiRago, Ana C.; Iacono, William G.; McGue, Matt

2009-01-01

Background Newer behavior genetic methods can better elucidate gene-environment (G-E) interplay in the development of internalizing (INT) disorders (i.e., major depression and anxiety disorders). However, no study to date has conducted a comprehensive analysis examining multiple environmental risks with the purpose of delineating how general G-E mechanisms influence the development of INT disorders. Methods The sample consisted of 1315 male and female twin pairs participating in the age 17 assessment of the Minnesota Twin Family Study. Quantitative G-E interplay models were used to examine how genetic and environmental risk for INT disorders changes as a function of environmental context. Multiple measures and informants were employed to construct composite measures of INT disorders and 6 environmental risk factors including: stressful life events, mother-child and father-child relationship problems, antisocial and prosocial peer affiliation, and academic achievement and engagement. Results Significant moderation effects were detected between each environmental risk factor and INT such that in the context of greater environmental adversity, nonshared environmental factors became more important in the etiology of INT symptoms. Conclusion Our results are consistent with the interpretation that environmental stressors have a causative effect on the emergence of INT disorders. The consistency of our results suggests a general mechanism of environmental influence on INT disorders regardless of the specific form of environmental risk. PMID:19594836

Optimal Environmental Policy Differentials under Emissions Constraints

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Florax, R.J.G.M.; Mulatu, A.; Withagen, C.A.A.M.

2007-01-01

Is there a case for preferential treatment of the exposed sector in an economy when compliance to an aggregate emissions constraint induced by an international environmental agreement is mandatory? This question is being debated in many countries in the context of the implementation of the Kyoto

Ethics-oriented Learning in Environmental Education Workplaces ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In the context of increasing national and global environmental challenges and their implications for the working world, new ethics and practices are being introduced into workplaces that take better account of socio-ecological relations. Little is understood, however, about the nature of ethics-oriented workplace learning.

A Contribution to the Built Heritage Environmental Impact Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Žarnić, R.; Rajčić, V.; Skordaki, N.

2015-08-01

The understanding and assessment of environmental impact on heritage assets is of the highest importance for heritage preservation through well-organized maintenance based on proper decision-making. The effort towards development of protocol that would enable comparison of data on heritage assets in Europe and Mediterranean countries was done through EU Project European Cultural Heritage Identity Card. The special attention was paid to classification of environmental and man-induced risks to heritage. In the present paper the idea of EU CHIC is presented. Environmental risks are discussed in context of their influence on structure of heritage buildings that are exposed to sudden environmental impacts.

Possible Evolution of the Pulsar Braking Index from Larger than Three to About One

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tong, H. [School of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Guangzhou University, 510006 Guangzhou (China); Kou, F. F., E-mail: htong_2005@163.com [Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, Xinjiang 830011 (China)

2017-03-10

The coupled evolution of pulsar rotation and inclination angle in the wind braking model is calculated. The oblique pulsar tends to align. The pulsar alignment affects its spin-down behavior. As a pulsar evolves from the magneto-dipole radiation dominated case to the particle wind dominated case, the braking index first increases and then decreases. In the early time, the braking index may be larger than three. During the following long time, the braking index is always smaller than three. The minimum braking index is about one. This can explain the existence of a high braking index larger than three and a low braking index simultaneously. The pulsar braking index is expected to evolve from larger than three to about one. The general trend is for the pulsar braking index to evolve from the Crab-like case to the Vela-like case.

Possible Evolution of the Pulsar Braking Index from Larger than Three to About One

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tong, H.; Kou, F. F.

2017-01-01

The coupled evolution of pulsar rotation and inclination angle in the wind braking model is calculated. The oblique pulsar tends to align. The pulsar alignment affects its spin-down behavior. As a pulsar evolves from the magneto-dipole radiation dominated case to the particle wind dominated case, the braking index first increases and then decreases. In the early time, the braking index may be larger than three. During the following long time, the braking index is always smaller than three. The minimum braking index is about one. This can explain the existence of a high braking index larger than three and a low braking index simultaneously. The pulsar braking index is expected to evolve from larger than three to about one. The general trend is for the pulsar braking index to evolve from the Crab-like case to the Vela-like case.

Influence of landscape context on the abundance and diversity of bees in Mediterranean olive groves.

Science.gov (United States)

Tscheulin, T; Neokosmidis, L; Petanidou, T; Settele, J

2011-10-01

The diversity and abundance of wild bees ensures the delivery of pollination services and the maintenance of ecosystem diversity. As previous studies carried out in Central Europe and the US have shown, bee diversity and abundance is influenced by the structure and the composition of the surrounding landscape. Comparable studies have so far not been carried out in the Mediterranean region. The present study examines the influence of Mediterranean landscape context on the diversity and abundance of wild bees. To do this, we sampled bees in 13 sites in olive groves on Lesvos Island, Greece. Bees were assigned to five categories consisting of three body size groups (small, medium and large bees), the single most abundant bee species (Lasioglossum marginatum) and all species combined. The influence of the landscape context on bee abundance and species richness was assessed at five radii (250, 500, 750, 1000 and 1250 m) from the centre of each site. We found that the abundance within bee groups was influenced differently by different landscape parameters and land covers, whereas species richness was unaffected. Generally, smaller bees' abundance was impacted by landscape parameters at smaller scales and larger bees at larger scales. The land cover that influenced bee abundance positively was olive grove, while phrygana, conifer forest, broad-leaved forest, cultivated land, rock, urban areas and sea had mostly negative or no impact. We stress the need for a holistic approach, including all land covers, when assessing the effects of landscape context on bee diversity and abundance in the Mediterranean.

The Impact of Political Context on the Questions Asked and Answered: The Evolution of Education Research on Racial Inequality

Science.gov (United States)

Wells, Amy Stuart; Roda, Allison

2016-01-01

This chapter examines how the larger political context and policies enacted at different points in American history have affected the questions education researchers asked and answered. The authors argue that while education researchers are often quick to consider how their research should shape policy, they are less likely to contemplate the…

Prosody production networks are modulated by sensory cues and social context.

Science.gov (United States)

Klasen, Martin; von Marschall, Clara; Isman, Güldehen; Zvyagintsev, Mikhail; Gur, Ruben C; Mathiak, Klaus

2018-03-05

The neurobiology of emotional prosody production is not well investigated. In particular, the effects of cues and social context are not known. The present study sought to differentiate cued from free emotion generation and the effect of social feedback from a human listener. Online speech filtering enabled fMRI during prosodic communication in 30 participants. Emotional vocalizations were a) free, b) auditorily cued, c) visually cued, or d) with interactive feedback. In addition to distributed language networks, cued emotions increased activity in auditory and - in case of visual stimuli - visual cortex. Responses were larger in pSTG at the right hemisphere and the ventral striatum when participants were listened to and received feedback from the experimenter. Sensory, language, and reward networks contributed to prosody production and were modulated by cues and social context. The right pSTG is a central hub for communication in social interactions - in particular for interpersonal evaluation of vocal emotions.

Environmental performance reviews: Spain

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2004-10-01

The second OECD Review of Spain's environmental performance reviews Spain's progress in the context of OECD environmental strategy for the first decade of the 21st century in relation to its own policy objectives. It praises a number of achievements such as in commitments to climate change policies and developments of cogeneration and renewable energy sources. Although emissions of sulphur dioxide from the energy sector have fallen since 1990 they are still high when measured per capita and per unit of GDP. The OECD recommends further control of emissions of SOx, NOx, VOCs and NH{sub 3}. Subsidies such as compulsory purchase of domestic coal by electricity producers are set to increase. The report recommends the phasing out of environmental subsidies (which has begun) and making use of economic instruments to encourage efficient resource management and reduction of pollutants. Greenhouse gas emissions increased by 38% between 1990 and 2002 and the outlook for the next few years is pessimistic. 39 figs., 31 tabs.

Context effects on processing widely deviant sounds in newborn infants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gábor Péter Háden

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Detecting and orienting towards sounds carrying new information is a crucial feature of the human brain that supports adaptation to the environment. Rare, acoustically widely deviant sounds presented amongst frequent tones elicit large event related brain potentials (ERPs in neonates. Here we tested whether these discriminative ERP responses reflect only the activation of fresh afferent neuronal populations (i.e., neuronal circuits not affected by the tones or they also index the processing of contextual mismatch between the rare and the frequent sounds.In two separate experiments, we presented sleeping newborns with 150 different environmental sounds and the same number of white noise bursts. Both sounds served either as deviants in an oddball paradigm with the frequent standard stimulus a tone (Novel/Noise deviant, or as the standard stimulus with the tone as deviant (Novel/Noise standard, or they were delivered alone with the same timing as the deviants in the oddball condition (Novel/Noise alone.Whereas the ERP responses to noise–deviants elicited similar responses as the same sound presented alone, the responses elicited by environmental sounds in the corresponding conditions morphologically differed from each other. Thus whereas the ERP response to the noise sounds can be explained by the different refractory state of stimulus specific neuronal populations, the ERP response to environmental sounds indicated context sensitive processing. These results provide evidence for an innate tendency of context dependent auditory processing as well as a basis for the different developmental trajectories of processing acoustical deviance and contextual novelty.

Biological and cultural diversity in the context of botanic garden conservation strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher P. Dunn

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Impacts of global climate change, habitat loss, and other environmental changes on the world's biota and peoples continue to increase, especially on islands and in high elevation areas. Just as floristic diversity is affected by environmental change, so too are cultural and linguistic diversity. Of the approximately 7000 extant languages in the world, fully 50% are considered to be at risk of extinction, which is considerably higher than most estimates of extinction risks to plants and animals. To maintain the integrity of plant life, it is not enough for botanic gardens to consider solely the effects of environmental change on plants within the context of major conservation strategies such as the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation and the Convention on Biological Diversity. Rather, botanic gardens should actively engage in understanding and communicating the broader impacts of environmental change to biological and cultural diversity.

Environmental regulations and emissions trading in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, Y.-C.; Wang Nannan

2010-01-01

This paper begins with the international context concerning climate change and how China fits into this context. Concentration is then turning into the emissions control system in China including environmental planning, legislation, policy instruments and measures as well as institutional setting in China's environmental governance system. Special attentions also being paid to emissions control in China's power sector. It should be noted that the pollution discharge permit system in China only exists superficially in many places. Insufficient resources are applied to the implementation of the said permit system, which in turn means that the system is applied according to differing standards in different parts of the country. The findings of this paper suggested that emissions trading programmes are usually introduced alongside the existing policies. The power sector usually has numerous other policy objectives and therefore the design and implementation of emissions trading programmes in the sector will have to address concern about the compatibility of existing industry policies.

Neighborhood Contexts and Marijuana Use Among Urban Dwelling Emerging Adult Men.

Science.gov (United States)

Taggart, Tamara; Brown, Andre L; Kershaw, Trace

2018-01-01

Neighborhoods are key socio-environmental contexts for marijuana use during emerging adulthood. This study examined the relationships between neighborhood context, traditional masculine norms (status, toughness, and anti-femininity), and marijuana use among 119 majority African American emerging adult men in a small urban community. Poisson regression models were used to determine the associations between neighborhood problems, social cohesion, and marijuana use. Moderator effects were examined to determine if masculinities modified these associations. Neighborhood problems and social cohesion were positively associated with marijuana use. Men who had a lower endorsement of some traditional masculine norms had greater marijuana use compared to men with a higher endorsement of these norms. These findings have implications for intervention strategies and policies.

'EXTSANGLE' - an extension of the efficiency conversion program 'SOLANG' to sources with a diameter larger than that of the Ge-detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mihaljevic, N.; Jovanovic, S.; Vukotic, P.

1993-01-01

The computer program SOLANG, originally developed by MOENS et al. for the efficiency conversion via effective solid angles (Ω-bar), was extended to cylindrical sources with a diameter larger than that of the Ge-detector. New program, named EXTSANGLE, was experimentally checked in three laboratories. For the most unfavourable case from the standpoint of the accuracy of Ω-bar (bulky source counted at the top of detector), discrepancies were below 7% in the whole range of gamma-energies considered (88-1115 keV), with an average of 3-4%. EXTSANGLE is extensive and flexible with respect to the data input, storage and output, thus contributing to the automation of a gamma-spectrometry laboratory dealing, for instance, with the k 0 -NAA and/or environmental radioactivity monitoring. (author) 9 refs.; 3 figs.; 1 tab

Speaker Input Variability Does Not Explain Why Larger Populations Have Simpler Languages.

Science.gov (United States)

Atkinson, Mark; Kirby, Simon; Smith, Kenny

2015-01-01

A learner's linguistic input is more variable if it comes from a greater number of speakers. Higher speaker input variability has been shown to facilitate the acquisition of phonemic boundaries, since data drawn from multiple speakers provides more information about the distribution of phonemes in a speech community. It has also been proposed that speaker input variability may have a systematic influence on individual-level learning of morphology, which can in turn influence the group-level characteristics of a language. Languages spoken by larger groups of people have less complex morphology than those spoken in smaller communities. While a mechanism by which the number of speakers could have such an effect is yet to be convincingly identified, differences in speaker input variability, which is thought to be larger in larger groups, may provide an explanation. By hindering the acquisition, and hence faithful cross-generational transfer, of complex morphology, higher speaker input variability may result in structural simplification. We assess this claim in two experiments which investigate the effect of such variability on language learning, considering its influence on a learner's ability to segment a continuous speech stream and acquire a morphologically complex miniature language. We ultimately find no evidence to support the proposal that speaker input variability influences language learning and so cannot support the hypothesis that it explains how population size determines the structural properties of language.

Lightweight genome viewer: portable software for browsing genomics data in its chromosomal context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gardner Timothy S

2007-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Lightweight genome viewer (lwgv is a web-based tool for visualization of sequence annotations in their chromosomal context. It performs most of the functions of larger genome browsers, while relying on standard flat-file formats and bypassing the database needs of most visualization tools. Visualization as an aide to discovery requires display of novel data in conjunction with static annotations in their chromosomal context. With database-based systems, displaying dynamic results requires temporary tables that need to be tracked for removal. Results lwgv simplifies the visualization of user-generated results on a local computer. The dynamic results of these analyses are written to transient files, which can import static content from a more permanent file. lwgv is currently used in many different applications, from whole genome browsers to single-gene RNAi design visualization, demonstrating its applicability in a large variety of contexts and scales. Conclusion lwgv provides a lightweight alternative to large genome browsers for visualizing biological annotations and dynamic analyses in their chromosomal context. It is particularly suited for applications ranging from short sequences to medium-sized genomes when the creation and maintenance of a large software and database infrastructure is not necessary or desired.

Domain-specific rationality in human choices: violations of utility axioms and social contexts.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, X T

1996-07-01

This study presents a domain-specific view of human decision rationality. It explores social and ecological domain-specific psychological mechanisms underlying choice biases and violations of utility axioms. Results from both the USA and China revealed a social group domain-specific choice pattern. The irrational preference reversal in a hypothetical life-death decision problem (a classical example of framing effects) was eliminated by providing a small group or family context in which most subjects favored a risky choice option regardless of the positive/negative framing of choice outcomes. The risk preference data also indicate that the subjective scope of small group domain is larger for Chinese subjects, suggesting that human choice mechanisms are sensitive to culturally specific features of group living. A further experiment provided evidence that perceived fairness might be one major factor regulating the choice preferences found in small group (kith-and-kin) contexts. Finally, the violation of the stochastic dominance axiom of the rational theory of choice was predicted and tested. The violations were found only when the "life-death" problem was presented in small group contexts; the strongest violation was found in a family context. These results suggest that human decisions and choices are regulated by domain-specific choice mechanisms designed to solve evolutionary recurrent and adaptively important problems.

Wastes behavior and environmental impacts, researches and methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Labeyrie, J.; Chateau, L.; Gin, St.

2001-01-01

The wastes management policy takes into account more and more often the environmental impacts mastership. This evolution is particularly appreciable when the wastes directly interact with the environment: storage, utilization for roads construction and so on. In this context the ADEME organized the 8 june 2000 a colloquium to present the new evaluation methods and tools, to describe the regulations and to identify the research programs needed for this environmental policy. Eleven papers are presented. (A.L.B.)

Application of radiation technology for industry and environmental protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sueo Machi

1996-01-01

The world population today is 5.7 billion and increasing by 94 million per year. In order to meet the increasing consumption of food and energy due to the tremendous population growth, unproved technologies which are environmentally friendly, are indispensable. In this context. a number of advanced technologies have been brought about by the LISC of radiation and isotopes. This paper highlights radiation technology, applications in industry, environmental conservation, and agriculture

The benefits from environmental remediation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Falck, W.E.

2002-01-01

Environmental remediation projects inevitably take place against a backdrop of overall social goals and values. These goals can include, for example, full employment, preservation of the cultural, economic and archaeological resources, traditional patterns of land use, spiritual values, quality of life factors, biological diversity, environmental and socio-economic sustainability, protection of public health. Different countries will have different priorities, linked to the overall set of societal goals and the availability of resources, including funding, man-power and skills. These issues are embedded within both a national and local socio-cultural context, and will shape the way in which the remediation process is structured in any one country. The context will shape both the overall objectives of a remediation activity within the framework of competing societal goals, as well as generate constraints on the decision making process. Hence, the overall benefit of a remediation project is determined by its overall efficiency and effectiveness within the given legal, institutional, and governance framework, under the prevailing socio-economic boundary conditions, and balancing technology performance and risk reduction with fixed or limited budgetary resources, and is not simply the result of the technical remediation operation itself. (author)

Households facing constraints. Fuel poverty put into context

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dubois, Ute [ISG Business School, Paris (France); Meier, Helena [Koeln Univ. (Germany). Energiewirtschaftliches Inst.

2014-02-15

The present paper discusses the concept of fuel poverty taking into account the arbitrages made by households when they are facing economic constraints. Fuel poverty is still lacking a common definition throughout Europe: while the UK and France have (different) official definitions, there is still no definition in a country like Germany, or at the European level. Where definitions exist, they often consider that fuel poor households have high energy needs. The possibility of being fuel poor even without having high energy needs and the various arbitrage possibilities of households - i.e. to under-spend and use too little energy - are not systematically discussed. Our paper tries to fill that gap by putting fuel poverty into the larger context of constraints faced by households. Based on a graphical analysis, it shows that different situations of fuel poverty might occur. It results in the identification of two distinct fuel poverty problems: an ''energy inequality'' problem, reflected by the fact that some households pay disproportionately high energy bills, and an ''energy affordability'' problem that can affect a larger share of the population. It finally explores the two types of fuel poverty for European countries and discusses policy implications.

Larger amygdala volume in first-degree relatives of patients with major depression

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nina Romanczuk-Seiferth

2014-01-01

Conclusions: Larger gray matter volume in healthy relatives of MDD patients point to a possible vulnerability mechanism in MDD etiology and therefore extend knowledge in the field of high-risk approaches in MDD.

Environmental Protection of Foreign Firms in Germany: Does the country of origin matter?

OpenAIRE

John P. Weche Geluebcke; Isabella Wedl

2013-01-01

Only recently have the aspects of pollution and environmental protection entered into the empirical literature about international firm activities. The present paper is the first firm-level study on the link between foreign ownership and environmental protection in Germany. We find that, ceteris paribus, foreign owned firms in Germany are more likely to invest in environmental protection. They also invest on a larger scale in terms of add-on measures as well as integrated measures. These resu...

Size selectivity of commercial (300 MC) and larger square mesh top ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In the present study, size selectivity of a commercial (300 MC) and a larger square mesh top panel (LSMTPC) codend for blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) were tested on a commercial trawl net in the international waters between Turkey and Greece. Trawling, performed during daylight was carried out at depths ...

Context-specific control and context selection in conflict tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

Schouppe, Nathalie; Ridderinkhof, K Richard; Verguts, Tom; Notebaert, Wim

2014-02-01

This study investigated whether participants prefer contexts with relatively little cognitive conflict and whether this preference is related to context-specific control. A conflict selection task was administered in which participants had to choose between two categories that contained different levels of conflict. One category was associated with 80% congruent Stroop trials and 20% incongruent Stroop trials, while the other category was associated with only 20% congruent Stroop trials and 80% incongruent Stroop trials. As predicted, participants selected the low-conflict category more frequently, indicating that participants avoid contexts with high-conflict likelihood. Furthermore, we predicted a correlation between this preference for the low-conflict category and the control implementation associated with the categories (i.e., context-specific proportion congruency effect, CSPC effect). Results however did not show such a correlation, thereby failing to support a relationship between context control and context selection. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Entrepreneurial environmental management model of marketing in a political-administrative system of Ukraine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sadchenko Olena Vasylivna

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The article deals with proposals for entrepreneurial model of environmental management, in particular environmental marketing in modern political and administrative systems. In the context of the complexity of the social structure, forming a dense network of communications, globalization, cultural and economic-ecological space offers new mechanisms for the relationship between the state and civil society in environmental management.

Electroencephalographic brain dynamics of memory encoding in emotionally arousing context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Enrique eUribe

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Emotional content/context enhances declarative memory through modulation of encoding and retrieval mechanisms. At encoding, neurophysiological data have consistently demonstrated the subsequent memory effect in theta and gamma oscillations. Yet, the existing studies were focused on the emotional content effect and let the emotional context effect unexplored. We hypothesized that theta and gamma oscillations show higher evoked/induced activity during the encoding of visual stimuli when delivered in an emotionally arousing context. Twenty-five healthy volunteers underwent evoked potentials recordings using a 21 scalp electrodes montage. They attended to an audiovisual test of emotional declarative memory being randomly assigned to either emotionally arousing or neutral context. Visual stimulus presentation was used as the time-locking event. Grand-averages of the evoked potentials and evoked spectral perturbations were calculated for each volunteer. Evoked potentials showed a higher negative deflection from 80 to 140 ms for the emotional condition. Such effect was observed over central, frontal and prefrontal locations bilaterally. Evoked theta power was higher in left parietal, central, frontal and prefrontal electrodes from -50 to 300 ms in the emotional condition. Evoked gamma power was higher in the emotional condition with a spatial distribution that overlapped at some points with the theta topography. The early theta power increase could be related to expectancy induced by auditory information processing that facilitates visual encoding in emotional contexts. Together, our results suggest that declarative memory enhancement for both emotional content and emotional context are supported by similar neural mechanisms at encoding, and offer new evidence about the brain processing of relevant environmental stimuli.

Environmental literacy in agriculture and coastal areas

Science.gov (United States)

Pujianti, N.; Munandar, A.; Surakusumah, W.

2018-05-01

This research aim to investigate the environmental literacy of junior high school students in agricultural and coastal areas in Subang based on knowledge, cognitive skill and attitudes toward to environment. This research used descriptive method. The subjects of the research were 7 grade students of junior high school and involved 62 participants in agriculture area and 64 participants in coastal area. The instrument of environment literacy adapted from Middle School Environment Literacy Survey (MSELS) and adapted to the context of agricultural and coastal area. The results showed that: environmental literacy in agricultural areas is 169.30 with moderate category and environmental literacy in the coastal area is 152.61 in the moderate category.

Providing the Larger Climate Context During Extreme Weather - Lessons from Local Television News

Science.gov (United States)

Woods, M.; Cullen, H. M.

2015-12-01

Local television weathercasters, in their role as Station Scientists, are often called upon to educate viewers about the science and impacts of climate change. Climate Central supports these efforts through its Climate Matters program. Launched in 2010 with support from the National Science Foundation, the program has grown into a network that includes more than 245 weathercasters from across the country and provides localized information on climate and ready-to-use, broadcast quality graphics and analyses in both English and Spanish. This presentation will focus on discussing best practices for integrating climate science into the local weather forecast as well as advances in the science of extreme event attribution. The Chief Meteorologist at News10 (Sacramento, CA) will discuss local news coverage of the ongoing California drought, extreme weather and climate literacy.

Base stock policies with degraded service to larger orders

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Du, Bisheng; Larsen, Christian

We study an inventory system controlled by a base stock policy assuming a compound renewal demand process. We extend the base stock policy by incorporating rules for degrading the service of larger orders. Two specific rules are considered, denoted Postpone(q,t) and Split(q), respectively. The aim...... of using these rules is to achieve a given order fill rate of the regular orders (those of size less than or equal to the parameter q) having less inventory. We develop mathematical expressions for the performance measures order fill rate (of the regular orders) and average on-hand inventory level. Based...

Music-colour synaesthesia: Concept, context and qualia.

Science.gov (United States)

Curwen, Caroline

2018-05-01

This review provides a commentary on coloured-hearing arising on hearing music: music-colour synaesthesia. Although traditionally explained by the hyperconnectivity theory (Ramachandran & Hubbard, 2001a) and the disinhibited feedback theory (Grossenbacher & Lovelace, 2001) as a purely perceptual phenomenon, the review of eight coloured-hearing neuroimaging studies shows that it may not be assumed that these explanations are directly translatable to music-colour synaesthesia. The concept of 'ideaesthesia' (Nikolić, 2009) and the role of conceptual and semantic inducers challenge the likelihood of a single mechanism underlying the cause of synaesthesia and argue for a move away from a purely sensory to sensory explanation. Finally, music-colour synaesthesia forms a challenge for established philosophical theories and the position of synaesthesia is considered within the larger context of musical qualia. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Southern African Journal of Environmental Education - Vol 8 (1988)

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Southern African Journal of Environmental Education - Vol 8 (1988) ... An interaction of archaeology with school history in a museum education context ... The child in the outdoor classroom · EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT

Middleware Support for Quality of Context in Pervasive Context-Aware Systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sheikh, K.; Wegdam, M.; van Sinderen, Marten J.

Middleware support for pervasive context-aware systems relieves context-aware applications from dealing with the complexity of context-specific operations such as context acquisition, aggregation, reasoning and distribution. The middleware decouples applications from the underlying heterogeneous

Comparison between smaller ruptured intracranial aneurysm and larger un-ruptured intracranial aneurysm: gene expression profile analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Hao; Li, Haowen; Yue, Haiyan; Wang, Wen; Yu, Lanbing; ShuoWang; Cao, Yong; Zhao, Jizong

2017-07-01

As it grows in size, an intracranial aneurysm (IA) is prone to rupture. In this study, we compared two extreme groups of IAs, ruptured IAs (RIAs) smaller than 10 mm and un-ruptured IAs (UIAs) larger than 10 mm, to investigate the genes involved in the facilitation and prevention of IA rupture. The aneurismal walls of 6 smaller saccular RIAs (size smaller than 10 mm), 6 larger saccular UIAs (size larger than 10 mm) and 12 paired control arteries were obtained during surgery. The transcription profiles of these samples were studied by microarray analysis. RT-qPCR was used to confirm the expression of the genes of interest. In addition, functional group analysis of the differentially expressed genes was performed. Between smaller RIAs and larger UIAs, 101 genes and 179 genes were significantly over-expressed, respectively. In addition, functional group analysis demonstrated that the up-regulated genes in smaller RIAs mainly participated in the cellular response to metal ions and inorganic substances, while most of the up-regulated genes in larger UIAs were involved in inflammation and extracellular matrix (ECM) organization. Moreover, compared with control arteries, inflammation was up-regulated and muscle-related biological processes were down-regulated in both smaller RIAs and larger UIAs. The genes involved in the cellular response to metal ions and inorganic substances may facilitate the rupture of IAs. In addition, the healing process, involving inflammation and ECM organization, may protect IAs from rupture.

BEHAVIORAL DECISION-THEORY AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISK MANAGEMENT - ASSESSMENT AND RESOLUTION OF 4 SURVIVAL DILEMMAS

NARCIS (Netherlands)

VLEK, C; KEREN, G

Environmental degradation and the call for 'sustainable development' provide an extended context and new challenges for decision-theoretic research on risk assessment and management. We characterize environmental risk management as the resolution of four different types of 'survival' dilemmas in

Genetic Analysis of Micro-environmental Plasticity in Drosophila melanogaster

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Morgante, Fabio; Sorensen, Daniel A; Sørensen, Peter

Quantitative genetic models recognize the potential for genotype by environment interaction, whereby different genotypes have different plastic responses to changes in macro-environmental conditions. Recently, it has been recognized that micro-environmental plasticity (‘residual’ variance) may also...... be genetically variable. This study utilized the Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP) to accurately estimate the genetic variance of micro-environmental plasticity for chill coma recovery time and startle response. Estimates of broad sense heritabilities for both traits are substantial (from 0.51 to 0.......77), of the same order as the heritability at the level of the trait mean for startle response and even larger for chill coma recovery. Genome wide association analyses identified molecular variants (from 15 to 31 depending on the sex and the trait) associated with micro-environmental plasticity. These findings...

Four Sustainability Goals in a Swedish Low-Growth/Degrowth Context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eléonore Fauré

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Continual environmental degradation and an unfair distribution of environmental burdens and benefits are two great challenges for humanity. Economic growth is often taken for granted when planning for the future. However, it is often argued that maintaining economic growth conflicts with keeping human activities adjusted to ecological boundaries and finite resources, at least for the more-developed countries. With this paper, we present sustainability goals for building and planning in Sweden to be achieved by 2050 in a context of limited or even negative economic growth. These goals should ensure that all groups in society have sufficient resources and a good life within planetary boundaries. We select four goals in a participatory process: two environmental goals related to climate change and land use and two social goals related to welfare and participation. Our results show that achieving the environmental goals will require significant reductions of Sweden’s greenhouse gas (GHG emissions and land use compared to today’s levels. Regarding the social goals, these are, in many aspects, reasonably well fulfilled in Sweden today, although disparities remain between groups of citizens. The main challenge, however, is to ensure that these goals are fulfilled even within environmental limits and if economic growth should halt.

Larger foraminifera from a relict structure off Karwar western Indian continental margin

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Setty, M.G.A.P.

of such water masses having been present in the region. Among the larger forms, @iAmphistegina bicirculata, A. radiata@@ var. @ipapillosa@@ and @iOperculina ammonoides@@ indicate mixing, while @iNummulites cumingii@@ and @iBorelis schlumbergeri@@ were relict...

Environmental risk analysis for nanomaterials: Review and evaluation of frameworks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grieger, Khara Deanne; Linkov, Igor; Hansen, Steffen Foss

2012-01-01

to occupational settings with minor environmental considerations, and most have not been thoroughly tested on a wide range of NM. Care should also be taken when selecting the most appropriate risk analysis strategy for a given risk context. Given this, we recommend a multi-faceted approach to assess...... the environmental risks of NM as well as increased applications and testing of the proposed frameworks for different NM....

Contextual influences on environmental concerns cross-nationally: A multilevel investigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Marquart-Pyatt, Sandra T

2012-09-01

Environmental issues continue to grow in international prominence, as environmental conditions are recognized as some of the most important problems facing the world. Research examining this globalization of environmental concern shown in public opinion surveys emphasizes the importance of context yet is currently underspecified. To address this gap, this research uses a multi-level, cross-national study to examine individual-level and country-level influences on three measures of environmental concern: environmental threat awareness, environmental efficacy, and willingness to pay. At the individual level, education, age, and gender affect environmental concerns. At the national level, economic, political, and environmental factors affect environmental concerns. Importantly, contextual factors differ in their effects depending on the dimension of environmental concern measured. Results from cross-level interactions for education confirm these complexities across these measures, supporting a dimensionality argument. The importance of the measurement of environmental concern shown in this research is emphasized for future cross-national scholarship. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

¡Formative emergency! An environmental Marti’s education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luis Manuel Díaz Granados Bricuyet

2015-06-01

Full Text Available An educational model of the H igh S chool conceives the formation of a scientific culture in the s tudents in order to project committed attitudes with an ambi a nce of environmental sustainability. The present article suggests learni n g situations for an environmental - scien tific education that integrate s the curricul ar and context ́s matter in the pedagogical proces s from a fo r mative approach that recogni zes the environmental thinking of José Martí. In the subjet geography , Martí ́s environmental approach is shown, where we ca n remark the theat me nt of the fomative elements such as love and ethic - a esthetic vision of nature, a complex and holistic point of view, as well as a recognition of an environmental identity as a part of the latin american contex.

The hierarchy of environmental health and safety practices in the U.S. nanotechnology workplace.

Science.gov (United States)

Engeman, Cassandra D; Baumgartner, Lynn; Carr, Benjamin M; Fish, Allison M; Meyerhofer, John D; Satterfield, Terre A; Holden, Patricia A; Harthorn, Barbara Herr

2013-01-01

Manufacturing of nanoscale materials (nanomaterials) is a major outcome of nanotechnology. However, the potential adverse human health effects of manufactured nanomaterial exposure are not yet fully understood, and exposures in humans are mostly uncharacterized. Appropriate exposure control strategies to protect workers are still being developed and evaluated, and regulatory approaches rely largely on industry self-regulation and self-reporting. In this context of soft regulation, the authors sought to: 1) assess current company-reported environmental health and safety practices in the United States throughout the product life cycle, 2) consider their implications for the manufactured nanomaterial workforce, and 3) identify the needs of manufactured nanomaterial companies in developing nano-protective environmental health and safety practices. Analysis was based on the responses of 45 U.S.-based company participants in a 2009-2010 international survey of private companies that use and/or produce nanomaterials. Companies reported practices that span all aspects of the current government-recommended hierarchical approach to manufactured nanomaterials' exposure controls. However, practices that were tailored to current manufactured nanomaterials' hazard and exposure knowledge, whether within or outside the hierarchical approach, were reported less frequently than general chemical hygiene practices. Product stewardship and waste management practices-the influences of which are substantially downstream-were reported less frequently than most other environmental health and safety practices. Larger companies had more workers handling nanomaterials, but smaller companies had proportionally more employees handling nanomaterials and more frequently identified impediments to implementing nano-protective practices. Company-reported environmental health and safety practices suggest more attention to environmental health and safety is necessary, especially with regard to

Paleo-Environmental Reconstruction Using Ancient DNA

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Mikkel Winther

The aim of this thesis has been to investigate and expand the methodology and applicability for using ancient DNA deposited in lake sediments to detect and determine its genetic sources for paleo-environmental reconstruction. The aim was furthermore to put this tool into an applicable context...... solving other scientifically interesting questions. Still in its childhood, ancient environmental DNA research has a large potential for still developing, improving and discovering its possibilities and limitations in different environments and for identifying various organisms, both in terms...... research on ancient and modern environmental DNA (Paper 1), secondly by setting up a comparative study (Paper 2) to investigate how an ancient plant DNA (mini)-barcode can reflect other traditional methods (e.g. pollen and macrofossils) for reconstructing floristic history. In prolongation of the results...

Brazilian environmental sociology: a provisional review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ferreira Leila da Costa

2002-01-01

Full Text Available The article aims firstly at the reconstitution and analysis of history within the scope of international environmental sociology situated in the context of contemporary sociology. It also discusses - from the standpoint of literature (Buttel, Dunlap, Hanning, among others - its theoretical-methodological and institutional aspects as well in order to understand the obstacles encountered to legitimate and consolidate a set of problems which, until recently, were not dealt with by social sciences. Secondly, it analyses the Brazilian case. Environmental sociology in Brazil is strongly influenced by American empirical sociology, the precursor of the institutionalization process for the themes. On the other hand, further analysis of this case is relevant to understand the relationship between the scientific sphere, and the creation of environmental policies and social movements.

European Agri-Environmental Policy Facing the 21st Century

OpenAIRE

Latacz-Lohmann, Uwe

2000-01-01

This paper: reviews the development to date of agri-environmental policy in Europe; provides a critical assessment of its achievements and shortcomings; explores its likely future trajectory in the context of continuing CAP reform; highlights potential conflicts that may result; and draws comparisons with policy approaches in Australia and the US. The paper argues that the first generation of agri-environmental measures, implemented by northern European states in the early 1980s, focused on p...

“INTERNATIONAL TRADE – ENVIRONMENT” RELATIONSHIP IN THE CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Margareta Timbur

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The overall aim of this paper lies on presenting a short pragmatic image of the main aspects concerning the impact of international trade on the environment, on the one hand, and the impact of environmental policies and regulations on the international trade, on the other hand. Also, this article examines the multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs focused on the use of environmental trade measures. In the same context, we discuss about the most important international institution with the regulatory powers in international trade – environment relationship which is considered to be GATT/WTO.Although, the international trade-environment relationship is a very debated internationally, in Romania it is not sufficiently addressed either theoretical or practical. Taking into account the transition period and the consequences of the global economic crisis which still will affect Romania a period of time; our country promotes simultaneous strengthening and optimizing of trade and environmental policies in sustainable development framework.

Design and methodology for calculating the environmental pressure index as a tool for environmental land planning: the case of Cundinamarca

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Camacho O, Juana; Burgos S, Javier Dario

2006-01-01

The aim of this work is to provide a practical tool to carry out environmental planning and management processes regarding the use of space, in a complex way including not only biophysical but socioeconomic criteria. In the context of river basin management the Environmental Social Pressure Index was created. This paper presents an Environmental Planning and Management definition, based on the Ecological Supporting Structure, as well as one of sustainability, worked out of several authors. This work offers the methodological sequence to design and calculate a customized Environmental Social Pressure Index according to the specific features of any given territory, using the conceptual framework developed earlier and the multivariate analysis and power laws tools. Finally we present an exercise to illustrate this process, developed for Cundinamarca for 1995

A Multilevel Study of Students in Vietnam: Drinking Motives and Drinking Context as Predictors of Alcohol Consumption.

Science.gov (United States)

Diep, Pham Bich; Tan, Frans E S; Knibbe, Ronald A; De Vries, Nanne

2016-07-13

This study used multi-level analysis to estimate which type of factor explains most of the variance in alcohol consumption of Vietnamese students. Data were collected among 6011 students attending 12 universities/faculties in four provinces in Vietnam. The three most recent drinking occasions were investigated per student, resulting in 12,795 drinking occasions among 4265 drinkers. Students reported on 10 aspects of the drinking context per drinking occasion. A multi-level mixed-effects linear regression model was constructed in which aspects of drinking context composed the first level; the age of students and four drinking motives comprised the second level. The dependent variable was the number of drinks. Of the aspects of context, drinking duration had the strongest association with alcohol consumption while, at the individual level, coping motive had the strongest association. The drinking context characteristics explained more variance than the individual characteristics in alcohol intake per occasion. These findings suggest that, among students in Vietnam, the drinking context explains a larger proportion of the variance in alcohol consumption than the drinking motives. Therefore, measures that reduce the availability of alcohol in specific drinking situations are an essential part of an effective prevention policy.

Selected performance indicators of the German environmental industry and environmental climate in an international comparison. Production, external trade, environmental research and patents; Ausgewaehlte Indikatoren zur Leistungsfaehigkeit der deutschen Umwelt- und Klimaschutzwirtschaft im internationalen Vergleich. Produktion, Aussenhandel, Umweltforschung und Patente

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schasse, Ulrich; Gehrke, Birgit [Niedersaechsisches Inst. fuer Wirtschaftsforschung e.V., Hannover (Germany); Ostertag, Katrin [Fraunhofer-Institut fuer System- und Innovationsforschung (ISI), Karlsruhe (Germany)

2011-10-15

The environmental technology is one of the most important growth markets worldwide. In the light of the unique environmental political challenges predictions refer to an expansionary trend towards market development - especially in the international context, with particular emphasis on the climate protection. The companies of the German environmental industry increasingly operate in global markets. A major share of that growth has been developed there. Temporarily, only the foreign market offered expansion opportunities. Even if the companies are not active on the export markets, the companies in the domestic market compete with their international export markets. Insofar, the question of the international competitiveness of the environmental industry is a key issue.

Prioritizing environmental issues around the world: opinions from an international Central and Eastern European environmental health conference.

Science.gov (United States)

Craft, Elena S; Donnelly, Kirby C; Neamtiu, Iulia; McCarty, Kathleen M; Bruce, Erica; Surkova, Irina; Kim, David; Uhnakova, Iveta; Gyorffy, Erika; Tesarova, Eva; Anderson, Beth

2006-12-01

As the next generation of scientists enters the field of environmental health, it is imperative that they view their contributions in the context of global environmental stewardship. In this commentary, a group of international graduate students facilitated by three experienced environmental health scientists present their views on what they consider to be the global environmental health concerns of today. This group convened initially in October 2004 at an international health conference in Prague, Czech Republic. In this report we identify perceived environmental health concerns that exist around the world, with a focus on Central and Eastern Europe. Additionally, we address these perceived problems and offers some potential solutions. At the meeting, students were invited to participate in two panel discussions. One group of young international scientists identified several significant global environmental health concerns, including air pollution, occupational hazards, and risk factors that may exacerbate current environmental health issues. The second panel determined that communication, education, and regulation were the mechanisms for addressing current environmental challenges. In this commentary we expand on the views presented at the meeting and represent the concerns of young investigators from nine different countries. We provide ideas about and support the exchange of information between developed and developing countries on how to handle the environmental health challenges that face the world today.

The environmental strategic evaluation (EEA): Axis of a planning of more reach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leon Pelaez, Juan Diego

2002-01-01

The importance of environmental impact assessment is highlighted as a tool for preventing environmental damage. As well as the relevance of its incorporation at the strategic level (plans and programs) above that of the project level. To this end, the current state of legal incorporation of both environmental evaluations (EIA and SEA) is reviewed ill an international context and especially for Latin America and the Caribbean, emphasizing negative and positive aspects, perspectives and future needs

Video context-dependent recall.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Steven M; Manzano, Isabel

2010-02-01

In two experiments, we used an effective new method for experimentally manipulating local and global contexts to examine context-dependent recall. The method included video-recorded scenes of real environments, with target words superimposed over the scenes. In Experiment 1, we used a within-subjects manipulation of video contexts and compared the effects of reinstatement of a global context (15 words per context) with effects of less overloaded context cues (1 and 3 words per context) on recall. The size of the reinstatement effects in Experiment 1 show how potently video contexts can cue recall. A strong effect of cue overload was also found; reinstatement effects were smaller, but still quite robust, in the 15 words per context condition. The powerful reinstatement effect was replicated for local contexts in Experiment 2, which included a no-contexts-reinstated group, a control condition used to determine whether reinstatement of half of the cues caused biased output interference for uncued targets. The video context method is a potent way to investigate context-dependent memory.

Effects of `Environmental Chemistry' Elective Course Via Technology-Embedded Scientific Inquiry Model on Some Variables

Science.gov (United States)

Çalik, Muammer; Özsevgeç, Tuncay; Ebenezer, Jazlin; Artun, Hüseyin; Küçük, Zeynel

2014-06-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of `environmental chemistry' elective course via Technology-Embedded Scientific Inquiry (TESI) model on senior science student teachers' (SSSTs) conceptions of environmental chemistry concepts/issues, attitudes toward chemistry, and technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) levels. Within one group pre-test-post-test design, the study was conducted with 117 SSSTs (68 females and 49 males—aged 21-23 years) enrolled in an `environmental chemistry' elective course in the spring semester of 2011-2012 academic-years. Instruments for data collection comprised of Environmental Chemistry Conceptual Understanding Questionnaire, TPACK survey, and Chemistry Attitudes and Experiences Questionnaire. Significant increases in the SSSTs' conceptions of environmental chemistry concepts/issues, attitudes toward chemistry, and TPACK levels are attributed to the SSSTs learning how to use the innovative technologies in the contexts of the `environmental chemistry' elective course and teaching practicum. The study implies that the TESI model may serve a useful purpose in experimental science courses that use the innovative technologies. However, to generalize feasibility of the TESI model, it should be evaluated with SSSTs in diverse learning contexts.

Environmental change, climate, and health: issues and research methods

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

McMichael, A. J. (Anthony J.); Martens, Willem Jozef Meine

2002-01-01

... relationships. The agenda of research and policy advice must be extended to include the larger-framed and longer-term environmental change issues. This book identifies the nature and scope of the problem, and explores the conceptual and methodological approaches to studying these relationships, modelling their future realization, providing estimates of health i...

The Decay of Motor Memories Is Independent of Context Change Detection.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew E Brennan

2015-06-01

Full Text Available When the error signals that guide human motor learning are withheld following training, recently-learned motor memories systematically regress toward untrained performance. It has previously been hypothesized that this regression results from an intrinsic volatility in these memories, resulting in an inevitable decay in the absence of ongoing error signals. However, a recently-proposed alternative posits that even recently-acquired motor memories are intrinsically stable, decaying only if a change in context is detected. This new theory, the context-dependent decay hypothesis, makes two key predictions: (1 after error signals are withheld, decay onset should be systematically delayed until the context change is detected; and (2 manipulations that impair detection by masking context changes should result in prolonged delays in decay onset and reduced decay amplitude at any given time. Here we examine the decay of motor adaptation following the learning of novel environmental dynamics in order to carefully evaluate this hypothesis. To account for potential issues in previous work that supported the context-dependent decay hypothesis, we measured decay using a balanced and baseline-referenced experimental design that allowed for direct comparisons between analogous masked and unmasked context changes. Using both an unbiased variant of the previous decay onset analysis and a novel highly-powered group-level version of this analysis, we found no evidence for systematically delayed decay onset nor for the masked context change affecting decay amplitude or its onset time. We further show how previous estimates of decay onset latency can be substantially biased in the presence of noise, and even more so with correlated noise, explaining the discrepancy between the previous results and our findings. Our results suggest that the decay of motor memories is an intrinsic feature of error-based learning that does not depend on context change detection.

The Decay of Motor Memories Is Independent of Context Change Detection

Science.gov (United States)

Brennan, Andrew E.; Smith, Maurice A.

2015-01-01

When the error signals that guide human motor learning are withheld following training, recently-learned motor memories systematically regress toward untrained performance. It has previously been hypothesized that this regression results from an intrinsic volatility in these memories, resulting in an inevitable decay in the absence of ongoing error signals. However, a recently-proposed alternative posits that even recently-acquired motor memories are intrinsically stable, decaying only if a change in context is detected. This new theory, the context-dependent decay hypothesis, makes two key predictions: (1) after error signals are withheld, decay onset should be systematically delayed until the context change is detected; and (2) manipulations that impair detection by masking context changes should result in prolonged delays in decay onset and reduced decay amplitude at any given time. Here we examine the decay of motor adaptation following the learning of novel environmental dynamics in order to carefully evaluate this hypothesis. To account for potential issues in previous work that supported the context-dependent decay hypothesis, we measured decay using a balanced and baseline-referenced experimental design that allowed for direct comparisons between analogous masked and unmasked context changes. Using both an unbiased variant of the previous decay onset analysis and a novel highly-powered group-level version of this analysis, we found no evidence for systematically delayed decay onset nor for the masked context change affecting decay amplitude or its onset time. We further show how previous estimates of decay onset latency can be substantially biased in the presence of noise, and even more so with correlated noise, explaining the discrepancy between the previous results and our findings. Our results suggest that the decay of motor memories is an intrinsic feature of error-based learning that does not depend on context change detection. PMID:26111244

The Dark Side of Context: Context Reinstatement Can Distort Memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Doss, Manoj K; Picart, Jamila K; Gallo, David A

2018-04-01

It is widely assumed that context reinstatement benefits memory, but our experiments revealed that context reinstatement can systematically distort memory. Participants viewed pictures of objects superimposed over scenes, and we later tested their ability to differentiate these old objects from similar new objects. Context reinstatement was manipulated by presenting objects on the reinstated or switched scene at test. Not only did context reinstatement increase correct recognition of old objects, but it also consistently increased incorrect recognition of similar objects as old ones. This false recognition effect was robust, as it was found in several experiments, occurred after both immediate and delayed testing, and persisted with high confidence even after participants were warned to avoid the distorting effects of context. To explain this memory illusion, we propose that context reinstatement increases the likelihood of confusing conceptual and perceptual information, potentially in medial temporal brain regions that integrate this information.

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) : The turn away from ‘environment’ in environmental education?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kopnina, H.N.

2012-01-01

This article explores the implications of the shift of environmental education (EE) towards education for sustainable development (ESD) in the context of environmental ethics. While plural perspectives on ESD are encouraged both by practitioners and researchers of EE, there is also a danger that

Using local research sites to engage undergraduates in environmental science research

Science.gov (United States)

Varner, R. K.

2016-12-01

For the first time in their undergraduate experience, students in the University of New Hampshire's Techniques in Environmental Science course are immersed in learning approaches to scientific investigation that they can implement as part of their senior capstone research experience or other REU type programs. The course begins with an understanding of the value of note taking in the field and working collaboratively in groups. The students then embark upon a series of field experiences that include using both simple and complex tools for mapping elevation, species composition and above ground biomass estimates in a forest and wetland, carbon cycling through measurement of greenhouse gas exchange at both a wetland and at an organic dairy farm, assessing hydrology and water quality through both ground and surface water measurements at locations on campus, and finally analysis of atmospheric chemistry data collected locally. Over the course of a semester the students learn how to describe their methodology and the importance of their work concisely. Eventually the students are given instrumentation and a field site and learn to ask their own research question and develop their approach to answering it. This course model provides a foundation for students to pursue their capstone research experiences but also for understanding complex environmental questions such as the impact of land use change on water and air quality and carbon cycling and its role in our climate system. Students are provided a unique opportunity to address questions at field sites that are local and are part of larger research programs which allows for a larger context to place their work. This course has also been a framework for the NSF funded REU program- Northern Ecosystems Research for Undergraduates (EAR#1063037). Sallie's Fen, a wetland research site, is used as an initial field setting for students to learn techniques, build their ability to ask research questions and to plan research

Larger foraminifera distribution on a mesotrophic carbonate shelf in SW Sulawesi (Indonesia)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Renema, W.; Troelstra, S.R.

2001-01-01

Larger symbiont bearing foraminifera typically live in shallow tropical seas. In this study the fauna composition of patch reefs scattered over the Spermonde Shelf (SW Sulawesi, Indonesia), a mesotrophic carbonate shelf, is examined. The foraminiferal fauna of the Spermonde Shelf is characterised by

Quantitative Reasoning in Environmental Science: A Learning Progression

Science.gov (United States)

Mayes, Robert Lee; Forrester, Jennifer Harris; Christus, Jennifer Schuttlefield; Peterson, Franziska Isabel; Bonilla, Rachel; Yestness, Nissa

2014-01-01

The ability of middle and high school students to reason quantitatively within the context of environmental science was investigated. A quantitative reasoning (QR) learning progression was created with three progress variables: quantification act, quantitative interpretation, and quantitative modeling. An iterative research design was used as it…

How does consumer knowledge affect environmentally sustainable choices?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Peschel, Anne O; Grebitus, Carola; Steiner, Bodo

2016-01-01

. Subjective knowledge was found to be more important in this context. Usage experience had relatively little impact on environmentally sustainable choices. Our results suggest that about 20 % of consumers in both countries are ready to adopt footprint labels in their food choices. Another 10 - 20% could...

Linking Entrepreneurial Orientation to Firm Performance in a Post-Socialist Market Context: the Case of Hungary

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David KOVACS

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Entrepreneurial orientation provoked the interest of numerous scholars as well as political and administrative decision-makers. Both start-ups and already established corporate entities are increasingly persecuting new opportunities, products, and business models in order to establish superiority above their competitive environment. The tendencies evince an optimist impact of entrepreneurial orientation on business performance, namely on financial performance. Beyond the aforementioned relationship, there are impulses such as environmental and organizational factors, which are affecting the businesses. The results of this study provide evidence of the effect of entrepreneurial orientation on business performance in a post-socialist context. We test the impact of three moderators on this bivariate relationship. In contrast to the substantial body of literature for Western markets, we contribute to minimizing the considerable gap of research in post-socialist economies. Entrepreneurial orientation as an organizational behavior may affect the financial performance of businesses differently in distinct market contexts. Both, internal and external factors are crucial to identifying, analyze and monitor, to achieve superior performance and to overcome competitors. This study builds upon a stratified sampling survey of Hungarian company owners and managers from the Amadeus database. The study uses a deductive approach. For the analysis, we rely on structural equation modeling using the PLS algorithm. Our study contributes to the existing literature by means of confirming the entrepreneurial orientation to firm performance relationship for Hungary. In this context, we test the moderating effects of environmental dynamism, environmental hostility as environmental factors and firm age as an organizational factor. Environmental hostility is closely related to an unfavorable environment, deriving from rapid and radical changes in the industry, which are

Breathless: Schools, Air Toxics, and Environmental Justice in California

OpenAIRE

2005-01-01

Recent legislation on both federal and state levels has placed the intersection between children’s health and environmental justice on the forefront of public policy debate. This study looks at the intersection of air quality, children’s health, and school performance in the context of environmental equity in California. Information from the U.S. EPA’s National Air Toxics Assessment (NATA) is used to calculate a respiratory hazard ratio for each of California’s census tracts. These ratios ar...

The Value of Fieldwork in Life and Environmental Sciences in the Context of Higher Education: A Case Study in Learning About Biodiversity

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, Graham W.; Goulder, Raymond; Wheeler, Phillip; Scott, Lisa J.; Tobin, Michelle L.; Marsham, Sara

2012-02-01

Fieldwork is assumed by most practitioners to be an important if not essential component of a degree level education in the environmental sciences. However, there is strong evidence that as a result of a wide range of pressures (academic, financial and societal) fieldwork is in decline in the UK and elsewhere. In this paper we discuss the value of fieldwork in a higher education context and present the results of a case study which illustrates its value to student learning and the wider student experience. We used qualitative and quantitative methods to compare the impact of two learning tasks upon the affective and cognitive domains of students. We designed two tasks. One task that included fieldwork, and required students to collect organisms from the field and make labelled drawings of them, and one task that omitted the fieldwork and simply required drawing of specimens that the students had not collected. We evaluated the students' experience through structured and semi-structured questionnaires and written exercises. Students did not perceive the two tasks as being equivalent to one another. They reported that they enjoy fieldwork and value it (in the contexts of their learning at university, life-long learning, and in relation to their career aspirations) and felt that they learn more effectively in the field. Our students were better able to construct a taxonomic list of organisms that they had collected themselves, better able to recall the structural detail of these organisms and were better able to recall the detail of an ecological sampling methodology that they had personally carried out in the field rather than one that a tutor had described to them in a classroom setting. Our case study supports the growing body of evidence that fieldwork is an important way of enhancing undergraduate learning and highlights some key areas for future research.

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD): The Turn away from "Environment" in Environmental Education?

Science.gov (United States)

Kopnina, Helen

2012-01-01

This article explores the implications of the shift of environmental education (EE) towards education for sustainable development (ESD) in the context of environmental ethics. While plural perspectives on ESD are encouraged both by practitioners and researchers of EE, there is also a danger that such pluralism may sustain dominant political…

The role of the water footprint in the context of green marketing.

Science.gov (United States)

Symeonidou, Stella; Vagiona, Dimitra

2018-04-03

The environmental degradation, because of various factors, such as climate change, human activities, increase of population globally, etc. have brought on pressures on the fresh water supplies that vary on time and space. Consequently, economic, environmental, and social tools have emerged known as footprints, in an effort to examine and measure the needs and consequences of humanity on the Earth's life support systems and take measures towards sustainable development. Furthermore, the constantly worsening environmental conditions have resulted in the cultivation of a green culture among society stakeholders that brought on terms such as green marketing and green products. This paper deals with the water footprint (WF) concept and an effort is performed, to explore through a literature review, in which ways it can contribute to the sustainable development of water use, in the context of green marketing (GM) strategies. The approach of the analysis is based on the discrimination to the following aspects: international scale, national and subnational scale, farmers, business, and consumers, in order to track the affection of each part in water issues. The main findings of the literature review showed that the aforementioned factors are playing a key role in protecting water recourses, by the way they formulate their water use and they are interrelated and interdependent. WFs can be useful in the context of GM, by providing helpful information about direct and indirect water consumption, to every contributor factor in supply chains, to consumers, governments, and water managers.

Biological collections and ecological/environmental research: a review, some observations and a look to the future.

Science.gov (United States)

Pyke, Graham H; Ehrlich, Paul R

2010-05-01

Housed worldwide, mostly in museums and herbaria, is a vast collection of biological specimens developed over centuries. These biological collections, and associated taxonomic and systematic research, have received considerable long-term public support. The work remaining in systematics has been expanding as the estimated total number of species of organisms on Earth has risen over recent decades, as have estimated numbers of undescribed species. Despite this increasing task, support for taxonomic and systematic research, and biological collections upon which such research is based, has declined over the last 30-40 years, while other areas of biological research have grown considerably, especially those that focus on environmental issues. Reflecting increases in research that deals with ecological questions (e.g. what determines species distribution and abundance) or environmental issues (e.g. toxic pollution), the level of research attempting to use biological collections in museums or herbaria in an ecological/environmental context has risen dramatically during about the last 20 years. The perceived relevance of biological collections, and hence the support they receive, should be enhanced if this trend continues and they are used prominently regarding such environmental issues as anthropogenic loss of biodiversity and associated ecosystem function, global climate change, and decay of the epidemiological environment. It is unclear, however, how best to use biological collections in the context of such ecological/environmental issues or how best to manage collections to facilitate such use. We demonstrate considerable and increasingly realized potential for research based on biological collections to contribute to ecological/environmental understanding. However, because biological collections were not originally intended for use regarding such issues and have inherent biases and limitations, they are proving more useful in some contexts than in others. Biological

Ethnic variation in environmental belief and behavior: An examination of the new ecological paradigm in a social psychological context

Science.gov (United States)

Cassandra Y. Johnson; J. Michael Bowker; H. Ken Cordell

2004-01-01

We use national-level data to test a modified version of Stern, Dietz, & Guagnano's causal model of environmental belief and behavior. We focus on ethnic variation for four environmental behaviors: environmental reading, household recycling, environmental group joining, and participation in nature-based outdoor recreation. Blacks and foreign-born Latinos were...

Stimulus attributes of reactivated memory: alleviation of ontogenetic forgetting in rats is context specific.

Science.gov (United States)

Richardson, R; Riccio, D C; McKenney, M

1988-03-01

Numerous studies have shown that ontogenetic forgetting (infantile amensia) can be alleviated by a number of different types of reminder treatment. The present study extends the information about the alleviation of infantile amnesia by examining the "content" of the reactivated memory. Toward this purpose, one attribute of memory (environmental context) was examined in rats tested either shortly after training (preamnesic) or after 1-week retention interval. For the latter, a reactivation treatment was used to reverse infantile amnesia. At both intervals, a context shift resulted in impaired performance of a conditioned fear response. These findings demonstrate that environment context is an important component of the originally encoded memory as well as the reactivated amnestic memory. The implications of these results for both the reactivation of memory and general memory processes are discussed.

Meeting the ‘Anthropocene’ in the context of intractability and complexity: infusing resilience narratives with intersubjectivity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Powell, N.S.; Larsen, R.K.; Bommel, van S.

2014-01-01

Insufficient attention has been paid to how concepts of resilience can be operationalised in wicked, contested situations. Within the environmental sciences, the contemporary social-ecological resilience narrative is not geared to examining social dilemmas in ill-defined problem contexts. These

Influences of Neighborhood Context, Individual History and Parenting Behavior on Recidivism among Juvenile Offenders

Science.gov (United States)

Grunwald, Heidi E.; Lockwood, Brian; Harris, Philip W.; Mennis, Jeremy

2010-01-01

This study examined the effects of neighborhood context on juvenile recidivism to determine if neighborhoods influence the likelihood of reoffending. Although a large body of literature exists regarding the impact of environmental factors on delinquency, very little is known about the effects of these factors on juvenile recidivism. The sample…

Intermediate peer contexts and educational outcomes: Do the friends of students' friends matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Carbonaro, William; Workman, Joseph

2016-07-01

Sociologists of education have long been interested in the effects of peer relations on educational outcomes. Recent theory and research on adolescence suggest that peers on the boundaries of students' friendship networks may play an important role in shaping behaviors and educational outcomes. In this study, we examine the importance of a key "intermediate peer context" for students' outcomes: the friends of a student's friends. Our findings indicate both friends' and friends' friends' characteristics independently predict students' college expectations and their risk of dropping out of high school (although only friends' characteristics predict GPA). Our models suggest the magnitude of students' friends-of-friends' characteristics are at least as large their friends' characteristics. Together, the association between the peer context and students outcomes is considerably larger when accounting for both the characteristics of students' friends and the friends of their friends. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

MACROECONMIC TENDENCIES OF ENVIRONMENTAL TAXES IN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristea Anca

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Reforms of environmental taxes in EU member states began to consolidate a strategic conceptual basis since the early '90s, when it was launched the idea of changing the tax burden from the tax factor of production, work to the environmental factors and use of environmental unfriendly activities and goods. The theoretical support of this view is represented by the corrective taxes Pigou situation justifying the optimal level of activity of producing goods and services from a social perspective, the collection of taxes imposed by the state of polluters, depending on the amount of damage and damage to third parties, the principle of 'polluter pays'. Despite the green fees start reforms of the EU member countries and their levels are not increased in recent years as a share of GDP. In the EU-27, 2008, revenues from environmental taxes represented a rate of about 2.8% of GDP and 6.1% of total revenues compared to 2.9% and 7.0% record share of GDP in 1999. Effects of environmental taxes on eco-efficiency must be seen not only in terms of their size or budget as income tax to GDP ratio, but also as a positive economic and social impact generated by larger beneficial effects of reducing pollution and preserving the quality natural resources and environmental factors.

From user context states to context-aware applications

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Shishkov, Boris; van Sinderen, Marten J.; Filipe, J.; Cordeiro, J.; Cardoso, J.

2008-01-01

In many cases, in order to be effective, software applications need to allow sensitivity to user context state changes. This implies however additional complexity associated with the need for applications’ adaptability (being capable of capturing context, interpreting it and reacting on it). Hence,

A Running Start or a Clean Slate? How a History of Cooperation Affects the Ability of Cities to Cooperate on Environmental Governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rui Mu

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Since 2013, the Chinese central government has pushed cooperation on environmental governance in Urban Agglomerations (UAs. In some of these UAs, cities have previously been developing environmental governance activities autonomously, in the absence of inter-city cooperation, while on others, spontaneous cooperation has previously taken place. These differences in historical context provide us with an opportunity to study, in a comparative way, how a history of cooperation influences the effectiveness of inter-city cooperation on environmental governance. Our approach to carrying out this comparison is to reconstruct the trajectories of events that describe the evolution of environmental governance in two UAs (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and Yangtze River Delta, covering the period from the early 90s to 2016. The main findings of this study are that the trajectory of environmental governance in a historical context of prior spontaneous cooperation is more effective in achieving goal intertwinement than that in a historical context of no prior cooperation; and that informal forms of cooperation, along with decentralized coordination by local actors, are critical and more influential in bringing about more effective cooperation. On the other hand, in a historical context of no prior cooperation there is an opportunity to design a cooperative structure from scratch; in this process attention should be paid to the creation of an equal playing ground, with balanced costs and benefits for all partners. By contrast, cooperation on environmental governance in a context where there is a history of spontaneous cooperation the central government can still play a role in the further facilitation of cooperation.

Process evaluation of a worksite social and physical environmental intervention

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Coffeng, J.K.; Hendriksen, I.J.M.; Mechelen, W. van; Boot, C.R.L.

2013-01-01

OBJECTIVE:: To evaluate the process of implementation of a social and physical environmental intervention and to explore differences regarding this process between both interventions. METHODS:: Context, recruitment, dose delivered, fidelity, reach, dose received, satisfaction, and implementation

A review of ecosystem service benefits from wild bees across social contexts.

Science.gov (United States)

Matias, Denise Margaret S; Leventon, Julia; Rau, Anna-Lena; Borgemeister, Christian; von Wehrden, Henrik

2017-05-01

In order to understand the role of wild bees in both social and ecological systems, we conducted a quantitative and qualitative review of publications dealing with wild bees and the benefits they provide in social contexts. We classified publications according to several attributes such as services and benefits derived from wild bees, types of bee-human interactions, recipients of direct benefits, social contexts where wild bees are found, and sources of changes to the bee-human system. We found that most of the services and benefits from wild bees are related to food, medicine, and pollination. We also found that wild bees directly provide benefits to communities to a greater extent than individuals. In the social contexts where they are found, wild bees occupy a central role. Several drivers of change affect bee-human systems, ranging from environmental to political drivers. These are the areas where we recommend making interventions for conserving the bee-human system.

Timeline: environmental education in Colombia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luz Adriana Pita-Morales

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The environmental education is a process that allows the individual to understand the relations of interdependence with the environment in the one that develops, is like that, since the reality bears biophysics in mind, social, political, economic in this respect it is necessary to generate in the company activities of valuation and respect for the environment. The environmental education is a dynamic and participative process orientated to the formation of critical and reflexive persons with aptitude to understand the environmental problematics of the local, regional and national context. In this frame the need is born of contextualized the labor that has become national in the construction of instruments that allow him the condition to look at the environmental education as a fundamental tool for the care of the natural resources and not as an isolated concept foreign to the community. In the present review their approaches the historical frame of the environmental education in Colombia his challenges, challenges and the way like are opening formative spaces and of projection for the suitable managing of the environment. In conclusion environmental education is a participatory process that must be born of the group in order to give management the natural resources of a region and community where professionals to do is oriental these processes in society.

ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGY IN OIL COMPANIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ALBU MĂDĂLINA

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Like any other industrial activity, the production of hydrocarbons affects the environment both through the performance of actual technological process and through undesired accidents, which may occur. This paper presents environmental protection as an integral part of the sustainable development concept and it outlines the matter of environmental protection in connection with oil rigs and the assessment of ecologic impact. Environmental impact is direct or indirect effect of human activity that produces a change in the direction of development of the quality status of ecosystems. Control the impact requires detailed knowledge of the phenomenon, which involves the stages of identification, estimation, evaluation, etc. This is what is intended by the general concept of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA. The orientation of the economy towards sustainable development requires achieving a growth process conducted in terms of ensuring a social welfare of the population as high ensuring time and preserving the Earth and its natural resources. The purpose of all economic activity, as well as the activities in the oil industry, is getting competitive and efficient economic outcomes in the context of environmental-economic requirements imposed by the accession of Romania to the European Union . It is located at the interface eco-efficiency economic and social efficiency, which takes into account the ecological component in economic decision making because environmental issues are inseparable from the welfare and economic processes in general.

Environmental effects of ash application in forest ecosystems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Mette

of ashes being produced and the export of nutrients from the forests. This PhD project aims at investigating how ash application in forest ecosystems affects soil and soil solution properties and whether ash application can be used in a Danish context without environmental harm but with positive effects...

Studying Environmental Influence on Motor Development in Children

Science.gov (United States)

Gabbard, Carl; Krebs, Ruy

2012-01-01

There is a good argument that in order to truly understand the influences that shape child motor development, one must consider environmental influences that reflect the multilevel ecological contexts that interact with the changing biological characteristics of the child. Although there are theories typically associated with motor development…

Cultural Context and Translation

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

张敏

2009-01-01

cultural context plays an important role in translation. Because translation is a cross-culture activity, the culture context that influ-ences translating is consisted of both the culture contexts of source language and target language. This article firstly analyzes the concept of context and cultural context, then according to the procedure of translating classifies cultural context into two stages and talks about how they respectively influence translating.

Base Sequence Context Effects on Nucleotide Excision Repair

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuqin Cai

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Nucleotide excision repair (NER plays a critical role in maintaining the integrity of the genome when damaged by bulky DNA lesions, since inefficient repair can cause mutations and human diseases notably cancer. The structural properties of DNA lesions that determine their relative susceptibilities to NER are therefore of great interest. As a model system, we have investigated the major mutagenic lesion derived from the environmental carcinogen benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P, 10S (+-trans-anti-B[a]P-2-dG in six different sequence contexts that differ in how the lesion is positioned in relation to nearby guanine amino groups. We have obtained molecular structural data by NMR and MD simulations, bending properties from gel electrophoresis studies, and NER data obtained from human HeLa cell extracts for our six investigated sequence contexts. This model system suggests that disturbed Watson-Crick base pairing is a better recognition signal than a flexible bend, and that these can act in concert to provide an enhanced signal. Steric hinderance between the minor groove-aligned lesion and nearby guanine amino groups determines the exact nature of the disturbances. Both nearest neighbor and more distant neighbor sequence contexts have an impact. Regardless of the exact distortions, we hypothesize that they provide a local thermodynamic destabilization signal for repair.

78 FR 18902 - Defining Larger Participants of the Student Loan Servicing Market

Science.gov (United States)

2013-03-28

... BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION 12 CFR Part 1090 [Docket No. CFPB-2013-0005] RIN 3170-AA35... Protection. ACTION: Proposed rule; request for public comment. SUMMARY: The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau or CFPB) proposes to amend the regulation defining larger participants of certain consumer...

Individual, Social, and Environmental Correlates of Active Transportation Patterns in French Women.

Science.gov (United States)

Perchoux, Camille; Enaux, Christophe; Oppert, Jean-Michel; Menai, Mehdi; Charreire, Hélène; Salze, Paul; Weber, Christiane; Hercberg, Serge; Feuillet, Thierry; Hess, Franck; Roda, Célina; Simon, Chantal; Nazare, Julie-Anne

2017-01-01

The objectives were (1) to define physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviors (SB) patterns in daily life contexts (work, leisure, and transportation) in French working women from NutriNet-Santé web-cohort and (2) to identify pattern(s) of active transportation and their individual, social, and environmental correlates. 23,432 participants completed two questionnaires to evaluate PA and SB in daily life contexts and individual representations of residential neighborhood and transportation modes. Hierarchical cluster analysis was performed which identified 6 distinct movement behavior patterns: (i) active occupation, high sedentary leisure, (ii) sedentary occupation, low leisure, (iii) sedentary transportation, (iv) sedentary occupation and leisure, (v) active transportation, and (vi) active leisure. Multinomial logistic regressions were performed to identify correlates of the "active transportation" cluster. The perceived environmental characteristics positively associated with "active transportation" included "high availability of destinations around home," "presence of bicycle paths," and "low traffic." A "positive image of walking/cycling," the "individual feeling of being physically active," and a "high use of active transport modes by relatives/friends" were positively related to "active transportation," identified as a unique pattern regarding individual and environmental correlates. Identification of PA and SB context-specific patterns will help to understand movement behaviors' complexity and to design interventions to promote active transportation in specific subgroups.

Strategic environmental safety inspection for the National disposal program. Description of the inspection volume. Documentation for the scoping team

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2015-01-01

The Strategic environmental safety inspection for the National disposal program covers the following topics: Legal framework: determination of the requirement for an environmental inspection program, coordination of the scoping team into the overall context; environmental targets; approach for assessment and evaluation of environmental impact, description of the inspection targets for the strategic environmental inspection; consideration of alternatives.

Action video game players and deaf observers have larger Goldmann visual fields.

Science.gov (United States)

Buckley, David; Codina, Charlotte; Bhardwaj, Palvi; Pascalis, Olivier

2010-03-05

We used Goldmann kinetic perimetry to compare how training and congenital auditory deprivation may affect the size of the visual field. We measured the ability of action video game players and deaf observers to detect small moving lights at various locations in the central (around 30 degrees from fixation) and peripheral (around 60 degrees ) visual fields. Experiment 1 found that 10 habitual video game players showed significantly larger central and peripheral field areas than 10 controls. In Experiment 2 we found that 13 congenitally deaf observers had significantly larger visual fields than 13 hearing controls for both the peripheral and central fields. Here the greatest differences were found in the lower parts of the fields. Comparison of the two groups showed that whereas VGP players have a more uniform increase in field size in both central and peripheral fields deaf observers show non-uniform increases with greatest increases in lower parts of the visual field.

Environmental education evaluation: time to reflect, time for change.

Science.gov (United States)

Crohn, Kara; Birnbaum, Matthew

2010-05-01

Evaluation in environmental education is fairly nascent despite decades-long attention to its importance. In setting the context for future chapters appearing in this special issue of the Journal of Evaluation and Program Planning, attention is devoted to the political circumstances associated with retrenchment in the public sector and increased involvement of citizens in environmental issues in their regions. It further is nested in the context of potential political reforms in a stable market democracy where education is but one strategy that can be bundled with regulations and taxes/subsidies. Additional attention is directed to explaining many of the key evaluation theories--utilization-focused evaluation, evaluative capacity building, and program-theory driven evaluation. The final section of this chapter situates the subsequent chapters of this volume based on the demographic target (youth or adult) as well as connection to a particular evaluation theory. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.