Quantitative Calculation of Groundwater Vulnerability Assessment Based on Quantification Theory III

There are a lot of key qualitative variables in factors affecting groundwater vulnerability. The processing of qualitative variables of the existing superimposed index method generally relies on experience, so the results are normally subjective. Quantitative theory can handle qualitative variables quantitatively, achieve the unity of quantitative and qualitative indicators, highlight the decisive role of the main factors and reflect the actual situation more objectively. We took Yulin City as the research area to verify the feasibility and applicability of quantitative theory III, which is used for the quantitative evaluation of groundwater vulnerability. The results show that it has obvious advantage in the screening of indicators and the groundwater vulnerability partition, so it can be used as a quantitative calculation method of groundwater vulnerability assessment     

The conventions of agri-environmental practice in New Zealand: farmers, retail driven audit schemes and a new spirit of farming

Audit schemes dictating the parameters of environmentally and socially acceptable management practice have emerged as a pervasive feature of global agri-food production. While the impacts of such schemes on the global movement of food and fibre and the evolving terrains of power in agri-food relations are well documented, the associated reconstruction of farming identities in the localities where audits are implemented has received less attention. The emerging responses to audit schemes in the New Zealand kiwifruit and dairy sectors are key examples of the contentious nature through which auditing is incorporated within farming practice. Analysis of these responses reveals the potential for audits to alter the spirit of farming in New Zealand, initiating new conventions of interaction between producers and industries. Within a convention theory framework, the incorporation of auditing within standard management practice involves a negotiated process in which the farmers employ strategic justifications of their capability (and value) relative to the quality designations established by the audit. Rather than evaluate the relative merits of a farm, its product and its owner through the craft and skill of the independent land manager, successful farming is increasingly associated with the individual’s ability to conform to an audit’s structures. The global trend toward audit schemes suggests that similar challenges to the spirit of farming may be replicated in other contexts.     

Profit,reputation and ‘doing the right thing’: Convention theory and the problem of food waste in the UK retail sector

In 2014, Tesco – one of the world’s largest food retailers – revealed that it had generated almost 57,000 tonnes of food waste in its UK operations over the previous twelve-month period. This shocking statistic added to existing evidence of a significant environmental and social problem in the UK and across the world. This paper utilises convention theory to examine the role of major retailers in the context of this global problem and assesses their motivations for acting on food waste. Drawing on interviews with key stakeholders (including major retailers), the analysis investigates their main justifications for action on food waste. It finds that retailers mostly appealed to three conventions or ‘orders of worth’ (civic, market and opinion) and used these as a basis for their commitment to food waste reduction. We argue that the combination of these different justifications is feasible and necessary in the context of the retail sector but that they may also lead to some unintended consequences (in the retail sector and beyond). Crucially, we demonstrate how the dilution of civic justifications (by their financial and reputational counterparts) might produce negative outcomes and inaction as retailers attempt to adhere to the so-called ‘food waste hierarchy’. The paper highlights the continuing significance of convention theory as a framework for analysing possible responses to the social and environmental challenges confronting global agro-food systems.     

Private agri-food governance and greenhouse gas abatement: Constructing a corporate carbon economy

Private sector actors are playing an increasingly significant role in the definition and governance of ‘sustainable’ agri-food practices. Yet, to date little attention has been paid by social scientists to how greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are addressed as part of private agri-food governance arrangements. This paper examines how private actors within agri-food supply chains respond to emerging pressure for measures to reduce GHG emissions from agriculture. Drawing upon the Anglo-Foucauldian governmentality literature, we introduce the notion of the corporate carbon economy to conceptualise the practical techniques that enable private agri-food actors to make GHG emissions thinkable and governable in the context of existing market, regulatory, and supply chain pressures. Using a case study of the Australian dairy industry, we argue that private agri-food actors utilise a range of techniques that enable them to respond to existing government environmental regulations, balance current market pressures with future supply chain requirements, and demonstrate improved eco-efficiency along food supply chains. These techniques – which include environmental self-assessment instruments, tools for measuring GHG emissions, and sustainability reporting – have little direct relevance to the ‘international climate regime’ of carbon trading, and carbon markets more broadly, yet individually and in combination they are crucial in enacting an alternative regime of GHG governance. In concluding, we contend that the growing use of sustainability metrics by international food companies is likely to have the most powerful implications for GHG governance in the agri-food sector, with potentially far-reaching consequences for how future action on climate change is rendered thinkable and practicable.     

A review and research on comprehensive characterization of microscopic shale gas reservoir space

In this paper, substantial domestic and foreign research results of microscopic shale reservoir space were systemically reviewed, the research history consisting of simple observation and qualitative classification, quantitative research, the combination of qualitative and quantitative research successively as well as the characteristics of each research stage were summarized. In addition, the current problems existing in the characterization methods of shale reservoir space were also analyzed. Furthermore, based on massive actual detection of typical core samples obtained from more than 50 global shale gas wells and relevant practical experience, a comprehensive characterization method of combining qualitative with the semi-quantitative characterization was put forward. In detail, the indicators of the qualitative characterization include pore combination type and organic-matter microscopic morphology type, while the core elements of the semi-quantitative characterization include the percentage of the organic-matter area and the plane porosity of the pores of different types. Based on the reference of the naming and classification of rocks, the three-end-member diagram method was used to characterize microscopic shale reservoir space. This is achieved by plotting the three end-member diagram of 3 kinds of first-order critical reservoir spaces, i.e., organic-matter pores, matrix pores, and micro-fractures, in order to intuitively present the features of the microscopic pore combination. Meanwhile, statistic histograms of organic-matter microscopic morphology type and the plane porosity of different types of pores were adopted to characterize the development degree of second-order pores quantitatively. By this comprehensive characterization method, the importance of both pore combination and the microscopic morphology of organic matter were emphasized, revealing the control of organic-matter microscopic morphology over the organic-matter pores. What is more, high-resolution FE-SEM was adopted to obtain semi-quantitative statistics results. In this way, the features of pore development and pore combination were quantified, not only reflecting the types and storage capacity of the microscopic shale reservoir space, but also presenting the hydrocarbon-generating potential of organic matter in shale. Therefore, the results of this research are capable of providing in-depth microscopic information for the assessment and exploration and development of shale gas resources.     

基于改进的数量化理论和RBF神经网络组合方法的地下水水质预测

文中首先运用了一种改进的数量化理论I模型作为预处理工具,对影响地下水水质的20个因子进行定性数据转换、数据降维,随后将8个重要特征因子作为RBF（径向基函数）神经网络模型的输入,进一步对监测井的采样数据进行学习、训练,揭示地下水污染质迁移转化规律。尝试用经过改进的数量化理论与RBF神经网络方法二者结合,对沈阳李官水源地研究区监测井地下水水质变化进行模拟与预测,其仿真结果覆盖了现有的绝大部分实测数据,适用范围广泛,具有一定的推广价值。     

地下水脆弱性的概念、评价方法与研究前景

地下水脆弱性概念的发展过程是一个由简单到复杂,由单纯考虑内因到综合考虑内外因,由分歧到趋同的不断丰富、完善与发展的过程.评价方法则相应的由应用图件定性描述发展到应用数学模型定量表达.指出了目前地下水脆弱性评价中存在的若干问题,并指出应用灰色系统理论,模糊数学理论,AHP方法与GIS技术进行地下水脆弱性评价将是地下水脆弱性研究的一个主要的发展方向.     

Global production networks in the passenger aviation industry

Although the number of directions which geographical research on transport is taking has recently increased, the extent to which transport geography capitalises on theoretical advancements made in other sub-disciplines of human geography is still fairly limited. This especially pertains to economic geography which, in contrast to the predominantly positivist and quantitative transport geography, has developed over the last few decades a more post-positivist and qualitative profile. By means of focusing on passenger air transport – one of the most neglected industries in economic geography – this paper aims to help bridge this gap. Three under-researched aspects of air transport are identified and a combination of two economic-geographical approaches – global production networks (GPN) and evolutionary economic geography (EEG) – is advocated as a useful conceptual basis for further, more qualitative and more critical research on this dynamic sector. The paper argues that GPN and EEG would help research on air transport to: (1) employ network thinking beyond the infrastructural understanding of networks of air connections and thus better explain the multi-actor nature of the aviation sector, (2) complement the research on supra-national and national regulatory frameworks with more attention to the array of sub-national environments that shape the aviation industry ‘from below’, and (3) explore how the relations between aviation and economic development are moulded by different place-specific institutional factors. To lay foundations under further research the paper conceptualises the aviation industry as a global production network and uses the example of Polish passenger air transport to highlight the paper’s key empirical implications.     

Numerical identification models on the boundary and agro-climatic resources differences of the south subtropical zone in Fujian Province of China based on GIS

In contrary to the numbers of qualitative studies, there is few quantitative studies have been done on defining climate zone boundaries and on illustrating differences inside a zone. In order to find quantitative methods to demarcate a physical geography boundary and to reveal the agro-climatic resources differences of the South Subtropical Zone in Fujian Province of China based on the data collected from limited and discrete weather stations, this research tries to develop models that use mathematics methods and Geographical Information System (GIS) technology. Three modeling methods - Discriminant Analysis, Trend-surface with Residual (TSR) Analysis, and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) were applied in the study to produce a distribution grid system of a set of indicators, and to define the spatial location of the zone boundary precisely. The results of the study show that the outputs of the models have very high significant level in statistical tests.     

基于熵权的可拓理论在岩体质量评价中的应用

坝基岩体质量综合评价是一个复杂的工程决策问题,常常表现为指标与指标之间的矛盾、定性信息与定量信息的共存,解决这类多属性、不相容问题,应采用定性与定量综合集成的方法加以研究。而可拓学正是采用物元的概念将研究对象、评估指标与其值域结合为一体,研究事物可拓性及其开拓规律,解决矛盾问题的一门新学科。应用可拓理论,基于多指标优化融合的思想,通过物元变换建立了坝基岩体质量评价的物元体系,计算评价指标对评价等级的关联系数,引入熵权法确定物元指标体系的权重系数,建立了基于熵权的可拓学理论,并将此理论应用于某工程坝基岩体质量评价,取得了与工程地质报告相一致的评价结果。     

Assessment model for earthquake-triggered landslides based on quantification theory I: case study of Jushui River basin in Sichuan, China

Earthquakes that occur in a mountainous region can trigger a mass of landslides (ETL), and these hazards can cause relatively heavy casualties. Compared with other evaluation models and methods, quantification theory I is a multivariate statistical approach that can simultaneously process qualitative and quantitative variables. On the basis of the ETL features and the influencing factors, in this paper, we select lithology, slope gradient, slope height, slope structure, distance to seismogenic fault, hanging wall/footwall of the seismogenic fault, and rock integrity, a total of seven impact factors, as the assessment index. By randomly selecting 128 single slopes in an intense seismic area as the samples, we develop an assessment model and apply it to investigate the regional stability of the Jushui River basin to prove its applicability. Moreover, this method calculates the factor weight; this can also prove the method through a comparison with the existing research results obtained using other methods.     

Quantitative Tectonic Markers of Large Coastal Earthquakes in Fujian, Guangdong, Taiwan and Hainan——with a Discussion of Qualitative Indicators

This paper expounds the quantitative tectonic indicators and some qualitative indicators of large earthquakes in the coast areas of Fujian, Guangdong, Taiwan and Hainan. The main quantitative indicators include uplift amplitude of the Moho, Quaternary and Late Holocene coasts. The paper also gives a brief account of the research method on quantitative indicators of surface uplifted zones. Taiwan is a famous neotectonic zone and an area of large earthquakes in the world. There is only one large-earthquake area in each of Fujian, Guangdong and Hainan Provinces. Along the coast large earthquake areas there are certainly many remains of crustal activity. Among these remains, coast activity, taking the sea level as the accurate marker horizon, can determine not only the amplitude of coastal elevation and subsidence in a certain period, but also the cycle and rate of positive or negative movements.     

黄土高原地区古气候定量化研究方法评述

定量化重建黄土高原地区古气候,是黄土研究的新方向和大趋势。本文主要从土壤磁化率、植物孢粉、植物硅酸体和稳定同位素等替代性指标方面回顾了国内外对黄土高原地区古气候定量化研究的现状,并对研究中存在的问题进行了讨论。相关的研究结果表明,黄土高原地区的古气候定量化研究取得了积极的成果,但还仍处在初步阶段。由于指标本身存在局限性或指标与气候要素之间机理尚不十分清楚,所获得的定量化结果并不能令人十分满意。提出今后定量化重建古气候研究的重点是要进一步加强对黄土高原现代生态过程的研究,清楚地认识各指标与气候要素之间的机理和联系,建立可信的相关函数。希望对这方面的研究有所裨益。     

层次分析法在单沟泥石流危险度评价中的应用

单沟泥石流危险度评价是泥石流危险性评价中的重要内容,对实现山区的安全减灾有着重要意义。文章从系统理论出发,运用层次分析法(AHP)对影响泥石流沟谷危险度的相关因子进行分析,构建单沟泥石流危险度评价的层次指标系统,并对各参与评价因子的权重作了计算,建立起单沟泥石流危险度评价模型。通过对泥石流沟的实例验证,评价结果与实际情况有较好的一致性。该方法将定量与定性相结合,能很好地解决泥石流危险度综合评价问题,对提高泥石流危险度评价的可靠性、准确性及客观性有一定的实践意义。     

既有线重力式挡土墙综合安全评估方法研究

土墙的安全状况直接关系到铁路运输系统的安全, 如何评估既有挡土墙的安全状况是亟待解决的问题。为了准确评估挡土墙安全状况, 指导工程实践, 建立了一种新的铁路既有线挡土墙安全评估指标体系, 体系包括表观状况, 材质状况, 受力状况三大一级指标, 和包含墙身, 墙顶, 裂缝, 砂浆等10项在内的二级指标。该指标体系的优点是结合定性与定量, 层次分明; 为克服传统安全评估方法的主观性等不足, 提出了层次分析-模糊数学综合安全评估方法, 达到评估结果量化的目的; 并结合实际工程进行了既有线挡土墙安全现状评估体系研究, 结果表明该方法能给挡土墙较为客观的总体评估。     

岩质边坡稳定性及预应力锚固分析现状

本文首先对目前常用的各类边坡稳定性分析方法的主要特点进行了评述,包括定性方法类的历史分析法、工程地质类比法、图解法、专家系统法,定量分析方法类的确定性模型法,如极限平衡法,应力应变分析法;非确定性模型法,如可靠性分析法、灰色系统理论法及模糊综合评判法等;及两类方法结合而成的随机有限元法。其次,对预应力锚固边坡的设计及稳定性分析作了阐述。     

Biosecurity and the multiplication of crises in the Egyptian agri-food industry

Through a case study of Egypt’s agri-food industry this paper examines biosecurity as a set of technologies, institutions, and practices that attempt to govern national agri-food industries and global agri-food trade by marrying a political economy perspective and an analysis of ‘nature–society relations’. Consistent with other agri-food industries in the global South, Egypt’s agri-food industry has undergone waves of corporate consolidation during the neoliberal period. By detailing the growth of the poultry industry and the endemic spread of HPAI H5N1 (avian flu), this paper presents an argument that the industry grew and consolidated through emergent and recurrent zoonotic and plant diseases, the management of which has been governed in part by biosecurity measures.     

A bibliometric-based evaluation on environmental research in the Arab world

The Arab world’s environment is among the most vulnerable and harsh ones across the globe. This entails much efforts to mitigate the potential environmental risks. Analysing contributions of Arab scholars in environmental research in terms of quantity and quality can bring up insights on their endeavours in this regard. Bibliometric techniques are proposed to conduct such this analysis over publications originated from Arab world in a leading environmental journal “Science of the Total Environment”. Research productivity is being used as quantitative indicator, while citation rates and Hirsch index (h-index) are being used as qualitative indicators. The research outputs were compared with those obtained from non-Arab Middle Eastern countries (Iran, Turkey and Israel). Worldwide research productivity was 17,258 documents, while that from Arab countries, Iran, Turkey and Israel were 215, 34, 83 and 87 documents, respectively. The h-index of Arab world research was 31, and total citations were 3616 with an average of 16.8. The highest share of publications was recorded by Saudi Arabia (53 documents; 24.7%). Egypt and Saudi Arabia had highest h-index with 15 for each one. American University of Beirut in Lebanon was the highest productive institution (16; 7.4%). The most collaborated country with Arab world was France (29; 13.5%). In the conclusion, the study reveals a clear gap in terms of research productivity between Arab countries and other Middle Eastern countries, precisely Israel and Turkey. More research efforts through optimizing investments in environmental research, developing regional experiences and fostering international collaboration are required to eliminate these lags.     

地下水脆弱性概念的发展过程与评价现状及研究前景

地下水脆弱性概念的发展过程是一个由简单到复杂,由单纯考虑内因到综合考虑内外因,由分以趋同的不断丰富、完善与发展的过程。评价方法由应用图件定性描述发展到应用模型定量表达。本文指出了目前地下水脆弱性评价中存在的若干问题,并指出应用灰色系统理论、模糊数学理论、ＡＨＰ与ＧＩＳ技术进行地下水脆弱性评价将是地下水脆弱性研究的一个主要的发展方向。     

煤炭地下气化地质选区指标体系构建及有利区评价技术

为厘清影响煤炭地下气化的地质因素,构建科学的地质指标评价体系,对影响煤炭地下气化的七大类地质条件、41个次级地质指标进行了系统分析和分级量化,建立了地质选区指标体系;根据对选区的重要程度,将各地质指标分为基本地质指标（A）和关键地质指标（B）两类,基于这两大类指标,提出了两种新的煤炭地下气化有利区定量评价方法,精细型（A+B）和通用型（B）;利用专家打分法和层次分析法确定了这两种评价方法中所涉及到的地质指标权重;依据资源、开采技术、区域构造和环境四大类条件,厘定了评价结果的定性分级方案;综合定量评价和定性分级,提出了有利区优选的一般步骤,最终形成了一套完整的煤炭地下气化有利区评价技术体系.该评价技术体系的有效应用,可为煤炭地下气化科学选址和产业化进程推进提供重要理论支撑.