Quantitative Research Performing other Worlds: lessons from sustainable agriculture in the Philippines

For those interested in ethical research, quantitative methods are often dismissed as apolitical; as unreflective exercises in ‘mere counting’. If, however, in doing research, we bring into being the very worlds we purport to describe, the question begs: what kinds of worlds might quantitative methods bring into being? Is there space for a reflexive, quantitative research agenda? In this paper, I will discuss an action-based predominantly quantitative research project that aimed to investigate the diverse impacts of sustainable agriculture on small-scale farmers in the Philippines. The study, one of the largest ever undertaken on organic rice production, was consciously designed, not merely to describe, but to perform organic agriculture differently. While most quantitative, and indeed much qualitative, research ignores its performativity, this research was intended to enact a reality of sustainable agriculture as a viable and vital alternative to mainstream, capitalist agriculture.     

新型旋转减冲装置对桩基局部冲刷防护试验研究

为减轻海上风电单桩基础周围局部冲刷对其结构安全的影响,提出了一种新型旋转减冲装置。在波流水槽中开展物理模型试验,改变波流条件、装置安装高度、安装距离,记录桩周冲刷发展历时,运用激光地形仪扫描冲刷坑形态,分析各工况下冲刷坑形态差异,验证装置不同安装距离、安装高度下的冲刷防护效果,提出了不同安装位置下的防护效率公式。结果表明：新型旋转减冲装置具有较好的冲刷防护效果,本试验工况下,桩周最大冲刷深度可减小44%左右。装置安装距离对冲刷防护效果影响较小,波流作用下的冲刷防护效果受装置安装高度影响显著,冲刷防护效果随装置安装高度的增加而减弱。     

电商快递包装箱的碳足迹空间分解和隐含碳转移研究

伴随电子商务等新兴消费业态的迅猛发展,其碳排放量已不容忽视。本研究从空间分解和隐含碳转移的角度,基于对电商快递包装箱全生命周期的碳足迹研究,识别其在原料、生产、利用各环节与电商行为的地理空间耦合,分析各阶段及总排放的省域尺度格局特征,以及伴随快递流的隐含碳转移网络格局。研究发现：原料阶段的碳排放多在木材原料商区位,生产阶段的碳排放和快递发货区位高度耦合,利用阶段的碳排放和快递收货区位相耦合。全国电商快递包装箱各阶段的碳排放在空间上高度集聚,原料阶段集中在广西,生产和利用阶段集中在广东、浙江、江苏,整体呈现出“东多西少、南多北少”的空间特征。碳排放总量较高的省区多由生产驱动,碳排放总量越少的省区则利用驱动越明显。隐含碳转移网络呈现出“少数省区净流出、多数省区净流入”的“轴辐式”结构特征,浙江、广东两省承担了80%左右的净流出,是绝大多数省区隐含碳流入的最大来源地,北京是净流入最大的省区。基于隐含碳转移进行碳排放责任辨析,是相关决策需要考虑的重要因素;绿色包装的减排贡献较大,亟待寻求技术突破;新兴消费业态的碳排放值得长期关注。     

How the Method of Minimization of Action Avoids Singularities

The method of minimization of action is a powerful technique of proving the existence of particular and interesting solutions of the n-body problem, but it suffers from the possible interference of singularities. The minimization of action is an optimization and, after a short presentation of a few optimization theories, our analysis of interference of singularities will show that:(A) An n-body solution minimizing the action between given boundary conditions has no discontinuity: all n-bodies have a continuous and bounded motion and thus all eventual singularities are collisions;(B) A beautiful extension of Lambert's theorem shows that, for these minimizing solutions, no double collision can occur at an intermediate time;(C) The proof can be extended to triple and to multiple collisions. Thus, the method of minimization of action leads to pure n-body motions without singularity at any intermediate time, even if one or several collisions are imposed at initial and/or final times.This method is suitable for non-infinitesimal masses only. Fortunately, a similar method, with the same general property with respect to the singularities, can be extended to n-body problems including infinitesimal masses.     

“翻台法”提高地震定位精度的数学原理

对于震中偏离台网情况下的地震定位，常规方法定位效果较差。“翻台法”有效地提高了其定位精度。从均匀地壳模型的走时方程组出发，分析了“翻台法”定位中方程组系数的变化特点，推导了选取最佳翻转台站的方法，并得出如下结论：（１）“翻台法”增加了原定位方程组的约束方程，翻台数与已知条件和所求参数个数有关，从理论上讲，翻转台数超过独立的约束方程数时对增加定位精度不再有意义；（２）考虑到具体的台网布局和台站资料质量，翻转不同台站对提高地震定位精度所起的作用大小各不相同，因而存在选取最佳翻转台站问题。     

地震与强降雨作用下堆积体滑坡变形破坏机理及防治方案分析

位于西南山地堆积体滑坡常受到地震和强降雨的双重作用,查明此类滑坡变形破坏机理是地质灾害防治和风险防控的基础。文章的研究对象是鲜水河断裂带附近的炉霍县马居滑坡。研究表明,地震作用对位于斜坡地带堆积体滑坡体结构损伤明显,不但使滑坡整体稳定性下降,还促使坡体内裂隙大量发育,利于降雨入渗,进一步恶化滑坡的水文地质条件。强降雨形成的大规模洪水和泥石流下切坡脚沟道,牵引滑坡体整体向下。长历时强降雨入渗影响坡体稳定性,且在降雨结束后较长时间持续影响坡体稳定性。因此,对此类滑坡防治的对策应考虑坡脚防护和抗滑支挡设置。在对防治方案的有效性分析后,表明防护方案在极端条件下仍然能保障安全性,达防治和风险管控的目的。     

Achieving additional emission reductions under a cap-and-trade scheme

Over the last decade, cap-and-trade emissions schemes have emerged as one of the favoured policy instruments for reducing GHG emissions. An inherent design feature of cap-and-trade schemes is that, once the cap on emissions has been set, no additional reductions beyond this level can be provided by the actions of those individuals, organizations and governments within the covered sectors. Thus, the emissions cap constitutes an emissions floor. This feature has been claimed by some to have undesirable implications, in that it discourages ethically motivated mitigation actions and preempts the possibility that local, state and national governments can take additional mitigation action in the context of weak national or regional targets. These criticisms have become prominent in Australia and the US within the public debate regarding the adoption of an emissions trading scheme (ETS). These criticisms and their potential solutions are reviewed. A set-aside reserve is proposed to automatically retire ETS permits, which would correspond to verified and additional emissions reductions. This minimizes the possibility that ethically motivated mitigation actions are discouraged, allows for additional action by other levels of government, while providing transparency to other market participants on the level of permit retirements.     

Implications of early action for JI baselines

Abstract

This article discusses possible implications of early Joint Implementation (JI) action. Some projects which would otherwise be non-additional during the first commitment period, can become additional by implementing them before 2008 through early JI. For example, several environmental investments that will be mandatory under the European Union (EU) Acquis Communautaire as of, e.g. 2008 or 2010 could be carried out earlier than that with early JI action. As such, candidate countries could partly finance the accession process through JI credits and their environmental standards would earlier be in line with the Acquis. The theoretical risk that projects would have to follow a slow track if JI parties are not eligible for the fast track is not large for JI hosts that are candidate for EU membership.     

On the variational approach to the periodic n-body problem

This expository paper gathers some of the results obtained by the author in recent works in collaboration with Davide Ferrario and Vivina Barutello, focusing on the periodic n-body problem from the perspective of the calculus of variations and minimax theory. These researches were aimed at developing a systematic variational approach to the equivariant periodic n-body problem in the two and three-dimensional space. The purpose of this paper is to expose the main problems and achievements of this approach. The material here was exposed in the talk that given at the Meeting CELMEC IV promoted by SIMCA (Società italiana di Meccanica Celeste).     

山区人为地质灾害问题与思考

人为地质灾害加剧，地质环境恶化，势必阻碍山区经济发展，产生的根源在于人类不妥当的工程经济活动。因此，解决问题的基本途径是从调整人的行为入手，以人为本，综合治理，搞好灾害防治工作，促进山区经济持续发展。