Small towns as ‘sub-poles’ in English rural development: Investigating rural–urban linkages using sub-regional social accounting matrices

This paper uses spatial economic data from four small English towns to measure the strength of economic integration between town and hinterland and to estimate the magnitude of town–hinterland spill-over effects. Following estimation of local integration indicators and inter-locale flows, sub-regional social accounting matrices (SAMs) are developed to estimate the strength of local employment and output multipliers for various economic sectors. The potential value of a town as a ‘sub-pole’ in local economic development is shown to be dependent on structural differences in the local economy, such as the particular mix of firms within towns. Although the multipliers are generally small, indicating a low level of local linkages, some sectors, particularly financial services and banking, show consistently higher multipliers for both output and employment.     

Comparison of Different Gold Recovery Methods with Regard to Pollution Control and Efficiency

This case study performed at the largest gold mining village in the Philippines compares four methods for gold recovery: amalgamation, cyanide leaching, a shaking sluice, and Cleangold® sluices. The results show that a combination of manual panning or Cleangold® sluices followed by cyanidation is the best solution under present conditions, followed by cyanidation alone. Based on the knowledge obtained, remarks on suitable policy actions, which may be applied also in other gold fields, are made.     

Influence of a cyclic and dynamic loading history on dynamic properties of dry sand, part I: cyclic and dynamic torsional prestraining

Initial fabric of a soil induced by its cyclic strain history is an important parameter together with the void ratio, state of stress and amplitude in respect to further accumulation of deformations under drained cyclic loading. It is of importance for the further deformation prediction to determine the initial fabric of the grain skeleton or the cyclic loading history of the soil. An attempt is made within this paper to correlate small strain stiffness of non-cohesive soil with its cyclic loading history. The results of performed cyclic and dynamic torsional tests show that small strain shear modulus is only moderately affected by cyclic prestraining even if high amplitudes are applied. A signature of prestraining history is observed in the tests since the sand memorizes its prestraining amplitude and the number of applied cycles.     

试论地理工程——以红壤山区小流域开发治理的新模式设计为例

无论从地理学的理论方面,还是从地理学的实践方面,地理工程都是必要的,也是可行的.地理工程扎根于地理系统学说,拓展了应用地理学的范围,因而不同于传统的环境工程.最后根据地理工程的原理,构思了一个地理的设计——南方低山丘陵区小流域治理的新模式.     

小岩浆大流体成大矿与透岩浆流体成矿作用——以东秦岭-大别山成矿带钼矿床为例

岩浆活动与内生金属成矿作用关系密切,备受国内外矿床学家的关注。表现为它们在时空上具有广泛的一致性,成矿与岩浆岩有关,成矿物质由同源岩浆分异演化而来。这便是著名的岩浆热液成矿理论,也称岩浆期后热液成矿理论,该理论把内生金属成矿系统看作是一个理想系统。东秦岭-大别山地区的钼矿-花岗岩关系研究表明,钼成矿与小岩体(小岩浆)关系密切,而大岩体/基与钼矿没有成生联系;地质事实表明,大型-超大型矿床往往广泛发育了大规模的热液(流体)蚀变(大流体),具有大的流体/岩浆比,其矿化蚀变范围是小岩体的几十甚至几百倍,表明成矿过程中必有外来流体的广泛参与。由于小岩体往往没有经过强烈的分异结晶作用,质量平衡计算表明,小岩浆体不可能产生足够数量的含矿流体和成矿物质;因此,成岩与成矿有本质的区别,成矿系统应是一个非线性的复杂性动力学系统。研究表明,东秦岭-大别山小斑岩体来源较深(下地壳),成矿流体来源于地幔,二者呈双层结构;岩浆实际上是沟通深部和浅部的通道,这种非岩浆分异的外来成矿流体我们称之为透岩浆流体。小岩体不是成矿的必备的条件,只有出现大流体时才能成大矿。东秦岭-大别山地区有200多个小岩体,但大型、超大型钼矿矿床仅有10余个,只有小岩浆(小岩体)大流体(强蚀变)成大矿,其余众多小岩体由于没有流体(蚀变)或流体少(弱蚀变)而不成矿或成小矿。由此可见,岩浆成矿系统实际上是一种流体(挥发分)过饱和系统或熔体-流体流及流体对熔体的强相互作用。当岩浆系统被加入大量源自地幔的高温高压含矿流体之后,系统将具有极大的活动能力,从而深部含矿流体沿裂隙快速上升到地壳浅部卸载成矿。为解释上述成矿特征,作者引入并厘定了透岩浆流体的概念。透岩浆流体被重新定义为透过岩浆活动并导致岩浆系统行为发生非线性变化的外来流体。据此,输入了含矿流体的岩浆可成矿,未输入含矿流体的岩浆不成矿。这种认识可以解释东秦岭-大别山地区大多数小岩体不成矿或只形成小矿的现象。     

“Sinking islands” and the UNSC: Five modalities of mobilising science

Kiribati, Tuvalu, Marshall Islands, the Maldives and other small island developing states in the Pacific are often incorrectly called “sinking islands.” With their highest points just a few meters above sea level, they face adverse impacts from climate change and especially sea level rise, which can cause them to disappear entirely or make their territory uninhabitable. After rather frustrating negotiations on other fora, the representatives of those states asked the UN Security Council to deal with their perilous situation in 2007. On the one hand, some countries used scientific argumentation to justify the introduction of this new security agenda. On the other hand, prominent UNSC members such as China and Russia, supported mainly by rapidly developing large countries, rejected it, arguing that the Security Council did not have the expertise to solve environmental problems. Since then the islands have echoed their plight to the UNSC in 2011 and 2015. This paper determines what roles individual countries ascribe to “experts” and “science” during UNSC negotiations. It examines how the authority of “experts” was exploited, which allowed certain countries to strike the issue of those islands from the UNSC agenda by calling for a more “scientific approach,” while others used “science” to widen the concept of security. The analysis of empirical data confirms the theory of Berling's three modalities when referring to science. Those modalities can be further extended by Foucault's conception of “will to truth” as a method of exclusion, and Chandler's theory of “empire in denial” as a way of evading responsibility, while maintaining power.     

Profitability and economic drivers of small pelagic fisheries in West Africa: A twenty year perspective

Small pelagics are the main fish resource in North West Africa. In Senegal, these are mainly sardinellas (Sardinella aurita and S. maderensis) and bonga shad (Ethmalosa fimbriata). The fisheries, mainly encircling gillnets and purse seines, are predominantly performed by artisanal fishers and are of great importance for the Senegalese economy and for food security in the region. However, in recent years, the main conditions for these fisheries have changed and recent observations have shown strong declines in profit. An analysis over the last twenty years (1993–2013) show that the fisheries lost profit between 65% and 100% while operating costs increased by 25% and 90%, for encircling gillnet and purse seine, respectively. While the fuel price dominates as determining factor during the survey period, important other drivers during the last five years were a decrease in fish biomass and an increase in fishing effort.     

Forecasting bivalve landings with multiple regression and data mining techniques: The case of the Portuguese Artisanal Dredge Fleet

This paper develops a decision support tool that can help fishery authorities to forecast bivalve landings for the dredge fleet accounting for several contextual conditions. These include weather conditions, phytotoxins episodes, stock-biomass indicators per species and tourism levels. Vessel characteristics and fishing effort are also taken into account for the estimation of landings. The relationship between these factors and monthly quantities landed per vessel is explored using multiple linear regression models and data mining techniques (random forests, support vector machines and neural networks). The models are specified for different regions in the Portugal mainland (Northwest, Southwest and South) using six years of data 2010–2015). Results showed that the impact of the contextual factors varies between regions and also depends on the vessels target species. The data mining techniques, namely the random forests, proved to be a robust decision support tool in this context, outperforming the predictive performance of the most popular technique used in this context, i.e. linear regression.     

Fishing without quota: The ACE fisher in New Zealand's inshore fishery

The annual catch entitlement (ACE) scheme was added to New Zealand's quota management system for fisheries in 2001. The scheme allocates quota owners an annual share of the total allowable commercial catch (TACC) in proportion to their quota holding of a particular fishstock. With ACE being transferable, the change made it simpler for fishers (permit holders) who did not own quota to purchase ACE to match catch for specific fishstocks. But to be viable, non-quota-owning (ACE reliant) fishers need access to a reliable, long-term supply of ACE. This study examines the relationships between ACE reliant purchasers and their suppliers of ACE in New Zealand's Fishing Management Area Three during the 2014-15 fishing year. The study found that most buyers and sellers of ACE form enduring relationships to their mutual benefit. This symbiotic relationship bodes well for the survival of small fishers with the expertise to land fish in an efficient manner.     

浅析太原盆地小震活动的时间特征

通过对山西地震台网近年来记录到的太原地区小震活动的分布情况、地震频度及能量释放强度的分析,得出该盆地地震活动在时间分布上具有丛集性的结论。统计分析认为该区发震概率最大时间段为每年的１月、２月、６月、１１月份。