Opportunities to Improve the Quality of Environmental Reports and the Effectiveness of Environmental Impact Assessment: A Case of Electric Power Transmission Systems in Brazil

A good quality Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is key for the effectiveness of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) processes and consequently to the acceptability of projects subject to EIA. The international literature has contributed to the understanding of the essential aspects to be verified regarding the quality of EIS, offering a wide spectrum of good practice examples related to the content of the studies. Even so, there is a need for empirical studies that allow the identification of specific aspects related to the context of application of the EIS, which could lead to the identification of opportunities to improve both the quality of the reports and also the effectiveness of EIA. Therefore, the present paper is focused on the quality review of a number of EIS submitted to the Brazilian Federal Environmental Agency (Ibama) to instruct the assessment of electric power transmission systems. Based on the application of the EIS quality review package as proposed by Lee and Colley (1992), the outcomes reveal opportunities for improving the scope of EIA, analysis of alternatives, prediction of magnitude and the assessment of impact significance. Finally, the development and/or adaptation of a similar tool for the systematic review of the quality of EIA reports is recommended.

Environmental Impact Assessment Follow-Up of Seismic Survey Offshore Activities in Brazil

Follow-up of environmental impacts is an integral part of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process, closely related to the effectiveness of the instrument. EIA follow-up has been receiving a lot of interest from scientists and practitioners, though it is recognized as one of the weakest points of EIA systems globally. Also, EIA follow-up is influenced by the context, mainly in terms of the types of projects or activities and their related impacts on the environment. Therefore, the present paper is focused on the investigation of the follow-up stage applied to the activity of seismic survey coupled with offshore oil & gas exploitation in Brazil. Research was based on a qualitative approach that included document analysis and semi-structured interviews with analysts involved in EIA processes, and sought to generate evidence of effectiveness of the EIA follow-up as conducted by the Federal Environment Agency (Ibama) in order to situate the practice of follow-up in the broader context of international best practice principles. Based on the findings, it was concluded that, due to the peculiarities of offshore seismic survey, it is necessary to promote adaptations in the procedures for monitoring impacts in order to ensure proper alignment with the principles and conceptual foundations that guide EIA practice. Specifically, the timing of the execution of the activity imposes challenges for its integration into the “conventional” cycle that has guided the monitoring of the impacts in the EIA of projects.

Histological Assessment and Transcriptome Analysis Provide Insights into the Toxic Effects of Perfluorooctanoic Acid to Juvenile Half Smooth Tongue Sole Cynoglossus semilaevis

Perfluorooctanoic acid(PFOA)is a widespread synthetic persistent organic pollutant that may enrich along the food chain and affect the growth,development,reproduction,and lipid metabolism of aquatic organisms,particularly the benthic organisms.How-ever,the toxic effects of PFOA on the half-smooth tongue sole Cynoglossus semilaevis,a commercial benthic fish in China,have rarely been reported.Because juvenile fish are sensitive to environmental pollutants,in the present study,histological assessment and tran-scriptome sequencing were performed to determine the short-term impact of PFOA on juvenile half-smooth tongue soles.Histologi-cal analysis showed that PFOA exposure caused hepatocyte rupture,intestinal villi breakage,increased goblet cell count,and brain ab-normal.Transcriptome results showed that some interesting signaling pathways,such as glycolysis/gluconeogenesis,PPAR signaling pathway and GABAergic synapse signaling pathway,were enriched after PFOA exposure.In addition,some metabolic,immune and neural genes were differentially expressed,which including ependymin,hbb1-like and gad 1,and they were up-regulated after 14 days of exposure.Transcriptome results also indicated that half-smooth tongue sole might improve energy metabolism in response to PFOA toxicity after 7 days of exposure.These findings provide a basis for studying the ecological effects of PFOA on marine benthic fishes.

Seismic loss assessment of RC high-rise buildings designed according to Eurocode 8

A probabilistic seismic loss assessment of RC high-rise(RCHR)buildings designed according to Eurocode 8 and located in the Southern Euro-Mediterranean zone is presented herein.The loss assessment methodology is based on a comprehensive simulation approach which takes into account ground motion(GM)uncertainty,and the random effects in seismic demand,as well as in predicting the damage states(DSs).The methodology is implemented on three RCHR buildings of 20-story,30-story and 40-story with a core wall structural system.The loss functions described by a cumulative lognormal probability distribution are obtained for two intensity levels for a large set of simulations(NLTHAs)based on 60 GM records with a wide range of magnitude(M),distance to source(R)and different site soil conditions(SS).The losses expressed in percent of building replacement cost for RCHR buildings are obtained.In the estimation of losses,both structural(S)and nonstructural(NS)damage for four DSs are considered.The effect of different GM characteristics(M,R and SS)on the obtained losses are investigated.Finally,the estimated performance of the RCHR buildings are checked to ensure that they fulfill limit state requirements according to Eurocode 8.

Effect on Collaborative Assessment on Language Development and Learning

This paper reports on a study investigating the impact of collaborative assessment on language development and learning. It involves two groups of sophomore students at Dalian Finance University. Two questions were explored: 1) what benefits and difficulties exist in collaborative assessment? 2) what effects does collaborative assessment have on learning?The paper begins with an account of the procedures adopted for the study, followed by its finding and discussion of the findings which is a evidence which points to a shift of participants' role from passive learner to active participant as well as change in the use of learning strategies.

Delayed assessment and eager adoption of laparoscopic cholecystectomy:Implications for developing surgical technologies

Despite the prevailing emphasis in the medical literature on establishing evidence,many changes in the practice of surgery have not been achieved using proper evidence-based assessment.This paper examines the adoption of laparoscopic cholecystectomy(LC)into regular use for the treatment of cholecystitis and the process of its acceptance,focusing on the limited role of technology assessment in its appraisal.A review of the published medical literature concerning LC was performed.Approximately 3000 studies of LC have been conducted since 1985,and there have been nearly 8500 publications to date.As LC was adopted enthusiastically into practice,the results of outcome studies generally showed that it compared favorably with the traditional,open cholecystectomy with regard to mortality,complications,and length of hospital stay.However,despite the rapid general agreement on surgical technique,efficacy,and appropriateness,there remained lingering doubts about safety,outcomes,and cost of the procedure that suggested that essential research questions were ignored even as the procedure became standard.Using LC as a case study,there are important lessons to be learned about the need for important guidelines for surgical innovation and the adoption of minimally invasive surgical techniques into current clinical and surgical practice.We highlight one recent example,natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery and how necessary it is to properly evaluate this new technology before it is accepted as a safe and effective surgical option.

Impact Assessments of Transgenic cry1Ab Rice on the Population Dynamics of Five Non-Target Thrips Species and Their General Predatory Flower Bug in Bt and Non-Bt Rice Fields Using Color Sticky Card Traps

A 2-yr field study was conducted to assess the effects of transgenic japonica rice（KMD1 and KMD2） with a synthetic cry1 Ab gene from Bacillus thuingiensis Berliner on population dynamics and seasonal average densities of five thrips species including Stenchaetothrips biformis（Bagnall）,Frankliniella intonsa（Trybom）,F.tenuicornis（Uzel）,Haplothrips aculeatus（Fabricius）,Haplothrips tritici（Kurd） and their general predatory flower bug,Orius similis Zheng as compared to the parental control rice line using the white,blue and yellow sticky card traps.Population dynamics and seasonal average densities of these five thrips species and their general predatory flower bug were not significantly affected by rice type.Additionally,the white sticky card trap was suggested to be the most suitable for monitoring the population of these five thrips species and their general predator.These results show that our tested Bt rice lines do not interrupt the population of non-target thrips species and their general predatory flower bug in the field,and also cannot result in more occurrence of these thrips species in the rice ecosystem.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF CEMENT—CONCRETE SYSTEM

In this paper. a lije-cycle assessment methodology is used to evaluate the environmental cffects of cement-concrete system. The production factors notably affecting environment are obtained and the way in proving environmental effects is indicated.

Environmental load of solid wood floor production from larch grown at different planting densities based on a life cycle assessment

As one of the main structural units in a building,a solid wood floor has significant strategic research value for low-carbon energy saving.Taking the production line of a solid larch wood floor as a case study,we assessed the environmental load during production based upon a life cycle assessment.Using GaBi 6.0 software,we analyzed the associated carbon sequestration during floor production,with the initial planting density serving as the disturbance factor in a modular analysis.The results indicated that the cutting and finishing steps have relatively intense,negative influences on the environment,whereas transportation,ripping,and trimming do not.Additionally,recycling biomass waste has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.When the initial planting density was 3.0×3.0 m,carbon sequestration was relatively high.Although the emissions of freshwater pollutants,volatile organic compounds,and fine particulate matter（matter with a 2.5-μm diameter） were comparatively high,the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions was still excellent at this planting density.

Arsenic in Drinking Water Toxicological Risk Assessment in the North Region of Burkina Faso

Human health risks assessment were estimated by determining the nature and probability of adverse health effects in the North region’s populations who are now exposed to arsenic from drinking water or will be exposed in the future. Several questions were addressed in this study: what types of health problems may be caused by arsenic from drinking water? What is the chance that people will experience health problems when exposed to different levels of arsenic? What arsenic level are people exposed to and for how long? To answers these questions we have first identified the hazard by evaluating arsenic concentration in thirty-four (34) bore-hole water points among the region based on the assumption of clinical cases related to drinking water. Arsenic concentration ranged from 0 up to 87.8 micrograms per liter. Next we assessed the dose-response of exposure to arsenic. Dose-response relationship describes how the likelihood and severity of adverse health effects are related to the amount and condition of exposure to arsenic. This required us to choose toxicity reference values (TRVs) above which adverse effects may occur for noncarcinogenic and for carcinogenic effects. Exposure factors have been calculated in two scenarios: people from 0 to 14 years old and people from 15 to 70 years. Exposure has been estimated indirectly through consideration of measured concentrations of arsenic in drinking water. This study show that people in the Yatenga, Zondoma and Passore provinces are at very high risk for developing several pathologies such as hyper pigmentation, keratosis, cancer, etc. due by chronic exposure to arsenic in drinking water.

Health Risk Assessment of Mobility-Related Air Pollution in Ha Noi, Vietnam

Hanoi is the capital city of Vietnam and the second largest city of the country, just behind Ho Chi Minh City. During the last two decades, Hanoi developed fast and expanded steadily. Since the city acquired large parts of the surrounding provinces in 2008, Hanoi tripled its size and doubled its population. The new development aims to spread the concentrated population and economic activities to alleviate the stress caused by pollution and the decreasing quality of life of the residents. Hanoi has a very fast growing fleet of motor vehicles, at the rate of 12% - 15% annually. The fast transition from bikes to motorcycles and to cars results in a most serious environmental burden in particular on the air quality and human health. This paper overviews the air quality and pollution caused by road traffic in central Hanoi (5 old districts) and the related health outcomes due to particulate matters (PM10 and PM2.5). It uses dose-response functions to quantify the number of extra deaths resulting from traffic-related particulate matters. The results are compared with those of other studies to assess the impacts of air pollution on human health in large, crowded and fast developing cities in Southeast Asia. Assessment of the health risk caused by traffic shows that mobility in Hanoi causes a high health burden. In 2009, mobility caused 3200 extra deaths by traffic related PM10. The result shows that health impacts due to air pollution are by far larger than the number of fatalities due to traffic accidents.

Damage effectiveness assessment method for anti-ship missiles based on double hierarchy linguistic term sets and evidence theory

The research on the damage effectiveness assessment of anti-ship missiles involves system science and weapon science, and has essential strategic research significance. With comprehensive analysis of the specific process of the damage assessment process of anti-missile against ships, a synthetic damage effectiveness assessment process is proposed based on the double hierarchy linguistic term set and the evidence theory. In order to improve the accuracy of the expert ’s assessment information, double hierarchy linguistic terms are used to describe the assessment opinions of experts. In order to avoid the loss of experts ’ original information caused by information fusion rules, the evidence theory is used to fuse the assessment information of various experts on each case. Good stability of the assessment process can be reflected through sensitivity analysis, and the fluctuation of a certain parameter does not have an excessive influence on the assessment results. The assessment process is accurate enough to be reflected through comparative analysis and it has a good advantage in damage effectiveness assessment.

Significance of Personal Exposure Assessment to Air Pollution in the Urban Areas of Egypt

Air pollution, both indoor and outdoor, has been found to be related to serious adverse health effects. Accurate estimation of air pollution exposure has become very important to suggest proper air pollution control policies and to further assess the effectiveness of these policies. In many instances, personal exposures have been found to be greater than concentrations measured at fixed site monitoring stations. As people spend most of their time indoors particularly during harsh weather conditions, it is necessary to consider indoor air quality in exposure assessment studies. The current paper focuses on the importance of personal exposure assessment based on spatial and temporal activity patters both indoors and outdoors.

Chimney Effect Assessment of the Double-skin Facade

The mathematic model of heat transfer through ventilated double glazing was verified with the measured data,which were from a test chamber equipped with glass face temperature,solar radiation,ambient temperature,and wind speed measurement facility.After the model validation,the double-skin facade assessment was carried out through simulation with ESP-r software integrating thermal simulation and air low net work module.The air flow situation in the air gap was analyzed on the basis of the hourly air velocity simulation data within typical winter week,summer week,spring week and autumn week.The differences of chimney effect in different seasons were discussed,and the thermal loads resulted from the ventilated and unventilated double skin facade were presented.

Objective assessment of the antispasmodic effect of Shakuyaku-kanzo-to (TJ-68),a Chinese herbal medicine,on the colonic wall by direct spraying during colonoscopy

瞄准：客观地在结肠镜检查期间在结肠的痉挛上评估 TJ-68 的效果。方法：受到屏蔽结肠镜检查的 101 个病人随机被分到二个组：在 51 个题目和 saline 的 TJ-68 作为在 50 的控制。内诊镜被插入到 S 字形的冒号，然后，一个痉挛区域被识别，结肠镜的尖端从痉挛区域在大约 10 公里的距离被放。内视镜的看法在 TJ-68 答案的直接喷洒前后被记录或温暖 saline。痉挛区域的管腔内区域连续地用一个计算机图象分析器被测量并且表示了为象素计数。在曲线(AUC ) 下面的区域从象素曲线被计算。统计意义被 Wilcoxon 的测试和 Mann-Whitney U 测试估计。结果：分别地，当时，在喷洒的 TJ-68 前后的痉挛区域的吝啬的 AUC 是 29,128 和 121,943 个象素与 saline，它分别地是 31,635 个象素和 48,617 个象素。因此， AUC 显著地在与喷洒 saline (P【0.001 ) 相比喷洒的 TJ-68 以后增加了。结论：在结肠的粘膜上的 TJ-68 的直接喷洒压制了结肠的痉挛和它当反副交感神经生理的代理人被禁忌时，可能在结肠镜检查期间有用。

GIS-based Effect Assessment of Soil Erosion Before and After Gully Land Consolidation: A Case Study of Wangjiagou Project Region, Loess Plateau

The Loess Plateau is one typical area of serious soil erosion in the world. China has implemented ′Grain for Green′(GFG) project to restore the eco-environment of the Loess Plateau since 1999. With the GFG project subsidy approaching the end, it is concerned that farmers of fewer subsidies may reclaim land again. Thus, ′Gully Land Consolidation Project′(GLCP) was initiated in 2010. The core of the GLCP was to create more land suitable for farming in gullies so as to reduce land reclamation on the slopes which are ecological vulnerable areas. This paper aims to assess the effect of the GLCP on soil erosion problems by studying Wangjiagou project region located in the central part of Anzi valley in the middle of the Loess Plateau, mainly using the revised universal soil loss equation(RUSLE) based on GIS. The findings show that the GLCP can help to reduce soil shipment by 9.87% and it creates more terraces and river-nearby land suitable for farming which account for 27.41% of the whole study area. Thus, it is feasible to implement the GLCP in places below gradient 15°, though the GLCP also intensifies soil erosion in certain places such as field ridge, village land, floodplain, natural grassland, and shrub land. In short, the GLCP develops new generation dam land and balances the short-term and long-term interests to ease the conflicts between economic development and environmental protection. Furthermore, the GLCP and the GFG could also be combined preferably. On the one hand, the GFG improves the ecological environment, which could offer certain safety to the GLCP, on the other hand, the GLCP creates more farmland favorable for farming in gullies instead of land reclamation on the slopes, which could indirectly protect the GFG project.

Research on Public Participation and Information Publicity in Strategic Environmental Assessment

It has been generally recognized that strategic environmental assessment integrates environment and development into decision-making and becomes an important decision-making tool for implementing sustainable development. This paper firstly introduces the relationships of SEA, public participation(PP)and information publicity(IP),then discusses the key parts in enforcing the effective process of PP: They are the methods for how to make sufficient information open (What), when to implement PP (When), who will determinate the public (Who), and how to make the models of PP (How). Six cases are compared and analyzed. At last, ways to improve the effectiveness of PP in China is also presented.

A PROBABILISTIC ASSESSMENT OF TEMPERATURE EFFECTSON THE LOW CYCLE FATIGUE BEHAVIOUR OF 1Cr_(18)Ni_9Ti STEEL WELD METAL

Based on the test results obtained from the single-step test and the incremental-step test at room temperature and 240℃, a probabilistic assessment of temperature effects on the cyclic stress-strum response and the fatigue life of 1Cr18Ni9Ti steel weld metal is performed. In orber to assess the temperature effect on cyclic stress amplitude where there is a scatter of the material cyclic constitution, a probabilistic assessment approach on the basis of probabilistic modified Ramberg-Osgood relations is introduced.The investigation shows that the cyclic stress amplitude and the scatter of cyclic stress amplitude data are decreased at 240℃. Similarly, from the consideration of the fatigue life scatter a probabilistic assessment of temperature effect on the fatigue life is suggested on the basis of probabilistic Langer S-N relations. The investigation shows that the crack initiation life is increased and the scatter of crack initiation life data is decreased at 240℃.

Work Effectiveness,Problems and Countermeasures of Third-Party Assessment Teams from Colleges and Universities for Targeted Poverty Alleviation

Conducting a third-party assessment on targeted poverty alleviation can effectively avoid the disadvantage that local government plays as both athlete(i.e.performer of poverty alleviation work)and referee(i.e.referee for poverty alleviation effect)in poverty alleviation to ensure the truth of poverty alleviation,and therefore,it is an important part of the work to win the battle against poverty.Since 2016,the thirdparty assessment teams from colleges and universities for targeted poverty alleviation have achieved good results and performance in the assessment on both the effectiveness of targeted poverty alleviation work and the exit of poor counties in China,and they have made due contributions to the cause of poverty alleviation.However,as a new thing,third-party assessment obviously has some problems,mainly including the following:subjective understanding on the long-term nature of rural poverty alleviation is insufficient,and there is a lack of long-term considerations and related mechanism for third-party assessment;affected by policies and institutions,most of the existing third-party assessment teams from colleges and universities have not regarded third-party assessment of targeted poverty alleviation as a cause,and they lack the motivation to actively study the assessment business;and the third-party assessment staff from colleges and universities for targeted poverty alleviation have low stability and high mobility,not conducive to the long-term construction of assessment teams.In order to establish long-term poverty alleviation and prevention mechanisms,these issues must be addressed squarely and relevant countermeasures need to be taken actively to effectively build a long-term mechanism for building third-party assessment teams from colleges and universities for targeted poverty alleviation.

Assessment of the Tidal Current Energy Resources and the Hydrodynamic Impacts of Energy Extraction at the PuHu Channel in Zhoushan Archipelago,China

An unstructured model FVCOM(The Unstructured Grid Finite Volume Community Ocean Model)with sink momentum term was applied to simulate the tidal current field in Zhoushan Archipelago,China,with focus on the region named PuHu Channel between Putuo Island and Hulu Island.The model was calibrated with several measurements in the channel,and the model perform-ance was validated.An examination of the spatial and temporal distributions of tidal energy resources based on the numerical simula-tion revealed that the greatest power density of tidal energy during spring tide is 3.6kWm^(−2)at the northern area of the channel.Two parameters were introduced to characterize the generation duration of the tidal array that causes the temporal variation of tidal current energy.The annual average available energy in the channel was found to be approximately 2.6MW.The annual generating hours at rated power was found to be 1800 h when the installed capacity of tidal array is approximately 12MW.A site for the tidal array with 25 turbines was selected,and the layout of the array was configured based on the EMEC specifications.Hydrodynamic influence due to the deployment of the tidal array was simulated by the modified FVCOM model.The simulation showed that the tidal level did not significantly change because of the operation of the tidal array.The velocity reduction covered a 2km^(2)area of the downstream the tidal array,with a maximum velocity reduction of 8cms−1 at mid-flood tide,whereas the streamwise velocity on both sides of the farm increased slightly.