Preserving the Ozone Layers: Battling Illegal Trade in Ozone-Depleting Substances

The depletion of the ozone layer, a vital shield protecting the Earth from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation, is now a worldwide environmental concern. Human activities, particularly the release of ozone depleting substances (ODS), have led to the thinning of this protective layer over recent decades. Simultaneously, illegal trade has emerged as a global challenge, giving rise to economic issues, losses of tax revenue, heightened criminal activities, health risks, and environmental hazards. The depletion of the ozone layer, a critical shield protecting the Earth from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation, has become a global environmental concern. This paper delves into the legal dimensions surrounding ozone-depleting substances (ODS), their impact on the ozone layer, and the subsequent risk of skin cancer. As countries navigate international agreements, domestic regulations, and enforcement mechanisms, the intricate interplay between legal frameworks and the health implications of ozone layer depletion comes to the forefront. The paper highlights particular instances of illegal trade in ozone depleting substances, drawing from data reported by the parties to the Montreal Protocol. Notably, China stands out as a significant source of contraband ODS, with other countries such as Bulgaria, Lithuania, Poland, and France reporting numerous cases. Analyzing these case instances offers insights into the efficacy of legal frameworks and enforcement measures. The paper offers a comprehensive set of recommendations to strengthen global control and enforcement against the illegal trade of ozone depleting substances. These recommendations span diverse aspects such as production monitoring, customs collaboration, mutual verification, cross-border agreements, public-private partnerships, international cooperation, detection equipment, global regulatory standards, resource allocation, public awareness campaigns, alternative substance development, and controlling the trade at its source. By applying these recommendations and enhancing enforcement measures, we aim to protect the ozone layer and create a healthier and safer world for future generations and achieve sustainable development goals.

Impact of forest governance and enforcement on deforestation and forest degradation at the district level:A study in West Bengal State,India

According to the United Nations Environmental Programme(UNEP),the world loses 1.0×106hm2forest land through deforestation annually.About 1.6×106people who depend on forests for livelihood are negatively affected by deforestation and forest degradation.The paper attempts to study the impact of forest governance,enforcement and socio-economic factors on deforestation and forest degradation at the local level in West Bengal State,India.The study was based on questionnaire survey data during 2020–2021 collected from three western districts(Purulia,Bankura,and Paschim Medinipur)where deforestation and poverty rates are higher than other districts in West Bengal State.The total number of selected villages was 29,and the total sample households were 693.A stratified random sampling technique was used to collect data,and a questionnaire was followed.Forest governance and enforcement indices were constructed using United Nation Development Programme(UNDP)methodology and a step-wise logistic regression model was used to identify the factors affecting deforestation and forest degradation.The result of this study showed that four factors(illegal logging,weak forest administration,encroachment,and poverty)are identified for the causes of deforestation and forest degradation.It is observed that six indices of forest governance(rule of law,transparency,accountability,participation,inclusiveness and equitability,and efficiency and effectiveness)are relatively high in Purulia District.Moreover,this study shows that Purulia and Bankura districts follow medium forest governance,while Paschim Medinipur District has poor forest governance.The enforcement index is found to be highest in Purulia District(0.717)and lowest for Paschim Medinipur District(0.257).Finally,weak forest governance,poor socio-economic conditions of the households,and weak enforcement lead to the deforestation and forest degradation in the study area.Therefore,governments should strengthen law enforcement and encourage sustainable forest certification schemes to combat illegal logging.

“What Is in a Name?”: “Illegal Pete’s” and the Normalization of Violence Against Mexicans in the United States

On December 2015,a new restaurant opened next to the University of Arizona campus,in Tucson.Its name was“Illegal Pete’s”and it sold Mexican food.The presence of this establishment led to an intense backlash between several University of Arizona students and the owner of the restaurant as they argued over the use of the world“illegal”.This paper reflects on the construction of“illegality”,its meaning and consequences on lived experiences.Drawing on Bakhtin’s analysis of words and his concepts of“single-voiced”and“double-voiced”discourses,I examine how the word“illegal”perpetuates and normalizes discrimination,criminalization,and racism towards Mexican-origin people and leads to feelings of anxious belonging.

Illegal Radio Station Localization with UAV-Based Q-Learning

This paper proposes a novel unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV)-based illegal radio station(IRS) localization scheme, where the transmit power of the IRS, the channel model and the noise model are unknown to the UAV. A direction-aware Q-learning algorithm is developed to process received signal strength(RSS) values collected by a directional antenna, as well as directions corresponding to the RSS values. This algorithm determines the direction the UAV flies towards and thereby finds the IRS. The proposed scheme is compared to two baseline schemes. One baseline locates the IRS by a UAV equipped with an omnidirectional antenna, where conventional Q-learning is exploited to process the measured RSS and determine the UAV's trajectory. The other baseline locates the IRS by a directional-antenna UAV, where the UAV flies towards the direction with respect to the maximum RSS value. Numerical results show that, especially for a low receive SNR, the proposed scheme can outperform the two baselines in terms of the localization efficiency, providing a smoother trajectory for the UAV.

Rapid detection to long ship wake in synthetic aperture radar satellite imagery

The maritime administrative department employs synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite remote sensing technology to obtain evidence of illegal discharge of ships. If the ship is discharged during navigation, it forms a long dark wake on the SAR image due to the suppression of the Bragg wave by the oil fi lm. This study investigates key techniques for rapid detection of long ship wakes, thereby providing law enforcement agencies with candidate ships for possible discharge. This paper presents a rapid long ship wake detection method that uses satellite imaging parameters and the axial direction of the ship in images to determine the potential detection area of the wake. Then, the threshold of long ship wake detection is determined using statistical analysis, the area is binarized, and isolated points are removed using a morphological filter operator. The method was tested with ENVISAT Synthetic Aperture Radar and GF-3 SAR data, and results showed that the method was eff ective, and the overall accuracy of the decision reaches 71%. We present two innovations;one is a method that draws a Doppler shift curve, and uses the SAR imaging parameters to determine the detection area of the long wake to achieve rapid detection and reduce the image detection area. The other is where a classical linear fitting method is used to quickly and accurately determine whether the detected dark area is a long ship wake and realizes the twisted long ship wake detection caused by the sea surface flow field, which is otherwise diffi cult to detect by the traditional Radon and Hough transform methods. This method has good suppression performance for the dark spot false alarm formed by low speed wind region or upward flow. The method is developed for maritime ship monitoring system and will promote the operational application of maritime ship monitoring system.

SSD Real-Time Illegal Parking Detection Based on Contextual Information Transmission

With the improvement of the national economic level,the number of vehicles is still increasing year by year.According to the statistics of National Bureau of Statics,the number is approximately up to 327 million in China by the end of 2018,which makes urban traffic pressure continues to rise so that the negative impact of urban traffic order is growing.Illegal parking-the common problem in the field of transportation security is urgent to be solved and traditional methods to address it are mainly based on ground loop and manual supervision,which may miss detection and cost much manpower.Due to the rapidly developing deep learning sweeping the world in recent years,object detection methods relying on background segmentation cannot meet the requirements of complex and various scenes on speed and precision.Thus,an improved Single Shot MultiBox Detector(SSD)based on deep learning is proposed in our study,we introduce attention mechanism by spatial transformer module which gives neural networks the ability to actively spatially transform feature maps and add contextual information transmission in specified layer.Finally,we found out the best connection layer in the detection model by repeated experiments especially for small objects and increased the precision by 1.5%than the baseline SSD without extra training cost.Meanwhile,we designed an illegal parking vehicle detection method by the improved SSD,reaching a high precision up to 97.3%and achieving a speed of 40FPS,superior to most of vehicle detection methods,will make contributions to relieving the negative impact of illegal parking.

Collaborative Spectrum Sensing for Illegal Drone Detection: A Deep Learning-Based Image Classification Perspective

Drones,also known as mini-unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs),are enjoying great popularity in recent years due to their advantages of low cost,easy to pilot and small size,which also makes them hard to detect.They can provide real time situational awareness information by live videos or high definition pictures and pose serious threats to public security.In this article,we combine collaborative spectrum sensing with deep learning to effectively detect potential illegal drones with states of high uncertainty.First,we formulate the detection of potential illegal drones under illegitimate access and rogue power emission as a quaternary hypothesis test problem.Then,we propose an algorithm of image classification based on convolutional neural network which converts the cooperative spectrum sensing data at a sensing slot into one image.Furthermore,to exploit more information and improve the detection performance,we develop a trajectory classification algorithm which converts theflight process of the drones in consecutive multiple sensing slots into trajectory images.In addition,simulations are provided to verify the proposed methods’performance under various parameter configurations.

Numerical Simulation for Remediation Planning for 1,4-Dioxane-Contaminated Groundwater at Kuwana Illegal Dumping Site in Japan Based on the Concept of Verified Follow Up

At Kuwana illegal dumping site in Japan, where hazardous waste was illegally dumped, groundwater was severely contaminated by Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). Groundwater was already remedied by conducting Pump-and-Treat (P&T) after containment of all the waste by vertical slurry walls from 2002 to 2007. However, 1,4-dioxane was detected in both waste and groundwater outside of slurry walls after it was newly added into Japan environmental standards in late 2009, which suggested that the walls did not contain 1,4-dioxane completely. Our previous study developed a model to predict the 1,4-dioxane distribution in groundwater after the previous remediation at the site. In this study, numerical simulation was applied for remediation planning at the site based on the concept of Verified Follow Up (VF-UP) that had been proposed as a new approach to complete remediation effectively with consideration of future risks. The amount of waste to be removed and pumping plans were discussed by numerical simulation to achieve the remedial objective in which 1,4-dioxane in groundwater outside of walls is remedied within 10 years and 1,4-dioxane spreading throughout the walls is prevented in the case where a portion of waste is remained. Firstly, the amount of waste to be removed considering pumping plans for P&T was determined by scenario analysis. As a result, at least two-third of waste should be removed by combining with P&T. However, if the waste is remained, future risks of 1,4-dioxane spreading through the slurry walls may occur. Our simulation suggested that groundwater within the remaining waste must be pumped up at least 20 m3/d for containment of 1,4-dioxane within the remaining waste. In conclusion, our numerical simulation determined the amount of waste to be removed and the pumping plans for P&T to achieve the remedial objective effectively considering future risks based on the concept of VF-UP.

China Internet Based Academic Journals Digital Publishing Models Study

The research takes three fundamental Internet Academic Journals (IAJ), which are China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chongqing VIP Information Co., Ltd. (VIP) and Beijing Wanfang Data Co., Ltd. (WFD), as subjects to discuss digital publishing mechanism innovations for China’s science information communication system. After introducing main Internet environment, comparing journal characteristics, and explaining publishing & operation modes of the IAJs, the paper analyses important issues such as redundant contents, digitalization issues, illegal journals, standards construction, copyright and benefit distribution. By learning from research practices and open access, a new benefit distribution and copyright management mode based on the Third Party Agency (TPA) is proposed. Future IAJs operation modes are also discussed from the view of scientific research innovation and state of the art platform construction.

“Illegal Operation”是“非法操作”吗？——也谈计算机词汇的翻译

“非法操作”(illegal operation)几乎是每个以Windows作为操作系统的计算机用户都会碰到的一个误操作提示。“illegal”在此是什么意思?它是否真的表示我们通常所理解的“不合法”之意呢?其实，在计算机术语里，“illegal”有特定的含义，即“not interpretable or．recognized in the system in which it occurs”，

Illegal Logging and Related Trade: Who Combat It as Legal Subjects?

Issue on illegal logging and related trade is a hot topic for the international community. It has brought the negative effects to the sustainable development on global society, economy and ecology, which is also one of the main objectives of international cooperation to combat with. At present, subjects of international law play a decisive role in combating illegal logging and related trade. The subjects of international law generally refer to states, intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) and part of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which can have an independent international legal personality, enjoy rights and assume obligations of international law. As a responsible big country of the international community and state member of intergovernmental organizations and international treaties of forest resources protection, China ought to fully perform the obligations of international law. In face of illegal logging and related trade around the world, China should rationally tackle with it, resolutely crack down on it, and finally choose the sustainable development strategy based on rule of law.

瑕疵证据与非法证据界分标准研究

刑事案件中以庭审为中心的实质在于以证据裁判为重心,而证据裁判的前提是构建非法证据和瑕疵证据的界分标准。因此,通过实证分析刑事证据情形常态分布,提出违法程度、证据的客观性和程序正义的界分标准。

A simple dilute and shoot methodology for the identification and quantification of illegal insulin

The occurrence of illegal medicines is a well-established global problem and concerns mostly small molecules. However, due to the advances in genomics and recombinant expression technologies there is an increased development of polypeptide therapeutics. Insulin is one of the best known polypeptide drug, and illegal versions of this medicine led to lethal incidents in the past. Therefore, it is crucial for the public health sector to develop reliable, efficient, cheap, unbiased and easily applicable active pharmaceutical ingredient(API) identification and quantification strategies for routine analysis of suspected illegal insulins. Here we demonstrate that our combined label-free full scan approach is not only able to distinguish between all those different versions of insulin and the insulins originating from different species, but also able to chromatographically separate human insulin and insulin lispro in conditions that are compatible with mass spectrometry(MS). Additionally, we were also able to selectively quantify the different insulins, including human insulin and insulin lispro according to the validation criteria, put forward by the United Nations(UN), for the analysis of seized illicit drugs. The proposed identification and quantification method is currently being used in our official medicines control laboratory to analyze insulins retrieved from the illegal market.

The dissemination of relevant information on wildlife utilization and its connection with the illegal trade in wildlife

We analyzed the generation and dissemination of relevant information on wildlife utilization based on the African bush elephant(Loxodonta africana Blumenbach.),the tiger(Panthera tigris L.)and the totoaba,a species of marine fish,(Totoaba macdonaldi Gilbert)as examples,whose populations are more threatened by the illegal wildlife trade.We compared the illegal trade in wildlife with related information in order to find possible associations,searched for relevant information on major international websites to summarize similarities in information production and dissemination,and used a"Zhiwei"dissemination analysis platform to analyze the dissemination of information circulated at Microblog.The results show that the most infuential information related to the trade in wildlife is mainly generated from news media websites and new selfmedia platforms,usually from non-governmental organizations concerned with wildlife protection.The main factors that affect the depth and breadth of disseminating relevant information on wildlife utilization include the participation of relatively infuential opinion leaders,the verification ratio of forwarding users,the number of followers,and affective identification.Misleading information can stimulate and promote poaching and smuggling,regardless of their real market demand or their products.Therefore,all links in the course of information dissemination should be carefully examined in order to purify the information environment and reduce adverse effects of misleading information on wildlife protection.

Disturbance and forest recovery in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve,Mexico

Analysis of the change in forest cover is important to determine stand dynamics and the processes involved in disturbance and recovery.Forests of the core zone of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve were studied using photo interpretation techniques,considering biennial changes between 1999 and 2013 and changes over the whole period of study 1999–2013.Error matrices were elaborated to determine the processes of change involved in both recovery and disturbance.The biennial changes for the whole period amounted to 2274 ha;343 ha accounted as degraded in more than one biennial period.The total changes in forest cover between 1999 and 2013 involved 4902 ha,out of which,2912 ha were affected by disturbance,and 1990 ha were recovered.For density and 2013 vegetation cover maps,the overall accuracy was 95.6%and 90.2%,respectively.By combining both maps,gradual processes were revealed that were not evident in separate analyses.This methodology is useful for the management and conservation of natural protected areas.

Factors associated with tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use among youth living in West Central Mexico

AIM To determine the prevalence of drug and substance abuse among high school students in Jalisco and its association with the severity of health, behavior and psychosocial problems in order to provide evidence for possible prevention and treatment needs. METHODS A multi-stage random sample of Jalisco high school students was given a paper-and-pencil survey based upon an adapted version of the drug use screening inventory(DUSI)(n = 24699; n = 2832). The DUSI showed adequate psychometric characteristics in this population. The statistical analyses accommodated the complex survey design with attention to unequal probability of selection and clustering of participants within schools and regions. RESULTS An estimated 44% of the students had smoked tobacco, one in five students was a current smoker, and one in four students used to smoke but had not smoked for one year or more. By contrast, 6.8% of the students reported having used marijuana, cocaine, or both. Behavioral problems, deviant peer affiliation, and troubled families were independently associated with drug use. One in two students who used tobacco or alcohol had used these drugs in the past year(46% and 54%, respectively), and one in four students who used marijuana or cocaine in their lifetime had used those drugs in the past year(28% in both cases). CONCLUSION The rates of cocaine use as well as the proportion of current users were higher than expected among high school students and indicate changing patterns of drug use in Mexico. These results corroborate that the general trend of drug use by youth in Mexico is increasing. Results from this study help us better understand the needs of at-risk youth and the need for new treatment and prevention strategies.

Rapid Laboratory Comparison Method for Identification of Hazardous Wastes from Illegal Oil Refining

[Objective] This paper aimed to study the rapid identification method of hazardous wastes from illegal oil refining,and provide a new theoretical basis and practical basis for shortening the appraisal cycle and reducing the cost of identification.[Method] The identified substance and the qualified oil products were diluted by carbon disulfide with a ratio of 1∶100 for the gas chromatographic analysis.According to the corresponding national standard,the oil change indexes,such as the moisture content,viscosity,acid value and mechanical impurities of the identified substance,were measured.[Result] By the comparison between the gas chromatogram spectrograms of the identified substance and the qualified oil,it is found that the main component of the identified substance was the mineral oils.And the test results of oil change index showed that the mineral oil was unqualified.[Conclusion] This method was of great significance to save the cost of appraisal and improve the efficiency of case handling.

Detection of illegal dyes in foods using a polyethersulfone/multi-walled carbon nanotubes composite membrane as a cleanup method

In this paper, a polyethersulfone （PES）/multi-walled carbon nanotubes （MWCNTs） composite membrane was prepared us- ing phase inversion. The surface morphology and internal structure of the membrane were observed by scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. The effects of MWCNTs content on various aspects of membrane performance such as porosity, water flux, and antifouling characteristics were investigated. Results showed that proper addition of MWCNTs would improve the properties of the membrane. MWCNTs had a strong adsorption capacity for industrial dyes and the composite membrane could be used as an effective method to identify and clean up illegal dyes in foods. In addition, this new method for iden- tifying dyes is rapid： the cleanup procedure in the determination of illegal dyes in foods by the composite membrane was shortened to 30 min or less compared to 6-8 h for traditional methods.

Analysis on Local Government's Illegal Occupation of Cultivated Land Using Game Theory

In order to find out reasons for local government illegally occupying cultivated land and reduce such acts to ensure China's grain security,this paper made an analysis through building the single person game model for local government's legal or illegal occupation of cultivation land.It reached the conclusion that the benefit obtained by local government from illegal occupation of cultivated land is far greater than cost and punishment of such illegal acts.Illegal act is an optimal choice of local government to maximize its benefits,which is also the major reason for its illegal occupation of cultivated land.Thus,to reduce these illegal acts of local government,it should reduce benefits of local government obtained from illegal occupation of cultivated land,and increase costs for illegal occupation of cultivated land.

Population Dynamics of Large Herbivores and the Framing of Wildlife Conservation in Zimbabwe

This article reviews: 1) The role of natural and human-induced controls in influencing large herbivore populations;2) how human controls (i.e., policy instruments, incentives and provisions) influence human activities and wildlife conservation;and 3) media framing of wildlife conservation using Zimbabwe as a case study, in particular Gonarezhou National Park and adjacent areas. The review shows that droughts are important in influencing large herbivore populations in semi-arid ecosystems;political instability and economic collapse does not necessarily lead to increased illegal hunting in situations where policy instruments, such as laws, are enforced. A higher perceived effectiveness of Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources was partly associated with a decline in human-wildlife conflicts and there was a spill-over effect of frames from the political domain into wildlife conservation following Zimbabwe’s land reforms in 2000. It is concluded that natural bottom-up processes (e.g., droughts) influence large herbivore population dynamics whereas policy instruments, incentives, provisions and societal frames mainly have a top-down effect on wild large herbivore populations in savanna ecosystems.