The regulatory framework for the exploitation of medicinal plants in Cameroon: the case of Prunus africana on Mount Cameroon

Before the beginning of its large scale exploitation by a European pharmaceutical company in 1972, the tree species Prunus africana was known in Cameroon only for traditional uses. The present exploitation may lead to its extinction on Mount Cameroon. This paper explains the destruction of P. africana within the current regulatory framework and recommends stricter compliance with the regulations, which would guarantee survival of this species in the wild. Field observations are also presented.     

Employing Detection Controlled Models in Health and Environmental Risk Assessment: A Case in Offshore Oil Drilling

This study examines the determinants of health, safety, and environmental (HS&E) incidence and reporting behavior in Gulf of Mexico offshore drilling. One objective is to determine statistically significant variables that influence the probability of HS&E incidence and reporting. Incidence modeling employs standard qualitative response models with binary and ordered dependent variables, and a Poisson specification. A second objective is to examine the impact of imperfect reporting on inferences. Unlike previous studies, models allowing for the possibility of imperfect reporting are specified and estimated. The results of this analysis provide strong evidence to support the hypothesis that aspects of well complexity and site complexity increase the likelihood of HS&E incidents in drilling. Equally important is evidence rejecting the hypothesis that broader oil company attributes influence HS&E incidence. An analysis of reporting behavior provides mixed support for the hypothesis that well-known firms are more likely to report an incident than their more anonymous counterparts. There is weak evidence indicating differential reporting behavior between regulatory districts. Finally, the analysis provides consistent support for the conclusion that a 1996 policy change reduced HS&E incidence and increased HS&E reporting. The results of this research provide guidance to company managers and regulators on the factors driving HS&E incidence and reporting. Results also provide evidence that models of imperfect reporting can alter, in this case reverse, the interpretation of trends in reported incidents. These results can be used to support efficient resource allocation to prevention efforts, and inform regulatory policy.     

The core regulation module of stress-responsive regulatory networks in yeast

How does a cell respond to numerous external stresses with a limited number of internal molecular components? It has been observed that there are some common responses of yeast to various stresses, but most observations were based on gene-expression profiles and only some part of the common responses were intensively investigated. So far there has been no system-level analysis to identify commonly responsive or regulated genes against various stresses. In this study, we identified a core regulation module (CRM), a commonly involved regulation structure in the regulatory networks of yeast, which cells reuse in response to an array of environmental stresses. We found that regulators in the CRM constitute a hierarchical backbone of the yeast regulatory network and that the CRM is evolutionarily well conserved, stable against genetic variations and crucial for cell growth. All these findings were consistently held up to considerable noise levels that we introduced to address experimental noise and the resulting false positives of regulatory interactions. We conclude that the CRM of yeast might be an evolutionarily conserved information processing unit that endows a cell with enhanced robustness and efficiency in dealing with numerous environmental stresses with a limited number of internal elements.     

Alternative Scenarios for Managing the Environmental Performance of a Service Sector Company

This article presents a scenario analysis for a life-cycle model of service sector companies. The model is based on six case companies and it is applied to test the influence of 32 management scenarios. The scenarios simulate feasible options for environmental management measures in companies, and the life-cycle assessment method is used to model their relevance in terms of the total environmental impact of the company. The study found that the bulk of tested scenarios had only a minor influence on the total environmental impact of the company. Some individual management scenarios, though, turned out to have a major influence on the organization's environmental performance. The scenarios with greatest influence were those related to the procurement of electricity, building energy consumption, commuting vehicle mix, space usage efficiency, and refurbishment periods of the building. All of these management scenarios had an influence of more than 10% on the environmental impact of the model organization.     

Avoiding an overzealous approach: a perspective on regulatory burden

The authors discuss the impact of regulatory burden on the research enterprise, with emphasis on animal care and use programs. They identify three sources of regulatory burden: specific requirements in law and regulation, interpretive requirements or "guidance" by regulatory agencies, and self-imposed regulatory burden resulting from institutional interpretations. Attempting to minimize the risks of noncompliance through the overzealous application of "requirements" does not necessarily benefit the animals. Balancing risks associated with animal research and burden in a successful program requires clear and consistent communication among all stakeholders--the institutional leadership, institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC), attending veterinarian and staff, and scientists. An evaluation tool is provided for institutions to assess their approach to required and voluntary activities in their animal care program. Drawing on the knowledge and experience gained in a combined 40 years of serving on, managing, training, and evaluating animal care programs, the authors conclude that institutions must thoughtfully balance their research and compliance needs to successfully maintain their institutional goals. They stress that a culture of compliance based on knowledge of the regulations, dedication to quality animal care, reasoned use of science-based performance standards, and the judicious application of professional judgment is the foundation for facilitation of research in the context of animal welfare and regulatory compliance.     

The Greening of a Pulp and Paper Mill: International Paper's Androscoggin Mill, Jay, Maine

International Paper (IP), the world's largest forest products company, owns the Androscoggin Mill, a large pulp and paper mill in Jay, Maine, in the northeastern United States. This case study describes the transformation of the Androscoggin Mill from an object of public opprobrium and conflict to a show-case for environmental management. In the late 1980s, an 18-month strike had embittered workers and townspeople and left the mill's reputation in tatters. In response to mill environ-mental violations, some of which were considered crimes by state regulators, the town of Jay passed its own environmental ordinance to control mill emissions. Early in the 1990s, new management, including two former corporate-level employ-ees, sought to change the mill's business approach and turn the Androscoggin Mill into IP's best environmental performer. The initial emphasis on establishing and maintaining compliance was expanded to include aggressive pollution prevention efforts that led to cooperative projects with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and stakeholder groups. The mill's ap-proach in the 1990s evolved further to essentially follow prin-ciples of industrial ecology. New approaches focused on "clos-ing the loop" by finding beneficial uses for previously landfilled wastes, replacements for most hazardous chemicals, and re-ductions in solid and hazardous waste generation. The mill also pursued the establishment of symbiotic relationships with a facility that began using a mill by-product on-site and an on-site natural gas burning facility that provided part of the mill's steam demand. IP also established a public advisory committee in 1992 to advise management on operational and "big-picture" issues, which later included the application of sustain-ability criteria to the mill. IP has since formed community advisory committees at each of their integrated pulp and paper mills.     

A new approach for environmental risk assessment

Environmental problems, such as global warming, the limited supply of sustainable energy, the depletion of natural resources, hazardous emissions released into the atmosphere and waste, are increasing global concerns. Therefore, individuals, communities, and businesses need to address environmental protection and sustainability. Environmental impact assessments are needed to identify, mitigate, and control aspects that affect the environment or a company's products, services, or activities. In this study, a general environmental aspect and impact assessment approach, which can be applied to any company that is involved in the production or service sector, is created. An environmental impact pattern that consists of 10 main and 32 sub-categories was formed based on the ISO 14001, environmental studies and field applications. The developed approach was applied to the dyeing units of a manufacturing firm. Sixteen environmental aspects were identified and assessed using the environmental impact template via the environmental failure mode and effect analysis (E-FMEA) method. The developed-approach can be applied to each sector, which will enable us to perform a detailed analysis of the environmental aspects in the environmental impact category. This approach provides a checklist for the environmental impact studies of businesses and has been pioneered as an effective method for company resources to improve their environmental performance.     

Homeostatic Interplay between Bacterial Cell-Cell Signaling and Iron in Virulence

Pathogenic bacteria use interconnected multi-layered regulatory networks, such as quorum sensing (QS) networks to sense and respond to environmental cues and external and internal bacterial cell signals, and thereby adapt to and exploit target hosts. Despite the many advances that have been made in understanding QS regulation, little is known regarding how these inputs are integrated and processed in the context of multi-layered QS regulatory networks. Here we report the examination of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa QS 4-hydroxy-2-alkylquinolines (HAQs) MvfR regulatory network and determination of its interaction with the QS acyl-homoserine-lactone (AHL) RhlR network. The aim of this work was to elucidate paradigmatically the complex relationships between multi-layered regulatory QS circuitries, their signaling molecules, and the environmental cues to which they respond. Our findings revealed positive and negative homeostatic regulatory loops that fine-tune the MvfR regulon via a multi-layered dependent homeostatic regulation of the cell-cell signaling molecules PQS and HHQ, and interplay between these molecules and iron. We discovered that the MvfR regulon component PqsE is a key mediator in orchestrating this homeostatic regulation, and in establishing a connection to the QS rhlR system in cooperation with RhlR. Our results show that P. aeruginosa modulates the intensity of its virulence response, at least in part, through this multi-layered interplay. Our findings underscore the importance of the homeostatic interplay that balances competition within and between QS systems via cell-cell signaling molecules and environmental cues in the control of virulence gene expression. Elucidation of the fine-tuning of this complex relationship offers novel insights into the regulation of these systems and may inform strategies designed to limit infections caused by P. aeruginosa and related human pathogens.     

Does environmental management improve enterprise's value? – An empirical research based on Chinese listed companies

The company's environmental management behaviors can improve the relationship between the company stakeholders, help companies to sustainably develop. But it is more seen as an obligation and cost of the company's environmental protection in developing countries. So what kind of impact the environmental protection have on the value of the company? Taking Chinese listing Corporation as a sample. This paper analyzes the impact of enterprises’ environmental management and its disclosure on corporate value. We conclude that environmental management excluding independent environment report can improve corporate value. In specific environmental management measures, producing environmental friendly products can help environmental friendly products gain recognition and improve corporate value significantly.     

Impact of present and future regulations on bioremediation

Summary Innovative treatment technologies are in increasing demand to clean up the nation's existing environmental contamination. There also are mounting pressures for industry to minimize the production or generation of hazardous pollutants. Bioremediation is a viable, cost-effective treatment option for both field remediation and treatment in enclosed systems. The use of innovative treatment technologies is largely regulatory driven. Over the last two decades, at least a dozen Federal environmental statutes have been enacted and hundreds of regulations implemented to control releases of pollutants into the air, water and on land. These statutes not only have created markets for the use of treatment technologies, they also may regulate some aspect of the application of that technology. Regarding bioremediation, four statutes should be reviewed to determine if compliance is necessary before employing microorganisms in the field or in enclosed systems. This paper summarizes the Federal statutes (i.e., the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA); the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA); and the Federal Plant Pest Act (FPPA)), and regulations that may impact the bioremediation industry; outlines potential markets for bioremediation that are being driven by regulations; and highlights, within the regulatory framework, promising applications for the bioremediation of hazardous wastes.     

Psychological Factors Determining Individual Compliance with Rules for Common Pool Resource Management: The Case of a Cuban Community Sharing a Solar Energy System

This study focuses on individuals’ subjective reasons for complying with rules for common pool resource management. We examine the topic of individual rule compliance, which the commons literature has addressed only marginally, and outline recent empirical findings. Hypotheses are derived based on rule compliance theory and explored using data gathered in a Cuban community sharing a solar energy system. The statistical analyses reveal that compliance with rules for energy management is influenced by various factors. Depending on the particular rule, factors such as sanctioning, legitimacy, and compatibility, among others, influence the frequency of individual rule compliant behavior to differing extents.     

Relationship between Positive Environmental Disclosures and Environmental Performance: An Empirical Investigation of the Greenwashing Sin of the Hidden Trade‐off

Firms make positive discretionary disclosures about their environmental efforts in order to signify attention to the environmental impacts of their operations. On the one hand, firms may choose to make these disclosures to deflect attention away from other activities that may contribute negatively to their environmental performance (i.e., greenwashing in the form of the “sin of the hidden trade‐off ”). On the other hand, firms making these disclosures may legitimately improve their overall environmental performance. Our study empirically addresses the following question: Do firms that make positive discretionary environmental disclosures improve their overall environmental performance more than the firms that do not make such disclosures? Specifically, because press announcements have been shown to be a popular medium for positive discretionary disclosures, we examine the relationship between announcements in the press of firms’ environmental efforts beyond compliance, and suitably weighted‐aggregated firm‐level releases of the range of pollutants reported to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). We employ matching methods (coarsened exact matching and propensity score matching) that account for potential sources of endogeneity, including the relationship between firms’ prior environmental performance and their propensity to disclose environmental information. Our findings from the matching methods provide encouraging evidence that greenwashing in the form of the sin of the hidden trade‐off does not appear to be prevalent. Additionally, our post hoc analysis explores factors based on the content of disclosures and industry, that may help explain differences in environmental performance among the firms making the disclosures.     

Debate on GMOs health risks after statistical findings in regulatory tests

We summarize the major points of international debate on health risk studies for the main commercialized edible GMOs. These GMOs are soy, maize and oilseed rape designed to contain new pesticide residues since they have been modified to be herbicide-tolerant (mostly to Roundup) or to produce mutated Bt toxins. The debated alimentary chronic risks may come from unpredictable insertional mutagenesis effects, metabolic effects, or from the new pesticide residues. The most detailed regulatory tests on the GMOs are three-month long feeding trials of laboratory rats, which are biochemically assessed. The tests are not compulsory, and are not independently conducted. The test data and the corresponding results are kept in secret by the companies. Our previous analyses of regulatory raw data at these levels, taking the representative examples of three GM maize NK 603, MON 810, and MON 863 led us to conclude that hepatorenal toxicities were possible, and that longer testing was necessary. Our study was criticized by the company developing the GMOs in question and the regulatory bodies, mainly on the divergent biological interpretations of statistically significant biochemical and physiological effects. We present the scientific reasons for the crucially different biological interpretations and also highlight the shortcomings in the experimental protocols designed by the company. The debate implies an enormous responsibility towards public health and is essential due to nonexistent traceability or epidemiological studies in the GMO-producing countries.     

A multidisciplinary approach directed towards the commercial release of transgenic herbicide-tolerant rice in Costa Rica

This review discusses a multidisciplinary and multicomponent approach leading to the development and commercial release of transgenic Costa Rican rice varieties tolerant to the herbicide gluphosinate ammonium. We describe the field evaluations of the transgenic lines and their potential environmental impact, focusing on gene flow, particularly in relation to native wild Oryza species and weedy rice, based on trials performed in compliance with the national regulatory requirements of the country. We also present a socio-economic analysis of rice production in Costa Rica and the economic benefits of genetically modified (GM) rice as well as an environmental risk-benefit analysis for the deployment of GM rice. Additionally, food safety evaluation, intellectual property management, requirements for deregulation, and options for the commercialization of the new varieties are discussed. We also present results from a national survey aimed at assessing the level of support for GM crops in Costa Rica as this forms an integral component of our approach. Taken together, our results demonstrate that the adoption of these genetically improved rice varieties will provide clear benefits to Costa Rican rice growers and consumers.     

Community-based observational assessment of compliance by the public with COVID19 preventive measures in the south of Saudi Arabia

BackgroundAt the end of August 2020, a surge in the number of cases in the Jazan region has been observed. The number of reported cases by 19th of August in the Jazan region was more than 300, which exceeded the number of reported cases in larger regions such as Riyadh, and Makkah. This study aims to measure compliance by the public with COVID-19 preventive measures.MethodsThis study was a cross-sectional, field-based observational assessment of compliance by individuals in public settings with COVID-19 preventive measures in the Jazan region of Saudi Arabia. The assessment was performed in the last week of July 2020. The assessment was based on observing the actual compliance of individuals and different establishments in the Jazan region with COVID-19 preventive measures. To perform the field observations, a standardised check-list was adopted from COVID-19 preventive measures in the community, which was developed by the Saudi Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC).ResultsA total of 1096 individuals were observed in 69 different locations in the Jazan region. Compliance by the observed individuals was variable depending on the age group, the setting and the recommended preventive practice. The findings indicate very low compliance of specific precautionary measures within public parks in comparison to other measured settings. Proportions of individuals not compliant with mask-wearing instructions varied according to settings and age group from 5% in malls and shopping areas to nearly 83% in public parks. Additionally, Proportions of children not compliant with mask-wearing instructions was higher in comparison to adults in all observed settings.ConclusionsThe findings of this study identified variability in the levels of compliance with specific preventive measures against COVID-19. Further assessment is needed to explore factors associated with the limited observed compliance, in particular with regard to limited compliance to precautionary measures applied in specific settings and compliance of children to mask-wearing instructions.     

基于生态需水保障的农业用水安全评价——以山东省引黄灌区为例

保障农业用水安全和生态安全是流域水资源管理的重点,针对黄河口和山东引黄灌区的用水矛盾,采用阈值分析与地统计学方法,考虑作物蒸散发和有效降雨计算山东省引黄灌区灌溉需水量,在优先保障黄河口不同等级生态需水条件下分析灌区（划分为不同调控区）可用水量的响应特征,以地理信息系统（GIS）为平台计算具有时空差异的山东省引黄灌区农业用水安全压力指数,进而评价多时空尺度下的山东省引黄灌区农业用水安全。结果表明,在平水年,保障适宜等级的生态需水后大概有33%的年份农业用水安全存在压力,保障最低等级的生态需水约有27%的农业用水面临短缺,但是大部分情况下农业用水安全压力指数都在30%之下,然而保障最高等级生态需水后,有50%以上的年份存在农业用水安全压力,这种压力无论是从出现频次还是在指数强度上都有明显增加。在空间尺度上,以打渔张、刘春家、麻湾和簸箕李等灌区为代表的调控区2、11、13、14和17的农业用水压力显著,代表年内保障最低等级的生态需水后调控区的农业用水安全压力指数超过了20%,保障适宜等级的生态需水后,大部分调控区的农业用水安全压力指数超过了20%,调控区2和13的压力指数超过了30%,保障最高等级的生态需水后大部分调控区的农业用水安全压力指数超过了60%。在引黄水量调配过程中,应该按照水文年的不同保障合理的生态水量,同时充分考虑水文气象因子的空间差异性,在不同调控区细化分配方案,平水年份保障适宜等级生态需水后农业用水短缺由55.28降低到18.25亿m³。该评价方法反映了优先保障生态需水后灌区农业水资源保障情况,并能有效降低农业和生态用水之间的矛盾,为管理部门进行"精细配水"提供依据。     

Adaptive Dynamics of Regulatory Networks: Size Matters

To accomplish adaptability, all living organisms are constructed of regulatory networks on different levels which are capable to differentially respond to a variety of environmental inputs. Structure of regulatory networks determines their phenotypical plasticity, that is, the degree of detail and appropriateness of regulatory replies to environmental or developmental challenges. This regulatory network structure is encoded within the genotype. Our conceptual simulation study investigates how network structure constrains the evolution of networks and their adaptive abilities. The focus is on the structural parameter network size. We show that small regulatory networks adapt fast, but not as good as larger networks in the longer perspective. Selection leads to an optimal network size dependent on heterogeneity of the environment and time pressure of adaptation. Optimal mutation rates are higher for smaller networks. We put special emphasis on discussing our simulation results on the background of functional observations from experimental and evolutionary biology.     

生态效率方法研究进展与应用

生态效率同时考虑经济效益和环境效益,是将可持续发展的宏观目标融入中观（区域）和微观（企业）的发展规划与管理中的有效工具。回顾了生态效率的概念和发展过程,分析了其内涵和指标体系,探讨了几种典型计算方法与模型,并介绍了国内外在企业、行业和区域3个层次上的应用实践,讨论和提出了进一步开展生态效率研究的焦点问题和未来方向。