Improving water service to the urban poor through delegated management: Lessons from the city of Kisumu,Kenya

Partnerships like the delegated management model (DMM), in which a utility delegates management of infrastructure and service delivery to slum residents, are being promoted to improve services to the urban slums in sub‐Saharan Africa. However, there is little empirical evidence of the benefits that DMM offers beneficiaries and its potential limitations. This study, conducted in 2013, compared water service in two slums in the city of Kisumu in Kenya where DMM has been implemented with another where it has not been implemented. Results showed that DMM had lowered the cost of water compared to water kiosks in neighbourhoods in which DMM had not been implemented. The study findings contribute toward an evidence base for stakeholders and regulators who see an opportunity in the integration of DMM into local drinking water provision solutions in urban slums.     

宋元之际上海的兴起

上海在宋末由村设镇,元初由镇升县,迅速崛起。上海设镇时间在宋理宗淳祐十一年(1251年)到宝祐四年(1256年)之间,最有可能是1255年。上海主要是在长江三角洲取代了江阴的地位,因而得以兴起,而非前人认为上海取代华亭县内青龙镇的地位。宋末上海市舶分司兼管上海镇,上海市舶分司长官有蔡起莘、陈壁,其中蔡起莘也是上海的武官,由提举上海市舶分司兼任上海监镇,江阴市舶务在1255年裁并。宋末上海长官兼管海防,辖有招安海盗张瑄的船队,职务重要。元初上海的因漕立县,主要体现在豪族聚居与漕粮激增这两方面。漕运豪族是上海县的支配者,与上海县互相依存。宋末和元初上海迅速发展的经济基础都是航运业,宋元之际的上海发展是连贯一体的。     

动产浮动抵押抑或特别动产集合抵押——对我国《物权法》第181、189及196条的理解

对我国《物权法》第181、189及196条所规范的制度的性质存在两种观点:动产浮动抵押及特别动产集合抵押。产生这两种观点的原因在于对浮动抵押制度界定的差异。浮动抵押制度的特征在于标的物的浮动性、抵押人处分抵押物的自由及可转化为固定抵押,依据这三个特征可以确定,我国《物权法》的181、189及196条所规范的制度为动产浮动抵押。创设特别动产集合抵押制度并不利于我国对这三个条款所规范内容的理解及适用。     

城市供水管网系统工况分析的研究

通过分析实际供水管网系统的特征，对管网工况分析所涉及的几个尚未解决的计算问题进行了研究，提出了用计算机进行工况分析的思路与框架，为管网运行调度及研究管网水质模型打下了良好基础．     

水资源开发利用的环境效应与反思

水资源开发利用带来了土壤盐碱化、水质退化、江河断流及生态环境破坏等环境效应 ,同时也留给人们一些重要启示。从马克思主义哲学的角度 ,揭示了人与自然、水资源、环境之间的相互依赖、相互作用、相互影响的内在关系。在水资源规划管理中 ,只有尊重自然规律 ,充分考虑水资源开发的负效应 ,才能真正实现水资源的可持续开发利用     

气浮综合改进设施处理高浓度造纸废水

本文报道了气浮综合改进设施处理高浓度造纸废水的流程和改革，结果表明：改进后的气浮设施COD去除率由60％提高到75％，SS去除率由51％提高到71％，气浮出水河直接回用于造纸的主要过程，处理效果明显优于单纯的气浮处理。而且改进部分投资少，动力消耗少，是处理高浓度造纸废水的简便易行、值得推广的方法。     

从媒体的象征交换到"游戏"的大众--鲍德里亚的大众媒体批判理论研究

鲍德里亚的媒体思想分为前后两个时期。其前期思想主要集中于电视媒体中符号的能指与所指分离以及大众媒体播放的单向性特征,这些现象导致了符号意义的丧失与大众的反抗。后期鲍德里亚思想主要体现在媒体自身的真实性与仿真性的矛盾上,这一矛盾导致了“意义”的混乱,并使大众采取了新的反抗形式,即“调侃和游戏”的反抗形式。鲍德里亚的媒体批判理论标志着西方社会批判理论已从单纯的物的“异化”批判进入了大众媒体的“符号”批判,同时也暴露了其思想的内在不足。     

读《太子成道经》三题

敦煌变文<太子成道经>叙述释迦牟尼从其母"右胁出身胎"、"袖中生"出,这与印度古代的种姓等级制度密切相关,是婆罗门教所谓不同种姓的人从梵天不同部位生出的神话之体现,"右胁"出生主要是秦汉以后"尊右卑左"观念的影响;释迦太子出生后"九龙吐水"洗浴其身,"九龙"是佛教输入后中国化的产物;释迦牟尼娶妻时所问"三从",是借用儒家提倡的妇道,来表明印度古代妇女在宗法家族中的卑微地位.     

Do Reports on Drinking Water Quality Affect Customers' Concerns? Experiments in Report Content

The Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996 required U.S. utilities to report on drinking water quality to their customers annually, beginning in fall 1999, on the assumption that such reports would alert them to quality problems and perhaps mobilize pressure for improvement. A random sample of New Jersey customers read alternative versions of a water quality report, in an experiment on reactions to water quality information under U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) rules. Experiment design was 2 x 3 + 1: two versions each--one with, one without, a violation of a health standard--of a report that was (1) Qualitative (without water quality numbers, thus not meeting USEPA rules); (2) Basic, with minimal information meeting the rules; or (3) Extended, adding reading aids and utility performance information; plus a control instrument without any hypothetical report. Results of ANOVA suggest the reports will have less effect than hoped or feared. These manipulations were successful: people reading the Qualitative versions were less likely to say that the report gave the amounts of substances found in the water, and those reading Violation versions were more likely to report a violation of a health standard. The main differences in responses to the report involved the judged adequacy of the information, and to a lesser extent responses on a Concern scale (constructed from measures of concern, judged risk, clean-up intentions, distrust of utility information, and doubt that the utility was doing all it could to improve water quality). Overall judgments of water quality and utility performance did not change, either relative to the controls or in before versus after responses. Qualitative reports performed worse than others, confirming the decision to have utilities report actual contaminant levels. Extended reports did only slightly better than the Basic versions on these measures. Many respondents had trouble identifying the presence or absence of substance amounts or violations, despite their seeming obviousness (e.g., in a "bottom line" summary on the front page of each report), suggesting many were not processing this information carefully. However, the pattern of responses for those who accurately identified the presence or absence of substance amounts or violations did not differ substantially from that for the group as a whole. Generic risk beliefs (serious local environmental problems; lack of control over risks to one's health) dominated demographic variables, attitudes toward utility water quality or trustworthiness, and the content and format of water quality reports in influencing concern about drinking water quality. Previous empirical and theoretical evidence for lack of change in public risk attitudes due to one-time or infrequent communications--e.g., role of personal experience, perseverance of prior trust or distrust--seems to be confirmed for annual water quality reports.     

西部开发中深化流动人口计划生育管理的若干问题探讨

西部大开发将使流动人口与日俱增,要深化流动人口计生管理,领导重视是前提,宣传教育是先导,贯彻落实是关键,部门协调是保障,管理服务是途径,综合治理是方向.