Ngā Mōwaho: an analysis of Māori responses to the Christchurch earthquakes

Since September 2010, a series of earthquakes have caused widespread social, financial and environmental devastation in Christchurch, New Zealand. Anecdotal evidence suggests that local Māori responded effectively to facilitate community recovery and resilience. However, the form, content and extent of that response has not been adequately recognised or documented. This qualitative research project, conducted in partnership with Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, has documented the way in which Māori cultural factors have facilitated disaster risk reduction and management in response to the earthquakes. This paper explores sets of understandings about marginalisation and inclusion within the narratives of 70 Māori community members who contributed to this research. Forms of marginalisation expressed in participants’ narratives include delayed linkages to the formal emergency management infrastructure, difficulties integrating Māori volunteers into the mainstream response as well as enduring barriers to Māori engagement within Civil Defence, illustrated in a lack of Māori representation as well as tikanga Māori within emergency planning. We argue that the knowledge, principles and practices embedded within Māori responses to the Christchurch earthquakes may be contextually relevant for national and regional policy development in the area of disaster risk management, response and recovery.     

国际干散货运输航线间即期与远期市场的关联机制研究

以C3、C5航线FFA交易即期和远期的日数据为研究对象,以向量自回归模型为基础,利用脉冲响应分析和方差分解分析方法,对C3、C5航线的即期与远期市场及其航线间的相关关系进行了实证分析。脉冲响应结果显示,同一航线即期市场的波动会引起远期市场的波动,反之则影响较小;C5航线的波动能迅速传给C3航线,反之则较弱。通过方差分解分析可以发现,即期市场的预测波动大约有50％来源于对应的远期市场但远期市场的预测波动主要取决于远期市场本身;C3航线的预测波动主要取决于本航线,而C5航线的预测波动则有一半来源于C3航线。     

积极应对外商投资对我国环境造成的污染

实践表明,利用外商投资对我国经济发展起到了关键的作用,但由于处在经济发展中的被动地位,发展中国家在国际分工中往往以牺牲环境为代价换取经济发展.这不仅造成了局部环境的恶化,也严重影响了我国经济的可持续发展.在利用外资中,如何保持高速发展,在扩大开放中保持良性循环,已成为当务之急.     

An Exposure‐Response Threshold for Lung Diseases and Lung Cancer Caused by Crystalline Silica

Whether crystalline silica (CS) exposure increases risk of lung cancer in humans without silicosis, and, if so, whether the exposure‐response relation has a threshold, have been much debated. Epidemiological evidence is ambiguous and conflicting. Experimental data show that high levels of CS cause lung cancer in rats, although not in other species, including mice, guinea pigs, or hamsters; but the relevance of such animal data to humans has been uncertain. This article applies recent insights into the toxicology of lung diseases caused by poorly soluble particles (PSPs), and by CS in particular, to model the exposure‐response relation between CS and risk of lung pathologies such as chronic inflammation, silicosis, fibrosis, and lung cancer. An inflammatory mode of action is described, having substantial empirical support, in which exposure increases alveolar macrophages and neutrophils in the alveolar epithelium, leading to increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitrogen species (RNS), pro‐inflammatory mediators such as TNF‐alpha, and eventual damage to lung tissue and epithelial hyperplasia, resulting in fibrosis and increased lung cancer risk among silicotics. This mode of action involves several positive feedback loops. Exposures that increase the gain factors around such loops can create a disease state with elevated levels of ROS, TNF‐alpha, TGF‐beta, alveolar macrophages, and neutrophils. This mechanism implies a “tipping point” threshold for the exposure‐response relation. Applying this new model to epidemiological data, we conclude that current permissible exposure levels, on the order of 0.1 mg/m³, are probably below the threshold for triggering lung diseases in humans.     

Calibration Estimator of a Rare Sensitive Attribute with Poisson Distribution

In this paper we consider the calibration procedure for a rare sensitive attribute with Poisson distribution which suggested by Land et al. (2012) using auxiliary information associated with the variable of interest. In the calibration procedure, we can use auxiliary information such as socio-demographical variables for the respondents of rare sensitive attribute questions from an external source, and then this estimator can be improved with respect to the problems of non coverage or non response. From the efficiency comparison study, we show that the calibrated Poisson RR estimators are more efficient than that of Land et al. (2012), when the known population cell and marginal counts of auxiliary information are used for the calibration procedure.     

Conditions for fourth order rotatability in K dimensions

In this paper, conditions for a set of points to form a rotatable design of order four have been worked out. These condi- tions form the basis for obtaining a set of rotatable designs of order four.     

自然伽马能谱测井谱解析方法研究

自然伽马能谱测井是重要的核测井方法之一，其地面信息处理系统的关键是实测谱解析技术。低分辨率是自然伽马能谱测井仪的固有弱点，且测井过程中信噪比较低，造成测井置信度不高。从自然伽马能谱测井原理出发，通过中海油实验数据处理后获得的放射性核素的标准计数率谱，对自然伽马能谱测井4种传统数据处理方法的优劣进行了对比，初步探讨了将灵敏度高、空间分辨率好的直接解调方法移植到自然伽马能谱测井谱解析中，为自然伽马能谱测井谱解析方法的选择提供了依据。     

Improving Cancer Dose–Response Characterization by Using Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling: An Analysis of Pooled Data for Acrylonitrile-Induced Brain Tumors to Assess Cancer Potency in the Rat

Historically, U.S. regulators have derived cancer slope factors by using applied dose and tumor response data from a single key bioassay or by averaging the cancer slope factors of several key bioassays. Recent changes in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines for cancer risk assessment have acknowledged the value of better use of mechanistic data and better dose–response characterization. However, agency guidelines may benefit from additional considerations presented in this paper. An exploratory study was conducted by using rat brain tumor data for acrylonitrile (AN) to investigate the use of physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling along with pooling of dose–response data across routes of exposure as a means for improving carcinogen risk assessment methods. In this study, two contrasting assessments were conducted for AN-induced brain tumors in the rat on the basis of (1) the EPA's approach, the dose–response relationship was characterized by using administered dose/concentration for each of the key studies assessed individually; and (2) an analysis of the pooled data, the dose–response relationship was characterized by using PBPK-derived internal dose measures for a combined database of ten bioassays. The cancer potencies predicted for AN by the contrasting assessments are remarkably different (i.e., risk-specific doses differ by as much as two to four orders of magnitude), with the pooled data assessments yielding lower values. This result suggests that current carcinogen risk assessment practices overestimate AN cancer potency. This methodology should be equally applicable to other data-rich chemicals in identifying (1) a useful dose measure, (2) an appropriate dose–response model, (3) an acceptable point of departure, and (4) an appropriate method of extrapolation from the range of observation to the range of prediction when a chemical's mode of action remains uncertain.     

The State and Civil Society in Disaster Response

Abstract

This paper, based on the report “The State and Civil Society in Disaster Response: An Analysis of the Tamil Nadu Tsunami Experience,” (Srinivasan, Nagaraj, & Venkatesh, 2005) is essentially an empirical analysis of state and civil society responses in Tamil Nadu (India) to the tsunami of December 26, 2004. It examines interventions by state and non-state agencies, as well as people's experiences in the relief and rehabilitation phases to identify factors influencing both positive and negative outcomes of the tsunami response. Issues related to vulnerability and exclusion, equity, transparency and accountability in different sectors of disaster intervention are explored to highlight themes revolving around reach and efficacy of relief and recovery processes. These analyses bring out some interesting lessons with regard to the importance of institutional autonomy, non-politicized decision-making, and synergetic state-civil society interfaces in fostering inclusive, transparent and accountable rehabilitation processes. The roles played by institutional responsiveness and flexibility in shaping an effective disaster response also emerge very clearly from this study of the Tamil Nadu experience. Another crucial finding points to the need for detailed, reliable and disaggregated geo-demographic and socioeconomic records as a resource base for informing relief and rehabilitation interventions. The study draws extensively from the experiences and insights of people affected by, and involved in tsunami response, and from secondary knowledge resources available on the disaster.