Environmental economic impact assessment in China: Problems and prospects

The use of economic valuation methods to assess environmental impacts of projects and policies has grown considerably in recent years. However, environmental valuation appears to have developed independently of regulations and practice of environmental impact assessment (EIA), despite its potential benefits to the EIA process. Environmental valuation may be useful in judging significance of impacts, determining mitigation level, comparing alternatives and generally enabling a more objective analysis of tradeoffs. In China, laws and regulations require the use of environmental valuation in EIA, but current practice lags far behind. This paper assesses the problems and prospects of introducing environmental valuation into the EIA process in China. We conduct four case studies of environmental economic impact assessment (EEIA), three of which are based on environmental impact statements of construction projects (a power plant, a wastewater treatment plant and a road construction project) and one for a regional pollution problem (wastewater irrigation). The paper demonstrates the potential usefulness of environmental valuation but also discusses several challenges to the introduction and wider use of EEIA, many of which are likely to be of relevance far beyond the Chinese context. The paper closes with suggesting some initial core elements of an EEIA guidelineEnvironmental impact assessment; Environmental valuation; China; Economic analysis

catena-Poly[[chloridomercury(II)]-μ-1,4-diaza­bicyclo­[2.2.2]octane-κ2 N:N′-[chlorido­mercury(II)]-di-μ-chlorido]

In the title coordination polymer, [Hg2Cl4(C6H12N2)]n, each HgII center within the chain is four-coordinated by one terminal Cl atom, two bridging μ2-Cl atoms, and one N-atom donor from a μ2-1,4-diaza­bicyclo­[2.2.2]octane (μ2-daco) ligand in a distorted tetra­hedral geometry. The daco ligand acts as an end-to-end bridging ligand and bridges adjacent HgII centers, forming a chain running along [001]. Weak C—H⋯Cl hydrogen-bonding inter­actions link the chains into a three-dimensional network. Comparison of the structural differences with previous findings suggests that the space between the two N donors, as well as the skeletal rigidity in N-heterocyclic linear ligands, may play an important role in the construction of such supra­molecular networks

Diaqua­bis[5-(2-pyrid­yl)tetra­zolato-κ2 N 1,N 5]iron(II)

The title complex, [Fe(C6H4N5)2(H2O)2], was synthesized by the reaction of ferrous sulfate with 5-(2-pyrid­yl)-2H-tetra­zole (HL). The FeII atom, located on a crystallographic center of inversion, is coordinated by four N-atom donors from two planar trans-related deprotonated L ligands and two O atoms from two axial water mol­ecules in a distorted octa­hedral geometry. The FeII mononuclear units are further connected by inter­molecular O—H⋯N and C—H⋯O hydrogen-bonding inter­actions, forming a three-dimensional framework

Reliable Dynamic Packet Scheduling over Lossy Real-Time Wireless Networks

Along with the rapid development and deployment of real-time wireless network (RTWN) technologies in a wide range of applications, effective packet scheduling algorithms have been playing a critical role in RTWNs for achieving desired Quality of Service (QoS) for real-time sensing and control, especially in the presence of unexpected disturbances. Most existing solutions in the literature focus either on static or dynamic schedule construction to meet the desired QoS requirements, but have a common assumption that all wireless links are reliable. Although this assumption simplifies the algorithm design and analysis, it is not realistic in real-life settings. To address this drawback, this paper introduces a novel reliable dynamic packet scheduling framework, called RD-PaS. RD-PaS can not only construct static schedules to meet both the timing and reliability requirements of end-to-end packet transmissions in RTWNs for a given periodic network traffic pattern, but also construct new schedules rapidly to handle abruptly increased network traffic induced by unexpected disturbances while minimizing the impact on existing network flows. The functional correctness of the RD-PaS framework has been validated through its implementation and deployment on a real-life RTWN testbed. Extensive simulation-based experiments have also been performed to evaluate the effectiveness of RD-PaS, especially in large-scale network settings