The social process of internet appropriation: Living in a digitally advanced country benefits less well-educated Europeans

We generalize and extend the sequential model proposed by the resources and appropriation theory to explain the digital divide in the European Union plus the United Kingdom (EU27+UK). We measure the theoretical constructs of the model with data provided by the EU and test the theoretical predictions using a partial least squares structural equation model. We find support for the hypothesized relationships but find that the effects vary depending on the digital development level of countries. While education overall is the primary determinant of the social production of digital inequalities, a country's digital development level is crucial for less well-educated Europeans. These findings have theoretical and practical implications: (1) they call into question the homogeneity of the effect of causal relationships and the assumption that individuals differ only in terms of motivation, access, and digital skills, and (2) they indicate that socially disadvantaged Europeans benefit from living in more digitally developed countries.     

乡镇供水工程设计中应注意的若干问题

乡镇供水作为水利开发建设中的一个新领域，设计工作是龙头，有许多技术问题需要研究和探索，阐述了乡镇供水工程设计应注意的若干问题，并对设计中存在的一些具体问题进行了分析和探讨。     

重庆市城市土地经济效益评价

从产出和投入两方面构建城市土地经济效益评价的指标体系,采用层次分析法对重庆城市土地的经济效益进行评价,可知:重庆城市土地的经济效益总体水平较低、波动较大,重庆城市近年来投入偏高影响了土地经济效益,而且重庆城市土地利用的集约化水平不高.     

海河流域河道外生态需水研究

水土流失是海河流域较为突出的生态环境问题之一。经对比研究发现，植被覆盖度的变化会通过影响洪充量，土壤侵蚀量等因子，进而改变水土流失的状况。从提高植被覆盖度尤其是低覆盖度草地植被的角度出发，定量研究了为改善流域水土流失状况河道外生态需水的具体数额，得出海河流域现状年河道外生态耗水（降水）385亿m^3。另外，为改善河道外生态环境状况将低覆盖度草地提高地提高至中等覆盖度水平，则需要增加生态需水12．5亿m^3。     

需水胁迫下的流域"三生"用水系统演化分析

生态用水和社会经济用水的竞争状况使得研究水资源短缺地区流域“三生”用水系统演化状况,以及有效进行流域“三生”用水系统的调控十分必要。从宏观角度出发,本文提出了构建流域主要指标为状态变量下的“三生”用水系统演化模拟模型,并利用模型进行演化趋势预测的分析思路。以蓟运河流域为例,构建了人口数量、人均GDP、生态系统指数以及生态用水比例为状态变量的“三生”用水系统演化模型。通过定量模拟,表明若不加以调控,该流域最终将走向生态失衡、经济停滞的恶性局面。由参数设置对调控方案进行分析,提出了提高生态用水比例、控制经济增长速度、提高用水效率和积极进行生态建设对策,为实现蓟运河流域的“三生”用水系统可持续发展服务。     

Labour use efficiency in the Indian and Pakistani commercial banks

The Indian and Pakistani banking industry is said to have an excessive use of labour due to the significant market share of government owned banks. Both countries have undertaken a process of regulatory reform to bring about market discipline in the usage of inputs and to increase the labour use efficiency and productivity. The focus of this paper is the estimation of productivity and efficiency of labour use in the banking sectors of the Indian sub-continent. The results show that the efficiency of labour use across the Indian sub-continent is improving over time and that foreign banks are more efficient compared to domestically owned banks in their usage of labour.     

Fuzzy Multiobjective and Linear Programming Based Management Models for Optimal Land-Water-Crop System Planning

In this article, linear programming and fuzzy optimization models are developed for planning and management of available land-water-crop system of Mahanadi-Kathajodi delta in eastern India. The models are used to optimize the economic return, production and labour utilization, and to search the related cropping patterns and intensities with specified land, water, fertilizer and labour availability, and water use pattern constraints. Due to extreme backwardness of the study area, it has been decided to keep all the three objectives of the linear programming models at the same priority level to obtain the compromised solution in a fuzzy environment that incorporates the imprecision in fuzzy goals and fuzzy constraints. These non-structural models facilitate the conjunctive use of available surface water and groundwater resources. A comparative evaluation along with the benefit-cost ratios of the existing and proposed farming systems is also presented.     

Shift in thinking to address the 21st century hunger gap

The present water policy debate is dominated by the 30 yr old mission to secure water supply and sanitation to all people. The water needed to produce a nutritionally acceptable diet for one person is however 70 times as large as the amount needed for domestic water supply. The food security dilemma is largest in arid climate regions, a situation constituting a formidable challenge. It is suggested that an additional 5 600 km³/yr of consumptive water use will be needed to produce an adequate amount of food by 2050 – i.e almost a doubling of today’s consumptive use of 6800 km³/yr. Past misinterpretations and conceptual deficiencies show the importance of a shift in thinking. Combining the scale of the challenge and the time scale of the efforts to feed humanity and eradicate hunger leads to an impression of great urgency. This urgency strengthens the call for international research both for supporting agricultural upgrading, and for much better handling of issues of environmental sustainability. What stands out is the need of a new generation of water professionals, able to handle complexity and able to incorporate water implications of land use and of ecosystem health in integrated water resources management. It will for those reasons be essential and urgent to upgrade the educational system to producing this new generation.     

Influences of land use/cover on water quality in the upper and middle reaches of River Njoro, Kenya

Data from 10 sampling sites along the River Njoro are used to examine the contribution of nutrients from upstream land uses draining each of the sampling sites. The data also are used to assess whether both the proportion of land uses and the size of the subwatersheds account for the variability in water quality in the River Njoro watershed. Geographical Information System analysis was used to determine the spatial distribution of land‐cover types and subwatersheds contributing run‐off to the sampling sites in the River Njoro. Standard Digital Elevation Model‐based routines were used to establish the watershed area contributing run‐off to each sampling site. Water and sediment samples were collected for chemical analysis, and the nutrient levels were related to the upstream land‐use types and the size of the subwatersheds. The mid‐stream portion of the River Njoro (near Egerton University) accounts for the highest nutrient contributions. The percentage contribution is magnified by additions from industrial, human settlements and agricultural land uses around the University. There is a significant decrease in nutrient levels downstream, however, indicating natural purification as the river flows through an area of large‐scale farming with intense, well‐preserved riparian and in‐stream vegetation. Steep slopes of the land upstream of Egerton University enhance erosion and nutrient losses from those subwatersheds. Mixed small‐scale agricultural and bare lands contribute over 55% of the phosphorus load to the upper and mid‐reaches of the River Njoro. The size of the subwatershed accounts for about 53% of the variability in the soluble phosphorus in the river. The land‐use subwatershed proportions are important for characterizing and modelling water quality in the River Njoro watershed. Upland land uses are as important as near‐stream land uses. We suggest that conservation of intact riparian corridor along the river and its tributaries contributes significantly to natural purification processes and recovery of the ecological integrity of the River Njoro ecosystem.     

充分灌与调亏灌溉条件下桃树滴灌的耗水量研究

本文研究了充分灌与调亏灌溉条件下桃树滴灌的耗水量。在田间设置有两个处理，其一是在整个生育期以蒸发量的80%进行充分灌溉；其二是在果实生长缓慢期以蒸发量的20%进行亏缺灌溉，而在其它季节以蒸发量的80%进行充分灌溉。利用石膏块土壤水分传感器和中子仪分别测量了根区土壤水势和土壤含水量的变化，并实测了果实生长量、枝条生长量和产量。利用水量平衡法得出了在上述两种滴灌条件下桃树不同生育期的日均耗水量与蒸发皿系数。与充分灌比较，调亏灌溉对产量没有影响，灌水量减少了32%，并有效抑制了枝条生长。