Implementing the human right to water and sanitation: a study of global and local discourses

This article explores global and local discourses on how to implement the newly recognised human right to water and sanitation (HRtWS). We analyse the potential limitations of the human rights frame in the context of critiques that human rights are a liberal, Western discourse that does not reflect the lived experiences of non-Western countries. Through two case studies we find that there are two discourses emerging on how to implement the HRtWS. At the global level, as seen in the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on the HRtWS, we find a hegemonic discourse that is state-centric and market-friendly. In Bolivia, a country currently implementing a human rights-based approach to water services, we find a counter-hegemonic discourse on implementation. We argue that the hegemonic discourse is incomplete and does not fully address barriers to fulfilment of the right, such as state corruption and the needs of peri-urban residents.     

天津市滨海新区海水淡化产业发展前景浅析

随着天津市滨海新区纳人国家发展战略,滨海新区将迎来快速发展的新阶段,对水资源的需求也将继续增大。该文指出,天津市是中国水资源重度缺乏地区,大力发展海水淡化产业,不仅可有效地缓解滨海新区淡水资源的不足,还可以按照发展循环经济的要求拓展海水淡化利用产业链,形成新的经济增长点。但同时滨海新区大规模发展海水淡化利用产业仍面临若干限制条件,海水淡化所带来的一系列问题亦不容忽视。     

多指标正交试验优选苓桂术甘颗粒水提工艺

目的 优选苓桂术甘颗粒的水提工艺。方法 采用正交试验对水提工艺进行优化,以桂皮醛转移率、甘草酸转移率和干膏得率为评价指标,考察加水量、煎煮时间、煎煮次数对提取工艺的影响。结果 最佳提取工艺为加8倍量水,提取3次,每次煎煮1 h。结论 多指标加权考察水提工艺,既符合中药复方的复杂性,又能合理反映水提效果。该水提工艺设计合理,可为苓桂术甘颗粒的研制提供理论和试验基础。     

正交试验法优选桃红四物汤的水提工艺

目的 优选桃红四物汤的水提工艺。方法 以芍药苷和浸膏得率为考察指标,以加水量、提取时间、提取次数为考察因素,采用正交试验优选桃红四物汤的最佳水提工艺。结果 桃红四物汤的最佳水提工艺为加12倍量水提取3次,每次1.5 h。结论 优选出的桃红四物汤的水提工艺合理,可为其工业化生产提供依据。     

艾叶/茶叶水提物促进皮肤感染模型大鼠创面愈合的协同作用及机制研究

目的 探讨艾叶水提物和茶叶水提物对皮肤感染模型大鼠的协同治疗作用及其机制。方法 实验分两个部分进行：第一部分将皮肤感染模型大鼠随机分为模型组、西药组、艾叶水提物组、茶叶水提物组、2∶1组（艾叶水提物与茶叶水提物质量比为2∶1）、1∶1组（艾叶水提物与茶叶水提物质量比为1∶1）和1∶2组（艾叶水提物与茶叶水提物质量比为1∶2）,每组7只。比较治疗前后各组大鼠创面面积;ELISA法检测各组大鼠血清肿瘤坏死因子-α（tumor necrosis factor-α,TNF-α）、白细胞介素（interleukin, IL）-1β、IL-18水平。第二部分随机选取7只大鼠为正常组,将皮肤感染模型大鼠随机分为模型组、2∶1组（艾叶水提物与茶叶水提物质量比为2∶1）,每组7只。Western blot法检测各组大鼠皮肤组织黑色素瘤缺乏因子2（absent in melanoma 2, AIM2）、含有CARD的凋亡相关斑点样蛋白(apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing CARD,ASC)和Caspase-1蛋白表达水平;ELISA法检测各组大鼠血清AIM2、ASC、Caspase-1及IL-1β、IL-18水平。结果 第一部分,与模型组比较,西药组、艾叶水提物组、茶叶水提物组和3个不同比例组感染创口收缩明显,创面面积明显减小,且促炎因子TNF-α、IL-1β、IL-18的表达水平均显著降低（P＜0.05）。其中西药组、2∶1组效果更明显,两组促炎因子TNF-α、IL-1β水平比较,差异无统计学意义（P＞0.05）。第二部分,与正常组比较,模型组感染创面组织中AIM2、ASC、Caspase-1蛋白表达水平和血清IL-1、IL-18水平均显著升高（P＜0.05）。与模型组比较,2∶1组感染创面组织中AIM2、ASC、Caspase-1蛋白表达水平和血清IL-1、IL-18水平均显著降低（P＜0.05）。结论 艾叶水提物和茶叶水提物对治疗皮肤感染模型大鼠存在协同作用,艾叶水提物与茶叶水提物质量比为2∶1是最优比例。其协同机制可能与AIM2炎症小体活化和细胞焦亡通路有关。     

Behind the ‘Miracle’: Non‐Traditional Agro‐Exports and Water Stress in Marginalised Areas of Ica,Peru

Expansion in the non‐traditional agricultural export sector following neoliberal reform has precipitated an economic transformation in Peru. Non‐traditional agricultural export growth has brought environmental, social and distributive costs. This article critically examines the Peruvian asparagus boom and the impact of this on water availability among marginal groups. Based on primary case study fieldwork, the paper asserts that the agro‐export model is causing the over‐exploitation of important groundwater supplies in the Ica Valley where almost all of Peru's fresh asparagus is produced. This reveals wider issues concerning neoliberal development and the political economy of natural resource allocation in Latin America.     

法律视角下我国水污染防治模式转变机制研究

面对我国水资源日渐突出的供需矛盾,2009年国家水利部提出了建设"最严格水资源管理制度"的理念,并于2011年上升到国家管理层面,形成了我国现行的以政府权威管制为主要内容的水污染防治模式。2017年《中华人民共和国水污染防治法》修订以来,我国重新调整了对水资源的监管方式,防治水污染的监管模式逐步向流域水环境统一管理、多元合作治理的模式转变。然而由于法律制度不够细化、缺乏相关配套措施等原因,合作治理模式仍有许多缺憾,需要进一步从法律层面进行规制。     

DROUGHT: THE ACHILLES HEEL OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN

Approximately 97% of the country is experiencing drought conditions. Due to gross water mismanagement and its damaging impact on the country, Iran faces the worst situation in water resources of any industrialized nation. Tens of thousands of villages have been deserted and most of the major urban centers have passed their limits to absorb new rural migrants. Some officials predict that in less than 25 years, 50 million Iranians would be displaced from their current homes because of the pressing ecological conditions. This is happening at the time that the gap between the grassroots and the state has widened and there is increasing dissatisfaction with governance plagued by corruption, nepotism, economic mismanagement, unaccountability and a foreign policy which has produced various regional and trans-regional adversaries. This paper evaluates the pressing ecological challenges in Iran and by conceptualizing political resilience it critically evaluates whether the Islamic Republic is prepared to face the devastating ecological crisis and its socio-economic consequences.     

Legacy Contaminants of Emerging Concern: Lead (Pb), Flint (MI), and Human Health

Abstract

As a heavy metal industrially mined for millenia, lead (Pb) is a legacy contaminant. It is also a contaminant of emerging concern because of its persistence, toxicity, and recent discovery of its resurgence in drinking water serving homes and schools, recently and most notoriously in Flint, Michigan. Concern about lead, however, has reemerged beyond Flint, exemplifying adoption of bad science policy despite availability of relevant good science. Much is known about lead toxicity, and profiled here. Whereas adults chronically exposed to lead may experience peripheral neuropathy, infants and children are more susceptible. They constitute sensitive subpopulations because their blood-brain barriers are immature, making them susceptible to central nervous system effects, most notably reduced IQ, when lead penetrates to developing brains. Failure to protect disadvantaged populations in Flint and beyond despite availability of proven science and inexpensive technology also exemplifies instances of environmental injustice. Emerging concern about lead thus illustrates failure of social as well as science policy. A critical lesson to be learned is that vigilance must be maintained, as knowledge about lead exposure and toxic effects provided by science does not automatically result in consistent and evenhanded legal and regulatory protection provided by government.     

Fresh pipes with dirty water: How quality of government shapes the provision of public goods in democracies

A large strand of research holds that democracy with its broad representation and electoral accountability is beneficial for the provision of public goods. Yet, there is a large variation in how democracies perform, indicating that democratic institutions alone do not suffice for securing citizens’ wellbeing. Recent studies have stressed the equal importance of state capacity for public goods delivery. These studies, however, rarely investigate how the lack of state capacity mutes the effects of democratic institutions on public goods provision. This article addresses this gap by using a mixed methods design. First, the conditional effects of democracy and quality of government (QoG) are tested on the previously under-researched domain of the provision of clean water. The results show that democracy is associated with higher water quality only in countries where QoG is high. If QoG is low, more democracy is even related to lower water quality. The second stage of the analysis proceeds by examining how poor QoG disrupts the effects of democracy on public access to safe drinking water using interview data from a typical case of Moldova. The analysis illustrates that democracy has a number of positive effects and incentivises politicians to focus on the visible aspects of water provision, including the expansion of the water pipe network. However, low QoG hampers adoption and implementation of long-term policies necessary for securing an aspect of water provision that is harder to achieve – namely water quality. This leaves the fresh pipes with dirty water.