“Science is Everywhere,but No One Knows It”: Assessing the Cultural Distance to Science of Rural South African Publics

ABSTRACT

In science communication, a prerequisite for reaching different parts of a society is to find out how these publics experience and interpret science. Since rural South African publics are perceived to exhibit a large cultural distance to science, the present exploratory study aimed to know in more detail how rural South Africans perceive and understand science in their local and social contexts. Theoretical notions on cultural distance and the methodological approach of segmentation studies were considered. Semi-structured interviews with rural South Africans were carried out in four towns (n?=?52) that differ with respect to having a large scientific installation in their vicinity, or not. Sensitively comparing local and social contexts helped identifying three different publics who differed regarding their perceptions of science; however, the large scientific installations only made a difference in perceptions for those publics who were generally less exposed to and less knowledgeable about science.     

《环境监测 分析方法标准制修订技术导则》(HJ 168—2010)对土壤环境监测标准制修订适用性探讨

针对土壤环境监测的复杂性和特殊性,从空白试验、检出限、方法验证、质量控制和标准文本等方面,指出了《环境监测分析方法标准制修订技术导则》《HJ 168—2010》对土壤环境监测标准制修订工作的适用性和执行中存在的问题。提出,为保证土壤标准制修订质量和标准执行质量,应研究适宜土壤监测方法标准的质量控制指标体系和评价体系,及时修订《HJ 168—2010》或发布补充要求;对现有土壤监测方法标准进行技术评估,加强对于土壤标准制修订工作的指导和监管。     

Indonesia’s Accidental Island: Composing the Environment in the Echo of Disaster

By presenting stakeholders’ competing representations of an extraordinary geological formation, an island with a surface that is comprised of runoff from an infamous mud volcano in East Java, this article explores the communicative openings and closures that arise during an environmental disaster. A particular concern is attuning communicative practices to the diverse human and nonhuman actors that not only produce disasters but also shape our understandings and responses to disasters. Drawing on the work of Bruno Latour, this article suggests that non-anthropocentric modes of inquiry present new communicative and political possibilities for pursuing both social justice and safe environments. While this article focuses on a specific set of incidents in Indonesia, this project develops tools and perspectives that can be applied to environmental conflicts at other places.     

臭氧氧化—湿式钙法吸收工艺对烟气的同时脱硫脱硝

采用臭氧氧化—湿式钙法吸收工艺对模拟烟气进行同时脱硫脱硝处理。O₃于150 ℃下具有较高的热稳定性,可将NO氧化为高价态氮氧化物,且NO氧化率随n（O₃）∶n（NO）的增大而逐渐提高。烟气中SO₂和H₂O的存在对NO氧化率的影响不大。O₃对SO₂的氧化率较低,约为5%。3%（w）石灰石浆液对SO₂的吸收率接近100%,NO_x吸收率随n（O₃）∶n（NO）的增大而逐渐提高,当n（O₃）∶n（NO）为1.6时NO_x吸收率可达约65%。SO₂能促进吸收液对NO_x的脱除。石灰石浆液中加入0.2%（w）的（NH₄）₂SO₃或Na₂SO₃后NO_x吸收率可达约85%或82%,且吸收率随添加剂加入量的增加而提高,添加（NH₄）₂SO₃的NO_x吸收率略高于添加Na₂SO₃。     

空气质量多模式预报系统在中山市的应用

介绍了中山市空气质量多模式预报系统。对2015年3月—2016年2月的预报效果评估表明:系统可以较好地反映污染物的变化趋势但仍存在系统性偏差。通过对排放源清单的调整优化及对模式干沉降模块的改进使模式系统的偏差显著减小。总结并建立中山市污染天气案例库,发现在典型污染天气形势下,除O3-8 h外,其他污染物均值均能达到空气质量二级标准。未来将从2个方面提高中山市空气质量预报预警系统的实用性,包括逐步实现污染源排放清单的动态及时更新和提高极端气象条件下O3污染预报能力。     

A comparative study of vocational education and occupational safety and health training in China and the UK

In order to enhance Chinese workers’ occupational safety awareness, it is essential to learn from developed countries’ experiences. This article investigates thoroughly occupational safety and health (OSH) in China and the UK; moreover, the article performs a comparison of Chinese and British OSH training-related laws, regulations and education system. The following conclusions are drawn: China’s work safety continues to improve, but there is still a large gap compared with the UK. In China a relatively complete vocational education and training (VET) system has been established. However, there exist some defects in OSH. In the UK, the employer will not only pay attention to employees’ physiological health, but also to their mental health. The UK’s VET is characterized by classification and grading management, which helps integrate OSH into the whole education system. China can learn from the UK in the development of policies, VET and OSH training.     

基于SHERPA的环境空气质量减排情景模拟评估

分析了SHERPA综合评价模型的基本原理和主要建模理念,重点介绍了其在环境空气质量减排情景模拟评估方面的作用,以及在排放源与受体关系(SRR)方面的处理方法,比较了其与欧盟常用的其他情景模拟模型的优缺点。SHERPA模型的特点是空间灵活性较好,对于任何给定地点,可以快速评估不同地区对该研究地点空气质量的影响。SHERPA模型的3个主要功能为污染物来源分析、决策支持和情景模拟。基于SHERPA模型对法国环境空气中PM_(2.5)、PM_(10)和NO_2年均浓度进行污染来源分析、决策支持分析和减排情景模拟评估,展示了模型在环境治理措施优先级筛选和政府间联合治理措施协调建议方面的功能和作用,以期为中国环境空气质量预测预报、环境质量管理措施的制定和成效评估等环境服务与管理工作提供借鉴。     

Improving pedestrian safety using combined HOG and Haar partial detection in mobile systems

Objective: The objective of this study is to develop a novel algorithm on a mobile system that can warn drivers about the possibility of a collision with a pedestrian. The constraints of the algorithm are near-real-time detection speed and a good detection rate.

Method: Histogram of gradients (HOG)-based detection is widely used in pedestrian safety applications; however, it has low detection speed for real-time systems. Hence, it has no direct usage for mobile systems. In order to achieve near-real-time detection speed, partial Haar transform predetections are applied to an image before HOG detection. The partial and HOG detections are merged and a score-based confidence level is defined for the final detection phase. In this way, the outcome is prioritized and different warning levels can be issued to warn the driver before a possible pedestrian collision.

Results: The proposed algorithm provides an increase in detection speed (from 46 to 76 fps) and detection rate (from 80 to 91%) with respect to HOG-based pedestrian detection. It also improves confidence of the results by multidetection merging and score assignment to detections.

Conclusions: Performance improvement of the algorithm is compared with respect to state-of-the-art detectors/algorithms. Based on the detection rate and detection speed performance, it can be concluded that the proposed algorithm is suitable to be used for mobile systems to warn drivers about the possibility of collision with a pedestrian.     

Research on flow assurance of deepwater submarine natural gas pipelines: Hydrate prediction and prevention

The formation of hydrate will lead to serious flow assurance problems in deepwater submarine natural gas transmission pipelines. However, the accurate evaluation model of the hydrate blocking risk for submarine natural gas transportation is still lacking. In this work, a novel model is established for evaluating the hydrate risk in deepwater submarine gas pipelines. Based on hydrate growth-deposition mechanism, the mathematical model mainly consists of mass, momentum and energy conservation equations. Meantime, the model results are obtained by finite difference method and iterative technique. Finally, the model has been applied in the production of deepwater gas field (L Gas Field) in China, and the sensitivity analysis of relevant parameters has been carried out. The results show that: (a). The mathematical model can well predict the hydrate blockage risk in deepwater natural gas pipelines after verification. (b). Hydrate is easily formed at the intersection of horizontal pipeline and vertical riser, and the maximum blocking position often occurs in middle of the riser. (c). The hydrate blockage degree and length of hydrate formation region (HFR) decrease with the increase of gas transport rate. (d). The hydrate blockage degree and length of HFR decrease with the increase of gas transport temperature. (e). The hydrate blockage degree and length of HFR increase with the extension of horizontal pipeline. (f). Injecting inhibitors can effectively inhibit hydrate formation and blockage, but the improvement of transmission measures can significantly reduce the dosage of inhibitor. It is concluded that measures such as increasing gas transportation rate and temperature, shortening horizontal pipeline length, optimizing inhibitor injection point and injection rate can play a safe, economic and efficient role in hydrate preventing and controlling.     

Usage of polystyrene disposable food dishes in the lightweight concrete making

The increasing use and subsequent accumulation of polystyrene containers has triggered a substantial environmental problem. This study investigated using varied percentages of solid waste polystyrene disposable food dishes in the production of lightweight concrete samples with 350 kilograms per cubic meter (kg/m³) of cement and a density of 1,300 kg/m³. The polystyrene disposable dishes were ground into beads of 0–3 millimeters (mm) and 3–6 mm in size. First, the characteristics of Type II Portland cement, polystyrene, and aggregates were examined. The following characteristics of concrete using ASTM International and British Standards Institution standards were tested: slump, compressive strength, ability to resist chloride ion penetration, and resistance of concrete to rapid freezing and thawing cycles. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy analytical techniques were also used. The slump of samples varied between 40 and 70 mm and was not dependent on either the polystyrene percentage or the size of the polystyrene beads in the concrete samples (p‐value > .05). The compressive strength of the concrete samples after 90 days of curing, and using different percentages of polystyrene, varied between 96 and 113 kilograms per square centimeter (kg/cm²). The resistance of the samples to the freezing and thawing cycle and chloride ion penetration were affected unfavorably by the presence of the polystyrene. The SEM technique indicated that concrete samples containing 15% and 25% polystyrene had denser crystals and less void than concrete samples with 40% and 55% polystyrene.