The deflectors influence on flow complexity,bed morphology,sediment transport and water quality of urban lotic waters - A laboratory study

In this laboratory study different combinations of bed (sand, pebble gravel [gravel], and a mix of sand and gravel) and flow (typical and overtopping) were experimented with to investigate the impact of porous deflectors in flow diversity, water quality, and fish performance in prismatic open channels. Deflectors changed the gradually varied flow to a rapidly varied flow, as a sudden change in the water depth was observed at the deflectors, and this change was large for smooth beds. With the presence of gravel, the scouring near the downstream deflector was almost twice that of the sand bed, and with the scouring at its own upstream deflector, irrespective of whether the flow was typical or overtopping. This behavior was a result of sand mobilization due to shear stress and sand mobilization aided gravel transport. The mixed bed showed less gravel movement compared to the gravel-only bed. The percentage of sediment washed out was minor for all bed scenarios, indicating that sediment transport was local. Relative to the sand bed without deflectors (representing a typical urban canal), deflectors resulted in reduced and improved water quality (in terms of sediment load) for sand, and mixed bed, respectively. The fishes found refuge and were comfortable in the pool areas created by deflectors unlike in channels without deflectors where they showed exhaustion.     

Impact of floodplain and Stage 0 stream restoration on flood attenuation and floodplain exchange during small frequent storms

River flooding impacts human life and infrastructure, yet provides habitat and ecosystem services. Traditional flood control (e.g., levees, dams) reduces habitat and ecosystem services, and exacerbates flooding elsewhere. Floodplain restoration (i.e., bankfull floodplain reconnection and Stage 0) can also provide flood management, but has not been sufficiently evaluated for small frequent storms. We used 1D unsteady Hydrologic Engineering Center's River Analysis System to simulate small storms in a 5 km-long, second-order generic stream from the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and varied % channel restored (starting at the upstream end), restoration location, restoration bank height (distinguishes bankfull from Stage 0 restoration), and floodplain width/Manning's n. Stream restoration decreased (attenuated) peak flow up to 37% and increased floodplain exchange by up to 46%. Floodplain width and % channel restored had the largest impact on flood attenuation. The incremental effects of new restoration projects on flood attenuation were greatest when little prior restoration had occurred. By contrast, incremental effects on floodplain exchange were greatest in the presence of substantial prior restoration, setting up a tradeoff. A similar tradeoff was revealed between attenuation and exchange for project location, but not bank height or floodplain width. In particular, attenuation and exchange were always greater for Stage 0 than for bankfull floodplain restoration. Stage 0 thus may counteract human impacts such as urbanization.     

可拓优度评价法在城市区域消防安全评价中的应用

为了解决城市区域消防安全评价的复杂性和不确定性,本文运用可拓优度评价法,根据相关文件并结合城市区域消防的实际情况,从火灾危险程度、城市区域特征、消防实力水平和社会管理状态4个方面选取17个指标,建立了城市区域消防安全评价指标体系并划分了消防安全等级,以洛阳市西工区为例对城市区域消防安全评价的可拓优度方法进行了验证。结果表明,可拓优度方法可以准确反映出该区域消防安全水平。     

Who shapes local climate policy? Unpicking governance arrangements in English and German cities

A new framework for analysing subnational policymaking is applied to climate governance in the ‘twin towns’ of Newcastle upon Tyne and Gelsenkirchen. Low levels of resource interdependence between central and local government in England mean that Newcastle Council has to rely heavily on other horizontal actors to achieve its climate objectives. In contrast, Gelsenkirchen Council receives substantial support from higher tiers of government, which gives it greater control over policymaking within the locality. Greater independence between tiers of government can make it more difficult for subnational bodies to adopt the kind of ambitious policies that may be necessary to combat wicked and/or significant policy challenges such as climate change. Instead, interdependent ‘joint-decision’ systems, which facilitate mutual support across tiers of government, may be better equipped to ensure that subnational public bodies have the capacity to act appropriately.     

走滑断层作用下X80管道设计应变规律和神经网络预测

走滑断层是埋地管道常见的地质灾害威胁，断层作用下管道会发生较大的拉压应变而失效。为得到X80管道的设计应变，基于有限元方法建立了走滑断层作用下管道的应变响应数值计算模型，模型使用壳单元模拟管道，非线性弹簧单元模拟土壤约束，采用西二线实际工程的管道应变影响参数范围，计算了管道的设计应变；为预测管道的设计应变值，基于以上参数化分析得到的4 817组设计应变结果，采用人工神经网络建立了管道设计应变预测模型。结果表明:该神经网络模型预测结果的最大相对误差小于10%，预测准确性良好，且该方法具有较高的计算效率，可以为断层作用下埋地管道的应变设计与评估提供参考。     

Psychological Reactance From Reading Basic Facts on Climate Change: The Role of Prior Views and Political Identification

Scholars continue to search for solutions to shift climate change skeptics’ views on climate science and policy. However, research has shown that certain audiences are resistant to change regarding environmental issues. To explore this issue further, we examine the presence of reactance among different audiences in response to simple, yet prominently used, climate change messages. Our results show that emphasizing the scientific consensus of climate change produces reactance, but only among people who question the existence of climate change. Moreover, adding political identification to the model as an additional moderating variable shows the increases in reactance occur among Republicans who question the existence of climate change. Finally, our results show that reactance to climate change messaging may lead to backfiring effects on important outcomes tied to climate change such as risk perceptions, climate change beliefs, and support for mitigation policies.     

Oil dependency,political institutions,and urban–rural disparities in access to electricity in Africa

In line with the resource curse literature, this paper examines the effect of oil dependency on the disparities in access to electricity between urban and rural areas in Africa, conditional on the quality of political institutions. Based on data from 36 African countries over the period 2000–2017, our investigation suggests that oil rents (% of GDP) increase urban–rural disparities in access to electricity. However, the quality of institutions shapes the effect of oil dependency on these disparities. Specifically, a 10% increase in the institutional quality score reduces the adverse effects of oil rent on electricity access disparity by around 19%, and the negative impact of oil dependency on urban–rural disparities is reversed when institutional quality reaches a score of 52% on a scale from 0 to 100. The robustness tests support these results and call for strengthening the quality of institutions to overcome the resource curse in Africa.     

电气伤亡事故的主客体场景指标设计及统计规律

为合理预防控制电气伤亡事故的发生提供依据，通过检索查阅国内外相关文献和政府网站公布的电气伤亡事故和案例情况描述，选取105起典型电气伤亡事故案例进行统计与分析；针对电气伤亡事故涉及的主客体场景要素，对其进行筛选、分类、排序及指标设计，形成系统的电气伤亡事故指标体系；结合现实情况对统计结果进行原因分析，根据统计结果，得到电气伤亡事故发生的一般规律，据此提出安全管理中需要关注与重视之处，以此来预防电气伤亡事故的发生。     

地铁多线换乘车站火灾模型实验研究—(1)模型装置设计

为研究地铁网络化运营枢纽车站火灾烟气扩散特征和防排烟技术，根据工程资料和标准规范对典型多线换乘车站进行1∶10火灾实验模型设计，并依据设计方案完成车站模型主体结构和通风排烟系统的搭建，同时在各个防烟分区设计安装温度、流速、烟气浓度和热辐射测量装置，可实现对“T”形、“十”形和“L”形换乘等不同换乘形式车站的火灾场景模拟和危险参数测量。研究结果表明:该模型装置能够开展一系列针对不同换乘形式和通风模式的火灾实验，对于全面揭示大型换乘车站火灾烟气运动规律、验证并优化火灾防排烟设计方法、支撑复杂结构枢纽车站火灾烟气控制技术具有重要意义。     

Challenges for modelling and integrating environmental performances in concept design: the case of an automotive component lightweighting

The objective of this paper is to discuss the main barriers for modelling and integrating the environmental performances in the automotive concept design. Incorporating environmental assessment in the early design phase of a vehicle component is known as an important challenge that car makers need to face in order to develop more sustainable design solutions; in this regard, the Life Cycle Assessment is the most widespread methodology for the environmental assessment and comparison of alternatives. The present work illustrates the combination of such methodology with the traditional design procedure at two different levels of the component design phase, material choice and concept design. In particular, the potential benefits originated by a lightweight solution for the automotive component Throttle Body are evaluated by considering environmental and technical implications at the same level. The case study shows that a multi-disciplinary approach for design effectively allows the integration of the environmental issue in the company’s established procedures. However, interpretation of results is still a challenging aspect due to the inevitable contradicting elements which should not discourage to develop comprehensive sustainability assessment within the early design stage.