Evaluation of the QUIC-URB fast response urban wind model for a cubical building array and wide building street canyon

This paper describes the QUIC-URB fast response urban wind modeling tool and evaluates it against wind tunnel data for a 7 × 11 cubical building array and wide building street canyon. QUIC-URB is based on the Röckle diagnostic wind modeling strategy that rapidly produces spatially resolved wind fields in urban areas and can be used to drive urban dispersion models. Röckle-type models do not solve transport equations for momentum or energy; rather, they rely heavily on empirical parameterizations and mass conservation. In the model-experiment comparisons, we test two empirical building flow parameterizations within the QUIC-URB model: our implementation of the standard Röckle (SR) algorithms and a set of modified Röckle (MR) algorithms. The MR model attempts to build on the strengths of the SR model and introduces additional physically based, but simple parameterizations that significantly improve the results in most regions of the flow for both test cases. The MR model produces vortices in front of buildings, on rooftops and within street canyons that have velocities that compare much more favorably to the experimental results. We expect that these improvements in the wind field will result in improved dispersion calculations in built environments.     

Managing climate change risks in New York City’s water system: assessment and adaptation planning

Managing risk by adapting long-lived infrastructure to the effects of climate change must become a regular part of planning for water supply, sewer, wastewater treatment, and other urban infrastructure during this century. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP), the agency responsible for managing New York City’s (NYC) water supply, sewer, and wastewater treatment systems, has developed a climate risk management framework through its Climate Change Task Force, a government-university collaborative effort. Its purpose is to ensure that NYCDEP’s strategic and capital planning take into account the potential risks of climate change—sea-level rise, higher temperature, increases in extreme events, changes in drought and flood frequency and intensity, and changing precipitation patterns—on NYC’s water systems. This approach will enable NYCDEP and other agencies to incorporate adaptations to the risks of climate change into their management, investment, and policy decisions over the long term as a regular part of their planning activities. The framework includes a 9-step Adaptation Assessment procedure. Potential climate change adaptations are divided into management, infrastructure, and policy categories, and are assessed by their relevance in terms of climate change time-frame (immediate, medium, and long term), the capital cycle, costs, and other risks. The approach focuses on the water supply, sewer, and wastewater treatment systems of NYC, but has wide application for other urban areas, especially those in coastal locations.     

An approach to the acoustic design of outdoor space

This paper focuses on soundscape planning, or acoustic design, in the planning and management of open space in both urban and non‐urban areas. It is based on notions, promoted over several decades, that the acoustic aspects of open space can, and should be, subject to design in the same way as are the visual dimensions. The current paradigm for the management of the outdoor acoustic environment is noise control and soundscape planning needs to adopt quite different practices from noise control with respect to acoustic criteria and measurement. The paper explores the specification of acoustic objectives for outdoor soundscapes and the translation of these objectives into acoustic criteria that are amenable to measurement and prediction as part of the design process. Such objectives, termed Proposed Acoustic Environments, focus on the information content in sounds in a particular space and, only indirectly, on characteristics such as level or loudness. Outdoor acoustic design is mostly concerned with avoiding, or achieving, the masking of one set of information in the acoustic signal with other sets of information in the same signal. These are critical methodological issues if soundscape planning is to move from being a good idea to common practice. The paper sets out the elements of a process for the acoustic design or management of outdoor space.     

Studies on the nutrition of marine flatfish. The effect of dietary protein content on certain cell components and enzymes in the liver of Pleuronectes platessa

In order to examine the effects of artificial diets at the tissue level, plaice (Pleuronectes platessa L.) were fed either high (50%) or low (20%) protein diets for several weeks and the total quantities of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), ribonucleic acid (RNA), protein and phospholipid in their livers were measured. Alanine amino-transferase, aspartate aminotransferase, glutamate dehydrogenase and glucose-6-phosphatase activities in the livers were also measured. Similar measurements were made on the livers of wild plaice. The total amount of DNA in the livers of both cultured and wild plaice, of standard weight, did not differ significantly, irrespective of dietary history. In fish of standard weight, total hepatic RNA, protein and phospholipid levels were highest in the cultured fish fed high protein diet and lowest in the wild fish. These differences were related to dietary protein supply and environmental temperature. The total organ levels of the liver enzymes in plaice of equal weight were not significantly different in the cultured fish fed high and low protein diets. Wild-fish livers contained a smaller total amount of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and glucose-6-phosphatase activity than did those of cultured fish. Total liver glutamate dehydrogenase activity was not significantly different in any of the fish examined. It is suggested that kinetic and allosteric factors may be more important in controlling protein metabolism and amino acid cat abolism in fish than total enzyme level.     

ARE RIVER BASINS THE BEST FRAMEWORK FOR WATER RESOURCES PLANNING,DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT?

The author cites many discrepancies in using river basins as a framework for water resources planning, development, and management. He suggests that a national planning framework, an urban region framework, or increased attention to regional externalities might be viable. However, basically the author is seeking to elicit suggestions and recommendations from the readers.