Simulation analysis of fire truck scheduling strategies for fighting oil fires

Emergency response is an important measure to reduce the loss of any major fire and prevent its escalation. There may be many fire trucks participating in the fire-fighting at the same time, and the scheduling of them will affect the fire-fighting efficiency and thus, capacity. This work focuses on the cycle process of fighting fire and refilling water of fire trucks, and analyzes and compares the scheduling strategies of the fire trucks. The simulation tool eM-plant is utilized to model the fire-fighting process. In view of the emergency response in relation to a chemical fire accident and to prevent its escalation, strategies in the analysis consider the allocation of fire trucks according to the distance of hydrants, the distribution of fire trucks according to the number of fire hydrants, etc. The results of this paper show that an even distribution of fire trucks leads to a good performance, but can be further adjusted to find a more optimal strategy. This study provides guidance for fire truck scheduling in case of emergency response.     

Beyond Rio: Sustainable energy scenarios for the 21st century

Reaching the economic, environmental and sustainability objectives of all societies requires overcoming several major energy challenges; it necessitates rapid progress in multiple areas. The scenario pathways presented in this paper describe transformative changes toward these goals, taking a broad view of the four main energy challenges faced by society in the 21st century: providing universal access to modern energy for all; reducing the impacts of energy production on human health and the environment; avoiding dangerous climate change; and enhancing energy security. The overarching objective of the paper is to provide policy guidance on how to facilitate the transformation of the energy system to achieve these multiple energy objectives. Particular focus is given to the required pace of the transformation at both the global and regional levels, and to the types of financial and policy measures that will be needed to ensure a successful transition. Synergies and trade‐offs between the objectives are identified, and co‐benefits quantified. The paper makes an important contribution to the scenario literature by approaching the global transition toward sustainable development in a more integrated, holistic manner than is common in other studies.     

基于实际飞行数据的首都机场飞机发动机日排放清单估算方法研究

根据航班实际飞行数据估算机场飞机主发动机排放量,可以提升机场排放清单编制的准确度.基于北京首都机场某日运行数据和国内1326架次航班的机载飞行数据(QAR数据),研究了基于飞行数据的机场飞机主发动机排放清单制定方法.采用一阶近似3.0(FOA3.0)方法补充国际民航组织发动机排放数据库颗粒物基准排放指数,结合QAR数据,应用波音燃油流量法2(BFFM2)估算了实际飞行条件下污染物排放指数,编制了首都机场该日飞机主发动机排放清单,分析了首都机场航班排放特征.在此基础上,探讨了结合实际数据本地化的着陆和起飞循环,以期为机场飞机主发动机排放量的快速准确核算提供新的思路.结果发现,该日航班主发动机HC、CO、NO_x和PM_(2.5)排放量分别为933.9、10967.8、14703.5和85.5 kg,较标准LTO循环估算结果的偏差分别为15.6%、13.2%、-29.1%和-18.9%.NO_x排放主要集中在起飞和爬升阶段,占其排放总量的68.0%;HC和CO排放主要集中在滑行和慢车阶段,分别占其排放总量的90.0%和88.0%;PM_(2.5)在各飞行阶段的排放较为平均.对于单位LTO循环,航班滑行过程中平均排队等候(地速为零)时间为7.7 min,产生的HC、CO、NO_x和PM_(2.5)分别占总滑行阶段对应污染物排放量的26.3%、27.5%、25.7%和27.5%,这一部分排放量有望通过场面运行优化进一步控制.     

Conservation of biodiversity through taxonomy,data publication,and collaborative infrastructures

Taxonomy is the foundation of biodiversity science because it furthers discovery of new species. Globally, there have never been so many people involved in naming species new to science. The number of new marine species described per decade has never been greater. Nevertheless, it is estimated that tens of thousands of marine species, and hundreds of thousands of terrestrial species, are yet to be discovered; many of which may already be in specimen collections. However, naming species is only a first step in documenting knowledge about their biology, biogeography, and ecology. Considering the threats to biodiversity, new knowledge of existing species and discovery of undescribed species and their subsequent study are urgently required. To accelerate this research, we recommend, and cite examples of, more and better communication: use of collaborative online databases; easier access to knowledge and specimens; production of taxonomic revisions and species identification guides; engagement of nonspecialists; and international collaboration. “Data‐sharing” should be abandoned in favor of mandated data publication by the conservation science community. Such a step requires support from peer reviewers, editors, journals, and conservation organizations. Online data publication infrastructures (e.g., Global Biodiversity Information Facility, Ocean Biogeographic Information System) illustrate gaps in biodiversity sampling and may provide common ground for long‐term international collaboration between scientists and conservation organizations.     

Modeling rural landowners' hunter access policies in East Texas,USA

Private landowners in East Texas, USA, were aggregated into one of four policy categories according to the degree of access allowed to their lands for hunting. Based on these categories, a logistic regression model of possible determinants of access policy was developed and probabilities of policy adoption were calculated. Overwhelmingly, attitudes toward hunting as a sport, incentives, and control over the actions of hunters were most predictive of landowners' policies. Additionally, the availability of deer was found to be negatively correlated with access, thereby suggesting management efforts to increase deer populations may be counter to increasing access. Further, probabilities derived from the model indicated that there was almost a 7 in 10 chance (0.66) that landowners would adopt policies commensurate with allowing family and personal acquaintances to hunt on their property. However, the probability of increasing access beyond this level, where access was provided for the general public, dropped off drastically to less than 5% (0.04).     

Modeling the Effects of Limiting the Number of Visitors on Failure Rates of Seabird Nests

Abstract:  Most attempts to manage disturbance by visitors to nature reserves concentrate on limiting visitor access in some way, which is often unpopular with both visitors and managers. In a few nature reserves the daily numbers of visitors are limited, an action that need not necessarily reduce the total number of visitors. As a test of the assumptions that underlie this management practice, we examined the relationship between daily visitor numbers and daily failure rates of nests in two species of seabirds. Daily failure rates for Black-legged Kittiwakes ( Rissa tridactyla ) were weakly correlated with daily visitor numbers but indicated that capping daily visitor numbers slightly reduced overall breeding success. This was not the case for Common Murres ( Uria aalge ), where failure rate declined seasonally but was not significantly correlated with visitor numbers. For some species, it appears that capping daily visitor numbers may have small conservation costs.     

基于QAR数据的发动机LTO阶段氮氧化物排放量计算与分析

氮氧化物是发动机运行过程中产生的一种主要污染物,对于航空器氮氧化物排放量的准确计算是控制排放和评估其环境影响的基础.本文依据BM2流量修正方法对机载快速存取记录器(QAR)数据中的燃油流量值进行标准化修正,并根据低压转子转速、空地传感器指示、油门杆解算器角度、飞行高度,对起飞着陆循环(LTO)进行更精确的阶段划分.同时,参考国际民航组织公布的特定发动机机型的分阶段排放指数,对PW-4077D发动机某次LTO阶段的氮氧化物排放量进行计算.结果表明,通过精准飞行阶段划分,结合QAR实测数据估算的LTO分阶段(起飞、爬升、进近、慢车)氮氧化物排放量分别达到3415.87、7574.57、3019.98、1721.33 g,与标准LTO估算方法相比,相差30%以上.这种发动机LTO阶段实际排放量的计算方法,可为近地面航空器乃至不同地区整个机场氮氧化物污染评估提供更加准确的依据.     

Neighbourhood characteristics and urban gardens in the Toledo metropolitan area: staffing and voluntarism,food production,infrastructure, and sustainability practices

Urban gardens are important sources of sustenance for communities with limited access to food. Hence, this study focuses on food production in gardens in the Toledo metropolitan area in Northwest Ohio. We administered surveys to 150 garden managers from November 2014 to February 2015 in our attempt to better understand how neighbourhood racial composition and poverty levels are related to staffing and voluntarism, food production and distribution, the development of infrastructure, and the adoption of sustainability practices in urban gardens. The results from 30 gardens are presented in this paper. We used Geographic Information Systems to map the gardens and overlay the map with 2010 census data so that we could conduct demographic analyses of the neighbourhoods in which the gardens were located. Though the gardens were small – two acres or less – up to 46 varieties of food were grown in a single garden. Gardens also operated on small budgets. Food from the gardens was gifted or shared with friends, family, and neighbourhood residents. Gardens in predominantly minority neighbourhoods tended to have fewer institutional partners, less garden infrastructure, and had adopted fewer sustainable practices than gardens in predominantly White neighbourhoods. Nonetheless, residents of predominantly minority and high-poverty neighbourhoods participated in garden activities and influenced garden operations. Volunteering and staffing were racialised and gendered.     

Food access,food security and community gardens in Rockford,IL

Urban agriculture projects seek to ameliorate issues of food access and food security for people living in areas with low access to fresh foods, including food deserts. Within this discourse, community gardens have been promoted as vehicles to reclaim unused urban space, produce food locally and connect populations to their food sources and larger community. A variety of community garden models exist; in the Midwestern city of Rockford, Illinois, many community gardens grow food for donation to food pantries as part of a programme to benefit socioeconomically disadvantaged persons in the city. However, the ability of these gardens to involve neighbourhood participants and provide the social capital-related benefits attributed to community gardens in the literature is uncertain. Here we examine community gardens in Rockford, IL to assess the extent to which they contribute to residents’ ability to obtain fresh produce as well as other social benefits. Data for this project come from a combination of interviews with gardeners, focus groups with food pantry users and a survey of pantry users. We find that while non-gardening community members are benefitting from the increased produce that the gardens provide, they are not receiving all of the social and communal benefits associated with actively participating in a garden.     

Determinants of coverage in Community‐based Therapeutic Care programmes: towards a joint quantitative and qualitative analysis

One of the most important elements behind the success of Community‐based Therapeutic Care (CTC) programmes for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition has been their ability to achieve high levels of coverage. In CTC, coverage is measured using the Centric System Area Sampling (CSAS) method, which provides accurate and reliable estimates of programme coverage as well as information on the primary reasons for non‐attendance. Another important feature of CTC programmes is their use of socio‐cultural assessments to determine potential barriers to access and to develop context‐specific responses. By analysing data on non‐attendance provided by CSAS surveys, in conjunction with data from socio‐cultural assessments, it is possible to identify common factors responsible for failures in programme coverage. This paper focuses on an analysis of data from 12 CTC programmes across five African countries. It pinpoints three common factors (distance to sites, community awareness of the programme, and the way in which rejections are handled at the sites) that, together, account for approximately 75 per cent of non‐attendance.