保护层开采工作面采空区瓦斯分层治理

为实现保护层开采工作面生产过程中瓦斯不超限,在分析工作面瓦斯来源的基础上,提出了保护层开采工作面竖向分层治理瓦斯的思路。根据相似模拟结果,分析了采空区瓦斯流动范围和流动范围内孔隙率、风阻分布特征。采用数值模拟分析了Y型通风、Y型通风+采空区埋管及Y型通风+采空区埋管+高抽巷+高位钻场3种瓦斯治理方式下采空区瓦斯体积分数场,结果表明:采空区瓦斯体积分数在竖直方向和水平方向均具有典型的递变特征,距工作面越远,距煤层越高,瓦斯体积分数越大;合适位置的煤层顶板高抽巷对抽采来自上邻近层的瓦斯具有较好的效果,试验条件下高抽巷抽采瓦斯量达到了总量的36.4%~63.6%;沿充填墙的采空区埋管不能完全拦截下层采空区进入沿空巷的采空区瓦斯,随沿空巷长度增加,瓦斯体积分数增大,建议沿空巷长度控制在250 m范围内。     

煤矿安全状况随社会经济发展演化规律研究

利用安全效用原理系统地阐述煤矿安全生产投入产出理论,并借助安全经济学知识建立一个国家或地区的煤矿安全状况演化规律的理论模型。从理论上阐明煤矿安全状况演化的本质规律,并运用发达国家的安全生产发展历程的统计数据对该模型进行实证分析,同时通过该模型系统地反映我国现阶段安全生产与经济发展的关系。笔者认为:中央直属煤矿和地方重点煤矿基本上服从演化规律,但仍需要加大安全投入力度,乡镇煤矿近几年有偏离规律曲线的趋势;建议社会经济迅速发展阶段提高安全意识,加大安全投入,积极采取有效措施,把煤矿事故控制在可接受范围之内。     

Procedure for assessing hardware safety integrity in legacy systems

Functional safety is related to the safety functions of a safety-related system that uses electrical/electronic/programmable (E/E/PE) devices such as sensors, logic solvers, and final elements. A legacy system is a safety-related system which offers safety functions but which was not designed to comply with the IEC 61508 standard. This paper presents a procedure for assessing the hardware safety integrity of a legacy system so as to confirm its functional safety. The procedure defines the systematic relationship between the safety function and hardware system using a function-structure map (FSM) and assesses the hardware safety integrity centered on the safety function. The proposed procedure is applied to a boiler control system of a fossil-fuel power plant.     

Hybridization,agency discretion,and implementation of the U.S. Endangered Species Act

The U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) requires that the “best available scientific and commercial data” be used to protect imperiled species from extinction and preserve biodiversity. However, it does not provide specific guidance on how to apply this mandate. Scientific data can be uncertain and controversial, particularly regarding species delineation and hybridization issues. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) had an evolving hybrid policy to guide protection decisions for individuals of hybrid origin. Currently, this policy is in limbo because it resulted in several controversial conservation decisions in the past. Biologists from FWS must interpret and apply the best available science to their recommendations and likely use considerable discretion in making recommendations for what species to list, how to define those species, and how to recover them. We used semistructured interviews to collect data on FWS biologists’ use of discretion to make recommendations for listed species with hybridization issues. These biologists had a large amount of discretion to determine the best available science and how to interpret it but generally deferred to the scientific consensus on the taxonomic status of an organism. Respondents viewed hybridization primarily as a problem in the context of the ESA, although biologists who had experience with hybridization issues were more likely to describe it in more nuanced terms. Many interviewees expressed a desire to continue the current case‐by‐case approach for handling hybridization issues, but some wanted more guidance on procedures (i.e., a “flexible” hybrid policy). Field‐level information can provide critical insight into which policies are working (or not working) and why. The FWS biologists’ we interviewed had a high level of discretion, which greatly influenced ESA implementation, particularly in the context of hybridization.     

基于随机Petri网的平交道口建模及事故率分析

基于公路道口使用者的违规进入及违规人数比例是道口发生事故的主要原因为背景,分析道口使用者违规进入道口前的平均等待时间及违规比例,列车在各个区段的时间特性与道口事故率之间的定量关系。采用随机Petri网基于道口公路使用者、道口铁路列车的经过道口过程、道口安全防护系统功能及三者之间的相关性进行建模及事故率分析。根据模型的仿真表明:当列车由道口传感器区进入接近区的时间和由接近区进入道口的时间由随机值变为固定值时,道口事故率大大降低;公路使用者在违规进入道口前,等待某个时间后进入道口发生事故的风险最大。当列车由接近区进入道口的时间为随机值时,公路使用者的违规比例增加会明显加大事故率。     

Sustained Yield Forestry in Sweden and Russia: How Does it Correspond to Sustainable Forest Management Policy?

This paper analyzes how sustained yield (SY) forestry is defined and implemented in Sweden and Russia, two countries with different forest-industrial regimes. We first compare definitions of SY forestry in national legislation and policies. Then we study forest management planning in two large forest management units with respect to: delivered forest products and values, how the harvest level of timber is defined, where the harvest takes place, and what treatments are used to sustain desired forest products and values. In Sweden SY forestry is maximum yield based on high-input forest management, and in Russia it is forestry based on natural regeneration with minimum investments in silviculture. We conclude that how SY forestry contributes to SFM depends on the context. Finally, we discuss the consequences of SY forestry as performed in Sweden and Russia related to its ability to support diverse forest functions, as envisioned in sustainable forest management policy.     

Echolocation signals of the bat Eptesicus serotinus recorded using a vertical microphone array: effect of flight altitude on searching signals

The acoustic behaviour of Eptesicus serotinus was investigated in the field using a 13.5-m vertical, linear microphone array that allowed for simultaneous recordings at three different heights and for the calculation of flight altitude and distance from the array. Recordings were made at two locations that differed in bat species diversity. E. serotinus hunted on average at an altitude of 10.7 m (±2.7) at one location and 6.8 m (±3.6) at the other location. Search signals were 5–17 ms long depending on flight altitude, and consisted of two to three frequency-modulated harmonics. For bats flying below 8–10 m altitude, signal duration decreased with decreasing flight altitude, whereas signal interval, terminal frequency, peak frequency and frequency range of the first harmonic increased. Above 8–10 m flight altitude, the signal parameters were fairly constant. The –10 dB bandwidth and duty cycle did not change with flight altitude. Source levels were calculated to between 121 and 125 dB peSPL re 20 μPa at 10 cm. For bats flying higher than 9 m, the microphone placed 1.5 m above the ground recorded significantly reduced signal durations and frequency ranges of the first harmonic compared to the same signals recorded with the microphones at heights of 7 or 15 m. We caution the use of ground recordings to fully describe the echolocation signals of high-flying bats. We demonstrate that flight altitude significantly influences the structure of sonar signals from E. serotinus. Received: 17 May 1999 / Received in revised form: 20 September 1999 / Accepted: 25 September 1999     

Diversity and organizational innovation: The role of employee involvement

This study examined the interactive effects of workplace diversity and employee involvement on organizational innovation. Using a sample of 182 large Canadian organizations, we found a three‐way interaction between level of employee involvement, variation in involvement, and racioethnic diversity on innovation. In organizations with high levels of employee involvement, high variation in involvement was associated with higher involvement levels among racioethnic minorities, resulting in a stronger association between diversity and innovation. Furthermore, the association between White employee involvement and innovation was significantly more positive under the condition of high involvement among racioethnic minority group members. Thus, ensuring high levels of involvement among members of historically marginalized racioethnic groups enhances the innovation effects of employee empowerment systems. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Parasitoid learning during interactions with ants: how to deal with an aggressive antagonist

Pauesia picta, P. pinicollis and P. silvestris (Hymenoptera: Aphidiidae) are common parasitoids of the conifer aphid Cinara pinea, which is regularly attended by red wood ants (Formica spp.). In this study, I tested whether females of these parasitoid species learned during interactions with honeydew-collecting Formica polyctena workers that caution is not necessary if searching behaviour is adapted, and whether parasitoids benefit from being able to learn. When searching on Scots pines, naive females of P. picta and P. pinicollis generally retreated to a pine needle when making contact with a honeydew-collecting ant, did not approach ants from the side or from the front and kept a ”safe distance” from ants when sitting on needles. After some non- aggressive ant encounters, experienced female parasitoids changed their behaviour: they reduced their searching speed, approached ants from the side and even from the front, retreated less often in response to an approaching ant and reduced the ”safe distance”. These experienced females had a significantly higher rate of oviposition than naive females or females foraging for an unattended host. Thus, the ability of the parasitoid to learn during interactions with an antagonist led to a prolonged retention time and a higher oviposition rate. By contrast, there was no evidence of learning in P. silvestris. Females of this species showed no behavioural change in response to ant encounters, and there was no difference in the foraging success of naive and experienced female parasitoids. Received: 7 December 1999 / Revised: 23 September 2000 / Accepted: 10 March 2000     

The social side of spatial decision support systems: Investigating knowledge integration and learning

Spatial decision support systems (SDSS) represent a step forward in efforts to account for the spatial dimension in environmental decision-making. The aim of SDSS is to help policymakers and practitioners access, interpret and understand information from data, analyses and models, and guide them in identifying possible actions during a decision-making process. Researchers, however, report difficulties in up-take of SDSS by the intended users. Some suggest that this field would benefit from investigation of the social aspects involved in SDSS design, development, testing and use. Borrowing insights from the literature on science-policy interactions, we explore two key social processes: knowledge integration and learning. Using a sample of 36 scientific papers concerning SDSS in relation to environmental issues, we surveyed whether and how the selected papers reported on knowledge integration and learning. We found that while many of the papers mentioned communication and collaboration with prospective user groups or stakeholders, this was seldom underpinned by a coherent methodology for enabling knowledge integration and learning to surface. This appears to have hindered SDSS development and later adoption by intended users.