Inclusive education for children with disabilities in a refugee camp

Children in refugee camps, and particularly those with disabilities, face unique challenges in accessing education and are at high risk of being marginalised. Best practices suggest that main-streaming is the optimal strategy for serving students with disabilities. This study examines the extent to which mainstreaming in a refugee camp helps to promote children's prosocial behaviours, taking into account their emotional and behavioural problems. In Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya, researchers collected data from the parents of children currently enrolled in special needs education centres (n=65) and from those formerly enrolled at these facilities who transitioned to mainstream classrooms (n=81). Children in mainstream schools functioned better in terms of prosocial behaviours, but this relationship disappeared when factoring in children's emotional and behavioural difficulties. In the context of a refugee camp, mainstreaming alone is not likely to help children's psychosocial and educational functioning, which requires dedicated supports, appropriate facilities and infrastructure, and a dual focus on disability-specific and disability-inclusive initiatives.     

马三峰土质边坡稳定性分析与评价

基于马三峰边坡南段土质边坡的工程地质特征现场勘查,分别运用极限平衡法和快速拉格朗日法分析了马三峰土坡的稳定性,搜索出了潜在的滑动面并计算出相应的安全系数,结果认为土坡整体是不稳定的。通过2种计算结果的对比研究,对此土坡的破坏模式及其发展趋势做出评价,认为此土质边坡破坏的力学特征为牵引式滑坡,失稳不是一次性地全部滑塌,而是分阶段滑动,破坏模式为一系列动态的平面—圆弧滑面破坏。如不及时治理,该滑坡体将会继续向后缘发展。     

送风速度对置换通风热力分层影响的研究

用热力分层理论及CFD数值模拟两种方法,来研究送风速度对置换通风热力分层的影响,并将所得结果与模拟结果进行了对比分析。结果表明,随着送风速度的增大,热力分层高度增加;由于热力分层处存在一个极不稳定的过渡层,所以两种方法得到的热力分层高度存在相对误差,同时提出人处于坐姿时热力分层高度的最低值,建议取热力分层高度Z≥1.35 m。     

Impact of proposed changes in IESTI equations for short-term dietary exposure to pesticides from Australian and Codex perspective

ABSTRACT

In 2015 a scientific workshop was held in Geneva, where updating the four equations for estimating the short-term dietary exposure (International Estimated Short Term Intake, IESTI) to pesticides was suggested. The impact of these proposed changes on the exposure was studied by using residue data and large portion consumption data from Codex and Australia. For the Codex data, the exposure increased by a median factor of 2.5 per commodity when changing to the proposed IESTI equations. The increase in exposure was highest for bulked and blended food commodities (case 3 equations), followed by medium-sized food commodities (case 2a equations) and small- and large-sized food commodities (case 1 and case 2b equations). For the Australian data, out of 184 maximum residue limit (MRL) large portion combinations showing acute exposures below the acute reference dose (ARfD) with the current IESTI equations, 23 exceeded the ARfD with the proposed IESTI equations (12%). The percentage exceeding the ARfD was higher for the Australian MRL large portion combinations (12% of 184) than for those of Codex (1.3% of 8,366). However, the percentage MRL loss in the Australian dataset may not be representative of all pesticide MRLs since it concerns six pesticides only, specifically selected to elucidate the potential effects of the use of the proposed IESTI equations. For the Codex data, the increase in exposure using the proposed equations resulted in a small increased loss of 2.6% of the 1,110 MRLs estimated by the Joint FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residues (JMPR): 1.4% of the MRLs were already not acceptable with the current equations, 4.0% of the MRLs were not acceptable with the newly proposed equations. Our study revealed that case 3 commodities may be impacted more by the proposed changes than other commodities. This substantiates one of the conclusions of the Geneva workshop to gather information on bulking and blending practices in order to refine MRL setting and dietary risk assessment for case 3 commodities where possible.     

大质量熔融铝液遇水爆炸效应评估

为揭示蒸汽爆炸灾害形成机制,建立了大质量熔融铝液遇水自触发爆炸反应模拟装置。根据反应特征和破坏程度,熔融铝液遇水爆炸反应可分为柔和爆炸、剧烈爆炸与猛烈爆炸等3种类型;基于爆炸相似准则,定量化描述了爆炸反应的冲击波破坏效应;热效应则来自冲击波绝热压缩和产物热交换耦合作用;从热力学角度来看,铝液与容器底面夹裹形成过热亚稳态水,可认为是爆炸反应的触发源。     

考虑结构极限状态随机性的多维易损性分析

本文同时考虑结构在地震激励下响应的随机性和极限状态的随机性,将概率-凸集混合模型应用于结构的多维易损性分析。以最大层间位移、最大层加速度作为反映结构性能和非结构性能的两种工程需求参数,并视为符合对数正态分布的随机变量,两种需求参数的阈值被视为非概率凸集变量,分别建立阈值的椭球模型和区间模型,建立同时包含凸集变量和概率变量的二维联合性能极限状态方程;根据凸集模型和概率模型之间的相容性,提出一种混合模型下基于克里金模型的蒙特卡洛法用于求解超越概率的上、下界,得到反映超越概率区间的易损性曲线。研究表明:区间模型建立的易损性曲线较为保守;在罕遇地震作用下,不考虑阈值随机性会会低估结构的抗震能力。     

QSPR在混合物典型燃爆特性预测中的研究进展

为全面了解定量结构-性质关系（QSPR）方法在混合物燃爆特性预测中的研究现状,展望其发展趋势,综述其在混合物闪点、爆炸极限与自燃温度预测中的国内外研究进展,分析预测目标参数的选择、数据收集、描述符计算和筛选以及模型建立和验证等方面的不足与研究方向。结果表明:QSPR在混合物燃爆特性预测中尚处于起步阶段,当前研究的首要限制是混合物燃爆特性参数实验数据样本不足,关键点及难点是混合物结构的准确表征,未来研究应关注的重点是大量数据源统一的数据样本的获取方法、非加和性混合物分子描述符的计算方法以及机器学习等非线性建模方法。     

Evaluation of large-scale CO2 storage on fresh-water sections of aquifers: An example from the Texas Gulf Coast Basin

Large-scale injections of CO₂ into subsurface saline aquifers have been proposed to remediate climate change related to buildup of green house gases in the atmosphere. The pressure buildup caused by such injections may impact a volume of the basin significantly larger than the CO₂ plume itself. In areas with hydrological settings similar to the Gulf Coast Basin, the perturbation of the flow-field in deep parts of the basin could result in brines or brackish water being pushed up-dip into unconfined sections of the same formations or into the capture zone of fresh-water wells. The premise of the current study is that the details of multiple-phase flow processes necessary to model the near field evolution of the CO₂ plume are not necessary to describe the impact of the pressure anomaly on up-dip aquifers. This paper quantitatively explores conditions under which shallow groundwater would be impacted by up-dip displacement of brines, utilizing an existing carefully calibrated flow model. Modeling an injection of water, arguably equivalent to 50 million tons of CO₂/year for 50 years resulted in an average water-table rise of 1 m, with minor increase in stream baseflow and larger increase in ground water evapotranspiration, but no significant change in salinity.     

Traffic speeds associated with implementation of 80 mph speed limits on West Texas rural interstates

Problem

In 2006 Texas raised the daytime speed limit for passenger vehicles on segments of I-10 and I-20 from 75 to 80 mph. Methods: Traffic speeds were measured before and 3, 12, and 16 months after the limit was changed. Results: During the 16-month period following the speed limit increase, mean speeds of passenger vehicles on I-20 increased by 9 mph relative to the comparison road, where no speed limit change occurred and traffic speeds declined. On I-10 mean speeds increased by 4 mph relative to the comparison road. Limiting the analysis to the month before the speed limit change and 1 year later, the proportion of drivers exceeding 80 mph was 18 times higher on I-20 and 2 times higher on I-10. Discussion: The smaller speed increases on I-10 may be related to its proximity to the U.S. border with Mexico. Highly visible border patrol activity coincided with posting of the higher speed limit. Long-term monitoring in other states suggests that traffic speeds in Texas are likely to continue to increase. Impact on Industry: The present study adds to the wealth of evidence that increased speed limits lead to increased travel speeds. The primary countermeasures to reduce the risk of speed-related crashes include highly visible police traffic enforcement and the use of speed cameras accompanied by publicity.     

Estimation of Heavy Metals in Different Berberis Species and Its Market Samples

Popularity of herbal drugs is increasing all over the world because of lesser side effects as compared to synthetic drugs. Besides, it costs less and easily available to poor people particularly in developing countries. But quality assurance of herbal drugs is very necessary prior to its use. Because in today's polluted environment, even herbal drugs are not safe. Berberis spp. is very important medicinal plant, having various medicinal properties. It is also included in Indian and British pharmacopoeias. Its demand is quite high in herbal drug market. So, to check the quality of market samples of this drug, ten different samples were procured from different drug markets of India for heavy metal estimation. Besides, genuine samples of four species of Berberis viz. B. aristata, B. chitria, B. lycium, B. asiatica were also collected from natural habitats to compare heavy metal concentration in both market and genuine samples. It was found that market samples were much more contaminated than genuine samples. Lead (Pb) concentration is far beyond from WHO permissible limit (10 ppm) for herbal drugs, reaching to maximum 49.75 ppm in Amritsar market sample. Likewise, concentration of all other metals like Cd, Cr and Ni were also very high in market samples as compared to genuine samples.