Mainstreaming risk reduction in urban planning and housing: a challenge for international aid organisations

The effects of 'natural' disasters in cities can be worse than in other environments, with poor and marginalised urban communities in the developing world being most at risk. To avoid post-disaster destruction and the forced eviction of these communities, proactive and preventive urban planning, including housing, is required. This paper examines current perceptions and practices within international aid organisations regarding the existing and potential roles of urban planning as a tool for reducing disaster risk. It reveals that urban planning confronts many of the generic challenges to mainstreaming risk reduction in development planning. However, it faces additional barriers. The main reasons for the identified lack of integration of urban planning and risk reduction are, first, the marginal position of both fields within international aid organisations, and second, an incompatibility between the respective professional disciplines. To achieve better integration, a conceptual shift from conventional to non-traditional urban planning is proposed. This paper suggests related operative measures and initiatives to achieve this change.     

Eco-Environmental Degradation in the Source Region of the Yellow River, Northeast Qinghai-Xizang Plateau

The Yellow River is the second longest river in China and the cradle of the Chinese civilization. The source region of the Yellow River is the most important water holding area for the Yellow River, about 49.2% of the whole runoff comes from this region. However, for the special location, it is a region with most fragile eco-environment in China as well. Eco-environmental degradation in the source region of the Yellow River has been a very serious ecological and socially economic problem. According to census data, historical documents and climatic information, during the last half century, especially the last 30 years, great changes have taken place in the eco-environment of this region. Such changes are mainly manifested in the temporal-spatial changes of water environment, deglaciation, permafrost reduction, vegetation degeneracy and desertification extent, which led to land capacity decreasing and river disconnecting. At present, desertification of the region is showing an accelerating tendency. This paper analyzes the present status of eco-environment degradation in this region supported by GIS and RS, as well as field investigation and indoor analysis, based on knowledge, multi-source data is gathered and the classification is worked out, deals with their natural and anthropogenic causes, and points out that in the last half century the desertification and environmental degradation of this region are mainly attributed to human activities under the background of regional climate changes. To halt further degradation of the environment of this region, great efforts should be made to use land resources rationally, develop advantages animal agriculture and protect the natural grassland.     

Characterization and Identification of the Sources of Chromium, Zinc, Lead, Cadmium, Nickel, Manganese and Iron in Pm10 Particulates at the Two Sites of Kolkata, India

Monitoring of ambient PM₁₀ (particulate matter which passes through a size selective impactor inlet with a 50% efficiency cut-off at 10 μm aerodynamic diameter) has been done at residential (Kasba) and industrial (Cossipore) sites of an urban region of Kolkata during November 2003 to November 2004. These sites were selected depending on the dominant anthropogenic activities. Metal constituents of atmospheric PM₁₀ deposited on glass fibre filter paper were estimated using Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometer (ICP-AES). Chromium (Cr), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe) are the seven toxic trace metals quantified from the measured PM₁₀ concentrations. The 24 h average concentrations of Cr, Zn, Pb, Cd, Ni, Mn and Fe from ninety PM₁₀ particulate samples of Kolkata were found to be 6.9, 506.1, 79.1, 3.3, 7.4, 2.4 and 103.6 ng/m³, respectively. The 24 h average PM₁₀ concentration exceeded national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) as specified by central pollution control board, India at both residential (Kasba) and industrial (Cossipore) areas with mean concentration of 140.1 and 196.6 μg/m³, respectively. A simultaneous meteorology study was performed to assess the influence of air masses by wind speed, wind direction, rainfall, relative humidity and temperature. The measured toxic trace metals generally showed inverse relationship with wind speed, relative humidity and temperature. Factor analysis, a receptor modeling technique has been used for identification of the possible sources contributing to the PM₁₀. Varimax rotated factor analysis identified four possible sources of measured trace metals comprising solid waste dumping, vehicular traffic with the influence of road dust, road dust and soil dust at residential site (Kasba), while vehicular traffic with the influence of soil dust, road dust, galvanizing and electroplating industry, and tanning industry at industrial site (Cossipore).     

Status of the Riparian Ecosystem in the Upper San Pedro River, Arizona: Application of an Assessment Model

A portion of Arizona’s San Pedro River is managed as a National Riparian Conservation Area but is potentially affected by ground-water withdrawals beyond the conservation area borders. We applied an assessment model to the Conservation Area as a basis for monitoring long-term changes in riparian ecosystem condition resulting from changes in river water availability, and collected multi-year data on a subset of the most sensitive bioindicators. The assessment model is based on nine vegetation bioindicators that are sensitive to changes in surface water or ground water. Site index scores allow for placement into one of three condition classes, each reflecting particular ranges for site hydrology and vegetation structure. We collected the bioindicator data at 26 sites distributed among 14 reaches that had similar stream flow hydrology (spatial flow intermittency) and geomorphology (channel sinuosity, flood-plain width). Overall, 39% of the riparian corridor fell within condition class 3 (the wettest condition), 55% in condition class 2, and 6% in the driest condition class. Condition class 3 reaches have high cover of herbaceous wetland plants (e.g., Juncus and Schoenoplectus spp.) along the perennial stream channel and dense, multi-aged Populus-Salix woodlands in the flood plain, sustained by shallow ground water in the stream alluvium. In condition class 2, intermittent stream flows result in low cover of streamside wetland herbs, but Populus-Salix remain abundant in the flood plain. Perennial wetland plants are absent from condition class 1, reflecting highly intermittent stream flows; the flood plain is vegetated by Tamarixa small tree that tolerates the deep and fluctuating ground water levels that typify this reach type. Abundance of herbaceous wetland plants and growth rate of Salix gooddingii varied between years with different stream flow rates, indicating utility of these measures for tracking short-term responses to hydrologic change. Repeat measurement of all bioindicators will indicate long-term trends in hydro-vegetational condition.     

基于自动种子区域生长的火焰分割算法

在存在壁面反射的低照度火灾环境中,传统的火焰分割算法如颜色分割、运动检测等,在进行火焰分割时造成过分割现象,分割的效果不理想,影响后续的火灾正确识别。针对上述问题,提出了一种基于自动种子区域生长(Automatic Seeded Region Growing,ASRG)的火焰分割算法。首先将从火灾视频中获取的火灾图像从RGB颜色空间转换到YCbCr颜色空间,在Y通道中采用较大自适应阈值背景减法将火灾图像二值化,分别将可疑火焰像素点的横坐标和纵坐标按大小进行排序,取排序后的中间值作为种子点,再由原RGB火灾图像转换而成的灰度图像中,以该种子点进行区域生长,最后将区域生长后的火焰分割图像与采用较小自适应阈值背景减法得到的火焰分割图像进行交集处理,得到最终的火焰分割图像。实验表明ASRG算法在存在壁面反射的低照度火灾环境中,火焰分割效果好,有效解决了该环境下的火焰过分割问题,同时在其他火灾环境中也有较好的火焰分割效果。     

Features of fatal injuries in older cyclists in vehicle–bicycle accidents in Japan

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify and better understand the features of fatal injuries in cyclists aged 75 years and over involved in collisions with either hood- or van-type vehicles.

Methods: This study investigated the fatal injuries of cyclists aged 75 years old and over by analyzing accident data. We focused on the body regions to which the fatal injury occurred using vehicle–bicycle accident data from the Institute for Traffic Accident Research and Data Analysis (ITARDA) in Japan. Using data from 2009 to 2013, we examined the frequency of fatally injured body region by gender, age, and actual vehicle travel speed. We investigated any significant differences in distributions of fatal injuries by body region for cyclists aged 75 years and over using chi-square tests to compare with cyclists in other age groups. We also investigated the cause of fatal head injuries, such as impact with a road surface or vehicle.

Results: The results indicated that head injuries were the most common cause of fatalities among the study group. At low vehicle travel speeds for both hood- and van-type vehicles, fatalities were most likely to be the result of head impacts against the road surface.

The percentage of fatalities following hip injuries was significantly higher for cyclists aged 75 years and over than for those aged 65–74 or 13–59 in impacts with hood-type vehicles. It was also higher for women than men in the over-75 age group in impacts with these vehicles.

Conclusions: For cyclists aged 75 years and over, wearing a helmet may be helpful to prevent head injuries in vehicle-to-cyclist accidents. It may also be helpful to introduce some safety measures to prevent hip injuries, given the higher level of fatalities following hip injury among all cyclists aged 75 and over, particularly women.     

哈密地区矿业生产环境保护与综合治理对策探讨

介绍哈密地区矿山企业发展现状,对矿业生产中具有共性的环境问题做了重点分析。深入探讨了在矿业开采中,应加强对当地矿山企业的管理,学习和借鉴国外先进的管理经验,把循环经济、清洁生产等新理念应用于矿山生产的全过程。这将有利于预防或减轻矿业开采造成的环境污染,也是发展经济和保护环境的有效途径。     

1961—2008年新疆阿克苏地区降水、温度变化特征

利用阿克苏地区5个气象站1961—2008年的降水和温度资料,对近50 a来该地区气候变化及其趋势进行了分析。各气象站年降水量变化趋势基本一致,总体上都呈增加趋势。除库车县气象站年平均温度呈降低趋势外,其余呈上升趋势。总体上,阿克苏地区年降水量和年平均温度均呈上升趋势。     

西部地区工业发展的比较优势分析

西部大开发实施以来,西部地区经济发展迅速,在产业结构升级和优化上取得了较大成绩.对西部地区1997-2006年的相关工业数据进行了分析,从总量、结构以及比较优势等方面加以把握,归纳出西部地区工业发展的几个显著特点以及成因,提出一些对策思路,主要包括:培育国家政策扶持机制,强化科技投入增长的保障机制,建设具有西部特色和优势的区域创新体系,健全金融体系等.     

茶叶蛋白的研究现状分析及发展对策研究

茶叶中含有15%—30%的蛋白质,对生物体具有多种重要功能,但其中绝大多数是非水溶性蛋白质,难以直接被人体吸收。目前对茶叶蛋白的研究主要集中在提取工艺上,研究表明用复合法提取的效果最好。为了更好地利用茶叶资源,可通过对非水溶性蛋白改性(溶解性、吸水性、吸油性、乳化性、胶凝性等)来提高人体对茶叶蛋白的利用率,发挥茶叶蛋白的生物功能。