Elements of resilience after the World Trade Center disaster: reconstituting New York City's Emergency Operations Centre

In this paper we examine the reconstitution of the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) after its destruction in the World Trade Center attack, using that event to highlight several features of resilience. The paper summarises basic EOC functions, and then presents conceptions of resilience as understood from several disciplinary perspectives, noting that work in these fields has sought to understand how a natural or social system that experiences disturbance sustains its functional processes. We observe that, although the physical EOC facility was destroyed, the organisation that had been established to manage crises in New York City continued, enabling a response that drew on the resources of New York City and neighbouring communities, states and the federal government. Availability of resources--which substituted for redundancy of personnel, equipment and space--pre-existing relationships that eased communication challenges as the emergency developed and the continuation of organisational patterns of response integration and role assignments were among the factors that contributed to resilience following the attack.     

中国加入WTO对环保机械企业产生的影响

中国加入WTO将使国内环保企业竞争更为激烈 ,使国内环保机械企业生存变得更为艰难。同时 ,由于经验丰富的国外企业已将凭借实力占据国际市场 ,使得我国环保机械企业在国际市场竞争中处于不利地位。从另一方面讲 ,中国加入WTO可以促进我国政府采取有力措施 ,加强对环保市场的监管 ,克服无序竞争 ,为国内企业营造良好的竞争环境 ;加入WTO可以加快国内环保机械企业技术创新 ,开发具有国际水准的拳头产品 ,增强市场竞争力 ,同时 ,可以推动国内产业结构调整及资本运营 ,使环保机械企业快速发展壮大 ;另外 ,WTO的加入可以迫使国内环保机械企业学习国外先进经验 ,掌握全球经济知识 ,夯实参与国际市场竞争的基础。     

Environmental anomalies at the World Trade Center: evidence for energetic materials

Investigators monitoring air quality at the World Trade Center, after the September 11th attacks, found extremely high levels of volatile organic chemicals as well as unusual species that had never been seen before in structure fires. Data collected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency indicate striking spikes in levels of benzene, styrene, and several other products of combustion. These spikes occurred on specific dates in October and November 2001, and February 2002. Additionally, data collected by researchers at the University of California Davis showed similar spikes in the levels of sulfur and silicon compounds, and certain metals, in aerosols. To better explain these data, as well as the unusual detection of 1,3-diphenylpropane, the presence of energetic nanocomposites in the pile at Ground Zero is hypothesized.     

奥林匹克公园网球中心污水处理工程中不同组件的膜生物反应器对比研究

奥林匹克公园网球中心污水处理工程主体处理工艺为两套膜生物反应器,两套膜生物反应器并联运行,膜组件分别采用板式膜和管式膜。对两套不同组件的膜生物反应器进行对比研究,结果表明:出水水质均较好;与板式膜膜生物反应器相比,管式膜膜生物反应器流程复杂、清洗过程繁琐、膜分离单元电费和药剂费高,但是维修更换简便。     

Developing a CFD heat transfer model for applying high expansion foam in an LNG spill

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is widely used to cost-effectively store and transport natural gas. However, a spill of LNG can create a vapor cloud, which can potentially cause fire and explosion. High expansion (HEX) foam is recommended by the NFPA 11 to mitigate the vapor hazard and control LNG pool fire. In this study, the parameters that affect HEX foam performance were examined using lab-scale testing of foam temperature profile and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling of heat transfer in vapor channels. A heat transfer model using ANSYS Fluent® was developed to estimate the minimum HEX foam height that allows the vapors from LNG spillage to disperse rapidly. We also performed a sensitivity analysis on the effect of the vaporization rate, the diameter of the vapor channel, and the heat transfer coefficient on the required minimum height of the HEX foam. It can be observed that at least 1.2 m of HEX foam in height are needed to achieve risk mitigation in a typical situation. The simulation results can be used not only for understanding the heat transfer mechanisms when applying HEX foam but also for suggesting to the LNG facility operator how much HEX foam they need for effective risk mitigation under different conditions.     

Volcanic hazard warning system: Persistence and transferability

This study examines the normative functioning of the volcano warning system on the Island of Hawaii. The research seeks to identify the combination of factors, both environmental and social, which allows the system to operate with success. On the basis of the findings, several recommendations are offered for improving environmental hazard warning systems.     

2014年北京奥体中心空气质量演变特征

利用中国环境监测总站发布的实时大气环境监测资料,选择北京国家奥林匹克体育中心(下称北京奥体中心)为研究对象,分析了2014年全年北京奥体中心空气质量演变特征. 结果表明:①2014年全年北京奥体中心首要污染污染物为PM_2.5,其次是NO₂,而PM_2.5和PM₁₀出现中度污染以上的污染事件主要集中在冬季和春末秋初;②PM_2.5、PM₁₀、SO₂、NO₂、O₃和CO等主要污染物的年均质量浓度分别为89.75、141.12、21.83、64.26、48.60和1 210 μg/m3. 其中年均ρ(PM_2.5)是GB 3095—2012《环境空气质量标准》二级标准限值(35 μg/m3)的2.6倍,年均ρ(PM₁₀)也是其二级标准限值(70 μg/m3)的2.0倍,年均ρ(SO₂)略高于其一级标准限值(20 μg/m3),而年均ρ(NO₂)则高于其标准限值(40 μg/m3);③北京奥体中心全年逐月ρ(SO₂)/ρ(NO₂)都小于1.00,年均值为0.37,反映出北京目前硝酸型污染特征越来越明显;④针对不同污染等级下各类污染物质量浓度的分析结果显示,严重污染时ρ(PM_2.5)和ρ(PM₁₀)平均值分别高达324.75和494.98 μg/m3,分别是世界卫生组织(WHO)《空气质量准则》推荐24 h平均浓度准则值的13和10倍,其浓度如此之高会对人体健康造成严重危害;⑤ρ(PM_2.5)年均24 h变化趋势表明,ρ(PM_2.5)具有明显的日变化特征,出现2个峰值,高峰值出现在午夜时分(23:00—翌日01:00),次高峰值出现在上午(09:00—11:00),最低值出现在下午(15:00—17:00),次低谷值则出现在凌晨(05:00—07:00),说明ρ(PM_2.5)除与混合层高度日变化特征密切相关外,还与人们的日常生活有一定联系.      

A critique of the official report on the evacuation of the World Trade Center: continued doubts

This paper criticises the conclusions and the unanswered questions in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)'s official report on the evacuation of the World Trade Center in New York City, United States, on 11 September 2001. It reviews the extent to which the report disregards several conventional statistical methods and comments on the NIST's refusal to share the machine‐readable data file with the scientific community for replication and further analysis. Problems lie in the sampling methods employed, the treatment of missing data, the use of ordinary least squares (OLS) with binary dependent variables, the failure to document the scalability of the scales used, the lack of tests to check for constant error variance, and the absence of overall fit tests of the model. There are also conceptual and theoretical issues, such as the absence in the report of considerations of the influence of group‐level processes and their impact on the collective behaviour of evacuating collectivities.     

空气质量模型中大气化学机理的发展与比较

大气化学机理是空气质量模型中重要的组成部分,是研究大气化学过程的重要手段和方法。综述了碳键机理(CBM)、区域大气化学机理(RACM)和加州大气污染研究中心机理(SAPRC)3类常用归纳化学机理的发展历程,比较了各化学机理在物种集总方式、物种数和化学反应数等方面的差异,介绍了各类大气化学机理最新版本的更新及在空气质量模型中的应用情况。对不同大气化学机理在空气质量模型中应用的比较进行了分析和总结,讨论了导致不同大气化学机理模拟结果差异的原因,并对空气质量模型中不同大气化学机理的选择和应用提出了建议。     

Operation Child-ID: reunifying children with their legal guardians after Hurricane Katrina

Children constitute a vulnerable population and special considerations are necessary in order to provide proper care for them during disasters. After disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, the rapid identification and protection of separated children and their reunification with legal guardians is necessary in order to minimise secondary injuries (i.e. physical and sexual abuse, neglect and abduction). At Camp Gruber, an Oklahoma shelter for Louisianans displaced by Hurricane Katrina, a survey tool was used to identify children separated from their guardians. Of the 254 children at the camp, 36 (14.2 per cent) were separated from their legal guardians. Answering 'no' to the question of whether the accompanying adult was the guardian of the child prior to Hurricane Katrina was a strong predictor (27.8 per cent versus 3.2 per cent) of being listed as 'missing' by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). All the children at Camp Gruber who were listed as 'missing' by the NCMEC were subsequently reunited with their guardians.