Parallel and Serial Methods of Calculating Thermal Insulation in European Manikin Standards

Abstract

Standard No. EN 15831:2004 provides 2 methods of calculating insulation: parallel and serial. The parallel method is similar to the global one defined in Standard No. ISO 9920:2007. Standards No. EN 342:2004, EN 14058:2004 and EN 13537:2002 refer to the methods defined in Standard No. EN ISO 15831:2004 for testing cold protective clothing or equipment. However, it is necessary to consider several issues, e.g., referring to measuring human subjects, when using the serial method. With one zone, there is no serial-parallel issue as the results are the same, while more zones increase the difference in insulation value between the methods. If insulation is evenly distributed, differences between the serial and parallel method are relatively small and proportional. However, with more insulation layers overlapping in heavy cold protective ensembles, the serial method produces higher insulation values than the parallel one and human studies. Therefore, the parallel method is recommended for standard testing.     

Extra- and intra-European Union exchanges of recovered materials and products

On the basis of the data Comext from Eurostat, this paper presents 2001 data on the main exchanges (flows) intra-European Union (EU) and with the rest of the world (extra-EU), by countries (for the main countries which are concerned), tonnage and value, by categories of recovered materials and products. A synoptic table is established, the results are summarized, and initial comments are provided. Moreover the evolution from 1995 to 2001 is discussed.The second part of the paper examines what these data tell us:

* whether they are consistent with the main theories of international trade, and which factors explain these exchanges,

* what is the extent of foreign trade of recovered products and materials,

* to what extent the EU appears as ‘an economic entity’,

* and possible effects of the enlargement of the EU.

The social dimension of biodiversity policy in the European Union: Valuing the benefits to vulnerable communities

This paper uses GIS-based mapping tools and economic valuation of ecosystem goods and services to explore the social dimension of biodiversity policy. We investigate the linkages between biodiversity, ecosystem service values, and socio-economic vulnerability indicators in a spatially explicit framework and at different geographic scales. Our focus is on Europe, where biodiversity and ecosystem benefits have been well studied for many ecosystems, such as forests, coastal ecosystems and freshwater wetlands. The analysis focuses in particular on rural agricultural areas and remote mountainous regions accounting for the differences across various income groups, both at national and regional levels. The results of the study provide useful insights for EU policymakers in designing policy instruments that can promote biodiversity conservation and prevent natural resource degradation, on the one hand, while contributing to social stability and human livelihoods, on the other hand.     

State of the population of the European pearl mussel <Emphasis Type="Italic">Margaritifera margaritifera</Emphasis> (L.) (Mollusca,Margaritiferidae) at the northeastern boundary of its range (Solza River,White Sea Basin)

Only two river basins in which the European pearl mussel has survived to date are known in Arkhangelsk oblast. These are the Solza and Kozha basins. The northeastern boundary of the European range of this species passes along the watershed between the basins of the Solza and the Shirshema (the Onega Peninsula) and then along the Onega-Northern Dvina watershed. The population density and the proportion of juveniles widely vary in different parts of the Solza Basin, and, therefore, the previously conclusion concerning the ageing of the population in the Kazanka River (Bolotov and Semushin, 2003) applies only to certain parts of this river. The highest density of the pearl mussel in the Solza Basin is 68 ind./m². Fish cultivation contributes to the conservation of this pearl mussel population, as the release of Atlantic salmon juveniles ensures reproduction of the mollusk under conditions of regulated river flow.     

轻型车NH_3排放实验研究

用傅里叶变换紫外光谱法对4辆不同里程、不同排量、不同排放标准的轻型车NH_3排放进行测量,试验车辆包括2辆双燃料出租车。实验结果表明:里程数越高的车辆,在同一个测试循环中产生的NH_3排放越多;在高速工况下,车辆产生的NH_3要高于在低速工况时;在循环中车辆加速过程产生的NH_3浓度较高;对于天然气燃料车辆,市区运转工况下基本上没有NH_3排放,在城郊运转工况下产生的NH_3要多于用汽油燃料时。     

Is the EU WFD suitable to support IWRM planning in non-European countries? Lessons learnt from the introduction of IWRM and River Basin Management in Mongolia

The Water Framework Directive (EU WFD, 2000/60EC, European Commission, 2000) is a comprehensive tool for water management taking Europe’s diverse national and local policy contexts into account. This has positioned the EU WFD as a potential tool to enhance the implementation of the globally-promoted integrated water resources management concept (IWRM) in developing and transition countries that to date lack comparable regulations. Using the case of Mongolia, a country that has shown interest in using aspects of the EU WFD for implementing its IWRM concept, we will discuss the extent to which the EU WFD also provides a framework for IWRM outside Europe. We find that the EU WFD may provide guidance for the implementation of ecosystem-based River Basin Management (RBM) within an existing national IWRM concept, in terms of public participation and in terms of economic analysis. However, the application of concepts EU WFD is easier if strong political will, good monitoring capacities and a legislative backbone covering key IWRM principles and the capacity for enforcement are in place. Also, the EU-WFD does not provide guidance in terms of water-related issues that are e.g. addressing gender, poverty and capacity development. Thus, the EU WFD cannot serve as a blueprint, as it requires adaptation to the different socio-economic, cultural and political contexts of the implementing country and it does not inform all aspects of IWRM.     

Environmental,economic and social costs and benefits of a packaging waste management system: A Portuguese case study

The impact of the management of packaging waste on the environment, economic growth and job creation is analyzed in this paper. This integrated assessment intends to cover a gap in the literature for this type of studies, using the specific case study of the Portuguese packaging waste management system (SIGRE).The net environmental benefits associated with the management of packaging waste, are calculated using the Life Cycle Assessment methodology. The results show that, for the categories studied, the impacts associated to SIGRE's various activities are surpassed by the benefits associated to material and energy recovery, with special focus on recycling. For example, in 2011 SIGRE avoided the emission of 116 kt CO₂ equiv. – the equivalent carbon emission of the electricity consumption of 124.000 households in Portugal.The economic impact of SIGRE is evaluated through Input–Output Analysis. It was found that SIGRE's activities also have a significant economic impact. For example, their added value are ranked amongst the upper third of the economic activities with highest multiplier effect at national level: this means that for each Euro of value added generated within SIGRE, 1.25 additional € are added to the rest of the economy (multiplier effect of 2.25).Regarding the social impacts of SIGRE, the number of direct jobs associated with the system is estimated to be more than two thousand and three hundred workers. Out of these, 83% are connected to the management of municipal waste packaging (selective collection and sorting), 15% are connected to the management of non-municipal packaging waste and only 2% are connected to the Sociedade Ponto Verde (SPV, green dot society in English) – the management entity responsible for SIGRE.In general terms, the results obtained provide quantitative support to the EEA (2011) suggestion that moving up the waste hierarchy – from landfilling to recycling – creates jobs and boosts the economy.     

Analysis of the relations between circular economy and sustainable development goals

ABSTRACT

Since the United Nations approved the eight Millennium Development Goals in 2000 and, 15 years later, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the highest political institutions in the world have not stopped worrying about achieving the sustainability of the planet. Also in 2015, the European Commission prepared the European Union Action Plan for the Circular Economy, seeking a transition towards a less linear economy, in which products, materials, and resources are kept in the system for as long as possible and in which the generation of waste is minimized.

Since then, the European Union has continued issuing reports and communications to accelerate this process in search of a circular economy, making continuous references to the fact that, through circular economy initiatives, the SDGs would be fulfilled. In this context, the objectives of this paper are 1) to determine, through exploratory factor analysis and correlation analysis, whether there is a statistically significant relationship between circular economy initiatives undertaken in the EU and compliance with the SDGs; 2) to check, through a cluster analysis, if there are homogeneous groups of countries worldwide in terms of compliance with the SDGs; and 3) using this same technique, to check whether the countries that make up the EU achieve similar results in terms of compliance with the SDGs.     

基于EFQM的建筑企业安全投入绩效评估SEM

为解决目前我国建筑业安全生产事故频发,安全投入不足及其绩效产出低下的现状,通过探索性因子分析,从建筑企业安全投入22项组成内容中提炼出6项要素;借鉴欧洲质量卓越(EFQM)模型,建立建筑企业安全投入绩效评估结构方程模型(SEM),实证分析安全投入构成要素之间的复杂交互影响关系:领导分别对人员、资源设施、政策战略具有正向直接影响;人员与资源受到政策战略的正向直接影响,并对生产过程与事故损失产生正向直接与间接影响。因此,在加强领导投入以提升整体安全投入绩效的前提下,提高政策战略对于人员、资源与设施的约束性,将最终保障安全生产与减少事故损失。     

航空人为差错事故/事件分析(ECAR)模型研究

为深入研究航空人为差错事故/事件的影响因素,以人为差错相关理论为基础,对比分析几种典型的人为差错分析模型;通过借鉴ECCAIRS分析框架,并在基元事件分析(EEAM)逻辑和CCAR396部的分类方法基础上,构建航空人为差错事故/事件分析(ECAR)模型,它从事件层、描述层、原因层和组织因素与改进建议层,分析航空事故和不安全事件的人为差错。此外,还将组织因素概念引入该模型。