Can natural behavior be cultivated? The farm as local human/animal culture

Although the notion of natural behavior occurs in many policy-making and legal documents on animal welfare, no consensus has been reached concerning its definition. This paper argues that one reason why the notion resists unanimously accepted definition is that natural behavior is not properly a biological concept, although it aspires to be one, but rather a philosophical tendency to perceive animal behavior in accordance with certain dichotomies between nature and culture, animal and human, original orders and invented artifacts. The paper scrutinizes the philosophy of natural behavior as it developed in the organic movement in response to a perceived contrast between industrialized and traditional agriculture. There are two reasons for focusing on the organic movement: (i) the emphasis on “the natural” is most accentuated there and has a long history, (ii) everyday life on organic farms presupposes human/animal interplay, which conflicts with the philosophical tendency to separate nature from culture. This mismatch between theory and practice helps us see why, and how, the philosophy of natural behavior needs to be reconsidered. The paper proposes that we understand farms as local human/animal cultures, and asks what we can mean my natural behavior in such contexts. Since domestic animals adapt to agricultural environments via interaction with caretakers, such interplay is analyzed as “hub” in these animals’ natural behavior.     

影响我国民航飞行安全的个体与组织因素——基于HFACS框架的事件分析

主要通过民航事故征候(事件)的分析,对影响飞行安全的人的因素进行研究。数据分析主要采用编码分析的方法,结果发现:在个体层面,对事故征候影响顺序是技能差错、决策差错与知觉差错;机组内部的沟通与协调不畅在各个飞行阶段都存在;在组织层面,监督、资源管理、文化与氛围是比较有影响的组织因素;组织内部与外部的信息界面是飞行安全的隐患之一。与此同时,分析了该项目研究的不足之处,提出改善民航飞行安全的建并指出今后研究的方向。     

国有高新技术企业核心资源安全策略研究

市场经济条件下,任何企业在运营中都存在着风险,高新技术企业面临的环境更具动态性和复杂性,其面对的运营风险也更为复杂。由于国有高新技术企业在资源获取、经营管理方面所具有的特殊性,其知识产权、企业文化、人才等核心资源已成为国有高新技术企业安全运营、保持持续竞争优势的必要条件,因此,针对国有高新技术企业现状,笔者围绕人力资源、知识产权、企业文化3方面的安全问题进行研讨,并提出相应的策略即包括实行知识产权保护制度、构建以人为本的企业文化、防止人才流失的管理层收购和股票期权策略。     

核电厂运行人员可靠性研究中若干问题的分析

对已有人因可靠性分析模型进行归纳总结,结合核电厂运行人员可靠性研究实际,对人因分类、人因建模、数据采样及人因数据库完善等方面存在的问题进行分析,并提出可能的解决办法或研究方向:在人因分类方式上,要加强因素之间的细化程度,以降低评价的模糊性;在人因量化方面,要重点考虑其所依赖的HRA模型、数学依据、结果精确度等3个方面的影响;对待数据采集的问题,规范性数据采集平台的构建是确保数据一致性的关键措施,并有利于不同HRA模型之间接口相容性问题的解决;人因数据库管理系统的智能决策功能是研发设计的趋势。     

Human Dignity and the Dignity of Creatures

In their report for the Swiss government onthe notion of the dignity of creatures, PhilippBalzer, Klaus-Peter Rippe, and Peter Schaber analyzethe relationship between human dignity and the dignityof creatures, taking them as two categoricallydifferent concepts. Human dignity is defined as the``moral right not to be humiliated,' whereas thedignity of creatures is taken to be ``the inherentvalue of nonhuman living beings.' To my mind there isno need to draw a categorical distinction between thetwo concepts. Both notions could be brought togetherunder an all-encompassing concept of the inherentvalue of living beings, humans and non-humans alike,a concept one could name ``the dignity of livingbeings.' Indeed, this very notion underlies theposition taken in the report, although this is notmade explicit by the authors themselves.As the aim of the paper is only to clarify theconcepts used, I do not go beyond this ``internal'critique of their position, i.e., I don't assess howthe claims articulated via these concepts – theclaim that humans and/or creatures have an inherentvalue consisting in a supposed intrinsic good – areto be justified, although I myself would be ratherskeptical that this might be successfully done.     

进近着陆运输飞行事故原因及预防对策研究

进近着陆是最容易发生重大运输飞行事故的阶段,笔者对1980—1996年发生的民航运输飞行进近着陆事故进行了统计分析。结果表明:事故的主要原因是人为因素和环境因素,事故结果主要为飞机失去控制和可控飞行撞地的结果,飞机撞地后起火往往造成机组人员和乘客大量伤亡;加强研究民航飞行安全中的人为因素控制,改善进近着陆的环境系统,重视机场应急计划的编制和应急救援的模拟演练等措施,对降低进近着陆阶段的飞行事故次数、改善航空运输安全和减少人员伤亡具有重要意义。     

基于人的认知可靠性(HCR)模型的人因操作失误研究

以人的认知可靠性(HCR)模型为指导,选择包含技能型、规则型和知识型3种认知类型,结合大连化工集团公司影响运行安全的17个异常事件,对54名操纵员的时间响应状况和允许操作时间进行录像、记录与分析;依据IAEA提供的指标[1],找出操纵员在生产过程中可能出现的操作失误类别及其可能造成的危害;基于3参数威布尔模型推导出操纵员操作响应失误概率模型,并从人机工程学角度提出了具体预防事故的安全对策措施。结果表明,基于HCR模型的大化集团公司操纵员的人因操作失误模型实用、有效,为实现操作者与机器系统相协调的目标、正确评估操作着实时操作的响应时间提供了重要参考依据。     

几种化合物对温石棉诱导入胚肺细胞蛋白激酶C活性的影响

为了探讨几种化合物对温石棉诱导人胚肺（HEL）细胞蛋白激酶C（PKC）活性的影响，该研究用不同浓度的柠檬酸铝、混合稀土或亚硒酸钠溶液浸泡温石棉1小时后，再将其与HEL细胞共同孵育24小时，测定了HEL细胞胞浆和胞膜中PKC的活性。其结果显示：随着石棉剂量的增加，HEL细胞胞浆和胞膜中的PKC活性逐渐升高，均呈明显的剂量依赖性；经3种化合物预处理的石棉，其所诱导的HEL细胞胞浆和胞膜中的PKC活性均明显低于未处理温石棉组。笔者提示：温石棉可能通过改变细胞内PKC的活性进一步促进肿瘤的发生；用3种化合物预处理温石棉，均可抑制温石棉对HEL细胞PKC活性的诱导作用。     

REAL-TIME SOIL WATER MONITORING FOR OPTIMUM WATER MANAGEMENT1

Abstract: Efficient water resource management is one of the most important policy issues facing agriculture in Hawaii in the years ahead. Soil water sensors, multisensor capacitance probes (MCP), have been successfully used for different water management projects. These MCPs monitor water content at multiple depths and at various locations in real-time. The objectives of this study were to determine the effect of water content on field soil bulk density of Wahiawa silty clay tropical soil; measure field saturated hydraulic conductivity of this tropical soil: calibrate MCP system for this soil: and monitor and evaluate real-time soil water content variations under a tomato crop using the calibrated MCP system. Sensor calibration was conducted under laboratory conditions. Soil bulk density at different water contents and saturated hydraulic conductivity were measured on the field. Bulk density increased with increasing water content: there was a 30 percent bulk density increase as a result of 0.25 cm³ cm^-3 water content variation. Compared with the manufacturer's calibration, site specific laboratory calibration of MCP gave a more accurate determination of soil water. Field determined saturated hydraulic conductivity was higher than laboratory determined values reported in the literature for the same soil type. Real-time soil water content monitoring within the root zone showed substantial variations due to water input (irrigation and rainfall) and water output (evapotranspiration and deep percolations). However, water content variations were much further reduced in the soil layer below the root zone.     

RUNOFF EVENT IMPACTS ON A WATER SUPPLY RESERVOIR: SUSPENDED SEDIMENT LOADING, TURBID PLUME BEHAVIOR, AND SEDIMENT DEPOSITION1

Abstract: The impacts of runoff events on external suspended solids loading to Schoharie Reservoir, New York, and patterns of light scattering and sediment deposition in this reservoir are assessed. The assessment is based on monitoring of suspended solids concentrations in the reservoir's primary tributary, detailed vertical profiles of optical backscattering (a surrogate measure of light scattering) in the reservoir water column, and analysis of sediment trap collections, over a seven-month interval of high runoff. These impacts are reported to be tightly temporally coupled and strongly positively related to the magnitude of runoff events. The primary tributary entered the reservoir as a plunging inflow during runoff events, causing conspicuous subsurface peaks in light scattering, with vertical patterns that varied strongly for different events. Deposition quantified by near-bottom trap deployments is reported to be more representative than results from metalimnetic deployments that were generally within, rather than below, the turbid layers. Direct inputs of sediment, transported by density currents, are found to drive deposition, rather than resuspension/redeposition. More than 50 percent of the reported deposition occurred in less than 15 percent of the study period, associated with the four largest runoff events.