Human transformities in a global hierarchy: Emergy and scale in the production of people and culture

In emergy research, transformities are of fundamental importance. They are factors that are used to convert the inputs to a process into emergy. Once placed in emergy units, the inputs to any process can then be added together or compared. Furthermore, as a product of an emergy analysis, new transformities for outputs can be used in other analyses. By this process the collection of known transformities grows, and subsequent emergy analyses become more accurate. Human labor is often a critical input to an emergy analysis. Transformities for humans have only been roughly estimated based on education level, and should be judged as first approximations. This paper refines the existing values for human services, using similar techniques, but with some different assumptions. The result is a larger range of human transformities, expanded at both lower and upper ends that range from 7.53E4 to 7.53E13. There are many applications of this knowledge, from improving empirical studies to expositions of hierarchy that more reliably “locate” humans, economic production, and information within energy transformation hierarchies.     

Analysis of underlying causes of investigated loss of containment incidents in Dutch Seveso plants using the Storybuilder method

In the Netherlands there are around 400 “Seveso” sites that fall under the Dutch Major Hazards Decree (BRZO) 1999. Between 2006 and 2010 the Dutch Labour Inspectorate's Directorate for Major Hazard Control completed investigations of 118 loss of containment incidents involving hazardous substances from this group. On the basis of investigation reports the incidents were entered in a tailor-made tool called Storybuilder developed for the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment for identifying the dominant patterns of technical safety barrier failures, barrier task failures and underlying management causes associated with the resulting loss of control events. The model is a bow-tie structure with six lines of defence, three on either side of the central loss of containment event. In the first line of defence, failures in the safety barriers leading to loss of control events were primarily equipment condition failures, pre start-up and safeguarding failures and process deviations such as pressure and flow failures. These deviations, which should have been recovered while still within the safe envelope of operation, were missed primarily because of inadequate indication signals that the deviations have occurred. Through failures of subsequent lines of defence they are developing into serious incidents. Overall, task failures are principally failures to provide adequate technical safety barriers and failures to operate provided barriers appropriately. Underlying management delivery failures were mainly found in equipment specifications and provisions, procedures and competence. The competence delivery system is especially important for identifying equipment condition, equipment isolation for maintenance, pre-start-up status and process deviations. Human errors associated with operating barriers were identified in fifty per cent of cases, were mostly mistakes and feature primarily in failure to prevent deviations and subsequently recover them. Loss of control associated with loss of containment was primarily due to the containment being bypassed (72% of incidents) and less to material strength failures (28%). Transfer pipework, connections in process plant and relief valves are the most frequent release points and the dominant release material is extremely flammable. It is concluded that the analysis of a large number of incidents in Storybuilder can support the quantification of underlying causes and provide evidence of where the weak points exist in major hazard control in the prevention of major accidents.     

Performance on a Work-Simulating Firefighter Test Versus Approved Laboratory Tests for Firefighters and Applicants

Aim. Firefighters must meet minimum physical demands. The Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority (NLIA) has approved a standardised treadmill walking test and 3 simple strength tests for smoke divers. The results of the Trondheim test were compared with those of the NLIA tests taking into account possible effects of age, experience level and gender. Methods. Four groups of participants took part in the tests: 19 young experienced firefighters, 24 senior male firefighters and inexperienced applicants, 12 male and 8 female. Results. Oxygen uptake (V_O2) at exhaustion rose linearly by the duration of the treadmill test. Time spent on the Trondheim test was closely related to performance time and peak V_O2 on the treadmill test. Senior experienced firefighters did not perform better than equally fit young applicants. However, female applicants performed poorer on the Trondheim test than on the treadmill test. Performance on the Trondheim test was not closely related to muscle strength beyond a minimum. Conclusion. Firefighters completing the Trondheim test in under 19 min fit the requirements of the NLIA treadmill test. The Trondheim test can be used as an alternative to the NLIA tests for testing aerobic fitness but not for muscular strength. Women’s result of the Trondheim test were poorer than the results of the NLIA treadmill test, probably because of their lower body mass.     

On The Research of Foreign and Domestic Human Capital Theory

Abstract

Human Capital Theory came into being in the middle and later periods of the 20th century. A lot of achievements have been made on the research in its connotation, measures of the value, investment and income, function mechanism and so on, by foreign scholars. In recent 10 years of the new Millennium alternation, the “steal business effect” and the structure of human capital on the mechanism of economic rise has become the two emphasis in current foreign Human Capital Theory's research. On the basis of foreign researches and Chinese situations, domestic scholars have enriched and developed it, but there are many disparities in its methods, aspects and levels between foreign and domestic researches.     

A multi-agent simulation to assess the risk of malaria re-emergence in southern France

A multi-agent simulation (MAS) was developed to assess the risk of malaria re-emergence in the Camargue in southern France, a non-endemic area where mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles (Culicidae) live. The contact rate between people and potential malaria vectors, or the human biting rate, is one of the key factor to predict the risk of re-emergence of malaria, would the parasite be introduced in the region. Our model (called MALCAM) represents the different agents that could influence malaria transmission in the Camargue – people, mosquitoes, animal hosts and the landscape – in a spatially explicit environment. The model simulates spatial and temporal variations in human biting rate at the landscape scale. These variations depend on the distribution of people and potential vectors, their behaviour and their interactions. A land use/cover map was used as a cellular-spatial support for the movements of and interactions between mobile agents. The model was tested for its sensitivity to variations in parameter values, and for the agreement between field observations and model predictions. The MALCAM model provides a tool to better understand the interactions between the multiple agents of the disease transmission system, and the land use and land cover factors that control the spatial heterogeneity in these interactions. It allows testing hypotheses and scenarios related to disease dynamics by varying the value of exogenous biological, geographical, or human factors. This application of agent-based modelling to a human vector-borne disease can be adapted to different diseases and regions.     

2,3,7,8-四氯二苯并二噁英与Aroclor 1254单独与联合作用对大鼠外周血淋巴细胞DNA的损伤效应(Damage Effects of Individual and Combined Exposure to 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-Dioxin and Aroclor 1254 on DNA in Peripheral Blood Lymphocyte of Rats)

为探讨2,3,7,8-四氯二苯并二噁英(TCDD)和多氯联苯(Aroclor 1254)联合染毒对大鼠外周血淋巴细胞DNA的损伤效应,将20只雄性Sprague-Dawley(SD)大鼠随机均分为4组,即对照组(橄榄油)、Aroclor 1254单独染毒组(10mg·kg-1)、TCDD单独染毒组(10μg·kg-1)和联合染毒组(TCDD 10μg·kg-1+Aroclor 1254 10 mg·kg-1).大鼠每天灌胃染毒1次,连续染毒6d.染毒过程中记录大鼠的体征和体重.末次染毒后24h取外周血,分离淋巴细胞,采用碱性单细胞凝胶电泳技术(彗星试验)检测外周血淋巴细胞DNA损伤,并采用CASP软件分析各组彗星的尾部DNA百分含量(Tail DNA%)、尾长(Tail Length)和尾矩(Tail Moment).结果表明,染毒结束时TCDD单独染毒和联合染毒组大鼠体重显著低于对照组,且联合染毒组表现更为明显.TCDD单独染毒组和联合染毒组大鼠外周血淋巴细胞DNA可见明显损伤,TailDNA%、Tail Length和Tail Moment均显著高于对照组(p<0.05),且联合染毒组大鼠细胞DNA损伤更为严重,但Arolor 1254单独染毒组大鼠未见明显DNA损伤.析因分析提示TCDD与Aroclor 1254对大鼠外周血淋巴细胞DNA损伤的联合毒性效应为协同作用.本研究结果表明TCDD与Aroclor 1254联合染毒可加重大鼠外周血淋巴细胞DNA损伤,在对PCBs与二噁英的混合暴露进行危险性评估时要注意这种联合毒性作用.     

Soil factors associated with zinc deficiency in crops and humans

Zinc deficiency is the most ubiquitous micronutrient deficiency problem in world crops. Zinc is essential for both plants and animals because it is a structural constituent and regulatory co-factor in enzymes and proteins involved in many biochemical pathways. Millions of hectares of cropland are affected by Zn deficiency and approximately one-third of the human population suffers from an inadequate intake of Zn. The main soil factors affecting the availability of Zn to plants are low total Zn contents, high pH, high calcite and organic matter contents and high concentrations of Na, Ca, Mg, bicarbonate and phosphate in the soil solution or in labile forms. Maize is the most susceptible cereal crop, but wheat grown on calcareous soils and lowland rice on flooded soils are also highly prone to Zn deficiency. Zinc fertilizers are used in the prevention of Zn deficiency and in the biofortification of cereal grains.     

Sensitivity of stand dynamics to grazing in mixed Pinus sylvestris and Quercus pubescens forests: A modelling study

Only recently, studies of forest succession have started to include the effects of browsing by wild or domestic ungulates. We aim to contribute to this topic by analysing the influence of goat grazing on the long-term coexistence of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and pubescent oak (Quercus pubescens Willd.) in the low-elevation forests of an inner-Alpine dry valley. The forest gap model ForClim was first adapted to these site conditions by examining the site-dependent sensitivity of the model with regard to the species-specific parameterisation of the drought tolerance as well as the light demand of establishing and adult trees. In a second step, the behaviour of the model was investigated with respect to different grazing intensities and species-specific browsing susceptibilities. The last step was the application of a grazing scenario based on forest history, with 150 years of heavy browsing (by goats) at the beginning of the simulated forest succession, followed by less intensive grazing pressure.