How to facilitate (or discourage) community-based research: recommendations based on a Canadian survey

The impact of the extreme heat wave that affected Melbourne, Australia, in two distinct phases in January and February 2009 was severe, with 374 (heat) and 173 (bushfire) excess deaths. Whilst the human health issues have been covered in detail in policy and academic arenas, much less attention has been paid to the adverse impacts on urban infrastructure. Analysis of this event, underpinned by participatory actor-based research, has shown that the impacts were experienced disproportionately across different infrastructure types. For water, telecommunications and airports, the impacts were relatively minor and the impact on rail transport and roads (and to a lesser extent, seaports) was of moderate significance, whereas research findings indicate that the electricity sector was found to be the most vulnerable. This paper focuses on the sectors that were worst impacted: electricity, rail and road transport. Commentary identifies the direct and indirect impacts of the heat event, including associated cascading effects, as well as considering actual and potential adaptation responses both before and after the event. Concluding, the authors reflect on the implications of the heat wave for urban resilience, emphasising the crucial importance of understanding the urban environment as a complex and interconnected system.     

Achieving sustainable lifestyles? Socio-cultural dispositions,collective action and material culture as problems and possibilities

This article focuses on the everyday life of ordinary households, their behaviour and responsibility with regard to environmental and sustainability issues. Previous research has shown that there is a gap between what households perceive as ideologically correct behaviour and what they actually do. It is argued here that socio-cultural dispositions, material culture and collective action need to be included in future strategies for creating more sustainable lifestyles. The investigation is based on a study of families participating in a year-long project in which the families learned to live in a more environmentally friendly way. In the study of the families, material culture interacted with routines, family relations and citizenship in a reproducing manner. The lifestyle changes were gender-biased, with the women as driving forces but also bearing most of the extra workload. From early life experiences, garbage sorting stood out as an especially powerful tool for a change towards more sustainable lifestyles.     

Prevalence of sustainable and unsustainable use of wild species inferred from the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

Unsustainable exploitation of wild species represents a serious threat to biodiversity and to the livelihoods of local communities and Indigenous peoples. However, managed, sustainable use has the potential to forestall extinctions, aid recovery, and meet human needs. We analyzed species-level data for 30,923 species from 13 taxonomic groups on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species to investigate patterns of intentional biological resource use. Forty percent of species (10,098 of 25,009 species from 10 data-sufficient taxonomic groups) were used. The main purposes of use were pets, display animals, horticulture, and human consumption. Intentional use is currently contributing to elevated extinction risk for 28–29% of threatened or near threatened (NT) species (2752–2848 of 9753 species). Intentional use also affected 16% of all species used (1597–1631 of 10,098). However, 72% of used species (7291 of 10,098) were least concern, of which nearly half (3469) also had stable or improving population trends. The remainder were not documented as threatened by biological resource use, including at least 172 threatened or NT species with stable or improving populations. About one-third of species that had use documented as a threat had no targeted species management actions to directly address this threat. To improve use-related red-list data, we suggest small amendments to the relevant classification schemes and required supporting documentation. Our findings on the prevalence of sustainable and unsustainable use, and variation across taxa, can inform international policy making, including the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.     

建筑物人员疏散行动时间的预测研究

针对目前疏散模型忽略房间中障碍物对人员行动的影响,笔者提出一种“L型”行动路线,并对空间节点进行了细化,根据网络控制型原理,建立了更为完善合理的疏散行动时间预测数学模型。在该研究的基础上,开发出了高层建筑人员疏散行动时间预测软件,该软件具有计算速度快、动态模拟性强的特点。通过实例计算对比国外公式,证明了节点细化的正确性和开发软件的适用性及可靠性。     

季节冻土区冻融期黄土滑坡基本特征与机理

在我国北方大部分地区滑坡灾害的发生有两个高峰期,即雨季和冻融期,而目前对冻融期滑坡的研究尚处在起步阶段,导致对冻融期滑坡的防治效果远不及雨季滑坡。本文以甘肃黄土滑坡为研究对象,探索季节冻土区冻融期黄土滑坡的基本特征和形成机制。结果表明,季节性冻融作用是季节冻融期黄土滑坡滑坡发生的主要因素,其不但在斜坡表层产生强烈作用,而且可引起斜坡深处地下水富集、土体软化范围扩大和静、动水压力增大等冻结滞水效应,促使斜坡整体性大规模变形破坏,导致滑坡发生。     

复合垂直流人工湿地基质生化活性研究

文章测定了复合垂直流人工湿地基质生物膜生物量的空间分布、纤维素分解作用强度、氨化作用强度、酚分解作用强度、耗氧速率、厌氧活性等指标,结果表明:下行流池基质的纤维素分解作用、氨化作用、酚分解作用、耗氧速率等均高于上行流池,表层高于中下层,各指标变化趋势与生物膜生物量的空间分布存在明显的一致性;下行流池表层基质是污染物降解的主要空间;但上行流池基质的厌氧活性高于下行池;同时发现钴离子对基质厌氧微生物活性存在一定的影响,随着浓度的升高表现为先激活后降低。这些研究为阐明人工湿地净化机理提供了理论依据。     

设立国家高新区能否驱动城市绿色发展——基于双重差分法的经验数据

国家高新区是新时代中国落实创新驱动发展战略、实现经济高质量发展和绿色发展的重要制度安排。本研究以2008年之后设立了国家高新区的城市为实验组,以一直未设立国家高新区的城市为对照组,形成2003—2019年的231个城市的面板数据,采用多期双重差分法实证检验国家高新区的设立对城市绿色发展水平的驱动作用及其机制。研究发现,设立国家高新区能显著提升城市绿色发展水平,但提升效应有待进一步加强。其机制主要是国家高新区通过提高经济增长质量和资源节约利用水平,提升环境治理和生态保护水平,改善居民绿色行为和居住环境,进而提升城市的绿色生产指数、绿色生态指数和绿色生活指数。以上结论表明国家高新区可通过推动产业结构提档升级和节能减排来进一步增强绿色先行示范作用,引领城市绿色发展。     

5种取代酚化合物对淡水发光菌的联合毒性

以新型淡水发光菌——青海弧菌Q67(Vibrio-qinghaiensissp.—Q67)为检验生物,以VeritasTM微孔板光度计为发光强度测试设备,分别测定了3,5-二羟基甲苯、2,3-二甲基苯酚、对氯苯酚、邻氯苯酚、2,4-二氯苯酚对淡水发光菌的发光抑制毒性及其混合物的联合毒性.结果表明,5种取代酚的剂量-效应关系都可用Weibull模型有效描述,从这些模型估算的半数效应浓度负对数值(-logEC50)分别为2.69、3.08、3.43、2.81和3.66,可知其对发光菌的毒性大小顺序为:2,4-二氯苯酚>对氯苯酚>2,3-二甲基苯酚>邻氯苯酚>3,5-二羟基甲苯.分别设计浓度等于各自之EC50和EC10的2个等效应浓度比混合物以及3个不同效应浓度比混合物进行联合毒性实验,结果发现,在所实验的浓度范围内各个混合物的剂量加和(DA)模型与独立作用(IA)模型具有相似的作用规律,其联合毒性既可用DA模型也可用IA模型进行预测.     

某综合楼钢结构抗火安全设计与评估(Ⅱ) --火灾作用下结构的分析及抗火验算

某综合楼为一高层钢结构建筑。试验及对火灾调查表明,由于构件相互作用及荷载传递路径的改变,整体结构中的构件的抗火性能与抗火试验中的简支梁或柱有很大不同。本文采用基于性能化思想的抗火设计方法,对该综合楼进行了整体分析,考虑了构件之间的相互作用,并结合梁产生悬链线效应后的特点,确定出构件的实际受力。据此进行了构件强度及稳定的验算,提高了构件在火灾作用下的安全性。在楼板的抗火设计中,采用较新的科研成果,考虑了薄膜效应的影响,使一部分次梁免于防火保护,降低了防火成本。     

受火约束钢梁在升温段和降温段行为的理论分析(Ⅱ)

通过约束钢梁抗火试验结果与笔者提出的理论方法结果的比较,验证了升温段理论分析方法的正确性。在降温段,采用本文方法所得结果与其他理论所得结果也很相近。采用笔者提出的理论方法对约束钢梁进行了参数分析,研究了约束钢梁的轴向约束刚度、转动约束刚度、荷载比、梁的高跨比、钢材屈服、荷载作用类型和截面温度分布等因素对受火约束钢梁在升温段和降温段的影响。研究表明,上述因素,尤其是梁的荷载比、轴向约束刚度和高跨比等对约束钢梁在火灾升温段的行为有很大影响;在降温段,由于梁的收缩受到约束,引起很大的轴向拉力,轴向力的大小除了与梁的荷载比、轴向约束刚度有关外,还与梁所经历的最高温度有关。