An intelligent disaster decision support system for increasing the sustainability of transport networks

The increase in extreme weather events arising from climate change is posing serious threats to the sustainability of transport systems, creating the need for improved tools for decision support for more effectively managing natural disasters. There are numerous transport‐related decisions that are required during the response, recovery and preparedness stages of the disaster management cycle. This paper describes the development and application of the Intelligent Disaster Decision Support System (IDDSS), which provides a platform for integrating a vast range of road network, traffic, geographic, economic and meteorological data, as well as dynamic disaster and transport models. Initial applications to the response and planning for floods and fires are presented to illustrate some of its capabilities. The IDDSS can be used to improve disaster management, which in turn will increase the sustainability of transport networks.     

On the effectiveness of mitigation strategies for cryogenic applications

The need for sustainable energy sources, as well as the current energetic crisis involving the majority of markets, has promoted the use of cryogenic liquefaction for the transportation and storage of natural gas (i.e., LNG). To guarantee the development of a robust and safe infrastructure, a complete understanding of the main phenomena occurring at low temperatures is paramount. In this sense, the largest grey areas are the characterization of the combustion at low-initial temperature and the interactions between water and cryogenic liquid. For these reasons, this work presents an experimental campaign on the possible mitigation strategies for the mitigation of consequences related to the accidental release of LNG. Particular emphasis was posed on the direct and indirect effects of water on cryogenic pool fire. The former resulted in a significant increase in the dimensions of fire (∼+50%) and burning rate (∼300%) with respect to the case with no direct contact between water and LNG, whereas the latter generated an abrupt decrease in the measured temperatures (<100 °C). The use of an emergency flare to empty an LNG tank was tested, as well. The spatial distribution of temperature was monitored along with the time to guarantee the safe operability of this equipment in the case of LNG combustion. The explanations for the observed phenomena and trends were provided, allowing for the development of safe procedures for the emergency response related to cryogenic fuels.     

公共池塘资源可持续管理的理论框架

由于自然科学和社会科学的学科视角和研究方法各异,使得我们对公共池塘资源管理问题的理解不够系统和全面。论文在综述公共池塘资源和社会-生态系统管理理论的基础上,辨析了公共池塘资源和社会-生态系统的概念;从识别影响公共池塘资源可持续管理的变量出发,梳理了社会-生态系统分析框架的演变及其局限性,指出社会-生态系统可持续发展分析框架为地理学、 生态学、 经济学、 自然资源学、 社会学等学科的交流和融合提供了统一的平台,并为资源管理、 政策分析和案例比较分析等的理论和方法提供了新的研究思路。该框架对现阶段我国资源管理政策的制定有重要借鉴意义。     

我国VOCs污染治理监管存在的问题及对策

VOCs是细颗粒物(PM_2.5)和臭氧(O3)形成的重要前体物,通过梳理我国VOCs治理相关的法律、政策、标准,并结合重点区域的调研情况,分析了我国VOCs治理监管存在的法律法规与标准体系不健全、执法监管能力建设不足、企业全过程精细化管控不到位等问题,提出应进一步健全法律法规与标准体系,建立智能监管技术与人工智能应用体系,加强全过程精细化管控等对策建议。     

Thermal interaction analysis in pipeline systems: A case study

The assessment of the consequences of high pressure releases of flammable gases is a fundamental requirement for the safe design and operation of industrial installations, plants and pipework. A scenario of interest concerns a high pressure jet-fire following the ignition of a gas jet release which results in a thermal loading to the surroundings and possibly leads to accident escalation.

In the present paper, a case study is presented: two parallel-laid natural gas pipelines have been considered, the accidental scenarios which may possibly occur as a consequence of a pipeline failure have been discussed and the thermal effects caused by the jet-fire developing from different rupture sizes have been assessed.

Three scenarios have been analyzed, considering the pipelines being within a highly congested area: (i) large failure and vertical jet with detached flame; (ii) small failure with jet fire directly impinging on the parallel pipeline; (iii) small failure with pipeline engulfed within fire.

Once the temperature gradient through the pipeline wall has been found, the stresses deriving from pressure load and steel differential expansion have been analytically calculated and compared with the yielding stresses at the temperature achieved by the pipeline wall.

In the first scenario the pipeline is able to resist without major problems; in the second case the pipeline rupture is likely to occur; in the third scenario the pipeline resists to the applied loads but with a low margin to yielding.

It is understood that the analysis results are very much dependent on the utilized hypotheses, therefore a sensitivity analysis was performed in order to assess the variation of the results as a function of the variation of problem data; this analysis identifies the large influence of the parameters on the final result.     

大型蚤在线生物监测系统研究

近年来,世界范围内突发性废水泄漏事件频发,在引起人们对水质问题恐慌的同时,也促进了饮用水在线监测与早期污染预警系统的发展。生物监测可以对污染环境下多污染物的联合毒性进行有效评估,具有传统化学监测所不具备的优点,已成为判定水质是否对水生生物存在影响、是否符合人类安全饮用的有效依据和手段。介绍了大型蚤在线生物监测系统的多通道流通生物测试室和生物传感器系统,并对世界范围内的研究与应用情况做了研究综述。目前,采用大型蚤作为指示生物的在线监测系统已在饮用水水质监测方面成功实现,但其在工业废水接管过程中毒性评估和早期预警的研究和应用上尚有不足,有待更加深入地探讨与研究。     

Archetypes of famine and response

Famines have long been characterised by rapidly shifting dynamics: sudden price spirals, sharp increases in mortality, the media frenzy that often accompanies such spikes, the swift scaling up of aid flows, and a subsequent decline in interest. In arguing that these aspects of famine have been largely ignored in recent years due to attention to the famine process', this paper attempts to make these dynamics more explicit by applying systems thinking. It uses standard archetypes of systems thinking to explain six situations—watch, price spiral, aid magnet, media frenzy, overshoot, and peaks—that are present in many famine contexts. It illustrates their application with examples from crises in Ethiopia, Malawi, Niger, and Sudan. The paper contends that the systems approach offers a tool for analysing the larger patterns in famines and for pinpointing the most appropriate responses to them, based on an awareness of the dynamics of the crises.     

Exploring the Links Between Science, Risk, Uncertainty, and Ethics in Regulatory Controversies About Genetically Modified Crops

Just as a stream of genetically modifiedcrops looked set to be approved for commercialproduction in the European Union, the approvalprocedure appears to have become bogged down onceagain by disagreements among and within member states.Old controversies have resurfaced in new forms. Theintractability of the issues suggests that theregulatory procedure has had too narrow a focus,leaving outside its boundary many of the morefundamental aspects that cause people in the EuropeanUnion most concern. Regulators have come underconsiderable pressure to ensure their risk assessmentdecisions are soundly science-based. Ethical issueshave been deemed to lie beyond the scope of theregulatory procedure, as a matter to be consideredseparately by professional ethicists. Yet it has beensuggested that all environmental controversies at rootinvolve disputes about fundamental ethical principles.This paper examines how the ethical issues arecurrently suppressed or sidelined. It discusses how anappreciation of systems thinking and a check on thevalues that underpin decisions, using boundary testingquestions, might contribute to a more constructiveregulatory dialogue, with ethical issues considered asintegral in a way that takes better account ofpeople's concerns.     

卫生填埋场防渗衬垫系统优化设计

根据已建卫生填埋场防渗衬垫设计的实践经验总结,指出垃圾卫生填埋场防渗衬垫设计应从结构稳定、污染防治、减压导排等几方面进行综合考虑。采用现代环境卫生技术和环境土工技术,对防渗衬垫系统进行优化设计,并将其应用至现代卫生填埋场防渗衬垫设计中。     

Assessing the Effects of Climate Change on Aquatic Invasive Species

Abstract:  Different components of global environmental change are typically studied and managed independently, although there is a growing recognition that multiple drivers often interact in complex and nonadditive ways. We present a conceptual framework and empirical review of the interactive effects of climate change and invasive species in freshwater ecosystems. Climate change is expected to result in warmer water temperatures, shorter duration of ice cover, altered streamflow patterns, increased salinization, and increased demand for water storage and conveyance structures. These changes will alter the pathways by which non-native species enter aquatic systems by expanding fish-culture facilities and water gardens to new areas and by facilitating the spread of species during floods. Climate change will influence the likelihood of new species becoming established by eliminating cold temperatures or winter hypoxia that currently prevent survival and by increasing the construction of reservoirs that serve as hotspots for invasive species. Climate change will modify the ecological impacts of invasive species by enhancing their competitive and predatory effects on native species and by increasing the virulence of some diseases. As a result of climate change, new prevention and control strategies such as barrier construction or removal efforts may be needed to control invasive species that currently have only moderate effects or that are limited by seasonally unfavorable conditions. Although most researchers focus on how climate change will increase the number and severity of invasions, some invasive coldwater species may be unable to persist under the new climate conditions. Our findings highlight the complex interactions between climate change and invasive species that will influence how aquatic ecosystems and their biota will respond to novel environmental conditions.