A New Framework for the Assessment of Animal Welfare: Integrating Existing Knowledge from a Practical Ethics Perspective

When making an assessment of animal welfare, it is important to take environmental (housing) or animal-based parameters into account. An alternative approach is to focus on the behavior and appearance of the animal, without making actual measurements or quantifying this. None of these tell the whole story. In this paper, we suggest that it is possible to find common ground between these (seemingly) diametrically opposed positions and argue that this may be the way to deal with the complexity of animal welfare. The model will have to be acceptable for the different parties that will be affected by it and real benefits for the animal should result from it. This will be the basis of a practical ethical approach. All this can be condensed into a model that essentially is made up out of three basic elements: the classical welfare analysis with an existing welfare assessment tool, an assessment of the stockholder, and an implementation of the Free Choice Profiling technique. This new framework does not pretend to be a different or better animal welfare matrix; it is intended to integrate existing knowledge and to provide a practical tool to improve animal welfare. It identifies whether there are welfare problems on a farm, if present whether these problems are caused by the housing system or the stockholder, and what can be done to improve the situation.     

中国农村地震灾害特点及减灾对策

致灾因子强度和承灾体的脆弱性共同决定了灾情的大小.中国农村乡镇发生地震的概率远远高于大中城市,西藏、新疆、云南、宁夏、青海、甘肃等西部农村乡镇是我国地震灾害最为严重的地区.地震灾害对农村乡镇造成的损失,主要是农村居民住房的破坏,约占总损失的80%以上;其它的20%损失中,又以农村水利工程的破坏损失为主.目前我国农村乡镇居民的住房仍以抗震性能较差的土木、砖木结构为主,开展农村住房地震保险、农村低息住房贷款并加强农村建房的监督管理,是降低农村地震风险、减轻农村地震灾害损失的主要对策.     

Qualitative Stakeholder Analysis for the Development of Sustainable Monitoring Systems for Farm Animal Welfare

Continued concern for animal welfare may be alleviated when welfare would be monitored on farms. Monitoring can be characterized as an information system where various stakeholders periodically exchange relevant information. Stakeholders include producers, consumers, retailers, the government, scientists, and others. Valuating animal welfare in the animal-product market chain is regarded as a key challenge to further improve the welfare of farm animals and information on the welfare of animals must, therefore, be assessed objectively, for instance, through monitoring. Interviews with Dutch stakeholder representatives were conducted to identify their perceptions about the monitoring of animal welfare. Stakeholder perceptions were characterized in relation to the specific perspectives of each stakeholder. While producers tend to perceive welfare from a production point of view, consumers will use visual images derived from traditional farming and from the animals natural environments. Scientists perceptions of animal welfare are affected by the need to measure welfare with quantifiable parameters. Retailers and governments (policy makers) have views of welfare that are derived from their relationships with producers, consumers, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and scientists. All interviewed stakeholder representatives stated that animal welfare is important. They varied in the extent to which they weighted economic considerations relative to concern for the animals welfare. Many stakeholders emphasized the importance of communication in making a monitoring system work. Overall, the perspectives for the development of a sustainable monitoring system that substantially improves farm animal welfare were assessed as being poor in the short term. However, a reliable system could be initiated under certain conditions, such as integrated chains and with influential and motivated stakeholders. A scheme is described with attention points for the development of sustainable monitoring systems for farm animal welfare in the long term.     

住房资源市场开发途径探析

文章分析了在我国住房改革历史进程中，不同阶段所遇到的问题及其几种成功模式，进一步提出了住房资源开发进程中应采取的包括住房金融等方面的相关措施。     

汽车后桥壳轴颈的制造新工艺

介绍了在自动化综合体上精锻汽车后桥壳轴颈的新工艺和综合体的结构.该工艺可显著降低产品成本,节省材料.     

上海嘉定区农民新村污水收集处理调查

在对上海嘉定区农民新村污水纳管,污水处理及污水最终排放去向作全面调查的基础上,分析了农民新村污水排放现状.存在的主要问题和发展趋势,并从排水管网基础建设、污水就地处理技术应用、环保部门执法监督和农民环境意识提高等方面,剖析了问题的根源,阐述了解决问题的思路,并得出相应的对策和建议。     

Evaluation of Public Housing Lead Risk Assessment Data

A unique data set from lead risk assessments performed on 67 public housing developments from across the United States was made available for analyzes. The data set includes results of lead analysis from 5906 dust wipes and from 1222 soil samples. A total of 487 dwelling units in these developments, as well as associated common areas, were sampled, all by the same team of inspectors. The number of dwelling units within a development that were sampled reflected the guidelines then in force, the 1990 Interim HUD Guidelines, rather than those specified in the 1995 Guidelines. Median dust lead loadings for floors, 151gm^–2 (14gft^–2), and window sills, 936gm^–2 (87gft^–2), were much less than former HUD limits of 1076gm^–2 (100gft^–2) and 5380gm^–2 (500gft^–2), respectively and are only about one-third of the recently established limits of 431gm^–2 (40gft^–2) and 2690gm^–2 (250gft^–2). In contrast, the median lead loading for window troughs, 8560gm^–2 (795gft^–2), was almost identical to the HUD clearance limit of 8610gm^–2 (800gft^–2). There was a strong positive correlation between floor and window trough lead loading values for samples from the same dwelling units and those from common areas of the housing developments. Door threshold samples, which may reflect conditions exterior to the dwelling unit, were collected from 53 dwelling units. Median lead loading levels of these samples were more than ten times higher than those in floor samples from the same dwelling units, were about the same as window sill samples and about one-half of levels in window trough samples. Composite sample results, simulated by averaging results from four samples within a dwelling unit, revealed that in order to have the same rate of excedence of standards, the composite standards would have to be reduced, for example, from the single sample value of 1076gm^–2 (100gft^–2) to 527gm^–2 (49gft^–2) for floor samples and from the single sample value of 8610gm^–2 (800gft^–2) to 5160gm^–2 (479gft^–2) for window troughs. For this public housing data set, the portion of the units in developments containing more than 225 units which exceeded the established limit for window samples was the same when using either the full data set or a random one-half of the data set. This suggests that, for this data set, the number of dwelling units sampled was excessive . Thus, the required increase in the number of dwelling units to be sampled specified in the 1995 Guidelines for developments with more than 225 dwelling units, may not have been necessary if this data set is representative of public housing developments in the United States.     

Rural and Suburban Sprawl in the U.S. Midwest from 1940 to 2000 and Its Relation to Forest Fragmentation

Abstract:  Housing growth and its environmental effects pose major conservation challenges. We sought to (1) quantify spatial and temporal patterns of housing growth across the U.S. Midwest from 1940–2000, (2) identify ecoregions strongly affected by housing growth, (3) assess the extent to which forests occur near housing, and (4) relate housing to forest fragmentation. We used data from the 2000 U.S. Census to derive fine-scale backcasts of decadal housing density. Housing data were integrated with a 30-m resolution U.S. Geological Survey land cover classification. The number of housing units in the Midwest grew by 146% between 1940 and 2000. Spatially, housing growth was particularly strong at the fringe of metropolitan areas (suburban sprawl) and in nonmetropolitan areas (rural sprawl) that are rich in natural amenities such as lakes and forests. The medium-density housing (4–32 housing units/km²) category increased most in area. Temporally, suburban housing growth was especially high in the post-World War II decades. Rural sprawl was highest in the 1970s and 1990s. The majority of midwestern forests either contained or were near housing. Only 14.8% of the region's forests were in partial block groups with no housing. Housing density was negatively correlated with the amount of interior forest. The widespread and pervasive nature of sprawl shown by our data is cause for conservation concern. Suburban sprawl has major environmental impacts on comparatively small areas because of the high number of housing units involved. In contrast, rural sprawl affects larger areas but with less intensity because associated housing densities are lower. The environmental effects per house, however, are likely higher in the case of rural sprawl because it occurs in less-altered areas. Conservation efforts will need to address both types of sprawl to be successful.     

对某建筑工地一起漏电事故的分析

分析了某建筑工地一起漏电事故漏电的原因 ,提出了整改措施并总结了教训。     

Shelter recovery in urban Haiti after the earthquake: the dual role of social capital

This paper documents the culture‐specific understanding of social capital among Haitians and examines its benefits and downsides in post‐disaster shelter recovery following the 12 January 2010 earthquake. The case study of shelter recovery processes in three socioeconomically diverse communities (Pétion‐Ville, Delmas and Canapé Vert) in Port‐au‐Prince suggests that social capital plays dual roles in post‐disaster shelter recovery of the displaced population in Haiti. On the one hand, it provides enhanced access to shelter‐related resources for those with connections. On the other hand, it accentuates pre‐existing inequalities or creates new inequalities among displaced Haitians. In some cases, such inequalities lead to tensions between the have and have‐nots and instigate violence among the displaced.