Evaluation of two models of a slipmeter

The aim of the study was to compare the performances of the Brungraber Mark II (BM II) and Mark III (BM III) slipmeters. Friction measurements with the two slipmeters were conducted in a laboratory using four footwear materials, four floor types, and three surface conditions. Both the coefficient of friction (COF) values obtained with the slipmeters and the force platform-based COF values were measured. The COF measured with the BM II was slightly higher than that measured with the BM III with a R² of 0.83. A comparison of the averaged normal force between the two slipmeters showed that the BM II generated a significantly higher normal force than the BM III at a low COF and the difference of the normal force between the two slipmeters decreased when the COF value was increased. The regression analysis results in this study showed that the force platform-based COF values were closer to the COF values obtained with the BM III than with the BM II. The R² values for the regression model between the COF values obtained from the slipmeter and the force platform were 0.90 and 0.79 for the BM II and BM III, respectively.     

AHP-SWOT法在城市圈建设中耕地保护策略分析中的应用——以湖北赤壁为例

在实地调研湖北赤壁的基础上,探讨AHP-SWOT法在城市圈建设过程中的耕地保护策略分析中的应用.结果表明,耕地异地占补平衡是主要优势,耕地数量持续减少是主要劣势,新一轮土地利用总体规划是主要机遇,城市圈建设占用耕地是主要威胁,建议赤壁市在城市圈建设过程中应发挥耕地异地占补平衡优势,回避城市圈建设占用耕地的威胁.     

POTENTIAL IMPACT OF IRRIGATION ON WATER RESOURCES IN THE LITTLE WABASH BASIN OF ILLINOIS1

The level of water demand for supplemental irrigation and the impact of such demand on water supplies were estimated, as a function of the price of corn (Zea Mays L.). The method of estimation was based on an economic analysis of irrigation practice which assumed constant irrigation costs, profit maximizing behavior on the part of irrigators, and which was deliberately structured to underestimate the level of irrigation water use. The analysis was applied to and used data from the Little Wabash basin in Illinois. No irrigation was predicted at a corn price below $3.50 per bushel. Between $3.50 and about $6.50 per bushel, irrigation was estimated to be profitable for a small region of the basin where acceptable groundwater was available. Above about $6.50 to $7.50, irrigation was found to be profitable in the remainder of the basin, where impoundment storage was required. The potential impact on the water resources of the basin is significant. For a corn price between $3.50 and about $6.50, the probability of a shortfall, defined as the event where the potential demand exceeds the supply, was estimated to be between 2 percent and 20 percent during the growing season. Above about $7.50, this probability was found to be about one-third. The development of policies to control withdrawals for irrigation and other uses is endorsed.     

青岛理工大学安全工程专业实验室建设探讨

安全工程专业的学科建设离不开安全实验室的建设,就青岛理工大学的安全工程专业实验室建设进行了探讨.从实验室建设的重要地位入手,结合安全工程的专业课程设置情况,提出了安全工程实验室应设置的实验内容.     

Reorienting Systematic Conservation Assessment for Effective Conservation Planning

Abstract: Systematic conservation assessment (an information‐gathering and prioritization process used to select the spatial foci of conservation initiatives) is often considered vital to conservation‐planning efforts, yet published assessments have rarely resulted in conservation action. Conservation assessments may lead more directly to effective conservation action if they are reoriented to inform conservation decisions. Toward this goal, we evaluated the relative priority for conservation of 7 sites proposed for the first forest reserves in the Union of the Comoros, an area with high levels of endemism and rapidly changing land uses in the western Indian Ocean. Through the analysis of 30 indicator variables measured at forest sites and nearby villages, we assessed 3 prioritization criteria at each site: conservation value, threat to loss of biological diversity from human activity, and feasibility of reserve establishment. Our results indicated 2 sites, Yiméré and Hassera‐Ndrengé, were priorities for conservation action. Our approach also informed the development of an implementation strategy and enabled an evaluation of previously unexplored relations among prioritization criteria. Our experience suggests that steps taken to ensure the closer involvement of practitioners, include a broader range of social data, encourage stakeholder participation, and consider the feasibility of conservation action can improve the relevance of assessments for conservation planning, strengthen the scientific basis for conservation decisions, and result in a more realistic evaluation of conservation alternatives.     

Linking rights and standards: the process of developing "rights-based" minimum standards on food security, nutrition and food aid

This article examines the recent revision of the Sphere Minimum Standards in disaster response relating to food security, nutrition and food aid. It describes how the revision attempted to incorporate the principles of the Humanitarian Charter, as well as relevant human rights principles and values into the Sphere Minimum Standards. The initial aim of the revision was to ensure that the Sphere Minimum Standards better reflected the principles embodied in the Humanitarian Charter. This was later broadened to ensure that key legal standards and principles from human rights and humanitarian law were considered and also incorporated, in part to fill the "protection gap" within the existing standards. In relation to the food security, nutrition and food aid standards, it was agreed by participants in the process that the human right to adequate food and freedom from hunger should be incorporated. In relation to more general principles underlying the Humanitarian Charter, itself drawn largely from human rights and humanitarian law, it was agreed that there was a need to strengthen "protection" elements within the standards and a need to incorporate the basic principles of the right to life with dignity, non-discrimination, impartiality and participation, as well as to explore the relevance of the concept of the progressive realisation of the right to food. The questions raised in linking rights to operational standards required thought, on the one hand, about whether the technical standards reflected a deep understanding of the values expressed within the legal instruments, and whether the existing standards were adequate in relation to those legal rights. On the other hand, it also required reflection on how operational standards like Sphere could give concrete content to human rights, such as the right to food and the right to be free from hunger. However, there remain challenges in examining what a rights-based approach will mean in terms of the role of humanitarian agencies as duty-bearers of rights, given that the primary responsibility rests with state governments. It will also require reflection on the modes and mechanisms of accountability that are brought to bear in ensuring the implementation of the Minimum Standards.     

Comparison of vegetation conditions along two backcountry trails in Mount Robson Provincial Park, British Columbia (Canada)

Vegetation conditions, i.e., plant cover, species richness, and the presence of exotic species, are compared along a high-use trail (Berg Lake Trail--BLT) and a low use trail (Mt. Fitzwilliam Trail--FWT) in Canada's Mt. Robson Provincial Park. We established 71 paired quadrats (1 m x 1 m), and assessed the amount of vegetation cover and species richness by four main lifeforms, i.e., woody species, herbaceous species, ferns, and moss, lichen and fungi. The following hypotheses were tested: (1) differences exist between control and trailside quadrats in vegetation cover, species richness and floristic diversity, and (2) differences exist between the high and low-use trails in the above-mentioned three parameters. Results show that for the majority of variables the differences between the control and trailside quadrats are statistically not significant. Variables showing significant differences are relative vegetation cover (for BLT only), exposed soil (BLT and FWT), herbaceous cover (FWT), moss, lichen and fungi cover (BLT), overall species richness (BLT), and herbaceous species richness (BLT). Ruderal and exotic species are present but only on trailside quadrats of the high-use trail. Results indicate that the Park administration's strategy to disperse use in the Mt. Robson Provincial Park should be examined critically, and some guidelines for acceptability of changes should be developed.     

Subsurface application of poultry litter in pasture and no-till soils

Poultry litter provides a rich nutrient source for crops, but the usual practice of surface-applying litter can degrade water quality by allowing nutrients to be transported from fields in surface runoff while much of the ammonia (NH3)-N escapes into the atmosphere. Our goal was to improve on conventional titter application methods to decrease associated nutrient losses to air and water while increasing soil productivity. We developed and tested a knifing technique to directly apply dry poultry litter beneath the surface of pastures. Results showed that subsurface litter application decreased NH3-N volatilization and nutrient losses in runoff more than 90% (compared with surface-applied litter) to levels statistically as low as those from control (no litter) plots. Given this success, two advanced tractor-drawn prototypes were developed to subsurface apply poultry litter in field research. The two prototypes have been tested in pasture and no-till experiments and are both effective in improving nutrient-use efficiency compared with surface-applied litter, increasing crop yields (possibly by retaining more nitrogen in the soil), and decreasing nutrient losses, often to near background (control plot) levels. A paired-watershed study showed that cumulative phosphorus losses in runoff from continuously grazed perennial pastures were decreased by 55% over a 3-yr period if the annual poultry litter applications were subsurface applied rather than surface broadcast. Results highlight opportunities and challenges for commercial adoption of subsurface poultry litter application in pasture and no-till systems.     

A field assessment of floor slipperiness in a fish market in Taiwan

A field assessment of floor slipperiness in 10 fish stands in a fish market in Taiwan was conducted using both friction measurements and subjective ratings. The friction measurements were conducted using the Portable Skid Resistance Tester (PSRT). The subjective ratings of floor slipperiness of both the workers and the customers were collected. The friction measurement results showed that the sink areas had both the lowest friction values and subjective ratings. The overall friction measurement results and the subjective ratings were in fair agreement (r = 0.46 and ρ = 0.49). The customers perceived the walkways as somewhere between “very slippery” to “somewhat slippery” and the picking-up areas as “very slippery.” These were different from the perceptions of the workers where they perceived both areas as “somewhat slippery.”