Rethinking assessment of success of mitigation strategies for elephant-induced crop damage

Crop damage is the most common impact of negative interactions between people and elephants and poses a significant threat to rural livelihoods and conservation efforts. Numerous approaches to mitigate and prevent crop damage have been implemented throughout Africa and Asia. Despite the documented high efficacy of many approaches, losses remain common, and in many areas, damage is intensifying. We examined the literature on effectiveness of crop-damage-mitigation strategies and identified key gaps in evaluations. We determined there is a need to better understand existing solutions within affected communities and to extend evaluations of effectiveness beyond measurement of efficacy to include rates of and barriers to adoption. We devised a conceptual framework for evaluating effectiveness that incorporates the need for increased emphasis on adoption and can be used to inform the design of future crop-damage mitigation assessments for elephants and conflict species more widely. The ability to prevent crop loss in practice is affected by both the efficacy of a given approach and rates of uptake among target users. We identified the primary factors that influence uptake as local attitudes, sustainability, and scalability and examined each of these factors in detail. We argue that even moderately efficacious interventions may make significant progress in preventing damage if widely employed and recommend that wherever possible scientists and practitioners engage with communities to build on and strengthen existing solutions and expertise. When new approaches are required, they should align with local attitudes and fit within limitations on labor, financial requirements, and technical capacity.     

Microbiological characteristics in a zero-valent iron reactive barrier

Zero-valent iron (Fe⁰)-based permeable reactive barriertreatment has been generating great interest for passivegroundwater remediation, yet few studies have paid particularattention to the microbial activity and characteristics withinand in the vicinity of the Fe⁰-barrier matrix. The presentstudy was undertaken to evaluate the microbial population andcommunity composition in the reducing zone of influence byFe⁰ corrosion in the barrier at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plantsite. Both phospholipid fatty acids and DNA analyses were usedto determine the total microbial population and microbialfunctional groups, including sulfate-reducing bacteria,denitrifying bacteria, and methanogens, in groundwater andsoil/iron core samples. A diverse microbial community wasidentified in the strongly reducing Fe⁰ environment despitea relatively high pH condition within the Fe⁰ barrier (up topH 10). In comparison with those found in the backgroundsoil/groundwater samples, the enhanced microbial populationranged from 1 to 3 orders of magnitude and appeared to increase from upgradient of the barrier to downgradient soil. Inaddition, microbial community composition appeared to change overtime, and the bacterial types of microorganismsincreased consistently as the barrier aged. DNA analysisindicated the presence of sulfate-reducing and denitrifyingbacteria in the barrier and its surrounding soil. However, theactivity of methanogens was found to be relatively low,presumably as a result of the competition by sulfate/metal-reducing bacteria and denitrifying bacteria because of the unlimited availability of sulfate and nitrate in the site groundwater. Results of this study provide evidenceof a diverse microbial population within and in the vicinity ofthe iron barrier, although the important roles of microbial activity, either beneficially or detrimentally, on the longevityand enduring efficiency of the Fe⁰ barriers are yet to be evaluated.     

绿色贸易壁垒若干问题的探讨

分析了国际贸易中绿色贸易壁垒的成因，即环境问题的全球化、社会化以及西方国家第三次贸易保护主义浪潮的兴起；介绍了这种新兴的技术性壁垒的基本形式，包括环境标准和法规、环境标志制度及其门槛提高、成本内在化与绿色补贴、包装的环保要求等；最后对绿色贸易壁垒的一些特点作了客观性的评价。     

森林火险的序贯分析初探

本文利用森林着火危险度指标属于正态分布的特点,根据正态型序贯分析的原理,提出了确定林火危险性的序贯分析方法;建立了长白山林区5个站点森林火险的“安全域”与“危险域”的模型;并以东岗(长白山西坡)为例,作了正态型序贯分析全过程的应用示例。结果证明,利用正态型序贯分析来确定林火的等级是可行的、可靠的,具有实用价值。     

新时期消防工作发展思路

随着我国社会主义市场经济的发展和社会管理体制的变化 ,消防工作也面临着新形势。笔者认为 ,消防工作社会化是适应形势发展的必然要求 ,要在全社会建立起各级人民政府领导下的单位责任自负、隐患自除、风险自担 ,公安消防机构依法实施监督的消防社会化运行机制。新时期消防工作应通过以下方式实现社会化 :进一步完善消防法规体系 ;强化消防安全的基础性地位 ;加强宣传普及基本的消防知识 ;发展消防安全中介组织 ;建立消防安全评价制度和科学评价体系 ;依法实施消防监督     

性能化设计标准在火灾安全设计中的应用

随着建筑向着高层化、大型化的趋势发展 ,目前世界上许多国家的建筑设计正逐步地从处方式规范转换到性能化规范。性能化规范的成功实施需要建立性能化设计标准。在建筑火灾安全设计中 ,使用的性能化设计标准包括确定性设计标准和偶然性设计标准。确定性设计标准主要与火灾的发生、发展和蔓延等级 ,以及生命安全等级有关。偶然性设计标准主要关心火灾发生的可能性及产生的后果。文章最后对性能化设计标准的应用情况进行了讨论和总结     

火灾中均布荷载作用下钢筋混凝土方板的极限分析

本文利用有限差分法确定了火灾时钢筋混凝土板的温度分布，并基于塑性铰线理论确定了火灾时钢筋混凝土方板的破坏机制，根据高温下混凝土和钢筋的力学性能对火灾过程中塑性铰截面的弯矩及板的极限荷载进行了分析，可为建筑结构的耐火设计提供依据。     

井下火花——矿井火灾的点燃源

考察了各类井下火花诱发灾害的典型实例以及８０年代以来国内外的研究状况，指出深入开展这一课题的研究对防灾的重要性．     

森林雷击火的预报监测

本文介绍对森林雷击火预测的研究及其监测技术的进展与应用，以期作为大兴安岭雷电监测网全面开通后监测预报研究工作的新起点     

Characteristics of large cooking oil pool fires and their extinguishment by water mist

Large cooking oil pool fires, occurring in industrial oil cookers, present a severe hazard to food processing plants due to their size and the large amount of hot oil involved. This paper reports a series of full-scale fire experiments conducted in a large industrial oil cooker mock-up. The characteristics of large cooking oil pool fires and the effect of oil depth and hood position in the oil cooker on fire growth were studied. The use of water mist for extinguishing large oil pool fires and their extinguishing performance under different discharge pressure and with different types of water mist systems were investigated. Experimental results showed that the cooking oil underwent a substantial expansion in volume during heating. The fires developed quickly once the oil auto-ignited. The fire growth rate was affected by the oil depth in the pan and the hood position in the oil cooker. The water mist fire suppression systems effectively extinguished large cooking oil fires and prevented them from re-igniting. Their extinguishing performance was determined by the type of water mist system, discharge pressure and hood position in the oil cooker.