Training Needs of Coastal Resources Decision Makers in Ohio's Lake Erie Basin

This article describes results from a study focused on informational and knowledge needs of local coastal resources decision makers in the Ohio Lake Erie basin. New information was obtained through a series of focus groups of local decision makers and key training providers in the basin. The results suggest that training providers and local coastal resources decision makers have differing perceptions of knowledge and information needs and training venues. The results suggest a role for state and federal agency training providers as coordinators and facilitators of an enhanced learning network among decision makers, including support of an information clearinghouse, adoption of appropriate e-based learning modalities, and regionally based learning and practice networks to improve the function of the training market to meet local decision maker needs.     

Crying wolf: Repeat responses to hurricane evacuation orders

This article examines the evacuation behavior of residents in two South Carolina communities, Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach, during the 1996 hurricane season. Two hurricanes that approached South Carolina but hit in North Carolina allowed us to study the impact of repeated “false alarms”; (evacuations ordered based on expectations of a hurricane landfall that proved to be wrong). Differences in evacuation behavior, specific information and concerns prompting evacuation, and the reliability of information sources between hurricane events are examined to determine the impact of false alarms on the credibility of warning systems. Data were derived from a face‐to‐face survey of residents 2 weeks after Hurricane Fran in September 1996. We found that the role of official advisories was more limited than reported in previous research as people sought information on more diverse sets of concerns in their decision making. Reliance on the media and the Weather Channel, in particular, for storm characteristics and advisories was an important factor in evacuation decision making during both hurricane events. The perceived lack of reliability of gubernatorial warnings coupled with dependence on the media suggests that residents find other sources of information more personally relevant. Thus, while residents do not find that officials are “crying wolf,”; they are searching elsewhere for information to assess their own risk—what does it mean to me if there is a wolf? This increased attention toward individual differences in perceived threat may become more pronounced in future evacuations from hurricanes.     

内圈蠕变引起的车轴轴承损伤进程的研究

车轴轴承内圈“蠕变”现象会导致内圈绕着车轴“旋转,”它是轴承磨损和发热的一个潜在的原因。人们仍不清楚内圈蠕变开始后车轴和轴承是如何迅速恶化的。文章用与实物等大的铁路车辆轴承在实验室进行了内圈蠕变仿真试验,调查了以内圈蠕变为起点的轴承损伤进程。试验结果揭示了轴承温度、振动以及车轴外径与内圈内径之间间隙的变化关系,并对内圈蠕变作出了预测。