Total oil spill costs and compensations

Although counteracting environmental programmes and policies have been strengthened, large oil spills still occur at irregular intervals. The total oil spill costs and their compensations have attracted much interest from various parties, such as local stakeholders, and state and federal governments. This paper addresses five major cost categories whose aggregations are expected to cover the overall direct and indirect costs after the release of an oil spill. Among them, research costs should not be neglected, since they tend to be high if public attention has been drawn to the case. Through an examination of the relationship between the total oil spill costs and their admissible claims, we found that:

1. admissible claims do not cover the overall costs of the oil spill, and
2. admissible claims cannot be compensated in full in the case of large spills.

Clearly, a sound oil spill contingency management aims to minimize both the environmental impacts of areas most at risk and the total oil spill costs. In this paper an economic model for measuring environmental damages following an oil spill is addressed and applied to the Prestige case which happened to be the worst oil pollution in the history of Spain. The model indicates how an ideally a priori economic evaluation may intuitively help managers to make informed as well as fast decisions in contingency cases.     

西班牙Velaro E高速列车的电气设备

西班牙铁路(RENFE)从2004年起将获得16组Velare E电动车组.这些电动车组是按欧洲铁路通用性规定设计的目前世界上最现代的高速列组.在最大坡道为25‰和海拔高1 200 m的线路上列车要以350 km/h高速运行,对其电气设备提出了很高要求.文章详细介绍了设计和实现这些电气系统及部件时必须重视和满足的要求.     

莆田显惠侯神灵及其对船员的保护

著名的莆田祥应庙前身是当地白杜方氏家族专用的祠堂.庙里供奉的神灵显惠侯,当地的百姓把他视为农业生产及生命财产的保护神,同时,他也是航海者信奉的神灵.本文作者以周尾和朱纺这两人出海之前均到该庙膜拜的典型事例,分析指出上述二人的出海经商与白杜方氏家族存在着直接关系,可能是受雇于当时既从事农业又涉猎海上贸易的白杜方氏家族,因此宋时显惠侯只是一个地方性的神灵,只对某一部分人提供某些特定的庇护,并不具有普遍意义.     

3PL与边贸口岸物流资源的整合

随着经济全球化步伐的迈进,物流也势必加快全球化的速度,第三方物流的全球战略整合的发展趋势也越来越明显。首先对我国边贸口岸资源和第三方物流的现状及其发展进行分析,详细论述了3PL在边贸物流资源整合过程中的必要性,然后针对口岸物流资源的特点,利用第三方物流战略对其进行物流资源的整合,并且探讨了全球战略整合是第三方物流发展的必然趋势这一问题。     

对2006版《铁路线路修理规则》中有关曲线技术标准问题的探讨

曲线技术标准问题是当前主要干线提速的一个关键问题,本文就2006年10月1日开始执行的新版《铁路线路修理规则》对原《铁路线路维修规则》中有关曲线的技术标准修改情况,结合提速工作实践,从技术标准的修订角度以及执行角度进行了探讨。     

多功能水净化器的研制

随着人民生活水平的不断提高,居民对家庭用水的水质量要求也在不断的提高,但是由于多种原因,我国自来水网提供的水质还达不到直接饮用的水平,水中杂质多,另外由二次污染引起的细菌和微生物比较多,因而对人的健康损害很大,所以人们喝的水要经过再次的杀菌和过滤才能被饮用。另外,蔬菜瓜果上存在的农药残留物对人体健康的危害也缺乏方便有效的去除方法。为了解决以上难题,本研究组作了深入探讨,获得了较为理想的结果,且以此原理设计了适合进入家庭使用的多功能净水器。该仪器能同时满足人们的饮用水和洗涤用水的需要,其中用于洗涤的水可以用来杀灭被洗物上的细菌和病毒,还可以分解蔬菜瓜果上存在的农药残留,也可以呵护人的皮肤。     

Patterns in diversity and community structure of epipelagic copepods from the Brazil–Malvinas Confluence area, south-western Atlantic

Diversity and structure of epipelagic copepod communities were investigated using 70 zooplankton samples collected from the top 50 m of the Brazil–Malvinas Confluence area between 35° and 55°S. Biogeographic patterns were investigated using multivariate analysis. Biodiversity patterns were examined using different univariate indexes. Representatives of 35 species of copepods from 23 genera and 13 families were found. Two zones were delimited based on their copepod composition, one in the subtropical waters of the Brazil current, and the other in the subantarctic waters of the Malvinas current. Both environments displayed contrasting patterns of biodiversity depending upon which element is measured (regional species richness as well as mean point species richness were significantly higher in the subtropical group of stations, whereas taxonomic distinctness was significantly higher in the subantarctic community). Based on these contrasting results, we suggest the use of both kind of indexes when defining priority areas for conservation.     

Fluxes of dissolved inorganic carbon in three estuarine systems of the Cantabrian Sea (north of Spain)

The diffusive and in situ fluxes of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and total alkalinity (TA) have been measured and an estimation has been made of the water–atmosphere fluxes of CO₂ in three estuarine systems of the Cantabrian Sea during the spring of 1998. Each of these systems undergoes a different anthropogenic influence. The diffusive fluxes of dissolved inorganic carbon and total alkalinity obtained present values ranging between 0.54–2.65 and 0.0–2.4 mmol m⁻² day⁻¹, respectively. These ranges are in agreement with those of other coastal systems. The in situ fluxes are high and extremely variable (35–284 mmol TA m⁻² day⁻¹, 43–554 mmol DIC m⁻² day⁻¹ and 22–261 mmol dissolved oxygen (DO) m⁻² day⁻¹), because the systems studied are very heterogeneous. The values of the ratio of the in situ fluxes of TA and DIC show on average that the rate of dissolution of CaCO₃ is 0.37 times that of organic carbon oxidation. Equally, the interval of variation of the relationship between the benthic fluxes of inorganic carbon and oxygen (F_DIC/F_DO) is very wide (0.3–13.9), which demonstrates the different contributions made by the processes of aerobic and anaerobic degradation of the organic matter, as well as by the dissolution–precipitation of CaCO₃. The water–atmosphere fluxes of CO₂ present a clear dependence on the salinity. The brackish water of these systems (salinity<20), where maximum fluxes of 989 mmol m⁻² day⁻¹ have been estimated, act as a source of CO₂ to the atmosphere. The more saline zones of the estuary (salinity>30) act as a sink of CO₂, with fluxes between −5 and −10 mmol m⁻² day⁻¹.     

Growth of urban transportation: Peoples republic of China

The Peoples Republic of China, with its great urban populations, is finding it necessary to develop a range of strategies to deal with increasing demand for goods and people movement, increasing motorization and the increasing congestion that results from the increasing travel demand. This paper discusses strategies being adopted in two northern cities, Changchun and Shenyang. Both transit and roadway programs are examined for Changchun. Problems and successes of a new toll road are examined for Shenyang. Sustained infrastructure investment is essential to assure the necessary mobility for economic growth.     

Shape Optimization of Elliptical Road Containers Due to Liquid Load in Steady-State Turning

A numerical analysis of liquid load in elliptical road containers undergoing a steady-state turning manoeuvre is presented for containers of unrestricted size and for containers of fixed capacity. The liquid load is expressed in terms of the horizontal and vertical forces and the overturning moment created by these forces around the middle bottom point of the container. The moment is obtained by integrating the liquid free-surface equation and using numerical calculation of the resulting expressions. An optimization study with an objective to minimize the peak overturning moment is performed on containers of fixed capacity to identify the optimal height/width ratio of the container. The results of this investigation being of a general nature, i.e. with no restriction for an application, are particularly intended for road tankers under a steady turning manoeuvre, where they can be applied with high degree of accuracy.