Floods and Climate Change: Interactions and Impacts

Whether the floods experienced during the last decade in Germany and in other European countries are triggered or worsened by human activities has been the subject of a great deal of debate. Possible anthropogenic activities leading to increased flood risk include river regulation measures, intensified land use and forestry, and emissions of greenhouse gases causing a change in the global climate. This article discusses the latter by reviewing the existing knowledge on the subject. First, the relevance, capabilities, and limitations of climate models for the simulation and analysis of flood risk under aspects of the anthropogenic climate change are described. Special consideration is given here to differences between the "typical" spatial scale of climate models and hydrological flood models. Second, observations of trends in climate variables relevant for river flooding issues are summarized. Special emphasis is put on the Rhine and other German catchment areas. Third, the possibilities of modeling the different parts of the "cascade of flood risk" are summarized, introducing the special features of meteorological, hydrological, and river hydraulic models.     

利用智能主体分析"时尚"的涌现

时尚作为一种社会现象,是由个别人物的倡导和示范,先在少数人中流行,然后迅速蔓延到社会.多数人出于新奇与从众心理而仿效.对于它的研究有助于人们把握这种社会现象的产生与蔓延过程,深入认识和控制它的发展.由于它的复杂多样性,当前还缺乏对它的定量分析与研究.论文利用基于智能主体的仿真方法,分析了时尚的涌现过程.文中建立了两种模型,用于确定公众能否接受某种时尚的临界值.一种模型基于公众能获取全部信息,另一种则基于个人只能获取邻近信息.     

Use of Markov Chain Monte Carlo Analysis with a Physiologically-Based Pharmacokinetic Model of Methylmercury to Estimate Exposures in U.S. Women of Childbearing Age

A Bayesian approach, implemented using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) analysis, was applied with a physiologically‐based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model of methylmercury (MeHg) to evaluate the variability of MeHg exposure in women of childbearing age in the U.S. population. The analysis made use of the newly available National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES) blood and hair mercury concentration data for women of age 16–49 years (sample size, 1,582). Bayesian analysis was performed to estimate the population variability in MeHg exposure (daily ingestion rate) implied by the variation in blood and hair concentrations of mercury in the NHANES database. The measured variability in the NHANES blood and hair data represents the result of a process that includes interindividual variation in exposure to MeHg and interindividual variation in the pharmacokinetics (distribution, clearance) of MeHg. The PBPK model includes a number of pharmacokinetic parameters (e.g., tissue volumes, partition coefficients, rate constants for metabolism and elimination) that can vary from individual to individual within the subpopulation of interest. Using MCMC analysis, it was possible to combine prior distributions of the PBPK model parameters with the NHANES blood and hair data, as well as with kinetic data from controlled human exposures to MeHg, to derive posterior distributions that refine the estimates of both the population exposure distribution and the pharmacokinetic parameters. In general, based on the populations surveyed by NHANES, the results of the MCMC analysis indicate that a small fraction, less than 1%, of the U.S. population of women of childbearing age may have mercury exposures greater than the EPA RfD for MeHg of 0.1 μg/kgg/day, and that there are few, if any, exposures greater than the ATSDR MRL of 0.3 μgg/kgg/day. The analysis also indicates that typical exposures may be greater than previously estimated from food consumption surveys, but that the variability in exposure within the population of U.S. women of childbearing age may be less than previously assumed.     

Development of a Screening Approach to Interpret Human Biomonitoring Data on Volatile Organic Compounds: Reverse Dosimetry on Biomonitoring Data for Trichloroethylene

A screening approach is developed for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to estimate exposures that correspond to levels measured in fluids and/or tissues in human biomonitoring studies. The approach makes use of a generic physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model coupled with exposure pattern characterization, Monte Carlo analysis, and quantitative structure property relationships (QSPRs). QSPRs are used for VOCs with minimal data to develop chemical-specific parameters needed for the PBPK model. The PBPK model is capable of simulating VOC kinetics following multiple routes of exposure, such as oral exposure via water ingestion and inhalation exposure during shower events. Using published human biomonitoring data of trichloroethylene (TCE), the generic model is evaluated to determine how well it estimates TCE concentrations in blood based on the known drinking water concentrations. In addition, Monte Carlo analysis is conducted to characterize the impact of the following factors: (1) uncertainties in the QSPR-estimated chemical-specific parameters; (2) variability in physiological parameters; and (3) variability in exposure patterns. The results indicate that uncertainty in chemical-specific parameters makes only a minor contribution to the overall variability and uncertainty in the predicted TCE concentrations in blood. The model is used in a reverse dosimetry approach to derive estimates of TCE concentrations in drinking water based on given measurements of TCE in blood, for comparison to the U.S. EPA's Maximum Contaminant Level in drinking water. This example demonstrates how a reverse dosimetry approach can be used to facilitate interpretation of human biomonitoring data in a health risk context by deriving external exposures that are consistent with a biomonitoring data set, thereby permitting comparison with health-based exposure guidelines.     

辽中北洼锦州A 区东营组浊积扇地震描述研究

针对渤海油田辽中北洼锦州A 区东二下段不同类型浊积扇内部反射结构及其地震响应特征认识难度大的问 题，开展了浊积扇地震描述研究。从浊积扇形成机理出发，根据围区钻遇浊积扇体不同部位探井的相应井段的岩性及 组合结构等典型特征，对不同浊积扇沉积亚相的沉积特征、岩性结构、测井和地震响应特征进行了系统的分析和描述。 在此基础上，建立不同类型浊积扇模型进行地震正演模拟，并对其地震响应特征进行了深入研究，最后利用地震多属 性预测技术对浊积扇的内幕进行了精细地刻画。预测了辽中北洼锦州A 区东营组浊积扇有利储层发育部位，研究结 果对该区浊积扇岩性油气藏勘探具有指导意义。     

Assessing program impact using latent growth modeling: a primer for the evaluator

Latent growth modeling (LGM) has emerged as a flexible analytic technique for modeling change over time because it can describe developmental processes at both the inter- and intra-individual levels. The LGM method can also provide a means for testing the contribution of other variables in order to explain variability in growth trajectories. This paper didactically illustrates the use of LGM as an analytical tool in program evaluation. Specifically, a hypothetical evaluation of a high school drug prevention program was used to demonstrate: (a) how LGM can be used to assess the longitudinal impact of a prevention program by comparing treatment and control populations with respect to individual differences in initial status and in rate of change; and (b) how predictors of initial status (post-intervention) and growth selected on the basis of a particular program theory can be incorporated in the model to explain program impact. Some advantages and limitations of using LGM in program evaluation are highlighted.     

A survey of statistical methods on remote sensing in russian literature from 1976 to 1985

In this article we review the major areas of remote sensing in the Russian literature for the period 1976 to 1985 that use statistical methods to analyze the observed data. For each of the areas, the problems that have been studied and the statistical techniques that have been used are briefly described     

竹木家具设计原则和造型方法

探讨了竹木家具设计的原则和造型方法,提出了适合新型竹木家具的人体工效学原则、可持续发展原则、人性化设计原则、本地化设计原则和手工艺与现代科技相结合的设计原则,以及借鉴、置换、重构和移植的新型竹木家具造型方法。     

传统统计面对的挑战

针对统计的黑匣子特性,借用Breiman的两种统计文化的平台,分析传统统计面临的挑战和危机,并探索统计领域究竟要向何处发展的问题。研究表明：统计学必须重新回到针对实际问题而与数据打交道,并且创造有关理论的传统上来。只有这样,才能应对不断产生的新问题所带来的挑战。     

基于NURBS方法的转子表面造型技术

采用双三次NURBS方法对某型号转子进行几何造型,对造型过程中出现的曲面延伸、求交和裁剪等问题进行了研究.根据叶片的形状特征,以曲线的几何形式为基础,提出了一种简单实用的曲线曲面延伸方法,实现了切矢量连续的叶片型面的延伸.对于两相交面分别为自由曲面和解析曲面的求交问题,提出了一种简化的跟踪算法,实现了转子叶片型面和圆台面的准确求交和裁剪,从而实现转子精确的几何造型.