Integrating Operational and Organizational Aspects in Interdependent Infrastructure Network Recovery

Managing risk in infrastructure systems implies dealing with interdependent physical networks and their relationships with the natural and societal contexts. Computational tools are often used to support operational decisions aimed at improving resilience, whereas economics‐related tools tend to be used to address broader societal and policy issues in infrastructure management. We propose an optimization‐based framework for infrastructure resilience analysis that incorporates organizational and socioeconomic aspects into operational problems, allowing to understand relationships between decisions at the policy level (e.g., regulation) and the technical level (e.g., optimal infrastructure restoration). We focus on three issues that arise when integrating such levels. First, optimal restoration strategies driven by financial and operational factors evolve differently compared to those driven by socioeconomic and humanitarian factors. Second, regulatory aspects have a significant impact on recovery dynamics (e.g., effective recovery is most challenging in societies with weak institutions and regulation, where individual interests may compromise societal well‐being). And third, the decision space (i.e., available actions) in postdisaster phases is strongly determined by predisaster decisions (e.g., resource allocation). The proposed optimization framework addresses these issues by using: (1) parametric analyses to test the influence of operational and socioeconomic factors on optimization outcomes, (2) regulatory constraints to model and assess the cost and benefit (for a variety of actors) of enforcing specific policy‐related conditions for the recovery process, and (3) sensitivity analyses to capture the effect of predisaster decisions on recovery. We illustrate our methodology with an example regarding the recovery of interdependent water, power, and gas networks in Shelby County, TN (USA), with exposure to natural hazards.     

毕业设计教学改革与实践的探索

随着教学改革的深入,提出了除学生不可选择性因素之外,要充分发挥指导教师的主导作用,首先选准选好毕业设计题目,加强计算机在毕业设计中的运用.走设计和实践相结合之路,在几个方面做好、做细毕业设计的改革工作.     

论加大政府公共工程效益审计力度

政府机构、项目效益审计在国外已实行多年,而我国则刚刚起步,如何开展政府公共工程投资效益审计,则是目前急需解决的问题。本文从开展投资效益审计的必要性,以及如何实施政府公共工程投资效益审计作一些探讨,为开展政府公共工程投资效益审计实践发展探索路子。     

Using Active Learning Projects to Teach Research Skills Throughout the Sociology Curriculum

A core element of the sociology curriculum is the methods course, intended to teach students the value of systematic observation and analysis of the social world. However, this one-shot approach to teaching methodological skills is ineffective and not well liked by students or faculty. A more effective approach is the integration of active learning assignments and projects that teach and reinforce these skills throughout the curriculum, from the introductory course to the substantive content courses. This paper describes my experiences with this approach, outlining various activities and research projects used to teach methodological skills. Also highlighted are the outcomes reported by students and the benefits for teaching sociology courses. A discussion of the possibilities for disseminating and using the research beyond the classroom and the strengths and weaknesses of integrating research across the curriculum, as well as several teaching tips are also included.     

公众参与引导下的重大工程社会矛盾化解机制

新时代网络社会的不确定性、突变性等特征极大地颠覆了重大工程社会矛盾的阶段演化特性,对传统封闭性的社会矛盾化解机制设计提出了新挑战,具有多元非中心性的公众参与在应对该挑战中可发挥重要的引导作用。基于裂缝假说分析重大工程社会冲突困境,提出建立与公众参与水平相匹配的参与制度是困境化解的关键路径;将公众参与成熟度作为公众参与水平划分工具,按照低、中、高将其划分为3 个水平;引入网络化治理理论,建立与公众参与水平相匹配的公众参与机制,即形成“政府主导-社区参与”型、“政府引导-社会组织介入”型、“政府与社会组织协同合作”型机制,推动公众参与引导重大工程社会矛盾的自我疏导、自我治理和自我化解,形成全民共建共享的网络化治理新格局。     

基于CDIO的计算机图形图像类通识课程的建设与实践研究

CDIO工程教育是从"培养什么人"和"怎样培养人"这两个根本问题出发来探索工程教育问题,而大学通识选修课程作为高校本科人才培养课程体系的重要组成部分,以其开设的课程内容丰富,时间相对集中灵活而深受学生的欢迎。在基于CDIO的计算机图形图像类通识课程的建设与实践研究中,依据CDIO的原理,以设计实验项目实例为教学主线,来贯彻和实现CDIO的让学生"在做中学和在学中做"的教学理念及培养方法。     

Improving Africa's Roads: Modelling Infrastructure Investment and Its Effect on Sectoral Production Behaviour

Given the scarce resources for public investment in developing countries, policy analysis should include a detailed perspective on the effects of infrastructure. This article develops a modelling framework for analysing the effects of improved road infrastructure on the economy of African countries. The theoretical framework is tested empirically and used for simulations in a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model, and the effects on production and welfare are analysed. The model also serves to investigate the effect of roads on the economic participation of rural households.     

Visions and politics in the making of Stockholm's House of Culture: Institutional complexity within extraordinary projects

The aim of the article is to analyse and comprehend the interplay of institutional logics in the realisation of Stockholm's House of Culture, Kulturhuset, hereby beginning to answer the question of what role cultural logics play in cultural development projects. Based on an in-depth case study of the process leading up to the creation of Kulturhuset, the article explores the interplay of a politico-bureaucratic logic and a cultural–professional logic governing the evolution of the project. Following a Scandinavian tradition of interpretative studies of complex development projects, the making of Kulturhuset is framed as an extraordinary project involving a complicated development process. The process dynamics are explored and analysed through the lens of institutional complexity. The article's main contribution lies in its highlighting the interplay of – and nuancing the relation between – institutional logics. It also serves as a reminder of the power of bureaucratic ordering in urban development projects.     

Shared‐use mining infrastructure: Why it matters and how to achieve it

This article considers the cases for and against ‘open access’ regulation of rail and port logistics infrastructure used by ‘bulk’ mining operations, arguing that host governments should proactively impose and then enforce such regulation in almost all cases. The logistics infrastructure needed for this type of mining activity is of critical importance. The costs and potential inefficiencies involved in duplicating such infrastructure confer a significant competitive advantage on its owner in the absence of effective access regulation. In particular, where a first mover develops an ‘integrated’ project incorporating a mine and associated infrastructure, a failure to impose access regulation discourages third‐party investment in mineral exploration and development in the region serviced by the infrastructure, due to the risk of hold‐up by the first mover. An unregulated first mover can also use its infrastructure advantage to capture the state's share of resource rents from the mineral endowment of the region. Open access regulation further benefits host countries by enabling broad‐based economic development through the shared‐use of mining infrastructure with other sectors (e.g., agribusiness). The article highlights contrasting experience with access regulation in Australia: the Pilbara iron ore region has seen protracted disputes involving mining firms and policy‐makers and very few examples of third‐party access, while in the coal region of central Queensland an extensive multi‐user, multi‐purpose railway network operates independently of mining firms. The authors urge governments in sub‐Saharan Africa (in particular) not to underestimate the internal capacity and other challenges associated with developing and enforcing open access regulation of mining infrastructure in a manner that protects their national interests.