A.R.P. and Underground Car Parks for London

The contamination of food or water supplies with radioactive materials centers the attack on the ingestion pathway, where the aims may be to: expose the public who consume the contaminated food or drink the contaminated water; stop the provision of food or water supplies to the public; and cause widespread panic and public alarm. The radiological consequences may include: contamination of water treatment plants, service reservoirs, header tanks and water supply systems; contamination of food products, wholesale food markets, supermarkets or food processing facilities; and the loss or disruption of the water and/or food supply chain. The occurrence of immediate fatalities or casualties suffering from the effects of radiation exposure via the ingestion pathway is very unlikely since extremely large amounts of radioactive material would be required to achieve sufficiently high concentrations and, even if this occurs, it is very unlikely that it would affect a large number of people. The radionuclides that can be used or released during a radiological emergency, where a significant radiation dose could be received as a result of consumption of contaminated food, could be: The radionuclides listed above are expected to be the predominant contributors to radiation dose through ingestion in the most of the scenarios. When more than one radionuclide is released, the relative contribution that a radionuclide makes to radiation dose from ingestion of subsequently contaminated food depends on the specifics of the accident and the mode of release. In unique circumstances other radionuclides (like Po-210) may contribute radiation doses through the food ingestion pathway. Although the deliberate act to contaminate food or water supplies with radioactive materials it is unlikely (though not impossible), there is a need to co-operate with radiological experts and media specialists to quickly assess the potential medical impact of such acts and provide public information to alleviate fears in the potentially affected public. There is also a need to develop a plan, at the national level, to monitor a representative sample of the potentially affected population to confirm the health risk assessment and reassure the public.

Urban traffic congestion has become an important issue not only affecting our daily lives, but also limiting economic development. The primary cause of urban traffic congestion is that the number of vehicles is higher than the permissible limit of the road. Previous studies have focused on dispersing traffic volume by detecting urban traffic congestion zones and predicting future trends. However, to solve the fundamental problem, it is necessary to discover the cause of traffic congestion. Nevertheless, it is difficult to find a research which presents an approach to identify the causes of traffic congestion. In this paper, we propose a technique to analyze the cause of traffic congestion based on the traffic flow theory. We extract vehicle flows from traffic data, such as GPS trajectory and Vehicle Detector data. We detect vehicle flow changes utilizing the entropy from the information theory. Then, we build cumulative vehicle count curves (N-curve) that can quantify the flow of the vehicles in the traffic congestion area. The N-curves are classified into four different traffic congestion patterns by a convolutional neural network. Analyzing the causes and influence of traffic congestion is difficult and requires considerable experience and knowledge. Therefore, we present a visual analytics system that can efficiently perform a series of processes to analyze the cause and influence of traffic congestion. Through case studies, we have evaluated that our system can classify the causes of traffic congestion and can be used efficiently in road planning.

The destruction of the South Vietnamese rice (Oryza sativa L) crop using an arsenic-based herbicide known as Agent Blue during the American Vietnam War (1965-1972) was not a secret; however, it received little media attention in the United States. Republic of Vietnam and United States (U.S.) militaries began destroying food crops (rice) in November of 1962 primarily via aerial applications in the Mekong Delta and Central Highlands of South Vietnam. Spraying of Agent Blue on 100,000 ha of mangrove forests and about 300,000 ha of rice paddies just before rice harvest time resulted in the destruction of the standing crop and rendered the land contaminated with arsenic (As). Six Rainbow herbicides, commonly called Agent Orange, Agent Green, Agent Pink, Agent Purple, Agent White, and Agent Blue, were sprayed on wetlands, rice paddies, forests, mangroves, bamboo and military base perimeter fences to defoliate jungle vegetation, reveal guerilla hiding places and destroy the food supply of enemy troops. South Vietnamese farmers, U.S. and Republic of Vietnam military personnel, and communist insurgents were exposed to these herbicides with immediate and longer term impacts on personal health, civilian household food security and population-wide famine. Agent Blue (cacodylic acid, C2H2AsO2,) was the most effective of all the Rainbow herbicides in killing rice and grasses. Manufacturing of cacodylic acid began in the late 1950s in the U.S. at the Ansul Company chemical plant in Marinette, Wisconsin and Menominee, Michigan. During the Vietnam War, ocean going ships were loaded with 208-liter Agent Blue barrels and shipped via the St. Lawrence Seaway to the coast of South Vietnam. Arsenic (As) is a naturally occurring element that is found throughout SE Asia deltas including the Mekong Delta. Today arsenic contaminated rice and groundwater are growing concerns as neither naturally occurring arsenic nor anthropic arsenic have a half-life and cannot be destroyed. Anthropic arsenic has remained in the Mekong Delta environment for the last 60 years and added to persistent As contamination in water supplies, sediments and soils. Water soluble arsenic primarily leaches into the soil root zone and the groundwater or is carried by floodwater into adjacent waterways or volatilized under anaerobic rice paddy conditions as gaseous arsine. The health of 15 million Vietnamese people living in the Mekong Delta is at risk from the combination of manufactured and natural As in drinking water and food supply. The As in the contaminated rice paddy soil, sediment and water is up taken by fish, shrimp or by crop vegetation and trace amounts can end up in the food supply (rice grain) or be bioaccumulated by the fish, shrimp and birds which when eaten were bioaccumulated in the Vietnamese people. It is urgent that elevated As concentrations in water supplies and agricultural products be identified and mitigated through better run-off control and groundwater management; improved rice genetics and alternate crop selections; shifts in crop management associated with tillage, fertilization and phosphorus use; and systematic monitoring of food and drinking water.

Triangle of Environment, Water and Energy: A Sociological Appraisal

This paper reports on a study of car drivers’ assessment of a sustainability policy involving increased car parking fees in Swedish city centers. The aim of the study was to investigate how framing of information in text and pictures influences acceptance of increasing car parking fees and how values, general beliefs and norms as well as measure-specific beliefs influence the acceptability of the measure. Drawing on Goal Framing Theory, the acceptance of a parking fee policy was tested using three different goal frames (hedonic, gain and normative); the frames were compared with each other and a control message. The study was based on a survey directed to residents (18 to 75 years of age) in 51 larger municipalities in Sweden. The survey had an experimental design. Respondents were presented with a scenario of an increase in parking fees to promote environmental sustainability. The scenario was presented in three ways (manipulations), highlighting hedonic (e.g., emotional), gain, and normative aspects, respectively, in text and pictures. The results showed that the three message frames had different effects and were overall more effective than the control message in engendering the desired reduction in private car use and, thus, the intended environmental impact. Further, the degree of acceptability of the increased parking fee influenced the expected behavioral change in the groups receiving a goal framed message in relation to the parking fee measure. Implications from a sustainability perspective concern the importance of how environmental policies are framed when communicated to the public in order to increase acceptance and support.

Water is indispensable ‘stuff’ for maintaining the metabolism, not only of our human bodies, but also of the wider social fabric. The very sustainability of cities and the practices of everyday life that constitute ‘the urban’ are predicated upon and conditioned by the supply, circulation, and elimination of water. The complex web of the ‘Metabolisms of Cities’ (Wolman 1965: 179) relies on the perpetual circulation of water into, through, and out of the city. Without an uninterrupted flow of water, the maelstrom of city life and the mesmerizing collage of interwoven practices that constitute the very essence of urbanity are hard to imagine. It is difficult, if not impossible, for most of us to even think about living without water for drinking, washing, bathing, cooking, or cleaning for more than a few hours. Indeed, like food, water is both a biological necessity and a key economic commodity, as well as being the source of an intricate and rich cultural and symbolic power (see Bachelard 1942). But while the supply of food, clothing, and durable goods can be handled through local, decentralized, individual initiative, the supply of water is routinely— although by no means necessarily or exclusively—organized by means of large bureaucratic and engineering control systems, collective intervention and action, and centralized decision-making systems (see Wittfogel 1957;Worster 1985; Lorrain 1997; Donahue and Johnston 1998). Such centralized and hierarchical systems, whether privately or publicly owned, enable monopoly control and, given the commodity character of water, permit the extraction of monopoly profits in addition to the powerful social and political control that goes with monopolistic control over vital goods. Contrary to the rural realm where—at least under non-arid conditions—water of a reasonable quality is easily and often readily available, urban water supply and access relies on the perpetual transformation, mastering, and harnessing of ‘natural’water. Urban water is necessarily transformed, ‘metabolized’ water, not only in terms of its physico-chemical characteristics, but also in terms of its social characteristics and its symbolic and cultural meanings.

Health care provision depends on reliable critical infrastructure (CI) to power equipment and to provide water for medication and sanitation. Attacks on CI limiting such functions can have a profound and prolonged influence on delivery of care. A retrospective analysis of the Global Terrorism Database (GTD) was performed of all attacks occurring from 1970-2020. Data were filtered using the internal database search function for all events where the primary target was "Utilities," "Food or Water Supply," and "Telecommunications." For the purposes of this study, the subtype "Food Supply" was excluded. Events were collated based on year, country, region, and numbers killed and wounded. The GTD listed 7,813 attacks on CI, with 6,280 of those attacks targeting utilities, leading to 1,917 persons directly killed and 1,377 persons wounded. In total, there were 1,265 attacks targeting telecommunications causing 205 direct deaths and 510 wounded. Lastly, 268 attacks targeted the water supply with 318 directly killed and 261 wounded. Regionally, South America had the most attacks with 2,236, followed by Central America and the Caribbean with 1,390. Based on infrastructure type, the most attacks on utilities occurred in El Salvador (1,061), and the most attacks on telecommunications were in India (140). Peru (46) had the most attacks on its water supply. The regions with the highest number of total attacks targeting CI have historically been in South America, with more attacks against power and utilities than other infrastructure. Although the numbers of persons directly killed and wounded in these attacks were lower than with other target types, the true impacts on lack of health care delivery are not accounted for in these numbers. By understanding the pattern and scope of these attacks, Counter-Terrorism Medicine (CTM) initiatives can be created to target-harden health care-related infrastructure.

Higher education institutions are major trip-generating locations and the transportation to and from them has negative environmental influences. To discourage car owners from solo driving and encourage them to use more environmentally friendly travel modes, it is important to understand what factors influence their travel mode choice. Using a discrete choice model, we examined the motivations to leave the car at home, with and without parking fee. Besides parking fees, we examined the effects of other variables known to predict commuting choice, such as time and social discomfort, pro-environmental attitudes, reduced vehicle maintenance expenses and awareness of alternative commuting options. Results show that adding a parking fee not only increased the tendency to leave the car at home, it also influenced the relative weight given to the considerations that determine to leave the car at home. Specifically, after the introduction of a parking fee, the previously significant impacts of pro-environmental attitudes and social discomfort on leaving the car at home became non-significant, and the impacts of other, more instrumental factors (e.g., time discomfort, costs related to car ownership and maintenance, time wasted searching for a parking space and in traffic jams) which were insignificant beforehand, became the significant predictors. Parking fees were found to be effective and can change to accommodate different policies (revenue collection, pollution reduction, and students’ discomfort). The implications of such a study are the trade-off between monetary (parking fee) and non-monetary variables to accommodate more sustainable traffic management.

Clarifying the complex relationships among ecosystem services (ESs) and the driving mechanisms of ecosystem service (ES) is essential for supporting regional ES and ecological sustainability. Although studies on ES relationships provide guidance for regional ecological management, the driving mechanisms of ES have not been adequately studied, especially in areas with complex natural environments and progressive urbanization. Combined with the data on land use, climate, NDVI, and soil data, this paper aims to explore this issue by analyzing the relationships among ESs and the driving mechanisms of ESs in the western Sichuan Plateau region of China. Firstly, the temporal and spatial distribution characteristics of five ecosystem services (food supply, water supply, habitat quality, soil conservation, and carbon storage) from 2000 to 2020 were analyzed by the InVEST model. Second, the trade-offs/synergistic relationships among ESs were analyzed using SPSS as well as the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient method in MATLAB. Finally, the Geodetector model was further used to reveal the influencing factors of ecosystem services in the western Sichuan Plateau. The results showed that: (1) Water supply decreased in the western Sichuan Plateau from 2000 to 2020, but increased in the eastern part; habitat quality was generally good in the whole Sichuan Plateau, but decreased in some areas; carbon storage showed an overall improving trend; soil conservation showed an overall increasing and then decreasing trend, and food supply services showed an increasing trend. (2) From 2000 to 2020, food supply and other services in the western Sichuan Plateau were in a trade-off relationship; all other service pairs showed a synergistic relationship. (3) In terms of space, the relationships between ecosystem services showed spatial heterogeneity. There was a synergistic relationship between food supply and habitat quality in some areas, such as Litang County and Xinlong County, and there was a trade-off relationship between water supply and carbon storage services in some areas, such as Ruoergai County and Daocheng County, etc. (4) The Geodetector results showed that food supply and soil conservation were mainly influenced by the slope (0.682, 0.672), annual precipitation was the strongest explanation for water supply (0.967), and habitat quality and carbon storage were the most influenced by NDVI (0.876, 0.828); meanwhile, each ecosystem service was interactively influenced by multiple factors. Based on the results, we proposed ecological management recommendations for the western Sichuan Plateau, the most important one being that the western Sichuan Plateau should protect and rationally use the existing natural resources, especially the existing forest and grassland resources, and at the same time reform the agricultural structure and scientifically plan urban development, to promote the coexistence of cities and nature. We took the western Sichuan Plateau of China, where urbanization and a complex natural environment are in opposition, as an example, to explore its ecosystem services, relationships, and driving mechanisms, and then put forward suggestions on ecological management and control, providing a reference for future regional coordination between urbanization and the natural environment.

Our Foods Are Safe!

Increasing coverage and maintaining infrastructure are two of the biggest challenges confronting the water supply sector in both industrialized and developing countries. The last two decades have witnessed reform in this sector that has resulted in increased private sector participation (PSP), and it is now time to investigate whether such reform has managed to increase access without creating additional burdens, especially on the poor. A research project carried out by the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), Social Policy, Regulation and Private Sector Involvement in Water Supply, has demonstrated the shortcomings of concession-type contracts and how regulation in developing countries is faced with major challenges. Based on this research, the present paper demonstrates that, in such circumstances, regulation should be complemented by social policies when reforming the water sector.This paper draws lessons from seven country studies: Brazil, Burkina Faso, Colombia, Great Britain, France, Hungary and Malaysia. All of these country studies show the shortcomings of PSP and how social policies are crucial in addressing the issues of access and affordability. The choice of social policies varies from country to country. In France and Great Britain, heavy public investment was used to ensure universal access to piped water. In these countries, even with high regulatory capacity, social policies in the water sector have been crucial. For example, in France, they consist mainly of ex-post assistance to those who cannot afford to pay their water bills, operating a fund for rural water supply and prohibition of disconnection. Social policies in Great Britain include income support based on property values, subsidies, a ban on disconnections, various forms of social security support and social assistance in paying water bills. In addition, there exists an effective and independent economic regulatory body.In the case of Colombia, a subsidy helps provide the poor with access to affordable water. In addition, investment commitments prescribed to the private sector have been useful in increasing coverage. Similarly, in Brazil, the desire to make water supply universal led to heavy investment in the 1970s, and effective social policies (cross-subsidies) helped to increase coverage among the poor. However, the current impasse on whether the state or municipality has the right to grant concessions to the private sector is jeopardizing further progress. The government in Hungary provides subsidies to regions that have high production costs. In addition, industrial users cross-subsidize domestic consumption, and income transfers by central or local authorities shoulder some of the households' burden of water expenditures. Tariffs are kept low (a hidden social policy) and no disconnection is allowed in the case of non-payment of bills. The private sector has increased efficiency in the system, but investment is financed by the state. In Malaysia, the social policies that are in place comprise state financing of water supply in rural areas, cross-subsidy (industrial users to domestic) and a lifeline block tariff. In addition, the private sector is contractually obliged to increase coverage in urban and rural areas. In Burkina Faso, although the efficiency of the network has substantially improved with commercialization through PSP, there is growing pressure to dismantle social policies.

IN reply to a question in the House of Commons 011 April 9 as to the present position in regard to water supplies in Great Britain, Mr. Ramsay MacDonald said: “The reserves of many water undertakers have fallen to a low level for this time of the year. The Government have been carefully watching the situation and, because of the continued absence of abundant rains, are satisfied that emergency measures must be taken. Therefore, in view of seriousness of the position, the Government propose to bring legislation before the House immediately.” The Water Supplies (Exceptional Shortage Orders) Bill was accordingly presented to the House on April 10, whereby the Minister of Health, and the Secretary of State and the Department of Health for Scotland, would be authorised “to make orders, and to give directions with a view to meeting deficiencies in water supplies due to exceptional shortage of rain, and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid”. It will be remembered that the subject of water supply and regulation was discussed in NATURE of November 11, 1933, p. 725, in an article dealing with a report of a committee of the British Association, when the institution of an inland water survey of Britain was urged as a necdssary preliminary to efficient water administration. Reference was also made in that article to the presidential address to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers delivered by Mr. Alan Chorlton, M.P., in which he suggested the construction of a water grid in Great Britain comparable with the electricity ‘grid’ recently completed.

This paper describes the 1994 Northridge earthquake experience of the local emergency medical services (EMS) agency. Discussed are means that should improve future local agency disaster responses. Data reported are descriptive and were collected from multiple independent sources, and can be reviewed publicly and confirmed. Validated data collected during the disaster by the Local EMS Agency also are reported. The experience of the Los Angeles County EMS Agency was similar to that of earthquake disasters previously reported. Communication systems, water, food, shelter, sanitation means, power sources, and medical supplies were resources needed early in the disaster. Urban Search and Rescue Teams and Disaster Medical Assistance Teams were important elements in the response to the Northridge earthquake. The acute phase of the disaster ended within 48 to 72 hours and public health then became the predominant health-care issue. Locating community food and water supplies near shelters, providing transportation to medical care, and public-health visits to shelter locations helped prevent the development of long-term park encampments. An incident command system for the field, hospitals, and government responders was necessary for an organized response to the disaster. Disaster preparedness, multiple forms of reliable communication, rapid mobilization of resources, and knowledge of available state and federal resources are necessary for a disaster response by a local EMS agency.

Understanding the complex relationships among ecosystem services (ESs) is crucial for their joint management, particularly in vulnerable karst areas where ES dynamics are intricate. This study, focusing on the Nanpan and Beipan River Basin (NBPRB), examines seven key ESs—food supply (FP), water supply (WS), soil retention (SR), carbon storage (CS), water purification (WP), habitat quality (HQ), and landscape aesthetics (LA)—over 1985-2020, to analyze their spatiotemporal trends and their trade-offs and synergies for sustainable development. This study innovatively introduces a method to identify trade-offs and synergistic effects among services, including the recognition of positive and negative synergies, as well as determining which service reduction leads to the trade-off relationship. Additionally, by constructing land use transition matrices, the research analyzes how changes in land use affect the trade-offs and synergies among services, offering scientific guidance for the implementation of sustainable land management. The results indicate that (1) FP and LA have risen, and SC have fluctuated, and WP and CS have remained stable, though HQ has decreased. Regionally, ESs differ, with the south of NBPRB leading in FP and the north of NBPRB basin excelling in WS, CS, SR, LA, and HQ. (2) Among 21 combinations of ESs, seven exhibit trade-offs and eight synergies. Trade-offs are mostly between provisioning, regulating, and supporting services, with cultural services not involved. Positive synergies occur between FP, WP, and CS, while negative synergies relate to regulating services. Geographically, positive synergies are more pronounced in the east, negative ones in the south, and trade-offs are concentrated in the southern watershed. (3) Land-use changes affect ESs differently. Forests are crucial for CS, and grasslands and shrublands are important for SR. Expanding cultivated land and impervious surfaces can degrade WP and SR but can improve LA and FP. The study offers insights for managing ESs and informs better land-use planning in the watershed.

Epidemic suppression packages in disasters: A public health viewpoint