Operational characteristics of mixed traffic flow under bi-directional environment using cellular automaton

Mixed traffic flow composed of autos and non-autos widely exists in developing countries and areas. To investigate the operational characteristics of the mixed traffic flow consisting of vehicles in different types （large vehicles, cars, and bicycles）, we develop a cellular automaton model to repli- cate the travel behaviors on a bi-directional road segment with respect to the physical and mechanic features of different vehicle types. By implementing the essential parameters calibrated through the field data collection, a numerical study is carried out considering the variation in volume, density, and velocity with different compositions of mixed traffic flows. The primary findings include： the average ve- locity of traffic flow and total volume decrease 60% and 30% after incorporating 10% bicycles, respectively; the phenomenon of double-summit in terms bicycle is beyond 60 % ; the maximal total volume higher than 10 %. of the total volume appears when the proportion of starts to recover when the proportion of bicycle is

Addressing the environmental risk of persistent organic pollutants in China

The Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants （POPs） was adopted in 2001. This year is the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention. Until now, 22 chemicals or chemical categories have been listed as POPs in the Stockholm Convention. The POPs Research Center was established in Tsinghua University in the same year when the Convention was adopted. In the last ten years, much work has been done by Chinese researchers to understand the environ- mental risk of POPs in China. This article aims to review the recent research progress of our POPs Research Center and some other Chinese researchers＇ studies in addressing the environmental risk of POPs, including the priority screening and inventory study of POPs, monitoring and modeling of POPs pollution and exposure, and environ- mental risk assessment and modeling of POPs. Although great advances in addressing the environmental risk of POPs have been made in recent years, we are still facing quite a few problems, such as data scarcity and uncertainty in environmental risk assessment of POPs. The study on the effect of POPs mixtures is in its infancy and currently POPs are usually assessed from legal perspective by risk assessment of single chemicals. These problems should be well addressed by further efforts. Further studies should also be taken in future to study environment risk of POPs by considering aspects of coupled dynamics between climate processes and POPs. Such sound scientific, riskbased information can support decision-making aiming to effectively minimize the risk level of POPs.

Improvement of thermal environment and reduction of energy consumption for coolin8 and heating by retrofitting windows

Various techniques for creating a comfortable thermal environment and saving energy have been proposed and employed in residential buildings in many countries, including Japan. For these techniques to be introduced, existing houses should be renovated. Among the techniques available, installation of additional inner windows is effective in creating a comfortable and energy-efficient living environment. In the present research, the effect of additional inner windows on the thermal environment and energy saving was investigated by measuring indoor climates. Windows were renovated in two rooms on the fourth floor of a four-story reinforced concrete building. Air temperatures, the humidity, the global solar radiation on horizontal and vertical surfaces, radiant temperatures, and the electricity consumption of air-conditioners were measured. A comparison of these vatues before and after the installation of inner- windows showed that the thermal environment and energy saving had improved. Results obtained from a thermal model agreed well with measured results by changing the value of solar transmittance and heat transmission coefficient of the glazing forlowing renovation. Furthermore, in a questionnaire survey conducted in summer, more than half of the occupants answered ＂cornfortabte＂ to a question on the overall thermal comfort.

Thermal physiological response to local heating and cooling during sleep

For a healthy and productive life, good steep is essential, which has prompted studies on how comfortable sleep can be achieved. Understanding the relationship between thermal environment and physiological responses such as skin and core temperatures, and psychological responses such as thermal and sleep sensations is necessary to identify the most suitable thermal environment for steep. As an energy-saving and practical method of creating the most appropriate thermal environment for sleep, local heating or cooling is sometimes used, which takes into consideration the differences in local thermal responses. We performed this study to identify the most effective thermal environment for inducing comfortable sleep by identifying the physiological responses during sleep on the basis of sleep experiments conducted under local body heating or cooling conditions. We also used a human thermal model, which can be applied for predicting physiological responses. In the experiments, the feet of the subject were the primary area to be heated or cooled, which was achieved by installing a flexible duct with an outlet placed close to the subject＇s feet and inlet connected to an air conditioner. Differences in the fluctuation of body temperature and sleep stage depended on the airflow direction from the duct to the feet. When air was blown downward towards the feet, body temperature decreased and the subject was able to sleep well. Measured skin and core temperatures were calculated using an improved 27-node human thermal model that was originally developed for use in subjects who are not in steep. Although skin

The MAP/PH/N Retrial Queue in a Random Environment

We consider the MAP/PH/N retrial queue with a finite number of sources operating in a finite state Markovian random environment. Two different types of multi-dimensional Markov chains are investigated describing the behavior of the system based on state space arrangements. The special features of the two formulations are discussed. The algorithms for calculating the stationary state probabilities are elaborated, based on which the main performance measures are obtained, and numerical examples are presented as well.

Analysis of the current situation of environmental policy of China and establishment of distributed environmental policy framework

In this study, China＇s current macro-environ- mental policies as well as their implementation and management tools are analyzed. By using the basic economic methodology, detailed studies are conducted focusing on the implementation effect of contemporary China＇s typical environmental policy of the total pollutant discharge quantity control type, and also the two types of environmental management tools are compared from the perspective of implementation costs and policy uncertainty. By introduction of distributed management tools into the implementation of environmental policies, marketoriented means and the methods of economic analysis are introduced into environmental policy decision-making mechanisms, which could afford a new method for changing the current relatively low efficiency of environ- mental policy, solving the problem of＂government failure＂ in environmental policy implementation, and providing a new way to make environmental policy system more flexible and more efficient. It is of great practical significance to solve China＇s current structural, complex and accumulative environmental problems.

The influencing factors of the WTP for the risk reduction of chemical industry accidents in China

To explore the factors that influence respon- dents＇ willingness to pay （WTP） for the risk reduction of chemical industry accidents, a questionnaire survey combined with contingent valuation and psychometric paradigm methods were conducted in the city of Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, China. Both traditional socioeconomic variables and perceived characteristics of the hazards were considered in this study, and a Tobit model was used to find the factors influencing WTP under three risk reduction scenarios. The results showed that three demographic characteristics, age, gender, and income, significantly affected the WTP for chemical risk reduction. In addition, three extracted public risk perception factors, effect, knowledge, and trust, also strongly affected the WTP. The mean WTP value increased as the magnitude of the risk reduction increased. The number of factors influencing the WTP decreased as the reduction level improved, and only the effect factor had a significant influence on the WTP for a higher level （80%） of risk reduction. The cost for chemical safety management of Yancheng was calculated, and the optimized risk reduction level was determined. These findings can assist governments and policy makers to formulate suitable strategies for risk control, to reach target groups of people to develop effective communication, and to provide specific refer- ences for the best investment for the security of local residents.