Hazardous characteristics of dust waste from metal manufacturing industries in South Korea

The Ministry of Environment, South Korea, is involved in efforts to reduce safety-related accidents that could occur during hazardous waste disposal and minimise the environmental impacts of waste disposal. To reach such goals, new factors have been added that contribute to the hazardous characteristics of hazardous waste. The Ministry is also expanding regulations on inorganic and organic components present in hazardous waste for these factors and continues to correct the classification system to establish standards for waste components. Metallic dust, for example, is mostly generated during the operation of melting furnaces or precipitators and dangerous materials contained in this dust may cause accidents, such as explosions or fires. South Korean accident cases have confirmed that waste containing hazardous materials, such as Mg, Al and Mg–Al alloys, can cause such events. Therefore, this study analysed 28 dust samples collected from the dust accumulated in precipitators in 28 metal manufacturing facilities in South Korea. Nine samples were flammable and four samples were reactive to water. Two samples also exhibited leaching toxicities. The results applied to relevant laws in South Korea showed that the proportion of waste containing hazardous characteristics increased from 7.14% in the previous management category to 39.29% in the extended category, an overall increase of 32.15 percentage points.

Epidemie w dziejach Wadowic w okresie przedrozbiorowym – studium przypadku miasta małopolskiego

Epidemics in the history of Wadowice in the pre-partition period. A study of a town in Małopolska This article aims to analyze the traces of the pestilence in Wadowice in Małopolska up to 1772, when the town became part of the Austrian partition. Hitherto this topic has only been mentioned in the literature. Thanks to a use of sources from the period, and, above all, archives in, for example, the Archiwum Parafialnym Bazyliki Ofiarowania Najświętszej Marii Panny w Wadowicach and in the Archiwum Kurii Metropolitalnej w Krakowie, the author has discovered traces of the appearance of large-scale epidemics in Wadowice in 1585, 1601, 1652–1653, and probably in 1737, 1752, and 1758. In the Wadowice records of deaths (Liber Mortuorum), it has been possible to identify entries that would indicate the appearance of at least local epidemics in the period 1730–1772. In addition, a hitherto unknown note by the local pastor from 1756 has been found, which provides information about epidemics in the town in the XVIIth century and of their avoidance at the time of pestilence raging over large areas of the Polish Commonwealth and beyond its borders between 1708 and 1709. This source, published as an annex to the article, also shows the approaches of the inhabitants of Wadowice to the plague, which were typical of the period, and included: dedicating the town to the Mother of God, and the conviction that the misfortunes falling on the town, such as epidemics or fires, were a punishment for sins. The article ends with a recommendation in the future to carry out comparative research that makes it possible to compare the results from Wadowice with those from other towns in the western part of Małopolska.

On the assessment of the state of integrated security of industrial enterprises

Introduction. The article presents a methodically described, consistent algorithm for assessing the state of integrated safety of industrial enterprises that are classified as hazardous production facilities. A study was conducted in choosing a method that allows calculating the weighting coefficients of the estimated measures, the implementation of which is provided by services (structural divisions) performing labor functions to maintain the integrated security system of the enterprises under consideration at the required level. Goals and objectives. The main purpose of the article is to identify the causes of hazards in cases when the danger (accident or fire) occurs with the coverage of two or more departmental (industry) security subsystems that are part of the complex security of the enterprise. Reduction of hazards (accidents and fires) at industrial enterprises is carried out at the expense of resource investments directed to minimize (exclude) the conditions (prerequisites) for the occurrence of risky events that can be transformed into accidents or fires. However, due to the limitations of the resource allocated by the enterprise to ensure its comprehensive security, there is a need to identify those places (points) whose risk indicator is high (critical), requiring a response to them without delay. It is proposed to normalize each event included in the content of the checklist for checking the enterprise for both industrial and fire safety. Methods. The choice of the hierarchy analysis method is justified, the use of which, based on a pairwise comparison of factors and alternatives, allows us to determine a local priority indicator for each element under study. Results and their discussion. The algorithm of sequential actions presented in the article in the form of a detailed description allows you to set an indicator measured in the form of a quantitative value for each event held. Conclusions. An example is presented in a fragmentary form showing the order and sequence of obtaining local and global priorities, where the definition of local priorities indicates the weight of a characteristically described event that caused a hazard (accident and fire). Obtaining weighting factors in the form of global priorities is directly related to the services (structural divisions) performing labor functions to maintain the enterprise's integrated security system at the required level. Key words: complex security, hierarchy analysis, factor, evaluation indicator, expert, consistency ratio.

Fifty years ago: ‘A new portable hand operated external cardiac compressor’

This series provides a selection of articles from the past. In Fifty years ago: A new portable hand operated external cardiac compressor B.S. Baker briefly explores the merits of the portable hand-operated external cardiac compressors that allowed the user to resuscitate patients in hazardous conditions such as mines or fires.

Gaming the Medievalist World in Harry Potter

This paper explores medieval tropes in the video games in the Harry Potter franchise. As the games engage the player in extensive exploration, sound objects signaling the medieval are triggered by interactive play: footsteps echoing in cavernous stone hallways, the opening and shutting of heavy wooden doors, the turning of thick parchment pages, the sounds of potions bubbling or fires in gaping fireplaces, the rush of wind while flying on a broomstick. These act as immediately immersive elements, situating the player more firmly within the already medieval context created by the visual scenery, the musical soundtrack, and the plot itself.

Mapping the Causes of Forest Fires in Portugal by Clustering Analysis

This paper presents a spatial characterization of the distribution at district level of the forest fire events that occurred in mainland Portugal between 1996 and 2015 and whose causes were investigated. We further examine the breakdown of the causes of these forest fires over this period. Results supported by relevant validated statistics show that of the total fire events recorded, 94.4% were identified as an effective occurrence, of which 22.2% had burned an area greater than 1 ha, and of these only 42.1% were investigated. False alarms or fires without a recorded burning area are more significant in the districts of Aveiro, Lisbon and Porto, the biggest municipalities. Of the fires whose causes were investigated, the largest number of recorded events were in NE regions (49.0%), followed by NW regions (41.7%), and finally in the rest of the country (9.3%). Taking into account the ratio between the investigated fires and the total number of fires and the behavior profile produced for cluster analysis, a different panorama is brought to light, with the center and south regions showing greater effort to investigate the fires. A thorough analysis of the causes and motivations of the ignition of these forest fire occurrences showed that human activity, either deliberate (20.4%) or negligent (29.9%), outweigh natural phenomena (0.6%). Reactivations (14.6%) and Unknown (34.5%) causes decreased as time passed, whereas negligent and deliberate causes increased. However, these results could change if the percentage of unknown information in relation to the origin of the forest fires is considerable. The outcome of this research will support an efficient management related to fire mitigation and suppression including establishing preventive actions to reduce the occurrence of forest fires and emphasize the need to improve the procedure for recording forest fire events in Portugal, especially in relation to identifying their cause.

Spatial and spectral remote sensing features to detect deforestation in Brazilian Savannas

The Brazilian Savannas have been under increasing anthropic pressure for many years, and land-use/land-cover changes (LULCC) have been largely neglected. Remote sensing provides useful tools to detect changes, but previous studies have not attempted to separate the effects of phenology from deforestation, clearing or fires to improve the accuracy of change detection without a dense time series. The scientific questions addressed in this study were: how well can we differentiate seasonal changes from deforestation processes combining the spatial and spectral information of bi-temporal (normalized difference vegetation index) NDVI images? Which feature best contribute to increase the separability on classification assessment? We applied an object-based remote sensing method that is able to separate seasonal changes due to phenology effects from LULCC by combining spectral and the spatial context using traditional spectral features and semivariogram indices, exploring the full capability of NDVI image difference to train random forest (RF) algorithm. We found that the spatial variability of NDVI values is not affect by vegetation seasonality and, therefore, the combination of spectral features and semivariogram indices provided high global accuracy (97.73%) to separate seasonal changes and deforestation or fires. From the total of 13 features, 6 provided the best combination to increase the separability on classification assessment (4 spatial and 2 spectral features). How to accurately extract LULCC while disregarding the ones caused by phenological differences in Brazilian seasonal biomes undergoing rapid land-cover changes can be achieved by adding semivariogram indices in combination with spectral features as input data to train RF algorithm.

Nicaragua penal reform may undermine election outcome

Subject Nicaraguan penal reform. Significance On June 20, the Nicaraguan legislature approved a new penal code, introducing more stringent penalties for serious offences such as murder, rape and organised crime. While designed ostensibly to maintain the country’s positive security environment, political critics have argued that provisions of the new code could be used to increase pressure on opponents of President Daniel Ortega. Impacts Longer sentences could exacerbate prison overcrowding, increasing the risks of breakouts, riots or fires. Concerns surrounding the ‘technical judges’ provision may prompt a referral to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The notion that the extension of already substantial prison sentences will act as a crime deterrent is highly questionable.

Design of a Self-Adjusting Terminal Connector Based on Shape Memory Alloys

In electrical engineering terminal connectors are commonly used for connecting and releasing electrical conductors. Within the clamp or contact area the conductor is clamped safely and steadily by a mechanical mechanism to ensure a connection with a consistent quality and safety during the whole period of application. Terminal connectors are used to transfer power in the low and mid voltage range and for transmitting information. The contact force can decrease and the conductor can become loose. This happens due to an inappropriate installation of the conductor in the terminal connector, vibrations, temperature changes as well as the creepage of the contact material, mostly of the conductor. This may lead to damages or fires. Conventional connectors with a self-adjusting capability are not available for all conductor diameters respectively currents and are comparatively cost-intensive. In this paper a self-adjusting terminal connector based on shape memory alloy is developed to enhance a common screw terminal by the integration of a SMA cylinder and the terminal connector is then evaluated regarding its performance and capability.