Assessment of the impact of computed and measured fire environments on building evacuation using bench and real scale test data

This study investigates the use of computer modelled versus directly experimentally determined fire hazard data for assessing survivability within buildings using evacuation models incorporating Fractionally Effective Dose (FED) models. The objective is to establish a link between effluent toxicity, measured using a variety of small and large scale tests, and building evacuation. For the scenarios under consideration, fire simulation is typically used to determine the time non-survivable conditions develop within the enclosure, for example, when smoke or toxic effluent falls below a critical height which is deemed detrimental to evacuation or when the radiative fluxes reach a critical value leading to the onset of flashover. The evacuation calculation would the be used to determine whether people within the structure could evacuate before these critical conditions develop.

Predicting the likely impact of aircraft post crash fire on aircraft evacuation using fire and evacuation simulation

The SMARTFIRE Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) fire field model has successfully reproduced the observed characteristics including measured temperatures, species concentrations and time to flashover for a post-crash fire experiment conducted by the FAA within their C-133 cabin test facility. In this test only one exit was open in order to provide ventilation for the developing cabin fire. In real post-crash fires, many exits are likely to be open as passangers attempt to evacuate. In this paper, the likely impacts on evacuation of a post-crash fire in which various exiting combinations are available are investigated. The fire scenario, investigated using the SMARTFIRE software, is based on the C-133 experiment but with a fully furnished cabin and with four different exit availability options. The fire data is imported into the airEXODUS evacuation simulation software and the resulting evacuations examined. The combined fire and evacuation analysis reveals that even though the aircraft configuration is predicted to comfortably satisfy the evacuation certification requirement, when fire is included, a number of casualties result, even from the certification compliant exit configuration.

Investigating the representation of merging behavior at the floor–stair interface in computer simulations of multi-floor building evacuations

In this article, the representation of the merging process at the floor— stair interface is examined within a comprehensive evacuation model and trends found in experimental data are compared with model predictions. The analysis suggests that the representation of floor—stair merging within the comprehensive model appears to be consistent with trends observed within several published experiments of the merging process. In particular: (a) The floor flow rate onto the stairs decreases as the stair population density increases. (b) For a given stair population density, the floor population's flow rate onto the stairs can be maximized by connecting the floor to the landing adjacent to the incoming stair. (c) In situations where the floor is connected adjacent to the incoming stair, the merging process appears to be biased in favor of the floor population. It is further conjectured that when the floor is connected opposite the incoming stair, the merging process between the stair and floor streams is almost in balance for high stair population densities, with a slight bias in favor of the floor stream at low population densities. A key practical finding of this analysis is that the speed at which a floor can be emptied onto a stair can be enhanced simply by connecting the floor to the landing at a location adjacent to the incoming stair rather than opposite the stair. Configuring the stair in this way, while reducing the floor emptying time, results in a corresponding decrease in the descent flow rate of those already on the stairs. While this is expected to have a negligible impact on the overall time to evacuate the building, the evacuation time for those higher up in the building is extended while those on the lower flows is reduced. It is thus suggested that in high-rise buildings, floors should be connected to the landing on the opposite side to the incoming stair. Information of this type will allow engineers to better design stair—floor interfaces to meet specific design objectives.

Investigating the use of elevators for high-rise building evacuation through computer simulation

This paper presents a description of a new agent based elevator sub-model developed as part of the buildingEXODUS software intended for both evacuation and circulation applications. A description of each component of the newly developed model is presented, including the elevator kinematics and associated pedestrian behaviour. The elevator model is then used to investigate a series of full building evacuation scenarios based on a hypothetical 50 floor building with four staircases and a population of 7,840 agents. The analysis explores the relative merits of using up to 32 elevators (arranged in four banks) and various egress strategies to evacuate the entire building population. Findings from the investigation suggest that the most efficient evacuation strategy utilises a combination of elevators and stairs to empty the building and clear the upper half of the building in minimum time. Combined stair elevator evacuation times have been shown to be as much as 50% faster than stair only evacuation times.

Gender differences, responsiveness and memory of a potentially painful event in hermit crabs

Nonreflexive responses to a noxious event and prolonged memory are key criteria of a pain experience. In a previous study, hermit crabs, Pagurus bernhardus, that received a small electric shock within their shell often temporarily evacuated the shell and some groomed their abdomen and/or moved away from their vital resource. Most, however, returned to the shell. When offered a new shell 20 s later, shocked crabs were more likely than nonshocked crabs to approach and move into a new shell and did so more quickly (Elwood & Appel 2009, Animal Behaviour, 77, 1243-1246). Here we examined how increasing the time between the shock and the offering of a new shell influences the response. There was evidence of a memory of the aversive shock that lasted at least 1 day. Crabs tested after 30 min and 1 day were more likely to approach the shell and new shells were more likely to be taken 30 min after the shock. Shocked crabs approached the new shell more quickly and used fewer probes of the chelipeds prior to moving in and these results were stable over time and significant for specific times up to 1 day. Females were more likely than males to evacuate shells and did so after fewer shocks. These results extend previous work and demonstrate an extended memory of having been shocked. The findings are consistent with respect to criteria for pain that are accepted for vertebrates.

Pain experience in hermit crabs?

Pain may be inferred when the responses to a noxious stimulus are not reflexive but are traded off against other motivational requirements, the experience is remembered and the situation is avoided in the future. To investigate whether decapods feel pain we gave hermit crabs, Pagurus bernhardus, small electric shocks within their shells. Only crabs given shocks evacuated their shells indicating the aversive nature of the stimulus, but fewer crabs evacuated from a preferred species of shell indicating a motivational trade-off. Some crabs that evacuated attacked the shell in the manner seen in a shell fight. Most crabs, however, did not evacuate at the stimulus level we used, but when these were subsequently offered a new shell, shocked crabs were more likely to approach and enter the new shell. Furthermore, they approached that shell more quickly, investigated it for a shorter time and used fewer cheliped probes within the aperture prior to moving in. Thus the experience of the shock altered future behaviour in a manner consistent with a marked shift in motivation to get a new shell to replace the one occupied. The results are consistent with the idea of pain in these animals. (C) 2009 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Le primat de l’éthique sur l’ontologie dans l’œuvre d’Emmanuel Levinas

Ce mémoire analysera une des thèses majeures de l’œuvre d’Emmanuel Levinas, à savoir le primat de l’éthique sur l’ontologie. L’argumentation se penchera surtout sur la description phénoménologique de l’approche de l’altérité, incarnée dans la concrétude du visage du prochain et dans laquelle se retrouve l’idée de l’infini, inspirée dans sa formulation de Descartes. Cette idée, n’étant pas qu’un simple concept mais plutôt une réalité phénoménale transcendante, amène Levinas à questionner le rôle de la conscience thématisante dans l’expérience morale, caractérisée par son immédiateté et par la présence d’un Autre. Est-ce que l’essentiel de la conscience se comprend comme liberté et savoir ? Y aurait-il un autre aspect, oublié par la rationalité que Levinas qualifie de grecque, qui serait plus propre à décrire la conscience ? L’ontologie ne repose-t-elle pas sur une conception de l’homme comme un sujet autonome et en contrôle ? Par ses fines analyses plutôt ontologiques dans Totalité et infini, et par sa prose plus déconstructrice d’Autrement qu’être, ou au-delà de l’essence, Levinas ébranle les fondations du sujet moderne tout en ramenant au centre des préoccupations philosophiques une idée que la tradition occidentale a eu tendance à évacuer, c’est-à-dire l’altérité. Et cette altérité, irréductible aux concepts immanents de la conscience d’un sujet, est ce qui justifie le primat de l’éthique, posant devant le je un tu qui appelle et demande une responsabilité absolue. Plusieurs auteurs et commentateurs seront mis à contribution, dont surtout Husserl et Heidegger, ainsi que S. Critchley, B. Bergo, J.-M. Salanskis et Jacques Roland.

Transcendance et immanence chez Karl Rahner : échanges avec la philosophie de Gilles Deleuze

La question qui traverse toute l’œuvre de Karl Rahner continue de se poser : comment rendre crédible et croyable la révélation de Dieu en Jésus aux gens d’aujourd’hui? Cette question doit être pensée sans cesse à nouveau dans la réalité concrète de la vie humaine. Au temps de Rahner, on mettait l’accent sur la transcendance de Dieu. Depuis ce temps, la culture occidentale s’est transformée : au début du 21e siècle, elle présente de façon marquée les traits du matérialisme, du consumérisme, de l’individualisme, du relativisme et du sécularisme. Conséquemment, on a aujourd’hui tendance à évacuer la transcendance divine. Notre recherche consiste en l’effectuation d’échanges entre la théologie de Karl Rahner et la philosophie de Gilles Deleuze, dans le but d’établir des conditions de possibilités d’un croire chrétiennement aujourd’hui. La philosophie de Deleuze nous introduit dans un processus créatif avec lequel nous pouvons penser radicalement Dieu comme à la fois transcendant et immanent. Notre démarche construit huit hybrides conceptuels qui aident à penser Rahner autrement et à ouvrir la possibilité d’un croire chrétiennement aujourd’hui. Notre recherche ouvre également la perspective d’une théologie de la rencontre entre des mondes théologiques, philosophiques, artistiques et scientifiques. Enfin, elle aide à éclairer la réalité de la nouvelle évangélisation en Occident chrétien.

Représentations de la maladie d'Alzheimer dans trois récits contemporains ; suivi de La césure

L'étude de la représentation de la maladie d'Alzheimer dans Le monde de Barney de Mordecai Richler, de Trois-Pistoles et les Basques, le pays de mon père de Victor-Lévy Beaulieu et de "Je ne suis pas sortie de ma nuit", d'Annie Ernaux permet d'esquisser les contours d'une spécificité littéraire de la maladie, bien au-delà du thème de l'oubli. N'envisager la maladie d'Alzheimer qu'en termes de dégénérescence cognitive, c'est évacuer sa dimension de matériau littéraire qui influence tant la construction que le style d'un texte. L'analyse de trois récits contemporains permet l'identification de procédés rhétoriques mais aussi de stratégies narratives et stylistiques qui servent à circonscrire l'empreinte littéraire propre à la maladie d'Alzheimer. La prise en charge du récit par un tiers parti explique la thématique de la filiation qui donne à voir la maladie de l'intérieur et de l'extérieur. L'oeuvre de création s'inscrit dans ce travail d'archivage de la mémoire familiale. Une petite-fille s'adresse indirectement à sa grand-mère qui souffre de la maladie d'Alzheimer. Nous suivons l'évolution de la maladie et sommes témoins de l'effritement des souvenirs et du discours de la grand-mère.

Le potentiel des technologies de l’information et des communications pour le renforcement de la résilience organisationnelle lors des opérations d’évacuation : é́tude de cas de la ville de New York

Lorsque les ouragans entrent en contact avec l'environnement bâti et naturel, les autorités publiques n'ont parfois d'autre choix que de déclarer l'évacuation obligatoire de la population située en zone à risque. En raison de l'imprévisibilité du déroulement d'une catastrophe et des comportements humains, les opérations d'évacuation sont confrontées à une incertitude significative. Les expériences passées ont montré que les technologies de l'information et des communications (TIC) ont le potentiel d'améliorer l'état de l'art en gestion des évacuations. Malgré cette reconnaissance, les recherches empiriques sur ce sujet sont à ce jour limitées. La présente étude de cas de la ville de New York explore comment l'intégration des TIC dans la planification opérationnelle des organisations ayant des responsabilités en matière de transport peut améliorer leurs réponses aux événements et influencer le succès global du système de gestion des catastrophes. L'analyse est basée sur les informations recueillies au moyen d'entretiens semi-dirigés avec les organisations de transport et de gestion des catastrophes de la ville de New York ainsi qu’avec des experts du milieu universitaire. Les résultats mettent en lumière le potentiel des TIC pour la prise de décision en interne. Même s’il est largement reconnu que les TIC sont des moyens efficaces d'échanger de l'information en interne et entre les organisations, ces usages sont confrontés à certaines contraintes technologique, organisationnelle, structurelle et systémique. Cette observation a permis d'identifier les contraintes vécues dans les pratiques usuelles de gestion des systèmes urbains.

Creative research : a radical subjectivity?

The struggles around notions of creative research are in some ways engaged with the return of the subject in face of post/structuralist moves that have tried to evacuate or dissolve subjectivity, or reduce it to an element in a structure. What this kind of subjectivity is, and how to define it, seems a matter up for grabs. What I suggest is that creative research is trying to stretch beyond its boundaries by advocating for a knowledge-producing subjectivity that rejects the methodological positivism of so called real research (which in many ways is centred upon the presuppostition of a transcendental subject), while negotiating the discourses of postmodernity and post/structuralism which are suspicious of, or radically dismiss, subjectivity as a category. I suggest that creative research might be a radical gesture, indeed a radical subjectivity, whose possibilities as creative/critical practices reveal the human content of the seemingly autonomous forms which are the outcome of the fragmentary world of capitalist social relations.

Avaliação da influência do sistema predominante e do somátorio de sintomas de constipação funcional sobre a terapêutica com fibra dietética

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Reclaiming Indigenous Narratives through Critical Discourses and the Autonomy of the Trickster

How do prevailing narratives about Native Americans, particularly in the medium of film, conspire to promote the perspective of the dominant culture? What makes the appropriation of Indigenous images so metaphorically popular? In the past hundred years, little has changed in the forms of representation favored by Hollywood. The introductory chapter elucidates the problem and outlines the scope of this study. As each subsequent chapter makes clear, the problem is as relevant today as it has been throughout the entire course of filmic history. Chapter Two analyzes representational trends and defines each decade according to its favorite stereotype. The binary of the bloodthirsty savage is just as prevalent as it was during the 1920s and 30s. The same holds true for the drunken scapegoat and the exotic maiden, which made their cinematic debuts in the 1940s and 50s. But Hollywood has added new types as well. The visionary peacemaker and environmental activist have also made an appearance within the last forty years. What matters most is not the realism of these images, but rather the purposes to which they can be put toward validating whatever concerns the majority filmmakers wish to promote. Whether naïvely or not, such representations continue to evacuate Indigenous agency to the advantage of the majority. A brief historical overview confirms this legacy. Various disciplines have sought to interrogate this problem. Chapter three investigates the field of postcolonial studies, which makes inquiry into the various ways these narratives are produced, marketed, and consumed. It also raises the key questions of for whom, and by whom, these narratives are constructed. Additional consideration is given to their value as commodities in the mass marketplace. Typically the products of a boutique-multiculturalism, their storylines are apt to promote the prevailing point of view. Critical theory provides a foundational framework for chapter four. What is the blockbuster formula and how do the instruments of capital promote it? Concepts such as culture industry and repressive tolerance examine both the function and form of the master narrative, as well as its use to control the avenues of dissent. Moreover, the public sphere and its diminishment highlight the challenges inherent in the widespread promotion of an alternative set of narratives. Nonetheless, challenges to prevailing narratives do exist, particularly in the form of Trickster narratives. Often subject to persistent misrecognition, the Trickster demonstrates a potent form of agency that undeniably dismantles the hegemony of Western cinema. The final chapter examines some of the Trickster's more subtle and obscure productions. Usually subjugated to the realm of the mystical, rather than the mythical, these misinterpreted forms have the power to speak in circles around a majority audience. Intended for an Other audience, they are coded in a language that delivers a type of direction through indirection, promoting a poignant agency all their own.

Diagenesis of a light, tight-oil chert reservoir at the Ediacaran/Cambrian boundary, Sultanate of Oman

The Al Shomou Silicilyte Member (Athel Formation) in the South Oman Salt Basin shares many of the characteristics of a light, tight-oil (LTO) reservoir: it is a prolifi c source rock mature for light oil, it produces light oil from a very tight matrix and reservoir, and hydraulic fracking technology is required to produce the oil. What is intriguing about the Al Shomou Silicilyte, and different from other LTO reservoirs, is its position related to the Precambrian/Cambrian Boundary (PCB) and the fact that it is a ‘laminated chert‘ rather than a shale. In an integrated diagenetic study we applied microstructural analyses (SEM, BSE) combined with state-of-the-art stable isotope and trace element analysis of the silicilyte matrix and fractures. Fluid inclusion microthermometry was applied to record the salinity and minimum trapping temperatures. The microstructural investigations reveal a fi ne lamination of the silicilyte matrix with a mean lamina thickness of ca. 20 μm consisting of predominantly organic matter-rich and fi nely crystalline quartz-rich layers, respectively. Authigenic, micron-sized idiomorphic quartz crystals are the main matrix components of the silicilyte. Other diagenetic phases are pyrite, apatite, dolomite, magnesite and barite cements. Porosity values based on neutron density logs and core plug data indicate porosity in the silicilyte ranges from less than 2% to almost to 40%. The majority of the pore space in the silicilyte is related to (primary) inter-crystalline pores, with locally important oversized secondary pores. Pore casts of the silica matrix show that pores are extremely irregular in three dimensions, and are generally interconnected by a complex web or meshwork of fi ne elongate pore throats. Mercury injection capillary data are in line with the microstructural observations suggesting two populations of pore throats, with an effective average modal diameter of 0.4 μm. The acquired geochemical data support the interpretation that the primary source of the silica is the ambient seawater rather than hydrothermal or biogenic. A maximum temperature of ca. 45°C for the formation of microcrystalline quartz in the silicilyte is good evidence that the lithifi cation and crystallization of quartz occurred in the fi rst 5 Ma after deposition. Several phases of brittle fracturing and mineralization occurred in response to salt tectonics during burial. The sequences of fracture-fi lling mineral phases (dolomite - layered chalcedony – quartz – apatite - magnesite I+II - barite – halite) indicates a complex fl uid evolution after silicilyte lithifi cation. Primary, all-liquid fl uid inclusions in the fracturefi lling quartz are good evidence of growth beginning at low temperatures, i.e. ≤ 50ºC. Continuous precipitation during increasing temperature and burial is documented by primary two-phase fl uid inclusions in quartz cements that show brines at 50°C and fi rst hydrocarbons at ca. 70°C. The absolute timing of each mineral phase can be constrained based on U-Pb geochronometry, and basin modelling. Secondary fl uid inclusions in quartz, magnesite and barite indicate reactivation of the fracture system after peak burial temperature during the major cooling event, i.e. uplift, between 450 and 310 Ma. A number of fi rst-order trends in porosity and reservoir-quality distribution are observed which are strongly related to the diagenetic and fl uid history of the reservoir: the early in-situ generation of hydrocarbons and overpressure development arrests diagenesis and preserves matrix porosity. Chemical compaction by pressure dissolution in the fl ank areas could be a valid hypothesis to explain the porosity variations in the silicilitye slabs resulting in lower porosity and poorer connectivity on the fl anks of the reservoir. Most of the hydrocarbon storage and production comes from intervals characterized by Amthor et al. 114488 preserved micropores, not hydrocarbon storage in a fracture system. The absence of oil expulsion results in present-day high oil saturations. The main diagenetic modifi cations of the silicilyte occurred and were completed relatively early in its history, i.e. before 300 Ma. An instrumental factor for preserving matrix porosity is the diffi culty for a given slab to evacuate all the fl uids (water and hydrocarbons), or in other words, the very good sealing capacity of the salt embedding the slab.

Factors influencing hurricane evacuation among Hispanic population

The recent hurricanes of Katrina, Rita, and Dolly have brought to light the precarious situation populations place themselves in when they are unprepared to face a storm, or do not follow official orders to evacuate when a destructive hurricane is poised to hit the area. Three counties in southern Texas lie within 60 miles of the Gulf of Mexico, and along the Mexican border. Determining the barriers to hurricane evacuation in this distinct and highly impoverished area of the United States would help aid local, state, and federal agencies to respond more effectively to persons living here.^ The aim of this study was to examine intention to comply with mandatory hurricane evacuation orders among persons living in three counties in South Texas by gender, income, education, acculturation and county of residence. A questionnaire was administered to 3,088 households across the three counties using a two-stage cluster sampling strategy, stratified by all three counties. The door-to-door survey was a 73-item instrument that included demographics, reasons for and against evacuation, and preparedness for a hurricane. Weighted data were used for the analyses.^ Chi-square tests were run to determine whether differences between observed and expected frequencies were statistically significant. A logistic regression model was developed based on that univariate analysis. Results from the logistic regression estimated odds ratios and their 95 percent confidence intervals for the independent variables.^ Logistic regression results indicate that females were less likely than men to follow an evacuation order. Having a higher education meant more likelihood of evacuating. Those respondents with a higher affiliation with Spanish than English were more likely to follow the evacuation orders. Hidalgo County residents were less likely to evacuate than Cameron or Willacy Counties' residents. Local officials need to implement communication efforts specifically tailored for females, residents with less of an affiliation with Spanish, and Hidalgo County residents to ensure their successful evacuation prior to a strong hurricane's landfall.^