Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons at fire stations: firefighters’ exposure monitoring and biomonitoring, and assessment of the contribution to total internal dose

This work characterizes levels of eighteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the breathing air zone of firefighters during their regular work shift at eight Portuguese fire stations, and the firefighters' total internal dose by six urinary monohydroxyl metabolites (OH-PAHs). Total PAHs (ΣPAHs) concentrations varied widely (46.4-428ng/m(3)), mainly due to site specificity (urban/rural) and characteristics (age and layout) of buildings. Airborne PAHs with 2-3 rings were the most abundant (63.9-95.7% ΣPAHs). Similarly, urinary 1-hydroxynaphthalene and 1-hydroxyacenaphthene were the predominant metabolites (66-96% ΣOH-PAHs). Naphthalene contributed the most to carcinogenic ΣPAHs (39.4-78.1%) in majority of firehouses; benzo[a]pyrene, the marker of carcinogenic PAHs, accounted with 1.5-10%. Statistically positive significant correlations (r≥0.733, p≤0.025) were observed between ΣPAHs and urinary ΣOH-PAHs for firefighters of four fire stations suggesting that, at these sites, indoor air was their major exposure source of PAHs. Firefighter's personal exposure to PAHs at Portuguese fire stations were well below the existent occupational exposure limits. Also, the quantified concentrations of post-shift urinary 1-hydroxypyrene in all firefighters were clearly lower than the benchmark level (0.5μmol/mol) recommended by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists.

Seismic vulnerability analysis of wide-beam buildings in Spain

A number of short-to-mid height RC buildings with wide beams have been constructed in moderate-seismicity areas of Spain. The seismic behavior in the direction of the wide beams appears to be deficient because of low lateral strength, low ductility of the wide beams, big strut compressive forces inside the column-beam connections, and unreliable contribution of the spandrel zones of the wide beams. In the orthogonal direction, the behavior is worse since only the joists and the façade beams contribute to the lateral resistance. The objective is to assess the seismic capability of these structures; further research will involve proposing retrofit strategies. The research approach consists of selecting a number of representative buildings and evaluating their vulnerability by code-type, push-over and dynamic analyses. The cooperation of the masonry infill walls is accounted for. The main conclusion is that the seismic behavior of these buildings is inadequate in most of the situations.

Analysis of fire behaviour simulations over Spain with WRF-FIRE

Wildland fire spread and behaviour are complex phenomena owing to both the number of involved physico-chemical factors, and the non-linear relationship between variables. Spain is plagued by forest and brush fires every summer, when the extremely dry weather sets in along with high temperatures. The use of fire behaviour models requires the availability of high resolution environmental and fuel data; in the absence of real data, errors on the simulated fire spread can be compounded to affect the spatial and temporal accuracy of predicted data. The effect of input values on the accuracy of WRF-FIRE simulations was evaluated to assess the capabilities of the new system for wildland fire in accurately forecasting fire behaviour. The results confirm that the use of accurate meteorological data and a custom fuel moisture content model is crucial to obtain precise simulations of fire behaviour.

"Central"

Concurs d'assistència tècnica per a la redacció del projecte i posterior Direcció d'Obra de la Nova Construcció del Parc de Bombers i de l'edifici de la seu regional d'emergències Centre, a Manresa, Barcelona

Edificio dotacional destinado a comisaria de policía local y sede de protección civil, San Fiz, Lugo

Award-winning

Grid-connected roof solar plants in educational institutions for testing and electricity generation: a case in Spain.

The use of photovoltaic experimental plants in engineering educational buildings contributes to an increase in acceptance of this technology by future engineers. There are some photovoltaic (PV) systems in educational buildings in Spain, but they are usually limited to buildings in relation to electrical technologies or research areas. They are not common in other educational or official buildings. This paper presents the project of a grid-connected solar plant with two main objectives. First, different PV module technologies will be compared. Second, an emphasis on agronomical areas in educational settings will be reviewed in an attempt to facilitate student engagement in the use of the power plant. The system is grid-connected in order to pay-back the investment in the plant. In fact the electricity generated by the plant will be used by the installations of the building, as it is the closest consumer. This work intends to approximate photovoltaic technology to university degrees not directly related with it and at the same time research in comparison of systems with different technologies. This is a good example of an solar plant for both optimum production and educational purposes.

Towards downscaling of aerosol gridded dataset for improving solar resource assessment, an application to Spain

Solar radiation estimates with clear sky models require estimations of aerosol data. The low spatial resolution of current aerosol datasets, with their remarkable drift from measured data, poses a problem in solar resource estimation. This paper proposes a new downscaling methodology by combining support vector machines for regression (SVR) and kriging with external drift, with data from the MACC reanalysis datasets and temperature and rainfall measurements from 213 meteorological stations in continental Spain. The SVR technique was proven efficient in aerosol variable modeling. The Linke turbidity factor (TL) and the aerosol optical depth at 550 nm (AOD 550) estimated with SVR generated significantly lower errors in AERONET positions than MACC reanalysis estimates. The TL was estimated with relative mean absolute error (rMAE) of 10.2% (compared with AERONET), against the MACC rMAE of 18.5%. A similar behavior was seen with AOD 550, estimated with rMAE of 8.6% (compared with AERONET), against the MACC rMAE of 65.6%. Kriging using MACC data as an external drift was found useful in generating high resolution maps (0.05° × 0.05°) of both aerosol variables. We created high resolution maps of aerosol variables in continental Spain for the year 2008. The proposed methodology was proven to be a valuable tool to create high resolution maps of aerosol variables (TL and AOD 550). This methodology shows meaningful improvements when compared with estimated available databases and therefore, leads to more accurate solar resource estimations. This methodology could also be applied to the prediction of other atmospheric variables, whose datasets are of low resolution.

Earthquake and Fire Act authorization [microform] : hearings before the Subcommittee on Science, Research, and Technology of the Committee on Science and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives, Ninety-seventh Congress, first session, February 25, March 4, 11, 1981.

"No. 18."

East Engineering Building

Renamed East Hall in 1995. Built 1923. Smith, Hinchman & Grylls, architects. On verso: East Engineering Building from N.W. The small 2 story building was once the Fire Engine House for the 6th Ward. Part of old 6th Ward School (Tappan) shows at the left, now called East Hall.

Estimate of the (R)USLE rainfall erosivity factor from monthly precipitation data in mainland Spain

The need for continuous recording rain gauges makes it difficult to determine the rainfall erosivity factor (R-factor) of the (R)USLE model in areas without good temporal data coverage. In mainland Spain, the Nature Conservation Institute (ICONA) determined the R-factor at few selected pluviographs, so simple estimates of the R-factor are definitely of great interest. The objectives of this study were: (1) to identify a readily available estimate of the R-factor for mainland Spain; (2) to discuss the applicability of a single (global) estimate based on analysis of regional results; (3) to evaluate the effect of record length on estimate precision and accuracy; and (4) to validate an available regression model developed by ICONA. Four estimators based on monthly precipitation were computed at 74 rainfall stations throughout mainland Spain. The regression analysis conducted at a global level clearly showed that modified Fournier index (MFI) ranked first among all assessed indexes. Applicability of this preliminary global model across mainland Spain was evaluated by analyzing regression results obtained at a regional level. It was found that three contiguous regions of eastern Spain (Catalonia, Valencian Community and Murcia) could have a different rainfall erosivity pattern, so a new regression analysis was conducted by dividing mainland Spain into two areas: Eastern Spain and plateau-lowland area. A comparative analysis concluded that the bi-areal regression model based on MFI for a 10-year record length provided a simple, precise and accurate estimate of the R-factor in mainland Spain. Finally, validation of the regression model proposed by ICONA showed that R-ICONA index overpredicted the R-factor by approximately 19%.

Caracterização da função pulmonar de bombeiros da Região Norte de Portugal

Os Bombeiros estão expostos frequentemente a vários poluentes prejudicando gravemente a sua saúde respiratória. Foi realizado um estudo observacional e transversal, com o objectivo de caracterizar a função pulmonar dos bombeiros da região norte de Portugal. A amostra foi constituída por 44 Bombeiros de Valongo e Rebordosa. Todos os participantes preencheram um questionário, executaram espirometrias e mediram o monóxido de carbono. Verificou-se uma elevada prevalência de hábitos tabágicos, bem como da carga tabágica. A percentagem de alterações espirométricas foi de 38,6% e a utilização de protecção respiratória revelou-se praticamente inexistente nos incêndios florestais.

New Trends in Public Facility Location Modeling

The past four decades have witnessed an explosive growth in the field of networkbased facility location modeling. This is not at all surprising since location policy is one of the most profitable areas of applied systems analysis in regional science and ample theoretical and applied challenges are offered. Location-allocation models seek the location of facilities and/or services (e.g., schools, hospitals, and warehouses) so as to optimize one or several objectives generally related to the efficiency of the system or to the allocation of resources. This paper concerns the location of facilities or services in discrete space or networks, that are related to the public sector, such as emergency services (ambulances, fire stations, and police units), school systems and postal facilities. The paper is structured as follows: first, we will focus on public facility location models that use some type of coverage criterion, with special emphasis in emergency services. The second section will examine models based on the P-Median problem and some of the issues faced by planners when implementing this formulation in real world locational decisions. Finally, the last section will examine new trends in public sector facility location modeling.