Natural resource degradation and conflict in the East African pastoral drylands

Based on a literature review, this article examines the dynamics in pastoral systems, natural resource conservation and conflict in the drylands of East Africa. It argues that, in the context of East Africa, pastoralism and biodiversity conservation in general are distinct forms of land use that are complementary rather than competitive. The present state of natural resource degradation in the drylands is explained in terms of factors related to ecological and demographic pressures, land use conflicts and inefficient land administration policies. When the customary pastoral institutions of land administration and resource management are threatened, the problem of degradation is further exacerbated and violent conflicts occur among multiple resource users, including pastoralists, farmers and the state. The article recommends the revitalisation, empowerment and recognition of pastoral institutions in a way that ensures effective synergy between the formal and customary structures of resource governance.     

VERIFIABILITY,RELIABILITY, AND NATIONAL SECURITY

The rejection of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) by the U.S. Senate in October 1999 could have been avoided, and the consequences of that vote still loom in the minds of supporters of the treaty. President Barack Obama has embraced the vision of a world free of nuclear weapons, and a key element of the Obama administration's arms control agenda is delivering on U.S. CTBT ratification. In order to secure the two-thirds majority in the Senate necessary to ratify the treaty, senators that remain skeptical of nuclear disarmament must also be convinced that the entry into force of the CTBT is in the national security interest of the United States. This article provides an analysis of the issues surrounding U.S. CTBT ratification divided into three segments—verifiability of the treaty, reliability of the U.S. stockpile, and the treaty's impact on U.S. national security—and concludes that CTBT ratification serves the security objectives of the United States. The CTBT constitutes an integral component of the multilateral nonproliferation architecture designed to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and it constrains the qualitative development of nuclear weapons, thereby hindering efforts by states of concern to develop advanced nuclear weapons.     

Screening multi-dimensional heterogeneous populations for infectious diseases under scarce testing resources,with application to COVID-19

Testing provides essential information for managing infectious disease outbreaks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When testing resources are scarce, an important managerial decision is who to test. This decision is compounded by the fact that potential testing subjects are heterogeneous in multiple dimensions that are important to consider, including their likelihood of being disease-positive, and how much potential harm would be averted through testing and the subsequent interventions. To increase testing coverage, pooled testing can be utilized, but this comes at a cost of increased false-negatives when the test is imperfect. Then, the decision problem is to partition the heterogeneous testing population into three mutually exclusive sets: those to be individually tested, those to be pool tested, and those not to be tested. Additionally, the subjects to be pool tested must be further partitioned into testing pools, potentially containing different numbers of subjects. The objectives include the minimization of harm (through detection and mitigation) or maximization of testing coverage. We develop data-driven optimization models and algorithms to design pooled testing strategies, and show, via a COVID-19 contact tracing case study, that the proposed testing strategies can substantially outperform the current practice used for COVID-19 contact tracing (individually testing those contacts with symptoms). Our results demonstrate the substantial benefits of optimizing the testing design, while considering the multiple dimensions of population heterogeneity and the limited testing capacity.     

Wiener过程的金属化膜脉冲电容器步降应力退化建模

由于强激光装置中金属化膜脉冲电容器高可靠长寿命的特点,导致退化试验的时间长效率低,传统的退化试验统计分析方法复杂,对先验信息依赖性大,针对这些问题提出了基于Wiener过程的金属化膜脉冲电容器步降应力加速退化建模和参数估计的方法。首先,用Wiener过程刻画电容器的退化过程,然后结合随机过程的特性采用MCMC方法进行参数估计,大大简化了统计分析过程。最后通过对电容器的仿真实验,将步降应力下的评估结果与恒定应力、步进应力的情况相对比,说明了步降应力对改善退化试验的试验效率的有效性。     

多指标约束下某变质量热力系统的性能可靠性分析

针对某变质量热力系统的性能可靠性受多指标综合影响的问题,使用了一种基于 Monte Carlo 仿真的系统性能可靠性分析方法对该系统进行了可靠性分析。首先,选取系统的性能失效特征量作为载荷末速度和最大加速度,并确定了其失效标准;然后,阐述了系统中部件———调节阀开度的退化规律。在此基础上,对系统的性能可靠性进行了仿真分析,得到了系统性能失效特征量的故障概率密度及性能可靠度。仿真结果表明：随着部件性能参数的退化,系统性能可靠性逐渐降低。     

飞机CAN总线线缆测试系统设计

为实现飞机CAN总线线缆的多种性能测试,研制了一种基于便携式工控机、VC++和Access数据库的新型的线缆综合测试系统,详细介绍了系统的硬件结构、软件设计方法;该测试系统硬件设计采用电路模块化设计技术并集成于工控机上,实现了飞机电缆的短路测试、接地测试、断路测试、交叉测试以及总线传输阻抗与信号衰减的测量,同时实现了总线通信的测试;软件通过接口完成数据库查询、数据分析以及结果显示、存储、报表和打印功能。系统检测速度快、可靠性高,实现了飞机线缆的集成化、自动化、可视化测试。     

基于多元高斯声束模型的圆柱体三维声场仿真

结合圆柱体工件内部缺陷超声检测的实际情况,采用多元高斯声束模型仿真了检测时超声波的三维声场分布。针对水浸式超声检测原理,将超声传播的过程分解成探头发射、液体耦合介质中的传播、液固界面处的传播和固体工件中的传播等4个阶段,建立了传播过程中的声场模型并得出仿真结果.分析了三维坐标体系中不同方向的声场变化情况,结果表明采用多元高斯声束模型模拟三维声场的有效性和准确性,研究的结果对于实际圆柱体工件的内部缺陷检测提供理论依据。     

基于WindowsCE的嵌入式漏磁检测仪ADC驱动程序设计

描述了基于WindowsCE的嵌入式漏磁检测仪总体结构设计,介绍了WindowsCE下设备驱动程序模型,并结合$3C2440A处理器的ADC驱动程序设计,详细阐述了基于Windows的流接口驱动程序的设计方法。实验结果表明：利用该方法设计的ADC驱动程序高效可靠,可以为开发类似设备驱动程序提供参考。     

车辆典型部件结构的有限元模型修正方法

以车身结构中简化的典型结构形式为研究对象,利用有限元软件中的焊点模拟单元,建立典型结构的有限元模型并进行模态分析。在参数灵敏度分析的基础上,结合模态试验测得的数据,利用广义简约梯度算法,对结构的有限元模型进行修正和模型验证,深入探讨了车辆典型部件结构的有限元模型修正方法。通过模型修正,有限元模型的精度得到了明显的提高,为进一步研究车辆结构部件的振动特性奠定了基础。     

框支短肢剪力墙转换结构不同墙肢布置方式抗震试验研究

框支短肢剪力墙转换结构在实际工程中已得到广泛应用,但其理论研究尚需完善.在试验和分析的基础上,通过对不同墙肢布置方式的两榀斜柱式转换结构试件在竖向和水平荷载共同作用下受力机理、承载能力、破坏形态、滞回特性、变形能力、延性系数、抗震耗能以及破坏机制等抗震性能参数的分析和对比,揭示了墙肢布置方式变化对整个转换结构受力性能及...