Automatic techniques for 3D reconstruction of critical workplace body postures from range imaging data

The paper shows techniques for the determination of structured motion parameters from range camera image sequences. The core contribution of the work presented here is the development of an integrated least squares 3D tracking approach based on amplitude and range image sequences to calculate dense 3D motion vector fields. Geometric primitives of a human body model are fitted to time series of range camera point clouds using these vector fields as additional information. Body poses and motion information for individual body parts are derived from the model fit. On the basis of these pose and motion parameters, critical body postures are detected. The primary aim of the study is to automate ergonomic studies for risk assessments regulated by law, identifying harmful movements and awkward body postures in a workplace.     

1971—2018年陕西省人体舒适度日数时空变化特征

根据1971—2018年陕西省94个气象观测站逐日气象资料,采用线性倾向率、累积距平、小波分析和EOF分析等方法,对陕西省人体舒适度日数时空变化特征进行了统计分析。结果表明: 陕西全省大部分时间体感状态为从冷到舒适,日数占85.2%;体感状态为暖和以上日数较少,无炎热和酷热天气。1981—2018年陕西省平均人体舒适日数为132 d,呈显著增多趋势,线性倾向率为0.524 d·a^-1,四季中春、夏两季人体舒适日数增加最为显著。人体舒适日数存在准4 a和准8 a的振荡周期,滑动T检验表明陕西省及三个地区的人体舒适日数均在1997年左右发生了明显的突变。陕西全省3—11月均存在舒适日,舒适日数主要分布在5—9月,陕北7—8月舒适日数较多,陕西中部6—8月舒适日数较多,陕西南部6—9月舒适日数较多。年人体舒适日数呈现南多北少的空间分布特征,陕南汉中和安康地区最多。EOF分析结果显示,年均人体舒适日数异常分布在全省存在一致性。倾向率空间分布表明陕西全省80%的地区人体舒适日数均呈增长趋势,仅榆林北部、延安北部和安康东部11个区县人体舒适日数呈减少趋势。陕西全省不舒适日数变化呈显著减少趋势,倾向率为-0.548 d·a^-1,其中冷不舒适日数减少显著。陕西省人体不舒适主要表现为冷不舒适,主要集中在陕北西北部、南部山区和中部的太白和华山两个高山区; 人体热不舒适主要分布在在陕南的汉中和安康地区及关中的西安地区,且日数很少。     

Public concern about,and desire for research into,the human health effects of marine plastic pollution: Results from a 15-country survey across Europe and Australia

Marine plastic pollution is caused by humans and has become ubiquitous in the marine environment. Despite the widely acknowledged ecological consequences, the scientific evidence regarding detrimental human health impacts is currently debated, and there is no substantive evidence surrounding public opinion with respect to marine plastic pollution and human health. Results from a 15-country survey (n = 15,179) found that both the European and Australian public were highly concerned about the potential human health impacts of marine plastic pollution, and strongly supported the funding of research which aims to better understand its health/wellbeing implications. Multi-level modelling revealed that these perceptions varied across socio-demographic factors (e.g. gender), political orientation, marine contact factors (e.g. marine occupation and engagement in coastal recreation activities) and personality traits (e.g. openness, conscientiousness and agreeableness). Quantifying attitudes, as well as understanding how individual-level differences shape risk perception will enable policy makers and communicators to develop more targeted communications and initiatives that target a reduction in marine plastic pollution.     

华北地区人类文化遗址的地球化学环境演变

在地球演化历史上,第四纪是人类诞生、发展和壮大的时代,它所形成的地质产物中记录了丰富的生态环境信息。河北省境内第四纪岩石地层(泥河湾组、赤城组、马兰组、迁安组)的风化指数CIA,Fe2O3/FeO,Fe/Mn等地球化学参数可作为年均气温、年均降雨量等气候因子的近似代用指标;华北地区人类文化遗址所在地水系沉积物中Hg,Sn和Au等元素含量随人类文明的演进而阶段性增高。这一结果表明,人类为了适应不断变化的自然地理环境(寒冷、干旱),不得不进行技术创新,从而产生了农业耕作、工业革命及现代信息产业等文明进步成果,但与此同时,却也导致了地质环境的人为污染,甚至可能引发全球温室效应。     

Can a 25-year trend in Soudano-Sahelian vegetation dynamics be interpreted in terms of land use change? A remote sensing approach

This study is based on the premise that, in the Sahel/Sudanian belt of Africa, the main determinants of interannual variation in vegetation dynamics are rainfall and land cover type. We analyzed the spatio-temporal sensitivity of the NOAA-AVHRR 8 km-resolution vegetation index (NDVI) to (i) annual rainfall variability (0.5° × 0.5° resolution) acquired over a 25-year period (1982-2006); and (ii) land use changes in the different eco-climatic regions of the Bani catchment in Mali (130 000 km²). During the period 1982-2006, there was no clear trend in rainfall over the catchment, whereas there was a strong positive trend in the NDVI, both when the NDVI values were corrected using annual rainfall variability and when they were not. We divided the catchment into three eco-climatic regions based on the relationship between the annual NDVI and rainfall. In each region, we analyzed the observed greening in relation to changes in land use after correcting for the effect of annual rainfall on the NDVI. Results show that there is a mixed level of agreement between the land cover changes at the grid cell scale and the spatial pattern of the NDVI trend. Increased cropping does not explain the increase in the annual NDVI, except in the Sahelian part of the catchment. We hypothesize that the natural vegetation dynamics related to the non-linear rainfall patterns during the 25-year study period were responsible for these results.     

Energy use, climate change and folk psychology: Does sustainability have a chance? Results from a qualitative study in five European countries

Citizens’ support for policies that aim to curb carbon emissions and energy use is often seen as informed by their values, attitudes and perceptions of the environmental problem in question. We argue that we also need to understand how people conceptualise policies and the governance approaches underpinning them to be able to judge the likely acceptance of policy change.In this study, we draw on qualitative interviews (n = 202) from five European countries to explore citizens’ views on governance approaches to stimulate behavioural change in the field of resource use, including regulations, price changes, collective action, technological change and education.We found that many of our interviewees referred to generalised characteristics of humankind and contemporary society to back up their arguments for or against specific governance approaches. In particular, many interviewees concurred that people in general were so self-centred, driven by habit and money- and consumption-oriented that only strict regulations, drastic price changes and technological innovation could possibly achieve widespread behavioural change. As a consequence, such ‘folk psychologies’ can have substantial impact not only on public acceptance, but also on the success of policy measures that aim to reduce citizens’ resource use.     

Temporal variation of suspended sediment load in the Pearl River due to human activities

Data on sediment flux at three hydrologic stations from the 1950s to 2006 are utilized to study the decadal,annual,and monthly variations in suspended sediment load delivered from the Pearl River to the ocean.Results show that variations in sediment flux from three main tributaries,including the West River,the North River and the East River,are spatially non-uniform.Since nearly 90%of the suspended sediment load comes from the West River,its variation has dominated the overall tendency of sediment flux in the entire Pearl River.Although a significant decreasing trend exists in the annual variation of the total sediment flux,the decadal change can be divided into an increasing phase and a decreasing phase,with the turning point between the two phases in the late 1980s.From the 1950s to the 1980s,the average annual river sediment flux increased by 30.43%.However,sediment flux has decreased significantly since the 1990s,with the average sediment flux being 38.60%less in the 2000s than that in the 1950s.The current sediment flux is also 52.93%less than its peak in the 1980s. The monthly variation pattern of the suspended sediment load transport to the sea is more interesting. For the West River,all months show a decreasing trend,and for most months the reduction values are significant.However,for the East River the sediment load shows a decrease trend in the dry season and an increase trend in the wet season.The method of regression analysis was used to study the influence of precipitation in the variation on the sediment flux.It was found that the climate change is not the main driving force behind the variation in suspended sediment load.Before the 1990s, intensive land use destroyed the vulnerable ecosystem of the upper Pearl River,and speeded up the process of rocky desertification.Consequently,aggravated soil erosion caused an increase in suspended sediment load.However,sediment retention within reservoirs had begun to play a dominant role after the massive construction of large dams after 1990,and resulted in a decrease in the suspended sediment load delivered to the ocean.     

Forest–savanna–morichal dynamics in relation to fire and human occupation in the southern Gran Sabana (SE Venezuela) during the last millennia

The southern Gran Sabana (SE Venezuela) holds a particular type of neotropical savanna characterized by the local occurrence of morichales (Mauritia palm swamps), in a climate apparently more suitable for rain forests. We present a paleoecological analysis of the last millennia of Lake Chonita (4°39′N–61°0′W, 884 m elevation), based on biological and physico-chemical proxies. Savannas dominated the region during the last millennia, but a significant vegetation replacement occurred in recent times. The site was covered by a treeless savanna with nearby rainforests from 3640 to 2180 cal yr BP. Water levels were higher than today until about 2800 cal yr BP. Forests retreated since about 2180 cal yr BP onwards, likely influenced by a higher fire incidence that facilitated a dramatic expansion of morichales. The simultaneous appearance of charcoal particles and Mauritia pollen around 2000 cal yr BP supports the potential pyrophilous nature of this palm and the importance of fire for its recent expansion. The whole picture suggests human settlements similar to today – in which fire is an essential element – since around 2000 yr ago. Therefore, present-day southern Gran Sabana landscapes seem to have been the result of the synergy between biogeographical, climatic and anthropogenic factors, mostly fire.     

Marine management for human development: A review of two decades of scholarly evidence

This paper reviews the evidence of the impacts of marine management interventions on human development and well-being reported in marine management literature in the past two decades. Documents dealing with fisheries, aquaculture, marine conservation and coastal zone management are assessed in terms of the methodologies used, the human development dimensions considered, and the results reported. The choice of dimensions for defining human development in this literature is contrasted with proposals from the literature on the capability and human development approaches. Possible areas for future research are discussed.     

大气臭氧层,紫外辐射与人类健康

本文首先评述了近数十年来大气Ｏ３层的演变,其中包括全球与中国地区及南极臭氧洞的情况,之后,评述了由此引发的达地面太阳紫外辐射强度的变化,以及对人类健康与环境的影响。