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Because of its large capacity, high efficiency and energy savings, the subway has gradually become the primary mode of transportation for citizens. A high density of passengers exists within a large-passenger-flow subway station, and the number of casualties and injuries during a fire emergency is substantial. In this paper, Pathfinder software and on-site measured data of Pingzhou station in Shenzhen (China) were utilized to simulate a fire emergency evacuation in a large-passenger-flow subway station. The Required Safe Egress Time (RSET), number of passengers and flow rates of stairs and escalators were analysed for three fire evacuation scenarios: train fire, platform fire and hall fire. The evacuation time of the train fire, which was 1173 s, was the longest, and 3621 occupants needed to evacuate when the train was fully loaded. Occupants could not complete the evacuation within 6 mins in all three fire evacuation scenarios, which does not meet the current standard requirements and codes. By changing the number of passengers and the number of stairs for evacuation, the flow rate capacity and evacuation time were explored, which have reference values for safety management and emergency evacuation plan optimization during peak hours of subway operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School safety within and outside the schools is a priority for school heads, teacher education administrators and the governments around the globe. In China, despite several policy instruments, rules and regulations, school safety is often questioned and highlighted in the print and TV media. There is a need to address the issues associated with school safety and provide improved educational environments for male and female students in rural and urban areas. This paper uses 12 indicators to assess the safety status in schools in a remote province of Gansu, China and provide a comparative perspective between urban and rural schools and along gender lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metabolic networks have become one of the centers of attention in life sciences research with the advancements in the metabolomics field. A vast array of studies analyzes metabolites and their interrelations to seek explanations for various biological questions, and numerous genome-scale metabolic networks have been assembled to serve for this purpose. The increasing focus on this topic comes with the need for software systems that store, query, browse, analyze and visualize metabolic networks. PathCase Metabolomics Analysis Workbench (PathCaseMAW) is built, released and runs on a manually created generic mammalian metabolic network. The PathCaseMAW system provides a database-enabled framework and Web-based computational tools for browsing, querying, analyzing and visualizing stored metabolic networks. PathCaseMAW editor, with its user-friendly interface, can be used to create a new metabolic network and/or update an existing metabolic network. The network can also be created from an existing genome-scale reconstructed network using the PathCaseMAW SBML parser. The metabolic network can be accessed through a Web interface or an iPad application. For metabolomics analysis, steady-state metabolic network dynamics analysis (SMDA) algorithm is implemented and integrated with the system. SMDA tool is accessible through both the Web-based interface and the iPad application for metabolomics analysis based on a metabolic profile. PathCaseMAW is a comprehensive system with various data input and data access subsystems. It is easy to work with by design, and is a promising tool for metabolomics research and for educational purposes. Database URL: http://nashua.case.edu/PathwaysMAW/Web., (© The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press.)