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This study aims to analyze and discuss the key design assumptions needed for design of car parks in steel, to highlight the impact that the increased fire loads introduced by modern cars and changes in the fire dynamics have on the design, such as fire spread leading to non-localized fires.

In particular, a reliable fire load density to be used for structural design of car park structures is assessed, based on investigations of the fire loads of modern cars. Based on knowledge of fire load and fire performance of cars, the consequences on the fire safety design of steel structures are presented.

Design recommendation about fire load density and fire protection of common steel profiles are given. Finally, the proposed design is compared with a design practice that has been applied in many instances for car parks constructed with unprotected steel, and recommendations for a reliable design process are provided.

Numerous car park buildings have recently been designed of steel structures without passive or active fire protection. The key assumptions that makes possible such design are local fire scenarios, outdated values of the car fire load and utilization of the ultimate steel strength. This paper identifies the shortcomings of such key assumptions, indicating the need for revisiting the methods and possibly even checking the analyses carried out for some already-built car parks.

The purpose of this study is to simulate the climate change impacts on winter wheat production and evaluate the possibilities of using various varieties and shifting planting date as two climate change adaptation strategies in Kerman Province, Iran.

Two types of global circulation model and three scenarios for three periods were used. Daily climatic parameters were generated by LARS-WG (Long Ashton Research Station-Weather Generator). The CERES-wheat model was used to simulate future winter wheat growth, development and production.

The results showed that CO₂ had no effect on the phenology of winter wheat, and the negative impact of temperature on the grain yield was higher than the positive effect of CO₂ enrichment. The length of the reproductive growth period of the winter wheat was significantly shortened as affected by the negative impacts of rise in temperature. The simulated results indicated that the grain yield of common (medium maturing) variety of winter wheat will decline, ranging from −0.27 to −18.71 per cent according to future climate changes. Adaptation strategies showed that the early maturing variety had a higher and more stable grain yield under climate change conditions than medium and delayed maturing varieties. Earlier planting date (20 October) increased wheat grain yield under future climatic conditions than common (November 5) planting date. In reverse, later planting (November 20) would accelerate harmful effects of climate change on wheat grain yield.

The results highlighted the potential of early maturing variety and early planting date as the appropriate agronomical approaches for mitigating harmful impacts of climate change on winter wheat production in arid regions.

Managerial ability is influenced by many factors: personal attributes (like leadership, creativity, aggressiveness, communication skills, etc….), education, and experience. The paper proposes a model that links the managerial ability to the firm's capacity to grow and the external environment. The intention scale technique mostly used by economists and market researchers for demand prediction and product selection is introduced as a tool to test managerial ability. The paper develops an analytical model to help stockholders in evaluating the manager's potential and derives an optimal rule for the hiring decision. Managers are classified into three categories namely type‐I, type‐II, and type‐III managers. Type‐I managers meet most of the firm's criteria. They are hired immediately. Type‐II managers are those who fall short of the firm's ideal criteria for a manager, but, meet some of its criteria. Their abilities cannot be determined without the ability test. They are hired only if they pass the screening test. Type‐III managers do not meet the firm's criteria and are, therefore, rejected without some additional screening. The current practice of managerial screening allows only two choices: either hire a manager or reject him. This practice is valid for type‐I and type‐III managers only. Type‐II managers need additional screening as proposed in this paper.

Although there is no likelihood of mankind running out of energy in the foreseeable future, the immediate danger—pressing for remedial action—is its shortage in the form we are traditionally accustomed to using. To combat this danger, governments of most industrial countries have embarked on a series of strategies. The main targets of most of these are the savings of wasted (rejected) energy, as for instance that wasted in space heating systems through insufficient insulation or in thermal cycles of machinery.

Previous studies have shown a link between mental health functioning and involvement in HIV risk practices. The present research examines how well one specific group of men who have sex with other men (MSM) fare in terms of their mental health functioning, and then focuses on how mental health functioning relates to HIV risk practices in this population. The study was based on a national random sample of 332 MSM who use the Internet to seek men with whom they can engage in unprotected sex. Data collection was conducted via telephone interviews between January 2008 and May 2009. Depression is more common among men in this population than in the adult male population-at-large. All other measures of mental health functioning that were examined (self-esteem, impulsivity, current life satisfaction, optimism about the future) indicated low rates of mental health problem. Contrary to expectations, in nearly all instances, mental health functioning was not related to HIV risk practices.

More work needs to be done to understand the causes of depression among these men, and to assess how, if at all, depression relates to risk practices in this population. These findings suggest that factors other than mental health problems must be considered if one wishes to understand HIV risk taking in this population.