Effect of a static pedestrian as an exit obstacle on evacuation

Building exit as a bottleneck structure is the last and the most congested stage in building evacuation.It is well known that obstacles at the exit affect the evacuation process,but few researchers pay attention to the effect of stationary pedestrians(the elderly with slow speed,the injured,and the static evacuation guide)as obstacles at the exit on the evacuation process.This paper explores the influence of the presence of a stationary pedestrian as an obstacle at the exit on the evacuation from experiments and simulations.We use a software,Pathfinder,based on the agent-based model to study the effect of ratios of exit width(D)to distance(d)between the static pedestrian and the exit,the asymmetric structure by shifting the static pedestrian upward,and types of obstacles on evacuation.Results show that the evacuation time of scenes with a static pedestrian is longer than that of scenes with an obstacle due to the unexpected hindering effect of the static pedestrian.Different ratios of D/d have different effects on evacuation efficiency.Among the five D/d ratios in this paper,the evacuation efficiency is the largest when d is equal to 0.75D,and the existence of the static pedestrian has a positive impact on evacuation in this condition.The influence of the asymmetric structure of the static pedestrian on evacuation efficiency is affected by D/d.This study can provide a theoretical basis for crowd management and evacuation plan near the exit of complex buildings and facilities.

Cellular automaton modeling of pedestrian movement behavior on an escalator

As a convenient passenger transit facility between floors with different heights, escalators have been extensively used in shopping malls, metro stations, airport terminals, etc. Compared with other vertical transit facilities including stairs and elevators, escalators usually have large transit capacity. It is expected to reduce pedestrian traveling time and thus improve the quality of pedestrian’s experiences especially in jamming conditions. However, it is noticed that pedestrians may present different movement patterns, e.g., queuing on each step of the escalator, walking on the left-side and meanwhile standing on the right-side of the escalator. These different patterns affect the actual escalator traffic volume and finally the passenger spatiotemporal distribution in different built environments. Thus, in the present study, a microscopic cellular automaton(CA) simulation model considering pedestrian movement behavior on escalators is built. Simulations are performed considering different pedestrian movement speeds, queuing modes, and segregation on escalators with different escalator speeds.The actual escalator capacities under different pedestrian movement patterns are investigated. It is found that walking on escalators will not always benefit escalator transit volume improvement, especially in jamming conditions.

Progress of nanoscience in China

Fast evolving nanoseienees and nanotechnology in China has made it one of the front countries of nanotechnology development. Ill this review, we summarize some most recent progresses in nanoseienee research and nanotechnology development in China. The topics we selected in this article include llano-fabrication, nanocatalysis, bioinspired nanoteehnology, green printing nanotechnology, nanoplasmonics, nanomedicine, nanomaterials and their applications, energy and environmental nanoteehnology, nano EHS （nanosafety）, etc. Most of them have great potentials in applications or application-related key issues in future.

In situ facile loading of noble metal nanoparticles onpolydopamine nanospheres via galvanic replacement reaction for multifunctional catalysis

Noble metal nanoparticles(Pd,Ag,Pt,Au) with small and relatively uniform sizes were loaded on polydopamine nanospheres through in situ galvanic replacement reaction in aqueous solution.No additional reductant,surfactant or organic solvent was needed.X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results revealed that the amount of quinone increased,while the amount of phenolic hydroxyl decreased on PDA nanospheres,indicating that the galvanic displacement reaction occurred between catechol groups and noble metal ions.The as-prepared PDA/Pd exhibited high catalytic activity and excellent stability in styrene hydrogenation.Moreover,PDA spheres retains the photo-thermal effect to serve as a nano-sized heater to accelerate the catalytic reactions under near-infrared illumination.