Rapid monitoring of indoor airborne influenza and coronavirus with high air flowrate electrostatic sampling and PCR analysis

The World Health Organization has raised concerns about the possibility of airborne transmission in enclosed and poorly ventilated areas.Therefore,rapid monitoring of airborne viruses is necessary in multi-use facilities with dense population.Accordingly,an electrostatic air sampler(250 L/min)was developed in this work to obtain indoor viral aerosol samples for analysis via the Polymerase Chain Reaction(PCR).Aerosol tests with H1N1 and HCoV-229E were performed to evaluate the sample collection efficiency.PCR analysis,along with another aerosol test,was conducted to evaluate the recovery of the virus particles collected by the sampler.In laboratory tests,our electrostatic sampler obtained viral samples that were detectable by PCR under the simulated viral pandemic scenario(3000 RNA copies per cubic meter of air)within 40 min.The resulting cycle threshold(C)values were 35.07 and 37.1 for H1N1 and HCoV-229E,respectively.After the performance evaluation in the laboratory,field tests were conducted in a university classroom from October 28 to December 2,2022.Influenza A and HCoV-229E were detected in two air samples,and the corresponding C,values were 35.3 and 36.8.These PCR results are similar to those obtained from laboratory tests,considering the simulatedviralpandemic scenario.

In-service Structural Health Monitoring of a Full-scale Composite Horizontal Tail

In-service structural health monitoring（SHM） technologies are critical for the utilization of composite aircraft structures. We developed a Lamb wave-based in-service SHM technology using built-in piezoelectric actuator/sensor networks to monitor delamination extension in a full-scale composite horizontal tail. The in-service SHM technology combine of damage rapid monitoring（DRM） stage and damage imaging diagnosis（DID） stage allows for real-time monitoring and long term tracking of the structural integrity of composite aircraft structures. DRM stage using spearman rank correlation coeffi cient was introduced to generate a damage index which can be used to monitor the trend of damage extension. The DID stage based on canonical correlation analysis aimed at intuitively highlighting structural damage regions in two-dimensional images. The DRM and DID stages were trialed by an in-service SHM experiment of CFRP T-joint. Finally, the detection capability of the in-service SHM technology was verified in the SHM experiment of a full-scale composite horizontal tail. Experimental results show that the rapid monitoring method effectively monitors the damage occurrence and extension tendency in real time; damage imaging diagnosis results are consistent with those from the failure model of the composite horizontal tail structure.

Rapid excavation with a newly developed retaining system: Spiral assembly steel structure

The spiral assembly steel structure, a newly developed retaining wall for the rapid excavation of small-sized foundation pits in unsaturated soil, is presented. This new type of retaining structure is prefabricated in the factory and is assembled on site in the excavation of a pit. This retaining structure is composed of several prefabricated steel structural units, in which the adjacent steel structural units are joined with connectors. Each steel structural unit has one steel pipe in the radial direction and is welded to a single piece of steel plate. After full installation in situ, the retaining structure becomes a cylindrical steel structure. With the protection afforded by this new type of retaining structure, excavation work can be completed within 24 h to a depth up to 5 m. In order to verify the reliability and effectiveness of this new retaining structure, field construction tests were conducted in Beijing, China. The test construction was monitored. The monitoring program included measuring stress in the structure, lateral earth pressure, and lateral deformation of the surrounding soil. The monitoring data from the field test were compared with the theoretical results. The results show that the proposed new structure is reliable and effective.

Performance of Slope Behavior Indicators in Unsaturated Pyroclastic Soils

Landslide risk is increasing in many parts of the world due to growth of population and infrastructures. Therefore, an effort has to be made in developing new and cheap sensors for areas susceptible of landslides to continuously control the slope behaviour, until approaching failure conditions. The paper reported experimental data from smallscale physical models about the performance of Time Domain Reflectometry(TDR) and optical fibres, which act as the indicators of the incoming failure of slopes covered by unsaturated granular soils. Obtained results appear encouraging, since both sensors provide continuous information about the state of the slope, in terms of water content profiles and ongoing deformations, induced by rainwater infiltration, even immediately before the triggering of a fast landslide.

RESEARCH ON AUTOMATIC FOG IDENTIFICATION TECHNOLOGY BY METEOROLOGICAL SATELLITE REMOTE SENSING

There is an urgent need for the development of a method that can undertake rapid, effective, and accurate monitoring and identification of fog by satellite remote sensing, since heavy fog can cause enormous disasters to China’s national economy and people's lives and property in the urban and coastal areas. In this paper, the correlative relationship between the reflectivity of land surface and clouds in different time phases is found, based on the analysis of the radiative and satellite-based spectral characteristics of fog. Through calculation and analyses of the relative variability of the reflectivity in the images, the threshold to identify quasi-fog areas is generated automatically. Furthermore, using the technique of quick image run-length encoding, and in combination with such practical methods as analyzing texture and shape fractures, smoothness, and template characteristics, the automatic identification of fog and fog-cloud separation using meteorological satellite remote sensing images are studied, with good results in application.