Effects of Furniture Ergonomics on Student’s Satisfaction in a Library Facility

Building occupants are not immune to ill-health as a result of time they spend in a building.This paper seeks to examine the effects furniture ergonomics have on student’s satisfaction in the library of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.A pilot survey was initially conducted in the library through a one-to-one interaction with students to fetch their opinions on the general effects of the furniture.An observation through several walkthroughs was also conducted by the researchers to compare and validate responses obtained.Two hundred and sixty-five students that come from fifteen nationalities are surveyed.A structured questionnaire is used to collect data on the respondents’opinions on the size,shape,arrangement and comfort of the furniture.Eta cross tabulation,Spearman’s rho and Kendall’s Tau-b are used to establish relationships.Results show that amongst the effects studied,there are significant positive relationships between students’satisfaction of furniture ergonomics as against back-strain and lack of concentration.This implies that the more the furniture arrangements,size and shape are perceived unsatisfactory,the more their effects on back-strain and lack of concentration towards the students.This paper further recommends that library management should see to designing IEQ(Indoor Environmental Quality)guidelines that will mitigate the effects of furniture ergonomics thus improving student’s satisfaction.

New Furniture

Do you like new furniture?You can get some for your house or apartment.A new bed and a new dresser for your bedroom are nice.The bed can be big or small.You may want a new sofa and big chairs for your living room.A new bookcase is nice,too.But furniture can be expensive.Can you afford it?

Current Status and Development Trends of Chinese Intelligent Furniture Industry

In this work,the current status,technical capabilities,and development trends of the Chinese intelligent furniture industry were in focus.Based on combining a literature review with field investigations and analysis of major scientific research projects in Zhejiang Province,China,an in-depth overview and discussion about previous experience,features,technologies,products and control methods in the intelligent furniture industry in China were conducted.The key technologies in current Chinese intelligent furniture industry include embedded systems,sensors,short-range wireless communication,artificial intelligence and intelligent interaction techniques.This work also mentions the challenges and opportunities for the industry,pointing out how to innovate and dominate the furniture market in the era of transformation from the traditional furniture industry to intelligent upgrading.The results are proposed to help readers from all over the world to understand the development trend and progress of the Chinese intelligent furniture industry.

Exploring an eco-friendly approach to improve soil tensile behavior and cracking resistance

Soil tensile strength is a critical parameter governing the initiation and propagation of tensile cracking.This study proposes an eco-friendly approach to improve the tensile behavior and crack resistance of clayey soils.To validate the feasibility and efficacy of the proposed approach,direct tensile tests were employed to determine the tensile strength of the compacted soil with different W-OH treatment concentrations and water contents.Desiccation tests were also performed to evaluate the effectiveness of W-OH treatment in enhancing soil tensile cracking resistance.During this period,the effects of W-OH treatment concentration and water content on tensile properties,soil suction and microstructure were investigated.The tensile tests reveal that W-OH treatment has a significant impact on the tensile strength and failure mode of the soil,which not only effectively enhances the tensile strength and failure displacement,but also changes the brittle failure behavior into a more ductile quasi-brittle failure behavior.The suction measurements and mercury intrusion porosimetry(MIP)tests show that W-OH treatment can slightly reduce soil suction by affecting skeleton structure and increasing macropores.Combined with the microstructural analysis,it becomes evident that the significant improvement in soil tensile behavior through W-OH treatment is mainly attributed to the W-OH gel's ability to provide additional binding force for bridging and encapsulating the soil particles.Moreover,desiccation tests demonstrate that W-OH treatment can significantly reduce or even inhibit the formation of soil tensile cracking.With the increase of W-OH treatment concentration,the surface crack ratio and total crack length are significantly reduced.This study enhances a fundamental understanding of eco-polymer impacts on soil mechanical properties and provides valuable insight into their potential application for improving soil crack resistance.

Sustainable, thermoplastic and hydrophobic coating from natural cellulose and cinnamon to fabricate eco-friendly catering packaging

Non-degradable polymers cause serious environmental pollution problem,such as the widely-used while unrecyclable coatings which significantly affect the overall degradation performance of products.It is imperative and attractive to develop biodegradable functional coatings.Herein,we proposed a novel strategy to successfully prepare biodegradable,thermoplastic and hydrophobic coatings with high transparence and biosafety by weakening the interchain interactions between cellulose chain.The natural cellulose and cinnamic acid were as raw materials.Via reducing the degree of polymerization(DP)of cellulose and regulating the degree of substitution(DS)of cinnamate moiety,the obtained cellulose cinnamate(CC)exhibited not only the thermalflow behavior but also good biodegradability,which solves the conflict between the thermoplasticity and biodegradability in cellulose-based materials.The glass transition temperature(T_(g))and thermalflow temperature(T_(f))of the CC could be adjusted in a range of 150–200℃ and 180–210℃,respectively.The CC with DS<1.2 and DP≤100 degraded more than 60%after an enzyme treatment for 7 days,and degraded more than 80%after a composting treatment for 42 days.Furthermore,CC had no toxicity to human epidermal cells even at a high concentration(0.5 mg mL^(-1)).In addition,CC could be easily fabricated into multifunctional coating with high hydrophobicity,thermal adhesion and high transparence.Therefore,after combining with cellophane and paperboard,CC coating with low DP and DS could be used to prepare fully-biodegradable heat-sealing packaging,art paper,paper cups,paper straws and food packaging boxes.

Harnessing eco-friendly additives to manipulate zinc-ion solvation structures towards stable zinc metal batteries

Considerable research efforts have been dedicated to investigating the side reactions and the growth of Zn dendritic in aqueous zinc-ion batteries(AZIBs).The incorporation of organic solvents as additives in electrolytes has yielded highly promising results.Nevertheless,their pervasive use has been hindered by concerns regarding their toxicity,flammability,and economic viability.Herein,we propose the utilization of γ-valerolactone(γ-V),a novel eco-friendly solvent,as an alternative for conventional organic additives to improve the performance of Zn anode.Experimental investigations and theoretical analyses have verified that γ-V additives can diminish the Zn^(2+)-desolvation energy and enhance Zn^(2+) transport kinetics.The adsorbed γ-V molecules modulate the nucleation and diffusion of Zn^(2+),facilitating Zn growth along the(002) crystal plane,thus inhibiting dendrite formation and side reactions.Consequently,the modified electrolyte with 3% γ-V exhibit highly reversible cycling for 2800 h at1 mA cm^(-2) and 1 mA h cm^(-2) in Zn//Zn symmetric cell.The Zn//KVOH coin cells deliver a capacity retention of 74.7% after 1000 cycles at 5 A g^(-1).The Zn//KVOH pouch cells maintain a capacity retention of78.7% over 90 cycles at 3 A g^(-1).Notably,the γ-V additives also effectively alleviate the self-discharge phenomenon.This work provides valuable insights on the development of aqueous zinc-ion batteries with superior safety through the modulation of electrolytes using eco-friendly additives.

Thermo-Mechanical, Physico-Chemical, Morphological, and Fire Characteristics of Eco-Friendly Particleboard Manufactured with Phosphorylated Lignin Addition

Lignin,lignosulfonate,and synthesized phosphorylated lignosulfonate were introduced as greenfillers in citric acid-sucrose adhesives for bonding particleboard fabricated from areca leaf sheath(ALS).The characteristics of particleboards were compared to that of ultralow emitting formaldehyde(ULEF-UF).Thefillers derived from Eucalyptus spp.kraft-lignin were added forflame retardancy enhancement.10%of each lignin and modified lig-nin was added into the ULEF-UF and citric acid-sucrose bonded particleboards.Analyses applied to particle-boards included thermal characteristics,X-ray diffraction analysis(XRD),morphological properties,Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR),as well as physical,mechanical,andfire resistance characteristics of the laboratory-fabricated particleboards.Lignin and modified lignin resulted in improved thermal stability of the composites bonded with ULEF-UF while the improvement in the particleboard bonded with citric acid-sucrose was not significant.The introduction offiller exerted a higher influence on the UF-bonded particleboards compared to composites fabricated with citric acid-sucrose.Generally,the presence of lignin,lignosulfonate,and phosphorylated lignosulfonate enhanced the mechanical strength of the ULEF-bonded particleboards,although their dimensional stability has deteriorated.Markedly,the use of lignin and lignosulfonate enhanced thefire resis-tance of the particleboards produced with lower observed weight loss.All laboratory particleboards exhibited satisfactoryfire resistance,attaining a V-0 rating in according to the UL-94 standard.

Influence of MnO_2 Mineralizer on the Crystal Structure,Properties of SiC Kiln Furniture Bonded with Fine Silicon Powder

The properties of SiC kiln furniture bonded with fine silicon powderare related to the bonder’s crystal structure. At high temperature, it will crystallize ina-cristobalite with great bulk effect. MnO2 mineralizer can make a-cristobalite convertto a-tridymite whose bulk effect is small. The crystal structure and its amount were investigated with XRD technique. The influence of different amounts of MnO2 on thecrystal structure and polycrystal transformation, and that of crystal structure on theproperties of kiln furniture were studied. The best proportion of MnO2 added was determined to be 2.0%.

Finite element analysis of stress and strain distributions in mortise and loose tenon furniture joints

We studied the effect of loose tenon dimensions on stress and strain distributions in T-shaped mortise and loose tenon （M＆amp;LT） furni-ture joints under uniaxial bending loads, and determined the effects of loose tenon length （30, 45, 60, and 90 mm） and loose tenon thickness （6 and 8 mm） on bending moment capacity of M＆amp;LT joints constructed with polyvinyl acetate （PVAc） adhesive. Stress and strain distributions in joint elements were then estimated for each joint using ANSYS finite element （FE） software. The bending moment capacity of joints increased significantly with thickness and length of the tenon. Based on the FE analysis results, under uniaxial bending, the highest shear stress values were obtained in the middle parts of the tenon, while the highest shear elastic strain values were estimated in glue lines between the tenon sur-faces and walls of the mortise. Shear stress and shear elastic strain values in joint elements generally increased with tenon dimensions and corre-sponding bending moment capacities. There was consistency between predicted maximum shear stress values and failure modes of the joints.

Bending moment resistance of dowel corner joints in case-type furniture under diagonal compression load

We investigated bending moment resistance under diagonal compression load of comer doweled joints with plywood members. Joint members were made of ll-ply hardwood plywood of 19 mm thickness. Dowels were fabricated of Beech and Hornbeam species. Their diameters （6, 8 and 10 mm） and depths of penetration （9, 13 and 17 ram） in joint members were chosen variables in our experiment. By increasing the connector＇s diameter from 6 to 8 mm, the bending moment resistance under diagonal compressive load was increased, while it decreased when the diameter was increased from 8 to 10 mm. The bending moment re- sistance under diagonal compressive load was increased by increasing the dowel＇s depth of penetration. Joints made with dowels of Beech had higher resistance than dowels of Hornbeam. Highest resisting moment （45.18 N.m） was recorded for joints assembled with 8 mm Beech dowels penetrating 17 mm into joint members Lowest resisting moment （13.35 N.m） was recorded for joints assembled with 6 mm Hornbeam dowels and penetrating 9 mm into joint members.

Additive Manufacturing： Is It a New Era for Furniture Production？

The purpose of this study is to make a review and or definition of AM （additive manufacturing）, and an evaluation of its use in furniture production within a few projects to provide industry-specific awareness. AM can be considered as one of the latest innovative processes, as a state-of-the-art development, in manufacturing industries. AM is expressed as the future of the products and localization of the manufacturing processes in some studies. Innovation is a key factor both for firms and consumer products or service output. And, in today＇s competitive environment, it compels all the partners for R ＆ D activities to provide technological development. But, all the partners come to a parting of the ways of disruptive or sustainable innovation. It can be said that furniture manufacturing by AM method is relatively new. Non-industrial use of the AM in furniture production can be stated as one of the latest innovative development. Thereby, this study reviews how AM is used to produce furniture within applied projects, which materials and methods are used for production and suggests its future impact.

Fully Convolutional Networks for Street Furniture Identification in Panorama Images

Panoramic images are widely used in many scenes,especially in virtual reality and street view capture.However,they are new for street furniture identification which is usually based on mobile laser scanning point cloud data or conventional 2D images.This study proposes to perform semantic segmentation on panoramic images and transformed images to separate light poles and traffic signs from background implemented by pre-trained Fully Convolutional Networks(FCN).FCN is the most important model for deep learning applied on semantic segmentation for its end to end training process and pixel-wise prediction.In this study,we use FCN-8s model that pre-trained on cityscape dataset and finetune it by our own data.Then replace cross entropy loss function with focal loss function in the FCN model and train it again to produce the predictions.The results show that in all results from pre-trained model,fine-tuning,and FCN model with focal loss,the light poles and traffic signs are detected well and the transformed images have better performance than panoramic images in the prediction according to the Recall and IoU evaluation.

Research on Technology of Wooden Furniture CAD System

This paper introduces the current situation of domestic furniture production as well as world furniture CAD products, puts forward the necessity of developing a dedicated CADsystem——WFCAD and its main functions. It analyzes in detail the applied technology and keytechniques, including geometric modeling, assembly, joint design, database linking and management. The application of WFCAD in furniture manufacturing enterprises and its further improvement are outlined.

Application of Plastic Wood Composite in Outdoor Furniture

Concept of plastic wood and plastic wood furniture was summarized, categories of outdoor furniture in a narrow and broad sense introduced respectively. Furniture of plastic wood composite is characterized by "leisure, natural and concise", dynamic loading is the major connection mode, and traditional mechanical connection is applied. Common damages of plastic wood composite and countermeasures were concluded, and corresponding resolutions proposed in view of existing problems of outdoor plastic wood composite furniture.

Atomic-scale engineering of advanced catalytic and energy materials via atomic layer deposition for eco-friendly vehicles

Zero-emission eco-friendly vehicles with partly or fully electric powertrains have exhibited rapidly increased demand for reducing the emissions of air pollutants and improving the energy efficiency. Advanced catalytic and energy materials are essential as the significant portions in the key technologies of eco-friendly vehicles, such as the exhaust emission control system,power lithium ion battery and hydrogen fuel cell. Precise synthesis and surface modification of the functional materials and electrodes are required to satisfy the efficient surface and interface catalysis, as well as rapid electron/ion transport. Atomic layer deposition(ALD), an atomic and close-to-atomic scale manufacturing method, shows unique characteristics of precise thickness control, uniformity and conformality for film deposition, which has emerged as an important technique to design and engineer advanced catalytic and energy materials. This review has summarized recent process of ALD on the controllable preparation and modification of metal and oxide catalysts, as well as lithium ion battery and fuel cell electrodes. The enhanced catalytic and electrochemical performances are discussed with the unique nanostructures prepared by ALD. Recent works on ALD reactors for mass production are highlighted. The challenges involved in the research and development of ALD on the future practical applications are presented, including precursor and deposition process investigation, practical device performance evaluation, large-scale and efficient production, etc.

Landscape Furniture's Expression of Regional Culture

Regional culture shows the personality of a city, the expression of regional culture in urban landscapes is the focus of modern urban landscape construction. By elaborating connotations of landscape furniture and regional culture, the ways of refining cultural connotations of city history, and expressing regional cultures in landscape furniture were explored to provide references for the expression of regional cultures in urban landscapes.

Nomadic Features of Traditional Mongolian Furniture

Traditional Mongolian furniture is one of the necessities of Mongolian traditional furniture.In the vast Mongolian Plateau, natural grasslands and primary forests determine the nomadic life of Mongolians, Mongolian yurt is their main residence. The above conditions contribute to the types and nomadic features of traditional Mongolian furniture. Most traditional Mongolian furniture has a box-like structure, and the nomadic features are reflected in the following aspects: made of local materials; small size for the application in Mongolian yurt; demountable and foldable for the convenience of transportation,because Mongolians have to move to different grasslands for grazing; the furniture parts is bulky for frequent transportation; and colored drawing and carved furniture enrich the life color.

The role of furniture in exposure to non-ionizing radiation in a residential apartment

This article concerns the sources of non-ionizing radiation in a normal inhabited environment. Measurements show that residents are exposed to non-ionizing radiation in levels both below and above the European normative. Excess is present due to the fact that, producers of electronic equipment and appliances, those who use them, as well as those involved in the construction of housing, have insufficient acquaintance with non-ionizing radiation. Producers are advised to increase the coefficient of safety towards non-ionizing radiation by renewing technology. Users are advised to operate apparatus with the lowest possible power, to minimise time exposed to sources, to maximise the distance from them and to renew their appliances. Construction workers should take non-ionizing radiation more into consideration when furnishing of houses.

Furniture of the Ming & Qing Dynasties

FOREIGNERShaveplayedapivotalroleincreatingtheMingandQingfurniturecollectioncraze.Collectorsbeganlookingforpiecesasearlyasthe17thcentury,whenfurniturewastakenfromimperialcourtsfollowingthedownfalloftheMingDynasty.Duringthe"culturalrevolution"(1966-76...

Studying the Effect of Urban Furniture on Satisfaction of Domestic Tourists in Isfahan Bus Terminals

Terminals and stations as one of the most important parts of transportation systems and also as the arteries of the country’s economy life undertake significant role in adjustment and regulation of the traffic pulse of cities and roads. Urban furniture is one of the components considered in urban designing and as a part of the whole city, it defines the urban identity and structure. In today’s world, the importance of designing the urban equipment and furniture is to an extent that even active architects in the field of industrial designing are invited for designing and performing the urban furniture and equipment. Urban designing is a thing beyond making some flower box in squares and determining bus and taxi stations. Evidently, what gives identity to the city or according to the saying of “Sansovini”, what has tranquility for the city’s residents and creates attraction for foreigner tourists, not only include the mass buildings and streets traffic, but also include landscape, parks and furniture of the city. Standard designing of bus terminals like other urban furniture influences on urban face and it can have significant role in satisfaction of domestic tourists and increase and propagation of using of terminals. In this research, it has been attempted that the effect of furniture in the terminals of Isfahan city on domestic tourists should be studied that for this purpose, descriptive-analytic method has been used and data have been collected through field and library studies and secondary sources by using of SWOT model.