Site Test of Thermal Environment of Rammed Earth Construction in Anji County of China

The scientific evaluation on heat insulation and preservation capacity of rammed earth construction can provide an effective evidence for its superiority in preserving thermal environment of the construction. By taking an eco-hotel in Zhejiang Anji County as the research object, 33 test points have been set. The indoor and outdoor air temperature of eco-hotel and the surface temperature of building envelopes had been recorded by using data acquisition instrument, temperature transmitter and other equipments from January 27 to February 2 in 2007. Then, the data of a period had been selected for comparison and analysis and the results had been obtained as follows. In January when the temperature difference between day and night in Anji was not large, without particular thermal insulation measures and equipments, the indoor temperature of eco-hotel fluctuated very little, showing that rammed earth construction was of obvious capacity for heat preservation and insulation, that its heat stability was evident and that it could ensure excellent indoor thermal environment.

Influence of Trailing-Edge Wear on the Vibrational Behavior of Wind Turbine Blades

To study the impact of the trailing-edge wear on the vibrational behavior of wind-turbine blades,unworn blades and trailing-edge worn blades have been assessed through relevant modal tests.According to these experiments,the natural frequencies of trailing-edge worn blades-1,-2,and-3 increase the most in the second to fourth order,thefifth order increases in the middle,and thefirst order increases the least.The damping ratio data indi-cate that,in general,thefirstfive-order damping ratios of trailing-edge worn blades-1 and trailing-edge worn blades-2 are reduced,and thefirstfive-order damping ratios of trailing-edge worn blades-3 are slightly improved.The mode shape diagram shows that the trailing-edge worn blades-1 and-2 have a large swing in the tip and the blade,whereas the second-and third-order vibration shapes of the trailing edge-worn blade-3 tend to be improved.Overall,all these results reveal that the blade’s mass and the wear area are the main fac-tors affecting the vibration characteristics of wind turbine blades.

Performance Testing and Analysis of Automotive-Grade CMOS Sensors in Different Environments

Automotive-grade Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor(CMOS)sensors play a crucial role in automotive electronic systems,especially in the context of the rapid development of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems(ADAS)and autonomous driving technologies.Their performance is directly related to the safety and reliability of vehicles.However,automobiles will face a variety of complex environmental conditions during the actual operation,such as high temperature,low temperature,vibration,humidity changes,and light changes,which may have an impact on the performance of CMOS sensors.Therefore,it is of great significance to study the performance of automotive-grade CMOS sensors in different environments.

An enriched environment increases the expression of fibronectin type Ⅲ domain-containing protein 5 and brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the cerebral cortex of the ischemic mouse brain

Many studies have shown that fibronectin type III domain-containing protein 5(FDNC5) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF) play vital roles in plasticity after brain injury. An enriched environment refers to an environment that provides animals with multi-sensory stimulation and movement opportunities. An enriched environment has been shown to promote the regeneration of nerve cells, synapses, and blood vessels in the animal brain after cerebral ischemia;however, the exact mechanisms have not been clarified. This study aimed to determine whether an enriched environment could improve neurobehavioral functions after the experimental inducement of cerebral ischemia and whether neurobehavioral outcomes were associated with the expression of FDNC5 and BDNF. This study established ischemic mouse models using permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion(pMCAO) on the left side. On postoperative day 1, the mice were randomly assigned to either enriched environment or standard housing condition groups. Mice in the standard housing condition group were housed and fed under standard conditions. Mice in the enriched environment group were housed in a large cage, containing various toys, and fed with a standard diet. Sham-operated mice received the same procedure, but without artery occlusion, and were housed and fed under standard conditions. On postoperative days 7 and 14, a beam-walking test was used to assess coordination, balance, and spatial learning. On postoperative days 16–20, a Morris water maze test was used to assess spatial learning and memory. On postoperative day 15, the expression levels of FDNC5 and BDNF proteins in the ipsilateral cerebral cortex were analyzed by western blot assay. The results showed that compared with the standard housing condition group, the motor balance and coordination functions(based on beam-walking test scores 7 and 14 days after operation), spatial learning abilities(based on the spatial learning scores from the Morris water maze test 16–19 days after operation), and memory abilities(based on the memory scores of the Morris water maze test 20 days after operation) of the enriched environment group improved significantly. In addition, the expression levels of FDNC5 and BDNF proteins in the ipsilateral cerebral cortex increased in the enriched environment group compared with those in the standard housing condition group. Furthermore, the Pearson correlation coefficient showed that neurobehavioral functions were positively associated with the expression levels of FDNC5 and BDNF(r = 0.587 and r = 0.840, respectively). These findings suggest that an enriched environment upregulates FDNC5 protein expression in the ipsilateral cerebral cortex after cerebral ischemia, which then activates BDNF protein expression, improving neurological function. BDNF protein expression was positively correlated with improved neurological function. The experimental protocols were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Fudan University, China(approval Nos. 20160858 A232, 20160860 A234) on February 24, 2016.

Shape ratio effects on the mechanical characteristics of rectangular prism rocks and isolated pillars under uniaxial compression

Isolated pillars in underground mines are subjected to uniaxial stress,and the load bearing cross-section of pillars is commonly rectangularly shaped.In addition,the uniaxial compression test(UCT)is widely used for determining the basic mechanical properties of rocks and revealing the mechanism of isolated pillar disasters under unidimensional stress.The shape effects of rock mechanical properties under uniaxial compression are mainly quantitatively reflected in the specific shape ratios of rocks.Therefore,it is necessary to study the detailed shape ratio effects on the mechanical properties of rectangular prism rock specimens and isolated pillars under uniaxial compressive stress.In this study,granite,marble and sandstone rectangular prism specimens with various height to width ratios(r)and width to thickness ratios(u)were prepared and tested.The study results show that r and u have a great influence on the bearing ability of rocks,and thin or high rocks have lower uniaxial compressive strength.Reducing the level of r can enhance the u effect on the strength of rocks,and increasing the level of u can enhance the r effect on the strength of rocks.The lateral strain on the thickness side of the rock specimen is larger than that on the width side,which implies that crack growth occurs easily on the thickness side.Considering r and u,a novel strength prediction model of isolated pillars was proposed based on the testing results,and the prediction model was used for the safety assessment of 179 isolated pillars in the Xianglu Mountain Tungsten Mine.

Fieldwork Test Research of the Impact on Building Physical Environment on Six Types of Atrium Space in Cold Climates

Since the research on verification to passive design strategies in sustainable building is at the initial stage,and its test method and verification conclusion are not scientific enough to validate,this paper proposes the necessity of building physical environmental monitoring to quantitative optimization of passive strategies efficiency from the perspective of architecture design and building environment. Adopting comparative research method,this research chooses six types of atrium space in cold climate in China as a prototype,focusing on building physical environmental performance difference in and between atrium and building main space. Spatial parameters of the atrium space will be divided into four factors: spatial geometry,interfacial properties,internal and external related categories. With subdividing these four factors into sub-factors,this paper makes crosscomparison among the sub-factors to clarify passive strategies effectiveness in atrium. Data comparison analysis shows that Winter atrium passive strategy in cold regions from traditional view is not obvious in practical application,and test data need to be stratified refined in atrium design in case of optimizing passive strategy from building prototype perspective.

Temporal and Spatial Factors Affecting the Nature of Genotype x Environment Interaction in Sugarcane (<i>Saccharum officinarum L.</i>) under Ethiopian Agro-Climatic Conditions: An Integrated Approach

Analytical approaches are important for identification the causes of Genotype x environment interaction (GEI) in multi-environment trials (MET). The objectives of this investigation were to explore the nature and causes of the GEI in sugarcane under Ethiopian agro ecological conditions. Data of Cane yield, recoverable sucrose% and sugar yield obtained from 13 test environments were subjected to Additive Main and Multiplicative Interaction (AMMI2) for empirical study. For environmental characterization, mean values of twenty seven temporal and spatial factors were subjected to Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Moreover, to identify the environmental factors affecting the patterns of GEI and its components, mean values of these factors were correlated with environment AMMI2 IPCA scores of the yield traits studied. Results of the present study indicated that the GEI accounted for larger variation than the genotypic effects which suggested its importance and complexity. The PCA bi-plot successfully identified the environmental factors that most discriminated the test environments (crop years and locations). The correlation analysis between the environmental factors and environmental AMMI2 IPCA scores adequately identified the environmental factors affecting GEI and its components. Soil organic matter% and soil clay%, pan evaporation at establishment, relative humidity at growth stage and harvesting month were the major factors that substantially affect the GEI interaction patterns in cane yield while maximum relative humidity recorded during the growing season, all temperature regimes recorded during the entire growing season and at different crop stages were the major factors that affect GEI in recoverable sucrose%. Moreover, the pattern of GEI in sugar yield was significantly affected by harvest age, percent of clay in soil, altitude, relative humidity at harvest and pan evaporation at establishment. For efficient environmental selection and networks, genotype evaluations and formulation of appropriate sugarcane breeding strategy, f METs should adopt the inclusion of these environmental factors identified as major factors influencing the patterns of GEI. Moreover, more information will be generated if other physiological and soil moisture stress indices are included in future GEI studies in sugarcane.

The Application of GGE Biplot Analysis for Evaluating Test Locations and Mega-Environment Investigation of Cotton Regional Trials

In the process to the marketing of cultivars, identification of superior test locations within multi-environment variety trial schemes is of critical relevance. It is relevant to breeding organizations as well as to governmental organizations in charge of cultivar registration. Where competition among breeding companies exists, effective and fair multi-environment variety trials are of utmost importance to motivate investment in breeding. The objective of this study was to use genotype main effect plus genotype by environment interaction（GGE） biplot analysis to evaluate test locations in terms of discrimination ability, representativeness and desirability, and to investigate the presence of multiple mega-environments in cotton production in the Yangtze River Valley（YaRV）, China. Four traits（cotton lint yield, fiber length, lint breaking tenacity, micronaire） and two composite selection indices were considered. It was found that the assumption of a single mega-environment in the YaRV for cotton production does not hold. The YaRV consists of three cotton mega-environments： a main one represented by 11 locations and two minor ones represented by two test locations each. This demands that the strategy of cotton variety registration or recommendation must be adjusted. GGE biplot analysis has also led to the identification of test location superior for cotton variety evaluation. Although test location desirable for selecting different traits varied greatly, Jinzhou, Hubei Province, China, was found to be desirable for selecting for all traits considered while Jianyang, Sichuan Province, China, was found to be desirable for none.

A test method for evaluating the thermal environment of underground coal mine refuge alternatives

Since 2009,the Mine Safety and Health Administration(MSHA)has required mines to install refuge alternatives(RAs)in underground coal mines.One of the biggest concerns with occupied RAs is the possible severity of the resulting thermal environment.In 30 CFR 7.504,the maximum allowable apparent temperature(AT)for an occupied RA is specified as 35℃(95°F).Manufacturers must conduct heat/humidity tests to demonstrate that their RAs meet the 35℃(95°F)AT limit.For these tests,heat input devices are used to input the metabolic heat of actual miners.A wide variety of test methods,sensors,and heat input devices could be used when conducting such tests.Since 2012,the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health(NIOSH)has conducted over thirty 96-hour heat/humidity tests on four different RAs.This paper discusses the test equipment and procedures used during these investigations.This information is useful for RA manufacturers conducting RA heat/humidity tests,for other researchers investigating RA heat/humidity buildup,and for those who need to assess the thermal environment of any confined space where people may be trapped or are seeking refuge.

An Experimental Study on the Effect of Foundation Depth, Size and Shape on Subgrade Reaction of Cohessionless Soil

The modulus of subgrade reaction ks depends on several factors such as the size and shape of the foundation as well as the embedment depth of the foundation. The present study is an experimental analysis using plate load test to determine the effect of foundation depth, size as well as the shape on the modulus of subgrade reaction (ks) of cohesionless soils. It was carried out by using nine rigid steel plates with different sizes and shapes (circular, square and retangular). The tests were carried out on cohessionless soil with different relative densities under different applied pressures. The settlement has been measured at the surface of the plate for different depths of footings. The ultimate bearing capacity [qu] has been determined from the stress-settlement relationships. The allowable bearing capacity (qa) was determined by dividing the ultimate bearing capacity (qu) by F.S. = 3.0, after which the corresponding settlement (Sa) has been obtained. However, ks was calculated based on dividing the allowable bearing capacity (qa) by the corresponding settlement (Sa). From the present study it is concluded that the subgrade reaction ks of cohessionless soil increases with increasing foundation depth as well as foundation size. In addition, subgrade reaction ks of cohessionless soil under rectangular footing is higher than that under square and that under circular one with same equivalent area. An empirical formula is presented to calculate the subgrade reaction ks of cohessionless soil under square foundation taking into consideration foundation depth. Fair agreement has been obtained between values of ks from the empirical formula at depth of footing = 0.00 B and Biot (1937) as well as Meyerhof and Baike (1965).

Stereoscopic Camera-Sensor Model for the Development of Highly Automated Driving Functions within a Virtual Test Environment

The need for efficient and reproducible development processes for sensor and perception systems is growing with their increased use in modern vehicles. Such processes can be achieved by using virtual test environments and virtual sensor models. In the context of this, the present paper documents the development of a sensor model for depth estimation of virtual three-dimensional scenarios. For this purpose, the geometric and algorithmic principles of stereoscopic camera systems are recreated in a virtual form. The model is implemented as a subroutine in the Epic Games Unreal Engine, which is one of the most common Game Engines. Its architecture consists of several independent procedures that enable a local depth estimation, but also a reconstruction of a whole three-dimensional scenery. In addition, a separate programme for calibrating the model is presented. In addition to the basic principles, the architecture and the implementation, this work also documents the evaluation of the model created. It is shown that the model meets specifically defined requirements for real-time capability and the accuracy of the evaluation. Thus, it is suitable for the virtual testing of common algorithms and highly automated driving functions.

The dynamic analysis of natural environment change of nuclear test field in Lop Nur region of China

Using earth satellite observation means, remote sensing information distilled technique and regional research production, we have roundly analyzed and made an integrated evaluation about the Lop Nur nuclear test field in western China. This product reveals the rarely-known nuke explosion effect and response events of geology conditions. It also offers us legible and practical first-hand materials about human extreme effects, important engineering environment and intimidating influence process. By excavating and appraising the materials gradually on the natural environment factors changing in the test field through macroscopic elimination and typical filtration, it can supply basic scientific data for security of national nuclear usage, appraising the nuclear environment synthetically and developing nuclear strategy expediently.

The Calibration and Use of a New Ring-Shaped Ionization Chamber for Monitoring and Dosimetry of X-Ray Beams

Today, dosimeters are used generally for dosimetry of the diagnostic X-ray beam. Ionization chambers are appropriate instruments for monitoring and also the dosimetry of X-ray beam in medical diagnostic equipment. The present work introduces design and investigation of a new ring-shaped monitor chamber with a PMMA body, graphite-coated PMMA windows (0.5 mm thick), a special graphite-foil central electrode (0.1 mm thick, 0.7 g/cm3 dense) that creating two sensitive volumes and a central hole for crossing the radiation beam with less attenuation. The results of performance tests conducted at the Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, AEOI in Karaj- Iran proved the high short and long-term stability, the very low leakage current, the low directional dependence and very high ion collection efficiency through the special design of the collecting electrode. Moreover, the FLUKA Monte Carlo simulations certified the negligible effect of central electrode on this new ring-shaped monitor chamber. According to the results of the performance tests, the new monitor chamber can be used as a standard dosimeter in order to monitor X-ray beam in primary standard dosimetry laboratories.

Effect of large load on the wear and corrosion behavior of high-strength EH47 hull steel in 3.5wt%NaCl solution with sand

To simulate the wear and corrosion behavior of high-strength EH47 hull steel in a complicated marine environment in which seawater,sea ice,and sea sand coexist,accelerated wear and corrosion tests were performed in a laboratory setting using a tribometer.The effect of large loads on the behavior of abrasion and corrosion in a 3.5wt%NaCl solution with ice and sand to simulate a marine environment were investigated.The experimental results showed that the coefficient of friction(COF)decreases with increasing working load;meanwhile,the loading force and sand on the disk strongly influence the COF.The mechanisms of friction and the coupling effect of abrasion and corrosion in the 3.5wt%NaCl solution with sand were the wear and corrosion mechanisms;furthermore,the wear mechanism exerted the predominant effect.

Realization of Reconfigurable Virtual Environments for Virtual Testing

This paper presents the design and implementation of reconfigurable virtual environments (VEs) for virtual testing. It proposes a hybrid design approach that is derived from a so-called integration and composition of the reconfiguration strategy. The designing process has thus evolved from binding virtual objects using reconfiguration rules within the context of virtual testing scenarios. Therefore reconfigurable virtual environments are established with improved flexibility and scalability, tailored to a wide range of virtual testing applications. Those virtual environments integrate virtual testing scenarios, data acquisition, databases, rule mapping and application interfaces, which yield modular testing functions and an open-ended system architecture with a set of extensible interface tools to realize data exchange within reconfigurable VEs. This enables virtual testing scenarios to be reconfigured interactively based on real time data and communication between virtual environments and real environments. A virtual testing application has been implemented using reconfigurable VEs. Keywords Virtual environment - virtual testing - reconfigurable virtual reality Wenyan Wu graduated from Dalian University of Technology, China, with BSc and MSc in 1988 and 1991 respectively. She earned her PhD degree from University of Derby, UK, in 2002. She had taught and researched in Harbin Institute of Technology, China and De Montfort University, UK. She is currently a senior lecturer in simulation and virtual reality at Staffordshire University, UK. Her research interests include computer graphics, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality system, advanced interface, modelling and simulation, distribution system.Zhengxu Zhao BSc, MSc, PhD, CEng, CITP, MBCS, full Professor in Applied Computing, Director of Virtual Reality Centre. He is also a Cheng Kong Scholar Project Professor in Virtual Reality Technology and Director of Virtual Reality Research Centre at the Southeast University, P R China. Professor Zhao’s research interests include computing graphics and VR systems, industrial process simulation, CIM and manufacturing management systems.

Surface Coating of NiTi Shape Memory Alloys with Calcium Phosphates by Dip-coating or Plasma-spraying-biological Characterization Examined by in vitro Testing Methods

The influence of different surface coatings of NiTi shape memory allays was examined using in vitro testing methods. Plates of superelastic nickel-titanium shape memory allay （ NiTi ） were coated with calcium phosphates （ hydroxyapatite ） by high-temperature plasma-spraying or by dip-coating. The biocompatibility was tested in vitro by cultivation of isolated human granulocytes and whole blood cells. As substrates, pure NiTi, plasma-spray-coated NiTi and dip-coated NiTi were used. Isolated granulocytes showed an increased adhesion to both calcium phosphate-coated NiTi samples. Compared to non-coated NiTi or dip-coated NiTi, the number of dead granulocytes adherent to plasma-sprayed surfaces was significantly increased （ p 〈 0.01 ）. Whether the d/f- ferences in apoptosis of granulocytes on dip-coated vs plasma-sprayed coatings observed are due to differences in material surface morphologies has to be analyzed in further studies. Because of the cellular interactions with the coating layers, h is likely that the results obtained are not caused by the underlying NiTi but due to the coating itself.

Design of Rural Residence Based on Thermal Comfort: A Case Study of Chengdu Area

With the improvement of living standards, peasants have attached increasing attention to quality of living environment, indoor thermal comfort of rural residence has become a functional need of new countryside residence. Chengdu is a foggy area with shorter sunshine hours, humid air, more foggy but fewer windy days, so local residence is likely to be muggy, which influences comfort of residents seriously. According to relevant researches, most rural residences in Chengdu use only natural ventilation, and the indoor thermal comfort is poor. In view of this, this paper tried to improve indoor thermal comfort and quality of living environment from the perspective of residence functional design.

Can environmental sustainability be decoupled from economic growth? Empirical evidence from Eastern Europe using the common correlated effect mean group test

The European Union(EU) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD) aim to develop long-term policies for their respective member countries. Having observed increasing dangers to the environment posed by rising economic growth, they are seeking pathways to enable policy action on economic growth and environmental sustainability. Given the facts in theoretical and empirical studies, this study assessed the validity of the decoupling hypothesis by investigating asymmetricity in the relationship between environmental sustainability and economic growth in nine Eastern European countries from 1998 to 2017 using the cross-section augmented Dickey-Fuller(CADF) unit root, panel corrected standard error(PCSE), common correlated effect mean group(CCEMG), and Dumitrescu Hurlin causality approaches. Both population growth and drinking water are used as controlled variables. The outcomes establish strong cointegration among all the variables of interest. According to the results of CCEMG test, economic growth exerts short-term environmental degradation but has long-term environmental benefits in Eastern Europe;and population growth and drinking water exert a positive effect on environmental sustainability in both the short-and long-run. The results of Dumitrescu Hurlin causality test indicate that environmental sustainability is unidirectionally affected by economic growth. Based on these outcomes, we suggest the following policies:(1) the EU and OECD should implement member-targeted policies on economic growth and fossil-fuel use towards regulating industrial pollution, water use, and population control;and(2) the EU and OECD member countries should invest in environmental technologies through green research and development(R&D) to transform their dirty industrial processes and ensure productive energy use.

Incorporating S-shaped testing-effort functions into NHPP software reliability model with imperfect debugging

Testing-effort（TE） and imperfect debugging（ID） in the reliability modeling process may further improve the fitting and prediction results of software reliability growth models（SRGMs）. For describing the S-shaped varying trend of TE increasing rate more accurately, first, two S-shaped testing-effort functions（TEFs）, i.e.,delayed S-shaped TEF（DS-TEF） and inflected S-shaped TEF（IS-TEF）, are proposed. Then these two TEFs are incorporated into various types（exponential-type, delayed S-shaped and inflected S-shaped） of non-homogeneous Poisson process（NHPP）SRGMs with two forms of ID respectively for obtaining a series of new NHPP SRGMs which consider S-shaped TEFs as well as ID. Finally these new SRGMs and several comparison NHPP SRGMs are applied into four real failure data-sets respectively for investigating the fitting and prediction power of these new SRGMs.The experimental results show that：（i） the proposed IS-TEF is more suitable and flexible for describing the consumption of TE than the previous TEFs;（ii） incorporating TEFs into the inflected S-shaped NHPP SRGM may be more effective and appropriate compared with the exponential-type and the delayed S-shaped NHPP SRGMs;（iii） the inflected S-shaped NHPP SRGM considering both IS-TEF and ID yields the most accurate fitting and prediction results than the other comparison NHPP SRGMs.

Tribological behaviors of hydrogenated diamond-like carbon films in different testing environments

Hydrogenated diamond-like carbon (DLC) films were deposited on Si substrate using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition(PECVD) technique with CH4 plus H2 as the feedstock. The tribological properties of the hydrogenated DLC films were measured on a ball-on-disk tribometer in different testing environments (humid air,dry air, dry O2, dry Ar and dry N2 ) sliding against Si3 N4 balls. The friction surfaces of the films and Si3 N4 balls were observed on a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results show that the tribological properties of the hydrogenated DLC films are strongly dependent on the testing environments. In dry Ar and dry N2 environments, the hydrogenated DLC films provide a superlow friction coefficient of about 0. 008 -0.01 and excellent wear resistance (wear life of above 56 km). In dry air and dry O2, the friction coefficient is increased to 0. 025 - 0.04 and the wear life is decreased to about 30 km. When sliding in moist air, the friction coefficient of the films is further increased to 0. 08 and the wear life is decreased to 10. 4 km. SEM and XPS analyses show that the tribological behaviors appear to rely on the transferred carbon-rich layer processes on the Si3 N4 balls and on the friction-induced oxidation of the films controlled by the nature of the testing environments.