Comparative analysis of methods for determining the clothing surface temperature (tcl) in order to provide a balance between man and the environment

The PMV (Predicted Mean Vote) is an index which shows the thermal sensation of a large group of people exposed to the same environment. However, discrepancies are found between the PMV model and thermal sensation responses obtained in field studies. One of the components for the calculation of PMV is clothing surface temperature (t_cl), which can be a factor which contributes towards these discrepancies. Therefore, the aim of this article was to show t_cl influence on the PMV index. For this, the calculation of t_cl was done in two ways: the first was through the algorithm presented in the Annex D of ISO 7730 (2005) (Algorithm 1) and the second way was through Newton's Method (Algorithm 2), on a group of welders of a metal-mechanic industry. After calculating t_cl in these two ways, (algorithms 1 and 2), the two values obtained for t_cl were compared and the results were not the same. Consequently, different values for t_cl generate different results for the PMV. Newton's Method, having quadratic convergence, is more precise for the calculation; therefore, the suggestion is to use this method to determine t_cl since this is a variable with direct influence in determining the PMV.Relevancy to industryWhenever it is possible to determine the PMV and when this result is closer to people's responses to thermal sensation, one can provide a more appropriate environment to users in order to have Thermal Comfort and, principally, to avoid Thermal Stress.     

Comparative analysis of methods for determining the metabolic rate in order to provide a balance between man and the environment

The incorrect determination of metabolic rate can be linked to discrepancies between the model of the PMV (Predicted Mean Vote) and real thermal sensation collected in field studies. Aiming to improve the correlation of the PMV model and the real thermal sensation, this work established new values for the metabolic rate: one way being called “calculated” using Newton's Method and the other called "measured" using a metabolic analyzer. Welder's activities were evaluated, through the measurements of environmental and personal variables. New values of metabolic rate were determined for this activity. The values found for the calculated form and the measured one were, respectively, 178.63 and 145.46 W/m², different from the range provided by the table of ISO 8996 (2004) for this activity (75–125 W/m²). In order to verify which of the values of the metabolic rate was closer to the real thermal sensation of PMV, a linear regression was made between the PMV and the real thermal sensation in three ways: S × PMV_tabulated (R² = 0.1749), S × PMV_calculated (R ² = 0.7481) and S × PMV_measured (R² = 0.7854). It was found that the values measured by the instrument gave a higher coefficient of determination which was chosen for the correction of the table. The correction of the table provides a value of M_predicted, that is a value of metabolic rate that corrects the values provided by the tables of ISO 8996 (2004), by means of a correction coefficient. For the welder's activities in a metal-mechanics industry, tabulated values can be multiplied by the correction coefficient 1.4648 in order to minimize inaccuracies. The PMV_predicted, obtained through the M_predicted, when related to the actual thermal sensation, provides a coefficient of determination of 0.7511, thereby improving the model of the PMV.     

PMV model is insufficient to capture subjective thermal response from Indians

A controlled laboratory experiment was carried out on forty Indian male college students for evaluating the effect of indoor thermal environment on occupants' response and thermal comfort. During experiment, indoor temperature varied from 21 °C to 33 °C, and the variables like relative humidity, airflow, air temperature and radiant temperature were recorded along with subject's physiological parameters (skin (T_sk) and oral temperature (T_c)) and subjective thermal sensation responses (TSV). From T_sk and T_c, body temperature (T_b) was evaluated. Subjective Thermal Sensation Vote (TSV) was recorded using ASHRAE 7-point scale. In PMV model, Fanger's T_sk equation was used to accommodate adaptive response. Stepwise regression analysis result showed T_b was better predictor of TSV than T_sk and T_c. Regional skin temperature response, suppressed sweating without dipping, lower sweating threshold temperature and higher cutaneous threshold for sweating were observed as thermal adaptive responses. These adaptive responses cannot be considered in PMV model. To incorporate subjective adaptive response, mean skin temperature (T_sk) is considered in dry heat loss calculation. Along with these, PMV-model and other two methodologies are adopted to calculate PMV values and results are compared. However, recent literature is limited to measure the sweat rate in Indians and consideration of constant Ersw in PMV model needs to be corrected. Using measured T_sk in PMV model (Method₁), thermal comfort zone corresponding to 0.5 ≤ PMV ≤ 0.5 was evaluated as (22.46–25.41) °C with neutral temperature of 23.91 °C, similarly while using TSV response, wider comfort zone was estimated as (23.25–26.32) °C with neutral temperature at 24.83 °C, which was further increased to with TSV-PPD_new relation. It was observed that PMV-model overestimated the actual thermal response. Interestingly, these subjects were found to be less sensitive to hot but more sensitive to cold. A new TSV-PPD relation (PPD_new) was obtained from the population distribution of TSV response with an asymmetric distribution of hot-cold thermal sensation response from Indians. The calculations of human thermal stress according to steady state energy balance models used on PMV model seem to be inadequate to evaluate human thermal sensation of Indians.     

Behavioural,physiological and psychological responses of passengers to the thermal environment of boarding a flight in winter

In practice, passengers actively respond to the thermal environment when they board an aircraft in winter, which is not considered in the current standards. In this study, the behavioural, physiological and psychological responses to the thermal environment were examined at 22 °C (with 68 subjects), 20 °C and 26 °C (with 32 subjects). The results showed that the three air temperature levels had significant effect on nozzle usage and clothing adjustment behaviours, surface skin temperature, and thermal sensation vote (TSV). The walking/waiting states prior to boarding the aircraft cabin had a significant effect on the proportion of jacket removal, TSV and thermal comfort vote. After 10 min in the aircraft cabin, the subjects maintained their comfort in a wider range of the thermal environment when the behavioural adjustments existed compared to when they did not. Thus, a suggestion was made for behavioural adjustments to be provided in aircraft cabins.

Practitioner Summary: Experimental investigation of human responses was conducted in an aircraft cabin. Analysis showed that the subjects maintained their comfort in a wider range of the thermal environment when the behavioural adjustments existed compared to when they did not. Thus, a suggestion was made for behavioural adjustments to be provided in aircraft cabins.     

Fast non-blocking atomic commit: an inherent trade-off

This paper investigates the time-complexity of the non-blocking atomic commit (NBAC) problem in a synchronous distributed model where t out of n processes may fail by crashing. We exhibit for t?3 an inherent trade-off between the fast abort property of NBAC, i.e., aborting a transaction as soon as possible if some process votes “no”, and the fast commit property, i.e., committing a transaction as soon as possible when all processes vote “yes” and no process crashes. We also give two algorithms: the first satisfies fast commit and a weak variant of fast abort, whereas the second satisfies fast abort and a weak variant of fast commit.     

An intelligent HVAC control strategy for supplying comfortable and energy-efficient school environment

In South Korea, school buildings require significant energy inputs for heating and air-conditioning, and the majority of the occupants are adolescent students, whose health and cognitive performance are vulnerable to poor indoor air quality (IAQ) and thermal discomfort. Using field measurements, some previous studies have reported that some Korean schools have poor IAQ and thermal conditions. Thus, it is necessary to develop effective heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) control strategies to improve the indoor environment and reduce energy consumption. Therefore, this study proposes an intelligent HVAC integrated control strategy that can improve indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and reduce energy consumption in school buildings. The proposed strategy utilizes an integrated neural network prediction model for IEQ and a heuristic method that can optimize control objectives (i.e., the predicted mean vote [PMV], carbon dioxide [CO₂], particulate matter with diameters of 10 and 2.5 μm [PM₁₀ and PM_2.5, respectively], and HVAC energy consumption). To evaluate the control performance of the proposed strategy, the present study employs two base algorithms (i.e., a rule-based and a non-adaptive control approach) under non-disturbance and forcing disturbance scenarios. The control failure period for PMV is found to be 1.6420% and 9.4773% of the total occupancy period under the non-disturbance and forcing disturbance scenarios, respectively, while CO₂ control failure does not occur under either scenario. The control failure periods for PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 were 5.1676%, and 7.1844%, respectively, under forcing disturbance. Under the non-disturbance scenario, the proposed strategy consumed 2,467.07 kWh and 870,26 kWh for heating and cooling, respectively, representing 91.1% and 84.08% of that for the rule-based algorithm. The proposed strategy can thus effectively improve the IEQ of a building and has the potential for use in the development of integrated environmental management solutions for buildings.     

室内舒适性指标PMV的区间Ⅱ型T-S模糊建模

预测平均投票值(PMV)是室内热环境的标准化指标,其涉及的数学模型复杂且存在不确定性,不能适应实时控制的需要.同时,传统的采用一个PMV值评价热环境的方法具有局限性,不能反映不同位置人体舒适感的差异.为了处理测量噪声和人体因素带来的不确定性,通过对室内气流和传热计算流体动力学( CFD)模拟数值以准确描述PMV值,建立...     

基于智能合约的以太币投票协议

Zhao等人提出了一个比特币投票协议,使得n个投票人能够通过投票决定两个候选人中的一个接受比特币资助.投票人首先通过秘密分享、承诺和零知识证明生成各自的投票,再通过比特币交易完成投票和比特币资助,保护了投票人的隐私.此文的工作支持n个投票人生成关于m个候选人的一般性投票,并通过智能合约完成了投票和以太币资助,同样不泄露投票人的隐私.同时,该智能合约不依赖门限签名等体制,更为高效,合约的主要业务逻辑也在检测模型工具中进行了检测.     

Generalized age-dependent model for estimation of mean survival time in the presence of two competing risks

The paper is motivated towards developing a generalized probability model describing the longevity of a system exposed to paired risks R₁ and R₂ which are dependent. The bivariate exponential model of Freund (1961) with failure times X and Y under risks R₁ and R₂ with a time-independent hazard rate set-up has been generalized by incorporating an additional age factor, t, as a variable. The hazard rates due to R₁ and R₂ have been changed from a to α(t) = αt^α?1, and from β to β(f) = βt^β?1 where α,β > 0 which are Weibull hazard functions for α,β > 1. Further conditions are imposed such that α is changed to α' when R₂ is off and β is changed to β' when R₁ is off. The trivariate distribution of Freund so generalized has again been doubly truncated in the range a  t  b, for a, b > 0; and the conditional distribution of X and Y given t has been used to study the role of the component's age in the context of the system's survival under paired dependent risks in the finite age range.     

Filtering of some nonlinear diffusions satisfying the general Bene condition

Under some regularity assumptions and the following generalization of the well-known Bene condition [1]:

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, where F(t,z) = g⁻²(t)∫f(t,z)dz, F_t, F_z, F_zz, are partial derivatives of F, we obtain explicit formulas for the unnormalized conditional density q_t(z, x) α Px_t ε dz| y_s, 0 st, where diffusion x_t on R¹ solves x₀ = x, dx_t = [β(t) + α(t)x_t + f(t, x_t] dt + g(t) dw₁, and observation y_t = ∫_o^th(s)x_s ds + ∫_o^t(s) dw_2t, with w = (w₁, w₂) a two-dimensional Wiener process.     

Characterization of analytic phase signals

In many cases, a real-valued signal χ(t) may be associated with a complex-valued signal a(t)e^iθ(t), the analytic signal associated with χ(t) with the characteristic properties χ(t) = a(t) cosθ(t) and H(a(·)cosθ(·))(t) = a(t)sinθ(t). Using such obtained amplitude-frequency modulation the instantaneous frequency of χ(t) at the time t₀ may be defined to be θ′(t₀), provided θ′(t₀) ≥ 0. The purpose of this note is to characterize, in terms of analytic functions, the unimodular functions F(t) = C(t) + iS(t),C²(t) + S² (t) = 1, a.e., that satisfy HC(t) = S(t). This corresponds to the case a(t) ≡ 1 in the above formulation. We show that a unimodular function satisfies the required condition if and only if it is the boundary value of a so called inner function in the upper-half complex plane. We also give, through an explicit formula, a large class of functions of which the parametrization C(t) = cosθ(t) is available and the extra condition θ′(t) ≥ 0, a.e. is enjoyed. This class of functions contains Blaschke products in the upper-half complex plane as a proper subclass studied by Picinbono in [1].     

Evaluation of Si liquid cooling structure with microchannel and TSV for 3D application

The development of 3D integration has caused a major technology paradigm shift to all integrated circuit (IC) devices, interconnects, and packages. Despite the benefits of 3D integration, this process faces the key challenge of thermal management, especially for high power and high density IC devices. Due to the limitations of conventional thermal solutions, liquid cooling technology has become a field of great interest for IC thermal management. In this study, an on-chip liquid cooling module with three different through Si vias (TSVs) and a fixed microchannel structure has been fabricated on an Si wafer using deep reactive ion etching and anodic bonding, followed by a grinding and dicing process. Pressure drop, coolant flow, and temperature difference before and after liquid flow were experimentally measured. TSV depth and diameter have been shown to have little effect on the change of pressure drop; however, shallower TSV depth and larger TSV diameter led to improved liquid cooling performance. The trapezoidal TSV showed slightly more effective cooling than did the scalloped TSV or the straight TSV.

     

Study on TSV isolation liners for a Via Last approach with the use in 3D-WLP for MEMS

This paper discusses approaches for the isolation of deep high aspect ratio through silicon vias (TSV) with respect to a Via Last approach for micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). Selected TSV samples have depths in the range of 170…270 µm and a diameter of 50 µm. The investigations comprise the deposition of different layer stacks by means of subatmospheric and plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) of tetraethyl orthosilicate; Si(OC₂H₅)₄ (TEOS). Moreover, an etch-back approach and the selective deposition on SiN were also included in the investigations. With respect to the Via Last approach, the contact opening at the TSV bottom by means of a specific spacer-etching method have been addressed within this paper. Step coverage values of up to 74 % were achieved for the best of those approaches. As an alternative to the SiO₂-isolation liners a polymer coating based on the CVD of Parylene F was investigated, which yields even higher step coverage in the range of 80 % at the lower TSV sidewall for a surface film thickness of about 1000 nm. Leakage current measurements were performed and values below 0.1 nA/cm² at 10 kV/cm were determined for the Parylene F films which represents a promising result for the aspired application to Via Last MEMS-TSV.     

Enhanced thermal conductivity of nanofluids: a state-of-the-art review

Adding small particles into a fluid in cooling and heating processes is one of the methods to increase the rate of heat transfer by convection between the fluid and the surface. In the past decade, a new class of fluids called nanofluids, in which particles of size 1–100 nm with high thermal conductivity are suspended in a conventional heat transfer base fluid, have been developed. It has been shown that nanofluids containing a small amount of metallic or nonmetallic particles, such as Al₂O₃, CuO, Cu, SiO₂, TiO₂, have increased thermal conductivity compared with the thermal conductivity of the base fluid. In this work, effective thermal conductivity models of nanofluids are reviewed and comparisons between experimental findings and theoretical predictions are made. The results show that there exist significant discrepancies among the experimental data available and between the experimental findings and the theoretical model predictions.     

System Reduction and Solution Algorithms for Singular Linear Difference Systems under Rational Expectations

A first-order linear difference system under rational expectations is, AEy_t+1|I_t=By_t+C(F)Ex_t|I_t , where y_t is a vector of endogenous variables;x_t is a vector ofexogenous variables; Ey_t+1|I_t is the expectation ofy_t+1 givendate t information; and C(F)Ex_t|I_t =C₀x_t+C₁Ex_t+1|I_t+dot;s +C_nEx_t+n|I_t. If the model issolvable, then y_t can be decomposed into two sets of variables:dynamicvariables d_t that evolve according toEd_t+1|I_t = Wd_t + ¶si_d(F)Ex_t|I_t and other variables thatobey the dynamicidentities f_t =–Kd_t–¶si_f(F)Ex_t|I_t. We developan algorithm for carrying out this decomposition and for constructing theimplied dynamic system. We also provide algorithms for (i) computing perfectforesight solutions and Markov decision rules; and (ii) solutions to relatedmodels that involve informational subperiods.     

On the non-existence of stationary diffusions which satisfy the Bene condition

The one-dimensional diffusion x_t satisfying dx_t = f(x_t)dt + dw_t, where w_t is a standard Brownian motion and f(x) satisfies the Bene condition f′(x) + f²(x) = ax² + bx + c for all real x, is considered. It is shown that this diffusion does not admit a stationary probability measure except for the linear case f(x) = αx + β, α < 0.     

Training for the job: evaluation of a self-defence training programme for correctional officers

Abstract

We investigated to what extent correctional officers were able to apply skills from their self-defence training in reality-based scenarios. Performance of nine self-defence skills were tested in different scenarios at three moments: before starting the self-defence training programme (Pre-test), halfway through (Post-test 1), and after (Post-test 2). Repeated measures analyses showed that performance on skills improved after the self-defence training. For each skill, however, there was a considerable number of correctional officers (range 4–73%) that showed insufficient performance on Post-test 2, indicating that after training they were not able to properly apply their skills in reality-based scenarios. Reality-based scenarios may be used to achieve fidelity in assessment of self-defence skills of correctional officers.

Practitioner summary: Self-defence training for correctional officers must be representative for the work field. By including reality-based scenarios in assessment, this study determined that correctional officers were not able to properly apply their learned skills in realistic contexts. Reality-based scenarios seem fit to detect discrepancies between training and the work field.

Abbreviations: DJI: Dutch National Agency for Correctional Insitutes; ICC: Intraclass Correlation Coefficient     

New Heuristics for the Multidimensional Vote Assignment Problem

Vote assignments are being used for the design of fault tolerant systems. They work in such a way that every node in a computer network gets assigned a certain number of votes. Furthermore, a quorum is defined. A transaction can only take place if the number of votes collected is greater than or equal to the quorum. These single dimensional vote assignments provide a compact representation of certain antichains, namely those which consist of the minimal sets of nodes achieving the quorum. Multidimensional (MD) vote assignments are a generalization of single dimensional vote assignments. In contrast to single dimensional vote assignments, MD vote assignments have the important property that every antichain has a corresponding MD vote assignment and vice versa. For the efficient design of fault tolerant systems, it is important that the dimension of a MD vote assignment is as small as possible. We introduce some new heuristics for calculating a MD vote assignment which perform better than the heuristics known so far. Received: October 5, 1998; revised July 20, 1999