Drivers and enablers of supplier sustainability practices: a survey-based analysis

A rich research stream investigates the drivers and enablers of supplier sustainability practices, usually classified into suppliers’ monitoring and collaboration with suppliers. Differently from previous works analysing relationships between supplier sustainability practices and drivers or enablers, this research investigates how well-defined configurations of monitoring and collaboration can be characterised in terms of drivers and enablers. In this way, it intends to advance knowledge by identifying what drivers and enablers are important and distinctive for the different configurations of supplier sustainability practices. A first result is that moving from configurations of plants which less adopt supplier sustainability practices (i.e. non-adopters) to those which invest on monitoring and/or collaboration to a limited extent (i.e. partial adopters) up to the most advanced ones (i.e. full-adopters), the pressure due to cost reduction lessens its relative importance as a driver, while the pressure due to regulations remains essential. Other relevant results are that plant size acts as a barrier for non-adopters, and the alignment between the sustainability project and plant goals results determinant especially for full-adopters. This research also enriches the debate on the opportunity of differentiating between supplier monitoring and collaboration when investigating drivers/enablers, providing evidence of the risk of oversimplifications for some enablers/drivers.     

电阻层析成像技术及其在水合物开采模拟实验中的应用

电阻层析成像是一种可视化的无损测量手段,可以为天然气水合物开采过程室内模拟实验提供有效的监测途径。首先介绍了电阻层析成像技术的工作原理、发展历程与应用现状,重点对电阻层析成像技术在天然气水合物室内模拟实验方面的主要应用进行了综述,并分析了存在的问题,在此基础上给出了解决问题的建议,为下一步开展水合物的电阻层析成像实验提供参考。     

Transmission of medical messages of patient using control signal of cellular network

The healthcare system needs to track and monitor patients’ status and information. One of the most important requirements is that the patient is able to access the service anywhere at any time. Systems are being developed using the Internet to monitor patients’ status, and in some areas, especially rural areas and motorways, the Internet may not be available, even though the mobile network is available. In some cases, the network might be overloaded, so the patient information cannot be delivered to the hospital or medical centre. We propose a new method that uses the spare extension of the random access channel (RACH), which is carried by physical random access channel (PRACH) to send the patient information to the medical centre. We present the mathematical model of the channel and compare the results with another system from 3GPP to evaluate the results. The results show that the proposed method needs less time to transmit the patient’s information.     

Real‐time thermal states monitoring of absorber tube for parabolic trough solar collector with non‐uniform solar flux

With the world energy shortage problem becoming increasingly prominent, more and more attentions have been paid to the development of renewable energies. Among these sources, solar energy has received extensive attention with its excellent characteristics. The thermal state affects the safety of the solar heat collection system. In this paper, real‐time monitoring of the input heat flux on the inside wall and the temperature field simultaneously of an absorber tube for parabolic trough solar collector were studied. Based on the measured temperatures on the outside wall, the fuzzy adaptive Kalman filter coupled with weighted recursive least squares algorithm (WRLSA) was employed to monitor the heat states of the absorber tube inversely, in which WRLSA was used to acquire the heat flux while fuzzy adaptive Kalman filter was adopted to monitor the temperature field. The method showed strong robustness to resist the ill‐posedness. Accurate monitoring results also can be acquired when there are random disturbances of the heat transfer condition on the inner wall.     

Preloading using fill surcharge and prefabricated vertical drains for an airport

This paper presents the field measurements and analysis of a preloading project with the installation of prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) in Wenzhou, China. At the site, PVDs were installed to a depth of 22?m from the ground surface with a spacing of 1.5?m in a triangular pattern. The preloading fill thickness was 6?m with a unit weight of approximately 18 kN/m³. After a total elapsed time of 310 days, approximately 3?m thick fill was removed. The measured preloading settlement was approximately 1.5?m. The measurements and analytical results indicated that the soil layer with PVD improvement reached almost 100% primary consolidation when part of the fill was removed. After partial unloading, the PVD-improved zone was in an over-consolidated state. After the runway was opened for traffic, a settlement increment of approximately 7?mm was monitored over a period of 11 months. Analysis indicated that the settlement was mainly due to the consolidation of soil layers below the PVD-improved zone and post-surcharge secondary consolidation of the PVD-improved zone. The values of the parameters related to PVD improvement were back-estimated from the field measurements. These findings can be used to guide the design of PVDs improvement along the east coast of China.     

Corticosteroids in liver and urine in Sicilian cattle by a LC-MS/MS method

The presence of corticosteroid residues was assessed in urine and liver samples from livestock of Sicily. A total of 630 bovine samples were collected from farms and slaughterhouses. The samples were analysed using solid-phase extraction (SPE) coupled with ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC–MS/MS). All the corticosteroids found were under the maximum residue limit imposed by Commission Regulation (EC) 37/2010. About 4% of liver samples showed dexamethasone levels above the limit of detection (LOD), with a mean of 1.5 ± 0.2 µg kg^?1. Betamethasone was found only in seven liver samples, with a mean of 1.6 ± 0.1 µg kg^?1. Furthermore, prednisolone and prednisone were found only in urine and liver samples from slaughterhouse, probably related to the high rate of stress for bovines. These results suggest good control practices adopted by Sicilian farms, able to ensure the quality of food products.     

用于矿山等极端环境中的高精度定位算法

高精度室内定位技术在矿山、建筑、施工等多种极端环境下都有需求。基于超宽带通信(Ultra Wideband,UWB)的室内定位技术能够提供较高的定位精度,但超宽带信号易受到障碍物的干扰,并且在类似矿山等极端环境中,障碍物不可避免。因此,超宽带非视线传输(Non-Line-of-Sight,NLoS)测距成为当前的一个研究热点。当前研究大多集中在识别和消除非视线传输对超宽带测距的影响上,实际应用中,大多数情形下超宽带信号根本无法穿透障碍物,会导致定位标签只能够与2个或1个信标节点通信,但完成三边定位至少需要3个信标节点。为此,提出了一种基于目标行为分析的定位算法,该算法能够在短时间内仅剩余一个信标节点与标签通信时,也可实现高精度定位。该算法以超宽带通信为基础,使用信号飞行时间(Time of Flight,TOF)算法测距并定位。通过分析信号正常时的目标运动轨迹来判断其速度和方向,当信号不正常时(可通信的信标节点减少),可利用预测的速度和方向参数来实现辅助定位。将该算法部署在一个基于超宽带定位的系统中进行了测试,结果表明:当能够与标签通信并完成TOF算法的信标节点数量少于3个时,基于NLoS传输识别和消除的算法无法完成定位,而基于目标行为分析的定位算法依然能够实现定位,在单信标节点区域的平均定位误差为0.93 m,最大误差为1.41 m,在2个信标节点测距的区域,平均定位误差为0.64 m,最大误差为1.2 m。     

地下输水隧洞围岩稳定监测系统设计研究

在地下隧洞施工输水整个环节中,施工环境复杂多变。由于地质岩体结构应力、地下水以及岩体力学构造等各方面的不确定、不稳定因素的影响极大,如果仅依靠传统经验来进行管理,已经不符合现代化管理的最基本要求,也无法达到标准化管理。文章首先阐述了地下输水隧洞围岩稳定监测系统设计的目的,然后对设计输水隧洞围岩稳定监测系统进行了分析,以便及时正确掌控地下输水的隧洞围岩发展状态,保证隧洞施工的顺利完成。     

矿山深部开采岩体稳定性监测技术研究

针对矿山深部开采过程中易发生地压动力灾害的问题，基于微震监测技术，结合矿山实际特点建立岩体稳定性监测系统。优化台网设计，通过定点爆破的方法进行波速校正，最终建立了定位误差在10m,灵敏度在-2.2的监测台网。对监测数据进行波形拾取，分析微震事件时空演化特征，圈定潜在危险区域，并对潜在危险区域围岩变形损伤进行分析。最终总结出微震事件大幅度上升且处于较高水平、空间分布高度集聚、能量指数突然下降而累计视体积迅速上升的动力灾害预警前兆。研究结果可为深部开采岩体稳定性监测提供参考。