Science fiction reduces the eeriness of android robots: A field experiment

As suggested by the uncanny valley hypothesis, robots that resemble humans likely elicit feelings of eeriness. Based on the psychological model of meaning maintenance, we expected that the uncanny valley experience could be mitigated through a fictional story, due to the meaning-generating function of narratives. A field experiment was conducted, in which 75 participants interacted with the humanlike robot Telenoid. Prior to the interaction, they either read a short story, a non-narrative leaflet about the robot, or they received no preliminary information. Eeriness ratings were significantly lower in the science fiction condition than in both other conditions. This effect was mediated by higher perceived human-likeness of the robot. Our findings suggest that science fiction may provide meaning for otherwise unsettling future technologies.     

Aflatoxin contamination and exposure in processed cereal-based complementary foods for infants and young children in greater Accra,Ghana

In the study, aflatoxin levels were assessed in thirty five (35) cereal-based food products intended for infants and young children. Additionally, the results showed that 71% of the processed foods intended for infants contained AFB₁ (0.18 ± 0.01 to 36.10 ± 0.32 μgkg⁻¹) levels higher than the European Union permissible limits of 0.1 μg kg⁻¹. Aflatoxin intake was estimated using aflatoxin levels in the food products and the estimated individual consumption rates. The study also revealed mixed cereals as having the highest intake of aflatoxin B₁ contaminants (0.005–0.852 μgkg⁻¹bw d⁻¹; 0.004–0.657 μgkg⁻¹bwd⁻¹) with mean estimated daily intake (EDI) of 0.23 ± 0.16 μgkg⁻¹bwd⁻¹ and 0.153 ± 0.13 μgkg⁻¹bwd⁻¹ for infants and young children respectively. The estimated AFT intake recorded for infants and young children for all the cereal-based food ranged from 0.005 to 1.054 μgkg⁻¹bwd⁻¹ and 0.004–0.838 μgkg⁻¹bwd⁻¹ respectively.     

Experiment and Simulation of Metal Flow in Multi-stage Forming Process of Railway Wheel

To investigate the metal flow during the railway wheel forming process,experiments and finite element method(FEM)simulation were carried out.An axisymmetric modeling for the wheel rolling process was proposed to predict the metal flow in radial direction,by which the whole multi-stage forming process could be simulated in axisymmetric and integral way.The result shows that the axisymmetric simulation method was an effective method to explore the metal flow in radial direction and to analyze the relationships of tools motion during the wheel rolling.The detail information about metal flow in railway wheel forming process was obtained.The metal in the wheel web was from the area near the half radius of the original billet;the chill zone of the billet became an envelope of the rim and part of the web with a maximum thickness of about 6mm below the tread.At the wheel rolling stage,the metal in the rim flowed towards the web;the metal near the surfaces of the conjunction region between the web and rim suffered severe shear deformation.     

A generic approach for examining the effectiveness of traffic control devices in school zones

The effectiveness and performance of traffic control devices in school zones have been impacted significantly by many factors, such as driver behavioral attributes, roadway geometric features, environmental characteristics, weather and visibility conditions, region-wide traffic regulations and policies, control modes, etc. When deploying traffic control devices in school zones, efforts are needed to clarify: (1) whether traffic control device installation is warranted; and (2) whether other device effectively complements this traffic control device and strengthens its effectiveness. In this study, a generic approach is developed to examine and evaluate the effectiveness of various traffic control devices deployed in school zones through driving simulator-based experiments. A Traffic Control Device Selection Model (TCDSM) is developed and two representative school zones are selected as the testbed in Beijing for driving simulation implementation to enhance its applicability. Statistical analyses are conducted to extract the knowledge from test data recorded by a driving simulator. Multiple measures of effectiveness (MOEs) are developed and adopted including average speed, relative speed difference, and standard deviation of acceleration for traffic control device performance quantification. The experimental tests and analysis results reveal that the appropriateness of the installation of certain traffic control devices can be statistically verified by TCDSM. The proposed approach provides a generic framework to assess traffic control device performance in school zones including experiment design, statistical formulation, data analysis, simulation model implementation, data interpretation, and recommendation development.     

H2S Reactive Absorption from Off‐Gas in a Spray Column: Insights from Experiments and Modeling

H₂S removal from an off‐gas stream was performed in a spray column by H₂S reactive absorption into a NaOH solution. The individual and interactive effects of three independent operating variables on the percentage of absorbed H₂S were investigated: the initial pH of the scrubbing solution, the initial scrubbing solution temperature, and the volumetric liquid‐to‐gas ratio. The optimum operating variables were determined by response surface methodology (RSM) attaining a percentage of absorbed H₂S of 98.7 ± 0.2 %. Additionally, the process performance was modeled by an artificial neural network (ANN) to predict the percentage of absorbed H₂S. The results showed that the experimental data agreed better with the ANN model than with the RSM results.     

生物负载微孔渗水型混凝土对土壤中残留毒死蜱的去除试验

为了解决农村农药面源污染问题，利用小流量渗透法将毒死蜱降解菌负载在微孔渗水型混凝土上，研究不同降雨强度下不同孔隙率混凝土对毒死蜱的降解截留效果。结果表明:对于3种不同透水系数的微孔混凝土，微孔渗水型混凝土负载生物量和生物活性随孔隙率增大呈先升高后降低趋势；对于两种不同的降雨强度，毒死蜱降解率最优的都是孔隙率为48.1%的试样；降雨强度较大时，土壤中毒死蜱析出质量浓度较高，且降雨强度越大析出速度越快，试样对析出的毒死蜱降解效果越差。微孔渗水型混凝土对土壤中残留毒死蜱具有较好的去除效果，材料本身具有高强度、高寿命、低成本等特点，在土壤护坡、河流护岸等方面具有较好的应用前景。     

土壤中石油污染物的脱附过程

文章中主要采用有机溶剂萃取法（OSE）对高浓度石油污染土壤进行修复，经过精馏操作，有效回收原油，建立脱附等温曲线，研究了石油污染物在土壤-有机溶剂两相间的迁移规律。     

Kinetic Monte Carlo simulation of hydrogen production from photocatalytic water splitting in the presence of methanol by 1 wt% Au/TiO2

In this research, using the kinetic Monte Carlo simulation (KMC), the hydrogen production from a water-methanol mixture using Au/TiO₂ photocatalyst is investigated. A mechanism is proposed, and the rate constants of the reaction steps are specified. The reaction rate constants of different steps and the concentration of the active sites on the photocatalyst surface were determined. An excellent match between simulated and experimental data confirms the results. The electron-hole pair production, methanol adsorption on the photocatalyst surface, and electron-hole recombination steps are considered the most critical steps. To study the effects of independent variables (initial concentration of methanol, photocatalyst dosage, pH, and time of reaction) on the produced hydrogen, a combination of KMC simulation and design of experiment was employed. The concentration of photocatalysis has the highest and pH has the lowest effect on the hydrogen production. The optimal conditions for photocatalytic hydrogen production are presented.