Human responses to high levels of carbon dioxide and air temperature

In this study, 30 subjects were exposed to different combinations of air temperature (T_a: 24, 27, and 30°C) and CO₂ level (8000, 10 000, and 12 000 ppm) in a high-humidity (RH: 85%) underground climate chamber. Subjective assessments, physiological responses, and cognitive performance were investigated. The results showed that as compared with exposure to T_a = 24°C, exposure to 30°C at all CO₂ levels caused subjects to feel uncomfortably warm and experience stronger odor intensity, while increased mental effort and greater intensity of acute health symptoms were reported. However, no significant effects of T_a on task performance or physiological responses were found. This indicated that subjects had to exert more effort to maintain their performance in an uncomfortably warm environment. Increasing CO₂ from 8000 to 12 000 ppm at all T_a caused subjects to report higher rates of headache, fatigue, agitation, and feeling depressed, although the results were statistically significant only at 24 and 27°C. The text typing performance and systolic blood pressure (SBP) decreased significantly at this exposure, whereas diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and thermal discomfort increased significantly. These effects suggest higher arousal/stress. No significant interaction effect of T_a and CO₂ concentration on human responses was identified.     

Indoor solid fuel use for heating and cooking with blood pressure and hypertension: A cross-sectional study among middle-aged and older adults in China

A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the impact of solid fuel use for heating and cooking on blood pressure (BP) and hypertension, using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). The primary fuels used for indoor heating and cooking were collected by questionnaires, respectively. Hypertension was defined based on self-report of physician's diagnosis, and/or measured BP, and/or anti-hypertensive medication use. Multivariate logistic regression models were constructed to assess the associations. Among 10 450 eligible participants, 68.2% and 57.2% used indoor solid fuel for heating and cooking, respectively. Compared with none/clean fuel users, solid fuel for heating was associated with elevated BP (adjusted β: 2.02, 95% CI: 1.04–3.01 for systolic BP; adjusted β: 1.36, 95% CI: 0.78–1.94 for diastolic BP) and increased risk of hypertension (adjusted odds ratio: 1.15, 95% CI: 1.03–1.29). The impact of indoor solid fuel for heating on BP was more evident in rural and north residents, and hypertensive patients. We did not detect any significant associations between solid fuel use for cooking and BP/hypertension. Indoor solid fuel use is prevalent in China, especially in the rural areas. Its negative impact on BP suggested that modernization of household fuel use may help to reduce the burden of hypertension in China.     

浙江沿海地区基于社会脆弱空间的乡村可持续发展研究策略

乡村可持续发展包含自然、经济和社会可持续,是乡村发展与村民获得感和幸福感紧密结合的三个重要组成部分.但是,相比自然和经济领域,现有文献针对社会文化领域的研究较少,主要原因之一是社会文化缺乏有效的表征手段.文章基于社会脆弱性研究,提出的乡村社会脆弱空间的分类、判定方法,能够推进乡村社会可持续发展研究和实践.此外,乡村社会脆弱空间是乡村治理、乡村韧性、乡村振兴"经济社会生态效益相统一"的重要内容.     

堤坝隐患无损探测技术综述

堤坝无损探测技术包括物探和化探方法,已广泛地应用于渗漏、洞穴等堤坝隐患探测.本文对各种探测方法的基本原理、优点、缺点、探测深度、应用条件和应用领域等进行系统的总结.最后总结影响堤坝隐患探测效果的三个因素:探测对象的复杂性、单一探测方法的不足和物探方法的局限性;并提出三点提高探测效果的建议.     

Efficient topography optimization of a washing machine cabinet to reduce radiated noise during the dehydration process

Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology - In modern society, the use of washing machines has increased owing to increased interest in personal hygiene. Over the years, the performance of...     

Lower temperature hydrothermal pretreatment improves the anaerobic digestion performance of spent cow bedding

The anaerobic digestion (AD) performance of spent cow bedding was investigated with different hydrothermal pretreatment (HP) conditions. Spent cow bedding was pretreated with low temperatures (50, 70, and 90℃) and different pretreatment times (2-72 h) with ammonia and without ammonia. The results showed that spent cow bedding was a good raw material for AD. After pretreatment, the concentration of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) in the group of hydrothermal pretreatments with ammonia (HPA) was higher than that in the HP group at the same pretreatment temperature and time. The optimal pretreatment condition was achieved with an HPA of 50℃ holding for 72 h. At the optimal condition, the highest concentration of VFAs was 1.58-10.85 times higher than that of the other pretreated groups. The highest hemicellulose and lignin removal rates were 58.07% and 10.32%, respectively. The highest methane yield was 163.0 ml·(g VS)^-1, which was 48.9% higher than that of the untreated group. The VFAs, pH, and reducing sugars showed positive relationships with the methane yield. Therefore, HP at low temperature can enhance the AD performance of spent cow bedding.     

核电站结构模块组装工艺实践与分析

AP系列核电建设引入了"模块化"施工的理念,以国内某核电站2台机组CA20模块为例,从实践经验出发,介绍卧式和立式2种组装工艺,对2种工艺的特点进行分析对比,提出结构模块组装工作的相关建议,为后续同类型核电项目施工提供参考.     

寻找城中村与城市的罅隙——以广州市为例

随着城市的扩张,城中村不知不觉地被卷入这场城市化运动中.文章以广州城中村为例,寻找城中村与城市存在罅隙的原因,进一步具体阐释了其在物质形态、文化意识形态、经济社会结构方面与城市存在的罅隙,以找到解决问题的办法,达成城中村与城市融合共生的目的,不赞成以"一刀切"的方式进行大拆大建.     

城市埋地管线的安全风险评估研究

在城市建设过程中,建筑物与构筑物的安全问题始终占据首位,城市埋地管线的安全问题日益严峻.重点探讨城市埋地管线第三方破坏因素对埋地管线的影响,利用模糊层次分析法,确定因素集,建立判断矩阵并进行各因素的权重求解,通过可拓学原理建立节域物元、关联度和等级评价体系,对计算结果进行等级评价,得出在第三方破坏因素影响下城市埋地管线的安全风险等级,所得到的结论对埋地管线施工的安全问题有一定的指导意义.     

A simple design approach to analyse the piled embankment including tensile reinforcement and subsoil contributions

There is not one generally accepted approach for the design of geogrid-reinforced pile-supported (GRPS) embankments. Relevant mechanisms include arching of the embankment material, but also the effect of geogrid reinforcement and potentially a contribution from the underlying subsoil. This paper presents a simple design approach to identify the contribution of all three mechanisms, in which the contribution of multi-layered geogrid reinforcement is also presented. To validate the theoretical predictions for the effect of geogrid reinforcement and the potential contribution of underlying subsoil, a series of three-dimensional finite element analyses are conducted. It is found that a point of ‘maximum arching’ is increased with the height of embankment. This study also presents that the reinforcement could reduce the ultimate stress on the subsoil. However, this requires significant sag of the reinforcement. It is found that the sag of reinforcement is very sensitive to the span of the reinforcement between piles, but relatively insensitive to the stiffness of the reinforcement. For a case with three layers of geogrid, the upper two grids carry relatively little tension compared to the bottom layer. This in turn leads to an approximate but simple equation of vertical equilibrium which may be of use in design.