How scientific research incorporates policy: an examination using the case of China’s science and technology evaluation system

Scientometrics - Governments typically formulate sets of policies to guide the direction of scientific research. And the possible effects of these policies on scientific research have been...     

Consolidation considering increasing soil column radius for dredged slurries improved by vacuum preloading method

Soil column is often investigated in the improvement of dredged slurries. Different from the smear zone, the soil column forms gradually and has extremely low permeability. This study presents an analytical solution for soil consolidation considering the increasing radius of the soil column and time-dependent discharge capacity. Based on the solution, the influence of the radius' increase on the consolidation behavior is found significant when the soil column has low permeability and large final radius, and the increase of formation time can lead to the increase of consolidation speed and final consolidation degree.     

Experimental study on the load bearing behavior of geosynthetic reinforced soil bridge abutments with different facing conditions

This paper presents an experimental study on reduced-scale model tests of geosynthetic reinforced soil (GRS) bridge abutments with modular block facing, full-height panel facing, and geosynthetic wrapped facing to investigate the influence of facing conditions on the load bearing behavior. The GRS abutment models were constructed using sand backfill and geogrid reinforcement. Test results indicate that footing settlements and facing displacements under the same applied vertical stress generally increase from full-height panel facing abutment, to modular block facing abutment, to geosynthetic wrapped facing abutment. Measured incremental vertical and lateral soil stresses for the two GRS abutments with flexible facing are generally similar, while the GRS abutment with rigid facing has larger stresses. For the GRS abutments with flexible facing, maximum reinforcement tensile strain in each layer typically occurs under the footing for the upper reinforcement layers and near the facing connections for the lower layers. For the full-height panel facing abutment, maximum reinforcement tensile strains generally occur near the facing connections.     

Machining accuracy improvement for a dual-spindle ultra-precision drum roll lathe based on geometric error analysis and calibration

This paper performs a comprehensive analysis and calibration on the geometric error of the ultra-precision drum roll lathe with dual-spindle symmetrical structure and cross slider layout. Firstly, the volumetric error model which contains all geometric errors of the dual-spindle ultra-precision drum roll lathe (DSUPDRL) is developed based on the combination of the homogenous transfer matrix (HTM) and multi-body system (MBS) theory. Secondly, sensitivity analysis for the volumetric error model is conducted to identify the sensitive geometric error components of the DSUPDRL using an improved Sobol method based on the quasi-Monte Carlo algorithm. The result of sensitivity analysis laid the foundation for the subsequent geometric error calibration. Then, some sensitive error components along the X and Z directions are calibrated using a laser interferometer and a pair of inductance displacement probes. Besides the volumetric error model, the concentricity error caused by dual-spindle symmetrical structure is proposed and calibrated by the on-machine measurement using a classic reversal method. Finally, a large-scale roller mold with a diameter of 250 mm and a length of 600 mm is machined using the DSUPDRL after calibration. The experimental result shows that 1.4 μm/600 mm generatrix accuracy is obtained, which validate the effectiveness of the geometric error analysis and calibration.     

Cutting parameter optimization for one-step shaft excavation technique based on parallel cutting method

The outcome of the cutting blasting in a one-step shaft excavation is heavily related to the cutting parameters used for parallel cutting method. In this study, the relationships between the cutting parameters (such as the hole spacing L and the empty hole diameter D) and damage zones were investigated by numerical simulation. A damage state index γ was introduced and used to characterize the crushing and crack damage zones through a user-defined subroutine. Two indices, i.e., η₁ and η₂ that can reflect the cutting performance, were also introduced. The simulation results indicate that an optimal value of L can be obtained so that the η₁ and η₂ can reach their optimal states for the best cutting performance. A larger D results in better cutting performance when the L value maintains its best. In addition, the influences of the loading rate and the in-situ stress on the cutting performance were investigated. It is found that an explosive with a high loading rate is suit for cutting blasting. The propagation direction and the length of the tensile cracks are affected by the direction and the magnitude of the maximum principal stress.     

Preparation and properties of Eu and Dy co-doped strontium aluminate long afterglow nanomaterials

The long afterglow nanomaterials of strontium aluminate co-doped by Eu and Dy have been synthesized by co-precipitation combined hydrothermal method. The effects of hydrothermal time, calcination time, pH value, the amount of aluminum nitrate, activator, co-activator and flux H₃BO₃ on the fluorescence properties of the product were investigated by means of single factor optimization experiment. Then the orthogonal experiment was employed to obtain the optimal synthesis conditions that are as follows: n_Dy/n_Eu = 2.5, t_c = 2.5?h, n_Eu/n_Sr = 0.02, t_h = 8?h. Subsequently, the optimal synthesis conditions were verified by three repeated experiments, and the obtained products were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and fluorescence spectrometer. The results showed that the synthesized target products all were the mixed crystal phase of SrAl₂O₄ and Sr₄Al_l4O₂₅. The particles presented regular spherical-like with size ~ 100?nm. The dopants Eu and Dy were confirmed existed in the SrAl₂O₄ powders. The fluorescence and afterglow data of the target products were better than that in the orthogonal experiment scheme. The primary emission spectra band was in the range of 400–600?nm with characteristic peak located at ~ 460?nm corresponding to the transitions of Eu²⁺ ions from 4f⁶5d→4f⁷, and the blue light can be observed by naked eyes. The similar fast-decaying and slow-decaying processes were displayed in all the afterglow curves, and the initial afterglow brightness of the target product is apparently higher than that of products synthesized by the orthogonal experiment. The synthesized target products, which show excellent long afterglow performance, present a great application prospects in the aspects of ceramics, plastics, arts and crafts, ink and coating.     

Uncovering sentiment and retweet patterns of disaster-related tweets from a spatiotemporal perspective – A case study of Hurricane Harvey

Social media has been widely used for emergency communication both in disaster-affected areas and unaffected areas. Comparing emotional reaction and information propagation between on-site users and off-site users from a spatiotemporal perspective can help better comprehend collective human behavior during natural disasters. In this study, we investigate sentiment and retweet patterns of disaster-affected areas and disaster-unaffected areas at different stages of Hurricane Harvey. The results show that off-site tweets were more negative than on-site tweets, especially during the disaster. As for retweet patterns, indifferent-neutral and positive tweets spread broader than mixed-neutral and negative tweets. However, negative tweets spread faster than positive tweets, which reveals that social media users were more sensitive to negative information in disaster situations. With the development of the disaster, social media users were more sensitive to on-site positive messages than off-site negative posts. This data-driven study reveals the significant effect of sentiment expression on the publication and re-distribution of disaster-related messages. It generates implications for emergency communication and disaster management.     

P91钢管道异常低硬度部位的组织和性能

对电厂运行过程中发现的P91钢主蒸汽管道的低硬度部位进行了微观组织观察、短时力学性能试验和高温持久强度试验,分析了其硬度偏低的原因。结果表明,低硬度区域P91钢组织为铁素体+析出物,位错密度较低,M₂₃C₆相在晶界处粗化聚集,同时析出新相Laves相,使得P91钢的短时力学性能和高温持久强度下降严重。     

第七届世界军人运动会核与辐射风险评估与控制

武汉市涉核单位众多,存在一定的核与辐射事故风险。通过对武汉市举办第七届世界军人运动会可能存在的核与辐射风险因素进行识别及评价,确定可能发生的12类核与辐射事故类型及风险水平,进而有针对性的制定风险防控措施,做到辐射应急管理关口前移,在保证军运会期间核技术利用单位正常生产活动的基础上有效的保障了核与辐射安全。     

R-DRA: a replication-based distributed randomized algorithm for data dissemination in connected vehicular networks

Wireless Networks - As data dissemination is of great importance for applications in connected vehicular networks (VANETs), we aim to facilitate the performance of data dissemination in this study....