Safety Climate in Construction Industry: A Case Study in Hong Kong

Because of the characteristics of decentralization and mobility in the construction industry, safety culture is crucially important. A comprehensive safety climate questionnaire survey was conducted with all sites and employees of a leading construction company and its subcontractors in Hong Kong. In total, 4,719 records were returned from 54 sites. By means of factor analysis, a 15-factor structure that defines the dimensions of the safety climate has been extracted. Compared with previous research studies, the roles and influences of fellow workers, and safety resources on the safety climate are emphasized. The results also confirm the feasibility of exploring common factors of the safety climate in the construction industry. Through further analysis, logistic regression was used to explore the relationship between the safety climate and personal characteristics. Statistically significant relationships were found between safety climate and personal characteristics, including gender, marital status, education level, number of family members to support, safety knowledge, drinking habits, direct employer, and individual safety behavior. This research is a case study and the results are derived from the data of one company, but the methodology of this research may be useful as a model for further research, and the findings may provide useful information for construction managers and safety practitioners in the construction industry to improve their safety culture.     

Are Trends in Work and Health Conditions Interrelated? A Study of Swedish Hospital Employees in the 1990s.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 14(1) of Journal of Occupational Health Psychology (see record 2008-19186-009). This particular study was based upon a unique database (the Springlife database), with repeated questionnaire self-reports from hospital staff in the ?rebro Regional Hospital in Sweden regarding work environment and mental health in the years 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, and 2001. The Springlife database was referred to in the text and references of the article noted above, but it should have been more clearly acknowledged. Herewith the authors want to make this late acknowledgement. The database actually started in the fall of 1993 with the regional hospital's physicians and continued with all hospital staff during the spring 1994.] Swedish hospital personnel were followed over an 8-year period, characterized by staff redundancies and restructuring processes. Self-rated and administrative data sets from 1994 to 2001 allowed for studying long-term consequences of organizational instability for staff health and work conditions. The aim was to identify, on a work-unit level, trends in work and health conditions and their interdependence. Regression analysis showed a downward trend in mental health and an upward trend in long-term sick leave. Increasing trends of work demands were accompanied by deteriorating mental health, and decreasing time to plan work showed the strongest association with increasing long-term sick leave. Job satisfaction and support were decreasing. A stable short-term sick leave rate over years related to lack of support. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

川北地区高校开展课余篮球文化活动的现状与分析——以西华师范大学为例

课余篮球文化活动是校园篮球文化活动的重要组成部分.通过文献资料法、专家访谈法、问卷调查法和数据统计法等对西华师范大学课余篮球文化活动的开展现状及师生对篮球文化活动的认知情况进行研究,分析课余篮球文化活动开展中存在的不足,提出解决问题的方法,推动学校篮球文化建设.     

Urban Heat Island and Boundary Layer Structures under Hot Weather Synoptic Conditions: A Case Study of Suzhou City, China

A strong urban heat island (UHI) appeared in a hot weather episode in Suzhou City during the period from 25 July to 1 August 2007.This paper analyzes the urban heat island characteristics of Suzhou City under this hot weather episode.Both meteorological station observations and MODIS satellite observations show a strong urban heat island in this area.The maximum UHI intensity in this hot weather episode is 2.2℃,which is much greater than the summer average of 1.0℃ in this year and the 37-year (from 1970 to 2006) average of 0.35℃.The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model simulation results demonstrate that the rapid urbanization processes in this area will enhance the UHI in intensity,horizontal distribution,and vertical extension.The UHI spatial distribution expands as the urban size increases.The vertical extension of UHI in the afternoon increases about 50 m higher under the year 2006 urban land cover than that under the 1986 urban land cover.The conversion from rural land use to urban land type also strengthens the local lake-land breeze circulations in this area and modifies the vertical wind speed field.     

Status of Women in the Psychological Community in the Southeast: A Case Study.

The Executive Committee of the Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA) appointed a Commission on the Status of Women in the spring of 1972. The Commission was charged to describe the status of women in psychology in the Southeast, to develop an affirmative action plan, and to present a report at the annual meeting in 1973. The Commission conducted studies assessing women in the role of faculty, administrators, private practitioners, researchers, graduate students, and SEPA members, through surveys of female and male psychologists, members and nonmembers of SEPA, PhD students, department chairs, and, in one case, a controlled experiment on undergraduates of both sexes. This article reports some of the results of these studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats: Case Study of Consulting Firms in Shenzhen, China

After China became a member of the World Trade Organization, Chinese architectural, engineering, and project management consulting firms faced competition from not only their domestic competitors but also from foreign firms. As most Chinese consulting firms are used to operating under a protected setting, they may face difficulties competing in the globalized environment. This research involves a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis of Chinese consulting firms based in Shenzhen; investigates how they respond to opportunities and threats; and recommends how foreign firms can respond to Chinese consulting firms’ SWOT. The case study research design is adopted. Using semistructured interview questions, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 23 Chinese consulting firms based in Shenzhen. Foreign firms’ responses are investigated through a case study of a U.S.-based consulting firm operating in China. The SWOT analysis reveals that Chinese consulting firms are lagging behind foreign firms in design and technical capability; experience in international projects; general and project management ability; and financial capacity. Industry practitioners from outside China who are contemplating entering the Chinese market can leverage on Chinese firms’ strengths by forming joint ventures with them. Foreign industry practitioners can take advantage of Chinese firms’ weaknesses by offering superior products and services which would improve their competitive advantage.     

储层流动单元研究在油田老区挖潜中的应用——以吉林油田乾146区块开发为例

吉林油田乾146区块经多年开采,已经进入高含水、高采出阶段.通过储层流动单元研究,运用多参数模糊聚类方法将该区高台子油层由好至差划分为A、B、C、D、E 5类储层流动单元.查明了区内主要目的层系各含油小层的储层流动单元发育特征:40、39小层主要发育A、B类优质储层流动单元,42、41、38小层则以C、D、E类储层流动单元为主,各小层储层流动单元类型及展布与初始产能吻合度较高,表明储层流动单元类型的差异是控制本区油气分布的重要因素之一.综合油藏地质特征及油田开发动态数据,对各储层流动单元的注采渗流体系进行了深入剖析,归纳总结出乾146区块高台子油层XII砂组中剩余油分布的5条规律,据此在剩余油分布预测区部署了1口扩边井和2口老区加密井,投产后分别获得了11,2 t/d、5,5 t/d和8.6 t/d的初始产能.     

基于GIS与层次分析法的综合成矿预测--以新疆库米什地区为例

新疆库米什地区植被覆盖率低、基岩裸露度高,为遥感地质找矿提供了良好条件。为了提高该地区的找矿效率、实现找矿突破,系统收集了库米什地区的矿产、地质及遥感资料,并采用"掩膜+Crosta主成分分析+阈值分割"方法从ETM+遥感数据中提取了蚀变异常信息。在矿产、地质和遥感多源信息的基础上,总结出矿(化)点、岩体内外接触带、蚀变带、断层、羟基蚀变异常信息和铁染蚀变异常信息6个控矿因子,采用基于知识驱动的层次分析法建立了成矿预测模型,利用数学方法和GIS平台完成了综合成矿预测。最后,以部分未加入模型的矿点与野外实地考察结果,验证了成矿预测效果。结果表明:运用层次分析法在新疆库米什地区初步进行多源信息综合成矿预测,其结果具有一定的准确性,能够为该区进一步地质找矿工作提供参考。     

杂合中建立第三空间——以杨宪益戴乃迭《阿Q正传》英译本为例

归化与异化策略同时应用即"杂合"翻译策略.本文通过对鲁迅小说<阿Q正传>英文译本的解读,探究其中杨宪益戴乃迭杂合策略的运用,从而证实杂合的客观性、普遍性及其文化意义.     

Electrocoagulation of Silica Nanoparticles in Wafer Polishing Wastewater by a Multichannel Flow Reactor: A Kinetic Study

A simplistic and systematic procedure has been developed for the design and upscaling of a multichannel, continuous-flow electrocoagulation reactor of monopolar configuration for the removal of submicron particles from wastewater. Using wastewater generated from the chemical-mechanical planarization process as the target wastewater, a series of laboratory-scale studies were conducted to determine the required operating conditions for the efficient removal of the ultrafine silica particles. These operating criteria included charge loading ( ≥ 8?F/m3), current density ( ≥ 5.7?A/m2), hydraulic retention time ( ≥ 60?min), as well as the initial pH (7–10). Furthermore, a steady-state transport equation with second-order reaction kinetics was employed to describe the rate of coagulation as the rate-limiting factor. The actual kinetic constant determined from the laboratory-scale experiments was approximately 1.2×10?21?m3/s, which was three orders of magnitude smaller than that calculated based on Brownian coagulation. The model was subsequently validated with a series of experiments using a pilot-scale electrocoagulation reactor geometrically similar to the laboratory-scale reactor with nearly 20 times volumetric scaleup.     

Corrugation Reinforced Architectured Materials by Direct Laser Hardening: A Study of Geometrically Induced Work Hardening in Steel

Improving the strength-to-ductility trade-off remains the prime driving force for the development of advanced high-strength steel. Traditionally research breakthroughs are focused on the microstructure and relative phase composition. Herein, laser hardening is applied to ductile ferritic steel to introduce straight and corrugated martensitic reinforcements, effectively generating architectured steel sheets. Tensile behavior of laser-architectured samples is studied both using finite-element method simulation and mechanical testing to reveal the effect of laser-induced corrugations on strength and necking strain. The results show that with the same reinforced volume fraction of 24%, an increase in corrugation height/period leads to a gain in necking strain with a loss in yield strength and ultimate tensile stress. This beneficial effect on necking strain is due to the corrugation unbending process which introduces so-called geometric work hardening during tension. Extended simulations are carried out on various corrugation heights/periods and the evolution trends of ultimate tensile strength and necking change with different reinforced volumes. This study proposes a perspective on corrugation-reinforced architectured materials. Corrugation parameters can be chosen to tailor the mechanical behavior of laser-architectured materials.