Legislation and the motor car

Vehicle legislation for safety and emission control is led by the USA where half the world's cars and one‐third of the world's road deaths are found. The 1975/6 standards will cause confrontations between industry and government in the U.S.A. and have costly implications for the American people. The rest of the world is affected by what happens in the U.S.A. but for language and other reasons fragmented laws are normal with conflicting requirements for manufacturers who supply the many markets. The greatest force for harmonization of legislation may be the enlarged Common Market including, as it does, the four major European Car manufacturing countries. The Common Market Commission may displace WP 29 of the United Nations as the leading law‐making body. Type approval is the compliance system used in Europe, but the growth in scope of safety and other legislation is bringing into focus a weakness of the system which is reducing production efficiency to an alarming degree. American style self‐certification is not acceptable to European governments.     

A short communication on growing Jatropha in Oman

A stripping technique has been used to cencentrate selected hydrocarbons present in water samples at the parts per billion level for analysis by gas chromatography. The chromatograms of hydrocarbons thus stripped from several different water samples show similarities. Washing out of atmospheric pollutants by rainfall is postulated as an explanation of these results. This hypothesis is supported by a comparison of the data with those for trace atmospheric analysis. The comparison shows that the same compounds are present in similar relative amounts both in water samples and the atmosphere. After a period of rain the atmospheric concentrations decrease whilst the water bound concentrations increase.     

Batch adsorption of organic pollutants from oxidation pond effluents using fly ashes

The batch shaking adsorption study was conducted to determine the potential of fly and volcanic ashes in removing organic pollutants from oxidation pond effluents. Factors affecting organic pollutant removals, such as concentrations and sizes of fly and volcanic ashes, initial pond effluent organic concentrations, washed and unwashed conditions of fly and volcanic ashes, were investigated. The TOC (total organic carbon) removal efficiency varied from 30 to 58 percent. The organic removal efficiency increased with increasing ash concentrations, with decreasing initial pond effluent organic concentrations and with decreasing sizes of ashes.     

The principal factors affecting construction project overhead expenses: an exploratory factor analysis approach

Estimation is the first step in the project development process. Information technology provides an efficient platform for estimators to obtain quotations and specifications for their bid estimates. However, in practice, project overhead estimation relies heavily on the professional judgement and intuition of the estimators. This reduces the overall accuracy and reliability of the bid and a better understanding of the factors affecting project overheads is fundamental before any improved estimating methods can be devised. Unfortunately, the published literature on this topic is very limited. Using exploratory factor analysis, we aim to bridge the current knowledge gap by highlighting the principal factors affecting project overheads. Questionnaires detailing 27 variables were sent to quantity surveying managers of large contractors in Hong Kong. Seventy-nine valid responses were analysed by exploratory factor analysis. From the results, eight factors were extracted with their latent properties identified with reference to the expert opinions collected from telephone interviews. The findings clarify some misconceptions about the factors affecting project overheads and provide useful evidence for practitioners and researchers to understand project overheads. Estimators who address the identified factors when assessing future project overhead costs can improve the accuracy of their cost estimates and project budgets.     

公私合营(PPP)项目市场需求风险分担研究

对PPP项目市场需求风险的影响因素、分担偏好、参与者的管理能力等问题进行探讨,以实例提出PPP项目市场需求风险完全由政府承担、政府与私人投资者共同承担及私人投资者承担的三种模式。在此基础上提出风险分担中政府所应承担的责任,以及市场分担与项目竞争强度的关系等观点,以期为政府后续PPP项目市场需求风险的管理提供参考和借鉴。     

TiB2 Powders Synthesis by Borothermal Reduction in TiO2 Under Vacuum

TiB₂ powders were synthesized by borothermal reduction in nanoscale TiO₂ with boron under vacuum. Reaction processes were investigated, and the effect of by‐product B₂O₃ was evaluated. Results showed that TiO₂ was firstly reduced by boron to form TiBO₃ and Ti₂O₃, and then to produce TiB₂ and B₂O₃ with increasing temperature. The reaction processes of TiB₂ powders synthesis included two‐step reduction in TiO₂ by boron and the removal of B₂O₃. The presence of B₂O₃, which was previously reported as the most important factor in promoting the coarsening of ZrB₂ and HfB₂ powders by borothermal reduction, did not lead to significant coarsening of TiB₂ powders. Due to the minor effect of B₂O₃, TiB₂ powders with small particle size and low oxygen content could be prepared by direct heat treatment of TiO₂ and boron at 1550°C under vacuum for 1 h. The particle size and oxygen content of synthesized TiB₂ powders were ~0.9 μm and ~1.7 wt%, respectively.     

Sintering Behavior and Dielectric Properties of Ultra‐Low Temperature Fired Silver Molybdate Ceramics

Ag₂MoO₄ ceramic was prepared by using the solid‐state reaction method, which could be sintered at 450°C for 2 h, having a relative permittivity of 8.08, a Qf value of 17 000 GHz, and a temperature coefficient of resonance frequency about ?133 ppm/°C. Ag₂MoO₄ ceramic was chemically compatible with silver but reacted seriously with aluminum to form (Ag_0.5Al_0.5)MoO₄ during the sintering. The fitting of infrared spectra and the Shannon's additive rule were employed to study intrinsic dielectric behaviors of the ceramics at microwave region. Ionic displacive polarization and the electronic polarization contributed almost equally to the dielectric permittivity of the ceramic at microwave region. The Ag₂MoO₄ ceramics could be a good candidate for ultra‐low temperature co‐fired microwave devices.     

Rheology of natural fibers thermoplastic compounds: Flow length and fiber distribution

The presented study investigates the flow length and the corresponding fiber content distribution in the injection‐moulded natural fiber reinforced thermoplastics and its relation to fiber type and processing parameters such as injection pressure, temperature, injection rate and mould tempering by increasing die temperature. In this research, polypropylene compounds with nominally 30 wt % hemp and sisal fibers are investigated. The influence of the injection pressure (500 and 1000 bar), melt temperature (180°C, 200°C, and 220°C), and die temperature (23°C and 80°C) on the fiber content distribution all over the sample is investigated. An increasing linear trend of fiber content along the spiral length is observed as an evidence of a fiber/polymer multiflow system. A pattern for fiber content distribution with respect to the fiber length along the injected spiral can be distinguished, where the longer fibers are usually found at the end of the injected part and the shorter fibers remain near mould entrance point. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 39861.