液体壁面滑移的分子动力学研究

以平行板间液氩的Poiseuille流为例,用分子动力学模拟的方法,对壁面润湿性、外部驱动力以及通道宽度影响液体壁面滑移现象进行了研究.结果表明:在疏水性微通道中,液体的流动存在边界正滑移;在亲水性微通道中,在外力较小时,液体的流动存在边界负滑移,即有类似宏观的边界粘滞层存在,而当外力逐渐增大时,边界滑移从负滑移变为正的滑移.液体在不同宽度的微通道中流动时,绝对滑移长度均随外力的增大而变小,并趋向于定值.研究还发现在不同空间大小的通道中,壁面滑移速度随外力的增大而增大的变化存在拐点,在拐点两侧,界面作用的影响不同.     

二元驱动的河湖历史演变及其启示

以河湖历史演变过程为研究对象,分析了演变的驱动力及其作用特征、影响因素,提出河湖演变呈现出由自然-人工二元平行驱动向二元交错驱动发展的趋势。针对在人为改变河湖水系的历史过程中曾出现过的问题和风险,重点讨论了当前水系布局规划需要思考的问题,包括自然地理分异、气候变化、成本效益、生态环境等。建议拓展研究的维度和尺度,合理利用自然情势并关注人类活动潜在而深远的影响,多途径削减不利影响,以构建满足水资源合理配置、兴利除害、生态环境保护等社会需求的江河湖库水系格局。     

碾压混凝土坝空间渗流安全监控模型研究

坝体、坝基中的渗流观测点所观测的仅仅是该测点及其附近部位的渗流状况,并不能很好地反映作为空间场形式存在的大坝整体渗流,因此,以渗流水头监测量为研究对象,分别考虑本体和层面水压分量的影响,建立能综合反映大坝渗流空间特性的碾压混凝土坝空间渗流安全监控模型.通过实例证明,该模型具有较高的精度,对碾压混凝土坝渗流监控和预警都有重要的意义.     

Driver training: a perceptual-motor skill approach

Driving behaviour was analysed in the light of cognitive psychology and perceptual-motor skill learning and categorization of the causation of driving errors was suggested. On this basis, two techniques aimed at correcting inappropriate driving habits were derived and tried out experimentally: (a) mass observation and personal communications; and (b) self-recording of near accidents and mental (imagery) practice. Findings show the efficiency of both these techniques.     

Effects of road surface appearance and low friction warning systems on driver behaviour and confidence in the warning system

Warning systems for slippery road conditions are a potential newcomer among driver support systems. A total of 75 participants drove in a high-fidelity driving simulator on roads with both visible and invisible ice, to investigate to which extent drivers rely on a low friction warning system. Three experimental groups with different versions of a low friction warning system and a control group without warning system were compared. All drivers ranked the systems according to trust. A system displaying recommended speed received the best ratings. Driving speed was analysed for three particular segments of the route. Generally, lowest speeds were achieved with the recommended speed system. The participants drove more slowly on a slippery segment that looked icy than on the segments that looked dry when they did not receive a low friction warning. When they received a warning for low friction they also lowered their speed for the segment looking like asphalt. The results provide guidelines for how to present low friction warnings to drivers. The design has substantial effects on the resulting behaviour and therefore it can have a high impact on traffic safety. So far, not much research on low friction warning systems has been reported.     

Participation of Danish and immigrant cleaners in a 1-year worksite intervention preventing physical deterioration

Worksite health promotion is seldom offered to workers who are low-educated and multi-ethnic, possibly due to an assumption that they are more reluctant to participate. Furthermore, little has been done to promote health at female-dominated workplaces. The main aim of this study was to investigate differences in participation among immigrant and Danish cleaners throughout a 1-year randomised controlled study tailored to cleaners and carried out in predominantly female workplaces. No significant differences in ethnicity were found in consent and participation throughout the 1-year intervention. Dropout was equally distributed among Danish and immigrant cleaners. This study indicates that a worksite health promotion intervention among a female-dominated, high-risk occupation such as cleaning can be equally appealing for Danes and immigrants. PRACTITIONER SUMMARY: This study provides insight about participation of Danish and immigrant cleaners in a worksite health promotion intervention in a predominantly female occupation. For attaining high participation and low dropout in future worksite health promotion interventions among cleaners, the intervention ought to not only target the ethnic background of the workers, but also to be specifically tailored to the job group.     

Change of search time and non-search time in X-ray baggage screening due to training

As found in studies of aircraft structural inspection, the time used for judging if a part of an aircraft shows tiny cracks is composed of search time, used for actively scanning, and non-search time, used for matching and decision while fixating a region of interest (Drury et al. 1997 Drury, C. G., Spencer, F. W. and Schurman, D. . Measuring human detection performance in aircraft visual inspection. Proceedings of the 41st annual Human Factors and Ergonomics Society meeting. Albuquerque, NM. pp.304–308. NM. Santa Monica, CA: HFES.  [Google Scholar]). These findings can be applied to detection of threats by X-ray screening of passenger bags at airports. To investigate whether search time and non-search time change when an experienced screener is given additional training in recognising threat objects in passenger bags, data from a European airport were analysed. A comparison of detection performance and reaction time between two large groups of screeners, one trained for 6 months, shows a large impact of training on overall performance and on both search and non-search components of the task. There was also a small but consistent decline in performance measures with screener age. This study shows a way to localise the effect of training on threat detection performance for aviation security screening. Analysis of the time needed for screening each passenger bag showed that training had a significant effect, particularly on the non-search part of the searching process (i.e. identification, recognition, decision, response execution, etc.).     

Haptic gas pedal feedback

Active driver support systems either automate a control task or present warnings to drivers when their safety is seriously degraded. In a novel approach, utilising neither automation nor discrete warnings, a haptic gas pedal (accelerator) interface was developed that continuously presents car-following support information, keeping the driver in the loop. This interface was tested in a fixed-base driving simulator. Twenty-one drivers between the ages of 24 and 30 years participated in a driving experiment to investigate the effects of haptic gas pedal feedback on car-following behaviour. Results of the experiment indicate that when haptic feedback was presented to the drivers, some improvement in car-following performance was achieved, while control activity decreased. Further research is needed to investigate the effectiveness of the system in more varied driving conditions. Haptics is an under-used modality in the application of human support interfaces, which usually draw on vision or hearing. This study demonstrates how haptics can be used to create an effective driver support interface.     

A Review of :“Leu Accidents du Travail.” By JACQUES LEPLAT et XAVIER CUNY. (Paris: Presses Universities de France, 1974.( [Pp.128. £0·00.

Police officers spend large amounts of time performing duties within a police cruiser and report a high prevalence of musculoskeletal problems. This study evaluated the effects of driver seat and duty belt design on posture, pressure and discomfort. Ten male and 10 female university students attended two sessions involving simulated driving in a standard police seat (CV) and an active lumbar support (ALS) seat. Participants wore a full duty belt (FDB) or reduced duty belt (RDB) in each seat. Lumbar postures, driver-seat and driver-duty belt pressures and perceived discomfort were measured. Gender × Seat interactions were found for pelvic (p = 0.0001) and lumbar postures (p = 0.003). Females had more lumbar flexion than males and were more extended in the ALS seat (?9.8 ± 11.3°) than CV seat (?19.8 ± 9.6°). The FDB had greater seat pressure than the RDB (p < 0.0001), which corresponded to increased pelvis discomfort. This study supports the use of an ALS seat and RDB to reduce injury risk associated with prolonged sitting in police officers.

Practitioner Summary: Police officers report a high prevalence of musculoskeletal problems to the lower back, associated with prolonged driving and further investigation is needed to reduce injury risk. This simulated driving study investigated seat and duty belt configuration on biomechanical measures and discomfort. Seat design had the greatest impact, regardless of gender and males benefited more from a reduced belt configuration.     

A reference level for assessing the acceptable visual demand of in-vehicle information systems

With the increasing use of in-vehicle information systems (IVIS) by drivers whilst the vehicle is in motion, the risk of distraction-related crashes is expected to increase. Distraction in this case arises from engagement of the driver with the visual demand of an IVIS display, but measurement of such visual demand, and design decisions about how much visual demand is acceptable in this context, is problematic. Using the visual ‘occlusion’ technique, this paper uses data from visual demand metrics (from 4 reference in-vehicle tasks with 60 participants) and makes comparisons with several other approaches including expert usability analysis, other reference levels, social acceptability survey data, and a comparison with alcohol impairment. Based on these considerations an approach is taken to represent the distribution of occlusion measurements and a demand reference level (DRL) is proposed to be used as a criterion for design of IVIS displays. The DRL comprises a metric derived from occlusion measurements and an absolute value.