Biological and psychological responses to two rapid shiftwork schedules

This study presents the biological responses to shiftwork in two groups of workers with different shiftwork rotas. Biological responses were studied by recording the heart rate and the changes in the circadian profile of salivary cortisol over 24?h (RIA assays). Various items were recorded through questionnaires aimed at determining self appreciation of sleep quantity, stress, health, satisfaction at work and in private lives. Thirty two male subjects aged from 23 to 56, working for the same company, having given their informed consent, took part in the study. The study was carried out under realistic conditions (at the work place) under the control of an occupational physician. Sixteen day-workers (8 am?–?6?pm) served as a reference group. Eight shiftworkers included in alternate schedules (morning M 4 am?–?12 am, evening E 12 am?–?8?pm, night N 8?pm?–?4 am) according to a system M, S, N 3/2, (3 work, 2 rest) and eight according to a system 7/5 (3M/2S/2N/5R, 2/3/2/5, 2/2/3/5) constituted the groups of shiftworkers respectively named 3/2 and 7/5. All subjects had comparable ages and BMIs. Shiftworkers expressed a higher stress level and frequency of health problems and a lower satisfaction at work than the control. Among the three groups, the 7/5 group had the best health and fitness score and was in need of less sleep. Heart rate was not affected by shift work. Conversely, consistent changes appeared in cortisol circadian profiles, the greatest changes appearing for the night shift and among the two groups of shiftworkers, more particularly for the 7/5 group. These changes correlated with self-perceived constraints of work and showed the difficulties of adaptation to shiftwork.     

Comparison of Skidding Performance of Small Track-type Experimental Prototype Skidder and J-50 Skidding Tractor

In this paper, field experimental comparison is made between a small track-type experimental prototype skidder and a J-50 skidding tractor. Experimental data, including skidding productivity, soil compaction on skidding trails, and damage rate of the residual trees, are analyzed. The results indicate that with the condition of scattered skidding area and low skidding volume per cycle, small track-type experimental prototype skidder has advantage on working and a higher skidding productivity. It makes lower soil compaction to the skidding trails in the depth of 0-5 cm, 5-10 cm, and 10-15 cm. Under the same work conditions, the damage rate of the residual trees made by small track-type experimental prototype skidder is only 1/5 of those made by J-50 type skidding tractor. The damage rate is reduced by 80%.     

河南省对外汉语专业本科生就业问题及对策探析

分析了影响对外汉语专业毕业生就业的各种因素,主张以积极的心态看待就业形势,正视存在的问题,加强专业建设,优化课程设置,落实实践环节,提升专业素质和求职技能,以提高对外汉语专业学生就业率和就业质量。     

活性炭对原水中有机污染物去除效果的研究

文中针对原水水质特点,利用常规+活性炭吸附工艺对原水进行处理,着重分析了活性炭对有机物的去除效果。     

一种新型ICA算法在RFID系统中的应用

针对无线射频识别系统在通信过程中的防碰撞问题,从信号处理的角度,提出一种基于盲源信号并行分离技术的防碰撞处理算法,其中包括信号白化技术,以及一种改进的独立元分析(ICA)信号并行分离方法.功能仿真结果证明,该算法的吞吐率最高达到69％,与吞吐率只有18％的传统Aloha算法相比,该算法能提高防碰撞能力.     

声纹识别系统设计

论述了声纹识别的相关概念、应用领域及其区别于其他身份认证的优势,从软件方面构建了一个基于Matlab的声纹识别系统,并对整个系统进行了仿真实验,实验结果表明该系统具有较高的识别率,可应用于有限人群的身份认证。     

Light composite elliptic springs for vehicle suspension

For composites to compete in vehicle suspension applications, it is essential to control their failure by utilising their strength in principal direction instead of shear. This can be achieved efficiently by employing a new configuration instead of existing one. This study marries between an elliptical configuration and the woven roving composites.

In this paper, the influence of ellipticity ratio on performance of woven roving wrapped composite elliptical springs has been investigated both experimentally and numerically. A series of experiments was conducted for composite elliptical springs with ellipticity ratios (a/b) ranging from one to two. Typical failure histories of their failure mechanism are presented and discussed. In general, this study demonstrated that composites elliptical spring can be used for light and heavy trucks and meet the requirements, together with substantial weight saving. The results showed that the ellipticity ratio significantly influenced the spring rate and failure loads. Composite elliptic spring with ellipticity ratios of a/b 2.0 displayed the highest spring rate.     

Cooling rate effects on the microstructure and phase formation in Zr51Cu20.7Ni12Al16.3 bulk metallic glass

A detailed transmission electron microscope (TEM) study has been conducted to investigate the microstructures of the Zr₅₁Cu_20.7Ni₁₂Al_16.3 metallic glass formed at different cooling rates. It has been found that the most competitive crystalline phase to the amorphous structure is an oxygen-stabilized FCC NiZr₂-type phase, which in turn acts as the leading phase to trigger the formation of other crystalline phases in the slow-cooled alloy.     

Numerical evaluation of the effects of friction and geometric nonlinearities on the energy release rate in three- and four-point bend end-notched flexure tests

Nonlinear finite element analyses are used to examine the effects of friction and geometric nonlinearities on the energy release rate in three- and four-point bend end-notched flexure tests. Energy release rates are first determined by a recently developed direct energy balance approach. It is shown that the finite diameter loading rollers that are typically used in practical test set-ups cause both tests to be inherently nonlinear. The effect of these nonlinearities on the energy release rate is shown to be larger in the four point than the three point test and to increase with increasing roller diameter, increasing coefficient of friction along the crack plane, and decreasing supporting span length. For the four point test, the effect of these nonlinearities is also shown to increase with increasing ratio of inner to outer span length. Next, energy release rates at the onset of crack advance are determined by a simulated compliance calibration technique. This “perceived toughness” is compared with predictions of the “true toughness” given by the direct energy balance approach at the same load. It is shown that perceived toughnesses from this simulated compliance calibration procedure are larger than previously reported results that were obtained in a similar fashion using linear theory. In addition, the perceived toughness is shown to strongly depend upon the range used for fitting the load versus deflection data to obtain compliance. These findings are used to make some general recommendations regarding use of the two test methods and their associated data reduction techniques.