A method of identifying latent human errors in work systems

Work system improvements are implemented in various manufacturing processes to prevent problems caused by human errors. However, they are almost always applied to problems which have already occurred. This paper examines a method of identifying latent human errors existing within the work systems beforehand. A procedure for applying failure mode and effect analysis to this identification problem was defined based on over 1000 empirical errors: a work system decomposition criterion and fundamental error modes for listing latent human errors, and then applied to three practical manufacturing processes in order to evaluate its effectiveness.     

Importance of out-of-plane dispersion of the excitation spectrum of superconducting bilayers with Josephson coupling

We study the effect of Josephson coupling between adjacent superconducting layers on the BCS energy spectrum. We find that the interference between the gap functions of two layers can lead to vanishing condensation energy for perpendicular momenta corresponding to the formation of standing waves. We therefore predict a conventional energy spectrum for large interlayer spacings, if the gap of the single layers has no nodes, and in all cases a gapless spectrum for small spacings. Within the experimental error, our numerical results account for the low-temperature dependence of the penetration depth reported in Nd_1.85Ce_0.15CuO₄ and YBa₂Cu₃O_6.9.     

The greenhouse effect; Impact upon and the role to be played by construction

The authors highlight several possible ways in which the construction industry could lower present emissions of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide. It is an excellent discussion document and is recommended reading.     

Effect of Bi and Sr concentrations on the formation of the 2223 phase in Bi-Pb-Sb-Sr-Ca-Cu-O materials, obtained under different conditions of thermal treatment

The superconducting properties and the phase and chemical composition of Bi _x Pb_0.3Sb_0.1Sr _y Ca₂Cu₃O_z (x=1.5, 1.6, and 1.7;y=1.9, 2.0, and 2.1) materials synthesized by one-step and multistep thermal treatments have been investigated. The multistep annealing between 825–875°C promotes the 2223 phase. The change of Bi concentration has little effect on the 2223 phase formation, regardless of the kind of thermal treatment used, but increasing the Sr concentration (y> 2) strongly inhibits this phase. It has also been established that the loss of Pb after synthesis depends on the initial Bi concentration. The loss of Pb decreases when the initial Bi content is lower.     

Evaporation and Evolution of Suspended Solution Droplets at Atmospheric and Reduced Pressures

Thermal history and solute precipitation behavior of suspended solution droplets of sodium chloride (NaCl), magnesium sulphate (MgSO₄), and zirconium hydroxychloride (ZrO(OH)Cl) evaporating at atmospheric and reduced pressures are studied. Experimental measurements on the variation of droplet diameter, solution concentration, and temperature during the evaporation period are presented and discussed. The results of solute precipitation behavior in solution droplets observed under an optical microscope are displayed and discussed. Results indicate that reducing the pressure (∼ 33 kPa) results in a change in the solution droplet evaporation rate, but the thermal histories of a particular solution droplet are similar at the atmospheric and reduced pressures. At atmospheric and reduced pressures used in this study, the d² law for solution droplets is valid at early stages of the evaporation and before the solute precipitation initiates. Drying of MgSO₄ and ZrO(OH)Cl solution droplets results in the formation of spherical particles, whereas drying of spherical NaCl solution droplets results in the formation of cubic particles.     

Schäden durch kerbinduzierte Schwingbrüche

Failures by notch induced fatigue fractures Notches produce local stress concentrations and promote the formation of fatigue cracks. Characteristic types of notches as a result of design, manufacturing and operation are presented and remedial measures are discussed. Examples demonstrate the effect of different kinds of notches on various components.     

Photoresponsive peptide and polypeptide systems: part II. Photochromism of poly(l-ornithine) containing various azo-contents in side chains

Poly(L-ornithine)s having various azo-contents in the side chains were synthesized by the water-soluble carbodiimide procedure. The photochemical properties of the polypeptides poly[N^δ-p-(phenylazo)benzoyl-L-ornithine] (PPABLO) containing 3–77 mol% azobenzene were investigated by absorption and circular dichroism spectroscopy in hexafluoro-2-propanol (HFIP) or water, and in HFIP-water or methanol-water solvent mixtures. The photochromism of the dichroic bands of the PPABLOs containing 20–77 mol% azobenzene in the visible and ultraviolet wavelength regions was found to be mostly reversible as a function of irradiation time at different wavelengths due to the photostationary state (above 80% trans-cis photoisomerization) of the azo aromatic moieties. The PPABLO containing 3.2 mol% azobenzene in water exhibited conformational changes from random coil to helix by the addition of methanol or sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS). The photo-induced conformational change was observed in HFIP-water-SDS solvent mixtures, while no conformational change was seen in water and HFIP-water solvent mixtures.     

Kinetic behaviour of muscle LDH immobilized in nylon tubing

Immobilization was carried out of the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) from rabbit muscle (EC 1.1.1.27), cross-linked through the bifunctional reactive glutar-aldehyde on to nylon tubing (1 m long, 53cm² internal surface area). Immobilized LDH inactivation kinetics are of first order (t_1/2 = 3·6 years, k = 5·4,e^?4 day^?1 to 5°C). The smaller effect of pH on activity than in the case of LDH in solution can be explained on the basis of limitation to proton diffusion towards the support. A limiting effect to free external diffusion of the substrate towards and products from the support was also observed, an effect which seems to determine the effective kinetic behaviour of immobilized LDH. The apparent optimum temperature is centred around 40°C, observing a clear inactivation (thermal denaturation) above this temperature. In the temperature range studied (10–40°C), the co-existence was seen of a kinetic control accompanied by another control, involving diffusional transport of substrates and products, on the global activity of the immobilized enzyme. This makes the Arrhenius profiles curvilinear. Both graphic and statistical non-linear regression analysis of the kinetic data—rate, v, versus substrate concentration [S]—carried out under conditions in which the diffusional limitations can be considered negligible (high recirculation flow rate), permitted investigation of the intrinsic kinetic behaviour of immobilized LDH. In this sense, it can be deduced that the rate equation to which these data seem to be fitted is of the polynomial quotient type in [S] of minimum degree 2:2. Although the diffusional limitations have a marked effect on the type of global kinetics shown by immobilized LDH, temperature was not found to affect its v[S] behaviour. The experimental evidence obtained thus indicates that the rate equation in the 10-40°C temperature range continues to be a rational equation of at least degree 2:2 in [S].     

OPGW应用问题的探讨

根据多年的光纤复合架空地线(0PGW)应用经验与实践，从0PGW结构及组成、光纤余长、线路配合、金具配套、0PGW安装等方面，对0PGW应用中的若干问题进行详细的探讨。     

The oxidation of two ternary Ni-Cu-10 at.% Al alloys in 1 atm of pure O2 at 800-900 °C

The oxidation of the ternary alloys Ni-45Cu-10Al and Ni-30Cu-10Al has been studied at 800-900 °C under 1 atm O₂. The presence of 10 at.% Al reduces significantly the oxidation rate of the corresponding Cu-Ni alloys during the initial oxidation stages, even before the establishment of a complete Al₂O₃ layer. The weight of individual sample of the two ternary Ni-Cu-10Al alloys at 800 °C increases more rapidly than at 900 °C during the initial oxidation stage. As oxidation proceeds, the weight gain at 800 °C slows down to a degree that the total weight gain after 24 h oxidation at 800 °C is less than that at 900 °C. Due to a faster formation of the Al₂O₃ layer, which suppresses earlier the further oxidation of Cu and Ni, the external region of the scales grown on Ni-45Cu-10Al contain much less Cu and Ni oxides than those grown on Ni-30Cu-10Al. The transition from the internal oxidation to the selective external oxidation of the most reactive component Al in Ni-Cu-Al alloys is favored by higher values of the Al content, of temperature and of the Cu/Ni ratio.