Ion migration behavior and its interaction with sintering environment in cation conductor during flash sintering

Flash sintering has been reported in various ceramics. Nevertheless, anion and cation conductors exhibit different flash-sintering behaviors, and the interaction mechanism between the conductive species and the sintering environment has remained unclear. Herein, we report the flash-sintering phenomena of a typical cation conductor, Na₃Zr₂(SiO₄)₂(PO₄) with anode region surrounded by air and NaNO₃ environments. The results prove that the ionic behavior and joule heating distribution can be controlled by changing the electrode environment. Four possible scenarios describing the ion migration behavior and interaction with the environment are proposed for providing a guidance for controlling the ion interaction behavior during flash sintering.     

Motion trajectory prediction model of hydrogen leak and diffusion in a stable thermally-stratified environment

The motion trajectory of hydrogen leakage is an essential safe issue for the application of hydrogen energy. A dimensionless fast-running motion trajectory prediction model is proposed to predict the dispersion characteristics of the buoyant jet of hydrogen leakage for the accident. The impact of different leakage angles, leakage velocity and thermal stratification of ambient air on hydrogen leakage behavior was analyzed. The new developed model was verified by experimental results in literatures. Leakage hydrogen can flow upwards freely in a uniform environment. However, it shows an oscillating trajectory at a certain height in a thermally stratified environment, which is so called “locking phenomenon”. The trajectory of hydrogen leakage is upward and hydrogen gathers at the top of the space to form stratification in a uniform environment, while the hydrogen leakage shows an oscillating trajectory at a certain height in a thermal stratification environment. With the increase of Froude number Fr, it shows that the stable height and maximum height of the leakage airflow have a trend of rising first and then falling in a thermally stratified environment. The findings are expected to give guidance in real-world situations, for example, a larger Fr value and a larger temperature gradient can lead to a decrease in the stable height in the thermally stratified environment. It is found that the fitting of the stable height with different temperature gradients satisfies the power function relationship. This work is expected to be helpful for reducing hydrogen leakage accumulation and explosion risk.     

当代室内环境生态评估与生态审美价值观的传播

价值观的传播是一个缓慢的过程,在当前工业文明向生态文明过渡的时期,如何有效地提升民众的生态意识是值得探讨的问题。以生态审美意识传播为切入点,通过了解国内外主流的室内环境生态评估指标体系的前后变化,总结当前室内环境生态评估的变化趋势及其主要特征;从指标体系的变化中分析生态审美价值观的渗透方式,探讨当代室内环境生态评估对生态审美价值观传播的促进作用。最后,通过实验设定针对室内传统营造技艺应用的评估工具,并且在评估工具的使用过程中展示传播的模式与效用,通过评估反馈再一次验证室内环境生态评估对生态审美价值观的正向传播作用。     

Ageing workforce management in manufacturing systems: state of the art and future research agenda

The workforce ageing phenomenon is recently affecting most of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries, due to a general ageing of their populations and a higher average retirement age of the workforce. In this paper, the topic of ageing workforce management is addressed from a production research standpoint, with the aim of understanding how older workers can be supported and involved in a manufacturing system. First, the current state of the art related to the ageing workforce in production systems is presented. This is structured according to four main topics: (1) analysis and evaluation of ageing workers’ functional capacities, (2) consideration of ageing workers’ capacities in industrial system modelling and management, (3) analysis and exploitation of ageing workers’ expertise, (4) acknowledgement, analysis, design and integration of supporting technologies. Next, the discussion on the impact of the ageing workforce on manufacturing systems’ performances leads to the comparison of some technological advances that are related to the Industry 4.0 paradigms. Finally, a future research agenda on this topic is proposed, based on the same topics classification proposed for the literature analysis. Five different research areas are derived, suggesting future directions for appropriate research concerning the employ of older workers in production environments.     

Data sharing mechanism of various mineral resources based on blockchain

Basins with various mineral resources coexisting and enriching often occupy an important strategic position. The exploration of various mineral resources is repetitive at present due to unshared data and imperfect management mechanism. This situation greatly increases the cost of energy exploitation in the country. Traditional data-sharing mode has several disadvantages, such as high cost, difficulty in confirming the right of data, and lack of incentive mechanism, which make achieving real data sharing difficult. In this paper, we propose a data-sharing mechanism based on blockchain and provide implementation suggestions and technical key points. Compared with traditional data-sharing methods, the proposed data-sharing mechanism can realize data sharing, ensure data quality, and protect intellectual property. Moreover, key points in the construction are stated in the case study section to verify the feasibility of the data-sharing system based on blockchain proposed in this paper.     

Regulation of sensory nerve conduction velocity of human bodies responding to annual temperature variations in natural environments

The extensive research interests in environmental temperature can be linked to human productivity / performance as well as comfort and health; while the mechanisms of physiological indices responding to temperature variations remain incompletely understood. This study adopted a physiological sensory nerve conduction velocity (SCV) as a temperature‐sensitive biomarker to explore the thermoregulatory mechanisms of human responding to annual temperatures. The measurements of subjects’ SCV (over 600 samples) were conducted in a naturally ventilated environment over all four seasons. The results showed a positive correlation between SCV and annual temperatures and a Boltzmann model was adopted to depict the S‐shaped trend of SCV with operative temperatures from 5°C to 40°C. The SCV increased linearly with operative temperatures from 14.28°C to 20.5°C and responded sensitively for 10.19°C‐24.59°C, while tended to be stable beyond that. The subjects’ thermal sensations were linearly related to SCV, elaborating the relation between human physiological regulations and subjective thermal perception variations. The findings reveal the body SCV regulatory characteristics in different operative temperature intervals, thereby giving a deeper insight into human autonomic thermoregulation and benefiting for built environment designs, meantime minimizing the temperature‐invoked risks to human health and well‐being.     

Animations showing Lego manipulative tasks: Three potential moderators of effectiveness

Evidence suggests that transient visual information, such as animations, may be more challenging to learn than static visualizations. However, when a procedural-manipulative task is involved, our evolved embodied cognition seems to reverse this transitory challenge. Hence, for object manipulative tasks, instructional animations may be more suitable than statics. We investigated this argument further by comparing animations with statics using a Lego task shown to university students, by examining three potential moderators of effectiveness: (a) the environment of manipulation (virtual or physical), (b) the quality of visual information (focused or unfocused), and (c) the presence of hands (no hands or with hands). In Experiment 1 we found an advantage of animation over statics, and no differences among the environments. In Experiment 2, we again observed an animation advantage, a small advantage of focused static information compared to unfocused static information, and a positive effect of not showing the hands.     

一种军棋机器博弈的多棋子协同博弈方法

针对在军棋博弈不完全信息对弈中，面对棋子不同价值、不同位置、不同搭配所产生的不同棋力，传统的单子意图搜索算法，不能满足棋子之间的协同性与沟通性，同时也缺乏对敌方的引诱与欺骗等高级对抗能力。本文提出一种结合UCT搜索策略的高价值棋子博弈方法，实现高价值棋子协同博弈的策略。实战经验表明:高价值多棋子军棋协同博弈策略优于单棋子军棋博弈策略。