Structural equation model analysis for the evaluation of overall driving performance: A driving simulator study focusing on driver distraction

Objective: The present research relies on 2 main objectives. The first is to investigate whether latent model analysis through a structural equation model can be implemented on driving simulator data in order to define an unobserved driving performance variable. Subsequently, the second objective is to investigate and quantify the effect of several risk factors including distraction sources, driver characteristics, and road and traffic environment on the overall driving performance and not in independent driving performance measures.

Methods: For the scope of the present research, 95 participants from all age groups were asked to drive under different types of distraction (conversation with passenger, cell phone use) in urban and rural road environments with low and high traffic volume in a driving simulator experiment. Then, in the framework of the statistical analysis, a correlation table is presented investigating any of a broad class of statistical relationships between driving simulator measures and a structural equation model is developed in which overall driving performance is estimated as a latent variable based on several individual driving simulator measures.

Results: Results confirm the suitability of the structural equation model and indicate that the selection of the specific performance measures that define overall performance should be guided by a rule of representativeness between the selected variables. Moreover, results indicate that conversation with the passenger was not found to have a statistically significant effect, indicating that drivers do not change their performance while conversing with a passenger compared to undistracted driving. On the other hand, results support the hypothesis that cell phone use has a negative effect on driving performance. Furthermore, regarding driver characteristics, age, gender, and experience all have a significant effect on driving performance, indicating that driver-related characteristics play the most crucial role in overall driving performance.

Conclusions: The findings of this study allow a new approach to the investigation of driving behavior in driving simulator experiments and in general. By the successful implementation of the structural equation model, driving behavior can be assessed in terms of overall performance and not through individual performance measures, which allows an important scientific step forward from piecemeal analyses to a sound combined analysis of the interrelationship between several risk factors and overall driving performance.     

Subcritical water oxidation of propham by H2O2 using response surface methodology (RSM)

This study was conducted to investigate the degradation of propham, which is a compound that pollutes water and seriously threatens human health, by subcritical water oxidation and using H₂O₂ as an oxidising agent. The maximum total organic carbon removal rate of propham was obtained as 73.65% at 40 min of treatment time and 60 mM of H₂O₂ concentration and 373 K of temperature. In addition, response surface method based on the Box-Behnken design was applied to design the degradation experiments of propham for determination of the combined effects of process variables, namely temperature, concentration of oxidising agent and treatment time. The proposed quadratic model of propham degradation, which was examined with the analysis of variance, was used for navigating the design space. The R² and adjusted R² values of the model were determined as 0.9921 and 0.9819 respectively. It was shown that propham was effectively degraded, thus could be removed from the water by using an environmentally friendly method.     

水中总氮测定方法存在问题的研究及改进

碱性过硫酸钾消解紫外分光光度法测定水中总氮采用的消解器皿是玻璃比色管,易造成空白偏高、结果偏低等问题。采用双圆柱状的消解杯对水样进行消解。结果表明,消解杯消解水中总氮,线性相关系数均大于0.999,检出限为0.05 mg/L,相对标准偏差小于5%,相对误差为0.88%~1.00%;改进后的消解器皿具有较好的精密度和准确度,能够更加准确测定水中总氮的含量。     

Effects of EGR on performance and emissions of a diesel engine fuelled with balanites aegyptiaca/diesel blends

In this study, balanites Aegyptiaca (L.) Del biodiesel was blended in proportions of 10% and 20% on the volume basis with diesel fuel and tested in a single cylinder, VCR diesel engine under measured load conditions with varied EGR rates (0, 10 and 20%). The results showed that B10 and B20 blends shown a significant reduction rate in terms of NO_x emissions that were familiar with biodiesel blends. At peak load conditions, BTE increased slightly for test fuel blends compared with pure diesel fuel while the BSFC rate and EGT suffered from increasing and decreasing nature with respect to blending percentage. From the emissions point of view, with the increase in blends percentage, a significant reduction rate is observed in terms of CO and HC concentrations (up to 12.34 and 17.5%, respectively) while NOx emissions decreased at peak load conditions (up to 24.34%). HC and CO emissions decreased with increase in blends percentage. However, lower levels of NO_x and EGT (up to 21.37 and 8.47%, respectively) and the average increase in terms of BTE and BSFC (up to 2.83 and 2.9%, respectively) can be realised with B20 test fuel blend under 20% EGR rate.     

固定化斜生栅藻净化畜禽废水中氨氮和磷的影响因素

为探讨Cu2+、p H和流速对固定化斜生栅藻去除畜禽废水中NH+4-N、TP效果的影响,在实验室条件下模拟实际污水处理过程,并采用正交实验方案对结果进行分析。结果表明低质量浓度Cu2+(0~0.05 mg/L)改善藻的净化效果,高质量浓度Cu2+(0.50~5.00 mg/L)抑制藻的净化效果;在p H较高的条件下(p H=9),固定化斜生栅藻的净化效果明显提高;流速对结果没有明显影响。通过正交实验,得出固定化斜生栅藻去除畜禽废水中NH+4-N、TP的优化条件如下:Cu2+质量浓度为0.05 mg/L,p H为9,流速为0.3 m/s。此时NH+4-N去除率为96.11%,TP去除率为97.53%。     

声凝并联合雾化预处理及其在过滤除尘中的应用

根据声凝并理论和雾化湿式除尘理论,建立了燃煤飞灰在声场联合雾化加湿作为预处理的过滤式除尘实验装置。分别在声场、雾化加湿、声场与雾化加湿相结合3种预处理条件下进行实验,确定合适的加湿量范围,得出不同条件下燃煤飞灰的去除效果。在声场联合雾化加湿条件下,分别研究了声压级和雾化加湿量对飞灰的去除率的影响。结果表明,声场和雾化加湿联合作用能有效提高燃煤PM2.5去除率。以声场联合雾化加湿作为预处理进行过滤除尘实验,结果表明,虽然对高效滤料的除尘效率提高作用有限,但是该预处理可减轻滤袋负荷,有效延缓压差增长,降低清灰频率。由于采用表面覆膜滤材,加湿量控制得当可避免产生"糊袋"现象。     

酸碱度对生活垃圾焚烧厂沥滤液蒸发处理效果的影响

采用蒸发法处理城市生活垃圾焚烧厂垃圾沥滤液,着重考察了不同沥滤液初始pH值对蒸发去除COD和氨氮效果的影响,并采用GC-MS对蒸发冷凝液中有机物成分进行了分析鉴定.结果表明,生活垃圾沥滤液的初始pH对冷凝液中COD、氨氮含量及有机污染物分布产生了决定性的影响.沥滤液在酸性条件下(pH≤6)蒸发,随着pH的增加,冷凝液中COD的含量线性降低,而氨氮的含量线性增加.当沥滤液的初始pH值从6增加到11,冷凝液中COD的含量呈对数函数降低,而氨氮的含量表现出显著增加趋势.从冷凝液中鉴定出38种有机污染物,多为沸点较低的醇、酸、酚和酯类.在酸性条件下(pH=3),冷凝液中挥发性有机酸和低碳醇的相对丰度接近90％.在近中性条件下(pH=6.2),冷凝液中的有机污染物以酚、酸和杂环类化合物为主.在碱性条件下(pH =11),冷凝液中酚和杂环类化合物占比较高,而酸的含量极少.     

水华束丝藻与铜绿微囊藻净化水体氮磷及其脂质积累过程比较

选取水华束丝藻与铜绿微囊藻作为典型水华蓝藻,探索水华蓝藻净化水体及合成生物柴油的潜力.采用氮磷浓度为NH4-N 7.5 mg/L,PO43--P 1.0 mg/L的模拟污水,重点考察了在光照强度与温度不同的条件下2种微藻对氮磷的去除率,并利用尼罗红荧光染色法测定了微藻中的中性脂含量.结果表明,2种藻对PO43--P的去除率均较高,最高达到98％,对NH4+-N的去除率稍低,最高为52％.水华束丝藻及铜绿微囊藻均具有较强积累中性脂的能力,适宜的温度与光照条件有利于微藻对氮磷的去除及细胞中脂类的积累.2种藻均在光照强度为12 000 lx时中性脂含量更高.水华束丝藻在温度为18 ～22℃条件下,生长更优,氮磷净化效果较好,中性脂积累能力更强.而铜绿微囊藻在温度为22～ 26℃时表现更好.     

高效液相色谱-二极管阵列检测器测定邻苯二甲酸酯色谱条件优化

采用高效液相色谱-二极管阵列检测器对6种PAEs类物质进行测定,并对梯度洗脱条件、流速、检测波长等影响化合物色谱响应的关键参数进行优化。综合考虑样品测试效率、分析精度、实际样品中存在杂质干扰等因素,确定以乙腈-水为流动相进行梯度洗脱,洗脱0~11 min流动相乙腈-水梯度比例为50∶50,11 min后流动相调整为100%乙腈,各化合物均能完全分离;色谱分析流速为0.8 m L/min;PAEs的最佳吸收波长为225 nm。在优化的色谱条件下,6种PAEs的线性良好,相关系数均大于0.999 8,仪器检出限为0.08~0.12 mg/L,保留时间、峰面积的相对标准偏差分别为0.02%~0.60%、0.13%~0.86%。方法灵敏度较高,适合土壤等邻苯二甲酸酯含量较高基质样品的快速分析。     

淮河支流污染物综合降解系数动态测算

确定河流污染物综合降解系数动态变化规律对提高水环境容量测算精度和水环境管理具有重要意义。通过现场模拟法,采用一维稳态模型测算了淮河支流洪河五沟营-塔桥乡河段COD、氨氮和总磷在枯水期、平水期和丰水期的综合降解系数,COD、氨氮和总磷降解系数在各水期的关系为枯水期平水期丰水期,提出了建议值并利用实测浓度对计算结果进行了检验,结果表明,不同水期综合降解系数吻合情况较好。