Control chart for monitoring occupational asthma

INTRODUCTION: Work-related asthma has become the most prevalent occupational respiratory disease in the developed world. Occupational asthma is thought to affect 5%-10% of people worldwide. The first step in the diagnosis of occupational asthma is to establish work-relatedness. Although considerable research has been conducted in the area of occupational asthma, no simple, effective, and statistically sound method has been developed that can be used as an initial step to effectively identify the workers at risk for occupational asthma. The purpose of this research was to investigate whether Shewhart control chart method can be used as an effective method to detect occupational asthma. METHOD: Forty-five workers who completed the study and provided usable peak expiratory flow (a lung function marker) recordings while at work and away from work were included in this study. Control charts were developed using Shewhart's Method. The lower control limit of at work control chart (LCL(W)) was compared to each subject's Personal Best (PB) value. RESULTS: Reviewing the results of this comparison showed LCL(W)<60% PB to have a sensitivity of 85.71%, specificity of 87.50%, and an error rate of 13.33%. When the subjects suspected for false positive and false negative diagnoses were identified, the test produced a sensitivity of 95.24%, a specificity of 95.83% and an error rate of 4.44%. CONCLUSIONS: Our results were as good as, and in some cases better than, published clinical guidelines. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: Our research showed that the control chart method is an effective, simple, and inexpensive tool for early intervention in workers suspected for occupational asthma.     

Occupational Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons During Diesel Combustion

Identification and determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Diesel exhaust in the working environment and assessment of workers’ occupational exposure to these suspected human carcinogens were the aim of this experimental investigation.

The range of exposure factors calculated on the basis of 9 individual PAH concentrations determined in personal air samples shows that time-averaged concentration of these compounds did not exceed the Polish Maximum Admissible Concentration (MAC) value for PAHs, that is, 2 μg·m^–3. The highest concentrations of PAHs were determined in the breathing zone of forklift operators. The maximum exposure factor was 0.427 μg·m^–3 (about 1/4 of MAC).     

Quantitative risk analysis of urban natural gas pipeline networks using geographical information systems

This paper presents a novel quantitative risk analysis process for urban natural gas pipeline networks using geographical information systems (GIS). The process incorporates an assessment of failure rates of integrated pipeline networks, a quantitative analysis model of accident consequences, and assessments of individual and societal risks. Firstly, the failure rates of the pipeline network are calculated using empirical formulas influenced by parameters such as external interference, corrosion, construction defects, and ground movements. Secondly, the impacts of accidents due to gas leakage, diffusion, fires, and explosions are analyzed by calculating the area influenced by poisoning, burns, and deaths. Lastly, based on the previous analyses, individual risks and social risks are calculated. The application of GIS technology helps strengthen the quantitative risk analysis (QRA) model and allows construction of a QRA system for urban gas pipeline networks that can aid pipeline management staff in demarcating high risk areas requiring more frequent inspections.     

Analyzing system safety and risks under uncertainty using a bow-tie diagram: An innovative approach

A bow-tie diagram combines a fault tree and an event tree to represent the risk control parameters on a common platform for mitigating an accident. Quantitative analysis of a bow-tie is still a major challenge since it follows the traditional assumptions of fault and event tree analyses. The assumptions consider the crisp probabilities and “independent” relationships for the input events. The crisp probabilities for the input events are often missing or hard to come by, which introduces data uncertainty. The assumption of “independence” introduces model uncertainty. Elicitation of expert's knowledge for the missing data may provide an alternative; however, such knowledge incorporates uncertainties and may undermine the credibility of risk analysis.This paper attempts to accommodate the expert's knowledge to overcome missing data and incorporate fuzzy set and evidence theory to assess the uncertainties. Further, dependency coefficient-based fuzzy and evidence theory approaches have been developed to address the model uncertainty for bow-tie analysis. In addition, a method of sensitivity analysis is proposed to predict the most contributing input events in the bow-tie analysis. To demonstrate the utility of the approaches in industrial application, a bow-tie diagram of the BP Texas City accident is developed and analyzed.     

城市学校建筑抗震防灾安全综合评价

学校的防灾安全越来越得到人们的重视,是城市防灾安全规划中的一项重要内容.在城市化快速发展的时代,新的灾种不断发生,出现自然灾害和人为技术事故的可能性也在增加.     

铝、铁共聚作用的化学特征及晶貌研究

通过对铝，铁水解共聚物的合成制备及其水解共聚合过程电位滴定的研究，并通过扫描电镜对其共聚物样品的晶貌观测，ｎＡｌ／ｎＦｅ的点能谱及结构组成的红外光谱测定，对铝铁共聚作用的化学特征及其晶形貌象，共聚作用进行了研究及讨论，为深入研究铝无机共聚溶液体系化学形态组成及其絮凝剂的提供了的基础实验依据。     

Status of air pollution in Beijing

A study has been made on elements organic constituents, TSP, SO2,NO2 of atmospheric pollutants in Beijing. 17 elements, and some PAHs, e. g. B(a)P, B(b, j, k)P, and B(g, h, i)P, in airborne particles by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and HPLC, GC/MS, have been determined respectively. It has been shown that the elements Pb, Zn, S and Cu were more enriched in fine particles and different valence states of sulfur at various sites. It was found that the concentrations of S6+ and S2-were more than 85% and less than 15% of the total sulfur respectively. Concentrations of major PAHs and sulfur-containing compounds increased in winter and in urban area. High values for Pb and Zn in city, Fe and Mn at industrial area and Cu, Al rural sites were obtained respectively. This implies the functions of different elemental sources of various sites. Thus, elements can be from distingushed anthropogenic and natural sources.The main contribution of SO2 was found of to have same seasonal variation as the anthropogenic el     

三槽式切换氧化沟运行工况数学模式及应用

三槽式切换氧化沟运行工况呈周期性的变化。根据理论分析，建立了各槽活性污泥浓度变化及相互关系的数学模式，并进行了验证。同时就数字模式在周期程序设置及排泥方式选择时的应用做了说明。     

纳滤膜深度处理棉针织品印染废水

采用芳香聚酰胺膜(NF-1#)、复合膜(NF-2#)和聚酰胺复合膜(NF-3#)深度处理棉针织品印染废水,考察了膜分离性能及膜污染情况的影响因素。实验结果表明,在操作压力为0.5MPa、废水温度为25~35℃、废水pH为7的条件下,NF-1#膜处理效果最佳,COD去除率最高,为76.0%~85.0%;脱盐率也最高,达90.0%。膜过滤后浓水送污水厂处理,产水回用于车间生产。操作压力增高、废水温度升高和废水pH增大均导致滤饼层阻力(Rc)和膜过滤过程中的总阻力(Rt)增加,Rc是Rt的主要组成部分,同时也是导致膜透过通量下降的主要因素。     

冬季工况下微型钢管桩热力响应特性数值分析

结合微型钢管桩热力响应特性现场试验,基于数值模拟方法,研究了冬季工况下流速、布桩形式等因素对微型钢管能量桩热力响应特性的影响规律。研究结果表明:换热效率增幅随流速的增加成非线性增长且最终趋于稳定,就本项目微型钢管桩而言,最佳流速为0.51~0.77 m/s;桩身轴向最大附加拉应力约为桩身混凝土抗拉强度设计值的53.8%,不会导致桩体破坏;桩身轴向最大附加拉应力与温度改变之间的关系约为σ-T=110ΔT。