Analysis of the influence of passenger vehicles front-end design on pedestrian lower extremity injuries by means of the LLMS model

Objective: This work aims at investigating the influence of some front-end design parameters of a passenger vehicle on the behavior and damage occurring in the human lower limbs when impacted in an accident.

Methods: The analysis is carried out by means of finite element analysis using a generic car model for the vehicle and the lower limbs model for safety (LLMS) for the purpose of pedestrian safety. Considering the pedestrian standardized impact procedure (as in the 2003/12/EC Directive), a parametric analysis, through a design of experiments plan, was performed. Various material properties, bumper thickness, position of the higher and lower bumper beams, and position of pedestrian, were made variable in order to identify how they influence the injury occurrence. The injury prediction was evaluated from the knee lateral flexion, ligament elongation, and state of stress in the bone structure.

Results: The results highlighted that the offset between the higher and lower bumper beams is the most influential parameter affecting the knee ligament response. The influence is smaller or absent considering the other responses and the other considered parameters. The stiffness characteristics of the bumper are, instead, more notable on the tibia. Even if an optimal value of the variables could not be identified trends were detected, with the potential of indicating strategies for improvement.

Conclusions: The behavior of a vehicle front end in the impact against a pedestrian can be improved optimizing its design. The work indicates potential strategies for improvement. In this work, each parameter was changed independently one at a time; in future works, the interaction between the design parameters could be also investigated. Moreover, a similar parametric analysis can be carried out using a standard mechanical legform model in order to understand potential diversities or correlations between standard tools and human models.     

A double‐edged sword: The moderating role of conscientiousness in the relationships between work stressors,psychological strain,and job performance

Although conscientiousness was commonly viewed as a type of personal resource to help individuals reduce strain or mitigate the impacts of stressors, empirical research demonstrated mixed results. Based on the personal resource allocation perspective, we posited that rather than functioning as personal resource per se, conscientiousness may act as a key factor influencing how individuals allocate their personal resources. The current study examined the moderating roles of conscientiousness in the relationships that work stressors (i.e., challenge stressors and hindrance stressors) have with employee psychological strain and job performance by using multi‐source, time‐lagged data collected from 250 employees working at two companies. The results showed that both challenge stressors and hindrance stressors were positively related to psychological strain. Conscientiousness moderated the relationships between both stressors and psychological strain, such that the positive relationships were stronger for individuals with high conscientiousness. Conscientiousness also moderated the relationship between challenge stressors and performance, such that the relationship was positive for individuals with high conscientiousness but negative for those with low conscientiousness. Altogether, the findings suggest that conscientiousness acts as a double‐edged sword that both promotes performance and exacerbates the stress reaction of employees when they are confronted with stressful situations. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Enhanced anaerobic biodegradability and inactivation of fecal coliforms and Salmonella spp. in wastewater sludge by using microwaves.

During continuous operation of three mesophilic-anaerobic digesters, the effect of microwave irradiation, as sludge thermal pretreatment (60 to 65 degrees C), was studied. The fecal coliforms log inactivation for microwaved/digested sludge was 4.2 +/- 0.4, whereas for conventionally heated/digested sludge and control were 2.9 +/- 0.5 and 1.5 +/- 0.5, respectively. In the case of Salmonella spp., no colonies were detected in 85% of the microwaved/digested samples. Considering the detection limit, the log inactivation of these samples was greater than 2.0 +/- 0.3. The conventionally heated/digested sludge and control showed log inactivations of 1.9 +/- 0.2 and 1.1 +/- 0.3, respectively. At the 95% confidence level, microwaved/digested sludge increased the biogas production by 16.4 +/- 5.6% and 6.3 +/- 2.4%, as compared to control and conventionally heated/digested sludge, respectively. When thermally treated sludge was analyzed for soluble chemical oxygen demand, microwaved waste-activated sludge showed considerable solubilization between 37 and 60 degrees C. Microwaved/digested sludge showed a reduction of capillary suction times by 11.1 +/- 5.9% and 10.7 +/- 5.6%, as compared to control and conventionally heated/digested sludge, respectively.     

CNTs-CeO2/H2O2复合光催化氧化体系降解水中酸性橙Ⅱ

运用"化学沉淀法",将CeO2负载到碳纳米管(CNTs)上制备复合光催化剂,采用"单因素实验法"优化了制备条件。运用透射电镜和X射线衍射仪对复合光催化剂进行了表征。结果表明,负载到CNTs上的CeO2为多晶面心立方结构,尺寸大小在6~10 nm之间,其在CNTs上分散效果好,负载均匀且负载率高。在溶液pH为5,CNTs-CeO2用量为0.50 g/L并光照2 h后,酸性橙Ⅱ的光脱色率和TOC去除率分别达到64.71%和44.25%;加入0.02 mmol/L H2O2后,CNTs-CeO2/H2O2复合体系对酸性橙Ⅱ的光脱色率和TOC去除率分别提高至91.35%和82.40%。这预示着CNTs-CeO2/H2O2复合光催化氧化体系在对水中偶氮染料的光催化处理方面具有潜在的应用价值。     

The use of food waste-based diets and Napier grass to culture grass carp: growth performance and contaminants contained in cultured fish

The present study used commercial feeds, food waste feeds, Napier grass, and mixed feeds (food waste feed to Napier grass ratio, 1:10) to feed grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus). The results indicated that grass carp fed with food waste feeds and mix feeds achieved growth performance (based on specific growth rate and feed conversion ratio) that was similar to commercial feeds (p?>?0.05). Concentrations of metalloid/metals in food waste feeds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Napier grass were relatively higher than other types of fish feeds (p?<?0.05). However, most of the metalloid/metals and PAH levels in fish fed with four types of fish feeds were not significantly different (p?>?0.05). These findings show that food waste feeds are suitable for using in the production of fish feed and Napier grass can be served as supplemental feeds for grass carp, and hence reducing the production cost.     

粉末活性炭对水中氯酚的吸附

2,4-二氯酚、2,4,6-三氯酚、五氯酚是氯酚类污染物的典型代表,鉴于其对人类身体健康的危害和对环境所造成的污染,已被很多国家列为环境优先控制污染物。研究粉末活性炭(PAC)对该3种氯酚的吸附过程以及投炭量、pH值和水质对PAC吸附性能的影响。结果表明:粉末活性炭可以有效去除水中的80%以上的氯酚;吸附行为符合Freundlich吸附等温线和Langmuir吸附等温线;以分子状态存在的氯酚比电离状态更容易被活性炭所吸附。     

EDTAD-modified cassava stalks loaded with Fe3O4: highly efficient removal of Pb2+ and Zn2+ from aqueous solution

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In this study, a novel magnetic cassava stalk composite (M-EMCS) was prepared through modification with ethylenediamine tetraacetic anhydride (EDTAD)...     

废大理石粉湿法烟气脱硫工艺实验

实验研究了废大理石粉作为脱硫剂的湿法烟气脱硫工艺,分析了其吸收SO₂的传质反应机理.试验了不同液气比(L/G)、吸收浆液pH值和进气SO₂浓度等主要参数对脱硫率的影响,并对实验结果进行了分析.结果表明,选择以下操作条件较为适宜:pH₀=5.5～6.5,L/G=3L/m³,a=2%;以上工艺条件下,在进气SO₂浓度为1000ml/m³时,脱硫率达60%以上.本文还讨论了废大理石粉作为脱硫剂的工业应用前景.