Parallel and Serial Methods of Calculating Thermal Insulation in European Manikin Standards

Abstract

Standard No. EN 15831:2004 provides 2 methods of calculating insulation: parallel and serial. The parallel method is similar to the global one defined in Standard No. ISO 9920:2007. Standards No. EN 342:2004, EN 14058:2004 and EN 13537:2002 refer to the methods defined in Standard No. EN ISO 15831:2004 for testing cold protective clothing or equipment. However, it is necessary to consider several issues, e.g., referring to measuring human subjects, when using the serial method. With one zone, there is no serial-parallel issue as the results are the same, while more zones increase the difference in insulation value between the methods. If insulation is evenly distributed, differences between the serial and parallel method are relatively small and proportional. However, with more insulation layers overlapping in heavy cold protective ensembles, the serial method produces higher insulation values than the parallel one and human studies. Therefore, the parallel method is recommended for standard testing.     

A Methodology for Assessing Blast Protection in Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bomb Suits

To reduce human casualties associated with explosive ordnance disposal, a wide range of protective wear has been designed to shield against the blast effects of improvised explosive devices and munitions. In this study, 4 commercially available bomb suits, representing a range of materials and armor masses, were evaluated against 0.227 and 0.567 kg of spherical C-4 explosives to determine the level of protection offered to the head, neck, and thorax.

A Hybrid III dummy, an instrumented human surrogate [1], was tested with and without protection from the 4 commercially available bomb suits. 20 tests with the dummy torso mounted to simulate a kneeling position were performed to confirm repeatability and robustness of the dummies, as well as to evaluate the 4 suits. Correlations between injury risk assessments based on past human or animal injury model data and various parameters such as bomb suit mass, projected area, and dummy coverage area were drawn.     

A Systematic Procedure for Modeling Usability Based on Product Design Variables: A Case Study in Audiovisual Consumer Electronic Products

A systematic modeling approach to describing, prescribing, and predicting usability of a product has been presented. Given the evaluation results of the usability dimension (UD) and the measurement of the product’s design variables, referred to as the human interface elements (HIEs), the approach enables one to systematically assess the relationship between the UD and HIEs. The assessed relationship is called a usability model. Once built, such a usability model can relate, in a quantitative manner, the HIEs directly to the UDs, and thus can serve as an effective aid to designers by evaluating and predicting the usability of an existing or hypothetical product. A usability model for elegance of audiovisual consumer electronic products has been demonstrated.     

Electric Field Prediction for a Human Body-Electric Machine System

A system consisting of an electric machine and a human body is studied and the resulting electric field is predicted. A 3-phase induction machine operating at full load is modeled considering its geometry, windings, and materials. A human model is also constructed approximating its geometry and the electric properties of tissues. Using the finite element technique the electric field distribution in the human body is determinedfor a distance of 1 and 5 m from the machine and its effects are studied. Particularly, electric field potential variations are determined at specific points inside the human body and for these points the electric field intensity is computed and compared to the limit values for exposure according to international standards.     

地铁人员疏散心理行为调查及相关性研究

为研究地铁人员疏散心理行为特征,选择某地铁A号线上客流量较大的B站,采用问卷调查法对该站内出行的乘客随机进行调查,运用卡方检验对问卷调查统计结果进行相关性分析,并对其显著相关因素进行深入分析.结果表明:地铁人员疏散心理行为特征与性别、文化程度、安全知识、是否携带行李因素显著相关;绝大部分乘客心理素质较好;在地铁突发事件时,女性不如男性理智,文化程度低的人员更容易产生恐慌心理,接受过专门安全教育的乘客更能够选择正确的安全出口,携带行李乘客更容易产生恐惧心理.     

电梯检验过程中的人因失误分析与管理对策

近年来,我国电梯行业发展迅速,但电梯安全事故频发.导致电梯安全事故的原因中,人为失误占很大比重.因此,研究电梯检验过程中的人因失误及管理对策具有重要意义.应用层次分析法构建了理论模型,对可能的人因失误的关键要素进行提取并按相对重要性进行排序,确定了影响人因失误的重要因素.结合近6年南京市电梯检验人因失误的统计数据,应用灰色关联度理论对操作因子进行关联分析,并由此提出了减少电梯检验过程中人因失误的管理建议.     

我国两省份安全生产人才资源现状和问题及其原因探析

选取我国东部和中部两省份安全生产监管监察机构、企业和安全生产专业服务机构的安全生产人才为调研对象,通过发放调查表、集中座谈和资料收集,对两省份安全生产人才现状进行调研.根据统计结果,对两省份安全生产监管监察人才、企业安全生产管理人才、安全生产专业服务人才的数量、受教育程度和行业分布情况等进行量化比对分析.结合现场调研座谈情况,从人才数量、培养机制、保障措施等方面对两省份安全生产人才建设存在的主要问题及其原因进行了深入探讨,以期为我国安全生产人才政策措施的完善提供现实依据.     

不同淹水环境下湖泊沉积物DOM的特征与来源

为揭示水位的空间差异对于湖泊沉积物溶解性有机质（DOM）特性的影响与作用途径,采用紫外可见光谱（UV-Vis）和三维荧光光谱结合平行因子分析（EEM-PARAFAC）,探究东洞庭湖不同淹水环境对沉积物DOM的组成与来源的影响.结果表明,DOM中类蛋白组分［类色氨酸C2与类酪氨酸C3,（72.95±8.94）%］高于类腐殖酸组分［C1,（27.05±8.94）%］.季节淹水下DOM具有更高的类蛋白组分和更低的类腐殖酸组分,而常年淹水下的DOM芳香性（SUVA₂₅₄）与疏水组分（SUVA₂₆₀）更高,在空间上表现为：湖中段>入湖段>出湖段,更有利于污染物迁移.通过对荧光参数FI （1.93）、BIX （0.91）和HIX （1.57）的计算发现,沉积物DOM具有内源为主和陆源较弱的混合特征.这可能受到人为输入与沉积物特性影响,季节淹水区沉积物裸露增强污水排放的直接作用,且黏粒和总氮（TN）含量与FI呈显著正相关,说明沉积物高营养成分和黏粒含量影响DOM的内源成分（FI>1.9）;而常年淹水区具有外来径流输入,pH和C/N与HIX和C1呈显著正相关,说明沉积物DOM由于常年淹水的碱性环境（pH>7.5）和径流输入比季节淹水区具有更高的陆源成分（HIX=1.38±0.57）.上述结果有助于揭示湖泊水文与人类活动过程中沉积物DOM对水质与污染响应的相关理论,为沉积物污染防治提供科学依据.     

Synthesizing habitat connectivity analyses of a globally important human-dominated tiger-conservation landscape

As ecological data and associated analyses become more widely available, synthesizing results for effective communication with stakeholders is essential. In the case of wildlife corridors, managers in human-dominated landscapes need to identify both the locations of corridors and multiple stakeholders for effective oversight. We synthesized five independent studies of tiger (Panthera tigris) connectivity in central India, a global priority landscape for tiger conservation, to quantify agreement on landscape permeability for tiger movement and potential movement pathways. We used the latter analysis to identify connectivity areas on which studies agreed and stakeholders associated with these areas to determine relevant participants in corridor management. Three or more of the five studies’ resistance layers agreed in 63% of the study area. Areas in which all studies agree on resistance were of primarily low (66%, e.g., forest) and high (24%, e.g., urban) resistance. Agreement was lower in intermediate resistance areas (e.g., agriculture). Despite these differences, the studies largely agreed on areas with high levels of potential movement: >40% of high average (top 20%) current-flow pixels were also in the top 20% of current-flow agreement pixels (measured by low variation), indicating consensus connectivity areas (CCAs) as conservation priorities. Roughly 70% of the CCAs fell within village administrative boundaries, and 100% overlapped forest department management boundaries, suggesting that people live and use forests within these priority areas. Over 16% of total CCAs’ area was within 1 km of linear infrastructure (437 road, 170 railway, 179 transmission line, and 339 canal crossings; 105 mines within 1 km of CCAs). In 2019, 78% of forest land diversions for infrastructure and mining in Madhya Pradesh (which comprises most of the study region) took place in districts with CCAs. Acute competition for land in this landscape with globally important wildlife corridors calls for an effective comanagement strategy involving local communities, forest departments, and infrastructure planners.     

Functional diversity loss and change in nocturnal behavior of mammals under anthropogenic disturbance

In the Anthropocene, understanding the impacts of anthropogenic influence on biodiversity and behavior of vulnerable wildlife communities is increasingly relevant to effective conservation. However, comparative studies aimed at disentangling the concurrent effect of different types of human disturbance on multifaceted biodiversity and on activity patterns of mammals are surprisingly rare. We applied a multiregion community model to separately estimate the effects of cumulative human modification (e.g., settlement, agriculture, and transportation) and human presence (aggregated presence of dogs, people, and livestock) on species richness and functional composition of medium- and large-bodied mammals based on camera trap data collected across 45 subtropical montane forests. We divided the detected mammal species into three trophic guilds–carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores–and assessed the nocturnal shifts of each guild in response to anthropogenic activities. Overall, species richness tended to increase (β coefficient = 0.954) as human modification increased but richness decreased as human presence increased (β = –1.054). Human modification was associated with significantly lower functional diversity (mean nearest taxon distance [MNTD], β = –0.134; standardized effect sizes of MNTD, β = –0.397), community average body mass (β = –0.240), and proportion of carnivores (β = –0.580). Human presence was associated with a strongly reduced proportion of herbivores (β = –0.522), whereas proportion of omnivores significantly increased as human presence (β = 0.378) and habitat modification (β = 0.419) increased. In terms of activity patterns, omnivores (β = 12.103) and carnivores (β = 9.368) became more nocturnal in response to human modification. Our results suggest that human modification and human presence have differing effects on mammals and demonstrate that anthropogenic disturbances can lead to drastic loss of functional diversity and result in a shift to nocturnal behavior of mammals. Conservation planning should consider concurrent effects of different types of human disturbance on species richness, functional diversity, and behavior of wildlife communities.