Utilization of cement kiln dust (CKD) in cement mortar and concrete—an overview

Solid waste management is one of the major environmental concerns around the world. Cement kiln dust (KKD), also known as by-pass dust, is a by-product of cement manufacturing. The environmental concerns related to Portland cement production, emission and disposal of CKD is becoming progressively significant. CKD is fine-grained, particulate material chiefly composed of oxidized, anhydrous, micron-sized particles collected from electrostatic precipitators during the high temperature production of clinker. Cement kiln dust so generated is partly reused in cement plant and landfilled. The beneficial uses of CKD are in highway uses, soil stabilization, use in cement mortar/concrete, CLSM, etc.Studies have shown that CKD could be used in making paste/mortar/concrete. This paper presents an overview of some of the research published on the use of CKD in cement paste/mortar/concrete. Effect of CKD on the cement paste/mortar/concrete properties like compressive strength, tensile strength properties (splitting tensile strength, flexural strength and toughness), durability (Freeze–thaw), hydration, setting time, sorptivity, electrical conductivity are presented. Use of CKD in making controlled low-strength materials (CLSM), asphalt concrete, as soil stabilizer, and leachate analysis are also discussed in this paper.     

A safety self-management intervention for mining operations

PROBLEM: This quasi-experimental field study examined the efficacy of a safety self-management process to increase safety-related work practices in mining operations. METHODS: After a 7-week baseline, 15 miners participated in a safety self-management training and education presentation. The participants in a prebehavior condition (n=8) recorded their intentions to engage in specific percentages of safety-related work behaviors before starting their shift for the day. In contrast, participants in a postbehavior condition (n=7) recorded their percentages of safety-related work behaviors after their shift for the day. RESULTS: During withdrawal (4 weeks), the miners did not complete any self-monitoring forms. Based on 10,905 behavioral observations, safety self-management was effective at increasing the frequency of safety-related behavior (p<.05). For the prebehavior condition, the mean percent safe score across three target behaviors increased 34.8% during intervention. Similarly, in the postbehavior condition, the mean percent safe score across three target behaviors increased 40.1% during intervention. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: The results suggest that employees who work in relative isolation or have little oversight, compared to traditional industrial workers, may benefit from a process by which they can systematically observe themselves.     

Geographic range size and extinction risk assessment in nomadic species

Geographic range size is often conceptualized as a fixed attribute of a species and treated as such for the purposes of quantification of extinction risk; species occupying smaller geographic ranges are assumed to have a higher risk of extinction, all else being equal. However many species are mobile, and their movements range from relatively predictable to‐and‐fro migrations to complex irregular movements shown by nomadic species. These movements can lead to substantial temporary expansion and contraction of geographic ranges, potentially to levels which may pose an extinction risk. By linking occurrence data with environmental conditions at the time of observations of nomadic species, we modeled the dynamic distributions of 43 arid‐zone nomadic bird species across the Australian continent for each month over 11 years and calculated minimum range size and extent of fluctuation in geographic range size from these models. There was enormous variability in predicted spatial distribution over time; 10 species varied in estimated geographic range size by more than an order of magnitude, and 2 species varied by >2 orders of magnitude. During times of poor environmental conditions, several species not currently classified as globally threatened contracted their ranges to very small areas, despite their normally large geographic range size. This finding raises questions about the adequacy of conventional assessments of extinction risk based on static geographic range size (e.g., IUCN Red Listing). Climate change is predicted to affect the pattern of resource fluctuations across much of the southern hemisphere, where nomadism is the dominant form of animal movement, so it is critical we begin to understand the consequences of this for accurate threat assessment of nomadic species. Our approach provides a tool for discovering spatial dynamics in highly mobile species and can be used to unlock valuable information for improved extinction risk assessment and conservation planning.     

Ten ways remote sensing can contribute to conservation

In an effort to increase conservation effectiveness through the use of Earth observation technologies, a group of remote sensing scientists affiliated with government and academic institutions and conservation organizations identified 10 questions in conservation for which the potential to be answered would be greatly increased by use of remotely sensed data and analyses of those data. Our goals were to increase conservation practitioners’ use of remote sensing to support their work, increase collaboration between the conservation science and remote sensing communities, identify and develop new and innovative uses of remote sensing for advancing conservation science, provide guidance to space agencies on how future satellite missions can support conservation science, and generate support from the public and private sector in the use of remote sensing data to address the 10 conservation questions. We identified a broad initial list of questions on the basis of an email chain‐referral survey. We then used a workshop‐based iterative and collaborative approach to whittle the list down to these final questions (which represent 10 major themes in conservation): How can global Earth observation data be used to model species distributions and abundances? How can remote sensing improve the understanding of animal movements? How can remotely sensed ecosystem variables be used to understand, monitor, and predict ecosystem response and resilience to multiple stressors? How can remote sensing be used to monitor the effects of climate on ecosystems? How can near real‐time ecosystem monitoring catalyze threat reduction, governance and regulation compliance, and resource management decisions? How can remote sensing inform configuration of protected area networks at spatial extents relevant to populations of target species and ecosystem services? How can remote sensing‐derived products be used to value and monitor changes in ecosystem services? How can remote sensing be used to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of conservation efforts? How does the expansion and intensification of agriculture and aquaculture alter ecosystems and the services they provide? How can remote sensing be used to determine the degree to which ecosystems are being disturbed or degraded and the effects of these changes on species and ecosystem functions?     

森林保险支付意愿及影响因素分析——基于异质性营林主体视角

基于期望效用函数理论分析了异质性营林主体的森林保险支付意愿及差异,并以传统小林农和新型林业经营主体为研究对象,以福建省382户传统小林农和88户新型林业经营主体的调研数据为基础,综合运用条件估值法、卡方检验及Cox比例风险模型,对异质性营林主体的森林保险支付意愿与差异及支付意愿影响因素进行对比与分析。研究表明：传统小林农和新型林业经营主体的森林保险意愿支付水平存在显著差异,在1000~2500元/亩保障水平下,传统小林农的意愿支付水平分别为1.911元/亩、2.941元/亩、3.532元/亩及3.979元/亩,新型林业经营主体为1.632元/亩、3.971元/亩、5.809元/亩及6.864元/亩;两类营林主体的支付意愿均随保额的提高而提高,但新型林业经营主体的提升幅度远高于小林农。异质性营林主体的森林保险支付意愿影响因素也存在明显差别,这与其在森林保险认知特征、林业生产经营特征、林业灾损特征、森林保险产品评价特征等方面存在显著差异有关。此外,林地面积对两类营林主体支付意愿均具有显著影响,规模化、集约化的林业生产经营可促进林业经营主体的森林保险愿意支付水平。     

纳米Fe3O4/CeO2-H2O2非均相类Fenton体系对3,4-二氯三氟甲苯的降解

以浸渍法制备的新型纳米Fe3O4/Ce O2为催化剂,3,4-二氯三氟甲苯(3,4-DCBTE)为目标污染物,在Fe3O4/Ce O2-H2O2非均相类Fenton体系中对目标污染物的降解进行研究,考察催化剂的催化效果和温度、p H、H2O2投加量等因素对催化剂催化效果的影响.结果表明,以纳米Fe3O4/Ce O2作为催化剂的非均相类Fenton体系对3,4-二氯三氟甲苯的处理效果极佳;随着温度的升高,纳米Fe3O4/Ce O2的催化效果不断提高;在偏酸性环境中,p H越低催化效果越好,p H=2时反应去除效率可达96.67%;随着H2O2投加量的增加,3,4-二氯三氟甲苯的降解效率先提高后降低,投加量为15 mg·L-1时去除效果最好可达99.47%;随着催化剂投加量的增加,同样出现了处理效果先升高后降低的现象,投加量为0.5 g·L-1时催化效果最好可达99.64%.在以纳米Fe3O4/Ce O2为催化剂的非均相类Fenton体系中,3,4-二氯三氟甲苯的降解符合一级反应动力学,反应所需活化能较低只需30.26 k J·mol-1.     

炮采放顶煤采空区自然发火的数值模拟应用

针对炮采放顶煤开采采空区容易发生自燃问题，基于漏风渗流方程、气体渗流一扩散-氧消耗方程，建立了采空区自然发火非稳定数值模型，采空区按非均质考虑，耗氧汇按煤矸氧化和瓦斯涌出稀释两方面综合考虑，用有限元数值方法联立求解模型。结合羊草沟矿实例，通过该矿自然发火后来的测试区的现场实测结果，拟合反演得到采空区煤的耗氧速度、瓦斯涌出强度和渗透特征参数，用确定的模型分析了前段出现自然发火的原因；描绘了炮采放顶煤开采时采空区冷却带、自燃带和窒息带等三带的形状，指出冒落压实的不均衡的非均质采空区，自燃点在偏人风一侧。用三带划分理论讨论了工作面参数（风量、推进度、控顶距）同自燃的量化关系，提出了从根本上预防采空区自然发火的途径与方法。     

基于人的认知可靠性模型(HCR)的接车进路办理诊断时间的研究

接发列车作业事故在铁路运输事故中占有相当大的比重。为减少接车作业事故的发生,合理制定车站接车进路办理时的诊断时间是保证接车作业安全的关键。针对车站采用写实法查定时具有较大随意性的问题,提出采用人的认知可靠性(HCR)模型,根据人因失误概率计算接车作业诊断时间的方法,并在自动闭塞区段通过模拟机实验进行了验证。结果表明,HCR模型确定的诊断时间与人因失误之间的关系与写实法的测定数据具有良好的符合性;作业人员的训练水平对诊断时间有较大的影响;利用该模型,根据作业人员的训练水平与可接受的人因失误概率,可以确定接车进路办理的最佳诊断时间,或对写实法测定的诊断时间进行订正。     

Developing and validating a scientific model for exploring safe work practices in interdisciplinary teams

Health research literature on quality and safety in recent years has pointed to a need to explore the characteristics of interdisciplinary team work unique to the health care sector and the particular organization. The literature also has identified a need for scientific models that explore and integrate existing findings concerning team dynamics. In this article, I attempt to address these concerns by developing and validating a scientific model for exploring safe work practices of interdisciplinary OR teams. Specifically, existing health research literature on quality and safety is reviewed to identify and incorporate various team-related aspects into dimensions of the proposed model. To further validate the model, I conduct an ethnographic study of safe work practices within an interdisciplinary OR setting. I find that safe work practices can be viewed as a product of the individual’s and team’s ability to draw on and combine explicit and tacit knowledge repertoires, which again is a product of the particular inner and outer structural conditions of a system. While the findings add their own unique distinctiveness to the scientific model, the findings also compare to the existing aspects and dimensions of the model. I conclude that the fit of the empirical data to the model improves the validity of the model, and also the potential application of the model in ethnographic research within different medical and/or team settings.