Measuring and analyzing adaptive capacity at management levels of resilient systems

Resilience engineering (RE) is capable of handling disruptive events and controlling their consequences in process industries such as petrochemical plants. This study aims at analyzing the level of adaptive capacity and identifying effective factors on developing adaptive capacity in the organizational structure of process industries. The data of this study were obtained through direct observation and a structured questionnaire in a petrochemical plant. Managers at all levels participated in the survey. Data envelopment analysis (DEA), which is a mathematical approach, was used to compute and analyze the role of the factors contributing to adaptive capacity. The results indicated that reporting safety issues played a central role in enhancing adaptive capacity at all management levels. Both middle management and low-level management emphasized the importance of management commitment, whereas top-level management considered flexibility as a vital factor in managing disruptions and reducing accidents. The findings of this study could be useful for managers and other decision-makers to improve safety in process industries.     

大容积无缝气瓶瓶口外螺纹修复方法及安全分析

为确定不同瓶口壁厚气瓶的外螺纹修复方式,采用数值和理论方法,通过分析外螺纹修复后气瓶的瓶体应力分布、周向转动和轴向窜动情况,对直接加工和采用热套工艺加装衬环2种瓶口外螺纹修复方式的安全性进行评价。结果表明:针对内螺纹规格为3-1/4″-8UN的气瓶,当采用直接加工方式将外螺纹修复至4-1/2″-8UN时,气瓶最大应力位于气瓶筒体上,此时气瓶可安全使用;当已修复至4-1/2″-8UN的瓶口外螺纹再次出现磨损时,直接加工的修复方式会对气瓶的安全使用造成影响,应采用热套工艺加装衬环方式修复瓶口螺纹。     

Numerical and experimental investigation of state of health of Li-ion battery

ABSTRACT

Estimation of State of Health (SoH) of Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery is essential to predict the lifespan of batteries of an electric vehicle (EV). The efficient prediction of battery health indicates to the effective and safe operation of EV. However, delivering an effective and accurate method for the estimation of SoH in the real condition is truly a challenging task. The present study proposed a holistic procedure of combining both experimental and numerical investigations to conduct the fundamental study on coupled mechanical-electrochemical behavior of Li-ion battery. The proposed investigation highlighted the effect of stress on the capacity of the battery, considering capacity fade as an equivalent parameter to its health for real-time estimation of SoH. Finally, a simple model of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is provided, which shows the linear dependency of stress with the SoH. The results obtained from the ANN model are validated with a Linear Regression (LR) model for a better understanding of the inspection. The predicted value of mean Square Error (MSE) and R square error in the ANN training model are found to be 0.000309 and 0.849687, respectively. Whereas for the test model, these predicted values are found to be 0.000438 and 0.819347, respectively.     

不同酸碱度土壤阳离子交换量的测定研究

为了能够快速准确测定不同酸碱度土壤中的阳离子交换量,弥补现行标准方法的不足,对三氯化六氨合钴浸提-分光光度法中的土壤称样量、pH、浸提时间、浸提温度和离心时间等条件进行了优化。优化后的方法检出限为0.43 cmol^+/kg,测定下限为1.72 cmol^+/kg,方法实验室内精密度为0.2%~1.8%,适用于大批量土壤样品中阳离子交换量的测定。     

基于耦合协调度模型的河西走廊生态环境质量时空格局演化

以“丝绸之路”经济带上的河西走廊地区为研究对象,采用耦合分析法,构建环境承载力与生态弹性限度的耦合协调模型,在分析2001—2016年河西走廊生态环境承载力和生态弹性限度的基础上,探析河西走廊生态环境承载力与弹性限度的耦合协调度,评价生态环境承载力和生态弹性限度耦合协调阶段及区域生态环境质量水平,从区域和城市两个空间尺度分析生态环境耦合协调类型,为探索河西走廊生态环境可持续发展道路提供科学依据。结果表明:①2001—2016年,河西走廊生态环境承载力和生态弹性限度均呈现东南高、西北低的空间格局和缓慢波动上升趋势。②河西走廊生态环境耦合协调度呈现“东南高西北低,优劣破碎穿插”的空间格局特征,耦合协调度在0~0.5之间,生态系统处于低水平和拮抗耦合阶段,生态环境质量处于濒临失调阶段。③河西走廊生态环境承载力与生态弹性限度耦合协调度存在明显区域差异。河西走廊生态环境耦合协调度共分9个等级3个层次3个耦合协调阶段:高水平-磨合阶段区(良好协调、中度协调和初级协调区);中等水平-拮抗耦合阶段区(勉强协调、濒临失调和轻度失调区)和低水平区-低水平耦合阶段区(极度失调、严重失调和中度失调区)。④根据2001—2016年生态环境耦合协调状况将河西走廊五市分为4种耦合协调类型:高耦合协调增长型(张掖市、金昌市)、高耦合协调减少型(武威市)、中耦合协调增长型(嘉峪关市)和低耦合协调增长型(酒泉市)。各地区应因地制宜地制定发展战略,提高生态环境质量,推进生态环境持续协调发展。     

水环境承载力约束下区域城镇化发展合理速度分析

城镇化发展在促进区域社会经济快速发展的同时也导致水环境问题日益严峻。基于区域水环境承载力探讨了城镇化发展合理速度的计量方法:①构建城镇化进程中水环境承载力评价系统,分析城镇化子系统及水环境承载力子系统的基本要素,建立评价指标体系;基于评价指标,利用向量模法测算水环境承载力综合评价值。②构建水环境承载力约束下的区域城镇化发展合理速度分析模型。③根据不同城镇化发展速度、政府不同管制力度设置9种组合情境,在对相关评价指标进行预测的基础上,分别测算不同情境下的水环境承载力综合评价值;通过“阈值”门槛筛选出合理情境,确定区域城镇化发展速度的合理范围。以经济实力强、城镇化水平高、水环境压力大、制度相对健全的江苏省作为研究区域进行实证分析,测算了2006—2017年江苏省水环境承载力综合评价值,以及2030年9种组合情境下的江苏省水环境承载力综合评价值。获得如下研究结论:①2006—2017年间江苏省水环境承载力虽呈现一定的波动,但2013年以后随着政府管制力度的加强,总体上呈现良好的上升态势,但水环境承载力下滑的压力已开始显现。②2030年9种组合情境中,只有“中/强”“低/强”“低/保持”满足水环境承载力阈值标准。结果表明:到2030年,政府对水环境管制力度“强”的情形下,江苏省城镇化发展可以维持1.0%~1.2%的年增长率;政府对水环境管制力度“保持”的情形下,江苏省城镇化发展只能维持1.0%的年增长率,并据此提出了政策建议。     

The combined effect of uranium and gamma radiation on biological responses and oxidative stress induced in Arabidopsis thaliana

Uranium never occurs as a single pollutant in the environment, but always in combination with other stressors such as ionizing radiation. As effects induced by multiple contaminants can differ markedly from the effects induced by the individual stressors, this multiple pollution context should not be neglected. In this study, effects on growth, nutrient uptake and oxidative stress induced by the single stressors uranium and gamma radiation are compared with the effects induced by the combination of both stressors. By doing this, we aim to better understand the effects induced by the combined stressors but also to get more insight in stressor-specific response mechanisms. Eighteen-day-old Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings were exposed for 3 days to 10 μM uranium and 3.5 Gy gamma radiation. Gamma radiation interfered with uranium uptake, resulting in decreased uranium concentrations in the roots, but with higher transport to the leaves. This resulted in a better root growth but increased leaf lipid peroxidation. For the other endpoints studied, effects under combined exposure were mostly determined by uranium presence and only limited influenced by gamma presence. Furthermore, an important role is suggested for CAT1/2/3 gene expression under uranium and mixed stressor conditions in the leaves.     

Conceptual Framework of Tourism Carrying Capacity for a Tourism City： Experiences from National Parks in the United States

There is no universally-accepted definition of tourism carrying capacity(TCC).Numerical TCC focuses on use level and is considered as"a magic number"of the saturation point for tourism.There are several reasons why numerical tourism capacity is inadequate.Alternatively,tourism capacity can be defined in terms of limits of acceptable change,which shifts the focus from"how much use is too much"to"how much change is acceptable".This article proposes an improved conceptual framework for evaluating carrying capacity for the tourism city based on approaches used in US national parks,which consider the impact of human use on a city's economic,environmental/resource,and socio-cultural conditions.Based on the basic data of indicator values and relevant standards,the framework monitors the current indicators and predicts future indicator values; it can also be used to assess and predict TCC.     

Effects of aircraft noise and speech on prose memory: What role for working memory capacity?

Previous research indicates that aircraft noise and meaningful background speech are particularly detrimental to school adolescents' ability to remember what they read, but until now the effects from aircraft noise and speech have never been compared directly in an experiment. Furthermore, individual differences in susceptibility to these effects are not well understood. The present investigation addressed these two issues. Adolescents attending upper secondary school were recruited as participants and the data collection was made in their ordinary classrooms. The results from two experiments revealed that speech is more detrimental to prose memory than is aircraft noise, and individual differences in working memory capacity contributes more to individual differences in susceptibility to the effects of aircraft noise on prose memory than to the effects of speech. Some applied implications of those findings to noise abatement interventions are suggested.     

Vulnerability of the South African farming sector to climate change and variability: An indicator approach

This paper analyses the vulnerability of South African agriculture to climate change and variability by developing a vulnerability index and comparing vulnerability indicators across the nine provinces of the country. Nineteen environmental and socio‐economic indicators are identified to reflect the three components of vulnerability: exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. The results of the study show that the regions most exposed to climate change and variability do not always overlap with those experiencing high sensitivity or low adaptive capacity. Furthermore, vulnerability to climate change and variability is intrinsically linked with social and economic development. The Western Cape and Gauteng provinces, which have high levels of infrastructure development, high literacy rates, and low shares of agriculture in total GDP, are relatively low on the vulnerability index. In contrast, the highly vulnerable regions of Limpopo, Kwazulu‐Natal and the Eastern Cape are characterised by densely populated rural areas, large numbers of small‐scale farmers, high dependency on rain‐fed agriculture and high land degradation. These large differences in the extent of vulnerability among provinces suggest that policymakers should develop region‐specific policies and address climate change at the local level.