Numerical Modeling of Two-Dimensional Flow Over A Hill In an Open Channel

Source: ICHE Conference Archive - https://mdi-de.baw.de/icheArchiv

Exploring the link between early constructor involvement in project decision-making and the efficacy of health and safety risk control

The position of the constructor in communication networks, including those before the commencement of construction, is likely related to the quality of work health and safety (WHS) outcomes realized. In order to examine the extent of this relationship, 23 cases were drawn from 10 participating construction projects in Australia and New Zealand. Social network analysis was used to mathematically and graphically model information exchanges in 13 of these cases. For each case, the quality of WHS risk control outcomes was measured. This measurement was based on an established 'hierarchy of control' in which risk controls are classified in descending order of effectiveness from the elimination of a hazard (the most effective) to the reliance on personal protective equipment (the least effective). Social network metrics were calculated reflecting: (1) the ratio of actual links among parties in the project network relative to the maximum number of links possible (network density); and (2) the extent to which the constructor communicated with other parties in pre-project planning and design stages (the constructors' degree centrality). Network metrics were compared for cases in which the risk control scores were higher and lower than average. The results showed a significant difference in constructors' pre-construction degree centrality for cases with high and low risk control scores. The results provide preliminary evidence as to the potential WHS benefits of ensuring that constructors' knowledge about construction methods, materials, WHS risks and means of risk control, are integrated into pre-construction decision-makin

Comparison of environmental health status in primary schools in different districts of Isfahan city in 2008-2009

Introduction. Students spend at least 20% of their time in schools. Training, educating and the personality of these students depends on appropriate educational methods, proper physical space, and also favorable mental environment. Students are considered as a major human resources of any society and dealing with their health and promoting educational environment health is in fact a kind of investment for future. In this study we examined the status of environmental health status in primary school of different districts of Isfahan. Materials and methods. This study was a descriptive-analytical study. The number of studied samples was 77 schools in Isfahan which were selected by regular randomized method. The tool used to gather data was a environmental health inquiry form for school environments, and consisted of two parts: the first part included common school specifications and the second part involved items dealing with desirability of various parts of schools.The above forms were filled out in 3 months by specialists in public health, evaluating the schools and interviewing the principals. Then, they were analyzed and a comparison was made between the results from various districts. Results. 76.6% of schools complied with the standards and 80.5% of classrooms were in desired conditions. Regarding the standards for building and classrooms, there was no significant difference between various districts. Hygiene services (water closets and basin) and drinking water were at desired level and there was no significant difference between various districts in this regard, however the district 1 was in undesired condition. Regarding collecting and disposing of rubbishes and trashes, 79% of schools were in desired condition and 49% of them had hygienic tuck-shops according to standards, but there was no significant difference between various districts. Conclusion. The study showed that the status of environment health is at desired level in primary schools in Isfahan, but the health of tuck-shops should improve in schools and it needs more attention and interest from authorities of Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health and dedicating proper budgets to solve their health problems

The relationship between pre-construction decision-making and the quality of risk control: Testing the time-safety influence curve

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between the timing with which decisions are made about how to control work health and safety (WHS) risks in construction project (i.e. either pre- or post-construction) and the quality of risk control outcomes. Design/methodology/approach - Data were collected from 23 construction projects in Australia and the USA. Totally, 43 features of work were identified for analysis and decision making in relation to these features of work was mapped across the life of the projects. The quality of risk control outcomes was assessed using a classification system based on the "hierarchy of control". Within this hierarchy, technological forms of control are preferable to behavioural forms of controls. Findings - The results indicate that risk control outcomes were significantly better in the Australian compared with the US cases. The results also reveal a significant relationship between the quality of risk controls and the timing of risk control selection decisions. The greater the proportion of risk controls selected during the pre-construction stages of a project, the better the risk control outcomes. Research limitations/implications - The results provide preliminary evidence that technological risk controls are more likely to be implemented if WHS risks are considered and controls are selected in the planning and design stages of construction projects. Practical implications - The research highlights the need for WHS risk to be integrated into decision making early in the life of construction projects. Originality/value - Previous research has linked accidents to design. However, the retrospective nature of these studies has not permitted an analysis of the effectiveness of integrating WHS into pre-construction decision making. Prospective studies have been lacking. This research provides empirical evidence in support of the relationship between early consideration of WHS and risk control effectiveness

Construction hazard prevention: The need to integrate process knowledge into product design

Social network analysis was used to model information exchange networks in construction case studies in the United States of America and Australia/New Zealand. For each case, the quality of work safety and health (WHS) risk control outcomes was measured. This measurement was based on an established "hierarchy of control" in which risk controls are classified in descending order of effectiveness. The construction contractors' degree centrality was examined as a proxy measure of the constructors' influence in decision making during the pre-construction stages of the project. Network metrics were compared for cases in which the risk control scores were higher and lower than average. The results showed a significant difference in constructors' degree centrality for cases with high and low risk control efficacy scores. Constructors had significantly higher degree centrality in cases with high compared to low quality OSH risk control outcomes. The results provide preliminary evidence that integrating construction process knowledge into pre-construction decision-making produces better OSH outcomes. The research also highlights the potential usefulness of social network analysis and network metrics in OSH performance measurement and benchmarking

Designer Magnetoplasmonics with Nickel Nanoferromagnets

We introduce a new perspective on magnetoplasmonics in nickel nanoferromagnets by exploiting the phase tunability of the optical polarizability due to localized surface plasmons and simultaneous magneto-optical activity. We demonstrate how the concerted action of nanoplasmonics and magnetization can manipulate the sign of rotation of the reflected light’s polarization (i.e., to produce Kerr rotation reversal) in ferromagnetic nanomaterials and, further, how this effect can be dynamically controlled and employed to devise conceptually new schemes for biochemosensing. © 2011 American Chemical Society.A.D. and Z.P. acknowledge support from the Swedish Research Council and Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (Framework program Functional Electromagnetic Metamaterials, project RMA08). J.Å. acknowledges support from the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (Future Research Leader Programme), and the G€oran Gustafsson Foundation. J.Å. is a Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Research Fellow supported by a grant from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. V.B. acknowledges the G€oran Gustafsson Foundation and the Blanceflor Boncompagni-Ludovisi Foundation. P.V. acknowledges funding from the Basque Government through the ETORGAI Program, Project No. ER- 2010/00032 and Program No. PI2009-17, the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education under Projects No. CSD2006-53 and No. MAT2009-07980. J.N. acknowledges funding for the Generalitat de Catalunya and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education through No. 2009-SGR-1292 and No. MAT2010-20616-C02 projects.Peer Reviewe

Polarizability and magnetoplasmonic properties of magnetic general nanoellipsoids

An approach to compute the polarizability tensor of magnetic nanoparticles having general ellipsoidal shape is presented. We find a surprisingly excellent quantitative agreement between calculated and experimental magneto-optical spectra measured in the polar Kerr configuration from nickel nanodisks of large size (exceeding 100 nm) with circular and elliptical shape. In spite of its approximations and simplicity, the formalism presented here captures the essential physics of the interplay between magneto-optical activity and the plasmonic resonance of the individual particle. The results highlight the key role of the dynamic depolarization effects to account for the magneto-optical properties of plasmonic nanostructures

Biochemical and molecular analysis of structural proteins of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) belongs to the recently recognized Arteriviridae family within the genus Arterivirus, order Nidovirales, which also includes equine arteritis virus (EAV), lactate dehydrogenase-elevating virus (LDV), and simian hemorrhagic fever virus (SHFV). Mature viral particles are composed of an envelope, 50-72 nm in diameter, with a 20-30 nm isometric core enclosing a linear positive-stranded RNA genome of approximately 15 kb. The virions are assembled by the budding of preformed nucleocapsids into the lumen of the smooth endoplasmic reticulum and/or Golgi apparatus. The mature virions are then released by exocytosis. The viral genome contains eight open reading frames (ORFs) which are transcribed in the cells as a nested set of subgenomic mRNAs. The ORF1a and ORF1b situated at the $5'$ end of the genome represent nearly 75% of the viral genome and code for proteins with apparent replicase and polymerase activities. The major structural proteins consist of a 25 kDa envelope glycoprotein (GP$_5$), an 18-19 kDa unglycosylated membrane protein (M), and a 15 kDa nucleocapsid (N) protein, encoded by ORFs 5, 6 and 7, respectively. In cells and virions, both M and GP$_5$ occur in heterodimeric complexes linked by disulphide bonds. The expression products of ORFs 2 and 4 are also incorporated into virus particles as additional minor membrane-associated glycoproteins designated as GP$_2$ and GP$_4$, with $M_r$ of 29 and 31 kDa, respectively. Apart from its nonstructural nature, recent reports indicate that the ORF3 product, a highly glycosylated protein with an apparent Mr of 42 kDa, is antigenic. In one experiment, this protein was shown to provide protection of piglets against PRRSV infection in the absence of a noticeable neutralizing humoral response. A minor fraction of GP$_3$ is secreted (by transit through the secretory pathway) into cell culture fluids as a soluble protein (sGP$_3$), whereas the bulk of the protein remains associated with the ER. Pigs exposed to the native form of GP$_5$ by mean of DNA immunization, develop specific neutralizing and protecting antibodies. GP$_5$ is also involved in antigenic variability, apoptosis and possibly, an antibody-dependent enhancement phenomena. GP$_4$ also possesses antigenic determinants that trigger the immune system for the production of neutralizing antibodies. As for other enveloped RNA viruses, high degrees of genomic variabilities have been reported for arteriviruses, including PRRSV. Since the ORFs 2 to 7 protein sequences of European and North American PRRSV isolates differ by 21 to 45%, the isolates from these two continents are in fact two distinct viral species that must have diverged from a common ancestor. Each of the PRRSV structural proteins carries common and type-specific antigenic determinants that permit the ability to differentiate between European and North American strains. Live attenuated and killed vaccines are commercially available to protect pigs against PRRSV infection. In comparison to the killed vaccines, the attenuated vaccines induce an immunity against disease which lasts longer and is more efficient. However, these live vaccines can still be improved since they do not prevent reinfection. Genetically engineered vaccines can easily be designed to discriminate between vaccinated and naturally-infected pigs. However, to elicit a protective response, researchers would have to target antigens which are not only involved in the production of virus neutralizing antibodies, but also those antigens that are involved in the induction of an effective CMI response. The role of mucosal immunity should not be neglected, as it may be largely involved in the establishment of a protection against opportunistic infections that are favored following early pulmonary alveolar macrophages infection by PRRSV