On the Cyclical Division of Labour and its Fractal Structure

In all theories of the division of labour, labour and wealth are understood from the perspective of the market economy. Particularly, labour is used as ‘production labour’ and is arterial to the production processes in manufacturing industries. This study understands labour and wealth from the perspective of the cyclical society, which is composed of human reproduction, economic reproduction and natural reproduction. Then it can be examined as one complete labour process. In this way, we can examine the recycling division of labour. This report deepens and extends the understanding of this concept. Firstly, we can think of the cyclical society as constituted by the consumer as the human subject, the producer as the economic subject and the decomposer as the natural subject (CPD). Secondly, in the ‘virtuous cycle society’, the division of labour is developed with similar structure, CPD. Thirdly, in the ‘vicious cycle society’, the division of labour is developed with little or no \u27decomposer labour\u27 (CPd). Fourthly, the necessary conditions for the formation of the virtuous recycling division of labour are explored with respect to the expansion of ‘zero desire’, ‘eco-consumption’, ‘eco-management’ and ‘zero industry’. a facto

Thermal upgrading of Hui-style vernacular dwellings in China using foam concrete

AbstractArchitectural heritage conservation is an important field in architectural research. The Hui-style vernacular dwelling is an essential architectural heritage of China. Its hollow wall system, with horsehead-like upper corners, is a distinct architectural feature that is worth preserving. However, the thermal performance of the hollow wall is relatively poor by today's standard. The current study developed a novel approach, whereby foam concrete was used to fill the voids inside the hollow wall to improve its thermal resistance. This approach was deemed cost effective, easy to learn, and capable of preserving the architectural integrity of the wall. Different types of foam concrete were prepared and tested. Testing results showed that the material properties of foam concrete are suitable for thermally upgrading the hollow wall system. Climate chamber testing was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of the proposed thermal upgrading strategy. The testing results suggested that filling the voids with foam concrete can effectively improve the overall thermal resistance of the hollow wall system by 24%, which is almost equal to the overall thermal resistance when using the more expensive commercial inorganic stucco system

Reliability and accuracy of interview data in non-smoking female lung cancer case-control study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Valid interview data is critical to the final results of the study. The purpose of this study was to investigate the reliability of epidemiological data obtained in non-smoking female lung cancer case-control study in China.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Fifty-six pairs of cases and controls, 10% percent of all the collected subjects were re-interviewed by three interviewers who underwent identical standardized training. A limited number of questions included in the original survey were asked again, the responses from the re-interview were compared with the original interview. Kappa was calculated by negative rates of agreement, positive rates of agreement and total rates of agreement to the accordance degree between the two interviews.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The Kappa values were all more than 0.5 in all the studied indexes. The Kappa values descended from 0.92 in family history of cancer to 0.56 in oral contraception use. Errors in collecting and classifying data did occur, and were especially common for complicated clinical events, such as a drug exposure occurring many years before.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We identified four sources of this variability, three in collecting the data, and one in coding. As a result of these findings, strategies are proposed for improving the quality of interview data obtained in epidemiological research. Before finding a good solution, the strategy of data collecting and coding should be simple and easy to inspect.</p

Study on failure warning of tool magazine and automatic tool changer

Tool magazine and automatic tool changer (ATC) is used to store and change tools in a machining center, which plays an important role in automatic manufacturing. Therefore, the stability and reliability of tool magazine and ATC is very important to a machining center. Failures of tool magazine and ATC would increase ramp-up repair time and repair cost. So early warning system of failures for tool magazine and ATC becomes a research hotspot. The main vibration signals of tool magazine and ATC would occur obviously when the tool arm grasps a tool holder, draws a tool holder out of a tool into spindle or tool pocket and inserts a tool holder into spindle or tool pocket. To predict failures of tool magazine and ATC and improve the availability of machining center, a vibration test procedure and calculation method of vibration signal threshold of pull nails looseness which can lead to tool falling failures are proposed based on the vibration detection theory. Then, the vibration signals of tool changing are analyzed and the relationship between the maximum amplitude of vibration signals and the looseness severity of pull nails is also illustrated. The final experiment results show that the tool falling failure warning method is feasible to reduce the failures of tool magazine and ATC through the early warning system based on the threshold of vibration signals