Current air quality analytics and monitoring: A review

This review summarizes the different tools and concepts that are commonly applied in air quality monitoring. The monitoring of atmosphere is extremely important as the air quality is an important problem for large communities. Main requirements for analytical devices used for monitoring include a long period of autonomic operation and portability. These instruments, however, are often characterized by poor analytical performance. Monitoring networks are the most common tools used for monitoring, so large-scale monitoring programmes are summarized here. Biomonitoring, as a cheap and convenient alternative to traditional sample collection, is becoming more and more popular, although its main drawback is the lack of standard procedures. Telemonitoring is another approach to air monitoring, which offers some interesting opportunities, such as ease of coverage of large or remote areas, constituting a complementary approach to traditional strategies; however, it requires huge costs.     

Vibration analysis of a beam with PCLD Patch

An analytical approach for vibration response analysis of a beam with single passive constrained layer damping (PCLD) patch is presented. The governing equation of motion of the beam is firstly derived on the basis of an energy approach and the Lagrange equation. The noval contribution is that a third admissible function is introduced to represent the longitudinal displacements of the constraining layer in the PCLD patch when the assumed-modes method is applied for discretizing the governing equation. In conventional analytical approaches, only two admissible functions are used together with a longitudinal static equilibrium equation of a section of base beam or constraining layer. Comparison of the computational results from the proposed analytical approach and the conventional analytical approach as well as a commercial FEM code reveals that the proposed analytical approach can describe the vibration responses of the damped beam more accurately for commonly used viscoelastic material (VEM) layer in the PCLD patch while the conventional analytical approach, in general, overestimates the damping effects of the PCLD patch. The advantages and disadvantages of the proposed analytical approach and conventional analytical approach are discussed through some case studies.     

Indoor radon measurements in dwellings of four Saudi Arabian cities

An indoor radon survey of a total of 269 dwellings, with one dosimeter per house, distributed in four Saudi Arabian cities was carried out. The objective of this survey was to carry out indoor radon measurements of two cities in the Eastern Province, Khafji and Hafr Al-Batin and to compare this with two cities in the Western Province, Al-Madina and Taif. The survey provides additional information about indoor radon concentrations in Saudi Arabia. The results of the survey in these cities showed that the overall minimum, maximum and average radon concentration were 7,137 and 30 Bqm⁻³, respectively. The lowest average radon concentration (20 Bqm⁻³) was found in Hafr Al-Batin, while the highest average concentration was found in Khafji (40 Bqm⁻³).     

ICP-AES测定彩涂前处理表面调整转化层中Ti、Ni含量及钝化膜中Cr含量

采用电感耦合等离子体-原子发射光谱法同时测定彩涂前处理表面调整转化层中Ti、Ni含量及钝化膜中Cr含量.以表征表面调整转化层厚度及钝化膜厚度,采用本方法准确度高、快速简便,经试验结果令人满意.     

新型杀菌剂氟吗啉在黄瓜植株体内的吸收传导行为

利用生物测定技术和高效液相色谱法研究了氟吗啉在黄瓜植株体内的吸收、传导和分布行为及其机制. 结果表明, 氟吗啉能被黄瓜植株被动吸收, 并通过木质部在体内传导和分布.     

Dynamic electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements of passive layer cracking under static tensile stresses

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy allows the examination of corrosion susceptibility and resistance for different construction materials, in particular the determination of the properties of their passive films. This technique makes possible the analysis of electrochemical processes in time domain, including rapid phenomena such as changes in the properties of passive films, but it has never been used for passive layer cracking examination. In many cases, fracture of the passive film under tensile stresses leads to stress corrosion cracking. Therefore, investigations of passive layer cracking on austenitic stainless steels under tensile stresses facilitate the understanding of the mechanism of stress corrosion cracking in these common engineering materials. The effect of static tensile stresses on the passive film cracking behaviour of type 304L stainless steel immersed in 0.5 M NaCl solution at room temperature has been investigated. This paper presents the impedance spectra obtained for 304L stainless steel samples at different potential values.Contribution to the 3rd Baltic Conference on Electrochemistry, Gdansk-Sobieszewo, Poland, 23–26 April 2003Dedicated to the memory of Harry B. Mark, Jr. (28 February 1934–3 March 2003)     

Relationship between Muscle Flexibility and Characteristics of Muscle Contraction in Healthy Women during Different Menstrual Phases

Objective: Skeletal muscle function is vital for preventing injury during exercise. It has been reported that skeletal muscle function fluctuates with the menstrual cycle and is considered one of the causes of injury. This study aimed to clarify the relationship between muscle flexibility and muscle contraction characteristics and their changes with the menstrual cycle. Methods: The subjects were healthy women who voluntarily participated in the study through recruitment posters. Muscle flexibility was measured with the passive knee extension (PKE) test, isokinetic knee flexor strength, and the maximum muscle strength exertion angle under two conditions of 60°/s and 120°/s in dominant hamstrings. Additionally, their correlations were analyzed and compared between the menstrual and ovulatory phases. Results: Sixteen subjects (mean age: 20.56 ± 0.73 years; body mass index: 20.21 ± 1.60) participated in the study. Correlation analysis showed a significant negative correlation between PKE and the maximum muscle strength exertion angle under the condition of 60°/s during the menstrual phase (r = –0.54; p = 0.03). No significant difference was observed in the two-group comparison of the variables measured during the menstrual and ovulatory phases. Conclusion: This study confirmed that the more flexible muscles generate the maximum strength at a more contracted position during the menstrual phase in women. In the future, it is necessary to examine the relationship between the results of this study and exercise performance and injury occurrence.     

Self-propulsion of flapping bodies in viscous fluids: Recent advances and perspectives

Flapping-powered propulsion is used by many animals to locomote through air or water. Here we review recent experimental and numerical studies on self-propelled mechanical systems powered by a flapping motion. These studies improve our understanding of the mutual interaction between actively flapping bodies and surrounding fluids. The results obtained in these works provide not only new insights into biolocomotion but also useful information for the bio-mimetic design of artificial flyers and swimmers.     

不同浓度比的硫酸根和氯离子溶液中钝化膜的半导体特性转变机制研究

800合金作为核电站蒸汽发生器的一种关键材料,服役环境下其表面钝化膜的特性一直是人们研究的热点.本文用Mott-Schottky方法研究了800合金在不同硫酸根离子和氯离子浓度比的溶液中钝化膜的半导体特性,并结合电化学阻抗谱(EIS)、扫描电镜(SEM)、扫描电化学显微镜(SECM)研究了钝化膜的耐蚀性和表面活性.Mott-Schottky结果表明,800合金表面钝化膜的半导体特性与溶液中硫酸根、氯离子的浓度比有关,随硫酸根与氯离子浓度比的降低,半导体特性发生转变.当硫酸根与氯离子的浓度比较高时,钝化膜为p型半导体;而当硫酸根与氯离子的浓度比较低时,钝化膜为n型半导体.EIS、SECM、SEM结果表明,随浓度比的降低钝化膜由过钝化溶解转为明显的点蚀特征,钝化膜表面活性增加.钝化膜特性的改变与其半导体类型的转变密切相关,而半导体特性的转变由氯离子、硫酸根离子在800合金钝化膜表面的竞争吸附所致,其在表面的竞争吸附直接影响钝化膜表面发生的化学反应,改变电极/溶液界面电势差,使钝化膜中的空位类型改变,最终决定半导体类型.     

Trends in the use of passive sampling for monitoring polar pesticides in water

The presence of polar pesticides in environmental waters is a growing problem. After application their migration into the aqueous phase is promoted by their high water solubility. Transport processes are usually complex and inputs are generally stochastic; this makes monitoring of this class of pesticides challenging using low volume spot samples of water. Recently there has been a trend to use passive samplers to monitor pesticides in river catchments as it is an in-situ time integrative sampling technique. The three main types of device used for this purpose are, Chemcatcher®, POCIS and o-DGT. This article reviews the fate and current state-of-the-art for monitoring polar pesticides in aqueous matrices. Principles and the theory of passive sampling and strategies for passive sampler design and operation are presented. Advances in the application of passive sampling devices for measuring polar pesticides are extensively critiqued; future trends in their use are also discussed.