Search

Purpose: This paper aims to better understand the linkage between CO2 emitters and industrial consumers. The border-crossing frequency is applied to calculate the average number of steps that a country takes in relation to the CO2 emissions of its construction industry. The maximum border-crossing frequency and declining speed of CO2 transfer are used to reveal the relationship between the length of production chains and the transfer efficiency of construction products. Design/methodology/approach: This paper maps the CO2 transfer that accompanies global production chains using the frequency of border crossing in the production processes of construction products. As the basic analysis framework, a multi-regional input–output model is adopted to analyse the average border-crossing frequency of CO2 transfer. Additionally, indicators including the maximum border-crossing frequency and declining speed of CO2 transfer are employed. Also, the maximum border-crossing frequency and declining speed of CO2 transfer are used to reveal the relationship between the length of production chains and the transfer efficiency of construction products. Findings: The results indicate that 85.49% of the CO2 in construction products needs to be processed in at least one country, reflecting that direct trade is the major pattern of transfer of CO2 from primary producers in global construction industries. The maximum border-crossing frequency is 4.88 for 15 economies, meaning that construction products cross the international borders up to 4.88 times before they are absorbed by the final users. The scale of the average border-crossing frequency ranged from 1.16 to 1.87 over 2000–2014, indicating that the original construction products crossed the international borders at least 1.16 times to satisfy the final demand of the consuming countries. Research limitations/implications: The data from the economic MRIO tables in the WIOD are only available until 2014, which is a limitation for conducting this research in recent years. Originality/value: The fragmentation of production is not only reshaping global trade patterns, but also leading to the separation of CO2 emitters and final consumers in production chains. A growing number of studies have focussed on the impact of production fragmentation on accounting for regional and national CO2 emissions, but little research has been done at the scale of a specific industry. The major contribution of this paper lies in mapping the CO2 emissions that accompany the production chains of construction products from the perspectives of both magnitude and length. Additionally, this paper is the first to propose using maximum border-crossing frequency and declining speed to analyse the characteristics of global production chains induced by the final demand of major economies for construction products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of the movable frog switch for domestic and abroad high-speed railway and urban rail transit, as well as the demand for the movable frog switch were summarized. Key technologies of movable frogs, including vehicle-fork system dynamics, switching and locking, disease damage, maintenance and repair, and replacement and reconstruction technologies were carried out. The structure design of movable frog, which was divided into four parts: heavy-duty switch, speed-increasing switch, high-speed switch and small-number switch were discussed and the manufacturing and laying contents of movable frog switch were proposed. The future development of movable frog turnouts was discussed and main contents included: development of 400 km/h high-speed railway turnouts, research on wear resistance and strength optimization of heavy-duty railway turnout core rails, urban rail transit No. 7 and No. 9 movable frog, the design of rigidity under the movable frog, the method of keeping the center rail and the sliding bed in close contact, and the optimization research of the rapid replacement of the movable frog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to clarify the CO2 emissions of global construction industries under the consideration of different patterns of international trade and thus to draw a comprehensive picture for understanding the international paths of CO2 transfer to global construction industries. Design/methodology/approach: This research inventories the CO2 emissions induced by the final demand of 15 economies for construction products and explores the CO2 intensities of these economies based on a multi-regional input–output model. This paper further decomposes CO2 emissions into four components based on different patterns of international trade to estimate the roles of four patterns of international trade in shaping the environmental pressures from global construction industries. Findings: The results indicate that the CO2 intensities of the construction industries in Russia, India and China were higher than those in other economies, and the CO2 intensities of global construction industries experienced a decline over the years 2000–2014. The decomposition analysis demonstrates that domestic and foreign CO2 emissions accounted for 42.67 and 54.23%, respectively, of the CO2 emissions of the construction industries in the 15 economies during the period 2000–2007. Although the major part of the CO2 emissions of the construction industries come from domestic production systems, the final demand for construction products in the 15 economies caused substantial emissions in other economies. Further decomposition by upstream industrial production source indicates that 58.65% of domestic emissions and 66.53% of foreign emissions can be traced back to the electricity industry. Research limitations/implications: Although the major patterns of CO2 emissions of the construction industry have been identified in this paper, the difficulty of understanding the relationship between upstream production industries or countries and the construction industry deserves more attention in the future research. Originality/value: Previous research on inventorying CO2 emissions has generally been limited to evaluating the impact of industrial consumption activities on national or global emission accounting, tending to ignore the effects of different international trade patterns on the change in industrial CO2 emissions. This research is the first attempt to account for and decompose the CO2 emissions of global construction industries under consideration of the effects of different patterns of international trade on environmental pressures. The decomposition and upstream industrial distributions of different patterns of CO2 emission provide a comprehensive picture for better understanding of the emission pattern and source of the CO2 emissions of global construction industries. The research outcomes reveal how the final demand of a country for construction products induces CO2 emissions in both domestic and foreign systems, thus providing basic information and references for policy adjustment and strategy design in relation to mitigation of climate change and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stretchable strain sensors have promising applications in many fields, including soft robotic skin, health monitoring, wearable electronics, and so on. Among the various properties of stretchable strain sensors, the low detection limit and wide sensing range are the two most critical properties that determine their practical application in the above fields. However, it is still a great challenge to achieve both an ultralow detection limit and ultrawide sensing range at the same time, and there often needs to be a tradeoff between them. Herein, we propose a simple route to design a stretchable strain sensor with both an ultralow detection limit and an ultrawide sensing range by the combination of the electrospinning technique and ultrasonication anchoring technique. Specifically, thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) is fabricated into a highly stretchable porous film and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are anchored onto the surface of TPU nanofibers assisted by ultrasonication, and then assembled with two Cu electrodes to fabricate the strain sensor. Attributed to the multiscale evolution of the conductive network under stretching, the designed strain sensor exhibits many outstanding merits, such as an ultra-low detection limit (0.05%), an ultrawide sensing range from 0.05% to 600%, a fast response time of 75 ms, and excellent durability. Because of these outstanding merits, the TPU@CNT strain sensor can detect both the subtle strain change caused by the sound of a piano and the large strain change caused by the large-scale motions of joints. Moreover, it is found that TPU@CNT sensor responds to temperature and humidity, which has great potential in temperature sensors and humidity sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study was to screen hemicellulose degrading microorganisms., Methods: The methods used to screen the effective strains included hydrolysis spot diameter measurement of hemicellulose plate and extracellular enzyme activity. The methods used to identify the strains included culture characteristics, morphological, physiological-biochemical characteristics and molecular biological methods., Results: We isolated 4 actinomycetes (NA9, NA10, NA12 and NA13), 2 fungi (NF1 and NF7) with hemicellulose degrading ability and no antagonistic effect among them. The hemicellulose degrading activity of 4 actinomyces (NA9, NA10, NA12 and NA13) was 217.6, 229.8, 221.1 and 211.8 U/mL. The hemicellulose degrading activity of 2 fungi (NF1 and NF7) was 217.7 and 244.2 U/mL. The hemicellulose degrading activity of complex microbial system was 299.0 U/mL. NA9, NA10, NA12 and NA13 were Streptomyces costaricanus; NF1 was Aspergillus candidus and NF7 was Tarlaromyces flavus., Conclusion: the 4 actinomyces and 2 fungi screened have high hemicelluloses enzyme activity. These strains have good application value and more research value.