Working Behavior Research Articles

Establishment and application of flow stress models of Mg-Y-MM-Zr alloy

The hot working behaviors of Mg-9Y-1MM-0.6Zr (WE91) magnesium alloy were researched in a temperature range of 653-773 K and strain rate range of 0.001-1 s −1 on Gleeble-1500D hot simulator under the maximum deformation degree of 60%. A mathematical model was established to predict the stress-strain curves of this alloy during deformation. The experimental results show that the relationship between stress and strain is obviously affected by the strain rates and deformation temperatures. The flow stress of WE91 magnesium alloy during high temperature deformation can be represented by Zener-Hollomon parameter in the hyperbolic Arrhenius-type equation, and the stress-strain curves obtained by the established model are in good agreement with the experimental results, which prove that the model reflects the real deformation characteristics of the WE91 alloy. The average deformation activation energy is 220 kJ/mol at strain of 0.1. The microstructures of WE91 during deformation processing are influenced by temperature and strain rates.

A STUDY OF TWO DIFFERENT EXPERIMENTAL SETTINGS FOR GROUP AWARENESS INFORMATION IN A WEB-BASED GROUP DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM

Group awareness information represents things such as group members' roles and responsibilities, their positions on an issue, their status, and the state of various group processes that group members know about when they work together. The group awareness information presented in this paper is designed to capture group member activities and their behaviors in web-based collaborative work. It consists of activity, availability, and commitment/disposition information. The first two parameters appear as a visual display representing cumulative data and changes accordingly when the group begins working together. The last parameter is captured during group work and is summarized at the end of the group work task. The application of this proposed scheme was designed and implemented in a web-based group decision support system. This paper reports on the results of a study in a controlled experiment and a field test experiment that examined group performance on a given task in a web-based group decision support system with and without group awareness information. In particular, the study examined how group awareness information impacts the quality of the work effort and a given task, group decision making by members in the same group and different groups, the communications among group members during the completion of an online collaborative authoring task, the cohesiveness among group members in a web-based group decision support system, and the commitment/disposition of engagement of each member of the work group.

Hot working and crystallographic texture analysis of magnesium AZ alloys

The hot working behaviour of magnesium AZ (e.g. AZ31; Al: 3%, Zn: 1%) alloys and their associated crystallographic texture evolution is reviewed. Under hot working conditions, the stress–strain curves show flow softening at all the temperatures and strain rates indicating dynamic recrystallisation (DRX) is predominant. The mean size of the recrystallised grains in all the alloys decreases as the value of Zener–Hollomon parameter Z increases. The hot working range of the alloys dwell between 200 and 500°C and the strain rates between 10−3 and 5 s−1. The hot working of AZ series alloy shows discontinuous DRX as the main mechanism. Equal channel angular processing shows continuous DRX. The constitutive equation development shows a linear relationship between the stress and the Z parameter. The activation energy for the alloys ranges from 112 to 169 kJ mol−1 and Z values range from 10 to 10 s−1. Textural examinations show basal texture as the predominant orientation.

Study on the behavior of medium carbon vanadium microalloyed steel by hot compression test

This article investigates the hot working behavior of medium carbon vanadium microalloyed steel by hot compression tests over the temperature range of 850–1100 °C and strain rate range of 0.001–0.5 s −1 to strain of 0.8. In this study, the general constitutive equations were used to determine the hot working constants. The peak stress ( σ P) and strain ( ɛ P) for initiation of dynamic recrystallization (DRX) at different temperatures and strain rates were calculated. The power law, exponential and hyperbolic sinusoidal types of Zener–Hollomon equations were used to determine the hot deformation activation energy ( Q). The results suggested that the highest correlation coefficient was achieved for the hyperbolic sine law for the studied material. The magnitude of hot deformation activation energy ( Q) was obtained as 319.910 kJ/mol. The classical single peak DRX was observed in most of temperatures and strain rates. However, for temperature of 1100 °C and strain rates of 0.001 s −1, 0.01 s −1, and also for temperature of 950 °C and strain rate of 0.001 s −1 the multiple peak dynamic recrystallization (MDRX) was observed, which showed that the ‘recrystallization’ was an observed strain rate behavior.

Work, marriage, and health behaviors of African American working couples

Using a sample of 379 African American working husbands and wives, this study examined a unique link between work and marital experiences on health‐promoting behaviors. Results of the dyadic model show that husbands' and wives' control over work are directly associated with husbands' and wives' health‐promoting behaviors, respectively, after taking into account the dependencies between husbands and wives. The results of the dyadic model also show that husbands' and wives' control over work are indirectly associated with husbands' and wives' health behaviors through their perceived marital integrations. By understanding how work control and marital integration combine to influence both husbands' and wives' health behaviors, programs that promote healthy behaviors can be better designed and more effectively implemented.

How to live democracy in the classroom

The aim of the study presented in this article is to explore the teaching of pupils in relation to their behaviour and attitudes in everyday work in the classroom. It is the educational objectives associated with democracy linked to the teacher’s teaching and fostering actions that are of main interest. The results are based on an analysis of data from 120 hours of classroom observations and contextualised interviews with a primary teacher during a period of one and a half years. Using data from audio recordings and notes taken from observations, I have analysed the pupils’ behaviour and attitudes in relation to educational objectives and the teacher’s teaching and fostering actions. A democracy stance and democracy signs are important concepts used in the study. My conclusion is that the way democracy is thought and lived in this classroom seems to hold great potential for promoting knowledge in and about democracy.

An Examination of Socially Destructive Behaviors in Group Work

With the increasing prevalence of group work in marketing courses there is a need to consider the impact of students’ social dynamics on both learning and satisfaction outcomes. This article explores one such dynamic at both intra- and intergroup levels. Using data generated from multiple sources, it was identified that students who are actively contributing to group processes have difficulty distinguishing between students, and indeed groups, that are socially loafing and those that are genuinely struggling with the material. As a consequence, the struggling students are subject to incidences of socially destructive behaviors, critically harming their ability to develop. This has the potential to harm not only the individual struggling student and their group but also burden the other members of the class with a class member that will never be able to meaningfully contribute. Using social interdependence theory, a framework is proposed to explain how this confusion among contributing students arises. Recommendations are made regarding how to design curriculum so as to minimize the incidence of this phenomenon as well as intervention strategies to mitigate its effect should it present.

KFD 웹 데이터베이스 시스템을 위한 동영상 이벤트 분석 및 검색 시스템

KFD 웹 데이터베이스 시스템은 가족미술치료사들의 요구사항을 반영하여, 방대한 평가 자료의 관리 및 효율적인 사정평가 과정의 지원을 위해 개발된 프로토타입 시스템이다. 그러나 KFD 웹 데이터베이스 시스템은 내담자가 그림을 그리는 동안의 행동패턴, 얼굴 표정, 그리고 음성 정보등과 같은 중요한 관찰요소들에 관한 정보는 얻을 수 없다는 문제점이 있다. 따라서 본 논문에서는 웹 카메라와 그림판 툴을 이용하여 내담자의 KFD 작업 과정을 녹화하고, 녹화된 영상 내의 주요 이벤트들을 인덱싱하여 가족미술치료사가 KFD 동영상을 분석하고 검색할 수 있도록 온톨로지 기반의 이벤트 분석 및 검색 시스템을 제안한다. 즉 새롭게 제안된 시스템에서는 가족 구성원에 관한 내담자의 이벤트 및 행동분석에 관한 요약 보고서와 함께 비디오 검색 서비스가 제공된다. 제안된 KFD 동영상 내의 이벤트 분석 및 검색 시스템은 가족치료사에게 내담자의 작업태도 및 행동, 그리고 KFD 작성과정에 대한 정량적이고, 객관적인 정보를 제공함으로써 보다 강화된 KFD 사정 평가를 지원할 수 있다. The typical Kinetic Family Drawing (KFD) Web database system, a form of prototype system, has been developed, relying on the suggestions from family art therapists, with an aim to handle large amounts of assessment data and to facilitate effective implement of assessment activities. However, unfortunately such a system has an intrinsic problem that it fails to collect clients' behaviors, attitudes, facial expressions, voices, and other critical information observed while they are drawing. Accordingly we propose the ontology based video event analysis and video retrieval system in this paper, in order to enhance the function of a KFD Web database system by using a web camera and drawing tool. More specifically, a newly proposed system is designed to deliver two kinds of services: the client video retrieval service and the sketch video retrieval service, accompanied by a summary report of occurred events and dynamic behaviors relative to each family member object, respectively. The proposed system can support the reinforced KFD assessments by providing quantitative and subjective information on clients' working attitudes and behaviors, and KFD preparation processes.

Hot working behavior of 2205 austenite–ferrite duplex stainless steel characterized by constitutive equations and processing maps

The hot deformation characteristics of the 2205 duplex stainless steel were analyzed using constitutive equations and processing maps. The hot compression tests were performed at temperature range of 950–1200°C and strain rate of 0.001–1s−1. Flow stress was modeled by the constitutive equation of hyperbolic sine function. However, the stress exponent and strain rate sensitivity were different at low and high deformation temperatures where austenite and ferrite are dominant, respectively. It was recognized that strain at the peak point of flow curve increases with the Zener–Hollomon parameter, Z, at low temperature deformation while at high temperature deformation it actually decreases with Z. The power dissipation map, instability map and processing map were developed for the typical strain of 0.3. It was realized that dynamic restoration mechanisms could efficiently hinder the occurrence of flow instability at low and medium strain rates. Otherwise, the increase in strain rate at low and high temperatures could increase the risk of flow instability.

Behavior-Based Safety Programs Improve Worker Safety in India

Behavioral safety programs prove their rapid effectiveness in changing unsafe working behavior in Indian multinational organizations – or anywhere. An ongoing national action re search survey of behavior-based safety (BBS) in India counts among its participants 1,750 executives and 713 workers in 57 multinational organizations representing a variety of industries, such as petroleum, steel, cement, power, and chemicals. This article presents selected original case studies and field observations made in BBS training interventions conducted between 1997 and 2009. These observations can be useful in extending the BBS concept and process to human resources and safety professionals, as well as to anyone concerned about correcting unsafe behaviors in the workplace, reducing the incidence of accidents, and promoting safe behaviors to develop an injury-free culture in their organizations.

Error Orientation and Reflection at Work

Reflection on events at work, including errors is often as a means to learn effectively through work. In a cross-sectional field study in the banking sector, we investigated attitudes towards workplace errors (i.e. error orientation) as predictors of reflective activity. We assumed the organisational climate for psychological safety to have a mediating effect. The study participants were 84 client advisors from the retail banking departments in branches of a German bank. The client advisors’ were being affected by a range of changes in their workplaces at the time of the data collection. This situation afforded these workers opportunity for learning but also involved the risk of error by these staff. Regression analyses identified that error competence and learning from errors were significant predictors of reflection. The results confirmed the mediating role of psychological safety on the association between attitudes towards errors and reflective working behaviour.

Effect of deep cryogenic treatment on internal friction behaviors of cold work die steel and their experimental explanation by coupling model

This paper is devoted to the internal friction behaviors in cold work die steel after deep cryogenic treatment (DCT). The experimental results include the Snoek relaxation and their dependence on carbon concentration with the soaking time in liquid nitrogen as well as the Snoek–Kê–Köster (SKK) relaxation and explaining by coupling model which is based on the considering of the cooperative migration of the foreign interstitial atoms C, N, O (FIAs) caused by two kinds of interactions, including the FIAs themselves and between the FIAs with time-dependent strain field of dislocations. The decreasing of the Snoek peak height is indicated that the solute C amount in matrix is reduced after DCT treating. Moreover, the carbon atoms segregated to nearby dislocations producing a strong Snoek–Kê–Köster relaxation.

Energy consumption during compaction with a Gyratory Intensive Compactor Tester. Estimation models

Abstract In this study, a test protocol is presented, which is used to obtain the compacting energy consumption of bituminous mixes on a laboratory scale. With the data obtained from a Gyratory Intensive Compactor Tester (ICT), two types of laboratory-measured parameters have been established: the first type is based on the mix’s volumetric characteristics and air voids, while the second type is based on mechanical principles: the shear stress and compaction energy required to compact a sample. These parameters have been used to quantify the workability and compactibility of the bituminous mixes and their future behavior in construction site work. This protocol has been proven in High Modulus Asphalt Mixes (HMAM), analyzing the influence on the energy consumption of the aggregate shapes and roughness, both rounded and crushed; and the bitumen, type B-13/22, B-60/70 and content. A statistical data analysis has been carried out in which bivariate correlations and simple linear regressions have been obtained in order to produce an energy consumption model that can be used to estimate the energy consumed during compaction of bituminous mixes from their volumetric characteristic.

An Empirical Study of Group Awareness Information in a Web-Based Group Decision Support System

Group awareness information is important information for group work. It represents group members’ roles and responsibilities, their positions on an issue, their status, and the state of various group processes. The group awareness information presented in this article is designed to capture group member activities and their behaviors in web-based collaborative work. In this article, group awareness information is represented with a visual display and consists of activity and availability information. The application of this proposed scheme is designed and implemented in a web-based group decision support system. This article reports on the results of a study that examined group performance on a given task in a web-based group decision support system with and without group awareness information. The study examined how group awareness information impacts the quality of the work effort and a given task, group decision making by members in the same group and different groups, the communications among group members in the completion of an online collaborative authoring task, the cohesiveness among group members in a web-based group decision support system, and the commitment/disposition of group engagement.

Incidence and impact of dog attacks on guide dogs in the UK

In a retrospective survey, researchers identified 100 incidents of attacks on guide dogs by other dogs. These were reviewed in order to determine the number, severity and impact on the...

The rate of dynamic recrystallization in 17-4 PH stainless steel

The hot working behavior of 17-4 PH stainless steel (AISI 630) was studied by hot compression test at temperatures of 950–1150 °C with strain rates of 0.001–10 s −1. The progress of dynamic recrystallization (DRX) was modeled by the Johnson–Mehl–Avrami–Kolmogorov (JMAK) kinetics equation. The flow softening was directly related to the DRX volume fraction and the DRX time was determined by strain rate. For quantification of recrystallization rate, the reciprocal of the time corresponding to the DRX fraction of 0.5% or 50% was used. Analysis of the sigmoid-shaped recrystallization curves revealed that the rate of DRX increases with increasing deformation temperature and strain rate. The Zener-Hollomon parameter ( Z) was found to be inappropriate for analysis of DRX kinetics. Therefore, the dynamic recrystallization rate parameter (DRXRP) was introduced for this purpose. The DRXRP may be determined readily from the Avrami analysis and can precisely predict the rate of DRX at hot working conditions.

Work-fluctuation theorems for a particle in an electromagnetic field

The theoretical study about the transient and stationary fluctuation theorems is extended to include the effects of electromagnetic fields on a charged Brownian particle. In particular, we consider a harmonic trapped Brownian particle under the action of a constant magnetic field pointing perpendicular to a plane and a time-dependent electric field acting on this plane. The electric field is seen to be responsible for the motion of the center in the harmonic trap, giving as a result a time-dependent dragging. Our study is focused on the solution of the Smoluchowski equation associated with the over-damped Langevin equation and also considers two particular cases for the motion of the harmonic trap minimum. The first one is produced by a linear time-dependent electric field and, in the second case an oscillating electric field produces a circular motion. In this last case we have found resonant behavior in the mean work when the electric field is tuned with Larmor's frequency. Some comparisons are made with other works in the absence of the magnetic field.

A study on the mechanical behavior and microstructural evolution of Ni 60 wt% –Ti 40 wt% (60Nitinol) intermetallic compound during hot deformation

The mechanical behavior and microstructural evolution of Ni 60 wt% –Ti 40 wt% during hot deformation were investigated. The compression tests were carried out at the temperature range of 900–1050 °C and at the strain rates of 0.001–0.35 s −1. Besides, the effects of strain on the hot working behavior, flow stress, activation energy and strain rate sensitivity were studied. The microstructural evolution was characterized using optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The results show that there was a delay in the occurrence of DRX as the deformation temperature increased from 950 to 1050 °C. The results also indicate that the activation energy and the strain rate sensitivity of Ni 60 wt% –Ti 40 wt% alloy vary abnormally with strain. The possible mechanisms dominated during the hot deformation of this alloy were determined and discussed. These results imply that there is a temperature and strain rate range when the workability of this alloy is significantly reduced. For example, there are some abnormalities in the flow curve when the deformation temperature drops below 950 °C. The lack of sufficient workability of 60Nitinol can be attributed to the high volume fraction of intermetallic compounds. It can be concluded that dynamic recrystallization can be considered as the dominate restoration mechanism. With increasing the strain from 0.2 to 1, the dynamically recrystallized grains become more prevalent. At the strain of 1.0, the DRX phenomenon has extended significantly so that there is almost no sign of the initial grains. Finally, a theoretical model was developed for the hot-deformation behavior of this alloy.

Hospital Health Care Workers’ Understanding of and Attitudes Toward Pandemic Influenza in Beijing

During a pandemic, health care workers (HCWs) will be essential to the health system response. This pre-pandemic study aimed to extend previous research by assessing the views, and intended behaviors of hospital HCWs in Beijing, China, regarding pandemic influenza. We undertook a cross-sectional investigation of a sample of HCWs from 24 hospitals in Beijing, China in January 2009. The main outcome measures were intentions regarding work attendance and quarantine, antiviral use and perceived preparation. Our study found that most HCWs perceived pandemic influenza to be very serious but very few were able to correctly define it. 74% (n=1406) of respondents accepted the risk of getting pandemic influenza as part of their job and 71% (n=1350) felt that they have the necessary knowledge to provide patient care during it. We identified two issues that could undermine the best of pandemic plans - the first, a low level of confidence in antivirals as an effective intervention; secondly, a high proportion of staff potentially engaging in inappropriate working behaviors.

Amelioration of ketamine-induced working memory deficits by dopamine D1 receptor agonists

Ketamine has been used in humans to model cardinal symptoms of schizophrenia, including working memory impairments and behavioral disorganization. Translational studies with ketamine in nonhuman primates promise to extend the neurobiological understanding of this model. By establishing the dose-dependent effects of ketamine on spatial working memory and behavior, we sought to test and compare the capacity of antipsychotic and procognitive agents to reverse these symptoms. Behavioral observations were taken following administration of placebo/ketamine (0.1-1.7 mg/kg, intramuscularly) and animals were tested on the spatial delayed response task 15 min post-injection. Pretreatments with risperidone as well as full and partial D1 receptor agonists were tested for their ability to reverse ketamine-induced impairments. Ketamine (median 1.0 mg/kg) produced a profound cognitive impairment and behavioral sequelae reminiscent of positive and negative symptoms. Risperidone within the therapeutic dose range failed to antagonize behavioral or cognitive consequences of acute ketamine but A77636 (0.1 and 1 microg/kg) and SKF38393 (0.1 microg/kg-100 microg/kg) ameliorated the spatial working memory deficit. This effect of A77636 was blocked by the D1 receptor antagonist, SCH39166 (1 and 10 microg/kg). These findings establish a valuable ketamine platform relevant to the treatment of cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia. The reversal of ketamine-induced working memory deficits by a D1 receptor agonist, but not a commonly prescribed atypical antipsychotic, provides behavioral evidence for significant D1/N-methyl-D: -aspartate receptor interactions in prefrontal dysfunction and concurs with suggestions that D1 agonists may be useful in the treatment of cognitive impairments in schizophrenia.