Laboratory Construction Research Articles

Machine learning prediction models for AFM virtual imaging system

Nowadays, virtual laboratories are widely used in education and training in universities. Such virtual labs do gain some effect in teaching, assisting students to be familiar with the experimental steps. However, these systems tend to be relatively simple. There is room for improvement in helping students understand the experimental principles. This is particularly evident in the teaching of atomic force microscopy. In order to overcome these shortcomings of the AFM virtual laboratory, we present a virtual AFM imaging system with a lower-resolution contact mode. We restore the core principle of the beam deflection method in AFM using the unity3D development platform. Several machine learning techniques are employed to build an imaging prediction model. Since no public dataset is available for the task of prediction of topographical maps, we create the first dataset of grating samples for prediction. The result indicates that the proposed topographical map prediction model with the best performance is CatBoost. We prove the feasibility of building a virtual AFM imaging system with the ability to visualize internal structures and predict sample topographical maps. This work has important applications related to the 3D dynamic display of the AFM scanning and imaging process and user experience training. At the same time, it can help users get a preliminary understanding of the imaging effect of different types of experimental samples under AFM, providing a new idea for the construction of AFM virtual laboratories.

Current challenges of university laboratory: Characteristics of human factors and safety management system deficiencies based on accident statistics

Introduction: In recent years, with the rapid development of university laboratory construction, frequent laboratory accidents have aroused widespread concern. There is an urgent need to improve laboratory safety management's effectiveness further, enhance laboratory accident prevention ability, and reduce the occurrence of accidents. Method: Based on the accident causation theory, this paper uses the accident analysis path of 24Model and the logical idea of WBA (Why-Because-Analysis) to statistically analyze the causative factors of 64 typical college laboratory fire and explosion accidents and find out the defects of current college laboratory management. Results: The study showed that unsafe human actions at the individual level were the most critical factors affecting laboratory safety management, with a high frequency of violations of experimental procedures (105 times) and managers' failure to perform their supervisory duties (98 times); low safety awareness and insufficient safety knowledge among laboratory personnel were key factors triggering unsafe actions. At the organizational level, the lack of training programs (92 times) and the lack of systematic procedures (106 times) are the weaknesses of the laboratory safety management system in general in all universities; the lack of safety culture construction is the root cause of laboratory management deficiencies. Conclusions: Based on the above statistical results, and taking into account the characteristics of university laboratories themselves, the root causes of poor safety are specifically analyzed and preventive measures are proposed in six areas to address the key causes of accidents. Practical Applications: The results of this study are essential for improving the ability to prevent accidents in flammable and explosive laboratories in universities.

Research on Curriculum Reform and Laboratory Construction through Academia-industry Integration in Quantitative Investment

Research on Curriculum Reform and Laboratory Construction through Academia-industry Integration in Quantitative Investment

Comparing embodied GHG emissions between environmental product declaration and generic data models: Case of the ZEB laboratory in Trondheim, Norway

The article aims to document and compare the embodied GHG emissions from the construction of the ZEB Laboratory in Trondheim, Norway. The process is of key importance because embodied emissions in Norway constitute the largest part of emissions from the construction sector. Moreover, the recent obligations in building regulations call for early accounting and active reduction of the carbon footprint during the design and execution processes.The emissions are estimated and compared between two models: firstly, using most data from the Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), and then, applying only generic data from the ecoinvent database. The main difference derives from the installation of building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPVs), which cover a significant area and show a considerable difference in values. Elsewhere, the general ratio between the generic and EPD products is around 15%. The tendency affects main building materials, such as wood, metal and concrete, while layered products e.g., insulation or covering, show higher emissions in the EPDs.The assessment and improvement from the early design led to a pioneering building with low embodied emissions compared to other ZEB projects. The generic estimations are obtained quickly and can serve as the starting point to predict and reduce the carbon footprint from the conceptual stage. When a generic database of typical building materials and products is created, it can be used for other projects, shortening the calculation time. The accounting and comparison will be complete when all construction stages specified in the regulations and the building's ambition level are included in the calculations.

Geological disposal of radioactive waste in deep clay formations: celebrating 40 years of RD&D in the Belgian URL HADES

Abstract The option of disposing of radioactive waste deep underground has been studied in Belgium by SCK CEN since the 1970s. This led in 1980 to the construction of the HADES underground research laboratory (URL) in a clay formation, the Boom Clay, at a depth of 225 m under the premises of SCK CEN in Mol. Over the last four decades, many in situ experiments have been conducted in the HADES URL. These have made a significant contribution to ONDRAF/NIRAS’ research, development and demonstration (RD&D) efforts demonstrating that disposal in Boom Clay can offer a safe solution for the long-term management of high-level and/or long-lived radioactive waste. Moreover, the construction of the HADES URL itself is a demonstration that shafts and galleries can be constructed in clay at that depth. However, the HADES URL did not only contribute to the Belgian programme. Many of the in situ experiments have been part of international research and the laboratory has provided valuable input to the research programmes of other URLs, such as the Meuse/Haute-Marne URL in France and the Mont Terri rock laboratory in Switzerland. This paper gives a brief overview of the main contributions of the HADES URL to both national and international research into geological disposal.

Exploring High School IT Course Teaching Resources in the Context of Educational Digital Transformation

The Chinese Ministry of Education initiated the implementation of the “National Education Digitalization Strategy Action” in 2022. The digital transformation of education has become a significant strategy in China’s educational reform and development in the new era, which is of great significance for the construction of high school information technology course teaching resources. This paper first introduces the concept and current situation of digital transformation and discusses the classification and existing issues of current high school information technology teaching resources. Next, it analyzes the future development direction and focus of high school information technology course teaching resources, including the development and utilization of digital educational resources, the construction and application of virtual laboratories, the development of personalized educational resources, the optimization and popularization of online education platforms, and the promotion of educational resource sharing and open education. Finally, this paper proposes development strategies and measures for high school information technology teaching resource construction, including strengthening the construction of educational informatization infrastructure, actively exploring the development and application of personalized educational resources, promoting educational resource sharing, and strengthening educational teaching management.

Construction of a virtual simulation laboratory for gene detection

ObjectiveThe current paper aims to discuss the development of a virtual simulation experiment teaching system and review its effectiveness in improving the teaching of clinical skills to college medical students.MethodsCollaborators used 3D Studio Max, Unity 3D and Visual Studio to develop four modules: laboratory thinking training, biosafety training, gene testing and experimental assessment. Teaching was conducted and a virtual software program was used for evaluation of the students.ResultsThe laboratory safety training system, virtual gene experiment system and experimental assessment system were developed. The results of the questionnaire survey show that the software provides good interactivity and guidance. The interest of medical students in study is improved and they received training in clinical experimental thinking. Student evaluation assists their scientific research practice, and can improve the awareness of biosafety.ConclusionThe virtual simulation experiment teaching system, when applied in the teaching of undergraduate and postgraduate experiment courses, can bring about rapid improvements in the following areas: biosafety awareness, interest in learning about experiments and experimental skills, clinical experimental thinking, and comprehensive experimental ability.

Research of teaching and reform by means of competition Using virtual simulation platform for Financial Management Major

Taking Financial management major of Modern College of Northwest University as an example, this paper studies the basic situation of promoting teaching and reform through virtual simulation competition, and finds some problems such as low participation of teachers and students, limited digital ability of teachers, long cycle from competition to reform, and inflexible revision of training program. It is suggested to establish and motivate the mechanism, strengthen the training of teachers' digital ability, strengthen the construction of virtual simulation laboratory and establish the mechanism of revising the training program with The Times.

Towards imaging the infant brain at play

ABSTRACT Infants’ first-person experiences are crucial to early cognitive and neural development. To a vast extent, these early experiences involve play, which in infancy takes the form of object exploration. While at the behavioral level infant play has been studied both using specific tasks and in naturalistic scenarios, the neural correlates of object exploration have largely been studied in highly controlled task settings. These neuroimaging studies did not tap into the complexities of everyday play and what makes object exploration so important for development. Here, we review selected infant neuroimaging studies, spanning from typical, highly controlled screen-based studies on object perception to more naturalistic designs and argue for the importance of studying the neural correlates of key behaviors such as object exploration and language comprehension in naturalistic settings. We suggest that the advances in technology and analytic approaches allow measuring the infant brain at play with the use of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Naturalistic fNIRS studies offer a new and exciting avenue to studying infant neurocognitive development in a way that will draw us away from our laboratory constructs and into an infant’s everyday experiences that support their development.

Application of Virtual Simulation Technology in Chemical Engineering Practice Teaching Under the Background of New Engineering and Technical Disciplines

With the development of computer simulation technology, virtual experiment, as an effective supplement to traditional practice and experimental teaching, is one of the important means to strengthen practice teaching and improve teaching quality. Because the raw materials and processes of chemical and pharmaceutical enterprises, especially the dangerous typical chemical processes under key supervision, have high risks such as flammability and explosion, college students have no basic training opportunities for the operation of such processes. The virtual experiment teaching system, virtual simulation technology and man-machine interaction are adopted to conduct simulation experiments, which provide students with safer, more free and more flexible experimental scenes. The systems of operation interaction, task guidance and timely evaluation make up for many limitations of chemical engineering practice teaching. Students have a strong sense of experience. Digital and networked applications can help teachers organize online and face-to-face teaching, improve teaching evaluation and form a diversified teaching network. Under the background of new engineering and technical disciplines, the construction of virtual laboratory is a safe, economical and efficient chemical practice scheme, which can better meet the demand of the society for chemical talents in the information age.

Exploring the Path of Laboratory Security Management in Local Universities

Due to the shortage of funds for local universities, the investment in laboratory safety cannot be fully guaranteed, and the construction of safety protection supporting facilities and safety management is lagging behind, so safety is seriously challenged. In recent years, labs have been opened and shared more, and the potential safety risk factors have increased. Laboratory safety accidents occur from time to time, which seriously threaten the lives of teachers and students. Therefore, the safety management of laboratories in local universities needs to be strengthened. By summarizing the current situation of laboratory safety management in local universities, this study analyzes the obvious shortcomings of laboratory safety management in terms of system and regulations, site planning, team building and informationization level from physical and human factors. For example, unclear authority and responsibility between departments, there is insufficient safety management front in laboratory planning and construction, and the safety awareness of personnel is weak. In view of the risks in safety management work, suggestions are made in four aspects: laboratory management system, laboratory technical team construction, regularization of safety education, and optimization of safety management information platform, with a view to providing reference for the effective operation of laboratory safety work in local universities.

Construction and quality assurance of metagenomic next-generation sequencing platform in pathogen detection

Early diagnosis remains the key to prevent and control infectious diseases. In recent years, metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) technology breaks through the limitations of conventional culture methods or targeted molecular detection methods. It improves the diagnosis and treatment level of difficult and rare infectious pathogens through the shotgun high-throughput sequencing to conduct unbiased and rapid detection of microorganisms in clinical samples, which has been widely recognized in clinical practice. Due to the complex detection process of mNGS, there are no uniform specifications and requirements at present. Meanwhile, most laboratories lack of relevant talents at the initial stage of platform establishment, which poses severe challenges to the construction and quality control of the mNGS platform. Based on the practical experience in the construction and operation of the mNGS laboratory of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, the current article summarizes the hardware requirements for the establishment of the mNGS laboratory, the establishment and evaluation methods of the mNGS testing system and the quality assurance after the clinical application, and comprehensively introduces the suggestions for the standardized construction and operation of the mNGS testing platform and quality management system.

Planning and Construction of Modern Urban Drainage Testing Laboratory

In order to implement the national green development concept and water quality improvement strategy, independent drainage companies have been set up in recent years to deal with heavy rain and heavy pollution. In order to meet the higher demand of water quality and Environmental monitoring regulation, drainage companies have set up and built their own drainage testing laboratories. In this paper, through the planning, design and construction of the newly-built urban drainage testing laboratory, from the overall ideas, design concepts and principles of construction, this paper expounds the problems, factors and the latest applicable technology which should be paid attention to in the overall layout, the division of functional areas, the configuration of construction materials, instruments and equipment, etc., in order to improve the laboratory science and technology and modernization level, promote and ensure the laboratory to meet the latest standards and application needs, for the relevant units to build similar laboratory experience.

Harmonic Distortion Characteristics Generated by Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning System Case Study in PCR Laboratory

Good power quality is required in health facilities since the increasing use of microprocessor-based equipment. Poor power quality in the electric power system can cause medical equipment in health care centers to malfunction and give incorrect medical diagnoses. Since 2020 we are facing a new type of Virus (Covid-19), this virus requires special laboratory construction with specific air conditioning systems (temperature, humidity, and pressure) to process specimens. This paper presents measurement results of harmonic distortion characteristic by Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) of Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC) system in PCR Laboratory at Clinic A. The VFD in this system is used to adjust the rotation of the exhaust fan and outdoor unit. The measured voltage, current and power are used to assess power quality. The main power quality problems found in medical facilities are voltage flicker, neutral currents, and total harmonic distortion (THD) values. The measurement of total harmonic distortion (THD) is used to find the source of the harmonics. Potential problems can be identified within the facility. The results of this study can be used to develop, test, and validate the system that has been used.

Quality management of the newborn screening network: the Chinese experience.

Quality management of the newborn screening network: the Chinese experience.

Comparative investigation of laboratory and field compaction techniques for designing roller compacted concrete pavements (RCCP)

ABSTRACT The disparity in the compaction mechanism associated with optimum moisture content determination & specimen fabrication process in the laboratory and actual pavement construction leads to either underestimation or overestimation of Roller Compacted Concrete Pavements (RCCP) performance. Hence, in this investigation, different techniques to design RCCP, such as modified Proctor (MP), vibratory hammer (VH), vibratory table (VT), and gyratory compactor (GC), are studied and compared with the field specimens (FS); the considered fresh, mechanical, and functional properties are dry density, compressive strength, flexural and indirect-tensile strength, elastic modulus, water absorption, porosity, and abrasion & skid resistance. The laboratory results indicated that the compaction mechanism greatly affects the fresh and mechanical characteristics of RCCP. Further, it was observed that the strength properties are sensitive to the cohesion between the particles, which in turn, depends on the compaction type used to compact the RCCP. Compared with the field slab, only MP could produce comparable properties; other techniques manifested either higher or lower fresh and mechanical properties, except flexural strength. Although GC could simulate the field compaction mechanisms, it cannot mimic field properties, which necessitates further optimisation of gyratory compaction parameters (angle, pressure, and gyrations) to represent the actual pavement properties. Moreover, to achieve the field properties, the considered compaction methods shall impart a degree of compaction near to theoretical maximum constituent density.

The construction of the HADES underground research laboratory and its role in the development of the Belgian concept of a deep geological repository

Abstract When the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK CEN) launched a research, development and demonstration programme on geological disposal in the 1970s, it was not certain if a deep geological repository could be constructed in poorly indurated clay. This was tested by constructing the HADES underground research laboratory (URL) in Boom Clay, 225 m below SCK CEN's site in Mol. The construction history of the URL reflects how the understanding of the Boom Clay increased and how the excavation techniques and design of the gallery lining improved. It demonstrated that shafts, galleries and crossings between galleries can be constructed using industrial techniques. It also allowed characterization of the hydromechanical response of the clay and the clay disturbances induced by the excavation. This increased understanding is also reflected in the evolution of the geological disposal concept considered in Belgium. The current disposal concept foresees the installation of seals in the shafts and galleries. The HADES URL also offered the opportunity to test possible seal designs and develop a better understanding of the behaviour of bentonite, a possible seal material, owing to its swelling capacity, under in situ conditions.

EXPERIMENTAL DETERMINATION OF THE TRANSFER FUNCTION FOR PRESSURE SENSORS

Although the manufacturers of various electronic components, including pressure sensors, provide us with their operating characteristic, it is necessary to establish it accurately. In this context, the paper presents the results obtained following the design and construction of an experimental laboratory stand intended for the experimental determination of the operating characteristics of differential pressure sensors.

3D structure tectonics model of Yenisei site of the Nizhnekansk Massif

In 2021, in the Yeniseisky region of the Nizhnekansk Massif in the Krasnoyarsk region, construction of an underground research laboratory (URL) was started to justify safety of high-level radioactive waste disposal. The URL investigations aimed to assess preservation of isolation properties of rock mass exposed to long-active rock pressure, tectonic stresses and heat flow within the whole period of effective radiobiological risk of radioactive waste. Based on the geological data analysis, the structure-and-tectonics model of the Yenisei site was developed, including tectonic faults, lithology, intrusives, as well as heavy fracturing and crushing zones. With no large-scale acquisition of geomechanical data on the Lower Kan Massif, the rock stability was estimated at outcrops on ground surface. The results proved the existing hypotheses of the dynamic impact exerted by the Muratov Fault on the Yenisei site. It was also confirmed that the zone of the dynamic impact of the major faults was less stable than the enclosing rock mass while the rock mass composed of dolerite dykes featured the highest stability.The authors appreciate participation of the researcher from the Nuclear Safety Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Candidate of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences O. A. Morozov in this study. This work was conducted in the framework of budgetary funding of the Geophysical Center of RAS, adopted by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation.The authors express their gratitude to the students of the NUST MISIS’ College of Mining A. V. Nikitenkova and A. K. Niyaz for the help in processing geological data.

Exploration and Practice of Virtual Simulation Laboratory Construction of Environmental Art Based on Computer Aid

In the innovation and development of modern college education, the construction of virtual simulation laboratory for environmental art majors by using computer-aided technology can not only solve the problems existing in traditional experimental teaching, but also improve the comprehensive quality of students' management ability, practical ability, communication and coordination. In order to ensure the education and information technology can depth fusion, puts forward the relevant national education department for the construction of the virtual simulation experiment teaching center, asked around colleges in positive response at the same time, strictly abide by the bricks, fill with virtual reality, can not the basic principles of virtual reality, virtual simulation experiment teaching center of construction to promote. Therefore, this article in the understanding of virtual simulation lab construction and management status quo, on the basis of deep study the computer aided art as the core of environment simulation laboratory construction content and application functionality, clear the current environment art class teaching with virtual simulation laboratory management measures, to ensure well practice teaching activities.