An Investigation into the Use of Water by Portuguese Industry

ABSTRACT

The continuous increase in water demand for various uses underlines the importance of supply problems in the general context of water resources management.

In this domain it would clearly be useful to collect and make available all the data currently stored on different paper supports and kept by several regional agencies. This would provide an immediate overview of tbe resources, and also permit forecasting the future demand for tbe various utilizations.

This paper describes a project involving a database to be used for groundwater resources management, conceived not only as a support for research activity, but also as a contribution to developing new and more efficient managementprocedures. The database has been designed to be used on a personal computer, with software readily available on the market.     

A Controlled Study of a Cigarette Smoking Cessation Intervention for Adolescents in Substance Abuse Treatment.

Tobacco use is prevalent among youth with alcohol and other drug problems, yet this issue has received limited research and clinical attention. This study reports on a controlled evaluation of a cigarette smoking intervention with 54 adolescents in treatment for substance abuse, ages 13-18 (22% female). Participants were assessed at 4 time points. A greater proportion of participants in the treatment condition (n = 26) reported cessation attempts and point abstinence than did control participants (n = 28) at all time points. However, significant differences were found only for point abstinence at a 3-month follow-up. These findings provide initial support for the efficacy of a smoking cessation intervention delivered in the context of adolescent substance abuse treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternally modulated infant separation responses are regulated by D2-family dopamine receptors.

Although dopamine is necessary for mammalian adult pair-bond formation and maternal behavior, its function in infant social behavior and attachment has been less thoroughly explored. The vocalization rate of an isolated rat pup is influenced by recent social contact. Interactions with the dam potentiate vocalization rate. Interactions with littermates or adult males do not. Systemic administration of the D2-family agonist quinpirole specifically blocked maternal potentiation at doses that did not alter vocalization rate in an isolation prior to dam contact. This result was not explained by quinpirole's effects on body temperature or locomotion. The results are consistent with a role for dopamine in infant social behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A nitric oxide sensor fabricated through e-jet printing towards use in bioelectronics interfaces

Journal of Applied Electrochemistry - We have developed a methodology for electrohydrodynamic printing of a nitric oxide (NO) sensor. The primary features of this amperometric methodology include...     

Examination of naturalistic driving practices in drivers with Parkinson's disease compared to age and gender-matched controls

A few studies suggest that drivers with Parkinson's disease (PD) may self-regulate or modify their driving behavior more than drivers without neurological disorders; however findings are limited to self-report. The purpose of this study was to objectively examine whether drivers with PD show more restrictive driving practices (exposure and patterns). Electronic devices were installed in the vehicles of 27 drivers with PD (71.6 ± 6.6; 78% men) and 20 matched controls (70.6 ± 7.9; 80% men) for two weeks and driving data were matched with aerial maps, weather and daylight archives and trip logs to examine driving context. Compared to controls, the PD group drove significantly less overall (number of trips, kilometres, duration), and proportionately less at night and on days with bad weather suggesting more restricted driving practices, congruent with lower ratings of driving comfort and abilities. However, they may not necessarily drive more cautiously or safely as they drove significantly faster (and over the speed limit) on highways and freeways and 19% reported driving problems over the two weeks. These preliminary findings need to be replicated and longitudinal studies using objective indicators are needed to examine changes in driving practices, as well as crash outcomes, as disease severity progresses.     

A mathematical model for nanoparticle melting with size-dependent latent heat and melt temperature

In this paper, we study the melting of a spherical nanoparticle. The model differs from previous ones in that a number of features have been incorporated to match experimental observations. These include the size dependence of the latent heat and a cooling condition at the boundary (as opposed to the fixed temperature condition used in previous studies). Melt temperature variation and density change are also included. The density variation drives the flow of the outer fluid layer. The latent heat variation is modelled by a new relation, which matches experimental data better than previous models. A novel form of Stefan condition is used to determine the position of the melt front. This condition takes into account the latent heat variation, the energy required to create new surface and the kinetic energy of the displaced fluid layer. Results show that melting times can be significantly faster than predicted by previous theoretical models; for smaller particles, this can be around a factor 3. This is primarily due to the latent heat variation. The previously used fixed temperature boundary condition had two opposing effects on melt times: the implied infinite heat transfer led to faster melting but also artificially magnified the effect of kinetic energy, which slowed down the process. We conclude that any future models of nanoparticle melting must be based on the new Stefan condition and account for latent heat variation.     

A comparison of extended Kalman filter,particle filter,and least squares localization methods for a high heat flux concentrated source

State estimation procedures using the extended Kalman filter, particle filter, and least squares are investigated for a transient heat transfer problem in which a high heat flux concentrated source is applied on one side of a thin plate and ultrasonic pulse time of flight is measured between spatially separated transducers on the opposite side of the plate. This work is an integral part of an effort to develop a system capable of locating the boundary layer transition region on a hypersonic vehicle aeroshell. Results from thermal conduction experiments involving one-way ultrasonic pulse time of flight measurements are presented. Comparisons of heating source localization measurement models are conducted where ultrasonic pulse time of flight readings provide the measurement update to the extended Kalman filter, particle filter, and least squares. Two different measurement models are compared: (1) directly using the one-way ultrasonic pulse time of flight as the measurement vector and (2) indirectly obtaining distance from the one-way ultrasonic pulse time of flight and then using these obtained distances as the measurement vector. For the direct model, the Jacobian required by the extended Kalman filter and least squares is obtained numerically using finite differences and a finite element forward conduction solution. For the indirect model, the derivatives with respect to the state variables are obtained in closed form. Heating source localization results and convergence behavior are compared for the three inverse methods and the two measurement models. The extended Kalman filter, least squares, and particle filter methods using the one-way ultrasonic pulse time of flight measurement model (direct model) produced similar results when considering accuracy of converged solution, ability to converge to the correct solution, and smoothness of convergence behavior. The results provide quantified justification for moving forward with development of an extended Kalman filter-based localization solution.     

Response Surface Designs for Experiments with Mixtures

In estimating a response surface where the k variables represent proportions in a mixture, the experimenter is often interested in a reasonably well-defined region of interest which may, for example, center about current operating levels. Previously developed designs are difficult to use except in exploring the entire factor space, and even then there are several disadvantages to these designs. A general method of constructing designs from familiar response surface designs in k ? 1 independent variables and the appropriate analysis for a general polynomial is given. Special attention is given to the first and second order polynomials.