Exploring the relationship between impulsivity and decision-making on mobile devices

Mobile devices offer a common platform for both leisure and work-related tasks, but this has resulted in a blurred boundary between home and work. In this paper, we explore the security implications of this blurred boundary, both for the worker and the employer. Mobile workers may not always make optimal security-related choices when “on the go” and more impulsive individuals may be particularly affected as they are considered more vulnerable to distraction. In this study, we used a task scenario, in which 104 users were asked to choose a wireless network when responding to work demands while out of the office. Eye-tracking data was obtained from a subsample of 40 of these participants in order to explore the effects of impulsivity on attention. Our results suggest that impulsive people are more frequent users of public devices and networks in their day-to-day interactions and are more likely to access their social networks on a regular basis. However, they are also likely to make risky decisions when working on-the-go, processing fewer features before making those decisions. These results suggest that those with high impulsivity may make more use of the mobile Internet options for both work and private purposes, but they also show attentional behavior patterns that suggest they make less considered security-sensitive decisions. The findings are discussed in terms of designs that might support enhanced deliberation, both in the moment and also in relation to longer term behaviors that would contribute to a better work–life balance.     

Using geographic information systems to assess conflicts between agriculture and development

The conflict between agriculture and urban development is intense in urbanizing areas of the United States and is a problem best resolved at the local level. To effectively develop and apply techniques for preserving farmland, areas of conflict must be identified. This article describes the application of a geographic information system (GIS) for determining the location and level of conflict between agriculture and other forms of human intervention. The procedures used for assessing conflicts are described through a case study in the city of Westfield, Massachusetts and the findings show that GIS can be an effective tool for local decision makers, allowing alternative strategies to be developed and evaluated for agricultural protection.     

Sexual pathology and dangerousness from a Thematic Apperception Test protocol.

This report concerns the TAT protocol of a 17-yr-old male patient who gave stories with a disturbing amount of sexual perversity. The stories included accounts of rape, incest, pedophilia, sadism, exhibitionism, necrophilia, and hermaphroditism. Furthermore, he showed signs of schizophrenia, which involved command hallucinations, interest in black magic, and paranoid grandiosity. The testing report described the patient as dangerous, leading to a prolonged, restrictive, and, in many respects, tragic hospitalization. Can the TAT be used to predict sexual dangerousness? A verbatim TAT protocol and its interpretation at the time within supervision are examined, followed by an account of the patient's course through hospitalization as a means to validate the clinical findings and predictions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personal therapy in the training of psychologists.

Surveyed 185 clinical and counseling psychologists in British Columbia about their opinions on personal therapy as a component of professional training, and about the circumstances under which personal therapy had been provided to them while they were in graduate school. Ss identified potential benefits and risks of personal therapy. 88% saw at least 1 benefit for the experience, and 83% saw at least 1 risk. 41% of Ss had undergone therapy as part of their clinical training, and in many cases this experience was provided in a manner inconsistent with ethical guidelines. Of those receiving personal therapy, 46% reported that therapy was required rather than optional. Ethical issues concerning therapeutic interventions in the training of psychotherapists are discussed. A French summary of the article is also presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Length of critical region for confinement steel in limited ductility high-strength reinforced concrete columns

The length of the critical region is one of the essential parameters in designing earthquake resistant structures where adequate transverse steel needs to be provided to confine the concrete core and subsequently to avert brittle failure under large inelastic deformation/curvature. In countries having high seismic risk such as China, Japan, New Zealand, USA etc.; guidelines have been provided in their reinforced concrete (RC) design codes for the design of fully ductile RC columns/piers. Nevertheless, in countries having low to moderate seismic risks, RC columns/piers can be designed for limited ductility, the design guidelines for which are very scarce. From the experimental tests carried out by the authors on limited ductility high-strength RC columns, it was found that this type of column/pier can be confined effectively with less confinement steel over a shorter extent of critical region compared with the existing code provisions for ductile columns/piers. In this paper, the length of the critical region in which the properly enhanced amount of confinement steel should be installed is investigated by two methods, which are denoted as direct methods in this paper. The evaluated critical region lengths have also been compared with those obtained by other researchers and the New Zealand Code.     

Chaninik Wind Group: Lessons learned beyond wind integration for remote Alaska

This case study highlights the challenges, innovations and recommendations of wind-diesel integration projects in remote Alaska through the lens of the Chaninik Wind Group. Although energy access and affordability is extremely difficult in remote areas, renewable energy technologies prove valuable in reducing the cost of energy for consumers.     

A pseudo first order rate model for the adsorption of an organic adsorbate in aqueous solution

Five low rank, coal‐based adsorbents, i.e. coal, grus, two chars, and an activated carbon were used to adsorb a low molecular weight organic compound from aqueous solution. The rates of adsorption were found to conform to pseudo first order kinetics with good correlation (r² greater than 0.996). This kinetic model was used to calculate pseudo first order rate constants (k₁^′ min ⁻¹) and relative rate constants (rate constant/unit mass of adsorbent, k₁^″ min⁻¹ g⁻¹) for the adsorption process. Rate properties have been explained in terms of both a diffusion and chemically controlled rate determining step. Rate constants for the five adsorbents vary as expected on the basis of their physical properties, that is slowest for grus (compressed coal) and fastest for the activated carbon. © 1999 Society of Chemical Industry     

Pulsed field gel electrophoresis typing of human and retail foodstuff Campylobacters: an Irish perspective

Campylobacter enteritis is a zoonosis, an infectious disease transmissible under normal conditions from vertebrate animals to man, presenting a major global public health burden. In this study, Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) was employed to identify common genotypes in a collection of 600 Campylobacter isolates in order to investigate if profiles obtained from retail samples of foodstuffs matched genotypes causing illness in the community in Ireland. The Campylobacters were isolated from retail foodstuffs, and cases of gastroenteritis, over the same 20-month period in three population centres in Ireland. The major observation made was of a high level of PFGE-genotype heterogeneity; 236 SmaI discrete genotypes were found in 507 strains successfully analysed. Analysis of the PFGE profiles revealed 22 common profiles amongst food isolates and those causing enteritis in humans. These cojoint PFGE genotypes indicate that 56 (38%) of the human clinical isolates are genetically related to 129 (36%) of the food isolates. The identification of these recurrent PFGE types, in the sampled Campylobacter coli and Campylobacter jejuni populations, indicates that a high proportion of Campylobacter isolates found in foods of animal origin also occur in patients with symptoms of enteritis. This data adds weight to the epidemiological hypothesis that a high proportion of human Campylobacter cases are contracted via the handling and consumption of contaminated foodstuffs, in particular poultry.