Retraction of “Using ergonomic digital human modeling in evaluation of workplace design and prevention of workrelated musculoskeletal disorders onboard small fishing vessel”

The following article from Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing & Service Industries, “Using ergonomic digital human modeling in evaluation of workplace design and prevention of workrelated musculoskeletal disorders onboard small fishing vessel,” by Enrique Álvarez‐Casado, Bing Zhang, Sonia Tello Sandoval and Mondelo Pedro, published online on October 11, 2011 in Wiley Online Library ( www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com ), has been retracted by agreement between the authors, the journal Editors‐in‐Chief, Waldemar Karwowski and Gavriel Salvendy, and Publisher Wiley Periodicals, Inc. The retraction has been agreed as these articles were mistakenly published after being rejected.     

A framework for avoiding steganography usage over HTTP

Steganographic techniques allow users to covertly transmit information, hiding the existence of the communication itself. These can be used in several scenarios ranging from evading censorship to discreetly extracting sensitive information from an organization. In this paper, we consider the problem of using steganography through a widely used network protocol (i.e. HTTP). We analyze the steganographic possibilities of HTTP, and propose an active warden model to hinder the usage of covert communication channels. Our framework is meant to be useful in many scenarios. It could be employed to ensure that malicious insiders are not able to use steganography to leak information outside an organization. Furthermore, our model could be used by web servers administrators to ensure that their services are not being abused, for example, as anonymous steganographic mailboxes. Our experiments show that steganographic contents can be successfully eliminated, but that dealing with high payload carriers such as large images may introduce notable delays in the communication process.     

An XPS and reduction study of PrCoO3

The perovskite-type oxide PrCoO₃ has been studied by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), reduction in H₂ and X-ray diffraction. Two types of oxygen were detected: lattice oxygen (binding energy = 528.4 eV) and adsorbed oxygen (binding energy = 530.9 eV). The increase in relative intensity of the peak corresponding to the latter species after reduction of PrCo0₃ to 3e^– per molecule is assigned to the formation of hydroxyl groups. Temperature-programmed reduction (TPR) results showed two reduction steps: to 1 e^– per molecule (Co^3.1 Co²⁺) at 475 to 635 K, and to 3e^– per molecule (Co²¹ Co⁰) at 725 to 815 K. Reduction in the first and second steps occurs according to the contracting sphere model and the nucleation mechanism, respectively. Reduction of Co³⁺ to Co²⁺ causes minimal structural changes in the perovskite. Reduction to 3e^– per molecule yielded Pr₂O₃ and metallic cobalt. After this reduction and reoxidation at 973 K, the perovskite structure was regained. By XPS and TPR it was shown that PrCo0₃ is more easily reducible than LaCo0₃. It is concluded that the cation in the A position of the structure plays a significant role in the bulk and surface properties of LnCo0₃ (Ln, lanthanide elements) oxides.     

Participatory Modeling Workshops in a Water-Stressed Basin Result in Gains in Modeling Capacity but Reveal Disparity in Water Resources Management Priorities

Participatory modeling workshops were held in Sonora, México, with the goal of developing water resources management strategies in a water-stressed basin. A model of the water resources system, consisting of watershed hydrology, water resources infrastructure, and groundwater models, was developed deliberatively in the workshops, along with scenarios of future climate and development. Participants used the final version of the water resources systems model to select management strategies. The performance of the strategies was based on the reliability of meeting current and future demands at a daily time scale over a year’s period. Pre- and post-workshop surveys were developed and administered. The survey questions focused on evaluation of participants’ modeling capacity and the utility and accuracy of the models. The selected water resources strategies and the associated, expected reliability varied widely among participants. Most participants could be clustered into three groups with roughly equal numbers of participants that varied in terms of reliance on expanding infrastructure vs. demand modification; expectations of reliability; and perceptions of social, environmental, and economic impacts. The wide range of strategies chosen and associated reliabilities indicate that there is a substantial degree of uncertainty in how future water resources decisions could be made in the region. The pre- and post-survey results indicate that participants believed their modeling abilities increased and beliefs in the utility of models increased as a result of the workshops.     

Assessment of the environmental quality of two urbanized lotic systems using multiple indicators

Urbanization impacts ecosystems through loss and fragmentation of habitat, loss of diversity, increase in runoff, and contaminant discharges, and the invasion of exotic species. Potrero de los Funes Village (San Luis, Argentina) is experiencing not only a population increase during summer months due to tourism but also an accelerated growth of its permanent population. In order to evaluate the potential effects of urbanization, the environmental quality of Potrero de los Funes River and Las Chacras Stream was assessed, using physical–chemical and biological indicators. Macroinvertebrates, through the application of the Biotic Index for San Luis Sierras (BISLS), anuran amphibian richness and relative abundance, and riparian vegetation were used as bioindicators. While the Simplified Index of Water Quality (SIWQ) was used to characterize the physical–chemical quality of water at each site. SIWQ and BISLS scores were significantly different between sites (F_7,28 = 9.88, p < .001 and F_7,28 = 24.18, p < .001, respectively). SIWQ was significantly correlated with BISLS (Spearman correlation coefficient = 0.8, p < .001). Four anuran species were registered along Potrero River, with no significant differences in the intensity of vocalizations between sites. No species were detected in Las Chacras Stream. Average total plant species richness, exotic plants richness, and vegetation cover were higher at the most impaired system, Las Chacras Stream. The principal component analysis showed that the first two principal components (PCs) explained 76.3% of the total variance. PC1, with strong loadings of SIWQ, BISLS, and amphibian richness, was principally driven by chemical water quality and biological conditions. PC2 was mainly determined by plant richness. The chemical and biological water quality of Potrero and Las Chacras is somewhat impaired, being the upper Las Chacras Stream the most compromised area. This study provides information that will certainly be used to manage future impacts of urbanization on aquatic resources.     

Gaussian,Lobatto and Radau positive quadrature rules with a prescribed abscissa

For a given $\theta \in (a,b)$ , we investigate the question whether there exists a positive quadrature formula with maximal degree of precision which has the prescribed abscissa $\theta $ plus possibly $a$ and/or $b$ , the endpoints of the interval of integration. This study relies on recent results on the location of roots of quasi-orthogonal polynomials. The above positive quadrature formulae are useful in studying problems in one-sided polynomial $L_1$ approximation.     

Effects of physical refining on contents of waxes and fatty alcohols of refined olive oil

Changes in the contents of waxes and fatty alcohols during deodorization/physical refining of bleached olive oil were studied. Experiments were carried out with 1.85% acidity oil, which was physically refined in a discontinuous deodorizer of 250-kg maximum capacity using nitrogen as stripping gas instead of steam. The variables studied were load and temperature of oil in the deodorizer as well as N₂ flow. Analyses of waxes and alcohols were carried out at different operation times. The maximum content of wax was always observed when the oil reached the deodorization temperature. The variation in the wax content depended on temperature and N₂ flow. Wax decomposition started and continued during the operating time, and a progressive decrease, which was pronounced between 3 and 4 h, was observed. Small changes in waxes were observed between 4 and 5 h. Total content of fatty alcohols diminished throughout the operating time, and changes did not depend on the variables studied.     

A 2D algorithm with asymmetric workload for the UPC conjugate gradient method

This paper examines four different strategies, each one with its own data distribution, for implementing the parallel conjugate gradient (CG) method and how they impact communication and overall performance. Firstly, typical 1D and 2D distributions of the matrix involved in CG computations are considered. Then, a new 2D version of the CG method with asymmetric workload, based on leaving some threads idle during part of the computation to reduce communication, is proposed. The four strategies are independent of sparse storage schemes and are implemented using Unified Parallel C (UPC), a Partitioned Global Address Space (PGAS) language. The strategies are evaluated on two different platforms through a set of matrices that exhibit distinct sparse patterns, demonstrating that our asymmetric proposal outperforms the others except for one matrix on one platform.     

Pervaporation of 50 wt % ethanol–water mixtures with poly(1‐trimethylsilyl‐1‐propyne) membranes at high temperatures

Poly(1‐trimethylsilyl‐1‐propyne) (PTMSP) membranes have been used to separate ethanol–water mixtures by pervaporation. This polyacetylene is known to present high affinity toward ethanol, showing high selectivity and ethanol permeation flux. The performance of this polymer in the separation of alcohol–water solutions has been evaluated over long periods (572 h) at a high temperature (75°C) to examine the deterioration of the transport properties in the separation of 50 wt % ethanol–water solutions. Although PTMSP membranes present good characteristics for the separation of gases and liquid mixtures, their organic selectivity decrease with the operating time because of the relaxation processes of the polymeric chains, which affect the free volume of the polymer, the deterioration being more evident for concentrated solutions. The effects of the operation temperature on the characteristic parameters of pervaporation have also been studied to establish how this variable affects the performance of PTMSP membranes. The selectivity increases slightly with the operation temperature, but the effect of the temperature on the separation factor decreases as membranes are degraded with the operation time. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 2843–2848, 2007