Transforming shortcomings into opportunities: Can market incentives solve Lebanon's energy crisis?

Over the past decades Lebanon's energy sector has been largely ignored and this has led to high economic and environmental costs. The sector is characterized by electricity poverty, an expanding and mainly unregulated transport sector and a lack of energy savings spanning through all sectors of the economy. Recently, the Government of Lebanon has committed to increase the share of renewable energy to 10% of the total energy supply by 2013 and to 12% by the year 2020; it also aims at reducing energy consumption by 6% by the year 2013. This paper aims at contributing to the formulation of a more comprehensive energy strategy for Lebanon by analyzing the recent changes in policy direction and by recommending legal, regulatory and policy measures in order to transform current shortcomings into opportunities allowing the country to become a regional ‘success story’ in the deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency.     

A longitudinal study of the social and academic competence of economically disadvantaged bilingual preschool children.

This longitudinal study was conducted to gain understanding of the social–emotional and academic development of economically disadvantaged bilingual preschool children. In Study 1, the authors combined cognitive, psychosocial, and cultural-linguistic factors to determine profiles of social competence as measured by peer play. A person-centered analysis of 207 Hispanic American preschoolers (ages 4 and 5 years) yielded 6 distinct profiles, 2 of which were socially competent and 1 of which was vulnerable. Findings revealed profile differences in social competence and a significant relationship between bilingualism and social–emotional development. In Study 2, the authors determined which profiles were associated with later academic achievement and growth of English proficiency. Findings indicated a significant relationship of early social–emotional development to later academic success and English acquisition, highlighting the role of bilingualism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Breaking the mold: The impact of working in a gender-congruent versus gender-incongruent role on self-reported sources of stress, organizational commitment, and health in U.K. universities.

We present an analysis of archive data collected using the ASSET (Cartwright & Cooper, 2002) from a stratified sample of employees (N = 2,005) working in higher education institutions in the United Kingdom in 2003. We hypothesized that employees working in gender-incongruent roles would report higher levels of work-related stress, poorer health, and lower organizational commitment compared with those working in gender-congruent roles. Interpreted in accordance with the role strain hypotheses, we found that women working in gender-incongruent roles reported significantly higher (p > .01) levels of stress, higher levels of minor ill-health problems, and lower levels of perceived commitment from their organizations compared with all other employees. Conversely, men who worked in gender-incongruent roles often reported the lowest levels of stress. The implications of these findings are discussed with reference to women’s progression in U.K. higher education. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gatekeeping or gate slippage? A national survey of counseling educators in Australian undergraduate and postgraduate academic training programs.

Counseling educators fulfill a complex and demanding role as gatekeepers. The role serves a quality control function and involves ethical and educational responsibilities; it also interfaces with a confounding array of issues. This study was undertaken to establish how counseling educators view and experience the gatekeeping function, and to identify the mechanisms implemented by training programs to facilitate educators in the gatekeeping process. Educators from across Australia involved in counseling training at the bachelor's degree or higher award level were surveyed (n = 63, response rate = 34%). Findings suggested that educators are highly motivated by their sense of responsibility toward the counseling profession when assessing students. Nevertheless, their gatekeeping efforts are often compromised having been predominantly impeded by a lack of clear evidence of the problematic issues and leniency biases within their programs. In addition, gatekeeping efforts have not been generally supported by program initiatives, such as written policy and procedures, which are recognized to be facilitative of the gatekeeping process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of β‐glucan and other oat flour components on physico‐chemical and sensory properties of extruded oat cereals

Whole oat flour, N979‐5‐2‐4 (N979), IA95111 (IA95), ‘Jim’ and ‘Paul’ with β‐glucan concentration of 8.6%, 7.6%, 5.3%, and 5.9%, respectively, was made into extruded breakfast cereal (EBC). EBC β‐glucan had greater peak molecular weight than corresponding whole oat flour. Both whole oat flour and EBC from N979 and IA95 had greater peak viscosity (PV), as measured using a Rapid ViscoAnalyser, than that from Jim or Paul. Bile acid binding of EBC, correlated with total β‐glucan concentrations and PV, was either similar or greater than that of corresponding whole oat flour. Jim EBC had the least expansion ratio, lowest brown colour and cereal aroma but greatest tooth packing values. Paul and N979 EBC, although different from each other in a few sensory attributes, had similar acceptability as judged from a consumer test, suggesting that oats with elevated β‐glucan concentrations can be successfully incorporated into EBC with minimal processing alterations.     

SIZE EFFECTS ON THE THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF THIN METALLIC WIRES: MICROSCALE IMPLICATIONS

This study examines the influence of radial thickness on the thermal conductivity of thin metallic wires. While size effects on the electrical conductivity of thin wires have been discussed in the literature, research into size effects on thermal conductivity still requires investigation. At such small length scales, the assumption that the reduced electrical conductivity can be simply related to the reduced thermal conductivity through a Wiedemann-Franz relation is subject to question. This study uses the Boltzmann transport equation for electrons to determine the thermal conductivity of a thin wire directly. Electrons are treated as the primary heat carriers in a thin wire with a thermal gradient along the axis. A single-crystal, defect-free, metallic thin wire is considered in the derivation. An expression is presented which accounts for the radial size effects on axial thermal conductivity. The derived thermal conductivity is compared to expressions for the reduced electrical conductivity, and the applicability of the Wiedemann-Franz relation is discussed.     

Treatment of milk by gamma irradiation—effect of anoxia on lipid peroxidation and the survival of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

One of the causes of organoleptic changes in milk, lipid peroxidation, has been monitored by a sensitive assay newly applied to foodstuffs. It has been shown that even at medium radiation doses (up to 3600 Gy) negligible lipid peroxidation takes place, providing the milk is thoroughly gassed with nitrogen. Using a test spoilage microorganism, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Schroeter), it was shown that the D₁₀ was 35 Gy in air and 105 Gy under anaerobic conditions. Dose/survival curves indicate that 5 decades of killing needed 200 Gy in air and 600 Gy under nitrogen. However, even after receiving a dose of 1600 Gy, both aerobically and anaerobically treated milk failed the methylene blue test at 21 days post-irradiation. The data indicate that, although the deleterious lipid peroxidation effects of irradiation can be minimised by the removal of air, this in turn results in a degree of protection being afforded to the bacteria, and that doses in excess of 1600 Gy are needed to effectively sterilise milk.     

Perceptual identification of contextual attributes and infant memory retrieval.

The contribution of specific contextual attributes to recognition of a well-learned cue was examined in 4 experiments with 6-mo-olds. 24 hrs after learning to move a given mobile in a distinctive visual surround by kicking, recognition of the training cue was tested in either the original context or in one in which only a single contextual attribute was altered. Retrieval was completely disrupted by all form changes involving the deletion of angles and by a chromatic figure/ground reversal, but a discriminable change in form color had no effect. Although infants displayed partial retention in a degraded context after 1 day, they displayed no retention when a reminder was administered in the same degraded context after 20 days. These data reveal that infants do not encode contextual information holistically; moreover, they imply a privileged status for highly specific information about the incidental setting in which an event occurs. Unless this same highly specific information is perceptually identified at the time of testing, the memory of that event will not be retrieved. Data are consistent with the hypothesis that the visual context serves as an initial attention gate for memory retrieval. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social support and prognosis in patients at increased psychosocial risk recovering from myocardial infarction.

Objective: To compare the impact of network support and different types of perceived functional support on all-cause mortality or nonfatal reinfarction for patients with a recent acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Design: Participants were recruited from the Enhancing Recovery in Coronary Heart Disease (ENRICHD) trial; 2,481 AMI patients with depression or low social support were randomized to a cognitive-behavioral intervention or to a usual care control group. Data collection for certain measures of social support was limited: 2,466 participants completed the ENRICHD Social Support Inventory; 2,457 completed the Perceived Social Support Scale; 1,296 completed the Social Network Questionnaire; and 707 completed the Interpersonal Support and Evaluation List, Tangible Support subscale. Patients also completed the Beck Depression Inventory and were followed for up to 4.5 years. Main Outcome Measure: Time to death or nonfatal reinfarction. Results: Over the follow-up period, 599 patients (24%) died or had a nonfatal AMI. Survival models controlling age, sex, race, socioeconomic status, smoking, antidepressant use, and a composite measure of increased risk revealed that higher levels of perceived social support were associated with improved outcome for patients without elevated depression but not for patients with high levels of depression. Neither perceived tangible support nor network support were associated with more frequent adverse events. Conclusion: AMI patients should be assessed for multiple dimensions of perceived functional support and depression to identify those at increased psychosocial risk who may benefit from treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)