Modeling temperature distribution in rigid pavement slabs: Impact of air temperature

This study presents the impact of air temperature on the temperature distributions through the depth of rigid pavement slabs. A one-dimensional heat transfer model is proposed to predict the temperature distribution across the pavement. To highlight the impact of daily temperature amplitude on a pavement temperature profiles, the summer weather condition is used as an input to simulate the temperature distributions through slabs in mountainous desert and coastal regions. The results section presents the impact of daily ambient temperature on the pavement-surface heat exchange and subsequent slab temperature development. The feasibility of using the sinusoidal-approximated air temperature is also described. The subsequent discussion concentrates on whether the predicted results of these two regions can be used to develop similar conclusions in other regions and other seasons. The discussion also focuses on the boundary-formulation differences between the proposed model and the documented temperature prediction models for concrete slabs.     

An assessment of comorbid psychological problems in a residential criminal justice drug treatment program.

161 probationers remanded to 4 mo of mandatory treatment at a criminal justice substance abuse treatment facility were assessed for evidence of psychopathology by means of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II and other psychosocial functioning scales. Overall, 80% of the sample was classified as having psychological problems, 72% had significant drug abuse problems, and 58% had concurrent psychopathology and drug abuse problems (i.e., comorbidity). Comparisons between psychopathology-only, drug problem-only, and comorbid groups indicated that probationers with both drug use and psychological problems engaged in more preadmission illegal activity, had more social impairments, and indicated higher motivation for treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of vacuum impregnation on the fortification of apple parenchyma with quercetin derivatives in combination with pore structures X-ray analysis

The study aim was to investigate the vacuum impregnation (VI) technique for apple enrichment with quercetin glycosides from apple peel. Beside the determination of the quercetin content, structural effects on the apple parenchyma were analyzed by computerized microtomography (μCT). VI was an efficient method to enrich apples with quercetin derivatives which was affected by the apple cultivar, the vacuum pressure, the soluble solid concentration (SSC) and the viscosity of VI solution. After VI of 13 apple cultivars the quercetin content varied between 368 and 604 μg/g dry mass and correlated with the firmness of the native apple and the increased apple weight. The use of low SSC solution resulted in increased quercetin enrichment in contrast to apple pectin solutions with elevated viscosity. The μCT analyses demonstrate that VI was more effective in the inner apple sections than in the outer parts. The study indicates that differences of pore size and microstructure within the apple cortex substantially affected the enrichment process.