Local Authority vs Community Visions of Dam Project Land Development: a Text Mining Approach

The purpose of the paper is to examine and compare the visions of social and economic development in the area around the newly constructed Mucharz dam reservoir on the Skawa River in southern Poland as represented by both the local community and local authorities. A text mining approach was used to analyse both the information collected through interviews with local residents and documents detailing the development plans for the land surrounding the dam drafted by the local authorities. The results of the study indicate strong mismatches between the ideas for the development of the area surrounding the dam as envisioned by the local authorities and those of the local community. The mismatches refer both to the contents of the plans and to their degree of generality. The authorities focus on general conceptual visions of the area, but the residents expect specific actions and measures to be undertaken. Major discrepancies between the perspectives of both groups of stakeholders can result in residents becoming unsatisfied with the actions taken by the local authorities, poor collaboration between them and even conflicts between the community and the authorities. The text mining methodology applied in the study has been rarely used so far in research on people's perception of dam projects and has proven useful in examining social impact assessment.

     

The Robot Scientist Adam

Despite science's great intellectual prestige, developing robot scientists will probably be simpler than developing general AI systems because there is no essential need to take into account the social milieu.     

Motivational subtypes and continuous measures of readiness for change: Concurrent and predictive validity.

This study compared the concurrent and predictive validity of motivational subtypes versus a continuous measure of readiness for change as measured by the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment Scale (URICA; E. A. McConnaughy, J. O. Prochaska. & W. F. Velicer, 1983) in 252 individuals participating in a substance abuse treatment study (38% female; mean age = 36). Hierarchical cluster analysis identified a 2-cluster solution. Consistent with previous research, both the motivational subtypes and the continuous readiness measure exhibited good concurrent validity with both baseline characteristics and change process variables. Neither readiness-for-change measure predicted end treatment outcomes. Measures of readiness for change based on the URICA exhibit limited clinical utility, because they are not able to predict future behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does Helicobacter pylori infection affect gastric emptying in patients with functional dyspepsia?

The objectives of the study were first, to determine if gastric emptying was altered in patients with functional dyspepsia with and without Helicobacter pylori infection compared with normal healthy volunteers; and second, to determine if there were further alterations in gastric emptying when the infection was eradicated. Gastric emptying was measured using a 99mtechnetium radiolabelled solid meal and gastric emptying time was measured as t1/2, viz. time taken for half the radiolabelled meal to be emptied from the stomach. The mean gastric emptying time for H. pylori-positive patients (n=20) was 56.4+/-24.8 min; H. pylori-negative patients (n=19) 67.8+/-31.8 min; and normal controls (n=20) 58.8+/-18.8min. No significant difference was obtained between the groups (ANOVA; P=0.348). Thirteen of 18 H. pylori-positive patients successfully eradicated the infection following treatment with omeprazole 40 mg o.m. and amoxycillin 500 mg t.d.s. for 2 weeks. The mean difference in the gastric emptying time before and after H. pylori eradication was 23.9+/-13.2 min (P= 0.556). There was no significant difference in the frequency of specific dyspeptic symptoms as well as the overall mean symptom score between the H. pylori-positive and -negative patients. Gastric emptying was not different between patients with functional dyspepsia and normal controls. Helicobacter pylori infection does not appear to affect gastric emptying in patients with functional dyspepsia.     

Upgrading continuous H2 gas recovery from rice straw hydrolysate via fermentation process amended with magnetite nanoparticles

Continuous H₂ production from alkali‐hydrolyzed rice straw in two mesophillic anaerobic baffled reactors (ABRs) was investigated in parallel. ABR₁ was inoculated with thermally pretreated sludge while the sludge in ABR₂ was amended with magnetite nanoparticles (MNPs). Both reactors were operated at organic loading rates (OLRs) ranged from 0.8 to 4.8 g_COD/L/day. The addition of MNPs significantly improved the H₂ production and yield, ie, maximum H₂ yield was 21.4 ± 3.2 and 60.6 ± 5.7 mL/g COD_removed for both ABR₁ and ABR₂, respectively, at OLR of 1.6 g_COD/L/day. Likewise, substrate degradation efficiency (SDE) was augmented from 48.4 ± 3.9% (ABR₁) to 55.8 ± 4.2% (ABR₂). The enhancement effect of MNPs can be emphasized by hydrogenase enzyme activity increase from 0.097 ± 0.013 to 0.205 ± 0.019 mg MB_reduced/min at ABR₁ and ABR₂, respectively. Besides, ABR₂ witnessed higher concentrations of acetate (HAc) and butyrate (HBu) coupled with lower values of propionate (HPr). Additionally, HAc/HBu ratio for ABR₂ (3.03 ± 0.31) was higher than that for ABR₁ (1.95 ± 0.29). Microbial analysis indicated that Bacillus and Clostridium species became dominant in mixed culture bacteria supplemented with MNPs. Furthermore, economic analysis revealed that the minimum payback period of 10.5 years at OLR of 3.2 g_COD/L/day was recorded for ABR₂ compared with 14.6 years at OLR of 4.8 g_COD/L/day for ABR₁.     

Ethene/ethane mixture diffusion in the MOF sieve ZIF-8 studied by MAS PFG NMR diffusometry

The adsorption and diffusion of ethene/ethane mixtures is explored by ¹H and ¹³C MAS NMR spectroscopy and by the combination of PFG NMR with magic-angle spinning (MAS PFG NMR). Some indication for a preferential adsorption of the molecules close to the methyl-groups of the imidazole-rings was found, however no evidence for structural changes upon adsorption of an ethene/ethane mixture.MAS PFG NMR allows an individual but simultaneous observation of both molecules in adsorbed state and as well as in the gas phase. The intracrystalline MAS PFG NMR diffusivities are in consistent agreement with our previous data obtained by IR microscopy. Our consideration includes the loading dependence and the correlation of self-diffusion with transport diffusion by accounting for the influence of the thermodynamic factor.The diffusion selectivity is determined to D_ethene:D_ethane = 5.5 at a loading of four molecules per cavity. The higher mobility of ethene can be rationalized by its smaller size compared to ethane. This conclusion is validated by the measured activation energies for diffusion which are considerably higher for ethane. On the other hand, differences in the guest-host interaction between the saturated and non-saturated molecules can be excluded as possible reason for the different diffusivities.     

Cracks emanating from precracked coldworked holes

An experimental investigation was carried out to evaluate the retardation phenomenon of precracked cold-worked holes with and without fasteners (zero load transfer). The material used was extruded 7075-T6511 aluminum 0.25 in. thick. The fastener system was HiLok HL 18 alloy steel. In all cases the holes were precracked (0.05 in. corner crack) before applying the cold work and installing the fastener system. The baseline data was obtained from open holes without cold working. All tests were conducted in constant amplitude loading at stress ration ($\text{R}$) of ±0.8 at maximum stress of 35–40 ksi. A limited number of tests were conducted to investigate the over-loading effects. Tensile and compressive overloads of 45.0 and 22.5 ksi, respectively, were applied at about half the endurance of the baseline specimens. The results indicate that cold working does retard crack propagation from fastener holes but overloads can influence the overall results.     

A unified engineering approach to the prediction of multiaxial fatigue fracture of aircraft structures

In this paper the existing biaxial fatigue theories are reviewed. The effect of isotropy, mean stress, phase angle, and notches on biaxial fatigue is discussed. An approach based on equivalent stress is proposed. The exactness and consistency of this approach is verified with experimental results of full scale test articles. The analysis indicates that this simple approach can be used with confidence in predicting the linear cumulative damage in full scale structural components, which are experiencing multiaxial stress loading.     

Ethical issues in informed consent with substance abusers.

Alcohol and drug abusers present issues that complicate the informed consent process. The present study examined the practices of federally funded clinical investigators in obtaining informed consent from alcohol and drug abusers. Ninety-one (51%) researchers completed a 27-item survey on informed consent issues. The majority of investigators (57%) recruited participants susceptible to coercion; most used procedures to minimize coercion. Two thirds of researchers used objective means to determine competence to give consent and comprehension of consent forms. Virtually all investigators had policies to deal with suicidality, homicidality, or reports of child abuse; less than 1/2 informed participants of these limits to confidentiality. Almost 50% of investigators had dealt with intoxicated or suicidal participants; 12% had encountered homicidal participants; and 23% had encountered child abuse or neglect. Half of the sample used collateral data sources; about 1/2 of these obtained written informed consent from collaterals. Guidelines for informed consent with substance abusers are suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)