The Short Message Service: Standards,infrastructure and innovation

The Short Message Service (SMS) is a teleservice developed by the Global System for Mobile Communication in the mid-1980s for second-generation mobile networks. SMS is made up of standards, protocols and infrastructure that make text messaging the most popular data service on mobile networks. The teleservice has been used in all subsequent generations of mobile telephony. This article discusses the development of the SMS teleservice standards (GSM 03.40), how it has influenced mobile telephony infrastructure, and how it remains a lasting communication innovation today. It historicizes text messaging standards and their technical realization by describing the network architecture and elements required for SMS transmission. This article illustrates how SMS standards and infrastructure represent a significant innovation to mobile telephony in the late twentieth century.     

Effects of race on interview ratings in a situational panel interview.

This study investigated the effects of interviewer race, candidate race, and racial composition of interview panels on interview ratings. Data were collected on 153 police officers applying for promotion. Results confirmed a same-race rating effect (i.e., candidates racially similar to interviewers received higher ratings) for Black and White interviewers on racially balanced panels. A majority-race rating effect (i.e., candidates racially similar to the majority race of panel interviewers received higher ratings) existed for Black and White interviewers on primarily White panels. Rating patterns of Black and White interviewers on primarily Black panels also suggested a majority-race rating effect. Racial composition of selection interview panels in combination with interviewer and candidate race were proposed as variables affecting candidates' ratings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Microporosity and mesoporosity of PPTA-derived carbons. Effect of PPTA thermal pretreatment

Isothermal treatments of the polyaramid fiber, [poly(p-phenylene terephthalamide)] (PPTA) in an inert atmosphere below its decomposition temperature are known to induce an important increase in char yield and modify the chemical composition and some other properties of the resulting chars. The objective of this work was to study the effect of this isothermal stage on the porous texture of chars and activated carbon fibers (ACFs) produced from PPTA. To this end, chars and ACFs were prepared by PPTA pyrolysis to 850 °C followed by CO₂ activation at 800 °C to various burn-offs (BOs), introducing or not an intermediate isothermal pre-treatment under the conditions (500 °C, 200 min) known to lead to a maximum increase in char yield. The porosity characteristics of the resulting chars and ACFs were comparatively investigated by adsorption of CO₂ (0 °C), and N₂ (−196 °C). The isothermal stage led to a char with enhanced micropore volume and wider micropores. The ACFs prepared from this char exhibited larger amounts of wide micropores and mesopores than those prepared from PPTA pyrolyzed at a constant heating rate.     

The Effect of a Silver Nanoparticle Polysaccharide System on Streptococcal and Saliva-Derived Biofilms

In this work, we studied the antimicrobial properties of a nanocomposite system based on a lactose-substituted chitosan and silver nanoparticles: Chitlac-nAg. Twofold serial dilutions of the colloidal Chitlac-nAg solution were both tested on Streptococcus mitis, Streptococcus mutans, and Streptococcus oralis planktonic phase and biofilm growth mode as well as on saliva samples. The minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations of Chitlac-nAg were evaluated together with its effect on sessile cell viability, as well as both on biofilm formation and on preformed biofilm. In respect to the planktonic bacteria, Chitlac-nAg showed an inhibitory/bactericidal effect against all streptococcal strains at 0.1% (v/v), except for S. mitis ATCC 6249 that was inhibited at one step less. On preformed biofilm, Chitlac-nAg at a value of 0.2%, was able to inhibit the bacterial growth on the supernatant phase as well as on the mature biofilm. For S. mitis ATCC 6249, the biofilm inhibitory concentration of Chitlac-nAg was 0.1%. At sub-inhibitory concentrations, the Streptococcal strains adhesion capability on a polystyrene surface showed a general reduction following a concentration-dependent-way; a similar effect was obtained for the metabolic biofilm activity. From these results, Chitlac-nAg seems to be a promising antibacterial and antibiofilm agent able to hinder plaque formation.     

Influence of plasma surface treatments on kink band formation in PBO fibers during compression

The effect of nitrogen and oxygen plasma surface treatments on the compressive strength of PBO fibers has been studied. To this end, the nucleation and propagation of compression‐induced kink bands was carefully monitored by means of in situ bending tests inside a scanning electron microscope. The micromechanisms of deformation were identical irrespective of fiber surface condition (either as‐received or modified by plasma) but the critical stress necessary to induce irreversible damage in compression in the nitrogen‐plasma treated fibers was 40% higher than in the as‐received fibers. This improvement occurred without any reduction in the fiber tensile properties. The source of this behavior is discussed in the light of the morphological and chemical changes induced by the plasma treatments on the fiber surface, as studied by AFM and XPS. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

The European contribution to the development and validation activities for the design of IFMIF lithium facility

The International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF) is an accelerator-driven intense neutron source where candidate materials for fusion reactors will be tested and validated. The high energy neutron flux is produced by means of two deuteron beams (total current of 250 mA, energy of 40 MeV) that strikes a liquid lithium target circulating in a lithium loop of IFMIF plant. The European (EU) contribution to the development of the lithium facility comprises five procurement packages, as follow: (1) participation to the experimental activities of the EVEDA lithium test loop in Oarai (Japan); (2) study aimed at evaluating the corrosion and erosion phenomena, promoted by lithium, for structural fusion reference materials like AISI 316L and Eurofer; (3) design and validation of the lithium purification method with the aim to provide input data for the design of the purification system of IFIMF lithium loop; (4) design and validation of the remote handling (RH) procedures for the refurbishment/replacement of the EU concept of IFMIF target assembly including the design of the remote handling tools; (5) the engineering design of the European target assembly for IFMIF and the safety and RAMI analyses for the entire IFMIF lithium facility.The paper gives an overview of the status of the activities and of the main outcomes achieved so far.     

Cardiovascular disease—risk benefits of clean fuel technology and policy: A statistical analysis

The hypothesis of this study is that there is a statistical relationship between the cardiovascular disease mortality rate and the intensity of fuel consumption (measured in gallons/square mile) at a particular location. We estimate cross-sectional regressions of the mortality rate due to cardiovascular disease against the intensity of fuel consumption using local data for the entire US, before the US Clean Air Act (CAA) in 1974 and after the most recent policy revisions in 2004. The cardiovascular disease rate improvement estimate suggests that up to 60 cardiovascular disease deaths per 100,000 residents are avoided in the largest urban areas with highest fuel consumption per square mile. In New York City, for instance, the mortality reduction may be worth about $30.3 billion annually. Across the US, the estimated Value of Statistical Life (VSL) benefit is $202.7 billion annually. There are likely three inseparable reasons that contributed importantly to this welfare improvement. First, the CAA regulations banned leaded gasoline, and mandated reduction in specific chemicals and smog components. Second, technologies such as the Catalytic Converter (CC) for the automobile and the low particulate diesel engine were adopted. Third, biofuels have had important roles, making the adoption of clean air technology possible and substituting for high emission fuels.     

Preparation of Nonfragmented,Completely Amorphous,Pregelatinized Maize Starches and Determination of the Effects of Fragmentation on the Adhesiveness of Their Pastes

The objective of this research was to prepare pregelatinized maize starches that were both completely amorphous (no crystalline structure) and unfragmented, and to apply the same method to partially depolymerized maize starches to determine the effect of fragmentation on the degree of stickiness (tackiness, adhesiveness). Amorphous pregelatinized normal maize starch could be prepared by precipitation of a paste with acetone. Precipitation with a polar organic solvent was not applicable for the preparation of amorphous, pregelatinized waxy maize starch, because a sticky, cohesive and adhesive mass was produced. Therefore, freeze drying was used to prepare amorphous pregelatinized waxy maize starch. Limited acid‐catalyzed hydrolysis of normal maize starch before pregelatinization increased stickiness up to a maximum, after which the degree of stickiness decreased. In all aspects of this research, it was clear that the behavior of waxy maize starch was rather different than that of normal maize starch.     

Individual differences for self-regulating task-oriented reading activities.

The goal of this study is to analyze the self-regulation processes present in task-oriented reading activities. In the 1st experiment, we examined the following self-regulation processes in the context of answering questions about an available text: (a) monitoring the comprehension of the question, (b) self-regulating the search process, and (c) monitoring the decision to search. Skilled and less skilled comprehenders from 7th and 8th grades read 2 texts and answered 16 questions while all their actions were recorded on a computer. We hypothesized that skilled comprehenders would differ from less skilled comprehenders on the 1st 2 processes on the basis of their general comprehension skills but that their superiority in the 3rd process would be based on specific characteristics of the interaction between the reader and the text. The results support our hypotheses. In the 2nd experiment, we hypothesized that monitoring the decision to search would be equivalent to judgments of learning (JOLs). Eighth graders made JOLs before answering every question, and then they decided whether to search the text. Our hypothesis was confirmed. Our study reveals that task-oriented reading places specific demands on readers related to metacognitive monitoring. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)