Commercializing light-duty plug-in/plug-out hydrogen-fuel-cell vehicles: “Mobile Electricity” technologies and opportunities

Starting from the premise that new consumer value must drive hydrogen-fuel-cell-vehicle (H₂FCV) commercialization, a group of opportunities collectively called “Mobile Electricity” is characterized. Mobile Electricity (Me-) redefines H₂FCVs as innovative products able to import and export electricity across the traditional vehicle boundary. Such vehicles could provide home recharging and mobile power, for example for tools, mobile activities, emergencies, and electric-grid-support services. This study integrates and extends previous analyses of H₂FCVs, plug-in hybrids, and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) power. Further, it uses a new electric-drive-vehicle and vehicular-distributed-generation model to estimate zero-emission-power versus zero-emission-driving tradeoffs, costs, and grid-support revenues for various electric-drive vehicle types and levels of infrastructure service. By framing market development in terms of new consumer value flowing from Me-, this study suggests a way to move beyond the battery versus fuel-cell zero-sum game and towards the development of integrated plug-in/plug-out hybrid platforms. As one possible extension of this Me- product platform, H₂FCVs might supply clean, high-power, and profitable Me- services as the technologies and markets mature.     

Rehearsal and verbal reminders in facilitating compliance with safety rules

Accidents and incidents often occur, because a basic and seemingly simple rule is ‘forgotten’, either unintentionally (error, lapse) or with some degree of deliberate negligence (violation). The present experiment examined the utility of a rehearsal and a last-minute reminder in reducing the magnitude of deviations from an important safety rule by qualified, but relatively inexperienced pilots, specifically, remaining above an altitude of 500-ft. A single rehearsal flight entailing a search for a target on the ground increased the minimum altitude in later flights, but this positive effect did not completely generalize when the target on the ground was changed. These results suggest that the rehearsal flight was encoded in a context-specific manner. The addition of an explicit, last minute reminder about the mandated minimum altitude just before each test flight failed to significantly alter the pilots’ behavior. The results are discussed with respect to their theoretical and practical implications.     

Coaxial ion trap mass spectrometer: concentric toroidal and quadrupolar trapping regions

We present the design and results for a new radio-frequency ion trap mass analyzer, the coaxial ion trap, in which both toroidal and quadrupolar trapping regions are created simultaneously. The device is composed of two parallel ceramic plates, the facing surfaces of which are lithographically patterned with concentric metal rings and covered with a thin film of germanium. Experiments demonstrate that ions can be trapped in either region, transferred from the toroidal to the quadrupolar region, and mass-selectively ejected from the quadrupolar region to a detector. Ions trapped in the toroidal region can be transferred to the quadrupole region using an applied ac signal in the radial direction, although it appears that the mechanism of this transfer does not involve resonance with the ion secular frequency, and the process is not mass selective. Ions in the quadrupole trapping region are mass analyzed using dipole resonant ejection. Multiple transfer steps and mass analysis scans are possible on a single population of ions, as from a single ionization/trapping event. The device demonstrates better mass resolving power than the radially ejecting halo ion trap and better sensitivity than the planar quadrupole ion trap.     

Has Resilience to Severe Trauma Been Underestimated?

Comments on George Bonanno's article entitles Loss, trauma, and human resilience: Have we underestimated the human capacity to thrive after extremely aversive events? (see record 2004-10043-003). The author notes that Bonanno articulated a model of loss and trauma-related resilience cogently and evocatively. In the trauma field, there is a new focus on risk and resilience factors across the life span (e.g., King, Vogt, & King, 2004), and the article by Bonanno will serve as a herald for this new way of thinking about adjustment to trauma and loss. Because the author believes that the most important function of Bonanno's article should be to stimulate theory development and research in this burgeoning area, he raises three issues in service of that goal. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Intervention Selection Bias: An Underrecognized Confound in Intervention Research.

Selection bias can be the most important threat to internal validity in intervention research, but is often insufficiently recognized and controlled. The bias is illustrated in research on parental interventions (punishment, homework assistance); medical interventions (hospitalization); and psychological interventions for suicide risk, sex offending, and juvenile delinquency. The intervention selection bias is most adequately controlled in randomized studies or strong quasi-experimental designs, although recent statistical innovations can enhance weaker designs. The most important points are to increase awareness of the intervention selection bias and to systematically evaluate plausible alternative explanations of data before making causal conclusions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Periodically structured glancing angle deposition thin films

Thin films fabricated using the glancing angle deposition technique have a porous microstructure consisting of freestanding columns. Many promising applications of such thin films require that the columns be arranged in periodic arrays using substrate topographies-so-called seed layers-that enforce controlled film nucleation. In this paper, we present the optimized design, fabrication, and characteristics of periodically structured thin films, achieving highly uniform periodic film morphologies. We derive geometrical rules for designing substrate seed layers, and explain how to fabricate large area seed patterns with submicrometer features. Using negative-resist electron-beam lithography and laser direct write lithography, we have reached extremely high pattern densities. An experimental analysis is provided of seed-enforced nucleation and thin-film growth, showing that the elimination of film growth between seeds is crucial, and that the substrate seed layer geometry must match the intended film microstructure. Finally, we discuss the enhanced properties of periodically structured oblique angle thin films and their applications.     

Dispersion Model for Tidal Wetlands

Tidal wetlands in California are mostly estuarine salt marshes characterized by tidal channels and mudflats that are flooded and drained on a semidiurnal basis. Depths are rarely greater than 2 or 3 m, except where dredging occurs for harbor operations, and lengths from head to mouth are usually in the range of 1–10 km. This paper presents a coupled set of models for prediction of flow, solute transport, and particle transport in these systems. The flow and solute transport models are based upon depth-integrated conservation equations while the particle transport model is quasi-three-dimensional. Common to these models is an assumption that a turbulent boundary layer extends vertically from the bed and can be described by the law of the wall. This feature of the model accounts for: (1) momentum transfer to the bed, (2) longitudinal dispersion of dissolved material based on the work of Elder (1959), and (3) advection and turbulent diffusion of particles in three dimensions. A total variation diminishing finite volume scheme is used to solve the depth-integrated equations. Using this model, we show that dispersion can be accurately modeled using physically meaningful mixing coefficients. Calibration is therefore directed at modifying bed roughness, which scales both the rate of advection and dispersion.     

The reliability and validity of the Perceived Stigmatization Questionnaire (PSQ) and the Social Comfort Questionnaire (SCQ) among an adult burn survivor sample.

In this study, 361 adult burn survivors completed the Perceived Stigmatization Questionnaire (PSQ), the Social Comfort Questionnaire (SCQ), and other measures. Both the PSQ and SCQ had good internal consistency indices. Factor analysis of the PSQ yielded 3 factors (absence of friendly behavior, confused/staring behavior, and hostile behavior). The SCQ had 1 factor. Conjoint factor analysis with measures of related constructs (body esteem, body-esteem importance, depression, social support) suggested that PSQ and SCQ measure distinct constructs. Correlations with the related psychosocial constructs and burn characteristics suggested the PSQ and SCQ have good convergent and discriminant validity. Limitations of the study are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting odorant quality perceptions from multidimensional scaling of olfactory bulb glomerular activity patterns.

Odorants and their perceptions differ along multiple dimensions, requiring that a critical examination of any putative neural code directly assess the multidimensional nature of the encoding process. Previous work has examined simple, systematic odorant differences that, regardless of coding strategy, would be expected to produce simple, systematic predictions in neural and behavioral responses. In the present study, an odorant identification confusion matrix task that extracts precise quality relationships across odorants was used to determine whether spatially specific glomerular activity patterns predict perceptual quality relationships for odorants that cannot easily be classified a priori along a single chemical dimension. Multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis of odorant pattern similarity measures derived from the comparison of [14C]-2-deoxyglucose glomerular activity pattern data yielded a two-dimensional odorant activity space that was highly significantly predictive of similarly obtained odorant perceptual spaces, uniformly across animals. These results strongly support the relevance of global spatial patterns in the olfactory bulb to the encoding of odor quality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)