Assessing terrestrial wildlife populations in the Toronto and Region Area of Concern

Beneficial use impairments (BUIs) under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement identify environmental issues requiring remedial action within the Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs). We conducted this study to support the assessment of the wildlife component of BUI 3: degradation of fish and wildlife populations. We compared bird and amphibian (frogs and toads) data from the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority’s Terrestrial Long-term Monitoring Program in the Toronto and Region AOC to an adjacent, but otherwise similar, reference watershed, Duffins Creek. Twelve of 13 targets were met within the AOC for forest bird, wetland bird, meadow bird and amphibian populations based on averages of mean annual values at sites within the AOC that were within two standard deviations of averages at sites in the Duffins Creek reference watershed between 2008 and 2017. Even though wildlife populations within the AOC were within the normal range of variability expected from a reference watershed, they were often at lower levels than within the Duffins Creek reference watershed. In addition, forest bird and amphibian populations were negatively affected by urbanization within the AOC and meadow bird indices declined. We conclude that while wildlife populations within the AOC currently meet targets for BUI 3, they continue to be negatively impacted by numerous stressors that are primarily related to past and ongoing urbanization. Thus, continued restoration of wildlife habitat and protection of existing habitat within the AOC is highly recommended.     

Experimental and computational study of gas–solid fluidized bed hydrodynamics

The hydrodynamics of a two-dimensional gas–solid fluidized bed reactor were studied experimentally and computationally. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation results from a commercial CFD software package, Fluent, were compared to those obtained by experiments conducted in a fluidized bed containing spherical glass beads of 250– in diameter. A multifluid Eulerian model incorporating the kinetic theory for solid particles was applied in order to simulate the gas–solid flow. Momentum exchange coefficients were calculated using the Syamlal–O’Brien, Gidaspow, and Wen–Yu drag functions. The solid-phase kinetic energy fluctuation was characterized by varying the restitution coefficient values from 0.9 to 0.99. The modeling predictions compared reasonably well with experimental bed expansion ratio measurements and qualitative gas–solid flow patterns. Pressure drops predicted by the simulations were in relatively close agreement with experimental measurements at superficial gas velocities higher than the minimum fluidization velocity, U_mf. Furthermore, the predicted instantaneous and time-average local voidage profiles showed similarities with the experimental results. Further experimental and modeling efforts are required in a comparable time and space resolutions for the validation of CFD models for fluidized bed reactors.     

Characterizing the deformation of cold-rolled copper sheet

An advanced x-ray diffraction technique allows the development of texture components to be monitored and provides supplementary information about the cold work and residual stresses in cold-rolled copper sheet. The new technique confirms the results of an ultrasonic test, except for the ultrasonic test’s sensitivity to grain size. The new x-ray diffraction technique could be adapted to provide in-process, nondestructive evaluation of thin copper sheet, even for material moving at high speeds.     

Indoor robot gardening: design and implementation

This paper describes the architecture and implementation of a distributed autonomous gardening system with applications in urban/indoor precision agriculture. The garden is a mesh network of robots and plants. The gardening robots are mobile manipulators with an eye-in-hand camera. They are capable of locating plants in the garden, watering them, and locating and grasping fruit. The plants are potted cherry tomatoes enhanced with sensors and computation to monitor their well-being (e.g. soil humidity, state of fruits) and with networking to communicate servicing requests to the robots. By embedding sensing, computation, and communication into the pots, task allocation in the system is de-centrally coordinated, which makes the system scalable and robust against the failure of a centralized agent. We describe the architecture of this system and present experimental results for navigation, object recognition, and manipulation as well as challenges that lie ahead toward autonomous precision agriculture with multi-robot teams.     

A longitudinal study of emoticon use in text messaging from smartphones

Our goal in the present study was to understand how emoticons are used in text messaging and, in particular, how genders differed in the frequency and variety of emoticons used via this medium. Previous research has found small and sundry differences in emotive expression online suggesting that technology has closed the gender gap. However, the data collected in these studies were public. In this study, we collected real portions of private communications data from individuals’ smartphones over a 6-month period. SMS messages, in general, were not used very much overall, with only 4% of all messages containing at least one emoticon. Still, differences between genders manifested in the amount and variety of emoticons used. Females sent more messages with emoticons; however, surprisingly, males used a more diverse range of emoticons.     

Exploring the impact of software requirements on system-wide goals: a method using satisfaction arguments and i* goal modelling

This paper describes the application of requirements engineering concepts to support the analysis of the impact of new software systems on system-wide goals. Requirements on a new or revised software component of a socio-technical system not only have implications on the goals of the subsystem itself, but they also impact upon the goals of the existing integrated system. In industries such as air traffic management and healthcare, impacts need to be identified and demonstrated in order to assess concerns such as risk, safety, and accuracy. A method called PiLGRIM was developed which integrates means-end relationships within goal modelling with knowledge associated with the application domain. The relationship between domain knowledge and requirements, as described in a satisfaction argument, adds traceability rationale to help determine the impacts of new requirements across a network of heterogeneous actors. We report procedures that human analysts follow to use the concepts of satisfaction arguments in a software tool for i* goal modelling. Results were demonstrated using models and arguments developed in two case studies, each featuring a distinct socio-technical system??a new controlled airspace infringement detection tool for NATS (the UK??s air navigation service provider), and a new version of the UK??s HIV/AIDS patient reporting system. Results provided evidence towards our claims that the conceptual integration of i* and satisfaction arguments is usable and useful to human analysts, and that the PiLGRIM impact analysis procedures and tool support are effective and scalable to model and analyse large and complex socio-technical systems.     

Iterative image-based modeling and control for higher scanning probe microscope performance

In this article, we develop an image-based approach to model and control the dynamics of scanning probe microscopes (SPMs) during high-speed operations. SPMs are key enabling tools in the experimental investigation and manipulation of nano- and subnanoscale phenomena; however, the speed at which the SPM probe can be positioned over the sample surface is limited due to adverse dynamic effects. It is noted that SPM speed can be increased using model-based control techniques. Modeling the SPM dynamics is, however, challenging because currently available sensing methods do not measure the SPM tip directly. Additionally, the resolution of currently available sensing methods is limited by noise at higher bandwidth. Our main contribution is an iterative image-based modeling method which overcomes these modeling difficulties (caused by sensing limitations). The method is applied to model an experimental scanning tunneling microscope (STM) system and to achieve high-speed imaging. Specifically, we model the STM up to a frequency of 2000 Hz (corresponds to approximately 23 of the resonance frequency of our system) and achieve approximately 1.2% error in 1 nm square images at that same frequency.     

Fitting in and feeling fine: Conformity and coping motives as mediators of the relationship between social anxiety and problematic drinking.

The present research was conducted to clarify the relationships among social anxiety, alcohol consumption, alcohol-related problems, and negative-reinforcement drinking motives among college students. Heavy drinking students (N = 316, 53.80% female) completed self-report measures of social anxiety, alcohol consumption, alcohol-related problems, and drinking motives. Findings indicated that students higher in social anxiety consumed less alcohol but experienced more negative consequences. Moreover, the relationship between social anxiety and negative consequences was mediated by coping and conformity drinking motives in addition to alcohol consumption. In the context of social anxiety, the current research demonstrates the importance of examining problematic drinking as distinct constructs: alcohol consumption and negative consequences. Findings are also discussed in terms of implications for interventions with socially anxious students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Removal of sulphate from mine water with barium sulphide

The Barium Sulphide Process removes sulphates from mine water by precipitating BaSO₄ with BaS. Barium sulphide is regenerated thermally by reducing the BaSO₄ with coal at 1000–1100°C for about 15 minutes. The process produces elemental sulphur and CaCO₃ as by-products. Laboratory studies achieve typical sulphate reductions of about 95%. Metals such as Fe, Ni, Co and Mn are also removed and pH can be increased from 1,4 to 8,3. The process has a water recovery of about 70%. For a 25 Ml/d plant (2g/l SO₄ ^2?), the capital cost is estimated at US$ 0,48m/Ml/d, while the detailed running costs amount to a net value of 27 c/m³. This compares well with that of other processes for desalination and is less than the fresh water price for new mines in South Africa, viz. 30c/m³.