Surfactant behavior and its influence on the viscosity of associative thickeners solutions, thickened latex dispersions, and waterborne latex coatings

Surfactants, varying in their chemical composition and hydrophobic behavior, are used in the formulation of a waterborne coating. These differences influence their aggregation in micellar structures, their interaction with associative thickeners, and in particular, the synergies present in their competitive adsorptions on the disperse phases in a waterborne coating. Adsorption of HEUR thickeners on latexes and the ability of surfactants to displace them from those surfaces is an important variable in the dispersion’s viscosity. With large particle latexes, viscosity increases arise primarily from the network built through the interaction of HEURs with surfactants in the aqueous phase. Fluorescence is used to verify the mechanism by which surfactants enhance associative thickener viscosities. That is best achieved with nonionic surfactants, because of their synergies with large hydrophobe HEURs at low concentration. With decreasing latex particle size the adsorbed species is an important contributor to the dispersion’s viscosity through its contribution to the latex’s effective volume fraction increase and when the size of the adsorbed HEUR is matched to the separation distances of the latex at 0.25 volume fraction. Achieving controlled shear-thinning behavior in small particle size latex paints with the economic constraints on the amount of HEUR required to obtain 90 KU viscosities are discussed. Presented at the 80th Annual Meeting of the Federation of Societies for Coatings Technology, October 30–November 1, 2002, in New Orleans, LA. Polymer and Coatings Dept., Fargo, ND 58103.     

Does anticipation training affect drivers' risk taking?

Skill and risk taking are argued to be independent and to require different remedial programs. However, it is possible to contend that skill-based training could be associated with an increase, a decrease, or no change in risk-taking behavior. In 3 experiments, the authors examined the influence of a skill-based training program (hazard perception) on the risk-taking behavior of car drivers (using video-based driving simulations). Experiment 1 demonstrated a decrease in risk taking for novice drivers. In Experiment 2, the authors examined the possibilities that the skills training might operate through either a nonspecific reduction in risk taking or a specific improvement in hazard perception. Evidence supported the latter. These findings were replicated in a more ecological context in Experiment 3, which compared advanced and nonadvanced police drivers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pin&Play: the surface as network medium

Integrating appliances in the home through a wired network often proves to be impractical: routing cables is usually difficult, changing the network structure afterward even more so, and portable devices can only be connected at fixed connection points. Wireless networks are not the answer either: batteries have to be regularly replaced or changed, and what they add to the device's size and weight might be disproportionate for smaller appliances. In Pin&Play, we explore a design space in between typical wired and wireless networks, investigating the use of surfaces to network objects that are attached to it. This article gives an overview of the network model, and describes functioning prototypes that were built as a proof of concept.     

The dMARS Architecture: A Specification of the Distributed Multi-Agent Reasoning System

The Procedural Reasoning System (PRS) is the best established agent architecture currently available. It has been deployed in many major industrial applications, ranging from fault diagnosis on the space shuttle to air traffic management and business process control. The theory of PRS-like systems has also been widely studied: within the intelligent agents research community, the belief-desire-intention (BDI) model of practical reasoning that underpins PRS is arguably the dominant force in the theoretical foundations of rational agency. Despite the interest in PRS and BDI agents, no complete attempt has yet been made to precisely specify the behaviour of real PRS systems. This has led to the development of a range of systems that claim to conform to the PRS model, but which differ from it in many important respects. Our aim in this paper is to rectify this omission. We provide an abstract formal model of an idealised dMARS system (the most recent implementation of the PRS architecture), which precisely defines the key data structures present within the architecture and the operations that manipulate these structures. We focus in particular on dMARS plans, since these are the key tool for programming dMARS agents. The specification we present will enable other implementations of PRS to be easily developed, and will serve as a benchmark against which future architectural enhancements can be evaluated.     

THE OPTIMUM SPEED OF VISUAL INSPECTION USING A RANDOM SEARCH STRATEGY

Choosing a standard speed for visual inspection is difficult using standard work measurement techniques. This paper uses a different approach, taking a model of human functioning in inspection and deriving an optimum speed of working so as to balance the cost of time against the cost of errors. Random search is used as the model and both self-paced and externally-paced conditions are derived for multiple fault types. Optimization using a Golden Section search is used to provide optimum inspection speed.     

A strategy for improving patient satisfaction by the intensive training of residents in psychosocial medicine: a controlled, randomized study

PURPOSE: To use a controlled, randomized design to assess the effect on patient satisfaction of an intensive psychosocial training program for residents. METHOD: Twenty-six first-year residents, in two internal medicine and family practice community-based programs affiliated with the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, were randomly assigned during 1991 and 1992 to a control group or a one-month intensive training program. Experiential teaching focused on many psychosocial skills required in primary care. A 29-item questionnaire administered before and after the residents' training evaluated their patients' satisfaction regarding patient disclosure, physician empathy, confidence in physician, general satisfaction, and comparison of the physician with other physicians. Analyses of covariance with groups and gender as factors and pre-training patient satisfaction scores as the covariate evaluated the effect of the training. RESULTS: The patients of the trained residents expressed more confidence in their physicians (p = .01) and more general satisfaction (p = .02) than did the patients of controls. The effect of training on patient satisfaction with patient disclosure (p < .01) and physician empathy (p < .05) was greater for female than for male residents. CONCLUSION: The intensive psychosocial training program for residents improved their patients' satisfaction.     

The visual control of reaching and grasping: Binocular disparity and motion parallax.

The primary visual sources of depth and size information are binocular cues and motion parallax. Here, the authors determine the efficacy of these cues to control prehension by presenting them in isolation from other visual cues. When only binocular cues were available, reaches showed normal scaling of the transport and grasp components with object distance and size. However, when only motion parallax was available, only the transpont component scaled reliably. No additional increase in scaling was found when both cues were available simultaneously. Therefore, although equivalent information is available from binocular and motion parallax information, the latter may be of relatively limited use for the control of the grasp. Binocular disparity appears selectively important for the control of the grasp. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Screening and characterization of microorganisms with glutaryl-7ADCA acylase activity

A screening of microorganisms producing glutaryl-7ADCA acylase, an enzyme able to hydrolyse glutaric acid selectively from glutaryl-3-deacetoxy-7-aminocephalosporanic acid (glutaryl-7ADCA), has been carried out in soil samples. Five microorganisms expressing acylase activity were isolated and classified as Bacillus cereus, Achromobacter xylosooxidans, Bacillus sp., Pseudomonas sp. and Pseudomonas paucimobilis. The screening was carried out by preparing enrichment cultures containing glutaryl-7-ADCA or cephalosporin C as the selective carbon source. Four model compounds (adipoyl-, glutamyl- and glutaryl-p-nitroanilide and glutarylcoumarin), mimicking the glutaryl-7ADCA beta-lactam moiety, were synthesized as substrates suitable for the rapid screening of the microorganisms (2500) isolated from the enrichment cultures. A total of 300 strains were active on the model substrates and only 5 displayed acylase activity on glutaryl-7ADCA. The fermentation parameters, such as pH and inducer concentration, for the optimal acylase expression and acylase specificity towards the model substrates were different for each strain.