Treatment of uncertainty in structural damage assessment

Structural damage assessment is a process that involves decision-making under uncertainty. Reasoning with or about uncertainty has been the focus of research in many fields in addition to civil engineering, such as decision analysis, philosophy, statistics and psychology. Several methods for the representation of reasoning under uncertainty have been developed. These methods, which the artificial intelligence community refers to as uncertain inference schemes, will be briefly discussed in this paper. One particular scheme, the causal network approach, will be examined in detail. Its application to post-earthquake damage assessment will be given. This particular application represents an approach that has not been used in the structural engineering field before.     

Race differences in nicotine dependence in the Collaborative Genetic study of Nicotine Dependence (COGEND)

In a general population sample from the Detroit site of the Collaborative Genetic Study of Nicotine Dependence (COGEND), we tested Black-White differences in nicotine dependence, measured by "how soon after wake-up the smokers smoked their first cigarette (time to first cigarette TTFC)", and its relationship with number of cigarettes per day (CPD). Analysis was conducted on respondents who have smoked > or =100 cigarettes in lifetime and were current smokers (n = 1,442; 1,087 Whites and 355 Blacks). In univariate analysis, we found no significant race differences on time to first cigarette (chi2 = 2.9, p value = 0.41), but significant race differences on CPD (chi2 = 154.3, p<.01), both categorized by the Fagerstr?m Test of Nicotine Dependence (FTND) cutoffs. We estimated the probability of TTFC < or =30 min given CPD using probit models. The interactions between race and CPD indicated significant differences in dependence at various levels of CPD. The same probability of nicotine dependence was associated with smaller increments in CPD for Blacks than for Whites. The data support the hypothesis that the relationship between CPD and nicotine dependence as reflected in relapse varies by race, and that Black smokers are dependent at lower levels of CPD than Whites.     

PLANT’S-EYE VIEWS OF TAIPEI

The installation of “Plant’s-Eye Views of Taipei” is the result of an international workshop that took place in Taipei in summer 2018, organized as part of the 2018 Taipei Biennial. Under the direction of two participating artists, and with the help from ecologists and videographers, university students from the Asia-Pacific region each imagined themselves as a particular plant. Students began by examining the physiology of selected plants to better understand their characteristics and life histories, as well as their adaptive features and ecosystem behaviors. In viewing themselves as plants, students were able to see Taipei through a new lens as a place coproduced by the city’s urban flora and human communities. The installation including scaffolds, sketches, and films was exhibited at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum to explore different ways through which plants view the city, as well as notions of anthropomorphism, phytomorphism, and phototropism.     

A review of the ICT-enabled development literature: Towards a power parity theory of ICT4D

ICT projects are considered an important means of achieving development goals in developing countries. Although voluminous, the research to date is inconsistent in theorizing how, or why, development outcomes do or do not occur following the introduction of ICT4D. To better understand how and why ICT projects succeed, and even what success means in the ICT4D context, we conducted a literature review of ICT4D studies published during the period 2000–2016. We find that the very meaning of development varies, with four meanings of development emerging from the literature: (1) development as increased freedom, (2) development as expanded inclusion, (3) development as increased economic productivity, and (4) development as improved well-being. An ICT might succeed according to one meaning of development while simultaneously hindering achievement according to another meaning. As revealed by our analysis of the literature, these four perspectives suffer from some limitations, not least among them being the imposition of colonialist views of development on the recipients of the ICT4D. To address the limitations, we employ postcolonial theory to derive a new theory of ICT4D in which development is defined as an increase in power parity between dominant stakeholders and intended beneficiaries.     

Mono- and diquaternary ammonium cellulose cottons prepared in nonaqueous media

Mono- and diquaternary ammonium cellulose anion exchangers in fabric form were prepared in nonaqueous media by reacting diethylaminoethyl (DEAE)-cotton with an alkyl halide, RX, or a dihaloalkane, X(CH₂)_nX, respectively. The alkyl group was varied from CH₃ to C₁₈H₃₅, and n varied from 5 to 10 in the dihaloalkanes. Electron emission spectroscopy for chemical analyses (ESCA) showed that approximately 70% of the amino groups in the original DEAE-cotton were free amines. ESCA data showed that highest degree of quaternization of the free amine groups was obtained with CH₃I but that diiodo and dibromo pentanes and decanes were also effective. Diquaternary ammonium cellulose exchangers of high nitrogen content had high wet and conditioned wrinkle recoveries, whereas the monoquaternary ammonium cellulose exchangers showed no improvement in wet or conditioned wrinkle recoveries. The monoquaternaries, like unmodified cottons and DEAE-cottons, were soluble in cupriethylenediamine hydroxide (cuene), and cross sections of their fibers expanded when subjected to layer expansion techniques. All diquaternaries were insoluble in cuene, and their cross sections did not layer.     

The destruction of vitamin a by rancid cod liver oil

Vitamin A was destroyed in cod liver oil as rancidity developed. Vitamin A was destroyed at lower peroxide values when rancidity developed at room temperature than when it was accelerated by aeration at 100°C. It is suggested that not only vitamin A, but other biological properties of oils are not equally affected by rancidity produced in different ways and at different rates, and that peroxide value may not necessarily be parallel to that of other changes which take place in an oil as rancidity develops.     

Low temperature ferroelectric behavior in morphotropic Pb (Zr1−xTix)O3

We provide an insight into the switching of near‐morphotropic composition of PZT, using molecular dynamics simulations and electrical measurements. The simulations and experiments exhibit qualitatively similar hysteretic behavior of the polarization for different temperatures showing widening of the P‐E loops and the decrease in the coercive field toward high temperatures. Remarkably, we have shown that polarization switching at low temperatures occurs via polarization rotation, that is a fundamentally different mechanism from high‐temperature switching, which is nucleation driven.     

Comparison of the Effectiveness of Different Fire Notification Signals in Sleeping Older Adults

No previous research has investigated the responsiveness of older adults (65–85 years) to different emergency fire signals during sleep. In this study the auditory arousal thresholds (AAT) of 45 older adults were compared across four signals; the high pitched T-3 (as in current US smoke alarms), a mixed frequency T-3 (500–2500 Hz), a 500 Hz T-3 and a male voice. Participants were carefully screened, including for hearing, and awoken from deep sleep in a repeated measures design. Sounds increased progressively in volume until awakening occurred. It was found that the median AAT for the most effective signal, the mixed frequency T-3, was 20 dBA lower than the median AAT of the least effective signal, the current US high frequency smoke alarm signal. This finding is consistent with previous research, where the high pitched signal required a significantly louder volume than alternatives to wake sleepers of different ages, including children. Those aged over 75 years are especially at risk for sleeping through high pitched signals, probably due to the normal age-related decline in the ability to hear high pitched sounds. The minimum pillow volume of 75 dBA is inadequate for those over 75 years if a 3000 Hz notification signal is used. It is recommended that the high frequency signal currently found in smoke alarms be replaced by an alternative signal that performs significantly better in awakening most of the adult population, once the nature of the best signal has been determined.