Regional assessment of geohazard recovery eight years after the Mw7.9 Wenchuan earthquake: a remote-sensing investigation of the Beichuan region

The earthquake of 12 May 2008 in Wenchuan County, Sichuan Province, China, devastated the entire Beichuan region. Sitting at the intersection of the Yingxiu-Beichuan and Pengguan faults, the region experienced seismic intensities of VIII–XI on the Liedu scale. High seismic intensity combined with inherent geomorphological and climatic susceptibility to slope failure resulted in widespread co-seismic geohazards (slope failures of various types), which decimated the region. The seismic characteristics of the Wenchuan earthquake and the co-seismic geohazard distribution in relation to various conditioning factors have previously been examined in depth. However, there has been a lack of regional assessment of temporal and spatial recovery from co-seismic geohazards. Triggered by the authors’ field observation of rapid recovery, this study presents a temporal series of geohazard maps, produced by manual interpretation of satellite imagery, to present an initial assessment of changes in geohazard occurrence in the Beichuan region since the Wenchuan earthquake. In particular, landscape recovery at the co-seismic geohazard sites, as indicated by re-vegetation, is analysed based on temporal/spatial characteristics of geohazard distribution, in relation to co-seismic deformation, distance from the rupture zone and slope angle. Eight years after the Wenchuan earthquake, the overall recovery stands at 65.48%, with approximately uniform annual rates of recovery at 13.45% a year between 2009 and 2011 and 10.56% a year between 2012 and 2016. Whilst co-seismic geohazards are concentrated on the hanging wall of the seismic fault, landscape recovery is more significant in the very highly deformed zone than in other areas. Recovery has been the greatest on slopes of <50^° and peaks on 40^°–50^° slopes, where the area occupied by co-seismic geohazards was the largest. The block-slides and rock topples, which characterize high angle slopes, show much slower recovery, possibly due to greater instability and the lack of soil to support re-vegetation.     

Differences in day and night shift clinical performance in anesthesiology

OBJECTIVE: This study examined whether anesthesia residents (physicians in training) performed clinical duties in the operating room differently during the day versus at night. BACKGROUND: Fatigue from sleep deprivation and working through the night is common for physicians, particularly during residency training. METHODS: Using a repeated-measures design, we studied 13 pairs of day-night matched anesthesia cases. Dependent measures included task times, workload ratings, response to an alarm light latency task, and mood. RESULTS: Residents spent significantly less time on manual tasks and more time on monitoring tasks during the maintenance phase at night than during the day. Residents reported more negative mood at night than during the day, both pre- and postoperation. However, time of day had no effect on the mood change between pre- and postoperation. Workload ratings and the response time to an alarm light latency task were not significantly different between night and day cases. CONCLUSIONS: Because night shift residents had been awake and working for more than 16 hr, the observed differences in task performance and mood may be attributed to fatigue. The changes in task distribution during night shift work may represent compensatory strategies to maintain patient care quality while keeping perceived workload at a manageable level. APPLICATIONS: Fatigue effects during night shifts should be considered when designing work-rest schedules for clinicians. This matched-case control scheme can also be applied to study other phenomena associated with patient safety in the actual clinical environment.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Polyamides Derived From Cyano-Containing 1,4-Bis(4-aminophenoxy)benzene Monomers

Summary A series of potentially electroactive aromatic-aliphatic polyamides based upon 3,6-bis(2-cyano-4-aminophenoxy)phthalonitrile (1) was synthesized in N,N-dimethylacetamide to yield polymers with intrinsic viscosities of 0.66-1.04 dL/g. One polyamide was synthesized using 1,4-bis(2-cyano-4-aminophenoxy)benzene (2) to compare to 1. There appears to be an odd-even effect of methylene spacer length upon the mechanical properties and glass transition temperature, with an even number of methylene groups yielding the larger values. Thermogravimetric analysis in air and nitrogen showed that these polymers had similar 5% weight losses in both atmospheres, which indicated that oxygen is not involved in the initial degradation of these polymers.     

Solvent extraction of rice brain. Production of B-vitamin concentrate and oil by isopropanol extraction

Freshly milled rice brain was extracted with hot 91 and 95% isopropanol to obtain the oil, sugars, and a considerable pootion of the B-complex vitamins. After concentration of the micella a sugar-syrup phase reparated from the oil. This syrup phase contained most of the extracted vitamins. Yields of oil and syrup were observed and vitamin assays made on the syrup and on the brain before and after extraction. The vitamins measured were biotin, folic acid, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, pyridoxine, thiamin, niacin, and inositol. The study reported herein was made possible by a grant to the Texas A. & M. Research Foundation, College Station, Texas, from the River Brands Rice Mills inc., Houston, Tex. Presented at the 40th annual meeting of the American oil Chemists' Society, New Orleans, La., May 10–12, 1949.     

Geometric properties of nonlinear networks containing capacitor-only cutsets and/or inductor-only loops. Part II: Symmetries

This paper is the last in a two-part sequence which studies nonlinear networks, containing capacitor-only cutsets and/or inductor-only loops, from the geometric coordinate-free point of view of the theory of differentiable manifolds. For such circuits, it is shown that (subject to certain assumptions) there is a naturally defined Lie group action of on the state space ofN, where ₀ is the sum of the number of independent capacitor-only cutsets and the number of independent inductor-only loops. Circuit theoretic sufficient conditions on the reactive constitutive relations are derived for the circuit dynamics to be invariant under this Lie group action.This work was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, under Grant Number A7113, and by scholarships from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Ontario Provincial Government.     

Motility disorders of the esophagus--their diagnosis with a rice-barium meal

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of a "barium-rice" study for diagnosis of dysphagia and oesophageal motility disorders. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 203 patients with oesophageal motility disorders of various aetiologies were examined by both conventional barium study and a "barium-rice" study. During the latter, oesophageal clearance of a defined mixture of barium sulfate and boiled rice was measured. RESULTS: The conventional barium study revealed prolonged transit time in only 15.8% (32 of 203 cases), whereas barium-rice study was pathological in 50.8% (103 to 203 cases). In 71 of 171 patients (41.5%) with a normal barium study, barium-rice passage was prolonged. In 23 patients, radiological results were confirmed by manometric measurements. CONCLUSION: Oesophageal motility disorders are detected by a barium-rice study with high sensitivity independent of the underlying disease. The barium-rice study offers a simple diagnostic tool revealing quantitative and reliable results. The barium-rice study is a suitable method for screening and follow-up of patients with dysphagia and oesophageal motility disorders.     

Petri net modelling of bridge asset management using maintenance-related state conditions

Bridge structures are an important part of the UK transportation network. They are also experiencing increasing rates of deterioration due to the increasing traffic volume and load intensity. Available bridge models have many restrictions due to the assumptions of the analytical method used and the means by which the model states are defined to represent the condition of the structure. These models also lack the complexity to allow detailed maintenance and renewal options to be explored. This paper presents a bridge model developed based on the Petri net (PN) approach. The method allows for detailed modelling of the individual components in the structure whilst maintaining the size of the analytical problem to a manageable size and resulting in an efficient analysis. The bridge model is formed from sub-models of each of the bridge components and takes into consideration the component deterioration process, the interaction and dependency between different component deterioration processes, along with the inspection and maintenance processes. The model states are defined based on actual degraded component conditions which they experience. It is therefore easy to relate these to the appropriate maintenance options. This gives a considerable advantage over those models based on the condition scores or ratings. The state residence times between changes in state resulting from deterioration and maintenance are governed by appropriate Weibull distributions. Thus, avoiding the restriction of constant failure rates used in Markov approaches which are rarely appropriate to model deteriorating asset conditions. The application of the model is demonstrated on a typical bridge structure where the PN model is solved using Monte Carlo simulation, the model results are also presented and discussed.     

Does math self-efficacy mediate the effect of the perceived classroom environment on standardized math test performance?

We examined the effect of the perceived classroom environment on math self-efficacy and the effect of math self-efficacy on standardized math test performance. Upper elementary school students (N = 1,163) provided self-reports of their perceived math self-efficacy and the degree to which their math classroom environment was mastery oriented, challenging, and caring. Individual student scores on the California Standards Test for Mathematics were also collected. A series of 2-level models revealed that students who perceived their classroom environments as more caring, challenging, and mastery oriented had significantly higher levels of math self-efficacy, and higher levels of math self-efficacy positively predicted math performance. Analysis of the indirect effects of classroom variables on math performance indicated a small significant mediating effect of self-efficacy. Implications for research on self-efficacy and the perceived classroom environment are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of induced yellowing on the physicochemical properties of specialty rice

BACKGROUND: Postharvest yellowing (PHY) of rice kernels can be a major problem in the rice industry. This is especially true with high‐valued specialty rice, because profit loss will be greater. The objective of this work was to determine whether a significant change occurs in the physicochemical properties (apparent amylose and protein concentrations, viscosity profile and gelatinisation temperature) as a result of induced PHY. RESULTS: In this study, four specialty rices (Basmati, Jasmine, Arborio and Sushi) were yellowed using a laboratory method. PHY increased apparent amylose concentration. It also significantly increased onset and peak gelatinisation temperatures. However, peak, breakdown and setback Rapid ViscoAnalyzer viscosities were decreased by PHY. Trough viscosity for Basmati and Jasmine decreased, whereas it increased for Arborio. Moisture and protein concentrations were unchanged by the yellowing process. Attempts to rehydrate the kernels after induced PHY caused them to fracture, thus making them unsuitable for their intended purpose. CONCLUSION: This study indicates that rice that has been subjected to PHY shows a reduction not only in appearance but also in cooking and processing quality, decreasing its value. However, the changes differed for each rice type, with Jasmine being affected the least. Published 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.