Guest editorial for EMMSAD’2020 special section

Software and Systems Modeling -     

Scale and scope of environmental planning transformations: The Israeli case

This paper explores the scale and scope of transformations in the environmental planning field, and the factors that may advance or impede their widespread adoption. A conceptual model is offered which examines scope (defined as type, breadth and structure of the transformation), and the scale of its impact (categorized as stakeholder, organizational, institutional or societal) and applies it to the analysis of several cases in Israel where environmental transformations, affecting the way in which planning is conducted, have been adopted. Conclusions include identification of conditions for facilitating and advancing transformations, including knowledge of innovative alternatives, initiative, willingness to adopt new practices, and identification of policy windows that emerge during conflict, reform, or crisis. The fostering of relations between environmental non-government organizations and planning systems and leadership roles are also significant in catalyzing environmental transformation.     

Post mortemRelease of Fish White Muscle α-Actinin as a Marker of Disorganisation

α-Actinin release and its degradation from myofibrils Z-line were studied in post mortem white dorsal muscle from bass and sea trout stored at 4°C and 10°C. Using α-actinin specific antibodies, we show that this protein is rapidly released within the first 24 h for the two species, and reaches a plateau within 4 days. Proteolysis take place very rapidly in bass muscle yielding 80 and 40 kDa fragments from α-actinin as major bands of proteolysis. Sea trout muscle is more resistant, and muscle stored at 4°C is not significantly α-actinin degraded even 10 days after death. In the case of sea trout muscle stored at 10°C, an increasing quantity of 80 and 40 kDa fragment can be observed after the third day. These results show that release and proteolysis of α-actinin are time- and temperature-dependent processes that take place at the early stages of fish storage. Furthermore, we observed that proteolysis of α-actinin seems to be dependent on fish species. In both species studied, the early release of α-actinin comes before the degradation of released molecules, and appears as a biphasic process throughout the disorganisation of post mortem muscle in fish cold-stored above 0°C.     

The effect of cooking on Brassica vegetables

Assessing antioxidant intake requires a food antioxidant database. However, cooking may affect antioxidant content due to antioxidant release, destruction or creation of redox-active metabolites. Here, effects of boiling, steaming and microwaving of broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and choy-sum (Chinese cabbage) were explored by measuring antioxidant contents of raw and cooked vegetables. Cooking water was also tested. For all cooked vegetables, antioxidant content was highest in steamed > boiled > microwaved, and decreased with longer cooking time, regardless of method. All steamed vegetables had higher antioxidant contents than had matching raw vegetables. Effects were variable for boiling and microwaving. Microwaving caused greater antioxidant loss into cooking water than did boiling. Marked losses of anitoxidants occurred in microwaved cabbage and spinach. To assess food antioxidant content/intake accurately, cooking effects need detailed study. Steaming may be the cooking method of choice to release/conserve antioxidants. The cooking water is a potentially rich source of dietary antioxidants.     

Evidences of the Cerium Oxide-Catalysed DPF Regeneration in a Real Diesel Engine Exhaust

The active phase Ce_0.5Pr_0.5O₂ has been loaded on commercial substrates (SiC DPF and cordierite honeycomb monolith) to perform DPF regeneration experiments in the exhaust of a diesel engine. Also, a powder sample has been prepared to carry out soot combustion experiments at laboratory. Experiments performed in the real diesel exhaust demonstrated the catalytic activity of the Ce–Pr mixed oxide for the combustion of soot, lowering the DPF regeneration temperature with regard to a counterpart catalyst-free DPF. The temperature for active regeneration of the Ce_0.5Pr_0.5O₂-containing DPF when the soot content is low is in the range of 500–550 °C. When the Ce_0.5Pr_0.5O₂-containing DPF is saturated with a high amount of soot, pressure drop and soot load at the filter reach equilibrium at around 360 °C under steady state engine operation due to passive regeneration. The uncoated DPF reached this equilibrium at around 440 °C. Comparing results at real exhaust with those at laboratory allow concluding that the Ce_0.5Pr_0.5O₂-catalysed soot combustion in the real exhaust is not based on the NO₂-assisted mechanism but is most likely occurring by the active oxygen-based mechanism.     

使用精梳落棉生产Autocoro针织纱线

原材料成本推动Autocoro纺纱工艺发展.最近几年纱线生产成本在总成本中的份额不断地在增加.以前纱线生产成本也许占总成本的一半,目前已达75%.介绍了纺纱厂应对这种趋势的方法.     

RESRES: The story behind the paper “Research in software engineering: An analysis of the literature”

This article is a background report describing a comprehensive study of research in the three computing disciplines Computer Science, Software Engineering, and Information Systems. Findings relate to research topics, approaches, methods, reference disciplines, and levels of analysis. The article informally describes the process used and the research products produced.     

Gold nanoparticles induce cytotoxicity in the alveolar type-II cell lines A549 and NCIH441

Background  

During the last years engineered nanoparticles (NPs) have been extensively used in different technologies and consequently many questions have arisen about the risk and the impact on human health following exposure to nanoparticles. Nevertheless, at present knowledge about the cytotoxicity induced by NPs is still largely incomplete. In this context, we have investigated the cytotoxicity induced by gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), which differed in size and purification grade (presence or absence of sodium citrate residues on the particle surface) in vitro, in the human alveolar type-II (ATII)-like cell lines A549 and NCIH441.     

The role of psychology and social influences in energy efficiency adoption

Current energy efficiency policy and incentive programs tend to target economic motivations, which may misalign with other potentially important motivations arising from situational factors, individual differences, and social context. Thus, in this research, we review areas of work that have focused on psychological and social influences to energy efficiency adoption in commercial buildings. We then conduct an empirical scoping study interviewing 10 commercial building owners/managers (decision makers) and 10 experts/consultants (decision influencers) regarding perceived motives and barriers to energy efficient investments, decision-maker attributes, and the social context of the decision. Potential factors that emerge from the interviews, which are not yet extensively discussed in the energy efficiency literature, include owners/managers’ resistance to change and the influence of investment funding origins on the decision. Our results also suggest potential heterogeneity in energy efficiency decision-making philosophies between the two groups. Interviewed owners/managers prioritize corporate social responsibility (CSR) and prefer internal consulting (e.g., building engineers). Conversely, experts/consultants do not emphasize CSR and are more concerned with external policies. These findings suggest that accounting for the decision maker and the social context in which decisions are made could enhance the design of commercial sector energy efficiency programs.     

Universal constraints on the sound structure of language: Phonological or acoustic?

Languages are known to exhibit universal restrictions on sound structure. The source of such restrictions, however, is contentious: Do they reflect abstract phonological knowledge, or properties of linguistic experience and auditory perception? We address this question by investigating the restrictions on onset structure. Across languages, onsets of small sonority distances are dispreferred (e.g., lb is dispreferred to bn). Previous research with aural materials demonstrates such preferences modulate the perception of unattested onsets by English speakers: Universally ill-formed onsets are systematically misperceived (e.g., lba → leba) relative to well-formed onsets (e.g., bn). Here, we show that the difficulty to process universally ill-formed onsets extends to printed materials. Auxiliary tests indicate that such difficulties reflect phonological, rather than orthographic knowledge, and regression analyses demonstrate such knowledge goes beyond the statistical properties of the lexicon. These findings suggest that speakers have abstract, possibly universal, phonological knowledge that is general with respect to input modality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)