Adoption and Use of Software in Land Use Planning Practice: A Multiple-Country Study

Planning Support Systems (PSS) are computer-based tools that assist professionals in land use planning activities. Although several researchers acknowledge the importance of such tools in planning practice, PSS use is limited due to their poor fit to users’ needs and expectations as well as to their low usability. This article presents a study carried out in three different countries, namely, Australia, Italy, and Switzerland, aiming at investigating in-depth the current situation regarding the adoption of PSS and identifying factors preventing their wider use, devoting particular attention to the quality of such systems from the point of view of their users. The study also aimed at analyzing planners’ expectations in order to identify relevant features that PSS should provide. The main part of the study consisted of 35 interviews with planning experts. A follow-up focus group with six further participants was also performed. The results confirmed some findings of previous studies but also revealed new insights. This article provides suggestions on how to address the emerging issues, as well as pathways for creating software that can be adopted and used with satisfaction in the planning practice.     

Water Vapor Effects on the Oxidation Behavior of Fe–Cr and Ni–Cr Alloys in Atmospheres Relevant to Oxy-fuel Combustion

The oxidation behavior of a number of Fe–Cr- and Ni–Cr-based alloys was studied in atmospheres relevant to oxyfuel combustion at 650?°C. Oxidation was greatly enhanced in ferritic model alloys exposed in low p(O₂) CO₂?+?30%H₂O and Ar?+?30%H₂O gases. Rapidly growing iron oxides appear to be porous and gas permeable. Transition from non-protective to protective oxidation occurs on alloys with higher Cr contents between 13.5 and 22?wt% in H₂O. Excess oxygen, usually found in the actual oxyfuel combustion environments, disrupts the selective oxidation of Fe–Cr alloys by accelerating vaporization of early-formed Cr₂O₃ in combination with accelerated chromia growth induced by the H₂O. Rapid Cr consumption leads to the nucleation and rapid growth of iron oxides. On the contrary, Ni–Cr alloys are less affected by the presence of H₂O and excess O₂. The difference between Fe–Cr and Ni–Cr alloys is not clear but is postulated to involve less acceleration of chromia growth by water vapor for the latter group of alloys.     

Developmental relations between perceived social support and depressive symptoms through emerging adulthood: Blood is thicker than water.

Longitudinal trajectories of depressive symptoms, perceived support from family, and perceived support from friends were examined among 816 emerging adults (480 women; 59%). In the context of a larger longitudinal investigation on the predictors and course of depression, data were drawn from eight self-report questionnaire assessments that roughly spanned the third decade of life. An age-based scaling approach was used to model trajectories of depressive symptoms and perceived social support between the ages of 21 and 30. Associative models of the relations between depressive symptoms and perceived social support from family and friends were tested. Results indicated that depressive symptoms decreased and perceived social support increased during the study period. Associative models suggested that among women, higher initial levels of perceived support from family predicted slower decreases in depressive symptoms (b = .34, p     

Effects of chitosan and aspergillus flaws on isozymes related to phenouc compound synthesis and protein profiles of peanut seeds

Changes in isozymes and peanut protein molecular weights were determined in mature peanuts treated with chitosan and/or Aspergillus flavus. Enzymes involved with the synthesis of phenolic compounds were analyzed. Cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD), glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH), and glucose‐6‐phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) were resolved by native‐PAGE using gradient gels containing 8–25% polyacrylamide while polyphenoloxidases (PPO) were resolved with 10–15% polyacrylamide. Anodic peroxidase (PRX) and shikimate dehydrogenase (SKD) were detected by IEF‐PAGE (pi range of 4.0–6.5). Chitosan induced enzyme activities of PPO (Rf=0.34) and SKD (pl=5.22; pl=4.85) in viable seeds while A. flavus enhanced activities of G6PDH (Rf=0.44), GDH (Rf=0.14), PRX (pl=4.00), PPO (Rf=0.27), and SKD (pl=4.56; pl=4.27). Chitosan + A. flavus promoted GDH (Rf=0.14; Rf=0.20; Rf=0.25) and SKD (pl=4.56; pl=4.04) activities. SKD with five isozyme bands was a better marker for comparing the effects of elicitors. Chitosan and chitosan + A. flavus treated seeds did not have any protein molecular weight changes over 72 h. By 48 h after inoculation of mature seeds with A. flavus, an early change in protein composition of moderately susceptible cultivar of peanuts, Starr, was detected by non‐denaturing gel electrophoresis. Resistant cultivar J‐11 exhibited a delay in alteration of protein composition until 72 h. Manipulation of specific enzyme activities could help elucidate biochemical mechanisms in elicitor‐host interaction and control contamination by aflatoxin‐producing fungi.     

A stochastic approach for modeling incident gust effects on flow quantities

The uncertainty in gust loads on a rigid, flat-plate airfoil at zero angle-of-attack due to imprecise knowledge of the gust parameters is quantified. The loads are computed using the unsteady vortex lattice model, which includes temporal variations in wake vorticity and the associated downwash on the airfoil. The non-intrusive formulation of the polynomial chaos expansion in terms of the multivariate Hermite polynomials is employed to quantify the uncertainty in the predicted unsteady lift. The expansion coefficients were estimated through Latin hypercube sampling of the parameters in the vertical and streamwise gust spectra. The first-order chaos expansion in terms of the uncertain spectral parameters was found to be sufficient for representing the stochastic aerodynamic lift, which was found to be most sensitive to imprecision in the standard deviation of the vertical component of the gust. These conclusions were found to be unaffected by ignoring the effects of gusts on the locations of the shed vortices in the airfoil’s wake.     

A side chain at position 48 of the human immunodeficiency virus type-1 protease flap provides an additional specificity determinant

Substitution of glycine with glutamic acid at position 48 of the human immunodeficiency virus protease resulted in an enzyme with reduced activity on one of the protease processing sites in the viral Pol polyprotein precursor. Cleavage at this site was restored by a second-site substitution in the substrate replacing an aspartic acid with either glycine or asparagine. These results suggest that the glutamic acid side chain in the mutant protease has an unfavorable charge-charge interaction with this position in the substrate. Cleavage of a processing site in the viral Gag polyprotein precursor with the mutant enzyme was enhanced, and this enhancement was dependent on the presence of an arginine residue in the substrate, again suggesting a charge-charge interaction. The potential for such interactions was confirmed using molecular modeling. The effect of the position 48 substitution was attributed to a 10-fold increase in Km for the processing site in Pol. These results indicate that the addition of a side chain at position 48 can alter the specificity of the HIV-1 protease to substrate in a sequence specific manner and that compensatory changes can be made in the substrate.     

Physical discipline among African American and European American mothers: Links to children's externalizing behaviors.

The aim of this study was to test whether the relation between physical discipline and child aggression was moderated by ethnic-group status. A sample of 466 European American and 100 African American children from a broad range of socioeconomic levels were followed from kindergarten through 3rd grade. Mothers reported their use of physical discipline in interviews and questionnaires, and mothers, teachers, and peers rated children's externalizing problems annually. The interaction between ethnic status and discipline was significant for teacher- and peer-rated externalizing scores; physical discipline was associated with higher externalizing scores, but only among European American children. These findings provide evidence that the link between physical punishment and child aggression may be culturally specific. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Determination of the country of origin of pistachio nuts by DSC and HPLC

The laboratories of the U.S. Customs Service frequently encounter the major analytical problem of determining the country of origin of imported commodities. This is particularly challenging with natural products. This paper will describe the process for one such commodity —pistachio nuts. Two approaches were taken, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). It was found that the results of these two techniques were complimentary and confirmatory. The HPLC data was obtained on the petroleum ether soluble fraction of the pistachio nuts while the DSC runs evaluated both this fraction and the whole nut. The HPLC results were further investigated by collecting fractions from the eluting peaks, derivatizing them to form the methyl ester of the fatty acids, and profiling by gas chromatography to confirm the triglycerides originally present. The U.S. Customs Service is currently using DSC area ratios to screen imported pistachio nuts for country of origin.