Participatory Modeling Workshops in a Water-Stressed Basin Result in Gains in Modeling Capacity but Reveal Disparity in Water Resources Management Priorities

Participatory modeling workshops were held in Sonora, México, with the goal of developing water resources management strategies in a water-stressed basin. A model of the water resources system, consisting of watershed hydrology, water resources infrastructure, and groundwater models, was developed deliberatively in the workshops, along with scenarios of future climate and development. Participants used the final version of the water resources systems model to select management strategies. The performance of the strategies was based on the reliability of meeting current and future demands at a daily time scale over a year’s period. Pre- and post-workshop surveys were developed and administered. The survey questions focused on evaluation of participants’ modeling capacity and the utility and accuracy of the models. The selected water resources strategies and the associated, expected reliability varied widely among participants. Most participants could be clustered into three groups with roughly equal numbers of participants that varied in terms of reliance on expanding infrastructure vs. demand modification; expectations of reliability; and perceptions of social, environmental, and economic impacts. The wide range of strategies chosen and associated reliabilities indicate that there is a substantial degree of uncertainty in how future water resources decisions could be made in the region. The pre- and post-survey results indicate that participants believed their modeling abilities increased and beliefs in the utility of models increased as a result of the workshops.     

Correlation of reactivity with chemical structure: Thermal hydrogenation of gas oils

The relationship between chemical structure and reactivity for thermal hydroprocessing was studied for five gas oils derived from Alberta bitumens. Chemical structure was characterized by combining data from ¹ H and ¹³ C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, class fractionation, and elemental analysis to calculate structural parameters. Thermal hydrotreating was performed in a continuous-flow stirred reactor at 420 and 440°C, 13.9 MPa hydrogen pressure, and 1.5 h¹ LHSV. Conversion of the 343–525°C boiling fraction of the gas oils was correlated with the concentration of naphthenic methylene groups in the feed. Formation of methane and ethane was dependent on the degree of condensation of the aromatic rings in the feed oils. Thermal desulfurization was highly correlated with the amount of saturates in the feed, and the aromaticity of the resin fraction. Hydrogen consumption increased with the aromaticity of the gas oil…     

The structural consequences of exchanging tryptophan and tyrosine residues in B.stearothermophilus lactate dehydrogenase

A mutant Bacillus stearothermophilus lactate dehydrogenase hasbeen prepared in which all three tryptophan residues in thewild-type enzyme have been replaced by tyrosines. In addition,a tyrosine residue has been mutated to a tryptophan, which actsas a fluorescence probe to monitor protein folding. The mutantenzyme crystallizes in the same crystal form as the wild-type.The crystal structure of the mutant has been determined at 2.8Å resolution. Solution studies have suggested that thereis little effect upon the mutant enzyme as judged by its kineticproperties. Comparison of the crystal structures of the mutantand wild-type enzymes confirms this conclusion, and revealsthat alterations in structure in the region of these mutationsare of a similar magnitude to those observed throughout thestructure, and are not significant when compared with the errorsin atomic positions expected for a structure at this resolution.     

Good Enough is Good Enough: Overcoming Disaster Response Organizations’ Slow Social Media Data Adoption

Organizations that respond to disasters hold unreasonable standards for data arising from technology-enabled citizen contributions. This has strong negative potential for the ability of these responding organizations to incorporate these data into appropriate decision points. We argue that the landscape of the use of social media data in crisis response is varied, with pockets of use and acceptance among organizations. In this paper we present findings from interviews conducted with representatives from large international disaster response organizations concerning their use of social media data in crisis response. We found that emergency responders already operate with less than reliable, or “good enough,” information in offline practice, and that social media data are useful to responders, but only in specific crisis situations. Also, responders do use social media, but only within their known community and extended network. This shows that trust first begins with people and not data. Lastly, we demonstrate the barriers used by responding organizations have gone beyond discussions of trustworthiness and data quality to that of more operational issues.     

IMPELLER CLEARANCE EFFECT ON OFF BOTTOM PARTICLE SUSPENSION IN AGITATED VESSELS

The effect of impeller off bottom clearance on the power input requirement for off bottom solid suspension was examined for 45° pitched blade impellers in flat and round bottom fully baffled agitated vessels. Results showed a similar dependence as obtained for radial flow impellers when similar flow patterns were observed. The dependence appears to be independent of the impeller diameter to tank diameter ratio and vessel shape.     

Lactobacillic and methyl-branched olefinic acids inByrsocarpus coccineus seed oil

A detailed investigation of the seed oil ofByrsocarpus coccineus Schum. and Thonn. has disclosedcis-11,12-methyleneoctadecanoic (lactobacillic) (13%) and two branched octadecenoic acids (0.1%). Other fatty acids in the oil are those normally associated with seed lipids except for an unusually high proportion (12%) ofcis-11-octadecenoic acid. Lactobacillic acid has long been known as a constituent of certain bacterial lipids, but this is the first report of its presence in a seed oil. The branched olefinic acids have not heretofore been found to occur in plants. Mention of firm names or trade products does not imply endorsement or recommendation by the Department of Agriculture over other firms or similar products not mentioned.     

Fatty acid composition of seed oils of the meliaceae,including one genus rich incis-vaccenic acid

The seed lipids of three species ofEntandraphragma (Meliaceae) contain the largest proportion (31–50%) ofcis-vaccenic acid ever found in nature. The acid is not indicative of the family as a whole and is found as a major fatty acid in the seed of only one additional species, besidesEntandraphragma, out of the 30 analyzed from this family. With the total oil comprising between 45 and 62% ofEntandraphragma seed, these species should be considered as a source of undecadioic acid for the production of nylon 11.     

Autocatalytic reactions in the isothermal,continuous stirred tank reactor: Isolas and other forms of multistability

Autocatalytic reactions are often complicated, and analyses of their behaviour in open systems can seem too particular to permit useful generalisation. We study here the simplest of circumstances (uniform temperatures and concentrations in the isothermal CSTR) and the simplest of reaction schemes: (i) quadratic autocatalysis (A + B→2B); and (ii) cubic autocatalysis (A + 2B→3B). The catalyst B may be stable or have a finite lifetime (B→ inert products). Allowing for this finite lifetime adds another dimension to the interest.The phenomena encountered include multistability, hysteresis, critical extinctions, critical ignitions, and anomalous relaxation times (though infinite values do not arise). Patterns of stationary states as function of residence time can show isolas and mushrooms. All these aspects yield to simple algebraic analysis. The presence of the catalyst B in the inflow can make qualitative differences of a kind parallelled by an additional, non-catalytic reaction of the same stoichiometry (e.g. A→B). Invoking the reversibility of the reactions neither increases nor diminishes their variety, and thermodynamic considerations have little to do with the many different patterns of reactivity displayed.The local stability of the various stationary states has also been characterized. Quadratic autocatalysis shows limited variety (stable node, stable focus); cubic autocatalysis generates all the kinds of stationary state possible in a two-variable system. Again all the algebra is straightforward if not always simple. Sustained oscillatory behavior (limit cycles) also occur.All these remarks relate to isothermal systems, but there are the most striking parallels between isothermal autocatalysis and the exothermic, first-order reaction in the CSTR. Behaviour with an autocatalyst of complete stability corresponds to perfect heat insulation (adiabatic operation) in the non-isothermal, exothermic system.     

Effect of 2-oleodipalmitin and 2-elaidodipalmitin on polymorphic behavior of cocoa butter

The polymorphic behavior of cocoa butter mixed with 2-oleodipalmitin (POP) or 2-elaidodipalmitin (PEP) was investigated with a differential scanning calorimeter. Six mixtures of cocoa butter containing 10, 25, and 50% POP and 10, 25, and 50% PEP were used. Each of the three cocoa butter-POP mixtures exhibited at least four polymorphic forms. The lowmelting form was obtained by quick chilling; the intermediate, by tempering for several hours just below the melting range; and the high-melting, by raising the temperature slowly to 25 C then holding there overnight or longer. In the cocoa butter-POP mixtures, only the low-melting form appeared to be more stable than the corresponding form for pure POP or cocoa butter. In addition to increased stability of the unstable low form, the rate of conversion from the intermediate to the high form, normally quite slow, increased in the cocoa butter-POP mixtures. Typical melting point lowering occurred when POP was added. POP was quite compatible with cocoa butter, the tempered mixture melting as a single compound; and the melting curves were fairly sharp. The three cocoa butter-PEP mixtures appeared to be incompatible. The cocoa butter and PEP behaved like a mixture of two fats, each of which melted independently. Presented at the AOCS Meeting, Chicago, Sept. 1973.