Who are the early adopters of fuel cell vehicles?

All new technologies, including automotive technologies, are first purchased by early adopters. These consumers are currently posed with the choice of purchasing a fuel cell vehicle (FCV) or a variety of other alternatively fueled vehicles, including battery electric vehicles (BEVs). For FCVs to be commercially successful they need to carve out their own niche in the automotive market, something which may prove challenging in the face of strong BEV market growth. The results in this paper come from a questionnaire survey of 470 FCV owners and 1550 BEV owners. The paper explores the socio-economic profile, travel patterns, and attitudes of FCV buyers and compares them to the buyers of BEVs. The result suggests that the adopters of BEVs and FCV are similar in gender, level of education, household income, and have similar travel patterns. They have differences in age, ownership of previous alternative fuel vehicles, attitudes towards sustainability, and more FCV owners live in rented homes and apartment buildings. The results of the study suggest that FCVs may appeal to consumers who live in homes where they cannot recharge a BEV or install their own charger. FCVs still have several challenges to overcome, including the lack of hydrogen refueling stations and a lack of FCV models to choose from.     

Soil phosphate stable oxygen isotopes across rainfall and bedrock gradients

The stable oxygen isotope compositions of soil phosphate (δ(18)O(p)) were suggested recently to be a tracer of phosphorus cycling in soils and plants. Here we present a survey of bioavailable (resin-extractable or resin-P) inorganic phosphate δ(18)O(p) across natural and experimental rainfall gradients, and across soil formed on sedimentary and igneous bedrock. In addition, we analyzed the soil HCl-extractable inorganic δ(18)O(p), which mainly represents calcium-bound inorganic phosphate. The resin-P values were in the range 14.5-21.2‰. A similar range, 15.6-21.3‰, was found for the HCl-extractable inorganic δ(18)O(p), with the exception of samples from a soil of igneous origin that show lower values, 8.2-10.9‰, which indicate that a large fraction of the inorganic phosphate in this soil is still in the form of a primary mineral. The available-P δ(18)O(p) values are considerably higher than the values we calculated for extracellular hydrolysis of organic phosphate, based on the known fractionation from lab experiments. However, these values are close to the values expected for enzymatic-mediated phosphate equilibration with soil-water. The possible processes that can explain this observation are (1) extracellular equilibration of the inorganic phosphate in the soil; (2) fractionations in the soil are different than the ones measured at the lab; (3) effect of fractionation during uptake; and (4) a flux of intercellular-equilibrated inorganic phosphate from the soil microbiota, which is considerably larger than the flux of hydrolyzed organic-P.     

DISSOCIATION-RECOMBINATION IN NON-STATIC SYSTEMS: AN APPROXIMATE THEORY

An approximate theory for thermodynamically coupled heat and mass transfer in dissipative reacting flow systems (including a possible coupling between reaction rates), is applied here for the combined problems of Couette flow, channel flow and temperature difference between two parallel plates, wherein dissociation-recombination reactions take place. The analysis compares favorably with known solutions for reacting flow systems when the coupling is neglected. The influence of thermodynamic couplings on the temperature profile and on the reaction rate is then explained.     

Publication attributes of leadership: what do they mean?

The article evaluates 48 approaches to leadership for the first time for the period of 1965–2016 using bibliometric methods. Our analysis combines four parameters: the number of publications, citations, self-citations, and dispersion of literature (a new parameter). The question of what is the most influential approach to leadership is addressed. We argue that the interplay among the four attributes observed in this study shows that transformational leadership is the most influential and popular approach to leadership in leadership studies today. However, there is a question of whether the excessive self-citations in this approach to leadership play a role in its augmented visibility.     

Spin specific electron conduction through DNA oligomers

Spin-based properties, applications, and devices are commonly related to magnetic effects and to magnetic materials. Most of the development in spintronics is currently based on inorganic materials. Despite the fact that the magnetoresistance effect has been observed in organic materials, until now spin selectivity of organic based spintronics devices originated from an inorganic ferromagnetic electrode and was not determined by the organic molecules themselves. Here we show that conduction through double-stranded DNA oligomers is spin selective, demonstrating a true organic spin filter. The selectivity exceeds that of any known system at room temperature. The spin dependent resistivity indicates that the effect cannot result solely from the atomic spin-orbit coupling and must relate to a special property resulting from the chirality symmetry. The results may reflect on the importance of spin in determining electron transfer rates through biological systems.     

Piezoelectric nanoribbons for monitoring cellular deformations

Methods for probing mechanical responses of mammalian cells to electrical excitations can improve our understanding of cellular physiology and function. The electrical response of neuronal cells to applied voltages has been studied in detail, but less is known about their mechanical response to electrical excitations. Studies using atomic force microscopes (AFMs) have shown that mammalian cells exhibit voltage-induced mechanical deflections at nanometre scales, but AFM measurements can be invasive and difficult to multiplex. Here we show that mechanical deformations of neuronal cells in response to electrical excitations can be measured using piezoelectric PbZr(x)Ti(1-)(x)O(3) (PZT) nanoribbons, and we find that cells deflect by 1?nm when 120?mV is applied to the cell membrane. The measured cellular forces agree with a theoretical model in which depolarization caused by an applied voltage induces a change in membrane tension, which results in the cell altering its radius so that the pressure remains constant across the membrane. We also transfer arrays of PZT nanoribbons onto a silicone elastomer and measure mechanical deformations on a cow lung that mimics respiration. The PZT nanoribbons offer a minimally invasive and scalable platform for electromechanical biosensing.     

Urban land-use allocation in a Mediterranean ecotone: Habitat Heterogeneity Model incorporated in a GIS using a multi-criteria mechanism

Urban land-use allocation in areas of transition (ecotones) is a complex task due to tensions between the need to develop residential and industrial areas and the wish to preserve high biodiversity and heterogeneous landscapes. This controversy is especially enhanced in a small and dense country like Israel, where efforts to achieve sustainable development are faced with difficulties typical of sensitive ecological regions and rapid population growth. This study incorporates the use of a multi-criteria mechanism in a GIS for the evaluation of the suitability of ecologically sensitive areas for four possible land-uses: nature reserves; forest plantations; residential areas; and industrial areas. The evaluation procedure pronounces the effect of: existing land-uses; soil characteristics; topographic attributes; vegetation cover; and landscape heterogeneity (as expressed by the Habitat Heterogeneity Model (HHM) that was developed within the frame of this study).The study area is the surroundings of a city that was established 30 years ago and is located in a transition zone between Mediterranean climate and the desert. The evaluation method used here provides a suitability layer for each of the four land-uses and a final layer that could recommend the most suitable land-use for each cell. The outcome of the system developed can be used as a basis for planners and decision makers dealing with the development of cities and their surroundings in regions of high ecological and environmental sensitivity.