Using concept maps to assess learning of safety case studies – The Piper Alpha disaster

The Piper Alpha disaster of 1988 remains the worst offshore oil platform disaster in history. The loss of 167 lives was caused by a range of factors including human error, poor safety training and poor safety management systems. The events that led up to the first explosion and then the subsequent fires and larger explosions provide an excellent context in which to introduce first year engineering students to the importance of safety in an introductory course. The loss of the Piper Alpha platform has been used as a case study in a general first year engineering subject at the University of Melbourne for several years. This paper begins by describing the background of the platform, the events of July 6, 1988 and the lessons that may be learned from the disaster. The learning around this safety case study is assessed in the class room using concept maps. An analysis of 460 concept maps prepared by the class 15 weeks after the material had been presented to them provides an insight into how well the students integrated and retained the material from the case study. Students recalled well the causes of the disaster as well as the consequences and lessons that should be learned from the incident.     

Safety education through case study presentations

Process safety was introduced into the curriculum of two second year undergraduate subjects in the chemical engineering programs at the University of Melbourne in 2009. As part of the student learning, groups of three to four students were each given a safety case study to investigate and report on to the rest of the class. The case studies include well known process incidents including Bhopal, Buncefield, Longford, Flixborough and Piper Alpha. Also included were incidents drawn from other industries still with valuable lessons to be learnt regarding procedure and failure modes. Each student in the group was expected to talk for 4–5 min on an aspect of the safety incident but within a seamless presentation that was well constructed. Each student was also assigned another student for whose presentation they were to provide a written critique. Students presenting in the second week were required to critique the presentation of a student presenting in the first week. Both the student's presentation and the written critique were marked by the lecturer-in-charge. Feedback from students was very positive to the use of presentations to study safety case studies. This paper describes how the case studies have been successfully used in the class room and presents information on 27 case studies.     

Organic Photovoltaic Cells Based On Solvent‐Annealed,Textured Titanyl Phthalocyanine/C60 Heterojunctions

Organic photovoltaic cells (OPV) with good near‐IR photoactivity are created from highly textured titanyl phthalocyanine (TiOPc)/C₆₀ heterojunctions. Vacuum deposited TiOPc thin films are converted to the near‐IR absorbing “Phase II” polymorph using post‐deposition solvent annealing. The Phase I → Phase II transition broadens the absorbance spectrum of the Pc film producing absorptivities (α ≈ 10⁵ cm^?1) from 600–900 nm, along with substantial texturing of the Pc layer. Atomic force microscopy and field‐emission scanning electron microscopy of the solvent annealed films show that the surface roughness of the Pc layers is increased by a factor of greater than 2× as a result of the phase transformation. Current–voltage (J–V) responses for white light illumination of ITO (100 nm)/TiOPc (20 nm)/C₆₀ (40 nm)/BCP (10 nm)/Al (100 nm) OPVs show a near doubling of the short‐circuit photocurrent (J_SC), with only a small decrease in open‐circuit photopotential (V_OC), and a concomitant increase in power conversion efficiency. Incident photon current efficiency (IPCE) plots confirmed the enhanced near‐IR OPV activity, with maximum IPCE values of ca. 30% for devices using Phase II‐only TiOPc films. UV‐photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) of TiOPc/C₆₀ heterojunctions, for both Phase I and Phase II TiOPc films, suggest that the Phase II polymorph has nearly the same HOMO energy as seen in the Phase I polymorph, and similar frontier orbital energy offsets, E_HOMO^Pc–E_LUMO^C60, leading to comparable open‐circuit photovoltages. These studies suggest new strategies for the formation of higher efficiency OPVs using processing conditions which lead to enhance near‐IR absorptivities, and extensive texturing of crystalline donor or acceptor films.     

The marangoni effect and enhanced oil recovery Part 1. Porous media studies

The use of partitionable solutes, e.g., aliphatic alcohols, to enhance the recovery of trapped oil in reservoir rock, has been simulated using a ballotini-packed column initially flooded with kerosene, and subsequently lowered to an irreducible value by a water drive. Introduction of a “slug” of an alcohol effected an increased recovery, with n-propanol and sec-butanol giving the highest yields. Previous workers attributed such increased recovery to the formation of a “soluble front”, in which both oil and connate water are completely dissolved. However, we obtained similar recoveries using slugs with initial compositions lying on the miscibility boundary, which could not form soluble fronts. It was therefore concluded that Marangoni-induced oscillation of the trapped drops is the more likely explanation of the enhanced recovery.     

The marangoni effect and enhanced oil recovery Part 2. Interfacial tension and drop instability

A computer-based method is described for the determination of the interfacial tension between pendant and sessile drops in a surrounding continuous phase. This has been used to determine the effect on interfacial tension of increasing amounts of aliphatic alcohols, from methanol up to n-octanol, equilibrated between a hydrocarbon solvent (Shellsol) and water. The results indicated large decreases in interfacial tension, with n-butanol, followed by n-propanol giving the greatest reduction. Measurements were also made of the rate of change of interfacial tension during the mass transfer of 2.5% of the alcohols between phases. Changes were observed for all alcohols from ethanol to n-pentanol, the effect being greatest for transfer into water drops and out of solvent drops. Application of the linear stability theory of Sørensen to these results failed to predict the observed instability for transfer into solvent drops.     

Network science based approaches to design and analyze MANETs for military applications

Mobile ad hoc networks have become the basis of the military?s network-centric warfare (NCW) approach. However, for NCW to be successful, it is imperative that the networks be designed in a robust manner with the capability to produce consistent predictable results despite the uncertainties of the underlying environment. This underscores the need for formal systematic methodologies to design and predict performance of such networks. The challenges of mobile ad hoc networking combined with those associated with the stringent requirements posed by NCW systems, however, are daunting, and thus no systematic design techniques for NCW system design exist. To address this problem, a joint project was initiated between CERDEC and Telcordia Technologies to develop the Network Engineering Design Analytic Toolset (NEDAT) ? a toolset that applies network-science- based approaches to design MANETs for use in NCW. Rooted in formal/analytic techniques, NEDAT can be used to design MANETs for use in NCW given information about available resources and performance objectives, analyze performance of a given NCW network, and understand design trades.     

Correction to Frazier et al. (2011).

Reports an error in "Perceived past, present, and future control and adjustment to stressful life events" by Patricia Frazier, Nora Keenan, Samantha Anders, Sulani Perera, Sandra Shallcross and Samuel Hintz (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 100[4], 749-765). There is an error on page 758. In the sentence “Present control predicted later event-specific distress in Sample 1(β = .17, p 2011-02001-001.) Perceived control is a central construct in psychology and is key to understanding individual differences in poststress outcomes (Frazier, Berman, & Steward, 2001). The goals of the current studies (using 4 samples of undergraduate students, total N = 1,421) were to examine the relations between different aspects of perceived control and poststress outcomes and to differentiate perceived control over specific events from related constructs (i.e., general control beliefs, coping strategies). To accomplish these goals, we first developed a new measure of perceived past, present, and future control over stressful life events. The data supported the content validity, factor structure, internal consistency and test–retest reliability, and convergent and discriminant validity of the new measure. Consistent with the temporal model of control (Frazier et al., 2001), these 3 forms of control had very different relations with adjustment. Present control was consistently related to lower distress levels in cross-sectional, longitudinal, and prospective analyses. Present control also predicted outcomes beyond the effects of general control beliefs and coping strategies. Past and future control had nonsignificant or positive relations with distress, although future control was associated with better outcomes (i.e., course grades) when the stressor was controllable. Thus, our measure can be used to assess the relations between perceived past, present, and future control and outcomes across a range of stressors. Because the relations between these 3 forms of control and outcomes differ markedly, measures that combine these aspects of control hinder the understanding of the important role of perceived control in adjustment to stress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Criegee intermediates in the indoor environment: new insights

Criegee intermediates are formed in the ozonolysis of alkenes and play an important role in indoor chemistry, notably as a source of OH radicals. Recent studies have shown that these Criegee intermediates react very quickly with NO₂, SO₂, and carbonyls, and in this study, steady‐state calculations are used to inspect the potential impact of these data on indoor chemistry. It is shown that these reactions could accelerate NO₃ formation and SO₂ removal in the indoor environment significantly. In addition, reaction between Criegee intermediates and halogenated carbonyls could provide a significant loss process indoors, where currently one does not exist.     

Not “capitalizing” on social capitalization interactions: The role of attachment insecurity.

Capitalization interactions, in which partners share positive events, typically produce positive relationship outcomes (Gable, Gonzaga, & Strachman, 2006). However, the limiting conditions of these interactions have not been examined. In this study, 101 dating couples discussed a positive event in the life of each partner. Ratings of perceived responsiveness were made by both the romantic partner who disclosed a positive event and his/her responding partner. Trained observers then rated each videotaped interaction. More avoidantly attached responders reported being and were rated by coders as less responsive, particularly if their disclosing partners were more anxiously attached. Avoidantly attached individuals also underestimated their partners' responsiveness relative to observer ratings. Anxious responders underestimated their own responsiveness when their disclosing partners were more avoidantly attached. These results indicate that insecurely attached individuals are relatively less likely to be responsive and to perceive responsiveness in capitalization interactions than are more securely attached individuals. This is especially true when highly anxious and highly avoidant individuals are relationship partners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)