Can people really “laugh at themselves?”—Experimental and correlational evidence.

Laughing at oneself is considered a core component of the sense of humor in the theories of several authors. In McGhee's (1996) eight-step-training program of the sense of humor, laughing at oneself constitutes one of the most difficult levels. However, until now, only little empirical evidence on laughing at oneself exists. Using a multimethod approach, in the current study, 70 psychology students and a total of 126 peers filled in the Sense of Humor Scale (SHS, McGhee, 1996), containing as a subscale “Laughing at oneself”. In addition, the participants answered the Trait and State forms of the State-Trait-Cheerfulness-Inventory (STCI, Ruch, K?hler, & van Thriel, 1996; Ruch, K?hler, & van Thriel, 1997). They then were confronted with six distorted images of themselves. Facial responses of the participants were videotaped and analyzed using the Facial Action Coding System (FACS, Ekman, Friesen, & Hager, 2002). Four indicators of exhilaration were examined: (a) experienced funniness, (b) AU12 smiles, (c) Duchenne displays, and (d) laughter. Furthermore, fake and masking smiles were studied. Results demonstrated that self- and peer reports of “laughing at oneself” converged moderately. All four indicators of exhilaration were shown, but funniness and laughter seemed to be the most strongly related indicators. Trait cheerfulness and (low) seriousness, and a cheerful mood state formed further characteristics of persons who laugh at themselves. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pick-by-vision: there is something to pick at the end of the augmented tunnel

We report on the long process of exploring, evaluating and refining augmented reality-based methods to support the order picking process of logistics applications. Order picking means that workers have to pick items out of numbered boxes in a warehouse, according to a work order. To support those workers, we have evaluated different HMD-based visualizations in six user studies, starting in a laboratory setup and continuing later in an industrial environment. This was a challenging task, as we had to conquer different kinds of navigation problems from very coarse to very fine granularity and accuracy. The resulting setup consists of a combined and adaptive visualization to precisely and efficiently guide the user even if the actual picking target is not always in the field of view of the HMD.     

Natürliche Schadstoffrückhalteprozesse für Arsen und Kupfer am Standort einer ehemaligen Buntfarbenfabrik

The sharply confined pattern of arsenic groundwater contamination at the site of a historic dye factory suggests that natural attenuation processes are active and efficient. The supporting data included sequential soil extractions combined with analyses of other soil properties like carbonate content, the loss of ignition and cation exchange capacity and the extraction characteristics of the original dye pigment. The results point to iron oxides and iron hydroxides as the most important adsorbers for copper and arsenic. The attenuation of copper can be estimated to be very efficient mainly due to its pH-controlled low solubility. Besides the specific adsorption to iron oxides, however, arsenic exhibits a rather large, loosely bound and easily exchangeable fraction. The speciation of arsenic in groundwater is dominated by As(V). The oxidation state of the original pigment is As(III). In some parts of the aquifer where suboxic conditions prevail, this oxidation state is conserved. In oxic zones of the aquifer, oxidation to the pentavalent form As(V) takes place.     

Rapid detection of vegetable oils in milk fat by on‐line LC‐GC analysis of β‐sitosterol as marker

On‐line liquid chromatography‐gas chromatography (LC‐GC) has been applied to the detection of vegetable oils in milk fat using β‐sitosterol as marker. The method involves transesterification of the fat, pre‐separation of the sterol fraction from other lipid constituents and on‐line transfer to the capillary GC system. The on‐line approach avoids time‐consuming sample preparation steps prior to GC analysis. The suitability of this analytical approach was tested with model mixtures of milk fat with cotton and rapeseed oil. The method allows the detection of adulterations at low levels. Simultaneous quantification of cholesterol in milk fat is also possible. Considering the rapid sample preparation, the described method can be applied for screening of large sample numbers.     

Untersuchung der Funktion von Leichtflüssigkeitsabscheidern bei Verwendung von Kraftstoffen mit unterschiedlichen FAME-Zusätzen

The use of biogenic additives in fuels is required by law for environmental reasons. This raises the question of whether the oil separator tested according to ÖNORM EN 858-1 complies with these new requirements. In this study, a commercial mineral oil separator was tested with different fuels with up to 100?% biodiesel (FAME) and its elimination performance was described in terms of the parameters KW, KW-Index DIN EN ISO 9377-2 H 53 (2000), and also the non-standardized parameters for mineral oil analysis in accordance with H 18 and H 53 without the purification stage. The results showed that all the tests with different fuel mixtures complied with the test value of 5 mg/l laid out in EN 858-1 (2005) and based on the parameter mineral oil analysis in accordance with DIN 38409-H 18 (1981). As the purification stage of this method removes the biofuel fraction, the question arises as to whether fuels with increased biogenic content can be analyzed satisfactorily using these standardized mineral oil parameters; and whether the use of pure mineral oil for ÖNORM EN 858-1 (2005) performance tests is still suitable, or whether other fuels should also be used as test media.     

Water Management,Rainwater Harvesting and Predictive Variables in Rural Households

Water management in rural domestic households plays an important role in reducing water-related health risks. This study was conducted to examine the relationships between the dependent variable (rural domestic rainwater management) and the independent predictive variables (personal characteristics, tank size, years of water harvest, rainwater harvesting associations, usage instructions including water borne health risk, and tank operation and maintenance) in Uganda. Logistic regression techniques were used on a random sample of 301 respondents to ascertain the influence of predictive variables on rural domestic rainwater management. Analyses of the hypothesised relationship revealed three statistically significant results: years of water harvest, rainwater harvesting associations and usage instructions. Overall, the findings suggest that consideration of usage instructions including waterborne health risks, years of harvest, and local water associations, will improve domestic water management, in combination with progressive measures focused on water quality and quantity. Moreover, medical expenses and time spent in hospitals or health dispensaries will be minimised and saved through utilisation of usage instructions. Experienced harvesting households, those with few years of harvest, and non participants as well in local water associations will easily enrich knowledge of how to minimise contracting water-related diseases.     

Neue Kurzzeitverfahren zur Untersuchung der Korrosionsbeständigkeit von oberflächengeschützten Stahlblechen

Verwendung neu entwickelter Tauchverfahren zur Kurzzeitprüfung der Korrosionsbeständigkeit von phosphatierten und mit Anstrichen versehenen Stahlblechen. Beschreibung der Verfahren. Mitteilung von Versuchsergebnissen. Vergleich mit dem Salzsprühversuch.     

Groundwater salinization in the Saloum (Senegal) delta aquifer: minor elements and isotopic indicators

The hydrochemistry of minor elements bromide (Br), boron (B), strontium (Sr), environmental stable isotopes (18O and 2H) together with major-ion chemistry (chloride, sodium, calcium) has been used to constrain the source(s), relative age, and processes of salinization in the Continental Terminal (CT) aquifer in the Saloum (mid-west Senegal) region. Seventy-one groundwater wells which include 24 wells contaminated by saltwater and three sites along the hypersaline Saloum River were sampled to obtain additional information on the hydrochemical characteristics of the groundwater defined in previous studies. Use of Br against Cl confirms the Saloum River saline water intrusion up to a contribution of 7% into the aquifer. In addition to this recent intrusion, a relatively ancient intrusion of the Saloum River water which had reached at least as far as 20 km south from the source was evidenced. The high molar ratio values of Sr/Cl and Sr/Ca indicate an additional input of strontium presumably derived from carbonate precipitation/dissolution reactions and also via adsorption reactions. The variable B concentrations (7-650 microg/L) found in the groundwater samples were tested against the binary mixing model to evaluate the processes of salinization which are responsible for the investigated system. Sorption of B and depletion of Na occur as the Saloum river water intrudes the aquifer (salinization) in the northern part of the region, whereas B desorption and Na enrichment occur as the fresh groundwater flushing displaces the saline waters in the coastal strip (refreshening). In the central zone where ancient intrusion prevailed, the process of freshening of the saline groundwater is indicated by the changes in major-ion chemistry as well as B desorption and Na enrichment. In addition to these processes, stable isotopes reveal that mixing with recently infiltrating waters and evaporation contribute to the changes in isotopic signature.