TEST OF MICROBIAL TRANSFORMATION OF FLOTATION TAILINGS TO CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL

The use and recycling of secondary raw materials increases resource efficiency. An interesting option would be the use of flotation tailings in the production of building materials. One of challenges is the content of mobilizable metals in the residues for ecological quality reasons of building material. Since flotation residues contain low metal concentration they are suitable for bioleaching approaches

Enterprise Information Portale als effiziente Informationsfilter

Aus Punkt 1: "Die zunehmende Informationsüberflutung verstärkt den Bedarf nach effizienten Selektions- und Filtermechanismen (vgl. z.B. Davenport 1998 und 1999, Pfeffer/Sutton 1999 oder Dixon 2000). Enterprise Information Portale oder Unternehmensportale werden derzeit als wichtiges Instrument des Wissensmanagements in Unternehmen hervorgehoben (vgl. z.B. Föcker 2001), die über diese genannte Eigenschaft verfügen. Die Portale stellen dabei eine elektronische Wissensinfrastruktur bereit, über die Wissen und Informationen im Unternehmen verteilt und genutzt werden können. Die Bedeutung des Faktors Wissen ist in den letzten Jahren deutlich gestiegen, sodass viele Forscher Wissen als vierten Produktionsfaktor neben Arbeit, Kapital und Land ansehen und den Beginn der Wissensgesellschaft erkannt haben wollen (vgl. z.B. Drucker 1993, Nippa 1997, Probst/Raub/Romhardt 1999 und andere). Aus betriebswirtschaftlicher Sicht ist zumindest zu konstatieren, dass in wissensintensiven Branchen wie der Software-Industrie oder in Unternehmensberatungen das Wissen und der geeignete Umgang damit die entscheidende Ressource für den Unternehmenserfolg ist (z.B. Nippa/Petzold 2001).

Wissensnetze und kognitive Strukturen

Wachsmuth I. Wissensnetze und kognitive Strukturen. In: Furbach U, Dirlich G, eds. Workshop Wissen - Wissensrepräsentation. Neubiberg: Univ. d. Bundeswehr München, Fak. für Informatik, Bericht Nr. 8606; 1986: 27-45.Der Beitrag soll sich mit dem in psychologischen Theorien verwendeten Begriff "Wissensstruktur" bzw. "kognitive Struktur" auseinandersetzen und in Zusammenhang bringen mit dem im LAKOS-Modell (Wachsmuth 1985) verwendeten Begriff "Wissensnetze", hier insbesondere unter dem Gesichtspunkt einer hierarchischen Organisation von Wissen

Quantification of Inflight Physical Changes: Anthropometry and Neutral Body Posture (Body Measures)

No abstract availabl

A cortical potential reflecting cardiac function

Emotional trauma and psychological stress can precipitate cardiac arrhythmia and sudden death through arrhythmogenic effects of efferent sympathetic drive. Patients with preexisting heart disease are particularly at risk. Moreover, generation of proarrhythmic activity patterns within cerebral autonomic centers may be amplified by afferent feedback from a dysfunctional myocardium. An electrocortical potential reflecting afferent cardiac information has been described, reflecting individual differences in interoceptive sensitivity (awareness of one's own heartbeats). To inform our understanding of mechanisms underlying arrhythmogenesis, we extended this approach, identifying electrocortical potentials corresponding to the cortical expression of afferent information about the integrity of myocardial function during stress. We measured changes in cardiac response simultaneously with electroencephalography in patients with established ventricular dysfunction. Experimentally induced mental stress enhanced cardiovascular indices of sympathetic activity (systolic blood pressure, heart rate, ventricular ejection fraction, and skin conductance) across all patients. However, the functional response of the myocardium varied; some patients increased, whereas others decreased, cardiac output during stress. Across patients, heartbeat-evoked potential amplitude at left temporal and lateral frontal electrode locations correlated with stress-induced changes in cardiac output, consistent with an afferent cortical representation of myocardial function during stress. Moreover, the amplitude of the heartbeat-evoked potential in the left temporal region reflected the proarrhythmic status of the heart (inhomogeneity of left ventricular repolarization). These observations delineate a cortical representation of cardiac function predictive of proarrhythmic abnormalities in cardiac repolarization. Our findings highlight the dynamic interaction of heart and brain in stress-induced cardiovascular morbidity

Neurobehavioral evidence of interoceptive sensitivity in early infancy

Interoception, the sensitivity to visceral sensations, plays an important role in homeostasis and guiding motivated behaviour. It is also considered to be fundamental to self-awareness. Despite its importance, the developmental origins of interoceptive sensitivity remain unexplored. We here provide the first evidence for implicit, flexible interoceptive sensitivity in 5 month old infants using a novel behavioural measure, coupled with an established cortical index of interoceptive processing. These findings have important implications for the understanding of the early developmental stages of self-awareness, self-regulation and socio-emotional abilities

The development of building assessment criteria framework for sustainable non-residential buildings in Saudi Arabia

To quantify the environmental impacts of building construction, many environmental assessment methods for measuring building performance have been proposed worldwide, such as BREEAM (UK), LEED (US) and Green Star (AU). However, much debate exists about the efficacy of these international assessment tools in measuring building performance outside their country of origin, due to global variations in climate, geography, economics and culture. To address this debate, this study proposes a framework for developing domestic sustainable non-residential building assessment criteria for Saudi Arabia. To create this framework, five major building assessment methods were compared with respect to their application methods, major characteristics and categories. Surveys were conducted with a range of Saudi sustainable construction experts to gain their expertise in reflecting the local context of Saudi Arabian construction. The analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method was applied to evaluate survey data. Nine criteria and 36 sub-criteria were defined in this study for inclusion as the most appropriate assessment criteria for sustainable non-residential construction in Saudi Arabia. These criteria include water efficiency and energy efficiency, indoor air quality, materials selection, effective management, land and waste, whole-life cost, quality of service and cultural aspects