609 research outputs found
Argumentation and emotional cognition in advertisements
From Spinoza to today, it has been noted that human beings respond to what is unusual in our lives. The advertising community knows this and struggles to find ways to be unusual in the face of an estimated 3,500 ads per day. One way is through emotion. This paper examines arguments made in advertisements where emotional cognition is appealed to and how they differ from ads that appeal to rational cognition
The influence of edge effects on evapotranspiration of fragmented woodlands. Der Einfluss von Randeffekten auf die Verdunstung fragmentierter Waldbestande
The water use of forests has been the subject of many studies in the past decades. They were mostly carried out in extensive areas of woodland and achieved consistent results. However, there is as yet a large uncertainty about the role of fragmented woodlands in the catchment water balance, since water losses from small patches of woodland have rarely been measured. In the framework of the "Lowland Catchment Research" (LOCAR) programme, a 7-months field measurement campaign has been carried out in southern England in order to measure the transpiration of a mixed deciduous forest in various distances from the forest edge by means of the sap flux techniqure. The annual transpiration per unit ground area near the forest edge equalled potential evaporation and was about 60% higher than in the forest interior and similar to the transpiration of hedgerows as determined in a corresponding study. Interception evaporation was not affected by the proximity to an edge. Based on these results it is shown that the edge effect dominates the water use of small forests (<10 ha) and becomes negligible only for woodlands larger than 100 ha
Minipellets: A new and abundant size class of marine fecal pellets
Minipellets, fecal pellets from 3 to 50 Ī¼m in diameter, were found on detritus collected by a particle interceptor trap array in the upper 2000 m of the eastern tropical Pacific. The fluxes of minipellets reached 5 Ć 106 mā2 dayā1, and exceeded fluxes of larger (\u3e50 Ī¼m diameter) fecal pellets by 3 orders of magnitude. Carbon flux of minipellets was 11ā49% that of larger pellets; however, carbon flux of ultrastructurally intact cells (microalgae and bacteria) in minipellets was equal to that of intact cells in the larger pellets. Minipellets also occurred in water samples from similar depths, where they numbered up to 105 mā3, and were usually not associated with particles. Minipellets appear ubiquitous; we have found them in all our samples of particulates from other cruises from surface waters to bathypelagic depths. Minipellet morphologies ranged from Type A, which contained intact, picoplankton-sized cells (cyanobacteria, nitrifying bacteria, morphologically non-descript, Gram-negative bacteria, Chiarella-like cells) in an amorphous matrix surrounded by a boundary, to Type D minipellets, which were identical to previously described olive-green cells. Minipellets are probably wastes of protozoans and small invertebrates that consume marine snow and larger fecal pellets throughout the water column, thereby maintaining the high numbers of minipellets from the surface to 2000 m. We found several sources of minipellets: two groups of sarcodine protozoans (phaeodarian and spumellarian radiolarians) and small hydromedusae. The minipellet producers reprocess a major portion of surface-derived detritus, and represent important biological intermediates that transform particulate matter settling through the ocean
Communications Apprehension: A Note About Ethnic Diversity
This paper summarizes the results of an intercultural survey of an ethnically diverse group of students in a Canadian university commerce program. The sample self-reported the level of communications apprehension on the 24-item Personal Report of Communication Apprehension, which uses six questions in four communications settings to generate four subscores and one general score for communications apprehension (McCroskey, 1982). While prior research results showed that the level of communications apprehension varies among ethnic groups, our research results showed no significant variation.Cet article reĢcapitule les reĢsultats d'une enqueĢte interculturelle faite aupreĢs d'un groupe d'eĢtudiants, heĢteĢrogeĢne au plan ethnique, issu d'un programme universitaire en administration. Les reĢpondants ont eĢvalueĢ leur degreĢ d'appreĢhension de communication aĢ partir du questionnaire Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (McCroskey, 1982). Cet instrument, composeĢ de 24 eĢnonceĢs, mesure l'appreĢhension de communication via six eĢnonceĢs relieĢs aĢ quatre structures de communication. Bien que les recherches anteĢrieures aient deĢmontreĢ que le degreĢ d'appreĢhension de communication varie selon le groupe ethnique, nos reĢsultats ne supportent pas cette hypotheĢse
Bioaccessibility performance data for fifty-seven elements in guidance material BGS 102
BGS 102, a guidance material for bioaccessible arsenic (As) and lead (Pb), was produced during validation of the in vitro Unified Bioaccessibility Method (UBM). This paper reports a compilation of reproducible bioaccessible guidance values for fifty-five additional elements in BGS 102, providing guidance for analysts to broaden the scope of UBM analyses for a wider range of elements based on data collected over an average of 60 separate analytical batches per element. Data are presented in categories for both gastric (STOM) and gastrointestinal (STOM + INT) extraction phases, where reproducibility, measured as relative standard deviation (RSD) was; ā¤ 10% RSD for 27 elements (Mg, Al, Si, P, Ca, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, As, Rb, Sr, Y, Ba, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Tb, Gd, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb); between 10 and 20% RSD for 10 elements (Li, K, V, Fe, Cu, Zn, Cd, Lu, Pb, U); and ā„ 20% RSD for 19 elements in the gastric phase (Be, B, S, Ti, Ga, Se, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ag, Sn, Sb, Cs, Hf, Ta, W, Tl, Bi, Th). Two elements (Mg, Rb) met the ā¤ 10% RSD criteria in the UBM gastrointestinal extraction phase due to the alkaline conditions of this phase precipitating out the majority of determinands. Certain elements, including Na, K, Zn and Se, were found to be a significant component of the extraction fluids with proportionally higher concentrations compared to the guidance material. Bioaccessible fractions (%BAF) were also calculated, but were found to be a less reproducible format for confirming the accuracy of measurements. The low concentration of some elements of interest in BGS 102, such as antimony (Sb), justifies the preparation of an alternative certified reference material (CRM). This paper presents an opportunity to broaden the scope of the UBM method to address food security issues (e.g. Fe and Zn micronutrient deficiencies) and contributions to dietary intake from extraneous dust or soil through evidence of the analytical possibilities and current limitations requiring further investigation
The Mersey Estuary : sediment geochemistry
This report describes a study of the geochemistry of
the Mersey estuary carried out between April 2000 and
December 2002. The study was the first in a new programme
of surveys of the geochemistry of major British estuaries
aimed at enhancing our knowledge and understanding of the
distribution of contaminants in estuarine sediments.
The report first summarises the physical setting, historical
development, geology, hydrography and bathymetry of the
Mersey estuary and its catchment. Details of the sampling
and analytical programmes are then given followed by a
discussion of the sedimentology and geochemistry. The
chemistry of the water column and suspended particulate
matter have not been studied, the chief concern being with
the geochemistry of the surface and near-surface sediments
of the Mersey estuary and an examination of their likely
sources and present state of contamination
Acid-dissolution of antigorite, chrysotile and lizardite for ex situ carbon capture and storage by mineralisation
Serpentine minerals serve as a Mg donor in carbon capture and storage by mineralisation (CCSM). The acid-treatment of nine comprehensively-examined serpentine polymorphs and polytypes, and the subsequent microanalysis of their post-test residues highlighted several aspects of great importance to the choice of the optimal feed material for CCSM. Compelling evidence for the non-uniformity of serpentine mineral performance was revealed, and the following order of increasing Mg extraction efficiency after three hours of acid-leaching was established: Al-bearing polygonal serpentine (<5%) ā¤ Al-bearing lizardite 1T (ā5%) < antigorite (24-29%) < well-ordered lizardite 2H1 (ā65%) ā¤ Al-poor lizardite 1T (ā68%) < chrysotile (ā70%) < poorly-ordered lizardite 2H1 (ā80%) < nanotubular chrysotile (ā85%).
It was recognised that the Mg extraction efficiency of the minerals depended greatly on the intrinsic properties of crystal structure, chemistry and rock microtexture. On this basis, antigorite and Al-bearing well-ordered lizardite were rejected as potential feedstock material whereas any chrysotile, non-aluminous, widely spaced lizardite and/or disordered serpentine were recommended.
The formation of peripheral siliceous layers, tens of microns thick, was not universal and depended greatly upon the intrinsic microtexture of the leached particles. This study provides the first comprehensive investigation of nine, carefully-selected serpentine minerals, covering most varieties and polytypes, under the same experimental conditions. We focused on material characterisation and the identification of the intrinsic properties of the minerals that affect particleās reactivity. It can therefore serve as a generic basis for any acid-based CCSM pre-treatment
Ablation of Proliferating Cells in the CNS Exacerbates Motor Neuron Disease Caused by Mutant Superoxide Dismutase
Proliferation of glia and immune cells is a common pathological feature of many neurodegenerative diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Here, to investigate the role of proliferating cells in motor neuron disease, SOD1G93A transgenic mice were treated intracerebroventicularly (ICV) with the anti-mitotic drug cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C). ICV delivery of Ara-C accelerated disease progression in SOD1G93A mouse model of ALS. Ara-C treatment caused substantial decreases in the number of microglia, NG2+ progenitors, Olig2+ cells and CD3+ T cells in the lumbar spinal cord of symptomatic SOD1G93A transgenic mice. Exacerbation of disease was also associated with significant alterations in the expression inflammatory molecules IL-1Ī², IL-6, TGF-Ī² and the growth factor IGF-1
Monitoring symptoms at home: What methods would cancer patients be comfortable using?
PURPOSE: This study aimed to determine which methods of remote symptom assessment cancer outpatients would be comfortable using, including those involving information technology, and whether this varied with age and gender. METHODS: A questionnaire survey of 477 outpatients attending the Edinburgh Cancer Centre in Edinburgh, UK. RESULTS: Most patients reported that they would not feel comfortable using methods involving technology such as a secure website, email, mobile phone text message, or a computer voice on the telephone but that they would be more comfortable using more traditional methods such as a paper questionnaire, speaking to a nurse on the telephone, or giving information in person. CONCLUSIONS: The uptake of new, potentially cost-effective technology-based methods of monitoring patients' symptoms at home might be limited by patients' initial discomfort with the idea of using them. It will be important to develop methods of addressing this potential barrier (such as detailed explanation and supervised practice) if these methods are to be successfully implemented
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