Perspectivas en la investigación sobre preferencia ambiental: tiempo, categorías y realidad

Este texto constituye una versión revisada de la conferencia pronunciada por el Dr. Henk Staats en las III Jornadas de Psicología Ambiental, celebradas en Sevilla del 6 al 8 de noviembre de 1991, organizadas por la Agencia de Medio Ambiente de la Junta de Andalucía y el Departamento de Psicología Social de la Universidad de Sevilla.Las investigaciones sobre preferencia ambiental han constituido, en los veinte últimos años, una de las áreas de mayor actividad en el marco general de los estudios de psicología ambiental impulsadas, a instancias políticas en los paises más desarrollados por la problemática derivada de la relocalización y gestión de los denominados «recursos escénicos» (paisajes de elevado valor que era necesario proteger, conservar u optimizar). El propósito fundamental que persigue este trabajo es el de realizar un acercamiento general a las cuestiones más importantes que caracterizan este reciente ámbito de estudio. En primer lugar, se comenta, sucintamente, el estado actual de la psicología ambiental en el contexto geográfico del autor, así como se ofrece una definición de dicha disciplina. Posteriormente, se abordan las tres líneas de investigación que contribuyen, en opinión del autor, ejemplos de cuestiones científicas relevantes para el progreso teórico y aplicado de la disciplina señalada: a) la influencia del tiempo en la preferencia por ambientes; b) las diferentes posiciones teóricas existentes (categorías); c) las relaciones que pueden establecerse entre las características objetivas del paisaje y los juicios psicológicos subjetivos (realidad).Environmental preference research has constituted, in the last 20 years, one of the most active fields in the general scope of environmental psychology studies. Such research have fundamentally been promoted by governments, in the most conuntries, in order to manage the so-called scenic resources (valued landscapes which are necessary to preserve or improve). The principal aim pursued in this papper is to present a general view about the foremost questions which characterize this active study field. Initially, state of art of the environmental psychology in The Netherlands has been, briefly, introduced and a definition of this discipline is offered. Subsequently, three lines of investigation in invironmental preference have been pointed out which are, according to the author, examples of scientific questions that are directly relevant for theoretical .and applied progress in the mentioned discipline:a) the influence of time on preference for environments; b) the different theoretical views (categories); c) the relationships between objective characteristics and psychological subjective judgements of landscapes (the real world)

Qualification status list fuel cask and structure assembly ALSEP Array E, Flight 6

This document provides a Qualification Status List (QSL) for use as part of the ALSEP Fuel Cask and Structure Assembly Flight 6 Acceptance Data Package (ADP). As of the date of publication, the information contained herein reflects the status of qualification following the system level thermal/vacuum, shock, and vibration tests conducted at the General Electric Missile and Space Division; Valley Forge, Pennsylvania and at Bx:A.prepared by J. T. Staats ; revised by L. S. Moskowitz.Revision

Application of IHSDM: KY 30 Case Study

A section of KY 30 in Jackson and Owsley Counties is targeted for redesign to provide a safer and more efficient corridor that will support economic activity in eastern Kentucky. Data for the existing KY 30 alignment and eight alternative alignments developed by HMB Professional Engineers Inc. were provided to researchers at the Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC). KTC researchers also developed a new alternative that modified the existing alignment to improve the safety of various locations. Researchers applied safety analysis procedures from Part C of the Highway Safety Manual (HSM) to the existing and alternative alignments of KY 30 using the Interactive Highway Safety Design Model (IHSDM). The resulting crash predictions were used to analyze each alternative and perform a benefit-cost analysis. Each alignment’s safety benefits were derived by calculating the total reduction in crashes (i.e., subtracting the number of crashes anticipated for an alternative from the number of crashes that would be expected if the segment were not redesigned). Comprehensive crash costs from the National Safety Council (NSC) were applied to the reduction in crashes to estimate, in monetary terms, the safety benefit. This figure was compared to the estimated cost of each project. KTC’s modified existing alignment had a benefit-cost (B/C) ratio of 0.14, meaning project’s cost outweighs the expected safety benefits. The other new build alternatives had negative B/C ratios, meaning the cost of crashes is expected to increase after their implementation. The increase in crash costs for the new build alternatives is due to the increase in crash severity expected on the new alignments coupled with the current alignment remaining a source of crashes (as the latter would remain open to facilitate the mobility of residents). IHSDM analysis only captures expected safety benefits, however. The selected alternative may be economically justifiable based on a holistic evaluation of the potential benefits it offers — in addition to safety benefits. The potential non-safety benefits of each project alternative should be analyzed to inform and improve the decision-making process for the KY 30 redesign

Emergent non-consumptive predator effects alter habitat colonization by mosquitoes

Top-down consumptive control (suppression) is an important driver of populations and communities of prey organisms. Diverse predator assemblages often yield non-linear suppression with respect to constituent species’ effects (emergence); most often diversity enhances suppression. Predators also affect prey organisms non-consumptively through changes in prey physiological, physical, spatial, temporal, and behavioral responses to predators. Role of predator diversity in non-consumptive response by prey is relatively un-studied. Role of predator diversity in shaping prey populations and communities through habitat colonization is a novel question

Materials Compatibility of HVACR System Materials with Low GWP Refrigerants

When assessing the suitability of next generation refrigerants for use with current HVACR system materials, two areas of concern need to be thoroughly investigated and understood: 1) chemical stability of the fluids when exposed to system materials under the anticipated conditions of use, and 2) compatibility of the system materials when in contact with the fluids. This paper will summarize materials compatibility evaluations of unsaturated hydrofluorocarbon (HFO) refrigerants, and HFO refrigerants blended with R-32, that were conducted to better understand potential equipment reliability risks associated with the use of next generation low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerant candidates. This paper summarizes results of laboratory measurements of the physical and functional changes of elastomeric and polymeric materials, and hermetic compressor motor materials, as a consequence of accelerated fluid exposures

A Flexible and Non-instrusive Approach for Computing Complex Structural Coverage Metrics

Software analysis tools and techniques often leverage structural code coverage information to reason about the dynamic behavior of software. Existing techniques instrument the code with the required structural obligations and then monitor the execution of the compiled code to report coverage. Instrumentation based approaches often incur considerable runtime overhead for complex structural coverage metrics such as Modified Condition/Decision (MC/DC). Code instrumentation, in general, has to be approached with great care to ensure it does not modify the behavior of the original code. Furthermore, instrumented code cannot be used in conjunction with other analyses that reason about the structure and semantics of the code under test. In this work, we introduce a non-intrusive preprocessing approach for computing structural coverage information. It uses a static partial evaluation of the decisions in the source code and a source-to-bytecode mapping to generate the information necessary to efficiently track structural coverage metrics during execution. Our technique is flexible; the results of the preprocessing can be used by a variety of coverage-driven software analysis tasks, including automated analyses that are not possible for instrumented code. Experimental results in the context of symbolic execution show the efficiency and flexibility of our nonintrusive approach for computing code coverage informatio

Dark Current in Superconducting RF Photoinjectors Measurements and Mitigation

Unwanted beam can cause beam losses and may produce acute or chronic damages of the accelerator. Furthermore it can considerably disturb experiments or increase its back ground. The operation of the superconducting RF photo gun at the ELBE accelerator has delivered the first experimental information on that topic. It was found, that dark current is an important issue, similar to that normal conducting RF photo injectors. In the presentation the measurement of dark current, its properties and analysis will be shown and we will discuss ways for mitigation, especially the construction of a dark current kicke

Novel dry powder preparations of whole inactivated influenza virus for nasal vaccination

The purpose of these studies was to enhance mucosal and systemic antibody production in response to increased local residence time of a whole inactivated influenza virus administered as a dry powder nasal vaccine formulation. Spray-freeze-drying (SFD) particles suitable for nasal delivery were characterized for physico-chemical properties and stability. Mucoadhesive compounds (MA) were characterized for their effects on nasal residence time of vaccine powders in rats compared with published in vitro data and elicited immune responses. SFD particles (D50=26.9µm) were spherical with a specific surface area of 1.25 m2/g. Thermal analysis indicated SFD powders were amorphous and demonstrated improved stability with respect to liquid formulations under various storage conditions. In vitro physico-chemical studies and in vivo scintigraphic imaging experiments indicated sodium alginate (SA) and carboxymethylcellulose-high molecular weight (CMC-HMW) powder formulations most significantly increased residence time in Brown Norway rats. Intramuscular delivery provided equivalent serum antibody titers to intranasal (IN) powder without MA, in the presence of CMC-HMW, SA, and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC-HMW) after initial dosing and all formulations except IN powder with chitosan after boosting. IN liquid provided equivalent serum antibody titers to all IN powders after the initial vaccination and significantly greater serum antibody titers than IN powder with chitosan after boosting. Trends were consistent between residence time studies and immune response; however, no statistically significant differences between powder and liquid formulations were observed. It was concluded that enhanced serum and mucosal antibody responses were elicited by a dry powder nasal vaccine, specifically, administered in the presence of sodium alginate

Development of the cat-owner relationship scale (CORS)

Characteristics of the human-animal bond can be influenced by both owner-related and pet-related factors, which likely differ between species. Three studies adapted the Monash Dog-Owner Relationship Scale (MDORS) to permit assessment of human-cat interactions as perceived by the cat's owner. In Study 1293 female cat owners completed a modified version of the MDORS, where 'dog' was replaced with 'cat' for all items. Responses were compared with a matched sample of female dog owners. A partial least squares discriminant analysis revealed systematic differences between cat and dog owners in the Dog (Cat)-Owner Interaction subscale (MDORS subscale 1), but not for Perceived Emotional Closeness or Perceived Costs (Subscales 2 and 3). Study 2 involved analysis of free-text descriptions of cat-owner interactions provided by 61 female cat owners. Text mining identified key words which were used to create additional questions for a new Cat-Owner Interaction subscale. In Study 3, the resulting cat-owner relationship scale (CORS) was tested in a group of 570 cat owners. The main psychometric properties of the scale, including internal consistency and factor structure, were evaluated. We propose that this scale can be used to accurately assess owner perceptions of their relationship with their cat. A modified scale, combining items from the CORS and MDORS (a C/DORS), is also provided for when researchers would find it desirable to compare human-cat and human-dog interactions. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved