835 research outputs found

    Press Water Reclamation Using a New High Solids Filter

    Get PDF
    Press section water cannot be reused on a fine papermachine due solely to the fact that fibrous contaminants, specifically felt fibers that are removed by the felt cleaning system, cause an inordinate amount of trailing blade coater scratches and other defects in the final product. In this study, the feasability was examined of using a Ronnigen-Petter CycloSpray high solids filter to remove felt and cellulose fibers from press water. By maintaining a constant fiber content of 0.4 lbs./1000 gallons and increasing the filler loading from 20 lbs./1000 gallons to 40 lbs./1000 gallons, the effect of increasing filler loading on fiber removal was studied. Major trends observed were as follows: 1. Accepts solids flow rate increased with increasing inlet solids flow rate (slope = 0.68) 2. Rejects solids flow rate was essentially constant with increasing inlet solids (slope = 0.04) 3. Accepts filler flow rate increased with increasing inlet filler flow rate (slope = 0.69) 4. Rejects filler flow rate was essentially constant with increasing inlet filler flow rate (slope = 0.03). These trend observations lead to the conclusion that as filler loading increased, fiber removal from simulated press water was accomplished, by the Ronnigen-Petter CycloSpray high solids filter. To further accentuate these results, the felt fiber inlet content was increased, which resulted in an increase in reject solids by almost the same amount and a decreased reject ash content. Screen size best suited for fiber removal from press water was found to be 250 mesh stainless steel

    Foreign Direct Investment in Eastern Europe: Applying Traditional Models of FDI to the Transitional Countries of Eastern Europe

    Get PDF
    An empirical analysis is used to determine whether the factors that normally explain FDI flows to developing countries are also suitable to explain FDI flows to the developing countries of Eastern Europe for the years 1988-1992. It was found that a typical set of explanatory variables which explain FDI flows to non Eastern Europe developing countries very well, is not a useful set of determinants for FDI flows to Eastern Europe. Conclusions are drawn concerning the extent to which these results reflect the current state of political and economic transition taking place in Eastern Europe

    The role of parvovirus B19 in the pathogenesis of autoimmunity and autoimmune disease

    Get PDF
    Human parvovirus B19 is a single-stranded DNA virus which preferentially targets the erythroblasts in the bone marrow. B19 infection commonly causes erythema infectiosum, arthralgia, fetal death, transient aplastic crisis in patients with shortened red cell survival, and persistent infection in people who are immunocompromised. Less common clinical manifestations include atypical skin rashes, neurological syndromes, cardiac syndromes, and various cytopenias. B19 infection has also been associated with development of a variety of different autoimmune diseases, including rheumatological, neurological, neuromuscular, cardiovascular, haematological, nephrological and metabolic. Production of a variety of autoantibodies has been demonstrated to occur during B19 infection and these have been shown to be key to the pathogenesis of the particular disease process in a significant number of cases, for example, production of rheumatoid factor in cases of B19-associated rheumatoid arthritis and production of anti-glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) in patients with B19-associated type 1 diabetes mellitus. B19 infection has also been associated with the development of multiple autoimmune diseases in 12 individuals. Documented mechanisms in B19-associated autoimmunity include molecular mimicry (IgG antibody to B19 proteins has been shown to cross react with a variety of recognised human autoantigens, including collagen II, keratin, angiotensin II type 1 receptor, myelin basic protein, cardiolipin, and platelet membrane glycoprotein IIb/IIIa), B19-induced apoptosis with presentation of self-antigens to T lymphocytes, and the phospholipase activity of the B19 unique VP1 protein

    They Saw It Coming: Rising Trends in Depression, Anxiety, and Suicidality in Creative Students and Potential Impact of the COVID-19 Crisis

    Get PDF
    Previous research has established that creative adolescents are generally low in neuroticism and as well-adjusted as their peers. From 2006 to 2013, data from cohorts of creative adolescents attending a counseling laboratory supported these results. Clinical findings of increased anxiety, depression, and suicidality among creative students in 2014 led the researchers to create 3 studies to explore these clinical findings. Once artifactual causes of these changes were ruled out, a quantitative study was conducted. Study 1, an analysis of mean differences of pre-2014 and post-2014 cohorts showed that post-2014 cohorts scored significantly higher in Neuroticism, Openness to Experience, and Conscientiousness and lower in Extraversion on Big 5 inventories. Regression analyses suggested that while Neuroticism was associated with gender, Conscientiousness and Grade Point Average for the earlier group, Neuroticism in the post 2014 groups was related to complex interplay of all personality dynamics except Agreeableness. In the qualitative Study 2, focus groups of 6–10 students, for a total of 102 participants were queried about the reasons they perceived for increased anxiety and depression in creative students. Increased achievement pressures and awareness of environmental and social problems were major sources of external stressors; perfectionism and desire to fulfill expectations of others were the primary sources of internal stress. The authors suggest that creative students' openness to experience and advanced knowledge made it possible for these students to see the potential for environmental and social crises and respond to their inability to solve these problems with anxiety and depression. Study 3 was a qualitative study that followed up 19 participants from the post-2014 cohort to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and creativity. While the majority perceived a negative effect of the pandemic on their mental health, most also produced a surprising variety of creative works during that time. In conclusion, rapid changes in the lives of creative adolescents since 2014 suggest that scholars focus on current cohorts and the ways in which adolescent personality is shaped by internal expectation and external pressures and global events. Despite the pandemic, creative young people continued to create

    Latent profile analysis of accelerometer-measured sleep, physical activity, and sedentary time and differences in health characteristics in adult women.

    Get PDF
    ObjectivesIndependently, physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior (SB), and sleep are related to the development and progression of chronic diseases. Less is known about how rest-activity behaviors cluster within individuals and how rest-activity behavior profiles relate to health. In this study we aimed to investigate if adult women cluster into profiles based on how they accumulate rest-activity behavior (including accelerometer-measured PA, SB, and sleep), and if participant characteristics and health outcomes differ by profile membership.MethodsA convenience sample of 372 women (mean age 55.38 + 10.16) were recruited from four US cities. Participants wore ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometers on the hip and wrist for a week. Total daily minutes in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and percentage of wear-time spent in SB was estimated from the hip device. Total sleep time (hours/minutes) and sleep efficiency (% of in bed time asleep) were estimated from the wrist device. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was performed to identify clusters of participants based on accumulation of the four rest-activity variables. Adjusted ANOVAs were conducted to explore differences in demographic characteristics and health outcomes across profiles.ResultsRest-activity variables clustered to form five behavior profiles: Moderately Active Poor Sleepers (7%), Highly Actives (9%), Inactives (41%), Moderately Actives (28%), and Actives (15%). The Moderately Active Poor Sleepers (profile 1) had the lowest proportion of whites (35% vs 78-91%, p < .001) and college graduates (28% vs 68-90%, p = .004). Health outcomes did not vary significantly across all rest-activity profiles.ConclusionsIn this sample, women clustered within daily rest-activity behavior profiles. Identifying 24-hour behavior profiles can inform intervention population targets and innovative behavioral goals of multiple health behavior interventions

    Descriptive epidemiology of domain-specific sitting in working adults: the Stormont Study

    Get PDF
    Background Given links between sedentary behaviour and unfavourable health outcomes, there is a need to understand the influence of socio-demographic factors on sedentary behaviour to inform effective interventions. This study examined domain-specific sitting times reported across socio-demographic groups of office workers. Methods The analyses are cross-sectional and based on a survey conducted within the Stormont Study, which is tracking employees in the Northern Ireland Civil Service. Participants self-reported their daily sitting times across multiple domains (work, TV, travel, PC use and leisure) on workdays and non-workdays, along with their physical activity and socio-demographic variables (sex, age, marital status, BMI, educational attainment and work pattern). Total and domain-specific sitting on workdays and non-workdays were compared across socio-demographic groups using multivariate analyses of covariance. Results Completed responses were obtained from 4436 participants. For the whole sample, total daily sitting times were higher on workdays in comparison to non-workdays (625 ± 168 versus 469 ± 210 min/day, P < 0.001). On workdays and non-workdays, higher sitting times were reported by individuals aged 18–29 years, obese individuals, full-time workers and single/divorced/widowed individuals (P < 0.001). Conclusions Interventions are needed to combat the high levels of sedentary behaviour observed in office workers, particularly among the highlighted demographic groups. Interventions should target workplace and leisure-time sitting

    Can a single-item measure of job stressfulness identify common mental disorder?

    Get PDF
    There is a need for brief and non-intrusive measures to identify common mental disorder (CMD) in worker populations. The primary aim of this study was to determine whether workers reporting CMD symptoms indicative of minor psychiatric morbidity could be reliably identified by a single-item job stressfulness measure (SIJSM). A secondary aim was to determine the number of response categories required to maximize the sensitivity and specificity of the SIJSM. Data from seven occupational groups were analysed (N = 20,658). We measured CMD using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and job stressfulness with a single item involving five response options. We applied tests of discriminatory power to assess whether a report of high job stressfulness (SIJSM score ?4, very stressful or extremely stressful) correctly classified CMD cases (GHQ-12 score ?4) and non-cases. Both sensitivity and specificity of the SIJSM were acceptable (?70%) in samples where at least 50% of respondents reported high job stressfulness (prison officers, public protection unit police officers dealing with domestic violence and child abuse). Discriminatory power was optimal and almost identical at the ?4 cut-off on a 5-point scale and ?6 on a 9-point scale. In occupations with elevated prevalence of high job stressfulness the SIJSM appears to demonstrate acceptable sensitivity and specificity, providing for efficient and non-intrusive identification of likely minor psychiatric morbidity. The measure could be used with such groups to identify workers that would benefit from in-depth psychosocial risk assessment and targeted intervention

    Pursuing the Ephemeral, Painting the Enduring: Alzheimer\u27s and the Artwork of William Utermohlen

    Get PDF
    This book is published in conjunction with the exhibition Pursuing the Ephemeral, Painting the Enduring: Alzheimer’s and the Artwork of William Utermohlen, Exhibition and Scholarly Reflections presented at Illinois Wesleyan University Wakeley Gallery November 6 to December 11, 2015. The exhibition and catalogue are partially funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. William Utermohlen’s work is represented by Chris Boïcos Fine Arts, Paris and Jennifer Norback Fine Arts, Chicago.https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/utermohlen/1000/thumbnail.jp
    • …
    corecore