The effect of forced ventilation with high moisture air on bulk loads of snap beans

Snap beans (Phaseolus Vulgaris) often experience loss of quality during transport to market. An apparatus designed to simulate conditions encountered by snap beans during transport was used in this study. Efforts were made to establish the effectiveness of forced ventilation with high moisture air in reducing this loss of quality. The study consisted of six tests. Each test was conducted as follows. Freshly harvested beans were used to fill two containers. One received forced air ventilation; the other did not. After 24 hours, the beans were removed and evaluated in terms of texture, color, and moisture content. The weight lost during the 24 hour period was also determined. During the tests, the psychrometric properties of the ventilating and surrounding air were determined. The temperature of the beans in each container was also measured. Forced ventilation with high moisture air was found to be highly effective in cooling beans, without excessive dehydration. The parameters used as indicators of quality were not shown to be significantly improved by the use of forced ventilation under the conditions experienced during this study

The Effects of Age and Distraction on Reaction Time in a Driving Simulator

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of driver distraction – both cognitive and visual – on reaction time to unexpected road hazards. Participants operated a driving simulator while intermittently answering prerecorded questions of various difficulty (holding a “conversation” with the computer), or dialing specified numbers into a cellular telephone. Two road hazards were presented at unpredictable times and locations, including red brake lights and a red pedestrian-shape of approximately the same area as the brake lights. Targets were presented in two different locations: directly in front of the driver at the bottom of the screen, and off to the side of the road. The results showed a significant overall increase in reaction time for older subjects, as well as a strong interaction with the dialing task condition. There were no significant differences from the control for either easy or difficult verbal response conditions. In addition, stimuli on the side of the road took significantly longer to respond to, especially when combined with the dialing task. These data suggest a strong link between age, visual task load, stimulus location, and increased reaction time to unexpected stimuli

The effects of graduate training on reasoning: Formal discipline and thinking about everyday life events

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/92173/1/TheEffectsOfGraduateTraining.pd