Arc mapping

Establishing a compartment fire's area of origin when it has been burning at post-flashover conditions is a difficult process. Burn patterns traditionally used by fire investigators following post-flashover fires can be erroneous. This paper details research that explored the reliability of using the electrical wiring in a building to establish the origin of a fire. Forty two fully furnished experimental compartment fires using repetitive room configurations were used in the research and the resultant artefacts analysed with various types of microscopy. The analysis of the three-dimensional data indicated that there is a high probability that arcing damage observed on electrical conductors occurred in close proximity to the fire's area of origin. The series of experimental fires with repeated scenarios validated the reliability of using the arc fault mapping methodology during the investigation of fire scenes

Chebfun and numerical quadrature

Chebfun is a Matlab-based software system that overloads Matlab’s discrete operations for vectors and matrices to analogous continuous operations for functions and operators. We begin by describing Chebfun’s fast capabilities for Clenshaw–Curtis and also Gauss–Legendre, –Jacobi, –Hermite, and –Laguerre quadrature, based on algorithms of Waldvogel and Glaser, Liu, and Rokhlin. Then we consider how such methods can be applied to quadrature problems including 2D integrals over rectangles, fractional derivatives and integrals, functions defined on unbounded intervals, and the fast computation of weights for barycentric interpolation

Adapting Corporate Social Responsibility Programs to Risk Management: A Model for Multinational Organizations in Nigeria

This paper advocates that by integrating the business sense, learning and innovations garnered from CSR programmes, multinational companies in Nigeria can better manage risks and subsequently ameliorate the impacts of their economic, social and environmental activities successfully. The paper recommends that organizational leaders to proactively manage risks and take advantage of opportunities inherent in the environment to enhance stakeholders engagement and corporate reputation

The Role of Personality in Predicting Drug and Alcohol Use Among Sexual Minorities

Research consistently demonstrates that sexual minority status is associated with increased risk of problematic substance use. Existing literature in this area has focused on group-specific minority stress factors (e.g., victimization and internalized heterosexism). However, no known research has tested the incremental validity of personality traits as predictors of substance use beyond identified group-specific risk factors. A sample of 704 sexual minority adults was recruited nationally from lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning community organizations and social networking Web sites and asked to complete an online survey containing measures of personality, sexual minority stress, and substance use. Hierarchical regression models were constructed to test the incremental predictive validity of five-factor model personality traits over and above known sexual minority risk factors. Consistent with hypotheses, extraversion and conscientiousness were associated with drug and alcohol use after accounting for minority stress factors, and all factors except agreeableness were associated with substance use at the bivariate level of analysis. Future research should seek to better understand the role of normal personality structures and processes conferring risk for substance use among sexual minorities

Food Price Volatility and Macroeconomic Factors: Evidence from GARCH and GARCH-X Estimates

This article examines food price volatility in Greece and how it is affected by short-run deviations between food prices and macroeconomic factors. The methodology follows the GARCH and GARCH-X models. The results show that there exists a positive effect between the deviations and food price volatility. The results are highly important for producers and consumers because higher volatility augments the uncertainty in the food markets. Once the participants receive a signal that the food market is volatile, this might lead them to ask for increased government intervention in the allocation of investment resources and this could reduce overall welfare.relative food prices, volatility, macroeconomic factors, GARCH and GARCHX models, Demand and Price Analysis, Marketing, E60, Q10, Q19,

Meaning in the Process of Signification by the Advertisement of Honda

This study mainly deals with the process of signification in order to reveal how meaning is created by the advertisement of Honda HR-V 2014 through the use of expressions. In this study, “Meaning” is an integrated form consisting the three elements which are denotative form, connotative form, and myth form. Using qualitative content analysis (Schreier, 2012), the writer did this study based on Barthes's process of signification (1987) and Peirce's indexicality (1931-58). From the analysis, the writer found out that meaning is created by indexicality. The index connects the product and the traits that the product possesses. Then, the use of expressions in the advertisement visualises the index of the product. The index which was visualised by the use of expressions which produces denotative meaning and connotative meaning. Those denotative meaning and connotative meaning are perceived by the audiences and creates myth which naturalises the index itself. It can be concluded from this study that meaning is created by the index and has undergone several steps in order for audiences to perceive the myth and become unaware of the index

Numerical aeroacoustic analysis of propeller designs

As propeller-driven aircraft are the best choice for short/middle-haul flights but their acoustic emissions may require improvements to comply with future noise certification standards, this work aims to numerically evaluate the acoustics of different modern propeller designs. Overall sound pressure level and noise spectra of various blade geometries and hub configurations are compared on a surface representing the exterior fuselage of a typical large turboprop aircraft. Interior cabin noise is also evaluated using the transfer function of a Fokker 50 aircraft. A blade design operating at lower RPM and with the span-wise loading moved inboard is shown to be significantly quieter without severe performance penalties. The employed Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method is able to reproduce the tonal content of all blades and its dependence on hub and blade design features

Acoustic Assessment of Twin-engined Turboprop Layout

No abstract available

Ecological Momentary Assessment of Daily Discrimination Experiences and Nicotine, Alcohol, and Drug Use Among Sexual and Gender Minority Individuals

Objective: Sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals experience elevated rates of minority stress, which has been linked to higher rates of nicotine and substance use. Research on this disparity to date is largely predicated on methodology that is insensitive to within day SGM-based discrimination experiences, or their relation to momentary nicotine and substance use risk. We address this knowledge gap in the current study using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Method: Fifty SGM individuals, between 18 and 45 years of age, were recruited from an inland northwestern university, regardless of their nicotine or substance use history, and invited to participate in an EMA study. Each were prompted to provide data, six times daily (between 10:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.) for 14 days, regarding SGM-based discrimination, other forms of mistreatment, and nicotine, drug, and alcohol use since their last prompt. Results: Discrimination experiences that occurred since individuals’ last measurement prompt were associated with greater odds of nicotine and substance use during the same measurement window. Substance use was also more likely to occur in relation to discrimination reported two measurements prior in lagged models. Relative to other forms of mistreatment, discrimination effects were consistently larger in magnitude and became stronger throughout the day/evening. Conclusion: This study adds to existing minority stress research by highlighting the both immediate and delayed correlates of daily SGM-based discrimination experiences. These results also contribute to our understanding of daily stress processes and provide insight into ways we might mitigate these effects using real-time monitoring and intervention technology