The inhibiting factors that principal investigators experience in leading publicly funded research

Securing public funding to conduct research and leading it by being a principal investigator (PI) is seen as significant career development step. Such a role brings professional prestige but also new responsibilities beyond research leadership to research management. If public funding brings financial and infrastructure support, little is understood about the inhibiting factors that publicly funded PIs face given the research autonomy offered by publicly funded research. Our study finds that there are three key PI inhibiting factors (1) political and environmental, (2) institutional and (3) project based. Traditional knowledge, skills and technical know-how of publicly funded PIs are insufficient to deal with the increasing managerial demands and expectations i.e. growing external bureaucracy of public funding agencies. Public funding is no longer the 'freest form of support' as suggested by Chubin and Hackett (Peerless science: peer review and US science policy. Suny Press, New York, 1990) and the inhibiting factors experienced by publicly funded PIs limits their research autonomy. We also argue that PIs have little influence in overcoming these inhibiting factors despite their central role in conducting publicly funded research

RECREATIONAL ANGLING TOURNAMENTS: PARTICIPANTS' EXPENDITURES. ESRI Research Bulletin 2017/05

Tournaments are a common feature of recreational angling, with upwards of 300 competitive angling events per annum in Ireland. Prior research has indicated that angler expenditures in Ireland exceed €555 million per annum but little is known specifically about angling tournaments and their economic contribution. Angling tournaments entail relatively short periods of intense activity, usually within a small geographic area, and consequently their economic impact can be quite significant in the local economy. A comprehensive understanding of tournament participants and their expenditures would be practical information for fishery managers and angling clubs seeking to raise funds, develop facilities, or boost local economic activity

The economic contribution of recreational fishing: Waterville, Co. Kerry. ESRI Research Bulletin 2017/11

This research evaluates the local economic benefit arising from recreational angling tourism in Waterville, Co. Kerry. Tourism is vital to the local economy, and fishing is an important tourist attraction. Fishing opportunities include sea fish angling for bass, pollack, mullet, etc., as well as lake and river angling for salmon, sea trout and brown trout. Other sporting and cultural attractions also exist locally and the area benefits from it situation on the ‘Ring of Kerry’. Waterville Lakes and Rivers Trust undertook a survey of anglers between February and June 2015. This research is based on that survey data but focuses on visiting tourist anglers and their expenditures in the local area, both anglingrelated (e.g. ghillie and boat hire, fishing tackle, bait, etc.) and non-angling expenditures (e.g. accommodation, meals, drinks and groceries, gifts, etc.). The survey includes both tourists where the sole focus of the trip was fishing and where fishing was only one component of a trip that included other tourist activities

Accurate measurement of the time delay in the response of the LIGO gravitational wave detectors

We present a method to precisely calibrate the time delay in a long baseline gravitational-wave interferometer. An accurate time stamp is crucial for data analysis of gravitational wave detectors, especially when performing coincidence and correlation analyses between multiple detectors. Our method uses an intensity-modulated radiation pressure force to actuate on the mirrors. The time delay is measured by comparing the phase of the signal at the actuation point with the phase of the recorded signal within the calibrated data stream used for gravitational wave searches. Because the signal-injection path is independent of the interferometer's control system, which is used for the standard calibration, this method can be an independent verification of the timing error in the system. A measurement performed with the 4 km interferometer at the LIGO Hanford Observatory shows a 1 µs relative accuracy when averaging over 50 min. Our understanding of the systematic time delay in the detector response has reached the level of 10 µs

Neural Network Analysis of the Effects of Rainfall Variability and Groundwater Usage on the Hydrologic System in a Karst Terrain, Central Florida, USA

Source: ICHE Conference Archive - https://mdi-de.baw.de/icheArchiv

Multiple Corrosion Protection Systems for Reinforced Concrete Bridge Components

the rapid macrocell, Southern Exposure, cracked beam, and linear polarization resistance tests. The systems include bars that are pretreated with zinc chromate to improve the adhesion between the epoxy and the reinforcing steel; two epoxies with improved adhesion to the reinforcing steel; one inorganic corrosion inhibitor, calcium nitrite; two organic corrosion inhibitors; an epoxy-coated bar with a primer containing microencapsulated calcium nitrite; the three epoxy-coated bars with improved adhesion combined with the corrosion inhibitor calcium nitrite; and multiple coated bars with an initial 50-μm (2-mil) coating of 98 percent zinc and 2 percent aluminum followed by a conventional epoxy-coating. The systems are compared with conventional uncoated reinforcement and conventional epoxy-coated reinforcement. The results presented in this report represent the findings obtained during the first half of a 5-year study that includes longer-term ASTM G 109 and field tests. In the short-term tests used to date, the epoxy-coatings evaluated provide superior corrosion protection to the reinforcing steel. The results also indicate that the bars will continue to perform well in the longer term, although the tests do not evaluate the effects of long-term reductions in the bond between the epoxy and the reinforcing steel. The corrosion rate on the exposed regions of damaged epoxy-coated reinforcement is somewhat higher than the average corrosion rate on the surface of uncoated reinforcement subjected to similar exposure conditions. The use of concrete with a reduced water-cement ratio improves the corrosion performance of both conventional and epoxy-coated reinforcement in uncracked concrete but has little effect in cracked concrete. Increased adhesion between the epoxy and reinforcing steel provides no significant improvement in the corrosion resistance of epoxy-coated reinforcement. It appears that corrosion inhibitors in concrete and the primer coating containing microencapsulated calcium nitrite improve the corrosion resistance of the epoxy-coated steel in uncracked concrete, but not in cracked concrete. The zinc coating on the multiple coated bars acts as a sacrificial barrier and provides some corrosion protection to the underlying steel in both uncracked and cracked concrete. The degree of protection, however, cannot be evaluated based on the results available to date

Effect of Corrosion Inhibitors on Concrete Pore Solution Composition and Corrosion Resistance

Three commercially available corrosion inhibitors—calcium nitrite, a solution of amines and esters, and an alkenyl-substituted succinic acid salt—are evaluated in conjunction with conventional reinforcement in concrete based on corrosion rate, metal loss, the critical chloride corrosion threshold (CCCT), pore solution analyses, and concrete compressive strength. All three inhibitors increase time to corrosion initiation and decrease corrosion rate, but are less effective in cracked concrete than in uncracked concrete. Of the three inhibitors, the alkenyl-substituted succinic acid salt results in the greatest decrease in corrosion rate, but exhibits the lowest CCCT—below that measured in concrete with no inhibitor. The compressive strengths of concretes containing the amine-ester inhibitor and the alkenyl-substituted succinic acid salt were 15% and 60% lower, espectively, than concrete without an inhibitor. For the latter inhibitor, pore solution analyses indicated elevated sulfate contents at 1 and 7 days, which may explain the low CCCT and strength. Paste containing the amine-ester inhibitor had an elevated sulfate content at 7 days

Effect of Corrosion Inhibitors on Concrete Pore Solution Composition and Corrosion Resistance

Three commercially available corrosion inhibitors—calcium nitrite, a solution of amines and esters, and an alkenyl-substituted succinic acid salt—are evaluated in conjunction with conventional reinforcement in concrete based on corrosion rate, metal loss, the critical chloride corrosion threshold (CCCT), pore solution analyses, and concrete compressive strength. All three inhibitors increase time to corrosion initiation and decrease corrosion rate, but are less effective in cracked concrete than in uncracked concrete. Of the three inhibitors, the alkenyl-substituted succinic acid salt results in the greatest decrease in corrosion rate, but exhibits the lowest CCCT—below that measured in concrete with no inhibitor. The compressive strengths of concretes containing the amine-ester inhibitor and the alkenyl substituted succinic acid salt were 15% and 60% lower, respectively, than concrete without an inhibitor. For the latter inhibitor, pore solution analyses indicated elevated sulfate contents at 1 and 7 days, which may explain the low CCCT and strength. Paste containing the amine-ester inhibitor had an elevated sulfate content at 7 days

Economic contribution and management of Sea Bass angling in Ireland. ESRI Research Bulletin, 2018/04

Sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) is a popular target species among Irish and UK recreational sea anglers. Stocks are vulnerable to overexploitation with harvesting of sea bass by recreational anglers prohibited for the 2018 season, though ‘catch & release’ fishing is permitted. There is a long standing moratorium on commercial fishing for sea bass around Ireland. Sea bass are a prized target species. Based on prior Inland Fisheries research approximately 11,000 anglers in Ireland fish for sea bass and this research indicates that on average they fish 31 days per year. Additionally, the valuation of the sea bass fishery to anglers is in excess of €100 million per annum with anglers’ spending in excess of €20 million per annum on fishing tackle, travel, accommodation, hostelries, etc. in pursuit of their recreational activities. On average an extra day’s fishing results in 4 additional fish caught, though this varies by angler specialisation. For example, compared to general sea anglers, specialised bass anglers catch 24 more sea bass per annum, on average. Higher catch rates also encourage more fishing trips, on average in a 2:1 ratio. These two findings underpin the importance of sea bass stock conservation. A vibrant and sustainable fishery leads to higher angler catches, which in turn leads to higher numbers of angling trips that contribute to the local economy