Bonding Fire Retardants to Wood. Part I. Thermal Behavior of Chemical Bonding Agents

Bonding chemicals to wood can alleviate the problem of leachability, but the effects of such bonding on wood properties are not yet well researched. Propylene oxide, butylene oxide, acetic anhydride, and methyl isocyanate were bonded to southern pine, and the bonded wood's thermal properties were determined by thermogravimetric and evolved gas analysis. The initial decomposition temperature was significantly increased by epoxide bonding, slightly increased by acetyl bonding, and slightly reduced with isocyanate bonding as compared to nonbonded control. The amount of char generated during pyrolysis was nearly the same for the control, acetyl-, and isocyanate-bonded wood, and was reduced for epoxide-bonded wood. The volatile decomposition products from the epoxide-bonded wood had a higher heat of combustion than those of the control, whereas the heat of combustion of volatiles from acetyl- and isocyanate-bonded wood was almost the same as that of the control

Investigating the Relationship between Strategic Thinking and Intellectual Capital with an Attitude Toward Organizational Innovation among Managers and Experts in Tehran Education Areas

Background and Objective:Tendency to organizational innovation canhappen in the field of manpower, behavioral and psychological studies of employees and recognition of their values ​​and abilities or in the field of technology and industry, equipment, modernization and new technologies or in the structure that includes a set of rules, methods, norms and criteria. Teachers and administrative staff engage in innovation, either directly, that is, implementing new ideas in administrative, technical and professional fields by themselves, or indirectly, i.e. welcoming and supporting innovations in the education and classroom environment, in which the spirit of monotonous and repetitive work gradually becomes an innovative behavior at the level of education. Given the challenges such as the crisis in financial resources, increasing unemployment rate of graduates and increasing social demands, it should be noted that minor changes cannot modify the education system. Considering the future of social and economic systems and the role and the responsibility of the educational system in responding to the needs of society, the necessity of strategic thinking in the educational system and the knowledge and mastery of educational managers over strategic management and planning, is a necessary and inevitable thing. The purpose of this study is the investigating the relationship between strategic thinking and intellectual capital with an orientation towards organizational innovation. Methods: The present study is based on the type of applied and based on the method, descriptive-analytic and correlation type. The statistical population of the study consisted of all the managers of the educational districts of Tehran in 181 people, all of whom were considered as sample size. For gathering data, three standard questionnaires include Goldman’s strategic thinking questionnaire (2001), Bontis’s intellectual capital questionnaire (1998) and Jimenez’s organizational innovation questionnaire (2008). Validity of the questionnaire was verified using content and face validity and reliability using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. In order to analyze the data and analyze the hypotheses, inferential statistics tests including Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, T-student, Pearson correlation and regression analysis were used. Findings:The results showed that strategic thinking and intellectual capital have a positive and significant effect on the orientation towards organizational innovation. In addition, according to the results of research, strategic thinking ability is more effective in orientation towards organizational innovation among Managers in Tehran Education Areas compared to the intellectual capital. In general, according to data collection and analysis of data, all hypotheses were accepted, and conceptual model is confirmed. Conclusion:  As strategic thinking and the amount of intellectual capital increase in the managers of education departments, their tendency to organizational innovation also increases. In addition, according to research results, the ability of strategic thinking compared to intellectual capital, has a greater impact on the tendency to organizational innovation.   ===================================================================================== COPYRIGHTS  ©2019 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.  ====================================================================================

Experimental and theoretical study of resonant core-hole spectroscopies of gas-phase free-base phthalocyanine

We studied N 1s−1 inner-shell processes of the free base Phthalocyanine molecule, H2Pc, in the gas-phase. This complex organic molecule contains three different nitrogen sites defined by their covalent bonds. We identify the contribution of each site in ionized, core–shell excited or relaxed electronic states by the use of different theoretical methods. In particular, we present resonant Auger spectra along with a tentative new theoretical approach based on multiconfiguration self-consistent field calculations to simulate them. These calculations may pave the road towards resonant Auger spectroscopy in complex molecules

Team performance indicators that predict match outcome and points difference in professional rugby league

Performance indicators allow for the objective quantification of performance, however, limited PI research for professional rugby league exists. Therefore, this paper assessed 24 relative PIs (home value minus away) from all 27 rounds of the 2012, 2013 and 2014 European Super League seasons, collected by Opta, amounting to 567 matches. Backwards logistic (match outcome) and linear (points difference) regression models were used alongside exhaustive Chi-Square Automatic Interaction Detection decision trees to identify performance indicators (PIs) and key performance indicators. Teams had a higher chance of winning and would gain more points when they scored first (OR = 1.6, β = 2.4) and increased completed sets (OR = 1.2, β = 1.2) by one unit. Conversely, teams had a lower chance of winning when they increased scoots (OR = 0.9, β = −0.2). However, some PIs which were thought to be important (as identified by previous literature) were removed from the analysis thus calling into question the appropriateness of stepwise methods. Future research may consider utilising dimension reduction techniques when analysing large data-sets that encompass multiple variables

Parkour as a donor sport for athletic development in youth team sports: insights through an ecological dynamics lens

Analyses of talent development in sport have identified that skill can be enhanced through early and continued involvement in donor sports which share affordances (opportunities for action) with a performer's main target sport. Aligning key ideas of the Athletic Skills Model and ecological dynamics theory, we propose how the sport of parkour could provide a representative and adaptive platform for developing athletic skill (e.g. coordination, timing, balance, agility, spatial awareness and muscular strength). We discuss how youth sport development programmes could be (re) designed to include parkour-style activities, in order to develop general athletic skills in affordance-rich environments. It is proposed that team sports development programmes could particularly benefit from parkour-style training since it is exploratory and adaptive nature shapes utilisation of affordances for innovative and autonomous performance by athletes. Early introduction to varied, relevant activities for development of athleticism and skill, in a diversified training programme, would provide impetus for a fundamental shift away from the early specialisation approach favoured by traditional theories of skill acquisition and expertise in sport

Thermogravimetric and reaction kinetic analysis of biomass samples from an energy plantation

The products of a Hungarian experimental plantation for energy crops were investigated. Young shoots of poplar clones (Populus x euramericana and Populus x interamericana), black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), willow (Salix alba), and an herbaceous plant (Miscanthus sinensis) revealed unexpectedly similar thermal behavior in inert and oxidative atmospheres, as well. An 8-fold difference in the level of grinding did not result in substantial differences in the thermal decomposition. The effect of oxygen in the ambient gas was studied at low sample masses (0.2-0.4 mg) that excluded the overheating due to the high reaction heat of the combustion process. The presence of oxygen affects the decomposition from ca. 220 degreesC. Nevertheless, the extrapolated onset temperature of the hemicellulose decomposition is practically the same at 0, 5, and 21 V/V% oxygen. A group of 12 experiments, representing two grinding levels, three plant genera and four different heating programs were evaluated simultaneously by the method of least squares employing the model of independent pseudocomponents. All evaluated experiments were well described by the same set of kinetic parameters; only the parameters describing the peak area of the partial processes differed. A technique was recommended for the appropriate handling of the nonrandom errors in the simultaneous evaluation of experiment series

Cellulosic films obtained from the treatment of sugarcane bagasse fibers with N -methylmorpholine- N -oxide (NMMO)

Ethanol/water organosolv pulping was used to obtain sugarcane bagasse pulp that was bleached with sodium chlorite. This bleached pulp was used to obtain cellulosic films that were further evaluated by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A good film formation was observed when temperature of 74 °C and baths of distilled water were used, which after FTIR, TGA, and SEM analysis indicated no significant difference between the reaction times. The results showed this to be an interesting and promising process, combining the prerequisites for a more efficient utilization of agro-industrial residues.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP), (CNPq), and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Brazil; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) and CEMU

Age-related changes to motor synergies in multi-joint and multi-finger manipulative skills: a meta-analysis

Purpose The aim of the current meta-analysis was to examine the extent to which there are differences in upper extremity motor synergies across different age groups in manipulative tasks. Methods The studies that used the uncontrolled manifold method to examine the effect of age on motor synergies in multijoint and multi-finger tasks were selected. Sixteen relevant studies from 1154 articles were selected for the meta-analysis—4 and 12 studies considered multi-joint kinematics and multi-finger kinetic tasks respectively. Results The results of the meta-analysis suggested reduced strength of synergies in multi-finger task in older adults, but this was not the case for synergies in multi-joint task. Part of this age-related difference in finger function is related to the increased variability in total force in grasping tasks. However, reductions in the strength of multi-finger synergies in hand functions following ageing appear to depend on the characteristics of the task. Conclusions These findings indicate that the cooperation among fingers to stabilise the total required force to apply for grasping and other fine motor skills is less efficient in older adults that might affect the quality of manipulative tasks

Constraints on perception of information from obstacles during foot clearance in people with chronic stroke

The aim of this study was to examine effects of different types of task constraints on coupling of perception and action in people with chronic stroke when crossing obstacles during a walking task. Ten participants with hemiplegic chronic stroke volunteered to walk over a static obstacle under two distinct task constraints: simple and dual task. Under simple task constraints, without specific instructions, participants walked at their preferred speed and crossed over an obstacle. Under dual task constraints the same individuals were required to subtract numbers whilst walking. Under both distinct task constraints, we examined emergent values of foot distance when clearing a static obstacle in both affected and unaffected legs, measured by a 3D motion tracking system. Principal Component Analysis was used to quantify task performance and discriminant analysis was used to compare gait performance between task constraints. Results suggested that patients, regardless of affected body side, demonstrated differences in perception of distance information from the obstacle, which constrained gait differences in initial swing, mid-swing and crossing phases. Further, dual task constraints, rather than hemiplegic body side, was a significant discriminator in patients' perceptions of distance and height information to the obstacle. These findings suggested how performance of additional cognitive tasks might constrain perception of information from an obstacle in people with chronic stroke during different phases of obstacle crossing, and thus may impair their adaptive ability to successfully manoeuvre around objects