556 research outputs found
The classification of substance and behavioural addictions: A preliminary investigation
The term addiction has been used to refer to impaired control over substance use for several centuries however recently there has been a shift toward using this term in the context of non-substance use disorders, such as pathological gambling. A preliminary investigation was conducted in an attempt to clarify the most appropriate classification of 'behavioural addictions'. Participants with alcohol dependence (AD, n = 24), pathological gambling (PG, n = 20) and compulsive buying disorder (CBD, n = 14) completed an Addictive Disorder Questionnaire (ADQ); the Symptom Checklist 90 Revised (SCL-90R); Barratt Impulsivity Scale II; and substance specific adaptations of the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS). Although the AD group reported more severe addiction symptoms and had higher levels of depression and anxiety, there were broad similarities across the three disorders in relation to cravings, dyscontrol, impulsivity and obsessions. Despite the small sample size and the different recruitment strategies used across the groups, the findings from this preliminary study provide support for broadening addiction diagnostic definitions to include non-substance related disorders which in turn may contribute to the development of more efficacious treatments
"A Business Unique": The Wilson Line of Hull, 1840-1916
The aim of this paper is to examine the development of the Wilson Line of Hull from the 1840s to 1916, a period during which the firm expanded rapidly to become one of the largest enterprises in the British shipping industry. It assesses the extent to which the company was unique in the context of Britain’s highly significant shipping interests, and explains how the Wilson family retained ownership and control of their large-scale and wide-ranging business
Keywords in Creative Writing
Wendy Bishop and David Starkey have created a remarkable resource volume for creative writing students and other writers just getting started. In two- to ten-page discussions, these authors introduce forty-one central concepts in the fields of creative writing and writing instruction, with discussions that are accessible yet grounded in scholarship and years of experience. Keywords in Creative Writing provides a brief but comprehensive introduction to the field of creative writing through its landmark terms, exploring concerns as abstract as postmodernism and identity politics alongside very practical interests of beginning writers, like contests, agents, and royalties. This approach makes the book ideal for the college classroom, and unique in the field, combining the pragmatic accessibility of popular writer\u27s handbooks, with a wider, more scholarly vision of theory and research.https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/usupress_pubs/1157/thumbnail.jp
Development of CO2 capture method via polyurethane-amine sorbent in VSA
With increases in extreme weather and global temperatures, research is delving into CO2 capture to help reverse climate change. This project explored utilizing vacuum swing adsorption (VSA) for CO2 capture and release. VSA uses a sorbent, in this case amine sorbents, to capture CO2 from air and subsequently removes it via vacuum. Polyurethane (PU) foam was investigated as a potential matrix for amine sorbents to increase exposure of CO2 capturing amines to air by utilizing its porous structure. PU mixing studies were conducted to determine the feasibility of mixing PU foam with amines and coating foams with amine solutions by studying the effects they might have on the foam matrix structure. The amines tested include polyethylenimine (PEI), tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA), and diethylenetriamine (DETA). The impact of modifying the amines via methods such as saturation with CO2 and poisoning with acids were explored with regard to their effect on PU foam structure and expansion. Many interactions between amines and PU caused the resulting foam to collapse, having little to no porous structure. However, a 6.5 wt% of 1:1 H2O and TEPA mixture added to PU was determined to provide better internal structure and solvent uptake than commercial closed cell foam. A CO2 capture vacuum unit was designed and constructed for VSA. FTIR analysis was conducted in-situ with the unit to observe CO2 adsorption and desorption. Observations verified the method of CO2 capture and measurement as an effective method. It also showed that some amine was pulled from the PU matrix in the vacuum, so future work will continue to improve amine retention. This project developed sorbent samples with analysis of amine-PU interaction effects, a CO2 unit for VSA, and a method for in-situ analysis of CO2 adsorption and desorption
Correlated X-ray/Ultraviolet/Optical Variability in NGC 6814
We present results of a 3-month combined X-ray/UV/optical monitoring campaign
of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 6814. The object was monitored by Swift from June
through August 2012 in the X-ray and UV bands and by the Liverpool Telescope
from May through July 2012 in B and V. The light curves are variable and
significantly correlated between wavebands. Using cross-correlation analysis,
we compute the time lag between the X-ray and lower energy bands. These lags
are thought to be associated with the light travel time between the central
X-ray emitting region and areas further out on the accretion disc. The computed
lags support a thermal reprocessing scenario in which X-ray photons heat the
disc and are reprocessed into lower energy photons. Additionally, we fit the
lightcurves using CREAM, a Markov Chain Monte Carlo code for a standard disc.
The best-fitting standard disc model yields unreasonably high super-Eddington
accretion rates. Assuming more reasonable accretion rates would result in
significantly under-predicted lags. If the majority of the reprocessing
originates in the disc, then this implies the UV/optical emitting regions of
the accretion disc are farther out than predicted by the standard thin disc
model. Accounting for contributions from broad emission lines reduces the lags
in B and V by approximately 25% (less than the uncertainty in the lag
measurements), though additional contamination from the Balmer continuum may
also contribute to the larger than expected lags. This discrepancy between the
predicted and measured interband delays is now becoming common in AGN where
wavelength-dependent lags are measured.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Species Limits and Phylogeography of North American Cricket Frogs (Acris: Hylidae)
Cricket frogs are widely distributed across the eastern United States and two species, the northern cricket frog (Acris crepitans) and the southern cricket frog (A. gryllus) are currently recognized. We generated a phylogenetic hypothesis for Acris using fragments of nuclear and mitochondrial genes in separate and combined phylogenetic analyses. We also used distance methods and fixation indices to evaluate species limits within the genus and the validity of currently recognized subspecies of A. crepitans. The distributions of existing A. crepitans subspecies, defined by morphology and call types, do not match the distributions of evolutionary lineages recovered using our genetic data. We discuss a scenario of call evolution to explain this disparity. We also recovered distinct phylogeographic groups within A. crepitans and A. gryllus that are congruent with other codistributed taxa. Under a lineage-based species concept, we recognize Acris blanchardi as a distinct species. The importance of this revised taxonomy is discussed in light of the dramatic declines in A. blanchardi across the northern and western portions of its range
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