The biologic digestion of garbage with sewage sludge

Bibliography: p. 105-109

Alcohol consumption, wealth and health - Authors' reply

No abstract available

Socioeconomic status as an effect modifier of alcohol consumption and harm: an analysis of linked cohort data

Background: Alcohol-related mortality and morbidity are higher in socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. It is unclear if elevated harm reflects differences in consumption, reverse causation or greater risk of harm following similar consumption. We investigated whether the harmful effects differed by socioeconomic status accounting for alcohol consumption and other health-related factors. Methods: Alcohol consumption (weekly units and binge drinking) data (n=50,236; 429,986 person-years of follow-up) were linked to deaths, hospitalisations and prescriptions. The primary outcome was alcohol-attributable hospitalisation/death. The relationship between alcohol attributable harm and socioeconomic status was investigated for four measures (education level, social class, household income and area-based deprivation) using Cox proportional hazards models. The potential for alcohol consumption and other risk factors mediating the social patterning was explored. Downward social selection for high-risk drinkers (reverse causation) was tested by comparing change in area deprivation over time. Findings: Low socioeconomic status was consistently associated with markedly elevated alcohol-attributable harms, including after adjustment for weekly consumption, binge drinking, body mass index and smoking. There was evidence of effect modification: for example, relative to light drinkers living in advantaged areas, the hazard ratio for excessive drinkers was 6.75 (95% CI 5.09-8.93) in advantaged and 11.06 (95% CI 8.53-14.35) in deprived areas. We found little support for downward social selection. Interpretation: Disadvantaged social groups experience greater alcohol-attributable harms compared to the advantaged for given levels of alcohol consumption, even after accounting for different drinking patterns, obesity and smoking status at the individual level

Bullying in Graduate School: Its Nature and Effects

Does bullying exist in graduate school? If so, what does it look like? Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 graduate students from various departments at a medium-sized, Midwestern U.S. university. Grounded Theory methodology (Glaser, 1978) was utilized to gain insight into the terms and behaviors students used to define bullying in the graduate school context. Through constant comparative analysis (Stern, 1980), categories emerged that provided an understanding of the different perspectives inherent in a bully system, and the meanings attached to bullying behaviors. These findings can provide administrators and counselors with the information necessary to conduct preventative training to help students interact in a more professional, inclusive manner

Applications of satellite data relay to problems of field seismology

A seismic signal processor was developed and tested for use with the NOAA-GOES satellite data collection system. Performance tests on recorded, as well as real time, short period signals indicate that the event recognition technique used is nearly perfect in its rejection of cultural signals and that data can be acquired in many swarm situations with the use of solid state buffer memories. Detailed circuit diagrams are provided. The design of a complete field data collection platform is discussed and the employment of data collection platforms in seismic network is reviewed

Ultra-Wideband Communication and Sensor Fusion Platform for the Purpose of Multi-Perspective Localization.

Localization is a keystone for a robot to work within its environment and with other robots. There have been many methods used to solve this problem. This paper deals with the use of beacon-based localization to answer the research question: Can ultra-wideband technology be used to effectively localize a robot with sensor fusion? This paper has developed an innovative solution for creating a sensor fusion platform that uses ultra-wideband communication as a localization method to allow an environment to be perceived and inspected in three dimensions from multiple perspectives simultaneously. A series of contributions have been presented, supported by an in-depth literature review regarding topics in this field of knowledge. The proposed method was then designed, built, and tested successfully in two different environments exceeding its required tolerances. The result of the testing and the ideas formulated throughout the paper were discussed and future work outlined on how to build upon this work in potential academic papers and projects

Fire disturbance effects on land surface albedo in Alaskan tundra

The study uses satellite Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer albedo products (MCD43A3) to assess changes in albedo at two sites in the treeless tundra region of Alaska, both within the foothills region of the Brooks Range, the 2007 Anaktuvuk River Fire (ARF) and 2012 Kucher Creek Fire (KCF). Results are compared to each other and other studies to assess the magnitude of albedo change and the longevity of impact of fire on land surface albedo. In both sites there was a marked decrease of albedo in the year following the fire. In the ARF, albedo slowly increased until 4 years after the fire, when it returned to albedo values prior to the fire. For the year immediately after the fire, a threefold difference in the shortwave albedo decrease was found between the two sites. ARF showed a 45.3% decrease, while the KCF showed a 14.1% decrease in shortwave albedo, and albedo is more variable in the KCF site than ARF site 1 year after the fire. These differences are possibly the result of differences in burn severity of the two fires, wherein the ARF burned more completely with more contiguous patches of complete burn than KCF. The impact of fire on average growing season (April–September) surface shortwave forcing in the year following fire is estimated to be 13.24 ± 6.52 W m−2 at the ARF site, a forcing comparable to studies in other treeless ecosystems. Comparison to boreal studies and the implications to energy flux are discussed in the context of future increases in fire occurrence and severity in a warming climate

Knowledge transfer within strategic partnerships: the case of HRM in the Brazilian motor industry supply chain

This paper investigates knowledge transfer (KT) of human resource management (HRM) across strategic partnerships in the Brazilian automotive industry, and the contextual factors impacting on KT within the supply chain. Case-study research in automotive companies and suppliers in Brazil is used to illustrate how in automotive industries, relationships with suppliers have traditionally been viewed as close, strategic partnerships, but over time, there has been a move towards more attenuated, supply chains, involving a shift towards more remote suppliers for basic components, and arms length relationships with them. In turn, this has impacted on how knowledge on HR has been transferred from manufacturers to suppliers. Both strategic partnerships and KT have been affected by internal drives towards cost cutting and talent retention, and external factors such as global competition through cheap imports, legislation, taxes, and unions. Evidence on the sometimes contradictory attitudes towards KT contributes towards the broader literatures on international HRM and KT in emerging economies, while the gradual unwinding of relationships has implications for policy and practice

Effects of Molecular Weight on Mechanical Properties of the Polyimide Larc-SI™

In order to better understand the effects of molecular weight on the performance and service life of polymeric matrix composites we designed a series of investigations on a polyimide system which was developed for possible use in the airframe industry. We wanted to determine if engineering properties depend on the molecular weight of the potential matrix material, assuming that the polymer is not cross-linked. For this study we prepared six batches of the polyimide LaRC-SI™, where each batch possessed a different molecular weight. Cross-linking was discouraged by the addition of “end caps” which attach to the ends of the molecules and renders them chemically inert

Adaptive mutation using statistics mechanism for genetic algorithms

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