Why do they separate it or not? Attitudes and behaviors towards organic waste separation

This article shows the results of an exploratory study related to the separation of organic waste in order to offer suggestions for the improvement of waste disposal communication campaigns. The overall objective is to analyze attitude and behavior of those who do and those who do not separate organic waste, related to a specific promotional campaign carried out in two neighborhoods, in the municipality of Badalona (Spain), within the framework of the study of proenvironmental attitudes and behaviors and based on the Psychosocial Four Spheres Model. 1,010 interviews were conducted and data was analyzed using Chi-Squared Automatic Interaction Detector (CHAID). Waste separation behavior was used as a dependent variable. The reasons given to explain why people do or do not separate organic waste and sociodemographic variables, have been introduced as independent variables. In accordance with the Four Spheres Model, results show significant differences in waste separation. Based on the profiles obtained, we find some predictive variables that facilitate the development of communication campaigns according to the requirements of each community.

Collective symbolic coping with disease threat and othering: A case study of avian influenza

Much research studies how individuals cope with disease threat by blaming out-groups and protecting the in-group. The model of collective symbolic coping (CSC) describes four stages by which representations of a threatening event are elaborated in the mass media: awareness, divergence, convergence, and normalization. We used the CSC model to predict when symbolic in-group protection (othering) would occur in the case of the avian influenza (AI) outbreak. Two studies documented CSC stages and showed that othering occurred during the divergence stage, characterized by an uncertain symbolic environment. Study 1 analysed media coverage of AI over time, documenting CSC stages of awareness and divergence. In Study 2, a two-wave repeated cross-sectional survey was conducted just after the divergence stage and a year later. Othering was measured by the number of foreign countries erroneously ticked by participants as having human victims. Individual differences in germ aversion and social dominance orientation interacted to predict othering during the divergence stage but not a year later. Implications for research on CSC and symbolic in-group protection strategies resulting from disease threat are discussed.

Social Media in health. What are the safety concerns for healthcare consumers?

Recent literature has discussed the unintended consequences of clinical information technologies (IT) on patient safety, yet there has been little discussion about the safety concerns in the area of consumer health IT. This paper presents a range of safety concerns for consumers in social media, with a case study on YouTube. We conducted a scan of abstracts on 'quality criteria' related to YouTube. Five areas regarding the safety of YouTube for consumers were identifi ed: (a) harmful health material targeted at consumers (such as inappropriate marketing of tobaccoor direct-to-consumer drug advertising); (b) public display of unhealthy behaviour (such as people displaying self-injury behaviours or hurting others); (c) tainted public health messages (i.e. the rise of negative voices againstpublic health messages); (d) psychological impact from accessing inappropriate, offensive or biased social media content; and (e) using social media to distort policy and research funding agendas. The examples presented should contribute to a better understanding about how to promote a safe consumption and production of social media for consumers, and an evidence-based approach to designing social media interventions for health. The potential harm associated with the use of unsafe social media content on the Internet is a major concern. More empirical and theoretical studies are needed to examine how social media infl uences consumer health decisions, behaviours and outcomes, and devise ways to deter the dissemination of harmful infl uences in social media.

The Fairness of Media Coverage in Question: An Analysis of Referendum Campaigns on Welfare State Issues in Switzerland

The mass media are assigned an important role in political campaigns on popular votes. This article asks how the press communicates political issues to citizens during referendum campaigns, and whether some minimal criteria for successful public deliberation are met. The press coverage of all 24 ballot votes on welfare state issues from 1995 to 2004 in Switzerland is examined, distinguishing seven criteria to judge how news coverage compares to idealized notions of the media's role in the democratic process: coverage intensity, time for public deliberation, balance in media coverage, source independence and inclusiveness, substantive coverage, and spatial homogeneity. The results of our quantitative analysis suggest that the press does fulfil these normative requirements to a reasonable extent and that fears about biased or deceitful media treatment of ballot issues are not well-founded. However, some potential for optimizing the coverage of referendum campaigns by the Swiss press does exist

Fluid flow and dispersion predictions in porous media by utilizing advanced numerical methods

Diplomityön tavoitteena oli tarkastella numeerisen virtauslaskennan avulla virtaukseen liittyviä ilmiöitä ja kaasun dispersiota. Diplomityön sisältö on jaettu viiteen osaan; johdantoon, teoriaan, katsaukseen virtauksen mallinnukseen huokoisessa materiaalissa liittyviin tutkimusselvityksiin, numeeriseen mallinnukseen sekä tulosten esittämiseen ja johtopäätöksiin. Diplomityön alussa kiinnitettiin huomiota erilaisiin kokeellisiin, numeerisiin ja teoreettisiin mallinnusmenetelmiin, joilla voidaan mallintaa virtausta huokoisessa materiaalissa. Kirjallisuusosassa tehtiin katsaus aikaisemmin julkaistuihin puoliempiirisiin ja empiirisiin tutkimusselvityksiin, jotka liittyvät huokoisen materiaalin aiheuttamaan painehäviöön. Numeerisessa virtauslaskenta osassa rakennettiin ja esitettiin huokoista materiaalia kuvaavat numeeriset mallit käyttäen kaupallista FLUENT -ohjelmistoa. Työn lopussa arvioitiin teorian, numeerisen virtauslaskennan ja kokeellisten tutkimusselvitysten tuloksia. Kolmiulotteisen huokoisen materiaalinnumeerisessa mallinnuksesta saadut tulokset vaikuttivat lupaavilta. Näiden tulosten perusteella tehtiin suosituksia ajatellen tulevaa virtauksen mallinnusta huokoisessa materiaalissa. Osa tässä diplomityössä esitetyistä tuloksista tullaan esittämään 55. Kanadan Kemiantekniikan konferenssissa Torontossa 1619 Lokakuussa 2005. ASME :n kansainvälisessä tekniikan alan julkaisussa. Työ on hyväksytty esitettäväksi esitettäväksi laskennallisen virtausmekaniikan (CFD) aihealueessa 'Peruskäsitteet'. Lisäksi työn yksityiskohtaiset tulokset tullaan lähettämään myös CES:n julkaisuun.

The building blocks of the full body ownership illusion

Previous work has reported that it is not difficult to give people the illusion of ownership over an artificial body, providing a powerful tool for the investigation of the neural and cognitive mechanisms underlying body perception and self consciousness. We present an experimental study that uses immersive virtual reality (IVR) focused on identifying the perceptual building blocks of this illusion. We systematically manipulated visuotactile and visual sensorimotor contingencies, visual perspective, and the appearance of the virtual body in order to assess their relative role and mutual interaction. Consistent results from subjective reports and physiological measures showed that a first person perspective over a fake humanoid body is essential for eliciting a body ownership illusion. We found that the illusion of ownership can be generated when the virtual body has a realistic skin tone and spatially substitutes the real body seen from a first person perspective. In this case there is no need for an additional contribution of congruent visuotactile or sensorimotor cues. Additionally, we found that the processing of incongruent perceptual cues can be modulated by the level of the illusion: when the illusion is strong, incongruent cues are not experienced as incorrect. Participants exposed to asynchronous visuotactile stimulation can experience the ownership illusion and perceive touch as originating from an object seen to contact the virtual body. Analogously, when the level of realism of the virtual body is not high enough and/or when there is no spatial overlap between the two bodies, then the contribution of congruent multisensory and/or sensorimotor cues is required for evoking the illusion. On the basis of these results and inspired by findings from neurophysiological recordings in the monkey, we propose a model that accounts for many of the results reported in the literature.

Análisis arqueomorfológico y dinámica territorial en el Vallés Oriental (Barcelona) de la Protohistoria s. VI-V a.C.) a la alta Edad Media (s. IX-X)

La investigación sobre el paisaje en zonas urbanas o periurbanas implica importantes limitaciones metodológicas. En el presente estudio, el trabajo se centra en un llano pre-litoral próximo a la ciudad de Barcelona, el Vallès Oriental, profundamente urbanizado en las últimas dos décadas, hecho que condiciona la recuperación de nuevos datos arqueológicos y la implementación de programas de prospección arqueológica. Asimismo, la particular topografía que presenta el llano, caracterizado por unos relieves suaves, ha obligado a adaptar la metodología del análisis arqueomorfológico a este contexto geográfico. El artículo presenta los resultados del análisis arqueomorfológico realizado, que han sido cruzados con la documentación histórica y arqueológica para caracterizar —desde una perspectiva diacrónica— la red viaria, la estructuración territorial y la evolución del poblamiento de esta área y, finalmente, determinar las dinámicas del paisaje en época romana. La investigación sobre la morfología del territorio se ha llevado a cabo a partir de un intenso trabajo de fotointerpretación y análisis de la cartografía histórica en entorno SIG, especialmente útil en un paisaje marcado por las importantes trasformaciones del medio rural. Igualmente, los datos generados en los últimos años por la investigación arqueológica han sido revisados de forma detallada, a fin de contribuir a la planificación de las prospecciones arqueológicas y arqueomorfológicas desarrolladas.

Optimization of the procedure for removing iron deposits on ceramic filter media

In this thesis, cleaning of ceramic filter media was studied. Mechanisms of fouling and dissolution of iron compounds, as well as methods for cleaning ceramic membranes fouled by iron deposits were studied in the literature part. Cleaning agents and different methods were closer examined in the experimental part of the thesis. Pyrite is found in the geologic strata. It is oxidized to form ferrous ions Fe(II) and ferric ions Fe(III). Fe(III) is further oxidized in the hydrolysis to form ferric hydroxide. Hematite and goethite, for instance, are naturally occurring iron oxidesand hydroxides. In contact with filter media, they can cause severe fouling, which common cleaning techniques competent enough to remove. Mechanisms for the dissolution of iron oxides include the ligand-promoted pathway and the proton-promoted pathway. The dissolution can also be reductive or non-reductive. The most efficient mechanism is the ligand-promoted reductive mechanism that comprises two stages: the induction period and the autocatalytic dissolution.Reducing agents(such as hydroquinone and hydroxylamine hydrochloride), chelating agents (such as EDTA) and organic acids are used for the removal of iron compounds. Oxalic acid is the most effective known cleaning agent for iron deposits. Since formulations are often more effective than organic acids, reducing agents or chelating agents alone, the citrate¿bicarbonate¿dithionite system among others is well studied in the literature. The cleaning is also enhanced with ultrasound and backpulsing.In the experimental part, oxalic acid and nitric acid were studied alone andin combinations. Also citric acid and ascorbic acid among other chemicals were tested. Soaking experiments, experiments with ultrasound and experiments for alternative methods to apply the cleaning solution on the filter samples were carried out. Permeability and ISO Brightness measurements were performed to examine the influence of the cleaning methods on the samples. Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) analysis of the solutions was carried out to determine the dissolved metals.

Proyecto para la unificación de la red de media tensión de la ciudad de Lleida

El projecte, proposa el canvi de 11 a 25 Kv de la xarxa de mitja tensió de la ciutat de Lleida, amb l'objectiu d'unificar sistemes, avançar cap a una convergència d'unificació de tensions, homogeneïtzar l'explotació, eliminar equips obsolets, reducció d'estocs, etc.

Development of filter media treatments for liquid filtration

Woven monofilament, multifilament, and spun yarn filter media have long been the standard media in liquid filtration equipment. While the energy for a solid-liquid separation process is determined by the engineering work, it is the interface between the slurry and the equipment - the filter media - that greatly affects the performance characteristics of the unit operation. Those skilled in the art are well aware that a poorly designed filter medium may endanger the whole operation, whereas well-performing filter media can make the operation smooth and economical. As the mineral and pulp producers seek to produce ever finer and more refined fractions of their products, it is becoming increasingly important to be able to dewater slurries with average particle sizes around 1 ¿m using conventional, high-capacity filtration equipment. Furthermore, the surface properties of the media must not allow sticky and adhesive particles to adhere to the media. The aim of this thesis was to test how the dirt-repellency, electrical resistance and highpressure filtration performance of selected woven filter media can be improved by modifying the fabric or yarn with coating, chemical treatment and calendering. The results achieved by chemical surface treatments clearly show that the woven media surface properties can be modified to achieve lower electrical resistance and improved dirt-repellency. The main challenge with the chemical treatments is the abrasion resistance and, while the experimental results indicate that the treatment is sufficiently permanent to resist standard weathering conditions, they may still prove to be inadequately strong in terms of actual use.From the pressure filtration studies in this work, it seems obvious that the conventional woven multifilament fabrics still perform surprisingly well against the coated media in terms of filtrate clarity and cake build-up. Especially in cases where the feed slurry concentration was low and the pressures moderate, the conventional media seemed to outperform the coated media. In the cases where thefeed slurry concentration was high, the tightly woven media performed well against the monofilament reference fabrics, but seemed to do worse than some of the coated media. This result is somewhat surprising in that the high initial specific resistance of the coated media would suggest that the media will blind more easily than the plain woven media. The results indicate, however, that it is actually the woven media that gradually clogs during the coarse of filtration. In conclusion, it seems obvious that there is a pressure limit above which the woven media looses its capacity to keep the solid particles from penetrating the structure. This finding suggests that for extreme pressures the only foreseeable solution is the coated fabrics supported by a strong enough woven fabric to hold thestructure together. Having said that, the high pressure filtration process seems to follow somewhat different laws than the more conventional processes. Based on the results, it may well be that the role of the cloth is most of all to support the cake, and the main performance-determining factor is a long life time. Measuring the pore size distribution with a commercially available porometer gives a fairly accurate picture of the pore size distribution of a fabric, but failsto give insight into which of the pore sizes is the most important in determining the flow through the fabric. Historically air, and sometimes water, permeability measures have been the standard in evaluating media filtration performance including particle retention. Permeability, however, is a function of a multitudeof variables and does not directly allow the estimation of the effective pore size. In this study a new method for estimating the effective pore size and open pore area in a densely woven multifilament fabric was developed. The method combines a simplified equation of the electrical resistance of fabric with the Hagen-Poiseuille flow equation to estimate the effective pore size of a fabric and the total open area of pores. The results are validated by comparison to the measured values of the largest pore size (Bubble point) and the average pore size. The results show good correlation with measured values. However, the measured and estimated values tend to diverge in high weft density fabrics. This phenomenon is thought to be a result of a more tortuous flow path of denser fabrics, and could most probably be cured by using another value for the tortuosity factor.

Relación entre variables de personalidad e interés por temas morbosos y sexuales en los mass media: réplica del estudio de Zuckerman y Litle en una muestra española

Este trabajo pretende replicar con muestras españolas un estudio americano diseñado para evaluar las relaciones entre el rasgo Búsquesa de Sensaciones, Extraversión, Neuroticismo y Psicoticismo, con el interés por la contemplación o lectura de sucesos violentos, morbosos y sexuales en los medios de comunicación (o reales). El estudio se realizó a partir de inventarios autoinformados de curiosidad morbosa, cuestionarios de personalidad y autopuntuaciones de asistencia a películas pornográficas y de terror. Los resultados obtenidos informan de una relación positiva entre las escalas de Búsqueda de Sensaciones (EBS) y las escalas de Curiosidad Morbosa (CTM-CTS). Ello sugiere como hipótesis que los altos buscadores de sensaciones podrían estar interesados en estímulos que aumentan la actividad del sistema central de catecolaminas. Para ello se parte de hallazgos experimentales previos que apuntan que películas morbosas de terror o sexuales aumentan los niveles de las catecolaminas periféricas.