A test house study of pesticides and pesticide degradation products following an indoor application

Preexisting pesticide degradates are a concern for pesticide biomonitoring studies as exposure to them may result in overestimation of pesticide exposure. The purpose of this research was to determine whether there was significant formation and movement, of pesticide degradates over a 5‐week period in a controlled indoor setting after insecticide application. Movement of the pesticides during the study was also evaluated. In a simulated crack and crevice application, commercially available formulations of fipronil, propoxur, cis/trans‐permethrin, and cypermethrin were applied to a series of wooden slats affixed to the wall in one room of an unoccupied test house. Floor surface samples were collected through 35 days post‐application. Concentrations of the pesticides and the following degradates were determined: 2‐iso‐propoxyphenol, cis/trans 3‐(2,2‐dichlorovinyl)‐3‐3‐dimethyl‐(1‐cyclopropane) carboxylic acid, 3‐phenoxybenzoic acid, fipronil sulfone, fipronil sulfide, and fipronil desulfinyl. Deltamethrin, which had never been applied, and chlorpyrifos, which had been applied several years earlier, and their degradation products, cis‐3‐(2,2‐dibromovinyl)‐2,2‐dimethylcyclopropane‐1‐carboxylic acid, and, 3,5,6‐trichloro‐2‐pyridinol, respectively, were also measured. Propoxur was the only insecticide with mass movement away from the application site. There was no measurable formation or movement of the degradates. However, all degradates were present at low levels in the formulated product. These results indicate longitudinal repetitive sampling of indoor degradate levels during short‐term studies, is unnecessary.     

Quantitative Physiological Assessment of Stress Via Altered Immune Functioning Following Interaction With Differing Automotive Interface Technologies

Technology can enhance or diminish a user's psycho-physiological stress level; the ability to quantify these responses can help evaluate and refine design. The capability of drivers to accomplish basic tasks utilizing differing sensory modalities while maintaining lane discipline within a computer-simulated environment was assessed. Fifteen healthy subjects provided capillary blood samples before and after using three human–machine interface designs—touch-screen, voice control, and multimodal. Using a chemiluminescent technique termed Leukocyte Coping Capacity, the ability of leukocytes to produce reactive oxygen species in vitro was assessed. Significant poststressor changes in leukocyte activity of varying magnitude were observed following the use of all interfaces; with the multimodal interface provoking the most pronounced response and voice control the least. Although still requiring further research, the results support the proposition for using immune responsiveness as a means for quantifying psychological stress during assessment of ergonomic design and psycho-physiological and social interaction.     

The Role of Organizational Vision in Guiding Idea Generation within SME Contexts

New ideas are required if our organizations are going to survive and grow. Without the ability to think differently, firms can quickly stagnate and decline. A key contributor to the success (or otherwise) of the ideation process is the extent to which organizations provide effective control mechanisms, with existing literature drawing tentative links between this and the subject of organizational vision. The aim of this paper is to explore the control of idea generation in SME contexts, examining the interaction between organizational vision and the guidance of ideation in these settings. Through in‐depth qualitative research with a range of SMEs, this study shows that structure in the form of an outlining framework assists in opening a liminal space for ideation. More importantly, this paper provides empirical evidence, which demonstrates that organizational visions provide this framework by acting as a target, assisting the development of relevant ideas. Ideation, within the SME, is argued to be fundamentally subject to, and contingent upon, the direction of the organization.     

Minimum required angular resolution of smartphone displays for the human visual system

There has been a rapid increase in the resolution of small‐sized and medium‐sized displays. This study determines an upper discernible limit for display resolution. A range of resolutions varying from 254–1016 PPI were evaluated using simulated display by 49 subjects at 300 mm viewing distance. The results of the study conclusively show that users can discriminate between 339 and 508 PPI and in many cases between 508 and 1016 PPI.     

Electrically insulating polymeric nanocomposites with enhanced thermal conductivity by visible‐light curing of epoxy–boron nitride nanotube formulations

Epoxy–boron nitride nanotube (BNNT) composites were prepared using visible light through a radical‐induced cationic polymerization method activated by camphorquinone. The fully cured films showed an enhancement of glass transition temperature in the presence of the filler. Electrical characterization showed a slight dielectric constant decrease with BNNT content. Finally, thermal conductivity measured using nano‐flash analysis showed a linear increase in the thermal conductivity of the materials with increasing BNNT content in the photocurable formulations. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry     

Revealing mechanisms underlying variation in malaria virulence: effective propagation and host control of uninfected red blood cell supply

Malaria parasite clones with the highest transmission rates to mosquitoes also tend to induce the most severe fitness consequences (or virulence) in mammals. This is in accord with expectations from the virulence–transmission trade-off hypothesis. However, the mechanisms underlying how different clones cause virulence are not well understood. Here, using data from eight murine malaria clones, we apply recently developed statistical methods to infer differences in clone characteristics, including induction of differing host-mediated changes in red blood cell (RBC) supply. Our results indicate that the within-host mechanisms underlying similar levels of virulence are variable and that killing of uninfected RBCs by immune effectors and/or retention of RBCs in the spleen may ultimately reduce virulence. Furthermore, the correlation between clone virulence and the degree of host-induced mortality of uninfected RBCs indicates that hosts increasingly restrict their RBC supply with increasing intrinsic virulence of the clone with which they are infected. Our results demonstrate a role for self-harm in self-defence for hosts and highlight the diversity and modes of virulence of malaria.     

The enhancement of spatial microsimulation models using geodemographics

The generation of synthetic population estimates through spatial microsimulation has been a popular technique in recent years, with applications to research and policy problems in many areas of social science. Estimation techniques typically involve cloning or matching households in surveys with small-area census data. When model estimates are benchmarked against real-world data, the models are typically well behaved and very robust, but they can struggle to capture the diversity of spatial variations shown by observed data. We argue in this paper that this is the result of 3 potential problems in spatial microsimulation estimation techniques. The first issue results from the matching process in the estimation techniques, and the second problem relates to the variations of household types in the surveys being reweighted. Third, similar household types may show different behaviours or have different attributes depending on geographical factors not contained in surveys (such as the proximity of service or job locations). The aim of this paper is to demonstrate and measure the loss of accuracy and intensity induced by spatial microsimulation in the context of real individual data. It will be argued in particular that while the first two problems have begun to be addressed in the literature, the third issue is still largely unreported. The paper will thus suggest a solution framework which involves linking spatial microsimulation models with geodemographics and demonstrates the promise of this technique with real numerical experiments.     

The relative performance of alternative oxygen carriers for liquid chemical looping combustion and gasification

The relative performance of different potential liquid oxygen carriers within a novel system that can be configured for either chemical looping gasification or combustion is assessed. The parameters considered here are the melting temperature, the Gibbs free energy, reaction enthalpy, exergy and energy flows, syngas quality and temperature difference between the two reactors. Results show that lead, copper and antimony oxides are meritorious candidates for the proposed systems. Antimony oxide was found to offer strong potential for high quality syngas production because it has a reasonable oxygen mass ratio for gasification. A sufficiently low operating temperature to be compatible with concentrated solar thermal energy and a propensity to generate methane. In contrast, copper and lead oxides offer greater potential for liquid chemical looping combustion because they have higher oxygen mass ratio and a higher operating temperature, which enables better efficiency from a power plant. For all three metal oxides, the production of methane via the undesirable methanation reaction is less than 2% of the product gasses for all operating temperatures and an order of magnitude lower for lead.     

Blood parameters of young calves at abattoirs are related to distance transported and farm of origin

Nonreplacement dairy calves, or bobby calves, are fasted and transported to abattoirs from as young as 5 d of age in Australia. The aims of this cross-sectional observational study were (1) to assess the welfare status, as measured by blood parameters, of bobby calves in the commercial supply chain after transport and lairage, and (2) to assess whether distance and duration of transport are risk factors for poor bobby calf welfare, as measured by blood parameters. We hypothesized that bobby calves transported greater distances would be more likely to show evidence of compromised welfare, as measured by blood indicators of hydration, energy status, and muscle fatigue or damage. We also hypothesized that there would be a large amount of variability in indicators of energy status between calves from different farms. We analyzed blood samples collected at slaughter over a spring and an autumn calving period from 4,484 Australian bobby calves aged approximately 5 to 14 d old from 3 different states, after transport, fasting, and lairage. Packed cell volume (PCV), plasma glucose, and serum urea, total protein, β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), and creatine kinase (CK) were measured. Radio frequency identification ear tag data were used to estimate the distance that the calves were transported and to identify the farm of origin. Data were analyzed using linear mixed models, except for BHB, which was analyzed using a Goodman-Kruskal gamma test due to left censoring of the data. Twelve percent of calves showed evidence of anemia (PCV less than 0.23 L/L), and 11% had urea concentrations consistent with dehydration (urea more than 7.7 mmol/L). Thirty-six percent of calves had CK activity above normal resting values, and 1% of calves had CK >2,000 U/L, indicating muscle fatigue or damage. Distance transported had significant effects on all blood variables except urea and BHB. With increasing distance transported, calves were more likely to show evidence of a negative energy balance (low plasma glucose) or dehydration (high PCV or total protein). The estimated effect of distance overall was small, but for calves transported more than 500 km, plasma glucose concentration declined more per kilometer. The calves' farm of origin accounted for a reasonable amount of the random variation between calves for plasma glucose (20%). Our results suggest that longer transport distances may increase the risk of poor calf welfare (dehydration, negative energy balance) after transport, and on-farm calf management (e.g., nutrition, timing of feeding before transport) may affect transported calves' energy status; improving this area could result in better energy availability during fasting.