Placoid and polyodontode scales of stem chondrichthyans have been found in the early Lochkovian “Ditton

Group” of the Brown Clee Hill district, Shropshire, England and at Talgarth, south Wales. One of the forms is

assigned to a new species of Altholepis Karatajūtė-Talimaa, 1997, a genus already recognised from Lochkovian

shallow marine deposits in Celtiberia, Spain and the Northwest Territories, Canada as well as the type locality in

Podolia, Ukraine. Altholepis salopensis sp. nov. is based on small polyodontode scales with typically three to eight

high odontodes; the scale form was previously considered to belong to acanthodian “Nostolepis” robusta (Brotzen,

1934). The structure of other scales formerly assigned to “Nostolepis” robusta has led us to erect a new genus

Jolepis for this scale form, which differs from Altholepis in lacking an ordered layout of odontodes. Jolepis robusta

(Brotzen, 1934), originally (and possibly still) considered to be an acanthodian, is also known from the Baltic

countries, Russia, and northern Germany (ex erratic limestones). Scales of acanthodian Parexus recurvus Agassiz,

1845, and/or possibly from the stem chondrichthyan Seretolepis elegans Karatajūtė-Talimaa, 1968 (scales of these

two taxa are barely distinguishable), and of stem chondrichthyan Polymerolepis whitei Karatajūtė-Talimaa, 1968

are also present. Altholepis, Jolepis gen. nov., Seretolepis Karatajūtė-Talimaa, 1968 and Polymerolepis Karatajūtė-

Talimaa, 1968 are found in marine deposits elsewhere; the British occurrence of these taxa adds to the debate on

the sedimentological origins of the Lower Old Red Sandstone deposits in the Welsh Borderland. The geographic

range of several early sharks is now known to extend around the Old Red Sandstone continent and beyond.

The aim of the study was to investigate how the time structure of a road-traffic affects the noise annoyance judgment. In a psychoacoustic experiment, the listeners judged noise annoyance of four road-traffic noise scenarios with identical numbers of vehicles and LAeq, T value but different time structure of a road traffic. The traffic structure varied from even to highly clustered across different scenarios. The scenarios were created in the laboratory from a large set of a single vehicle pass-by recordings. The scenarios were additionally filtered with filters corresponding to a typical window transfer function to simulate the situation inside the building. The experimental results showed that there is a significant difference in annoyance judgment for different traffic structures with the same LAeq, T value. The highest annoyance ratings were obtained for even traffic distribution and the most clustered distribution resulted in the lowest annoyance rating. These results correlated well with the averaged loudness, whereas the percentile loudness (N5) and level (L5) predict the opposite results.

This paper presents the results obtained from the structural re.nement of selected metals and alloys produced by severe plasticdeformation processes. Large levels of deformations were produced using four methods, which di.ered in the character and dynamics of the loading, as well as in the intensity and homogeneity oft he plastic strain .eld. Qualitative and quantitative studies of the re.ned microstructure were carried out using stereological and computer image analytical methods. Microhardness and selected mechanical properties, such as strength and yield point, were also determined.

This study aimed to compare measures of religiosity and spirituality in the experience of positive and negative emotions. For this purpose, a measure of non-spiritual religiosity (Religious Sense Scale) was developed. Method: The study has been conducted on a sample of 279 participants aged between 19 and 69 (M=24.42, SD=9.463) who completed a questionnaire that included the Religious Sense Scale, the Portuguese version of the Spiritual Well-being Questionnaire and the abridged Portuguese version of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. Findings: The was found to have excellent metrical properties for the measurement of religiosity or “religious sense”. Religious individuals differ from spiritual ones in the experience of emotions: spirituality tends to a greater experience of positive affect and religiosity to negative affect.

This paper presents the results of a study on the Polish version of the Generic Conspiracist Beliefs Scale (GCBS), which was designed to measure individual differences in conspiracist thinking (Brotherton, French, & Pickering; 2013). The Polish version of the scale had excellent internal consistency as measured by Cronbach alpha: .93. The Polish version also had excellent test-retest stability. To check the validity of the questionnaire, various tools were used to measure the characteristics that can be correlated with conspiracist thinking. As a result, it was found that conspiracist thinking is positively correlated with the external locus of control, the results obtained in the Scale of Belief in Zero-Sum Game and the results of the MMPI-2 Paranoia scale. It was also found that patients with paranoid personality disorder and paranoid schizophrenia had higher results on the adapted scale than healthy subjects. In sum, the Polish version of GCBS had satisfactory psychometric properties, which makes it useful for measuring conspiracist thinking.

A mathematical model of the steam superheater exchanger with distributed parameters has been developed. Scale deposits were assumed to be present on the internal tube surfaces. It was assumed that the inner tube surfaces are covered by a thin layer of scale deposits. The finite volume method was used to solve partial differential equations describing flue gas, tube wall and steam temperature. The developed modeling technique can especially be used for modeling tube heat exchangers when detail information on the tube wall temperature distribution is needed. The numerical model of the superheater developed in the paper can be used for modeling of the superheaters with complex flow arrangement accounting scales on the internal tube surfaces. Using the model proposed the detailed steam, wall and flue gas temperature distribution over the entire superheater can be determined. The steam pressure distribution along its path flow and the total heat transfer rate can also be obtained. The calculations showed that the presence of scale on the internal surfaces of the tubes cause the steam temperature decrease and the heat flow rate transferred from the flue gas to the steam. Scale deposits on the inner surfaces of the tubes cause the tube wall temperature growth and can lead to premature wear of tubes due to overheating.

The absorption of sound in air represents one of the main problems of the scale model measurements. This absorption, especially at higher frequencies, is considerably greater than the value determined by the law of acoustical similarity between the full scale and the scale model. Different alternatives are applied for compensation of the excess air absorption including a numerical compensation. In this paper, a modified approach to numerical compensation is proposed. It is based on compensation of the sound decay only, and not background noise. As a consequence, there is no an increase of background noise in the compensated impulse response. The results obtained by the proposed procedure are compared to the corresponding ones obtained by the other procedures.

Scaling and corrosion associated with the use of natural hard water in cooling towers during recirculation pose great problems from both economical and technical points of view, such as decreased system efficiency and increased frequency of chemical cleaning. Treated municipal wastewater (MWW) is a promising alternative to freshwater as power plant cooling system makeup water, especially in arid regions. In this work, hybrid systems of salt precipitation (SP), nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) were investigated, as potential pretreatment processes for wastewater reuse as cooling water in the planned Jordan nuclear power plants. The As-Samra wastewater was used to calculate the potential of carbonate and sulfate scale formation. The results were compared to scale potentials from Palo Verde wastewater. Four cases were investigated; SP, NF, SP-RO and NF-RO. The SP pretreatment cases showed the highest monovalent to divalent ratio because of a high removal of Ca and Mg and addition of Na from the chemicals of the SP step. The NF pretreatment cases, showed the lowest calcium sulfate scale potential and this potential decreases with the % pretreatment. The scale amount increases very slightly with concentration times when the SP and NF product is desalinated by RO step.

Straw-fired batch boilers, due to their relatively simple structure and low operating costs, are an excellent source of heat for a wide range of applications. A concept prototype of a cogeneration system with a straw-fired batch boiler was developed. The basic assumptions were based on the principles of the Rankine Cycle and the Organic Rankine Cycle systems with certain design modifications. Using the prototype design of a system that collects high-temperature heat from the boiler, studies were performed. The studies involved an analysis of the flue gas temperature distribution in the area of the oil exchanger, a comparison of the instantaneous power of the boiler’s water and oil circuits for different modes of operation, as well as an analysis of the flue gas. In the proposed system configuration where the electricity production supplements heat generation, the power in the oil circuit may be maintained at a constant level of approx. 20-30 kW. This is possible provided that an automatic fuel supply system is applied. Assuming that the efficiency of the electricity generation system is not less than 10%, it will be possible to generate 2-3 kW of electricity. This value will be sufficient, for an on-site operation of the boiler.

Vertical distribution and quantitative and qualitative phytoplankton composition were studied in Ezcurra Inlet, Admiralty Bay, South Shetland Islands in the austral summer 1977/78. Nannoplankton flagellates, 12—15 μm in diameter and 4—6 μm "monads" were the principal algae of the plankton. Diatoms, present in a low abundance, were dominated by Thalassiosira antarctica and several species of the genera Nitzschia and Chaetoceros. Peaks of cell numbers within the 1—10 m surface stratum and at the bottom of the euphotic zone were characteristic of the vertical distribution of phytoplankton. Light, water movements and density micro-gradients were the likely factors controlling the vertical distribution of algae.

The transformation of the former docks in Dublin was one of the major urban regeneration projects in Ireland, which was built during the recent economic boom. Since the start of the project in the nineties, more than six thousand apartments have been built in the area. The construction of the apartments allowed for the diversifi cation of the character of this district into a living quarter. Initially the Docklands were considered as an offi ce district that would serve the Ireland’s service-based economy. New projects also allowed for the development of housing in a close proximity to existing city centre, although it did not happen not without avoiding the gentrifi cation and social polarization of this area.

The key role in the process was played by the operator – the urban development agency (Dublin Docklands Development Authority). It acted both as a strategic landowner and the coordinator of the development. The agency was responsible for the delivery of the infrastructure and the sale of the land. The actions of the operator included setting up the of the housing standards, requirements for the development of the infrastructure, both social and technical and public transportation systems. In the hindsight, the agency was praised for the management of the development of such large site. On the other hand, the lack of procedural oversight and a few dubious fi nancial decisions, as well as the other eff ects of the neoliberal policies, such as gentrification, fi nally lower the assessment of DDDA efficiency in that matter.

The article summarizes the main aims and achievements of the DDDA’s development policy and its assessment from the long-term perspective of two decades of transformation. This includes the eff ects of the actions in the aftermath of the fi nancial crisis. Such perspective allows to highlight the various stages of the development of the agency and to examine the efficiency and efficacy of these actions.

This study included investigation of efficiency of the threshold used to classify symptoms as present, investigation of efficiency of the cut-off point used to identify potentially addicted to work individuals, investigation of magnitude of the problem of class overlap, and investigation of effects of dichotomization of polytomous items on the estimates of the latent trait level. The sample comprised 16,426 working Norwegians (Mage = 37.31; SD = 11.36) who filled out the Bergen Work Addiction Scale (BWAS). The results showed that the difficulty/third threshold parameters corresponding to the threshold used to classify symptoms as present were lower than 1.5 for the items corresponding to tolerance and conflict and higher than or equal to 1.5 for the items corresponding to salience, mood modification, relapse, withdrawal, and problems. The cut-off point used to identify individuals as potentially addicted to work identified 411 individuals (31.9% of all individuals classified by the polythetic approach as potentially addicted to work) whose estimates of the latent trait level were lower than 1.5 as potentially addicted to work. The problem of class overlap (being classified by the polythetic approach into different class despite almost the same level of the latent trait) affected 4,686 individuals (28.5% of the whole sample). The dichotomization of polytomous items had a substantial effect on the estimates of the latent trait level. The findings show that the polythetic approach is not efficient in identifying potentially addicted to work individuals and that the prevalence rates of work addiction based on the polythetic approach are not trustworthy.

While assessing the effects of climate change at global or regional scales, local factors responsible for climate change are generalized, which results in the averaging of effects. However, climate change assessment is required at a micro-scale to determine the severity of climate change. To ascertain the impact of spatial scales on climate change assessments, trends and shifts in annual and seasonal (monsoon and non-monsoon), rainfall and temperature (minimum, average and maximum) were determined at three different spatial resolutions in India (Ajmer city, Ajmer District and Rajasthan State). The Mann–Kendall (MK), MK test with pre-whitening of series (MK–PW), and Modified Mann–Kendall (MMK) test, along with other statistical techniques were used for the trend analysis. The Pettitt–Mann–Whitney (PMW) test was applied to detect the temporal shift in climatic parameters. The Sen’s slope and % change in rainfall and temperature were also estimated over the study period (35 years). The annual and seasonal average temperature indicates significant warming trends, when assessed at a fine spatial resolution (Ajmer city) compared to a coarser spatial resolution (Ajmer District and Rajasthan State resolutions). Increasing trend was observed in minimum, mean and maximum temperature at all spatial scales; however, trends were more pronounced at a finer spatial resolution (Ajmer city). The PMW test indicates only the significant shift in non-monsoon season rainfall, which shows an increase in rainfall after 1995 in Ajmer city. The Kurtosis and coefficient of variation also revealed significant climate change, when assessed at a finer spatial resolution (Ajmer city) compared to a coarser resolution. This shows the contribution of land use/land cover change and several other local anthropogenic activities on climate change. The results of this study can be useful for the identification of optimum climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies based on the severity of climate change at different spatial scales.

In automatic and accurate reading recognition of analog meters based on machine vision, one of important issues is the detection of pointer features, which includes the meter center and pointer image processing. The current automatic-recognition approaches to reading analog meters often consist in locating the meter center based on the dial region or its border. The located center is not coincident with the rotation center of pointer which leads to inevitable reading errors. In the paper, the centripetalism of annular scale lines is used to calculate the position of the pointer rotation center. First, it uses the region growing method to locate the dial region and uses the eccentricity measure to extract annular scale lines. Second, the parameters of these scale lines are estimated with the Hough transform method. Then, the common intersection of a group of lines, i.e., the meter rotation center, is determined with the maximum probability criterion. Finally, the pointer centerline and direction are detected through the calculated center and the Hough transform results. The simulated and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can accurately locate the pointer rotation center and obtain pointer centerline. Moreover, it is applicable to the meter image captured under a slant camera view or with uneven light illumination.