scholarly journals Engineering the Properties of Eco-Friendly Medium Density Fibreboards Bonded with Lignosulfonate Adhesive

2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viktor Savov ◽  
Petar Antov

Free formaldehyde emissions from wood-based panels, especially in indoor applications, pose serious risks to human health at certain concentrations. Prolonged exposure to formaldehyde can cause adverse health effects including eye, nose and throat irritation, other respiratory symptoms and cancer. As a consequence, new formaldehyde emission limits for composite wood products were established in Europe, USA and Japan. This, together with the stricter environmental legislation are the main driving factors for shifting the scientific and industrial interest from the traditional formaldehyde-based synthetic resins to the new bio-based adhesives for production of eco-friendly wood-based panels. The lignin-based products are one of the most prospective ecological alternatives to the traditional formaldehyde resins. The main interest in lignin is due to its phenolic structure with several favourable properties for the formulation of wood adhesives such as high hydrophobicity and low polydispersity. The present article is aimed at studying the possibilities for using lignosulfonate as an adhesive for the production of eco-friendly MDF. Regression models describing the impact of lignosulfonate concentration and hot pressing temperature on the exploitation properties of MDF panels were developed. The individual and combined impact of both factors was analysed in order to determine the optimal exploitation properties of the panels.

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Stanley

This paper uses a new set of questions to analyse the impact of populist attitudes on party preferences and voting behaviour in the 2015 Polish parliamentary elections. At these elections, voters faced a choice between two broad blocs: parties that accepted the “liberal-orthodox” model of post-communist politics, and those that rejected this model and the political elites associated with its implementation. I find that there is a coherent set of populist attitudes among the Polish electorate, and that it correlates with economic and cultural attitudes in ways consistent with the supply-side divide between liberal and anti-liberal parties. Analysis of the individual and combined impact of these attitudes on voting behaviour reveals that populism plays a significant role both in structuring the sentiments of voters towards particular kinds of political parties and in determining how they cast their vote.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 727
Author(s):  
Alberto Domínguez-Rodríguez ◽  
Néstor Báez-Ferrer ◽  
Pedro Abreu-González ◽  
Sergio Rodríguez ◽  
Rocío Díaz ◽  
...  

Background: Whether or not inhalation of airborne desert dust has adverse health effects is unknown. The present study, based on a systematic review and meta-analysis, was carried out to assess the influence desert dust on cardiovascular mortality, acute coronary syndrome, and heart failure. Methods: A systematic search was made in PubMed and Embase databases for studies published before March 2020. Studies based on daily measurements of desert dust were identified. The meta-analysis evaluated the impact of desert dust on cardiovascular events the same day (lag 0) of the exposure and during several days after the exposure (lags 1 to 5). The combined impact of several days of exposure was also evaluated. The incidence rate ratio (IRR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) was calculated using the inverse variance random effects method. Results: Of the 589 identified titles, a total of 15 studies were selected. The impact of desert dust on the incidence of cardiovascular mortality was statistically significant (IRR = 1.018 (95%CI 1.008–1.027); p < 0.001) in lag 0 of the dust episode, in the following day (lag 1) (IRR = 1.005 (95%CI 1.001–1.009); p = 0.022), and during both days combined (lag 0–1) (IRR = 1.015 (95%CI 1.003–1.028); p = 0.014). Conclusions: The inhalation to desert dust results in a 2% increase (for every 10 µg/m3) in cardiovascular mortality risk.


2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 172-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jodi Lane ◽  
Angela R. Gover ◽  
Sara Dahod

Prior research has consistently shown that women are more afraid of crime than men despite the fact that men are much more likely to be victims of all crime except sexual assault and intimate partner violence. The “shadow of sexual assault” hypothesis argues that women’s fear of sexual assault shadows their fear of other types of crime, particularly violent crime. Building on prior research by Ferraro (1996) and Fisher and Sloan (2003), this study examines the individual and combined impact of perceived risk and fear of sexual assault on fear of robbery and assault among college students. Findings indicate that fear of sexual assault is the stronger predictor of fear of crime for women and that perceived risk is the stronger predictor for men.


Author(s):  
Brynne D. Ovalle ◽  
Rahul Chakraborty

This article has two purposes: (a) to examine the relationship between intercultural power relations and the widespread practice of accent discrimination and (b) to underscore the ramifications of accent discrimination both for the individual and for global society as a whole. First, authors review social theory regarding language and group identity construction, and then go on to integrate more current studies linking accent bias to sociocultural variables. Authors discuss three examples of intercultural accent discrimination in order to illustrate how this link manifests itself in the broader context of international relations (i.e., how accent discrimination is generated in situations of unequal power) and, using a review of current research, assess the consequences of accent discrimination for the individual. Finally, the article highlights the impact that linguistic discrimination is having on linguistic diversity globally, partially using data from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and partially by offering a potential context for interpreting the emergence of practices that seek to reduce or modify speaker accents.


Crisis ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 265-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meshan Lehmann ◽  
Matthew R. Hilimire ◽  
Lawrence H. Yang ◽  
Bruce G. Link ◽  
Jordan E. DeVylder

Abstract. Background: Self-esteem is a major contributor to risk for repeated suicide attempts. Prior research has shown that awareness of stigma is associated with reduced self-esteem among people with mental illness. No prior studies have examined the association between self-esteem and stereotype awareness among individuals with past suicide attempts. Aims: To understand the relationship between stereotype awareness and self-esteem among young adults who have and have not attempted suicide. Method: Computerized surveys were administered to college students (N = 637). Linear regression analyses were used to test associations between self-esteem and stereotype awareness, attempt history, and their interaction. Results: There was a significant stereotype awareness by attempt interaction (β = –.74, p = .006) in the regression analysis. The interaction was explained by a stronger negative association between stereotype awareness and self-esteem among individuals with past suicide attempts (β = –.50, p = .013) compared with those without attempts (β = –.09, p = .037). Conclusion: Stigma is associated with lower self-esteem within this high-functioning sample of young adults with histories of suicide attempts. Alleviating the impact of stigma at the individual (clinical) or community (public health) levels may improve self-esteem among this high-risk population, which could potentially influence subsequent suicide risk.


2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Kopasker

Existing research has consistently shown that perceptions of the potential economic consequences of Scottish independence are vital to levels of support for constitutional change. This paper attempts to investigate the mechanism by which expectations of the economic consequences of independence are formed. A hypothesised causal micro-level mechanism is tested that relates constitutional preferences to the existing skill investments of the individual. Evidence is presented that larger skill investments are associated with a greater likelihood of perceiving economic threats from independence. Additionally, greater perceived threat results in lower support for independence. The impact of uncertainty on both positive and negative economic expectations is also examined. While uncertainty has little effect on negative expectations, it significantly reduces the likelihood of those with positive expectations supporting independence. Overall, it appears that a general economy-wide threat is most significant, and it is conjectured that this stems a lack of information on macroeconomic governance credentials.


Author(s):  
Anna Peterson

This book examines the impact that Athenian Old Comedy had on Greek writers of the Imperial era. It is generally acknowledged that Imperial-era Greeks responded to Athenian Old Comedy in one of two ways: either as a treasure trove of Atticisms, or as a genre defined by and repudiated for its aggressive humor. Worthy of further consideration, however, is how both approaches, and particularly the latter one that relegated Old Comedy to the fringes of the literary canon, led authors to engage with the ironic and self-reflexive humor of Aristophanes, Eupolis, and Cratinus. Authors ranging from serious moralizers (Plutarch and Aelius Aristides) to comic writers in their own right (Lucian, Alciphron), to other figures not often associated with Old Comedy (Libanius) adopted aspects of the genre to negotiate power struggles, facilitate literary and sophistic rivalries, and provide a model for autobiographical writing. To varying degrees, these writers wove recognizable features of the genre (e.g., the parabasis, its agonistic language, the stage biographies of the individual poets) into their writings. The image of Old Comedy that emerges from this time is that of a genre in transition. It was, on the one hand, with the exception of Aristophanes’s extant plays, on the verge of being almost completely lost; on the other hand, its reputation and several of its most characteristic elements were being renegotiated and reinvented.


Author(s):  
Benedetta Zavatta

Based on an analysis of the marginal markings and annotations Nietzsche made to the works of Emerson in his personal library, the book offers a philosophical interpretation of the impact on Nietzsche’s thought of his reading of these works, a reading that began when he was a schoolboy and extended to the final years of his conscious life. The many ideas and sources of inspiration that Nietzsche drew from Emerson can be organized in terms of two main lines of thought. The first line leads in the direction of the development of the individual personality, that is, the achievement of critical thinking, moral autonomy, and original self-expression. The second line of thought is the overcoming of individuality: that is to say, the need to transcend one’s own individual—and thus by definition limited—view of the world by continually confronting and engaging with visions different from one’s own and by putting into question and debating one’s own values and certainties. The image of the strong personality that Nietzsche forms thanks to his reading of Emerson ultimately takes on the appearance of a nomadic subject who is continually passing out of themselves—that is to say, abandoning their own positions and convictions—so as to undergo a constant process of evolution. In other words, the formation of the individual personality takes on the form of a regulative ideal: a goal that can never be said to have been definitively and once and for all attained.


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