Stability of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Revised factor scores across time.

This study was designed to assess the stability of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Revised (WAIS—R) factor scores across time. Information provided in the manual (D. Wechsler, 1981) on 2 subsets of the standardization data was used to estimate sample stability in Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Organization, and Memory/Freedom from Distractibility scores. For both samples, and across all factors, estimated test–retest correlations were high. In addition, test–retest scores of 39 individuals with IQs     

Traffic cones from recycled vinyl

Injection molded cones have been successfully produced using a high content of recycled wire and cable fluff. The cone meets all general specifications. Its properties are comparable to a conventional plastisol traffic cone. This work demonstrates the feasibility of using recycled wire and cable fluff in injection molding applications.     

Bias-aware news analysis using matrix-based news aggregation

Media bias describes differences in the content or presentation of news. It is an ubiquitous phenomenon in news coverage that can have severely negative ef     

Catalytic combustion of methane over microemulsion-derived MnOx–Cs2O–Al2O3 nanocomposites

Mesostructured MnO_x–Cs₂O–Al₂O₃ nanocomposites have been synthesized by reverse microemulsion method combined with hydrothermal treatment and then applied to the catalytic combustion of methane. Compared to impregnation-derived conventional MnO_x/Cs₂O/Com-Al₂O₃ catalyst, the microemulsion-derived catalyst showed higher activity and stability for methane combustion. The T_10% of the fresh and of the 72 h aged Mn_xO–Cs₂O–Al₂O₃ were 475 and 490 °C, respectively, recommending it as a potential candidate catalyst for application in hybrid gas turbines. The homogeneous composition of the microemulsion-derived nanocomposite catalyst can hinder the loss of Cs⁺ and accelerate the formation of Cs–β-alumina phase, ensuring thus higher activity and stability for methane combustion.     

An attempt to identify the presence of polytype stacking faults in hBN powders by means of X-ray diffraction

X-ray diffraction techniques have been used to characterize the three-dimensional order and the crystallite size for 17 hBN powders intended to be used as precursors in the cBN synthesis. Six hBN powders (group A) were obtained by the amidic method (borax + urea) purposely for this research and the remaining 11 hBN powders (group B) were commercial products of recognized companies. Attempts have been made to establish linear correlations between the X-ray revealed parameters of the hBN powders. An explanation sustained on experimental basis is proposed for the different linear correlation between the graphitizing index G.I. and order parameter p₃ in the two groups, that points to the existence of polytype stacking faults in hBN depending on the way of fabrication.     

The Influence of Rh Addition on the Catalytic Activity of Cubic Pt Nanocrystals Supported on Alumina for NO/CH4 Reaction

The effect of the Rh addition to the well defined cubic (≈70%) Pt nanocrystals of around 13 nm supported on alumina was investigated for NO/CH₄ reaction. The impact of size and shape of Pt nanoparticles on the catalytic activity were also analyzed by comparing the results with a conventionally prepared catalyst.     

A new parameter for modelling three-dimensional damage evolution validated by synchrotron tomography

Novel methods of correlating damage evolution measurement techniques are explored to produce improved constitutive equations that better account for the effect of initial inclusion distributions on damage softening behaviour. Based on ex situ, high resolution, synchrotron tomographic quantification of the three-dimensional interactions of damage formed during hot deformation of free cutting steel, a new parameter to account for the effect of inclusions on damage is proposed. Uniaxial tensile samples deformed at 1100 °C and a strain rate of 0.1 s^?1 were interrupted at various strains prior to failure. Ex situ synchrotron X-ray computed tomography (sCT) was then used to quantify the growth of damage in the hot deformation of a leaded free cutting steel. Void growth is related to nucleated microvoids at inclusions. The number and volume fraction of voids were calculated for each tensile sample, allowing quantification of the evolving ductile damage via the measured increase in average void diameter after each strain increment. The equivalent diameter, spacing and volume fraction of inclusions were measured at the different interrupt strains. The local strain and stress state, evaluated using the finite element method at the microscale, were related to the local void populations. There was evidence that after necking the damage localized due to clustered inclusions. Damage localization was confirmed with a three-dimensional micromechanics model of 100 inclusions, whose distribution was taken directly from the sCT results, and a novel approach to extract the damage fraction is presented. A new parameter was introduced to account for inclusion size, spacing and clustering, which was validated against the sCT results.     

Investigation of FE model size definition for surface coating application

An efficient prediction mechanical performance of coating structures has been a constant concern since the dawn of surface engineering. However, predictive models presented by initial research are normally based on traditional solid mechanics, and thus cannot predict coating performance accurately. Also, the high computational costs that originate from the exclusive structure of surface coating systems (a big difference in the order of coating and substrate) are not well addressed by these models. To fill the needs for accurate prediction and low computational costs, a multi-axial continuum damage mechanics (CDM)-based constitutive model is introduced for the investigation of the load bearing capacity and fracture properties of coatings. Material parameters within the proposed constitutive model are determined for a typical coating (TiN) and substrate (Cu) system. An efficient numerical subroutine is developed to implement the determined constitutive model into the commercial FE solver, ABAQUS, through the user-defined subroutine, VUMAT. By changing the geometrical sizes of FE models, a series of computations are carried out to investigate (1) loading features, (2) stress distributions, and (3) failure features of the coating system. The results show that there is a critical displacement corresponding to each FE model size, and only if the applied normal loading displacement is smaller than the critical displacement, a reasonable prediction can be achieved. Finally, a 3D map of the critical displacement is generated to provide guidance for users to determine an FE model with suitable geometrical size for surface coating simulations. This paper presents an effective modelling approach for the prediction of mechanical performance of surface coatings.