Towards a new definition of EPOC parameters for anionic electrochemical catalysts: case of propene combustion

The electrochemical promotion of catalysis (EPOC) of propene combustion was investigated using Pt sputtered thin film on an O²⁻ conductor, 8 mol% Y₂O₃-stabilized-ZrO₂ (YSZ). In order to separate the influence of the thermal migration of the O²⁻ oxide ions from the electrolyte to the catalyst surface and the impact of an electrical polarization on the catalytic activity, several light-off experiments (cool down and heat up procedures) were successively performed under different polarizations, i.e. OCV, +2 and −2 V. These experiments have clearly shown that the presence of O²⁻ (thermally or electrochemically induced) inhibits the catalytic activity of the platinum for the propene deep oxidation. These results demonstrate the importance to define a normalized rate enhancement ratio, ρ _n , from a reference value of the catalytic rate corresponding to a Pt surface state free of O²⁻ ions.     

Specific and general attributional patterns of Holocaust survivors.

Members of Holocaust survivor groups and participants at survivor gatherings were asked to fill out questionnaire batteries, which included two measures of attribution. One asked their views of the factors that had led to survival during the Holocaust; the other was the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ), a standard measure of attributional styles. The results were compared with the responses of age-matched Jewish respondents who had spent the period of the Holocaust safe from Nazi persecution (mostly in North America). Concerning Holocaust survival, survivors mentioned significantly more factors, and 91% of survivors but only 51% of controls cited external factors (e.g., luck, help from others), with the reverse pattern (71% vs. 34%) for internal factors such as psychological strength and determination. There were no significant intergroup differences on the Attributional Style Questionnaire as a function of sex, age, or survivor versus comparison group membership. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

丰富多彩的亚洲卫星电信市场

随着移动电视在美国的开始应用,新应用逐渐站稳了脚跟,并被美国消费者的要求所推动,而消费者的这些更丰富体验的要求在以前受到过抑制。为了在卫星电信领域更好契合这一趋势,注意亚洲发展并从其经验中总结教训这一做法是有意义的。     

Hardware development for the Bone Proteomics experiment

This paper gives a quick overview of how various scientific, operational and safety related requirements drove the development of hardware for the Bone Proteomics (BOP) experiment that was conducted on the International Space Station during the Italian Soyuz Mission in 2005. The experiment objectives will be highlighted briefly and design solutions will be presented. Comments will be given regarding the choice of a particular design solution and the impact on the complexity, cost and development time. Conclusions in this paper are based on the experience gained when developing the BOP experiment hardware and other relatively small experiment hardware packages, typical of European Soyuz Missions. The observations should not be extrapolated to large payloads. The objective of this paper is not to produce a recipe for developing experiment hardware; dedicated documents for that purpose are available elsewhere. Rather, the objective is to help others profit from experience gained in the development of relatively small experiment hardware packages, and to highlight where time and cost saving decisions can be made.     

On the effectiveness of early life cycle defect prediction with Bayesian Nets

Standard practice in building models in software engineering normally involves three steps: collecting domain knowledge (previous results, expert knowledge); building a skeleton of the model based on step 1 including as yet unknown parameters; estimating the model parameters using historical data. Our experience shows that it is extremely difficult to obtain reliable data of the required granularity, or of the required volume with which we could later generalize our conclusions. Therefore, in searching for a method for building a model we cannot consider methods requiring large volumes of data. This paper discusses an experiment to develop a causal model (Bayesian net) for predicting the number of residual defects that are likely to be found during independent testing or operational usage. The approach supports (1) and (2), does not require (3), yet still makes accurate defect predictions (an R ² of 0.93 between predicted and actual defects). Since our method does not require detailed domain knowledge it can be applied very early in the process life cycle. The model incorporates a set of quantitative and qualitative factors describing a project and its development process, which are inputs to the model. The model variables, as well as the relationships between them, were identified as part of a major collaborative project. A dataset, elicited from 31 completed software projects in the consumer electronics industry, was gathered using a questionnaire distributed to managers of recent projects. We used this dataset to validate the model by analyzing several popular evaluation measures (R ², measures based on the relative error and Pred). The validation results also confirm the need for using the qualitative factors in the model. The dataset may be of interest to other researchers evaluating models with similar aims. Based on some typical scenarios we demonstrate how the model can be used for better decision support in operational environments. We also performed sensitivity analysis in which we identified the most influential variables on the number of residual defects. This showed that the project size, scale of distributed communication and the project complexity cause the most of variation in number of defects in our model. We make both the dataset and causal model available for research use.     

Performance of a Yeast-mediated Biological Fuel Cell

Saccharomyces cerevisiae present in common Baker’s yeast was used in a microbial fuel cell in which glucose was the carbon source. Methylene blue was used as the electronophore in the anode compartment, while potassium ferricyanide and methylene blue were tested as electron acceptors in the cathode compartment. Microbes in a mediator-free environment were used as the control. The experiment was performed in both open and closed circuit configurations under different loads ranging from 100 kΩ to 400Ω. The eukaryotic S. cerevisiae-based fuel cell showed improved performance when methylene blue and ferricyanide were used as electron mediators, rendering a maximum power generation of 146.71±7.7 mW/m³. The fuel cell generated a maximum open circuit voltage of 383.6±1.5 mV and recorded a maximum efficiency of 28±1.8 % under 100 kΩ of external load.     

Estimating thermal stress in BIPV modules

The thermal stress on building‐integrated photovoltaic modules (BIPV) in Espoo, Finland, was studied with field‐testing of amorphous silicon modules. Based on these results, the thermal stress at two other European locations (Paris and Lisbon) was estimated. The estimation procedure entailed thermal modelling of heat transfer in the façade with meteorological data as input. The results indicate that the thermal stress on BIPV modules in Lisbon is, in this case, approximately 50% higher that in Espoo and between 80 and 200% higher than in Paris, depending on the activation energy of the degradation process. The difference in stress between a BIPV module and a free‐standing module in Espoo was 50–200%. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Buchbesprechungen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Expert identification and selection: Legal liability concerns and directions

Legal liabilities pertaining to the identification and selection of domain experts is an issue that could adversely impact expert systems developers. Problems pertaining to flawed knowledge, improperly defined expertise, and behavioural and psychological impediments are just some of the issues. This paper examines the torts of strict products liability and negligence that system developers could incur as a result of expert-related difficulties. Parallels from legal scholars and federal and state court decisions are discussed relevant to expert system projects and developers. The paper concludes with a presentation of steps that systems developers can take to minimize potential legal liability.