Dogmatism and acquiescent response set.

"This study was designed to test the hypothesis that Rokeach's Dogmatism Scale [1960], structurally identical to the F scale, is similarily vulnerable to acquiescent response bias." Administration of acquiescent response scales, the F Scale, and the Dogmatism scale to a population of adult neurotics revealed a high intercorrelation, which supports the hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

More on the Wilson Test.

Sheffield (see 33: 132) has presented a conceptually and computationally simplified adaptation of a distribution-free test for analysis of variance hypothesis. The author presents a logical analysis of the technique demonstrating it to be basically unsound. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The treatment of malt whiskey distillery waste using the fungus geotrichum candidum

The imperfect fungus Geotrichum candidum, when grown in batch and in single and two-stage continuous laboratory culture, has been shown to produce reductions of up to 92% in the BOD loading of Irish malt whiskey distillery waste. Maximum COD and TOC reductions were 81% and 76% respectively. Yields of fungal biomass of over 30 g 1⁻¹, containing more than 45% “true” protein, have been obtained. The economic possibilities of employing such a process for waste treatment and perhaps single-cell protein production seem encouraging.     

Laminar film condensation driven latent thermal energy storage in rectangular containers

This paper focuses on numerically analyzing the thermal transport phenomena in the transient conjugate problem of melting and laminar film condensation. The key focus is to identify an optimum container aspect ratio/shape and conditions for which the heat storage time and the storage capacity are minimum and maximum respectively. Since most solid–liquid phase change materials (PCMs) suffer from poor thermal conductivities, the major resistance to heat transfer comes from PCM. Hence, high thermal conductivity, low-cost metal foam is suggested for use along with PCM to minimize this resistance. The conjugate transient problem of film condensation driven solid–liquid phase change of PCM impregnated inside porous metal foam is numerically analyzed. An effective heat capacity formulation is employed for modeling the transient PCM phase change in porous foam and is solved using finite element method. It is coupled with laminar film condensation on the outside of the storage container. The model is then used for selecting the best aspect ratio for thermal energy storage (TES) containers that enables to store comparatively the maximum heat. The results of the developed model showed that the major resistance to heat transfer and hence efficient thermal energy storage depends strongly on the aspect ratio of the PCM storage containers.     

Modelling the geometry of the repeat unit cell of three-dimensional weave architectures

The three-dimensional (3D) weaving process offers the ability to tailor the mechanical properties via design of the weave architecture. One repeat of the 3D woven fabric is represented by the unit cell. The model accepts basic weaver and material manufacturer data as inputs in order to calculate the geometric characteristics of the 3D woven unit cell. The specific weave architecture manufactured and subsequently modelled had an angle interlock type binding configuration. The modelled result was shown to have a close approximation compared to the experimentally measured values and highlighted the importance of the representation of the binder tow path.     

A 3D Cu-Naphthalene-Phosphonate Metal–Organic Framework with Ultra-High Electrical Conductivity

A conductive phosphonate metal–organic framework (MOF), [{Cu(H₂O)}(2,6-NDPA)_0.5] (NDPA = naphthalenediphosphonic acid), which contains a 2D inorganic building unit (IBU) comprised of a continuous edge-sharing sheet of copper phosphonate polyhedra is reported. The 2D IBUs are connected to each other via polyaromatic 2,6-NDPA's, forming a 3D pillared-layered MOF structure. This MOF, known as TUB40, has a narrow band gap of 1.42 eV, a record high average electrical conductance of 2 × 10² S m⁻¹ at room temperature based on single-crystal conductivity measurements, and an electrical conductance of 142 S m⁻¹ based on a pellet measurement. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the conductivity is due to an excitation from the highest occupied molecular orbital on the naphthalene-building unit to the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital on the copper atoms. Temperature-dependent magnetization measurements show that the copper atoms are antiferromagnetically coupled at very low temperatures, which is also confirmed by the DFT calculations. Due to its high conductance and thermal/chemical stability, TUB40 may prove useful as an electrode material in supercapacitors.     

The characterisation of friction stir welding process effects on stiffened panel buckling performance

The introduction of advanced welding methods as an alternative joining process to riveting in the manufacture of primary aircraft structure has the potential to realise reductions in both manufacturing costs and structural weight. However, welding processes can introduce undesirable residual stresses and distortions in the final fabricated components, as well as localised loss of mechanical properties at the weld joints. The aim of this research is to determine and characterise the key process effects of friction stir welding assembly methods on stiffened panel static strength performance. Utilising experimentally validated finite element modelling methods, it is demonstrated that welding induced residual stresses have a significant influence, and that collapse behaviour is less sensitive to advanced process effects and process effect magnitudes than panel initial buckling behaviour.     

Assessing the precision of model predictions and other functions of model parameters

Models fitted to data are used extensively in chemical engineering for a variety of purposes, including simulation, design and control. In any of these contexts it is important to assess the uncertainties in the estimated parameters and in any functions of these parameters, including predictions from the fitted model. Profiling is a likelihood ratio approach to estimating uncertainties in parameters and functions of parameters. A comparison is made between the optimization and reparameterization approaches to determining likelihood intervals for functions of parameters. The merits and limitations of generalized profiling are discussed in relation to the linearization approach commonly used in engineering. The benefits of generalized profiling are illustrated with two examples. A geometric interpretation of profiling is used to elucidate its value, and cases are identified for which the numerical algorithm fails. An alternative approach is suggested for these cases.