Reading Acquisition, Developmental Dyslexia, and Skilled Reading Across Languages: A Psycholinguistic Grain Size Theory.

The development of reading depends on phonological awareness across all languages so far studied. Languages vary in the consistency with which phonology is represented in orthography. This results in developmental differences in the grain size of lexical representations and accompanying differences in developmental reading strategies and the manifestation of dyslexia across orthographies. Differences in lexical representations and reading across languages leave developmental "footprints" in the adult lexicon. The lexical organization and processing strategies that are characteristic of skilled reading in different orthographies are affected by different developmental constraints in different writing systems. The authors develop a novel theoretical framework to explain these cross-language data, which they label a psycholinguistic grain size theory of reading and its development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Water swellability and tensile properties of plasticized cured gelatin–trimethylolphenol blends

Gelatin has been chemically modified by crosslinking with timethylolphenol (TMP), which represents the smallest molecule of the phelol‐formaldehyde resins, and exhibits high reactivity towards gelatin. Although gelatin is soluble in water in all proportion, the cured gelatin–TMP blends only swell in water, swellability decreasing with increasing resin content. They exhibit moderate tensile strength, but very low elongation at break. Elongation is substantially improved by using a polyethylene glycol, PEG 400, as cosubstrate to gelatin, which serves as a plasticizer. Binding efficiency of PEG 400 to the cured blend network, and the water swellability and tensile properties of the cured plasticized blends have been reported. Some practical advantages and possible areas of application have also been highlighted. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 71: 1721–1729, 1999     

Transmission Electron Microscopic Investigations of Grain Boundary Beta Phase Precipitation in Al 5083 Aged at 373 K (100 °C)

The fine-scale microstructure of an Al 5083 alloy sensitized at 373 K (100 °C) for 3, 7, 14, 30, 45, and 90 days has been investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to study the evolution of the β phase (Al₃Mg₂) at grain boundaries. In fully sensitized Al 5083, the β phase (Al₃Mg₂) mostly forms heterogeneously at grain boundaries. TEM observations showed that the grain boundary precipitation of β phase was discrete up to 14 days of aging, and grain boundaries were fully covered by the β phase after 30 to 45 days of aging. The early stages of β growth on the grain boundaries are consistent with the collector-plate mechanism. We find no evidence of either Mg depletion or segregation at the grain boundaries. The initial growth rates as well as the thicknesses after long aging times are greater than can be accounted for by bulk diffusion of Mg to the grain boundaries. We suggest that dislocation pipe diffusion is necessary to account for the β growth rates.     

Experimental investigation on electrochemical grinding (ECG) of alumina-aluminum interpenetrating phase composite

The present paper focuses on the evaluation of material removal rate (MRR), surface finish, and cutting forces during electrochemical grinding of Al₂O₃/Al interpenetrating phase composite. The effect of electrolyte concentration, supply voltage, depth of cut, and electrolyte flow rate on machining performances has been studied. The characteristic features of the electrochemical grinding (ECG) process are explored through Taguchi-design-based experimental studies with various process parametric combinations and finally the process has been optimized. The mechanism of material removal and surface characteristics under different grinding conditions have been studied through SEM micrograph. Besides, another set of experimental investigation has been carried out in order to identify the influence of different type of electrolytes and degree of reduction in grinding force in ECG. Finally, a comparative study of conventional and electrochemical grinding of this special class of material has been carried out.     

Optimized design of a reverse osmosis system with a recycle

Small scale brackish water desalination units are used in remote areas and their sustenance depend on the twin factors of consistency of product water quality and availability of raw water resources. A mathematical model has been developed based on the input parameters of feed salinity, basic membrane characteristics, feed temperature, desired product quality and quantity to predict the operating recycle ratio at constant operating parameters. This ensures the consistent quality of product water at the same time minimizing the raw water consumption. The algorithm used include calculation of recovery, determination of membrane configuration and operating pressure within the guidelines of manufacturer's specified hydrodynamic parameters. The model has a range with respect to reference value of design. The model can estimate the feed quality variation +10% to −70% and feed temperature variation ±5EC based on the design reference value.     

Effect of Size Parameters of Mix Ingredients on the Porosity and Reduction Characteristics of Sinter

The paper aims to describe the effect of size parameters of the mix ingredients on the tumbler index, porosity and reduction properties of sinter. These parameters are important factors for the furnace performance when the sinter is fed as burden material Understandably, the fines generated inside the furnace in the stack zone or during reduction affect the permeability of the stack zone, which results in a decrease in driving rate and CO utilisation. Pot sintering studies were carried out using hematite ore mix from typical mines in India. The sinter basicity (CaO/SiO₂) and MgO content in the sinter were kept at 2.1 and 1.5% respectively. The effect of the size parameters of the mix ingredients, namely size of coke, size of ore fines and that of limestone, on the porosity and quality parameters of sinter was investigated. The studies have shown that reducibility of sinter was well correlated with the proportion of micro‐pores out of total pores available in the sinter. Micro‐porosity of the sinter samples and their reducibility increased with decrease in the size range of coke breeze. Sintering of ore fines with reduced size, also, increased the sinter micro‐porosity. Besides, the average pore radius and density of the sinter sample and consequently the sinter reducibility increased with decreasing ore size. When the size of flux was narrowed down to –3+0.5 mm from –3 mm, the reduction degradation index value declined from 26.8% to 25.6% with marginal decrease in sinter reducibility. Moreover, the speed of sintering increased as well.