Comparative Analysis of Synthetic Natural Gas versus Hydrogen Production from Bagasse

A rigorous and comparative evaluation of two biomass‐to‐gases (BtG) conversion routes was performed and, according to this outcome, it is suggested which of the options evaluated is most desirable. These options, the hydrogen and synthetic natural gas (SNG) production, were designed in Aspen Plus process simulation software. Sugar cane bagasse was considered as feedstock. Mass and energy balance data were extracted from the simulations, and consequently thermodynamic (exergy analysis), economic (financial and uncertainty analysis), and environmental (CO₂ emissions) evaluations were carried out. Exergy and environmental analysis favor the SNG production while the hydrogen route provides higher profits.     

Renewable rural electrification: Sustainability assessment of mini-hybrid off-grid technological systems in the African context

The investigation summarised in this paper applied a sustainability assessment methodology on a renewable energy technological system in a rural village project that was commissioned by the South African Department of Minerals and Energy. The project comprised of wind, solar and lead-acid battery energy storage technologies that were implemented as a mini-hybrid off-grid electrification system for the village. The sustainability assessment methodology predicts the outcomes of such interventions by way of a learning model using discipline experts in the fields of economics, sociology, ecosystem sustainability, institutional governance, and the physics and chemistry of energy conversion processes. The comparison of the project's outcomes with a South African sustainable development framework shows that the specific village renewable off-grid electrification system is not viable. The main reason is that charges for electricity supply costs in village grids are too high for available subsidies; the economies of scale for renewable energy supply technologies favour national grids. The failure of the integrated system may also be attributable to the complexity of the social-institutional sub-system, which resulted in uncertainty for project planners and system designers, and the lack of resilience of the technological system to demands from the socio-economic and institutional sub-systems. Policy-related recommendations are made accordingly.     

Divergent thinking ability is related to faster relatedness judgments.

Creativity is commonly defined as the novel and useful combination of concepts previously thought to be unrelated. Fundamentally, this process rests on the ability to judge relatedness between concepts. The authors conducted an experiment to test the connection between divergent thinking ability and the speed of judging relatedness. Our results demonstrated that people with higher divergent thinking ability are faster in judging whether two concepts are related or unrelated. In real life, this can lead to a substantial advantage in the number of potentially useful relationships that could be assessed per unit of time. Equally important, there was no link between IQ and speed of judging relatedness. These results are interpreted in relation to a recently proposed model of creative cognition suggesting that creative people are faster in information processing under conditions of low ambiguity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Thermal oxidation kinetics for a poly(bismaleimide)

The thermal oxidation of poly(bismaleimide) of the F655‐2 type, supplied by Hexcel‐Genin, was studied by isothermal gravimetry at 180, 210, and 240°C and various oxygen pressures ranging from 0 to 1.2 bar. Comparison of various sample thicknesses and visible microscopy observations on bulk aged samples shows that the whole oxidized layer has a depth of about 75 μm at 240°C, 138 μm at 210°C, and 229 μm at 180°C. An attempt was made to build a kinetic model to predict this depth. It is based on a differential equation in which O₂ diffusion and its consumption rate, r(C), are coupled, C being the O₂ concentration. Its resolution needs two sets of experiments: the first one to determine the O₂ diffusivity and solubility in the polymer, and the second one to determine r(C). The mathematical form of r(C) is derived from a mechanistic scheme of radical chain oxidation in which initiation is mainly due to POOH decomposition. This expression contains two kinetic parameters, α and β, the values of which are determined from the experimental curves of mass loss rate against O₂ pressure (in the stationary state). The theoretical predictions, at each temperature under consideration, are in excellent agreement with experimental results. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 82: 3418–3430, 2001     

Generalizing from single target search to multiple target search

This study was conducted to generalize from models of human performance in single target search to multiple target search. The specific issue was exhaustive search for the complete set of targets on a search field, extending the work of Chan and Chan from a two-target exhaustive search. Mathematical modelling was based on earlier derivations of search for the first of a set of targets. Model and simulation results showed three quite different relationships between mean search time and the number of targets remaining in a search field. The human search strategy for multiple targets was close to the systematic strategy for the first few targets and was close to the random strategy for the last few targets. Plotting mean search time for multiple targets against the number of targets remaining would be a useful and unique way to show human use of systematic search strategy.     

ISSN exercise & sport nutrition review: research & recommendations

Sports nutrition is a constantly evolving field with hundreds of research papers published annually. For this reason, keeping up to date with the literature is often difficult. This paper is a five year update of the sports nutrition review article published as the lead paper to launch the JISSN in 2004 and presents a well-referenced overview of the current state of the science related to how to optimize training and athletic performance through nutrition. More specifically, this paper provides an overview of: 1.) The definitional category of ergogenic aids and dietary supplements; 2.) How dietary supplements are legally regulated; 3.) How to evaluate the scientific merit of nutritional supplements; 4.) General nutritional strategies to optimize performance and enhance recovery; and, 5.) An overview of our current understanding of the ergogenic value of nutrition and dietary supplementation in regards to weight gain, weight loss, and performance enhancement. Our hope is that ISSN members and individuals interested in sports nutrition find this review useful in their daily practice and consultation with their clients.     

Assessing the Floristic Diversity of Hedge Networks: A landscape perspective

The type of land cover adjacent to hedges has been shown to influence the species composition of the ground flora. An assessment of the contribution of hedge networks to the biodiversity of landscapes therefore requires information on the relative lengths of hedge associated with different land covers. In the River Tyne catchment, Northern England, the association between hedges and land cover types differed between four landscapes. Overall, the greatest length of hedge was adjacent to arable crops, improved grasslands and roads. Hedges next to improved grassland and roads were the most species-rich, while those adjacent to arable crops were the least species-rich. Species which were common adjacent to arable crops were also common adjacent to other land covers. Hedges adjacent to improved grassland, roads and semi-natural broadleaved woodland supported species which were not common elsewhere in the hedge network. It was also found that hedges with different land cover on each side supported different floras on each side. When planning landscape-scale surveys of hedge biodiversity, it is important to survey both sides of hedges, and sampling should be stratified to include hedges adjacent to the different types of land cover present.     

Electrokinetic geosynthetics in hydraulic applications

In use most geosynthetics play a passive role. New applications for geosynthetics have been identified if they can provide an active role, initiating biological, chemical or physical change to the matrix in which it is installed as well as providing the established functions. This can be achieved by combining the electrokinetic phenomena of electro-osmosis, electrophoresis and associated electrokinetic functions such as electrolysis with the traditional functions of geosynthetics of drainage, filtration, containment and reinforcement to form electokinetic geosynthetics (EKG). Electrokinetic geosynthetics can be made singly or from combinations of woven, non-woven, needle punched knitted, extruded or laminated materials and can be formed in any 2D or 3D shape.The majority of the uses of EKG are in hydraulic applications or applications with a significant hydraulic component. These can be grouped in separate engineering categories such as civil, mining, and water engineering. The concept of electrokinetic geosynthetics is described and details of applications and case studies are provided in the paper.     

Biomechanical properties of single chondrocytes and chondrons determined by micromanipulation and finite-element modelling

A chondrocyte and its surrounding pericellular matrix (PCM) are defined as a chondron. Single chondrocytes and chondrons isolated from bovine articular cartilage were compressed by micromanipulation between two parallel surfaces in order to investigate their biomechanical properties and to discover the mechanical significance of the PCM. The force imposed on the cells was measured directly during compression to various deformations and then holding. When the nominal strain at the end of compression was 50 per cent, force relaxation showed that the cells were viscoelastic, but this viscoelasticity was generally insignificant when the nominal strain was 30 per cent or lower. The viscoelastic behaviour might be due to the mechanical response of the cell cytoskeleton and/or nucleus at higher deformations. A finite-element analysis was applied to simulate the experimental force-displacement/time data and to obtain mechanical property parameters of the chondrocytes and chondrons. Because of the large strains in the cells, a nonlinear elastic model was used for simulations of compression to 30 per cent nominal strain and a nonlinear viscoelastic model for 50 per cent. The elastic model yielded a Young''s modulus of 14 ± 1 kPa (mean ± s.e.) for chondrocytes and 19 ± 2 kPa for chondrons, respectively. The viscoelastic model generated an instantaneous elastic modulus of 21 ± 3 and 27 ± 4 kPa, a long-term modulus of 9.3 ± 0.8 and 12 ± 1 kPa and an apparent viscosity of 2.8 ± 0.5 and 3.4 ± 0.6 kPa s for chondrocytes and chondrons, respectively. It was concluded that chondrons were generally stiffer and showed less viscoelastic behaviour than chondrocytes, and that the PCM significantly influenced the mechanical properties of the cells.