Simple determination of performance of explosives without using any experimental data

A simple procedure is introduced by which detonation pressure of CaHbNcOd explosives can be predicted from a, b, c, d and calculated gas phase heat of formation of explosives at any loading density without using any assumed detonation products and experimental data. It is shown here that the loading density, simply calculated heat of formation by additivity rule and atomic composition can be integrated into an empirical formula for predicting the detonation pressure of proposed explosives. Calculated detonation pressures by the introduced method for both pure and explosive formulations show good agreement with respect to measured detonation pressure over a wide range of loading density. The deviations are within about experimental errors.     

Adsorption of copper from aqueous solution on Brassica cumpestris (mustard oil cake)

The adsorption behavior of various heavy metals on mustard oil cake (MOC) was studied. The maximum adsorption of Cu(II) was observed followed by Zn(II), Cr(VI), Mn(II), Cd(II), Ni(II) and Pb(II). The adsorption of Cu(II) was found to be dependent on initial concentration of solution, pH, adsorbent dose, temperature and contact time. The adsorption followed pseudo-first-order and second-order kinetics but pseudo-second-order kinetic model was better obeyed since experimental data agreed well with theoretical data. Thermodynamic parameters were also evaluated. The adsorption process was found to be endothermic and spontaneous in nature. Attempts were also made to desorb Cu(II) from the adsorbent and regeneration of the spent adsorbent. The breakthrough and exhaustive capacities were found to be 5 and 10 mg g(-1), respectively.     

Improved fingerprint identification with supervised filtering enhancement

An important step in the fingerprint identification system is the reliable extraction of distinct features from fingerprint images. Identification performance is directly related to the enhancement of fingerprint images during or after the enrollment phase. Among the various enhancement algorithms, artificial-intelligence-based feature-extraction techniques are attractive owing to their adaptive learning properties. We present a new supervised filtering technique that is based on a dynamic neural-network approach to develop a robust fingerprint enhancement algorithm. For pattern matching, a joint transform correlation (JTC) algorithm has been incorporated that offers high processing speed for real-time applications. Because the fringe-adjusted JTC algorithm has been found to yield a significantly better correlation output compared with alternate JTCs, we used this algorithm for the identification process. Test results are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.     

Measurement of focal length with phase-shifting Talbot interferometry

Phase-shifting interferometry with a Fourier fringe analysis technique is implemented to analyze Talbot interferometric fringes and to evaluate the focal length of a lens. A four-step algorithm is used to obtain the phase map of the lens. The slope of the phase map is related to the focal length, and it is from this relationship that we evaluate the focal length. Experimental results are presented. Our experimental study suggests that phase-shifting Talbot interferometry combined with a Fourier fringe analysis technique can be advantageously used to improve the accuracy of measurement.     

Estimating treatment effects from randomized clinical trials with noncompliance and loss to follow-up: the role of instrumental variable methods

Perfectly implemented randomized clinical trials, particularly of complex interventions, are extremely rare. Almost always they are characterized by imperfect adherence to the randomly allocated treatment and variable amounts of missing outcome data. Here we start by describing a wide variety of examples and then introduce instrumental variable methods for the analysis of such trials. We concentrate mainly on situations in which compliance is all or nothing (either the patient receives the allocated treatment or they do not--in the latter case they may receive no treatment or a treatment other than the one allocated). The main purpose of the review is to illustrate the use of latent class (finite mixture) models, using maximum likelihood, for complier-average causal effect estimation under varying assumptions concerning the mechanism of the missing outcome data.     

Relationships among lactation and reproduction traits of dairy goats

Statistics for reproduction and lactation traits were estimated from 51,826 records of Alpine, La Mancha, Nubian, Saanen, and Toggenburg does. Means and standard deviations varied little across breed or lactation number. Relationships among reproduction and lactation traits were estimated from a subset of 42,618 records with 125 days or more in milk. Correlations also were stable across breed and lactation number. Regression analysis indicated a curvilinear relationship between lactation traits and reproduction traits.     

Hydrodynamic behavior of a liquid-solid fluidized-bed reactor for the bioconversion of coal particles to liquid products

A predictive mathematical model based on particle convection and dispersion is presented for a liquid fluidized bed of coal particles. The numerical representation can follow transient behavior of liquid fluidized beds that contain a defined particle-size distribution. The calculations exhibited excellent agreement when compared to experimental transient pressure-drop data from a column containing particles of Illinois No. 6 bituminous coal in the size range of 20–120 μm. In addition, the model was used to simulate the effect of periodic (hourly) liquid velocity step changes on elutriation of small particles from a given particle-size distribution of 34.5–75.5 μm. For the situation tested, the calculations indicate that (a) the column does not reach a steady state between velocity changes and (b) that higher initial particle elutriation rates decay to lower values until no more particles elutriate from the column.