The effects of degree of mixing and concentration of carbon black on the tensile properties of filled elastomers

Based on the concept of entropy of mixing, a new method for determining the degree of mixing of the filler in a polymer matrix has been established. The measurement used in this method is based on a new variable, the effective volume fraction of the filler, ?′, which is a function of the mixing index, A, and the volume fraction of the filler, ?. The mixing index can be determined from the tensile modulus data of filled elastomers. Excellent agreement is obtained between the mixing index and the dispersion of the filler as determined by a morphological study of cryogenically fractured surfaces of filled elastomers. Using the new variable, the effective volume fraction of the filler, useful relationships for the tensile modulus and the ultimate stretch ratio of filled elastomer have been established. Experimental data confirm that these relationships can well describe the effects of concentration and degree of mixing on the two tensile properties of filled elastomers.     

CALCE/RAMCAD for Electronics

The University of Maryland's Computer Aided Life Cycle Engineering (CALCE) research effort is aimed at developing techniques for design, analysis, prediction, and optimization of electronics with respect to a variety of design goals. Performance, producibility, reliability, maintainability, life-cycle cost, safety, etc., are the design criteria which are being integrated through the application of interactive heuristic and algorithmic design optimization techniques. The University of Maryland Reliability and Maintainability Computer-Aided Design (RAMCAD) research is CALCE and is focused on second- and third-level electronic package design with respect to interfacing thermal, mechanical, and reliability analysis. The goal is to make reliability and maintainability an integral, real-time, and upfront part of the design process, such that the need to resubmit designs will be eliminated. The motivation behind this project was the fact that schedule constraints are often compromising the effectiveness and efficiency of the design process. To achieve the goal of CALCE/RAMCAD, a cohesive and extensible design environment for analysis and tradeoff tools was developed. A system executive controller that integrates tools for analysis while providing system transparency, design data management, and process management was developed to guide the user through the design process and provide direct access to the design tools. These developments required the integration of computer-aided design (CAD), artificial intelligence (AI), and decision support (DS) techniques. Attention to human factors and the use of interactive graphics were also instrumental in the development.     

Energy pricing policies in developing countries

Government energy pricing policies have multiple and often conflicting objectives: economic efficiency, government revenues (for both parastatal supply companies and the treasury), maintenance or improvement of income distribution, promotion of particular sectors (such as industrial exporters and local resource development) demand management and security of supply. It is important to examine the impacts on and the trade-offs between these objectives resulting from alternative policies in order to assist in policy selection. This article discusses the more important objectives and their conflicts and outlines an approach for the quantitative examination of alternative policies.     

SO2 SCRUBBING BY ULTRAFINE CA(OH)2 AEROSOL

The objective of the present study was to generate submicrometer calcium hydroxide aerosols and to investigate the effectiveness of such aerosols in sulfur capture. The effectiveness of SO₂ removal by Ca(OH)₂ aerosol has been investigated in an isothermal reactor. Ca(OH) ₂ aerosol was generated by a novel fluidizer system in which submicrometer-sized powders were entrained in gases. SO₂ was added to this aerosol to a concentration of 2000 ppm. The aerosol-SO₂ mixture was heated to 550°C-750°C in an isothermal tube reactor. The SO₂ removal efficiency, which varied from 20% to 70%, was determined to be a function of the aerosol concentration, reactor temperature and residence time. The fraction of aerosol reacted was not affected strongly by the aerosol concentration. The reaction kinetics were determined from the experimental data using a simple analytical model in which the rate is first order in both SO₂ and calcium hydroxide aerosol concentrations.     

EFFECT OF THE RATIO Th/U ON TL DATING ACCURACY

ＥＦＦＥＣＴＯＦＴＨＥＲＡＴＩＯＴｈ／ＵＯＮＴＬＤＡＴＩＮＧＡＣＣＵＲＡＣＹ￥Ｐ．Ｌ．Ｌｅｕｎｇ（梁宝鎏）；ＭｉｃｈａｅｌＪ．Ｓｔｏｋｅｓ（ＤｅｐａｒｔｍｅｎｔｏｆＰｈｙｓｉｃｓａｎｄＭａｔｅｒｉａｌｓＳｃｉｅｎｃｅ，ＣｉｔｙＰｏｌｙｔｅｃｈｎｉｃｏ...     

Transactional analysis ego state functioning, psychological distress, and client change.

Explored the construct validity of transactional analysis (TA) ego state concepts. Ego states are defined as coherent systems of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. 65 university students seeking therapy and 95 university students not receiving therapy completed the Adjective Checklist (ACL) and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). Ego state scores from the ACL correlated with BSI psychological distress in predicted directions. Four of the 5 TA ego state scores differentiated Ss seeking therapy from Ss not seeking therapy. Furthermore, ego state scores changed over the course of therapy, indicating a reduction of distress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Turning Students into Professionals: Types of Knowledge and ABET Engineering Criteria

In order to implement the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) engineering criteria, it is important for engineering educators to understand different types of knowledge and how these types relate to the outcomes described in Criterion 3. This paper first provides a heuristic for framing a program's educational objectives by identifying exemplars of the types of engineers a program seeks to graduate. Three sections then follow, each addressing categories of knowledge: tacit knowledge, four types of knowledge that can either be tacit or explicit, and knowledge created and shared in teams. Examples of the relationship of traits of knowledge to the outcomes in Criterion 3 are provided. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of how these types of knowledge are imbued in engineering students at the University of Virginia, as well as suggestions for additional ways in which they could be infused into engineering curricula.     

II. Yeast sequencing reports. Sequence of a segment of yeast chromosome II shows two novel genes,one almost entirely hydrophobic and the other extremely asparagine-serine rich

A 3·2 kb EcoRI fragment of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae was entirely sequenced. Two new open reading frames were identified. The first is extremely hydrophobic, and would likely be an integral membrane protein. It has significant similarity to only one reported gene, a gene of unknown function from Drosophila melanogaster. The second ORF is asparagine-rich and very serine-rich, with a remarkable stretch of nearly 26 consecutive asparagine residues comprised of the same codon. It has no significant similarity to any reported gene. The fragment maps to chromosome II on the left arm between the CDC27 and ILS1 loci. The nucleotide sequence reported in this paper has been deposited in the GenBank database with the Accession Number M89908.