Heat of solidification in refractory metals studied by drop-tube experiments

A number of pure refractory metals have been investigated by drop-tube experiments. The cooling curves have been registered and theoretically analysed. A model for analysing the heat of fusion has been developed. It was found that the heat of fusion was approximately 50% of the tabulated value.     

Cross-Sectional Associations of Food Consumption with Plasma Fatty Acid Composition and Estimated Desaturase Activities in Finnish Children

Plasma fatty acid (FA) composition is known to be an indicator of dietary fat quality, but the associations of other dietary factors with plasma FA composition remain unknown in children. We investigated the cross-sectional associations of food consumption with the proportions of FA and estimated desaturase activities in plasma cholesteryl esters (CE) and phospholipids (PL) among children. The subjects were a population sample of 423 children aged 6–8 years examined at baseline of The Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children (PANIC) Study. We assessed food consumption by food records and plasma FA composition by gas chromatography. We used linear regression models adjusted for age, sex, physical activity and total energy intake to analyze the associations. A higher consumption of vegetable oil-based margarine (fat 60–80 %) was associated with a higher proportion of linoleic and α-linolenic acids in plasma CE and PL. A higher consumption of high-fiber grain products was related to a lower proportion of oleic acid in CE and PL. The consumption of candy was directly associated with the proportion of palmitoleic and oleic acid in plasma CE. The consumption of vegetable oil-based margarine was inversely associated with estimated stearoyl-CoA-desaturase activity in plasma CE and PL and the consumption of candy was directly related to it in plasma CE. The results of our study suggest that plasma FA composition is not only a biomarker for dietary fat quality but also reflects the consumption of high-fiber grain products and foods high in sugar among children.     

Increased use of district heating in industrial processes – Impacts on heat load duration

Current knowledge of the potential for an increased use of industrial district heating (DH) due to conversions of industrial processes to DH is limited. In this paper, a Method for Heat Load Analysis (MeHLA) for exploring industrial DH conversions has been developed. This method can be a helpful tool for analyzing the impact different industrial processes have on the local DH system, when processes that utilize electricity and other fuels, convert to utilizing DH. Heat loads for different types of industries and processes are analyzed according to characteristics such as temperature levels and time-dependency. MeHLA has been used to analyze 34 Swedish industries and the method demonstrates how conversion of industrial processes to DH can result in heat load duration curves that are less outdoor temperature-dependent and more evenly distributed over the year. An evenly distributed heat load curve can result in increased annual operating time for base load DH plants such as cogeneration plants, leading to increased electricity generation. In addition to the positive effects for the DH load duration curve, the conversions to DH can also lead to an 11% reduction in the use of electricity, a 40% reduction in the use of fossil fuels and a total energy end-use saving of 6% in the studied industries. Converting the industrial processes to DH will also lead to a potential reduction of the global carbon dioxide emissions by 112,000 tonnes per year.     

To what does perceived criticism refer? Constructive, destructive, and general criticism.

General spousal perceived criticism (PC) robustly predicts psychological symptoms and is associated with marital discord (e.g., Hooley & Teasdale, 1989); however, it is unclear what types of criticism PC encompasses (Renshaw, 2008). One hundred eighteen couples rated general PC and both constructive and destructive criticism from their own videotaped spousal discussions. Independent judges also coded criticism from the discussions. Results suggest that destructive rather than constructive criticism is related to PC. That PC primarily reflects destructive criticism may explain its utility in predicting relapse. Future studies will benefit from separate application of constructive and destructive criticism measures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

SenToy in FantasyA: Designing an Affective Sympathetic Interface to a Computer Game

We describe the design process of an affective control toy, named SenToy, used to control a synthetic character in a computer game. SenToy allows players to influence the emotions of a synthetic character placed in FantasyA, a 3D virtual game. By expressing gestures associated with anger, fear, surprise, sadness and joy through SenToy, players influence the emotions of the character they control in the game. When designing SenToy we hypothesized that players would manipulate the toy to express emotions using a particular set of gestures. Those gestures were drawn from literature on how we express emotions through bodily movements and from emotion theories. To evaluate our idea we performed a Wizard Of Oz study [1]. The results of the study show that there are behaviours that players easily pick up for expressing emotions through the gestures with the toy, though not necessarily the ones extracted from literature. The study also provided some indication on what type of toy we should build, in particular, its ‘look and feel’. Correspondence to: Ms A. Paiva, IST & Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores, Rua Alves Redol 9, 1000 Lisboa, Portugal. Email: Ana.Paiva@inesc.pt     

Monogalactosyl diglyceride and digalactosyl diglyceride from commercial rapessed “lecithin”

By silicic acid column separation small quantities of glycolipid-rich fractions have been isolated from commercial Swedish rapeseed “lecithin.” Major components in these fractions are monogalactosyl diglyceride and digalactosyl diglyceride which have been identified by R_f on thin layer chromatography specific color reactions and IR spectrometry. The fatty acid patterns of the galactolipids are different from those of the major phospholipids of the same product, with less of palmitic and oleic and considerably more of linolenic acid.     

Comments on: Optimal stochastic control for discrete-time linear systems with interrupted observations

In a recent paper [1] a control law was found, which was claimed to be optimal. Here we point out an error in the proof and give a counterexample. In fact, the control law in [1] can be seen as a “passive open loop approximation”. We suggest also a control law which actively identifies the random variables in the loop.     

A study of geohydrological and rock engineering environment at Lappvattnet experimental mine

The paper describes a hydrogeological and geotechnical study of rock mass at an experimental nickel mine at Lappvattnet, Sweden. The mine is situated 30 km south-west of the twonship of Skelleftea and was mainly developed for the exploration purposes. The mine consists of 1000 m of underground roadways from where a number of diamond cored boreholes were drilled for geotechnical studies and mine valuation. The main problem encountered during the development stage of the mine was very high quantities of ground water inflows at relatively high hydraulic pressures. The geological and hydrogeological conditions along the length of the drifts are described together with the methods used for ground-water inflow control. The study shows that there is a strong need for modifying the grouting methods to suit the rock conditions in order to control the ground-water inflows. A discussion regarding the need for a detailed geotechnical investigation prior to the planning and design stage of the project is also included.