Heat transfer from immersed vertical tube in a fluidized bed of group A particles near the transition to the turbulent fluidization flow regime

Experiments were performed in a 0.29 m ID fluidization column to investigate heat transfer from a vertical tube immersed in a bed of 70 μm FCC particles in the range of superficial velocities close to the transition to the turbulent fluidization regime. The results show that the transition is a gradual process and that the changing hydrodynamics affect the heat transfer. The highest heat transfer coefficients were found in the range of superficial gas velocities where the transition to turbulent regime occurred. Radial profiles of heat transfer coefficient were almost flat in the turbulent fluidization regime and changed very little with increasing superficial gas velocity.     

A MODEL TO EXPLAIN COMPOSITION EFFECTS IN SMELT-WATER EXPLOSIONS

A salt bridge model, which takes into account mass transfer of components between the two fluids, was developed and proved successful in interpreting the effects of composition on explosiveness in the smelt-water system. The model is based on the fact that the main smelt constituent, sodium carbonate, is not soluble in water at temperatures approaching the critical point, while certain other constituents are soluble. The soluble substances allow a substantial increase in the critical temperature of the solution, which in turn shifts the range of contact interface temperatures at which spontaneous explosions can occur (between the spontaneous nucleation temperature and the critical temperature of the coolant) to higher values. The model was able to provide an explanation of why sodium chloride, sodium hydroxide, and sodium sulfide act as smelt sensitizers and a semiquantitative definition of the concentration ranges in smelt and in the quench solution where spontaneous explosions are likely     

Some compositional changes in malted sorghum (Sorghum vulgare) grain and its value in broiler chicken diet

Grains of two sorghum (Sorghum vulgare L) varieties were germinated at room temperature for 2, 4 and 6 days. Germination resulted in an increase in protein content due to dry matter loss; this rose with increasing time of germination. The absolute amount of tannin was unchanged until the fourth day of germination but decreased markedly by the sixth day. Fractionation of the grain protein of one variety showed that there was a large increase in the albumin-globulin fraction (rich in lysine) and a decrease in the kafirin and cross-linked kafirin fraction (low in lysine) as a result of germination. Although these changes resulted in a more than 30% increase in lysine content on the fourth and sixth days of germination, a substantial loss in dry matter occurred when germination was continued up to 6 days. When 14-day-old Hubbard chicks were fed a diet containing about 59% malted sorghum supplemented with lysine, they showed better (P < 0.05) weight gain and efficiency of feed conversion than those on malted sorghum without lysine supplementation. However, malting reduced the amount of lysine needed to supplement the diet from 0.25% for unmalted sorghum to 0.18% for malted sorghum.     

Promoting the integration of technology in teaching: An analysis of the factors that increase the intention to use technologies among Italian teachers

Background: The rapid spread of COVID-19 forced many countries to adopt severe containment measures, transferring all didactic activities into virtual environments. However, the integration of technology in teaching may present difficulties, especially in some countries, such as Italy. Objectives: The present study analyzed how the two main factors of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), namely perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, combined with online teaching self-efficacy, were associated with the intention to use technology to teach. We posited a moderated moderation model in which perceived usefulness represented the main predictor, with self-efficacy and perceived ease of use as moderators of intention to use technology to teach. Method: The model was tested through multiple regressions, using the PROCESS macro on SPSS 26 with a sample of 178 upper secondary school teachers in Italy. Results and conclusions: Regressions showed that each variable significantly predicted the intention to use technology. In addition, a moderation effect of self-efficacy on the perceived usefulness of using technology was found for medium and high-level of perceived ease of use of technology. Implications: The present study provides targeted implications for distance education policy and practice to promote its adoption (or the blended modality) in Italian upper schools.     

Applying a critical approach to investigate barriers to digital inclusion and online social networking among young people with disabilities

Despite the seeming ubiquity of young people's Internet use, there are still many for whom access to the Internet and online social networking remains inequitable and patterned by disadvantage. The connection between information technology and young people with disabilities is particularly under‐researched. This article contributes to the field of critical information systems research by exposing significant barriers and facilitators to Internet accessibility for young people with disabilities. It uses Bourdieu's critical theory to explore how the unequal distribution of resources shapes processes of digital inclusion for young people with disabilities. It highlights access needs and experiences that are both disability and non‐disability related. The article draws on interviews in South Australia with 18 young people aged 10–18 years with a physical disability (such as cerebral palsy) or acquired brain injury and with 17 of their family members. Interviews evaluated participants' and parents' reflections on the benefits of a home‐based, goal‐oriented intervention to increase the young person's Internet use for social participation purposes. The Bourdieuian analysis demonstrated how varying levels of accrued individual and family offline capital resources are related to digital/online resources and disability‐specific online resources. This revealed how unequal resources of capital can influence technology use and hence digital inclusion for young people with disabilities. Our study demonstrates that young people with particular types of disabilities require intensive, personalised and long‐term support from within and beyond the family to ‘get online’. We conclude that Internet studies need to more frequently adopt critical approaches to investigate the needs of users and barriers to information technology use within sub‐groups, such as young people with disabilities. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd     

Sources and impacts of pharmaceutical components in wastewater and its treatment process: A review

Pharmaceutical compounds and their derivatives are major pollutants in the environment, as their metabolites affect the terrestrial as well as aquatic organisms in one or another way. In recent times, many papers have discussed the treatment procedures for single pharmaceutical and mixture of pharmaceutical components, but only few papers have discussed the fate and the exposure of pharmaceutical contaminants in our environment. In this paper, we discuss the sources and the forms of pharmaceutical products and their resultant in the environment and their addition to the microbial and to human communities. A detailed discussion of various treatment techniques from conventional to current techniques, their advantages and disadvantages is given here. Researchers are finding the techniques in order to completely degrade the contaminants and their transformed products from the environment. Among the technique, s nanotechnology was found to be an efficient technique, and the combination of nanotechnology with other conventional technologies gives higher removal efficiency.     

Experimental Simulation of the Reactor Section of Fluid Cokers: Comparison of FCC and Fluid Coke Particles

The hydrodynamics of fluid cokers were studied in a pressurized fully cylindrical cold model of diameter 483 mm, geometrically and dynamically scaled down by a factor of ～20 from commercial units. Differential pressure fluctuations, voidage distributions, solids momentum flux distributions and steady state gas mixing behaviour in the reactor section are compared for the same operating conditions with two kinds of particles, FCC and fluid coke. The voidage distributions and core‐annular flow structures in the reactor section were similar enough that either FCC or fluid coke particles can be used for cold modelling of fluid cokers.     

穆迪上调科思创评级

正国际评级机构穆迪投资服务有限公司(Moody's Investors Service)重新评估了科思创的现有投资级评级。由于持续良好的盈利状况和资产负债表结构的显着改善,穆迪已最近将科思创的信用评级从Baa2上调至Baa1,前景稳定。科思创首席财务官陶鹏飞博士(Dr.Thomas Toepfer)表示:评级上调是我们实施严谨财务战略的结果。我们通过近年来成