New equations for enthalpy of vaporization from the triple point to the critical point

Two new equations are proposed for the enthalpy of vaporization from the triple point to the critical point. One of these equations containing four parameters is exceptionally good for fitting the data. The other equation containing three parameters is quite adequate for fitting the data but it is exceptionally suited for interpolation when the data do not cover the entire range. These equations have been tested using the enthalpy of vaporization of water from the triple point to the critical point and are compared with other equations.Nomenclature T _c Critical temperature, K - T _t Triple point, K - T _x Any particular temperature, K - T _r Reduced temperature - P _r Reduced pressure - R Gas constant - P Vapor pressure - X (T _c–T)/T _c - Y (T _c–T)/T - X _x (T _c–T)/(T _c–T _x) - X _t (T _c–T)/(T _c–T _t) - H _vt Enthalpy of vaporization at the triple point, kJ · mol^–1 - H _vx Enthalpy of vaporization at any temperature x, kJ · mol^–1 - Z _v Compressibilty factor of the saturated vapor - Z ₁ Compressibilty factor of the saturated liquid Relative deviation = 100[H_v(obs)–H_v(cal)]/H_v(obsd) Standard deviation = { [H _v(obs)–H _v(cal)]²/(No. points — No. parameters)}^0.5     

Persuasive Strategies for Encouraging Social Interaction for Older Adults

Social isolation among older adults represents a significant societal challenge in which persuasion offers a potential solution. To develop a persuasive interactive system for this purpose, we conducted a modeling study with carers to discover how persuasion is used to encourage social interaction among older adults. From an analysis of the results, we identified and defined effective persuasive strategies grounded in theories of persuasion and developed a computational model for applying them. This article reports the findings from an evaluation of the generalizability of this model and presents a revised version based on these results. The article concludes with a discussion on possible domain-specific conceptual features between the model evaluated and the revised model developed.     

Advances in GML for Geospatial Applications

This paper presents a study of Geography Markup Language (GML), the issues that arise from using GML for spatial applications, including storage, parsing, querying and visualization, as well as the use of GML for mobile devices and web services. GML is a modeling language developed by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) as a medium of uniform geographic data storage and exchange among diverse applications. Many new XML-based languages are being developed as open standards in various areas of application. It would be beneficial to integrate such languages with GML during the developmental stages, taking full advantage of a non-proprietary universal standard. As GML is a relatively new language still in development, data processing techniques need to be refined further in order for GML to become a more efficient medium for geospatial applications.

Wax and Fatty Acids from Rice Bran Oil Sludges

Sludges obtained as tank settlings from solvent-extracted rice bran oil have been shown to be rich sources of wax and fatty acids. The wax content is variable, being about 18% in one sample and about 39% in a second sample of sludge. The wax was bleached to light colour. The crude wax shows good compatibility with other types of waxes. The oil fraction of sludges is high in free fatty acids (over 70%), about three fourth of which could be vacuum-distilled directly to yield light-coloured fatty acids.     

Influence of carbon on combustion characteristics of Magnesium-Sodium Nitrate Propellant

Effect of addition of carbon in the form of graphite and carbolac on the combustion characteristics of Magnesium-Sodium nitrate propellant has been studied. Results indicated that the burning rate of the propellant increased significantly by the addition of graphite upto 2%. Thermal decomposition studies revealed that the graphite particles in addition to its absorption of thermal energy being an inert material react with the decomposed products of the sodium nitrate just above the burning surface of the propellant for the exothermic heat release. This heat release which is high at low concentration of graphite is seen causing high burning rate. Any further increase in graphite concentration beyound 2% reduces the burning rate as the thermal energy absorption exceeds the heat release at the burning surface. When carbon in the form of carbolac was used in the composition reactive species diffuse out prior to the sample ignition without participating in the combustion thus reduces the burning rate. The heat of reaction data supported the suggested mechanism.     

Selection of an igniter system for magnesium-based solid fuel rich propellant

Suitability of a number of metal based igniter compositions have been studied for magnesium based fuel rich propellant. Igniter compositions have been tested in closed vessel for evaluation of ignition pressure output and impetus. Heat energy values were determined calorimetrically in a closed bomb. Vented vessel study was carried out in a test motor for assessing relative behaviour and to select a suitable composition. Compositions containing magnesium powder and potassium nitrate were found to give satisfactory ignition to the propellant.     

Mössbauer studies of iron doped poly(methyl methacrylate) before and after ion beam modification

High-energy MeV ions from accelerators are known to produce drastic modifications in polymers. The typical effects include chain scissions, crosslinks, molecular emission and double bond formation. Poly(methyl methacrylate) was doped with Fe(III) and irradiated with 95 MeV O⁷⁺ ions.⁵⁷Fe-Mössbauer studies were done on the doped samples before and after irradiation. Before irradiation, no Mössbauer absorption was observed. The irradiated samples showed a good Mössbauer absorption, which seems to indicate that there is a significant interaction between the metal ion and the polymer matrix. Two possibilities exist at these doses (～ 22 × 10¹² ions/cm): Fe(III) ions may be bridging the various polymer segments through crosslinking or amorphization of the sample leading to Fe-C bonding. Studies of FTIR, conductivity and glass transition temperatures on these samples support these observations.     

Dynamically mapping tasks with priorities and multiple deadlines in a heterogeneous environment

In a distributed heterogeneous computing system, the resources have different capabilities and tasks have different requirements. To maximize the performance of the system, it is essential to assign the resources to tasks (match) and order the execution of tasks on each resource (schedule) to exploit the heterogeneity of the resources and tasks. Dynamic mapping (defined as matching and scheduling) is performed when the arrival of tasks is not known a priori. In the heterogeneous environment considered in this study, tasks arrive randomly, tasks are independent (i.e., no inter-task communication), and tasks have priorities and multiple soft deadlines. The value of a task is calculated based on the priority of the task and the completion time of the task with respect to its deadlines. The goal of a dynamic mapping heuristic in this research is to maximize the value accrued of completed tasks in a given interval of time. This research proposes, evaluates, and compares eight dynamic mapping heuristics. Two static mapping schemes (all arrival information of tasks are known) are designed also for comparison. The performance of the best heuristics is 84% of a calculated upper bound for the scenarios considered.