Full scale phosphoric acid fuel cell stack technology development

The technology development for phosphoric acid fuel cells is summarized. The preparation, heat treatment, and characterization of carbon composites used as bipolar separator plates are described. Characterization included resistivity, porosity, and electrochemical corrosion. High density glassy carbon/graphite composites performed well in long-term fuel cell endurance tests. Platinum alloy cathode catalysts and low-loaded platinum electrodes were evaluated in 25 sq cm cells. Although the alloys displayed an initial improvement, some of this improvement diminished after a few thousand hours of testing. Low platinum loading (0.12 mg/sq cm anodes and 0.3 mg/sq cm cathodes) performed nearly as well as twice this loading. A selectively wetproofed anode backing paper was tested in a 5 by 15 inch three-cell stack. This material may provide for acid volume expansion, acid storage, and acid lateral distribution

NDE detectability of fatigue type cracks in high strength alloys

Specimens suitable for investigating the reliability of production nondestructive evaluation (NDE) to detect tightly closed fatigue cracks in high strength alloys representative of those materials used in spacecraft engine/booster construction were produced. Inconel 718 was selected as representative of nickel base alloys and Haynes 188 was selected as representative of cobalt base alloys used in this application. Cleaning procedures were developed to insure the reusability of the test specimens and a flaw detection reliability assessment of the fluorescent penetrant inspection method was performed using the test specimens produced to characterize their use for future reliability assessments and to provide additional NDE flaw detection reliability data for high strength alloys. The statistical analysis of the fluorescent penetrant inspection data was performed to determine the detection reliabilities for each inspection at a 90% probability/95% confidence level

A Study Of U.S. Stock Market Volatility, Fall 2008

This is a market volatility study utilizing three measures of assessing volatility in the U.S stock markets prior to and after the month of September 2008 using three proxies. The first is the VIX index, the CBOE options volatility measure. The next two are bearish, or short position strategy, ETF’s based on stock indexes but designed to reflect and benefit from stock market movements in the downward direction. They are the Power Shares index, symbol SDS, and the Rydex Index, symbol RMS. This research evaluates and analyzes weekly movements in the three volatility variables mentioned above for a period of the last eight months of 2008. This includes the four months prior to and the four months after the beginning of September 2008. Specifically, the relative magnitude, volatility and degree of correlation between the three variables will be examined and compared to the movements in NYSE, NASDAQ and S & P stock indexes. The life span and volume of trading, one measure of liquidity, in each of the three variables will also be evaluated. Part of the analysis, and conclusions, will involve analyzing how similar or dissimilar the three behave and whether one may be a better indicator of current  or future volatility in the stock market, or financial markets in general and how effective the bear market ETF’s might be as hedging vehicles in a down market

Folk Epistemology of Factual, Political, and Religious Beliefs

The term folk refers to the intuitive – as opposed to the academic – version of a discipline (e.g., folk physics). The present series of seven studies explored folk epistemology, that is, how laypeople intuitively think about their own knowledge. Concepts from academic epistemology were investigated in laypeople. In addition, folk epistemology across three domains of knowledge were compared: religious, political, and factual.Studies consisted of two parts. In Part 1, participants were presented with religious, political, and factual statements and asked how certain they were that each statement was true. In Part 2, participants were re-presented with only statements that they had rated as very certainly true in Part 1. For each statement presented in Part 2, participants were asked to reflect on epistemological concepts related to how/why they believed the statement to be true. Studies 1 and 2 helped to validate the research materials. Studies 3 and 4 investigated the extent to which laypeople use and value verification and falsification, respectively, across the three domains. Study 5 examined theories of truth – do laypeople define the truth of religious, political, and factual beliefs based on correspondence, coherence, or pragmatism? Study 6 explored objectivity – do laypeople feel their beliefs are objectively true? Study 7 explored several concepts related to overall certainty and nature of belief, including the required effort to believe, frequency of doubt, and obviousness and reasonableness of truth. Participants also were asked how they would react to those who disagreed with them and to counterarguments as another window into the nature of their beliefs.Results showed that (i) folk epistemology differed systematically across the three domains; (ii) intuitions about factual knowledge were more closely related to normative, academic standards; and (iii) intuitions about religious and political knowledge were strikingly different from normative standards. That is to say, religious and political beliefs were regarded as less verifiable, less falsifiable, less consistent with other true propositions, more dubious, less reasonable, and more subjective.These results suggest that current conceptions of why/how people believe propositions to be true insufficiently describe belief in the political and religious domains. Truth determination is neither domain-general, nor does it rely exclusively on propositional content. Laypeople appear to be less certain that religious and political propositions accurately track reality. Exactly which factors motivate belief in these domains is still not fully understood

An Evaluation Of The Prospects For The Euro Currency In 2012-2013

The 2008 global Financial Crisis and the subsequent relative collapse of the financial and economic markets, including the government bond markets, in Greece, Ireland, and Portugal as well as economic weakness in other Western European economies have called into question the viability, going forward, of the Euro Currency. The so called PIIGS countries of Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain are thought to be financially vulnerable because of high levels of government spending and resulting deficit levels and inefficient labor markets and tax collection policies among other factors. Those five countries, along with the stronger economies of France and Germany, comprise 7 of the 17 countries in the Eurocurrency Union. Any weakness in the 5 country group can have a contagion effect on the rest and if the recent financial bailouts by the IMF and the European Central Bank in Greece, Portugal and Ireland are not effective then there is a real danger that one of more of the GIP (Greece, Ireland and Spain) countries may have to abandon or be forced to abandon the Euro. Because there is no provision for a country leaving the Eurocurrency Union this is uncharted territory and could lead to the weakening or even demise of the Euro depending upon circumstances. The fact that there are also significant financial linkages and related default risk connecting the five countries to the sounder economies of Germany and France increases the risks. This paper will evaluate the likelihood that the Eurocurrency will be substantially weakened or abandoned over the next 18 months. The evaluation will be highly dependent upon the forecasts for the 5 countries economic prospects, especially the very large economies of Italy and Spain as well as the likely responses of Germany and France to future default like events in the five countries. Metrics utilized will include the trend in economic indicators like long term government bond yields, deficit spending, tax collections, economic growth, and financial linkages and dependence among the seven countries. European Central Bank data and information from related sources like the IMF will be utilized

Videotaped Oral Reading Fluency Lab: An Alternative Approach To One-on-one Interventions For Intermediate Elementary Students With Learning Disabilities

The ability to read aloud fluently is a reflection of one\u27s ability to automatically decode words and comprehend text at the same time (Samuels, 2006), a task which may be difficult for many intermediate elementary students with learning disabilities (LD) (Ferrara, 2005). Previous research shows that audio-assisted repeated readings and goal-setting with feedback are effective methods of improving oral reading fluency (ORF) (Chard, Vaughn, & Tyler, 2002; Morgan & Sideridis, 2006; Therrien, 2004) but implementing these interventions may be time-consuming for teachers and tedious for students. The purpose of this research was to determine the impact of including repeated reading interventions within a problem-solving framework of services for individual intermediate students with LD. Specifically, this study investigated whether a videotaped delivery method of a repeated reading intervention improved ORF at the same rate as a one-on-one delivery method for four fifth-grade students with LD. Using an ABCBC alternating-phases design, the single-subject study began with a short baseline followed by two treatment phases. Phase B utilized one-on-one repeated reading interventions delivered by an experienced teacher. Phase C utilized a pre-recorded videotaped version of the same teacher following the same procedures. Both quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed to determine the preferred learning method for each participant. The results of this research reinforced the use of repeated reading interventions for individual intermediate elementary students with LD. All four participants met or exceeded the goal of 25% improvement in reading rates. Results also suggest value in devoting time to the preparation of prerecorded videotaped ORF interventions in order to meet the needs of some struggling learners. Consideration of individual learner characteristics was discussed, as well as consideration of time constraints faced by both general and special educators

Effects of Ownership Intuitions on Allocations in the Dictator Game

People’s implicit assumptions about ownership might influence their decisions in Dictator Games: DG), leading to generosity. Two studies tested subjects’ intuitions concerning ownership in fictional situations structurally analogous to the DG. Subjects read a story about a ritual in which an old man: experimenter in DG) provided an endowment that Person 1: dictator in DG) had to allocate between self and Person 2: receiver in DG). Subjects were told that in some instances the ritual was interrupted before completion. As an assay of their intuitions regarding ownership, subjects were asked who owned the endowment and how it should be allocated after such interruptions. Results suggest that subjects assume the endowment primarily belonged to the experimenter throughout the DG, except when the dictator worked for it. These property right intuitions might account for allocation decisions in actual DGs

The Problem With Derivatives In Valuing Securities

  This paper concludes that we have auditors who, in general, do not understand derivatives but who are stipulating to the accuracy of the financial reports of companies that make extensive use of derivatives. We have financial analysts, many of which do not have an in depth understanding of derivatives, or accounting standards that govern them or their effect on company valuation. Even if the security analysts are knowledgeable about Derivatives it is doubtful that they have enough, or the correct, information to do a thorough analysis. We have many government regulators, most of whom even in the securities industry, generally have little or no knowledge relating to derivatives. And we have the general public, many of whom invest in the securities of these companies, but are not able to assess the effect of derivatives usage on their prospective investments