Development of the Resin Infusion between Double Flexible Tooling process : assessment of the viability of in-mold coating and implementation of UV curing.

As composites gain wider acceptance in all sectors of the economy, new methodologies must be developed to increase their cost effectiveness in manufacturing. The neoteric Resin Infusion between Double Flexible Tooling (RIDFT) process is undergoing modifications to improve its cost-effectiveness by developing methodologies for in-mold coating and the incorporation of UV curing. In-mold coating is desired by the composites industry since it eliminates the current paint process, which is not only laborious and time consuming, but expensive, and presents safety issues. Two methodologies (paint films and coinfusion) for implementing in-mold coating were investigated. It was demonstrated that thermoformable paint films could be used to produce coated RIDFTed components. Coinfusion was also successfully implemented. This work also investigated the feasibility of designing and incorporating a Cure on Demand system into the RIDFT process, using ultraviolet (UV) light for the curing of composite laminates. The objective was to develop a process for the RIDFT that would eliminate or reduce the inflexibility in the current production process, resulting in shortened production cycle times. UV-cured laminates were produced at a fraction of the time required to produce catalyst-cured laminates. Mechanical and material characterization tests were performed on each of the UV-cured laminates produced. The results were referenced against those obtained for laminates produced using a catalyst curing system to determine their overall quality. The UV-cured laminates, after undergoing tensile and rheological thermal tests, were found to have mechanical and material properties comparable, or in a few instances slightly better, than that of thermally cured laminates

Contribution of local agrobiodiversity to complementary foods for 6 to 23 months old children in southern rural Benin

In rural Benin, malnutrition, especially micronutrient deficiencies, contrasts with a rich agrobiodiversity that abounds in cultivated or wild foods that are potential sources of micronutrients. This paradox leads us to examine the role of local agrobiodiversity in the diet of children living in two agroecological zones of southern Benin. This study involved 1,263 children aged 6-23 months from 17 randomly selected villages in Southern Benin. A multiple-pass 24-h recall method on two non-consecutive days with the estimation of the consumed portions was used to collect dietary intake data. Semistructured questionnaires were used to collect socioeconomic and demographic data to explore factors driving agrobiodiversity food consumption, especially wild foods. Nonparametric analyses based on gamma distribution were performed to establish the effect of wild food consumption on vitamin A, calcium, iron, and zinc intakes. Conditional inference tree-classification models were performed to identify factors driving wild food consumption. Among a total of 48 local foods that were reported as consumed by children, 11 were from wild species. The contributions of total local agrobiodiversity to nutrient intake of complementary foods was between 49% (calcium) and 98% (vitamin A). Cultivated species contributed to local agrobiodiversity foods for 57% (calcium) and 96 % (zinc). The semi-domesticated species have a contribution of between 2% (zinc) and 35% (calcium) to nutrient intake. Wild species contribution to nutrient intake was between 1% (zinc) and 9% for vitamin C. Wild foods consumption correlated significantly and positively with calcium and vitamin A intakes among children. Sociolinguistic factors such as ethnicity and religion of the household head were determinants of wild food consumption. These findings suggest that sensitization on the nutritional importance of the wild foods including socio-linguistic factors may be necessary to promote wild foods’ consumption. This could be a good strategy to promote healthy diets in local communities.&nbsp

Final report on LDRD project : biodiesel production from vegetable oils using slit-channel reactors.

This report documents work done for a late-start LDRD project, which was carried out during the last quarter of FY07. The objective of this project was to experimentally explore the feasibility of converting vegetable (e.g., soybean) oils to biodiesel by employing slit-channel reactors and solid catalysts. We first designed and fabricated several slit-channel reactors with varying channel depths, and employed them to investigate the improved performance of slit-channel reactors over traditional batch reactors using a NaOH liquid catalyst. We then evaluated the effectiveness of several solid catalysts, including CaO, ZnO, MgO, ZrO{sub 2}, calcium gluconate, and heteropolyacid or HPA (Cs{sub 2.5}H{sub 0.5}PW{sub 12}O{sub 40}), for catalyzing the soybean oil-to-biodiesel transesterification reaction. We found that the slit-channel reactor performance improves as channel depth decreases, as expected; and the conversion efficiency of a slit-channel reactor is significantly higher when its channel is very shallow. We further confirmed CaO as having the highest catalytic activity among the solid catalysts tested, and we demonstrated for the first time calcium gluconate as a promising solid catalyst for converting soybean oil to biodiesel, based on our preliminary batch-mode conversion experiments

NSF_PlantGenomeResProg_Meeting_2010_HWBassPoster

<p>Poster from HW Bass et al for anual NSF Plant Genome Research Program Awardees meeting, Arlington, VA, Sept. 2010.  This poster describes the maize chromatin mapping project plans (NSF IOS 1025954, "Chromatin Structure and Genome Response in Maize" (CSAGRIM project); FSU, FAMU , Tallahassee, FL.</p

O Homem Interior e sua Ação: Jerzy Grotowski e a herança de Adam Mickiewicz e do romantismo polonês

This article locates Grotowski in a concrete cultural milieu of Polish Romanticism and of the lifework of the Romantic poet Adam Mickiewicz. The bulk of my focus goes towards the notion of the deed and the act of doing that dematerialises the work of art turning it into an inner process – all features of Mickiewicz’s and Grotowski’s projects.Cet article place Grotowski à la fois dans le contexte culturel concret du romantisme polonais et dans l’œuvre du poète romantique Adam Mickiewicz. Le principal axe d'analyse est la notion d’action et l'acte de faire qui dématérialise l'oeuvre d’art, en la transformanat en un processus intérieur – des caractéristiques retrouvées aussi bien dans les projets de Mickiewicz que de Grotowski.Este artigo coloca Grotowski no contexto cultural concreto do romantismo polonês e na obra do poeta romântico Adam Mickiewicz. O foco principal de análise é a noção de ação e o ato de fazer que desmaterializa a obra de arte, transformando-a em um processo interior – características encontradas nos projetos de Mickiewicz e Grotowski

1.1.3 Size and Size Distribution..................... 14

zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades doctor rerum naturalium (Dr. rer. nat.) vorgelegt dem Rat der Chemisch-Geowissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jen

O Homem Interior e sua Ação: Jerzy Grotowski e a herança de Adam Mickiewicz e do romantismo polonês

This article locates Grotowski in a concrete cultural milieu of Polish Romanticism and of the lifework of the Romantic poet Adam Mickiewicz. The bulk of my focus goes towards the notion of the deed and the act of doing that dematerialises the work of art turning it into an inner process – all features of Mickiewicz’s and Grotowski’s projects.Cet article place Grotowski à la fois dans le contexte culturel concret du romantisme polonais et dans l’œuvre du poète romantique Adam Mickiewicz. Le principal axe d'analyse est la notion d’action et l'acte de faire qui dématérialise l'oeuvre d’art, en la transformanat en un processus intérieur – des caractéristiques retrouvées aussi bien dans les projets de Mickiewicz que de Grotowski.Este artigo coloca Grotowski no contexto cultural concreto do romantismo polonês e na obra do poeta romântico Adam Mickiewicz. O foco principal de análise é a noção de ação e o ato de fazer que desmaterializa a obra de arte, transformando-a em um processo interior – características encontradas nos projetos de Mickiewicz e Grotowski