MODELING OF THERMAL DYNAMICS IN CHEVROLET VOLT GEN II HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLE FOR INTEGRATED POWERTRAIN AND HVAC OPTIMAL OPERATION THROUGH CONNECTIVITY

Integrated thermal energy management across system level components in electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) is currently an under explored space. The proliferation of connected vehicles and accompanying infrastructure in recent years provides additional motivation to explore opportunities in optimizing thermal energy management in EVs and HEVs with the help of this newly available connected vehicle data. This thesis aims to examine and analyze the potential to mitigate vehicle energy consumption and extend usable driving range through optimal control strategies which exploit physical system dynamics via controls integration of vehicle subsystems. In this study, data-driven and physics-based models for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) are developed and utilized along with the vehicle dynamics and powertrain (VD\&PT) models for a GM Chevrolet Volt hybrid electric vehicle to enable co-optimization of HVAC and VD\&PT systems of HEVs. The information available in connected vehicles like driver schedules, trip duration and ambient conditions is leveraged along with the vehicle system dynamics to predict operating conditions of the vehicle under study. All this information is utilized to optimize the operation of an integrated HVAC and VD\&PT system in a hybrid electric vehicle to achieve the goal of reduced energy consumption. For achieving the goals outlined for this thesis, an integrated HVAC and VD\&PT model is developed and the various components, sub-systems and systems are validated against real world test data. Then, integrated relationships relevant to the thermal dynamics of an HEV are established. These relationships comprise the combined operational characteristics of the internal combustion (IC) engine coolant and the cabin electric heater for cabin heating, coordinated controls of IC engine using engine coolant and catalyst temperatures for cabin thermal conditioning in cold ambient conditions and the combined operational characteristics of the air-conditioning compressor for conditioning both cabin and high-voltage battery in an HEV. Next, these sub-system and system relationships are used to evaluate potential energy savings in cabin heating and cooling when vehicle\u27s operating schedule is known. Finally, an optimization study is conducted to establish an energy efficient control strategy which maximizes the HVAC energy efficiency whilst maintaining occupant comfort levels according to ASHRAE standards, all while improving the usable range of the vehicle relative to its baseline calibration. The mean energy savings in overall vehicle energy consumption using an integrated HVAC - Powertrain control strategy and a coordinated thermal management strategy proposed in this work are $3$\% and $14$\% respectively

Two Concepts of Religious Freedom in the European Court of Human Rights

This paper considers the way in which recent historical work on the history of freedom of religion and freedom of conscience opens up a new interpretation of the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights in the headscarf cases. These decisions have been widely criticized as adopting a militantly secularist approach to the presence of Islamic religious symbols in the public sphere, an approach that seems inconsistent or even overtly discriminatory in light of the court’s recent decision in Lautsi that the compulsory display of crucifixes in the classroom did not breach Italy’s convention obligations. I argue that the headscarf cases turn less on the balance between state neutrality and religious belief, than on an understanding of certain religious symbols as a threat to public order and as harbingers of sectarian strife which undermine democracy

What should freedom of religion become?

This interdisciplinary volume examines the relationship between secularism, freedom of religion and human rights in legal, theoretical, historical and political perspective. It brings together chapters from leading scholars of human rights, law and religion, political theory, religious studies and history, and provides insights into the state of the debate about the relationship between these concepts. Comparative in orientation, its chapters draw on constitutional and political discourses and experience not only from Western Europe and the United States, but also from India, the Arab world, and Malaysia.1: What Should Freedom of Religion Become?, Nehal Bhuta 2: Reimagining Secularism: Respect, Domination and Principled Distance, Rajeev Bhargava 3: Citizenship, Religious Rights, and State Identity in Arab Constitutions: Who is Free and What Are They Free to Do?, Nathan J. Brown 4: Communal Religious Rights or Majoritarian Oppression: Conversion and Proselytism Laws in Malaysia and India, Carolyn Evans and Timnah Rachel Baker 5: Too Much Secularism? Religious Freedom in European History and the European Court of Human Rights, Samuel Moyn 6: US Exceptionalism in the Regulation of Religion, Winnifred Fallers Sullivan 7: Rethinking Secularism in Europe, Lorenzo Zucc

Ontario Teachers\u27 Understanding and Practices of Reform Instruction: A Case Study of Constructivism

Since the development of the theory of constructivism from the work of educators Piaget, Brunner and Vygotsky, constructivism has also influenced pedagogical practice. Unlike the traditional approaches of teaching, constructivism encourages learners to construct their own knowledge and take control of their own learning. Although constructivism is widely accepted among teachers, teachers may have misunderstanding/misinterpretation of constructivism which leads to teaching practices that devalue students’ prior knowledge and experiences. This qualitative study examined elementary school teachers’ understanding and practice of constructivism. Data were collected from semi-structured interview, classroom observations, and analysis of teachers’ lesson plans. Findings from the interview showed that teachers understood constructivism as one of many theories that guide their teaching. Classroom observations showed that teachers practiced many approaches including teacher-centered. Teachers also had different understanding/different interpretation of constructivist principles such as knowledge collaboration, authentic activities, problem-solving, and teachers’ role as coaches. Constructivist principles such as metacognition, apprenticeship, and exploration were absent from teachers’ practices. Consistency and inconsistencies was also noticed among teachers

Laboratory studies examining aspects of scent marking, traplining and remote detection of reward in the foraging bumblebee.

PhDEnergy from food is essential for the survival of all animals. For decades, bumblebees have been used as model organisms for studying animal foraging strategies. Here, I use bumblebees to examine two foraging strategies: scent marking and traplining. I find that experience and long term memory play an important role in both of these strategies. I show that bees interpret scent marks differently depending on context. They learn to rely on these scent marks to different degrees depending on flower handling time. Bees also learn to associate the same scent marks with high and low rewarding food, which means the same scent promotes and suppresses acceptance of flowers. Contrary to previous speculation, I find that these scent marks are not pheromonal signals specifically evolved to play a role in foraging. Rather they are incidental cues that bees learn to use to improve foraging performance and locate their nesting sites. Experience is also important in developing repeatable stable routes between food sites i. e. traplines. I show that bees required long term spatial memory to gradually form traplines. They reduced their travel distance by linking near neighbour flowers, which did not result in using the shortest routes. Traplining bees were also less likely to revisit emptied flowers and spent less time searching for these flowers. For decades, scientists have used water to control for remote effects of sucrose solution in experiments. I find that bees are able to detect the difference between these two liquids without contact chemoreception. The exact cue they use remains to be determined, but it is not humidity.University of London Central Research fun

Electrospinning of PEO Nanofibers

Electrospinning is a method centered on electrostatic forces for fabricating continuous nanofibers with a substantial active surface area per mass unit. One of the essential parameters that affect a polymer\u27s ability to create nanofibers is the chain length, given by the molecular weight. In this study, polyethylene oxide (PEO) with molecular weights from 100,000 to 5,000,000 g/mol were used to investigate the effect of molecular weight on the shape, size, and morphology of the fabricated fibers. The electrospinning experiments were conducted at flow rates ranging from 4.16 to 16.67μL/min and working distances between 10 and 20 cm. The collected fibers were analyzed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Based on the solution and processing conditions, different structures from droplets, and heavily beaded fibers to defect-free mats were obtained. PEO\u27s water-based solutions produced bead free fibers for molecular weights in the range of 100,000 to 900,000 g/mol for a range of processing conditions. However, the processing window for the formation of bead free fibers was more restricted for water-ethanol solutions than for deionized water solutions. Furthermore, the electrospun jet of ultra-high molecular weight PEO (5,000,000 g/mol) solutions showed very small bending instabilities, which reduced the chance of drying the jet during its flight time, even with a relatively high working distance (20cm). Therefore, the products exhibited over-wetting and film formation. The results are discussed in terms of the viscosity and entanglement number, (ne) soln, of the PEO solution

My Teaching Philosophy with Particular Reference to Teaching of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

It has been due on my part to share my own teaching philosophy with my colleagues in the University in general and other language instructors engaged in this noble profession. Needless to say, creating our own teaching philosophy is an innovative practice and it should be a meaningful part of us as second/foreign language teachers since it states our teaching/learning vision and wisdom, observations, experiences, goals, beliefs, level of professionalism and self-development among many other things. However, in real life situation, we do not often implement all our innovative ideas that we possess in our teaching philosophy. The main objective of the present study is to share my decades of experiences as a language instructor as a student of linguistics as well as an English language instructor