Slurry pumping techniques for feeding high-pressure coal gasification reactors

Operating experience in pumping coal and coal char slurries at pressures up to 1500 psig is discussed. The design specifications for the mixing tanks, pumps, piping, and slurry heaters are given along with pressure drop and minimum flow velocity data on water-lignite slurries

Two-dimensional computational modeling of thin film evaporation

A considerable amount of the evaporation originates from the close vicinity the three-phase contact line in an evaporating extended meniscus due to the low thermal resistance across the ultra thin film. Evaporation taking place within the thin film region is commonly modeled using the uni-directional flow assumption of the liquid following the lubrication approximation. Although the uni-directional flow based models may yield practically reasonable results in terms of the cumulative quantities such as total evaporation rate, the underlying physics of the problem cannot be explained solely by uni-directional flow, especially when the dominant transverse liquid motion is considered near the close proximity of the contact line. The present study develops a solution methodology to enable the solution of steady, incompressible, 2-D conservation of mass and linear momentum equations for the liquid flow in an evaporating thin film. Solution methodology includes the coupling of an uni-directional solver with high precision numerics, a higher order bi-directional spectral element solver and a finite element solver. The novelty of the present study is that steady, 2-D conservation of mass and linear momentum equations are considered in the modeling of thin film evaporation without the exclusion of any terms in the conservation equations. © 2017 Elsevier Masson SA

A model to explore Turkish teachers' ICT integration stages

The aim of the study is to determine teachers' ICT integration stages according to CEO Forum's standards and factors affecting their integration. Teachers are expected to use ICT in their teaching practice. Hence, it is crucial that their integration stages and factors affecting it are examined. A survey method was employed for this study. A sample of 200 teachers was selected randomly out of 460 teachers working in primary schools in Uşak, Turkey. Researchers of this study developed an ICT integration questionnaire. Analysis of the data reveals that the teachers are in three different stages in ICT integration. A significant relationship is discovered between feelings of inadequacy in using ICT and exhibiting stage 1 behaviors. It is also clear that the ICT knowledge of teachers is the most important variable for the teachers who were at the third (the highest) stage of ICT integration. A model showing interrelations among factors influencing ICT integration behaviors were drawn for further studies to be tested. © The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology

Transforming the reading preferences of today’s youth in the digital age: Intercultural dialog

The article deals with the transformation of readers’ preferences and the formation of a “new reader” at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century. In the study, the authors draw attention to the shift in the priority of the format of youth reading in favor of digital, to the loss of the former role of libraries as centers of non-formal education, as well as to the need to provide assistance to children and young people on the part of “teacher of literature”. An international study undertaken in Russia, the U.S., and the Czech Republic touches upon socio-cultural changes that influenced the reading process among the youth of these countries and the particular interest of the analyzed age group in the fantasy genre, which indicates a change in the reading preferences of young people and the need for understanding this process both in theoretical aspects and taking into account the results of empirical research. The authors conclude that it is advisable to determine the scale of values of a modern person by means of literary pedagogy, to bring it to a common denominator in the intercultural space. As the leading genre of revealed reader preferences, fantasy is becoming a multimedia phenomenon and is shifting the age boundaries of potential readers around the world

Working Memory Training in relation to anxiety, stress, and motivation

Interventions for improving working memory (WM) can be used to reduce anxiety-related symptoms. Here, we examine how WM training can impact trait anxiety and test anxiety for upcoming examinations, and the role of motivation and the sustainability of training effects were also examined. Volunteers were randomly assigned either to control (non-adaptive dual 1-back training, N = 52) or training group (adaptive dual n-back training, N = 49), who trained for 14 consecutive days right before the midterm exams week. Participants completed measures of trait anxiety, test anxiety, and attentional control before and after the intervention and at follow-up times (1week and 7 weeks). Participants rated how motivated and accomplished they felt after each daily training session. They also rated their perceived performance success and confidence during the exam week at first follow-up session. Results found that adaptive training compared with the non-adaptive control training resulted in reductions in trait anxiety across time. Additionally, exploratory analyses showed that perceived success in the training task was associated with pre-to-post-intervention reductions in test anxiety. Our findings suggest that WMtraining has the potential to reduce anxiety and test anxiety-related symptoms under stress and emphasize the role of perceived success