From Aporia to Identity Formation: The Perilous Passage of African American Women\u27s Dramatic Discourse

This paper analyses the dramatic discourse of two African American women dramatists, Sonia Sanchez and Ntozake Shange. It uses as its critical framework Erik Erikson’s theory of identity formation to examine their discourse, which challenges patriarchy and contemporary Anglo American feminist writings. It analyses the multiple ways in which Sanchez and Shange invent standard American English to present a unique African American women’s perspective. Their discourse, this paper argues, thus challenges the prevailing notions of power, truth, knowledge and ideology to give voice to the previously silent black women

Full Mouth Rehabilitation of a Worn Out Dentition using Multidisciplinary Approach

Restoration of a badly mutilated dentition has been a challenge to a dentist’s skills and capabilities. Principles of occlusion have to be applied keeping the esthetic factor in mind to improve the psychological aspect of the patient and his social acceptance. A combination of mechanical, biological and esthetic factors is mandatory for occlusal rehabilitation. This clinical report describes the prosthodontic management of a 46-year-old male patient with attrition of natural dentition

thermodynamic model validation of capstone c30 micro gas turbine

Abstract In this work, a multi-variable multi-objective methodology aimed to perform the validation of the thermodynamic model has been applied to the Capstone C30 micro gas turbine. The methodology is based on a genetic optimization algorithm, where decision variables and objectives are set depending on available experimental data. The results of the studied case highlight the capability of the method to point out some experimental data inconsistencies and that it can lead to a consistency thermodynamic reconstruction of the micro turbine behaviour

Impact of zero budget natural farming on crop yields in Andhra Pradesh, SE India

It has been claimed that Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF), a burgeoning practice of farming in India based on low-inputs and influenced by agro-ecological principles, has the potential to improve farm viability and food security. However, there is concern that the success of the social movement fueling the adoption of ZBNF has become out of step with the science underpinning its performance relative to other farming systems. Based on twenty field plot experiments established across six districts in Andhra Pradesh (SE India), managed by locally based farmer researchers, we present the first ‘on the ground’ assessment of ZBNF performance. We show that there is no short-term yield penalty when adopting ZBNF in small scale farming systems compared to conventional and organic alternatives. In terms of treatment response, we observed differences between agro-climatic zones, but in this initial evaluation we cannot recommend specific options tuned to these different contexts

Natural farming improves crop yield in SE India when compared to conventional or organic systems by enhancing soil quality

Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) is a grassroot agrarian movement and a state backed extension in Andhra Pradesh, and has been claimed to potentially meet the twin goals of global food security and environmental conservation. However, there is a lack of statistically evaluated data to support assertions of yield benefits of ZBNF compared to organic or conventional alternatives, or to mechanistically account for them. In order to fill this gap, controlled field experiments were established in twenty-eight farms across six districts, spanning over 800 km, over three cropping seasons. In these experiments, we compared ZBNF (no synthetic pesticides or fertilisers, home-made inputs comprising desi cow dung and urine with mulch) to conventional (synthetic fertilisers and pesticides) and organic (no synthetic pesticides or fertilisers, no mulch, purchased organic inputs, e.g. farmyard manure and vermicompost) treatments, all with no tillage. Comparisons were made in terms of yield, soil pH, temperature, moisture content, nutrient content and earthworm abundance. Our data shows that yield was significantly higher in the ZBNF treatment (z score = 0.58 ± 0.08), than the organic (z= −0.34 ± 0.06) or conventional (−0.24 ± 0.07) treatment when all farm experiments were analysed together. However, the efficacy of the ZBNF treatment was context specific and varied according to district and the crop in question. The ZBNF yield benefit is likely attributed to mulching, generating a cooler soil, with a higher moisture content and a larger earthworm population. There were no significant differences between ZBNF and the conventional treatment in the majority of nutrients. This is a particularly important observation, as intensive use of synthetic pesticides and fertilisers comes with a number of associated risks to farmers’ finances, human health, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss and environmental pollution. However, long-term field and landscape scale trials are needed to corroborate these initial observations

Design of a Pilot SOFC System for the Combined Production of Hydrogen and Electricity under Refueling Station Requirements

The objective of the current work is to support the design of a pilot hydrogen and electricity producing plant that uses natural gas (or biomethane) as raw material, as a transition option towards a 100% renewable transportation system. The plant, with a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) as principal technology, is intended to be the main unit of an electric vehicle station. The refueling station has to work at different operation periods characterized by the hydrogen demand and the electricity needed for supply and self-consumption. The same set of heat exchangers has to satisfy the heating and cooling needs of the different operation periods. In order to optimize the operating variables of the pilot plant and to provide the best heat exchanger network, the applied methodology follows a systematic procedure for multi-objective, i.e. maximum plant efficiency and minimum number of heat exchanger matches, and multi-period optimization. The solving strategy combines process flow modeling in steady state, superstructure-based mathematical programming and the use of an evolutionary-based algorithm for optimization. The results show that the plant can reach a daily weighted efficiency exceeding 60%, up to 80% when considering heat utilization

Climate change, sustainable development, clean development mechanism in India.

49 p.Climate change is regarded as the most convoluted problem ever faced by all the nations across the world. It has serious implications for a country like India which is already challenged by various development imperatives. Meanwhile, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) evolved as an effective solution for mitigating the impacts of changing climate while maintaining sustainable development of the host country. India is regarded as one of the most attractive destinations for CDM. Till date, India has the second highest transacted volumes of carbon credits in the world. This paper will argue that though India has achieved tremendous success in CDM market, it is not a successful climate change mitigation initiative for the country. This paper will look at the socio-economic component of sustainable development commitments of the CDM projects, since the goal of sustainable development lies at the core of this climate change mitigation initiative. This paper points out that to a great extent CDM projects in India arc unilateral. The increased unilateral approach of the country has resulted in limited success of critical CDM projects in areas like renewable energy and rural development. The current CDM projects in India are business-oriented and market-based. This raises a fear that, the future of CDM regime may become unambitious for the country. For CDM to be a win-win strategy either a bilateral or multilateral approach should be adopted or else more innovative options of domestic investment should be created. Moreover, it should be directed towards the betterment and development of rural communities and renewable energy sector which caters for sustainable development of the country.Master of Science (International Relations

A Validation Study for Turbulent Premixed Flame Propagation in Closed Vessels

Pressure rise in closed containments during accidental explosions is an important issue for the safety of nuclear power plants. For numerical prediction, several combustion models have been proposed by researchers to close the averaged balance equations describing the combustion process. In order to simulate these turbulent flame propagations, the combustion models have to be first validated against well performed experiments. This thesis primarily provides a step-by-step approach for validating a premixed turbulent combustion model in closed vessels. The approach used in this thesis consists of the use of an algebraic expression for the local turbulent flame speed which is then used to close the balance equations. Focus is given to select the correct solver which can accurately predict pressure waves during flame propagation. Before validating the calculations with experiments, mesh and time-step independency is checked. Sensitivity of results to the ignition method has also been addressed.Process and EnergyMechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineerin

Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) integrated power plants: System and kinetic studies

Increased climate change over past decades has resulted in an increase in the average temperature (also called global warming) of Earth’s climate system. At the recent Paris climate conference (COP21) in 2015, 195 countries in the world have agreed upon a stringent plan to limit global warming below 2oC. This demands a significant reduction in the industrial emission of greenhouse gases, predominantly carbon dioxide (CO2). Existing fossil fuel (coal, natural gas) fired power plants account for the majority share in global carbon dioxide (CO2) and other harmful (SOx , NOx) emissions. Therefore clean, efficient and flexible power plant concepts need to be developed towards upgrading existing power plants and to meet the strict CO2 emission targets. Combined cycle power plants like the integrated gasification combined cycle, IGCC (coal based) and integrated reforming combined cycle, IRCC (natural gas based) can be utilized to produce electricity using fossil fuels at relatively high efficiencies compared to conventional single cycle plants.Possible approaches to make IGCC/IRCC power plants cleaner, efficient and more flexible include biomass utilization (renewable energy source), application of CO2 capture technologies, retrofitting with highly efficient fuel conversion technologies like solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and energy/fuel storage. This dissertation primarily aims to provide design concepts and thermodynamic system analysis for large scale IGCC and IRCC power plants with a focus on achieving high electrical efficiencies, low CO2 emissions and high operational flexibility. SOFCs have been explored as an efficiency augmenting technology and metal hydride based hydrogen storage as a flexibility option. Furthermore, future development of safe and optimally operating hydrocarbon (like natural gas (methane)) fuelled SOFC units on the basis of system and numerical models, requires reliable experimental data and understanding in the underlying reaction kinetics. Thereupon, an extended experimental study has been carried out in this work on methane steam reforming (MSR) kinetics in single operating SOFCs.Energy Technolog

Desalination Membrane Management

With growing market of membrane technologies the disposal of these spent modules going to be serious issue especially for water industry. Review of status of technologies is briefly highlighted. Keeping this in mind, the various schemes/protocols can be planned and accordingly exploratory studies have been initiated using AOP based primary techniques such as hydro thermal processes. This chapter presents both the open literature and experimental studies related to spent desalination membranes