Feasibility Study of a Novel Ground Heat Exchanger using Phase-Change Materials

The performance of a novel ground heat exchanger, the Underground Thermal Battery (UTB), was investigated in this paper. The UTB is an alternative to the conventional ground heat exchanger (GHE) which is designed to be installed in the shallow subsurface of the ground (less than 20 ft. deep). This can reduce the cost of drilling associated with the installation of boreholes in the conventional vertical bore ground heat exchanger (VBGHE). The UTB is a tank, 2-3 ft. in diameter, which is filled with water. The tank has a large thermal capacity which reduces the temperature response of the tank for a given thermal load. PCM is suspended in the tank water to further increase the thermal capacity. A simplified 1-D model has been developed to simulate the UTB over a year of operation. This model was validated against a 3-D CFD model. The performance of the UTB is compared with the conventional VBGHE under various operating conditions. The results indicate that a UTB with two tanks can offer similar performance as the VBGHE under most conditions. Simulation results indicate that, by integrating with UTB with the lawn irrigation system of a residence, the performance of the UTB is improved and thereby the size needed to meet the thermal demands can be reduced without any additional water consumption. A preliminary cost analysis suggests that the UTB may offer significant cost savings potential over the conventional VBGHE

The effects of using computer-based models on the learning of computer programming

The problem of this study was to determine what effects the use of manipulative, dynamic computer-based models had on the meaningful learning of computer programming by novices. Students who were taking a beginning computer programming course were randomly assigned to one of four groups in a two by two factorial design. The first independent variable was the use or non-use of the MemOps computer-based lesson. The purposes of MemOps were (1) to serve as a dynamic model of computer memory which could be manipulated by the learner, (2) to facilitate algorithm development, and (3) to lay a foundation for the use of arrays. The second independent variable was the use of visible or hidden memory while using MiniPas, a Pascal programming system. The purpose of MiniPas was to provide the novice programmer with a learning environment which was more transparent than the traditional programming environment. One of the unique features of MiniPas was a flow of execution trace arrow. The second unique feature of MiniPas, called visible memory, was the displaying of all variable values declared in the students\u27 program during runtime;The criterion variables consisted of (1) traditional inclass examination scores, (2) whether or not students obtained workable solutions to five separate novel programming tasks, and (3) programming protocols. An ANOVA revealed no significant differences between the exam means of the two experimental groupings. Based on the results of using the Fisher\u27s Exact Test, it was concluded that the proportion of MemOps students who obtained a workable solution to the Swap programming problem was larger than the proportion of Placebo students who obtained a solution. Although there was no significant difference for the Simple Sort problem, there was a significant difference between the proportions of the two groups in the programming methods which they employed when attempting to solve the problem;Based on the programming protocols employed by the students, numerous programming practices which are not typically used by experienced or expert programmers were observed. In general, the protocols revealed that the computer operations which were hidden from the students were the least understood; e.g., how the index is manipulated by the FOR loop control structure

The Case of Galileo: A Closed Question?

Non

A comparison of methodologies for the staining and quantification of intracellular components of Arbuscular Mychorrizal (AM) fungi in the root cortex of two varieties of winter wheat

© 2019 The Authors. The definitive peer reviewed, edited version of this article is published in Access Microbiology, https://doi.org/10.1099/acmi.0.000083. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.Arbuscular Mychorrizal (AM) fungi are one of the most common fungal organisms to exist in symbiosis with terrestrial plants facilitating the growth and maintenance of arable crops. Wheat has been studied extensively for AM fungal symbiosis using the carcinogen trypan blue as the identifying stain for fungal components, namely arbuscles, vesicles and hyphal structures. The present study uses Sheaffer® blue ink with a lower risk as an alternative to this carcinogenic stain. Justification for this is determined by stained wheat root sections (n = 120), with statistically significant increases in the observed abundance of intracellular root cortical fungal structures stained with Sheaffer® blue ink compared to trypan blue for both Zulu (P = 0.003) and Siskin (P = 0.0003) varieties of winter wheat. This new alternative combines an improved quantification of intracellular fungal components with a lower hazard risk at a lower cost.Peer reviewe

Bankruptcy Court Jurisdiction After Executive Benefits Insurance Agency v. Arkison

(Excerpt) Bankruptcy law has been struggling for several years now with the so-called Stern problem”—the jurisdictional cloud of doubt that has been cast by the Supreme Court\u27s decision in Stern v. Marshall over much of the work that bankruptcy courts have done routinely for decades. Since Stern was decided, bankruptcy courts and the litigants who appear before them cannot be confident that it is constitutional for non-Article III bankruptcy judges to adjudicate various matters over which there is clear statutory jurisdiction, such as avoidance actions against third party transferees who are not otherwise involved or participating in the bankruptcy case. It is even questionable whether consent by all parties to adjudication before a bankruptcy judge would solve potential jurisdictional defects in Stern-implicated matters. Nevertheless, despite the long shadow that Stern has cast, bankruptcy courts around the country have continued to operate as they did before, if for no other reason than simply because the show must go on. As temporary fixes (if not quite solutions) to Stern, bankruptcy courts have mainly been doing two things: (1) issuing, like magistrate judges do, proposed findings of fact and proposed conclusions of law while leaving the final decision for the district judge to make on appeal after de novo review; and (2) obtaining consent from the parties who appear in bankruptcy court to the bankruptcy court\u27s jurisdiction, particularly in cases where Stern is raised or implicated. Doing one or both of these has allowed bankruptcy courts to continue to function more or less as before—at least ab initio. But always lurking in the background is the risk that an appeal raising a Stern issue could overturn the work of the bankruptcy court below. Such was the situation, for instance, in In re Bellingham Insurance Agency, Inc., a recent decision of the Ninth Circuit reviewing and ultimately affirming an award of summary judgment in favor of a bankruptcy estate in an avoidance action against third parties who, for the first time on appeal, had raised a Stern defense. While the bankruptcy court\u27s work was affirmed by the Ninth Circuit in Bellingham, the parties there and in similar cases around the country have been forced to operate in the jurisdictional twilight zone created by Stern (even as to core claims specifically delegated to the bankruptcy courts by statute), and the approach taken by the Ninth Circuit in Bellingham has not been uniformly embraced by other courts. Thus, when the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Bellingham (recaptioning the case under the name Executive Benefits Insurance Agency v. Arkison), there was great hope in the bankruptcy bar that Stern\u27s scope would be clarified and that the Court would address in particular the jurisdictional effects of the two practices mentioned above, proposed findings/conclusions and consent. Unfortunately, these hopes were not fully realized. For the Court\u27s decision, which affirmed the Ninth Circuit on the narrow ground that the district court had reviewed the bankruptcy court\u27s summary judgment ruling de novo, addresses only the first issue and not the second

Integrated Farming Systems and Pollution Prevention Initiatives Stimulate Co-Learning Extension Strategies

Increasing environmental regulatory pressure on agriculture is stimulating increased attention to integrated farming systems and more participatory forms of Extension. Agro-environmental partnerships, which have become the primary strategy for agricultural pollution prevention strategies in California, demonstrate the potential of alternative pest management strategies. We argue that the organizational structure of these partnerships, which facilitates co-learning strategies and greater participation, has been key to their success. The shift from a transfer of technology model to participatory co-learning and decision-making making support could improve Extension\u27s service delivery and serve as an important strategy for Extension to engage a broader client constituency

Hedge Funds in Bankruptcy

(Excerpt) Hedge funds and other professional and institutional investors are playing an increasingly important role in bankruptcy cases. As buyers of financially distressed securities, they provide a valuable outlet for holders of such securities who wish to exit those markets. They also facilitate the consolidation of distressed securities into the hands of owners who are well-equipped to press for outcomes in Chapter 11 cases that maximize the value of those securities. At the same time, the active participation of hedge funds in the bankruptcy process at times gives them access to nonpublic information that may afford them an undue advantage in their ongoing trading activities. To balance these competing considerations, various practices have developed to regulate hedge funds in ways that attempt to preserve the value that they add to the bankruptcy process while also eliminating any improper advantage that participation in that process may confer. These measures and various proposals for their reform, which have been hotly debated within the bankruptcy and hedge fund communities, were the subject of a recent symposium at St. John\u27s School of Law whose fruits you now have before you. The eight papers that appear in this symposium issue of the American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review come from a diverse and distinguished group of scholars, practitioners, and public officials. In the grand tradition of interdisciplinarity that for nearly a century has informed academic discourse on bankruptcy law and policy, these papers are representative of the very best in bankruptcy scholarship

Science, Technology, and Catholic Identity in the Education of Professionals

The reception of Ex corde ecclesiae has been uneven across the disciplines, with scant interest in distinctly Catholic pedagogies outside of the humanities. This essay argues that Catholic universities can distinguish themselves by how they present science and technology in their curriculum by drawing from the interdisciplinary field of “science, technology & society,” or STS. We argue that discussions about Catholic identity, science, and human values can and should extend into the curriculum while simultaneously safeguarding academic freedom, and that this can readily be done in professional schools, such as law and engineering. We outline the contributions that STS as a field could offer Catholic higher education. We discuss how teaching science and technologies as social forces can provide the intellectual and reflective space necessary for critical reflection on their moral dimensions, in society and in the emerging professional lives of students. We argue that STS can help Catholic universities express the Catholic tradition of linking knowledge and wisdom, and thus has the potential to advance the distinctly Catholic character of universities. To substantiate our claims, we present three examples of STS in Catholic higher education curriculum: undergraduate core curriculum, law school instruction, and frugal innovation in engineering education