Memory and History and William Morris’s Medievalism

Memory and history are at the core of the human condition. A deep concern for the human condition is at the heart of the work and ideas of the Victorian polymath William Morris. Morris abhorred the degraded state he believed to exist for so many in his own society and he worked long and hard for the greater part of his life to help create a more egalitarian world. This thesis explores the centrality of memory and history in three important works from the beginning, middle and end of Morris’s career. Its purpose is to show that in Morris’s persistent return to these themes he was seeking a new ontological awareness, one that might be generated from an exploration, through his literary art, of the social phenomena that shape memory and history, and thereby our lives. Such an awareness might lead to an identification of the changes that might make possible his egalitarian vision of all people living a life of enrichment rather than one shaped by the impoverishment he deemed existed for so many. I consider too the importance of his changing choice of literary genre in working towards that goal. Informing the thesis overall is Morris’s intense love of the Middle Ages, such that his medievalism is central to understanding how and why his works still resonate and engage with individuals and social structures in the twenty-first century

The Effects of cultural experience and subdivision on tapping to slow tempi

Our ability to accurately synchronize with rhythmic patterns is constrained by two factors: temporal length and interval structure. By using strategies such as subdivision, we can improve synchronization accuracy at slow tempos, but our ability to utilize subdivisions is constrained by the nature of interval ratios contained in culture-specific subdivision types. Western music falls within a restricted temporal range and its metrical subdivisions contain simple ratios, but Indian music violates these constraints. The present study examines the effects of culture-specific experience on these constraints. American and Indian listeners were asked to perform synchronous tapping to a stimulus with a slow tempo which was accompanied by silence or by a rhythmic pattern that subdivided the inter-event interval into groups of two or three (simple), or alternating units of two and three (complex). On a subset of trials, the subdividing pattern switched halfway through the trial, from a simple to simple, simple to complex, or complex to simple. Western listeners found complex patterns more challenging to reproduce, and exhibited a decrease in accuracy of synchronization whenever there was a switch away from a simple meter. By contrast, Indian listeners performed comparably across all subdivision patterns, and exhibited a drop in accuracy whenever there was a switch. These results reflect the role of passive cultural exposure to our ability to synchronize with different metrical patterns, and have important implications for ability to form mental representations

Molecular Dynamics Study of Diffusion of O2 Penetrates in Uncrosslinked Polydimethysiloxane (PDMS), Crosslinked PDMS, and PDMS-based Nanocomposites

Molecular dynamics simulations are used to study diffusion of O2 molecules in pure polydimethysiloxane (PDMS), crosslinked PDMS, and PDMS-based nanocomposites. The PDMS chains and penetrates are modeled using a hybrid interatomic potential which treats the Si-O atoms along the chain backbone explicitly while coarse-graining the methyl side groups and penetrates. By tracking the diffusion of penetrates in the system and subsequently computing their mean-squared displacement, diffusion coefficients are obtained. In pure PDMS models of varying molecular weight, diffusivity of the O22 penetrates is found to have an inverse relationship with chain length. Simulation models with longer chains have more entanglements which restrict the evolution of free volume in the system necessary for diffusion of the penetrants, thus reducing their diffusivity. In agreement with experiment, the crosslinked models studied in this work maintain a PDMS to crosslink molecule weight ratio of 5:1 or 10:1. In order to satisfy this weight ratio criterion, the crosslinked models in this study are oversaturated (number of crosslink molecule ends exceeds PDMS chain ends). Despite crosslinking, the presence of these unbonded crosslink molecules in the system enhances diffusivity for the crosslinked cases in comparison to the pure PDMS models. In the nanocomposite models, diffusivity of O22 has an inverse relationship with volume fraction. Nanoparticles act as geometric obstacles for diffusion of the atmospheric penetrates, reducing the available porosity for diffusion. In models with the smallest gap between nanoparticles, a crossover behavior is observed at the lowest temperatures examined, resulting in diffusivities higher than the crosslinked and pure PDMS models. This is attributed to the preferential diffusion of the penetrants through localized regions of low density within the PDMS matrix. The creation of these low density regions is due to a combination of the limited mobility of the PDMS chains at temperatures near glass transition and the close proximity of nanoparticles at 20% volume fraction. For all models, the role of temperature on diffusion is captured using the Williams-Landel-Ferry (WLF) equation. The relationship between WLF parameters and molecular weight or nanoparticle volume fraction is studied

HEAT TRANSFER ANALYSIS IN A PADDLE REACTOR FOR BIOMASS FAST PYROLYIS

Heat transfer analysis was performed on a novel auger reactor for biomass fast pyrolysis. As part of this analysis, correlations for specific heat capacity and heat transfer coefficients for biomass (sawdust) and sand (used as heat transfer medium) were developed. For sand, the heat transfer coefficient followed a power law distribution with reactor fill level and temperature. For raw biomass, the heat transfer coefficient also showed similar dependence on fill level, but was independent of temperature up to 300°C. These correlations were used in a one dimensional heat transfer model developed to calculate the heating time and heating rate of biomass in the presence of a heat transfer medium (HTM). A heating time of 3 seconds was obtained to raise the temperature of biomass from 298 K to 753 K. Instantaneous heating rates up to 530 K/s were obtained, thus ensuring fast pyrolysis. Further, to study the effect of heating rates on liquid product yields, a previously validated torrefaction-pyrolysis model was used to calculate the liquid yields for torrefied pine forest residues at various heating rates. A threshold heating rate value of 12 K/s was obtained from the model, above which the final product distribution was not affected. The model predicted liquid yield was 54%, in comparison to the experimental yield of 53%, for torrefied pine forest residues without HTM. The steady state experimental heating rate of 36 K/s was observed, which was above the 12 K/s threshold value thus ensuring fast pyrolysis. The results obtained in this paper will be used as a basis for scaling up the reactor configuration to carry out fast pyrolysis without HTM

Tapping to a slow tempo in the presence of simple and complex musical meters reveals experience-specific biases for processing music

Musical meters vary considerably across cultures, yet relatively little is known about how culture-specific experience influences metrical processing. In Experiment 1, we compared American and Indian listeners\u27 synchronous tapping to slow sequences. Inter-tone intervals contained silence or to-be-ignored rhythms that were designed to induce a simple meter (familiar to Americans and Indians) or a complex meter (familiar only to Indians). A subset of trials contained an abrupt switch from one rhythm to another to assess the disruptive effects of contradicting the initially implied meter. In the unfilled condition, both groups tapped earlier than the target and showed large tap-tone asynchronies (measured in relative phase). When inter-tone intervals were filled with simple-meter rhythms, American listeners tapped later than targets, but their asynchronies were smaller and declined more rapidly. Likewise, asynchronies rose sharply following a switch away from simple-meter but not from complex-meter rhythm. By contrast, Indian listeners performed similarly across all rhythm types, with asynchronies rapidly declining over the course of complex- and simple-meter trials. For these listeners, a switch from either simple or complex meter increased asynchronies. Experiment 2 tested American listeners but doubled the duration of the synchronization phase prior to (and after) the switch. Here, compared with simple meters, complex-meter rhythms elicited larger asynchronies that declined at a slower rate, however, asynchronies increased after the switch for all conditions. Our results provide evidence that ease of meter processing depends to a great extent on the amount of experience with specific meters

DEVELOPMENT OF ADVANCED MODELS FOR PRE-IGNITION PREDICTION IN GAS ENGINES AND ANALYTICAL MODEL FOR WALLFILM EVAPORATION

Ever-changing regulations aimed at improving efficiency and reducing harmful emissions have resulted in many power-generation device (engine) manufacturers to adopt new strategies. Computer simulation of these new strategies of power generation requires more accurate and higher fidelity modelling tools. In the present study, two such models are developed. The first model deals with pre-ignition phenomena driven by lubricant (lube) oil in natural gas engines and the second model is relevant to prediction of wallfilm evaporation by employing analytical solutions to transport governing equations for boundary layers. Pre-ignition in engines has been the subject of current research with the advent of boosted engines for reduced fuel consumption and emissions. It can be caused by lube-oil drops or carbon deposits within the engine. A computational study of pre-ignition by lube-oil drops in a constant volume chamber and a production natural gas marine engine was done. For CFD simulations, an in-house version of KIVA4 code was used. Oil throw-off into the combustion chamber was modeled with an oil stripping model, in which the criteria for lube-oil drops to be stripped from the piston rings/crevice regions and enter the combustion chamber are calculated. To capture the timing of ignition caused by lube-oil drops precisely, single particle ignition cell (SPIC) model that utilizes grid refinement for drop containing cells was used. For modelling chemical kinetics, a reduced reaction mechanism for lube oil vapor oxidation was developed. Factors affecting lube-oil stripping and subsequent ignition processes were studied and discussed. Based on these studies recommendations for possible mitigation strategies of pre-ignition in the marine engines are given. For the new wallfilm model, an analytical expression for the external heat flux from ambient gases to the wallfilm-gas interface and the phase change rates at the interface are derived from first principles of transport phenomena. The model was coded into a computer program and applied to simulate transient evaporation of liquid wallfilms placed on the bottom wall of a square channel. Normal and flash boiling evaporation conditions were considered for various composition of the wallfilms. Simulation results are presented and the characteristics of phase change behavior are discussed

A multi-sensor study of Cl 2 etching of polycrystalline Si

Cl 2 chemistries are the basis for etching of polycrystalline Si and other conductive gate materials in Si CMOS integrated circuit fabrication. It is now well-known that recombination of atomic Cl neutrals on the chamber walls influences the etch rate and thus leads to manufacturing reproducibility problems. In this work, we make use of multiple real-time measurements to improve the understanding of the physical mechanisms for this effect. In particular, real-time spectroscopic ellipsometry is used as both a poly-Si etch rate monitor and as a virtual SiCl 4 flow rate sensor. This aids in the quantitative interpretation of the optical emission spectroscopy data. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/58654/1/1341_ftp.pd

Non-invasive monitoring of vital signs using recliner chair and respiratory pattern analysis

In-home monitoring has the potential to help track health changes for older adults with chronic health conditions, thereby making early treatment possible when exacerbations arise. A recliner chair is often used by older adults, even for sleeping at night, for those with breathing difficulty, neck and back problems, or other pain. Here, we present a sensor system for recliner chairs that can be used to monitor heart rate and respiration rate. The system uses two accelerometers placed strategically to capture these vital signs noninvasively and without direct contact with the body, while at same time being hidden from view. The system was tested with 45 subjects, with an average age of 78.8 years for both upright and reclined configurations of the chair. We also tested the system on 6 different types of recliner models. An accuracy of 99% for heart rate and 93% for respiratory rate was obtained. An analysis of the error distribution patterns according to age, gender and recliner configurations are considered. A validation study of a commercially available sensor, Murata SCA11H, which is primarily designed for use on the bed is tested on the chair and the results are presented in this thesis. We have also developed a measure known as the "Breathing Pattern Index" that can be useful in determining the respiratory health of the occupants on the chair. Initial studies of the effectiveness of this index and algorithm are evaluated and the results are presented. This new system and index have the potential to help in identifying very early health changes and improve health outcomes for older adults.Includes bibliographical reference

Post-COVID-19 sequelae in lungs : retrospective computed tomography analysis in selected tertiary care hospitals of Mangalore

Purpose: The radiological features of COVID-19 during the active disease process are well established, but the radiological features in the convalescent and post-recovery period of the disease are still unclear. The objectives of this study are to document and assess the proportion of the residual changes in lung post COVID-19 infection and to look for evidence and the proportion of fibrosis post COVID-19 infection on high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT). Material and methods: HRCT thorax of COVID-positive cases done during the disease process and in the recovery/post recovery phase were included in the study. Sample Size: 75. Categorical data are represented in the form of frequencies and proportions. The c2 test was used as a test of significance for qualitative data. Continuous data are represented as mean and standard deviation. A p-value (probability that the result is true) of < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant after assuming all the rules of statistical tests. Results: Initial computed tomography (CT) findings mainly included ground glass opacity (GGO) (93.3%), interlobular septal thickening (66.7%), consolidation (52.0%), and fibrotic bands (8.0%). Ninety-two per cent of the CT scans demonstrated some pulmonary change in the follow-up CT. This was mostly in the form of GGO (58%). Approximately 17% of cases showed fibrotic changes in the follow-up CT. Conclusions: Post-COVID lung sequelae can be present in a significant number of patients. This are mostly seen in patients with severe initial disease and in older patients. Statistically significant post-COVID sequelae changes include GGO, fibrotic bands, and bronchiectasis