High Pressure Combustion and Supersonic Jet Ignition for H2/air

There are many incentives to increase the fuel efficiency of combustion processes. This paper looks at two available options to achieve this goal. The former aims to develop an experimental method that can analyze combustion at extremely high pressures to improve the understanding of high pressure H2/air combustion. Experimental data has been lacking a suitable combustion diagnostic to visualize high pressure combustion processes, making it difficult to improve the process. Improvement of x-ray diffraction tomography in a windowless combustor makes it possible to see flame propagation at high pressure. The procedure and chamber are still in the design phase, yet the preliminary research of beryllium windows and x-ray absorbance spectra indicate the feasibility and efficacy of this method. A technique of increasing the fuel efficiency in spark ignited engines is to use a supersonic jet from the spark chamber as the catalyst for combustion to trigger multiple ignition points in the main chamber for H2/air. This method requires a dual combustion chamber configuration with the pre-chamber containing the spark and various nozzle configurations to alter the structure of a supersonic jet. The pre-chamber is kept at a higher equivalence ratio, or more fuel, while the main chamber is filled with ultra-lean (phi 0.2 to 0.5) fuel/air. Ignition location, jet characteristics, ignition delay time and instability modes are studied. The usage of a supersonic jet for ignition in a spark engine was found to have a large effect on the combustion properties and induced a lowering of the lean limit

Modification of integrated partial payload lifting assembly

The Integrated Partial Payload Lifting Assembly (IPPLA) is currently used to transport and load experimental payloads into the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle. It is unable to carry the astronaut/passenger tunnel without a structural modification. The purpose of this design is to create a removalbe modification that will allow the IPPLA to lift and carry the passenger tunnel. Modifications evaluated were full-length insert beams which would extend through the existing strongback arms. These beam proposals were eliminated because of high cost and weight. Other proposals evaluated were attachments of cantilever beams to the existing strongback areas. The cantilever proposals reduced cost and weight compared to the full-length modifications. A third method evaluated was to simply make modifications to one side of the IPPLA therefore reducing the materials of the cantilever proposals by 40 percent. The design of the modification selected was completed with two channel beams jointly welded to a centered steel plate. The extension arm modification is inserted into the existing strongback channel beams and bolted into place. Two extension arms are added to one side of the IPPLA to provide the extra length needed to accommodate the passenger tunnel. The center counterbalance will then be offset about 20 inches to center gravity and therefore maintain horizontal status. The extension arm modification was selected because of minimum cost, low weight, and minimal installation time

Psychopaths Online: The Linguistic Traces of Psychopathy in Email, Text Messaging and Facebook

Individuals high in psychopathy are interpersonally manipulative, exhibit callous affect, and have criminal tendencies. The present study examines whether these attributes of psychopathy are correlated with linguistic patterns present in everyday online communication. Participants’ emails, SMS messages, and Facebook messages were collected and analyzed in relation to their scores on the Self-Report Psychopathy Test III. The findings suggest that psychopathic tendencies leave a trace in online discourse, and that different forms of online media sometimes moderate the association between a linguistic dimension and psychopathy scores. Consistent with previous studies and the emotional and interpersonal deficits central to psychopathy, participants higher in psychopathy showed more evidence of psychological distancing, wrote less comprehensible discourse, and produced more interpersonally hostile language. The results reveal that linguistic traces of psychopathy can be detected in online communication, and that those with higher traits of psychopathy fail to modify their language use across media types

Furman at 45: Constitutional Challenges from California's Failure to (Again) Narrow Death Eligibility

The Eighth Amendment's "narrowing" requirement for capital punishment eligibility has challenged states since it was recognized in Furman v. Georgia in 1972. This article examines whether California's death penalty scheme complies with this requirement by enpirically analyzing 27,453 California convictions for first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and voluntary manslaughter with offense dates between January 1978 and June 2002. Using a 1,900-case sample, we examine whether California's death penalty statute fails to comply with the Eighth Amendment's narrowing test. Our findings support two conclusions. First, the death-eligibility rate among California homicide cases is the highest in the nation during that period and in the ensuing decade. We find that 95 percent of all first-degree murder convictions and 59 percent of all second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter convictions were death eligible under California's 2008 statute. Second, a death sentence is imposed in only a small fraction of the d death-eligible cases. The California death sentencing rate of 4.3 percent among all death-eligible cases is among the lowest in the nation and over two-thirds lower than the death-sentencing rate in pre-Furman Georgia

Death by Stereotype: Race, Ethnicity, and California's Failure to Implement Furman's Narrowing Requirement

The influence of race on the administration of capital punishment had a major role in the U.S. Supreme Court's 1972 decision in Furman v. Georgia to invalidate death penalty statutes across the United States. To avoid discriminatory and capricious application of capital punishment, the Supreme Court held that the Eighth Amendment requires legislatures to narrow the scope of capital offenses and ensure that only the most severe crimes are subjected to the ultimate punishment. This Article demonstrates the racial and ethnic dimensions of California's failure to implement this narrowing requirement. Our analysis uses a sample of 1,900 cases drawn from 27,453 California convictions for first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and voluntary manslaughter with offense dates between January 1978 and June 2002. California's death penalty statute requires a finding of one or more enumerated special circumstances for death eligibility. Contrary to the teachings of Furman, however, we found that several of California's special circumstances apply disparately based on the race or ethnicity of the defendant. In so doing, the statute appears to codify rather than ameliorate the harmful racial stereotypes that are endemic to our criminal justice system. The instantiation of racial and ethnic stereotypes into death eligibility raises the specter of discriminatory application of California's statute, with implications for constitutional regulation of capital punishment

Characterization of 4H <000-1> Silicon Carbide Films Grown by Solvent-Laser Heated Floating Zone

Commercially available bulk silicon carbide (SiC) has a high number (>2000/sq cm) of screw dislocations (SD) that have been linked to degradation of high-field power device electrical performance properties. Researchers at the NASA Glenn Research Center have proposed a method to mass-produce significantly higher quality bulk SiC. In order for this bulk growth method to become reality, growth of long single crystal SiC fibers must first be achieved. Therefore, a new growth method, Solvent-Laser Heated Floating Zone (Solvent-LHFZ), has been implemented. While some of the initial Solvent-LHFZ results have recently been reported, this paper focuses on further characterization of grown crystals and their growth fronts. To this end, secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) depth profiles, cross section analysis by focused ion beam (FIB) milling and mechanical polishing, and orientation and structural characterization by x-ray transmission Laue diffraction patterns and x-ray topography were used. Results paint a picture of a chaotic growth front, with Fe incorporation dependant on C concentration

Effects of a high protein, whey protein concentrate and spray-dried animal plasma on growth performance of weanling pigs

A 35-d experiment was conducted to compare the effects of increasing spray-dried animal plasma and a high protein whey concentrate (73% CP) on starter pig performance. Spray-dried animal plasma and whey protein concentrate replaced dried skin1 milk on an equal lysine basis. Pigs fed increasing spray-dried animal plasma protein had increased ADG and ADFI from d 0 to 7 after weaning, but not for any other period in the study. Increasing whey protein concentrate had no effect on growth perforn1ance in relation to the pigs fed dried skim milk.; Swine Day, Manhattan, KS, November 20, 199

Sentinel Case of Candida auris in the Western United States Following Prolonged Occult Colonization in a Returned Traveler from India.

Candida auris is an emerging multidrug-resistant yeast with high mortality. We report the sentinel C. auris case on the United States West Coast in a patient who relocated from India. We identified close phylogenetic relatedness to the South Asia clade and ERG11 Y132F and FKS1 S639Y mutations potentially explaining antifungal resistance

Evaluation of different oil sources for nursery pigs

A total of 210 pigs (PIC 327 × 1050, initially 28.9 lb BW) were used in a 21-d trial to evaluate the effects of increasing oil sources on nursery pig growth performance. The 2 oil sources included a commercial source of soybean oil and a proprietary source of corn oil originating from the ethanol industry (Corn Oil ONE, Feed Energy Co., Pleasant Hill, IA). The 5 experimental diets included: a control diet without added oil, diets with 2.5 or 5% added soybean oil, or diets with 2.5 and 5% added corn oil. Diets were formulated with an identical standardized ileal digestible lysine:calorie ratio and were fed in meal form. There were 6 pens per treatment with 7 pigs per pen. Overall, from d 0 to 21, no oil source × level interactions were observed. Increasing corn oil or soybean oil had no effect on ADG or final BW. Increasing corn oil or soybean oil decreased (linear, P \u3c 0.05) ADFI, which resulted in improved (linear, P \u3c 0.01) F/G. Caloric efficiency was not affected by oil source or level. Feed cost per pig tended to decrease (linear, P = 0.066) for pigs fed increasing levels of soy oil. Cost per pound of gain decreased for both Corn Oil ONE (linear, P = 0.032) and soybean oil (linear, P = 0.008) as oil level increased. Value of the weight gain and income over feed cost was similar for pigs fed diets with Corn Oil ONE and soybean oil (P = 0.833). This study shows the benefits of adding a dietary oil source in late-phase nursery diets to achieve improved feed efficiency. Corn Oil ONE is a suitable alternative for soybean oil, and cost and availability should dictate which source is used.; Swine Day, Manhattan, KS, November 20, 201