Calibration and performance of a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) bench rig for NOx̳ emissions control

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2008.In title on title page, double underscored "x" appears as subscript.Includes bibliographical references (p. 15).A laboratory test rig was designed and built to easily test SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) technology. Equipped with three 6 kW heaters, connections for liquid N2 and an assortment of test gases, and a connection with an MKS NOx Analyzer, the rig allows for a vast range of SCR test conditions, and can easily be adapted for degreening, aging, and the implementation of other technologies onto the rig. To calibrate the test rig, baseline parameterization of a Cu-based zeolite (aluminosilicate) core was performed, including a temperature sweep and an NO/NO2 concentration sweep, while always maintaining a 1:1 ratio between NOx and NH3 reductant. The catalyst was found to have a peak deNOx efficiency of 99.8% between 250 'C and 300 'C, and maintained 98% efficiency with NO/NO2 < 1, while minimizing pollutant N20 generation.by Sebastián Castro Galnares.S.B

El derecho y la revolución copernicana de Marx

A partir de la premisa de que la teoría económica de Marx instauró un giro copernicano en las ciencias sociales, el presente artículo analiza la posibilidad de derivar un sistema de derecho que mereciese ser llamado 'científico', en tanto que estaría en consonancia con las tesis básicas de dicha teoría. En este contexto, el artículo polemiza contra lo recientemente defendido por Fernández Liria y Alegre Zahonero porque -frente a ellos- sostiene que el derecho resultante de tomar en cuenta las tesis marxianas sería incompatible con las formulaciones jurídicas de la Ilustración. Tal incompatibilidad se debería, sobre todo, a que los conceptos ilustrados de 'igualdad', 'libertad' y 'autonomía' hallan el sujeto de su aplicación en el 'individuo'. En cambio, puesto que el objeto de estudio específico de la teoría marxiana son los medios sociales de producción, de su análisis económico sólo podría derivarse 'la clase' como sujeto jurídico, no el individuo. Finalmente, el artículo sugiere que esta dimensión individual (faltante en la teoría de Marx) sólo podría introducirse en un derecho científico en caso de fundarse sobre el otro giro copernicano que encontramos en las ciencias sociales, aunque esta vez en la psicología: el psicoanálisis de Freud

David Lasagabaster, Aintzane Doiz and Juan Manuel Sierra, eds. 2014. Motivation and Foreign Language Learning. From Theory to Practice. 190 pp. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins

The present volume, edited by Lasagabaster, Doiz and Sierra, brings together different perspectives on the interrelation between motivation and foreign language learning. Following the editors' introduction, which carefully summarizes the main ideas explored in each chapter¿hence my decision not to organize this review in the same way, but rather to focus on a general aspect that has the potential to encompass all of them¿the volume is divided into two parts, each of four chapters. Whereas the first part is theoretically oriented, the second comprises individual studies. The volume ends with the editors' epilogue, in which an attempt is made to present a unified reading of the contribution

Una didáctica interdisciplinar de la literatura infantil en inglés

Abstract. The aim of this study is to describe a didactic proposal to enable that teachers maximize the time and resources devoted to English teaching during the three cycles that primary education receives in Spain (students aged 6 to 12). The method selected for this purpose is interdisciplinarity, whereby a synthesis between contents belonging to different disciplines and curricular areas is reached -in this case, the contents of 'Teaching and learning of English as a foreign language' and 'Knowledge of the natural, social and cultural environments'. However, the practical context where this proposal shall be put forward is restricted to the lessons devoted to English teaching and learning. Finally, the basic resource employed is reading and interpreting children's literature in English. As regards the aforementioned areas, the proposal uses the curricular design now functioning at the Comunitat Valenciana, which was made official by the Diario Oficial of this regional community (DOCV) in 2007

Crisis económica y crisis de enseñanza. Sobre las consecuencias pedagógicas previsibles de la Ley de Mejora de la Calidad Educativa

This paper builds on the thesis that there is a connection between economic crises and the sort of educational reforms governments pass during those periods. The latter would be characterized by two common elements: a major insistence on the issues of teachers` accountability, on the one hand, and on students having to undergo high-stakes, external assessment, on the other. While the legal texts of these educational reforms defend that there is a coherent link between these two elements, this paper defends John Elliott`s claim that such connection cannot be defended from a strict pedagogic point of view. At this point in the paper, alternatives are provided to satisfy adequately the need for teacher accountability. After analyzing two concrete education reforms which correspond to the pattern described (2001 US No Child Left Behind Act and the new reform the Spanish government is preparing at the moment), the paper proceeds to explain some of the consequences brought to teaching and learning. Finally, the paper describes the sort of critical pedagogy that, within the classroom context and as part of an education for social justice project, would help counteract such negative consequences. ____ Este artículo postula una relación entre las crisis económicas y las reformas educativas que se proponen durante esos periodos. Estas últimas se caracterizarían por dos elementos recurrentes: el énfasis en la dación de cuentas del profesorado, por un lado, y una mayor insistencia en la evaluación externa del estudiantado, por otra. Mientras el texto legal de dichas reformas presenta ambos elementos como si estuviesen conectados, el artículo defiende que tal conexión no puede ser defendida desde el punto de vista estrictamente pedagógico. En este punto, el artículo presenta alternativas que serían más adecuadas para satisfacer el primer elemento mencionado. Tras analizar dos reformas educativas que se conformarían al patrón descrito (la de 2001 en los EEUU de América y la que actualmente plantea el actual gobierno español), el artículo señala los efectos concretos sobre la enseñanza y el aprendizaje, así como la pedagogía crítica que, dentro del contexto del aula y necesariamente conectada a un proyecto educativo de justicia social, podría ayudar a contrarrestarlas

El humor y las estructuras de la filosofía política.

Este ensayo trata de enlazar el fenómeno del humor con el de las utopías políticas desde una perspectiva más general: la que ofrece una ontología de la superficie como la que Gilles Deleuze encontró en los estoicos. Así, el estatuto común de la superficialidad sirve de hilo conductor para categorías de muy diversos ámbitos de nuestra realidad cultural, social y política. Pues cada una de ellas guardaría un grado de afinidad estructural con la utopía.This essay attempts to establish a link between humor and the idea of a political utopia, and do so on the basis provided by an ontology of surfaces, such as the one Gilles Deleuze found in Stoic philosophy. Thus, the common status of being superficial serves as leitmotiv for categories stemming from very diverse places of our political, social and cultural reality. For each one of them would bear a degree of affinity with utopia

Marx y la revolución copernicana

Este texto fue concebido para constar de tres partes, si bien la última no ha podido ser incluida para no exceder los límites de espacio marcados para un artículo de este tipo. En muy pocas ocasiones se hará referencia, sin embargo, a la parte que el lector no encontrará; el artículo disfruta así de suficiente autonomía, si bien la sección restante participa necesariamente de su proyecto unitario. De todo ello nos disculpamos por adelantado y remitimos al lector al párrafo final del texto

The pedagogical turn in the research on cross-language transfer: Re-thinking the Language Interdependence and the Language Threshold Hypotheses

This article dwells on the opposing alignments that can be found in the literature on the Linguistic Interdependence (LIH) and Linguistic Threshold (LTH) hypotheses, in the field of second language acquisition and foreign language education. First, the prevailing, orthodox rendition of these two concepts is examined briefly, together with its theoretical and practical consequences. After this, the most distinctive characteristic of Jim Cummins¿s alternative framework is described, i.e., its emphasis on the pedagogical dimension and on its impact on cross-language transfer. According to this view, the quality and nature of the exposure to L2 (not time-exposure or student L2 level) would be the most significant factor vis-à-vis the degree of language transfer generated. This pedagogical dimension is explained in terms of three different levels of analysis, and two concrete studies are described, as experimental evidence. In the last section, a Pedagogical Threshold Hypothesis is finally presented as a logical development of the ideas exposed

Introduction: The Pedagogical Obstacle of the Phenomenal Forms

Hidden in the depths of Marx's epistemology is his theory of the phenomenal forms, whose implications have not been sufficiently explored from an educational perspective. This book argues that phenomenal forms pose a major pedagogical obstacle for any endeavour that seeks to expand an individual's awareness of the larger social whole. After situating phenomenal forms in Marx's original framework, the book traces their silent impact on some of the most relevant landmarks and debates of contemporary pedagogical thought, including their misapprehension by Vygotsky and their role in Freire's social democratic project, as well as the exponential growth recently undergone by participatory forms of educational action research and the difficult dialogue maintained by liberal and critical traditions of pedagogy. This book brings these issues together and assesses their potential to provide a consistent solution to the educational obstacles posed by the phenomenal forms.Hidden in the depths of Marx's epistemology is his theory of the phenomenal forms, whose implications have not been sufficiently explored from an educational perspective. This book argues that phenomenal forms pose a major pedagogical obstacle for any endeavour that seeks to expand an individual's awareness of the larger social whole. After situating phenomenal forms in Marx's original framework, the book traces their silent impact on some of the most relevant landmarks and debates of contemporary pedagogical thought, including their misapprehension by Vygotsky and their role in Freire's social democratic project, as well as the exponential growth recently undergone by participatory forms of educational action research and the difficult dialogue maintained by liberal and critical traditions of pedagogy. This book brings these issues together and assesses their potential to provide a consistent solution to the educational obstacles posed by the phenomenal forms

Más allá del maestro ignorante. El lugar de las variables sociológicas y psicológicas en el ámbito pedagogico

This paper describes and revises the didactic proposal put forward by the enlightened pedagogue Joseph Jacotot at the beginnings of the 19c. In order to do so, however, it departs from Jacques Rancière¿s 1987 rendition of such pedagogy, found in his book The Ignorant Schoolmaster. This analysis will be carried out in the light of premises derived from Marxist sociology and Freudian psycho-analysis, and at the end of the day, the method of the ignorant schoolmaster -as Rancière calls it- will have undergone a partial revision in the encounter with such scientific theories. The core of the paper will be precisely devoted to proving that teacher¿s control over student's attention -the only resource trusted by this didactic- cannot be conceived separately and independently from the influences of the other two variables that, according to the book, may also result in successful learning processes: need and desire. Hence the logical conclusion that Jacotot's pedagogy should integrate the basic premises of Marxian sociology and psycho-analysis, since these two theories provide nothing but the scientific study of these realities. Resumen. Este artículo describe y revisa la propuesta didáctica del pedagogo ilustrado Joseph Jacotot, de principios del siglo XIX, tal y como la recogió y expuso en 1987 el filósofo Jacques Rancière en su libro El maestro ignorante. Cinco lecciones sobre la emancipación intelectual. Dicho análisis se hará a la luz de premisas derivadas de la sociología marxiana y del psicoanálisis freudiano, de tal forma que el método del maestro ignorante -como Rancière lo llama- será parcialmente revisado en el encuentro con las tesis fundamentales de estas dos teorías. En concreto, el núcleo de la investigación se dedicará a probar que la movilización de la atención del alumno a manos del maestro -único recurso en el que confía esta didáctica- no puede concebirse de forma aislada del influjo de las otras dos variables que, a decir del propio libro, también desembocan en procesos exitosos de aprendizaje: el deseo y la necesidad. Siendo así, que esta pedagogía haya de tomar en cuenta las premisas de la sociología marxiana y del psicoanálisis aparece, a la postre, como una consecuencia derivada de que estas teorías ofrezcan un tratamiento científico del deseo y de la necesidad