Conversion of CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> to useful substances with composite iron,nickel, and copper catalysts

Composite materials of Fe/Al₂O₃, which consist of small particles of iron supported by thermally stable alumina even at 500–700 °C, have been widely used in the water-gas shift reaction for natural gas reforming. Therefore, Fe/Al₂O₃ is one of the promising candidates for re-transformation of exhausted CO₂ into fuels such as alcohols and hydrocarbons. The development of a CO₂ reforming system using the composite materials of Fe/Al₂O₃ through CO₂ reduction to CO, dissociation of water into hydrogen, and methanol synthesis has been investigated. It was found that dry and steam (i.e. wet) reforming of CO₂ produced almost the same amount of CO. At a temperature above 500 °C, maximal and saturated yields of CO and H₂ from CO₂ and water were obtained. However, this CO₂ reforming system requires higher-pressure conditions from several tens to hundreds standard atmospheric pressure in order to achieve high yield and selectivity for methanol production. In this study we developed the modified CO₂ reforming system by the utilization of Ni and/or Cu instead of Fe in order to obtain other types of useful products such as CO, CH₄, and carbon, more efficiently and selectively under atmospheric pressure. When Ni or Cu was used, conversion of CO₂ was reduced to 76%, while 9% of methane was detected in the case of Ni. On the other hand, though the CO₂ conversion reduced half of the Fe, the selectivity of CO from CO₂ increased to 95% in the case of Cu.     

Numerical investigation of cavitating flow behind the cone of a poppet valve in water hydraulic system

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations of cavitating flow through water hydraulic poppet valves were performed using advanced RNGk-epsilon turbulence model. The flow was turbulent, incompressible and unsteady, for Reynolds numbers greater than 43000. The working fluid was water, and the structure of the valve was simplified as a two dimensional axisymmetric geometrical model. Flow field visualization was numerically achieved. The effects of inlet velocity, outlet pressure, opening size as well as poppet angle on cavitation intensity in the poppet valve were numerically investigated. Experimental flow visualization was conducted to capture cavitation images near the orifice in the poppet valve with 30° poppet angle using high speed video camera. The binary cavitating flow field distribution obtained from digital processing of the original cavitation image showed a good agreement with the numerical result. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 59835160) and Scientific Research Foundation for Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, State Education Ministry of China (No. 50175097)     

Classifications of college students’ protean and boundaryless orientation to work

Increasingly, individuals navigate their own careers in self-directed (protean) and boundaryless contexts. These concepts have been applied to adult employees but have seen limited application with young adults. Therefore, 205 college students were assessed on the Protean and Boundaryless Career Attitudes scales (Briscoe, Hall, and DeMuth, 2006); i.e., self-directed career management, values-driven, boundaryless mindset, and organizational mobility preferences. Scale items were reworded to focus on college experience. Cluster analysis organized respondents into five distinct protean-boundaryless career types. Three types were similar to those hypothesized for adults, while two types were unique to our sample.     

Filtration of micro-particles within multi-fiber arrays by adhesive DEM-CFD simulation

A 3D multi-time scale discrete element method-computational fluid dynamic (DEM-CFD) coupling approach was applied to investigate the filtration of micron-sized particles by different types of fiber arrays. Both the pressure drop and the filtration efficiency were examined to indicate the filtration performance of the fiber arrays. Fibers that were uniformly arrayed in a parallel or staggered manner were compared. Results showed that the staggered array showed a better performance than the parallel array in terms of both pressure drop and filtration efficiency. Further, we compared the performance of different staggered arrays, i.e. a regular case, one densified in the front layers and another densified in the back layers. The front densified array was found to enter the clogging and cake filtration stage in the shortest time, leading to the highest filtration efficiency, but the highest pressure drop. The back densified array still achieved a much higher filtration efficiency, despite a much lower pressure drop comparable to that of the regular array. The results suggest that the two kinds of densified arrays may be suited for different purposes, e.g. baghouse filters or breathing masks.     

A novel multi-objective optimization method for the pressurized reservoir in hydraulic robotics

The pressurized reservoir is a closed hydraulic tank which plays a significant role in enhancing the capabilities of hydraulic driven robotics. The spring pressurized reservoir adopted in this paper requires comprehensive performance, such as weight, size, fluid volume, and pressure, which is hard to balance. A novel interactive multi-objective optimization approach, the feasible space tightening method, is proposed, which is efficient in solving complicated engineering design problems where multiple objectives are determined by multiple design variables. This method provides sufficient information to the designer by visualizing the performance trends within the feasible space as well as its relationship with the design variables. A step towards the final solution could be made by raising the threshold on performance indicators interactively, so that the feasible space is reduced and the remaining solutions are more preferred by the designer. With the help of this new method, the preferred solution of a spring pressurized reservoir is found. Practicability and efficiency are demonstrated in the optimal design process, where the solution is determined within four rounds of interaction between the designer and the optimization program. Tests on the designed prototype show good results.     

Integrating Tinbergen's inquiries: Mimicry and play in humans and other social mammals

Visual signals convey emotions and intentions between individuals. Darwin underlined that human facial expressions represent a shared heritage between our species and many other social mammals. Social play is a fertile field to examine the role and the potential communicative function of facial expressions. The relaxed open-mouth (or play face) is a context-specific playful expression, which is widespread in human and non-human mammals. Here, we focus on playful communication by applying Tinbergen’s four areas of inquiry: proximate causation, ontogeny, function, and evolution. First of all we explore mimicry by focusing on its neural substrates and factors of modulation within playful and non-playful context (proximate causation). Play face is one of the earliest facial expressions to appear and be mimicked in neonates. The motor resonance between infants and their caregivers is essential later in life when individuals begin to engage in increasingly complex social interactions, including play (ontogeny). The success of a playful session can be evaluated by its duration in time. Mirroring facial expressions prolongs the session by favoring individuals to fine-tune their own motor sequences accordingly (function). Finally, through a comparative approach we also demonstrate that the elements constituting play communication and mimicry are sensitive to the quality of interindividual relationships of a species, thus reflecting the nature of its social network and style (evolution). In conclusion, our goal is to integrate Tinbergen’s four areas of ethological inquiry to provide a broader framework regarding the importance of communication and mimicry in the play domain of humans and other social mammals.     

Contradictions,dialectical oppositions and shifts in teaching mathematics

The study reported in this paper concerns the tensions and conflicts that teachers experience while they enact a new set of reform-oriented curricular materials into their classrooms. Our focus is οn the interactions developed in two groups of teachers in two schools for a period of a school year. We use Activity Theory to study emerging contradictions and we elaborate on the construct of dialectical opposition to understand the nature of these contradictions and their potential for teacher learning. We provide evidence that discussions about contradictions and their dialectical character in the two groups support teachers to engage differently in mathematics teaching and learning and carry potentials for shifts in the practices that evolve in their classrooms. Our study addresses empirically in the context of mathematics teaching the philosophical claim about the role of contradictions as a driving force for any dynamic system.     

Returns on vocational education over the life cycle: Between immediate labour market preparation and lifelong employability

An important issue in the design of secondary-level education is the balance between conveying general and occupation-specific (vocational) skills. On the one hand, vocationally oriented programmes, providing occupation-specific skills with immediate labour market relevance, have repeatedly been shown to secure safe pathways into employment. On the other hand, these programmes tend to put less emphasis on developing general knowledge, skills and competencies, including numeracy and literacy, which are foundational to lifelong learning. Hence, when the needs of the labour market change, employees who opted for a vocational track when they were at secondary school risk being less flexible in adapting to such changes later in their career. The authors of this article examine whether this results in a trade-off between short-term gains and long-term losses by considering differences in the labour market careers of vocationally and generally educated respondents in the 2012 Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). Their results suggest that early labour market benefits of vocational specialisation decrease over time; the authors relate this to its lower ability to equip secondary school students – future employees – with skills for lifelong learning.