Ford Motor Company (Canada)

Risk and return are studied in a sample of related and unrelated (conglomerate) diversified firms. The primary findings are that unrelated firms do not enjoy superior risk-pooling characteristics a...

Relative rate methods were used to measure the gas-phase reaction of N-methyl perfluorobutane sulfonamidoethanol (NMeFBSE) with OH radicals, giving k(OH + NMeFBSE) = (5.8 +/- 0.8) x 10(-12) cm3 molecule(-1) s(-1) in 750 Torr of air diluent at 296 K. The atmospheric lifetime of NMeFBSE is determined by reaction with OH radicals and is approximately 2 days. Degradation products were identified by in situ FTIR spectroscopy and offline GC-MS and LC-MS/MS analysis. The primary carbonyl product C4F9SO2N(CH3)CH2CHO, N-methyl perfluorobutane sulfonamide (C4F9SO2NH(CH3)), perfluorobutanoic acid (C3F7C(O)OH), perfluoropropanoic acid (C2F5C(O)OH), trifluoroacetic acid (CF3C(O)OH), carbonyl fluoride (COF2), and perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (C4F9SO3H) were identified as products. A mechanism involving the addition of OH to the sulfone double bond was proposed to explain the production of perfluorobutane sulfonic acid and perfluorinated carboxylic acids in yields of 1 and 10%, respectively. The gas-phase N-dealkylation product, N-methyl perfluorobutane sulfonamide (NMeFBSA), has an atmospheric lifetime (>20 days) which is much longer than that of the parent compound, NMeFBSE. Accordingly,the production of NMeFBSA exposes a mechanism by which NMeFBSE may contribute to the burden of perfluorinated contamination in remote locations despite its relatively short atmospheric lifetime. Using the atmospheric fate of NMeFBSE as a guide, it appears that anthropogenic production of N-methyl perfluorooctane sulfonamidoethanol (NMeFOSE) contributes to the ubiquity of perfluoroalkyl sulfonate and carboxylate compounds in the environment.

Owing to unprecedented climate change issues in recent times, global automotive industry is striving hard in developing novel functional materials to improve vehicle’s fuel efficiency. It is believed that more than a quarter of all combined greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) are associated with road transport vehicles. All these facts in association with heightened consumer awareness and energy security issues have led to automotive lightweighting as a major research theme across the globe. Almost all North American and European original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) related to automotive industry have chalked out ambitious weight reduction plans in response to stricter environmental regulations. This review entails main motives and current legislation which has prompted major OEMs to have drastic measures in bringing down vehicle weight to suggested limits. Also discussed are recent advances in developing advanced composites, and cellulose-enabled light weight automotive composites with special focus on research efforts of Center for Biocomposites and Biomaterials Processing (CBBP), University of Toronto, Canada.

In this study parents' systematic accounts of the health status of 408 school-aged children with cerebral palsy (CP) are reported (221 males, 187 females; mean age 8 years 5 months, SD 1 year 11 months; range 5 to 13 years), as are relations between severity of functional motor impairment and eight functional health status domains. Data were collected as part of a longitudinal study of the motor development of a population-based, stratified, random sample of children with CP from across Ontario, Canada. The Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) was used to classify severity of CP and functional health status was described with the eight-level Health Utilities Index-Mark 3. Rates of functional limitations in Mobility, Dexterity, Speech, and Vision were statistically significantly associated with GMFCS levels (all p<0.01), with correlation values (tau-b) of 0.82, 0.58, 0.46, and 0.36, respectively. Functional limitations in hearing (tau-b=0.16; p=0.04) and cognition (tau-b=0.27; p<0.01) were both statistically significantly associated with GMFCS levels, though correlations were low. Neither emotion (tau-b=0.03; p=0.24) nor pain (tau-b=0.07; p=0.37) was associated with degree of functional limitation as described by the GMFCS. Clinical and epidemiological implications of findings are discussed.

In this paper, an engine fault detection and classification technique using vibration data in the crank angle domain is presented. These data are used in conjunction with artificial neural networks (ANNs), which are applied to detect faults in a four-stroke gasoline engine built for experimentation. A comparative study is provided between the popular backpropagation (BP) method, the Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) method, the quasi-Newton (QN) method, the extended Kalman filter (EKF), and the smooth variable structure filter (SVSF). The SVSF is a relatively new estimation strategy, based on the sliding mode concept. It has been formulated to efficiently train ANNs and is consequently referred to as the SVSF-ANN. The accuracy of the proposed method is compared with the standard accuracy of the Kalman-based filters and the popular BP algorithms in an effort to validate the SVSF-ANN performance and application to engine fault detection and classification. The customizable fault diagnostic system is able to detect known engine faults with various degrees of severity, such as defective lash adjuster, piston chirp (PC), and chain tensioner (CT) problems. The technique can be used at any dealership or assembly plant to considerably reduce warranty costs for the company and manufacturer.

The feasibility and benefits of using an oxygenated fuel for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) operation were explored using dimethyl ether (DME). A model for the flow tube chemistry was used to predict DME gas-phase decomposition kinetics and species concentration profiles for temperatures ranging from 550 to 750°C. The predictions, which were in good agreement with mass spectral measurements, showed that in the absence of a fuel cell DME decomposed primarily into equal amounts of and CO above about 675°C. The same decomposition species were observed in catalytic reaction experiments at Ni-based anodes, but the mole fractions of the decomposition gases were much higher, between 550 and 650°C. Current-voltage measurements were made using SOFCs with 100 μm thick yttria-stabilized zirconia electrolyte supports, cathodes, and 50 vol % Ni-based anodes. Maximum power densities for SOFCs supplied directly with DME fuel were 0.10 and at 600 and 700°C, respectively. No carbon deposition was observed in cells operated at temperatures up to 700°C. © 2002 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.

In this study parents’systematic accounts of the health status of 408 school‐aged children with cerebral palsy (CP) are reported (221 males, 187 females; mean age 8 years 5 months, SD 1 year 11 months; range 5 to 13 years), as are relations between severity of functional motor impairment and eight functional health status domains. Data were collected as part of a longitudinal study of the motor development of a population‐based, stratified, random sample of children with CP from across Ontario, Canada. The Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) was used to classify severity of CP and functional health status was described with the eight‐level Health Utilities Index ‐ Mark 3. Rates of functional limitations in Mobility, Dexterity, Speech, and Vision were statistically significantly associated with GMFCS levels (all p &lt;0.01), with correlation values ( tau‐b ) of 0.82,0.58,0.46, and 0.36, respectively. Functional limitations in hearing ( tau‐b =0.16; p =0.04) and cognition ( tau‐b =0.27; p &lt;0.01) were both statistically significantly associated with GMFCS levels, though correlations were low. Neither emotion ( tau‐b =0.03; p =0.24) nor pain ( tau‐b =0.07; p =0.37) was associated with degree of functional limitation as described by the GMFCS. Clinical and epidemiological implications of findings are discussed.

Recessive ataxias are a heterogeneous group of diseases. We identified a group of 23 French-Canadian cases belonging to 17 families affected by an autosomal recessive spastic ataxia associated with frequent white matter changes. The fact that 59% of these families have a genealogical relationship to the Portneuf County of Quebec suggests that this is a new form of ataxia with a regional founder effect. All cases present with cerebellar ataxia and spasticity. There is great intrafamilial and interfamilial variability, as illustrated by the spectrum of age of diagnosis (range: 2-59 years, mean: 15.0) and the presence of white matter changes on MRI in 52.4% of cases. The more severe cases have spasticity from birth, scoliosis, dystonia and cognitive impairment and were considered cases of cerebral palsy. Brain MRI constantly shows cerebellar atrophy, which in some cases may be associated with cortical atrophy, leucoencephalopathy and corpus callosum thinning. A genome wide scan uncovered linkage of three families to marker D2S2321 localized on chromosome 2q33-34. Linkage analysis confirmed that all families are linked to the same region [multipoint log of the odds (LOD) score of 5.95]. Haplotype analysis and allele sharing suggest that one common mutation may account for 97% of carrier chromosomes in Quebec. The uncovering of the mutated gene may point to a common pathway for pyramidal and cerebellar degeneration as both are often observed in recessive ataxias and complicated paraplegias.

Room temperature vulcanizing (RTV) silicone rubber is increasingly being used to coat porcelain and glass insulators in order to improve their electrical performance in the presence of pollution and moisture. A study of the dependence of leakage current, pulse current count and total charge flowing across the surface of RTV on the flow rate of the saline water and on the compressed air pressure used to create the salt-fog is reported. The fog was directed at the insulating rods either from one or two sides. The RTV was fabricated from polydimethylsiloxane polymer, a filler of alumina trihydrate (ATH), a polymerization catalyst and fumed silica reinforcer, all dispersed in 1,1,1-trichlomethane solvent. The saline water flow rate was varied in the range 0.4 to 2.0 l/min. The compressed air pressure at the input of the fog nozzles was varied from 0.20 to 0.63 MPa. The air speed at the surface of the insulating rods was found to depend linearly on the air pressure measured at the inlet to the nozzles and varied in the range 3 to 14 km/hr. The leakage current increased with increasing flow rate and increasing air speed. This is attributed to the increased loss of hydrophobicity with a larger quantity of saline fog and a larger impact velocities of fog droplets interacting with the surface of the RTV coating.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

This study presents an overview of viscoelastic characteristics of biocomposites derived of natural-fibre-reinforced thermoplastic polymers and predictive models have been presented in order to understand their rheological behavior. Various constitutive equations are reviewed for a better understanding of their applicability to polymer melt in determining the viscosity. The models to be investigated are the Giesekus-Leonov model, the Upper Convected Maxwell (UCM) model, the White-Metzner model, K-BKZ model, the Oldroyd-B model, and the Phan-Thien-Tanner models. The aforementioned models are the most powerful for predicting the rheological behavior of hybrid and green viscoelastic materials in the presence of high shear rate and in all dimensions. The Phan-Thien Tanner model, the Oldroyd-B model, and the Giesekus model can be used in various modes to fit the relaxation modulus accurately and to predict the shear thinning as well as shear thickening characteristics. The Phan-Thien Tanner, K-BKZ, Upper convected Maxwell, Oldroyd-B, and Giesekus models predicted the steady shear viscosity and the transient first normal stress coefficient better than the White-Metzner model for green-fibre-reinforced thermoplastic composites.

Relative rate techniques were used to study the title reactions and determine rate constants of k(Cl + C(4)F(9)CH(2)CH(2)I) = (1.25 +/- 0.15) x 10(-12) and k(OH + C(4)F(9)CH(2)CH(2)I) = (1.2 +/- 0.6) x 10(-12) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1) in 700 Torr total pressure at 295 K. The fluorotelomer aldehyde (C(4)F(9)CH(2)CHO), perfluorinated aldehyde (C(4)F(9)CHO), fluorotelomer acid (C(4)F(9)CH(2)C(O)OH), fluorotelomer peracid (C(4)F(9)CH(2)C(O)OOH), and several perfluorocarboxylic acids were detected by in situ FTIR spectroscopy and offline analysis as products of the chlorine atom initiated oxidation of C(4)F(9)CH(2)CH(2)I in air. The UV-visible spectra of C(4)F(9)CH(2)CH(2)I and C(2)H(5)Cl were recorded over the range of 200-400 nm. Photolysis of C(4)F(9)CH(2)CH(2)I gives C(4)F(9)CH(2)CHO as the major observed product. By assumption of a photolysis quantum yield of unity, it was calculated that the atmospheric lifetime of C(4)F(9)CH(2)CH(2)I is determined by photolysis and is a few days. A mechanism for the atmospheric oxidation of fluorotelomer iodides, (C(x)F(2x+1)CH(2)CH(2)I, where x = 2, 4, 6,...) is proposed. Atmospheric oxidation of fluorotelomer iodides is a potential source of perfluorocarboxylic acids.

This study established Ni phytotoxicity thresholds for oat (Avena sativa L.) in four soil types, each created by blending a low and a high Ni soil, to generate a range of concentrations. The first quartile effective concentration (EC 25 ) for soil and shoot tissue Ni concentration and reduction in shoot dry weight (DW) was determined using a Weibull function. The EC 25 (for soil Ni concentration) was 1350, 1950, 1880 and &gt; 2400 mg Ni kg -1 soil, for sand, till clay, heavy clay and organic muck, respectively. The EC 25 (for shoot Ni concentration) was 71, 21, 52 and &gt; 35 mg Ni kg -1 shoot DW, for sand, till clay, heavy clay and organic muck, respectively. Total soil Ni concentration, soil pH and soil cation exchange capacity (CEC) accounted for 70% of the variation of Ni accumulation in tissue when the data for all four of the soils were combined; this was similar to the amount of variation accounted for by fitting Ni concentration in tissue to ammonium oxalate extractable soil Ni. Manganese deficiency may have impaired plant growth at higher soil Ni concentrations in the clay soils. Speciation of Ni was similar in all soils studied, and the relationship between Ni concentrations in soil and in tissue was less closely related to chemically extracted soil Ni than it was to a combination of total soil Ni, soil pH and CEC. These are the soil characteristics known to influence both equilibrium among metal species in soil solution, and uptake of cations by plants. Key words: Avena sativa L., EC 25 , Ni, oat

Previous research indicates that the low temperature combustion (LTC) is capable of producing ultra-low nitrogen oxides (NOx) and soot emissions. The LTC in diesel engines can be enabled by the use of heavy exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) at moderate engine loads. However, when operating at higher engine loads, elevated demands of both intake boost and EGR levels to ensure ultra-low emissions make engine controllability a challenging task. In this work, a multifuel combustion strategy is implemented to improve the emission performance and engine controllability at higher engine loads. The port fueling of ethanol is ignited by the direct injection of diesel fuel. The ethanol impacts on the engine emissions, ignition delay, heat-release shaping, and cylinder-charge cooling have been empirically analyzed with the sweeps of different ethanol-to-diesel ratios. Zero-dimensional phenomenological engine cycle simulations have been conducted to supplement the empirical work. The multifuel combustion of ethanol and diesel produces lower emissions of NOx and soot while maintaining the engine efficiency. The experimental setup and study cases are described, and the potential for the application of an ethanol-to-diesel multifuel system at higher loads has been proposed and discussed.

Blood flow dynamics contributes an elemental part in the formation and expansion of cardiovascular diseases in human body. Computational simulation of blood flow in the human arterial system has been widely used in recent decades for better understanding the symptomatic spectrum of various diseases, in order to improve already existing or develop new therapeutic techniques. The characteristics of the blood flow in an artery can be changed significantly by arterial diseases, such as aneurysms and stenoses. The progress of atherosclerosis or stenosis in a blood vessel is quite common which may be caused due to the addition of lipids in the arterial wall. Nanofluid is a colloidal mixture of nanometer sized (which ranges from 10–100 m) metallic and non-metallic particles in conventional fluid (such as water, oil). The delivery of nanoparticles is an interesting and growing field in the development of diagnostics and remedies for blood flow complications. An enhancement of nano-drug delivery performance in biological systems, nanoparticles properties such as size, shape and surface characteristics can be regulated. Nanoparticle offers remarkably advantages over the traditional drug delivery in terms of high specificity, high stability, high drug carrying capacity, ability for controlled release. Highly dependency has been found for their behavior under blood flow while checking for their ability to target and penetrate tissues from the blood. In the field of nano-medicine, organic (including polymeric micelles and vesicles, liposomes) and inorganic (gold and mesoporous silica, copper) nanoparticles have been broadly studied as particular carriers because as drug delivery systems they delivered a surprising achievement as a result of their biocompatibility with tissue and cells, their subcellular size, decreased toxicity and sustained release properties. For the extension of nanofluids research, the researchers have also tried to use hybrid nanofluid recently, which is synthesized by suspending dissimilar nanoparticles either in mixture or composite form. The main idea behind using the hybrid nanofluid is to further improve the heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics. Nanoparticles are helpful as drug carriers to minimize the effects of resistance impedance to blood flow or coagulation factors due to stenosis. Discussed various robust approaches have been employed for the nanoparticle transport through blood in arterial system. The main objective of the paper is to provide a comprehensive review of computational simulations of blood flow containing hybrid-nanoparticles as drug carriers in the arterial system of the human body. The recent developments and analysis of convective flow of particle-fluid suspension models for the axi-symmetric arterial bodies in hemodynamics are summarized. Detailed existing mathematical models for simulating blood flow with nanoparticles in stenotic regions are reviewed. The review focuses on selected numerical simulations of physiological convective flows under various stenosis approximations and computation of the temperature, velocity, resistance impedance to flow, wall shear stress and the pressure gradient with the corresponding boundary conditions. The current review also highlights that the drug carrier nanoparticles are efficient mechanisms for reducing hemodynamics of stenosis and could be helpful for other biomedical applications. The review considers flows through various stenoses and the significances of numerical fluid mechanics in clinical medicine. The review examines nano-drug delivery systems, nanoparticles and describes recent computational simulations of nano-pharmacodynamics.

Following up on a study by Worringham and Beringer (1989) that examined the influence of operator orientation on visual-motor performance, Experiment 1 employed a choice reaction time paradigm in which participants had to make rapid, discrete movements with a lever in response to a discrete stimulus. In Experiment 2, participants had to synchronize rhythmic movements with an oscillating visual display. Operator orientation with respect to stimulus display and response array locations was varied to examine the influence of global spatial relations. Display orientation was varied to examine the influence of spatial configuration. Mapping rules were varied to examine the effects of spatial mapping. In Experiment 1, the spatial mapping that yielded faster responses was dependent upon the stimulus display-response array configuration and the global relation. Under a parallel configuration, participants appeared to code the spatial aspects of the stimulus display and response in a manner that was unaffected by the global spatial relation. Under an orthogonal configuration, spatial mapping effects were dependent upon the global relation. In Experiment 2, the global spatial relation did not have an impact on the uniformity of co-ordination under different configuration or mapping conditions. Spatial configuration influenced whether or not differences between spatial mapping rules emerged. Together, the results speak to the relative nature of stimulus-response coding that underlie compatibility phenomena. In addition, the results have potential importance for the design of human-machine systems that allow flexibility in operator orientation.

Abstract Experimental data on a new electrolytic treatment for oily wastewater indicate that the process can render the wastewater suitable for direct discharge to municipal sewers.

The influence of gas diffusion layer (GDL) modifications by laser perforation technique on fuel cell water management is investigated in this study. The liquid water distribution in membrane-electrode-assembly (MEA) and water breakthrough in GDL are visualized using high resolution neutron radiography. The perforated GDL reduces water transport resistance, enhances water breakthrough in GDL, and promotes uniform water distribution in MEA. The observed effects account for the improved fuel cell performance caused by the perforated GDL.

Narrow gap welding is a prevalent technique used to decrease the volume of molten metal and heat required to fill a joint. Consequently, deleterious effects such as distortion and residual stresses may be reduced. One of the fields where narrow groove welding is most employed is pipeline welding where misalignment, productivity and mechanical properties are critical to a successful final assemblage of pipes. This work reports the feasibility of joining pipe sections with 4 mm-wide narrow gaps machined from API X80 linepipe using cold wire gas metal arc welding. Joints were manufactured using the standard gas metal arc welding and the cold wire gas metal arc welding processes, where high speed imaging, and voltage and current monitoring were used to study the arc dynamic features. Standard metallographic procedures were used to study sidewall penetration, and the evolution of the heat affected zone during welding. It was found that cold wire injection stabilizes the arc wandering, decreasing sidewall penetration while almost doubling deposition. However, this also decreases penetration, and incomplete penetration was found in the cold wire specimens as a drawback. However, adjusting the groove geometry or changing the welding parameters would resolve this penetration issue.

For the past decade, motorcycle fatalities have risen while other motor vehicle fatalities have declined. Many motorcycle fatalities occurred within intersections after a driver failed to see a motorcyclist. However, little is known about the behavior of motorcyclists when they negotiate an intersection. A study was undertaken to compare the behavior at intersections of an experienced group of motorcyclists when they were operating a motorcycle with their behavior when they were driving a car. Each participant navigated a course through low-volume, open roads. Participants wore eye-tracking equipment to record eye-glance information, and the motorcycle and car were instrumented with an onboard accelerometer and Global Positioning System apparatus. Results showed that participants were more likely to make last glances toward the direction of the most threatening traffic before they made a turn when they were driving a car than when they were riding a motorcycle. In addition, motorcyclists were less likely to come to a complete stop at a stop sign than car drivers. These results suggested that motorcyclists were exposing themselves to unnecessary risk. Specifically, motorcyclists frequently failed to make proper glances and practice optimal riding techniques. The behavior of the motorcyclists was compared with the current Motorcycle Safety Foundation curriculum. The results suggested that threat-response and delayed-apex techniques should be added to the training curriculum.

Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) combustion in diesel engines can provide cleaner operation with ultralow NOx and soot emissions. While HCCI combustion has generated significant attention in the last decade, however, till date, it has seen very limited application in production diesel engines. HCCI combustion is typically characterized by earlier than top-dead-center (pre-TDC) phasing, very high-pressure rise rates, short combustion durations, and minimal control over the timing of the combustion event. To offset the high reactivity of the diesel fuel, large amounts of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) (30–60%) are usually applied to postpone the initiation of combustion, shift the combustion toward TDC, and alleviate to some extent, the high-pressure rise rates and the reduced energy efficiency. In this work, a detailed analysis of HCCI combustion has been carried out on a high-compression ratio (CR), single-cylinder diesel engine. The effects of intake boost, EGR quantity/temperature, engine speed, injection scheduling, and injection pressure on the operability limits have been empirically determined and correlated with the combustion stability, emissions, and performance metrics. The empirical investigation is extended to assess the suitability of common alternate fuels (n-butanol, gasoline, and ethanol) for HCCI combustion. On the basis of the analysis, the significant challenges affecting the real-world application of HCCI are identified, their effects on the engine performance quantified, and possible solutions to overcome these challenges explored through both theoretical and empirical investigations. This paper intends to provide a comprehensive summary of the implementation issues affecting HCCI combustion in diesel engines.