Main Thrust Research Articles

Significance of temperature and pressure on minimum fluidization velocity in a fluidized bed reactor: An experimental analysis

ABSTRACT This investigation addresses the minimum fluidization velocity (U mf ) determination in a refractory insulated fluidized bed reactor (FBR) of 200 mm ID. Umf is determined with respect to different particle sizes and operating parameters like temperature and pressure up to 900 °C and 1 MPa respectively. This study has the main thrust into the establishment of U mf at elevated temperature and pressure during the thermochemical process, involving uniform mixing of gas-solid by fluidization phenomena at a pilot scale FBR. So, to understand the significance and impact of temperature along with pressure on Umf , a set of fluidization experiments have been demonstrated in FBR. Two waste materials are abundantly available, similar to Geldart’s group-B type bed materials, i.e. Calcined-clay and Coal-ash of an average size of 1.04 and 0.92 mm respectively, and apparent density of 883 and 850 kg/m3 respectively, have been selected as bed material. Experimental results revealed that Umf directly relates to particle size and inverse relationship with operating temperature and pressure. Results revealed that U mf decreases by 59.7% and 59.2% for both bed materials such as Calcined-clay and Coal-ash respectively as the temperature increases from 30 to 900°C at atmospheric pressure. Similarly, U mf also decreases by 63.3% and 66.0% for bed materials such as Calcined-clay and Coal-ash respectively as the pressure increases from atmospheric pressure to 1 MPa at room temperature. An empirical model has been developed for predicting Umf at elevated temperature and pressure during fluidization phenomena. The experimental Remf shows a good agreement with the predicted Remf by using the developed model proving its robustness.

Hadronic structure on the light front. I. Instanton effects and quark-antiquark effective potentials

This is the first of a sequence of papers that addresses the nonperturbative origin of the central and spin-dependent forces between quarks. Its main thrust is a focus on meson spectroscopy in the center-of-mass frame. We suggest a novel ``dense instanton ensemble'' model for the QCD vacuum, to explain the interquark forces in mesons, from quarkonia to heavy-light and light-light ones. The sequels will show how to export these interactions to the light front, and derive the corresponding Hamiltonians, mesonic, and baryonic light front wave functions. The ultimate aim of the series is to bridge the gap between hadronic spectroscopy and partonic observables.

Paul Farmer: A Model for the Theologian

Paul Farmer was a physician, medical anthropologist, and social justice activist. Although influenced by theology of liberation, he was not a professional theologian. Nonetheless, this chapter presents Farmer as a model for the theological ethicist. He presents a dual form of modeling: analytical and praxical. His use of social analysis to uncover the structural causes of impoverishment and exclusion provides a model for the analysis that theological ethicists are called to articulate in an acutely divided and unfair world. Farmer’s modeling is not limited to the analytical or strictly scholarly dimension of the theologian’s work. The main thrust of both his life’s work and his modelling is praxical: a life committed to service, advocacy, and activism at the service of the impoverished. Famer undertook his intellectual work and social analysis within the broader context of an existential commitment to social transformation and justice. He was a paradigm of what Antonio Gramsci called an organic intellectual. The organic intellectual is actively engaged in the construction of a new society. As an organic intellectual, Farmer becomes a praxical model for the theologian. Neutrality is not an option for someone who aspires to a life of authenticity in the footsteps of Jesus.

Metric, kilometric and large-scale coherence of metamorphic conditions from graphitic phyllite in the Upper Lesser Himalaya of Nepal: Contribution to the estimation of carbon stored during Himalayan orogeny

Besides carbonates, carbonaceous material in meta-sediments represents an important carbon reservoir on Earth. In orogenic belts, carbon can be stored as graphite, a contribution to the global carbon cycle that remains insufficiently constrained. Here, we focus on the Himalayan belt where moderately crystalline graphite is found at the footwall of the Main Central Thrust. Using various analytical methods, we investigate metamorphic conditions of graphite at increasing spatial scales in the Upper Lesser Himalayan Sequence (upper-LHS) phyllites of Nepal. First, we develop and validate a new SEM-BSE technique to measure total organic carbon (TOC) content. Graphite shows mostly inter- and intra-granular flaky crystals associated with carbonates. Elemental carbon analyses yield large range of TOC content in phyllites with a mean of 3.7 ± 0.4 vol.%. Inferred from micro-Raman spectroscopy, peak metamorphic temperature (peak-T) ranges from 519 ± 9 to 590 ± 8 °C. We observe a significant coherence of metamorphic conditions of graphitic phyllites at metric, decametric and kilometric scales using extensive data obtained in the Upper Trisuli valley, Central Nepal (n = 77), and, at larger spatial scales, using data from Far-Western to Eastern Nepal (n = 67). Mean carbon isotopic composition (δ13C) of −26.3 ± 0.1 ‰ indicates biogenic source. Less negative δ13C values, also reported in other orogenic belts, suggest interaction with pre-existing sedimentary carbonates, probably related to metamorphic isotopic re-equilibration. First-order extrapolations at the upper-LHS scale suggest meta-sediment organic carbon may represent up to 20 % of the total amount of carbon stored in orogens. Central Nepal segment, with higher TOC content and peak-T, is also characterized by the largest current metamorphic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of the chain. This hardly coincidental association, at the scale of the Himalayan belt, between organic carbon stored as graphite and mobile inorganic carbon released as CO2, represents an important clue to investigate further for global carbon budget estimations.

Foreword to the special issue on new developments in structural stability.

Foreword to the special issue on new developments in structural stability.

Managing Higher Education Pain Points for Knowledge and Innovation for Africa’s Development: Lessons from the Rest of The World

The main thrust of this research was to contribute to theory building in the Pain Points Theory (PPT) and their applicability in African Higher Education Institutions (referred to as AHEI right through), with focus on colleges and universities. The research explored gaps in knowledge regarding this theory as a contribution to knowledge, and in this instance the AHEI was the sample and epicentre of the research and was expected to meet foremost the needs of industry and government as employers of graduated students, then the needs of students and society in knowledge and innovation. This research was conceptual research using literature review only. A Pain Point or constraint is anything that prevents the system from achieving its goal like poor funding, high teaching loads, unattractive research prizes and incentives, low salaries that drive away talented academics and others and finally poor resourcing. The main reasons giving rise to this research were the facts that some colleges and universities in Africa faced challenges in graduate employability and suitability for industry and funding and needed accreditation by government agencies, and some had low innovation and research output. The main objective of this research was to contribute to theory building in the Theory of Higher Education and PPT and identify critical success factors for efficiency in service delivery excellence to students, industry and society in line with market orientation philosophy. The secondary objective was employability of graduates as the end product, maximising knowledge creation and innovation. Qualitative research method in the form of conceptual research was used in this research. The main findings were low salaries were driving away academics to NICs and overseas developed countries, lack of practicals/diverse teaching methods, lack of compulsory internship, unfair assessment, balancing classes with free time, the need for diversity in terms of faculty, uncommitted students, incompetent faculty, outdated syllabus, students from high schools not being college ready, graduates not matching industry requirements, poor internet service, low knowledge creation, lower levels of innovation and industrialisation in Africa, unattractive prizes for researchers and same for research incentives, lack of apprenticeship in some countries and no research funding.

Where Have We Been and Where Are We Going with Mindfulness in Schools?

This is a commentary on a paper by Roeser et al. entitled “Beyond all splits: Envisioning the next generation of science on mindfulness and compassion in schools for students”. The commentary endorses the main thrust of paper, the need to re-envisage mindfulness and move from the dominant model, a clinically based “mindfulness in education” approach, in which mindfulness is seen as a discrete “intervention”, an approach which has been criticised as mechanistic, atomistic, and restrictive and encourages a view of mindfulness as helping people to cope with a stressful status quo. The commentary further endorses the view that we need to create and research models of “mindfulness as education”, as a transformative “process” models which focus on the relational and developmental aspects of education, within a whole-school, ecological approach, encouraging schools to become more compassionate places, which cultivate a positive sense of agency in learners to empower them to change the social context. As well as endorsing the main thrust of the paper, this commentary includes the following further comments. Research and practice on teacher development needs to be at the heart of this process. Getting the balance right between rigour and innovation in research will be an ongoing process. It would be helpful to look outside Anglo-centric box for examples of this relational shift. We should wait to see how the somewhat unexpected results of the MYRIAD project feed into longer term reviews before changing advice around universal approaches and who should teach mindfulness in schools.

Stability of contact lines in fluids: 2D Navier–Stokes flow

In this paper we study the dynamics of an incompressible viscous fluid evolving in an open-top container in two dimensions. The fluid mechanics are dictated by the Navier–Stokes equations. The upper boundary of the fluid is free and evolves within the container. The fluid is acted upon by a uniform gravitational field, and capillary forces are accounted for along the free boundary. The triple-phase interfaces where the fluid, air above the vessel, and solid vessel wall come in contact are called contact points, and the angles formed at the contact point are called contact angles. The model that we consider integrates boundary conditions that allow for full motion of the contact points and angles. Equilibrium configurations consist of quiescent fluid within a domain whose upper boundary is given as the graph of a function minimizing a gravity-capillary energy functional, subject to a fixed mass constraint. The equilibrium contact angles can take on any values between 0 and \pi depending on the choice of capillary parameters. The main thrust of the paper is the development of a scheme of a priori estimates that show that solutions emanating from data sufficiently close to the equilibrium exist globally in time and decay to equilibrium at an exponential rate.

Crustal study based on integrated geophysical techniques in the Northwestern Himalayas, Pakistan

The present research aims to explicate the tectonics of the northwest Himalayas, Pakistan, based on integrated gravity, magnetic and earthquake data. The raw gravity and magnetic data were processed, and seven isoanomaly maps were prepared for qualitative interpretation, whereas a gravity model was prepared along the selected profile for quantitative interpretation. The local earthquake data have also been used to identify the various seismogenic layers in the subsurface and to understand how seismicity relates to regional structural features. Three northwest‐trending thick‐skinned blind basement faults are identified from the present study, namely the Indus Kohistan Seismic Zone (IKSZ), Bagh Basement Fault and Hazara Lower Seismic Zone. The IKSZ is the tectonically most active among them and responsible for the 2005 Kashmir earthquake (Mw = 7.6) and 1974 Pattan earthquake (Mw = 6.2) in the region. The present study also delineated the prominent location of the Main Central Thrust in which the high‐grade metamorphic rocks of Higher Himalayan Crystalline thrust over low‐grade metamorphic rocks of Lesser Himalayas along this thick‐skinned fault. The field evidence such as ductile deformation, zone of inverted metamorphism, and brittle deformation also confirm this location. The sharp bending of the crystalline crust, as well as deep basement just south of Kohistan Island Arc (KIA), indicate that the high density and susceptibility rocks of this arc thrust on the leading margin of the Indian Plate along the Main Mantle Thrust. This thrust fault is a major suture zone separating the KIA in the north from the Indian Plate in the south. The other faults in the region exist in the sedimentary/meta‐sedimentary wedge and are thin‐skinned. It is inferred from the current investigation that the study area exhibits a composite style of deformation. Moreover, the gravity model combined with earthquake data suggested the existence of multiple décollement zones below the Hazara‐Kashmir Syntaxis. The model envisaged an increase in the thickness of the Indian Plate continental crust in the northeast direction.

Historic Spatial Inequality and Poverty along Racial Lines in South Africa

South Africa faces many socio-economic challenges, which include sluggish economic growth, increasing unemployment rates, increasing inequality, and high poverty levels., This paper focused on examining how spatial inequality causes these socio-economic issues. The main thrust of the paper is to briefly investigate two major aspects, firstly the root cause of spatial inequality in South Africa, and secondly the impact that spatial inequality has on socio-economic indicators such as economic inequality, poverty, and employment levels. This research used a mixed methodology approach. Empirical research findings proved that apartheid policies contributed to high levels of poverty and inequality in South Africa. As the empirical results show, the existing inequalities in South Africa are predominantly based on a racial sub-group basis, which confirms the causal relationship with historic apartheid spatial policies enforced on a racial basis. Primary research findings depicted that the post-apartheid era is characterised by high poverty levels and huge inequality with the bulk of blacks exposed to diverse macro-economic challenges. Policy recommendation-wise, it was suggested that the government should continue to redress the systems of apartheid and use policies that help to eradicate poverty.

Svetlana Alexievich: Voice of the Oppressed People

Svetlana Alexievich, the 2015 Nobel laureate for literature, has interviewed hundreds, if not thousands, of people for her books. When she talks about her mission as a writer, she roots herself in the lived experiences of her interviewees, and one gets the feeling that she truly recalls every one of them. An escape from history seems impossible for 2015 Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich. After chronicling the Soviet Union through her “documentary novels,” her own genre often mistaken for oral history, since 1985, she had begun working on two new books, one on love and another on aging and death. She saw these topics as an opportunity for something different, untethered to the history of what she calls the “Red Person” in the former Soviet Union. Alexievich called the war in Ukraine an indication that the former communist mentality among many people in Russia and Belarus has not been eradicated. As Alexievich said, "Now we see that we were so naive and romantic in times of 'perestroika,'" Alexievich said. "We thought and kept saying that people were disappointed with communism, that we managed to deal with it with a peaceful revolution. Now, it turns out that we did not overcome communism. We never prevailed." Alexievich has defined the main thrust of her life and her writings thusly: “I always aim to understand how much humanity is contained in each human being, and how I can protect this humanity in a person.”

Tectono-metamorphic transitions in the higher Himalayan sequence: A clue for Main Central Thrust (MCT) localization in Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya

This study recognizes a transition in the modes of ductile deformation across the Himalayan Crystalline Complex (HCC) from field and microstructural evidence. This transition leads to the Main Central Thrust (MCT) zone localization in the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya. In the initial stage of crustal shortening (prior to ∼16 Ma), the HCC experienced temporally varying distributed ductile strains that produced regionally occurring planar fabrics and folds of three generations. Thereafter, the tectonic transition (from distributed to localized deformation) at ∼16 Ma occurred, forming the MCT zone in the HCC. This MCT zone (∼4–6 km thick) marks a diffuse metamorphic/rheological boundary between the hot HCC and the relatively colder Lesser Himalayan terrane to the south. The field data suggests that the base of compressed reverse paleo-isograds at the bottom of the MCT zone coincides with the transition of quartz creep mechanisms, from sub-grain rotation (SGR) to grain boundary migration (GBM). The present study documents the prograde metamorphic imprints to establish the P-T conditions of these multiple deformation episodes. Finally, this study presents a conceptual tectonic model, based on previous laboratory findings, to propose a two-stage tectono-thermal evolution of the Higher Himalaya.

Interplay of fragmentation, flow, mingling, and mixing in composite pseudotachylyte-ultracataclasite veins – An example from the Main Central Thrust (central Nepal)

The occurrence of pseudotachylyte-ultracataclasite veins at the Main Central Thrust (central Nepal) is reported here for the first time. The veins are planar, mm-thin layers concordant to the main foliation and layering of the wallrock. They contain elongate domains with variable amount of glasses and µm to mm-sized angular to sub-angular fragments. The glasses indicate the presence of pseudotachylyte and its origin by frictional fusion and subsequent rapid cooling. Amoeboid and partly cuspate domain geometries with diffuse contacts result from simultaneous movement and mingling of pseudotachylyte and ultracataclasite materials during injection into opening foliation-parallel cracks. Frequency distributions of fragment sizes, distribution patterns of fragments, and lobate boundaries of mingled materials are quantified by fractal geometry methods. They follow various power laws on various scales and indicate repeated processes of fragmentation, injection of mobile material, flow, mingling, mixing, and solidification. The formation of composite pseudotachylyte-ultracataclasite veins correlates with thrusting along the Main Central Thrust, specifically with the reactivation of the thrust in the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene.

«Консервативное просвещение» как «героизация настоящего»

This text is a polemic against the 2023 article by Sergey N. Gradirovsky who wrote about the present-day relevance of Immanuel Kant’s concept of enlightenment and challenged the idea of the modern human being as a child who needs an external guardian or guide to control his behaviour. In my polemic with Gradirovksy I point out that in addition to “self-incurred immaturity” Kant writes about the historical “immaturity” of savage or backward peoples. I also argue that for Kant “maturity” carries not only biological but also socio-historical connotations. I show that in the modern world Kant’s idea of the social or even historical maturity of the modern human acquires serious problematisation which was shown to be possible and inevitable in the article “What Is Enlightenment?” (1784) and its notion of the historicity of enlightenment, i.e. the very strategy of modernity is possible only when humankind reaches a certain historical age. Using as a point of departure the ideas of the French philosopher Michel Foucault, I maintain that the Kant­ian conception of enlightenment is at once ironic and tragic. It is ironic because it does not rule out that its main thesis on the historical maturity of the human being may turn out to be wrong. It is tragic because its main thrust is “heroisation of the present”, i.e. a readi­ness to resist the temptation of being absorbed by the future, which takes on added relevance in view of the virtualisation of reality.

«Fragile State» and «Failed State» Issue in U.S. Foreign Policy

Such terms as «fragile state» and «failed state» continue to be widely used by academic community, state officials and international organizations. However, the explanatory potential of these definitions remains very low, and their political bias is high. They became an integral part of the concept of «nation-building», so spread over the background of the US military interventions of the 1990s and 2000s. «Hybrid peace-building» was an attempt to comprehend the principles and consequences of supporting state institutions after the US failed experience in «nation-building» in the Middle East and Central Asia. However, the concept is not free of both theoretical and practical flaws. Its main thrust is now feminist peace-building. United States orients on providing aid to countries with low ranking in international gender equality ratings. This approach makes it easier to demonstrate results and allows the US establishment to rely on strengthening internal political capital.

Glo-ubuntu as an extension of Global Citizenship Education: Cultivating the notion of an African university

In previous work (Waghid et al. 2023) we offered an account of ubuntu and its implications for South African higher education. The main thrust of our argument is constituted by understanding that ubuntu involves interdependent-cum-autonomous human relations that impact university education in expansive ways: independent and collaborative with the possibility of being forward-looking. Yet, what we have not done hitherto, is to examine ubuntu in the realm of global citizenship education, considering the latter seems to intertwine with constitutive aspects of ubuntu. In this article, we reconsider ubuntu with global citizenship education (GCE) and its implications for higher education. Firstly, we proffer an understanding of GCE about pedagogical praxis; secondly, we show how ubuntu can advance GCE within higher education; and thirdly, we examine some of the implications of a glo-ubuntu for higher education in South Africa.

Law Libraries in the Information Age: A Critical Perspective

AbstractThis article traces the influence of theories of the information society, originating in the post-industrial theory of Daniel Bell, on developments in law librarianship. It argues that the main thrust of this influence has been to foster a conservative professional culture that emphasizes individual professional development and technological solutions in lieu of critical engagement with the political and economic forces responsible for eroding public and collective norms.

Mathematics symbol instruction and senior secondary students’ achievement in word problems: A quasi-experimental study

An assessment of the possible effect of mathematics symbol instruction on achievement in word problems was the main thrust of the study. Two null hypotheses were tested in the study.<b> </b>The non-equivalent group pre-test-post-test quasi-experimental research design was adopted. The multistage sampling technique was used to select a sample of 387 participants from 6,740 senior secondary class one students in the 81 government-owned coeducational secondary schools in Calabar education zone of Cross River State. The treatment class was exposed to mathematics symbol instructional strategy for solving word problems while the control class was exposed to regular word problem teaching, otherwise called the conventional method. “Students mathematics achievement test” was the instrument used for data collection after validation by experts. The reliability coefficient of 0.90 was determined using the Kuder-Richarson 20 formula. Primary data were obtained after informed consent from the participants. The null hypotheses were all tested at the .05 alpha level using the analysis of covariance. Findings revealed a significant effect of the mathematics symbol instructional strategy on students’ word problem achievement in secondary schools. Male students perform significantly better in word problems than their female counterparts when taught using the mathematics symbol instruction. These findings discussed fundamental theoretical, practical, and research implications. It was recommended, among other things, that mathematics teachers concentrate on demystifying the abstraction in mathematics by deliberately adopting mathematics symbol instructional strategy in interpreting mathematical statements and sentences into their symbolic notations before engaging in their computation.

Analisis Kebijakan Pendidikan Negara-negara ASEAN dalam Mendukung Suistanable Developments Goal

The purpose of this study was to determine education policies that support quality education SDGs in several ASEAN countries, especially Indonesia. The method used is library research by taking references from books, websites, and international journals. Sustainable Development Goals or commonly abbreviated SDGs are sustainable development goals resulting from the UN Summit in 2012. One of the 17 resulting goals is regarding quality education. Several ASEAN countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, and Indonesia have demonstrated that education policies have been issued to support quality education SDGs. In Singapore, it is proven by ensuring that all children of Singapore Citizens over the age of six must be enrolled in a national primary school. The six-year primary school education, which is heavily subsidized, aims to provide Singaporean children with a general core of knowledge that serves as a solid foundation for further education and training. While it is proven by the policies and priorities of education in Malaysia which are systematically related to the national development plan. As such, the ministry of education is committed to providing education and training services in line with the main thrust of the National Line Perspective Plan and the 5-Year Development Plan. Then, in Brunei Darussalam, it was proven that Through the '2018-2022 Strategic Plan', the ministry of education has set its mission to provide holistic education to achieve maximum potential for all in line with its vision of 'Quality Education, Dynamic Nation'. Whereas in Indonesia the implementation of quality education policies in support of the SDGs can be seen based on reports of regional action plans, one of which is West Java and East Java, namely: Increasing lifelong learning opportunities for all people free of charge, equal and quality which leads to the achievement of effective and relevant learning. while basic services are of high quality. Namely free quality education and health Tis-Tas (Free and Quality)

Analyzing the Democratic Peace Theory on US-French Foreign Policy in Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria in 21st Century.

The main thrust of this paper is to critically analyze the relevance and potential of Democratic Peace Theory in promoting peace, security and stability in international relations. United States of America and France as the cradles of contemporary democracy, in this paper shall be used as models of democratic peace theory. This analysis and evaluation is merely based on designated secondary material or paper review. France and America have analogous foreign policy which for bilateral or multilateral relations demand democracy, rule of law, accountability, transparency, decentralization, devolution of power and respect for human rights in recipient regimes. The study wants to comprehend how French and American foreign policies in Afghanistan, Libya and Syria complied with tenants of democratic peace theory. Contemporary academic contributions are lacking consensus on whether French and American foreign policies are idealist (pro-democratic) or realist (pro-authoritarian) in international relations. The formation of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) which the two are the most influential members is widely debatable between realists and idealists. The organization has very dreadful since Cold War and particularly promotes the self-interests of the Allies, the Capitalist world. In light of fighting dictatorship and restore democracy, America and France are highly criticized for promoting internal political instability, gross human abuse, environmental insecurity, endless fighting and infrastructural destruction.