'Work and Emancipatory Practice: Towards a Recovery of Human Beings' Productive Capacities,'

This article argues that productive work represents a mode of human flourishing unfortunately neglected in much current political theorizing. Focusing on Habermasian critical theory, I contend that Habermas’s dualist theory of society, on account of the communicative versus instrumental reason binary which underpins it, excludes work and the economy from ethical reflection. To avoid this uncritical turn, we need a concept of work that retains a core emancipatory referent. This, I claim, is provided by Alasdair MacIntyre’s notion of ‘practice’. The notion of ‘practice’ is significant in suggesting an alternative conception of human productivity that is neither purely instrumental nor purely communicative, but rather both simultaneously, a form of activity which issues in material products and yet presumes a community of workers engaged in intersubjective self-transformation. However, we can endorse MacIntyre’s notion of ‘practice’ only if we reject his totalizing anti-modernism and insist on the emancipatory potentialities of modern institutions.

Heat capacities of ionic liquids as a function of temperature at 0.1 MPa. measurement and prediction

Heat capacities of nine ionic liquids were measured from (293 to 358) K by using a heat flux differential scanning calorimeter. The impact of impurities (water and chloride content) in the ionic liquid was analyzed to estimate the overall uncertainty. The Joback method for predicting ideal gas heat capacities has been extended to ionic liquids by the generation of contribution parameters for three new groups. The principle of corresponding states has been employed to enable the subsequent calculation of liquid heat capacities for ionic liquids, based on critical properties predicted using the modified Lydersen-Joback-Reid method, as a function of the temperature from (256 to 470) K. A relative absolute deviation of 2.9% was observed when testing the model against 961 data points from 53 different ionic liquids reported previously and measured within this study.

Phase transition and decomposition temperatures, heat capacities and viscosities of pyridinium ionic liquids

Ionic liquids are organic salts with low melting points. Many of these compounds are liquid at room temperature in their pure state. Since they have negligible vapor pressure and would not contribute to air pollution, they are being intensively investigated for a variety of applications, including as solvents for reactions and separations, as non-volatile electrolytes, and as heat transfer fluids. We present melting temperatures, glass transition temperatures, decomposition temperatures, heat capacities, and viscosities for a large series of pyridinium-based ionic liquids. For comparison, we include data for several imidazolium and quaternary ammonium salts. Many of the compounds do not crystallize, but form glasses at temperatures between 188 K and 223 K. The thermal stability is largely determined by the coordinating ability of the anion, with ionic liquids made with the least coordinating anions, like bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, having the best thermal stability. In particular, dimethylaminopyridinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide salts have some of the best thermal stabilities of any ionic liquid compounds investigated to date. Heat capacities increase approximately linearly with increasing molar mass, which corresponds with increasing numbers of translational, vibrational, and rotational modes. Viscosities generally increase with increasing number and length of alkyl substituents on the cation, with the pyridinium salts typically being slightly more viscous than the equivalent imidazolium compounds. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Heat capacities of common ionic liquids - Potential applications as thermal fluids?

Ionic liquids generally have wide liquid ranges and negligible vapour pressures; attractive characteristics for use as media for heat transfer and short heat term storage systems. This review of the limited literature available shows that many common ionic liquids have heat capacities, and thus potential thermal energy storage capabilities, that surpass those of commercial hot-oil and synthetic heat transfer fluids and suggests that there is a role for ionic liquids as novel thermal fluids.

Research on Ultimate Loading Carrying Capacities in Concrete Bridge Deck Slabs with Consideration of Compressive Membrane Action

In the investigation of real loading capacities in concrete bridge deck slabs,the study of this type of structure was carried out with consideration of compressive membrane action.A series of experimental test of steel-concrete bridge structures was developed with the analysis of influences from the varying of structural parameters on loading capacities,including reinforcement percentages,supporting beam sizes and concrete compressive strength.Through the study of the experimental results,it was found that the real structural loading capacities are larger than those predicted by current design methods.Therefore,based on the previous research,a prediction method for loading capacities of concrete bridge deck slabs was established with consideration of CMA,which was built based on the plastic ultimate analysis.In this method,the lateral restraint stiffness subjected by concrete bridge deck slabs was provided.The proposed theoretical model is capable of predicting the loading capacities of this type of structure accurately with comparison of results from several bridge deck experimental tests.

Biosensor-based detection of reduced sex hormone-binding globulin binding capacities in response to growth-promoter administrations

Growth-promoting agents are illicitly used during animal rearing processes and the detection of their use is limited by new compounds and dosing practices that limit the efficiency of current testing which is based on residue analysis by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) methodology. An alternative approach is to use indirect biological evidence as a screening tool to identify growth-promoter treated animals thus improving the effectiveness of residue testing through the targeted sampling of these animals. Sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) is a glycoprotein which binds and controls the levels of sex-hormones within the circulation. Using a biosensor assay based on measurement of binding to an immobilised 1a-dihydrotestosterone (1a-DHT) derivative, reduced SHBG binding capacities were detected in growth-promoter treated animals. During the course of a veal treatment regime based on repeated oestradiol benzoate, nortestosterone decanoate and dexamethasone administrations, treated male and female calves were shown to have significantly lower SHBG capacities. To assess the effectiveness of using SHBG binding capacities as a biomarker of treatment and to investigate the role of individual growth-promoter components to the SHBG capacity lowering effects, adult heifer animals were subjected to repeated doses of nortestosterone decanoate. These animals also demonstrated a reduction in SHBG capacity levels at Day 39 of the study, in contrast to oestradiol benzoate treated adult steers who were found to have unaltered levels. These findings suggest that the measurement of SHBG binding capacities using a biosensor assay has potential in the identification of illegally treated animals, particularly those exposed to androgens.

Discrete Conditional Phase-type models utilising classification trees: Application to modelling health service capacities

Discrete Conditional Phase-type (DC-Ph) models consist of a process component (survival distribution) preceded by a set of related conditional discrete variables. This paper introduces a DC-Ph model where the conditional component is a classification tree. The approach is utilised for modelling health service capacities by better predicting service times, as captured by Coxian Phase-type distributions, interfaced with results from a classification tree algorithm. To illustrate the approach, a case-study within the healthcare delivery domain is given, namely that of maternity services. The classification analysis is shown to give good predictors for complications during childbirth. Based on the classification tree predictions, the duration of childbirth on the labour ward is then modelled as either a two or three-phase Coxian distribution. The resulting DC-Ph model is used to calculate the number of patients and associated bed occupancies, patient turnover, and to model the consequences of changes to risk status.

Volumetric Properties, Viscosities, and Isobaric Heat Capacities of Imidazolium Octanoate Protic Ionic Liquid in Molecular Solvents

Densities (F), viscosities (?), and isobaric heat molar capacities (Cp) of binary mixtures containing imidazolium octanoate, [Im][C7CO2], a protic ionic liquid (PIL), with four molecular solvents, water, acetonitrile, ethanol, and 1-octanol, are determined as a function of temperature from (298.15 to 323.15) K and within the whole composition range at atmospheric pressure. Excess molar volumes, VE, excess molar heat capacities, Cp E, and the deviation from additivity rules of viscosities, ??, of imidazolium octanoate solutions were then deduced from the experimental results, as well as apparent molar volumes, Vfi, and partial molar volumes, V j m,i. Results are discussed according to the nature of the interaction between the PIL and the molecules and the effect of temperature. The excess Gibbs energies of activation of viscous flow (?G*E) for these systems were then calculated at 298.15 K. The excess isobaric heat capacities, Cp E, of binary ([Im][C7CO2] + solvent) systems, depend also of the nature of the molecular solvent in mixture. The excess properties were then correlated, at each temperature, as a function of composition by a Redlich-Kister-type equation. Finally results have been discussed in terms of molecular interactions and molecular structures in these binary mixtures, and thermodynamic properties of investigated binary mixtures were then compared to literature values together to investigate the impact of the nature of the solvent on these reported properties.

Non-linear finite-element analysis of punching capacities of steel-concrete bridge deck slabs

Punching failure is the common failure mode in concrete bridge deck slabs when these structural components are subjected to local patch loads, such as tyre loads. Past research has shown that reinforced concrete slabs in girder–slab type bridges have a load-carrying capacity far greater than the ultimate static loads predicted by traditional design methods, because of the presence of compressive membrane action. However, due to the instability problems from punching failure, it is difficult to predict ultimate capacities accurately in numerical analyses. In order to overcome the instability problems, this paper establishes an efficient non-linear finite-element analysis using the commercial finite-element package Abaqus. In the non-linear finite-element analysis, stabilisation methods were adopted and failure criteria were established to predict the ultimate punching behaviour of deck slabs in composite steel–concrete bridges. The proposed non-linear finite-element analysis predictions showed a good correlation on punching capacities with experimental tests.

Liquid densities, heat capacities, refractive index and excess quantities for {protic ionic liquids plus water} binary system

Densities, rho, of aqueous solutions of the room temperature protic ionic liquid (PIL), pyrrolidinium nitrate are determined at the atmospheric pressure over the temperature range from (283.15 to 323.15) K and within the whole composition range. The molar isobaric heat capacities, C(p), and refractive index, n(D), of {PIL + water} binary system are measured at 298.15 K. The excess molar volumes V(E), excess molar isobaric heat capacities C(p)(E), and deviation from ideality of refractive index Delta(phi)n, of pyrrolidinium nitrate aqueous solutions were deduced from the experimental results as well as apparent molar volumes V(phi), partial molar volumes (V) over bar (m,i), and thermal expansion coefficients alpha(p). The V(E) values were found to be positive over the entire composition range at all temperatures studied therein, whereas deviations from ideality were negative for refractive index Delta(phi)n. The volumetric properties of binary mixtures containing water and four other protic ionic liquids, such as pyrrolidinium hydrogen sulfate, pyrrolidinium formiate, collidinium formate, and diisopropyl-ethylammonium formate were also determined at 298.15 K. Results have been then discussed in terms of molecular interactions and molecular structures in these binary mixtures. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Structure and thermal properties of salicylate-based-protic ionic liquids as new heat storage media. COSMO-RS structure characterization and modeling of heat capacities

During this research, we present a study on the thermal properties, such as the melting, cold crystallization, and glass transition temperatures as well as heat capacities from 293.15 K to 323.15 K of nine in-house synthesized protic ionic liquids based on the 3-(alkoxymethyl)-1H-imidazol-3-ium salicylate ([H-Im-C₁OC_n][Sal]) with n = 3–11. The 3D structures, surface charge distributions and COSMO volumes of all investigated ions are obtained by combining DFT calculations and the COSMO-RS methodology. The heat capacity data sets as a function of temperature of the 3-(alkoxymethyl)-1H-imidazol-3-ium salicylate are then predicted using the methodology originally proposed in the case of ionic liquids by Ge et al. 3-(Alkoxymethyl)-1H-imidazol-3-ium salicylate based ionic liquids present specific heat capacities higher in many cases than other ionic liquids that make them suitable as heat storage media and in heat transfer processes. It was found experimentally that the heat capacity increases linearly with increasing alkyl chain length of the alkoxymethyl group of 3-(alkoxymethyl)-1H-imidazol-3-ium salicylate as was expected and predicted using the Ge et al. method with an overall relative absolute deviation close to 3.2% for temperatures up to 323.15 K.