Gasification is a very efficient method of producing clean synthetic gas (syngas) which can be used as fuel for electric generation or chemical building block for petrochemical industries. This study performs detailed simulations of coal gasification process inside a generic two-stage entrained-flow gasifier to produce syngas carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The simulations are conducted using the commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solver FLUENT. The 3-D Navier-Stokes equations and seven species transport equations are solved with eddy-breakup combustion model. Simulations are conducted to investigate the effects of coal mixture (slurry or dry), oxidant (oxygen-blown or air-blown), wall cooling, coal distribution between the two stages, and the feedstock injection angles on the performance of the gasifier in producing CO and H2. The result indicates that coal-slurry feed is preferred over coal-powder feed to produce hydrogen. On the other hand, coal-powder feed is preferred over coal-slurry feed to produce carbon monoxide. The air-blown operation yields poor fuel conversion efficiency and lowest syngas heating value. The two-stage design gives the flexibility to adjust parameters to achieve desired performance. The horizontal injection design gives better performance compared to upward and downward injection designs.

Hops are one of the four main ingredients used to produce beer. Many studies have been done to analyze the science behind growing and harvesting hops, creating hop hybrids, and how to brew beer with hops. However, there has been little research done revolving around the economic demand and supply model of the hop market. The objectives of this study are to create an econometric model of supply and demand of hops in the United States from 1981 to 2012, and to identify important exogenous variables that explain the supply and demand of hops using the two-stage least squares (2SLS) method of analysis. Using the 2SLS method, the demand model yielded that the US beer production variable is significant at the 10 percent level. For every 1 percent change in US beer production, there will be a 6.25 percent change in quantity of hops demanded in the same direction. The supply model showed that US acreage is significant at the 1 percent level. For every 1 percent change in US acreage, there will be a 0.889 percent change in quantity of hops supplied in the same direction. The implications of this study are viewed in relation to both producers and consumers.

Vacuum frying is a promising method for preserving the desired color, texture, and flavor of products with high sugar content. Since most vegetables and fruits degrade when processed with traditional frying, vacuum frying is an excellent alternative to high temperature processing. However, in vacuum frying the product should be pre-treated before frying to obtain a better texture. The kinetics of oil absorption and oil distribution in sweet potato chips (total, internal, and surface oil content) was studied so that effectiveness of the de-oiling system could be established. An analysis of product quality attributes (PQA) such as moisture content, oil content, microstructure, diameter shrinkage, and thickness expansion, as well as, color, texture, bulk density, true density, and porosity of chips fried at different temperatures (120, 130, and 140°C) was performed to evaluate the effect of process temperature on the product. The final oil content of the sweet potato chips was 0.178±0.007, 0.178±0.011, and 0.172±0.002 g/g solid for frying temperatures of 120, 130, and 140ºC, respectively. These values were lower (~60% less) than those found in traditionally fried sweet potato chip, which indicates that the de-oiling mechanism is crucial in vacuum frying processing. It was found that the rate of change in PQAs is greatly affected by temperature; however, the final values of bulk density, true density, porosity, diameter shrinkage, and thickness expansion were not affected by temperature. The texture of the samples was affected by temperature, with the chips fried at 140 degrees C being crispier. In terms of color, the L* and color b* values decreased as temperature increased. While color a* was not affected by temperature. In this study, a two-stage frying process was also evaluated to improve the flavor and texture of sweet potato chips. First, a basket filled with the sweet potato slices was submerged into the oil under atmospheric conditions. As soon as the potato slices were partially cooked (1 min), the pressure was lowered to 1.33 kPa (vacuum frying stage) and the product fried for 2 more min. The products were fried at 130 degrees C for different interval of times. Starch gelatinization, texture, moisture content, and oil content were evaluated at each time interval. Sensory analysis was accomplished by using a consumer panel with 50 members. The samples were compared with the on-stage frying and atmospheric frying processes. The two-stage fried chips had better appearance and texture compared to the ones that were only fried under vacuum or atmospheric conditions. The samples were lighter and more yellow than the chips fried under the single-stage process. In vacuum frying, the temperature of the chips does not reach the gelatinization temperature until most of the water is evaporated. Therefore, there is not sufficient moisture content in the product for gelatinization to occur completely. As a result, the product has a glassy texture. In the two stage frying, the atmospheric frying prior to vacuum frying helps the starch to gelatinize thus producing a better product in terms of texture, oil content, and flavor. The atmospheric fried samples were darker in color and had a scorch taste. The degree of starch gelatinization was 21% higher for the two-stage fried samples than the single-stage fried ones. The application of the dual stage enhances the quality of sweet potato chips, improves consumer satisfaction, and reduces the need for space, cost, and any other needs of blanching pre-treatment to the sweet potato manufacturers.

The trade-off between linearity and efficiency is the key limiting factor to wideband power amplifier design. Current wireless research focuses much of its effort on building power amplifiers with the two aforementioned criteria going hand in hand to build an optimal design. This thesis investigates the sources of nonlinearity associated with GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMT), and their subsequent effects on the linearity metrics of the power amplifier. The investigation began with an analysis of the sources of nonlinearity, and then a design-based approach to mitigate those sources of nonlinearity was developed. This design approach was compared with existing trends in power amplifier design. The device technology used in the design was CREE GaN HEMT (45W and 6W). In this report, a systematic approach to designing a two stage power amplifier is discussed, and analyzed for design of linear and highly efficient power amplifiers for base stations. The designed power amplifier consists of two stages: a driver stage and a power stage. The driver stage aimed to linearize the power stage by using circuit analysis and transistor properties along with providing the necessary gain. The power stage was built to complement the driver stage and to achieve high efficiency for the power amplifier. An inter-stage matching network placed between the two stages allowed for the required matching of impedances; transmission lines in the bias feed controlled the harmonic impedances for optimal performance without disrupting performance at fundamental frequencies. This approach effectively improved, and maintained, high efficiency over 200MHz of bandwidth. The design approach was simulated and fabricated in order to test the feasibility of linear power amplifier operation with the use of digital pre-distortion (DPD). The fabricated prototype achieved about 70% peak efficiency over the bandwidth and maintained linearity above 40dBc adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR) and below 3% error vector magnitude (EVM). The measurement results indicated that the need for DPD was eliminated when the power amplifier was operating in back-off at the center frequency (800MHz). This thesis compares the prototyped design with existing multistage designs which use linear drivers. The report provides conclusions derive from measurement results and bandwidth limitations faced throughout the course of the design. Lastly, potential research directions, which may allow researchers to overcome the limitations of this design, are discussed.

After East Asian financial crisis in 1997 and European monetary unification in 1999, if it is suitable of establishing the Asian common monetary area becomes the hot topic. The precondition of establishing the monetary policy cooperation depends on the synchronization of various countries¡¦ business cycle co-movement. And the trade is the connector among the countries. Trade linkages seemed to have an influence on business cycle co-movement. Countries with close international trade link are more likely to be members of an optimal currency area. According to the theoretical literature, the impact of trade integration on business cycle correlation may go either way. On the one hand, if trade occurs mainly by Heckscher-Ollin or is of the Ricardian type, higher specialization would induce the industrial structures of the trading countries to diverge, resulting in less synchronized movements of business cycle. In contrast, if trade occurs mainly through intra-industry trade, specialization does not necessarily lead to less synchronized. In summary, the total effect of trade intensity on cycle correlation is theoretically ambiguous and poses a question that could only be solved empirically. The volume of trade in East Asia has increased continuously. This paper extends the study of Frankel and Rose (1998) to analyze the impact of trade integration on business cycle correlation and intra-industry trade by using SITC data and other macroeconomic factors. Moreover, using two-stage estimation and instruments to take into account the fact that trade intensity itself may be endogenous. Then, we use panel data to estimate our equation. By gathering annual information of 10 East Asian countries from 1987 to 2005, we found that higher trade integration leads higher business cycle synchronization. To sum up, intra-industry trade is the process of establishing East Asian common monetary area.

The results show that political connection has positive relation with ROE, but negative with ROA which means businessmen seek rent by from government and meanwhile, politicians extract rents from companies they manage. If members of Committee of the Chinese¡¦s People¡¦s Political Consultative Conference and firms¡¦ Community Party also serving on the board have great influence on firms¡¦ performance and resource. Besides, poor performance does not lead firms to gain political connection. Most import, power transition does not influence firms¡¦ value, especially those with old political connection.

The trade-off between linearity and efficiency is the key limiting factor to wideband power amplifier design. Current wireless research focuses much of its effort on building power amplifiers with the two aforementioned criteria going hand in hand to build an optimal design. This thesis investigates the sources of nonlinearity associated with GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMT), and their subsequent effects on the linearity metrics of the power amplifier. The investigation began with an analysis of the sources of nonlinearity, and then a design-based approach to mitigate those sources of nonlinearity was developed. This design approach was compared with existing trends in power amplifier design. The device technology used in the design was CREE GaN HEMT (45W and 6W). In this report, a systematic approach to designing a two stage power amplifier is discussed, and analyzed for design of linear and highly efficient power amplifiers for base stations. The designed power amplifier consists of two stages: a driver stage and a power stage. The driver stage aimed to linearize the power stage by using circuit analysis and transistor properties along with providing the necessary gain. The power stage was built to complement the driver stage and to achieve high efficiency for the power amplifier. An inter-stage matching network placed between the two stages allowed for the required matching of impedances; transmission lines in the bias feed controlled the harmonic impedances for optimal performance without disrupting performance at fundamental frequencies. This approach effectively improved, and maintained, high efficiency over 200MHz of bandwidth. The design approach was simulated and fabricated in order to test the feasibility of linear power amplifier operation with the use of digital pre-distortion (DPD). The fabricated prototype achieved about 70% peak efficiency over the bandwidth and maintained linearity above 40dBc adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR) and below 3% error vector magnitude (EVM). The measurement results indicated that the need for DPD was eliminated when the power amplifier was operating in back-off at the center frequency (800MHz). This thesis compares the prototyped design with existing multistage designs which use linear drivers. The report provides conclusions derive from measurement results and bandwidth limitations faced throughout the course of the design. Lastly, potential research directions, which may allow researchers to overcome the limitations of this design, are discussed.

This paper discusses the origin of the notion of two-stage revolution in Japan and its development by a member of Japan’s communist party, Nosaka Sanzo. The Communist International stipulated the task of Japan’s two-stage revolution in 1927. In the following years Nosaka Sanzo creatively developed the connotation and the nature of the two-stage revolution in Japan based on his comprehension of the economic and political features of imperial Japan. I begin my narrative on how Nosaka came to understand the labor problem in Japan’s imperial economy in the 1910s, and continue by outlining how he developed this idea as a criticism of the Japanese empire from 1927 to 1945. The research will contribute to the understanding of the communist movement in imperial Japan. / Graduate

[pt] Este trabalho apresenta um método numérico para solução de escoamentos bidimensionais de fluidos incompressíveis e imiscíveis com presença de interfaces. As equações de conservação são discretizadas através do método de volumes finitos. A modelagem de interface se baseia no método VOF, em que a quantidade relativa de um dos fluidos em cada volume de volume de controle é descrita por uma variável, aqui denominada saturação. Conhecida a distribuição desta variável, é possível a reconstrução da interface quando necessário. A principal particularidade do presente trabalho é que a reconstrução da interface leva em conta seu ângulo de inclinação dentro de cada volume de controle. Isto permite que a advecção da interface se realize com maior precisão do que normalmente se encontra nos trabalhos desenvolvidos a partir do método VOF. Este ângulo de inclinação é obtido partir das saturações da célula analisada e das duas células vizinhas também cortadas pela interface. A determinação da curvatura da interface, importante para o cálculo da pressão capilar, também é facilitada a partir do presente esquema. Domínios axisimétricos, onde os volumes de controle apresentam geometrias mais complexas, também são bem resolvidos, utilizando-se um tratamento especial para os volumes de controle junto ao eixo. Prevê-se ainda a especificação do ângulo de contato da interface com uma parede sólida. Foram testados com sucesso vários problemas, apresentando bons resultados e garantindo a validação do método. / [en] The present work presents a numerical method for the solution of two-dimensional flows of incompressible and immicible fluids in the presence of na interface. The conservation equations are discretized by the finite volume method. The interface modeling is based on the VOF method, in which the relative amount of the fluids in each control volume is described by a variable, denominated here as saturation. Once the distribution of this quantity is known, it is possible to construct the interface, when needed. The main contribution of this work is related to the reconstruction of the interface. For that purpose, it is taken into account the interface angle of inclination inside the control volume. This allows a more precise interface advection that it is usually found with the algorithms based on the VOF method. The interface angle inside a cell is obtained based on its saturation ando n the saturationof two adjacentcells crossed by the interface. By the presents scheme, the interface curvature needed to calculate the capillary pressure can then be easily obtained. Axi-symmetric domains were also considered. For these cases, an special treatment near the axis was necessary. Finally, the algorithm allows the specification of the interface contact angle with a solid surface. Several test problems were examined, presenting good results, validating the method.

Joint models for longitudinal and survival data are a class of models that jointly analyse an outcome repeatedly observed over time such as a bio-marker and associated event times. These models are useful in two practical applications; firstly focusing on survival outcome whilst accounting for time varying covariates measured with error and secondly focusing on the longitudinal outcome while controlling for informative censoring. Interest on the estimation of these joint models has grown in the past two and half decades. However, minimal effort has been directed towards developing diagnostic assessment tools for these models. The available diagnostic tools have mainly been based on separate analysis of residuals for the longitudinal and survival sub-models which could be sub-optimal. In this thesis we make four contributions towards the body of knowledge. We first developed influence diagnostics for the shared parameter joint model for longitudinal and survival data based on Cook's statistics. We evaluated the performance of the diagnostics using simulation studies under different scenarios. We then illustrated these diagnostics using real data set from a multi-center clinical trial on TB pericarditis (IMPI). The second contribution was to implement a variance shift outlier model (VSOM) in the two-stage joint survival model. This was achieved by identifying outlying subjects in the longitudinal sub-model and down-weighting before the second stage of the joint model. The third contribution was to develop influence diagnostics for the multivariate joint model for longitudinal and survival data. In this setting we considered two longitudinal outcomes, square root CD4 cell count which was Gaussian in nature and antiretroviral therapy (ART) uptake which was binary. We achieved this by extending the univariate case i based on Cook's statistics for all parameters. The fourth contribution was to implement influence diagnostics in joint models for longitudinal and survival data with multiple failure types (competing risk). Using IMPI data set we considered two competing events in the joint model; death and constrictive pericarditis. Using simulation studies and IMPI dataset the developed diagnostics identified influential subjects as well as observations. The performance of the diagnostics was over 98% in simulation studies. We further conducted sensitivity analyses to check the impact of influential subjects and/or observations on parameter estimates by excluding them and re-fitting the joint model. We observed subtle differences, overall in the parameter estimates, which gives confidence that the initial inferences are credible and can be relied on. We illustrated case deletion diagnostics using the IMPI trial setting, these diagnostics can also be applied to clinical trials with similar settings. We therefore make a strong recommendation to analysts to conduct influence diagnostics in the joint model for longitudinal and survival data to ascertain the reliability of parameter estimates. We also recommend the implementation of VSOM in the longitudinal part of the two-stage joint model before the second stage.