Inflation

Inflation is frequently measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) published periodically by the Labor Department. The CPI indicates the increase in cost of a set of products over a fixed period of time. The commercial interest rate charged by banks is regulated by the U. S. Federal Reserve as a means of controlling inflation. A decrease in this controlled interest rate moves investments toward stocks, while an increase moves investments toward bonds. 

A series of proposals, genetically known as inflation theory, address this, and other related problems that appear to invalidate big-bang theory. One of these, the so-called flatness problem indicates that, as early as 10 °s after the big bang, space was Euclidean and flat. General relativity, on the other hand, requires space to be highly curved in an environment of such high mass density. 

The flatness problem should have killed the big bang. An infinite concentration of mass implies infinitely curved space, or in Newtonian terms, an infinite gravitational gradient. This ultimate black hole must surely prevent any form of expansion. The original author of the big-bang idea was aware of this problem and postulated a divine act to initiate expansion, in opposition to the law of gravity, which only kicked in later on as the divine volition, or antigravity, ceased to operate. 

Standard cosmology resorted to the same device, renamed inflation, and assumed to coincide with GUT symmetry breaking at t = 10 s. This 

Had this process proceeded unchecked it would have by-passed several important stages in cosmic evolution between t = 10 and Is, such as baryogenesis, electroweak symmetry breaking, combination of free quarks to form hadrons and interconversion between protons and neutrons. Not to interrupt this orderly evolution it would therefore be useful to have the phase transition postponed for a while. Many phase transitions are indeed known to be delayed by the phenomenon of supercooling. Why not this one  

Why not indeed The foregoing is exactly the common basis of the many inflationary theories that have been proposed to promote the reconciliation of the two symbiotic theories. It is pointless to discuss the subtle details of these theories. The cosmologist William Unruh has been quoted (Glanz, 1996) as stating  

It is normal, in undertaking an economic appraisal, to ignore the effects of inflation - which applies both to costs and revenues (assuming that prices rise roughly to keep pace with inflation). If inflation is included in the calculation, then a slightly higher value will normally found for the IRR, so that its exclusion presents a slightly less favourable case. 

The first problem is to determine the pressure as a function of time for the inflation phase of a certain design. If the material properties were known at elevated temperatures this could more easily be done. However, often these data are not known. Therefore, the following design procedure is postulated  

Step 2 Measure the pressure as a function of time response, P t). 

Step 3 Use a mathematical model to determine the mechanical properties modulus E and viscosity T at the operating temperature. 

Step 4 If this model works then the determined properties can be used to assess the inflation phase of the proposed design. 

To complete step 3, a Maxwell fluid model is assumed and E and T are determined using the following method. A constant strain-rate process is assumed, where the strain rate is estimated using the final radius at the contact time with the mold. Then different values of (P, t) and P, t) are used to estimate E and T, taking into account the concepts of initial elastic response and retarded viscous response. 

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The impact of inflation on project economics will be ignored in this section, but would be a feature of more advanced economics courses, and in practice would be included in a company s evaluation of a project. 

Corporate Planning Forecast oil and gas prices Discount rates, hurdle rates Exchange rates Inflation forecast Market factors Political risk, social obligations... 

As the discount rate increases then the NPV is reduced. The following diagram shows the cashflow from the previous example (assuming an oil price of 20/bbl and ignoring the effect of inflation) at four different mid-year discount rates (10%, 20%, 25%, 30%). 

Aryl and alkenyl phenyl sulfides are prepared by the reaction of aryl and alkenyl halides and inflates with tributylstannyl phenyl sulfide. 2-Chloropyrimidine (737) is used for the coupling[606,607]. The diaryl or divinyl sulfide 739 is prepared by the reaction of distannyl sulfide (738)[548], N,N-Diethylaminotributyltin (740) reacts with aryl halides to give arylamines[608]. 

Suzuki, T. Li, Q. Khemani, KC. Wudl, F. Almarsson, O. Systematic Inflation of Buckminsterfullerene CgQi Synthesis of Diphenyl Fulleroids Cgj to Cgg Science, 254 1186-1188, 1991. 

Tourists probably inflate the Swiss consumption figu res. ... 

Life cycle cost analysis is the proper tool for evaluation of alternative systems (11,12). The total cost of a system, including energy cost, maintenance cost, interest, cash flow, equipment replacement and/or salvage value, taxes, inflation, and energy cost escalation, can be estimated over the useflE life of each alternative system. A Hst of life cycle cost items which may be considered for each system is presented in Tables 3 and 4. Reference 14 presents a cash flow analysis which also includes factors such as energy cost escalation. 

Fig. 5. Bulky rayons (a) crimped rayon (b) inflated—collapsed rayon (c) super inflated rayon.

Cross-sectional modifications of a more extreme nature than skin-bursting, which nevertheless do not form crimp, have grown in importance since the early 1980s. These yield a permanent bulk increase which can be translated into bulky fabrics without the need for special care. The first commercial staple fiber of this type was Courtaulds hoUow Viloft, developed in the 1970s using a carbonate inflation technique (37). 

AH these early inflation processes (41) were difficult to control, and after World War 11 they were neglected until the 1960s. Companies in Japan, the United States, and Europe then started to develop inflated—collapsed rayons (Eig. 5b) for speciaUty papers (42) and wet-laid nonwovens. 

Although none of these survived commercially for more than a few years, their development led to an increased understanding of the inflation process and the identification of conditions which could yield a continuously hoUow staple fiber in large-scale production (43). 

The basis of this process was the injection of sodium carbonate solution into the viscose, although direct injection of carbon dioxide gas that reacts with the viscose soda to form sodium carbonate could also be used (44). The carbonate route yielded a family of inflated fibers culminating in the absorbent multilimbed super inflated (SI) fiber (Eig. 5c). 

C. R. Woodings and A. 1. Bartholomew, "The Manufacture, Piopeities and Uses of Inflated Viscose Rayon Fibres," 23rdMan-Made Fibres Congress, Dombim, Austria, 1984. 

Blown Film. The blown or tubular film process provides a low cost method for production of thin films (Fig. 3). In this process, the hot melt is extmded through an aimular circular die either upward or downward and, less frequently, horizontally. The tube is inflated with air to a diameter... 

Since 1980, a number of new filters have appeared on the market, utilising some form of mechanical compression of the filter cake, either after a conventional pressure filtration process or as a substitute for it. In most designs the compression is achieved by inflating a diaphragm which presses the slurry or the freshly formed filter cake toward the medium, thus squee2ing an additional amount of Hquid out of the cake. 

The OMD leaf filter (Stella Meta Filters) is a vertical leaf filter with a mbber diaphragm suspended between the leaves. The cake that forms on the leaves eventually reaches the diaphragm at which point pump pressure is used to inflate the diaphragm and compress the cake. The cake discharge is by vibration. 

The VC filter (Fig. 22) consists of two concentric hoUow cylinders mounted hori2ontally on a central shaft. The inner cylinder is perforated and carries the filter cloth, the outer cylinder is lined on the inside with an inflatable diaphragm. The slurry enters into the annulus between the cylinders and... 

Perhaps the simplest examination done is the physical match. A small fragment of wood, plastic, or other material is recovered and fitted into a large piece found on the suspect or at the scene of the crime (39). Other examinations result ordy in demonstrating class characteristics (40). Such information may be used in a prosecution as circumstantial evidence in a trial. However, it is important that the forensic scientist neither inflate nor minimize (41,42) its importance. 

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