13th International Bologna Conference on Magnetic Resonance in Porous Media - Bologna 2016 Conference Handbook and Book of Abstracts

This conference series, founded at the University of Bologna in 1990 and now at the 13th edition, is devoted to the progress in Magnetic Resonance in Porous Media and in our understanding of Porous Media themselves, and to stimulate the contact among people from various parts of Academia and Industry. Researchers in Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Computer Sciences, and in Industrial Applications will benefit from exchange of ideas, experiences, and new approaches. Topics will include innovative techniques to study structure, behavior of fluids, and their interactions in every kind of natural and artificial porous materials, including rocks, cements, biological tissues, foodstuffs, wood, particle packs, sediments, pharmaceuticals, zeolites, and bioconstructs. New data acquisition and processing techniques are also expected to be strong features

13th International Bologna Conference on Magnetic Resonance in Porous Media - Bologna 2016 Conference Handbook and Book of Abstracts

This conference series, founded at the University of Bologna in 1990 and now at the 13th edition, is devoted to the progress in Magnetic Resonance in Porous Media and in our understanding of Porous Media themselves, and to stimulate the contact among people from various parts of Academia and Industry. Researchers in Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Computer Sciences, and in Industrial Applications will benefit from exchange of ideas, experiences, and new approaches. Topics will include innovative techniques to study structure, behavior of fluids, and their interactions in every kind of natural and artificial porous materials, including rocks, cements, biological tissues, foodstuffs, wood, particle packs, sediments, pharmaceuticals, zeolites, and bioconstructs. New data acquisition and processing techniques are also expected to be strong features

Sensors in Agriculture: Systems and Methods for Two Sensor Systems for Plant Phenotype Detection

Sensors are increasingly being used in agricultural settings to provide data on the physical characteristics of plants under field conditions. Accurate data provides researchers and producers with the ability to make decisions with a high level of confidence. This work addresses two sensing systems for measuring important plant characteristics. The first system investigates accuracy differences between two unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) camera calibration methods. The second system explores the development and testing of a novel in situ root imaging rhizotron. The UAV study compared autoexposure and fixed exposure radiometric calibration methods to a single calibrated manned aircraft image and to a ground target measured with a spectroradiometer. In a band by band comparison, the autoexposure method, which uses a pre-flight image of a single panel for calibration, produced almost twice as much radiometric error on average compared with fixed exposure using in-field targets for image calibration. When comparing the exposure methods using the Visible Atmospherically Resistant Index (VARI), the autoexposure method produced twice as much RMSE compared to the fixed exposure method. The study on the novel in situ root sensor developed a low field magnetic resonance imaging (LF-MRI) rhizotron. A scaled 8 cm bore model was designed, built and test across three types of soil, Weswood silt loam, Belk clay, and Houston black clay. The results demonstrated the viability of this technology to produce root information in clay soils. A 28 cm bore unit was designed, built and tested under field conditions. The resulting system provided root information and visualization of roots with 2-D projection images in a Weswood silt loam, and Belk clay both in situ and ex situ. In summary, (1) using a fixed exposure calibration method for UAV remote sensing improved accuracy in reflectance data, providing a better understanding of in-field plant conditions and better decision-making capability; and (2) the LF-MRI Rhizotron allowed visualization of plant roots in agricultural soils under field conditions. Both sensing systems and methods have the potential to be used as tools for improving crop production for researchers or growers

Fiscal year 1976 progress report on a feasibility study evaluating the use of surface penetrators for planetary exploration

The feasibility of employing penetrators for exploring Mars was examined. Eight areas of interest for key scientific experiments were identified. These include: seismic activity, imaging, geochemistry, water measurement, heatflow, meteorology, magnetometry, and biochemistry. In seven of the eight potential experiment categories this year's progress included: conceptual design, instrument fabrication, instrument performance evaluation, and shock loading of important components. Most of the components survived deceleration testing with negligible performance changes. Components intended to be placed inside the penetrator forebody were tested up to 3,500 g and components intended to be placed on the afterbody were tested up to 21,000 g. A field test program was conducted using tentative Mars penetrator mission constraints. Drop tests were performed at two selected terrestrial analog sites to determine the range of penetration depths for anticipated common Martian materials. Minimum penetration occurred in basalt at Amboy, California. Three full-scale penetrators penetrated 0.4 to 0.9 m into the basalt after passing through 0.3 to 0.5 m of alluvial overburden. Maximum penetration occurred in unconsolidated sediments at McCook, Nebraska. Two full-scale penetrators penetrated 2.5 to 8.5 m of sediment. Impact occurred in two kinds of sediment: loess and layered clay. Deceleration g loads of nominally 2,000 for the forebody and 20,000 for the afterbody did not present serious design problems for potential experiments. Penetrators have successfully impacted into terrestrial analogs of the probable extremes of potential Martian sites

Testing methods and techniques: A compilation

Mechanical testing techniques, electrical and electronics testing techniques, thermal testing techniques, and optical testing techniques are the subject of the compilation which provides technical information and illustrations of advanced testing devices. Patent information is included where applicable

Battery-less near field communications (nfc) sensors for internet of things (iot) applications

L’ implementació de la tecnologia de comunicació de camp proper (NFC) en els telèfons intel·ligents no para de créixer degut a l’ús d’aquesta per fer pagaments, això, junt amb el fet de poder aprofitar l’energia generada pel mòbil no només per la comunicació, sinó també per transmetre energia, el baix cost dels xips NFC, i el fet de que els telèfons tinguin connectivitat amb internet, possibilita i fa molt interesant el disseny d’etiquetes sense bateria incorporant-hi sensors i poder enviar la informació al núvol, dins del creixent escenari de l’internet de les coses (IoT). La present Tesi estudia la viabilitat d’aquests sensors, analitzant la màxima distància entre lector i sensor per proveir la potència necessària, presenta tècniques per augmentar el rang d’operació, i analitza els efectes de certs materials quan aquests estan propers a les antenes. Diversos sensors han estat dissenyats i analitzats i son presentats en aquest treball. Aquests son: Una etiqueta que mesura la humitat de la terra, la temperatura i la humitat relativa de l’aire per controlar les condicions de plantes. Un sensor per detectar la humitat en bolquers, imprès en material flexible que s’adapta a la forma del bolquer. Dues aplicacions, una per estimació de pH i una altre per avaluar el grau de maduració de fruites, basats en un sensor de color. I, per últim, s’estudia la viabilitat de sensors en implants per aplicacions mèdiques, analitzant l’efecte del cos i proposant un sistema per augmentar la profunditat a la que aquests es poden llegir utilitzant un telèfon mòbil. Tots aquests sensors poden ser alimentats i llegits per qualsevol dispositiu que disposin de connexió NFC.La implementación de la tecnología de comunicaciones de campo cercano (NFC) en los teléfonos inteligentes no para de crecer debido al uso de esta para llevar a cabo pagos, esto, junto con el hecho de poder aprovechar la energía generada por el móvil no sólo para la comunicación, sino también para transmitir energía, el bajo coste de los chips NFC, i el hecho que los teléfonos tengan conectividad a internet, posibilita y hace muy interesante el diseño de etiquetas sin batería que incorporen sensores i poder enviar la información a la nube, enmarcado en el creciente escenario del internet de las cosas (IoT). La presente Tesis estudia la viabilidad de estos sensores, analizando la máxima distancia entre lector i sensor para proveer la potencia necesaria, presenta técnicas para aumentar el rango de operación, y analiza los efectos de ciertos materiales cuando estos están cerca de las antenas. Varios sensores han sido diseñados y analizados y son presentados en este trabajo. Estos son: Una etiqueta que mide la humedad de la tierra, la temperatura y la humedad relativa del aire para controlar las condiciones de plantas. Un sensor para detectar la humedad en pañales, impreso en material flexible que se adapta a la forma del pañal. Dos aplicaciones, una para estimación de pH y otra para evaluar el grado de maduración de frutas, basados en un sensor de color. Y, por último, se estudia la viabilidad de sensores en implantes para aplicaciones médicas, analizando el efecto del cuerpo y proponiendo un sistema para aumentar la profundidad a la que estos se pueden leer usando un teléfono móvil. Todos estos sensores pueden ser alimentados y leídos por cualquier dispositivo que disponga de conexión NFC.The implementation of near field communication (NFC) technology into smartphones grows rapidly due the use of this technology as a payment system. This, altogether with the fact that the energy generated by the phone can be used not only to communicate but for power transfer as well, the low-cost of the NFC chips, and the fact that the smartphones have connectivity to internet, makes possible and very interesting the design of battery-less sensing tags which information can be sent to the cloud, within the growing internet of things (IoT) scenario. This Thesis studies the feasibility of these sensors, analysing the maximum distance between reader and sensor to provide the necessary power, presents techniques to increase the range of operation, and analyses the effects of certain materials when they are near to the antennas. Several sensors have been designed and analysed and are presented in this work. These are: a tag that measures the soil moisture, the temperature and the relative humidity of the air to control the conditions of plants. A moisture sensor for diapers, printed on flexible material that adapts to the diaper shape. Two applications, one for pH estimation and another for assessing the degree of fruit ripening, based on a colour sensor. And finally, the feasibility of sensors in implants for medical applications is studied, analysing the effect of the body and proposing a system to increase the depth at which they can be read using a mobile phone. All of these sensors can be powered and read by any NFC enabled device

Water vapour sorption and humidity - a survey on measuring methods and standards

Under environmental conditions water exists in all three classical states of matter: solid, liquid and gas. The water molecule is non-linear and therefore polar. In comparison with other liq-uids water has anomalous features; about 63 exceptional properties are recorded. This article starts with reviewing properties of water, typical occurrences and definitions such as relative and absolute humidity and moisture content. Water is present everywhere in nature and engineering; it may be helpful or harmful. The survey concerns both: atmospheric hygrometry and usual measuring methods of the mois-ture content of solids and liquids as well as water sorption. The determination of the atmos-pheric humidity is among the more difficult problems in metrology. In contrast, humidity de-termination of materials is simple; however the definition of the dry state is difficult. Because water is bound at and in solids and liquids in many different ways it turns out that the humidi-ty content of materials is difficult to define and to measure accurately. We provide a survey on the measuring methods, describe the most important ones and discuss advantages and ac-curacy. In the search for extraterrestrial water special remote measuring methods have been developed analysing the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation either of natural sources or produced by a probe and reflected. Spacious deposits have been detected photographically. In situ investigations are made using conventional methods. With regard to the problems of measurements, standardisation of measuring methods and procedures is required. There exist many institutions, which are engaged in investigating the use of water and standardising measuring methods. In tabular form, we give a survey on existing standards

Index to 1981 NASA Tech Briefs, volume 6, numbers 1-4

Short announcements of new technology derived from the R&D activities of NASA are presented. These briefs emphasize information considered likely to be transferrable across industrial, regional, or disciplinary lines and are issued to encourage commercial application. This index for 1981 Tech Briefs contains abstracts and four indexes: subject, personal author, originating center, and Tech Brief Number. The following areas are covered: electronic components and circuits, electronic systems, physical sciences, materials, life sciences, mechanics, machinery, fabrication technology, and mathematics and information sciences