Design, Fabrication and Characterization of a Piezoelectric Microgenerator Including a Power Management Circuit

We report in this paper the design, fabrication and experimental characterization of a piezoelectric MEMS microgenerator. This device scavenges the energy of ambient mechanical vibrations characterized by frequencies in the range of 1 kHz. This component is made with Aluminum Nitride thin film deposited with a CMOS compatible process. Moreover we analyze two possible solutions for the signal rectification: a discrete doubler-rectifier and a full custom power management circuit. The ASIC developed for this application takes advantage of diodes with very low threshold voltage and therefore allows the conversion of extremely low input voltages corresponding to very weak input accelerations. The volume of the proposed generator is inferior to 1mm3 and the generated powers are in the range of 1$\mu$W. This system is intended to supply power to autonomous wireless sensor nodes.Comment: Submitted on behalf of EDA Publishing Association (http://irevues.inist.fr/EDA-Publishing

The appraisal and management of multi-storey dwelling blocks using large concrete panel systems

This exploratory study is concerned with the integrated appraisal of multi-storey dwelling blocks which incorporate large concrete panel systems (LPS). The first step was to look at U.K. multi-storey dwelling stock in general, and under the management of Birmingham City Council in particular. The information has been taken from the databases of three departments in the City of Birmingham, and rearranged in a new database using a suite of PC software called `PROXIMA' for clarity and analysis. One hundred of their stock were built large concrete panel system. Thirteen LPS blocks were chosen for the purpose of this study as case-studies depending mainly on the height and age factors of the block. A new integrated appraisal technique has been created for the LPS dwelling blocks, which takes into account the most physical and social factors affecting the condition and acceptability of these blocks. This appraisal technique is built up in a hierarchical form moving from the general approach to particular elements (a tree model). It comprises two main approaches; physical and social. In the physical approach, the building is viewed as a series of manageable elements and sub-elements to cover every single physical or environmental factor of the block, in which the condition of the block is analysed. A quality score system has been developed which depends mainly on the qualitative and quantitative conditions of each category in the appraisal tree model, and leads to physical ranking order of the study blocks. In the social appraisal approach, the residents' satisfaction and attitude toward their multi-storey dwelling block was analysed in relation to: a. biographical and housing related characteristics; and b. social, physical and environmental factors associated with this sort of dwelling, block and estate in general.The random sample consisted of 268 residents living in the 13 case study blocks. Data collected was analysed using frequency counts, percentages, means, standard deviations, Kendall's tue, r-correlation coefficients, t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple regression analysis. The analysis showed a marginally positive satisfaction and attitude towards living in the block. The five most significant factors associated with the residents' satisfaction and attitude in descending order were: the estate, in general; the service categories in the block, including heating system and lift services; vandalism; the neighbours; and the security system of the block. An important attribute of this method, is that it is relatively inexpensive to implement, especially when compared to alternatives adopted by some local authorities and the BRE. It is designed to save time, money and effort, to aid decision making, and to provide ranked priority to the multi-storey dwelling stock, in addition to many other advantages. A series of solution options to the problems of the block was sought for selection and testing before implementation. The traditional solutions have usually resulted in either demolition or costly physical maintenance and social improvement of the blocks. However, a new solution has now emerged, which is particularly suited to structurally sound units. The solution of `re-cycling' might incorporate the reuse of an entire block or part of it, by removing panels, slabs and so forth from the upper floors in order to reconstruct them as low-rise accommodations

The effects of a protein-rich breakfast on glucose metabolism in overweight/obese late adolescent girls

"May 2014."Thesis advisor: Dr. Heather J. Leidy.Background: Skipping breakfast has been associated with an increased risk of type II diabetes and obesity. Purpose: To examine the effects of normal protein vs. higher protein breakfast meals on pre- and post-lunch glycemic control in overweight/obese adolescents who either habitually skip breakfast vs. adolescents who habitually consume high CHO breakfast meals. Methods: Thirty--five overweight/obese teen girls participated in the following randomized crossover--design study. The participants were grouped according to habitual breakfast frequency. The habitual breakfast skipping group randomly completed the following breakfast patterns at home for 3 days: 1) Breakfast Skipping (BS); 2) Normal Protein (NP) breakfast; and 3) High Protein (HP) breakfast. The habitual breakfast consuming group randomly completed the NP and HP breakfast patterns at home for 3 days. On day 4 of each pattern (for both groups), the participants complete the respective 8--h testing day. The respective breakfast was provided at the beginning of the day and a NP lunch was provided 4h post--breakfast. Blood samples were collected at specific times throughout the day for plasma insulin and glucose responses. Results: The addition of breakfast led to increased morning glucose and insulin responses vs. BS (both, P < 0.05). When comparing the normal protein vs. high protein breakfast meals, the post--lunch glycemic response was different between the meals but was significantly modulated by the frequency of habitual breakfast consumption. The breakfast skippers experienced lower afternoon and total glucose concentrations following the normal protein breakfast but higher afternoon and total glucose concentrations following the high protein breakfast compared to the breakfast consumers (both, P < 0.05). Minimal differences in afternoon and/or total insulin were detected between meals or between groups. Conclusion: These data suggest that the addition of breakfast, regardless of protein content, has very little effect on post--lunch glycemic contrIncludes bibliographical references (pages 37-41)

Kinematic Design Analysis and Optimization of Mobility System Using MATLAB

209-212In this research work, several sophisticated types of equipment and automation have been studied, points taken and considered to realise the locomotion of modern territory of all uneven environments. One of the most main mission and structure of this study is the preferred simplicity of the bipedal walking locomotion system. The study included from simple to complicated legs as like single-legged, like humanoid and up to sixteen legs like a caterpillar. Most of the bipedal walking robots are with research study and we concentrated to emphasizes the significance of robotic legged motion stability in the compact. These bipedal walking robots can walk on rough surfaces, turn efficiently and climb staircase if needed. In particular, a suitable bipedal walking model having an upper link and a lower link will make the system to the desired motions, which has been experimentally exposed to provide a stable walking system. The MATLAB software tool is used to optimize the mechanical constraints and to compare, analyse and investigate the influence of motion stability. The simulation results show a possible performance of projected leg bipedal walking mechanism

The Role of Systems Support & Maintenance in Business Process Innovation

There are an abundance of studies on examining the pre-adoption use and impact of information technology on organizations. In recent years, post adoption studies that relate to technology usage after it has been adopted, have started to appear in various research outlets but its scope remains limited. A great majority of these studies examined the post adoption related issues from technical perspective. This paper is an attempt to draw more attention to post adoption stage from a management perspective, and to define and present an initial set of factors that are likely to be involved in achieving business process innovation at the post adoption stage. In this paper, we present and explain antecedents of business process innovation having its basis in innovation dynamics literature. In sum, academics and practitioner contributions and implications by this research is also highlighted

Information Systems Maintenance: A key driver of Business Process Innovation

This paper proposes a conceptual model to investigate the relationship between information systems maintenance and process innovation. A comprehensive review of information systems innovation and business process innovation literature is presented and proposed research model is discussed. The model highlights four innovation enabling factors of process innovation and its relationship with information systems maintenance. Research contribution and implications for practitioners and researchers are also highlighted

Synthesis, characterization and density functional theory study of low cost hydrazone sensitizers

The 2-{4-[2-benzylidenehydrazino]phenyl}ethylene-1,1,2-tricarbonitrile (System 1), 2-{4-[2-(1-naphthylmethylene)hydrazino]phenyl}ethylene-1,1,2-tricarbonitrile (System 2) and 2-{4-[2-(9-anthrylmethylene)- hydrazino]phenyl}ethylene-1,1,2-tricarbonitrile (System 3) were synthesized by direct tricyanovinylation of hydrazones. The bathochromic shift in absorption spectra has been observed by increasing the solvent polarity. The FTIR spectra of these new dyes exhibited three important absorption bands. The first band centered near 3260 cm-1 in System 1 while 3208 cm-1 and 3211 cm-1 in System 2 and System 3 for the nNH absorption, respectively. The second band is a sharp absorption band in the region of 2212-2209 cm-1, which was attributed to the cyano group absorption. The third is an absorption band in the region of 1611-1603 cm-1 ascribed for the C=N. Density functional theory (DFT) calculation of relative energies, relative enthalpies and free energies shows that E isomers are the most stable except System 3 in which the most stable is Z isomers. The conformational energy profile shows two maxima near (-90 and 90o) while three local minima observed at (-180, 0 and 180) for N1-N2-C1-C2 torsional angle. The highest occupied molecular orbitals (HOMOs) are localized on the whole molecules while lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals (LUMOs) are distributed on the tricarbonitrile. KEY WORDS: Dye-sensitized solar cells, HOMO, LUMO, Absorption, FTIR spectra Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2015, 29(1), 137-148DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v29i1.1

Optical Properties of Bismuth Borate Glasses Doped with Zinc and Calcium Oxides

Some bismuth-borate oxide glass' samples were prepared by the fast quenching method, where B2O3 was replaced with equal concentrations of ZnO and CaO. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to examine the internal structure and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) to identify building units and bonds throughout the studied structural matrices. XRD showed that all samples have short range order structural nature, while FTIR demonstrated some of Zn2+ acted as glass network formers and all Bi3+ acted as glass. UV-visible measurements and calculations showed a decreasing in the energy band gap from 3.83 eV to 1.73 eV with decreasing B2O3 content. Also with decreasing B2O3 content, both real refractive index and metallization factor decreased from 3.1 to 1.9 and from 0.56 to 0.71, respectively. For the studied glass' samples, density and molar volume showed inverted behaviors, where the density decreased while the molar volume increases with decreasing B2O3