Domain wall description of superconductivity

In the present work we shall address the issue of electrical conductivity in superconductors in the perspective of superconducting domain wall solutions in the realm of field theory. We take our set up made out of a dynamical complex scalar field coupled to gauge field to be responsible for superconductivity and an extra scalar real field that plays the role of superconducting domain walls. The temperature of the system is interpreted through the fact that the soliton following accelerating orbits is a Rindler observer experiencing a thermal bath.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, Latex. Version to appear in PL

Cosmology in the Universe with distance dependent Lorentz-violating bakground

We consider a cosmological setup with the inflaton field in the presence of a redshift dependent Lorentz-violating time-like background to address the inflationary regime and other phases of the Universe. We also show that the regime of dark energy at large distances (low redshifts) is essentially dominated by the presence of the Lorentz-violating background.Comment: 8 pages, no figure, Latex, to appear in AHE

Undular bore theory for the modified Korteweg-de Vries-Burgers equation

We consider nonlinear wave structures described by the modified Korteweg-de Vries equation with taking into account a small Burgers viscosity for the case of step-like initial conditions. The Whitham modulation equations are derived which include the small viscosity as a perturbation. It is shown that for long enough time of evolution this small perturbation leads to stabilization of cnoidal bores and their main characteristics are obtained. Applicability conditions of this approach are discussed. Analytical theory is compared with numerical solutions and good agreement is found.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Genomic predictions for economically important traits in Brazilian Braford and Hereford beef cattle using true and imputed genotypes.

Genomic selection (GS) has played an important role in cattle breeding programs. However, genotyping prices are still a challenge for implementation of GS in beef cattle and there is still a lack of information about the use of low-density Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNP) chip panels for genomic predictions in breeds such as Brazilian Braford and Hereford. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of using imputed genotypes in the accuracy of genomic predictions for twenty economically important traits in Brazilian Braford and Hereford beef cattle. Various scenarios composed by different percentages of animals with imputed genotypes and different sizes of the training population were compared.Article 2

Ergonomic design intervention in a coating production area

The aim of this study is to redesign two workstations in a PVD coating production area, considering productivity and ergonomic aspects. Through the elimination of wastes such as unnecessary movements and transportations and by reducing the awkward postures as arm flexion larger than 45º, the productivity in the loading and unloading workstations increased 9% and 5%, respectively, and the ergonomic risk was improved from medium to acceptable. RULA was the chosen method to evaluate the ergonomic situation and anthropometric studies were performed to find the ideal ergonomic solution. This study shows the importance to consider ergonomic conditions when designing or redesigning a workstation in order to get effective productivity improvements.(undefined)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Thermoelectric exhaust energy recovery with temperature control through heat pipes

Currently, a great deal of the automotive industry’s R&D effort is focused on improving overall vehicle environmental and energy efficiency. For instance, one of the things that Electric Vehicles (EVs) and Hybrid cars (HEV) have in common is the recovery of waste energy, namely during braking. But, when an I.C. engine is operating (e. g. as a range extender in an EV), a large amount of energy is also wasted within the exhaust gases and with engine cooling, energy that could otherwise be recovered by different methods. This paper reports on the recovery of waste thermal energy using thermoelectric generators (TEG) for application in hybrid, extended range electric vehicles and more generally in any vehicle that could benefit from the generation of a small amount of electric current that would reduce the alternator operation time. Although some manufacturers are trying to develop TEGs to use at exhaust temperatures, there are still no commercially available TEG modules capable of withstanding these extreme temperatures. The present work assesses the potential of the use of heat pipes (HP) as a means of transferring energy from the hot exhaust gases to the TEG modules at a compatible temperature level while minimizing the loss of efficiency due to temperature downgrading. The type of HP used in this study is called Variable Conductance Heat Pipe (VCHP), and its deployment has the advantage of inducing good temperature control. Various types of HPs were designed, manufactured, tested and improved with the aim of enhancing the overall heat transfer process, enabling an optimal level of electric energy recovery from the referred TEG modules. This was accomplished by the testing of different fluids inside the HP and by regulating the pressure of the gas chamber. Although the system is still under improvement, the results indicate that the use of VCHPs in conjunction with thermoelectric generators is a convincing technique for recovering otherwise wasted energy from the exhaust gases.MIT Portugal (MIT-Pt/EDAM-SMS/0030/2008)Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) (bolsa SFRH / BPD / 51048 / 2010

Modelling of thermoelectric generator with heat pipe assist for range extender application

Recent trends towards electrification of vehicles favour the adoption of waste energy recovery into electricity. Battery-only Electric Vehicles (BEV) need a very large energy storage system so the use of a Range Extender (RE) may allow a significant downsizing of these bulky components. The Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) have two major discarded energy fluxes, engine cooling and exhaust gas. In Extended Range Electric Vehicles (EREV) and hybrids the potential for heat conversion into electricity is particularly convenient. The direct conversion of thermal energy into electricity, using Thermoelectric Generators (TEG) is very attractive in terms of complexity. However, current commercial TEG modules based on Seebeck effect are temperature limited, so they are unable to be in direct contact with the exhaust gases. A way to downgrade the temperature levels without reducing its potential is to interpose Heat Pipes (HP) between the exhaust gas and the modules. This control of maximum temperature at the modules is achieved by regulating the pressure of phase change of the HP fluid. Such design is convenient for engines with large thermal load variations, such as the RE being developed by the team, with a low (15kW) and a high (40kW) power mode of operation. This system will be able to operate efficiently in both modes. The present work presents the thermal modelling of such a system in order to assess the suitability of this approach. This work is complemented with the experimental work being carried out by the team in this subject, already with some published results. The model was validated with experimental data with a good correlation. Therefore, it was possible to demonstrate the potential of this system for wasted heat recovery.MIT Portugal, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Lorentz-violating dimension-five operator contribution to the black body radiation

We investigate the thermodynamics of a photon gas in an effective field theory model that describes Lorentz violations through dimension-five operators and Horava-Lifshitz theory. We explore the electrodynamics of the model which includes higher order derivatives in the Lagrangian that can modify the dispersion relation for the propagation of the photons. We shall focus on the deformed black body radiation spectrum and modified Stefan-Boltzmann law to address the allowed bounds on the Lorentz-violating parameter.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures. Version published in PL