Effect of distributed energy systems on the electricity grid

A feasibility study is being carried out at Ecotricity into a distributed energy storage system comprising Energy stores (batteries) placed at consumer level (in customer’s homes). The aim is to flatten consumer demand and make better use of home-based generation. The Study Group considered the mechanism of connecting batteries to the local distribution system, the ability to meet engineering requirements for the standard of the connection, and the potential impact of large numbers of such connections on stability of the local distribution network. Network and (DC-AC) invertor models were used to examine network connection transients. A statistical model was proposed to estimate the distribution of key electrical parameters to determine the likelihood of engineering standards being exceeded. The Study Group also considered stochastic methods of modelling wind speed, to better understand the requirements for battery energy storage as a complement to wind power

An Examination of Student Performance in Pre-Requisite Coursework and Upper Division Nursing Coursework

Admission and retention of qualified nursing students are essential in meeting the demands of a rapidly changing health care environment and nursing shortage. The purpose of this exploratory correlational study was to determine the relationship between student performance in quantitative pre-requisite coursework and student performance in upper division nursing coursework in order to identify students at-risk for attrition. A series of descriptive and correlational analyses were conducted using pre-existing institutional data. A moderate relationship existed among the chemistry II and first-year upper division nursing courses (r = .21 to r = .40). These results suggest that prerequisite chemistry course performance could be a reliable predictor of academic success

Detection of methane on Kuiper Belt Object (50000) Quaoar

The near-infrared spectrum of (50000) Quaoar obtained at the Keck Observatory shows distinct absorption features of crystalline water ice, solid methane and ethane, and possibly other higher order hydrocarbons. Quaoar is only the fifth Kuiper belt object on which volatile ices have been detected. The small amount of methane on an otherwise water ice dominated surface suggests that Quaoar is a transition object between the dominant volatile-poor small Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) and the few volatile-rich large KBOs such as Pluto and Eris.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

Solving the electrical control of magnetic coercive field paradox

The ability to tune magnetic properties of solids via electric voltages instead of external magnetic fields is a physics curiosity of great scientific and technological importance. Today, there is strong published experimental evidence of electrical control of magnetic coercive fields in composite multiferroic solids. Unfortunately, the literature indicates highly contradictory results. In some studies, an applied voltage increases the magnetic coercive field and in other studies the applied voltage decreases the coercive field of composite multiferroics. Here, we provide an elegant explanation to this paradox and we demonstrate why all reported results are in fact correct. It is shown that for a given polarity of the applied voltage, the magnetic coercive field depends on the sign of two tensor components of the multiferroic solid: magnetostrictive and piezoelectric coefficient. For a negative applied voltage, the magnetic coercive field decreases when the two material parameters have the same sign and increases when they have opposite signs, respectively. The effect of the material parameters is reversed when the same multiferroic solid is subjected to a positive applied voltage

Evidence for an Io plasma torus influence on high-latitude Jovian radio emission

We report the discovery with the Ulysses unified radio and plasma wave (URAP) instrument of features in the Jovian hectometer (HOM) wavelength radio emission spectrum which recur with a period about 2–4% longer than the Jovian System III rotation period. We conclude that the auroral HOM emissions are periodically blocked from “view” by regions in the torus of higher than average density and that these regions rotate more slowly than System III and persist for considerable intervals of time. We have reexamined the Voyager planetary radio astronomy (PRA) data taken during the flybys in 1979 and have found similar features in the HOM spectrum. Contemporaneous observations by Brown (1994) show an [SII] emission line enhancement in the Io plasma torus that rotates more slowly than System III by the same amount as the HOM feature

A documentation of two- and three-dimensional shock-separated turbulent boundary layers

A shock-related separation of a turbulent boundary layer has been studied and documented. The flow was that of an axisymmetric turbulent boundary layer over a 5.02-cm-diam cylinder that was aligned with the wind tunnel axis. The boundary layer was compressed by a 30 deg half-angle conical flare, with the cone axis inclined at an angle alpha to the cylinder axis. Nominal test conditions were P sub tau equals 1.7 atm and M sub infinity equals 2.85. Measurements were confined to the upper-symmetry, phi equals 0 deg, plane. Data are presented for the cases of alpha equal to 0. 5. and 10 deg and include mean surface pressures, streamwise and normal mean velocities, kinematic turbulent stresses and kinetic energies, as well as reverse-flow intermittencies. All data are given in tabular form; pressures, streamwise velocities, turbulent shear stresses, and kinetic energies are also presented graphically

Foreground removal requirements for measuring large-scale CMB B-modes in light of BICEP2

The most convincing confirmation that the B-mode polarization signal detected at degree scales by BICEP2 is due to the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) would be the measurement of its large-scale counterpart. We assess the requirements for diffuse component separation accuracy over large portions of the sky in order to measure the large-scale B-mode signal corresponding to a tensor to scalar ratio of r=0.1-0.2. We use the method proposed by Bonaldi & Ricciardi (2011) to forecast the performances of different simulated experiments taking into account noise and foreground removal issues. We do not consider instrumental systematics, and we implicitly assume that they are not the dominant source of error. If this is the case, the confirmation of an r=0.1-0.2 signal is achievable by Planck even for conservative assumptions regarding the accuracy of foreground cleaning. Our forecasts suggest that the combination of this experiment with BICEP2 will lead to an improvement of 25-45% in the constraint on r. A next-generation CMB polarization satellite, represented in this work by the COrE experiment, can reduce dramatically (by almost another order of magnitude) the uncertainty on r. In this case, however, the accuracy of foreground removal becomes critical to fully benefit from the increase in sensitivity.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, 1 table. Accepted by MNRA

Detection of Additional Members of the 2003 EL61 Family via Infrared Spectroscopy

We have acquired near-infrared spectra of Kuiper belt objects 2003 UZ117, 2005 CB79 and 2004 SB60 with NIRC on the Keck I Telescope. These objects are dynamically close to the core of the 2003 EL61 collisional family and were suggested to be potential fragments of this collision by Ragozzine and Brown (2007). We find that the spectra of 2003 UZ117 and 2005 CB79 both show the characteristic strong water ice absorption features seen exclusively on 2003 EL61, its largest satellite, and the six other known collisional fragments. In contrast, we find that the near infrared spectrum of 2004 SB60 is essentially featureless with a fraction of water ice of less than 5%. We discuss the implications of the discovery of these additional family members for understanding the formation and evolution of this collisional family in the outer solar system.Comment: 9 Pages, 2 figure