Design of fibre reinforced PV concepts for building integrated applications

Fibre reinforced polymers present an interesting encapsulation medium for PV-modules. Glass fibres can provide increased strength and stiffness to thin polymer layers overcoming the brittleness and limited deformability of glass-panes. Glass fibre reinforced polymers allows for transparency over a broad range of the solar spectrum while the material properties and integral production processes create possibilities for novel product concepts with embedded PV technology. To explore such possibilities, innovative design methods were used to design novel PV product concepts for applications in the build environment.\ud In our paper three conceptual designs are presented; (1) a thin film module with an adjoining interconnection system functioning as structural element for geodetic roofing structures, (2) a PV lamella with single-axis tracking utilizing a linear concentration effect caused by the geometry of the product and the materials applied, and (3) a prepreg PV-material which allows for easy shaping during the production of PV modules with complex geometries. Each concept employs a specific PV technology and demonstrates a possible application aimed at a specific market. In this way we show the potential of integration of PV technology in fibre reinforced composites. The paper will be illustrated by concept renderings

Integrals over Products of Distributions and Coordinate Independence of Zero-Temperature Path Integrals

In perturbative calculations of quantum-statistical zero-temperature path integrals in curvilinear coordinates one encounters Feynman diagrams involving multiple temporal integrals over products of distributions, which are mathematically undefined. In addition, there are terms proportional to powers of Dirac delta-functions at the origin coming from the measure of path integration. We give simple rules for integrating products of distributions in such a way that the results ensure coordinate independence of the path integrals. The rules are derived by using equations of motion and partial integration, while keeping track of certain minimal features originating in the unique definition of all singular integrals in $1 - \epsilon$ dimensions. Our rules yield the same results as the much more cumbersome calculations in 1- epsilon dimensions where the limit epsilon --> 0 is taken at the end. They also agree with the rules found in an independent treatment on a finite time interval.Comment: Author Information under http://www.physik.fu-berlin.de/~kleinert/institution.html . Latest update of paper (including all PS fonts) at http://www.physik.fu-berlin.de/~kleinert/33

A numerical study of a method for measuring the effective in situ sound absorption coefficient

The accuracy of a method [Wijnant et al., “Development and applica- tion of a new method for the in-situ measurement of sound absorption”, ISMA 31, Leuven, Belgium (2010).], for measurement of the effective area-averaged in situ sound absorption coefficient is investigated. Based on a local plane wave assump- tion, this method can be applied to sound fields for which a model is not available. Investigations were carried out by means of finite element simulations for a typical case. The results show that the method is a promising method for determining the effective area-averaged in situ sound absorption coefficient in complex sound fields

Studies on tableting properties of lactose. Part III. The consolidation behaviour of sieve fractions of crystalline a-lactose\ud monohydrate

The consolidation and compaction behaviour of sieve fractions of crystalline α-lactose monohydrate were studied. From mercury porosimetry measurements tablet pore surface areas were derived. At a certain compaction load it appeared that tablets compressed from small particles were generally stronger and showed a larger surface area than compacts prepared from coarse sieve fractions. By plotting compact strength against pore surface area, a unique linear relationship was obtained. From these results it can be concluded that the actual tablet surface area, being a function of both the initial particle size and applied compaction pressure, is responsible for the compact strength

Further search for a neutral boson with a mass around 9 MeV/c2

Two dedicated experiments on internal pair conversion (IPC) of isoscalar M1 transitions were carried out in order to test a 9 MeV/c2 X-boson scenario. In the 7Li(p,e+e-)8Be reaction at 1.1 MeV proton energy to the predominantly T=0 level at 18.15 MeV, a significant deviation from IPC was observed at large pair correlation angles. In the 11B(d,n e+e-)12C reaction at 1.6 MeV, leading to the 12.71 MeV 1+ level with pure T=0 character, an anomaly was observed at 9 MeV/c2. The compatibility of the results with the scenario is discussed.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, 2 table

Liraglutide and Renal Outcomes in Type 2 Diabetes

BACKGROUND In a randomized, controlled trial that compared liraglutide, a glucagon-like pep - tide 1 analogue, with placebo in patients with type 2 diabetes and high cardio - vascular risk who were receiving usual care, we found that liraglutide resulted in lower risks of the primary end point (nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or death from cardiovascular causes) and death. However, the long-term effects of liraglutide on renal outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes are un - known. METHODS We report the prespecified secondary renal outcomes of that randomized, con - trolled trial in which patients were assigned to receive liraglutide or placebo. The secondary renal outcome was a composite of new-onset persistent macroalbumin - uria, persistent doubling of the serum creatinine level, end-stage renal disease, or death due to renal disease. The risk of renal outcomes was determined with the use of time-to-event analyses with an intention-to-treat approach. Changes in the estimated glomerular filtration rate and albuminuria were also analyzed. RESULTS A total of 9340 patients underwent randomization, and the median follow-up of the patients was 3.84 years. The renal outcome occurred in fewer participants in the liraglutide group than in the placebo group (268 of 4668 patients vs. 337 of 4672; hazard ratio, 0.78; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.67 to 0.92; P = 0 .003). This result was driven primarily by the new onset of persistent macroalbuminuria, which occurred in fewer participants in the liraglutide group than in the placebo group (161 vs. 215 patients; hazard ratio, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.60 to 0.91; P = 0 .004). The rates of renal adverse events were similar in the liraglutide group and the placebo group (15.1 events and 16.5 events per 1000 patient-years), including the rate of acute kidney injury (7.1 and 6.2 events per 1000 patient-years, respectively). CONCLUSIONS This prespecified secondary analysis shows that, when added to usual care, lira - glutide resulted in lower rates of the development and progression of diabetic kidney disease than placebo

Higgs Limit and b->s gamma Constraints in Minimal Supersymmetry

New limits on the Higgs mass from LEP and new calculations on the radiative (penguin) decay of the b->s gamma branching ratio restrict the parameter space of the Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (CMSSM). We find that for the low tan(beta) scenario only one sign of the Higgs mixing parameter is allowed, while the high tan(beta scenario is practically excluded, if one requires all sparticles to be below 1 TeV and imposes radiative electroweak symmetry breaking as well as gauge and Yukawa coupling unification. For squarks between 1 and 2 TeV high tan(beta) scenarios are allowed. We consider especially a new high tan(beta)=64 scenario with triple unification of all Yukawa couplings of the third generation, which show an infrared fixed point behaviour. The upper limit on the mass of the lightest Higgs in the low (high) tan(beta) scenarios is 97+-6~(120+-2) GeV, where the errors originate predominantly from the uncertainty in the top mass.Comment: latex + 6 eps figs, 10 pages, IEKP-KA/98-08; References updated in replacement + 1 figure concerning triple Yukawa unification added for final publication in Phys. Let