14,181 research outputs found
Superconducting YBa2Cu3O7-ÎŽ nanocomposites using preformed ZrO2 nanocrystals : growth mechanisms and vortex pinning properties
Although high temperature superconductors are promising for power applications, the production of low-cost coated conductors with high current densitiesat high magnetic fieldsremains challenging. A superior superconducting YBa2Cu3O7- nanocomposite is fabricated via chemical solution deposition (CSD) using preformed nanocrystals (NCs). Preformed, colloidally stable ZrO2 NCs are added to the trifluoroacetic acid based precursor solution and the NCs' stability is confirmed up to 50 mol% for at least 2.5 months. These NCs tend to disrupt the epitaxial growth of YBa2Cu3O7-, unless a thin seed layer is applied. A 10 mol% ZrO2 NC addition proved to be optimal, yielding a critical current density J(C) of 5 MA cm(-2) at 77 K in self-field. Importantly, this new approach results in a smaller magnetic field decay of J(C)(H//c) for the nanocomposite compared to a pristine film. Furthermore, microstructural analysis of the YBa2Cu3O7- nanocomposite films reveals that different strain generation mechanisms may occur compared to the spontaneous segregation approach. Yet, the generated nanostrain in the YBa2Cu3O7- nanocomposite results in an improvement of the superconducting properties similar to the spontaneous segregation approach. This new approach, using preformed NCs in CSD coatings, can be of great potential for high magnetic field applications
ITOâFree, Compact, Color Liquid Crystal Devices Using Integrated Structural Color Filters and Graphene Electrodes
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106994/1/adom201300525.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106994/2/adom201300525-sup-0001-S1.pd
Imprints of Nuclear Symmetry Energy on Properties of Neutron Stars
Significant progress has been made in recent years in constraining the
density dependence of nuclear symmetry energy using terrestrial nuclear
laboratory data. Around and below the nuclear matter saturation density, the
experimental constraints start to merge in a relatively narrow region. At
supra-saturation densities, there are, however, still large uncertainties.
After summarizing the latest experimental constraints on the density dependence
of nuclear symmetry energy, we highlight a few recent studies examining
imprints of nuclear symmetry energy on the binding energy, energy release
during hadron-quark phase transitions as well as the -mode frequency and
damping time of gravitational wave emission of neutron stars.Comment: 10 pages. Invited talk given in the Nuclear Astrophysics session of
INPC2010, July 4-9, 2010, Vancouver, Canada; Journal of Physics: Conference
Series (2011
Age and mass studies for young star clusters in M31 from SEDs-fit
In this paper, we present photometry for young star clusters in M31, which
are selected from Caldwell et al. These star clusters have been observed as
part of the Beijing--Arizona--Taiwan--Connecticut (BATC) Multicolor Sky Survey
from 1995 February to 2008 March. The BATC images including these star clusters
are taken with 15 intermediate-band filters covering 3000--10000 \AA. Combined
with photometry in the {\sl GALEX} far- and near-ultraviolet, broad-band
, SDSS , and infrared of Two Micron All Sky Survey,
we obtain their accurate spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from 1538-20000
\AA. We derive these star clusters' ages and masses by comparing their SEDs
with stellar population synthesis models. Our results are in good agreement
with previous determinations. The mean value of age and mass of young clusters
( Gyr) is about 385 Myr and , respectively. There
are two distinct peaks in the age distribution, a highest peak at age 60
Myr and a secondary peak around 250 Myr, while the mass distribution shows a
single peak around . A few young star clusters have two-body
relaxation times greater than their ages, indicating that those clusters have
not been well dynamically relaxed and therefore have not established the
thermal equilibrium. There are several regions showing aggregations of young
star clusters around the 10 kpc ring and the outer ring, indicating that the
distribution of the young star clusters is well correlated with M31's
star-forming regions. The young massive star clusters (age Myr and
mass ) show apparent concentration around the ring
splitting region, suggesting a recent passage of a satellite galaxy (M32)
through M31 disk.Comment: Accepted for Publication in AJ, 15 pages, 14 figures and 4 table
EVN observations of 6.7 GHz methanol maser polarization in massive star-forming regions
The role of magnetic fields in the formation of high-mass stars is still
under debate, and recent measurements of their orientation and strength by
using polarized maser emissions are contributing new insights. Masers
polarization, in particular of the 6.7-GHz methanol masers, are one of the best
probes of the magnetic field morphologies around massive protostars.
Determining the magnetic field morphology around an increasing number of
massive protostars at milliarcsecond resolution by observing 6.7-GHz methanol
masers is crucial to better understand the role of magnetic fields in massive
star formation.The First EVN Group consists of 4 massive star-forming
complexes: W51, W48, IRAS18556+0138, and W3(OH). These contain well-studied
\hii ~regions from some of which molecular bipolar outflows were also detected
(W51-e2, G35.20-0.74N). Nine of the European VLBI Network antennas were used to
measure the linear polarization and Zeeman-splitting of the 6.7-GHz methanol
masers in the star-forming regions of the First EVN Group. We detected a total
of 154 CH3OH masers, one third of these towards W3(OH). Fractional linear
polarization (1.2-11.5%) was detected towards 55 masers. The linear
polarization vectors are well-ordered in all the massive star-forming regions.
We measured significant Zeeman-splitting in 3 massive star-forming regions
(W51, W48, and W3(OH)) revealing a range of separations -3.5 m/s<\Delta
V_{z}<3.8 m/s with the smallest |\Delta V_{z}|=0.4m/s. We were also able to
compare our magnetic field results with those obtained from submillimeter
wavelength dust observation in W51 and show that the magnetic field at low and
high resolutions are in perfect agreement.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures, 5 tables, accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysic
Development, test and comparison of two Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis(MCDA) models: A case of healthcare infrastructure location
When planning a new development, location decisions have always been a major issue. This paper examines and compares two modelling methods used to inform a healthcare infrastructure location decision. Two Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) models were developed to support the optimisation of this decision-making process, within a National Health Service (NHS) organisation, in the UK. The proposed model structure is based on seven criteria (environment and safety, size, total cost, accessibility, design, risks and population profile) and 28 sub-criteria. First, Evidential Reasoning (ER) was used to solve the model, then, the processes and results were compared with the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). It was established that using ER or AHP led to the same solutions. However, the scores between the alternatives were significantly different; which impacted the stakeholdersâ decision-making. As the processes differ according to the model selected, ER or AHP, it is relevant to establish the practical and managerial implications for selecting one model or the other and providing evidence of which models best fit this specific environment. To achieve an optimum operational decision it is argued, in this study, that the most transparent and robust framework is achieved by merging ER process with the pair-wise comparison, an element of AHP. This paper makes a defined contribution by developing and examining the use of MCDA models, to rationalise new healthcare infrastructure location, with the proposed model to be used for future decision. Moreover, very few studies comparing different MCDA techniques were found, this study results enable practitioners to consider even further the modelling characteristics to ensure the development of a reliable framework, even if this means applying a hybrid approach
Size effect on properties of varistors made from zinc oxide nanoparticles through low temperature spark plasma sintering
Conditions for the elaboration of nanostructured varistors by spark plasma sintering (SPS) are investigated, using 8-nm zinc oxide nanoparticles synthesized following an organometallic approach. A binary system constituted of zinc oxide and bismuth oxide nanoparticles is used for this purpose. It is synthesized at roomtemperature in an organic solution through the hydrolysis of dicyclohexylzinc and bismuth acetate precursors. Sintering of this material is performed by SPS at various temperatures and dwell times. The determination of the microstructure and the chemical composition of the as-prepared ceramics are based on scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. The nonlinear electrical characteristics are evidenced by currentâvoltage measurements. The breakdown voltage of these nanostructured varistors strongly depends on grain sizes. The results show that nanostructured varistors are obtained by SPS at sintering temperatures ranging from 550 to 600 8C
Microstructure and pinning properties of hexagonal-disc shaped single crystalline MgB2
We synthesized hexagonal-disc-shaped MgB2 single crystals under high-pressure
conditions and analyzed the microstructure and pinning properties. The lattice
constants and the Laue pattern of the crystals from X-ray micro-diffraction
showed the crystal symmetry of MgB2. A thorough crystallographic mapping within
a single crystal showed that the edge and c-axis of hexagonal-disc shape
exactly matched the (10-10) and the (0001) directions of the MgB2 phase. Thus,
these well-shaped single crystals may be the best candidates for studying the
direction dependences of the physical properties. The magnetization curve and
the magnetic hysteresis for these single crystals showed the existence of a
wide reversible region and weak pinning properties, which supported our single
crystals being very clean.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. submitted to Phys. Rev.
Input variable selection in time-critical knowledge integration applications: A review, analysis, and recommendation paper
This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Advanced Engineering Informatics. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2013 Elsevier B.V.The purpose of this research is twofold: first, to undertake a thorough appraisal of existing Input Variable Selection (IVS) methods within the context of time-critical and computation resource-limited dimensionality reduction problems; second, to demonstrate improvements to, and the application of, a recently proposed time-critical sensitivity analysis method called EventTracker to an environment science industrial use-case, i.e., sub-surface drilling.
Producing time-critical accurate knowledge about the state of a system (effect) under computational and data acquisition (cause) constraints is a major challenge, especially if the knowledge required is critical to the system operation where the safety of operators or integrity of costly equipment is at stake. Understanding and interpreting, a chain of interrelated events, predicted or unpredicted, that may or may not result in a specific state of the system, is the core challenge of this research. The main objective is then to identify which set of input data signals has a significant impact on the set of system state information (i.e. output). Through a cause-effect analysis technique, the proposed technique supports the filtering of unsolicited data that can otherwise clog up the communication and computational capabilities of a standard supervisory control and data acquisition system.
The paper analyzes the performance of input variable selection techniques from a series of perspectives. It then expands the categorization and assessment of sensitivity analysis methods in a structured framework that takes into account the relationship between inputs and outputs, the nature of their time series, and the computational effort required. The outcome of this analysis is that established methods have a limited suitability for use by time-critical variable selection applications. By way of a geological drilling monitoring scenario, the suitability of the proposed EventTracker Sensitivity Analysis method for use in high volume and time critical input variable selection problems is demonstrated.E
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