4,771 research outputs found
Performance evaluation and optimal design of supermarket refrigeration systems with supermarket model "SuperSim", Part I: Model description and validation
This is the post-print version of the final paper published in International Journal of Refrigeration. 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 @ 2010 Elsevier B.V.Conventional supermarket refrigeration systems are responsible for considerable CO2 emissions due to high energy consumption and large quantities of refrigerant leakage. In the effort to conserve energy and reduce environmental impacts, an efficient design tool for the analysis, evaluation and comparison of the performance of alternative system designs and controls is required. This paper provides a description of the modelling procedure employed in the supermarket simulation model ‘SuperSim’ for the simulation of the performance of centralised vapour compression refrigeration systems and their interaction with the building envelope and HVAC systems. The model which has been validated against data from a supermarket has been used for the comparison of R404A and CO2 refrigeration systems and the optimisation of the performance of transcritical CO2 systems. These results are presented in Part II of the paper.DEFR
Theory of Dispersed Fixed-Delay Interferometry for Radial Velocity Exoplanet Searches
The dispersed fixed-delay interferometer (DFDI) represents a new instrument
concept for high-precision radial velocity (RV) surveys for extrasolar planets.
A combination of Michelson interferometer and medium-resolution spectrograph,
it has the potential for performing multi-object surveys, where most previous
RV techniques have been limited to observing only one target at a time. Because
of the large sample of extrasolar planets needed to better understand planetary
formation, evolution, and prevalence, this new technique represents a logical
next step in instrumentation for RV extrasolar planet searches, and has been
proven with the single-object Exoplanet Tracker (ET) at Kitt Peak National
Observatory, and the multi-object W. M. Keck/MARVELS Exoplanet Tracker at
Apache Point Observatory. The development of the ET instruments has
necessitated fleshing out a detailed understanding of the physical principles
of the DFDI technique. Here we summarize the fundamental theoretical material
needed to understand the technique and provide an overview of the physics
underlying the instrument's working. We also derive some useful analytical
formulae that can be used to estimate the level of various sources of error
generic to the technique, such as photon shot noise when using a fiducial
reference spectrum, contamination by secondary spectra (e.g., crowded sources,
spectroscopic binaries, or moonlight contamination), residual interferometer
comb, and reference cross-talk error. Following this, we show that the use of a
traditional gas absorption fiducial reference with a DFDI can incur significant
systematic errors that must be taken into account at the precision levels
required to detect extrasolar planets.Comment: 58 pages, 11 figures, 1 table, 3 appendices. Accepted for publication
in ApJS. Minor typographical corrections; update to acknowledgment
Detectability of Exoplanetary Transits from Radial Velocity Surveys
Of the known transiting extra-solar planets, a few have been detected through
photometric follow-up observations of radial velocity planets. Perhaps the best
known of these is the transiting exoplanet HD 209458b. For hot Jupiters
(periods less than ~5 days), the a priori information that 10% of these planets
will transit their parent star due to the geometric transit probability leads
to an estimate of the expected transit yields from radial velocity surveys. The
radial velocity information can be used to construct an effective photometric
follow-up strategy which will provide optimal detection of possible transits.
Since the planet-harbouring stars are already known in this case, one is only
limited by the photometric precision achieveable by the chosen
telescope/instrument. The radial velocity modelling code presented here
automatically produces a transit ephemeris for each planet dataset fitted by
the program. Since the transit duration is brief compared with the fitted
period, we calculate the maximum window for obtaining photometric transit
observations after the radial velocity data have been obtained, generalising
for eccentric orbits. We discuss a typically employed survey strategy which may
contribute to a possible radial velocity bias against detection of the very hot
Jupiters which have dominated the transit discoveries. Finally, we describe how
these methods can be applied to current and future radial velocity surveys.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS, minor
correctio
Synthesis of multifunctional plasmonic nanopillar array using soft thermal nanoimprint lithography for highly sensitive refractive index sensing
A low-cost plasmonic nanopillar array was synthesized using soft thermal nanoimprint lithography, and its sensitivity was determined through far-field spectroscopic measurements. Its transmission spectrum was highly dependent on the refractive index of the surrounding medium, with its sensitivity being 375 nm per refractive index unit according to the spectral shift. Moreover, a simple sensor whose reflected color changed with a change in the plasma frequency on varying the surrounding medium was fabricated
The BCS-like gap in superconductor SmFeAsO_0.85F_0.15
Since the discovery of superconductivity in the cuprates two decades ago, it
has been firmly established that the CuO_2 plane is consequential for high T_C
superconductivity and a host of other very unusual properties. A new family of
superconductors with the general composition of LaFeAsO_(1-x)F_x has recently
been discovered but with the conspicuous lacking of the CuO_2 planes, thus
raising the tantalizing questions of the different pairing mechanisms in these
oxypnictide superconductors. Intimately related to pairing in a superconductor
are the superconducting gap, its value, structure, and temperature dependence.
Here we report the observation of a single gap in the superconductor
SmFeAsO_0.85F_0.15 with T_C = 42 K as measured by Andreev spectroscopy. The gap
value of 2Delta = 13.34+/-0.3 meV gives 2Delta/k_BT_C = 3.68, close to the BCS
prediction of 3.53. The gap decreases with temperature and vanishes at T_C in a
manner consistent with the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) prediction but
dramatically different from that of the pseudogap behavior in the cuprate
superconductors. Our results clearly indicate a nodeless gap order parameter,
which is nearly isotropic in size across different sections of the Fermi
surface, and are not compatible with models involving antiferromagnetic
fluctuations, strong correlations, t-J model, and the like, originally designed
for cuprates.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure
OGFOD1 catalyzes prolyl hydroxylation of RPS23 and is involved in translation control and stress granule formation
2-Oxoglutarate (2OG) and Fe(II)-dependent oxygenase domain-containing protein 1 (OGFOD1) is predicted to be a conserved 2OG oxygenase, the catalytic domain of which is related to hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylases. OGFOD1 homologs in yeast are implicated in diverse cellular functions ranging from oxygen-dependent regulation of sterol response genes (Ofd1, Schizosaccharomyces pombe) to translation termination/mRNA polyadenylation (Tpa1p, Saccharomyces cerevisiae). However, neither the biochemical activity of OGFOD1 nor the identity of its substrate has been defined. Here we show that OGFOD1 is a prolyl hydroxylase that catalyzes the posttranslational hydroxylation of a highly conserved residue (Pro-62) in the small ribosomal protein S23 (RPS23). Unusually OGFOD1 retained a high affinity for, and forms a stable complex with, the hydroxylated RPS23 substrate. Knockdown or inactivation of OGFOD1 caused a cell type-dependent induction of stress granules, translational arrest, and growth impairment in a manner complemented by wild-type but not inactive OGFOD1. The work identifies a human prolyl hydroxylase with a role in translational regulation
A Keck HIRES Doppler Search for Planets Orbiting Metal-Poor Dwarfs. II. On the Frequency of Giant Planets in the Metal-Poor Regime
We present an analysis of three years of precision radial velocity
measurements of 160 metal-poor stars observed with HIRES on the Keck 1
telescope. We report on variability and long-term velocity trends for each star
in our sample. We identify several long-term, low-amplitude radial-velocity
variables worthy of follow-up with direct imaging techniques. We place lower
limits on the detectable companion mass as a function of orbital period. Our
survey would have detected, with a 99.5% confidence level, over 95% of all
companions on low-eccentricity orbits with velocity semi-amplitude K > 100 m/s,
or M_p*sin(i) > 3.0 M_JUP*(P/yr)^(1/3), for orbital periods P< 3 yr. None of
the stars in our sample exhibits radial-velocity variations compatible with the
presence of Jovian planets with periods shorter than the survey duration. The
resulting average frequency of gas giants orbiting metal-poor dwarfs with -2.0
< [Fe/H] < -0.6 is f_p<0.67% (at the 1-sigma confidence level). We examine the
implications of this null result in the context of the observed correlation
between the rate of occurrence of giant planets and the metallicity of their
main-sequence solar-type stellar hosts. By combining our dataset with the
Fischer & Valenti (2005) uniform sample, we confirm that the likelihood of a
star to harbor a planet more massive than Jupiter within 2 AU is a steeply
rising function of the host's metallicity. However, the data for stars with
-1.0 < [Fe/H] < 0.0 are compatible, in a statistical sense, with a constant
occurrence rate f_p~1%. Our results can usefully inform theoretical studies of
the process of giant planet formation across two orders of magnitude in
metallicity.Comment: 59 pages, 7 tables, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in the
Astrophysical Journa
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Anchoring Knowledge in Interaction: Towards a Harmonic Subsymbolic/Symbolic Framework and Architecture of Computational Cognition
We outline a proposal for a research program leading to a new paradigm, architectural framework, and prototypical implementation, for the cognitively inspired anchoring of an agent’s learning, knowledge formation, and higher reasoning abilities in real-world interactions: Learning through interaction in real-time in a real environment triggers the incremental accumulation and repair of knowledge that leads to the formation of theories at a higher level of abstraction. The transformations at this higher level filter down and inform the learning process as part of a permanent cycle of learning through experience, higher-order deliberation, theory formation and revision.
The envisioned framework will provide a precise computational theory, algorithmic descriptions, and an implementation in cyber-physical systems, addressing the lifting of action patterns from the subsymbolic to the symbolic knowledge level, effective methods for theory formation, adaptation, and evolution, the anchoring of knowledge-level objects, real-world interactions and manipulations, and the realization and evaluation of such a system in different scenarios. The expected results can provide new foundations for future agent architectures, multi-agent systems, robotics, and cognitive systems, and can facilitate a deeper understanding of the development and interaction in human-technological settings
Tracing Spasmodic Dysphonia: the source of Ludwig Traube’s priority
Objectives: Since the mid-20th century, one citation is given historical priority as the first description of Spasmodic Dysphonia (SD): Ludwig Traube’s 1871 case of the “spastic form of nervous hoarseness”. Our objective is to understand how this case serves as the foundation of understanding laryngeal movement disorders.
Methods: The original German paper was located and translated. Bibliographical and bibliometric methods are used to determine the citation history of this original source over the past 140 years.
Results: Although secondary citations in contemporary publications typically credit Traube for establishing the clinical entity SD, his case does not conform to currently accepted diagnostic features. Citation patterns indicate the source of Traube’s priority is publications by Arnold and Luchsinger, mid-20th century ENT clinician, particularly their influential 1965 textbook used to train US and UK clinicians on voice disorders for several generations.
Conclusions: Sometimes secondary citations in medical literature lead to the inadvertent perpetuation of factual misrepresentation. The clinical picture of Traube’s original case does not represent what clinicians would recognize as SD today. The rich 19th century literature on voice disorders is a valuable resource for present day clinicians
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