Wire blade development for Fixed Abrasive Slicing Technique (FAST) slicing

A low cost, effective slicing method is essential to make ingot technology viable for photovoltaics in terrestrial applications. The fixed abrasive slicing technique (FAST) combines the advantages of the three commercially developed techniques. In its development stage FAST demonstrated cutting effectiveness of 10 cm and 15 cm diameter workpieces. Wire blade development is still the critical element for commercialization of FAST technology. Both impregnated and electroplated wire blades have been developed; techniques have been developed to fix diamonds only in the cutting edge of the wire. Electroplated wires show the most near term promise and this approach is emphasized. With plated wires it has been possible to control the size and shape of the electroplating, it is expected that this feature reduces kerf and prolongs the life of the wirepack

Overview of a new slicing method: Fixed Abrasive Slicing Technique (FAST)

The fixed abrasive slicing technique (FAST) was developed to slice silicon ingots more effectively. It was demonstrated that 25 wafers/cm can be sliced from 10 cm diameter and 19 wafers/cm from 15 cm diameter ingots. This was achieved with a combination of machine development and wire-blade development programs. Correlation was established between cutting effectiveness and high surface speeds. A high speed slicer was designed and fabricated for FAST slicing. Wirepack life of slicing three 10 cm diameter ingots was established. Electroforming techniques were developed to control widths and prolong life of wire-blades. Economic analysis indicates that the projected add-on price of FAST slicing is compatible with the DOE price allocation to meet the 1986 cost goals

Energy and nutrients intakes of male and female university students

Male and female students residing in the on campus hostels were explained the aim and importance of this study. Among the students registered were 30 male and 30 female who volunteered to participate in this study. The age range of the registered students was 22 – 26 years. On the day of the registration the age, height and weight were recorded and at the same time, they were given food frequency questionnaires (FFQs). They were asked to record alternately for three days whatever they ate during the prescribed week. Out of sixty students 51 (22 male and 29 female) returned the FFQs and the rest were excluded from the study. From the anthropometry, the weight and height for the given ages were compared with the international standards. From the FFQs the energy and nutrients intake was calculated using the food composition table for all students and compared with the recommended nutrients intakes (RNIs) reported by the FAO/WHO for the same age, height and weight. The total energy consumption was more in the female students than in the male students. Eighty two percent of the male and 21% of the female students had lower energy intake than their RNIs for energy. Eighty two percent of the male students had lower relative energy from protein and 91% had lower energy from carbohydrate intake than their respective RNIs. Similarly, in 48% of the female students had lower relative energy from protein and 76% had lower energy from carbohydrate intake than their respective RNIs. The relative contribution of energy from fat was higher in 95 % of the male and 97 % of the female students than their RNIs. The mean mineral intake was lower both for male and female students with the exception that the intake of P was more than the RNIs by 18.4 and 11.5 % for the male and female students respectively. The mean Fe intake was more than the RNIs by 37.3% in male students. Similarly, the vitamins intake was lower as well, both in male and female students with exception that they were having higher intake for vitamin A and C. Apart from these nutrients, all the students surveyed had lower dietary intake of fibre and cholesterol. This study indicates that the students are at the risk of specific nutrient deficiencies and the energy requirement is mainly met through dietary fat intake instead of carbohydrate

Comparison of nutritional status of university students of two Asian countries

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare energy and macro-nutrients intake in university hostel students in two countries of Asia. Design/methodology/approach – Female students from the hostels of International Islamic University, Malaysia (IIUM), Kuantan Campus and NWFP, Agricultural University Peshawar, Pakistan were assessed for energy and macro-nutrients intake. A total of 140 students were registered who volunteered to participate in this study. The age range of the registered students was 22-26 years. On the day of the registration, age, height and weight were recorded; also, food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) were provided. The participants were asked to record alternately for three days whatever they ate during the prescribed week. Out of 140 students 139 returned the FFQs. From the anthropometry, the BMI was used to assess the under, ideal, over-weight and obese students. From the FFQs, energy and nutrient intakes were calculated using the food composition tables for Malaysia and Pakistan and compared with the recommended nutrients intakes (RNIs). Findings – The body weight for the required height among the Malaysian students was lower by 7.81 per cent than the reference value, whereas the body weight of Pakistani students matched to the reference weight for height. The Malaysian students were 28.0, 61.0, 5.5 and 0.9 per cent under, ideal, over-weight and obese, respectively, whereas Pakistani students were 100 per cent in the category of ideal-body weight. The total energy consumption was higher among Malaysian students by 9.93 per cent compared to the reference requirements, whereas the Pakistani students claimed to meet the requirements. In terms of nutrients balancing the Malaysian students were having the ideal combination of the macro-nutrients and it was within the recommended range of 55-60, 15-20 and 25-30 per cent for carbohydrates, protein and fat, respectively; whereas the balancing of the macro-nutrients was poor among the Pakistani students and met the energy requirements at the expense of fat consumption. Originality/value – The paper suggests that there is imbalance in macro-nutrients intake among the students

Resource Accounting in Factories and the Energy-Water Nexus

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link. open access articleA manufacturing system comprises production processes and building services, both of which are supplied by different energy carriers as well as raw materials and water. These resources interact according to complex relationships and are converted into products for sale and waste flows. Holistic resource accounting allows the analyst to consider the dynamic relationships between these components, including the strong interdependence between energy and water, which has been called the energy-water nexus. Exergy analysis is a method that accounts for mass and both the quantity and quality of energy, while allowing analysis on a common basis and for this reason it is used increasingly to analyse resource consumption in manufacturing systems; however it has rarely been used to consider water flows alongside energy and material flows. The main contribution of this paper is the presentation of modeling water flows in terms of exergy in the context of sustainable manufacturing. Using this technique in combination with previously developed exergy based methods; the result is a truly holistic resource accounting method for factories based on exergy analysis that incorporates water flows. The method is illustrated using a case study of a food factory in which a 4.1% reduction in resource use is shown to be possible by employing anaerobic digester in an effluent water treatment process. The benefits of this technology option would have been underestimated compared to the benefits of waste heat capture if an analysis based on mass and energy balances alone had been used. The scientific value of this paper is the demonstration of the relatively high exergy content of effluent flows, which should therefore be regarded as potentially valuable resources. The analytical method presented is therefore of value to a wide range of industries beyond the food industry

The Effects of Inaccurate and Missing Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Inventory Data on Crash Model Estimation and Crash Prediction

ABSTRACT: Most highway-rail grade crossing (HRGC) crash models in the US rely on the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) highway/rail crossing inventory database. Any errors and/or incomplete information in this database affects the estimated crash model parameters and subsequent crash predictions. Using 560 HRGCs in Nebraska, this study illustrates differences in crash predictions obtained from the FRA’s new (2020) Accident Prediction and Severity (APS) model when: 1) using the unaltered, original FRA HRGC inventory dataset as input, and 2) using a field-validated inventory dataset for those 560 HRGCs as input to the new APS model. Results showed that the predictions using the two different input datasets were statistically significantly different. HRGC hazard rankings from the two predictions as well as FRA’s Web Accident Prediction System (WBAPS) were different from each other. Estimation of new zero-inflated negative binomial models using 5-year reported HRGC crashes and the two inventory datasets for the 560 HRGCs enabled model parameter estimate and marginal value comparisons showing differences in estimated coefficients’ expected-magnitudes and average marginal effects. The conclusions were that erroneous and missing data in the unaltered FRA HRGC inventory dataset led to statistically different crash predictions compared to corrected and complete (field validated) HRGC inventory dataset and estimated crash prediction model parameters and their respective marginal values were different for comparative models based on the two different HRGC inventory datasets

A Heterogeneity-Based Temporal Stability Assessment of Pedestrian Crash Injury Severity Using an Aggregated Crash and Hospital Data Set

This study utilized a unique approach to crash data analysis by examining the temporal stability of pedestrian crash injury severity and its contributory factors. Police-reported crash data and EMS-related injury data from Nebraska were obtained from 2014 to 2018, and random parameter ordered probit models for injury severity were estimated for each year to account for unobserved heterogeneity. Four discrete levels of injury severity were considered for model estimation: fatality, disabling injury/suspected serious injury, visible injury/possible injury, and no injury. Data were filtered based on several important variables of interest, such as pedestrian characteristics, crash characteristics, environmental and weather characteristics, road surface characteristics, pedestrian location of crash, pre-crash pedestrian conditions, contributory circumstances of a crash, presence of work zones, and time gap between actual crash-time and police-reported time. A series of likelihood ratio tests were used to determine the temporal stability of factors over the course of two consecutive years and then over all individual time periods. The likelihood ratio tests showed temporal instability among explanatory variables for different time periods as well as for consecutive years. The random-parameters ordered probit models estimated a random distribution for the following indicators: old pedestrian indicator, pedestrian not visible due to dark clothing indicator, marked crosswalk at intersection indicator, time gap of 10-30 minutes between actual crash-time and police-reported time, chest area injury, work zone indicator, and ice on road indicator. This exploratory research suggests significant policy implications to help improve pedestrian safety

Modeling Probability of Path Loss for DSDV, OLSR and DYMO above 802.11 and 802.11p

This paper presents path loss model along with framework for probability distribution function for VANETs. Furthermore, we simulate three routing protocols Destination Sequenced Distance Vector (DSDV), Optimized Link State Routing (OLSR) and Dynamic MANET On-demand (DYMO) in NS-2 to evaluate and compare their performance using two Mac-layer Protocols 802.11 and 802.11p. A novel approach of this work is modifications in existing parameters to achieve high efficiency. After extensive simulations, we observe that DSDV out performs with 802.11p while DYMO gives best performance with 802.11.Comment: IEEE 8th International Conference on Broadband and Wireless Computing, Communication and Applications (BWCCA'13), Compiegne, Franc

Experiences of newly diagnosed oral cancer patients during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study from Pakistan

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the scaling back or postponement of non-emergency hospital services, including care of cancer patients. The present qualitative study explored the experiences of newly diagnosed oral cancer patients during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan. Patients who attended the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Khyber College of Dentistry in July 2020 were selected using a maximum variation purposive sampling method. Seventeen semi-structured interviews were conducted in Pashto, the local language of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. All interviews were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim, and translated into English. Thematic content analysis yielded eight major themes: pain and generalised physical weakness, shock at diagnosis, psychological distress of the COVID-19 pandemic, faith and religion, double hit loss of employment, social isolation, social support from caregivers, and lack of support from health care professionals. In conclusion, the COVID-19 pandemic has a clear impact on the life experiences of newly diagnosed oral cancer patients. Distress due to delay in accessing health care and lack of support from health care providers are a matter of great concern. Appropriate interventions should be introduced to ensure psychological and social support strategies are in place for patients during interruptions of health care services

Satl model lesson in chemical kinetics

Studies in order to pursue kinetics and mechanism of chemical reactions are a vital component of chemical literature. SATL literature is still not available for promoting this vital aspect of chemistry teaching. A lesson pertaining to this important issue has been developed and various parameters of kinetic studies are explained therein.[AJCE, 3(1), January 2013