2,170 research outputs found
CO2 capture by dry alkanolamines and an efficient microwave regeneration process
Removal of acidic gases such as H2S and CO2 is performed during the purification of raw natural gas, most commonly using amine gas treatment. However, this industrially entrenched method is limited by significant shortcomings including low operational capture efficiency, amine pipeline corrosion and a large energy penalty due to the sorbent regeneration process. To address these shortcomings, we have studied the use of perfluorinated silica-stabilized dry alkanolamines (DAf) for CO2 capture. Due to their micronized liquid domains, DAf display high operational CO2 capture efficiency. Further, to minimize energy requirements for sorbent regeneration, microwave-assisted regeneration of the spent DAf sorbent was also studied and shown to decrease the energy requirements by about ten times. In contrast to very recent work, our results show that the use of DAf exhibits extraordinary recyclability, with a negligible decrease in absorption capacity over at least ten absorption–regeneration cycles, indicating the potential of this material for gas treatment applications
A Statistical Study on Force-Freeness of Solar Magnetic Fields in the Photosphere
It is an indisputable fact that solar magnetic fields are force-free in the
corona, where force free fields means that current and magnetic fields are
parallel and there is no Lorentz force in the fields. While the force-free
extent of photospheric magnetic fields remains open. In this paper, the
statistical results about it is given. The vector magnetograms (namely,
, and in heliocentric coordinates) are employed, which
are deduced and calibrated from Stokes spectra, observed by Solar Magnetic
Field Telescope (SMFT) at Huairou Solar Observing Station (HSOS) are used. We
study and calibrated 925 magnetograms calibrated by two sets of calibration
coefficients, that indicate the relations between magnetic fields and the
strength of Stokes spectrum and can be calculated either theoretically or
empirically. The statistical results show that the majority of active region
magnetic fields are not consistent with the force-free model.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, has been accepted by PAS
Sunspot rotation, filament, and flare: The event on 2000 February 10
We find that a sunspot with positive polarity had an obvious
counter-clockwise rotation and resulted in the formation and eruption of an
inverse S-shaped filament in NOAA active region (AR) 08858 from 2000 February 9
to 10. The sunspot had two umbrae which rotated around each other by 195
degrees within about twenty-four hours. The average rotation rate was nearly 8
degrees per hour. The fastest rotation in the photosphere took place during
14:00UT to 22:01UT on February 9, with the rotation rate of nearly 16 degrees
per hour. The fastest rotation in the chromosphere and the corona took place
during 15:28UT to 19:00UT on February 9, with the rotation rate of nearly 20
degrees per hour. Interestingly, the rapid increase of the positive magnetic
flux just occurred during the fastest rotation of the rotating sunspot, the
bright loop-shaped structure and the filament. During the sunspot rotation, the
inverse S-shaped filament gradually formed in the EUV filament channel. The
filament experienced two eruptions. In the first eruption, the filament rose
quickly and then the filament loops carrying the cool and the hot material were
seen to spiral into the sunspot counterclockwise. About ten minutes later, the
filament became active and finally erupted. The filament eruption was
accompanied with a C-class flare and a halo coronal mass ejection (CME). These
results provide evidence that sunspot rotation plays an important role in the
formation and eruption of the sigmoidal active-region filament.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, Accepted for publication in Ap
Rap1-mediated nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) activity regulates the paracrine capacity of mesenchymal stem cells in heart repair following infarction
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Relationship between eruptions of active-region filaments and associated flares and CMEs
To better understand the dynamical process of active-region filament
eruptions and associated flares and CMEs, we carried out a statistical study of
120 events observed by BBSO, TRACE, and t(SOHO/EIT) from 1998 to 2007 and
combined filament observations with the NOAA's flare reports, MDI magnetograms,
and LASCO data, to investigate the relationship between active-region filament
eruptions and other solar activities. We found that 115 out of 120 filament
eruptions are associated with flares. 56 out of 105 filament eruptions are
found to be associated with CMEs except for 15 events without corresponding
LASCO data. We note the limitation of coronagraphs duo to geometry or
sensitivity, leading to many smaller CMEs that are Earth-directed or well out
of the plane of sky not being detected by near-Earth spacecraft. Excluding
those without corresponding LASCO data, the CME association rate of
active-region filament eruptions clearly increases with X-ray flare class from
about 32% for C-class flares to 100% for X-class flares. The eruptions of
active-region filaments associated with Halo CMEs are often accompanied by
large flares. About 92% events associated with X-class flare are associated
with Halo CMEs. Such a result is due to that the Earth-directed CMEs detected
as Halo CMEs are often the larger CMEs and many of the smaller ones are not
detected because of the geometry and low intensity. The average speed of the
associated CMEs of filament eruptions increases with X-ray flare size from
563.7 km/s for C-class flares to 1506.6 km/s for X-class flares. Moreover, the
magnetic emergence and cancellation play an important role in triggering
filament eruptions. These findings may be instructive to not only in respect to
the modeling of active-region filament eruptions but also in predicting flares
and CMEs.Comment: 19 Pages, 7 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRA
Integer Quantum Hall Effect with Realistic Boundary Condition : Exact Quantization and Breakdown
A theory of integer quantum Hall effect(QHE) in realistic systems based on
von Neumann lattice is presented. We show that the momentum representation is
quite useful and that the quantum Hall regime(QHR), which is defined by the
propagator in the momentum representation, is realized. In QHR, the Hall
conductance is given by a topological invariant of the momentum space and is
quantized exactly. The edge states do not modify the value and topological
property of in QHR. We next compute distribution of current based
on effective action and find a finite amount of current in the bulk and the
edge, generally. Due to the Hall electric field in the bulk, breakdown of the
QHE occurs. The critical electric field of the breakdown is proportional to
and the proportional constant has no dependence on Landau levels in
our theory, in agreement with the recent experiments.Comment: 48 pages, figures not included, some additions and revision
PCA-based lung motion model
Organ motion induced by respiration may cause clinically significant
targeting errors and greatly degrade the effectiveness of conformal
radiotherapy. It is therefore crucial to be able to model respiratory motion
accurately. A recently proposed lung motion model based on principal component
analysis (PCA) has been shown to be promising on a few patients. However, there
is still a need to understand the underlying reason why it works. In this
paper, we present a much deeper and detailed analysis of the PCA-based lung
motion model. We provide the theoretical justification of the effectiveness of
PCA in modeling lung motion. We also prove that under certain conditions, the
PCA motion model is equivalent to 5D motion model, which is based on physiology
and anatomy of the lung. The modeling power of PCA model was tested on clinical
data and the average 3D error was found to be below 1 mm.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure. submitted to International Conference on the use
of Computers in Radiation Therapy 201
UV friendly T-parity in the SU(6)/Sp(6) little Higgs model
Electroweak precision tests put stringent constraints on the parameter space
of little Higgs models. Tree-level exchange of TeV scale particles in a generic
little Higgs model produce higher dimensional operators that make contributions
to electroweak observables that are typically too large. To avoid this problem
a discrete symmetry dubbed T-parity can be introduced to forbid the dangerous
couplings. However, it was realized that in simple group models such as the
littlest Higgs model, the implementation of T-parity in a UV completion could
present some challenges. The situation is analogous to the one in QCD where the
pion can easily be defined as being odd under a new symmetry in the
chiral Lagrangian, but this is not a symmetry of the quark Lagrangian. In
this paper we examine the possibility of implementing a T-parity in the low
energy model that might be easier to realize in the UV. In our
model, the T-parity acts on the low energy non-linear sigma model field in way
which is different to what was originally proposed for the Littlest Higgs, and
lead to a different low energy theory. In particular, the Higgs sector of this
model is a inert two Higgs doublets model with an approximate custodial
symmetry. We examine the contributions of the various sectors of the model to
electroweak precision data, and to the dark matter abundance.Comment: 21 pages,4 figures. Clarifications added, typos corrected and
references added. Published in JHE
Characterisation of mechanical and thermal properties in flax fabric reinforced geopolymer composites
This paper presents the mechanical and thermal properties of flax fabric reinforced fly ash based geopolymer composites. Geopolymer composites reinforced with 2.4, 3.0 and 4.1 wt% woven flax fabric in various layers were fabricated using a hand lay-up technique and tested for mechanical properties such as flexural strength, flexural modulus, compressive strength, hardness, and fracture toughness. All mechanical properties were improved by increasing the flax fibre contents, and showed superior mechanical properties over a pure geopolymer matrix. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies were carried out to evaluate the composition and fracture surfaces of geopolymer and geopolymer/flax composites. The thermal behaviour of composites was studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and the results showed significant degradation of flax fibres at 300 °C
NUCKS Is a Positive Transcriptional Regulator of Insulin Signaling.
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