Directly absorbingTherminol-Al2O3 nano heat transfer fluid for linear solar concentrating collectors

This paper reports experimentally measured thermal and optical properties of Al2O3 -Therminol®55 nano heat transfer fluid (nHTF) in conjunction with a specially developed line focussing Fresnel lens based solar thermal concentrator. Solar collector tests were conducted under real life outdoor ambient and solar radiation conditions. A range of volumetric proportions of Al2O3 (0.025 vol% - 0.3 vol%) have been covered. Highest thermal conductivity and refractive index were measured for nHTF with 0.1 vol% concentration of Al2O3 with higher concentrations (>0.1 vol%) concluded to be unfit for their use in the solar collector applications due to likely agglomeration and sedimentation in the hours of low or nil sunshine when fluid is not circulating. Thermal conductivity enhanced by 11.7% for 0.1 vol% Al2O3 concentration nHTF. A highest temperature of 132.8 °C was delivered by the solar collector using 0.1% concentration Al2O3 nHTF at a flow rate of 0.5lps. This was 44.7 °C higher than that achieved by pure Therminol®55 (88.1 °C) even though the DNI during 0.1% nHTF test was considerably lower than that for the later. The solar concentrator thermal efficiency increased with the proportion of NPs attaining a maximum of 52.2% for 0.1vol% Al2O3 nHTF. Directly absorbing nHTFs along with the solar collector developed in this study are predicted to be strong candidate to replace conventional metallic tube receiver using concentrators due to advantages of size compaction and higher thermal conversion efficiency

Knowledge and Attitude towards Risk Factors and Complications of Diabetes among Housekeeping Staff at a Tertiary Care Center in India

Objective: This study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitude towards risk factors and complications of diabetes among housekeeping workers. Material and methods: After obtaining institutional ethics approval, a cross-sectional survey was conducted among housekeeping staff working in a tertiary care center with an age group ranging from 18 to 60 years to assess knowledge and attitude towards risk factors and complications of diabetes. The correlation between knowledge and attitude scores was determined using Karl Pearson correlation coefficient analysis. Results: A total of 287 housekeeping staff, with majority of females (73.9%) were included in the study. The average knowledge score was 16.24 ± 6.74, and the average attitude score was 7.22 ± 1.27. A weak correlation between knowledge and attitude scores was observed with a coefficient of 0.215 (p < 0.01). Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that total knowledge and attitude scores and previously counseled people were statistically significant. Conclusions: The findings revealed that the overall level of knowledge about diabetes among housekeeping staff is poor, but the overall attitude is positive. There was a weak correlation between knowledge and attitude scores. Coordinated educational initiatives focusing on lower socioeconomic background, rural, and less educated individuals are needed to avoid diabetes and its complications

Constraints on the χ_(c1) versus χ_(c2) polarizations in proton-proton collisions at √s = 8 TeV

The polarizations of promptly produced χ_(c1) and χ_(c2) mesons are studied using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, in proton-proton collisions at √s=8  TeV. The χ_c states are reconstructed via their radiative decays χ_c → J/ψγ, with the photons being measured through conversions to e⁺e⁻, which allows the two states to be well resolved. The polarizations are measured in the helicity frame, through the analysis of the χ_(c2) to χ_(c1) yield ratio as a function of the polar or azimuthal angle of the positive muon emitted in the J/ψ → μ⁺μ⁻ decay, in three bins of J/ψ transverse momentum. While no differences are seen between the two states in terms of azimuthal decay angle distributions, they are observed to have significantly different polar anisotropies. The measurement favors a scenario where at least one of the two states is strongly polarized along the helicity quantization axis, in agreement with nonrelativistic quantum chromodynamics predictions. This is the first measurement of significantly polarized quarkonia produced at high transverse momentum