106 research outputs found
A novel absorptive/reflective solar concentrator for heat and electricity generation: an optical and thermal analysis.
The crossed compound parabolic concentrator (CCPC) is one of the most efficient non-imaging solar concentrators used as a stationary solar concentrator or as a second stage solar concentrator. In this study, the CCPC is modified to demonstrate for the first time a new generation of solar concentrators working simultaneously as an electricity generator and thermal collector. The CCPC is designed to have two complementary surfaces, one reflective and one absorptive, and is named as an absorptive/reflective CCPC (AR-CCPC). Usually, the height of the CCPC is truncated with a minor sacrifice of the geometric concentration. These truncated surfaces rather than being eliminated are instead replaced with absorbent surfaces to collect heat from solar radiation. The optical efficiency including absorptive/reflective part of the AR-CCPC was simulated and compared for different geometric concentration ratios varying from 3.6× to 4×. It was found that the combined optical efficiency of the AR-CCPC 3.6×/4× remained constant and high all day long and that it had the highest total optical efficiency compared to other concentrators. In addition, the temperature distributions of AR-CCPC surfaces and the assembled solar cell were simulated based on those heat flux boundary conditions. It was shown that the addition of a thermal absorbent surface can increase the wall temperature. The maximum value reached 321.5 K at the front wall under 50° incidence. The experimental verification was also adopted to show the benefits of using absorbent surfaces. The initial results are very promising and significant for the enhancement of solar concentrator systems with lower concentrations
Changing risk of environmental Campylobacter exposure with emerging poultry production systems in Ethiopia
Campylobacter is a leading cause of diarrhoea, and its presence in chickens is a significant risk for zoonotic infection. Poultry production is becoming increasingly intensive in Ethiopia and is incorporating more high-producing breeds into traditionally managed smallholdings, especially in peri-urban areas. This cross-sectional study sampled 219 household environments in one peri-urban and two rural areas of Ethiopia, and an additional 20 semi-intensive farms in the peri-urban district. Campylobacter was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-specific assays in 44 samples; 16 of which could be identified as C. jejuni. Flocks in the peri-urban area were at significantly greater odds of detection, including those which only kept indigenous birds under a scavenging system. It was also noted that scavenging flocks of exotic high-production birds (Rhode Island Red) were at slightly greater risk, perhaps as exotic birds are under more stress when kept under traditional management systems. We suggest that changes to the system of chicken production may alter the ecology and epidemiology of Campylobacter in the environment, chickens and people, which may drive emergence of new epidemiological patterns of disease. Further research is needed to determine the extent to which the current management intensification and the distribution programmes of exotic and/or improved indigenous birds may alter Campylobacter epidemiology, ecology and public health risk, before their widespread adoption
In situ, broadband measurement of the radio frequency attenuation length at Summit Station, Greenland
Over the last 25 years, radiowave detection of neutrino-generated signals,
using cold polar ice as the neutrino target, has emerged as perhaps the most
promising technique for detection of extragalactic ultra-high energy neutrinos
(corresponding to neutrino energies in excess of 0.01 Joules, or
electron volts). During the summer of 2021 and in tandem with the initial
deployment of the Radio Neutrino Observatory in Greenland (RNO-G), we conducted
radioglaciological measurements at Summit Station, Greenland to refine our
understanding of the ice target. We report the result of one such measurement,
the radio-frequency electric field attenuation length . We find an
approximately linear dependence of on frequency with the best fit of
the average field attenuation for the upper 1500 m of ice: MHz m for
frequencies MHz.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, Accepted to Journal of Glaciolog
Precision measurement of the index of refraction of deep glacial ice at radio frequencies at Summit Station, Greenland
Glacial ice is used as a target material for the detection of ultra-high
energy neutrinos, by measuring the radio signals that are emitted when those
neutrinos interact in the ice. Thanks to the large attenuation length at radio
frequencies, these signals can be detected over distances of several
kilometers. One experiment taking advantage of this is the Radio Neutrino
Observatory Greenland (RNO-G), currently under construction at Summit Station,
near the apex of the Greenland ice sheet. These experiments require a thorough
understanding of the dielectric properties of ice at radio frequencies. Towards
this goal, calibration campaigns have been undertaken at Summit, during which
we recorded radio reflections off internal layers in the ice sheet. Using data
from the nearby GISP2 and GRIP ice cores, we show that these reflectors can be
associated with features in the ice conductivity profiles; we use this
connection to determine the index of refraction of the bulk ice as n=1.778 +/-
0.006
Search for low-mass dark matter via bremsstrahlung radiation and the Migdal effect in SuperCDMS
We present a new analysis of previously published SuperCDMS data using a profile likelihood framework to search for sub-GeV dark matter (DM) particles through two inelastic scattering channels: bremsstrahlung radiation and the Migdal effect. By considering these possible inelastic scattering channels, experimental sensitivity can be extended to DM masses that are undetectable through the DM-nucleon elastic scattering channel, given the energy threshold of current experiments. We exclude DM masses down to 220  MeV/c2 at 2.7×10−30  cm2 via the bremsstrahlung channel. The Migdal channel search provides overall considerably more stringent limits and excludes DM masses down to 30  MeV/c2 at 5.0×10−30  cm2
Pesticide Risk Reduction Programme : Feasibility Study of the Proposed Pesticide Registration and Post-Registration Processes
Report on developing guidelines and procedures for the pesticide registration in Ethiopia in a scientifically underpinned way and as specific as possible for Ethiopian conditions. It covers the aspects of efficacy assessment, human health risk assessment as well as environmental risk assessment. It aims to develop the capacity at the APHRD to apply these guidelines and procedures. The Work package will result in an evaluation manual plus software tool for the Animal and Plant Health Regulatory Directorate (APHRD) of the Ministry of Agriculture of Ethiopia. The user-friendly software tool operationalises the guidelines and procedures for human health risk assessment and environmental risk assessment; all basic pesticide data can be entered in it and these will be used for the risk estimates
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