Regenerative fuel cell energy storage system for a low earth orbit space station

A study was conducted to define characteristics of a Regenerative Fuel Cell System (RFCS) for low earth orbit Space Station missions. The RFCS's were defined and characterized based on both an alkaline electrolyte fuel cell integrated with an alkaline electrolyte water electrolyzer and an alkaline electrolyte fuel cell integrated with an acid solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) water electrolyzer. The study defined the operating characteristics of the systems including system weight, volume, and efficiency. A maintenance philosophy was defined and the implications of system reliability requirements and modularization were determined. Finally, an Engineering Model System was defined and a program to develop and demonstrate the EMS and pacing technology items that should be developed in parallel with the EMS were identified. The specific weight of an optimized RFCS operating at 140 F was defined as a function of system efficiency for a range of module sizes. An EMS operating at a nominal temperature of 180 F and capable of delivery of 10 kW at an overall efficiency of 55.4 percent is described. A program to develop the EMS is described including a technology development effort for pacing technology items

In brief: sharing the fruits of trade.

One of CEP's core research themes is the impact of trade openness on countries, firms, regions, communities and sectors.Two recent studies confirm the gains from opening up trade - but recognise that addressing the uneven outcomes of globalisation is as big a challenge as pursuing liberalisation in the face of entrenched interests.

Robust Baseline Subtraction for Ultrasonic Full Wavefield Analysis

Full wavefield analysis can be effectively used to study and characterize the interaction between waves and structural damage.Wavefields are sequentiallymeasured as damage evolves over time, and differences between each wavefield are then analyzed. Yet, as wavefields are measured and as damage evolves, environmental and operational variations can significantly affect wave propagation properties. As a result, wavefields are sensitive to variations in temperature, stress, sensor coupling, and other sources that can significantly distort data. Several approaches, including time-stretching and optimal baseline selection, can remove environmental variations, but these methods are often limited to removing specific effects, are ineffective for large environmental variations, and can require an unrealistic number of prior baseline measurements. This paper presents a robust methodology for subtracting wavefields and isolating wave-damage interactions. The method is based on dictionary learning, is robust to multiple environmental and operational variations, and requires only one initial baseline wavefield. For this application, the dictionary represents a matrix of basis vectors that generally describe wave propagation for a particular wavefield. We learn or train the dictionary using multiple frequencies from the single baseline wavefield. We then statistically fit new measurements with the dictionary through sparse regression techniques. This effectively creates a new baseline with propagation properties (for example, velocities) according to the new data. The new baseline is then compared with the measured data

Chemical Raman Enhancement of Organic Adsorbates on Metal Surfaces

Using a combination of first-principles theory and experiments, we provide a quantitative explanation for chemical contributions to surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy for a well-studied organic molecule, benzene thiol, chemisorbed on planar Au(111) surfaces. With density functional theory calculations of the static Raman tensor, we demonstrate and quantify a strong mode-dependent modification of benzene thiol Raman spectra by Au substrates. Raman active modes with the largest enhancements result from stronger contributions from Au to their electron-vibron coupling, as quantified through a deformation potential, a well-defined property of each vibrational mode. A straightforward and general analysis is introduced that allows extraction of chemical enhancement from experiments for specific vibrational modes; measured values are in excellent agreement with our calculations.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures and Supplementary material included as ancillary fil

Synthetic Mudscapes: Human Interventions in Deltaic Land Building

In order to defend infrastructure, economy, and settlement in Southeast Louisiana, we must construct new land to mitigate increasing risk. Links between urban environments and economic drivers have constrained the dynamic delta landscape for generations, now threatening to undermine the ecological fitness of the entire region. Static methods of measuring, controlling, and valuing land fail in an environment that is constantly in flux; change and indeterminacy are denied by traditional inhabitation. Multiple land building practices reintroduce deltaic fluctuation and strategic deposition of fertile material to form the foundations of a multi-layered defence strategy. Manufactured marshlands reduce exposure to storm surge further inland. Virtual monitoring and communication networks inform design decisions and land use becomes determined by its ecological health. Mudscapes at the threshold of land and water place new value on former wastelands. The social, economic, and ecological evolution of the region are defended by an expanded web of growing land

Factors affecting the pre- and post-elective abortion contraception choices in Iowa

To characterize the contraceptive uses and identify contraceptive concerns and preferences among Iowa women seeking abortion

Weak charge form factor and radius of 208Pb through parity violation in electron scattering

We use distorted wave electron scattering calculations to extract the weak charge form factor F_W(q), the weak charge radius R_W, and the point neutron radius R_n, of 208Pb from the PREX parity violating asymmetry measurement. The form factor is the Fourier transform of the weak charge density at the average momentum transfer q=0.475 fm$^{-1}$. We find F_W(q) =0.204 \pm 0.028 (exp) \pm 0.001 (model). We use the Helm model to infer the weak radius from F_W(q). We find R_W= 5.826 \pm 0.181 (exp) \pm 0.027 (model) fm. Here the exp error includes PREX statistical and systematic errors, while the model error describes the uncertainty in R_W from uncertainties in the surface thickness \sigma of the weak charge density. The weak radius is larger than the charge radius, implying a "weak charge skin" where the surface region is relatively enriched in weak charges compared to (electromagnetic) charges. We extract the point neutron radius R_n=5.751 \pm 0.175 (exp) \pm 0.026 (model) \pm 0.005 (strange) fm$, from R_W. Here there is only a very small error (strange) from possible strange quark contributions. We find R_n to be slightly smaller than R_W because of the nucleon's size. Finally, we find a neutron skin thickness of R_n-R_p=0.302\pm 0.175 (exp) \pm 0.026 (model) \pm 0.005 (strange) fm, where R_p is the point proton radius.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, published in Phys Rev. C. Only one change in this version: we have added one author, also to metadat

A high-finesse Fabry-Perot cavity with a frequency-doubled green laser for precision Compton polarimetry at Jefferson Lab

A high-finesse Fabry-Perot cavity with a frequency-doubled continuous wave green laser (532~nm) has been built and installed in Hall A of Jefferson Lab for high precision Compton polarimetry. The infrared (1064~nm) beam from a ytterbium-doped fiber amplifier seeded by a Nd:YAG nonplanar ring oscillator laser is frequency doubled in a single-pass periodically poled MgO:LiNbO$_{3}$ crystal. The maximum achieved green power at 5 W IR pump power is 1.74 W with a total conversion efficiency of 34.8\%. The green beam is injected into the optical resonant cavity and enhanced up to 3.7~kW with a corresponding enhancement of 3800. The polarization transfer function has been measured in order to determine the intra-cavity circular laser polarization within a measurement uncertainty of 0.7\%. The PREx experiment at Jefferson Lab used this system for the first time and achieved 1.0\% precision in polarization measurements of an electron beam with energy and current of 1.0~GeV and 50~$\mu$A.Comment: 20 pages, 22 figures, revised version of arXiv:1601.00251v1, submitted to NIM

Synchronization and resonance in a driven system of coupled oscillators

We study the noise effects in a driven system of globally coupled oscillators, with particular attention to the interplay between driving and noise. The self-consistency equation for the order parameter, which measures the collective synchronization of the system, is derived; it is found that the total order parameter decreases monotonically with noise, indicating overall suppression of synchronization. Still, for large coupling strengths, there exists an optimal noise level at which the periodic (ac) component of the order parameter reaches its maximum. The response of the phase velocity is also examined and found to display resonance behavior.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figure

Bodies, technologies and action possibilities: when is an affordance?

Borrowed from ecological psychology, the concept of affordances is often said to offer the social study of technology a means of re-framing the question of what is, and what is not, ‘social’ about technological artefacts. The concept, many argue, enables us to chart a safe course between the perils of technological determinism and social constructivism. This article questions the sociological adequacy of the concept as conventionally deployed. Drawing on ethnographic work on the ways technological artefacts engage, and are engaged by, disabled bodies, we propose that the ‘affordances’ of technological objects are not reducible to their material constitution but are inextricably bound up with specific, historically situated modes of engagement and ways of life