Helium Leak Measurements Using CO2 as a Carrier

Detection delay defects are omitted by using helium mass spectrometer leak detector combined with several known procedures. Technique combines carbon dioxide purging, cryogenic separating helium accumulation, and use of carbon dioxide as carrier gas

Confort térmico y ahorro energético en vivienda de Monterrey, Nuevo León

Este trabajo analiza cómo mejorar el confort térmico al interior de la vivienda de Monterrey, N.L., y reducir el consumo eléctrico de los equipos de climatización mediante un sistema conformado por el diseño arquitectónico y las tecnologías pasivas de la arquitectura vernácula norestense, las tecnologías activas y las energías renovables. En la actualidad las condiciones climáticas del noreste del país son extremas durante la temporada de verano como la invernal. Retomando estrategias de la arquitectura vernácula de la región y trayéndolas a la contemporaneidad, se busca cuales fomentan el confort térmico dentro de la vivienda y así lograr en paralelo un ahorro económico derivado del consumo de energía eléctrica de los equipos de climatización. Se analiza tanto la vivienda ya construida como la vivienda nueva. La metodología que se utiliza es la revisión documental, la entrevista semiestructurada y la observación directa para recopilar información pertinente. Posteriormente mediante el uso de simulaciones energéticas de edificios se analiza cual es el comportamiento de estas estrategias que puedan fomentar un mejor desempeño térmico de la vivienda. El consumo de energía eléctrica restante será suministrado por fuentes de energía limpia renovable. La propuesta generada busca la sustentabilidad ambiental, económica y social de la vivienda regiomontana.ITESO, A.C

Search Space Calculation to Improve Parameter Estimation of Excitation Control Systems

En este artículo se presenta un método para calcular el espacio de búsqueda de cada parámetro del modelo de un sistema de control de excitación. Con el espacio de búsqueda calculado se pretende reducir el número de conjuntos de parámetros solución que pueden ser encontrados por el algoritmo de estimación, reduciendo su tiempo de procesamiento. El método considera un rango de la constante de tiempo del generador sincrónico entre 4s y 10s, un índice de desempeño del sistema de control de excitación, una técnica de diseño de controladores y la estructura del modelo del sistema de control de excitación. Cuando se usa el espacio de búsqueda obtenido para estimar los parámetros, el algoritmo toma menos tiempo de procesamiento y los parámetros estimados son cercanos a los parámetros de referencia.A method to calculate the search space for each parameter in an excitation control system is presented in this paper. The calculated search space is intended to reduce the number of parameter solution sets that can be found by an estimation algorithm, reducing its processing time. The method considers a synchronous generator time constant range between 4s and 10s, an excitation control system performance index, a controller design technique, and the excitation control system model structure. When the obtained search space is used to estimate the parameters, less processing time is used by the algorithm. Also the estimated parameters are closer to the reference ones

Ethanol induces cell-cycle activity and reduces stem cell diversity to alter both regenerative capacity and differentiation potential of cerebral cortical neuroepithelial precursors

BACKGROUND: The fetal cortical neuroepithelium is a mosaic of distinct progenitor populations that elaborate diverse cellular fates. Ethanol induces apoptosis and interferes with the survival of differentiating neurons. However, we know little about ethanol's effects on neuronal progenitors. We therefore exposed neurosphere cultures from fetal rat cerebral cortex, to varying ethanol concentrations, to examine the impact of ethanol on stem cell fate. RESULTS: Ethanol promoted cell cycle progression, increased neurosphere number and increased diversity in neurosphere size, without inducing apoptosis. Unlike controls, dissociated cortical progenitors exposed to ethanol exhibited morphological evidence for asymmetric cell division, and cells derived from ethanol pre-treated neurospheres exhibited decreased proliferation capacity. Ethanol significantly reduced the numbers of cells expressing the stem cell markers CD117, CD133, Sca-1 and ABCG2, without decreasing nestin expression. Furthermore, ethanol-induced neurosphere proliferation was not accompanied by a commensurate increase in telomerase activity. Finally, cells derived from ethanol-pretreated neurospheres exhibited decreased differentiation in response to retinoic acid. CONCLUSION: The reduction in stem cell number along with a transient ethanol-driven increase in cell proliferation, suggests that ethanol promotes stem to blast cell maturation, ultimately depleting the reserve proliferation capacity of neuroepithelial cells. However, the lack of a concomitant change in telomerase activity suggests that neuroepithelial maturation is accompanied by an increased potential for genomic instability. Finally, the cellular phenotype that emerges from ethanol pre-treated, stem cell depleted neurospheres is refractory to additional differentiation stimuli, suggesting that ethanol exposure ablates or delays subsequent neuronal differentiation

Overcoming the barriers to teaching teamwork to undergraduates in STEM.

There is widespread recognition that undergraduate students in the life sciences must learn how to work in teams. However, instructors who wish to incorporate teamwork into their classrooms rarely have formal training in how to teach teamwork. This is further complicated by the application of synonymous and often ambiguous terminology regarding teamwork that is found in literature spread among many different disciplines. There are significant barriers for instructors wishing to identify and implement best practices. We synthesize key concepts in teamwork by considering the knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) necessary for success, the pedagogies and curricula for teaching those KSAs, and the instruments available for evaluating and assessing success. There are only a limited number of studies on teamwork in higher education that present an intervention with a control group and a formal evaluation or assessment. Moreover, these studies are almost exclusively outside STEM disciplines, raising questions about their extensibility. We conclude by considering how to build an evidence base for instruction that will empower students with the KSAs necessary for participating in a lifetime of equitable and inclusive teamwork

Q-switched mode locking noise-like pulse generation from a thulium-doped all-fiber laser based on nonlinear polarization rotation

Q-switched mode locking (QML) noise-like pulse (NLP) emission from an all-fiber thulium-doped laser based on the nonlinear polarization rotation effect is reported. The QML emission is obtained in a cavity with net anomalous dispersion in a pump power interval in between the CW laser threshold and the threshold of the NLP regime. Highest-energy QML pulses were observed with a repetition rate of 812 kHz with a pump power of 520 mW at the optical wavelength of 1881.09 nm. A maximum overall energy of 460 nJ at an average output power of 6.4 mW was reached, which corresponds to a burst of mode-locked noise-like sub-pulses with 8.7 ns of pulse duration within a QML envelope of 11 μs. These results demonstrate unconventional pulse operation regime of NLPs and provide insights into the dynamics of mode-locked fiber lasers

Impacts of Long-term Weed Management on the Diversity and Abundance of Grasses in Banana Plantation Slopes in Davao City, Philippines

Banana is one of the main export products in the Philippines. The growing demand for banana products generates a need for plantation expansion even in erosion-prone areas like slopes. Effective farming practices in slopes are therefore needed to conserve the soil and establish a sustainable production. One of these systems is weed management, which is a critical component of farming practice in sloping lands. A 3-year study was conducted to compare manual and chemical (paraquat and glyphosate) weed management on the abundance and diversity of grasses in a banana plantation. Counts, biomasses, seed bank, and diversity indices of grasses were compared in identical experiments in 15% and 25% slopes. From the seed banks, 7 grass species were observed: Cyperus brevifolius, Cynodon dactylon, Eleusine indica, Imperata cylindrica, Paspalum conjugatum, Digitaria ciliaris, and Digitaria longiflora. Generally, there was a decreasing trend in the seed bank counts in both manual and chemical plots of 15% and 25% slope. However, the differences between treatments were not significant. Chemical treatments reduced the general counts and biomass of monocot weeds, but this effect was generally not significant. Chemical treatments significantly reduced the counts of P. conjugatum in 15% slope and the biomass of E. indica in 25% slope in the field. C. dactylon was found to be the dominant species in the field because of its early establishment in the slopes, its spreading growth and its allelopathic properties, which suppressed other species. There was a significant increase in diversity in both treatments on two slopes, but chemical plots had a significantly higher diversity compared to the manual plots. Chemical weeding was also less expensive and less laborious than manual weeding

Recommendations to Select Indices for Model Validation

En este artículo se presentan recomendaciones para seleccionar índices de error para validar modelos. Las recomendaciones se basan en la comparación de los índices usados para validar sistemas dinámicos. Se presentan y definen matemáticamente nueve índices de error y un índice de ajuste. Con base en el tipo de datos reportados en la literatura para validar modelos, se seleccionan la función escalón y la función seno, como señales patrón, para evaluar los resultados de los índices. Como resultado relevante de este artículo se presentan recomendaciones para seleccionar e interpretar índices de error cuando se validan modelos de sistemas físicos.A set of recommendations to select error indices to model validation is presented in this paper. The recommendations are based on the comparison of indices used to validate dynamic systems. Nine error indices and one fit index are presented and mathematically defined. Based on the data reported in literature to validate models, step function and sine function are selected, as patron signals, to evaluate the index results. As a relevant contribution of this paper, recommendations to select and interpret error indices during the validation of physical system models are given

Experimental study of MMI structures in a switchable continuous-wave thulium-doped all-fiber laser

Switchable multi-wavelength laser emission from a thulium-doped all-fiber laser is reported by implementing a tapered and a non-tapered multi-modal interference (MMI) filters. The MMI structure relies on a coreless optical fiber spliced in between two single-mode optical fibers. For the non-tapered case, a minimum insertion loss of 12.60 dB is achieved around the 2-μm region, from which stable generation of commutable dual-wavelength emission at 1986.34 nm and 2017.38 nm is obtained. On the other hand, the tapered MMI structure performs a minimum insertion loss of 8.74 dB at the 2-μm region, allowing a stable triple-wavelength emission at 1995.4 nm, 2013.3 nm, and 2038.3 nm. In addition, commutable dual-wavelength emission was also obtained at 1997.9 nm and 2032.1 nm. The generated laser lines perform bandwidths of around 50 pm, low peak spectral power fluctuations and signal-to-noise ratio of 50 dB