Novel nonimaging solar concentrator for portable solar systems for developing countries

Portable solar chargers have been gaining popularity as a new technology to help increase electrification in rural areas in developing countries. It is a fast developing industry aiming to produce a low-cost solution for the application of off-grid solar lighting and charging of small devices to be used by the poorest and most vulnerable of society. Solar concentrators are proposed as an add-on to help further reduce costs, to increase light-output hours and to reduce charging time. So far, no suitable concentrator designs have been proposed. This paper presents a novel concept for the design of a static nonimaging concentrator, suitable for portable solar systems for developing countries. The novel concentrator design is compared with existing concentrators and its suitability for portable solar chargers, as well as its potential for further improvement, are highlighted

Effects of Methotrexate on IL-6alphar, VCAM-1 and NF Kappa B Expression in a Rat Model of Metabolic Syndrome

Background: In this study, we used Methotrexate (Mtx) to examine the role of immunomodulation on the activation of IL-6 and VCAM-1, which could generate a microenvironment that supports cardiovascular remodelling.Methods: Male WKY and SHR rats were separated into five groups: Control, FFR: WKY rats receiving a 10% (w/v) fructose solution during all 12 weeks, SHR, FFHR: SHR receiving a 10% (w/v) fructose solution during all 12 weeks and FFHR+Mtx (0,3 mg/kg intraperitoneal one injection per day week for 6 weeks) (n = 8 per group). Metabolic variables and systolic blood pressure were measured. Cardiac and vascular remodelling was also evaluated. To assess this, IL-6R and VCAM-1 immunostaining techniques were used.Results: The FFHR experimental model developed metabolic syndrome, vascular and cardiac remodelling, and vascular inflammation because of increased expression of IL-6 and VCAM-1. Chronic treatment with Mtx completely or partiality reversed the variables studied.Conclusions: The results demonstrated an impact on immunomodulation after mtx treatment, which included a reduction in vascular inflammation and a favourable reduction in metabolic and structural parameters.Fil: Renna, Nicolas Federico. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; ArgentinaFil: Ramirez, Jésica M.. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto de Genética; ArgentinaFil: García, Rodrigo Damián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; ArgentinaFil: Diez, Emiliano Raúl. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto de Genética; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo; ArgentinaFil: Miatello, Roberto Miguel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto de Genética; Argentin

Design of improved IR protocol for LED indoor positioning system

In this work, we design an infrared protocol (IRP) for light emitting diode (LED) based indoor positioning. The designed IRP compensates for the shortcomings of other existing protocols when applied to the multiple LED estimation indoor positioning model (MLEM). MLEM uses overlap of LED beams to increase accuracy of positioning. The overlap sets up a multipoint-to-point optical communication channel. The existing protocols which are designed for point-to-point links, when modified to suit the MLEM overlapping region, show a high positioning time between 3 s and 4.5 s. These values are not desirable for real time tracking. A new protocol is therefore designed to reduce the positioning time. The protocol is implemented in an experimental MLEM design using ATmega 328 microcontroller hardware. The experimental results show the new protocol reduces the positioning time to 0.5 s