8,789 research outputs found
Development of a solar-powered residential air conditioner: System optimization preliminary specification
Investigations aimed at the optimization of a baseline Rankine cycle solar powered air conditioner and the development of a preliminary system specification were conducted. Efforts encompassed the following: (1) investigations of the use of recuperators/regenerators to enhance the performance of the baseline system, (2) development of an off-design computer program for system performance prediction, (3) optimization of the turbocompressor design to cover a broad range of conditions and permit operation at low heat source water temperatures, (4) generation of parametric data describing system performance (COP and capacity), (5) development and evaluation of candidate system augmentation concepts and selection of the optimum approach, (6) generation of auxiliary power requirement data, (7) development of a complete solar collector-thermal storage-air conditioner computer program, (8) evaluation of the baseline Rankine air conditioner over a five day period simulating the NASA solar house operation, and (9) evaluation of the air conditioner as a heat pump
Local Density of the Bose Glass Phase
We study the Bose-Hubbard model in the presence of on-site disorder in the
canonical ensemble and conclude that the local density of the Bose glass phase
behaves differently at incommensurate filling than it does at commensurate one.
Scaling of the superfluid density at incommensurate filling of and
on-site interaction predicts a superfluid-Bose glass transition at
disorder strength of . At this filling the local density
distribution shows skew behavior with increasing disorder strength.
Multifractal analysis also suggests a multifractal behavior resembling that of
the Anderson localization. Percolation analysis points to a phase transition of
percolating non-integer filled sites around the same value of disorder. Our
findings support the scenario of percolating superfluid clusters enhancing
Anderson localization near the superfluid-Bose glass transition. On the other
hand, the behavior of the commensurate filled system is rather different. Close
to the tip of the Mott lobe () we find a Mott insulator-Bose
glass transition at disorder strength of . An analysis of
the local density distribution shows Gaussian like behavior for a wide range of
disorders above and below the transition.Comment: 12 pages, 14 figure
An advanced transparent hydropolymer wound dressing for undisturbed postâop management of surgical wounds following hip and knee replacement: A prospective observational series
Total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) are standardised surgical procedures for patients with complex comorbidities. The enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocol has shown reduced lengths of hospital stay and reduced postoperative complications. Currently, there is a paucity of recommendations in regards to dressing selection for postoperative wound care within the ERAS protocol. The aim of this study was to investigate the usefulness of a transparent hydropolymer wound dressing in suit for 14âdays in 20 orthopaedic patients following hip or knee arthroplasty under the ERAS protocol. The majority of participants (90%) had a wear time of 14âdays without the need for dressing removal. Clinicians rated the dressing very easy to apply with very good visibility of the incision line (100%). All participants reported the dressing to be âvery comfortableâ (95%, n = 19) or âcomfortableâ (5%, n = 1). Overall, the transparent hydropolymer dressing provided sufficient incision site visibility, reducing the need for dressing changes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to show that the use of a transparent hydropolymer dressing in situ for 14âdays to allow undisturbed wound healing
A burst from the direction of UZ Fornacis with XMM-Newton
The XMM-Newton pointing towards the magnetic cataclysmic variable UZ For
finds the source to be a factor > 10^3 fainter than previous EXOSAT and ROSAT
observations. The source was not detected for the majority of a 22 ksec
exposure with the EPIC cameras, suggesting that the accretion rate either
decreased, or stopped altogether. However a 1.1 ksec burst was detected from UZ
For during the observation. Spectral fits favour optically thin, kT = 4.4 keV
thermal emission. Detection of the burst by the on-board Optical Monitor
indicates that this was most probably an accretion event. The 0.1-10 keV
luminosity of 2.1 x 10^30 erg/s is typical for accretion shock emission from
high state polars and would result from the potential energy release of ~ 10^16
g of gas. There is no significant soft excess due to reprocessing in the white
dwarf atmosphere.Comment: 7 pages, 2 postscript figures, ApJL, in pres
A bremsstrahlung gamma-ray source based on stable ionization injection of electrons into a laser wakefield accelerator
Laser wakefield acceleration permits the generation of ultra-short,
high-brightness relativistic electron beams on a millimeter scale. While those
features are of interest for many applications, the source remains constraint
by the poor stability of the electron injection process. Here we present
results on injection and acceleration of electrons in pure nitrogen and argon.
We observe stable, continuous ionization-induced injection of electrons into
the wakefield for laser powers exceeding a threshold of 7 TW. The beam charge
scales approximately linear with the laser energy and is limited by beam
loading. For 40 TW laser pulses we measure a maximum charge of almost 1 nC per
shot, originating mostly from electrons of less than 10 MeV energy. The
relatively low energy, the high charge and its stability make this source
well-suited for applications such as non-destructive testing. Hence, we
demonstrate the production of energetic radiation via bremsstrahlung conversion
at 1 Hz repetition rate. In accordance with Geant4 Monte-Carlo simulations, we
measure a gamma-ray source size of less than 100 microns for a 0.5 mm tantalum
converter placed at 2 mm from the accelerator exit. Furthermore we present
radiographs of image quality indicators
A Reanalysis of theUltraviolet Extinction from Interstellar Dust in the Large Magellanic Cloud
We have reanalyzed the Large Magellanic Cloud's (LMC) ultraviolet (UV)
extinction using data from the IUE final archive. Our new analysis takes
advantage of the improved signal--to--noise of the IUE NEWSIPS reduction, the
exclusion of stars with very low reddening, the careful selection of well
matched comparison stars, and an analysis of the effects of Galactic foreground
dust. Differences between the average extinction curves of the 30 Dor region
and the rest of the LMC are reduced compared to previous studies. We find that
there is a group of stars with very weak 2175 Ang. bumps that lie in or near
the region occupied by the supergiant shell, LMC 2, on the southeast side of 30
Dor. The average extinction curves inside and outside LMC 2 show a very
significant difference in 2175 Ang. bump strength, but their far--UV
extinctions are similar. While it is unclear whether or not the extinction
outside the LMC 2 region can be fit with the relation of Cardelli, Clayton and
Mathis (CCM), sightlines near LMC 2 cannot be fit with CCM due to their weak
2175 Ang. bumps. While the extinction properties seen in the LMC lie within the
range of properties seen in the Galaxy, the correlations of UV extinction
properties with environment seen in the Galaxy do not appear to hold in the
LMC.Comment: 29 pages, 10 figures, to be published in Ap
Development and application of an algorithm for detecting <i>Phaeocystis globosa</i> blooms in the Case 2 Southern North Sea waters
While mapping algal blooms from space is now well-established, mapping undesirable algal blooms in eutrophicated coastal waters raises further challenge in detecting individual phytoplankton species. In this paper, an algorithm is developed and tested for detecting Phaeocystis globosa blooms in the Southern North Sea. For this purpose, we first measured the light absorption properties of two phytoplankton groups, P. globosa and diatoms, in laboratory-controlled experiments. The main spectral difference between both groups was observed at 467 nm due to the absorption of the pigment chlorophyll c3 only present in P. globosa, suggesting that the absorption at 467 nm can be used to detect this alga in the field. A Phaeocystis-detection algorithm is proposed to retrieve chlorophyll c3 using either total absorption or water-leaving reflectance field data. Application of this algorithm to absorption and reflectance data from Phaeocystis-dominated natural communities shows positive results. Comparison with pigment concentrations and cell counts suggests that the algorithm can flag the presence of P. globosa and provide quantitative information above a chlorophyll c3 threshold of 0.3 mg m-3 equivalent to a P. globosa cell density of 3 Ă 106 cells L-1. Finally, the possibility of extrapolating this information to remote sensing reflectance data in these turbid waters is evaluated
Cyclotron modeling phase-resolved infrared spectroscopy of polars I: EF Eridani
We present phase-resolved low resolution infrared spectra of the polar EF
Eridani obtained over a period of 2 years with SPEX on the IRTF. The spectra,
covering the wavelength range 0.8 to 2.4 microns, are dominated by cyclotron
emission at all phases. We use a ``Constant Lambda'' prescription to attempt to
model the changing cyclotron features seen in the spectra. A single cyclotron
emission component with B = 12.6 MG, and a plasma temperature of kT = 5.0 keV,
does a reasonable job in matching the features seen in the H and K bands, but
fails to completely reproduce the morphology shortward of 1.6 microns. We find
that a two component model, where both components have similar properties, but
whose contributions differ with viewing geometry, provides an excellent fit to
the data. We discuss the implications of our models and compare them with
previously published results. In addition, we show that a cyclotron model with
similar properties to those used for modeling the infrared spectra, but with a
field strength of B = 115 MG, can explain the GALEX observations of EF Eri.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Ap
8Be cluster emission versus alpha evaporation in 28Si + 12C
The possible occurence of highly deformed configurations in the Ca
di-nuclear system formed in the Si + C reaction is investigated
by analyzing the spectra of emitted light charged particles. Both inclusive and
exclusive measurements of the heavy fragments (A 10) and their
associated light charged particles (protons and particles) have been
made at the IReS Strasbourg {\sc VIVITRON} Tandem facility at bombarding
energies of (Si) = 112 MeV and 180 MeV by using the {\sc
ICARE} charged particle multidetector array. The energy spectra, velocity
distributions, in-plane and out-of-plane angular correlations of light charged
particles are compared to statistical-model calculations using a consistent set
of parameters with spin-dependent level densities. This spin dependence
approach suggests the onset of large nuclear deformation in Ca at high
spin. This conclusion might be connected with the recent observation of
superdeformed bands in the Ca nucleus. The analysis of
particles in coincidence with S fragments suggests a surprisingly strong
Be cluster emission of a binary nature.Comment: 39 pages 15 figure
Search for emission of unstable Be clusters from hot Ca and Ni nuclei
The possible occurence of highly deformed configurations is investigated in
the Ca and Ni di-nuclear systems as formed in the Si +
C and Si + Si reactions, respectively, by using the
properties of emitted light charged particles. Inclusive as well as exclusive
data of the heavy fragments (A 6) and their associated light charged
particles (p, d, t, and -particles) have been collected at the IReS
Strasbourg VIVITRON Tandem facility with two bombarding energies
Si) = 112 and 180 MeV by using the ICARE charged particle
multidetector array, which consists of nearly 40 telescopes. The measured
energy spectra, velocity distributions, in-plane and out-of-plane angular
correlations are analysed by Monte Carlo CASCADE statistical-model calculations
using a consistent set of parameters with spin-dependent level densities.
Although significant deformation effects at high spin are needed, the remaining
disagreement observed in the Si + C reaction for the S
evaporation residue suggests an unexpected large unstable Be cluster
emission of a binary nature.Comment: 13 pages latex, 9 eps figures. Paper presented at the XXXIX
International Winter Meeting on Nuclear Physics, Bormio(Italy) January 22-27,
2001 (to be published at Ricerca Scientifica ed Educazione Permanente
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