5,018 research outputs found
Nanostructured thermoelectric generator for energy harvesting
This paper presents the development processes towards a new generation of nanostructured thermoelectric generators for power harvesting from small temperature gradients by using a combination of traditional silicon microfabrication techniques, electroplating and submicron ion-track nanolithography. Polyimide nanotemplates with pore diameters ranging from 30nm to 120 nm were fabricated. Preliminary results for Bi2Te3 nanowires (50 and 120 nm diameter) electroplated into polycarbonate ion-track commercial membranes are presented. Bi2Te3 nanowires of R ̄ 3m structure, with preferential orientation in the (015) and (110) crystallographic plans with nearly stoichiometric composition were electroplated. The fine-grained observed microstructure (6-10 nm) and (110) crystalline orientation appear extremely promising for improving thermoelectric material properties
Relative Value Iteration for Stochastic Differential Games
We study zero-sum stochastic differential games with player dynamics governed
by a nondegenerate controlled diffusion process. Under the assumption of
uniform stability, we establish the existence of a solution to the Isaac's
equation for the ergodic game and characterize the optimal stationary
strategies. The data is not assumed to be bounded, nor do we assume geometric
ergodicity. Thus our results extend previous work in the literature. We also
study a relative value iteration scheme that takes the form of a parabolic
Isaac's equation. Under the hypothesis of geometric ergodicity we show that the
relative value iteration converges to the elliptic Isaac's equation as time
goes to infinity. We use these results to establish convergence of the relative
value iteration for risk-sensitive control problems under an asymptotic
flatness assumption
Global analysis of gene expression in unseparated and CD8+ cells from bronchoalveolar lavage of patients with scleroderma lung disease
Stratorotational instability in MHD Taylor-Couette flows
The stability of dissipative Taylor-Couette flows with an axial stable
density stratification and a prescribed azimuthal magnetic field is considered.
Global nonaxisymmetric solutions of the linearized MHD equations with toroidal
magnetic field, axial density stratification and differential rotation are
found for both insulating and conducting cylinder walls. Flat rotation laws
such as the quasi-Kepler law are unstable against the nonaxisymmetric
stratorotational instability (SRI). The influence of a current-free toroidal
magnetic field depends on the magnetic Prandtl number Pm: SRI is supported by
Pm > 1 and it is suppressed by Pm \lsim 1. For too flat rotation laws a smooth
transition exists to the instability which the toroidal magnetic field produces
in combination with the differential rotation. This nonaxisymmetric azimuthal
magnetorotational instability (AMRI) has been computed under the presence of an
axial density gradient. If the magnetic field between the cylinders is not
current-free then also the Tayler instability occurs and the transition from
the hydrodynamic SRI to the magnetic Tayler instability proves to be rather
complex. Most spectacular is the `ballooning' of the stability domain by the
density stratification: already a rather small rotation stabilizes magnetic
fields against the Tayler instability. An azimuthal component of the resulting
electromotive force only exists for density-stratified flows. The related
alpha-effect for magnetic SRI of Kepler rotation appears to be positive for
negative d\rho/dz <0.Comment: 10 pages, 13 figures, submitted to Astron. Astrophy
Decreased Protein C, Protein S and Antithrombin III Levels are predictive of poor outcome in Gram-negative sepsis caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei
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