An investigation into the viability of heat sources for thermoelectric power generation systems

Thermoelectric materials are a potential means of converting thermal energy into clean and reliable electric power. Although current commercially-available modules are not economically viable, there is hope that in the next few years recent breakthroughs in the laboratories will result in a whole new class of high efficiency modules. To access the viability of the next generation of thermoelectric modules, improved system-level modeling tools are necessary. To this end, a versatile system model is developed, with the capability of accommodating many configurations, including but not limited to the number of modules, type of modules, geometrical parameters, and heat exchanger parameters. With this wide range of variables, it is possible to gain an understanding of the mechanisms of system performance and how they can be manipulated to optimize a thermoelectric system. Analytical tools, however, are necessary to determine the potential viability of the next generation of Thermoelectric Power Generation Systems. In this work, a model describing the performance of a thermoelectric system is developed and designed to operate over a large range of system configurations. The theoretical model is compared to the experimental results obtained from a Thermoelectric Power Generation System testing box tested under several configurations and conditions. Discrepancies between model and experiments are described with several model improvements developed and implemented. Finally, the model is incorporated with a heat transfer model and a pricing model to develop a preliminary optimization tool. The optimization tool is then used to analyze the viability of thermoelectric power generation in a hypothetical automotive application when compared with the operating costs of an alternator to develop viability curves based off the price of fuel

ANALYSIS OF CHANGING METHODS OF VERTICAL COORDINATION IN THE PORK INDUSTRY

This study examines the motivation behind contracts and vertical integration in the pork industry, and simulates the effects of potential improvements in coordination. Incentives related to lowering costs of measuring and sorting hogs, and protecting against opportunistic behavior associated with specific assets, can result in hog quality improvements. A framework for simulating the effects of increased coordination through contracts and vertical integration was developed and used to evaluate potential improvements in leanness. Although simulations suggest only modest changes in pork prices and supplies, gains in consumers' surplus could be substantial for larger demand shifts due to quality improvements.Contracts, Hogs, Lean pork, Simulation model, Vertical coordination, Vertical integration, Industrial Organization, Livestock Production/Industries,

Strategic Alliances in U.S. Branded Beef Programs

In this paper, we combine concepts from organizational economics to examine supply chain alliances formed to market branded beef products. To illustrate application of the framework, we examine three different types of alliances. We conclude that measuring costs associated with quality attributes have an important role in alliance structure.Agribusiness,

“Lattes with a Librarian”: Collaborating with Campus Partners to Offer Reference Services

Librarians met with colleagues in the Office of Multicultural Engagement (OME) to discuss new opportunities to support student initiatives. Lattes with a Librarian was proposed as a way to provide reference services for students outside of the library. Six dates during the fall semester were selected where a librarian would offer reference services for an hour in the College Union Building

Contractivity of the Method of Successive Approximations for Optimal Control

Strongly contracting dynamical systems have numerous properties (e.g., incremental ISS), find widespread applications (e.g., in controls and learning), and their study is receiving increasing attention. This work starts with the simple observation that, given a strongly contracting system, its adjoint dynamical system is also strongly contracting, with the same rate, with respect to the dual norm, under time reversal. As main implication of this dual contractivity, we show that the classic Method of Successive Approximations (MSA), an indirect method in optimal control, is a contraction mapping for short optimization intervals or large contraction rates. Consequently, we establish new convergence conditions for the MSA algorithm, which further imply uniqueness of the optimal control and sufficiency of Pontryagin's minimum principle under additional assumptions

Connecting Over Coffee: Extending Library Services for Students Through New Campus Partnerships

One meeting with potential partners on campus can turn into a new, exciting initiative to reach underrepresented and first-generation college students. Librarians at a small, private liberal arts college will share how they collaborated with the Office of Multicultural Engagement on their campus to provide reference services to students outside of the library. Emphasis was focused on serving first year students from underrepresented groups, however, the service was open to and used by students from a variety of backgrounds and class years. The speakers will share lessons learned, plans for future development, and assessment strategies

Interhemispheric claustral circuits coordinate sensory and motor cortical areas that regulate exploratory behaviors

The claustrum has a role in the interhemispheric transfer of certain types of sensorimotor information. Whereas the whisker region in rat motor (M1) cortex sends dense projections to the contralateral claustrum, the M1 forelimb representation does not. The claustrum sends strong ipsilateral projections to the whisker regions in M1 and somatosensory (S1) cortex, but its projections to the forelimb cortical areas are weak. These distinctions suggest that one function of the M1 projections to the contralateral claustrum is to coordinate the cortical areas that regulate peripheral sensor movements during behaviors that depend on bilateral sensory acquisition. If this hypothesis is true, then similar interhemispheric circuits should interconnect the frontal eye fields (FEF) with the contralateral claustrum and its network of projections to vision-related cortical areas. To test this hypothesis, anterograde and retrograde tracers were placed in physiologically-defined parts of the FEF and primary visual cortex (V1) in rats. We observed dense FEF projections to the contralateral claustrum that terminated in the midst of claustral neurons that project to both FEF and V1. While the FEF inputs to the claustrum come predominantly from the contralateral hemisphere, the claustral projections to FEF and V1 are primarily ipsilateral. Detailed comparison of the present results with our previous studies on somatomotor claustral circuitry revealed a well-defined functional topography in which the ventral claustrum is connected with visuomotor cortical areas and the dorsal regions are connected with somatomotor areas. These results suggest that subregions within the claustrum play a critical role in coordinating the cortical areas that regulate the acquisition of modality-specific sensory information during exploration and other behaviors that require sensory attention