Application of 2D Materials to Ultrashort Laser Pulse Generation

In recent years, novel two-dimensional (2D) materials have revolutionized the field of ultrafast laser technology. They have emerged as efficient, cost-effective, and universal saturable absorbers for the so-called ultrafast lasers, which emit ultrashort optical pulses (on the timescale of femtoseconds). Thanks to their unique optical properties, such as broadband absorption, short recovery time, low saturation fluence, and high modulation depth, they might be used as saturable absorbers for different lasers (solid state, fiber, semiconductor) operating at different wavelengths (ranging from 500 to 2500 nm). Such lasers may find various applications in different areas of industry, medical procedures, precise metrology, gas sensing, laser spectroscopy, etc. This chapter discusses the recent achievements in the area of ultrafast fiber lasers utilizing 2D materials: graphene, topological insulators (Bi2Te3, Bi2Se3, Sb2Te3), transition metal dichalcogenides (MoS2, WS2, etc.), and black phosphorus. The optical properties of those materials will be described. Their usability in ultrafast photonics will be discussed

Health-Related Beliefs, Practices, and Experiences of Migrant Dominicans in the Northeastern United States

Purpose: This study aimed to discover and describe migrant Dominican cultural beliefs and practices related to health, the ways that migrant Dominicans take care of their health in their new environment, and their experience with professional health care in the Northeastern United States. Design: This descriptive qualitative study was guided by Leininger’s Theory of Culture Care Diversity and Universality and four-phase analysis method. The health-related beliefs, practices and experiences of a convenience sample of 15 self-identified adult Dominicans living in the United States for six months or more were explored in three focus groups, assisted by trained culturally appropriate interpreters. Findings: Data analysis of focus group transcripts and observations revealed four themes: (a) stress affects health and well-being, (b) family support and faith in God are essential for healing, and promoting health and well-being, (c) migrant Dominicans use both folk care and professional care to treat illness and promote healing, health, and well-being, and (d) perceptions about the quality of professional care are affected by access to care, cost, communication and expressions of caring practices. Discussion and Conclusion: Implications and recommendations for nursing practice, education and research are discussed. Design and implementation challenges from this study, and strategies used to bridge cultural and linguistic barriers, may guide others in planning research with similar populations

Model-free non-invasive health assessment for battery energy storage assets

Increasing penetration of renewable energy generation in the modern power network introduces uncertainty about the energy available to maintain a balance between generation and demand due to its time-fluctuating output that is strongly dependent on the weather. With the development of energy storage technology, there is the potential for this technology to become a key element to help overcome this intermittency in a generation. However, the increasing penetration of battery energy storage within the power network introduces an additional challenge to asset owners on how to monitor and manage battery health. The accurate estimation of the health of this device is crucial in determining its reliability, power-delivering capability and ability to contribute to the operation of the whole power system. Generally, doing this requires invasive measurements or computationally expensive physics-based models, which do not scale up cost-effectively to a fleet of assets. As storage aggregation becomes more commonplace, there is a need for a health metric that will be able to predict battery health based only on the limited information available, eliminating the necessity of installation of extensive telemetry in the system. This work develops a solution to battery health prognostics by providing an alternative, a non-invasive approach to the estimation of battery health that estimates the extent to which a battery asset has been maloperated based only on the battery-operating regime imposed on the device. The model introduced in this work is based on the Hidden Markov Model, which stochastically models the battery limitations imposed by its chemistry as a combination of present and previous sequential charging actions, and articulates the preferred operating regime as a measure of health consequence. The resulting methodology is demonstrated on distribution network level electrical demand and generation data, accurately predicting maloperation under a number of battery technology scenarios. The effectiveness of the proposed battery maloperation model as a proxy for actual battery degradation for lithium-ion technology was also tested against lab tested battery degradation data, showing that the proposed health measure in terms of maloperation level reflected that measured in terms of capacity fade. The developed model can support condition monitoring and remaining useful life estimates, but in the wider context could also be used as the policy function in an automated scheduler to utilise assets while optimising their health.Increasing penetration of renewable energy generation in the modern power network introduces uncertainty about the energy available to maintain a balance between generation and demand due to its time-fluctuating output that is strongly dependent on the weather. With the development of energy storage technology, there is the potential for this technology to become a key element to help overcome this intermittency in a generation. However, the increasing penetration of battery energy storage within the power network introduces an additional challenge to asset owners on how to monitor and manage battery health. The accurate estimation of the health of this device is crucial in determining its reliability, power-delivering capability and ability to contribute to the operation of the whole power system. Generally, doing this requires invasive measurements or computationally expensive physics-based models, which do not scale up cost-effectively to a fleet of assets. As storage aggregation becomes more commonplace, there is a need for a health metric that will be able to predict battery health based only on the limited information available, eliminating the necessity of installation of extensive telemetry in the system. This work develops a solution to battery health prognostics by providing an alternative, a non-invasive approach to the estimation of battery health that estimates the extent to which a battery asset has been maloperated based only on the battery-operating regime imposed on the device. The model introduced in this work is based on the Hidden Markov Model, which stochastically models the battery limitations imposed by its chemistry as a combination of present and previous sequential charging actions, and articulates the preferred operating regime as a measure of health consequence. The resulting methodology is demonstrated on distribution network level electrical demand and generation data, accurately predicting maloperation under a number of battery technology scenarios. The effectiveness of the proposed battery maloperation model as a proxy for actual battery degradation for lithium-ion technology was also tested against lab tested battery degradation data, showing that the proposed health measure in terms of maloperation level reflected that measured in terms of capacity fade. The developed model can support condition monitoring and remaining useful life estimates, but in the wider context could also be used as the policy function in an automated scheduler to utilise assets while optimising their health

Health-Related Beliefs, Practices, and Experiences of Migrant Dominicans in the Northeastern United States

Purpose: This study aimed to discover and describe migrant Dominican cultural beliefs and practices related to health, the ways that migrant Dominicans take care of their health in their new environment, and their experience with professional health care in the Northeastern United States. Design: This descriptive qualitative study was guided by Leininger’s Theory of Culture Care Diversity and Universality and four-phase analysis method. The health-related beliefs, practices and experiences of a convenience sample of 15 self-identified adult Dominicans living in the United States for six months or more were explored in three focus groups, assisted by trained culturally appropriate interpreters. Findings: Data analysis of focus group transcripts and observations revealed four themes: (a) stress affects health and well-being, (b) family support and faith in God are essential for healing, and promoting health and well-being, (c) migrant Dominicans use both folk care and professional care to treat illness and promote healing, health, and well-being, and (d) perceptions about the quality of professional care are affected by access to care, cost, communication and expressions of caring practices. Discussion and Conclusion: Implications and recommendations for nursing practice, education and research are discussed. Design and implementation challenges from this study, and strategies used to bridge cultural and linguistic barriers, may guide others in planning research with similar populations

Energy storage day-ahead scheduling to reduce grid energy export and increase self-consumption for micro-grid and small power park applications

Developments in energy storage technology will start to play a prominent role in overcoming the problems of generation intermittency by providing the ability to shift demand to times when generation is available. However, exploiting the potential of this technology requires the design of an optimal charging and discharging schedule to allow its integration with the energy network that brings maximum advantage to both the system and the user. This paper introduces a mathematical model for generation and demand forecasting with energy storage scheduling that can be used for micro-grid and small power park applications. The proposed solution models the physical limitations associated with the energy storage technology used, which will constrain charge and discharge schedules beyond what can be forecast for them. A case study of a community feeder with large PV installations is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the model. Day-ahead charge and discharge schedules were produced that increased self-consumption within the system and reduced energy export to the grid. The main contribution of this work is the design of a generic parametrized forecasting and energy storage scheduling tool that will be a platform for further development to specialized storage technology and its potential scalability

Spirituality: The Power of Entrepreneurship

Spirituality is considered to be an essential nature of human being that strengthens their purpose and mental power to do something for the betterment of many people. Spirituality is considered as a part of theology or other divine disciplines. Spirituality is becoming an important topic in Management and Economics, particularly in entrepreneurship. It is an animating force and vital principle that motivates entrepreneurs to run a business which is not merely for making profit but, enabling them to better serve people. A real spiritual entrepreneur is not just looking for their own benefit, but for the betterment of others. Any business which is beneficial and helpful to others will grow better and enjoy economic benefits. Spirituality is in line with the core principle of entrepreneurs, which is doing business to meet customers’ need. One characteristic of spirituality is seeking to transcend the ego or their own self-centered interests. That is why spirituality is very important for entrepreneurs. It can be considered as a capital that has a number of core elements such as being driven by deep values, having a clear sense of purpose, and involving applied ethics in service