252 research outputs found
A Coin Vibrational Motor Swimming at Low Reynolds Number
Low-cost coin vibrational motors, used in haptic feedback, exhibit rotational internal motion inside a rigid case. Because the motor case motion exhibits rotational symmetry, when placed into a fluid such as glycerin, the motor does not swim even though its oscillatory motions induce steady streaming in the fluid. However, a piece of rubber foam stuck to the curved case and giving the motor neutral buoyancy also breaks the rotational symmetry allowing it to swim. We measured a 1 cm diameter coin vibrational motor swimming in glycerin at a speed of a body length in 3 seconds or at 3 mm/s. The swim speed puts the vibrational motor in a low Reynolds number regime similar to bacterial motility, but because of the oscillations of the motor it is not analogous to biological organisms. Rather the swimming vibrational motor may inspire small inexpensive robotic swimmers that are robust as they contain no external moving parts. A time dependent Stokes equation planar sheet model suggests that the swim speed depends on a steady streaming velocity V stream ~ Re 1/2s U 0 where U 0 is the velocity of surface oscillations, and streaming Reynolds number Re s = U 20/(ων) for motor angular frequency ω and fluid kinematic viscosity ν
Thermoeconomic and thermoenvironomic modeling and analysis of selected gas turbine power plants in Nigeria
This study presents comprehensive thermoeconomic and thermoenvironomic
modeling and analysis of selected gas turbine power plants in Nigeria using the
first and second laws of thermodynamics (exergy) concept. Exergetic analysis
was conducted using operating data obtained from the power plants to determine
the exergy destruction and exergy efficiency of each major component of the
gas turbine in each power plant. The results of the study showed that the combustion
chamber (CC) is the most exergy destructive component compared to
other cycle components. The percentage of exergy destruction in CC varies between
86.05% and 94.6%. By increasing the gas turbine inlet temperature (GTIT),
the exergy destruction of this component can be reduced. The total exergy improvement
potential of the selected plants varies from 54.04 to 159.88 MW. The
component with the highest exergy improvement potential is the CC, which has
the value that varies from 30.21 to 88.86 MW. Thermoeconomic analysis showed
that the cost of exergy destruction is high in the CC, and an increase in the
GTIT effectively decreases this cost. The exergy costing analysis revealed that the
unit cost of electricity produced in the plants ranged from cents 1.99/kWh (N3.16/
kWh) to cents 5.65 /kWh (N8.98/kWh). Thermoenvironomic analysis showed
that the CO2 emissions varied between 100.18 and 408.78 kg CO2/MWh, while
cost rate of environmental impact varied from 40.18 /h (44, 038. 23 N/h). The results further showed that CO2 emissions
and cost of environmental impact decrease with increasing GTIT. The sustainability
index increase with increasing GTIT. Finally, this study will assist efforts
to understand the thermodynamic losses in the gas turbine cycle, and to improve
efficiency as well as provide future recommendations for better performance,
sustainability, and lessening environmental impact of power plant
Inflammation-dependent cerebrospinal fluid hypersecretion by the choroid plexus epithelium in posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer Nature via the DOI in this recordThere is another record in ORE for this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/10871/33419The choroid plexus epithelium (CPE) secretes higher volumes of fluid (cerebrospinal fluid, CSF) than any other epithelium and simultaneously functions as the blood-CSF barrier to gate immune cell entry into the central nervous system. Posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus (PHH), an expansion of the cerebral ventricles due to CSF accumulation following intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), is a common disease usually treated by suboptimal CSF shunting techniques. PHH is classically attributed to primary impairments in CSF reabsorption, but little experimental evidence supports this concept. In contrast, the potential contribution of CSF secretion to PHH has received little attention. In a rat model of PHH, we demonstrate that IVH causes a Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)- and NF-κB-dependent inflammatory response in the CPE that is associated with a ∼3-fold increase in bumetanide-sensitive CSF secretion. IVH-induced hypersecretion of CSF is mediated by TLR4-dependent activation of the Ste20-type stress kinase SPAK, which binds, phosphorylates, and stimulates the NKCC1 co-transporter at the CPE apical membrane. Genetic depletion of TLR4 or SPAK normalizes hyperactive CSF secretion rates and reduces PHH symptoms, as does treatment with drugs that antagonize TLR4-NF-κB signaling or the SPAK-NKCC1 co-transporter complex. These data uncover a previously unrecognized contribution of CSF hypersecretion to the pathogenesis of PHH, demonstrate a new role for TLRs in regulation of the internal brain milieu, and identify a kinase-regulated mechanism of CSF secretion that could be targeted by repurposed US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs to treat hydrocephalus.We thank D.R. Alessi (Dundee) and R.P. Lifton (Rockefeller) for their support. K.T.K. is supported by the March of Dimes Basil O'Connor Award, a Simons Foundation SFARI Grant, the Hydrocephalus Association Innovator Award, and the NIH (4K12NS080223-05). J.M.S. is supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) (NS060801; NS061808) and the US Department of Veterans Affairs (1BX002889); R.M. is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Multimessenger Characterization of Markarian 501 during Historically Low X-Ray and γ-Ray Activity
We study the broadband emission of Mrk 501 using multiwavelength observations from 2017 to 2020 performed with a multitude of instruments, involving, among others, MAGIC, Fermi's Large Area Telescope (LAT), NuSTAR, Swift, GASP-WEBT, and the Owens Valley Radio Observatory. Mrk 501 showed an extremely low broadband activity, which may help to unravel its baseline emission. Nonetheless, significant flux variations are detected at all wave bands, with the highest occurring at X-rays and very-high-energy (VHE) 3-rays. A significant correlation (>3σ) between X-rays and VHE 3-rays is measured, supporting leptonic scenarios to explain the variable parts of the emission, also during low activity. This is further supported when we extend our data from 2008 to 2020, and identify, for the first time, significant correlations between the Swift X-Ray Telescope and Fermi-LAT. We additionally find correlations between high-energy 3-rays and radio, with the radio lagging by more than 100 days, placing the 3-ray emission zone upstream of the radio-bright regions in the jet. Furthermore, Mrk 501 showed a historically low activity in X-rays and VHE 3-rays from mid-2017 to mid-2019 with a stable VHE flux (>0.2 TeV) of 5% the emission of the Crab Nebula. The broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) of this 2 yr long low state, the potential baseline emission of Mrk 501, can be characterized with one-zone leptonic models, and with (lepto)-hadronic models fulfilling neutrino flux constraints from IceCube. We explore the time evolution of the SED toward the low state, revealing that the stable baseline emission may be ascribed to a standing shock, and the variable emission to an additional expanding or traveling shock. © 2023. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society
Multi-messenger characterization of Mrk 501 during historically low X-ray and -ray activity
We study the broadband emission of Mrk 501 using multi-wavelength
observations from 2017 to 2020 performed with a multitude of instruments,
involving, among others, MAGIC, Fermi-LAT, NuSTAR, Swift, GASP-WEBT, and OVRO.
Mrk 501 showed an extremely low broadband activity, which may help to unravel
its baseline emission. Nonetheless, significant flux variations are detected at
all wavebands, with the highest occurring at X-rays and very-high-energy (VHE)
-rays. A significant correlation (3) between X-rays and VHE
-rays is measured, supporting leptonic scenarios to explain the
variable parts of the emission, also during low activity. This is further
supported when we extend our data from 2008 to 2020, and identify, for the
first time, significant correlations between Swift-XRT and Fermi-LAT. We
additionally find correlations between high-energy -rays and radio,
with the radio lagging by more than 100 days, placing the -ray emission
zone upstream of the radio-bright regions in the jet. Furthermore, Mrk 501
showed a historically low activity in X-rays and VHE -rays from
mid-2017 to mid-2019 with a stable VHE flux (0.2 TeV) of 5% the emission of
the Crab Nebula. The broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) of this
2-year-long low-state, the potential baseline emission of Mrk 501, can be
characterized with one-zone leptonic models, and with (lepto)-hadronic models
fulfilling neutrino flux constraints from IceCube. We explore the time
evolution of the SED towards the low-state, revealing that the stable baseline
emission may be ascribed to a standing shock, and the variable emission to an
additional expanding or traveling shock.Comment: 56 pages, 30 figures, 14 tables, submitted. Corresponding authors are
L. Heckmann, D. Paneque, S. Gasparyan, M. Cerruti, and N. Sahakya
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