Evaluation of porous ceramic cathode layers for solid oxide fuel cells

Sr0.15La0.85MnO3 layers with 2 and 10 u thickness, deposited on zirconia based electrolytes, were evaluated as cathodes for high temperature applications. Different electrode layers were characterized in terms of thickness, porosity, three phase boundary line per unit area (TPBL), and concentration polarization behavior. Electrodes with maximum porosity and TPBL exhibit minimum concentration polarization losses at constant current density

Evaluating The Effects Of Different Vegetation Types On Necrophagous Fly Communities (diptera: Calliphoridae; Sarcophagidae): Implications For Conservation

The present study was conducted in five different phytogeographic zones of the Brazilian state of Maranhão, three of which (the Amazon Forest, Cerrado, and Palm Groves) are more heterogeneous, whereas the other two (Marshlands and Mangroves) are more homogeneous. In each zone, nine sites were visited for the collection of necrophagous flies using bait traps in 2010, 2011, and 2012. The calliphorid and sarcophagid communities observed at each site were compared in terms of species richness, composition, and abundance. The more heterogeneous zones had higher species richness, except in the case of the sarcophagids in the forest habitats. The calliphorids Chloroprocta idioidea (Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830), Mesembrinella bicolor (Fabricius, 1805), Hemilucilia semi-diaphana (Rondani, 1850) and Lucilia eximia (Wiedemann, 1819) were more closely associated with the Cerrado, Palm Grove and Amazon Forest zones, and Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius, 194) with the Mangrove. In the sarcophagids, Peckia (Euboettcheria) subducta (Lopes, 1935) and P. (Pattonella) palidipilosa (Curran & Walley, 1934) were associated with the Amazon Forest, and P. (Sarcodexia) lambens (Wiede-mann, 1830) and Tricharaea (Sarcophagula) occidua (Fabricius, 1794) with the Palm Grove and Cerrado zones. In the calliphorids, the greatest dissimilarity was recorded between the Amazon Forest and the Mangrove and Lowland grassland zones. In the sar-cophagids, by contrast, the greatest dissimilarities were recorded between the Amazon Forest and all the other four zones. In general, then, the phytogeographic zones with the highest environmental heterogeneity were characterized by the greatest species richness and abundance of necrophagous flies. © 2016 Pereira de Sousa et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.111

A PLL-based multirate structure for time-varying power systems harmonic/interharmonic estimation

This paper describes a phase-locked-loop (PLL)-based power systems harmonic estimation algorithm, which uses an analysis filter bank and multirate processing. The filter bank is composed of bandpass filters. The initial center frequency of each filter is purposely chosen to be equal to harmonic frequencies. However, an adaptation strategy makes it possible to track time-varying frequencies as well as interharmonic components. A downsampler device follows the filtering stage, reducing the computational burden, especially because undersampling operations are performed. Finally, the last stage is composed of a PLL estimator which provides estimates for amplitude, phase, and frequency of the input signal. The proposed method improves the accuracy, computational effort, and convergence time of the previous harmonic estimator based on cascade PLL configuration

Efeitos do beneficiamento na qualidade de sementes de milho infectadas por Fusarium moniliforme sheld

In order to evaluate processing effects on the quality of corn seeds infected by Fusarium moniliforme Sheld seeds were submitted to screen classification yielding 4 fractions (24/64; 22/64; 20/64; 18/64 of the inch) and the other part was separated by weight in a gravity separator. The separator originated three fractions that in turn were individually submitted to the same equipment generating, each one, three other fractions. All fractions were evaluated for germination, vigor, density, weight of a thousand seeds, and sanity. The width classification is not effective in the selection of infected seeds; however, the increase of seed width is followed by higher germination and vigor values.Com o objetivo de avaliar os efeitos do beneficiamento na qualidade de lotes com sementes de milho infectadas com Fusarium moniliforme Sheld, sementes foram submetidas à classificação por peneiras, originando 4 frações (24/64; 22/64; 20/64; 18/64 de polegada) e à separação por peso através da ação da mesa gravitational, originando três frações que foram individualmente submetidas ao mesmo equipamento gerando, cada uma, mais três frações. Todas as frações foram avaliadas quanto à germinação, ao vigor, à densidade, ao peso de mil sementes e à sanidade. A classificação por largura não é eficaz para separar as sementes infectadas; no entanto, o aumento da largura das sementes é acompanhado pela elevação dos valores da germinação e do vigor

Low temperature behavior of poultry fat biodiesel:diesel blends

AbstractAs the worldwide consumption of poultry meat rises the use of poultry fat as a feedstock for biodiesel production becomes attractive considering economical and environmental reasons. However, poultry fat biodiesel still faces some restrictions due to its poor flow properties at low temperatures. In this study ethylic and methylic poultry fat biodiesels and their blends with diesel were evaluated in terms of flow properties. Modulated Temperature Differential Scanning Calorimetry (MT-DSC) was used to understand the physical meaning of properties as Cold Filter Plugging Point (CFPP), Pour Point (PP) and Cloud Point (CP), widely used in biodiesel characterization. Based on the MT-DSC studies, it was observed that the first crystallization peak temperature had values similar to CFPP and CP. This way CP was found to be associated with the first solidified material and not with the early formation of the first nuclei, as normally reported. On the other hand, these crystals already lead to the flow decrease, as indicate by the CFPP results. PP values were close to the second crystallization peak temperature, not being related to the complete solidification of the fuel

Prospective evaluation of glutamine and phospholipids levels in first degree relatives of patients with Type 1 Diabetes from a multiethnic population

A dysregulation in the metabolism of lipids may be an early marker of autoimmunity in Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). It would be of general importance to identify metabolic patterns that would predict the risk for T1D later in life. The aim of this study was to perform a prospective evaluation of glutamine and phospholipids levels in Brazilian first degree relatives (FDR) of patients with T1D in a mean interval of 5 years

Chaotic Diffusion on Periodic Orbits: The Perturbed Arnol'd Cat Map

Chaotic diffusion on periodic orbits (POs) is studied for the perturbed Arnol'd cat map on a cylinder, in a range of perturbation parameters corresponding to an extended structural-stability regime of the system on the torus. The diffusion coefficient is calculated using the following PO formulas: (a) The curvature expansion of the Ruelle zeta function. (b) The average of the PO winding-number squared, $w^{2}$, weighted by a stability factor. (c) The uniform (nonweighted) average of $w^{2}$. The results from formulas (a) and (b) agree very well with those obtained by standard methods, for all the perturbation parameters considered. Formula (c) gives reasonably accurate results for sufficiently small parameters corresponding also to cases of a considerably nonuniform hyperbolicity. This is due to {\em uniformity sum rules} satisfied by the PO Lyapunov eigenvalues at {\em fixed} $w$. These sum rules follow from general arguments and are supported by much numerical evidence.Comment: 6 Tables, 2 Figures (postscript); To appear in Physical Review

Charged lepton Flavor Violation in Supersymmetry with Bilinear R-Parity Violation

The simplest unified extension of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model with bi-linear R-parity violation naturally predicts a hierarchical neutrino mass spectrum, suitable to explain atmospheric and solar neutrino fluxes. We study whether the individual violation of the lepton numbers L_{e,mu,tau} in the charged sector can lead to measurable rates for BR(mu->e gamma)and $BR(tau-> mu gamma). We find that some of the R-parity violating terms that are compatible with the observed atmospheric neutrino oscillations could lead to rates for mu->e gamma measurable in projected experiments. However, the Delta m^2_{12} obtained for those parameters is too high to be compatible with the solar neutrino data, excluding therefore the possibility of having measurable rates for mu->e gamma in the model.Comment: 29 pages, 8 figures. Constraint from solar neutrino data included, conclusions changed respect v