Military markets for solar thermal electric power systems

The Department of Defense maintains an inventory of over 1,800 MW of engine-generators 15 KW and larger, with an estimated procurement rate of over 140 MW/year. Nearly the entire requirement could be met by advanced heat engines of the types being developed as point-focussing, distributed receiver power plants. A conceptual system consisting of a heat engine which efficiently burns liquid fossil or synthetic fuels, with a 'solarization kit' for conversion to hybrid solar operation could meet existing DOD requirements for new systems which are quieter, lighter, and multi-fueled. An estimated 24 percent (33 MW/year) or more could operationally benefit from the solar option. Baseline cost projections indicate levelized energy cost goals of 210 to 120 mills/KWh (15 to 1000 KW systems). Fuel cost escalation is the major factor affecting the value of the solar option. A baseline calculation for fuel at $0.59/gal in spring, 1979, escalating at 8 percent above general inflation indicates a value of$2700/KWe for a solarization kit

USAF solar thermal applications overview

Process heat applications were compared to solar thermal technologies. The generic process heat applications were analyzed for solar thermal technology utilization, using SERI's PROSYS/ECONOMAT model in an end use matching analysis and a separate analysis was made for solar ponds. Solar technologies appear attractive in a large number of applications. Low temperature applications at sites with high insolation and high fuel costs were found to be most attractive. No one solar thermal technology emerges as a clearly universal or preferred technology, however,, solar ponds offer a potential high payoff in a few, selected applications. It was shown that troughs and flat plate systems are cost effective in a large number of applications

Decay of Entropy and Information for multidimensional Kac models

We study the approach to equilibrium of systems of gas particles in terms of relative entropy. The systems are modeled by the Kac master equation in arbitrary dimensions. First, we study the Kac system coupled to a thermostat, and secondly connected to a heat reservoir. The use of the Fisher-information allows elementary proofs with weak regularity assumptions. As a result, we obtain for both systems exponential decay rates for the entropy and information that are essentially independent of the size of the systems.Comment: 34 page

Effects of Green LED Light on Lentinula edodes Respiration and Biomass

Light has not traditionally been thought to influence the growth of fungi, however, recent evidence suggests that limited exposure to green light can cause an increase of biomass production in the hyphal cells of Lentinula edodes (Shiitake Mushrooms). The dry and fresh weight, volume and respiration rates of a control group and a light-treated group of commercially-grown shiitake mushrooms were measured. Results will be presented

A Fresnel collector process heat experiment at Capitol Concrete Products

An experiment is planned, conducted and evaluated to determine the feasibility of using a Power Kinetics' Fresnel concentrator to provide process heat in an industrial environment. The plant provides process steam at 50 to 60 psig to two autoclaves for curing masonry blocks. When steam is not required, the plant preheats hot water for later use. A second system is installed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory parabolic dish test site for hardware validation and experiment control. Experiment design allows for the extrapolation of results to varying demands for steam and hot water, and includes a consideration of some socio-technical factors such as the impact on production scheduling of diurnal variations in energy availability

Dialog eller elektronisk oppslagstavle? : Tolv tippeligaklubbers bruk av sosiale medier som kommunikasjonsplattform

Stadig flere organisasjoner benytter seg av profiler på sosiale medier. Noen benytter det til å markedsføre seg selv, mens andre bruker det til å kommunisere med sine interessenter. Sosiale medier tilbyr organisasjoner og virksomheter større friheter til å bli kjent med sine egne brukere og interessenter. Gjennom åpenhet og dialogisk kommunikasjon blir både organisasjon og interessent mer avhengige av hverandre og det skapes sterkere relasjoner. I denne oppgaven vil tolv fotballklubber bli satt under lupen. Undersøkelsen vil se om klubbene benytter seg av som dialogisk kommunikasjon i sosiale medier for å føre nettopp dialog med egne supportere og dermed skape tettere bånd mellom klubb og supporter. Gjennom analysen diskuteres det om og hvordan dialog blir brukt. Tilstedeværelsen fører til at klubbene blir mer åpne, samtidig som det gir dem utfordringer med tanke på hvordan de skal bruke de nye mediene til både kommunikasjon og relasjonsbygging

Forensic attribution challenges during forensic examinations of databases

An aspect of database forensics that has not yet received much attention in the academic research community is the attribution of actions performed in a database. When forensic attribution is performed for actions executed in computer systems, it is necessary to avoid incorrectly attributing actions to processes or actors. This is because the outcome of forensic attribution may be used to determine civil or criminal liability. Therefore, correctness is extremely important when attributing actions in computer systems, also when performing forensic attribution in databases. Any circumstances that can compromise the correctness of the attribution results need to be identified and addressed. This dissertation explores possible challenges when performing forensic attribution in databases. What can prevent the correct attribution of actions performed in a database? Thirst identified challenge is the database trigger, which has not yet been studied in the context of forensic examinations. Therefore, the dissertation investigates the impact of database triggers on forensic examinations by examining two sub questions. Firstly, could triggers due to their nature, combined with the way databases are forensically acquired and analysed, lead to the contamination of the data that is being analysed? Secondly, can the current attribution process correctly identify which party is responsible for which changes in a database where triggers are used to create and maintain data? The second identified challenge is the lack of access and audit information in NoSQL databases. The dissertation thus investigates how the availability of access control and logging features in databases impacts forensic attribution. The database triggers, as dened in the SQL standard, are studied together with a number of database trigger implementations. This is done in order to establish, which aspects of a database trigger may have an impact on digital forensic acquisition, analysis and interpretation. Forensic examinations of relational and NoSQL databases are evaluated to determine what challenges the presence of database triggers pose. A number of NoSQL databases are then studied to determine the availability of access control and logging features. This is done because these features leave valuable traces for the forensic attribution process. An algorithm is devised, which provides a simple test to determine if database triggers played any part in the generation or manipulation of data in a specific database object. If the test result is positive, the actions performed by the implicated triggers will have to be considered in a forensic examination. This dissertation identified a group of database triggers, classified as non-data triggers, which have the potential to contaminate the data in popular relational databases by inconspicuous operations, such as connection or shutdown. It also established that database triggers can influence the normal ow of data operations. This means what the original operation intended to do, and what actually happened, are not necessarily the same. Therefore, the attribution of these operations becomes problematic and incorrect deductions can be made. Accordingly, forensic processes need to be extended to include the handling and analysis of all database triggers. This enables safer acquisition and analysis of databases and more accurate attribution of actions performed in databases. This dissertation also established that popular NoSQL databases either lack sufficient access control and logging capabilities or do not enable them by default to support attribution to the same level as in relational databases.Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2018.Computer ScienceMScUnrestricte

DNP FINAL REPORT: THE FLIPPED CLASSROOM: AN EVIDENCE-BASED, COURSE REDESIGN TO INCREASE RETENTION RATES IN A VOCATIONAL NURSING PROGRAM

Over the past three decades, Vocational Nursing has been taught using a conventional didactic method that is content heavy and lecture focused. Despite having a group of highly qualified professors and an excellent student pass rates on the National board examinations, student retention in a Vocational Nursing Program in central Texas remains below the National benchmark. With a unique student demographic that is identified as non-traditional (over 21, full-time working adults, English Second Language and single parents), we embarked upon the redesign of a Medical-Surgical Nursing course using the flipped pedagogical framework to increase retention rates. Therefore, in 2019 we flipped our classroom. In flipping our classroom, we eliminated the didactic delivery of content via lectures by uploading all lecture content into our learning management system (VidGrid), The focus was towards higher level thinking, applying and understanding of the online didactic modular content. The effectiveness of the FC approach was evaluated by analyzing the exam grades in the piolet FC and at the end of the semester. The data generated from this analysis indicated an 85 percent increase in exam grades and 70.4 percent increase in retention rates

Effects of the secondary decays on the isotopic thermometers

The sharp microcanonical multifragmentation model from [Al. H. Raduta and Ad. R. Raduta, Phys. Rev. C 55, 1344 (1997); Phys. Rev. C, in press] is employed for evaluating the nuclear caloric curve predictions of nine isotopic thermometers for three representative nuclei. Evaluations are performed for both primary decay and asymptotic stages. Effects of the secondary decays on the primary decay caloric curves are evidenced and discussed. In both cases a dispersive character of the isotopic caloric curves with increasing the source excitation energy is observed. A procedure of calibrating the isotopic thermometers on the microcanonical predictions for both primary decay and asymptotic stages is proposed. The resulting set of calibrating parameters for each thermometer is independent on the source size, on its excitation energy and, in the case of the primary decay, on the freeze-out radius assumption.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, Nuclear Physics A, in pres