464 research outputs found
HT-FED2004-56184 CFD ANALYSIS OF GAS-INSULATED TRANSFORMERS
ABSTRACT A thermal design of transformers has been performed using an empirical formula. In order to reduce the developing cost and time, CFD analysis is used in thermal design process for gas-insulated transformers. We calculated the pressure loss of coolant and the temperature rise of winding with empirical formulas and CFD analysis. Also, we constructed some real machines and compared the analytic results with the experimental data. The comparison shows a good agreement between the CFD calculations and experimental results
Measuring Temperature Gradients over Nanometer Length Scales
When a quantum dot is subjected to a thermal gradient, the temperature of
electrons entering the dot can be determined from the dot's thermocurrent if
the conductance spectrum and background temperature are known. We demonstrate
this technique by measuring the temperature difference across a 15 nm quantum
dot embedded in a nanowire. This technique can be used when the dot's energy
states are separated by many kT and will enable future quantitative
investigations of electron-phonon interaction, nonlinear thermoelectric
effects, and the effciency of thermoelectric energy conversion in quantum dots.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
Screening of suitable cationic dopants for solar absorber material CZTS/Se: A first principles study
The earth abundant and non-toxic solar absorber material kesterite Cu2ZnSn(S/Se)(4) has been studied to achieve high power conversion efficiency beyond various limitations, such as secondary phases, antisite defects, band gap adjustment and microstructure. To alleviate these hurdles, we employed screening based approach to find suitable cationic dopant that can promote the current density and the theoretical maximum upper limit of the energy conversion efficiency (P(%)) of CZTS/Se solar devices. For this task, the hybrid functional (Heyd, Scuseria and Ernzerhof, HSE06) were used to study the electronic and optical properties of cation (Al, Sb, Ga, Ba) doped CZTS/Se. Our in-depth investigation reveals that the Sb atom is suitable dopant of CZTS/CZTSe and also it has comparable bulk modulus as of pure material. The optical absorption coefficient of Sb doped CZTS/Se is considerably larger than the pure materials because of easy formation of visible range exciton due to the presence of defect state below the Fermi level, which leads to an increase in the current density and P(%). Our results demonstrate that the lower formation energy, preferable energy gap and excellent optical absorption of the Sb doped CZTS/Se make it potential component for relatively high efficient solar cells
Practical Implementation of Attitude-Control Algorithms for an Underactuated Satellite
The challenging problem of controlling the attitude of satellites subject to actuator failures has been the subject of increased attention in recent years. The problem of controlling the attitude of a satellite on all three axes with two reaction wheels is addressed in this paper. This system is controllable in a zero-momentum mode. Three-axis attitude stability is proven by imposing a singular quaternion feedback law to the angular velocity trajectories.Two approaches are proposed and compared to achieve three-axis control: The first one does not require angular velocity measurements and is based on the assumption of a perfect zero momentum, while the second approach consists of tracking the desired angular velocity trajectories. The full-state feedback is a nonlinear singular controller. In-orbit tests of the first approach provide an unprecedented practical proof of three-axis stability with two control torques. The angular velocity tracking approach is shown to be less efficient using the nonlinear singular controller. However, when inverse optimization theory is applied to enhance the nonlinear singular controller, the angular velocity tracking approach is shown to be the most efficient. The resulting switched inverse optimal controller allows for a significant enhancement of settling time, for a prescribed level of the integrated torque
New insights into electron spin dynamics in the presence of correlated noise
The changes of the spin depolarization length in zinc-blende semiconductors
when an external component of correlated noise is added to a static driving
electric field are analyzed for different values of field strength, noise
amplitude and correlation time. Electron dynamics is simulated by a Monte Carlo
procedure which keeps into account all the possible scattering phenomena of the
hot electrons in the medium and includes the evolution of spin polarization.
Spin depolarization is studied by examinating the decay of the initial spin
polarization of the conduction electrons through the D'yakonov-Perel process,
the only relevant relaxation mechanism in III-V crystals. Our results show
that, for electric field amplitude lower than the Gunn field, the dephasing
length shortens with the increasing of the noise intensity. Moreover, a
nonmonotonic behavior of spin depolarization length with the noise correlation
time is found, characterized by a maximum variation for values of noise
correlation time comparable with the dephasing time. Instead, in high field
conditions, we find that, critically depending on the noise correlation time,
external fluctuations can positively affect the relaxation length. The
influence of the inclusion of the electron-electron scattering mechanism is
also shown and discussed.Comment: Published on "Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter" as "Fast Track
Communications", 11 pages, 9 figure
Negative Thermal Expansion Coefficient of Graphene Measured by Raman Spectroscopy
The thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) of single-layer graphene is estimated
with temperature-dependent Raman spectroscopy in the temperature range between
200 and 400 K. It is found to be strongly dependent on temperature but remains
negative in the whole temperature range, with a room temperature value of
-8.0x10^{-6} K^{-1}. The strain caused by the TEC mismatch between graphene and
the substrate plays a crucial role in determining the physical properties of
graphene, and hence its effect must be accounted for in the interpretation of
experimental data taken at cryogenic or elevated temperatures.Comment: 17 pagese, 3 figures, and supporting information (4 pages, 3
figures); Nano Letters, 201
Probing Mechanical Properties of Graphene with Raman Spectroscopy
The use of Raman scattering techniques to study the mechanical properties of
graphene films is reviewed here. The determination of Gruneisen parameters of
suspended graphene sheets under uni- and bi-axial strain is discussed and the
values are compared to theoretical predictions. The effects of the
graphene-substrate interaction on strain and to the temperature evolution of
the graphene Raman spectra are discussed. Finally, the relation between
mechanical and thermal properties is presented along with the characterization
of thermal properties of graphene with Raman spectroscopy.Comment: To appear in the Journal of Materials Scienc
Prognostic role of computed tomography-based, artificial intelligence-driven waist skeletal muscle volume in uterine endometrial carcinoma
Abstract
Objectives
To investigate the impact of computed tomography (CT)-based, artificial intelligence-driven waist skeletal muscle volume on survival outcomes in patients with endometrial cancer.
Methods
We retrospectively identified endometrial cancer patients who received primary surgical treatment between 2014 and 2018 and whose pre-treatment CT scans were available (n = 385). Using an artificial intelligence-based tool, the skeletal muscle area (cm2) at the third lumbar vertebra (L3) and the skeletal muscle volume (cm3) at the waist level were measured. These values were converted to the L3 skeletal muscle index (SMI) and volumetric SMI by normalisation with body height. The relationships between L3, volumetric SMIs, and survival outcomes were evaluated.
Results
Setting 39.0 cm2/m2 of L3 SMI as cut-off value for sarcopenia, sarcopenia (< 39.0 cm2/m2, n = 177) and non-sarcopenia (≥ 39.0 cm2/m2, n = 208) groups showed similar progression-free survival (PFS; p = 0.335) and overall survival (OS; p = 0.241). Using the median value, the low-volumetric SMI group (< 206.0 cm3/m3, n = 192) showed significantly worse PFS (3-year survival rate, 77.3% vs. 88.8%; p = 0.004) and OS (3-year survival rate, 92.8% vs. 99.4%; p = 0.003) than the high-volumetric SMI group (≥ 206.0 cm3/m3, n = 193). In multivariate analyses adjusted for baseline body mass index and other factors, low-volumetric SMI was identified as an independent poor prognostic factor for PFS (adjusted HR, 1.762; 95% CI, 1.051–2.953; p = 0.032) and OS (adjusted HR, 5.964; 95% CI, 1.296–27.448; p = 0.022).
Conclusions
Waist skeletal muscle volume might be a novel prognostic biomarker in patients with endometrial cancer. Assessing body composition before treatment can provide important prognostic information for such patients
Towards Visible Light Hydrogen Generation: Quantum Dot-Sensitization via Efficient Light Harvesting of Hybrid-TiO2
We report pronounced enhancement of photoelectrochemical hydrogen generation of a quantum dot-sensitized hybrid-TiO2 (QD/H-TiO2) electrode that is composed of a mesoporous TiO2 layer sandwiched by a double sided energy harvesting layer consisting of a surface-textured TiO2 inverse opals layer on the bottom and a patterned mesoporous TiO2 layer on the top. CdSe/H-TiO2 exhibits a maximum photocurrent density of similar to 16.2 mA/cm(2), which is 35% higher than that of the optimized control sample (CdSe/P25), achieved by matching of the bandgap of quantum dot-sensitization with the wavelength where light harvesting of H-TiO2 is observed. Furthermore, CdSe/H-TiO2 under filtered exposure conditions recorded current density of similar to 14.2 mA/cm(2), the greatest value in the visible range. The excellent performance of the quantum dot-sensitized H-TiO2 suggests that alteration of the photoelectrodes to suitable nanostructures with excellent light absorption may offer optimal strategies for attaining maximum efficiency in a variety of photoconversion systems.open3
Nano-mechanical properties of Fe-Mn-Al-C lightweight steels
High Al Low-density steels could have a transformative effect on the light-weighting of steel structures for transportation and achieving the desired properties with the minimum amount of Ni is of great interest from an economic perspective. In this study, the mechanical properties of two duplex low-density steels, Fe-15Mn-10Al-0.8C-5Ni and Fe-15Mn-10Al-0.8C (wt.%) were investigated through nano-indentation and simulation through utilization of ab initio formalisms in Density Functional Theory (DFT) in order to establish the hardness resulting from two critical structural features (ߢ-carbides and B2 intermetallic) as a function of annealing temperature (500 − 1050 ℃) and the addition of Ni. In the Ni-free sample, the calculated elastic properties of kappa-carbides were compared with those of the B2 intermetallic Fe3Al − L12, and the role of Mn in the kappa structure and its elastic properties were studied. The Ni-containing samples were found to have a higher hardness due to the B2 phase composition being NiAl rather than FeAl, with Ni-Al bonds reported to be stronger than the Fe-Al bonds. In both samples, at temperatures of 900 ℃ and above, the ferrite phase contained nano-sized discs of B2 phase, wherein the Ni-containing samples exhibited higher hardness, attributed again to the stronger Ni-Al bonds in the B2 phase. At 700 ℃ and below, the nano-sized B2 discs were replaced by micrometre sized needles of kappa in the Ni-free sample resulting in a lowering of the hardness. In the Ni-containing sample, the entire alpha phase was replaced by B2 stringers, which had a lower hardness than the Ni-Al nano-discs due to a lower Ni content in B2 stringer bands formed at 700 ℃ and below. In addition, the hardness of needle-like kappa-carbides formed in alpha phase was found to be a function of Mn content. Although it was impossible to measure the hardness of cuboid kappa particles in gamma phase because of their nano-size, the hardness value of composite phases, e.g. gamma + kappa was measured and reported. All the hardness values were compared and rationalized by bonding energy between different atoms
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