Amplified wind turbine apparatus

An invention related to the utilization of wind energy and increasing the effects thereof for power generation is described. Amplified wind turbine apparatus is disclosed wherein ambient inlet air is prerotated in a first air rotation chamber having a high pressure profile increasing the turbulence and Reynolds number thereof. A second rotation chamber adjacent and downstream of the turbine has a low pressure core profile whereby flow across the turbine is accelerated and thereafter exits the turbine apparatus through a draft anti-interference device. Interference with ambient winds at the outlet of the turbine apparatus is thus eliminated. Pivotable vanes controlled in response to prevailing wind direction admit air to the chambers and aid in imparting rotation. A central core may be utilized for creating the desired pressure profile in the chamber

Efficient estimation of Banach parameters in semiparametric models

Consider a semiparametric model with a Euclidean parameter and an infinite-dimensional parameter, to be called a Banach parameter. Assume: (a) There exists an efficient estimator of the Euclidean parameter. (b) When the value of the Euclidean parameter is known, there exists an estimator of the Banach parameter, which depends on this value and is efficient within this restricted model. Substituting the efficient estimator of the Euclidean parameter for the value of this parameter in the estimator of the Banach parameter, one obtains an efficient estimator of the Banach parameter for the full semiparametric model with the Euclidean parameter unknown. This hereditary property of efficiency completes estimation in semiparametric models in which the Euclidean parameter has been estimated efficiently. Typically, estimation of both the Euclidean and the Banach parameter is necessary in order to describe the random phenomenon under study to a sufficient extent. Since efficient estimators are asymptotically linear, the above substitution method is a particular case of substituting asymptotically linear estimators of a Euclidean parameter into estimators that are asymptotically linear themselves and that depend on this Euclidean parameter. This more general substitution case is studied for its own sake as well, and a hereditary property for asymptotic linearity is proved.Comment: Published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/009053604000000913 in the Annals of Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aos/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Tube coupling device

A first annular ring of a tube coupling device has a keyed opening sized to fit around the nut region of a male coupling, and a second annular ring has a keyed opening sized to fit around the nut of a female coupling. Each ring has mating ratchet teeth and these rings are biased together, thereby engaging these teeth and preventing rotation of these rings. This in turn prevents the rotation of the male nut region with respect to the female nut. For tube-to-bulkhead locking, one facet of one ring is notched, and a pin is pressed into an opening in the bulkhead. This pin is sized to fit within one of the notches in the ring, thereby preventing rotation of this ring with respect to the bulkhead

Mechanical solar motor: A concept

Motor is proposed to convert radiation from sun directly into mechanical energy. Motor utilizes thermal expansion of liquid, heated by sun, as driving force. Unlike most thermally powered systems, it does not require that liquid be converted into vapor

Sensing and decision-making in random search

While microscopic organisms can use gradient-based search to locate resources, this strategy can be poorly suited to the sensory signals available to macroscopic organisms. We propose a framework that models search-decision making in cases where sensory signals are infrequent, subject to large fluctuations, and contain little directional information. Our approach simultaneously models an organism's intrinsic movement behavior (e.g. Levy walk) while allowing this behavior to be adjusted based on sensory data. We find that including even a simple model for signal response can dominate other features of random search and greatly improve search performance. In particular, we show that a lack of signal is not a lack of information. Searchers that receive no signal can quickly abandon target-poor regions. Such phenomena naturally give rise to the area-restricted search behavior exhibited by many searching organisms

Mechanical thermal motor

An apparatus is described for converting thermal energy such as solar energy into mechanical motion for driving fluid pumps and similar equipment. The thermal motor comprises an inner concentric cylinder carried by a stationary core member. The core member has a cylindrical disc plate fixed adjacent to a lower portion and extending radially from it. An outer concentric cylinder rotatably carried on the disc plate defining a space between the inner and outer concentric cylinders. A spiral tubular member encircles the inner concentric cylinder and is contained within the space between the inner and outer cylinders. One portion is connected to the inner concentric cylinder and a second portion connected to the outer concentric cylinder. A heated fluid is conveyed through the tubular member and is periodically cooled causing the tubular member to expand and contract. This causes the outer concentric cylinder to reciprocally rotate on the base plate accordingly. The reciprocating motion of the outer concentric cylinder is then utilized to drive a pump member in a pump chamber

Utilization of solar energy in developing countries: Identifying some potential markets

The potential use of solar electricity generated from photovoltaic cells is examined for nineteen developing nations. Energy and economic profiles are summarized for each country. A comparison is made between the use of autogeneration and photovoltaics in a rural area of Haiti

DC-assisted microwave quenching of YBa2Cu3O7-{\delta} coplanar waveguide to a highly dissipative state

The paper reports on finding the effect of a strong change in the microwave losses in an HTS-based coplanar waveguide (CPW) at certain values of the input power Pin and direct current Idc. CPW on the basis of 150 nm thick YBa2Cu3O7-{\delta} epitaxial film on a single crystal MgO substrate was studied experimentally. A sharp and reversible transition of the CPW into a strongly dissipative state at the certain meanings of Pin and Idc depending on temperature was observed. Apparently the effect can be explained by self-heating of HTS structure caused by magnetic flux flow under the joint influence of MW and DC.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, 17 reference

Irreversibility line and low-field grain-boundary pinning in electron-doped superconducting thin films

AC magnetic susceptibilities of electron-doped Pr_{1.85}Ce_{0.15}CuO_4 (PCCO) and Sm_{1.85}Ce_{0.15}CuO_4 (SCCO) granular thin films have been measured as a function of temperature and magnetic-field strength. Depending on the level of homogeneity of our films, two different types of the irreversibility line (IL) defined as the intergrain-loss peak temperature in the imaginary part of susceptibility have been found. The obtained results are described via the critical-state model taking into account the low-field grain-boundary pinning. The extracted pinning-force densities in more granular SCCO films turn out to be four times larger than their counterparts in less granular PCCO films