Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Numerical CFD investigation of liquid-liquid two-phase flow separation in a microseparator

ABSTRACT Two-phase flow liquid-liquid separation in a microseparator has promising use in microfluidic field such as downstream biodiesel purification. The present study aims to investigate the effect of daughter channel (DC) geometry on liquid-liquid separation in a new design of microseparator. Olive oil and water were selected as continuous and dispersed phase, respectively. Different DC intervals (500–1000 µm) and angles (60°-120°) were designed to generate nine single-sided DC microseparator configurations. Further, these were arranged in mirrored configurations to generate nine double-sided DC microseparator configurations. At continuous phase flow rate (QCP) of 0.5 ml/h, interval of 500 µm and angle of 90° achieved best performance with highest oil purity of 100% in secondary channel outlet (SC_Outlet) and lowest oil purity of 26% in main channel outlet (MC_Outlet). The results revealed that the design of DC with lower pressure drop led to better separation performance. Furthermore, the occurrence of Jamin effect in the DC could cause hindrance in the two-phase flow liquid-liquid separation. The use of double-sided DC microseparator configuration further improves the separation performance. Overall, an excellent separation of oil was successfully achieved.
Thunderstorm-Generated Solitary Waves: A Wind Shear Hazard

Observations of a boundary-layer solitary wave sensed with the National Severe Storms Laboratory's Doppler weather radar and a 444-m-tall instrumented tower suggest that solitary and other nonlinear waves are a source of significant wind shear hazard to safe flight and thus should be studied both experimentally and theoretically. Wave transport of the horizontal momentum of the vertically sheared ambient air contributed much to the observed wind perturbations and horizontal wind shear. Observations are compared with, and shown to agree fairly closely with, the waveform predicted by steady state, weakly nonlinear, internal wave theory.
Silicon thermal anemometry : developments and applications

In this paper we present a comprehensive discussion of silicon thermal anemometry. Its possibilities and the current state of the art are discussed in detail. Based on forced convective heat transfer, it is seen how silicon technology can be used to make thermal flow sensors. The mechanism is based on development of a thermal hydrodynamic boundary layer across a heated silicon chip due to a forced flow. It is shown how this mechanism is converted into an electrical signal. Important parameters such as possible sensing elements and geometries are discussed. Different biasing modes to operate thermal sensors are presented. One of the very basic issues in silicon thermal anemometry is drift. The performance can be expressed in terms of a quality factor , where S is the desired signal, D is the drift and N is the contribution of noise. The control of this drift term plays a crucial role in the accuracy of silicon thermal flow sensors. A novel method to eliminate drift for thermal anemometry, namely the alternating direction method, is presented. In particular this method plays a crucial role when extremely low and long-term volume measurements must be performed. Examples of measurements are given. With regard to its applications, the type of packaging is a major issue. Dependent on its application, also the frequency behaviour is important. It is discussed briefly. Finally, applications and future developments of silicon thermal anemometry are discussed.
A case study of vibration monitoring in a dynamic compaction project

Dynamic Compaction is a well established ground improvement technique in which a heavy pounder is dropped from a significant height to improve the soil’s mechanical properties. The pounder impact creates waves that compact the ground; however these waves may also cause damage to neighboring structures and facilities. Peak particle velocity (PPV) has been determined as the most suitable method for assessing vibration associated risks. Previous researchers have proposed a number different equations for predicting PPV. In this paper PPV monitoring that has been carried out during Dynamic Compaction works at Fujairah Desalination Plant Phase 2 have been presented and compared to available equations. Some equations predict PPV values by a factor of up to 5 while others underestimate the measured values. Among the existing equations, the method that is able to most reliably overestimate PPV is identified. The authors also propose an alternative equation that appears to provide a better estimation of the particle velocity.
Numerical and Experimental Investigation of a Wind Catcher with Horizontally-arranged Heat Transfer Devices (HHTD)

This study investigates the ventilation and thermal performance of a wind catcher with horizontally-arrange heat transfer devices (HHTD) for passive cooling in hot climates using numerical and experimental methods. Rapid prototyping was used to create a detailed experimental scale model. Low-speed wind tunnel and flow visualiastion tests were conducted on the wind catcher model with HHTD. The wind tunnel test setup was recreated in the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation. The comparison between the experimental data and simulation results demonstrated good agreement. The results showed that the wind catcher with HHTD was capable of reducing the indoor air temperature by up to 12 K. The technology presented here is subject to a patent application (1321709.6).
A multi-section technique for the electroabsorption measurements in waveguide semiconductor electroabsorption modulators

A technique for measuring the optical absorption spectra of waveguides, semiconductors and electroabsorption modulators is described. The technique uses a multi-sectioned optical waveguide that has electrically isolated longitudinal sections and has a p–i–n cross-section structure. Light generated in forward biased sections is used to probe the optical absorption in sections that can be reverse biased. The technique is applied to a p–i–n electroabsorption device that was designed to operate over a broadband of optical communication wavelengths. It has an active region consisting of multiple-width InGaAs–InAlGaAs quantum wells. For this device, a band edge shift of 40 meV is obtained at an applied field of 105 kV cm−1, and figures of merit Δα, Δα/F and Δα/α0 were also determined as a function of wavelength and applied field, where Δα is the absorption coefficient change due to electroabsorption, α0 static absorption coefficient of the wells at zero bias field and F the applied reverse bias field.
Estimating project and activity duration: a risk management approach using network analysis

Variations in the durations of activities are commonplace in the construction industry. This is due to the fact that the construction industry is influenced greatly by variations in weather, productivity of labour and plant, and quality of materials. Stochastic network analysis has been used by previous researchers to model variations in activities and produce more effective and reliable project duration estimates. A number of techniques have been developed in previous literature to solve the uncertain nature of networks, these are: PERT (program evaluation and review techniques), PNET (probabilistic network evaluation technique), NRB, (narrow reliability bounds methods) and MCS (Monte Carlo simulation). Although these techniques have proved to be useful in modelling variations in activities, dependence of activity duration is not considered. This can have a severe impact on realistically modelling projects. In this context, the objective of the present research is to develop a methodology that can accura.
Design of a high‐gain ultra‐wideband slot antenna using frequency selective surface

A CPW‐feed prototype slot antenna for ultra‐wideband applications is proposed. The slot is made by etching on the ground plane, the union of two elliptical structures placed at right angles. The fractal shape antenna is excited by two stepped CPW feed. To enhance the gain, a compact ultra‐wideband frequency selective surface (FSS) structure is designed and implemented. The measured impedance bandwidth of antenna with and without FSS is nearly same and equal to 9.0 GHz from 3.6 to 12.6 GHz. The measured peak gain varies from 3 to 5 dB without FSS and from 5 to 12.5 dB with FSS. Measured results are found in good agreement with the simulated results. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 56:1498–1502, 2014
CHARACTERISTICS OF A NEW PNEUMATIC TRANSFER SYSTEM FOR A NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS AT THE HANARO RESEARCH REACTOR

A rapid pneumatic transfer system (PTS) for an instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) is developed as an automatic irradiation facility involving the measurement of a short half-life nuclide and a delayed neutron counting system. Three new PTS designs with improved functions were constructed at the HANARO research reactor in 2006. The new system is composed of a manual system and an automatic system for both an INAA and a delayed neutron activation analysis (DNAA). The design and basic conception of a modified PTS are described, and the functions of system operation and control, radiation protection and emissions of radioactive gas are improved. In addition, a form of capsule transportation of these systems is tested. The experimental results pertaining to the irradiation characteristics with variation of the neutron flux and the temperature of the irradiation position with the irradiation time are presented, as is an analysis of the reference material for analytical quality control and uncertainty assessments.
Science and Technology Observatory for ''NOCMAT'' in Brazil: Role and Proposed Framework

The indicators for Science and Technology Innovation (S&T) used for decision-making within the national system of research and innovation related to Non-Conventional Materials and Technologies (NOCMAT), do not concern only the federal political sphere, but also research groups of universities, research institutes and scientific and technical associations. These agents influence is frequently insignificant for decision making when compared to the dominant and centralizing industries which have created their proper indicators for justifying the application of conventional industrialized products. A culture of NOCMAT indicators should be disseminated into the scientific and social communities so that decisions at all levels should be based on relevant, reliable and transparent information, notably at the regional level. The main objective of this paper is to establish the terms of reference of the "NOCMAT Observatory" for Novel Construction Materials & Technologies for Sustainability not yet existing in Brazil, notably defining its role, dynamic organizational framework, "products" and services to be provided.
Design of dc/dc Converters for DMPPT PV Applications Based on the Concept of Energetic Efficiency

Distributed maximum power point tracking (DMPPT) is one of the most promising solutions to overcome the drawbacks associated with mismatching phenomena in photovoltaic (PV) applications. DMPPT is based on the adoption of a dc/dc converter dedicated to each PV module. The design of the power stage of such a converter is a challenging task because of the very high efficiency requirements and of the continuous changes of the operating point during the day, depending on the sun irradiation conditions. In this paper the guidelines for the design of dc-dc converters for DMPPT applications are presented and discussed.
Coplanar Waveguides for MMIC Applications: Effect of Upper Shielding, Conductor Backing, Finite-Extent Ground Planes, and Line-to-Line Coupling

Parasitic effects occurring in actual realizations of coplanar waveguides (CPW) for microwave integrated circuits on GaAs substrates, such as the influence of an upper shield, conductor backing, finite-extent ground planes, and line-to-line coupling, are discussed and evaluated. CAD-oriented analytical expressions are obtained for the electrical quasi-TEM parameters of the relevant waveguiding structures by means of exact or approximate conformal mapping techniques. Differences in electrical behavior with respect to ideal CPW's are highlighted, and practical design criteria are obtained for keeping cover height, ground-plane width, and line-to-line spacing effects to a minimum.
THE RECONSTRUCTION OF MULTIPLE ACOUSTIC SOURCES THAT FULFILL THE PREDETERMINED SOUND LEVEL ON A CERTAIN TARGET FIELD LOCATION

In noise level control, the surface acoustic property of noise sources is one of important initial information. The noise control will be more efficient and effective if we know not only the properties of noise source surface, but also know the most influential surface area to a certain target field location. If the dominant surface area of noise sources has been known, further treatment can be applied to the dominant surface area only. In order to be able to apply an appropriate further treatment, we must know how much acoustic quantity on the dominant area must be changed. Solving this problem needs inverse technique and optimization to obtain an optimal noise source characteristic. This paper presents a reconstruction method of multiple acoustic sources that fulfill the predetermined condition on a certain target field location using Boundary Element Method and Conjugate Gradient method. Test cases for radiation of multiple vibrating spherical shape sources in a certain area have been done for verifying the algorithm. Simulation results show that the proposed method could be used to reconstruct an optimal surface pressure of multiple acoustic sources. Keywords: acoustic, boundary element method, multiple source reconstruction
Memory and Recognition of a Non-Target During a Threat Detection Visual Search Task

Context plays an important role in visual search tasks. The ability of people to form implicit associations about the objects in the world around them not only assists them in focusing their attention but also in simplifying their world. The goal of this study was to investigate whether, and how, people utilize “distractors” as contextual cues during a visual target search. Twenty undergraduate participants performed a luggage-screening task, where they were asked to locate a specific target (a knife). First, participants were trained using 25 luggage images, each of which contained a target (i.e., knife) and a specific distractor (i.e., iPod). During the post-training session, participants screened 100 bags with target base rate set at 50%. The bags contained either the distractor and the target (25 bags), the target only (25 bags), the distractor only (25 bags), or neither the distractor nor the target (25 bags). Participants’ dwell times and fixation counts for specific areas of interest (AOI) were assessed across trial blocks. It was found that recognition of the distractor object increased across trials but the dwell time and number of fixations decreased as the experiment progressed. These results demonstrate that participants were able to recognize the distractor and form an implicit association between its presence and the presence of the target. Results also indicated that the presence of the distractor ultimately biased participant response, creating more “liberal” responses over time.
Spatio-temporal sampling strategies and spiral imaging for translational cardiac MRI

Magnetic Resonance Imaging is a reference tool to assess myocardial function and viability, the two key measurements in clinics. However, several technical challenges remain. This thesis focuses on the development of new strategies to provide an efficient characterization of the myocardium. Using tools provided by MR physics and image processing a translational "bench-to-bedside" approach was adopted. Concerning the "bench", Manganese was studied as a contrast agent for myocardial viability assessment. A new cine sequence, "interleaved cine", was also developed to increase the time resolution and opens up the possibility of stress studies in mice on clinical scanners. In parallel, spiral imaging was applied to the "bedside". In the context of real-time imaging, the proposed reconstruction method, k-t SPIRE, takes into account the temporal information of data which helps to resolve the undersampling artifacts and showed important improvements compared to the classical method both in numerical simulations and in-vivo.
Exploration of Antioxidant, Antibacterial Activities of Green Synthesized Hesperidin Loaded PLGA Nanoparticles

To elaborate on the potential benefits of hesperidin loaded PLGA nanoparticles (HES-PLGA NPs), present investigation reports about the antioxidant, antimicrobial, and cytotoxic potential of hesperidin loaded PLGA nanoparticles (HES-PLGA-NPs). The antioxidant potential of Hesperidin and HES-PLGA-NPs was demonstrated by ATBS, DPPH, Hydroxy, Hydrogen peroxide, and superoxide radical showing the dose-dependent antioxidants activity. Both the test gained better potential with HES loaded PLGA nanoparticles than free HES. HES-PLGA-NPs also proved its antibacterial activity against tested bacterial strains, including Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter aerogenes, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. HES-PLGA-NPs had a good ability to minimize biofilms' formation and a good to weak ability to degrade pre-formed biofilms. Thus, the bionanotherapy, which has been attempted using HES-PLGA-NPs would provide a promising scope as a potent bio compound that can be replaced for medical ailments in a cost-effective, greener synthesis.
A Novel Inductor Loss Calculation Method on Power Converters Based on Dynamic Minor Loop

This paper proposes a novel iron loss calculation method based on the loss-map of the magnetic materials. The distinctive feature of this method is that the iron loss on the inductors in many kinds of converters can easily be calculated even if the magnetizing conditions of the inductors are different. In this paper, the dynamic minor loop characteristics of the magnetic core on the condition of the switching converter are defined. Then, the dynamic measuring method of the dynamic minor loop by using the chopper circuit is presented. Next, some typical loss characteristics derived from the dynamic minor loop measurement is discussed. Also, a novel loss calculation method of the ac filter inductor on the PWM inverter by using the modified loss-map method is proposed.
Subfactor Method for Computing C Factors for Continuous Cotton

ABSTRACT A system of subfactors for computing the C factor in the universal soil loss equation was proposed for cot-ton. These subfactors are multipliers that represent the effects of land use residual, incorporated residue, tillage intensity and recency, macroroughness, canopy and cover. Also shown is the need for assessing the variation of soil erodibility throughout the year because of the variation in soil water content.
Circuit for continuous motional series resonant frequency and motional resistance monitoring of quartz crystal resonators by parallel capacitance compensation

A deep analysis of the problem associated with oscillators as interface circuits for quartz-crystal-microbalance sensors, reveals that the so-called static capacitance of the sensor is one of the elements that makes the use of oscillators more critical for sensors applications. A phase-locked-loop based circuit specifically designed for compensating the parallel capacitance effects in quartz crystal resonator sensors is presented. This circuit permits the calibration of the external circuitry to the sensor and an accurate determination of the effective capacitive compensation. The system provides a continuous measurement of the motional series resonant frequency and motional resistance. An extension and automation of the proposed system for multiple sensor characterization is introduced. The theoretical analysis of the circuit along with the experimental results presented prove that the proposed system is a good alternative for quartz sensors characterization.
A Computational Method of Salvo Fixed Lead Angle for Wake-Homing Torpedo

Fixed lead angle is an essential element of torpedo salvo data compendium preparation。 On the basis of the characteristics and clear conditions of wake auto guided torpedo‘s salvo，a method of computing fixed lead angle was put forward and A computation example by proposed method was given. The computation result shows that the proposed method is effective and practical.
Solar-Powered GSM Based Multipurpose Alert System

“Solar-Powered GSM based Multi-Purpose Alert System” is an alert system driven by solar energy. This system was implemented keeping in mind the user’ requirement to effectively monitor building/assets from a remote location. This project uses solar panels to provide power to the entire system. Rechargeable batteries are used to power the system after sunset and these batteries are charged by solar energy during the day time. The system alerts the user (individual users/organizations/disaster management agencies) when there is an abrupt change in temperature, vibration, movement and magnetic flux in the monitored environment. Gas leakages (LPG and other gases) in residences and industries and vehicular accidents can also be detected when different sensors are incorporated in the circuit. This system is an application of the most widely used mobile communication protocol- the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM). The control system will behave as an embedded system which will alert the user located at a remote site using SMS when a threat is detected. Because of the fact that SMS is an instantaneous mode of communication, the extent of damage can be sufficiently reduced and necessary steps can be taken. Keywords: Solar panel, rechargeable battery, Arduino UNO, GSM SIM 300, SMS, Sensors, Monostable Multivibrator
Dehydrins and Soluble Sugars Involved in Cold Acclimation of Rosa wichurana and Rose Cultivar ‘Yesterday’

Rose is the most economically important ornamental plant. However, cold stress seriously affects the survival and regrowth of garden roses in northern regions. Cold acclimation was studied using two genotypes (Rosa wichurana and R. hybrida ‘Yesterday’) selected from a rose breeding program. During the winter season (November to April), the cold hardiness of stems, soluble sugar content, and expression of dehydrins and the related key genes in the soluble sugar metabolism were analyzed. ‘Yesterday’ is more cold-hardy and acclimated faster, reaching its maximum cold hardiness in December. R. wichurana is relatively less cold-hardy, only reaching its maximum cold hardiness in January after prolonged exposure to freezing temperatures. Dehydrin transcripts accumulated significantly during November–January in both genotypes. Soluble sugars are highly involved in cold acclimation, with sucrose and oligosaccharides significantly correlated with cold hardiness. Sucrose occupied the highest proportion of total soluble sugars in both genotypes. During November–January, downregulation of RhSUS was found in both genotypes, while upregulation of RhSPS was observed in ‘Yesterday’ and upregulation of RhINV2 was found in R. wichurana. Oligosaccharides accumulated from November to February and decreased to a significantly low level in April. RhRS6 had a significant upregulation in December in R. wichurana. This study provides insight into the cold acclimation mechanism of roses by combining transcription patterns with metabolite quantification.