bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Rhoticity in Yunnan English
Authors: SUNDKVIST PETER , GAO MAN 
Published: October 2015

ABSTRACTThis paper presents a study of the pronunciation of English by speakers from Yunnan Province in Southwest China. Eight non‐English major undergraduate students participated in three tasks: an informal interview, reading a text, and a dialectological‐style questionnaire. The degree of rhoticity was assessed based on auditory analysis, with an inter‐rater agreement of 97 per cent. The results revealed significant inter‐speaker variation: two informants were virtually non‐rhotic whereas the remaining six were rhotic to a considerable degree. Intra‐speaker variation among these six was furthermore systematic: the degree of rhoticity was lowest in the interview, intermediate in reading, and highest in the questionnaire. These results are discussed with reference to several factors, including the level of formality and attention to speech triggered by the tasks, potentially emerging norms for rhoticity, and the stage of development of a local form of ‘Yunnan English’.
Bahin Singapore English
Authors: LEIMGRUBER JAKOB R. E. 
Published: October 2015

ABSTRACTColloquial Singapore English (‘Singlish’) is well known, among other features, for its class of discourse particles derived from substrate languages. These particles have been ascribed to various languages, chief among them Southern Min, Malay, and Cantonese. Previous research has also shown this class to be open to newcomers, with Lim (2007) concentrating on particles of Cantonese origin appearing in the 1980s. In this paper, I present evidence of a previously undocumented particle,bah, whose origins are suspected in Mandarin, a variety that has hitherto contributed only little to the grammatical structure of Singlish. Using corpus data complemented by data from online discussion forums, as well as responses to an online survey, the paper describesbah's pragmatic meanings and the socio‐historical and sociolinguistic reasons for its emergence.
Beneficial effects of exercise on age‐related mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress in skeletal muscle
Authors: Joseph Anna‐Maria , Adhihetty Peter J. , Leeuwenburgh Christiaan 
Published: October 2015

AbstractMitochondria are negatively affected by ageing leading to their inability to adapt to higher levels of oxidative stress and this ultimately contributes to the systemic loss of muscle mass and function termed sarcopenia. Since mitochondria are central mediators of muscle health, they have become highly sought‐after targets of physiological and pharmacological interventions. Exercise is the only known strategy to combat sarcopenia and this is largely mediated through improvements in mitochondrial plasticity. More recently a critical role for mitochondrial turnover in preserving muscle has been postulated. Specifically, cellular pathways responsible for the regulation of mitochondrial turnover including biogenesis, dynamics and autophagy may become dysregulated during ageing resulting in the reduced clearance and accumulation of damaged organelles within the cell. When mitochondrial quality is compromised and homeostasis is not re‐established, myonuclear cell death is activated and muscle atrophy ensues. In contrast, acute and chronic exercise attenuates these deficits, restoring mitochondrial turnover and promoting a healthier mitochondrial pool that leads to the preservation of muscle. Additionally, the magnitude of these exercise‐induced mitochondrial adaptations is currently debated with several studies reporting a lower adaptability of old muscle relative to young, but the processes responsible for this diminished training response are unclear. Based on these observations, understanding the molecular details of how advancing age and exercise influence mitochondria in older muscle will provide invaluable insight into the development of exercise protocols that will maximize beneficial adaptations in the elderly. This information will also be imperative for future research exploring pharmacological targets of mitochondrial plasticity.
image
Ageing‐related changes in GABAergic inhibition in mouse auditory cortex, measured using in vitro flavoprotein autofluorescence imaging
Authors: Stebbings K. A. , Choi H. W. , Ravindra A. , Caspary D. M. , Turner J. G. , Llano D. A. 
Published: October 2015

Key points
Ageing is associated with hearing loss and changes in GABAergic signalling in the auditory system.
We tested whether GABAergic signalling in an isolated forebrain preparation also showed ageing‐related changes.
A novel approach was used, whereby population imaging was coupled to quantitative pharmacological sensitivity.
Sensitivity to GABAA blockade was inversely associated with age and cortical thickness, but hearing loss did not independently contribute to the change in GABAAergic sensitivity.
Redox states in the auditory cortex of young and aged animals were similar, suggesting that the differences in GABAAergic sensitivity are unlikely to be due to differences in slice health.
AbstractTo examine ageing‐related changes in the earliest stages of auditory cortical processing, population auditory cortical responses to thalamic afferent stimulation were studied in brain slices obtained from young and aged CBA/CAj mice (up to 28 months of age). Cortical responses were measured using flavoprotein autofluorescence imaging, and ageing‐related changes in inhibition were assessed by measuring the sensitivity of these responses to blockade of GABAA receptors using bath‐applied SR95531. The maximum auditory cortical response to afferent stimulation was not different between young and aged animals under control conditions, but responses to afferent stimulation in aged animals showed a significantly lower sensitivity to GABA blockade with SR95531. Cortical thickness, but not hearing loss, improved the prediction of all imaging variables when combined with age, particularly sensitivity to GABA blockade for the maximum response. To determine if the observed differences between slices from young and aged animals were due to differences in slice health, the redox state in the auditory cortex was assessed by measuring the FAD+/NADH ratio using fluorescence imaging. We found that this ratio is highly sensitive to known redox stressors such as H2O2 and NaCN; however, no difference was found between young and aged animals. By using a new approach to quantitatively assess pharmacological sensitivity of population‐level cortical responses to afferent stimulation, these data demonstrate that auditory cortical inhibition diminishes with ageing. Furthermore, these data establish a significant relationship between cortical thickness and GABAergic sensitivity, which had not previously been observed in an animal model of ageing.
WINDGRABBER™: A Novel Approach to Small Wind Turbine Design and Operation for Use on or Above the Rooftops of Homes and Small Office Buildings
Authors: Krippene Brett C. , Chen Gerald C. , Starcher Kenneth L. , Urich Joseph A. , McConnell Ralph W. , Jenks Robert P. 
Published: October 2015

WINDGRABBER™ (WG) is a novel new roof or pole top mounted wind turbine system proposed for product commercialization up to 50 kWe. WG is projected to be cost-attractive in an environmentally friendly manner. The WG system uses the available energy in the wind via (1) a passively yawed air impact inlet air scoop, (2) a flow tube, (3) an air turbine and (4) a multiphased air inlet with an air impact - drag type outlet section.
The WG wind turbine system preferentially utilizes a combination enclosed - radial out-flow, cross-flow, reaction-impulse air turbine of squirrel cage configuration, using either a single or double axial flow inlet of centrifugal fan design with backwardly curved, air foil air blades mounted on the discharge end of a flow tube. The WG wind turbine design is based on the air power instead of the wind power equations, combined with duct resistance, wind impact and wind drag calculations, to determine system wind energy conversion effectiveness with respect to the Betz limit, as well as overall system efficiency. Low pressure drop screens may be provided at the various inlets and outlets to protect birds and small mammals from being drawn into rotating components. A currently proposed Phase I – CAE modeling for conceptual design verification, system optimization and 300 watt pilot plant test program, followed by a Phase II – design improvement and scale up to 3,000 watt prototype demonstration program and followed by a Phase III cost reduction, product improvement and scale up to a 5,000 watt commercial demonstration program is currently being considered by BCK Consulting, L.L.C. (BCK) and West Texas A & M University (WTAMU).
The history of WG, up to and including its latest developmental status, will be discussed in this paper with projections offered regarding its future product commercialization prospects. Please see ASME paper ES2010-90062 presented previously [Ref.1].
Adapting Steady State Solar Power Models to Include Transients
Authors: Abutayeh Mohammad 
Published: October 2015

Quite a few computer programs have been developed to model power plant performance. These software codes are geared towards modeling steady state operations which is usually sufficient for conventional power plants. Solar thermal power plants undergo lengthy transient start–up and shut–down operations due to the sporadic nature of solar radiation; therefore, valid modeling of their performance must address those unsteady state operations.
A novel scheme has been developed to fine–tune steady state solar power generation models to accurately take account of the impact of those transient operations. The suggested new scheme is implemented by adjusting solar radiation input data and has been shown to significantly improve modeling accuracy by moving modeled results closer to matching real operating data.
Transient Numerical Analysis of Different Finned Tube Designs for Use in Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage Devices
Authors: Beck Anton , Koller Martin , Walter Heimo , Hameter Michael 
Published: October 2015

In this paper the results of a numerical investigation of the melting and solidification process of sodium nitrate, which is used as phase change material, will be presented. For the heat transfer to the sodium nitrate different finned tube designs, namely helical-, transversal- and longitudinal finned tubes, are used. The numerical results of the melting and solidification process for the different design cases will be compared. The numerical analysis of the melting process has shown that apart from the first period of the charging process natural convection is the dominant heat transfer mechanism. The numerical analysis of the melting process has also shown that for a fast melting process heat exchanger tubes should be designed in such a way that an unrestricted natural convection is guaranteed.
The numerical investigation for the solidification process has shown that the dominant heat transfer mechanism is heat conduction. The investigation has also shown that the solidification front grows more uniformly from the tube surface to the outer shell compared to the melting front. Therefore no significant differences between the different tube designs are detected concerning the solidification process.
Wind Flow Over a Complex Terrain in Nygårdsfjell, Norway
Authors: Bilal Muhammad , Sridhar Narendran , Araya Guillermo , Parameswaran Sivapathas , Birkelund Yngve 
Published: October 2015

The understanding of atmospheric flows is crucial in the analysis of dispersion of a contaminant or pollutant, wind energy and air-quality assessment to name a few. Additionally, the effects of complex terrain and associated orographic forcing are crucial in wind energy production. Furthermore, the use of the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations in the analysis of complex terrain is still considered the “workhorse” since millions of mesh points are required to accurately capture the details of the surface. On the other hand, solving the same problem by means of the instantaneous governing equations of the flow (i.e., in a suite of DNS or LES) would imply almost prohibitive computational resources. In this study, numerical predictions of atmospheric boundary layers are performed over a complex topography located in Nygårdsfjell, Norway. The Nygårdsfjell wind farm is located in a valley at approximately 420 meters above sea level surrounded by mountains in the north and south near the Swedish border. Majority of the winds are believed to be originated from Torneträsk lake in the east which is covered with ice during the winter time. The air closest to the surface on surrounding mountains gets colder and denser. The air then slides down the hill and accumulates over the lake. Later, the air spills out westward towards Ofotfjord through the broader channel that directs and transforms it into highly accelerated winds.
Consequently, one of the objectives of the present article is to study the influence of local terrain on shaping these winds over the wind farm. It is worth mentioning that we are not considering any wind turbine model in the present investigation, being the main purpose to understand the influence of the local surface topography and roughness on the wind flow. Nevertheless, future research will include modeling the presence of a wind turbine and will be published elsewhere. The governing equations of the flow are solved by using a RANS approach and by considering three different two-equation turbulence models: k-omega (k–ω), k-epsilon (k–ε) and shear stress transport (SST). Furthermore, the real topographical characteristics of the terrain have been modeled by extracting the required area from the larger digital elevation model (DEM) spanning over 100 km square. The geometry is then extruded using Rhino and meshed in ANSYS Fluent. The terrain dimensions are approximately 2000×1000 meter square.
Building Peak Load Management With High Resolution Weather Data
Authors: Tibana Yehisson , Gutierrez Estatio , Arend M. , Gonzalez J. E. 
Published: October 2015

Dense urban environments are exposed to the combined effects of rising global temperatures and urban heat islands. This combination is resulting in increasing trends of energy consumption in cities, associated mostly with air conditioning to maintain indoor human comfort conditions. During periods of extreme summer weather, electrical usage usually reaches peak loads, stressing the electrical grid. The purpose of this study is to explore the use of available, high resolution weather data by effectively preparing a building for peak load management.
The subject of study is a 14 floor, 620,782 sq ft building located in uptown Manhattan, New York City (40.819257 N, −73.949288 W). To precisely quantify thermal loads of the buildings for the summer conditions; a single building energy model (SBEM), the US Department of Energy EnergyPlus™ was used. The SBEM was driven by a weather file built from weather data of the urbanized weather forecasting model (uWRF), a high resolution weather model coupled to a building energy model. The SBEM configuration and simulations were calibrated with winter actual gas and electricity data using 2010 as the benchmark year. In order to show the building peak load management, demand response techniques and technologies were implemented. The methods used to prepare the building included generator usage during high peak loads and use of a thermal storage system. An ensemble of cases was analyzed using current practice, use of high resolution weather data, and use of building preparation technologies. Results indicated an average summer peak savings of more than 30% with high resolution weather data.
Solar-Driven Sorption Chillers for Residential Space Cooling: A Review of Recent Developments and Possible Applications in Canada
Authors: Bowie Daniel , Cruickshank Cynthia A. 
Published: October 2015

Energy use for space cooling has increased by 156% from 1990 to 2010 in the Canadian residential sector. In many parts of the country, the increasing use of electrically driven air-conditioners has begun to shift the peak load on the electricity grid from the coldest days of winter to the hottest days of summer. Many of Canada’s major electric utilities providers rely on fossil fuels to generate the additional capacity needed to meet the peak demand, resulting in significant greenhouse gas emissions. Solar-driven sorption chillers remain one of the possible solutions for shaving the peak loads experienced by the electricity grid.
This paper presents a review of the recent developments in the research of adsorption and absorption chillers, as well as a comparison of the two technologies based on the latest published experimental results found in the literature. Adsorption chillers continue to evolve in their design, including the use of new consolidated and composite adsorbents, the integration of coated adsorbers into internal heat exchangers, and newly developed advanced cycles for heat and mass recovery. While the physical design of adsorption chillers continues to be advanced, the development of absorption chillers for solar cooling applications has largely been focused on optimizing the system as a whole through improved control strategies and the implementation of newly developed high performance solar collectors.
Finally, the paper aims to assess the current state of development of solar-driven sorption chillers to provide insight into their applicability in the Canadian residential sector, as well as the remaining challenges facing this technology.
Analysis of a Combined Cycle Plant Using a Small Particle Receiver to Drive a Primary Brayton Cycle
Authors: Virgen Matthew Miguel , Miller Fletcher 
Published: October 2015

All current commercial CSP plants operate at relatively low thermodynamic efficiency due to lower temperatures than similar conventional plants and due to the fact that they all employ Rankine conversion cycles. We present here an investigation on the effects of adding a bottoming steam power cycle to a hybrid CSP plant based on a Small Particle Heat Exchange Receiver (SPHER) driving a gas turbine as the primary cycle. Due to the high operating temperature of the SPHER being considered (over 1000 Celsius), the exhaust air from the primary Brayton cycle still contains a tremendous amount of exergy. While in the previous analysis this fluid was only used in a recuperator to preheat the Brayton working fluid, the current analysis explores the potential power and efficiency gains from instead directing the exhaust fluid through a heat exchanger to power a Rankine steam cycle. Not only do we expect the efficiency of this model to be competitive with conventional power plants, but the water consumption per kilowatt-hour will also be reduced by nearly two thirds as compared to most existing concentrating solar thermal power plants as a benefit of having air as the primary working fluid, which eliminates the condensation step present in Rankine-cycle systems.
Coupling a new steam cycle model with the gas-turbine CSP model previously developed at SDSU, a wide range of cases were run to explore options for maximizing both power and efficiency from the proposed CSP combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant. Due to the generalized nature of the bottoming cycle modeling, and the varying nature of solar power, special consideration had to be given to the behavior of the heat exchanger and Rankine cycle in off-design scenarios. The trade-offs of removing the recuperator for preheating the primary fluid are compared to potential overall power and efficiency gains in the combined cycle case.
Analysis of Heavy Organic Fluids Dispersion Inside Industrial Buildings Hosting Turbomachinery Test Facilities
Authors: Fiaschi Daniele , Manfrida Giampaolo , Russo Luigi 
Published: October 2015

The use of heavy fluids (typically refrigerants) for tests on turbomachinery equipment, like centrifugal compressors, under similitude with real working conditions is a common practice in the test facilities of manufacturers. This practice leads to the release of the test gas to the environment, mainly coming from seals, test circuit connections, valve gaskets and from operations of circuit assembling/disassembling necessary to replace or service the machine under test.
The spatial distribution and flow of these emissions inside the test building is a complex issue, which depends on the specific circuit features, location of sources, geometry and openings of the building and variable climatic conditions of the location. For a preliminary assessment of the health and safety conditions, a NIST computational package — including a CFD solver — was applied. The aim was to validate the applicability and reliability of this tool, which was developed for other types of buildings; from the industrial side, knowledge of the diffusion scenario is important to define test protocols to guarantee acceptable emissions levels for manpower in working areas.
The industrial building is organized in multiple inside workspaces. The concentration of the contaminant in the area of the test benches, determined by the internal fluid dynamics, is calculated with the CFD solver included in the NIST package. In the building, air motion is only affected by natural ventilation. For this reason, the interactions between the outside and the interior climatic and microclimatic parameters must be considered, taking into account also the different possible assumptions about the daily management of the openings of the building envelope. Several cases of release and dispersion of heavy fluid inside the working areas, under different boundary conditions, were considered. The sensitivity of the results to the different seasonal conditions was assessed and discussed. The complex internal geometry of the building was simulated by a combination of single zone models. The results showed an expectable presence of test gas emissions in the neighborhood of the test area and the possibility of buoyancy effects within the large building. A relatively stable concentration of the test gas emissions resulted from the application of the model, which was affected only by substantial variations of the climatic conditions.