Design optimisation of a solar-energy harnessing system for stimulating an irrigation pump

Water from below ground level is to be raised, for the irrigation of a desert area near Cairo, Egypt, by harnessing solar power. The solar-energy collector is an array of gravity-return heat pipes, each surrounded by a cylindrical high-vacuum enclosure. The prime mover, in the form of a multi-vane expander, operates in an organic Rankine-cycle using trichlorotrifluoroethane as the working fluid. For specified conditions, the performances and optimal output temperatures of the collector (so that maximum overall efficiency of the system can be achieved) are predicted.     

Studies of heterocyclic polymers. V. poly (1, 3′-benzobis (iminopyrrolenones))

The synthesis of dimethyl-2, 5-dicyanoterephthalate from 2,5-dibromo-p-xylene and its conversion to 1,3′-benzobis (iminopyrrolenone) are reported. 1,3 -Benzobis (N-phenyliminopyrrolenone) was prepared by reaction of 1,3′-benzobis (iminopyrrolenone) with aniline. The product was a bright yellow crystalline solid which was also formed when dimethyl-2,5-dicyanoterephthalate was condensed with aniline under suitable conditions. Poly (1,3′-benzobis (iminopyrrolenones)) were synthesised by the condensation of 1,3′ -benzobis (iminopyrrolenone) with aromatic diamines and with 1,6-diaminohexane at high temperatures in dimethyl sulphoxide. The degrees of polymerisation of the polymers obtained were low, as judged by the completeness of the condensation reaction. Thermogravimetric analyses of these polymers in air showed that they have 10% weight-loss temperatures in the range 420 to 520°C, for the polymers prepared from aromatic diamines, and of 350°C for the polymer derived from 1,6-diaminohexane. The insoluble, intractable nature of these polymers precluded a thorough study of their structure.     

Structure-Property Relationships in Dual-Phase Cu-Al Alloys: Part II. Alloy Behavior

The mechanical behavior of dual-phase Cu-Al alloys was investigated and properties were correlated to the relevant parameters: martensite volume fraction, martensite strength, and dual-phase morphology. The yield strength is markedly influenced by all parameters, being an increasing function of both martensite fraction and strength. With respect to component phases it is established that such function does not follow the law of mixtures. On the other hand, ultimate tensile strength exhibits linear dependence on volume fraction of martensite. On comparing theory with experiment, good agreement was established between true uniform strains calculated according to Mileiko's theory of composites and experimental results. High ductility levels are reachable over a rather broad range of martensite volume fraction. Depending on quench temperature, enhancement of ductility occursvia stress-induced phase transformation of martensite to fcc structure. Macrohardness measurements carried out on dual-phase structures showed linear dependence on martensite volume fraction. The data indicate that macrohardness could be predictedvia linear combination of microhardness of component phases and their volume fractions. Strengthening of dual-phase alloys could be achieved, at practically no loss of ductility, by means of short time annealing. Moreover, remarkable strengthening is attainablevia combinations of cold work and annealing while maintaining useful levels of ductility.     

Portfolio and investment risk analysis on global grids

The financial services industry today produces and consumes huge amounts of data and the processes involved in analysing these data have large and complex resource requirements. The need to analyse the data using such processes and get meaningful results in time, can be met only up to a certain extent by current computer systems. Most service providers attempt to increase efficiency and quality of their service offerings by stacking up more hardware and employing better algorithms for data processing. However, there is a limit to the gains achieved by using such an approach. One viable alternative would be to use emerging technologies such as the Grid. Grid computing and its application to various domains have been actively studied by many groups for more than a decade now. In this paper we explore the use of the Grid in the financial services domain; an area which we believe has not been adequately looked into.     

Secure and robust multipath routings for advanced metering infrastructure

A Smart Grid is the modernization of the electricity grid using communication technology with the prime goals of reducing energy consumption as well as cost increasing reliability and creating new services for all participants. It comprises key components such as the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), which includes Neighborhood area network (NAN). When multi-hopping is considered in wireless communication, especially in WiFi and ZigBee, the range of the communication can be extended to communicate with the gateway collector in AMI network. Wireless mesh AMI network may have smart meters, a NAN gateway, and fixed as well as mobile repeaters. Though many techniques have been developed to secure on-demand routing protocols in wireless multi-hop ad-hoc networks, these protocols have shortcomings. In this paper, we propose two robust and secure multipath routing protocols for wireless mesh AMI networks. We have analyzed their robustness to various attacks. The simulation results show that the proposed protocols are better than existing secure routing protocols.     

Speech compression exploiting linear prediction coefficients codebook and hamming correction code algorithm

In this paper, a replacement algorithm for Linear Prediction Coefficients (LPC) along with Hamming Correction Code based Compressor (HCDC) algorithms are investigated for speech compression. We started with an CELP system with order 12 and with Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) based residual excitation. Forty coefficients with transmission rate of 5.14 kbps were first used. For each frame of the testing signals we applied a multistage HCDC, we tested the compression performance for parities from 2 to 7, we were able to achieve compression only at parity 4. This rate reduction was made with no compromise in the original CELP signal quality since compression is lossless. The compression approach is based on constructing dynamic reflection coefficients codebook, this codebook is constructed and used simultaneously using a certain store/retrieve threshold. The initial linear prediction codec we used is excited by a discrete cosine transform (DCT) residual, the results were tested using the MOS and SSNR, we had acceptable ranges for the MOS (average 3.6), and small variations of the SSNR (±5 db).     

Behavior of FRP-confined concrete after high temperature exposure

This paper presents the results of an experimental program to investigate the effect of high temperature on the performance of concrete externally confined with FRP sheets. For this purpose, a two-phase experimental program was conducted. In the first phase, 42 standard 100 × 200 mm concrete cylinders were prepared. Out of these specimens, 14 cylinders were left unwrapped; 14 specimens were wrapped with one layer of CFRP sheet; and the remaining 14 specimens were wrapped with one layer of GFRP sheet. Some of the unconfined and FRP-confined specimens were exposed to room temperature; whereas, other cylinders were exposed to heating regime of 100 °C and 200 °C for a period of 1, 2 or 3 h. After high temperature exposure, specimens were tested under uniaxial compression till failure. The test results demonstrated that at a temperature of 100 °C (a little more than the glass transition temperature (T_g) of the epoxy resin), both CFRP- and GFRP-wrapped specimens experienced small loss in strength resulting from melting of epoxy. This loss of strength was more pronounced when the temperature reached 200 °C. In the second phase of the experimental program, three 100 × 100 × 650 mm concrete prisms were prepared and then overlaid by one layer of CFRP and GFRP laminates for conducting pull-off strength tests as per ASTM D4541 – 09. The objective of this testing was to evaluate the degradation in bond strength between FRP and concrete substrate when exposed to elevated temperature environments. One prism was exposed to room temperature whereas the other two specimens were exposed to heating regime of 100 °C and 200 °C for a period of 3 h. It was concluded that a significant degradation in the bond strength occurred at a temperature of 200 °C especially for CFRP-overlaid specimens.     

Sentinel 2 analysis of turbidity retrieval models in inland water bodies: The case study of Jordanian dams

This study investigates the potential of using Sentinel 2 multispectral satellite images to develop turbidity retrieval models and further estimate the turbidity values of inland water bodies in Jordan. Traditionally, laboratory analysis has been used to assess surface water quality, which is expensive, time-consuming, and requires accessing the field physically. In contrast, remote sensing technologies can detect the water contaminant level at a consistent spatial and temporal coverage. Turbidity is an essential indicator of inland water quality as it directly reflects under-water light penetration. This study was held in three Jordanian dams, King Talal Dam, Mujib Dam, and Wadi Al Arab Dam, which vary in their water quality level. Twenty water samples were collected from each dam. Forty samples were used to calibrate the models, and the rest samples were used to validate the predictive models. The results show that Sentinel 2 near-infrared band to green band (B8/B3) achieved high fitting accuracies with R² = 0.832 and root mean square error (RMSE) = 1.123 NTU. Overall, this study has demonstrated the ability of Sentinel 2 data to estimate the turbidity in different ranges of inland water bodies’ quality and indicates that remote sensing can be used as an efficient tool for monitoring inland water quality. This study presents empirical data that could act as a platform to extend future work to cover more sites and contexts.     

Clinical features of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever in the United Arab Emirates

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (C-CHF) re-emerged recently in the United Arab Emirates. The clinical outcome of 11 cases of viral haemorrhagic fever patients admitted to hospital between June 1994 and January 1995 is described. Four cases were laboratory confirmed retrospectively as C-CHF, the other patients were diagnosed likely to have the same disease on epidemiological and clinical grounds. In 72.7% of the patients, infection was fatal. Symptoms started 3.5 days before hospitalization. On admission, 81.8% of patients had high fever, 45.5% were vomiting, 63.6% had diarrhoea, 45.5% had haemorrhagic signs, and 18.2% had throat pain. Fatalities occurred 6.8 days after admission. Survivors were hospitalized for 9.3 days. Nosocomial transmission was not observed.