Autonomous system expansion planning considering renewable energysources-a computer package

The authors describe the interactive package ASP (Autonomous System Planning), which determines the optimal expansion plan of an autonomous generation system including diesel units, wind generators, and photovoltaic generators. Utilizing meteorological data, load demand data and estimated economical parameters, the package finds the optimal system expansion policy for a period of N years. The solution algorithms implemented in the package recognize planning and operational constraints and take into consideration the stochastic nature of the meteorological conditions, loads, and the availability of the diesel units     

Methods to assess physical activity with special reference tomotion sensors and accelerometers

Motion sensors may be applied for the assessment of physical activity. This paper reviews the evolution of these instruments from the mechanical pedometer to the electronic accelerometer. We conclude that for accurate assessment of physical activity under free living conditions the recently introduced accelerometer looks most promising, although little information was available regarding the reliability of these instruments. Subsequently, reliability of an accelerometer with a three-directional sensor was examined. Intrainstrument variation in a bench test was less than 8% during four measurements over a week. Interinstrument variation during treadmill experiments while subjects wore two accelerometers at the same time was on average 22% and was not improved after adjustment for differences found in the bench test. Reproducibility in the treadmill experiment was approximately 76, 85, and 95% at 3, 5, and 7 km/h, respectively. Bench testing revealed that the sensitivity of a piezoelectric element is prone to shifts, probably due to mechanical, electromagnetic, and/or temperature shock, which may be encountered during outdoor application. However, the relevance of the bench test in this study may be questioned, as results did not correspond with the findings in subjects. This needs further investigation.     

Contact resistance for small contacts [MOSFET]

An asymptotic analysis for current flow to small contacts in MOSFET source/drain regions is obtained. The formula for end resistance is compared with numerical simulations. It shows good agreement for contacts whose width is smaller than half the diffusion width     

PROGRESS IN THE MODELLING OF AIR FLOW PATTERNS IN TIMBER KILNS

Progress in modelling air flow patterns in timber kilns using Computational Fluid Dynamics is reviewed in this work. These simulations are intended to predict the distribution of the flow in the fillet spaces between boards in a hydraulic model of a timber kiln. Here, the flow regime between the boards is transitional between laminar and turbulent flow, with Reynolds numbers of the order of 5000. Running the simulation as a transient calculation has shown few problems with convergence issues, reaching a mass residual of 0.2% of the total inflow after 40-100 iterations per time step for time steps of 0.01 s. Grid sensitivity studies have shown that non-uniform grids are necessary because of the sudden changes in flow cross section, and the flow simulations are insensitive to grid refinement for non-uniform grids with more than 300,000 cells. The best agreement between the experimentally-measured flow distributions between fillet spaces and those predicted by the simulation have been achieved for (effective) bulk viscosities between the laminar viscosity for water and ten times that value. This change in viscosity is not very large (less than an order of magnitude), given that effective turbulent viscosities are typically several orders of magnitude greater than laminar ones. This result is consistent with the transitional flows here.     

High-frequency performance of submicrometer channel-length siliconMOSFETs

Polycide-gate silicon n-channel MOSFETs were fabricated on the basis of a standard 0.5-μm MOS technology and measured over the 1.5-26.5-GHz frequency range, in order to investigate the effects of channel-length reduction on device behavior at high frequency. Excellent microwave performances were obtained with a maximum operating frequency (f_max) and a unity-current-gain frequency f _t near 20 GHz for 0.5-μm-gate-length NMOS devices. An equivalent circuit for a MOSFET with its parasitic elements was extracted from measured S-parameter data. The influence of gate resistance, gate-to-drain overlap capacitance, substrate conductivity, and the transit-time effect between the source and drain on microwave characteristics was analyzed     

Catalyst for desulfurization of high-end-point diesel fuel

Translated from Khimiya i Tekhnologiya Topliv i Masel, No. 3, pp. 34–35, March, 1992.     

On the nature of cementite

Rybinsk Aviation Technological Institute. Translated from Metallovedenie i Termicheskaya Obrabotka Metallov, No 8, pp. 2–5, August, 1992.     

The effect of different protein diets on longevity and various biochemical parameters of aged rats]

In this work 23 month old rats were fed for 200 days with different protein diets (NT-diet: 19% protein, 72% of animal origin and LP-diet: 8.8% protein exclusively of vegetable origin). Some metabolic parameters and lifespan (on the base of a 50% death-rate) were determined. The relations of the liver free amino acids glycine + alanine and tyrosine + phenylalanine + branched chain amino acids and the ratio of phenylalanine/tyrosine were determined to be higher in the LP-group. Phenylalanine in liver and urea concentrations in liver and serum were lower in the LP-group. Furthermore the dopamine or serotonin levels were significantly lower in lateral and medial or lateral regions of the hypothalamus respectively in LP-diet fed rats. The norepinephrine content was not modified by the diets. The median lifespan of 23 month old rats was higher by 24% following LP-treatment. These results suggest that the protein component (amino acids) of different diets may modify metabolic parameters and lifespan of animals by mechanisms in which the central regulation may be involved.