Lead acid battery storage configurations for improved availablecapacity

Battery storage is a crucial element in alternative energy and electric vehicle systems. Three battery storage configurations: a conventional; a parallel; and a dual, were analyzed for both shallow cycle and deep cycle lead-acid batteries to determine if capacity improvement is achievable. Daily profiles for the weekly irradiance, daily loads, and ambient temperature are simulated. Cycle tests were performed monthly to determine the effect each configuration had on the available battery capacity. Results for each battery type differ. Available capacity was improved using the parallel configuration with shallow cycle batteries and the dual configuration with deep cycle batteries     

An electrical network approach to the analysis of semiconductordevices

A simple electrical network is used to represent the five differential equations describing basic phenomena in one-dimensional semiconductor devices. Both standard and integrated approaches for solving transport equations are developed. Also, an electrical network equivalent for the nonlinear Poisson equation was derived. It allows students to better understand the physical phenomena and the process of computer simulation of such semiconductor devices     

Heading towards an advanced signalling system for multimedia,multiparty services in broadband ISDN

Introduction of the broadband integrated services digital network (B-ISDN) will enable network users to make use of advanced multimedia, multiparty services. With this aim in view, RACE II project R2044, MAGIC, is investigating long-term signalling requirements, architecture and protocols for B-ISDN. New service concepts are being developed in MAGIC which will provide more flexibility when compared to narrowband ISDN (N-ISDN). The service requirements and other signalling requirements, such as the separation between call and associated connections at the network-node interface, are used to determine the distribution of functions over the network. The signalling protocols which are used to exchange the signalling information are subsequently developed. These signalling protocols are simulated to prove the performance and the feasibility of call handling concepts     

Experimental and theoretical studies on a distributed temperaturesensor based on Brillouin scattering

Results are reported from recent research on the use of the Brillouin gain/loss mechanism for distributed sensing. A theoretical model of the interaction of the pulsed and CW beams is described and compared with experiments. Results from a system with a 51 km sensing length are presented. We finally investigate issues related to the variation within the sensing fiber of the polarizations of the two beams     

Continuously chirped DFB gratings by specially bent waveguides fortunable lasers

We have implemented and studied a new type of tunable multiple-section semiconductor distributed feedback (DFB) laser using tailored chirped DFB gratings. Arbitrarily and continuously chirped DFB gratings are defined by bent waveguides on homogeneous grating fields with ultrahigh spatial precision. The mathematical bending functions are optimized in this case to provide enlarged wavelength tuning ranges. We present the results of model calculations, the technological device realization and experimental results of the DFB laser characterization e.g. a tuning range of 5.5 nm without wavelength gaps and high side mode suppression ratio     

Pneumothorax. A complication of fine needle aspiration of breast tumors

Of 1,666 patients who underwent fine needle aspiration for breast lumps, 4 developed pneumothorax as a complication. The incidence of this complication in our patients is 1:417. The clinical manifestations were immediate chest pain, shoulder pain and, occasionally, dyspnea that developed later. Observation is sufficient treatment in most patients, and rarely is drainage of the pneumothorax required.     

In-chain functionalization by alternating anionic copolymerization of styrene and 1-(4-dimethylaminophenyl)-1-phenylethylene

Anionic copolymerizations of styrene (M₁) with excess 1-(4-dimethyl-aminophenyl)-1-phenylethylene (M₂) were conducted in benzene at 25°C for 24h, using sec-butyllithium as initiator. Narrow molecular weight distribution copolymers with M?;_n = 16.1 × 10³ g/mol (M?_w/M?_n = 1.04) and 38.2 × 10³g/mol (M?_w/M?_n = 1.05), and 24 and 38 moles of M₂ per macromolecule, respectively, were characterized by size exclusion chromatography, ¹H NMR spectroscopy and DSC. The monomer reactivity ratio, r₁ = 5.6, was obtained from the copolymer composition at complete consumption of M₁, assuming that the rate constant k₂₂ =0,i.e. r₂ =0. The polymers exhibited T_g values of 128 and 119°C, respectively, which correspond to an estimated T_g = 217°C for the hypothetical homopolymer of M₂.