Effect of vanadium and tin additives on structural and magnetic properties of Bi-YIG nano-particles

In this research work, substituted tin and vanadium garnets Y_2.5Bi_0.5Fe_2?2xSn_xFe_3?xV_x O₁₂ (0?≤?x?≤?0.2) were prepared by mechanochemical processing following with 10 h milling and post-annealing at different temperatures. Physical properties of samples were studied by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), Far-infrared spectroscopy (Far-IR), and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). XRD patterns of prepared garnets show that the samples are all single phase with garnet structure at 900 °C. Further, the average crystallite size was calculated by Debye–Scherrer, and Williamson–Hall methods. We also studied the magnetic properties of prepared samples by using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Experiments showed that the maximum value of vanadium that can be entered in the garnet structure is 0.2.

     

Analysis of shear rate effects on drag reduction in turbulent channel flow with superhydrophobic wall

We examined the shear rate effect on drag reduction of superhydrophobic surfaces with different slip lengths. For this purpose, turbulent channel flow was considered at the friction Reynolds numbers of Reτ = 180, 395, 500. By using Navier＇s slip condition it is shown that increasing shear rate leads to the greater reduction in drag force and also more reduction occurs in larger slip length. Based on the results, more than 25% drag reduction happens at a friction Reynolds number of Reτ= 500 for slip length of 1 ×10 5 m. The simulation results suggest that reduction in drag force occurs because slip condition reduces the Reynolds stresses, also weakens vorticity filed and the near-wall coherent structures, and therefore turbulence production is decreased.     

Hemodialysis cost in Tehran,Iran

The purpose of this study was to assess the health service cost of hemodialysis (HD) delivered at hospitals in Iran as a developing country with a well‐defined program of renal replacement therapy. A cost analysis was performed from the viewpoint of the 2 hospitals, with 3 shifts and full chairs, on current practice for dialysis maintenance. Cost and patient data were collected in 2006 and from April 1 to May 31, 2007, respectively. A total of 22,464 HD sessions were performed and 247 patients were studied during the study period. The reference year for the value of USD for different mentioned costs was 2006. Health care sector costs associated with each HD session were estimated at US$78.87. Most of the total maintenance expenditure was made up of medical supplies (36.19%), with dialyzers as the major cost driver. Staff salaries represented 17% of the cost and fixed direct capital costs accounted for 21.4%. Of the family members, 32.4% accompanied their patients. The mean cost for transportation of patients and accompanied person was US$3.15 ± 2.83 and US$1.5 ± 0.29, respectively. These findings are important in the light of limited available resources coupled with the increasing prevalence of kidney failure. A major attempt should also be made to increase peritoneal dialysis coverage as in some centers we cannot keep all chairs full, especially in some vast areas. It is highly recommended to place initial focus on strategies and treatments that slow disease progression, to postpone renal replacement therapy to save resources.     

Challenges and trends in the allocation of the workforce in manufacturing shop floors

This paper presents a critical and focused review of definitions, challenges and developments of the workforce allocation system in manufacturing shop floors with a particular emphasis on response to changes and disturbances. The continuously changing requirements in production environments have been the driving force behind several stages of evolution experienced by management of workforce allocation. The paper includes an in-depth examination of the phenomena of changes and disturbances in the production shop floor. This is followed by an assessment of the readiness of workforce allocation systems to respond to such events with respect to both workforce perception and system architecture. Recent developments of the workforce allocation models suggest that the use of intelligent and distributed systems and techniques offer solutions that are responsive, flexible, and multi-criteria. To this end, an overview of a recent study in the application of the principles of holonic manufacturing systems, as an example of intelligent system approach to develop a flexible workforce allocation model, is presented.     

Investigation about the effects of exterior surface paint color on temperature development in aboveground pipeline

A practical analytical model for predicting temperature development of incompressible flow inside an aboveground pipeline has been constructed and presented in this research work. The outer surface of the pipeline is exposed to solar radiation and wind stream. The radiation heat exchange with ambient is also taken into account. The effects of exterior surface paint color represented by emissivity and absorptivity, have been studied. The model has been developed to study crude oil flow temperature development through a specific pipeline. The results obtained by the model show that the bulk temperature inclined to a limiting value in some distance which affected mainly by Reynolds numbers. It is found that emissivity and absorptivity of surface are predominant parameters in temperature development in an aboveground pipeline flow which can increase or decrease pipe surface and fluid temperature especially for low Reynolds number flow. Based on the results which indicated significantly of exterior surface paint color, one should choose the paint color by considering its effects on temperature development.     

Enhancement in energy product in Sm-Co/Fe exchange coupled magnetic layers with molybdenum interlayers

Trilayers of Sm-Co/Mo/Fe were deposited by DC and RF magnetron sputtering on Si(100) substrate at 650 °C.Effect of very thin Mo interlayers on energy product of magnetic layers was studied.All the samples showed strong exchange coupling and single phase behavior.With increasing Mo interlayer thickness,we observed oscillating behavior of saturation magnetization and energy product.The rise in energy product was observed as 22% for 0.3 nm Mo interlayer as compared to sample without Mo interlayer.     

Application of fuzzy logic for autonomous bay parking of automobiles

In this paper, we investigate the control problem of autonomous bay parking system. We choose a referenced parking lot and define a suitable parking spot based on some measurements at various places. A kinetic model is set up for the convenience of analysis and simulation. The pose of the car during the parking procedure can be determined by the initial pose, the backward speed, and the steering angle of the wheel. Then, both a fuzzy speed controller and a fuzzy steering controller are designed for the bay parking. Finally, simulation results show the effectiveness of our designed controllers.     

Carriers-mediated ferromagnetic enhancement in Al-doped ZnMnO dilute magnetic semiconductors

Nano-crystalline Zn_{0.95 – x}Mn_0.05Al_xO (x = 0, 0.05, 0.10) dilute magnetic semiconductors (DMS) were synthesized by sol–gel derived auto-combustion. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis shows that the samples have pure wurtzite structure typical of ZnO without the formation of secondary phases or impurity. Crystallite sizes were approximated by Scherrer formula while surface morphology and grain sizes were measured by field emission scanning electron microscopy. Incorporation of Mn and Al into the ZnO structure was confirmed by energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. Temperature dependent electrical resistivity measurements showed a decreasing trend with the doping of Al in ZnMnO, which is attributable to the enhancement of free carriers. Vibrating sample magnetometer studies confirmed the presence of ferromagnetic behavior at room temperature. The results indicate that Al doping results in significant variation in the concentration of free carriers and correspondingly the carrier-mediated magnetization and room temperature ferromagnetic behavior, showing promise for practical applications. We attribute the enhanced saturation magnetization and electrical conductivity to the exchange interaction mediated by free electrons.     

Optimization of Zn(O,S)/(Zn,Mg)O buffer layer in Cu(In,Ga)Se<Subscript>2</Subscript> based photovoltaic cells

Device modeling of CIGS based thin film solar cell with Zn(O,S)/(Zn,Mg)O buffer layer was simulated in order to find the optimum ratios of magnesium in (Zn_1?x,Mg_x)O and oxygen in Zn(O_y,S_1?y) which led to the optimized values of x = 0.1?0.25 and y = 0.5?0.6. When the oxygen content of Zn(O,S) was lower than 30 %, the recombination at Zn(O,S)/CIGS interface became prominent and J_SC was severely limited. It was found that the V_OC is approximately independent of magnesium content in (Zn,Mg)O and oxygen content in Zn(O,S) layers, and the efficiency is highly affected by the fill factor. Also studied were the effect of thicknesses of (Zn,Mg)O and Zn(O,S) layers while the x and y were set at x = 0.2 and y = 0.6. Our simulations show that the optimum range for thickness of the (Zn,Mg)O layer is from 70 to 100 nm, while it is 20–30 nm for the Zn(O,S) layer.