Experimental analysis of a two‐axis tracking system for solar parabolic dish collector

In this paper, an attempt has been made to develop a two‐axis tracking system for solar parabolic dish concentrator and experimentally evaluated the performance of the tracking system. In this proposed design, the sensor design uses the illumination produced by the convex lens on the apex of a pyramid to align the dish in‐line with the sun. The change in incident angle of the solar rays on the lens surface shifts the area of illumination from the apex of the pyramid towards its faces. Photodiodes placed on the faces of the pyramid are used as the sensitive elements to detect the movement of the sun. The sensor output is fed to a microcontroller‐based system to drive the stepper motor on the basis of the programmed algorithm such that it receives normal incidence of sunlight on the sensor. To evaluate the performance of the proposed system, a conventional available 1‐W photovoltaic (PV) panel is placed at the focal point to measure the short circuit current and open circuit voltage. With respect to the conventional solar PV panel, it is observed that the positioning accuracy of the proposed tracking system enhances the short circuit current of 0.11 A by 86%. Thus, the proposed tracking system can be used in a stand‐alone parabolic dish with concentrating PV module as the focal point for further studies.     

Edible foxtail millet flour stabilises and retain the in vitro activity of blueberry bioactive components

Blueberries, a functional food, are rich in bioactive polyphenols and anthocyanins. However, the shelf life is short and requires cold storage. This study provides evidence that edible foxtail millet flour (FMF) efficiently sorbs only blueberry bioactive components (polyphenols and anthocyanins) but not sugars, improves their stability and retains the activity. The concentration of blueberry polyphenols and anthocyanins sorbed to FMF ranged from 6 to 113 and 4 to 41 mg g^?1, respectively. The concentration of bioactive components in one serving of blueberries (73 g) is equivalent to those present in 1.2 g of blueberry‐enriched foxtail millet flour (BFMF). The blueberry bioactive sorbed onto FMF remained stable for at least 16 weeks at 40 °C. BFMF eluates inhibited α‐glucosidase enzyme activity and scavenged the free radicals conferring that blueberry bioactive components in BFMF retained the activity. The sorption process described here provides a practical way of creating low glycemic protein‐rich edible flour enriched with plant bioactive compounds without sugars.     

Low complexity ordered successive interference cancelation detection algorithm for uplink MIMO SC-FDMA system

In mobile communication, the most exploratory technology of fifth generation is massive multiple input multiple output (MIMO). The minimum mean square error and zero forcing based linear detectors are used in multiuser detection for MIMO single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA). When the received signal is detected and regularization sequence is joined in the equalization of spectral null amplification, these schemes experience an error performance and the signal detection assesses an inversion of a matrix computation that grows into complexity. Ordered successive interference cancelation (OSIC) detection is considered for MIMO SC-FDMA, which uses a posteriori information to eradicate these problems in a realistic environment. To cancel the interference, sorting is preferred based on signal-to-noise ratio and log-likelihood ratio. The distinctiveness of the methodology is to predict the symbol with the lowest error probability. The proposed work is compared with the existing methods, and simulation results prove that the defined algorithm outperforms conventional detection methods and accomplishes better performance with lower complication.     

Biofiltration as pre-treatment to water harvesting and recycling

This paper presents the results of the long term biofilter experiments conducted with raw stormwater collected from a canal at Carlton, in Sydney. Anthracite and granular activated carbon (GAC) were used as a single filter media in biofilter columns. Media heights of 75 and 40 cm were used. The filter columns were operated at filtration velocities of 0.12 and 0.25 m/h. The removal efficiency for turbidity and DOC for the GAC filter media were found to be 75% and almost 100% respectively. The removal efficiency for the anthracite filter was much lower. Molecular weight distribution analysis showed an almost similar trend to the DOC removal. Compared with anthracite filter media, the GAC biofilter removed a much larger range of organic compounds present in the stormwater. The GAC biofilter removes organic matter earlier as compared to anthracite. Based on a limited sample of stormwater, the removal efficiency for phosphorus was upto 74% and that of nitrogen was up to 30%. In general GAC filter shows higher heavy metal removal efficiency than anthracite. The removal of zinc, iron, lead and nickel were good. However the concentration of heavy metal in the raw surface water sample was low.     

Fabrication of an Effusive Molecular Beam Instrument for Surface Reaction Kinetics—CO Oxidation and NO Reduction on Pd(111) Surfaces

A simple molecular beam instrument (MBI) was fabricated for measuring the fundamental parameters in catalysis such as, sticking coefficient, transient and steady state kinetics and reaction mechanism of gas/vapor phase reactions on metal surfaces. Important aspects of MBI fabrication are given in detail. Nitric oxide (NO) decomposition and NO reduction with carbon monoxide (CO) on Pd(111) surfaces were studied. Interesting results were observed for the above reactions and they support the efficiency of the MBI to derive the fundamental parameters of adsorption and catalysis. Sustenance of CO oxidation at 400 K is dependent mostly on the absence of CO-poisoning; apparently, CO + O recombination is the rate determining step ≤400 K. NO adsorption measurements on Pd(111) surface clearly indicating a typical precursor kinetics. Displacement of the chemisorbed CO by NO on Pd(111) surfaces was observed directly with NO + CO beams in the transient kinetics. It is also relatively easy to identify the rate-determining step directly from the MBI data and the same was demonstrated for the above reactions.     

Defects Induced Magnetism in WO<Subscript>3</Subscript> and Reduced Graphene Oxide-WO<Subscript>3</Subscript> Nanocomposites

A series of reduced graphene oxide (rGO)-WO₃ nanocomposites were prepared by hydrothermal method using GO and tungsten complex. The nanocomposites were characterized by powder XRD, Raman spectroscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy, HRTEM, XPS, photoluminescence (PL), and magnetic studies. The structural analysis confirms the hexagonal crystal structure and formation of rGO-WO₃ nanocomposites. HRTEM images show rod-like shape WO₃ distributed on the wrinkle structure of rGO sheets. XPS results confirm the oxidation state and oxygen vacancies present in the samples. PL spectra of the samples show blue emission and indicate the existence of surface defects and oxygen vacancies. The M–H loop of rGO-WO₃ nanocomposites reveal that the co-existence of both ferro and antiferromagnetism at room temperature. The incorporation of rGO sheets notably increase magnetic behavior of composites due to extended C–C bond conducts much stronger coupling between the 5d and 6s orbitals of tungsten and carbon atoms.     

Performance Analysis of Parallel Concatenation of LDPC Coded SISO-GFDM System for Distinctive Pulse Shaping Filters using USRP 2901 Device and its Application to WiMAX

The increasing demand for high data rates requires channel error control codes for the upcoming fifth generation. This article presents an investigation of the parallel concatenation of low-density parity-check codes (PC-LDPC) in the fifth generation proposed waveform candidate called generalized frequency division multiplexing (GFDM). PC-LDPC codes are obtained by dividing the long and high complexity single LDPC codes into small two lower complexity codes, and these designed codes are applied to the 5G-GFDM waveform. Since the GFDM signal transmits data in both the time and frequency domain, these PC-LDPC codes can deal with two-dimensional errors. This channel coded GFDM system is integrated into Universal software radio peripheral (USRP) device for real-time implementation. The Attainment of the proposed transceiver is verified by computation of BER under distinctive channel coding techniques like convolutional, Golay, Bose-Chaudhuri-Hochquenghem (BCH), extended length single LDPC code. The different pulse shaping filters such as Raised Cosine (RC), Root Raised Cosine (RRC), Gaussian, and Xia 4th order filter are applied to the GFDM under the Gaussian noise and Rayleigh fading channel to compute Out of band (OOB) power. The PC-LDPC coded GFDM outperforms LDPC by 6.5 dB in the RRC filter for roll-off factor rate 0.5 under the Rayleigh fading channel. PC-LDPC code outperforms LDPC code with a coding gain of 2 dB was observed in IEEE 802.16 Transceiver.

     

Flexural-Torsional buckling tests of cold-formed lipped Channel beams under restrained boundary conditions

In this paper, tests on flexural buckling (Lateral-Torsional) of cold-formed steel (CFS) lipped Channel beams under restrained boundary conditions are described. Two point loading for flexural tests have been established for 3.0 m span to obtain uniform bending moment. The section sizes selected for testing are 100×50×10, 100×50×15, and 100×50×20 mm with 1.6 and 2.0 mm thickness for the investigation. Carefully designed loading and support systems were used in the tests to apply gravity load through the web of the section and to ensure that simply supported ends were established. The test results were compared with the moment obtained using BS5950: Part 5 and IS code 801-1975. The influences of warping and torsional restraints on flexural capacity are presented. The influence of buckling length for different boundary conditions proposed by Rhodes is considered to calculate critical flexural-torsional buckling moment.     

360度全方位的网络基础架构性能

经济低迷勇升级，迎接复苏好时机 当前的经济形势将对企业形成压力、促使其降低成本。本能反应当然是对无直接效益的业务实施成本削减战略。IT一类成本中心当然成了“矛头所指”。然而，正当人们谈论缩减规模之时．IT投资实际上却可以实现切实可见的商业效益。为节省成本而三思熟虑的策略未必有效，长远来看，这种做法甚至可能适得其反。