Predicting the stages of smoking acquisition in the male students of Shiraz's high schools, 2003.

A staged model of smoking adoption has been widely applied in studies of adolescent smoking. This paper examined the effects of socioenvironmental and personal factors on three stages of the smoking continuum among a sample of 10th-grade male students, ages 14-19 years, at 20 high schools in Shiraz city. This paper is the first step of a longitudinal study related to adolescents smoking and predictors of transition in the stages. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 1,132 10th-grade students from a possible population of 14,000 students. Multivariate discriminant function analysis was used to analyze the data. Overall 19.4% of students had smoked; 80.6%, 16.9%, and 2.5% had never smoked, had experimented, and had regularly smoked, respectively. The discriminant function analysis indicated that attitude toward smoking, use of alcohol, use of illicit drugs, smoking behavior of best friends, and self-esteem were related to more intense smoking behaviors. Finally, these variables permitted the correct classification of 70.3% of students into the stages of smoking acquisition. This finding has important public health significance, but further research is required to determine if the association is causal.     

Production of bioethanol from sugarcane bagasse using yeast strains: A kinetic study

In this study, sugarcane bagasse (2 mm) was pretreated with 2.5% NaOH followed by steaming at 121°C for various time periods. Maximum cellulose content of 81% and delignification of 68.5% were achieved by soaking bagasse in 2.5% NaOH with a residence time of 1 h at room temperature followed by steaming at 121°C for 30 min residence time. The pretreated substrate was analyzed by SEM and FTIR to study the structural modification and functional group of the untreated and pretreated substrates. The pretreated substrate was saccharified by commercial cellulase enzyme depicting 106 µm mesh size of substrate yields maximum saccharification rate. The saccharified material was fermented by Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia stipitis in mono- and co-culture modes. Maximum product yield (Y_p/s) was observed by monoculture using Saccharomyces cerevisiae after 96 h of fermentation period.     

Soret and Dufour effects between two rectangular plane walls with heat source/sink

This study addresses the thermo‐diffusion and the diffusion‐thermo phenomena in a semi‐infinite absorbent channel whose walls are contracting/expanding, with heat source/sink effects. The governing partial differential equations with suitable boundary conditions are transformed to a system of dimensionless ordinary differential equations. An analytic solution of the problem has been found using a technique called homotopy analysis method (HAM). HAM gives consistently valid answers to the problem over an extensive variety of parameters and also provides better accuracy. To validate the analytical results, a comparison has been presented with a numerical solution calculated by using the parallel shooting method. The effects of dimensionless parameters, that is, deformation parameter, Reynolds number, Soret and Dufour numbers, and heat source/sink parameter on the expressions of velocity, temperature, and concentration profiles are analyzed graphically to understand the physics of the deformable channel. It has been noted that the velocity across the channel is higher for the expanding channel, as compared to that for the contracting channel. Also the Soret and Dufour number increases the temperature of the fluid, and decreases the concentration. The temperature profile has an increasing behavior in the case of heat source, and a decreasing behavior in the case of heat sink.     

CFD modeling of flow and heat transfer in a thermosyphon

In the present study a gas/liquid two-phase flow and the simultaneous evaporation and condensation phenomena in a thermosyphon was modeled. The volume of fluid (VOF) technique was used to model the interaction between these phases. Experiments in a thermosyphon were carried out at different operating conditions. The CFD predicted temperature profile in the thermosyphon was compared with experimental measurements and a good agreement was observed. It was concluded that CFD is a useful tool to model and explain the complex flow and heat transfer in a thermosyphon.     

A hybrid lithium‐ion battery model for system‐level analyses

We describe an advanced lithium‐ion battery model for system‐level analyses such as electric vehicle fleet simulation or distributed energy storage applications. The model combines an empirical multi‐parameter model and an artificial neural network with particular emphasis on thermal effects such as battery internal heating. The model is fast and can accurately describe constant current charging and discharging of a battery cell at a variety of ambient temperatures. Comparison to a commonly used linear kilowatt‐hour counter battery model indicates that a linear model overestimates the usable capacity of a battery at low temperatures. We highlight the importance of including internal heating in a battery model at low temperatures, as more capacity is available when internal heating is taken into account. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermal and rheological effects in a classical Graetz problem using a nonlinear Robertson-Stiff fluid model

The present article elaborates the Graetz problem for the Robertson-Stiff fluid model with imposed iso-thermal conditions. The closed-form expression of Robertson-Stiff fluid velocity is obtained. Employing the classical separation of variables approach, the energy equation of the said problem is reduced into an eigenvalue problem. The solution of the eigenvalue problem is developed numerically via the MATLAB built-in algorithm BVP4C. The constants appearing in series solutions are computed by Simpson's rule. The special case of this analysis with appropriate scaling is also applicable for the Bingham, power-law, and Newtonian fluid models. The impact of the dissipation function on Nusselt numbers and mean temperature is also considered. The pictorial representation of average temp7erature and Nusselt number are discussed in the presence of the plug radius, power-law index, and Brinkman number. It is observed that the presence of the plug radius and power-law index delay the prevalence of fully developed conditions for the Nusselt number. Moreover, the local Nusselt number for channel confinement attains higher values as compared with tube confinement. The present investigation has numerous applications in the field of engineering, nanotechnology, biomedical sciences, and development of several thermal types of equipment or microfluidic devices.     

Optimal design of a modular axial-flux permanent-magnet synchronous generator for gearless wind turbine applications

Air-cored axial-flux permanent-magnet synchronous generators (AFPMSGs) are potential candidates for gearless direct-coupled wind turbines (DCWTs) owing to providing high efficiency and power density. The design of a DCWT generator is so complicated since the generator cost, dimension, and weight affected by gear elimination. Therefore, it is essential to find an optimal AFPMSG design at rated conditions. In this paper, an accurate procedure for the optimal design of an air-cored AFPMSG applicable for DCWTs is proposed. The genetic algorithm (GA) is used for multi-objective design optimization to reach the optimal configuration as well as system dimension in order to decrease the weight, increase the power density and enhance the effectiveness of the generator. To validate the efficiency of the suggested optimization proceducer, a 30 kW AFPMSG has been considered as a case study. The results of optimization have been investigated by finite element analysis (FEA). A prototype generator is also fabricated, and the test results are offered and compared with the numerical study. The outcomes show that there exists an acceptable agreement between FEA and experimental outcomes with the error percentage about of 1.35%.     

The role of geometry on the viscoelastic materials properties: tensile and stress relaxation of the yarn

The time-dependent mechanical behavior of textiles has particular importance. One of such behaviors is stress relaxation. When strain is applied constantly, there is a decreased stress with time in viscoelastic materials, which is called stress relaxation. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of knot’s geometry (surgeon, square and eight) and the number of knots on the tensile and stress relaxation properties of the polyester yarn. Significant differences were observed for the tensile characteristics of the yarn in the presence of the knot. Generally, the knotted yarns demonstrated lower tensile stress and strain at failure. Moreover, the results revealed that the stress relaxation behavior of the yarn is affected by the number of knots and their geometry. The yarn without knot exhibited the highest stress relaxation percent while the yarn with the surgeon’s knot displayed the least stress relaxation percent. On the other hand, increasing the number of knots led to a decrease in the percentage of yarn stress relaxation.