Development of Solar Drying

Importance of Solar Drying is increasing worldwide, especially in areas where the use of the abundant, renewable and clean solar energy is essentially advantageous. In the developing countries and in rural areas the traditional open-air drying methods should be substituted by the more effective and more economic solar drying technologies.

R&D needs should be considered in the basic research and experimental fields; in performance measurement; in the modelling-simulation-design and testing. The international co-operation of experts should be improved and more efforts would be needed in the policy and in the public information.     

Optimal task allocation in hypercube multiprocessor ensembles

Criteria are established to determine the optimal policy for allocating a set of uniform tasks onto a multiprocessor hypercube ensemble. It is shown that the optimal policy depends on the ratio of computation to intertask communication required by the distributed program, and that based on this ratio, tasks should be placed either all on one processor or uniformly distributed over the largest possible hypercube.     

In-field comparison among polarization-mode-dispersion measurementtechniques

We report polarization mode dispersion measurements on a 168 km long undersea optical cable, performed with two techniques. From experimental results, statistical behavior of polarization parameters and their time fluctuations have been extracted. An average differential group delay of about 13 ps shows that dispersion-shifted fibers can be affected by a polarization dispersion significantly larger than standard step-index fibers. The correlation length of the polarization-coupling perturbation in the tested fibers is not negligible with respect to the link length     

On the measurement of SSB noise figure using sideband cancellation

A new method for determining the single-sideband noise figure of a device from double-sideband measurements is proposed which eliminates the need for tunable filters and hence greatly reduces the complexity and cost of performing accurate noise figure measurements. This paper compares results obtained to those obtained using a traditional single-sideband measurement system with a tuneable filter and provides a full error analysis of the new technique. The method also offers considerable possibilities for future use at higher (microwave) frequencies where YIG filters and image reject mixers are not readily available     

Hydrolysis of tetracalcium phosphate in H3PO4 and KH2PO4

The activity product of tetracalcium phosphate (TTCP, Ca₄(PO₄)₂O), was determined at 37°C, and the hydrolysis of TTCP was investigated in 0.01–0.1 mol l^–1 H₃PO₄ and KH₂PO₄ solutions by means of calcium and phosphorus analyses, X-ray diffraction and infrared analysis. The activity product, defined as K _sp=(Ca²⁺)⁴ (PO ₄ ^3– )² (OH^–)², was 37.36 as pK _sp, which was smaller than that previously reported (42.4). TTCP easily hydrolysed to form calcium-deficient apatite (Ca-def OHAp, Ca_5–x (HPO₄) _x (PO₄)_3–x (OH)_1–x ), or dicalcium phosphate dihydrate (DCPD, CaHPO₄2H₂O), depending on the initial phosphate concentration. With 0.1 mol l^–1 H₃PO₄, TTCP hydrolysed to form DCPD within several minutes. In 0.025 mol l^–1 H₃PO₄ and 0.1 mol l^–1 KH₂PO₄, TTCP hydrolysed to form Ca-def OHAp through DCPD. In the latter solution, a small amount of octacalcium phosphate (OCP, Ca₈(H₂PO₄)₂(PO₄)₄5H₂O), was detected as an intermediate product. In 0.025 mol l^–1 KH₂PO₄, TTCP hydrolysed directly to form Ca-def OHAp. In 0.01 mol l^–1 H₃PO₄, hydrolysis of TTCP was not completed, although Ca-def OHAp was only a product. Thus the final product and the degree of hydrolysis depended on the pH and the overall Ca/P ratio in the reaction system. The rate of Ca-def OHAp formation seemed to be controlled by the dissolution rate of TTCP rather than the crystallization rate of the OHAp.     

Comparative Rheomechanical and Adhesive Properties of Two Hydrocolloid Dressings: Dependence on the Degree of Hydration

Hydration is believed to modify the mechanical properties (resistance to stress) and the rheological (viscoelastic) properties of hydrocolloid dressings. Rheomechanical properties in turn influence adhesional properties. In this work the relationships between the degree of hydration and the rheomechanical and the adhesive properties of two different commercial dressings (regular and nondispersive) were investigated. The two dressings showed different hydration characteristics. The regular dressing takes up water rapidly and tends to reach saturation after 12 hr. As the dressing swells and loses its integrity there is an accompanying reduction of both rheomechanical and adhesive properties. The nondispersive dressing exhibits a linear water uptake profile over extended periods of hydration up to 4 days. It does not swell and its rheomechanical and adhesive properties remain unchanged after hydration, The comparative evaluation of the results obtained with the various methods points to the relevance of mechanical and viscoelastic properties to the functionality assessment of dressings.     

Crack curving under mode-I loading

The whole history of failure of a rectangular panel with two symmetrical notches and a central crack subjected to a progressively increasing tension load normal to the crack plane is studied. The material of the panel exhibits substantial plastic deformation prior to fracture. An elastic-plastic analysis of the plate is first performed based on finite elements. The results of stress analysis are coupled with the strain energy density theory to determine the critical load for crack initiation and the history of stable crack growth up to the point of instability. At instability the crack runs fast through the elastic material bypassing the plastic zone near the plate boundary. The crack deviates from its initial direction and is curved even though the plate is subjected to opening-mode loading. Results for crack trajectories are given for various initial crack lengths and notch radii of the plate.Presented at Fourth Greek National Congress on Mechanics, 26–29 June 1995, held at Xanthi, Greece.     

Effect of superconducting fluctuations on the nmr relaxation rate of high-T c superconductors

The effect of superconducting order parameter fluctuations on the nuclear-spin relaxation rate, 1/T ₁, is studied for clean two-dimensional systems by calculating the three Maki-Thomson-type diagrams which represent the lowest-order fluctuation contributions to the transverse susceptibility. For Gaussian fluctuations and for temperatures near the mean field transition temperature,T _c0, we employ a weak-coupling theory in which the pair-fluctuation propagator can also include pair-breaking effects. We also go beyond the Gaussian theory and take into account the interactions between Cooper-pair fluctuations corresponding to the fourth-order Ginzburg-Landau fluctuation terms. We compare our results with previous results in the dirty limit and in 3D. We obtain a pronounced peak in 1/T₁ atT _c and briefly discuss possible reasons why this peak is not observed.     

Silicon-substrate microelectrode arrays for parallel recording ofneural activity in peripheral and cranial nerves

A new process for the fabrication of regeneration microelectrode arrays for peripheral and cranial nerve applications is presented. This type of array is implanted between the severed ends of nerves, the axons of which regenerate through via holes in the silicon and are thereafter held fixed with respect to the microelectrodes. The process described is designed for compatibility with industry-standard CMOS or BiCMOS processes (it does not involve high-temperature process steps nor heavily-doped etch-stop layers), and provides a thin membrane for the via holes, surrounded by a thick silicon supporting rim. Many basic questions remain regarding the optimum via hole and microelectrode geometries in terms of both biological and electrical performance of the implants, and therefore passive versions were fabricated as tools for addressing these issues in on-going work. Versions of the devices were implanted in the rat peroneal nerve and in the frog auditory nerve. In both cases, regeneration was verified histologically and it was observed that the regenerated nerves had reorganized into microfascicles containing both myelinated and unmyelinated axons and corresponding to the grid pattern of the via holes. These microelectrode arrays were shown to allow the recording of action potential signals in both the peripheral and cranial nerve settings, from several microelectrodes in parallel