Cumulative frequency distribution of solar insolation at Quetta, Pakistan

An inverse Gaussian relationship between percentage cumulative frequency and energy (in MJ/m²/day) is obtained from solar insolation data of Quetta, Pakistan.     

Computation of entropy generation in dissipative transient natural convective viscoelastic flow

Entropy generation is an important aspect of modern thermal polymer processing optimization. Many polymers exhibit strongly non‐Newtonian effects and dissipation effects in thermal processing. Motivated by these aspects in this study, a numerical analysis of the entropy generation with viscous dissipation effect in an unsteady flow of viscoelastic fluid from a vertical cylinder is presented. The Reiner‐Rivlin physical model of grade 2 (second‐grade fluid) is used, which can envisage normal stress variations in polymeric flow‐fields. Viscosity variation is included. The obtained governing equations are resolved using implicit finite difference method of Crank‐Nicolson type with well imposed initial and boundary conditions. Key control parameters are the second‐grade viscoelastic fluid parameter (), viscosity variation parameter (), and viscous dissipation parameter (). Also, group parameter (), Grashof number (Gr), and Prandtl number (Pr) are examined. Numerical solutions are presented for steady‐state flow variables, temperature, time histories of friction, wall heat transfer rate, entropy, and Bejan curves for distinct values of control parameters. The results specify that entropy generation decreases with augmenting values of , , and Gr. The converse trend is noticed with increasing Pr and . Furthermore, the computations reveal that entropy and Bejan lines only occur close to the hot cylinder wall.     

Application of differential transform method to unsteady free convective heat transfer of a couple stress fluid over a stretching sheet

In the present article, the transient rheological boundary layer flow over a stretching sheet with heat transfer is investigated, a topic of relevance to non‐Newtonian thermal materials processing. Stokes couple stress model is deployed to simulate non‐Newtonian characteristics. Similarity transformations are utilized to convert the governing partial differential equations into nonlinear ordinary differential equations with appropriate wall and free stream boundary conditions. The nondimensional boundary value problem emerging is shown to be controlled by a number of key thermophysical and rheological parameters, namely the rheological couple stress parameter (), unsteadiness parameter (), Prandtl number (Pr), buoyancy parameter . The semi‐analytical differential transform method (DTM) is used to solve the reduced nonlinear coupled ordinary differential boundary value problem. A numerical solution is also obtained via the MATLAB built‐in solver “bvp4c” to validate the results. Further validation with published results from the literature is included. Fluid velocity is enhanced with increasing couple stress parameter, whereas it is decreased with unsteadiness parameter. Temperature is elevated with couple stress parameter, whereas it is initially reduced with unsteadiness parameter. The flow is accelerated with increasing positive buoyancy parameter (for heating of the fluid), whereas it is decelerated with increasing negative buoyancy parameter (cooling of the fluid). Temperature and thermal boundary layer thickness are boosted with increasing positive values of buoyancy parameter. Increasing Prandtl number decelerates the flow, reduces temperatures, increases momentum boundary layer thickness, and decreases thermal boundary layer thickness. Excellent accuracy is achieved with the DTM approach.     

An accurate small-signal model for AlGaN-GaNHEMT suitable for scalable large-signal model construction

The validity of the proposed small-signal model (SSM) and the developed extraction method in for large GaN devices is investigated. Extraction of parasitic elements is performed for different size devices to show the scaling of these elements with the gate width. The model shows a very good result for describing the parasitic distributed effect, which is considerable for large devices.     

Noise properties of AlGaAs/GaAs MODFET's

An analytically tractable model is presented for the calculation of noise performance of a modulation-doped field-effect transistor (MODFET). The charge control is based on the self-consistent solution of Schrodinger and Poisson's equation. An improved velocity-field characteristic is used in the calculation. The fit provided by the developed theory to the experimental data is excellent     

Activation of complement by mannose-binding lectin on isogenic mutants of Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B

Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is a serum protein that has been demonstrated to activate the classical complement pathway and to function directly as an opsonin. Although MBL deficiency is associated with a common opsonic defect and a predisposition to infection, the role of the protein in bacterial infection remains unclear. We have investigated MBL binding to Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B1940 and three isogenic mutants, and the subsequent activation of the two major isoforms of C4 (C4A and C4B) by an associated serine protease, MASP. The mutants lacked expression of the capsular polysaccharide (siaD-), the lipo-oligosaccharide (LOS) outer core that prevented LOS sialylation (cpsD-), or both capsule and LOS outer core (cps-). Using flow cytometry, it was possible to detect strong MBL binding to the cps- and cpsD- mutants over a wide range of concentrations. In contrast, minimal or no MBL binding was detected on the parent organism, with binding to siaD- only at higher MBL concentrations. C4 was activated and bound by mutants that had previously bound MBL/MASP, but there was no significant difference in the amounts of C4A and C4B bound. When sialic acid residues were removed from the parent organism by neuraminidase treatment, the binding of both MBL and C4 increased significantly. Our results suggest that MBL may bind to and activate complement on these encapsulated organisms, and the major determinants of these effects are the LOS structure and sialylation.     

Noise performance of Si/Si/sub 1-x/Ge/sub x/ FETs

Noise characteristics are evaluated for SiGe/Si based n-channel MODFETs and p-channel MOSFETs. The analysis is based on a self-consistent solution of Schrodinger and Poisson's equations. The model predicts a superior minimum noise figure for an n-channel MODFET at 77 K. P-channel MOSFETs behave similar to n-channel devices operating at 300 K. Minimum noise figure decreases with increasing quantum well (QW) width for both n- and p-channel devices. However, the p-channel devices are less sensitive to QW width variation. Minimum noise temperature behaves similarly. As observed, a range of doped epilayer thickness exists where minimum noise figure is a minimum for both n- and p-channel FETs.<>     

Asynchronous algorithms for poisson's equation with nonlinear boundary conditions

Poisson's equation with nonlinear boundary conditions is discretized with the method of lines to obtain a system of second order differential equations with multi-point boundary conditions. This differential system is converted, using invariant imbedding for each one-dimensional problem, into a fixed point problem and then the asynchronous algorithms are applied.