Comfort limits for asymmetric thermal radiation

Groups of 32 and 16 subjects of both sexes were exposed in an environmental chamber to radiant asymmetry caused by a cool wall, a warm wall, and a cool ceiling. Each subject was tested individually while seated and clothed at 0.6 clo. During each 3.5-hour experiment the subject was exposed to six radiant temperature asymmetries. He was asked whether and where he experienced any local cool or warm sensation, and whether it was felt to be uncomfortable. During the entire experiment he was kept thermally neutral by changing the air temperature according to his wishes.For cool walls, warm walls, and cool ceilings curves have been established showing the percentage of dissatisfied subjects as a function of the radiant asymmetry. Radiant asymmetry at a warm wall caused less discomfort than a cool wall. A cool ceiling caused less discomfort than a warm ceiling. Accepting that 5% of the subjects may feel uncomfortable. a radiant temperature asymmetry of 10°C is allowable at a cool wall, 23°C at a warm wall, and 14°C under a cool ceiling. A previous study showed that 4°C is allowable under a warm ceiling. Radiant asymmetry had no significant impact on the operative temperatures preferred by the subjects. No significant differences were observed between the responses of men and women exposed to radiant asymmetry.     

Continuous-wave lasing of single-mode metamorphic quantum dot lasers for the 1.5-μm spectral region

Lasers based on InAs/InGaAs quantum dots grown on metamorphic (In,Ga,Al)As layers deposited by MBE on GaAs substrates exhibited emission near 1.5 μm with a differential quantum efficiency of about 50%. The narrow-stripe lasers operate in a single transverse mode and withstand continuous current density above 20 kA cm^?2 without significant degradation. A maximum continuous-wave output power of 220 mW is obtained. Neither current nor beam filamentation was observed up to the highest pumping levels.     

Influence of initial growth layer and Ti underlayer on magneticproperties and recording characteristics of very thin films ofevaporated Co-Cr media

A Co-Cr film deposited directly on a substrate has an initial growth layer with low coercivity. However, the existence of a Ti underlayer prevents the formation of such a layer. As a result, Co-Cr film deposited on a Ti underlayer has high perpendicular anisotropy and coercivity even in cases of extremely thin film thickness (200 Å). As for the read-write characteristics of Co-Cr thin-film media, the existence of such an initial growth layer greatly improves the reproduced output level. The cause for this is considered to be that the free charges which appear on the back surface of the perpendicular recording layer are reduced and the demagnetization field acting on the recorded magnetization subsequently decreases due to the existence of the initial growth layer     

Near-resonance oscillations of a nonsymmetric nonlinear system with a crack

The Malkin method, which was developed to construct a single unique resonance solution of nonlinear equations, is generalized for the case of the derivation of all stationary solutions in the near-resonance zone, and also for transient oscillations.Kiev Polytechnic Institute. Translated from Problemy Prochnosti, No. 10, pp. 108–112, October, 1989.     

The solution of the inverse problem of gravitational potential using a set of measurements of different field elements

A numerical solution of the inverse problem of the gravitational field at a single point is obtained using six field elements for a point, a spherical cap, a differential spherical sector and a vertical segment. In the system of six equations obtained, the unknowns are the mass of the body, the depth of its center, and the second, third, and fourth degree moments. The accuracy of the solution of this system is ten times higher than when using three field elements. __________ Translated from Izmeritel’naya Tekhnika, No. 5, pp. 3–8, May, 2007.     

Dissipation in Mesoscopic Superconductors with Ac Magnetic Fields

The response of mesoscopic superconductors to an ac magnetic field is investigated both experimentally and with numerical simulations. We study small square samples with dimensions of the order of the penetration depth. We obtain the ac susceptibitity χ=χ′+iχ″ at microwave frequencies as a function of the dc magnetic field H _dc. We find that the dissipation, given by x″, has a non monotonous behavior in mesoscopic samples. In the numerical simulations we obtain that the dissipation increases before the penetration of vortices and then it decreases abruptly after vortices have entered, the sample. This is verified experimentally, where we find that χ″ has strong oscillations as a function of H _dc in small squares of Pb.     

On the stabilizing behavior of zirconia: A Combined experimental and theoretical study

Reactive zirconia powder was synthesized by the complexation of zirconium metal from zirconium hydroxide using a solution of 8-hydroxiquinoline. The kinetics of zirconia crystallization was followed by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and surface area measured by the nitrogen adsorption/desorption technique. The results indicated that zirconia with a surface area as high as 100 m²/g can be obtained by this method after calcination at 500°C. Zirconia presents three polymorphic phases (monoclinic, tetragonal and cubic), which are reversibly interconversible. The cluster model Zr₄O₈ and Zr₄O₇ ⁺² was used for a theoretical study of the stabilization process. The ab initio RHF method was employed with the Gaussian94 program and the total energies and the energy gap of the different phases were calculated and compared with the experimental energy gap. The theoretical results show good reproducibility of the energy gap for zirconia.