Air flow through a non-airconditioned bus with open windows

Open window buses without air-conditioning are a major mode of urban and inter-city transport in most countries. High occupancy combined with hot and humid conditions makes travel in these buses quite uncomfortable. In this study air flow through a bus has been studied that could be the basis for low cost and eco-friendly methods of increasing passenger comfort and possibly reduce drag. The aerodynamics of such a road vehicle has not been studied as previous investigations have been confined to vehicles with closed windows that present a smooth exterior to air flow. Using a 1:25 scaled Perspex model of an urban bus in Delhi, flow visualization was performed in a water channel. The Reynolds numbers were one-tenth of a real bus moving at 10 m/s. Smoke and tuft visualizations were also performed on an urban bus at 40 km/h. Numerical simulations were performed at the actual Reynolds number. Even though there were Reynolds number differences, the broad features were similar. Air enters the bus from the rear windows, moves to the front (relative to the bus) and exits from the front windows. Inside air velocity relative to the bus is about one-tenth of the free-stream velocity. The flow is highly three-dimensional and unsteady.     

Success and failures in urban transport planning in Europe—understanding the transport system

Technological determinism has become a kind of religion for many people since it appears to offer solutions for societal problems as never before in history. Transport is one of the fascinating technology branches developed during the last 200 years. Effortless movement over long distances has become possible for car users as long as cheap fossil energy is available. However, the effect of fast transport on urban structures and society was not taken into account when developing these technical means. Technologists and economists have used indicators for expected benefits of these fast transport modes without taking into account the real system effects on society and urban structures. Plausible assumptions and hopes instead of scientific understanding of the complex system are used in practice. In contradiction to widely held beliefs of transportation planners, there is actually no growth of mobility if counted in number of trips per person per day, no time saving by increasing speed in the system, and no real freedom of modal choice. Modal choice is dependent on physical and other structures, the artificial environment built by urban planners, transport experts and political decisions. The core hypothesis of traditional urban and transport planning ‘growth of mobility’, ‘travel time saving by increasing speed’ and ‘freedom of modal choice’ are myths and do not exist in the real urban and transport system. This is the reason why urban planning and transport planning based on traditional non-scientific assumptions is creating continuously not only more transport problems, but also environmental and social as well as economic problems all over the world, where these principals are applied. Urban transport planning in Europe, understanding the transport system and the solutions are presented in this paper.     

Behavioral depression during cocaine withdrawal is associated with decreased spontaneous activity of ventral tegmental area dopamine neurons.

Withdrawal from an escalating-dose, bingelike regimen of cocaine administration in rats produced significantly depressed levels of locomotor activity during the nocturnal portion of the day-night cycle. This effect was observed during the first 48 hrs of testing. Extracellular single-unit recordings of ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine (DA) neurons revealed no differences between saline- and cocaine-treated rats with respect to basal firing rates. However, significantly fewer spontaneously active VTA DA neurons were encountered in rats withdrawn from binge cocaine. As with the nocturnal hypoactivity, this effect was observed only during the first 48 hrs of withdrawal. These findings suggest that short-term DA neuron dysfunction during cocaine withdrawal temporally corresponds to behavioral disruptions that are similar to those described in human addicts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are eating disorders culture-bound syndromes? Implications for conceptualizing their etiology.

The authors explore the extent to which eating disorders, specifically anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN), represent culture-bound syndromes and discuss implications for conceptualizing the role genes play in their etiology. The examination is divided into 3 sections: a quantitative meta-analysis of changes in incidence rates since the formal recognition of AN and BN, a qualitative summary of historical evidence of eating disorders before their formal recognition, and an evaluation of the presence of these disorders in non-Western cultures. Findings suggest that BN is a culture-bound syndrome and AN is not. Thus, heritability estimates for BN may show greater variability cross-culturally than heritability estimates for AN, and the genetic bases of these disorders may be associated with differential pathoplasticity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bedload Transport in Alluvial Channels

Hydraulic, sediment, land-use, and rock-erosivity data of 22 alluvial streams were used to evaluate conditions of bedload transport and the performance of selected bedload-transport equations. Transport categories of transport-limited (TL), partially transport-limited (PTL), and supply-limited (SL) were identified by a semiquantitative approach that considers hydraulic constraints on sediment movement and the processes that control sediment availability at the basin scale. Equations by Parker et al. in 1982, Schoklitsch in 1962, and Meyer-Peter and Muller in 1948 adequately predicted sediment transport in channels with TL condition, whereas the equations of Bagnold in 1980, and Schoklitsch, in 1962, performed well for PTL and SL conditions. Overall, the equation of Schoklitsch predicted well the measured bedload data for eight of 22 streams, and the Bagnold equation predicted the measured data in seven streams.     

Transport properties of 1,1-difluoroethane (R152a)

Based on reliable. carefully selected data sets. equations for the thermal conductivity and the viscosity of the refrigerant R 112a are presented. They are valid at temperatures from 240 to 440 K, pressures up to 20 MPa. and densities up to 1050 kg · m^–3. including the critical region.     

High-field magnetic and transport critical current density of Sm-Ba-Cu-O: Agx superconductors at low temperature

Variation of magnetic critical current density (J _mc) and transport critical current density (J _tc) in high magnetic fields at liquid helium temperature were investigated on Sm-Ba-Cu-O: Ag _x (x=0.0, 0.2, 0.4, and 0.6) superconducting samples prepared by the coprecipitation technique.T _c and crystallographic parameters remain unaffected by Ag addition. However, bothJ _mc andJ _tc were found to increase on Ag addition. The volume pinning force (F _p) also increased with increase in Ag concentration, resulting in stronger flux line sheer. Microwave-induced d.c. voltage measurement shows a significant reduction of the total number of weak links between the superconducting grains with increasing concentration of Ag, which creates stronger pinning potentials between the boundary of the superconducting intergrains. Hence, the volume pinning force is greatly enhanced by Ag addition, leading to flux line lattice movement which is responsible for highJ _mc andJ _tc.     

Gas diffusion and dielectric studies of polystyrene‐fullerene compositions

Polystyrene‐fullerene compositions containing up to 0.45 mol % (3 wt %) fullerene C₆₀ were investigated. It was established that the addition of fullerene to polystyrene (PS) leads to an increase of molecular packing density and so influences the transport of small molecules through the polymer films. Gas diffusion through films of PS‐fullerene compositions is slower than through PS films, and gas separating properties of compositions are higher. Dielectric studies showed that the fullerene is distributed as clusters in the polymer matrix of solid composition prepared from a toluene solution of PS and fullerene. Heating without air to the temperature higher than PS glass transition leads to increasing relaxation time of α‐transition in PS of compositions containing >0.15 mol % (1 wt %) fullerene. This effect is caused by rather strong interaction of PS chains via fullerene molecules entered into the PS‐fullerene complex. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 85: 2946–2951, 2002     

砷化镓声电荷转移延迟线的设计与工艺研究

由于声电荷转移(ACT)这一新颖的高速缓冲抽样技术的发明,使得新一代高速高频信号处理器件的实现成为可能。本文研究了第二代平面结构的ACT器件转移沟道的电位分布特性,给出了平面结构ACT延迟线的设计,并研究了ACT器件的工艺实现。     

Modeling of Moisture Behavior of Wood Planks in Nonvented Flat Roofs

A computer model was extended and adapted to simulate the hygrothermal behavior of building envelope-wood components. The model was used to predict moisture movement in wood planks forming the decks of nonvented flat roofs insulated with cellulose. The gradient of water potential was considered as the driving force for moisture movement in wood. The model required the determination of convective heat- and mass-transfer coefficients, the sorption curves, the effective water conductivity for different wood species, and the hygrothermal conditions within the assembly to characterize the mass-conservation equation. Once these parameters were integrated in the computer model, this approach was then validated by carrying a simulation of the drying process of wood planks using experimental data from a large-scale test.