Study of the Enhancement of the Efficiency of the Monocrystalline Silicon Solar Cell by Optimizing Effective Parameters Using PC1D Simulation

Silicon - In this paper, simulation of a monocrystalline silicon solar cell was done using PC1D software. The impact of different solar cell parameters, with their effects on power and efficiency,...     

Chromophore-Free Sealing and Repair of Soft Tissues Using Mid-Infrared Light-Activated Biosealants

Poor strength, infection, leakage, long procedure times, and inflammation limit the efficacy of common tissue sealing devices in surgeries and trauma. Light-activated sealing is attractive for tissue sealing and repair, and can be facilitated by the generation of local heat following absorption of nonionizing laser energy by chromophores. Here, the inherent ability of biomaterials is exploited to absorb nonionizing, mid-infrared (midIR) light in order to engender rapid photothermal sealing and repair of soft tissue wounds. In this approach, the biomaterial simultaneously acts as a photothermal convertor as well as a biosealant, which dispenses the need for exogeneous light-absorbing nanoparticles or dyes. Biomechanical recovery, mathematical modeling, histopathology analyses, tissue strain mapping using digital imaging correlation, and visualization of the biosealant-tissue interface using hyperspectral imaging indicate superior performance of midIR sealing in live mice compared to conventional sutures and glue. The midIR-biosealant approach demonstrates rapid sealing of soft tissues, improves cosmesis, lowers potential for scarring, obviates safety concerns because of the nonionizing light used, and allows adoption of a wide diversity of biomaterials. Taken together, the studies demonstrate a novel advance both in biomaterials for surgical sealing along with the use of nonionizing midIR light, with high potential for clinical translation.     

Your comments matter: incorporating viewers’ comments for ranking online video content using bibliometrics

ABSTRACT

The quality of user-generated content over World Wide Web media is a matter of serious concern for both creators and users. To measure the quality of content, webometric techniques are commonly used. In recent times, bibliometric techniques have been introduced to good effect for evaluation of the quality of user-generated content, which were originally used for scholarly data. However, the application of bibliometric techniques to evaluate the quality of YouTube content is limited to h-index and g-index considering only views. This paper advocates for and demonstrates the adaptation of existing Bibliometric indices including h-index, g-index and M-index exploiting both views and comments and proposes three indices h_vc, g_vc and m_vc for YouTube video channel ranking. The empirical results prove that the proposed indices using views along with the comments outperform the existing approaches on a real-world dataset of YouTube.     

Revisiting Continental U.S. Hydrologic Change in the Latter Half of the 20th Century

An intensified hydrologic cycle and a large amount of monitoring flow data in the latter half of the 20th century attracted a lot of research on the continental U.S. hydrologic change. However, most previous studies are based on HCDN (Hydro-Climate Data Network) dataset with a period of ~1950s ?1988. This study analyzed hydrologic change in continental U.S. based on MOPEX (international Model Parameter Estimation Experiment) hydrology dataset with a period of ~1950s ?2000 for 302 watersheds (gages) across diverse climate, vegetation and soil conditions. This dataset is more representative of the latter half of the 20th century than HCDN. In contrast with previous studies, this study shows that only 20–30 % of watersheds present increasing trends in flow (streamflow, Q; baseflow, Q_bf; baseflow index, BFI), and most (> 65 %) watersheds presents non-significant trends. Similar to previous studies, the watersheds with increasing trends in Q and Q_bf are concentrated in Midwest and high plain (North-Central area) of USA. Climate contributes more to Q change (61?±?25 % vs. 39?±?25 %) but slightly less to Q_bf change than human activity (49?±?26 % vs. 51?±?26 %) and much less to BFI change than human activity (?5?±?61 % vs. 105?±?61 %). A step change at ~1971 in Q and Q_bf was found for 35–45 % but not for a large proportion of watersheds (50 % or more was reported by previous studies). This study provides new insights on the latter half of the 20th century’s hydrologic cycle for the continental U.S. with a more representative dataset of this period.     

Epoxy Resin Composite Reinforced with Carbon Fiber and Inorganic Filler: Overview on Preparation and Properties

Among carbon fillers, carbon fiber is considered to be an ideal reinforcement for epoxy because of its outstanding electrical, mechanical, and thermal features. Several inorganic fillers such as zinc oxide, titania, and silica are also used in epoxy matrix for property enhancement. The review initially focuses the preparation methods and physical characteristics of epoxy/carbon fiber composite. Afterward, fabrication and properties of epoxy/zinc oxide/titania/silica composites are also conversed. Moreover, the effect of filler dispersion on polymer properties’ improvement is also highlighted. Epoxy/carbon fiber composites are employed more frequently and effectively in defense-related applications compared with epoxy/inorganic nanofiller composite.     

Recent Developments in Different Types of Flame Retardants and Effect on Fire Retardancy of Epoxy Composite

In this review, main focus is on the different types of fire retardants, their properties, and pertinent potential. Both inorganic (titania, silica, and zinc oxide) and organic (graphite, graphene, and graphene nanoplatelet) compounds have been discussed as flame inhibitors. Among various sorts of fire retardants, halogen-based flame inhibitors possess outstanding features. Consequently influence of fire retardant on the performance of epoxy composite has been discussed. It was noted that significant enhancement occurs by addition of organic and inorganic fillers in epoxy matrix. However, halogen additives impart better flame resistance to epoxy composite. Toward the end of this review, potential of halogen-containing fire retardant is discussed.     

Advances in Epoxy/Graphene Nanoplatelet Composite with Enhanced Physical Properties: A Review

In this review, development from graphene nanoplatelet, that is, comprised of short bulk of single layer graphene, into modified-polymer/graphene nanoplatelet composite is presented. Preparation methods of graphite, graphene, and graphene nanoplatelets have also been discussed. Graphene nanoplatelet and modified graphene nanoplatelet commend unique properties to composites such as excellent thermal and electrical conductivity as well as mechanical and barrier properties. Graphene nanoplatelet fabrication techniques by solution mixing, melt blending, and in situ polymerization are also discussed. Excellent dispersion of nanoplatelets in polymer/graphene nanoplatelet depends upon the selection of suitable fabrication technique. Moreover, the corresponding significance, exploitation, challenges, and future aspect of polymer/graphene nanoplatelet-based material is overviewed.