Retracted: Analysis of blade fragment risk at a wind energy facility

The above article, published online on 6 April 2018 in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ), has been retracted by agreement between the authors, the journal Editor in Chief, Prof. Simon Watson and John Wiley and Sons Ltd. The retraction has been agreed due to an error in the conclusion, which used the analysis of NREL's wind site for evaluation of wind turbine setbacks in general. The assumptions and results do not apply to commercial wind energy sites, as the conclusion suggests, and are therefore not suitable for setback recommendations in other locations.     

Outcome‐based ventilation: A framework for assessing performance,health, and energy impacts to inform office building ventilation decisions

This article presents an outcome‐based ventilation (OBV) framework, which combines competing ventilation impacts into a monetized loss function ($/occ/h) used to inform ventilation rate decisions. The OBV framework, developed for U.S. offices, considers six outcomes of increasing ventilation: profitable outcomes realized from improvements in occupant work performance and sick leave absenteeism; health outcomes from occupant exposure to outdoor fine particles and ozone; and energy outcomes from electricity and natural gas usage. We used the literature to set low, medium, and high reference values for OBV loss function parameters, and evaluated the framework and outcome‐based ventilation rates using a simulated U.S. office stock dataset and a case study in New York City. With parameters for all outcomes set at medium values derived from literature‐based central estimates, higher ventilation rates’ profitable benefits dominated negative health and energy impacts, and the OBV framework suggested ventilation should be ≥45 L/s/occ, much higher than the baseline ~8.5 L/s/occ rate prescribed by ASHRAE 62.1. Only when combining very low parameter estimates for profitable impacts with very high ones for health and energy impacts were all outcomes on the same order. Even then, however, outcome‐based ventilation rates were often twice the baseline rate or more.     

Radon and moisture impacts from interventions integrated with housing energy retrofits

Energy retrofits can reduce air exchange, raising the concern of whether indoor radon and moisture levels could increase. This pre/post-intervention study explored whether simple radon interventions implemented in conjunction with energy retrofits can prevent increases in radon and moisture levels. Treatment homes (n = 98) were matched with control (no energy retrofits or radon intervention) homes (n = 12). Control homes were matched by geographic location and foundation type. t-tests were used to determine whether post-energy retrofit radon and moisture level changes in treatment homes significantly differed from those in control homes. The radon interventions succeeded in preventing statistically significant increases in first floor radon using arithmetic (p = 0.749) and geometric means (p = 0.120). In basements, arithmetic (p = 0.060) and geometric (p = 0.092) mean radon levels statistically significantly increased, consistent with previous studies which found that basement radon levels may increase even if first floor levels remain unchanged. Changes in infiltration were related to changes in radon (p = 0.057 in basements; p = 0.066 on first floors). Only 58% of the change in infiltration was due to air sealing, with the rest due to weather changes. There was no statistically significant association between air sealing itself and radon levels on the first floor (p = 0.664). Moisture levels also did not significantly increase.     

Fabrication of highly sensitive MnO2/F-MWCNT/Ta hybrid nanocomposite sensor with different MnO2 overlayer thickness for H2O2 detection

In this work, we report the development of MnO₂/F-MWCNT/Ta hybrid nanocomposite sensor with different MnO₂ overlayer thickness for the detection of H₂O₂ in real samples. A novel two-step process using e-beam evaporation and spray pyrolysis deposition was adopted for the synthesis of hybrid MnO₂/F-MWCNT/Ta electrodes. SE morphology revealed smaller-sized, compact grains of MnO₂ infiltrated on the outermost walls of MWCNTs. Raman analysis confirmed the existence of carbon nanotubes with abundant structural defects of MnO₂ in the composite. The cyclic voltammetry results displayed a high peak current and narrowed over potential towards the reduction of H₂O₂. The sensor displayed a fast response (<5?s), wide linear range (2–1510?μM) and a low limit of detection (0.04?μM) with significant anti-interfering properties, promising for the development of highly sensitive and reproducible biosensors. The three dimensional nanocomposite sensor also exhibited good recovery (> 98%), thus providing a favourable tool for analysis of H₂O₂ in milk samples.     

Processing of AlSi9Cu3 alloy by selective laser melting

ABSTRACT

Additive manufacturing of Al-alloys allows the production of components with a complicated structured shape, geometry composed by lattice structures, internal cooling, etc. The portfolio of Al-alloys for metal additive manufacturing is still under development and is strongly limited, compared to the conventional technology. The alloy AlSi9Cu3 is used in many applications, but its processing details are still missing. The main aim of this paper is to describe the laser process parameters for AlSi9Cu3, processed by SLM technology and manufactured from two powders of different shapes and particle sizes. The tested process parameters were laser power, laser speed, and hatch distance in the range of 100–400?W, 200–1500?mm?·?s^?1 and 90–150?µm. These were tested using a single-track and cube test. Microstructure, mechanical properties and the fatigue of SLM samples were analysed and compared with as-casted material.     

Modeling of Slug Velocity and Pressure Drop in Gas‐Liquid‐Liquid Slug Flow

Gas‐liquid‐liquid slug flow in a capillary reactor is a promising new concept that allows one to incorporate gas‐liquid reaction, liquid‐liquid extraction, and facile catalyst separation in a single unit. In order to assess the performance of a gas‐liquid‐liquid slug flow reactor, it is necessary to predict the slug velocity and pressure drop to ascertain residence times and reaction rates. New empirical models for velocity and pressure drop were developed based on existing models for two‐phase gas‐liquid and liquid‐liquid slug flows, and these were validated experimentally.     

Effects of hydroxyl radical induced oxidation on water holding capacity and protein structure of jumbo squid (Dosidicus gigas) mantle

Protein oxidation is considered as an important issue in food preservation process. In the present study, the potential influence of protein oxidation on water holding capacity and protein structure of jumbo squid (Dosidicus gigas) mantle was investigated. After the hydroxyl radical oxidation, it was found that the carbonyl, surface hydrophobicity and dityrosine content of myofibrillar protein significantly increased (P < 0.05), while the content of total sulphydryl decreased significantly (P < 0.01). Meanwhile, the fluorescence intensity of squid was weakened, and the maximum absorption peak of fluorescence red shift as the H₂O₂ concentration increased. The sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) showed that not only the protein cross-linking but also degradation could have occurred. The content of α-helix decreased, the content of β-sheet, β-turn and the unordered structures increased after oxidation. In addition, oxidation resulted in a decrease in water holding capacity. Taken together, oxidation resulted in the damage of the myofibrillar structure, the increase in muscle loss rate and the decrease in water holding capacity.