Simulation of characteristics of double-junction solar cells based on ZnSiP2 heterostructures on silicon substrate

Design and operation modes of double-junction monolithic lattice-matched solar cells based on the ZnSiP₂/Si system of materials have been calculated. The effect of the photoactive region thickness and minority carrier lifetime in ZnSiP₂ layers on the efficiency of conversion of the incident solar light energy into electrical power was determined. It is shown that solar cells based on ZnSiP₂/Si heterostructures can provide efficiencies of 28.8% at AM1.5D, 100 mW/cm², and 33.3% at AM1.5D, 200 W/cm².     

Subsurface Characterization at Ground Failure Sites in Adapazari, Turkey

Ground failure in Adapazari, Turkey during the 1999 Kocaeli earthquake was severe. Hundreds of structures settled, slid, tilted, and collapsed due in part to liquefaction and ground softening. Ground failure was more severe adjacent to and under buildings. The soils that led to severe building damage were generally low plasticity silts. In this paper, the results of a comprehensive investigation of the soils of Adapazari, which included cone penetration test (CPT) profiles followed by borings with standard penetration tests (SPTs) and soil index tests, are presented. The effects of subsurface conditions on the occurrence of ground failure and its resulting effect on building performance are explored through representative case histories. CPT- and SPT-based liquefaction triggering procedures adequately identified soils that liquefied if the clay-size criterion of the Chinese criteria was disregarded. The CPT was able to identify thin seams of loose liquefiable silt, and the SPT (with retrieved samples) allowed for reliable evaluation of the liquefaction susceptibility of fine-grained soils. A well-documented database of in situ and index testing is now available for incorporating in future CPT- and SPT-based liquefaction triggering correlations.     

A study of the phase composition of iron-ore briquets to assess their behavior in a blast furnace

We study a mechanism for maintaining the strength of cement-bonded iron-oxide-bearing briquets when heated under reducing conditions. These briquets retain their strength when heated in a reducing atmosphere: up to 700–750°C, strength retention is due to the cement stone; strength retention under further heating is due to the continuous metal shell formed on the surface of the briquet as the iron oxide in the surface layer of the briquet is reduced to iron. Fabrication and usage of briquets of iron-ore concentrate can be recommended as a wash material for blast furnaces. Disperse materials containing SiO₂ and MgO should be added to the charge during fabrication of the briquets in order to improve the washing properties of briquet slag.     

A new class of tobacco chitinases homologous to bacterial exo-chitinases displays antifungal activity

A novel chitinase gene of tobacco was isolated and characterized by DNA sequence analysis of a genomic clone and a cDNA clone. Comparative sequence analysis of both clones showed an identity of 94%. The proteins encoded by these sequences do not correspond to any of the previously characterized plant chitinases of classes I-IV and are designated as class V chitinases. Comparison of the chitinase class V peptide sequence with sequences in the Swiss Protein databank revealed significant sequence similarity with bacterial exo-chitinases from Bacillus circulans, Serratia marcescens and Streptomyces plicatus. It was demonstrated that class V chitinase gene expression is induced after treatment of tobacco with different forms of stress, like TMV-infection, ethylene treatment, wounding or ultraviolet irradiation. Two related chitinase class V proteins of 41 and 43 kDa were purified from Samsun NN tobacco leaves inoculated with tobacco mosaic virus. The proteins were purified by Chelating Superose chromatography and gel filtration. In vitro assays demonstrated that class V chitinases have endo-chitinase activity and exhibit antifungal activity toward Trichoderma viride and Alternaria radicina. In addition, it was shown that class V chitinase acts synergistically with tobacco class I beta-1,3-glucanase against Fusarium solani germlings.     

Assessment of response function in two PET scanners with and without interplane septa

The authors have assessed the response function both experimentally and theoretically for two commercial tomographs: CTI 931/08-12 and CTI 953B with and without interplane septa. Monte Carlo simulations were undertaken using the GEANT package from CERN. Spatial resolution (tomographic and axial) was calculated for line sources at various positions in the field of view. Sensitivity and scatter fraction (SF) were calculated for various source geometries as a function of energy discrimination. A very realistic response function in positron emission tomography (PET) is obtained by Monte Carlo methods, using global parameters to account for unsimulated phenomena such as scintillation light transport inside a detector block and its sharing among the various phototubes. Minor discrepancies remain for sensitivity and SF at high energy thresholds and may probably be explained by introducing the observed dispersion in the energy response for the various crystals within a detector block.     

Revisiting Slotted ALOHA: Density Adaptation in FANETs

Unmanned aerial vehicles have been widely used in many areas of life. They communicate with each other or infrastructure to provide ubiquitous coverage or assist cellular and sensor networks. They construct flying ad hoc networks. One of the most significant problems in such networks is communication among them over a shared medium. Using random channel access techniques is a useful solution. Another important problem is that the variations in the density of these networks impact the quality of service and introduce many challenges. This paper presents a novel density-aware technique for flying ad hoc networks. We propose Density-aware Slotted ALOHA Protocol that utilizes slotted ALOHA with a dynamic random access probability determined using network density in a distributed fashion. Compared to the literature, this paper concentrates on proposing a three-dimensional, easily traceable model and stabilize the channel utilization performance of slotted ALOHA with an optimized channel access probability to its maximum theoretical level, 1/e, where e is the Euler’s number. Monte-Carlo simulation results validate the proposed approach leveraging aggregate interference density estimator under the simple path-loss model. We compare our protocol with two existing protocols, which are Slotted ALOHA and Stabilized Slotted ALOHA. Comparison results show that the proposed protocol has 36.78% channel utilization performance; on the other hand, the other protocols have 24.74% and 30.32% channel utilization performances, respectively. Considering the stable results and accuracy, this model is practicable in highly dynamic networks even if the network is sparse or dense under higher mobility and reasonable non-uniform deployments.

     

Cesium-137 of Chernobyl origin in lake–river systems of Eastern Fennoscandia: 30 years after the accident

Contamination of waters of lake–river systems after many-year migration of ¹³⁷Cs in water bodies was studied. In lakes with the ¹³⁷Cs fallout density lower than 8 kBq m^–2, the radionuclide concentrations in water after 24–29 years did not exceed 2–3 Bq m^–3, and at a fallout level of 37 kBq m^–2 it was in the range 11–34 Bq m^–3. The natural half-clearance time Т of lake waters from ¹³⁷Cs was 6–7 years at the exposure of up to 20 years. The ¹³⁷Cs migration in the lake–river systems that occurred during ~30 years did not lead to structural changes in the water contamination: The initially low ¹³⁷Cs level in lake waters did not become high, and vice versa. Among rivers feeding Lake Ladoga, the ¹³⁷Cs level in the Vuoksa River is ~3 times higher than in waters of the Volkhov and Svir rivers. During the period 1988–2015, 21.3 TBq of ¹³⁷Cs was supplied to Lake Ladoga with Vuoksa waters. The Vuoksa source from the Saima lake system with increased contamination with ¹³⁷Cs of Chernobyl origin leads to long-term supply of this radionuclide to Lake Ladoga.     

The production of graphene nano layers by using milling—exfoliation hybrid process

Even though high quality graphene can be produced through chemical exfoliation of Graphite or Expanded graphite (EG), the amount of acquired products is limited. Graphite powders were subjected to a pre-milling process with prevailing shear stress in order to increase the amount of products. Therefore, separation of hexagonal layers through pre-separation process was targeted. The milled powders were firstly mixed in the saturated acid mixture containing H₂SO₄ and HNO₃, and then heated to 950°C. At the end of process, the distance between layers was expanded and the structure called as expanded graphite was obtained. Separation of layers and formation of graphene were provided by stirring expanded graphite within a chemical solvent for a while. The obtained samples were examined by using X-ray analysis, electron microscopy analysis, and Raman spectroscopy analysis. Despite the fact that there is a production method for graphene by chemical exfoliation, addition of the milling into steps of this process is an unusual step. Although a great amount of amorphous structures occurred in the structure at the end of milling process in this study, there were still graphitic structures preserving its hexagonality in the sample even if just a little. Most of amorphous carbon was removed from the structure as a result of applying further steps of process to milled graphite. A great part of graphitic structures apart from amorphous carbon structures were transformed into graphene. Even though amorphous carbon structures and defects were still found in the product, the obtained graphenes were relatively qualified and of high amount.     

An assessment of total RMR classification system using unified simulation model based on artificial neural networks

Engineering design has great importance in the cost and safety of engineering structures. Rock mass rating (RMR) system has become a reliable and widespread pre-design system for its ease of use and variety in engineering applications such as tunnels, foundations, and slopes. In RMR system, six parameters are employed in classifying a rock mass: uniaxial compressive strength of intact rock material (UCS), rock quality designation (RQD), spacing of discontinuities (SD), condition of discontinuities (CD), condition of groundwater (CG), and orientation of discontinuities (OD). The ratings of the first three parameters UCS, RQD, and SD are determined via graphic readings where the last three parameters CD, CG, and OD are estimated by the tables that are composed of interval valued linguistic expressions. Because of these linguistic expresions, the estimated rating values of the last three become fuzzy especially when the related conditions are close to border of any two classes. In such cases, these fuzzy situations could lead up incorrect rock class estimations. In this study, an empirical database based on the linguistic expressions for CD, CG, and OD is developed for training Artificial Neural Network (ANN) classifiers. The results obtained from graphical readings and ANN classifiers are unified in a simulation model (USM). The data obtained from five different tunnels, which were excavated for derivation purpose, are used to evaluate classification results of conventional method and proposed model. Finally, it is noted that more accurate and realistic ratings are reached by means of proposed model.     

Scientometric Study of the Progress and Development of e-Government Research During the Period 2000–2012

Many countries have implemented changes in public-sector management models, based on the strategic and intensive use of new information and communication technologies. From a critical standpoint, this paper analyzes and characterizes the contributions made by research in the field of e-government, identifying future areas of interest and potentially valuable methodologies. In addition, it compares research efforts focused on developing countries with those concerning developed economies, in order to identify research gaps and possibilities for improvement in the context of e-government research in developing countries. Diverse scientometric approaches are employed in this analysis of papers published by international journals listed in the SSCI index in the fields of Public Administration and of Information Science & Library Science. Our findings reveal the existence of various research gaps and highlight areas that should be addressed in future research, especially in developing countries. Indeed, the research approach to e-government remains immature, focusing on particular cases or dimensions, while little has been done to produce theories or models to clarify and explain the political processes of e-government. In addition, significant differences are found between the impact of scientific output and patterns of scientific production as regards developing and developed countries.