Second-law-based thermodynamic analysis of two-stage and mechanical-subcooling refrigeration cycles

Thermodynamic analysis of HFC-134a vapor-compression refrigeration cycles is investigated by both the first and second laws of thermodynamics. Second-law analysis is carried out for both two-stage and mechanical-subcooling refrigeration cycles. The analysis is performed on each of the system components to determine their individual contribution to the overall system irreversible losses. It is found that most of the losses are due to a low compressor efficiency. Irreversibilities of expansion valves and condenser are also significant. In addition, it is shown that the optimum inter-stage pressure for two-stage and mechanical-subcooling refrigeration systems is very close to the saturation pressure corresponding to the arithmetic mean of the refrigerant condensation and evaporation temperatures. These results are compared with the existing practice in the industry. Furthermore, theoretical results of a two-stage refrigeration system performance are also compared with experimental values for a CFC-22 system.     

Benchmarking performance of machine and deep learning-based methodologies for Urdu text document classification

Neural Computing and Applications - In order to provide benchmark performance for Urdu text document classification, the contribution of this paper is manifold. First, it provides a publicly...     

Self and static interference mitigation scheme for coexisting wireless networks

High density of coexisting networks in the Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) band leads to static and self interferences among different communication entities. The inevitability of these interferences demands for interference avoidance schemes to ensure reliability of network operations. This paper proposes a novel Diversified Adaptive Frequency Rolling (DAFR) technique for frequency hopping in Bluetooth piconets. DAFR employs intelligent hopping procedures in order to mitigate self interferences, weeds out the static interferer efficiently and ensures sufficient frequency diversity. We compare the performance of our proposed technique with the widely used existing frequency hopping techniques, namely, Adaptive Frequency Hopping (AFH) and Adaptive Frequency Rolling (AFR). Simulation studies validate the significant improvement in goodput and hopping diversity of our scheme compared to other schemes and demonstrate its potential benefit in real world deployment.     

Statistical segmentation and structural recognition for floor plan interpretation

A generic method for floor plan analysis and interpretation is presented in this article. The method, which is mainly inspired by the way engineers draw and interpret floor plans, applies two recognition steps in a bottom-up manner. First, basic building blocks, i.e., walls, doors, and windows are detected using a statistical patch-based segmentation approach. Second, a graph is generated, and structural pattern recognition techniques are applied to further locate the main entities, i.e., rooms of the building. The proposed approach is able to analyze any type of floor plan regardless of the notation used. We have evaluated our method on different publicly available datasets of real architectural floor plans with different notations. The overall detection and recognition accuracy is about 95 %, which is significantly better than any other state-of-the-art method. Our approach is generic enough such that it could be easily adopted to the recognition and interpretation of any other printed machine-generated structured documents.     

Electrochemical degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons (PAHS) from synthetic aqueous solutions

Water separated from crude oil and wastewater discharge from petroleum oil refineries contains significant quantity of dissolved hydrocarbons. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are major toxicants in wastewater of refineries. It is difficult to treat wastewater containing PAHs due to their recalcitrant property and low solubility. Conventional techniques for the treatment of wastewater are still a concern of toxicity. Electrochemical oxidation process has been found to be a favorable for treating wastewater. Electrodes with high stability and electrocatalytic activity are important factors for a successful electrochemical oxidation of toxic organics in wastewater. In this study titanium anodes were coated with tin, antimony and iridium oxide mixture from their respective salts by thermal decomposition method. FESEM and XRD used for surface characterization of Ti/SnO₂–Sb₂O₅–IrO₂ anode. Quantification of PAHs was done using GC–MS. Results confirm the presence of respective oxides on anode surface. Their electrocatalytic capability was tested for degradation of 16 priority PAHs in aqueous solution. Results reveal the complete degradation of naphthalene, acenaphthylene, acenaphthene and fluorene without using NaCl electrolyte. While in the presence of NaCl naphthalene, acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene and pyrene were completely removed. About 98% of total PAHs removal was found at all initial pH values 3, 6, and 9 in the presence of electrolyte. Current study will be helpful in improving quality of petroleum industry wastewater containing PAHs.     

Effects of feeding bentonite clay upon ochratoxin A–induced immunosuppression in broiler chicks

A presence of mycotoxins in feed is one of the most alarming issues in the poultry feed industry. Ochratoxins, produced by several Aspergillus and Penicillium species, are important mycotoxin regarding the health status of poultry birds. Ochratoxins are further classified into to several subtypes (A, B, C, etc) depending on their chemical structures, but ochratoxin A (OTA) is considered the most important and toxic. Bentonite clay, belonging to phyllosilicates and formed from weathering of volcanic ashes, has adsorbent ability for several mycotoxins. The present study was designed to study the effects of bentonite clay upon OTA-induced immunosuppression in broiler chicks. For this, 480 day-old broiler chicks were procured from a local hatchery and then different combinations of OTA (0.15, 0.3, or 1.0 mg/kg) and bentonite clay (5, 10, and 20 g/kg) were incorporated into their feed. At 13, 30, and 42 days of age, parameters such as antibody responses to sheep red blood cells, in situ lymphoproliferative responses to mitogen (PHA-P), and in situ phagocytic activity (i.e., via carbon clearance) were determined respectively. The results indicated there was a significant reduction of total antibody and immunoglobulin titres, lymphoproliferative responses, and phagocytic potential in OTA-treated birds, suggesting clear immunosuppression by OTA in birds in a dose-dependent manner. These results were also significantly lower in all combination groups (OTA with bentonite clay), suggesting few to no effects of feeding bentonite clay upon OTA- induced alterations in different immune parameters.     

Way forward in meeting energy challenges in Pakistan

In this review the energy potential of Pakistan from hydro, coal, wind, solar and nuclear sources has been discussed. The new projects that are being commissioned on coal, wind, solar, hydel and nuclear-based technologies have also been mentioned. The review has also explored the future prospects of the country’s energy requirements. Pakistan has potential to produce 100,000?MW of electricity from Thar coal for 20 years, 56,000?MW of hydroelectricity, 150,000?MW of wind energy and ～50,000?MW from solar sources. The coal-fired power generation is expected to 11,500?MW in period 2017–2019. The country is moving in the right direction to cater its energy needs. However, there is a need to find local and foreign investment in the country to meet high energy demands in the country in future.     

Photothermal nanoblade for large cargo delivery into mammalian cells

It is difficult to achieve controlled cutting of elastic, mechanically fragile, and rapidly resealing mammalian cell membranes. Here, we report a photothermal nanoblade that utilizes a metallic nanostructure to harvest short laser pulse energy and convert it into a highly localized explosive vapor bubble, which rapidly punctures a lightly contacting cell membrane via high-speed fluidic flows and induced transient shear stress. The cavitation bubble pattern is controlled by the metallic structure configuration and laser pulse duration and energy. Integration of the metallic nanostructure with a micropipet, the nanoblade generates a micrometer-sized membrane access port for delivering highly concentrated cargo (5 × 10(8) live bacteria/mL) with high efficiency (46%) and cell viability (>90%) into mammalian cells. Additional biologic and inanimate cargo over 3-orders of magnitude in size including DNA, RNA, 200 nm polystyrene beads, to 2 μm bacteria have also been delivered into multiple mammalian cell types. Overall, the photothermal nanoblade is a new approach for delivering difficult cargo into mammalian cells.     

Thermoelectric power of pure gallium. II. Size and impurity effects

The thermoelectric power as a function of specimen size for gallium single crystals and crystals doped with small percentages of indium has been measured along the three different directions of the orthorhombic lattice between 4.2 and 1.4 K by means of a superconducting potentiometer. From the observations of the temperature dependence of the size effects, evaluations were made of the derivative with respect to energy of the Fermi surface area and the mean free path along the three crystal axes. These data are tabulated. Along theA andB axes ( lnS _F /E) _E is about –0.65 eV^–1, the negative sign indicating conduction by a band of holes, whereas along theC axis this derivative is positive, indicating conduction by a band of electrons of smaller dimensions. Among other information derived from measurement of the indium-doped samples was that the intrinsic contribution to the diffusion thermopower of In along theC axis of gallium is+2.7×10^–8 T(V/K).Work supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and by contracts with the Office of Naval Research and DOD (Themis Program).     

Delegating Religious Practices to Autonomous Machines,A Reply to “Prayer-Bots and Religious Worship on Twitter: A Call for a Wider Research Agenda”

Minds and Machines -