Two- and three-dimensional comparative study of heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of nanofluids flow through a ventilated cubic cavity (part I: Newtonian nanofluids)

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - Through this paper, three-dimensional fluid flow and heat transfer of Al2O3 nanofluid within ventilated enclosures was taken into consideration....     

3HA: Hybrid Hole Healing Algorithm in a Wireless Sensor Networks

In wireless sensor networks (WSNs), the appearance of coverage holes over a large target field is mostly possible. Those holes reduce network performance and may affect the network efficiency. Several approaches were proposed to heal coverage holes in WSNs, but they still suffer from some weaknesses. In this paper we suggest a distributed algorithm, named hybrid hole healing algorithm (3HA), to find the minimum effective patching positions to deploy additional nodes to cover the holes. A hole manager node of each hole is responsible for operating the 3HA algorithm which requires two phases. The first phase finds all candidate patching positions using a Voronoi diagram. It takes all Voronoi vertices within the hole as the initial patching positions list. The second phase reduces as much as possible this list based on integer linear programming and on a probabilistic sensor model. The 3HA algorithm repeats the above phases in rounds, until all Voronoi vertices are covered. Simulation results show that our solution offers a high coverage ratio for various forms and sizes of holes and reduces the number of additional sensors when compared to some algorithms like the Perimeter-based, the Delaunay triangulation-based, the Voronoi-based, and the Trees-based coverage hole healing methods.

     

Stochastic activity networks with truncated exponential activity times

This paper presents an approach for using right-truncated exponentially distributed random variables to model activity times in stochastic activity networks. The advantages of using the right-truncated exponential distribution are discussed. The moments of a project completion time using the proposed distribution are derived and compared with other estimated moments in literature.     

Effects of physics change in Monte Carlo code on electron pencil beam dose distributions

Pencil beam algorithms used in computerized electron beam dose planning are usually described using the small angle multiple scattering theory. Alternatively, the pencil beams can be generated by Monte Carlo simulation of electron transport. In a previous work, the 4th version of the Electron Gamma Shower (EGS) Monte Carlo code was used to obtain dose distributions from monoenergetic electron pencil beam, with incident energy between 1 MeV and 50 MeV, interacting at the surface of a large cylindrical homogeneous water phantom. In 2000, a new version of this Monte Carlo code has been made available by the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), which includes various improvements in its electron-transport algorithms. In the present work, we were interested to see if the new physics in this version produces pencil beam dose distributions very different from those calculated with oldest one. The purpose of this study is to quantify as well as to understand these differences. We have compared a series of pencil beam dose distributions scored in cylindrical geometry, for electron energies between 1 MeV and 50 MeV calculated with two versions of the Electron Gamma Shower Monte Carlo Code. Data calculated and compared include isodose distributions, radial dose distributions and fractions of energy deposition. Our results for radial dose distributions show agreement within 10% between doses calculated by the two codes for voxels closer to the pencil beam central axis, while the differences are up to 30% for longer distances. For fractions of energy deposition, the results of the EGS4 are in good agreement (within 2%) with those calculated by EGSnrc at shallow depths for all energies, whereas a slightly worse agreement (15%) is observed at deeper distances. These differences may be mainly attributed to the different multiple scattering for electron transport adopted in these two codes and the inclusion of spin effect, which produces an increase of the effective range of electrons.     

Chemical elements of Algerian Mentha spicata L. used in the treatment of digestive system disorders by employing instrumental neutron activation analysis technique

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - The objectives of this research were to study the elemental concentrations of Mentha spicata L., using a sensitive nuclear analytical technique...     

Silicene Nanoribbons on an Insulating Thin Film

Silicene, a new 2D material has attracted intense research because of the ubiquitous use of silicon in modern technology. However, producing free-standing silicene has proved to be a huge challenge. Until now, silicene could be synthesized only on metal surfaces where it naturally forms strong interactions with the metal substrate that modify its electronic properties. Here, the authors report the first experimental evidence of silicene nanoribbons on an insulating NaCl thin film. This work represents a major breakthrough, for the study of the intrinsic properties of silicene, and by extension to other 2D materials that have so far only been grown on metal surfaces.     

Amorphous carbon nitride as an alternative electrode material in electroanalysis: Simultaneous determination of dopamine and ascorbic acid

Boron-doped diamond (BDD) films are excellent electrode materials, whose electrochemical activity for some analytes can be tuned by controlling their surface termination, most commonly either to predominantly hydrogen or oxygen. This tuning can be accomplished by e.g. suitable cathodic or anodic electrochemical pretreatments. Recently, it has been shown that amorphous carbon nitride (a-CN_x) films may present electrochemical characteristics similar to those of BDD, including the influence of surface termination on their electrochemical activity toward some analytes. In this work, we report for the first time a complete electroanalytical method using an a-CN_x electrode. Thus, an a-CN_x film deposited on a stainless steel foil by DC magnetron sputtering is proposed as an alternative electrode for the simultaneous determination of dopamine (DA) and ascorbic acid (AA) in synthetic biological samples by square-wave voltammetry. The obtained results are compared with those attained using a BDD electrode. For both electrodes, a same anodic pretreatment in 0.1 mol L⁻¹ KOH was necessary to attain an adequate and equivalent separation of the DA and AA oxidation potential peaks of about 330 mV. The detection limits obtained for the simultaneous determination of these analytes using the a-CN_x electrode were 0.0656 μmol L⁻¹ for DA and 1.05 μmol L⁻¹ for AA, whereas with the BDD electrode these values were 0.283 μmol L⁻¹ and 0.968 μmol L⁻¹, respectively. Furthermore, the results obtained in the analysis of the analytes in synthetic biological samples were satisfactory, attesting the potential application of the a-CN_x electrode in electroanalysis.     

Inhibition effect of horehound (Marrubium vulgare L.) extract towards C38 steel corrosion in HCl solution

The corrosion inhibition properties of horehound (Marrubium vulgare L.) extract (HE) in 1 M hydrochloric acid medium was carried out using electrochemical methods (polarization curve and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy). Experiments were performed by concentration of the inhibitor and temperature effect. The results showed variation in inhibition performance of this plant extract. The Langmuir model was tested to describe the adsorption behavior of the inhibitor on the C38 steel surface. Some thermodynamic functions of dissolution processes were also determined.