Individual Units Research Articles

Reconfiguring hydrogel assemblies using a photocontrolled metallopolymer adhesive for multiple customized functions.

Stimuli-responsive hydrogels with programmable shape changes are promising materials for soft robots, four-dimensional printing, biomedical devices and artificial intelligence systems. However, these applications require the fabrication of hydrogels with complex, heterogeneous and reconfigurable structures and customizable functions. Here we report the fabrication of hydrogel assemblies with these features by reversibly gluing hydrogel units using a photocontrolled metallopolymer adhesive. The metallopolymer adhesive firmly attached individual hydrogel units via metal-ligand coordination and polymer chain entanglement. Hydrogel assemblies containing temperature- and pH-responsive hydrogel units showed controllable shape changes and motions in response to these external stimuli. To reconfigure their structures, the hydrogel assemblies were disassembled by irradiating the metallopolymer adhesive with light; the disassembled hydrogel units were then reassembled using the metallopolymer adhesive with heating. The shape change and structure reconfiguration abilities allow us to reprogramme the functions of hydrogel assemblies. The development of reconfigurable hydrogel assemblies using reversible adhesives provides a strategy for designing intelligent materials and soft robots with user-defined functions.

Career Training and Employee Performance in Money Deposit Banks in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between career training and employee performance in money deposit banks in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The strategies of career training employed by Money Deposit Banks in equipping their employees were used as pre-determined factors in measuring career training. These strategies of On-the-job Training and Career Mentoring formed the independent variables for the study. The dependent variable was employee performance. The study adopted a descriptive research design and the population of the study consisted of 200 employees of Money Deposit Banks in Akwa Ibom State. A purposive sampling technique was adopted by the researchers. Data for the study were collected using structured copies of questionnaire from two hundred (200) employees. The research hypothesis were tested using the Pearson Moment Correlation Coefficient (PMCC) analysis technique to establish the nature and degree of relationship between the critical variables of career training and the dependent variable, employee performance at a 5% level of significance. From the data analysis, findings revealed that there is a positive and significant relationship between on-the-job training and career mentoring on employee’s performance in Money Deposit Banks in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. From the findings, it was concluded that there is a positive and significant relationship between the critical variables of career training (on-the-job training and career mentoring) and employees’ performance in Money Deposit Banks in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Based on this, it was recommended that the management of Money Deposit Banks in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria should recruit and train employees who are likely to become actively associated with the objectives of the organization to bring about adequate growth. Also, the banking industry should set aside a department, unit or set of individuals to check and encourage mentoring of staff and make recommendations to management in different years of operation.

A global dataset of the shape of drainage systems

Abstract. Drainage basins delineate Earth's land surface into individual water collection units. Basin shape and river sinuosity determine water and sediment dynamics, affecting landscape evolution and connectivity between ecosystems and freshwater species. However, a high-resolution global dataset for the boundaries and geometry of basins is still missing. Using a 90 m resolution digital elevation model, we measured the areas, lengths, widths, aspect ratios, slopes, and elevations of basins over 50 km2 globally. Additionally, we calculated the lengths and sinuosities of the longest river channels within these 0.67 million basins. We built a new global dataset, Basin90m, to present the basins and rivers, as well as their morphological metrics. To highlight the use cases of Basin90m, we explored the correlations among morphological metrics, such as Hack's law. By comparing with HydroSHEDS, HydroATLAS, and Google Earth images, we demonstrated the high accuracy of Basin90m. Basin90m, available in shapefile format, can be used on various GIS platforms, including QGIS, ArcGIS, and GeoPandas. Basin90m has substantial application prospects in geomorphology, hydrology, and ecology. Basin90m is available at https://doi.org/10.5880/GFZ.4.6.2023.004 (He et al., 2023).

A Spatial-Temporal Variational Graph Attention Autoencoder Using Interactive Information for Fault Detection in Complex Industrial Processes.

Modern industry processes are typically composed of multiple operating units with reaction interaction and energy-mass coupling, which result in a mixed time-varying and spatial-temporal coupling of process variables. It is challenging to develop a comprehensive and precise fault detection model for the multiple interconnected units by simple superposition of the individual unit models. In this study, the fault detection problem is formulated as a spatial-temporal fault detection problem utilizing process data of multiple interconnected unit processes. A spatial-temporal variational graph attention autoencoder (STVGATE) using interactive information is proposed for fault detection, which aims to effectively capture the spatial and temporal features of the interconnected unit processes. First, slow feature analysis (SFA) is implemented to extract temporal information that reveals the dynamic relevance of the process data. Then, an integration method of metric learning and prior knowledge is proposed to construct coupled spatial relationships based on temporal information. In addition, a variational graph attention autoencoder (VGATE) is suggested to extract temporal and spatial information for fault detection, which incorporates the dominances of variational inference and graph attention mechanisms. The proposed method can automatically extract and deeply mine spatial-temporal interactive feature information to boost detection performance. Finally, three industrial process experiments are performed to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method. The results demonstrate that the proposed method dramatically increases the fault detection rate (FDR) and reduces the false alarm rate (FAR).

Comprehensive assessment of technical condition of vehicles during operation based on Harrington’s desirability function

The object of research is the process of changing the technical condition of vehicles during their operation. The study solved the problem of comprehensive evaluation of change in the technical condition based on Harrington’s desirability function. The essence of the results is as follows. A scale of desirability was built and a set of criteria for assessing the technical condition of vehicles was clarified. A general desirability index is proposed as a convolution of partial Harrington desirability functions. When solving the investigated problem, the characteristics and properties of the partial and generalized Harrington’s desirability function and their graphical representation were taken into account. Using an example of the technical condition of the chassis and braking system of vehicles, a set of controlled parameters was formed. Based on the values of the controlled parameters, the regression equation of the partial Harrington desirability functions was obtained. The value of the weighting coefficients of each of the criteria was determined and the generalized desirability function was calculated. As a result of the study, it was established that if the generalized criterion of desirability is D<0.37, then individual nodes, systems, and units of the vehicle are in a pre-accident condition, if 0.37£D£0.63 – in a satisfactory condition, and if D>0.63 – in a good condition and cannot be the cause of a traffic accident. An applied aspect of the results is the implementation of the technique of comprehensive assessment of the technical condition of the vehicle. This causes an increase in the productivity of the expert (specialist), will shorten the period of the auto technical examination, and improve its quality. The results could be used by insurance companies and investigators, investigators and judges when considering traffic accidents

Residence time distribution of continuous capture of recombinant antibody by precipitation and two stage tangential flow filtration

AbstractBACKGROUNDThe determination of the residence time distribution of an entire process or process step in integrated continuous biomanufacturing is required for process understanding, traceability determination and to efficiently handle process disturbances. When recombinant proteins such as monoclonal antibodies are captured by continuous precipitation and two‐stage filtration, the question arises whether simple salt is suitable as a tracer or whether a labeled protein is required.RESULTSWe have investigated the use of various inert tracers, sodium nitrate (NaNO3) due to its absorbance at UV 280 nm, and fluorescently labeled or unlabeled antibodies to determine the RTD of the product at steady‐state and in the start‐up and shut‐down phases. All tracers are suitable for measuring the RTD of the precipitated antibody for individual unit operations. For interconnected unit operations, if the product is concentrated, the RTD can be determined with labeled or unlabeled antibodies, because it is not possible to concentrate salts in a microfiltration unit. The duration of the start‐up and shut‐down phases depends on the concentration factor applied in two‐stage filtration, and the number of reactor volumes required to reach steady state corresponds to the concentration factor. Around 1.6 reactor volumes are required for the shutdown phase for 99% wash‐out.CONCLUSIONThe integrated process has a plug flow characteristic, which is advantageous as the process can react quickly when process deviations occur. © 2024 The Authors. Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).

Multipoint Energy-Balanced Laser-Ultrasonic Transducer Based on a Thin-Cladding Fiber.

This study proposes a novel multipoint transducer system by utilizing the single-mode-multimode-thin-cladding fiber (SMTC) structure. This structure leverages the disparity in mode field diameter between the multimode fiber (MMF) and thin-cladding fiber (TCF) to generate high-amplitude ultrasonic signals safely and efficiently. The fabricated transducer exhibits signal amplitudes 2-3-fold higher compared to conventional laser-ultrasonic transducers. Simulation analysis investigates the impact of the length of the MMF and the diameter of the TCF on coupling efficiency. The coupling efficiency of individual transducer units can be accurately controlled by adjusting the length of the MMF. A three-point energy-balanced laser-ultrasonic transducer system was achieved, with improved energy conversion efficiencies, and the optimal thickness of candle soot nanoparticles (CSNPs) is experimentally determined. Additionally, we carried out experiments to compare the performance of the proposed SMTC-based transducer system under different material conditions using two different photoacoustic materials: graphite-epoxy resin and candle soot nanoparticle-polydimethylsiloxane (CSNP-PDMS) composite. CSNPs, as a cost-effective and easy-to-prepare composite material, exhibit higher photoacoustic conversion efficiency compared to graphite-epoxy resin. The proposed system demonstrates the potential for applications in non-destructive testing techniques.

Текстемный анализ специальных текстов по виноделию

This article carries out a comprehensive and multifactorial semantic-structural analysis of special texts on winemaking, taking into account the contact and distant semantic connections of individual speech units (propositional locutemes) among themselves and the relationships of individual sentences, the totality of which makes up the text. The purpose of the study is to develop a typology of prototypical semantic structures (textemes) of special winemaking texts, which will improve the technology for translating winemaking concepts taking into account the context and their meaning. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that for the first time, with the help of linguocogitological methods, built-up contact and distant connections of logosemic features of syntagmemes as unifying links of block textemes have been identified in order to categorize logosemes in special texts on winemaking in the process of semantization. The obtained results make it possible to describe the specific functioning of the components of texts of various levels in the form of a complex of interconnected elements, i. e., the lingvemic-locutematic mechanism for creating explicit and implicit connections of intercategorical logical-semantic features in special texts on winemaking, representing the process of textemization.

Лексико-семантические особенности создания образа протагониста в романе Б. Переса Гальдоса «Сумалакарреги»

The article analyzes the linguistic features of the novel Zumalacárregui by the Spanish writer Benito Pérez Galdos, first published in 1898. The novel opens the third series of the National episodes (Episodios Nacionales) and is dedicated to the First Carlist War in Spain (1833–1840). The protagonist is the Carlist general T. de Zumalacárregui, whose Doppelgänger is the priest José Fago. General T. de Zumalacárregui is frequently mentioned in periodical publications, in memoires and in fiction of the 19–20th centuries. The article analyzes nouns, adjectives and substantive combinations used by the writer to create the image of the protagonist. The semantic fields “war”, “politics” and “religion” are distinguished among the lexical units used in relation to the general. The image of T. de Zumalacárregui is analyzed separately in the direct speech of the characters of the novel. The most common lexemes used to describe the general are “caudillo” (“leader”), “guerrero” (“warrior”), and “héroe” (“hero”). These lexical units, commonly used with positive connotations, acquire a comic connotation in the context of the novel or serve to express a negative value judgment. The vocabulary related to the semantic field “religion” at first sight repeats the clichés of Carlist propaganda, according to which T. de Zumalacárregui appears as a “martyr” who suffered for the “Cause”. At the same time, by replacing individual lexical units, the author turns the protagonist into a parody of Christ. The vocabulary related to the semantic field “politics” is analyzed. T. de Zumalacárregui appears in the work as a supporter of “Absolutism”. It is concluded that B. Pérez Galdós, copying some clichés of Carlist propaganda, created a negative image of T. de Zumalacárregui.

Effect of Different Post-Curing Methods on the Degree of Conversion of 3D-Printed Resin for Models in Dentistry.

The aim was to investigate the effects of different post-curing units on the chemical properties (degree of conversion) of 3D-printed resins for producing models in dentistry. The goal is to determine whether less-expensive post-curing units can be a viable alternative to the manufacturer's recommended units. Forty-five samples were fabricated with an LCD printer (Phrozen Sonic Mini, Phrozen 3D, Hsinchu City, Taiwan) using MSLA Dental Modeling Resin (Apply Lab Work, Torrance, CA, USA). These samples were divided randomly into four different groups for post-curing using four distinct curing units: Phrozen Cure V2 (Phrozen 3D, Hsinchu City, Taiwan), a commercial acrylic nail UV LED curing unit (SUNUV, Shenzhen, China), a homemade curing unit created from a readily available UV LED light produced (Shenzhen, China), and the Triad® 2000™ tungsten halogen light source (Dentsply Sirona, York, PA, USA). The degree of conversion was measured with FTIR spectroscopy using a Nicolet 6700 FTIR Spectrometer (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA). Phrozen Cure V2 had the highest overall mean degree of conversion (69.6% with a 45 min curing time). The Triad® 2000 VLC Curing Unit had the lowest mean degree of conversion value at the 15 min interval (66.2%) and the lowest mean degree of conversion at the 45 min interval with the homemade curing unit (68.2%). The type of light-curing unit did not yield statistically significant differences in the degree of conversion values. There was a statistically significant difference in the degree of conversion values between the 15 min and 45 min curing intervals. When comparing individual light-curing units, there was a statistically significant difference in the degree of conversion for the post-curing units between the 15 min and 45 min curing time (p = 0.029).

Sex differences in laterality of motor unit firing behavior of the first dorsal interosseous muscle in strength-matched healthy young males and females.

The purpose of this study was to compare laterality in motor unit firing behavior between females and males. Twenty-seven subjects (14 females) were recruited for this study. The participants performed ramp up and hold isometric index finger abduction at 10, 30, and 60% of their maximum voluntary contraction (MVC). High-density surface electromyography (HD-sEMG) signals were recorded in the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscle and decomposed into individual motor unit (MU) firing behavior using a convolution blind source separation method. In total, 769 MUs were detected (females, n = 318 and males, n = 451). Females had a significantly higher discharge rate than males at each relative torque level (10%: male dominant hand, 13.4 ± 2.7 pps vs. female dominant hand, 16.3 ± 3.4 pps; 30%: male dominant hand, 16.1 ± 3.9 pps vs. female dominant hand, 20.0 ± 5.0 pps; and 60%: male dominant hand, 19.3 ± 3.8 vs. female dominant hand, 25.3 ± 4.8 pps; p < 0.0001). The recruitment threshold was also significantly higher in females than in males at 30 and 60% MVC. Furthermore, males exhibited asymmetrical discharge rates at 30 and 60% MVC and recruitment thresholds at 30 and 60% MVC, whereas no asymmetry was observed in females. In the FDI muscle, compared to males, females exhibited different neuromuscular strategies with higher discharge rates and recruitment thresholds and no asymmetrical MU firing behavior. Notably, the findings that sex differences in neuromuscular activity also occur in healthy individuals provide important information for understanding the pathogenesis of various diseases.

Аналіз наявних методів та підходів до пошуку пошкодженої автобронетанкової техніки під час технічної розвідки в сучасних арміях світу

The article proposes the definition of directions and opportunities for the use of technical means of information in the performance of the tasks of rear support of troops in armed conflicts that are taking place today.&#x0D; Possible areas of application of unmanned aerial vehicles in the technical intelligence system of the National Guard of Ukraine and the Armed Forces of Ukraine are considered. The analysis of various types of unmanned aerial vehicles revealed the peculiarities of their use. The foreign experience of the use and development of unmanned technologies in the field of search and evacuation of damaged armored vehicles was analyzed. Conclusions were obtained regarding the combination of unmanned aerial vehicles with traditional means of technical intelligence, which showed their significant advantages. Prospective areas of application of aircraft in combination with technical intelligence systems of individual units of the National Guard of Ukraine and military units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during operations and hostilities have been identified. The possibility of combining aviation technologies and means of technical intelligence in armed conflicts of modern armies of the world is also considered.&#x0D; Technical intelligence was analyzed from the point of view of the type of intelligence by tasks, forces, means and methods; and also as an organization of intelligence activities based on the use of technical means. The dependence on the nature of signals detected by technical means is shown, one of the types of technical intelligence is photo and infrared intelligence based on the interception of light waves (species intelligence).&#x0D; Species intelligence is considered as the collection of intelligence information based on the analysis of a large number of images obtained with the help of photographic, optical-electronic and radar equipment. According to its specificity, intelligence belongs to technical intelligence and includes air and space intelligence. Species reconnaissance uses photographic images taken in the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum, infrared photography and multispectral photography. Radar images for species reconnaissance are created by equipment of various electromagnetic ranges synthesized in radar equipment. Spectral reconnaissance should be distinguished from electronic reconnaissance using optical-electronic or radar equipment that does not form an image.&#x0D; Military experts of developed countries believe that in the modern combat environment, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for conducting reconnaissance as a means of technical intelligence can more effectively and quickly solve the tasks of technical intelligence. At the same time, the time required to deliver the received intelligence information to the relevant management bodies is reduced.

STUDY ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FIRMS’ PERFORMANCE AND STOCK MARKET RETURNS IN SELECT NSE LISTED COMPANIES

Purpose: An investor considers lot of factors while investing his money into the Stocks. Money is majorly invested in BSE or NSE in India. BSE is established in the year 1875 and NSE established in the year 1992. Apart from this some stocks are traded in local exchange market in each city. Earlier we had manual trading. However, it is more organized and digitalized now.  Every investor does some survey prior to investing their hard-earned money. The reason behind investment is to earn profits over the invested money. The returns over the stock market are dependent on various micro and macro-economic factors. Panel data analysis was conducted using data from the top 50 companies listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) over a 10-year period. The analysis explored the impact of various financial ratios on stock market returns, considering individual-specific effects and time variations. The study found that certain financial ratios, including Earnings per Share (EPS), Earning Yield, Debt to Equity ratio, and Market Capitalization to Sales ratio, significantly influenced stock market returns.&#x0D;  &#x0D; Method: Panel data analysis, also known as longitudinal data analysis or panel regression, is a statistical method used to analyze data collected from a group of individuals, entities, or subjects over time. In panel data analysis, observations are made on the same subjects or entities repeatedly at multiple time points, creating a panel or panel dataset. Panel data analysis is particularly useful in social sciences, economics, and other fields where researchers are interested in studying the dynamics of individual units over time and accounting for both cross-sectional and time-series variations.&#x0D;  &#x0D; Results and Conclusion: The findings from this study provide valuable guidance for individual investors, financial advisors, and policymakers in optimizing investment strategies. However, it is essential to acknowledge the limitations of this research, including the static nature of data collection and the focus on the Indian stock market. Future research should explore longitudinal effects and consider macroeconomic factors to deepen our understanding of the complex relationship between financial ratios, risks, and stock returns. The random effects model shows that the independent variables have a significant relationship with the dependent variable, meaning they are related to each other. The regression models confirm that certain financial ratios, like EPS, Price_To_Cash_Flow, and Cash_Flow_TO_Assets, have a significant impact on stock returns. The model considers the influence of time-specific factors, and the fixed effects model better captures the differences between entities, suggesting that each entity behaves differently in the analysis. In conclusion, this study highlights the multifaceted nature of the Indian stock market and the diverse factors that influence investors' decision-making processes. Enhancing financial literacy, promoting risk management, and understanding investor sentiment are crucial for building a robust and informed investor community. By addressing these aspects, investors and policymakers can contribute to the overall growth, stability, and efficiency of the Indian stock market.&#x0D;  &#x0D; Implications of research: The key advantage of panel data analysis is that it allows researchers to control for individual heterogeneity and unobserved time-invariant factors, which can lead to more accurate and efficient estimates of the relationships between variables. By incorporating both within-unit and between-unit variations, panel data analysis provides a more comprehensive understanding of the data and can help identify causal relationships. Originality/value: the current paper aims to study the relationship between firms’ performance and stock market returns in select NSE listed companies.

Scrutinizing microbiome determinism: why deterministic hypotheses about the microbiome are conceptually ungrounded

This paper addresses the topic of determinism in contemporary microbiome research. I distinguish two types of deterministic claims about the microbiome, and I show evidence that both types of claims are present in the contemporary literature. First, the idea that the host genetics determines the composition of the microbiome which I call “host-microbiome determinism”. Second, the idea that the genetics of the holobiont (the individual unit composed by a host plus its microbiome) determines the expression of certain phenotypic traits, which I call “microbiome-phenotype determinism”. Drawing on the stability of traits conception of individuality (Suárez in Hist Philos Life Sci 42:11, 2020) I argue that none of these deterministic hypotheses is grounded on our current knowledge of how the holobiont is transgenerationally assembled, nor how it expresses its phenotypic traits.

A Planar Multi-Inertial Navigation Strategy for Autonomous Systems for Signal-Variable Environments.

The challenge of precise dynamic positioning for mobile robots is addressed through the development of a multi-inertial navigation system (M-INSs). The inherent cumulative sensor errors prevalent in traditional single inertial navigation systems (INSs) under dynamic conditions are mitigated by a novel algorithm, integrating multiple INS units in a predefined planar configuration, utilizing fixed distances between the units as invariant constraints. An extended Kalman filter (EKF) is employed to significantly enhance the positioning accuracy. Dynamic experimental validation of the proposed 3INS EKF algorithm reveals a marked improvement over individual INS units, with the positioning errors reduced and stability increased, resulting in an average accuracy enhancement rate exceeding 60%. This advancement is particularly critical for mobile robot applications that demand high precision, such as autonomous driving and disaster search and rescue. The findings from this study not only demonstrate the potential of M-INSs to improve dynamic positioning accuracy but also to provide a new research direction for future advancements in robotic navigation systems.

Evolution of the Phase Singularity of an Orbital Angular Momentum Beam with an Astigmatism Phase

In this study, we explore the impact of the astigmatism phase on the evolution of the phase singularity of an orbital angular momentum (OAM) beam propagating through free space. The results demonstrate that the high-order phase singularity dispersed into a cluster of individual unit phase singularities owing to the astigmatism phase. The number of singularities equaled the topological charge of the OAM beam. By adjusting the astigmatism phase, we could manipulate and control the evolution of the phase singularities, including their displacements and rotation angles. These findings offer significant prospects for customizing 3D vortex lines, optical topologies, and applications involving topological charge measurement, information encoding, and transfer.

Intuitive and Efficient Approach to Determine the Band Structure of Covalent Organic Frameworks from Their Chemical Constituents.

The optical, electronic, and (photo) catalytic properties of covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are largely determined by their electronic structure and, specifically, by their Frontier conduction and valence bands (VBs). In this work, we establish a transparent relationship between the periodic electronic structure of the COFs and the orbital characteristics of their individual molecular building units, a relationship that is challenging to unravel through conventional solid-state calculations. As a demonstration, we applied our method to five COFs with distinct framework topologies. Our approach successfully predicts their first-principles conduction and VBs by expressing them as a linear combination of the Frontier molecular orbitals localized on the COF fragments. We demonstrate that our method allows for the rapid exploration of the impact of chemical modifications on the band structures of COFs, making it highly suitable for further application in the quest to discover new functional materials.

Optimal Control of Temporal Networks With Variable Input and Node-Source Connection.

Many networked systems built upon real-life physical or social interactions have time-varying connections among individual units, where the temporal changes in connectivity and/or interaction strength lead to complicated dynamics. The temporal network model was proposed in the form of controlled linear dynamical systems acting in an ordered sequence of time intervals. One of the core challenges in network science is the control of networks and the optimization of the control strategy. However, most canonical frameworks for solving optimal control problems were established for static networks featuring constant topology. New theories and techniques are yet to be developed for the temporal networks, with an important case being that the input and the source-node connection are both variables. In this work, by formulating a quadratic energy cost without solving the Riccati differential equation, we show that the control effort can be reduced substantially by improving either the system trajectories or the input matrices. The two approaches are further combined in a coordinate descent framework, integrating linearly constrained quadratic programming, and a projected gradient descent method. Taken together, the results underline the potential of temporal networks as energy-efficient control systems and present strategies to improve the control input. Moreover, the proposed algorithms can serve as a starting point for future engineering of real-world temporal networks.

Developing and applying the vibrations of nucleic acid and enzyme-substrate complexes as molecular scale detectors of conformation and to measure how the physical properties of individual units contribute to the whole suprastructure

Developing and applying the vibrations of nucleic acid and enzyme-substrate complexes as molecular scale detectors of conformation and to measure how the physical properties of individual units contribute to the whole suprastructure

Experimental study on enhanced heat transfer performances and optimized strategies of cascade sensible-latent heat storage radiator

Improving the thermal efficiency of radiator and minimizing the energy loss in distribution networks are crucial for space heating. However, existing studies primarily focused on optimizing the thermal performance or indoor environment of individual units, yet rarely revealed the enhanced heat transfer performance from initial power supply to final heat utilization. To address this gap, this study developed a cascade sensible-latent heat storage radiator, and improved the thermal performance in the following ways. Firstly, by adsorbing paraffin wax with expanded graphite, the thermal conductivity rose from 0.2 to 3.5 W/(m‧K). Secondly, through cascading sensible and latent heat storage bricks, the heat charging/discharging efficiency increased by 11.9 %/14.6 %. Finally, by enhancing the airflow from 0.05 to 0.28 m/s, the heat discharging efficiency and entransy dissipation amount increased by 15.8 % and 225.8 kJ‧K, respectively. The total energy utilization efficiency was improved by 7.4 %, and the dissatisfaction caused by draft and noise both met the personnel requirement. The total annual cost of developed radiator was merely 30 % and 60 % of the direct electric heating radiator and sensible heat storage radiator, respectively. Therefore, the sensible-latent heat storage radiator offered advantages in improving the energy utilization efficiency, indoor thermal environment and cost effectiveness performance.