Quick Switching Research Articles

Numerical investigation of air intrusion and aerobic reactions in municipal solid waste landfills

Air intrusion into municipal solid waste landfills can cause a localized switch from anaerobic to aerobic biodegradation adjacent to the intrusion. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects on temperature and gas composition of air intrusion into an idealized anaerobic landfill. Two scenarios of air intrusion and injection were simulated using a mechanistic landfill model built into TOUGH2. The modeled landfill geometry and properties are based on an actual U.S. landfill. The simulation results show that air intrusion can cause a quick switch from anaerobic to aerobic conditions and as a result, cause a fast increase in temperature of up to 30 °C associated with stimulation of aerobic biodegradation reactions. Associated with the change to aerobic conditions is a decrease in CH4/CO2 (v/v) ratio in the landfill gas. Depending on the air flow rate intruding or injecting into the landfill, localized aerobic biodegradation is stimulated and as a result heat generation rate of 10 to 150 W/m3 leads to temperature increase. Temperature increase near a temporary air intrusion lasts no longer than a few weeks while the high temperatures in deep layers could last up to one year.

Efficient multicycle terahertz pulse generation based on the tilted pulse-front technique.

Controlling the time-domain oscillation of a terahertz (THz) wave offers promising capabilities for THz-based all-optical particle acceleration and strong-field THz nonlinear physics. However, the lack of highly efficient and frequency-modulable multicycle THz sources is impeding the spread of strong-field THz science and applications. Here, we show that by simply adding an echelon into a single-cycle THz source based on optical rectification in lithium niobate crystals via the tilted pulse-front technique, multicycle THz pulses can be efficiently generated with an 800 nm-to-THz efficiency of 0.1% at room temperature. The radiated THz properties can be engineered by precisely designing the echelon structure. Our proposed multicycle THz generation method has the advantages of high efficiency, ease of operation, and quick switching between single-cycle and multicycle working modes, all of which are important in the application of high-field THz radiation.

The online monitoring method of degraded vacuum in high voltage vacuum quick switch with SF 6 tank insulation structure based on electromagnetic wave method

The online monitoring method of degraded vacuum in high voltage vacuum quick switch with SF ₆ tank insulation structure based on electromagnetic wave method

Construction and selection of double inspection quick switching system

Acceptance sampling plan have been widely used in industry to determine whether the manufactured item satisfy the pre-specified quality levels or not. At this point, an industry must have to take a decision for accepting or rejecting the lots in accordance with randomly chosen units. In this article describes the quick switching system with the reference of double inspection single sampling plan. Tables are constructed for easy selection of sample size.

A 0.22-μW Single-Bit VCO-Based Time-Domain Sensor-to-Digital Front-End With Reduced Supply Sensitivity

Future energy harvesting systems require ultra-low supply sensor interfaces operating at sub-0.4 V. Time-based sensor-to-digital interfaces, though compatible with ultra-low supply, are highly sensitive to inherent mismatch in the current-controlled ring oscillators (CCRO) especially in a multibit architecture. Contrary to a multi-bit sensor interface, this work realizes a single-bit system replacing the multi-phase CCRO with a nanoWatt current-controlled relaxation oscillator (CCRxO) and thus obviating the significant delay cell mismatch in the CCROs. In addition, we propose a time domain calibration loop (TDCL) to mitigate the high signal-to-noise and distortion ratio (SNDR) sensitivity related to the K_VCO variation with respect to supply. A pulse-biasing circuit is proposed for fast settling of the internal nodes and facilitate quick switching between calibration and data conversion modes. The proposed closed-loop single-bit VCO-based sensor-to-digital front-end with TDCL was fabricated in 180 nm CMOS technology. Operating under 0.35 V, the chip consumes a total power consumption of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$0.22~\mu \text{W}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> only with a SNDR of 63.2 dB. The SNDR variation is measured to be only 1.7 dB with more than 50&#x0025; supply variation validating the effectiveness of the proposed TDCL.

A Fast Algorithm for Exact Maximum Likelihood Estimation of Multiple Input Transfer Function Models with Auto-Correlated Errors

This paper proposes a fast algorithm for the exact maximum likelihood estimation of parameters of multiple inputs transfer function models. This algorithm is a generalization of that proposed by Mélard (1984) which is a combination of an improved version of an algorithm of Pearlman (1980) which uses an algorithm of Morf, Sidhu et Kailath (1974) and consists to replace the (matrix) Riccati-type difference equation used in the Kalman filter by a (vector) Chandrasekhar-type difference equation with the quick recursion switching suggested by Gardner, Harvey and Phillips (1980) and an algorithm of Wilson (1979). Simulations and practical examples are used to illustrate the algorithm by comparing it with the method of Poskitt (1989), the generalized least squares method suggested by Sabiti (1993), and the nonlinear least-squares method of Box and Jenkins (1976).

Oxygen matters: Short- and medium-term effects of aeration on hydrolytic enzymes in a paddy soil

Rapid exposure of anoxic microbial communities to oxygen (O2) can have unpredictable effects, including strong suppression of their enzymatic activity. Nonetheless, most medium- and long-term incubation studies on soil organic matter transformations fail to consider aeration effects during sample post-processing and/or assays. Moreover, it remains unclear whether anoxic enzymatic systems are adapted to quick switch to oxic conditions. We evaluated the effects of short-term (2-h oxic (+O2) vs. anoxic (–O2) assays) and medium-term aeration (after 10-day oxic vs. anoxic pre-incubation) on the kinetic parameters (Vmax, Km) of phosphomonoesterase, β-glucosidase, and leucine aminopeptidase in top bulk, rooted, and bottom bulk paddy soil of flooded rice mesocosms. We hypothesized contrasting short- and medium-term responses of hydrolytic enzyme activities to aeration (i) a negative short-term effect caused by reactive O2 species toxicity and/or other mechanisms, and (ii) adaptation of anoxic microbial communities to medium-term aeration reducing the impact of ongoing O2 exposure.Overall, 2-h aeration suppressed Vmax values by 7–43% and catalytic efficiency Ka (Vmax/Km) by 3–22%, and extended the substrate turnover time Tt (7–33%) of three tested enzymes in all soil compartments pre-incubated without O2. In contrast, no short-term suppressive effect of O2 was observed on three tested enzymes after oxic pre-incubation. Medium-term aeration increased Vmax (by 12–253%) and Ka (by 3–78%) of the enzymes and shortened Tt (4–42%) as compared to the anoxic counterpart. These findings support our hypothesis about anoxic microbial community adaptation over the medium-term aeration. Accordingly, the sensitivity of anoxic hydrolytic enzymes to a short-term O2 exposure and the O2 adaptation mechanisms require strong consideration (i) for enzyme assays of anoxic soils and (ii) for understanding the soil organic matter dynamics in environments with O2 fluctuations.

Salicylideneaniline is a Photoswitchable Ferroelectric Crystal.

Since the discovery of the first ferroelectric Rochelle salt, most ferroelectrics have been investigated showing thermally triggered symmetry-breaking phase transition. Although photochromism arising from geometrical isomerization was reported as early as 1867, such photoswitchable ferroelectric crystals have scarcely been developed to date. Herein, we report that salicylideneaniline is a photochromic ferroelectric crystal. Upon photoirradiation, the dielectric constant shows obvious switching between high and low dielectric states, and more importantly, the ferroelectric polarization demonstrates quick and reversible switching. This work opens the gate to developing photoswitchable ferroelectrics, which holds great potential for applications in optically controlled smart devices.

High strength antibacterial membranes consisted of nanofibrous chitosan immobilized silver nanoparticles

AbstractChitosan (CS) has biocompatibility and biodegradability, but the bulk CS hydrogel/membranes with its poor strength and limited antibacterial property could not satisfy the practical application. Here green dissolving/regeneration and in situ reduction strategy was combined to construct high strength antibacterial CS membranes. First nanofibrous CS hydrogels were constructed through dissolving CS in LiOH/KOH/urea aqueous system via freezing–thawing process followed regeneration. Then, Ag NPs were immobilized along CS nanofibers through in situ reductions of Ag + by the NH2 group of CS. The obtained NCM‐Ag composite dry membranes are easy for storing and can quick switch to nanofibrous hydrogels as absorbing water. Size of Ag NPs can be controlled to very small until 2 nm by concentration and limited space network. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X‐ray photoelectron spectrometer indicated the forceful grasp ability of CS nanofibers to Ag NPs for a stable binding, mechanical property was enhanced over 100Mpa as the nanofibrous structure and chain linked by Ag coordination. The NCM‐Ag membranes had excellent antibacterial activities against both Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Moreover, such nanofibrous CS membrane exhibited good adhesive ability to tissues. Combining all these properties, NCM‐Ag membranes would be potential as antibacterial adhesion barrier to accelerate wound healing.

Cognitive Characteristics of Skilled Badminton Players

Study of the cognitive characteristics of qualified badminton players. 34 qualified badminton players, 12 men and 22 women were test subjects. Testing was carried out individually. Analysis of scientific and methodological liter- ature and world experience shows that the study of psychophysiological characteristics provides additional infor- mation about an athlete’s functional state during training and competitive activities. It is known that sports results largely depend on the individual typological characteristics of a person, as well as on the extent to which these fea- tures are used to realize the entire spectrum of the athlete's capabilities. Activation of higher nervous processes is present in almost all components of sports activity and provides a quick reaction, perception and processing of in- formation, the speed of mastering technical elements and quick switching from one type of activity to another. The study of the cognitive characteristics of badminton players was organized using the hardware-software computer complex "Multipsychometer-05". In our research, the first part of Raven's advanced progressive matrices was ap- plied. It is an express version of the test, consisting of 12 tasks and covers the entire range of possibilities diagnosed by the full test. The main informative indicator of the test is performance − the total number of correctly completed tasks for the entire time of the test (the total number of correct answers). The test execution speed, accuracy, effi- ciency are also determined. The analysis of Raven's progressive matrices showed that qualified badminton players have an average level of productivity, speed and accuracy, a level below the average of test performance. The study of cognitive abilities, taking into account sexual dimorphism, showed that, in terms of speed and quality indicators of cognitive tests, women demonstrate significantly better values in relation to men. General cognitive abilities can be used as diagnostic and prognostic criteria in the selection process for qualified badminton players.

Photo-Electroswitchable Arylaminoazobenzenes.

Azobenzenes appended with a redox-active arylamino group (redox auxiliary, RA) are prepared and shown to undergo fast, complete, and catalytic Z→E azo isomerization upon electron loss from the RA unit of the azobenzene. The RA-azo structures can be reversibly (E→Z→E)n cycled by sequential photo- and electrostimulation. Due to the robust nature of the RA•+-azo radical cation chain carrying species, initiation of electron transfer (ET) catalysis occurs at low levels (1.0-0.04 mol %) of catalytic loading and is effective even at Z-RA-azo concentrations of 10-4-10-5 M, yielding TONs (turnover numbers) of 100-2300 under such dilute conditions. The RA-azo Z→E conversion is demonstrated using chemical oxidation (redox switching), electrochemical oxidation (electro switching), and photochemical oxidation (photoredox switching). The Z→E acceleration is shown to be at least 2 × 109-fold for RA-azo 5. DFT calculations on methyl yellow suggest that a N-centered radical cation of the RA group stabilizes the Z→E N-N twist transition state of the RA•+-azo, yielding a large reduction in the barrier for RA•+-azo compared to neutral RA-azo. The RA-azo structure class has nanomechanical features that can be toggled with photo- and electrostimulation, the latter offering a quick switch for complete Z→E conversion.

Design and construction of a variables quick switching sampling system based on Taguchi capability index

Quick switching sampling (QSS) system comprises a pair of single sampling plans with switching rules and has been developed for lot disposition. The traditional QSS system for variables data only focused on products’ yield evaluation but ignored the additional loss caused when the quality deviated from the target value. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to develop a variables QSS system based on the loss-based capability index. To determine the designed plan parameters, a nonlinear optimization problem is constructed. The objective function is minimizing the required average sample number, and the constraints are set to satisfy the quality requests and allowable risks demanded by the producers and consumers, simultaneously. The performance of the proposed system is investigated and compared with other existing methods in terms of the operating characteristic, average sample number, and average run length. Finally, a practical case is presented for illustrating the applicability of the proposed plan.

Developing process-yield-based acceptance sampling plans for AR(1) auto-correlated process

Acceptance sampling plans include a sampling scheme and a set of rules to determine whether an inspection lot from a supplier should be accepted or rejected. This paper aims at developing two acceptance sampling plans by variables inspection, namely a quick switching sampling (QSS) system and the modified repetitive group sampling (Modified-RGS) plan based on the process yield index for the first-order auto-regressive (AR(1)) auto-correlated process. A minimization model is employed to solve the plan parameters. The performance of the proposed sampling plans is investigated and compared with the existing sampling plans through the operating characteristic (OC) curve and the average sample number (ASN) required for inspection. The simulation results confirm the advantages of the proposed plans over existing sampling plans. An example is presented to illustrate the applicability of the proposed plans.

The spread of digital technologies as a factor of influence on the formation and manifestation of attention of 15-year-old football players

Today, the Internet covers almost all spheres of human life and involves in its space almost from an early age. As a result, the excessive duration of being in the Internet space can rightfully be considered one of the key factors that affect the dynamics and nature of the formation of basic mental functions, including attention. This issue is of particular importance in the practice of sports training, where the determining role and importance of psychological and psychophysiological capabilities of athletes in the context of their effectiveness in training and competitive activity remains relevant, despite the fact that it has been the subject of research by scientists for a long time. The purpose of this work was to study the dynamics of changes in individual indicators of attention of 15-year-old sportsmen-football players under the conditions of digitalization. Research results. The attention of an athlete-football player, as a determining factor in the effectiveness of the functioning of various mental processes, occupies a special place in his psychological profile. This is due to the specifics of game activity, which is characterized by high dynamics and unpredictability of game situations, as well as the need for almost simultaneous perception of a significant number of objects (ball, goal, rivals, partners) and a quick switch of attention between them. Within the framework of this work, we carried out a comparative analysis of various indicators of attention of young footballers of 15 years of age. For comparison, we used psychodiagnostic data obtained in different years. The results of the analysis showed the presence of a negative trend in the manifestation of certain indicators of attention, and especially the ability to concentrate when concentrating. Analyzing the data obtained, we can with a high degree of probability assume the presence of a negative influence of the excessive stay of young men in the Internet space, including when using various mobile devices.

The helium bubble: Prospects for 3He-fuelled nuclear fusion

The helium bubble: Prospects for 3He-fuelled nuclear fusion

Economic Design of Quick Switching Sampling System for Resubmitted Lots under Gamma-Poisson Distribution

In this paper, a method of designing quick switching sampling system for resubmitted lots for inspection of attribute quality characteristics based on the gamma-Poisson distribution is proposed. We determine the required parameters by using two-points on the operating characteristic curve approach such that both producer’s and the consumer’s risks are satisfied for some specified values of acceptable quality level and limiting quality level. Tables are constructed for optimal sample size and two acceptance numbers of the proposed sampling system. The relative efficiency of the proposed system over conventional plans is also discussed. In addition, an economic design of the above mentioned sampling system to minimize total cost is also investigated. Consequently, it is proved that the proposed system minimizes the total inspection cost and average total inspection.

Improved ionic solid/viologen hybrid electrochromic device using pre‐bleached Prussian‐blue electrode

The authors demonstrate how a simple step of loading an electrochromically active Prussian blue (PB; an ionic solid) electrode with Li+ ions can help in achieving a more efficient viologen based solid state hybrid electrochromic device. To accomplish this, two different devices, with and without Li+ ion loaded PB electrodes, have been fabricated. These devices have been compared in terms of their current-voltage response, bias dependent optical modulation and corresponding colour switching to establish the role of Li+ ion in charge transport and charge balancing involved during bias induced redox mediated colour switching of the two devices. The Li+ containing PB electrode device exhibits a superior performance with twice (40%) the value of colour contrast (20%), quick response switching (1.3 s), excellent stability (8400 s) and better power efficiency as compared to the device containing as-synthesised PB electrode. A mechanism has been proposed to explain the role of the Li+ ion which is later substantiated using bias-dependent in situ Raman spectroscopic evidences.

Tackling material constraints on the exponential growth of the energy transition

Tackling material constraints on the exponential growth of the energy transition

Lifetime performance-qualified sampling system under a Weibull distribution with failure-censoring

Reducing the warranty cost to increase profit is a major focus for most businesses. To achieve this goal, the acceptance sampling plan (ASP) can be an efficient tool to validate whether the product lifetimes meet their requirements. In the ASP practice, the single sampling plan (SSP) is widely used due to its administrative simplicity. Unfortunately, the SSP ignores the valuable sample information from preceding lots, which may reduce its efficiency and quality-discrimination power. Especially, the collection of lifetime information often consumes a significant amount of time and is expensive in today’s high product-yield and long-life environment. To address the drawbacks of the SSP, we propose a lifetime performance-qualified quick switch sampling (QSS) system under a Weibull distribution with failure-censoring. This system nimbly switches between the normal SSP and tightened SSP based on the previous lot-disposition result. Compared to the ordinary SSP and the recently proposed multiple-lot dependent sampling plan, the QSS system not only significantly reduces the required number of failures that need to be observed in the life testing but also exhibits a better discriminatory operating characteristic curve for the lot disposition. On the other hand, the QSS system helps the consumer to communicate to the supplier important messages that (i) only with reliable submissions the latter can persistently enjoy the benefits of the normal lot-sentencing standard; (ii) once the submitted lot is rejected, the supplier will have to spend more efforts to gain back the consumer trust. Moreover, we developed a web-based tool to help practitioners obtain the system criteria easily and quickly without the need for the traditional time-consuming table lookup. By operating the interactive interface of the web app, practitioners can quickly obtain the system criteria conforming to the requirements. Finally, the proposed QSS system is illustrated by a real-life application.

Clip Thinking and Its Influence the Teaching Methodology

The research is devoted to the issues of the so-called clip thinking impact on teaching methods in modern higher education. The survey was conducted among teachers of the Institute of Foreign Languages of the People Friendship University of Russia, Moscow. Teachers, teaching both full-time and evening students (n = 24) were interviewed. Clip thinking is one of the results of widespread digitalization and is expressed in the inability to focus on the same subject for more than a minute or two. This feature is inextricably linked with the multi-tasking of a modern person who constantly checks for new messages on social networks, is distracted by online messenges, news and other information that appears in his / her smartphone or computer, while maintaining focus on the main issue (work, study) in the “background”. Clip thinking features are taken into account by television, cinema and animation: if in films and television programs created before the ubiquitous distribution of the Internet, the same scene could last 5–10 minutes, then in modern films switching between scenes is much more frequent, and when editing TV programs one the frame does not hold on the screen for longer than 10–20 seconds. Teaching in the conditions of clip thinking should and can, on the one hand, adapt to the audience’s characteristics, and on the other hand, try to develop the student and instill in him / her the ability to focus for a longer period of time. In the context of teaching a foreign language, which implies an emphasis on practical work, it is quite simple to maintain a balance: since a different type of speech activity is used in the work of a foreign language teacher, various types of texts and visual material can be offered for students to work, it’s enough to provide the teacher with relatively quick switching between these activities.&#x0D; Keywords: teaching, teaching methods, digitalization, clip thinking, discrete teaching