Rapid Response Capability Research Articles

Frequency Control Ancillary Service Provided by Efficient Power Plants Integrated in Queuing-Controlled Domestic Water Heaters

Frequency is an important parameter of a power system. It is of great significance to maintain its stability, especially in the current development scenario of large-scale interconnected power systems. Thermostatically controlled appliances (TCAs) are good controllable resources for demand response owing to their rapid response capabilities and relatively wide controllable ranges. In this study, domestic water heaters, which have wider deadbands compared with other typical TCAs, such as heat pumps, are used as frequency regulation resources. The main contribution of this paper is that it proposes a queuing-controlled strategy with lock-on and off constraints for controlling an efficient power plant consisting of water heaters (EPP-WH). The queuing-controlled strategy enables TCAs to provide frequency regulation ancillary service for the normal operation of the power system. The thermal dynamic process of the water heater and the formation of the EPP-WH are first discussed. Based on the developed model, a series of strategies are proposed, including load shedding calculation, top layer optimization, and improved temperature priority list (TPL) strategy with lock-on and off constraints. Finally, typical case studies are discussed to illustrate the frequency regulation effects and the effects of two characteristic parameters—users’ willingness and lock time limits. Reasonable targets are generated based on various consideration from top layer optimization module. The results indicate that using the model and proposed strategies, the EPP-WH has good frequency regulation performance.

Synthesis of one-dimensional poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-graphene composites for the simultaneous detection of hydroquinone, catechol, resorcinol, and nitrite

A series of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-graphene composites (PEDOT-Gr) have been synthesized by in situ electropolymerization of 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene on graphene nanosheets. X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed that the composites consisted of PEDOT and graphene, while scanning electron microscopy revealed the formation of one-dimensional (1D) PEDOT structures with diameters of approximately 200nm. For simultaneous determination of hydroquinone (HQ), catechol (CC), resorcinol (RC), and nitrite, the 1D PEDOT-graphene composite-coated electrodes showed peak-to-peak separations of 108mV between HQ and CC, 392mV between CC and RC, and 188mV between RC and nitrite. The detection limits were 0.06, 0.08, 0.16, and 7μM for HQ, CC, RC, and nitrite, respectively. The 1D PEDOT-graphene composite exhibited high electrocatalytic activity and selectivity, rapid response capability, and long life. These properties are due to the 1D morphology of the PEDOT structures that generate large specific surface areas, the unique hybrid structure-generated electronic properties, and chemical compatibility.

Research on Rolling Parallel Robot With Hydraulic Driven Antiparallelogram Chain

Aiming at acquiring large deformation capability, powerful strength output, rapid response, and flexible locomotion, a novel three degrees-of-freedoms (DOFs) rolling parallel robot is proposed. This robot adopts the parallel mechanism, and its structure can guarantee the stiffness of the robot. The large capability of deformation can be obtained by taking advantage of the antiparallelogram mechanism with an enlarging mechanism of extension ratio. Hydraulic actuation is used for the telescopic input, which can increase the locomotion flexibility and the strength output of the robot. Rolling motion of the robot can be reached through planning and controlling the relations between the center of mass (CM) of the robot and the supporting region. The mechanical construction and configuration of the robot are described, the rolling gaits are planned, and the optimal locomotion law is given. Based on the law, the kinematic model of the robot is created. The kinematic model is validated by the given numerical example. The locomotion feasibility of two locomotion periods is analyzed. A set of experimental tests on the hydraulic system and the robotic system are performed. Results of four rolling experiments verify the reliability of the experimental system and the rapid response capability and also verify the validity and feasibility of the theoretical analysis and the rolling locomotion.

Perceived timing of a postural perturbation

Falling down is a common event that threatens the survival of an organism. Simple, yet sophisticated neural mechanisms allow for rapid detection of a fall as well as the generation of compensatory reflexes designed to prevent a fall. Fall awareness and preventative alerting devices could potentially mitigate the likelihood of a fall, however, relatively little is known about the perceived timing of a fall. Common anecdotal reports suggest that humans often describe distortions in their perception of time with very little recollection of what occurred during the fall. Previous research has also found that the vestibular system is perceptually slow compared to the other senses (45–160ms delay), indicating that vestibular stimuli must occur prior to other sensory stimuli in order for it to be perceived as synchronous. Here we examine whether fall perception is similarly slow. Participants made temporal order judgments identifying whether fall or sound onset came first to measure the point of subjective simultaneity. Results show that fall perception is slow, where the onset of a perturbation has to precede an auditory stimulus by ∼44 ms to appear coincident with the fall. We suggest that the central nervous system's rapid detection and response capabilities are restricted to reflexive behaviour, with conscious awareness of a fall being prioritized less. The additional lead times for detecting perturbation onset constrain possible fall detection and alert systems that have been proposed to inform a user to prevent falls and may also help explain the increased likelihood for fall incidence in the elderly.

Relanzando la Respuesta Rápida Militar: Los Battlegroups

The utility of Battlegroups, nearly a decade after declaring their full operational capability, has been and will continue to be questioned due to the European inaction. In order to become a global international actor, as proclaimed for many years, the EU will need to consolidate its capacity of military rapid response capabilities to deal with multidimensional crisis and to carry on all the spectrum of the Petersberg Tasks. This article reviews the concept and development of the Battlegroups and proposes a package of reforms in order to become an effective tool for a military rapid response.

Vapor Intrusion Monitoring Method Cost Comparisons: Automated Continuous Analytical Versus Discrete Time-Integrated Passive Approaches

Vapor intrusion characterization efforts are challenging due to complexities associated with indoor background sources, preferential subsurface migration pathways, indoor and shallow subsurface concentration dynamics, and representativeness limitations associated with manual monitoring and characterization methods. For sites experiencing trichloroethylene (TCE) vapor intrusion, the potential for acute risks poses additional challenges, as the need for rapid response to acute toxicity threshold exceedances is critical in order to minimize health risks and associated liabilities. Currently accepted discrete time-integrated vapor intrusion monitoring methods that employ passive diffusion–adsorption and canister samplers often do not result in sufficient temporal or spatial sampling resolution in dynamic settings, have a propensity to yield false negative and false positive results, and are not able to prevent receptors from acute exposure risks, as sample processing times exceed exposure durations of concern. Multiple lines of evidence have been advocated for in an attempt to reduce some of these uncertainties. However, implementation of multiple lines of evidence do not afford rapid response capabilities and typically rely on discrete time-integrated sample collection methods prone to nonrepresentative results due to concentration dynamics. Recent technology innovations have resulted in the deployment of continuous monitoring platforms composed of multiplexed laboratory grade analytical components integrated with quality control features, telemetry, geographical information systems, and interpolation algorithms for automatically generating geospatial time stamped renderings and time-weighted averages through a cloud-based data management platform. Automated alerts and responses can be engaged within 1 minute of a threshold exceedance detection. Superior temporal and spatial resolution also results in optimized remediation design and mitigation system performance confirmation. While continuous monitoring has been acknowledged by the regulatory community as a viable option for providing superior results when addressing spatial and temporal dynamics, until very recently, these approaches have been considered impractical due to cost constraints and instrumentation limitations. Recent instrumentation advancements via automation and multiplexing allow for rapid and continuous assessment and response from multiple locations using a single instrument. These advancements have reduced costs to the point where they are now competitive with discrete time-integrated methods. In order to gain more regulatory and industry support for these viable options, there is an immediate need to perform a realistic cost comparison between currently approved discrete time-integrated methods and newly fielded continuous monitoring platforms. Regulatory support for continuous monitoring platforms will result in more effectively protecting the public, provide property owners with information sufficient to more accurately address potential liabilities, reduce unnecessary remediation costs for situations where risks are minimal, lead to more effective and surgical remediation strategies, and allow practitioners to most effectively evaluate remediation system performance. To address this need, a series of common monitoring scenarios and associated assumptions were derived and cost comparisons performed. Scenarios included variables such as number of monitoring locations, duration, costs to meet quality control requirements, and number of analyses performed within a given monitoring campaign. Results from this effort suggest that for relatively larger sites where five or more locations will be monitored (e.g., large buildings, multistructure industrial complexes, educational facilities, or shallow groundwater plumes with significant spatial footprints under residential neighborhoods), procurement of continuous monitoring services is often less expensive than implementation of discrete time-integrated monitoring services. For instance, for a 1-week monitoring campaign, costs-per-analysis for continuous monitoring ranges from approximately 1 to 3 percent of discrete time-integrated method costs for the scenarios investigated. Over this same one-week duration, for discrete time-integrated options, the number of sample analyses equals the number of data collection points (which ranged from 5 to 30 for this effort). In contrast, the number of analyses per week for the continuous monitoring option equals 672, or four analyses per hour. This investigation also suggests that continuous automated monitoring can be cost-effective for multiple one-week campaigns on a quarterly or semi-annual basis in lieu of discrete time-integrated monitoring options. In addition to cost benefits, automated responses are embedded within the continuous monitoring service and, therefore, provide acute TCE risk-preventative capabilities that are not possible using discrete time-integrated passive sampling methods, as the discrete time-integrated services include analytical efforts that require more time than the exposure duration of concern. ©2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Lessons learned? Ebola, dietary salt reduction and epigenetics.

TIME Persons of the Year 2014 were the Ebola fighters who worked with few resources at considerable personal risk and saved lives. Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, wrote of Ebola in 2014, ‘It is still a matter of quarantine and safe funerary practices: shut you away and bury you nicely. These remain the most effective public health tools we have, but also the bluntest and most brutal. Can it be right to rely on them still?’ A year later, he announced in triumph the news of an effective Ebola vaccine. Developing and mounting a vaccine trial during the worst-ever Ebola outbreak is a staggering achievement itself—and an efficacy of 100% is truly remarkable. More reliable estimates using complete data and per-protocol analyses will be published in due course. A systematic review of risk factors for transmission of Ebola published in this issue found that caring for a case in the community, especially until death, and participation in traditional funeral rites were strongly associated with acquiring disease. These findings provide support for the current Ebola vaccination strategy used in Guinea. There is no shortage of lessons learned from the recent Ebola epidemic—including the need for reforms in rapid response capability, research, leadership and better governance. But the importance of disease mapping appears to have been overlooked in the dialogue on Ebola. In this issue, Tom Koch, medical cartographer, poses this question: ‘How did many of the best minds in infectious disease, epidemiology and disaster medicine miss the early spread of the filovirus from a remote village in Guinea until its presence became regionally epidemic?’ The answer is that people living in remote villages where Ebola was first diagnosed are highly mobile. Quarantine measures— the only effective prevention strategy—were not used in villages and towns linked by patterns of travel to Ebola villages. Early proposals for containing the Ebola epidemic made no mention of mapping, and mathematic models assessing outbreak potential ignored the spatial dimension, assuming ‘that hosts mixed randomly both in the community and hospital’. Mapping of Ebola focused largely on producing incidence maps which were site specific and could not give predictive information on likelihood of spread to other places. Koch makes several proposals, including use of origin-destination maps of travel patterns of exposed and sick people, augmented with vector environmental factors where feasible, to assess the risk of spread and possible quarantine of villages and towns: essential reading for planning responses to the next viral epidemic. Lessons can be learned from a review of the evidence for and against population-wide reductions in dietary salt— sometimes dramatically termed ‘salt wars’. Trinquart and colleagues conducted a ‘meta-knowledge’ analysis—a twostep process: first, examining the patterns of citation in relevant reports; and second, assessing the agreement in primary study selection in systematic reviews. The authors’ aim was to understand how the salt controversy has been sustained (over two decades) and explore how the beliefs or prejudices shape knowledge production. The idea of exploring citation bias is not new. Studies reporting small effects of salt reduction on blood pressure were cited much less often than one that demonstrated effects about 10 times greater (see Figure 1). This review included non-randomized studies, which exaggerated the apparent blood pressure reduction. Over the longer term, this citation bias has weakened (see Figure 2) but it is notable that this review is still being cited, probably because it was published in the British Medical Journal, perhaps taken to suggest higher quality research and being easy to find.

Paper-based all-solid-state flexible micro-supercapacitors with ultra-high rate and rapid frequency response capabilities

Novel micro-supercapacitors with excellent rate capability, response frequency, and cycle stability are designed.

Determining Reliable Networks of Prepositioning Materiel Warehouses for Public-Sector Rapid Response Supplies

Events such as natural disasters or combat operations require a rapid response capability from humanitarian service providers and military organizations. Such organizations can decrease their response times through theprepositioningof materiel in forward warehouses, reducing the time needed to transport items to the site of need. A particular challenge to the development of networks of prepositioning warehouses is that the warehouses themselves may be impacted by the very disruptions that drive demands for prepositioned materials. The objective of this research is to identify a reliable networkposture, which is a set of utilized facility locations and an allocation of materiel to those locations, that can satisfy time-sensitive delivery requirements to potential locations around the globe, ensuring that demands can be satisfied even in the event of loss of access to a subset of storage sites (along with said sites’ materiel), all at minimum total cost. We develop new optimization formulations to account for differing levels of network reliability, all reflecting the time-sensitive environment faced by rapid response operations. We demonstrate an application of this methodology using rapid response material prepositioned by the US Air Force.

Nigeria’s Ebola Outbreak Response: Lessons for Future Epidemic Preparedness

Introduction: An extra-ordinary outbreak of Ebola which started in Guinea in December 2013 rapidly spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone in 2014 affecting at least eight countries, and culminated in the introduction of Ebola into Nigeria in July 2014 by an ill Liberian traveler to Lagos. The outbreak spread in two large densely populated cities of Lagos and Port Harcourt with a combined population of 25 million. This paper describes the key activities of the response, highlights the key achievements and presents the major lessons learned including the implications for future epidemic preparedness. Methods: An Ebola Emergency Operations Centre (EEOC) and incident management system was activated to effectively coordinate the response. Resources were rapidly mobilized. The approach used was a coordinated, and integrated rapid implementation of EVD control measures using multidisciplinary teams. Five response teams were set up to mount an effective and high quality response. Data was collected, analyzed and daily situation reports of the response activities were disseminated to all stakeholders. Results: Overall, a total of 20 cases and 8 deaths were recorded. A total of 892 contacts were listed and completed the daily follow-up for 21 days. A total of 117 alerts and rumors were reported and investigated between August and September, 2014. All alerts and rumors were investigated within 24 hours. 13 confirmed cases were isolated in the Ebola Treatment Center (ETC). 9 were discharged and 5 died. Our response was effective and successful in rapidly controlling the outbreak because of available laboratory capacity and local human resources and infrastructure that were rapidly mobilized with effective results. Strong government leadership and commitment, country ownership of response activities, effective community awareness and engagement, strong coordination of partners and harmonization of resources and the unprecedented support from the private sector, media organizations and professional bodies contributed to the success. Conclusions: The key lessons learned reinforce the importance of country ownership of epidemic preparedness and response activities and building local capacity for the critical improvements that are still needed to strengthen early warning systems and improve rapid response capabilities in preparation for any future outbreaks.

Analysis and measure of novel stereo-garage driven by linear induction motor

Abstract The car access time is a key parameter, especially in a huge stereo-garage, where this one should be decreased as much as possible. This paper proposes a novel stereo-garage. Adopting the linear induction motors (LIMs), the system has a simple structure and rapid response capability. In the stereo-garage, several LIMs are installed below the crossbeam on a lifting platform, and several LIMs are fixed on the top of a moving frame. During the operation of LIMs, the moving frame moves forward and backward to reach the required parking place, whereas the crossbeam moves horizontally in order to take or store the vehicle rapidly. All these LIMs are the same and should be designed at a low frequency. The influences of key structure parameters and dynamic performances are investigated, based on FEM. The predicted results are validated by a prototype. Finally, the designed LIMs are successfully applied in two 8-layer stereo-garages.

Assessment of Production Capacity and Ability of Rapid Response to Changing Customer Expectations

Companies must respond quickly to customer needs and ensure the desired quality and low price in order to remain competitive in a market. It becomes necessary to create new concepts of production systems that meet all requirements imposed by consumers. The increase of reliability of machines and equipment, staff competence and forecasting a size and subject of demand increase the ability to react quickly to changes in the business environment. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to estimate the agility characteristics of a company (size of demand, interarrival time of orders and reliability of machines) and to verify its production capacity and rapid response capabilities. The characteristics are estimated for three variants of the production system: self-operating company, companies operating in cooperation, company buying additional machine.

Plant-derived H7 VLP vaccine elicits protective immune response against H7N9 influenza virus in mice and ferrets

In March 2013, the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the first reported case of human infection with an avian influenza A H7N9 virus. Infection with this virus often caused severe pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome resulting in a case fatality rate >35%. The risk of pandemic highlighted, once again, the need for a more rapid and scalable vaccine response capability. Here, we describe the rapid (19 days) development of a plant-derived VLP vaccine based on the hemagglutinin sequence of influenza H7N9 A/Hangzhou/1/2013. The immunogenicity of the H7 VLP vaccine was assessed in mice and ferrets after one or two intramuscular dose(s) with and without adjuvant (alum or GLA-SE™). In ferrets, we also measured H7-specific cell-mediated immunity. The mice and ferrets were then challenged with H7N9 A/Anhui/1/2013 influenza virus. A single immunization with the adjuvanted vaccine elicited a strong humoral response and protected mice against an otherwise lethal challenge. Two doses of unadjuvanted vaccine significantly increased humoral response and resulted in 100% protection with significant reduction of clinical signs leading to nearly asymptomatic infections. In ferrets, a single immunization with the alum-adjuvanted H7 VLP vaccine induced strong humoral and CMI responses with antigen-specific activation of CD3+ T cells. Compared to animals injected with placebo, ferrets vaccinated with alum-adjuvanted vaccine displayed no weight loss during the challenge. Moreover, the vaccination significantly reduced the viral load in lungs and nasal washes 3 days after the infection. This candidate plant-made H7 vaccine therefore induced protective responses after either one adjuvanted or two unadjuvanted doses. Studies are currently ongoing to better characterize the immune response elicited by the plant-derived VLP vaccines. Regardless, these data are very promising for the rapid production of an immunogenic and protective vaccine against this potentially pandemic virus.

A fuzzy enabled model for aggregative food safety risk assessment in food supply chains

The food industry is under pressure to improve food product safety, implement efficient risk management and rapid response capability, and manage quality ‘from farm to fork’. In this article, a new risk assessment approach is proposed to perform structured analysis of aggregative food safety risk in the food supply chain by using the concepts of fuzzy set theory and analytical hierarchy process. The novelty of this research lies in performing structured risk assessment and establishing an aggregative food safety risk indicator. It provides a single value representing the risk rating which can be effectively employed in incorporating the safety objectives into operations planning. It can function as a part of practical food safety management tool and help managers to understand how the risk changes and transfers in a supply chain. It will therefore improve food safety and quality through integrating the risk control with supply chain management.

The application of silicon nanowire field-effect transistor-based biosensors in molecular diagnosis

Cancer, one of the most life-threatening diseases, causes a heavy burden to both the society and family. Timely and efficient early diagnosis of cancer is critical to enable effective treatment and improving survival rate, which also is currently one of the most challenging problems in clinical medicine. Although modern medical imaging is an important tool for cancer diagnosis, detection of molecular biomarkers (such as DNA, RNA, proteins, and metabolites), released from the cancer cells or the organs, is the preferred approach for detecting and tracking cancer due to their unique association with genomic changes in cancer cells, especially for screening and early diagnosis of cancer. Molecular diagnosis can help doctors not only make a precise diagnosis in diseases’ early stage, but also make a judgment in disease staging, classification, curative effect monitoring and prognosis evaluation. A variety of conventional technologies are developed for biomarker detection, such as radio-immunoassay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), however, they are label-based, multi-step, time-consuming, and required experienced personnel to conduct the experiment. Silicon nanowire field-effect transistors (SiNW-FETs), as new one-dimensional semiconducting nanostructures, exhibit some unique properties, including high surface-to-volume ratios, fast electron transfer, and biocompatibility. SiNW-FET based biosensors have recently been attracted tremendous attention as a promising tool in biomedical and chemical detection because of their ultrasensitivity, specificity, label-free detection, and rapid and real-time response capabilities, which demonstrate a great potential in the application of medical diagnosis, chemical analysis, environmental monitoring, and food industry. Over the past decade, SiNW-FET biosensors are employed in the detections of DNA sequences, microRNAs, proteins, small molecules, cancer biomarkers, cells, and viruses. Here, we present a comprehensive review which introduces the working principle of SiNW-FETs, the fabrication of SiNWs, influence factors of the sensitivity, as well as the applications of SiNW-FET biosensors in cancers’ molecular diagnosis (including nucleic acid detection, biomarkers detection, and studies of molecule-molecule interactions). The future prospects in this area are also discussed, which can provide a guidance for the further applications in early diagnosis. SiNW-FET biosensors, as a promise tool in molecular diagnosis, held great potential applications in large-scale screening and point-of-care testing for early-stage cancer.

Highly sensitive humidity sensors made from composites of HEC filled by carbon nanofillers

Resistive type humidity sensors made from the composite films of HEC (hydroxyethyl cellulose) and MWCNTs (multiwalled carbon nanotubes) were developed. Three kinds of HEC/MWCNT composite films were fabricated, which contained 7.0, 8.0 and 9.0 wt-% MWCNTs. Rapid response capability and high sensitivities of the composite sensors were confirmed. For the convenience of sensor’s calibration, the non-linear resistance change ratios can be linearised by performing natural logarithm operation on them. A new sensitivity factor was defined based on this linear relationship between the logarithm of the resistance change ratio and relative humidity. For comparison, a reference humidity sensor was also made from the composite film of HEC filled by 50.0 wt-% CBs (carbon blacks). Compared with the HEC/MWCNT sensors, the HEC/CB sensor was of much higher sensitivity, but lower repeatability and stability under cyclic humidity changes. Possible sensing mechanisms were discussed in detail.

The Design and Realization of the Household Intelligent Alarm System

Security issue of our activity and residential zone is becoming more and more important. Developing a new home alarm system based on the public telephone network is very important to the protection of life and property safety of residents and improving the rapid response capability of departments, such as public security, fire control, medical treatment. This paper proposes a solution to design and realization the system. The whole system based on microcontroller AT89C51 is divided into hardware system and software system. Hardware system consists of pyroelectric infrared sensor, alarm mainframe, dial circuit, voice circuit, telephone interface circuit, key interface circuit. And software system includes master control modules, alarm processing modules, interrupt processing modules, dial modules, voice modules and keyboard input modules. When Infrared sensor detects alarm signal such as fire, housebreaking and emergency pulses of elder, the microcontroller receives interrupt request from prober and controls telephone interface circuit to finish simulating off-hook. Using DTMF (dual-tone multi-frequency) dial circuit to realize auto dial and voice call to play prerecorded voice messages to inform the host of the house to take measures timely. The system without rewiring is particularly applicable in the decoration and inconvenient for the user. This system has been validated by experiments, and will be a fast and effective practical solution for users.

Parallel Rolling Robot with Hydraulic Driven Expandable Chain

A novel three degrees of freedom(DOF) parallel rolling robot is proposed. The main consideration for proposing the robot aims at acquiring large deformation capability,powerful strength output,rapid response and flexible locomotion. The robot adopts the parallel mechanism as its architecture to guarantee the stiffness of the robot. The large deformation capability is obtained by taking advantage of the planar expandable mechanism as the extension ratio enlarging mechanism. The usage of the hydraulic actuation as the telescopic input increases the locomotion flexibility and the strength output of the robot. The robot rolls by properly planning and controlling the relations between the center of mass(CM) of the robot and the supporting region. The mechanical construction and configuration of the robot is described,the rolling gaits are planned,and the optimal locomotion rule is given. Based on the rule,the kinematic model of the robot is built. The correctness of the kinematic model is verified by the given numerical example. The locomotion feasibility of the two locomotion periods is analysed. A set of experimental system including the hydraulic system and robotic system is built. Four rolling experiments are carried out accordingly. The experimental results demonstrate that the experimental system is reliable and possesses the rapid response capability,and verify that the validity and feasibility of the theoretical analysis and the rolling locomotion.

A Small, Rapid Optical-IR Response Gamma-Ray Burst Space Observatory Concept: The NGRG

After Swift, there is no sure plan to furnish a replacement for the rapidly disseminated, high-precision GRB positions it provides, nor a new type of observatory to probe new GRB parameter space. We propose a new GRB mission concept, the Next Generation Rapid Optical–NIR (near infrared) Response GRB Observatory (NGRG) concept, and demonstrate, through analysis of Swift BAT data, studies of new GRB samples, and extinction predictions, that a relatively modest size observatory will produce valuable new measurements and good GRB detection rates. As with Swift, GRBs are initially located with a coded-mask X-ray camera. However, the NGRG has two distinguishing features: first, a beam-steering system to begin optical observations within ∼1 s after location; second, in addition to the optical camera, a separate near-IR (NIR) camera viewing the same field, greatly increasing sensitivity to extinguished bursts. These features yield the unique capability of exploring the rise phase of GRB optical-NIR emission. Thus far, among GRBs with optical afterglow detections, a peak is measured in only ∼26–40% of the light curves. The rise time for prompt, or pre-afterglow, optical emission is rarely measured, as is the transition to afterglow emission. Prompt or pre-afterglow NIR emission is even less frequently measured. Rapid-response measurements give new tools for exploration of many science topics, including optical emission mechanisms (synchrotron vs. SSC, photospheric emission) and jet characteristics (reverse vs. forward shock emission, baryon-dominated vs. magnetic dominated). The rapid-response capability also allows measurement of dynamic evolution of extinction due to vaporization of progenitor system dust. This dynamic dust measurement is the only tool we know of to separate the effects of star-system-scale dust and galactic-structure-scale dust; it is remarkable that this probe of small-scale phenomena can be used at the high redshifts where GRBs are observed. In this paper, we discuss techniques and the feasibility of these measurements, and give detection rate estimates using only measured Swift performance (without extrapolations). The NGRG will explore two new frontiers: optical and NIR GRB emission measured earlier than ever before, via rapid-response, and potentially fainter, more extinguished GRBs than ever before, via sensitive, early NIR measurements. In an era with little funding for new extragalactic science space missions, costs are important. Our modest NGRG concept will produce new GRB science, while providing crucial access to rapid GRB alerts for the community. An X-ray instrument barely 1/5 the detecting area of Swift BAT, 1024 cm2, will yield a significant fraction of BAT’s GRB detection rate: more than 65 X-ray detections per year. With a 30 cm optical-IR telescope and modern cameras, more than 19 NIR and 14 optical band detections would be produced each year for community follow-up. In addition, active control of the beam-steering system, via feedback from a fast-read optical camera, would remove the need for arcsec pointing stabilization of the spacecraft platform, for a substantial cost saving and a wider range of potential space platforms.

Advanced phase change composite by thermally annealed defect-free graphene for thermal energy storage.

Organic phase change materials (PCMs) have been utilized as latent heat energy storage and release media for effective thermal management. A major challenge exists for organic PCMs in which their low thermal conductivity leads to a slow transient temperature response and reduced heat transfer efficiency. In this work, 2D thermally annealed defect-free graphene sheets (GSs) can be obtained upon high temperature annealing in removing defects and oxygen functional groups. As a result of greatly reduced phonon scattering centers for thermal transport, the incorporation of ultralight weight and defect free graphene applied as nanoscale additives into a phase change composite (PCC) drastically improve thermal conductivity and meanwhile minimize the reduction of heat of fusion. A high thermal conductivity of the defect-free graphene-PCC can be achieved up to 3.55 W/(m K) at a 10 wt % graphene loading. This represents an enhancement of over 600% as compared to pristine graphene-PCC without annealing at a comparable loading, and a 16-fold enhancement than the pure PCM (1-octadecanol). The defect-free graphene-PCC displays rapid temperature response and superior heat transfer capability as compared to the pristine graphene-PCC or pure PCM, enabling transformational thermal energy storage and management.