Felipe Mercês Biglia¹, Raquel da Cunha Ribeiro da Silva², Fátima de Moraes Lino³, Kamal Abdel Radi Ismail³, Thiago Antonini Alves^4,*

Energy Engineering, Vol.119, No.5, pp. 1771-1788, 2022, DOI:10.32604/ee.2022.019625

Abstract The frost growth on cold surfaces in evaporators is an undesirable phenomenon which becomes a problem for the thermal efficiency of the refrigeration systems because the ice layer acts as a thermal insulation, drastically reducing the rate of heat transfer in the system. Its accumulation implies an increase in energy demand and a decrease in the performance of various components involved in the refrigeration process, reducing its efficiency and making it necessary to periodically remove the frost, resulting in expenses for the defrost process. In the present work, a numerical-experimental analysis was performed in order to understand the formation process… More >

Xin Han^1,4, Zhichao Lou^1,3,4,*, Chenglong Yuan^1,4, Xinwu Wu^1,4, Jie Liu^1,4, Fujin Weng², Yanjun Li^1,4,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.12, pp. 3313-3334, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2022.021066

Abstract With the aim of utilizing reconstituted bamboo as a carbon cycle-oriented material, the improvement of physical and mechanical properties has been actively studied to solve using problems. The saturated steam heat treatment process has been widely used in worldwide. With the development and exploration of this technology, two-step saturated steam heat treatment process appears in some practical production, that is, after a period of saturated steam heat treatment at a lower temperature, the bamboo bundles are taken out and seasoned for a period of time, and then put back into the heat tank again, and heated at a higher temperature… More >

Jia Qin^1,2,3,4,5, Lin An^1,2,3,4,5,*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.19, No.3, pp. 151-157, 2022, DOI:10.32604/mcb.2022.018578

Abstract Myopia is a common ophthalmic deficiency. The structure and function of choroid layer is assumed to be associated with myopia. In this study, a laboratory developed spectral domain optical coherence tomography scanning system is used to image human eyes. The axial resolution of the system is about 7 μm, and the acquisition rate is 100 kHz. Firstly, a cross-sectional image was acquired by averaging 100 images from imaging posterior segment of each eye. The choroid thickness was measured by 11 discrete points. The average thickness of normal human eyes was (0.296 ± 0.126) mm, whereas the average choroid thickness of… More >

Song Yuan¹, Peng Zhao^2,*, Liangpu Li^1,*, Xibao Wang¹, Jun Liu³, Bo Zhang⁴

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.130, No.3, pp. 1683-1698, 2022, DOI:10.32604/cmes.2022.018507

Abstract The prevention and the reduction of the rockfall are the common measures of the prevention and the reduction of disasters. When the rock-shed resists the impact of the rockfall, the force that acts on the structure consists of the cushion dead load and the impact-induced load, of which the dynamic process of the propagation of the impact-induced load is complex. Therefore, we conducted a numerical study to investigate the impact of the rockfall. Considering the highly discrete characteristic of the sand, we developed a numerical model on the basis of the discrete element method (DEM). The numerical model, which simulation… More >

Jiayi Zhang¹, Guohua Fu², Zhiyang Jin³, Lihang Chi¹, Guocheng Xu¹, Daran Yue^1,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.91, No.4, pp. 841-857, 2022, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2022.017938

Abstract Organic mulch can improve the moisture, chemical composition, dust, and dust suppression of soil, and beautify the environment. In view of the rapid evaporation rate and serious loss of soil water in tropical areas, this paper explored the effect of organic mulch materials with different thickness on the increase of soil water retention rate and the improvement of soil water loss caused by evaporation. Rubberwood sawdust (RWS), rubberwood bark (RWB), coconut fiber (CF), and Mulch (MC) were selected as the mulching materials. Field experiment and laboratory experiment were performed, and soil-moisture content and temperature were continuously monitored. However, from the… More >

Jian Gong¹, Lingzhi Xie^1,2,*, Yongxue Li¹, Zhichun Ni³, Qingzhu Wei³, Yupeng Wu⁴, Haonan Cheng⁵

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.1, pp. 33-51, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.016262

Abstract Based on the recent development of renewable energy utilization technology, in addition to centralized photovoltaic power plants, distributed photovoltaic power generation systems represented by building-integrated photovoltaic systems are frequently employed for power supply. Therefore, in the architectural design, the double-glass photovoltaic module used in the integrated photovoltaic building system puts forward a higher load-bearing capacity requirement and the corresponding simplified method of carrying capacity check. This article focuses on the simplified method of checking the bearing capacity of the four-sided simply supported double-glass photovoltaic module. First, the principle of equivalent stiffness is used to calculate the effective thickness. Then, the… More > Graphic Abstract

Pengcheng Liu, Ping Xiang, Qishi Zhou^*, Hai Zhang, Jiefu Tian, Misganu Demis Argaw

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.9, No.12, pp. 2223-2239, 2021, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.015544

Abstract Bamboo is a renewable natural building material with good mechanical properties. However, due to the heterogeneity and anisotropy of bamboo stalk, a large amount of material performance testing costs are required in engineering applications. In this work, longitudinal compression, bending, longitudinal shear, longitudinal tensile, transverse compression and transverse tensile tests of bamboo materials are conducted, considering the influence of the bamboo nodes. The mechanical properties of the whole bamboo stalk with the wall thickness and outer circumference are explored. Through univariate and multiple regression analysis, the relationship between mechanical properties and wall thickness and perimeter is fitted, and the conversion… More > Graphic Abstract

Nan Li¹, Ruiyang Xu¹, Caihong Zhang^1,*, Guoping Wu²

Energy Engineering, Vol.118, No.4, pp. 1185-1195, 2021, DOI:10.32604/EE.2021.014741

Abstract An improved radiation transmission and thermal efficiency model for solar ponds has been proposed based on both the Hull Model and Wang/Seyed-Yagoobi Model in this paper. The new model is more accurate to actual measured conditions because multiple reflections and turbidity effects are included. Absorption penetration, thermal conductivity loss and thermal efficiency under different Non-Convective Zone thicknesses are numerically analyzed and thoroughly discussed. The results show that ΔT/I0 plays a critical role for the thermal efficiency of solar pond. Furthermore, it is found through calculation that there is an optimum thickness of the Non-Convective Zone. When the Non-Convective Zone thickness… More >

Shihao Fan, Mingliang Chang^*, Shouxi Wang, Qing Quan, Yong Wang, Dan Li

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.124, No.1, pp. 45-59, 2020, DOI:10.32604/cmes.2020.08973

Abstract It is important to determine the insulation thickness in the design of the buried hot oil pipelines. The economic thickness of the insulation layer not only meets the needs of the project but also maximizes the investment and environmental benefits. However, as a significant evaluation, the environmental factors haven’t been considered in the previous study. Considering this factor, the mathematical model of economic insulation thickness of the buried hot oil pipelines is built in this paper, which is solved by the golden section method while considering the costs of investment, operation, environment, the time value of money. The environmental cost… More >

Natasa Karadzov Orlic¹, Amira Egic¹, Barbara Damnjanovic‐Pazin MD2 | Relja Lukic¹, Ivana Joksic³, Zeljko Mikovic¹

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.14, No.6, pp. 1094-1101, 2019, DOI:10.1111/chd.12852

Abstract Objective: The objective of this study was to analyze if the addition of simple cardiac scan in cases with increased nuchal translucency (NT) and/or abnormal ductus venosus (DV) blood flow, and/or tricuspid regurgitation (TCR) can improve detection of congenital heart defects (CHD) in chromosomally normal fetuses without non‐ cardiac defects at 11‐13 + 6 gestational weeks in a population of singleton pregnancies.
Methods: During the 10 years period, all singleton pregnancies at 11‐13 + 6 weeks were routinely scanned for NT, DV blood flow and TCR assessment and, if a sin‐ gle of these parameters was abnormal, simple cardiac scan… More >