Solid-Liquid Interdiffusion (SLID) Bonding of p-Type Skutterudite Thermoelectric Material Using Al-Ni Interlayers.

Over the past few years, significant progress towards implementation of environmentally sustainable and cost-effective thermoelectric power generation has been made. However, the reliability and high-temperature stability challenges of incorporating thermoelectric materials into modules still represent a key bottleneck. Here, we demonstrate an implementation of the Solid-Liquid Interdiffusion technique used for bonding (Fe,Co)₄Sb p-type thermoelectric material to metallic interconnect using a novel aluminium⁻nickel multi-layered system.

ZT Optimization: An Application Focus.

Significant research has been performed on the challenge of improving thermoelectric materials, with maximum peak figure of merit, ZT, the most common target. We use an approximate thermoelectric material model, matched to real materials, to demonstrate that when an application is known, average ZT is a significantly better optimization target. We quantify this difference with some examples, with one scenario showing that changing the doping to increase peak ZT by 19% can lead to a performance drop of 16%.

Experimental observations of dry powder inhaler dose fluidisation.

Dry powder inhalers (DPIs) are widely used to deliver respiratory medication as a fine powder. This study investigates the physical mechanism of DPI operation, assessing the effects of geometry, inhalation and powder type on dose fluidisation. Patient inhalation through an idealised DPI was simulated as a linearly increasing pressure drop across three powder dose reservoir geometries permitting an analysis of shear and normal forces on dose evacuation.

Growth and tolerance studies of a new infant formula.

A new routine infant formula has been developed and clinically tested. The clinical study reported here involved 337 normal newborns cared for by six private pediatric group practices. Infants were examined regularly by the investigators until six months of age.

Effect of diets high in carbohydrate, soy oil, medium-chain triglycerides or tripelargonin on blood and liver lipid and glucose intermediates in meal-eating rats.

Medium-chain odd carbon fats have been reported to be ketogenic as have medium-chain triglycerides (MCT). Such an odd carbon fat, tripelargonin, was compared to MCT for its effect on ketogenic and glucogenic intermediates when fed as a part of a complete diet to meal-eating rats. Isonitrogenous diets containing, as 68% of the calories, soy oil (SO), MCT, tripelargonin (C9TG) were fed 2 hours twice a day.