An improved MPPT scheme employing adaptive integral derivative sliding mode control for photovoltaic systems under fast irradiation changes.

Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) is necessary to achieve an optimal exploitation of photovoltaic (PV) system. This paper presents a novel voltage-oriented MPPT (VO-MPPT) method, where the conventional perturb and observe (P&O) algorithm is combined with the proposed external voltage control based on an adaptive integral derivative sliding mode (AIDSM). It is designed with new sliding surface, in addition, the derivative and integral terms are chosen to eliminate the overshoot during fast changes in solar irradiation and to minimize the steady-state fluctuation.

Quantifying Release from Lipid Nanocarriers by Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy.

Understanding the release of drugs and contrast agents from nanocarriers is fundamental in the development of new effective nanomedicines. However, the commonly used method based on dialysis frequently fails to quantify the release of molecules poorly soluble in water, and it is not well-suited for in situ measurements in biological media. Here, we have developed a new methodology for quantifying the release of fluorescent molecules from lipid nanocarriers (LNCs) using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS).

Neutron tomography simulation by MAVRIC/Monaco code.

In this study, MAVRIC/Monaco module integrated with SCALE6.1 package is used to elucidate experimental neutron transmission for various neutron-absorbing materials. Neutron beam hardening and its effect on shielding calculation and tomographic image reconstruction accuracy are presented.

Structural, electronic, magnetic, half-metallic, mechanical, and thermodynamic properties of the quaternary Heusler compound FeCrRuSi: A first-principles study.

In this paper, we have investigated the structural, electronic, magnetic, half-metallic, mechanical, and thermodynamic properties of the equiatomic quaternary Heusler (EQH) compound FeCrRuSi using the density functional theory (DFT) and the quasi-harmonic Debye model. Our results reveal that FeCrRuSi is a half-metallic material (HMM) with a total magnetic moment of 2.0 μ in agreement with the well-known Slater-Pauling rule M = Z - 24.

Rare earth-based quaternary Heusler compounds CoV ( = Lu, Y; = Si, Ge) with tunable band characteristics for potential spintronic applications.

Magnetic Heusler compounds (MHCs) have recently attracted great attention since these types of material provide novel functionalities in spintronic and magneto-electronic devices. Among the MHCs, some compounds have been predicted to be spin-filter semiconductors [also called magnetic semiconductors (MSs)], spin-gapless semiconductors (SGSs) or half-metals (HMs). In this work, by means of first-principles calculations, it is demonstrated that rare earth-based equiatomic quaternary Heusler (EQH) compounds with the formula CoV ( = Lu, Y; = Si, Ge) are new spin-filter semiconductors with total magnetic moments of 3 µ.

Light-triggered release from dye-loaded fluorescent lipid nanocarriers in vitro and in vivo.

Light is an attractive trigger for release of active molecules from nanocarriers in biological systems. Here, we describe a phenomenon of light-induced release of a fluorescent dye from lipid nano-droplets under visible light conditions. Using auto-emulsification process we prepared nanoemulsion droplets of 32nm size encapsulating the hydrophobic analogue of Nile Red, NR668.

Integrity of lipid nanocarriers in bloodstream and tumor quantified by near-infrared ratiometric FRET imaging in living mice.

Lipid nanocarriers are considered as promising candidates for drug delivery and cancer targeting because of their low toxicity, biodegradability and capacity to encapsulate drugs and/or contrasting agents. However, their biomedical applications are currently limited because of a poor understanding of their integrity in vivo. To address this problem, we report on fluorescent nano-emulsion droplets of 100nm size encapsulating lipophilic near-infrared cyanine 5.

Growth, physiology and yield of durum wheat (Triticum durum) treated with sewage sludge under water stress conditions.

In arid and semi-arid areas, low soil fertility and water deficit considerably limit crop production. The use of sewage sludge as an organic amendment could contribute to the improvement of soil fertility and hence the agronomic production. The study aims to highlight the behaviour of durum wheat to the application of sewage sludge associated with water stress.

1,1'-{(Hexane-1,6-di-yl)bis-[(aza-niumylyl-idene)methanylyl-idene]}bis-(naphthalen-2-olate).

The whole molecule of the title Schiff base compound, C28H28N2O2, is generated by inversion symmetry. It is formed from two units of ortho-hy-droxy-naphthaldehyde bridged with 1,6-di-amino-hexane. The N atoms are protonated and, thus, the structure is a bis-zwitterionic compound in the solid state.

Unity power factor converter based on a fuzzy controller and predictive input current.

This paper proposes analysis and control of a single-phase power factor corrector (PFC). The proposed control is capable of achieving a unity power factor for each DC link voltage or load fluctuation. The method under study is composed of two intelligent approaches, a fuzzy logic controller to ensure an output voltage at a suitable value and predictive current control.

Modeling and multi-criteria optimization of an industrial process for continuous lactic acid production.

The key feature of this paper is the optimization of an industrial process for continuous production of lactic acid. For this, a two-stage fermentor process integrated with cell recycling has been mathematically modeled and optimized for overall productivity, conversion, and yield simultaneously. Non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) was applied to solve the constrained multi-objective optimization problem as it is capable of finding multiple Pareto-optimal solutions in a single run, thereby avoiding the need to use a single-objective optimization several times.