Spectroscopic properties and upconversion mechanisms in Er3+-doped fluoroindate glasses

Fluorindate glasses containing 1,2,3,4 ErF3 mol % were prepared in a dry box under argon atmosphere. Absorption, Stokes luminescence (under visible and infrared excitation), the dependence of 4S3/2, 4I11/2, and 4I13/2 lifetimes with Er concentration, and upconversion under Ti-saphire laser excitation at λ=790 nm were measured, mostly at T=77 and 300 K. The upconversion results in a strong green emission and weaker blue and red emissions whose intensity obeys a power-law behavior I∼Pn, where P is the infrared excitation power and n=1.6, 2.1, and 2.9 for the red, green, and blue emissions, respectively. The red emission exponent n=1.5 can be explained by a cross relaxation process. The green and blue emissions are due to excited state absorption (ESA) and energy transfer (ET) processes that predict a factor n=2 and n=3 for the green and blue emissions, respectively. From transient measurements we concluded that for lightly doped samples the green upconverted emission is originated due to both processes ESA and ET. However, for heavily doped samples ET is the dominant process.

Assessment of Anaerobic Power of Swimmers: The Correlation of Laboratory Tests on an Arm Ergometer with Field Tests in a Swimming Pool

The aim of this study was to verify the correlation between the Wingate arm crank test outputs (peak power, mean power, and fatigue index), obtained on a specific ergometer, and the performance in crawl stroke swim sprints of 14, 25, 50, and 400 m. The experiment was conducted with 9 healthy male volunteers (18.1 ± 2.2 years of age; 172 ± 0.04 cm; 67.7 ± 5.92 kg and 15.7 ± 4.57% body fat). On determined days, all individuals were submitted to the Wingate arm crank test and crawl freestyle sprints of 14, 25, 50, and 400 m as they were timed with a stopwatch. The peak power, the mean power, and the fatigue index, which were obtained during the Wingate arm crank test, were not significantly correlated with the maximum swim velocities during the crawl freestyle tests of 14 (r = 0.40; r = 0.64; r = 0.11), 25 (r = 0.28; r = 0.39; r = -0.17), 50 (r = 0.03; r = 0.09; r = -0.31), and 400 (r = -0.52; r = -0.37; r = -0.65) m, respectively. Thus, it is possible to conclude that the Wingate arm crank test is not suitable to assess the anaerobic power of swimmers under the described experimental conditions.

Stability analysis of power system including facts (TCSC) effects by direct method approach

The problem of power system stability including the effects of a flexible alternating current transmission system (FACTS) is approached. First, the controlled series compensation is considered in the machine against infinite bar system and its effects are taken into account by means of construction of a Lyapunov function (LF). This simple system is helpful in order to understand the form the device affects dynamic and transient performance of the power system. After, the multimachine case is considered and it is shown that the single-machine results apply to multimachine systems. An energy-form Lyapunov function is derived for the power system including the FACTS device and it is used to analyse damping and synchronizing effects due to the FACTS device in single-machine as well as in multimachine power systems. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The American empire in the new century: Hegemony or domination?

This chapter analyzes the current position of United States supremacy, in light of the debate on hegemony and domination that acquires greater relevance after the formulation of the 'Bush Doctrine', which is systematized in the document 'The National Security Strategy of the United States of America'. Our approach will emphasize the following aspects: establishment of a parallel between the transition from the 19th to the 20th centuries, from studies that point out the characteristics of imperialism at different times; an analysis of the current foreign policies of the United States, focusing on the debate between unilateralism and multilateralism, emphasizing the reactions caused by the intervention in Iraq; a critical argument about the approaches that highlight in the security agenda of the Bush administration an indicator of a loss of hegemony, which would impose open domination over the search for consensus. Copyright © 2005 SAGE Publications.

Virtual instrumentation applied to the implementation of IEEE STD 1459-2000 power definitions

This paper discusses the utilization of Virtual Instrumentation to the implementation and evaluation of different power definitions, so that classical formulations and new definitions can be compared without the necessity of acquiring different power meters or analyzers. Accordingly, the definitions of IEEE Standard 1459-2000 for the measurement of power quantities under distorted and unbalanced situations, have been digitally implemented. Thus, several power and power factor components related to the decomposition of the measured voltage and current signals have been obtained. The proposed PC-based Virtual Instrument uses a high performance acquisition board and isolated sensors and transducers. All digital algorithms and routines have been implemented by means of a graphical development system. Regarding to the implementation of STD 1459, this paper also proposes several different algorithms to the required decompositions of voltage, current and power components. © 2005 IEEE.

Optical properties and energy-transfer frequency upconversion of Yb 3+-sensitized Ho3+- And Tb3+-doped lead-cadmium-germanate glass and glass ceramic

In this report we investigate the optical properties and energy-transfer upconversion luminescence of Ho3+- and Tb3+/Yb 3+-codoped PbGeO3-PbF2-CdF2 glass-ceramic under infrared excitation. In Ho3+/Yb 3+-codoped sample, green(545 nm), red(652 nm), and near-infrared(754 nm) upconversion luminescence corresponding to the 4S 2(5F4) → 5I8, 5F5 → 5I8, and 4S2(5F4) → 5I 7, respectively, was readly observed. Blue(490 nm) signals assigned to the 5F2,3 → 5I8 transition was also detected. In the Tb3+/Yb3+ system, bright UV-visible emission around 384, 415, 438, 473-490, 545, 587, and 623 nm, identified as due to the 5D3(5G6) → 7FJ(J=6,5,4) and 5D4→ 7FJ(J=6,5,4,3) transitions, was measured. The comparison of the upconversion process in glass ceramic and its glassy precursor revealed that the former samples present much higher upconversion efficiencies. The dependence of the upconversion emission upon pump power, and doping contents was also examined. The results indicate that successive energy-transfer between ytterbium and holmium ions and cooperative energy-transfer between ytterbium and terbium ions followed by excited-state absorption are the dominant upconversion excitation mechanisms herein involved. The viability of using the samples for three-dimensional solid-state color displays is also discussed.

Nanocrystalline GaN and GaN:H films grown by RF-magnetron sputtering

The structural and optical properties of nanocrystalline GaN and GaN:H films grown by RF-tnagnetron sputtering are focused here. The films were grown using a Ga target and a variety of deposition parameters (N 2/H 2/Arflow rates, RF power, and substrate temperatures). Si (100) and fused silica substrates were used at relatively low temperatures (T s ≤ 420K). The main effects resulting from the deposition parameters variations on the films properties were related to the presence of hydrogen in the plasma. The X-ray diffraction analysis indicates that the grain sizes (∼15nm) and the crystallized volume fraction significantly decrease when hydrogen is present in the plasma. The optical absorption experiments indicate that the hydrogenated films have absorption edges very similar to that of GaN single crystal films reported in the literature, while the non-hydrogenated samples present larger absorption tails encroaching into the gap energies.

Subjective, cardiovascular and EMG spectral recovery after lumbar extension exhaustion test

The purpose of this randomized study was to evaluate EMG spectral, subjective and cardiovascular recovery parameters after isometric lumbar extension contractions. Ten healthy women performed isometric lumbar extensions until exhaustion with 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% of maximal voluntary isometric contraction on 4 different days (random order). One baseline five second contraction was performed before the fatiguing task which was followed by eight submaximal five second extension contractions (until 20 minutes after the end of the fatiguing task) at the same intensity as the trial to evaluate muscle recovery. EMG (Median Frequency, Peak Power, Peak Power Frequency, Total Power and Zero-crossing Rate) and cardiovascular variables did not demonstrate any statistical difference between the 5-second contractions (p > 0.05) performed before and after the fatiguing task, showing a quick EMG recovery. However, the data analysis showed that the perceived effort variable had not recovered even 10 minutes after the fatigue contraction (p < 0.05). Our results represent a data basis for future comparisons and since subjective felling can affect performance, this study shows the importance of its analysis, since the subjective effort rate was not fully recovered after 10 minutes the end of the exhaustion contraction. © 2008 IOS Press. All rights reserved.

Multiarea optimal power flow using multiobjective evolutionary algorithm

In this work the multiarea optimal power flow (OPF) problem is decoupled into areas creating a set of regional OPF subproblems. The objective is to solve the optimal dispatch of active and reactive power for a determined area, without interfering in the neighboring areas. The regional OPF subproblems are modeled as a large-scale nonlinear constrained optimization problem, with both continuous and discrete variables. Constraints violated are handled as objective functions of the problem. In this way the original problem is converted to a multiobjective optimization problem, and a specifically-designed multiobjective evolutionary algorithm is proposed for solving the regional OPF subproblems. The proposed approach has been examined and tested on the RTS-96 and IEEE 354-bus test systems. Good quality suboptimal solutions were obtained, proving the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed approach. ©2009 IEEE.

Trade, poverty and complementary policies in Latin America

Includes bibliography

Integrating open source codes for solid modeling and automatic mesh generation in FEM applications

The applications of the Finite Element Method (FEM) for three-dimensional domains are already well documented in the framework of Computational Electromagnetics. However, despite the power and reliability of this technique for solving partial differential equations, there are only a few examples of open source codes available and dedicated to the solid modeling and automatic constrained tetrahedralization, which are the most time consuming steps in a typical three-dimensional FEM simulation. Besides, these open source codes are usually developed separately by distinct software teams, and even under conflicting specifications. In this paper, we describe an experiment of open source code integration for solid modeling and automatic mesh generation. The integration strategy and techniques are discussed, and examples and performance results are given, specially for complicated and irregular volumes which are not simply connected. © 2011 IEEE.

Renewable energy and energy efficiency in Latin America and the Caribbean: constraints and prospects

Includes bibliography

Short-term planning of electric power distribution networks using multiobjective genetic algorithim

The high active and reactive power level demanded by the distribution systems, the growth of consuming centers, and the long lines of the distribution systems result in voltage variations in the busses compromising the quality of energy supplied. To ensure the energy quality supplied in the distribution system short-term planning, some devices and actions are used to implement an effective control of voltage, reactive power, and power factor of the network. Among these devices and actions are the voltage regulators (VRs) and capacitor banks (CBs), as well as exchanging the conductors sizes of distribution lines. This paper presents a methodology based on the Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II) for optimized allocation of VRs, CBs, and exchange of conductors in radial distribution systems. The Multiobjective Genetic Algorithm (MGA) is aided by an inference process developed using fuzzy logic, which applies specialized knowledge to achieve the reduction of the search space for the allocation of CBs and VRs.

Simulation environment of distance protection with ATP and foreign models

This paper presents an interactive simulation environment for distance protection, developed with ATP and foreign models based on ANSI C. Files in COMTRADE format are possible to generate after ATP simulation. These files can be used to calibrate real relays. Also, the performance of relay algorithms with real oscillography events is possible to assess by using the ATP option for POSTPROCESS PLOT FILE (PPF). The main purpose of the work is to develop a tool to allow the analysis of diverse fault cases and to perform coordination studies, as well as, to allow the analysis of the relay's performance in the face of a real event. © 2011 IEEE.

Optimal reactive power dispatch using stochastic chance-constrained programming

Deterministic Optimal Reactive Power Dispatch problem has been extensively studied, such that the demand power and the availability of shunt reactive power compensators are known and fixed. Give this background, a two-stage stochastic optimization model is first formulated under the presumption that the load demand can be modeled as specified random parameters. A second stochastic chance-constrained model is presented considering uncertainty on the demand and the equivalent availability of shunt reactive power compensators. Simulations on six-bus and 30-bus test systems are used to illustrate the validity and essential features of the proposed models. This simulations shows that the proposed models can prevent to the power system operator about of the deficit of reactive power in the power system and suggest that shunt reactive sourses must be dispatched against the unavailability of any reactive source. © 2012 IEEE.