Personas con discapacidad motora presentan inconvenientes en el desarrollo de actividades tales como caminar, correr, comer. Además, en su mayoría, la visión y el intelecto no se ven afectados. Estas deficiencias no le permiten al manipular dispositivos tecnológicos que podrían ayudarlo a mejorar su calidad de vida como los smartphones. Presentamos una solución que permite superar esta limitación apoyada en la tecnología Brain Computer Interface). / Revisión por pares

No description available.

The performance of a phosphoric acid fuel cell reactor, (PAFC), with n-hexadecane, C16H34, canola biodiesel, soybean biodiesel and petroleum diesel fuel has been investigated. Fifteen-hour steady-state operation was achieved with each of the diesel fuels. This is the first extensive study reported in the literature in which n-hexadecane is used directly as the fuel. It is also the first study of a fuel cell operated with petroleum diesel fuel. Identification of steady-state conditions (temperature = 190oC, molar ratio of fuel to water = 414) is significant because it demonstrates that stable fuel cell operation is technically feasible when operating a PAFC with diesel fuels. Degradation in fuel cell performance was observed prior to reaching steady-state. The degradation was attributed to a carbonaceous material forming on the surface of the anode. After treating the anode with water the fuel cell performance recovered. However, the fuel cell performance degraded again prior to obtaining another steady-state operation. Several consistent observations suggested that the carbonaceous material formed from the diesel fuels might be a reaction intermediate necessary for steady-state operation. Finally, the experiments indicated that water in the phosphoric acid electrolyte could be used as the water required for the anodic reaction. The water formed at the cathode could provide the replacement water for the electrolyte, thereby eliminating the need to provide a water feed system for the fuel cell.

Calculations of fluvial flows are strongly influenced by geometry complexity and large overall uncertainty on every single measurable property, such as velocity and shear. Moreover, a considerable portion of the data obtained from computational simulations arose from two-dimensional, steady-state models. The present work states a different approach to perform computer-based simulations and analyze fluvial flows. For the first part, the suitability of OpenFOAM to be used as the main CFD solver to analyze fluvial flows is studied. Initially, two well documented channel configurations are computationally studied using OpenFOAM. Finally, these results are compared to the output obtained from one of the widely used quasi-3D CFD solvers used to perform studies about environmental hydraulics.

<p> The optical properties of high temperature superconductors have long been of interest to condensed matter physicists. The majority of the research has concentrated on the steady-state properties of cuprates. Optical excitation of cuprate superconductors provides the valuable opportunity to study the dynamics of the superconducting state via the evolution of the superconducting condensate and excited quasiparticles. Terahertz (THz) spectroscopy is particularly attractive for the study of thin film cuprates, as the energies available in broad spectrum THz pulses lie below the maximum superconducting gap values. Optical pump THz probe spectroscopy utilizes a high energy infrared pulse to destroy the condensate and excite quasiparticles states out of equilibrium. The THz probe is capable of spectrally resolving the sample's temporal response to the optical perturbation. The direct measurement of both the amplitude and phase of the electric fields associated with the transmitted THz radiation allow for the calculation of both the real and imaginary parts of the conductivity. This offers the tantalizing potential of untangling the condensate's recovery from quasi-particle dynamics.</p> <p> The focus of this thesis will be upon the long timescale dynamics of YBa2Cu3O7-δ (YBCO) thin films. It has generally been believed that the condensate is fully recovered after a few picoseconds, and that the recovery of these films at longer timescales is essentially a thermal process although perhaps slowed by a phonon bottleneck. However, we will show spectral evidence that this picture cannot fully explain long lived dynamics in YBCO thin films. Specifically we see a suppression of the low frequency components of the optical conductivity. This anomaly is consistent with the formation of spatial inhomogeneity in the superconducting fraction, which likely arises from a non-uniform formation of the condensate across the film. The role of local inhomogeneity in the condensate and its effect on the conductivity of the thin film will be discussed. Evidence of intrinsic inhomogeneities in YBCO films may prove useful to the theoretical understanding of condensate dynamics in the cuprates. The spectral response of three doping levels, from optimally doped to underdoped YBCO, will also be shown, with a brief discussion of the normal state dynamics in underdoped films and the possible sensitivity of THz radiation to pseudogap dynamics.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p> Optical fibers are becoming so good that their optical and mechanical properties are fast approaching fundamental limits. It has also become evident that there is a requirement for establishing accurate and precise measurement techniques of these properties. The optical loss is the most important parameter characterizing fiber. This project reviews the subject of loss (or attenuation), its measurement and some of its subtleties. </p> <p> Presently at BNR there are two attenuation measurements made: (1) one is the LED steady-state attenuation at λ≅840 nm, which makes use of a "pigtail" launching fiber and (2) the second is the spectral attenuation from 600-1400 nm. Both measurement techniques were developed by the author and Dr. K. Abe during the summer work term and made considerable improvements in both accuracy and speed over previously established methods. Some of the subtleties of attenuation which were also studied during this period were the effects of different launch conditions, and environmental effects such as those caused by temperature and ice. The extensive temperature tests done on the fiber led to the change from "hytrel" and nylon as coating materials to the use of silicone (which is still in use at BNR).</p> <p> Throughout the paper, results of the measurements have been given for several types of fibers because some of them have very unique characteristics and applications. </p> <p> All of the data displayed for this project was gathered by the author unless otherwise noted.</p> / Thesis / Master of Engineering (MEngr)

No description available.

Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) have been instrumental in building a reliable and robust Power System. Recent blackouts have increased the importance of PMUs and PMUs from various manufacturers are being installed in the in large quantities in the North American Grid. The interoperability and accuracy of these PMUs is important to obtain full benefit of the wide area monitoring systems. With the large number of installed PMUs it has become necessary to validate their performance and understand the limitations of each model. A test system was built by NIST in cooperation with NASPI to test for compliance to the existing IEEE C37.118 standard. This thesis presents the development of a Steady State Test System at Virginia Tech based on the NIST Steady State Testing system. The various issues that were faced during the process of development are discussed and the methodology implemented for solving these problems is described. This thesis also presents the additional benefits derived from the results obtained when different PMUs were tested using the Virginia Tech PMU Steady State Test System. / Master of Science

For the pharmaceutical industry, the manufacture of high value pharmaceuticals from natural products, chemical synthetic routes or fermentation processes all require intensive downstream processing steps to produce a pure final product. A small footprint liquid-liquid processing method would help to reduce the capital cost and process development time of this downstream processing. In this thesis, it is hypothesised that continuous liquid-liquid extraction can be achieved using a standard hydrodynamic counter-current chromatography (CCC) instrument by switching the flow of the liquid phases between normal phase and reversed phase intermittently, so separating a feed stream into two eluant flows. A model of the process was derived and tested on three scales of instrument, from the semipreparative to the pilot scale. The method developed, Intermittent Counter-current Extraction (ICcE) was compared to dual-flow counter-current chromatography (DFCCC), the classical method of applying continuous extraction using a counter-current chromatograph. ICcE was found to be advantaged due to the more stable phase volume ratio achievable in the columns and the ability to operate the procedure on standard commercial twin-column CCC instruments which operate at high g-field. The robustness of the ICcE method was successfully demonstrated across a range of phase system polarities and at high throughput (1kg/day on a preparative instrument) with model mixtures of pharmaceutical compounds. The effectiveness of this new processing method was confirmed on three industrially relevant case studies. Firstly a polar extract from natural senna pods to extract important sennosides, secondly an intermediate polarity highly complex active pharmaceutical ingredient waste stream to recover the main active component and thirdly a non-polar natural product extract to recover macrocarpal compounds. In summary, the ICcE method now offers another tool in the range of liquid-liquid separation methods available to the pharmaceutical and other high value industries.

Four potential new monomers were prepared, all of which were structural analogues of BisGMA (2,2-bis(4-(2-hydroxy-3-methacryloxyprop-1-oxy) phenyl)propane). The synthesis of these tetrafunctional dimethacrylate monomers was based on structural modifications of Bis-GMA in the core and the side chain and required a two-step reaction. The first step was propoxylation or ethoxylation of the bisphenols and the second step was the methacrylation of the resulting products. The core structures are designated by Bis-A for isopropylidene and 6F for hexafluoropropyl. The side chain structures were designated on the basis of the pendant side chains in the glycidyl moiety as -OH, -H, and -CH3 from the epichlorohydrin, ethyleneoxide, and propyleneoxide reaction products with the bisphenols, respectively. Bis-GMA was commercially obtained and used as a standard for comparison of the experimental monomers. All the monomers were prepared by the following general procedure of propoxylation or ethoxylation of the biphenols followed by methacrylation. They were characterized by NMR, FTIR, DSC and Cone and Plate Viscometry. All the experimental monomers exhibited lower viscosities and glass transition temperatures than the control, which was attributed to the elimination of the hydrogen bonding. The monomers were photopolymerized in a differential scanning calorimetry modified with an optics assembly (DPA 7; Double Beam Photocalorimetric Accessory) to study the photo-induced crosslinking reactions. The influence of monomer structure, temperature, light intensity, and initiator concentration on the photopolymerization kinetics of ethoxylated and propoxylated dimethacrylates was investigated by isothermal DSC. The DSC curves showed a rapid increase in rate due to the Trommsdorff effect, and then a decline due to the decrease of monomer concentration and the autodeceleration effect. The monomers with lower viscosities and glass transition temperatures exhibited higher conversions of the double bonds. The final extent of conversion increased with curing temperature, light intensity and initiator concentration. The radiation intensity exponent varied from 0.68 (BisGMA) to 0.74 for the ethoxylated 6F system. The initiator exponent were varied from 0.34 (for BisGMA) to 0.44 for the propoxylated BisA system. The ratio of the reaction rate constant (kt/kp) was calculated for PropBisAdm from both steady-state and non steady-state conditions. The effect of dilution on photopolymerization kinetics of BisGMA/triethyleneglycoldimethacrylate (TEGDMA) mixtures was also studied by isothermal photo-DSC. Dilution with TEGDMA significantly reduced the viscosity and glass transition temperatures of the mixtures due to the increase in the flexibility. The extent of polymerization increased with increasing TEGDMA and curing temperature. The calculation of ratio of rate constants (kt/kp) was also determined and the significance was discussed herein. / Master of Science