Tyrimų tikslas – ištirti galimybę panaudoti tiesioginę spinduliuotę džiovinamos medžiagos ir džioviklio įkaitimui džiovinant grūdus Lietuvos sąlygomis . Lietuvoje nuimtų grūdų drėgnumas dažniausiai viršija kondicinį, todėl siekiant išvengti kokybės nuostolių juos būtina nedelsiant konservuoti. Darbe apžvelgti grūdų fizinių savybių pokyčiai džiovinimo metu, plačiau analizuojama tiesioginės saulės spinduliuotės panaudojimas Lietuvos sąlygomis džiovinant grūdus su saulės kolektoriais. Ištirtas tiesioginės saulės spinduliuotės poveikis grūdams ir džioviklio paruošimui. Nustatyta, kad tiesioginė saulės spinduliuotė sutrumpina grūdų džiovinimo laiką ir sutaupo energiją naudojamą grūdų džiovinimui. Nustatyta saulės kolektoriaus pasvirimo kampo priklausomybė nuo spindulių kritimo kampo, džiovinimo greičio priklausomybė nuo oro filtracijos greičio ir grūdų drėgnio. / Purpose of the study - research the possibility of using direct solar radiation to heat desiccant material and siccative when drying grain in Lithuanian weather conditions. In Lithuania, humidity of harvested grain is generally higher than conditioned. To avoid loss of quality grain should be cured immediately. This paper reviews changes in physical properties of grain during drying. A wider analysis of use of solar collectors for drying grain in Lithuania using direct solar radiation is also given. Direct solar radiation impact on grain and preparation of dryer has been investigated. It has been found that direct solar radiation reduces the drying time and lowers energy costs when drying grain. Dependence of solar collector tilt angle and solar radiation incidence angle was established. Drying speed relation to air filtration rate and grain moisture has also been found.

This thesis examines the possibilities of the tattoo as a collectible. Specifically, three different modes of collecting and displaying tattoos; as a living museum on the body of the tattooed subject, as a skin specimen separated from the body and displayed in a variety of museum settings and, finally, as an image abstracted from the body in the form of photographs of tattooed sitters. Implicit in this journey from body art to artifact is a consideration of the changing meaning and significance of tattoos in the evolving discourse of visual culture. Once regarded as markers of social deviance - as symbols of exclusion or marginalization - tattoos have become a much more popular and widely accepted form of body art - signs of community, affinity and inclusion. The growing popularity of tattoos has also led to a reconsideration of their status as an art form, an elevation of what was once considered a 'low art' process to the realm of high art. This shift has only recently led to an increase in scholarship about tattoos within the discourses of both art history and visual culture. In this thesis I examine this new scholarship about tattoos in visual culture, and then go one step further by considering tattoos as visual objects within the culture of collecting. Specifically, I examine tattoos as collectible 'souvenirs', as specimens and, when reproduced as photographs, as socially resonant signs of identity and meaning. These case studies examine tattoo art from various perspectives. Primarily, as art collected on the body, but also as imagery existing separate from a physical form, just like the majority of collected artwork.

A study of thermal, structural, electrical and optical characteristics of molybdenum black surface coatings on various substrates has been made. The suitability of these coatings for use as selective absorbers for solar collector applications has been assessed. Molybdenum black (Mo black) coatings were prepared by electrodeposition (on aluminium) and a chemcial conversion method (on zinc and electroplated cobalt on nickel plated copper substrates). The solar absorptancer (αs) and thermal emittances (εth) of the coatings were determined from room temperature spectral reflectance measurements in the solar (0.3 to 2.5μm) and infrared regions (2.5 to 50 μm) respectively. The effect of different preparation parameters and substrate pretreatments on the spectral selectivity has been investigated in order to optimize the thermal performance. The spectral selectivity is related to the Mo-black coating thickness and surface roughness together with the microstructure, of the substrate and the intermediate layer. Dip coatings on polished zinc have significant selectivity (αs/ εth = 8.4 when αs = 0.76). The absorptance of the dip coatings is increased to 0.87 with εth = 0.13 by chemical etching of zinc prior to coating deposition. For coatings on electroplated cobalt on nickel plated copper (cobalt (NC) substrate), an absorptance as high as 0.94 has been obtained with an emittance value 0.3. By using an addition agent in the plating solution of cobalt the high emittance can be reduced to 0.1 with αs = 0.91 giving a coating with a relatively high efficiency (82.5%) for photo-thermal energy conversion. A study of the surface composition and microstructure of the coatings has been made using scanning and transmission electron microscopy together with electron diffraction, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The structural investigations indicate that Mo-black coatings contain polycrystals of orthorhombic Mo4O11 with a small proportion of Ni(OH)2. Presence of water and also Mo4O11 in the coatings are evident from IR spectroscopy study. The bandgap of the coating has been determined from optical transmission spectra (1.66 eV) and also from reflectance spectra (0.85 eV). The discrepancy between these two values has been discussed. The refractive indices of the coatings have also been estimated. The band gaps and refractive indices are found to be related to the spectral selectivity of the coatings. The durability test of the coatings shows that the coatings on etched zinc are more resistant to heat treatment than the coatings on unetched zinc. The coatings on cobalt (NC) substrates also show good stability for relatively short periods at temperatures ~400ºC. A study of the electrical properties of Mo-black coatings suggests that at electrical field strengths (greater than 106v/m the dominant conduction process is of the Poole-Frenkel type. The activation energy of the conduction process has been estimated to be -0.56 eV at higher temperatures. The effect of heat treatment on the electrical properties of the coatings has been examined. The dielectric constant of Mo-black has been estimated from A. C. measurements. At high frequency (20 kHz) the value of the dielectric constant is about 4.0.

近年來隨著Facebook的盛行，Facebook已成許多人紀錄生活或關注朋友近況不可或缺的管道。許多人文社會學者意圖透過其用戶在Facebook上活動行為的紀錄(如打卡、轉貼分享連結等)，進行學術研究分析；而Facebook公司相對也提供應用程式介面並以特定資料格式提供，但考量用戶之個人隱私及平台的可用度，制訂了相關的使用規則；因此本研究以協助學者達成研究分析Facebook用戶動態消息資料為目的，設計與實作一個「臉書使用者行為資料蒐集系統(Facebook User Activities Data Collector) 」。可相容Facebook應用程式介面使用規則及穩定收取其動態消息資料，讓學者們可針對其研究項目分別設定相關「蒐集專案」，並可使特定用戶(即蒐集專案之參與者)於本系統進行同意及授權提供特定資料，系統則每日定時依蒐集專案設定進行蒐集作業，待作業完成，再將資料以圖形化介面呈現。 因考量本系統可同時運行多個蒐集專案，為優化其效能，本研究在整合「蒐集專案」、「參與者」後提出一套有效的歸戶機制(Account Aggregation Mechanism)，透過重整參與者的機制，可顯著降低重複蒐集的次數，以提升資料蒐集的效率；並為因應Facebook所制訂使用規則，設計一套臉書蒐集相容機制(Facebook Collector Compatible Mechanisms)，在蒐集過程中對於可能產生錯誤情況加以防範，以及錯誤產生時能以對應之處理程序進行自動化處理，以確保資料蒐集過程的穩定及結果的完整。最後，在系統開發完成後，設計一套驗證計畫，以驗證本研究之蒐集成果以及相關機制成效。 / Recently Facebook has become an indispensable platform for many people to record their lives and to concern their friends. Many Humanities and Social Sciences scholars are interested in conducting research on the activity records of the Facebook users, such as check-ins and shared story. Therefore, there is a large demand in collecting these user activity records while respecting user privacy. Based on the open API (Application Programming Interface) by Facebook, we design and implement a “Facebook User Activities Data Collector” to help scholars collect the activity records with the permission from Facebook users. Using the collector, researchers can create projects for Facebook data retrieval and solicit volunteers to participate those projects by giving their permissions to enable the collector to retrieve their activity records following the Facebook privacy rules. Our tool offers a friendly user interface for researchers and participating users. Besides, as a user may participate in multiple data retrieval projects in the same period of time, our collector is equipped with an “account aggregation” mechanism that will retrieve all the records of a user for the projects he participated at once without repetitive collection work that will degrade the performance of the tool. Another feature of the collector is a robust exception handling mechanism that will handle frequent occurring exceptions in data retrieval and reports unknown exceptions to system administrators to improve the system’s reliability. To verify our collector, we have also recruited several volunteers and conducted some experiments to retrieve their activity records. The preliminary results show that our collector performs well and collects the records correctly.

The  aim  of  this  master  thesis  is  an  investigation  of  the  thermal  performance  of  a  thermal compound parabolic concentrating (CPC) collector from Solarus. The collector consists of two troughs with absorbers which are coated with different types of paint with  unknown  properties.  The  lower  and  upper  trough  of  the  collector  have  been  tested individually. In  order  to  accomplish  the  performance  of  the  two  collectors,  a  thorough  literature  study  in  the  fields  of  CPC  technology,  various  test  methods,  test  standards  for  solar thermal  collectors  as  well  as  the  latest  articles  relating  on  the  subject  were  carried  out. In addition, the set‐up of the thermal test rig was part of the thesis as well. The thermal  performance  was  tested  according  to  the  steady  state  test  method  as  described in the European standard 12975‐2. Furthermore, the thermal performance of  a  conventional  flat  plate  collector  was  carried  out  for  verification  of  the  test  method. The  CPC‐Thermal  collector  from  Solarus  was  tested  in  2013  and  the  results  showed  four  times  higher  values  of  the  heat  loss  coefficient  UL (8.4  W/m²K)  than  what  has been reported for a commercial collector from Solarus. This value was assumed to be too large and it was assumed that the large value was a result of the test method used that time. Therefore, another aim was the comparison of the results achieved in this work with the results from the tests performed in 2013. The results of the thermal performance showed that the optical efficiency of the lower trough of the CPC‐T collector is 77±5% and the corresponding heat loss coefficient UL 4.84±0.20  W/m²K.  The  upper  trough  achieved  an  optical  efficiency  of  75±6  %  and  a  heat loss coefficient UL of 6.45±0.27 W/m²K. The results of the heat loss coefficients  are  valid  for  temperature  intervals  between  20°C  and  80°C.  The  different  absorber paintings have a significant impact on the results, the lower trough performs overall better.  The  results  achieved  in  this  thesis  show  lower  heat  loss  coefficients UL and higher optical efficiencies compared to the results from 2013.

The self-power map is the function from the set of natural numbers to itself which sends the number $n$ to $n^n$. Motivated by applications to cryptography, we consider the image of this map modulo a prime $p$. We study the question of how large $x$ must be so that $n^n \equiv a \bmod p$ has a solution with $1 \le n \le x$, for every residue class $a$ modulo $p$. While $n^n \bmod p$ is not uniformly distributed, it does appear to behave in certain ways as a random function. We give a heuristic argument to show that the expected $x$ is approximately ${p^2\log \phi(p-1)/\phi(p-1)}$, using the coupon collector problem as a model. Rigorously, we prove the bound $x <p^{2-\alpha}$ for sufficiently large $p$ and a fixed constant $\alpha > 0$ independent of $p$, using a counting argument and exponential sum bounds. Additionally, we prove nontrivial bounds on the number of solutions of $n^n \equiv a \bmod p$ for a fixed residue class $a$ when $1 \le n \le x$, extending the known bounds when $1 \le n \le p-1$.

The self-power map is the function from the set of natural numbers to itself which sends the number $n$ to $n^n$. Motivated by applications to cryptography, we consider the image of this map modulo a prime $p$. We study the question of how large $x$ must be so that $n^n \equiv a \bmod p$ has a solution with $1 \le n \le x$, for every residue class $a$ modulo $p$. While $n^n \bmod p$ is not uniformly distributed, it does appear to behave in certain ways as a random function. We give a heuristic argument to show that the expected $x$ is approximately ${p^2\log \phi(p-1)/\phi(p-1)}$, using the coupon collector problem as a model. Rigorously, we prove the bound $x <p^{2-\alpha}$ for sufficiently large $p$ and a fixed constant $\alpha > 0$ independent of $p$, using a counting argument and exponential sum bounds. Additionally, we prove nontrivial bounds on the number of solutions of $n^n \equiv a \bmod p$ for a fixed residue class $a$ when $1 \le n \le x$, extending the known bounds when $1 \le n \le p-1$.

Solar assisted single-stage absorption heat pump (AHP) was used to supply energy to a floor-heating system by using the exergy methods. An existing duplex-house,in Ankara, with a heating load of 25.5 kW was analysed. Heating loads of the spaces in the building were calculated and a floor heating panel was modelled for each space leading to the capacity of the AHP before it was designed. Solar energy was delivered to the evaporator and high temperature heat input delivered to the genarator are met by auxiliary units operating with natural gas.The solar energy gained by flat-plate collectors was circulated through AHP.The anaysis performed according to the storage tank temperature reference value if the water temperature leaving the storage tank exceeds a predetermined value it is directly circulated through the floor heating system. Exergue analysis were carried out with Mathcad program. Exergy analysis showed that irreversibility have an impact on absorption system performance.This study indicated which components in the system need to be improved thermally.A design procedure has been applied to a water-lithium-bromide absorption heat pump cycle and an optimisation procedure that consists of determinig the enthalpy, entropy ,exergy, temperature, mass flow rate in each component and coeficient of performance and exergetic coefficient of performance has been performed and tabulated.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the performance of a spherical solar collector by using numerical and experimental methods. For this analysis, equations were obtained by choosing appropriate control volumes in the system and applying The First Law of Thermodynamics. The experiments were realized at four different mass flow rates and non-flow situation. For the numerical simulation of the system, a computer program in Mathcad was written. Another computer program in Mathcad was written for the variation of the absorbed solar radiation through out the day. Finally, the performance of the spherical solar collector is compared theoretically to that of flat plate solar collectors.

<p>Tremendous research efforts have been conducted studying the capturing and conversion of solar energy. Solar thermal power systems offer a compelling opportunity for renewable energy utilization with high efficiencies and excellent cost-effectiveness. The goal of this work was to design a non-concentrating collector capable of reaching temperatures above 250 °C, use this collector to power methanol steam reforming, and operate a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell using the generated hydrogen. The study presents the construction and characterization of a non-concentrating, intermediate-temperature, fin-in-tube evacuated solar collector, made of copper and capable of reaching stagnation temperatures of 268.5 °C at 1000 W/m2 irradiance. The collector was used to power methanol steam reforming, including the initial heating and vaporization of liquid reactants and the final heating of the gaseous reactants. A preferential oxidation (PROX) catalyst was used to remove CO from simulated reformate gas, and this product gas was used to operate a PEM fuel cell. The results show 1) that the outlet temperature is not limited by heat transfer from the absorber coating to the heat transfer fluid, but by the amount of solar energy absorbed. This implicates a constant heat flux description of the heat transfer process and allows for the usage of materials with lower thermal conductivity than copper. 2) It is possible to operate a PEM fuel cell from reformate gas if a PROX catalyst is used to remove CO from the gas. 3) The performance of the fuel cell is only slightly decreased (~4%) by CO2 dilution present in the reformate and PROX gas. These results provide a foundation for the first renewable electricity generation via solar-powered methanol reforming through a hybrid PEM fuel cell system based on novel non-concentrating, intermediate-temperature solar collectors.</p> / Dissertation