Effects of QD2R Numeracy Enhancement Strategy on the Mathematics Performance of Grade 10 Students

Learning mathematics requires an effective and strategic teaching approach.This study aimed to assess the mathematics performance of the learners with the implementation of the numeracy enhancement strategy QD2R(Questions,Drills,Repetition,and Recitation)and to propose a strategy implementation plan to elevate their performances.This study employed the use of a quasi-experimental research design,purposive sampling with 70 Grade 10 students of Lian National High School who were distributed equally to control and treatment groups.The pre-test and post-test results were statistically analyzed using independent and paired sample t-tests,and a survey questionnaire was examined by getting the mean and standard deviation.The results indicated that better performance was achieved by the students from the treatment group compared to the students from the control group,as revealed by the Mean Percentage Score(MPS)results,mean scores,and P values of their pre-test and post-test scores.The learners’perception of the implementation of this strategy was to a great extent,wherein it was perceived to be more helpful in concepts related to understanding the lesson compared to concepts related to developing their attitude and skills.Moreover,the proposed implementation plan of numeracy enhancement strategy QD2R had three expected outcomes:elevated understanding and performance in mathematics lessons;modified strategy to focus on the development of attitude and skills towards mathematics;and refined and well-implemented QD2R strategy in teaching mathematics.Relative to these expected outcomes,appropriate measures,timeframe,and resources of each were comprehensively formulated.

Study on seismic performance enhancement in bridges based on factorial analysis

The seismic performance of bridges depends on the ductile behavior of its column, as the deck and other substructural components except pile foundations are normally designed to be elastic to facilitate bridge retrofitting. Codes such as AASHTO, Caltrans, IRC： 112 etc. give guidelines for the seismic performance enhancement of columns through ductile detailing. In the present study, a methodology for the seismic performance enhancement of bridges is discussed by using a ＂Parameter-Based Influence Factor＂ （PIF） developed from factorial analysis. The parameters considered in the factorial analysis are： percentage of longitudinal reinforcement （Pt）, compressive strength of concrete （f＇c）, yield strength of steel （fy）, spacing of lateral ties （5） and column height （/4）. The influence of each parameter and their combination on the limit states considered is estimated. Pushover analysis is used to evaluate the capacity of columns, considering shear failure criteria. A total of 243 （35 combinations） analysis results are compiled to develop ＇PIF＇ used in the performance enhancement process. The study also encompasses other sub-objectives such as evaluating the discrepancies in using the Importance Factor （/） in designing bridges of varied functional importance; and estimating the aspect ratio and slenderness ratio values of bridge columns for its initial sizing.

Performance enhancement of sandwich panels with honeycomb–corrugation hybrid core

The concept of combining metallic honeycomb with folded thin metallic sheets （corrugation） to construct a novel core type for lightweight sandwich structures is proposed. The honeycomb-corrugation hybrid core is manufactured by filling the interstices of aluminum corrugations with precision-cut trapezoidal aluminum honeycomb blocks, bonded together using epoxy glue. The performance of such hybrid-cored sandwich panels subjected to out-of-plane compression, transverse shear, and three-point bending is investigated, both experimentally and numerically. The strength and energy absorption of the sandwich are dramatically enhanced, compared to those of a sandwich with either empty corrugation or honeycomb core. The enhancement is induced by the beneficial interaction effects of honeycomb blocks and folded panels on improved buckling resistance as well as altered crushing modes at large plastic deformation. The present approach provides an effective method to further improve the mechanical properties of conventional honeycomb-cored sandwich constructions with low relative densities.

Performance enhancement of filled-type solar collector with U-tube

In order to increase the efficiency of solar collector, a methodology is proposed based on the analysis of its influencing factors, such as thermal conductivity of filled layer, structure forms of filled layer and heat loss coefficient. The results of analysis show that the heat transfer between pipes in evacuated tube is one of the most important factors, which can lead to the decrease of the outlet temperature of working fluid. In order to eliminate the negative influence of the heat transfer between pipes, the hollow filled-type evacuated tube with U-tube(HUFET) was developed, and the heat transfer characteristics of HUFET were analyzed by theoretical and experimental studies. The results show that the thermal resistances decrease with the increase of the thermal conductivity of filled layer. When the thermal conductivity is over 10 W/(m·K), the change of thermal resistances is very little.Furthermore, the larger the thermal conductivity of filled layer, the less the rate of the energy transfer between the two pipes to the total energy transfer, which is between the absorber tube and the working fluid. There is a little difference between the efficiencies of HUFET and UFET, with the efficiency of HUFET 2.4% higher than that of UFET. Meanwhile, the validation of the model developed was confirmed by the experiment.

A Study on Thermal Performance of Palladium as Material for Passive Heat Transfer Enhancement Devices in Thermal and Electronics Systems

In this work,the thermal behavior of fin made of palladium material under the influences of thermal radiation and internal heat generation is investigated.The thermal model for the extended surface made of palladium as the fin material is first developed and solved numerically using finite difference method.The influences of the thermal model parameters on the heat transfer behaviour of the extended surface are investigated.The results show that the rate of heat transfer through the fin and the thermal efficiency of the fin increase as the thermal conductivity of the fin material increases.This shows that fin is more efficient and effective for a larger value of thermal conductivity.However,the thermal conductivity of the fin with palladium material is low and constant at the value of approximately 75 W/mK in a wider temperature range of-100℃and 227℃.Also,it is shown that the thermal efficiencies of potential materials(except for stainless steel and brass)for fins decrease as the fin temperatures increase.This is because the thermal conductivities of most of the materials used for fins decreases as temperature increases.However,keeping other fin properties and the external conditions constant,the thermal efficiency of the palladium is constant as the temperature of the fin increases within the temperature range of-100℃and 227℃.And outside the given range of temperature,the thermal conductivity of the material increases which increases the efficiency of the fin.The study will assist in the selection of proper material for the fin and in the design of passive heat enhancement devices under different applications and conditions.

Performance enhancement of phosphoric acid fuel cell using phosphosilicate gel based electrolyte

Replacement of phosphoric acid electrolyte by phosphosilicate gel based electrolytes is proposed for performance enhancement of phosphoric acid fuel cell(PAFC).Phosphosilicate gel in paste form and in powder form is synthesized from tetraethoxysilane and orthophosphoric acid using sol-gel method for two different P/Si ratio of 5 and 1.5 respectively.Replacement of phosphoric acid electrolyte by phosphosilicate gel paste enhances the peak power generation of the fuel cell by 133% at 120 ℃ cell temperature;increases the voltage generation in the ohmic regime and extends the maximum possible load current.Polyinyl alcohol(PVA) is used to bind the phosphosilicate gel powder and to form the hybrid crosslinked gel polymer electrolyte membrane.Soaking the membrane with phosphoric acid solution,instead of that with water improves the proton conductivity of the membrane,enhances the voltage and power generation by the fuel cell and extends the maximum possible operating temperature.At lower operating temperature of 70 ℃,peak power produced by phosphosilicate gel polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell(PGMFC) is increased by 40% compared to that generated by phosphoric acid fuel cell(PAFC).However,the performance of composite membrane diminishes as the cell temperature increases.Thus phosphosilicate gel in paste form is found to be a good alternative of phosphoric acid electrolyte at medium operating temperature range while phosphosilicate gel-PVA composite offers performance enhancement at low operating temperatures.

Adaptive Uniform Performance Control of Strict-Feedback Nonlinear Systems With Time-Varying Control Gain

In this paper,we present a novel adaptive performance control approach for strict-feedback nonparametric systems with unknown time-varying control coefficients,which mainly includes the following steps.Firstly,by introducing several key transformation functions and selecting the initial value of the time-varying scaling function,the symmetric prescribed performance with global and semi-global properties can be handled uniformly,without the need for control re-design.Secondly,to handle the problem of unknown time-varying control coefficient with an unknown sign,we propose an enhanced Nussbaum function(ENF)bearing some unique properties and characteristics,with which the complex stability analysis based on specific Nussbaum functions as commonly used is no longer required.Thirdly,by utilizing the core-function information technique,the nonparametric uncertainties in the system are gracefully handled so that no approximator is required.Furthermore,simulation results verify the effectiveness and benefits of the approach.

Development and Performance Evaluation of Self-Generating Enhanced Foam Water Plugging System

For the waterflooding of late development on an offshore oilfield has become worse, and some wells group has entered into high water cut-off period, water plugging work becomes particularly important. Due to the limited construction of offshore oilfield, space water supply difficulties, and stability of plugging agent, self-generating enhanced foam has been designed as the aimed block plugging system. The formula is determined as: 23.25% of NH4Cl + 30% of NaNO2 + 0.1% of catalyst + 0.6% of COSL-3 foaming agent + 0.25% of HS-type HPAM foam stabilizer. Measurement point of pipe with permeability of 0.5 μm2 and 2 μm2 has been used in the plugging and EOR experiments. The experiments show that this system has the selective plugging effect for the heterogeneous formation, especially for middle and posterior part of high permeability formation, and the recovery rate of low permeability pipe is enhanced up to 32.15%.

The 2D InSe/WS2 Heterostructure with Enhanced Optoelectronic Performance in the Visible Region

Two-dimensional(2D)InSe and WS2 exhibit promising characteristics for optoelectronic applications.However,they both have poor absorption of visible light due to wide bandgaps:2D InSe has high electron mobility but low hole mobility,while 2D WS2 is on the contrary.We propose a 2D heterostructure composed of their monolayers as a solution to both problems.Our first-principles calculations show that the heterostructure has a type-Ⅱband alignment as expected.Consequently,the bandgap of the heterostructure is reduced to 2.19 eV,which is much smaller than those of the monolayers.The reduction in bandgap leads to a considerable enhancement of the visible-light absorption,such as about fivefold(threefold)increase in comparison to monolayer InSe(WS2)at the wavelength of 490 nm.Meanwhile,the type-Ⅱ band alignment also facilitates the spatial separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs;i.e.,electrons(holes)reside preferably in the InSe(WS2)layer.As a result,the two layers complement each other in carrier mobilities of the heterostructure:the photogenerated electrons and holes inherit the large mobilities from the InSe and WS2 monolayers,respectively.

Enhanced Loading of ^(40)K from Natural Abundance Potassium Source with a High Performance 2D^+ MOT

40K is one of the most important atomic species for ultra-cold atomic physics. Due to the extremely low con- centration （0.012%） of 40K in natural abundance of potassium, most experiments use 4-10% enriched potassium source, which have greatly suffered from the extremely low annual production and significant price hikes in recent years. Using naturally abundant potassium source, we capture 5.4 × 10 6 cold 40K atoms with the help of a high performance of two-dimensional magneto-optical trap （2D＋ MOT）, which is almost three orders of magnitude greater than previous results without the 2D＋ MOT. The number of the 40K atoms is sufficient for most ultra-cold 40K experiments, and our approach provides an ideal alternative for the field.

Ag3PO4 Microcrystals Synthesized by Room-Temperature Solid State Reaction:Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity and Photoelectronchemistry Performance

Ag3PO4 microcrystals with highly enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity are prepared by a facile and simple solid state reaction at room temperature. The composition, morphology and optical properties of the asprepared Ag3PO4 microcrystMs are characterized by x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra. The photocatalytie properties of Ag3PO4 are investigated by the degradation of both methylene blue and methyl orange dyes under visible light irradiation. The as-prepared Ag3PO4 microcrystals possess high photocatalytic oxygen production with the rate of 673μmolh-1g-1. Moreover, the as-prepared Ag3PO4 microcrystals show an enhanced photoelectrochemistry performance under irradiation of visible light.

Performance comparison for oil-water heat transfer of circumferential overlap trisection helical baffle heat exchanger

The performance tests were conducted on oil–water heat transfer in circumferential overlap trisection helical baffle heat exchangers with incline angles of 12°, 16°, 20°, 24° and 28°, and compared with a segmental baffle heat exchanger. The results show that the shell side heat transfer coefficient h_o and pressure drop Δp_o both increase while the comprehensive index h_o/Δp_o decreases with the increase of the mass flow rate of all schemes. And the shell side heat transfer coefficient, pressure drop and the comprehensive index ho/Δpo decrease with the increase of the baffle incline angle at a certain mass flow rate. The average values of shell side heat transfer coefficient and the comprehensive index h_o/Δp_o of the 12° helical baffled scheme are above 50% higher than those of the segmental one correspondingly, while the pressure drop value is very close and the ratios of the average values are about 1.664 and 1.596, respectively. The shell-side Nusselt number Nu_o and the comprehensive index Nu_o·Eu_(zo)^(-1) increase with the increase of Reynolds number of the shell side axial in all schemes, and the results also demonstrate that the small incline angled helical scheme has better comprehensive performance.

Heat Transfer Performance of a Novel Microchannel Embedded with Connected Grooves

To improve the heat transfer performance of microchannels,a novel microchannel embedded with connected grooves crossing two sidewalls and the bottom surface(type A)was designed.A comparative study of heat transfer was conducted regarding the performances of type A microchannels,microchannels embedded with grooves on their bottom(including types B and C),or on the sidewalls(type D)as well as smooth rectangular microchannels(type E)via a three-dimensional numerical simulation and experimental validation(at Reynolds numbers from 118 to 430).Numerical results suggested that the average Nusselt number of types A,B,C,and D microchannels were 106,73.4,50.1,and 12.6%higher than that of type E microchannel,respectively.The smallest synergy angle β and entropy generation number Ns,a were determined for type A microchannels based on field synergy and nondimensional entropy analysis,which indicated that type A exhibited the best heat transfer performance.Numerical flow analysis indicated that connected grooves induced fluid to flow along two different temperature gradients,which contributed to enhanced heat transfer performance.

Thermal performance assessment of self-rotating twisted tapes and Al_(2)O_(3) nanoparticle in a circular pipe

In view of the practical importance of the heat transfer devices in various thermal engineering fields including chemical and nuclear engineering,this study aims at developing an effective method of heat transfer enhancement by using selfrotating twisted tapes(SRTTs)and Al_(2)O_(3) nanoparticles.The effect of the selfrotating twisted tapes and Al2O3 nanoparticles on the thermal performance was comprehensively investigated in a circular pipe.The experimental results indicated the heat transfer rate was effectively improved by SRTTs in comparison of plain tube.In addition,the heat transfer multiplier with SRTTs decreased from 1.38 to 1.08 with the Reynolds number increasing from 19,322 to 64,407,while the friction factor multiplier decreased from 1.61 to 1.32.Besides,the results indicated that the employment of Al_(2)O_(3) nanoparticles and SRTTs demonstrated superior thermal performance to the single SRTTs.As Reynolds number increases from 19,322 to 64,407,the heat transfer multiplier decreased from 2.08 to 1.18 in the mass concentration of 3.0%and from 1.38 to 1.08 in mass concentration of 0.0%.Finally,the new heat transfer and friction factor correlations considering the combined effect of Al2O3 nanoparticle and SRTTs were developed within 10%deviation of experimental values.

A phase inversion based sponge-like polysulfonamide/SiO_2 composite separator for high performance lithium-ion batteries

In this work,a sponge-like polysulfonamide(PSA)/SiO_2 composite membrane is unprecedentedly prepared by the phase inversion method,and successfully demonstrated as a novel separator of lithium-ion batteries(LIBs).Compared to the commercial polypropylene(PP) separator,the sponge-like PSA/SiO_2 composite possesses better physical and electrochemical properties,such as higher porosity,ionic conductivity,thermal stability and flame retarding ability.The LiCoO_2/Li half-cells using the sponge-like composite separator demonstrate superior rate capability and cyclability over those using the commercial PP separator.Moreover,the sponge-like composite separator can ensure the normal operation of LiCoO_2/Li half-cell at an extremely high temperature of 90 °C,while the commercial PP separator cannot.All these encouraging results suggest that this phase inversion based sponge-like PSA/SiO_2 composite separator is really a promising separator for high performance LIBs.

Experimental Study of Heat Transfer Enhancement and Friction Loss Induced by Inserted Rotor-assembled Strand （II） Lubricant Oil 22

纸通过试管描述了热转移和单相的压力落下的试验性的调查，不同装配转子的海滨作为工作液体与润滑剂在 8009000 的雷纳兹数字范围插入了。在实验，修理了山被采用消除入口效果。当它不能显著地影响 Nusselt 数字时，试验性的结果证明固定的山的雇用在 laminar 政体导致了磨擦因素的可见偏爱。为与装配转子的海滨插入的试管的实验证明为有 Nusselt 数字的热转移的显著改进在过渡政体在 laminar 政体和 125%160% 由 200%225% 增加了。同时，磨擦因素在雷纳兹数字的一样的范围以内由 200%300% 不可避免地增加了。不同装配转子的海滨的比较插入了试管，平凡试管证明热转移与一样的铅和装配转子的海滨的铅的减少一起得益于装配转子的海滨的直径的增加，磨擦因素也一样。把线性正常回归方法基于试验性的数据和彻底的 multivariant，平均 Nusselt 数字的关联和磨擦因素被建立。

Performance Study of Silicon-Based Multi-Junction Solar Cell

This paper presents a performance study of silicon-based multi-junction (MJ) solar cell which is produced by Spectrolab is the most efficient solar cell in the world, with a record efficiency of over 40%. The I-V characteristics of solar cells were investigated for different environmental conditions (both at indoor and outdoor). Photovoltaic (PV) parameters like short circuit current (ISC), open circuit voltage (VOC), fill factor (FF) and efficiency (?) were evaluated for the fabricated cell. The fabricated cell provides I-V characteristics curve which shows that the maximum efficiency of the cell is obtained when the cell temperature is lower. It was also observed that, efficiencies of the cells are about 17% to 24% at indoor and 7% to 20% at outdoor and fill factors are 0.40 to 0.71. From the result, it can also be found that fill factor is directly affected by the values of the cells series and shunt resistance.

A state-of-the-art review on shallow geothermal ventilation systems with thermal performance enhancement-system classifications,advanced technologies and applications

Geothermal energy with abundance and large quantity can partially cover building heating/cooling loads and promote the carbon-neutrality transitions.Shallow geothermal ventilation(SGV)system,with a little initial in-vestment cost,is one of promising technologies to partly replace the conventional air-conditioning system for air pre-cooling/pre-heating.This paper reviews applications of SGV system for improving thermal performance over latest two decades,which mainly includes the reclassification of SGV system,coupling with other advanced energy-saving technologies,application potentials for building cooling/heating under various weather conditions.Heat transfer mechanism and mathematical modelling techniques have been reviewed,together with in-depth analysis on current research trends,existing limitations,and recommendations of SGV system.Phase change materials,with considerable latent energy density,can stabilize the thermal performance with high reliability.The review identifies that optimization designs and advanced approaches need to be investigated to address the existing urgent issues of SGV system(e.g.,large land occupation,difficulty in centralized collection of condensate water timely for horizontal buried pipe,bacteria growth,polluted supply air,and high construction cost for ver-tical buried pipe).A plenty of studies show that the SGV system could greatly expand the application scope and improve system energy efficiency by combining with other energy-saving technologies.This paper will provide some guidelines for the scientific researchers and engineers to keep track on recent advancements and research trends of SGV system for the building thermal performance enhancement and pave path for future research works.