The vapor extraction (VAPEX) process, a solvent-based enhanced oil recovery process has been found promising for some heavy oil reservoirs. In this work, the VAPEX process is studied using a compositional simulator on a number of single-block and multiple block fractured systems. PVT data of one of an Iranian heavy oil reservoir are used to tune the equation of state. Effects of fracture sp...

In this paper we consider transistor sizing to reduce crosstalk. First, crosstalk noise dependency on wire width, wire spacing, driver and receiver sizes are discussed, and validated by experiments. Then transistor sizing for timing and noise is discussed and solved using optimization techniques. Experimental results suggest that crosstalk violations can be removed by transistor sizing with ver...

Improving heat transfer and performance in a radial, finned, shell and tube heat exchanger is studied in this study. According to the second law of thermodynamics, the most irreversibilities of convective heat transfer processes are due to fluid friction and heat transfer via finite temperature difference. Entransy dissipations are due to the irreversibilities of convective heat transfer. There...

The spacing effect—that is, the benefit of spacing learning events apart rather than massing them together—has been demonstrated in hundreds of experiments, but is not well known to educators or learners. I investigated the spacing effect in the realistic context of flashcard use. Learners often divide flashcards into relatively small stacks, but compared to a large stack, small stacks decrease...

Advances of very large scale integration technologies present two challenges for routing problems: 1) the higher integration of transistors due to shrinking of featuring size and 2) the requirement for off-grid routing due to the variable-width variable-spacing design rules imposed by optimization techniques. In this paper, we present a multilayer gridless detailed routing system for deep submi...

This paper describes optimal thinning of an Elliptical Cylindrical Array (ECA) of uniformly excited isotropic antennas which can generate directive beam with minimum relative Side Lobe Level (SLL). The Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) method, which represents a new approach for optimization problems in electromagnetic, is used in the optimization process. The PSO is used to determine the optim...

In this study, we ask if instead of being fundamentally opposed, niche and neutral theories could simply be located at the extremes of a continuum. First, we present a model of recruitment probabilities that combines both niche and neutral processes. From this model, we predict and test whether the relative importance of niche vs. neutral processes in controlling community dynamics will vary de...

Sequential exchanges of vocalizations (staccatos and neighs) emitted by Northern Muriquis Brachyteles arachnoides hypoxanthus were recorded at the Biological Station of Caratinga, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Staccatos and neighs containing larger proportion of short elements were preferentially produced during short-range exchanges; neighs, produced by a larger number of participants, were typi...