This paper presents analytical models for studying the transient behavior of several power harvesting circuit topologies for use with piezoelectric bending transducers. Specifically, the problem of charging a large storage capacitor, which is inherently a time-varying process, is considered. Three circuit designs are studied—direct charging, synchronized switching and discharging to a storage c...

The main function of the photosynthetic process is to capture solar energy and to store it in the form of chemical 'fuels'. Increasingly, the photosynthetic machinery is being used for the production of biofuels such as bio-ethanol, biodiesel and bio-H2. Fuel production efficiency is directly dependent on the solar photon capture and conversion efficiency of the system. Green algae (e.g. Chlamy...

We assessed the water requirements of ethanol from corn grain and crop residue. Estimates are explicit in terms of sources-green (GW) and blue (BW) water, consumptive and nonconsumptive requirements across the lifecycle, including evapotranspiration, application and conveyance losses, biorefinery uses, and water use of energy inputs, and displaced requirements or credits due to coproducts. Etha...

Harvesting for food or sport is often non-random with respect to demographic state, such as size or life stage. The population-level consequences of such selective harvesting depend upon which states are harvested and how those states contribute to population dynamics. We focused on a form of selective harvesting that has not previously been investigated in an experimental context: sex-selectiv...

A Leslie-Gower predator-prey model incorporating harvesting is studied. By constructing a suitable Lyapunov function, we show that the unique positive equilibrium of the system is globally stable, which means that suitable harvesting has no influence on the persistent property of the harvesting system. After that, detailed analysis about the influence of harvesting is carried out, and an intere...

The variation in the composition of fresh tea leaves with season and shoot maturity, and to the applicability of cold storage (4C and 90% relative humidity [RH]) for the purpose of withering of tea leaves were studied. The results showed that the levels of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity and the polyphenolic content changed significantly with plucking season and shoot maturity. No significant...

A strategy has been proposed recently to design plasmonic nanostructures capable of efficient harvesting of light over a broadband spectrum. Applying a singular conformal transformation to a metal–insulator–metal infinite structure, the optical response of two kissing nanowires can be deduced analytically. This nanostructure is shown to exhibit a large and continuous absorption cross-section re...

This paper assesses the feasibility of the maize storage structures used in Kenya. Maize is the most important staple crop, but produced seasonally, and consumed continuously at farm level, hence the need for on-farm storage. However, heavy post harvest losses occur mainly during harvesting and storage stages and these are a cost to the farmer. A cost benefit analysis was employed to evaluate t...

The light-harvesting complex II (LHCII) is the main energy absorber for photosynthesis in green plants, and its translocation between photosystems I and II is the primary means of energy redistribution between them. Using single-particle tracking, we performed the first measurement of the mobility of LHCII in the photosynthetic membranes in both the nonphosphorylated and the phosphorylated (P-L...