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The leafy seadragon certainly is among evolution's most "beautiful and wonderful" species aptly named for its extraordinary camouflage mimicking its coastal seaweed habitat. However, limited information is known about the genetic basis of its phenotypes and conspicuous camouflage. Here, we revealed genomic signatures of rapid evolution and positive selection in core genes related to its camouflage, which allowed us to predict population dynamics for this species. Comparative genomic analysis revealed that seadragons have the smallest olfactory repertoires among all ray-finned fishes, suggesting adaptations to the highly specialized habitat. Other positively selected and rapidly evolving genes that serve in bone development and coloration are highly expressed in the leaf-like appendages, supporting a recent adaptive shift in camouflage appendage formation. Knock-out of bmp6 results in dysplastic intermuscular bones with a significantly reduced number in zebrafish, implying its important function in bone formation. Global climate change-induced loss of seagrass beds now severely threatens the continued existence of this enigmatic species. The leafy seadragon has a historically small population size likely due to its specific habitat requirements that further exacerbate its vulnerability to climate change. Therefore, taking climate change-induced range shifts into account while developing future protection strategies.

This paper presents the design of an extended Kalman filter (EKF) as a state-of-charge (SoC) estimator for a lithium–titanate (LTO) battery cell. The design is based on a Thevenin model of the equivalent battery electrical circuit with two parallel resistive-capacitive (RC) elements for the emulation of electrolyte polarization effects. The effectiveness of the proposed SoC estimator is verified through computer simulations on the comprehensive nonlinear battery simulation model featuring battery parameter vs. SoC variations, which is subject to highly dynamic loading regimes.

Abstract Fruit and vegetables are stored for up to several months in large bin stacks in refrigerated rooms. Gaps between the bins and bin wall openings should allow the circulation of cooling air to remove field and respiration heat from produce. In an industrial apple store, the effects of the stacking array, fan position and number on airflow distribution in vertical gaps and inside plastic bins were investigated using stepwise reduction of fan revolution. At 100% fan power, the average air velocity in vertical gaps between bin rows in the main flow direction increased with reducing total cross section of the gaps. In contrast, the number of vertical gaps between bin rows had little effect on the average air speed between fruit inside the bins, probably due to additional flow paths in the horizontal gaps. The lowest air speed was measured when bins were stacked in one block without vertical gaps and a distance to the side walls of only 10 cm. A stacking arrangement with only one central vertical gap between four bin rows or with a large distance (> 1 m) between the wall opposite to the fans and the bins enhanced flow uniformity. Three fans situated above the vertical gaps was more effective for the ventilation of bins than four fans above the bin rows.

Abstract In the production process of pharmaceutical pellets with a narrow size distribution and a high sphericity, a combined extrusion-spheronization technique is frequently used. The rounding of the wet cylindrical extrudates in the spheronizer after the extrusion step is influenced by various interfering mechanisms, in particular plastic deformation, breakage, attrition and coalescence. Due to the complexity of these mechanisms which depend on the particle dynamics, there is no sufficient description of the particle rounding process in the spheronizer. In this study, the Discrete Element Method (DEM) which runs on the micro scale is coupled with a Particle Shape Evolution (PSE) model on the macro scale to describe how the particle shape changes due to collisions. For the DEM simulation a new contact model was used which was developed to capture the cyclic, dominant visco plastic deformation behaviour. Based on the DEM collision data, the changing particle shape was described in the PSE model by applying the proposed submodels for the different formation mechanisms. The resulting particle shapes obtained with this simulation framework are in a good agreement with experimental data.

Introduction of a hydrophobic crystalline carbon support enhances the performance of AEMWE and improves the corrosion resistance of carbon by reducing its interaction with water. This demonstrates the promising potential of utilizing a carbon support.

Within the regulation of net purchasing, investment incentives for residential PV depend on the remuneration for grid feed-in and the consumption costs that households can save by self-consumption. Network tariffs constitute a substantial part of these consumption costs. We use postcode-level data for Germany between 2009 and 2017 and exploit the regional heterogeneity of network tariffs to investigate whether they encourage to invest in PV installations and evaluate how the nonlinear tariff structure impacts residential PV adoption. Our results show that network tariffs do impact PV adoption. The effect has increased in recent years when self-consumption has become financially more attractive, and the results confirm the expectation that PV investments are driven by the volumetric tariff. Policy reforms that alter the share between the price components are, thus, likely to affect residential PV adoption. Further, with self-consumption becoming a key incentive, price signals can effectively support the coordination of electricity demand and supply in Germany.

Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) have received considerable attention over the past two decades as a promising alternative to their inorganic counterparts. Although the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of OPVs has rapidly increased in the last ten years exceeding 18%, higher PCEs are still needed to commercialize this emerging technology. The weak light absorption, particularly at wavelengths outside the visible region, and the recombination losses of the photo-generated charge carriers represent the major challenges for the PCE of OPVS. The light harvest and survival of the photo-generated charge carriers within OPVs are restricted to multiple factors such as material properties and device engineering. The application of different types of inorganic nanoparticles (INPs) in OPVs has been reported by many researchers as an effective strategy to overcome most of the PCE limitations. Here, a comprehensive overview of the progress in the performance of OPVs due to the application of different INPs over the past decade is provided. This review also presents an in-depth analysis of the efficiency loss pathways at the different steps of the photovoltaic effect and how INPs can address these issues resulting in PCE enhancement of OPVs. Finally, the impacts of this approach on the stability and cost of the device in addition to challenges and outlook are discussed.