Tiago Roque Benetoli da Silva

H.264 video transmission oveR 2×2 OFDM-MIMO

Higher capacity is achieved by using multichannel transmission technology. In this paper, we investigate the performance of H.264 standard over a 2 × 2 MIMO channel. With the use of data partitioning in H.264, it is possible to allocate the information, in an optimal way, through multiple channels with different SNR values. The results of our proposed MIMO communication show an improvement of 0.85dB by using a data-partitioning over a SISO case.

Organic and Mineral Fertilizer on the Initial Development and Nutrition of Jatropha

Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.) is an herbaceous plant, perennial, belonging to the family of Euphorbiaceaes. Jatropha’s extract is used for the harvest of fruits, high amount of nutrients and, if not properly fertilized, can lead to the impoverishment of the soil over the years of cultivation. Thus, in this present work, we have a concern with the importance of fertilization. The experiment was conducted under field conditions in the 2014/2015 agricultural year, in Sao Jorge do Patrocinio, State of Parana, Brazil. The experiment was conducted in a randomized block design with five replications and five treatments, totaling 25 installments. The treatments were as follows: organic fertilization (total rate: 2,800 g plant-1), mineral fertilizers with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (total rate: 174.4 g plant-1, and 13.2 g plant-1 of urea, 141.2 g plant-1 of superphosphate and 20 g plant-1 of potassium chloride), 75% organic fertilizer + 25% mineral, 50% organic fertilizer + 50% mineral, 25% organic + 75% mineral, applied at planting. Poultry litter was used as the organic fertilizer source, the nitrogen source was urea, the phosphorus source was superphosphate and, the potassium source was potassium chloride. Spacing of 2 × 2 m between plants and the pits with 30 × 30 × 30 cm. The evaluated variables were: plant height, stem diameter, contents macro and micronutrients in leaves. It can be concluded that there was no influence of mineral and organic fertilization on the initial growth of jatropha. As for the macronutrient levels, there were no significant differences for P and K. However, regarding the mineral fertilizer and the micronutrient content, there was a significant difference in Mn, in the treatment with total rate of mineral fertilizer and in the treatment with 25% organic fertilizer and 75% mineral fertilizer.

Thermal Energy Storage and Mechanical Performance of Crude Glycerol Polyurethane Composite Foams Containing Phase Change Materials and Expandable Graphite

The aim of this study was to enhance the thermal comfort properties of crude glycerol (CG) derived polyurethane foams (PUFs) using phase change materials (PCMs) (2.5–10.0% (wt/wt)) to contribute to the reduction of the use of non-renewable resources and increase energy savings. The main challenge when adding PCM to PUFs is to combine the low conductivity of PUFs whilst taking advantage of the heat released/absorbed by PCMs to achieve efficient thermal regulation. The solution considered to overcome this limitation was to use expandable graphite (EG) (0.50–1.50% (wt/wt)). The results obtained show that the use of PCMs increased the heterogeneity of the foams cellular structure and that the incorporation of PCMs and EG increased the stiffness of the ensuing composite PUFs acting as filler-reinforcing materials. However, these fillers also caused a substantial increase of the thermal conductivity and density of the ensuing foams which limited their thermal energy storage. Therefore, numerical simulations were carried using a single layer panel and the thermal and physical properties measured to evaluate the behavior of a composite PUF panel with different compositions, and guide future formulations to attain more effective results in respect to temperature buffering and temperature peak delay.