The development of terahertz superconducting hot-electron bolometric mixers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Semenov, Alexei; Richter, Heiko; Smirnov, Konstantin; Voronov, Boris; Gol'tsman, Gregory; Huebers, Heinz-Wilhelm

2004-01-01

We present recent advances in the development of NbN hot-electron bolometric (HEB) mixers for flying terahertz heterodyne receivers. Three important issues have been addressed: the quality of the source NbN films, the effect of the bolometer size on the spectral properties of different planar feed antennas, and the local oscillator (LO) power required for optimal operation of the mixer. Studies of the NbN films with an atomic force microscope indicated a surface structure that may affect the performance of the smallest mixers. Measured spectral gain and noise temperature suggest that at frequencies above 2.5 THz the spiral feed provides better overall performance than the double-slot feed. Direct measurements of the optimal LO power support earlier estimates made in the framework of the uniform mixer model

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS): 38 GHz Detector Array of Bolometric Polarimeters

Science.gov (United States)

Appel, John W.; Ali, Aamir; Amiri, Mandana; Araujo, Derek; Bennett, Charles L.; Boone, Fletcher; Chan, Manwei; Cho, Hsiao-Mei; Chuss, David T.; Colazo, Felipe;

The cosmology large angular scale surveyor (CLASS): 38-GHz detector array of bolometric polarimeters

Science.gov (United States)

Appel, John W.; Ali, Aamir; Amiri, Mandana; Araujo, Derek; Bennet, Charles L.; Boone, Fletcher; Chan, Manwei; Cho, Hsiao-Mei; Chuss, David T.; Colazo, Felipe; Crowe, Erik; Denis, Kevin; Dünner, Rolando; Eimer, Joseph; Essinger-Hileman, Thomas; Gothe, Dominik; Halpern, Mark; Harrington, Kathleen; Hilton, Gene; Hinshaw, Gary F.; Huang, Caroline; Irwin, Kent; Jones, Glenn; Karakula, John; Kogut, Alan J.; Larson, David; Limon, Michele; Lowry, Lindsay; Marriage, Tobias; Mehrle, Nicholas; Miller, Amber D.; Miller, Nathan; Moseley, Samuel H.; Novak, Giles; Reintsema, Carl; Rostem, Karwan; Stevenson, Thomas; Towner, Deborah; U-Yen, Kongpop; Wagner, Emily; Watts, Duncan; Wollack, Edward; Xu, Zhilei; Zeng, Lingzhen

2014-07-01

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) experiment aims to map the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at angular scales larger than a few degrees. Operating from Cerro Toco in the Atacama Desert of Chile, it will observe over 65% of the sky at 38, 93, 148, and 217 GHz. In this paper we discuss the design, construction, and characterization of the CLASS 38 GHz detector focal plane, the first ever Q-band bolometric polarimeter array.

Fabrication of Ultrasensitive Transition Edge Sensor Bolometric Detectors for HIRMES

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Ari-David; Brekosky, Regis; Franz, David; Hsieh, Wen-Ting; Kutyrev, Alexander; Mikula, Vilem; Miller, Timothy; Moseley, S. Harvey; Oxborrow, Joseph; Rostem, Karwan;

Empirical Bolometric Fluxes and Angular Diameters of 1.6 Million Tycho-2 Stars and Radii of 350,000 Stars with Gaia DR1 Parallaxes

Science.gov (United States)

Stevens, Daniel J.; Stassun, Keivan G.; Gaudi, B. Scott

2017-12-01

We present bolometric fluxes and angular diameters for over 1.6 million stars in the Tycho-2 catalog, determined using previously determined empirical color-temperature and color-flux relations. We vet these relations via full fits to the full broadband spectral energy distributions for a subset of benchmark stars and perform quality checks against the large set of stars for which spectroscopically determined parameters are available from LAMOST, RAVE, and/or APOGEE. We then estimate radii for the 355,502 Tycho-2 stars in our sample whose Gaia DR1 parallaxes are precise to ≲ 10 % . For these stars, we achieve effective temperature, bolometric flux, and angular diameter uncertainties of the order of 1%-2% and radius uncertainties of order 8%, and we explore the effect that imposing spectroscopic effective temperature priors has on these uncertainties. These stellar parameters are shown to be reliable for stars with {T}{eff} ≲ 7000 K. The over half a million bolometric fluxes and angular diameters presented here will serve as an immediate trove of empirical stellar radii with the Gaia second data release, at which point effective temperature uncertainties will dominate the radius uncertainties. Already, dwarf, subgiant, and giant populations are readily identifiable in our purely empirical luminosity-effective temperature (theoretical) Hertzsprung-Russell diagrams.

Bolometric kinetic inductance detector technology for sub-millimeter radiometric imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Hassel, Juha; Timofeev, Andrey V.; Vesterinen, Visa; Sipola, Hannu; Helistö, Panu; Aikio, Mika; Mäyrä, Aki; Grönberg, Leif; Luukanen, Arttu

2015-10-01

Radiometric sub-millimeter imaging is a candidate technology especially in security screening applications utilizing the property of radiation in the band of 0.2 - 1.0 THz to penetrate through dielectric substances such as clothing. The challenge of the passive technology is the fact that the irradiance corresponding to the blackbody radiation is very weak in this spectral band: about two orders of magnitude below that of the infrared band. Therefore the role of the detector technology is of ultimate importance to achieve sufficient sensitivity. In this paper we present results related to our technology relying on superconducting kinetic inductance detectors operating in a thermal (bolometric) mode. The detector technology is motivated by the fact that it is naturally suitable for scalable multiplexed readout systems, and operates with relatively simple cryogenics. We will review the basic concepts of the detectors, and provide experimental figures of merit. Furthermore, we will discuss the issues related to the scale-up of our detector technology into large 2D focal plane arrays.

Fast neutron dosimeter with wide base silicon diode

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma Lu

1986-01-01

This paper briefly introduces a wide base silicon diode fast neutron dosimeter with wide measuring range and good energy response to fast neutron. It is suitable to be used to detect fast neutrons in the mixed field of γ-ray, thermal neutrons and fast neutrons

Fast mutual-information-based contrast enhancement

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Gang; Yu, Lifang; Tian, Huawei; Huang, Xianglin; Wang, Yongbin

2017-07-01

Recently, T. Celik proposed an effective image contrast enhancement (CE) method based on spatial mutual information and PageRank (SMIRANK). According to the state-of-the-art evaluation criteria, it achieves the best visual enhancement quality among existing global CE methods. However, SMIRANK runs much slower than the other counterparts, such as histogram equalization (HE) and adaptive gamma correction. Low computational complexity is also required for good CE algorithms. In this paper, we novelly propose a fast SMIRANK algorithm, called FastSMIRANK. It integrates both spatial and gray-level downsampling into the generation of pixel value mapping function. Moreover, the computation of rank vectors is speeded up by replacing PageRank with a simple yet efficient row-based operation of mutual information matrix. Extensive experimental results show that the proposed FastSMIRANK could accelerate the processing speed of SMIRANK by about 20 times, and is even faster than HE. Comparable enhancement quality is preserved simultaneously.

Fabrication of Microhotplates Based on Laser Micromachining of Zirconium Oxide

Science.gov (United States)

Oblov, Konstantin; Ivanova, Anastasia; Soloviev, Sergey; Samotaev, Nikolay; Lipilin, Alexandr; Vasiliev, Alexey; Sokolov, Andrey

We present a novel approach to the fabrication of MEMS devices, which can be used for gas sensors operating in harsh environment in wireless and autonomous information systems. MEMS platforms based on ZrO2/Y2O3 (YSZ) are applied in these devices. The methods of ceramic MEMS devices fabrication with laser micromachining are considered. It is shown that the application of YSZ membranes permits a decrease in MEMS power consumption at 4500C down to ∼75 mW at continuous heating and down to ∼ 1 mW at pulse heating mode. The application of the platforms is not restricted by gas sensors: they can be used for fast thermometers, bolometric matrices, flowmeteres and other MEMS devices working under harsh environmental conditions.

A fast dynamic mode in rare earth based glasses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhao, L. Z.; Xue, R. J.; Zhu, Z. G.; Wang, W. H.; Bai, H. Y., E-mail: hybai@iphy.ac.cn [Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 (China); Ngai, K. L. [Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Pisa, Largo B. Pontecorvo 3, I-56127 Pisa (Italy)

2016-05-28

Metallic glasses (MGs) usually exhibit only slow β-relaxation peak, and the signature of the fast dynamic is challenging to be observed experimentally in MGs. We report a general and unusual fast dynamic mode in a series of rare earth based MGs manifested as a distinct fast β′-relaxation peak in addition to slow β-relaxation and α-relaxation peaks. We show that the activation energy of the fast β′-relaxation is about 12RT{sub g} and is equivalent to the activation of localized flow event. The coupling of these dynamic processes as well as their relationship with glass transition and structural heterogeneity is discussed.

INTRINSIC COLORS, TEMPERATURES, AND BOLOMETRIC CORRECTIONS OF PRE-MAIN-SEQUENCE STARS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pecaut, Mark J.; Mamajek, Eric E. [University of Rochester, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rochester, NY 14627-0171 (United States)

2013-09-01

We present an analysis of the intrinsic colors and temperatures of 5-30 Myr old pre-main-sequence (pre-MS) stars using the F0- through M9-type members of nearby, negligibly reddened groups: the η Cha cluster, the TW Hydra Association, the β Pic Moving Group, and the Tucana-Horologium Association. To check the consistency of spectral types from the literature, we estimate new spectral types for 52 nearby pre-MS stars with spectral types F3 through M4 using optical spectra taken with the SMARTS 1.5 m telescope. Combining these new types with published spectral types and photometry from the literature (Johnson-Cousins BVI{sub C} , 2MASS JHK{sub S} and WISE W1, W2, W3, and W4), we derive a new empirical spectral type-color sequence for 5-30 Myr old pre-MS stars. Colors for pre-MS stars match dwarf colors for some spectral types and colors, but for other spectral types and colors, deviations can exceed 0.3 mag. We estimate effective temperatures (T {sub eff}) and bolometric corrections (BCs) for our pre-MS star sample through comparing their photometry to synthetic photometry generated using the BT-Settl grid of model atmosphere spectra. We derive a new T {sub eff} and BC scale for pre-MS stars, which should be a more appropriate match for T Tauri stars than often-adopted dwarf star scales. While our new T {sub eff} scale for pre-MS stars is within ≅100 K of dwarfs at a given spectral type for stars based on an extensive literature survey, (2) a revised Q-method relation for dereddening UBV photometry of OB-type stars, and (3) introduce two candidate spectral standard stars as representatives of spectral types K8V and K9V.

Noise temperature of an NbN hot-electron bolometric mixer at frequencies from 0.7 THz to 5.2 THz

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schubert, J.; Semenov, A.; Gol'tsman, G.; Huebers, H-W.; Voronov, B.; Gershenzon, E.; Schwaab, G.

1999-01-01

We report on noise temperature measurements of an NbN phonon-cooled hot-electron bolometric mixer in the terahertz frequency range. The devices were 3 nm thick films with in-plane dimensions 1.7x0.2μm 2 and 0.9x0.2μm 2 integrated in a complementary logarithmic-spiral antenna. Measurements were performed at seven frequencies ranging from 0.7 THz to 5.2 THz. The measured DSB noise temperatures are 1500 K (0.7 THz), 2200 K (1.4 THz), 2600 K (1.6 THz), 2900 K (2.5 THz), 4000 K (3.1 THz), 5600 K (4.3 THz) and 8800 K (5.2 THz). (author)

Fast-track Orthognathic Surgery: An Evidence-based Review

Science.gov (United States)

Otero, Joel Joshi; Detriche, Olivier; Mommaerts, Maurice Yves

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to establish a fast-track protocol for bimaxillary orthognathic surgery (OGS). Fast-track surgery (FTS) is a multidisciplinary approach where the pre-, intra-, and postoperative management is focusing maximally on a quick patient recovery and early discharge. To enable this, the patients’ presurgical stress and postsurgical discomfort should be maximally reduced. Both referral patterns and expenses within the health-care system are positively influenced by FTS. University hospital-literature review through Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Library (January 2000–July 2016) using the following words – “fast track, enhanced recovery, multimodal, and perioperative care” – to define a protocol evidence based for OGS, as well as evidenced-based medicine search of every term added to the protocol during the same period. The process has resulted in an OGS protocol that may improve the outcome of the patient through several nonoperative and operative measures such as preoperative patient education and intra/postoperative measures that should improve overall patient satisfaction, decrease morbidity such as postoperative nausea, headache, dizziness, pain, and intubation discomfort, and shorten hospital stay. A literature review allowed us to fine-tune a fast-track protocol for uncomplicated OGS that can be prospectively studied against currently applied ones. PMID:29264281

FAST: FAST Analysis of Sequences Toolbox

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Travis J. Lawrence

2015-05-01

Full Text Available FAST (FAST Analysis of Sequences Toolbox provides simple, powerful open source command-line tools to filter, transform, annotate and analyze biological sequence data. Modeled after the GNU (GNU’s Not Unix Textutils such as grep, cut, and tr, FAST tools such as fasgrep, fascut, and fastr make it easy to rapidly prototype expressive bioinformatic workflows in a compact and generic command vocabulary. Compact combinatorial encoding of data workflows with FAST commands can simplify the documentation and reproducibility of bioinformatic protocols, supporting better transparency in biological data science. Interface self-consistency and conformity with conventions of GNU, Matlab, Perl, BioPerl, R and GenBank help make FAST easy and rewarding to learn. FAST automates numerical, taxonomic, and text-based sorting, selection and transformation of sequence records and alignment sites based on content, index ranges, descriptive tags, annotated features, and in-line calculated analytics, including composition and codon usage. Automated content- and feature-based extraction of sites and support for molecular population genetic statistics makes FAST useful for molecular evolutionary analysis. FAST is portable, easy to install and secure thanks to the relative maturity of its Perl and BioPerl foundations, with stable releases posted to CPAN. Development as well as a publicly accessible Cookbook and Wiki are available on the FAST GitHub repository at https://github.com/tlawrence3/FAST. The default data exchange format in FAST is Multi-FastA (specifically, a restriction of BioPerl FastA format. Sanger and Illumina 1.8+ FastQ formatted files are also supported. FAST makes it easier for non-programmer biologists to interactively investigate and control biological data at the speed of thought.

Fast neutron spectrometry by bolometers lithium target for the reduction of background experiences of direct detection of dark matter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gironnet, J.

2010-01-01

Fast neutron spectrometry is a common interest for both direct dark matter detection and for nuclear research centres. Fast neutrons are usually detected indirectly. Neutrons are first slowed down by moderating materials for being detected in low energy range. Nevertheless, these detection techniques are and are limited in energy resolution. A new kind of fast neutron spectroscopy has been developed at the Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS) in the aim of having a better knowledge of neutron backgrounds by the association of the bolometric technique with neutron sensitive crystals containing Li. Lithium-6 is indeed an element which has one the highest cross section for neutron capture with the 6 Li(n,α) 3 H reaction. This reaction releases 4,78 MeV tagging energetically each neutron capture. In particular for fast neutrons, the total energy measured by the bolometer would be the sum of this energy reaction and of the incoming fast neutron energy. To validate this principle, a spectrometer for fast neutrons, compact and semi-transportable, was built in IAS. This cryogenic detector, operated at 300 - 400 mK, consists of a 0.5 g LiF 95% 6 Li enriched crystal read out by a NTD-Ge sensor. This PhD thesis was on the study of the spectrometer characteristics, from the first measurements at IAS, to the measurements in the nuclear research centre of the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) until the final calibration with the Amande instrument of the Institut de Radioprotection et de Surete Nucleaire (IRSN). (author)

Construction and test of a superconducting phase-transition thermometer for bolometric cryodetectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meier, H.J.

1990-10-01

In the framework of a project for the study of bolometric cryodetectors for the detection of heavy ions a superconducting phase-transition thermometer for the detection of heavy ions was constructed and tested with α particles. The thermometer consists of a 10 nm thick aluminium film, which was evaporated on a sapphire absorber with a typical magnitude of 2.5x2.5 x 0.33 mm 3 . By the method of photolithography the aluminium film was structured in form of a meander. By this at the working point of the thermometer resistances of up to 60 kΩ resulted, so that the signal acquisition was possible with usual readout electronics. Several of these thermometers were constructed, characterized in their properties, and tested. For the study of the detector properties of the thermometers in characterization measurements the width of the phase transitions dT ≅ 2 mK, the temperature dependence of the resistance to dR/dT ≅ 10MΩ/K, the thermal conductivity of the thermal coupling to the cooling bath, and the heat capacity of the bolometers to C ≅ 2 nJ/K were determined.The best energy resolution, which was reached with one of the superconducting phase-transition thermometers, amounts to 50 keV for 5.5 MeV α particles, which corresponds to a relative resolution of 0,9%. By this in the order of magnitude the quality of semiconductor detectors was reached. The best temperature resolution amounts to about 1 μK. (orig./HSI) [de

Heteroepitaxy of Nd{sub 0.67}Sr{sub 0.33}MnO{sub 3} on silicon for bolometric x-ray detector application

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yong, G. J.; Kolagani, Rajeswari M.; Adhikari, S. [Department of Physics, Astronomy and Geosciences, Towson University, Towson, Maryland 21252 (United States); Drury, O. B.; Gardner, C.; Bionta, R. M.; Friedrich, S. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Ave., Livermore, California 94550 (United States)

2010-11-15

We have recently reported the design concept and sensor fabrication for a novel bolometric x-ray detector based on a rare earth manganite material for application as a total energy monitor for the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) free electron laser at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC). The detector employs epitaxial thin films of Nd{sub 0.67}Sr{sub 0.33}MnO{sub 3} grown on Si by pulsed laser deposition. In this paper we report details of the fabrication of the actual detector, its response characteristics under photon illumination from LCLS, and improvements in the growth scheme of the sensor material on Si using a buffer/template layer scheme that employs yttria-stabilized zirconia, cerium oxide (CeO{sub 2}), and bismuth titanate (Bi{sub 4}Ti{sub 3}O{sub 12}). The thermal sensor response changes linearly with the energy of an optical calibration laser as expected, and the signals from optical and x-ray pulses at LCLS are very similar, thereby validating the design concept. To the best of our knowledge, the LCLS detector application reported here is the first practical use of colossal magnetoresistive manganite bolometers.

Investigation of base isolation for fast breeder reactor building

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morishita, M.; Kobatake, M.; Ohta, K.; Okada, Y.

1989-01-01

Achievement of great rationalization for seismic-resistant design of equipment system is necessary and indispensable from the viewpoints of economical and structural validity for a fast breeder reactor to be made practical. The method of reducing seismic loads on the building and equipment by application of base isolation may be an effective method, but in application to nuclear facilities, it will become necessary to examine the feasibility to actual design considering the severe seismic design requirements in Japan. With these considerations as the background, the authors carried out analytical studies from various viewpoints such as restoring force characteristics of base isolation device, influence of input earthquake motion, soil-structure interaction in base- isolated structure, etc. in case of providing base isolation system for a fast breeder reactor building. Based on these analytical studies, vibration tests on a base-isolated structure using a triaxial shaking table and simulation analyses of the tests were performed attempting to verify the effectiveness of the base isolation system and appropriateness of the analysis method. Results are presented

Fast Multipole-Based Elliptic PDE Solver and Preconditioner

KAUST Repository

Ibeid, Huda

2016-01-01

extrapolated scalability. Fast multipole methods (FMM) were originally developed for accelerating N-body problems for particle-based methods in astrophysics and molecular dynamics. FMM is more than an N-body solver, however. Recent efforts to view the FMM

MetaSensing's FastGBSAR: ground based radar for deformation monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Rödelsperger, Sabine; Meta, Adriano

2014-10-01

The continuous monitoring of ground deformation and structural movement has become an important task in engineering. MetaSensing introduces a novel sensor system, the Fast Ground Based Synthetic Aperture Radar (FastGBSAR), based on innovative technologies that have already been successfully applied to airborne SAR applications. The FastGBSAR allows the remote sensing of deformations of a slope or infrastructure from up to a distance of 4 km. The FastGBSAR can be setup in two different configurations: in Real Aperture Radar (RAR) mode it is capable of accurately measuring displacements along a linear range profile, ideal for monitoring vibrations of structures like bridges and towers (displacement accuracy up to 0.01 mm). Modal parameters can be determined within half an hour. Alternatively, in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) configuration it produces two-dimensional displacement images with an acquisition time of less than 5 seconds, ideal for monitoring areal structures like dams, landslides and open pit mines (displacement accuracy up to 0.1 mm). The MetaSensing FastGBSAR is the first ground based SAR instrument on the market able to produce two-dimensional deformation maps with this high acquisition rate. By that, deformation time series with a high temporal and spatial resolution can be generated, giving detailed information useful to determine the deformation mechanisms involved and eventually to predict an incoming failure. The system is fully portable and can be quickly installed on bedrock or a basement. The data acquisition and processing can be fully automated leading to a low effort in instrument operation and maintenance. Due to the short acquisition time of FastGBSAR, the coherence between two acquisitions is very high and the phase unwrapping is simplified enormously. This yields a high density of resolution cells with good quality and high reliability of the acquired deformations. The deformation maps can directly be used as input into an Early

McBits: fast constant-time code-based cryptography

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bernstein, D.J.; Chou, T.; Schwabe, P.

2015-01-01

This paper presents extremely fast algorithms for code-based public-key cryptography, including full protection against timing attacks. For example, at a 2^128 security level, this paper achieves a reciprocal decryption throughput of just 60493 cycles (plus cipher cost etc.) on a single Ivy Bridge

Fast Convolution Module (Fast Convolution Module)

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Bierens, L

1997-01-01

This report describes the design and realisation of a real-time range azimuth compression module, the so-called 'Fast Convolution Module', based on the fast convolution algorithm developed at TNO-FEL...

Cr-39 fast neutron dosemeter based on A (n, α) converter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Widayati, S.; Budiantari, T.

1998-01-01

The aim of this experiment is to obtained the response of Cr-39 as fast neutron dosemeter based on an (n, α) converter. Cr-39 was irradiated to AmBe fast neutron flux from 0.10 mSv to 2.5 mSv. Cr-39 processed by chemical etching with NaOH 20 % at temperature of 60 oC in six hours. The results of experiment showed that the response of Cr-39 based on an (n, α) converter is 6 times bigger than the response of Cr-39 without (n, α) converter. (author)

Fast optical recording media based on semiconductor nanostructures for image recording and processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kasherininov, P. G.; Tomasov, A. A.

2008-01-01

Fast optical recording media based on semiconductor nanostructures (CdTe, GaAs) for image recording and processing with a speed to 10 6 cycle/s (which exceeds the speed of known recording media based on metal-insulator-semiconductor-(liquid crystal) (MIS-LC) structures by two to three orders of magnitude), a photosensitivity of 10 -2 V/cm 2 , and a spatial resolution of 5-10 (line pairs)/mm are developed. Operating principles of nanostructures as fast optical recording media and methods for reading images recorded in such media are described. Fast optical processors for recording images in incoherent light based on CdTe crystal nanostructures are implemented. The possibility of their application to fabricate image correlators is shown.

Serum Lipid Profile: Fasting or Non-fasting?

OpenAIRE

Nigam, P. K.

2010-01-01

Serum lipid profile has now become almost a routine test. It is usually done in fasting state due to certain limitations in non-fasting serum sample. In the recent past efforts have been made to simplify blood sampling by replacing fasting lipid profile with non-fasting lipid profile. However, fasting specimen is preferred if cardiovascular risk assessment is based on total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol or non-HDL cholesterol. A lot has yet to be done in this area. Till then we have to believe...

Non-radial radiative transfer in clese binaries. Application to the bolometric reflection effect in W UMa stars

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pustylnik, I.

1977-01-01

In near-contact binary systems a significant portion of the total amount of the radiative energy is blocked between the facing hemispheres of two component stars. This circumstance combined with the lack of spherical symmetry of the radiation field may give rise to non-radial radiative transport. It is shown for a case of a spherical stellar atmosphere illuminated by a parallel beam of radiation that anisotropic scattering may be responsible for the non-radial component of the radiative flux. The effect of non-radial radiative transfer in close binaries would increase the total energy output observed at elongations at the expense of the radiative energy seen during conjunctions and would lead to colour changes qualitatively resembling those observed in many W UMa stars. Presumably it will be difficult to distinguish periodical light changes due to non-radial radiative transfer from those caused by distortions of the components or gravitational darkening. An order-of-magnitude estimate is made with the result that the bolometric amplitude of the non-radially scattered light probably does not exceed one per cent of the total luminosity of a binary system. (author)

GPU-Monte Carlo based fast IMRT plan optimization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yongbao Li

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Intensity-modulated radiation treatment (IMRT plan optimization needs pre-calculated beamlet dose distribution. Pencil-beam or superposition/convolution type algorithms are typically used because of high computation speed. However, inaccurate beamlet dose distributions, particularly in cases with high levels of inhomogeneity, may mislead optimization, hindering the resulting plan quality. It is desire to use Monte Carlo (MC methods for beamlet dose calculations. Yet, the long computational time from repeated dose calculations for a number of beamlets prevents this application. It is our objective to integrate a GPU-based MC dose engine in lung IMRT optimization using a novel two-steps workflow.Methods: A GPU-based MC code gDPM is used. Each particle is tagged with an index of a beamlet where the source particle is from. Deposit dose are stored separately for beamlets based on the index. Due to limited GPU memory size, a pyramid space is allocated for each beamlet, and dose outside the space is neglected. A two-steps optimization workflow is proposed for fast MC-based optimization. At first step, a rough dose calculation is conducted with only a few number of particle per beamlet. Plan optimization is followed to get an approximated fluence map. In the second step, more accurate beamlet doses are calculated, where sampled number of particles for a beamlet is proportional to the intensity determined previously. A second-round optimization is conducted, yielding the final result.Results: For a lung case with 5317 beamlets, 105 particles per beamlet in the first round, and 108 particles per beam in the second round are enough to get a good plan quality. The total simulation time is 96.4 sec.Conclusion: A fast GPU-based MC dose calculation method along with a novel two-step optimization workflow are developed. The high efficiency allows the use of MC for IMRT optimizations.--------------------------------Cite this article as: Li Y, Tian Z

Matrix-Vector Based Fast Fourier Transformations on SDR Architectures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. He

2008-05-01

Full Text Available Today Discrete Fourier Transforms (DFTs are applied in various radio standards based on OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex. It is important to gain a fast computational speed for the DFT, which is usually achieved by using specialized Fast Fourier Transform (FFT engines. However, in face of the Software Defined Radio (SDR development, more general (parallel processor architectures are often desirable, which are not tailored to FFT computations. Therefore, alternative approaches are required to reduce the complexity of the DFT. Starting from a matrix-vector based description of the FFT idea, we will present different factorizations of the DFT matrix, which allow a reduction of the complexity that lies between the original DFT and the minimum FFT complexity. The computational complexities of these factorizations and their suitability for implementation on different processor architectures are investigated.

An analysis of fast critical experiments using JEF-1-based 50-group constant set

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Jung Do; Gil, Choong Sup; Kim, Young Cheol [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1993-09-01

JEF-1-based 50-group cross section set for fast reactor calculations was generated using NJOY system. The set was then examined by analyzing measured integral quantities such as criticality and central reaction rate ratios for 27 fast critical assemblies. The calculated results using the new set were also compared with those of ENDF/B-IV or -V based fast set. In general, the JEF-1-based set shows an improvement in predicting measured integral quantities in comparison with the previous set. With a few exceptions, JEF-1 results are compareble to those of ENDF/B-V.

Scintillator-based diagnostic for fast ion loss measurements on DIII-D

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fisher, R. K.; Van Zeeland, M. A.; Pace, D. C.; Heidbrink, W. W.; Muscatello, C. M.; Zhu, Y. B.; Garcia-Munoz, M.

2010-01-01

A new scintillator-based fast ion loss detector has been installed on DIII-D with the time response (>100 kHz) needed to study energetic ion losses induced by Alfven eigenmodes and other MHD instabilities. Based on the design used on ASDEX Upgrade, the diagnostic measures the pitch angle and gyroradius of ion losses based on the position of the ions striking the two-dimensional scintillator. For fast time response measurements, a beam splitter and fiberoptics couple a portion of the scintillator light to a photomultiplier. Reverse orbit following techniques trace the lost ions to their possible origin within the plasma. Initial DIII-D results showing prompt losses and energetic ion loss due to MHD instabilities are discussed.

A Randomized Field Trial of the Fast ForWord Language Computer-Based Training Program

Science.gov (United States)

Borman, Geoffrey D.; Benson, James G.; Overman, Laura

2009-01-01

This article describes an independent assessment of the Fast ForWord Language computer-based training program developed by Scientific Learning Corporation. Previous laboratory research involving children with language-based learning impairments showed strong effects on their abilities to recognize brief and fast sequences of nonspeech and speech…

A fast image encryption system based on chaotic maps with finite precision representation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwok, H.S.; Tang, Wallace K.S.

2007-01-01

In this paper, a fast chaos-based image encryption system with stream cipher structure is proposed. In order to achieve a fast throughput and facilitate hardware realization, 32-bit precision representation with fixed point arithmetic is assumed. The major core of the encryption system is a pseudo-random keystream generator based on a cascade of chaotic maps, serving the purpose of sequence generation and random mixing. Unlike the other existing chaos-based pseudo-random number generators, the proposed keystream generator not only achieves a very fast throughput, but also passes the statistical tests of up-to-date test suite even under quantization. The overall design of the image encryption system is to be explained while detail cryptanalysis is given and compared with some existing schemes

Identifying factors associated with fast food consumption among adolescents in Beijing China using a theory-based approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, R; Castellanos, D C; Bachman, J

2016-07-01

China is in the midst of the nutrition transition with increasing rates of obesity and dietary changes. One contributor is the increase in fast food chains within the country. The purpose of this study was to develop a theory-based instrument that explores influencing factors of fast food consumption in adolescents residing in Beijing, China. Cross-sectional study. Value expectancy and theory of planned behaviour were utilised to explore influencing factors of fast food consumption in the target population. There were 201 Chinese adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18. Cronbach's alpha correlation coefficients were used to examine internal reliability of the theory-based questionnaire. Bivariate correlations and a MANOVA were utilised to determine the relationship between theory-based constructs, body mass index (BMI)-for-age and fast food intake frequency as well as to determine differences in theory-based scores among fast food consumption frequency groupings. The theory-based questionnaire showed good reliability. Furthermore, there was a significant difference in the theory-based subcategory scores between fast food frequency groups. A significant positive correlation was observed between times per week fast food was consumed and each theory-based subscale score. Using BMI-for-age of 176 participants, 81% were normal weight and 19% were considered overweight or obese. Results showed consumption of fast food to be on average 1.50 ± 1.33 per week. The relationship between BMI-for-age and times per week fast food was consumed was not significant. As the nutrition transition continues and fast food chains expand, it is important to explore factors effecting fast food consumption in China. Interventions targeting influencing factors can be developed to encourage healthy dietary choice in the midst of this transition. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Safety and feasibility of fasting in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Dorff, Tanya B; Groshen, Susan; Garcia, Agustin; Shah, Manali; Tsao-Wei, Denice; Pham, Huyen; Cheng, Chia-Wei; Brandhorst, Sebastian; Cohen, Pinchas; Wei, Min; Longo, Valter; Quinn, David I

2016-06-10

Short-term starvation prior to chemotherapy administration protects mice against toxicity. We undertook dose-escalation of fasting prior to platinum-based chemotherapy to determine safety and feasibility in cancer patients. 3 cohorts fasted before chemotherapy for 24, 48 and 72 h (divided as 48 pre-chemo and 24 post-chemo) and recorded all calories consumed. Feasibility was defined as ≥ 3/6 subjects in each cohort consuming ≤ 200 kcal per 24 h during the fast period without excess toxicity. Oxidative stress was evaluated in leukocytes using the COMET assay. Insulin, glucose, ketones, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs) were measured as biomarkers of the fasting state. The median age of our 20 subjects was 61, and 85 % were women. Feasibility criteria were met. Fasting-related toxicities were limited to ≤ grade 2, most commonly fatigue, headache, and dizziness. The COMET assay indicated reduced DNA damage in leukocytes from subjects who fasted for ≥48 h (p = 0.08). There was a non-significant trend toward less grade 3 or 4 neutropenia in the 48 and 72 h cohorts compared to 24 h cohort (p = 0.17). IGF-1 levels decreased by 30, 33 and 8 % in the 24, 48 and 72 h fasting cohorts respectively after the first fasting period. Fasting for 72 h around chemotherapy administration is safe and feasible for cancer patients. Biomarkers such as IGF-1 may facilitate assessment of differences in chemotherapy toxicity in subgroups achieving the physiologic fasting state. An onging randomized trial is studying the effect of 72 h of fasting. NCT00936364 , registered propectively on July 9, 2009.

Safety and feasibility of fasting in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dorff, Tanya B.; Groshen, Susan; Garcia, Agustin; Shah, Manali; Tsao-Wei, Denice; Pham, Huyen; Cheng, Chia-Wei; Brandhorst, Sebastian; Cohen, Pinchas; Wei, Min; Longo, Valter; Quinn, David I.

2016-01-01

Short-term starvation prior to chemotherapy administration protects mice against toxicity. We undertook dose-escalation of fasting prior to platinum-based chemotherapy to determine safety and feasibility in cancer patients. 3 cohorts fasted before chemotherapy for 24, 48 and 72 h (divided as 48 pre-chemo and 24 post-chemo) and recorded all calories consumed. Feasibility was defined as ≥ 3/6 subjects in each cohort consuming ≤ 200 kcal per 24 h during the fast period without excess toxicity. Oxidative stress was evaluated in leukocytes using the COMET assay. Insulin, glucose, ketones, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs) were measured as biomarkers of the fasting state. The median age of our 20 subjects was 61, and 85 % were women. Feasibility criteria were met. Fasting-related toxicities were limited to ≤ grade 2, most commonly fatigue, headache, and dizziness. The COMET assay indicated reduced DNA damage in leukocytes from subjects who fasted for ≥48 h (p = 0.08). There was a non-significant trend toward less grade 3 or 4 neutropenia in the 48 and 72 h cohorts compared to 24 h cohort (p = 0.17). IGF-1 levels decreased by 30, 33 and 8 % in the 24, 48 and 72 h fasting cohorts respectively after the first fasting period. Fasting for 72 h around chemotherapy administration is safe and feasible for cancer patients. Biomarkers such as IGF-1 may facilitate assessment of differences in chemotherapy toxicity in subgroups achieving the physiologic fasting state. An onging randomized trial is studying the effect of 72 h of fasting. Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT00936364, registered propectively on July 9, 2009. The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12885-016-2370-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Neighborhood fast food availability and fast food consumption.

Science.gov (United States)

Oexle, Nathalie; Barnes, Timothy L; Blake, Christine E; Bell, Bethany A; Liese, Angela D

2015-09-01

Recent nutritional and public health research has focused on how the availability of various types of food in a person's immediate area or neighborhood influences his or her food choices and eating habits. It has been theorized that people living in areas with a wealth of unhealthy fast-food options may show higher levels of fast-food consumption, a factor that often coincides with being overweight or obese. However, measuring food availability in a particular area is difficult to achieve consistently: there may be differences in the strict physical locations of food options as compared to how individuals perceive their personal food availability, and various studies may use either one or both of these measures. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between weekly fast-food consumption and both a person's perceived availability of fast-food and an objective measure of fast-food presence - Geographic Information Systems (GIS) - within that person's neighborhood. A randomly selected population-based sample of eight counties in South Carolina was used to conduct a cross-sectional telephone survey assessing self-report fast-food consumption and perceived availability of fast food. GIS was used to determine the actual number of fast-food outlets within each participant's neighborhood. Using multinomial logistic regression analyses, we found that neither perceived availability nor GIS-based presence of fast-food was significantly associated with weekly fast-food consumption. Our findings indicate that availability might not be the dominant factor influencing fast-food consumption. We recommend using subjective availability measures and considering individual characteristics that could influence both perceived availability of fast food and its impact on fast-food consumption. If replicated, our findings suggest that interventions aimed at reducing fast-food consumption by limiting neighborhood fast-food availability might not be completely effective

Near midplane scintillator-based fast ion loss detector on DIII-D.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, X; Fisher, R K; Pace, D C; García-Muñoz, M; Chavez, J A; Heidbrink, W W; Van Zeeland, M A

2012-10-01

A new scintillator-based fast-ion loss detector (FILD) installed near the outer midplane of the plasma has been commissioned on DIII-D. This detector successfully measures coherent fast ion losses produced by fast-ion driven instabilities (≤500 kHz). Combined with the first FILD at ∼45° below the outer midplane [R. K. Fisher, et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 81, 10D307 (2010)], the two-detector system measures poloidal variation of losses. The phase space sensitivity of the new detector (gyroradius r(L) ∼ [1.5-8] cm and pitch angle α ∼ [35°-85°]) is calibrated using neutral beam first orbit loss measurements. Since fast ion losses are localized poloidally, having two FILDs at different poloidal locations allows for the study of losses over a wider range of plasma shapes and types of loss orbits.

Infrared video based gas leak detection method using modified FAST features

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Min; Hong, Hanyu; Huang, Likun

2018-03-01

In order to detect the invisible leaking gas that is usually dangerous and easily leads to fire or explosion in time, many new technologies have arisen in the recent years, among which the infrared video based gas leak detection is widely recognized as a viable tool. However, all the moving regions of a video frame can be detected as leaking gas regions by the existing infrared video based gas leak detection methods, without discriminating the property of each detected region, e.g., a walking person in a video frame may be also detected as gas by the current gas leak detection methods.To solve this problem, we propose a novel infrared video based gas leak detection method in this paper, which is able to effectively suppress strong motion disturbances.Firstly, the Gaussian mixture model(GMM) is used to establish the background model.Then due to the observation that the shapes of gas regions are different from most rigid moving objects, we modify the Features From Accelerated Segment Test (FAST) algorithm and use the modified FAST (mFAST) features to describe each connected component. In view of the fact that the statistical property of the mFAST features extracted from gas regions is different from that of other motion regions, we propose the Pixel-Per-Points (PPP) condition to further select candidate connected components.Experimental results show that the algorithm is able to effectively suppress most strong motion disturbances and achieve real-time leaking gas detection.

The Role of Fast Carrier Dynamics in SOA Based Devices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mørk, Jesper; Berg, Tommy Winther; Nielsen, Mads Lønstrup

2004-01-01

and the properties of schemes relying on cross-gain as well as cross-phase modulation are discussed. The possible benefits of using SOAs with quantum dot active regions are theoretically analyzed. The bandfilling characteristics and the presence of fast capture processes may allow to reach bitrates in excess of 100......We describe the characteristics of all-optical switching schemes based on semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs), with particular emphasis on the role of the fast carrier dynamics. The SOA response to a single short pulse as well as to a data-modulated pulse train is investigated...

Factors Affecting the Consumption of Fast Foods Among Women Based on the Social Cognitive Theory

OpenAIRE

Nooshin Beiranvandpour; Akram Karimi-Shahanjarini; Forouzan Rezapur-Shahkolai; Abbas Moghimbeigi

2014-01-01

Introduction: Fast-food consumption among Iranian families appears to be increasing probably due to urbanization, popularization of western-style diets and increased women's labor force participation. Few theory-based investigations have assessed the determinants of fast food consumption. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the predictors of fast food consumption, based on the social cognitive theory (SCT) among women referred to health centers in Hamadan, West of Iran. Mate...

Fast Beam-Based BPM Calibration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bertsche, Kirk

2012-01-01

The Alignment Diagnostic System (ADS) of the LCLS undulator system indicates that the 33 undulator quadrupoles have extremely high position stability over many weeks. However, beam trajectory straightness and lasing efficiency degrade more quickly than this. A lengthy Beam Based Alignment (BBA) procedure must be executed every two to four weeks to re-optimize the X-ray beam parameters. The undulator system includes RF cavity Beam Position Monitors (RFBPMs), several of which are utilized by an automatic feedback system to align the incoming electron-beam trajectory to the undulator axis. The beam trajectory straightness degradation has been traced to electronic drifts of the gain and offset of the BPMs used in the beam feedback system. To quickly recover the trajectory straightness, we have developed a fast beam-based procedure to recalibrate the BPMs. This procedure takes advantage of the high-precision monitoring capability of the ADS, which allows highly repeatable positioning of undulator quadrupoles. This report describes the ADS, the position stability of the LCLS undulator quadrupoles, and some results of the new recovery procedure.

Fast image matching algorithm based on projection characteristics

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Lijuan; Yue, Xiaobo; Zhou, Lijun

2011-06-01

Based on analyzing the traditional template matching algorithm, this paper identified the key factors restricting the speed of matching and put forward a brand new fast matching algorithm based on projection. Projecting the grayscale image, this algorithm converts the two-dimensional information of the image into one-dimensional one, and then matches and identifies through one-dimensional correlation, meanwhile, because of normalization has been done, when the image brightness or signal amplitude increasing in proportion, it could also perform correct matching. Experimental results show that the projection characteristics based image registration method proposed in this article could greatly improve the matching speed, which ensuring the matching accuracy as well.

FastChem: An ultra-fast equilibrium chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Kitzmann, Daniel; Stock, Joachim

2018-04-01

FastChem is an equilibrium chemistry code that calculates the chemical composition of the gas phase for given temperatures and pressures. Written in C++, it is based on a semi-analytic approach, and is optimized for extremely fast and accurate calculations.

Basic concepts underlying fast-neutron-based contraband interrogation technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fink, C.L.; Guenther, P.T.; Smith, D.L.

1992-01-01

All accelerator-based fast-neutron contraband interrogation systems have many closely interrelated subsystems, whose performance parameters will be critically interdependent. For optimal overall performance, a systems analysis design approach is required. This paper provides a general overview of the interrelationships and the tradeoffs to be considered for optimization of nonaccelerator subsystems

Evidence-based surgical care and the evolution of fast-track surgery

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kehlet, H.; Wilmore, D.W.

2008-01-01

, randomized studies, and meta-analyses, the concept of the "fast-track methodology" has uniformly provided a major enhancement in recovery leading to decreased hospital stay and with an apparent reduction in medical morbidity but unaltered "surgery-specific" morbidity in a variety of procedures. However......BACKGROUND: Optimization of postoperative outcome requires the application of evidence-based principles of care carefully integrated into a multimodal rehabilitation program. OBJECTIVE: To assess, synthesize, and discuss implementation of "fast-track" recovery programs. DATA SOURCES: Medline MBASE...... (January 1966-May 2007) and the Cochrane library (January 1966-May 2007) were searched using the following keywords: fast-track, enhanced recovery, accelerated rehabilitation, and multimodal and perioperative care. In addition, the synthesis on the many specific interventions and organizational...

Electrical studies on silver based fast ion conducting glassy materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rao, B. Appa; Kumar, E. Ramesh; Kumari, K. Rajani; Bhikshamaiah, G.

2014-01-01

Among all the available fast ion conductors, silver based glasses exhibit high conductivity. Further, glasses containing silver iodide enhances fast ion conducting behavior at room temperature. Glasses of various compositions of silver based fast ion conductors in the AgI−Ag 2 O−[(1−x)B 2 O 3 −xTeO 2 ] (x=0 to1 mol% in steps of 0.2) glassy system have been prepared by melt quenching method. The glassy nature of the compounds has been confirmed by X-ray diffraction. The electrical conductivity (AC) measurements have been carried out in the frequency range of 1 KHz–3MHz by Impedance Analyzer in the temperature range 303–423K. The DC conductivity measurements were also carried out in the temperature range 300–523K. From both AC and DC conductivity studies, it is found that the conductivity increases and activation energy decreases with increasing the concentration of TeO 2 as well as with temperature. The conductivity of the present glass system is found to be of the order of 10 −2 S/cm at room temperature. The ionic transport number of these glasses is found to be 0.999 indicating that these glasses can be used as electrolyte in batteries

Multirobot FastSLAM Algorithm Based on Landmark Consistency Correction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shi-Ming Chen

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Considering the influence of uncertain map information on multirobot SLAM problem, a multirobot FastSLAM algorithm based on landmark consistency correction is proposed. Firstly, electromagnetism-like mechanism is introduced to the resampling procedure in single-robot FastSLAM, where we assume that each sampling particle is looked at as a charged electron and attraction-repulsion mechanism in electromagnetism field is used to simulate interactive force between the particles to improve the distribution of particles. Secondly, when multiple robots observe the same landmarks, every robot is regarded as one node and Kalman-Consensus Filter is proposed to update landmark information, which further improves the accuracy of localization and mapping. Finally, the simulation results show that the algorithm is suitable and effective.

Fast Pedestrian Recognition Based on Multisensor Fusion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hongyu Hu

2012-01-01

Full Text Available A fast pedestrian recognition algorithm based on multisensor fusion is presented in this paper. Firstly, potential pedestrian locations are estimated by laser radar scanning in the world coordinates, and then their corresponding candidate regions in the image are located by camera calibration and the perspective mapping model. For avoiding time consuming in the training and recognition process caused by large numbers of feature vector dimensions, region of interest-based integral histograms of oriented gradients (ROI-IHOG feature extraction method is proposed later. A support vector machine (SVM classifier is trained by a novel pedestrian sample dataset which adapt to the urban road environment for online recognition. Finally, we test the validity of the proposed approach with several video sequences from realistic urban road scenarios. Reliable and timewise performances are shown based on our multisensor fusing method.

Application of Fast Dynamic Allan Variance for the Characterization of FOGs-Based Measurement While Drilling.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Lu; Zhang, Chunxi; Gao, Shuang; Wang, Tao; Lin, Tie; Li, Xianmu

2016-12-07

The stability of a fiber optic gyroscope (FOG) in measurement while drilling (MWD) could vary with time because of changing temperature, high vibration, and sudden power failure. The dynamic Allan variance (DAVAR) is a sliding version of the Allan variance. It is a practical tool that could represent the non-stationary behavior of the gyroscope signal. Since the normal DAVAR takes too long to deal with long time series, a fast DAVAR algorithm has been developed to accelerate the computation speed. However, both the normal DAVAR algorithm and the fast algorithm become invalid for discontinuous time series. What is worse, the FOG-based MWD underground often keeps working for several days; the gyro data collected aboveground is not only very time-consuming, but also sometimes discontinuous in the timeline. In this article, on the basis of the fast algorithm for DAVAR, we make a further advance in the fast algorithm (improved fast DAVAR) to extend the fast DAVAR to discontinuous time series. The improved fast DAVAR and the normal DAVAR are used to responsively characterize two sets of simulation data. The simulation results show that when the length of the time series is short, the improved fast DAVAR saves 78.93% of calculation time. When the length of the time series is long ( 6 × 10 5 samples), the improved fast DAVAR reduces calculation time by 97.09%. Another set of simulation data with missing data is characterized by the improved fast DAVAR. Its simulation results prove that the improved fast DAVAR could successfully deal with discontinuous data. In the end, a vibration experiment with FOGs-based MWD has been implemented to validate the good performance of the improved fast DAVAR. The results of the experience testify that the improved fast DAVAR not only shortens computation time, but could also analyze discontinuous time series.

Application of Fast Dynamic Allan Variance for the Characterization of FOGs-Based Measurement While Drilling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lu Wang

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The stability of a fiber optic gyroscope (FOG in measurement while drilling (MWD could vary with time because of changing temperature, high vibration, and sudden power failure. The dynamic Allan variance (DAVAR is a sliding version of the Allan variance. It is a practical tool that could represent the non-stationary behavior of the gyroscope signal. Since the normal DAVAR takes too long to deal with long time series, a fast DAVAR algorithm has been developed to accelerate the computation speed. However, both the normal DAVAR algorithm and the fast algorithm become invalid for discontinuous time series. What is worse, the FOG-based MWD underground often keeps working for several days; the gyro data collected aboveground is not only very time-consuming, but also sometimes discontinuous in the timeline. In this article, on the basis of the fast algorithm for DAVAR, we make a further advance in the fast algorithm (improved fast DAVAR to extend the fast DAVAR to discontinuous time series. The improved fast DAVAR and the normal DAVAR are used to responsively characterize two sets of simulation data. The simulation results show that when the length of the time series is short, the improved fast DAVAR saves 78.93% of calculation time. When the length of the time series is long ( 6 × 10 5 samples, the improved fast DAVAR reduces calculation time by 97.09%. Another set of simulation data with missing data is characterized by the improved fast DAVAR. Its simulation results prove that the improved fast DAVAR could successfully deal with discontinuous data. In the end, a vibration experiment with FOGs-based MWD has been implemented to validate the good performance of the improved fast DAVAR. The results of the experience testify that the improved fast DAVAR not only shortens computation time, but could also analyze discontinuous time series.

Lasing cavities and ultra-fast switch based on self-collimation of photonic crystal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Deyin; Zhou Chuanhong; Gong Qian; Jiang Xunya

2008-01-01

The lasing cavities and ultra-fast switch based on the self-collimation (SC) of photonic crystal have been studied in this work. Some special properties of these devices are demonstrated, such as the higher quality factors and concise integration of the lasing cavities, the tolerance of the non-parallel reflectors in Fabry-Perot cavities. With nonlinearity, the ultra-fast switch can also be realized around the SC frequency. All these functional devices are designed based on the strong beam confinement of SC

Lasing cavities and ultra-fast switch based on self-collimation of photonic crystal

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhao Deyin; Zhou Chuanhong; Gong Qian; Jiang Xunya [State Key Laboratory of Functional Materials for Informatics, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200050 (China)], E-mail: xyjiang@mit.edu

2008-06-07

The lasing cavities and ultra-fast switch based on the self-collimation (SC) of photonic crystal have been studied in this work. Some special properties of these devices are demonstrated, such as the higher quality factors and concise integration of the lasing cavities, the tolerance of the non-parallel reflectors in Fabry-Perot cavities. With nonlinearity, the ultra-fast switch can also be realized around the SC frequency. All these functional devices are designed based on the strong beam confinement of SC.

Design of Measurement and Control System of Composite Fast Transfer Switch Based on PLC

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ZHANG Hong-yi

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The fast transfer switch gets more extensive application in the power supply system along with the raising of power supply requirement for continuity and reliability in the sensitivity loads such as in airport，military place，hospital and large scale industrial production line． Therefore it is important that how to make fast transfer switch run safely and reliably． The paper expatiated the structure and principle of a fast transfer switch based on mechanical and electronic compound technology，and，according to the basic requirement and the characteristic of the fast transfer switch，a PLC mastered measuring and controlling system has been designed to raise the operation reliability of the fast transfer switch．

A fast Na+/Ca2+-based action potential in a marine diatom.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alison R Taylor

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Electrical impulses in animals play essential roles in co-ordinating an array of physiological functions including movement, secretion, environmental sensing and development. Underpinning many of these electrical signals is a fast Na+-based action potential that has been fully characterised only in cells associated with the neuromuscular systems of multicellular animals. Such rapid action potentials are thought to have evolved with the first metazoans, with cnidarians being the earliest representatives. The present study demonstrates that a unicellular protist, the marine diatom Odontella sinensis, can also generate a fast Na+/Ca2+ based action potential that has remarkably similar biophysical and pharmacological properties to invertebrates and vertebrate cardiac and skeletal muscle cells. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The kinetic, ionic and pharmacological properties of the rapid diatom action potential were examined using single electrode current and voltage clamp techniques. Overall, the characteristics of the fast diatom currents most closely resemble those of vertebrate and invertebrate muscle Na+/Ca2+ currents. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This is the first demonstration of voltage-activated Na+ channels and the capacity to generate fast Na+-based action potentials in a unicellular photosynthetic organism. The biophysical and pharmacological characteristics together with the presence of a voltage activated Na+/Ca2+ channel homologue in the recently sequenced genome of the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana, provides direct evidence supporting the hypothesis that this rapid signalling mechanism arose in ancestral unicellular eukaryotes and has been retained in at least two phylogenetically distant lineages of eukaryotes; opisthokonts and the stramenopiles. The functional role of the fast animal-like action potential in diatoms remains to be elucidated but is likely involved in rapid environmental sensing of these widespread and

A MEMS-based super fast dew point hygrometer—construction and medical applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jachowicz, Ryszard S; Weremczuk, Jerzy; Paczesny, Daniel; Tarapata, Grzegorz

2009-01-01

The paper shows how MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical system) technology and a modified principle of fast temperature control (by heat injection instead of careful control of cooling) can considerably improve the dynamic parameters of dew point hygrometers. Some aspects of MEMS-type integrated sensor construction and technology, whole measurement system design, the control algorithm to run the system as well as empirical dynamic parameters from the tests are discussed too. The hygrometer can easily obtain five to six measurements per second with an uncertainty of less than 0.3 K. The meter range is between −10 °C and 40 °C dew point. In the second part of the paper (section 2), two different successful applications in medicine based on fast humidity measurements have been discussed. Some specific constructions of these super fast dew point hygrometers based on a MEMS sensor as well as limited empirical results from clinical tests have been reported too

A MEMS-based super fast dew point hygrometer—construction and medical applications

Science.gov (United States)

Jachowicz, Ryszard S.; Weremczuk, Jerzy; Paczesny, Daniel; Tarapata, Grzegorz

2009-12-01

The paper shows how MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical system) technology and a modified principle of fast temperature control (by heat injection instead of careful control of cooling) can considerably improve the dynamic parameters of dew point hygrometers. Some aspects of MEMS-type integrated sensor construction and technology, whole measurement system design, the control algorithm to run the system as well as empirical dynamic parameters from the tests are discussed too. The hygrometer can easily obtain five to six measurements per second with an uncertainty of less than 0.3 K. The meter range is between -10 °C and 40 °C dew point. In the second part of the paper (section 2), two different successful applications in medicine based on fast humidity measurements have been discussed. Some specific constructions of these super fast dew point hygrometers based on a MEMS sensor as well as limited empirical results from clinical tests have been reported too.

Lead-based Fast Reactor Development Plan and R&D Status in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu Yican

2013-01-01

• Lead-based fast reactors have good potential for waste transmutation, fuel breeding and energy production, which has been selected by CAS as the advanced reactor development emphasis with the support of ADS program and MFE program. Sharing of technologies R&D is possible among GIF/ADS/Fusion. • The concepts and test strategy of series China lead-based fast reactors (CLEAR) have been developed. The preliminary engineering design and safety analysis of CLEAR-I are underway. • Technology R&D on CLEAR with series lead alloy loops and accelerator-based neutron generator have been constructed or under construction. • CLEAR series reactor design and construction have big challenges, widely international cooperation on reactor design and technology R&D is welcome

Fast and accurate grid representations for atom-based docking with partner flexibility.

Science.gov (United States)

de Vries, Sjoerd J; Zacharias, Martin

2017-06-30

Macromolecular docking methods can broadly be divided into geometric and atom-based methods. Geometric methods use fast algorithms that operate on simplified, grid-like molecular representations, while atom-based methods are more realistic and flexible, but far less efficient. Here, a hybrid approach of grid-based and atom-based docking is presented, combining precalculated grid potentials with neighbor lists for fast and accurate calculation of atom-based intermolecular energies and forces. The grid representation is compatible with simultaneous multibody docking and can tolerate considerable protein flexibility. When implemented in our docking method ATTRACT, grid-based docking was found to be ∼35x faster. With the OPLSX forcefield instead of the ATTRACT coarse-grained forcefield, the average speed improvement was >100x. Grid-based representations may allow atom-based docking methods to explore large conformational spaces with many degrees of freedom, such as multiple macromolecules including flexibility. This increases the domain of biological problems to which docking methods can be applied. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A fast method for linear waves based on geometrical optics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stolk, C.C.

2009-01-01

We develop a fast method for solving the one-dimensional wave equation based on geometrical optics. From geometrical optics (e.g., Fourier integral operator theory or WKB approximation) it is known that high-frequency waves split into forward and backward propagating parts, each propagating with the

Fast-Response Electrostatic Actuator Based on Nano-Gap

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edward Kostsov

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The possibility of constructing new high-performance electrostatic fast actuators based on energy transformation in nanometer gaps is considered. The construction and the properties of the operation of such devices as well as their typical parameters are described. The drives are based on ferroelectrics with high values of dielectric permittivity (above 1000. They can be constructed using microelectronic technology. It is demonstrated that the actuators are capable of maintaining forces with a specific density up to 106 N/m2 and up to 100–1000 N in real devices for 10–100 µs. Experimental research results of such actuators are presented.

FPS-RAM: Fast Prefix Search RAM-Based Hardware for Forwarding Engine

Science.gov (United States)

Zaitsu, Kazuya; Yamamoto, Koji; Kuroda, Yasuto; Inoue, Kazunari; Ata, Shingo; Oka, Ikuo

Ternary content addressable memory (TCAM) is becoming very popular for designing high-throughput forwarding engines on routers. However, TCAM has potential problems in terms of hardware and power costs, which limits its ability to deploy large amounts of capacity in IP routers. In this paper, we propose new hardware architecture for fast forwarding engines, called fast prefix search RAM-based hardware (FPS-RAM). We designed FPS-RAM hardware with the intent of maintaining the same search performance and physical user interface as TCAM because our objective is to replace the TCAM in the market. Our RAM-based hardware architecture is completely different from that of TCAM and has dramatically reduced the costs and power consumption to 62% and 52%, respectively. We implemented FPS-RAM on an FPGA to examine its lookup operation.

Fasting time and vitamin B12 levels in a community-based population.

Science.gov (United States)

Orton, Dennis J; Naugler, Christopher; Sadrzadeh, S M Hossein

2016-07-01

Vitamin B12, also known as cobalamin (Cbl), is an essential vitamin that manifests with numerous severe but non-specific symptoms in cases of deficiency. Assessing Cbl status often requires fasting, although this requirement is not standard between institutions. This study evaluated the impact of fasting on Cbl levels in a large community-based cohort in an effort to promote standardization of Cbl testing between sites. Laboratory data for Cbl, fasting time, patient age and sex were obtained from laboratory information service from Calgary Laboratory Services (CLS) for the period of April 2011 to June 2015. CLS is the sole supplier of laboratory services in the Southern Alberta region in Canada (population, approximately 1.4 million). To investigate potential sex-specific effects of fasting on Cbl levels, males and females were analyzed separately using linear regression models. A total of 346,957 individual patient results (196,849 females, 146,085 males) were obtained. The mean plasma Cbl level was 386.5 (±195.6) pmol/L and 412.0 (±220.8) pmol/L for males and females, respectively. Linear regression analysis showed fasting had no significant association with Cbl levels in females; however a statistically significant decrease of 0.9pmol/L/hour fasting (pfasting has the potential to contribute to higher rates of Cbl deficiency in men. Together, these data suggest fasting should be excluded as a requirement for evaluating plasma Cbl. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Adaptive Hybrid Visual Servo Regulation of Mobile Robots Based on Fast Homography Decomposition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chunfu Wu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available For the monocular camera-based mobile robot system, an adaptive hybrid visual servo regulation algorithm which is based on a fast homography decomposition method is proposed to drive the mobile robot to its desired position and orientation, even when object’s imaging depth and camera’s position extrinsic parameters are unknown. Firstly, the homography’s particular properties caused by mobile robot’s 2-DOF motion are taken into account to induce a fast homography decomposition method. Secondly, the homography matrix and the extracted orientation error, incorporated with the desired view’s single feature point, are utilized to form an error vector and its open-loop error function. Finally, Lyapunov-based techniques are exploited to construct an adaptive regulation control law, followed by the experimental verification. The experimental results show that the proposed fast homography decomposition method is not only simple and efficient, but also highly precise. Meanwhile, the designed control law can well enable mobile robot position and orientation regulation despite the lack of depth information and camera’s position extrinsic parameters.

Small-size pedestrian detection in large scene based on fast R-CNN

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Shengke; Yang, Na; Duan, Lianghua; Liu, Lu; Dong, Junyu

2018-04-01

Pedestrian detection is a canonical sub-problem of object detection with high demand during recent years. Although recent deep learning object detectors such as Fast/Faster R-CNN have shown excellent performance for general object detection, they have limited success for small size pedestrian detection in large-view scene. We study that the insufficient resolution of feature maps lead to the unsatisfactory accuracy when handling small instances. In this paper, we investigate issues involving Fast R-CNN for pedestrian detection. Driven by the observations, we propose a very simple but effective baseline for pedestrian detection based on Fast R-CNN, employing the DPM detector to generate proposals for accuracy, and training a fast R-CNN style network to jointly optimize small size pedestrian detection with skip connection concatenating feature from different layers to solving coarseness of feature maps. And the accuracy is improved in our research for small size pedestrian detection in the real large scene.

Ni-Based Catalysts for the Hydrotreatment of Fast Pyrolysis Oil

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ardiyanti, A. R.; Bykova, M. V.; Khromova, S. A.; Yin, W.; Venderbosch, R. H.; Yakovlev, V. A.; Heeres, Hero

Catalytic hydrotreatment is an attractive technology to convert fast pyrolysis oil to stabilized oil products for co processing in conventional crude oil refinery units. We report here the use of novel bimetallic NiCu- and NiPd-based (Picula) catalysts characterized by a high Ni content (29-58 wt %)

Digital image correlation based on a fast convolution strategy

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Yuan; Zhan, Qin; Xiong, Chunyang; Huang, Jianyong

2017-10-01

In recent years, the efficiency of digital image correlation (DIC) methods has attracted increasing attention because of its increasing importance for many engineering applications. Based on the classical affine optical flow (AOF) algorithm and the well-established inverse compositional Gauss-Newton algorithm, which is essentially a natural extension of the AOF algorithm under a nonlinear iterative framework, this paper develops a set of fast convolution-based DIC algorithms for high-efficiency subpixel image registration. Using a well-developed fast convolution technique, the set of algorithms establishes a series of global data tables (GDTs) over the digital images, which allows the reduction of the computational complexity of DIC significantly. Using the pre-calculated GDTs, the subpixel registration calculations can be implemented efficiently in a look-up-table fashion. Both numerical simulation and experimental verification indicate that the set of algorithms significantly enhances the computational efficiency of DIC, especially in the case of a dense data sampling for the digital images. Because the GDTs need to be computed only once, the algorithms are also suitable for efficiently coping with image sequences that record the time-varying dynamics of specimen deformations.

Infrared response of YBa2Cu3O7-δ films to pulsed, broadband synchrotron radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carr, G.L.; Quijada, M.; Tanner, D.B.; Etemad, S.; DeRosa, F.; Venkatesan, T.; Dutta, B.; Hemmick, D.; Xi, X.

1990-01-01

We report studies of a thin high T c film operating as a fast bolometric detector of infrared radiation. The film has a response of infrared radiation. The film has a response of several mV when exposed to a 1 W, 1 ns duration broadband infrared pulse. The decay after the pulse was about 4 ns. The temperature dependence of the response accurately tracked dR/dT. A thermal model, in which the film's temperature varies relative to the substrate, provides a good description of the response. We find no evidence for other (non-bolometric) response mechanisms for temperatures near or well below T c . 13 refs., 4 figs

Reducing preoperative fasting time: A trend based on evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

de Aguilar-Nascimento, José Eduardo; Dock-Nascimento, Diana Borges

2010-03-27

Preoperative fasting is mandatory before anesthesia to reduce the risk of aspiration. However, the prescribed 6-8 h of fasting is usually prolonged to 12-16 h for various reasons. Prolonged fasting triggers a metabolic response that precipitates gluconeogenesis and increases the organic response to trauma. Various randomized trials and meta-analyses have consistently shown that is safe to reduce the preoperative fasting time with a carbohydrate-rich drink up to 2 h before surgery. Benefits related to this shorter preoperative fasting include the reduction of postoperative gastrointestinal discomfort and insulin resistance. New formulas containing amino acids such as glutamine and other peptides are being studied and are promising candidates to be used to reduce preoperative fasting time.

BN800: The advanced sodium cooled fast reactor plant based on close fuel cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu Xingman

2011-01-01

As one of the advanced countries with actually fastest reactor technology, Russia has always taken a leading role in the forefront of the development of fast reactor technology. After successful operation of BN600 fast reactor nuclear power station with a capacity of six hundred thousand kilowatts of electric power for nearly 30 years, and after a few decades of several design optimization improved and completed on its basis, it is finally decided to build Unit 4 of Beloyarsk nuclear power station (BN800 fast reactor power station). The BN800 fast reactor nuclear power station is considered to be the project of the world's most advanced fast reactor nuclear power being put into implementation. The fast reactor technology in China has been developed for decades. With the Chinese pilot fast reactor to be put into operation soon, the Chinese model fast reactor power station has been put on the agenda. Meanwhile, the closed fuel cycle development strategy with fast reactor as key aspect has given rise to the concern of experts and decision-making level in relevant areas. Based on the experiences accumulated in many years in dealing the Sino-Russian cooperation in fast reactor technology, with reference to the latest Russian published and authoritative literatures regarding BN800 fast reactor nuclear power station, the author compiled this article into a comprehensive introduction for reference by leaders and experts dealing in the related fields of nuclear fuel cycle strategy and fast reactor technology development researches, etc. (authors)

Non-destructive fast charging algorithm of lithium-ion batteries based on the control-oriented electrochemical model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chu, Zhengyu; Feng, Xuning; Lu, Languang; Li, Jianqiu; Han, Xuebing; Ouyang, Minggao

2017-01-01

Highlights: •A novel non-destructive fast charging algorithm of lithium-ion batteries is proposed. •A close-loop observer of lithium deposition status is constructed based on the SP2D model. •The charging current is modified online using the feedback of the lithium deposition status. •The algorithm can shorten the charging time and can be used for charging from different initial SOCs. •The post-mortem observation and degradation tests show that no lithium deposition occurs during fast charging. -- Abstract: Fast charging is critical for the application of lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles. Conventional fast charging algorithms may shorten the cycle life of lithium-ion batteries and induce safety problems, such as internal short circuit caused by lithium deposition at the negative electrode. In this paper, a novel, non-destructive model-based fast charging algorithm is proposed. The fast charging algorithm is composed of two closed loops. The first loop includes an anode over-potential observer that can observe the status of lithium deposition online, whereas the second loop includes a feedback structure that can modify the current based on the observed status of lithium deposition. The charging algorithm enhances the charging current to maintain the observed anode over-potential near the preset threshold potential. Therefore, the fast charging algorithm can decrease the charging time while protecting the health of the battery. The fast charging algorithm is validated on a commercial large-format nickel cobalt manganese/graphite cell. The results showed that 96.8% of the battery capacity can be charged within 52 min. The post-mortem observation of the surface of the negative electrode and degradation tests revealed that the fast charging algorithm proposed here protected the battery from lithium deposition.

Multirate-based fast parallel algorithms for 2-D DHT-based real-valued discrete Gabor transform.

Science.gov (United States)

Tao, Liang; Kwan, Hon Keung

2012-07-01

Novel algorithms for the multirate and fast parallel implementation of the 2-D discrete Hartley transform (DHT)-based real-valued discrete Gabor transform (RDGT) and its inverse transform are presented in this paper. A 2-D multirate-based analysis convolver bank is designed for the 2-D RDGT, and a 2-D multirate-based synthesis convolver bank is designed for the 2-D inverse RDGT. The parallel channels in each of the two convolver banks have a unified structure and can apply the 2-D fast DHT algorithm to speed up their computations. The computational complexity of each parallel channel is low and is independent of the Gabor oversampling rate. All the 2-D RDGT coefficients of an image are computed in parallel during the analysis process and can be reconstructed in parallel during the synthesis process. The computational complexity and time of the proposed parallel algorithms are analyzed and compared with those of the existing fastest algorithms for 2-D discrete Gabor transforms. The results indicate that the proposed algorithms are the fastest, which make them attractive for real-time image processing.

Evaluating Fast Maximum Likelihood-Based Phylogenetic Programs Using Empirical Phylogenomic Data Sets

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Xiaofan; Shen, Xing-Xing; Hittinger, Chris Todd

2018-01-01

Abstract The sizes of the data matrices assembled to resolve branches of the tree of life have increased dramatically, motivating the development of programs for fast, yet accurate, inference. For example, several different fast programs have been developed in the very popular maximum likelihood framework, including RAxML/ExaML, PhyML, IQ-TREE, and FastTree. Although these programs are widely used, a systematic evaluation and comparison of their performance using empirical genome-scale data matrices has so far been lacking. To address this question, we evaluated these four programs on 19 empirical phylogenomic data sets with hundreds to thousands of genes and up to 200 taxa with respect to likelihood maximization, tree topology, and computational speed. For single-gene tree inference, we found that the more exhaustive and slower strategies (ten searches per alignment) outperformed faster strategies (one tree search per alignment) using RAxML, PhyML, or IQ-TREE. Interestingly, single-gene trees inferred by the three programs yielded comparable coalescent-based species tree estimations. For concatenation-based species tree inference, IQ-TREE consistently achieved the best-observed likelihoods for all data sets, and RAxML/ExaML was a close second. In contrast, PhyML often failed to complete concatenation-based analyses, whereas FastTree was the fastest but generated lower likelihood values and more dissimilar tree topologies in both types of analyses. Finally, data matrix properties, such as the number of taxa and the strength of phylogenetic signal, sometimes substantially influenced the programs’ relative performance. Our results provide real-world gene and species tree phylogenetic inference benchmarks to inform the design and execution of large-scale phylogenomic data analyses. PMID:29177474

Characteristics of a stable arc based on FAST and MIRACLE observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Janhunen

2000-02-01

Full Text Available A stable evening sector arc is studied using observations from the FAST satellite at 1250 km altitude and the MIRACLE ground-based network, which contains all-sky cameras, coherent radars (STARE, and magnetometers. Both FAST and STARE observe a northward electric field region of about 200 km width and a field magnitude of about 50 mV/m southward of the arc, which is a typical signature for an evening-sector arc. The field-aligned current determined from FAST electron and magnetometer data are in rather good agreement within the arcs. Outside the arcs, the electron data misses the current carriers of the downward FAC probably because it is mainly carried by electrons of smaller energy than the instrument threshold. Studying the westward propagation speed of small undulations associated with the arc using the all-sky cameras gives a velocity of about 2 km/s. This speed is higher than the background ionospheric plasma speed (about 1 km/s, but it agrees rather well with the idea originally proposed by Davis that the undulations reflect an E × B motion in the acceleration region. The ground magnetograms indicate that the main current flows slightly south of the arc. Computing the ionospheric conductivity from FAST electron data and using the ground magnetograms to estimate the current yields an ionospheric electric field pattern, in rather good agreement with FAST results.Key words: Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere; ionosphere-magnetosphere interactions - Magnetospheric physics (auroral phenomena

A fast circuit analysis program based on microcomputer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu Guoji

1988-01-01

A fast circuit analysis program (FCAP) is introduced. The program may be used to analyse DC operating point, frequency and transient response of fast circuit. The feature is that the model of active element is not specified. Users may choose one of many equivalent circuits. Written in FORTRAN 77, FCAP can be run on IBM PC and its compatible computers. It can be used as an assistant tool of analysis and design for fast circuits

Designing research of fast neutron radiation field based on the reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Wenzhong; Zhang Xiaomin

2009-01-01

Based on the Tsinghua University experimental nuclear reactor neutron source, this research designed moderate theory technical scheme, and the thickness of materials in the scheme were selected by means of Monte Carlo simulating method. An fast neutron radiation field was gained. (authors)

An Improved Fast Compressive Tracking Algorithm Based on Online Random Forest Classifier

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiong Jintao

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The fast compressive tracking (FCT algorithm is a simple and efficient algorithm, which is proposed in recent years. But, it is difficult to deal with the factors such as occlusion, appearance changes, pose variation, etc in processing. The reasons are that, Firstly, even if the naive Bayes classifier is fast in training, it is not robust concerning the noise. Secondly, the parameters are required to vary with the unique environment for accurate tracking. In this paper, we propose an improved fast compressive tracking algorithm based on online random forest (FCT-ORF for robust visual tracking. Firstly, we combine ideas with the adaptive compressive sensing theory regarding the weighted random projection to exploit both local and discriminative information of the object. The second reason is the online random forest classifier for online tracking which is demonstrated with more robust to the noise adaptively and high computational efficiency. The experimental results show that the algorithm we have proposed has a better performance in the field of occlusion, appearance changes, and pose variation than the fast compressive tracking algorithm’s contribution.

Fast humidity sensors based on CeO2 nanowires

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fu, X Q; Wang, C; Yu, H C; Wang, Y G; Wang, T H

2007-01-01

Fast humidity sensors are reported that are based on CeO 2 nanowires synthesized by a hydrothermal method. Both the response and recovery time are about 3 s, and are independent of the humidity. The sensitivity increases gradually as the humidity increases, and is up to 85 at 97% RH. The resistance decreases exponentially with increasing humidity, implying ion-type conductivity as the humidity sensing mechanism. A model based on the morphology and surface energy of the nanowires is given to explain these results further. Our experimental results indicate a pathway to improving the performance of humidity sensors

Object Detection Based on Fast/Faster RCNN Employing Fully Convolutional Architectures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yun Ren

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Modern object detectors always include two major parts: a feature extractor and a feature classifier as same as traditional object detectors. The deeper and wider convolutional architectures are adopted as the feature extractor at present. However, many notable object detection systems such as Fast/Faster RCNN only consider simple fully connected layers as the feature classifier. In this paper, we declare that it is beneficial for the detection performance to elaboratively design deep convolutional networks (ConvNets of various depths for feature classification, especially using the fully convolutional architectures. In addition, this paper also demonstrates how to employ the fully convolutional architectures in the Fast/Faster RCNN. Experimental results show that a classifier based on convolutional layer is more effective for object detection than that based on fully connected layer and that the better detection performance can be achieved by employing deeper ConvNets as the feature classifier.

Influence of diurnal variation and fasting on serum iron concentrations in a community-based population.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Leonard T; Buse, Joshua D; Baskin, Leland; Sadrzadeh, S M Hossein; Naugler, Christopher

2017-12-01

Serum iron is an important clinical test to help identify cases of iron deficiency or overload. Fluctuations caused by diurnal variation and diet are thought to influence test results, which may affect clinical patient management. We examined the impact of these preanalytical factors on iron concentrations in a large community-based cohort. Serum iron concentration, blood collection time, fasting duration, patient age and sex were obtained for community-based clinical testing from the Laboratory Information Service at Calgary Laboratory Services for the period of January 2011 to December 2015. A total of 276,307 individual test results were obtained. Iron levels were relatively high over a long period from 8:00 to 15:00. Mean concentrations were highest at blood collection times of 11:00 for adult men and 12:00 for adult women and children, however iron levels peaked as late as 15:00 in teenagers. With regard to fasting, iron levels required approximately 5h post-prandial time to return to a baseline, except for children and teenage females where no significant variation was seen until after 11h fasting. After 10h fasting, iron concentrations in all patient groups gradually increased to higher levels compared to earlier fasting times. Serum iron concentrations remain reasonably stable during most daytime hours for testing purposes. In adults, blood collection after 5 to 9h fasting provides a representative estimate of a patient's iron levels. For patients who have fasted overnight, i.e. ≥12h fasting, clinicians should be aware that iron concentrations may be elevated beyond otherwise usual levels. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Reducing preoperative fasting time: A trend based on evidence

OpenAIRE

de Aguilar-Nascimento, José Eduardo; Dock-Nascimento, Diana Borges

2010-01-01

Preoperative fasting is mandatory before anesthesia to reduce the risk of aspiration. However, the prescribed 6-8 h of fasting is usually prolonged to 12-16 h for various reasons. Prolonged fasting triggers a metabolic response that precipitates gluconeogenesis and increases the organic response to trauma. Various randomized trials and meta-analyses have consistently shown that is safe to reduce the preoperative fasting time with a carbohydrate-rich drink up to 2 h before surgery. Benefits re...

HCUP Fast Stats

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — HCUP Fast Stats provides easy access to the latest HCUP-based statistics for health information topics. HCUP Fast Stats uses visual statistical displays in...

Factors Affecting the Consumption of Fast Foods Among Women Based on the Social Cognitive Theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nooshin Beiranvandpour

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Fast-food consumption among Iranian families appears to be increasing probably due to urbanization, popularization of western-style diets and increased women's labor force participation. Few theory-based investigations have assessed the determinants of fast food consumption. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the predictors of fast food consumption, based on the social cognitive theory (SCT among women referred to health centers in Hamadan, West of Iran. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted using structured self-administered questionnaires on 384 women referred to 10 health centers in Hamadan city, Western of Iran. Health center was considered as a sampling unit and systematic random sampling method was applied to select health centers. Participants filled a questionnaire containing SCT constructs, an eight-item food frequency questionnaire, and demographic characteristics. Data was analyzed by independent T-test, one-way ANOVA, and multiple linear regression using SPSS-16. Results: The model could explain 21% of the variance in frequency of fast food consumption. Outcome expectations (p=0.04 and availability (p< 0.001 were the significant predictors. The career status of women was the only related demographic characteristic (p< 0.001. Conclusion: Interventions aimed to change outcome expectations and introducing nutritious alternatives to fast food could be promising to decrease the rate of fast-food consumption.

A Fast Implementation for the Typical Testor Property Identification Based on an Accumulative Binary Tuple

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guillermo Sanchez-Diaz

2012-11-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we introduce a fast implementation of the CT EXT algorithm for testor property identification, that is based on an accumulative binary tuple. The fast implementation of the CT EXT algorithm (one of the fastest algorithms reported, is designed to generate all the typical testors from a training matrix, requiring a reduced number of operations. Experimental results using this fast implementation and the comparison with other state-of-the-art algorithms that generate typical testors are presented.

Fast Rotation-Free Feature-Based Image Registration Using Improved N-SIFT and GMM-Based Parallel Optimization.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Dongdong; Yang, Feng; Yang, Caiyun; Leng, Chengcai; Cao, Jian; Wang, Yining; Tian, Jie

2016-08-01

Image registration is a key problem in a variety of applications, such as computer vision, medical image processing, pattern recognition, etc., while the application of registration is limited by time consumption and the accuracy in the case of large pose differences. Aimed at these two kinds of problems, we propose a fast rotation-free feature-based rigid registration method based on our proposed accelerated-NSIFT and GMM registration-based parallel optimization (PO-GMMREG). Our method is accelerated by using the GPU/CUDA programming and preserving only the location information without constructing the descriptor of each interest point, while its robustness to missing correspondences and outliers is improved by converting the interest point matching to Gaussian mixture model alignment. The accuracy in the case of large pose differences is settled by our proposed PO-GMMREG algorithm by constructing a set of initial transformations. Experimental results demonstrate that our proposed algorithm can fast rigidly register 3-D medical images and is reliable for aligning 3-D scans even when they exhibit a poor initialization.

Fasting and rheumatic diseases

OpenAIRE

Mohammad Hassan Jokar

2015-01-01

Fasting is one of the important religious practices of Muslims, in which the individuals abstain from eating and drinking from dawn to sunset. Fasting is not obligatory or even not allowed, in case it causes health problems to the fasting individual. Rheumatic diseases are a major group of chronic diseases which can bring about numerous problems while fasting. The aim of this article is to review the impact of Islamic fasting on rheumatic patients, based on the scientific evidences.

Child and Parent Voices on a Community-Based Prevention Program (FAST)

Science.gov (United States)

Fearnow-Kenney, Melodie; Hill, Patricia; Gore, Nicole

2016-01-01

Families and Schools Together (FAST) is a collaborative program involving schools, families, and community-based partners in efforts to prevent substance use, juvenile delinquency, school failure, child abuse and neglect, mental health problems, and violence. Although evaluated extensively, there remains a dearth of qualitative data on child and…

Arikan and Alamouti matrices based on fast block-wise inverse Jacket transform

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Moon Ho; Khan, Md Hashem Ali; Kim, Kyeong Jin

2013-12-01

Recently, Lee and Hou (IEEE Signal Process Lett 13: 461-464, 2006) proposed one-dimensional and two-dimensional fast algorithms for block-wise inverse Jacket transforms (BIJTs). Their BIJTs are not real inverse Jacket transforms from mathematical point of view because their inverses do not satisfy the usual condition, i.e., the multiplication of a matrix with its inverse matrix is not equal to the identity matrix. Therefore, we mathematically propose a fast block-wise inverse Jacket transform of orders N = 2 k , 3 k , 5 k , and 6 k , where k is a positive integer. Based on the Kronecker product of the successive lower order Jacket matrices and the basis matrix, the fast algorithms for realizing these transforms are obtained. Due to the simple inverse and fast algorithms of Arikan polar binary and Alamouti multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) non-binary matrices, which are obtained from BIJTs, they can be applied in areas such as 3GPP physical layer for ultra mobile broadband permutation matrices design, first-order q-ary Reed-Muller code design, diagonal channel design, diagonal subchannel decompose for interference alignment, and 4G MIMO long-term evolution Alamouti precoding design.

Fast LCMV-based Methods for Fundamental Frequency Estimation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jesper Rindom; Glentis, George-Othon; Christensen, Mads Græsbøll

2013-01-01

peaks and require matrix inversions for each point in the search grid. In this paper, we therefore consider fast implementations of LCMV-based fundamental frequency estimators, exploiting the estimators' inherently low displacement rank of the used Toeplitz-like data covariance matrices, using...... with several orders of magnitude, but, as we show, further computational savings can be obtained by the adoption of an approximative IAA-based data covariance matrix estimator, reminiscent of the recently proposed Quasi-Newton IAA technique. Furthermore, it is shown how the considered pitch estimators can...... as such either the classic time domain averaging covariance matrix estimator, or, if aiming for an increased spectral resolution, the covariance matrix resulting from the application of the recent iterative adaptive approach (IAA). The proposed exact implementations reduce the required computational complexity...

Sparsity-based fast CGH generation using layer-based approach for 3D point cloud model

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Hak Gu; Jeong, Hyunwook; Ro, Yong Man

2017-03-01

Computer generated hologram (CGH) is becoming increasingly important for a 3-D display in various applications including virtual reality. In the CGH, holographic fringe patterns are generated by numerically calculating them on computer simulation systems. However, a heavy computational cost is required to calculate the complex amplitude on CGH plane for all points of 3D objects. This paper proposes a new fast CGH generation based on the sparsity of CGH for 3D point cloud model. The aim of the proposed method is to significantly reduce computational complexity while maintaining the quality of the holographic fringe patterns. To that end, we present a new layer-based approach for calculating the complex amplitude distribution on the CGH plane by using sparse FFT (sFFT). We observe the CGH of a layer of 3D objects is sparse so that dominant CGH is rapidly generated from a small set of signals by sFFT. Experimental results have shown that the proposed method is one order of magnitude faster than recently reported fast CGH generation.

Parameter tuning for the NFFT based fast Ewald summation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Franziska Nestler

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The computation of the Coulomb potentials and forces in charged particle systems under 3d-periodic boundary conditionsis possible in an efficient way by utilizing the Ewald summation formulas and applying the fast Fourier transform (FFT. In this paper we consider the particle-particle NFFT (P$^2$NFFT approach, which is based on the fast Fourier transform for nonequispaced data (NFFT and compare the error behaviors regarding different window functions, which are used in order to approximate the given continuous charge distribution by a mesh based charge density. Typically B-splines are applied in the scope of particle mesh methods, as for instance within the well known particle-particle particle-mesh (P$^3$M algorithm. The publicly available P$^2$NFFT algorithm allows the application of an oversampled FFT as well as the usage of different window functions. We consider for the first time also an approximation by Bessel functions and show how the resulting root mean square errors in the forces can be predicted precisely and efficiently. The results show that, if the parameters are tuned appropriately, the Bessel window function is in many cases even the better choice in terms of computational costs. Moreover, the results indicate that it is often advantageous in terms of efficiency to spend some oversampling within the NFFT while using a window function with a smaller support.

Parameter tuning for the NFFT based fast Ewald summation

Science.gov (United States)

Nestler, Franziska

2016-07-01

The computation of the Coulomb potentials and forces in charged particle systems under 3d-periodic boundary conditions is possible in an efficient way by utilizing the Ewald summation formulas and applying the fast Fourier transform (FFT). In this paper we consider the particle-particle NFFT (P^2NFFT) approach, which is based on the fast Fourier transform for nonequispaced data (NFFT) and compare the error behaviors regarding different window functions, which are used in order to approximate the given continuous charge distribution by a mesh based charge density. Typically B-splines are applied in the scope of particle mesh methods, as for instance within the well known particle-particle particle-mesh (P^3M) algorithm. The publicly available P^2NFFT algorithm allows the application of an oversampled FFT as well as the usage of different window functions. We consider for the first time also an approximation by Bessel functions and show how the resulting root mean square errors in the forces can be predicted precisely and efficiently. The results show that, if the parameters are tuned appropriately, the Bessel window function is in many cases even the better choice in terms of computational costs. Moreover, the results indicate that it is often advantageous in terms of efficiency to spend some oversampling within the NFFT while using a window function with a smaller support.

Rule-Based Reasoning Is Fast and Belief-Based Reasoning Can Be Slow: Challenging Current Explanations of Belief-Bias and Base-Rate Neglect

Science.gov (United States)

Newman, Ian R.; Gibb, Maia; Thompson, Valerie A.

2017-01-01

It is commonly assumed that belief-based reasoning is fast and automatic, whereas rule-based reasoning is slower and more effortful. Dual-Process theories of reasoning rely on this speed-asymmetry explanation to account for a number of reasoning phenomena, such as base-rate neglect and belief-bias. The goal of the current study was to test this…

Development of fast neutron radiography system based on portable neutron generator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yi, Chia Jia, E-mail: gei-i-kani@hotmail.com; Nilsuwankosit, Sunchai, E-mail: sunchai.n@chula.ac.th [Department of Nuclear Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Phayathai Rd., Patumwan, Bangkok, THAILAND 10330 (Thailand)

2016-01-22

Due to the high installation cost, the safety concern and the immobility of the research reactors, the neutron radiography system based on portable neutron generator is proposed. Since the neutrons generated from a portable neutron generator are mostly the fast neutrons, the system is emphasized on using the fast neutrons for the purpose of conducting the radiography. In order to suppress the influence of X-ray produced by the neutron generator, a combination of a shielding material sandwiched between two identical imaging plates is used. A binary XOR operation is then applied for combining the information from the imaging plates. The raw images obtained confirm that the X-ray really has a large effect and that XOR operation can help enhance the effect of the neutrons.

Fast Food Consumption Behaviors in High-School Students based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kamal Mirkarimi

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Background: Studies report inappropriate snack and junk food consumption patterns in children and young adults in Iran. The current survey was aimed to explore fast food consumption behaviors in high-school students based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was done among 500 high-school students. Samples were selected based on cluster sampling method at first and simple random at second. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire. To analyze, SPSS-16 and tests, including t-test, Chi-square, correlation coefficient and multiple regressions were used. Results: The monthly frequency of fast food consumption was 4.01. The TPB explained fast food use behaviors with R2 of 0.6, effectively. Results also represented that frequency of fast food consumption was meaningfully in line with behavioral intention (β = 0.60, P < 0.05 and subjective norms (β = 0.17, P < 0.05. Conclusion: It seems likely beneficial to consider important subjective norms (especially friends that may strongly effect on high-school student intention to use fast food. Also students perceived behavioral control must be increased.

Fast online Monte Carlo-based IMRT planning for the MRI linear accelerator

Science.gov (United States)

Bol, G. H.; Hissoiny, S.; Lagendijk, J. J. W.; Raaymakers, B. W.

2012-03-01

The MRI accelerator, a combination of a 6 MV linear accelerator with a 1.5 T MRI, facilitates continuous patient anatomy updates regarding translations, rotations and deformations of targets and organs at risk. Accounting for these demands high speed, online intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) re-optimization. In this paper, a fast IMRT optimization system is described which combines a GPU-based Monte Carlo dose calculation engine for online beamlet generation and a fast inverse dose optimization algorithm. Tightly conformal IMRT plans are generated for four phantom cases and two clinical cases (cervix and kidney) in the presence of the magnetic fields of 0 and 1.5 T. We show that for the presented cases the beamlet generation and optimization routines are fast enough for online IMRT planning. Furthermore, there is no influence of the magnetic field on plan quality and complexity, and equal optimization constraints at 0 and 1.5 T lead to almost identical dose distributions.

Stilbene crystalline powder in polymer base as a new fast neutron detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Budakovsky, S.V.; Galunov, N.Z.; Grinyov, B.V.; Karavaeva, N.L.; Kyung Kim, Jong; Kim, Yong-Kyun; Pogorelova, N.V.; Tarasenko, O.A.

2007-01-01

A new organic scintillation material consisting of stilbene grains in a polymer glue base is presented. The crystalline grains of stilbene are obtained by mechanical grinding of stilbene single crystals. The resulting composite scintillators have been studied as detectors for fast neutrons

Fast reconstruction of off-axis digital holograms based on digital spatial multiplexing.

Science.gov (United States)

Sha, Bei; Liu, Xuan; Ge, Xiao-Lu; Guo, Cheng-Shan

2014-09-22

A method for fast reconstruction of off-axis digital holograms based on digital multiplexing algorithm is proposed. Instead of the existed angular multiplexing (AM), the new method utilizes a spatial multiplexing (SM) algorithm, in which four off-axis holograms recorded in sequence are synthesized into one SM function through multiplying each hologram with a tilted plane wave and then adding them up. In comparison with the conventional methods, the SM algorithm simplifies two-dimensional (2-D) Fourier transforms (FTs) of four N*N arrays into a 1.25-D FTs of one N*N arrays. Experimental results demonstrate that, using the SM algorithm, the computational efficiency can be improved and the reconstructed wavefronts keep the same quality as those retrieved based on the existed AM method. This algorithm may be useful in design of a fast preview system of dynamic wavefront imaging in digital holography.

Optimization-Based Calibration of FAST.Farm Parameters Against SOWFA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Doubrawa Moreira, Paula [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Annoni, Jennifer [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Jonkman, Jason [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Ghate, Aditya [Stanford University

2018-01-12

FAST.Farm is a medium-delity wind farm modeling tool that can be used to assess power and loads contributions of wind turbines in a wind farm. The objective of this paper is to undertake a calibration procedure to set the user parameters of FAST.Farm to accurately represent results from large-eddy simulations. The results provide an in- depth analysis of the comparison of FAST.Farm and large-eddy simulations before and after calibration. The comparison of FAST.Farm and large-eddy simulation results are presented with respect to streamwise and radial velocity components as well as wake-meandering statistics (mean and standard deviation) in the lateral and vertical directions under different atmospheric and turbine operating conditions.

Variable disparity-motion estimation based fast three-view video coding

Science.gov (United States)

Bae, Kyung-Hoon; Kim, Seung-Cheol; Hwang, Yong Seok; Kim, Eun-Soo

2009-02-01

In this paper, variable disparity-motion estimation (VDME) based 3-view video coding is proposed. In the encoding, key-frame coding (KFC) based motion estimation and variable disparity estimation (VDE) for effectively fast three-view video encoding are processed. These proposed algorithms enhance the performance of 3-D video encoding/decoding system in terms of accuracy of disparity estimation and computational overhead. From some experiments, stereo sequences of 'Pot Plant' and 'IVO', it is shown that the proposed algorithm's PSNRs is 37.66 and 40.55 dB, and the processing time is 0.139 and 0.124 sec/frame, respectively.

Time-driven Activity-based Cost of Fast-Track Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andreasen, Signe E; Holm, Henriette B; Jørgensen, Mira

2017-01-01

this between 2 departments with different logistical set-ups. METHODS: Prospective data collection was analyzed using the time-driven activity-based costing method (TDABC) on time consumed by different staff members involved in patient treatment in the perioperative period of fast-track THA and TKA in 2 Danish...... orthopedic departments with standardized fast-track settings, but different logistical set-ups. RESULTS: Length of stay was median 2 days in both departments. TDABC revealed minor differences in the perioperative settings between departments, but the total cost excluding the prosthesis was similar at USD......-track methodology, the result could be a more cost-effective pathway altogether. As THA and TKA are potentially costly procedures and the numbers are increasing in an economical limited environment, the aim of this study is to present baseline detailed economical calculations of fast-track THA and TKA and compare...

A Novel Fast and Secure Approach for Voice Encryption Based on DNA Computing

Science.gov (United States)

Kakaei Kate, Hamidreza; Razmara, Jafar; Isazadeh, Ayaz

2018-06-01

Today, in the world of information communication, voice information has a particular importance. One way to preserve voice data from attacks is voice encryption. The encryption algorithms use various techniques such as hashing, chaotic, mixing, and many others. In this paper, an algorithm is proposed for voice encryption based on three different schemes to increase flexibility and strength of the algorithm. The proposed algorithm uses an innovative encoding scheme, the DNA encryption technique and a permutation function to provide a secure and fast solution for voice encryption. The algorithm is evaluated based on various measures including signal to noise ratio, peak signal to noise ratio, correlation coefficient, signal similarity and signal frequency content. The results demonstrate applicability of the proposed method in secure and fast encryption of voice files

NetCDF based data archiving system applied to ITER Fast Plant System Control prototype

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castro, R.; Vega, J.; Ruiz, M.; De Arcas, G.; Barrera, E.; López, J.M.; Sanz, D.; Gonçalves, B.; Santos, B.; Utzel, N.; Makijarvi, P.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Implementation of a data archiving solution for a Fast Plant System Controller (FPSC) for ITER CODAC. ► Data archiving solution based on scientific NetCDF-4 file format and Lustre storage clustering. ► EPICS control based solution. ► Tests results and detailed analysis of using NetCDF-4 and clustering technologies on fast acquisition data archiving. - Abstract: EURATOM/CIEMAT and Technical University of Madrid (UPM) have been involved in the development of a FPSC (Fast Plant System Control) prototype for ITER, based on PXIe (PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation). One of the main focuses of this project has been data acquisition and all the related issues, including scientific data archiving. Additionally, a new data archiving solution has been developed to demonstrate the obtainable performances and possible bottlenecks of scientific data archiving in Fast Plant System Control. The presented system implements a fault tolerant architecture over a GEthernet network where FPSC data are reliably archived on remote, while remaining accessible to be redistributed, within the duration of a pulse. The storing service is supported by a clustering solution to guaranty scalability, so that FPSC management and configuration may be simplified, and a unique view of all archived data provided. All the involved components have been integrated under EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System), implementing in each case the necessary extensions, state machines and configuration process variables. The prototyped solution is based on the NetCDF-4 (Network Common Data Format) file format in order to incorporate important features, such as scientific data models support, huge size files management, platform independent codification, or single-writer/multiple-readers concurrency. In this contribution, a complete description of the above mentioned solution is presented, together with the most relevant results of the tests performed, while focusing in the

Fast Traffic Sign Recognition with a Rotation Invariant Binary Pattern Based Feature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shouyi Yin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Robust and fast traffic sign recognition is very important but difficult for safe driving assistance systems. This study addresses fast and robust traffic sign recognition to enhance driving safety. The proposed method includes three stages. First, a typical Hough transformation is adopted to implement coarse-grained location of the candidate regions of traffic signs. Second, a RIBP (Rotation Invariant Binary Pattern based feature in the affine and Gaussian space is proposed to reduce the time of traffic sign detection and achieve robust traffic sign detection in terms of scale, rotation, and illumination. Third, the techniques of ANN (Artificial Neutral Network based feature dimension reduction and classification are designed to reduce the traffic sign recognition time. Compared with the current work, the experimental results in the public datasets show that this work achieves robustness in traffic sign recognition with comparable recognition accuracy and faster processing speed, including training speed and recognition speed.

Sistem Gesture Accelerometer dengan Metode Fast Dynamic Time Warping (FastDTW

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sam Farisa Chaerul Haviana

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In the modern environment, the interaction between humans and computers require a more natural form of interaction. Therefore, it is important to be able to build a system that can meet these demands, such as by building a hand gesture recognition system or gesture to create a more natural form of interaction. This study aims to design a smartphone’s accelerometer gesture system as human computer interaction interfaces using FastDTW (Fast Dynamic Time Warping.The result of this study is form of gesture interaction which implemented in a system that can make the process of recognition of the human hand movements based on a smartphone accelerometer which generates a command to run the media player application functions as a case study. FastDTW as the development of Dynamic Time Warping method (DTW is able to compute faster than DTW and have an accuracy approaching DTW. From the test results, FastDTW show a fairly high degree of accuracy reached 86% and showed a better computing speed compared to DTW   Keywords: Human and Computer Interaction, Accelerometer-based gesture, FastDTW, Media player application function

Econometric modelling of certain nuclear power systems based on thermal and fast breeder reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pavelescu, M.; Pioaru, C.; Ursu, I.

1988-01-01

Certain known economic analysis models for a LMFBR fast breeder and CANDU thermal solitary reactors are presented, based on the concepts of discounting and levelization. These models are subsequently utilized as a basis for establishing an original model for the econometric analysis of certain thermal reactor systems or/and fast breeder reactors. Case studies are subsequently conducted with the systems: 1-CANDU, 2-LMFBR, 3-CANDU + LMFBR which enables us to draw certain interesting conclusions for a long range nuclear power policy. (author)

Fast parallel approach for 2-D DHT-based real-valued discrete Gabor transform.

Science.gov (United States)

Tao, Liang; Kwan, Hon Keung

2009-12-01

Two-dimensional fast Gabor transform algorithms are useful for real-time applications due to the high computational complexity of the traditional 2-D complex-valued discrete Gabor transform (CDGT). This paper presents two block time-recursive algorithms for 2-D DHT-based real-valued discrete Gabor transform (RDGT) and its inverse transform and develops a fast parallel approach for the implementation of the two algorithms. The computational complexity of the proposed parallel approach is analyzed and compared with that of the existing 2-D CDGT algorithms. The results indicate that the proposed parallel approach is attractive for real time image processing.

Fast ultrasonic visualisation under sodium. Application to the fast neutron reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Imbert, Ch.

1997-01-01

The fast ultrasonic visualization under sodium is in the programme of research and development on the inspection inside the fast neutron reactors. This work is about the development of a such system of fast ultrasonic imaging under sodium, in order to improve the existing visualization systems. This system is based on the principle of orthogonal imaging, it uses two linear antennas with an important dephasing having 128 piezo-composite elements of central frequency equal to 1.6 MHz. (N.C.)

Pulse shape discrimination based on fast signals from silicon photomultipliers

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Junhao; Wei, Zhiyong; Fang, Meihua; Zhang, Zixia; Cheng, Can; Wang, Yi; Su, Huiwen; Ran, Youquan; Zhu, Qingwei; Zhang, He; Duan, Kai; Chen, Ming; Liu, Meng

2018-06-01

Recent developments in organic plastic scintillators capable of pulse shape discrimination (PSD) enable a breakthrough in discrimination between neutrons and gammas. Plastic scintillator detectors coupled with silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) offer many advantages, such as lower power consumption, smaller volume, and especially insensitivity to magnetic fields, compared with conventional photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). A SensL SiPM has two outputs: a standard output and a fast output. It is known that the charge injected into the fast output electrode is typically approximately 2% of the total charge generated during the avalanche, whereas the charge injected into the standard output electrode is nearly 98% of the total. Fast signals from SiPMs exhibit better performance in terms of timing and time-correlated measurements compared with standard signals. The pulse duration of a standard signal is on the order of hundreds of nanoseconds, whereas the pulse duration of the main monopole waveform of a fast signal is a few tens of nanoseconds. Fast signals are traditionally thought to be suitable for photon counting at very high speeds but unsuitable for PSD due to the partial charge collection. Meanwhile, the standard outputs of SiPMs coupled with discriminating scintillators have yielded nice PSD performances, but there have been no reports on PSD using fast signals. Our analysis shows that fast signals can also provide discrimination if the rate of charge injection into the fast output electrode is fixed for each event, even though only a portion of the charge is collected. In this work, we achieved successful PSD using fast signals; meanwhile, using a coincidence timing window of less 3 nanoseconds between the readouts from both ends of the detector reduced the influence of the high SiPM dark current. We experimentally achieved good timing performance and PSD capability simultaneously.

Fast GPU-based spot extraction for energy-dispersive X-ray Laue diffraction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alghabi, F.; Schipper, U.; Kolb, A.; Send, S.; Abboud, A.; Pashniak, N.; Pietsch, U.

2014-01-01

This paper describes a novel method for fast online analysis of X-ray Laue spots taken by means of an energy-dispersive X-ray 2D detector. Current pnCCD detectors typically operate at some 100 Hz (up to a maximum of 400 Hz) and have a resolution of 384 × 384 pixels, future devices head for even higher pixel counts and frame rates. The proposed online data analysis is based on a computer utilizing multiple Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), which allow for fast and parallel data processing. Our multi-GPU based algorithm is compliant with the rules of stream-based data processing, for which GPUs are optimized. The paper's main contribution is therefore an alternative algorithm for the determination of spot positions and energies over the full sequence of pnCCD data frames. Furthermore, an improved background suppression algorithm is presented.The resulting system is able to process data at the maximum acquisition rate of 400 Hz. We present a detailed analysis of the spot positions and energies deduced from a prior (single-core) CPU-based and the novel GPU-based data processing, showing that the parallel computed results using the GPU implementation are at least of the same quality as prior CPU-based results. Furthermore, the GPU-based algorithm is able to speed up the data processing by a factor of 7 (in comparison to single-core CPU-based algorithm) which effectively makes the detector system more suitable for online data processing

Fast single image dehazing based on image fusion

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Haibo; Yang, Jie; Wu, Zhengping; Zhang, Qingnian

2015-01-01

Images captured in foggy weather conditions often fade the colors and reduce the contrast of the observed objects. An efficient image fusion method is proposed to remove haze from a single input image. First, the initial medium transmission is estimated based on the dark channel prior. Second, the method adopts an assumption that the degradation level affected by haze of each region is the same, which is similar to the Retinex theory, and uses a simple Gaussian filter to get the coarse medium transmission. Then, pixel-level fusion is achieved between the initial medium transmission and coarse medium transmission. The proposed method can recover a high-quality haze-free image based on the physical model, and the complexity of the proposed method is only a linear function of the number of input image pixels. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can allow a very fast implementation and achieve better restoration for visibility and color fidelity compared to some state-of-the-art methods.

Fast-Responding Bio-Based Shape Memory Thermoplastic Polyurethanes.

Science.gov (United States)

Petrović, Zoran S; Milić, Jelena; Zhang, Fan; Ilavsky, Jan

2017-07-14

Novel fast response shape-memory polyurethanes were prepared from bio-based polyols, diphenyl methane diisocyanate and butane diol for the first time. The bio-based polyester polyols were synthesized from 9-hydroxynonanoic acid, a product obtained by ozonolysis of fatty acids extracted from soy oil and castor oil. The morphology of polyurethanes was investigated by synchrotron ultra-small angle X-ray scattering, which revealed the inter-domain spacing between the hard and soft phases, the degree of phase separation, and the level of intermixing between the hard and soft phases. We also conducted thorough investigations of the thermal, mechanical, and dielectric properties of the polyurethanes, and found that high crystallization rate of the soft segment gives these polyurethanes unique properties suitable for shape-memory applications, such as adjustable transition temperatures, high degree of elastic elongations, and good mechanical strength. These materials are also potentially biodegradable and biocompatible, therefore suitable for biomedical and environmental applications.

A study of far-infrared Michelson interferometry based on fast plasma scanning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bartlett, D.V.; Hewitt, G.L.; Robinson, L.C.; Tait, G.D.

1976-02-01

Fast far-infrared multiplex spectroscopy based on a plasma-scanned Michelson interferometer is studied. Our experiments show that the interferometer has sub-millisecond time response and high spectral resolving power. In addition to a description of the experimental performance of the interferometer, we develop and discuss two different methods of interferogram inversion. (author)

A study of far-infrared Michelson interferometry based on fast plasma scanning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bartlett, D.V.; Hewitt, R.G.L.; Robinson, L.C.; Tait, G.D.

1977-01-01

Fast far infrared (FIR) muliplex spectroscopy based on a plasma-scanned Michelson interferometer is studied. Experiments show that the interferometer has sub-millisecond time response and high spectral resolving power. In addition to the description of the experimental performance of the interferometer, two different methods of interferogram inversion are developed and discussed. (author)

VizieR Online Data Catalog: STAGGER-grid of 3D stellar models. V. (Chiavassa+, 2018)

Science.gov (United States)

Chiavassa, A.; Casagrande, L.; Collet, R.; Magic, Z.; Bigot, L.; Thevenin, F.; Asplund, M.

2018-01-01

Table B0: RHD simulations' stellar parameters, bolometric magnitude, and bolometric correction for Johnson-Cousins, 2MASS, SDSS (columns 13 to 17), and Gaia systems Table 4: RHD simulations' stellar parameters, bolometric magnitude, and bolometric correction for SkyMapper photometric system, and Stroemgren index b-y, m1=(v-b)-(b-y), and c1=(u-v)-(v-b) Table 5: RHD simulations' stellar parameters, bolometric magnitude, and bolometric correction for the HST-WFC3 in VEGA system Table 6: RHD simulations' stellar parameters, bolometric magnitude, and bolometric correction for the HST-WFC3 in ST system Table 7: RHD simulations' stellar parameters, bolometric magnitude, and bolometric correction for the HST-WFC3 in AB system (5 data files).

SpotCaliper: fast wavelet-based spot detection with accurate size estimation.

Science.gov (United States)

Püspöki, Zsuzsanna; Sage, Daniel; Ward, John Paul; Unser, Michael

2016-04-15

SpotCaliper is a novel wavelet-based image-analysis software providing a fast automatic detection scheme for circular patterns (spots), combined with the precise estimation of their size. It is implemented as an ImageJ plugin with a friendly user interface. The user is allowed to edit the results by modifying the measurements (in a semi-automated way), extract data for further analysis. The fine tuning of the detections includes the possibility of adjusting or removing the original detections, as well as adding further spots. The main advantage of the software is its ability to capture the size of spots in a fast and accurate way. http://bigwww.epfl.ch/algorithms/spotcaliper/ zsuzsanna.puspoki@epfl.ch Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Fast reactor physics - an overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, S.M.

2004-01-01

An introduction to the basic features of fast neutron reactors is made, highlighting the differences from the more conventional thermal neutron reactors. A discussion of important feedback reactivity mechanisms is given. Then an overview is presented of the methods of fast reactor physics, which play an important role in the successful design and operation of fast reactors. The methods are based on three main elements, namely (i) nuclear data bases, (ii) numerical methods and computer codes, and (iii) critical experiments. These elements are reviewed and the present status and future trends are summarized. (author)

3-D seismic response of a base-isolated fast reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kitamura, S.; Morishita, M.; Iwata, K.

1992-01-01

This paper describes a 3-D response analysis methodology development and its application to a base-isolated fast breeder reactor (FBR) plant. At first, studies on application of a base-isolation system to an FBR plant were performed to identify a range of appropriate characteristics of the system. A response analysis method was developed based on mathematical models for the restoring force characteristics of several types of the systems. A series of shaking table tests using a small scale model was carried out to verify the analysis method. A good agreement was seen between the test and analysis results in terms of the horizontal and vertical responses. Parametric studies were then made to assess the effects of various factors which might be influential to the seismic response of the system. Moreover, the method was applied to evaluate three-dimensional response of the base-isolated FBR. (author)

A fast preamplifier concept for SiPM-based time-of-flight PET detectors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huizenga, J., E-mail: j.huizenga@tudelft.nl [Delft University of Technology, Radiation Detection and Medical Imaging, Mekelweg 15, 2629 JB Delft (Netherlands); Seifert, S. [Delft University of Technology, Radiation Detection and Medical Imaging, Mekelweg 15, 2629 JB Delft (Netherlands); Schreuder, F. [Kernfysisch Versneller Instituut, University of Groningen, Zernikelaan 25, 9747 AA Groningen (Netherlands); Dam, H.T. van [Delft University of Technology, Radiation Detection and Medical Imaging, Mekelweg 15, 2629 JB Delft (Netherlands); Dendooven, P.; Loehner, H.; Vinke, R. [Kernfysisch Versneller Instituut, University of Groningen, Zernikelaan 25, 9747 AA Groningen (Netherlands); Schaart, D.R. [Delft University of Technology, Radiation Detection and Medical Imaging, Mekelweg 15, 2629 JB Delft (Netherlands)

2012-12-11

Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) offer high gain and fast response to light, making them interesting for fast timing applications such as time-of-flight (TOF) PET. To fully exploit the potential of these photosensors, dedicated preamplifiers that do not deteriorate the rise time and signal-to-noise ratio are crucial. Challenges include the high sensor capacitance, typically >300 pF for a 3 mm Multiplication-Sign 3 mm SiPM sensor, as well as oscillation issues. Here we present a preamplifier concept based on low noise, high speed transistors, designed for optimum timing performance. The input stage consists of a transimpedance common-base amplifier with a very low input impedance even at high frequencies, which assures a good linearity and avoids that the high detector capacitance affects the amplifier bandwidth. The amplifier has a fast timing output as well as a 'slow' energy output optimized for determining the total charge content of the pulse. The rise time of the amplifier is about 300 ps. The measured coincidence resolving time (CRT) for 511 keV photon pairs using the amplifiers in combination with 3 mm Multiplication-Sign 3 mm SiPMs (Hamamatsu MPPC-S10362-33-050C) coupled to 3 mm Multiplication-Sign 3 mm Multiplication-Sign 5 mm LaBr{sub 3}:Ce and LYSO:Ce crystals equals 95 ps FWHM and 138 ps FWHM, respectively.

A fast preamplifier concept for SiPM-based time-of-flight PET detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huizenga, J.; Seifert, S.; Schreuder, F.; Dam, H.T. van; Dendooven, P.; Löhner, H.; Vinke, R.; Schaart, D.R.

2012-01-01

Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) offer high gain and fast response to light, making them interesting for fast timing applications such as time-of-flight (TOF) PET. To fully exploit the potential of these photosensors, dedicated preamplifiers that do not deteriorate the rise time and signal-to-noise ratio are crucial. Challenges include the high sensor capacitance, typically >300 pF for a 3 mm×3 mm SiPM sensor, as well as oscillation issues. Here we present a preamplifier concept based on low noise, high speed transistors, designed for optimum timing performance. The input stage consists of a transimpedance common-base amplifier with a very low input impedance even at high frequencies, which assures a good linearity and avoids that the high detector capacitance affects the amplifier bandwidth. The amplifier has a fast timing output as well as a ‘slow’ energy output optimized for determining the total charge content of the pulse. The rise time of the amplifier is about 300 ps. The measured coincidence resolving time (CRT) for 511 keV photon pairs using the amplifiers in combination with 3 mm×3 mm SiPMs (Hamamatsu MPPC-S10362-33-050C) coupled to 3 mm×3 mm×5 mm LaBr 3 :Ce and LYSO:Ce crystals equals 95 ps FWHM and 138 ps FWHM, respectively.

Fast multichannel analyser

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Berry, A; Przybylski, M M; Sumner, I [Science Research Council, Daresbury (UK). Daresbury Lab.

1982-10-01

A fast multichannel analyser (MCA) capable of sampling at a rate of 10/sup 7/ s/sup -1/ has been developed. The instrument is based on an 8 bit parallel encoding analogue to digital converter (ADC) reading into a fast histogramming random access memory (RAM) system, giving 256 channels of 64 k count capacity. The prototype unit is in CAMAC format.

The Geant4-Based ATLAS Fast Electromagnetic Shower Simulation

CERN Document Server

Barberio, E; Butler, B; Cheung, S L; Dell'Acqua, A; Di Simone, A; Ehrenfeld, W; Gallas, M V; Glasow, A; Hughes, E; Marshall, Z; Müller, J; Placakyte, R; Rimoldi, A; Savard, P; Tsulaia, V; Waugh, A; Young, C C; 10th ICATPP Conference on Astroparticle, Particle, Space Physics, Detectors and Medical Physics Applications

2008-01-01

We present a three-pronged approach to fast electromagnetic shower simulation in ATLAS. Parameterisation is used for high-energy, shower libraries for medium-energy, and an averaged energy deposition for very low-energy particles. We present a comparison between the fast simulation and full simulation in an ATLAS Monte Carlo production.

Status of SACRD: a data base for fast reactor safety computer codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Greene, N.M.; Flanagan, G.F.; Alter, H.

1982-01-01

In 1975 work was initiated to provide a central computerized data collection of evaluated data for use in fast reactor safety computer codes. This data base is called SACRD and is intended to encompass handbook and other nonproblem-dependent data related to LMFBR's, especially at extreme conditions where little or no experimental data are available. Version 1 of the data base was released in the latter part of 1978 and remained the standard version until Version 81, which was released in October 1981

Optimization-Based Calibration of FAST.Farm Parameters Against SOWFA: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moreira, Paula D [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Annoni, Jennifer [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Jonkman, Jason [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Ghate, Aditya S [Stanford University

2018-01-04

FAST.Farm is a medium-delity wind farm modeling tool that can be used to assess power and loads contributions of wind turbines in a wind farm. The objective of this paper is to undertake a calibration procedure to set the user parameters of FAST.Farm to accurately represent results from large-eddy simulations. The results provide an in- depth analysis of the comparison of FAST.Farm and large-eddy simulations before and after calibration. The comparison of FAST.Farm and large-eddy simulation results are presented with respect to streamwise and radial velocity components as well as wake-meandering statistics (mean and standard deviation) in the lateral and vertical directions under different atmospheric and turbine operating conditions.

Widely tunable microwave photonic notch filter based on slow and fast light effects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Xue, Weiqi; Sales, Salvador; Mørk, Jesper

2009-01-01

A continuously tunable microwave photonic notch filter at around 30 GHz is experimentally demonstrated and 100% fractional tuning over 360 range is achieved without changing the shape of the spectral response. The tuning mechanism is based on the use of slow and fast light effects in semiconducto...

Knowledge management in fast reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuriakose, K.K.; Satya Murty, S.A.V.; Swaminathan, P.; Raj, Baldev

2010-01-01

This paper highlights the work that is being carried out in Knowledge Management of Fast Reactors at Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) including a few examples of how the knowledge acquired because of various incidents in the initial years has been utilized for the successful operation of Fast Breeder Test Reactor. It also briefly refers to the features of the IAEA initiative on the preservation of Knowledge in the area of Fast Reactors in the form of 'Fast Reactor Knowledge Organization System' (FR-KOS), which is based on a taxonomy for storage and mining of Fast Reactor Knowledge. (author)

Do Adolescents Who Live or Go to School Near Fast Food Restaurants Eat More Frequently From Fast Food Restaurants?

Science.gov (United States)

Forsyth, Ann; Wall, Melanie; Larson, Nicole; Story, Mary; Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne

2012-01-01

This population-based study examined whether residential or school neighborhood access to fast food restaurants is related to adolescents’ eating frequency of fast food. A classroom-based survey of racially/ethnically diverse adolescents (n=2,724) in 20 secondary schools in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota was used to assess eating frequency at five types of fast food restaurants. Black, Hispanic, and Native American adolescents lived near more fast food restaurants than white and Asian adolescents and also ate at fast food restaurants more often. After controlling for individual-level socio-demographics, adolescent males living near high numbers fast food restaurants ate more frequently from these venues compared to their peers. PMID:23064515

Invariants-based shortcuts for fast generating Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger state among three superconducting qubits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Jing; Yu Lin; Wu Jin-Lei; Ji Xin

2017-01-01

As one of the most promising candidates for implementing quantum computers, superconducting qubits (SQs) are adopted for fast generating the Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger (GHZ) state by using invariants-based shortcuts. Three SQs are separated and connected by two coplanar waveguide resonators (CPWRs) capacitively. The complicated system is skillfully simplified to a three-state system, and a GHZ state among three SQs is fast generated with a very high fidelity and simple driving pulses. Numerical simulations indicate the scheme is insensitive to parameter deviations. Besides, the robustness of the scheme against decoherence is discussed in detail. (paper)

SACRD: a data base for fast reactor safety computer codes, general description

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Greene, N.M.; Forsberg, V.M.; Raiford, G.B.; Arwood, J.W.; Simpson, D.B.; Flanagan, G.F.

1979-01-01

SACRD is a data base of material properties and other handbook data needed in computer codes used for fast reactor safety studies. Data are available in the thermodynamics, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, structural mechanics, aerosol transport, meteorology, neutronics, and dosimetry areas. Tabular, graphical and parameterized data are provided in many cases. A general description of the SACRD system is presented in the report

Fast Breeder Reactor studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Till, C.E.; Chang, Y.I.; Kittel, J.H.; Fauske, H.K.; Lineberry, M.J.; Stevenson, M.G.; Amundson, P.I.; Dance, K.D.

1980-07-01

This report is a compilation of Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) resource documents prepared to provide the technical basis for the US contribution to the International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Evaluation. The eight separate parts deal with the alternative fast breeder reactor fuel cycles in terms of energy demand, resource base, technical potential and current status, safety, proliferation resistance, deployment, and nuclear safeguards. An Annex compares the cost of decommissioning light-water and fast breeder reactors. Separate abstracts are included for each of the parts

Fast Breeder Reactor studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Till, C.E.; Chang, Y.I.; Kittel, J.H.; Fauske, H.K.; Lineberry, M.J.; Stevenson, M.G.; Amundson, P.I.; Dance, K.D.

1980-07-01

This report is a compilation of Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) resource documents prepared to provide the technical basis for the US contribution to the International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Evaluation. The eight separate parts deal with the alternative fast breeder reactor fuel cycles in terms of energy demand, resource base, technical potential and current status, safety, proliferation resistance, deployment, and nuclear safeguards. An Annex compares the cost of decommissioning light-water and fast breeder reactors. Separate abstracts are included for each of the parts.

A fast point-cloud computing method based on spatial symmetry of Fresnel field

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xiangxiang; Zhang, Kai; Shen, Chuan; Zhu, Wenliang; Wei, Sui

2017-10-01

Aiming at the great challenge for Computer Generated Hologram (CGH) duo to the production of high spatial-bandwidth product (SBP) is required in the real-time holographic video display systems. The paper is based on point-cloud method and it takes advantage of the propagating reversibility of Fresnel diffraction in the propagating direction and the fringe pattern of a point source, known as Gabor zone plate has spatial symmetry, so it can be used as a basis for fast calculation of diffraction field in CGH. A fast Fresnel CGH method based on the novel look-up table (N-LUT) method is proposed, the principle fringe patterns (PFPs) at the virtual plane is pre-calculated by the acceleration algorithm and be stored. Secondly, the Fresnel diffraction fringe pattern at dummy plane can be obtained. Finally, the Fresnel propagation from dummy plan to hologram plane. The simulation experiments and optical experiments based on Liquid Crystal On Silicon (LCOS) is setup to demonstrate the validity of the proposed method under the premise of ensuring the quality of 3D reconstruction the method proposed in the paper can be applied to shorten the computational time and improve computational efficiency.

Fast-track totalknæalloplastik

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gromov, Kirill; Kristensen, Billy B; Jørgensen, Christoffer Calov

2017-01-01

patients are eligible for fast-track TKA, and hence the fast-track concept should be standard at all joint replacement facilities. Future challenges of fast-track TKA include safe introduction of outpatient protocols, acute and chronic pain after surgery and optimal utilization of post......Fast-track total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is a well-established concept including optimized logistics and evidence-based treatment, focusing on minimizing surgical stress and improved post-operative recovery, thus leading to lower mortality and morbidity as well as high patient satisfaction. All...

Fast filtering algorithm based on vibration systems and neural information exchange and its application to micro motion robot

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao Wa; Zha Fu-Sheng; Li Man-Tian; Song Bao-Yu

2014-01-01

This paper develops a fast filtering algorithm based on vibration systems theory and neural information exchange approach. The characters, including the derivation process and parameter analysis, are discussed and the feasibility and the effectiveness are testified by the filtering performance compared with various filtering methods, such as the fast wavelet transform algorithm, the particle filtering method and our previously developed single degree of freedom vibration system filtering algorithm, according to simulation and practical approaches. Meanwhile, the comparisons indicate that a significant advantage of the proposed fast filtering algorithm is its extremely fast filtering speed with good filtering performance. Further, the developed fast filtering algorithm is applied to the navigation and positioning system of the micro motion robot, which is a high real-time requirement for the signals preprocessing. Then, the preprocessing data is used to estimate the heading angle error and the attitude angle error of the micro motion robot. The estimation experiments illustrate the high practicality of the proposed fast filtering algorithm. (general)

A fast image encryption algorithm based on chaotic map

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Wenhao; Sun, Kehui; Zhu, Congxu

2016-09-01

Derived from Sine map and iterative chaotic map with infinite collapse (ICMIC), a new two-dimensional Sine ICMIC modulation map (2D-SIMM) is proposed based on a close-loop modulation coupling (CMC) model, and its chaotic performance is analyzed by means of phase diagram, Lyapunov exponent spectrum and complexity. It shows that this map has good ergodicity, hyperchaotic behavior, large maximum Lyapunov exponent and high complexity. Based on this map, a fast image encryption algorithm is proposed. In this algorithm, the confusion and diffusion processes are combined for one stage. Chaotic shift transform (CST) is proposed to efficiently change the image pixel positions, and the row and column substitutions are applied to scramble the pixel values simultaneously. The simulation and analysis results show that this algorithm has high security, low time complexity, and the abilities of resisting statistical analysis, differential, brute-force, known-plaintext and chosen-plaintext attacks.

The fast breeder reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Collier, J.

1990-01-01

The arguments for and against the fast breeder reactor are debated. The case for the fast reactor is that the world energy demand will increase due to increasing population over the next forty years and that the damage to the global environment from burning fossil fuels which contribute to the greenhouse effect. Nuclear fission is the only large scale energy source which can achieve a cut in the use of carbon based fuels although energy conservation and renewable sources will also be important. Fast reactors produce more energy from uranium than other types of (thermal) reactors such as AGRs and PWRs. Fast reactors would be important from about 2020 onwards especially as by then many thermal reactors will need to be replaced. Fast reactors are also safer than normal reactors. The arguments against fast reactors are largely economic. The cost, especially the capital cost is very high. The viability of the technology is also questioned. (UK)

Fasting glucose, obesity, and coronary artery calcification in community-based people without diabetes.

Science.gov (United States)

Rutter, Martin K; Massaro, Joseph M; Hoffmann, Udo; O'Donnell, Christopher J; Fox, Caroline S

2012-09-01

Our objective was to assess whether impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and obesity are independently related to coronary artery calcification (CAC) in a community-based population. We assessed CAC using multidetector computed tomography in 3,054 Framingham Heart Study participants (mean [SD] age was 50 [10] years, 49% were women, 29% had IFG, and 25% were obese) free from known vascular disease or diabetes. We tested the hypothesis that IFG (5.6-6.9 mmol/L) and obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m(2)) were independently associated with high CAC (>90th percentile for age and sex) after adjusting for hypertension, lipids, smoking, and medication. High CAC was significantly related to IFG in an age- and sex-adjusted model (odds ratio 1.4 [95% CI 1.1-1.7], P = 0.002; referent: normal fasting glucose) and after further adjustment for obesity (1.3 [1.0-1.6], P = 0.045). However, IFG was not associated with high CAC in multivariable-adjusted models before (1.2 [0.9-1.4], P = 0.20) or after adjustment for obesity. Obesity was associated with high CAC in age- and sex-adjusted models (1.6 [1.3-2.0], P fasting glucose. In this community-based cohort, CAC was associated with obesity, but not IFG, after adjusting for important confounders. With the increasing worldwide prevalence of obesity and nondiabetic hyperglycemia, these data underscore the importance of obesity in the pathogenesis of CAC.

Fast generation of three-qubit Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state based on the Lewis-Riesenfeld invariants in coupled cavities.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Xiao-Bin; Chen, Ye-Hong; Wang, Zhe

2016-05-24

In this paper, we propose an efficient scheme to fast generate three-qubit Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) state by constructing shortcuts to adiabatic passage (STAP) based on the "Lewis-Riesenfeld (LR) invariants" in spatially separated cavities connected by optical fibers. Numerical simulations illustrate that the scheme is not only fast, but robust against the decoherence caused by atomic spontaneous emission, cavity losses and the fiber photon leakages. This might be useful to realize fast and noise-resistant quantum information processing for multi-qubit systems.

ON THE NATURE OF THE PROTOTYPE LUMINOUS BLUE VARIABLE AG CARINAE. I. FUNDAMENTAL PARAMETERS DURING VISUAL MINIMUM PHASES AND CHANGES IN THE BOLOMETRIC LUMINOSITY DURING THE S-Dor CYCLE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Groh, J. H.; Damineli, A.; Hillier, D. J.; Whitelock, P. A.; Marang, F.; Rossi, C.

2009-01-01

We present a detailed spectroscopic analysis of the luminous blue variable (LBV) AG Carinae (AG Car) during the last two visual minimum phases of its S-Dor cycle (1985-1990 and 2000-2003). The analysis reveals an overabundance of He, N, and Na, and a depletion of H, C, and O, on the surface of the AG Car, indicating the presence of a CNO-processed material. Furthermore, the ratio N/O is higher on the stellar surface than in the nebula. We found that the minimum phases of AG Car are not equal to each other, since we derived a noticeable difference between the maximum effective temperature achieved during 1985-1990 (22, 800 K) and 2000-2001 (17,000 K). Significant differences between the wind parameters in these two epochs were also noticed. While the wind terminal velocity was 300 km s -1 in 1985-1990, it was as low as 105 km s -1 in 2001. The mass-loss rate, however, was lower from 1985-1990 (1.5 x 10 -5 M sun yr -1 ) than from 2000-2001 (3.7 x 10 -5 M sun yr -1 ). We found that the wind of AG Car is significantly clumped (f ≅ 0.10-0.25) and that clumps must be formed deep in the wind. We derived a bolometric luminosity of 1.5 x 10 6 L sun during both minimum phases which, contrary to the common assumption, decreases to 1.0 x 10 6 L sun as the star moves toward the maximum flux in the V band. Assuming that the decrease in the bolometric luminosity of AG Car is due to the energy used to expand the outer layers of the star, we found that the expanding layers contain roughly 0.6-2 M sun . Such an amount of mass is an order of magnitude lower than the nebular mass around AG Car, but is comparable to the nebular mass found around lower-luminosity LBVs and to that of the Little Homunculus of Eta Car. If such a large amount of mass is indeed involved in the S Dor-type variability, we speculate that such instability could be a failed Giant Eruption, with several solar masses never becoming unbound from the star.

Fast Simulation of Large-Scale Floods Based on GPU Parallel Computing

OpenAIRE

Qiang Liu; Yi Qin; Guodong Li

2018-01-01

Computing speed is a significant issue of large-scale flood simulations for real-time response to disaster prevention and mitigation. Even today, most of the large-scale flood simulations are generally run on supercomputers due to the massive amounts of data and computations necessary. In this work, a two-dimensional shallow water model based on an unstructured Godunov-type finite volume scheme was proposed for flood simulation. To realize a fast simulation of large-scale floods on a personal...

Precision and accuracy in smFRET based structural studies—A benchmark study of the Fast-Nano-Positioning System

Science.gov (United States)

Nagy, Julia; Eilert, Tobias; Michaelis, Jens

2018-03-01

Modern hybrid structural analysis methods have opened new possibilities to analyze and resolve flexible protein complexes where conventional crystallographic methods have reached their limits. Here, the Fast-Nano-Positioning System (Fast-NPS), a Bayesian parameter estimation-based analysis method and software, is an interesting method since it allows for the localization of unknown fluorescent dye molecules attached to macromolecular complexes based on single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer (smFRET) measurements. However, the precision, accuracy, and reliability of structural models derived from results based on such complex calculation schemes are oftentimes difficult to evaluate. Therefore, we present two proof-of-principle benchmark studies where we use smFRET data to localize supposedly unknown positions on a DNA as well as on a protein-nucleic acid complex. Since we use complexes where structural information is available, we can compare Fast-NPS localization to the existing structural data. In particular, we compare different dye models and discuss how both accuracy and precision can be optimized.

Fast Simulation of Large-Scale Floods Based on GPU Parallel Computing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qiang Liu

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Computing speed is a significant issue of large-scale flood simulations for real-time response to disaster prevention and mitigation. Even today, most of the large-scale flood simulations are generally run on supercomputers due to the massive amounts of data and computations necessary. In this work, a two-dimensional shallow water model based on an unstructured Godunov-type finite volume scheme was proposed for flood simulation. To realize a fast simulation of large-scale floods on a personal computer, a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU-based, high-performance computing method using the OpenACC application was adopted to parallelize the shallow water model. An unstructured data management method was presented to control the data transportation between the GPU and CPU (Central Processing Unit with minimum overhead, and then both computation and data were offloaded from the CPU to the GPU, which exploited the computational capability of the GPU as much as possible. The parallel model was validated using various benchmarks and real-world case studies. The results demonstrate that speed-ups of up to one order of magnitude can be achieved in comparison with the serial model. The proposed parallel model provides a fast and reliable tool with which to quickly assess flood hazards in large-scale areas and, thus, has a bright application prospect for dynamic inundation risk identification and disaster assessment.

Development of a fast piezo-based frequency tuner for superconducting CH cavities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amberg, Michael

2015-01-01

In this thesis, a fast piezo-based frequency tuner for current and prospective superconducting (sc) CH-cavities has been developed. The novel tuning concept differs fundamentally from conventional tuning systems for superconducting cavities. So called dynamic bellow tuners are welded into the resonator to act against slow and fast frequency variations during operation. Because of their adjustable length it is possible to specifically influence the capacitance and therefore the resonance frequency of the cavity. To change the length of the dynamic bellow tuners the frequency tuner drive, which consists of a slow tuning device controlled by a stepper motor and a fast piezo-based tuning system, is mounted to the helium vessel of the cavity. To validate the whole tuning concept a frequency tuner drive prototype was built in the workshop of the Institute for Applied Physics (IAP) of Frankfurt University. First successful room temperature measurements show that the developed frequency tuning system is an excellent and promising candidate to fulfill the requirements of slow and fast frequency tuning of sc CH-cavities during operation. Furthermore, several coupled structural and electromagnetic simulations of the sc 325 MHz CH-cavity as well as the sc 217 MHz CH-cavity have been performed with the simulation softwares ANSYS Workbench and CST MicroWave Studio, respectively. With these simulations it was possible to reduce the required frequency range and thus the mechanical stroke of the dynamic bellow tuners on the one hand, and on the other hand the mechanical stability of the particular CH-cavity was investigated to avoid plastic deformations due to limiting external effects. To verify the accuracy of the coupled simulations the structural mechanical behaviour and the resulting frequency variations of the sc CH-cavities dependent on the external influences were measured at room temperature as well as at cryogenic temperatures around 4.2 K. The measurement results of both

Fast DCNN based on FWT, intelligent dropout and layer skipping for image retrieval.

Science.gov (United States)

ElAdel, Asma; Zaied, Mourad; Amar, Chokri Ben

2017-11-01

Deep Convolutional Neural Network (DCNN) can be marked as a powerful tool for object and image classification and retrieval. However, the training stage of such networks is highly consuming in terms of storage space and time. Also, the optimization is still a challenging subject. In this paper, we propose a fast DCNN based on Fast Wavelet Transform (FWT), intelligent dropout and layer skipping. The proposed approach led to improve the image retrieval accuracy as well as the searching time. This was possible thanks to three key advantages: First, the rapid way to compute the features using FWT. Second, the proposed intelligent dropout method is based on whether or not a unit is efficiently and not randomly selected. Third, it is possible to classify the image using efficient units of earlier layer(s) and skipping all the subsequent hidden layers directly to the output layer. Our experiments were performed on CIFAR-10 and MNIST datasets and the obtained results are very promising. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hardware-based tracking at trigger level for ATLAS: The Fast Tracker (FTK) Project

CERN Document Server

Gramling, Johanna; The ATLAS collaboration

2015-01-01

Physics collisions at 13 TeV are expected at the LHC with an average of 40-50 proton-proton collisions per bunch crossing. Tracking at trigger level is an essential tool to control the rate in high-pileup conditions while maintaining a good efficiency for relevant physics processes. The Fast TracKer (FTK) is an integral part of the trigger upgrade for the ATLAS detector. For every event passing the Level 1 trigger (at a maximum rate of 100 kHz) the FTK receives data from the 80 million channels of the silicon detectors, providing tracking information to the High Level Trigger in order to ensure a selection robust against pile-up. The FTK performs a hardware-based track reconstruction, using associative memory (AM) that is based on the use of a custom chip, designed to perform pattern matching at very high speed. It finds track candidates at low resolution (roads) that seed a full-resolution track fitting done by FPGAs. Narrow roads permit a fast track fitting but need many patterns stored in the AM to ensure ...

A fast pulse phase estimation method for X-ray pulsar signals based on epoch folding

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xue Mengfan

2016-06-01

Full Text Available X-ray pulsar-based navigation (XPNAV is an attractive method for autonomous deep-space navigation in the future. The pulse phase estimation is a key task in XPNAV and its accuracy directly determines the navigation accuracy. State-of-the-art pulse phase estimation techniques either suffer from poor estimation accuracy, or involve the maximization of generally non-convex object function, thus resulting in a large computational cost. In this paper, a fast pulse phase estimation method based on epoch folding is presented. The statistical properties of the observed profile obtained through epoch folding are developed. Based on this, we recognize the joint probability distribution of the observed profile as the likelihood function and utilize a fast Fourier transform-based procedure to estimate the pulse phase. Computational complexity of the proposed estimator is analyzed as well. Experimental results show that the proposed estimator significantly outperforms the currently used cross-correlation (CC and nonlinear least squares (NLS estimators, while significantly reduces the computational complexity compared with NLS and maximum likelihood (ML estimators.

A FAST MORPHING-BASED INTERPOLATION FOR MEDICAL IMAGES: APPLICATION TO CONFORMAL RADIOTHERAPY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hussein Atoui

2011-05-01

Full Text Available A method is presented for fast interpolation between medical images. The method is intended for both slice and projective interpolation. It allows offline interpolation between neighboring slices in tomographic data. Spatial correspondence between adjacent images is established using a block matching algorithm. Interpolation of image intensities is then carried out by morphing between the images. The morphing-based method is compared to standard linear interpolation, block-matching-based interpolation and registrationbased interpolation in 3D tomographic data sets. Results show that the proposed method scored similar performance in comparison to registration-based interpolation, and significantly outperforms both linear and block-matching-based interpolation. This method is applied in the context of conformal radiotherapy for online projective interpolation between Digitally Reconstructed Radiographs (DRRs.

Validation of the CrIS fast physical NH3 retrieval with ground-based FTIR

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dammers, E.; Shephard, M.W.; Palm, M.; Cady-Pereira, K.; Capps, S.; Lutsch, E.; Strong, K.; Hannigan, J.W.; Ortega, I.; Toon, G.C.; Stremme, W.; Grutter, M.; Jones, N.; Smale, D.; Siemons, J.; Hrpcek, K.; Tremblay, D.; Schaap, M.; Notholt, J.; Willem Erisman, J.

2017-01-01

Presented here is the validation of the CrIS (Cross-track Infrared Sounder) fast physical NH3 retrieval (CFPR) column and profile measurements using ground-based Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) observations. We use the total columns and profiles from seven FTIR sites in the Network for the

Mitigation of Fatigue Loads Using Individual Pitch Control of Wind Turbines Based on FAST

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Yunqian; Chen, Zhe; Cheng, Ming

2011-01-01

moments and fatigue. The loading transfer from rotational coordinate system to the fixed coordinate system of the wind turbine is analyzed. In order to make the simulation results more reliable, the wind turbine code FAST is applied to doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) based power system...

Ultra-fast quantitative imaging using ptychographic iterative engine based digital micro-mirror device

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Aihui; Tian, Xiaolin; Kong, Yan; Jiang, Zhilong; Liu, Fei; Xue, Liang; Wang, Shouyu; Liu, Cheng

2018-01-01

As a lensfree imaging technique, ptychographic iterative engine (PIE) method can provide both quantitative sample amplitude and phase distributions avoiding aberration. However, it requires field of view (FoV) scanning often relying on mechanical translation, which not only slows down measuring speed, but also introduces mechanical errors decreasing both resolution and accuracy in retrieved information. In order to achieve high-accurate quantitative imaging with fast speed, digital micromirror device (DMD) is adopted in PIE for large FoV scanning controlled by on/off state coding by DMD. Measurements were implemented using biological samples as well as USAF resolution target, proving high resolution in quantitative imaging using the proposed system. Considering its fast and accurate imaging capability, it is believed the DMD based PIE technique provides a potential solution for medical observation and measurements.

Fast Flux Watch: A mechanism for online detection of fast flux networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Basheer N. Al-Duwairi

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Fast flux networks represent a special type of botnets that are used to provide highly available web services to a backend server, which usually hosts malicious content. Detection of fast flux networks continues to be a challenging issue because of the similar behavior between these networks and other legitimate infrastructures, such as CDNs and server farms. This paper proposes Fast Flux Watch (FF-Watch, a mechanism for online detection of fast flux agents. FF-Watch is envisioned to exist as a software agent at leaf routers that connect stub networks to the Internet. The core mechanism of FF-Watch is based on the inherent feature of fast flux networks: flux agents within stub networks take the role of relaying client requests to point-of-sale websites of spam campaigns. The main idea of FF-Watch is to correlate incoming TCP connection requests to flux agents within a stub network with outgoing TCP connection requests from the same agents to the point-of-sale website. Theoretical and traffic trace driven analysis shows that the proposed mechanism can be utilized to efficiently detect fast flux agents within a stub network.

A fast multichannel analyser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berry, A.; Przybylski, M.M.; Sumner, I.

1982-01-01

A fast multichannel analyser (MCA) capable of sampling at a rate of 10 7 s -1 has been developed. The instrument is based on an 8 bit parallel encoding analogue to digital converter (ADC) reading into a fast histogramming random access memory (RAM) system, giving 256 channels of 64 k count capacity. The prototype unit is in CAMAC format. (orig.)

The use of gas based energy conversion cycles for sodium fast reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saez, M.; Haubensack, D.; Alpy, N.; Gerber, A.; Daid, F.

2008-01-01

In the frame of Sodium Fast Reactors, CEA, AREVA and EDF are involved in a substantial effort providing both significant expertise and original work in order to investigate the interest to use a gas based energy conversion cycle as an alternative to the classical steam cycle. These gas cycles consist in different versions of the Brayton cycle, various types of gas being considered (helium, nitrogen, argon, separately or mixed, sub or supercritical carbon dioxide) as well as various cycle arrangements (indirect, indirect / combined cycles). The interest of such cycles is analysed in details by thermodynamic calculations and cycle optimisations. The objective of this paper is to provide a comparison between gas based energy conversion cycles from the viewpoint of the overall plant efficiency. Key factors affecting the Brayton cycle efficiency include the turbine inlet temperature, compressors and turbine efficiencies, recuperator effectiveness and cycle pressure losses. A nitrogen Brayton cycle at high pressure (between 100 and 180 bar) could appear as a potential near-term solution of classical gas power conversion system for maximizing the plant efficiency. At long-term, supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle appears very promising for Sodium Fast Reactors, with a potential of high efficiency using even at a core outlet temperature of 545 deg. C. (authors)

Fast Multipole-Based Elliptic PDE Solver and Preconditioner

KAUST Repository

Ibeid, Huda

2016-12-07

Exascale systems are predicted to have approximately one billion cores, assuming Gigahertz cores. Limitations on affordable network topologies for distributed memory systems of such massive scale bring new challenges to the currently dominant parallel programing model. Currently, there are many efforts to evaluate the hardware and software bottlenecks of exascale designs. It is therefore of interest to model application performance and to understand what changes need to be made to ensure extrapolated scalability. Fast multipole methods (FMM) were originally developed for accelerating N-body problems for particle-based methods in astrophysics and molecular dynamics. FMM is more than an N-body solver, however. Recent efforts to view the FMM as an elliptic PDE solver have opened the possibility to use it as a preconditioner for even a broader range of applications. In this thesis, we (i) discuss the challenges for FMM on current parallel computers and future exascale architectures, with a focus on inter-node communication, and develop a performance model that considers the communication patterns of the FMM for spatially quasi-uniform distributions, (ii) employ this performance model to guide performance and scaling improvement of FMM for all-atom molecular dynamics simulations of uniformly distributed particles, and (iii) demonstrate that, beyond its traditional use as a solver in problems for which explicit free-space kernel representations are available, the FMM has applicability as a preconditioner in finite domain elliptic boundary value problems, by equipping it with boundary integral capability for satisfying conditions at finite boundaries and by wrapping it in a Krylov method for extensibility to more general operators. Compared with multilevel methods, FMM is capable of comparable algebraic convergence rates down to the truncation error of the discretized PDE, and it has superior multicore and distributed memory scalability properties on commodity

Development of sputter ion pump based SG leak detection system for Fast Breeder Test Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Babu, B.; Sureshkumar, K.V.; Srinivasan, G.

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Development and commissioning of SG leak detection system for FBTR. ► Development of Robust method of using sputter ion pump based system. ► Modifications for improving reliability and availability. ► On line injection of hydrogen in sodium during reactor operation. ► Triplication of the SG leak detection system. - Abstract: The Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) is a 40 MWt, loop type sodium cooled fast reactor built at Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam as a fore-runner to the second stage of Indian nuclear power programme. The reactor design is based on the French reactor Rapsodie with several modifications which include the provision of a steam-water circuit and turbo-generator. FBTR uses sodium as the coolant in the main heat transport medium to transfer heat from the reactor core to the feed water in the tertiary loop for producing superheated steam, which drives the turbo-generator. Sodium and water flow in shell and tube side respectively, separated by thin-walls of the ferritic steel tubes of the once-through steam generator (SG). Material defects in these tubes can lead to leakage of water into sodium, resulting in sodium water reactions leading to undesirable consequences. Early detection of water or steam leaks into sodium in the steam generator units of liquid metal fast breeder reactors (LMFBR) is an important requirement from safety and economic considerations. The SG leak in FBTR is detected by Sputter Ion Pump (SIP) based Steam Generator Leak Detection (SGLD) system and Thermal Conductivity Detector (TCD) based Hydrogen in Argon Detection (HAD) system. Many modifications were carried out in the SGLD system for the reactor operation to improve the reliability and availability. This paper details the development and the acquired experience of SIP based SGLD system instrumentation for real time hydrogen detection in sodium for FBTR.

A ZnO nanowire-based photo-inverter with pulse-induced fast recovery.

Science.gov (United States)

Raza, Syed Raza Ali; Lee, Young Tack; Hosseini Shokouh, Seyed Hossein; Ha, Ryong; Choi, Heon-Jin; Im, Seongil

2013-11-21

We demonstrate a fast response photo-inverter comprised of one transparent gated ZnO nanowire field-effect transistor (FET) and one opaque FET respectively as the driver and load. Under ultraviolet (UV) light the transfer curve of the transparent gate FET shifts to the negative side and so does the voltage transfer curve (VTC) of the inverter. After termination of UV exposure the recovery of photo-induced current takes a long time in general. This persistent photoconductivity (PPC) is due to hole trapping on the surface of ZnO NWs. Here, we used a positive voltage short pulse after UV exposure, for the first time resolving the PPC issue in nanowire-based photo-detectors by accumulating electrons at the ZnO/dielectric interface. We found that a pulse duration as small as 200 ns was sufficient to reach a full recovery to the dark state from the UV induced state, realizing a fast UV detector with a voltage output.

The effect of fasting on surgical performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schefte, David Fenger; Rosenstock, Steffen Jais

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND: It is unknown whether fasting has any impact on surgical performance. This simulator-based study investigates whether fasting affects surgical performance. METHODS: Twelve healthy medical students [seven women, mean age 26.5 years (range 23-34)] with no prior experience with surgical...... simulators underwent a short course introduction to the LapSim(®) simulator. After having reached a predefined level, the participants performed five simulated salpingectomies on the LapSim(®) simulator 5-30 days after the initial introduction. The procedures took place at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. after fasting...... in the longitudinal axis with the left hand. CONCLUSION: The simulator-based study suggests that 17 h of fasting does not deteriorate surgical performance. Further studies on the effect of fasting on surgical performance are needed....

TH-E-BRE-08: GPU-Monte Carlo Based Fast IMRT Plan Optimization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Y; Tian, Z; Shi, F; Jiang, S; Jia, X [The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Ctr, Dallas, TX (United States)

2014-06-15

Purpose: Intensity-modulated radiation treatment (IMRT) plan optimization needs pre-calculated beamlet dose distribution. Pencil-beam or superposition/convolution type algorithms are typically used because of high computation speed. However, inaccurate beamlet dose distributions, particularly in cases with high levels of inhomogeneity, may mislead optimization, hindering the resulting plan quality. It is desire to use Monte Carlo (MC) methods for beamlet dose calculations. Yet, the long computational time from repeated dose calculations for a number of beamlets prevents this application. It is our objective to integrate a GPU-based MC dose engine in lung IMRT optimization using a novel two-steps workflow. Methods: A GPU-based MC code gDPM is used. Each particle is tagged with an index of a beamlet where the source particle is from. Deposit dose are stored separately for beamlets based on the index. Due to limited GPU memory size, a pyramid space is allocated for each beamlet, and dose outside the space is neglected. A two-steps optimization workflow is proposed for fast MC-based optimization. At first step, rough beamlet dose calculations is conducted with only a small number of particles per beamlet. Plan optimization is followed to get an approximated fluence map. In the second step, more accurate beamlet doses are calculated, where sampled number of particles for a beamlet is proportional to the intensity determined previously. A second-round optimization is conducted, yielding the final Result. Results: For a lung case with 5317 beamlets, 10{sup 5} particles per beamlet in the first round, and 10{sup 8} particles per beam in the second round are enough to get a good plan quality. The total simulation time is 96.4 sec. Conclusion: A fast GPU-based MC dose calculation method along with a novel two-step optimization workflow are developed. The high efficiency allows the use of MC for IMRT optimizations.

Three-dimensional spatiotemporal features for fast content-based retrieval of focal liver lesions.

Science.gov (United States)

Roy, Sharmili; Chi, Yanling; Liu, Jimin; Venkatesh, Sudhakar K; Brown, Michael S

2014-11-01

Content-based image retrieval systems for 3-D medical datasets still largely rely on 2-D image-based features extracted from a few representative slices of the image stack. Most 2 -D features that are currently used in the literature not only model a 3-D tumor incompletely but are also highly expensive in terms of computation time, especially for high-resolution datasets. Radiologist-specified semantic labels are sometimes used along with image-based 2-D features to improve the retrieval performance. Since radiological labels show large interuser variability, are often unstructured, and require user interaction, their use as lesion characterizing features is highly subjective, tedious, and slow. In this paper, we propose a 3-D image-based spatiotemporal feature extraction framework for fast content-based retrieval of focal liver lesions. All the features are computer generated and are extracted from four-phase abdominal CT images. Retrieval performance and query processing times for the proposed framework is evaluated on a database of 44 hepatic lesions comprising of five pathological types. Bull's eye percentage score above 85% is achieved for three out of the five lesion pathologies and for 98% of query lesions, at least one same type of lesion is ranked among the top two retrieved results. Experiments show that the proposed system's query processing is more than 20 times faster than other already published systems that use 2-D features. With fast computation time and high retrieval accuracy, the proposed system has the potential to be used as an assistant to radiologists for routine hepatic tumor diagnosis.

A conceptual design of neutron tumor therapy reactor facility with a YAYOI based fast neutron source reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wakabayashi, Hiroaki; An, Shigehiro.

1983-01-01

Fast neutron is known as one of useful radiations for radiation therapy of tumors. Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) of tumors which makes use of 10 B(n, α) 7 Li reaction of 10 B compounds selectively attached to tumor cells with thermal and intermediate neutrons is another way of neutron based radiation therapy which is, above all, attractive enough to kill tumor cells selectively sparing normal tissue. In Japan, BNCT has already been applied and leaned to be effective. After more than a decade operational experiences and the specific experiments designed for therapeutical purposes, in this paper, a conceptual design of a special neutron therapy reactor facility based on YAYOI - fast neutron source reactor of Nuclear Engineering Research Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering, the University of Tokyo - modified to provide an upward beam of fast and intermediate neutrons is presented. Emphasis is placed on the in-house nature of facility and on the coordinating capability of biological and physical researches as well as maintenances of the facility. (author)

Settling Payments Fast and Private: Efficient Decentralized Routing for Path-Based Transactions

OpenAIRE

Roos, Stefanie; Moreno-Sanchez, Pedro; Kate, Aniket; Goldberg, Ian

2017-01-01

Path-based transaction (PBT) networks, which settle payments from one user to another via a path of intermediaries, are a growing area of research. They overcome the scalability and privacy issues in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum by replacing expensive and slow on-chain blockchain operations with inexpensive and fast off-chain transfers. In the form of credit networks such as Ripple and Stellar, they also enable low-price real-time gross settlements across different currencies. F...

Spectroscopic Measurements of the Ion Velocity Distribution at the Base of the Fast Solar Wind

Science.gov (United States)

Jeffrey, Natasha L. S.; Hahn, Michael; Savin, Daniel W.; Fletcher, Lyndsay

2018-03-01

In situ measurements of the fast solar wind reveal non-thermal distributions of electrons, protons, and minor ions extending from 0.3 au to the heliopause. The physical mechanisms responsible for these non-thermal properties and the location where these properties originate remain open questions. Here, we present spectroscopic evidence, from extreme ultraviolet spectroscopy, that the velocity distribution functions (VDFs) of minor ions are already non-Gaussian at the base of the fast solar wind in a coronal hole, at altitudes of thermal equilibrium, (b) fluid motions such as non-Gaussian turbulent fluctuations or non-uniform wave motions, or (c) some combination of both. These observations provide important empirical constraints for the source region of the fast solar wind and for the theoretical models of the different acceleration, heating, and energy deposition processes therein. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that the ion VDF in the fast solar wind has been probed so close to its source region. The findings are also a timely precursor to the upcoming 2018 launch of the Parker Solar Probe, which will provide the closest in situ measurements of the solar wind at approximately 0.04 au (8.5 solar radii).

Polylactide-based polyurethane shape memory nanocomposites (Fe3O4/PLAUs) with fast magnetic responsiveness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gu, Shu-Ying; Jin, Sheng-Peng; Gao, Xie-Feng; Mu, Jian

2016-01-01

Polylactide-based polyurethane shape memory nanocomposites (Fe 3 O 4 /PLAUs) with fast magnetic responsiveness are presented. For the purpose of fast response and homogeneous dispersion of magnetic nanoparticles, oleic acid was used to improve the dispersibility of Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles in a polymer matrix. A homogeneous distribution of Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles in the polymer matrix was obtained for nanocomposites with low Fe 3 O 4 loading content. A small agglomeration was observed for nanocomposites with 6 wt% and 9 wt% loading content, leading to a small decline in the mechanical properties. PLAU and its nanocomposites have glass transition around 52 °C, which can be used as the triggering temperature. PLAU and its nanocomposites have shape fixity ratios above 99%, shape recovery ratios above 82% for the first cycle and shape recovery ratios above 91% for the second cycle. PLAU and its nanocomposites also exhibit a fast water bath or magnetic responsiveness. The magnetic recovery time decreases with an increase in the loading content of Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles due to an improvement in heating performance for increased weight percentage of fillers. The nanocomposites have fast responses in an alternating magnetic field and have potential application in biomedical areas such as intravascular stent. (paper)

Fast gene ontology based clustering for microarray experiments.

Science.gov (United States)

Ovaska, Kristian; Laakso, Marko; Hautaniemi, Sampsa

2008-11-21

Analysis of a microarray experiment often results in a list of hundreds of disease-associated genes. In order to suggest common biological processes and functions for these genes, Gene Ontology annotations with statistical testing are widely used. However, these analyses can produce a very large number of significantly altered biological processes. Thus, it is often challenging to interpret GO results and identify novel testable biological hypotheses. We present fast software for advanced gene annotation using semantic similarity for Gene Ontology terms combined with clustering and heat map visualisation. The methodology allows rapid identification of genes sharing the same Gene Ontology cluster. Our R based semantic similarity open-source package has a speed advantage of over 2000-fold compared to existing implementations. From the resulting hierarchical clustering dendrogram genes sharing a GO term can be identified, and their differences in the gene expression patterns can be seen from the heat map. These methods facilitate advanced annotation of genes resulting from data analysis.

Hardware-based Tracking at Trigger Level for ATLAS: The Fast TracKer (FTK) Project

CERN Document Server

Gramling, Johanna; The ATLAS collaboration

2015-01-01

Physics collisions at 13 TeV are expected at the LHC with an average of 40-50 proton-proton collisions per bunch crossing. Tracking at trigger level is an essential tool to control the rate in high-pileup conditions while maintaining a good efficiency for relevant physics processes. The Fast TracKer (FTK) is an integral part of the trigger upgrade for the ATLAS detector. For every event passing the Level 1 trigger (at a maximum rate of 100 kHz) the FTK receives data from the 80 million channels of the silicon detectors, providing tracking information to the High Level Trigger in order to ensure a selection robust against pile-up. The FTK performs a hardware- based track reconstruction, using associative memory (AM) that is based on the use of a custom chip, designed to perform pattern matching at very high speed. It finds track candidates at low resolution (roads) that seed a full-resolution track fitting done by FPGAs. Narrow roads permit a fast track fitting but need many patterns stored in the AM to ensure...

A novel Fast Gas Chromatography based technique for higher time resolution measurements of speciated monoterpenes in air

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, C. E.; Kato, S.; Nakashima, Y.; Kajii, Y.

2013-12-01

Biogenic emissions supply the largest fraction of non-methane volatile organic compounds (VOC) from the biosphere to the atmospheric boundary layer, and typically comprise a complex mixture of reactive terpenes. Due to this chemical complexity, achieving comprehensive measurements of biogenic VOC (BVOC) in air within a satisfactory time resolution is analytically challenging. To address this, we have developed a novel, fully automated Fast Gas Chromatography (Fast-GC) based technique to provide higher time resolution monitoring of monoterpenes (and selected other C9-C15 terpenes) during plant emission studies and in ambient air. To our knowledge, this is the first study to apply a Fast-GC based separation technique to achieve quantification of terpenes in air. Three chromatography methods have been developed for atmospheric terpene analysis under different sampling scenarios. Each method facilitates chromatographic separation of selected BVOC within a significantly reduced analysis time compared to conventional GC methods, whilst maintaining the ability to quantify individual monoterpene structural isomers. Using this approach, the C10-C15 BVOC composition of single plant emissions may be characterised within a ~ 14 min analysis time. Moreover, in situ quantification of 12 monoterpenes in unpolluted ambient air may be achieved within an ~ 11 min chromatographic separation time (increasing to ~ 19 min when simultaneous quantification of multiple oxygenated C9-C10 terpenoids is required, and/or when concentrations of anthropogenic VOC are significant). This corresponds to a two- to fivefold increase in measurement frequency compared to conventional GC methods. Here we outline the technical details and analytical capability of this chromatographic approach, and present the first in situ Fast-GC observations of 6 monoterpenes and the oxygenated BVOC linalool in ambient air. During this field deployment within a suburban forest ~ 30 km west of central Tokyo, Japan, the

ITER Fast Plant System Controller prototype based on PXIe platform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ruiz, M.; Vega, J.; Castro, R.; Sanz, D.; López, J.M.; Arcas, G. de; Barrera, E.; Nieto, J.; Gonçalves, B.; Sousa, J.; Carvalho, B.; Utzel, N.; Makijarvi, P.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Implementation of Fast Plant System Controller (FPSC) for ITER CODAC. ► Efficient data acquisition and data movement using EPICS. ► Performance of PCIe technologies in the implementation of FPSC. - Abstract: The ITER Fast Plant System Controller (FPSC) is based on embedded technologies. The FPSC will be devoted to both data acquisition tasks (sampling rates higher than 1 kHz) and control purposes (feedback loop actuators). Some of the essential requirements of these systems are: (a) data acquisition and data preprocessing; (b) interfacing with different networks and high speed links (Plant Operation Network, timing network based on IEEE1588, synchronous data transference and streaming/archiving networks); and (c) system setup and operation using EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) process variables. CIEMAT and UPM have implemented a prototype of FPSC using a PXIe (PCI eXtension for Instrumentation) form factor in a R and D project developed in two phases. The paper presents the main features of the two prototypes developed that have been named alpha and beta. The former was implemented using LabVIEW development tools as it was focused on modeling the FPSC software modules, using the graphical features of LabVIEW applications, and measuring the basic performance in the system. The alpha version prototype implements data acquisition with time-stamping, EPICS monitoring using waveform process variables (PVs), and archiving. The beta version prototype is a complete IOC implemented using EPICS with different software functional blocks. These functional blocks are integrated and managed using an ASYN driver solution and provide the basic functionalities required by ITER FPSC such as data acquisition, data archiving, data pre-processing (using both CPU and GPU) and streaming.

The weak π − π interaction originated resonant tunneling and fast switching in the carbon based electronic devices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jun He

2012-03-01

Full Text Available By means of the nonequilibrium Green's functions and the density functional theory, we have investigated the electronic transport properties of C60 based electronic device with different intermolecular interactions. It is found that the electronic transport properties vary with the types of the interaction between two C60 molecules. A fast electrical switching behavior based on negative differential resistance has been found when two molecules are coupled by the weak π − π interaction. Compared to the solid bonding, the weak interaction is found to induce resonant tunneling, which is responsible for the fast response to the applied electric field and hence the velocity of switching.

Ramadan and diabetes: As-Saum (The fasting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammed Abdul Jaleel

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Ramadan, the ninth month of Islamic lunar calendar, is marked by religious ritual of fasting from early dawn till sunset by Muslims. Islam has allowed many categories of people to be exempt totally or temporarily from fasting. Patients with uncontrolled diabetes face possible major metabolic risks including hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia with or without the risk of impending ketosis, dehydration, and thrombosis. Diabetics can be stratified into four categories based on their level of risk associated with fasting. The recommended ruling for persons in categories 1 and 2 is that they are prohibited from fasting to prevent harming themselves based on the certainty or the preponderance of probability that harm will occur, whereas the recommended ruling for those in categories 3 and 4 is that they should fast. The strategies to ensure safety of diabetics who are planning to fast include Ramadan-focused patient education, pre-Ramadan medical assessment, following a healthy diet and physical activity pattern, physician-recommended modifications in medication protocol and therapeutic recommendations and checking blood glucose as and when required.

MOCC: A Fast and Robust Correlation-Based Method for Interest Point Matching under Large Scale Changes

OpenAIRE

Wang Hao; Gao Wen; Huang Qingming; Zhao Feng

2010-01-01

Similarity measures based on correlation have been used extensively for matching tasks. However, traditional correlation-based image matching methods are sensitive to rotation and scale changes. This paper presents a fast correlation-based method for matching two images with large rotation and significant scale changes. Multiscale oriented corner correlation (MOCC) is used to evaluate the degree of similarity between the feature points. The method is rotation invariant and capable of matchin...

Economic evaluation of fast reactor fuel cycling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu Ping; Zhao Fuyu; Yan Zhou; Li Chong

2012-01-01

Economic calculation and analysis of two kinds of nuclear fuel cycle are conducted by check off method, based on the nuclear fuel cycling process and model for fast reactor power plant, and comparison is carried out for the economy of fast reactor fuel cycle and PWR once-through fuel cycle. Calculated based on the current price level, the economy of PWR one-through fuel cycle is better than that of the fast reactor fuel cycle. However, in the long term considering the rising of the natural uranium's price and the development of the post treatment technology for nuclear fuels, the cost of the fast reactor fuel cycle is expected to match or lower than that of the PWR once-through fuel cycle. (authors)

Development of natural gum based fast disintegrating tablets of glipizide

OpenAIRE

Antesh Kumar Jha; Dipak Chetia

2012-01-01

Dysphagia and risk of choking are leading causes of patient non-compliance in the self-administration of conventional tablets. To overcome these limitations of conventional tablets fast-disintegrating tablets were developed, using natural gums. Natural gums were evaluated for bulk swelling capacity. Powder mix containing natural gums and glipizide was evaluated for water sorption, swelling index and capillary action. For faster onset and immediate hypoglycemic action, the fast disintegrating ...

A thermodynamically based definition of fast verses slow heating in secondary explosives

Science.gov (United States)

Henson, Bryan; Smilowitz, Laura

2013-06-01

The thermal response of energetic materials is often categorized according to the rate of heating as either fast or slow, e.g. slow cook-off. Such categorizations have most often followed some operational rationale, without a material based definition. We have spent several years demonstrating that for the energetic material octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX) a single mechanism of thermal response reproduces times to ignition independent of rate or means of heating over the entire range of thermal response. HMX is unique in that bulk melting is rarely observed in either thermal ignition or combustion. We have recently discovered a means of expressing this mechanism for HMX in a reduced form applicable to many secondary explosives. We will show that with this mechanism a natural definition of fast versus slow rates of heating emerges, related to the rate of melting, and we use this to illustrate why HMX does not exhibit melting, and why a number of other secondary explosives do, and require the two separate categories.

Towards radiation hard converter material for SiC-based fast neutron detectors

Science.gov (United States)

Tripathi, S.; Upadhyay, C.; Nagaraj, C. P.; Venkatesan, A.; Devan, K.

2018-05-01

In the present work, Geant4 Monte-Carlo simulations have been carried out to study the neutron detection efficiency of the various neutron to other charge particle (recoil proton) converter materials. The converter material is placed over Silicon Carbide (SiC) in Fast Neutron detectors (FNDs) to achieve higher neutron detection efficiency as compared to bare SiC FNDs. Hydrogenous converter material such as High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) is preferred over other converter materials due to the virtue of its high elastic scattering reaction cross-section for fast neutron detection at room temperature. Upon interaction with fast neutrons, hydrogenous converter material generates recoil protons which liberate e-hole pairs in the active region of SiC detector to provide a detector signal. The neutron detection efficiency offered by HDPE converter is compared with several other hydrogenous materials viz., 1) Lithium Hydride (LiH), 2) Perylene, 3) PTCDA . It is found that, HDPE, though providing highest efficiency among various studied materials, cannot withstand high temperature and harsh radiation environment. On the other hand, perylene and PTCDA can sustain harsh environments, but yields low efficiency. The analysis carried out reveals that LiH is a better material for neutron to other charge particle conversion with competent efficiency and desired radiation hardness. Further, the thickness of LiH has also been optimized for various mono-energetic neutron beams and Am-Be neutron source generating a neutron fluence of 109 neutrons/cm2. The optimized thickness of LiH converter for fast neutron detection is found to be ~ 500 μm. However, the estimated efficiency for fast neutron detection is only 0.1%, which is deemed to be inadequate for reliable detection of neutrons. A sensitivity study has also been done investigating the gamma background effect on the neutron detection efficiency for various energy threshold of Low-Level Discriminator (LLD). The detection

BES-II fast data reconstruction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rong Gang; Zhang Jiawen; Guo Yiqing; Zhang Shaoqiang; Zhao Dixin

2002-01-01

The BES-II fast data reconstruction is reported. Based on PC FARM and/or a 'Distributed Clustered Linux PC System', BES-II fast data reconstruction system is set up. With this system the BES-II data can be fully reconstructed in about 20 minutes after data collection. It takes only 12 minutes to fully reconstruct 30000 events, collected with BES-II detector at BEPC Collider, with a P III-800 PC. The detector performance can be examined based on fully reconstructed data in about 20 minutes after data taking in the BES-II experiment

Water Fastness of Screen Printed Pearl Luster Pigments based on Synthetic and Natural Mica on Polyvinyl Chloride Foil and Rich Mineral Paper

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mirica Karlovits

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The present study attempts to examine water fastness of screen printed pearl luster pigments based on synthetic and natural mica on polyvinyl chloride foil and Rich Mineral Paper. Three types of pearl luster pigments were used, each different from the other in composition, interference colour and particle size: one pigment based on synthetic mica (Pigment 1 and two pigments based on natural mica (Pigment 2 and Pigment 3. Pearl luster pigments were applied to the printing base (PVC transparent base in 15wt.% concentration and printed by means of screen printing technique. The test of water fastness was made on prints, where the samples were soaked in distilled water for 6 and 12 days. It was established that this water treatment did not have any significant impact on the durability of screen printed pearl luster pigments. The pigments could demonstrate slightly better water fastness after being printed on Rich Mineral Paper.

L0 Confirmation with fast, Tsa based tracking in the T-stations

CERN Document Server

Albrecht, J; Terrier, H

2007-01-01

A fast tracking algorithm to confirm the high $p_T$ L0 trigger objects with tracks from the T-stations is presented. The L0 trigger candidate is used to define a search window to a potential track. Using this, a seeded track search is performed. The track finding algorithm is based on the \\textit{TsaSeeding} algorithm~\\cite{bib:Tsa}. The efficiency to confirm a true L0 trigger signal is around 96\\%, the momentum can be measured up to $\\Delta p/p$=3\\%.

Development of a fast agglutination screening test (FAST) for the detection of anti-Leishmania antibodies in dogs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schallig, H. D. F. H.; Schoone, G. J.; Beijer, E. G. M.; Kroon, C. C. M.; Hommers, M.; Ozbel, Y.; Ozensoy, S.; da Silva, E. S.; Cardoso, L. M.; da Silva, E. D.

2002-01-01

A fast agglutination screening test (FAST) for the detection of anti-Leishinania antibodies in serum samples from dogs with visceral leishmamosis was developed. The test is based on the direct agglutination test (DAT), but combines a higher parasite concentration with a smaller test volume. In

The CMS Fast Beams Condition Monitor Backend Electronics based on MicroTCA technology

CERN Document Server

Zagozdzinska, Agnieszka Anna

2016-01-01

The Fast Beams Condition Monitor (BCM1F), upgraded for LHC Run II, is one sub-system of the Beam Radiation Instrumentation and Luminosity Project of the CMS experiment. It is based on 24 single crystal CVD diamond sensors. Each sensor is metallised with two pads, being read out by a dedicated fast frontend chip produced in 130 nm CMOS technology. Signals for real time monitoring are processed by custom-made back-end electronics to measure separately rates corresponding to LHC collision products, machine induced background and residual activation exploiting different arrival times. The system is built in MicroTCA technology and uses high speed analog-to-digital converters. The data processing module designed for the FPGA allows a distinguishing of collision and machine induced background, both synchronous to the LHC clock, from the residual activation products. In operational modes of high rates, consecutive events, spaced in time by less than 12.5 ns, may partially overlap. Hence, novel signal processing tec...

A new license plate extraction framework based on fast mean shift

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Luning; Li, Shuguang

2010-08-01

License plate extraction is considered to be the most crucial step of Automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) system. In this paper, a region-based license plate hybrid detection method is proposed to solve practical problems under complex background in which existing large quantity of disturbing information. In this method, coarse license plate location is carried out firstly to get the head part of a vehicle. Then a new Fast Mean Shift method based on random sampling of Kernel Density Estimate (KDE) is adopted to segment the color vehicle images, in order to get candidate license plate regions. The remarkable speed-up it brings makes Mean Shift segmentation more suitable for this application. Feature extraction and classification is used to accurately separate license plate from other candidate regions. At last, tilted license plate regulation is used for future recognition steps.

Fast high resolution ADC based on the flash type with a special error correcting technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xiao-Zhong, Liang; Jing-Xi, Cao [Beijing Univ. (China). Inst. of Atomic Energy

1984-03-01

A fast 12 bits ADC based on the flash type with a simple special error correcting technique which can effectively compensate the level drift of the discriminators and the droop of the stretcher voltage is described. The DNL is comparable with the Wilkinson's ADC and long term drift is far better than its.

Fast digital envelope detector based on generalized harmonic wavelet transform for BOTDR performance improvement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Wei; Yang, Yuanhong; Yang, Mingwei

2014-01-01

We propose a fast digital envelope detector (DED) based on the generalized harmonic wavelet transform to improve the performance of coherent heterodyne Brillouin optical time domain reflectometry. The proposed DED can obtain undistorted envelopes due to the zero phase-shift ideal bandpass filter (BPF) characteristics of the generalized harmonic wavelet (GHW). Its envelope average ability benefits from the passband designing flexibility of the GHW, and its demodulation speed can be accelerated by using a fast algorithm that only analyses signals of interest within the passband of the GHW with reduced computational complexity. The feasibility and advantage of the proposed DED are verified by simulations and experiments. With an optimized bandwidth, Brillouin frequency shift accuracy improvements of 19.4% and 11.14%, as well as envelope demodulation speed increases of 39.1% and 24.9%, are experimentally attained by the proposed DED over Hilbert transform (HT) and Morlet wavelet transform (MWT) based DEDs, respectively. Spatial resolution by the proposed DED is undegraded, which is identical to the undegraded value by HT-DED with an allpass filter characteristic and better than the degraded value by MWT-DED with a Gaussian BPF characteristic. (paper)

Fast rail corrugation detection based on texture filtering

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Jie; Lu, Kaixia

2018-02-01

The condition detection of rails in high-speed railway is one of the important means to ensure the safety of railway transportation. In order to replace the traditional manual inspection, save manpower and material resources, and improve the detection speed and accuracy, it is of great significance to develop a machine vision system for locating and identifying defects on rails automatically. Rail defects exhibit different properties and are divided into various categories related to the type and position of flaws on the rail. Several kinds of interrelated factors cause rail defects such as type of rail, construction conditions, and speed and/or frequency of trains using the rail. Rail corrugation is a particular kind of defects that produce an undulatory deformation on the rail heads. In high speed train, the corrugation induces harmful vibrations on wheels and its components and reduces the lifetime of rails. This type of defects should be detected to avoid rail fractures. In this paper, a novel method for fast rail corrugation detection based on texture filtering was proposed.

Fast Gene Ontology based clustering for microarray experiments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ovaska Kristian

2008-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Analysis of a microarray experiment often results in a list of hundreds of disease-associated genes. In order to suggest common biological processes and functions for these genes, Gene Ontology annotations with statistical testing are widely used. However, these analyses can produce a very large number of significantly altered biological processes. Thus, it is often challenging to interpret GO results and identify novel testable biological hypotheses. Results We present fast software for advanced gene annotation using semantic similarity for Gene Ontology terms combined with clustering and heat map visualisation. The methodology allows rapid identification of genes sharing the same Gene Ontology cluster. Conclusion Our R based semantic similarity open-source package has a speed advantage of over 2000-fold compared to existing implementations. From the resulting hierarchical clustering dendrogram genes sharing a GO term can be identified, and their differences in the gene expression patterns can be seen from the heat map. These methods facilitate advanced annotation of genes resulting from data analysis.

A symplectic Poisson solver based on Fast Fourier Transformation. The first trial

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vorobiev, L.G.; Hirata, Kohji.

1995-11-01

A symplectic Poisson solver calculates numerically a potential and fields due to a 2D distribution of particles in a way that the symplecticity and smoothness are assured automatically. Such a code, based on Fast Fourier Transformation combined with Bicubic Interpolation, is developed for the use in multi-turn particle simulation in circular accelerators. Beside that, it may have a number of applications, where computations of space charge forces should obey a symplecticity criterion. Detailed computational schemes of all algorithms will be outlined to facilitate practical programming. (author)

Left Ventricle: Fully Automated Segmentation Based on Spatiotemporal Continuity and Myocardium Information in Cine Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging (LV-FAST

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lijia Wang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available CMR quantification of LV chamber volumes typically and manually defines the basal-most LV, which adds processing time and user-dependence. This study developed an LV segmentation method that is fully automated based on the spatiotemporal continuity of the LV (LV-FAST. An iteratively decreasing threshold region growing approach was used first from the midventricle to the apex, until the LV area and shape discontinued, and then from midventricle to the base, until less than 50% of the myocardium circumference was observable. Region growth was constrained by LV spatiotemporal continuity to improve robustness of apical and basal segmentations. The LV-FAST method was compared with manual tracing on cardiac cine MRI data of 45 consecutive patients. Of the 45 patients, LV-FAST and manual selection identified the same apical slices at both ED and ES and the same basal slices at both ED and ES in 38, 38, 38, and 41 cases, respectively, and their measurements agreed within -1.6±8.7 mL, -1.4±7.8 mL, and 1.0±5.8% for EDV, ESV, and EF, respectively. LV-FAST allowed LV volume-time course quantitatively measured within 3 seconds on a standard desktop computer, which is fast and accurate for processing the cine volumetric cardiac MRI data, and enables LV filling course quantification over the cardiac cycle.

Fast Packet forwarding Engine Based on Software Circuits

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Makkes, M.X.; Varabanescu, A.; Laat, C. de; Meijer, R.J.

2015-01-01

Forwarding packets is part of the performance critical path of routing devices, and affects the network performance at any scale. This operation is typically performed by dedicated routing boxes, which are fast, but expensive and inflexible. Recent work has shown that in many cases commodity

Status of national programmes on fast reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-04-01

Based on the International Working Group on Fast reactors (IWGFR) members' request, the IAEA organized a special meeting on Fast Reactor Development and the Role of the IAEA in May 1993. The purpose of the meeting was to review and discuss the status and recent development, to present major changes in fast reactor programmes and to recommend future activities on fast reactors. The IWGFR took note that in some Member States large prototypes have been built or are under construction. However, some countries, due to their current budget constraints, have reduced the level of funding for research and development programmes on fast reactors. The IWGFR noted that in this situation the international exchange of information and cooperation on the development of fast reactors is highly desirable and stressed the importance of the IAEA's programme on fast reactors. These proceedings contain important and useful information on national programmes and new developments in sodium cooled fast reactors in Member States. Refs, figs and tabs

Fast neural-net based fake track rejection in the LHCb reconstruction

CERN Document Server

De Cian, Michel; Seyfert, Paul; Stahl, Sascha

2017-01-01

A neural-network based algorithm to identify fake tracks in the LHCb pattern recognition is presented. This algorithm, called ghost probability, retains more than 99 % of well reconstructed tracks while reducing the number of fake tracks by 60 %. It is fast enough to fit into the CPU time budget of the software trigger farm and thus reduces the combinatorics of the decay reconstructions, as well as the number of tracks that need to be processed by the particle identification algorithms. As a result, it strongly contributes to the achievement of having the same reconstruction online and offline in the LHCb experiment in Run II of the LHC.

An Elastic Charging Service Fee-Based Load Guiding Strategy for Fast Charging Stations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shu Su

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Compared with the traditional slow charging loads, random integration of large scale fast charging loads will exert more serious impacts on the security of power network operation. Besides, to maximize social benefits, effective scheduling strategies guiding fast charging behaviors should be formulated rather than simply increasing infrastructure construction investments on the power grid. This paper first analyzes the charging users’ various responses to an elastic charging service fee, and introduces the index of charging balance degree to a target region by considering the influence of fast charging loads on the power grid. Then, a multi-objective optimization model of the fast charging service fee is constructed, whose service fee can be further optimized by employing a fuzzy programming method. Therefore, both users’ satisfaction degree and the equilibrium of charging loads can be maintained simultaneously by reasonably guiding electric vehicles (EVs to different fast charging stations. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed dynamic charging service pricing and the corresponding fast charging load guidance strategy.

The Fast-Casual Conundrum: Fast-Casual Restaurant Entrées Are Higher in Calories than Fast Food.

Science.gov (United States)

Schoffman, Danielle E; Davidson, Charis R; Hales, Sarah B; Crimarco, Anthony E; Dahl, Alicia A; Turner-McGrievy, Gabrielle M

2016-10-01

Frequently eating fast food has been associated with consuming a diet high in calories, and there is a public perception that fast-casual restaurants (eg, Chipotle) are healthier than traditional fast food (eg, McDonald's). However, research has not examined whether fast-food entrées and fast-casual entrées differ in calorie content. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the caloric content of entrées at fast-food restaurants differed from that found at fast-casual restaurants. This study was a cross-sectional analysis of secondary data. Calorie information from 2014 for lunch and dinner entrées for fast-food and fast-casual restaurants was downloaded from the MenuStat database. Mean calories per entrée between fast-food restaurants and fast-casual restaurants and the proportion of restaurant entrées that fell into different calorie ranges were assessed. A t test was conducted to test the hypothesis that there was no difference between the average calories per entrée at fast-food and fast-casual restaurants. To examine the difference in distribution of entrées in different calorie ranges between fast-food and fast-casual restaurants, χ(2) tests were used. There were 34 fast-food and 28 fast-casual restaurants included in the analysis (n=3,193 entrées). Fast-casual entrées had significantly more calories per entrée (760±301 kcal) than fast-food entrées (561±268; Prestaurants to determine whether the energy content or nutrient density of full meals (ie, entrées with sides and drinks) differs between fast-casual restaurants and fast-food restaurants. Calorie-conscious consumers should consider the calorie content of entrée items before purchase, regardless of restaurant type. Copyright © 2016 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A novel fast-neutron tomography system based on a plastic scintillator array and a compact D–D neutron generator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adams, Robert; Zboray, Robert; Prasser, Horst-Michael

2016-01-01

Very few experimental imaging studies using a compact neutron generator have been published, and to the knowledge of the authors none have included tomography results using multiple projection angles. Radiography results with a neutron generator, scintillator screen, and camera can be seen in Bogolubov et al. (2005), Cremer et al. (2012), and Li et al. (2014). Comparable results with a position-sensitive photomultiplier tube can be seen in Popov et al. (2011). One study using an array of individual fast neutron detectors in the context of cargo scanning for security purposes is detailed in Eberhardt et al. (2005). In that case, however, the emphasis was on very large objects with a resolution on the order of 1 cm, whereas this study focuses on less massive objects and a finer spatial resolution. In Andersson et al. (2014) three fast neutron counters and a D–T generator were used to perform attenuation measurements of test phantoms. Based on the axisymmetry of the test phantoms, the single-projection information was used to calculate radial attenuation distributions of the object, which was compared with the known geometry. In this paper a fast-neutron tomography system based on an array of individual detectors and a purpose-designed compact D–D neutron generator is presented. Each of the 88 detectors consists of a plastic scintillator read out by two Silicon photomultipliers and a dedicated pulse-processing board. Data acquisition for all channels was handled by four single-board microcontrollers. Details of the individual detector design and testing are elaborated upon. Using the complete array, several fast-neutron images of test phantoms were reconstructed, one of which was compared with results using a Co-60 gamma source. The system was shown to be capable of 2 mm resolution, with exposure times on the order of several hours per reconstructed tomogram. Details about these measurements and the analysis of the reconstructed images are given, along with a

Fast-track hip and knee arthroplasty

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Husted, Henrik

2012-01-01

Fast-track hip and knee arthroplasty aims at giving the patients the best available treatment at all times, being a dynamic entity. Fast-track combines evidence-based, clinical features with organizational optimization including a revision of traditions resulting in a streamlined pathway from...... on clinical and organizational aspects of fast-track hip and knee arthroplasty (I–IX). A detailed description of the fast-track set-up and its components is provided. Major results include identification of patient characteristics to predict length of stay and satisfaction with different aspects...... of the hospital stay (I); how to optimize analgesia by using a compression bandage in total knee arthroplasty (II); the clinical and organizational set-up facilitating or acting as barriers for early discharge (III); safety aspects following fast-track in the form of few readmissions in general (IV) and few...

Fast reactor fuel reprocessing in the UK

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allardice, R.H.; Williams, J.; Buck, C.

1977-01-01

Enriched uranium metal fuel irradiated in the Dounreay Fast Reactor has been reprocessed and refabricated in plants specifically designed for the purpose in the U.K. since 1961. Efficient and reliable fuel recycle is essential to the development of a plutonium based fast reactor system and the importance of establishing at an early stage fast reactor fuel reprocessing has been reinforced by current world difficulties in reprocessing high burn-up thermal reactor oxide fuel. In consequence, the U.K. has decided to reprocess irradiated fuel from the 250 MW(E) Prototype Fast Reactor as an integral part of the fast reactor development programme. Flowsheet and equipment development work for the small scale fully active demonstration plant have been carried out over the past 5 years and the plant will be commissioned and ready for active operation during 1977. In parallel, a comprehensive waste management system has been developed and installed. Based on this development work and the information which will arise from active operation of the plant a parallel development programme has been initiated to provide the basis for the design of a large scale fast reactor fuel reprocessing plant to come into operation in the late 1980s to support the projected U.K. fast reactor installation programme. The paper identifies the important differences between fast reactor and thermal reactor fuel reprocessing technologies and describes some of the development work carried out in these areas for the small scale P.F.R. fuel reprocessing operation. In addition, the development programme in aid of the design of a larger scale fast reactor fuel reprocessing plant is outlined and the current design philosophy is discussed

FAST DISCRETE CURVELET TRANSFORM BASED ANISOTROPIC FEATURE EXTRACTION FOR IRIS RECOGNITION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amol D. Rahulkar

2010-11-01

Full Text Available The feature extraction plays a very important role in iris recognition. Recent researches on multiscale analysis provide good opportunity to extract more accurate information for iris recognition. In this work, a new directional iris texture features based on 2-D Fast Discrete Curvelet Transform (FDCT is proposed. The proposed approach divides the normalized iris image into six sub-images and the curvelet transform is applied independently on each sub-image. The anisotropic feature vector for each sub-image is derived using the directional energies of the curvelet coefficients. These six feature vectors are combined to create the resultant feature vector. During recognition, the nearest neighbor classifier based on Euclidean distance has been used for authentication. The effectiveness of the proposed approach has been tested on two different databases namely UBIRIS and MMU1. Experimental results show the superiority of the proposed approach.

Fast food: unfriendly and unhealthy.

Science.gov (United States)

Stender, S; Dyerberg, J; Astrup, A

2007-06-01

Although nutrition experts might be able to navigate the menus of fast-food restaurant chains, and based on the nutritional information, compose apparently 'healthy' meals, there are still many reasons why frequent fast-food consumption at most chains is unhealthy and contributes to weight gain, obesity, type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease. Fast food generally has a high-energy density, which, together with large portion sizes, induces over consumption of calories. In addition, we have found it to be a myth that the typical fast-food meal is the same worldwide. Chemical analyses of 74 samples of fast-food menus consisting of French fries and fried chicken (nuggets/hot wings) bought in McDonalds and KFC outlets in 35 countries in 2005-2006 showed that the total fat content of the same menu varies from 41 to 65 g at McDonalds and from 42 to 74 g at KFC. In addition, fast food from major chains in most countries still contains unacceptably high levels of industrially produced trans-fatty acids (IP-TFA). IP-TFA have powerful biological effects and may contribute to increased weight gain, abdominal obesity, type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease. The food quality and portion size need to be improved before it is safe to eat frequently at most fast-food chains.

A Selenophene-Based Low-Bandgap Donor-Acceptor Polymer Leading to Fast Ambipolar Logic

KAUST Repository

Kronemeijer, Auke J.

2012-02-20

Fast ambipolar CMOS-like logic is demonstrated using a new selenophene-based donor-acceptor polymer semiconductor. The polymer exhibits saturation hole and electron mobilities of 0.46 cm 2/Vs and 0.84 cm 2/Vs. Inverters are fabricated with high gains while three-stage ring oscillators show stable oscillation with an unprecedented maximum frequency of 182 kHz at a relatively low supply voltage of 50 V. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A Selenophene-Based Low-Bandgap Donor-Acceptor Polymer Leading to Fast Ambipolar Logic

KAUST Repository

Kronemeijer, Auke J.; Gili, Enrico; Shahid, Munazza; Rivnay, Jonathan; Salleo, Alberto; Heeney, Martin; Sirringhaus, Henning

2012-01-01

Fast ambipolar CMOS-like logic is demonstrated using a new selenophene-based donor-acceptor polymer semiconductor. The polymer exhibits saturation hole and electron mobilities of 0.46 cm 2/Vs and 0.84 cm 2/Vs. Inverters are fabricated with high gains while three-stage ring oscillators show stable oscillation with an unprecedented maximum frequency of 182 kHz at a relatively low supply voltage of 50 V. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Fast Link Adaptation for MIMO-OFDM

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Tobias Lindstrøm; Kant, Shashi; Wehinger, Joachim

2010-01-01

We investigate link-quality metrics (LQMs) based on raw bit-error-rate, effective signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, and mutual information (MI) for the purpose of fast link adaptation (LA) in communication systems employing orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing and multiple-input–mult......We investigate link-quality metrics (LQMs) based on raw bit-error-rate, effective signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, and mutual information (MI) for the purpose of fast link adaptation (LA) in communication systems employing orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing and multiple...

Analytical model for fast-shock ignition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghasemi, S. A.; Farahbod, A. H.; Sobhanian, S.

2014-01-01

A model and its improvements are introduced for a recently proposed approach to inertial confinement fusion, called fast-shock ignition (FSI). The analysis is based upon the gain models of fast ignition, shock ignition and considerations for the fast electrons penetration into the pre-compressed fuel to examine the formation of an effective central hot spot. Calculations of fast electrons penetration into the dense fuel show that if the initial electron kinetic energy is of the order ∼4.5 MeV, the electrons effectively reach the central part of the fuel. To evaluate more realistically the performance of FSI approach, we have used a quasi-two temperature electron energy distribution function of Strozzi (2012) and fast ignitor energy formula of Bellei (2013) that are consistent with 3D PIC simulations for different values of fast ignitor laser wavelength and coupling efficiency. The general advantages of fast-shock ignition in comparison with the shock ignition can be estimated to be better than 1.3 and it is seen that the best results can be obtained for the fuel mass around 1.5 mg, fast ignitor laser wavelength ∼0.3  micron and the shock ignitor energy weight factor about 0.25

Cryo-EM image alignment based on nonuniform fast Fourier transform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Zhengfan; Penczek, Pawel A.

2008-01-01

In single particle analysis, two-dimensional (2-D) alignment is a fundamental step intended to put into register various particle projections of biological macromolecules collected at the electron microscope. The efficiency and quality of three-dimensional (3-D) structure reconstruction largely depends on the computational speed and alignment accuracy of this crucial step. In order to improve the performance of alignment, we introduce a new method that takes advantage of the highly accurate interpolation scheme based on the gridding method, a version of the nonuniform fast Fourier transform, and utilizes a multi-dimensional optimization algorithm for the refinement of the orientation parameters. Using simulated data, we demonstrate that by using less than half of the sample points and taking twice the runtime, our new 2-D alignment method achieves dramatically better alignment accuracy than that based on quadratic interpolation. We also apply our method to image to volume registration, the key step in the single particle EM structure refinement protocol. We find that in this case the accuracy of the method not only surpasses the accuracy of the commonly used real-space implementation, but results are achieved in much shorter time, making gridding-based alignment a perfect candidate for efficient structure determination in single particle analysis

Cryo-EM image alignment based on nonuniform fast Fourier transform.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Zhengfan; Penczek, Pawel A

2008-08-01

In single particle analysis, two-dimensional (2-D) alignment is a fundamental step intended to put into register various particle projections of biological macromolecules collected at the electron microscope. The efficiency and quality of three-dimensional (3-D) structure reconstruction largely depends on the computational speed and alignment accuracy of this crucial step. In order to improve the performance of alignment, we introduce a new method that takes advantage of the highly accurate interpolation scheme based on the gridding method, a version of the nonuniform fast Fourier transform, and utilizes a multi-dimensional optimization algorithm for the refinement of the orientation parameters. Using simulated data, we demonstrate that by using less than half of the sample points and taking twice the runtime, our new 2-D alignment method achieves dramatically better alignment accuracy than that based on quadratic interpolation. We also apply our method to image to volume registration, the key step in the single particle EM structure refinement protocol. We find that in this case the accuracy of the method not only surpasses the accuracy of the commonly used real-space implementation, but results are achieved in much shorter time, making gridding-based alignment a perfect candidate for efficient structure determination in single particle analysis.

Development of fast ignition integrated interconnecting code (FI3) for fast ignition scheme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagatomo, H.; Johzaki, T.; Mima, K.; Sunahara, A.; Nishihara, K.; Izawa, Y.; Sakagami, H.; Nakao, Y.; Yokota, T.; Taguchi, T.

2005-01-01

The numerical simulation plays an important role in estimating the feasibility and performance of the fast ignition. There are two key issues in numerical analysis for the fast ignition. One is the controlling the implosion dynamics to form a high density core plasma in non-spherical implosion, and the other is heating core plasma efficiency by the short pulse high intense laser. From initial laser irradiation to final fusion burning, all the physics are coupling strongly in any phase, and they must be solved consistently in computational simulation. However, in general, it is impossible to simulate laser plasma interaction and radiation hydrodynamics in a single computational code, without any numerical dissipation, special assumption or conditional treatment. Recently, we have developed 'Fast Ignition Integrated Interconnecting code' (FI 3 ) which consists of collective Particle-in-Cell code, Relativistic Fokker-Planck hydro code, and 2-dimensional radiation hydrodynamics code. And those codes are connecting with each other in data-flow bases. In this paper, we will present detail feature of the FI 3 code, and numerical results of whole process of fast ignition. (author)

Computer-Based Video Instruction to Teach Students with Intellectual Disabilities to Verbally Respond to Questions and Make Purchases in Fast Food Restaurants

Science.gov (United States)

Mechling, Linda C.; Pridgen, Leslie S.; Cronin, Beth A.

2005-01-01

Computer-based video instruction (CBVI) was used to teach verbal responses to questions presented by cashiers and purchasing skills in fast food restaurants. A multiple probe design across participants was used to evaluate the effectiveness of CBVI. Instruction occurred through simulations of three fast food restaurants on the computer using video…

A fast density-based clustering algorithm for real-time Internet of Things stream.

Science.gov (United States)

Amini, Amineh; Saboohi, Hadi; Wah, Teh Ying; Herawan, Tutut

2014-01-01

Data streams are continuously generated over time from Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The faster all of this data is analyzed, its hidden trends and patterns discovered, and new strategies created, the faster action can be taken, creating greater value for organizations. Density-based method is a prominent class in clustering data streams. It has the ability to detect arbitrary shape clusters, to handle outlier, and it does not need the number of clusters in advance. Therefore, density-based clustering algorithm is a proper choice for clustering IoT streams. Recently, several density-based algorithms have been proposed for clustering data streams. However, density-based clustering in limited time is still a challenging issue. In this paper, we propose a density-based clustering algorithm for IoT streams. The method has fast processing time to be applicable in real-time application of IoT devices. Experimental results show that the proposed approach obtains high quality results with low computation time on real and synthetic datasets.

Observations of fast variable objects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alekseev, G.N.

1978-01-01

A problem on studying fast variable astronomic objects is considered. The basis of the method used in the experiment is a detailed photoelectric study of a fast variableness along with spectroscopy of a high time resolution. Power spectrum of the SS Cyg brightness oscillations and autocorrelation function of the AX Mon brightness are analyzed as an example. To provide a reliable identification of parameters of star active regions responsible for the fast variableness, an experiment is proposed, the ''synchronous spectroscopy'' method being used. The method is based on the supposition about temporary stationarity of occasional processes within the limits of the time scale of several hours. The block diagram of the experiment is described

Fast, accurate, and robust frequency offset estimation based on modified adaptive Kalman filter in coherent optical communication system

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Yanfu; Xiang, Qian; Zhang, Qun; Zhou, Zhongqing; Jiang, Wen; He, Qianwen; Yao, Yong

2017-09-01

We propose a joint estimation scheme for fast, accurate, and robust frequency offset (FO) estimation along with phase estimation based on modified adaptive Kalman filter (MAKF). The scheme consists of three key modules: extend Kalman filter (EKF), lock detector, and FO cycle slip recovery. The EKF module estimates time-varying phase induced by both FO and laser phase noise. The lock detector module makes decision between acquisition mode and tracking mode and consequently sets the EKF tuning parameter in an adaptive manner. The third module can detect possible cycle slip in the case of large FO and make proper correction. Based on the simulation and experimental results, the proposed MAKF has shown excellent estimation performance featuring high accuracy, fast convergence, as well as the capability of cycle slip recovery.

Fast neutron nuclear reactor with lightened internal structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Artaud, R.; Aubert, M.; Renaux, C.

1984-01-01

The invention concerns an integrated type fast reactor. The inner vessel comprises two truncated shells, of which the large bases are connected either directly, or by a cylindrical shell of large diameter. The small base of the upper truncated shell is prolongated by a shell of small diameter and the small base of the lower truncated shell supports the reactor core. The invention allows the construction of simpler and less expansive fast reactors [fr

Wide and Fast Wavelength-Swept Fiber Laser Based on Dispersion Tuning for Dynamic Sensing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shinji Yamashita

2009-01-01

Full Text Available We have developed a unique wide and fast wavelength-swept fiber laser for dynamic and accurate fiber sensing. The wavelength tuning is based on the dispersion tuning technique, which simply modulates the loss/gain in the dispersive laser cavity. By using wideband semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs, the sweep range could be as wide as ∼180 nm. Since the cavity contains no mechanical components, such as tunable filters, we could achieve very high sweep rate, as high as ∼200 kHz. We have realized the swept lasers at three wavelength bands, 1550 nm, 1300 nm, and 800 nm, using SOAs along with erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs, and in two laser configurations, ring and linear ones. We also succeeded in applying the swept laser for a dynamic fiber-Bragg grating (FBG sensor system. In this paper, we review our researches on the wide and fast wavelength-swept fiber lasers.

Autonomous celestial navigation based on Earth ultraviolet radiance and fast gradient statistic feature extraction

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Shan; Zhang, Hanmo

2016-01-01

To meet the requirement of autonomous orbit determination, this paper proposes a fast curve fitting method based on earth ultraviolet features to obtain accurate earth vector direction, in order to achieve the high precision autonomous navigation. Firstly, combining the stable characters of earth ultraviolet radiance and the use of transmission model software of atmospheric radiation, the paper simulates earth ultraviolet radiation model on different time and chooses the proper observation band. Then the fast improved edge extracting method combined Sobel operator and local binary pattern (LBP) is utilized, which can both eliminate noises efficiently and extract earth ultraviolet limb features accurately. And earth's centroid locations on simulated images are estimated via the least square fitting method using part of the limb edges. Taken advantage of the estimated earth vector direction and earth distance, Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is applied to realize the autonomous navigation finally. Experiment results indicate the proposed method can achieve a sub-pixel earth centroid location estimation and extremely enhance autonomous celestial navigation precision.

Fast intersection detection algorithm for PC-based robot off-line programming

Science.gov (United States)

Fedrowitz, Christian H.

1994-11-01

This paper presents a method for fast and reliable collision detection in complex production cells. The algorithm is part of the PC-based robot off-line programming system of the University of Siegen (Ropsus). The method is based on a solid model which is managed by a simplified constructive solid geometry model (CSG-model). The collision detection problem is divided in two steps. In the first step the complexity of the problem is reduced in linear time. In the second step the remaining solids are tested for intersection. For this the Simplex algorithm, which is known from linear optimization, is used. It computes a point which is common to two convex polyhedra. The polyhedra intersect, if such a point exists. Regarding the simplified geometrical model of Ropsus the algorithm runs also in linear time. In conjunction with the first step a resultant collision detection algorithm is found which requires linear time in all. Moreover it computes the resultant intersection polyhedron using the dual transformation.

Comparison of Experiment and Simulation of the triple GEM-Based Fast Neutron Detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Xiao-Dong; Luo Wen; Zhang Jun-Wei; Yang He-Run; Duan Li-Min; Lu Chen-Gui; Hu Rong-Jiang; Hu Bi-Tao; Zhang Chun-Hui; Yang Lei; Zhou Jian-Rong; An Lv-Xing

2015-01-01

A detector for fast neutrons based on a 10 × 10 cm"2 triple gas electron multiplier (GEM) device is developed and tested. A neutron converter, which is a high density polyethylene (HDPE) layer, is combined with the triple GEM detector cathode and placed inside the detector, in the path of the incident neutrons. The detector is tested by obtaining the energy deposition spectrum with an Am Be neutron source in the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) at Lanzhou. In the present work we report the results of the tests and compare them with those of simulations. The transport of fast neutrons and their interactions with the different materials in the detector are simulated with the GEANT4 code, to understand the experimental results. The detector displays a clear response to the incident fast neutrons. However, an unexpected disagreement in the energy dependence of the response between the simulated and measured spectra is observed. The neutron sources used in our simulation include deuterium-tritium (DT, 14 MeV), deuterium-deuterium (DD, 2.45 MeV), and Am Be sources. The simulation results also show that among the secondary particles generated by the incident neutron, the main contributions to the total energy deposition are from recoil protons induced in hydrogen-rich HDPE or Kapton (GEM material), and activation photons induced by neutron interaction with Ar atoms. Their contributions account for 90% of the total energy deposition. In addition, the dependence of neutron deposited energy spectrum on the composition of the gas mixture is presented. (paper)

Fast reactors and problems in their development. Chapter 6

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dombey, N.

1980-01-01

The main differences between fast reactors, in particular the liquid-metal fast breeder reactor (LMFBR), and thermal reactors are discussed. The view is taken, based on the intrinsic physics of the systems, that fast reactors should be considered as a different genus from thermal reactors. Some conclusions are drawn for fast reactor development generally and for the British programme in particular. Physics, economics and safety aspects are covered. (U.K.)

A fast continuous magnetic field measurement system based on digital signal processors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Velev, G.V.; Carcagno, R.; DiMarco, J.; Kotelnikov, S.; Lamm, M.; Makulski, A.; Maroussov, V.; Nehring, R.; Nogiec, J.; Orris, D.; Poukhov, O.; Prakoshyn, F.; Schlabach, P.; Tompkins, J.C.

2005-01-01

In order to study dynamic effects in accelerator magnets, such as the decay of the magnetic field during the dwell at injection and the rapid so-called ''snapback'' during the first few seconds of the resumption of the energy ramp, a fast continuous harmonics measurement system was required. A new magnetic field measurement system, based on the use of digital signal processors (DSP) and Analog to Digital (A/D) converters, was developed and prototyped at Fermilab. This system uses Pentek 6102 16 bit A/D converters and the Pentek 4288 DSP board with the SHARC ADSP-2106 family digital signal processor. It was designed to acquire multiple channels of data with a wide dynamic range of input signals, which are typically generated by a rotating coil probe. Data acquisition is performed under a RTOS, whereas processing and visualization are performed under a host computer. Firmware code was developed for the DSP to perform fast continuous readout of the A/D FIFO memory and integration over specified intervals, synchronized to the probe's rotation in the magnetic field. C, C++ and Java code was written to control the data acquisition devices and to process a continuous stream of data. The paper summarizes the characteristics of the system and presents the results of initial tests and measurements

Fast Food Consumption Behaviors in High-School Students based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)

OpenAIRE

Kamal Mirkarimi; Morteza Mansourian; Mohammad Javad Kabir; Rahman Berdi Ozouni- Davaji; Maryam Eri; Seyed Ghadir Hosseini; Mostafa Qorbani; Omid Safari; Babak Rastgari Mehr; Mehdi Noroozi; Abdurrahman Charkazi; Hossein Shahnazi

2016-01-01

Background: Studies report inappropriate snack and junk food consumption patterns in children and young adults in Iran. The current survey was aimed to explore fast food consumption behaviors in high-school students based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was done among 500 high-school students. Samples were selected based on cluster sampling method at first and simple random at second. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire. ...

Development of SiPM-based scintillator tile detectors for a multi-layer fast neutron tracker

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jakubek J.

2012-10-01

Full Text Available We are developing thin tile scintillator detectors with silicon photomultiplier (SiPM readout for use in a multi-layer fast-neutron tracker. The tracker is based on interleaved Timepix and plastic scintillator layers. The thin 15 × 15 × 2 mm plastic scintillators require suitable optical readout in order to detect and measure the energy lost by energetic protons that have been recoiled by fast neutrons. Our first prototype used dual SiPMs, coupled to opposite edges of the scintillator tile using light-guides. An alternative readout geometry was designed in an effort to increase the fraction of scintillation light detected by the SiPMs. The new prototype uses a larger SiPM array to cover the entire top face of the tile. This paper details the comparative performance of the two prototype designs. A deuterium-tritium (DT fast-neutron source was used to compare the relative light collection efficiency of the two designs. A collimated UV light source was scanned across the detector face to map the uniformity. The new prototype was found to have 9.5 times better light collection efficiency over the original design. Both prototypes exhibit spatial non-uniformity in their response. Methods of correcting this non-uniformity are discussed.

Fourier-Based Fast Multipole Method for the Helmholtz Equation

KAUST Repository

Cecka, Cris

2013-01-01

The fast multipole method (FMM) has had great success in reducing the computational complexity of solving the boundary integral form of the Helmholtz equation. We present a formulation of the Helmholtz FMM that uses Fourier basis functions rather than spherical harmonics. By modifying the transfer function in the precomputation stage of the FMM, time-critical stages of the algorithm are accelerated by causing the interpolation operators to become straightforward applications of fast Fourier transforms, retaining the diagonality of the transfer function, and providing a simplified error analysis. Using Fourier analysis, constructive algorithms are derived to a priori determine an integration quadrature for a given error tolerance. Sharp error bounds are derived and verified numerically. Various optimizations are considered to reduce the number of quadrature points and reduce the cost of computing the transfer function. © 2013 Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.

A fast identification algorithm for Box-Cox transformation based radial basis function neural network.

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Xia

2006-07-01

In this letter, a Box-Cox transformation-based radial basis function (RBF) neural network is introduced using the RBF neural network to represent the transformed system output. Initially a fixed and moderate sized RBF model base is derived based on a rank revealing orthogonal matrix triangularization (QR decomposition). Then a new fast identification algorithm is introduced using Gauss-Newton algorithm to derive the required Box-Cox transformation, based on a maximum likelihood estimator. The main contribution of this letter is to explore the special structure of the proposed RBF neural network for computational efficiency by utilizing the inverse of matrix block decomposition lemma. Finally, the Box-Cox transformation-based RBF neural network, with good generalization and sparsity, is identified based on the derived optimal Box-Cox transformation and a D-optimality-based orthogonal forward regression algorithm. The proposed algorithm and its efficacy are demonstrated with an illustrative example in comparison with support vector machine regression.

Response of multiferroic composites inferred from a fast-Fourier-transform-based numerical scheme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brenner, Renald; Bravo-Castillero, Julián

2010-01-01

The effective response and the local fields within periodic magneto-electric multiferroic composites are investigated by means of a numerical scheme based on fast Fourier transforms. This computational framework relies on the iterative resolution of coupled series expansions for the magnetic, electric and strain fields. By using an augmented Lagrangian formulation, a simple and robust procedure which makes use of the uncoupled Green operators for the elastic, electrostatics and magnetostatics problems is proposed. Its accuracy is assessed in the cases of laminated and fibrous two-phase composites for which analytical solutions exist

Improving abdomen tumor low-dose CT images using a fast dictionary learning based processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Yang; Shi Luyao; Shu Huazhong; Luo Limin; Coatrieux, Jean-Louis; Yin Xindao; Toumoulin, Christine

2013-01-01

In abdomen computed tomography (CT), repeated radiation exposures are often inevitable for cancer patients who receive surgery or radiotherapy guided by CT images. Low-dose scans should thus be considered in order to avoid the harm of accumulative x-ray radiation. This work is aimed at improving abdomen tumor CT images from low-dose scans by using a fast dictionary learning (DL) based processing. Stemming from sparse representation theory, the proposed patch-based DL approach allows effective suppression of both mottled noise and streak artifacts. The experiments carried out on clinical data show that the proposed method brings encouraging improvements in abdomen low-dose CT images with tumors. (paper)

Hyperuricemia Is a Risk Factor for the Onset of Impaired Fasting Glucose in Men with a High Plasma Glucose Level: A Community-Based Study

Science.gov (United States)

Miyake, Teruki; Kumagi, Teru; Furukawa, Shinya; Hirooka, Masashi; Kawasaki, Keitarou; Koizumi, Mitsuhito; Todo, Yasuhiko; Yamamoto, Shin; Abe, Masanori; Kitai, Kohichiro; Matsuura, Bunzo; Hiasa, Yoichi

2014-01-01

Background It is not clear whether elevated uric acid is a risk factor for the onset of impaired fasting glucose after stratifying by baseline fasting plasma glucose levels. We conducted a community-based retrospective longitudinal cohort study to clarify the relationship between uric acid levels and the onset of impaired fasting glucose, according to baseline fasting plasma glucose levels. Methods We enrolled 6,403 persons (3,194 men and 3,209 women), each of whom was 18–80 years old and had >2 annual check-ups during 2003–2010. After excluding persons who had fasting plasma glucose levels ≥6.11 mM and/or were currently taking anti-diabetic agents, the remaining 5,924 subjects were classified into quartiles according to baseline fasting plasma glucose levels. The onset of impaired fasting glucose was defined as fasting plasma glucose ≥6.11 mM during the observation period. Results In the quartile groups, 0.9%, 2.1%, 3.4%, and 20.2% of the men developed impaired fasting glucose, respectively, and 0.1%, 0.3%, 0.5%, and 5.6% of the women developed impaired fasting glucose, respectively (P trend fasting glucose in men with highest-quartile fasting plasma glucose levels (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.003; 95% confidence interval, 1.0001–1.005, P = 0.041). Conclusions Among men with high fasting plasma glucose, hyperuricemia may be independently associated with an elevated risk of developing impaired fasting glucose. PMID:25237894

Fast neutron spectrometry based on proton detection in CR-39 detector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dajko, G.; Somogyi, G.

1986-01-01

The authors have developed a home-made proton-sensitive CR-39 track detector called MA-ND/p. Using this and the n-p scattering process the performance of a fast neutron spectrometer has been studied by applying two different methods. These are based on track density determinations by using varying radiator thicknesses at constant etching time and by using varying etching times at fixed radiator thickness, respectively. For both methods studied a computer programme is made to calculate the theoretically expected neutron sensitivity as a function of neutron energy. For both methods the neutron sensitivities, expressed in terms of observable etched proton tracks per neutron, are determined experimentally for 3.3 and 14.7 MeV neutron energies. The theoretical and experimental data obtained are compared.

Fast neutron spectrometry based on proton detection in CR-39 detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dajko, G.; Somogyi, G.

1986-01-01

The authors have developed a home-made proton-sensitive CR-39 track detector called MA-ND/p. Using this and the n-p scattering process the performance of a fast neutron spectrometer has been studied by applying two different methods. These are based on track density determinations by using varying radiator thicknesses at constant etching time and by using varying etching times at fixed radiator thickness, respectively. For both methods studied a computer programme is made to calculate the theoretically expected neutron sensitivity as a function of neutron energy. For both methods the neutron sensitivities, expressed in terms of observable etched proton tracks per neutron, are determined experimentally for 3.3 and 14.7 MeV neutron energies. The theoretical and experimental data obtained are compared. (author)

FCNN-MR: A Parallel Instance Selection Method Based on Fast Condensed Nearest Neighbor Rule

OpenAIRE

Lu Si; Jie Yu; Shasha Li; Jun Ma; Lei Luo; Qingbo Wu; Yongqi Ma; Zhengji Liu

2017-01-01

Instance selection (IS) technique is used to reduce the data size to improve the performance of data mining methods. Recently, to process very large data set, several proposed methods divide the training set into some disjoint subsets and apply IS algorithms independently to each subset. In this paper, we analyze the limitation of these methods and give our viewpoint about how to divide and conquer in IS procedure. Then, based on fast condensed nearest neighbor (FCNN) rul...

BFL: a node and edge betweenness based fast layout algorithm for large scale networks

Science.gov (United States)

Hashimoto, Tatsunori B; Nagasaki, Masao; Kojima, Kaname; Miyano, Satoru

2009-01-01

Background Network visualization would serve as a useful first step for analysis. However, current graph layout algorithms for biological pathways are insensitive to biologically important information, e.g. subcellular localization, biological node and graph attributes, or/and not available for large scale networks, e.g. more than 10000 elements. Results To overcome these problems, we propose the use of a biologically important graph metric, betweenness, a measure of network flow. This metric is highly correlated with many biological phenomena such as lethality and clusters. We devise a new fast parallel algorithm calculating betweenness to minimize the preprocessing cost. Using this metric, we also invent a node and edge betweenness based fast layout algorithm (BFL). BFL places the high-betweenness nodes to optimal positions and allows the low-betweenness nodes to reach suboptimal positions. Furthermore, BFL reduces the runtime by combining a sequential insertion algorim with betweenness. For a graph with n nodes, this approach reduces the expected runtime of the algorithm to O(n2) when considering edge crossings, and to O(n log n) when considering only density and edge lengths. Conclusion Our BFL algorithm is compared against fast graph layout algorithms and approaches requiring intensive optimizations. For gene networks, we show that our algorithm is faster than all layout algorithms tested while providing readability on par with intensive optimization algorithms. We achieve a 1.4 second runtime for a graph with 4000 nodes and 12000 edges on a standard desktop computer. PMID:19146673

Fast-reactor fuel reprocessing in the United Kingdom

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allardice, R.H.; Buck, C.; Williams, J.

1977-01-01

Enriched uranium metal fuel irradiated in the Dounreay Fast Reactor has been reprocessed and refabricated in plants specifically designed for the purpose in the United Kingdom since 1961. Efficient and reliable fuel recycle is essential to the development of a plutonium-based fast-reactor system, and the importance of establishing at an early stage fast-reactor fuel reprocessing has been reinforced by current world difficulties in reprocessing high-burnup thermal-reactor oxide fuel. The United Kingdom therefore decided to reprocess irradiated fuel from the 250MW(e) Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR) as an integral part of the fast reactor development programme. Flowsheet and equipment development work for the small-scale fully active demonstration plant has been carried out since 1972, and the plant will be commissioned and ready for active operation during 1977. In parallel, a comprehensive waste-management system has been developed and installed. Based on this development work and the information which will arise from active operation of the plant, a parallel development programme has been initiated to provide the basis for the design of a large-scale fast-reactor fuel-reprocessing plant to come into operation in the late 1980s to support the projected UK fast-reactor installation programme. The paper identifies the important differences between fast-reactor and thermal-reactor fuel-reprocessing technologies and describes some of the development work carried out in these areas for the small-scale PFR fuel-reprocessing operation. In addition, the development programme in aid of the design of a larger scale fast-reactor fuel-reprocessing plant is outlined and the current design philosophy discussed. (author)

A Fast Density-Based Clustering Algorithm for Real-Time Internet of Things Stream

Science.gov (United States)

Ying Wah, Teh

2014-01-01

Data streams are continuously generated over time from Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The faster all of this data is analyzed, its hidden trends and patterns discovered, and new strategies created, the faster action can be taken, creating greater value for organizations. Density-based method is a prominent class in clustering data streams. It has the ability to detect arbitrary shape clusters, to handle outlier, and it does not need the number of clusters in advance. Therefore, density-based clustering algorithm is a proper choice for clustering IoT streams. Recently, several density-based algorithms have been proposed for clustering data streams. However, density-based clustering in limited time is still a challenging issue. In this paper, we propose a density-based clustering algorithm for IoT streams. The method has fast processing time to be applicable in real-time application of IoT devices. Experimental results show that the proposed approach obtains high quality results with low computation time on real and synthetic datasets. PMID:25110753

Integrated-circuit microwave detector based on granular high-Tc thin films. [Y-Ba-Cu-O

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Drobinin, A.V.; Lutovinov, V.S.; Starostenko, I.V. (Moscow Inst. of Radioengineering, Electronics and Automation, (MIREA), Moscow (USSR))

1991-12-01

A highly sensitive integrative-circuit microwave detector based on granular High-Tc film has been designed. All matching circuits and High-Tc microbridge are located on the same substrate. The voltage responsivity 10{sup 3} V/W has been found at 65 K and frequency 5 GHz. Different modes of microwave detection have been observed: bolometric response near Tc in high-quality films, rectification mode caused by an array of weak links dominating in low-quality films, detection caused by nonlinear magnetic flux motion. (orig.).

Fast Access Data Acquisition System (FADAS)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Katsman, Vladimir

1998-01-01

Our goal in this program is to develop Fast Access Data Acquisition System (FADAS) by combining the flexibility of Multilink's GaAs and InP electronics and electro-optics with an extremely high data rate for the efficient handling and transfer of collider experimental data. This novel solution is based on Multilink's and Los Alamos National Laboratory's (LANL) unique components and technologies for extremely fast data transfer, storage, and processing

Fast-ion stabilization of tokamak plasma turbulence

Science.gov (United States)

Di Siena, A.; Görler, T.; Doerk, H.; Poli, E.; Bilato, R.

2018-05-01

A significant reduction of the turbulence-induced anomalous heat transport has been observed in recent studies of magnetically confined plasmas in the presence of a significant fast-ion fractions. Therefore, the control of fast-ion populations with external heating might open the way to more optimistic scenarios for future fusion devices. However, little is known about the parameter range of relevance of these fast-ion effects which are often only highlighted in correlation with substantial electromagnetic fluctuations. Here, a significant fast ion induced stabilization is also found in both linear and nonlinear electrostatic gyrokinetic simulations which cannot be explained with the conventional assumptions based on pressure profile and dilution effects. Strong wave-fast particle resonant interactions are observed for realistic parameters where the fast particle trace approximation clearly failed and explained with the help of a reduced Vlasov model. In contrast to previous interpretations, fast particles can actively modify the Poisson field equation—even at low fast particle densities where dilution tends to be negligible and at relatively high temperatures, i.e. T  <  30T e . Further key parameters controlling the role of the fast ions are identified in the following and various ways of further optimizing their beneficial impact are explored. Finally, possible extensions into the electromagnetic regime are briefly discussed and the relevance of these findings for ITER standard scenarios is highlighted.

A fast button surface defects detection method based on convolutional neural network

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Lizhe; Cao, Danhua; Wu, Songlin; Wu, Yubin; Wei, Taoran

2018-01-01

Considering the complexity of the button surface texture and the variety of buttons and defects, we propose a fast visual method for button surface defect detection, based on convolutional neural network (CNN). CNN has the ability to extract the essential features by training, avoiding designing complex feature operators adapted to different kinds of buttons, textures and defects. Firstly, we obtain the normalized button region and then use HOG-SVM method to identify the front and back side of the button. Finally, a convolutional neural network is developed to recognize the defects. Aiming at detecting the subtle defects, we propose a network structure with multiple feature channels input. To deal with the defects of different scales, we take a strategy of multi-scale image block detection. The experimental results show that our method is valid for a variety of buttons and able to recognize all kinds of defects that have occurred, including dent, crack, stain, hole, wrong paint and uneven. The detection rate exceeds 96%, which is much better than traditional methods based on SVM and methods based on template match. Our method can reach the speed of 5 fps on DSP based smart camera with 600 MHz frequency.

Fast progressive lower motor neuron disease is an ALS variant: A two-centre tract of interest-based MRI data analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Müller, Hans-Peter; Agosta, Federica; Riva, Nilo; Spinelli, Edoardo G; Comi, Giancarlo; Ludolph, Albert C; Filippi, Massimo; Kassubek, Jan

2018-01-01

The criteria for assessing upper motor neuron pathology in pure lower motor neuron disease (LMND) still remain a major issue of debate with respect to the clinical classification as an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) variant. The study was designed to investigate white matter damage by a hypothesis-guided tract-of-interest-based approach in patients with LMND compared with healthy controls and ´classical´ ALS patients in order to identify in vivo brain structural changes according to the neuropathologically defined ALS affectation pattern. Data were pooled from two previous studies at two different study sites (Ulm, Germany and Milano, Italy). DTI-based white matter integrity mapping was performed by voxelwise statistical comparison and by a tractwise analysis of fractional anisotropy (FA) maps according to the ALS-staging pattern for 65 LMND patients (clinically differentiated in fast and slow progressors) vs. 92 matched controls and 101 ALS patients with a 'classical' phenotype to identify white matter structural alterations. The analysis of white matter structural connectivity by regional FA reductions demonstrated the characteristic alteration patterns along the CST and also in frontal and prefrontal brain areas in LMND patients compared to controls and ALS. Fast progressing LMND showed substantial involvement, like in ALS, while slow progressors showed less severe alterations. In the tract-specific analysis according to the ALS-staging pattern, fast progressing LMND showed significant alterations of ALS-related tract systems as compared to slow progressors and controls. This study showed an affectation pattern for corticoefferent fibers in LMND with fast disease progression as defined for ALS, that way confirming the hypothesis that fast progressing LMND is a phenotypical variant of ALS.

Preoperative fasting among burns patients in an acute care setting: a best practice implementation project.

Science.gov (United States)

Giuliani, Sara; McArthur, Alexa; Greenwood, John

2015-11-01

Major burn injury patients commonly fast preoperatively before multiple surgical procedures. The Societies of Anesthesiology in Europe and the United States recommend fasting from clear fluids for two hours and solids for six to eight hours preoperatively. However, at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, patients often fast from midnight proceeding the day of surgery. This project aims to promote evidence-based practice to minimize extended preoperative fasting in major burn patients. A baseline audit was conducted measuring the percentage compliance with audit criteria, specifically on preoperative fasting documentation and appropriate instructions in line with evidence-based guidelines. Strategies were then implemented to address areas of non-compliance, which included staff education, development of documentation tools and completion of a perioperative feeding protocol for major burn patients. Following this, a post implementation audit assessed the extent of change compared with the baseline audit results. Education on evidence-based fasting guidelines was delivered to 54% of staff. This resulted in a 19% improvement in compliance with fasting documentation and a 52% increase in adherence to appropriate evidence-based instructions. There was a notable shift from the most common fasting instruction being "fast from midnight" to "fast from 03:00 hours", with an overall four-hour reduction in fasting per theater admission. These results demonstrate that education improves compliance with documentation and preoperative fasting that is more reflective of evidence-based practice. Collaboration with key stakeholders and a hospital wide fasting protocol is warranted to sustain change and further advance compliance with evidence-based practice at an organizational level.

Standardising fast-track surgical nursing care in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hjort Jakobsen, Dorthe; Rud, Kirsten; Kehlet, Henrik

2014-01-01

guidelines based on the principles of fast-track surgery-i.e. patient information, surgical stress reduction, effective analgesia, early mobilisation and rapid return to normal eating. Fast-track surgery was introduced systematically in Denmark by the establishment of the Unit of Perioperative Nursing (UPN...

Effects of a mindfulness-based intervention on mindful eating, sweets consumption, and fasting glucose levels in obese adults: data from the SHINE randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Mason, Ashley E; Epel, Elissa S; Kristeller, Jean; Moran, Patricia J; Dallman, Mary; Lustig, Robert H; Acree, Michael; Bacchetti, Peter; Laraia, Barbara A; Hecht, Frederick M; Daubenmier, Jennifer

2016-04-01

We evaluated changes in mindful eating as a potential mechanism underlying the effects of a mindfulness-based intervention for weight loss on eating of sweet foods and fasting glucose levels. We randomized 194 obese individuals (M age = 47.0 ± 12.7 years; BMI = 35.5 ± 3.6; 78% women) to a 5.5-month diet-exercise program with or without mindfulness training. The mindfulness group, relative to the active control group, evidenced increases in mindful eating and maintenance of fasting glucose from baseline to 12-month assessment. Increases in mindful eating were associated with decreased eating of sweets and fasting glucose levels among mindfulness group participants, but this association was not statistically significant among active control group participants. Twelve-month increases in mindful eating partially mediated the effect of intervention arm on changes in fasting glucose levels from baseline to 12-month assessment. Increases in mindful eating may contribute to the effects of mindfulness-based weight loss interventions on eating of sweets and fasting glucose levels.

The fast ratio: A rapid measure for testing the dominance of the fast component in the initial OSL signal from quartz

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Durcan, Julie A.; Duller, Geoff A.T.

2011-01-01

The signal from the fast component is usually considered preferable for quartz optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating, however its presence in a continuous wave (CW) OSL signal is often assumed, rather than verified. This paper presents an objective measure (termed the fast ratio) for testing the dominance of the fast component in the initial part of a quartz OSL signal. The ratio is based upon the photo ionisation cross-sections of the fast and medium components and the power of the measurement equipment used to record the OSL signal, and it compares parts of the OSL signal selected to represent the fast and medium components. The ability of the fast ratio to distinguish between samples whose CW-OSL signal is dominated by the fast and non-fast components is demonstrated by comparing the fast ratio with the contribution of the fast component calculated from curve deconvolution of measured OSL signals and from simulated data. The ratio offers a rapid method for screening a large number of OSL signals obtained for individual equivalent dose estimates, it can be calculated and applied as easily as other routine screening methods, and is transferrable between different aliquots, samples and measurement equipment. - Highlights: → Fast ratio is a measure which tests dominance of fast component in quartz OSL signals. → A fast ratio above 20 implies a CW-OSL signal is dominated by fast component. → Fast ratio can be easily and rapidly applied to a large number of OSL signals. → Uses include signal comparison, data screening, identify need for further analysis.

A fast continuous magnetic field measurement system based on digital signal processors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Velev, G.V.; Carcagno, R.; DiMarco, J.; Kotelnikov, S.; Lamm, M.; Makulski, A.; /Fermilab; Maroussov, V.; /Purdue U.; Nehring, R.; Nogiec, J.; Orris, D.; /Fermilab; Poukhov,; Prakoshyn, F.; /Dubna, JINR; Schlabach, P.; Tompkins, J.C.; /Fermilab

2005-09-01

In order to study dynamic effects in accelerator magnets, such as the decay of the magnetic field during the dwell at injection and the rapid so-called ''snapback'' during the first few seconds of the resumption of the energy ramp, a fast continuous harmonics measurement system was required. A new magnetic field measurement system, based on the use of digital signal processors (DSP) and Analog to Digital (A/D) converters, was developed and prototyped at Fermilab. This system uses Pentek 6102 16 bit A/D converters and the Pentek 4288 DSP board with the SHARC ADSP-2106 family digital signal processor. It was designed to acquire multiple channels of data with a wide dynamic range of input signals, which are typically generated by a rotating coil probe. Data acquisition is performed under a RTOS, whereas processing and visualization are performed under a host computer. Firmware code was developed for the DSP to perform fast continuous readout of the A/D FIFO memory and integration over specified intervals, synchronized to the probe's rotation in the magnetic field. C, C++ and Java code was written to control the data acquisition devices and to process a continuous stream of data. The paper summarizes the characteristics of the system and presents the results of initial tests and measurements.

Advances in fast-atom-bombardment mass spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hemling, M.E.

1986-01-01

A comparison of fast atom bombardment and field desorption mass spectrometry was made to determine relative sensitivity and applicability. A series of glycosphingolipids and a series of protected oligonucleotides of known structure were analyzed to ascertain the potential utility of fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry in the structural elucidation of novel compounds in these classes. Negative ion mass markers were also developed. Fast atom bombardment was found to be one-to-two orders of magnitude more sensitive than field desorption based on the analysis of a limited number of compounds from several classes. Superior sensitivity was not universal and field desorption was clearly better in certain cases. In the negative ion mode in particular, fast atom bombardment was found to be a useful tool for the determination of the primary structure of glycosphingolipids and oligonucleotides. Carbohydrate sequence and branching information, and a fatty acid and lipid base composition were readily obtained from the mass spectra of glycosphingolipids while bidirectional nucleotide sequence, nucleotide base, and protecting group assignments were obtained for oligonucleotides. Based on this knowledge, a tentative structure of a human peripheral nervous system glycosphingolipid implicated in certain cases of disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Lou Gehrig's Disease, was proposed. Suitable negative ion mass markers were found in dispersions of poly(ethylene) and poly(propylene)glycols in a triethylenetetramine matrix, a matrix which also proved useful in the analysis of glycosphingolipids. These polyglycol dispersions provided ions for calibration to 2300 daltons

RANS-based CFD simulations of sodium fast reactor wire-wrapped pin bundles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pointer, W. D.; Thomas, J.; Fanning, T.; Fischer, P.; Siegel, A.; Smith, J.; Tokuhiro, A.

2009-01-01

In response to recent renewed interest in the development of advanced fast reactors, an effort is underway to develop a high-performance computational multi-physics simulation suite for the design and safety analysis of sodium cooled fast reactors. Within the multi-resolution thermal-hydraulics simulation component of this framework, high-resolution spectral large eddy simulation methods are used to improve turbulence models from coarser resolution Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes methods, and in turn, that data is used to improve or extend correlations used in traditional sub-channel tools. These ongoing studies provide the foundation for the development of the intermediate RANS-based resolution level. Prior work has focused on the benchmarking of flow field predictions on in 7-pin, 19-pin, and 37-pin fuel assemblies. The present work extends these studies to 217-pin assemblies in support of initial efforts to benchmark heat transfer predictions using the RANS models against conventional sub-channel models. In an effort to reduce the number of computational cells required to describe a 217-pin geometry, the effects of simplification of the geometric description of the contact point between the wire and the pin are investigated. The advantages of using polyhedral-based meshing methods rather than trimmed cell meshing methods have been demonstrated, and the effects of changes in axial mesh resolution in these meshes have been investigated. Results show that the geometric simplification has little impact on predicted flow fields, as does the use of a polyhedral mesh of comparable mesh density in place of the original trimmed cell mesh. While reducing axial mesh density has a notable impact on the velocity field, reducing predicted exchange velocities between adjacent subchannels by as much 25%, the impact on predicted temperature fields is negligible. (authors)

[Research on fast classification based on LIBS technology and principle component analyses].

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Qi; Ma, Xiao-Hong; Wang, Rui; Zhao, Hua-Feng

2014-11-01

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and the principle component analysis (PCA) were combined to study aluminum alloy classification in the present article. Classification experiments were done on thirteen different kinds of standard samples of aluminum alloy which belong to 4 different types, and the results suggested that the LIBS-PCA method can be used to aluminum alloy fast classification. PCA was used to analyze the spectrum data from LIBS experiments, three principle components were figured out that contribute the most, the principle component scores of the spectrums were calculated, and the scores of the spectrums data in three-dimensional coordinates were plotted. It was found that the spectrum sample points show clear convergence phenomenon according to the type of aluminum alloy they belong to. This result ensured the three principle components and the preliminary aluminum alloy type zoning. In order to verify its accuracy, 20 different aluminum alloy samples were used to do the same experiments to verify the aluminum alloy type zoning. The experimental result showed that the spectrum sample points all located in their corresponding area of the aluminum alloy type, and this proved the correctness of the earlier aluminum alloy standard sample type zoning method. Based on this, the identification of unknown type of aluminum alloy can be done. All the experimental results showed that the accuracy of principle component analyses method based on laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy is more than 97.14%, and it can classify the different type effectively. Compared to commonly used chemical methods, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy can do the detection of the sample in situ and fast with little sample preparation, therefore, using the method of the combination of LIBS and PCA in the areas such as quality testing and on-line industrial controlling can save a lot of time and cost, and improve the efficiency of detection greatly.

[Preoperative fasting. An update].

Science.gov (United States)

Spies, C D; Breuer, J P; Gust, R; Wichmann, M; Adolph, M; Senkal, M; Kampa, U; Weissauer, W; Schleppers, A; Soreide, E; Martin, E; Kaisers, U; Falke, K J; Haas, N; Kox, W J

2003-11-01

In Germany the predominant standard of preoperative care for elective surgery is fasting after midnight, with the aim of reducing the risk of pulmonary aspiration. However, for the past several years the scientific evidence supporting such a practice has been challenged. Experimental and clinical studies prove a reliable gastric emptying within 2 h suggesting that, particularly for limited intake of clear fluids up to 2 h preoperatively, there would be no increased risk for the patient. In addition, the general incidence of pulmonary aspiration during general anaesthesia (before induction, during surgery and during recovery) is extremely low, has a good prognosis and is more a consequence of insufficient airway protection and/or inadequate anaesthetic depth rather than due to the patient's fasting state. Therefore, primarily to decrease perioperative discomfort for patients, several national anaesthesia societies have changed their guidelines for preoperative fasting. They recommend a more liberal policy regarding per os intake of both liquid and solid food, with consideration of certain conditions and contraindications. The following article reviews the literature and gives an overview of the scientific background on which the national guidelines are based. The intention of this review is to propose recommendations for preoperative fasting regarding clear fluids for Germany as well.

Comparison between observational and theoretical (log Tsub(eff), Msub(bol)) diagrams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cayrel de Strobel, G.; Perrin, M.N.

1978-01-01

Perrin et al. (1977) have constructed an empirical HR diagram for 138 nearby F, G and K stars, for which they had: i) an effective temperature and a metal content derived from a detailed analysis; ii) a reliable bolometric magnitude obtained from an absolute magnitude Msub(V), based on a large parallax and a rather small bolometric correction. In the present work it is asserted that these results based on the theoretical grid of evolutionary models of Hejlesen (1975) remain valid if the observational (log Tsub(eff), Msub(bol)) model is studied with Demarque's (1977) evolutionary models. (Auth.)

Fast mass spectrometry-based enantiomeric excess determination of proteinogenic amino acids.

Science.gov (United States)

Fleischer, Heidi; Thurow, Kerstin

2013-03-01

A rapid determination of the enantiomeric excess of proteinogenic amino acids is of great importance in various fields of chemical and biologic research and industries. Owing to their different biologic effects, enantiomers are interesting research subjects in drug development for the design of new and more efficient pharmaceuticals. Usually, the enantiomeric composition of amino acids is determined by conventional analytical methods such as liquid or gas chromatography or capillary electrophoresis. These analytical techniques do not fulfill the requirements of high-throughput screening due to their relative long analysis times. The method presented allows a fast analysis of chiral amino acids without previous time consuming chromatographic separation. The analytical measurements base on parallel kinetic resolution with pseudoenantiomeric mass tagged auxiliaries and were carried out by mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization. All 19 chiral proteinogenic amino acids were tested and Pro, Ser, Trp, His, and Glu were selected as model substrates for verification measurements. The enantiomeric excesses of amino acids with non-polar and aliphatic side chains as well as Trp and Phe (aromatic side chains) were determined with maximum deviations of the expected value less than or equal to 10ee%. Ser, Cys, His, Glu, and Asp were determined with deviations lower or equal to 14ee% and the enantiomeric excess of Tyr were calculated with 17ee% deviation. The total screening process is fully automated from the sample pretreatment to the data processing. The method presented enables fast measurement times about 1.38 min per sample and is applicable in the scope of high-throughput screenings.

Fast-Food Consumption and Obesity Among Michigan Adults

OpenAIRE

Anderson, Beth; Lyon-Callo, Sarah; Fussman, Christopher; Imes, Gwendoline; Rafferty, Ann P.

2011-01-01

Introduction Consumption of meals eaten away from home, especially from fast-food restaurants, has increased in the United States since the 1970s. The main objective of this study was to examine the frequency and characteristics of fast-food consumption among adults in Michigan and obesity prevalence. Methods We analyzed data from 12 questions about fast-food consumption that were included on the 2005 Michigan Behavioral Risk Factor Survey, a population-based telephone survey of Michigan adul...

A novel scalable and low latency hybrid data center network architecture based on flow controlled fast optical switches

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yan, Fulong; Guelbenzu, Gonzalo; Calabretta, Nicola

2018-01-01

We present a novel hybrid DCN based on flow-controlled fast optical switches. Results show packet loss < 1.4E-5 and latency < 2.4μs for 100,000 servers (0.3 load). Costs and power consumptions are also compared with current technologies.

Fast Estimation Method of Space-Time Two-Dimensional Positioning Parameters Based on Hadamard Product

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haiwen Li

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The estimation speed of positioning parameters determines the effectiveness of the positioning system. The time of arrival (TOA and direction of arrival (DOA parameters can be estimated by the space-time two-dimensional multiple signal classification (2D-MUSIC algorithm for array antenna. However, this algorithm needs much time to complete the two-dimensional pseudo spectral peak search, which makes it difficult to apply in practice. Aiming at solving this problem, a fast estimation method of space-time two-dimensional positioning parameters based on Hadamard product is proposed in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM system, and the Cramer-Rao bound (CRB is also presented. Firstly, according to the channel frequency domain response vector of each array, the channel frequency domain estimation vector is constructed using the Hadamard product form containing location information. Then, the autocorrelation matrix of the channel response vector for the extended array element in frequency domain and the noise subspace are calculated successively. Finally, by combining the closed-form solution and parameter pairing, the fast joint estimation for time delay and arrival direction is accomplished. The theoretical analysis and simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can significantly reduce the computational complexity and guarantee that the estimation accuracy is not only better than estimating signal parameters via rotational invariance techniques (ESPRIT algorithm and 2D matrix pencil (MP algorithm but also close to 2D-MUSIC algorithm. Moreover, the proposed algorithm also has certain adaptability to multipath environment and effectively improves the ability of fast acquisition of location parameters.

Fast pulse beam generation systems for electron accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koontz, R.F.

1977-01-01

The fast pulse beam generation system to supply the SLAC storage ring, SPEAR, by the two one nanosecond bunch electron beam pulses is described. Generation of these pulses is accomplished with a combination of a fast pulsed grided gun and a synchronized transverse beam chopper. Fast gun based on spherical cathode-grid assembly has output current up to 2As. Fast pulse amplifier system can handle trains of short pulses with repetition rates up to 40 MHz during the 1.6 μs normal accelerating time. Chopping deflector system consists of a resonant coaxial line with the deflecting plates. The resonator frequency is 39.667 MHz. A schematic diagram of the resonant system is shown. The fast beam pickup system has a one hundred picosecond rise time overrall. Fast beam generation and chopper systems permit to generate almost any short or single bunch beam profile needed for experiments

A fast preamplifier concept for SiPM-based time-of-flight PET detectors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huizenga, J.; Seifert, S.; Schreuder, F.; Dendooven, P.; Löhner, H.; Vinke, R.; Schaart, D. R.; van Dam, H.T.

2012-01-01

Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) offer high gain and fast response to light, making them interesting for fast timing applications such as time-of-flight (TOF) PET. To fully exploit the potential of these photosensors, dedicated preamplifiers that do not deteriorate the rise time and signal-to-noise

Neighborhood fast food restaurants and fast food consumption: a national study.

Science.gov (United States)

Richardson, Andrea S; Boone-Heinonen, Janne; Popkin, Barry M; Gordon-Larsen, Penny

2011-07-08

Recent studies suggest that neighborhood fast food restaurant availability is related to greater obesity, yet few studies have investigated whether neighborhood fast food restaurant availability promotes fast food consumption. Our aim was to estimate the effect of neighborhood fast food availability on frequency of fast food consumption in a national sample of young adults, a population at high risk for obesity. We used national data from U.S. young adults enrolled in wave III (2001-02; ages 18-28) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (n = 13,150). Urbanicity-stratified multivariate negative binomial regression models were used to examine cross-sectional associations between neighborhood fast food availability and individual-level self-reported fast food consumption frequency, controlling for individual and neighborhood characteristics. In adjusted analysis, fast food availability was not associated with weekly frequency of fast food consumption in non-urban or low- or high-density urban areas. Policies aiming to reduce neighborhood availability as a means to reduce fast food consumption among young adults may be unsuccessful. Consideration of fast food outlets near school or workplace locations, factors specific to more or less urban settings, and the role of individual lifestyle attitudes and preferences are needed in future research.

Neighborhood fast food restaurants and fast food consumption: A national study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gordon-Larsen Penny

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Recent studies suggest that neighborhood fast food restaurant availability is related to greater obesity, yet few studies have investigated whether neighborhood fast food restaurant availability promotes fast food consumption. Our aim was to estimate the effect of neighborhood fast food availability on frequency of fast food consumption in a national sample of young adults, a population at high risk for obesity. Methods We used national data from U.S. young adults enrolled in wave III (2001-02; ages 18-28 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (n = 13,150. Urbanicity-stratified multivariate negative binomial regression models were used to examine cross-sectional associations between neighborhood fast food availability and individual-level self-reported fast food consumption frequency, controlling for individual and neighborhood characteristics. Results In adjusted analysis, fast food availability was not associated with weekly frequency of fast food consumption in non-urban or low- or high-density urban areas. Conclusions Policies aiming to reduce neighborhood availability as a means to reduce fast food consumption among young adults may be unsuccessful. Consideration of fast food outlets near school or workplace locations, factors specific to more or less urban settings, and the role of individual lifestyle attitudes and preferences are needed in future research.

High performance image acquisition and processing architecture for fast plant system controllers based on FPGA and GPU

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nieto, J.; Sanz, D.; Guillén, P.; Esquembri, S.; Arcas, G. de; Ruiz, M.; Vega, J.; Castro, R.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • To test an image acquisition and processing system for Camera Link devices based in a FPGA, compliant with ITER fast controllers. • To move data acquired from the set NI1483-NIPXIe7966R directly to a NVIDIA GPU using NVIDIA GPUDirect RDMA technology. • To obtain a methodology to include GPUs processing in ITER Fast Plant Controllers, using EPICS integration through Nominal Device Support (NDS). - Abstract: The two dominant technologies that are being used in real time image processing are Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and Graphical Processor Unit (GPU) due to their algorithm parallelization capabilities. But not much work has been done to standardize how these technologies can be integrated in data acquisition systems, where control and supervisory requirements are in place, such as ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor). This work proposes an architecture, and a development methodology, to develop image acquisition and processing systems based on FPGAs and GPUs compliant with ITER fast controller solutions. A use case based on a Camera Link device connected to an FPGA DAQ device (National Instruments FlexRIO technology), and a NVIDIA Tesla GPU series card has been developed and tested. The architecture proposed has been designed to optimize system performance by minimizing data transfer operations and CPU intervention thanks to the use of NVIDIA GPUDirect RDMA and DMA technologies. This allows moving the data directly between the different hardware elements (FPGA DAQ-GPU-CPU) avoiding CPU intervention and therefore the use of intermediate CPU memory buffers. A special effort has been put to provide a development methodology that, maintaining the highest possible abstraction from the low level implementation details, allows obtaining solutions that conform to CODAC Core System standards by providing EPICS and Nominal Device Support.

High performance image acquisition and processing architecture for fast plant system controllers based on FPGA and GPU

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nieto, J., E-mail: jnieto@sec.upm.es [Grupo de Investigación en Instrumentación y Acústica Aplicada, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Crta. Valencia Km-7, Madrid 28031 (Spain); Sanz, D.; Guillén, P.; Esquembri, S.; Arcas, G. de; Ruiz, M. [Grupo de Investigación en Instrumentación y Acústica Aplicada, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Crta. Valencia Km-7, Madrid 28031 (Spain); Vega, J.; Castro, R. [Asociación EURATOM/CIEMAT para Fusión, Madrid (Spain)

2016-11-15

Highlights: • To test an image acquisition and processing system for Camera Link devices based in a FPGA, compliant with ITER fast controllers. • To move data acquired from the set NI1483-NIPXIe7966R directly to a NVIDIA GPU using NVIDIA GPUDirect RDMA technology. • To obtain a methodology to include GPUs processing in ITER Fast Plant Controllers, using EPICS integration through Nominal Device Support (NDS). - Abstract: The two dominant technologies that are being used in real time image processing are Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and Graphical Processor Unit (GPU) due to their algorithm parallelization capabilities. But not much work has been done to standardize how these technologies can be integrated in data acquisition systems, where control and supervisory requirements are in place, such as ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor). This work proposes an architecture, and a development methodology, to develop image acquisition and processing systems based on FPGAs and GPUs compliant with ITER fast controller solutions. A use case based on a Camera Link device connected to an FPGA DAQ device (National Instruments FlexRIO technology), and a NVIDIA Tesla GPU series card has been developed and tested. The architecture proposed has been designed to optimize system performance by minimizing data transfer operations and CPU intervention thanks to the use of NVIDIA GPUDirect RDMA and DMA technologies. This allows moving the data directly between the different hardware elements (FPGA DAQ-GPU-CPU) avoiding CPU intervention and therefore the use of intermediate CPU memory buffers. A special effort has been put to provide a development methodology that, maintaining the highest possible abstraction from the low level implementation details, allows obtaining solutions that conform to CODAC Core System standards by providing EPICS and Nominal Device Support.

MOCC: A Fast and Robust Correlation-Based Method for Interest Point Matching under Large Scale Changes

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Feng; Huang, Qingming; Wang, Hao; Gao, Wen

2010-12-01

Similarity measures based on correlation have been used extensively for matching tasks. However, traditional correlation-based image matching methods are sensitive to rotation and scale changes. This paper presents a fast correlation-based method for matching two images with large rotation and significant scale changes. Multiscale oriented corner correlation (MOCC) is used to evaluate the degree of similarity between the feature points. The method is rotation invariant and capable of matching image pairs with scale changes up to a factor of 7. Moreover, MOCC is much faster in comparison with the state-of-the-art matching methods. Experimental results on real images show the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed method.

Fast-Track Teacher Recruitment.

Science.gov (United States)

Grant, Franklin Dean

2001-01-01

Schools need a Renaissance human-resources director to implement strategic staffing and fast-track teacher-recruitment plans. The HR director must attend to customer satisfaction, candidate supply, web-based recruitment possibilities, stabilization of newly hired staff, retention of veteran staff, utilization of retired employees, and latest…

Upgrading the Fast Calorimeter Simulation in ATLAS

CERN Document Server

Schaarschmidt, Jana; The ATLAS collaboration

2017-01-01

The tremendous need for simulated samples now and even more so in the future, encourage the development of fast simulation techniques. The Fast Calorimeter Simulation is a faster though less accurate alternative to the full calorimeter simulation with Geant4. It is based on parametrizing the longitudunal and lateral energy deposits of single particles in the ATLAS calorimeter. Principal component analysis and machine learning techniques are used to improve the performance and decrease the memory need compared to the current version of the ATLAS Fast Calorimeter Simulation. The parametrizations are expanded to cover very high energies and very forward detector regions, to increase the applicability of the tool. A prototype of this upgraded Fast Calorimeter Simulation has been developed and first validations with single particles show substantial improvements over the previous version.

Consultancy on 'IAEA initiative to establish a fast reactor knowledge base'. Working material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-01-01

At the outset of the meeting, Member States interest in establishing Fast Reactor Knowledge Base was acknowledged by the participants. While the broader objective of the initiative was to develop a Knowledge Base into which the existing Knowledge Preservation Systems will fit, the specific objectives of the meeting were: Make recommendations on FRKP methodology and guidance, Review the proposed structure of the Agency's FRKP Initiative, Make recommendations on the role of the Agency and the Member States implementing the Agency's FRKP Initiative, Develop an approach for the implementation of the structure of the Agency's RFKP Initiative. The meeting concluded covering many aspects of the initiative namely systematic method of data capturing, structuring and functions of FRKP System etc. and placed a strong emphasis on the continues role of IAEA's support and coordination in the data retrieval and knowledge preservation efforts

The new ATLAS Fast Calorimeter Simulation

CERN Document Server

AUTHOR|(INSPIRE)INSPIRE-00176100; The ATLAS collaboration

2016-01-01

The physics and performance studies of the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider re- quire a large number of simulated events. A GEANT4 based detailed simulation of the ATLAS calorimeter systems is highly CPU intensive and such resolution is often unnecessary. To reduce the calorimeter simulation time by a few orders of magnitude, fast simulation tools have been developed. The Fast Calorimeter Simulation (FastCaloSim) provides a parameterised simulation of the particle energy response at the calorimeter read-out cell level. In Run 1, about 13 billion events were simulated in ATLAS, out of which 50% were produced using fast simulation. For Run 2, a new parameterisation is being developed to improve the original version: it incorporates developments in geometry and physics lists during the last five years and benefits from the knowledge acquired from the Run 1 data. The algorithm uses machine learning techniques to improve the parameterisations and to optimise the amount of information to be stored in the...

A fast chaos-based image encryption scheme with a dynamic state variables selection mechanism

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Jun-xin; Zhu, Zhi-liang; Fu, Chong; Yu, Hai; Zhang, Li-bo

2015-03-01

In recent years, a variety of chaos-based image cryptosystems have been investigated to meet the increasing demand for real-time secure image transmission. Most of them are based on permutation-diffusion architecture, in which permutation and diffusion are two independent procedures with fixed control parameters. This property results in two flaws. (1) At least two chaotic state variables are required for encrypting one plain pixel, in permutation and diffusion stages respectively. Chaotic state variables produced with high computation complexity are not sufficiently used. (2) The key stream solely depends on the secret key, and hence the cryptosystem is vulnerable against known/chosen-plaintext attacks. In this paper, a fast chaos-based image encryption scheme with a dynamic state variables selection mechanism is proposed to enhance the security and promote the efficiency of chaos-based image cryptosystems. Experimental simulations and extensive cryptanalysis have been carried out and the results prove the superior security and high efficiency of the scheme.

[Continuum based fast Fourier transform processing of infrared spectrum].

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Qing-Jie; Lin, Qi-Zhong; Wang, Qin-Jun; Li, Hui; Li, Shuai

2009-12-01

To recognize ground objects with infrared spectrum, high frequency noise removing is one of the most important phases in spectrum feature analysis and extraction. A new method for infrared spectrum preprocessing was given combining spectrum continuum processing and Fast Fourier Transform (CFFT). Continuum was firstly removed from the noise polluted infrared spectrum to standardize hyper-spectra. Then the spectrum was transformed into frequency domain (FD) with fast Fourier transform (FFT), separating noise information from target information After noise eliminating from useful information with a low-pass filter, the filtered FD spectrum was transformed into time domain (TD) with fast Fourier inverse transform. Finally the continuum was recovered to the spectrum, and the filtered infrared spectrum was achieved. Experiment was performed for chlorite spectrum in USGS polluted with two kinds of simulated white noise to validate the filtering ability of CFFT by contrast with cubic function of five point (CFFP) in time domain and traditional FFT in frequency domain. A circle of CFFP has limited filtering effect, so it should work much with more circles and consume more time to achieve better filtering result. As for conventional FFT, Gibbs phenomenon has great effect on preprocessing result at edge bands because of special character of rock or mineral spectra, while works well at middle bands. Mean squared error of CFFT is 0. 000 012 336 with cut-off frequency of 150, while that of FFT and CFFP is 0. 000 061 074 with cut-off frequency of 150 and 0.000 022 963 with 150 working circles respectively. Besides the filtering result of CFFT can be improved by adjusting the filter cut-off frequency, and has little effect on working time. The CFFT method overcomes the Gibbs problem of FFT in spectrum filtering, and can be more convenient, dependable, and effective than traditional TD filter methods.

Fasting: Benefits and probable health harmfulness from the Islamic perspective

OpenAIRE

Mahdi Ebrahimi; Saeedeh Behrooznia

2015-01-01

Fasting is a form of Islamic worship to approach God.  There is a direct relationship between fasting, abstaining from eating and drinking, and an individual’s health as well as his ill-health. Therefore, it is of utmost importance in the Islamic perspective to weigh the spiritual benefits achieved through fasting against its probable harmfulness to an individual’s health. Regarding fasting, the Islamic perspective is based on spiritual and social goals whose achievement centers around fas...

Fast photoacoustic imaging system based on 320-element linear transducer array

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yin Bangzheng; Xing Da; Wang Yi; Zeng Yaguang; Tan Yi; Chen Qun

2004-01-01

A fast photoacoustic (PA) imaging system, based on a 320-transducer linear array, was developed and tested on a tissue phantom. To reconstruct a test tomographic image, 64 time-domain PA signals were acquired from a tissue phantom with embedded light-absorption targets. A signal acquisition was accomplished by utilizing 11 phase-controlled sub-arrays, each consisting of four transducers. The results show that the system can rapidly map the optical absorption of a tissue phantom and effectively detect the embedded light-absorbing target. By utilizing the multi-element linear transducer array and phase-controlled imaging algorithm, we thus can acquire PA tomography more efficiently, compared to other existing technology and algorithms. The methodology and equipment thus provide a rapid and reliable approach to PA imaging that may have potential applications in noninvasive imaging and clinic diagnosis

Proton linac for hospital-based fast neutron therapy and radioisotope production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lennox, A.J.; Hendrickson, F.R.; Swenson, D.A.; Winje, R.A.; Young, D.E.

1989-09-01

Recent developments in linac technology have led to the design of a hospital-based proton linac for fast neutron therapy. The 180 microamp average current allows beam to be diverted for radioisotope production during treatments while maintaining an acceptable dose rate. During dedicated operation, dose rates greater than 280 neutron rads per minute are achievable at depth, DMAX = 1.6 cm with source to axis distance, SAD = 190 cm. Maximum machine energy is 70 MeV and several intermediate energies are available for optimizing production of isotopes for Positron Emission Tomography and other medical applications. The linac can be used to produce a horizontal or a gantry can be added to the downstream end of the linac for conventional patient positioning. The 70 MeV protons can also be used for proton therapy for ocular melanomas. 17 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab

Fast mode decision based on human noticeable luminance difference and rate distortion cost for H.264/AVC

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Mian-Shiuan; Chen, Mei-Juan; Tai, Kuang-Han; Sue, Kuen-Liang

2013-12-01

This article proposes a fast mode decision algorithm based on the correlation of the just-noticeable-difference (JND) and the rate distortion cost (RD cost) to reduce the computational complexity of H.264/AVC. First, the relationship between the average RD cost and the number of JND pixels is established by Gaussian distributions. Thus, the RD cost of the Inter 16 × 16 mode is compared with the predicted thresholds from these models for fast mode selection. In addition, we use the image content, the residual data, and JND visual model for horizontal/vertical detection, and then utilize the result to predict the partition in a macroblock. From the experimental results, a greater time saving can be achieved while the proposed algorithm also maintains performance and quality effectively.

Engineering the mobility increment in pentacene-based field-effect transistors by fast cooling of polymeric modification layer

Science.gov (United States)

Ling, Haifeng; Zhang, Chenxi; Chen, Yan; Shao, Yaqing; Li, Wen; Li, Huanqun; Chen, Xudong; Yi, Mingdong; Xie, Linghai; Huang, Wei

2017-06-01

In this work, we investigate the effect of the cooling rate of polymeric modification layers (PMLs) on the mobility improvement of pentacene-based organic field-effect transistors (OFETs). In contrast to slow cooling (SC), the OFETs fabricated through fast cooling (FC) with PMLs containing side chain-phenyl rings, such as polystyrene (PS) and poly (4-vinylphenol) (PVP), show an obvious mobility incensement compared with that of π-group free polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images and x-ray diffraction (XRD) characterizations have showed that fast-cooled PMLs could effectively enhance the crystallinity of pentacene, which might be related to the optimized homogeneity of surface energy on the surface of polymeric dielectrics. Our work has demonstrated that FC treatment could be a potential strategy for performance modulation of OFETs.

Fast and Statistically Efficient Fundamental Frequency Estimation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Jesper Kjær; Jensen, Tobias Lindstrøm; Jensen, Jesper Rindom

2016-01-01

Fundamental frequency estimation is a very important task in many applications involving periodic signals. For computational reasons, fast autocorrelation-based estimation methods are often used despite parametric estimation methods having superior estimation accuracy. However, these parametric...... a recursive solver. Via benchmarks, we demonstrate that the computation time is reduced by approximately two orders of magnitude. The proposed fast algorithm is available for download online....

Fast compact algorithms and software for spline smoothing

CERN Document Server

Weinert, Howard L

2012-01-01

Fast Compact Algorithms and Software for Spline Smoothing investigates algorithmic alternatives for computing cubic smoothing splines when the amount of smoothing is determined automatically by minimizing the generalized cross-validation score. These algorithms are based on Cholesky factorization, QR factorization, or the fast Fourier transform. All algorithms are implemented in MATLAB and are compared based on speed, memory use, and accuracy. An overall best algorithm is identified, which allows very large data sets to be processed quickly on a personal computer.

Neighborhood fast food restaurants and fast food consumption: A national study

OpenAIRE

Richardson, Andrea S; Boone-Heinonen, Janne; Popkin, Barry M; Gordon-Larsen, Penny

2011-01-01

Abstract Background Recent studies suggest that neighborhood fast food restaurant availability is related to greater obesity, yet few studies have investigated whether neighborhood fast food restaurant availability promotes fast food consumption. Our aim was to estimate the effect of neighborhood fast food availability on frequency of fast food consumption in a national sample of young adults, a population at high risk for obesity. Methods We used national data from U.S. young adults enrolled...

Fast-food Consumption among College Students Based on Cost and Thermal Analysis

OpenAIRE

Mu Rui-Hui

2015-01-01

The starting point of this study was to assess college students to spend money and calories in fast food consumption within the university campus. Undergraduate Students (18 years old-24) to facilitate sample (N = 152), participated in the university in the use of researchers developed a way of life and collecting food frequency questionnaire, dietary intake measurements from seven Behavior Survey health practices survey data on the local fast-food chain. A strong positive correlation between...

Effect of Ramadan fasting on diabetes mellitus: a population-based study in Qatar.

Science.gov (United States)

Bener, Abdulbari; Yousafzai, Mohammad T

2014-08-01

Over one billion Muslims fast worldwide during the month of Ramadan. Fasting during Ramadan is a radical change in lifestyle for the period of a lunar month, and it might affect the biochemical parameters among diabetic patients. This study aimed to investigate the effect of Ramadan fasting on the blood levels of glucose, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and lipid profile among diabetic patients observing fast during the Ramadan. An observational study recruiting 1301 Muslim diabetic patients above 18 years age was conducted in diabetic outpatient clinic of Hamad General Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation, and Primary Health Care Center, Qatar, from July 2012 to September 2013. Data on sociodemographic characteristics (age, sex, nationality, marital status, education level, and occupation) and lifestyle habits (smoking and physical activity), blood pressures, and anthropometric measurements were obtained by a face-to-face interview and measurement using a structured questionnaire. Blood samples were collected for testing glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C), lipid profile, urea, and creatinine (by the licensed research assistants). Slightly less than half of the participants were overweight (BMI: 25-29.9). Significantly higher proportion of female participants were obese as compared with male participants (P<0.001). Among both male participants and female participants, the average level of blood glucose, HbA1c, total cholesterol, low-density and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, albumin, bilirubin, uric acid, and systolic and diastolic blood pressures were significantly lower during the Ramadan as compared with before Ramadan (P<0.001 each). Results revealed that fasting during Ramadan is significantly associated with decrease in blood lipid profile, blood pressures, glucose, and HbA1C level among diabetic patients. Muslim diabetic patients after the consultation of their primary physician can fast during the month of Ramadan and it might be

The impact of religious fasting on human health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bloomer Richard J

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract The past two decades have seen a rise in the number of investigations examining the health-related effects of religiously motivated fasts. Islamic Ramadan is a 28 - 30 day fast in which food and drink are prohibited during the daylight hours. The majority of health-specific findings related to Ramadan fasting are mixed. The likely causes for these heterogeneous findings are the differences between studies in the following: 1 the amount of daily fasting time; 2 the percentage of subjects who smoke, take oral medications, and/or receive intravenous fluids; and 3 the subjects' typical food choices and eating habits. Greek Orthodox Christians fast for a total of 180 - 200 days each year, and their main fasting periods are the Nativity Fast (40 days prior to Christmas, Lent (48 days prior to Easter, and the Assumption (15 days in August. The fasting periods are more similar than dissimilar, and they can each be described as a variant of vegetarianism. Some of the more favorable effects of these fasts include the lowering of body mass, total cholesterol, LDL-C, and the LDL-C/HDL-C ratio. The Biblical-based Daniel Fast prohibits the consumption of animal products, refined carbohydrates, food additives, preservatives, sweeteners, flavorings, caffeine, and alcohol. It is most commonly partaken for 21 days, although fasts of 10 and 40 days have been observed. Our initial investigation of the Daniel Fast noted favorable effects on several health-related outcomes, including: blood pressure, blood lipids, insulin sensitivity, and biomarkers of oxidative stress. This review summarizes the health-specific effects of these fasts and provides suggestions for future research.

The impact of religious fasting on human health.

Science.gov (United States)

Trepanowski, John F; Bloomer, Richard J

2010-11-22

The past two decades have seen a rise in the number of investigations examining the health-related effects of religiously motivated fasts. Islamic Ramadan is a 28 - 30 day fast in which food and drink are prohibited during the daylight hours. The majority of health-specific findings related to Ramadan fasting are mixed. The likely causes for these heterogeneous findings are the differences between studies in the following: 1) the amount of daily fasting time; 2) the percentage of subjects who smoke, take oral medications, and/or receive intravenous fluids; and 3) the subjects' typical food choices and eating habits. Greek Orthodox Christians fast for a total of 180 - 200 days each year, and their main fasting periods are the Nativity Fast (40 days prior to Christmas), Lent (48 days prior to Easter), and the Assumption (15 days in August). The fasting periods are more similar than dissimilar, and they can each be described as a variant of vegetarianism. Some of the more favorable effects of these fasts include the lowering of body mass, total cholesterol, LDL-C, and the LDL-C/HDL-C ratio. The Biblical-based Daniel Fast prohibits the consumption of animal products, refined carbohydrates, food additives, preservatives, sweeteners, flavorings, caffeine, and alcohol. It is most commonly partaken for 21 days, although fasts of 10 and 40 days have been observed. Our initial investigation of the Daniel Fast noted favorable effects on several health-related outcomes, including: blood pressure, blood lipids, insulin sensitivity, and biomarkers of oxidative stress. This review summarizes the health-specific effects of these fasts and provides suggestions for future research.

THE Lyα LINE PROFILES OF ULTRALUMINOUS INFRARED GALAXIES: FAST WINDS AND LYMAN CONTINUUM LEAKAGE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martin, Crystal L.; Wong, Joseph [Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106 (United States); Dijkstra, Mark [Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo, Postboks 1029, 0858 Oslo (Norway); Henry, Alaina [Astrophysics Science Division, Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 665, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Soto, Kurt T. [Institute for Astronomy, Department of Physics, ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zurich (Switzerland); Danforth, Charles W., E-mail: cmartin@physics.ucsb.edu [CASA, Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado, 389-UCB, Boulder, CO, 80309 (United States)

2015-04-10

We present new Hubble Space Telescope Cosmic Origins Spectrograph far-ultraviolet (far-UV) spectroscopy and Keck Echellete optical spectroscopy of 11 ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs), a rare population of local galaxies experiencing massive gas inflows, extreme starbursts, and prominent outflows. We detect Lyα emission from eight ULIRGs and the companion to IRAS09583+4714. In contrast to the P Cygni profiles often seen in galaxy spectra, the Lyα profiles exhibit prominent, blueshifted emission out to Doppler shifts exceeding −1000 km s{sup −1} in three H ii-dominated and two AGN-dominated ULIRGs. To better understand the role of resonance scattering in shaping the Lyα line profiles, we directly compare them to non-resonant emission lines in optical spectra. We find that the line wings are already present in the intrinsic nebular spectra, and scattering merely enhances the wings relative to the line core. The Lyα attenuation (as measured in the COS aperture) ranges from that of the far-UV continuum to over 100 times more. A simple radiative transfer model suggests the Lyα photons escape through cavities which have low column densities of neutral hydrogen and become optically thin to the Lyman continuum in the most advanced mergers. We show that the properties of the highly blueshifted line wings on the Lyα and optical emission-line profiles are consistent with emission from clumps of gas condensing out of a fast, hot wind. The luminosity of the Lyα emission increases nonlinearly with the ULIRG bolometric luminosity and represents about 0.1–1% of the radiative cooling from the hot winds in the H ii-dominated ULIRGs.

Fast photon-detection for COMPASS RICH-1

CERN Document Server

Chiosso, Michela; Alexeev, M; Angerer, H; Birsa, R; Bordalo, P; Bradamante, F; Bressan, A; Ciliberti, P; Colantoni, M L; Dafni, T; Dalla Torre, S; Delagnes, E; Denisov, O; Deschamps, H; Diaz, V; Dibiase, N; Duic, V; Eyrich, W; Ferrero, A; Finger, M; Finger Jr, M; Fisher, H; Gerassimov, S; Giorgi, M; Gobbo, B; Hagemann, R; von Harrac, D; Heinsius, F H; Joosten, R; Ketzer, B; Königsmann, K; Kolosov, V N; Konorov, I; Kramer, D; Kunne, F; Lehmann, A; Levorato, S; Maggiora, A; Magnon, A; Mann, A; Martin, A; Menon, G; Mutter, A; Nähle, O; Neyret, D; Nerling, F; Panebianco, S; Panzieri, D; Paul, S; Pesaro, G; Pizzolotto, C; Polak, J; Rebourgeard, P; Robinet, P; Rocco, E; Schiavon, P; Schill, C; Schoenmaier, W; Schröder, W; Silva, L; Slunecka, M; Sozzi, F; Steiger, L; Sulc, M; Svec, M; Tessarotto, F; Teufel, A; Wollny, H

2008-01-01

A fast photon-detection system for the detector RICH-1 of the COMPASS Experiment at CERN SPS is in operation since the 2006 run. It is based on the use of Multi-Anode Photomultipliers (MAPMTs) coupled to individual fused silica lens telescopes and fast read-out electronics. It has been designed taking into account the high photon flux in the central region of the detector and the high rate requirements of the COMPASS Experiment. We present the photon-detection design and construction, together with its characterization and measured performances based on the data collected in 2006.

Fast reactors - Dounreay and the future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jordan, G.

1988-01-01

In 1960 at Dounreay, the Dounreay Fast Reactor (DFR) supplied the world's first fast reactor grid electricity, and went on to a highly successful career as a test facility, as fuel designs advanced. In the 1960s, the Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR) was designed and built, beginning operation in 1974. The PFR was built to provide a sound technical and experienced base to support the UK's future Fast Reactor development and design. The in-vessel fuel handling facilities have demonstrated the flexibility of the pool design and a considerable body of in-core fuel handling experience is available. A key issue for further Fast Reactor application is the performance of fuel and, because PFR was designed to take full-scale fuel assemblies, the fuel performance experience is directly relevant to commercial designs. The original PFR design irradiation target of 60000 MWd/t U (equivalent to 7.5 % burn-up) has already been exceeded by a factor of more than two and a 15.9 % burn-up sub-assembly has been discharged and reprocessed without difficulty. Soon a 20 % sub-assembly will follow. Also the PFR reprocessing plant has demonstrated the safety and efficiency of this essential adjunct to Fast Reactor operation. The safety and the environmental protection features of both the PFR and its fuel reprocessing plant have been demonstrated over the last 14 years. 2 refs., 3 figs

Comparison of Fast-Food and Non-Fast-Food Children's Menu Items

Science.gov (United States)

Serrano, Elena L.; Jedda, Virginia B.

2009-01-01

Objective: Compare the macronutrient content of children's meals sold by fast-food restaurants (FFR) and non-fast-food restaurants (NFF). Design: All restaurants within the designated city limits were surveyed. Non-fast-food children's meals were purchased, weighed, and analyzed using nutrition software. All fast-food children's meals were…

Review of fast reactor activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haeussermann, W.; Royen, J.

1978-01-01

Since 1971, when the Co-ordinating Group on Gas-Cooled Fast reactors Development was set up, the participating countries have maintained an interest in keeping this option as a back-up solution to the sodium cooled fast reactors. Two different concepts were investigated, one based on coated particle type fuel elements and the other on pin type fuel elements. The coated particles studies have been brought to an end, and resources were concentrated on the further development of the pin type concept. The work done in previous years covered design and safety investigations, heat transfer studies and irradiation experiments in thermal reactors

Comparison between TRU burning reactors and commercial fast reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujimura, Koji; Sanda, Toshio; Ogawa, Takashi

2001-03-01

Research and development for stabilizing or shortening the radioactive wastes including in spent nuclear fuel are widely conducted in view point of reducing the environmental impact. Especially it is effective way to irradiate and transmute long-lived TRU by fast reactors. Two types of loading way were previously proposed. The former is loading relatively small amount of TRU in all commercial fast reactors and the latter is loading large amount of TRU in a few TRU burning reactors. This study has been intended to contribute to the feasibility studies on commercialized fast reactor cycle system. The transmutation and nuclear characteristics of TRU burning reactors were evaluated and compared with those of conventional transmutation system using commercial type fast reactor based upon the investigation of technical information about TRU burning reactors. Major results are summarized as follows. (1) Investigation of technical information about TRU burning reactors. Based on published reports and papers, technical information about TRU burning reactor concepts transmutation system using convectional commercial type fast reactors were investigated. Transmutation and nuclear characteristics or R and D issue were investigated based on these results. Homogeneously loading of about 5 wt% MAs on core fuels in the conventional commercial type fast reactor may not cause significant impact on the nuclear core characteristics. Transmutation of MAs being produced in about five fast reactors generating the same output is feasible. The helium cooled MA burning fast reactor core concept propose by JAERI attains criticality using particle type nitride fuels which contain more than 60 wt% MA. This reactor could transmute MAs being produced in more than ten 1000 MWe-LWRs. Ultra-long life core concepts attaining more than 30 years operation without refueling by utilizing MA's nuclear characteristics as burnable absorber and fertile nuclides were proposed. Those were pointed out that

A Fast Enhanced Secure Image Chaotic Cryptosystem Based on Hybrid Chaotic Magic Transform

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Srinivas Koppu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available An enhanced secure image chaotic cryptosystem has been proposed based on hybrid CMT-Lanczos algorithm. We have achieved fast encryption and decryption along with privacy of images. The pseudorandom generator has been used along with Lanczos algorithm to generate root characteristics and eigenvectors. Using hybrid CMT image, pixels are shuffled to accomplish excellent randomness. Compared with existing methods, the proposed method had more robustness to various attacks: brute-force attack, known cipher plaintext, chosen-plaintext, security key space, key sensitivity, correlation analysis and information entropy, and differential attacks. Simulation results show that the proposed methods give better result in protecting images with low-time complexity.

Development of pulsed high current drivers for fast Z-pinch

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun Fengju; Qiu Aici; Zeng Zhengzhong; Zeng Jiangtao; Kuai Bin; Yang Hailiang

2006-01-01

It is required that the peak current of high power pulsed drive for fast Z-pinch reaches 60 MA to realize inertial confine fusion (ICF) and high yield (HY). With the conventional technological methods similar to the Z or Saturn apparatus, increasing driver current further is impractical and difficult according to the cost, structure complexity and reliability of the driver, so it is necessary to develop novel fast pulsed high current driver. The present art-of-state and trends of fast Z-pinch driver are summarized, and the typical conceptual designs and technological methods on ICF/HY PRS (plasma radiation source) and destroying-level super X-ray simulators in USA and Russia are outlined, such as HCEI's UGXX1 driver and new Saturn driver based on fast linear transformer driver (FLTD) and novel driver based on fast Marx generator (FMG) with current of 15 MA. The crucial technological problems and requirements to investigate in the future are presented. (authors)

Profiling Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) of Family Health History based on the Clinical Element Models

OpenAIRE

Lee, Jaehoon; Hulse, Nathan C.; Wood, Grant M.; Oniki, Thomas A.; Huff, Stanley M.

2017-01-01

In this study we developed a Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) profile to support exchanging a full pedigree based family health history (FHH) information across multiple systems and applications used by clinicians, patients, and researchers. We used previously developed clinical element models (CEMs) that are capable of representing the FHH information, and derived essential data elements including attributes, constraints, and value sets. We analyzed gaps between the FHH CEM ...

Ecosystem-management-based Management Models of Fast-growing and High-yield Plantation and Its Eco-economic Benefits Analysis

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2010-01-01

The paper expounded the basic concept and principles of ecosystem management,and analyzed the state and trend of industrial plantation ecosystem management in other countries.Based on the analysis of typical case studies,the eco-economic benefits were evaluated for the management models of fast-growing and high-yield plantations.

Fully iterative scatter corrected digital breast tomosynthesis using GPU-based fast Monte Carlo simulation and composition ratio update

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Kyungsang; Ye, Jong Chul, E-mail: jong.ye@kaist.ac.kr [Bio Imaging and Signal Processing Laboratory, Department of Bio and Brain Engineering, KAIST 291, Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34141 (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Taewon; Cho, Seungryong [Medical Imaging and Radiotherapeutics Laboratory, Department of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering, KAIST 291, Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34141 (Korea, Republic of); Seong, Younghun; Lee, Jongha; Jang, Kwang Eun [Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Samsung Electronics, 130, Samsung-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, 443-803 (Korea, Republic of); Choi, Jaegu; Choi, Young Wook [Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI), 111, Hanggaul-ro, Sangnok-gu, Ansan-si, Gyeonggi-do, 426-170 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Hak Hee; Shin, Hee Jung; Cha, Joo Hee [Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, 88 Olympic-ro, 43-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul, 138-736 (Korea, Republic of)

2015-09-15

Purpose: In digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), scatter correction is highly desirable, as it improves image quality at low doses. Because the DBT detector panel is typically stationary during the source rotation, antiscatter grids are not generally compatible with DBT; thus, a software-based scatter correction is required. This work proposes a fully iterative scatter correction method that uses a novel fast Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) with a tissue-composition ratio estimation technique for DBT imaging. Methods: To apply MCS to scatter estimation, the material composition in each voxel should be known. To overcome the lack of prior accurate knowledge of tissue composition for DBT, a tissue-composition ratio is estimated based on the observation that the breast tissues are principally composed of adipose and glandular tissues. Using this approximation, the composition ratio can be estimated from the reconstructed attenuation coefficients, and the scatter distribution can then be estimated by MCS using the composition ratio. The scatter estimation and image reconstruction procedures can be performed iteratively until an acceptable accuracy is achieved. For practical use, (i) the authors have implemented a fast MCS using a graphics processing unit (GPU), (ii) the MCS is simplified to transport only x-rays in the energy range of 10–50 keV, modeling Rayleigh and Compton scattering and the photoelectric effect using the tissue-composition ratio of adipose and glandular tissues, and (iii) downsampling is used because the scatter distribution varies rather smoothly. Results: The authors have demonstrated that the proposed method can accurately estimate the scatter distribution, and that the contrast-to-noise ratio of the final reconstructed image is significantly improved. The authors validated the performance of the MCS by changing the tissue thickness, composition ratio, and x-ray energy. The authors confirmed that the tissue-composition ratio estimation was quite

MOCC: A Fast and Robust Correlation-Based Method for Interest Point Matching under Large Scale Changes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wang Hao

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Similarity measures based on correlation have been used extensively for matching tasks. However, traditional correlation-based image matching methods are sensitive to rotation and scale changes. This paper presents a fast correlation-based method for matching two images with large rotation and significant scale changes. Multiscale oriented corner correlation (MOCC is used to evaluate the degree of similarity between the feature points. The method is rotation invariant and capable of matching image pairs with scale changes up to a factor of 7. Moreover, MOCC is much faster in comparison with the state-of-the-art matching methods. Experimental results on real images show the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed method.

Accelerator requirements for fast-neutron interrogation of luggage and cargo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Micklich, B.J.; Fink, C.L.; Yule, T.J.

1995-01-01

Several different fast-neutron based techniques are being studied for the detection of contraband substances in luggage and cargo containers. The present work discusses the accelerator requirements for fast-neutron transmission spectroscopy (FNTS), pulsed fast-neutron analysis (PFNA), and 14-MeV neutron interrogation. These requirements are based on the results of Monte-Carlo simulations of neutron or gamma detection rates. Accelerator requirements are driven by count-rate considerations, spatial resolution and acceptable uncertainties in elemental compositions. The authors have limited their analyses to luggage inspection with FNTS and to cargo inspection with PFNA or 14-MeV neutron interrogation

Fast-food consumption and obesity among Michigan adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Beth; Rafferty, Ann P; Lyon-Callo, Sarah; Fussman, Christopher; Imes, Gwendoline

2011-07-01

Consumption of meals eaten away from home, especially from fast-food restaurants, has increased in the United States since the 1970s. The main objective of this study was to examine the frequency and characteristics of fast-food consumption among adults in Michigan and obesity prevalence. We analyzed data from 12 questions about fast-food consumption that were included on the 2005 Michigan Behavioral Risk Factor Survey, a population-based telephone survey of Michigan adults, using univariate and bivariate analyses and multivariate logistic regression, and compared these data with data on Michigan obesity prevalence. Approximately 80% of Michigan adults went to fast-food restaurants at least once per month and 28% went regularly (≥2 times/wk). Regular fast-food consumption was higher among younger adults (mostly men) but was not significantly associated with household income, education, race, or urbanicity (in a multivariate framework). The prevalence of obesity increased consistently with frequenting fast-food restaurants, from 24% of those going less than once a week to 33% of those going 3 or more times per week. The predominant reason for choosing fast food was convenience. Although hypothetically 68% of adults who go to fast-food restaurants would choose healthier fast-food items when available, only 16% said they ever use nutritional information when ordering. The prevalence of fast-food consumption is high in Michigan across education, income, and racial groups and is strongly associated with obesity. Making nutritional information at fast-food restaurants more readily available and easier to use may help consumers to order more healthful or lower-calorie items.

Fast Food Jobs. National Study of Fast Food Employment.

Science.gov (United States)

Charner, Ivan; Fraser, Bryna Shore

A study examined employment in the fast-food industry. The national survey collected data from employees at 279 fast-food restaurants from seven companies. Female employees outnumbered males by two to one. The ages of those fast-food employees in the survey sample ranged from 14 to 71, with fully 70 percent being in the 16- to 20-year-old age…

SN 2013ej IN M74: A LUMINOUS AND FAST-DECLINING TYPE II-P SUPERNOVA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Fang; Wang, Xiaofeng; Chen, Juncheng; Mo, Jun; Zhao, Xulin; Zhang, Jujia; Brown, Peter J.; Zampieri, Luca; Pumo, Maria Letizia; Zhang, Tianmeng

2015-01-01

We present extensive ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared observations of the Type IIP supernova (SN IIP) 2013ej in the nearby spiral galaxy M74. The multicolor light curves, spanning from ∼8–185 days after explosion, show that it has a higher peak luminosity (i.e., M V ∼ −17.83 mag at maximum light), a faster post-peak decline, and a shorter plateau phase (i.e., ∼50 days) compared to the normal Type IIP SN 1999em. The mass of 56 Ni is estimated as 0.02 ± 0.01 M ⊙ from the radioactive tail of the bolometric light curve. The spectral evolution of SN 2013ej is similar to that of SN 2004et and SN 2007od, but shows a larger expansion velocity (i.e., v Fe ii  ∼ 4600 km s −1 at t ∼ 50 days) and broader line profiles. In the nebular phase, the emission of the Hα line displays a double-peak structure, perhaps due to the asymmetric distribution of 56 Ni produced in the explosion. With the constraints from the main observables such as bolometric light curve, expansion velocity, and photospheric temperature of SN 2013ej, we performed hydrodynamical simulations of the explosion parameters, yielding the total explosion energy as ∼0.7× 10 51 erg, the radius of the progenitor as ∼600 R ⊙ , and the ejected mass as ∼10.6 M ⊙ . These results suggest that SN 2013ej likely arose from a red supergiant with a mass of 12–13 M ⊙ immediately before the explosion

Fast Physics Testbed for the FASTER Project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lin, W.; Liu, Y.; Hogan, R.; Neggers, R.; Jensen, M.; Fridlind, A.; Lin, Y.; Wolf, A.

2010-03-15

This poster describes the Fast Physics Testbed for the new FAst-physics System Testbed and Research (FASTER) project. The overall objective is to provide a convenient and comprehensive platform for fast turn-around model evaluation against ARM observations and to facilitate development of parameterizations for cloud-related fast processes represented in global climate models. The testbed features three major components: a single column model (SCM) testbed, an NWP-Testbed, and high-resolution modeling (HRM). The web-based SCM-Testbed features multiple SCMs from major climate modeling centers and aims to maximize the potential of SCM approach to enhance and accelerate the evaluation and improvement of fast physics parameterizations through continuous evaluation of existing and evolving models against historical as well as new/improved ARM and other complementary measurements. The NWP-Testbed aims to capitalize on the large pool of operational numerical weather prediction products. Continuous evaluations of NWP forecasts against observations at ARM sites are carried out to systematically identify the biases and skills of physical parameterizations under all weather conditions. The highresolution modeling (HRM) activities aim to simulate the fast processes at high resolution to aid in the understanding of the fast processes and their parameterizations. A four-tier HRM framework is established to augment the SCM- and NWP-Testbeds towards eventual improvement of the parameterizations.

Fast ultrasonic visualisation under sodium. Application to the fast neutron reactors; Visualisation ultrasonore rapide sous sodium. application aux reacteurs a neutrons rapides

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Imbert, Ch

1997-05-30

The fast ultrasonic visualization under sodium is in the programme of research and development on the inspection inside the fast neutron reactors. This work is about the development of a such system of fast ultrasonic imaging under sodium, in order to improve the existing visualization systems. This system is based on the principle of orthogonal imaging, it uses two linear antennas with an important dephasing having 128 piezo-composite elements of central frequency equal to 1.6 MHz. (N.C.)

Mass spectrometric studies of fast pyrolysis of cellulose

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Degenstein, John; Hurt, Matt; Murria, Priya; Easton, McKay; Choudhari, Harshavardhan; Yang, Linan; Riedeman, James; Carlsen, Mark; Nash, John; Agrawal, Rakesh; Delgass, W.; Ribeiro, Fabio; Kenttämaa, Hilkka

2015-01-01

A fast pyrolysis probe/linear quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer combination was used to study the primary fast pyrolysis products (those that first leave the hot pyrolysis surface) of cellulose, cellobiose, cellotriose, cellotetraose, cellopentaose, and cellohexaose, as well as of cellobiosan, cellotriosan, and cellopentosan, at 600°C. Similar products with different branching ratios were found for the oligosaccharides and cellulose, as reported previously. However, identical products (with the exception of two) with similar branching ratios were measured for cellotriosan (and cellopentosan) and cellulose. This result demonstrates that cellotriosan is an excellent small-molecule surrogate for studies of the fast pyrolysis of cellulose and also that most fast pyrolysis products of cellulose do not originate from the reducing end. Based on several observations, the fast pyrolysis of cellulose is suggested to initiate predominantly via two competing processes: the formation of anhydro-oligosaccharides, such as cellobiosan, cellotriosan, and cellopentosan (major route), and the elimination of glycolaldehyde (or isomeric) units from the reducing end of oligosaccharides formed from cellulose during fast pyrolysis.

Core physics design calculation of mini-type fast reactor based on Monte Carlo method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He Keyu; Han Weishi

2007-01-01

An accurate physics calculation model has been set up for the mini-type sodium-cooled fast reactor (MFR) based on MCNP-4C code, then a detailed calculation of its critical physics characteristics, neutron flux distribution, power distribution and reactivity control has been carried out. The results indicate that the basic physics characteristics of MFR can satisfy the requirement and objectives of the core design. The power density and neutron flux distribution are symmetrical and reasonable. The control system is able to make a reliable reactivity balance efficiently and meets the request for long-playing operation. (authors)

Does fast-neutron radiotherapy merely reduce the radiation dose

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ando, Koichi

1984-01-01

We examined whether fast-neutron radiotherapy is superior to low-LET radiotherpy by comparing the relationship between cell survival and tumor control probabilities after exposure of tumor-bearing (species) to the two modalities. Analysis based on TCD 50 assay and lung colony assay indicated that single dose of fast neutron achieved animal cures at higher survival rates than other radiation modalities including single and fractionated γ-ray doses, fractionated doses of fast neutron, and the mixed-beam scheme with a sequence of N-γ-γ-γ-N. We conclude that fast-neutron radiotherapy cured animal tumors with lower cell killing rates other radiation modalities. (author)

Pool type liquid metal fast breeder reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guthrie, B.M.

1978-08-01

Various technical aspects of the liquid metal fast breeder reactor (LMFBR), specifically pool type LMFBR's, are summarized. The information presented, for the most part, draws upon existing data. Special sections are devoted to design, technical feasibility (normal operating conditions), and safety (accident conditions). A survey of world fast reactors is presented in tabular form, as are two sets of reference reactor parameters based on available data from present and conceptual LMFBR's. (auth)

Fast reactor fuel reprocessing. An Indian perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Natarajan, R.; Raj, Baldev

2005-01-01

The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) envisioned the introduction of Plutonium fuelled fast reactors as the intermediate stage, between Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors and Thorium-Uranium-233 based reactors for the Indian Nuclear Power Programme. This necessitated the closing of the fast reactor fuel cycle with Plutonium rich fuel. Aiming to develop a Fast Reactor Fuel Reprocessing (FRFR) technology with low out of pile inventory, the DAE, with over four decades of operating experience in Thermal Reactor Fuel Reprocessing (TRFR), had set up at the India Gandhi Center for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam, R and D facilities for fast reactor fuel reprocessing. After two decades of R and D in all the facets, a Pilot Plant for demonstrating FRFR had been set up for reprocessing the FBTR (Fast Breeder Test Reactor) spent mixed carbide fuel. Recently in this plant, mixed carbide fuel with 100 GWd/t burnup fuel with short cooling period had been successfully reprocessed for the first time in the world. All the challenging problems encountered had been successfully overcome. This experience helped in fine tuning the designs of various equipments and processes for the future plants which are under construction and design, namely, the DFRP (Demonstration Fast reactor fuel Reprocessing Plant) and the FRP (Fast reactor fuel Reprocessing Plant). In this paper, a comprehensive review of the experiences in reprocessing the fast reactor fuel of different burnup is presented. Also a brief account of the various developmental activities and strategies for the DFRP and FRP are given. (author)

A fast approach to generate large-scale topographic maps based on new Chinese vehicle-borne Lidar system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Youmei, Han; Bogang, Yang

2014-01-01

Large -scale topographic maps are important basic information for city and regional planning and management. Traditional large- scale mapping methods are mostly based on artificial mapping and photogrammetry. The traditional mapping method is inefficient and limited by the environments. While the photogrammetry methods(such as low-altitude aerial mapping) is an economical and effective way to map wide and regulate range of large scale topographic map but doesn't work well in the small area due to the high cost of manpower and resources. Recent years, the vehicle-borne LIDAR technology has a rapid development, and its application in surveying and mapping is becoming a new topic. The main objective of this investigation is to explore the potential of vehicle-borne LIDAR technology to be used to fast mapping large scale topographic maps based on new Chinese vehicle-borne LIDAR system. It studied how to use the new Chinese vehicle-borne LIDAR system measurement technology to map large scale topographic maps. After the field data capture, it can be mapped in the office based on the LIDAR data (point cloud) by software which programmed by ourselves. In addition, the detailed process and accuracy analysis were proposed by an actual case. The result show that this new technology provides a new fast method to generate large scale topographic maps, which is high efficient and accuracy compared to traditional methods

Fast neutron radiography using photoluminescent imaging plates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rant, J.; Kristof, E.; Balasko, M.; Stade, J.

1999-01-01

Fast neutron radiography (FNR) and resonance neutron radiography (RNR) are complementary to the conventional radiography with high energy gamma-rays or brems-strahlung radiation used for the inspection of thick metal objects. In both non-destructive methods, the contrast sensitivity and the penetration power can be improved by using higher energy neutrons. At present direct techniques based either n Solid State Nuclear Track detectors (SSNTDs) or scintillating screens and transfer techniques using activation threshold detectors and radiographic films are applied for the detection of fast neutron images. Rather low detection sensitivity of film and SSNTD based fast neutron imaging methods and also rather poor inherent image contrast of SSNTD pose a problem for FNR in the fast neutron energy region 1-15 MeV interesting for NDT. For more efficient detection of fast neutron images the use of novel highly sensitive photoluminescent imaging plates (IP) in combination with threshold at the KFKI research reactor. The conventional IP produced by FUJI Photo Film Co. for the detection of beta and X-ray radiation were used. The threshold activation detectors were the reactions 115 In(n, n') 115m In, 64 Zn(n,p) 64 Cu, 56 Fe(n, p) 56 Mn, 24 Mg(n, p) 24 Na and 27 Al(n, α) 24 Na. These threshold reactions cover the fast neutron energy region between 0,7 MeV and 12 MeV. Pure, commercially available metals 0,1 mm to 0,25 mm thick made of In, Zn, Fe, Mg and Al were used as converter screens. The very high sensitivity of IP, the linearity of their response over 5 decades of exposure dose and the high dynamic digitalisation latitude enabled fast neutron radiography of image quality comparable to the quality of thermal NR. In our experimental conditions (φ n ∼ 10 8 n/cm 2 s, R Cd ∼ 2) the neutron exposure and IP exposure periods were still practical and comparable to the half life of the corresponding reaction products (half an hour to several hours). Even with the 27 Al(n.α) 24

Fast screening of ketamine in biological samples based on molecularly imprinted photonic hydrogels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meng, Liang; Meng, Pinjia; Zhang, Qingqing; Wang, Yanji

2013-01-01

Graphical abstract: A novel label-free colorimetric chemosensor: with the increase in the concentration of ketamine, the Bragg diffraction peak of MIPHs gradually shifted to the longer wavelength region. Accompanying the peak shift, the color change of MIPHs was also observed obviously: from green to red. Highlights: ► We developed the label-free colorimetric MIPHs for handy and fast screening of ketamine. ► The obvious color change of MIPHs was observed upon ketamine. ► The MIPHs exhibited good sensing abilities in an aqueous environment. ► The sensing mechanisms of the water-compatible MIPHs were investigated. ► The MIPHs were employed to screening ketamine in real biological samples. -- Abstract: A novel label-free colorimetric chemosensor was developed for handy and fast screening of ketamine with high sensitivity and specificity based on molecularly imprinted photonic hydrogels (MIPHs) that combined the colloidal-crystal with molecular imprinting technique. The unique inverse opal arrays with a thin polymer wall in which the imprinted nanocavities of ketamine moleculars distributed allowed high sensitive, quick responsive, specific detection of the target analyte, and good regenerating ability in an aqueous environment. Due to the hierarchical inverse opal structural characteristics, the specific ketamine molecular recognition process can induce obvious swelling of the MIPHs to be directly transferred into visually perceptible optical signal (change in color) which can be detected by the naked eye through Bragg diffractive shifts of ordered macroporous arrays. In order to enhance the recognition ability in aqueous environments, the MIPHs were designed as water-compatible and synthesized in a water–methanol system. The molecular recognition mechanisms were investigated. The proposed MIPHs were successfully employed to screen trace level ketamine in human urine and saliva samples, exhibiting high sensitivity, rapid response, and specificity in the

Fast screening of ketamine in biological samples based on molecularly imprinted photonic hydrogels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meng, Liang [Department of Forensic Science, People' s Public Security University of China, Beijing (China); Meng, Pinjia, E-mail: mengpinjia@163.com [Department of Forensic Science, People' s Public Security University of China, Beijing (China); Zhang, Qingqing; Wang, Yanji [Department of Forensic Science, People' s Public Security University of China, Beijing (China)

2013-04-10

Graphical abstract: A novel label-free colorimetric chemosensor: with the increase in the concentration of ketamine, the Bragg diffraction peak of MIPHs gradually shifted to the longer wavelength region. Accompanying the peak shift, the color change of MIPHs was also observed obviously: from green to red. Highlights: ► We developed the label-free colorimetric MIPHs for handy and fast screening of ketamine. ► The obvious color change of MIPHs was observed upon ketamine. ► The MIPHs exhibited good sensing abilities in an aqueous environment. ► The sensing mechanisms of the water-compatible MIPHs were investigated. ► The MIPHs were employed to screening ketamine in real biological samples. -- Abstract: A novel label-free colorimetric chemosensor was developed for handy and fast screening of ketamine with high sensitivity and specificity based on molecularly imprinted photonic hydrogels (MIPHs) that combined the colloidal-crystal with molecular imprinting technique. The unique inverse opal arrays with a thin polymer wall in which the imprinted nanocavities of ketamine moleculars distributed allowed high sensitive, quick responsive, specific detection of the target analyte, and good regenerating ability in an aqueous environment. Due to the hierarchical inverse opal structural characteristics, the specific ketamine molecular recognition process can induce obvious swelling of the MIPHs to be directly transferred into visually perceptible optical signal (change in color) which can be detected by the naked eye through Bragg diffractive shifts of ordered macroporous arrays. In order to enhance the recognition ability in aqueous environments, the MIPHs were designed as water-compatible and synthesized in a water–methanol system. The molecular recognition mechanisms were investigated. The proposed MIPHs were successfully employed to screen trace level ketamine in human urine and saliva samples, exhibiting high sensitivity, rapid response, and specificity in the

Methods for performing fast discrete curvelet transforms of data

Science.gov (United States)

Candes, Emmanuel; Donoho, David; Demanet, Laurent

2010-11-23

Fast digital implementations of the second generation curvelet transform for use in data processing are disclosed. One such digital transformation is based on unequally-spaced fast Fourier transforms (USFFT) while another is based on the wrapping of specially selected Fourier samples. Both digital transformations return a table of digital curvelet coefficients indexed by a scale parameter, an orientation parameter, and a spatial location parameter. Both implementations are fast in the sense that they run in about O(n.sup.2 log n) flops for n by n Cartesian arrays or about O(N log N) flops for Cartesian arrays of size N=n.sup.3; in addition, they are also invertible, with rapid inversion algorithms of about the same complexity.

Scalable force directed graph layout algorithms using fast multipole methods

KAUST Repository

Yunis, Enas Abdulrahman; Yokota, Rio; Ahmadia, Aron

2012-01-01

We present an extension to ExaFMM, a Fast Multipole Method library, as a generalized approach for fast and scalable execution of the Force-Directed Graph Layout algorithm. The Force-Directed Graph Layout algorithm is a physics-based approach

A toy story: Association between young children's knowledge of fast food toy premiums and their fast food consumption.

Science.gov (United States)

Longacre, Meghan R; Drake, Keith M; Titus, Linda J; Cleveland, Lauren P; Langeloh, Gail; Hendricks, Kristy; Dalton, Madeline A

2016-01-01

Fast food restaurants spend millions of dollars annually on child-targeted marketing, a substantial portion of which is allocated to toy premiums for kids' meals. The objectives of this study were to describe fast food toy premiums, and examine whether young children's knowledge of fast food toy premiums was associated with their fast food consumption. Parents of 3- to 5-year old children were recruited from pediatric and WIC clinics in Southern New Hampshire, and completed a cross-sectional survey between April 2013-March 2014. Parents reported whether their children usually knew what toys were being offered at fast food restaurants, and whether children had eaten at any of four restaurants that offer toy premiums with kids' meals (McDonald's, Burger King, Subway, Wendy's) during the 7 days preceding the survey. Seventy-one percent of eligible parents participated (N = 583); 48.4% did not receive any education beyond high school, and 27.1% of children were non-white. Half (49.7%) the children had eaten at one or more of the four fast food restaurants in the past week; one-third (33.9%) had eaten at McDonald's. The four restaurants released 49 unique toy premiums during the survey period; McDonald's released half of these. Even after controlling for parent fast food consumption and sociodemographics, children were 1.38 (95% CI = 1.04, 1.82) times more likely to have consumed McDonald's if they usually knew what toys were offered by fast food restaurants. We did not detect a relationship between children's toy knowledge and their intake of fast food from the other restaurants. In this community-based sample, young children's knowledge of fast food toys was associated with a greater frequency of eating at McDonald's, providing evidence in support of regulating child-directed marketing of unhealthy foods using toys. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Design of node record for fast active reflector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu Wenqing; Luo Mingcheng; Tang Pengyi; Liu Jiajing; Wang Jian

2014-01-01

Active Reflector is the one of the innovations of Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) whose performance touches on that of the overall telescope. Therefore a real time control system is needed by the Active Reflector System. In this paper, a new record type-node record is designed for EPICS-based active reflector control system of FAST, according to more than 2000 controlled node, which will be convenient for node management of IOC and prove the reusage of IOC codes. The record type is used in design of active reflector control system of FAST Miyun model. (authors)

Fast CSF MRI for brain segmentation; Cross-validation by comparison with 3D T1-based brain segmentation methods

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Kleij, Lisa A; de Bresser, Jeroen; Hendrikse, Jeroen; Siero, Jeroen C W; Petersen, Esben T; De Vis, Jill B

2018-01-01

OBJECTIVE: In previous work we have developed a fast sequence that focusses on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) based on the long T2 of CSF. By processing the data obtained with this CSF MRI sequence, brain parenchymal volume (BPV) and intracranial volume (ICV) can be automatically obtained. The aim of

Development of the scintillator-based probe for fast-ion losses in the HL-2A tokamak

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Y. P.; Liu, Yi; Luo, X. B.; Isobe, M.; Yuan, G. L.; Liu, Y. Q.; Hua, Y.; Song, X. Y.; Yang, J. W.; Li, X.; Chen, W.; Li, Y.; Yan, L. W.; Song, X. M.; Yang, Q. W.; Duan, X. R.

2014-05-01

A new scintillator-based lost fast-ion probe (SLIP) has been developed and operated in the HL-2A tokamak [L. W. Yan, X. R. Duan, X. T. Ding, J. Q. Dong, Q. W. Yang, Yi Liu, X. L. Zou, D. Q. Liu, W. M. Xuan, L. Y. Chen, J. Rao, X. M. Song, Y. Huang, W. C. Mao, Q. M. Wang, Q. Li, Z. Cao, B. Li, J. Y. Cao, G. J. Lei, J. H. Zhang, X. D. Li, W. Chen, J. Chen, C. H. Cui, Z. Y. Cui, Z. C. Deng, Y. B. Dong, B. B. Feng, Q. D. Gao, X. Y. Han, W. Y. Hong, M. Huang, X. Q. Ji, Z. H. Kang, D. F. Kong, T. Lan, G. S. Li, H. J. Li, Qing Li, W. Li, Y. G. Li, A. D. Liu, Z. T. Liu, C. W. Luo, X. H. Mao, Y. D. Pan, J. F. Peng, Z. B. Shi, S. D. Song, X. Y. Song, H. J. Sun, A. K. Wang, M. X. Wang, Y. Q. Wang, W. W. Xiao, Y. F. Xie, L. H. Yao, D. L. Yu, B. S. Yuan, K. J. Zhao, G. W. Zhong, J. Zhou, J. C. Yan, C. X. Yu, C. H. Pan, Y. Liu, and the HL-2A Team, Nucl. Fusion 51, 094016 (2011)] to measure the losses of neutral beam ions. The design of the probe is based on the concept of the α-particle detectors on Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) using scintillator plates. The probe is capable of traveling across an equatorial plane port and sweeping the aperture angle rotationally with respect to the axis of the probe shaft by two step motors, in order to optimize the radial position and the collimator angle. The energy and the pitch angle of the lost fast ions can be simultaneously measured if the two-dimensional image of scintillation light intensity due to the impact of the lost fast ions is detected. Measurements of the fast-ion losses using the probe have been performed during HL-2A neutral beam injection discharges. The clear experimental evidence of enhanced losses of beam ions during disruptions has been obtained by means of the SLIP system. A detailed description of the probe system and the first experimental results are reported.

Development of the scintillator-based probe for fast-ion losses in the HL-2A tokamak

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Y. P., E-mail: zhangyp@swip.ac.cn; Liu, Yi; Yuan, G. L.; Song, X. Y.; Yang, J. W.; Li, X.; Chen, W.; Li, Y.; Yan, L. W.; Song, X. M.; Yang, Q. W.; Duan, X. R. [Southwestern Institute of Physics, P.O. Box 432, Chengdu 610041 (China); Luo, X. B.; Liu, Y. Q.; Hua, Y. [Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041 (China); Isobe, M. [National Institute for Fusion Science, 322-6 Oroshi-cho, Toki 509-5259 (Japan)

2014-05-15

A new scintillator-based lost fast-ion probe (SLIP) has been developed and operated in the HL-2A tokamak [L. W. Yan, X. R. Duan, X. T. Ding, J. Q. Dong, Q. W. Yang, Yi Liu, X. L. Zou, D. Q. Liu, W. M. Xuan, L. Y. Chen, J. Rao, X. M. Song, Y. Huang, W. C. Mao, Q. M. Wang, Q. Li, Z. Cao, B. Li, J. Y. Cao, G. J. Lei, J. H. Zhang, X. D. Li, W. Chen, J. Chen, C. H. Cui, Z. Y. Cui, Z. C. Deng, Y. B. Dong, B. B. Feng, Q. D. Gao, X. Y. Han, W. Y. Hong, M. Huang, X. Q. Ji, Z. H. Kang, D. F. Kong, T. Lan, G. S. Li, H. J. Li, Qing Li, W. Li, Y. G. Li, A. D. Liu, Z. T. Liu, C. W. Luo, X. H. Mao, Y. D. Pan, J. F. Peng, Z. B. Shi, S. D. Song, X. Y. Song, H. J. Sun, A. K. Wang, M. X. Wang, Y. Q. Wang, W. W. Xiao, Y. F. Xie, L. H. Yao, D. L. Yu, B. S. Yuan, K. J. Zhao, G. W. Zhong, J. Zhou, J. C. Yan, C. X. Yu, C. H. Pan, Y. Liu, and the HL-2A Team , Nucl. Fusion 51, 094016 (2011)] to measure the losses of neutral beam ions. The design of the probe is based on the concept of the α-particle detectors on Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) using scintillator plates. The probe is capable of traveling across an equatorial plane port and sweeping the aperture angle rotationally with respect to the axis of the probe shaft by two step motors, in order to optimize the radial position and the collimator angle. The energy and the pitch angle of the lost fast ions can be simultaneously measured if the two-dimensional image of scintillation light intensity due to the impact of the lost fast ions is detected. Measurements of the fast-ion losses using the probe have been performed during HL-2A neutral beam injection discharges. The clear experimental evidence of enhanced losses of beam ions during disruptions has been obtained by means of the SLIP system. A detailed description of the probe system and the first experimental results are reported.

Development of the scintillator-based probe for fast-ion losses in the HL-2A tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Y. P.; Liu, Yi; Yuan, G. L.; Song, X. Y.; Yang, J. W.; Li, X.; Chen, W.; Li, Y.; Yan, L. W.; Song, X. M.; Yang, Q. W.; Duan, X. R.; Luo, X. B.; Liu, Y. Q.; Hua, Y.; Isobe, M.

2014-01-01

A new scintillator-based lost fast-ion probe (SLIP) has been developed and operated in the HL-2A tokamak [L. W. Yan, X. R. Duan, X. T. Ding, J. Q. Dong, Q. W. Yang, Yi Liu, X. L. Zou, D. Q. Liu, W. M. Xuan, L. Y. Chen, J. Rao, X. M. Song, Y. Huang, W. C. Mao, Q. M. Wang, Q. Li, Z. Cao, B. Li, J. Y. Cao, G. J. Lei, J. H. Zhang, X. D. Li, W. Chen, J. Chen, C. H. Cui, Z. Y. Cui, Z. C. Deng, Y. B. Dong, B. B. Feng, Q. D. Gao, X. Y. Han, W. Y. Hong, M. Huang, X. Q. Ji, Z. H. Kang, D. F. Kong, T. Lan, G. S. Li, H. J. Li, Qing Li, W. Li, Y. G. Li, A. D. Liu, Z. T. Liu, C. W. Luo, X. H. Mao, Y. D. Pan, J. F. Peng, Z. B. Shi, S. D. Song, X. Y. Song, H. J. Sun, A. K. Wang, M. X. Wang, Y. Q. Wang, W. W. Xiao, Y. F. Xie, L. H. Yao, D. L. Yu, B. S. Yuan, K. J. Zhao, G. W. Zhong, J. Zhou, J. C. Yan, C. X. Yu, C. H. Pan, Y. Liu, and the HL-2A Team , Nucl. Fusion 51, 094016 (2011)] to measure the losses of neutral beam ions. The design of the probe is based on the concept of the α-particle detectors on Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) using scintillator plates. The probe is capable of traveling across an equatorial plane port and sweeping the aperture angle rotationally with respect to the axis of the probe shaft by two step motors, in order to optimize the radial position and the collimator angle. The energy and the pitch angle of the lost fast ions can be simultaneously measured if the two-dimensional image of scintillation light intensity due to the impact of the lost fast ions is detected. Measurements of the fast-ion losses using the probe have been performed during HL-2A neutral beam injection discharges. The clear experimental evidence of enhanced losses of beam ions during disruptions has been obtained by means of the SLIP system. A detailed description of the probe system and the first experimental results are reported

Gender differences in purchase intentions and reasons for meal selection among fast food customers – Opportunities for healthier and more sustainable fast food

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lassen, Anne Dahl; Lehmann, Charlotte; Andersen, Elisabeth Wreford

2016-01-01

and their purchase intentions. Based on this background, possible opportunities toward implementing healthier and more sustainable fast food options are discussed. Data were collected at three fast food restaurants from different parts of Denmark among randomly selected customers (aged 15 or above). The customers......Understanding the factors that influence food selection and dietary behavior is fundamental to support the successful translation of dietary goals into consumer behavior. The present study aims to identify gender differences in fast food consumers’ reasons for actual fast food meal selection...... were approached after having ordered their meal. They filled out a questionnaire on reasons for their actual fast food meal selection and purchase intentions in relation to four hypothesized burger menus, including a regular beef burger menu, a wholegrain beef burger menu, a nutrition labeled beef...

The fast reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1980-02-01

The subject is discussed as follows: brief description of fast reactors; advantage in conserving uranium resources; experience, in UK and elsewhere, in fast reactor design, construction and operation; safety; production of plutonium, security aspects; consideration of future UK fast reactor programme. (U.K.)

Neural network Hilbert transform based filtered backprojection for fast inline x-ray inspection

Science.gov (United States)

Janssens, Eline; De Beenhouwer, Jan; Van Dael, Mattias; De Schryver, Thomas; Van Hoorebeke, Luc; Verboven, Pieter; Nicolai, Bart; Sijbers, Jan

2018-03-01

X-ray imaging is an important tool for quality control since it allows to inspect the interior of products in a non-destructive way. Conventional x-ray imaging, however, is slow and expensive. Inline x-ray inspection, on the other hand, can pave the way towards fast and individual quality control, provided that a sufficiently high throughput can be achieved at a minimal cost. To meet these criteria, an inline inspection acquisition geometry is proposed where the object moves and rotates on a conveyor belt while it passes a fixed source and detector. Moreover, for this acquisition geometry, a new neural-network-based reconstruction algorithm is introduced: the neural network Hilbert transform based filtered backprojection. The proposed algorithm is evaluated both on simulated and real inline x-ray data and has shown to generate high quality reconstructions of 400  ×  400 reconstruction pixels within 200 ms, thereby meeting the high throughput criteria.

A Hardware Fast Tracker for the ATLAS Trigger: The Fast TracKer (FTK) Project.

CERN Document Server

Asbah, Nedaa; The ATLAS collaboration

2015-01-01

The trigger system of the ATLAS experiment is designed to reduce the event rate from the LHC nominal bunch crossing at 40 MHz to about 1 kHz, at the design luminosity of 10^{34} cm^{-2} s{-1}. After a successful period of data taking from 2010 to early 2013, the LHC is restarting in 2015 with much higher instantaneous luminosity and this will increase the load on High Level Trigger system, the second stage of the selection based on software algorithms. More sophisticated algorithms will be needed to achieve higher background rejection while maintaining good efficiency for interesting physics signals. The Fast TracKer is part of the ATLAS trigger upgrade project; it is a hardware processor that will provide, at every level-1 accept (100 kHz) and within 100 microseconds, full tracking information for tracks with momentum as low as 1 GeV. Providing fast extensive access to tracking information, with resolution comparable to the offline reconstruction, the Fast Tracker will for example help the High Level Trigger...

Inorganic component of saliva during fasting and after fast break

OpenAIRE

Samad, Rasmidar

2016-01-01

Oral health is closely related to salivary components. Saliva consists of water, inorganic and organic materials. Fasting changes one???s meal and drinking time that in turn can affect the environment in oral cavity, including inorganic componenet of saliva. The purpose of this study is to determine the inorganic component of saliva during fasting and after fast break.

Fast Flux Test Facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Munn, W.I.

1981-01-01

The Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF), located on the Hanford site a few miles north of Richland, Washington, is a major link in the chain of development required to sustain and advance Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR) technology in the United States. This 400 MWt sodium cooled reactor is a three loop design, is operated by Westinghouse Hanford Company for the US Department of Energy, and is the largest research reactor of its kind in the world. The purpose of the facility is three-fold: (1) to provide a test bed for components, materials, and breeder reactor fuels which can significantly extend resource reserves; (2) to produce a complete body of base data for the use of liquid sodium in heat transfer systens; and (3) to demonstrate inherent safety characteristics of LMFBR designs

The new ATLAS Fast Calorimeter Simulation

CERN Document Server

Jacka, Petr; The ATLAS collaboration

2018-01-01

With the huge amount of data collected with ATLAS, there is a need to produce a large number of simulated events. These productions are very CPU and time consuming when using the full GEANT4 simulation. FastCaloSim is a program to quickly simulate the ATLAS calorimeter response, based on a parameterization of the GEANT4 energy deposits of several kinds of particles in a grid of energy and eta. A new version of FastCaloSim is under development and its integration into the ATLAS simulation infrastructure is ongoing. The use of machine learning techniques improves the performance and decreases the memory usage. Dedicated parameterizations for the forward calorimeters are being studied. First results of the new FastCaloSim show substantial improvements of the description of energy and shower shape variables, including the variables for jet substructure.

Proximity to Fast-Food Outlets and Supermarkets as Predictors of Fast-Food Dining Frequency.

Science.gov (United States)

Athens, Jessica K; Duncan, Dustin T; Elbel, Brian

2016-08-01

This study used cross-sectional data to test the independent relationship of proximity to chain fast-food outlets and proximity to full-service supermarkets on the frequency of mealtime dining at fast-food outlets in two major urban areas, using three approaches to define access. Interactions between presence of a supermarket and presence of fast-food outlets as predictors of fast-food dining were also tested. Residential intersections for respondents in point-of-purchase and random-digit-dial telephone surveys of adults in Philadelphia, PA, and Baltimore, MD, were geocoded. The count of fast-food outlets and supermarkets within quarter-mile, half-mile, and 1-mile street network buffers around each respondent's intersection was calculated, as well as distance to the nearest fast-food outlet and supermarket. These variables were regressed on weekly fast-food dining frequency to determine whether proximity to fast food and supermarkets had independent and joint effects on fast-food dining. The effect of access to supermarkets and chain fast-food outlets varied by study population. Among telephone survey respondents, supermarket access was the only significant predictor of fast-food dining frequency. Point-of-purchase respondents were generally unaffected by proximity to either supermarkets or fast-food outlets. However, ≥1 fast-food outlet within a 1-mile buffer was an independent predictor of consuming more fast-food meals among point-of-purchase respondents. At the quarter-mile distance, ≥1 supermarket was predictive of fewer fast-food meals. Supermarket access was associated with less fast-food dining among telephone respondents, whereas access to fast-food outlets were associated with more fast-food visits among survey respondents identified at point-of-purchase. This study adds to the existing literature on geographic determinants of fast-food dining behavior among urban adults in the general population and those who regularly consume fast food. Copyright �

Determinants of Fast Food Consumption among Iranian High School Students Based on Planned Behavior Theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gholamreza Sharifirad

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Objective. This study was conducted to identify some factors (beliefs and norms which are related to fast food consumption among high school students in Isfahan, Iran. We used the framework of the theory planned behavior (TPB to predict this behavior. Subjects & Methods. Cross-sectional data were available from high school students who were recruited by cluster randomized sampling. All of the students completed a questionnaire assessing variables of standard TPB model including attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavior control (PBC, and the additional variables past behavior, actual behavior control (ABC. Results. The TPB variables explained 25.7% of the variance in intentions with positive attitude as the strongest (, and subjective norms as the weakest (, determinant. Concurrently, intentions accounted for 6% of the variance for fast food consumption. Past behavior and ABC accounted for an additional amount of 20.4% of the variance in fast food consumption. Conclusion. Overall, the present study suggests that the TPB model is useful in predicting related beliefs and norms to the fast food consumption among adolescents. Subjective norms in TPB model and past behavior in TPB model with additional variables (past behavior and actual behavior control were the most powerful predictors of fast food consumption. Therefore, TPB model may be a useful framework for planning intervention programs to reduce fast food consumption by students.

Determinants of Fast Food Consumption among Iranian High School Students Based on Planned Behavior Theory

Science.gov (United States)

Sharifirad, Gholamreza; Yarmohammadi, Parastoo; Azadbakht, Leila; Morowatisharifabad, Mohammad Ali; Hassanzadeh, Akbar

2013-01-01

Objective. This study was conducted to identify some factors (beliefs and norms) which are related to fast food consumption among high school students in Isfahan, Iran. We used the framework of the theory planned behavior (TPB) to predict this behavior. Subjects & Methods. Cross-sectional data were available from high school students (n = 521) who were recruited by cluster randomized sampling. All of the students completed a questionnaire assessing variables of standard TPB model including attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavior control (PBC), and the additional variables past behavior, actual behavior control (ABC). Results. The TPB variables explained 25.7% of the variance in intentions with positive attitude as the strongest (β = 0.31, P intentions accounted for 6% of the variance for fast food consumption. Past behavior and ABC accounted for an additional amount of 20.4% of the variance in fast food consumption. Conclusion. Overall, the present study suggests that the TPB model is useful in predicting related beliefs and norms to the fast food consumption among adolescents. Subjective norms in TPB model and past behavior in TPB model with additional variables (past behavior and actual behavior control) were the most powerful predictors of fast food consumption. Therefore, TPB model may be a useful framework for planning intervention programs to reduce fast food consumption by students. PMID:23936635

Development of small, fast reactor core designs using lead-based coolant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cahalan, J. E.; Hill, R. N.; Khalil, H. S.; Wade, D. C.

1999-01-01

A variety of small (100 MWe) fast reactor core designs are developed, these include compact configurations, long-lived (15-year fuel lifetime) cores, and derated, natural circulation designs. Trade studies are described which identify key core design issues for lead-based coolant systems. Performance parameters and reactivity feedback coefficients are compared for lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) and sodium-cooled cores of consistent design. The results of these studies indicate that the superior neutron reflection capability of lead alloys reduces the enrichment and burnup swing compared to conventional sodium-cooled systems; however, the discharge fluence is significantly increased. The size requirement for long-lived systems is constrained by reactivity loss considerations, not fuel burnup or fluence limits. The derated lead-alloy cooled natural circulation cores require a core volume roughly eight times greater than conventional compact systems. In general, reactivity coefficients important for passive safety performance are less favorable for the larger, derated configurations

SACRD: a data base for fast reactor safety computer codes, contents and glossary of Version 1 of the system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Greene, N.M.; Forsberg, V.M.; Raiford, G.B.; Arwood, J.W.; Flanagan, G.F.

1979-01-01

SACRD is a data base of material properties and other handbook data needed in computer codes used for fast reactor safety studies. This document lists the contents of Version 1 and also serves as a glossary of terminology used in the data base. Data are available in the thermodynamics, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, structural mechanics, aerosol transport, meteorology, neutronics and dosimetry areas. Tabular, graphical and parameterized data are provided in many cases

Fast reactor database. 2006 update

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-12-01

Liquid metal cooled fast reactors (LMFRs) have been under development for about 50 years. Ten experimental fast reactors and six prototype and commercial size fast reactor plants have been constructed and operated. In many cases, the overall experience with LMFRs has been rather good, with the reactors themselves and also the various components showing remarkable performances, well in accordance with the design expectations. The fast reactor system has also been shown to have very attractive safety characteristics, resulting to a large extent from the fact that the fast reactor is a low pressure system with large thermal inertia and negative power and temperature coefficients. In addition to the LMFRs that have been constructed and operated, more than ten advanced LMFR projects have been developed, and the latest designs are now close to achieving economic competitivity with other reactor types. In the current world economic climate, the introduction of a new nuclear energy system based on the LMFR may not be considered by utilities as a near future option when compared to other potential power plants. However, there is a strong agreement between experts in the nuclear energy field that, for sustainability reasons, long term development of nuclear power as a part of the world's future energy mix will require the fast reactor technology, and that, given the decline in fast reactor development projects, data retrieval and knowledge preservation efforts in this area are of particular importance. This publication contains detailed design data and main operational data on experimental, prototype, demonstration, and commercial size LMFRs. Each LMFR plant is characterized by about 500 parameters: physics, thermohydraulics, thermomechanics, by design and technical data, and by relevant sketches. The focus is on practical issues that are useful to engineers, scientists, managers, university students and professors with complete technical information of a total of 37 LMFR

Fast-MICP for frameless image-guided surgery

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jiann-Der; Huang, Chung-Hsien; Wang, Sheng-Ta; Lin, Chung-Wei; Lee, Shin-Tseng

2010-01-01

Purpose: In image-guided surgery (IGS) systems, image-to-physical registration is critical for reliable anatomical information mapping and spatial guidance. Conventional stereotactic frame-based or fiducial-based approaches provide accurate registration but are not patient-friendly. This study proposes a frameless cranial IGS system that uses computer vision techniques to replace the frame or fiducials with the natural features of the patient. Methods: To perform a cranial surgery with the proposed system, the facial surface of the patient is first reconstructed by stereo vision. Accuracy is ensured by capturing parallel-line patterns projected from a calibrated LCD projector. Meanwhile, another facial surface is reconstructed from preoperative computed tomography (CT) images of the patient. The proposed iterative closest point (ICP)-based algorithm [fast marker-added ICP (Fast-MICP)] is then used to register the two facial data sets, which transfers the anatomical information from the CT images to the physical space. Results: Experimental results reveal that the Fast-MICP algorithm reduces the computational cost of marker-added ICP (J.-D. Lee et al., ''A coarse-to-fine surface registration algorithm for frameless brain surgery,'' in Proceedings of International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 2007, pp. 836-839) to 10% and achieves comparable registration accuracy, which is under 3 mm target registration error (TRE). Moreover, two types of optical-based spatial digitizing devices can be integrated for further surgical navigation. Anatomical information or image-guided surgical landmarks can be projected onto the patient to obtain an immersive augmented reality environment. Conclusion: The proposed frameless IGS system with stereo vision obtains TRE of less than 3 mm. The proposed Fast-MICP registration algorithm reduces registration time by 90% without compromising accuracy.

Fast-MICP for frameless image-guided surgery

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Jiann-Der; Huang, Chung-Hsien; Wang, Sheng-Ta; Lin, Chung-Wei; Lee, Shin-Tseng [Department of Electrical Engineering, Chang Gung University, Tao-Yuan 333, Taiwan (China); Department of Medical Mechatronics, Chang Gung University, Tao-Yuan 333, Taiwan (China); Department of Neurosurgery and Medical Augmented Reality Research Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, No. 199, Tunghwa Rd., Taipei 105, Taiwan (China)

2010-09-15

Purpose: In image-guided surgery (IGS) systems, image-to-physical registration is critical for reliable anatomical information mapping and spatial guidance. Conventional stereotactic frame-based or fiducial-based approaches provide accurate registration but are not patient-friendly. This study proposes a frameless cranial IGS system that uses computer vision techniques to replace the frame or fiducials with the natural features of the patient. Methods: To perform a cranial surgery with the proposed system, the facial surface of the patient is first reconstructed by stereo vision. Accuracy is ensured by capturing parallel-line patterns projected from a calibrated LCD projector. Meanwhile, another facial surface is reconstructed from preoperative computed tomography (CT) images of the patient. The proposed iterative closest point (ICP)-based algorithm [fast marker-added ICP (Fast-MICP)] is then used to register the two facial data sets, which transfers the anatomical information from the CT images to the physical space. Results: Experimental results reveal that the Fast-MICP algorithm reduces the computational cost of marker-added ICP (J.-D. Lee et al., ''A coarse-to-fine surface registration algorithm for frameless brain surgery,'' in Proceedings of International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 2007, pp. 836-839) to 10% and achieves comparable registration accuracy, which is under 3 mm target registration error (TRE). Moreover, two types of optical-based spatial digitizing devices can be integrated for further surgical navigation. Anatomical information or image-guided surgical landmarks can be projected onto the patient to obtain an immersive augmented reality environment. Conclusion: The proposed frameless IGS system with stereo vision obtains TRE of less than 3 mm. The proposed Fast-MICP registration algorithm reduces registration time by 90% without compromising accuracy.

Fast-ion Dα measurements of the fast-ion distribution (invited)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heidbrink, W. W.

2010-01-01

The fast-ion Dα (FIDA) diagnostic is an application of charge-exchange recombination spectroscopy. Fast ions that neutralize in an injected neutral beam emit Balmer-α light with a large Doppler shift. The spectral shift is exploited to distinguish the FIDA emission from other bright sources of Dα light. Background subtraction is the main technical challenge. A spectroscopic diagnostic typically achieves temporal, energy, and transverse spatial resolution of ∼1 ms, ∼10 keV, and ∼2 cm, respectively. Installations that use narrow-band filters achieve high spatial and temporal resolution at the expense of spectral information. For high temporal resolution, the bandpass-filtered light goes directly to a photomultiplier, allowing detection of ∼50 kHz oscillations in FIDA signal. For two-dimensional spatial profiles, the bandpass-filtered light goes to a charge-coupled device camera; detailed images of fast-ion redistribution at instabilities are obtained. Qualitative and quantitative models relate the measured FIDA signals to the fast-ion distribution function. The first quantitative comparisons between theory and experiment found excellent agreement in beam-heated magnetohydrodynamics (MHD)-quiescent plasmas. FIDA diagnostics are now in operation at magnetic-fusion facilities worldwide. They are used to study fast-ion acceleration by ion cyclotron heating, to detect fast-ion transport by MHD modes and microturbulence, and to study fast-ion driven instabilities.

Monolithic InP-based fast optical switch module for optical networks of the future

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Xi, Chen; Regan, James; Durrant, Tim

2015-01-01

We summarized the development of Venture Photonics’ sub-10 ns fast optical switch which demonstrates low insertion loss, excellent crosstalk level and polarization independent switching performance.......We summarized the development of Venture Photonics’ sub-10 ns fast optical switch which demonstrates low insertion loss, excellent crosstalk level and polarization independent switching performance....

MHD induced fast-ion losses on ASDEX Upgrade

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

GarcIa-Munoz, M.; Fahrbach, H.-U.; Bobkov, V.; Bruedgam, M.; Guenter, S.; Igochine, V.; Lauber, Ph.; Mantsinen, M.J.; Maraschek, M.; Poli, E.; Sassenberg, K.; Tardini, G.; Zohm, H.; Pinches, S.D.; Gobbin, M.; Marrelli, L.; Martin, P.; Piovesan, P.

2009-01-01

A detailed knowledge of the interplay between MHD instabilities and energetic particles has been gained from direct measurements of fast-ion losses (FILs). Time-resolved energy and pitch angle measurements of FIL caused by neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs) and toroidicity-induced Alfven eigenmodes (TAEs) have been obtained using a scintillator based FIL detector. The study of FIL due to TAEs has revealed the existence of a new core-localized MHD fluctuation, the Sierpes mode. The Sierpes mode is a non-pure Alfvenic fluctuation which appears in the acoustic branch, dominating the transport of fast-ions in ICRF heated discharges. The internal structure of both TAEs and Sierpes mode has been reconstructed by means of highly resolved multichord soft x-ray measurements. A spatial overlapping of their eigenfunctions leads to a FIL coupling, showing the strong influence that a core-localized fast-ion driven MHD instability may have on the fast-ion transport. We have identified the FIL mechanisms due to NTMs as well as due to TAEs. Drift islands formed by fast-ions in particle phase space are responsible for the loss of NBI fast-ions due to NTMs. In ICRF heated plasmas, a resonance condition fulfilled by the characteristic trapped fast-ion orbit frequencies leads to a phase matching between fast-ion orbit and NTM or TAE magnetic fluctuation. The banana tips of a resonant trapped fast-ion bounce radially due to an E x B drift in the TAE case. The NTM radial bounce of the fast-ion banana tips is caused by the radial component of the perturbed magnetic field lines.

FTK: a Fast Track Trigger for ATLAS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderson, J; Auerbach, B; Blair, R; Andreani, A; Andreazza, A; Citterio, M; Annovi, A; Beretta, M; Castegnaro, A; Atkinson, M; Cavaliere, V; Chang, P; Bevacqua, V; Crescioli, F; Blazey, G; Bogdan, M; Boveia, A; Canelli, F; Cheng, Y; Cervigni, F

2012-01-01

We describe the design and expected performance of a the Fast Tracker Trigger (FTK) system for the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The FTK is a highly parallel hardware system designed to operate at the Level 1 trigger output rate. It is designed to provide global tracks reconstructed in the inner detector with resolution comparable to the full offline reconstruction as input of the Level 2 trigger processing. The hardware system is based on associative memories for pattern recognition and fast FPGAs for track reconstruction. The FTK is expected to dramatically improve the performance of track based isolation and b-tagging with little to no dependencies of pile-up interactions.

ATLAS FTK: The Fast Tracker

CERN Document Server

T, Iizawa; The ATLAS collaboration

2014-01-01

The Fast TracKer (FTK) will perform global track reconstruction after each Level-1 trigger accept to enable the software-based High Level Trigger to have early access to tracking information. FTK is a dedicated processor based on a mixture of advanced technologies. Modern, powerful Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) form an important part of the system architecture, and the large level of computing power required for pattern recognition is provided by incorporating standard-cell ASICs named Associative Memory (AM). FTK provides global track reconstruction in the full inner silicon detector in approximately 100 microseconds with resolution comparable to the offline algorithms. It allows a fast and precise detection of the primary and secondary vertex information. The track and vertex information is then used by the High Level Trigger algorithms, allowing highly improved trigger performance for the important signatures such as b-jets. In this paper, the architecture and the hardware development status of FT...

Fasts, feasts and festivals in diabetes-1: Glycemic management during Hindu fasts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sanjay Kalra

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This communication is the first of a series on South Asian fasts, festivals, and diabetes, designed to spread awareness and stimulate research on this aspect of diabetes and metabolic care. It describes the various fasts observed as part of Hindu religion and offers a classification scheme for them, labeling them as infrequent and frequent. The infrequent fasts are further sub-classified as brief and prolonged, to facilitate a scientific approach to glycemic management during these fasts. Pre-fast counseling, non-pharmacological therapy, pharmacological modification, and post-fast debriefing are discussed in detail. All available drug classes and molecules are covered in this article, which provides guidance about necessary changes in dosage and timing of administration. While in no way exhaustive, the brief review offers a basic framework which diabetes care professionals can use to counsel and manage persons in their care who wish to observe various Hindu fasts.

Preoperative fasting times: Prescribed and actual fasting times at ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The current international guidelines for preoperative fasting for elective surgery are 6 ... to determine whether this policy was being followed and patients were being starved ..... recommended fasting time, so that autonomous patients take care.

Fast-neutron coincidence-counter manual

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ensslin, N.; Atwell, T.L.; Lee, D.M.; Erkkila, B.; Marshall, R.S.; Morgan, A.; Shonrock, C.; Tippens, B.; Van Lyssel, T.

1982-03-01

The fast neutron counter (FNC) described in this report is a computer-based assay system employing fast-pulse counting instrumentation. It is installed below a glove box in the metal electrorefining area of the Los Alamos National Laboratory Plutonium Processing Facility. The instrument was designed to assay plutonium salts and residues from this process and to verify the mass of electrorefined metal. Los Alamos National Laboratory Groups Q-1, Q-3, and CMB-11 carried out a joint test and evaluation plan of this instrument between May 1978 and May 1979. The results of that evaluation, a description of the FNC, and operating instructions for further use are given in this report

Fast light in atomic media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akulshin, Alexander M; McLean, Russell J

2010-01-01

Atomic media have played a major role in studies of fast light. One of their attractive features is the ability to manipulate experimental parameters to control the dispersive properties that determine the group velocity of a propagating light pulse. We give an overview of the experimental methods, based on both linear and nonlinear atom–light interaction, that have produced superluminal propagation in atomic media, and discuss some of the significant theoretical contributions to the issues of pulse preservation and reconciling faster-than-light propagation and the principle of causality. The comparison of storage of light, enhanced Kerr nonlinearity and efficient wave mixing processes in slow and fast light atomic media illustrates their common and distinct features. (review article)

Fast Fourier transform-based solution of 2D and 3D magnetization problems in type-II superconductivity

Science.gov (United States)

Prigozhin, Leonid; Sokolovsky, Vladimir

2018-05-01

We consider the fast Fourier transform (FFT) based numerical method for thin film magnetization problems (Vestgården and Johansen 2012 Supercond. Sci. Technol. 25 104001), compare it with the finite element methods, and evaluate its accuracy. Proposed modifications of this method implementation ensure stable convergence of iterations and enhance its efficiency. A new method, also based on the FFT, is developed for 3D bulk magnetization problems. This method is based on a magnetic field formulation, different from the popular h-formulation of eddy current problems typically employed with the edge finite elements. The method is simple, easy to implement, and can be used with a general current–voltage relation; its efficiency is illustrated by numerical simulations.

Fast optical detecting media based on semiconductor nanostructures for recording images obtained using charges of free photocarriers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kasherininov, P. G.; Tomasov, A. A.; Beregulin, E. V.

2011-01-01

Available published data on the properties of optical recording media based on semiconductor structures are reviewed. The principles of operation, structure, parameters, and the range of application for optical recording media based on MIS structures formed of photorefractive crystals with a thick layer of insulator and MIS structures with a liquid crystal as the insulator (the MIS LC modulators), as well as the effect of optical bistability in semiconductor structures (semiconductor MIS structures with nanodimensionally thin insulator (TI) layer, M(TI)S nanostructures). Special attention is paid to recording media based on the M(TI)S nanostructures promising for fast processing of highly informative images and to fabrication of optoelectronic correlators of images for noncoherent light.

Conceptual design of a fast-ignition laser fusion reactor based on a dry wall chamber

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ogawa, Y; Goto, T; Okano, K; Asaoka, Y; Hiwatari, R; Someya, Y

2008-01-01

The fast ignition is quite attractive for a compact laser fusion reactor, because a sufficiently high pellet gain is available with a small input energy. We designed an inertial fusion reactor based on Fast-ignition Advanced Laser fusion reactor CONcept, called FALCON-D, where a dry wall is employed for a chamber wall. A simple point model shows that the pellet gain G∼100 is available with laser energies of 350kJ for implosion, 50kJ for heating. This results in the fusion yield of 40 MJ in one shot. By increasing the repetition rate up to 30 Hz, the fusion power of 1.2 GWth becomes available. Plant system analysis shows the net electric power to be about 0.4 GWe In the fast ignition it is available to employ a low aspect ratio pellet, which is favorable for the stability during the implosion phase. Here the pellet aspect ratio is reduced to be 2 ∼ 4, and the optimization of the pulse shape for the implosion laser are carried out by using the 1-D hydrodynamic simulation code ILESTA-1D. A ferritic steel with a tungsten armour is employed for the chamber wall. The feasibility of this dry wall concept is studied from various engineering aspects such as surface melting, physical and chemical sputtering, blistering and exfoliation by helium retention, and thermo-mechanical fatigue, and it is found that blistering and exfoliation due to the helium retention and fatigue failure due to cyclic thermal load are major concerns. The cost analysis shows that the construction cost is moderate but the cost of electricity is slightly expensive

Conceptual design of a fast-ignition laser fusion reactor based on a dry wall chamber

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ogawa, Y [High Temperature Plasma Center, University of Tokyo, Chiba (Japan); Goto, T; Okano, K [Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, University of Tokyo, Chiba (Japan); Asaoka, Y; Hiwatari, R [Central Research Institute for Electric Power Industry, Komae, Tokyo (Japan); Someya, Y [Graduate School of Engineering, Musashi Institute of Technology, Tokyo (Japan)], E-mail: ogawa@ppl.k.u-tokyo.ac.jp

2008-05-15

The fast ignition is quite attractive for a compact laser fusion reactor, because a sufficiently high pellet gain is available with a small input energy. We designed an inertial fusion reactor based on Fast-ignition Advanced Laser fusion reactor CONcept, called FALCON-D, where a dry wall is employed for a chamber wall. A simple point model shows that the pellet gain G{approx}100 is available with laser energies of 350kJ for implosion, 50kJ for heating. This results in the fusion yield of 40 MJ in one shot. By increasing the repetition rate up to 30 Hz, the fusion power of 1.2 GWth becomes available. Plant system analysis shows the net electric power to be about 0.4 GWe In the fast ignition it is available to employ a low aspect ratio pellet, which is favorable for the stability during the implosion phase. Here the pellet aspect ratio is reduced to be 2 {approx} 4, and the optimization of the pulse shape for the implosion laser are carried out by using the 1-D hydrodynamic simulation code ILESTA-1D. A ferritic steel with a tungsten armour is employed for the chamber wall. The feasibility of this dry wall concept is studied from various engineering aspects such as surface melting, physical and chemical sputtering, blistering and exfoliation by helium retention, and thermo-mechanical fatigue, and it is found that blistering and exfoliation due to the helium retention and fatigue failure due to cyclic thermal load are major concerns. The cost analysis shows that the construction cost is moderate but the cost of electricity is slightly expensive.

Conceptual design of a fast-ignition laser fusion reactor based on a dry wall chamber

Science.gov (United States)

Ogawa, Y.; Goto, T.; Okano, K.; Asaoka, Y.; Hiwatari, R.; Someya, Y.

2008-05-01

The fast ignition is quite attractive for a compact laser fusion reactor, because a sufficiently high pellet gain is available with a small input energy. We designed an inertial fusion reactor based on Fast-ignition Advanced Laser fusion reactor CONcept, called FALCON-D, where a dry wall is employed for a chamber wall. A simple point model shows that the pellet gain G~100 is available with laser energies of 350kJ for implosion, 50kJ for heating. This results in the fusion yield of 40 MJ in one shot. By increasing the repetition rate up to 30 Hz, the fusion power of 1.2 GWth becomes available. Plant system analysis shows the net electric power to be about 0.4 GWe In the fast ignition it is available to employ a low aspect ratio pellet, which is favorable for the stability during the implosion phase. Here the pellet aspect ratio is reduced to be 2 ~ 4, and the optimization of the pulse shape for the implosion laser are carried out by using the 1-D hydrodynamic simulation code ILESTA-1D. A ferritic steel with a tungsten armour is employed for the chamber wall. The feasibility of this dry wall concept is studied from various engineering aspects such as surface melting, physical and chemical sputtering, blistering and exfoliation by helium retention, and thermo-mechanical fatigue, and it is found that blistering and exfoliation due to the helium retention and fatigue failure due to cyclic thermal load are major concerns. The cost analysis shows that the construction cost is moderate but the cost of electricity is slightly expensive.

Study on a new design of Tehran Research Reactor for radionuclide production based on fast neutrons using MCNPX code.

Science.gov (United States)

Zandi, Nadia; Afarideh, Hossein; Aboudzadeh, Mohammad Reza; Rajabifar, Saeed

2018-02-01

The aim of this work is to increase the magnitude of the fast neutron flux inside the flux trap where radionuclides are produced. For this purpose, three new designs of the flux trap are proposed and the obtained fast and thermal neutron fluxes compared with each other. The first and second proposed designs were a sealed cube contained air and D 2 O, respectively. The results of calculated production yield all indicated the superiority of the latter by a factor of 55% in comparison to the first proposed design. The third proposed design was based on changing the surrounding of the sealed cube by locating two fuel plates near that. In this case, the production yield increased up to 70%. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Implementation and Performance of FPGA based track fitting for the Atlas Fast TracKer

CERN Document Server

Zou, Rui; The ATLAS collaboration

2018-01-01

The Fast TracKer (FTK) within the ATLAS trigger system provides global track reconstruction for all events passing the ATLAS Level 1 trigger by dividing the detector into parallel processing pipelines that implement pattern matching in custom integrated circuits and data routing, reduction, and parameter extraction in FPGAs. In this presentation we will describe the implementation of a critical component of the system which does partial track fitting using a method based on a principal component analysis at a rate of greater than 1 fit per 10 ps, system-wide, to reduce the output of the pattern matching. Firmware design, timing performance and preliminary results will be discussed.

A low thermal mass fast gas chromatograph and its implementation in fast gas chromatography mass spectrometry with supersonic molecular beams.

Science.gov (United States)

Fialkov, Alexander B; Moragn, Mati; Amirav, Aviv

2011-12-30

A new type of low thermal mass (LTM) fast gas chromatograph (GC) was designed and operated in combination with gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) with supersonic molecular beams (SMB), including GC-MS-MS with SMB, thereby providing a novel combination with unique capabilities. The LTM fast GC is based on a short capillary column inserted inside a stainless steel tube that is resistively heated. It is located and mounted outside the standard GC oven on its available top detector port, while the capillary column is connected as usual to the standard GC injector and supersonic molecular beam interface transfer line. This new type of fast GC-MS with SMB enables less than 1 min full range temperature programming and cooling down analysis cycle time. The operation of the fast GC-MS with SMB was explored and 1 min full analysis cycle time of a mixture of 16 hydrocarbons in the C(10)H(22) up to C(44)H(90) range was achieved. The use of 35 mL/min high column flow rate enabled the elution of C(44)H(90) in less than 45 s while the SMB interface enabled splitless acceptance of this high flow rate and the provision of dominant molecular ions. A novel compound 9-benzylazidanthracene was analyzed for its purity and a synthetic chemistry process was monitored for the optimization of the chemical reaction yield. Biodiesel was analyzed in jet fuel (by both GC-MS and GC-MS-MS) in under 1 min as 5 ppm fatty acid methyl esters. Authentic iprodion and cypermethrin pesticides were analyzed in grapes extract in both full scan mode and fast GC-MS-MS mode in under 1 min cycle time and explosive mixture including TATP, TNT and RDX was analyzed in under 1 min combined with exhibiting dominant molecular ion for TATP. Fast GC-MS with SMB is based on trading GC separation for speed of analysis while enhancing the separation power of the MS via the enhancement of the molecular ion in the electron ionization of cold molecules in the SMB. This paper further discusses several features of

SN 2013ej IN M74: A LUMINOUS AND FAST-DECLINING TYPE II-P SUPERNOVA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huang, Fang [Department of Astronomy, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875 (China); Wang, Xiaofeng; Chen, Juncheng; Mo, Jun; Zhao, Xulin [Physics Department and Tsinghua Center for Astrophysics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); Zhang, Jujia [Yunnan Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650011 (China); Brown, Peter J. [George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Texas A. and M. University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, 4242 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843 (United States); Zampieri, Luca [INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, Vicolo dell’Osservatorio 5, I-35122 Padova (Italy); Pumo, Maria Letizia [INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo “Giuseppe S. Vaiana,” Piazza del Parlamento 1, I-90134 Palermo (Italy); Zhang, Tianmeng, E-mail: huangfang@mail.bnu.edu.cn, E-mail: wang_xf@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn [Key Laboratory of Optical Astronomy, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012 (China)

2015-07-01

We present extensive ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared observations of the Type IIP supernova (SN IIP) 2013ej in the nearby spiral galaxy M74. The multicolor light curves, spanning from ∼8–185 days after explosion, show that it has a higher peak luminosity (i.e., M{sub V} ∼ −17.83 mag at maximum light), a faster post-peak decline, and a shorter plateau phase (i.e., ∼50 days) compared to the normal Type IIP SN 1999em. The mass of {sup 56}Ni is estimated as 0.02 ± 0.01 M{sub ⊙} from the radioactive tail of the bolometric light curve. The spectral evolution of SN 2013ej is similar to that of SN 2004et and SN 2007od, but shows a larger expansion velocity (i.e., v{sub Fe} {sub ii} ∼ 4600 km s{sup −1} at t ∼ 50 days) and broader line profiles. In the nebular phase, the emission of the Hα line displays a double-peak structure, perhaps due to the asymmetric distribution of {sup 56}Ni produced in the explosion. With the constraints from the main observables such as bolometric light curve, expansion velocity, and photospheric temperature of SN 2013ej, we performed hydrodynamical simulations of the explosion parameters, yielding the total explosion energy as ∼0.7× 10{sup 51} erg, the radius of the progenitor as ∼600 R{sub ⊙}, and the ejected mass as ∼10.6 M{sub ⊙}. These results suggest that SN 2013ej likely arose from a red supergiant with a mass of 12–13 M{sub ⊙} immediately before the explosion.

A Toy Story: Association between Young Children’s Knowledge of Fast Food Toy Premiums and their Fast Food Consumption

Science.gov (United States)

Longacre, Meghan R.; Drake, Keith M.; Titus, Linda J.; Cleveland, Lauren P.; Langeloh, Gail; Hendricks, Kristy; Dalton, Madeline A.

2015-01-01

Fast food restaurants spend millions of dollars annually on child-targeted marketing, a substantial portion of which is allocated to toy premiums for kids’ meals. The objectives of this study were to describe fast food toy premiums, and examine whether young children’s knowledge of fast food toy premiums was associated with their fast food consumption. Parents of 3- to 5-year old children were recruited from pediatric and WIC clinics in Southern New Hampshire, and completed a cross-sectional survey between April 2013–March 2014. Parents reported whether their children usually knew what toys were being offered at fast food restaurants, and whether children had eaten at any of four restaurants that offer toy premiums with kids’ meals (McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, Wendy’s) during the 7 days preceding the survey. Seventy-one percent of eligible parents participated (N=583); 48.4% did not receive any education beyond high school, and 27.1% of children were non-white. Half (49.7%) the children had eaten at one or more of the four fast food restaurants in the past week; one-third (33.9%) had eaten at McDonald’s. The four restaurants released 49 unique toy premiums during the survey period; McDonald’s released half of these. Even after controlling for parent fast food consumption and sociodemographics, children were 1.38 (95% CI=1.04, 1.82) times more likely to have consumed McDonald’s if they usually knew what toys were offered by fast food restaurants. We did not detect a relationship between children’s toy knowledge and their intake of fast food from the other restaurants. In this community-based sample, young children’s knowledge of fast food toys was associated with a greater frequency of eating at McDonald’s, providing evidence in support of regulating child-directed marketing of unhealthy foods using toys. PMID:26471803

Association between proximity to and coverage of traditional fast-food restaurants and non-traditional fast-food outlets and fast-food consumption among rural adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Horel Scott A

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Objective The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between residential exposure to fast-food entrées, using two measures of potential spatial access: proximity (distance to the nearest location and coverage (number of different locations, and weekly consumption of fast-food meals. Methods Traditional fast-food restaurants and non-traditional fast-food outlets, such as convenience stores, supermarkets, and grocery stores, from the 2006 Brazos Valley Food Environment Project were linked with individual participants (n = 1409 who completed the nutrition module in the 2006 Brazos Valley Community Health Assessment. Results Increased age, poverty, increased distance to the nearest fast food, and increased number of different traditional fast-food restaurants, non-traditional fast-food outlets, or fast-food opportunities were associated with less frequent weekly consumption of fast-food meals. The interaction of gender and proximity (distance or coverage (number indicated that the association of proximity to or coverage of fast-food locations on fast-food consumption was greater among women and opposite of independent effects. Conclusions Results provide impetus for identifying and understanding the complex relationship between access to all fast-food opportunities, rather than to traditional fast-food restaurants alone, and fast-food consumption. The results indicate the importance of further examining the complex interaction of gender and distance in rural areas and particularly in fast-food consumption. Furthermore, this study emphasizes the need for health promotion and policy efforts to consider all sources of fast-food as part of promoting healthful food choices.

Association between proximity to and coverage of traditional fast-food restaurants and non-traditional fast-food outlets and fast-food consumption among rural adults

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Objective The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between residential exposure to fast-food entrées, using two measures of potential spatial access: proximity (distance to the nearest location) and coverage (number of different locations), and weekly consumption of fast-food meals. Methods Traditional fast-food restaurants and non-traditional fast-food outlets, such as convenience stores, supermarkets, and grocery stores, from the 2006 Brazos Valley Food Environment Project were linked with individual participants (n = 1409) who completed the nutrition module in the 2006 Brazos Valley Community Health Assessment. Results Increased age, poverty, increased distance to the nearest fast food, and increased number of different traditional fast-food restaurants, non-traditional fast-food outlets, or fast-food opportunities were associated with less frequent weekly consumption of fast-food meals. The interaction of gender and proximity (distance) or coverage (number) indicated that the association of proximity to or coverage of fast-food locations on fast-food consumption was greater among women and opposite of independent effects. Conclusions Results provide impetus for identifying and understanding the complex relationship between access to all fast-food opportunities, rather than to traditional fast-food restaurants alone, and fast-food consumption. The results indicate the importance of further examining the complex interaction of gender and distance in rural areas and particularly in fast-food consumption. Furthermore, this study emphasizes the need for health promotion and policy efforts to consider all sources of fast-food as part of promoting healthful food choices. PMID:21599955

Registration for Optical Multimodal Remote Sensing Images Based on FAST Detection, Window Selection, and Histogram Specification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaoyang Zhao

2018-04-01

Full Text Available In recent years, digital frame cameras have been increasingly used for remote sensing applications. However, it is always a challenge to align or register images captured with different cameras or different imaging sensor units. In this research, a novel registration method was proposed. Coarse registration was first applied to approximately align the sensed and reference images. Window selection was then used to reduce the search space and a histogram specification was applied to optimize the grayscale similarity between the images. After comparisons with other commonly-used detectors, the fast corner detector, FAST (Features from Accelerated Segment Test, was selected to extract the feature points. The matching point pairs were then detected between the images, the outliers were eliminated, and geometric transformation was performed. The appropriate window size was searched and set to one-tenth of the image width. The images that were acquired by a two-camera system, a camera with five imaging sensors, and a camera with replaceable filters mounted on a manned aircraft, an unmanned aerial vehicle, and a ground-based platform, respectively, were used to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. The image analysis results showed that, through the appropriate window selection and histogram specification, the number of correctly matched point pairs had increased by 11.30 times, and that the correct matching rate had increased by 36%, compared with the results based on FAST alone. The root mean square error (RMSE in the x and y directions was generally within 0.5 pixels. In comparison with the binary robust invariant scalable keypoints (BRISK, curvature scale space (CSS, Harris, speed up robust features (SURF, and commercial software ERDAS and ENVI, this method resulted in larger numbers of correct matching pairs and smaller, more consistent RMSE. Furthermore, it was not necessary to choose any tie control points manually before registration

Fast ejendom III

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Munk-Hansen, Carsten

Bogen er det tredje bind af tre planlagte bind om fast ejendom: I Overdragelsen, II Bolighandlen og III Ejerbeføjelsen. Fremstillingens giver et grundigt overblik over centrale områder af en omfattende regulering af fast ejendom, med angivelse af litteratur, hvor læseren kan søge yderligere...... oplysning. En ejer af fast ejendom er på særdeles mange områder begrænset i sin råden sammenlignet med ejeren af et formuegode i almindelighed. Fremstillingen tager udgangspunkt i ejerens perspektiv (fremfor samfundets eller myndighedernes). Både den privatretlige og offentligretlige regulering behandles......, eksempelvis ejendomsdannelsen, servitutter, naboretten, hævd, zoneinddelingen, den fysiske planlægning, beskyttelse af natur, beskyttelse af kultur, forurening fra fast ejendom, erstatning for forurening, jordforurening, ekspropriation, byggeri og adgang til fast ejendom....

FPGA-based fully digital fast power switch fault detection and compensation for three-phase shunt active filters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Karimi, S.; Saadate, S. [Groupe de Recherche en Electrotechnique et Electronique de Nancy, GREEN-UHP, CNRS UMR 7037 (France); Poure, P. [Laboratoire d' Instrumentation Electronique de Nancy, LIEN, EA 3440, France Nancy Universite - Universite Henri Poincare de Nancy I, BP 239, 54506 Vandoeuvre les Nancy cedex (France)

2008-11-15

This paper discusses the design, implementation, experimental validation and performances of a fully digital fast power switch fault detection and compensation for three-phase shunt active power filters. The approach introduced in this paper minimizes the time interval between the fault occurrence and its diagnosis. This paper demonstrates the possibility to detect a faulty switch of the active filter in less than 10 {mu}s by using simultaneously a ''time criterion'' and a ''voltage criterion''. In order to attain this fast detection time a FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) is used. The other feature introduced in this approach is that the control scheme used to compensate the current load harmonics and fault tolerant scheme are both programmed in only one FPGA. ''FPGA in the loop'' prototyping results and fully experimental results based on a real active power filter verify satisfactory performances of the proposed method. (author)

Calculational model based on influence function method for power distribution and control rod worth in fast reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanda, T.; Azekura, K.

1983-01-01

A model for calculating the power distribution and the control rod worth in fast reactors has been developed. This model is based on the influence function method. The characteristics of the model are as follows: Influence functions for any changes in the control rod insertion ratio are expressed by using an influence function for an appropriate control rod insertion in order to reduce the computer memory size required for the method. A control rod worth is calculated on the basis of a one-group approximation in which cross sections are generated by bilinear (flux-adjoint) weighting, not the usual flux weighting, in order to reduce the collapse error. An effective neutron multiplication factor is calculated by adjoint weighting in order to reduce the effect of the error in the one-group flux distribution. The results obtained in numerical examinations of a prototype fast reactor indicate that this method is suitable for on-line core performance evaluation because of a short computing time and a small memory size

A fast neutron spectrometer based on an electrochemically etched CR-39 detector with degrader and front radiator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matiullah; Durrani, S.A.

1987-01-01

In addition to having promising applications for the development of a fast-neutron dosemeter, electrochemically etched (ECE) CR-39 detectors also offer the possibility of energy-selective fast-neutron detection. This property stems basically from the fact that, to produce 'sparkable' trails in the polymeric detector subjected to ECE, the charged particle resulting from a neutron interaction must fall within a definite 'energy window'. The lower and upper limits of proton energies that can yield ECE spots in CR-39 have been experimentally determined to be ∼ 50 keV and ∼ 2.2 MeV under our processing conditions. To accomplish our objective, we have developed a technique based on ECE spot-density measurements in CR-39 detectors placed in conjuction with judiciously chosen thicknesses of a polyethylene radiator and a lead degrader. The optimum thicknesses of the radiator and the degrader, for a given neutron energy, are determined by computer calculations. (author)

You are how you eat: fast food and impatience.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhong, Chen-Bo; Devoe, Sanford E

2010-05-01

Based on recent advancements in the behavioral priming literature, three experiments investigated how incidental exposure to fast food can induce impatient behaviors and choices outside of the eating domain. We found that even an unconscious exposure to fast-food symbols can automatically increase participants' reading speed when they are under no time pressure and that thinking about fast food increases preferences for time-saving products while there are potentially many other product dimensions to consider. More strikingly, we found that mere exposure to fast-food symbols reduced people's willingness to save and led them to prefer immediate gain over greater future return, ultimately harming their economic interest. Thus, the way people eat has far-reaching (often unconscious) influences on behaviors and choices unrelated to eating.

Prolonged fasting reduces IGF-1/PKA to promote hematopoietic-stem-cell-based regeneration and reverse immunosuppression.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Chia-Wei; Adams, Gregor B; Perin, Laura; Wei, Min; Zhou, Xiaoying; Lam, Ben S; Da Sacco, Stefano; Mirisola, Mario; Quinn, David I; Dorff, Tanya B; Kopchick, John J; Longo, Valter D

2014-06-05

Immune system defects are at the center of aging and a range of diseases. Here, we show that prolonged fasting reduces circulating IGF-1 levels and PKA activity in various cell populations, leading to signal transduction changes in long-term hematopoietic stem cells (LT-HSCs) and niche cells that promote stress resistance, self-renewal, and lineage-balanced regeneration. Multiple cycles of fasting abated the immunosuppression and mortality caused by chemotherapy and reversed age-dependent myeloid-bias in mice, in agreement with preliminary data on the protection of lymphocytes from chemotoxicity in fasting patients. The proregenerative effects of fasting on stem cells were recapitulated by deficiencies in either IGF-1 or PKA and blunted by exogenous IGF-1. These findings link the reduced levels of IGF-1 caused by fasting to PKA signaling and establish their crucial role in regulating hematopoietic stem cell protection, self-renewal, and regeneration. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Intermittent fasting and cardiovascular disease: current evidence and unresolved questions.

Science.gov (United States)

Tinsley, Grant M; Horne, Benjamin D

2018-01-01

Intermittent fasting has produced a variety of beneficial health effects in animal models, although high-quality research in humans has been limited. This special report examines current evidences for intermittent fasting in humans, discusses issues that require further examination, and recommends new research that can improve the knowledge base in this emerging research area. While potentially useful for health improvement, intermittent fasting requires further study prior to widespread implementation for health purposes. Randomized, longer-term studies are needed to determine whether using intermittent fasting as a lifestyle rather than a diet is feasible and beneficial for the health of some members of the human population.

SiC-based neutron detector in quasi-realistic working conditions: efficiency and stability at room and high temperature under fast neutron irradiations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ferone, Raffaello; Issa, Fatima; Ottaviani, Laurent; Biondo, Stephane; Vervisch, Vanessa [IM2NP, UMR CNRS 7334, Aix-Marseille University, Case 231,13397 Marseille Cedex 20, (France); Szalkai, Dora; Klix, Axel [KIT- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute of Neutron Physics and Reactor Technology Karlsruhe 76344, (Germany); Vermeeren, Ludo [SCK-CEN, Boeretang 200, B-2400 Mol, (Belgium); Saenger, Richard [Schlumberger, Clamart, (France); Lyoussi, Abadallah [CEA, DEN, Departement d' Etudes des Reacteurs, Service de Physique Experimentale, Laboratoire Dosimetrie Capteurs Instrumentation, 13108 Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, (France)

2015-07-01

In the framework of the European I SMART project, we have designed and made new SiC-based nuclear radiation detectors able to operate in harsh environments and to detect both fast and thermal neutrons. In this paper, we report experimental results of fast neutron irradiation campaign at high temperature (106 deg. C) in quasi-realistic working conditions. Our device does not suffer from high temperature, and spectra do show strong stability, preserving features. These experiments, as well as others in progress, show the I SMART SiC-based device skills to operate in harsh environments, whereas other materials would strongly suffer from degradation. Work is still demanded to test our device at higher temperatures and to enhance efficiency in order to make our device fully exploitable from an industrial point of view. (authors)

PRIMAL: Fast and accurate pedigree-based imputation from sequence data in a founder population.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oren E Livne

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Founder populations and large pedigrees offer many well-known advantages for genetic mapping studies, including cost-efficient study designs. Here, we describe PRIMAL (PedigRee IMputation ALgorithm, a fast and accurate pedigree-based phasing and imputation algorithm for founder populations. PRIMAL incorporates both existing and original ideas, such as a novel indexing strategy of Identity-By-Descent (IBD segments based on clique graphs. We were able to impute the genomes of 1,317 South Dakota Hutterites, who had genome-wide genotypes for ~300,000 common single nucleotide variants (SNVs, from 98 whole genome sequences. Using a combination of pedigree-based and LD-based imputation, we were able to assign 87% of genotypes with >99% accuracy over the full range of allele frequencies. Using the IBD cliques we were also able to infer the parental origin of 83% of alleles, and genotypes of deceased recent ancestors for whom no genotype information was available. This imputed data set will enable us to better study the relative contribution of rare and common variants on human phenotypes, as well as parental origin effect of disease risk alleles in >1,000 individuals at minimal cost.

Implementation of Fast Emulator-based Code Calibration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bowman, Nathaniel [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Risk & Reliability Analysis; Denman, Matthew R [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Risk & Reliability Analysis

2016-08-01

Calibration is the process of using experimental data to gain more precise knowledge of simulator inputs. This process commonly involves the use of Markov-chain Monte Carlo, which requires running a simulator thousands of times. If we can create a faster program, called an emulator, that mimics the outputs of the simulator for an input range of interest, then we can speed up the process enough to make it feasible for expensive simulators. To this end, we implement a Gaussian-process emulator capable of reproducing the behavior of various long-running simulators to within acceptable tolerance. This fast emulator can be used in place of a simulator to run Markov-chain Monte Carlo in order to calibrate simulation parameters to experimental data. As a demonstration, this emulator is used to calibrate the inputs of an actual simulator against two sodium-fire experiments.

Predictive Modeling of Fast-Curing Thermosets in Nozzle-Based Extrusion

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Jingjin; Randolph, Robert; Simmons, Gary; Hull, Patrick V.; Mazzeo, Aaron D.

2017-01-01

This work presents an approach to modeling the dynamic spreading and curing behavior of thermosets in nozzle-based extrusions. Thermosets cover a wide range of materials, some of which permit low-temperature processing with subsequent high-temperature and high-strength working properties. Extruding thermosets may overcome the limited working temperatures and strengths of conventional thermoplastic materials used in additive manufacturing. This project aims to produce technology for the fabrication of thermoset-based structures leveraging advances made in nozzle-based extrusion, such as fused deposition modeling (FDM), material jetting, and direct writing. Understanding the synergistic interactions between spreading and fast curing of extruded thermosetting materials will provide essential insights for applications that require accurate dimensional controls, such as additive manufacturing [1], [2] and centrifugal coating/forming [3]. Two types of thermally curing thermosets -- one being a soft silicone (Ecoflex 0050) and the other being a toughened epoxy (G/Flex) -- served as the test materials in this work to obtain models for cure kinetics and viscosity. The developed models align with extensive measurements made with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and rheology. DSC monitors the change in the heat of reaction, which reflects the rate and degree of cure at different crosslinking stages. Rheology measures the change in complex viscosity, shear moduli, yield stress, and other properties dictated by chemical composition. By combining DSC and rheological measurements, it is possible to establish a set of models profiling the cure kinetics and chemorheology without prior knowledge of chemical composition, which is usually necessary for sophisticated mechanistic modeling. In this work, we conducted both isothermal and dynamic measurements with both DSC and rheology. With the developed models, numerical simulations yielded predictions of diameter and height of

A fast image reconstruction technique based on ART

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Shunli; Zhang Dinghua; Wang Kai; Huang Kuidong; Li Weibin

2007-01-01

Algebraic Reconstruction Technique (ART) is an iterative method for image reconstruction. Improving its reconstruction speed has been one of the important researching aspects of ART. For the simplified weight coefficients reconstruction model of ART, a fast grid traverse algorithm is proposed, which can determine the grid index by simple operations such as addition, subtraction and comparison. Since the weight coefficients are calculated at real time during iteration, large amount of storage is saved and the reconstruction speed is greatly increased. Experimental results show that the new algorithm is very effective and the reconstruction speed is improved about 10 times compared with the traditional algorithm. (authors)

A novel fast-neutron tomography system based on a plastic scintillator array and a compact D-D neutron generator.

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Robert; Zboray, Robert; Prasser, Horst-Michael

2016-01-01

Very few experimental imaging studies using a compact neutron generator have been published, and to the knowledge of the authors none have included tomography results using multiple projection angles. Radiography results with a neutron generator, scintillator screen, and camera can be seen in Bogolubov et al. (2005), Cremer et al. (2012), and Li et al. (2014). Comparable results with a position-sensitive photomultiplier tube can be seen in Popov et al. (2011). One study using an array of individual fast neutron detectors in the context of cargo scanning for security purposes is detailed in Eberhardt et al. (2005). In that case, however, the emphasis was on very large objects with a resolution on the order of 1cm, whereas this study focuses on less massive objects and a finer spatial resolution. In Andersson et al. (2014) three fast neutron counters and a D-T generator were used to perform attenuation measurements of test phantoms. Based on the axisymmetry of the test phantoms, the single-projection information was used to calculate radial attenuation distributions of the object, which was compared with the known geometry. In this paper a fast-neutron tomography system based on an array of individual detectors and a purpose-designed compact D-D neutron generator is presented. Each of the 88 detectors consists of a plastic scintillator read out by two Silicon photomultipliers and a dedicated pulse-processing board. Data acquisition for all channels was handled by four single-board microcontrollers. Details of the individual detector design and testing are elaborated upon. Using the complete array, several fast-neutron images of test phantoms were reconstructed, one of which was compared with results using a Co-60 gamma source. The system was shown to be capable of 2mm resolution, with exposure times on the order of several hours per reconstructed tomogram. Details about these measurements and the analysis of the reconstructed images are given, along with a discussion

Fast implementations of reconstruction-based scatter compensation in fully 3D SPECT image reconstruction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kadrmas, Dan J.; Karimi, Seemeen S.; Frey, Eric C.; Tsui, Benjamin M.W.

1998-01-01

Accurate scatter compensation in SPECT can be performed by modelling the scatter response function during the reconstruction process. This method is called reconstruction-based scatter compensation (RBSC). It has been shown that RBSC has a number of advantages over other methods of compensating for scatter, but using RBSC for fully 3D compensation has resulted in prohibitively long reconstruction times. In this work we propose two new methods that can be used in conjunction with existing methods to achieve marked reductions in RBSC reconstruction times. The first method, coarse-grid scatter modelling, significantly accelerates the scatter model by exploiting the fact that scatter is dominated by low-frequency information. The second method, intermittent RBSC, further accelerates the reconstruction process by limiting the number of iterations during which scatter is modelled. The fast implementations were evaluated using a Monte Carlo simulated experiment of the 3D MCAT phantom with 99m Tc tracer, and also using experimentally acquired data with 201 Tl tracer. Results indicated that these fast methods can reconstruct, with fully 3D compensation, images very similar to those obtained using standard RBSC methods, and in reconstruction times that are an order of magnitude shorter. Using these methods, fully 3D iterative reconstruction with RBSC can be performed well within the realm of clinically realistic times (under 10 minutes for 64x64x24 image reconstruction). (author)

A Vertical Organic Transistor Architecture for Fast Nonvolatile Memory.

Science.gov (United States)

She, Xiao-Jian; Gustafsson, David; Sirringhaus, Henning

2017-02-01

A new device architecture for fast organic transistor memory is developed, based on a vertical organic transistor configuration incorporating high-performance ambipolar conjugated polymers and unipolar small molecules as the transport layers, to achieve reliable and fast programming and erasing of the threshold voltage shift in less than 200 ns. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A knowledge based on-line diagnostic system for the fast breeder reactor KNKII

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eggert, H.; Scherer, K.P.; Stiller, P.

1989-01-01

In the nuclear research center at Karlsruhe, a diagnostic expert system is developed to supervise a fast breeder process (KNKII). The problem is to detect critical phases in the beginning state before fault propagation. The expert system itself is integrated in a computer network (realized by a local area network), where different computers are involved as special detection systems (for example acoustic noise, temperature noise, covergas monitoring and so on), which produce partial diagnoses, based on intelligent signal processing techniques like pattern recognition. Additional to the detection systems a process computer is integrated as well as a test computer, which simulates hypothetical and real fault data. On the logical top level the expert system manages the partial diagnoses of the detection systems with the operating data of the process computer and to produce a final diagnosis including the explanation part for operator support. The knowledge base is developed by typical Artificial Intelligence tools. Both fact based and rule based knowledge representations are stored in form of flavors and predications. The inference engine operates on a rule based approach. Specific detail knowledge, based on experience about any years, is available to influence the decision process by increasing or decreasing of the generated hypotheses. In a meta knowledge base, a rule master triggers the special domain experts and contributes the tasks to the specific rule complexes. Such a system management guarantees a problem solving strategy, which operates event triggered and situation specific in a local inference domain. (author). 3 refs, 6 figs, 2 tabs

Fast Detection Method in Cooperative Cognitive Radio Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhengyi Li

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Cognitive Radio (CR technology improves the utilization of spectrum highly via opportunistic spectrum sharing, which requests fast detection as the spectrum utilization is dynamic. Taking into consideration the characteristic of wireless channels, we propose a fast detection scheme for a cooperative cognitive radio network, which consists of multiple CRs and a central control office. Specifically, each CR makes individual detection decision using the sequential probability ratio test combined with Neyman Pearson detection with respect to a specific observation window length. The proposed method upper bounds the detection delay. In addition, a weighted K out of N fusion rule is also proposed for the central control office to reach fast global decision based on the information collected from CRs, with more weights assigned for CRs with good channel conditions. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme can achieve fast detection while maintaining the detection accuracy.

FastBLAST: homology relationships for millions of proteins.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Morgan N Price

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: All-versus-all BLAST, which searches for homologous pairs of sequences in a database of proteins, is used to identify potential orthologs, to find new protein families, and to provide rapid access to these homology relationships. As DNA sequencing accelerates and data sets grow, all-versus-all BLAST has become computationally demanding. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We present FastBLAST, a heuristic replacement for all-versus-all BLAST that relies on alignments of proteins to known families, obtained from tools such as PSI-BLAST and HMMer. FastBLAST avoids most of the work of all-versus-all BLAST by taking advantage of these alignments and by clustering similar sequences. FastBLAST runs in two stages: the first stage identifies additional families and aligns them, and the second stage quickly identifies the homologs of a query sequence, based on the alignments of the families, before generating pairwise alignments. On 6.53 million proteins from the non-redundant Genbank database ("NR", FastBLAST identifies new families 25 times faster than all-versus-all BLAST. Once the first stage is completed, FastBLAST identifies homologs for the average query in less than 5 seconds (8.6 times faster than BLAST and gives nearly identical results. For hits above 70 bits, FastBLAST identifies 98% of the top 3,250 hits per query. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: FastBLAST enables research groups that do not have supercomputers to analyze large protein sequence data sets. FastBLAST is open source software and is available at http://microbesonline.org/fastblast.

Overview of fast algorithm in 3D dynamic holographic display

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Juan; Jia, Jia; Pan, Yijie; Wang, Yongtian

2013-08-01

3D dynamic holographic display is one of the most attractive techniques for achieving real 3D vision with full depth cue without any extra devices. However, huge 3D information and data should be preceded and be computed in real time for generating the hologram in 3D dynamic holographic display, and it is a challenge even for the most advanced computer. Many fast algorithms are proposed for speeding the calculation and reducing the memory usage, such as:look-up table (LUT), compressed look-up table (C-LUT), split look-up table (S-LUT), and novel look-up table (N-LUT) based on the point-based method, and full analytical polygon-based methods, one-step polygon-based method based on the polygon-based method. In this presentation, we overview various fast algorithms based on the point-based method and the polygon-based method, and focus on the fast algorithm with low memory usage, the C-LUT, and one-step polygon-based method by the 2D Fourier analysis of the 3D affine transformation. The numerical simulations and the optical experiments are presented, and several other algorithms are compared. The results show that the C-LUT algorithm and the one-step polygon-based method are efficient methods for saving calculation time. It is believed that those methods could be used in the real-time 3D holographic display in future.

Multi-objective optimum design of fast tool servo based on improved differential evolution algorithm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu, Zhiwei; Zhou, Xiaoqin; Liu, Qiang; Zhao, Shaoxin

2011-01-01

The flexure-based mechanism is a promising realization of fast tool servo (FTS), and the optimum determination of flexure hinge parameters is one of the most important elements in the FTS design. This paper presents a multi-objective optimization approach to optimizing the dimension and position parameters of the flexure-based mechanism, which is based on the improved differential evolution algorithm embedding chaos and nonlinear simulated anneal algorithm. The results of optimum design show that the proposed algorithm has excellent performance and a well-balanced compromise is made between two conflicting objectives, the stroke and natural frequency of the FTS mechanism. The validation tests based on finite element analysis (FEA) show good agreement with the results obtained by using the proposed theoretical algorithm of this paper. Finally, a series of experimental tests are conducted to validate the design process and assess the performance of the FTS mechanism. The designed FTS reaches up to a stroke of 10.25 μm with at least 2 kHz bandwidth. Both of the FEA and experimental results demonstrate that the parameters of the flexure-based mechanism determined by the proposed approaches can achieve the specified performance and the proposed approach is suitable for the optimum design of FTS mechanism and of excellent performances

The effects of Ramadan fasting on growth parameters: A narrative review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohsen Mazidi

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Ramadan fasting is prescribed by Quran for every able‐bodied, adult Muslim and is considered an obligatory act of worship. During Ramadan, the majority of Muslims eat two major meals- one before dawn (Sahar and another immediately after the sunset (Iftar. Islamic fasting, due to its particular nature, may cause metabolic and hormonal changes in the body, which are different from those in regular fasting. To the best of our knowledge, no comprehensive study has been conducted on changes in growth parameters during fasting periods. Therefore, the aim of this review, which is based on scientific literature review, was to describe the effects of fasting on growth parameters in humans.

The Effects of Ramadan Fasting on Growth Parameters: A Narrative Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohsen Mazidi

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Ramadan fasting is prescribed by Quran for every able‐bodied, adult Muslim and is considered an obligatory act of worship. During Ramadan, the majority of Muslims eat two major meals- one before dawn (Sahar and another immediately after the sunset (Iftar. Islamic fasting, due to its particular nature, may cause metabolic and hormonal changes in the body, which are different from those in regular fasting. To the best of our knowledge, no comprehensive study has been conducted on changes in growth parameters during fasting periods. Therefore, the aim of this review, which is based on scientific literature review, was to describe the effects of fasting on growth parameters in humans.

Spherical Demons: Fast Surface Registration

Science.gov (United States)

Yeo, B.T. Thomas; Sabuncu, Mert; Vercauteren, Tom; Ayache, Nicholas; Fischl, Bruce; Golland, Polina

2009-01-01

We present the fast Spherical Demons algorithm for registering two spherical images. By exploiting spherical vector spline interpolation theory, we show that a large class of regularizers for the modified demons objective function can be efficiently implemented on the sphere using convolution. Based on the one parameter subgroups of diffeomorphisms, the resulting registration is diffeomorphic and fast – registration of two cortical mesh models with more than 100k nodes takes less than 5 minutes, comparable to the fastest surface registration algorithms. Moreover, the accuracy of our method compares favorably to the popular FreeSurfer registration algorithm. We validate the technique in two different settings: (1) parcellation in a set of in-vivo cortical surfaces and (2) Brodmann area localization in ex-vivo cortical surfaces. PMID:18979813

[Preoperative fasting guidelines: an update].

Science.gov (United States)

López Muñoz, A C; Busto Aguirreurreta, N; Tomás Braulio, J

2015-03-01

Anesthesiology societies have issued various guidelines on preoperative fasting since 1990, not only to decrease the incidence of lung aspiration and anesthetic morbidity, but also to increase patient comfort prior to anesthesia. Some of these societies have been updating their guidelines, as such that, since 2010, we now have 2 evidence-based preoperative fasting guidelines available. In this article, an attempt is made to review these updated guidelines, as well as the current instructions for more controversial patients such as infants, the obese, and a particular type of ophthalmic surgery. Copyright © 2014 Sociedad Española de Anestesiología, Reanimación y Terapéutica del Dolor. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Fast Spectrum Reactors

CERN Document Server

Todd, Donald; Tsvetkov, Pavel

2012-01-01

Fast Spectrum Reactors presents a detailed overview of world-wide technology contributing to the development of fast spectrum reactors. With a unique focus on the capabilities of fast spectrum reactors to address nuclear waste transmutation issues, in addition to the well-known capabilities of breeding new fuel, this volume describes how fast spectrum reactors contribute to the wide application of nuclear power systems to serve the global nuclear renaissance while minimizing nuclear proliferation concerns. Readers will find an introduction to the sustainable development of nuclear energy and the role of fast reactors, in addition to an economic analysis of nuclear reactors. A section devoted to neutronics offers the current trends in nuclear design, such as performance parameters and the optimization of advanced power systems. The latest findings on fuel management, partitioning and transmutation include the physics, efficiency and strategies of transmutation, homogeneous and heterogeneous recycling, in addit...

Detection of nitro-based and peroxide-based explosives by fast polarity-switchable ion mobility spectrometer with ion focusing in vicinity of Faraday detector.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Qinghua; Peng, Liying; Jiang, Dandan; Wang, Xin; Wang, Haiyan; Li, Haiyang

2015-05-29

Ion mobility spectrometer (IMS) has been widely deployed for on-site detection of explosives. The common nitro-based explosives are usually detected by negative IMS while the emerging peroxide-based explosives are better detected by positive IMS. In this study, a fast polarity-switchable IMS was constructed to detect these two explosive species in a single measurement. As the large traditional Faraday detector would cause a trailing reactant ion peak (RIP), a Faraday detector with ion focusing in vicinity was developed by reducing the detector radius to 3.3 mm and increasing the voltage difference between aperture grid and its front guard ring to 591 V, which could remove trailing peaks from RIP without loss of signal intensity. This fast polarity-switchable IMS with ion focusing in vicinity of Faraday detector was employed to detect a mixture of 10 ng 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and 50 ng hexamethylene triperoxide diamine (HMTD) by polarity-switching, and the result suggested that [TNT-H](-) and [HMTD+H](+) could be detected in a single measurement. Furthermore, the removal of trailing peaks from RIP by the Faraday detector with ion focusing in vicinity also promised the accurate identification of KClO4, KNO3 and S in common inorganic explosives, whose product ion peaks were fairly adjacent to RIP.

Evaluation and application of a fast module in a PLC based interlock and control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zaera-Sanz, M

2009-01-01

The LHC Beam Interlock system requires a controller performing a simple matrix function to collect the different beam dump requests. To satisfy the expected safety level of the Interlock, the system should be robust and reliable. The PLC is a promising candidate to fulfil both aspects but too slow to meet the expected response time which is of the order of μseconds. Siemens has introduced a 'so called' fast module (FM352-5 Boolean Processor). It provides independent and extremely fast control of a process within a larger control system using an onboard processor, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), to execute code in parallel which results in extremely fast scan times. It is interesting to investigate its features and to evaluate it as a possible candidate for the beam interlock system. This paper publishes the results of this study. As well, this paper could be useful for other applications requiring fast processing using a PLC.

Reference Beam Pattern Design for Frequency Invariant Beamforming Based on Fast Fourier Transform

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wang Zhang

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In the field of fast Fourier transform (FFT-based frequency invariant beamforming (FIB, there is still an unsolved problem. That is the selection of the reference beam to make the designed wideband pattern frequency invariant (FI over a given frequency range. This problem is studied in this paper. The research shows that for a given array, the selection of the reference beam pattern is determined by the number of sensors and the ratio of the highest frequency to the lowest frequency of the signal (RHL. The length of the weight vector corresponding to a given reference beam pattern depends on the reference frequency. In addition, the upper bound of the weight length to ensure the FI property over the whole frequency band of interest is also given. When the constraints are added to the reference beam, it does not affect the FI property of the designed wideband beam as long as the symmetry of the reference beam is ensured. Based on this conclusion, a scheme for reference beam design is proposed.

Simulation research about China Experimental Fast Reactor steam turboset based on Flowmaster platform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan Hao; Tian Zhaofei

2014-01-01

In the third loop of China Experimental Fast Reactor (CEFR), steam turboset take an important role in converting heat energy into electric energy. However, turbo sets have not been operated on the condition of more than 40%P_0 (P_0 is full power) since they were installed. Thus it is necessary to make an analogue simulation. Based on the real models of turbo sets in CEFR, simulation models were created with the help of Flowmaster platform. By using such simulation models, a steady state result in full power circumstance was got, which is in accordance with design parameters. Meanwhile, a transient state simulation with operating condition ranging from full power to 40%P_0 was accomplished and a result which verifies part of performance and running conditions of turbo sets was got. The result of analogue simulation shows that based on Flowmaster platform, the running condition of simulation models can comply with design requirement, and offer reference values to the actual running. Such simulation models can also offer reference values to other simulation models in the third loop of CEFR. (authors)

The Field Assessment Stroke Triage for Emergency Destination (FAST-ED): a Simple and Accurate Pre-Hospital Scale to Detect Large Vessel Occlusion Strokes

Science.gov (United States)

Lima, Fabricio O.; Silva, Gisele S.; Furie, Karen L.; Frankel, Michael R.; Lev, Michael H.; Camargo, Érica CS; Haussen, Diogo C.; Singhal, Aneesh B.; Koroshetz, Walter J.; Smith, Wade S.; Nogueira, Raul G.

2016-01-01

Background and Purpose Patients with large vessel occlusion strokes (LVOS) may be better served by direct transfer to endovascular capable centers avoiding hazardous delays between primary and comprehensive stroke centers. However, accurate stroke field triage remains challenging. We aimed to develop a simple field scale to identify LVOS. Methods The FAST-ED scale was based on items of the NIHSS with higher predictive value for LVOS and tested in the STOPStroke cohort, in which patients underwent CT angiography within the first 24 hours of stroke onset. LVOS were defined by total occlusions involving the intracranial-ICA, MCA-M1, MCA-2, or basilar arteries. Patients with partial, bi-hemispheric, and/or anterior + posterior circulation occlusions were excluded. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, sensitivity, specificity, positive (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV) of FAST-ED were compared with the NIHSS, Rapid Arterial oCclusion Evaluation (RACE) scale and Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Severity Scale (CPSSS). Results LVO was detected in 240 of the 727 qualifying patients (33%). FAST-ED had comparable accuracy to predict LVO to the NIHSS and higher accuracy than RACE and CPSS (area under the ROC curve: FAST-ED=0.81 as reference; NIHSS=0.80, p=0.28; RACE=0.77, p=0.02; and CPSS=0.75, p=0.002). A FAST-ED ≥4 had sensitivity of 0.60, specificity 0.89, PPV 0.72, and NPV 0.82 versus RACE ≥5 of 0.55, 0.87, 0.68, 0.79 and CPSS ≥2 of 0.56, 0.85, 0.65, 0.78, respectively. Conclusions FAST-ED is a simple scale that if successfully validated in the field may be used by medical emergency professionals to identify LVOS in the pre-hospital setting enabling rapid triage of patients. PMID:27364531

Fast and frugal trees: translating population-based pharmacogenomics to medication prioritization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rooij, T. van; Roederer, M.; Wareham, H.T.; Rooij, I.J.E.I. van; McLeod, H.L.; Marsh, S.

2015-01-01

Aim: Fast and frugal decision trees (FFTs) can simplify clinical decision making by providing a heuristic approach to contextual guidance. We wanted to use FFTs for pharmacogenomic knowledge translation at point-of-care. Materials & Methods: The Pharmacogenomics for Every Nation Initiative (PGENI),

Pricing strategy for products in the healthy fast food sector in Stockholm

OpenAIRE

Hermann, Tim

2015-01-01

The demand of fast food is increasing in current food market worldwide. But fast food, as one of the unhealthy food types, cannot deny its impact as one of the causes of leading death in populations of most high income countries. Healthy fast food is called by governments, health organizations and societies, and desired by customers especially in Sweden because it is affordable, easy accessible, and most immortally, healthy. Companies are emerging based on the current fast food demand to prov...

Fast reactor research activities in Brazil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Menezes, A.

1998-01-01

Fast reactor activities in Brazil have the objective of establishing a consistent knowledge basis which can serve as a support for a future transitions to the activities more directly related to design, construction and operation of an experimental fast reactor, although its materialization is still far from being decided. Due to the present economic difficulties and uncertainties, the program is modest and all efforts have been directed towards its consolidation, based on the understanding that this class of reactors will play an important role in the future and Brazil needs to be minimally prepared. The text describes the present status of those activities, emphasizing the main progress made in 1996. (author)

Measurement of a 2D fast-ion velocity distribution function by tomographic inversion of fast-ion D-alpha spectra

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Salewski, Mirko; Geiger, B.; Jacobsen, Asger Schou

2014-01-01

We present the first measurement of a local fast-ion 2D velocity distribution function f(v‖, v⊥). To this end, we heated a plasma in ASDEX Upgrade by neutral beam injection and measured spectra of fast-ion Dα (FIDA) light from the plasma centre in three views simultaneously. The measured spectra ...... can measure spectra in up to seven views simultaneously in the next ASDEX Upgrade campaign which would further improve measurements of f(v‖, v⊥) by tomographic inversion.......We present the first measurement of a local fast-ion 2D velocity distribution function f(v‖, v⊥). To this end, we heated a plasma in ASDEX Upgrade by neutral beam injection and measured spectra of fast-ion Dα (FIDA) light from the plasma centre in three views simultaneously. The measured spectra...... agree very well with synthetic spectra calculated from a TRANSP/NUBEAM simulation. Based on the measured FIDA spectra alone, we infer f(v‖, v⊥) by tomographic inversion. Salient features of our measurement of f(v‖, v⊥) agree reasonably well with the simulation: the measured as well as the simulated f...

Simulating the Behaviour of the Fast Reactor Joyo (Draft)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Juutilainen, Pauli

2008-01-01

Motivated by the development of fast reactors the behaviour of the Japanese experimental fast reactor Joyo is simulated with two Monte Carlo codes: Monte Carlo NParticle (MCNP) and Probabilistic Scattering Game (PSG). The simulations are based on the benchmark study 'Japan's Experimental Fast Reactor Joyo MKI core: Sodium-Cooled Uranium-Plutonium Mixed Oxide Fueled Fast Core Surrounded by UO 2 Blanket'. The study is focused on the criticality of the reactor, control rod worth, sodium void reactivity and isothermal temperature coefficient of the reactor. These features are calculated by applying both homogeneous and heterogeneous reactor core models that are built according to the benchmark instructions. The results of the two models obtained by the two codes are compared with each other and especially with the experimental results presented in the benchmark. (author)

Ultra-fast silicon detectors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sadrozinski, H. F.-W., E-mail: hartmut@scipp.ucsc.edu [Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics, UC Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States); Ely, S.; Fadeyev, V.; Galloway, Z.; Ngo, J.; Parker, C.; Petersen, B.; Seiden, A.; Zatserklyaniy, A. [Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics, UC Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States); Cartiglia, N.; Marchetto, F. [INFN Torino, Torino (Italy); Bruzzi, M.; Mori, R.; Scaringella, M.; Vinattieri, A. [University of Florence, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Sesto Fiorentino, Firenze (Italy)

2013-12-01

We propose to develop a fast, thin silicon sensor with gain capable to concurrently measure with high precision the space (∼10 μm) and time (∼10 ps) coordinates of a particle. This will open up new application of silicon detector systems in many fields. Our analysis of detector properties indicates that it is possible to improve the timing characteristics of silicon-based tracking sensors, which already have sufficient position resolution, to achieve four-dimensional high-precision measurements. The basic sensor characteristics and the expected performance are listed, the wide field of applications are mentioned and the required R and D topics are discussed. -- Highlights: •We are proposing thin pixel silicon sensors with 10's of picoseconds time resolution. •Fast charge collection is coupled with internal charge multiplication. •The truly 4-D sensors will revolutionize imaging and particle counting in many applications.

The synthetic scattering function and application to the design of cold moderators for pulsed neutron sources: a fast response methane based array

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Granada, J. R.; Mayer, R. E.; Gillette, V. H.

1997-09-01

The Synthetic Scattering Function (SSF) allows a simple description of the incoherent interaction of slow neutrons with hydrogenous materials. The main advantages of this model reside in the analytical expressions that it produces for double-differential cross sections, energy-transfer kernels, and total cross sections, which in turn permit the fast evaluation of neutron scattering and transport properties. In this work we briefly discuss basic features of the SSF, review some previous applications to a number of moderating materials, and present new Monte Carlo results for a fast time-response moderator concept based on methane at low temperatures. (auth)

Total decay heat estimates in a proto-type fast reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sridharan, M.S.

2003-01-01

Full text: In this paper, total decay heat values generated in a proto-type fast reactor are estimated. These values are compared with those of certain fast reactors. Simple analytical fits are also obtained for these values which can serve as a handy and convenient tool in engineering design studies. These decay heat values taken as their ratio to the nominal operating power are, in general, applicable to any typical plutonium based fast reactor and are useful inputs to the design of decay-heat removal systems

Ramadan, fasting and pregnancy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ahmed, Urfan Zahoor; Lykke, Jacob Alexander

2014-01-01

In Islam, the month of Ramadan is a period of fasting lasting 29 or 30 days. Epidemiological studies among Muslims in Denmark have not been conducted, but studies show, that fasting among pregnant Muslim women is common. Fasting does not increase the risk of growth restriction or preterm delivery......, but there are reports of decreased foetal movements. Furthermore, the fasting may have long-term health consequences for the offspring, especially when they reach their middle age. According to Islam and the interpretation, pregnant and breast-feeding women are allowed to postpone the fasting of the month of Ramadan...

Ramadan, faste og graviditet

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ahmed, Urfan Zahoor; Lykke, Jacob Alexander

2014-01-01

In Islam, the month of Ramadan is a period of fasting lasting 29 or 30 days. Epidemiological studies among Muslims in Denmark have not been conducted, but studies show, that fasting among pregnant Muslim women is common. Fasting does not increase the risk of growth restriction or preterm delivery......, but there are reports of decreased foetal movements. Furthermore, the fasting may have long-term health consequences for the offspring, especially when they reach their middle age. According to Islam and the interpretation, pregnant and breast-feeding women are allowed to postpone the fasting of the month of Ramadan...

Fast freeze-drying cycle design and optimization using a PAT based on the measurement of product temperature.

Science.gov (United States)

Bosca, Serena; Barresi, Antonello A; Fissore, Davide

2013-10-01

This paper is focused on the use of an innovative Process Analytical Technology for the fast design and optimization of freeze-drying cycles for pharmaceuticals. The tool is based on a soft-sensor, a device that uses the experimental measure of product temperature during freeze-drying, a mathematical model of the process, and the Extended Kalman Filter algorithm to estimate the sublimation flux, the residual amount of ice in the vial, and some model parameters (heat and mass transfer coefficients). The accuracy of the estimations provided by the soft-sensor has been shown using as test case aqueous solutions containing different excipients (sucrose, polyvinylpyrrolidone), processed at various operating conditions, pointing out that the soft-sensor allows a fast estimation of model parameters and product dynamics without involving expensive hardware or time consuming analysis. The possibility of using the soft-sensor to calculate in-line (or off-line) the design space of the primary drying phase is here presented and discussed. Results evidences that by this way, it is possible to identify the values of the heating fluid temperature that maintain product temperature below the limit value, as well as the operating conditions that maximize the sublimation flux. Various experiments have been carried out to test the effectiveness of the proposed approach for a fast design of the cycle, evidencing that drying time can be significantly reduced, without impairing product quality. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fast fission phenomena

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gregoire, Christian.

1982-03-01

Experimental studies of fast fission phenomena are presented. The paper is divided into three parts. In the first part, problems associated with fast fission processes are examined in terms of interaction potentials and a dynamic model is presented in which highly elastic collisions, the formation of compound nuclei and fast fission appear naturally. In the second part, a description is given of the experimental methods employed, the observations made and the preliminary interpretation of measurements suggesting the occurence of fast fission processes. In the third part, our dynamic model is incorporated in a general theory of the dissipative processes studied. This theory enables fluctuations associated with collective variables to be calculated. It is applied to highly inelastic collisions, to fast fission and to the fission dynamics of compound nuclei (for which a schematic representation is given). It is with these calculations that the main results of the second part can be interpreted [fr

DISCOVERY OF ULTRA-FAST OUTFLOWS IN A SAMPLE OF BROAD-LINE RADIO GALAXIES OBSERVED WITH SUZAKU

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tombesi, F.; Sambruna, R. M.; Mushotzky, R. F.; Reeves, J. N.; Gofford, J.; Braito, V.; Ballo, L.; Cappi, M.

2010-01-01

We present the results of a uniform and systematic search for blueshifted Fe K absorption lines in the X-ray spectra of five bright broad-line radio galaxies observed with Suzaku. We detect, for the first time in radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at X-rays, several absorption lines at energies greater than 7 keV in three out of five sources, namely, 3C 111, 3C 120, and 3C 390.3. The lines are detected with high significance according to both the F-test and extensive Monte Carlo simulations. Their likely interpretation as blueshifted Fe XXV and Fe XXVI K-shell resonance lines implies an origin from highly ionized gas outflowing with mildly relativistic velocities, in the range v ≅ 0.04-0.15c. A fit with specific photoionization models gives ionization parameters in the range log ξ ≅ 4-5.6 erg s -1 cm and column densities of N H ≅ 10 22 -10 23 cm -2 . These characteristics are very similar to those of the ultra-fast outflows (UFOs) previously observed in radio-quiet AGNs. Their estimated location within ∼0.01-0.3 pc of the central super-massive black hole suggests a likely origin related with accretion disk winds/outflows. Depending on the absorber covering fraction, the mass outflow rate of these UFOs can be comparable to the accretion rate and their kinetic power can correspond to a significant fraction of the bolometric luminosity and is comparable to their typical jet power. Therefore, these UFOs can play a significant role in the expected feedback from the AGN to the surrounding environment and can give us further clues on the relation between the accretion disk and the formation of winds/jets in both radio-quiet and radio-loud AGNs.

Beam test results of a 16 ps timing system based on ultra-fast silicon detectors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cartiglia, N., E-mail: cartiglia@to.infn.it [INFN, Torino (Italy); Staiano, A.; Sola, V. [INFN, Torino (Italy); Arcidiacono, R. [INFN, Torino (Italy); Università del Piemonte Orientale (Italy); Cirio, R.; Cenna, F.; Ferrero, M.; Monaco, V.; Mulargia, R.; Obertino, M.; Ravera, F.; Sacchi, R. [INFN, Torino (Italy); Università di Torino, Torino (Italy); Bellora, A.; Durando, S. [Università di Torino, Torino (Italy); Mandurrino, M. [Politecnico di Torino, Torino (Italy); Minafra, N. [University of Kansas, KS (United States); Fadeyev, V.; Freeman, P.; Galloway, Z.; Gkougkousis, E. [SCIPP, University of California Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States); and others

2017-04-01

In this paper we report on the timing resolution obtained in a beam test with pions of 180 GeV/c momentum at CERN for the first production of 45 µm thick Ultra-Fast Silicon Detectors (UFSD). UFSD are based on the Low-Gain Avalanche Detector (LGAD) design, employing n-on-p silicon sensors with internal charge multiplication due to the presence of a thin, low-resistivity diffusion layer below the junction. The UFSD used in this test had a pad area of 1.7 mm{sup 2}. The gain was measured to vary between 5 and 70 depending on the sensor bias voltage. The experimental setup included three UFSD and a fast trigger consisting of a quartz bar readout by a SiPM. The timing resolution was determined by doing Gaussian fits to the time-of-flight of the particles between one or more UFSD and the trigger counter. For a single UFSD the resolution was measured to be 34 ps for a bias voltage of 200 V, and 27 ps for a bias voltage of 230 V. For the combination of 3 UFSD the timing resolution was 20 ps for a bias voltage of 200 V, and 16 ps for a bias voltage of 230 V.

Thermal-hydraulics verification of a coarse-mesh OpenFOAM-based solver for a Sodium Fast Reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bonet López, M.

2015-07-01

Recently, in the Institute Swiss Paul Scherrer Institut, is has developed a platform Multiphysics, based in OpenFOAM, that is capable of performing an analysis multidimensional of a reactor nuclear. One of the main objectives of this project is to verify the part of the code responsible for the Thermo-hydraulic analysis of the reactor. To carry out simulations this part of the code uses the approximation of thick mesh based on the equations of a porous medium. Therefore, the other objective is demonstrate that this method is applicable to the analysis of a reactor nuclear fast of sodium, focusing is in his capacity of predict the transfer of heat between a subset and the space vacuum between subsets of the core of the reactor. (Author)

Fast and efficient indexing approach for object recognition

Science.gov (United States)

Hefnawy, Alaa; Mashali, Samia A.; Rashwan, Mohsen; Fikri, Magdi

1999-08-01

This paper introduces a fast and efficient indexing approach for both 2D and 3D model-based object recognition in the presence of rotation, translation, and scale variations of objects. The indexing entries are computed after preprocessing the data by Haar wavelet decomposition. The scheme is based on a unified image feature detection approach based on Zernike moments. A set of low level features, e.g. high precision edges, gray level corners, are estimated by a set of orthogonal Zernike moments, calculated locally around every image point. A high dimensional, highly descriptive indexing entries are then calculated based on the correlation of these local features and employed for fast access to the model database to generate hypotheses. A list of the most candidate models is then presented by evaluating the hypotheses. Experimental results are included to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed indexing approach.

Fast reactor knowledge preservation system: Taxonomy and basic requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

The IAEA has taken the initiative to coordinate efforts of Member States in the preservation of knowledge in the area of fast reactors. In the framework of this initiative, the IAEA intends to create an international database compiling information from different Member States on fast reactors through a web portal. Other activities related to this initiative are being designed to accumulate and exchange information on the fast reactor area, to facilitate access to this information by users in different countries and to assist Member States in preserving the experience gained in their countries. The purpose of this publication is to develop a taxonomy of the Fast Reactor Knowledge Preservation System (FRKPS) that will facilitate the preservation of the world's fast reactor knowledge base, to identify basic requirements of this taxonomy on the basis of the experience gained in the fast reactor area, as well as results of previous IAEA activities on fast reactor knowledge preservation. The need for such taxonomy arises from the fact that during the past 15 years there has been stagnation in the development of fast reactors in the industrialized countries that were involved, earlier, in intensive development of this area. All studies on fast reactors have been stopped in countries such as Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States of America and the only work being carried out is related to the decommissioning of fast reactors. Many specialists who were involved in the studies and development work in this area in these countries have already retired or are close to retirement. In countries such as France, Japan and the Russian Federation that are still actively pursuing the evolution of fast reactor technology, the situation is aggravated by the lack of young scientists and engineers moving into this branch of nuclear power

Effect of pigment concentration on fastness and color values of thermal and UV curable pigment printing

Science.gov (United States)

Baysal, Gulcin; Kalav, Berdan; Karagüzel Kayaoğlu, Burçak

2017-10-01

In the current study, it is aimed to determine the effect of pigment concentration on fastness and colour values of thermal and ultraviolet (UV) curable pigment printing on synthetic leather. For this purpose, thermal curable solvent-based and UV curable water-based formulations were prepared with different pigment concentrations (3, 5 and 7%) separately and applied by screen printing technique using a screen printing machine. Samples printed with solvent-based formulations were thermally cured and samples printed with water-based formulations were cured using a UV curing machine equipped with gallium and mercury (Ga/Hg) lamps at room temperature. The crock fastness values of samples printed with solvent-based formulations showed that increase in pigment concentration was not effective on both dry and wet crock fastness values. On the other hand, in samples printed with UV curable water-based formulations, dry crock fastness was improved and evaluated as very good for all pigment concentrations. However, increasing the pigment concentration affected the wet crock fastness values adversely and lower values were observed. As the energy level increased for each irradiation source, the fastness values were improved. In comparison with samples printed with solvent-based formulations, samples printed with UV curable water-based formulations yielded higher K/S values at all pigment concentrations. The results suggested that, higher K/S values can be obtained in samples printed with UV curable water-based formulations at a lower pigment concentration compared to samples printed with solvent-based formulations.

Marketing fast food: impact of fast food restaurants in children's hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Sahud, Hannah B; Binns, Helen J; Meadow, William L; Tanz, Robert R

2006-12-01

The objectives of this study were (1) to determine fast food restaurant prevalence in hospitals with pediatric residencies and (2) to evaluate how hospital environment affects purchase and perception of fast food. We first surveyed pediatric residency programs regarding fast food restaurants in their hospitals to determine the prevalence of fast food restaurants in these hospitals. We then surveyed adults with children after pediatric outpatient visits at 3 hospitals: hospital M with an on-site McDonald's restaurant, hospital R without McDonald's on site but with McDonald's branding, and hospital X with neither on-site McDonald's nor branding. We sought to determine attitudes toward, consumption of, and influences on purchase of fast food and McDonald's food. Fifty-nine of 200 hospitals with pediatric residencies had fast food restaurants. A total of 386 outpatient surveys were analyzed. Fast food consumption on the survey day was most common among hospital M respondents (56%; hospital R: 29%; hospital X: 33%), as was the purchase of McDonald's food (hospital M: 53%; hospital R: 14%; hospital X: 22%). McDonald's accounted for 95% of fast food consumed by hospital M respondents, and 83% of them bought their food at the on-site McDonald's. Using logistic regression analysis, hospital M respondents were 4 times more likely than respondents at the other hospitals to have purchased McDonald's food on the survey day. Visitors to hospitals M and R were more likely than those at hospital X to believe that McDonald's supported the hospital financially. Respondents at hospital M rated McDonald's food healthier than did respondents at the other hospitals. Fast food restaurants are fairly common in hospitals that sponsor pediatric residency programs. A McDonald's restaurant in a children's hospital was associated with significantly increased purchase of McDonald's food by outpatients, belief that the McDonald's Corporation supported the hospital financially, and higher rating

Computer-Based Video Instruction to Teach the Use of Augmentative and Alternative Communication Devices for Ordering at Fast-Food Restaurants

Science.gov (United States)

Mechling, Linda C.; Cronin, Beth

2006-01-01

In the study reported on here, the authors used computer-based video instruction (CBVI) to teach 3 high school students with moderate or severe intellectual disabilities how to order in fast-food restaurants by using an augmentative, alternative communication device. The study employed a multiple probe design to institute CBVI as the only…

fastBMA: scalable network inference and transitive reduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Hung, Ling-Hong; Shi, Kaiyuan; Wu, Migao; Young, William Chad; Raftery, Adrian E; Yeung, Ka Yee

2017-10-01

Inferring genetic networks from genome-wide expression data is extremely demanding computationally. We have developed fastBMA, a distributed, parallel, and scalable implementation of Bayesian model averaging (BMA) for this purpose. fastBMA also includes a computationally efficient module for eliminating redundant indirect edges in the network by mapping the transitive reduction to an easily solved shortest-path problem. We evaluated the performance of fastBMA on synthetic data and experimental genome-wide time series yeast and human datasets. When using a single CPU core, fastBMA is up to 100 times faster than the next fastest method, LASSO, with increased accuracy. It is a memory-efficient, parallel, and distributed application that scales to human genome-wide expression data. A 10 000-gene regulation network can be obtained in a matter of hours using a 32-core cloud cluster (2 nodes of 16 cores). fastBMA is a significant improvement over its predecessor ScanBMA. It is more accurate and orders of magnitude faster than other fast network inference methods such as the 1 based on LASSO. The improved scalability allows it to calculate networks from genome scale data in a reasonable time frame. The transitive reduction method can improve accuracy in denser networks. fastBMA is available as code (M.I.T. license) from GitHub (https://github.com/lhhunghimself/fastBMA), as part of the updated networkBMA Bioconductor package (https://www.bioconductor.org/packages/release/bioc/html/networkBMA.html) and as ready-to-deploy Docker images (https://hub.docker.com/r/biodepot/fastbma/). © The Authors 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

Fast-GPU-PCC: A GPU-Based Technique to Compute Pairwise Pearson's Correlation Coefficients for Time Series Data-fMRI Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Eslami, Taban; Saeed, Fahad

2018-04-20

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a non-invasive brain imaging technique, which has been regularly used for studying brain’s functional activities in the past few years. A very well-used measure for capturing functional associations in brain is Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Pearson’s correlation is widely used for constructing functional network and studying dynamic functional connectivity of the brain. These are useful measures for understanding the effects of brain disorders on connectivities among brain regions. The fMRI scanners produce huge number of voxels and using traditional central processing unit (CPU)-based techniques for computing pairwise correlations is very time consuming especially when large number of subjects are being studied. In this paper, we propose a graphics processing unit (GPU)-based algorithm called Fast-GPU-PCC for computing pairwise Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Based on the symmetric property of Pearson’s correlation, this approach returns N ( N − 1 ) / 2 correlation coefficients located at strictly upper triangle part of the correlation matrix. Storing correlations in a one-dimensional array with the order as proposed in this paper is useful for further usage. Our experiments on real and synthetic fMRI data for different number of voxels and varying length of time series show that the proposed approach outperformed state of the art GPU-based techniques as well as the sequential CPU-based versions. We show that Fast-GPU-PCC runs 62 times faster than CPU-based version and about 2 to 3 times faster than two other state of the art GPU-based methods.

Physiology of Ramadan fasting

OpenAIRE

Shokoufeh Bonakdaran

2016-01-01

Considering the emphasis of Islam on the importance of fasting, Muslims attempt to fast from dawn until sunset during the holy month of Ramadan. Fasting is associated with several benefits for normal and healthy individuals. However, it could pose high risks to the health of diabetic patients due to certain physiological changes. This study aimed to compare the physiological changes associated with fasting in healthy individuals and diabetic patients during Ramadan. Furthermore, we reviewed t...

Fast electrostatic force calculation on parallel computer clusters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kia, Amirali; Kim, Daejoong; Darve, Eric

2008-01-01

The fast multipole method (FMM) and smooth particle mesh Ewald (SPME) are well known fast algorithms to evaluate long range electrostatic interactions in molecular dynamics and other fields. FMM is a multi-scale method which reduces the computation cost by approximating the potential due to a group of particles at a large distance using few multipole functions. This algorithm scales like O(N) for N particles. SPME algorithm is an O(NlnN) method which is based on an interpolation of the Fourier space part of the Ewald sum and evaluating the resulting convolutions using fast Fourier transform (FFT). Those algorithms suffer from relatively poor efficiency on large parallel machines especially for mid-size problems around hundreds of thousands of atoms. A variation of the FMM, called PWA, based on plane wave expansions is presented in this paper. A new parallelization strategy for PWA, which takes advantage of the specific form of this expansion, is described. Its parallel efficiency is compared with SPME through detail time measurements on two different computer clusters

The fast tracker processor for hadronic collider triggers

CERN Document Server

Annovi, A; Bardi, A; Carosi, R; Dell'Orso, Mauro; D'Onofrio, M; Giannetti, P; Iannaccone, G; Morsani, F; Pietri, M; Varotto, G

2000-01-01

Perspective for precise and fast track reconstruction in future hadronic collider experiments are addressed. We discuss the feasibility of a pipelined highly parallelized processor dedicated to the implementation of a very fast algorithm. The algorithm is based on the use of a large bank of pre-stored combinations of trajectory points (patterns) for extremely complex tracking systems. The CMS experiment at LHC is used as a benchmark. Tracking data from the events selected by the level-1 trigger are sorted and filtered by the Fast Tracker processor at a rate of 100 kHz. This data organization allows the level-2 trigger logic to reconstruct full resolution traces with transverse momentum above few GeV and search secondary vertexes within typical level-2 times. 15 Refs.

The fast iris image clarity evaluation based on Tenengrad and ROI selection

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Shuqin; Han, Min; Cheng, Xu

2018-04-01

In iris recognition system, the clarity of iris image is an important factor that influences recognition effect. In the process of recognition, the blurred image may possibly be rejected by the automatic iris recognition system, which will lead to the failure of identification. Therefore it is necessary to evaluate the iris image definition before recognition. Considered the existing evaluation methods on iris image definition, we proposed a fast algorithm to evaluate the definition of iris image in this paper. In our algorithm, firstly ROI (Region of Interest) is extracted based on the reference point which is determined by using the feature of the light spots within the pupil, then Tenengrad operator is used to evaluate the iris image's definition. Experiment results show that, the iris image definition algorithm proposed in this paper could accurately distinguish the iris images of different clarity, and the algorithm has the merit of low computational complexity and more effectiveness.

A Fairness-Based Access Control Scheme to Optimize IPTV Fast Channel Changing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Junyu Lai

2014-01-01

Full Text Available IPTV services are typically featured with a longer channel changing delay compared to the conventional TV systems. The major contributor to this lies in the time spent on intraframe (I-frame acquisition during channel changing. Currently, most widely adopted fast channel changing (FCC methods rely on promptly transmitting to the client (conducting the channel changing a retained I-frame of the targeted channel as a separate unicasting stream. However, this I-frame acceleration mechanism has an inherent scalability problem due to the explosions of channel changing requests during commercial breaks. In this paper, we propose a fairness-based admission control (FAC scheme for the original I-frame acceleration mechanism to enhance its scalability by decreasing the bandwidth demands. Based on the channel changing history of every client, the FAC scheme can intelligently decide whether or not to conduct the I-frame acceleration for each channel change request. Comprehensive simulation experiments demonstrate the potential of our proposed FAC scheme to effectively optimize the scalability of the I-frame acceleration mechanism, particularly in commercial breaks. Meanwhile, the FAC scheme only slightly increases the average channel changing delay by temporarily disabling FCC (i.e., I-frame acceleration for the clients who are addicted to frequent channel zapping.

Profiling Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) of Family Health History based on the Clinical Element Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jaehoon; Hulse, Nathan C; Wood, Grant M; Oniki, Thomas A; Huff, Stanley M

2016-01-01

In this study we developed a Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) profile to support exchanging a full pedigree based family health history (FHH) information across multiple systems and applications used by clinicians, patients, and researchers. We used previously developed clinical element models (CEMs) that are capable of representing the FHH information, and derived essential data elements including attributes, constraints, and value sets. We analyzed gaps between the FHH CEM elements and existing FHIR resources. Based on the analysis, we developed a profile that consists of 1) FHIR resources for essential FHH data elements, 2) extensions for additional elements that were not covered by the resources, and 3) a structured definition to integrate patient and family member information in a FHIR message. We implemented the profile using an open-source based FHIR framework and validated it using patient-entered FHH data that was captured through a locally developed FHH tool.

Calculational model based on influence function method for power distribution and control rod worth in fast reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toshio, S.; Kazuo, A.

1983-01-01

A model for calculating the power distribution and the control rod worth in fast reactors has been developed. This model is based on the influence function method. The characteristics of the model are as follows: 1. Influence functions for any changes in the control rod insertion ratio are expressed by using an influence function for an appropriate control rod insertion in order to reduce the computer memory size required for the method. 2. A control rod worth is calculated on the basis of a one-group approximation in which cross sections are generated by bilinear (flux-adjoint) weighting, not the usual flux weighting, in order to reduce the collapse error. 3. An effective neutron multiplication factor is calculated by adjoint weighting in order to reduce the effect of the error in the one-group flux distribution. The results obtained in numerical examinations of a prototype fast reactor indicate that this method is suitable for on-line core performance evaluation because of a short computing time and a small memory size

Fast breeder reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heinzel, V.

1975-01-01

The author gives a survey of 'fast breeder reactors'. In detail the process of breeding, the reasons for the development of fast breeders, the possible breeder reactors, the design criteria, fuels, cladding, coolant, and safety aspects are reported on. Design data of some experimental reactors already in operation are summarized in stabular form. 300 MWe Prototype-Reactors SNR-300 and PFR are explained in detail and data of KWU helium-cooled fast breeder reactors are given. (HR) [de

Fast reactors worldwide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, R.S.; Vignon, D.

1985-01-01

The paper concerns the evolution of fast reactors over the past 30 years, and their present status. Fast reactor development in different countries is described, and the present position, with emphasis on cost reduction and collaboration, is examined. The French development of the fast breeder type reactor is reviewed, and includes: the acquisition of technical skills, the search for competitive costs and the spx2 project, and more advanced designs. Future prospects are also discussed. (U.K.)

A fast fault protection based on direction of bus-side capacitor discharge current for a high-surety power supply

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, Haijin; Chen, Min; Yang, Boping

2017-01-01

A short-circuit fault protection strategy based on the direction of bus-side capacitor discharge current for a high-surety power supply, known as Super Uninterruptable Power Supply (Super UPS), is studied in this paper. It consists of multiple energy sources and storage components. All energy...... strategy is necessary to keep the uninterruptable power for the critical load. In this paper, the characteristics of the short-circuit fault are analyzed first. Then, a fast short-circuit fault locating and isolating strategy based on the direction of the discharge current of the busside capacitors...

Fast food (image)

Science.gov (United States)

Fast foods are quick, reasonably priced, and readily available alternatives to home cooking. While convenient and economical for a busy lifestyle, fast foods are typically high in calories, fat, saturated fat, ...

Islamic Fasting and Diabetes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fereidoun Azizi

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The aim of this article is to review health-related aspects of Ramadan fasting in normal individuals and diabetics. During fasting days of Ramadan, glucose homeostasis is maintained by meal taken bepore dawn and by liver glycogen stores. Changes in serum lipids are variable and defend on the quality and quantity of food consumption and changes in weight. Compliant, well controlled type 2 diabetics may observe Ramadan fasting; but fasting is not recommended for type 1, non complaint, poorly controlled and pregnant diabetics. Although Ramadan fasting is safe for all healthy individuals and well controlled diabetics, those with uncontrolled diabetics and diabetics with complications should consult physicians and follow scientific recommendations.

Fast reactor programme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Plakman, J.C.

1982-01-01

This progress report summarizes the fast reactor research carried out by ECN during the period covering the year 1980. This research is mainly concerned with the cores of sodium-cooled breeders, in particular the SNR-300, and its related safety aspects. It comprises six items: A programme to determine relevant nuclear data of fission- and corrosion-products; A fuel performance programme comprising in-pile cladding failure experiments and a study of the consequences of loss-of-cooling and overpower; Basic research on fuel; Investigation of the changes in the mechanical properties of austenitic stainless steel DIN 1.4948 due to fast neutron doses, this material has been used in the manufacture of the reactor vessel and its internal components; Study of aerosols which could be formed at the time of a fast reactor accident and their progressive behaviour on leaking through cracks in the concrete containment; Studies on heat transfer in a sodium-cooled fast reactor core. As fast breeders operate at high power densities, an accurate knowledge of the heat transfer phenomena under single-phase and two-phase conditions is sought. (Auth.)

Fast and quantitative differentiation of single-base mismatched DNA by initial reaction rate of catalytic hairpin assembly.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Chenxi; Li, Yixin; Xu, Xiao; Wang, Xinyi; Chen, Yang; Yang, Xiaoda; Liu, Feng; Li, Na

2014-10-15

The widely used catalytic hairpin assembly (CHA) amplification strategy generally needs several hours to accomplish one measurement based on the prevailingly used maximum intensity detection mode, making it less practical for assays where high throughput or speed is desired. To make the best use of the kinetic specificity of toehold domain for circuit reaction initiation, we developed a mathematical model and proposed an initial reaction rate detection mode to quantitatively differentiate the single-base mismatch. Using the kinetic mode, assay time can be reduced substantially to 10 min for one measurement with the comparable sensitivity and single-base mismatch differentiating ability as were obtained by the maximum intensity detection mode. This initial reaction rate based approach not only provided a fast and quantitative differentiation of single-base mismatch, but also helped in-depth understanding of the CHA system, which will be beneficial to the design of highly sensitive and specific toehold-mediated hybridization reactions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A prospective study of power cycles based on the expected sodium fast reactor parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herranz, L. E.; Linares, J. I.; Moratilla, B. Y.; Perez, G. D.

2010-01-01

One of the main issues that has not been solved yet in the frame of Sodium Fast Reactors (SFR) is to choose the most appropriate power conversion system. This paper explores the performance of different power cycles, from traditional to innovative layouts trying to find the optimized solution. Based on the expected reactor parameters (i.e., inlet and outlet coolant temperatures, 395 deg.C and 545 deg.C, respectively), a subcritical Rankine similar to those of fossil power plant cycles has been proposed as a reference layout. Then, alternative layouts based on innovative Rankine and Brayton cycles have been investigated. Two Rankine supercritical layouts have been modeled and analyzed: one of them, adopted from the Supercritical Water Reactor of GIV (one reheater, nine pre-heaters and one moisture separator) and the other similar to some fossil plants (two reheaters, nine pre-heaters with no moisture separator). Simple Brayton cycle configurations based on Helium has been also studied. Several layouts have been modeled to study the effects of: inter-cooling between compression stages, absence of an intermediate loop and coupling of an organic Rankine cycle (ORC). (authors)

Effect of Education Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior on Fast Food Consumption in High School Girl\\'s Students in Sabzevar City 2014

OpenAIRE

Nooshin Peyman; Mahnaz Nasehnezhad

2015-01-01

Introduction and Aims Today, with the advances in science, technology and industry the life-style of people has been changed. As we can see customs, traditions and indigenous cultures are faded in nutrition and food behaviors. In addition, in many of communities the use of fast foods has prevalent. Teenagers are interested in and almost one-third of them consume fast foods daily. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of the education based on theory of planned behavior in cons...

The Fleet Application for Scheduling and Tracking (FAST) Management Website

Science.gov (United States)

Marrero-Perez, Radames J.

2014-01-01

The FAST application was designed to replace the paper and pen method of checking out and checking in GSA Vehicles at KSC. By innovating from a paper and pen based checkout system to a fully digital one, not only the resources wasted by printing the checkout forms have been reduced, but it also reduces significantly the time that users and fleet managers need to interact with the system as well as improving the record accuracy for each vehicle. The vehicle information is pulled from a centralized database server in the SPSDL. In an attempt to add a new feature to the FAST application, the author of this report (alongside the FAST developers) has been designing and developing the FAST Management Website. The GSA fleet managers had to rely on the FAST developers in order to add new vehicles, edit vehicles and previous transactions, or for generating vehicles reports. By providing an easy-to-use FAST Management Website portal, the GSA fleet managers are now able to easily move vehicles, edit records, and print reports.

LEDs based upon AlGaInP heterostructures with multiple quantum wells: comparison of fast neutrons and gamma-quanta irradiation

Science.gov (United States)

Gradoboev, A. V.; Orlova, K. N.; Simonova, A. V.

2018-05-01

The paper presents the research results of watt and volt characteristics of LEDs based upon AlGaInP heterostructures with multiple quantum wells in the active region. The research is completed for LEDs (emission wavelengths 624 nm and 590 nm) under irradiation by fast neutron and gamma-quanta in passive powering mode. Watt-voltage characteristics in the average and high electron injection areas are described as a power function of the operating voltage. It has been revealed that the LEDs transition from average electron injection area to high electron injection area occurs by overcoming the transition area. It disappears as it get closer to the limit result of the irradiation LEDs that is low electron injection mode in the entire supply voltage range. It has been established that the gamma radiation facilitates initial defects restructuring only 42% compared to 100% when irradiation is performed by fast neutrons. Ratio between measured on the boundary between low and average electron injection areas current value and the contribution magnitude of the first stage LEDs emissive power reducing is established. It is allows to predict LEDs resistance to irradiation by fast neutrons and gamma rays.

Fast-prototyping of VLSI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saucier, G.; Read, E.

1987-01-01

Fast-prototyping will be a reality in the very near future if both straightforward design methods and fast manufacturing facilities are available. This book focuses, first, on the motivation for fast-prototyping. Economic aspects and market considerations are analysed by European and Japanese companies. In the second chapter, new design methods are identified, mainly for full custom circuits. Of course, silicon compilers play a key role and the introduction of artificial intelligence techniques sheds a new light on the subject. At present, fast-prototyping on gate arrays or on standard cells is the most conventional technique and the third chapter updates the state-of-the art in this area. The fourth chapter concentrates specifically on the e-beam direct-writing for submicron IC technologies. In the fifth chapter, a strategic point in fast-prototyping, namely the test problem is addressed. The design for testability and the interface to the test equipment are mandatory to fulfill the test requirement for fast-prototyping. Finally, the last chapter deals with the subject of education when many people complain about the lack of use of fast-prototyping in higher education for VLSI

A prospective audit of preprocedural fasting practices on a transplant ward: when fasting becomes starving.

Science.gov (United States)

Vidot, Helen; Teevan, Kate; Carey, Sharon; Strasser, Simone; Shackel, Nicholas

2016-03-01

To investigate the prevalence and duration of preprocedural medically ordered fasting during a period of hospitalisation in an Australian population of patients with hepatic cirrhosis or following liver transplantation and to identify potential solutions to reduce fasting times. Protein-energy malnutrition is a common finding in patients with hepatic cirrhosis and can impact significantly on survival and quality of life. Protein and energy requirements in patients with cirrhosis are higher than those of healthy individuals. A significant feature of cirrhosis is the induction of starvation metabolism following seven to eight hours of food deprivation. Many investigative and interventional procedures for patients with cirrhosis necessitate a period of fasting to comply with anaesthesia guidelines. An observational study of the fasting episodes for 34 hospitalised patients with hepatic cirrhosis or following liver transplantation. Nutritional status was estimated using subjective global assessment and handgrip strength. The prevalence and duration of fasting practices for diagnostic or investigational procedures were estimated using electronic records and patient notes. Thirty-three patients (97%) were malnourished. Twenty-two patients (65%) were fasted during the observation period. There were 43 occasions of fasting with a median fasting time of 13·5 hours. On 40 occasions fasting times exceeded the maximum six-hour guideline recommended prior to the administration of anaesthesia by the majority of Anaesthesiology Societies. The majority of procedures (77%) requiring fasting occurred after midday. Eating breakfast on the day of the procedure reduced fasting time by 45%. Medically ordered preprocedural fasting times almost always exceed existing guidelines in this nutritionally compromised group. Adherence to fasting guidelines and eating breakfast before the procedure can reduce fasting times significantly and avoid the potential induction of starvation metabolism

The fast breeder reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davis, D.A.; Baker, M.A.W.; Hall, R.S.

1990-01-01

Following submission of written evidence, the Energy Committee members asked questions of three witnesses from the Central Electricity Generating Board and Nuclear Electric (which will be the government owned company running nuclear power stations after privatisation). Both questions and answers are reported verbatim. The points raised include where the responsibility for the future fast reactor programme should lie, with government only or with private enterprise or both and the viability of fast breeder reactors in the future. The case for the fast reactor was stated as essentially strategic not economic. This raised the issue of nuclear cost which has both a construction and a decommissioning element. There was considerable discussion as to the cost of building a European Fast reactor and the cost of the electricity it would generate compared with PWR type reactors. The likely demand for fast reactors will not arrive for 20-30 years and the need to build a fast reactor now is questioned. (UK)

Specifications for adjusted cross section and covariance libraries based upon CSEWG fast reactor and dosimetry benchmarks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weisbin, C.R.; Marable, J.H.; Collins, P.J.; Cowan, C.L.; Peelle, R.W.; Salvatores, M.

1979-06-01

The present work proposes a specific plan of cross section library adjustment for fast reactor core physics analysis using information from fast reactor and dosimetry integral experiments and from differential data evaluations. This detailed exposition of the proposed approach is intended mainly to elicit review and criticism from scientists and engineers in the research, development, and design fields. This major attempt to develop useful adjusted libraries is based on the established benchmark integral data, accurate and well documented analysis techniques, sensitivities, and quantified uncertainties for nuclear data, integral experiment measurements, and calculational methodology. The adjustments to be obtained using these specifications are intended to produce an overall improvement in the least-squares sense in the quality of the data libraries, so that calculations of other similar systems using the adjusted data base with any credible method will produce results without much data-related bias. The adjustments obtained should provide specific recommendations to the data evaluation program to be weighed in the light of newer measurements, and also a vehicle for observing how the evaluation process is converging. This report specifies the calculational methodology to be used, the integral experiments to be employed initially, and the methods and integral experiment biases and uncertainties to be used. The sources of sensitivity coefficients, as well as the cross sections to be adjusted, are detailed. The formulae for sensitivity coefficients for fission spectral parameters are developed. A mathematical formulation of the least-square adjustment problem is given including biases and uncertainties in methods

Fast fluid registration of medical images

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bro-Nielsen, Morten; Gramkow, Claus

1996-01-01

This paper offers a new fast algorithm for non-rigid viscous fluid registration of medical images that is at least an order of magnitude faster than the previous method by (Christensen et al., 1994). The core algorithm in the fluid registration method is based on a linear elastic deformation...

The Adverse Effects and Treatment Results of Smoking Cessation Pharmacotherapy During Fasting/Non-Fasting State.

Science.gov (United States)

Iliaz, Sinem; Tural Onur, Seda; Uysal, Mehmet Atilla; Chousein, Efsun Gonca Uğur; Tanriverdi, Elif; Bagci, Belma Akbaba; Bahadir, Ayse; Hattatoglu, Didem Gorgun; Ortakoylu, Mediha Gonenc; Yurt, Sibel

2017-07-03

Cigarette smoking is one of the most common addictions worldwide. Muslim smokers reduce the number of cigarettes they smoke during Ramadan due to the long fasting hours. We aimed to share our experience in a smoking cessation clinic during Ramadan by analyzing the efficacy and adverse effects of once-daily dosing of bupropion or varenicline in a fasting group compared with conventional dosing in a non-fasting group. We analyzed 57 patients who attended our smoking cessation clinic during Ramadan of 2014 and 2015, and at least one follow-up visit. For the fasting patients, we prescribed bupropion or varenicline after dinner (once daily) as the maintenance therapy. We recorded demographic characteristics of the patients, fasting state, drugs taken for smoking cessation, and the dosage of the medication. At the first follow-up visit, adverse effects seen with the treatment were recorded. We conducted telephone interviews 6 months after the first visits of the patients to learn the current smoking status of the groups. Of the total 57 patients, 20 (35.1%) were fasting and 37 (64.9%) were not fasting. Fasting and non-fasting patients were similar for sex, age, smoking pack-years, marital status, educational status, and mean Fagerström scores (p >.05). Adverse effects and quit rates after 6 months of follow-up were similar between the fasting and non-fasting groups (p >.05). Although our sample size was small, we found no difference in the rates of adverse effects or smoking cessation using a single daily oral dose of bupropion or varenicline between a fasting group and a non-fasting group that received conventional dosing.

siMacro: A Fast and Easy Data Processing Tool for Cell-Based Genomewide siRNA Screens

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nitin Kumar Singh

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Growing numbers of studies employ cell line-based systematic short interfering RNA (siRNA screens to study gene functions and to identify drug targets. As multiple sources of variations that are unique to siRNA screens exist, there is a growing demand for a computational tool that generates normalized values and standardized scores. However, only a few tools have been available so far with limited usability. Here, we present siMacro, a fast and easy-to-use Microsoft Office Excel-based tool with a graphic user interface, designed to process single-condition or two-condition synthetic screen datasets. siMacro normalizes position and batch effects, censors outlier samples, and calculates Z-scores and robust Z-scores, with a spreadsheet output of >120,000 samples in under 1 minute.

Ramadan, fasting and pregnancy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ahmed, Urfan Zahoor; Lykke, Jacob Alexander

2014-01-01

In Islam, the month of Ramadan is a period of fasting lasting 29 or 30 days. Epidemiological studies among Muslims in Denmark have not been conducted, but studies show, that fasting among pregnant Muslim women is common. Fasting does not increase the risk of growth restriction or preterm delivery...

Fast reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vasile, A.

2001-01-01

Fast reactors have capacities to spare uranium natural resources by their breeding property and to propose solutions to the management of radioactive wastes by limiting the inventory of heavy nuclei. This article highlights the role that fast reactors could play for reducing the radiotoxicity of wastes. The conversion of 238 U into 239 Pu by neutron capture is more efficient in fast reactors than in light water reactors. In fast reactors multi-recycling of U + Pu leads to fissioning up to 95% of the initial fuel ( 238 U + 235 U). 2 strategies have been studied to burn actinides: - the multi-recycling of heavy nuclei is made inside the fuel element (homogeneous option); - the unique recycling is made in special irradiation targets placed inside the core or at its surroundings (heterogeneous option). Simulations have shown that, for the same amount of energy produced (400 TWhe), the mass of transuranium elements (Pu + Np + Am + Cm) sent to waste disposal is 60,9 Kg in the homogeneous option and 204.4 Kg in the heterogeneous option. Experimental programs are carried out in Phenix and BOR60 reactors in order to study the feasibility of such strategies. (A.C.)

Fast simulation of ultrasound images

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jørgen Arendt; Nikolov, Svetoslav

2000-01-01

, and a whole image can take a full day. Simulating 3D images and 3D flow takes even more time. A 3D image of 64 by 64 lines can take 21 days, which is not practical for iterative work. This paper presents a new fast simulation method based on the Field II program. In imaging the same spatial impulse response...

Fast wave current drive

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goree, J.; Ono, M.; Colestock, P.; Horton, R.; McNeill, D.; Park, H.

1985-07-01

Fast wave current drive is demonstrated in the Princeton ACT-I toroidal device. The fast Alfven wave, in the range of high ion-cyclotron harmonics, produced 40 A of current from 1 kW of rf power coupled into the plasma by fast wave loop antenna. This wave excites a steady current by damping on the energetic tail of the electron distribution function in the same way as lower-hybrid current drive, except that fast wave current drive is appropriate for higher plasma densities

The integral fast reactor - an overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Till, C.E.; Chang, Y.I.; Hannum, W.H.

1997-01-01

The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) is a system that consists of a fast-spectrum nuclear reactor that uses metallic fuel and liquid-metal (sodium) cooling, coupled with technology for high-temperature electrochemical recycling, and with processes for preparing wastes for disposition. The concept is based on decades of experience with fast reactors, adapted to priorities that have evolved markedly from those of the early days of nuclear power. It has four essential, distinguishing features: efficient use of natural resources, inherent safety characteristics, reduced burdens of nuclear waste, and unique proliferation resistance. These fundamental characteristics offer benefits in economics and environmental protection. The fuel cycle never involves separated plutonium, immediately simplifying the safeguarding task. Initiated in 1984 in response to proliferation concerns identified in the International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Evaluation (INFCE, 1980), the project has made substantial technical progress, with new potential applications coming to light as nuclear weapons stockpiles are reduced and concerns about waste disposal increase. A breakthrough technology, the IFR has the characteristics necessary for the next nuclear age. (author)

Metabolic Effects of Intermittent Fasting.

Science.gov (United States)

Patterson, Ruth E; Sears, Dorothy D

2017-08-21

The objective of this review is to provide an overview of intermittent fasting regimens, summarize the evidence on the health benefits of intermittent fasting, and discuss physiological mechanisms by which intermittent fasting might lead to improved health outcomes. A MEDLINE search was performed using PubMed and the terms "intermittent fasting," "fasting," "time-restricted feeding," and "food timing." Modified fasting regimens appear to promote weight loss and may improve metabolic health. Several lines of evidence also support the hypothesis that eating patterns that reduce or eliminate nighttime eating and prolong nightly fasting intervals may result in sustained improvements in human health. Intermittent fasting regimens are hypothesized to influence metabolic regulation via effects on (a) circadian biology, (b) the gut microbiome, and (c) modifiable lifestyle behaviors, such as sleep. If proven to be efficacious, these eating regimens offer promising nonpharmacological approaches to improving health at the population level, with multiple public health benefits.

Visual Fast Mapping in School-Aged Children with Specific Language Impairment

Science.gov (United States)

Alt, Mary

2013-01-01

Purpose: To determine whether children with specific language impairment (SLI) demonstrate impaired visual fast mapping skills compared with unimpaired peers and to test components of visual working memory that may contribute to a visual working memory deficit. Methods: Fifty children (25 SLI) played 2 computer-based visual fast mapping games…

Prototype fast breeder reactor main options

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhoje, S.B.; Chellapandi, P.

1996-01-01

Fast reactor programme gets importance in the Indian energy market because of continuous growing demand of electricity and resources limited to only coal and FBR. India started its fast reactor programme with the construction of 40 MWt Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR). The reactor attained its first criticality in October 1985. The reactor power will be raised to 40 MWt in near future. As a logical follow-up of FBTR, it was decided to build a prototype fast breeder reactor, PFBR. Considering significant effects of capital cost and construction period on economy, systematic efforts are made to reduce the same. The number of primary and secondary sodium loops and components have been reduced. Sodium coolant, pool type concept, oxide fuel, 20% CW D9, SS 316 LN and modified 9Cr-1Mo steel (T91) materials have been selected for PFBR. Based on the operating experience, the integrity of the high temperature components including fuel and cost optimization aspects, the plant temperatures are recommended. Steam temperature of 763 K at 16.6 MPa and a single TG of 500 MWe gross output have been decided. PFBR will be located at Kalpakkam site on the coast of Bay of Bengal. The plant life is designed for 30 y and 75% load factor. In this paper the justifications for the main options chosen are given in brief. (author). 2 figs, 2 tabs

Performance of Fast AMC in E-UTRAN Uplink

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rosa, Claudio; López Villa, Dimas; Úbeda Castellanos, Carlos

2008-01-01

Evolved (E-) UTRA is currently being standardized as a long term evolution (LTE) of the 3GPP radio access technology. One of the goals of E-UTRA is to achieve 2-4 times the spectral efficiency and user throughputs compared to HSUPA/HSDPA [1]. Support for fast link adaptation based on adaptive...... and interference conditions. It is shown that despite measurement errors and the high variability of uplink inter-cell interference, fast AMC can boost the capacity of E-UTRA uplink by approximately 20% to 25%....

Robust and fast license plate detection based on the fusion of color and edge feature

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, De; Shi, Zhonghan; Liu, Jin; Hu, Chuanping; Mei, Lin; Qi, Li

2014-11-01

Extracting a license plate is an important stage in automatic vehicle identification. The degradation of images and the computation intense make this task difficult. In this paper, a robust and fast license plate detection based on the fusion of color and edge feature is proposed. Based on the dichromatic reflection model, two new color ratios computed from the RGB color model are introduced and proved to be two color invariants. The global color feature extracted by the new color invariants improves the method's robustness. The local Sobel edge feature guarantees the method's accuracy. In the experiment, the detection performance is good. The detection results show that this paper's method is robust to the illumination, object geometry and the disturbance around the license plates. The method can also detect license plates when the color of the car body is the same as the color of the plates. The processing time for image size of 1000x1000 by pixels is nearly 0.2s. Based on the comparison, the performance of the new ratios is comparable to the common used HSI color model.

AN EVOLUTIONARY ALGORITHM FOR FAST INTENSITY BASED IMAGE MATCHING BETWEEN OPTICAL AND SAR SATELLITE IMAGERY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Fischer

2018-04-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a hybrid evolutionary algorithm for fast intensity based matching between satellite imagery from SAR and very high-resolution (VHR optical sensor systems. The precise and accurate co-registration of image time series and images of different sensors is a key task in multi-sensor image processing scenarios. The necessary preprocessing step of image matching and tie-point detection is divided into a search problem and a similarity measurement. Within this paper we evaluate the use of an evolutionary search strategy for establishing the spatial correspondence between satellite imagery of optical and radar sensors. The aim of the proposed algorithm is to decrease the computational costs during the search process by formulating the search as an optimization problem. Based upon the canonical evolutionary algorithm, the proposed algorithm is adapted for SAR/optical imagery intensity based matching. Extensions are drawn using techniques like hybridization (e.g. local search and others to lower the number of objective function calls and refine the result. The algorithm significantely decreases the computational costs whilst finding the optimal solution in a reliable way.

Fast track-hoftealloplastik

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Torben Bæk; Gromov, Kirill; Kristensen, Billy B

2017-01-01

Fast-track surgery implies a coordinated perioperative approach aimed at reducing surgical stress and facilitating post-operative recovery. The fast-track programme has reduced post-operative length of stay and has led to shorter convalescence with more rapid functional recovery and decreased...... morbidity and mortality in total hip arthroplasty. It should now be a standard total hip arthroplasty patient pathway, but fine tuning of the multiple factors in the fast-track pathway is still needed in patients with special needs or high comorbidity burden....

Engineering Design of ITER Prototype Fast Plant System Controller

Science.gov (United States)

Goncalves, B.; Sousa, J.; Carvalho, B.; Rodrigues, A. P.; Correia, M.; Batista, A.; Vega, J.; Ruiz, M.; Lopez, J. M.; Rojo, R. Castro; Wallander, A.; Utzel, N.; Neto, A.; Alves, D.; Valcarcel, D.

2011-08-01

The ITER control, data access and communication (CODAC) design team identified the need for two types of plant systems. A slow control plant system is based on industrial automation technology with maximum sampling rates below 100 Hz, and a fast control plant system is based on embedded technology with higher sampling rates and more stringent real-time requirements than that required for slow controllers. The latter is applicable to diagnostics and plant systems in closed-control loops whose cycle times are below 1 ms. Fast controllers will be dedicated industrial controllers with the ability to supervise other fast and/or slow controllers, interface to actuators and sensors and, if necessary, high performance networks. Two prototypes of a fast plant system controller specialized for data acquisition and constrained by ITER technological choices are being built using two different form factors. This prototyping activity contributes to the Plant Control Design Handbook effort of standardization, specifically regarding fast controller characteristics. Envisaging a general purpose fast controller design, diagnostic use cases with specific requirements were analyzed and will be presented along with the interface with CODAC and sensors. The requirements and constraints that real-time plasma control imposes on the design were also taken into consideration. Functional specifications and technology neutral architecture, together with its implications on the engineering design, were considered. The detailed engineering design compliant with ITER standards was performed and will be discussed in detail. Emphasis will be given to the integration of the controller in the standard CODAC environment. Requirements for the EPICS IOC providing the interface to the outside world, the prototype decisions on form factor, real-time operating system, and high-performance networks will also be discussed, as well as the requirements for data streaming to CODAC for visualization and

A fast neutron detector with IP by track measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miao Zhengqiang; Yang Jun; Zhang Qiang; Zhao Xiangfeng; Wang Daohua

2004-01-01

Imaging Plate(IP) is very sensitive to electric particles, especially to heavy ions. As we know, the recoiling protons are produced while fast neutrons scattered in light material containing hydrogen. When the recoiling proton enters in the sensitive layer of IP, a track will be recorded by IP. In this paper, a fast neutron detector based on IP and (n, p) reaction is described in detail, the detector's efficiency is studied also. (authors)

Factors related to reduction in the consumption of fast food: application of the theory-based approaches

Science.gov (United States)

Zeinab, Jalambadani; Gholamreza, Garmaroudi; Mehdi, Yaseri; Mahmood, Tavousi; Korush, Jafarian

2017-01-01

Background The Trans-Theoretical model (TTM) and Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) may be promising models for understanding and predicting reduction in the consumption of fast food. The aim of this study was to examine the applicability of the Trans-Theoretical model (TTM) and the additional predictive role of the subjective norms and perceived behavioural control in predicting reduction consumption of fast food in obese Iranian adolescent girls. Materials and Methods. A cross sectional study design was conducted among twelve randomly selected schools in Sabzevar, Iran from 2015 to 2017. Four hundred eighty five randomly selected students consented to participate in the study. Hierarchical regression models used to predict the role of important variables that can influence the reduction in the consumption of fast food among students. using SPSS version 22. Results Variables Perceived behavioural control (r=0.58, Pconsumption of fast food. Significance for public health The Ministries of Education and Public Health should cooperate in supporting the below-mentioned formal and non-formal school, family and community nutritional education and activities. Lastly, the Ministry of Public Health should conduct programmes with restaurant owners on healthy Iranian food and its hygienic presentation and promotion, to enhance their ability to compete with fast-food restaurants. PMID:29071252

The fast tracker processor for hadron collider triggers

CERN Document Server

Annovi, A; Bardi, A; Carosi, R; Dell'Orso, Mauro; D'Onofrio, M; Giannetti, P; Iannaccone, G; Morsani, E; Pietri, M; Varotto, G

2001-01-01

Perspectives for precise and fast track reconstruction in future hadron collider experiments are addressed. We discuss the feasibility of a pipelined highly parallel processor dedicated to the implementation of a very fast tracking algorithm. The algorithm is based on the use of a large bank of pre-stored combinations of trajectory points, called patterns, for extremely complex tracking systems. The CMS experiment at LHC is used as a benchmark. Tracking data from the events selected by the level-1 trigger are sorted and filtered by the Fast Tracker processor at an input rate of 100 kHz. This data organization allows the level-2 trigger logic to reconstruct full resolution tracks with transverse momentum above a few GeV and search for secondary vertices within typical level-2 times. (15 refs).

Preoperative fasting: will the evidence ever be put into practice?

Science.gov (United States)

Crenshaw, Jeannette T

2011-10-01

Decades of research support the safety and health benefits of consuming clear liquids, including those that are carbohydrate rich, until a few hours before elective surgery or other procedures requiring sedation or anesthesia. Still, U.S. clinicians routinely instruct patients to fast for excessively long preoperative periods. Evidence-based guidelines, published over the past 25 years in the United States, Canada, and throughout Europe, recommend liberalizing preoperative fasting policies. To improve patient safety and health care quality, it's essential that health care professionals abandon outdated preoperative fasting policies and allow available evidence to guide preanesthetic practices.

Automated Measurement of Fast Mitochondrial Transport in Neurons

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kyle eMiller

2015-11-01

Full Text Available There is a growing recognition that fast mitochondrial transport in neurons is disrupted in multiple neurological diseases and psychiatric disorders. However a major constraint in identifying novel therapeutics based on mitochondrial transport is that the large-scale analysis of fast transport is time consuming. Here we describe methodologies for the automated analysis of fast mitochondrial transport from data acquired using a robotic microscope. We focused on addressing questions of measurement precision, speed, reliably, workflow ease, statistical processing and presentation. We used optical flow and particle tracking algorithms, implemented in ImageJ, to measure mitochondrial movement in primary cultured cortical and hippocampal neurons. With it, we are able to generate complete descriptions of movement profiles in an automated fashion of hundred of thousands of mitochondria with a processing time of approximately one hour. We describe the calibration of the parameters of the tracking algorithms and demonstrate that they are capable of measuring the fast transport of a single mitochondrion. We then show that the methods are capable of reliably measuring the inhibition of fast mitochondria transport induced by the disruption of microtubules with the drug nocodazole in both hippocampal and cortical neurons. This work lays the foundation for future large-scale screens designed to identify compounds that modulate mitochondrial motility.

Direct fourier method reconstruction based on unequally spaced fast fourier transform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu Xiaofeng; Zhao Ming; Liu Li

2003-01-01

First, We give an Unequally Spaced Fast Fourier Transform (USFFT) method, which is more exact and theoretically more comprehensible than its former counterpart. Then, with an interesting interpolation scheme, we discusse how to apply USFFT to Direct Fourier Method (DFM) reconstruction of parallel projection data. At last, an emulation experiment result is given. (authors)