We present the latest developments for the radiation laboratory curriculum at the Department of Physics and Astronomy of Western Kentucky University. During the last decade, the Applied Physics Institute (API) at WKU accumulated various equipment for radiation experimentation. This includes various neutron sources (computer controlled d-t and d-d neutron generators, and isotopic 252 Cf and PuBe sources), the set of gamma sources with various intensities, gamma detectors with various energy resolutions (NaI, BGO, GSO, LaBr and HPGe) and the 2.5-MeV Van de Graaff particle accelerator. XRF and XRD apparatuses are also available for students and members at the API. This equipment is currently used in numerous scientific and teaching activities. Members of the API also developed a set of laboratory activities for undergraduate students taking classes from the physics curriculum (Nuclear Physics, Atomic Physics, and Radiation Biophysics). Our goal is to develop a set of ...
The evaluated data testing for Si, Zr, Nb and Fe materials has been performed through the analyses of the neutron leakage spectrum from spherical assemblies measured in integral benchmark experiments with (d,t) and Cf fission neutron sources. Intercomparisons of the calculated from BROND-2, ENDF/B-6 and JENDL-3 data files with experimental results are presented.
A clean benchmark experiment on beryllium was performed with D-T neutrons at the FNS facility of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency. The main objective was to verify the integral data related to the tritium production on lithium isotopes. Tritium production rates, as well as activation reaction rates were measured inside the beryllium assembly that was shaped as a pseudo-cylindrical slab with an area-equivalent diameter of 628 mm and a thickness of 355 mm. Experimental results were analyzed with a three-dimensional Monte Carlo transport code MCNP-4C and FENDL/MC-2.0, JENDL-3.2/3.3 neutron transport libraries. Evaluation of reaction rates was based on the cross section data taken from the JENDL Dosimetry File and ENDF B-VI data libraries. Analysis shows that all calculation combinations (transport and activation cross section libraries) used for evaluation of reaction rates give data that is agreeable with measured values within 10%.
Contrary to previous plans for the preparation of diagnostic systems for D-T break-even experiments in the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR), it now appears that a limited Q#approx#1 demonstration can be carried out without constructing a close-fitting igloo radiation shield around the tokamak. In order to assess the impact of D-T operation of TFTR without an igloo shield, particularly with regard to hardening of diagonstic systems, we have mapped neutron and gamma fluxes inside the test cell and test cell basement, using a variety of radiation measurements. The measurements are sufficiently detailed to resolve massive hardware components, such as neutral beams and shielded diagnostic systems, and can be used to predict local fluxes. By comparing the measurements with transport code calculations for the case of a bare tokamak, we conclude that the models have substantially overestimated fluxes both inside and outside the ...
The alpha-particle confinement of future D-Texperiments at JET can be severely degraded by Global Alfven Eigenmodes (AE). Scenarios for the excitation of Alfven Eigenmodes in usual (e.g. D-D) plasmas are proposed, which provide a MHD diagnostic and allow the study of the transport of super-Alfvenic ions. Active studies with separate control of TAE amplitude and energetic particle destabilization, measuring the plasma response, give more information than passive studies, in particular concerning the damping mechanisms. The TAE excitation can be achieved by means of the saddle coil and the ICRH antenna. The experimental method is introduced together with a theoretical model for RF excitation. (authors). 6 refs., 3 figs.
Conformational transitions of poly(dA-dC).poly(dG-dT), poly(dA-dT).poly(dA-dT), and other alternating purine-pyrimidine DNAs were studied in aqueous ethanol solutions containing molar concentrations...Full Text Available
From the start of commercial operation in 1983 until the end of 1985, the Wolsung Nuclear Power Plant operated for about 800 effective full power days (EFPDs). During this relatively short operational period it experienced various problems but achieved high reliability in operation. Wolsung recorded economical fuel utilization, particularly in 1985, together with a 94.4% plant capacity factor; it also showed successful in-pile test results as part of a fuel localization project. The actual fuelling rate was 16.3 bundles per EFPD in 1985, i.e. a saving of about 11% compared with the design fuelling rate of 18.2 bundles per EFPD. Better fuel performance was achieved because minimum excess reactivity was maintained in the core, characteristics unique to the core were found and the spatial flux distribution was controlled. The average discharge fuel burnup in 1985 was 6993 MW#centre dot#d/t U, which was 8.5% more than the design value of 6446 MW#centre ...
Discrepancies between the energy level schemes of "1"0"9Cd determined by radioactive decay studies and "1"1"0Cd(d, t) reaction studies were investigated by a new study of the "1"1"0Cd(d, t) reaction. Sixteen triton groups were found, J/sup pi/ assignments were made, and spectroscopic factors and fullnesses of single particle states were determined and compared with those for isotonic nuclei. The results remove or clarify all previous discrepancies.
Alpha particle confinement is necessary for ignition of a D-T tokamak fusion plasma and for first wall protection. Due to high radiation backgrounds and temperatures, scintillators and semiconductor detectors may not be used to study alpha particles which are lost to the first wall during the D-T programs on JET and ITER. An alternative method of charged particle spectrometry capable of operation in these harsh environments, is proposed: it consists of thin foils of electrically isolated conductors with the flux of alpha particles determined by the positive current flowing from the foils. 2 refs., 3 figs.
Despite their wide use, the physiological relevance of organotypic slices remains controversial. Such cultures are prepared at 5 days postnatal. Although some local circuitry remains intact, they develop...Full Text Available
We summarize results of recent studies of heavy quarkonia correlators and spectral functions at finite temperatures from lattice QCD and systematic T-matrix studies using QCD motivated finite-temperature potentials. We argue that heavy quarkonia dissociation shall occur in the temperature range $1.2 \\le T_d/T_c \\le 1.5$ by the interplay of both screening and absorption in the strongly correlated plasma medium. We discuss these effects on the quantum mechanical evolution of quarkonia states within a time-dependent harmonic oscillator model with complex oscillator strength and compare the results with data for $R_{\\rm AA}/R_{\\rm AA}^{\\rm CNM}$ from RHIC and SPS experiments. We speculate whether the suppression pattern of the rather precise NA60 data from In-In collisions may be related to the recently discovered X(3872) state. Theoretical support for this hypothesis comes from the cluster expansion of the plasma Hamiltonian for heavy ...
In most conceptual fusion power reactor designs, it is proposed to use beryllium as a neutron multiplier in the blanket. Detailed chemical composition of beryllium is necessary for evaluation of the tritium breeding ratio, and estimating the activation and transmutation of beryllium in the fusion reactor. In the present report, special attention was paid to a detailed analysis of impurities in beryllium, relevant to the tritium breeding ratio evaluation. Two different methods were used for the study of impurities: an analysis of the local sample by the ICP-MS method, and an integral analysis of the beryllium assembly, using the pulsed neutron method. The latter method was proposed as the most effective way of analyzing the integral effect to impurities in beryllium on production of the tritium on the lithium-6. The evaluation of the integral effect was based on time behaviour observations of the thermal neutron flux, following the injection of a burst of ...
The activation aspects of pure fusion and hybrid fusion technology is studied to assess the radioactive safety of various fusion concepts including tokamak pure fusion, fissile fuel producing hybrid and radio waste transmuting hybrid. The activation properties of breeding, coolant and structural materials in fusion reactors might be quite different from those in fission reactors because of the high energy D-T fusion neutrons from the fusion cores. A study on the involved activation reactions and the uncertainties of the associated nuclear cross-sections is carried. The activation properties of various first wall concepts and blanket concepts are discussed. The radioactive inventory during the operation lifetime and the potential hazard of the radioactive nuclides with respect to near term (reprocessing) and long term (waste disposal) aspects are calculated, with reference to ITER/NET (International Thermonuclear Experiment Reactor/Next European ...
The activation aspects of pure fusion and hybrid fusion technology is studied to assess the radioactive safety of various fusion concepts including tokamak pure fusion, fissile fuel producing hybrid and radio waste transmuting hybrid. The activation properties of breeding, coolant and structural materials in fusion reactors might be quite different from those in fission reactors because of the high energy D-T fusion neutrons from the fusion cores. A study on the involved activation reactions and the uncertainties of the associated nuclear cross-sections is carried. The activation properties of various first wall concepts and blanket concepts are discussed. The radioactive inventory during the operation lifetime and the potential hazard of the radioactive nuclides with respect to near term (reprocessing) and long term (waste disposal) aspects are calculated, with reference to ITER/NET (International Thermonuclear Experiment Reactor/Next European ...
The semiclassical approximation with straight-line trajectories is applied to the Coulomb ionization of K, L and M shells by heavy charged particles. The calculational aspects are discussed in detail. Scaling relations for the experimentally relevant quantities are derived. The theoretical predictions are compared with experiment. The relation of the present work to the earlier results of the semiclassical approximation and partial-wave Born approximation is discussed in detail. (author).
Stretch-Out and Extended Low Power Operation is two particular operating modes applied for nuclear electricity generation. The relevant safety analysis and the impacts on plant operation are well illustrated, as well as some operation experiences earned in Daya Bay nuclear power station. The safety analysis and plant practice show that Stretch-Out operation and Extended Low Power Operation are operable in Daya Bay nuclear power station
Recent results of experimental and theoretical investigations, carried out in the Institute of plasma Physics of the NSC KIPT, are presented in the report. The main problems of discussion are as follows: plasma confinement and heating in stellarators and electromagnetic traps; powerful quasi-steady-state plasma accelerators (QSPA); experimentsrelevant for ITER; fusion Plasma theory; methods of high temperature plasma diagnostics; plasma technology. The main prospects on the IPP investigators are discussed also.
The status of the IEEE 802.3 standard is reviewed and prospects for the future, including the new 10 Gigabit version of Ethernet, are discussed. The relevance of Ethernet for experiments at the CERN Large Hadron Collider is considered, with emphasis on on-line applications and areas which are technically challenging. 8 Refs.
The "texture zero mass matrices" for the quarks and leptons describe very well the flavor mixing of the quarks and leptons. We can calculate the angles of the unitarity triangle. We expect the angle alpha of the unitarity triangle to be 90 degrees. The masses of the neutrinos can be calculated - they are very small, the largest neutrino mass is 0.05 eV. We calculated the matrix element of the mixing matrix, relevant for the reactor mixing angle. It can be measured in the near future in the DAYA BAY experiment.
Electrochemical cyclic potentiodynamic polarization (CPP) experiments were performed on several candidate high-performance waste package container materials to evaluate their susceptibility to localized corrosion in aqueous environments relevant to the potential underground high-level nuclear waste repository. This paper presents the results of this study showing the effects of chloride ion (Cl) concentrations, pH, temperature, and electrochemical potential scan rate on the pitting corrosion behavior of these materials.
This work deals with a time-resolved optical study of the avalanche and streamer formation phases leading to breakdown in atmospheric nitrogen. The authors present the results obtained for nitrogen, from experiments and two-dimensional model simulations. This model is used to obtain a better insight in the relevant mechanisms and processes by a comparison of measurements and simulation data. The trends of externally measured quantities correspond with those predicted by the model.
Over the recent years the nuclear structure around the N = 50 shell closure, which is very pronounced in the strontium and zirconium isotopes, has been the subject of extensive experimental and theoretical work. On the proton side Z = 38 and Z = 40 provide fairly closed sub-shells. In the strontium isotopes the lg/sub 9/2/ neutron shell is closed at /sup 88/Sr, supplying relatively pure neutron-hole and neutron-particle states with large spectroscopic factors in /sup 87/Sr and /sup 89/Sr, as well as core-coupled states. The mass region is thus ideally suited to examine the transition from a correlated to an uncorrelated (chaotic.) excitational behavior. These two types are characterized e.g. by the density of excited states, the transition strengths, and the spectroscopic factors observed in transfer reactions. We conducted (n,..gamma..) and (d,p) reactions leading to /sup 87,88,89/Sr in addition to /sup 88/Sr(d,t)/sup 87/Sr and 24 keV neutron capture in /sup ...
Over the recent years the nuclear structure around the N = 50 shell closure, which is very pronounced in the strontium and zirconium isotopes, has been the subject of extensive experimental and theoretical work. On the proton side Z = 38 and Z = 40 provide fairly closed sub-shells. In the strontium isotopes the lg/sub 9/2/ neutron shell is closed at "8"8Sr, supplying relatively pure neutron-hole and neutron-particle states with large spectroscopic factors in "8"7Sr and "8"9Sr, as well as core-coupled states. The mass region is thus ideally suited to examine the transition from a correlated to an uncorrelated (chaotic?) excitational behavior. These two types are characterized e.g. by the density of excited states, the transition strengths, and the spectroscopic factors observed in transfer reactions. We conducted (n,#gamma#) and (d,p) reactions leading to /sup 87,88,89/Sr in addition to "8"8Sr(d,t)"8"7Sr and 24 keV neutron capture in "8"8Sr. The vast amounts of data ...
The symposium covers papers under different sections namely, (i) Core physics and Fuel management, (ii) Commissioning of facilities and systems, (iii) Operational experience and Human resource development, (iv) Fuel handling, Maintenance management and Surveillance, (v) Instrumentation and Control and Power supply systems, (vi) Analysis, modifications and developments for enhancing operational safety, (vii) Chemistry control and Effluent management, (viii) Radiation and industrial safety and (ix) Steam generators, Turbo-generators and other auxiliaries. Papers relevant to INIS are indexed separately. (author)
We present results from ab-initio electronic-structure calculations of mechanical properties of the rhombohedral phase of vanadium reported in recent experiments (R Ia), and other predicted high-pressure phases (R Ib and bcc), focusing on properties relevant to dynamic experiments. We find that of the three transitions the largest volume collapse (1.3%) is for the R Ia to R Ib transition. Calculations of the single crystal and polycrystal elastic constants reveal a remarkably small discontinuity across the phase transitions even at zero temperature where the transitions are first order.
Results from three separate experiments that have some relevance to bound residues are reported. In the first, "1"4C-labelled paraquat was lost when applied to soil in the field, about 26% of the radioactivity disappearing in 15 months, whereas in laboratory incubation studies there was no loss of radioactivity in one year. Two possible explanations are (i) that there was photolytic decomposition in the field, (ii) the preparation of the soil for the laboratory study upset the microbial ecology of the soil to the detriment of organisms that can degrade paraquat. In an experiment with "1"4C-labelled isoproturon, there was an indication that there was slightly more "1"4C in the unextractable humin fraction in soil in which wheat plants were grown than in bare soil. Work in the UK, Federal Republic of Germany and in Switzerland has shown that the phytotoxicity of residues of atrazine, carbetamide, chloridazone, propyzamide, ...
For light water reactors, loss of coolant is an important point in safety analysis, whereas for gas-cooled reactors the ingress of water into the core region is an incident of safety relevance. The applicability of the computer code system GAMTEREX to pebble beds of spherical high-temperature gas-cooled reactor fuel elements with simulated water ingress is verified by experiment. The measurements were performed at a Siemens-Argonaut reactor, using its ring core as a driver zone for a pebble-bed core in the center of the reactor.
This paper describes the phenomenology of nuclear explosions and technologies for their detection as relevant to On-Site Inspection (OSI) for a comprehensive test-ban (CTB). Our experience with the US nuclear test program which has been primarily carried out at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) and in the Pacific Ocean. The goals of OSI are to resolve ambiguous events, reduce uncertainty, deter attempts at evasion, and provide responsive and technically competent means of confirming the occurrence of a nuclear explosion should deterrence fail. These goals would include finding evidence of an evasive nuclear explosion or evidence that the event was non-nuclear, such as an earthquake or large chemical explosion.
This paper describes the results obtained from two large experimental facilities built at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM. FLAME (Flame Acceleration Measurements and Experiments) is a large horizontal rectangular channel designed to study flame acceleration, transition to detonation, simulation of combustion in containment geometries, component heating, and other problems in hydrogen combustion relevant to reactor safety. The Heated Detonation Tube has been designed to study detonations in hydrogen-air-steam mixtures. Both facilities have been in operation for just over a year. 12 figures.
This paper describes the results obtained from two large experimental facilities built at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM. FLAME (Flame Acceleration Measurements and Experiments) is a large horizontal rectangular channel designed to study flame acceleration, transition to detonation, simulation of combustion in containment geometries, component heating, and other problems in hydrogen combustion relevant to reactor safety. The Heated Detonation Tube has been designed to study detonations in hydrogen-air-steam mixtures. Both facilities have been in operation for just over a year. 12 figures.
The fusion excitation function for the radioactive projectile "8 Li on a "2"0"8 Pb target has been measured at energies near the Coulomb barrier. The results show that in the considered energy interval, the evaporation of four neutrons is the most relevant mechanism. However, at the highest energies used in the experiment, the Sn channel begins to appear. The preliminary experimental cross sections show a good agreement with the predictions of a simple evaporation calculation using the code PACE. (Author) 16 refs., 1 tab., 4 figs.
The claim that focus evokes a set of alternatives is a central issue in several accounts of the effects of focus on interpretation. This article presents two empirical studies that examine whether this property of focus is independent of contextual conditions. The syntactic operation at issue is object-fronting in German, Spanish, Greek, and Hungarian licensed by contexts involving focus on the object constituent. This operation evokes the intuition that the fronted referent excludes some or all relevant alternatives. The presented experiments deal with the question whether this interpretative property obligatorily accompanies the operation at issue or not. The empirical findings show that in German, Spanish, and Greek this intuition depends on properties of the context and is sensitive to...
The paper presents experimental investigations of main features of plasma surface interaction and energy transfer to the material surface in dependence on plasma heat loads. The experiments were performed with QSPA repetitive plasma pulses of the duration of 0.25 ms and the energy density up to 2.5 MJ/m2. Surface morphology of the targets exposed to QSPA plasma screams is analyzed. Relative contribution of the Lorentz force and plasma pressure gradient to the resulting surface profile is discussed. development of cracking on the tungsten surface and swelling of the surface are found to be in strong dependence on initial temperature of the target.
Electrochemical cyclic potentiodynamic polarization experiments were performed on several candidate waste package container materials to evaluate their susceptibility to pitting corrosion at 90 degrees C in aqueous environments relevant to the potential underground high-level nuclear waste repository. Results indicate that of all the materials tested, Alloy C-22 and Ti Grade-12 exhibited the maximum corrosion resistance, showing no pitting or observable corrosion in any environment tested. Efforts were also made to study the effect of chloride ion concentration and pH on the measured corrosion potential (Ecorr), critical pitting and protection potential values.
Regular physical activity (PA) decreases the risk of several chronic diseases including some cancers, type II diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease; however, the majority of US adults are not meeting the recommended levels to experience these benefits. To address this public health concern, the underlying mechanisms for behavior change need to be understood, translated and disseminated into appropriately tailored interventions. The Transtheoretical Model (TTM) provides a framework for both the conceptualization and the measurement of behavior change, as well as facilitating promotion strategies that are individualized and easily adapted. The purpose of this manuscript is to present the constructs of the TTM as they relate to PA behavior change. We begin with a brief synopsis of rec...
Considering the status of knowledge on corrosion and corrosion protection and especially the need for long term compatibility data of structural materials in HLM a set of experiments to generate reliable long term data was defined and performed. The long term corrosion behaviour of the two structural materials foreseen in ADS, 316L and T91, was investigated in the design relevant temperature field, i.e. from 300 to 550degreeC. The operational window of the two steels in this temperature range was identified and all oxidation data were used to develop and validate the models of oxide scale growth in PbBi. A mechanistic model capable to predict the oxidation rate applying some experimentally fitted parameters has been developed. This model assumes parabolic oxidation and might be used for de...
The Gravity Probe-B (GP-B) spacecraft, designed to test predictions of general relativity, will fly in the mid 1990s. It will carry four electrostatically suspended gyroscopes in a cryogenic environment and will have a drag-free control system to minimize disturbances on the gyroscopes. The Stanford Test of Equivalence Principle (STEP) spacecraft, to fly later, will carry a set of test masses under very similar conditions. The possibility of using differential measurements of the GP-B gyroscopes suspension forces and the STEP tests mass displacement readout to form single-axis gravity gradiometers is explored. It is shown that the noise in the suspension systems is sufficiently small in the relevant frequency range, and that enough information is collected to compensate for the spacecrafts' attitude motion. Finally, using Breakwell's flat-earth approximation, these experiments are compared to other geodesy ...
Ethnopharmacological relevance: Extracts of the roots of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (Labiatae) have been widely used to relieve fever related to bacterial infection and inflammatory diseases in traditional Korean medicine and have been reported to be effective in brain diseases. These experiments were conducted to examine the effects of oral administration of Scutellaria baicalensis extracts on the rescue of memory impairments induced by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion or chronic lipopolysaccharide (LPS) infusion. In addition, the underlying mechanisms of these effects were investigated. Materials and methods: In the first experiment, chronic cerebral hypoperfusion was induced in male Wister rats by bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (BCCAo). Daily administration of Scutellaria b...
This article explores composition skills and modalities for locative, multimedia texts by reporting experiences from a locative iPhone application that plays church music and explains that music's history in churches in Rome, Italy. Using a research by design approach, we did three rounds of observation, paper sketches, and user testing of prototypes. We found that an effective locative text must be adapted to the place in which it is intended to be experienced. The locative text must be specific, possibly referring to what the audience can see or experience at the place, and thus it is important to know how people usually behave in that particular place. Images are of little relevance in a mobile guide, except for exterior shots, which may help users to locate interesting buildings. Sound...
This report revises estimates of population exposure to external natural background made by D. T. Oakley in 1972. The revisions include more recent estimates of dose equivalents from cosmic rays, use of 1970 U.S. census data, and corrections for building shielding and for self-shielding in the body. The dose equivalents calculated are those from cosmic rays and terrestrial radiation, and do not include doses from natural radioactive materials in the body.
The effect of nuclear scattering on the suprathermal fusion probability of recoiling d-t nuclei under the impact of fusion products, a 14.1-MeV neutron and a 3.5 MeV alpha particle, in thick pellets is investigated with the help of the Boltzmann-Fokker-Planck equation. Although the suprathermal fusion from alpha-particle recoils is quite small, the one originating from neutron recoils is considerable.
At the RIKEN-RAL Muon Facility, ?- to ? sticking K? X-rays were observed for the first time taking advantage of the pulsed beam structure. The precision of the present measurements was insufficient to distinguish between theoretical models, however the observed K?/K? X-ray intensity ratio tends to be smaller than most of these theoretical predictions.
An attempt is made to estimate the lithium reserve (the economically recoverable lithium) for the tritium breeding in D-T fusion reactors and other uses. Similar development patterns for fusion energy and fission energy are assumed to estimate the future lithium requirements. These requirements are grouped into three categories; the commercial uses, the lithium batteries for electric cars, and the fusion reactor uses. 5 refs.
Experimental and evaluated integral parameters derived from nuclear plus interference differential elastic scattering cross sections are presented for all projectile/target combinations of the particles p, d, t, /sup 3/He, and ..cap alpha... The data include reaction rates, average fractional energy losses per collision and per unit path length, and average laboratory scattering cosines. The resulting parameters are of potential use in analysis of charged-particle transport.
We conducted (n, #gamma#) and (d, p) reactions leading to "8"7", "8"8", "8"9"Sr in addition to "8"8Sr (d, t) "8"7Sr and 24 keV neutron capture in "8"8Sr. (orig./HSI).
HMGA2 is a DNA minor-groove binding protein. We previously demonstrated that HMGA2 binds to AT-rich DNA with very high binding affinity where the binding of HMGA2 to poly(dA-dT)2 is enthalpy-driven...Full Text Available
The research supported by this Department of Energy contract has primarily been devoted to the study of the electronic properties of surfaces with sub-micron size. In previous years, we have studied the photoexcitation of electrons from field emission tips by a focussed Argon-ion laser beam tuned to operate at specific photon energy. The photoexcited electrons escape into the vacuum by tunneling through a surface potential barrier which is distorted by the application of a strong electric field. The interest in these experiments lies in a better understanding of the photoexcitation process at low photon energies. The techniques that have been developed directly measure the excited state energy distribution of electrons emitted through the surface potential barrier. The basic information gained from this research is relevant to opto-electronic devices which rely on photoexcitation of electrons in the presence of strong interfacial electric ...
The authors propose to develop a high-energy heavy-ion experimental database and make it accessible to the scientific community through an on-line interface. This database will be searchable and cross-indexed with relevant publications, including published detector descriptions. Since this database will be a community resource, it requires the high-energy nuclear physics community's financial and manpower support. This database should eventually contain all published data from Bevalac, AGS and SPS to RHIC and CERN-LHC energies, proton-proton to nucleus-nucleus collisions as well as other relevant systems, and all measured observables. Such a database would have tremendous scientific payoff as it makes systematic studies easier and allows simpler benchmarking of theoretical models to a broad range of old and new experiments. Furthermore, there is a growing need for compilations of high-energy nuclear data for ...
This study looks at how education policies in colonial Korea changed over time in order to accommodate the needs of the colonial authorities during the period of Japanese colonial rule in Korea (1910-1945). The colonial experience can be divided into four different periods according to the four Educational Ordinances issued in 1911, 1922, 1938, and 1943 by the colonial government with each period corresponding to a historic event or context. The constitutive relevance of colonial discourse for an understanding of education can be found in the gradual transformation of the education sector in Korea under colonial rule. It is evident that Japanese colonial policy was inherently contradictory in principle and in practice. On the one hand it sought the assimilation of the Koreans, while on the other it maintained its discriminatory and exploitative practices. Such contradiction was obvious within the colonial education system. As the principal ...
The goal of this study is to estimate the relevance and Influence of the Existing Regulation and the RI-PBR to the institutionalization of the regulatory system. This study reviews the current regulatory system and the status of the RI-PBR implementation of the US NRC and Korea based upon SECY Papers, Risk Informed Regulation Implementation Plan (RIRIP) of the US NRC and other domestic studies. In order to investigate the perceptions, knowledge level, ground for the regulatory change, a survey was performed to Korean nuclear utilities, researchers and regulators on the perception on the RIR. The questionnaire was composed of 50 questions regarding personal details on work experience, level of education and specific field of work ; level of knowledge on the risk informed performance based regulation (RI-PBR); the perception of the current regulation, the effectiveness, level of procedure, flexibility, dependency on the regulator and personal ...
The research supported by this Department of Energy contract has primarily been devoted to the study of the electronic properties of surfaces with sub-micron size. In previous years, we have studied the photoexcitation of electrons from field emission tips by a focussed Argon-ion laser beam tuned to operate at specific photon energy. The photoexcited electrons escape into the vacuum by tunneling through a surface potential barrier which is distorted by the application of a strong electric field. The interest in these experiments lies in a better understanding of the photoexcitation process at low photon energies. The techniques that have been developed directly measure the excited state energy distribution of electrons emitted through the surface potential barrier. The basic information gained from this research is relevant to opto-electronic devices which rely on photoexcitation of electrons in the presence of strong interfacial electric ...
In 1999, the plasma parameters of reversed shear (RS) plasmas had been extended in 1) DT-equivalent fusion power gain Q_D_T"e"q - 0.5 (n_D(0)#tau#_ET_i(0) - 4x10"2"0 m"-"3#centre dot#keV#centre dot#s) for 0.8 s and 2) full non-inductive current drive with 80% of the bootstrap current fraction. Physics of the internal transport barriers (ITBs) in RS plasmas, including the energy transport and the formation of ITB, were extensively studied. A nearly full current drive (92% non-inductively) was obtained with negative ion based neutral beam (NNB) injection (360 keV, 3.4 MW) in a high #beta#_p H-mode plasma (I_p=1.5 MA, B_T=3.7 T, q_9_5=4.2) with high plasma performance (#beta#_N=2.4 and H_8_9=2.56). Rise in the central electron temperature (T_e - 9 keV) resulted in the current drive efficiency #eta#_C_D of NNB reached 1.3x10"1"9 A/W/m"2, the highest for the neutral beam current drive. As for the H-mode plasmas, decrease in the pedestal ion temperature due to strong gas ...
The European demonstration project Hip Hip (house integrated photovoltaic high-tech in public) led the French photovoltaic market to reach a level comparable to those of the other European countries in terms of relevance of implemented solutions and costs. This document presents the best realizations and the experience gained through the Hip Hip project. Its aim is to convince the designers and managers of building projects of the advantages of photovoltaic installations integrated to the structure and connected to the power distribution grid: 1 - presentation of the technology; 2 - status of the Hip Hip demonstration project (goals, results: main innovations and impact on the French market); 3 - different possibilities of integration to the building structure; 4 - examples of projects realized in France in the framework of the Hip Hip project: integration in glass roof, frontage, added elements, fitting on roofs. (J.S.)
The author have prepared a new, fusion-oriented library of multigroup neutron cross sections, scattering matrices, and covariances (uncertainties and correlations). The 74-group library, called COVFILS-2, has been used, or will be used, by neutronics groups at Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL) at the University of California at Los Angeles, and at the Swiss Federal Institute for Reactor Research in the sensitivity and uncertainty analysis of fusion-relevant integral experiments such as the Li/sub 2/O experiment performed at the Fast Neutron Source Facility in Japan and the Lithium breeding module experiment planned at the LOTUS facility in Lausanne, Switzerland. Another intended use of this library is in the estimation of the uncertainty in key performance parameters (such as the breeding ratio) of conceptual fusion reactors. The 14 materials included in the first version of COVFILS-2 are hydrogen, /sup ...
The author have prepared a new, fusion-oriented library of multigroup neutron cross sections, scattering matrices, and covariances (uncertainties and correlations). The 74-group library, called COVFILS-2, has been used, or will be used, by neutronics groups at Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL) at the University of California at Los Angeles, and at the Swiss Federal Institute for Reactor Research in the sensitivity and uncertainty analysis of fusion-relevant integral experiments such as the Li_2O experiment performed at the Fast Neutron Source Facility in Japan and the Lithium breeding module experiment planned at the LOTUS facility in Lausanne, Switzerland. Another intended use of this library is in the estimation of the uncertainty in key performance parameters (such as the breeding ratio) of conceptual fusion reactors. The 14 materials included in the first version of COVFILS-2 are hydrogen, "6Li, "7Li, ...
The significant technical and industrial aspects which have led to main coolant line (MCL) materials selection are addressed from a long term experience and operational practice point of view. They are based on the Siemens/KWU developed basic material concept for its nuclear power plants. It considers the choice of appropriate materials, the evaluation and qualification of the materials and the materials manufacturer, the use of appropriate semi-finished products, the tailoring of material and semi-finished products to the specific requirements of the various systems, the application of adequate manufacturing processes and the proof of the requirements by specifying proper tests and examinations. The main systems are assigned to safety classes in accordance with their safety relevance. Summarizing the operation time of nuclear power plants with ferritic MCL equipped by Siemens/KWU, more than 200 years of operation ...
This paper is focused on TLP and Spar technology as applied to floating production applications. In particular, safety considerations as related to classification and certification requirements are addressed. This covers hull structures, marine systems, production facilities and the relevant mooring systems for each platform type from design approval on through construction, installation and ultimately the ongoing maintenance of the platform to acceptable standards throughout its operating life. The experience of the American Bureau of Shipping with these platforms will be utilized in supporting the practical application of classification and regulatory standards to ensure safe operations and concluding that use of such standards in conjunction with an experienced classification society provides a substantial benefit to companies utilizing these technologies. (author)
More than sixty base-isolated buildings have been built in Japan. A number of base-isolation systems were considered in our research, which was intended to establish the effectiveness of base-isolation systems. We conducted research on silicone rubber bearings. Generally, silicone rubber is durable and its characteristics are not dependent on the temperature within the relevant design range. The first part of the report covers material and elements testing. After the bearings were installed in the building, we performed forced vibration tests in both the horizontal and vertical directions. These test results form the next section. After several experiments, we carried out earthquake observations. We report on the effectiveness of the system in reducing response acceleration during a small displacement. This system was installed in the building in March 1992
This article explores the extent to which and how non-formal education (NFE) contributes to the development of a more diversified basic education system and thus to the achievement of EFA. It outlines the current nature of NFE, the frameworks provided by the EFA movement, and the evolution of reflection, policies and practices in NFE in relation to basic education as a whole. Based on significant developments in various countries across the South, the article also discusses some key challenges that ministries of education and their partners need to face in moving towards relevant and equitable diversity in education. The article posits that, despite the many problems faced by NFE, there is justification for building on its experiences and integrating these within a larger policy and system...
Recently it was demonstrated that long-lived quantum coherence exists during excitation energy transport in photosynthesis. It is a valid question up to which length, time and mass scales quantum coherence may extend, how one may detect this coherence and what, if any, role it plays in the dynamics of the system. Here we suggest that the selectivity filter of ion channels may exhibit quantum coherence, which might be relevant for the process of ion selectivity and conduction. We show that quantum resonances could provide an alternative approach to ultrafast two-dimensional (2D) spectroscopy to probe these quantum coherences. We demonstrate that the emergence of resonances in the conduction of ion channels that are modulated periodically by time-dependent external electric fields can serve as signatures of quantum coherence in such a system. Assessments of experimental feasibility and specific paths towards the experimental realization of such ...
The fully depleted pn-junction charge coupled device (pn-CCD) has been developed as a detector for X-ray imaging and high-resolution spectroscopy for the X-ray satellite missions XMM and ABRIXAS. If the detector is exposed to a particle radiation environment, the energy resolution is degraded due to charge transfer losses and a dark current increase. In a first experiment, prototype devices were irradiated with 10 MeV protons. After completion of the detector development, the proton irradiation was repeated for a quantitative study of the radiation damage, relevant for the satellite missions. The irradiation test was extended by a 5.5 MeV {alpha}-particle and a 6 keV X-ray exposure of the pn-CCD, including the CAMEX preamplifier chip.
A newly-available radioisotopic system, /sup 172/Hf-/sup 172/Lu, has excellent potential for tracer applications in which nuclear data acquisition must be accomplished in real time. The 6.7-day half-life of /sup 172/Lu is sufficient for a large fraction of tracer experiments, and should allow the direct incorporation of /sup 172/Lu into tests that have traditionally utilized much longer-lived radionuclides. Since /sup 172/Lu is the daughter component of a radioisotope generator, however, its effective shelf-life is determined by the half-life of its 1.9-year /sup 172/Hf parent. Consequently, the frequency of isotope procurement need not be any more extensive than investigators would normally be accustomed to. Discussion relevant to isotope production, generator operation, and nuclide acquisition is presented in this paper.
This paper analyses the role of the translator in the representation of alterity and the construction of national identity, with reference to the work of a nineteenth-century Egyptian translator, essayist and educationalist, Rif?'a R?fi' al-TahT?wi (1801-1874). The essay takhliS al-ibriz fi talkhiS b?ris ("The Extraction of Gold in the Summarizing of Paris") includes numerous examples of constructive translation and representation, which familiarised and legitimised the "other" through the identification of parallels, common values and experience. Al-TahT?wi negotiated between conflicting discourses of modernism and traditionalism, and it is argued that the issues of representation raised in his work are of particular relevance to contemporary concerns in the ...
This progress report concerns work completed or initiated since our last report in October of 1980. We have performed experiments in two major areas: photodissociation of organic cations to study the competition between isomerization and fragmentation; and, low energy proton transfer reactions of HCO"+ with selected neutrals. The former area provides a sideline to our combustion studies of proton transfer in hydrocarbon flames, but the question of energy transfer in highly excited gas phase ions impacts directly upon questions closely related to the fate of ions in combustion. The latter area, currently in progress, focuses upon the dynamics of biomolecular reactions of direct relevance to combustion.
Yb3+?Tm3+ codoped tellurite glasses containing silver nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized and characterized using transmission electron microscopy and optical techniques. The samples? composition and the nucleation of NPs were investigated using electron diffraction and energy dispersive spectroscopy. For the optical experiments, the samples were excited using a diode laser operating at 980?nm, in resonance with the Yb3+ transition 2F7/2?2F5/2. Photoluminescence (PL) bands corresponding to Tm3+ transitions were observed at 480, 650, and 800?nm due to the Yb3+? Tm3+ energy transfer. PL enhancement was achieved by heat-treatment of the samples at 325?C during different time intervals. The growth of the PL bands correlates with the increase of the silver NPs concentration. The relevant mecha...
We compute the corrections from two-photon and {gamma}-Z exchange in parity-violating elastic electron-proton scattering, used to extract the strange form factors of the proton. We use a hadronic formalism that successfully reconciled the earlier discrepancy in the proton's electron to magnetic form factor ratio, suitably extended to the weak sector. Implementing realistic electroweak form factors, we find effects of the order 2%-3% at Q{sup 2} < or approx. 0.1 GeV{sup 2}, which are largest at backward angles and have a strong Q{sup 2} dependence at low Q{sup 2}. Two-boson contributions to the weak axial current are found to be enhanced at low Q{sup 2} and for forward angles. We provide corrections at kinematics relevant for recent and upcoming parity-violating experiments.
Problem statement: Clustering has a number of techniques that have been developed in statistics, pattern recognition, data mining, and other fields. Subspace clustering enumerates clusters of objects in all subspaces of a dataset. It tends to produce many over lapping clusters. Approach: Subspace clustering and projected clustering are research areas for clustering in high dimensional spaces. In this research we experiment three clustering oriented algorithms, PROCLUS, P3C and STATPC. Results: In general, PROCLUS performs better in terms of time of calculation and produced the least number of un-clustered data while STATPC outperforms PROCLUS and P3C in the accuracy of both cluster points and relevant attributes found. Conclusions/Recommendations: In this study, we analyze in detail the properties of different data clustering method.
Papers presented at the workshop include: the longterm viability of mined land in Queensland; the determination and achievement of rehabilitation objectives: a state government objective; monitoring native vegetation in regenerated bauxite mines at Weipa: a belt transect method; rehabilitation strategies at the Collinsville open cut coal mine; the alteration of the environment by the construction and operation of the coal export facility at Abbot Point; some aspects of the premining environment at Collinsville; the prospects for long term revegetation of acid coal mine spoil and reject materials; recovery and stability in disturbed and artificially revegetated plant communities: a theoretical viewpoint; revegetation in the arid tropics: Mount Isa Mines' experience; Nabralek and its rehabilitation; rehabilitation and management strategies for acid mine wastes; the purpose and design of water quality monitoring networks at mine sites; Worsley alumina project ...
The main objective of this paper is to identify conditions which affect public concern (either increase or decrease) and political acceptance for developing and implementing programmes for geologic disposal of long-lived radioactive waste. It also looks how citizens and relevant actors can be associated in the decision making process in such a way that their input is enriching the outcome towards a more socially robust and sustainable solution. Finally, it aims at learning from the interaction how to optimise risk management addressing needs and expectations of the public and of other relevant stakeholders. In order to meet these objectives, factors of relevance for societal acceptance conditions are identified, described and analysed. Subsequently these factors are looked for in the real world of nuclear waste management through cases in several countries. The analysis is conducted for six stages of a repository programme ...
DNA polymerase gamma from purified nuclei of EMT-6 cells (mice) seems to be identical to the mitochondrial DNA polymerase from the same source following several criteria. These two enzyme activities are strongly inhibited by ethidium bromide and acriflavin, while proflavin, acridine orange, daunomycin and chloroquine inhibition is less pronounced. In the case of DNA polymerases alpha and beta very little inhibition by ethidium bromide was observed. Intercalation of this dye in a poly dA-dT 12-18 template-primer was studied spectrophotometrically under conditions similar to those in the in vitro DNA polymerase assay. The polymerase assay. The inhibition by this drug of the mitochondrial DNA polymerase gamma activity was shown to be competitive at varying concentrations of TTP while the inhibition was of the non-competitive type at different concentrations of poly dA-dT 12-18. We conclude that the drug, most probably in the intercalated form, is ...
We have investigated the structures formed by oligonucleotides composed of two or four repeats of the telomeric sequences from Oxytricha and Tetrahymena. The Oxytricha four-repeat molecule (d(T4G4)4 = Oxy-4) forms structures with increased electrophoretic mobility in nondenaturing gels containing Na+, K+, or Cs+, but not in gels containing Li+ or no added salt. Formation of the folded structure results in protection of a set of dG's from methylation by dimethyl sulfate. Efficient UV-induced cross-links are observed in Oxy-4 and the related sequence from Tetrahymena (d(T2G4)4 = Tet-4), and join thymidine residues in different repeats. Models proposed to account for these data involve G-quartets, hydrogen-bonded structures formed from four guanosine residues in a square-planar array. We propose that the G-quartet structure must be dealt with in vivo by the telomere replication machinery.
The thermonuclear reactivity of deuterium(D) - tritium(T) fusion plasma with spin-polarized fuel has been studied. Two mechanisms of depolarization, collisions and waves, in the high temperature fusion plasma have been considered. The binary collisions have been found not to change the nuclear spin states. The waves with a frequency of a few GHz, however, changes the spin states appreciably, when {delta}B/B{sub 0} (the ratio of the amplitude of the fluctuating magnetic field to the external field) becomes larger than 10{sup -5}. (author)
The vacuum polarization splitting of the M-shell states in muonic hydrogen can have a profound influence on the muonit de-excitation cascade in deuterium and tritium targets. The cascade also shows sensitive dependence on the precise rate of transfer processes between certain excited muonic deuterium and tritium atoms. Recent experimental data, where a much greater population of the (d..mu..) qs state (1/sub 1//sub //sub s/) was found than previously predicted, can be explained if the transfer rates from the (d..mu..) M-shell are assumed to be strongly suppressed.
The constants, applied in the phenomenological approaches for describing the nuclear reactions with the high transmitted pulse, are obtained within the frames of the multiquark flucton microscopic model. The constants values prove to be universal for all the nuclei and independent on the collision energy and flucton properties (excluding its mass), i.e. the peculiar scaling is manifested in the reaction cross sections. The theoretically obtained values of these constants are in good agreement with the phenomenological values, derived from the (p, p'X) reaction cross sections on the nuclei for X=d, t, "3He
At the RIKEN-RAL Muon Facility, {mu}{sup -} to {alpha} sticking K{sub {beta}} X-rays were observed for the first time taking advantage of the pulsed beam structure. The precision of the present measurements was insufficient to distinguish between theoretical models, however the observed K{sub {beta}}/K{sub {alpha}} X-ray intensity ratio tends to be smaller than most of these theoretical predictions.
This paper describes activation measurements of the neutrons from fusion plasmas. We are primarily interested in two narrow bands of neutron energies around 2.5 and 14 MeV. The d-d reaction has two branches with nearly equal probability, one generating a 0.8 MeV {sup 3}He nucleus and a 2.45 MeV neutron, the other a 1 MeV triton and a 3 MeV proton. The d-t fusion generates a 3.5 MeV alpha particle and a 14 MeV neutron. The triton burnup can be defined as the ratio of triton removal rate to triton generation rate. The burnup depends on how well the tritons are confined in the plasma during their slowing down to energies that make d-t fusion probable. It is important to study the tritons as they have similar kinematics to the 3.5 MeV alpha particles in a d-t plasma. Threshold reactions make a distinction between 2.5 and 14 MeV neutrons possible. For calculating the triton burnup, the total emission from the plasma of both 2.5 ...
Under support from the French Space Agency (CNES), a 3D+t dusty-gas model of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is being developed, to compute, from the first 2014 Rosetta orbital data, the aerodynamic forces exerted on the Rosetta orbiter and on the descent lander. We report the recently developed dust dynamics part of the code. The multi-species (presently H2O and CO) gas code is optimized in terms of computational speed owing to the use of two complementary methods: (a) 3D+t Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) runs in the non-equilibrium regions adjacent to the surface and very distant from it, and (b) solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations in-between. The model is used presently using Lamy et al. (Space Sci. Rev., 2007, 128, 23) coarse information on 67P nucleus shape and rotation, and a range of possible gas production rates Q for the early Rosetta observations at rh 3 AU (Q 1026 - 1027 s-1). In the interim version, simplifying ...
AimsThis article provides a brief review of recent cross-cultural research on personality traits at both individual and culture levels, highlighting the relevance...Full Text Available
Satellite CMB anisotropy missions and new generation of balloon-borne and ground experiments, make use of complex multi-frequency instruments at the focus of a meter class telescope. Between 70 GHz and 300 GHz, where foreground contamination is minimum, it is extremely important to reach the best trade-off between the improvement of the angular resolution and the minimization of the straylight contamination mainly due to the Galactic emission. We focus here, as a working case, on the 30 and 100 GHz channels of the Planck Low Frequency Instrument (LFI). We evaluate the GSC introduced by the most relevant Galactic foreground components for a reference set of optical configurations. We show that it is possible to improve the angular resolution of 5-7% by keeping the overall GSC below the level of few microKelvin. A comparison between the level of straylight introduced by the different Galactic components for different beam regions is presented. ...
The current work focuses on the pressure drop, heat transfer and stability in two phase flow in microchannels with hydraulic diameter of less than one hundred microns. Experiments were conducted in smooth microchannels of hydraulic diameter of 45, 65 {mu}m, and a rough microchannel of hydraulic diameter of 70 {mu}m, with deionised water as the working fluid. The local saturation pressure and temperature vary substantially over the length of the channel. In order to correctly predict the local saturation temperature and subsequently the heat transfer characteristics, numerical techniques have been used in conjunction with the conventional two phase pressure drop models. The Lockhart-Martinelli (liquid-laminar, vapour-laminar) model is found to predict the two phase pressure drop data within 20%. The instability in two phase flow is quantified; it is found that microchannels of smaller hydraulic diameter have lesser instabilities as compared to their larger ...
Protected cultures are widespread along the Lebanese narrow coastline, encouraged by mild winter conditions. Although one of the most intensive production systems, water and nutrients managements are mostly empirical, based on the experience of the grower himself or of his workers. So far, water has been available in Lebanon, but it will become scarce within ten years. The conservation of water quality by a rational addition of nutrients is particularly relevant to protected cultures. This is important as greenhouses are developed on imported shallow soils that could be fragile and highly vulnerable to pollution. Sound management includes the amount and the forms of fertilizers as well as the modality of fertigation. An experiment was conducted during two spring seasons in a location along the northern coast in a typical unheated greenhouse. The cucumber response to two frequencies and modalities of fertigation was ...
The authors will be conducting an integrated seismic experiment to image the structure of the crust and upper mantle of northern California immediately before and after passage of the Mendocino Triple Junction. The purpose of this representation is to describe the project to other scientists interested in geological and geophysical processes in this region and to solicit input relevant to detailed siting of the funded seismic profiles. The experiment encompasses two field seasons: onshore seismic refraction/wide angle reflection data acquisition along three long profiles scheduled for late summer, 1993; and MCS deep crustal seismic reflection data acquisition accompanied by simultaneous large aperture recording using both ocean bottom and onshore seismographs, tentatively scheduled for summer, 1994. This study represents a component of a long-term, multi-disciplinary effort on the part of many investigators to exploit this ...
Measuring gene expression using microarrays is relevant to many areas of biology and medicine, such as follow up of developmental stages and diseases onset, and treatment study. Since there can be tens of thousands of distinct probes on an array, each micro array experiment can accomplish the equivalent number of genetic tests in parallel. Arrays have therefore dramatically accelerated many types of investigations. For example, microarrays can be used to identify stress response genes by comparing gene expression in challenged versus normal cells. In the Molecular and Cellular Biology lab (MCB), the micro array experiments are performed within the Genomic Platform, fully equipped to analyse either the behaviour of bacteria during long space flight, the effect of low dose ionising radiation on the developing organism in mice, or the human individual radiation sensitivity. For the low dose effect, two main stages of ...
The UTST (University of Tokyo Spherical Tokamak) device was constructed for the purpose of exploring the formation of ultra-high beta ST (Spherical Tokamak) plasma using the double null plasma merging method. When two plasmas merge together to form a single plasma, magnetic field lines reconnect, and the magnetic field energy is converted to the plasma kinetic energy, increasing the plasma beta. The merging start-up has been demonstrated in the TS-3/4, START and MAST devices using coils inside the vacuum vessel and TS-3 plasma obtained 50% beta. In order to demonstrate the start-up in a more reactor relevant situation, UTST has all poloidal field coils outside the vacuum vessel. The first plasma experiment on the UTST was performed from December, 2007. In the result, the plasma obtained 10 kA by using only outer PF coils and single ST was generated at the lower area (z=-0.3 - -1.0[m]) close to a washer gun. This result suggests that another ...
In the development of high performance heat transfer surface on a compact heat exchanger, it was clarified that how reattachment point heat transfer and fluid flow are affected by channel width, at the same time, an evaluation of heat transfer performance and an investigation of optimum channel width were carried out. The channel system used in the experiment is as follows; (1) blow-off type with rectangular section channel, (2) span length of 200 mm, (3) wave length (pitch) of 80 mm, and (4) channel length of 12.5 wave length. The channel Reynolds number was set at about 10/sup 4/ which is relatively higher than the current studies. The results of the experiment were summarized as follows. (1) The channel width H has relevance to the phase difference between the fluid flow in cone portion of main stream and wave shape, the flow patterns are divided roughly into three types. These boundaries exist at P/H 3.0 and 1.5 (P: ...
Safety standards for exposure to radiofrequency radiation must be based upon biologic consequences of exposure to such environments. Behavioral-based measures are considered to be the most-sensitive indices of biological effects. Current safety guidelines are based upon average power density and may not be relevant to the high-peak-power, short pulse width microwave radiation produced by newly developed high peak power microwave sources. The effects of exposure to high-peak-power radiation on reflexive responding and motor function in Fischer 344/N rats were assessed by measuring startle and general activity, and disruption of on-going performance of a rotarod task, respectively. The emitter used was the TEMPO repeat pulse axially extracted vircator. Exposure to single pulses resulted in significant startle responses. Exposure to 1 pps for 10 s produced significant alterations in baseline activity and marked disruption of performance of the rotarod task. The ...
The strong coupling of subsystem elements, such as the accelerator, wiggler, and optics, greatly complicates the understanding and design of a free electron laser (FEL), even at the conceptual level. To address the strong coupling character of the FEL the concept of an Integrated Numerical Experiment (INEX) was proposed. Unique features of the INEX approach are consistency and numerical equivalence of experimental diagnostics. The equivalent numerical diagnostics mitigates the major problem of misinterpretation that often occurs when theoretical and experimental data are compared. The INEX approach has been applied to a large number of accelerator and FEL experiments. Overall, the agreement between INEX and the experiments is very good. Despite the success of INEX, the approach is difficult to apply to trade-off and initial design studies because of the significant manpower and computational requirements. On the other hand, ...
The NEPTUN data discussed in this report are from core uncovery (boil-off) experiments designed to investigate the mixture level decrease and the heat up of the fuel rod simulators above the mixture level for conditions simulating core boil-off for a nuclear reactor under small break loss-of-coolant accident conditions. The first series of experiments performed in the NEPTUN test facility consisted of ten boil-off (uncovery) and one adiabatic heat-up tests. In these tests three parameters were varied: rod power, system pressure and initial coolant subcooling. The NEPTUN experiments showed that the external surface thermocouples do not cause a significant cooling influence in the rods to which they are attached under boil-off conditions. The reflooding tests performed later on indicated that the external surface thermocouples have some effect during reflooding for NEPTUN electrically heated rod bundle. Peak cladding ...
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO) administers and operates the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) site, which hosts a deep geologic repository for safe disposal of U.S. defense-related TRU waste and is located 42 kilometers (km) east of Carlsbad, New Mexico. CBFO also manages the National Transuranic Waste Program (NTP), which oversees TRU waste management from generation to disposal. The WIPP began receiving waste in March 1999. In some areas of broad international interest, the CBFO has developed a leading expertise through its 25-year WIPP repository and TRU waste characterization activities. In addition to participating in relevant and beneficial experiments, the CBFO will provide the international community convenient access to this information by sponsoring and hosting symposia and workshops on relevant topics and by participation in international waste management organizations and ...
Concept Exploration (CE) experiments within the Innovative Confinement Concept Program have a unique role which impacts their contributions to the development of fusion energy. As stated in the FESAC ''Report on Alternate Concepts:'' These [CE] programs are aimed at innovation and basic understanding of relevant scientific phenomena. The emphasis on innovation motivates their application to the search for a better fusion reactor configuration. In addition, because of their unique character the CE experiments offer excellent opportunities to couple fusion-plasma physics to other sciences. A recent example of coupling is the fusion self-organized plasmas to reconnection physics and extra-terrestrial plasmas. Perhaps of even greater importance is the education of the future scientists needed for developing fusion energy. The CE experiments, both at universities and ...
By tests about pipe failure under extreme bending, moment at cross sections affected by circumferential cracks, admissible strains for securing the integrity in the area of a flow link are indicated. These are 7% for austenic and ferritic materials in the undisturbed cross section. From d/t-ratios of 20 onwards the strains are limited by pipe bulging on the pressure-load side. In this connection, circumferential flaws do not have any influence on the behaviour on the strained side, when their expansion does not exceed the investigated limitis of <60 circumferential expansion and crack depth of 0,3 t. (orig.)
The Recycler ring magnet will be made of Strontium ferrite permanent magnets. A strontium ferrite permanent magnet without compensation has a temperature coefficient of -0.2 % in dB/dT. To compensate this effect, we are utilizing 30 % Ni 70 % Fe alloy, a temperature compensation ferromagnetic material with a low Curie point. To search for optimum commercially available material and optimum condition, we made a couple of simple model magnets, and tested with several different compensating material. The test results are reported and its optimal conditions are shown. Several different configurations were tested including a possible 2 kG magnet configuration.
An effect of laser-cooling of water was observed for the first time with a temperature decrease dT = -2.2 K after irradiation of liquid water surface by a powerful Ar-Xe pulse laser with a pulse energy of about 1 J and wavelength L = 1.73, 2.63 and 2.65 um. The discovered effect can apparently be ascribed to the optical excitation of vibrational states of H2O molecules followed by an endothermic consolidation of chemically active excited molecules into a quasi-stable cluster-like structure. The measured time dependences of the cooling effect show that a typical life time of the new state of water amounts to hours. It has also been shown that the life time of the excited vibrational molecular states due to a radiation trapping effect can be estimated to at least hundreds of seconds.
The two-phase flow program is directed at understanding the hydrodynamics of two-phase flows. The two-phase flow regime is characterized by a series of flow patterns that are designated as bubble, slug, churn, and annular flow. Churn flow has received very little scientific attention. This lack of attention cannot be justified because calculations predict that the churn flow pattern will exist over a substantial portion of the two-phase flow zone in producing geothermal wells. The University of Houston is experimentally investigating the dynamics of churn flow and is measuring the holdup over the full range of flow space for which churn flow exists. These experiments are being conducted in an air/water vertical two-phase flow loop. Brown University has constructed and is operating a unique two-phase flow research facility specifically designed to address flow problems of relevance to the geothermal industry. An important feature of the facility ...
None of the materials presently in common use for polarized proton targets has a pure carbon nuclear background. The alcohols and diols contain some oxygen, and the ammonia and amine-based materials contain nitrogen and/or other noncarbon species. In the latter cases the noncarbon nuclei are measurably polarized as a concomitant of the process used to polarize the hydrogen nuclei. The relative simplicity of a pure carbon background would be advantageous for most types of scattering experiments and perhaps crucial for some. In addition to simplifying the kinematics of background events, pure carbon is relatively easy to prepare as a dummy'' target for background subtraction. Also, in such a target material, [sup 13]C-enrichment would yield a clean polarized [sup 13]C material. In this note I explore the possibilities for such materials, touching upon only what I consider to be the high'' points. The subject matter is capable ...
Three aspects of the research project ``Surface physics with cold and ultracold neutron reflectometry`` were stressed during the present first year: (1) Setup of the reflectometer facility at the research reactor of the Rhode Island Nuclear Science Center. The installation provides a narrow ``pencil beam`` analyzed by time of flight using a chopper system. Following beam characterization and a test measurement of the total cross section of copper single crystal first reflectivity measurements are currently performed using a supermirror. (2) Design stud for the ultracold neutron imaging system, with involvement of the relevant industry. Bids are available for several components indicating that it will be very difficult to build the entire system unless further funds become available. (3) Analysis of features of neutron reflection from surfaces with special emphasis on the effect of surface roughness both on the specular beam and the diffusely reflected and refracted ...
Three aspects of the research project Surface physics with cold and ultracold neutron reflectometry'' were stressed during the present first year: (1) Setup of the reflectometer facility at the research reactor of the Rhode Island Nuclear Science Center. The installation provides a narrow pencil beam'' analyzed by time of flight using a chopper system. Following beam characterization and a test measurement of the total cross section of copper single crystal first reflectivity measurements are currently performed using a supermirror. (2) Design stud for the ultracold neutron imaging system, with involvement of the relevant industry. Bids are available for several components indicating that it will be very difficult to build the entire system unless further funds become available. (3) Analysis of features of neutron reflection from surfaces with special emphasis on the effect of surface roughness both on the specular beam and the ...
In the context of the research project, the physical basis of the direct decoupling of highly concentrated solar radiation in materials without the detour via absorbing heat exchanger walls was examined. Also, the first chemical processes suitable for the effective long-term storage of solar energy were analysed, relevantexperiments were carried out and the necessary receiver techniques for high temperature applications were provided. The principle of direct coupling was examined on fluidized beds on the one hand and on cavity receivers, on the other hand. The contribution shows the results achieved in detail. It is recorded that first processes for storing solar energy in chemical reactions were able to be examined. Alkaline earth hydroxides accommodated in ceramic honeycomb structures seem to be possible as stores for medium temperature ranges around 500deg C. Investigations on receiver structure materials are also making progress. Highly ...
A 1984 American Association of the Academy of Sciences study of more than 150 successful science in-service programs developed a list of their characteristics, which included: Strong academic component in mathematics, science, and communications, focused on enrichment rather than remediation; academic subjects taught by teachers who are highly competent in the subject matter and believe that students can learn the materials; heavy emphasis on the applications of science and mathematics and careers in these fields; integrative approach to teaching that incorporates all subject areas, hands-on opportunities, and computers; multiyear involvement with students; recruitment of participants from all relevant target populations; opportunities for in-school and out-of-school learning experiences; parental involvement and development of base of community support; specific attention to removing educational inequalities related to race and gender; ...
A 1984 American Association of the Academy of Sciences study of more than 150 successful science in-service programs developed a list of their characteristics, which included: Strong academic component in mathematics, science, and communications, focused on enrichment rather than remediation; academic subjects taught by teachers who are highly competent in the subject matter and believe that students can learn the materials; heavy emphasis on the applications of science and mathematics and careers in these fields; integrative approach to teaching that incorporates all subject areas, hands-on opportunities, and computers; multiyear involvement with students; recruitment of participants from all relevant target populations; opportunities for in-school and out-of-school learning experiences; parental involvement and development of base of community support; specific attention to removing educational inequalities related to race and gender; ...
SRS high-level radioactive waste tanks will not experience erosion corrosion to any significant degree during slurry pump operations. Erosion corrosion in carbon steel structures at reported pump discharge velocities is dominated by electrochemical (corrosion) processes. Interruption of those processes, as by the addition of corrosion inhibitors, sharply reduces the rate of metal loss from erosion corrosion. The well-inhibited SRS waste tanks have a near-zero general corrosion rate, and therefore will be essentially immune to erosion corrosion. The experimental data on carbon steel erosion corrosion most relevant to SRS operations was obtained at the Hanford Site on simulated Purex waste. A metal loss rate of 2.4 mils per year was measured at a temperature of 102 C and a slurry velocity comparable to calculated SRS slurry velocities on ground specimens of the same carbon steel used in SRS waste tanks. Based on these data and the much lower ...
In order to optimize the production of "2"0"1Tl and "6"7Ga using the (p, xn) reactions on enriched "2"0"3Tl and "6"8Zn targets we established a new set of cross section curves for the most relevant reactions. Target stacks made of up to 15 thin (50 #mu#m) natural Tl or Zn foils interleaved with brass degradation foils were irradiated with incident proton energies from 42 to 10 MeV in overlapping experiments. Yields for "2"0"0","2"0"1","2"0"2"m","2"0"3","2"0"4"mPB and "6"6","6"7","6"8Ga were computed from measured #gamma# emission rates. Where possible, cross section curves for the nuclear reactions involved were computed. Thick target yields and contamination ratios for enriched targets were derived and show good agreement with results from actual production runs. (orig.).
The development of light-weight vehicle is in great demand for enhancement of fuel efficiency and dynamic performance. The vehicle weight can be reduced effectively by using lightweight materials such as magnesium alloys. However, the use of magnesium alloys in sheet forming processes is still limited because of their low formability at room temperature and the lack of understanding of the forming process of magnesium alloys at elevated temperatures. In this study, uniaxial tensile tests of the magnesium alloy AZ31B-O at various temperatures were performed to evaluate the mechanical properties of this alloy relevant for forming of magnesium sheets. To construct a FLD (forming limit diagram), a forming limit test were conducted at temperature of 100 and 200 deg. C. For the evaluation of the effects of the punch temperature on the formability of a rectangular cup drawing with AZ31B-O, numerical modelling was conducted. The experiment results ...
Many important advances in the physics of strongly correlated electron systems have been driven by the development of new materials: for instance the filled skutterudites MT4X12 (M=alkali metal, alkaline earth, lanthanide, or actinide; T=Fe, Ru, or Os; X=P, As, or Sb), certain lanthanide and actinide intermetallic compounds such as URu2-xRexSi2 and CeTIn5 (T=Co, Rh, or Ir), and layered oxypnictides and related materials. These types of complex multinary d- and f-electron compounds have proven to be a vast reservoir of novel strongly correlated electron ground states and phenomena. In these materials, the occurrence of such a wide range of ground states and phenomena arises from a delicate interplay between competing interactions that can be tuned by partial or complete substitution of one element for another, as well as the application of pressure, and magnetic fields, resulting in rich and complex electronic phase diagrams in the hyperspace of temperature, chemical composition, ...
The fundamental recommendations of the ICRP issued in its publication of 1990 stipulate the general principle of performance of dose measurements at regular intervals in the field of diagnostic radiology, for the purpose of equipment performance checking and optimization of radiological protection. In response to this requirement, the Federal Ministry, in cooperation with experts and the competent supervising authorities, has issued an order to install dose-area-product meters in angiographic examination systems, imaging systems and fluoroscopic screen devices primarily used for examining infants and children up to the age of 12. This is done in response to reported cases of adverse effects of radiation exposure and the high priority given to radiological protection in the examination of infants and children. In 1992, an expert group was convened to discuss and elaborate instructions for including dose-area product measurement in the dosimetry activities in medical diagnostic ...
In mammals and insects, paracellular blood barriers isolate the nervous system from the rest of the animal. Glia and accessory cells of the nervous system use pumps, channels, cotransporters, and exchangers collectively to maintain the extracellular ion environment and osmotic balance in the nervous system. At present, the molecular mechanisms that regulate this process remain unclear. In humans, loss of extracellular ion and volume regulation in the nervous system poses serious health threats. Drosophila is a model genetic organism with a proven track record for uncovering molecular mechanisms relevant to human health and disease. Here, we review what is known about extracellular ion and volume regulation in larval abdominal nerves, present some new data about the impact of neural activity on the extracellular environment, and relate the findings to mammalian systems. Homologies have been found at the level of morphology, physiology, molecular mechanisms, and ...
We examine the virtual effects of Kaluza-Klein (KK) states on Higgs physics in universal extra dimension models. We study the partial widths {Lambda}{sub h{yields}gg}, {Lambda}{sub h{yields}{gamma}{gamma}}, and {Lambda}{sub h{yields}{gamma}Z}, which are relevant for Higgs production and detection in future collider experiments. These interactions occur at one loop in the Standard Model, as do the KK contributions. We find that the deviations induced by the KK exchanges can be significant; for one extra dimension, the gg {yields} h production rate is increased by 10% - 85% for the mass of the first KK state in the range 500 {approx}> m{sub 1} {approx}> 1500 GeV, a region untested by current direct search and precision measurement constraints. The h {yields} {gamma}{gamma} decay width is decreased by {approx}< 20% in the same mass range. For two or more universal extra dimensions the results are cutoff dependent, and can only ...
In an era of unprecedented technological advancement and economic expansion, construction practice continues to evolve but construction education has not changed appreciably since the 1990s. This schism has prompted industry, government, and other key constituents to question the relevancy and efficacy of current programs. The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) Engineering Criteria 2000 and the American Council for Construction Education (ACCE) emphasizes outcomes over process, and provides an opportunity for stakeholders to help universities define educational goals and objectives and design a curriculum to meet the desired outcomes. While the need for curriculum modification has been acknowledged, the industry position was amorphous and anecdotal and therefore difficult to address. Qualitative methodologies such as formal surveys and structured interviews can be used to capture and quantify industry expectations of the needed attributes ...
Epidemiologic studies suggest a weak link between occupational or residential exposure to extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields and cancer, especially tumors of the central nervous and hematopoietic systems. This report discusses these studies with reference to basic research on ELF EMF bioeffects relevant to cancer-promoting mechanisms. Many of the studies suggest a possible interaction of ELF EMF with the immune system, endocrine system, or growth-regulatory signals and morphogenic movements that involve calcium flux through cell membranes. Many bioeffects have been reported only with certain specific combinations of frequency, amplitude, and orientation of the EMF signal with respect to the geomagnetic field. The possibility of signal-specific effects raises a complication in dosimetry for both epidemiologic and experimental studies since ELF EMF effects may not be directly related to field strength. The report concludes with a discussion of design ...
All organisms, from bacteria and yeast to humans, respond to physical and chemical stressors by increasing the synthesis of a small group of cellular stress proteins.'' The authors have developed a simple in vitro system for quickly screening environmentally relevant stressors to detect stress-induced proteins that are good candidates for biomarkers. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was used to detect stressor-induced, concentration-dependent changes in cellular stress protein levels in two fish cell culture systems, whereas simultaneous in vitro neutral red uptake cytotoxicity assays measured the stressors effect on cellular physiology. There was a direct concentration-dependent relationship between sublethal cytotoxic effects and the increases in stress protein levels. Increases of 50 to 200% were detected in stress proteins from desert topminnow, Poeciliopsis lucida, hepatoma-derived cell cultures exposed to cadmium or copper. Three proteins ...
The polarization of extracted SATURNE II proton beam as a function of different ion source configurations was studied. Two distinct experiments were necessary for this purpose. In the first one, the left-right instrumental asymmetry of the beam polarimeter was determined using an unpolarized beam. In the second one this correction factor was applied to asymmetries measured with the beam from the polarized ion source in all polarization states. The measurements were carried out at the proton beam kinetic energy 0.80 GeV, where the pp-elastic scattering analyzing power is near its maximum. The results confirmed that the two so-called ``unpolarized states`` of the source were polarized to several percent, whereas the absolute values of the beam polarizations in the so-called ``polarized states`` were equal and opposite. It was observed that the hexapole lens of the ion source produced beam polarization in the absence of any transition. The beam polarization as a ...
In the present investigation the performance of digital data acquisition (DA) and analogue data acquisition (AA) systems are compared in neutron-induced fission experiments. The DA results are practically identical to the AA results in terms of angular-, energy- and mass-resolution, and both compare very well with literature data. However, major advantages were found with the digital techniques. DA allows for a very efficient #alpha#-particle pile-up correction. This is important when considering the accurate measurement of fission-fragment characteristics of highly #alpha#-active actinide isotopes relevant for the safe operation of Generation IV reactors and the successful reduction of long-lived radioactive nuclear waste. In case of a strong #alpha#-emitter, when applying the #alpha#-particle pile-up correction, the peak-to-valley ratio of the energy distribution was significantly improved. In addition, DA offers a very flexible expanded ...
Integration of positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance (MR) has become a topic of increasing interest to the imaging community over the past two years. In this text, the authors attempt to distinguish facts from fiction concerning such integrated systems. Analysis of existing information of combined imaging on existing brain PET/MR systems and imaging experience with PET-computed tomography (CT) is reviewed. Various types of system integration of PET and MR are discussed with completely independent systems on one hand and completely integrated systems with the possibility of simultaneous data acquisition on the other hand. Furthermore, it is discussed, what simultaneous data acquisition with nuclear imaging systems combined with MR or CT really means, as technical simultaneity may not be relevant in light of the pharmacokinetics of the nuclear tracers used. The authors conclude that combining PET/MR is an interesting research ...
Grain refinement behavior of copper alloys cast in permanent molds was investigated. This is one of the least studied subjects in copper alloy castings. Grain refinement is not widely practiced for leaded copper alloys cast in sand molds. Aluminum bronzes and high strength yellow brasses, cast in sand and permanent molds, were usually fine grained due to the presence of more than 2% iron. Grain refinement of the most common permanent mold casting alloys, leaded yellow brass and its lead-free replacement EnviroBrass III, is not universally accepted due to the perceived problem of hard spots in finished castings and for the same reason these alloys contain very low amounts of iron. The yellow brasses and Cu-Si alloys are gaining popularity in North America due to their low lead content and amenability for permanent mold casting. These alloys are prone to hot tearing in permanent mold casting. Grain refinement is one of the solutions for reducing this problem. However, to use this ...
Nuclear Forensics is a key element in the response process which is initiated after detection of illicit nuclear or other radioactive material. Credible nuclear forensics relies on appropriate sampling procedures, on validated analytical methods and on thorough data analysis and interpretation. Nuclear forensics aims at providing clues on the history and the potential origin of the material. Elemental and isotopic composition of the material, as well as its macroscopic and microscopic appearance reflect the technological processes used for the fabrication of the material. The nuclear forensic analysis first of all results in measurement data. Through appropriate processing of these data information on the nature and the history of the material can be obtained. A number of data evaluation techniques serving this purpose are conceivable and have been applied. On the one side, statistical methods like principal component analysis (PCA) or classification and regression trees (CART) can be ...
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has been developing a nuclear waste disposal facility, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), located approximately 42 km east of Carlsbad, New Mexico. The WIPP is designed to demonstrate the safe disposal of transuranic wastes produced by the defense nuclear-weapons program. Pefiormance assessment analyses (U.S. DOE, 1996) indicate that human intrusion by inadvertent and intermittent drilling for resources provide the only credible mechanisms for significant releases of radionuclides horn the disposal system. These releases may occur by five mechanisms: (1) cuttings, (2) cavings, (3) spallings, (4) direct brine releases, and (5) long- term brine releases. The first four mechanisms could result in immediate release of contaminant to the accessible environment. For the last mechanisq migration pathways through the permeable layers of rock above the Salado are important, and major emphasis is placed on the Culebra Member of the Rustler Formation ...
This paper outlines conceptual framework for safeguards remote sensing, and suggests a strategy for overcoming the challenges to full exploitation of all types of optical satellite imagery. Since the introduction of commercial open-source high-resolution satellite imagery in 1999, it has become an important tool for verification of declarations, baseline mapping, detection and monitoring of changes and investigation of undeclared activities. Its use is still relatively restricted, but there is a growing demand for wider satellite reconnaissance support, and the Satellite Image Analysis Unit (SIAU) has recently been expanded in response. For a number of reasons, IAEA safeguards use of satellite imagery is largely based on visual interpretation by experienced image analysts of high-resolution monochromatic imagery to monitor and characterize buildings and structures on safeguards sites. The very wide range of remote sensing capabilities could be more fully exploited. There is still a ...
Epigenetic remodeling is a hallmark of cancer, with the frequent acquisition of de novo DNA methylation in CpG islands. However, the functional relevance of de novo...Full Text Available
Characteristics relevant to cardiovascular disease, including anthropometry, arterial blood pressure, serum cholesterol levels, chest radiography and electrocardiography, were investigated in a survey...Full Text Available
In the present study, the immunomodulatory effect of {beta}-endorphin ({beta}-E) and shorter pro-opiomelancortin (POMC) fragments was evaluated by assessing their influence on respiratory burst in human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN). The effect of the peptides on phorbol myristate acetate (PMA)-stimulated production of reactive oxygen metabolites was measured in a lucigenin-enhanced chemiluminescence (CL) assay. Both POMC peptides with opiate-like activity and their non-opioid derivatives were tested. With the exception of {alpha}-E, PMA-stimulated respiratory burst was suppressed by all POMC fragments tested. A U-shaped dose-response relation was observed. Doses lower than 10{sup {minus}17}M and higher than 10{sup {minus}8}M were without effect. {beta}-E and dT{beta}E both suppressed PMA-induced oxidative burst in human PMN at physiological concentrations. {gamma}-E and dT{gamma}E proved to be less potent inhibitors, reaching maximal ...
After reviewing some of the mathematical foundations and numerical difficulties facing lattice QCD, I review the status of several calculations relevant to experimental high-energy physics. The topics considered are moments of structure functions, which may prove relevant to search for new phenomena at the LHC, and several aspects of flavor physics, which are relevant to understanding CP and flavor violation.
We present high-quality X-ray scattering experiments on pure water taken over a temperature range of 2 to 77 C using a synchrotron beam line at the advanced light source (ALS) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The ALS X-ray scattering intensities are qualitatively different in trend of maximum intensity over this temperature range compared to older X-ray experiments. While the common procedure is to report both the intensity curve and radial distribution function(s), the proper extraction of the real-space pair correlation functions from the experimental scattering is very difficult due to uncertainty introduced in the experimental corrections, the proper weighting of OO, OH, and HH contributions, and numerical problems of Fourier transforming truncated data in Q-space. Instead, we consider the direct calculation of X-ray scattering spectra using electron densities derived from density functional theory based on real-space ...
This 7th edition reveals the progress in steam engineering and the great future potential of steam engineering applications. Pollution abatement and design experiences gained during the operation of existing plants, and experiences gained in waste incineration are of environmental relevance. Recent materials developments and knowledge, e.g. as regards pipes and fittings, have been making significant contributions to supercritical-steam efficiency improvements. Emphasis is also placed on automation, control engineering, water chemistry etc., and on regulations, licensing procedures, and the training of the staff of plants. (orig./KOW) [Deutsch] Die nunmehr vorliegende 7. Ausgabe zeigt den Fortschritt und das zukuenftig noch erhebliche Potential dieser Technik auf. Erfahrungen mit den nun schon seit Jahren laufenden Anlagen zur Schadstoffminderung, Konstruktion und Auslegung sowie Betriebserfahrungen zur thermischen ...
Insulitis is considered the histopathological hallmark of type I diabetes. In the non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse, diabetes has never been observed in the absence of insulitis. The in vivo detection of insulitis could be of relevance for early prediction of diabetes. As approximately 15% of islet-infiltrating lymphocytes express interleukin 2 receptors, the authors have labelled recombinant inter-leukin 2 with "1"2"3I and used this radiopharmaceutical to detect insulitis by gamma camera imaging. The authors studied 71 prediabetic NOD and 27 normal Balb/c mice. Labelled #alpha#-lactalbumin was used as the control protein. In the first set of experiments the tissue distribution of radiolabelled interleukin 2 in isolated organs from animals sacrificed at different time points was studied. Higher radioactivity was detected in the pancreas of NOD mice injected with labelled interleukin 2, as compared to NOD mice receiving labelled ...
The increasing complexity of the real-time data acquisition and processing systems (TDAQ: the so called Trigger and Data AcQuisition systems) in high energy physics calls for an appropriate evolution of development tools. This work is about the interplay between in principle specifications of TDAQ systems and their actual design and realization on a concrete hardware and software platform. The basis of our work is to define a methodology for the development of TDAQ systems that meets the specific demands for the development of such systems. The result is the detailed specification of a 'methodological framework' based on the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and designed to manage a development process. The use of this UML-based methodological framework progressively leads to the setting up of a 'home-made' framework, i.e. a development tool that comprises reusable components and generic architectural elements adapted to TDAQ systems. The main parts of ...
Illicit trafficking of nuclear and other radioactive material has been an issue of concern since the first seizures in the early 1990s. By the end of 2004 Member States had confirmed 540 cases, while about another 500 remain unconfirmed. Most of the confirmed cases have a criminal dimension, even if they were not for known terrorist purposes. The attacks of September 2001 in the USA dramatically emphasized the requirement for the enhanced control and security of nuclear and other radioactive material. In response to a resolution by the IAEA General Conference in September 2002 the IAEA has adopted an integrated approach to protection against nuclear terrorism. This brings together IAEA activities concerned with the physical protection of nuclear material and nuclear installations, nuclear material accountancy, detection and response to illicit nuclear trafficking, the security and safety of radioactive sources, emergency response measures - including pre-emergency measures in Member ...
The most relevant aspects of research and service experience with environmentally-assisted cracking (EAC) of carbon (C) and low-alloy steels (LAS) in high-temperature (HT) water are reviewed, with special emphasis on the primary pressure boundary components of boiling water reactors (BWRs). The main factors controlling the susceptibility to EAC under light water reactor (LWR) conditions are discussed with respect to crack initiation and crack growth. The adequacy and conservatism of the current BWRVIP-60 stress corrosion cracking (SCC) disposition lines (DLs), ASME III fatigue design curves, and ASME XI reference fatigue crack growth curves, as well as of the GE EAC crack growth model are evaluated in the context of recent research results. The operating experience is summarized and compared to the experimental/mechanistic background knowledge. Finally, open questions and possible topics for further research are identified. ...
High-spin states in the neutron-rich nuclei {sup 172,173}Yb have been populated in a {sup 170}Er({sup 7}Li,(p,d,t)xn) incomplete-fusion reaction and the emitted {gamma}-radiation was detected with the GASP array. The signature partners of the 7/2{sup +}[633] rotational band of the odd-N {sup 173}Yb isotope have been newly established and were observed up to spin values of (45/2{sup +}) and (43/2{sup +}), respectively. The ground-state band of the even-even nucleus {sup 172}Yb has been observed up to a spin value of (22{sup +}). No band crossings were found in these bands. To explain this observation, it is proposed that the static pair field is absent, considering that the neutron odd-even mass differences reach for these nuclei very small values and that the band crossing is absent in cranked shell modell calculations without pairing. The results indicate, however, that strong dynamic correlations are still present. (orig.)
Data by Wiesmann et al. on the temperature coefficient of the upper critical field, dH/sub c/2(T)/dT, and the normal-state resistivity rho_0 near the superconducting transition temperature T/sub c/ are analyzed to estimate the bare density of states N (E/sub F/) as a function of structural disorder and T/sub c/ in various #alpha#-particle irradiated samples of A-15 Nb_3Ge and Nb_3Sn. By taking into account the change in the electron-phonon coupling strength with T/sub c/ and the effect of mass enhancement arising from the electron-phonon interaction, the results of the new analysis indicate that (i) the drop in N (E/sub F/) for Nb_3Ge is relatively small as T/sub c/ changes from approx. 21 to approx. 4 K, in agreement with a recent low-temperature specific-heat measurement; (ii) the value of N (E/sub F/) in Nb_3Sn decreases by a factor of approx. 4 as T/sub c/ varies from approx. 18 to approx. 3 K. The implication of these findings is discussed in terms of the ...
The feasibility of developing a fusion power monitor based on a fluid activation detector is considered here. The activation fluid may be either a liquid or a gas and its composition can be selected from a number of candidate materials to provide desired activation and decay characterisitcs. Performance calculations indicate that ordinary water would be a nearly ideal activation fluid. The "1"6O(n,p)"1"6N reaction has a threshold at about 10 MeV and a cross section energy dependence giving it a predominant response for unmoderated D-T fusion neutrons. Adequate activation can be obtained at moderate flow rates for remote counting away from the high radiation area of the reactor. The 7.16 sec half-life of "1"6N is ideal for remote counting with subsequent decay in a small hold-up tank to eliminate activity build-up in the recycled water.
Research activity during the 1991--1992 funding period has been concerned with the following topics relevant to carbon monoxide activation. (1) Exploratory studies of water gas shift catalysts heterogenized on polystyrene based polymers. (2) Mechanistic investigation of the nucleophilic activation of CO in metal carbonyl clusters. (3) Application of fast reaction techniques to prepare and to investigate reactive organometallic intermediates relevant to the activation of hydrocarbons toward carbonylation and to the formation of carbon-carbon bonds via the migratory insertion of CO into metal alkyl bonds.
Research activity during the 1991--1992 funding period has been concerned with the following topics relevant to carbon monoxide activation. (1) Exploratory studies of water gas shift catalysts heterogenized on polystyrene based polymers. (2) Mechanistic investigation of the nucleophilic activation of CO in metal carbonyl clusters. (3) Application of fast reaction techniques to prepare and to investigate reactive organometallic intermediates relevant to the activation of hydrocarbons toward carbonylation and to the formation of carbon-carbon bonds via the migratory insertion of CO into metal alkyl bonds.
BackgroundThe endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal approach (EETA) to the pituitary is performed by ear, nose, and throat (ENT) surgeons in collaboration with neurosurgeons but also...Full Text Available
BackgroundUnderstanding the mechanisms that control rates of disease progression in humans and other species is an important area of research relevant to epidemiology and to translating...Full Text Available
The precautionary principle has provoked a spirited debate among environmentalists worldwide, but it is equally relevant to public health and shares much with primary prevention. Its central components...Full Text Available
... XVIII Airborne Corps forces grew from one brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division to a multi-national organization of five full divisions (Eastern Area ...
BackgroundIn biomedical ontologies, mereological relations have always been subject to special interest due to their high relevance in structural descriptions of anatomical entities,...Full Text Available
Nowadays it is accepted that natural flavonoids present in fruits and plant-derived-foods are relevant, not only for technological reasons and organoleptic properties, but also because of their potential...Full Text Available
... earns money through receiving protection funds from embattled ... relationship between the TTP and LI ... relevant considering that Pakistan's military is ...
BackgroundObsessive-compulsive disorder is associated with a relevant impairment in social and interpersonal functioning and severe disability. This seems to be particularly true...Full Text Available
By the turn of the century, American farmers and ranchers will be producing food and fiber through the application of highly sophisticated systems that involve a broad spectrum of relevant factors--from...Full Text Available
X-ray ablation of material from the first wall and other components of an ICF (Inertial Confinement Fusion) chamber is a major threat to the laser final optics. Material condensing on these optics after a shot may cause damage with subsequent laser shots. To ensure the successful operation of the ICF facility, removal rates must be predicted accurately. The goal for this dissertation is to develop an experimentally validated x-ray response model, with particular application to the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Accurate knowledge of the x-ray and debris emissions from ICF targets is a critical first step in the process of predicting the performance of the target chamber system. A number of 1-D numerical simulations of NIF targets have been run to characterize target output in terms of energy, angular distribution, spectrum, and pulse shape. Scaling of output characteristics with variations of both target yield and hohlraum wall thickness are also described. ...
To fulfill the President s Vision for Space Exploration - successful human and robotic missions between the Earth and other solar system bodies in order to explore their atmospheres and surfaces - NASA must reduce trip time, cost, and vehicle weight so that payload and scientific experiment capabilities are maximized. As a collaboration among NASA Centers, this project will generate products that will enable greater fidelity in mission/vehicle design trade studies, support risk reduction for material selections, assist in optimization of vehicle weights, and provide the material and process templates for development of human-rated qualification and certification Thermal Protection System (TPS) plans. Missions performing aerocapture, aerobraking, or direct aeroentry rely on technologies that reduce vehicle weight by minimizing the need for propellant. These missions use the destination planet s atmosphere to slow the spacecraft. Such mission profiles induce heating ...
This paper describes a 1993 field experiment entitled Marine Aerosol Properties and Thermal Imager Performance Trial (MAPTIP) conducted by NATO AC/243 Panel 04/RSG.8 and 04/RSG.5 in the Dutch coastal waters. Objectives were: to improve and validate vertical marine aerosol models by providing an extensive set of aerosol and meteorological measurements, within a coastal environment at different altitudes and for a range of meteorological conditions; make aerosol and meteorological observations in the first 10 m of the ocean surface with a view to extending existing aerosol models to incorporate near-surface effects; and to assess marine boundary layer effects on thermal Imaging systems. Aerosol and meteorological instruments, as well as thermal imagers and calibrated targets, were utilized. This network of instrumentation has provided a comprehensive database of aerosol size distribution profiles and relevant meteorological variables throughout ...
The verification of the subcriticality is of utmost importance for the safe transportation and storage of nuclear reactor fuels. Transportation containers and storage facilities are designed such that nuclear fuels remain in a subcritical state. Such designs often involve excess conservatism because of the lack of relevant experimental data to verify the accuracy of Monte Carlo codes used in nuclear criticality safety analyses. A joint experimental research program between Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Westinghouse Safety Management Solutions, Inc., and the University of Missouri was initiated to obtain measured quantities that could be directly related to the subcriticality of simple arrays of Missouri University Research Reactor (MURR) fuel elements. A series of measurement were performed to assess the reactivity of materials such as BORAL, stainless steel, aluminum, and lead that are typically used in the construction of shipping casks. These materials were ...
Improvements in electric submersible pumping systems have resulted in a demonstrated downhole running life of one year for low horsepower units operating in 180 C brine. The implementation of a prototype pressurized lubrication system to prevent brine intrusion and loss of lubricating oil from the motor and protector sections has been successfully tested. Second generation pressurized lubrication systems have been designed and fabricated and will be utilized in downhole production pumping tests during FY84. Pumping system lifetime is currently limited by available power cable designs that are degraded by high-temperature brine. A prototype metal-sheathed power cable has been designed and fabricated and is currently undergoing destructive and nondestructive laboratory testing. This cable design has the potential for eliminating brine intrusion into the power delivery system through the use of a hermatically sealed cable from the surface to the downhole motor. The two-phase flow program ...
In this report, we estimated the temperature of the pump rooms and reviewed the operability of the components under the loss of the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Condition) system. The issues relevant to the HVAC system in the PSA (Probabilistic Safety Assessment) FT (Fault Tree) model are as follows: (1) Does the loss of the HVAC system bring about a function failure of other components? (2) Can the operator take action to reduce the temperature of the room in case of a HVAC function failure? At present, we do not know whether a component will lose its function or not under the loss of the HVAC. ASME Standard describes that a recovery action can be credited if the related recovery action is included in the procedure or there are similar recovery experiences in the plant. However, there is no description about the recovery action of the HVAC in the EOP (Emergency Operation Procedure) of the UCN3, 4 under the situation of a loss of the ...
Coal fired combined cycle power systems will be a sufficient way to increase the efficiency of coal combustion. However, combined cycle power systems require a reliable hot gas cleanup. Especially alkali metals, such as sodium and potassium, can lead to hot corrosion of the gas turbine blading if they condensate as sulphates. The actual work deals with the release and sorption of alkali metals in coal fired combined cycle power systems. The influence of coal composition, temperature and pressure on the release of alkali species in coal combustion was investigated and the relevant release mechanisms identified. Alumosilicate sorbents have been found that reduce the alkali concentration in the hot flue gas of the Circulating Pressurized Fluidized Bed Combustion 2{sup nd} Generation (CPFBC 2{sup nd} Gen.) at 750 C to values sufficient for use in a gas turbine. Accordingly, alumosilicate sorbents working at 1400 C have been found for the Pressurized Pulverized Coal ...
The interdependence of thermodynamic parameters, phase equilibria, and electrochemical measurements can be used as a powerful tool in the development of high specific energy cells. These principles were used in the analysis of electrochemical experiments performed on ternary lithium-transition metal-oxide (M = Mn, Fe, and Co) positive electrodes. The free energies of formation of LiMnO/sub 2/, Li/sub 5/FeO/sub 4/, LiFeO/sub 2/, and LiCoO/sub 2/ were found to be -178.21, -399.88, -154.18, and 131.62 kcal/mol at 400/sup 0/C. The electrochemical displacement reactions were found to be reversible in LiCl/KCl molten salt cells over a range of 0.0-3.0 Li equivalents per mol at current densities of 5-15 mA/cm/sup 2/. The equilibrium potential vs. Li was found to be a logarithmic function of the calculated oxygen partial pressure for any tie triangle in which Li/sub 2/O is present, or for any tie triangle containing ternary oxide phases Li /SUB x/ MO /SUB y/ which are only ...
The performance of 250 different computational protocols (combinations of density functionals, basis sets and methods) was assessed on a set of 165 well-established experimental (1)H-(1)H nuclear coupling constants (J(H-H)) from 65 molecules spanning a wide range of "chemical space". Thereby we found that, if one uses core-augmented basis sets and allows for linear scaling of the raw results, calculations of only the Fermi contact term yield more accurate predictions than calculations where all four terms that contribute to J(H-H) are evaluated. It turns out that B3LYP/6-31G(d,p)u+1s is the best (and, in addition, one of the most economical) of all tested methods, yielding predictions of J(H-H) with a root-mean-square deviation from experiment of less than 0.5 Hz for our test set. Another method that does similarly well, without the need for additional 1s basis functions, is B3LYP/cc-pVTZ, which is, however, ca. 8 times more "expensive" in terms of CPU time. A ...
Decadal-scale climate variations over the Pacific Ocean and its surroundings are strongly related to the so-called Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO) which is coherent with wintertime climate over North America and Asian monsoon, and have important impacts on marine ecosystems and fisheries. In a near-term climate prediction covering the period up to 2030, we require knowledge of the future state of internal variations in the climate system such as the PDO as well as the global warming signal. We perform sets of ensemble hindcast and forecast experiments using a coupled atmosphere-ocean climate model to examine the predictability of internal variations on decadal timescales, in addition to the response to external forcing due to changes in concentrations of greenhouse gases and aerosols, volcanic activity, and solar cycle variations. Our results highlight that an initialization of the upper-ocean state using historical observations is effective for successful ...
Many important advances in the physics of strongly correlated electron systems have been driven by the development of new materials: for instance the filled skutterudites MT{sub 4}X{sub 12} (M=alkali metal, alkaline earth, lanthanide, or actinide; T=Fe, Ru, or Os; X=P, As, or Sb), certain lanthanide and actinide intermetallic compounds such as URu{sub 2-x}Re{sub x}Si{sub 2} and CeTIn{sub 5} (T=Co, Rh, or Ir), and layered oxypnictides and related materials. These types of complex multinary d- and f-electron compounds have proven to be a vast reservoir of novel strongly correlated electron ground states and phenomena. In these materials, the occurrence of such a wide range of ground states and phenomena arises from a delicate interplay between competing interactions that can be tuned by partial or complete substitution of one element for another, as well as the application of pressure, and magnetic fields, resulting in rich and complex electronic phase diagrams in the hyperspace of ...
Alter both oil crisis, of 1973 and 1979, a bad effect of the elevated costs and continuously increment of the oil prices was noted, for this reason, the interest for renewable energies sources widely available in developing countries was increased. All over the world, governments have formulated main objectives for energies savings and search for friendly technologies, taking into account the effects related with the environment. The imminent scarcity of fossil fuels has made humanity the rational use of primary energies, as a result of these; new plants with improved technology have been conceived taking into account energy savings and efficiency improvement. In this context, biomass gasification technologies are important, since they consist in techniques of parallel production of electricity and heat from just one fuel. This work consists in the development of a gasifier down draft of 100 kW for an internal combustion engine, which includes its sizing process and its energy ...
The IAEA attaches great importance to the dissemination of information that can assist Member States with the development, implementation, maintenance and continuous improvement of systems, programmes and activities that support the nuclear fuel cycle and nuclear applications, including management of the legacy of past practices and accidents. In this connection, the IAEA has initiated a comprehensive programme of work covering all aspects of environmental remediation: - Technical and non-technical factors, including costs, that influence environmental remediation strategies and pertinent decision making; - Site characterization techniques and strategies; - Assessment of remediation technologies; - Techniques and strategies for post-remediation compliance monitoring; - Special issues such as the remediation of sites with dispersed radioactive contamination or mixed contamination by hazardous and radioactive substances. Experience in Member States has shown that ...
Among KEPCO's 9 nuclear power units, Korea Nuclear Unit No. 3, the Wolsung Nuclear Power Plant is the only CANDU-PHWR Unit, while the rest of 8 others are PWR units. The unit was designed by Atomic Energy of Canada, Ltd. of Canada, who also performed overall project management for the plant construction under the provisions and arrangement of the relevant contracts. The gross electrical output of the plant is 678.7 MWe and thermal output of the reactor is 2061 MWth. While these figures lead to lower plant efficiency than LWR counterparts, unit energy cost for fuel is more favorable than LWRs because natural uranium is utilized for the fuel bundles, some of which are already being fabricated domestically. Annual capacity factors for 1983 and 1984 could have been improved, if two major planned outages for the modification works on steam generator internals and one major forced outage from the heavy water spill incident could be eliminated. The heavy water ...
We use a massively parallel 3D hybrid particle code, dHybrid, to simulate the deflection of plasma beams by a dipole like magnetic field in a laboratory environment. Dipole magnetic fields, along with a plasma injection source to inflate the magnetic field, are now being studied as means of deflecting solar wind and Energetic Particles away from spacecrafts [1,2,3]. We have considered three setups, consistent with the experiments, with a plasma beam fired at i) a dipole field with no plasma injection, ii) a plasma injection source with no dipole field and iii) a dipole field with a plasma injection source. The hybrid simulations help understand the relevant physical phenomena, and enable extrapolation to space plasma scenarios, where setups are similar but plasma parameters differ significantly. The simulation results consistently show the plasma beam being deflected by the dipole field, in the first scenario, with the deflecting distance ...
One of the challenges facing Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects today is their limited ability to secure financing for the underlying greenhouse gas emission reduction activities, particularly in the least developed countries. Among the key reasons for this is the fact that most financial intermediaries in the CDM host countries have limited or no knowledge of the CDM Modalities and Procedures. Moreover, approaches, tools and skills for CDM project appraisal are lacking or are asymmetrical to the skills in comparable institutions in developed countries. Consequently, developing country financial institutions are unable to properly evaluate the risks and rewards associated with investing or lending to developers undertaking CDM projects, and therefore have, by-and-large, refrained from financing these projects. In addition, some potential project proponents lack experience in structuring arrangements for financing a project. This Guidebook - commissioned by ...
Strain-controlled fatigue experiments under simultaneous irradiation have been performed to investigate the specific loadings of structural materials in next-step fusion devices. All irradiations were done on specimens made of the tempered ferritic/martensitic Cr steel MANET-I at 420 C using a 104 MeV [alpha]-particle beam. Continuous push-pull cycling (R=-1) has been applied with total strain ranges [Delta][epsilon][sub t] between 0.5 and 1.0%. Under in-beam conditions at e.g. [Delta][epsilon][sub t]= 0.5% a number of cycles to failure of N[sub f]=42000, a He concentration of 400 appm and a damage dose of 1.6 dpa has been reached. This N[sub f] is by about a factor of two below the average N[sub f]-value of unirradiated reference tests, but seven times higher than N[sub f] of comparable postirradiated specimens. It was found, that at least at 420 C conventional postirradiation tests are a conservative approach to in-situ conditions, and that in strain-controlled ...
It is hypothesized that systemic ??-noradrenergic antagonists may interfere with the transmission of sensory stimulation, particularly vaginal--cervical stimulation (VCS), which is crucial for reproductive functioning. To determine if ??-noradrenergic transmission receptor activity is necessary for transmission of sensory information important for VCS-dependent events, we conducted an experiment using prazosin, a ??-noradrenergic receptor antagonist. First, three doses of prazosin (1.0, 0.5 or 0.1 mg/kg) or the 10% ETOH in sesame oil vehicle were administered i.p. and sexual receptivity was assessed 30 min later in ovariectomized, hormone-treated female rats. The 1 mg/kg dose of prazosin significantly inhibited lordosis quotients and lordosis ratings. This dose of prazosin (1.0 mg/kg) was then administered 30 min prior to VCS or control scapular stimulation (CSS) and Fos-IR was examined in the posterodorsal medial amygdala (MeaPD), the medial preoptic area (mPOA), ...
The paper introduces the disposal procedures of the old reactor pressure vessel head. Reactor pressure vessel (RPV) heads were replaced successfully in Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant. The on-site treatment and disposal of replaced heads was thereafter implemented. This is the first time in China for large size radioactive article disposal. To guarantee the safety of old head treatment, issues of radiation protection have to be taken into account. Dose rate distribution of the old head surface and radioactivity were initially calculated according to the operation history and the neutron flux rate of the reactor. Shielding calculation and package design was thereafter worked out based on the data obtained from the old head, e.g. neutron flux, sorts of nuclides, radioactivity and dose rates. Shielding package was afterwards manufactured in special factories and transported to Daya Bay NPP site by truck and ship. The shielding package was designed relatively simple, practicable and comply ...
A large proportion of patients may develop chronic pain following cancer treatments such as surgery, radiotherapy, or chemotherapy. These patients can experience significant levels of physical and psychological morbidity. Our aim was to investigate a cognitive-behavioral pain management program (PMP) for cancer patients with chronic treatment-related pain. Thirteen patients (1 man, 12 women; mean age 52 yrs) completed the study, 9 of whom had a history of breast cancer and had received extensive medical treatment, including surgery. A combination of physical and psychological techniques were adapted from previous work in chronic benign pain and implemented by two therapists. Interventions included education, relaxation, exercise training, and goal setting. A variety of outcomes were examined to assess general fitness, psychological distress, coping success, activities of daily living, and pain report. The median number of interventions by each therapist was 10 (4 ...
The application of kinetic probes that allow one to determine relative reactivities of biologically relevant substrates with oxidizing intermediates in the Fenton reagent (H2O2 plus Fe2+ in acidic aqueous...Full Text Available
Carbon fibre composite (CFC) was irradiated by hot plasma streams at plasma gun facility MK-200UG. The CFC targets were tested by plasma loads relevant to Edge Localized Modes (ELM) and mitigated disruptions in ITER. Onset condition of CFC evaporation and properties of evaporated carbon were studied by use of infrared pyrometry and visible spectroscopy.
This project is designed to establish one basis for empirically linking aspects of management and organizational design to the safe operation of nuclear power plants. Current work is focusing on (a) reviewing existing literature relevant to this linkage, and (b) isolating and incorporating numerous safety relevant indicators. Later stages of this project will involve hypothesis development, data collection and analysis.
As both computer and mobile phone reach nearly ubiquity in the U.S. market, the slow uptake of mobile video, in contrast to the thriving usage of PC-based video, warrants a deeper understanding of user-oriented factors contributing to the two diffusion paths. Unlike the majority of existing diffusion research practices, the dissertation examines the differences between mobile and PC video diffusion patterns through the lenses of user-oriented influences in the user-technology relationship. Built upon the established adoption user group classification, the research is informed by the Uses and Gratification theory, the Social Technical theory, and the Technical Affordance perspective. These synergistic theoretical arguments share the recognition of the role of user in the dynamic, usually socially intertwined user-technology interactions. The key research questions that the dissertation sets out to answer include: Does the importance of quality of viewing ...
In the group of persistent aromatic hydrocarbons, the highest values were determined for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), total DDT and hexachlorobenzene (HBC). Comparisons of the relevant median values for the past six years led to the conclusion that the steep initial decline in the breast milk concentrations of DDT and HBC was followed by reductions at a much lower pace in the years after 1987. The time course of the concentration of the total PCB did not appear to follow any particular pattern. The mean contents of lead and cadmium remained by a wide margin below the threshold values for these heavy metals and thus were of no relevance from the toxicological point of view. It was found that the 134 and 137 cesium isotopes constituted no particular health hazard for breast-fed infants, as the relevant concentrations in breast milk were low. (VHE).
When biomass is used as fuel for thermal conversion plants, minerals from the fuel can be responsible for major problems. Generally, these problems are associated with the existence and development of low melting compounds or eutectics, which form sticky layers. In a fluidised bed, this can result in bed-agglomeration and defluidisation. This causes local high temperature, which often accelerates the process. It ultimately can lead to a completely sintered bed content with a glassy phase gluing the bed particles together and shut-down of the plant. The main objective of the title project is to develop a methodology to predict ash/bed agglomeration and sintering problems, to indicate related problems and, furthermore, to identify solution methods to make different types of biomass streams more viable for energy production. Within the present study, selected fuels are subjected to different existing methods together with some new ones, in order to determine the agglomeration temperature. ...
Full text of publication follows: Large-scale problems such as nuclear waste disposal are increasingly recognized to be interconnected to small scale-mechanisms. Thus, synchrotron-based high-resolution analytical X-ray probes become important tools for exploring the micro-scale chemical reactivity of heterogeneous barrier materials used in nuclear waste repositories. In this study the layout of the micro-XAS beamline at the Swiss Light Source (SLS) will be presented. The beamline is optimized towards micro beam experiments ({approx}1 x 1 {mu}m{sup 2}) in the hard-X-ray regime (4 - {approx}22 keV) and allows to combine micro X-ray fluorescence (micro-XRF), micro X-ray absorption spectroscopy (micro- XAS), and micro X-ray diffraction (micro-XRD) investigations with radioactive samples. Furthermore, the potential of micro-XRF/XAS/XRD for acquiring spatially resolved molecular level information on the speciation and structural coordination environment of radionuclides ...
Classical semiconductor physics has been continuously improving electronic components such as diodes, light-emitting diodes, solar cells and transistors based on highly purified inorganic crystals over the past decades. Organic semiconductors, notably polymeric, are a comparatively young field of research, the first light-emitting diode based on conjugated polymers having been demonstrated in 1990. Polymeric semiconductors are of tremendous interest for high-volume, low-cost manufacturing (''printed electronics''). Due to their rather simple device structure mostly comprising only one or two functional layers, polymeric diodes are much more difficult to optimize compared to small-molecular organic devices. Usually, functions such as charge injection and transport are handled by the same material which thus needs to be highly optimized. The present work contributes to expanding the knowledge on the physical mechanisms determining device performance by ...
The most striking achievement in magnetic fusion experiments during last few years was the discovery of plasma detachment from material targets, a much needed effect for plasmas with high power fusion parameters. Due to the very low heat loads on the targets observed in these regimes and potentially low erosion of the targets, detached regimes look attractive from the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) design point of view. Thus the author has experimental proof for the possibility for a co-existence of fusion relevant hot plasma in the core and a low temperature partly ionized plasma at the edge of magnetic fusion device. Although somewhat similar behavior of edge plasma was considered theoretically even before plasma detachment was found experimentally, it was not clear in the beginning how these theoretical and experimental findings would fit together. Now, after a few years of intensive additional experimental and ...
In technical combustors, flow and combustion processes inside the combustion chamber determine the design and also the safety of the plant. A modelling technique was developed at TU Dresden which comprises both numerical simulations and experimental data and thus achieves a high degree of transparency in its visualisation of the processes inside the combustion chambers under investigation. With the experience gained, numerical models of commercial simulation software (FLUENT, CFX) can be validated by measured values, and potential applications of the programs can be investigated. The first stage of experimental modelling consisted in isothermal (cold) modelling in consideration of flow-relevant similarity characteristics. In the reactive, non-isothermal models, the fuel/air ratio and temperature conditions inside the original combustion chamber were modelled as well. In order to obtain detailed data on the combustion conditions at the burner, ...
The work presented here demonstrates the ability of proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) to perform fast-response measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) (including methanol, acetonitrile, acetaldehyde, acetone, PAN-type compounds, alpha- and beta-pinene, nopinone and pinonaldehyde) at the pptv level and its versatile applicability in the field of environmental trace gas analysis. Laboratory and field experiments including various calibration techniques and intercomparisons with other measurement techniques such as gas chromatography, atmospheric pressure chemical ionization and Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy were performed providing a first characterization of the PTR-MS instrument performance (sensitivity, detection limit, precision, accuracy). Typically a detection limit (S/N=2) of 50 pptv for a 10 s signal integration time, a precision of 5 % and an accuracy in the range between 10 and 25 % were observed. Due to its ...
This paper summarizes the deliberations of a work group charged with addressing specific questions relevant to risk estimation in developmental neurotoxicology. We focused on eight questions. a) Does...Full Text Available
Current genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are moving towards the use of large cohorts of primary cell lines to study a disease of interest and to assign biological relevance to the genetic signals...Full Text Available
During the last few years, research on toxicologically relevant properties of engineered nanoparticles has increased tremendously. A number of international research projects and additional activities...Full Text Available
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a common inhabitant of soil and water, is an opportunistic pathogen of growing clinical relevance. Its genome, one of the largest among bacteria [5570 open reading...Full Text Available
Instructional systems design is a process for assessing learning needs, creating instructional programs, and evaluating effectiveness of learning. We discuss the benefits of including instructional systems design theory and practice in the curriculum, with an emphasis on making the process relevant for student nurse anesthetists. PMID:10488275
The quantitative experimental uncertainty in the structure of fully hydrated, biologically relevant, fluid (Lα) phase lipid bilayers has been too large to...Full Text Available
The concentrations of doxycycline and 4-de-dimethylaminotetracycline required to inhibit 50% of collagenase activity were found to be 15 to 30 microM for human neutrophil and gingival crevicular fluid...Full Text Available
Mouse lines with behavioral phenotypes relevant to symptoms in neurodevelopmental disorders may provide models to test hypotheses about disease etiology and to evaluate potential treatments....Full Text Available
BackgroundEsophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most aggressive carcinomas of the gastrointestinal tract. We assessed the relevance of Slug in measuring the invasive...Full Text Available
The United States Virgin Islands (USVI) is facing a diabetes epidemic similar to the one on the U.S. mainland, yet little is known regarding the cultural context relevant to self-management...Full Text Available
The objectives of this research are: (1) to assess selected formulation-relevant physical properties of several commercial Feverfew extracts, including flowability, hygroscopicity, compressibility and...Full Text Available
To understand Saffold cardiovirus (SAFV) distribution, prevalence, and clinical relevance in China, we retrospectively studied SAFV in children with acute gastroenteritis and found SAFV in 12 (3.2%)...Full Text Available
The planned spallation source can be of considerable significance for biomedical basic research and for clinically relevant diagnostic and therapeutic applications. The following gives a brief description and explanations for its possible use in clinical medicine: I. Treatment of Malignant Tumors II. Production of Isotopes for Biochemical Investigations in Living Organisms for Diagnostic Purposes.
BackgroundTransarterial chemoembolization (TACE) therapy is an effective locoregional treatment in hepatocellular cancer (HCC) patients. For early modification of therapy, markers...Full Text Available
Plasmid transfer between strains of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis was studied under a range of environmentally relevant laboratory conditions in vitro,...Full Text Available
This article describes issues concerning music perception with cochlear implants, discusses why music perception is usually poor in cochlear implant users, reviews relevant data, and describes...Full Text Available
The Monthly Energy Review provides an overview of the production, distribution, and consumption of energy derived from petroleum natural gas, coal, electricity, and nuclear energy. It also discusses oil and gas resource development, energy prices, and issues relevant to international energy markets.
This report reviews neurotoxicological principles relevant to situations of hazardous waste disposal. Some of the diagnostic techniques currently used for field assessment of nervous system dysfunction...Full Text Available
BackgroundThoracic injuries play an important role in major trauma patients due to their high incidence and critical relevance. A serious consequence of thoracic trauma is pneumothorax,...Full Text Available
E-cadherin is the primary cell adhesion molecule within the epithelium, and loss of this protein is associated with a more aggressive tumour phenotype and poorer patient prognosis in many cancers. Loss...Full Text Available
This paper outlines the opportunities for UK-Canada collaboration/feasibility studies in areas that include novel research into waste management and decommissioning. A number of Universities in the UK have programs relevant to such collaborations in areas such as fuels; thermal hydraulics, reactor system and materials.
Ethnopharmacological relevanceHLXL is a traditional Chinese medicine that has long been used in folk medicine for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases....Full Text Available
Peripheral vision has been the topic of few studies compared with central vision. Nevertheless, given that visual information covers all the visual field and that relevant information can...Full Text Available
The fossil record is a unique source of evidence for important evolutionary phenomena such as transitions between major clades. Frustratingly, relevant fossils are still comparatively rare, most transitions...Full Text Available
Recommended ERLs for whole body, thyroid, lung and other single organs are presented in tabular form, and related to the relevant counter measures such as evacuation, sheltering, distribution of stable iodine tablets, etc. Application of ERLs to local env...
Air pollution abatement measures are not an end in themselves, and undesirable side effects should be taken into account. The proposed emission index takes into account the total emissions caused by a technical project as well as the effects of the individual pollutants.
Spatial abilities have been associated with many ecologically-relevant behaviors such as territoriality, mate choice, navigation and acquisition of food resources. Differential demands on spatial...Full Text Available
While pleiotropic adaptive mutations are thought to be central for evolution, little is known on the downstream molecular effects allowing adaptation to complex ecologically relevant environments. Here...Full Text Available
BackgroundIn sub-Saharan Africa, Plasmodium falciparum malaria in pregnancy presents an enormous diagnostic challenge. The epidemiological and clinical relevance...Full Text Available
We introduce cyclophosphamide-induced alopecia (CYP-IA) in C57BL-6 mice as a clinically relevant model for studying the biology of chemotherapy-induced alopecia and for developing anti-alopecia drugs....Full Text Available
BackgroundTwo clinically relevant high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) types 16 and 18 are etiologically associated with the development of cervical carcinoma and are also reported to be present...Full Text Available
Gene expression from bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones has been demonstrated to facilitate physiologically relevant levels compared to viral and nonviral cDNA vectors. BACs are large enough...Full Text Available
Cancers are highly heterogeneous and contain many passenger and driver mutations. To functionally identify tumor suppressor genes relevant to human cancer, we compiled pools of short harpin...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe default mode network (DMN) is a set of brain regions that exhibit synchronized low frequency oscillations at resting-state, and is believed to be relevant to attention...Full Text Available
BackgroundA relevant problem in drug design is the comparison and recognition of protein binding sites. Binding sites recognition is generally based on geometry often combined with...Full Text Available
This report discusses the experimental setup of experiment 814 at Brookhaven AGS. This experiment involves the collision of silicon ions with target nuclei. The detector systems are discussed primarily. (LSP)
The Plasma and Ion Source Technology Group at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have been developing rf-driven ion sources for the last two decades. These sources are being used to generate both positive and negative ion beams. Some of these sources are operating in particle accelerators such as the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge, while others are being employed in various industrial ion beam systems. There are four areas where the rf-driven ion sources are commonly used in industry. (1) In semiconductor manufacturing, rf-driven sources have found important applications in plasma etching, ion beam implantation, and ion beam lithography. (2) In material analysis and surface modification, miniature rf-ion sources can be found in focused ion beam systems. They can provide ion beams of essentially any element in the Periodic Table. The newly developed combined rf ion-electron beam unit improves greatly the performance of the secondary ion mass spectrometry tool. (3) ...
The classical Stefan problem describes the motion of a solidification front through a uniform half-space in response to a step change in temperature on its boundary. The predictions of such a model can be applied quite accurately to the freezing of water in a porous medium so long as the pore geometry remains unaltered by the passing solidification front. It is observed, however, that in fine-grained porous media, ice has a tendency to form in segregated horizontal bands, known as ice lenses, that disrupt the regular pattern of heat flow through their enhanced consumption of latent heat. This process, known as frost heave, causes significant ground deformation in regions subject to prolonged freezing, and is one of the most important weathering processes in polar and alpine regions. Recent improvements to our understanding of the mechanics of ice lens nucleation and growth are applied here to predict the conditions and characteristics of frost heave in a step-freezing configuration. ...
Full text of publication follows: As SiCf/SiC composites are very low activation materials, their use as structural material for the reactor blanket and first wall components appears essential to demonstrate the potential of D-T fusion power reactor. Positive features of SiCf/SiC are their high performances at elevated operating temperature and the ability to produce a specific component. Critical issues of SiCf/SiC are the mechanical properties, radiation stability and, with regard to technological issues, their hermeticity and joining processes. Improvement of joining processes for SiC/SiC components is also needed. Recently, several blanket designs have been studied: the TAURO blanket concept in the European Union, the ARIESAT concept in the US and the DREAM concept in Japan. In those reactors, hermetic SiCf/SiC or self-sealing coatings are mandatory. The basic idea of self sealing concept is to manufacture a coating with specific requirements (CTE and ...
Electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECH) in BPX is planned as a possible upgrade to supplement the baseline ion cyclotron resonance frequency (ICRF) system. Eventual implementation primarily depends on the development of the required source technology. ECH offers important technical advantages over ICRF: High radio-frequency (FR) power density can be transmitted through ports (P/A >#approx# 100 MW/M"2), and the antenna need not be in contact with the plasma for efficient coupling. In particular, low-field side, linearly polarized (O-mode) power injection will suffice. By controlling the N spectrum, or by steering the antenna, the power deposition profile can be controlled during ramping of the magnetic field even with a fixed frequency source. Because of the possibility of localized power deposition, ECH is a natural candidate for controlling magnetrohydrodynamic (MHD) activity. Sawtooth oscillations may be prevented by heating in the vicinity of the q = 1 surface, and disruptions ...
Regional cortical thickness was evaluated using CIVET processing of 3DT1-weighted images (i) to compare the variation in cortical thickness between 33 participants with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) aged 6-30 years (mean age 12.3 years) versus 33 age/sex/hand-matched controls, and (ii) to examine developmental changes in cortical thickness with age from children to young adults in both groups. Significant cortical thinning was found in the participants with FASD in large areas of the bilateral middle frontal lobe, pre- and post- central areas, lateral and inferior temporal and occipital lobes compared to controls. No significant cortical thickness increases were observed for the FASD group. Cortical thinning with age in a linear model was observed in both groups, but the locations were different for each group. FASD participants showed thinning with age in the left middle frontal, bilateral precentral, bilateral precuneus and ...
The high frequency, low mode number toroidicity-induced Alfven eigenmodes (TAE) are shown to be driven unstable by the circulating and/or trapped {alpha}-particles through the wave-particle resonances. Satisfying the resonance condition requires that the {alpha}-particle birth speed v{sub {alpha}} {ge} v{sub A}/2{vert bar}m-nq{vert bar}, where v{sub A} is the Alfven speed, m is the poloidal model number, and n is the toroidal mode number. To destabilize the TAE modes, the inverse Landau damping associated with the {alpha}-particle pressure gradient free energy must overcome the velocity space Landau damping due to both the {alpha}-particles and the core electrons and ions. The growth rate was studied analytically with a perturbative formula derived from the quadratic dispersion relation, and numerically with the aid of the NOVA-K code. Stability criteria in terms of the {alpha}-particle beta {beta}{sub {alpha}}, {alpha}-particle pressure gradient parameter ({omega}{sub ...
Problems of classification and regression estimation in which objects are represented by multidimensional arrays of features are considered. Many practical statements can be reduced to such problems, for example, the popular approach to the description of images as a set of patches and a set of descriptors in each patch or the description of an object in the form of a set of distances from it to certain support objects selected based on a set of features. For solving problems concerning the objects thus described, a generalization of the relevance vector model is proposed. In this generalization, specific regularization coefficients are defined for each dimension of the multidimensional array of the object description; the resultant regularization coefficient for a given element in the mul...
This paper explores how an aid-funded Ph.D.-programme in mathematics education instituted in some Southern African Development Community countries measures up to issues related to research capacity development projects. The research capacity development programme is described and reflected against mutual benefit, relevance, sustainability and prioritization of the location of project funding expenditure--some of the constructs in the discourse on research capacity development initiatives. It is found that the benefits of the programme are indeed mutual; the outcomes regarding relevance and sustainability are more uncertain and the location of expenditure of the funding is not overtly in favour of the donor country.
This report reviews the published literature on the anaerobic oxidation of iron in aqueous solutions which are of particular relevance to Swedish granitic groundwaters. The thermodynamics of iron corrosion in water are briefly considered. Following this the experimental data found in the literature are presented and discussed. Results were found for corrosion of iron in both pure water and solutions containing mineral salts. The literature work in the nature of the films formed on iron surfaces under anaerobic conditions is reviewed and the possible mechanisms of film formation are discussed. Conclusions are drawn on the factors most likely to influence and control film growth. 32 refs.
In nuclear fuel, in approximately one quarter of the fissions, one of the two formed fission products is gaseous. These are mainly the noble gases xenon and krypton with isotopes of xenon contributing up to 90% of the product gases. These noble fission gases do not combine with other species, and have a low solubility in the normally used uranium oxide matrix. They can be dissolved in the fuel matrix or precipitate in nanometer-sized bubbles within the fuel grain, in micrometer-sized bubbles at the grain boundaries, and a fraction also precipitates in fuel pores, coming from fuel fabrication. A fraction of the gas can also be released into the plenum of the fuel rod. With increasing fission, and therefore burn-up, the ceramic fuel material experiences a transformation of its structure in the 'cooler' rim region of the fuel. A subdivision occurs of the original fuel grains of few microns size into thousands of small grains of sub-micron sizes. ...
Recently, the public has become aware of keywords like ''Quantum computer'' or ''Quantum cryptography''. Regarding their potential application in solid state based quantum information processing and their overall benefit in fundamental research quantum dots have gained more and more public interest. In this context, quantum dots are often referred to as ''artificial atoms'', a term subsuming their physical properties quite nicely and emphasizing the huge potential for further investigations. The basic mechanism to be considered is the theoretical model of a two-level system. A quantum dot itself represents this kind of system quite nicely, provided that only the presence or absence of a single exciton in the ground state of that structure is regarded. This concept can also be expanded to the presence of two excitons (bi-exciton). Transitions between the ...
The fundamental recommendations of the ICRP issued in its publication of 1990 stipulate the general principle of performance of dose measurements at regular intervals in the field of diagnostic radiology, for the purpose of equipment performance checking and optimization of radiological protection. In response to this requirement, the Federal Ministry, in cooperation with experts and the competent supervising authorities, has issued an order to install dose-area-product meters in angiographic examination systems, imaging systems and fluoroscopic screen devices primarily used for examining infants and children up to the age of 12. This is done in response to reported cases of adverse effects of radiation exposure and the high priority given to radiological protection in the examination of infants and children. In 1992, an expert group was convened to discuss and elaborate instructions for including dose-area product measurement in the dosimetry activities in medical diagnostic ...
The development and improvement of materials plays a key role in energy technology, particularly in power plant technology, because materials are crucial to plant performance and power availability. This becomes particularly clear when one considers that modern power plants generate temperatures of up to 600 C and pressures of up to 230 bar in order to increase process efficiency, conserve resources and reduce CO{sub 2} emissions. Modern heat-resistant materials for power plant technology are customised materials which have been developed to meet the specific requirements of special applications. After the requirement profile has been determined the material is developed or optimised on the basis of previous experiences gained with materials in power plant technology. Basic heat-resistant materials are ferritic materials containing 9 to 12% Cr as well as additions of Mo, V, Nb and W, amongst other elements. Together with the thermomechanical processing, the ...
X-ray emission spectroscopy (XES) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) methods were employed in the present paper to investigate the electronic structure of face-centred cubic (fcc) molybdenum dioxide, fcc-MoO_2. For the mentioned compound, the XES O K#alpha# and Mo L#beta#_2_,_1_5 bands reflecting the valence O p- and Mo s,d-like states, respectively, were derived and compared on a common energy scale with the XPS valence-band spectrum. For comparison, the similar experimental studies of the electronic structure were made for a usual orthorhombic form of molybdenum trioxide, MoO_3. Band-structure calculations of fcc-MoO_2 were made using the full potential linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method. A rather good agreement of the experimental XES and XPS results and the theoretical FP-LAPW data for the electronic properties of fcc-MoO_2 has been achieved in the present paper. A new near-Fermi sub-band was detected on both the XES Mo L#beta#_2_,_1_5 band and the XPS ...
Full text of publication follows: Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3} is regarded as one of the most suitable candidates for the solid tritium breeder material of D-T fusion reactors. It is known that, in an operating fusion reactor, the radiation damage in Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3} will be caused by fast neutrons, energetic tritons and helium ions generated in {sup 6}Li(n,{alpha}){sup 3}H reaction. The irradiation damage caused by such radiation may result in the microstructural changes, and the changes may affect the characteristics of Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3} such as tritium release behavior. Thus the study of irradiation defects and microstructural changes caused by irradiation in Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3} is essential to evaluate its irradiation performance. Simulation of the fusion reactor environment and hence the study of a synergistic effect of atomic displacement damage in Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3} are approached by a simultaneous irradiation with 'triple' ion beams which ...
The Kyoto Protocol is often described as a good first step towards reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into the atmosphere. The Protocol endorses emissions trading, joint implementation including 'bubbling' between Annex 1 Parties, and a clean development mechanism that allows Annex 1 and non-Annex 1 Parties to act together to reduce emissions. However, the anticipated permit market will not function if uncertainties are not rigorously assessed and considered in any compliance process. With no reliable verification tool, it is impossible to effectively assess the different mechanisms and activities mentioned under the Protocol. Thus, it is very important to study the uncertainties underlying the Kyoto relevant GHGs, here with reference to Poland, because without the consideration of uncertainty robust verification can not occur. This paper presents information about the data used in the calculations as well as the methods favored by the ...
This study examined the life histories of a group of emerging scholars in the field of mathematics education who identify themselves as having a particular interest in and concern for issues of equity and diversity. Experiences of being the "other," "bearing witness" to "othering experiences," and "orienting experiences" in relation to issues of equity proved to be prominent themes in participants' life histories. These experiences were then linked to the positionality that these scholars now have in relation to their research in mathematics education.
Time-odd parton distribution functions in a Drell-Yan process are here studied by examining the evolution of the internal statistical properties of the interacting hadrons. Time-odd functions are shown to be a signature of the irreversible process in which a hadronic state characterized by long range correlation properties (hadronic phase) decays to produce a cloud of independent partons (partonic phase) because of initial/final state interactions. The relevant considered variable is the rate of increase of the entropy of the hadronic system. This quantity is shown to be roughly equal to the decay rate of the hadronic state. Conditions for getting a leading twist time-odd effect are established on this basis. Last, the relevant case of a large entropy increase associated with transverse-dominated initial/final state interactions is analyzed.
Understanding the dependence and interplay between architecture and function in biological networks has great relevance to disease progression, biological fabrication and biological systems in general. Recent research in complex systems and networks, presents methods to properly mine the architectural interdependence in networks. Guided by such work, we propose methods to associate organism characteristics with network topology by analyzing a large number of architectural patterns. We adopt an automated approach using 11 topological metrics from complex networks to characterize a collection of various kinds of biological networks. Principal component analysis and clustering allow us to extract the indispensable, independent and informative metrics. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we observe that organism characteristics associate with these metrics, surprisingly well. This work can serve as a stepping stone to cataloging biologically ...
This article examines relevant government policy documents on education and culture and discovers that Nigerian education authorities do not "discriminate" against art and culture in its articulation of educational policies per se, but lack of administrative machinery or political will has resulted in the deprivation of the Nigerian child in the process of creative activity in early childhood development. The article argues that lack of creative ability in our educational products is perhaps a major setback in the nation's quest for industrial and technological development. In this article a new art curriculum for elementary schools is advocated as a means of engaging the young child in order to attain functional educational skills necessary in the world of work.
Measurements have been made of certain parameters relevant to the operation of electron-counting detectors. An experimental chamber consisting of a uniform-field drift tube and a coaxial proportional counter thas been employed to obtain data, at very low drift fields (E/p<0.02 V/cm Torr), on electron mobility and lifetimes in a range of gas mixtures. These mixtures included argon, methane, nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Measurements of single-electron spectra showed that, unexpectedly for the standard gas mixtures employed, useful departure from an exponential spectrum was not possible without the production of cathode secondaries. Although the present studies employed only the counter electrical signal the information obtained should be directly relevant to the operation of practical light-pulse systems. Examples of electron-counting spectra for soft X-rays are shown. (orig.).
The relevance of the mean retention time (MRT) of particles through the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) is well understood and MRTparticleGIT is an important parameter in digestion models. Solute markers have been used to estimate MRTsoluteGIT (or 'fluid passage') in animals, but the relevance of this measure is less evident and is usually sought in its relation to MRTparticleGIT. The ratio between the two measures indicates the degree of 'digesta washing', with little washing occurring at ratios of 1, aborad washing at ratios >1 (where the solute marker travels faster than the particle marker), and orad (retrograde) washing at ratios <1 (where the solute marker travels slower than the particle marker). We analysed digesta washing in a dataset of 98 mammalian species including man of differen...
Lung cancer staging according to the TNM system is based on morphological assessment of the primary cancer, lymph nodes and metastases. All aspects of this important oncological classification are measurable with MRI. Pulmonary nodules can be detected at the clinically relevant size of 4-5 mm in diameter. The extent of mediastinal, hilar and supraclavicular lymph node affection can be assessed at the same time. The predominant metastatic spread to the adrenal glands and spine can be detected in coronal orientation during dedicated MRI of the lungs. Search focused whole body MRI completes the staging. Various additional MR imaging techniques provide further functional and clinically relevant information during a single examination. In the oncological context the most important techniques are imaging of perfusion and tumor motion. Functional MRI of the lungs complements the pure staging and improves surgical approaches and radiotherapy planning. ...
The use of meta-analysis has become increasingly useful for clinical and policy decision making. A recent development in meta-analysis, multiple treatment comparison (MTC) meta-analysis, provides inferences on the comparative effectiveness of interventions that may have never been directly evaluated in clinical trials. This new approach may be confusing for clinicians and methodologists and raises specific challenges relevant to certain areas of medicine. This article addresses the methodological concepts of MTC meta-analysis, including issues of heterogeneity, choice of model, and adequacy of sample sizes. We address domain-specific challenges relevant to disciplines of medicine, including baseline risks of patient populations. We conclude that MTC meta-analysis is a useful tool in the context of comparative effectiveness and requires further study, as its utility and transparency will likely predict its uptake by the research and clinical ...
Knowledge is a success factor for globally acting company networks as a. o. the aim-oriented knowledge transfer between partners is an essential condition for a successful cooperation. Several network specific problems impede however an efficient and effective knowledge management; e.g. the transfer of competition relevant data is a high sensitive theme. The authors describe how a relevant method can be selected, adapted and implemented to the application-specific boundary conditions. They integrate existing attempts processes and methods to establish an effective knowledge development and an efficient knowledge transfer in the network and take into account ''hard'' (IT-technical-oriented solution approaches) as also ''soft'' factors (e.g. cultural and personal aspects). So the authors present unified instruments for an integrated knowledge management in networks. (GL)
The present work focuses on investigations of a highly selective ligand for Am(III)/Ln(III) separation: bis-triazinyl-pyridine (BTP). By means of nano-electro-spray mass spectrometry, complex formation of BTP with selected elements of the lanthanide series is investigated. We show that the diluent drastically influences complex speciation. Measurements obtained in the extraction-relevant diluent 1-octanol show the occurrence of Ln(BTP){sub i} (i 1-3) species in different relative abundances, depending on the lanthanide used. Here, the relative abundances of the Ln(BTP){sub 3} complexes correlate with the distribution ratios for extraction to the organic phase of the respective lanthanide. (authors)
Three major series of experiments have been conducted with the FELIX facility at ANL. Experiments on the coupling between eddy currents and angular displacements of loops and plates in crossed constant and changing magnetic fields demonstrated that the co...
Summary The First Nations people of British Columbia experience reincarnation as a revitalization of their culture. This article documents the perseverance of reincarnation experiences among the Beaver, Witsuwit'en, and Gitxsan peoples of British Columbia, as well as my own growth in understanding such experiences. It recounts examples of rebirth cases. It explains what rebirth experiences mean to the First Nations people. It describes how these experiences are embedded in their perception of this world and embodied in their beliefs of spiritual realms, which include the interconnected and parallel worlds of fish and land animals, on this world and in spiritual dimensions. While the rebirth worldview contrasts with that of the Western scientific world, this is a worldview I have come to en...
Search for the value of ?13 mixing angle is of importance in understanding the lepton flavor mixing matrix, and in motivating future experiments to probe CP violation in the lepton sector. Among the present experimental approaches, reactor experiment can provide a clean laboratory for the ?13-measurement. The Daya Bay experiment will start civil construction this year at Daya Bay, Guangdong, China. The goal of this experiment is to reach a sensitivity in sin2 2?13 of < 0.01 at 90% C.L. by precisely measuring the disappearance and spectral distortion of reactor electron anti-neutrinos with multiple identical detectors at different baselines. The talk will present the current status and prospects of the experiment.
Four experiments investigated the novel issue of learning to accommodate the coarticulated nature of speech. Experiment 1 established a co-articulatory mismatch effect for a set of vowel-consonant...Full Text Available
The supernatural fears associated with the experience of isolated sleep paralysis in the culture of developing countries is sometimes associated with the evolution of somatic symptoms of psychological...Full Text Available
Two experiments are reported on the influence of cognitive aging on grammatical choice in language production. In both experiments, participants from two age-groups (young and old) produced...Full Text Available
To further optimize thermo-hydraulic capability of HCSB-TBM, two different thermo-hydraulic schemes would be proposed and investigated by relevant calculating and simulating of thermo-dynamics in normal and peak heat flux condition. With computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code FLUENT, the actual temperature distribution of key components of HCSB-TBM is simulated. (authors)
The design changes of the improved 2,5 l direct injection Diesel engine with the nominal power output of 52 kW and a maximum torque of 143 Nm are described. This engine which is installed in the Ford Transit meets all relevant exhaust emission standards that are presently in effect. (orig.).
In Daya Bay and Ling'ao Nuclear Power Station, the Microgovernor has the control functions such as synchronization, block loading etc. The control principle of the Microgovernor is right described by sequence diagram for the first time. That the fault occurred in the synchronization process of Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station unit 1 is also analyzed and illustrated. (author)
Microscopic non-energy weighted sum-rules for the total rates of the neutrinoless ..mu..-e conversion process are constructed in the frame of the shell model for closed shell nuclei. For non-closed shell nuclei the relevant rates were obtained by interpolation. Also the contribution of the coherent process to the total ..mu..-e conversion rate is calculated and discussed.
I report on a lattice computation of the energy of a system of two light quarks and two static antiquarks as a function of the separation of the static antiquarks. In terms of hadrons such a system corresponds to a pair of B mesons and its energy to the hadronic potential. I present selected results for different isospin, spin and parity combinations of the individual B mesons mainly focusing on those channels relevant to determine, whether two B mesons may form a bound tetraquark state.
To alleviate recurrent pericardial effusion secondary to systemic lupus erythematosus, pericardio-peritoneal window was performed. Subsequently, end stage renal disease developed and the patient required peritoneal dialysis. Patency of the pericardio-peritoneal window was demonstrated by intraperitoneal injection of Tc-99m SC through a Tenckhoff catheter, which prompted special counsel to the patient in order to prevent infectious pericarditis potentially complicating peritoneal dialysis induced-peritonitis. PMID:7554664
The ?new variant famine? hypothesis posits links between HIV/AIDS and new patterns of impoverishment, food insecurity and hunger, in southern and eastern Africa. This paper explores the relevance of the NVF hypothesis to understanding Swaziland?s recurrent food crises and high HIV prevalence. Evidence exists that all four markers of NVF are present in Swaziland. The national government and the international community will have to contend with this phenomenon in future planning for the wellbeing of Swazi citizens.
In the group of persistent aromatic hydrocarbons, the highest values were determined for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), total DDT and hexachlorobenzene (HBC). Comparisons of the relevant median values for the past six years led to the conclusion that the steep initial decline in the breast milk concentrations of DDT and HBC was followed by reductions at a much lower pace in the years after 1987. The time course of the concentration of the total PCB did not appear to follow any particular pattern. The mean contents of lead and cadmium remained by a wide margin below the threshold values for these heavy metals and thus were of no relevance from the toxicological point of view. It was found that the 134 and 137 cesium isotopes constituted no particular health hazard for breast-fed infants, as the relevant concentrations in breast milk were low. (VHE) [Deutsch] In der Gruppe der persistenten Chlorkohlenwasserstoffe werden die ...
Only a small number of radiation accidents in the United States have been severe enough to result in multi-organ failure (MOF). Medical details of selected medical misadministration and criticality cases are reviewed, with an emphasis on pathophysiology. The four criticality cases are particularly relevant for analysis of MOF, since medical treatment was supportive and did not appreciably alter the clinical evolution of radiation injury. PMID:15975871
The U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) is required by Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 regulations to develop a conceptual understanding of potential contaminant releases from the Hanford Site based on an evaluation of existing data and known historical practices. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are one environmental contaminant potentially released through leaks, spills, or disposal. This document presents a summary of selected relevant existing information, including environmental studies and Hanford Site analytical data.
We reported a relevant activity of the combination between sorafenib and octreotide long-acting release (LAR) in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. In this work, we have studied if oxidative...Full Text Available
The lepton flavor-violating coherent ( /sup -/, e/sup -/) conversion is investigated. Photonic and nonphotonic contributions arising in various gauge models are considered. The dependence of the conversion rate on the structure of the nucleus is given by the elastic form factors. These are obtained in the context of shell model taking into account finite-size effects or extracted from the electron scattering data whenever possible. The relevant branching ratios are studied throughout the periodic table.
Evaluated spectroscopic data for all nuclei with mass number A = 216 are presented together with the relevant level schemes from radioactive decay and nuclear reaction studies. The experimental data are evaluated, inconsistencies and discrepancies are noted, and adopted values for level and #gamma#-ray energies, #gamma# intensities, as well as for other nuclear properties are given. The present evaluation supersedes the earlier one on A = 216 by A. Artna-Cohen (1997Ar04), published in Nuclear Data Sheets 80, 157 (1997).
Reported on here are studies of various methods for liquefying coal. Hydropyrolysis as an alternative method for producing liquid hydrocarbons and a carbon enriched char is discussed. Other methods described involve supercritical gas extraction of coal and use of natural gas as a hydrogenating agent. Relevant waste water treatments are discussed as well. 65 refs., 9 figs.
Ultrasound examinations for foetal brain abnormalities have been a part of the routine antenatal screening programme in the UK for many years. In utero brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is now being used increasingly successfully to clarify abnormal ultrasound findings, often resulting in a change of diagnosis or treatment plan. Interpretation requires an understanding of foetal brain development, malformations and acquired diseases. In this paper we will outline the technique of foetal MRI, relevant aspects of brain development and provide illustrated examples of foetal brain pathology.
This paper examines how robust economic, political, and demographic variables are related to water and air pollution. Employing Bayesian Averaging of Classical Estimates (BACE) for a cross section of 47 countries, 34 variables and 3 proxies for air and water pollution over a period from 1980 to 2000 we confirm the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis and highlight the relevance of variables that are not directly related to production.
These three volumes cover liposome technology in pharmacology and medicine. Contributors emphasize methodology used in their own laboratories, and include a brief introduction, coverage of relevant literature, applications and critical evaluations for the methods they describe. Volume II presents procedures for the entrapment of a number of drugs, including genetic material, into selected types of liposomes.
This report provides overall state and national information on the quantity, availability, and costs of current and potential feedstocks for ethanol production in the United States. It characterizes end uses and physical characteristics of feedstocks, and presents relevant information that affects the economic and technical feasibility of ethanol production from these feedstocks. The data can help researchers focus ethanol conversion research efforts on feedstocks that are compatible with the resource base.
Records of the 8. ITER Council Meeting (IC-8), held on 26-27 July 1995, in San Diego, USA, and the 9. ITER Council Meeting (IC-9) held on 12-13 December 1995, in Garching, Germany, are presented, giving essential information on the evolution of the ITER Engineering Design Activities (EDA) and the ITER Interim Design Report Package and Relevant Documents. Figs, tabs.
IAEA Plans of activities include, General Conference in September 2001 which reviewed activities relevant to preventing nuclear terrorism and proposed master plan. The Board of Governors approved new Nuclear Security Plan for the next four years. Three activity areas are; - needs assessment, analysis and coordination, prevention and detection and response.
We investigate the scope of all relevant production modes of charged Higgs bosons in the MSSM, with mass larger than the one of the top quark, at future Linear Colliders operating in {gamma}{gamma} mode at the TeV energy scale. Final states with one or two H{sup {+-}} bosons are considered, as produced by both tree- and loop-level interactions. (orig.)
We investigate the scope of all relevant production modes of charged Higgs bosons in the MSSM, with mass larger than the one of the top quark, at future Linear Colliders operating in #gamma##gamma# mode at the TeV energy scale. Final states with one or two H"#+-# bosons are considered, as produced by both tree- and loop-level interactions. (orig.)
It is the purpose of this review to draw together the recent research adding to our understanding of the molecular nature of Clostridia. The thrust here is to emphasize those research advances in biochemistry and genetics that bear upon future development of fermentation processes employing the Clostridia. 222 refs., 10 figs., 5 tabs.
Constructive and combinatorial relationships between order-isomorphisms and order-equivalence classes within the generalized genetic code are presented, not only for the biologically relevant groups of order 4, but also for finite groups of arbitrary order. The main result is the derivation of the number (and types) or order-equivalence classes for a group of order n. Finally, an extension of this work to all biologically admissible alternative codes is discussed.
The main goals of nuclear astrophysics have been to probe the interiors of stars, stellar explosions, the early moments of cosmic expansion, and the formation and evolution of galaxies and cosmic structure by measurement and application of the relevant nuclear physics. The approach to these goals have generally been from three directions: 1) Careful measurements of the relevant nuclear reactions; 2) Detailed computer models of the relevant astrophysical environments; and 3) Observations of the relevant terrestrial and extra-terrestrial atomic and isotopic abundances. These approaches provide not only insight into the formation and evolution of the elements, but are also pillars upon which a variety of cosmological models as well as models for physics beyond the standard model of particle physics can stand or fall. At present there is a very exciting frontier on all three of these approaches. The ...
This guide is one of the actions following from the recommendations of the Thermie B project that aimed to support the development of a new European Integrated Clean Coal (CCT) Program concept (STR - 1121 - 96), November 1998. The concept aimed to enhance the market deployment of EU CCTs. This guide is prepared for EU industry to help them finding support for their CCT exports to the target markets. The guide will include easy accessible information on the most relevant EC-programs and is intended as a practical tool for EU CCT industry, to assist them in identifying and selecting the export support and programs best able to support their specific export assistance. The guide is a manual (signpost) through the 'jungle of assistance' and therefore does not include extensive information on application procedures, since this kind of information can be easily obtained, once the relevant program is identified. Also information will ...
The risks from radiation exposure during radiological diagnosis has usually been estimated in relation to genetic changes. Relevant information has been expressed as the genetically significant dose. In this paper we attempt to produce an analogous measure for evaluating the somatic risk in the form of a somatically significant dose index for radiological and CT examinations. It is shown that, for both types of examination, the two risk factors may be entirely different.
The risks from radiation exposure during radiological diagnosis has usually been estimated in relation to genetic changes. Relevant information has been expressed as the genetically significant dose. In this paper we attempt to produce an analogous measure for evaluating the somatic risk in the form of a somatically significant dose index for radiological and CT examinations. It is shown that, for both types of examination, the two risk factors may be entirely different. (orig.).
This paper reviews the main studies on entrepreneurship conducted during the past two decades that are relevant for the understanding of various macroeconomic issues. I organize the discussion by distinguishing three groups of contributions. The first group includes studies whose main purpose is to understand the factors that affect the decision to become an entrepreneur. The second group includes studies that look at the aggregate and distributional implications of entrepreneurship for savings and investment. The third group deals with issues of economic development and growth.
Electromagnetic effects excited by intense relativistic electron beams in plasmas are investigated using a two-dimensional particle code. The simulations with dense beams show large magnetic fields excited by the Weibel instability as well as sizeable electromagnetic radiation over a significant range of frequencies. The possible relevance of beam plasma instabilities to the laser acceleration of particles is briefly discussed. 6 refs., 4 figs.
The application of differential optical absorption (DOA) techniques for the in-situ determination of the chemical composition of coal gasification process streams is investigated. Absorption spectra of relevant molecular species and the temperature and pressure effects on DOA-determined spectral characteristics of these species will be determined and cataloged. A system will be configured, assembled, and tested.
The Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) will provide a prototypic test environment for advanced fuels and materials development within the U. S. LMFBR program. As a fast test reactor, the FFTF also provides a potentially unique capability for conduct of safety experimentation relevant to selected LMFBR safety issues associated with postulated core disruption events. The utility and feasibility of possible extension of FFTF testing into the area of safety research is being investigated. 5 fig.
The objective of SCK-CEN's R and D programme on decision strategy research are (1) to support and advise the Belgian authorities on specific problems concerning existing and potential hazards from exposure to ionising radiation, both in normal and emergency situations; (2) to perform research on relevant topics that might have an important impact on decision making related to nuclear applications, including social and economic sciences. Main achievements in this area in 1999 are described.
Brucellosis is a common worldwide zoonotic disease. Cutaneous manifestations are not specific and affect 1-14% of patients with brucellosis. Here, we describe 49-year-old female with fever and a diffuse maculopapular rash due to Brucella melitensis infection. Histopathology of skin biopsy revealed leukocytoclastic vasculitis; positive blood cultures for B. melitensis established the diagnosis of brucellosis. We provide a review of the relevant literature. PMID:21772606
We present a simple and intuitive derivation of the track parameter covariance matrix due to multiple Coulomb scattering for use in track fitting with the Kalman filter. We derive all the covariance matrix elements for two experimentally relevant track parameterizations (i.e. x and y slopes and intercepts, and direction cosines and intercepts) in the presence of thin scatterers and absence of magnetic fields. We further comment on how to account for thick and/or continuous scattering centers.
Computing Networks (CNs) are defined. These are used to generalize neural and swarm architectures, namely artificial neural networks, ant colony optimization, and particle swarm optimization. The description of these architectures as CNs allows their comparison, distinguishing which properties enable them to perform complex computations and exhibit complex cognitive abilities. In this context, the most relevant characteristics of CNs are the existence multiple dynamical and functional scales.
An update of the ODEtools Maple package, for the analytical solving of 1st and 2nd order ODEs using Lie group symmetry methods, is presented. The set of routines includes an ODE-solver and user-level commands realizing most of the relevant steps of the symmetry scheme. The package also includes commands for testing the returned results, and for classifying 1st and 2nd order ODEs.
Compton scatter tomography utilizes the electronic collimation characteristics available through the Compton scattering angle-energy correlation to obtain tomographic images. In this work we present particular aspects of the technique, which are relevant to the inverse radiation transport problem of reducing marginal projection data to radial two-phase flow regime maps. The results indicate a viable technique for the tomographic imaging of tow-phase flow using practical source strengths and reasonably few detectors.
...relevant international NGO networks Lobby for sufficient support in EU institutions for developing EU legislation on IAS Provide input into the debate about the wilderness concept at the Wilderness Conference under the Czech Presidency National level press work on Art. 17 composite report and Natura 2000 management CEEweb Natura 2000 Working Group meetings Develop a CEEweb proposal on how to discuss and ensure the appropriate management of Natura 2000 sites on ...
PurposeTo characterize differences in retinal ganglion cell (RGC) function in mouse strains relevant to disease models. C57BL/6J (B6) and DBA/2J (D2) are the two most common mouse...Full Text Available
The recent announcement that the public inquiry into the CEGB's plans to build a PWR at Sizewell will begin in January 1983 and the statement which followed from the task force that was set up in July 1981 to consider the future of the PWR programme in the UK, are considered. The relevant time scales, costs and safety, in particular the cost incurred due to the added safety features for the British PWR, are discussed. The effect of political aspects on the future of the PWR in Britain is considered.
We discuss the calculation of two-point three-loop functions with an arbitrary number of massive propagators and one large external momentum. The relevant subdiagrams are generated automatically. The resulting massless two-point integrals and massive tadpoles are transformed on-line to FORM-expressions ready to be used by existing FORM packages which calculate them analytically. As an example we compute the quartic mass corrections to the photon polarization function. (orig.).
A novel approach is presented to extract relevant parameters associated with the energy loss of ejectiles from nuclear reactions obtained by digitizing the signals of a Bragg curve spectrometer. New and more powerful computational paradigms allow a more thorough pulse-shape analysis. This is fulfilled using a back-propagation artificial neural network as a pattern identifier. The known problem of over-training is discussed.
An imaging detector for {gamma}-rays ({approx equal}1 MeV) based on minicell MWPCs with converters and a position resolution of {Delta}x=0.5 mm has been developed and tested. Very high rate capability (>10{sup 8}/cm{sup 2} s) and a special readout for suppression of scattered radiation are implemented allowing to enhance the measured contrast. The relevant physical processes are discussed and first pictures are presented. (orig.).
The National Center for Photovoltaics sponsored the 17th Workshop on Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells & Modules: Materials and Processes, held in Vail, CO, August 5-8, 2007. This meeting provided a forum for an informal exchange of technical and scientific information between international researchers in the photovoltaic and relevant non-photovoltaic fields. The theme of this year's meeting was 'Expanding Technology for a Future Powered by Si Photovoltaics.'
The Daya Bay reactor neutrino experiment is designed to study the disappearance of antineutrinos from the Daya Bay nuclear power plant in China. The goal of this experiment is to measure the remaining unknown neutrino mixing parameter ?13 with high precision: sin2(2?13)<0.01. The experiment is presently under construction and it is anticipated that data acquisition will begin in 2011.
The GERDA experiment is located in the underground Gran Sasso laboratory. The experiment aims at studying the neutrinoless ?? decay of 76Ge. The implementation of the experiment is divided in two consecutive phases. Phase I will allow within one year of data taking to reach a sensitivity limit for the half life of the process of the order of Formula Not Shown years. Phase II, with an increased amount of active material and a background index lower by one order of magnitude than in Phase I, will allow to reach a half life limit of about Formula Not Shown years. In the present paper a brief review of the status of the experiment and its perspectives is given.
The search for the mixing angle Formula Not Shown , the last unknown angle in the neutrino mixing matrix, is one of the main priorities in the field of neutrino physics. By measuring Formula Not Shown to better than 0.01 at 90% C.L., the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment has the highest sensitivity to this parameter among all the other experiments that are currently operating or under construction. The experiment consists of multiple identical detectors placed underground at different baselines from three groups of reactors, a configuration that minimizes systematic errors and cosmogenic backgrounds. The main aspects of the experiment, as well as its current status and future prospects, are reviewed.
In the geologic formation where the oil deposits are located, diverse types of rocks perform functions as structural elements, storage containers for hydrocarbon water and calorific energy, as well as impermeable barriers and transport means of the energy and the fluids. Among the most important properties that are used to describe these functions are the porosity, the permeability, the compressibility of the pores volume, the formation resistivity factor, the saturation exponent, the velocity of acoustic waves P and S, the relative permeability, the capillary pressures, the elastic constants and other mechanical properties, the thermal expansion, coefficient, the thermal conductivity, the thermal diffusivity and the specific heat. The execution of an ample variety of activities related to the stages of exploration, location, evaluation and development of the oil deposits, depends strongly on having a good knowledge of the magnitude and the spatial variability of these properties. The ...
In the context of safety assessment of radioactive waste repositories, complex radionuclide transport models covering key safety-relevant processes play a major role. In recent Swiss safety assessments, such as Kristallin-I, an important drawback was the limitation in geosphere modelling capability to account for geosphere heterogeneities. In marked contrast to this limitation in modelling capabilities, great effort has been put into investigating the heterogeneity of the geosphere as it impacts on hydrology. Structural geological methods have been used to look at the geometry of the flow paths on a small scale and the diffusion and sorption properties of different rock materials have been investigated. This huge amount of information could however be only partially applied in geosphere transport modelling. To make use of these investigations the 'PICNIC project' was established as a joint cooperation of PSI/Nagra and QuantiSci to provide a new ...
A review of the various solidification agents and techniques that are currently available or potentially applicable for the solidification of low-level radioactive wastes is presented. An overview of the types and quantities of low-level wastes produced is presented. Descriptions of waste form matrix materials, the wastes types for which they have been or may be applied and available information concerning relevant waste form properties and characteristics follow. Also included are descriptions of the processing techniques themselves with an emphasis on those operating parameters which impact upon waste form properties. The solidification agents considered in this survey include: hydraulic cements, thermoplastic materials, thermosetting polymers, glasses, synthetic minerals and composite materials. This survey is part of a program supported by the United States Department of Energy's Low-Level Waste Management Program (LLWMP). This work provides input into ...
The mean-field pictures based on the standard time-dependent variational approach have widely been used in the study of nonlinear many-boson systems such as the Bose-Hubbard model. The mean-field schemes relevant to Gutzwiller-like trial states $|F>$, number-preserving states $|\\xi >$ and Glauber-like trial states $|Z>$ are compared to evidence the specific properties of such schemes. After deriving the Hamiltonian picture relevant to $|Z>$ from that based on $|F>$, the latter is shown to exhibit a Poisson algebra equipped with a Weyl-Heisenberg subalgebra which preludes to the $|Z>$-based picture. Then states $|Z>$ are shown to be a superposition of $\\cal N$-boson states $|\\xi>$ and the similarities/differences of the $|Z>$-based and $|\\xi>$-based pictures are discussed. Finally, after proving that the simple, symmetric state $|\\xi>$ indeed corresponds to a SU(M) coherent state, a dual version of states ...
Understanding risks from exposures to carcinogens and other chemicals depends upon measurement of their dose to target tissues and their reactivity with critical macromolecules. The authors have used AMS detection of radio-isotopes to assess doses and reactivities at low, environmentally relevant doses. Several biomedical investigations show the effectiveness of quantification of biologically important events at extremely high sensitivity with AMS. Specifically, they have measured the addition of environmental carcinogens such as 2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]-quinoaxaline (MelQx), a chemical found in cooked food, to DNA at concentrations relevant to human exposure. Other low level detection problems in biology, such as immunoassay assessment of small environmental chemicals, is being developed with attomole sensitivity. AMS also aids the assessment of genotoxic risks from chemicals by quantifying the binding of labeled chemicals to DNA. ...
Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become an important tool in the radiologic diagnosis of diseases of the brain as it measures molecular motion of water that characterizes the microstructure of tissues. Its most important clinical use to date is the early detection of cerebral ischemia by revealing the ischemic injury shortly after vessel occlusion and simultaneously providing therapy-relevant information on the tissue at risk. Furthermore, diffusion MRI is diagnostically promising in other diseases of the brain and is thus increasingly becoming part of routine clinical protocols in the diagnosis of tumors, inflammation, trauma, demyelination, dysmyelination and neurodegeneration. Although abnormalities of diffusion are generally not pathognomonic, diffusion MRI affords information about tissue changes for specific disorders that complements information obtained with standard MR techniques and frequently shows pathology earlier. In addition, diffusion ...
We describe a clustering method for labeled link network (semantic graph) that can be used to group important nodes (highly connected nodes) with their relevant link's labels by using PARAFAC tensor decomposition. In this kind of network, the adjacency matrix can not be used to fully describe all information about the network structure. We have to expand the matrix into 3-way adjacency tensor, so that not only the information about to which nodes a node connects to but by which link's labels is also included. And by applying PARAFAC decomposition on this tensor, we get two lists, nodes and link's labels with scores attached to each node and labels, for each decomposition group. So clustering process to get the important nodes along with their relevant labels can be done simply by sorting the lists in decreasing order. To test the method, we construct labeled link network by using blog's dataset, where the blogs are the nodes and labeled links ...
A new method, near-infrared laser desorption/ionization aerosol mass spectrometry (NIR-LDI-AMS), is described for the real time analysis of organic aerosols at atmospherically relevant mass loadings. Use of a single NIR laser pulse to vaporize and ionize particle components deposited on an aluminum probe results in minimal fragmentation to produce exclusively intact pseudomolecular anions at [M-H](-). Limits of detection (total particulate mass sampled) for oxidized compounds of relevance to atmospheric primary and secondary organic aerosol range from 89 fg for pinic acid to 8.8 pg for cholesterol. NIR-LDI-AMS was used in conjunction with the University of Vermont Environmental Chamber to study secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation from ozonolysis of limonene at total aerosol mass loadings ranging from 3.2 to 25.0 ?g m(-3) and with a time resolution of several minutes. NIR-LDI-AMS permitted direct delineation between gas-phase, homogeneous ...
We study the condensation of localized closed string tachyons in C{sup 3}/Z{sub N} non-supersymmetric noncompact orbifold singularities via renormalization group flows that preserve supersymmetry in the worldsheet conformal field theory and their interrelations with the toric geometry of these orbifolds. We show that for worldsheet supersymmetric tachyons, the endpoint of tachyon condensation generically includes 'geometric' terminal singularities (orbifolds that do not have any marginal or relevant Kahler blowup modes) as well as singularities in co-dimension two. Some of the various possible distinct geometric resolutions are related by flip transitions. For Type II theories, we show that the residual singularities that arise under tachyon condensation in various classes of Type II theories also admit a Type II GSO projection. We further show that Type II orbifolds entirely devoid of marginal or relevant blowup modes (Kahler ...
Document search is generally based on individual terms in the document. However, for collections within limited domains it is possible to provide more powerful access tools. This paper describes a system designed for collections of reports of infectious disease outbreaks. The system, Proteus-BIO, automatically creates a table of outbreaks, with each table entry linked to the document describing that outbreak; this makes it possible to use database operations such as selection and sorting to find relevant documents. Proteus-BIO consists of a Web crawler which gathers relevant documents; an information extraction engine which converts the individual outbreak events to a tabular database; and a database browser which provides access to the events and, through them, to the documents. The information extraction engine uses sets of patterns and word classes to extract the information about each event. Preparing these patterns and word classes has ...
In the course of the research project 'Investigations of trace element concentrations in coal seams with different mineral groups', 31 seam coals of the Ruhr Carboniferous were analysed in order to determine the bending of 14 coal-relevant trace elements to the mineral groups and/or minerals of the coals. Products with different ash content were produced by fluctuation of the seam coals in a laboratory cell. The raw coals and fluctuation component products were analyzed chemically and mineralogically in order to get a quantitative raw material characterisation of the sampled material. Particular interest is taken in the chemical and non-ecological composition of the mineral as ash carrier in the coal and the fluctuation component products, as well as in trace element control. (orig./EF).
Salinisation of freshwater has been identified as a serious environmental issue in Australia and around the world. Protective concentrations (trigger values) for salinity can be used to manage salinity impacts, though require locally relevant salinity tolerance information. 72-h acute salinity tolerance values were determined for 102 macroinvertebrates collected from 11 locations in four biologically distinct freshwater bio-regions in Northeast Australia and compared with sensitivities observed in Southeast Australia. The salinity tolerance of individual taxa was consistent across Northeast Australia and between Northeast and Southeast Australia. However, two distinct communities were identified in Northeast Australia using distributions of the acute tolerance values and a calculated index of salinity sensitivity. Salinity trigger values should therefore be representative of local or regionally relevant communities and may be adequately ...
This study effort was required as a preliminary step prior to initiation of field measurements of atmospheric dispersion in coastal regions. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is in the process of planning an extensive field measurement program to generate data which will serve as improved data bases for licensing decisions, confirmation of regulations, standards, and guides, and for site characterizations. The study being reported here is an effort directed to obtaining as much information as is possible from existing studies that is relevant toward NRC's objectives. For this study, reports covering research and meteorological measurements conducted for industrial purposes, utility needs, military objectives, and academic studies were obtained and critically reviewed in light of NRC's current data needs. This report provides an interpretation of the extent of existing usable information, an indication of the potential for tailoring existing ...
Previous corrosion studies identified the materials Hastelloy C4, Ti 99.8-Pd, and carbon steels as promising for the manufacture of long-lived high-level waste containers that could act as an engineered barrier in a rock-salt repository. Here, the efficiency of the corrosion-resistant concept using surface-welded Hastelloy C4 as corrosion protection of carbon steel containers is compared with the corrosion-allowance concept using unalloyed or low-alloyed steels. The materials are examined in three disposal relevant brines (two rich in MgCl_2, one rich in NaCl) at 150 C. The results indicate that welded Hastelloy C4 is highly resistant to corrosion in the NaCl-rich brine. In the presence of sulfides or MgCl_2-rich brines, however, severe pitting corrosion occurs. The three steels investigated are resistant to pitting corrosion in all brines, and their general corrosion rates imply corrosion allowances acceptable for thick-walled containers. In view of these results, ...
The relevance of the teacher to the success of any education innovation is not open to contention. Equally incontentious is the relevance of education and training to the success of the teacher in the attainment of his/her professional goals. It is against this background that this paper examines the continuing education imperatives in the present basic education crusade in Nigeria. Here continuing education is conceptualized as a process for developing teacher's skill for coping with changing demands of the job through regular exposure to professional renewal programmes. The paper contends that inasmuch as the teacher will continue to play a pivotal role in the execution of educational innovations, then further education and training as it affects him/her must receive priority attention in the conceptualization and implementation of such innovations. To this end, the paper advocates: teacher exchange programmes between Nigeria and other ...
The relevance of Quantum Electrodynamics (Qed) in contemporary atomic structure theory is reviewed. Recent experimental advances allow both the production of heavy ions of high charge as well as the measurement of atomic properties with a precision never achieved before. The description of heavy atoms with few electrons via the successive incorporation of one, two, etcetera photons in a rigorous manner and within the bound state Furry representation of Qed is technically feasible. For many-electron atoms the many-body (correlation) effects are very important and it is practically impossible to evaluate all the relevant Feynman diagrams to the required accuracy. Thus, it is necessary to develop a theoretical scheme in which the radiative and nonradiative effects are taken into account in an effective way making emphasis in electronic correlation. Preserving gauge invariance, and avoiding both continuum dissolution and variational collapse are ...
A case study is presented where an integrated, ecologically relevant exposure assessment is presented for a polluted lowland river. Using partial least squares regression of latent structures (PLS), an analysis of the impact of two effluents on physico-chemical water quality measures, macroinvertebrate and diatom communities, and in situ bioassay responses with four different test species are combined into an integrative exposure assessment. Bioassays focussed on growth and condition related endpoints, because they are key functional processes of organisms and populations. Integrating these multiple lines of evidence, we were able to discriminate among the impact of both effluents, link changes in physico-chemical water quality with bioassay endpoints and ecological quality of the ecosystem, and address the importance of integrating all information into one exposure assessment framework. The bioassays under field conditions indicated that most endpoints measured ...
To illustrate the implementation of a bottom-up approach to the study of culture in health disparities, this article describes the development of a cultural cancer screening scale (CCSS) using mixed methodologies. The aim was to identify cultural factors relevant to breast and cervical cancer screening, develop an instrument to assess them and examine its preliminary psychometric properties among Latin American (Latino) and non-Latino White (Anglo) women in Southern California. Seventy-eight Latino and Anglo women participated in semi-structured interviews, which were content coded based on Triandis' methods for the analysis of subjective culture. Based on the emerging cultural elements, items relevant to cancer screening were developed and pilot tested with 161 participants. After the instrument was refined, 314 Latino and Anglo women from various socioeconomic backgrounds completed the CCSS and data were factor analyzed resulting in five ...
In order to reduce the total number of experiments for achieving the highest removal of methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solutions using yellow passion fruit peel (Passiflora edullis, F. flavicarpa) and mandarin peel (Citrus reticulata) as biosorbents two independent sets of full 23 factorial designs with two central points (10 experiments) were experimented. In order to continue the optimization of the system a new full 22 factorial design with two central points (six experiments) and a central composite surface analysis (13 experiments, divided into four cube points, five centre points, and four axial points) were employed for yellow passion fruit peel (PFP) and mandarin peel (MP), respectively. Using these statistical tools, the best conditions for MB removal from aqueous solution were ...
The Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) is a liquid-metal-cooled fast reactor, which is designed to test a variety of different structural and fuel materials. A safety analysis is performed for each experiment that is irradiated in FFTF. The FFTF final safety analysis report (FSAR) assumed that all driver fuel assemblies would maintain cladding integrity during normal operations and all design transients. Maintenance of cladding integrity retains three barriers to any fission gas release to the public and also prevents any potential contact between the fuel and coolant. Experiments are, in general, expected to meet the same criterion. Selected experiments can, however, be classified as run-to-cladding-breach experiments (RTCB). The purpose of this paper is to describe alternative acceptance criteria for RTCB experiments that they feel provide protection equivalent to the maintenance of ...
In this letter we present a derivation, from the D0-brane picture, of the background monopole field and in general of the full dynamics of the Yang-Mills theory on the dielectric D2-brane of Myers. To do this we study the large N limit of the fuzzy sphere relevant to the dielectric solution. In contrast to the usual interpretation where the commutative D2-brane picture arises directly from the large N limit of the D0-brane picture, we find that a residual non-commutativity must be preserved in order to make the connection by means of the Seiberg-Witten map.
The Universal Basic education (UBE) Programme could not have been introduced at a better time than now that the nation is in dire need of all round national Development. The major objective of the UBE programme is to provide free, universal and compulsory basic education for every Nigerian child aged 6-15 years. However, for the Universal Basic Education programme to be truly free and universal, efforts must be made to check those factors that are known to have hindered the success of such programmes in the past. This paper specifically considered the implementation of Universal Basic Education (UBE) so far--its success and problems. Relevant recommendations are therefore proffered. (Contains 1 table.)
The previously unknown property of the optical speckle pattern reported. The interference of a speckle with the counterpropagating phase-conjugated (PC) speckle wave produces a randomly distributed ensemble of a twisted entities (ropes) surrounding optical vortex lines. These entities appear in a wide range of a randomly chosen speckle parameters inside the phase-conjugating mirrors regardless to an internal physical mechanism of the wave-front reversal. These numerically generated interference patterns are relevant to the Brillouin PC mirrors and to a four-wave mixing PC mirrors based upon laser trapped ultracold atomic cloud.
A model for energy transport in a solid particle cavity receiver is developed and applied to the design and analysis of a receiver for the Central Receiver Test Facility (CRTF), Albuquerque, New Mexico. The model gives thermal performance results - including particle temperatures, cavity efficiencies, and wall temperatures - which directly affect the economic and technical feasibility of a solid particle receiver. In addition, design criteria relevant to the configuration of a solid particle cavity receiver are developed. Results for CRTF indicate that at design conditions particle temperatures will exceed 1200/sup 0/K with cavity efficiencies on the order of 75%.
Due to changed operational conditions and because of the increasing age of several hydro power plant components, there is an increasing risk of damages and the control of degradation mechanisms is of increasing significance. Therefore lifetime considerations for safety relevant components in pumped-storage plants become more and more important. The development of a lifetime management system, in conjunction with monitoring systems and specific surveillance for a group of pumped-storage power plants of different ages and in a wide range of power output is presented. The special focus is on the impact of fatigue strength considerations within this framework. The applied procedure will be described for typical mechanical components in pumped-storage plants exemplarily. (orig.)
The determinants of the velocity of money have been examined based on life-cycle hypothesis. The velocity of money can be expressed by reciprocal of the average value of holding time which is defined as interval between participating exchanges for one unit of money. This expression indicates that the velocity is governed by behavior patterns of economic agents and open a way to constructing micro-foundation of it. It is found that time pattern of income and expense for a representative individual can be obtained from a simple version of life-cycle model, and average holding time of money resulted from the individual's optimal choice depends on the expected length of relevant planning periods.
The Regulation 761/2001 EMAS (Environmental Management and Audit Scheme), introduced by the 1836/93 Community regulation, is one of the tools activated by the European Union in order to apply the 5. and 6. Community Environmental Programme, in the field of firm-environment interactions at first (overcoming the old Command and Control logic), then by extending its applicability to ali Organisations. EMAS is a voluntary tool that enables Organisations to evaluate their own interaction with the Environment, to plan and check the yearly improvement of their environmental performance, providing the public documented relevant information. The report illustrates the procedure far applying this regulation, its implementation and new application trends in Italy and the advantages far firms.
Structural engineering implies four factors particularly relevant to sonics: airborne noise abatement, insulation of plumbing, by-pass insulation and noise absorption (noise abatement). These are exemplified with special regard to methodical and/or product-specific noise pollution abatement measures. Besides, reference is made to DIN standards 4109 providing both engineers with practical advice and pipe fitters or plumbers with concrete examples for application. VDI recommendations 3733 convey essential knowledge of how to properly apply sonic principles in the planning, design and installation of pipes. (BR).
Natural radioactivity found in rocks and its evaluation been frequently used for studies of environmental geochemistry, particularly those of detection and control of pollutants and the consequent changes in environment after antropic interferences. In this work natural radioactivity in forty nine soil samples in the basin of Buquira river, at the Northeast region of Sao Paulo State, has been analysed and measured with a Ge-HP gamma ray spectrometer. A table with the most relevant results found in rocks is shown and discussed. (author)
The regular inspection of No.2 plant in Sendai Nuclear Power Station was carried out from January 7 to February 8, 1985. The summary of the results of this regular inspection is as follows. The facilities as the object of inspection were radiation control facilities and waste facilities. On these facilities as the object of inspection, the appearance, disassembling, functional, performance and other inspections were carried out, and as the results, abnormality was not found at all. The works related to this regular inspection were accomplished within the range of the allowable radiation dose based on the relevant laws. (Kako, I.).
We discuss models of computing that are beyond classical. The primary motivation is to unearth the cause of nonclassical advantages in computation. Completeness results from computational complexity theory lead to the identification of very disparate problems, and offer a kaleidoscopic view into the realm of quantum enhancements in computation. Emphasis is placed on the `power of one qubit' model, and the boundary between quantum and classical correlations as delineated by quantum discord. A recent result by Eastin on the role of this boundary in the efficient classical simulation of quantum computation is discussed. Perceived drawbacks in the interpretation of quantum discord as a relevant certificate of quantum enhancements are addressed.
The nature of the first generation of stars in the Universe remains largely unknown. Observations imply the existence of massive primordial stars early in the history of the universe, and the standard theory for the growth of cosmic structure predicts that structures grow hierarchically through gravitational instability. We have developed an ab initio computer simulation of the formation of primordial stars that follows the relevant atomic and molecular processes in a primordial gas in an expanding universe. The results show that primeval density fluctuations left over from the Big Bang can drive the formation of a tiny protostar with a mass of just one percent that of the sun. The protostar is a seed for the subsequent formation of a massive primordial star.
This paper describes the main aspects and results of the planning studies undertaken to evaluate the technical benefits of using Thyristor Controlled Series Compensation (TCSC), in a large 500 kV transmission system (Brazilian North-Northeast system). TCSC controllers design and simplified models for digital non-linear time domain simulations are discussed. The proposed controllers are tuned and used to support the comparative analysis between controlled and fixed series compensation. The relevant conclusions concerning this comparison are highlighted. (author) 2 refs., 14 figs., 3 tabs.
Possible anomalous top-quark couplings induced by SU(2)xU(1) gauge-invariant dimension-6 effective operators were studied in the process of ttbar productions and decays at polarized #gamma##gamma# colliders. Two CP-violating asymmetries, a linear-polarization asymmetry and a circular-polarization asymmetry, were computed including both non-standard ttbar#gamma# and #gamma##gamma#H couplings. An optimal-observable analysis for the process #gamma##gamma##->#ttbar#->#l"#+-# was performed in order to estimate the precision for determination of all relevant non-standard couplings, including the anomalous tbW coupling.
In order to accurately assess the effectiveness of activated charcoal for the removal of radon from flowing air, a literature survey was performed to identify the models and relevant data that were available. It was found that by modifying the mathematical model of equilibrium stage theory used by Strong and Levins, the output rate of an activated charcoal filter exposed to a step function input in the radon rate at time zero with a given carrier gas flow velocity could be predicted. This paper outlines the modifications made to Strong and Levins's model and presents predictions for the filter output from the modified model.
A mixture of aminoacids was irradiated by a scattered proton beam, its energy varying from 4 to 6.6 MeV, by doses up to 5 x 10"1"1 proton/cm"2 for studying the potentiality of abiogenic synthesis of biologically important compounds in space. It was ascertained that increase in the radiation dose and reduction of proton energy involve increase in effectiveness both of destruction of the initial aminoacid (tryptophan, tyrosine, glycine) and synthesis of the relevant dipeptide. Essential influence of mineral substrate on abiogenic synthesis of natural nucleotides under the action of diverse energy sources was pointed out
Positron-emission tomography (PET) and PET/CT (computed tomography) are becoming increasingly important for diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Clinically relevant changes can sometimes be seen on PET that are not seen on other imaging modalities. However, PET is not suitable for guiding biopsy as the images are not obtained in real-time. Therefore, our research group has begun developing a concept for PET/CT-guided interventional procedures. This paper presents the rationale for this concept, outlines our research plan, and includes an initial study to evaluate the relative sensitivity of CT and PET/CT in detecting suspicious lesions. (orig.)
The partial project SR 2039/4 investigates organizational demands and factors of the man-organization interface. Thee study is divided into the sections inventory of rules and guidelines; evaluation of organizational structures and modes of operation, and working out of demand characteristics and evaluation criteria. The objective consists in representing, analyzing and evaluating the efficiency structure of sequence organization, and deriving practice-relevant concept proposals in order to optimize the man-organization interface. In this regard, the working out of control mechanisms for the evaluation of organizational sequences is of considerable importance as a kind of working aid. (orig./DG).
This paper presents the results of a study commissioned by the British Columbia Science Council to identify opportunities for liquefaction of B.C. coals and to recommend effective approaches to the development of a research program on coal conversion. Contains reviews of British Columbia coal resources to identify prospective candidates for conversion to liquid fuels; of the state of the art in the various processes for the conversion of coal to liquid fuels with particular emphasis on those processes most relevant to British Columbia applications; and of research opportunities in British Columbia for the development of coal liquefaction technology. (16 refs.)
The achievement of governmental transformation through the use of electronically delivered services is a worthy goal that requires significant planning and research to achieve. In order to reach transformational paradigm shifts in governmental operation, it will first be necessary to understand and optimize present governmental e-Service provisions. Of these, the revenue function of taxation is paramount. This paper describes factors related to the use and acceptance by accounting professionals of information technology intended to facilitate electronic tax filing systems. Though tested in the context of governmental tax management systems in Turkey, our findings on the use and acceptance of e-Tax systems are relevant and applicable to a great number of nations and contexts as the ongoing ...
The nuclear data activity at AERE, Savar is briefly presented in this paper. Major thrust is on the customization of cross section libraries for general purpose reactor and shielding calculations. The processing codes that are available are NJOY91.91, some AMPX-Modules and the modules in SCALE-PC. Recent measurements on cross section data over the energy range 13-15 MeV at the Institute of Nuclear science and Technology have been reviewed. Measurements and calculations are based on the determination of excitation functions of neutron induced reactions on the elements and isotopes of FRT-relevant structural materials. (author).
Constrained quantum dynamics is used to propose a nonlinear dynamical equation for pure states of a generalized coarse-grained system. The relevant constraint is given either by the generalized purity or by the generalized invariant fluctuation, and the coarse-grained pure states correspond to the generalized coherent i.e. generalized nonentangled states. Open system model of the coarse-graining is discussed. It is shown that in this model and in the weak coupling limit the constrained dynamical equations coincide with an equation for pointer states, based on Hilbert-Schmidt distance, that was previously suggested in the context of the decoherence theory.
This book presents the basic ideas of the physics of non-gravitational perturbations and the mathematics required to compute their orbital effects. It conveys the relevance of the different problems that must be solved to achieve a given level of accuracy in orbit determination and in recovery of geophysically significant parameters. Selected Contents are: Orders of Magnitude of the Perturbing Forces, Tides and Apparent Forces, Tools from Celestial Mechanics, Solar Radiation Pressure-Direct Effects: Satellite-Solar Radiation Interaction, Long-Term Effects on Semi-Major Axis, Radiation Pressure-Indirect Effects: Earth-Reflected Radiation Pressure, Anisotropic Thermal Emission, Drag: Orbital Perturbations by a Drag-Like Force, and Charged Particle Drag.
... John Cannaday and Ken Weddle present the framework for a Product Design Engineering project (http://engineering.dartmouth.edu/~teps/images/ProductDesign.pdf) for high school students which may have relevance at a more advanced level. David Price has created a Mechanical Engineering Design (http://www.soton.ac.uk/~cds/) site containing engineering design notes. The Virtual Reality Engineering Library Home Page at the University of Bristol (http://www.dig.bris.ac.uk/virtual_lib/) is a library ...
Fission reaction rates for four nuclides were measured in the leakage spectrum outside spherical water moderators of various radii surrounding a {sup 252}Cf neutron source. Using the MCNP transport code, matching calculations were made with highly detailed modeling of the measurement apparatus. The calculations predicted significantly higher leakage of neutrons in the epicadmium energy range than was found in the measurements. A discrepancy of the same sign but weaker magnitude was found for thermal neutrons. These discrepancies may be relevant to problems with criticality calculations in special cases.
The use of workstations, controllers or embedded systems and their applications have become much more relevant than previously. PC-based systems, a cooker programmer, applications of, for example, Prolog machines, Unix and Ada papers, Robotics and Automation are typical examples of this. The three keynote addresses of this symposium have as their subjects the most spectacular microcomputer fields and are presented by leading experts. The papers presented cover most of the traditional interests of Euromicro. Special emphasis is given to contributions on the use of workstations and personal computers, on RISC and GaAs and on transputers.
The book is a German translation of an American textbook with the original title ''MRI Survival Guide'' and is intended to serve as an introductory guide for beginners or a reference book for quick information. Readers will find information on the fundamentals of the technology and methodology of MRI as well as all details of relevance to practice in a precise and easy-to-grasp arrangement, covering all anatomic areas of interest, illustrations and descriptions of characteristic signs of pathologic processes, high-quality and unusually large-sized diagnostic pictures, a modern didactic concept for quick orientation, including surveys, tables, and reproductions for visualisation of contents. (orig./CB)
Novel lightweight bricks have been produced by sintering mixes of dried water treatment sludge and rice husk. Samples containing up to 20 wt.% rice husk have been fired using a heating schedule that allowed effective organic burn-out. Rice husk addition increased the porosity of sintered samples and higher sintering temperatures increased compressive strengths. Materials containing 15 wt.% rice husk that were sintered at 1100 degrees C produced low bulk density and relatively high strength materials that were compliant with relevant Taiwan standards for use as lightweight bricks. PMID:19596512
The Joint European Torus (JET) fusion machine is the only device capable of operation with tritium (as fuel) and Be (as plasma facing component), what makes it best suited to study ITER relevant issues. A large variety of activities are performed within the JET Fusion Technology Task Force. In this paper, some topics such as erosion/deposition and material transport, flakes characterization and detritiation techniques are highlighted. Recent results obtained using a pumping cryo-panel and on plasma facing component characterisation are given. Finally, issues that will be addressed in the forthcoming JET work-programme are presented, such as a beryllium main wall for JET and in-situ laser detritiation. (authors)
In this handbook, technical reports on a number of hydro plants under construction are provided. In addition tables of compiled data are presented on a world-wide basis for the following: turbine and hydro generator contracts; hydropower resource potential and development; pumped storage plants; the major dams and hydro plants; roller compacted concrete dams and concrete faced rockfill dams; small hydropower. An address database of international organizations of relevance to hydropower development, national power authorities and nation committees of the International Commission an Large Dams is included. A final and major section of the handbook is a buyer's guide providing extensive company data and information on products and services. (UK)
Inspire is the project name of a new High Energy Physics information system which will integrate present databases and repositories to host the entire corpus of the HEP literature and become the reference HEP scientific information platform worldwide. It is a common project between CERN, DESY, FERMILAB and SLAC. It will empower scientists with new tools to discover and access the results most relevant to their research; enable novel text- and data-mining applications; deploy new metrics to assess the impact of articles and authors. In addition, it will introduce the Web2.0 paradigm of user-enriched content in the domain of sciences with community-based approaches to the peer-review process.
This is the first report about a relevant and compiled information on the Mexican Energy Sector. It was realized in one volume by the University Energy Program of the National Autonomous University of Mexico and it comprises information for the period 1996-1997. In the chapter 1 there are presented the numbers of hydrocarbon reserves. Chapter 2 treats about production, events and its results. Likewise chapter 3 shows information about the typical Installations for petroleum, gas and electricity including through of the nuclear energy. In the chapter 4, named Energy Consumption, is presented a National energy balance for 1996 and, finally there are a sections about the prices, the rates and a glossary to facilitate its understanding. (Author)
The long and resource intensive process of drug discovery and development is confronted with the basic challenge of providing effective and safe therapies at reasonably low costs. The better the mechanism of a disease is known, the higher the probability to find an appropriate therapy. Also, the better and earlier a disease can be diagnosed and characterized, the higher the chance to be able to interfere in this process with a chemical entity. This reasoning sets the framework for the use of imaging in drug discovery. We discuss the relevance of magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy to derive anatomical, functional, metabolic and target-related information in the context of pharmacological research in vivo. (author)
The immense volume of data generated by the suite of instruments on SDO requires new tools for efficient identifying and accessing data that is most relevant to research investigations. We have developed the Heliophysics Events Knowledgebase (HEK) to fill this need. The HEK system combines automated data mining using feature-detection methods and high-performance visualization systems for data markup. In addition, web services and clients are provided for searching the resulting metadata, reviewing results, and efficiently accessing the data. We review these components and present examples of their use with SDO data.
The marine environment is becoming increasingly contaminated by environmental pollutants with the potential to damage DNA, with marine sediments acting as a sink for many of these contaminants. Understanding genotoxic responses in sediment-dwelling marine organisms, such as polychaetes, is therefore of increasing importance. This study is an exploration of species-specific and cell-specific differences in cell sensitivities to DNA-damaging agents in polychaete worms, aimed at increasing fundamental knowledge of their responses to genotoxic damage. The sensitivities of coelomocytes from three polychaetes species of high ecological relevance, i.e. the lugworm Arenicola marina, the harbour ragworm Nereis diversicolor and the king ragworm Nereis virens to genotoxic damage are compared, and dif...
Oxyanions of uranium, selenium, chromium, arsenic, technetium, and chlorine (as perchlorate) are frequently found as contaminants on many DOE sites, and in other areas of the U.S.. A potential remediation method is to react the contaminated water with zero-valent iron (ZVI). We are performing fundamental investigations of the interactions of the relevant compounds with Fe filings and single- and poly-crystalline surfaces. The aim of this work is to develop the physical and chemical understanding that is necessary for the development of cleanup techniques and procedures.
An overview of the past, present and future research activities at the CERN neutron time of flight facility n_TOF is given, with special focus on the astrophysical aspects. During the first campaign (Phase I), neutron capture cross sections of relevance for several aspects of the s-process nucleosynthesis have been measured. A second campaign has recently started (Phase II), aiming at the study of the weak s-process component via accurate (n,#gamma#) measurements of the Fe and Ni isotopes. Some changes in the facility will allow us to perform these measurements with improved experimental conditions.
The primary objective is to perform a fundamental study of filtration of nanoparticles, and to obtain filtration knowledge necessary to design particle collection devices/systems for nanoparticle processing and for preventing nanoparticle emissions into the environment. The research covered a wide area relevant to nanoparticle filtration, under these main topics: (1) nanoparticle filtration and molecular dynamics simulation, (2) nanoparticle virtual impactor, (3) particle transport under low pressure, and (4) development of a high-throughput nanoparticle generator. A number of novel tools and numerical models have been developed under the DOE support.
The usefulness of the mouse, rat, and Syrian golden hamster as experimental models for studies of the development of respiratory tract cancer is considered. Three different application methods for examining the effects of environmental chemicals on the respiratory tract in these species are discussed: implantation, intratracheal instillation, and inhalation. The results of various investigations are presented to demonstrate that each particular method has both advantages and disadvantages. The techniques are also considered in comparison with the human situation and in the light of obtaining the most valid data for extrapolation to man. Brief attention is paid to the relevance to respiratory tract carcinogenesis of more recently developed organ and cell culture systems.
Recent surveys of supergiants stars in the LMC indicate that the post-main-sequence region of the colour-magnitude diagram is well populated, although numerical evolution of massive stars with normal surface hydrogen indicates to the contrary. Supergiant stars having surface enrichment of helium acquired for example from a previous phase of accretion from a binary companion, however, evolve in a way so that the evolved models and observed data are consistent. We compare the available data with computed evolutionary tracks of massive stars of metallicity relevant to the LMC with and without helium-enriched envelopes and conclude that a large fraction of supergiant stars may occur in binaries. (author).
This paper describes the observation and partial wave analysis of 1203 (22 GeV) #pi#"-p #-># phi phi n events. This is an OZI suppressed channel in which the OZI suppression is found to be absent. Assuming QCD and the OZI rule as Ansatzen, it is concluded that the breakdown of the OZI suppression is due to glueballs. The g/sub T/(2160) and the g/sub T/(2320) with I/sup G/J/sup PC/ = 0"+2"+"+ are two resonances determined from the partial wave analysis. It is concluded that one or two primary glueballs with the above quantum numbers are responsible for the observed two states. A brief discussion of other glueball candidates and some relevant phenomenology is also included.
This report gives an overview of Dutch R&D efforts in the field of energy supply. For a wide range of energy carriers and groups of technologies information is gathered on a number of aspects: the current status of relevant technologies, the current and potential application in the Netherlands, the governmental budget and the non-governmental budget for R&D, the parties involved in R&D, the main R&D topics, and environmental and societal aspects of application. 3 tabs., 98 refs.
As part of a project to complete a comprehensive catalogue of astrophysically relevant emission lines in support of new-generation X-ray observatories using the Lawrence Livermore electron beam ion traps EBIT-I and EBIT-II, we studied emission lines of argon and sulfur in the soft X-ray and extreme ultraviolet region. Here we present observations of Ar IX through Ar XVI and S VII through S XIV between 20 and 75 {angstrom} to illustrate our work.
A novel way to extract relevant parameters associated with the outgoing ions from nuclear reactions, obtained by digitizing the signals provided by a Bragg curve spectrometer (BCS) is presented. This allowed the implementation of a more thorough pulse-shape analysis. Due to the complexity of this task, it was required to take advantage of new and more powerful computational paradigms. This was fulfilled using a back-propagation artificial neural network (ANN) as a pattern identifier. Over training of ANNs is a common problem during the training stage. In the performance of the ANN there is a compromise between its size and the size of the training set. Here, this effect will be illustrated in relation to the problem of Bragg Curve (BC) identification. (Author)
We propose unsteady-state reverse osmosis cell modelling in two dimensions. The convection-diffusion equation describing the concentration of the relevant chemical species is solved by a finite difference technique, while the velocity field is described by empirical expressions for spiral-wound membrane cells. A non-constant permeability is introduced to take into account the effects of membrane compaction at high operating pressures. The role of concentration polarization is discussed for different values of the parameters describing the global process. Finally, the model is applied to predict the effects of a pulsating flow where a cyclic pressure feed is adopted to enhance the permeate flux. In this context, an experimental validation of the model is proposed.
Based on QCD conformal partial wave expansion to leading order conformal spin accuracy, we present the light-cone distribution amplitudes (DAs) of {sigma} and {lambda} baryons up to twist 6. It is concluded that fourteen independent DAs are needed to describe the valence three-quark states of the baryons at small transverse separations. The nonperturbative parameters relevant to the DAs are determined within the framework of QCD sum rule method. With the obtained DAs, a simple investigation on the electromagnetic form factors of these baryons are given. The magnetic moments of the baryons are estimated by fitting the magnetic form factor with the dipole formula.
In 1969, the authors started R and D on a polypropylene laminated paper (PPLP) as a new low-loss insulating paper for oil-filled (OF) cables. Through the material research and the trial manufacture of 275 kV OF cable and four years of long-term field test, PPLP has reached the stage of commercial use. This paper introduces a summary of the history of the development of PPLP, the characteristics of PPLP and cable, the results of long-term field test of 275 kV cable, and other relevant data.
The motivation for using a tandem electrostatic accelerator as an electron accelerator for a free electron laser (FEL) is presented. The adaptation of the HVEC EN tandem at the Weizmann Institute for this purpose, electron beam optics and nonlinear FEL computation relevant for this FEL realization are described. In the tandem configuration the terminal is held at a positive potential. The electron beam is accelerated from ground potential to the terminal in one beam tube and then decelerated down the other beam tube. The FEL wiggler and cavity are at the terminal. Due to the beam energy recovery this scheme produces a high power beam at the terminal with a small investment in electrical power. (orig.).
CYRANO3 is the new EDF thermomechanical code developed to evaluate the overall fuel rod behavior under irradiation. In that context, this paper presents the phenomena to be simulated and the correlations adopted for modelling purposes. The empirical models presented are taken from the CYRANO2 code and a compilation of the relevant literature. The present revision corrects and supplements version B on the basis of its use during the software coding phase from January 1991 to May 1993. (authors). figs., tabs., 120 refs.
The effect of pair-binding energy variations on the denaturation of double stranded DNAs is investigated. Using a two-parameter renormalization group (RG) analysis and extensive transfer matrix calculations, we find a random quenched-in variations to be marginally irrelevant, indicating that the system is self-averaging at the transition. The effect of a recently-proposed variable backbone stiffness is also investigated. Although irrelevant in the RG sense, it dramatically amplifies the randomness, leading to the appearance of ``multi-step melting'' for realistic sequences. These results are relevant to the adsorption of random heteropolymers and the wetting of disordered substrates.
The differences are highlighted of various aspects of behaviour of the luminescence signal from feldspar when stimulated by green light and when stimulated by infrared radiation. In respect of bleaching, a comparison is made of the influence of white light (daylight) on the two stimulated luminescence signals, as well as a comparison of the influence of infrared exposure on the green-stimulated signal with the influence of green exposure on the infrared-stimulated signal. The influence of preheating on the two stimulated signals is also compared. Light-emitting diode systems were used for both green and infrared stimulation. The observations are considered in relation to the mechanism relevant to green- and infrared-stimulated luminescence from feldspar. (author).
The differences are highlighted of various aspects of behaviour of the luminescence signal from feldspar when stimulated by green light and when stimulated by infrared radiation. In respect of bleaching, a comparison is made of the influence of white light (daylight) on the two stimulated luminescence signals, as well as a comparison of the influence of infrared exposure on the green-stimulated signal with the influence of green exposure on the infrared-stimulated signal. The influence of preheating on the two stimulated signals is also compared. Light-emitting diode systems were used for both green and infrared stimulation. The observations are considered in relation to the mechanism relevant to green- and infrared-stimulated luminescence from feldspar. (author).
Differentiating characteristics of magnetic confinement systems having externally generated magnetic fields that are open'' are listed and discussed in the light of their several potential advantages for fusion power systems. It is pointed out that at this stage of fusion research high-Q'' (as deduced from long energy confinement times) is not necessarily the most relevant criterion by which to judge the potential of alternate fusion approaches for the economic generation of fusion power. An example is given of a hypothetical open-geometry fusion power system where low-Q operation is essential to meeting one of its main objectives (low neutron power flux).
This Reference Book contains a current copy of the Clean Water Act (Section 404) and the Rivers and Harbors Act (Sections 9 and 10) and those regulations that implement those sections of the statutes and appear to be most relevant to DOE activities. The document is provided to DOE and contractor staff for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as legal guidance. Updates that include important new requirements will be provided periodically. Questions concerning this Reference Book may be directed to Mark Petts, IH-231 (FTS 896-2609 or Commercial 202/586-2609).
This Reference Book contains a current copy of the Clean Water Act (Section 404) and the Rivers and Harbors Act (Sections 9 and 10) and those regulations that implement those sections of the statutes and appear to be most relevant to DOE activities. The document is provided to DOE and contractor staff for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as legal guidance. Updates that include important new requirements will be provided periodically. Questions concerning this Reference Book may be directed to Mark Petts, IH-231 (FTS 896-2609 or Commercial 202/586-2609).
Mo gate Mos capacitors exhibit a negative shift of their C-V characteristic by up to 240 mV, at 125 C, in response to 1000 ppm hydrogen, in controlled nitrogen atmospheres. The experimental methods for obtaining capacitance and conductance, as a function of polarisation voltage, as well as the relevant equivalent circuits are reviewed. The single-state interface state density, at the semiconductor-dielectric interface, decreases from 2.66 x 10"1"1 cm"-"2 e-v"-"1, in pure nitrogen, to 2.5 x 10"1"1 cm"-"2 e-v"-"1 in 1000 ppm hydrogen in nitrogen mixtures, at this temperature. (Author)
...com: Christianity: General All-in-One Biblical Resources Search Anno Domini: Jesus Through the Centuries Bible and Homosexuality Bible Reading Fellowship Bible Society Bible ...of the New Testament Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words Virtual Christianity: Bibles Whole Bible Comments: bubl@bubl.ac.uk About....com: Christianity: General Offers original articles and features about Christianity in general plus annotated links to selected relevant Internet resources, compiled by ... Also includes a gallery of Christian images such as The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci. Author: About....
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In this article, several applications of nanomaterials in food packaging and food safety are reviewed, including: polymer/clay nanocomposites as high barrier packaging materials, silver nanoparticles as potent antimicrobial agents, and nanosensors and nanomaterial-based assays for the detection of food-relevant analytes (gasses, small organic molecules and food-borne pathogens). In addition to covering the technical aspects of these topics, the current commercial status and understanding of health implications of these technologies are also discussed. These applications were chosen because they do not involve direct addition of nanoparticles to consumed foods, and thus are more likely to be marketed to the public in the short term.
This report gives the results of an assessment of the effects on seabirds of possible petroleum exploration at the shelf outside Central-Norway out to 1"o East. By combining oil spill simulations with the valued ecosystem components, i.e. seabirds, their distribution, and their vulnerability indexes, the relative index values for the direct effects of oil spills were calculated. For the purpose, the analysis system SIMPACT was used. On the basis of these results and other relevant considerations, recommendations for limiting a possible drilling activity are given. 85 refs., 49 figs., 9 tabs.
Abstract Continuity and change in ancient Indian afterlife conceptions are discussed in a broad overview of the most relevant Vedic texts (the Rig Veda, the Krishna Yajur Veda, the Atharva Veda, the Shatapatha Brahmana, the Jaiminiya Brahmana and the Upanishads). Despite the introduction of (or re-emphasis on) certain ideas, such as reincarnation and moksha (liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth), there is also continuity of a core set of conceptions from the earliest texts to the latest. Return-from-death narratives are also found in each textual strand, and are discussed separately.
The author describes the purpose, classification and main process of acceptance test of full scope simulator of Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant, including the correction of non-conformance items which are discovered during the performance of acceptance tests. The results of the acceptance tests show that the model accepted by the full scope simulator of Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant is fully able to cope with the simulation of normal transients and incidental transients and the performance of the simulator indeed compiled with the technical specifications which are defined n the relevant contracts.
Forward and reverse genetic experiments have both played important roles in revealing critical aspects of mammalian signal transduction pathways in cell culture experiments. Only recently have we begun...Full Text Available
The purpose of the conversion process is to convert the {sup 233}U fluoride compounds that are being extracted from the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) equipment to a stable oxide for long-term storage at Bldg. 3019.
Revised neutron fluence and damage values are reported for the MOTA-2A experiment in the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF). This revision corrects an error with processing of the {sup 235}U(n,f) reaction. Net corrections are on the order of 5%.
...broad range of experience in designing and building research and development laboratories for products such as vaccines, blood and sera, biological products, medical devices, solid dosage forms , highly potent products and cytotoxic material. We also have experience in a range of modular laboratories for TSE research, ...
We argue that neutron interference experiments and experiments on gravitational bound states of neutron unambiguously disprove entropic origin of gravitation. The criticism expressed in a recent paper [arXiv:1104.4650] concerning our arguments against entropic gravity is shown to be invalid.
The Ozarks Isoprene Experiment (OZIE) was conducted in July 1998 in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Oklahoma. OZIE was designed to investigate the presumed strong isoprene emission rates from the Missouri Ozarks, where there is a high density of oak trees that are efficient isop...
An explicit proposal for experiments leading to abrupt transitions in spatially extended bacterial populations in a Petri dish is presented on the basis of an exact formula obtained through an analytic...Full Text Available
This report examines the mortality experience of 527 men who retired from a copper smelter where they were exposed to airborne arsenic trioxide. Urinary arsenic values of all plant employees were determined...Full Text Available
Using a feminist approach, we examined the menopausal symptom experience of Hispanic midlife women in the U.S. This was a qualitative online forum study among 27 Hispanic midlife women in the...Full Text Available
The CKM angle $\\gamma/\\phi_{3}$ had been measured by two B-factories, the PEPII collider for the BaBar experiment and the KEKB collider for the Belle experiments. The present paper reports recent progress in $\\gamma/\\phi_{3}$.
The Subseabed Disposal Program has recently completed a 30-day, 0.286-scale laboratory simulation of an In Situ Heat Transfer Experiment (ISHTE), scheduled for eventual deployment in the deep ocean 600 nautical miles north of Hawaii. 10 figures.
The Subseabed Disposal Program has recently completed a 30-day, 0.286-scale laboratory simulation of an In Situ Heat Transfer Experiment (ISHTE), scheduled for eventual deployment in the deep ocean 600 nautical miles north of Hawaii. 10 figures.
Many animals use the spectral distribution of light to guide behaviour, but whether they have colour vision has been debated for over a century. Our strong subjective experience of colour and the fact...Full Text Available
BackgroundSarcoma encompasses an uncommon group of cancer and the data is insufficient from Pakistan. We report our four years experience of Sarcoma of soft tissues and bones.MethodsThis...Full Text Available
Colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors with ostomies can face complex concerns regarding sexuality. We used an anthropological perspective to examine the experiences of 30 female CRC survivors with...Full Text Available
Bayesian optimization (BO) algorithms try to optimize an unknown function that is expensive to evaluate using minimum number of evaluations/experiments. Most of the proposed algorithms in BO are sequential, where only one experiment is selected at each iteration. This method can be time inefficient when each experiment takes a long time and more than one experiment can be ran concurrently. On the other hand, requesting a fix-sized batch of experiments at each iteration causes performance inefficiency in BO compared to the sequential policies. In this paper, we present an algorithm that asks a batch of experiments at each time step t where the batch size p_t is dynamically determined in each step. Our algorithm is based on the observation that the sequence of experiments selected by the sequential policy can sometimes be almost independent ...
The Daya Bay Neutrino Experiment is proposed to measure sin^2(2\\theta_{13}) to better than 0.01 at 90% C.L. in a three-year run. The experimental site, detector design, and background estimation are presented.
ObjectivesThe objectives of this study were to describe the levels of daily spiritual experiences in community-dwelling older adults, to compare levels of spiritual...Full Text Available
The report gives a comprehensive summary of the experience gained and the problems encountered during the Cat-Ox demonstration program. The report outlines the process design and construction, as well as operating experience and problems. Test results and conclusions derived from...
In the study three loss-of-feedwater type experiments which were preformed with the PACTEL facility has been calculated with two computer codes. The purpose of the experiments was to gain information about the behaviour of horizontal steam generator in a ...
In this paper, the following topics are studied: uranium 238 effective integral; thermal range uranium 238 capture cross section; Americium 242 m capture cross section. The mentioned examples show that differential and integral experiments are both useful...
ObjectivePersons with chronic or recurrent pain frequently visit the emergency department (ED), yet little research examines this experience. We conducted this national survey to...Full Text Available
Results of feasibility experiments for determining the mineral content of individual stains on special Sensitized Paper are presented. The stains were formed on the paper by the impaction of laboratory generated salt water droplets. Of the techniques exam...
Three experiments used pigeons in an autoshaping procedure and a single-subject design to examine compound stimulus control in classical conditioning. Experiment 1 examined the blocking effect, and...Full Text Available
Objective: To determine the experience of junior doctors cited as witnesses at fatal accident inquiries (FAIs). Design: Retrospective questionnaire study. Setting...Full Text Available
BackgroundWith the explosion in data generated using microarray technology by different investigators working on similar experiments, it is of interest to combine results across...Full Text Available
Forced vibration experiment has been conducted for the reactor building of Sendai Unit 1 nuclear power plant. The beam vibrational behaviors of the outer shielding building and the internal concrete structure have been observed by using a 50 tf vibration for low frequency region, and a 10 tf vibration for high frequency region, respectively. The outline of the experimental methods, the data handling system and the major results of experiment are described. The experimental results were simulated by an analytical model. The proper vibrational frequency and the vibration modes obtained by the analysis were compared with those obtained by the experiment. By these comparisons, the adequacy of the analytical method employed for the design was confirmed.
A standing challenge for the science of mind is to account for the datum that every mind faces in the most immediate - that is, unmediated - fashion: its phenomenal experience. The complementary tasks of explaining what it means for a system to give rise to experience and what constitutes the content of experience (qualia) in computational terms are particularly challenging, given the multiple realizability of computation. In this paper, we identify a set of conditions that a computational theory must satisfy for it to constitute not just a sufficient but a necessary, and therefore naturalistic and intrinsic, explanation of qualia. We show that a common assumption behind many neurocomputational theories of the mind, according to which mind states can be formalized solely in terms of instan...
A report is given on the development and operational experience in steam turbines in an annual review. The author refers to an extensive bibliography on this subject. (TK/LH).
Precisely measuring $\\theta_{13}$ is one of the highest priority in neutrino oscillation study. Reactor experiments can cleanly determine $\\theta_{13}$. Past reactor neutrino experiments are reviewed and status of next precision $\\theta_{13}$ experiments are presented. Daya Bay is designed to measure $\\sin^22\\theta_{13}$ to better than 0.01 and Double Chooz and RENO are designed to measure it to 0.02-0.03. All are heading to full operation in 2010. Recent improvements in neutrino moment measurement are also briefed.
... and airborne sensors to track incoming ICBMs. The experiment was designed to determine how the intentional release of rocket propellants from an incoming ...
The essential properties of tachyons are described briefly and the 'reinterpretation principle' for tachyons is discussed. The possibility of conducting an experiment analogous to the Michelson-Morley experiment in which a preferred frame may be detected is considered. The existance of a tachyon prefered frame is consistent with the principles of relativity and, if suitable experiments were devised, could provide important evidence for the existence of tachyons. (W.D.L.).
The study of flavor changing neutrinos is a very active field of research. I will discuss the status of ongoing and near term experiments investigating neutrino properties at short distances from the source. In the next few years, the Double Chooz, RENO and Daya Bay reactor neutrino experiments will start looking for signatures of a non-zero value of the mixing angle $\\theta_{13}$ with much improved sensitivities. The MiniBooNE experiment is investigating the LSND anomaly by looking at both the $\
We report on the activities of the High Energy Physics Group at the University of Texas at Arlington for the period 1994-95. We propose the continuation of the research program for 1996-98 with strong participation in the detector upgrade and physics analysis work for the D0 Experiment at Fermilab, prototyping and pre-production studies for the muon and calorimeter systems for the ATLAS Experiment at CERN, and detector development and simulation studies for the PP2PP Experiment at Brookhaven.
Experiments contributing to the understanding of the aerodynamics of airfoils operating in the vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) environment are described. These experiments are ultimately intended to reduce VAWT cost of energy and increase system reliability. They include chordwise pressure surveys, circumferential blade acceleration surveys, effects of blade camber, pitch and offset, blade blowing, and use of sections designed specifically for VAWT application.
Several new reactor neutrino experiments are being considered to measure the parameter theta-13. The current plans for Angra, Braidwood, Daya Bay, KASKA and KR2DET are reviewed. A case is made that, together with Double-CHOOZ, a future world program should include at least three such experiments.
This article will highlight the experiences of two baccalaureate Health Information Administration (HIA) programs in the adoption of the American Health Information Management Association's (AHIMA) e-HIM Virtual Laboratory (Virtual Lab) into the Professional Practice Experience (PPE). Information is provided describing the implementation of the Virtual Lab, issues that were encountered, and subsequent feedback from students and faculty regarding this new technology.
The philosophy of work management in radiation protection puts emphasis on the following up and management of overall process from work selection, planning, preparation, implementation till experience feedback, and overall optimization of production and safety management. This paper reports practices and experiences of Daya Bay nuclear power plant in the implementation of the philosophy during operational radiation protection through the practical examples
A drift dye tracer experiment, using Rhodamine (WT) dye, was conducted on airborne drift from a natural draft cooling tower at PEPCO's Chalk Point, Maryland Power Generating Station. This experiment was designed to separate and identify cooling tower aero...
A survey to assess mentoring experiences and attitudes towards work of Pennsylvania academic librarians was conducted in September 2006 with questions concerning mentoring experiences, work experiences, and attitudes towards work. Results of the survey are analyzed for differences among those librarians responding, especially generational differences, and implications for professional associations when developing mentoring programs are discussed.
The last unknown neutrino mixing angle $\\theta_{13}$ is one of the fundamental parameters of nature; it is also a crucial parameter for determining the sensitivity of future long-baseline experiments aimed to study CP violation in the neutrino sector. Daya Bay is a reactor neutrino oscillation experiment designed to achieve a sensitivity on the value of $sin^2(2\\theta_{13})$ to better than 0.01 at 90% CL. The experiment consists of multiple identical detectors placed underground at different baselines to minimize systematic errors and suppress cosmogenic backgrounds. With the baseline design, the expected anti-neutrino signal at the far site is about 360 events per day and at each of the near sites is about 1500 events per day. An overview and current status of the experiment will be presented.
The recognition that natural convection offers the prospect of an important inherent safety feature for liquid metal cooled reactor systems has provided the impetus for a world-wide research effort over the past decade. Whilst this research has been based on experiment, both plant experiments and out-of-pile experiments, the enormous advances in the development of computing power in recent years have enabled complementary programmes of mathematical modelling through numerical simulation of the transport equations in three spatial dimensions. These not only offer considerable promise for the designer in projecting the behaviour from experiments and prototype plant to full scale plant, they have also proved to be of considerable value in helping us to interpret and understand the results of the experiments themselves. This paper attempts to review the progress made with the emphasis ...
The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of collagen membrane and Bio-Oss coverage in healing of an onlay graft to the mandible. Twelve adult sheep each received an onlay bone graft (experiment 1), bone graft+Bio-Gide (experiment 2), and bone graft+Bio-Oss/Bio-Gide (experiment 3) on the lateral surface of the mandible. The animals were euthanized at 4, 8, 12 or 16 weeks after surgery, and findings were analysed by routine microscopy and immunohistochemistry for proliferation (Ki67) and apoptotic (Caspase-3) markers. Grafts were fully incorporated in all specimens. Pronounced resorption was observed in experiment 1. Minimal loss of graft volume was seen in experiment 2 specimens without membrane displacement. A remarkable increase in the augmented region of the mandible was obse...
The non-proliferation experiment, originally called the chemical kiloton experiment, was planned and executed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to investigate the seismic yield relationship and distinguishing seismic signals between a nuclear event and a large mass conventional explosion. The Los Alamos National Laboratory planned and conducted experiments to further their studies of the source function for signals observed seismically. Since all investigations were contingent on the performance of the emplaced chemical explosive, an array of diagnostic measurements was fielded in the emplaced explosive. The CORRTEX system was used to investigate the explosive initiation and to determine the detonation velocities in multiple levels and in numerous directions. A description of the CORRTEX experiments fielded, a review of the data obtained and some interpretations of the data are reported.
A new methane cold neutron source has been tested at the IBR-2 pulsed reactor at the Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics. In a paper the results of experiments at neutron diffractometers HRFD and DN-2 which are placed at the IBR-2 from the methane moderator side are given. A comparison with the results obtained with the conventional water comb-like moderator is performed. The perspectives of the cold source for various kinds of neutron diffraction experiments, including atomic and magnetic structural analysis and real time experiments are discussed. It is shown, that for a huge number of the experiments which are performing at both HRFD and DN-2 the methane cold neutron source provides the better conditions than water comb-like moderator.
Natural circulation experiments carried out in the REWET-III facility in 1985 have been used for RELAP5/MOD2 assessment. The REWET-III facility is a scaled-down model of VVER-440 type reactors. The facility consists of a pressure vessel in which the downcomer is simulated with an external pipe assembly, hot and cold legs with loop seals and a horizontal steam generator. The volume scaling factor compared to the reference reactor is 1:2333. The present paper summarizes the experiences gained in the RELAP5/MOD2 calculations of selected REWET-III single- and two-phase natural circulation experiments. The code's ability to represent the main phenomena of experiments in both cases was satisfactory.
Natural circulation experiments carried out in the REWET-III facility in 1985 have been used for RELAP5/MOD2 assessment. The REWET-III facility is a scaled-down model of VVER-440 type reactors. The facility consists of a pressure vessel in which the downcomer is simulated with an external pipe assembly, hot and cold legs with loop seals and a horizontal steam generator. The volume scaling factor compared to the reference reactor is 1:2333. The present paper summarizes the experiences gained in the RELAP5/MOD2 calculations of selected REWET-III single- and two-phase natural circulation experiments. The code`s ability to represent the main phenomena of experiments in both cases was satisfactory.
Natural circulation experiments carried out in the REWET-III facility in 1985 have been used for RELAP5/MOD2 assessment. The REWET-III facility is a scaled-down model of VVER-440 type reactors. The facility consists of a pressure vessel in which the downcomer is simulated with an external pipe assembly, hot and cold legs with loop seals and a horizontal steam generator. The volume scaling factor compared to the reference reactor is 1:2333. The present paper summarizes the experiences gained in the RELAP5/MOD2 calculations of selected REWET-III single- and two-phase natural circulation experiments. The code's ability to represent the main phenomena of experiments in both cases was satisfactory.
Three experiments were conducted to study the behaviour of the new horizontal steam generator construction of the PACTEL test facility. In the experiments the secondary side coolant level was reduced stepwise. The experiments were calculated with two computer codes RELAP5/MOD3.1 and APROS version 2.11. A similar nodalization scheme was used for both codes so that the results may be compared. Only the steam generator was modeled and the rest of the facility was given as a boundary condition. The results show that both codes calculate well the behaviour of the primary side of the steam generator. On the secondary side both codes calculate lower steam temperatures in the upper part of the heat exchange tube bundle than was measured in the experiments. (orig.) 4 refs.
Three experiments were conducted to study the behaviour of the new horizontal steam generator construction of the PACTEL test facility. In the experiments the secondary side coolant level was reduced stepwise. The experiments were calculated with two computer codes RELAP5/MOD3.1 and APROS version 2.11. A similar nodalization scheme was used for both codes so that the results may be compared. Only the steam generator was modeled and the rest of the facility was given as a boundary condition. The results show that both codes calculate well the behaviour of the primary side of the steam generator. On the secondary side both codes calculate lower steam temperatures in the upper part of the heat exchange tube bundle than was measured in the experiments. (orig.).
The basic theoretical milestones were the Sakata SU(3) symmetry, the Goldberg-Ne'eman composite model with SU(3) triplets having baryon number (1/3) and the Nambu color gauge Lagrangian. The transition was led in right and wrong directions by experiments interpreted by phenomenology. A "good" experiment on $\\bar p p$ annihilation at rest showed that the Sakata model predictions disagreed with experiment. A "bad" experiment prevented the use of the Goldberg-Ne'eman triplet model to predict the existence and masses of the of the $\\Xi^*$ and $\\Omega^-$. More "good" experiments revealed the existence and mass of the $\\Xi^*$ and the $\\Omega^-$ and the absence of positive strangeness baryon resonances, thus confirming the "tenfold way". Further "good experiments" revealed the existence of the vector meson nonet, SU(3) breaking with singlet-octet mixing and the ...
A variety of critical experiments were constructed of enriched uranium metal during the 1960s and 1970s at the Oak Ridge Critical Experiments Facility (ORCEF) in support of criticality safety operations at the Y-12 Plant. The purposes of these experiments included the evaluation of storage, casting, and handling limits for the Y-12 Plant and providing data for verification of calculation methods and cross-sections for nuclear criticality safety applications. These included solid cylinders of various diameters, annuli of various inner and outer diameters, two and three interacting cylinders of various diameters, and graphite and polyethylene reflected cylinders and annuli. Of the hundreds of delayed critical experiments, one experiment was comprised of a stack of approximately 7-inch-diameter metal discs. The bottom of the stack consisted of uranium with an approximate height of ...
The transport-relevant basic data recorded within the framework of a federation-wide transport data survey made in 1986 are the best-founded source at present for determining the transport volume of other radioactive materials in different economic areas of the Federal Republic of Germany. Due to the high recording rates, a sufficiently complete survey can be provided in particular with regard to the transport volume (e.g.transports/consignments/cargos, transport distance) - with the exception of transport by ship - for the ranges of application in reserach, medicine and technology. However, as regards the radiologically relevant basic data and transport modalities, the information supplied by the transporting agencies is incomplete. A table gives a comprehensive survey of type and scope of the transport volume of other radioactive materials in the Federal Republic of Germany (excluding the GDR) for transport by road, rail and air. The table ...
Full text: Climatic problems associated to the greenhouse effect have recently stimulated a renewed interest in nuclear energy production, and triggered new studies aimed at developing future generation systems that would address current major safety, proliferation and waste concerns. In particular a possible solution to the waste problem could come from transmutation of the highly radiotoxic nuclear waste in Accelerator Driven Systems or in Generation-IV fast nuclear reactors. The design and operation of the new systems require accurate cross-section data on a large number of isotopes, in particular plutonium, minor actinides, long-lived fission fragments and structural materials. An important contribution to the field is being provided since a few years by a new time of-flight facility operative at CERN, n_TOF. The main features of the neutron beam, in particular the wide energy spectrum, ranging from thermal energy to hundreds of MeV, the very high instantaneous neutron flux, low ...
The CASTOC project addresses environmentally assisted cracking (EAC) phenomena in low alloy steels used for pressure boundary components in both Western type boiling water reactors (BWR) and Russian type pressurised water reactors (VVER). It comprises the four work packages (WP): inter-laboratory comparison test (WP1); EAC behaviour under static load (WP2), EAC behaviour under cyclic load and load transients (WP3); evaluation of the results with regard to their relevance for components in practice (WP4). The use of sophisticated test facilities and measurement techniques for the on-line detection of crack advances have provided a more detailed understanding of the mechanisms of environmentally assisted cracking and provided quantitative data of crack growth rates as a function of loading events and time, respectively. The effect of several major parameters controlling EAC was investigated with particular emphasis on the transferability of the results to components ...
We present the design of a diagnostic system to measure electron cyclotron absorption at the second harmonic E-mode resonance in the JET pumped divertor plasma. The diagnostic will measure transmission as a function of frequency along one or more sightlines from which the spatial profile of the n_eT_e product will be deduced. The divertor is briefly described, and the electron cyclotron resonance physics relevant to this measurement is reviewed. The problems of measuring transmission using an oversized transmission system are discussed and the chosen measurement technique, a swept frequency interferometer using a coherent radiation source, is described. A prototype of the instrument has been assembled to test the measurement technique. Some data demonstrating the instrument's characteristics are presented. The nonresonant losses, which may affect the interpretation of the measurement, are also discussed. (orig.).
A `step-by-step' method was used to develop a simplified procedure for calculating pesticide residue levels on fruit at harvest by considering the application of the compound and the relevant routes of loss. The model is applicable to cases where the most important exposure route is by direct spray to the canopy of the crop and where uptake into the plant by the roots can be disregarded. The exposure dose is calculated by considering the proportion of total crop cover represented by the fruits. The loss processes considered are photodegradation, uptake, volatilization and washoff. The outputs of the model were compared with measured residues of pesticides on pear. Analysis of the model fit demonstrates that the model predicted the measured data with a good level of accuracy for four of sev...
We study systems of multiple localized closed string tachyons and the phenomena associated with their condensation, in C{sup 3}/Z{sub N} non-supersymmetric noncompact orbifold singularities using gauged linear sigma model constructions, following hep-th/0406039. Our study reveals close connections between the combinatorics of non-supersymmetric flip transitions (between topologically distinct resolutions of the original singularity), the physics of tachyons of different degrees of relevance and the singularity structure of the corresponding residual endpoint geometries. This in turn can be used to study the stability of the phases of gauged linear sigma models and gain qualitative insight into the closed string tachyon potential. (author)
Off-shell interactions for localized closed-string tachyons in C/Z{sub N} superstring backgrounds are analyzed and a conjecture for the effective height of the tachyon potential is elaborated. At large N, some of the relevant tachyons are nearly massless and their interactions can be deduced from the S-matrix. The cubic interactions between these tachyons and the massless fields are computed in a closed form using orbifold CFT techniques. The cubic interaction between nearly-massless tachyons with different charges is shown to vanish and thus condensation of one tachyon does not source the others. It is shown that to leading order in N, the quartic contact interaction vanishes and the massless exchanges completely account for the four point scattering amplitude. This indicates that it is necessary to go beyond quartic interactions or to include other fields to test the conjecture for the height of the tachyon potential. (author)
Off-shell interactions for localized closed-string tachyons in C/Z{sub N} superstring backgrounds are analyzed and a conjecture for the effective height of the tachyon potential is elaborated. At large N, some of the relevant tachyons are nearly massless and their interactions can be deduced from the S-matrix. The cubic interactions between these tachyons and the massless fields are computed in a closed form using orbifold CFT techniques. The cubic interaction between nearly-massless tachyons with different charges is shown to vanish and thus condensation of one tachyon does not source the others. It is shown that to leading order in N, the quartic contact interaction vanishes and the massless exchanges completely account for the four point scattering amplitude. This indicates that it is necessary to go beyond quartic interactions or to include other fields to test the conjecture for the height of the tachyon potential.
The condition for obtaining a calorimetric response linear with energy for hadronic showers and an energy resolution that improves as the incident energy increases is the equalization of the electromagnetic (e) and the hadronic (#pi#) signal responses. This equalization is obtained by exploiting a local hardening effect realized through the insertion of low-Z thin plates between the high-Z absorbers and the active material in a hadronic calorimeter with silicon readout. This effect, which allows the reduction of the calorimeter response to the electromagnetic component of the incoming hadronic showers, has been investigated for different low-Z materials. The relevance of some aspects of this study to the radiation hardness of the calorimeters is also addressed. (orig.).
Fitness, (biometric measurements, reproduction) and behaviour that are ecologically relevant biomarkers in assessing the quality of estuarine sediments were studied by comparing the responses of the polychaete worm Nereis diversicolor - a key species in estuaries - along a pollution gradient. Intersite differences were shown for all the measured parameters: size-weight relationships, energy reserves as glycogen and lipids, sexual maturation patterns, total number of oocytes per female, total and relative fecundity, burrowing behaviour. The physiological and behavioural status of N. diversicolor was consistently disturbed in the larger, most contaminated estuaries (Loire and Seine, Fr.) compared to reference sites (Bay of Bourgneuf, Goyen estuary, Fr.). Many classes of potentially toxic che...
In quantifying health risks arising from radiation exposure and synergistic effects promoted by radiation the dose-effect relationship must be used as a basis. Special problems arise in the extrapolation of experimental results or in the treatment of data in the region of low doses administered over long periods of time. For radiation protection purposes, especially manifestations of cancer and genetic effects are significant. The International Commission on Radiation Protection has published binding guiding values on the basis of which to assess the risk of cancer. The cancer risk and genetic risks are estimated for relevant dose ranges and compared with other factors of civilization. For the most important chemical pollutants emitted into the environment the possibilities of impacts arising from synergistic effects are discussed on the basis of the rules and regulations specified in German antipollution legislation. (orig.) 891 HP/orig. 892 MKO.
The purpose of this note is to provide guidance to those who have duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act and other relevant legislation. It gives guidance on the practical application of legislation, concerning radiotherapy equipment. Two particular issues arise out of the requirements of Regulation 33 of the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1985 (IRR85) in relation to equipment which is used for medical exposures. These are the requirement to select, install and maintain this type of equipment in such a way that it is capable of restricting, so far as reasonably practicable, the medical exposure of any person where this is compatible with the intended clinical purpose, including the need to ensure that equipment used for radiotherapy is properly calibrated, and the requirement to notify the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) when an incident occurs involving a malfunction or defect in any 'radiation equipment' which gives rise to a medical ...
Bimaxillary protrusion is prevalent among Asians and anterior segmental osteotomies are commonly used for its surgical correction. The objective of this study was to evaluate the soft tissue changes resulting from anterior segmental osteotomies. The electronic databases PubMed, Scopus and ISI Web of knowledge were searched for potentially eligible studies using a set of predetermined keywords. Full texts meeting the inclusion criteria were retrieved and their references were manually searched for additional relevant articles. The study details and outcome data of these reports were extracted using spreadsheets for comparison. The methodological quality of each study was assessed. Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria. Lateral cephalometry was used in all studies. A reduction of the lab...
The optimization of the safety characteristics of electrical installations in industrial plants with explosion or fire hazards can be obtained only through a careful interdisciplinary study and analysis carried out at the onset of the plant project design phase. The least complex and costly and safest solutions are those which are born from plant designs which take into account the typology of the industrial process or technology, or which incorporate pollution abatement measures and adequate safety measures for the electrical installations. This paper provides examples to illustrate how the global plant economy is fundamentally dependant upon a multi-disciplinary initial effort in design analyses. Comments are made relevant to the adequacy of the safety requirements established by existing and planned Italian norms in dealing with safety and fire protection for high-tech industrial plant electrical installations.
Fine-grained BaTiO3-based X7R ceramic materials were prepared and the effects of milling process on the core-shell structures and dielectric properties were investigated using scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). As the milling time extends, the dielectric constant of the ceramics increases, whereas the temperature coefficient of capacitance at 125degreeC drops quickly. The changes in dielectric properties are considered relevant to the microstructure evolution caused by the milling process. Defects on the surface of BaTiO3 particles increase because of the effects of milling process, which will make it easier for additives to diffuse into the interior grains. As the milling time increases, the shell region gets thicker a...
The (simplified) Backus? Problem (BP) consists in finding a harmonic function u on the domain exterior to the three dimensional unit sphere S, such that u tends to zero at infinity and the norm of the gradient of u takes prescribed values g on S. Except for a change of sign, the solution is not unique in general. However, there is uniqueness of solutions in the class of functions with the additional property that the radial component of the gradient of u on S is nonpositive. This is the geodetically relevant case. If a solution u with this property exists, then u is the maximal solution of the problem (and -u the minimal one). In this paper we propose a method of successive approximations to get this particular solution of BP and prove the convergence for functions g close to a constant fu...
Motivated by constraint-based CAD software, we develop the foundation for the rigidity theory of a very general model: the body-and-cad structure, composed of rigid bodies in 3D constrained by pairwise coincidence, angular and distance constraints. We identify 21 relevant geometric constraints and develop the corresponding infinitesimal rigidity theory for these structures. The classical body-and-bar rigidity model can be viewed as a body-and-cad structure that uses only one constraint from this new class. As a consequence, we identify a new, necessary, but not sufficient, counting condition for minimal rigidity of body-and-cad structures: nested sparsity. This is a slight generalization of the well-known sparsity condition of Maxwell.
In the absence of empirical outdoor thermal comfort studies it has been widely assumed that indoor thermal comfort theory generalises to outdoor settings without modification. Many indoor models were developed to describe thermal discomfort, not stress, therefore their relevance to conditions that vary greatly from neutrality, as many outdoor climatic conditions do, has not been critically validated in the field to date. The thermal comfort of 1018 subjects in outdoor and semi-outdoor locations in subtropical Sydney was investigated by a questionnaire and a comprehensive package of micro-meteorological instruments. The thermal neutrality in terms of the thermal comfort index OUT{sub S}ET* of 26.2 {sup o}C was significantly higher than the indoor SET* counterpart of 24{sup o}C (ASHRAE Trans. 92 (1986) 709). (author)