The budding natural gas markets in East Europe attract a great deal of interest from natural gas industries in the Western countries. Dutch companies, institutions and the government, too, are active in this market. So far the results have not been spectacular. An analysis is made of the present situation and the Dutch approach
Today, highly frequent radio waves are regarded as undangerous to man. Diseases seen at radar-technicians during the 2nd World War, however, indicated that microwaves applied in radar systems were hazardous to health. The Russian work medicine has been knowing microwave-caused hazards in industry since the beginning of the thirties. Therefore in some East-European countries there are terms of protection and severe norms of safety for the staying of persons in the radiation sphere of microwaves.
Permeable reactive barriers (PRB) are a promising technology for the remediation of groundwater containing a range of organic and inorganic contaminants. Although there are number of different types of reactive barriers, some of the most important are constructed from granular zero valent iron (ZVI). One challenge in the large- scale, long-term implementation of PRBs is to monitor the change in barrier properties over time. For example, mineral precipitates can reduce the effectiveness of the barrier by either insulating the reaction surfaces of the ZVI particles and/or by filling the pore space in the barrier and thus reducing its hydraulic permeability. Previous research has shown that resistivity and induced polarization (IP) measurements are sensitive to corrosion and precipitation due to redox reactions between ions in solution and the ZVI mineral surface. New field studies, supported by additional laboratory studies appear to confirm this work. Resisitivity and IP surveys ...
The economic development of eastern Europe was associated during the last 15 years with the following average annual increases in energy consumption: Approximately 1% in the sectors industry, building and transport, almost 7% in the farming sector, approximately 3% in households, and nearly 4% in the municipal sector. This trend will not continue. As the economic system shifts from centrally planned to free economy and as the previously secluded economy is forced to face world market conditions as well as changed pars of exchange and conditions of payment, it not only experiences a transitory, sharp dip of economic growth in general but, in particular, drastic structural changes. - While there is to be expected, on the whole a slump in national economic growth, in tradiational branches of industry (e.g., metallurgy, the chemicals and textile industry) as well as in farming, such sectors as the service industry and small trade are expanding. (orig./UA).
Babcock and Wilcox Volund is a major European provider of energy producing plants based on biomass and waste materials, which was founded in 1898 and today employs about 400 persons with headquarters and manufacturing in Esbjerg, Denmark. The R and D staff is about 10 persons, concentrating on gasification and improvement of traditional products. The Company turnover is about 120 mio. Euro annually, of which about 80 % is exported (50 % outside Europe - mostly far East). In 2000 the Company was acquired by US Company Babcock and Wilcox. In 1988 Volund initiated the development of updraft wood-chips gasifier Technology, which led to the commissioning of the Harboore gasifier early 1994. The work was supported in part by the Danish ELKRAFT Power Utilities and the Danish Energy Agency. The development process was carried out until 2002 and Volund now just concluded a license agreement with the Japanese engineering Company JFE. The overall layout ...
This study uses the European Patent Office worldwide patent database and applies two-stage interactive data collection methods to reveal the evolving technological interdependence for China's emerging biofuel industry. Three findings are excerpted from our empirical results. First, due to dominant patterns of business ownership, China's biofuel technology is seen as largely based on the evolutionary strength of the foodstuff and chemical fields. Second, China's biofuel technology development has evolved in the mode of 'forward engineering', led by Chinese universities rather than initiated by the public research institutes as in the experience of other East Asian latecomers. Third, our patent map and technology trajectory analyses illustrate that China's biofuel technology tends to be appl...
The costs of greenhouse gas emission-reductions vary among countries depending on emission levels, technologies used, past emission-reduction achievements, path of economic development, fuel mix, and initial endowment of hydrocarbon resources. The criterion of cost-effectiveness therefore suggests that the ways should be found to encourage emission reductions in the countries where the required costs of reduction of additional unit of emissions are the lowest. These countries usually face crucial capital constraints and have other development priorities than investing in reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Developed countries could invest their resources in the former Soviet Union and the eastEuropean countries to achieve the same level of reduction of greenhouse gases with lower costs than they could in their own countries.
The ARE progress report discusses the following issues: Economic development and its effects on power supply; Deregulation of the electricity and gas market; Competition between regional utilities; Energy policy of the new German government; European regulations; Legislation on energy supply; Energy supply and cartel law; Regional supply in the East German states. [German] Der Taetigkeitsbericht der ARE befasst sich mit folgenden Themen: Gesamtwirtschaftliche Entwicklung und ihre Auswirkung auf die Energiewirtschaft, Oeffnung des Monopoles fuer Strom und Gas, Wettbewerb der regionalen Energieversorger, Energiepolitik der neuen Bundesregierung, Europaeische Richtlininen, energiewirtschaftsrecht, Versorgungswirtschaft und Kartellrecht und der Regionalversorgung in den neuen Bundeslaendern.
We studied multi-joint coordination during tasks of transporting real and imaginary objects with two arms. One of the arms was unexpectedly arrested in one third of trials performed. In the...Full Text Available
Countries and Regions A-Z List of Countries and Other Areas Africa (Sub-Sahara) East Asia and the Pacific Europe and Eurasia Near East (northern Africa, Middle East) South and...
The proceedings include the following lectures: Facing the challenges - new structures for electricity production. Renewable energies in Europe - chances and challenges. Nuclear outlook in the UK. Sustainable energy for Europe. Requirements of the market and the grid operator at the electricity production companies. Perspectives for the future energy production. Pumped storage plants - status and perspectives. Nuclear power/renewable energies -partners or opponents? New fossil fired power stations in Europe - status and perspectives. Nuclear energy: outlook for new build and lifetime extension in Europe. Biomass in the future European energy market - experiences for dong energy. Meeting the EU 20:20 renewable energy targets: the offshore challenges. DESERTEC: sustainable electricity for Europe, Middle East and North Africa. New power plants in Europe - a challenge for project and quality management. Consideration of safely in new build ...
Countries and Regions A-Z List of Countries and Other Areas Africa (Sub-Sahara) East Asia and the Pacific Europe and Eurasia Near East (northern Africa, Middle East) South and...
The paper contains a numerical evaluation of the expressions for the absorptive potential in heavy ion reactions given earlier. With a standard folding expression for the real part of the ion-ion potential general good agreement is found with experimental data for the angular distributions of elastic and inelastic scattering. Special interest is attached to the case of /sup 16/O + /sup 28/Si where the calculated imaginary potential is very small at low bombarding energies.
The paper contains a numerical evaluation of the expressions for the absorptive potential in heavy ion reactions given earlier. With a standard folding expression for the real part of the ion-ion potential general good agreement is found with experimental data for the angular distributions of elastic and inelastic scattering. Special interest is attached to the case of "1"6O + "2"8Si where the calculated imaginary potential is very small at low bombarding energies. (orig.).
A macroscopic realization of the strange virtual particles is presented. The classical Helmholtz and the quantum mechanical Schr\\"odinger equations are analogous differential equations. Their imaginary solutions are called evanescent modes in the case of elastic and electromagnetic fields. In the case of non-relativistic quantum mechanical fields they are called tunneling solutions. The imaginary solutions of this differential equation point to strange consequences: They are non local, they are not observable, and they described as virtual particles. During the last two decades QED calculations of the imaginary solutions have been experimentally confirmed for phonons, photons, and for electrons. The experimental proofs of the predictions of the non-relativistic quantum mechanics and of the Wigner phase time approach for the elastic, the electromagnetic and the Schr\\"odinger fields will be presented in this article. The ...
In this activity, students create two- and three-dimensional maps by using a data grid of an imaginary section of Earth's surface. They are challenged to create six different maps of various surface features and answer questions about them.
A survey is given of the influence of surface deformations on heavy ion reactions. Emphasis is put on the effect of zeropoint fluctuations in the entrance channel and on the effect on grazing collisions in terms of an imaginary part of the scattering potential.
A survey is given of the influence of surface deformations on heavy ion reactions. Emphasis is put on the effect of zeropoint fluctuations in the entrance channel and on the effect on grazing collisions in terms of an imaginary part of the scattering potential. (orig.).
Firstly the so called 'conformal relativity' in the 6-dimensional conformal space is formulated. In particular the concept of dilatational degree of freedom - scale - is introduced. The special conformal transformations are interpreted as the transformations connecting dilatationally moving frames (and objects). The ideas, similar to those by Kaluza and Klein, can be applied to the conformal space to obtain a unification of gravitation and electromagnetism. Lastly the conformal symmetry is extended to imaginary scales and to negative scales. Particles having imaginary scales are shown to be tachyons, whilst particles with negative scales correspond to antiparticles. (Auth.).
As part of The International Northern Sea Route Programme (INSROP), Subprogram III, Trade and Commercial Shipping, a study has been made concerning seaborne export of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the Northern Russia, especially the West Siberian fields in Tyumen. The main purpose of the total project III.0703, part 2 and this study is to evaluate the economic viability of seaborne export from this area to the European region, mainly with the use of a special ice-strengthened LPG vessel, constructed and designed for such seaborne operations. This study concentrates on both seaborne LPG transportation, the demand and supply for seaborne LPG in the world and marine transportation of LPG from the West Siberian fields. Another purpose is to see which regions are potential exporters, importers and buyers of seaborne export of LPG from Tyumen. Currently large quantities of liquefied gas are flared off at the West Siberian fields due to insufficient infrastructure, ...
According to ICRP 60 and European-Directive 96/29, Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM) and Technical Enriched Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (TENORM) have to take the radiation protection of the general population as well as of workers into account. The German radiation protection regulations stress that particularly. In connection with these regulations, various measurement programs have been and still are performed to investigate the relevant exposure paths. One of these programs is the determination of the intake of natural occurring radionuclides of the uranium decay series in individuals of the public, in exposed regions and houses and also at NORM workplaces by excretion analysis. Excretion analysis surveillance is one of the common tools for internal dosimetry. Sources of primordial radionuclides could be the ingestion of foodstuff and water and the incorporation of (mostly airborne) pollution on work places. The main focus in this ...
The Asian countries are expected to generate 45% of the world energy consumption and Japan is the absolutely greatest consumer in Asia, but China is the country that will be most important as a new consumer on the world energy markets. China, like India and later possibly even Japan try to change to natural gas as a source of energy as much as possible. This is causing a competition about the resources that can be reached by pipelines for gas, which in practice means those in Russia and Central Asia. Russia is trying to control the gas in Central Asia. The competition is also increasing about oil. China is becoming heavily dependent on Muslim countries in the Middle East and Central Asia. This also leads to an effort to increase the safety along the sea lanes, which may collide with the interests of other countries. Territorial conflicts with gas and oil as underlying elements exist in Asia. USA is a player on the energy market, who is using military means as well, ...
Surface wave tomography method based on analysis of ambient noise is widely used during the last decade. It is assumed that correlated component of noise is composed of surface waves generated by sources distributed over the Earth's surface more or less uniformly. In such a case the cross-correlation function (CCF) at two stations may be considered as the Green's function of surface wave. This function should be symmetric relatively to zero time. However analysis of CCF at the stations located at the East-European Platform shows that as a rule CCF is characterized with a strong asymmetry. Since "purered noise cannot be extracted from seismic records due to superposition of earthquake signals, the method for calculation of CCF includes amplitude normalization for suppression of earthquakes that reduces signals from earthquakes to a noise level. The parts of records containing waves from earthquakes are neglected because of their short duration. Present study shows ...
As the amount of biological data grows, so does the need for biologists to store and access this information in central repositories in a free and unambiguous manner. The European Bioinformatics Institute...Full Text Available
A Hazard Evaluation and Technical Assistance investigation was performed by NIOSH on February 1-4, 1977, at ASARCO, East Helena, Montana, a facility engaged in lead smelting. The survey was prompted by a request from the Regional OSHA Director in referenc...
Cholera outbreaks continue to occur regularly in Africa. Cholera has been associated with proximity to lakes in East Africa, and Vibrio cholerae has been found experimentally to concentrate...Full Text Available
... east Nigeria) and has also been recorded from south west Cameroon. Only two records; that from Angola the locality ... east Nigeria) and has also been recorded from south-west Cameroon. It is inferred tha...
A bedload trap in the riverbed provided direct quantitative measurement of debris-transport rate in the East Fork River, Wyoming, a basin of 466 km2 drainage area. Traction load moves only...Full Text Available
The structural, electronic and optical properties of ZnX and CdX (X = Se, Te and S) are studied using density functional theory by the Wien2k package. The energy band gap, real and imaginary parts of the dielectric function, energy loss function, optical absorption coefficient and reflectivity spectra of these compounds are calculated. The Engel-Vosko approach improves the energy band gaps of ZnX and CdX compounds. The calculated optical parameters are in good agreement with available experimental results, particularly in the Engel-Vosko approach. Furthermore the effect of hydrostatic pressure on the energy band gap, the real and imaginary parts of the dielectric function of these compounds is studied. The first and second order pressure coefficient for the energy band gaps, the static dielectric function and the static reflectivity spectra are calculated.
In this paper, a Kramers-Kronig (KK) analysis of infrared (IR) reflectance spectrum of quaternary In_0_._0_1Al_0_._0_6Ga_0_._9_3N film grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) is reported. The infrared measurement is performed in the reflection mode at an incident angle of 15 degree sign by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy at T = 300 K. The Kramers-Kronig analysis of the reflectivity data has been used to obtain the real and imaginary parts of the index of refraction (n and k), and the real and imaginary parts of the dielectric response function (#epsilon#' and #epsilon#') of the materials. Finally, the transverse optical and longitudinal optical phonons for quaternary In_xAl_yGa_1_-_x_-_yN were obtained.
We investigate Fermi liquid in the single-channel U-infinite N fold degenerate Anderson lattice with use of the expansion from the large limit of the spin-orbital degeneracy N. By collecting all diagrams up to O(N{sup -2}) of the imaginary part of the self-energy of the conduction electrons, the sum of those is shown to be given by a form proportional to {omega}{sup 2} + {pi}{sup 2}T{sup 2} up to O(N{sup -2}) in the single-channel model. On the other hand, the imaginary part of the self-energy of O(N{sup -1}) in the multichannel model has more singular frequency-/temperature-dependence, so the system is regarded as non-Fermi liquid. (author)
We investigate the quantum cosmology of spatially homogeneous models with compact spatial sections admitting a u(2) isometry algebra. The metric ansatz in these models is that of Bianchi type IX with two scale factors set to be equal. We apply the Hartle-Hawking no-boundary path integral prescription and find the semi-classical contributions to the wave function. Exact formulae are obtainable for certain contributions and otherwise the limits of large and small anisotropy (for the pure vacuum case) and large spatial volume or small anisotropy (for the case with a positive cosmological constant) are considered. For the pure vacuum case we find no semiclassical components which would correspond to Lorentzian universes. For the case with a cosmological constant the Hartle-Hawking boundary conditions formally constrain one of the parameters in the Lorentzian solutions to be purely imaginary. Possible interpretations of this imaginary parameter are ...
We investigate the quantum cosmology of spatially homogeneous models with compact spatial sections admitting a u(2) isometry algebra. The metric ansatz in these models is that of Bianchi type IX with two scale factors set to be equal. We apply the Hartle-Hawking no-boundary path integral prescription and find the semi-classical contributions to the wave function. Exact formulae are obtainable for certain contributions and otherwise the limits of large and small anisotropy (for the pure vacuum case) and large spatial volume or small anisotropy (for the case with a positive cosmological constant) are considered. For the pure vacuum case we find no semiclassical components which would correspond to Lorentzian universes. For the case with a cosmological constant the Hartle-Hawking boundary conditions formally constrain one of the parameters in the Lorentzian solutions to be purely imaginary. Possible interpretations of this imaginary parameter are ...
Lorentz invariant theory of second quantization of superluminal electromagnetic fields has been constructed in purely group theoretical manner by using the reduced expansion of four-vector fields for imaginary mass system in terms of standard helicity representations of Poincare group. It has been shown that the usual relationship of spin and statistics need not be inverted for Lorentz invariance of the theory of spin-1 tachyons. 15 refs.
Lorentz invariant theory of second quantization of superluminal electromagnetic fields has been constructed in purely group theoretical manner by using the reduced expansion of four-vector fields for imaginary mass system in terms of standard helicity representations of Poincare group. It has been shown that the usual relationship of spin and statistics need not be inverted for Lorentz invariance of the theory of spin-1 tachyons. (author).
Reduction of wavefunction which transforms as scalar field imaginary mass system has been derived in terms of irreducible representation of proper, orthochronous, inhomogeneous Lorentz group and it has been shown that only transformation properties of wavefunction are needed in the derivation while the reality condition and wave equations only restrict the number of independent representations. The properties of energy and momentum of tachyons have been analysed and it has been shown that the tachyons are unidirectional in space. (author).
The reduction of four-vector and electromagnetic fields produced by spin-1 tachyons has been derived in terms of standard helicity representations of inhomogeneous Lorentz group, and the conditions for these superluminal electromagnetic fields to satisfy the Maxwell's field equations have been derived. 16 refs.
The Monte Carlo simulation method is applied to calculate the nucleon transfer part of the imaginary optical-model potential in colliding heavy ions. In the process of transfer of nucleons from one nucleus to the other, forward and backward neutrons and protons are treated separately by taking into consideration the effect of the Coulomb forces and the potential energy surfaces (driving forces). The Pauli exclusion principle is also incorporated properly in the calculation.
By using linearized conformal transformations in six dimensions, a new unified approach to bradyons (v"2< c"2) and tachyons (v"2>c"2) is suggested, the essential tool being (real and imaginary) dilatations. The usual ''Generalized Lorentz transformations'' are got, In six dimensions the quadrate form is always positive, both for bradyons and for tachyons.
... that operated in Pakistan, Dubai, and throughout the Middle East ... identifies 'funds' as one of eight major terrorist ... techniques, and procedures (TTP). ...
Team 6 Regimental Combat Team 8 Retired Activities Office Safety Division School of Infantry - East School of Infantry - West Second Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion Security...
Health Iran Iraq Landmines Middle East Muslim Outreach Narcotics Nonproliferation North Korea Pakistan Piracy Reconstruction and Stabilization Sudan Trafficking in Persons War...
... more so when that and he is leaving it with ... reminds me of the story about the sick man who ... fers based on industrial cooperation and the establish- ...
Issues Democracy and Human Rights Economic Issues Energy Security Food Security Haiti Health Iran Iraq Landmines Middle East Muslim Outreach Narcotics Nonproliferation North Korea...
Several factors have been proposed to explain the persistence of a high incidence of venous thromboembolism worldwide with its associated morbidity and mortality. Underutilization of anticoagulants...Full Text Available
The evolution of the human mitochondrial genome is characterized by the emergence of ethnically distinct lineages or haplogroups. Nine European, seven Asian (including Native American), and three African...Full Text Available
BackgroundLittle is known about the role European patient organisations play in the process of deciding on reimbursement for medicines. Therefore we explore the...Full Text Available
How can the inhabitants of the European Union be brought closer together? One way of doing it is to expand and improve the trans-European railway network and to have interoperable highspeed trains connecting Europe's major centres. (orig.)
BackgroundSince 1954, there have been in excess of 800 cases of rabies as a result of European Bat Lyssaviruses types 1 and 2 (EBLV-1, EBLV-2) infection, mainly...Full Text Available
To determine the presence of European bat lyssavirus type 1 in southern Spain, we studied 19 colonies of serotine bats (Eptesicus isabellinus), its main reservoir, during 1998–2003....Full Text Available
Although the use of amphibole asbestos (crocidolite and amosite) has been banned in most European countries because of its known effects on the lung and pleura, chrysotile asbestos remains in use in...Full Text Available
Polygenic sex determination, although suspected in several species, is thought to be evolutionarily unstable and has been proven in very few cases. In the European sea bass, temperature is known to...Full Text Available
The 12. Annual European Fuels Conference has enabled refiners and fuel developers on March 2011 (8-11). In this work, the lecturers draw the new tendencies and difficulties at which the refining industry will be confronted with. (O.M.)
...EU Descartes Prizes for excellence in research and science communication descartes, prize, science communication, research, rtd, european commission, ...european union, eu EU Descartes Prizes for excellence in research and science communication Research - EU Descartes Prizes for excellence in research and science ...communication en European Commission Research Descartes Prize Contact | Search ...
"Nine of CERN 's 20 Member States today a signed new Protocol on privileges and immunities. This brings the Organization into line with other European intergovernmental organizations, such as the European Space Agency and the European Southern Observatory, which already enjoy international status in all of their Member States" (2
The first reported Far East scarlet-like fever (FESLF) epidemic swept the Pacific coastal region of Russia in the late 1950s. Symptoms of the severe infection included erythematous skin rash and desquamation,...Full Text Available
Pneumococcal disease in young children has not been as well characterized in East Africa as it has been in industrialized countries. Although pneumococci are likely to cause substantial mortality...Full Text Available
Areas with elevated levels of radioactivity were found throughout both residences, as well as on the surrounding property. Contamination was also found in the garage behind the 105 East structure. The 105 East residence had substantially more contamination than the 107 East residence, as was expected. The chimneys, particularly the rear chimney, from the 105 East residence had extensive contamination, indicating that contaminated materials may have been burned at the site. The high background radiation emanating from this residence made it difficult to establish the relatively lower levels of contamination in the 107 East residence. The property surrounding the 105 East residence was found to have substantial contamination scattered throughout, with the highest level occurring in the backyard. The soil surface contamination seemed to drop markedly (but not ...
Private transfers of capital from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to developing countries are intended to complement private transfers from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) by tapping the emerging capital markets in the Middle East. Developing countries will be able to diversify their borrowing and gain additional financing. The long-term investment of oil-producing countries will benefit and the pressures on the banking institutions to recycle funds will lessen. Middle East capital markets include international loans and international bonds. The history of the Kuwaiti dinar (KD) bond market, with its advantages for both investors and borrowers, illustrates the successful development of a capital market. Financial intermediation needs to be improved, however, if the Middle East is to become efficient enough to compete with the Euromarkets. Efficiency will require ...
The dynamical factors controlling the mean state and variability of the east Pacific intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) and the associated cross-equatorial boundary layer flow are investigated using observations from the East Pacific Investigation of Climate (EPIC2001) project. The tropical east Pacific exhibits a southerly boundary layer flow that terminates in the ITCZ. This flow is induced by the strong meridional sea surface temperature (SST) gradient in the region. Away from the equator and from deep convection, it is reasonably well described on a day-to-day basis by an extended Ekman balance model. Variability in the strength and northward extent of this flow is caused by variations in free-tropospheric pressure gradients that either reinforce or oppose the pressure gradient associated with the SST gradient. These free-tropospheric gradients are caused by easterly waves, tropical cyclones, and the Madden Julian ...
This document gathers the available presentations (articles and transparencies) given at this annual meeting, the 2007 topic of which was the technological, geopolitical, economical, environmental, societal and development stakes of energy. 1 - technological stakes - which energies for the future: new energies, illusion or solution of the future; the Lorraine region, an energy land: strategies and stakes for a sustainable development; from China to Brazil: understanding the nuclear energy revival; hydroelectric power: renewable and sustainable energy; renewable energies and environment protection: the contribution of biofuels; wind power in Germany between success and contestation; 2 - geopolitical stakes - energy levier of power: the Gulf of Guinea hydrocarbons: between development and geopolitics; the complex evaluation of resources and reserves between technology, market and geopolitics; the new Bakou-Tbilissi-Ceyhan pipeline: what impacts for Turkey and the ...
As a condition of accession into the European Union (EU), Lithuania is committed to the closure and decommissioning of Ignalina NPP comprising two RBMK-1500 reactor units (Fig. 1). It was agreed in a special protocol to the Accession Treaty that, in return for adequate EU financial assistance, Unit 1 would be closed before 2005 and Unit 2 by the end of 2009. The first unit was duly shut down on December 31, 2004. Lithuania, which has borders with Russia (Kaliningrad territory), Poland, Latvia and Belarus, spent fifty years as part of the Soviet Union and was deeply integrated into its economy and electrical infrastructure. At the break-up of the USSR, Lithuania inherited electricity generating capacity designed to supply the north-west region including ownership of Ignalina NPP located in the north-east of the country. Ignalina NPP Unit 1 was commissioned in 1983, Unit 2 in 1987; the planned lifespan of each unit was 30 years. Construction of a ...
Deformation of the ground can be considered as a sum of volume deformation and shear deformation. At circumferential ground of pile axis, simple shear type of shear deformation becomes main factor of settlement. As shear forces with reverse direction are overlapped at parallel face for pile around face of the ground between the piles, the shear deformation is relaxed. At deeper place from top of the pile, volume deformation becomes larger and component of shear deformation approaches to a pure shear type. In case of the land surface loading type consolidation settlement calculation, a method adopting one dimensional consolidation calculating method using only vertical component within stress obtained by elasticity theory even when investigating multi dimensionally is used widely. In Japanese design standards, the method calculating the consolidation settlement by presuming imaginary loading face for land surface is widely adopted. In case of abrasion pile, the ...
We investigate the quantum cosmology of spatially homogeneous models with compact spatial sections admitting a u(2) isometry algebra. The metric ansatz in these models is that of Bianchi type IX with two scale factors set to be equal. We apply the Hartle-Hawking no-boundary path integral prescription and find the semi-classical contributions to the wave function. Exact formulae are obtainable for certain contributions and otherwise the limits of large and small anisotropy (for the pure vacuum case) and large spatial volume or small anisotropy (for the case with a positive cosmological constant) are considered. For the pure vacuum case we find no rapidly oscillating semiclassical components in the wave function, and hence do not recover lorentzian space-time as a prediction of the no-boundary proposal. For the case with a cosmological constant the wave function does contain rapidly oscillating components and thus predicts approximately lorentzian space-times; however, one of the ...
We investigate the quantum cosmology of spatially homogeneous models with compact spatial sections admitting a u(2) isometry algebra. The metric ansatz in these models is that of Bianchi type IX with two scale factors set to be equal. We apply the Hartle-Hawking no-boundary path integral prescription and find the semi-classical contributions to the wave function. Exact formulae are obtainable for certain contributions and otherwise the limits of large and small anisotropy (for the pure vacuum case) and large spatial volume or small anisotropy (for the case with a positive cosmological constant) are considered. For the pure vacuum case we find no rapidly oscillating semiclassical components in the wave function, and hence do not recover lorentzian space-time as a prediction of the no-boundary proposal. For the case with a cosmological constant the wave function does contain rapidly oscillating components and thus predicts approximately lorentzian space-times; however, one of the ...
CRE is the French commission for energy regulation. CRE's remit is to assist in ensuring the proper operation of the electricity and natural gas markets for the benefit of the end-user. In particular, CRE ensures that the conditions of access to electricity and natural gas transmission and distribution systems do not hinder the development of competition. It monitors, for the electricity and natural gas sectors, all transactions made between suppliers, traders and producers, all transactions made on the organised markets and cross-border trading. It ensures that suppliers, traders and producers propose offers that are consistent with their financial and technical constraints. It monitors the implementation of and compliance with regulations giving consumers the right to choose their supplier in a competitive market, and allowing new suppliers to enter the market. This document is the 2008 activity report of CRE. Content: A - How CRE works: CRE regulatory authority and ...
New partial differential equations (PDEs) for the full order weak schemes of the Langevin simulations are formulated. They are solved recursively in full order series solutions with respect to {radical}(t) (the full order weak Taylor schemes). Arbitrariness involved in the solutions is analyzed and clarified in detail. Specific solutions within some orders are presented as examples of the weak Taylor schemes. These PDEs and their solutions will serve for further developments of efficient higher order Runge-Kutta-like schemes. The similar formulation is possible for the imaginary time Hamiltonian evolution kernels as well. (orig.). 9 refs.
We study an analytical solution to the Einstein's equations in 2 + 1-dimensions. The space-time is dynamical and has a line symmetry. The matter content is a minimally coupled, massless, scalar field. Depending on the value of certain parameters, this solution represents three distinct space-times. The first one is at space-time. Then, we have a big bang model with a negative curvature scalar and a real scalar field. The last case is a big bang model with event horizons where the curvature scalar vanishes and the scalar field changes from real to purely imaginary. (author)
The composite wave variational version of the APW (augmented plane wave) method is used to obtain the electronic band structure of the compounds boron phosphide and boron arsenide at the high symmetry points #GAMMA#, X, and L. The tight binding interpolation scheme of Slater and Koster is used to calculate the rest of the band structure. The results show that both these materials are indirect band gap semiconductors. The density of states, and the imaginary part of the dielectric constant is also calculated. The theoretical results are compared with the reported experimental and theoretical data. (author).
The coherent $\\omega$-meson photoproduction from nuclei is proposed as a phenomenological method to evaluate the momentum dependence of $\\omega$-meson mass shift and width in nuclear matter. We analyze available data on un-separated coherent and incoherent $\\omega$-meson photoproduction from nuclei and extract the imaginary part of the the complex forward $\\omega{N}$ scattering amplitude, which is proportional to the in-medium $\\omega$-meson width. The accuracy of the currently available data is not sufficient to evaluate the real part of forward $\\omega{N}$ scattering amplitude and reconstruct the momentum dependence of the mass shift of the $\\omega$-meson.
Non-anisotropic free energy is considered which under minimization yields two magnetic phases: a conical spin density wave and a low temperature conical cycloid. Using equations of motion, the excitation spectrum is studied. Knowing the nature of these excitations, the dielectric function as well as the fluctuation specific heat is computed and compared with the experimental spectrum. Due to the electromagnon going soft, the dielectric function (imaginary part) as well as the specific heat capacity show peaks at the temperature where ferroelectricity appears in the system.
We have implemented a virtual Young's double slit experiment for hard X-ray photons with micro-fabricated bi-prisms. We observe fringe patterns with a scintillator, and quantify interferograms by detecting X-ray fluorescence from a scanned 30nm Cr metal film. The observed intensities are best modeled with a near-field, Fresnel analysis. The maximum fringe number in the overlap region is proportional to the ratio of real to imaginary parts refractive index of the prism material. The horizontal and vertical transverse coherence lengths at beamline APS 8-ID are measured.
The summertime tropical cyclogenesis rate per unit area in the eastern Pacific ocean is arguably higher than in any other location in the world. Many if not most of these cyclones form from African easterly waves which cross Central America into the Pacific. Of order 25% of these waves intensify into cyclones. A significant fraction of east Pacific tropical cyclones undergoes landfall on the Mexican coast. Those which do not, generally dissipate over cold ocean waters north of the east Pacific intertropical convergence zone, often not far from land. The layer of warm ocean water which supports the development of east Pacific cyclones is unusually shallow and is structured by anticyclonic vortices which form by various processes and propagate slowly to the west. These vortices locally deepen the oceanic mixed layer and support stronger convection than their surroundings, possibly promoting cyclogenesis and cyclone ...
Abstract Aim- According to the revised Bethesda Guidelines, colorectal cancer (CRC) occurring under age 50-years should be screened to exclude Lynch syndrome. However, in current practice in East Anglia, tumour screening is initiated only after genetics referral, reserved for those with a strong pedigree. This study aimed to determine how many patients with young-onset CRC undergo tumour screening in hospitals in East Anglia. Method- A retrospective case notes review over 5-years in four hospitals was undertaken to determine what proportion of those with young-onset CRC underwent referral for tumour screening and to assess local practices in terms of patient counselling and management. Results- One hundred and twenty-two patients were included. There was an average yearly caseload of 6-9 p...
The power industry is undergoing major changes. Deregulation and a competitive climate demand effective solutions. Costs and losses must be reduced, and overall efficiency must be raised. Industrial options connected to energy market and environmental considerations are discussed. Themes discussed in this paper are environmental challenges, the fuel factor, power plants in use today, the Norwegian power system, the European system, power exchange across borders, the transmission system, the future European system, and options for Norwegian industry. 27 figs.
...] 2010, Volume 11, Issue 1 3-27 The European Economic and Monetary Union and Labour Market Reform by Elzbieta Bednarek-Sekunda & Richard Jong-A-Pin & Jakob de Haan [Downloadable!] 29-59 Educational Inequality in the EU: The Effectiveness of the National Education Policy by Raphaela Schlicht & Isabelle Stadelmann-Steffen & Markus Freitag [Downloadable!] 61-87 Opinion Polarization and Inter-Party Competition on Europe by Ian Down & Carole J. Wilson [Downloadable!] 89-117 EU Issue Voting: Asset or Liability?: How European Integration Affects Parties' Electoral Fortunes ...
...Fransman - University of Edinburgh Patents: The next battleground for climate change - 07 May 2008 - Alison Brimelow - European Patents Office (EPO) Rethinking the EU budget - 23 Apr 2008 - Daniel Gros - Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) US needs a 'Science White House' - 23 Apr 2008 - David Baltimore - American Association for the Advancement of Science Addressing consumer concerns about climate change - 14 Apr 2008 - Various Authors - McKinsey Why the internal market needs ...
This essay focuses on the major industrial changes from the late 1950s onwards in the industrial basins from the Nord/Pas-de-Calais to the Ruhrgebiet. The notion of industrial redeployment (reconversion industrielle) is critically analysed in the framework of European integration. The comparative approach highlights the importance of the time-space dimension which differs from one basin to the other. The diverse individual and collective actors also were in command of different power resources according to the various state traditions. The European Community, however, appears to have played an increasing role, culminating at the time of the steel industry crisis (1975-1985).
Enhancing transport sustainability is the password of national, European, and international policies. The development of innovative solutions is ranging from bio fuels to transport analysis models, materials, traction technologies, mobility management, freight villages.
BackgroundA large and increasing part of the European population has a history of migration. Germany, for example, is home to about 15 million people with migrant background, which...Full Text Available
In 2009, following approval of the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD, 2008/56/EC), the European Commission (EC) created task groups to develop guidance for eleven quality descriptors that form the basis for evaluating ecosystem function. The objective was to provide European countries with practical guidelines for implementing the MSFD, and to produce a Commission Decision that encapsulated key points of the work in a legal framework. This paper presents a review of work carried out by the eutrophication task group, and reports our main findings to the scientific community. On the basis of an operational, management-oriented definition, we discuss the main methodologies that could be used for coastal and marine eutrophication assessment. Emphasis is placed on integrated ap...
Nov 21, 2003... for the European Space Agency's Automated Transport Vehicle, a new, uncrewed station cargo vehicle targeted for launch late next year. ...
Oberpfaffenhofen, Pedel"al aepublic of Gel1lany. A large number of European scientists have provided ex~eri- ments that will be cooducted in the Material ...
What Wallerstein described as European universalism dominated media and communication theory until the end of the twentieth century. The three-tier divide of the global economic system (center, semi-periphery, and periphery) explicated in world-system analysis was equally applicable to the global academic/scholarship structure. The non-traditional fields of study, such as media and (mass) communication, inherited the full flavor of European universalism because they originated in the academic institutions of the center countries. The turn of the century saw a dramatic reaction to the Euro-American rhetoric of power. Organized groups of scholars have begun to question the presumption of European universalism in media and communication theory, encompassing its axiology, epistemology/methodol...
closure of the BISON network, GOLF and VIRGO will remain the only instruments ...... Faraday Cup solar wind instrument as described in Ipavich et al (1998). ...
Issues Democracy and Human Rights Economic Issues Energy Security Food Security Haiti Health Iran Iraq Landmines Middle East Muslim Outreach Narcotics Nonproliferation North Korea...
The abundance of host-seeking Ixodes scapularis nymphs, the principal vector for the Lyme disease agent, Borrelia burgdorferi, in Old Lyme, Lyme, and East Haddam, Connecticut,...Full Text Available
Previous studies with a limited number of strains have indicated that there are two genotypes of yellow fever (YF) virus in Africa, one in west Africa and the other in east and central Africa. We have...Full Text Available
BackgroundWithin the last 25 years, after the introduction of the swimbladder nematode Anguillicoloides crassus from East-Asia to Europe, a body of work has aggregated...Full Text Available
BackgroundIn the past two decades the east African highlands have experienced several major malaria epidemics. Currently there is a renewed interest in exploring the possibility...Full Text Available
Licorice, Glycyrrhizae radix, is one of the herbal medicines in East Asia that has been commonly used for treating various diseases, including stomach disorders. This study investigated...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe continued depletion of tropical rainforests and fragmentation of natural habitats has led to significant ecological changes which place most top carnivores under heavy...Full Text Available
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.
The paleogeography postulated from the distribution of Permian and Triassic sedimentary rocks in the Middle East is shown and related to the paleostructure of the region. The Middle East region as defined here includes the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Iraq, SE Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, West Jordan, and the Sinai Peninsula. Within the limits of the area included in this study, a relatively stable pre-Late Triassic tectonic regime can be recognized and distinguished from a succession of diastrophic events of the Late Triassic epoch, which caused marked changes in the types and distribution of facies. Excluding NE Iran, the Middle East was stable from Late Cambrian to Middle Triassic times, as it formed a part of the Arabian Massif and much of the Middle East Platform, which is a broad shelf bordering the positive Afro-Arabian Massif to the NE and east. The sediments of this platform ...
A performance assessment analysis was completed for the 200 East Area Low-Level Burial Grounds (LLBG) to satisfy compliance requirements in DOE Order 5820.2A. In the analysis, scenarios of radionuclide release from the 200 East Area Low-Level waste facility was evaluated. The analysis focused on two primary scenarios leading to exposure. The first was inadvertent intrusion. In this scenario, it was assumed that institutional control of the site and knowledge of the disposal facility has been lost. Waste is subsequently exhumed and dose from exposure is received. The second scenario was groundwater contamination.In this scenario, radionuclides are leached from the waste by infiltrating precipitation and transported through the soil column to the underlying unconfined aquifer. The contaminated water is pumped from a well 100 m downstream and consumed,causing dose. Estimates of potential contamination of the surrounding environment were developed ...
... Carbon capture and storage Waste Prevention and Recycling EU clean air strategy Environmental liability: Applying the 'polluter pays' principle What goes around ...comes around: Recycling and climate change Behind closed doors: Air quality in buildings Keeping cool with refrigerants: The F-gas review Regions fighting climate ...
...notice de en es fr it nl European Commission Research Index aeronews All keywords Index feedback The number of documents that contain the keyword aeronews is: 1 EU Transport lsquo;AERONEWSrsquo; -good news for early detection of microdamage European Commission - lsquo;AERONEWSrsquo; -good news for early detection of microdamage ...
The European Research and Development Program on decay heat removal by natural convection for the European Fast Reactor (EFR) covers the calculational methods and the model experiments performed for code validation. The studies concentrate on important physical effects of the cooling modes within the primary system and the direct reactor cooling circuits and include fundamental tests as well as reactor experiments. (author)
The paper will report the experience gained in the implementation of the national assistance projects, including the detailed assessment of the national situation compared to the ITWG Model Action Plan, the upgrading of the technical skills, the training of national experts and the joint analysis of nuclear material at ITU. The status of the work with the 13 future Member States to the European Union will also be reported on during the conference
Behaviour of tachyons in gravitational field has been investigated by using imaginary as well as real superluminal Lorentz transformations. Using real superluminal transformations in four- and six-dimensional space-time, an expression for the gravitational force acting on a tachyon, moving along the tachyon corridor constructed to follow the tachyon geodesic, has been derived. The motion of a tachyon through a black hole has also been discussed and it is shown that the black hole acts like a gravitational tunnel for tachyons and the transition between the regions inside and outside the horizon can be understood as real superluminal transformations transforming a R"4=(r,t) world into a T"4=(t,r) world. 36 refs.. (author).
This paper presents a new and simple method for sensorless control of matrix converter drives using a power flowing to the motor. The proposed control algorithm is based on controlling the instantaneous real and imaginary powers into the induction motor. To improve low-speed sensorless performance, the nonlinearities of a matrix converter drive such as commutation delays, turn-ON and turn-OFF times of switching devices, and on-state switching device voltage drop are modeled using a PQ power transformation and compensated using a reference power control scheme. The proposed sensorless control method is applied for the induction motor drive using a 3 kW matrix converter system. Experimental results are shown to illustrate the feasibility of the proposed strategy. Udgivelsesdato: September
We study some aspects of the experimental behaviour of tachyons, in particular by finding out their <> shape. A Superluminal particle, which in its own rest frame is spherical or ellipsoidal (and with an infinite lifetime), would <> to a laboratory frame as occupying the whole region of space bound by a double cone and a two sheeted hyperboloid. Such a structure (the tachyon <>) rigidly travels with the speed of the tachyon. However, if the Superluminal particle has a finite lifetime in its rest frame, then in the laboratory frame it gets a finite space extension. As a by-product, we are able to interpret physically the imaginary units entering - as is well known - the transverse co-ordinates in the Superluminal Lorentz transformations. The various particular or limiting cases of the tachyon shape are thoroughly considered. Finally, some brief considerations concerning possible experiments to look for ...
We consider the electron-positron pair creation by a photon in an external constant electric field. The presented treatment is based on a purely quasiclassical calculation of the imaginary part of the on-shell photon polarization operator. By using this approach we find the pair production rate for photons with polarization parallel as well as orthogonal to the external electric field in the leading order in the parameter eE/m"2, which has been recently found by other methods. For the orthogonal polarization we also find a new contribution to the rate, which is leading in the ratio of the photon energy to the electron mass #omega#/m. We also reproduce by a purely geometrical calculation the exponential factor in the probability of the stimulated pair creation at arbitrary energy of the photon.
Within a fully relativistic framework, we derive and solve numerically the perturbation equations of relativistic stars, including the stresses produced by a non-vanishing shear viscosity in the stress-energy tensor. With this approach, the real and imaginary parts of the frequency of the modes are consistently obtained. We find that, approaching the inviscid limit from the finite viscosity case, the continuous spectrum is regularized and we can calculate the quasi-normal modes for stellar models that do not admit solutions at first order in perturbation theory when the coupling between the polar and axial perturbations is neglected. The viscous damping time is found to agree within factor 2 with the usual estimate obtained by using the eigenfunctions of the inviscid limit and some approximation for the energy dissipation integrals. We find that the frequencies and viscous damping times for relativistic $r-$modes lie between the Newtonian and Cowling results. We ...
Elastic and inelastic proton scattering has been measured in inverse kinematics on the unstable nucleus {sup 40}S. A phenomenological DWBA analysis yields a quadrupole deformation parameter {beta}{sub 2} = 0.35 {+-} 0.05 for the 2{sup +}{sub 1} state. Consistent phenomenological and microscopic proton scattering analyses have been applied to all even-even Sulfur isotopes from A = 32 to A = 40. The microscopic analysis used microscopic collective model densities and a modified Jeukenne-Lejeune-Mahaux effective interaction. This analysis suggests the presence of a neutron skin in the heavy sulfur isotopes. The analysis is consistent with normalization values for {lambda}{sub {upsilon}} and {lambda}{sub {omega}} of 0.95 for both the real and imaginary parts of the JLM potential. (author)
A time-reversal-violating spin-correlation coefficient in the total cross section for polarized neutrons incident on a tensor rank-2 polarized target is calculated by assuming a time-reversal-noninvariant, parity-conserving ``five-fold" interaction in the neutron-nucleus optical potential. Results are presented for the system $n + {^{165}{\\rm Ho}}$ for neutron incident energies covering the range 1--20 MeV. From existing experimental bounds, a strength of $2 \\pm 10$ keV is deduced for the real and imaginary parts of the five-fold term, which implies an upper bound of order $10^{-4}$ on the relative $T$-odd strength when compared to the central real optical potential.
Nonrelativistic band calculations of Mattheiss for Nb and Petroff and Viswanathan for Mo are used to calculate the imaginary part epsilon_2 of the dielectric function for these metals. The structure resulting from interband transitions in the frequency range 0.1--0.5 Ry is found to give fairly good agreement with experiment. The calculation indicates that structure in epsilon_2 can arise from transitions away from symmetry points and lines in the Brillouin zone. The difficulty in distinguishing between the direct and indirect transition models for epsilon_2 is shown to arise from a lack of strong optical critical points. Predictions of the rigid-band model for the optical properties of Nb-Mo alloys are presented.
We present a description of nuclear spontaneous fission, and generally of quantum tunneling, in terms of instantons - periodic imaginary-time solutions to time-dependent mean-field equations - that allows for a comparison with more familiar and used generator coordinate (GCM) and adiabatic time-dependent Hartree-Fock (ATDHF) methods. It is shown that the action functional whose value for the instanton is the quasiclassical estimate of the decay exponent fulfils the minimum principle when additional constraints are imposed on trial fission paths. In analogy with mechanics, these are conditions of energy conservation and the velocity-momentum relations. In the adiabatic limit the instanton method reduces to the time-odd ATDHF equation, with collective mass including the time-odd Thouless-Valatin term, while the GCM mass completely ignores velocity-momentum relations. This implies that GCM inertia generally overestimates instanton-related decay rate. The very ...
We present a unified description of the imaginary part of the dynamical magnetic susceptibility #chi#"'"'(#omega#.T) and measurements of the static susceptibility #chi#(T) and electrical resistivity #rho#(T) in the uranium intermetallics UCu_5_-_xPd_x (x = 1.1.5). For temperatures T and excitation energies #omega# in the range 12 K < #omega#, T < 150 K, our analysis demonstrates that the dynamics of isolated uranium ions are responsible for the observed temperature and frequency scaling, although interion interactions may become important at lower temperatures and frequencies. We derive a strict criterion for single-ion scaling in the form of a universal scaling function, providing a model-independent description of the compiled experimental data. (orig.).
Cfiber/Si3N4 composites were prepared by hot-pressed sintering using a-Si3N4 powders, short carbon fibers and sintering additives as starting materials. The mechanical and dielectric properties of these composites were studied. When the short carbon fiber content of the composites increases from 0 to 1wt.%, the fracture toughness increases from 3.456 to 4.203MPam1/2, and both the real and imaginary part of permittivity increase greatly over the frequency range 8.2-12.4GHz. These effects were due to the anisotropy of short carbon fibers.
Abstract Theories of the good and proper self (the governmental normative subject, be it a reflexive, enterprising, individualising, rational, prosthetic, or possessive self)1 or even the self produced in conditions not of its own making, such as Bourdieu's habitus, all rely on ideas about self-interest, investment and/or -playing the game-. As people are increasingly expected to publicly legitimate themselves as good and worthy subjects, and as capital increasingly enters the spaces of intimacy and bio-politics, we need to reconsider the limits of our theoretical imaginaries for understanding the value production necessary to the performance of personhood. Specifically, most of the theories we have for understanding the connections between personhood and value reproduce and legitimate the...
It is well known that a protective film is formed on the graphite negative electrode in ethylene carbonate (EC) electrolyte solution. This film is lithium-ion conductive and protects the decomposition of the electrolyte solution. In the present paper, the electrode/electrolyte interfaces in lithium-ion rechargeable batteries were characterized by three-dimensional complex impedance plots, whose axes are real, imaginary parts and time. The film resistance R {sub sei} and charge transfer resistance R {sub ct} were determined for negative electrodes in EC/ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC) electrolyte solution, and the formation mechanisms of the interfacial film were discussed. Furthermore, the contributions of vinylene carbonate and ethylene sulfite, which are added into the electrolyte solution for the film formation, were investigated.
It is well known that a protective film is formed on the graphite negative electrode in ethylene carbonate (EC) electrolyte solution. This film is lithium-ion conductive and protects the decomposition of the electrolyte solution. In the present paper, the electrode/electrolyte interfaces in lithium-ion rechargeable batteries were characterized by three-dimensional complex impedance plots, whose axes are real, imaginary parts and time. The film resistance R _s_e_i and charge transfer resistance R _c_t were determined for negative electrodes in EC/ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC) electrolyte solution, and the formation mechanisms of the interfacial film were discussed. Furthermore, the contributions of vinylene carbonate and ethylene sulfite, which are added into the electrolyte solution for the film formation, were investigated.
We study the dynamical evolution of a scalar field coupling to Einstein's tensor in the background of a Reissner-Nordstroem black hole. Our results show that the coupling constant #eta# imprints in the wave dynamics of a scalar perturbation. In the weak coupling, we find that with the increase of the coupling constant #eta# the real parts of the fundamental quasinormal frequencies decrease and the absolute values of imaginary parts increase for fixed charge q and multipole number l. In the strong coupling, we find that for l#not =#0 the instability occurs when #eta# is larger than a certain threshold value #eta#_c which deceases with the multipole number l and charge q. However, for the lowest l=0, we find that there does not exist such a threshold value and the scalar field always decays for arbitrary coupling constant.
The invention of non-Euclidean geometries is often seen through the optics of Hilbertian formal axiomatic method developed later in the 19th century. However such an anachronistic approach fails to provide a sound reading of Lobachevsky's geometrical works. Although the modern notion of model of a given theory has a counterpart in Lobachevsky's writings its role in Lobachevsky's geometrical theory turns to be very unusual. Lobachevsky doesn't consider various models of Hyperbolic geometry, as the modern reader would expect, but uses a non-standard model of Euclidean plane (as a particular surface in the Hyperbolic 3-space). In this paper I consider this Lobachevsky's construction, and show how it can be better analyzed within an alternative non-Hilbertian foundational framework, which relates the history of geometry of the 19th century to some recent developments in the ?eld.
We study D-branes in a two-dimensional lorentzian orbifold R{sup 1,1}/{gamma} with a discrete boost {gamma}. This space is known as Misner or Milne space, and includes big crunch/big bang singularity. In this space, there are D0-branes in spiral orbits and D1-branes with or without flux on them. In particular, we observe imaginary parts of partition functions, and interpret them as the rates of open string pair creation for D0-branes and emission of winding closed strings for D1-branes. These phenomena occur due to the time-dependence of the background. Open string 2{yields}2 scattering amplitude on a D1-brane is also computed and found to be less singular than closed string case.
The grey-black mudstones of the Sonehat Formation form part of the Middle Jurassic fill of the Jameson Land Basin in East Greenland. The formation is exposed in the southernmost part of the north south-trending, Mesozoic rift system in East Greenland that was part of the epeiric seaway betaveen East Greenland and Norway. Sedimentological observations of the Sortehat Formation indicate deposition in an offshore marine setting that was typically low energy and periodically oxygen-deficient but was influenced by storm currents on occasion. Detailed palynological studies of the Sortehat Formation have resulted in the definition of theee palynological assemblage zones recognised at four localities, namely Enhjoerningen Dal and Pelion (north Jameson Land), the type section at Sortehat (central Jameson Land) and Albuen at Neill Klinter along Hurry Inlet (south-east Jameson Land). In stratigraphic order, these ...
In association with excavation of the No. 135 steam producing well in the Onikubi geothermal power plant in Miyagi Prefecture, shapes of production zones and drilling-induced fracture (DIF) were acquired from the borehole televiewer (BHTV) data. The BHTV logging shoots sound waves onto well walls of wells filled with fluid and detects the reflection waves to investigate the state of the well walls. Vertical fracture with opening lengths from 2 to 3 m were found at depths of about 1232 m and 1312 m. Water run-off has occurred at a depth of about 1312 m during the excavation, to which these vertical fractures might have contributed possibly. In depths of about 1232 m and 1312 m, fractures inclining toward north-east direction and south-west direction are predominant. Some fractures in the depth of about 1333 m incline toward east-south-east direction and west-north-west direction. Fracture inclination azimuth in all of the present logging ...
This paper overviews the curricula of nuclear medicine (NM) undergraduate training in 34 Central and Eastern European (CEE) and 37 European Union (EU) medical faculties. The data show enormous variation in the number of hours devoted to nuclear medicine, varying between 1-2 to 40 hours and highly differentiated concepts/ideas of nuclear medicine training in particular countries. In most EU countries this teaching is integrated with that of radiology or clinical modules, also with training in clinical physiology. In many CEE countries teaching and testing of NM are independent, although integration with other teaching modules is frequent. The paper discusses the differences in particular approaches to nuclear medicine teaching. (author)
We present a new modular traffic signs recognition system, successfully applied to both American and European speed limit signs. Our sign detection step is based only on shape-detection (rectangles or circles). This enables it to work on grayscale images, contrary to most European competitors, which eases robustness to illumination conditions (notably night operation). Speed sign candidates are classified (or rejected) by segmenting potential digits inside them (which is rather original and has several advantages), and then applying a neural digit recognition. The global detection rate is ~90% for both (standard) U.S. and E.U. speed signs, with a misclassification rate 150 minutes of video. The system processes in real-time ~20 frames/s on a standard high-end laptop.
The number of immigrants to Western Europe has been increasing, with immigration the subject of much controversy in contemporary Europe. In this article, we investigate the relationship between the size of the immigrant population, how natives perceive this size, and their anti-immigrant attitudes. We use data from the 2002/2003 European Social Survey covering 17 Western European countries, and we find that as a rule Western Europeans think that the immigrant population in their country is much larger than it actually is. The perceived size of an immigrant population has an impact on anti-immigrant prejudices, but the real size does not. Like many authors before us, we find that education reduces prejudice. However, we also find that around 10 percent of the total effect of education is a ...
This paper discusses the link between R&D and productivity across the European industrial and service sectors. The empirical analysis is based on both the European sectoral OECD data and on a unique micro-longitudinal database consisting of 532 top European R&D investors. The main conclusions are as follows. First, the R&D stock has a significant positive impact on labor productivity; this general result is largely consistent with previous literature in terms of the sign, the significance, and the magnitude of the estimated coefficients. More interestingly, both at sectoral and firm levels the R&D coefficient increases monotonically (both in significance and magnitude) when we move from the low-tech to the medium- and high-tech sectors. This outcome means that corporate R&D investment is m...
The integration of European energy markets is a key goal of EU energy policy, and has also been the focal point of many scientific studies in recent years. International markets for coal, oil, natural gas and electricity have previously been investigated in order to determine the extent of the respective markets. This study enhances this field of research to bioenergy markets. Price series data and time series econometrics are used to determine whether residential sector wood pellet markets of Austria, Germany and Sweden are integrated. The results of the econometric tests show that the German and Austrian markets can be considered to be integrated, whereas the Swedish market is separate from the other two countries. Although increased internationalization of wood pellet markets is likely to contribute to European price convergence and market integration, this process is far from completed. (author)
In May 1985, a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit was issued for the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant, a nuclear weapons components production facility located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and operated by Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc., for the US Department of Energy. As a condition of the permit, a Biological Monitoring and Abatement Program (BMAP) was developed to demonstrate that the effluent limitations established for the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant protect the classified uses of the receiving stream (East Fork Poplar Creek), in particular, the growth and propagation of fish and aquatic life, as designated by the Tennessee Department of Health and Environment. A second purpose for the BMAP is to document the ecological effects resulting from implementation of a water pollution control program that will include construction of nine new wastewater treatment facilities over the next 4 years. Because of the complex nature of the effluent discharged to ...
Geological, geophysical, thermal, petrophysical and hydrological data available for the East Mesa hydrothermal system that are pertinent to the construction of a computer model of the natural flow of heat and fluid mass within the system are assembled and correlated. A conceptual model of the full system is developed and a subregion selected for quantitative modeling. By invoking the Boussinesq approximation, valid for describing the natural flow of heat and mass in a liquid hydrothermal system, it is found practical to carry computer simulations far enough in time to ensure that steady-state conditions are obtained. Initial calculations for an axisymmetric model approximating the system demonstrate that the vertical formation permeability of the deep East Mesa system must be very low (k/sub v/ approx. 0.25 to 0.5 md). Since subsurface temperature and surface heat flow data exhibit major deviations from the axisymmetric approximation, ...
The propagation of bradyon and tachyon wave functions can be compared by considering them as cases of normal and anomalous dispersion and using the ideas of Brillouin which where developed in order to describe the propagation of light in a transparent medium near an adsorption line. It is found that if a wave packet, or pulse, is formed using a superposition of waves moving only in the positive x direction, including both positive energies, it will propagate superluminally for both bradyons and tachyons. If non-physical states, imaginary moments and energies, are included in the superposition, both types of waves will propagate subluminally and remain within the light cone. This last result has also been obtained by Fox, Kuper and Lipson and Strnad and Kodre for tachyons when they included imaginary energies in their superposition. However, these approaches allow the tachyon to be localizable in space and can lead to divergences in the wave ...
Monocelis lineata is a complex of cryptic species (three in the Mediterranean and one in the Atlantic) widespread in midlittoral habitats. Throughout the range, populations with or without an ocular pigmented shield are found. We investigated the genetic structure of the North-East Atlantic populations with the aim of shedding light on their phylogeography and reconstructing possible patterns of recolonization after the Wrmian glaciation. Fourteen samples were investigated using cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and 13 by inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSRs). COI did not exhibit a clear pattern of decreased genetic diversity along a latitudinal gradient. Populations from Ferrol (Spain), Doolin (Ireland), and Helsingr (Denmark) showed a higher genetic variability, whereas a reduction in...
We have analyzed data obtained with the Deep River neutron monitor and the underground vertical muon telescope at Embudo for the period 1965--79. Our data in conjunction with other published data show that for 1957--70 the diurnal anisotropy is unidirectional; with direction along 18 hour LT (east-west). During 1971--79, the diurnal anisotropy consists of two components. One is in east-west direction and the other is the radial component, with direction along 12 hour LT. The latter attains a maximum amplitude in 1976. We find no evidence for the existence of the twenty year wave in the diurnal anisotropy of cosmic rays. copyright American Geophysical Union 1988
The tests reported were part of the DOE Geothermal Reservoir Well Stimulation Program. This East Mesa (Imperial Valley, CA) well was successfully stimulated with two fracture treatments, a dendritic fracture and a planar fracture. The natural flow production of the well increased 114 percent, to 197,900 lb/hr. These tests were among the few successful attempts of this program to increase flow from geothermal production wells. The general belief is that these tests worked OK primarily because the formation was sedimentary rock (similar to rock in most oil and gas wells that have been stimulated successfully. Similar tests in geothermal hard rock reservoirs did not work very well. (DJE 2005)
The commercialization of geothermal energy resources consists of a sequence of exploration, development, and utilization activities. Each of these activities are beset by both generic and project specific technical, environmental, and institutional constraints which must be adequately resolved before geothermal operations can be conducted. This report presents a summary of selected environmental activities conducted during the early planning stages of geothermal resource commercialization. Three representative activities are elaborated upon. These include preliminary environmental planning for geothermal energy development in the Medicine Lake Highlands of California; potential alternatives for non-electric use of the geothermal resource at East Mesa in Imperial County, California; and site specific studies of the impacts from using East Mesa geothermal fluids to irrigate selected crops and indigenous climax vegetation.
ObjectivesCoastal ecosystems in developing countries supply a diverse range of services to local communities and national economies, including fish production, protection against floods and storms and support to tourism. Multiple drivers of change are influencing the status of the ecosystems, most of which are anthropogenic (Brown et al., 2006). Managing coastal ecosystems requires recognition of the diverse range of uses and users, and coordination between structures and processes, many of which are curr [continued...]DescriptionCommitment to the management of coastal ecosystems through addressing both ecological and social objectives already exists in East and Southern Africa (Glavovic 2006; Gustavson et al. 2009). More understanding, however, of the ecosystem services of priority to the poor and to poverty alleviation would strengthen the capacity of these initiatives to deliver on poverty alleviation and resource sustainability. The coastal regions of Tanzania, ...
In this study we investigated cultural, familial, and individual beliefs that influenced international students? perceptions of therapy and help-seeking behaviors. Included were changes in perception or behavior before and after the students came to the US, and factors that influenced help-seeking behaviors. Six international students from East Asian countries where English is a foreign language, including Taiwan, Mainland China, Japan, and South Korea, were interviewed. We used semi-structured interviews and participant observations for collecting data. The findings indicated changes after students came to the US. Further discussions focus on encouraging and discouraging factors relative to seeing therapists, and culturally sensitive interventions for family therapy clinicians.
The report presents details of the distributions of air pollution in the Berlin area and the developments of the past 20 years. Highly polluted areas are indicated in which air pollution reduction measures are particularly urgent. The report therefore intends not only to inform but also to point out the deficiencies of air pollution abatement measures, so that political consequences can be derived and measures can be taken. In all, data were recorded by 39 measuring stations in West Berlin, 16 in East Berlin, and 7 in Potsdam and Frankfurt/Oder. In most stations, sulphur dioxide and airborne dust were measured; 14 stations in West Berlin and one in East Berlin measured carbon monoxide and nitric oxides; 8 stations in West Berlin recorded ozone concentrations. (orig./KW).
BackgroundFood supply from the ocean is constrained by the shortage of domesticated and selected fish. Development of genomic models of economically important fishes should assist...Full Text Available
... The main goal was the analysis of the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis for the Czech Republic. A paper by Bruha and Scasny, accepted to the European Society of Ecological Economics, ( Lisbon June 2005), analyses driving forces (including economic policy) on ...
BackgroundPublic information about prevention of zoonoses should be based on the perceived problem by the public and should be adapted to regional circumstances. Growing fox populations...Full Text Available
Twelve Salmonella typhimurium strains resistant to broad-spectrum cephalosporins were isolated from cases of gastroenteritis during 1996 to 1998 in Russia, Hungary, and Greece. Resistance...Full Text Available
BackgroundIn many of the European countries affected by Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), case clustering patterns have been observed. Most of these patterns have been interpreted...Full Text Available
Security of supply is defined as the availability and reliability of energy supply at acceptable prices. By security of energy supply we mean a globally large supply of reliable, affordable, clean energy. By virtue of its nature security of supply in the energy sector primarily requires making provisions for the future through exploration, innovation, research, diversification and investments in technology. Energy politics takes place in a tension field defined by the goals of economic efficiency, sustainability and security of supply. In the past there have been repeated shifts within this triad of goals. The task for a rational energy policy is to reconciliate these goals in a meaningful way. European energy policy is understood to comprise all sovereign measures taken by the European Union in the energy sector, in particular measures that impact on the supply and demand for energy resources. Energy law serves, or should serve, to bring ...
...and biological processes acting on recruitment and post-recruitment EU-Agrinet - Project sheet: Biological performance testing methodology to evaluate the durability of plywood as a quality indicator ... Project sheet: Biological performance testing methodology to evaluate the durability of plywood as a quali EU-Agrinet - Project sheet: Genetic evaluation of European ...
...5% of foods exceed the maximum pesticide residues level , EFSA says Monday, 12 July 2010 12:41 European foods are largely under the ...Maximum Pesticide Residues Level , according to EFSA: in 2008 only 3.5% of analysed samples exceeded the MRLs (4.2% ...
ObjectiveThe authors present an Electronic Healthcare Record (EHR) server, designed and developed as a proof of concept of the revised prEN13606:2005 European standard concerning...Full Text Available
Testicular neoplasm accounts for about 1% of all cancers in men. Over the last 40 years, the incidence of testicular cancer has increased in northern European male populations for unknown reasons. When...Full Text Available
Second Regional Meeting for Nuclear Energy in Central Europe is an annual meeting of the Nuclear Society of Slovenia. The proceedings contains 75 articles from Slovenia, surrounding countries and countries of the Central and Eastern European Region
The sequence in the first hypervariable segment (HVS-I) of the control region has been used as a source of evolutionary information in most phylogenetic analyses of mtDNA. Population genetic inference...Full Text Available
The obligations under international law to reduce transfrontier air pollution is discussed in five chapters from various aspects. Consequences for the European Communities are gone into in five further chapters. (orig./HP)
Electrophoretic analysis of protein variation at the coagulation F13B locus has previously revealed three alleles, with alleles 1, 2, and 3 each being at high frequency in European,...Full Text Available
The NATural GAS model is an integrated model of the European wholesale gas market providing long-run projections of supply, transport, storage and consumption patterns in the model region, aggregated in 5-year periods, distinguishing two seasons (winter and summer). Model results include levels of investment in the various branches, output and consumption, depletion of reserves and price levels. The NATGAS model computes long-term effects of policy measures on future gas production and gas prices in Europe. NATGAS is an equilibrium model describing behaviour of gas producers, investors in infrastructure (pipeline, LNG capacity, as well as storage), traders and consumers. NATGAS covers the main European demand regions, including the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy. Moreover, it covers the main origins of supply on the European market, such as Russia, Norway, Algeria, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and ...
The European Union's proposed multinational market in carbon dioxide emissions faces many design challenges. Helpful lessons could be learnt from the US experience of trading nitrogen oxide allowances. 2 figs.
We analyzed prospective data on 17,228 European patients who sought treatment at GeoSentinel sites from 1997 to 2007. Gastrointestinal illness (particularly in tourists), fever (those visiting friends...Full Text Available
BackgroundIn a previous study conducted at the Cesare Maltoni Cancer Research Center of the European Ramazzini Foundation (CMCRC/ERF), we demonstrated for the first time that aspartame...Full Text Available
... The high resolution imagery , collected over Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, included a mixture of large commercial buildings and private houses, as well as the airport and some community parks. 10/08/11 Read more Top EU R&D companies expect a 5% ...
ContextResponse Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors [RECIST (unidimensional)], World Health Organization [WHO (bi-dimensional)] and European Association for Study...Full Text Available
...5% of foods exceed the maximum pesticide residues level , EFSA says Monday, 12 July 2010 12:41 European foods are largely under the ...Maximum Pesticide Residues Level , according to EFSA: in 2008 only 3.5% of analysed samples exceeded the MRLs (4.2% ...
This report is an appraisal of the state of the European Union`s environment. It was requested by the European Commission as part of the review process of the Fifth Environmental Action Programme `Toward sustainability`. Main sections of the report are headed: societal developments and driving forces; environmental themes and topics; integration economy and environment. Themes covered are: climate change, ozone depletion, acidification, air pollution and quality, waste management, urban-issues, inland water resources, coastal zones and marine waters, risk management, soil quality, and nature and diversity. The main conclusions of this report are that the European Union is making progress towards reducing certain pressures on the environment, though this is not enough to improve the general quality of the environment and represents even less progress towards sustainability. Without accelerated policies, pressures on the ...
1 The long term safety and efficacy of vigabatrin has been studied in 254 patients with refractory epilepsy (82% with partial seizures) in 23 different clinics in eight European countries....Full Text Available
Since 50 years, the scientists in European Center for Nuclear Research in Geneva, are looking for the secrets of the nature. Their standard Model would explains a lot of things; but the single question "What is the mass?" still does not have an answer
BackgroundThe occurrence of diabetes has greatly increased in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in Asia, as has the prevalence of overweight and obesity; in European-derived...Full Text Available
The standard paradigm postulates that the human mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) is strictly maternally inherited and that, consequently, mtDNA lineages are clonal. As a result of mtDNA clonality, phylogenetic...Full Text Available
This commentary adds effect sizes to the recently published systematic review by De Meester and colleagues and provides a more detailed insight into the effectiveness of interventions to promote physical...Full Text Available
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.
The first working meeting of the SAPIERR project about regional final storage of radioactive waste in the European Union was held in Piestany, Slovak Republic, on February 19 and 20, 2004. SAPIERR stands for Support Action: Pilot Initiative for European Regional Repositories. This is an independent study supported financially by the European Union within the 6th Research Framework Program. The background to the project is the debate about the feasibility of regional repositories for radioactive waste in the European Union, which has come up again especially with a view to the new accession countries and the draft of a waste management directive within the framework of the Nuclear Package. The results of the SAPIERR Project will be presented in Brussels at a concluding international seminar, most probably in October 2005. The seminar will be open not only to the participating countries but also to other ...
The paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the energy conservation policy conducted in the Central and Eastern European countries - its development from the start of reforms and up to the present. The problems of rational energy consumption are shown to be closely connected with the concrete conditions of the transition from the economy based on the command principles to the market economy. The author indicates the main areas of application for energy conservation activities. He also describes the models for determination of energy intensity in different branches of energy economy, and organisational structure of the measures to be taken foe energy conservation. (author)
... Removal of this layer facilitates the unreeling of cocoons into long strands of silk comparable to those derived from the domesticated mulberry silkworm (Bombyx mori, B. mori). The research was funded in part by the SABIP ('Silks as biomimetic ideals for polymers) project, which has clinched a European Research Council (ERC) grant worth almost EUR 2.3 million under the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). Presented in the journal Biomacromolecules, the findings could lead to the development of new silk industries in ...
Progress reports on the European Research Centre for Air Pollution Control Measures project are presented. Topics covered were: assessment and analysis of the impacts of airborne pollutants on forest trees, and distinction from other potential causes of recent forest dieback; research into atmospheric dispersion, conversion and deposition of airborne pollutants; development and optimization of industrial technical processes to reduce or avoid emissions; and providing instruments and making recommendations to the industrial and political sectors.
The article surveys studies into the global warming which have found that the OECD countries are responsible for less than half of the total registered warming. Calculation and analysis methods for estimating the global contributions from the blocks of OECD, Africa/America/Middle East, Asia and former Soviet Union/Eastern Europe are presented. The results and some pollution abatement measures are discussed.
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) is implementing waste minimization and pollution prevention activities into its conduct of decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) projects. Many of these activities are rather straight forward and simple approaches, yet they are often overlooked and not implemented as often as they should or could be. Specific activities involving recycling and reuse of materials and structures, which have proven useful in lowering decommissioning and disposal costs on D&D projects at ANL are presented.
BackgroundMalaria is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in Nigeria. It is not known how user fees introduced under the Bamako Initiative (BI) system affect healthcare...Full Text Available
A primary and basic question prevails in the methanol industry - What will be the global demand for methanol, for the expanded production of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), during the next few years This article attempts to answer the question by discussing the global market; supply and demand factors; the market in North America, Western Europe, Far East and Asia, South America, and other regions; and the uncertainties that remain.
Rock fracture characterization documents a total of 1496 fractures in unit 2 of the Tshirege Member of the Bandelier Tuff along 6013 feet of Los Alamos Canyon`s north wall adjacent to Operational Unit 1098. Geologically termed joints, these fractures likely owe their primary origin to brittle failure during the cooling contraction of the tuff after its emplacement nearly 1 million years ago. Subsequent tectonic movement along the Pajarito Fault system has modified fracture strikes, dips, apertures, and linear density. From a background linear density of approximately 20 fractures per 100-foot interval along the canyon wall, fracture density increases to values in excess of 50 fractures per 100-foot interval in a zone at and immediately east of the Omega West reactor building TA-2-1. This increase in fracture density is coincident with the mapped trace of the Guaje Mountain Fault (GMFZ) that apparently bifurcates with a branch running through the canyon at Building ...
...Studies People Projects Opportunities Framework Critical Sectors Development Goals Geographic Region Geographic Scale Research Themes Printer-Friendly MSU Environmental Science and Policy Program Michigan State University East Lansing , Michigan Type: Program Education Level: Graduate Event Duration: Ongoing Philosophy of the doctoral specialization: In the ...
Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) of South Korea has awarded Asea Brown Boveri Switzerland, a member of the ABB Group, a contract to supply the main equipment for two gas-fired combined-cycle power stations. News of the contract followed an announcement last year that Kepco will build a series of gas-fired power stations in the early 1990s to supply electricity to new housing and commercial areas being built in the Seoul-Incheon connurbation. (author).
This report surveys potential impacts of ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) on inter-ASEAN affairs and its external relations when ASEAN will enlarge its members to include all nations in South East Asia, and thus fully represent the region. For this purpose, the survey was conducted on Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, which joined in 1995, from the viewpoint of their economic and political system, and their relations with other member countries. The nature of ASEAN has gradually transformed, in which all the countries in the region have increased and internal economic issues have been tackled. It has an aim to stimulate inter-ASEAN trade and induce foreign direct investment into ASEAN as a whole by reducing import duties on intra-ASEAN trade. Underlying in these, new development is a concern about growing economic and military power of China. ASEAN solidarity will work an leverage against China should change toward worse, and ...
Contents: Lead smelter operations generating SO2 and particulate; Sulfuric acid plant technology; Lead smelters with sulfuric acid plant SO2 control; Sulfuric acid plant operation with lead sinter machine problems and solutions; SO2 control for ASARCO lea...
Arsenic in soils from the Asarco Lead Smelter in East Helena, Montana was characterized by X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). As oxidation state and geochemical speciation were analyzed as a function of depth (two sampling sites) and surface distribution. These results were c...
Interaction of drilling fluids with a geothermal reservoir formation can result in significant permeability impairment and therefore reduced well productivity. This interaction is studied under simulated in situ geothermal conditions of overburden stress, pore fluid pressure, temperature, and pore fluid chemistry. Permeability impairment of an East Mesa KGRA reservoir material is evaluated as a function of stagnation time, drilling fluid, and temperature. Results indicate that all of these parameters contribute significantly to the magnitude and the reversibility of the impairment.
The engineering and economic feasibility of using the geothermal resources in East Mesa, California, in a new corn processing plant is evaluated. Institutional barriers were also identified and evaluated. Several alternative plant designs which used geothermal energy were developed. A capital cost estimate and rate of return type of economic analysis were performed to evaluate each alternative. (MHR)
This report attempts to bring together available information on the coal deposits of Antarctica and discuss factors that would be involved if these deposits were to be explored and mined. Most of the reported principal coal deposits in Antarctica lie generally within the Transantarctic Mountains: the majority are of Permian age and are present in the Victoria Group of the Beacon Supergroup. Several other deposits have been recorded in East Antarctica and in the Antarctic Peninsula, including minor occurrences of Mesozoic and Tertiary coal and carbonaceous shale.
Tanzania has recently developed a comprehensive environmental policy which has put high priority on several specific environmental issues. One of the issues is the quality of waste water. A special priority is given to the pollution from the sisal industry. The East-African agro-industries generate very large quantities of organic residues from production and processing of different crops. These residues form a major contribution to the pollution of air, soil and waterways, but, at the same time they constitute a large potential for production of bioenergy through anaerobic digestion as well as potential substrate for other biological fermentation processes. Generally, these residues are regarded as having no or very little value and the different disposal methods are mainly a matter of getting rid of the waste. The generation of residues are very often concentrated on few large units, which makes the exploitation of these resources feasible in large scale biogas ...
References covering the years 1904-80 are listed under the following headings: cultivation and occurrence (India and Pakistan, Africa, South America, Pacific, Middle East); Taxonomy, morphology, variation and selection; Reference works and reviews; Ecology of Prosopis (General effects on surrounding soil and vegetation): Physiology (General, Roots, Growth, Hydrology, Saline tolerance); Control of mesquite: Propagation (Germination and other nursery techniques, Vegetative propagation): and Utilization (General, Chemical analyses, Food and Ethnobiology, Fodder, Wood, Charcoal, Gum, Paper). 141 references.
There are over 4,500 petroleum platforms in the north-central Gulf of Mexico. Explosives are commonly used to remove platforms and have the potential to kill nearby sea turtles. From June 1988-June 1990, the authors used aerial surveys to study turtle density and the spatial relationship between turtles and platforms offshore of Louisiana. They sighted 316 turtles most of which (92%) were loggerheads. Seventy-eight percent were sighted just east of the Mississippi River offshore of the Chandeleur Islands. East of the river, turtle densities ranged from 0.92 (winter) to 4.83 turtles/100 sq km (spring). West of the river, annual densities ranged from 0.11-0.50 turtles/100 sq km. East of the river, three statistical tests indicated that turtles were generally closer to platforms than expected by chance alone. West of the river, turtles were randomly located with respect to platform locations. Before explosives are used, ...
We use a superspin Hamiltonian defined on an infinite-dimensional Fock space with positive definite scalar product to study localization and delocalization of noninteracting spinless quasiparticles in quasi-one-dimensional quantum wires perturbed by weak quenched disorder. Past works using this approach have considered a single chain. Here, we extend the formalism to treat a quasi-one-dimensional system: a quantum wire with an arbitrary number of channels coupled by random hopping amplitudes. The computations are carried out explicitly for the case of a chiral quasi-one-dimensional wire with broken time-reversal symmetry (chiral-unitary symmetry class). By treating the space direction along the chains as imaginary time, the effects of the disorder are encoded in the time evolution induced by a single site superspin (non-Hermitian) Hamiltonian. We obtain the density of states near the band center of an infinitely long quantum wire. Our results agree with those based ...
The detailed electronic energy band structure of hexagonal close-packed #alpha#-zirconium, corresponding to the atomic configuration of 4d"25s"2 of its four outermost valence electrons, has been computed by the composite-wave variational version of the augmented-plane-wave(APW) method in conjunction with the X#alpha#(#alpha# = 0.70424) exchange approximation for obtaining the potentials. From these data the electronic density of states and its angular-momentum-decomposed components have been obtained by the Raubenheimer-Gilat method. These quantities are required in order to calculate the electron-phonon interaction parameter (lambda) and the superconducting transition temperature (Tsub(c)) within the framework of the theories of Gaspari and Gyorffy and McMillan. A study of the variation of Tsub(c) with the Coulomb pseudopotential (#mu#*) revealed that #mu#* = 0.1 yields the best agreement between theory and experiment for #alpha#-Zr. Also studied from the energy band data are the ...
We introduce an ad-hoc electrodynamics with advanced and retarded Lienard-Wiechert interactions plus the dissipative Lorentz-Dirac self-interaction force. We study the covariant dynamical system of the electromagnetic two-body problem, i.e., the hydrogen atom. We perform the linear stability analysis of circular orbits for oscillations perpendicular to the orbital plane. In particular we study the normal modes of the linearized dynamics that have an arbitrarily large imaginary eigenvalue. These large eigenvalues are fast frequencies that introduce a fast (stiff) timescale into the dynamics. As an application, we study the phenomenon of resonant dissipation, i.e., a motion where both particles recoil together in a drifting circular orbit (a bound state), while the atom dissipates center-of-mass energy only. This balancing of the stiff dynamics is established by the existence of a quartic resonant constant that locks the dynamics to the neighborhood of the recoiling ...
It is demonstrated that tachyons do not violate the principles of relativity, and that, with the aid of a reinterpretation principle to eliminate negative energies, tachyons can be characterized as particles of real, spacelike 4-momentum. The classical, charged tachyon is treated within conventional electromagnetic theory, and in an explicitly Lorentz-invariant way. It is shown that a charged tachyon would not emit electromagnetic radiation in a vacuum regardless of its state of motion. A theory based on the real-energy solutions of the Klein-Gordon equation with imaginary mass is shown to provide the best opportunity for describing spinless tachyons in quantum field theory. The theory should be Lorentz-invariant, incorporate the reinterpretation principle to remove negative energies, and be as close as possible to conventional quantum theory. The proposal of Arons and Sudarshan is adopted as best fulfilling these requirements. A perturbation-type expansion for the ...
This paper reports thermal comfort and indoor air quality (IAQ) studies of an under-floor air-conditioning (UFAC) system in a hot and humid climate. Thermal comfort parameters were measured at pre-determined grid points within an imaginary plane to predict the air flow pattern of the supply air jet as well as to determine the occurrence of thermal stratification in the office space. Fanger's thermal comfort index was also computed to detect the occupants' thermal sensation. Besides, the concentration levels of dust and carbon dioxide were recorded with the intention to examine the quality of the indoor air. Statistical methods were applied to derive the relationship between air velocity and the other parameters as mentioned earlier. The main findings from the study revealed reasonable level of acceptability of IAQ associated with the UFAC system. However, occupants are likely to experience localised thermal discomfort near the supply diffusers due ...
Angular distributions of "6Li+"6Li elastic scattering were measured for E_l_a_b=5-40 MeV. An optical model analysis of these data together with older data of "7Li+"7Li elastic scattering taken at E_l_a_b = 8-17 MeV was performed with the aim to search for a ''global'' OM potential which describes elastic scattering in both Li-Li systems in a broad energy range. Both surface and volume absorbing potentials can be found which fulfill this requirement if a linear energy dependence is assumed of the depths of the real as well as the imaginary potential. These depths, if fitted to individual angular distributions, are found to vary in a correlated manner with the beam energy. This is taken as indication of strong coupling between elastic, inelastic, and reaction channels. This is corroborated by the existence of resonances in reaction channels at these energies where the potential depths are most pronouncedly changing. (orig.).
The detailed energy-band structure of hexagonal-close-packed technetium, corresponding to the atomic configuration 4d"55s"2 of its seven outermost valence electrons, has been obtained throughout the Brillouin zone using the composite-wave variational version of the augmented-plane-wave (APW) method in conjunction with the X#alpha# (#alpha# = 0.702 99) exchange approximation for obtaining the potentials. From the band-structure data the electronic density of states (DOS) and the angular-momentum--decomposed DOS were calculated by the accurate Gilat-Raubenheimer method. These quantities were used to calculate the electron-phonon coupling constant and the transition temperature (T/sub c/) using the theories of Gaspari and Gyorffy and of McMillan. Also studied were the Fermi surface and the optical properties of Tc via the imaginary part of the interband dielectric constant for bound electrons, the latter being the first of such a study on Tc to date. The ...
An analyser for detecting explosives has at least one neutron source and a plurality of gamma ray detectors. An article to be analysed is moved adjacent the source and detectors and is subjected to neutrons which generate gamma rays from any nitrogen in the article. The gamma rays are detected and analysed to determine the nitrogen concentration within the article. In order to achieve an area of uniform detection there are a plurality of detectors equidistant both from the or each source and from the article to be analysed. In order to avoid a decrease in sensitivity away from the source(s) and detectors there may be a second opposing array of source(s) and detectors on the opposite side of the article. For greatest uniformity of detection, a source in one array opposes a detector in the other array and vice versa. Transmission of radiation from the analyser is kept at safe levels by enclosing the analyser within shielding which includes shield members extending from a trolley or other ...
Bluestein's Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), commonly called the Chirp-Z Transform (CZT), is a little-known algorithm that offers engineers a high-resolution FFT combined with the ability to specify bandwidth. In the field of digital signal processing, engineers are always challenged to detect tones, frequencies, signatures, or some telltale sign that signifies a condition that must be indicated, ignored, or controlled. One of these challenges is to detect specific frequencies, for instance when looking for tones from telephones or detecting 60-Hz noise on power lines. The Goertzel algorithm described in Embedded Systems Programming, September 2002, offered a powerful tool toward finding specific frequencies faster than the FFT.Another challenge involves analyzing a range of frequencies, such as recording frequency response measurements, matching voice patterns, or displaying spectrum information on the face of an amateur radio. To meet this challenge most engineers use the ...
The European Commission recently has adopted a new European Strategy for Environment and Health focusing on the growing concern over the adverse health effects caused by environmental pollution. Based on the results of various studies carried out in recent years polychlorinated dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs) and PCBs are playing an important role in this strategy. In view of the enlargement of the European Union (EU) to include Candidate Countries (CCs) the Commission stressed the need to involve the Candidate Countries from an early stage on in the development of such a strategy. Thus two studies have been commissioned which are particularly directed to provide a) an overview on environmental levels and human exposure of dioxins and PCBs and b) an harmonised PCDD/F emission inventory for the target matrices air, water and land The latter study, entitled ''Dioxin Emissions in Candidate ...
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 performance and lifetime of energy storage in batteries are an important part of many renewable based energy systems. Not only do batteries impact on the system performance but they are also a significant expenditure when considering the whole life cycle costs. Poor prediction of lifetime can, therefore, lead to uncertainty in the viability of the system in the long term. This report details the work undertaken to investigate and develop two different battery life prediction methodologies with specific reference to their use in hybrid renewable energy systems. Alongside this, results from battery tests designed to exercise batteries in similar modes to those that they experience in hybrid systems have also been analysed. These have yielded battery specific parameters for use in the prediction software and the first results in the validation process of the software are also given. This work has been part of the European Union Benchmarking research project ...
The French nuclear power program was pushed through in order to reduce the country's dependence on imported fossil sources of energy. Nuclear power and hydro power have achieved a level of self-sufficiency in the energy sector of more than 50%. It should be emphasized that the French nuclear power program was largely self-financed. Electricite de France (EdF) considers itself well prepared for the European market, provided the creation of the single market implies that electricity rates are taken as a yardstick of competitiveness. Negotiations about a European directive on deregulating the electricity market were for the government to hold. EdF pleaded in favor of preserving for each country a certain leeway for shaping its own policy. The road to deregulation was to be opened, but the specific situation of each country was to be taken electricity to be passed through imposes narrow constraints upon an expansion of exchanges of electricity, and ...
Ageing of nuclear power plants means evolution of material or equipment properties on one side, and evolution of personnel skill and procedure adequacy on the other side, both of which, after a certain time, may not be compatible with the required safety provisions, or with an economic operation of the plant. Repair or replacement of components, as well as change in service conditions for a better compatibility with component reduced capabilities can be used to mitigate ageing effects. The paper summarises the results of a study conducted in this field with the support of the European Commission. It presents: the synthesis of the work done under international auspices, and in the European context; the comparison of ageing management approaches used in several European countries with international recommendations; the summary of the various potential phenomena and their governing parameters, the methods of in-service ageing ...
Malformations in farmed fish are a prime research topic as it has a major impact on fish welfare and on the economical value of the product. In this study, the genetic component of spine deformities was estimated in European sea bass, a major species of Mediterranean aquaculture, with the use of a posteriori reconstruction of pedigree with microsatellites. Our population exhibited a very high malformation rate (81%), probably due to intense swimming of fish during pre-growing. The heritability of global spine deformities was evaluated to be 0.21?0.04 on the underlying scale (0.33?0.06 for lordosis, 0.13?0.04 for scoliosis). Deformities scored by an internal or external examination turned out to be genetically the same trait (genetic correlations>0.9), although phenotypic correlations were ...
Biological control agents can be more effective if their populations are genetically diverse, particularly when the target invasive plant comprises a range of genotypes with different susceptibilities and occurs across various microclimates. We report on the use of an efficient approach to find, in the native range, diverse isolates of a rust fungus for biological control. An outdoor trap garden containing various clones of invasive European blackberry (Rubus fruticosus agg.) collected in Australia, each with a different DNA phenotype, was established in France. Within 4?weeks of establishment, the leaf-rust fungus Phragmidium violaceum was recovered from all clones in the garden. Molecular analyses of eight recovered and purified isolates of the fungus from the garden revealed that they w...
Recent studies have shown that there is a wide variety of approaches to education and training of the Qualified Expert across the European Union. National education and training programmes show often large differences in content, duration, level, the introduction of practical work, etc. As they stand, such differences are a barrier to the mutual recognition of the Qualified Expert status and, in part, are contributing to a perceived shortage in expertise in radiation protection and safety. The overall aim of ENETRAP is to determine mechanisms that in the longer term will facilitate better integration of education and training activities (with a view to mutual recognition across the European Union) and to ensure the ongoing provision of the necessary competence and expertise at the level of the Qualified Expert. The ENETRAP project is a 6FP coordination action. It started in April 2005 and runs over a period of 24 months. (authors)
High energy physics is a basic research domain with a well established European and international cooperation. Cooperation can be of different type depending on the size of the facilities involved (accelerators), on their financing, and on the type of experiments that use these facilities. The CERN, the European center for nuclear research, created in October 1954, is the best example of such a cooperation. This article examines first the juridical and scientifical structure of the CERN and the mode of organization of big experiments. Then, it presents the role of international committees in the establishment of a common scientific policy in Europe and in the rest of the world. Finally, the possible future evolution of the CERN towards a worldwide project is evoked. (J.S.)
Endogenous opioid peptides (EOP) are molecules affecting many biological functions influencing productive and reproductive performance. They increase in stress conditions and interact with specific opioidergic receptors (OR): delta, kappa and mu. Several studies in other animal species suggest that they can also affect sperm cell motility. In fish the ionic external environment modulates the increase of intracellular calcium ion that is required to activate sperm motility after spawning. In mammals OR are functionally associated to calcium channels and in fishes calcium is highly required for fish sperm activation. In this study the presence of OR on spermatozoa of two Perciform fish, the sharpsnout seabream (Diplodus puntazzo, family Sparidae) and the European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labr...
European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.) is a marine species of great economic importance, particularly in Mediterranean aquaculture. However, numerous pathogenic viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites affect the species, causing various infectious diseases and thereby leading to the most heavy losses in aquaculture production of sea bass. In this respect, knowledge on molecular and genetic mechanisms of resistance to pathogens and specific features of immune response against various infectious agents should greatly benefit the development of effective vaccines and proper vaccination strategies in marker-assisted selection of fish resistant to a range of infections. To date, genetic knowledge on sea bass immune regulatory genes responsible for resistance to pathogens is relatively poor ...
...5% of foods exceed the maximum pesticide residues level , EFSA says European foods are largely under the Maximum Pesticide Residues Level , according to EFSA:...5% of foods exceed the maximum pesticide residues level , EFSA says Skip to content Skip to main navigation Skip to 1st column Skip to ...5% of foods exceed the maximum pesticide residues level , EFSA says Only 3.5% of foods exceed the maximum pesticide residues level , EFSA ...says Monday, 12 July 2010 12:41 European foods are largely under the Maximum Pesticide Residues Level, according to EFSA: in 2008 only 3.5% of ...
A method and device have been provided for distinguishing Africanized honeybees from European honeybees. The method is based on the discovery of a distinct difference in the acoustical signatures of these two species of honeybees in flight. The European honeybee signature has a fundamental power peak in the 210 to 240 Hz range while the Africanized honeybee signature has a fundamental power peak in the 260 to 290 Hz range. The acoustic signal produced by honeybees is analyzed by means of a detecting device to quickly determine the honeybee species through the detection of the presence of frequencies in one of these distinct ranges. The device includes a microphone for acoustical signal detection which feeds the detected signal into a frequency analyzer which is designed to detect the presence of either of the known fundamental wingbeat frequencies unique to the acoustical signatures of these species as an indication of the identity of the ...
New market based approaches are becoming increasingly important as instruments of environmental policy. The two main market approaches, i.e., transferable pollution permits (experimented in America), and 'green' energy surcharges (European philosophy), are described and discussed. An analysis of information on their state of implementation shows that, in the case of the former method, the greatest sources of difficulty arise in the determination of acceptable ceiling levels of emissions, in the distribution of permits among the various polluting firms, and in the legality of granting rights to pollute. Instead, the European experience has evidenced that energy surcharges motivated by environmental policy cannot have an appreciable positive impact on consumers or the economic system in general unless they are accompanied by well defined measures geared towards the promotion or creation of alternative solutions such as to ...
Meningococcal disease is an infection caused by Neisseria meningitidis. Genetic factors contribute to host susceptibility and progression to disease, but the genes responsible for disease development are largely unknown. We report here a genome-wide association study for host susceptibility to meningococcal disease using 475 individuals with meningococcal disease (cases) and 4,703 population controls from the UK. We performed, in Western European and South European cohorts (consisting of 968 cases and 1,376 controls), two replication studies for the most significant SNPs. A cluster of complement factor SNPs replicated independently in both cohorts, including SNPs within complement factor H (CFH) (rs1065489 (p.936D
Future climate change will likely influence the frequency and intensity of weather extremes. As such events are by definition rare, long records are required to understand their characteristics, drivers, and consequences on ecology and society. Herein we provide a unique perspective on regional-scale temperature extremes over the past millennium, using three tree-ring maximum latewood density (MXD) chronologies from higher elevations in the European Alps. We verify the tree-ring-based extremes using documentary evidences from Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and Central Europe that allowed the identification of 44 summer extremes over the 1550-2003 period. These events include cold temperatures in 1579, 1628, 1675, and 1816, as well as warm ones in 1811 and 2003. Prior to 1550, we provide ...
The European sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax is a marine teleost important in Mediterranean aquaculture. The development of the entire digestive tract of D. labrax, including the pharynx, was investigated from early embryonic development to day 5 post hatching (dph), when the mouth opens. The digestive tract is initialized at stage 12 somites independently from two distinct infoldings of the endodermal sheet. In the pharyngeal region, the anterior infolding forms the pharynx and the first gill slits at stage 25 somites. The other three gill arches and slits are formed between 1 and 5 dph. Posteriorly, in the gut tube region, a posterior infolding forms the foregut, midgut and hindgut. The anus opens before hatching, at stage 28 somites. Associated organs (liver, pancreas and gall bladder) ar...
A large number of proven technical solutions exists for the use of renewable energies. However, their dissemination is still too slow to meet the political goal of substituting for 8-15% of the primary energy demand in the European Union by the year 2010. Even renewable energy systems (RES) with an economic potential are only partly exploited. The FIRE research project financed partly in the JOULE program analyses and compares the means of financing RES in Austria, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom to put forward best practice recommendations so that renewable energy depolyments will occur at a faster rate. FIRE addresses to politicians, to potential investors and to project-developers. (orig./RHM)
The aim of this economic study is the wording of a synthetic document for the public information in the framework of the 98/30/CE european directive transposition to the gas internal market. It is writing in four main chapters, one for each country concerned: the Germany, the Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Each one presents the historical context, the actors of the natural gas industry and the main provisions. (A.L.B.)
The factors which must be considered in the process of adapting United States nuclear utility training programs to the needs of a European utility are discussed. Following a review of the present situation and drawing up of a new training program, the management commitments in terms of personnel and finance must be considered. Short term, medium and long term programs are outlined. The long term objectives should include the establishment of a total training centre. This facility should be capable of providing all the training necessary to operate a power plant safely. This would include specific simulator training, classroom training for operators, technician training, staff training, management training etc. In addition to a simulator, it should include an emergency response facility to train personnel. (U.K.).
In order to better understand the structure and composition of forest plant communities, we aimed to predict the abundance of understory herbaceous species locally at the stand level and according to different environments. For this, we seeked to model species distributions of abundance at a regional scale in relationship with the local stand structure (canopy openness) and regional soil resources (soil pH). Floristic inventories, performed in different light and soil conditions located in 1202 records of north eastern France, were used to analyze the combined effect of canopy openness and soil pH on the abundance of 12 common western European forest species: Anemone nemorosa, Deschampsia flexuosa, Festuca altissima, Hedera helix, Lamium galeobdolon, Lonicera periclymenum, Molinia caerulea...
Jurisdictional wetlands of the Argonne National Laboratory-East (ANL-E) site in DuPage County, Illinois, were delineated in the summer and autumn of 1993 in accordance with the 1987 US Army Corps of Engineers methodology. Potential wetland sites with an area greater than 500 m{sup 2} (0.05 ha [0.124 acre]) were identified for delineation on the basis of aerial photographs, the DuPage County soil survey, and reconnaissance-level field studies. To qualify as a jurisdictional wetland, an area had to support a predominance of hydrophytic vegetation as well as have hydric soil and wetland hydrology. Thirty-five individual jurisdictional wetlands were delineated at ANL-E, totaling 180,604 m{sup 2} (18.1 ha [44.6 acres]). These wetlands were digitized onto the ANL-E site map for use in project planning. Characteristics of each wetland are presented -- including size, dominant plant species and their indicator status, hydrologic characteristics (including water source), ...
In the contribution under consideration, the author reports on the energy resources as a conflict factor and co-operation factor in East Asia on the basis of the Spratly islands. The main aspects of this contribution are: topography of the Spratly islands; history and actual claims; evaluation of the claims; strategic significance of the islands; resources of oil and natural gas as a conflict factor; resources of oil and natural gas as a co-operation factor. The resources of oil and natural gas have intensified the conflict around the Spratly islands in the last few decades. Due to the unsettled situation relating to international law six countries could claim the potentially energy-rich area having a geo-strategic instrument of power. Due to a treaty and due to the new common research studies of the neighbouring countries a phase of stability can be expected. The increasing involvement of China in the international economic structures suggests a military solution ...
Thermal gradients and thermal conductivities were obtained in real time using an in situ heat-flow technique in 15 shallow (90 to 150 m) wells drilled between Brawley and Glamis in the Imperial Valley, Southern California. The in situ measurements were supplemented by follow-up conventional temperature logs in seven of the wells and by laboratory measurements of thermal conductivity on drill cuttings. The deltaic sedimentary material comprising the upper approx. 100 m of the Salton Trough generally is poorly sorted and high in quartz resulting in quite high thermal conductivities (averaging 2.0 Wm/sup -1/ K/sup -1/ as opposed to 1.2 to 1.7 for typical alluvium). A broad heat-flow anomaly with maximum of about 200 mWm/sup -2/ (approx. 5 HFU) is centered between Glamis and East Brawley and is superimposed on a regional heat-flow high in excess of 100 mWm/sup -2/ (> 2.5 HFU). The heat-flow high corresponds with a gravity maximum and partially with a minimum in ...
Radian received twelve sections of heat exchanger tubing from the Magma Electric Company's 10MW(e) East Mesa binary geothermal power plant. Three tube sections were received from each of four shell and tube heat exchangers (HX1, Hx6, HX8, and Hx10) of the isobutane vaporizer train. All samples were taken from the upper few rows of tubes. Two months later, four more tube sections were received. These four sections were taken from the lower rows of heat exchangers 1, 6 (two sections), and 10. Radian was requested to investigate the cause of severe pitting failure of these heat exchanger tubes. This report is part of a continuing DOE effort to gain insight into the service life of component materials employed in geothermal energy utilization.
Preliminary field investigations suggest three detachments in the Sadlerochit and Shublik Mountains: (1) the Kingak Shale, (2) along the pre-Mississippian unconformity, and (3) within the pre-Mississippian basement. Thrust faults that cut the overlying Mississippian and younger section have horizontal displacements of 5-8 km and emplace pre-Mississippian rocks on Cretaceous strata. A large number of smaller thrust faults, responsible for deformation of the pre-Mississippian surface contribute to shortening. Structures involving the pre-Mississippian section trend east-west whereas earlier formed structures related to the Kingak Shale decollement trend east-northeast-to west-southwest. Possible exploration leads beneath the coastal plain include: (1) large, broad, basement involved structural culminations that may have subtle seismic expressions and (2) pre-Mississippian potential reservoirs thrust over Cretaceous source beds. Possible ...
The juvenile fish community associated with natural, degraded and replanted Sonneratia alba mangroves in Gazi Bay was sampled during the South East and North East monsoons between April 2002 and June 2003. A total of 1800 individuals belonging to 49 taxa and 34 families were collected from the intertidal forest using stake nets. Fish abundance ranged from 0.93+-0.20ind. m-2 (SEM02) to 1.16+-0.18ind. m-2 (SEM03) between seasons and between 0.54+-0.07ind. m-2 and 1.64+-0.33ind. m-2 for individual sites across seasons. Five taxa accounted for approximately 70% of the total fish abundance, with Gobidae and Gerres oyena dominating. ANOSIM revealed seasonal differences in fish species composition and abundance (p=0.01) due to fluctuating abundances of primarily Terapon sp. and Thryssa sp. The ma...
A broad range of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and selected heavy metals has been analysed in sediment cores of North-East Germany. The pollutants analysed include polychlorinated dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), several pesticides (DDT, HCH, CBz) and its metabolites as well as selected heavy metals. The sediment cores were sampled at five locations, reflecting a range of anthropogenic influences and background contamination: Arkona Basin (AK) representing a remote marine site, Lake Bugsin (BS) a background location only with atmospheric deposition, Lake Quenz (QS) close to the industrial city of Brandenburg, Teltowkanal (TK) in the suburban-industrial zone of Berlin and Lake White (WS) in the centre of Berlin. The age of the lower part of the AK, BS and TK cores were dated at 100-150 years. Results of selected pollutants (PCDD/Fs) have been presented earlier, focussing on the depth ...
The northeastern part of the Great Divide basin is a separate, unique, and until recently, little-explored subbasin sometimes called the Bison basin. It is bounded by the Wind River Mountains, Sweetwater-Granite Mountain foreland uplift, Lost Soldier-Wertz structure, and a little-studied very positive east-west structural arch approximately coincident with the Sweetwater-Fremont county line. A comprehensive seismic, Landsat, and subsurface geologic examination or, better, dissection of the Bison basin was initiated in 1978. Numerous oil and gas prospects were delineated by this study. Since this small, 12 by 40 mi (19 by 64 km) basin is bordered by known reserves of 260 million bbl of oil and 90 million bcf of gas, these prospects proved to be a popular target of the drill bit. At least one of these prospects appears to be productive; others are currently being drilled. The presence of major east-west wrench faults, a well-documented foreland ...
The literature is littered with reports presenting the proportion of patients admitted with ischaemic stroke receiving thrombolysis. This gives some measure of activity and the efficiency of prehospital and hospital triage. Some stroke centres have reported rates of thrombolysis as high as 20%, but without knowing the population that such services serve, these proportions do not indicate how well or equitably the treatment is being delivered. Here, we explore various metrics to monitor our efforts to provide equitable access to stroke thrombolysis in Lothian, a region in the South East of Scotland. PMID:21086712
In recent years the feedstock base of the coking plants in the South has been significantly degraded: the charges contain an increased quantity of gas coal and coal from coalfields in the East are being included. Certain plants in the Ukraine receive coal from the Kuznetsk, Pechora and Karaganda coalfields. Addition of these coal types in the charges of plants in the South is expected to continue in the future. Their efficient utilization requires careful investigation of the new charges in order to determine the optimal composition and to produce blast furnace coke meeting modern specifications.
A rocket borne experiment to measure the temperature structure of the inner solar corona via the doppler broadening of the resonance hydrogen Lyman-..cap alpha.. (lambda1216A) radiation scattered by ambient neutral hydrogen atoms was attempted during the 16 Feb 1980 solar eclipse. Two Nike-Black Brant V sounding rockets carrying instrumented payloads were launched into the path of the advancing eclipse umbra from the San Marco satellite launch platform 3 miles off the east coast of Kenya.
Over the last year, the energy industry firmly established itself as the premier borrowing sector in the international financial markets. While Europe and North America's major energy companies continue to access the loan market as their main source of financing, with a steady flow of new international borrowings, their peers from other areas of the world, such as Latin America and the Middle East, are in the process of positioning themselves in the market as regular borrowers and have become an important new source of fee income for industry's bankers. (Author).
McLeod River Coal Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Manalta Coal Ltd., has received Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board approval to establish an open pit coal mine and plant in the northwest portion of the Coalspur field, east of Hinton. McLeod proposes to produce up to 4.2 million tonnes/year of thermal coal for 40 years, starting in 1985. The commercial viability of the project must be assessed before construction starts at the McLeod River site. The Board's ruling is subject to provincial cabinet approval.
Preserving customers` investments in capital goods is one of the strategic market services offered by ABB, and to this end the company has developed project-specific retrofit concepts especially for older power generation plant. A prime example of such a modernization is the Umm Al Nar East (UANE) combined cycle power station in Abu Dhabi, UAE. UANE has two gas turbines of type GT13D, which together generate 140 MW of electrical energy, and heat-recovery boilers which supply steam to a seawater desalination plant with a capacity of 80 million liters of drinking water per day. After almost 20 years in operation, UANE is being modernized. To address the owner`s concerns and minimize plant downtime, ABB has introduced Service, Operation and Rehabilitation (SOR) Key Account Management for Abu Dhabi. In the first phase of the modernization project, the static starting equipment was upgraded and the mechanical turbine governor replaced by the EGATROL electro-hydraulic ...
This paper presents a survey on public preferences in SE England for the use of wind, biomass and nuclear power in electricity generation. Using a labelled CE the perceived importance (value) to the public of distance and the energy options' impacts on biodiversity, emissions, land occupation and household cost was explored. Results suggest that impacts, technology name, demographic characteristics, attitudes towards the environment, knowledge and experience with the technologies were significant choice determinants. Considering the current debate about the development of nuclear power and biomass in UK and worldwide, this survey provides an insight into the factors affecting public acceptability
National Power is building its first gas turbine combined cycle power station at Killingholme, situated to the south of the River Humber in the East of England. NEI ABB Gas Turbines Limited was awarded the turnkey contract in July 1990 to build a nominal 650 MW combined cycle power station based around three Asea Brown Boveri GT13E gas turbines. The project is outlined in this article. The plant is due for completion in July 1993. (author)
SO/sub 2/ concentrations in the Stuttgart air have been measured continuously since 1965. The two measuring points were located at the bottom of the Stuttgart city basin and 900 m east on the side of one of the surrounding hills. Long-term curves of pollutant loads have been established in consideration of meteorological parameters, as well as curves showing the average daily, weekly, and yearly pollution. The information thus gained may help to plan air pollution abatement measures in city planning.
A methodology of tsunami PSA was developed in this study. A tsunami PSA consists of tsunami hazard analysis, tsunami fragility analysis and system analysis. In the case of tsunami hazard analysis, evaluation of tsunami return period is major task. For the evaluation of tsunami return period, numerical analysis and empirical method can be applied. The application of this method was applied to a nuclear power plant, Ulchin 56 NPP, which is located in the east coast of Korean peninsula. Through this study, whole tsunami PSA working procedure was established and example calculation was performed for one of real nuclear power plant in Korea
The purpose of this report is to provide the reader with a basic understanding of Argonne National Laboratory`s current general refuse disposal and material recycling programs, how they were developed, and where they are going. In order to better understand the current situation, a brief description of the facilities past practices is explained. ANL is a multi-program research and development center owned by DOE and operated by the University of Chicago. Argonne`s primary facilities are on a 1,700 acre site, 27 miles southwest of Chicago. Fifty-seven major buildings house approximately 4,500 employees at the site.
Computational transport models are described with applications in three problem areas related to unsaturated zone moisture movement beneath Area G. These studies may be used to support the ongoing maintenance of the site Performance Assessment. The three areas include: a 1-D transient analysis with average tuff hydraulic properties in the near surface region with computed results compared to field data; the influence on near surface transient moisture percolation due to realistic distributions in hydraulic properties derived statistically from the observed variance in the field data; and the west to east moisture flow in a 2-D steady geometry approximation of the Pajarito Plateau. Results indicate that a simple transient model for transport of moisture volume fraction fits field data well compared to a moisture pulse observed in the active disposal unit, pit 37. Using realistic infiltration boundary conditions for summer showers and for spring snow melt conditions, ...
The Sheep Mountain area, in the southwest Wind River Basin, is the up plunge closure of the Derby Dome-Winkleman Dome producing trend of an echelon folds which comprise the first line of folding down the northeast flank of the Wind River Mountains. The structural style exposed in the Palozoic reservoir rocks of Sheep Mountain may serve as a model for the other structural features in the Wind River Basin. As in the case of the Derby Dome and Winkleman Dome, Sheep Mountain is typically asymmetric to the southwest. Local east-directed thrusts exposed in the core of the anticline place Pennsylvania over Permian age rocks. A major change in the trend of the anticlinal crest within Sheep Mountain, suggests development of separate left-stepping en echelon closures at depth. The northwest end of Sheep Mountain also forms a left-stepping en echelon pattern with Derby Dome. The northwest plunge of Sheep Mountain is facilitated by compartmentalization across an ...
Continental facies of Scythian-early Anisian age (Buntsandstein) of East of the Paris Basin form the underground gas storage reservoir exploited by Gaz de France in the area of Nancy (east of France). An accurate sedimentological study and the application of Genetic Stratigraphy principles lead to the understanding of the deposition of fluvial, which form the reservoirs, and to the reconstruction of their geometries. The subsurface data are calibrated on outcrops. Three types of fluvial systems (braided, sinuous to straight and anastomosed) are defined. A special focus on anastomosed channels permits to differentiate a proximal and a distal facies. Study of laterally continuous outcrops induces recurrent cycles of thickness, velocity and time variations (few tens to hundred ka). These correspond to the highest frequence stratigraphic units, i.e. parasequences or genetic units. Maximum of channel and levee presentation occurs during base-level ...
The authors propose using synthetic aperture radar(SAR) for wind energy mapping of coastal zones. The SAR equipment is located on the European Space Agency ERS-1 and 2 and the RADARSAT satellites. Examples of wind energy maps and evaluations of their applications are given for the Norwegian west coast.
Current European and the US experiences in waste management are reviewed in the perspective of sustainable development. This publication questions the validity of the current approach taken by the Germany at ``closing the loop`` based on the example of packaging and packaging waste. The product item focus of current German legislation is compared with Danish and US approaches that are based on an integrated policy which covers the whole of waste generation and handling and is not product/item oriented. 1 fig., 2 tabs.
A new multipellet long-pulse plasma fueling system is in operation on JET. In the initial experimental phase, a variety of plasma density profile shapes have been produced with peak to average values ranging up to 2.5 and peak plasma density up to 1.2 )times) 10/sup 20/m/sup )minus/3). 7 refs., 4 figs
For Stage II of the European Dioxin Project the following objectives were set: - Amendment of existing emission data collected for most relevant emission sources in order to reduce uncertainties of emission estimates. Collecting first emission data from countries not yet performing dioxin emission measurement programs. Extending the inventory of dioxin emissions to ambient air produced in Stage I by a complementary study on emissions to land and water. Extending the regional scope of data collection to countries in Central Europe. The report of Stage II of the European Dioxin Project is presented in 3 Volumes. Volume 1 contains an overview on the background and approach of different activities carried out and on the results obtained. These results are put into a broader view regarding the dioxin reduction measures in Europe leading to conclusions and recommendation for future work. Volume 2 of the report contains a detailed presentation of the ...
As a financial institution o the European Union, The European Investment Bank is working and to add substance to the commitments made by the Union and its Member States at Kyoto and subsequently at Johannesburg. Over the last two years, renewable energy sources have attracted funding of more than 1.1 billion from the bank, equivalent to 14% of the total loans granted to the energy sector 7.8 billion), compared to an average o 7.9 % over the previous five years. In order to obviate the detrimental characteristics presented by these investments from a financial viewpoint, in March, 2004 the bank set up a 'CCFF' (Climate Change Financing Facility) of 500 million. Additionally, along with the other financial institutions, the EIB is looking into he possibility of supporting the establishment of European carbon credit trading hubs. Where the economic assessment of these projects is concerned, the bank has ...
This autumn, Nice welcomed the thirteen European photovoltaic conference. It was the occasion for the world of solar energy to measure technical progress which were carried out and the market which are still to win. If developing countries are a reserve of new markets, they are not solvent and programmes depend on North/South negotiations. (N.C.).
Scintigraphic imaging of dementia relies today essentially on the study of brain Single Photo Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) perfusion, after intravenous injection of 99mTc radio-pharmaceutic. This paper is based on the guidelines published in October 2001 by the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (http://eanm.org/). (author)
The new collaborative exploitation of the JET Facilities requires suitable technical tools and infrastructure measures to enable the Remote Participation of scientists from all European Fusion labs. Such measures are being gradually introduced. They comprise of a toolkit for Remote Data Access, Remote Computer Access and for teleconferencing, and of infrastructure measures that address network connectivity, network security, shared documentation and technical support.
The aim of this report is to show how Energetic Planning and Territorial Policy should be working together for a better integration of Renewable Energies into Region. This Integration should to contemplate social, economic and environmental aspects of the territory. The report has been classified into 7 items: planning, energetic scenarios, technology transfer for Renewable Energies dissemination, barriers for this dissemination, environmental aspects, European Union Policy and Decision Support Systems (and specially GIS). (Author) 54 refs.
Building materials contain low concentrations of natural radioactive materials, causing a radiation dose for occupants of houses. Governmental policies and regulations with respect to radon emission are or will be implemented. An overview is given of recent developments. 3 refs.
Food irradiation is the process of exposing food to an ionizing energy to kill harmful bacteria and other organisms and extend shelf-life. It is a safe process and has been approved by some 50 countries worldwide and applied commercially in the USA, Japan, China and several European countries for many years. Trends law regulations and new applications in Europe and another countries has been described. (author)
In 1995 the exercise RESUME-95 (Rapid Environmental Surveying Using Mobile Equipment) took place in Finland. Groups from 8 European countries joined the exercise. The methods used were airborne gamma-ray measurements, car-borne measurements and in situ stationary measurements. The results of the measurements are analyses aiming at disclosing similarities and differences between groups and measuring techniques.
In this article, the authors recall the factors apt to influence image quality in NMR Imaging and present the european works that have been developed in MRIQA to set 5 quality assurance tests: EUROSPIN 1 to 5.
The document, based on European guidelines, was jointly developed by radiation oncologists, radiation physicists and radiation technologists. It contains the aims of the guidelines, professional profiles, roles and responsibilities, personnel and equipment requirements, procedures.
All over the world the implementation of energy efficient and clean technologies can be hardly considered without opening the way to competition and the involvement of private investment. If such terms are valid for reach countries there are even more adequate for economies in transition like Romania's, which inherited and obsolete productive equipment, can mobilize insufficient resources for development-modernization and exhibits a quasi-unanimous option of adhering at European Union. (author). 3 tabs., 11 refs.
The importance of neutron measurements both as a succinct measure of the progress to fusion ignition using the magnetic confinement route and also as a diagnostic of plasma conditions is discussed. The various neutron diagnostic systems that have been or are being constructed by AERE Harwell for JET are described. The properties to be measured by such diagnostics are clearly identified and some results obtained with the installed diagnostics during d-d plasmas are presented.
...the huge volumes of ephemera amassed by the Colonial Office to record the coronation celebrations of 1937 and 1953 to the small illustrated manuscript account of Tobago penned by its governor in 1810, from one of the first European accounts of Ethiopia to be published to Winston Churchillrsquo;s valedictory letter of 1922 to Colonial Office staff, the exhibits provide a snapshot of the riches to be explored within this matchless collection. Explore ...
The Commission of the European Communities has submitted a directive for the protection against microwaves. According to this directive, exposures above the upper limit established for the protection of individuals and the general population are permissible only if the respective individuals are required to submit to occupational medical control. An introductory overview is presented giving information on microwaves, applied techniques and available protective means.
The Merged Sounding value-added product (VAP) uses a combination of observations from radiosonde soundings, the microwave radiometer (MWR), surface meteorological instruments, and European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) model output with a sophisticated scaling/interpolation/smoothing scheme in order to define profiles of the atmospheric thermodynamic state at one-minute temporal intervals and a total of 266 altitude levels.
European phosphorus derivatives manufacturer Italmatch Chemicals SpA has expanded its Phoslite range of fully colourable flame retardants for polymers with the addition of Phoslite B85AX. The company reports that its Phoslite technology is already `successfully consolidated' in polypropylene (PP) applications and, with introduction of the new product, is now starting to expand into polyamide PA6 and polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) applications.
The evaluation of the hazard posed to the skin by very small radioactive sources (diameter < 1mm) has become popularly known as the 'hot particle' problem in European and American nuclear reactor facilities. In this study, research to detect hot particle was performed in Wolsung Nuclear power plant (NPP) in Korea.
The evaluation of the hazard posed to the skin by very small radioactive sources (diameter < 1mm) has become popularly known as the 'hot particle' problem in European and American nuclear reactor facilities. In this study, research to detect hot particle was performed in Wolsung Nuclear power plant (NPP) in Korea.
...-such as the EU -suggests a considerably larger effect of such agreements on membersrsquo; trade than typical ex ante CGE models and traditional cross-section empirical analyses (using traditional ldquo;gravity equationsrdquo;). These larger estimated effects are more consistent with the active role of national governments ...
The creation of a methodology about the Ecobalance of the main plastic materials manufactured in Europe is very helpful for many questions relating with these matters. This methodology is necessary for the EC and most of its members. It is important that these analysis have available, precise and up-to-date information. In order that these dates are well-known, the european industry of plastics recognised and started an ambitious project two years ago and now we can see the first results.
The paper represents the result of research in the field of digital libraries functionalities in the context of new Grid infrastructure support. It is defined a new vector of knowledge society, informational vector - content vector. It presents a Grid European project which includes Romanian partners, and it defines on this base a digital library model which can be applied for the libraries in Romania.
Accelerators can not be improved without the development of adequate beam instruments and diagnostic tools. This year this statement is particularly right: a lot of contributions are dedicated to beam monitoring and to the design of new beam monitors based on original technologies. This document gathers about 100 contributions.
The critical concentrations correspond to contamination thresholds of environments over which noxious effects can occur and deteriorate soils, water and vegetation. They are defined according to the type of pollutants and their mode of action. The aim of this document is to provide a scientific framework to the policies of reduction of atmospheric pollution negotiated at Geneva`s convention. The methodology of evaluation, the results obtained for surface waters and forest soils, the perspectives of French research and the integration of French knowledge in the European database are presented. (J.S.)
The Chernobyl reactor accident has pronupted all European countries to rehabilitate their existing measurement and monitoring systems and to design and erect new ones. These systems are meant to ensure a rapid overview on the situation in case of an accident to adopt suitable actions for protection or prevention. 6 papers report on the state of such measurement systems in Europe, inparticular those in France (TELERAY), in Germany (IMIS) and in Switzerland (RADAIR). The IMIS-system is discussed for its extension to Eastern Germany. (HP).
Greenland is the world's largest island, with an area of 2.2 million square kilometres, 80 % of which is covered by the ice sheet. The climate is Arctic, but as Greenland stretches 2600 km from north to south, there is a huge variability in climate, with temperature decreasing from south to north. Due to the influence of oceanic currents, the west coast is slightly warmer than the east coast. Precipitation also decreases strongly from the south to the north, and also with distance from the coast. Kangerlussuaq is located in the dry, continental area of central west Greenland. The bedrock of Greenland is dominated by Precambrian gneisses, with sedimentary rocks occurring in some areas of East and North Greenland, and smaller areas of basalts. All of Greenland has been glaciated several times and has thus been eroded and shaped by the ice, as it still is at the ice margin. Soils are generally thin, and especially in the gneiss regions rather poor ...
In order to investigate the systematics of the loop expansion in high temperature gauge theories beyond the leading order hard thermal loop (HTL) approximation, we calculate the two-loop electron proper self-energy #SIGMA# in high temperature QED. The two-loop bubble diagram of #SIGMA# contains a linear infrared divergence. Even if regulated with a nonzero photon mass M of order of the Debye mass, this infrared sensitivity implies that the two-loop self-energy contributes terms to the fermion dispersion relation that are comparable to or even larger than the next-to-leading order (NLO) contributions of the one-loop #SIGMA#. Additional evidence for the necessity of a systematic restructuring of the loop expansion comes from the explicit gauge-parameter dependence of the fermion damping rate at both one and two loops. The leading terms in the high temperature expansion of the two-loop self-energy for all topologies arise from an explicit hard-soft factorization pattern, in which one of ...
Research highlights: {yields} Mathematical model represents a power system which consists of synchronous machine connected to infinite bus through transmission line. {yields} Power system stabilizer was designed based on optimal pole shifting controller. {yields} The system performances was tested through load disturbances at different operating conditions. {yields} The system performance with the proposed optimal pole shifting controller is compared with the conventional pole placement controller. {yields} The digital simulation results indicated that the proposed controller has a superior performance. -- Abstract: Power system stabilizer based on optimal pole shifting is proposed. An approach for shifting the real parts of the open-loop poles to any desired positions while preserving the imaginary parts is presented. In each step of this approach, it is required to solve a first-order or a second-order linear matrix Lyapunov equation for shifting one real pole or ...
Research highlights: ? Mathematical model represents a power system which consists of synchronous machine connected to infinite bus through transmission line. ? Power system stabilizer was designed based on optimal pole shifting controller. ? The system performances was tested through load disturbances at different operating conditions. ? The system performance with the proposed optimal pole shifting controller is compared with the conventional pole placement controller. ? The digital simulation results indicated that the proposed controller has a superior performance. -- Abstract: Power system stabilizer based on optimal pole shifting is proposed. An approach for shifting the real parts of the open-loop poles to any desired positions while preserving the imaginary parts is presented. In each step of this approach, it is required to solve a first-order or a second-order linear matrix Lyapunov equation for shifting one real pole or two complex conjugate poles, ...
Currently, over 30,000 mapped STSs and 27,000 mapped Unigenes (non-redundant, unigene sets of cDNA representing EST clusters) are available for human alone. A total of 44,000 Unigene cDNA clones have been supplied by Research Genetics. Unigenes, or cDNAs are excellent resource for map building for two reasons. Firstly, they exist in two alternative forms -- as both sequence information for PCR primer pairs, and cDNA clones -- thus making library screening by colony hybridization as well as pooled library PCR possible. The authors have developed an efficient and robust procedure to screen genomic libraries with large number of DNA probes. Secondly, the linkage and order of expressed sequences, or genes are highly conserved among human, mouse and other mammalian species. Therefore, mapping with cDNA markers rather than random anonymous STSs will greatly facilitate comparative, evolutionary studies as well as physical map building. They have currently deconvoluted over 10,000 Unigene ...
Mass shift of accelerated charges-sources of a massive vector and massive scalar fields, are considered in an approximation which is classical with respect to the charge motion but quantum with respect to their interaction with their proper field. For uniformly accelerated charges the mass shifts are expressed in terms of cylindrical functions of the quantum parameter ..mu..c/sup 3//h/2..pi..w/sub 0/ which is the ratio of the mass ..mu.. of the proper field quanta to the charge acceleration w/sub 0/. For finite positive values of the parameter both the imaginary and real parts of the shifts are nonvanishing and negative. For ..mu -->..0 the real part of the mass shift of a vector charge tends to the classical value -..cap alpha..h/2..pi..w/sub 0//2c/sup 3/ obtained earlier, thereas that of the scalar charge tends to zero. These and other properties of the shifts as functions of ..mu.. are studied by taking into account the locality of interaction, unitarity and ...
Mutation C1494T in mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene was recently reported in two large Chinese families with aminoglycoside-induced and nonsyndromic hearing loss (AINHL) and was claimed to be pathogenic. This mutation, however, was first reported in a sample from central China in our previous study that was aimed to reconstruct East Asian mtDNA phylogeny. All these three mtDNAs formed a subclade defined by mutation C1494T in mtDNA haplogroup A. It thus seems that mutation C1494T is a haplogroup A-associated mutation and this matrilineal background may contribute a high risk for the penetrance of mutation C1494T in Chinese with AINHL. To test this hypothesis, we first genotyped mutation C1494T in 553 unrelated individuals from three regional Chinese populations and performed an extensive search ...
Intermittent sun exposure and sunburn are strong predictors of cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM). On the other hand, melanomas may arise also in non-sun-exposed areas such as the vulva. However, little is known about a possible relationship between sun exposure and vulvar melanoma. Temporal and latitudinal dependencies of the incidence rates of vulvar melanoma were studied in comparison with those of CMM among Caucasians in Sweden, East Germany, USA and Victoria (Australia). The ratios of vulvar melanoma incidence rates to those of CMM tend to decrease with increasing CMM rates. The incidence rates of CMM have increased with time until recently, while those of vulvar melanoma have either decreased or remain constant. In USA vulvar melanoma incidence rates seem to increase from south to no...
Seismic records, combined with dredged samples and a core, indicate that the Spratly Islands of the Dangerous Ground Province are constructed of presently active carbonate build-ups, known to extend back continuously at least to the Pleistocene and presumed to have initiated in the Miocene, most likely upon the crests of sea-floor cuestas that trend north-east-south-west parallel to the sea-floor spreading magnetic anomalies of the contiguous abyssal plain of the southern part of the South China Sea. The cuestas range from spectacular to subdued, constructed of Triassic and Cretaceous strata and no older rocks have been identified from dredges. The cuesta axes plunge towards the south-west away from the islands, suggesting that the reefs began colonising their more elevated parts, but the ...
This study reviews the wireline log responses of some geothermal fields in the Imperial Valley, California. The fields under study include the Heber, the East Mesa, the Brawley, and the Westmoreland. The well logs used in the study did not include all the wireline surveys obtained by the operators. The selected well logs obtained under special arrangements with the operators were chosen to maintain the anonymity of specific well locations but are only representative of each area. Analysis of the well logs indicates that on an individual field basis, the well logs are excellent for correlation purposes. The presence of extremely saline fluids in some fields precludes the monitoring of Q/sub v/ (cation exchange capacity per unit volume) profile for detection of hydrothermally altered zones. The producing sections in all the fields are characterized by low porosity and high resistivity.
Several nuclear power plants are operating in Wolsung area, a south-east coastland of Korea. In addition, a medium-level radioactive waste repository is under construction there. If radionuclides are released from these facilities, food crops could be radioactively contaminated, leading to human exposure to internal radiations via food consumption. There are a number of rice fields around the Wolsung nuclear sites. However, almost nothing has yet been reported on the transfer of radionuclides to rice plants from Wolsung soils. In this study, {sup 85}Sr and {sup 137}Cs transfer factors (TFs) were measured for the rice in three paddy soils collected around the Wolsung nuclear sites.
Several nuclear power plants are operating in Wolsung area, a south-east coastland of Korea. In addition, a medium-level radioactive waste repository is under construction there. If radionuclides are released from these facilities, food crops could be radioactively contaminated, leading to human exposure to internal radiations via food consumption. There are a number of rice fields around the Wolsung nuclear sites. However, almost nothing has yet been reported on the transfer of radionuclides to rice plants from Wolsung soils. In this study, 85Sr and 137Cs transfer factors (TFs) were measured for the rice in three paddy soils collected around the Wolsung nuclear sites
The circulating cooling water flowrate of GNPS and LNPS is totally about 190 m"3/s. Both stations are located on the western coast of semi-closed Daya Bay. A lot of studies concerning thermal impact of GNPS and LNPS have been carried out since 1987, including mathematical model, physical model, on-site survey and satellite remote sensing, etc. This paper describes the hydrological features of Daya Bay and discharge characteristics of circulating water of GNPS and LNPS, estimates the actual thermal impact of GNPS and LNPS, and indicates that it is advantageous for the dilution of circulating water while the two discharge channels of GNPS and LNPS are combined together towards east
Mammalodon colliveri is an unusual toothed archaic mysticete (Cetacea) from the Upper Oligocene Jan Juc Formation of south-east Australia. The morphology of the holotype skull and postcrania are described in detail. Superimposed on the generally plesiomorphic archaeocete-like morphology of Mammalodon are subtle mysticete synapomorphies. Derived features of Mammalodon include a short and bluntly rounded rostrum, reduced premaxillae, and anterodorsally directed orbits. Within Mysticeti, this suite of features is unique. The aberrant rostral morphology of Mammalodon suggests specialization for suction feeding. Janjucetus hunderi is placed in an expanded family Mammalodontidae. Phylogenetic analysis corroborates the monophyly of Basilosauridae, Neoceti, Odontoceti, and Mysticeti, and yields a ...
The North-West Borneo Trough is bordered along its south-east margin by a melange wedge that has been the subject of disagreement with insufficient discussion. Offshore Palawan it has been interpreted as an accretionary prism that has been preserved in place when subduction ceased in the Middle Miocene. It is unconformably overlain by undeformed Upper Miocene to Holocene draping strata. Farther south-west along the Trough, the seismically identical melange wedge has been named a Major Thrust Sheet System, which was assumed to have been thrust as a nappe north-westwards over the autochthonous Dangerous Grounds terrane of attenuated continental crust of the South China Sea passive margin. The accretionary prism model is the simplest, resulting in interpretation of the North-West Borneo Troug...
Terror management theory (TMT) proposes that people who are reminded of their mortality should be motivated to defend their cultural worldview. Studies 1 and 2 examined whether the TMT worldview defence-buffering effect found in Western cultures could be generalized to Asians in Taiwan. No such effect was found in the present studies. This non-significant result was robust when either a stronger distraction task was used (study 1) or when a subliminal manipulation of mortality salience was utilized (study 2). A meta-analysis, including 24 TMT experiments in East Asia, was also conducted (study 3). The average effect size (d = 0.11, r = 0.055) of worldview defence among these experiments was not significantly different from zero. Study 4 found that mortality salience manipulation also did n...
Supplement 2 to the Safety Evaluation Report for Mississippi Power and Light Company, et. al, joint application for licenses to operate the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2, located on the east bank of the Mississippi River near Port Gibson, in Claiborne County, Mississippi, has been prepared by the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This supplement reports the status of certain items that had not been resolved at the time of publication of the Safety Evaluation Report.
This paper consists the radiation streaming analysis of Horizontal penetrations in Calandria Vault of 540 MWe PHWR. There are total 19 penetrations, penetrating east and west walls of calandria vault of 540 MWe PHWR. These penetrations are provided to accommodate ion chambers. HFUs and SDS - 2. Penetrations described here are not present in 220 MWe units except for ion chamber penetrations. As these penetrations are in accessible area, a detailed analysis has been carried out to find out the neutron and gamma dose rates around these penetrations when reactor is operating. Analysis has been carried out using computer code DOT-III and MCNP. Predictions by this method compare well with the measurements at ion chamber locations at KGS-1,2. (author)
The Argyle pipe occurring in the East Kimberley Province of Western Australia is a unique, highly-diamondiferous lamproite. Although it resembles other lamproites located in the West Kimberley Province with respect to its setting, structure, petrography and geochemistry, it is probably Proterozoic in age and hence substantially older than Tertiary occurrences of the West Kimberley Province. Rb-Sr measurements on whole rock and phlogopite samples from magmatic olivine-phlogopite lamproite, reveals a two point model age of 1126 +- 9 Ma for the Argyle pipe. This age is consistent with ages of other, similar volcanic igneous rocks occurring in several localities worldwide. The widespread occurrence of Proterozoic kimberlites and lamproites suggests that this was an important period of worldwide alkalic intrusive activity.
Climex climate-matching and inferential-modelling was used to examine the naturalisation potential of genetically modified and non-transgenic Upland Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum variety hirsutum) in Australia north of latitude 22degreeS. The Climate-Match (CM) function was used to identify locations in north-east Australia where climate matches (CM Index>0.7) the experimental sites of Eastick [Eastick, R., 2002. The Potential Weediness of Transgenic Cotton in Northern Australia. Northern Territory Department of Business, Industry and Resource Development Technical Bulletin No. 305 (Internet resource: http://cotton.pi.csiro.au/Assets/PDFFiles/TB3051.pdf)] in north-west Australia. Most of Australia north of 22degreeS had climate matching one or more of the sites of Eastick (2002), locations wh...
ERDMANN A.L., DE ANDRADE S.R., FERREIRA DE MELLO A.L., KLOCK P., DO NASCIMENTO K.C., SANTOS KOERICH M. & STEIN BACKES D. (2011) Practices for caring in nursing: Brazilian research groups. International Nursing Review58, 379-385 Background:- The present study considers the production of knowledge and the interactions in the environment of research and their relationships in the system of caring in nursing and health. Aim:- To elaborate a theoretical model of the organization of the practices used for caring, based on the experiences made by the research groups of administration and management in nursing, in Brazil. Methods:- The study is based on grounded theory. Twelve leaders of research groups, working as professors in public universities in the south and the south-east of Brazil, distri...
The exceptional ability of marine sponges to adapt to often drastic changes of their environments could be due to special structural features in cell membranes, including firstly phospholipids (PL). Thus, PL class composition was investigated in marine sponges (22 species from 19 genera to 15 families) originating from various locations (East Atlantic, North Atlantic, South-West Pacific, Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Arabian?Persian Gulf). The quantitative determination of PL class composition was obtained by high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) with scanning densitometry of the different spots. Previous reports have shown phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) as the major PL class in marine sponges, followed by phosphatidylcholine (PC), while other papers described PC as a minor class...
... Home Our work Conservation Advice Land management for nightjars Land management for nightjars Nightjars are masters of camouflage The nightjar is now a scarce breeding bird of lowland heathland, forest clearings and clearfells on suitable light soils throughout Britain, north to southern Scotland, and in coppice woodland in south-east England. Nightjars were once much more numerous and widespread than today, but now appear to be recovering.... This offers shelter, camouflage and seclusion from potential predators. Scattered trees are used to sing from and to roost in. In conifer forest clearings, clear-fells and restocks, especially on former heathland, the vegetation structure is like that of heathland, augmented with lying brash, which provides added concealment. Restocked clearings are abandoned as the tree canopy closes over the open ground around seven to ...
Mycoplasma infections of small ruminants are known to exist in the Mediterranean region, Asia, Africa and cause significant economic impacts but little is known of the Mycoplasma spp. in sheep and goats in the Middle East. During the period of 2002-2003, 104 flocks of local sheep and goats (17 sheep, 27 goat and 60 mixed flocks) were surveyed for the occurrence of mycoplasma infections in Northern Jordan. The clinical signs seen in the studied flocks were, to varying degrees, mastitis in sheep and goats, arthritis, mainly in kids, and pneumonia in both sheep and goats of most age groups. Small ruminant farms were sampled and pooled milk samples and nasal swabs were collected for culture and isolation of mycoplasma. Mycoplasmas were isolated from 17 (26%) of the 62 milk samples and 12 (3.9%...
Various SST indices in the Indo-Pacific region have been proposed in the literature in light of a long-range seasonal forecasting of the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM). However, the dynamics associated with these different indices have never been compared in detail. To this end, the present work re-examines the variabilities of ISM rainfall, onset and withdrawal dates at interannual timescales and explores their relationships with El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and various modes of coupled variability in the Indian Ocean. Based on recent findings in the literature, five SST indices are considered here: Ni?o3.4 SST index in December?January both preceding [Nino(?1)] and following the ISM [Nino(0)], South East Indian Ocean (SEIO) SST in February?March, the Indian Ocean Basin (IOB) mode in ...
This operation plan covers the period of operations from the time major elements of the joint task force are deployed in the forward area until the completion of on-site operations. It was published for planning purposes only, always subject to periodic revision and refinement as more detailed information became available. ENIWETOK-BIKINI Danger Area, as the term is used in this plan, is that area encompassing ENIWETOK and BIKINI ATOLLS and bounded by the meridians 160 deg 35' - 166 deg 16' east longitude, and by the parallels 10 deg 15' - 12 deg 45' north latitude (an area of 150 by 350 miles).
Abstract Few butterflies are pests of economic significance, but some may be locally destructive, such as the papilionid Graphium agamemnon Linnaeus, which is known to feed on the commercially important soursop (Annona muricata Linnaeus) in Vietnam. This paper documents the life history and ecology ofG. agamemnon and investigates commonly used control measures in south-east Vietnam. A novel method of controlling G. agamemnon infestation is described. If soursop basal rootstock (Annona glabra Linnaeus) is encouraged to shoot during times of peak butterfly activity, ovipositing G. agamemnon females are preferentially attracted to the new growth where the resulting early stages may be easily detected and removed by hand.
One of the more extensive uses of directional drilling anywhere in the world has been in the development of the East Wilmington Oil Field in Long Beach, California. The Measurement-While-Drilling (MWD) directional system has been tested on several wells and proven to provide the required accuracy, along with many advantages over past methods, used in the field development. Accurate transmission by MWD of bottom-hole measurements to the surface is provided by mud pressure pulses generated in the drill pipe downhole and detected by a pressure transducer includes the means for detecting, recording and processing these pressure pulses, to translate the information from the pressure pulses to rig floor displays usable by the drilling crew. 2 refs.
Proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE) and proton induced {gamma}-ray emission (PIGE) techniques are employed for the determination of essential and trace elements in some commonly used medicinal plants of north east India. Light elements such as Na, Mg, Al and P are determined by PIGE while medium Z elements such as K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Rb and Sr are determined by PIXE. Analysis is performed on pellets (thick targets) prepared using powders of the specimens which, in turn, are obtained following a series of processing steps. Plant based biological certified reference materials (CRMs) served as standards for quantification. These elements are found to be present in varying concentrations in the studied plants, with the contents of Mn and Zn being notably large in certain specimens. Medicinal properties possessed by these plants have been correlated with their elemental distribution.
The article examines the limits and challenges small powers face when they adjust to systemic changes. Specifically, this article discusses the Philippines' conduct of a diplomatic strategy of equi balancing between the USA and China. In this strategy, the Philippines enhances and deepens its security relations with its strategic ally, the USA and at the same time, obtains economic assistance and politico diplomatic concessions from East Asia's emergent power, China. The Philippines' diplomatic gambit, however, is restrained by its formal alliance with the USA and its chronic territorial dispute with China over the Spratly Islands. At present, several developments are undermining Manila's efforts in playing this balancing game with Washington and Beijing. These are: the Philippines' passiv...
Abstract The baobab tree, with more than 300 uses and commercial value in EU and United States, has been identified as one of the most important trees to be conserved and domesticated in Africa. A decline in baobab populations because of changes in climate could have a negative effect on African livelihoods. Therefore, it is important to study the potential future distribution of this species and determine strategies for conservation. We used Maxent, 480 geo-referenced records, present and future climatic and soil layers. Different general circulation models and scenarios were selected. Models were simulated for (i) All records, (ii) East Africa and (iii) West Africa species records. For each combination, the proportion of the present habitat that might remain suitable in the future was de...
The IGCC of the U.S. government was created under the intent of Public Law 93-410 (1974) to serve as a forum for the discussion of Federal plans, activities, and policies that are related to or impact on geothermal energy. Eight Federal Departments were represented on the IGCC at the time of this meeting. The main presentations in this report were on: Department of Energy Geothermal R&D Program, the Ormat binary power plant at East Mesa, CA, Potential for direct use of geothermal at Defense bases in U.S. and overseas, Department of Defense Geothermal Program at China Lake, and Status of the U.S. Geothermal Industry. The IGCC briefing books and minutes provide a historical snapshot of what development and impact issues were important at various time. (DJE 2005)
Abstract Previous research has established the comorbidity of adult Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) with different personality disorders including Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). The association between adult ADHD and BPD has primarily been investigated at the phenotypic level and not yet at the genetic level. The present study investigates the genetic and environmental contributions to the association between borderline personality traits (BPT) and ADHD symptoms in a sample of 7,233 twins and siblings (aged 18-90 years) registered with the Netherlands Twin Register and the East Flanders Prospective Twin Survey (EFPTS) . Participants completed the Conners' Adult ADHD Rating Scales (CAARS-S:SV) and the Personality Assessment Inventory-Borderline Features Scale (PAI-BO...
Using a case-study, inductive, narrative approach, this article explores the history, drivers, benefits, and barriers to the Bakun Hydroelectric Project in East Malaysia. Situated on the island of Borneo, Bakun Dam is a 204m high concrete face, rock filled dam on the Balui River in the Upper Rajang Basin in the rainforests of Sarawak. Bakun Dam and its affiliated infrastructure could be the single largest and most expensive energy project ever undertaken in Southeast Asia. Based on data collected through site visits, original field research in Sarawak, and more than 80 research interviews, the article begins by teasing out the complex history and drivers behind the Bakun project before identifying a set of potential social, political, and economic benefits the project could deliver. It the...
Abstract Alcoa World Alumina Australia mines bauxite under lease agreements with the Government of Western Australia. The leases lie in the Darling Range to the east of Perth, the capital and major population center. In addition to bauxite and other mineral ores, the Darling Range is a major potable water source and harbors a species-rich forest dominated by Jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata), a significant commercial timber. Conservation and recreation are important land uses in the region. Social and political pressures have led to stringent governmental requirements for restoration. In addition, a summer drought period, a soil deficient in most nutrients, water management challenges, an introduced disease, caused by Phytophthora cinnamomi Rands, and a post-mining ecosystem that must be condu...
The Taiwan Strait is an important channel in the west Pacific Ocean transporting water and chemical constituents between the East China Sea and the South China Sea. Due to its complex bottom topography, alternating monsoon forcing and conjunction of several current systems [such as the Zhejiang-Fujian (Zhe-Min) Coastal Current, the Kuroshio intrusion and the extension of the South China Sea Warm Current], the physical and biogeochemical processes and ecosystem dynamics in the Taiwan Strait vary significantly both in space and in time. Our recent interdisciplinary studies, combining in situ and remote sensing observations with numerical modeling, allow us to address several important issues concerning the Taiwan Strait. The temporal and spatial variation of circulation in the Taiwan Strait ...
Restructuring of power system has changed the traditional planning objectives and introduced challenges in the field of Transmission Expansion Planning (TEP). Due to these changes, new approaches and criteria are needed for transmission planning in deregulated environment. Therefore, in this paper, a dynamic expansion methodology is presented using a multi-objective optimization framework. Investment cost, congestion cost and reliability are considered in the optimization as three objectives. To overcome the difficulties in solving the non-convex and mixed integer nature of the optimization problems, a Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA II) approach is used followed by a fuzzy decision making analysis to obtain the final optimal solution. The planning methodology has been demonstrated on the IEEE 24-bus test system and north-east of Iran national 400 kV transmission grid to show the feasibility and capabilities of the proposed algorithm in electricity ...
More than 660 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images acquired over the southern Baltic Sea, the North Sea, and the Gulf of Lyon in the Mediterranean Sea by the Second European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS-2) have been analyzed since December 1996 with respect to radar signatures of marine pollution and other phenomena causing similar signatures. First results of our analysis reveal that the seas are most polluted along the main shipping routes. SAR images acquired during descending (morning) and ascending (evening) satellite passes show different percentages of oil pollution, because most of this pollution occurs during night time and is still visible on the SAR images acquired in the morning time. Moreover, we found a higher amount of oil spills on SAR images acquired during summer (April-September) than on SAR images acquired during winter (October-March). We attribute this finding to the higher mean wind speed encountered in all three test areas during winter. ...
In 1998, in the frame of the ITER EDA phase, an European R and D Programme for the Blanket Design was implemented for developing and selecting the materials and the relevant fabrication procedures for manufacturing the shielding modules of the ITER Primary Wall. The fabrication of several Beryllium armored small scale mock-ups, reproducing representative portions of a Primary Wall panels, was also launched (Fusion Technol. (1998) 195). Further experimental activities were also programmed for investigating the thermal-mechanical behavior of these mock-ups at high heat flux and under thermal fatigue tests. In 2001, the ITER European Home Team decided to assign to ENEA a contract for the thermal fatigue testing of six mock-ups aiming at verifying the reliability of the Beryllium/Dispersion Strengthened Copper alloy/Stainless Steel and Beryllium/Precipitation hardened Copper alloy/Stainless Steel joints manufactured by solid Hot Isostatic Pressing ...
This paper presents the history and objectives of the development of a standard method for the measurement of organic contaminants in biomass producer gases. Recently, a project with that title has started in the European 5{sup th} Framework Programme. The structure of this project with acronym 'Tar Protocol' is also described in this paper. The project is performed by 17 partners and continues earlier work initiated by IEA (International Energy Agency), DoE (Department of Energy) and EU (European Union) in 1998. The project aims to combine two draft Protocols that resulted from this earlier work. The Tar Protocol will be developed for accurate measurement of organic contaminants ('tars') over a large range of concentrations (1 mg/Nm{sup 3} to 100 g/Nm{sup 3}) and conditions (0 - 900 deg C; 0.9 - 60 bars). Besides, a particulate concentration will be determined too. Together with the Protocol comes a number ...
Based on an multivariate statistical evaluation of binary and metric data relating to the soil cover of the European Community five regionally representative reference soils (EURO-Soils) have been identified for chemicals testing in the EC. The soil material sampled at representative localities in Italy, Greece, Great Britain, France and Germany was treated and prepared according to OECD Test Guideline 106 and analysed in detail. The homogenised specimens were subject to an EC-wide ring test to evaluate the feasibility of the modified guideline and to validate the physical-chemical amenability of the reference soils for sorption tests. The results proved the validity of the soils selected for assessing the potential behaviour of new chemicals in soil on the basis of a comparative evaluation of the individual test results obtained. In the light of this parametric assessment potential test soils were subsequently identified in the individual EC Member States which ...
Ecopa, the European Consensus Platform on 3R-Alternatives, is an international not-for-profit organization that wants to stimulate the development of 3R-alternatives, increase awareness among the public, scientists and regulatory bodies, and help their implementation into the different national legislations. This is done by networking and bringing together National Consensus Platforms on 3R-alternatives. Consensus means that all parties concerned are represented, namely, animal welfare, industry, academia, and governmental institutions. Actually, 14 Member State Platforms exist. Fully complying with the criteria, set by ecopa, are the platforms of Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Under development are the platforms of Denmark, Norway, and Poland. To reach its goals, ecopa uses conventional scientific tools such as workshops and meetings but it also makes ...
This project of law concerns an additional protocol to the agreement of warranties signed on September 22, 1998 between France, the European atomic energy community and the IAEA. This agreement concerns the declaration of all information relative to the R and D activities linked with the fuel cycle and involving the cooperation with a foreign country non endowed with nuclear weapons. These information include the trade and processing of nuclear and non-nuclear materials and equipments devoted to nuclear reactors (pressure vessels, fuel loading/unloading systems, control rods, force and zirconium tubes, primary coolant pumps, deuterium and heavy water, nuclear-grade graphite), to fuel reprocessing plants, to isotope separation plants (gaseous diffusion, laser enrichment, plasma separation, electromagnetic enrichment), to heavy water and deuterium production plants, and to uranium conversion plants. (J.S.)
Full text. This research assesses models for new nuclear build in European Union (EU) member states to find the most stable form. The countries examined in this study are the United Kingdom and Romania. The results attest that due to various historical, political, competition, and electricity market structural conditions Romania and the United Kingdom have emerged with different models for new build nuclear projects. This paper begins with an assessment of the effects on the nuclear sector from energy, environmental and competition legislation in the EU. Then the political and economic climate of the aforementioned EU member states is completed. Following this an overview of the market structure of the electricity sector in those respective countries is conducted. Then the key research on the models and the phases of new nuclear build are explored. The research concludes each model has transcended from different political and economic forces, and consequently each ...
Ionizing radiation dose levels due to home radon can rise to levels that would be illegal for workers in the nuclear industry. It is well known that radon levels within homes and from home to home, and also from month to month, vary considerably. To define an Isle of Man radon seasonal correction factor, readings were taken in eight homes over a 12 month period. An average island indoor exposure of 48 Bq m{sup -3} (range 4-518 Bq m{sup -3}) was determined from 285 homes selected from a cohort of 1300 families participating in the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood (ELSPAC) in the Isle of Man. This compares with a UK home average of 20 Bq m{sup -3} and a European Union average (excluding UK) of 68 Bq m{sup -3}. Ten homes of those measured were found to have radon levels above the National Radiological Protection Board 200 Bq m{sup -3} action level. There are 29 377 homes on the Isle of Man, suggesting that there could be some ...
Introduction of geothermal heat pump systems, which depend on temperature differential, is investigated for urban areas, which have large energy demands. Results of the surveys on the current situations of geothermal heat pump (GHP) systems indicate that they have already numbered 300,000 units in USA and totaled more than 50,000 units in Switzerland and Northern European countries, and that they are increasing at an annual rate of higher than 10%. The results also indicate that introduction of these systems are well feasible in Japan, which generally has better topographical conditions than American and European countries, and the GHP system with vertical ground heat exchanger is investigated for its topographical and environmental considerations. These systems could annually abate approximately 52 million tons of CO2 (4.3% decrease), if disseminated to all households. They are also expected to help control the heat island phenomenon, and ...
Very soon a new generation of reactor and accelerator neutrino oscillation experiments - Double Chooz, Daya Bay, Reno and T2K - will seek for oscillation signals generated by the mixing parameter theta_13. The knowledge of this angle is a fundamental milestone to optimize further experiments aimed at detecting CP violation in the neutrino sector. Leptonic CP violation is a key phenomenon that has profound implications in particle physics and cosmology but it is clearly out of reach for the aforementioned experiments. Since late 90's, a world-wide activity is in progress to design facilities that can access CP violation in neutrino oscillation and perform high precision measurements of the lepton counterpart of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix. In this paper the status of these studies will be summarized, focusing on the options that are best suited to exploit existing European facilities (firstly CERN and the INFN Gran Sasso Laboratories) or technologies where ...
In a previous survey we revealed uncertainty among responders about (a) whether or not to perform hemodialysis in patients with severely reduced renal function who had received contrast medium; and (b) when to perform hemodialysis in patients on regular treatment with hemodialysis or continuous ambulatory dialysis who received contrast medium. Therefore, the Contrast Media Safety Committee of The European Society of Urogenital Radiology decided to review the literature and to issue guidelines. The committee performed a Medline search. Based on this, a report and guidelines were prepared. The report was discussed at the Ninth European Symposium on Urogenital Radiology in Genoa, Italy. Hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis safely remove both iodinated and gadolinium-based contrast media. The effectiveness of hemodialysis depends on many factors including blood and dialysate flow rate, permeability of dialysis membrane, duration of hemodialysis and ...
Automobile has become the dominant transport mode in the world in the last century. In order to meet a continuously growing demand for transport, one solution is to change the control approach for vehicle to full driving automation, which removes the driver from the control loop to improve efficiency and reduce accidents. Recent work shows that there are several realistic paths towards this deployment : driving assistance on passenger cars, automated commercial vehicles on dedicated infrastructures, and new forms of urban transport (car-sharing and cybercars). Cybercars have already been put into operation in Europe, and it seems that this approach could lead the way towards full automation on most urban, and later interurban infrastructures. The European project CyberCars has brought many improvements in the technology needed to operate cybercars over the last three years. A new, larger European project is now being prepared to carry this work ...
Cooperative procurement is a variation of public purchasing which may be used as an instrument to transform the market and stimulate innovation enhancing environmental performance. The core of the procedure is the following: Coordinated by a central agency a group of buyers - public administrations, but also private companies, associations, etc. - gets together and jointly formulates a catalogue of performance requirements for a specific product truly suiting their preferences. This catalogue may contain (combinations of) requirements not yet available on the market and includes energy efficiency and/or environmental performance among other preferences important to the users. On the basis of the product requirements the buyer group launches a call for tenders, evaluates the bids received from the manufacturers and commits to buying the winning product. Thus, a market is provided for the most successful innovators in a given area of technology. The paper discusses the effectiveness of ...
Since 1992, the fruitful collaboration of the Russian and Western-European technical support organizations (TSOs) is being continued due to the support of the European Commission. There are two main areas of activities. The first one is more of methodological assistance and enhancing RF TSOs capabilities to support Rostekhnadzor decision making process. Experience and knowledge acquired in this area projects increase RF TSOs capabilities regarding a wide spectrum of safety related issues assessment, in particular safety analyses, reactor vessel embrittlement, application of 'leak before break' concept, severe accident and accident management, fire risk evaluation, etc. The second area is focused on licensing related assessments of EC financed on site assistance projects (modernisations). This area projects promote implementation in Russia a licensing process based on a technical dialogue between operator and regulator as well contributes to ...
This doctoral thesis addresses some problems in the analysis of spatial and spatial-temporal data and discusses prediction, prediction errors and identification of emission sources. European sulphur data are used as illustration. In an investigation of a spatial-temporal decomposition model for improving estimates of spatial interpolation (prediction) errors from monitoring data, the estimates were improved compared to estimates obtained by the method known as Kriging (an extension of the Wiener-Kolmogorov theory from time series to spatial processes), although the interpolated values were quite similar. A study of a random process model with an unknown, slowly varying trend and a correlated residual process is performed, using both trend estimation (smoothing) and prediction. Local polynomial methods are extended to continuous random processes. A new approach to non-parametric smoothing and to non-parametric Kriging is described. Finally, a statistical method for ...
The use of natural energy sources and their conversion to secondary forms of energy are a crucial base for the development of our society with its continuous change of requirements due to an increase in population and the broadening of the needs in our modern life. As a consequence the consumption of primary energy resources rose drastically worldwide during the last 5 decades in particular in the industrialized regions such as Europe. Parallel in time the increasing awareness of negative effects of fuel dependent pollution on the environment and the introduction of stringent emission control regulations about 3 decades ago initiated extensive development and retrofit activities resulting in the today applied high level state of the art. As an additional challenge the worldwide debate about the potential effects of the emission of the s.c green house gases on the global climate in particular carbon dioxide from the use of predominantly fossil fuels have initiated in the ...
Olive tree (Olea european L.) cultivation, the major tree crops in Mediterranean countries is being extended to irrigated lands. However, the limited water availability, the severe climatic conditions and the increased need for good water quality for urban and industrial sector uses are leading to the urgent use of less water qualities (brackish water and recycled wastewater) for olive tree irrigation. The aim of this work was to asses the effects of long term irrigation with treated waste water (TWW) on the soil chemical properties, on olive tree growth and on oil quality characteristics. (Author)
Industrial activities in the river basin of the Elbe have a very long tradition, and have been resulting in the contamination of sediments for centuries. Contamination lasted until the fall of the iron curtain; since then, the situation has improved significantly. In the transition zone between freshwater systems and the marine environment, ports like Hamburg still have to bear this burden of history. An overall (contaminated) management strategy should be developed in the context of the European Water Framework Directive with the emphasis on source control. (orig.)
This short article discusses the results of a market survey on ventilation systems for residential buildings and the role played by ventilation systems in our daily lives. Problems incurred as a result of insufficient ventilation conditions such as the formation of mould in dwellings whose windows have been replaced with better seals are discussed, for example. The negative image of air-conditioning and its causes are examined. The need for action in this area is stressed. Further findings of the study are presented, including a detailed review of current equipment and scenarios on how these systems can develop in the future. The extension of the study to cover the situation in further European countries is mentioned.
This study examines the degree of price-integration of equity indices between the major markets of Africa, namely Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Namibia and South Africa with the European markets of London and Paris. Vector Autoregressive and Autoregressive Distributed Lag methods reveal that African markets are largely price-segmented. The only markets that are price-integrated have shared economic and financial institutions, such as Namibia and South Africa, and Egypt, Tunisia and France. The evidence suggests that development policy should be focussed on enhancing existing institutions rather than embarking prematurely on regional integration.
DescriptionPig production represents an important source of revenue for the agricultural industry of the UK. However as a direct result of environmental and animal welfare concerns European-wide directives are now in place which severely restrict both the non-clinical use of production enhancers/chemotherapeutics and heavy metals in animal production and also prevent piglet weaning prior to 28 days of age. These legislative events have had a major impact on pig production within Europe rendering current pr [continued...
This report discusses the current state and the future of the Dutch basic metal industry. The steel industry and the aluminium industry are discussed in detail. First their current energy use, the technology and their product markets are analysed. The competitiveness of Dutch and Western European producers is discussed. Main technological developments and other key issues (especially future CO2 policies) are analysed. Based on this analysis, scenarios are developed for the energy use in the basic metal industry for the period 2000-2020. 88 tabs., 55 figs., 143 refs.
Discusses the resolution of the 2. Congress of the Polish Nuclear Society on the energy situation in Poland and recommendations for energy policy. Recommendations for use of nuclear power plants in Poland are made considering environmental pollution from coal combustion (air pollution by sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide as well as water pollution by salt from mine water discharged to rivers), development of the Polish economy, forecast increase in energy consumption and the role of nuclear energy in other European countries. Research on nuclear power plants, safety and environmental aspects as well as comparative efficiency of coal-fired power plants and nuclear power plants is evaluated.
Alternative sources of fuel, especially for transport, continue to be of interest, as the availability of petroleum is likely to decline in the foreseeable future. Coal is a perfect alternative since it is abundant and can readily be refined to products similar to petroleum fuels. This work details the continuing research program undertaken by the European Commission, bringing together results of studies by international experts in the field. The editors have synthesized vast amounts of recent literature to produce a state-of-the-art review covering synthetic processes, single and two-stage hydrogenation processes, processing of coal with heavy oil and catalysis.
The survey of radiation protection programmes for transport has been jointly performed by three scientific organisations I.P.S.N. (France), G.R.S. ( Germany), and N.R.P.B. (United kingdom) on behalf of the European Commission and the pertaining documentation summarises the findings and conclusions of the work that was undertaken with the principal objectives to provide guidance on the establishment, implementation and application of radiation protection programmes for the transport of radioactive materials by operators and the assessment and evaluation of such programmes by the competent authority and to review currently existing radiation protection programmes for the transport of radioactive materials. (N.C.)
Rotary furnaces are a well established alternative to cupola furnaces. Recent innovations in oxygas furnaces have made them the preferred choice even over medium-frequency electric furnaces in many European foundries. The article explains in what respects the rotary furnace is a new iron smelting concept, as different from the cupola furnace as the medium-frequency electric furnace. (author)
As a direct result of its interest in the use of robotics within active plants, British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. (BNFL) has adopted a positive attitude toward both national and European initiatives in this area. During the early operation of the Sellafield reprocessing plant, the process vessels and cell voids were monitored using simple pole and camera combinations. In 1985, BNFL embarked on the provision of a series of machines intended to satisfy the advancing needs for inspection while increasing the level of expertise within the company in this important area. DIMAN 1, DIMAN 2, RODMAN, REPMAN, and RAFFMAN remote handling and robotic machines are described.
Rubber lining is used as a corrosion protection material in European flue gas desulfurization plants, for scrubbers, tanks, pipe systems, etc. Although these rubber linings can last more than 15 years, relining still is necessary. The difficulty of shutting down power station units requires that the time scale of this replacement be kept to a minimum. High-pressure water systems have proven successful as an efficient method for removal of the old lining. The working steps and time scale are demonstrated for one such relining case.
As the amount of urban and industrial wastes is increasing more and more, recycling is very necessary. Daily, there are many news about packing, even more since European Union is getting ready a Directive that will propose and will impose the reuse and recycling of the materials used to produce the packs. This Directive will be followed by different national laws of the countries members of EU. This paper describes the increasing use of aluminium for packing, and particularly its use for beverage cans, its characteristic and applications.
This report summarises work done on the SUCON Project during 1996-1999 (European Commission Contract No. FI4C-CT95-0001). The project has focused on three major objectives: 1) An assessment of the radiological consequences of the contamination of the South Urals and the Ob river system from the production of plutonium at 'Mayak', 2) The development of models to calculate doses to individuals and populations in the South Urals using environmental data, and 3) The intercomparison, harmonisation and standardisation of techniques used in dose reconstruction and specification of good practice in particular with regard to remedial measures. (au)
The causes and processes of contamination, as well as the possible human health implications for the main contaminants of drinking water are described. The quality of drinking water in Italy is defined through the comparison of the pollutant levels with the World Health Organization guidelines published in 1993 and the USEPA HAs (Health Advisories) of 1994 (annexed to the report).
The paper develops a new class of financial market models. These models are based on generalized telegraph processes: Markov random flows with alternating velocities and jumps occurring when the velocities are switching. While such markets may admit an arbitrage opportunity, the model under consideration is arbitrage-free and complete if directions of jumps in stock prices are in a certain correspondence with their velocity and interest rate behaviour. An analog of the Black-Scholes fundamental differential equation is derived, but, in contrast with the Black-Scholes model, this equation is hyperbolic. Explicit formulas for prices of European options are obtained using perfect and quantile hedging.
The paper is devoted to analysis of Russian nuclear education system: its current status, specific features, difficulties and prospects. Russian higher education system in nuclear engineering has been created simultaneously with the development of nuclear industry, and the system completely satisfied all industrial demands for the specialists of different qualification levels. For the past several decades, nuclear education has lost its attractiveness to young people. The paper discusses the actions to be undertaken for reversing the situation. The paper underlines particularly the special role of international collaboration and all-European integration of nuclear educational programmes for further development of nuclear education all over the world. (author)
The author investigates the effects of 529 mergers in the European and North American power industries between 1990 and 2002. The focus is on the effects on the capital market and the changes in the utilities' performance in successive years. It is assumed that as a rule mergers resulted in a lower value of the companies concerned. On the other hand, the target businesses appear to have obtained added value in the same period. Apart from the fight for market power, the author identifies especially financial synergies as an important motive. (orig.)
This paper presents the main achievements of the European Home Team (EU HT) test programme of ITER primary wall small scale mock ups. It describes briefly the fabrication method of the mock ups, the test conditions and the main results obtained with high heat flux and thermal fatigue tests of Cu alloy/stainless steel and beryllium/Cu alloy/stainless steel mock ups. The results obtained so far show very good thermal fatigue performance and operation margin of the ITER primary first wall concept.
Two new species of the genus Microplana are described from the Iberian Peninsula. The new taxa are compared with congeneric species. Distributional records for two other European species, Microplana monacensis (Heinzel, 1929) and Microplana groga Jones et al. 2008, are presented and the presence of Microplana terrestris (Muller, 1774) is confirmed on the Iberian Peninsula. A partial re-description of Microplana nana Mateos, Giribet and Carranza, 1998 is provided. The finding of a new and probably introduced, but unidentified, species of land planarian is reported. Land planarians were generally found in the vicinity of deciduous trees and rivers.
A reduced-form model including nonlinearities is estimated from pooled data from nine European countries during 1982-2004 to show the effects of macroeconomic shocks and financial fragility on bank loan losses. The main ingredients of the model are unanticipated-output and interest-rate shocks estimated from published macroeconomic and naive forecasts. The model fits the data well, capturing the extremely high levels of loan losses witnessed in different financial crises.
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)
... These highly energy efficient panels of organic luminescence are far removed from the bulbs and filaments of current lighting technology. 28-04-11 Source : Star Projects Results: 1-10 of 251 Page(s) 1 of 26 Next Limit search to articles published within the last Month Quarter Year No limit Follow us on Facebook Share an article You can share any article via social networking sites or email it to friends. Click the SHARE icon, select from the list that appears, and the article ...
Purpose - The aim of the present study is to present in a systematic way the subject of industrial hazardous waste from the point-of-view of definitions in engineering, science and legislation. This analysis is necessary, as many different approaches and overlapping definitions are used for the classification of waste, leading to different results, a situation that often complicates the collection and interpretation of data on waste. Design/methodology/approach - The study is conducted by bringing together the extended experience of the authors and other experts in the field of environmental legislation and a wide variety of scientific and legislative sources as well as articles and research reports. The focus is the European Union, while several approaches from the international area are ...
This report issued by the Energy Economics Group and the Laboratory for Energy Systems Analysis at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) analyses current and future trends in the area of energy and mobility on a global, European level as well as with respect to the German-speaking countries Austria, Germany and Switzerland. In a first step, developments with regard to how mobility is achieved and the energy consumption involved are examined and the impact of business-as-usual trends on global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and future fuel consumption is discussed. In a second step, the paper outlines potential alternative futures in terms of energy and mobility. Finally, the paper derives and presents recommendations for policy-makers.
This report issued by the Energy Economics Group and the Laboratory for Energy Systems Analysis at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) analyses current and future trends in the area of energy and mobility on a global, European level as well as with respect to the German-speaking countries Austria, Germany and Switzerland. In a first step, developments with regard to how mobility is achieved and the energy consumption involved are examined and the impact of business-as-usual trends on global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and future fuel consumption is discussed. In a second step, the paper outlines potential alternative futures in terms of energy and mobility. Finally, the paper derives and presents recommendations for policy-makers.
author.The chemical and mechanical properties of S235jr structural low carbon mild steel were tested and reported for specimens collected from the Lebanese steel market. European and American standards were presented as references and compared with the achieved results. Discussion was conducted to show the similarities and differences between S235JR steel samples and standard requirements. Some of the reasons for such differences were discussed. A database was furnished through this work for the public and mainly for the Lebanese Standard Organization LIBNOR to easily adopt and implement a standard that has been tested in Lebanon concerning the hot rolled low carbon structural steels
To support the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI), a study was performed to investigate power system alternatives for the rover vehicles and servicers that were subsequently generated for each of these rovers and servicers, candidate power sources incorporating various power generation and energy storage technologies were identified. The technologies were those believed most appropriate to the SEI missions, and included solar, electrochemical, and isotope systems. The candidates were characterized with respect to system mass, deployed area, and volume. For each of the missions a preliminary selection was made. Results of this study depict the available power sources in light of mission requirements as they are currently defined.
...Species - see CITES Trade of Dangerous Chemicals Transport and Environment U Urban Environment Use of natural resources V Volatile Organic Compounds W Waste Landfills Waste electrical and electronic equipment - see WEEE Waste incineration Waste legislation - reporting Waste management planning Waste oils Waste shipments Waste water - see Urban waste water Water Bathing Water Drinking water Floods Marine environment Urban waste water Water Framework Directive WEEE - Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment Wildlife ...
A synthesis of papers based on the United Nations Environment Programme meeting on the ozone layer, Washington DC, this book contains valuable information on ongoing and planned activities concerned with stratospheric ozone problems, and presents the recommendations for further action resulting from the meeting. Possible changes in the characteristics of the ozone layer are discussed, together with the environmental, ecological, climatic, economic, and health implications of stratospheric ozone depletion. A comprehensive survey of current research in five European countries, the USA, Canada, and Australia is included and the volume is concluded by the UNEP report of the meeting and a world plan of action.
This contribution describes our research and development effort towards an electrically rechargeable zinc/air battery which is capable of meeting the demands of a scaled power profile (driving-cycle tests). The power profiles DST (Dynamic Stress Test) and ECE15-L (European Driving Cycle for alkaline Batteries) were applied to our 200 and 50 cm{sup 2} electrically rechargeable Zn/O{sub 2} cells with nominal capacities of 30 and 7.5 Ah, respectively. (authors)
Access for independents to retail gas markets was a central concern in European policy reform efforts in the 1990s. Upstream oil and gas companies reacted with strategic intentions of forward integration. By late 2004, forward integration was still weak, however. An important explanation of the gap between announced strategic re-orientation and actual strategy implementation lies in the political failure of EU member states to dismantle market barriers to entry for independents. Variations between companies in downstream strategy implementation are explained by variations in business opportunities and internal company factors.
Since mid-1995, Audi is the second European producer to offer a direct-injection diesel engine for passenger cars. The 2.0 l engine is installed in the middle-class sedan Rover 620 SDi. (orig.) [Deutsch] Als nach Audi zweiter europaeischer Hersteller bietet Rover seit Mitte dieses Jahres einen Pkw-Dieselmotor mit direkter Einspritzung an. Eingesetzt wird das Aggregat mit 2,0 l Hubraum in der Mittelklasselimousine Rover 620 SDi. (orig.)
With the compensator-series equipment put into operation in 1992 - giving a performance of 330 Mvar - it was made possible for high-performance electronics to use a continuously variable, fully loaded power transmission line and to regulate the energy flow and minimise overcurrent losses. As well as these technical qualities, this system could offer environmental advantages for European implementation. This would avoid the need to plan and construct new high voltage transmission lines in order to meet increased demand. (orig.)
This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post proceedings of the international workshop Computer Vision Approaches to Medical Image Analysis, CVAMIA 2006, held in Graz, Austria in May 2006 as a satellite event of the 9th European Conference on Computer Vision, EECV 2006. The 10 revised full papers and 11 revised poster papers presented together with 1 invited talk were carefully reviewed and selected from 38 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on clinical applications, image registration, image segmentation and analysis, and the poster session. (orig.)
This work gives a global view of legislations in which are included metals chemical states, briefly recalls the conditions to be respected for the CRM (Certified Reference Materials), and describes the results of some current plans for the Norms, Measures and Tests program. (O.M.) 23 refs.
The Kyoto Protocol foresees emission trading but does not yet specify verification of (uncertain) emissions. This paper analyses a setting in which parties can meet their emission targets by reducing emissions, by investing in monitoring (reducing uncertainty of emissions) or by (bilaterally) trading permits. We derive the optimality conditions and carry out various numerical simulations. Our applications suggest that including uncertainty could increase compliance costs for the USA, Japan and the European Union. Central Europe and the Former Soviet Union might be able to gain from trading due to higher permit prices. Emissions trading could also lower aggregate uncertainty on emissions.
Non-linear autoregressive Markov regime-switching models are intuitive. Time-series approaches for the modelling of electricity spot prices are frequently proposed. In this paper, such models are compared with an ordinary linear autoregressive model with regard to their forecast performances. The study is carried out using German daily spot-prices from the European Energy Exchange in Leipzig. Four non-linear models are used for the forecast study. The results of the study suggest that Markov regime-switching models provide better forecasts than linear models. (author)
Non-linear autoregressive Markov regime-switching models are intuitive. Time-series approaches for the modelling of electricity spot prices are frequently proposed. In this paper, such models are compared with an ordinary linear autoregressive model with regard to their forecast performances. The study is carried out using German daily spot-prices from the European Energy Exchange in Leipzig. Four non-linear models are used for the forecast study. The results of the study suggest that Markov regime-switching models provide better forecasts than linear models. (author)
This conference is composed of 21 communications and 21 posters in the domain of building ventilation and indoor air quality; the main themes are: indoor air quality assessment and optimization; performance enhancement and optimization of ventilation systems and equipment; ventilation systems for renovated and rehabilitated buildings; French and European regulations, standardizations and certifications; experimental and numerical simulation studies concerning ventilation systems, air flow, temperature distribution, air quality, thermal comfort and ventilation-induced acoustic levels
This file is devoted to the Chernobyl accident. It is divided in four parts. The first part concerns the accident itself and its technical management. The second part is relative to the radiation doses and the different contaminations. The third part reports the sanitary effects, the determinists ones and the stochastic ones. The fourth and last part relates the consequences for the other European countries with the case of France. Through the different parts a point is tackled with the measures taken after the accident by the other countries to manage an accident, the cooperation between the different countries and the groups of research and studies about the reactors safety, and also with the international medical cooperation, specially for the children, everything in relation with the Chernobyl accident. (N.C.)
B vitamins and polymorphisms in genes coding for enzymes involved in one-carbon metabolism may affect DNA synthesis and methylation and thereby be implicated in carcinogenesis. Previous data on vitamins B2 and B6 and genetic polymorphisms other than those involving MTHFR as risk factors for gastric cancer (GC) are sparse and inconsistent. In this case-control study nested within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort, cases (n = 235) and controls (n = 601) were matched for study center, age, sex, and time of blood sampling. B2 and B6 species were measured in plasma, and the sum of riboflavin and flavin mononucleotide was used as the main exposure variable for vitamin B2 status, whereas the sum of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate, pyridoxal, and 4-pyridoxic acid was used to define vitamin B6 status. In addition, we determined eight polymorphisms related to one-carbon metabolism. Relative risks for GC risk were calculated with conditional ...
After the transcription of the electricity directive in national legislations, the European electricity market appears to be a vast set of juxtaposed markets which are weakly connected at the level of their wholesale contracts compartment. Referring to the technological peculiarities of electricity as a commodity, the paper identifies the direct conditions of regional integration of the electricity markets, those which would favour cross-border trade and allow to be near the normal functioning of a regional commodity market. The infrastructure network dependence and the need of a stringent technical coordination necessitate to unify the operation of the different systems and the rules of access, or at the least to come near this unification by strong coordination. A second major condition, which is not fully debated, is the increasing connexion of short-term markets, via daily physical trade and emergence of a European financial market, which ...
The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) has imposed a price on the allowances for CO2 emissions of electricity companies. Integrating this allowance price into the price of electricity earns a rent for companies who have received these allowances for free. During Phase I, 2005-2007, rents corresponding to the aggregate value of allocated allowances amounted to roughly Euro 13 billion per year. However, due to the specific price-setting mechanism in electricity markets true rents were considerably higher. This is due to the fact that companies also that have not received any allowances gain additional infra-marginal rents to the extent that their variable costs are below the new market price after inclusion of the allowance price. Producers with low carbon emissions and low marginal costs thus also benefit substantially from carbon pricing. This paper develops a methodology to determine the specific interaction of the imposition of such a CO2 constraint ...
This paper examines the technological, socio-economic and environmental feasibility of a proposal to strengthen the Italian commercial coastal shipping system as an alternative to bolstering existing road transport facilities in order to meet the requirements of increased trade in the new European free market. This prospect is of special importance to Italy due to its long coastlines. The principal elements taken into account are: investment capital, labour and energy requirements. The study first examines the supply and demand dynamics of the European transport system. Here, attention is given to energy consumption. This examination is followed by a review of the European situation with regard to normatives governing navigation and customs duties. Road, rail and maritime transport costs are compared, and an assessment is made of the economic feasibility of an integrated-means system of transport involving the coordinated ...
Currently daily quality control (QC) tests for mammography systems are generally evaluated by using visual analysis phantoms, which of course means subjective measurement. In our study, however, we evaluated a novel digital phantom, the 1Shot Phantom M plus (1Shot Phantom), together with automatic analysis software dedicated for mammography systems using Fuji computed radiography (FCR). The digital phantom enables objective evaluation by providing for actual physical measurement rather than subjective visual assessment. We measured contrast to noise ratio (CNR), image receptor homogeneity, missed tissue at chest wall side, modulation transfer function (MTF), and geometric distortion utilizing the 1Shot Phantom. We then compared the values obtained using the 1Shot Phantom with values obtained from the European guidelines and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards. In addition, we evaluated the convenience of using the digital phantom. The values ...
A large number of proven technical solutions exists for the use of renewable energies (RE). However, their dissemination is still too slow to meet the political goal of substituting 12 % of the primary energy demand in the European Union by the year 2010. Even renewable energy systems (RES) with economic potential are only partly exploited. There is a long literature concerning the barriers to RE use. In particular it has become clear that the availability of finance and the forms and conditions upon which it is lent have a major impact on RE deployment. An area of importance is the deficiency of appropriate ownership forms and properly adapted financing instruments in certain countries. Moreover, different regulations and institutional barriers in the European countries hinder the free flow of capital for RES within the European common market. On the other hand, solutions have been developed very successfully in individual ...
The Pequop Mountains (PM), Wood Hills (WH) and East Humboldt Range (EHR), NE Nevada, provide evidence that the hinterland of the Sevier thrust belt experienced large-magnitude Mesozoic shortening ([>=]55 km) and crustal thickening ([>=] 30 km). These ranges expose a structurally continuous crustal cross section of unmetamorphosed to high pressure upper amphibolite facies Triassic to Precambrian miogeoclinal strata. This sequence lies structurally beneath unmetamorphosed extensional klippen that omit metamorphic grade and crustal section, but also repeat stratigraphic units. Because they repeat stratigraphic units, the underlying miogeoclinal section, or footwall, must have once lain beneath a thrust fault (herein named the Windermere thrust). The footwall of the Windermere thrust was exhumed by two generations of top-to-the-W-NW low-angle normal faults that are distinguished by whether they are depositionally overlapped by Eocene volcanic rocks or if they cut ...
The geological structure of Mesita del Buey at Technical Area 54 (TA-54) was examined using precise surveying of the contact between units 1v and 2 of the Tshirege Member of the Bandelier Tuff at 3.5 km along the north wall of Pajarito Canyon and 0.6 km along the north wall of a tributary to Canada del Buey. Estimated structure contours on this contact indicate typical strikes of N40E to N70E along this part of Mesita del Buey, although the apparent strike of the tuff is E-W at the western part of the survey. Typical dips are 1.0{degree} to 2.0{degree} to the east or southeast, with an estimated maximum dip of 3.2{degree} near the west end of Material Disposal Area G. Thirty seven faults with vertical displacements of 5 to 65 cm were observed in outcrop along the Pajarito Canyon traverse, and, due to the incomplete exposure of the unit 1v-unit 2 contact, many more faults of this magnitude undoubtedly exist. The faults have a wide range in strike and have either ...
Structural complexities reduce the homogeneity necessary for a site characterization model to an unacceptable level for performance assessment for radioactive waste disposal sites. The proposed site lies between the northern, stable Diablo platform and the southern, mobile Mesozoic Chihuahua tectonic belt. Structural movement along this interface has been active for the past 14,000 years. In addition, the area lies along the northern margin of the Permian Marfa basin and the northeastern margin of the deeply faulted Hueco bolson segment of the late Cenozoic Rio Grande rift system. Recent seismic activity with extensive surface rupture in Quitman Canyon (30 mi southeast of the site) is also documented from the 1931 Valentine, Texas, earthquake (6.4 Richter scale). The site is underlain by either a thrust fault or the complex terminus of a Mesozoic thrust fault. This fault is a segment of the continuous thrust sheet extending from exposures in the Sierra Blanc area, 30 mi ...
The end of 1994, five seismic observation stations were constructed with digital seismograph and 3-component seismometers. In this study, the epicentral distribution around the Kyungsang basin was obtained from one-year earthquake data (1994/12 - 1995/11) and compared with the annual earthquake report of KMA (Korea Meteorological Agency). The geological structure at the middle of the Ulsan fault was also investigated by the electrical resistivity method. The epicenters show high concentration at the Wolsung area. They show a linear alignment and their depths tend to be deeper as they approach to the coast line of the East Sea. These imply that they are probably correlated together. Another remarkable feature on land is the linear epicentral distribution along Jiri mountain to the Kimcheon and Sangju. This line is well coincident with newly recognized lineament. The other is the epicentral distribution at the Straits of Korea and East Sea. Even ...
A study of more than 1200 of 72-fold, migrated, seismic reflection profiles, from the eastern part of the East Breaks flexure trend, Gulf of Mexico, indicates that, although individual seismic reflectors cannot be traced across the entire area, seismic depositional units can be recognized and correlated from basin to basin in most instances. Three tentative conclusions are evident from this study: (1) salt diapirs appear to have grown through a series of intermittent movements to form structurally separate intraslope basins; (2) sedimentation is probably channeled by differential dome growth, which creates local stratigraphic differences between basins; and (3) packages of distinctive seismic depositional units can be successfully used to map sediment cycles between separate basins. Fluctuations of Pleistocene sea level appears to be the dominate depositional control on the upper continental slope in this area. During high sea level stands, turbidity currents were ...
The Maybell uranium mill tailings site is 25 miles (mi) (40 kilometers [km]) west of the town of Craig, Colorado, in Moffat County, in the northwestern part of the state. The unincorporated town of Maybell is 5 road mi (8 km) southwest of the site. The site is 2.5 mi (4 km) northeast of the Yampa River on relatively flat terrain broken by low, flat-topped mesas. U.S. Highway 40 runs east-west 2 mi (3.2 km) south of the site. The designated site covers approximately 110 acres (ac) (45 hectares [ha]) and consists of a concave-shaped tailings pile and rubble from the demolition of the mill buildings buried in the former mill area. The site is situated between Johnson Wash to the east and Rob Pit Mine to the west. Numerous reclaimed and unreclaimed mines are in the immediate vicinity. Aerial photographs (included at the end of this executive summary) show evidence of mining activity around the Maybell site. Contaminated materials at the Maybell ...
Alluvial fans along the east side of central Death Valley are being actively back-tilted along the Death Valley fault zone. Initial modelling of the Copper Canyon and Furnace Creek fans led to recognition of distinct segments. Field reconnaissance and aerial photo mapping were conducted to check model results and improve segment discrimination. Surface roughness, relative position, vegetation distribution, and drainage patterns provided independent evidence for segment discrimination. Subsequent modelling of individual segments produced a range of tilt values from 0.275[degree] to 0.559[degree] down to the northeast. Continued analysis of these fan segments is concentrated on: (1) assigning confidence and error values to the tilt values; and (2) dating individual segments. Further work will compare the tilt rates of east-side fans with those from the west. The mean squared error (MSE) is currently being used as a first order assessment of the ...
The Eagle Flat basin, an intermontane basin in Trans-Pecos Texas, is being considered as a possible site for the Texas repository of low-level radioactive wastes. Intermontane basins and associated normal faults formed in response to Basin and Range tectonism that began about 24 Ma ago. The most active late Tertiary and Quaternary faults occur within the Hueco Bolson (HB) and the Salt Basin/Salt Flat/Lobo Valley, west and east, respectively, of the proposed repository. Several faults of the southeast HB which are within 50 km of the site, displace middle Pleistocene deposits 10 to 24 m. The most recent surface rupture in the southeast HB probably occurred on the Amargosa fault during the Holocene. Upper Pleistocene deposits are offset 2.5 to 4.5 m, and middle Pleistocene deposits are displaced 24 m. Fault scarps within 50 km east of the proposed repository are associated with faults bounding the Salt Basin/Salt Flat/Lobo Valley. In the southern ...
Amoco Trinidad Oil Company produces 60,000 bbl/d of oil from the Trinidadian offshore. The oil is pipelined ashore where it is processed and returned offshore to a buoy mooring for transport up Trinidad's east coast. Amoco Trinidad has developed comprehensive oil spill contingency plans, starting from computer models of spill scenarios. The models used initially assumed that the oils would emulsify quickly and the spills would become highly viscous and persistent, reaching the shoreline in 15-24 h. Such behavior would render ineffective the use of dispersants as a spill countermeasure. Studies showed a poor potential capability of physical recovery systems for spills off the Trinidad east coast due to high sea states, strong winds, and other factors. These results led to questioning of the spill model's assumptions, and laboratory tests were conducted to study the actual behavior of the crude oils. It was found that the oil was difficult to ...
Lower East Fork Poplar Creek (LEFPC) and its floodplain are contaminated with mercury (Hg) from ongoing and historical releases from the US Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant. A remedial investigation and feasibility study of LEFPC resulted in the signing of a Record of Decision (ROD) in August 1995. In response to the ROD, soil contaminated with mercury above 400 mg/kg was removed from two sites in LEFPC and the floodplain during a recently completed remedial action (RA). The Postremediation Monitoring Program (PMP) outlined in the LEFPC Monitoring Plan was envisioned to occur in two phases: (1) a baseline assessment prior to remediation and (2) postremediation monitoring. The current report summarizes the results of the baseline assessment of soil, water, biota, and groundwater usage in LEFPC and its floodplain conducted in 1995 and 1996 by personnel of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Biological Monitoring and Abatement Program (BMAP). This report ...
The performance of the Magma Power Company's reinjection well No. 46-7 at East Mesa has been examined. Water was cooled to 100/sup 0/F(+-) to simulate total heat extraction and then tested using membrane filter flow procedures. The cooled water contains particles which are in the high colloid size range, and formation impairment by these particles is unlikely. There is evidence that acid soluble corrosion products and calcium compounds constitute about two thirds of the particulates, and that the acid insoluble residue contains precipitated silica, insoluble corrosion products, and possibly formation fines carried in the produced water. Under stabilized conditions, the suspended solids content of the water is less than 2 parts per million. However, during the frequent production well start ups, a higher concentration of suspended solids is carried in the produced water and into the injection well, conceivably augmenting fill in the injector. But most ...
Breeding populations of Great Tit Parus major and Pied Flycatcher Ficedida hypoleuca was studied to determine radionuclide ({sup 137}Cs, {sup 90}Sr) concentrations in bodies and foods (contents of gastrointestinal tracts) at different stages of the life-cycle and radiation effects upon the populations. The study was carried out in 1989--1992 near Chernobyl (in two areas with differed contamination levels: 90 Ci/km{sup 2}, 5 Ci/km{sup 2}) and East-Ural radioactive trace (Russia) (1,500 Ci/km{sup 2}, 2 Ci/km{sup 2}). Concentrations of {sup 90}Sr in egg shells of Great Tit collected near Chernobyl were 65 times higher in the more radioactive area than in the less contaminated area and varied from 56.6 to 79.7 Bq/g. Concentration of {sup 90}Sr in the contents of gastrointestinal tracts were from 0 to 10.8 Bq/g. Concentrations of radionuclides in the food increased in the sequence ``nestlings < fledglings < adults``. However, the accumulation declined from ...
Calls for containers to transport compressed natural gas, and a ship or barge to house some 200 employees in the Terra Nova offshore oilfield while the oil field's floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) system is undergoing a major overhaul, are attracting attention on Canada's east coast offshore oilpatch. The FPSO is located offshore, 350 km east of St. John's, Newfoundland. Petro-Canada, operators of the FPSO anticipate that by having all required personnel nearby, the total shutdown time for the overhaul could be minimized. The CNG container was designed by Trans Ocean Gas Inc. in response to an invitation by Husky Oil and Petro-Canada, the White Rose field partners. Trans Ocean Gas strongly believes that CNG will become the technology of choice for getting natural gas ashore and to markets from stranded hydrocarbon pools in Atlantic Canada and the rest of the world where pipeline systems would be too ...
Quantitative ecological risk assessment (ERA) is a means whereby the risk posed by a toxicant in any system can be evaluated by comparing the distribution of its measured or modelled concentrations (water quality data (WQD)) with available information on the range of concentrations that are known to adversely affect biota within that, or similar, habitats (dose-response data (DRD)). Initially, the WQD are compared with regulatory criteria (e.g. ANZECC and ARMCANZ, 2000). If they fail this test, then, on the assumption that both data sets comprise subsets of the entire range of concentrations, probability density functions are derived assuming a standard distribution form a typically log-normal. In this paper, AQUARISK has been used to estimate the risk posed by copper in effluent from the Rum Jungle mine site, pre- and post-remediation, and the proportion of taxa likely to be affected in the East Branch (EB) of the Finniss River downstream of the mine. In addition, ...
The competitiveness of a new nuclear plant vs. a new oil or gas fired combined cycle plant or a coal fired plant in East-Asia, is reviewed in the paper. Both the nuclear and the fossil fired plants are evaluated as either utility financed or independent power producer (IPP) financed. Two types of advanced light water reactors (ALWRs) are considered in this paper, namely evolutionary ALWRs (1200 MWe size) and passive ALWRs (600 MWe class). A range of capital and total generation costs for each plant type is reported here. The comparison centers on three elements of overall competitiveness: generation costs, hard currency requirements, and employment requirements. Each of these aspects is considered perspective. Year-by-Year generation cost history over the plant lifetime is shown in some cases. It is found here that a utility financed evolutionary and passive ALWRs are broadly competitive with an IPP financed gas fired combined cycle plant and are more economic than ...
This document presents a conceptual design for a contingency interim measure (IM) for treatment of the public water supply system at Barnes, Kansas, should this become necessary. The aquifer that serves the public water supply system at Barnes has been affected by trace to low concentrations of carbon tetrachloride and its degradation product, chloroform. Investigations conducted on behalf of the CCC/USDA by Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne 2008a) have demonstrated that groundwater at the Barnes site is contaminated with carbon tetrachloride at concentrations exceeding the Kansas Tier 2 risk-based screening level (RBSL) and the EPA maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 5.0 {micro}g/L for this compound. The Commodity Credit Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA) formerly operated a grain storage facility in Barnes, approximately 800 ft east-southeast of the public water supply wells. Carbon tetrachloride was used in the treatment of grain. ...
Personnel from Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc. (Energy Systems) manage a closed hazardous waste disposal unit the Chestnut Ridge Security Pits (CRSP), located on the crest of Chestnut Ridge near the Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. To investigate the discharge of groundwater from CRSP to springs and streams located along the flanks and base of Chestnut Ridge, an initial dye-tracer study was conducted during 1990. A hydraulic connection was inferred to exist between the injection well (GW-178) on Chestnut Ridge and several sites to the east-northeast, east, and southeast of CRSP. A second dye-tracer study was conducted in 1992 to verify the results of the initial test and identify additional discharge points that are active during wet-weather conditions. No definitive evidence for the presence of dye was identified at any of the 35 locations monitored during the second dye study. Although interpretations of the initial dye test suggest a ...
The coal rank, coal distribution, and coalbed methane of four major coal zones in the Hinton and Grande Cache areas of Alberta were investigated. Coal rank in the study area ranges from subbituminous and high volatile C bituminous at surface for the Upper Cretaceous/Tertiary coal measures and semianthracite for the Lower Cretaceous Luscar Group in the Alberta Syncline. In the Rocky Mountain Foothills, maximum cumulative coal thicknesses occur in the Smoky River, Cadomin-Luscar, and Coal Valley coalfields. Cumulative coal thicknesses generally decrease east of the deformed belt; however, coal isopach maps indicate local cumulative coal thicknesses in excess of 25 m. A regional coalbed methane assessment for strata east of the deformed belt shows favorable coalbed methane adsorption capacities in Luscar Group coals. These coals occur, however, at depth levels [gt]2500 m. In contrast, Brazeau and Coalspur Formation coals occur at favorable depth ...
The European Court of Justice has defined a clear means by which waste utilisation methods can be distinguished from waste disposal methods in a logical, well-understandable manner. With its stringent definition of ''utilisation'' this judgement points the way to quality-oriented waste management practices. We do not share the often voiced fear that this decision will lead to an increased incineration of compound wastes in industrial plants such as cement works. From the fact that, according to the decision by the European Court of Justice, wastes destined for utilisation fulfil a certain purpose and therefore, if not available in sufficient quantity must be replaced by primary raw materials, it follows that these wastes are required to fulfil specific quality criteria. This is rarely the case, if at all, with compound wastes. From the viewpoint of Luxembourg the decision by the European ...
1. The aim of the paper is to investigate the relative importance of three sets of sources of competitive advantages on business performance in a specific industry context, ie the European meat processing industry. The three sets of competitive sources are Firm Specific Advantages (FSAs), Localizational Specific Advantages (LSAs) and Relationship Specific Advantages (RSAs). Based on a literature study, each set of competitive advantages is briefly described in terms of their theoretical antecedents. Seven hypotheses are formulated regarding the direct as well as the indirect relationships between the FSAs, LSAs and RSAs and business performance. Also, the direction of causality between the various sets of explanatory variables is considered. The hypotheses are combined in a structural modelling of firm competition. 2. Data and measurements are derived from a survey in the European meat processing industry in which 133 meat processors from 10 EU ...
Due to current social and economical framework, in last years many nuclear power plant owners started a program for the Long Term Operation (LTO)/PLIM (Plant Life Management) of their older nuclear facilities. PLIM/PLEX has already been implemented in many countries (USA, Russia, etc.). This process has many nuclear safety implications, other than strategic and political ones. The need for tailoring the available safety assessment tools to such applications has become urgent in recent years and triggered many research actions. In particular, a PLIM framework requires both a detailed review of the features of the main safety programs (Maintenance, ISI, Surveillance) and a complete integration of these programs into the general management system of the plant. New external factors, such as: large use of subcontractors, need for efficient management of spare parts, request for heavy plant refurbishment programs demand for updated techniques in the overall management of the plant. Therefore ...
Full text: As one of the Top 5 utilities in Europe, Rheinisch-Westfaelisches Elektrizitaetswerk AG, FWB: RW, RWE, operates a diversified generating capacity of about 45 GW; RWE Power alone generates over 30 GW. Besides a share of approximately 20% nuclear power, a large proportion of the generating base is in lignite and hard coal. RWE has an ambitious, Euro10 bn newbuild program of about 10 GW modern fossil fired plants and further expansion plans across Europe. By 2012, RWE intends to invest between Euro 15 and 20 bn outside Germany.The European Union has a challenging policy to increase the share of renewables, improve energy efficiency, and reduce greenhouse gases by 2020. At the same time, ageing power plants need to be replaced. This requires an enormous investment program across Europe. Nuclear power therefore, as a proven technology with low lifecycle carbon emissions and reasonable lifecycle cost, is a crucial contributor to achieve Europe's 2020 goals. ...
Looking at some of the national and international developments in hydrogen technology it becomes clear which important contributions the hydrogen technology oriented activities of the EU have helped to prepare and trigger: (a) Transport Energy Strategy (TES): This initiative of 7 major German automobile and mineral oilcompanies is aimed at an industrial consensus on one or two gasoline alternative fuels, which are to be presented to the German Ministry of Transport. An intermediate trend is that hydrogen may become the fuel of choice. (b) BMW: The Bayerischen Motorenwerke have already very early exposed themselves to the vehicle and component development of hydrogen as a vehicle fuel, focussing on a strategy from CNG to LNG and LH{sub 2}. (c) Opel and GM: Opel has recently announced they have chosen hydrogen as the primary long term fuel for their fuel cell vehicles to be commercialized starting in 2004. (d) CFCP: The California Fuel Cell Partnership with partners from industry and ...
Requirements on PSA for risk informed applications are expressed in different international documents. The ASME PRA standard published in spring 2002 is one such document, PSA requirements are also expressed in the European Utility Requirements (EUR) for new reactors. The Swedish PSA requirements are provided in the Swedish regulators (SKI) statutes SKIFS 2004:1. SKI also has a review handbook for PSA activities (SKI report 2003:48). The review handbook is a support during review of the utilities PSA activities and the PSAs themselves. The review handbook expresses SKIs expectations by providing so called important aspects for both the PSA work and the PSAs, A comparison of SKIFS requirements and the important aspects in the Review handbook, on one side, and the requirements on PSA in EUR and ASME on the other side, is presented. The comparison shows a large difference in the level of detail in the different documents, where ASME is most detailed and specific. This ...
The As Pontes coal-fired power plant in northwest Spain is the largest single emitter of sulphur dioxide in the 'old' EU15. The plant is also among the largest emitters of nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide in the region, according to the EPER (European Pollutant Emission Register). But Spain has also several other large emitters of air pollutants. The Andorra which is located in the province of Teruel is one of them. The Andorra power plant emitted 209,148 tones of SO{sub 2} in 2002 which makes it the second largest single emitter of SO{sub 2} in the EU15. It also emitts large quantities of NOx. Also in the northwest of Spain, the Composilla and La Robla power plants are the SO{sub 2} and NOx emitters.
Data from the New Immigrant Survey are used to study wealth differentials among U.S. legal permanent residents. This study is unique in its ability to account for wealth held in the U.S. and that held abroad and yields several key findings. First, relative to immigrants from Western Europe, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand (who have median wealth similar to native born non-Hispanic whites), other immigrant groups have lower levels of total wealth even after accounting for permanent income and life course characteristics. Second, time in the U.S. is positively associated with the wealth of married immigrants, yet this relationship is not statistically significant for single immigrants. Third, differences in the means of measured characteristics between Western European immigrants and thos...
The paper investigates early Soviet policies regarding the institution of waqf (charitable endowment) in Turkestan, questioning the issue of the post-colonial character of the early Soviet administration. After taking into consideration practices related to waqf management in modern Muslim states and European colonial empires, the paper briefly describes the tsarist administrative approach to the issue. We then address the ambiguity inherent in Soviet policies on waqf requisition and restitution during Civil War years. In the section that follows we deal with different groups of Muslim intellectuals that attempted to use the Soviet state in their mutual struggle over authority in Central Asian society and describe the creation and functioning of the bureaucracies responsible for managing w...
Male traits that correlate with fertilization success include testis size and structure, ejaculate size, ejaculation frequency, and sperm motility. Two hypotheses potentially explain interspecific differences in these traits: sperm competition and sperm limitation. We examined variation in six traits associated with fertilization success in three closely-related species of bitterling fish; the European bitterling (Rhodeus amarus), the Chinese rose bitterling (Rhodeus ocellatus), and the Chinese bitterling (Rhodeus sinensis). Interspecific differences indicated that the three study species have evolved different sperm allocation strategies. Rhodeus amarus displayed the most developed reproductive apparatus with a number of traits associated with both high levels of sperm production and fert...
The establishment of the domestic market in Europe requires rules for the assignment of orders, with which a standardization of the rules of competition can be achieved and with which a discrimination of individual bidders can be prevented. Clients and contractors of power station equipments equally are affected by the definitions for the assignment of orders. The contribution under consideration is a regulation for the procurement of steam turbine systems. It is a supplement of the European standard DIN EN 45510:1998. The regulation integrates the former terms of delivery of association of the electricity industry (VDEW) for steam turbines as well as the collection and evaluation of a multiplicity of experiences of the VGB regulations.
This paper explores the potential of combining substance-flow modelling with water and wastewater sampling to trace consumption-related substances emitted through the urban wastewater. The method is exemplified on sucralose. Sucralose is a chemical sweetener that is 600 times sweeter than sucrose and has been on the European market since 2004. As a food additive, sucralose has recently increased in usage in a number of foods, such as soft drinks, dairy products, candy and several dietary products. In a field campaign, sucralose concentrations were measured in the inflow and outflow of the local wastewater treatment plant in Linkoping, Sweden, as well as upstream and downstream of the receiving stream and in Lake Roxen. This allows the loads emitted from the city to be estimated. A method c...
The primary UK legislation relating to the use of radioactive materials are the Radioactive Substances Act 1993 (RSA, 1993) and the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999 (IRR, 1999). These implement the European Union's Basic Safety Standards Directive (EUBSS) (EC, 1996). The Radioactive Substances Act 1993 (RSA93) regulates the accumulation, storage and disposal of radioactive waste, principally to control potential doses to members of the public. The Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999 (IRR, 1999) deal primarily with regulating the doses that people receive at work. Both of these pieces of legislation apply to the use of materials containing naturally occurring radionuclides. Historically UK regulations relating to radioactive materials have covered both artificial and natural radionuclides
Summary We describe the initiation and establishment of The University of Zambia - University College London Medical School (UNZA-UCLMS) Research and Training Project, an entirely African scientist-led, south-north partnership. In its 16 year existence, the project, by successfully obtaining competitive grant funding, has transformed itself into one of Africa's most productive African-led R&D programmes with training and visible research outputs. The project serves as a role model and now networks R&D and training activities with six southern African (10 institutions) and six European countries. This project case study illustrates that deep commitment is essential for success and that the factors which facilitate success in R&D in Africa need to be evaluated. The long-term prospects for su...
Self-amplifying spontaneous radiation free-electron lasers, such as the LCLS or the European X-FEL, rely on the incoherent, spontaneous radiation as the seed for the amplifying process. Though this method overcomes the need for an external seed source one drawback is the incoherence of the effective seed signal. The FEL process allows for a natural growth of the coherence because the radiation phase information is spread out within the bunch due to slippage and diffraction of the radiation field. However, at short wavelengths this spreading is not sufficient to achieve complete coherence. In this presentation we report on the results of numerical simulations of the LCLS X-ray FEL. From the obtained radiation field distribution the coherence properties are extracted to help to characterize the FEL as a light source.
The isopod parasite Ceratothoa oestroides becomes hard to eradicate in intensive fish rearing systems and in addition to causing weight loss in adult fish it causes mortalities in larval and juveniles stages of sea bass and sea bream. Faced with the fast emergence of this infection in Adriatic finfish facilities, an effective compound had to be tested for bath treatment. Ivermectin was chosen for this purpose on the basis of extensive practice in northern European countries which used ivermectin administered in food with good results in treatment of Lepeophtheirus sp. and Caligus sp. infections. For determination of toxicity of ivermectin, a short-term toxicity bioassay on 40-day-old sea bream, Sparus aurata, L., was conducted, following FAO and UNEP procedures for methodology in aquatic t...
This document is a summary of the available information on the thermo-hydro-mechanical properties of the bentonite barrier of a high-level radioactive waste repository and of the processes taking place in it during the successive repository operation phases. Mainly the thermal properties, the volume change processes (swelling and consolidation), the permeability and the water retention capacity are analysed. A review is made of the existing experimental knowledge on the modification of the these properties by the effect of temperature, water salinity, humidity and density of the bentonite, and their foreseen evolution as a consequence of the processes expected in the repository. The compiled evolution refers mostly to the FEBEX (Spain), the MX-80 (USA) and the FoCa (France) bentonite, considered as reference barrier materials in several European disposal concepts. (Author) 102 refs.
The objective of this Task Group is the coordination of research studies on biokinetic models and the evaluation of the implications of new biokinetic models on dose assessment and safety standards. For this the new ICRP models, which will be used for a revision of ICRP Publications 30, 54, 68 and 78, are implemented into six different computer codes in five European countries and quality assured by intercomparison procedures. The work has started with the implementation of the new ICRP Alimentary Tract Model. New systemic models and the new NCRP wound model will follow. The work also includes the evaluation of experimental results in terms of formulation by the new model structures and a quality assurance of model formulation. PMID:17556343
In this paper, we investigate the relationship between the subprime asset-backed collateralized debt obligations (CDO) market and Large Complex Financial Institutions (LCFIs). We attempt to account for the dynamics between the ABX index returns and the banks' equity returns through conditioning our analysis on the historical correlation between the variables. Three key results emerge from the analysis. First, we find a positive correlation between movements of the ABX index and the equity returns for all the LCFIs. Second, the volatility of ABX index returns tend to be transmitted to the volatilities of the equity returns of the financial institutions. Third, ABX prices changes lead equity returns changes of the European-based LCFIs. For the US LCFIs a two-way linkage emerges.
The German National Group of the International Nuclear Law Association, AIDN/INLA, held its 10{sup th} regional conference in Celle on September 2 and 3, 2004. The event was attended by approx. 120 participants from twenty countries discussing 'the Internationalization of Nuclear Law'. Four sessions were devoted to in-depth studies of these topics: - Legal problems associated with the management of radioactive waste. - Regional nuclear safety vs. global nuclear safety. Do the Europeans need a supplementary EU regime of nuclear safety? - Liability and insurance in cases of nuclear damage. - Topical issues of German nuclear law. (orig.)
Abstract This article discusses the evolution of the public debate in Italy about unemployment over a period of almost ten years (1995-2002) that was particularly crucial for the Italian labour and political systems. From the early 1980s and throughout the 1990s, the country experienced major industrial change, which dramatically restructured its labour landscape. Moreover, this industrial earthquake occurred within internal (a deep political party system re-assessment and the fluctuating importance of unions) and external (European Union-driven state budgetary limits) political constraints that have heavily influenced the debate itself. The analysis of the public policy debates allows the authors of this article to portray the agendas, concepts and strategies introduced and discussed by e...
Taking the port city of Alicante the author outlines how numerous crossroads connect the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean. Along the arc of Euro-Mediterranean trading centres lies the European continent as a whole, extending eastwards to the republics emerging from the disintegration of the Soviet Empire, and in the south to Francophone and Muslim Africa. This arc of trading towns includes Istanbul, Dubai, Naples, Antwerp, Hamburg, Marseilles and Alicante. The author traces the movements of individuals pursuing "suitcase trade" performed by means of face-to-face links, word of mouth, and verbal agreements. The author then traces this vast "choreographed movement" that originates from Europe's borders, and suggests that although reasons other than trade influence mobility a...
The European Commission recently authorized the import of baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) fruit pulp as a novel food. In rural West Africa the multipurpose baobab is used extensively for subsistence. Three hundred traditional uses of the baobab were documented in Benin, Mali, and Senegal across 11 ethnic groups and 4 agroecological zones. Baobab fruits and leaves are consumed throughout the year. The export of baobab fruits could negatively influence livelihoods, including reduced nutritional intake, change of power relations, and access rights. Capacity building and certification could encourage a sustainable and ethical trade of baobab fruits without neglecting baobab use in subsistence.
The depletion of stratospheric ozone is caused by chlorine species formed in heterogeneous processes on the surfaces of polar stratospheric cloud (PSC) particles. For studying local PSC formation processes in the Arctic a temperature lidar receiver was developed that makes use of the rotational Raman method, the only lidar technique for measuring atmospheric temperature profiles not perturbed by the presence of aerosols or cloud particles. The receiver was implemented in the mobile GKSS Raman lidar and transferred to Esrange (67.9 N, 21.1 E) near Kiruna in northern Sweden in winter 1997/98. Temperature data measured between January 22 and February 6, 1998, are presented and compared to model data analyzed by the European centre for medium-range weather forecast. Local temperature profiles are studied in three cases of type-Ib PSCs. This type is characterized by a low depolarization ratio. (orig.)
This paper considers the technical progress in offshore pipeline construction with limitation to some general subjects covering pipeline design, installation and start-up. In future the use of limit state pipeline design philosophy, may be implemented as an alternative to the stress based design commonly used to day giving a potential for further optimisation of the pipeline design and consequently reduction of the initial investment. Comprehensive research and development efforts in Norway in the second half of the 1970`s, made it technically feasible to cross the deep water Norwegian Trench in the 1980`s. In addition, the development of several offshore pipeline systems until to day including gas distribution systems to the European continent, have brought Norway to the forefront of technical expertise
The information gathered as operating manager when implementing the first photovoltaic rural electrification and technology transfer program carried out to date in the world in French Polynesia from 1978 to 1990 are detailed. The technical developments of equipment and the work in progress at the GENEC Cadarache within French, European or IEA programs in order to improve some components or appliances and make up for certain deficiencies are presented. This involves accelerated aging tests, Standardization work, development of high efficiency equipment. Non technical barriers are often emphasized. Technical barriers also exists. Considerable work in many domains of small PV systems remains to be done so as to combine all the conditions required to implement successful large programs in developed as well as in developing countries.
We combine establishment-level employment data with trade data by port to examine the impact of accession to the European Economic Community on the spatial distribution of UK manufacturing. We test the predictions from economic geography models of how external trade affects the spatial distribution of employment. We treat accession as a natural experiment which helps mitigate problems of endogeneity. Our results suggest that accession changed the country composition of trade and via the port composition induced an exogenous shock to different locations. In line with theory, we find that better access to export markets and intermediate goods increase employment while increased import competition decreases employment.
The paper gives a detailed overview of the history of subsidence engineering in South African collieries. Surface displacements resulting from total-seam extraction are discussed, and the important role of local geology is highlighted. It is shown that the differences in subsidence behaviour between South African and European collieries can be attributed to the presence of competent strata in the overburden of South African coal seams. Criteria are given for the prediction of the most important subsidence parameters, and a new model for the simulation of surface subsidence above total-extraction panels is introduced. The final section of the paper deals with the damage to surface structures caused by total-seam extraction. A brief summary of the most important undermining experiments in South African collieries is given, and it is concluded that local experiences of damage compare with those in Europe. 32 refs., 9 figs., 3 tabs.
We present mid-infrared spectro-imagery and high-resolution spectroscopy ofthe Orion bar and of a region in the Orion nebula. These observations have beenobtained in the Guaranteed Time with the Circular Variable Filters of the ISOcamera (CAM-CVF) and with the Short Wavelength Spectrometer (SWS), on board theEuropean Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). Our data shows emission fromamorphous silicate grains from the entire HII region and around the isolatedO9.5V star Theta2 Ori A. The observed spectra can be reproduced by a mixture ofinterstellar silicate and carbon grains heated by the radiation of the hotstars present in the region. Crystalline silicates are also observed in theOrion nebula and suspected around Theta2 Ori A. They are probably ofinterstellar origin. The ionization structure and the distribution of thecarriers of the Aromatic Infrared Bands (AIBs) are briefly discussed on thebasis of the ISO observations.
Spratly Islands, located in the southern part of the South China Sea (SCS), consist of more than 100 small islands, coral reefs and banks. Remote sensing is the only way to obtain a synoptic view of all of the islands in such a large area. It has been demonstrated that satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery is a very powerful tool for monitoring meso-scale and small-scale ocean processes in a large area. In this study, satellite SAR images were used to study the ocean environment in the area of Spratly Islands. The aim was to understand the capability of satellite remote sensing to monitor ocean processes and provide information for future field studies. Two sets of high-resolution European Remote Sensing satellite (ERS)-2 SAR images over the entire Spratly Islands area were coll...
Today, component oriented middlewares are used to design, develop and deploy easily distributed applications, by ensuring the heterogeneity, interoperability, and reuse of the software modules, and the separation between the business code encapsulated in the components and the system code managed by the containers. Several standards answer this definition such as: CCM (CORBA Component Model), EJB (Enterprise Java Beans) and .Net. However these standards offer a limited and fixed number of system services, removing any possibility to add system services or to reconfigure dynamically the middleware. Our works propose mechanisms to add and to adapt dynamically the system services, based on a reconfiguration language which is dynamically adaptable to the need of the reconfiguration, and on a tool of dynamic reconfiguration, a prototype was achieved for the OpenCCM platform, that is an implementation of the CCM specification. This work was partially financed by the ...
November was a quiet month in Washington. Although Congress has recessed until 1991, the Senate filled vacancies in party leadership positions created by November's elections. The House is expected to proceed with its changes in early December. The Nuclear Energy Forum was held in Washington, DC on November 11-14 to discuss the status of the nuclear industry in the USA. The Forum, held in conjunction with the American Nuclear Society's annual meeting, assembled a large number of CEO's from US, European, and Far Eastern utilities and vendors. The meeting concluded with an announcement by Philip Bayne, President of NYPA and chairman of the Nuclear Power Oversight Committee (NPOC), of the results of a year-long NPOC study entitled a open-quotes Strategic Plan for Building New Nuclear Power Plants.close quotes.
The radiation polymerization of multifunctional unsaturated polyester-monomer mixtures in wood forms interpenetrating network system. The mechanical resistance (compression, abrasion, hardness, etc.) of these composite materials are generally well over the original wood, however the impact strength is almost the same or even reduced, in comparison to the wood itself. An attempt is made using elastic polyester resins to produced wood-polyester composite materials with improved modulus of elasticity and impact properties. For the impregnation of European beech wood two types of elastic unsaturated polyester resins were used. The exothermic effect of radiation copolymerization of these resins in wood has been measured and the dose rate effects as well as hardening dose was determined. Felxural strength and impact properties were examined. Elastic unsaturated polyester resins improved the impact strength of wood composite materials. (author).
The Riskaudit 7 report has been made by a group of independent experts from Western European countries representing technical organizations specialized in the support of regulatory bodies of those countries. It represents a preliminary estimation of the Ukrainian WWER B 213 and B 320 reactors, based on the example of Rovno NPP, analysed with a Western practice. The first part of the document covers the following aspects of the report: core design and fuel management; pressurized components; electrical supply; instrumentation and control; containment; internal events; site conditions and external events.
Actinide recycling by partitioning and transmutation is considered as one of the most promising strategies to reduce the inventory of radioactive waste, thus contributing to make nuclear energy sustainable. To make advances beyond the current state of the art in pyrochemical separations processes, the Domain 2 (DM2) of ACSEPT has been built on considering a process approach based on system studied. Four work packages that represent the main steps of a process block diagram have been identified: head-end steps, core process development, and salt treatment for recycling and waste conditioning. The results obtained in this domain will be integrated in DM 3 (Process) in order to orientate the R and D studies of DM2 and to propose and validate flowsheets at the end of the project. The state of the art on pyrochemical separation within the European Community and the working program of ACSEPT in pyrometallurgy are presented in this work. (authors)
Abstract Policy-makers are increasingly recognising that the promotion of more sustainable consumption patterns is an indispensable prerequisite for achieving sustainable development in the long term. Policy documents and action plans have been published, and a wide array of policy instruments has been implemented with the aim of reducing the environmental and social burdens of consuming goods and services. But what are the latest trends and innovative approaches in sustainable consumption (SC) policies? What could be learnt for future policy-making? Based on an overview of European policy instruments and several case studies, the paper discusses instructive examples of SC policy instruments, in particular the Danish information campaign "One Tonne Less", the Dutch tax incentive scheme "Gr...
In Europe, the use of anti-EGFR monoclonal antibodies is restricted to Kirsten RAS (KRAS) wild-type colorectal tumors. Information on the KRAS status of the patients tumor is thus key for clinical practice; however, there is little guidance or definition on which KRAS mutations to assess and how to assess them. To ensure the consistency and the quality of KRAS test results in Europe, an interlaboratory control network needs to be set up. This pilot study aimed to identify the variables that need to be assessed in a quality control scheme and to provide a first assessment in a selected set of laboratories. Fourteen different tumor cases were circulated between 13 laboratories by a central laboratory acting as the referent for the mutation status determination. This study illustrated that of...
Within the framework of the MINEO research project assisted by the European Union the Deutsche Steinkohle AG (DSK) has developed methods for the operational use of remote sensing data and geo-information systems for the regular observation, measurement and evaluation of environmental effects in mining areas. Only indirect environmental effects of the mining industry, which may result in particular from subsidence-induced changes in the hydrological situation (ground water level, drainage) and the resulting effects on the vegetation and land utilisation, can be observed for the DSK test area 'Kirchheller Heide' because of the underground mine workings. Hence the evaluations of the remote sensing data were concentrated on the development of methods to measure and analyse the vegetation condition and any changes. MINEO thus constitutes a module for the DSK environmental information system. (orig.)
This report gives a brief introduction to the project `Probabilistic Design Tool for Wind Turbines` - PRODETO - which was carried out during the years 1996-98 with partial funding from the European Commission under the Non-Nuclear Energy Programme JOULE III. The report gives an overview of the objectives and motivation for the project, and the methodology used. In this context, an example of reliability-based wind turbine design against fatigue failure is outlined with emphasis on the various important steps herein, which include probabilistic load and resistance modelling, calculation of failure probability, and calibration of partial safety factors for use with a deterministic design code format. The results of the project are presented with emphasis on a developed computer program and its capabilities, and the various elements of an executed case study are outlined. A list of project reports concludes the report. (au)
The article profiles developments in pollution control resulting from the strict emissions control standards due to be set by the European Commission in 1992. In particular technology to meet new emissions targets for mercury and dioxins is described. Control technologies covered included fixed-bed, direct injection, circulating fluidized bed and spray adsorption all of which use activated charcoal to absorb dioxin and mercury. Unfortunately activated charcoal processes still leave waste to be disposed of. Options include recycling the spent activated charcoal to the incinerator, vitrifying the activated charcoal and fly ash into a glassy unleachable substance and cracking the dioxins catalytically. It is hoped the developments will increase public acceptance of incineration. 4 figs., 1 tabs.
...February 2010 | PR 10/14 Intelligent Energy demonstrates zero emission scooter at Loughborough Suzuki Burgman Fuel Cell Scooter Loughborough University spin out company Intelligent Energy has partnered with ...the Suzuki Motor Corporation to develop the zero emission Suzuki Burgman Fuel Cell Scooter which was given its European unveiling and first demonstrations in London ...Show, and demonstrated in Loughborough today (Friday 5 February), the city friendly Burgman Fuel Cell Scooter builds upon the success of the Crosscage fuel cell motorbike unveiled ... The Fuel Cell Burgman takes the next step towards offering cleaner, more efficient motorcycles in a practical and accessible form with the potential ...
In order to promote environmental damage monitoring and environmental impacts assessment caused by mining in China, the most significant project that uses advanced Earth Observation technology to assess environmental impacts caused by mining, namely MINEO (assessment and monitoring the environmental impact of mining activities in Europe using advanced Earth Observation technology) was introduced and its enlightenment to China were investigated. It was proposed that an integrated technical framework of monitoring environmental impacts caused by mining be designed, quantitative inversion of biological and environmental parameters from RS data be emphasised, hyperspectral Remote Sensing be applied, RS and GIS be integrated with professional models, multi-object applications of RS be implemented, and related standards and specification be drawn up based on typical case study sites. 23 refs., 1 fig.
Summary Indigenous people demonstrably lived along rivers and around lakes and wetlands of Australia's Murray-Darling Basin in pre-European times. Waterways were, and continue to be, of major significance to the society and culture of Aboriginal peoples throughout Australia. Historically, they exploited most of the fauna - from mussels and crayfish, to fish and birds - and either ate, or used for other purposes, many species of aquatic plants. Such practices placed them in the role of environmental modifiers, a role played by all human groups from both past and present. They built sophisticated fish traps, cut gaps in river banks to allow fish to move on to floodplains, and there is evidence that they practised a form of fish culture by creating small impoundments in which small fish could...
Summary Background The seventh amendment of the European Union (EU) Cosmetics Directive (March 2005) and the Detergents Regulations of the EU (October 2005) are now legal requirements in Europe. Cosmetic products and detergents must be labelled for 26 individual named fragrances, when present at concentrations of > 10 parts per million (p.p.m.) in leave-on products and > 100 p.p.m. in rinse-off products. Objectives To make an assessment of the exposure pattern to fragrance of the U.K. consumer and to determine the frequency with which the constituent fragrances of fragrance mix I (FM I) and fragrance mix II (FM II) are included in products currently sold in the U.K. Methods A study of perfumed cosmetic and household products available on the shelves of U.K. retailers was carried out in Jan...
Background Food additives are an integral part of the modern food system, but opinion polls showing most Europeans have worries about them imply an urgent need for ethical analysis of their use. Sources of data The existing literature on food ethics, safety assessment and animal testing. Areas of agreement Food additives provide certain advantages in terms of many people's lifestyles. Areas of controversy There are disagreements about the appropriate application of the precautionary principle and of the value and ethical validity of animal tests in assessing human safety. Growing points Most consumers have a poor understanding of the relative benefits and risks of additives, but concerns over food safety and animal testing remain high. Areas timely for developing research Examining the impacts of food additives on consumer sovereignty, consumer health and on animals used in safety testing should allow a more informed debate about their appropriate uses. ...
With the ubiquitous availability of commercial VME modules and interface chips many experiments in all branches of Experimental Physics are turning to VME as the module packaging and backplane protocol of choice for application specific modules. The current VME backplane, electrical, and mechanical standards are clearly lacking when it comes to implementing the analogue and digital front end modules that Physics experiments rely on to provide the needed high speed and intelligent solutions to their data collection requirements. To address these needs the European ESONE and American VME-P committees are collaborating with the ANSII and ISO standards committees, and the VME VITA/VSO manufacturers associations, to define standard extensions to the VME protocols for such HEP needs as ``sparse data scans``, standard uses and implementations of previously user defined pins and connectors, standardization of the 9U form factor VME cards etc. This paper reports on the ...
Sheltering, evacuation and distribution of stable iodine tablets are considered to be major early emergency actions aiming at diminishing the consequences after a release of radioactive materials from nuclear power plants into the air. Whether in real situations emergency managers will act accordingly is hard to predict. Uncertainties associated with these decisions are termed 'volitional' uncertainties. These uncertainties, however, cannot be assessed by expert judgements as they express the decision at stake in an emergency situation. Uncertainties on the times to implement countermeasures and on the times for the general population to respond to these measures can be assessed by experts, as they represent 'lack-of-knowledge' uncertainties. This paper describes the difference in approach of both types of uncertainties and shows the results of expert judgements on the latter type of uncertainties in early emergency actions. Ten experts from seven ...
The French agency of environment and energy mastery (Ademe) and Deutsche Energie Agentur (DENA) organised in Berlin on November 22 and 23, 2001, the first seminar and forum of ideas and exchanges on the implementation of energy efficiency and renewable energy policies in France and in Germany. On this occasion, Ademe asked Energie-Cites - an association of European cities with a long practical experience in 'good practice' exchanges - to prepare a publication describing the experience of about ten French cities or local energy agencies in energy management issues. The case studies presented in this document concern the following cities: Besancon, Dole, Dunkerque, Lille, Montpellier, and the local energy agencies of Clermont-Ferrand (Aduhme), Grenoble, Montreuil-Vincennes, Mulhouse and Rennes. (J.S.)
Considerable effort worldwide has been put into trying to find the best way to utilise the large amount of energy that we put into our dustbins every day. One of the problems encountered is that the waste collection systems tend to gather together in one place between 400 and 1000 t of the stuff everyday and since it is possible to extract rather more than 2 MW from each tonne, that is a lot of energy for which to find a market. In continental European cities, especially Germany, and Sweden with most of the population living in apartment blocks, and with colder winters than the UK, district heating provides a suitable market. With its milder winters, more diverse housing and cheap gas the UK is not such a fertile ground for district heating. But since the passing of the Energy Act in 1984, there is a steady market in electricity generation with the advantage that the purchase tariffs are published so that income can be accurately calculated.
This volume presents the main address, the lectures and the discussions of the symposium. The papers presented to the symposium were the following: the Draft Convention on the Law of the Sea and problems of the international deep seabed regime; developments in science and technology, as a challenge to international law; modern fishery engineering and its impact on international law; the EEC agricultural market - a case study of European Law; problems of international law in connection with a new system of the world economy; the GATT and a new world economic system; the Third World and UNCTAD; international disaster relief and mutual assistance in case of accidents, especially with a view to Atomic Energy Law; organisation, scope and limits of international co-operation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
The aim of this paper is to analyze the influence of the legal and institutional environment on bidder firm returns around the announcement date of cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As). The database includes 469 M&As of European (221 cross-border and 248 domestic) listed firms, with target firms being worldwide public or private firms (40 countries), over the 2002-2006 period. Shareholders of acquiring firms place greater value on cross-border M&A announcements than on domestic ones. The stronger (weaker) the legal and institutional environment of the acquirer firm country in comparison with that of the target firm country, the more positive (negative) the effect on acquiring-firm shareholders' valuation of M&As.
The next decade promises an observational revolution which will change cosmology forever. The precise measurement of the angular anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background should specify to a few percent all of the parameters of the cosmological model which effect astrophysics. The growth of structure will then be determined (but not yet observed) until gravitational collapse becomes highly non-linear and stars, galaxies and active galactic nuclei (AGN) form. These processes are hard to model with basic physics because they are complex and allow a rich variety of expression. Instead observations will determine when the first stars and quasars formed, and how and when galaxies assembled. If we can reconcile the numerous contradictions which characterize the subject today, cosmology will become a mature subject, founded on the agreement between detailed, inclusive and realistic models, which make precise predictions, and the wealth of new data which will come from a wide variety of ...
Abstract Purpose: We evaluated complications of urologic laparoscopic surgery at our institution. Patients and Methods: From December 1991 to January 2009, 1017 urologic laparoscopic surgical procedures were performed in Kansai Medical University, including 277 radical prostatectomies, 13 donor nephrectomies, 74 partial nephrectomies, 158 radical nephrectomies, 55 pyeloplasties, 97 nephrouretectomies, 54 simple nephrectomies, 128 adrenalectomies, 34 varicocelectomies, and 127 other procedures. Medical records of each procedure were retrospectively evaluated. The difficulty of each procedure was classified according to the European Scoring System (ESS). Intraoperative and postoperative complications were graded according to the Satava and Clavien classifications, respectively. Results: Amon...
The reference method used to analyse polychlorodibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorodibenzofurans (PCDFs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCBs) is chromatography with high resolution mass spectrometry (GC-HRMS). It is interesting to check the suitability of screening methods that are faster and less expensive. Different matrices (milk, fish oil, chicken compound feed, pork tissue, chicken tissue, sepiolitic clay, whole egg and herring tissue) were analysed in the frame of the European project DIFFERENCE1. One of the aims of this project is to optimise screening methods. The CALUX bio-assay was one of the screening techniques used. This paper presents the extraction and purification methods used for the analyses. The CALUX results for dioxins and for dl-PCBs were compared to the corresponding GC-HRMS results.
The starting material for two certified and one candidate reference material was obtained from dried grass specially cultivated on a selected and well prepared soil. The Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) of the Commission of the European Communities produced two certified reference materials (CRM`s) from this dried grass: a rye grass material (CRM 281) certified in 1988 for the quality control of trace and toxic element analyses and a hay powder material (CRM 129) certified in 1989 for monitoring trace and minor elements. A fraction of the dried grass was used in 1993 for the preparation of a hay powder with a particle size of < 63 {mu}m using newly developed grinding techniques. This paper compares the production methods of these three materials and the obtained particle size distribution of the powders. The analytical evaluation of these production methods was carried out by solid sampling Zeeman atomic absorption spectrometry for the determination of Cd, Pb ...
Abstract Purpose: To compare the safety and efficiency of conventional monopolar, plasmakinetic and holmium laser transurethral resection of bladder tumor (CM-TURBT, PK-TURBT and HoL-TURBT) while managing primary non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. Patients and Methods: From 2005 to 2009, 173 patients with primary non-muscle invasive bladder cancer underwent endoscopic surgery. Among them, 51 patients underwent CM-TURBT, 58 patients underwent PK-TURBT, and 64 patients underwent HoL-TURBT. All patients were divided into three risk groups (low, intermediate, and high) based on the European Association of Urology guidelines and prognostic factors of recurrence. Clinical data, included preoperative, operative, and postoperative management and follow-up, were recorded. Results: Patient demograp...
Abstract Background: This study involves a multicentre surveillance of tigecycline and tetracycline activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria from primary care centres (PCCs), general hospital wards (GHWs) and intensive care units (ICUs) in Denmark (n == 9), Finland (n == 10), Norway (n == 7) and Sweden (n == 19). Methods: The hospitals were each asked to test 30 consecutive Gram-positive and 30 Gram-negative clinical isolates. Supportive information accompanying each isolate included the study centre, ward level (PCC, GHW, or ICU), patient identification and source of the isolate. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for tetracycline and tigecycline were determined with the Etest. Results: The isolates collected comprised 1610 Gram-negative and 1767 Gram-positive clini...
Background: A possible association between the polymorphic CAG repeat in the DNA polymerase gamma (POLG) gene and the risk of testicular germ-cell tumours (TGCT) was investigated in this study. The hypothesis was prompted by an earlier preliminary study proposing an association of the absence of the common 10-CAG-long POLG allele with testicular cancer as well as previously reported in some European populations' association with male subfertility, which is a condition carrying an increased risk of TGCT. Patients and methods: The number of CAG repeats in both POLG alleles was established in 243 patients with TGCT and in 869 controls by the analysis of the genomic DNA fragment. Results: A significantly higher proportion of men homozygous allele of other than the common 10 CAG repeats was fou...
Ground deformation affecting the Umbria region (central Italy) in the 9-year period from 1992 to 2000 was investigated through multi-temporal Differential Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (DInSAR). For the purpose, the Small BAseline Subset (SBAS) technique was adopted, which allows studying the temporal evolution of the detected deformation at two spatial scales: a low-resolution (regional) scale, and a full-resolution (local) scale. For the analysis, SAR data acquired by the European Remote Sensing (ERS-1/2) satellites along ascending and descending orbits were used. The detected deformation was analysed to investigate its relevance to geophysical, geomorphologic, and human-induced processes that may result in hazardous conditions to the population of Umbria. Low-resolution deform...
Abstract Large areas of the southern European countries possess a Mediterranean climate, which influences soil properties, land use, fertilizer application practices and pathways of phosphorus (P) loss from agricultural soils. On average, inputs of fertilizer P exceed P exports from the agricultural areas in these countries; however, large differences in P surplus/deficit and soil P test values exist among regions. Losses of P in drainage water are modest except in some irrigated areas and in those regions where intensive animal production is concentrated. Losses of P in runoff water, whether as dissolved reactive or particulate P, can be substantial as a result of the significance of erosive processes under the land uses typical of the Mediterranean region, where extreme rainfall events c...
The A.C.R.O. is an association law 1901 declared at the Calvados prefecture at the date of 14. october 1986 and registered as environment protection. It was created, by more than 900 persons, in the months following the Chernobylsk accident in reaction to a lack of information and means of independent radiation monitoring. The particularity of the association is to own a laboratory of radioactivity analysis. Since the end of the nineties, the concerns include the natural sources of irradiation as the radon and apply to the consequences, out of nuclear industry, of the use of ionizing radiation or radioactive matter. On this last point, the affair of the orphan industrial site Bayard at Saint-Nicolas-d'Aliermont, massively contaminated by radium-226 devoted to the fabrication of alarm clocks, and the appearance of exemption threshold in the European law are elements at the origin of this evolution. (N.C.)
The Waste Sampling and Characterization Facility (WSCF) complex consists of the main structure (WSCF) and four support structures located in the 600 Area of the Hanford site east of the 200 West area and south of the Hanford Meterology Station. WSCF is to be used for low level sample analysis, less than 2 mRem. The Laboratory features state-of-the-art analytical and low level radiological counting equipment for gaseous, soil, and liquid sample analysis. In particular, this facility is to be used to perform Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976 and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980 sample analysis in accordance with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Protocols, room air and stack monitoring sample analysis, waste water treatment process support, and contractor laboratory quality assurance checks. The samples to be analyzed contain very low concentrations of radioisotopes. The main reason that ...
Biological monitoring has been conducted in industrially impacted streams near US Department of Energy facilities in Tennessee and Kentucky for almost ten years. A comprehensive Biological Monitoring and Abatement Program, which was developed to meet National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit requirements, includes tasks on (1 ) toxicity testing; (2) bioaccumulation in aquatic and terrestrial biota; (3) bioindicators of fish health; and (4) fish, macroinvertebrate, and periphyton community surveys. These studies have been used successfully to characterize spatial trends and demonstrate temporal recovery resulting from remedial actions and pollution abatement activities, identify contaminant sources, and provide data for conducting ecological risk assessments. The program uses multiple lines of evidence to evaluate stream recovery and illustrates the importance of using an integrated approach when determining stream health. An overview of data collected from studies on ...
An initial draft of an environmental and natural resource strategy for the Asia Near/East region in the 1990's is presented. The report contains five chapters. Chapter I provides an analytic framework that links natural resources, their extent, quality, and management with economic growth in the region. Chapter II contains a more detailed description and analysis of key resource problems that are restricting economic growth and have a severe negative impact on standard of living and quality of life. The most serious of these are soil and water degradation; destruction of natural forests, wetlands, and coastal zones; inefficient energy use and industrial pollution; and lack of environmental services. Chapters III and IV describe 20 specific opportunities for working toward sustainable economic growth through protection and enhancement of the natural resource base. Opportunities for action were chosen on the basis of the urgency and importance of the ...
The Argonne Boundary Layer Experiments (ABLE) facility, located in south central Kansas, east of Wichita, is devoted primarily to investigations of and within the planetary boundary layer (PBL), including the dynamics of the mixed layer during both day and night; effects of varying land use and land form; the interactive role of precipitation, runoff, and soil moisture; storm development; and energy budgets on scales of 10 to 100 km. Located entirely within the Walnut River watershed, ABLE provides intense measurements within the northeast quadrant (Fig. 1) of the Southern Great Plains (SGP) Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program (Stokes and Schwarz, 1994). By combining the continuous measurements of ABLE with ancillary continuous measurements of, for example, the ARM and the Global Energy Water cycle Experiment (GEWEX) (Kinster and Shukla, 1990) programs, ABLE provides a platform within which shorter, more ...
Several types of coatings have previously been visually identified on the surface of 105-K East and 105-K West Basins fuel elements. One type of coating (found only in K West Basin) in particular was found to be a thick translucent material that was often seen to be dislodged from the elements as flakes when the elements were handled during visual examinations (Pitner 1997). Subsequently it was determined (for one element only in a hot cell) that this material, in the dry condition, could easily be removed from the element using a scraping tool. The coating was identified as Al(OH){sub 3} through X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses and to be approximately 60 {micro}m thick via scanning electron microscopy (SEM). However, brushing under water in the basin using numerous mechanical strokes failed to satisfactorily remove these coatings in their thickest form as judged by appearance. Such brushing was done with only one type of metal brush, a brush design previously ...
Thermal and mechanical properties for geothermal formations are tabulated for a range of temperatures and stress conditions. Data was obtained from the technical literature and direct contacts with industry. Thermal properties include heat capacity, conductivity, and diffusivity. Undisturbed geothermal profiles are also presented. Mechanical properties include Youngs modulus and Poisson ratio. GEOTEMP thermal simulations of drilling, production and injection are reported for two geothermal regions, the hot dry rock area near Los Alamos and the East Mesa field in the Imperial Valley. Actual drilling, production, and injection histories are simulated. Results are documented in the form of printed GEOTEMP output and plots of temperatures versus depth, radius, and time. Discussion and interpretation of the results are presented for drilling and well completion design to determine: wellbore temperatures during drilling as a function of depth; bit temperatures over the ...
Full text.Surficial sediment samples were collected from seventeen springs distributed all over Lebanon (east, west, north and south). Concentrations of metals Ca, Fe, Mn, Ni, Cu, Cr, Zn and Pb were determined by energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence technique. Irradiation was done by the radioisotope source Cd-109 and the detection by an EG and G Si(Li) detector. These analysis was done in attempt to assess the impact of anthropogenic sources on ground water quality. Metals concentration in sediment were found to be (Ca:0.05-47%, Fe:0.24-4.2%, Cr:
This paper presents the directional dependence of surface scaling parameters namely roughness length and corresponding friction velocity, for neutral category of Tarapur coastal site. The average roughness length of lowest value of 0.07 m (SW) and the highest value of 0.32 m (E) and average friction velocity of lowest value 1.6 m/sec(SSE) and a highest value 2.8 m/sec (SW) for the year 2006 were observed. Wind profile studies for the coastal site Tarapur with the wind data measured from meteorological tower of 30m which is at 1500m downwind fetch distance from the coastal line in the east direction gave the wind profile index parameter 'p' as 0.4, 0.5 and 0.75 for Unstable, Neutral and Stable weather conditions respectively. Sector Average Turbulent kinetic energy estimated as 17.7m2/s2 and its dissipation rate is 3.1 m2/s3 for the 10m elevation from the surface. A surface drag coefficient CD for the 10m height is 0.0076 for the smooth ocean surface and 0.0107 for ...
WIPP, intended for underground permanent disposal of defense transuranic waste, is located 40 km east of Carlsbad at a depth of 655 m in the salt beds of the 600-m thick Permian Salado Formation. It will consist of 56 ``rooms`` each 91.5 m long, 10 m wide, and 4 m high, grouped in 8 ``panels`` of 7 rooms each. About 7.5 km of access drifts will also be provided. Excavation began in 1982 and surface/access/test facilities and one panel were completed by 1988, many years before it could be used. Current plans are to start emplacing waste in WIPP in 1998 and continue for 35 years. The north- south drift E140 is the widest (25 ft) of the four main north-south drifts and is the main north-south passage. Plans to conduct experiments with waste in 1993 were abandoned, and the plan now is to use panel 1 for permanent disposal of waste starting in 1998. The stability evaluation resulted in the conclusion that, while it would be possible to safely use portions of panel 1 for ...
The Green River Basin is a northwest-southeast elongate structural feature located in southwestern Wyoming. Bounded by three basement uplifts, this complex mountain front basin possesses tremendous gas reserves. Production has been limited to a few structures, such as the Pinedale Anticline, because of the great depth of the basin. The Pinedale Anticline is an elongate structure that parallels the front of the Wind River Thrust. Earlier research has suggested that the anticline is not related to basement, but rather is associated with a foreland detachment structure. A new, high-resolution aeromagnetic survey has been modelled in detail and the results indicate that the Pinedale Anticline may actually be a basement related structure. Profile modelling normal to the anticline from the LaBarge Platform to the Wind River Mountains suggests that not only is Pinedale Field situated on a possible basement structure, but also that additional, heretofore unknown analogous features are also ...
The Catalagzi Thermal Power Plant (CTPP) is located at nearly 13 km North-east of Zonguldak city, which is located at the West Black Sea coast in Turkey. The middling products with high ash content of bituminous coals are used in this plant. Seasonal radon concentration measurements have been carried out by using CR-39 plastic track detectors in and around the CTPP. The annual average radon concentration has been found to vary from a minimum of 39.8 {+-} 28.9 Bq m{sup -3}) in the ash area to a maximum of about to 75.0 {+-} 15.7 Bq m{sup -3} in the service building of the power plant. The annual average radon concentration in the dwellings of the thermal power plant colony of the plant is 71.0 {+-} 33.4 Bq m{sup -3}. The effective dose has been found to vary from 0.38 to 0.71 mSv y{sup -1} with a mean value of 0.56 mSv y{sup -1}, which is lower than the effective dose values 3-10 mSv given as the range of action levels recommended by International Commission on ...
"2"3"9 "2"4"0Pu concentrations were measured in biota from a 30-year-old contaminated floodplain forest in Tennessee. Concentration ratios relative to soil, for plutonium in litter, invertebrate cryptozoans, herbaceous ground vegetation, orthoptera and small mammals were approximately 10"-"1, 10"-"2, 10"-"3, and 10"-"4, respectively. Concentration ratios (CR) for plutonium in biota from the floodplain forest are less than CR values from other contaminated ecosystems in the USA. Presumably, this is due to humid conditions and greater rainfall which minimize resuspension as a physical transport mechanism to biota. Plutonium and radiocesium concentrations are correlated in biota from the forest at Oak Ridge and also from Mortandad Canyon in New Mexico. The cause of the covariance between concentrations of these elements is unknown. Nevertheless, the existence of these relationships suggests that it is possible to predict plutonium in biota from radiocesium concentrations when both ...
The Sierra Madre Occidental of western Mexico is composed dominantly of Mid-Tertiary felsic and subordinate mafic volcanic rocks with only sparse outcrops of non-volcanic rocks. There are widely scattered but small exposure of plutonic rocks but regionally metamorphosed rocks are not known to occur in the Sierra. To this date the only known area where plutonic and metamorphic xenoliths have been found is near the village of Basaseachic in western Chihuahua where thick outcrops of the Cascada Tuff occur. The xenoliths are the only known occurrence of regionally metamorphosed rocks for a distance of about 400 km between exposures of Precambrian rocks to the west in Sonora and the east in central Chihuahua. Non-volcanic xenoliths from a few cm to about one meter in diameter occur most abundantly in the upper portions of the Cascada Tuff. They can be divided into four main groups in decreasing order of abundance as follows: (1) coarse-grained phaneritic felsic igneous ...
The quantitative estimation of various trace element concentrations in medicinal plants is necessary for determining their effectiveness in treating various diseases and for understanding their pharmacological action. Elemental concentrations of some selected medicinal plants of north east India was measured by proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE) and proton induced {gamma}-ray emission (PIGE) techniques. PIXE measurements were carried out using 2.4 MeV collimated protons from the 3 MV tandetron accelerator of NCCCM, Hyderabad (India) while the PIGE measurements were carried out using 3 MeV protons from the same accelerator in the same laboratory. Accuracy and precision of the techniques were assured by analyzing certified reference materials in the same experimental conditions. Various elements of biological importance in man's metabolism were found to be present in varying concentrations in the studied medicinal plants and no toxic heavy metals were ...
The article reports the reserves of fossil resources. The world's total coal reserves and recoverable coal reserves the estimated at 8,400 billion tons and 728 billion tons, respectively. For oil, the verified reserves and reserve production ratio in the Middle East are 420.9 billion bbl and about 100 years, respectively. They are 141 billion bbl and about 20 years for North and South America, 81 billion bbl and about 18 years for the Soviet Union, 10.8 billion bbl and 34 years for China, 9.8 billion bbl and 26 years for Western Europe and 38.7 billion bbl and 42 years for Africa. The total reserves of natural gas in the world were shown to be 3,981.6 x 10/sup 12/ cf at the World Petroleum Congress in 1987. The amount of recoverable primitive oil sand resources in the world is 436 billion bbl, of which as much as about 70 percent is in Canada. The amount of ultimate primitive oil shale resources is 3,281 billion bbl, of which 2,002.4 billion bbl is in ...
ObjectivesThe overall scientific aim of this project is, through development of an appropriate numerical modelling tool, to identify and investigate the mechanisms that control the current observed rapid thinning and acceleration of Greenland outlet glaciers and to investigate their likely future behaviour in the context of climate warming. This aim is addressed through the four major specific objectives below. These objectives build on each and therefore the order of priority is driven by the order in wh [continued...]DescriptionCurrently, the Greenland ice sheet is undergoing rapid changes in the coastal regions which have been attributed to a general warming trend to the regions climate over the last decade. Several of the narrow and fast flowing outlet glaciers that drain the ice sheet into the sea are observed to have accelerated their flow and thinned. For instance, Jakobshavn Isbrae on the West coast of Greenland has almost doubled its speed since 2000 from 7km/year to ...
In the Assel'skiy and Sakmarskiy time of the lower Permian epoch, on the territory of the modern Dnieper and Donets, and Pripyatskiy Basins, there was a gulf which stretched in a northwest direction. The latter connected to the open sea in the east through the CisDonets trough. Transverse tectonic elevations divided the gulf into 5 semi-isolated reservoirs. In the Assel'skiy time, in the period of carbonate sedimentation, the development of algae, crinoids, corals and other organisms occurred. They created reef, bioherm and biostroma reconstructions. The most favorable sections for their settlement were the coastal zones of the gulf, consedimentation positive structures and transverse tectonic elevations. It is assumed that the formation of reefs, bioherms and biostromas, on the one hand, and sedimentation of evaporites on the other hand, are interrelated processes. The first after the next marine transgression during their growth was a greater ...
This report presented some quick facts about oil and gas pipelines in Turkey and presented opportunities for trade. The key players and customers in the oil and gas sector were described along with an export check list. Turkey is looking into becoming an energy bridge between oil and gas producing countries in the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe. The oil and gas sectors are dominated by the Turkish Petroleum Corporation, a public enterprise dealing with exploration and production, and the State Pipeline Corporation which deals with energy transmission. They are also the key buyers of oil and gas equipment in Turkey. There are several pipelines connecting countries bordering the Caspian Sea. Opportunities exist in the areas of engineering consulting as well as contracting services for oil and gas pipeline transmission and distribution. Other opportunities lie in the area of pipeline construction, rehabilitation, materials, equipment, installation, and ...
The high rate of deforestation over the Andean forests has generated a large proportion of fragmented landscapes in the country. The distribution of oak groves in the country was determined based on ecosystem maps. Charala and Encino oak groves patches are the largest ones found at the east Andes and like others, due to the unfair use of these resources, have suffered a fragmentation process. Fifty-five species of mammals included in 10 orders and 14 families were found in these forests. Chiroptera and Rodentia were the most representative groups. Anthropic processes had produced a 68.1% loss of the habitat and constitute the main threat for these forests. The sizes of the patches were evaluated for three mammal species categories. The patches' area are not favorable for large-size species, intermediately to favorable to medium-size species and are favorable for small-size species. It is suggested that patches' area effect over mammal species could relate to the ...
This Maintenance Implementation Plan (MIP) has been developed for maintenance functions associated with the B Plant/WESF (Waste Encapsulation Storage Facility) complex. The objective of this plan is to provide baseline information for establishing and identifying WHC conformance programs and policies applicable to implementation of DOE order 4330.4B guidelines. In addition, this maintenance plan identifies the actions necessary to develop a cost-effective and efficient maintenance program at B Plant/WESF. The B Plant WESF facility complex consists of three main facilities and several support structures located in the 200 East Area of the Hanford site. B Plant is a transition facility that is required to ensure safe storage and management of WESF (operating facility) cesium and strontium capsules. B Plant/WESF also contains substantial radiological inventory from previous campaigns. There are no production activities at B Plant, but several of its operating systems ...
To keep up with the speeds of modern production lines, most machine vision applications require very powerful computers (often parallel-processing machines), which process millions of points of data in real time. The human brain performs approximately 100 billion logical floating-point operations each second. That is 400 times the speed of a Cray-1 supercomputer. The right software must be developed for parallel-processing computers. The NSF has awarded Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, N.Y.) a $2 million grant for parallel- and image-processing software research. Over the last 15 years, Rensselaer has been conducting image-processing research, including work with high-definition TV (HDTV) and image coding and understanding. A similar NSF grant has been awarded to Michigan State University (East Lansing, Mich.) Neural networks are supposed to emulate human learning patterns. These networks and their hardware implementations (neurocomputers) show a great deal ...
Groom-Bailey decomposition analysis was carried out to investigate regional 3-D galvanic distortion on MT data in the central part of Northeastern Japan. Measuring sites were located nearly along the east-west line crossing Northeastern Japan. Three measuring lines (A, B, C) from the north to the south were prepared, and only data on the C line were analyzed in this paper. As a result, twist and shear were estimated to be not zero depending on local distortion in most of the sites. It was thus clarified that this method is not always perfect. This method was effective for regional 2-D structures, however, its application was doubtful to complicated 3-D underground structures in Japan. In order to obtain more accurate results, 2-D analysis using the impedance including no local distortion effect was necessary after the preliminary Groom-Bailey decomposition analysis. The direction of the wide area geological structure of Northeastern Japan was estimated to be N-S ...
The paper reviews Asia-Pacific higher education and university research, focusing principally on the "Confucian" education nations Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong China, Taiwan, Singapore and Vietnam. Except for Vietnam, these systems exhibit a special developmental dynamism--still playing out everywhere except Japan--and have created a distinctive model of higher education more effective in some respects than systems in North America, the English-speaking world and Europe where the modern university was incubated. The Confucian Model rests on four interdependent elements: (1) strong nation-state shaping of structures, funding and priorities; (2) a tendency to universal tertiary participation, partly financed by growing levels of household funding of tuition, sustained by a private duty, grounded in Confucian values, to invest in education; (3) "one chance" national examinations that mediate social competition and university hierarchy and focus family commitments to education; (4) ...
This report consists of a review of the geological, geochemical and geophysical data available for the Eastern Copper River basin with emphasis on the mud volcanoes, and the results of geophysical and geochemical studies carried out in the summers of 1982 and 1984. The purpose was to determine if there are geothermal energy resources in the Copper River Basin. The Eastern Copper River basin is situated on the flanks of a major volcano, Mt. Drum, which was active as late as 200,000 years ago and which is thought to have retained significant amounts of residual heat at high levels. Mt. Wrangell, farther to the east, has been volcanically active up to the present time. The 1982 geophysical and geochemical surveys located three principal areas of possible geothermal interest, one near Tazlina and two near the Klawasi mud volcanoes. The intensive survey work of 1984 was concentrated on those areas. We have integrated the results of soil helium, soil mercury, gravity, ...
The thermal regime immediately downstream from bottom release reservoirs is often characterized by reduced diel and seasonal (winter warm/summer cool) conditions. These unusual thermal patterns have often been implicated as a primary factor underlying observed downstream changes in the species composition of aquatic macroinvertebrate communities. The potential mechanisms for selective elimination of benthic species by unusual thermal regimes has been reviewed. Although the effects of temperature on the rate and magnitude of larval growth and development has been included in the list of potential mechanisms, only recently have field studies below dams focused on this interrelationship. This study investigates the overall community structure as well as the seasonal pattern of larval growth and development for several univoltine species of insects in the Delaware River below or near the hypolimnetic discharge of the Cannonsville and Pepeacton dams. These dams, which are located on the ...
The 105-KE and 105-KW Fuel Storage Basins were constructed more than 35 years ago as repositories for irradiated fuel from the K East and K West Reactors. Currently, the basins contain irradiated fuel from the N Reactor. To continue to use the basins as desired, seismic adequacy in accordance with current US Department of Energy facility requirements must be demonstrated. The 105-KE and 105-KW Basins are reinforced concrete, belowground reservoirs with a 16-ft water depth. The entire water retention boundary, which currently includes a portion of the adjacent reactor buildings, must be qualified for the Hanford Site design basis earthquake. The reactor building interface joints are sealed against leakage with rubber water stops. Demonstration of the seismic adequacy of these interface joints was initially identified as a key issue in the seismic qualification effort. The issue of water leakage through seismicly induced cracks was also investigated. This issue, ...
The testing performed during the last phase of the geothermal direct contact heat exchanger program utilizing the 500 kW pilot plant provided more insight into the capabilities and limits of the direct contact approach and showed that more work needs to be done to understand the inner workings of a large direct contact heat exchanger if they are to be modeled analytically. Testing of the column demonstrated that the performance was excellent and that the sizing criteria is conservative. The system operated smoothly and was readily controlled over a wide range of operating conditions. Performance evaluation showed pinch differentials of 4/sup 0/F or less and better than predicted heat transfer capability. Testing during this final phase was directed towards establishing the limits of the column to transfer heat. The working column height was shortened progressively to approximately 16 feet from a design length of 28 feet. The short column performed as well as a full length column and ...
Canary Islands are normally interested by dominant North-East winds that, in some meteorological conditions, can transport sand at high altitude from the Sahara desert. The dust may affect the efficiency of the telescopes and decreases the transparency of the sky. In order to maximize the scientific return of the telescopes located at the ORM, we present an analysis of the atmospheric dust content and its effects on astronomical observations. B, V and I dust aerosol astronomical extinction are derived. Using a 5 years series database of data taken from the four channel TNG dust monitor, we compute a mean hourly and daily values of the dust content. We have detected particles having size 0.3, 0.5, 1.0 and 5.0 um. Using a power law we have derived the content of 10.0 um particles. We found a typical local dust concentration ranging from 3x10^6 particles per cubic meter at 0.3 um, to 10^3 at 5.0 um and 10 at 10.0 um, increasing up to 3 order of magnitudes during the ...
This paper presents a practical case study on the dynamic stability of the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) power system and its effect on increasing power transfer limit of the interconnection between Eastern Operating Area (SEC-EOA). The problem of optimal tuning of the power system stabilizer parameters was converted into optimization problem wth eigenvalue-based objective functions, which was then solved by genetic algorithms. In this regard, two eigenvalue-based objective functions were considered and the problem is solved using real-coded genetic algorithm (RCGA). The effectiveness of the suggested technique to enhance the power system dynamic stability and to extend the power transfer capability limit of the SEC-EOA and the SEC-EOA power system was verified through a comprehensive eigenvalue analysis and time-domain nonlinear simulation. The results also indicated that the proposed tuning schemes of the existing stabilizers in the system have led to an improvement the system ...
Assessment of the oil shale resources in Kentucky has continued with 75 NX cores available where the oil shale crops out or is overlain by relatively thin cover in the area from Estill County westward to Bullitt County. In this 14 county area, the total black shale section thins across the crest of the Cincinnati arch and changes stratigraphically from that characteristic of the Ohio Shale in Estill County to that of the New Albany Shale in Bullitt County. Despite this stratigraphic transition the two high-carbon zones (greater than 8.0% carbon) can be traced across the arch. As the traverse is followed from the east, the intervening low-carbon zones thin such that at the crest of the arch, there are areas where the entire section of black shale contains more than 8% carbon. Then upon leaving the crest the two high-carbon zones separate again with one remaining at the very top of the section and one in the lower part. In the 14 county area, there are approximately ...
The economies of East Asia are predominantly export based and, therefore, place special emphasis on the security of the sea lines of communication (SLOCs). Due to economic globalization, the United States shares these concerns. Cooperative measures by the concerned parties could reduce the potential for disruption by maritime conflicts. Primary threats against the SLOCs are disputes over the resources under the seas, disputes over some small island groups, disputes between particular parties (China-Taiwan and North-South Korea), or illegal activities like smuggling, piracy, or terrorism. This paper provides an overview on these threats, issue by issue, to identify common elements and needed cooperation. Cooperation on other topics such as search and rescue, fisheries protection, and oil spill response may help support improved relations to prevent maritime conflicts. Many technologies can help support maritime cooperation, including improved communications links, ...
A two-dimensional mathematical model of a fault controlled geothermal reservoir has been developed. Heated water rising in a fault is assumed to charge a reservoir which is overlain by a thin impermeable, thermally conducting cap rock. The mass flow rate or the pressure associated with the charging process at the fault inlet is unknown and can only be estimated. Thus, the pressure in the fault at the bottom of the reservoir is assumed to be prescribed. Quasi-analytic solutions for the distributions of velocity, pressure, and temperature are obtained in the fault-reservoir system for high Rayleigh number flow. In this approximation, the upwelling fluid does not cool off appreciably until it reaches the cold upper boundary of the reservoir and encounters conductive heat loss. The thermal boundary layer, which is thin at the top of the fault, grows outward laterally and occupies the full thickness of the aquifer in the far-field. This study shows that a near isothermal temperature ...
Phosphoro-uraniferous deposit of Itataia is situated in Precambrian metamorphic terrains, into the litho-stratigraphic unit named Caico Complex. Regionally, the rocks are linearly folded, as a result of compressive tectonic that fits in the regmatic pattern. Rio Groairas' and Itatira's wrench faults form shearing couples in which the drag folds' climax are thrusting faults with axial plane dipping north. Uranium mineralization occurs into a phosphatic rock containing about 80% of collophane - 'collophanite - in association chiefly with marbles or feldsphatic rocks and gneisses. The ore (collophanite) occurs mainly as a stockwork, and it may be massive, (into big joints) or disseminated (impregnating the host rocks). Dark ore appears only in brecciated zones; it is richer in uranium content, but poorer in phosphorous. The highest grade ore is in a very fractured zone, associated to marbles. Supergene enrichment took place in this area. Underground works show that mineralization is ...
The Permian San Andres Formation of late Leonardian-early Guadalupian age is a significant hydrocarbon producer and crops out over a large area in south-central New Mexico. However, since its definition in 1909, the age and depositional environment of this unit have been questioned. In 1971 in Pecos County, Vincent Kelly divided the unit into three members: Rio Bonito, Bonney Canyon, and Fourmile Draw. The lowest member, although named for the Rio Bonito, has a type section designated at Sunset along U.S. Highway 70/380. Two miles east of Sunset, near Riverside, on the Rio Bonito, the Rio Bonito Member is exposed in a long series of roadcuts. Petrographic investigation of these rocks reveals an alternating sequence of high to low-energy intertidal to subtidal facies marked by oolitic and fossiliferous dolocalcarenite interbedded with dolomitic mudstone. The unit has been recrystallized and stylolites are abundant, as is dolomite and nodular mosaic anhydrite. These ...
An aerial radiological survey of the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) and surrounding area in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was conducted during the period March 30 to April 14,1992. The purpose of the survey was to measure and document the terrestrial radiological environment of the Oak Ridge Reservation for use in environmental management programs and emergency response planning. The aerial survey was flown at an altitude of 150 feet (46 meters) along a series of parallel lines 250 feet (76 meters) apart and included X-10 (Oak Ridge National Laboratory), K-25 (former Gaseous Diffusion Plant), Y-12 (Weapons Production Plant), the Freels Bend Area and Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, the East Fork Poplar Creek (100-year floodplain extending from K-25 to Y-12), Elza Gate (former uranium ore storage site located in the city of Oak Ridge), Parcel A, the Clinch River (river banks extending from Melton Hill Dam to the city of Kingston), and the CSX Railroad Tracks ...
An aerial radiological survey was conducted over the Department of Energy's Hanford Site near Richland, Washington, during the period 5 July through 26 August 1988. The survey was expanded, and additional flights were conducted to the east of the site and along the banks of the Columbia River down to McNary Dam near Umatilla. The survey was flown at altitude of 61 meters (200 feet) by a helicopter containing 17 liters (eight 2 in. x 4 in. x 16 in.) of sodium iodide detectors. Gamma ray data were collected over the survey area by flying north-south lines spaced 122 meters (400 feet) apart. The processed data indicated that detected radioisotopes and their associated gamma ray exposure rates were generally consistent with those expected from normal background emitters and man-made fission/activation products resulting from activities at the site. External exposure rates were generally 10 microroentgens per hour (#mu#R/h) with some operating areas over 1000 #mu#R/h. ...
An aerial radiological survey was performed from 11 to 20 March 1982 over a 260-square-kilometer area centered on the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station at Port Gibson, Mississippi (the station was not yet in operation at the time of the survey). All gamma ray data were collected by flying east-west lines spaced 152 meters apart at an altitude 91 meters above ground level. Processed data showed that all gamma rays detected within the survey area were those expected from naturally occurring terrestrial background emitters. Count rates obtained from the aerial platform were converted to exposure rates at 1 meter above the ground and are presented in the form of an isoradiation contour map. The observed exposure rates were between 5 and 13 microroentgens per hour (#mu#R/h), with most of the area ranging from 9 to 10 #mu#R/h. These values include an estimated cosmic ray contribution of 3.6 #mu#R/h. The exposure rate obtained from soil samples and ionization chamber ...
This report summarizes the work that was completed in FY 1992 on the program {open_quotes}Technology Development for Concentrating Process Streams.{close_quotes} The purpose of this program is to evaluate and develop evaporator technology for concentrating radioactive waste and product streams such as those generated by the TRUEX process. Concentrating these streams and minimizing the volume of waste generated can significantly reduce disposal costs; however, equipment to concentrate the streams and recycle the decontaminated condensates must be installed. LICON, Inc., is developing an evaporator that shows a great deal of potential for this application. In this report, concepts that need to be incorporated into the design of an evaporator operated in a radioactive environment are discussed. These concepts include criticality safety, remote operation and maintenance, and materials of construction. Both solubility and vapor-liquid equilibrium data are needed to design an effective ...
An additional 450 wells were added to the structural database; there are now 2550 wells in the database with corrected tops on the Juana Lopez, base of the Bridge Creek Limestone, and datum. This completes the structural data base compilation. Fifteen oil and five gas fields from the Mancos-ElVado interval were evaluated with respect to the newly defined sequence stratigraphic model for this interval. The five gas fields are located away from the structural margins of the deep part of the San Juan Basin. All the fields have characteristics of basin-centered gas and can be considered as continuous gas accumulations as recently defined by the U.S. Geological Survey. Oil production occurs in thinly interbedded sandstone and shale or in discrete sandstone bodies. Production is both from transgressive and regressive strata as redefined in this study. Oil production is both stratigraphically and structurally controlled with production occurring along the Chaco slope or in steeply ...
The White Rose Oil Project, located in the Jeanne d'Arc Basin 350 km east of St. John's, is reported to continue paying benefits for the oil and gas industry in eastern Canada. The operator, Husky Energy, is said to be on target and expects first oil from the project in late 2005 or early 2006. Peak production for the White Rose Field is projected at 100,000 bbl/d. The project has a total capital cost of $2.35 billion. The first phase of the project, comprised of four wells, including an oil producer, was completed in July. The estimated productive capacity of this well is between 25,000 and 35,000 bbl/d. Other major milestones achieved at the White Rose project include movement of the topside modules onto the Sea Rose floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, consisting of 17 lifts during the seven-week program. Individual lifts up to 1,250 tons were carried by the Lampson 2600 Trans-lift crane at the Cow Head Fabrication ...
Site studies for CANDU type NPP began in a careful manner since 1982 as a first part of the Nuclear Power Plant Romanian Program adopted by political and governmental authorities at the time. A team was charged to develop all packages of the necessary main studies. The first Romanian NPP CANDU 6 type reactor gone to erection on Cernavoda site, planned to have 5 units and, like Wolsong NPP, applied the same design for the nuclear island. For the BOP parts the ANSALDO-GE project was applied with a thorough concern about requirements raised by connection to NSP. The first mission of design and research multi-branch team was to adapt the NPP Cernavoda project having an open water cooling circuit 'once-through' to the new parameters of a close recirculation water cooling circuit. Also, the structural design was re-evaluated for the case of soft foundation strata instead of hard rock ones. The close recirculation water cooling circuit system was applied for PWR NPP type like in French or ...
Population residing in the northern part of the Chelyabinsk oblast and the south eastern part of the Sverdlovsk oblast of Russia affected to accidental exposure since 1957. The territory (East Ural Radioactive Trace - EURT) was contaminated after explosion of container with highly radioactive wastes at the Mayak Production Association. Studies of health effects of exposure in the southern, head part of EURT are conducted in the Ural Research and Practical Center of Radiation Medicine (U.R.P.R.M.). In the 1990's U.R.P.C.R.M. formed a cohort of EURT within Chelyabinsk oblast (14,500 cases and 19,400 external controls). The cohort was followed in 1957-1987 and the results of the study are discussed by Crestinina et al. First results of study on exposure late health effects among rural population in the northern part of the EURT are presented in this paper. Firstly, or the period 1958-2000 a statistically significant increase in cancer mortality associated ...