UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

In both humans and songbirds, infants learn vocalizations by imitating the sounds of adult tutors with whom they interact during an early sensitive period. Vocal learning occurs in few animal taxa;...Full Text Available

Science.gov (United States)

... number of terminals when requests ... INFORMATION RETRIEVAL, QUEUEING THEORY ... DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS, STOCHASTIC PROCESSES ...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Motivation: Since database retrieval is a fundamental operation, the measurement of retrieval efficacy is critical to progress in bioinformatics. This article points out some issues with...Full Text Available

Science.gov (United States)

evaluation, novelty detection, resource discovery, interfaces and visualization, digital libraries, computational social science, and cross-lingual information retrieval. The CIIR...

Science.gov (United States)

The Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study examined the relation between experiences in foster care and depression among young adults who spent at least a year in foster care as adolescents. Results indicate that preparation for leaving foster care, nurturing supports from the foster family, school stability, access to tutoring, access to therapeutic service and support, and a shorter and more stable placement history were associated with a lower probability of depression in young adulthood. Results provide evidence that suggest ways to improve practice to decrease rates of depression among alumni of care. (Contains 2 tables.)

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

This paper describes phase-retrieval approaches in music by focusing on the particular case of the cyclic groups (beltway problem). After presenting some old and new results on phase retrieval, we introduce the extended phase retrieval for a generalized musical Z-relation. This concept is accompanied by mathematical definitions and motivations from computer-aided composition. We assume from the reader basic knowledge of groups, topological groups, group algebras, group actions, Lebesgue integration, convolution products, and Fourier transform.

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

This paper describes Image Engine, an object-oriented, microcomputer-based, multimedia database designed to facilitate the storage and retrieval of digitized biomedical still images, video, and text...Full Text Available

CERN Document Server

Email Retrieval task has recently taken much attention to help the user retrieve the email(s) related to the submitted query. Up to our knowledge, existing email retrieval ranking approaches sort the retrieved emails based on some heuristic rules, which are either search clues or some predefined user criteria rooted in email fields. Unfortunately, the user usually does not know the effective rule that acquires best ranking related to his query. This paper presents a new email retrieval ranking approach to tackle this problem. It ranks the retrieved emails based on a scoring function that depends on crucial email fields, namely subject, content, and sender. The paper also proposes an architecture to allow every user in a network/group of users to be able, if permissible, to know the most important network senders who are interested in his submitted query words. ...

CERN Document Server

The present research scholars are having keen interest in doing their research activities in the area of Data mining all over the world. Especially, [13]Mining Image data is the one of the essential features in this present scenario since image data plays vital role in every aspect of the system such as business for marketing, hospital for surgery, engineering for construction, Web for publication and so on. The other area in the Image mining system is the Content-Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) which performs retrieval based on the similarity defined in terms of extracted features with more objectiveness. The drawback in CBIR is the features of the query image alone are considered. Hence, a new technique called Image retrieval based on optimum clusters is proposed for improving user interaction with image retrieval systems by fully exploiting the similarity information. The index is created by describing ...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

A comparison of the results of machine and human information retrieval using MEDLARS and the printed Index Medicus indicates that at present neither method is entirely satisfactory...Full Text Available

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This Fact Sheet presents the mission of the West Valley Demonstration Project and information on the 1994 pollution prevention and recycling accomplishments.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fact sheet written for the NICE3 Program on a new chlorine-free process for pulping and bleaching wastewater.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This report is an Implementation Guide for Hanford Tanks Initiative C-106 heel retrieval contract management HNF-2511 to provide a set of uniform instructions for managing the two contractors selected. The primary objective is to produce the necessary deliverables and services for the HTI project within schedule and budget.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Based on a recently introduced phase X-ray imaging approach, a dual-detector prototype was developed for in-line X-ray phase imaging and phase retrieval utilizing a micro-focus X-ray source and two computed radiography (CR) cassette detectors. The system was built on a horizontal optical rail to facilitate manual adjustment of the positions of the X-ray source, the sample and the detectors. The novel design of the detector-1 is essential, it detects a portion of radiation to form an attenuation image; allows the rest of radiation to reach the detector-2 to form a phase contrast image, and the two images are used to retrieve a phase map. The two detectors are balanced for optimal phase-retrieval with reasonable radiation dose to the object to be imaged. The system was examined in terms of the linearity, the fractions of the X-ray photons detected by the two detectors, respectively and the imaging quality of phantoms. ...

Science.gov (United States)

This fact sheet summarizes the potential impact of climate change as it relates to public health in California....

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A near-real-time integrated temperature and water vapor sounding system has been designed and in operation since June 1993. It combines hourly data from the ground-based radio acoustic sounding system (RASS), a two-channel microwave radiometer, standard surface meteorological instruments, a lidar ceilometer, and the Aerodynamic Research Incorporated Communication, Addressing and Reporting System aboard commercial airlines with space-based data from the TIROS-N Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS). The physical retrieval algorithm provided by the International TOVS Processing Package is used for combining the ground- and space-based temperature and humidity profiles. The first-guess profiles of temperature and humidity required by the physical retrieval algorithm are obtained by using a statistical inversion technique and the ground-based remote sensors measurements. Statistical error estimates are presented for the hourly, near-real-time, ...

Science.gov (United States)

Tutorial on digital libraries. Site also contains links to other reference materials on digital libraries as well as links to courses on the subject. Keywords: Information Systems - Information Systems Applications, Information Storage and Retrieval, Database Management, multimedia

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Objectives: The authors designed and implemented a clinical data mart composed of an integrated information retrieval (IR) and relational database management system (RDBMS).Design:...Full Text Available

Science.gov (United States)

... and retrieve an AED until you have performed CPR for about 2 minutes. 3. Carefully place the ... more breaths. The chest should rise. 9. Continue CPR (30 chest compressions followed by 2 breaths, then ...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Previous work has implicated prefrontal cortices in selecting among and retrieving conceptual information stored elsewhere. However, recent neurophysiological work in monkeys suggests that prefrontal...Full Text Available

Science.gov (United States)

The mission includes a reflected solar instrument retrieving at-sensor .... incoming solar radiation. This direct aerosol radiative forcing (DARF) ... examining the behavior of geosynchronous rocket bodies and non-stabilized payloads as ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Background This report describes the authors? experience with a unique endoluminal, endoscopically delivered and retrieved gastroduodenojejunal bypass sleeve, including short-term weight loss and changes in comorbidities. Methods A prospective, single-center trial was designed. The patients were morbidly obese individuals who met the National Institutes of Health criteria for bariatric surgery. The device used was a unique gastroduodenojejunal bypass sleeve secured at the esophagogastric junction with endoscopic and laparoscopic techniques and designed to create an endoluminal gastroduodenojejunal bypass. At completion of the trial, the device was explanted with endoscopic retrieval. The primary end points were safety and incidence of adverse events. The secondary outcomes included the per...

Science.gov (United States)

Information Extraction (IE) is an emerging NLP technology, whose function is to process unstructured, natural language text, to locate specific pieces of information, or facts, in the text, and to use these facts to fill a database. IE systems today are c...

Science.gov (United States)

... Tactical Electronic Warfare Division (Code 5700) Visualization Laboratory Transportable step frequency radar Vehicle development laboratory ...

Science.gov (United States)

... fields, materials can be subjected to energy densities exceeding those realized in high explosives, a fact which forms the basis for magnetic forming ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Abstract An important aspect of Chinese academic health science libraries is their involvement in teaching medical information retrieval courses as part of the medical curriculum. Health science librarians in China have a more formal teaching role than is generally found in Western countries, including many full time teaching positions. This article provides a case study of Kunming Medical University Library, where courses are provided as credit units at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The teaching practices of Chinese health science libraries are compared with teaching experiences reported in Western countries. It is noted that Chinese government s educational policy is similar to that of the United States in promoting the role of the library in teaching subjects as part of th...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A relocatable storage magazine apparatus for storing and retrieving explosives and ordnance and for partially containing and attenuating the blast, conflagration and flying debris from an accidental explosion is described comprising: (a) a container having an access hole; (b) a debris trap attached to the container, the debris trap communicating with said container via the access hole, said debris trap having vent holes for venting the pressure of an explosion from said debris trap to the atmosphere; (c) means for covering said access hole; (d) means for suspending explosives and ordnance from the covering means; (e) means for entering the storage magazine to store and retrieve explosives and ordnance; (f) means for retaining said covering means in a position above the access hole wherein said explosives and ordnance are accessible from the entering means.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Passive microwave soil moisture datasets can be used as an input to provide an integrated assessment of climate variability as it relates to agricultural production. The objective of this research was to examine three passive microwave derived soil moisture datasets over multiple growing seasons in contrasting Canadian agricultural environments. Absolute and relative soil moisture was evaluated from two globally available datasets from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E) sensor using different retrieval algorithms, as well as relative soil wetness at a weekly scale from the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) sensor. At a daily scale, the Land Parameter Retrieval Model (LPRM) provides a better estimate of surface soil moisture conditions than the National Snow a...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Algorithms for the authentication of byte sequences are described. The algorithms are designed to authenticate data in the Storage, Retrieval, Analysis, and Display (SRAD) Test Data Archive of the Radiation Effects and Testing Directorate (9100) at Sandia National Laboratories, and may be used in similar situations where authentication of stored data is required. The algorithms use a well-known error detection method called the Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC). When a byte sequence is authenticated and stored, CRC bytes are generated and attached to the end of the sequence. When the authenticated data is retrieved, the authentication check consists of processing the entire sequence, including the CRC bytes, and checking for a remainder of zero. The error detection properties of the CRC are extensive and result in a reliable authentication of SRAD data.

Science.gov (United States)

to Cool Spots Hanford Fun Facts Classroom Projects Famous People of Hanford Counterintelligence Home Employee Responsibilities CI Information CI Resources Points of Contact...

Science.gov (United States)

to Cool Spots Hanford Fun Facts Classroom Projects Famous People of Hanford Counterintelligence Home Employee Responsibilities CI Information CI Resources Points of Contact...

Science.gov (United States)

... The fact, that such a spontaneous radiation have been observed, may be considered as the first step of development of the FIR laser based on ...

Science.gov (United States)

for massive star evolution, or they could all be very blue super- giant stars experiencing A , = 1-1.5 mag. The fact that the en- ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reflective diffraction grating. A focused ion beam (FIB) micromilling apparatus is used to store color images in a durable medium by milling away portions of the surface of the medium to produce a reflective diffraction grating with blazed pits. The images are retrieved by exposing the surface of the grating to polychromatic light from a particular incident bearing and observing the light reflected by the surface from specified reception bearing.

CERN Document Server

We report an observation of a delayed all-optical routing/switching phenomenon based on ultraslow group velocity of light via nondegenerate four-wave mixing processes in a defected solid medium. Unlike previous demonstrations of enhanced four-wave mixing processes using the slow light effects, the present observation demonstrates a direct retrieval of the resonant Raman-pulse excited spin coherence into photon coherence through coherence conversion processes.

CERN Document Server

This paper describes the approach taken to the XML Mining track at INEX 2008 by a group at the Queensland University of Technology. We introduce the K-tree clustering algorithm in an Information Retrieval context by adapting it for document clustering. Many large scale problems exist in document clustering. K-tree scales well with large inputs due to its low complexity. It offers promising results both in terms of efficiency and quality. Document classification was completed using Support Vector Machines.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Plans for the disposal of radioactive liquid and solid wastes presently stored in double-shell tanks at the Hanford Site call for retrieval and processing of the waste to create forms suitable for permanent disposal. Waste will be retrieved from a tank using a submerged slurry pump in conjunction with one or more rotating slurry jet mixer pumps. Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) has conducted tests using simulated waste slurries to assess the effects of a impinging slurry jet on the corrosion rate of the tank wall and floor, an action that could potentially compromise the tank`s structural integrity. Corrosion processes were investigated on a laboratory scale with a simulated neutralized cladding removal waste (NCRW) slurry and in a subsequent test with simulated neutralized current acid waste (NCAW) slurry. The test slurries simulated the actual NCRW and NCAW both chemically and physically. The tests simulated those conditions expected to ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

In this comprehensive review of current research on isotopic variations of elements in extraterrestrial materials, the variations were classified in terms of the major process involved in the modification of the isotopic composition of the element concerned. Maximum isotopic variations of each element were retrieved from publications which were available in Tokyo up to December 1985, and are presented in tabular form. (author).

Science.gov (United States)

The definition of episodic memory includes the concept of mental time travel: the ability to re-experience a previously experienced trajectory through continuous dimensions of space and time, and to recall specific events or stimuli along this trajectory. Lesions of the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex impair human episodic memory function and impair rat performance in tasks that could be solved by retrieval of trajectories. Recent physiological data suggests a novel model for encoding and retrieval of trajectories, and for associating specific stimuli with specific positions along the trajectory. During encoding in the model, external input drives the activity of head direction cells. Entorhinal grid cells integrate the head direction input to update an internal representation of location, and drive hippocampal place cells. Trajectories are encoded by Hebbian modification of excitatory synaptic connections between hippocampal place cells and ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This fact sheet describes NREL's accomplishments in accurately modeling costs for fuel cell-based combined heat, hydrogen, and power systems. Work was performed by NREL's Hydrogen Technologies and Systems Center.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

We consider the dynamics towards the initial singularity of Bianchi type IX vacuum and orthogonal perfect fluid models with a linear equation of state. Surprisingly few facts are known about the 'Mixmaster' dynamics of these models, while at the same time most of the commonly held beliefs are rather vague. In this paper, we use Mixmaster facts as a base to build an infrastructure that makes it possible to sharpen the main Mixmaster beliefs. We formulate explicit conjectures concerning (i) the past asymptotic states of type IX solutions and (ii) the relevance of the Mixmaster/Kasner map for generic past asymptotic dynamics. The evidence for the conjectures is based on a study of the stochastic properties of this map in conjunction with dynamical systems techniques. We use a dynamical systems formulation, since this approach has so far been the only successful path to obtain theorems, but we also make comparisons with the ...

Science.gov (United States)

The objective of the study was to investigate neuronal processing during the encoding, retention and retrieval phases of a serial visual working memory task. Particularly, we were interested in how these phases are affected by working memory load and how processing is modulated by methylphenidate. Healthy adults were asked to memorize the order of four, five or six pictures under methylphenidate (20mg) and under placebo while brain electrical activity was recorded. On the performance level, the number of correct responses decreased with increasing working memory load. Concerning brain electrical activity, in the encoding phase P3 amplitudes increased at midline electrodes with increasing memory load while load had no effect in the retention and retrieval phase. Medication neither influenced performance nor the different processing stages significantly. Our data provide evidence that during the encoding phase more attentional resources are ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

It is desired that the data on past ground information are easily picked out and used effectively when construction of power facilities such as power plants is planned. For this purpose, a data base system that is available for survey planning and design business has been developed. This system is divided into subsystems for input, registration, and output, which all can be processed by the personal computers. It also has a retrieval function for maps such as area maps and power facility maps in addition to a retrieval function for characters. As output functions, the system has a function to extract ground information through maps of facilities and their peripheries, an output function for geological profiles and soil test results, and liquefaction analysis and design constant setting support functions. As instances, applications of this system to the thermal power plant location program and to the construction of underground transmission ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The goal of this LDRD was to demonstrate the use of robotic vehicles for deploying and autonomously reconfiguring seismic and acoustic sensor arrays with high (centimeter) accuracy to obtain enhancement of our capability to locate and characterize remote targets. The capability to accurately place sensors and then retrieve and reconfigure them allows sensors to be placed in phased arrays in an initial monitoring configuration and then to be reconfigured in an array tuned to the specific frequencies and directions of the selected target. This report reviews the findings and accomplishments achieved during this three-year project. This project successfully demonstrated autonomous deployment and retrieval of a payload package with an accuracy of a few centimeters using differential global positioning system (GPS) signals. It developed an autonomous, multisensor, temporally aligned, radio-frequency communication and signal processing capability, ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Generally, Hardening and irradiated brominating phenomena are occurred in the reactor vessel under operation conditions by atomic cavities and creation of impurity atoms which are led by high fast neutron flux. To assure the mechanical integrity of pressure vessel until the end of power plant life after monitoring the sample specimens on the vessel inside, a series of tests is performed over the retrieved surveillance capsule to examine the changes according to the plant operation in accordance with regulations. Monitoring surveillance capsules attached to neutron shield wall of outer core are consists of impact sample, tensile sample and temperature monitor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The main scope of this study has been to calculate the future cost for decommission and dismantling the Isotope central at the Studsvik site using the OMEGA CODE. Detailed empirical information is used in the study for 'bench-marking' purposes, in such cases when there is a need to supplement and correct field data from the industry. In the present study, data has been retrieved and organized such that the estimated costs for decommissioning of the Isotope Central become transparent and reliable. This approach gives a preliminary qualitative indication about the accuracy of the cost estimate delivered by the industry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Information glut is one of the primary characteristics of the electronic age. Managing such large volumes of information (e.g., keeping track of the types, where they are, their relationships, who controls them, etc.) can be done efficiently with an intelligent, user-oriented information management system. The purpose of this paper is to describe a concept for managing information resources based on an intelligent information technology system developed by the Argonne National Laboratory for managing digital libraries. The Argonne system, Intelligent Query (IQ), enables users to query digital libraries and view the holdings that match the query from different perspectives.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

A database has been designed for storing, retrieving and analyzing information about samples, experimental conditions and results obtained by neutron activation analysis and gamma-ray spectrometry. It has been created using Microsoft ACCESS 2002 under a Windows operating system. The database has been designed not only for saving information but also for quality assurance and quality control purposes. The structure of the relational design has been discussed and demonstrated with a new graphical feature of ACCESS 2002 called PIVOTCHART. (author)

Science.gov (United States)

and streambed sediment samples 2-6. Graphs showing: 2. Cesium-137 profile in HOE core 3. PAH trends in Lake Houston cores 4. DDE trends in Lake Houston cores 5. Trends in six trace...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The fact that electric autos have driven over 100 miles without a battery recharge over an urban stop and go course at city driving speeds demonstrates that practical electric cars for city use can be built today.

CERN Document Server

'Trojan horses', 'logic bombs', 'armoured viruses' and 'cryptovirology' are terms recalling war gears. In fact, concepts of attack and defence drive the world of computer virology, which looks like a war universe in an information society. This war has several shapes, from invasions of a network by worms, to military and industrial espionage ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A method is proposed for operating bed waters in an oil well by injecting silanes into the near-face zone. It is distinguished by the fact that in order to improve the effectiveness of insulation, the silanes used are silanes of general formula Si /SUB n/ H /SUB 2n-n/ .

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Many animals use the spectral distribution of light to guide behaviour, but whether they have colour vision has been debated for over a century. Our strong subjective experience of colour and the fact...Full Text Available

Wastenet

...Goods: promote the protection of ldquo;natural parks and reserves, mangroves, reefs and lagoons,rdquo; and ldquo;expanding forest cover and tree integration with agricultural production systems rdquo;; climate change will be reduced through the trading of pollution permits under the Kyoto Protocol. Enhancing Disaster Management Capabilities:...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

We show the existence of a rather general class of closed cosmological models of Bianchi type IX that do not exhibit recollapse but expand for all times. This is despite the fact that these models satisfy the strong energy condition by a wide margin.

Science.gov (United States)

Effectiveness Flu Shot Nasal Spray Vaccine (LAIV) Thimerosal Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) Antiviral Drugs: Key Facts Antiviral Drugs: Q&A Antiviral Drug Resistance Links,...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

An overall systems approach has been applied to develop action plans to support the retrieval and immobilization waste disposal mission. The review concluded that the systems and infrastructure required to support the mission are known. Required systems are either in place or plans have been developed to ensure they exist when needed. The review showed that since October 1996 a robust system engineering approach to establishing integrated Technical Baselines, work breakdown structures, tank farm structure and configurations and work scope and costs has been established itself as part of the culture within TWRS. An analysis of the programmatic, management and technical activities necessary to declare readiness to proceed with execution of the mission demonstrates that the system, people and hardware will be on line and ready to support the private contractors. The systems approach included defining the retrieval and immobilized waste disposal ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Abstract It is now widely accepted that remembering the past and imagining the future rely on a number of shared processes and recruit a similar set of brain regions. However, memory and future thinking place different demands on a range of processes. For instance, although remembering should lead to early associative retrieval of event details, event construction may be slower for future events, for which details from different memories are combined. In order to shed light on the question of how the brain distinguishes between memories and future thoughts, we investigated the differences in the electrophysiological correlates of the vivid elaboration of future and past events. In the slow cortical potentials of 24 healthy human participants, differences during early elaboration were obser...

CERN Document Server

Understanding the similar properties of people involved in group search sessions has the potential to significantly improve collaborative search systems; such systems could be enhanced by information retrieval algorithms and user interface modifications that take advantage of important properties, for example by re-ordering search results using information from group members' combined user profiles. Understanding what makes group members similar can also assist with the identification of groups, which can be valuable for connecting users with others with whom they might undertake a collaborative search. In this workshop paper, we describe our current research efforts towards studying the properties of a variety of group types. We discuss properties of groups that may be relevant to designers of collaborative search systems, and propose ways in which understanding such properties could influence the design of interfaces and algorithms for collaborative Web search.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This sampling and analysis plan (SAP) identifies characterization objectives pertaining to sample collection, laboratory analytical evaluation, and reporting requirements for vapor samples obtained during the operation of mixer pumps in tank 241-AZ-101. The primary purpose of the mixer pump test (MPT) is to demonstrate that the two 300 horsepower mixer pumps installed in tank 241-AZ-101 can mobilize the settled sludge so that it can be retrieved for treatment and vitrification. Sampling will be performed in accordance with Tank 241-AZ-101 Mixer Pump Test Data Quality Objective (Banning 1999) and Data Quality Objectives for Regulatory Requirements for Hazardous and Radioactive Air Emissions Sampling and Analysis (Mulkey 1999). The sampling will verify if current air emission estimates used in the permit application are correct and provide information for future air permit applications.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

AbstractBackground: The aim of this study was to review an experience with retroperitoneal endoscopic adrenalectomy (REA). This is the procedure of choice for adrenal tumours at this institution. Methods: Between 1997 and 2008, 112 REAs were performed in a single university centre. Data were retrieved retrospectively from a prospectively collected database, including information on patient demographics, surgical procedure, complications and hospital stay. Results: One hundred and twelve REAs were carried out successfully in 105 patients, including seven bilateral adrenalectomies. Thirty nine patients with unilateral adrenal disease had a phaeochromocytoma, of whom 16 had multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, 21 patients had Cushing's disease and 20 had Conn's disease. Median body m...

CERN Document Server

The ATLAS High Level Trigger (HLT) is a distributed real-time software system that performs the final online selection of events produced during proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). It is designed as a two-stage trigger and event filter running on a farm of commodity PC hardware. Currently the system consists of about 850 processing nodes and will be extended incrementally following the expected increase in luminosity of the LHC to about 2000 nodes. The event selection within the HLT applications is carried out by specialized reconstruction algorithms. The selection can be controlled via properties that are stored in a central database and are retrieved at the startup of the HLT processes, which then usually run continuously for many hours. To be able to respond to changes in the LHC beam conditions, it is essential that the algorithms can be re-configured without disrupting data taking while ensuring a consistent and reproducible ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

To establish the phylogeographic relationships in rabies viruses in Brazil, we studied a dataset retrieved from GenBank consisting of 71 genetic sequences from the coding region of the N gene of rabies viruses isolated in dogs over a period of 22?years. The Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo method available in the BEAST package was used with the GTR+G+?4 evolutionary model in conjunction with the relaxed uncorrelated lognormal molecular clock model and an exponential growth tree prior. A discrete phylogeographic diffusion model was also analyzed using a standard continuous-time Markov chain viewed with Google Earth to provide a spatial projection of the diffusion of genetic lineages based on their phylogeographic relationships. The topology of the time and substitution phylogenetic trees a...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Water vapor is well known to be a critical component in many aspects of atmospheric research, such as radiative transfer and cloud and aerosol processes. This requires both improved measurements of the columnar water vapor and its profiles in the atmosphere in a wide range of conditions, and adjustment of water vapor parameterizations in radiation codes including the perfection of spectroscopic parameters. In this paper we will present the results of comparison of our calculations and downward solar fluxes measured with Rotating Shadowband Spectroradiometer under conditions of horizontally homogeneous clouds. We also will discuss the sensitivity of atmospheric radiation characteristics to variations of water vapor in the band 940 nm: these results may be useful for development of new methods of retrieval of the total column water vapor content (WVC) in the atmosphere from data of radiation observations.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Abstract Objectives: This investigation reviewed experimental studies of laser irradiation of wound healing in mice and rats published from 2003 to August 2008, respectively, to assess putative stimulatory effects of this treatment. Background: Animal models, including rodents, attempt to reflect human wound healing and associated problems such as dehiscence, ischemia, ulceration, infection, and scarring. They have played a key role in furthering understanding of underlying mechanisms involved in impaired wound healing, and in testing new therapeutic strategies including laser irradiation. Method: Original research papers investigating effects of laser or monochromatic light therapy on wound healing in mice and rats and published from January 2003 to August 2008 were retrieved from library...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A number of concrete culverts used to retrievably store drummed, dry, radioactive waste at the Savannah River Site (SRS), were suspected of containing ambiguous quantities of transuranic (TRU) nuclides. These culverts were assayed in place for Pu-239 content using thermal and fast neutron counting techniques. High resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy on 17 culverts, having neutron emission rates several times higher than expected, showed characteristic gamma-ray signatures of neutron emitters other than Pu-239 (e.g., Pu-238, Pu/Be, or Am/Be neutron sources). This study confirmed the Pu-239 content of the culverts with anomalous neutron rates and established limits on the Pu-239 mass in each of the 17 suspect culverts by in-field, non-intrusive gamma-ray measurements.

CERN Document Server

ATLAS Experiment is an international collaboration where more than 37 countries, 172 institutes and laboratories, 2900 physicists, engineers, and computer scientists plus 700 students participate. The management of this teamwork involves several aspects such as institute contribution, employment records, members' appointment, authors' list, preparation and publication of papers and speakers nomination. Previously, most of the information was accessible by a limited group of people and the system used was not designed to handle new requirements easily. Moreover, developers had to face problems such as different terminology, diverse data modeling, heterogeneous databases and unlike users needs. Besides that, the maintenance has to be an easy task considering the long lifetime experiment and professionals turnover. The Glance system, a generic mechanism for accessing any database, acts as an intermediate layer isolating the user from the particularities of each database. It ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Objective: Analyse the difference in school careers and secondary school qualification levels between unilateral hearing aid users and bilateral hearing aid users. Study design: Retrospective questionnaire study. Setting: Postal-based questionnaire. Participants: Names of adults known to have been fitted with unilateral or bilateral hearing aids during childhood were retrieved. This resulted in 292 names. Participants were selected using the following criteria: availability of the medical record, presence of bilateral hearing loss, completed secondary school education, normal IQ and a minimum aided word-recognition score of 70% at 10 years of age. The questionnaire was sent to 50 potential participants of whom 40 responded, resulting in two groups comprising 19 unilateral and 21 bilateral ...

CERN Document Server

With the advancement of technology and reduced storage costs, individuals and organizations are tending towards the usage of electronic media for storing textual information and documents. It is time consuming for readers to retrieve relevant information from unstructured document collection. It is easier and less time consuming to find documents from a large collection when the collection is ordered or classified by group or category. The problem of finding best such grouping is still there. This paper discusses the implementation of k-Means clustering algorithm for clustering unstructured text documents that we implemented, beginning with the representation of unstructured text and reaching the resulting set of clusters. Based on the analysis of resulting clusters for a sample set of documents, we have also proposed a technique to represent documents that can further improve the clustering result.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A new German-engineered articulated drilling tool that can take the vertical to the horizontal, using about eight metres of curve, was described. The Articulate Downhole Motor has the capability to run radii as long as 57 metres (the usual requirement is 15 metres), under full control. Its ability to rotate and slide while maintaining control is one of the major positives of the technology. The technology also includes a `positive` communication system in its steering tool. The deployment of the positive pulse retrievable measurement-while-drilling (MWD) system brings real-time tool face orientation and hole direction to the surface. In using the tool, formation composition is not an issue; it is designed to withstand any environment.

CERN Document Server

The study of quantum walk process has been widely divided into the two standard variants, the discrete-time quantum walk (DTQW) and the continuous-time quantum walk (CTQW). The connection between the two variants has been established by considering limiting value of the coin operation parameter in the DTQW and the coin degree of freedom is show to be unnecessary [26]. But the coin degree of freedom is an additional resource which can be exploited to control the dynamics of the QW process. In this paper we present a generic quantum walk (QW) model using a quantum coin-embedded unitary shift operation U_{C}. The standard version of the DTQW and the CTQW can be conveniently retrieved from this generic model retaining the features of the coin degree of freedom in both the variants.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The paper stresses the difficulties to establish nutritional standard due to the fact that non-existent previous parameters because it is an new type of accident, becoming necessary an elaboration and use of nutritional plans coherent with probable demands, needs and complications of the patients. It is shown how that was accomplished without any prejudice to the other inpatients. The role of the nutritionists in all evolutional phase of the contaminated persons is described ed, introducing many types of diets used in accordance with individual and general demands. One case in which parenteral nutrition was utilized is analysed. The patients discharge from hospital conditions is explained and was a fact that all patients gained weight, concluding the writer says that was not possible to perform a deeper evaluation because of the great risk of contamination always present. (author).

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

A new microbial transglutaminase (MTGase or MTG, EC 2.3.2.13) from a Streptomyces sp. strain isolated from Brazilian soil samples was characterized in crude and purified forms. The aim of this work is to provide relevant information about a new transglutaminase and to compare its characteristics with the well-known commercial transglutaminase from Ajinomoto Co. Inc. (Activa? TG-BP). The enzyme from Streptomyces sp., in both crude and pure forms, exhibited optimal activity in the 6.0?6.5 pH range and at 35?40?C. The results for the commercial enzyme were the same. A second maximum of activity was observed at pH?10.0 with both the crude Streptomyces sp. enzyme and the commercial enzyme. This interesting fact has not been reported in the literature previously. The fact that this second maximu...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The time dependence of negative corona current I, called by Gagarin like 'relaxing of CV-characteristics', is a observed phenomena. The observed phenomena was explained by two theoretical models considering the ion-molecule and chemical reactions in the negative corona discharges in air, especially the ozone production. In the presented paper the discrepancies of above mentioned models, re-examination the earlier experimental data and presumptions used in models in a light the latest experimentally confirmed facts are discussed.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A slurry intake device is proposed which contains an inlet sleeve, housing with grating installed with the discharge end in the zone of the slurry outlet, and hinged deflector. In order to conserve the clay mud, it is equipped with a tie rod and two-arm lever which is kinematically linked to the deflector and the grating. It is installed by hinges in relation to the housing and the latter is attached by hinges to the inlet sleeve. The deflector is arranged in the zone of slurry outlet. The device is distinguished by the fact that the deflector is equipped with a cantilever on which a fixable weight is attached.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The influence of additionally injected short-wavelength photobleaching light on the radiation hardness of Ge-doped graded index fibers working at 1,300 nm wavelength is investigated. Predictions are complicated by the fact that more efficient shortwave bleaching light experiences higher radiation-induced loss. Promising results are found for low fiber temperatures (approx-lt -50 C) and bleaching light of about 835 nm wavelength.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The Hanford Site in eastern Washington state currently is engaged in the largest waste cleanup in world history. In order to make informed decisions about remediation options, the public throughout the Pacific Northwest and the nation needs to understand the wastes that are present, their sources of generation, their composition, and their behavior in the environment. The fact that Hanford operations` were conducted in secret for over four decades presents a unique public information challenge to those who currently are responsible for communicating with the public.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Transient enhanced diffusion in boron-implanted silicon is interpreted as being due to the fact that during rapid thermal annealing a relaxation process takes place, associated with quasi-chemical reactions including defects. A simple analytical model makes it possible to describe the annealing mechanism on a microscopic scale in terms of reaction-diffusion processes. The measured dependences of the boron diffusion coefficient of the enhanced diffusion on time, temperature and implantation energy are satisfactorily explained. (author).

Wastenet

... News In Practice UK work Key facts & information Mass Balance Projects Resources & Library Technical Area Contacts Site Map Benchmarking solvent waste in the UK furniture manufacturing industry OrganisationBritish Furniture Manufacturers Ltd Project ReportSolvent Waste in Furniture Manufacturing Website: www.bfmenvironment.co.uk Return to list � RSWT | Website Design Quiet Storm Solutions Ltd Please consider upgrading your browser! If you can see this ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Despite successful reduction of the general lead exposure, this heavy metal is still a matter of public concern due to the fact that associations with intellectual impairment or delayed puberty are found to correlate with very low lead blood concentrations. Lead in tap water is still an important contribution to lead exposure which may cause health risk for infants. Therefore, lead pipes should be completely sanitated by exchange against pipes made from more healthy materials. (orig.)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Experimentally it is found that at constant temperature the order-parameter relaxation time, tausub(..delta..), decreases with increasing power of the microwaves, coupled into a superconducting strip. If the same increase in critical current, that corresponds with a given power of the microwaves, is obtained by lowering the temperature, the decrease in tausub(..delta..) is smaller. This reflects the fact that quasiparticles are removed more efficiently from the gap edge by microwaves than by lowering the temperature in equilibrium. A modified time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equation is shown to describe these results adequately.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

This article examines the question of finding the best quadratic function to approximate a given function on an interval. The prototypical function considered is f(x) = ex. Two approaches are considered, one based on Taylor polynomial approximations at various points in the interval under consideration, the other based on the fact that three non-collinear points determine a unique quadratic function. Three different techniques for measuring the error in the approximations are considered.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Considering the fact that more than 40% of all household wastes are organic wastes composting could be an excellent relief and complement to other waste disposal methods (e.g. combustion or direct landfills). Provided the right conditions household wastes could be composted together with sewage sludges and manures. The paper discusses the legal aspects, quantitative evaluations, conveying systems, as well as the compost utilization and marketing aspects valid for the Federal Republic of Germany.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The free energy of a gas of closed strings with extrinsic curvature (smooth strings) is evaluated on a torus. This is compared with the free energy of a collection of free particles, and hence the mass spectrum of excitations of the smooth strings is deduced. It is found that above a critical value of the coupling constant of the curvature term the spectrum is free of tachyons. Furthermore, there are no massless spin-2 excitations. The absence of massless spin-2 fields is a consequence of the fact that the smooth-string theory is not modular invariant.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A method is proposed for making a drilling mud, which includes mixing of an aqueous solution of a water soluble acrylic polymer with clay. It is distinguished by the fact that in order to reduce the corrosion activity of the clay solution, the dry clay is slaked in an aqueous solution of partially hydrolized polyacrylonitrile with the following component relationship (in percent by mass): clay, 3 to 10; hydrolized polyacrylonitrile, 3 to 5 and water, the remainder.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Subsurface and surface coalfires are a serious problem in many coal-producing countries. Combustion can occur within the coal seams (underground or surface), in piles of stored coal, or in spoil dumps at the surface. While consuming a non renewable energy source, coalfires promote several environmental problems. Among all GHGs that are emitted from coalfires, CO2 is the most significant because of its high quantity. In connection to this environmental problem, the core aim of the present research is to develop a hyperspectral remote sensing and radiative transfer based model that is able to estimate CO2 concentration (ppmv) from coalfires. Since 1960s remote sensing is being used as a tool to detect and monitoring coalfires. With time, remote sensing has proven a reliable tool to identify and monitor coalfires. In the present study multi-temporal, multi-sensor and multi-spectral thermal remote sensing data are being used to detect and monitor coalfires. Unlike the earlier studies, the ...

Science.gov (United States)

One of the requirements for a federated information system is interoperability, the ability of one computer system to access and use the resources of another system. This feature is particularly important in biomedical research systems, which need to coordinate a variety of disparate types of data. In order to meet this need, the National Cancer Institute Center for Bioinformatics (NCICB) has created the cancer Common Ontologic Representation Environment (caCORE), an interoperability infrastructure based on Model Driven Architecture. The caCORE infrastructure provides a mechanism to create interoperable biomedical information systems. Systems built using the caCORE paradigm address both aspects of interoperability: the ability to access data (syntactic interoperability) and understand the data once retrieved (semantic interoperability). This infrastructure consists of an integrated set of three major components: a controlled terminology service (Enterprise ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This document contains US patents on terrestrial photovoltaic (PV) power applications, including systems, components, and materials, as well as manufacturing and support functions. The patent entries in this document were issued from 1988 through 1990. The entries were located by searching USPA, the data base of the US Patent Office. The final search retrieved all patents under the class ``Batteries, Thermoelectric and Photoelectric`` and the subclasses ``Photoelectric,`` ``Testing,`` and ``Applications.`` The search also located patents that contained the words ``photovoltaic(s)`` or ``solar cell(s)`` and their derivatives. A manual search of the patents in the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI) patent file augmented the data base search. After the initial list was compiled, most of the patents on the following subjects were excluded: space photovoltaic technology, use of the photovoltaic effect for detectors and subjects only peripherally concerned with ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This paper presents the status of the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) project for remediation of transuranic (TRU) and TRU mixed waste from Pads 1, 2, and 4. Some of the TRU waste packages retrieved from Pad I are anticipated to be part of LANL`s initial inventory to be shipped to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in April 1998. The TRU Waste Inspectable Storage Project (TWISP) was initiated in February 1993 in response to the New Mexico Environment Department`s (NMED`s) Consent Agreement for Compliance Order, ``New Mexico Hazardous Waste Agreement (NMHWA) 93-03.`` The TWISP involves the recovery of approximately 16,865 TRU and TRU-mixed waste containers currently under earthen cover on Pads 1, 2, and 4 at Technical Area 54, Area G, and placement of that waste into inspectable storage. All waste will be moved into inspectable storage by September 30, 2003. Waste recovery and storage operations emphasize protection of worker safety, public health, and the ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Consideration of the technical feasibility of Yucca Mountain in Nevada as the site for a high-level nuclear waste repository has led to an intense debate regarding the economic, social, and political impacts of the repository. Impediments to the siting process mean that the nuclear waste problem is being resolved by adhering to the status quo, in which nuclear waste is stored at scattered sites near major population centers. To assess the merits of alternative siting strategies--including both the permanent repository and the status quo- we consider the variables that would be included in a model designed to select (1) the optimal number of disposal facilities, (2) the types of facilities (e.g., permanent repository or monitored retrievable facility), and (3) the geographic location of storage sites. The objective function in the model is an all-inclusive measure of social cost. The intent of the exercise is not to demonstrate the superiority of any single disposal ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The Department of Energy`s program for disposing of nuclear High-Level Waste (HLW) and transuranic (TRU) waste has been impeded by overwhelming political opposition fueled by public perceptions of actual risk. Analysis of these perceptions shows them to be deeply rooted in images of fear and dread that have been present since the discovery of radioactivity. The development and use of nuclear weapons linked these images to reality and the mishandling of radioactive waste from the nations military weapons facilities has contributed toward creating a state of distrust that cannot be erased quickly or easily. In addition, the analysis indicates that even the highly educated technical community is not well informed on the latest technology involved with nuclear HLW and TRU waste disposal. It is not surprising then, that the general public feels uncomfortable with DOE`s management plans for with nuclear HLW and TRU waste disposal. Postponing the permanent geologic repository and use of ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The Quality Assurance Requirements and Description (QARD) is the principal quality assurance document for the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Program (Program). It establishes the minimum requirements for the Quality Assurance Program. The QARD contains regulatory requirements and program commitments necessary for the development of an effective quality assurance program. Quality assurance implementing documents must be based on, and consistent with, QARD requirements. The QARD applies to the following: (1) acceptance of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste; (2) transport of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste; (3) the Monitored Retrievable Storage (MRS) facility through application for an operating license; (4) Mined Geologic Disposal System (MGDS), including the site characterization activities (exploratory studies facility (ESF) and surface based testing), through application for an operating license; (5) the high-level-waste ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pilot-scale pyrolysis units have been in operation since 1980 to test the efficiency of thermal treatment of transuranic (TRU) solid waste to retrieve the TRUs and to reduce the volume of wastes such as spent solvent, spent resin, and others. These wastes are generated by reprocessing, fuel production, and utilities. NUKEM has developed a criticality-safe, ring-slab reactor to decompose solid TRU waste. The plant processes 25 kg/h with a polyvinyl chloride content up to 70%. The overall throughput (inactive) up to the spring of 1982 was 2000 kg. The decontamination factor for the reactor itself is 1000. The liquid wastes, mainly spent solvent, are cracked under nitrogen at 400 to 700"0C in a reactor that is filled by a packed bed kept in motion by a specially designed agitator. This unit was built for 15 kg/h water equivalent evaporation. Up to 1982 the unit processed 2000 kg of spent solvent (simulated) overall. The decontamination factor is similar to the figures ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The PICTURE utility generates user defined pictures with black-and-white or color output, suitable for viewgraphs, slides, report diagrams - in general, any application requiring visual aids. The interactive menu-driven system allows a user to create a picture consisting of text, straight lines, graphs, and assortment of markers, splines and drawings, all in a variety of colors. Commands for manipulating the picture include moving, scaling, rotating, deleting, copying and changing the color of objects. Text strings may be aligned left, right, or centered, and have a vertical or horizontal path. Markers, circles and the large bold font may be filled or unfilled. The user may add or delete one of two overlay grids for help in positioning items. The final product may be saved in a text file for later retrieval. PICTURE currently runs on a VAX 11/780 with the DI-3000 commercial graphics package. Supported graphics devices include Ramtek 9400 and Metheus 440 frame ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

As shown in various new examples, HABOG facility (Netherlands), CERNAVODA (Candu - Romania), KOZLODUY (WWER - Bulgaria), CHERNOBYL ( RMBK - Ukraine), MAYAK (Spent Fuel from submarine and Icebreakers - Russia), recent studies allow to confirm the flexibility and performances of the CASCAD system proposed by SGN, both in safety and operability, for the dry storage of main kinds of spent fuel. The main features are: A multiple containment barrier system: as required by international regulation, 2 independent barriers are provided (tight canister and storage pit); Passive cooling, while the Fuel Assemblies are stored in an inert atmosphere and under conditions of temperature preventing from degradation of rod cladding; Sub-criticality controlled by adequate arrangements in any conditions; Safe facility meeting ICPR 60 Requirements as well as all applicable regulations (including severe weather conditions and earthquake); Safe handling operations; Retrievability of the ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The power source facilities of JT-60 consist of poloidal magnetic coil power source, toroidal magnetic coil power source, the power generation facility for heating, operation power distribution facility and secondary cooling facility, and at the time of the experiment operation of JT-60, they supply 1300 MVA of instantaneous maximum power to loads. The component machinery and equipment of the power source facilities are installed in about 20 indoor and outdoor places, and their mounted parts are about 15,000 kinds. About 3,000 kinds of spare parts are preserved in 15 exclusively used stores. The managing system for mounted parts and spare parts of JT-60 power source facilities which possesses the functions of rapidly and efficiently carrying out the storage of large quantity of information, mutual relating and retrieval by making mounted parts and spare parts into a data base and doing their unified management with a computer was constructed. As for the software, ...

CERN Document Server

Wireless sensor networks can revolutionize soil ecology by providing measurements at temporal and spatial granularities previously impossible. This paper presents a soil monitoring system we developed and deployed at an urban forest in Baltimore as a first step towards realizing this vision. Motes in this network measure and save soil moisture and temperature in situ every minute. Raw measurements are periodically retrieved by a sensor gateway and stored in a central database where calibrated versions are derived and stored. The measurement database is published through Web Services interfaces. In addition, analysis tools let scientists analyze current and historical data and help manage the sensor network. The article describes the system design, what we learned from the deployment, and initial results obtained from the sensors. The system measures soil factors with unprecedented temporal precision. However, the deployment required device-level programming, sensor ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Several U.S. Department of Energy organizations and the U.S. Bureau of Mines have been collaboratively conducting mixed waste treatment process demonstration testing on the near full-scale graphite electrode submerged arc melter system at the Bureau`s Albany (Oregon) Research Center. An initial test series successfully demonstrated arc melter capability for treating surrogate incinerator ash of buried mixed wastes with soil. The conceptual treatment process for that test series assumed that buried waste would be retrieved and incinerated, and that the incinerator ash would be vitrified in an arc melter. This report presents results from a recently completed second series of tests, undertaken to determine the ability of the arc melter system to stably process a wide range of {open_quotes}as-received{close_quotes} heterogeneous solid mixed wastes containing high levels of organics, representative of the wastes buried and stored at the Idaho National Engineering ...

Science.gov (United States)

Clinical-HINTS (Health Intelligence System) is a horizontally integrated decision support system (DSS) designed to meet the requirements for intelligent real-time clinical information management in critical care medical environments and to lay the foundation for the development of the next generation of intelligent medical instrumentation. The system presented was developed to refine and complement the information yielded by clinical laboratory investigations, thereby benefiting the management of the intensive care unit (ICU) patient. More specifically, Clinical-HINTS was developed to provide computer-based assistance with the acquisition, organisation and display, storage and retrieval, communication and generation of real-time patient-specific clinical information in an ICU. Clinical-HINTS is an object-oriented system developed in C+2 to run under Microsoft Windows as an embryo intelligent agent. Current generic reasoning skills include perception and reactive ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boat sampling technique (BST) is a surface sampling technique, which has been developed for obtaining, in-situ, metal samples from the surface of an operating component without affecting its operating service life. The BST is non-destructive in nature and the sample is obtained without plastic deformation or without thermal degradation of the parent material. The shape and size of the sample depends upon the shape of the cutter and the surface geometry of the parent material. Miniature test specimens are generated from the sample and the specimens are subjected to various tests, viz. Metallurgical Evaluation, Metallographic Evaluation, Micro-hardness Evaluation, sensitisation test, small punch test etc. to confirm the integrity and assessment of safe operating life of the component. This paper highlights design objective of boat sampling technique, description of sampling module, sampling cutter and its performance evaluation, cutting process, boat samples, operational sequence of ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This paper describes Fuji computed radiography (FCR) of Fuji Film for NDT (non-destructive testing). Imaging plate (IP) is a two-dimensional detector of X-ray, and shows higher photographic sensitivity than X-ray film. The output emission of IP provides a good linear relationship to X-ray intensity in a wide intensity range. When this emission can be digitized, the X-ray intensity can be also digitized. IP is applied to NDT as an inspection using X-ray. FCR provides higher photographic sensitivity than the conventional X-ray film method, which results in one-fifth to one-twentieth of irradiation time. Images with stable density can be obtained independent of the intensity. Since IP has a wide dynamic range, the variation of X-ray intensity of 1:500 can be expressed in a single image by single shot. High density record including 1000 images can be done using a 5.25 inch optical disk through the digital image processing and the electrical quantification. The ...

CERN Document Server

The flybys of Jupiter by the Voyager spacecraft in 1979, and over two decades later by Cassini in 2000, have provided us with unique datasets from two different epochs, allowing the investigation of seasonal change in the atmosphere. In this paper we model zonal averages of thermal infrared spectra from the two instruments, Voyager 1 IRIS and Cassini CIRS, to retrieve the vertical and meridional profiles of temperature, and the abundances of the two minor hydrocarbons, acetylene (C2H2) and ethane (C2H6). The spatial variation of these gases is controlled by both chemistry and dynamics, and therefore their observed distribution gives us an insight into both processes. We find that the two gases paint quite different pictures of seasonal change. Whilst the 2-D cross-section of C2H6 abundance is slightly increased and more symmetric in 2000 (northern summer solstice) compared to 1979 (northern fall equinox), the major trend of equator to pole increase remains. For ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The Fact Finding Committee on 'Future Nuclear Power Policy' established by the 8th German Federal Parliament in its report of June 1980 among other items published the recommendation to commission a 'risk oriented analysis' of the SNR-300 in order to enable a pragmatic comparison to be made of the safety of the German prototype fast breeder reactor and a modern light water reactor (a Biblis B PWR). The Federal Minister for Research and Technology in August 1981 officially commissioned the Gesellschaft fuer Reaktorsicherheit (GRS) to conduct the study. Following a recommendation by the Fact Finding Committee, additional studies were performed also by a group of opponents of the breeder reactor. On the instigation of the group of opponents the delivery date of the study was altered several times and finally set at April 30, 1982. GRS submitted its report by this deadline. However, a joint report by the two groups could not be compiled, as had ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Current hydrocarbon-based energy systems, current energy consumption and the push towards the utilization of renewable energy sources, fuelled by global warming and the need to reduce atmospheric pollution are discussed. The consequences of climatic change and the obligation of Annex B countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in terms of the Kyoto Protocols are reviewed. The role that renewable energy sources such as hydrogen, solar and wind energy could play in avoiding the most catastrophic consequences of rapidly growing energy consumption and atmospheric pollution in the face of diminishing conventional fossil fuel resources are examined. The focus is on hydrogen energy as a means of storing and transporting primary energy. Some favorable characteristics of hydrogen is its abundance, the fact that it can be produced utilizing renewable or non-renewable sources, and the further fact that its combustion produces three times more ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The aim of this research is to experimentally study the efficiency of a new-design plate collector used to heat air in a new desalination humidification-dehumidification process. In fact, in such processes, the air solar collectors work at unusual experimental parameters (forced convection, elevated air humidity, high solar irradiation). At these stressed experimental conditions, few published works are available in literature. Furthermore, the comparison of the efficiency of collectors running with normal air humidity content (about 10-20 g kg{sup -1}) and air of elevated humidity (20-50 g kg{sup -1}) have not been published to our knowledge. In the present investigation, a new air solar plate collector was designed and developed for its use in a desalination process. Moreover, a characterization of such collector was performed under different experimental conditions. The effect of different parameters, namely: the solar radiation, the wind velocity, the ambient ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Careful sample preparation and secondary ion mass spectroscopy have been used to characterize arsenic dose loss to the silicon-oxide interface. Using high resolution x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for microprofiling, we have directly observed the pileup of arsenic at the silicon dioxide-silicon interface. At least half of the pileup is shown to be on the silicon side of the interface in the first monolayer of silicon. Monolayer chemical oxidation and etching are successfully used to profile this pileup in silicon. This pileup contains most of the arsenic dose loss that occurs during transient enhanced diffusion. This result is crucial to correctly model the dose loss and provides physical justification for using a trap/detrap model at the interface, which is necessary to account for the fact that the arsenic surface concentration remains constant during an anneal and the fact that the dose loss is partially reversible. Finally, we have found ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The general usefulness of neutron activation analysis (NAA) for samples containing the platinum group elements (PGE) and Au, either as major or trace constituents, is discussed. Charged particle activation is shown to be a viable or complementary alternative. Proton (6-10 MeV) and alpha particle (9-15 MeV) beams, produced in a tandem Van de Graaff accelerator, have been established to be the most effective choice. By taking advantage of the Coulomb barrier effect and the fact that many charged particle induced reactions have relatively large threshold values, the same instrumental technique can be applied, with minor modifications, to a wide range of materials.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

In this paper uptake of tritium by market foods from tritiated water vapor in the air is investigated using cereals and beans purchased in Deep River, Canada. The concentrations of tissue free water tritium (TFWT) and organically bound tritium (OBT) range from 12 to 79% and from 10 to 38% respectively, of that estimated for atmospheric water vapor of the sampling month. The specific activity ratios of OBT to TFWT were constant for cereals, but variable for beans. The elevated OBT was shown to be the result of isotopic exchange of labile hydrogen by the fact that washing the foods with tritium free-water reduced their tritium contents to levels characteristic of their production sites.

Science.gov (United States)

Two avowable quantum communication schemes are proposed. One is an avowable teleportation protocol based on the quantum cryptography. In this protocol one teleports a set of one-particle states based on the availability of an honest arbitrator, the keys and the Einstein Podolsky Rosen pairs shared by the communication parties and the arbitrator. The key point is that the fact of the teleportation can neither be disavowed by the sender nor be denied by the receiver. Another is an avowable quantum secure direct communication scheme. A one-way Hash function chosen by the communication parties helps the receiver to validate the truth of the information and to avoid disavowing for the sender.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The paper presents results of measurements of the natural radioactivity of tap water where samples were taken in front of, and behind the ceramic filter commonly used in houses for the purification of tap water. Altogether, 289 samples were taken, processed and measured during 1985-1986 in Kuwait. Results reveal the fact that ceramic filters reduce substantially the natural radioactivity in water (the 'gross' alpha activity reduced by the factor 2.18 #+-# 18%; the 'gross' beta by 1.53 #+-# 1.6%. (author).

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Major similarities between robustness assessment and seismic design exist, and significant information can be brought from seismic design to robustness design. As will be discussed, although some methods and limitations considered in seismic design can improve robustness, the capacity of the structure to sustain limited damage without disproportionate effects is significantly more complex. In fact, seismic design can either improve or reduce the resistance of structures to unforeseeable events, depending on the structural type, triggering event, structural material, among others. Based on a case study, the influence of redundancy and ductility on the seismic behavior and robustness of a long-span timber structure is assessed.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

We calculate the cross section for the resonance scattering of Lyman-..cap alpha.. radiation by spinless nonrelativistic hydrogen atoms in the ground state using a two-level model. A generalization of Dirac's resonance scattering theory is used together with the exact matrix elements for the electromagnetic interaction. In contrast to the usual treatments in which only the dipole approximation for the matrix elements are taken, the shift in position of the resonance is finite and has a value of 75% of the Lamb shift of the n=1 state. Whether this latter fact is significant in renormalization calculations is left open.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

It is pointed out that a recently claimed result regarding the removal of sharp structure in the electronic density of states N(E) of A-15 superconducting compounds at T approximately equal to Tsub(c) was in fact, shown earlier by one of the present authors (M.N.M.). Merely the variation of N(E) with energy in the vicinity of the Fermi level in these materials cannot explain their anomalous normal state properties and high values of lambda and Tsub(c). Rather a non-varying N(E) accompanied by phonon softening is in better agreement with experiment. (author).

CERN Document Server

This paper is concerned with the study of insurance related derivatives on financial markets that are based on non-tradable underlyings, but are correlated with tradable assets. We calculate exponential utility-based indifference prices, and corresponding derivative hedges. We use the fact that they can be represented in terms of solutions of forward-backward stochastic differential equations (FBSDE) with quadratic growth generators. We derive the Markov property of such FBSDE and generalize results on the differentiability relative to the initial value of their forward components. In this case the optimal hedge can be represented by the price gradient multiplied with the correlation coefficient. This way we obtain a generalization of the classical 'delta hedge' in complete markets.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The prevailing hypothesis of linear extrapolation from high to low radiation doses without any threshold level is being questioned more and more strongly for radiobiological and epidemiological reasons and, consequently, also on socio-economic and ethical grounds. A cost-benefit analysis based on scientific facts and made plausible to the general public, concentrating on a comparison with demonstrable natural and manmade risks, most probably would result not only in the permissible limits being raised by a considerable margin, but also in billions of costs saved, and in greater acceptance of all peaceful uses of radiation, nuclear power included. (orig.)

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

An overview of current concepts on neuroinflammation and on the dialogue between neurons and non-neuronal cells in three important infections of the central nervous systems (rabies, cerebral malaria, and human African trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness) is here presented. Large numbers of cases affected by these diseases are currently reported. In the context of an issue dedicated to Camillo Golgi, historical notes on seminal discoveries on these diseases are also presented. Neuroinflammation is currently closely associated with pathogenetic mechanisms of chronic neurodegenerative diseases. Neuroinflammatory signaling in brain infections is instead relatively neglected in the neuroscience community, despite the fact that the above infections provide paradigmatic examples of alterations o...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

In the early days of Moessbauer spectroscopy, it was demonstrated that coherent scattering of photons emitted by a Moessbauer source can be observed. In spite of the fact that scattering experiments could give information not accessible by the absorption method, they are not widely used. The reasons for this are, on the one hand, experimental difficulties, and on the other hand, the form of the samples, which should be large single crystals in most cases. In this work, we present a Moessbauer diffraction measurement on polycrystalline bcc iron where these problems have been overcome. We demonstrate that using the kinematical theory of gamma-ray diffraction, useful information on the relative orientation of the crystallographic axis to the hyperfine field directions can be subtracted. (orig.)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The interest of irradiation by carbon ions is in the fact that the carbon ions leave all their energy to a determined depth. ( phenomenon known under the name of Bragg peak)This high diffusion in tissue gives an RBE particularly high. The indications of this therapy are chordomas, and chondrosarcomas of the skull base, some cyst adenoid carcinomas, pulmonary cancer, sarcomas, hepato carcinomas, melanomas. In the light of results in term of efficiency, the place of irradiation by carbon ions should widen. (N.C.)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The capability of screen-film combinations of detection and representation of information is described by the detective quantum efficiency (DQE). The DQE may be calculated from the sensitivity, the gradient of the characteristic curve, the modulation transfer function and the Wiener spectrum. These parameters have been determined for fourteen screen-film combinations and the DQE's have been calculated. It is shown that the low frequency region the DQE does not depend on spatial frequency. This constant level of DQE is mostly dependent on the absorbance of the screens. Consequences from this fact, as well for the manufacturer as for the user of the screens, are discussed.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The fact that South Africa had no commercially significant deposits of crude oil necessitated the early development of production of gasoline from coal which was present in abundance in low to medium grade in thick seams, the development of the process since the early 1950s is discussed. Both the Fischer Tropsch and Lurgi processes are used, and three large plants named Sasol One, Two, and Three have been completed. A flow diagram for the Lurgi process as used in these plants is included. Typical products and their properties resulting from the Sasol-type Synthol operation are presented in tabular form. Marketing considerations and economics of production of the Sasol products are discussed briefly. (BLM)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Transmissions of sperm by unirradiated and irradiated cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera, were studied by live dissection of females immediately after the initiation of mating. In cotton bollworm the sperm transfer was rather a complex process. In fact unirradiated males failed to transfer sperm in about 19% of their matings. When irradiated with 250 Gy and 400 Gy, aberrations of sperm transmission were about 21% and 50% respectively. The failure of spermatophore 'cap' location was an important reason of sperm transmission aberrations. When females mated to high-dose-irradiated males, their oviposition response appeared abnormal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The distributions of the effective numbers of 6q-fluctons in the energy, momentum and distance to the center of mass of nucleus are studied. Many characteristics of these distributions are shown to be universal, i.e. independent of the flucton size. The saturation of the flucton density in A > 80 nuclei and other peculiarities are found, which define different behavior of the effective numbers of fluctons and deuterons. This fact provides an explanation of the known underestimate by a factor of 1.5-6 of the cross sections of hard inclusive (p, p'd) process on nuclei calculated in the quasi-elastic approximation.

Science.gov (United States)

In April 2002, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) released this overview of its current work. The report summarizes many of the organization's main programs, which are grouped into three broad areas. The first area details the efforts being made to minimize threats and ensure national security. Development of new technologies and advanced systems is highlighted in the second section, and the third looks at investigations into "high-risk, high-payoff technologies." There are numerous references to the war on terrorism that describe DARPA's involvement and specific projects to defend against terrorist acts.

CERN Document Server

If quantum fields exist in extra compact dimensions, they will give rise to a quantum vacuum or Casimir energy. That vacuum energy will manifest itself as a cosmological constant. The fact that supernova and cosmic microwave background data indicate that the cosmological constant is of the same order as the critical mass density to close the universe supplies a lower bound on the size of the extra dimensions. Recent laboratory constraints on deviations from Newton's law place an upper limit. The allowed region is so small as to suggest that either extra compact dimensions do not exist, or their number is about to be tightly constrained by experimental data.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

In order to stress the role of computed tomography (CT) in the evaluation of benign spinal osteoblastoma, the authors examined by CT 10 patients with surgically and histologically proved osteoblastomas of the spine. Basing on surgical and histopathological findings CT proved to be a very important method for attesting the presence of the tumors (usually showed by radiographic examination), and specially for their staging and follow-up. CT in fact showed the real extent of the tumor into the spinal canal and towards the paraspinal soft tissues, and allowed the aerly detection of post surgical relapses. The authors conclude that CT is a primary diagnostic modality for preoperative planning and follow-up of benign osteoblastoma.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Marburg virus belongs to the genus Marburgvirus in the family Filoviridae and causes a severe hemorrhagic fever, known as Marburg hemorrhagic fever (MHF), in both humans and nonhuman primates. Similar to the more widely known Ebola hemorrhagic fever, MHF is characterized by systemic viral replication, immunosuppression and abnormal inflammatory responses. These pathological features of the disease contribute to a number of systemic dysfunctions including hemorrhages, edema, coagulation abnormalities and, ultimately, multiorgan failure and shock, often resulting in death. A detailed understanding of the pathological processes that lead to this devastating disease remains elusive, a fact that contributes to the lack of licensed vaccines or effective therapeutics. This article will review the...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

An aspiration cover is proposed for the site of loading a belt conveyer including a housing arranged above the belt conveyer in whose cover there is an aspiration sleeve and a discharge chute from the upper wall and a guide having a cushioning plate on the lower end. It is distinguished by the fact that in order to improve the effectiveness of removing dust by decreasing the volume of aspirated air, the cover between the aspiration sleeve and the upper wall of the loading chute is convex in the inside of the housing and has a smooth connection to the upper wall of the discharge chute turned towards the cushioning plate.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The use of the method is described on powder samples before and after sintering with an La content of up to 1%. For excitation of the K series of La a _2_4_1Am source with an activity of 1.11 GBq was used. The obtained results showed that the method is sufficiently accurate (error 7%) at a short period of measurement (100 s). It gives satisfactory results even in the comparison of the experimental relative count rate and the theoretically calculated value despite the fact that the analytical signal comes from the sample surface. (Ha).

CERN Document Server

The Jacobi and Weierstrass elliptic functions used to be part of the standard mathematical arsenal of physics students. They appear as solutions of many important problems in classical mechanics: the motion of a planar pendulum (Jacobi), the motion of a force-free asymmetric top (Jacobi), the motion of a spherical pendulum (Weierstrass), and the motion of a heavy symmetric top with one fixed point (Weierstrass). The problem of the planar pendulum, in fact, can be used to construct the general connection between the Jacobi and Weierstrass elliptic functions. The easy access to mathematical software by physics students suggests that they might reappear as useful tools in the undergraduate curriculum.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Abstract Adalimumab is a fully human monoclonal anti-tumor necrosis factor-a agent that is approved for the treatment of Crohn's disease. It has a good safety profile, injection site reactions being the most common adverse effect. We report a case of a 54-year-old woman with a 30-year history of Crohn's disease who developed achromic patches on the trunk and upper extremities after initiating treatment with adalimumab. Cutaneous biopsy confirmed diagnosis of vitiligo and laboratory testing ruled out thyroid disease. Concomitant occurrence of vitiligo and inflammatory bowel disease, although rare, has been described. A common autoimmune basis could explain this fact. Moreover, multiple cutaneous adverse effects have been described in the literature secondary to biologic treatments, includin...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Microbiological comparison between irradiated and non-irradiated foodstuff has been studied for a long time as a way to detect whether a foodstuff has been irradiated or not. Generally, the proposed methods are based on the fact that ionization select species of bacteria which are recognized to be radioresistant. So reduction or elimination of known radiation sensitive microbes from the normal endogenous microflora could give an indication that the foodstuff has been irradiated, predominance of known radioresistant bacteria should be another indication. In the present work, we try to develop a test based on the radiosensitivity of the bacteria independently of their place. These first experiments show that the determination of radiosensitivity of strains isolated from a product or even of global radioresistance of mesophilic microflora could indicate if this product has been previously submitted to ionizing radiations. (4 tabs).

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

The period from the early eighteenth century up to 1820 witnesses a fundamental shift in the conception of the human. This shift is most clearly reflected in the soul's decline from being the essence of human life to a metaphor for the mind. At the same time, the status of the body rises from a machine to a whole organism that cannot only react but also act and think. This essay follows the discourse history of the soul from John Locke to Percy Bysshe Shelley, reflecting on the fact that the emergence of the modern scientific system at the end of the Romantic period and with it a biological conception of the human does not eventually lead to the end of the concept of soul. Rather, the soul becomes an important aesthetic concept in Romantic poetry. The analysis of the poem Epipsychidion sho...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

In this paper as a result of the theoretical studies and a numerical simulation we presented the following main conclusions: (i) for humid air at increasing pressure of 1.0133 10"5 Pa until 5.0665 10"5 Pa ozone concentrations during 2 centre dot 10"-"3 s become higher in 22 times. This fact we clear with structure of ozone-production reactions. In this case the harmful NO_x concentrations are 2-3 order lower than ozone one; (ii) it is shown that nitrogen is useful to ozone production in the discharge; (iii) based on ion collection we cleared increasing ignition discharge voltage at growing ozone concentrations even with low ozone concentrations.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

High levels of unemployment are a permanent feature in the urban areas of many developing countries. South Africa is no exception in this regard. Poverty and hardship caused by unemployment force many participants in the labour market to venture into the urban informal economy in order to survive. The activities of the waste pickers fall within the urban informal economy. In spite of the fact that waste pickers are a common sight in the urban areas of Pretoria and other South African cities, remarkably little is known about them and scant attention is paid to them. The aim of the study was to establish a socio-economic profile of the street waste pickers in Pretoria and to describe the social interaction and relationship dynamics between the waste pickers and their families, each other, th...

CERN Document Server

Bedwyr is a generalization of logic programming that allows model checking directly on syntactic expressions possibly containing bindings. This system, written in OCaml, is a direct implementation of two recent advances in the theory of proof search. The first is centered on the fact that both finite success and finite failure can be captured in the sequent calculus by incorporating inference rules for {\\em definitions} that allow {\\em fixed points} to be explored. As a result, proof search in such a sequent calculus can capture simple model checking problems as well as may and must behavior in operational semantics. The second is that higher-order abstract syntax is directly supported using term-level $\\lambda$-binders and the quantifier known as $\

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

An experimentalist looking for free tachyons is faced with the following two related problems: A) How does a tachyon interact with bradyonic matter. Is it an object more or less localized in space-time. B) How should a (bradyonic) detector for tachyons look. To answer B) you should necessarily know something about A). But a theory which provides sufficient information doesn't exist at the moment. Therefore it is necessary to make some simple assumption to tackle problem B). In the second part of this contribution two possibilities of tachyon detectors are proposed assuming that a free charged tachyon (if it exists) exhibits normal electromagnetic interaction with bradyonic matter. Another possibility to look for tachyons produced in high energy reactions of bradyons is the missing mass method using the fact that the four-momentum of a collection of particles can be spacelike if at least one tachyon is present. Such experiments have been undertaken with negative ...

CERN Document Server

Cosmological constant a.k.a. dark energy problem is considered to be one major challenge in modern cosmology. Here we present a model where large scale structure formation causes spatially-flat FRW universe to fragment into numerous `FRW islands' surrounded by vacuum. We show that this mechanism can explain the origin of dark energy as well as the late time cosmic acceleration. This explanation of dark energy does not require any exotic matter source nor an extremely fine-tuned cosmological constant. This explanation is given within classical general relativity and relies on the fact that our universe has been undergoing structure formation since its recent past.

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SummaryPrimary visual cortex recombines inputs from magnocellular (M) and parvocellular (P) streams to create functionally specialized outputs. Understanding these input-output relationships is complicated by the fact that layer 4B, which provides outputs to dorsal visual areas, contains multiple cell types. Using a modified rabies virus that expresses green fluorescent protein, we show that layer 4B neurons projecting to MT are a majority spiny stellate, whereas those projecting to V2 are overwhelmingly pyramidal. Regardless of cell type, MT-projecting neurons have larger cell bodies, more dendritic length, and are deeper within layer 4B. Furthermore, MT-projecting pyramidal neurons are located preferentially underneath cytochrome oxidase blobs, indicating that MT-projecting neurons of bo...

Science.gov (United States)

A method for simplifying finite element models of structures having a beam-like global dynamical behaviour is presented. This method is based on the use of a general uniform beam finite element formulation. It takes into account both transverse shear effects and dynamical coupling between bending and torsion due to the fact that mass centres and shear centres do not always coincide. For that purpose, we develop a condensation method for reducing any shell model into an equivalent beam, as well as a technique for automatically identifying the corresponding set of beam parameters. The method is applied to several illustrate examples that demonstrate its ability to simplify finite element models for many kinds of sophisticated structures having a beam-like predominant behaviour.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to verify the proposition by the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), that their return on investment (ROI) formula developed for academic libraries and based on hard facts is broad enough to be used throughout the world for ROI studies in academic institutions/libraries. It further aims to verify that UIUC's methodology is adaptable enough to work in other academic environments as well. Design/methodology/approach - The methodology developed by UIUC (an ROI formula developed for academic libraries based on grant proposal applications and citations) has been "copied" and thereby adapted to enable it to be used in an academic environment in Europe/Germany. Findings - The methodology developed by UIUC was adaptable enough to be used in a Ger...

CERN Document Server

This is our response to a comment by Walter Eifler on our paper `A simple model for the short-time evolution of near-surface current and temperature profiles' (arXiv:physics/0503186, accepted for publication in Deep-Sea Research II). Although Eifler raises genuine issues regarding our model's validity and applicability, we are nevertheless of the opinion that it is of value for the short-term evolution of the upper-ocean profiles of current and temperature. The fact that the effective eddy viscosity tends to infinity for infinite time under a steady wind stress may not be surprising. It can be interpreted as a vertical shift of the eddy viscosity profile and an increase in the size of the dominant turbulent eddies under the assumed conditions of small stratification and infinite water depth.

Science.gov (United States)

In this paper, we introduce a new recursive neural network model able to process directed acyclic graphs with labelled edges. The model uses a state transition function which considers the edge labels and is independent both from the number and the order of the children of each node. The computational capabilities of the new recursive architecture are assessed. Moreover, in order to test the proposed architecture on a practical challenging application, the problem of object detection in images is also addressed. In fact, the localization of target objects is a preliminary step in any recognition system. The proposed technique is general and can be applied in different detection systems, since it does not exploit any a priori knowledge on the particular problem. Some experiments on face detection, carried out on scenes acquired by an indoor camera, are reported, showing very promising results. PMID:16181770

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The rate was studied of radiation destruction of phenol aqueous solutions at a concentration range of 1 to 100 ppm. Irradiated were model solutions containing additions of some organic and inorganic substances typical of the petrochemical industry. In view of the fact that the radiation destruction kinetics is determined by the amount of dissolved oxygen in the sample and by the phenol concentration, relatively low doses were used. Thus, a sufficient amount of oxygen in the sample and therefore the oxidation mechanism of radiolysis were ensured. The dose-response relationships for phenol destruction were studied using doses of 50, 100, 200 and 400 J.kg"-"1; the limit dose was 500 J.kg"-"1. From the results obtained, a kinetic model was constructed of radiation phenol oxidation in aqueous solutions in the presence of various organic and inorganic additions. (B.S.).

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Recently the authors showed that tetrazolium salts can be obtained during the oxidation of substituted 1,3,5-triarylformazans with potassium permanganate in a two-phase organic solvent-water system. The role of phase-transfer catalyst in this reaction is played by the tetrazolium salt, which is formed in a small amount as the result of oxidation of the formazan at the phase boundary. The method is distinguished by its extreme simplicity. However, the yield of the tetrazolium salts fluctuates within wide limits and does not exceed 62%. This is due to the fact that as the reaction proceeds the pH of the aqueous phase increases from 6 to 12. At the same time it is known that tetrazolium salts are unstable in aqueous alkaline solutions. They found that if the aqueous phase is replaced by aqueous hydrochloric acid (5 wt. %) the yields of the tetrazolium salts (Ia-g) are increased to 70-87%. For convenience of isolation the readily water-soluble tetrazolium chlorides ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

The world of antibiotic drug discovery and development is driven by the necessity to overcome antibiotic resistance in common Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens. However, the lack of Gram-negative activity among both recently approved antibiotics and compounds in the developmental pipeline is a general trend despite the fact that the plethora of covered drug targets are well-conserved across the bacterial kingdom. Such intrinsic resistance in Gram-negative bacteria is largely attributed to the activity of multidrug resistance (MDR) efflux pumps. Moreover, these pumps also play a significant role in acquired clinical resistance. Together, these considerations make efflux pumps attractive targets for inhibition in that the resultant efflux pump inhibitor (EPI)/antibiotic combination d...

Science.gov (United States)

The focus of the March-April issue is on plant maintenance and plant life extension. Major articles/reports in this issue include: Spent fuel: myths and facts, by Jeffrey S. Merrifield, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Critical pipe replacement procedure, by Geoff Gilmore, Climax Portable Machine Tools Inc.; Improving maintenance performance, by Larry Meyer and Joe Giuffre, DC Cook Nuclear Plant, American Electric Power; Equipment deficiency intolerance index, by Douglas F. Helms, Tennessee Valley Authority; Plant profile: I and C modernization at Dukovany, by Josef Rosol, CEZ Dukovany NPP, Czech Republic; and, Report: new plant activities.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

This work reports phase equilibrium measurements for the ternary systems linoleic (acid+CO2+ethanol) and (linolenic acid+CO2+ethanol). The fatty acids present in the ternary systems were selected based on composition of banana peel oil extracted by supercritical CO2 at 20MPa and 313K. The motivation of this research relies on the fact that these unsaturated fatty acids are recognized to play an important role in lowering blood pressure and serum cholesterol and because they are present in high concentrations in banana peel extract. Besides that, equilibrium data of these compounds are scarce in literature. The phase equilibrium experiments were performed using a high-pressure variable-volume view cell over the temperature range of (303 to 343)K and pressures up to 19MPa. For both systems, ...

CERN Document Server

We show that the moduli space of all Calabi-Yau manifolds that can be realized as hypersurfaces described by a transverse polynomial in a four dimensional weighted projective space, is connected. This is achieved by exploiting techniques of toric geometry and the construction of Batyrev that relate Calabi-Yau manifolds to reflexive polyhedra. Taken together with the previously known fact that the moduli space of all CICY's is connected, and is moreover connected to the moduli space of the present class of Calabi-Yau manifolds (since the quintic threefold P_4[5] is both CICY and a hypersurface in a weighted P_4), this strongly suggests that the moduli space of all simply connected Calabi-yau manifolds is connected. It is of interest that singular Calabi-Yau manifolds corresponding to the points in which the moduli spaces meet are often, for the present class, more singular than the conifolds that connect the moduli spaces of CICY's.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

In 1977 and 1978, Sandia National Laboratories, located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and operated for the US Department of Energy (DOE), filmed a series of crash and fire tests performed on three casks designed to transport irradiated nuclear fuel assemblies. While the tests were performed to assess the applicability of scale and computer modeling techniques to actual accidents, films of them were quickly pressed into service by the DOE and nuclear utilities as ``proof`` to the public of the safety of the casks. In the public debate over the safety of irradiated nuclear fuel transportation, the films have served as the mainstay for the nuclear industry. Although the scripts of all the films were reviewed by USDOE officials before production, they contain numerous misleading concepts and images, and omit significant facts. The shorter versions eliminated qualifying statements contained in the longer version, and created false impressions. This paper discusses factors ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Studies addressed to a deep understanding of the structure/property relationship on the near infrared (NIR)-emissive erbium-quinolinolate complexes, which are of interest for low-cost photonic systems, are reviewed. The role of the 8-quinolinolate ligand (Q), which studies also as sensitizer to overcome the weak absorptivity of lanthanide ion, is discussed. Synthetic and structural aspects are reported to revise the old assumption that these complexes are analogous in structure to AlQ3 and to point out the specificity of the lanthanide coordination chemistry. In fact depending on reaction conditions, species with high coordination numbers and differing for nuclearity and stoichiometry have been isolated and fully characterized. In some instances it has been shown that coordinated water mol...

Wastenet

...The RSPB: Great crested grebe A delightfully elegant waterbird with ornate head plumes which led to its being hunted for its feathers, almost leading to its extermination from the UK. E-mail to a friendE-newsletterContact us Home England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales About Overview Awards & recognition Contact us Facts and figures History How we are run Inspiring work Job vacancies Looking to the future Media centre Offices The RSPB view ...status: Green Listen Get Flash player Play sound 1 videoLatin name Podiceps cristatusFamily Grebes (Podicipedidae)Overview A delightfully elegant waterbird with ornate head plumes which led to its being hunted for its feathers, almost leading to its extermination from the UK. They dive to feed and also to escape, preferring this to flying. On land they are clumsy because their feet are placed so far back on their bodies. ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

We outline a neo-Meinongian framework labeled as Modal Meinongian Metaphysics (MMM) to account for the ontology and semantics of fictional discourse. Several competing accounts of fictional objects are originated by the fact that our talking of them mirrors incoherent intuitions: mainstream theories of fiction privilege some such intuitions, but are forced to account for others via complicated paraphrases of the relevant sentences. An ideal theory should resort to as few paraphrases as possible. In Sect.?1, we make this explicit via two methodological principles, called the Minimal Revision and the Acceptability Constraint. In Sect.?2, we introduce the standard distinction between internal and external fictional discourse. In Sects.?3?5, we discuss the approaches of (traditional) Meinongia...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This paper describes the Knowledge Encapsulation Framework (KEF), a suite of tools to enable knowledge inputs (relevant, domain-specific facts) to modeling and simulation projects, as well as other domains that require effective collaborative workspaces for knowledge-based task. This framework can be used to capture evidence (e.g., trusted material such as journal articles and government reports), discover new evidence (covering both trusted and social media), enable discussions surrounding domain-specific topics and provide automatically generated semantic annotations for improved corpus investigation. The current KEF implementation is presented within a wiki environment, providing a simple but powerful collaborative space for team members to review, annotate, discuss and align evidence with their modeling frameworks. The novelty in this approach lies in the combination of automatically tagged and user-vetted resources, which increases user trust in the ...

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

A food supplement containing fish oils, urtica dioica, zinc, and vitamin E (Phytalgic) for osteoarthritis (OA) has now been tested in a placebo-controlled trial for 3 months and according to the authors has a very large clinical effect, considerably larger than that of any other known product. Even experts endorsing nutraceuticals for OA symptoms would probably agree that a nutraceutical with an effect size above 0.5 is rarely seen. Despite our concerns about the fact that trial registration took place after the study was completed and the likelihood that patients would note the taste of fish, a circumstance that would lead to detection bias, we consider these data promising though with a high risk of bias.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

This work describes the ability of ion beam analysis techniques IBA to simultaneously determine the concentration and the possible depth profile of some light elements, such as carbon, oxygen and nitrogen, in matrices of high atomic number Z, such as stainless steel materials. In fact, the nitriding process of some materials has the potential to improve their tribological and mechanical properties and to offer various advantages as compared with other methods used in the modification of surfaces. Gas and Plasma nitriding were applied to certain types of steel, such as AISI-304 and H-13 which are commonly used in the industry, in order to improve their hardness and their surface corrosion resistance. The improvement was correlated with the depth profile of N and the consequent structure variations. More specifically, non-Rutherford elastic backscattering (alpha, alpha) at 5 MeV was performed on different samples, before and after nitriding, in order to determine the ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Electric supply industry is facing deregulation all over the world. Under deregulated power supply scenario, power transmission congestion has become more intensified and recurrent, as compared to conventional regulated power system. Congestion may lead to violation of voltage or transmission capacity limits, thus threatens the power system security and reliability. Also the growing congestion may lead to unanticipated divergent electricity pricing. Owing to these facts congestion management has become a crucial issue in the deregulated power system scenario. Fast and precise prediction of nodal congestion prices in real time deregulated/spot power market may enable market participants and system operators to keep pace with the congestion by taking preventive measures like transaction resc...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The hydro cyclone is a piece of equipment for separating and/or classifying solids/liquids with a wide variety of applications in different industrial sectors. This article describes the construction and operation of a hydro cyclone to verify the influence of the main size parameters and variables on its concentrating behaviour. The industrial-sized model which was built does not correspond exactly to the engineering designs. During operation, there was a load loss, which did not exceed 30 kPa, as a results of the fact that the suspension flow was unable to circulate with the original dimensions. However, when, for various reasons, the lower diameter was reduced, it proved possible to achieve an efficiency rate of over 95% in the concentration circuit. (Author) 23 refs.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

This paper provides a systematic empirical analysis of the role of the housing market in the macroeconomy in the US and the euro area. First, it establishes some stylised facts concerning key variables in the housing market on the two sides of the Atlantic, such as real house prices, residential investment and mortgage debt. It then presents evidence from Structural Vector Autoregressions (SVAR) by focusing on the effects of monetary policy, credit supply and housing demand shocks on the housing market and the broader economy. The analysis shows that similarities outweigh differences as far as the housing market is concerned. The empirical evidence suggests a stronger role for housing in the transmission of monetary policy shocks in the US. The evidence is less clear-cut for housing demand...

CERN Document Server

We present first worldline numerical results for the nontrivial interplay between geometry and temperature dependencies of the Casimir effect. We show that the temperature dependence of the Casimir force can be significantly larger for open geometries (e.g., perpendicular plates) than for closed geometries (e.g., parallel plates). For surface separations in the experimentally relevant range, the thermal correction for the perpendicular-plates configuration exhibits a stronger parameter dependence and exceeds that for parallel plates by more than an order of magnitude at room temperature. This effect can be attributed to the fact that the fluctuation spectrum for closed geometries is gapped, inhibiting the thermal excitation of modes at low temperatures. By contrast, open geometries support a thermal excitation of the low-lying modes in the gapless spectrum already at low temperatures.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Data from Monte Carlo transport codes are used to model radiobiological effects. We previously reported the Fourier analysis of ionization data generated by simulating a 500-keV proton traversing water. Here, we extend Fourier analysis to energy transfer data of another radiation type, a 14-MeV #alpha#-particle. A radiobiological model based on this frequency-domain analysis views cell as an information processing system . It lends itself naturally to traditional engineering analyses. One engineering principle-the output response of a linear system to random signal-is applied here to explain the fact that there is measurable difference in the magnitude of the biological effectiveness when a given biological system is irradiated with two different radiation types of the same Linear Energy Transfer (LET).

CERN Document Server

We reconsider stochastic convergence analyses of particle swarm optimisation, and point out that previously obtained parameter conditions are not always sufficient to guarantee mean square convergence to a local optimum. We show that stagnation can in fact occur for non-trivial configurations in non-optimal parts of the search space, even for simple functions like SPHERE. The convergence properties of the basic PSO may in these situations be detrimental to the goal of optimisation, to discover a sufficiently good solution within reasonable time. To characterise optimisation ability of algorithms, we suggest the expected first hitting time (FHT), i.e., the time until a search point in the vicinity of the optimum is visited. It is shown that a basic PSO may have infinite expected FHT, while an algorithm introduced here, the Noisy PSO, has finite expected FHT on some functions.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fetal MRI examines non-invasively the unborn fetus. Ultrafast MRI sequences effectively suppress fetal motion. Multiple case reports and studies have shown that fetal MRI is particularly helpful in the evaluation of the central nervous system. The high contrast-to-noise ratio, the high spatial resolution, the multiplanar capabilities, the large field of view and the simultaneous visualisation of fetal and maternal structures have proven to be advantageous. Fetal MRI is particularly helpful in the evaluation of the normal and pathological development of the brain. Despite the fact that no side effects have been reported or are to be expected, the use of MRI during pregnancy is still limited to the second and third trimester of pregnancy. Magnetic resonance imaging contrast media are not to be used as it passes the placenta. Ultrasound remains the primary screening modality for fetal pathology; fetal MRI can serve as an adjunct or second-line imaging modality. ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

An evaluation of Enova's heating program is presented. The central point was to evaluate to which degree Enova's heating program had resulted in increased supply of renewable energy for heating purposes to the Norwegian energy system. Main results are presented in part 1, chapter 1 to 5, while the facts and analyses behind the evaluation are presented in part 2, chapter I to VII. The main conclusion is that the program seen as one has had triggering effect on the market. The program has thus provided results in the form of increased supply of heating energy. Because of the project limitations and the lack of systematically documented baselines in the procedures, there are insecurities connected to the exact data registered. This makes quantification of the results difficult (ml)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The nucleation of microdamage under dynamic loading was investigated through planar impact experiments accomplished with a light gas gun. The microscopic observation of recovered and sectioned specimens showed that microcracks were nucleated only by cracking of brittle particles inside material. However, for comparison the in situ static tensile tests on the same material conducted with a scanning electron microscope showed that the microcracks were nucleated by many forms those were fracture of ductile matrix, debonding particles from matrix and cracking of brittle particles. The quantitative metallographic observations of the specimens subjected to impact loading showed that most of the cracked particles were situated on grain boundaries of the aluminum matrix. These facts suggested the concept of critical size and incubation time of submicroscopic cavities in the dynamic case and the mechanism of embryo-damage induced nucleation by fracture of brittle particles ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

During fluoroscopy the examiner is usually protected by a radiation-reducing body shield, leaving the thyroid unprotected. The fact that the thyroid is located in a region of the neck usually covered by the shirt collar led to the idea of designing a tie with lead core, providing easy and ''decorative'' reduction of the radiation dose. Sonographic examinations were carried out in 20 volunteers (10 men, 10 women) to determine the size of the gland and its coverage by such a tie. The reduction of the surface and organ dose was assessed using film dosimetry with scattered radiation, the body of the examiner being simulated by an Alderson phantom. On average 88% of the thyroid gland surface area was covered. Surface dose was reduced to 1%, and organ dose to 10% of the value without the protection tie. (Author).

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Pesticides are widely used in food production to increase food security despite the fact that they can have negative health effects on consumers. Pesticide residues have been found in various fruits and vegetables; both raw and processed. One of the most common routes of pesticide exposure in consumers is via food consumption. Most foods are consumed after passing through various culinary and processing treatments. A few literature reviews have indicated the general trend of reduction or concentration of pesticide residues by certain methods of food processing for a particular active ingredient. However, no review has focused on combining the obtained results from different studies on different active ingredients with differences in experimental designs, analysts and analysis equipment. In...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The authors present results of grazing incidence X-ray diffraction studies concerning the effect of pH (and thus, of headgroup dissociation) on Langmuir monolayers of fatty acids, in the absence of any divalent cations in the aqueous subphase. An increase in pH transforms the distorted-hexagonal S phase first to the partially disordered Rotator-I phase with less distortion, and then to the completely disordered Rotator-II phase with an undistorted hexagonal structure. The S-Rotator-I and Rotator-I-Rotator-II transitions are pushed to lower temperatures with increase in pH. The fact that the effects of pH increase are almost identical to the effects of increasing temperature indicates the important role of headgroup-headgroup interactions in these monolayer phases.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Current decisions on greenhouse gas emissions may have effects on human well being for centuries. This project has aimed to extend the economic models designed for analyzing this particular issue. A closely related topic follows from the fact that emitting CO{sub 2} can be interpreted as a utilization of a free access resource, i.e., when countries gain from utilizing cheap fossil fuels (relative to noncarbon energy sources), the possible loss any country suffers from climate change is only a negligible fraction of the total loss of all countries. Thus, from a global point of view, the incentives for an individual country to abate emissions is low. Economic understanding of these problems calls for dynamic game-theoretical models

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Despite the fact that humans are exposed to multiple forms of mercury (elemental, inorganic, and organic), most research on mercury toxicity has focused on methylmercury (MeHg) and on neurotoxic outcomes and mechanisms. Recent work has indicated that the immunotoxic effects of mercury compounds may be significant contributors to human disease as well as mechanistically relevant to other target organ toxicities. In this study, we compared the effects of inorganic Hg (iHg) to organic Hg species (MeHg and ethylmercury, EtHg) in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in vitro at sub-cytotoxic concentrations, using methods developed to characterize response of human PBMCs to iHg in vitro. PBMCs were isolated from six volunteer blood donors (three males and three females) and cultured ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The authors have developed a high-sensitivity real-time neutron radiography (NR) system by the use of the low power reactor of Kinki University. The system was constructed with a high efficiency neutron-photon converter, an image intensifier and a SIT TELEVISION camera. Some digital image processing techniques were applied for improving the quality of the real-time neutron images. By the use of this system, dynamic neutron imaging was performed successfully under the condition of a weak neutron field that was about two orders of magnitude lower than that of the standard NR system. The neutron flux, calculated from the fluctuation of the neutron response of the images, was nearly equal to the value measured by the foil activation method. From this fact, the efficiency for the neutron detection of the imaging system was estimated to be almost 100%. For the purpose of developing a system with higher sensitivity, consideration of neutron statistics would be important. ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

In simulations with high radiated power fractions, it is possible to produce the drop in ion current to the divertor targets typical of detached plasmas. Despite the fact that these experiments are performed on beryllium target tiles, radiation from deuterium and beryllium cannot account for the measured power losses. The neutral deuterium levels in the SOL in these plasmas are higher than the model predicts. This may be due to leakage from the divertor or to additional wall sources related to the non-steady nature of these plasmas. In contrast, a surprisingly high level of carbon is present in these discharges; higher even than would be predicted are the divertor target tiles pure carbon. This level may well be large enough to produce the measured radiation. (authors). 6 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Industrial effects have long been significant factors in wage inequality. Previous research indicates that wage differentials across industries were increasing through the mid 1980s. Using more recent data, however, we find that the level of inter-industry wage dispersion declined by 36% from 1986 to 2002 despite the continued trend towards increasing inequality in the labor force. This decline in inter-industry wage dispersion is evident across gender and educational groups. Using multilevel growth curve models, our multivariate results indicate that the decline is only weakly related to industrial changes in education, occupation or even productivity despite the fact that the latter variable had been a critical factor in the prior period. Indicators of globalization and downsizing also d...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Formation kinetics and composition of products of interaction of binary and ternary tungsten-molybdenum-rhenium alloys containing 30#+-#3 at.% (27-47 weight %) Re with products of thermal dissociation of ammonia and nitrogen-oxygeneous mixtures are studied. Mo-45% Re-10%W ternary alloy occupies intermediate position between W-27%Re and Mo-47%Re binary alloys, while its corrosion resistance and corrosion nature are close to those of W-Re and mechanical features - to those of Mo-Re alloy. It is explained by the fact, that the variation of W and Mo ration occurs in thin surface layer of ternary alloys in contrast to the initial state and the enrichment of near-the-surface layer with tungsten occurs under hot and cold deformation, at aging in the air, and during oxidation-reduction treatment. 4 refs.; 7 figs.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

An easy and simple method for gamma assay of large multi-gamma lines samples was introduced in this work. This method performs the assay using point source calibration. The correction factors for volume and self-attenuation are experimentally deduced from the spectra of different thicknesses samples utilizing the following two simple well known facts: large and small samples of the same homogenous material have identical specific activities; the self-attenuation of gamma line decreases as its energy increases. The method was successfully applied to naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) large samples. This method does not require complicated mathematical procedures. Neither sample matrix data nor detector unit composition is needed.

CERN Document Server

Starting from the generalized Konishi anomaly equations at the non-perturbative level, we demonstrate that the algebraic consistency of the quantum chiral ring of the N=1 super Yang-Mills theory with gauge group U(N), one adjoint chiral superfield X and N_f<=2N flavours of quarks implies that the periods of the meromorphic one-form Tr dz/(z-X) must be quantized. This shows in particular that identities in the open string description of the theory, that follow from the fact that gauge invariant observables are expressed in terms of gauge variant building blocks, are mapped onto non-trivial dynamical equations in the closed string description.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Steel building frames are often analyzed for stability in an elastic way, while most of their columns behave inelastically at the buckling stage. Most column design provisions allow for inelastic behavior, but overall inelastic stability analysis is rarely performed. In this study the analysis philosophy is centered on the overall frame stability and its true safety factor. As many columns show inelastic behavior at the buckling stage, the proposed procedure takes due consideration of this fact. Once the overall buckling factor for the frame is obtained, individual column effective length factors, and their true slenderness ratios are computed, and used in the design relationships. This procedure circumvents the use of design nomographs and numerous formulas proposed in the past to allevia...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

First generation biofuels provide a number of ecosystem services (e.g., fuel, climate regulation) but they also compromise other ecosystem services (e.g., food, freshwater services) which are of paramount value to human wellbeing. However, this knowledge is fragmented and little is known about how the ecosystem services provided and/or compromised by biofuels link to human wellbeing. In fact, whether biofuels production and use can have a negative or positive impact on the environment and society depends on several interconnected factors. This paper provides a critical review of the drivers, impacts and tradeoffs of biofuel production and use. In particular, it rationalizes the evidence coming from diverse academic disciplines and puts it into perspective by employing the ecosystem service...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The total bolometrically measured plasma radiation losses on the RF heating power were found. The results of measurements demonstrate a nonmonotonic dependence of radiation losses on RF power. Namely, at low RF power levels (80...170 kW) the total radiation losses raised with increasing the RF power. However, the total radiation losses decreased sharply when RF power exceeded 200 kW (down to ?20 kW at 240 kW of RF power). Simultaneously, the intensity of impurity lines fell down significantly, whereas the average electron temperature (found from ECE measurement) increased. The authors consider that screening properties of periphery plasma give reasons for above experimental facts.

CERN Document Server

A prescription is given for computing anomalous dimensions of single trace operators in SYM at strong coupling and large $N$ using a reduced model of matrix quantum mechanics. The method involves treating some parts of the operators as "BPS condensates" which, in certain limit, have a dual description as null geodesics on the $S^5$. In the gauge theory, the condensate is similar to a representative of the chiral ring and it is described by a background of commuting matrices. Excitations around these condensates correspond to excitations around this background and take the form of ``string bits" which are dual to the "giant magnons" of Hofman and Maldacena. In fact, the matrix model approach gives a {\\it quantum} description of these string configurations and explains why the infinite momentum limit suppresses the quantum effects. This method allows, not only to derive part of the classical sigma model Hamiltonian of the dual string (in the infinite momentum ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The application of the phased array technique was limited to heavy and thick wall components as present in the nuclear industry. With the improvement of the equipment and probes other application areas are now open for the phased array technique, e.g. the inspection of the turbine blade root, weld inspection in a wall thickness range between 12 and 40 mm, inspection of aircraft components, inspection of spot welds or inspection of concretes. The aim of the use of phased array techniques has not been changed related to the first applications, i.e. the adaptation of the sound beam to the geometry by steering the angel of incidence or the skewing angle as well as the focussing of sound fields. Due to the fact, that the new applications of the phased array techniques in some cases don't leave the laboratories for the time being, the examples of this contribution will focus applications with practical background. (orig.)

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Univariate indicators such as employment are often used to benchmark economic growth at the local and regional levels. However, the tremendous technological and industrial changes in the U.S. economy in the second half of the twentieth century suggest this practice may be outdated. In fact, the singular use of univariate indicators to benchmark regional development may obscure a much richer and more complex web of economic processes. Given the potential complexities associated with regional benchmarking in the current global economy, this paper will explore the numerical differences in economic performance presented by popular univariate indicators of regional growth. Results demonstrate a univariate approach to benchmarking presents an incomplete snapshot of regional performance that is i...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Highlights are presented from among the many contributions made by Oscar Buneman to the science, engineering, and mathematics communities. Emphasis is placed not only on ''what'' this pioneer of computational plasma physics contributed but, of equal importance, on ''how'' he made his contributions. Therein lies the difference between technical competence and scientific greatness. The picture which emerges illustrates the open-mindedness, enthusiasm, intellectual/physical stamina, imagination, intellectual integrity, interdisciplinary curiosity, and deep humanity that made this individual unique. As a gentleman and a scholar, he had mastered the art of making cold technical facts ''come to life.'' Oscar Buneman died peacefully at his home near Stanford University on Sunday, January 24th, 1993. The profound influence he has had on many of his colleagues ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Polysilicon thin-film technology has become of great interest due to the demand for large area electronic devices. Active matrix liquid crystal displays (AMLCDs) and active matrix organic light emitting displays (AMOLEDs) are among the fields where polysilicon thin-film transistors (poly-Si TFTs) are most commonly used. Such devices, generally, require analog signal processing. This fact makes the performance of basic analog blocks, such as current mirrors implemented with poly-Si TFTs, crucial. This paper examines the performance of various current mirror designs through simulation. Finally, a novel design of a current mirror is proposed aimed to be used in low voltage applications.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The invention is associated with organic geochemistry and may be used in conducting geological exploration operations for oil and gas. The purpose of the invention is to increase the precision of the method for determining the genesis of bitumoids. This is achieved through determining the isotopic composition of nickel or vanadium and from the anomalously high values of the isotopic ratio of Ni-58 to Ni-62 or from the anomalously low values of the isotopic ratio of vanadium, a conclusion is drawn about the epigenetic nature of the bitumoids. The proposed method is characterized by greater resolution due to the fact that the values of the isotopic ratios for oil bearing and water bearing structures are essentially not superimposed. The proposed method exceeds the resolution of metal metering studies in conducting geological exploration for oil and gas by 2 to 3 times.

Science.gov (United States)

Understanding Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) documentation and coding rules is challenging for most physicians. To accurately bill for clinical services, physicians must learn a system that may initially seem daunting, but is in fact governed by a small number of straightforward rules. The Evaluation and Management (E/M) guidelines for all service codes specify 3 components: history, examination, and medical decision-making, each with a defined set of elements or characteristics. Service coding is based on the level of care supported by the number of history and examination elements and the complexity of decision-making. This article will clarify the guidelines for outpatient clinical services and suggest a practical method of selecting appropriate E/M codes. Because physicians must often choose between billing codes 99213 and 99214 for a visit by an established patient, it will particularly focus on the minimum documentation needed to bill a 99214 ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The effective remediation of contaminated sites requires accurate identification of chemical distributions. A rapid sampling method using passive sampling devices (PSDs) can provide a thorough site assessment. We have been pursuing their application in terrestrial systems and have found that they increase the ease and speed of analysis, decrease solvent usage and overall cost, and minimize the transport of contaminated soils. Time and cost savings allow a higher sampling frequency than is generally the case using traditional methods. PSDs have been used in the field in soils of varying physical properties and have been successful in estimating soil concentrations ranging from 1 {mu}g/kg (parts per billion) to greater than 200 mg/kg (parts per million). They were also helpful in identifying hot spots within the sites. Passive sampling devices show extreme promise as an analytical tool to rapidly characterize contaminant distributions in soil. There are substantial time and cost savings ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The Two-Column Aerosol Project (TCAP) field campaign will provide a detailed set of observations with which to (1) perform radiative and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) closure studies, (2) evaluate a new retrieval algorithm for aerosol optical depth (AOD) in the presence of clouds using passive remote sensing, (3) extend a previously developed technique to investigate aerosol indirect effects, and (4) evaluate the performance of a detailed regional-scale model and a more parameterized global-scale model in simulating particle activation and AOD associated with the aging of anthropogenic aerosols. To meet these science objectives, the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility will deploy the ARM Mobile Facility (AMF) and the Mobile Aerosol Observing System (MAOS) on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, for a 12-month period starting in the summer of 2012 in order to quantify aerosol properties, radiation, and cloud characteristics at a location subject ...

Science.gov (United States)

BACKGROUND: Immune suppressant medications such as thiopurines and anti-tumor necrosis factor agents are important for maintaining disease control in most patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs); however, their use has been associated with the development of malignant lymphoma. The purpose of this Dutch nationwide study was to estimate the relative risk of malignant lymphoma in IBD patients. METHODS: IBD patients who developed a lymphoma between 1997 and 2004 were identified using the Dutch National Database of PALGA. Data from confirmed cases were collected from individual hospitals, including data on Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). The age-adjusted 8-year incidence of malignant lymphoma in the Netherlands was retrieved from the Central Bureau of Statistics. RESULTS: Forty-two hospitals were visited and 285 matches evaluated in the total cohort of 17,834 IBD patients. Forty-four lymphomas were observed, resulting in a relative risk of 1.27 (95% confidence ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Full text: Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of individual sand-sized grains of quartz has advanced significantly over the past decade opening up new vistas in luminescence geochronology. Today, single-grain OSL dating can be used to constrain the burial ages of many deposits, including fluvial sediments, glaciofluvial material and archaeological sediments. It also provides a means of examining the stratigraphic integrity of archaeological sites where sediment mixing might have occurred. An OSL age is calculated by dividing the burial dose (the dose absorbed by the grain since it was last exposed to sunlight) by the environmental dose rate (the rate of supply of ionizing radiation to the grain over the period of burial). To obtain reliable OSL ages, therefore, an accurate estimate of the dose rate is required for each sample. Here we describe our OSL dating campaign at Vindija Cave, a key archaeological site in central Europe that contains a 12 m-thick sequence of ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

This is the 1st revision of the INIS/ETDE Joint Thesaurus. It contains 20 953 valid descriptors and 8 600 forbidden terms. It was last updated in December 2003. The Joint Thesaurus contains the controlled terminology for indexing all information within the subject scope of both INIS (International Nuclear Information System) and ETDE (Energy Technology Data Exchange) information systems. The terminology is intended for use in subject description for input or retrieval of information in those systems. The thesaurus is a terminological control device used in translating from the natural language of documents, indexers or users into a more constrained system language It is also a controlled and dynamic vocabulary of semantically and generically related terms which covers a specific domain of knowledge. The domain of knowledge covered by this Thesaurus includes physics (in particular, plasma physics, atomic and molecular physics, and especially nuclear and high-energy ...

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Owing to exceptional biomolecule preservation, fossil avian eggshell has been used extensively in geochronology and palaeodietary studies. Here, we show, to our knowledge, for the first time that fossil eggshell is a previously unrecognized source of ancient DNA (aDNA). We describe the successful isolation and amplification of DNA from fossil eggshell up to 19 ka old. aDNA was successfully characterized from eggshell obtained from New Zealand (extinct moa and ducks), Madagascar (extinct elephant birds) and Australia (emu and owl). Our data demonstrate excellent preservation of the nucleic acids, evidenced by retrieval of both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA from many of the samples. Using confocal microscopy and quantitative PCR, this study critically evaluates approaches to maximize DNA recovery from powdered eggshell. Our quantitative PCR experiments also demonstrate that moa eggshell has approximately 125 times lower bacterial load than bone, making it a highly ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

When materials such as metal are into the secondary side of steam generator, they, so called foreign objects, may have influences on the integrity of the steam generator tubes. They cause the tube wear due to the relative motion between the tubes and foreign objects and the tube impact due to flow. The best way to avoid the effects is to remove all the foreign objects. However, it is not easy to remove the foreign materials thoroughly due to their condition such as the location. If the locations of the foreign materials are in the middle of tube bundle and the tube arrangement of the steam generator is the triangle type, the equipment such as FOSAR(Foreign Object Search and Retrieval) can not reach their locations. If the foreign materials stick together with the tubes or tube sheet, they can not be removed. In the case of operating the steam generator with the foreign materials, the licensee must prove that the materials do not affect the tube integrity and do not ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

A 12 m.y. record of large rhyolitic eruptions from the Coromandel (CVZ) and Taupo (TVZ) volcanic zones of New Zealand is contained in cores retrieved by Leg 181 of the Ocean Drilling Program. Site 1124, located 670 km from the TVZ, has a maximum of 134 macroscopic tephra layers with a total thickness of 13.18 m. These units, along with between 7 and 63 tephras from 3 other sites, were dated by a combination of magnetostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, isothermal plateau fission track determinations, and geochemical correlation with onshore tephra deposits. Additional time control for the last 3 m.y. came from an orbitally tuned, benthic, oxygen isotope profile for Site 1123. Results extend the incomplete terrestrial record of volcanism by placing the first major rhyolitic eruption in the CVZ at c. 12 Ma, c. 1.6-1 m.y. earlier than previously known. Tephras became thicker and more frequent from the late Miocene into the Quaternary - a trend that probably reflected (1) ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The COBRA-SFS computer code was used to perform thermal-hydraulic analyses of consolidated spent fuel stored in casks. The ability of the COBRA-SFS code to model consolidated fuel was evaluated by comparing predictions with experimental data obtained from electrically heated rod bundles by Ridihalgh, Eggers, and Associates and Eggers Ridihalgh Partners, Inc. under sponsorship of the Electric Power Research Institute. The calculations agreed with the measured temperatures well within the bounds of experimental error. Based on the evaluation results, best-estimate temperature predictions were performed for consolidated fuel in several cask designs. Results are presented for the REA 2023 BWR cask, the CASTOR-1C BWR cask, and the Concrete Sealed Storage Cask designed for Monitored Retrievable Storage (MRS). The cask simulation results indicate that consolidation of spent fuel results in a reduction of convection and radiation heat transfer from the fuel rods while ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) was established during World War II with a single mission -- to design and build an atomic bomb. In the 65 years since, nuclear weapons physics, design and engineering have been the Laboratory's primary and sustaining mission. Experimental and process operations -- and associated cleanout and upgrade activities -- have generated a significant inventory of transuranic (TRU) waste that is stored at LANL's Technical Area 54, Material Disposal Area G (MDA G). When the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) opened its doors in 1999, LANL's TRU inventory totaled about 10,200 m{sup 3}, with a plutonium 239-equivalent curie (PE Ci) content of approximately 250,000 curies. By December 2008, a total of about 2,300 m3 (61,000 PE Ci) had been shipped to WIPP from LANL. This has resulted in a net reduction of about 1,000 m{sup 3} of TRU inventory over that time frame. This paper presents progress in dispositioning legacy and ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This is the second technical report, covering the period from April 1, 2003 through September 30, 2003. This project brings together three parts of the oil exploration, development, and permitting process to form the foundation for a more fully integrated information technology infrastructure for the State of Alaska. The geo-technical component is a shared effort between the State Department of Administration and the US Department of Energy. The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is rapidly converting high volumes of paper documents and geo-technical information to formats suitable for search and retrieval over the Internet. The permitting component is under the lead of the DNR Office of Project Management and Permitting. A web-based system will enable the public and other review participants to track permit status, submit and view comments, and obtain important project information on-line. By automating several functions of the current manual process, ...

Science.gov (United States)

Vladimir P. Demikhov was born in a Russian peasant family in 1916. As a biology student at The Moscow University in 1937, he constructed a metal artificial heart and maintained the circulation of a dog for 5.5 hours. From 1946, after his military service, he worked in the Surgical Institute of The Moscow Academy of Sciences performing heterotopic heart transplantations in dogs. In 1947, he performed the first orthotopic lung transplant. Later he performed complex cardiothoracic transplantations as well as renal and hepatic transplantations. He restarted his investigations with the artificial heart and performed coronary bypass operations in dogs. In 1954 he performed a head transplantation, for which he gained worldwide infamy. Stalinist propaganda advertised this fact as the superiority of Soviet science. In fact, it was the upper body of a smaller dog to the neck of a bigger one. The two heads could eat and drink separately. But he could not ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

This is the second revision of the ETDE/INIS Joint Thesaurus, including all updates up to September 2006. It contains 21 147 valid descriptors and 9 114 forbidden terms. The Joint Thesaurus contains the controlled terminology for indexing all information within the subject scopes of the International Nuclear Information System (INIS) and the Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDE). The terminology is intended for use in subject descriptions for input or retrieval of information in these systems. The thesaurus is a terminological control device used in translating from the natural language of documents, indexers or users into a more constrained system language It is also a controlled and dynamic vocabulary of semantically and generically related terms which covers a specific domain of knowledge. The basic terminology in this thesaurus goes back to the 1969 edition of the EURATOM Thesaurus. The structure subsequently given to that terminology was the result of a ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Preliminary results are presented from a field study to evaluate the relative hydrologic performance of various landfill capping technologies installed by the Los Alamos National Laboratory at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. Four cover designs (two Los Alamos capillary barrier designs, one modified EPA RCRA design, and one conventional design) were installed in large lysimeters instrumented to monitor the fate of natural precipitation between 01 January 1990 and 20 September 1993. After 45 months of study, results showed that the cover designs containing barrier layers were effective in reducing deep percolation as compared to a simple soil cap design. The RCRA cover, incorporating a clay hydraulic barrier, was the most effective of all cover designs in controlling percolation but was not 100% effective. Over 90% of all percolation and barrier lateral flow occurred during the months of February through May of each year, primarily as a result of snow melt, early spring rains and low ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

There is a growing interest in using {sup 242m}Am as a nuclear fuel. The advantages of {sup 242m}Am as a nuclear fuel derive from the fact that {sup 242m}Am has the highest thermal fission cross section. The thermal capture cross section is relatively low and the number of neutrons per thermal fission is high. These nuclear properties make it possible to obtain nuclear criticality with ultra-thin fuel elements. The possibility of having ultra-thin fuel elements enables the use of these fission products directly, without the necessity of converting their energy to heat, as is done in conventional reactors. There are three options of using such highly energetic and highly ionized fission products. - Using the fission products themselves for ionic propulsion. - Using the fission products in an MHD generator, in order to obtain electricity directly. - Using the fission products to heat a gas up to a high temperature for propulsion purposes. In this work, we are not ...