Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

No abstract prepared.

Science.gov (United States)

Este sistema de informacion provee al usuarion con un listado de areas protegidas argentinas ordenado por nombre, por provincia, ... ...

CERN Document Server

In this paper we have studied the relation between the intutionistic fuzzy left (respectively right) ideals of {\\Gamma}-semiring and that of operator semiring. Thereafter, we have established that the Lattices of all intutionistic fuzzy left (respectively right) ideal of {\\Gamma}-semiring is equivalent to that of Left operator semiring. We proved that Then there exist an inclusion preserving bijection ({\\mu}_{A,}\\u{psion}_{A})$\\rightarrow$({\\mu}_{B}^{+'},\\u{psion}_{B}^{+'}) between the lattices of all intuitionistic fuzzy right ideals (respectively intuitionistic fuzzy ideals) of S and the lattices of all intuitionistic fuzzy right ideals (respectively intuitionistic fuzzy ideals) of L. Where ({\\mu}_{A},\\u{psion}_{A}) is an intuitionistic fuzzy right (respectively intuitionistic fuzzy ideals) ideal of S. Also we ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

No abstract prepared.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The line width of atom, situated near ideally conducting point or inside cone cavity in ideal conductor is analyzed. It is shown that the effect of point is decreased according to decreasing of its aperture angle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Short communication.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Short communication

Science.gov (United States)

Aqu? va a poder aprender acerca de la Dros?fila Melanogaster, a la cual se le conoce como la mosca de la fruta! Usted podr?. Interpretar por qu? las moscas ...

Science.gov (United States)

sobre la gripe de temporada que no han sido respondidas en este sitio. Agradecemos su paciencia. Botón Continuar con versión en inglés Tamaño: s m l xl Enviar página por...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Helicobacter pylori, a major cause of human gastric disease, is a microaerophilic bacterium that contains neither pyruvate nor 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase activity. Previous studies...Full Text Available

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

In order to consider some procedures to prevent errors in radiotherapy based in learned lessons of accidental expositions and in accordance with information contained in international reports elaborated by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and of the data base availability by the European group Radiation Oncology Safety Information System (ROSIS) on the events, a research of the occurred errors was performed. For the evaluation of the incidents a data base based in the ROSIS and added plus a parameter was created 'type of error'. All the stored data make possible the evaluation of the 839 incidents in terms of frequency of the type of error, the process of detention, the number of reached patients and the degree of severity. Of the 50 types of found errors, the type of error more frequently was 'incorrect treatment coordinate', confirmed with the data of literature and representing 28,96 por cent of the total of the ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

We introduce a weak order ideal property that suffices for establishing the Evans-Griffith Syzygy Theorem. We study this weak order ideal property in settings that allow for comparison between homological algebra over a local ring R versus a hypersurface ring R =R/(x^n). Consequently we solve some relevant cases of the Evans-Griffith syzygy conjecture over local rings of unramified mixed characteristic p, with the case of syzygies of prime ideals of Cohen-Macaulay local rings of unramified mixed characteristic being noted. We reduce the remaining considerations to modules annihilated by p^s, s>0, that have finite projective dimension over a hypersurface ring.

Science.gov (United States)

... turbine blade heat-transfer and study the heat-transfer augmentation in idealized geometry and its ... responsible for heat transfer augmentation. ...

CERN Document Server

A process has been proposed to increase the efficiency of an ideal Otto cycle via a quantum heat engine that has no cooler reservoir. We show that such a process is not feasible.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Objetivo La generacion local de citocinas es un factor patogenico en el dano por isquemia-reperfusion en la disfuncion precoz del injerto. Este estudio analiza la expresion en tejido pulmonar de ARN mensajero de interleucina-8 (ARNm de IL-8) y su relacion con los cambios intersticiales pulmonares en un modelo experimental de isquemia-reperfusion pulmonar normotermica. MATERIAL Y METODOS Se estudiaron 16 conejos de la raza Nueva Zelanda en 3 grupos de estudio: a) basal; b) isquemia (lobulo inferior derecho tras isquemia de 1, 2 o 3 h), y c) reperfusion (lobulos superior y medio derechos tras 1 h de isquemia y 1, 2 o 3 h de reperfusion). Se deter- mino la expresion del ARNm de IL-8 mediante transcripcion inversa y reaccion en cadena de la polimerasa y estudio la infiltracion intersticial por...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The heavy crude fraction processing is performed under very high vacuum to minimize thermal cracking which cause coke deposition and damage the equipment. The current tendency is to process heavier oil leading to higher process temperatures and consequently to greater fouling. This situation demands better knowledge fouling process by carbonization. This problem is pronounced in the residual gasoil region of a vacuum distillation unit because it obstructs the recirculation circuits and the spray system with serious environmental and economics implications. This paper review the main correlated published work related to coke generation and fouling and presents a discussion about the works. (author)

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

The t-butyldimethylsilyl group is shown to be an ideal protecting group for the 2T-hydroxyl function of ribonucleosides during the synthesis of ribonucleotides using any of nine commonly used condensing...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Background and Objectives:Sound enamel manifests peak transparency in the near-IR (NIR) at 1310-nm, therefore the near-IR is ideally suited for high contrast imaging...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Atrial septal defect closure is now routinely performed using a percutaneous approach under echocardiographic guidance. Centrally located, secundum defects are ideal for device closure but there is...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

The overarching goal of medical training is to nurture the growth of knowledgeable, caring and insightful clinicians guided by the ideals of medical professionalism. Recent definitions of professional...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

The conventional IMRT planning process involves two stages in which the first stage consists of fast but approximate idealized pencil beam dose calculations and dose optimization and the second...Full Text Available

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Delivering the promise of personalised medicine is the challenge that the current generation of scientists face. The variations in human physiology and disease are considerable, and designing appropriate strategies to deliver what has been promised will require access to tissue from a large number of volunteers. The NHS provides an ideal infrastructure for sample acquisition, but requires two things to make this available?public consent and support for extra manpower and administration. There is a disconnection between the NHS and tissue based research that needs to be addressed on a number of levels to provide a translational platform. This should enable the path to be beaten to provide the ideal tailored treatment for future patients; one that preserves quality of life by curing the dise...

CERN Document Server

We develop a framework based on microeconomic theory from which the ideal gas like market models can be addressed. A kinetic exchange model based on that framework is proposed and its distributional features have been studied by considering its moments. Next, we derive the moments of the CC model (Eur. Phys. J. B 17 (2000) 167) as well. Some precise solutions are obtained which conform with the solutions obtained earlier. Finally, an output market is introduced with global price determination in the model with some necessary modifications.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

By comparison of standard entropies theoretically calculated and determined from gas-chromatographic data for 40 halo-aliphatic and halo-aromatic compounds 8 organic iodine compounds among them, adsorbed on graphitized thermal carbon black it was found that in all the cases the molecular model of ideal two-dimensional gas is a sufficiently good approximation. It was shown that for a number of systems the agreement can be improved if the vibrations of the center of molecular mass relative to the surface are taken into account

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

In this work it is made a study of the structure and electric properties of chlorate polyethylene (PE-CI) with double and simple bonds obtained by continuous plasma with resistive coupling to 13.5 MHz. The synthesis conditions are power between 10 and 14 W and pressure of (6-7) x 10{sup -2} Torr. The synthesized PE-Cl in that way is soluble in acetone what indicates that probably is formed of short chains and not it shows the generalized inter crossing that is presented in some syntheses by plasma and that it can degrade the electric properties of these polymers. The IR and XPS analysis show the vibration of the C-C, C=C and C-CI bonds. The morphology of the polymer after being dissolved shows a compact and flat configuration. The electric conductivity has an approximately lineal behavior in an interval of 35 to 90% of relative humidity. (Author)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The use of gamma radiation to obtain wood-polymer composites is one of the applications of radiation that presents the most commercial interest. The process, denominated radiopolymerization, comprises the impregnation of monomers into the completely dried wood followed by exposure to gamma radiation to induce polymerization of the impregnated monomers. I this context, the present work aimed the application of this process to seven kinds of wood existing in the brazilian forests. The considered monomer is styrene and the gamma source is Cobalt-60. The obtained wood-polystyrene composites were found to have stronger static bending strength. (author)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The enzymatic activity characterization of the cellulolytic complex obtained from Trichoderma reesei QM 9414 and the influence of the enzymatic hydrolysis conditions on the hydrolysis yield are studied. Pure cellulose and native or alkali pretreated biomass Onopordum nervosum have been used as substrates. The values of pH, temperature, substrate concentration and enzyme-substrate ratio for the optimum activity of that complex, evaluated as glucose and reducing sugars production, have been selected. Previous studies on enzymatic hydrolysis of 0. nervosum have shown a remarkable effect of the alkaline pretreatments on the final hydrolysis yield. (Author) 10 refs.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Malignant tumors of the sinonasal cavities are rare and often diagnosed late in the course of the disease. These tumors can extend into regions such as the orbit and brain, where treatment is difficult. Ten patients with non treated sinonasal malignant neoplasms and radiological evidence of tumor extension into the orbit and brain were studied with computed tomography. Five (50%) tumors were epithelial neoplasms whereas squamous cell carcinoma was the most common type (3 cases). The ethmoidal sinus was the most common site of origin of the tumors (40%), followed by the maxillary sinus (30%) and nasal cavity (30%). A total of 16 orbits were involved since 6 patients (60%) had bilateral orbital involvement. The tumors extended more often into the orbits through erosion of the medial and inferior orbital bones. All orbital compartments were involved in the majority of the orbits. Tumoral extension into the cranial cavity was more common through the ethmoidal (70%) and orbital roof (30%). ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The dynamical decoupling (DD) aims at suppressing the decoherence by means of coherent control pulses. Even if devices exist where instantaneous pulses are an adequate approximation, experimentally a finite duration #tau#_p and a bounded amplitude are inevitable. They are the cause of additional errors which can be corrected by designing the pulse shape appropriately. The new pulse has the overall effect of an ideal, instantaneous pulse with the advantage of decoupling the spin (or qubit) from the bath up to the order O(#tau#_p"3). The limitation of the no-go theorem for #pi# pulses is avoided. Hence, the Uhrig sequence (UDD), originally thought for ideal #pi# pulses, works also for bounded control Hamiltonians. Numerical simulations show that concatenated sequences of real pulses are effective against general decoherence.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The role of shear in determining the ideal MHD stability properties of tokamaks is discussed. In particular, we assess the effects of low shear within the plasma upon pressure-driven modes. The standard ballooning theory is shown to break down, as the shear is reduced and the growth rate is shown to be an oscillatory function of n, the toroidal mode number, treated as a continuous parameter. The oscillations are shown to depend on both the pressure and safety-factor profiles. When the shear is sufficiently weak, the oscillations can result in bands of unstable n values which are present even when the standard ballooning theory predicts complete stability. These instabilities are named ''infernal modes.'' The occurrence of these instabilities at integer n is shown to be a sensitive function of q-axis, raising the possibility of a sharp onset as plasma parameters evolve. 20 refs., 31 figs.

Science.gov (United States)

The authors report here, for the first time, high frequency testing of a new type of electrochemical double layer capacitor (EDLC), based on carbon aerogels: the Aerocapacitor. Carbon aerogels, are a novel type of carbon foam developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for military applications. The unique properties of carbon aerogels, high surface area (700 m{sup 2}/g), high density (1g/cc), well controlled pore diameter and high material conductivity (25 S/cm) made it an ideal EDLC electrode material. Using carbon aerogel as the electrode material, the authors have developed Aerocapacitors. These new EDLC`s have a frequency response comparable to that of aluminum electrolytic capacitors and are thus ideally suited to power conversion applications.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The CPHR individual monitoring service acquired an automatic RADOS TLD system to improve its capacities to satisfy the increasing needs of their national customers. The TLD system consists of: two automatic TLD reader, model DOSACUS, a TLD irradiator and personal dosimeters card including slide and holders. The dosimeters were composed by this personal dosimeters card and LiF:Mg,Cu,P (model GR-200) detectors. These readers provide to detectors a constant temperature readout cycle using hot nitrogen gas. In order to evaluate the performance characteristics of the system, different performance tests recommended by the IEC 1066 standard were carried out. Important dosimetric characteristics evaluated were batch homogeneity, reproducibility, detection threshold, energy dependence, residual signal and fading. The results of the tests showed good performance characteristics of the system. (Author)

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Introduccion y objetivos La enfermedad renal oculta (ERO) es una entidad que define los estadios mas iniciales de insuficiencia renal y no se detecta con los metodos usados habitualmente. El objetivo es determinar la prevalencia de ERO en los pacientes hipertensos en consultas de cardiologia y su relacion con los distintos factores de riesgo y tratamientos cardiovasculares. Metodos. Estudio observacional, transversal, retrospectivo y multicentrico que se llevo a cabo en 1.214 hipertensos de consultas de cardiologia. Resultados . Se analizo a 1.190 pacientes (98%). El filtrado glomerular (FG) fue calculado (MDRD) por el cardiologo responsable en el 11% de los pacientes. Tras su determinacion a posteriori, el 9,5% presentaba ERO, mas probablemente mujeres, con mas edad, mas antecedents de di...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Perforated thermoplastic masks are used to provide patients immobilization. This procedure inserts a material in the path of the radiation beam, that attenuates and modifies the beam fluence and flatness. The present study evaluates the increase in skin dose as a result of using thermoplastic masks. Relative doses were measured on the surface of a solid water phantom, in the presence and absence of masks. These masks were stretched according to deformation patterns observed in clinical routine. The measurements were obtained with a plane-parallel chamber (Markus type 23343) and radiochromic film (EBT Gafchromic) for 6MV X-rays from a linear accelerator, and for a radiation beam from a cobalt therapy unit. The results showed that thermoplastic masks, whose thickness varied between 2 and 3 mm, increased the dose on the surface by a factor of 3. Due to the variations in the skin dose distribution, clinical procedures were suggested to minimize radiobiological damages in subcutaneous ...

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

INTRODUCTION: Fatigue is a prominent symptom in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and it has distinctive features; however, there is a need for a robust scale to measure fatigue in COPD. METHODS: At baseline, 122 patients with COPD (forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV(1)) 52%, women 38%, mean age 66 years) completed a pilot fatigue scale covering a pool of 57 items and underwent a range of tests, including indicators of mood and a short general fatigue questionnaire. All patients responded to the 57-item scale and it was readministered to a subset of 30 patients. The pilot scale was first subjected to constructive validated shortening steps and then to a principal components analysis. RESULTS: The Manchester COPD fatigue scale (MCFS) consists of 27 items, loading into three dimensions: physical, cognitive and psychosocial fatigue. Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.97) and test-retest repeatability (r = 0.97, por=16 scores in the Center for ...

Wastenet

... Another solution, hybrid vehicles, combine two sources of energy (electric and chemical), reducing the global consumption of fossil fuels. Fuel cell vehicles are also one of the most promising technologies for the future, with the capacity to use any fuel - hydrogen being the ideal fuel ecologically, but constrained by infrastructure and storage issues. This book explores all these different solutions for moving our vehicles from fossil ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Momentum- and speed-dependent Maxwell-Boltzmann equilibrium distributions have been derived for tachyons and compared with the corresponding relativistic distributions. This is followed by a calculation of the mean, most probable and r.m.s. speeds for both the relativistic and tachyonic distributions. The ideal gas of tachyons is discussed, including calculations of the internal energy and entropy. In each case a comparison is made with the corresponding bradyonic results. It is found that tachyons behave just like bradyons in the high-temperature limit, but have markedly different behaviour at low temperatures.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

It is maintained that special features of FFTF make it an ideal system to test sodium boiling detection techniques by acoustic/neutronic methods and to test the response of acoustic/neutronic sensors to vibrations. It is shown that accumulated research results indicate that such tests in FFTF are feasible, predictable, promising and safe. (author).

Wastenet

...Butley river and Ore estuary, Boyton Marshes attracts breeding wading birds in spring and ducks, geese and swans in winter. It's also ... During spring and autumn, it is an ideal place to see migrant wading birds, gulls and terns. Insh Marshes Insh ... Spring is also an excellent time to visit. Leighton Moss Leighton Moss is the largest reedbed in north-west England, and home ... When they leave in spring, wading birds take centre stage. Watch it all take place from our viewing centre and hide,...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

In a reactor environment, the surface of a limiter or wall is primarily determined by the mechanism of erosion and deposition of surface material. It should be possible to use pellet injection to reduce net erosion to zero everywhere if low-Z materials are used for the surface. Erosion rates can, in general, be minimized by large area limiters and high plasma temperatures, which transmit power to the walls with less sputtering. Under ideal steady state conditions the wall surface is dominated by metallurgical effects in the wall.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Calibration-Free Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (CF-LIBS) has been proposed several years ago as an approach for quantitative analysis of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy spectra. Recently developed refinement of the spectral processing method is described in the present work. Accurate quantitative results have been demonstrated for several metallic alloys. However, the degree of accuracy that can be achieved with Calibration-Free Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy analysis of generic samples still needs to be thoroughly investigated. The authors have undertaken a systematic study of errors and biasing factors affecting the calculation in the Calibration-Free Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy spectra processing. These factors may be classified in three main groups: 1) experimental aberrations (intensity fluctuations and inaccuracy in the correction for spectral efficiency of a detection system), 2) inaccuracy in theoretical parameters used for calculations (Stark ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A first, partial, assessment is included of the low- to medium-temperature geothermal reserves in 20 Mexican States and their aggregate value. The assessment covers about 29.16% of the identified geothermal-surface manifestations in the public database. For reserve assessments, we use the volumetric method, supplemented with Montecarlo simulations and statistics, to quantify inherent uncertainties. Our estimations are presented on a state-by-state basis. We estimate the aggregated reserves of the 20 states as between 7.7 x 1016 and 8.6 x 1016 kJ, with 90% confidence. The most likely reservoir temperatures range between 60-180 degrees Celsius, with a mean of 111 degrees Celsius. Such massive amounts of recoverable energy-and the associated temperatures-are potentially important for the economic development of nearby localities and the nation. [Spanish] En este trabajo se hace una primera estimacion, parcial, de las reservas geotermicas de temperatura intermedia a baja de Mexico. La ...

CERN Document Server

Several observational studies suggest that solar wind dynamic pressure fluctuations can drive magnetospheric ultra-low frequency (ULF) waves on the dayside. To investigate this causal relationship, we present results from Lyon-Fedder-Mobarry (LFM) global, three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of the solar wind-magnetosphere interaction. These simulations are driven with synthetic solar wind input conditions, where idealized ULF dynamic pressure fluctuations are embedded in the upstream solar wind. In three of the simulations, a monochromatic, sinusoidal ULF oscillation is introduced into the solar wind dynamic pressure time series. In the fourth simulation, a continuum of ULF fluctuations over the 0-50 mHz frequency band is introduced into the solar wind dynamic pressure time series. In this numerical experiment, the idealized solar wind input conditions allow us to study only the effect of a fluctuating solar wind dynamic ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The influence of the velocity profile at the inlet boundary on the simulation of air velocity distribution inside an electrostatic precipitator is presented in this study. Measurements and simulations were performed in a duct and an electrostatic precipitator (ESP). A four-hole cobra probe was used for the measurement of velocity distribution. The flow simulation was performed by using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code FLUENT. Numerical calculations for the air flow were carried out by solving the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations coupled with the realizable k-{epsilon} turbulence model equations. Simulations were performed with two different velocity profiles at the inlet boundary - one with a uniform (ideal) velocity profile and the other with a non-uniform (real) velocity profile to demonstrate the effect of velocity inlet boundary condition on the flow simulation results inside an ESP. The real velocity profile was obtained from the velocity ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This report describes the design of an on-board battery charger for an electric car. There are already various battery charger units on the market. However, these are not specifically designed for this application, and consequently do not provide an ideal solution. Because these products are not specific to one application, and instead opt to cover a variety of briefs, they are not ideal. They also tend to be heavier and more expensive than if the charger was built specifically for one purpose. The main design considerations were that the charger should be compact and lightweight. It was also specified that the design should be able to operate using either the single-phase or three-phase AC supply. Before the design process for the battery charger could commence, it was necessary for the author to get an appreciation of power electronics, since he had no previous experience in the subject. The author focused his attention on areas of the ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Most of the organic electronic devices are nowadays fabricated under poor vacuum conditions. In this regard, there is only little knowledge about the impact of contamination of the metal electrode on the charge injection barrier in this kind of electronic devices. In our study we have performed X-ray and ultra violet photoemission spectroscopy (XPS, UPS) on interfaces between the organic semiconductor -sexithiophene and sputter cleaned (ideal) metals as well as contaminated (realistic) metals. As metal substrates we have used silver, gold, palladium, and platinum. These metals provide us a wide range of metal work functions from 4.2 eV for silver up to 5.5 eV for platinum. For all interfaces of -sexithiophene and contaminated metals we have observed a reduction of the interface dipole and the hole injection barrier. The charge injection barrier in all four cases is almost independent of the underlying metal (within an error of 0.2 eV) and the interface dipole ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Novel hybrid organic/inorganic nanocomposites made of metal oxide and conjugated polymer nanocomposite and its application in bulk-heterojunction solar cells were studied. The composite was composed of different concentrations of strontium titanate (SrTiO_3) and polyaniline doped phosphoric acid. The optimum concentration of strontium titanate was found to be 0.2 v/v. An inorganic-organic photovoltaic device with a structure of Ag/Pani-H_3PO_4-SrTiO_3/Al has been fabricated. The ideality factor value of the diode was found to be 1.8. This n value of the diode implies a deviation from ideal junction behaviour. The barrier height #phi#_b value for the diode was found to be 0.56 eV. The Ag/Pani-H_3PO_4-SrTiO_3/Al diode shows a photovoltaic behaviour with a maximum open-circuit voltage V_o_c of 2.49 V, and short-circuit current I_s_c of 5.6 mA under light illumination #lambda# = 460 nm. The conversion efficiency was found to be 5.2%. It is ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

For spintronic applications it is important to establish how efficiently spins can be injected from a magnetic material into a non-magnetic material and the distance over which those spins survive. It is thought that spin polarised transport current can be determined by using the suppression of the Andreev reflection between a superconductor and the spin polarised material (Science 282 (1998) 85). Cu/Co bilayers are potentially an ideal test system for such study. In this paper we assess the feasibility of using point contact Andreev reflection spectroscopy to address this problem using a superconducting niobium tip at 4.2 K.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Single photon tomography using lipophilic tracers provides tomographic representations of regional blood flow. To penetrate a healthy blood-brain barrier requires that radiotracers either are fat-soluble or have an affinity for one of the selective blood-brain barrier transport systems. In recent years there has been an increasing interest to explore the ideal physical characteristics of "9"9"mTc for diagnostic problems of brain diseases. The development of radiopharmaceuticals for brain imaging including the intensively studied "9"9"mTc-propyleneamineoxime derivatives is discussed. (author).

CERN Document Server

Let $n\\in\\mathds{N}$ and $B_n(r,q)$ be the generic Birman-Murakami-Wenzl algebra with respect to indeterminants $r$ and $q$. It is known that $B_n(r,q)$ has two distinct linear representations generated by two central elements of $B_n(r,q)$ called the symmetrizer and antisymmetrizer of $B_n(r,q)$. These generate for $n\\geq 3$ the only one dimensional one sided ideals of $B_n(r,q)$ and generalize the corresponding notion for Hecke algebras of type $A$. In this paper the coefficients of these elements with respect to the graphical basis of $B_n(r,q)$ are determined explicitly.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Solenoid transport of high current, heavy ion beams is considered for several stages of a heavy ion fusion driver. In general this option is more efficient than magnetic quadrupole transport at sufficiently low kinetic energy and/or large e/m, and for this reason it has been employed in electron induction linacs. Ideally an ion beam would be transported in a state of Brillouin flow, i.e. cold in the transverse plane and spinning at one half the cyclotron frequency. The design of appropriate solenoids and the equilibrium and stability of transported ion beams are discussed. An outline of application to a fusion driver is also presented.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A method for conditioning electron beams is proposed, making use of the TM{sub 210} mode of microwave cavities, to reduce the axial velocity spread within the beam, in order to enhance gain in resonant electron beam devices, such as the free-electron laser (FEL). Effectively, a conditioner removes the restriction on beam emittance. The conditioner is analyzed using a simple model for beam transport and ideal RF cavities. Analysis of an FEL is employed to evaluate performance with reduced axial velocity spread. Examples of FELs are presented showing the distinct advantage of conditioning.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A thermodynamic model was used to estimate enthalpy of solution of carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) in methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) aqueous solutions. The model was based on a set of equations for chemical equilibria, phase equilibria, charge, and mass balances. Non-ideality in the liquid phase was taken into account by interaction parameters fitted to (vapor + liquid) equilibrium data. The enthalpies of solution of CO{sub 2} were derived from the model using classical thermodynamic relations and were compared to experimental values obtained in previous works.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Radioactive "1"4C sucrose was found to be an ideal marker for microleakage because it did not penetrate tooth tissue, dental cement, or mounting resin. The main finding is that the adhesive cements--the glass-ionomer and polycarboxylate--are significantly more effective at preventing microleakage than are the traditional phosphate cements--silicate and zinc phosphate. The differences can be as high as two orders of magnitude. The adhesive cements provide almost perfect and reliable seals. By contrast, the nonadhesive cements are erratic sealants with most of the restorations leaking.

Wastenet

... Removal of this layer facilitates the unreeling of cocoons into long strands of silk comparable to those derived from the domesticated mulberry silkworm (Bombyx mori, B. mori). The research was funded in part by the SABIP ('Silks as biomimetic ideals for polymers) project, which has clinched a European Research Council (ERC) grant worth almost EUR 2.3 million under the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). Presented in the journal Biomacromolecules, the findings could lead to the development of new silk industries in ...

CERN Document Server

Having always been at the forefront of information management and open access, High-Energy Physics (HEP) proves to be an ideal test-bed for innovations in scholarly communication including new information and communication technologies. Three selected topics of scholarly communication in High-Energy Physics are presented here: A new open access business model, SCOAP3, a world-wide sponsoring consortium for peer-reviewed HEP literature; the design, development and deployment of an e-infrastructure for information management; and the emerging debate on long-term preservation, re-use and (open) access to HEP data.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

A classical linear group GJ between the graded ring S= d=0^~Sd, where Sd is the character group of the symmetric group Sd, and the inverse limit J with respect to n of rings of symmetric polynomials in n variables. As a consequence, we complete the description of relations between generators for O(n)-invariants as well as the description of relations for invariants of mixed representations of quivers. We also obtain an independent proof of the result that the ideal of free relations for GL(n)-invariants is zero, which was proved by Donkin in [S. Donkin, Invariant functions on matrices, Math. Proc. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 113 (1993) 23-43].

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

A methods is presented for an accurate numerical determination of eigenvalues of real symmetric para-p diagonal matrices. The method takes advantage of the band structure to break up the matrix into p x p blocks and performing algebraic operations including inversions on these blocks only, no matter what the size of the matrix is. The eigenvalues are determined independently one at a time. Thus any error in the determination of one eigenvalue does not affect the other eigenvalues. The method is ideally suited for the Schroedinger eigenvalue problem of the anharmonic potentials. (author).

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The effect of the electric field on an exciton confined in a pair of vertically coupled quantum dots is studied. We use a single-band approximation and a parabolic model potential. As a result of these idealizations, we obtain a numerically solvable model, which is used to describe the influence of the electron-hole interaction on the Stark effect for the lowest-energy photoluminescence lines. We show that for intermediate tunnel coupling between the dots this interaction leads to an anomalous Stark effect with an essential deviation of the recombination energy from the usual quadratic dependence on the electric field.

CERN Document Server

An ideal introduction to the entire process of setting up a Web site using PHP (a scripting language), MySQL (a database management system), and Apache (a Web server)* Programmers will be up and running in no time, whether they're using Linux or Windows servers* Shows readers step by step how to create several Web sites that share common themes, enabling readers to use these examples in real-world projects* Invaluable reading for even the experienced programmer whose current site has outgrown the traditional static structure and who is looking for a way to upgrade to a more efficient, user-f

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Anesthetic techniques vary widely in the endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms (EVAR). Previous studies have demonstrated the feasibility of using local anesthesia. However, the ideal anesthetic technique has not been determined. This study examines whether anesthesic technique influences the outcomes of EVAR. Data regarding demographics, risk factors, procedural characteristics, recovery characteristics, treatment complications, acute ( 0.05, ANOVA). From these results we concluded that EVAR with local anesthesia is a safe and efficacious method that may reduce recovery times and postoperative medical morbidity compared to use of genera1 or spinal/epidural anesthesia.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Volumetric properties of liquid mixtures of neon and hydrogen have been calculated using path integral hybrid Monte Carlo simulations. Realistic potentials have been used for the three interactions involved. Molar volumes and excess volumes of these mixtures have been evaluated for various compositions at 29 and 31.14 K, and 30 atm. Significant quantum effects are observed in molar volumes. Quantum simulations agree well with experimental molar volumes. Calculated excess volumes agree qualitatively with experimental values. However, contrary to the existing understanding that large positive deviations from ideal mixtures are caused due to quantum effects in Ne{endash}H{sub 2} mixtures, both classical as well as quantum simulations predict the large positive deviations from ideal mixtures. Further investigations using two other Ne{endash}H{sub 2} potentials of Lennard{endash}Jones (LJ) type show that excess volumes are very sensitive to the ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A plan has been put forth to strategically thin northern California forests to reduce fire danger and improve forest health. The resulting biomass residue, instead of being open burned, can be converted into ethanol that can be used as a fuel oxygenate or an octane enhancer. Economic potential for a biomass-to-ethanol facility using this softwood biomass was evaluated for two cases: Stand-alone and co-located. The co-located case refers to a specific site with an existing biomass power facility owned by Wheelabrator Environmental Systems Inc. near Martell, California. A two-stage dilute acid hydrolysis process is used for the production of ethanol from softwoods, and the residual lignin is used to generate steam and electricity. For a plant processing 800 dry tonnes per day of feedstock, the co-located case is an economically attractive concept. Total estimated capital investment is approximately $ 70 million for the co-located case. The resulting internal rate of return is about 24% ...

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The research had as objective the use of the gamma radiation of the Cobalto-60 as quarantine treatment of the medicinal plant, aromatic and seasoning plants dehydrated infested by Lasioderma serricorne and Plodia interpunctella determining the disinfestation doses to attend the criterion in the not emergency of adults of the species in study and analysing through the Chromatography of Thin Layer the effect of the gamma radiation of the cobalto-60 on the active principle of extract dehydrated of Chamomilla recutita, Pimpinella anisum, Origanum vulgare, Cymbopogon citratus, Ocimum basilicum and Thymus vulgaris. The work was developed in the Laboratorio de Inseticidas in the Instituto Biologico in Sao Paulo in the period of August of 2005 the June of 2007. The radiation source used gamma was an experimental irradiator of Cobalto-60, model Gamacell 220, located in the Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN, located in Sao Paulo. In the period of 30 days after the irradiation ...

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To study the utility of ultrasound and computed tomography (CT) in case of suspected appendicitis. To determine the diagnostic yield in terms of different clinical contexts and patient characteristics. to assess the costs and benefits of introducing these techniques and propose a protocol for their use. Negative appendectomies, complications and length of hospital stay in a group of 152 patients with suspected appendicitis who underwent ultrasound and CT were compared with those of 180 patients who underwent appendectomy during the same time period, but had not been selected for the first group: these patients costs for each group were calculated. In the first group, the diagnostic value of the clinical signs was also evaluated. The reliability of the clinical signs was limited, while the results with ultrasound and CT were excellent. The incidence of negative appendectomy was 9.6% in the study group and 12.2% in the control group. Moreover, there were fewer complications and a shorter ...

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In order to protect food from pathogenic microorganisms as well as to increase its shelf life while keeping sensorial properties (e.g. odor and taste), once the latter are one of the main properties required by spice buyers, it is necessary to analyze volatile formation from irradiation of medicinal and food herbs. The aim of the present study was to analyze volatile formation from Co irradiation of Laurus Cinnamomum, Piper Nigrum, Origanum Vulgare and Myristica Fragans. Possible changes on the odor of these herbs are evaluated by characterizing different radiation doses and effects on sensorial properties in order to allow better application of irradiation technology. l he samples have been irradiated in plastic packages by making use of a {sup 60}Co Gamma irradiator. Irradiation doses of 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25kGy have been tested. For the analysis of the samples, SPME has been applied, while for the analysis of volatile compounds, CG/MS. Spice irradiation has promoted mostly ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This document contains the technical proceedings of the 19 national seminar on the rational use of energy and exposition of equipment and services, organized by the Asociacion de Tecnicos y Pofesionistas en Aplicacion Energetica (ATPAE) (Association of Technicians and Professionals on Energy Application) conducted in Mexico City on September 21-25, 1998. This seminar encompassed subjects such as: energy saving in the energy sector, energy efficiency in industrial processes and practical developments, practical cases of energy saving in industry, energy saving in buildings, transportation, non-renewable energy utilization and environmental impact and eco-energies. [Espanol] Este documento contiene la memoria tecnica del 19 seminario nacional sobre el uso racional de la energia y exposicion de equipos y servicios, organizado por la Asociacion de Tecnicos y Profesionistas en Aplicacion Energetica (ATPAE), en Mexico, D.F, los dias 21-25 de septiembre de 1998. Este ...

CERN Document Server

The observation that Type Ia supernovae are fainter than expected given their red shifts has led to the conclusion that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. The widely accepted hypothesis is that this acceleration is caused by a cosmological constant or, more generally, some dark energy field that pervades the universe. This hypothesis presents a challenge to physics so severe that one is motivated to explore alternative explanations. In this paper, we explore whether the data from Type Ia supernovae can be explained with an idea that is almost as old as that of the cosmological constant, namely, that the strength of gravity varies on a cosmic timescale. This topic is an ideal one for investigation by an undergraduate physics major because the entire chain of reasoning from models to data analysis is well within the mathematical and conceptual sophistication of a motivated undergraduate.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

A visual study of film boiling is carried out to determine the flow regime transition in the post-CHF region. An idealized inverted annular flow is obtained by introducing a liquid jet of Freon 113 through a nozzle, precisely centered with respect to the internal diameter of the test section, with an annular gas flow. The respective ranges for liquid and gas velocities are 0.05-0.5 and 0.03-8.2 m s"-"1. Nitrogen and helium are used in the study. For the present configuration, there are four flow regimes; namely, the smooth inverted annular flow-section, the rough wavy, agitated and dispersed flow regimes. (author).

CERN Document Server

An effective computer program for three dimensional relativistic hydrodynamical model has been developed. It implements a new approach to the early hot phase of relativistic heavy-ion collisions. The computer program simulates time-space evolution of nuclear matter in terms of ideal-fluid dynamics. Equations of motions of hydrodynamics are solved making use of finite difference methods. Commonly-used algorithms of numerical relativistic hydrodynamics RHLLE and MUSTA-FORCE have been applied in simulations. To speed-up calculations, parallel processing has been made available for solving hydrodynamical equations. The test results of simulations for 3D, 2D and Bjorken expansion are reported in this paper. As a next step we plan to implement the hadronization algorithm by implementing the continuous particle emission for freeze-out and comparing it with Cooper-Frye formula.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simple hydroxamic acids are shown to be useful reagents for the separation of Np and Pu from U within simplified, single cycle Purex flowsheets. They are compatible with the use of centrifugal contactors and laboratory scale flowsheet trials with aceto-hydroxamic acid have demonstrated high actinide recoveries and decontamination factors on products for active feeds of up to 40 wt.% Pu. They therefore show many ideal characteristics for Pu and Np recovery within flowsheet options for actinide recovery in advanced fuel cycles. Furthermore, in order to optimise the routing of Np with the Pu product in advanced flowsheets, additional studies of Np extraction in the primary co-decontamination contactor, prior to U/Pu partition, have been undertaken, combining experiment, modelling and flowsheet tests. (author)

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

A protocol adapter ideally suited to enable enterprises to gradually transition from SOAP Web Services to RESTful HTTP Web Services without impacting existing clients is presented in this paper. The inherent advantage of such a transition is the visibility of RESTful HTTP messages to Web intermediaries such as caches. In contrast, SOAP messages are opaque, which disables Web intermediaries. While both approaches can use HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) for message transfer, the paradigms contrast sharply. SOAP uses an interface specific approach whereas RESTful HTTP uses a Uniform Interface approach. SOAP marks up its payload with eXtensible Markup Language (XML) whereas in certain situations RESTful HTTP requires no XML. We present the disadvantages of the SOAP approach and outline how ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

A brief survey is presented of the methods of preparation and of the applications of radiopharmaceuticals labelled with short-lived positron radionuclides "1"1C, "1"8F, "1"3N and "1"5O which, thanks to their energy level schemes, short half-life and the 511 keV photon radiation energy are almost ideal tracers in modern nuclear medicine and pharmacology. In conjunction with computerized tomography, they represent one of the most sensitive diagnostic imaging methods, the so-called positron emission tomography. In addition, their incorporation in the molecule of a pharmaceutical does not change the biological and chemical properties of the original molecule unlike those of radiopharmaceuticals labelled with technetium, iodine, etc. (author). 125 refs.

CERN Document Server

A phase transition of gas-liquid type with an upper critical point is examined which arises in a model of charges of one sign on compensating background (OCP). The phase transition parameters are dependent on the detailed assumptions about the compressibility of the background, but the occurrence of this transition is independent on the background equation of state. In the electron-gas model ('jellium'), this transition appears to rule out Wigner crystallization. A variational principle in statistical mechanics is used to derive so-called Double-OCP model for a superposition of two one-component plasma models for charges of opposite sign. The free energy of this model sets an upper bound to that of a real plasma. Situations are discussed where this transition should manifest itself in anomalies in the approximate description of a non-ideal plasma.

CERN Document Server

Grating cloaks are a variation of dielectric carpet (or ground- plane) cloaks. The latter were introduced by Li and Pendry. In contrast to the numerical work involved in the quasi-conformal carpet cloak, the refractive-index profile of a conformal grating cloak follows a closed and exact analytical form. We have previously mentioned that finite-size conformal grating cloaks may exhibit better cloaking than usual finite-size carpet cloaks. In this letter, we directly visualize their performance using photorealistic ray-tracing simulations. We employ a Newtonian approach that is advantageous compared to conventional ray tracing based on Snell's law. Furthermore, we quantify the achieved cloaking quality by computing the cross-correlations of rendered images. The cross-correlations for the grating cloak are much closer to 100% (i.e., ideal) than those for the Gaussian carpet cloak.

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)

Magnesium alloys are ideal candidates to benefit from equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) because of their poor forming characteristics due to a hcp structure. In this study, ECAE processing was applied to ZK31 and AZ31 magnesium alloys under various conditions. The grain size of as-ECAE specimens decreases with decreasing the processing temperature, however, the grain size decreases slightly with increasing number of repetitive processing. Both the tensile strength and 0.2% proof stress of as-ECAE specimens are high when processed at low temperature, but the elongation is high when processed at high temperature. Crystal orientation is different in the two alloys and it also varies according to the processing temperature for the two alloys. The difference of the crystal orientation influences the tensile properties, especially 0.2% proof stress. (orig.)

CERN Document Server

We discuss theoretically and numerically the intramolecular form factor $F(q)$ in dense polymer systems. Following Flory's ideality hypothesis, chains in the melt adopt Gaussian configurations and their form factor is supposed to be given by Debye's formula. At striking variance to this, we obtain noticeable (up to 20%) non-monotonic deviations which can be traced back to the incompressibility of dense polymer solutions beyond a local scale. The Kratky plot ($q^2F(q)$ {\\it vs.} wavevector $q$) does not exhibit the plateau expected for Gaussian chains in the intermediate $q$-range. One rather finds a significant decrease according to the correction $\\delta(F^{-1}(q)) = q^3/32\\rho$ that only depends on the concentration $\\rho$ of the solution, but neither on the persistence length or the interaction strength.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Large single crystals of PETN, RDX, and TNT can be grown easily from evaporating ethyl acetate solutions. The crystals all share a similar type of defect that may not be commonly recognized. The defect generates conical faces ideally mosaic crystals, and may account for the polymorphs'' of TNT and detonator grades of PETN. TATB crystals manufactured by the amination of trichlorotrinitrobenzene in dry toluene entrain two forms of ammonium chloride. One of these forms causes worm holes'' in the TATB crystals that may be the reason for its unusually low failure diameters. Strained HMX crystals form mechanical twins that can spontaneously revert back to the untwinned form when the straining force is removed. Large strains or temperatures above 100[degrees]C lock in the mechanical twins.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Entorhinal grid cells in mammals fire as a function of animal location, with spatially periodic response patterns. This nonlocal periodic representation of location, a local variable, is unlike other neural codes. There is no theoretical explanation for why such a code should exist. We examined how accurately the grid code with noisy neurons allows an ideal observer to estimate location and found this code to be a previously unknown type of population code with unprecedented robustness to noise. In particular, the representational accuracy attained by grid cells over the coding range was in a qualitatively different class from what is possible with observed sensory and motor population codes. We found that a simple neural network can effectively correct the grid code. To the best of our kn...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Abstract In the 1990s, significant efforts were invested in the research and development of food-grade expression systems in lactic acid bacteria (LAB). At this time, Lactococcus lactis in particular was demonstrated to be an ideal cell factory for the food-grade production of recombinant proteins. Steady progress has since been made in research on LAB, including Lactococcus, Lactobacillus and Streptococcus, in the areas of recombinant enzyme production, industrial food fermentation, and gene and metabolic pathway regulation. Over the past decade, this work has also led to new approaches on chromosomal integration vectors and host/vector systems. These newly constructed food-grade gene expression systems were designed with specific attention to self-cloning strategies, food-grade selection...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oils, tars, and degraded oils of varying degrees of biodegradation occur in the Permian Phosphoria Formation along the eastern flank of the Wind River mountains, Wyoming, US. Biodegradation has altered the isomer distributions of steranes, the hopanes, and the mono- and triaromatised steroids in these oils. The conventional maturity parameters based on these biomarkers are of limited use in estimating their maturity. On the other hand, even in severely biodegraded oils the vanadylporphyrin distributions are unaltered. Because of this, the Porphyrin Maturity Parameter (PMP) derived from the vanadylporphyrin distribution is an ideal parameter for estimating the maturity of these oils. This study also confirms the previous observation that T[sub s] and T[sub m] are unaffected by even severe biodegradation. 14 refs., 5 figs., 2 tabs.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The energy dispersive beamline X6A at the National Synchrotron Light Source employs a curved crystal monochromator (polychromator) which focuses a range ([similar to]1 keV) of x-ray energies into a narrow (100--120 [mu]m) line image. Although this beamline was constructed primarily for time-dependent EXAFS experiments, we have begun to explore the use of this instrument for energy dispersive diffraction experiments with different types of sample including macromolecular crystals. The tunability ([ital E]=6.5 to 21 keV) and flexibility ([Delta][ital E]=100--1000 eV) of the instrument makes the beamline ideal as a test bed for the application of polychromatic single-crystal diffraction techniques to different chemical or biological materials.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

This studys purpose was to explore the relationship between creativity and integrity in the ideation phase of feature filmmaking. Integrity refers to ones self-defined ability to maintain authenticity and moral autonomy while preserving ones sense of membership and loyalty to the team or organization. When team members choose elements for the screenplays story that they feel will attract the ideal audience, the dynamic tension between creativity and integrity is most apparent. The forces at play during this phase of work yielded the research question: In what ways and to what degree do screenwriters andor studio executives feel their personal integrity is in alignment with the creative process of feature film development? Several concepts from the literature formed the design around which ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

The earthworm gut provides ideal in situ conditions for ingested heterotrophic soil bacteria capable of anaerobiosis. High amounts of mucus- and plant-derived saccharides such as glucose are abundant in the earthworm alimentary canal, and high concentrations of molecular hydrogen (H2) and organic acids in the alimentary canal are indicative of ongoing fermentations. Thus, the central objective of this study was to resolve potential links between fermentations and active fermenters in gut content of the anecic earthworm Lumbricus terrestris by 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA)-based stable isotope probing, with [13C]glucose as a model substrate. Glucose consumption in anoxic gut content microcosms was rapid and yielded soluble organic compounds (acetate, butyrate, formate, lactate, propionate, succi...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Calibration-Free Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (CF-LIBS) has been proposed several years ago as an approach for quantitative analysis of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy spectra. Recently developed refinement of the spectral processing method is described in the present work. Accurate quantitative results have been demonstrated for several metallic alloys. However, the degree of accuracy that can be achieved with Calibration-Free Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy analysis of generic samples still needs to be thoroughly investigated. The authors have undertaken a systematic study of errors and biasing factors affecting the calculation in the Calibration-Free Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy spectra processing. These factors may be classified in three main groups: 1) experi...

CERN Document Server

This contribution deals with identification of fractional-order dynamical systems. System identification, which refers to estimation of process parameters, is a necessity in control theory. Real processes are usually of fractional order as opposed to the ideal integral order models. A simple and elegant scheme of estimating the parameters for such a fractional order process is proposed. This method employs fractional calculus theory to find equations relating the parameters that are to be estimated, and then estimates the process parameters after solving the simultaneous equations. The said simultaneous equations are generated and updated using particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique, the fitness function being the sum of squared deviations from the actual set of observations. The data used for the calculations are intentionally corrupted to simulate real-life conditions. Results show that the proposed scheme offers a very high degree of accuracy even for ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Inverted annular flow can be visualized as a liquid jet-like core surrounded by a vapor annulus. While many analytical and experimental studies of heat transfer in this regime have been performed, there is very little understanding of the basic hydrodynamics of the post-CHF flow field. However, a recent experimental study was done that was able to successfully investigate the effects of various steady-state inlet flow parameters on the post-CHF hydrodynamics of the film boiling of a single phase liquid jet. This study was carried out by means of a visual photographic analysis of an idealized single phase core inverted annular flow initial geometry (single phase liquid jet core surrounded by a coaxial annulus of gas). In order to extend this study, a subsequent flow visualization of an idealized two-phase core inverted annular flow geometry (two-phase central jet core, surrounded by a coaxial annulus of gas) was carried out. The objective of ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The novel optical, electronic, and/or magnetic properties of metal and semiconductor nanoparticles have resulted in extensive research on new methods for their preparation. An ideal preparation method would allow the particle size, size distribution, crystallinity, and particle shape to be easily controlled, and would be applicable to a wide variety of material systems. Numerous preparation methods have been reported, each with its inherent advantages and disadvantages; however, an ideal method has yet to emerge. The most widely applied methods for nanoparticle preparation include the sonochemical reduction of organometallic reagents,(1&2) the solvothermal method of Alivisatos,(3) reactions in microemulsions,(4-6) the polyol method (reduction by alcohols),(7-9) and the use of polymer and solgel materials as hosts.(10-13) In addition to these methods, there are a variety of methods that take advantage of the unique properties of a ...

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The absorption of solar heat and the attendant thermal and mechanical loadings on the tubes of cavity receivers depend predominantly on the flux distribution of the incident solar radiation. For an axially symmetric cavity receiver with a parabolic dish collector, it is simple to determine the insolation pattern on the receiver internal surfaces if the system is ideal. In such a system the surface of the dish is perfectly parabolic (no contour flaws are present), and the sun's central ray impinges on the dish surface parallel to the focal axis (no sun tracking flaws are present). These two conditions cannot be achieved in practice, and therefore the feasible parabolic dish system is referred to as a real system although, in actual fact, it is only an approximation to any actual system. The purpose of this paper is to devise calculation principles which permit analysis of a receiver designed for ideal conditions to verify its structural ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A visual study of film boiling using photographic and high speed motion-picture methods was carried out to determine the flow regime transition criteria in the post-CHF region. An idealized inverted annular flow was obtained by introducing a liquid jet of Freon 113 through a nozzle, precisely centered with respect to the internal diameter of the test section, with an annular gas flow. The respective ranges for liquid and gas exit velocities were 0.05 to 0.5 and 0.03 to 7.9 m/s. Nitrogen and helium were used in the study. For the present configuration, there are four basic flow regimes. Beginning from the nozzle exit, there is a smooth, inverted annular flow section with liquid in the core and gas in the annulus; followed by the rough wavy section with an intact liquid core, the agitated and the dispersed flow regimes. For a given liquid jet velocity, the axial extent of each flow regime decreases with increasing gas velocity through the annulus. Generalized ...

CERN Document Server

The most striking feature of quantum mechanics is the existence of superposition states, where an object appears to be in different situations at the same time. Up to now, the existence of such states has been tested with small objects, like atoms, ions, electrons and photons, and even with molecules. Recently, it has been even possible to create superpositions of collections of photons, atoms, or Cooper pairs. Current progress in optomechanical systems may soon allow us to create superpositions of even larger objects, like micro-sized mirrors or cantilevers, and thus to test quantum mechanical phenomena at larger scales. Here we propose a method to cool down and create quantum superpositions of the motion of sub-wavelength, arbitrarily shaped dielectric objects trapped inside a high--finesse cavity at a very low pressure. Our method is ideally suited for the smallest living organisms, such as viruses, which survive under low vacuum pressures, and optically behave ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

III-V semiconductors, GaAs and in particular InGaP, are used in many different electronic applications, such as high power and high frequency devices, laser diodes and high brightness LED. Their direct bandgap and high reliability make them ideal candidates for the realisation of high efficiency solar cells: in the past years they have been successfully used as power sources for satellites in space, where they are able to produce electricity from sunlight with an overall efficiency of around 30%. Nowadays, the use of arsenides and phosphides as photovoltaic (PV) devices is confined only to space applications since their price is much higher than conventional Si flat panel modules, the leading PV market technology. But with the introduction of multijunction solar cells capable of operating in high concentration solar light, the area and, therefore, the cost of these cells can be reduced and will eventually find an application and market also on Earth. This article ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

A computer controlled digital system, Fuji Computed Radiography (FCR) is capable of providing more stable output image than conventional screen/film system. So FCR would be an ideal system for the detection of pneumoconiosis due to the constant high quality of the output films. We tried to find the optimum image processing to compensate the small size (1/2 in length of a full-size radiograph) of the output image of digital radiography. The best result for FCR was given with gamma 0.85 and 0.30 enhancement of response at spatial frequency of 0.085 cycle/mm. On the other hand, the digitally processed FCR size ILO standard films, the characteristics of which is different from FCR output films, proved to be most preferable when the image processing is made with gamma 0.85 and 0.25 enhancement at spacial frequency of 0.17 cycle/mm. If the above mentioned image processings are adopted, FCR can be used for the diagnosis of pneumoconiosis with the same accuracy as the ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

The layered cobaltate La0.30CoO2 was prepared from NaxCoO2 precursor by a solid-state ionic exchange and was characterized by means of X-ray and neutron diffraction, magnetic, thermal and electric transport measurements. The compound consists of hexagonal sheets of edge-sharing CoO6 octahedra interleaved by lanthanum monolayers. Compared to Na+ in the parent system, the La3+ ions occupy only one-third of available sites, forming a 2-dimensional superstructure. The deviation from the ideal stoichiometry La1/3CoO2 introduces extra hole carriers into the diamagnetic LS Co3+ matrix making the sample Pauli paramagnetic. The temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity in La0.30CoO2 follows Mott's T?1/3 law up to about 400K, which is in contrast w...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The amorphization of a quenched sample of the GaSb-II high-pressure phase was studied at ambient pressure by real-time neutron diffraction in the course of the sample heating from 100 K to room temperature at a rate of 0.4 K min{sup -1}. The transformation to the amorphous state begins at 140 K and is completed near room temperature. The {beta}-Sn type structure was shown to represent only the mean lattice of the high-pressure GaSb-II phase. The superstructure of this phase widely varied with temperature and is caused by the ordered displacement of atoms. The temperature range of the metastable crystalline phase relaxation is divided into three intervals according to the temperature dependence of the tetragonality ratio (c/a). At the boundaries of these temperature intervals, i.e. temperatures T = 170 and 230 K, two second-order phase transitions are observed. Anomalous heat and volumetric effects were observed earlier by means of calorimetry and dilatometry in the same temperature ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Research and development has been performed on photochromic materials expected to be used in ultra-high density recording, high resolution indication and photoswitches. With regard to molecular orientation in the ternary system mixed LB film, the result of structural analysis by XPM spectrum revealed that the acceptor constituent in the LB film is so structured that it is separated and laminated with two other constituents, and that the sensitizer constituent and the donor constituent are not recognized of being separated definitely. Regarding the electron movement reaction in the solid phase system, a photo-current measuring experiment was carried out on the laminated film which is vacuum-deposited with the ternary system comprising of the donor, sensitizer, and acceptor. It was concluded that the observed photo-current reflects the electron movement reaction in the solid phase as it is. For the photo-current in the LB film, increase in the photo-current was observed according to the ...

Science.gov (United States)

Most palladium thin film based hydrogen gas sensors have response and recovery times that are too long to make them useful in vehicular and stationary gas leak detection applications. In contrast, a palladium-silver thin film based microcantilever (MC) hydrogen gas microsensor is reported herein with near ideal response characteristics for use in these hydrogen economy related applications. Specifically, 3-10 second response and recovery times have been measured for these sensors in contrast to previous sensor response measurements of several to tens of minutes using Pd thin film and MC based sensing techniques. The much reduced response times observed in the present study are attributed to a wet chemical Pd-Ag thin film deposition technique and a gas conditioning protocol that produces a highly nanostructured, porous film that rapidly adsorbs and desorbs H2, allowing rapid equilibration with the H2 concentration in the surrounding air. The wet chemical process and ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The goal of this work was to develop a process flow diagram to economically produce a clean-burning fuel from fine Illinois coal. To accomplish this, the process of pelletizing fine coal with calcium hydroxide, a sulfur capturing sorbent, was investigated. Carbonation, which is the reaction of calcium hydroxide with carbon dioxide (in the presence of moisture) to produce a bonding matrix of calcium carbonate, was investigated as a method for improving pellet quality and reducing binder costs. Proper moisture level is critical to allow the reaction to occur. If too much moisture is present in a pellet, the pore spaces are filled and carbon dioxide must diffuse through the water to reach the calcium hydroxide and react. This severely slows or stops the reaction. The ideal situation is when there is just enough moisture to coat the calcium hydroxide allowing for the reaction to proceed. The process has been successfully demonstrated on a pilot-scale as a method of ...

CERN Document Server

Measurement of redshifted 21-cm emission from neutral hydrogen promises to be the most effective method for studying the reionisation history of hydrogen and, indirectly, the first galaxies. These studies will be limited not by raw sensitivity to the signal, but rather, by bright foreground radiation from Galactic and extragalactic radio sources and the Galactic continuum. In addition, leakage due to gain errors and non-ideal feeds conspire to further contaminate low-frequency radio obsevations. This leakage leads to a portion of the complex linear polarisation signal finding its way into Stokes I, and inhibits the detection of the non-polarised cosmological signal from the epoch of reionisation. In this work, we show that rotation measure synthesis can be used to recover the signature of cosmic hydrogen reionisation in the presence of contamination by polarised foregrounds. To achieve this, we apply the rotation measure synthesis technique to the Stokes I ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A class II atomistic force field with Lennard-Jones 6-9 nonbond interactions is used to investigate equations of state (EOS) for important high explosive detonation products N{sub 2} and H{sub 2}O in the temperature range 700-2500 K and pressure range 0.1-10 GPa. A standard 6th order parameter-mixing scheme is then employed to study a 2:1 (molar) H{sub 2}O:N{sub 2} mixture, to investigate in particular the possibility of phase-separation under detonation conditions. The simulations demonstrate several important results, including: (1) the accuracy of computed EOS for both N{sub 2} and H{sub 2}O over the entire range of temperature and pressure considered; (2) accurate mixing-demixing phase boundary as compared to experimental data; and (3) the departure of mixing free energy from that predicted by ideal mixing law. The results provide comparison and guidance to state-of-the-art chemical kinetic models.

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Projected scenarios for the proposed Yucca Mountain repository include significant periods of time when high relative humidity atmospheres will be present, thus the reaction processes of interest will include those known to occur under these conditions. The ideal natural analog for the proposed Yucca Mountain repository would consist of natural borosilicate glasses exposed to expected repository conditions for thousands of years; however, the prospects for identifying such an analog are remote, but an important caveat for using natural analog studies is to relate the reaction processes in the analog to those in the system of interest, rather than a strict comparison of the glass compositions. In lieu of this, identifying natural glasses that have reacted via reaction processes expected in the repository is the most attractive option. The goal of this study is to quantify molecular water diffusion in the natural analogs obsidian and tektites. Results from this study ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Monte-Carlo simulations of 2-MeV #alpha#-particle channeling in Si_1_-_xSn_x alloys with 0#<=#x#<=#1 have been performed. The simulations are compared with measured channeling-angular scans for strained Si_0_._9_5Sn_0_._0_5 layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Agreement between simulated and measured angular scans can only be achieved if we assume a deviation of the crystal structure from the ideal one. This deviation can be attributed to a mosaic structure in the films and to an atomic-scale distortion of the crystal lattice due to an expected difference in the bond lengths between the Si-Si, Si-Sn and Sn-Sn atoms (such a difference in bond lengths has been observed in the epitaxial Si_1_-_xGe_x system). The contributions from both of these imperfections are estimated and discussed.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The LSND (Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector) experiment will be performed at LAMPF in the next several years. The main goal of the experiment is to search for {nu}{sub {mu}}-{nu}{sub e} oscillations with high sensitivity; however, an increasingly important by-product of this search is to measure {nu}p {yields} {nu}p elastic scattering and determine the strange quark contribution, {Delta}s, to the spin of the proton. With the 800-MeV proton energy of LAMPF, neutrinos are produced from pion decay-in-flight with an average energy of about 150 MeV. This energy is sufficiently high so that the {nu}p {yields} {nu}p cross section is large and is sufficiently low so that the low Q{sup 2} approximation (Q{sup 2} {much lt} m{sub p}{sup 2}) is valid and the cross section can be expressed in a simple form dependent upon {Delta}s as the only unknown. LAMPF with its 1-mA proton intensity is, therefore, an ideal accelerator to perform this measurement. 12 refs., 7 figs., 2 ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Radiation defects produced by helium implantation were used to shape profiles of palladium (Pd) and platinum (Pt) atoms in-diffusing (for 20 min at temperatures 600-800 deg. C) either from surface silicide (Pd_2Si, PtSi) or implanted layers. Results show that this procedure allows a strong localization of substitutional Pd and Pt at the depth where the damage produced by helium peaks. This results in local reduction of carrier lifetime by an almost ideal recombination centers - the acceptor level of substitutional Pd (E _c - 0.22 eV) or Pt (E _c - 0.23 eV). While optimum conditions for Pt in-diffusion are about 700 deg. C, Pd gives the best results already at lower temperatures (600 deg. C) where it also exhibits higher peak solubility. Both methods were used for optimization of turn-off properties of high power PiN diodes. The devices, where the lifetime was killed locally by Pd and Pt, exhibited similar trade-off between the static and dynamic parameters as the ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laser frequency stabilization giving a 500-Hz Allan deviation for a 2-ms integration time with drift reduced to 7 kHz/min over several minutes was achieved at 1536 nm in the optical communication band. A continuously regenerated spectral hole in the inhomogeneously broadened "4I_1_5_/_2(1)#->#"4I_1_3_/_2(1) optical absorption of an Er"3"+:Y_2SiO_5 crystal was used as the short-term frequency reference, while a variation on the locking technique allowed simultaneous use of the inhomogeneously broadened absorption line as a long-term reference. The reported frequency stability was achieved without vibration isolation. Spectral hole burning frequency stabilization provides ideal laser sources for high-resolution spectroscopy, real-time optical signal processing, and a range of applications requiring ultra-narrow-band light sources or coherent detection; the time scale for stability and the compatibility with spectral hole burning devices make this technique ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal technique for delivering postoperative radiotherapy for vulvar cancer and other tumors requiring treatment of the inguinal nodes. This project compared tumor coverage and normal tissue sparing for the 5 main radiotherapy techniques that are used to treat vulvar cancer. The intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) plan was undesirable because it resulted in an excessive dose to portions of the central pelvic structures. The photon thunderbird with skin match was unacceptable because it underdosed a portion of the groin region. The electron thunderbird was ideal for thin patients but was not applicable for most patients because of excessive dose to the skin and subcutaneous tissues. The photon through-and-through and the photon thunderbird with deep match were acceptable in most situations. In thin patients, where the depth of the inguinal vessels is less than 3 cm, the electron thunderbird is the technique ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

High-purity and doped GaAs films have been grown by Liquid-phase epitaxy (LPE) for development of a blocked impurity band (BIB) detector for far-infrared radiation. The film growth process developed has resulted in the capability to grow GaAs with a net active impurity concentration below 1 x 10{sup 13} cm{sup -3}, ideal for the blocking layer of the BIB detector. The growth of n-type LPE GaAs films with donor concentrations below the metal-insulator transition, as required for the absorbing layer of a BIB detector, has been achieved. The control of the donor concentration, however, was found to be insufficient for detector production. The growth by LPE of a high-purity film onto a commercially grown vapor-phase epitaxial (VPE) n-type GaAs doped absorbing layer resulted in a BIB device that showed a significant reduction in the low-temperature dark current compared to the absorbing layer only. Extended optical response was not detected, most likely due to the high ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The linearized-augmented-plane-wave (LAPW) method for thin films is generalized by removing the remaining shape approximation to the potential inside the atomic spheres. A new technique for solving Poisson's equation for a general charge density and potential is described and implemented in the film LAPW method. In the resulting full-potential LAPW method (FLAPW), all contributions to the potential are completely taken into account in the Hamiltonian matrix elements. The accuracy of the method: already well known for clean metal surfaces: is demonstrated for the case of a nearly free (noninteracting) O_2 molecule which is a severe test case of the method because of its large anisotropic charge distribution. Detailed comparisons show that the accuracy of the FLAPW results for O_2 exceeds that of existing state-of-the-art local-density linear-combination-of-atomic-orbitals (LCAO)-type calculations, and that taking the full potential LAPW results as a reference, the LCAO basis can be ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The {sup 252}Cf-source-driven frequency analysis method can be used for measuring the subcritical neutron multiplication factor of arrays of LWR fuel and as little as a single PWR fuel assembly. These measurements can be used to verify the criticality safety margins of spent LWR fuel configurations and thus could be a means of obtaining the information to justify burnup credit for spent LWR transportation/storage casks. In addition, the data can be used to validate calculational methods for criticality safety. These measurements provide parameters that have a higher sensitivity to changes in fissile mass than neutron multiplication factor and thus serve as a better test of calculational methods. The analysis have also shown that measurement of the cross power spectral density (CPSD) between detectors on one side of a single fuel assembly and an internal or external {sup 252}Cf source driving the fission chain multiplication process can be used for nondestructive assay of fissile mass ...

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One of the most densely populated urban regions in the world is the Sao Paulo Metropolitan region (SPMR) in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Air pollution is a real problem, mainly caused by vehicle exhaust fumes. The air pollution abatement measures adopted in the SPMR, such as the addition of ethanol to gasoline, the use of cars running on pure alcohol, the restrictions in the circulation of vehicles and the utilization of electronic fuel injection and catalyst have had a positive effect on the environment. The 25,000 buses and approximately 400,000 trucks, all operating on diesel, have not been affected by these measures, and it is believed that SPMR is the ideal location for testing new vehicular pollution reduction technologies. A project to this effect was launched by the Ministry of Mines and Energy in conjunction with a host of other partners, and it involved the operation of a fuel cell bus using hydrogen produced by electrolysis. The project was divided ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Deteriorating air quality in urban areas is leading bus manufacturers to look for cleaner drives of urban buses. Various new systems are now available, but it is difficult to compare them and verify their effects without having a driving cycle accurately representing contemporary average urban bus use. The idealized form (engine cycle, passenger car cycle or different kW/tonnes ratio and traffic conditions) of existing driving cycles disqualifies them for the purpose. For this reason, it was decided to attempt the development of a new driving cycle for urban buses. To this end, measurements were carried out on buses in service in four major Dutch towns. The resulting data were combined to produce a reference cycle comprising all data relating to urban bus use. Statistical methods were then used to compare a large number of 15-20 minute cycles with this reference cycle, until one was found that corresponded closely to the reference cycle. 5 figs., 1 tab., 6 refs.

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Burnable poisons are used in nuclear reactors to produce a more level distribution of power in the reactor core and to reduce to necessity for a large control system. An ideal burnable poison would burn at the same rate as the fuel. In this study, separation of neutron-absorbing isotopes was investigated in order to eliminate isotopes that remain as absorbers at the end of fuel life, thus reducing useful fuel life. The isotopes Gd-157, Dy-164, and Er-167 were found to have desirable properties. These isotopes were separated from naturally occurring elements by means of plasma separation to evaluate feasibility and cost. It was found that pure Gd-157 could save approximately $6 million at the end of four years. However, the cost of separation, using the existing facility, made separation cost- ineffective. Using a magnet with three times the field strength is expected to reduce the cost by a factor of ten, making isotopically separated burnable poisons a favorable ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The objective of our research was to obtain fundamental information regarding the functional dependence of the diffusion coefficient of coal molecules on the ratio of molecule to pore diameter. That is, the objective of our study was to examine the effect of molecule size and configuration on hindered diffusion of coal macromolecules through as porous medium. To best accomplish this task, we circumvented the complexities of an actual porous catalyst by using a well defined porous matrix with uniform capillaric pores, i.e., a track-etched membrane. In this way, useful information was obtained regarding the relationship of molecular size and configuration on the diffusion rate of coal derived macromolecules through a pore structure with known geometry. Similar studies were performed using a pellet formed of porous alumina, to provide a link between the idealized membranes and the actual complex pore structure of real catalyst extrudates. The fundamental information ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Computed tomography (CT) of the thorax shows early promise of important diagnostic advances. We believe that CT often provides information superior to that provided by standard roentgenographic techniques, is capable of significantly influencing patient management, and in selected instances, offers unique information not available by other methods. Computed tomography permits the imaging of mediastinal structures not possible with conventional roentgenographic methods and can diagnose with certainty benign mediastinal conditions such as pericardial cysts and focal or diffuse accumulations of fat. It is ideal for detecting pleural abnormalities and for displaying underlying parenchymal disease in patients with complex pleuroparenchymal shadows on conventional films. Pulmonary metastases unseen on the plain chest film can be detected with greater sensitivity than by any other method. Future applications of CT include the staging of mediastinal lymph nodes in ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The staring point of the project was to design and construct, by taking the silvicultural point of view into account, a harvesting and processing system especially for energy-wood, containing manually driven bundling harvester, automatizing of the harvester, and automatized loading. The equipment forms an ideal method for entrepreneur`s-line harvesting. The target is to apply the system also for owner`s-line harvesting. The profitability of the system promotes the utilization of the system in both cases. The objectives of the project were: to construct a test equipment and prototypes for all the project stages, to carry out terrain and strain tests in order to examine the usability and durability, as well as the capacity of the machine, to test the applicability of the Eko-Log system in simultaneous harvesting of energy and pulp woods, and to start the marketing and manufacturing of the products. The basic problems of the construction of the bundling harvester have ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The numerous challenges facing the North American electric utility industry were discussed. In addition to competition, electric utilities are faced with low demand growth, public pressure to avoid adding transmission and distribution capacity, and strict environmental requirements. In view of these developments, large central generation additions that have been industry norm until recently, do not always make economic sense in the current environment. Instead, smaller, distributed additions to generating capacity is becoming the new norm. Small-scale on-site generating capacity has the added advantage of reducing the need for expensive high-voltage transmission lines. The Ballard generation system described here is a modular, efficient fuel cell-based solution to implementing distributed power concepts. The system is natural gas fueled, with low noise, vibration and emissions. Apart from its other advantages, it provides ideal convergence opportunity by using the ...

Science.gov (United States)

A first-principles task-based approach to the design of medical ultrasonic imaging systems for breast lesion discrimination is described. This study explores a new approximation to the ideal Bayesian observer strategy that allows for object heterogeneity. The new method, called iterative Wiener filtering, is implemented using echo data simulations and a phantom study. We studied five lesion features closely associated with visual discrimination for clinical diagnosis. A series of human observer measurements for the same image data allowed us to quantitatively compare alternative beamforming strategies through measurements of visual discrimination efficiency. Employing the Smith-Wagner model observer, we were able to breakdown efficiency estimates and identify the processing stage at which performance losses occur. The methods were implemented using a commercial scanner and a cyst phantom to explore development of spatial filters for systems with shift-variant ...

CERN Document Server

We present new results from accurate and fully general-relativistic simulations of the coalescence of unmagnetized binary neutron stars with various mass ratios. The evolution of the stars is followed through the inspiral phase, the merger and prompt collapse to a black hole, up until the appearance of a thick accretion disk, which is studied as it enters and remains in a regime of quasi-steady accretion. Although a simple ideal-fluid equation of state with \\Gamma=2 is used, this work presents a systematic study within a fully general relativistic framework of the properties of the resulting black-hole--torus system produced by the merger of unequal-mass binaries. More specifically, we show that: (1) The mass of the torus increases considerably with the mass asymmetry and equal-mass binaries do not produce significant tori if they have a total baryonic mass M_tot >~ 3.7 M_sun; (2) Tori with masses M_tor ~ 0.2 M_sun are measured for binaries with M_tot ~ 3.4 ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The paper presents the procedure of an investigation of WWER-1000 primary circuit temperature-stress field by the use of thermohydraulic computation data for a pressurized thermal shock event ''Core overcooling''. The procedure is based on a model of the plane stress state with ideal contact between wall and medium for the calculation. The computation data are calculated on the base of WWER-1000 thermohydraulic model by the RELAP5/MOD3 codes. This model was developed jointly by the Bulgarian and BNL/USA staff to provide an analytical tool for performing safety analysis. As a result of calculations by codes the computation data for temperature field law (linear laws of a few distinguished parts) and pressure of coolant at points on inner surface of WWER-1000 primary circuit equipment are received. Such calculations can be used as a base for determination of all-important load-carrying sections of the primary circuit pipes and vessels, which need further ...

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IMRT with inverse planning allows simultaneous integrated boost strategies that exploit the heterogeneous dose distribution within the planning target volumes (PTVs). In this scenario, the location of cold spots within the target becomes a crucial issue and has to be related to the distribution of the clonogenic cell density (CCD). The main aim of this work is to provide the means to calculate the optimal prescription dose in a relative inhomogeneous dose distribution. To achieve this, the prescription dose has to be assigned to obtain the same tumor control probability (TCP) as the ideal homogeneous distribution, taking into account different CCDs in different PTVs (i.e. visible and subclinical regions). An adapted formulation of the linear-quadratic model, within the F-factor formalism, has been derived to preserve a chosen TCP value for the whole target volume. The F-factor has been investigated to show its potential applications in clinical practice.

CERN Document Server

The complete complementary code (CCC) is a sequence family with ideal correlation sums which was proposed by Suehiro and Hatori. Numerous literatures show its applications to direct-spread code-division multiple access (DS-CDMA) systems for inter-channel interference (ICI)-free communication with improved spectral efficiency. In this paper, we propose a systematic framework for the construction of CCCs based on $N$-shift cross-orthogonal sequence families ($N$-CO-SFs). We show theoretical bounds on the size of $N$-CO-SFs and CCCs, and give a set of four algorithms for their generation and extension. The algorithms are optimal in the sense that the size of resulted sequence families achieves theoretical bounds and, with the algorithms, we can construct an optimal CCC consisting of sequences whose lengths are not only almost arbitrary but even variable between sequence families. We also discuss the family size, alphabet size, and lengths of constructible CCCs based ...

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A novel compact CT-guided intensity modulated proton radiotherapy (IMPT) system is described. The system is being designed to deliver fast IMPT so that larger target volumes and motion management can be accomplished. The system will be ideal for large and complex target volumes in young patients. The basis of the design is the dielectric wall accelerator (DWA) system being developed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The DWA uses fast switched high voltage transmission lines to generate pulsed electric fields on the inside of a high gradient insulating (HGI) acceleration tube. High electric field gradients are achieved by the use of alternating insulators and conductors and short pulse times. The system will produce individual pulses that can be varied in intensity, energy and spot width. The IMPT planning system will optimize delivery characteristics. The system will be capable of being sited in a conventional linac vault and provide intensity ...

Science.gov (United States)

Information about surface soil moisture conditions is of critical importance to real-world applications such as agricultural production, water resource management, flood prediction, fire prediction, water supply, military mobility, etc.. Near-surface soil moisture is currently available from non-ideal sensor configuration observations, and two missions targeted at measuring near-surface soil moisture with ideal sensor configuration are expected before the end of the decade (the European Space Agency (ESA), Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Hydrospheric states "Hydros" mission). Though remote sensing can make spatially comprehensive measurements of surface soil moisture, it cannot provide information on the entire land surface hydrologic system, and the measurements represent only a snap shot in time. Alternatively, land surface hydrology process models may be used to ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The aim of this study was to investigate whether sub-ablative pulsed C0{sub 2} laser (1 0,6 {mu}m) irradiation is capable of reducing the susceptibility of the dental enamel to demineralization, and thus achieving a potential caries-protective effect. The crowns of 51 bovine front teeth, embedded in acrylic resin and polished until exposure of flat enamel surface, were used. The samples were cut in cubes of 10x10 mm, and totally coated with acid-resistant nail varnish, except for an enamel exposed window of 16 mm square. Three groups (n=17) were obtained: control group (CG) not irradiated; group laser A (LA) and group laser B (LB) where the samples were irradiated. The conditions were 60 mJ, 100 Hz, 0,3 J/cm{sup 2} for LA and 135 mJ, 10 Hz, 0,7 J/cm{sup 2} for LB. Two samples of each group were submitted to SEM analysis and fifteen to demineralization in 3 ml acetate buffer solution (0,1 mol/L) with pH 4,5 for 24h at 37 deg C, with regular agitation. After the specimens were removed ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

In this article the methodology followed to diagnose the performance of the equipment where heat is transferred from the feed water, condensate and circulation water systems in fossil power plants (FPP). The data collection is made with the unit in normal operation, using local instrumentation without taking the equipment out of service for its installation. The equipment diagnosis is made through the analysis of the collected data in actual operation and the design data; for this purpose a thermal balance of the interested systems is performed to obtain all the conditions an operation data. Later on the performance indicative parameters (PIP) of actual operation and design are calculated and compared one against the other. Such a comparison reveals the performance deterioration and the possible equipment faults. The data obtained and the supplementary information are stored in a data base whose objective is that Comision Federal de Electricidad has on hand a prompt access to them in ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cementitious materials provide an ideal geochemical environment (e.g., high pH pore fluids and large surface areas for sorption) for immobilizing nuclear waste. The inclusion of reducing agents, such as blast furnace slag (BFS) can immobilize radionuclides by forming of solid sulfide phases. Thermodynamic calculations using the MINTEQ geochemical computer code indicate the elemental sulfur present in BPS reacts with the highly mobile pertechnetate anion (TcO{sub 4}{sup -}) anion to form an insoluble technetium sulfide phase (Tc{sub 2}S{sub 7(s)}). Initially, the waste form very effectively immobilizes technetium. However, as oxygen diffuses into the waste form, an outer zone of oxidized concrete and a shrinking core of reduced intact concrete develops. Oxidation of sulfur in the outer zone results in increased technetium concentrations in the pore fluid because Tc{sub 2}S{sub 7(a)} oxidizes to the mobile TcO{sub 4}{sup -} anion. The TcO{sub 4}{sup -} anion can then ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The murine 3T3-L1 fibroblast under appropriate incubation conditions differentiates into an adipocyte phenotype. This 3T3-L1 adipocyte exhibits many of the morphologic, biochemical, and insulin-responsive features of the normal rodent adipocyte. Using quantitative electron microscopic (EM) autoradiography we find that, when /sup 125/I-insulin is incubated with 3T3-L1 adipocytes, the ligand at early times of incubation localizes to the plasma membrane of the cell preferentially to microvilli and coated pits. When the incubation is continued at 37 degrees C, /sup 125/I-insulin is internalized by the cells and preferential binding to the villous surface is lost. With the internalization of the ligand, two intracellular structures become labeled, as determined by the method of hypothetical grain analysis. These include large clear, presumably endocytotic, vesicles and multivesicular bodies. Over the first hour of incubation the labeling of these structures increases in parallel, but in the ...

Science.gov (United States)

The summertime tropical cyclogenesis rate per unit area in the eastern Pacific ocean is arguably higher than in any other location in the world. Many if not most of these cyclones form from African easterly waves which cross Central America into the Pacific. Of order 25% of these waves intensify into cyclones. A significant fraction of east Pacific tropical cyclones undergoes landfall on the Mexican coast. Those which do not, generally dissipate over cold ocean waters north of the east Pacific intertropical convergence zone, often not far from land. The layer of warm ocean water which supports the development of east Pacific cyclones is unusually shallow and is structured by anticyclonic vortices which form by various processes and propagate slowly to the west. These vortices locally deepen the oceanic mixed layer and support stronger convection than their surroundings, possibly promoting cyclogenesis and cyclone intensification. Cyclones in turn have an unusually large effect on ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Radioisotopes of Pb(II) have been of some interest in radioimmunotherapy and radioimmunoimaging (RII). However, the absence of a kinetically stable bifunctional chelating agent for Pb(II) has hampered its use for these applications. {sup 203}Pb (T{sub 1/2}=52.02 h) has application potential in RII, with a {gamma}-emission that is ideal for single photon emission computerized tomography, whereas {sup 212}Pb (T{sub 1/2}=10 h) is a source of highly cytotoxic {alpha}-particles via its decay to its {sup 212}Bi (T{sub 1/2}=60 min) daughter. The synthesis of the novel bifunctional chelating agent 2-(4-isothiocyanotobenzyl)-1,4,7,10-tetraaza-1,4,7,10-tetra-(2-carbamoyl methyl)-cyclododecane (4-NCS-Bz-TCMC) is reported herein. The Pb[TCMC]{sup 2+} complex was less labile to metal ion release than Pb[DOTA]{sup 2-} at pH 3.5 and below in isotopic exchange experiments. In addition to increased stability to Pb{sup 2+} ion release at low pH, the bifunctional TCMC ligand was ...

Science.gov (United States)

We present a new approach for growing Si nanowires directly from a silicon substrate, without the use of a metal catalyst, silicon vapor or CVD gasses. The growth can be performed in a furnace type configuration at moderate temperatures or in localized regions by resistive heating. Since the silicon wires grow directly from the silicon substrate, they do not need to be manipulated nor aligned for subsequent applications. Wires in the 20-50 nm diameter range with lengths over 80 ?m can be grown by this technique. We have studied the effects of various growth parameters, including temperature, substrate orientation, initial sample cleaning and carrier gasses. Results indicate that most important parameters in the growth of the nanowires are the surface cleaning, the temperature and the type of carrier gas used. A model is proposed, which involves an oxide catalyst for the process, with the growth of the nanowires enabled by a significantly enhanced silicon surface diffusion process, due ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Methods currently being used or developed for the elemental analysis of materials are chemical analysis, non-destructive inspection and calorimetry. The chemical analysis, which removes high-level radioactive elements through chemical treatments and then performs the quantitative analysis using the ICP-MS(Inductively Coupled Plasma - Mass Spectrometer) or the ID-MS(Isotope Dilution Mass Spectrometer), is recognized the most accurate. However, it requires a long, complex pre-treatment process in which a mass spectrometer could be contaminated. To solve this problem, a new method, which can be performed with high-level radioactivity and at high temperature, was desired. Such a method should also have the same accuracy as the chemical analysis, with a less possibility for instruments to be contaminated. In addition, as interests in the environment and the life quality are increased, a detailed analysis on the environmental impacts is also required. Satisfying all of the above-mentioned, ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Over the recent years the nuclear structure around the N = 50 shell closure, which is very pronounced in the strontium and zirconium isotopes, has been the subject of extensive experimental and theoretical work. On the proton side Z = 38 and Z = 40 provide fairly closed sub-shells. In the strontium isotopes the lg/sub 9/2/ neutron shell is closed at "8"8Sr, supplying relatively pure neutron-hole and neutron-particle states with large spectroscopic factors in "8"7Sr and "8"9Sr, as well as core-coupled states. The mass region is thus ideally suited to examine the transition from a correlated to an uncorrelated (chaotic?) excitational behavior. These two types are characterized e.g. by the density of excited states, the transition strengths, and the spectroscopic factors observed in transfer reactions. We conducted (n,#gamma#) and (d,p) reactions leading to /sup 87,88,89/Sr in addition to "8"8Sr(d,t)"8"7Sr and 24 keV neutron capture in "8"8Sr. The vast amounts of data ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of percutaneous ultrasound (US)-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICCA) in a small, nonrandomized series. From February 2004 to July 2008, six patients (four men and two women; mean age 69.8 years [range 48 to 83]) with ICCA underwent percutaneous US-guided RFA. Preintervetional transarterial embolization was performed in two cases to decrease heat dispersion during RFA in order to increase the area of ablation. The efficacy of RFA was evaluated using contrast-enhanced dynamic computed tomography (CT) 1 month after treatment and then every 3 months thereafter. Nine RFA sessions were performed for six solid hepatic tumors in six patients. The duration of follow-up ranged from 13 to 21 months (mean 17.5). Posttreatment CT showed total necrosis in four of six tumors after one or two RFA sessions. Residual tumor was observed in two patients with larger tumors (5 and 5.8 cm ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

This paper (paper I) presents the first part of results obtained with the PF-1000 facility for the first time at its upper energy limit (?1 MJ). Special attention is paid here to plasma ('pinch') dynamics, which was investigated in relation to its electro-technical and radiation (especially neutron) characteristics with the help of a number of diagnostics, both time-integrated and with nanosecond temporal resolution. In these methods we utilized a Rogowski coil for the routine electro-technical measurements, visual multi-frame and streak cameras, soft x-ray pin-hole multi-frame cameras, PIN-diode assembly and PM tubes with scintillators for soft and hard x-rays as well as for neutron investigations together with a set of activation counters. In particular, the temporal cross correlation of different phenomena taking place during the discharge was investigated. The pinch's longevity appears to be 10-15 times larger than the ideal magnetohydrodynamic growth time ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

A numerical method for studying the flow field of an under-expanded axis-symmetric jet created by a converging-diverging nozzle and impinging on a flat plate is presented. The calculation domain of interest is a region that contains all the features of the jet that leaves the nozzle and impinges onto the plate. Axial symmetry of the domain allows a reduced 2-dimensional model to be used. FLUENT software is utilized to solve the continuity, momentum and energy equations using a coupled implicit scheme. The ideal-gas law is used to determine the gas density along with a k-#epsilon# turbulence model with a special modification to account for compressibility effects. In addition, the temperature dependency of viscosity has been taken into consideration. A number of different modeling techniques are investigated including different approximations to account for the flow inside the nozzle. Performance of non-equilibrium wall functions for near-wall turbulence treatment ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A laboratory model of a TPV generator in the kilowatt range was developed and tested. It was based on methane/oxygen combustion and a spectrally matched selective emitter/collector pair (ytterbia emitter-silicon PV cell). The system demonstrated a power output of 2.4 kilowatts at an overall efficiency of 4.5{percent} without recuperation of heat from the exhaust gases. Key aspects of the effort include: (1) process development and fabrication of mechanically strong selective emitter ceramic textile materials; (2) design of a stirred reactor emitter/burner capable of handling up to 175,000 Btu/hr fuel flows; (3) support to the developer of the production silicon concentrator cells capable of withstanding TPV environments; (4) assessing the apparent temperature exponent of selective emitters; and (5) determining that the remaining generator efficiency improvements are readily defined combustion engineering problems that do not necessitate breakthrough technology. The fiber matrix ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vermicomposts as a biofertilizer can be a great option for pond manuring as they never cause any long term harm to the soil like chemical fertilizer. In this study vegetable and horticulture waste was used as an important media for vermiculture. Three separate cemented tanks (6 m{sup 3} each) were used in the system as control tank, vermicompost fertilized tank and inorganic fertilizer manured tank. Monoculture of fish was carried out with cat fish, Clarias batrachus. The produced earthworms were used as fish feed. Regular monitoring of water parameter was conducted in three different ponds. Specifically, the algal biomass variation was quite helpful in analysing the behavior of the ponds. NPK value of soil samples was analyzed intermittently to know the eutrophication level. Despite the hot summer temperature in northern part of India, which is not ideal for fish growth, we have recorded an encouraging growth performance in organic manured pond along with ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Minor M (M = Fe, Mn, Cr) additions are widely added to enhance the corrosion resistance of commercial cupronickel alloys. The present paper aims at optimizing the amounts of M in Cu_7_0(Ni,Fe,Mn,Cr)_3_0 (at.%) alloys using a cluster-plus-glue-atom model for stable solid solutions. By this model, it assumed that 1 M atom and 12 Ni atoms formed an M-centered and Ni-surrounded cube-octahedron cluster and the isolated M_1Ni_1_2 clusters are embedded in a Cu matrix, conforming to a cluster formula [M_1Ni_1_2]Cu_3_0_._3 = [M_1_/_1_3Ni_1_2_/_1_3]_3_0Cu_7_0. A structure of this kind satisfies ideally the nearest neighbor requirement, i.e. only M-Ni and Ni-Cu neighbors are allowed and the unfavorable Cu-M pairs are avoided, and hence it describes a stable solid solution structure with good thermal stability. Electrochemical corrosion measurements indicated that [(Fe_0_._6Mn_0_._2_5Cr_0_._1_5)_1Ni_1_2]Cu_3_0_._3 had the best corrosion resistance in 3.5% NaCl aqueous ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The 1.7 billion pounds of benzene produced each year in the US provide one measure of its utility. At the same time, there are a number of environmental reasons for avoiding the use of benzene in chemical manufacture. Perhaps most compelling: benzene is a potent carcinogen. Scrutiny of many of the chemicals derived from benzene reveals that each molecule contains at least one oxygen atom while benzene completely lacks oxygen atoms. Introduction of oxygen to make up for this lack can require processes that are environmentally problematic. One of the steps used to introduce oxygen atoms during manufacture of adipic acid, a component of Nylon 66, is responsible for 10% of the annual global increase in atmospheric nitrous oxide. This by-product is a causative agent of atmospheric ozone depletion and has been implicated in global warming. With support from EPA and the National Science Foundation, alternative manufacturing processes are being explored. By these new methods, chemicals usually ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

An axisymmetric plasma screw pinch is an axisymmetric column of ionized gaseous plasma radially confined by forces from axial and azimuthal currents driven in the plasma and its surroundings. This dissertation is a contribution to detailed, high resolution computer simulation of dynamic plasma screw pinches in 2-d {ital rz}-coordinates. The simulation algorithm combines electron fluid and particle-in-cell (PIC) ion models to represent the plasma in a hybrid fashion. The plasma is assumed to be quasineutral; along with the Darwin approximation to the Maxwell equations, this implies application of Ampere`s law without displacement current. Electron inertia is assumed negligible so that advective terms in the electron momentum equation are ignored. Electrons and ions have separate scalar temperatures, and a scalar plasma electrical resistivity is assumed. Altemating-direction-implicit (ADI) methods are used to advance the electron fluid drift velocity and the magnetic fields in the ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The use of the focused ion beam (FIB) systems has increased to a high level in recent years. The imaging, milling, and deposition capabilities of the FIB make it the ideal instrument for e.g., site-specific failure analysis, specimen preparation and nano-machining. Ion channelling contrast allows for selective imaging of polycrystalline and polyphase microstructures. In addition, the FIB and CrossBeam registered instruments are unique stand-alone analytical tools. Their vast capabilities have enabled numerous applications into the semiconductor and materials sciences applications. These integrated CrossBeam registered Tools enable the observation and direct control of the FIB operation in real time. In addition to the improved accuracy and resolution the electron beam adds analytical capabilities as STEM, EDS and EBSP to the instruments. To ensure a safe and reliable operation of the instrument, a dedicated vacuum system is needed. This type of instrument combines ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Film boiling is the mode if boiling during which the hot surface is separated from the vaporizing liquid by a nearly continuous film vapor. Film boiling is usually considered a very undesirable boiling regime since it is a relatively quiet and inefficient mode of heat transfer, particularly as compared to nucleate boiling. It is customary to analyze the two-phase flow regime of laminar flow film boiling by assuming the two-phase flow regime of laminar flow film boiling by assuming an idealized vapor film flow characterized by a smooth liquid-vapor interface. However, during stable flow film boiling, the wavy nature of the liquid-vapor interface and its role in local heat and mass transport have been largely ignored. The vapor interface is rarely stationary. Interfacial waves may substantially augment the heat transfer rates throughout the layer. The present analysis treats stagnation point flow film boiling on a sphere immersed in a subcooled liquid. The effect of ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The paper discusses recent results on the development of localized arc filament plasma actuators and their use in controlling high-speed and high Reynolds number jet flows. Multiple plasma actuators (up to 8) are controlled using a custom-built 8-channel high-voltage pulsed plasma generator. The plasma generator independently controls pulse repetition rate (0-200 kHz), duty cycle and phase for each individual actuator. Current and voltage measurements demonstrated the power consumption of each actuator to be quite low (20 W at 20% duty cycle). Emission spectroscopy temperature measurements in the pulsed arc filament showed rapid temperature increase over the first 10-20 ?s of arc operation, from below 1000 deg. C to up to about 2000 deg. C. At longer discharge pulse durations, 20-100 ?s, the plasma temperature levels off at approximately 2000 deg. C. Modelling calculations using an unsteady, quasi-one-dimensional arc filament model showed that rapid localized heating in the arc ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The general principles of Cu(II) binding to algal waste from agar extraction, composite material and algae Gelidium, and different modelling approaches, are discussed. FTIR analyses provided a detailed description of the possible binding groups present in the biosorbents, as carboxylic groups (D-glucuronic and pyruvic acids), hydroxyl groups (cellulose, agar and floridean starch) and sulfonate groups (sulphated galactans). Potentiometric acid-base titrations showed a heterogeneous distribution of two major binding groups, carboxyl and hydroxyl, following the quasi-Gaussian affinity constant distribution suggested by Sips, which permitted to estimate the maximum amount of acid functional groups (0.36, 0.25 and 0.1 mmol g{sup -1}) and proton binding parameters (pK{sup '}{sub H}=5.0,5.3and4.4;m{sub H} = 0.43, 0.37, 0.33), respectively for algae Gelidium, algal waste and composite material. A non-ideal, semi-empirical, thermodynamically consistent (NICCA) ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Plasma-deposited thin films prepared at room temperature, ranging from 46 to 250 A of PdAu on #approx#45-50 A Si-oxide and Si-oxynitride films grown on Si wafers were studied. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction, X-ray reflectivity, and XPS depth profile techniques were used to characterize the thin films. A reactive interface involving Pd- and Au-silicides is formed, linking the thin film to the Si-oxide and Si-oxynitride films: a small fraction of Pd and Au atoms from PdAu migrate into the Si substrate, first penetrating the oxide layer, and the small fraction of Si atoms from the oxide layer migrate into the PdAu film and form a silicide interlayer consisting of a reactive interface made up of mixtures of Au- and Pd-silicides interspersed within the matrix of PdAu and substrate. The concentration profiles of these silicides have a maximum at the interface with decay on both sides. The density and the face-centered cubic (fcc) lattice parameter of the film are determined to be ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Diverse and productive wetlands have resulted from coal mining in the midwest. The trend from surface to underground mining has increased the potential for subsidence. Planned subsidence of longwall mining areas provides increased opportunities for wetland habitat establishment. Planned subsidence over a 180 meter (590 foot) deep longwall mine in southern Illinois during 1984 to 1986 produced three subsidence wetlands totaling 15 hectares (38 acres). The resulting palustrine emergent wetlands enhanced habitat diversity within the surrounding palustrine forested unsubsided area. Habitat assessments and evaluations of avian utilization of the subsidence wetlands were conducted during February 1990 through October 1991. Avian utilization was greatest within the subsided wetlands. Fifty-three bird species representing seven foraging guilds utilized the subsidence wetlands. Wading/fishing, dabbling waterfowl, and insectivorous avian guilds dominated the subsidence wetlands. The subsidence ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Phase-contrast imaging with a practical cone-beam X-ray tube has been realized for clinical use in digital mammography using computed radiography (CR). To perform phase-contrast imaging, the X-ray detector must be distanced from an object so that the phase-contrast image achieves magnification; in a mammography unit dedicated to phase-contrast imaging, the magnification ratio is 1.75. When using an X-ray tube with a 0.1-mm focal spot, it appears that the penumbra in magnification blurs both projected images and the phase contrast, which generates an edge effect. However, where the sampling pitch of the CR plate is 43.75 {mu}m, the blur stretches the width of the phase contrast so that unit pixels in the detector can capture it. Note that the width of an ideal phase contrast using an X-ray point source results in a phase contrast too narrow for detection with CR. In addition to phase contrast improving image quality, a re-scaling effect increases image sharpness in ...

Science.gov (United States)

Cryogenic coolers are often used in modern spacecraft in conjunction with sensitive electronics and sensors of military, commercial and scientific instrumentation. The typical space requirements are: power efficiency, low vibration export, proven reliability, ability to survive launch vibration/shock and long-term exposure to space radiation. A long-standing paradigm of exclusively using "space heritage" equipment has become the standard practice for delivering high reliability components. Unfortunately, this conservative "space heritage" practice can result in using outdated, oversized, overweight and overpriced cryogenic coolers and is becoming increasingly unacceptable for space agencies now operating within tough monetary and time constraints. The recent trend in developing mini and micro satellites for relatively inexpensive missions has prompted attempts to adapt leading-edge tactical cryogenic coolers for suitability in the space environment. The primary emphasis has been on ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Computed Tomography (CT) and, more recently, ultrasound (US), have proved excellent tools for quantifying adipose tissue distribution. Body fat distribution is an important factor in the treatment of obesity and its complications. In this work it is investigated the correlation between CT and US measurements in pediatric obesity. Forty obese children and adolescents aged 4.1-14.8 years were submitted to CT and US. Intra-abdominal, subcutaneous and total body fat were calculated (in cm{sup 2}), with the CT image analysis software. The rectus muscle-spine and rectus muscle-aorta distances, as indicative of visceral fat thickness, were measured on US images with(out) compression. The distance between skin fat and fat-rectus muscle interfaces was measured as subcutaneous fat thickness. US-CT findings have been compared with other morphometric variables-i.e., patient's (ideal) body weight and skin fold measures. A statistically significant correlation was found ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

To evaluate the efficacy of newly designed covered and non-covered coated colorectal stents for colonic decompression. Twenty-six patients, (15 palliative cases and 11 preoperative) underwent treatment for the relief of colorectal obstruction using metallic stents positioned under fluoroscopic guidance. In 24 of the 26, primary colorectal carcinoma was diagnosed, and in the remaining two, recurrent colorectal carcinoma. Twenty-one patients were randomly selected to receive either a type A or type B stent; for the remaining five, type C was used. Type A, an uncovered nitinol wire stent, was lightly coated to ensure structural integrity. Type B (flare type) and C (shoulder type) stents were polyurethane covered and their diameter was 24 and 26mm, respectively. The rates of technical success, clinical success, and complications were analyzed using the chi-square test, and to analyse the mean period of patency, the Kaplan-Meier method was used. Thirty of 31 attempted placements in 26 ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

We present ultraviolet through far-infrared (FIR) surface brightness profiles for the 75 galaxies in the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey (SINGS). The imagery used to measure the profiles includes Galaxy Evolution Explorer UV data, optical images from Kitt Peak National Observatory, Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, and Sloan Digital Sky Survey, near-IR data from Two Micron All Sky Survey, and mid- and FIR images from Spitzer. Along with the radial profiles, we also provide multi-wavelength asymptotic magnitudes and several nonparametric indicators of galaxy morphology: the concentration index (C 42), the asymmetry (A), the Gini coefficient (G), and the normalized second-order moment of the brightest 20% of the galaxy's flux (M-bar20). In this paper, the first of a series, we describe the technical aspects regarding the surface photometry, and present a basic analysis of the global and structural properties of the SINGS galaxies at different wavelengths. The homogeneity ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

This study aims to investigate the difference in the interaction of antimicrobial peptides with two classes of zwitterionic peptides, phosphatidylethanolamines (PE) and phosphatidylcholines (PC). Further experiments were performed on model membranes prepared from specific bacterial lipids, lipopolysaccharides (LPS) isolated from Salmonella minnesota. The structure of the lipid-peptide aqueous dispersions was studied by small-and wide-angle X-ray diffraction during heating and cooling from 5 to 85 C. The lipids and peptides were mixed at lipid-to-peptide ratios 10-10000 (POPE and POPC) or 2-50 (LPS). All experiments were performed at synchrotron soft condensed matter beamline A2 in Hasylab at Desy in Hamburg, Germany. The phases were identified and the lattice parameters were calculated. Alamethicin and melittin interact in similar ways with the lipids. Pure POPC forms only lamellar phases. POPE forms lamellar phases at low temperatures that upon heating transform into a highly curved ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Full text of publication follows: Energy and environment are two major concerns in our modern society due to the coming shortage in fossil energy sources and the growing of greenhouse gas emissions. The challenge for the coming years is to discover new energy resources and to develop devices that are compatible with a sustainable development and generate few (or zero) emission. One of these devices is the fuel cell feed by hydrogen, whose application fields are very large. In particular, the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is the most realistic device for automotive application. However, hydrogen storage remains one of the most important challenges regarding its development. Although different techniques are available for storing hydrogen, no ideal solution has been found yet. Compression needs elaborated tanks in shape for supporting high pressures, liquefaction requires an expensive hydrogen cooling and adapted tanks. Chemical storage by hydrides ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The Tomographic Gamma Scanning (TGS) technique is a relatively new method in the field of non-destructive assay (NDA) of radioactive waste. The TGS technique combines High Resolution Gamma Spectrometry (HRGS) with Three-Dimensional (3-D) low spatial resolution transmission and emission image reconstruction techniques to achieve assay goals. When compared to the traditional methods such as Segmented Gamma Scanning (SGS), the TGS technique can yield better accuracies for cases where the radionuclide is distributed non-uniformly in a heterogeneous matrix. The TGS technique is ideally suited for low-to-moderate density waste matrices, say 1.0 g cm"-"3 or below for 55 US gal. drums, although it can be extended to higher densities by using alternative approaches to the design or analyses. Recently Canberra Industries designed, built and characterized four such TGS systems for nuclear power plant applications. Many of the design features and the end application itself set ...

Science.gov (United States)

This final scientific report documents the Industrial Technology Program (ITP) Stage 2 Concept Development effort on Data Center Energy Reduction and Management Through Real-Time Optimal Control (RTOC). Society is becoming increasingly dependent on information technology systems, driving exponential growth in demand for data center processing and an insatiable appetite for energy. David Raths noted, 'A 50,000-square-foot data center uses approximately 4 megawatts of power, or the equivalent of 57 barrels of oil a day1.' The problem has become so severe that in some cases, users are giving up raw performance for a better balance between performance and energy efficiency. Historically, power systems for data centers were crudely sized to meet maximum demand. Since many servers operate at 60%-90% of maximum power while only utilizing an average of 5% to 15% of their capability, there are huge inefficiencies in the consumption and delivery of power in these data centers. ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The purpose of this work was to establish a new binary data base by compiling the activity coefficients of plutonium and uranium at oxidation state +IV to better account for media effects in the liquid-liquid extraction operations implemented to reprocess spent nuclear fuel. Chapter 1: first reviews the basic thermodynamic concepts before describing the issues involved in acquiring binary data for the tetravalent actinides. The difficulties arise from two characteristics of this type of electrolyte: its radioactive properties (high specific activity requiring nuclearization of the experimental instrumentation) and its physicochemical properties (strong hydrolysis). After defining the notion of fictive binary data, an approach based on the thermodynamic concept of simple solutions is described in which the activity coefficient of an aqueous phase constituent is dependent on two parameters: the water activity of the system and the total concentration of dissolved constituents. The method ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Since information has been regarded os a physical entity, the field of quantum information theory has blossomed. This brings novel applications, such as quantum computation. This field has attracted the attention of numerous researchers with backgrounds ranging from computer science, mathematics and engineering, to the physical sciences. Thus, we now have an interdisciplinary field where great efforts are being made in order to build devices that should allow for the processing of information at a quantum level, and also in the understanding of the complex structure of some physical processes at a more basic level. This thesis is devoted to the theoretical study of structures at the nanometer-scale, 'nanostructures', through physical processes that mainly involve the solid-state and quantum optics, in order to propose reliable schemes for the processing of quantum information. Initially, the main results of quantum information theory and quantum computation are ...

ScienceCinema

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