Real-time neutron radiography (RTNR) is rapidly becoming a valuable tool for nondestructive testing and basic research with a wide variety of applications. The Phoenix Memorial Laboratory (PML) at the University of Michigan has developed an RTNR facility and has been using this facility to study several phenomena of interest to researchers in many areas. These phenomena include imaging of the internal fluid flow in gas turbine engine nozzles and coking and debris deposition in several gas turbine nozzles. This paper presents a summary of the technique and facilities involved in these applications.
The Experimental Physics Industrial Control System (EPICS) is a set of software which is being used as the basis of the National Spherical Torus Experiment's (NSTX) Process Control System, a major element of the NSTX's Central Instrumentation and Control System. EPICS is a result of a co-development effort started by several US Department of Energy National Laboratories. EPICS is actively supported through an international collaboration made up of government and industrial users. EPICS' good points include portability, scalability, and extensibility. A drawback for small experiments is that a wide range of software skills are necessary to get the software tools running for the process engineers. The authors' experience in designing, developing, operating, and maintaining NSTX's EPICS (system) will be reviewed.
The Superconducting super Collider Laboratory is a complex of particle accelerators being built in Ellis County, Texas. It will have a dedicated global communications network that will deliver control messages and provide for general data acquisition. This network will connect thousands of computer nodes over a very large geographic area. In order to meet the demanding availability requirements being levied on the system, it will need comprehensive network management. A large number of the computer nodes are embedded systems that traditionally do not support network management services. This presents unique challenges to standard network management practices. The Simple Network Management Protocol, SNMP, is widely accepted by industry as a tool to manage network devices. In this paper the authors examine the performance characteristics and usefulness of an SNMP agent in a real-time environment.
Work over the last few years at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) has included a major focus on applying human performance and human reliability knowledge and methods as an integral element of system design and development. This work has been pursued in programs in a wide variety of technical domains, beginning with nuclear power plant operations. Since the mid-1980`s the laboratory has transferred the methods and tools developed in the nuclear domain to military weapons systems and aircraft, offshore oil and shipping operations, and commercial aviation operations and aircraft design. Through these diverse applications the laboratory has developed an integrated approach and framework for application of human performance analysis, human reliability analysis (HRA), operational data analysis, and simulation studies of human performance to the design ...
This paper describes the derivation of a new equation that can be used to model the permeability behavior of a fractured, sorptive-elastic media, such as coal, under variable stress conditions commonly used during measurement of permeability data in the laboratory. The model is derived for cubic geometry under biaxial or hydrostatic confining pressures. The model is also designed to handle changes in permeability caused by adsorption and desorption of gases from the matrix blocks. The model equations can be used to calculate permeability changes caused by the production of methane from coal as well as the injection of gases, such as carbon dioxide, for sequestration in coal. Sensitivity analysis of the model found that each of the input variables can have a significant impact on the outcome of the permeability forecast as a function of changing pore pressure; thus, accurate input data are essential. The permeability model can also be used as a ...
The principles of modern pesticide residue chemistry were articulated in the 1950s. Early authors pointed out the advantages of systematizing and standardizing analytical methods for pesticides so that they could be widely practiced and the results could be reproduced from one laboratory to the next. The availability of improved methods has led to a much more complete understanding of pesticide behavior and fate in foods and the environment. Using methods based largely upon gas chromatography (GC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled increasingly with mass spectrometry (MS) and MS(n) as the detection tool, residues can be measured at parts per billion levels and below in a variety of food and environmental matrices. Development of efficient extraction and cleanup methods, techniques such as ELISA, efficient sample preparation techniques such as QuEChERS, and automated laboratory and ...
This report documents the evaluation of risks associated with environmental restoration activities at Brookhaven National Laboratory using two tools supplied by DOE to provide a consistent set of risk estimates across the DOE complex: Risk Data Sheets (RDS) and Relative Risk Ranking. The tools are described, the process taken characterized, results provided and discussed. The two approaches are compared and recommendations provided for continuing improvement of the process.
... curricula and prototypical instructional materials have been emphasized. The program has provided ... materials are adapted and implemented on a state-wide basis. The laboratory materials and the text ...
The fabrication of a Prototype 275/sup 0/C Geothermal Temperature Tool is reviewed. This tool fabrication uses hybrid circuits that were developed at Sandia National Laboratories and are now being built at Teledyne Philbrick. To achieve high-temperature operation, the standard military specification hybrid technology was modified in fabrication processes and materials.
The software package VIBA-lab1, which incorporates PIXE and RBS energy spectra simulation has now been extended to include the simulation of elemental maps from 3D structures. VIBA-lab1 allows the user to define a wide variety of experimental parameters, e.g. energy and species of incident ions, excitation and detection geometry, etc. When the relevant experimental parameters as well as target composition are defined, the program can then simulate the corresponding PIXE and RBS spectra. VIBA-LAB2 has been written with applications in nuclear microscopy in mind. A set of drag-and-drop tools has been incorporated to allow the user to define a three-dimensional sample object of mixed elemental composition. PIXE energy spectra simulations are then carried out on pixel-by-pixel basis and the corresponding intensity distributions or elemental maps can be computed. Several simulated intensity distributions for some 3D objects are demonstrated, and ...
We have used scale models to measure the predicted coupling of electromagnetic fields simulating the effects of high-altitude nuclear electromagnetic pulses (HEMP) on the interior surfaces of electronic components. Predictive tools for exterior coupling are adequate. For interior coupling, however, such tools are in their infancy. Our methodological approach combines analytical, computational, and laboratory techniques in a complementary way to take advantage of their separate strengths. Computer models are a promising tool, as they can be used to treat complex objects with arbitrary shapes, dielectrics, and cables, and multiple apertures. Laboratory tests can expand the domain of investigation even further.
Transposon-based integration systems have been widely used for genetic manipulation of invertebrate and plant model systems. In the past decade, these powerful tools have begun to be used in...Full Text Available
In recent years RNA interference (RNAi) has rapidly become the most widely used tool for gene knockdown due to its high specificity and potency. RNAi is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism...Full Text Available
The Brain Database is an information tool designed to aid in the integration of clinical and research results in neuroanatomy and regional biochemistry. It can handle a wide range of data types including...Full Text Available
BackgroundEukaryotic DNA replication is regulated at the level of large chromosomal domains (0.5–5 megabases in mammals) within which replicons are activated relatively synchronously....Full Text Available
A large hadron machine like the LHC with its high track multiplicities always asks for powerful tools that drastically reduce the large background while selecting signal events efficiently. Actually such tools are widely needed and used in all parts of particle physics. Regarding the huge amount of data that will be produced at the LHC, the process of training as well as the process of applying these tools to data, must be time efficient. Such tools can be multivariate analysis -- also called data mining -- tools. In this contribution we present the results for the application of the multivariate analysis, rule growing algorithm RIPPER on a problem of particle selection. It turns out that the meta-methods bagging and cost-sensitivity are essential for the quality of the outcome. The results are compared to other multivariate analysis techniques.
Virtually all biomedical research makes use of a relatively small pool of laboratory-adapted, inbred, isogenic stocks of mice. Although the advantages of these models are many, there are a number of...Full Text Available
The enclosed document describes a conceptual decision tool (hereinafter, Tool) for determining applicability of and for optimizing air sparging systems. The Tool was developed by a multi-disciplinary team of internationally recognized experts in air sparging technology, lead by a group of project and task managers at Parsons Engineering Science, Inc. (Parsons ES). The team included Mr. Douglas Downey and Dr. Robert Hinchee of Parsons ES, Dr. Paul Johnson of Arizona State University, Dr. Richard Johnson of Oregon Graduate Institute, and Mr. Michael Marley of Envirogen, Inc. User Community Panel Review was coordinated by Dr. Robert Siegrist of Colorado School of Mines (also of Oak Ridge National Laboratory) and Dr. Thomas Brouns of Battelle/Pacific Northwest Laboratory. The Tool is intended to provide guidance to field practitioners and environmental managers for ...
A new rapid solidification process machine will be able to produce eight-inch diameter by six-inch thick finished cavities at the rate of one per hour - a rate that will change the tooling industry dramatically. Global Metal Technologies, Inc. (GMTI) (Solon, OH) has signed an exclusive license with Idaho National Engineered and Environmental Laboratories (INEEL) (Idaho Falls, ID) for the development and commercialization of the rapid solidification process (RSP tooling). The first production machine is scheduled for delivery in July 2001. The RSP tooling process is a method of producing production level tooling in prototype timing. The process' inventor, Kevin McHugh, describes it as a rapid solidification method, which differentiates it from the standard spray forming methods. RSP itself is relatively straightforward. Molten metal is sprayed against the ceramic pattern, ...
The Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program FY 1996 report is compiled from annual reports submitted by principal investigators following the close of the fiscal year. This report describes the projects supported and summarizes their accomplishments. It constitutes a part of the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program planning and documentation process that includes an annual planning cycle, projection selection, implementation, and review. The Berkeley Lab LDRD program is a critical tool for directing the Laboratory`s forefront scientific research capabilities toward vital, excellent, and emerging scientific challenges. The program provides the resources for Berkeley Lab scientists to make rapid and significant contributions to critical national science and technology problems. The ...
Statistical design of experiments is widely used among scientists and engineers to understand influential factors in a laboratory or manufacturing process. One of the underlying principles of...Full Text Available
Advances in laboratory animal imaging have provided new resources for noninvasive biomedical research. Among these technologies is microcomputed tomography (microCT) which is widely used to obtain high...Full Text Available
Al2O3-based ceramic is one of the most widely used materials for tools employed in hardened steel turning applications due to its high hardness, wear resistance, heat resistance and chemical stability. The objective of this work is to predict the lives of Al2O3-(W, Ti)C ceramic tools in intermittent turning of hardened AISI 1045 steel by means of damage evolution model taking into account the mechanical loading and thermal effect in the cutting process. A damage evolution model analyzing the RVE with uniformly distributed interacting cracks is constructed based on micromechanics. The calculated results of the proposed damage evolution model are compared with the lives of two kinds of Al2O3-(W, Ti)C ceramic tools obtained through experiments. It is found that the proposed model can be used to predict the lives of the ceramic cutting tools in intermittent turning operation.
This paper provides a concise summary of the current status of the research and future perspectives discussed in the Mini-Conference on Angular Momentum Transport in Laboratory and Nature. This Mini-conference, sponsored by the Topical Group on Plasma Astrophysics, was held as part of the American Physical Society's Division of Plasma Physics 2007 Annual Meeting (November 12{16, 2007). This Mini-conference covers a wide range of phenomena happening in fluids and plasmas, either in laboratory or in nature. The purpose of this paper is not to comprehensively review these phenomena, but to provide a starting point for interested readers to refer to related research in areas other than their own.
After several years of planning and workshop meetings, a decision was reached in late 2008 to organize PICMG xTCA for Physics Technical Subcommittees to extend the ATCA and MTCA telecom standards for enhanced system performance, availability and interoperability for physics controls and applications hardware and software. Since formation in May-June 2009, the Hardware Technical Subcommittee has developed a number of ATCA, ARTM, AMC, MTCA and RTM extensions to be completed in mid-to-late 2010. The Software Technical Subcommittee is developing guidelines to promote interoperability of modules designed by industry and laboratories, in particular focusing on middleware and generic application interfaces such as Standard Process Model, Standard Device Model and Standard Hardware API. The paper describes the prototype design work completed by the lab-industry partners to date, the timeline for hardware releases to PICMG for approval, and the status of the software ...
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine potential new uses of return on investment (ROI) in alternative methods for library assessment and valuation. Design/methodology/approach - Uses examples of recent uses of ROI by libraries to identify potential new applications of ROI in library assessment and valuation. Findings - ROI investment has historically been used by libraries for the assessment of past performance of library organizations in a reactive/defensive nature or for assessing the value of customer services. ROI has not been widely used as a proactive assessment tool, to introspectively assess administrative or other internal services, or as an offensive assessment and valuation tool, especially for intangible performance assessment and valuation. Originality/value - New ...
The dynamic response characteristics of the VAWT rotor are important factors governing the safety and fatigue life of VAWT systems. The principal problems are the determination of critical rotor speeds (resonances) and the assessment of forced vibration response amplitudes. The solution to these problems is complicated by centrifugal and coriolis effects which can have substantial influence on rotor resonant frequencies and mode shapes. This paper will describe and discuss the primary tools now in use at Sandia National Laboratories for rotor analysis. These tools include a lumped springmass model (VAWTDYN) and also finite-element based approaches. The discussion will center on the accuracy and completeness of current capabilities and plans for future research.
The introduction of automation technology into the analytical laboratory holds the promise of higher efficiency, improved productivity, and lower costs. However, the conventional ''laboratory robot'' widely used today may not offer the work envelope or reliability required in a high workload laboratory performing quality control or environmental analytical services. To address this need, a demonstration workcell was assembled utilizing an industrial-class robotics system to automate a standard EPA acid digestion protocol. With further development of graphical user interfaces and error recovery software, the technology will significantly enhance the ability of laboratories to meet increasingly complex environmental demands. 7 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab.
Staff exchanges, such as the one described in this report, are intended to facilitate communication and collaboration among scientists and engineers at DOE laboratories, in US industry, and academia. During the past 5 years, PNL has developed prototype instrumentation to automate the data collection required for electrochemical determination of corrosion rates and behavior of materials in various electrically conductive environments. The last version is labeled the Sentry 100 prototype corrosion data scanner. Applications include these in the pulp and paper industry and at hazardous waste sites.
This paper describes a dissipativity-based framework for the study of low-frequency oscillations in power systems and for power system stabilizer design. This framework leads to a robust controller design formulation, amenable to both H{sub {infinity}} and QFT tools. An illustrating numerical example presents QFT based design for a widely used benchmark two area, four machine power system.
In this paper we present the design, implementation, and experimental results of a system to mine and visualize event data using cluster computingbuilt upon an ATM network. Our approach is to build a system using light weight, modular software tools for data management, resource management, data analysis and visualization developed for local, campus and wide area clusters of workstations. (author)
protect digital information, from personal details held on a computer to financial details transmitted over the Internet. Encryption ...in connection with electronic data (Box 2), whether stored on a computer or transmitted over an unsecured network such as ...Encryption tools (usually in the form of computer programs or software) are widely available
Focused ion beam (FIB) systems prove to be useful precision micromachining tools for a wide variety of applications. This micromachining technique includes scanning ion microscopy (SIM), micromachining by physical sputtering, and the ion-beam induced surface chemistry for etching and deposition. This technique is applied to image and modify IC's, to micromechanical applications, to modify the tip shape of tungsten emitters, and to prepare cross sections of selected regions for inspection in a transmission electron microscope (TEM). (orig.)
Microarray is a powerful tool for genome-wide gene expression analysis. In microarray expression data, often mean and variance have certain relationships. We present a non-parametric mean-variance smoothing...Full Text Available
The quality of the end product from andrology services continues to lack consistency and in some cases fails to meet the needs of the end users (patients or clinicians). Results of external quality assessment (EQA) schemes continue to show unacceptably wide variation for the results of a single specimen. Some laboratories are able to show that the results of semen analyses relate to both natural and assisted pregnancy and are therefore useful in the management of the infertile couple, whereas others claim that their value is limited to the identification of severe male factor infertility. With wide variation in standardisation of methodology, levels of staff training and quality assurance, it is entirely understandable that such discrepancies persist. The following article proposes that Qu...
Advanced proteomic research efforts involving areas such as systems biology or biomarker discovery are enabled by the use of high level informatics tools that allow the effective analysis of large quantities of differing types of data originating from various studies. Performing such analyses on a large scale is not feasible without a computational platform that performs data processing and management tasks. Such a platform must be able to provide high-throughput operation while having sufficient flexibility to accommodate evolving data analysis tools and methodologies. The Proteomics Research Information Storage and Management System (PRISM) provides a platform that serves the needs of the accurate mass and time tag approach developed at PNNL. PRISM incorporates a diverse set of analysis tools and allows a wide range of operations to be incorporated by using a state machine that is accessible to ...
This work describes how a general, process-based mass-balance model (CoastMab) for phosphorus for coastal areas may be used as a tool to estimate realistic values of "natural" or preindustrial reference levels of key bioindicators in coastal science, including the Secchi depth, a standard measure of water clarity, the chlorophyll-a concentration, an operational measure of phytoplankton biomass and the concentration of cyanobacteria, a measure of the concentration of harmful algae. The CoastMab-model is an ecosystem model giving monthly predictions to achieve seasonal variations of basin-wide properties. The selected case-study area, the Gulf of Riga, is sensitive to nutrient loading because of its shallowness and low openness towards the Baltic Proper. The morphometry of any coastal area, ...
Luminescence stimulated from feldspars using wavelengths in the infrared region can be applied to the dating of sedimentary grains. Reported stimulation spectra are very similar for a wide range of feldspars, but their emission spectra show greater variation. For accurate dating it is critical that unstable infrared-stimulated luminescence (IRSL) signals are removed from the laboratory-irradiated grains. Several approaches to isolate a thermally stable signal are described. (author).
Coarse components in the charge, i.e. >6 mm material, display higher ash, a lower volatile matter and a smaller proportion of caking components. Bulk density and moisture levels were studied over a wide range of size reductions (60-85% blast furnace coke. Laboratory work should be checked in practical runs working with 74-76% <3 mm charge material.
Dispersants have been widely used as a primary response measure for marine oil spills around the world. Recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed an improved laboratory dispersant testing protocol, called the Baffled Flask Test (BFT). The BFT protocol w...
Theoretical and practical aspects of anodic protection for control of corrosion by a wide range of acidic and alkaline solutions are discussed. Chapters are included concerning strategic importance of metals and alloys in modern industry, applications to industrial equipment, descriptions of equipment used in the technique; design, operation and maintenance; economics, scientific principles, characteristics of potentiostats, laboratory tests and procedures, selected application examples and projected future uses. A section is devoted to electrochemical principles.
This paper describes a comprehensive MCM [machine condition monitoring] program and suggested system for implementation in hydroelectric generating units. The system addresses all the major subsystems which make up the generating unit. A modular design means that it could be applicable in a wide variety of situations. Different subsystems may be included or excluded from the monitoring system as required. It may be used at individual plants as a stand alone system or network wide. An advanced processing and diagnostic module is included, again for use as an integral part of the system or as a stand alone analysis tool. Examples of the system's proposed data analysis and diagnostic abilities are also described using vibration signals as would be provided by the bearing module. (Author)
RHIC 8 cm aperture dipole magnets and quadrupole cold masses are being built for Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) by Northrop Grumman Corporation at a production rate of one dipole magnet and two quadrupole cold masses per day. This work was preceded by a lengthy Technology Transfer effort which is described elsewhere. This paper describes the tooling which is being used for the construction effort, the production operations at each workstation, and also the use of trend plots of critical construction parameters as a tool for monitoring performance in production. A report on the improvements to production labor since the start of the programs is also provided. The magnet and cold mass designs, and magnetic test results are described in more detail in a separate paper.
The dynamic response characteristics of the VAWT rotor are important factors governing the safety and fatique life of VAWT systems. The principal problems are the determination of critical rotor speeds (resonances) and the assessment of forced vibration response amplitudes. The solution to these problems is complicated by centrifugal and Coriolis effects which can have substantial influence on rotor resonant frequencies and mode shapes. This paper will describe and discuss the primary tools now in use at Sandia National Laboratories for rotor analysis. These tools include a lumped spring-mass model (VAWTDYN) and also finite-element based approaches. The discussion will center on the accuracy and completeness of current capabilities and plans for future research. As this paper is meant primarily to provide an overview, much of the detail is omitted and will be presented in a follow-on report.
TOGAF is a framework - a detailed method and a set of supporting tools - for developing an enterprise architecture, developed by members of The Open Group Architecture Forum.TOGAF Version 9 provides a wide-ranging set of revisions to the TOGAF specification to improve the value of the TOGAF framework. It is an evolution from TOGAF 8.1.1, thereby preserving existing investment in TOGAF, and adds further detail and clarification to what is already proven.It may be used freely by any organization wishing to develop an enterprise architecture for use within that organization (subject to the Condit
The primary objective is to perform a fundamental study of filtration of nanoparticles, and to obtain filtration knowledge necessary to design particle collection devices/systems for nanoparticle processing and for preventing nanoparticle emissions into the environment. The research covered a wide area relevant to nanoparticle filtration, under these main topics: (1) nanoparticle filtration and molecular dynamics simulation, (2) nanoparticle virtual impactor, (3) particle transport under low pressure, and (4) development of a high-throughput nanoparticle generator. A number of novel tools and numerical models have been developed under the DOE support.
A reduced grid model of a transmission system with a number of central power plants, consumption centers, local wind turbines and a large offshore wind farm is developed and implemented in the simulation tool PowerFactory (DIgSILENT). The reduced grid model is given by Energinet.dk, Transmission System Operator of Denmark (TSO) for Natural Gas and Electricity, to the Danish Universities and the Risoe National Laboratory. Its intended usage is education and studying of interaction between electricity-producing wind turbines and a realistic transmission system. Focus in these studies is on voltage stability issues and on the ride-through capability of different wind turbine concepts, equipped with advanced controllers, developed by the Risoe National Laboratory.
This paper presents a decision approach, and associated computer software tools, for prioritizing and selecting among technology development activities. The approach elicits and then summarizes technology development preferences from stakeholders, and then integrates preferences into a set of funding recommendations. By formalizing the technology review process, the decision approach builds consensus and clarifies the basis for final budget decisions. The software development was conducted jointly by Pacific Northwest Laboratory and Decisions Science Associates, Incorporated. The Underground Storage Tank Integrated Demonstration funded the task; however, the approach should also be valuable to the US Department of Energy Office of Technology Development, the Office of Waste Management, and the Office of Environmental Restoration.
Information glut is one of the primary characteristics of the electronic age. Managing such large volumes of information (e.g., keeping track of the types, where they are, their relationships, who controls them, etc.) can be done efficiently with an intelligent, user-oriented information management system. The purpose of this paper is to describe a concept for managing information resources based on an intelligent information technology system developed by the Argonne National Laboratory for managing digital libraries. The Argonne system, Intelligent Query (IQ), enables users to query digital libraries and view the holdings that match the query from different perspectives.
This work describes the development of a synchronous key based on micro controller to the switching of three-phase power transformers, which makes possible the achievement of tests to register the inrush current, and the previous establishment of the instantaneous values of the voltage firstly applied to different phases of the energy process. This key is a value tool to the development electric power system projects and to the teaching and researching activities at the laboratory related to transitory phenomena and electric system protection.
This paper provides guidance in the definition, documentation, measurement, enhancement of processes, and validation of a strategic plan for configuration management (CM). The approach and methodology used in establishing a strategic plan is the same for any enterprise, including the Department of Energy (DOE), commercial nuclear plants, the Department of Defense (DOD), or large industrial complexes. The principles and techniques presented are used world wide by some of the largest corporations. The authors used industry knowledge and the areas of their current employment to illustrate and provide examples. Developing a strategic configuration and information management plan for DOE Idaho Field Office (DOE-ID) facilities is discussed in this paper. A good knowledge of CM principles is the key to successful strategic planning. This paper will describe and define CM elements, and discuss how CM integrates the facility's physical configuration, design basis, and ...
Real Time Radiography (RTR) finds extensive applications for inspection of objects on assembly lines for rapid inspection. A typical RTR widely used includes a image intensifier, CCD camera, image processor and high resolution TV monitor in addition to radiographic source. Image intensifiers used in X-radiography employ CsI as the input detector. With the increased use of neutrons as radiation source, real time neutron radiography is also being practised widely. Image intensifiers used in neutron radiography employ gadolinium as the input screen. The neutron image intensifier system at the authors laboratory essentially consists of a 9 inch Trifield image intensifier tube, motorised zoom lens, CCD camera and a high resolution TV monitor
Neutron radiography and neutron radioscopy are rapidly becoming the valuable tools for nondestructive testing and basic research. The Phoenix Memorial Laboratory has developed a neutron facility capable of both film neutron radiography and real time neutron radioscopy, and has used this facility to study several phenomena of interest to the researchers in many areas. Neutrons can be used for imaging the phenomena that X-ray cannot image, such as the presence, absence or movement of hydrogenous materials inside metals such as aluminum or steel. There are three basic methods for obtaining images using neutrons: high resolution film neutron radiography, real-time neutron radioscopy and transfer film neutron radiography. The neutron radiography facility at Phoenix Memorial Laboratory, the neutron radioscopic imaging systems, the neutron radiographic detectors, lubrication studies, spray imaging, flow in porous media, ...
The LHC is designed to provide proton beams of 7 TeV and nominal luminosity of 10**34 cm**-2s**-1. This objective is achieved at an affordable cost by pushing all major collider components to the limits of technology, by upgrading the existing CERN accelerators and infrastructure, and by involving the technical expertise, resources and dedication of accelerator laboratories world-wide. Following a decade of intensive R&D and technical validation of major collider systems, the LHC construction is now fully underway. Major industrial contracts have been awarded and are in execution for the procurement of the magnet, cryogenics and other systems. In this report, the status of the design and construction of the major LHC systems is presented.
The aim of this research is the design and implementation of a decentralized power system stabilizer (PSS) capable of performing well for a wide range of variations in system parameters and/or loading conditions. The framework of the design is based on Fuzzy Logic Control (FLC). In particular, the neuro-fuzzy control rules are derived from training three classical PSSs; each is tuned using GA so as to perform optimally at one operating point. The effectiveness and robustness of the designed stabilizer, after implementing it to the laboratory model, is investigated. The results of real-time implementation prove that the proposed PSS offers a superior performance in comparison with the conventional stabilizer. (author)
In this work, amorphous hydrocarbon (a-C:H) film deposition on metallic mirrors was studied during working shots in tokamak T-10 and at exposure in Ar/CHD3/D2 dc magnetron discharge in a special laboratory high vacuum setup. Analysis of film composition (including hydrogen content) was carried out using nuclear physical methods. Thickness and optical parameters (refractive and extinction coefficients) of the films were estimated by ellipsometry. Laboratory films can be characterized as soft a-C:H films in comparison with hard tokamak films (? = 1.2 and 1.8 g/cm3, respectively). For the first one, a linear dependence of deposition rate on mirror temperature was observed in a wide temperature range. The addition of methane into initial Ar/D2 magnetron gas mixture leads to an increase of deposition rate. The data obtained should be taken into account to prevent hydrocarbon film formation on the surface of first mirrors in ...
Geographic information system (GIS) technology is now being used by wind energy developers who are required to consider and accommodate a wide variety of environmental and social considerations. This poster presentation discussed some of the new features available in current GIS technologies. High resolution imagery from satellites is being used to verify the accuracy of collected spatial data, as well as to investigate potential locations for meteorological towers, turbine sites, and roads. Slopes are easily calculated using GIS software tools, and digital elevation data can be used with high resolution aerial photography to determine routes for new roads and to establish available sites for crane pads. The GIS tools allow developers to consider protected ecological areas, wetlands and forests, and gives them the ability to better report project development considerations at public consultations. Wind resource grid outputs ...
In the conventional visualization system for the computational results, only Japanese (Nihongo) Line Printer (NLP) was available to print two dimensional cross sectional plots of vector and scalar fields. To evaluate the phenomena, an analyst had to print many plots on the NLP. This task makes difficult to check the computational results immediately after the calculation. Recently, as the visualization tools, we introduced Micro AVS and Field View which are utilized widely in the scientific and the industrial fields. In order to show the numerical results on the visualization software, we constructed a post processing system which convert the results of the numerical code to 'intermediate files' which can be read by the visualization tools. As using this system, the examination of the numerical results can be executed on the display of the personal computer. Furthermore, the persuasive report and paper with high quality can ...
This study deals with a research field started at the LFI (Laboratorio de Fabricacion Integrada) of the ULPGC (Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria). Its aim is to analyse and propose improvements in the electroformed nickel cores manufacture. The main application of these cores is to be used as plastic injection molds. It has been considered an important part of this study taking under consideration internal stresses that appear in the nickel electroformed core. These stresses play a determinant role towards reaching a dimensional and resistant quality standard of the shells, which will be later transformed into cores. The investigation includes not only a theoretic study but also an experimental one. the testing method has the remarkable advantage of a wide industrial application because of its simplicity, low cost and reproducibility of the electrolytic bath actual conditions. (Author) 7 refs.
This paper provides a snapshot of the computer network security industry and addresses specific issues related to network security in public education. The following topics are covered: (1) security policy, including reasons for establishing a policy, risk assessment, areas to consider, audit tools; (2) workstations, including physical security, protecting workstation components, and computer viruses; (3) the local network, including the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) reference model, protocols, network segmentation, network management, network sniffing, and data encryption; (4) servers, including UNIX and other server operating systems; (5) remote access, including technologies, remote access servers, protocols, and authentication/authorization; (6) crackers and hackers, including threats and hacking tools/techniques; (7) Internet firewalls, including functions, issues and problems, types, rules, logs, firewall accessories, buying a ...
There have been many questions about the costs of providing medical services. These questions have resulted in the development of Resource-Based Relative Values Scale (RBRVS) at the national level. Policymakers view RBRVS as a potential tool to pay physicians. The questions, about the cost of operations of HSE-2 at Los Alamos National Laboratory, revolve around doing routine occupation health physicals for the Laboratory. Generally, these questions are concerned about why the costs appear to be high relative to what private physician suggests the costs should be. There is also an interest in trying to find methods to reduce these costs if possible. Many of the tools developed to help in construction estimating can be applied to estimating medical costs. With the need to perform many thousands of physicals each year the saving of even a few dollars for each exam can quickly add up to a large saving. ...
Truck haulage systems are widely used in open pit mining operations. Thanks to the rapid development and use of personal computers, simulation of haulage systhems involving Computer Aided Design (CAD) facilities and animation has recently become an attractive alternative in the Swedish Mining Industrie compared to the conventional simulations. Furthermore, when planning or simulating hauling operations, it is important to be able to accurately calculate velocities, cycle times and fuel consumption for truck fleets under varying conditions. It is the objective of this paper to present the basic features and principles of two microcomputer programs, TRUCKPER and METAFORA. These programs can be used as an integrated tool for evaluating truck haulage systems in surface mines. (orig.).
Abstract Ecosystem processes function at many scales, and capturing these processes is a challenge for ecosystem models. Nevertheless, it is a necessary step for considering many management issues pertaining to shelf and coastal systems. In this paper, we explore one method of modeling large areas with a focus at a range of scales. We develop an ecosystem model that can be used for strategic management decision support by modeling the waters off southeastern Australia using a polygon telescoping approach, which incorporates fine-scale detail at the coastal zone, increasing in scale to a very coarse scale in the offshore areas. This telescoping technique is a useful tool for incorporating a wide range of habitats at different scales into a single model.
Moodle is an extended learning management system for developing learning units, including mathematically-based subjects. A wide variety of material can be developed in Moodle which contains facilities for forums, questionnaires, lessons, tasks, wikis, glossaries and chats. Therefore, the Moodle platform provides a meeting point for those working in a mathematics course. Mathematics requires special materials and activities: The material must include mathematical objects and the activities included in the virtual course must be able to do mathematical computations. WIRIS is a powerful software for educational environments. It has libraries for calculus, algebra, geometry and much more. In this article, examples showing the use of WIRIS in numerical methods and examples of using a new tool, ...
Selected applications of novel techniques in Agricultural Biotechnology, Health Food formulations and Medical Biotechnology are being reviewed with the aim of unraveling future developments and policy changes that are likely to open new markets for Biotechnology and prevent the shrinking or closing of existing ones. Amongst the selected novel techniques with applications in both Agricultural and Medical Biotechnology are: immobilized bacterial cells and enzymes, microencapsulation and liposome production, genetic manipulation of microorganisms, development of novel vaccines from plants, epigenomics of mammalian cells and organisms, and biocomputational tools for molecular modeling related to disease and Bioinformatics. Both fundamental and applied aspects of the emerging new techniques are being discussed in relation to their anticipated, marked impact on future markets and present policy changes that are needed for success in either Agricultural or Medical ...
In the post Genome era, the aim of behavior genetics has shifted from estimating the relative contributions of genes and environmental factors to (co-)variation in human complex traits, to localization of genes and identification of functional genetic variants. This special issue reflects this transition and presents fifteen papers that report on genome-wide linkage scans for complex traits in humans and on methodological tools and innovations. Six papers focus on cognition and report overlapping linkage peaks on chromosomes 6p and 14p. Papers on addictive behavior, i.e. smoking and alcohol dependence and its endophenotypes, find moderate LOD scores on chromosomes 6p, 5q, 4p and 7q, respectively. Three papers concentrate on emotionality, depression and loneliness and examine chromosomes 2q...
During the past few decades, the basic assumption of agroclimatic zoning, i.e., that agroclimatic conditions remain relatively stable, has been shattered by ongoing climate change. The first aim of this study was to develop a tool that would allow for effective analysis of various agroclimatic indicators and their dynamics under climate change conditions for a particular region. The results of this effort were summarized in the AgriClim software package, which provides users with a wide range of parameters essential for the evaluation of climate-related stress factors in agricultural crop production. The software was then tested over an area of 114,000?km2 in Central Europe. We have found that by 2020, the combination of increased air temperature and changes in the amount and distribution ...
Quantitative Real-Time PCR (qRT-PCR) is a widely used tool to study host responses against parasites. A crucial step in the gene quantification process is the normalization of the expression data against stable housekeeping genes (HKGs). However, in recent years, several reports have showed that the transcriptional levels of such HKGs can change dramatically, especially when cellular changes appear in the tissues investigated. The aim of the current study was to assess the variability of 11 putative HKGs in bovine abomasal tissue during an infection with the parasitic nematode Ostertagia ostertagi. Gene transcription levels of selected potential HKGs were measured by qRT-PCR and the expression stabilities evaluated using geNorm, NormFinder, and The Mann-Whitney-U test. The analysis showed ...
This paper presents a general high level estimation model of communication throughput for the implementation of a given communication protocol. The model, which is part of a larger model that includes component price, software driver object code size and hardware driver area, is intended to be general enough to be able to capture the characteristics of a wide range of communication protocols and yet to be sufficiently detailed as to allow the designer or design tool to efficiently explore tradeoffs between throughput, bus widths, burst/non-burst transfers and data packing strategies. Thus it provides a basis for decision making with respect to communication protocols/components and communication driver design in the initial design space exploration phase of a co-synthesis process where a large number of possibilities must be examined and where fast estimators are therefore necessary. The fill model allows for additional (money) cost, software ...
This paper discusses a database of information collected and organized during the past eight years from 2,000 producing oil wells in the United States, all of which have been treated with special applications techniques developed to improve the effectiveness of MEOR technology. The database, believed to be the first of its kind, has been generated for the purpose of statistically evaluating the effectiveness and economics of the MEOR process in a wide variety of oil reservoir environments, and is a tool that can be used to improve the predictability of treatment response. The information in the database has also been evaluated to determine which, if any, reservoir characteristics are dominant factors in determining the applicability of MEOR.
We are attempting to characterize and model the micromechanical response of highly-filled polymers. In this class of materials, the continuous plastic binder used to bond the highly-filled material dominates the observed viscoelastic response. As a result, realistic lifetime analysis of these materials will require a thorough understanding of the contribution of the plastic binder. Laboratory applications of these materials include plastic bonded explosives, propellants, a variety of specialized filled organic materials for stockpile systems, and highly filled epoxy dielectric materials for the National Ignition Facility. We have explored numerous techniques to characterize the local microstructure of plastic bonded explosives. However, insufficient funding was obtained to bring these technologies to maturity, nevertheless our present tool set is significantly better than 2 years ago. We have also made some progress in developing an appropriate ...
Nuclear physics accelerators are powered by microwaves which must travel in waveguides between room-temperature sources and the cryogenic accelerator structures. The ohmic heat load from the microwaves is affected by the temperature-dependent surface resistance and in turn affects the cryogenic thermal conduction problem. Integrated EM & thermal analysis of this difficult non-linear problem is now possible with the VORPAL finite-difference time-domain simulation tool. We highlight thermal benchmarking work with a complex HOM feed-through geometry, done in collaboration with researchers at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Laboratory, and discuss upcoming design studies with this emerging tool. This work is part of an effort to generalize the VORPAL framework to include generalized PDE capabilities, for wider multi-physics capabilities in the accelerator, vacuum electronics, plasma processing and fusion R&D ...
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's Engineering Directorate has two primary discretionary avenues for its investment in technologies: the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program and the ''Tech Base'' program. This volume summarizes progress on the projects funded for technology-base efforts in FY2004. The Engineering Technical Reports exemplify Engineering's more than 50-year history of researching and developing (LDRD), and reducing to practice (technology-base) the engineering technologies needed to support the Laboratory's missions. Engineering has been a partner in every major program and project at the Laboratory throughout its existence, and has prepared for this role with a skilled workforce and technical resources. This accomplishment is well summarized by Engineering's mission: ...
Radionuclide X-ray fluorescence analysis (RXRFA), as a non-destructive method, relatively simple and allowing measurements to be carried out in situ, is an excellent tool in research on various objects of art. A range of artefacts have been investigated by our laboratory, in part for the purposes of history of art and in part as a basis for restoration works - medieval frescoes in some Czech castles and churches, metal sculptures and objects of applied art, paints and inks of old manuscripts, paintings. Some of these are among the most valuable monuments in the Czech cultural heritage. The contribution of the results of the tests to the investigation of their 'life story' and, in some cases, to their conservation, is not negligible. Later additions and repairs can be recognised, and materials and technologies that are close to their historic counterparts can be used in restoration work.
Radionuclide X-ray fluorescence analysis (RXRFA), as a non-destructive method, relatively simple and allowing measurements to be carried out in situ, is an excellent tool in research on various objects of art. A range of artefacts have been investigated by our laboratory, in part for the purposes of history of art and in part as a basis for restoration works - medieval frescoes in some Czech castles and churches, metal sculptures and objects of applied art, paints and inks of old manuscripts, paintings. Some of these are among the most valuable monuments in the Czech cultural heritage. The contribution of the results of the tests to the investigation of their 'life story' and, in some cases, to their conservation, is not negligible. Later additions and repairs can be recognised, and materials and technologies that are close to their historic counterparts can be used in restoration work.
Real-time neutron radiography (RTNR) is now proving to be a valuable research tool in the study of hydrogenous fluid flow. One of the most significant advantages of neutron radiography is the ability to image hydrogenous substances (such as lubricants, coolants, and fuels) inside metallic materials such as aluminum and titanium engines. By using RTNR, one can then study dynamic events such as the movement of liquids inside these solids. The Phoenix Memorial Laboratory (PML) at the University of Michigan has recently developed and installed a facility dedicated to RTNR. The work at PML has shown that RTNR of dynamic events can provide information enabling the researcher to follow dynamic events that were previously impossible or impractical. This paper will show the variety of uses of RTNR presently being pursued at PML.
Real-time neutron radiography (RTNR) is now proving to be a valuable research tool in the study of hydrogenous fluid flow. One of the most significant advantages of neutron radiography is the ability to image hydrogenous substances (such as lubricants, coolants, and fuels) inside metallic materials such as aluminum and titanium engines. By using RTNR, one can then study dynamic events such as the movement of liquids inside these solids. The Phoenix Memorial Laboratory (PML) at the University of Michigan has recently developed and installed a facility dedicated to RTNR. The work at PML has shown that RTNR of dynamic events can provide information enabling the researcher to follow dynamic events that were previously impossible or impractical. This paper will show the variety of uses of RTNR presently being pursued at PML.
Although managing fisheries is complex, policymakers must make decisions daily that affect the future of aquatic resources. To make these decisions, they often combine a mental model with lessons learned from formal models such as computer models. While such computer models are frequently interpreted as predictors of the future, they are often more valuable when used as tools for learning about fisheries and options for management. This approach, looking at computer simulations as learning laboratories, is what this study is all about since its objective is to investigate by means of a microworld if policymakers in Belgian fisheries have the policy instruments at hand to align the real fisheries world with their often completely different desired fisheries worlds. This study illustrates ba...
The original objective of our EMSP research was to design, develop, and test new in situ field permeameters for use in spatial variability studies of unsaturated hydraulic properties. We initially focused on activities related to development and testing of techniques for inverting permeameter data, development of numerical tools for data inversion, error evaluation for permeameter design, and permeameter component design. However, the results of error evaluations for permeameter design caused us to redirect our research, and reformulate our research objectives. We discovered that small, simple measurement errors lead to significant bias in the estimated hydraulic properties and their spatial statistics. Our reformulated research objective became the evaluation of the origin, impact and relevance of spatial bias in field-and laboratory-estimated unsaturate hydraulic properties, with an emphasis on spatial statistics and the resulting predictions ...
Genetic mapping is approached using the techniques of high resolution fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). This technology and the results of its application are designed to rapidly generate whole genome as tool box of expressed sequence to speed the identification of human disease genes. The results of this study are intended to dovetail with and to link the results of existing technologies for creating backbone YAC and genetic maps. In the first eight months, this approach generated 60--80% of the expressed sequence map, the remainder expected to be derived through more long-term, labor-intensive, regional chromosomal gene searches or sequencing. The laboratory has made significant progress in the set-up phase, in mapping fetal and adult brain and other cDNAs, in testing a model system for directly linking genetic and physical maps using FISH with small fragments, in setting up a database, and in establishing the validity and throughput ...
In this context, the bulk ratio of CH4/N2 is examined as a potential alternative geochemical parameter for the assessment of thermal maturity of natural gas and compared to other previously published data. Open-system non-isothermal pyrolysis of low-mature coal from the Manjiaer sag, Tarim basin, yielded generation curves for methane and nitrogen. Analysis of the change of vitrinite reflectance indicates a two-stage process of thermal maturation with increasing temperatures. The relationship between Ro and pyrolysis temperature could be expressed by the following equations: Stage I: Ro = 0.0014T + 0.109, r = 0.9931(Ro Ro = 0.0067T -1.5855, r = 0.9996 (Ro > 0.6%). A kinetic interpretation of the characteristics of nitrogen and methane generation in humic coal during laboratory pyrolysis ind...
The research documented herein was funded by a research contract between the Research Reactors Division (RRD) of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering Department (MABE). The research was governed by a statement of work (SOW) which clearly defines nine specific tasks. This report is outlined to follow and document the results of each of these nine specific tasks. The primary goal of this phase of the research is to demonstrate, through verification and validation methods, that COMSOL is a viable simulation tool for thermal-hydraulic modeling of the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) core. A secondary goal of this two-dimensional phase of the research is to establish methodology and data base libraries that are also needed in the full three-dimensional COMSOL simulation to follow. COMSOL version 3.5a was used for all of the models presented throughout ...
California s major energy utilities and the California Energy Commission (CEC) are seeking to allocate capital that yields the greatest return on investment for energy infrastructure that meets any part of the need for reliable supplies of energy. The utilities are keenly interested in knowing the amount of electrical energy savings that would occur if cool roof color materials are adopted in the building market. To meet this need the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) have been collaborating on a Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) project to develop an industry-consensus energy-savings calculator. The task was coordinated with an ongoing effort supported by the DOE to develop one calculator to achieve both the DOE and the EPA objectives for deployment of cool roof products. Recent emphasis on domestic building energy use has made the work a top priority by the Department of Energy s (DOE) ...
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is interested in developing tools and methods for potential U.S. use in designing and evaluating safeguards systems. For this goal several DOE National Laboratories are defining the characteristics of typical facilities of several size scales, and the safeguards measures and instrumentation that could be applied. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is providing systems modeling and analysis of facility and safeguards operations, diversion path generation, and safeguards system effectiveness. The constituent elements of diversion scenarios are structured using directed graphs (digraphs) and fault trees. Safeguards indicator probabilities are based on sampling statistics and/or measurement accuracies. Scenarios are ranked based on value and quantity of material removed and the estimated probability of non-detection. Significant scenarios, especially those involving timeliness or randomly ...
The purpose of this project was to investigate the origin of pressure fluctuations in fluidized bed systems. The study assessed the potential for using pressure fluctuations as an indicator of fluidized bed hydrodynamics in both laboratory scale cold-models and industrial scale boilers. Both bubbling fluidized beds and circulating fluidized beds were evaluated. Testing including both cold-flow models and laboratory and industrial-scale combustors operating at elevated temperatures. The study yielded several conclusions on the relationship of pressure fluctuations and hydrodynamic behavior in fluidized beds. The study revealed the importance of collecting sufficiently long data sets to capture low frequency (on the order of 1 Hz) pressure phenomena in fluidized beds. Past research has tended toward truncated data sets collected with high frequency response transducers, which miss much of the spectral structure of fluidized bed hydrodynamics. As ...
This is the final report of a three-year, Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Nature uses chlorophyll and other porphyrinic pigments to capture and transfer light energy as a preliminary step in photosynthesis. The design of synthetic assemblies of light harvesting and energy directing pigments has been explored through synthesis and characterization of porphyrin oligomers. In this project, pigment electronic and vibrational structures have been explored by electrochemistry and dynamic and static optical measurements. Transient absorption data reveal energy transfer between pigments with lifetimes on the order of 20--200 picoseconds, while Raman data reveal that the basic porphyrin core structure is unperturbed relative to the individual monomer units. These two findings, along with an extensive series of experiments on the oxidized oligomers, reveal that coupling between the ...
This thesis presents the work achieved to instrument the ATLAS software framework, ATHENA, with a library of tools and utensils for the physics analysis as well as the extraction of the jet energy scale using physics events (in-situ calibration). The software part presents the various components of the ATHENA framework which handles the simulated and reconstructed data flow as well as the different stages of this process, before and during the data taking. The building of a library of tools easing the reconstruction of physics objects, their association with Monte-Carlo particles and their API is then explained. The need for common language and collaboration-wide utensils is emphasised as it allows to share the workload of validating these tools and to get reproducible physics results. The analysis part deals with the implementation of a light jet energy scale calibration algorithm within the C++ ...
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a highly conversed topic, particularly since implementation of screening for CRC is imminent within the U.K. Aims: The aim of this research project was to examine the diagnostic tools currently used within the UK to detect CRC and their impact on the aetiology and epidemiology of CRC. Methodology: The complexity of the research topic lent itself towards a literature review. A systematic approach of researching was therefore adopted to analyse and critically evaluate the reliability and validity of articles. Electronic databases including AMED, Cancerlit, CINHAL, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, MEDLINE and EBM-Reviews were utilised to provide a wide spectrum of recent and relevant articles. Other research strategies involved looking for books relating to the topics, which were kept to within 6 years of publication to maintain accuracy of information. Selected websites, such as NICE, the Department of Health, NHS websites ...
A non-invasive, wide-band electromagnetic (EM) impedance difference system for shallow subsurface electrical structure characterization in environmental and engineering problems has been developed at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). Electrical parameters of interest are electrical conductivity and dielectric permittivity that are deduced from the impedance difference data. The prototype system includes a magnetic loop transmitter, which operates between 0.1 MHz and 100 MHz, an electrical dipole antenna for observing the electric field, and a loop antenna for measuring the magnetic field.All antennas are mounted on a cart made of non-metallic material for easy movement of the whole array for profiling. Surface EM impedance difference is obtained by taking the difference of the ratios of the electric fields to the magnetic fields at selected frequencies at two different levels. Numerical simulations will be presented to verify ...
The multiple responses of fishes to changes in dissolved oxygen saturations have been studied widely in the laboratory. In contrast only few studies have included field observations. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the performance of a novel acoustic dissolved oxygen transmitter for field biotelemetry. The results demonstrated that the output of the transmitter was unaffected by three different temperatures (10 to 30 degrees C) and described the dissolved oxygen saturation with high accuracy (r(2) > 0.99) over the entire range of 0 to 191% saturation. The response time (>= 90% of end value) of the transmitter was 12 s both in terms of decreasing (100 to 0%) and increasing (0 to 100%) oxygen saturations. When externally attached to fishes the present findings support the use of the transmitter for reliable dissolved oxygen measurements on individuals living in environments that may change both temporally and spatially ...
The Morris water maze is widely used to evaluate to evaluate the spatial learning ability of rodents under laboratory settings. The present study demonstrates that reproductive male meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus, are able to acquire and retain a spatial water maze task using celestial cues. Voles were able to acquire a modified outdoor Morris water maze task over 4 trials per day, whereby they had to learn and remember the location of a submerged hidden platform, using the position of the sun and associated celestial cues. Their proficiency on this task was related to the availability of the celestial cues, with voles displaying significantly poorer spatial navigation on overcast than clear days and when the testing time (and position of the sun and associated celestial cues) was shifted from morning to afternoon. These findings with meadow voles support the ecological relevance of the water maze task. PMID:8031502
The laboratory environment existing outside the test situation itself can have a substantial influence on results of some behavioral tests with mice, and the extent of these influences sometimes depends on genotype. For alcohol research, the principal issue is whether genotype-related ethanol effects will themselves be altered by common variations in the lab environment or instead will be essentially the same across a wide range of lab environments. Data from 20 inbred strains were used to reduce an original battery of seven tests of alcohol intoxication to a compact battery of four tests: the balance beam and grip strength with a 1.25g/kg ethanol dose and the accelerating rotarod and open-field activation tests with 1.75g/kg. The abbreviated battery was then used to study eight inbred str...
Formulas were developed based on an aqueous solution of hydrolyzed polyacrylonitrile widely used in the oil industry. The additive used consisted of products of industrial production: synthetic resin TEG-1 with hardening agent PEPA (polyehtylene polyamine) and technical formalin. The mixtures containing about 80-85% by volume 5% hydrolyzed polyacrylonitrile, 10-15% by volume of resin TEG-1 with hardening agent PEPA and 3-5% by volume formalin satisfy the requirements made for the plugging materials. The initial mixtures are distinguished by technological efficiency of preparation and have controllable hardening periods. Physical-chemical properties are given for the gel polymers. In the set of properties, the mixtures based on hydrolyzed polyacrylonitrile, resin TEG-1 with hardening agent PEPA and formalin can be recommended as plugging materials of temporary action with complex treatment of the heterogeneous beds.
Porous flow occurs in a wide range of materials and applies to many commercially relevant applications such as oil recovery, chemical reactors and contaminant transport in soils. Typically, breakthrough and pressure curves of column floods are used in the laboratory characterization of these materials. These characterization methods lack the detail to easily and unambiguously resolve flow mechanisms with similar effects at the core scale that can dominate at the aquifer or oil field scale, as well as the effects of geometry that control the flow at interfaces as in a perforated well or the inlet of an improperly designed column. Non-invasive imaging techniques such as MRI have been shown to provide a far more detailed characterization of the properties of the solid matrix and flow, but usu...
This renewal request for DOE grant DE-FG02-86ER45238, is dedicated to providing a complete thermodynamic profile of solids fluids, and fluid mixtures, over a wide range of temperatures and pressures. We are partially motivated by technological interest in detonation, combustion, superhard high pressure materials, and high temperature superconductors, which are important components of interest of various DOE laboratories. Our work on fluids and solids, composed of simple molecules, involves the determination of structures, phase transitions, pressure-volume relations, phonon, vibron, and libron modes of excitation, sound velocities, specific heats, thermal expansion, virial coefficients, sublimation energies, and orientational translational, and magnetic correlations. We hope that the study of these systems under extreme thermodynamic conditions will lead to exotic new materials of value, as well as enhanced fundamental understanding.
We present a proposal for a combined ICARUS & NOE general purpose detector, to be installed in Hall B of the Gran Sasso Laboratory.The main scientific goal is the one of elucidating in a comprehensive way the pattern of neutrino $9 masses and mixings, following both (1) the S-KAM results and (2) the predictions on atmospheric neutrinos of the large solution of the Solar Neutrinos deficit. To achieve these goals, the experimental method is based upon the $9 complementary and simultaneous detection of CERN beam (CNGS) and cosmic ray (CR) events. This is made possible because of the complete isotropy of the detection technique. For the currently allowed values of the S-KAM results, both $9 CNGS and cosmic ray data will give independent measurements and provide a precise $(sin^{2}2\\theta; \\Delta m^{2})$ determination rather than a wide band of allowed values. Since we can observe and unambiguously identify $9 $\
Since the elucidation of the structure of double helical DNA, the construction of small molecules that recognize and react at specific DNA sites has been an area of considerable interest. In particular, the study of transition metal complexes that bind DNA with specificity has been a burgeoning field. This growth has been due in large part to the useful properties of metal complexes, which possess a wide array of photophysical properties and allow for the modular assembly of an ensemble of recognition elements. Here we review recent experiments in our laboratory aimed at the design and study of octahedral metal complexes that bind DNA non-covalently and target reactions to specific sites. Emphasis is placed both on the variety of methods employed to confer site-specificity and upon the many applications for these complexes. Particular attention is given to the family of complexes recently designed that target single base mismatches in duplex ...
Since the elucidation of the structure of double helical DNA, the construction of small molecules that recognize and react at specific DNA sites has been an area of considerable interest. In particular, the study of transition metal complexes that bind DNA with specificity has been a burgeoning field. This growth has been due in large part to the useful properties of metal complexes, which possess a wide array of photophysical attributes and allow for the modular assembly of an ensemble of recognition elements. Here we review recent experiments in our laboratory aimed at the design and study of octahedral metal complexes that bind DNA non-covalently and target reactions to specific sites. Emphasis is placed both on the variety of methods employed to confer site-specificity and upon the many applications for these complexes. Particular attention is given to the family of complexes recently designed that target single base mismatches in duplex ...
Clayey soils containing smectites are widely used for construction of liner and cover systems to reduce the hydraulic conductivity in geotechnical applications because of their low permeability and high cation exchange capacity. However, the compacted clayey soils crack on drying because of their high swelling potential, and their hydraulic conductivities increase. To solve this problem, it is essential to stabilize the clayey soils using additive materials. The aim of this study is to examine the suitability of silica fume as a stabilization material to reduce the development of desiccation cracks in compacted clayey liner and cover systems. Natural clayey soil and clayey soil?silica fume mixtures were compacted at the optimum moisture content and subjected to laboratory tests. The result...
Current Intrusion Detection System (IDS) technology is not suited to be widely deployed inside a Supervisory, Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) environment. Anomaly- and signature-based IDS technologies have developed methods to cover information technology-based networks activity and protocols effectively. However, these IDS technologies do not include the fine protocol granularity required to ensure network security inside an environment with weak protocols lacking authentication and encryption. By implementing a more specific and more intelligent packet inspection mechanism, tailored traffic flow analysis, and unique packet tampering detection, IDS technology developed specifically for SCADA environments can be deployed with confidence in detecting malicious activity.
A compact and supersensitive device that can rapidly detect minute trace vapors from concealed explosives has been developed by scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The new explosives sensor can detect and chemically identify organic nitrogen-oxygen compounds which are the building blocks of explosives such as TNT, plastiques, and nitroglycerine. The device could be used to scan persons entering airport terminals, nuclear power plants, defense installations, or other sensitive locations, providing greater security against potential terrorism. This device works on a glow discharge principle, and is more specifically called an ''Atmospheric Sampling Glow Discharge Ionization'' (ASGDI) source. The new detector is a highly automated, miniaturized version of research mass spectrometers widely used to trace constituents of chemical mixtures. Detail of this device's construction and ...
The National Food and Nutrient Analysis Program (NFNAP) was implemented in 1997 to update and improve the quality of food composition data maintained by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). NFNAP was designed to sample and analyze frequently consumed foods in the U.S. food supply using statistically rigorous sampling plans, established sample handling procedures, and qualified analytical laboratories. Methods for careful handling of food samples from acquisition to analysis were developed to ensure the integrity of the samples and subsequent generation of accurate nutrient values. The infrastructure of NFNAP, under which over 1500 foods have been sampled, mandates tested sample handling protocols for a wide variety of foods. The majority of these foods were categorized into ...
As an integral part of DOE/GTD's Brine Injection Program, LBL is developing and demonstrating methods for: (1) designing and analyzing injection tests, (2) predicting and monitoring migration of injected fluids, and (3) optimizing field-wide injection and heat extraction operations in geothermal reservoirs. Computational and well test techniques are being developed (a) to detect and predict the movement of fluids of contrasting temperatures, phase compositions and chemistries in the injected formation, and (b) to characterize the associated physical and chemical processes occurring in the reservoir. LBL's theoretical and field-related brine injection activities in FY 1986 are described, and progress made during FY 1987 is discussed.
This report contains the proceedings of the NKS-B Summary Seminar held on 24-25 October 2005 in Tartu, Estonia. The aim of the seminar was to provide a forum for presenting and discussing the results obtained in the NKS-B programme during the project period 2002 - 2005. The main attention was focused on radioecology and measurement techniques including presentations on the work done in the Projects INDOFERN (New Indicator Organisms for Environmental Radioactivity), LABINCO (Intercomparison of Laboratory Analyses of Radionuclides in Environmental Samples) and ECODOSES (Improving Radiological Assessments of Doses to Humans from Terrestrial Ecosystems). The total number of presentations in the seminar was 27. The seminar was also the final seminar of the four-year INDOFERN Project. The objective of the project was to identify new indicator organisms and biomarkers for assessment of environmental radioactivity in normal and emergency situations. The goal was to search ...
The next generation of synchrotrons and free electron laser facilities requires x-ray optical systems with extremely high performance, generally of diffraction limited quality. Fabrication and use of such optics requires adequate, highly accurate metrology and dedicated instrumentation. Previously, we suggested ways to improve the performance of the Long Trace Profiler (LTP), a slope measuring instrument widely used to characterize x-ray optics at long spatial wavelengths. The main way is use of a CCD detector and corresponding technique for calibration of photo-response non-uniformity [J. L. Kirschman, et al., Proceedings of SPIE 6704, 67040J (2007)]. The present work focuses on the performance and characteristics of the upgraded LTP-II at the ALS Optical Metrology Laboratory. This includes a review of the overall aspects of the design, control system, the movement and measurement regimes for the stage, and analysis of the performance by a ...
A one-year technology-transfer project involving ERDA installations and Hawaii consisted of sending teams from the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory on week-long field trips every two months to test the effectiveness of different methods of transferring technology information from federal sources to civilian clients. The team was questioned primarily on non-energy matters, and the energy questions asked related mostly to individuals or small industries. The team responed to all questions and found that a wide range of knowledge was more effective than having a sequence of experts. Hawaiians considered current major ERDA projects to be irrelevant to their needs. The team was most successful on a one-to-one basis because large groups and state agencies tend to be more policy- than action-oriented. Personal followup was considered essential. The team also learned that their visits generated ten times as many inquiries as were received unsolicited by ...
The ability to test advanced fuels and cladding materials under reactor operating conditions in the United States is limited. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) and the newly expanded post-irradiation examination (PIE) capability at the ORNL Irradiated Fuels Examination Laboratory provide unique support for this type of advanced fuel/cladding development effort. The wide breadth of ORNL's fuels and materials research divisions provides all the necessary fuel development capabilities in one location. At ORNL, facilities are available from test fuel fabrication, to irradiation in HFIR under either thermal or fast reactor conditions, to a complete suite of PIEs, and to final product disposal. There are very few locations in the world where this full range of capabilities exists. New testing capabilities at HFIR have been developed that allow testing of advanced nuclear fuels and ...
... Abstract : The purpose of this study was to evaluate the tooling cost estimating equation of the DAPCA III model and determine if more accurate ...
Conoco`s Crosswell Reservoir Characterization (CRC) team is using Decision and Risk Analysis (D and RA) to evaluate the potential economic impact of the authors` projects. D and RA can be a useful tool for refining the direction of a project and communicating the value of information in economic terms. Initial studies show that CRC has high potential economic value. Three steps were used to analyze the value of the CRC project. A high-level, industry-wide model was developed to look at the technical, application, and commercialization success of the technology. The team considered an infill drilling decision in shallow shelf carbonates as a detailed case. For that case, fully integrating crosswell information with supporting data (well logs, cores, production information, etc.) leads to a three-fold increase in expected value. The third step, a portfolio analysis of all crosswell applications, was initiated, but not completed. Given the ...
Conoco's Crosswell Reservoir Characterization (CRC) team is using Decision and Risk Analysis (D and RA) to evaluate the potential economic impact of the authors' projects. D and RA can be a useful tool for refining the direction of a project and communicating the value of information in economic terms. Initial studies show that CRC has high potential economic value. Three steps were used to analyze the value of the CRC project. A high-level, industry-wide model was developed to look at the technical, application, and commercialization success of the technology. The team considered an infill drilling decision in shallow shelf carbonates as a detailed case. For that case, fully integrating crosswell information with supporting data (well logs, cores, production information, etc.) leads to a three-fold increase in expected value. The third step, a portfolio analysis of all crosswell applications, was initiated, but not completed. Given the ...
Plasma Immersion Ion Implantation (PIII) is a new hybrid technology for surface treatment of materials based on the principles of plasma nitriding and ion implantation. The equipment and the operation of the system are introduced. As well as providing an alternate method of ion implantation, it is possible to combine energetic ion bombardment with plasma nitriding. Different metal materials and treatment conditions have been studied. The capability of PIII-treatment to improve the properties of a wide range of metals has been proven. Application for forming tools and their industrial test has been successful. (orig.) [Deutsch] Die Plasmaimmersionsimplantation (PIII) ist eine neue Hybridtechnologie zur Behandlung von Werkstoffoberflaechen und basiert auf den Prinzipien des Plasmanitrierens und der Ionenimplantation. Die Anlagentechnik und die Arbeitsweise werden vorgestellt. Verfahrensspezifische Vorteile entstehen durch die Moeglichkeit, sowohl ...
The {sup 252}Cf-source-driven noise analysis method is a versatile measurements tool that has been applied to measurements for initial loading of reactors, quality assurance of reactor fuel elements, fuel processing facilities, fuel reprocessing facilities, fuel storage facilities, zero-power testing of reactors, verification of calculational methods, process monitoring, characterization of storage vaults, and nuclear weapons identification. This method`s broad range of application is due to the wide variety of time- and frequency domain signatures, each with unique properties, obtained from the measurement. The following parameters are obtained from this measurement: average detector count rates, detector multiplicities, detector autocorrelations, cross-correlation between detectors, detector autopower spectral densities, cross-power spectral densities between detectors, coherences, and ratios of spectral densities. All of these measured ...
Galactic open clusters are since long recognized as one of the best tools for investigating the radial distribution of iron and other metals. We employed FLAMES at VLT to collect UVES spectra of bright giant stars in a large sample of open clusters, spanning a wide range of Galactocentric distances, ages, and metallicities. We present here the results for four clusters: Berkeley 20 and Berkeley 29, the two most distant clusters in the sample; Collinder 261, the oldest and the one with the minimum Galactocentric distance; Melotte 66. Equivalent width analysis was carried out using the spectral code MOOG and Kurucz model atmospheres to derive abundances of Fe, Al, Mg, Si, Ca, Ti, Cr, Ni, Ba; non-LTE Na abundances were derived by direct line-profile fitting. We obtain subsolar metallicities for the two anticenter clusters Be 20 ([Fe/H]=-0.30, rms=0.02) and Be 29 ([Fe/H]=-0.31, rms=0.03), and for Mel 66 ([Fe/H]=-0.33, rms=0.03), located in the ...
The Bingham plastic constitutive model has been widely used to predict the post-yield behavior of electro- and magneto- rheological fluids (ER and MR fluids). However, if these fluids experience shear thinning or shear thickening, the Bingham plastic model may not be an accurate predictor of behavior, since the post-yield plastic viscosity is assumed to be constant. In a recent study, it was theoretically and experimentally demonstrated that the Herschel-Bulkley fluid model can be successfully employed when evaluating non- Newtonian post-yield behavior of ER and MR fluids. In this paper, the Herschel-Bulkley model is employed to include a detailed analysis of ER and MR fluid dynamics through pipes and parallel plates. Simplified explicit expressions for the exact formulation are also developed. It is shown that the proposed simplified model of the Herschel-Bulkley steady flow equations for pipes and parallel plates can be used as an accurate design ...
The vascular status of femoral heads in the post-traumatic period of intracapsular femoral neck fracture (ICFNF) remains uncertain until the patient actually develops avascular necrosis (AVN). Several methods for predicting the viability of femoral head have been reported, that are not effective or widely used because of unreliability, potential complications, and technical difficulties. The present study involved the use of Dynamic MRI (DMRI) in assessing femoral head vascularity to predict AVN. The role of DMRI was studied prospectively in 30 patients with 31 ICFNF. Fractures were divided in to three types (Type A, B, or C) based on the femoral head vascularity shown by dynamic curve patterns on MRI evaluation. Type A was preserved vascularity, Type B was some decrease in vascularity but still viable while Type C was significantly reduced vascularity. These were followed-up for 6 months to 2 years to observe the final outcome in terms of union, non-union, or AVN. ...
The ability to use an acoustic stethoscope to detect lung and/or heart sounds, and then to then communicate one's interpretation of those sounds is an essential skill for many medical professionals. Interpretation of lung and heart sounds, in the context of history and other examination findings, often aids the differential diagnosis. Bedside assessment of changing auscultation findings may also guide treatment. Learning lung and heart auscultation skills typically involves listening to pre-recorded normal and adventitious sounds, often followed by laboratory instruction to guide stethoscope placement, and finally correlating the sounds with the associated pathophysiology and pathology. Recently, medical simulation has become an important tool for teaching prior to clinical practice, and for evaluating bedside auscultation skills. When simulating cardiovascular or pulmonary problems, high-quality lung and heart sounds should be able to ...
Structural and functional responses of a benthic macroinvertebrate assemblage to pulses of the insecticide imidacloprid were assessed in outdoor stream mesocosms. Imidacloprid pulses reduced invertebrate abundance and community diversity in imidacloprid-dosed streams compared to control streams. These results correlated well with effects of imidacloprid on leaf litter decomposition and feeding rates of Pteronarcys comstocki, a stonefly, in artificial streams. Reductions in oxygen consumption of stoneflies exposed to imidacloprid were also observed in laboratory experiments. Our findings suggest that leaf litter degradation and single species responses can be sensitive ecotoxicological endpoints that can be used as early warning indicators and biomonitoring tools for pesticide contamination. The data generated illustrates the value of mesocosm experiments in environmental assessment and how the consideration of functional and structural ...
This paper gives an overview of a multiyear joint research program being conducted at the University of New Mexico (UNM) with support from Sandia National Laboratories and GA Technologies. This research focuses on heat removal and fluid dynamics in flow regimes characterized by low pressure and low Reynolds number. The program was motivated by a desire to characterize and analyze cooling in a broad class of TRIGA-type reactors under: (a) typical operating conditions, (b) anticipated, new operating regimes, and (c) postulated accident conditions. It has also provided experimental verification of analytical tools used in design analysis. The paper includes descriptions of the UNM thermal-hydraulics test facility and the experimental test sections. During the first two years experiments were conducted using single, electrically heated rod in water and air annuli. This configuration provides an observable and serviceable simulation of a fuel rod ...
Genetic mapping is approached using the techniques of high resolution fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). This technology and the results of its application are designed to rapidly generate whole genome as tool box of expressed sequence to speed the identification of human disease genes. The results of this study are intended to dovetail with and to link the results of existing technologies for creating backbone YAC and genetic maps. In the first eight months, this approach generated 60--80% of the expressed sequence map, the remainder expected to be derived through more long-term, labor-intensive, regional chromosomal gene searches or sequencing. The laboratory has made significant progress in the set-up phase, in mapping fetal and adult brain and other cDNAs, in testing a model system for directly linking genetic and physical maps using FISH with small fragments, in setting up a database, and in establishing the validity and throughput ...
Free-electron lasers as scientific instruments are reviewed. The present status and future prospects are delineated with attention drawn to the size, complexity, availability, and performance capability of this new tool. The Free-Electron Laser (FEL) was proposed by John Madey in 1970 (1), although earlier work, relevant to the concept, had been performed by Motz (2) and by Phillips (3). Experimental demonstration was achieved by Madey, et. al. in 1975 and 1976 (4). Since that time, FELs of diverse configurations have been operated at several laboratories around the world. At present, FEL development is focused in two directions: in constructing reliable FELs for scientific research and in extending FEL capability to vacuum ultra-violet (VUV) and even shorter wavelengths. In this article we shall only very briefly review the principles of an FEL, putting emphasis on those aspects that limit performance, after which we shall discuss the ...
The use of previously measured mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel systems as benchmarks can be valuable tool in computational analysis and quality assurance efforts. The Fissile Materials Disposition Program (FMDP) has identified these experiments as potential benchmarks, or standards, for VVER's employing MOX fuel. Standards for the analysis of these benchmark experiments were based on those used in the recent compilation International Handbook of Evaluated Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments begun in 1992 by the U.S. Department of Energy. The Los Alamos National Laboratory's archives were explored for log-book records of these experiments without success. These experiments were the first to use MOX fuel in light water. Three approach-to-critical experiments were performed using fuel rods at various pitches and different plutonium-oxide concentrations. A parallel program verified the prediction of critical condition as similar materials and ...
The photoelectric absorption index, I/sub Pe/, is accepted as an accurate measurement for the description of formation lithology. The measured I/sub Pe/ has been shown to deviate slightly for a given lithology because of the effects of porosity. Properly calibrated and measured I/sub Pe/'s, however, have been observed to deviate from predicted values in practice, even considering the influence of porosity. Such departures were traced to variations in borehole size and tool standoff. The nature of the physical method of recording an I/sub Pe/ does not ensure independence from the influence of the borehole environment. A series of laboratory experiments has been conducted in test formations to verify and to characterize the influence of borehole size, mudcake, and standoff on I/sub Pe/ measurement. A set of nomographs has been constructed that allows correction of I/sub Pe/ measurements for the influence of the borehole environment. With ...
The high-temperature scanning borehole inspection system is currently being developed jointly by the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and Westfalische Berggewerkschaftskasse (WBK) of West Germany. The downhole instrument is a digital televiewer that utilized a microprocessor to digitize, process and transmit the acoustic information to the surface acquisition and control system. The primary operation of the downhole acoustic assembly uses a piezoelectric crystal acting as a receiver-transmitter which is mounted on the rotating head. The crystal emits a burst of acoustic energy that propagates through the borehole fluid with a portion of the energy reflected by the borehole wall back to the crystal. The time of travel and the amplitude of the reflected signal are conditioned by the microprocessor and transmitted along with other pertinent data to the surface data processing center. This instrument has been designed specifically for use in geothermal borehole ...
The Reliability and Availability Data System (RADS) is a database and analysis code, developed by the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC). The code is designed to estimate industry and plant-specific reliability and availability parameters for selected components in risk-important systems and initiating events for use in risk-informed applications. The RADS tool contains data and information based on actual operating experience from U.S. commercial nuclear power plants. The data contained in RADS is kept up-to-date by loading the most current quarter's Equipment Performance and Information Exchange (EPIX) data and by yearly lods of initiating event data from licensee event reports (LERS). The reliability parameters estimated by RADS are (1) probability of failure on demand, (2) failure rate during operation (used to calculate failure to run probability) and ...
This report describes the work performed during FY 1995 by Pacific Northwest Laboratory in developing and optimizing analysis techniques for identifying organics present in Hanford waste tanks. The main focus was to provide a means for rapidly obtaining the most useful information concerning the organics present in tank waste, with minimal sample handling and with minimal waste generation. One major focus has been to optimize analytical methods for organic speciation. Select methods, such as atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry, were developed to increase the speciation capabilities, while minimizing sample handling. A capillary electrophoresis method was developed to improve separation capabilities while minimizing additional waste generation. In addition, considerable emphasis has been placed on developing a rapid screening tool, based on Raman and ...
One of the limiting contributors to the heat load constraint for the Yucca Mountain repository is the decay of Americium 241. A possible option to reduce the heat load produced by Am-241 is to eliminate or transmute it in a light water reactor thermal neutron environment, particularly, by taking advantage of the thermal fission cross section of Am-242 and Am-242m. In this study we employ lattice loading optimization techniques to define the americium/uranium blending and pin arrangements via an adaptation of the code FORMOSA-L to include the incineration of preloaded americium as an objective function. The optimization routines were designed to maximize americium transmutation, while maintaining power peaking below a predefined constraint. The viability of these lattice designs has been analyzed by creating bundles with these Am-spiked lattices and by loading these bundles into realistic 3D BWR core-wide simulation models over multiple reload cycles, a task that ...
Twenty-eight measurement while drilling tools are listed in this year's MWD Comparison Tables. Updated data on tools listed last year and data on five new tools provide a convenient guide for choosing MWD systems. Future MWD technologies include sonic tools and tools that make measurements ahead of the bit. For the seventh year, Petroleum Engineer International presents the Measurement While Drilling (MWD) Tables comparing a variety of available tools from many different vendors. The 1994 Tables include two additional companies and five new MWD tools not found in last year's Tables. However, the tables should serve only as a reference source. System specifications can change rapidly as tools are refined and new technologies develop. Operators and contractors should consult designated MWD marketing ...
Design tools that are currently available for use with microcomputers to assist in designing energy-efficient daylighted buildings are presented. The information presented was gathered as a part of a telephone survey to design tool developer conducted over a six month period. The matrix is but one of five categories of tools. The other four were nomographs, protractors/tables, minis, and main frame computer programs. Information is provided to encourage interested design professionals, educators and students to communicate directly with design tool representatives.
On June 2, 1992, Landers` earthquake struck the Solar Electric Generating System II, located in Daggett, California. The 30 megawatt power station, operated by the Daggett Leasing Corporation (DLC), suffered substantial damage due to structural failures in the solar farm. These failures consisted of the separation of sliding joints supporting a distribution of parabolic glass mirrors. At separation, the mirrors fell to the ground and broke. It was the desire of the DLC and the Solar Thermal Design Assistance Center (STDAC) of Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and to redesign these joints so that, in the event of future quakes, costly breakage will be avoided. To accomplish this task, drawings of collector components were developed by the STDAC, from which a detailed finite element computer model of a solar collector was produced. This nonlinear dynamic model, which consisted of over 8,560 degrees of freedom, underwent model reduction to form a low order nonlinear ...
The MS Expert system provides problem diagnostics for instruments used in the Mass Spectrometry Laboratory (MSL). The most critical results generated on these mass spectrometers are the uranium concentration and isotopic content data used for process control and materials accountability at the Idaho General Processing Plant. The two purposes of the system are: (1) to minimize instrument downtime and thereby provide the best possible support to the Plant, and (2) to improve long-term data quality. This system combines the knowledge of several experts on mass spectrometry to provide a diagnostic tool, and can make these skills available on a more timely basis. It integrates code written in the Pascal language with a knowledge base entered into a commercial expert system shell. The user performs some preliminary status checks, and then selects from among several broad diagnostic categories. These initial steps provide input to the rule base. The ...
The protein databank (PDB) contains high quality structural data for computational structural biology investigations. We have earlier described a fast tool (the decomp_pdb tool) for identifying and...Full Text Available
Corrosion probes are being developed and combined with an existing measurement technology to provide a tool for assessing the extent of corrosion of metallic materials on the fireside in coal-fired boilers. The successful development of this technology will provide power plant operators the ability to (1) accurately monitor metal loss in critical regions of the boiler, such as waterwalls, superheaters, and reheaters; and (2) use corrosion rates as process variables. In the former, corrosion data could be used to schedule maintenance periods and in the later, processes can be altered to decrease corrosion rates. The research approach involves laboratory research in simulated environments that will lead to field tests of corrosion probes in coal-fired boilers. Laboratory research has already shown that electrochemically-measured corrosion rates for ash-covered metals are similar to actual mass loss corrosion rates. ...
Radionuclide X-ray fluorescence analysis is a method, which has many advantages for analysing various historic artefacts, as it is relatively cheap, sensitive and non-destructive, and it allows measurements in-situ. However, this analysis has also certain limitations especially concerning sensitivity to chemical elements only, irrespective of the compounds or chemical forms in which these elements have been bonded. In addition, light elements emitting very soft X-rays cannot be measured, and in order to detect a wide range of elements, it is necessary to carry out repeated measurements with different radiation sources. Despite these limitations, valuable information can be obtained about the composition of historic materials and data about the origin and age of these artefacts can be derived. Analyses of wall paintings, ancient metal sculptures or other objects of art provide the basis for historic considerations documented in our results for some objects belonging ...
Radionuclide X-ray fluorescence analysis is a method, which has many advantages for analysing various historic artefacts, as it is relatively cheap, sensitive and non-destructive, and it allows measurements in-situ. However, this analysis has also certain limitations especially concerning sensitivity to chemical elements only, irrespective of the compounds or chemical forms in which these elements have been bonded. In addition, light elements emitting very soft X-rays cannot be measured, and in order to detect a wide range of elements, it is necessary to carry out repeated measurements with different radiation sources. Despite these limitations, valuable information can be obtained about the composition of historic materials and data about the origin and age of these artefacts can be derived. Analyses of wall paintings, ancient metal sculptures or other objects of art provide the basis for historic considerations documented in our results for some objects belonging ...
This report documents the concluding efforts at the Engineering Sciences Laboratory of TRW on two specific areas of current research activity within the more general context of proposed lean-burn operation of Otto-cycle-type automotive engines. These areas are: (1) achievement of knock-free performance, both under available fuels and current compression ratios and also under higher-octane fuels (e.g., alcohols) and higher-compression-ratio design (for greater thermal efficiency); and (2) identification of counterstrategies for two-wall (crevice-type) quenching of flame propagation, a phenomenon now widely acknowledged to be the major source of unburned-hydrocarbon emissions exhausted from homogeneous-charge cyclinders. There are certainly other highly active areas of research in Otto-cycle engines, such as turbocharging, ignition devices, and valve design, but the two above-cited topics were the topics of this project.
One approach to validate nuclear power plant (NPP) signals makes use of pattern recognition techniques. This approach often assumes that there is a set of signal prototypes that are continuously compared with the actual sensor signals. These signal prototypes are often computed based on empirical models with little or no knowledge about physical processes. A common problem of all data-based models is their limited ability to make predictions on the basis of available training data. Another problem is related to suboptimal training algorithms. Both of these potential shortcomings with conventional approaches to signal validation and sensor operability validation are successfully resolved by adopting a recently proposed learning paradigm called the support vector machine (SVM). The work presented here is a novel application of SVM for data-based modeling of system state variables in an NPP, integrated with a nonlinear, nonparametric technique called the multivariate state estimation ...
Validation of nuclear power reactor signals is often performed by comparing signal prototypes with the actual reactor signals. The signal prototypes are often computed based on empirical data. The implementation of an estimation algorithm which can make predictions on limited data is an important issue. A new machine learning algorithm called support vector machines (SVMS) recently developed by Vladimir Vapnik and his coworkers enables a high level of generalization with finite high-dimensional data. The improved generalization in comparison with standard methods like neural networks is due mainly to the following characteristics of the method. The input data space is transformed into a high-dimensional feature space using a kernel function, and the learning problem is formulated as a convex quadratic programming problem with a unique solution. In this paper the authors have applied the SVM method for data-based state estimation in nuclear power reactors. In particular, they ...
Extensive investigations have been and are being carried out on a stiff clay from an underground research laboratory located at Mol (Belgium) called Boom clay, in the context of research into deep nuclear waste disposal. Suction effects in deep Boom clay block samples were investigated through the characterisation of the water retention and of the swelling properties of the clay. The data obtained allowed an estimation of the sample initial suction that was reasonably compatible with the in-situ state of stress at a depth of 223 m. The relationship between suction and stress changes during loading and unloading sequences were also examined by running oedometer tests with suction measurements. A rather wide range of the ratio s/sigma 'v (being s the suction and sigma 'v the effective vertical stress) was obtained (0.61 - 1), different from that proposed by Bishop et al; (1974). Finally, the effect of suction release under an isotropic stress ...
This study is a task of ''Comprehensive study'' in ''nuclear energy basic technology research'', which is promoted under cooperation of four research institutes. The Electrotechnical Laboratory conducted, in 1991 in the first period of colaboration, on successful oscillation at visible region (598 nm) as the first case in Japan, construction of small type accumulation ring NIJI-IV for FEL, successful oscillation of visible range from 595 to 488 nm by installing optical krystron with maximum frequency in the world, and successful emittance lowering of accumulation beam by wide improvement of the ring. In the optical resonator, studies on minute loss measuring technique and on recovery from mirror deterioration were promoted. In the second period started from fiscal year of 1994, studies on FEL oscillation technique in short wavelength and upgrading of FEL corresponding to a frontier area were started, to succeed an oscillation experiment at 350 ...
Emulsions now find a wide range of applications in industry and daily life. In the pharmaceutical industry lipophilic active ingredients as well as many nutritional products such as vitamins are often formulated in the dispersed phase of oil-in-water emulsions. Emulsions can be produced with different mechanical emulsification techniques. In the following review, the process of rotor-stator systems and disc systems are compared to other popular mechanical emulsification systems. On the basis of experimental results from the authors' laboratory, a discontinuous gear-rim dispersing system, discontinuous disc system, and a continuous high pressure system are compared with regard to their attainable mean droplet diameter and drop size distribution in an oil-in-water emulsion. It can be shown that dissolver discs with a very simple geometry attain very small mean droplet diameters and a very narrow droplet size distribution, comparable to ...
The bullet evidence in the JFK assassination investigation was reexamined from metallurgical and statistical standpoints. The questioned specimens are comprised of soft lead, possibly from full-metal-jacketed Mannlicher-Carcano, 6.5-mm ammunition. During lead refining, contaminant elements are removed to specified levels for a desired alloy or composition. Microsegregation of trace and minor elements during lead casting and processing can account for the experimental variabilities measured in various evidentiary and comparison samples by laboratory analysts. Thus, elevated concentrations of antimony and copper at crystallographic grain boundaries, the widely varying sizes of grains in Mannlicher-Carcano bullet lead, and the 5-60 mg bullet samples analyzed for assassination intelligence effectively resulted in operational sampling error for the analyses. This deficiency was not considered in the original data interpretation and resulted in an ...
Because hydrogenation of coal to liquid products (oils) is accompanied by distributions of complex by-product mixtures (IOM, preasphaltenes, asphaltenes and gases) which change as a function of reaction variables (time, temperature and pressure) and reactor configuration, the determination of selectivity relationships for coal liquefaction catalysts has been a difficult and time-consuming task involving numerous experiments to adequately describe catalyst performance over a range of conditions. This paper describes a method for analyzing the experimental results of coal liquefaction reactions which may be applied to a number of aspects of coal liquefaction research and process control, including: rapid selectivity and performance screening for catalysts; correlation of laboratory results with process parameters; and optimization of product yield for plant process conditions. Catalyst selectivity and performance screening will be emphasized here. The approach to ...
The authors will be conducting an integrated seismic experiment to image the structure of the crust and upper mantle of northern California immediately before and after passage of the Mendocino Triple Junction. The purpose of this representation is to describe the project to other scientists interested in geological and geophysical processes in this region and to solicit input relevant to detailed siting of the funded seismic profiles. The experiment encompasses two field seasons: onshore seismic refraction/wide angle reflection data acquisition along three long profiles scheduled for late summer, 1993; and MCS deep crustal seismic reflection data acquisition accompanied by simultaneous large aperture recording using both ocean bottom and onshore seismographs, tentatively scheduled for summer, 1994. This study represents a component of a long-term, multi-disciplinary effort on the part of many investigators to exploit this well defined system as an in-situ ...
Double streamtube codes model the curved blade (Darrieus-type) vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) as a double actuator-disk arrangement (one disk for the upwind half of the rotor and a second disk for the downwind half) and use conservation of momentum principles to determine the forces acting on the turbine blades and the turbine performance. These models differentiate between the upwind and downwind sections of the rotor and are capable of determining blade loading more accurately than the widely-used single-actuator-disk streamtube models. Additional accuracy may be obtained by representing the turbine as a collection of several streamtubes, each of which is modeled as a double actuator disk. This is referred to as the double-multiple-streamtube model. Sandia National Laboratories has developed a double-multiple streamtube model for the VAWT which incorporates the effects of the incident wind boundary layer, nonuniform velocity between the ...
Several U.S. Department of Energy organizations and the U.S. Bureau of Mines have been collaboratively conducting mixed waste treatment process demonstration testing on the near full-scale graphite electrode submerged arc melter system at the Bureau`s Albany (Oregon) Research Center. An initial test series successfully demonstrated arc melter capability for treating surrogate incinerator ash of buried mixed wastes with soil. The conceptual treatment process for that test series assumed that buried waste would be retrieved and incinerated, and that the incinerator ash would be vitrified in an arc melter. This report presents results from a recently completed second series of tests, undertaken to determine the ability of the arc melter system to stably process a wide range of {open_quotes}as-received{close_quotes} heterogeneous solid mixed wastes containing high levels of organics, representative of the wastes buried and stored at the Idaho National Engineering ...
Very soon a new generation of reactor and accelerator neutrino oscillation experiments - Double Chooz, Daya Bay, Reno and T2K - will seek for oscillation signals generated by the mixing parameter theta_13. The knowledge of this angle is a fundamental milestone to optimize further experiments aimed at detecting CP violation in the neutrino sector. Leptonic CP violation is a key phenomenon that has profound implications in particle physics and cosmology but it is clearly out of reach for the aforementioned experiments. Since late 90's, a world-wide activity is in progress to design facilities that can access CP violation in neutrino oscillation and perform high precision measurements of the lepton counterpart of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix. In this paper the status of these studies will be summarized, focusing on the options that are best suited to exploit existing European facilities (firstly CERN and the INFN Gran Sasso Laboratories) ...
Tritium, a beta emitting gas at room temperature causes a biological hazard in the locations where it is present beyond acceptable limits. The hazard can be due to inhalation, and absorption by skin. Hence is the necessity of Tritium monitoring instruments/systems for ensuring safety in the PHWRs and the nuclear research plants and laboratories. It is desirable that the instruments address satisfactorily to certain factors like the following: (i) Wide range of Tritium concentrations - 1 to 104 DAC ( Derived Air Concentration) (ii) On-line monitoring features (iii) Small response time (On-spot instantaneous measurements) (iv) Portability (v) Mitigation of memory effects. This paper presents an overview of the Online Tritium in Air Monitoring Systems manufactured by ECIL for Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors at Tarapur, Kaiga, and Rawatbhata. Significant aspects of design, function, testing, limitations of the detectors and electronics and the ...
RELAP5 (Reactor Excursion and Leak Analysis Program) is a system code developed at the Idaho National Environmental and Engineering Laboratory for thermal hydraulic analysis of nuclear reactors. The code RELAP5 is widely used for safety analysis studies of commercial nuclear power plants. However, recent released version of RELAP5/3.2 and over present significant capabilities for analysis of nuclear reactor research systems. As a contribution to the assessment of RELAP5/3.3 for research reactor safety analysis, experimental data from the University of Massachusetts Lowell Research Reactor UMLRR are used. The UMLRR is a 1 MW, light water moderated and cooled, graphite-reflected, open-pool type research reactor. This paper presents the development and the validation of a UMLRR-RELAP model using experimental data. For this purpose, a series of experiments were performed for benchmarking RELAP5 calculations for research reactor systems. As a result ...
Nuclear Engineering Laboratory of the Technical Research Centre of Finland has widely used RELAP5/MOD2 and -MOD3 codes to simulate horizontal steam generators. Several models have been developed and successfully used in the VVER-safety analysis. Nevertheless, the models developed have included only rather few nodes in the steam generator secondary side. The secondary side has normally been divided into about 10 to 15 nodes. Since the secondary side at the steam generators of VVER-440 type reactors consists of a rather large water pool, these models were only roughly capable to predict secondary side flows. The paper describes an attempt to use RELAP5/MOD3 code to predict secondary side flows in a steam generator of a VVER-440 reactor. A 2D/3D model has been developed using RELAP5/MOD3 codes cross-flow junctions. The model includes 90 volumes on the steam generator secondary side. The model has been used to calculate steady state flow conditions ...
Nuclear Engineering Laboratory of the Technical Research Centre of Finland has widely used RELAP5/MOD2 and -MOD3 codes to simulate horizontal steam generators. Several models have been developed and successfully used in the VVER-safety analysis. Nevertheless, the models developed have included only rather few nodes in the steam generator secondary side. The secondary side has normally been divided into about 10 to 15 nodes. Since the secondary side at the steam generators of VVER-440 type reactors consists of a rather large water pool, these models were only roughly capable to predict secondary side flows. The paper describes an attempt to use RELAP5/MOD3 code to predict secondary side flows in a steam generator of a VVER-440 reactor. A 2D/3D model has been developed using RELAP5/MOD3 codes cross-flow junctions. The model includes 90 volumes on the steam generator secondary side. The model has been used to calculate steady state flow conditions ...
The Process Waste Treatment Plant (PWTP) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory is designed to remove radioactive contaminants, principally {sup 90}Sr, from process wastewater. Planned upgrades to the PWTP will use chabazite zeolite columns. Pilot-scale studies have shown that mass transfer zone lengths increase from 10 to about 30 cm as the superficial velocity increases from 5.5 to 22 cm/min. Calculations with a multicomponent equilibrium model showed that the distribution coefficient for strontium remains essentially constant over the process conditions, suggesting that a simple kinetic model (the Rosen long-bed solution) should adequately represent breakthrough behavior. Using a distribution coefficient of 4.87 L/g predicted by the equilibrium model, good agreement was found between experimental breakthrough curves and those calculated with the Rosen solution. This model allows prediction of bed depths and cycle times necessary to achieve the required ...
A series of meteorological and tracer experiments, was conducted during May and June 1984 over the 20-km wide /O/resund strait between Denmark and Sweden for the purpose of studying atmospheric dispersion processes over cold water and warm land surfaces and providing the data needed to evaluate meso-scale models in a coastal environment. In concert with these objectives the data from these experiments have been used as part of a continuing effort to evaluate the capability of the three-dimensional MATHEW/ADPIC (M/A) atmospheric dispersion models to simulate pollutant transport and diffusion characteristics of the atmospheric during a wide variety of meteorological conditions. Since previous studies have focused primarily on M/A model evaluations over rolling and complex terrain at inland sites, the /O/resund experiments provide a unique opportunity to evaluate the models in a coastal environment. The M/A models are used by the Atmospheric ...
A Vacuum Circuit Breaker demonstrated its ability to interrupt short circuits with faster than normal rates of rise of Transient Recovery Voltage (TRV) at levels greater than those produced by most transformer secondary faults. Two recent exploratory test programs evaluated the interrupting ability of a 15kV Vacuum Circuit Breaker containing interrupters of the rotating arc type with contacts made from a Chromium-Copper powder metal mixture. The interrupting conditions covered a wide range of currents from 10% to 130% of the 28kA rated short circuit current of the tested circuit breaker and a wide range of TRV rates of rise, including the relatively slow rate of rise, normally used in testing and found in most indoor circuit breaker applications; two faster rates of rise equaling and exceeding those found in a known power plant transformer secondary protection application; and the fastest rates of rise possible in the ...
The geological structure of Mesita del Buey at Technical Area 54 (TA-54) was examined using precise surveying of the contact between units 1v and 2 of the Tshirege Member of the Bandelier Tuff at 3.5 km along the north wall of Pajarito Canyon and 0.6 km along the north wall of a tributary to Canada del Buey. Estimated structure contours on this contact indicate typical strikes of N40E to N70E along this part of Mesita del Buey, although the apparent strike of the tuff is E-W at the western part of the survey. Typical dips are 1.0{degree} to 2.0{degree} to the east or southeast, with an estimated maximum dip of 3.2{degree} near the west end of Material Disposal Area G. Thirty seven faults with vertical displacements of 5 to 65 cm were observed in outcrop along the Pajarito Canyon traverse, and, due to the incomplete exposure of the unit 1v-unit 2 contact, many more faults of this magnitude undoubtedly exist. The faults have a wide range in strike and have either ...
Thermoplastic encapsulation has been extensively studied at Brookhaven National Laboratory`s (BNL) Environmental and Waste Technology Center (EWTC) as a waste encapsulation technology applicable to a wide range of waste types including radioactive, hazardous and mixed wastes. Encapsulation involves processing thermoplastic and waste materials into a waste form product by heating and mixing both materials into a homogeneous molten mixture. Cooling of the melt results in a solid monolithic waste form in which contaminants have been completely surrounded by a polymer matrix. Heating and mixing requirements for successful waste encapsulation can be met using proven technologies available in various types of commercial equipment. Processing techniques for thermoplastic materials, such as low density polyethylene (LDPE), are well established within the plastics industry. The majority of commercial polymer processing is accomplished using extruders, ...
Description of courses, curriculum and degree program. "Ceramic and materials engineers design, develop, and participate in the manufacture of both standard and new materials intended for use in a wide variety of industries with diverse applications. These range from the semi-conductor to the aerospace and finally to the traditional ceramics industry. The broad scope of industrial responsibilities handled by ceramic and materials engineers requires knowledge in mathematics, science, engineering, and the social sciences, skills in problem solving, engineering analysis, design, and written and oral communication. The baccalaureate program integrates laboratory with classroom experiences to prepare students for life-long learning. Courses covering thermodynamics, kinetics, mechanical behavior, processing and characterization of materials prepare students for careers in industry and/or for graduate school. Clemson University baccalaureate graduates ...
This award provided for an automated computer-controlled goniometer/diffractometer/manipulator with hot and cold stages and data acquisition system that was interfaced with the high resolution Scienta ESCA-300 X-ray photoelectron spectrometer at Lehigh University. The automation allows angular dependent X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) data to be accurately and rapidly collected without the very time-consuming and labor-intensive manual method that was previously required. It also provides for automated multi-sample analyses, collecting both wide survey scans and selected binding energy range analyses, with complete computer control and data storage. This allows 24 hour data collection without requiring the continuous presence of operators. The overall result is a greater productivity for the XPS laboratory, approximately doubling the output of the laboratory. While the ...
The advent of sophisticated automation equipment and computer hardware and software is changing the way manufacturing is carried out. To compete in the global marketplace, manufacturing companies must integrate these new technologies into their factories. In addition, they must integrate the planning, control, and data management methodologies needed to make effective use of these technologies. This paper provides an overview of recent approaches to achieving this enterprise integration. It then describes, using simulation as a particular example, a new tool`s perspective of enterprise integration.
The purpose of this paper is to inform commercial building designers about an energy analysis tool which can aid them in making appropriate decisions about daylighting. The energy nomographs are an energy design tool which calculate the annual energy consumption of commercial buildings, including lighting, heating, cooling, domestic hot water, fans, pumps, and miscellaneous items. This paper specifically discusses the daylighting aspects of the tool. The calculation procedure is presented with an example to explain how this design tool can be used to make good energy decisions early in the design process.
Illicit trafficking of nuclear and other radioactive material has been an issue of concern since the first seizures in the early 1990s. By the end of 2004 Member States had confirmed 540 cases, while about another 500 remain unconfirmed. Most of the confirmed cases have a criminal dimension, even if they were not for known terrorist purposes. The attacks of September 2001 in the USA dramatically emphasized the requirement for the enhanced control and security of nuclear and other radioactive material. In response to a resolution by the IAEA General Conference in September 2002 the IAEA has adopted an integrated approach to protection against nuclear terrorism. This brings together IAEA activities concerned with the physical protection of nuclear material and nuclear installations, nuclear material accountancy, detection and response to illicit nuclear trafficking, the security and safety of radioactive sources, emergency response measures - including pre-emergency measures in Member ...
There is a well-known story about the blind man examining the elephant: the part of the elephant examined determines his perception of the whole beast. Perhaps bioinformatics--the shotgun marriage between biology and mathematics, computer science, and engineering--is like an elephant that occupies a large chair in the scientific living room. Given the demand for and shortage of researchers with the computer skills to handle large volumes of biological data, where exactly does the bioinformatics elephant sit? There are probably many biologists who feel that a major product of this bioinformatics elephant is large piles of waste material. If you have tried to plow through Web sites and software packages in search of a specific tool for analyzing and collating large amounts of research data, you may well feel the same way. But there has been progress with major initiatives to develop more computing power, educate biologists about computers, increase funding, and set ...
Research at the world's accelerator- (storage-ring and linac) based light sources is one of the most dynamic and rapidly growing fields of science. It frequently results in direct benefits to society, thereby demonstrating the value of the research with very concrete examples, but this is not widely understood or appreciated outside of the immediate user community. Our growing group of light source communicators from facilities in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, inspired by the Interactions.org Web site created by high-energy (elementary-particle)physics communicators, concluded that a light source community Web site (lightsources.org) would be the best tool for establishing effective collaboration between the communications offices of the world's light sources and to maximize the impact of our efforts. We envision lightsources.org to serve as a one-stop-shopping site for information about all aspects of light sources and the ...
PVD-coatings based on TiB{sub 2} are expected to show high wear resistance and low tendency of adhesion on metal forming tools. Coating adhesion and morphology can be modified over a wide range by varying the content of nitrogen (N{sub 2}) and the deposition parameters power and bias voltage. All coatings were deposited using commercial unbalanced magnetron equipment, the deposition was homogeneous in a volume of 400 x 400 x 400 mm{sup 3}. Hipped and hot pressed TiB{sub 2}-targets were used, nitrogen (N{sub 2}) was added as gas, Ti and Al by a solid Ti-Al-target. The tribological behaviour was tested by a pin-on-disc wear test. The coatings investigated were TiB{sub 2}, TiAlB(N), TiAl(N) and TiB{sub 2}/TiAl(N). As counterpart in the pin-on-disc wear test, 6 mm diameter spheres of steel (100Cr6), aluminium, brass and bronze were used. The experiments showed a non-uniform wear behaviour. For the combinations TiAlB(N) and TiB{sub 2} versus ...
The Plant Life Assessment Network (PLAN) is a Brite Euram Type II Thematic Network, initiated by the European Commission to facilitate structured co-operation between all cost shared action projects already funded by the Commission which fall under this common technical theme. The projects involved address a multiplicity of problems associated with plant life assessment and are drawn from Brite-Euram, Standards, Measurement and Testing, Nuclear Fission Safety and Esprit EC programmes. The main aim of the Network is to initiate, maintain and monitor a fruitful co-operation process between completed, ongoing and future EC R and D projects, thereby promoting improved cross fertilization and enhanced industrial exploitation of R and D results. As the project is in its infancy, this presentation covers the background to the initiative in some detail. In particular two key aspects are highlighted, namely, the requirement of the EC to launch such a network in the area of plant life assessment ...
The economic value of environmental goods is commonly determined using the concepts of willingness to pay (WTP) or willingness to accept (WTA). However, the WTP/WTA observed in different countries (or between individuals) will differ according to socio-economic characteristics, in particular income. This notion of differentiated values for otherwise identical goods (say, a given reduction in mortality risk) has been criticized as unethical, most recently in the context of the 'social cost' chapter of the IPCC Second Assessment Report. These critics argue that, being a function of income, WTP/WTA estimates reflect the unfairness in the current income distribution, and for equity reasons uniform per-unit values should therefore be applied across individuals and countries. This paper analyses the role of equity in the aggregation of climate change damage estimates, using basic tools of welfare economics. It shows one way of how WTP/WTA estimates can be corrected in ...
This topical report is a compilation of characterizations by different disciplines of the Red River Formation in the southwest portion of the Williston Basin and the oil reservoirs which it contains in an area which straddles the state line between North Dakota and South Dakota. Goals of the report are to increase understanding of the reservoir rocks, oil-in-place, heterogeneity, and methods for improved recovery. The report is divided by discipline into five major sections: (1) geology, (2) petrography-petrophysical, (3) engineering, (4) case studies and (5) geophysical. Interwoven in these sections are results from demonstration wells which were drilled or selected for special testing to evaluate important concepts for field development and enhanced recovery. The Red River study area has been successfully explored with two-dimensional (2D) seismic. Improved reservoir characterization utilizing 3-dimensional (3D) and has been investigated for identification of structural and ...
One of the limiting contributors to the heat load constraint for a long term spent fuel repository is the decay of americium-241. A possible option to reduce the heat load produced by Am-241 is to eliminate it via transmutation in a light water reactor thermal neutron environment, in particular, by taking advantage of the large thermal fission cross section of Am-242 and Am-242m. In this study we employ lattice loading optimization techniques to define the loadings and arrangements of fuel pins with blended americium and uranium oxide in boiling water reactor bundles, specifically, by defining the incineration of pre-loaded americium as an objective function to maximize americium transmutation. Subsequently, the viability of these optimized lattices is tested by assembling them into bundles with Am-spiked fuel pins and by loading these bundles into realistic three-dimensional BWR core-wide simulations that model multiple reload cycles and observe standard ...
The purpose of the workshop was to determine the status of the field, to define instrumental and computational requirements, and to establish minimum specifications required by possible users. The most important message sent by implementers was the remainder that CMT is a tool. It solves a wide spectrum of scientific problems and is complementary to other microscopy techniques, with certain important advantages that the other methods do not have. High-resolution CMT can be used non-invasively and non-destructively to study a variety of hierarchical three-dimensional microstructures, which in turn control body function. X-ray computed microtomography can also be used at the frontiers of physics, in the study of granular systems, for example. With high-resolution CMT, for example, three-dimensional pore geometries and topologies of soils and rocks can be obtained readily and implemented directly in transport models. In turn, these geometries can ...
This support document summarized the results of botanical surveys conducted as part of a phytoremediation research project that catalogued plants found growing at a petroleum impacted site in Alberta. Phytoremediation refers to the growing of chosen plant species in a polluted site for a period of time in order for the plant to remove contaminants through its natural attributes of absorption, translocation, storage and excretion. Several different plant species with phytoremediation properties are being considered for wide scale bioremediation use. This document described the PhytoPet database which was originally developed as an inventory of plants with phytoremediation capabilities. It was designed to provide easy access to information and help users choose plants with the potential to phytoremediate petroleum hydrocarbons. The information in this document is intended for remediation specialists, site owners and managers as well as environmental scientists in ...
A non-invasive diagnostic tool that could identify malignancy in situ and in real time would have a major impact on the detection and treatment of cancer. We have developed and are testing early prototypes of an optical biopsy system (OBS) for detection of cancer and other tissue pathologies. The OBS invokes a unique approach to optical diagnosis of tissue pathologies based on the elastic scattering properties, over a wide range of wavelengths, of the microscopic structure of the tissue. The use of elastic scattering as the key to optical tissue diagnostics in the OBS is based on the fact that many tissue pathologies, including a majority of cancer forms, manifest significant architectural changes at the cellular and sub-cellular level. Since the cellular components that cause elastic scattering have dimensions typically on the order of visible to near-IR wavelengths, the elastic (Mie) scattering properties will be strongly wavelength ...
The in-situ measurement of a crystallographic texture is a special type of a non-destructive measurement, which need special equipments. Due to the high photon flux and the excellent brilliance high energetic synchrotron radiations are a fantastic tool particular in fast experimentation. Moreover, a high penetration power allows the investigation of standard tensile sample of the DIN-norm. A loading device with a power up to 20 kN was installed at the hard wiggler beamline BW5 (HASYLAB-DESY) to perform in-situ strain and in-situ texture analysis. Using 100keV X-rays one gets short wavelength so that a 2D image-plate detector offers a wide range of diffraction pattern within the first 10 degree in 2 theta. Thermal neutron is another radiation with a high penetration power, which is the standard method for global texture analysis of bulk samples. As an example rectangular extruded Mg- Az31 was investigated by an in-situ. tensile experiment. ...
The status of Monte Carlo system for the simulation of Bremsstrahlung in arbitrary decays and for the decay itself of #tau# -lepton is reviewed. During the last #tau# -lepton conference in 2010 several developments of the last two years have been presented: (i) For the TAUOLA Monte Carlo generator of #tau# -lepton decays, automated and simultaneous use of many versions of form-factors for the calculation of optional weights for fits was developed and checked to work in Belle and BaBar software environment. On-going work on alternative parameterizations of hadronic decays is presented too. (ii) The TAUOLA universal interface based on HepMC (the C++ event record) is now public. A similar interface for PHOTOS is now also public. (iii) Extension of PHOTOS Monte Carlo for QED Bremsstrahlung in decays featuring kernels based on complete first order matrix element are gradually becoming widely available thanks to properties of the new, HepMC based interface. (iv) Tests of ...
The proposed ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-1989R contains updated requirements for pipe insulation thicknesses developed on the basis of technical and economic principles. These requirements were determined based on computer simulations of the annual energy loss through the insulation, first cost assumptions for the insulation, and economic assumptions of discount rate and energy escalation rate. In later work, the same tools were used to analyze the sensitivity of the cost-effective insulation level for piping insulation to variations in operating hours, ambient temperature, fluid temperature, and economic assumptions. These analyses were carried out using cost data for pipe insulation averaged across several sources. The results of the sensitivity study showed that system operating hours is a critical parameter in determining the cost-effective pipe insulation thicknesses. Although there is a lack of reliable sources of typical operating hour data for heating systems, ...
A variety of surveillance operations require the ability to track vehicles over a long period of time using sequences of images taken from a camera mounted on an airborne or similar platform. In order to be able to see and track a vehicle for any length of time, either a persistent surveillance imager is needed that can image wide fields of view over a long time-span or a highly maneuverable smaller field-of-view imager is needed that can follow the vehicle of interest. The algorithm described here was designed for the persistence surveillance case. In turns out that most vehicle tracking algorithms described in the literature[1,2,3,4] are designed for higher frame rates (> 5 FPS) and relatively short ground sampling distances (GSD) and resolutions ({approx} few cm to a couple tens of cm). But for our datasets, we are restricted to lower resolutions and GSD's ({ge}0.5 m) and limited frame-rates ({le}2.0 Hz). As a consequence, we designed our own ...
A type of Si3N4-based nanocomposites ceramic cutting tool material was prepared by the addition of nano-scale Si3N4W whisker and nano-scale TiN particle. Cutting performance of the Si3N4/Si3N4W/TiN nanocomposite ceramic tool in machining of cast iron was investigated in comparison with a commercial sialon ceramic tool, and the tool wear mechanism was studied. The two types of cutting tools have similar cutting performance at relatively low cutting parameters, while Si3N4/Si3N4W/TiN nanocomposite tool exhibits a better wear resistance than sialon tool at the relatively high cutting parameters. The wear of sialon ceramic cutting tool is dominated by the plastic deformation, abrasive action, microcracking, pullout of grains and chemical action at the higher cutting parameters. The higher mech...
The Integrated Status and Effectiveness Monitoring Program (ISEMP - BPA project No.2003-0017) has been created as a cost effective means of developing protocols and new technologies, novel indicators, sample designs, analytical, data management and communication tools and skills, and restoration experiments that support the development of a region-wide Research, Monitoring and Evaluation (RME) program to assess the status of anadromous salmonid populations, their tributary habitat and restoration and management actions. The most straightforward approach to developing a regional-scale monitoring and evaluation program would be to increase standardization among status and trend monitoring programs. However, the diversity of species and their habitat, as well as the overwhelming uncertainty surrounding indicators, metrics, and data interpretation methods, requires the testing of multiple approaches. Thus, the approach ISEMP has adopted is to ...
The Plasma and Ion Source Technology Group at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have been developing rf-driven ion sources for the last two decades. These sources are being used to generate both positive and negative ion beams. Some of these sources are operating in particle accelerators such as the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge, while others are being employed in various industrial ion beam systems. There are four areas where the rf-driven ion sources are commonly used in industry. (1) In semiconductor manufacturing, rf-driven sources have found important applications in plasma etching, ion beam implantation, and ion beam lithography. (2) In material analysis and surface modification, miniature rf-ion sources can be found in focused ion beam systems. They can provide ion beams of essentially any element in the Periodic Table. The newly developed combined rf ion-electron beam unit improves greatly the performance of the secondary ion mass ...
The effective remediation of contaminated sites requires accurate identification of chemical distributions. A rapid sampling method using passive sampling devices (PSDs) can provide a thorough site assessment. We have been pursuing their application in terrestrial systems and have found that they increase the ease and speed of analysis, decrease solvent usage and overall cost, and minimize the transport of contaminated soils. Time and cost savings allow a higher sampling frequency than is generally the case using traditional methods. PSDs have been used in the field in soils of varying physical properties and have been successful in estimating soil concentrations ranging from 1 {mu}g/kg (parts per billion) to greater than 200 mg/kg (parts per million). They were also helpful in identifying hot spots within the sites. Passive sampling devices show extreme promise as an analytical tool to rapidly characterize contaminant distributions in soil. There are substantial ...
This paper presents an overview of research conducted with the support of the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering, at the University of Melbourne, School of Earth Sciences, Radiochemical Neutron Activation Laboratory. The primary objective of this research is to realize the high potential of the platinum group elements (PGE) and gold to the solution of petrogenetic problems, the study of magma generation and magmatic processes in mafic/ultramafic rock suites, as tracers in hydrothermal ore formation. The PGEs (Os, Ru, Ir, Pt, Pd and Rh) are among the least abundant of all elements on earth with unique properties such as high melting points, high electrical and thermal conductivity, high density, strength and toughness as alloys. They exhibit both siderophile and chalcophile characteristics and are valuable tools in providing information about magmatic processes, in particular S-saturation, as well as crystal fractionation ...
Visual Sample Plan (VSP) is an easy-to-use visual and graphic statistically-based software tool being developed by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to help determine the appropriate number and location of environmental samples so that environmental decisions can be made with the required confidence. The VSP software, which is available free at http://dqo.pnl.gov/vsp, is a significant aid in developing probability-based sampling designs (number and location of samples and measurements) using the Data Quality Objectives (DQO) planning process developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). VSP also has the capability of conducted statistical analyses to provide descriptive statistical summaries of data sets, to test whether data are normally distributed, and to compute upper confidence limits on means. This report is the latest in a series of reports that document the statistical methods used in VSP [Davidson (2001), ...
Kong-Ming Wu (Corresponding author) The application of recombinant DNA technology has resulted in many insect-resistant varieties by genetic engineering (GE). Crops expressing Cry toxins derived from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) have been planted worldwide, and are an effective tool for pest control. However, one ecological concern regarding the potential effects of insect-resistant GE plants on non-target organisms (NTOs) has been continually debated. In the present study, we briefly summarize the data regarding the development and commercial use of transgenic Bt varieties, elaborate on the procedure and methods for assessing the non-target effects of insect-resistant GE plants, and synthetically analyze the related research results, mostly those published between 2005 and 2010. A mass of laboratory and field studies have shown that the currently available Bt crops have no direct detrimental effects on NTOs due to their narrow spectrum of ...
This report describes the results of a program conducted at the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) and Westinghouse Hanford Company (WHC) to identify alternative methods to measure the surface level in the waste tanks. This program examined commercially available devices for measuring the distance to a target. This is a continuation of a program started in FY93. In the first test sequence, tests were performed.on five devices to determine their applicability to measure the surface level in the waste tanks. The devices were the Enraf-Nonius{trademark} Model 872 Radar Gauge, the Enraf-Nonius{trademark} Model 854 Advanced Technology Gauge (ATG), the Stanley Tool Laser Measuring Device, the Robertshaw Inven-Tel{reg_sign} Precision Level Gauge, and the Micro Switch Model 942 Acoustic Sensor. In addition, discussions were held with several manufacturer representatives regarding other potential devices. The results of these tests were documented in a ...
The next great issue on the Russian landscape will be management of its foreign debt. In the near future the United States will be called upon to lead an international program of debt restructuring to assist Russia in overcoming the burden of its debt trap. With debt service obligations equal to 50{percent} of 1999 revenues, Russia has virtually no chance of sustaining a program of economic recovery without debt relief (Hardt, 1999). With some form of debt restructuring a foregone conclusion, Russia, the United States, and world community have a vital stake in searching for creative ways to transform the inevitability of debt restructuring into something of value and constructive to Russia and the problems it faces. This was the rationale behind debt-for-nature swaps which emerged in the early 1980s in Latin American and Eastern Europe as a means of relieving developing nations of their crippling foreign debt. Debt-for-nature swaps served both domestic and international needs by ...
Extensive research into the treatment and control of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) from semiconductor industry manufacturing processes has identified the need for alternatives to existing combustion devices. Specifically, semiconductor manufacturing design is moving toward exploiting effective, small-scale, abatement control technologies for specific point-of-use (POU) waste streams associated with a particular component or manufacturing tool. The Silent Discharge Plasma (SDP) developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory is a nonthermal plasma technology created by a dielectric-ballasted electrical discharge. Influent gas-phase pollutants are destroyed in the reactor by the free radicals or electrons generated by the plasma. This paper examines the potential for SDP to be used in niche circumstances for POU control of VOC exhaust streams specific to the semiconductor industry. A sensitivity analysis is presented, showing how SDP cost of ...
Porosity evolution at reactive interfaces is a key process that governs the evolution and performances of many engineered systems that have important applications in earth and environmental sciences. This is the case, for example, at the interface between cement structures and clays in deep geological nuclear waste disposals. Although in a different transport regime, similar questions arise for permeable reactive barriers used for biogeochemical remediation in surface environments. The COMEDIE project aims at investigating the coupling between transport, hydrodynamics and chemistry when significant variations of porosity occur. The present work focuses on a numerical benchmark used as a design exercise for the future COMEDIE-2D experiment. The use of reactive transport simulation tools like Hytec and Crunch provides predictions of the physico-chemical evolutions that are expected during the future experiments in laboratory. Focus is given in ...
Full text: The ITWG was first formed in 1995 for the purpose of fostering international cooperation for combating illicit trafficking of nuclear materials. The initial focus for the ITWG was on the development of nuclear forensics to help answer attribution questions regarding nuclear materials of unknown origin. More recently, the ITWG has also expanded its focus to include detection of nuclear materials during transit. This paper presents some of the key developments by this group and their potential impact for combating nuclear smuggling. The initial focus of the ITWG was to write a status report on international cooperation on nuclear smuggling forensic analysis. This 26-page report summarized previous work on nuclear forensics and gave an initial analysis on prioritizing techniques and methods for forensic analysis regarding source and route attribution. This report was submitted to the G-8 countries, and shortly thereafter, nuclear forensics was endorsed at the Moscow Summit in ...
Over the past 10 years, the Peruvian National Tuberculosis (TB) Program, the National Reference Laboratory (NRL), Socios en Salud, and US partners have worked to strengthen the national TB laboratory...Full Text Available
Coryneform isolates from clinical specimens frequently cannot be identified by either reference laboratories or research laboratories. Many of these organisms are skin flora that belong to a large number...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe use of measurement tools is an essential part of good evidence-based practice; however, physiotherapists (PTs) are not always confident when selecting, administering,...Full Text Available
Using observational and interview approaches, we evaluated the usability of a web-based communication tool that allows managers to announce open work shifts and staff to request work shifts....Full Text Available
DNA transposons are efficient tools in transgenesis and have therefore become popular in the analysis of the regulatory genome in vertebrates via enhancer trap screens. Here, I discuss recent progress...Full Text Available
Quality reporting tools, integrated with ambulatory electronic health records, can help clinicians and administrators understand performance, manage populations, and improve quality. Report Central...Full Text Available
A porous tooling system was selected for the processing of Graphite/PMR-15 Polyimide laminates in thickness up to 3.2 mm. (0.125 inch). This tool system must have a reasonable strength, permeability dimensional stability, and thermal conductivity to accomplish curing at 600 F and 200 psi and 200 psi autoclave temperature and pressure. A permeability measuring apparatus was constructed and permeability vs. casting water level determined to produce tools at three different permeability levels. On these tools, laminates of 5, 11, and 22 plies (.027, .060, and 0.121 inch) were produced and evaluated by ultrasonic, mechanical, and thermal tests to determine the effect of the tool permeability on the cured laminates. All tools produced acceptable laminates at 5 and 11 plies but only the highest permeability produced acceptable clear ultrasonic C-Scans. Recommendations ...
In 2008, a clinical information tool was developed and embedded in the electronic health record system of an academic medical center. In 2009, the initial information tool, Clinical-e, was superseded...Full Text Available
BackgroundMicroarray data are often used for patient classification and gene selection. An appropriate tool for end users and biomedical researchers should combine user friendliness...Full Text Available
Adopting the approach taken with New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides), we present evidence of design complexity in one of the termite-fishing tools of chimpanzees (Pan...Full Text Available
IAQ Tools for Schools Program Leaders in Improving Indoor Air Quality in Schools Baldwin Union Free School District, Baldwin, NY El Paso Independent School District, El Paso,...
There is increasing pressure to operate laboratory facilities in environmentally and financially sustainable ways. A key factor in achieving this goal is careful consideration of how energy is used by the buildings' ventilation system, both for conditioning air supplied to the laboratories and the energy used moving air through the building. Traditionally, laboratory energy use is treated as an engineering concern within the scope of the building's overall design and operation. However, this approach limits the involvement of key stakeholders in many important decisions and can lead to unexpected safety concerns for the laboratory's users. We believe that a broad view of the parties affected by a laboratory building's operations is necessary to avoid having the various stakeholders working...
The tool materials durability problem, in particular shock and wear resistance, has allowed to formulate a set of requirements and also to stablish the dependence between physical properties and wear. However, for understanding the nature of the process, for example determining the tribological property of the cutting tool, it is necessary to consider the atom interactions in a crystal. A theoretical study of the physical properties of cutting tool materials (W-Ti-C) with varying concentration of titanium is presented. Total and partial local electronic density for each atom in such hard solutions were calculated. (nevyjel)
Abstract: HARVEST was designed as a strategic research and planning tool, allowing assessment of the spatial pattern consequences of broad timber management ...
The paper demonstrates an application of advanced decision support tools within the framework of the environmental information system of the Province of Milan. These tools include environmental simulation models, multi criteria analysis, risk analysis and environmental accounting for marketable emission permits. After describing the general structure of the system, three demonstrational case studies are introduced concerning: groundwater pollution management; atmospheric pollution management; urban environmental quality perception and management. In the conclusion, potential use of tools like the ones implemented by the province of Milan within the framework of Local Agenda 21 processes is recalled.
BackgroundDuplications of stretches of the genome are an important source of individual genetic variation, but their unrecognized presence in laboratory organisms would be a confounding...Full Text Available
as manufacturing plants and laboratories, including the Chemical Laboratory at the House of David in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Built in America: Historic Building Buildings Survey/...
as one of the first Materials Research Laboratories to be funded by the forerunner of DARPA. In 1972 funding was taken over by the National Science Foundation's Division of...
The purpose of this statement of work (SOW) is to establish laboratory analytical criteria and requirements for radioactive airborne emissions measurement sample and/or analysis activities.
This document details monthly activities at the Savannah River Laboratory. Topics addressed are reactor operation; tritium facilities and production; separation operations; environmental concerns; and waste management. (FI)
This document details monthly activities at the Savannah River Laboratory. Topics addressed are reactor operation; tritium facilities and production; separation operations; environmental concerns; and waste management. (FI)
Oct 30, 2006 ... Pigment Analysis by HPLC at Horn Point Laboratory. Laurie Van Heukelem. Crystal Thomas. Meg Maddox. University of Maryland Center for ...
Publications Science Highlights Researcher Profiles Internship Funding to push battery technology from Argonne Laboratory to marketplace Bookmark and Share (Download...
Communicating and collaborating online are becoming common requirements in education. The specialized notations and symbols necessary for some content areas where mathematical expressions are part of the conversation require that users select appropriate communication tools. The purpose of this article is to describe tools that can be used for online, asynchronous or synchronous communication involving mathematical expressions.
TRF-CUT, an ARB-implemented tool, was developed to predict in silico the terminal restriction fragments of aligned small-subunit rRNA gene or functional gene sequences. Application of this new tool...Full Text Available
For the construction of underground facilities comprising access tunnels, connecting tunnels, main tunnels and disposal tunnels, a large number of tunnels will be excavated in deep rock formations. These excavations will extend hundreds kilometers in total length. Therefore, special attention must be paid, to transporting large volume of debris, ventilation, emergency escape routes in case of accident, and other factors. In addition, special attention must also paid to potential accidents which might in underground excavations, including unstable facing phenomena (such as collapse and swelling of facing at weak layer sections), spring water flow resulting collapse of rock, gas eruption, and rock burst. While considering these factors to be emphasized during the construction of geological disposal facilities, the investigation reviewed the existing working methods on individual construction technologies of access tunnels, main tunnels, connecting tunnels, disposal tunnels, and disposal ...
For the construction of underground facilities comprising access tunnels, connecting tunnels, main tunnels and disposal tunnels, a large number of tunnels will be excavated in deep rock formations. These excavations will extend hundreds kilometers in total length. Therefore, special attention must be paid, to transporting large volume of debris, ventilation, emergency escape routes in case of accident, and other factors. In addition, special attention must also paid to potential accidents which might in underground excavations, including unstable facing phenomena (such as collapse and swelling of facing at weak layer sections), spring water flow resulting collapse of rock, gas eruption, and rock burst. While considering these factors to be emphasized during the construction of geological disposal facilities, the investigation reviewed the existing working methods on individual construction technologies of access tunnels, main tunnels, connecting tunnels, disposal tunnels, and disposal ...
During earlier work rapid and highly sensitive Jet-REMPI (resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization) mass spectrometry was applied for monitoring the effluent from thermal treatment of a filter dust during a de novo test under laboratory conditions. The sample, from ESP-Field 2 of an iron ore sintering plant, was already loaded with dioxins ({sigma}PCDD/F = 132 ng/g), their precursors (PCBz, PCPh) and other products of incomplete combustion. Heating filter dust in a temperature window 200-350 C under a flow of air results in further formation of these pollutants. As described elsewhere, on-line detection was mostly carried out using a non-selective ionization mode, to measure a wide range of compounds simultaneously. The changes of output suggest that the reaction products increase in chlorination level with time. Another explanation is that higherchlorinated compounds appear later as a consequence of lower volatility and stronger adsorption. ...
This phase report summarizes the results of field investigations conducted in 1992 at Technical Area 21 of Los Alamos National Laboratory, as prescribed by the RCRA Facility Investigation work plan for the Technical Area 21 operable unit (also known as OU 1106). This phase report is the last part of a three-part phase report describing the results of field work conducted in 1992 at this operable unit. Phase Report lA, issued on l4 June l993, summarized site geologic characterization activities. Phase report 1B, issued on 28 January 1994, included an assessment of site-wide surface soil background, airborne emissions deposition, and contamination in the locations of two former air filtration buildings. The investigations assessed in Phase Report 1C include field radiation surveys and surface and near-surface sampling to characterize potential contamination at 25 outfalls and septic systems listed as SWMUs in the RFI work plan. Based on the RFI ...
In radiation processing of food, the product often has to be prepackaged to prevent microbial recontamination during and after irradiation. The packaging material is exposed to radiation during radiation processing and radiation stability is a key consideration in the selection of packaging materials. The effects of ionizing radiation on many food packaging materials at the dose levels recommended for food precessing can be minimized by selecting appropriate radiation resistant materials. It is important to select materials in which chemicals formed as a result of the radiation treatment do not migrate and interact with the food, affecting its organoleptic and toxicological aspects. It is also important to select materials in which the physical properties are not altered to the extent they cannot resist damage during commercial production, shipment and storage. Radiation treatment of food may be classified broadly into two categories: 1. Processes requiring doses less than 10 kGy; 2. ...
The effect of liquefied natural gas on pollutant emissions was evaluated experimentally with used and new appliances in the laboratory and with appliances installed in residences, targeting information gaps from previous studies. Burner selection targeted available technologies that are projected to comprise the majority of installed appliances over the next decade. Experiments were conducted on 13 cooktop sets, 12 ovens, 5 broiler burners, 5 storage water heaters, 4 forced air furnaces, 1 wall furnace, and 6 tankless water heaters. Air-free concentrations and fuel-based emission factors were determined for carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, nitrogen dioxide, and the number of (predominantly ultrafine) particles over complete burns?including transient effects (device warm-up and intermittent firing of burners) following ignition--and during more stable end-of-burn conditions. Formaldehyde was measured over multi-burn cycles. The baseline fuel was Northern California ...
We have developed a kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) simulator that links atomic migration and binding energies determined primarily from first principles calculations to macroscopic phenomena and laboratory time scales. Input for the kMC simulation is obtained from a combination of ab initio planewave pseudopotential calculations, molecular dynamics simulations, and experimental data. The simulator is validated against an extensive series of experimental studies of the diffusion of B spikes in self-implanted Si. The implant energy, dose, and dose rate, as well as the detailed thermal history of the sample, are included. Good agreement is obtained with the experimental data for temperatures between 750 and 950 C and times from 15 to 255 s. At 1050o C we predict too little diffusion after 105 s compared to experiment: apparently, some mechanism which is not adequately represented by our model becomes important at this temperature. Below 1050o C, the kMC simulation produces ...
Competition to produce cast parts of higher quality, lower rejection rate, and lower cost is a fundamental factor in the global economy. To gain an edge on foreign competitors, the US casting industry must cut manufacturing costs and reduce the time from design to market. Casting research and development (R&D) are the key to increasing US compentiveness in the casting arena. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is the home of a wide range of R&D projects that push the boundaries of state-of-the art casting. LLNL casting expertise and technology include: casting modeling research and development, including numerical simulation of fluid flow, heat transfer, reaction/solidification kinetics, and part distortion with residual stresses; special facilities to cast toxic material; extensive experience casting metals and nonmetals; advanced measurement and instrumentation systems. Department of Energy (DOE) funding provides the ...
This study assesses the feasibility of the so-called heat pipe technique for cooling the piston of a mediumspeed diesel engine and is part of a research project 'EVE HPD, Extreme Value Engine Tests with High Power Density' carried out by HUT Internal Combustion Engine Laboratory. Diesel engines are being developed to give greater power from a given cylinder swept volume, which means higher temperatures in combustion chamber. The traditional oil cooling cannot be used beyond certain temperature level. Heat pipe technology could provide one solution to the cooling problem. The general properties, principles of operation, and structures of different types of heat pipes are described. Working fluids and container materials of heat pipes are discussed. The operation limitations of heat pipes are studied, especially, the limitations of a reciprocating heat pipe, in which the return of the condensate to the evaporator section is achieved by the movement ...
Sandia is a national security laboratory operated for the U.S. department of Energy by the Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company. Sandia designs all non-nuclear components for the nation's nuclear weapons, performs a wide variety of energy research and development projects, and works on assignments that respond to national security threats - both military and economic. They encourage and seek partnerships with appropriate U.S. industry and government groups to collaborate on emerging technologies that support their mission. Today, Sandia has two primary facilities, one in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and one in Livermore, California. They employ about 7,600 people and manage about $1.4 billion of work per year. In 1995, a decision was made to move from their in-house developed systems to commercial software. This decision was driven partly by Y2K compliance issues associated with the existing operating system and support ...
Richmond Harbor is on the eastern shoreline of central San Francisco Bay and its access channels and several of the shipping berths are no longer wide or deep enough to accommodate modem deeper-draft vessels. The Water Resources Development Act of 1986 (PL99-662) authorized the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), San Francisco District to deepen and widen the navigation channels in Richmond Harbor. Several options for disposal of the material from this dredging project are under consideration by USACE: disposal within San Francisco Bay, at open-ocean disposal sites, or at uplands disposal sites. Purpose of this study was to conduct comprehensive evaluations, including chemical, biological, and bioaccumulation testing of sediments in selected areas of Richmond Harbor. This information was required by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and USACE. Battelle/Marine Sciences Laboratory collected 20 core samples, both 4-in. and 12-in., to a ...
The absorbed dose delivered to the patient in brachytherapy is directly proportional to the source strength in terms of the reference air-kerma rate (RAKR). Verification of this quantity by the hospitals is widely recognized as an important part of a quality assurance program. An external audit was performed on behalf of the Secondary Standard Dosimetry Laboratory at the Swedish Radiation Protection Authority (SSI). The aim was to investigate how accurately the source-strength in 192Ir brachytherapy is determined at Swedish hospitals. The SSI reference well-type ion chamber and calibrated equipment were used to measure the RAKR of an 192Ir source in each of the 14 Swedish afterloading units. Comparisons with values determined by vendors and hospitals were made. Agreement in values of RAKR as determined by SSI, hospitals and vendors were in all cases within the +-3% uncertainty (at a coverage factor of k=2), typically guaranteed by the vendors. ...
This project proposes to design and develop a new class of power converters (direct DC to AC) to drastically improve performance and optimize the cost, size, weight and volume of the DC to AC converter in SOFC systems. The proposed topologies employ a high frequency link; direct DC to AC conversion approach. The direct DC to AC conversion approach is more efficient and operates without an intermediate dc-link stage. The absence of the dc-link, results in the elimination of bulky, aluminum electrolytic capacitors, which in turn leads to a reduction in the cost, volume, size and weight of the power electronic converter. The feasibility of two direct DC to AC converter topologies and their suitability to meet SECA objectives will be investigated. Laboratory proto-type converters (3-5kW) will be designed and tested in Phase-1. A detailed design trade-off study along with the test results will be available in the form of a report for the evaluation of SECA Industrial ...
An absorption method of elimination of liquid radioactive wastes (LRW) of low and intermediate activity level by decreasing their contamination up to the level permitting their discharge into the environment is proposed in the paper. The LRW decontamination is accompanied with efficient compacting the resulting secondary solid wastes. The method is based on the use of a new very efficient, chitin containing natural fiber bio-sorbent, Mycoton, which is manufactured commercially in Ukraine. The chemical composition of the sorbent and its highly developed surface provide practically unrestricted opportunities for producing its modifications having any necessary absorption and operational characteristics. The effects of pH, the presence of various salts and complexing agents, as well as of some other factors to the distribution coefficients of the most important radionuclides have been carefully studied in experiments with Mycoton and its modifications. It appeared, that the Mycoton based ...
Sixty-three subjects, aged 6 months to 16 years, who were enrolled in a prospective, fully blinded, randomized parallel-group phase III clinical trial, received 0.1 mmol/kg doses of either Gd-BOPTA (n=29) or Gd-DTPA (n=34). The MR images were acquired before and within 10 min of contrast agent injection. The primary objective was to compare the difference from pre-dose to post-dose lesion visualization between Gd-BOPTA and Gd-DTPA. Lesion visualization was determined as the sum of individual scores for three criteria of lesion morphological characteristics (lesion border delineation, internal morphology, and contrast enhancement), each assessed qualitatively using 4-point scales. Quantitative evaluation compared changes in lesion-to-background (LBR) and contrast-to-noise (CNR) ratios and per cent enhancement. Monitoring for adverse events and evaluation of vital signs and laboratory values was performed. Pre-dose to post-dose changes in lesion visualization were ...
The Lake Superior region (Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and Minnesota) contains 41 Precambrian crystalline rock complexes comprising 64 individual but related rock bodies with known surface exposures. Each complex has a map area greater than 78 km/sup 2/. About 54% of the rock complexes have areas of up to 500 km/sup 2/, 15% fall between 500 km/sup 2/ and 1000 km/sup 2/, 19% lie between 1000 km/sup 2/ and 2500 km/sup 2/, and 12% are over 2500 km/sup 2/. Crystalline rocks of the region vary widely in composition, but they are predominantly granitic. Repeated thermo-tectonic events have produced early Archean gneisses, migmatites, and amphibolites with highly tectonized fabrics that impart a heterogeneous and anisotropic character to the rocks. Late Archean rocks are usually but not invariably gneissose and migmatitic. Proterozoic rocks of the region include synorogenic (foliated) granitic rocks, anorogenic (non-foliated) granites, and the layered ...
Radiation technology offers a very wide scope for utilisation and commercial exploitation in various field. All over the world, this technology is being favourably considered for different applications like radiation sterilisation of medical products, preservation of food by controlling the physiological processes for extending shelf-life and eradication of microbial and insect pests, radiation processing of polymeric materials and treatment of sewage sludge. Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission has taken radiation processing programmes in a big way right from its inception. This paper describes the studies carried out by various research groups in Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission mainly using Cobalt-60 gamma radiation. The investigation covers medical sterilisation, food preservation and development and modification of polymeric materials by gamma radiation. Both food preservation and radiation sterilisation of medical products are now being commercially carried ...
This research is to provide improved strategies for enhanced oil recovery from the Tensleep Sandstone oil reservoirs in the Bighorn and Wind River basins, Wyoming. Because of the great range of API gravities of the oils produced from these reservoirs, the proposed study concentrates on understanding the spatial variation and anisotropy of relative permeability within the Tensleep Sandstone. This research will associate those spatial distributions and anisotropies with the depositional subfacies and zones of diagenetic alteration found within the sandstone. The associations of the above with pore geometry will link relative permeability with the dimensions of lithofacies and authigenic mineral facies. Hence, the study is to provide criteria for scaling this parameter on a range of scales, from the laboratory to the basin-wide scale of subfacies distribution. Effects of depositional processes and burial diagenesis will be investigated. Image ...
Full text.S235JR carbon steel is one of the most popular steels used in Lebanon. It is imported by steel dealers and is widely used by all fabricators and manufacturers of steels for many structural purposes and applications. This kind of steel has good ductile properties as well as excellent weldability. It is still known by its previous designation St 37-2 or E 24-2. S235JR is produced in many shapes and thicknesses such as steel plates, sheets, angles and different other geometric shapes. Standard chemical and mechanical tests were conducted and reported on S235JR hot-rolled structural low-carbon mild steel specimens collected from Lebanese steel market. The main objective of this work is to assure the compliance of these properties with those set by the steel manufacturer. The above mentioned tests were performed at the laboratories of the Industrial Research Institute (IR) in Lebanon to assure the quality and credibility of the results. ...
This paper outlines conceptual framework for safeguards remote sensing, and suggests a strategy for overcoming the challenges to full exploitation of all types of optical satellite imagery. Since the introduction of commercial open-source high-resolution satellite imagery in 1999, it has become an important tool for verification of declarations, baseline mapping, detection and monitoring of changes and investigation of undeclared activities. Its use is still relatively restricted, but there is a growing demand for wider satellite reconnaissance support, and the Satellite Image Analysis Unit (SIAU) has recently been expanded in response. For a number of reasons, IAEA safeguards use of satellite imagery is largely based on visual interpretation by experienced image analysts of high-resolution monochromatic imagery to monitor and characterize buildings and structures on safeguards sites. The very wide range of remote sensing capabilities could be ...
This work is focused on effect of various cooling strategies on surface roughness and tool wear during computer aided milling of soft workpiece materials. These milling operations were selected as dry milling, cool air cooling milling and fluid cooling milling. A cool air cooling system was designed and produced to cool end milling tools. Cool air was produced by a vortex tube. Annealed AISI 1050 was used as the workpiece material and cutting tool material was selected as HSS-Co8 DIN 844/BN. Optimal cutting parameters were selected according to workpiece hardness from reference catalog and kept for all tests. Tool wear and surface quality were measured for three different cooling types changing from ten minute machining time to thirty minute machining time. As a result, the surface roughne...
Modern HENP experiments such as CMS and Atlas involve as many as 2000 collaborators around the world. Collaborations this large will be unable to meet often enough to support working closely together. Many of the tools currently available for collaboration focus on heavy-weight applications such as videoconferencing tools. While these are important, there is a more basic need for tools that support connecting physicists to work together on an ad hoc or continuous basis. Tools that support the day-to-day connectivity and underlying needs of a group of collaborators are important for providing light-weight, non-intrusive, and flexible ways to work collaboratively. Some example tools include messaging, file-sharing, and shared plot viewers. An important component of the environment is a scalable underlying communication framework. In this paper we will describe our current progress on ...
Fires and explosions have been identified as major potential hazards for Oil and Gas Floating Production Storage Offloading (FPSO) installations and pose risk to personnel, assets, and the environment. Current fire and explosion assessment (FEA) tools require physical effect modeling software and follows standards from API, ISO, and engineering practices. However, the tools are not specific to any particular system such as an FPSO, and do not provide comprehensive guidance for safety engineers to perform FEA. This paper discusses the development of a screening and comparison tool for FEA on FPSOs and the incorporation of an expert system into the tool. The results are computerized using MS Excel/VBA to provide a structured and comprehensive assessment on each equipment and module handling ...
A new German-engineered articulated drilling tool that can take the vertical to the horizontal, using about eight metres of curve, was described. The Articulate Downhole Motor has the capability to run radii as long as 57 metres (the usual requirement is 15 metres), under full control. Its ability to rotate and slide while maintaining control is one of the major positives of the technology. The technology also includes a `positive` communication system in its steering tool. The deployment of the positive pulse retrievable measurement-while-drilling (MWD) system brings real-time tool face orientation and hole direction to the surface. In using the tool, formation composition is not an issue; it is designed to withstand any environment.
The goal of this project is to provide materials engineers, chemical engineers and plant operators with a software tool that will enable them to predict localized corrosion of process equipment including fabricated components as well as base alloys. For design and revamp purposes, the software predicts the occurrence of localized corrosion as a function of environment chemistry and assists the user in selecting the optimum alloy for a given environment. For the operation of existing plants, the software enables the users to predict the remaining life of equipment and help in scheduling maintenance activities. This project combined fundamental understanding of mechanisms of corrosion with focused experimental results to predict the corrosion of advanced, base or fabricated, alloys in real-world environments encountered in the chemical industry. At the heart of this approach is the development of models that predict the fundamental parameters that control the ...
A review of current daylighting design tools indicates that over 30 tools are now available, including nomographs, protractors, overlays, and programs for micro-, mini-, and mainframe computers. Computer-based tools allow testing and analyzing of more design alternatives under a wider variety of conditions than was previously practical with slower techniques, but they have not fundamentally changed the information available to the design professional. These tools are applicable to certain limited functions of the design process and do not address the varying information needs of the designer at various points in the design process. We describe a concept for a computer-based building envelope design tool that is structured to overcome many of the limitations of the existing tools. The tool would address daylighting design in the context of ...
The central aim of this thesis is to present a new kind of realism that is driven not from the traditional realism/anti-realism debate but from the practice of physicists. The usual debate focuses on discussions about the truth of theories and their fit with nature, while the real practices of the scientists are forgotten. The position I shall defend is called 'phenomenological realism': theories are merely tools to construct other theories and models, including phenomenological models; phenomenological models are the vehicles of representation. The realist doctrine was recently undermined by the argument from the pessimistic meta-induction, also known as the argument from scientific revolutions. I argue that phenomenological realism is a new kind of scientific realism which can overcome the problem generated by the argument from scientific revolutions, and which depend on the scientific practice. The realist tried to overcome this problem by ...
Major advances in 'Energy and Materials Cycles' have been achieved in the removal of heavy metals from the solid residues of municipal waste incineration. It has been conclusively shown that the oxidation/reduction conditions established during the thermal treatment of filter ash have a decisive influence on the evaporation of groups of heavy metals. With respect to biomass gasification, studies have been carried out with respect to the best way of extracting pure hydrogen from the low calorific value gas that is typically obtained from a biomass gasifier. The overarching goal of the laboratory 'High Temperature Solar Technology' is the use of solar energy for the production of solar fuels, or for the reduction of CO{sub 2} emissions in large scale industrial processes that are conventionally carried out with the use of fossil fuels. In a short-term project targeted at the solar production of lime, highly encouraging results (98% ...
Ohio State University (OSU) is uniquely poised to establish such a center, with interdisciplinary emphasis on modeling, simulation, design and control of hybrid-electric drives for a number of reasons, some of which are: (1) The OSU Center for Automotive Research (CAR) already provides an infrastructure for interdisciplinary automotive research and graduate education; the facilities available at OSU-CAR in the area of vehicle and powertrain research are among the best in the country. CAR facilities include 31,000 sq. feet of space, multiple chassis and engine dynamometers, an anechoic chamber, and a high bay area. (2) OSU has in excess of 10 graduate level courses related to automotive systems. A graduate level sequence has already been initiated with GM. In addition, an Automotive Systems Engineering (ASE) program cosponsored by the mechanical and electrical engineering programs, had been formulated earlier at OSU, independent of the GATE program proposal. The main objective of the ...
The work presented here demonstrates the ability of proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) to perform fast-response measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) (including methanol, acetonitrile, acetaldehyde, acetone, PAN-type compounds, alpha- and beta-pinene, nopinone and pinonaldehyde) at the pptv level and its versatile applicability in the field of environmental trace gas analysis. Laboratory and field experiments including various calibration techniques and intercomparisons with other measurement techniques such as gas chromatography, atmospheric pressure chemical ionization and Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy were performed providing a first characterization of the PTR-MS instrument performance (sensitivity, detection limit, precision, accuracy). Typically a detection limit (S/N=2) of 50 pptv for a 10 s signal integration time, a precision of 5 % and an accuracy in the range between 10 and 25 % were observed. Due to its ...
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a multiprogram, multipurpose laboratory that conducts research in the physical, chemical, and life sciences; in fusion, fission, and fossil energy; and in energy conservation and other energy-related technologies. This review outlines some current endeavors of the lab. A state of the laboratory presentation is given by director, Alvin Trivelpiece. Research of single crystals for welding is described. The Science Alliance, a partnership between ORNL and the University of Tennessee, is chronicled. And several incites into distinguished personnel at the laboratory are given. (GHH)
To encourage the application of robotics technology for routine radiobench applications, a laboratory dedicated to the research and development of contained robotic systems is being constructed. The facility will have several robots located in laminar flow hoods, and the hoods are being designed to allow the possibility for multiple robots to work together. This paper presents both the design features of the hoods and the general layout of the laboratory, and also discusses an application of a robotic system for the routine nuclear counting of gamma tube samples. The gamma tube system is presently operating in one of the routine analysis laboratories. 5 figs.
As a continuation of its efforts to provide methodologies and tools to Member States to carry out comparative assessment and analyse priority environmental issues related to the development of the electric power sector, the IAEA has completed a new version of the Wien Automatic System Planning (WASP) Package WASP-IV for carrying out power generation expansion planning taking into consideration fuel availability and environmental constraints. This manual constitutes a part of this work and aims to provide users with a guide to use effectively the new version of the model WASP-IV. WASP was originally developed in 1972 by the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the USA to meet the IAEA needs to analyse the economic competitiveness of nuclear power in comparison to other generation expansion alternatives for supplying the future electricity requirements of a country or region. Previous versions of the model were used ...
Bortezomib/PS-341/Velcade, a proteasome inhibitor, is widely used to treat multiple myeloma. While several mechanisms of the cytotoxicity of the drug were proposed, the actual mechanism remains elusive....Full Text Available
The ETS proteins are a family of transcription factors (TFs) that regulate a variety of biological processes. We made genome-wide analyses to explore the classification of the ETS gene family. We identified...Full Text Available
Genome-wide association studies are designed to discover SNPs that are associated with a complex trait. Employing strict significance thresholds when testing individual SNPs avoids false positives at...Full Text Available
The development of chromatin immunoprecipitation methods coupled with DNA microarray (ChIP-chip) technology has enabled genome-wide identification of cis-DNA regulatory elements to which transcription...Full Text Available
This handbook provides guidance in the application of quality assurance to measurement activities. It is intended to help those persons making measurements in applying quality assurance to their work activities by showing how laboratory practices and quality assurance requirements are integrated to provide control within those activities. The use of the guidance found in this handbook should help provide consistency in the interpretation of quality assurance requirements across all types of measurement laboratories. This handbook also can assist quality assurance personnel in understanding the relationships between laboratory practices and quality assurance requirements. The handbook is composed of three chapters and several appendices. Basic guidance is provided by the three chapters. In Chapter 1, the role of quality assurance in obtaining quality data and the importance of such data are discussed. Chapter 2 presents the ...
Our long-term goal is to enable highly productive plant species to extract, resist, detoxify, and/or sequester toxic heavy metal pollutants as an environmentally friendly alternative to physical remediation methods. We have focused this phytoremediation research on soil and water-borne ionic and methylmercury. Mercury pollution is a serious world-wide problem affecting the health of human and wild-life populations. Methylmercury, produced by native bacteria at mercury-contaminated wetland sites, is a particularly serious problem due to its extreme toxicity and efficient biomagnification in the food chain. We engineered several plant species (e.g., Arabidopsis, tobacco, canola, yellow poplar, rice) to express the bacterial genes, merB and/or merA, under the control of plant regulatory sequences. These transgenic plants acquired remarkable properties for mercury remediation. (1) Transgenic plants expressing merB (organomercury lyase) extract methylmercury from their ...
The results of the thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) study of the FEBEX bentonite performed during FEBEX II are presented. The laboratory test program continued in part with the works carried out during FEBEX I, particularly in activities related to tests aimed to the calibration of the models, the acquisition of parameters by back-analysis and the improvement of the knowledge on the behaviour of expansive clays. But the program has also included tests on new areas: investigations about the influence of the microstructure changes in bentonite, of temperature and of the solute concentration on the behaviour of clay. Besides, several tests were proposed in order to understand the unexpected behaviour observed in the mock-up test, towards the end of year 2. Temperature effects on water retention curves in confined and unconfined conditions were determined, and swelling pressure, hydraulic conductivity and swelling and consolidation strains as a function of temperature ...
ALSTOM Power Inc.'s Power Plant Laboratories (ALSTOM) has teamed with the U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE NETL), American Electric Company (AEP) and Parsons Energy and Chemical Group to conduct a comprehensive study evaluating coal fired steam power plants, known as Rankine Cycles, equipped with three different combustion systems: Pulverized Coal (PC), Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB), and Circulating Moving Bed (CMB{trademark}). Five steam cycles utilizing a wide range of steam conditions were used with these combustion systems. The motivation for this study was to establish through engineering analysis, the most cost-effective performance potential available through improvement in the Rankine Cycle steam conditions and combustion systems while at the same time ensuring that the most stringent emission performance based on CURC (Coal Utilization Research Council) 2010 targets ...
A new area-wide pest control strategy using the pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), genetically transformed with a conditionally lethal gene, is under development. Conditional lethality of several transgenic pink bollworm strains was demonstrated in a series of laboratory rearing experiments. Pink bollworms were transformed with genetic constructs using the RIDL technology (Release of Insects with a Dominant Lethal gene) for development of an autocidal biological control system for possible supplement or replacement of radiation based sterile insect release. LA1124 is a lethal construct controlled by a tetracycline repressible transactivator protein (tTA), in which binding of tTA to its specific target sequence tetO drives production of more tTA. In the absence of tetracycline, this leads to lethality by high expression of tTA. When tetracycline is present, tTA does not bind tetO, and so the positive ...
Full text: Thermoluminescence (TL) is a phenomenon of light emission caused by heating a pre-irradiated material. When ionizing radiation hits a TL material, electrons are freed from some atoms and moved in the material, leaving behind 'holes' of positive charge. Subsequently when the TL material is heated, the electrons and the 'holes' re-combine, and release the extra energy in the form of light. The light intensity can be measured, and related to the amount of energy initially absorbed through exposure to the ionizing radiation. In nineteen sixties thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLD) became popular for dosimetric applications in view of their small size, sensitivity and accuracy. Consequently, in early seventies, several countries started adopting of TLD for personnel monitoring. The idea of introducing TLD to replace the then prevalent film dosimeter for personnel monitoring in India was mooted and successfully implemented by Dr. K G Vohra. Limitations of prevalent film dosimeters ...
The Energy Nomographs are a quick, simple-to-use tool for designing energy conscious lighting systems. Many assumptions and simplifications have been incorporated in the tool which may decrease its accuracy. However, the tool is accurate enough for use in Schematic Design, where design decisions have the largest impact on end energy use. It is not intended to replace all other energy design tools but rather supplement them when quicker decisions must be made. An important aspect of this analysis technique is its graphic procedural quality. As each design decision is made in the course of completing the nomograph procedure, the effects of each may be seen graphically and alternatives chosen without having to complete the entire process. This will have time but, more important, will act as an educational tool to the designer. As more calculations are completed, the user realizes how ...
The possibility of surface modification of high-speed steel cutting tool by means of vacuum-plasma treatment including ion nitriding in gas plasma followed by the deposition of wear resistant (Ti, Al)N coatings in metal-gas plasma of a vacuum arc discharge is studied. The regularities of nitrided layer formation and the structure of these layers under various operation conditions of cutting tool are investigated. Optimum conditions of vacuum-plasma treatment providing the best wear resistance of cutting are determined
Residual stresses are present in engineering components as an unintended consequence of manufacturing processes, but they are also deliberately introduced to beneficial effect during surface engineering procedures. Plasma nitriding is a process of particular importance for forming tools and dies, giving significant advantages in wear, and fatigue resistance through the generation of near-surface compressive residual stresses. A precise knowledge of the level and distribution of residual stresses that exist in engineering components is necessary for an accurate design and prediction of a component's fatigue resistance. However, measurement of residual stresses is not always possible, which is especially true for forming tools. Therefore, other methods for residual stress evaluation and pred...
The OSHA's chemical occupational exposure standard for laboratories is an outgrowth of the previously issued Hazard Communication Standard. The standard relieves laboratories from complying with general industry standards but does not require compliance with specific guidelines. The heart of the standard is the creation of a Chemical Hygiene Plan (CHP) in every laboratory. The CHP addresses major issues such as safety equipment and procedures, work practices and training, the designation of a chemical hygiene officer, and the provision of medical consultation and examination for affected employees. This new standard, in effect as of 31 January, 1991, presents yet another regulatory challenge to laboratory managers but also will ensure a safer work environment for laboratory workers.
Systems MEMS sensors C11-20 Lifetime Distributions of Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitors C11-22 Adhesion Strength of Advanced Polymer Films for Flexible and Rigid...
This article presents a hands-on web-based activity motivated by the relation between human health and ozone pollution in California. This case study is based on multivariate data collected monthly at 20 locations in California between 1980 and 2006. Several strategies and tools for data interrogation and exploratory data analysis, model fitting and statistical inference on these data are presented. All components of this case study (data, tools, activity) are freely available online at: http://wiki.stat.ucla.edu/socr/index.php/SOCR_MotionCharts_CAOzoneData. Several types of exploratory (motion charts, box-and-whisker plots, spider charts) and quantitative (inference, regression, analysis of variance (ANOVA)) data analyses tools are demonstrated. Two specific human health related questions...
BackgroundOver the past decade, many investigators have used sophisticated time series tools for the analysis of genomic sequences. Specifically, the correlation of the nucleotide...Full Text Available
The Seismic Risk Explorer, an extension for ArcGIS Desktop developed by cedim AG, is a tool for computing the seismic risk, i.e. damage on residential buildings and thereby caused monetary losses for earthquake scenarios. It is based on the research results of the CEDIM (Center for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction Technology) research center, located at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ) in Potsdam. With this software tool seismic scenarios can be simulated for a given magnitude, depths and location. The seismic intensity, the resulting mean damage ratio for residential buildings and the seismic risk, expressed as the monetary loss caused by an earthquake can be computed downscaled to communities, postcode areas or even single buildings. Interested end-users are especially insurance companies, but also public authorities which may use the tool for risk management issues.
The product-operator formalism is the most commonly used tool for describing and designing multidimensional NMR experiments. In spite of its relative simplicity and sound theoretical underpinnings,...Full Text Available
... Missionaries and cannibals [MaC] (Newell, McDermott and Forgy, 1977, p. 63): Three missionaries and three cannibals must cross a river in a two ...
Fast automated analysis of hyperspectral imagery can inform ... hyperspectral image analysis. .... atmospheric correction with the Crism Analysis Tool [11]. ...
This paper focuses on the Internet as a tool for enhancing behavior and lifestyle changes to reduce the burden of cancer at a population level. The premise of this paper is that the Internet...Full Text Available
BackgroundHealth service databases of administrative type can be a useful tool for the study of progression of a disease, but the data reported in such sources could be affected...Full Text Available
Percutaneous renal biopsy (PRB) is a safe and effective tool in the diagnosis and management of renal disease. It is the gold standard for evaluating renal parenchymal disease. It is both useful for...Full Text Available
In this paper information about monograph construction is provided and some sample nomographs constructed by the author are included to encourage the use of these tools in operational health physics applications.
Background: The nail gun is a commonly utilized tool in carpentry and construction. When used properly with appropriate safety precautions, it can facilitate production and boost efficiency;...Full Text Available
BACKGROUNDNew diagnostic tools are urgently needed to interrupt the transmission of tuberculosis and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. Rapid,...Full Text Available
Mar 2, 2010 ... The NASA/JPL Education Office works with educators -- both classroom teachers and informal educators -- to provide tools, resources and ...
The introduction of numerical control (NC) machine tools has made it possible to automate machining in series and small series production. The organization of automated production sections merged NC machine tools with automated transport systems. However, both the one and the other require the presence of an operative at the machine for low skilled operations. Industrial robots perform a number of auxiliary operations, such as equipment loading-unloading and control, changing cutting and auxiliary tools, controlling workpieces and parts, and cleaning of location surfaces. When used with a group of equipment they perform transfer operations between the machine tools. Industrial robots eliminate the need for workers to form auxiliary operations. This underscores the importance of developing robotized manufacturing centers providing for minimal human participation in production and creating conditions for ...
This paper is a greatly expanded version of a talk I gave in April 2009 at KunenFest. It describes Ken's work in algebra, particularly using automated deduction tools.
Jan 22, 2011 ... dc.description.abstract, The progress in the development of a surface analysis tool based on the excitation of characteristic luminescence ...
Mar 15, 2011 ... The NASA/JPL Education Office works with educators -- both classroom teachers and informal educators -- to provide tools, resources and ...
Sep 18, 2009 ... It is proposed to develop desensitized optimal filtering ... in robust and/or adaptive generalized Kalman and Sigma-Point filters for ...
BackgroundNucleotide sequences and the gene arrangements of mitochondrial genomes are effective tools for resolving phylogenetic problems. Hemipteroid insects are known to possess...Full Text Available
AbstractThe elucidation of the human and mouse genome sequence and developments in high-throughput genome analysis, and in computational tools, have made it possible to profile entire...Full Text Available
INTRODUCTIONInformatics and automation are important tools for the reduction of work, errors and costs in a hospital pharmacy.OBJECTIVESTo describe...Full Text Available
BackgroundAdequate pain assessment is critical for evaluating the efficacy of analgesic treatment in clinical practice and during the development of new therapies. Yet the currently...Full Text Available
This paper presents a new approach to improve the in silico modeling of ultrasound transducer arrays. While current simulation tools accurately predict the theoretical element...Full Text Available
The development of attenuated response ({open_quotes}tolerance{close_quotes}) to daily ozone (O{sub 3}) exposures in the laboratory is well established in healthy adult volunteers. However, the capability of asthmatics to develop tolerance during multiday ozone exposures in unclear. We exposed 10 adult volunteers with mild asthma to 0.4 ppm O{sub 3} in filtered air for 3 h/d on 5 consecutive d. Two similar filtered-air exposures during the preceding week served as controls. Follow-up O{sub 3} exposures were performed 4 and 7 d after the most recent consecutive exposure. All exposures were performed in an environmental chamber at 31 {degrees}C and 35% relative humidity. The subjects performed moderate exercise (mean ventilation rate of 32 l/min) for 15 min of each half-hour. Responses were measured with spirometry and symptom evaluations before and after each exposure, and a bronchial reactivity test (methacholine challenge) was conducted after each exposure. All ...
A.C.R.O. (Association pour le Controle de la Radioactivite dans l'Ouest) is a French non governmental organisation that operates a laboratory for radioactivity analysis. It was created in 1986 as a response to people demands for information and reliable, independent testing. The organisation mainly carries out missions of information and training for its correspondents and more generally for a wide audience, particularly for people who worry about problems of environment, health, management of radioactive waste and emissions. Thanks to its structure, it enables citizens to involve themselves together with scientists so as to gain access to information that was hither to reserved to specialists. The organisation can vouchsafe its independence from the diversity of its members and volunteers, as well as from the diversity of its money resources. Besides its headquarters situated on the city of Caen area (Normandy), three branches ...
Surge capacity is the ability to rapidly mobilize to meet an increased demand. While large amounts of federal funding have been allocated to public health laboratories, little federal funding has been...Full Text Available
A description of the FEL experiment underway at the 10 kA, 5 MeV Experimental Test Accelerator (ETA) is described. The facility has been designed to investigate the high-gain operation of an FEL.
A retrospective study of the relationship of season to the absorption of radiolead in laboratory rats was performed using data representing 305 animals from 36 experiments over 6 calendar years. Male...Full Text Available
...broad range of experience in designing and building research and development laboratories for products such as vaccines, blood and sera, biological products, medical devices, solid dosage forms , highly potent products and cytotoxic material. We also have experience in a range of modular laboratories for TSE research, ...
The CWDD injector has been shipped to Argonne National Laboratory, installed, and recommissioned. Commissioning progress, operational status, and future plans are reported. Operational experience at ANL is compared with that obtained at Culham.
Plasmid transfer between strains of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis was studied under a range of environmentally relevant laboratory conditions in vitro,...Full Text Available
This report documents site remediation at ORNL, including ORNL site characterization technologies, waste management and robotics and automation of the laboratory for waste processing and analysis.
The Subseabed Disposal Program has recently completed a 30-day, 0.286-scale laboratory simulation of an In Situ Heat Transfer Experiment (ISHTE), scheduled for eventual deployment in the deep ocean 600 nautical miles north of Hawaii. 10 figures.
The Subseabed Disposal Program has recently completed a 30-day, 0.286-scale laboratory simulation of an In Situ Heat Transfer Experiment (ISHTE), scheduled for eventual deployment in the deep ocean 600 nautical miles north of Hawaii. 10 figures.
Laboratory studies were performed to support field-testing of base injection into the F-Area Seepage Basins groundwater. The general purpose of these experiments is to provide information to guide the test of base injection and to identify potential adverse effects.
1. Interactions of pyrazole and ethanol were studied in three laboratory test procedures. They included sleeping time in mice, rotor rod balance in rats and lever pressing behaviour of rats. 2....Full Text Available
NIST logo NIST Time NIST Home About NIST Contact Us A-Z Site Index Search Information Technology Laboratory About ITL What ITL does Organization ITL Functional Statement Standards...
This volume described in detail the Department's research and technology development activities and their funding at the Department's laboratories. It includes 166 Mission Activity Profiles, organized by major mission area, with each representing a discrete budget function called a Budget and Reporting (B ampersand R) Code. The activities profiled here encompass the total research and technology development funding of the laboratories from the Department. Each profile includes a description of the activity and shows how the funding for that activity is distributed among the DOE laboratories as well as universities and industry. The profiles also indicate the principal laboratories for each activity, as well as which other laboratories are involved. The information in this volume is at the core of the Strategic Laboratory Mission Plan. It enables a reader to ...
This article describes a new set of revised standards for the medical laboratory, which have been produced by Clinical Pathology Accreditation (UK) Ltd (CPA). The original standards have been in use...Full Text Available
In a combined clinical, radiological, and laboratory study of 77 patients throughout the leprosy spectrum, 10 patients had an enthesitis which has not been described previously as far as is known and...Full Text Available
BackgroundKinematic and kinetic measurements used in laboratory settings can quantify upper extremity movement impairment following stroke, but their relationship...Full Text Available
This Maintenance Improvement Plan has been developed for maintenance functions associated with the 222-S Laboratory. This plan is developed from the guidelines presented by Department of Energy (DOE) Order 4330.4B, Maintenance Management Program (DOE 1994), Chapter 11. The objective of this plan is to provide information for establishing and identifying WMH conformance programs and policies applicable to implementation of DOE Order 4330.4B guidelines. In addition, this maintenance plan identifies the actions necessary to develop a cost effective and efficient maintenance program at 222-S Laboratory. Maintenance activities are mainly going to be performed by existing maintenance organizations within Waste Management Federal Services of Hanford (WMH). Most maintenance performed at 222-S Laboratory is performed by the 222-S Laboratory maintenance organization. This 222-S Laboratory ...
Grain refinement behavior of copper alloys cast in permanent molds was investigated. This is one of the least studied subjects in copper alloy castings. Grain refinement is not widely practiced for leaded copper alloys cast in sand molds. Aluminum bronzes and high strength yellow brasses, cast in sand and permanent molds, were usually fine grained due to the presence of more than 2% iron. Grain refinement of the most common permanent mold casting alloys, leaded yellow brass and its lead-free replacement EnviroBrass III, is not universally accepted due to the perceived problem of hard spots in finished castings and for the same reason these alloys contain very low amounts of iron. The yellow brasses and Cu-Si alloys are gaining popularity in North America due to their low lead content and amenability for permanent mold casting. These alloys are prone to hot tearing in permanent mold casting. Grain refinement is one of the solutions for reducing this problem. ...
A laboratory stream consisting of two stream sections interrupted by two pools was filled with a mixture of tap water and organically enriched water from rivers nearby. Bottom sediment material, Potamogeton pectinatus, macro-invertebrate organisms, as well as the mosquito fish, Aplocheilichthys johnstonii were collected from rivers around Johannesburg and introduced into the laboratory stream. After initial acclimatization, the distribution of the isotope "3"2P through this laboratory stream was followed. Absorption of this isotope by benthic algae, Potamogeton pectinatus, several macro-invertebrate organisms as well as Aplocheilichthys johnstonii was recorded.
... negative diplooocci, to determine the type of pneumococi, to study staphylococa proteas, ehigla, sallmnefla, pasteurella, brucela, linters, leptosp ,s ...
Jet Propulsion Laboratory. California Institute of Technology. Pasadena, California. Energy and Water Conservation. Steve Rigdon. Facilities Energy Manager ...
Information is presented concerning reactor research activities; isotope geology; NERC radiocarbon laboratory; teaching activities; and reactor operation.
Fiber optic metrology developed at the CEA LIST laboratories involves fiber Bragg grating sensors, distributed Brillouin optical time domain reflectometry and optically stimulated luminescence dosimetry. Recent activities in optical fiber sensing are reviewed from laboratory experiments to field trials.
This statement summarizes Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory`s committment to making important scientific, technological, and business contributions to global sustainability. The quest has many aspects, some socio-political or economic and some technological, and some in which the soft and hard sciences become indistinguishable, as in visionary national strategies, like Holland`s, and futuristic regional and city development plans, like those of Kagoshima and Chattanooga.
A diverse set of digital image-processing applications exists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. While many of these include some sort of image analysis or restoration, virtually all of them require image-enhancement procedures. In this paper we describe the principal image-processing facility at the Laboratory, followed by a discussion of several of the major image-processing application areas.
This is a progress report from the Health and Safety Research Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Information is presented in the following sections: Assessment Technology, Biological and Radiation Physics, Chemical Physics, Biomedical and Environmental Information Analysis, Risk Analysis, Center for Risk Management, Associate Laboratories for Excellence in Radiation Technology (ALERT), and Contributions to National and Lead Laboratory Programs and Assignments--Environmental Restoration.
The R and D activities of the institute focused on two major projects, ``Molecular and cellular environmental toxicology``, and ``Biophysics of multi-cellular systems``. For assessment of health risks emanating from the uptake of heavy metal compounds, work performed under the first mentioned project studies the formation of allergy-inducing metabolic products from membrane lipids, and the effects of related cellular signaling processes. These studies are accompanied by an approach to quantify and classify the toxicity of environmental organometallic compounds. Another major task is research into the pathogenesis of lung disease induced by dusts, gases, and gas-dust mixtures and the liberation of inflammatory agents by immunological cell reactions (alveolar macrophages). Atomic force microscopy is the tool used to visualize the related dynamic changes in bronchial cells. Studies for detection of the localisation and structure of the Fe-Mo co-factor in nitrogenase ...
TiO{sub 2} is a vital material in several technologies including, photocatalysis, gas sensing, biomaterials and optical coatings. Among the several crystal structures of this oxide, rutile has the highest density and microhardness, the highest index of refraction and the highest temperature stability. The processing of dense polycrystalline materials often includes the addition of a liquid-forming phase at higher temperatures. This technique is known as liquid-phase sintering and has been studied extensively. Rutile boundaries containing an amorphous phase have been used to study boundary migration and grain-boundary grooving. Visible-light (VLM), scanning electron (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in addition to electron-backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and a focused-ion beam (FIB) tool were used to characterize boundary migration in rutile. EBSD analysis was carried out on a Philips XL30 FEG SEM equipped with a DigiView 1612 high-resolution, ...
The proactive protection measures and the traditional passive security protection tools are complementarities each other. It also can supply the conventional network security protection system and enhance its capability of the security protection. Based upon sorts of existing network security technologies, this article analyses and summarizes the technologies, functions and the development directions of some key proactive network security protection tools. (authors)
A new commercial cutting tool software package replaced an internally created legacy system. This report describes the issues that surfaced during the migration and installation of the commercial package and the solutions employed. The primary issues discussed are restructuring the data between two drastically different database schemas and the creation of individual component graphics.
A 1000-watt CO/sub 2/ laser has been demonstrated as a reliable production machine tool for cutting of plastics, high strength reinforced composites, and other nonmetals. More than 40 different plastics have been laser cut, and the results are tabulated. Applications for laser cutting described include fiberglass-reinforced laminates, Kevlar/epoxy composites, fiberglass-reinforced phenolics, nylon/epoxy laminates, ceramics, and disposable tooling made from acrylic.
The primary purpose of the Rocky Flats Field Office of the US Department of Energy is to decommission the entire plant. In an effort to improve the basis and the accuracy of the future decommissioning cost, Rocky Flats has developed a powerful but easy-to-use tool to determine budget cost estimates to characterize, decontaminate, and demolish all its buildings. The parametric cost-estimating tool is called the Facilities Disposition Cost Model (FDCM).
The device is made by a tool at the end of a flexible cable, a motor for the rotation of the flexible, a linear drive with a guide for it between the winder and the tube.
While underground power transmission lines have become to use CV cables as the mainstream, existing facilities still use OF cables. Factors of OF cable deterioration include heat cycles during operation and surge intrusion. As a method to diagnose this deterioration in insulation, characteristics tests are performed by collecting insulation oil in a cable connection box. The insulation oil collection work has been done conventionally with the power line stopped to prevent danger from induction voltage. A power uninterruptible oil collection tool was developed recently. The tool consists mainly of an insulator made of epoxy resin, wherein a connection box connector is rotated and loosened by operating an insulating operation rod, with the structure not contacted directly with metallic sheath, so that insulation oil can go through the oil collecting tool and gets collected. Discussions were given on the ...
The mechanisms underlying life machinery are still not completely understood. Something is known, something is ?probably? known, other things are still unknown. Scientists all over the world are working very hard to clarify the processes regulating the cell life cycle and bioinformaticians try to support them by developing specialized automated tools. Within the plethora of applications devoted to the study of life mechanisms, tools for the analysis and comparison of biological networks are catching the attention of many researchers. It is interesting to investigate why.
A model designed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the use of robotics and remote tooling in achieving reduction of occupational exposure at nuclear installations is presented. The operational cost saving of implementing dose reduction action is introduced as a key parameter. Through specific example, a partial demonstration of the model is given. (author).
An IAEA databank lists a number of reported cases of illicitly trafficked nuclear or other radioactive materials. Apart from the traditional concern with nuclear proliferation, the post September 11th public is now wary of a possible attack by terrorists with a nuclear or radiation dispersion device (RDD). Until now, the seized quantities have not been sufficient to manufacture a nuclear explosive device, but they might be enough to construct an RDD. Recognizing the latent global challenge to public health and safety, the G8 States (Japan, USA, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Canada, and Russia) have called for 'joint international efforts to identify and suppress illicit supply' of, and demand for, nuclear material and to deter potential traffickers. One measure gaining in significance is to identify seized material and trace it back to its origin the objective of an emerging science known as nuclear forensics. Repeatedly nuclear or other radioactive material of unknown origin are ...
Negligent hazardous waste management has resulted in real threats to public health. The Federal Government has responded to the situation with laws and regulations aimed at the producers of hazardous waste, including clinical laboratories. The Resources Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) imposes controls on hazardous waste management through the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) regulate these activities through 40 CFR and 49 CFR. Most clinical laboratories can operate satellite accumulation points and accumulate, store, transport, and dispose of waste in accordance with EPA and DOT regulations. Regulations pertaining to infectious waste, sure to affect many clinical laboratories, are being developed now by he EPA. The cradle to grave tracking system mandated by the Federal Government can be supplemented by state and local authorities ...
This self-evaluation report offers a summary of results from FY2000 actions to achieve Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's strategy and provides an analysis of the state of their self-assessment process. The result of their integrated planning and assessment process identifies Laboratory strengths and opportunities for improvement. Critical elements of that process are included in this report; namely, a high-level summary of external oversight activities, progress against Operations Improvement Initiatives, and a summary of Laboratory strengths and areas for improvement developed by management from across the laboratory. Some key areas targeted for improvement in FY2001 are: systems approach to resource management; information protection; integrated safety management flow-down to the benchtop; cost management; integrated assessment; Price Anderson Amendments Act (PAAA) Program; and travel ...
Measurements using radioactive targets are important for the determination of key reaction path ways associated with the synthesis of the elements in nuclear astrophysics (sprocess), advanced fuel cycle initiative (transmutation of radioactive waste), and stockpile stewardship. High precision capture cross-section measurements are needed to interpret observations, predict elemental or isotopical ratios, and unobserved abundances. There are two new detector systems that are presently being commissioned at Los Alamos National Laboratory for very precise measurements of (n,{gamma}) and (n,f) cross-sections using small quantities of radioactive samples. DANCE (Detector for Advanced Neutron-Capture Experiments), a 4 {pi} gamma array made up of 160 BaF{sub 2} detectors, is designed to measure neutron capture cross-sections of unstable nuclei in the low-energy range (thermal to {approx}500 keV). The high granularity and high detection efficiency of DANCE, combined with ...
Immunoassays are versatile analytical techniques that had a leading role in various clinical applications, during the last four decades. The studies carried out by Rosalyn Yalow, Solomon Berson and Roger Ekins in the 1960s gave a breakthrough in the development of this novel analytical method. Sensitivity up to femtomolar concentrations, high specificity and universal application to different classes of molecular species made immunoassay a very useful tool in analytical investigation. The expertise acquired by immunochemists in producing antibodies against any antigen and the ability of radiochemists in labeling the antigens with "1"2"5I without affecting the active site are the two main factors responsible for the above development. There are concerns about the safety and health of humans due to the high-level contamination of environment by pesticides, industrial compounds and metals, anabolic steroids in milk and meat products, and presence of mycotoxins in food ...
The goal of this program was to increase the high-temperature strength of the H-Series of cast austenitic stainless steels by 50% and upper use temperature by 86 to 140 F (30 to 60 C). Meeting this goal is expected to result in energy savings of 38 trillion Btu/year by 2020 and energy cost savings of $185 million/year. The higher strength H-Series of cast stainless steels (HK and HP type) have applications for the production of ethylene in the chemical industry, for radiant burner tubes and transfer rolls for secondary processing of steel in the steel industry, and for many applications in the heat-treating industry. The project was led by Duraloy Technologies, Inc. with research participation by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and industrial participation by a diverse group of companies. Energy Industries of Ohio (EIO) was also a partner in this project. Each team partner had well-defined roles. Duraloy Technologies led the team by identifying the base ...
The document describes the outcome of the CSN/CIEMAT-00 interlaboratory test comparison among environmental radioactivity laboratories. the exercise was organised according to the ISO-43 and the ISO/IUPAC/AOAC Harmonized Protocol for the proficiency testing of analytical laboratories. the test sample was a soil containing environmental levels of K-40, Ra-226, Ac-228, Sr-90, Cs-137, Cs-134, Pu (239-240) y Am-241. the Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona prepared the material and reported adequate statistical studies of homogeneity. The results of the exercise were computed for 30 participating laboratories, and their analytical performance was assessed using the u-score approach. A raised percentage of satisfactory laboratory performance has been obtained for all the analysis, being the best performance in gamma measurements. The exercise has drawn that several laboratories have ...
When biomass is used as fuel for thermal conversion plants, minerals from the fuel can be responsible for major problems. Generally, these problems are associated with the existence and development of low melting compounds or eutectics, which form sticky layers. In a fluidised bed, this can result in bed-agglomeration and defluidisation. This causes local high temperature, which often accelerates the process. It ultimately can lead to a completely sintered bed content with a glassy phase gluing the bed particles together and shut-down of the plant. The main objective of the title project is to develop a methodology to predict ash/bed agglomeration and sintering problems, to indicate related problems and, furthermore, to identify solution methods to make different types of biomass streams more viable for energy production. Within the present study, selected fuels are subjected to different existing methods together with some new ones, in order to determine the agglomeration temperature. ...
The evaluation of biological markers is recognized as necessary to the future of toxicology, epidemiology, and quantitative risk assessment. For biological markers to become widely accepted, their validity...Full Text Available
The chemiosmotic model of energy transduction offers a satisfying and widely confirmed understanding of the action of uncouplers on such processes as oxidative phosphorylation; the uncoupler, by facilitating...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe evolution of eukaryotic cells is widely agreed to have proceeded through a series of endosymbiotic events between larger cells and proteobacteria or cyanobacteria,...Full Text Available
Phytoestrogens are plant derived compounds found in a wide variety of foods, most notably soy. A litany of health benefits including a lowered risk of osteoporosis, heart disease, breast cancer,...Full Text Available
Hyaluronan (HA), a non-sulfated glycosaminoglycan, is widely used in the clinic for viscosurgery, viscosupplementation, and treatment of osteoarthritis. Four decades of chemical modification...Full Text Available
The Sirtuins are a family of orthologues of yeast Sir2 found in a wide range of organisms from bacteria to man. They display a high degree of conservation between species, in both sequence and function,...Full Text Available
IntroductionShoulder pain covers a wide range of problems and affects up to 20% of the population. It is not a specific diagnosis. Shoulder pain can be caused by problems with the...Full Text Available
The report evaluates the most recent developments in Slovak forestry and provides a wide range of economic, social and environmental data associated with the sector in 2003. Extended summary is published in English.
Plate-boundary earthquakes have occurred repeatedly in the past several thousand years at the Cascadia subduction zone, where they are widely recorded ... ...
The objective of this study was to determine the direct actions of nitroprusside and nitroglycerin on the pulmonary vascular bed in the intactchest dog. These widely used nitrogen oxide-containing vasodilator...Full Text Available
BackgroundPolybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are widely used flame retardant compounds that are persistent and bioaccumulative and therefore have become ubiquitous environment...Full Text Available
BackgroundPreclinical models of pediatric cancers are essential for testing new chemotherapeutic combinations for clinical trials. The most widely used ...Full Text Available
BackgroundSection Calochroi is one of the most species-rich lineages in the genus Cortinarius (Agaricales, Basidiomycota) and is widely distributed...Full Text Available
BackgroundTitanium and titanium alloys are widely used for fabrication of dental implants. Since the material composition and the surface topography of a biomaterial play a fundamental...Full Text Available
BackgroundBisphenol A (BPA) is widely used in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastics, including infant formula bottles.ObjectivesBased on the...Full Text Available
This document provides information on the supply and disposition of natural gas to a wide audience. The 1996 data are presented in a sequence that follows natural gas from it`s production to it`s end use.
The Cox proportional hazards model is the most widely used model for survival analysis because of its simplicity. The fundamental assumption in this model is the proportionality of the hazard function....Full Text Available
The Mitochondrial Free Radical Theory of Aging (MFRTA) is currently one of the most widely accepted theories used to explain aging....Full Text Available
Metastable and somatically heritable patterns of DNA methylation provide an important level of genomic regulation. In this article, we review methods for analyzing these genome-wide epigenetic...Full Text Available
Fava beans (Vicia fava) are cultivated rather widely in most countries of the Eastern Mediterranean area and provide a cheap but protein-rich food that can be eaten alone, in various...Full Text Available
... with the loosening of Bush-era restrictions on stem cell research, a move that was widely hailed by the ... The first two explore the contentious debate over stem cell research. Using a series of intervie...
Zirconia-based restorations are widely used in prosthetic dentistry; however, their susceptibility to hydrothermal degradation remains elusive. We hypothesized that CAD/CAM machining and subsequent...Full Text Available
of injuries, disabilities, and deaths; and 3. Encourage professionals from a wide spectrum of disciplines such as engineering, bioengineering, medicine, health care, public...
CAAX proteins are widely involved in global cellular functions such as proliferation, differentiation, and carcinogenesis. As an important modulator of biological activity, signal transduction via protein...Full Text Available
Experience gained with a wide variety of missile injuries of the brain is presented. Clinical signs and intracranial pressure (ICP) studied in the early post-injury period have been correlated with...Full Text Available
Apicomplexans are pathogens responsible for malaria, toxoplasmosis, and crytposporidiosis in humans, and a wide range of livestock diseases. These unicellular eukaryotes are stealthy invaders, sheltering...Full Text Available
Pseudomonas stutzeri is a nonfluorescent denitrifying bacterium widely distributed in the environment, and it has also been isolated as an opportunistic pathogen from humans. Over the...Full Text Available
Haloorganic biocides are widely employed as soil fumigants to combat the destructive action of plant parasitic nematodes and fungi. These substances are dehalogenated by soil organisms, principally...Full Text Available
Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are mutualistic symbionts living in the roots of 80% of land plant species, and developing extensive, below-ground extraradical hyphae fundamental for the uptake of...Full Text Available
Environmental arsenic is a world-wide health issue, making it imperative for us to understand mechanisms of metalloid uptake and detoxification. The predominant intracellular form is the highly mephitic...Full Text Available
Binary Star Evolution. The evolution of close binary stars can be very different from that of wide binaries of isolated stars. If the stars are close enough ...
... the program manager plans to spend $23.2 million to procure 107 Hornets in excess of the 270 required by the 82nd Airborne Division for its basic ...
Measurements of the taste thresholds of blowflies for a wide variety of carbohydrates, presented individually and in combination, showed that the stimulating effects of the compounds are not always...Full Text Available
Flow cytometry (FCM) is widely used in health research and in treatment for a variety of tasks, such as in the diagnosis and monitoring of leukemia and lymphoma patients, providing the counts of helper-T...Full Text Available
The avermectins were introduced in 1981 and constitute a potent new class of anthelmintic agents. They are naturally-derived products of microbial action displaying an exceptionally wide range of antiparasitic...Full Text Available
A start safety apparatus of an engine adapted for a multipurpose power tool is described which consists of: an engine, an exciter coil generating alternate electromotive force in synchronism with rotation of the engine; an ignition coil having primary and secondary windings; a spark plug connected to the secondary winding of the ignition coil; a capacitor connected to the primary winding of the ignition coil the capacitor being charged with a positive half-cycle of the electromotive force; ignition timing control means for controlling discharge of the capacitor; a throttle control latch for setting a throttle valve of the engine in a predetermined throttle angle; a tool driven by the engine; and a centrifugal clutch transferring engine power to the tool when an engine speed exceeds a clutch-in speed.
The new industrial political tools based on the sustainable development of productive activities, and originating at the Rio Conference in 1992, late introduced by the EU, the Government and voluntary organizations (ISO, CEM, UNI) are gradually entering the market, thereby underling their effect in terms of industrial competitiveness. The main tools were examined in the report and mostly refer to the voluntary ones which, in surpassing the 'command and control' logic, increasingly tend to get close to traditional fiscal, tariff and financial ones. Voluntary agreements, environmental management systems (EMAS, norme ISO 14001), the risk prevention systems (UNI 10617), certification (Ecolabel, ISO 14040) and environment communication tools (environment balance sheet, environmental report, environmental statement) are synthetically described.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most common cause of cancer death among Canadian non-smokers. Each year about 21,500 Canadians are diagnosed with CRC. Ninety percent of cases occur in people aged 50 years or older. An estimated 4,800 Canadian men and 4,100 Canadian women die each year from the disease. About 75% of all new CRC cases arise in people with no known risk factors. Computed tomography colonography (CTC), a cross-sectional imaging examination that permits complete structural examination of the colon, shows promise as a tool for CRC screening. This article reviews the rationale for CRC screening, currently recommended Canadian and American screening guidelines and screening tools, and current evidence supporting CTC as a CRC screening tool and its advantages over conventional screening methods. (author)
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most common cause of cancer death among Canadian non-smokers. Each year about 21,500 Canadians are diagnosed with CRC. Ninety percent of cases occur in people aged 50 years or older. An estimated 4,800 Canadian men and 4,100 Canadian women die each year from the disease. About 75% of all new CRC cases arise in people with no known risk factors. Computed tomography colonography (CTC), a cross-sectional imaging examination that permits complete structural examination of the colon, shows promise as a tool for CRC screening. This article reviews the rationale for CRC screening, currently recommended Canadian and American screening guidelines and screening tools, and current evidence supporting CTC as a CRC screening tool and its advantages over conventional screening methods. (author)
The purpose of this report is to advise managers on the status of Year 2000 readiness at the Laboratory and provide a summary of critical issues to be addressed in order to ensure that the Year 2000 date rollover will not disrupt Laboratory Operations. The Laboratory`s Year 2000 council members are in the first phase of Year 2000 plans: gathering data and assessing the status of their divisions or programs. This first snapshot of the Laboratory Year 2000 readiness assessment is expected to grow and change over time as more refined assessments, plans, and schedules are developed and as more information becomes available. Here are findings to date: (1) Embedded systems` status not known. (2) Preliminary cost estimates for Year 2000 repairs, testing, and implementation are estimated to be at least $5.9 million, not including embedded systems. (3) The Laboratory is required to make ...
...this and ...and ...? and ...and ...and what the ...and such ...also and i would like to ...and that's ...and ...and ...form and most of the time i would like to spend on ...and ...for months on because sixty two and ? one-in-ten and ...and initially model systems and and and ...specifics ? and astrophysics completely ...and ...is seventeen and ...was additionally and ...and ...and and and that's all that's the action and you know all ...and ...and and display ...and responsible ...and what ...paul tsongas and ten and uh and ...and and ...and ...and this is ...and ...and especially ...and ...and ...and know ...and ...and and the activation technique and ...most commonly used and ...of the team to sell the blonde and and and need and ...and ...and ...and that's the whole ...and ...and and ...and ...and something like this and she ...been determined by and ...the plates and ...and ...and ...and ...and ...and ...and ...and and ...and this to dismiss ? ...and ...and i think the people to ...
A.C.R.O. (Association pour le Controle de la Radioactivite dans l Ouest) is a French non governmental organisation that operates a laboratory for radioactivity analysis. It was created in 1986 as a response to people demands for information and reliable, independent testing. The organisation mainly carries out missions of information and training for its correspondents and more generally for a wide audience, particularly for people who worry about problems of environment, health, management of radioactive waste and emissions. Thanks to its structure, it enables citizens to involve themselves together with scientists so as to gain access to information that was hither to reserved to specialists. The organisation can vouchsafe its independence from the diversity of its members and volunteers, as well as from the diversity of its money resources. Besides its headquarters situated on the city of Caen area (Normandy), three branches situated in ...
Energy from biomass is a CO{sub 2} neutral, sustainable form of energy. Anaerobic digestion is an established technology for converting biomass to biogas, which contains around 60% methane, besides CO{sub 2} and various contaminants. Most types of biomass contain material that cannot be digested; in woody biomass, this portion is particularly high. Therefore, conventional anaerobic digestion is not suited for the production of biogas from woody biomass. While wood is already being converted to energy by conventional thermal methods (gasification with subsequent methanation), dung, manure, and sewage sludge represent types of biomass whose energy potential remains largely untapped (present energetic use of manure in Switzerland: 0.4%). Conventional gas phase processes suffer from a low efficiency due to the high water content of the feed (enthalpy of vaporization). An alternative technology is the hydrothermal gasification: the water contained within the biomass serves as reaction ...
The Filtra-MVSS for filtered venting of containment overpressure is a flexible system capable of covering a wide range of hypothetical design basis events for BWRs and PWRs. The system encompasses a number of special features, can be optimized for a specified decontamination factor, and can accommodate a wide range of off-gas flow rates.
We conducted a genome-wide association study of gastric cancer (GC) and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in ethnic Chinese subjects in which we genotyped 551,152 single nucleotide polymorphisms...Full Text Available
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified more than 2,000 trait-SNP associations, and the number continues to increase. GWAS have focused on traits with potential consequences for human...Full Text Available
The existence of propagating spin waves above T/sub c/ in Ni and Fe has been widely accepted since this picture was first advocated in 1973. In this brief review of our current neutron scattering experiments on Fe and Ni we will present convincing evidence showing that this picture is incorrect. In addition, we will demonstrate that over wide ranges of ..omega.., q and temperature, both Fe and Ni follow a simple paramagnetic scattering function of the spin diffusion type. 19 references.
This report contains basic bibliographic data for reports held by Resource Management and Mining (Ministry of Energy) in its Coal Technical Information System (CTIS). This system contains a large number of published and unpublished reports relating to New Zealand's coal, peat, and oil shale resources. This material has been accumulated from a wide range of sources and is of widely varying quality.
An integrated voltage regulator and power system stabilizer based on one step ahead prediction is presented. The fixed parameter predictive control scheme is shown capable of providing consistently good voltage response and contribution to system damping over a wide range of operating conditions and system configuration. This is in contrast to the case with conventional automatic voltage regulator and power system stabilizer where performance varies widely with the operating situation and can even cause system instability. (author)
Case-parent trios were used in a genome wide association study of cleft lip with/without cleft palate (CL/P). SNPs near two genes not previously associated with CL/P [MAFB:...Full Text Available
The World Wide Web has its historical roots in things such as the creation of the telegraph, the launching of the Sputnik and more, but it really all started in March 1989, when Tim Berners-Lee, a computer scientist at CERN in Geneva wrote a paper called Information Management: A proposal
Traditional laboratory diffusion experiments in rock material are time consuming, and quite small samples are generally used. Electrical conductivity measurements, on the other hand, provide a fast means for examining transport properties in rock and allow measurements on larger samples as well. Laboratory measurements using electrical conductivity give results that compare well to those from traditional diffusion experiments. The measurement of the electrical resistivity in the rock surrounding a borehole is a standard method for the detection of water conducting fractures. If these data could be correlated to matrix diffusion properties, in-situ diffusion data from large areas could be obtained. This would be valuable because it would make it possible to obtain data very early in future investigations of potentially suitable sites for a repository. This study compares laboratory electrical conductivity measurements with ...
BackgroundA common approach to understanding the genetic basis of complex traits is through identification of associated quantitative trait loci (QTL). Fine mapping QTLs requires...Full Text Available
chipD is a web server that facilitates design of DNA oligonucleotide probes for high-density tiling arrays, which can be used in a number of genomic applications such as ChIP-chip or gene-expression...Full Text Available
The development of the Java Programming Language by Sun Microsystems has provided a new tool for the development of Internet based applications. Our preliminary work has shown how Java can be used to...Full Text Available
The interactions between biochemical processes and mechanical signaling play important roles during various cellular processes such as wound healing, embryogenesis, metastasis, and cell migration. While...Full Text Available
BackgroundTo investigate the feasibility, the ease of implementation, and the extent to which community health workers with little experience of data collection could be trained...Full Text Available
Lists of reportable conditions and case definitions are important tools for epidemiologic surveillance. As part of an initiative to encourage occupational disease surveillance systems linked to intervention...Full Text Available
[3,5-"3H] 4-Azidoclonidine 6 was prepared from [3,5-"3H] 4-aminoclonidine 4 and has emerged as a valuable tool to study the alpha-2-adrenergic receptor. (author)
SummaryAgeing is a complex, challenging phenomenon that will require multiple, interdisciplinary approaches to unravel its puzzles. To assist basic research on ageing, we developed...Full Text Available
BackgroundAcute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) is a major cause of hospitalization for children in China, while the etiological diagnosis of ALRI remains a challenge. This study...Full Text Available
BackgroundHigh throughput sequencing has become an increasingly important tool for biological research. However, the existing software systems for managing and processing these data...Full Text Available
We have constructed a deletion-mutant rabies virus encoding EGFP and find it to be an excellent tool for studying detailed morphology and physiology of neurons projecting to injection sites...Full Text Available
Background In May 2000, AstraZeneca launched a Web service for asthma patients and health-care providers called LinkMedica, which includes an asthma diary for...Full Text Available
BackgroundQuality of Life measurements are necessary tools for effectively evaluating health services. In the population of patients afflicted with war-related blindness in Iran,...Full Text Available
BackgroundLung cancer diagnosis in tissue material with commonly used histological techniques is sometimes inconvenient and in a number of cases leads to ambiguous conclusions. Frequently...Full Text Available
Protein modifications such as phosphorylation are often studied by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis since the perturbation in the protein’s pI value is readily detected by this method....Full Text Available
The analysis of individual molecules is evolving into an important tool for biological research, and presents conceptually new ways of approaching experimental design strategies. However, more...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe construction of cDNA libraries is a useful tool to understand gene expression in organisms under different conditions, but random sequencing of unbiased cDNA collections...Full Text Available
Accurate and automated methods for measuring the thickness of human cerebral cortex could provide powerful tools for diagnosing and studying a variety of neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders....Full Text Available
The objective of this program is to tool-harden and make commercially available an existing wireless MWD tool to reliably operate in an air, air-mist, or air-foam environment during Appalachian Basin oil and gas directional drilling operations in conjunction with downhole motors and/or (other) bottom-hole assemblies. The application of this technology is required for drilling high angle (holes) and horizontal well drilling in low-pressure, water sensitive, tight gas formations that require air, air-mist, and foam drilling fluids. The basic approach to accomplishing this objective was to modify GEC's existing electromagnetic (e-m) CABLELESS''{trademark} MWD tool to improve its reliability in air drilling by increasing its tolerance to higher vibration and shock levels (hardening). Another important aim of the program is to provide for continuing availability of the resultant ...
We investigated the pathophysiological mechanism by proteomic approach as a possible tool to detect the marker proteins to develop lower urinary tract symptoms following bladder outlet obstruction (BOO)....Full Text Available
The development of a computational intelligent tools based on neural network to identify commercial losses or fraud (theft energy), considering information from a database electric utility, is presented.
BackgroundGenome-scale metabolic reconstructions have been recognised as a valuable tool for a variety of applications ranging from metabolic engineering to evolutionary studies....Full Text Available
We present a methodology and database mediator tool for integrating modern knowledge-based systems, such as the Stanford EON architecture for automated guideline-based decision-support, with legacy...Full Text Available
The induction of voltages on pipelines and railroad signal wires can be a problem when high-voltage transmission lines share the right of way. A handbook and two computer programs provide the analytic tools for utilities to avoid the problem.
Somatic cell nuclear transfer or therapeutic cloning has provided great hope for stem cell-based therapies. However therapeutic cloning has been experiencing both ethical and technical difficulties....Full Text Available
In vivo two-photon imaging through the pupil of the primate eye has the potential to become a useful tool for functional imaging of the retina. Two-photon excited fluorescence images...Full Text Available
We address four main areas in which graduate quantum mechanics education in the U.S. can be improved: course content; textbook; teaching methods; and assessment tools. We report on a three year longitudinal study at the Colorado School of Mines using innovations in all four of these areas. In particular, we have modified the content of the course to reflect progress in the field in the last 50 years, use modern textbooks that include such content, incorporate a variety of teaching techniques based on physics education research, and used a variety of assessment tools to study the effectiveness of these reforms. We present a new assessment tool, the Graduate Quantum Mechanics Conceptual Survey, and further testing of a previously developed assessment tool, the Quantum Mechanics Conceptual Survey (QMCS). We find that graduate students respond well to research-based techniques that have previously been ...
Linking biological samples found at a crime scene with the actual crime event represents the most important aspect of forensic investigation, together with the identification of the sample donor. While...Full Text Available
The programming of cellular networks to achieve new biological functions depends on the development of genetic tools that link the presence of a molecular signal to gene-regulatory activity. Recently,...Full Text Available
MWo = average molecular weight of fuel est. 105 g/mole for gasoline est. 165 g/mole for Jet fuel est. 230 g/mole for diesel fuel MWX = molecular weight of selected chemical...
Short-hairpin RNA (shRNA)–mediated gene knockdown is a powerful tool for targeted gene silencing and an emerging novel therapeutic strategy. Recent publications, however, reported unexpected...Full Text Available
BackgroundThere is an ever increasing rate of data made available on genetic variation, transcriptomes and proteomes. Similarly, a growing variety of bioinformatic programs are becoming...Full Text Available
BackgroundOsteoporosis affects over 200 million people worldwide, and represents a significant cost burden. Although guidelines are available for best practice in osteoporosis, evidence...Full Text Available
BackgroundInformation on more than 35 000 full-length Oryza sativa cDNAs, together with associated microarray gene expression data collected under various treatment...Full Text Available
Cytokinins are hormones that regulate cell division and development. As a result of a lack of specific mutants and biochemical tools, it has not been possible to study the consequences of cytokinin...Full Text Available
Communication problems have been implicated in many safety and quality issues, but tools to examine communication networks and their impact on patient outcomes are only beginning to become available....Full Text Available
Brownfields redevelopment contributes to the revitalization of communities across the U.S. Reuse of these abandoned, contaminated sites spurs economic growth, builds community pride, protects public health, and helps maintain our nation's "greenfields," often at a relatively low ...
This paper describes the development of an interactive internet-based cost-estimating tool for commonly used urban storm runoff best management practices (BMP), including: retention and detention ponds, grassed swales, and constructed wetlands. The paper presents the cost data, c...
Public health activities, especially infectious disease control, depend on effective teamwork. We present the results of a pilot audit questionnaire aimed at assessing the quality of public health services...Full Text Available
Adjuvant therapy aims to prevent outgrowth of residual disease but can induce serious side effects. Weighing conflicting treatment effects and communicating this information with patients is not elementary....Full Text Available
BackgroundThe receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve is a fundamental tool to assess the discriminant performance for not only a single marker but also a score function combining...Full Text Available
The identification of MHC class II restricted peptide epitopes is an important goal in immunological research. A number of computational tools have been developed for this purpose, but there is a lack...Full Text Available
Antimalarial drugs will be essential tools at all stages of malaria elimination along the path towards eradication, including the early control or “attack” phase to drive down transmission...Full Text Available
Scheduling is a stochastic process performed by production rules. In .... activated, which causes the available goal queue size to be exceeded, then the first goal to ...... when in doubt turn toward the terminal or when in doubt go ...