Science.gov (United States)

... 2010-10-01 false Cost estimating system requirements. 252...Clauses 252.215-7002 Cost estimating system requirements. As...use the following clause: Cost Estimating System Requirements (DEC...

Science.gov (United States)

...2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Energy Policy Act target group certification...Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY CLAUSES AND FORMS SOLICITATION...Provisions and Clauses 952.226-73 Energy Policy Act target group...

Science.gov (United States)

...Acquisition Regulations System 3 2010-10-01...Acquisition Regulations System DEFENSE ACQUISITION REGULATIONS SYSTEM, DEPARTMENT OF...assumption of risk for transportation by conveyance on...Missiles, and Space Launch Vehicles,...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

A method for ranking interval objects is proposed and analyzed; the characteristics of those objects are represented by pessimistic, optimistic, and most probable estimates. The method is based on the approximation of the binary probability preference relation by the binary median preference relation. The method is verified using statistical modeling (the Monte Carlo method). The proposed approach can be used for ranking nonreusable and reusable objects.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

In clause it is shown a method optimization of brake of forces in view of a bias road it is established, that in mountain conditions of loss of coupling weight of automobiles than 2-3 times concerning flat conditions therma are more. The degree of use of coupling weight in result use of a regulator of brake forces very much increases also efficiency of brake systems such a kind of automobiles is provided with definition of optimum factor of coupling at which value of loss of coupling weight is provided minimal

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Objectives To evaluate the extent to which intensive care units participating in the initial Keystone ICU project sustained reductions in rates of catheter related bloodstream infections.Design...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Animals in a variety of taxa discriminate between a greater quantity and a lesser quantity of the same object, an ability that is referred to as relative numerousness judgment. For example,...Full Text Available

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

It is answered to a previous letter by Basano, and shown that the difficulties met by that author within ''Extended relativity'' do not exist, but are due to the erroneous assumption that a certain condition for tachyons to be absorbed by a macro-object is sufficient (whilst it is only a necessary one).

Environmental Research Database

ObjectivesObjectives Not AvailableDescriptionOne significant research challenge posed by the growing number of older people in the population concerns the mobility-related problems which increase with age, inhibit independence, and can be a prime cause of admission to expensive institutional settings. The scope for engineering advances, particularly in the field of rehabilitation and assistive technology, is immense. The challenge is to produce aids, devices and products that are attractive to older people themselves, since without such [continued...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Asymptotic estimates for the typical number of irreducible coverings and the typical length of an irreducible covering of a Boolean matrix are obtained in the case when the number of rows is no less than the number of columns. As a consequence, asymptotic estimates are obtained for the typical number of maximal conjunctions and the typical rank of a maximal conjunction of a monotone Boolean function of variables defined by a conjunctive normal form of clauses. Similar estimates are given for the number of irredundant coverings and the length of an irredundant covering of an integer matrix (for the number of maximal conjunctions and the rank of a maximal conjunction of a two-valued logical function defined by its zero set). Results obtained previously in this area are overviewed.

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

BackgroundThe objective of this study was to develop and validate a daily electronic Endometriosis Pain and Bleeding Diary (EPBD) for assessing treatment-related changes in endometriosis...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

ObjectivesTo examine whether people who expect to live longer engage in healthier behaviors relative to people who expect to live shorter lives.Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

OBJECTIVE--The survey aimed at studying the associations between prevalent respiratory symptoms in an occupational population and sickness absence due to respiratory disorders. METHODS--A cross sectional...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

BACKGROUND:Canadian chronic pain prevalence estimates range from 11% to 66%, are affected by sampling and measurement bias, and largely represent urban settings.OBJECTIVES:To...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

ObjectiveTo examine the longitudinal relationship between depressive symptoms at study entry (T1) on pain intensity (PI) and functional disability over a 1-year period...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to investigate the effect of cigarette smoking on clinical parameters and signs anemia of chronic disease in chronic periodontitis patients.Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

BackgroundBallet Dancers have been shown to have a relatively high incidence of stress fractures of the foot and ankle. It was our objective to examine MR imaging patterns of bone...Full Text Available

Science.gov (United States)

The Plan identifies the Army's organization, goals, objectives, and policies with respect to energy. It projects energy consumption and costs to the year 2000 and summarizes the programs required to support the long range goals. A summary of current and needed energy related legislation is included. (Author)

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

OBJECTIVES--This case cohort study examines whether there is an association between exposure to electric and magnetic fields and suicide in a population of 21,744 male electrical utility workers from...Full Text Available

CERN Document Server

Consider the set of source distributions within a fixed maximum relative entropy with respect to a given nominal distribution. Lossless source coding over this relative entropy ball can be approached in more than one way. A problem previously considered is finding a minimax average length source code. The minimizing players are the codeword lengths --- real numbers for arithmetic codes, integers for prefix codes --- while the maximizing players are the uncertain source distributions. Another traditional minimizing objective is the first one considered here, maximum (average) redundancy. This problem reduces to an extension of an exponential Huffman objective treated in the literature but heretofore without direct practical application. In addition to these, this paper examines the related problem of maximal minimax pointwise redundancy and the problem considered by Gawrychowski and ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The application of multi-objective genetic algorithms for green building design in two phases were presented in order to better help designers in the decision-making process. The purpose is to minimize two conflicting criteria: the life-cycle cost and the life-cycle environmental impact. Environmental impact criteria examined include energy and non-energy natural resources, global warming, and acidification. Variables focus on building envelope-related parameters. The application of multi-objective genetic algorithms is divided into two phases. The first phase intends to help designers in understanding the trade-off relationship between the two conflicting criteria. The second phase intends to refine the performance region that is of the designer's interest. The results after the two-phase application of the multi objective genetic algorithm were then presented. 13 refs., 4 tabs., 3 figs.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

This article presents an unsupervised algorithm for semantic annotation of morphological descriptions of whole organisms. The algorithm is able to annotate plain text descriptions with high accuracy at the clause level by exploiting the corpus itself. In other words, the algorithm does not need lexicons, syntactic parsers, training examples, or annotation templates. The evaluation on two real-life description collections in botany and paleontology shows that the algorithm has the following desirable features: (a) reduces/eliminates manual labor required to compile dictionaries and prepare source documents; (b) improves annotation coverage: the algorithm annotates what appears in documents and is not limited by predefined and often incomplete templates; (c) learns clean and reusable concept...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Staggered arrays of dimples printed on opposite surfaces of a cooling channel is formulated numerically and optimized with hybrid multi-objective evolutionary algorithm and Pareto optimal front. As Pareto optimal front produces a set of optimal solutions, the trends of objective functions with design variables are predicted by hybrid multi-objective evolutionary algorithm. The problem is defined by three non-dimensional geometric design variables composed of dimpled channel height, dimple print diameter, dimple spacing, and dimple depth, to maximize heat transfer rate compromising with pressure drop. Twenty designs generated by Latin hypercube sampling were evaluated by Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes solver and the evaluated objectives were used to construct Pareto optimal front through hybrid multi-objective evolutionary algorithm. The optimum designs were grouped by k-means ...

Science.gov (United States)

Shape optimization of heat transfer augmentation device employed in turbine blade internal cooling passage has been performed numerically using single as well as multi-objective optimization procedures. Polynomial response surface approximation method and multi-objective genetic algorithm are used for single and multi-objective optimizations, respectively. Problem to enhance heat transfer rate considering staggered dimples on single surface of cooling passage has been formulated, and Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations are solved to analyze the flow field and the heat transfer. Three design variables defining channel and dimple dimensions, and two objective functions related to Nusselt number and friction drag are employed. Latin hypercube sampling is used to generate sampling points in design space, and the evaluated objectives are used to generate a set ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The regular inspection of No.2 plant in Sendai Nuclear Power Station was carried out from January 7 to February 8, 1985. The summary of the results of this regular inspection is as follows. The facilities as the object of inspection were radiation control facilities and waste facilities. On these facilities as the object of inspection, the appearance, disassembling, functional, performance and other inspections were carried out, and as the results, abnormality was not found at all. The works related to this regular inspection were accomplished within the range of the allowable radiation dose based on the relevant laws. (Kako, I.).

CERN Document Server

We present results of the search for Cepheids in the galaxy IC1613 carried out as a sub-project of the OGLE-II microlensing survey. 138 Cepheids were found in the 14.2x14.2 arcmin region in the center of the galaxy. We present light curves, VI photometry and basic data for all these objects, as well as color-magnitude diagram of the observed field. The Period--Luminosity (PL) diagrams for IC1613 fundamental mode Cepheids for VI and interstellar extinction insensitive index W_I are constructed. Comparison of PL relations in metal poor galaxy IC1613 ([Fe/H]~-1.0 dex) with relations in metal richer Magellanic Clouds allows us to study dependence of Cepheid PL relations on metallicity in the wide range of metallicities covered by these three galaxies. The slopes of PL relations in IC1613 are identical as in the Magellanic Clouds. The comparison of brightness of Cepheids with the ...

Environmental Research Database

ObjectivesThe practical exploitation of tidal stream energy is limited by man's activities in coastal waters: navigation, fishing and~%~leisure pursuits. It is important therefore to make the best use of the sites, which are available. The main objective of the~%~Proposed study is to assess the limits imposed by waves on the performance of tidal stream rotors, and to investigate way:~%~in which these limits might be related by refinements in rotor design and the control of operating conditions. Secondary~ [continued...]DescriptionHorizontal aids wind turbines have been recognised as one of the most successful renewable energy saving devices. The use of the similar concept as a 'tidy stream rotor' in offshore environment appears to be even more compelling. However, the application of this concept will require the confirmation of various operational and environmental limitations due to complexities of offshore environment ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The postulate that negative-energy particles do not exist (travelling forward in time) leads automatically to the 'Reinterpretation Principle' by Stueckelberg and by Feynman. It has been already shown that such a 'principle', assumed as the Third postulate of special relativity, ensures the validity of the law of (retarded) casuality both in standard relativity and in (extended) relativity with tachyons and with Superluminal inertial frames. Our Thir postulate, moreover, allows predicting antiparticle existence in a purely relativistic context. In this paper it is shown that the Third postulate is enough to implement the law of casuality even in macrophysics, when usual macro-objects interact with micro-tachyons and macrotachyons. To that aim, some tachyon kinematics is further developed, which can be useful even in understanding elementary-particle interactions (and may be hadron structure). Many other ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

A historical background is first given in which the role of biomass is described in relation to its competition with fossil biomass for the production of chemicals and energy. Occurrences of reserves from both sources are then compared. Petrochemical and biomass routes are then analyzed in terms of their relative competitive advantages. The oleochemical and biotechnology cases are analyzed in more detail as examples of biomass utilization. Latin American examples of industrial manufacturing of biomass derived chemicals are then provided. Alcochemicals are analyzed in detail as well as essential oils and other chemicals. Finally, references are made to regional Latin American initiatives regarding biomass and the objectives, organization and nature of the initiative are presented.

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

OBJECTIVES: To assess the suitability of analyzing functional images of brain serotonin (5-HT) synthesis with statistical parametric mapping (SPM), and to investigate further possible sex-related regional...Full Text Available

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The objective of SCK-CEN's R and D programme on decision strategy research are (1) to support and advise the Belgian authorities on specific problems concerning existing and potential hazards from exposure to ionising radiation, both in normal and emergency situations; (2) to perform research on relevant topics that might have an important impact on decision making related to nuclear applications, including social and economic sciences. Main achievements in this area in 1999 are described.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This paper proposes a novel and efficient algorithm to obtain optimal generation dispatch reflecting the operator's intention in power system rescheduling. In optimal system operation, various objectives, such as economy, quality and transmission security, need to be achieved simultaneously. However, these objectives are often contradictory and in a trade-off relationship with respect to each other thus making it difficult to handle this class of problem by conventional approaches. In the proposed algorithm, optimal generation dispatch is formulated as a multi-objective optimization problem. A fuzzy coordination technique based on fuzzy set theory is used to obtain an optimal solution. Evaluation indices composed of fuel cost, transmission line overload and AFC regulation capacity margin are measured by the membership functions, and multi-objective optimization is solved by maximizing the ...

CERN Document Server

Experimental results show that certain message passing algorithms, namely, Survey Propagation, are very effective in finding satisfying assignments for random satisfiable 3CNF formulas which are considered hard for other SAT heuristics. Unfortunately, rigorous understanding of this phenomena is still lacking. In this paper we make a modest step towards providing rigorous explanation for the effectiveness of message passing algorithms. We analyze the performance of Warning Propagation, a popular message passing algorithm that is simpler than Survey Propagation. We show that for 3CNF formulas drawn from a certain distribution over random satisfiable 3CNF formulas, commonly referred to as the planted-assignment distribution, running Warning Propagation in the standard way (run message passing until convergence, simplify the formula according to the resulting assignment, and satisfy the remaining subformula, if necessary, using a simple "off the shelf" heuristic) works when the ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

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

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The objective of this study is development of technology on chicken yard design and its environment control. For this objective, the micro processor interface techniques and related programming techniques have been surveyed, and the chicken yard environment monitoring system has been developed that equipped with micro computer and signal measurement module. Software has also been developed that operated the system and analyzes measured data. By using micro computer and signal input/output module, the system can have various functions, such as monitoring, alarm, and data analysis function. Three dimensional graphic modeling of a chicken yard is performed using graphic package in this study. Application of three dimensional modeling technique make it easy to design chicken yard. 9 figs. (Author)

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Objective. Preterm neonates are susceptible to infection due to a combination of sub-optimal immunity and increased exposure to invasive organisms. Invasive fungal infections are associated with significant morbidity and mortality among preterm infants cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is a component of the innate immune system, which may be especially important in the neonatal setting. The objective of this study was to investigate the presence of any association between MBL gene polymorphism and nosocomial invasive fungal infection in preterm neonates. Methods. Codon 54 (B allele) polymorphism in exon 1 of the MBL gene was investigated in 31 patients diagnosed as nosocomial invasive fungal infection and 30 control preterm neonates. Results...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

This report documents the research activities by Rogers and Associates Engineering Corporation on grant DE-FG03-93ER61600 during the funded project period from August 1993 to April 1996. The objective of this research was to characterize the mechanisms and rates of radon gas penetration of the different structural domains of the concrete components of residential floor slabs, walls, and associated joints and penetrations. The research was also to characterize the physical properties of the concretes in these domains to relate their radon resistance to their physical properties. These objectives support the broader goal of characterizing which, if any, concrete domains and associated properties constitute robust barriers to radon and which permit radon entry, either inherently or in ways that could be remediated or avoided.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

We present the results of Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) imaging of a sample of 19 high-mass passively evolving galaxies with 1.2 < z < 2, taken primarily from the Gemini Deep Deep Survey (GDDS). Around 80% of galaxies in our GDDS sample have spectra dominated by stars with ages #approx#>1 Gyr. Our rest-frame R-band images show that most of these objects have compact regular morphologies which follow the classical R "1"/"4 law. These galaxies scatter along a tight sequence in the size versus surface brightness parameter space which defines the Kormendy relation. Around one-third (3/10) of the massive red objects in the GDDS sample are extraordinarily compact, with effective radii under 1 kpc. Our NICMOS observations allow the detection of such systems more robustly than is possible with optical (rest-frame UV) data, and while similar systems have been seen at z ...

Science.gov (United States)

In an era of unprecedented technological advancement and economic expansion, construction practice continues to evolve but construction education has not changed appreciably since the 1990s. This schism has prompted industry, government, and other key constituents to question the relevancy and efficacy of current programs. The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) Engineering Criteria 2000 and the American Council for Construction Education (ACCE) emphasizes outcomes over process, and provides an opportunity for stakeholders to help universities define educational goals and objectives and design a curriculum to meet the desired outcomes. While the need for curriculum modification has been acknowledged, the industry position was amorphous and anecdotal and therefore difficult to address. Qualitative methodologies such as formal surveys and structured interviews can be used to capture and quantify industry expectations of the needed attributes ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

US Department of Energy (DOE) Order 5400.1 requires the preparation of environmental monitoring plans and implementation of environmental monitoring programs for all DOE facilities. The order identifies two distinct components of environmental monitoring, namely effluent monitoring and environmental surveillance. In general, effluent monitoring has the objectives of characterizing contaminants and demonstrating compliance with applicable standards and permit requirements, whereas environmental surveillance has the broader objective of monitoring the effects of DOE activities on on- and off-site environmental and natural resources. The purpose of this document is to support the Environmental Monitoring Plan for the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) by describing the groundwater component of the environmental surveillance program for the DOE facilities on the ORR. The distinctions between groundwater effluent monitoring and groundwater surveillance ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The objective of this project was to identify needs for environmental research development and demonstration projects that have the potential to improve the performance of oil and gas exploration, drilling, and production technologies for maximum recovery of domestic petroleum resources under optimal environmental and economic conditions. To achieve this objective several areas of work were addressed. The first task was to compile as much related data as possible. This was achieved by literature searches of a number of petroleum-related data bases. After acquiring sufficient background on environmental and economical areas that should be expanded, experts who are knowledgeable in these areas were contacted to further define specific issues. More than 33 identified areas were submitted to an in-house panel at NIPER to assure that the final environmental research demonstration and development needs that ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Development of renewable energy systems for remote communities is gaining interest among government, utilities, NGOs and the communities themselves as a means of improving lifestyles of community members and showcasing renewable energy systems. The Huu-ay-aht First Nation, whose traditional territory is located on the west side of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, is a community which has energy related problems and energy related opportunities. The objective of this study is to assess possible energy options for the Huu-ay-aht First Nation traditional territory. Current and future energy services within the territory were used as the starting point for developing energy system options. Extensive consultation with community members was instrumental in clearly defining the objectives of the study and understanding the territory's energy demand. The energy demand assessment included an estimation of ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The evaluation of radon concentration measurements in newly developing geothermal reservoirs with the objective of determining the ability of measured changes in noncondensible gas components, such as radon, to predict changes in the thermodynamic properties of the reservoir is described. This ability would be especially useful in liquid-dominated resources, where changes in steam fraction are sensitive to changes in reservoir temperature and fluid enthalpy. Radon measurements were made in samples separated by phase at the outlets of a prototype rotary separator turbine. The data were examined in relation to the thermodynamic properties of the geofluids supplied by the test well.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

In the present paper a review of the Dutch RAS programme is presented. The objectives and achievements of the programme are described. Special attention is given to a recent assessment of the international status of P and T that has been made for the Dutch authorities. The major conclusion of this assessment is that P and T is an important instrument in the management of nuclear waste to achieve the technical limits (ALARA) with respect to radiotoxicity of the waste inventory as well as radiological effects of the disposal. The technology for P and T is, however, only partially available at present and recommendations for the directions of the RAS programme are given. (orig.).

CERN Document Server

In the present paper we prove moderate deviations for a Curie-Weiss model with external magnetic field generated by a dynamical system, as introduced by Dombry and Guillotin-Plantard. The results extend those already obtained in the case of a constant external field by Eichelsbacher and L\\"owe. The Curie-Weiss model with dynamic external field is related to the so called dynamic Z-random walks. We also prove a moderate deviation result for the dynamic Z-random walk, completing the list of limit theorems for this object.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brief comments are given on the evolution of the institutional nature of ENEL (Italian Electricity Board) as it relates to the framework of legislation for the nationalization of the utility in December, 1962. Special attention is given to the development of legislative criteria to allow the creation of a rate structure, in the case of autoproduction by industry, that would stimulate national economic growth. A discussion is also made of the changing role of ENEL as it responds to the planning objectives cited in the Italian National Energy Plan which calls for a more integrated effort by the regional governments and the Electricity Board in the management of natural resources.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The objectives of this project was to: (1) quantify the pore scale mechanisms that determine the wettability state of a reservoir, (2) study the effect of crude oil, brine and mineral compositions in the establishment of mixed wet states, (3) clarify the effect of mixed - wettability on oil displacement efficiency in waterfloods, (4) develop a new tracer technique to measure wettability, fluid distributions, residual saturation's and relative permeabilities, and (5) develop methods for properly incorporating wettability in up-scaling from pore to core to reservoir scales.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The use of reversible pump/turbine sets in pumped storage has created a requirement for rapid reversibility. Softstart technology, based on static frequency converters (SFC) has evolved to such an extent that it is now the best choice for serving this purpose, both from a technical and from an economic point of view. The objective of our paper is to give the owners of pumped storage plants and those persons responsible for the selection, the operation or the maintenance of the electrical equipment the necessary insight into the SFC functions, features and all other application related aspects, to facilitate their decision making process. Case studies are included.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Summary The objective of this study was to examine the role of root carbohydrate levels and metabolism in the waterlogging tolerance of contrasting mung bean genotypes. An experiment was conducted with two cultivated mung bean (Vigna radiata) genotypes viz., T44 (tolerant) and Pusa Baisakhi (PB) (susceptible), and a wild Vigna species Vigna luteola under pot-culture to study the physiological and molecular mechanism of waterlogging tolerance. Waterlogging resulted in decrease in relative water content (RWC), membrane stability index (MSI) in root and leaf tissues, and chlorophyll (Chl) content in leaves, while the Chl a/b ratio increased. Waterlogging-induced decline in RWC, MSI, Chl and increase in Chl a/b ratio was greater in PB than V. luteola and T44. Waterlogging caused decline in tot...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

In the United States, approximately 20% of all workers who died on the job in 2007 were foreign-born. The objective of this study was to describe trends in occupational fatalities among foreign-born workers. An analysis of fatal injuries among foreign-born workers in the US occurring from 1992 through 2007 was conducted using the Bureau of Labor Statistics? Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. Individual characteristics, employment characteristics, injury events and industry employment were summarized and evaluated for trends. Both the number and proportion of foreign-born workers who died from a traumatic work-related injury increased substantially over the time period studied. The proportion who were men, aged 25?44?years, Hispanic, non self-employed, employed by business establishment...

CERN Document Server

We present evidence in favour of a link between the luminosity radiatively dissipated in the central engine of radio-loud Active Galactic Nuclei and the kinetic power in their jets. This piece of evidence is based on the relation we find between the luminosity in broad emission lines and the kinetic power in pc-scale radio jets, for a sample of radio-loud quasars for which suitable data are available in the literature. We find that the ionizing luminosity and the kinetic one are of the same order of magnitude, suggesting that the processes responsible for them are somehow related. A strong magnetic field in equipartition with the radiation field could be responsible for regulating both processes. BL Lac objects seem to follow a similar behaviour, but with comparatively fainter broad line emission.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Objectives Our purpose was to evaluate interaction of green tea consumption and abdominal obesity as related factors for lacunar infarction in Korean women. Designs A hospital-based, incident case-control study. Settings The Prevention and Managements of Stroke in Women study. Participants Cases (n=233) of first incident lacunar infarction were enrolled and matched by age to stroke-free hospital controls (n=204). Measurements The data were collected through face-to-face interviews by well trained research assistants to assess demographic, medical, lifestyle, marital status, religions status, green tea consumptions, family history of stroke, smoking status, alcohol consumption, meat and vegetable intake frequency, and past history of hypertension. Biochemical analysis, fasting blood specime...

Environmental Research Database

Objectives1. To create a strong, interdisciplinary evidence base about the relationships linking ecosystems, agrobiodiversity, wild biodiversity, and sustainable livelihoods, including the use of trade-off analysis (modeling the relationships between agricultural productivity, levels of biodiversity, and ecosystem resilience); crop evolutionary studies (wild relative/crop interactions) and socioeconomic, cultural, and nutritional studies of the contribution of biodiversity to different livelihoods asset [continued...]DescriptionAgriculture, ecosystems, and humans have co-evolved over millennia in the Andean-Amazonian region, creating the richest of all Vavilov centers of crop origin and diversity. The conservation of a wide range of domesticated crops and landraces (i.e., indigenous, ancestral varieties or cultivars that are distinct, uniform, and stable) and their co-evolution with crop wild relatives (CRW) has been ...

Science.gov (United States)

BackgroundNatural disasters result in significant numbers of disabling impairments. Paradoxically, however, the traditional health system response to natural disasters largely neglects health-related rehabilitation as a strategic intervention.ObjectivesTo examine the role of health-related rehabilitation in natural disaster relief along three lines of inquiry: (1) epidemiology of injury and disability, (2) impact on health and rehabilitation systems, and (3) the assessment and measurement of disability.DesignQualitative literature review and secondary data analysis.ResultsAbsolute numbers of injuries as well as injury to death ratios in natural disasters have increased significantly over the last 40 years. Major impairments requiring health-related rehabilitation include amputations, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries (SCI), and long bone fractures. Studies show that persons with ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The objective of this study is to develop a method to aid in the selection of an overburden handling system in surface coal mining. The selection procedure consists of three major parts. The first part is aimed at rating the equipment's potential to perform the environmental protection related activities and then integrating this rating into the system selection process. The second part is an engineering analysis of the design of pit layouts and the operation of alternative overburden handling systems. The third part consists of a cost and sensitivity analysis of alternative systems on different mining situations. Specifically, the work includes: (1) a Delphi study to determine the magnitude of the environmental impacts and to quantify the relationship between mining practices and environmental remedies, (2) a scoring model to set up an index of the relative capability of equipment to do the environmental ...

CERN Document Server

We analyze archived Chandra and XMM-Newton X-ray observations of 536 Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 5 (DR5) quasars (QSOs) at 1.7 <= z <= 2.7 in order to characterize the relative UV and X-ray spectral properties of QSOs that do not have broad UV absorption lines (BALs). We constrain the fraction of X-ray weak, non-BAL QSOs and find that such objects are rare; for example, sources underluminous by a factor of 10 comprise $\\la$2% of optically-selected SDSS QSOs. X-ray luminosities vary with respect to UV emission by a factor of $\\la$2 over several years for most sources. UV continuum reddening and the presence of narrow-line absorbing systems are not strongly associated with X-ray weakness in our sample. X-ray brightness is significantly correlated with UV emission line properties, so that relatively X-ray weak, non-BAL QSOs generally have weaker, blueshifted CIV$\\lambda$1549 emission and broader ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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 ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The topic of supervised learning within the conceptual framework of artificial neural network (ANN) models is addressed. An ANN is a parallel distributed processing system that consists of many computationally simple processing elements interconnected through uni-directional weighted connections. Such networks, which are roughly patterned after biological nervous systems, have been proposed for use in areas in which the traditional von Neumann computer architecture has been relatively unsuccessful. Learning in these networks is accomplished through the use of algorithms that adjust the values of the connection weights. The work presented here addresses the issue of improving the rate at which ANNs can learn to achieve the mapping of an input pattern to a desired output pattern. The most successful learning algorithms for accomplishing this task are based on gradient descent error minimization techniques. However, the large amount of training time that such ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lectin is a generic name of sugar binding protein in living organisms. With an objective to clarify physiological functions of lectin in marine invertebrates and utilize it as a useful material in the bio-chemical industry, studies were carried out on the chemical structure, distribution in living organisms and structural changes of lectin. Lectin is involved with such physiological actions as immunity reactions, generation and differentiation, Ca fixation and symbiosis. Lectin is one of the main components of lymph fluid in shellfish and crustacean, and is a multi-functional polymer that is related with foreign substance recognition, Ca transport, and shell formation. Lectin of a certain kind shows strong actions to accelerate cell division. Organs and cells were cultivated for lectin producing organs and lectin producing cells to verify the production thereof. Elucidation was attempted in a molecular level on such physiological functions as ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The second regular inspection of No.2 plant in Sendai Nuclear Power Station was carried out from October 5, 1987 to January 8, 1988. the parallel operation was resumed on December 8, 1987, 65 days after the parallel off. The facilities as the object of inspection were the reactor proper, reactor cooling system, measurement and control system, fuel facilities, radiation control facilities, waste facilities, reactor containment installation, and emergency power generation system. On these facilities as the object of inspection, the appearance, disassembling, leak, function, performance and other inspections were carried out, and abnormality was not found at all. The works related to this regular inspection were accomplished within the range of allowable dose based on the relevant laws. The main reconstruction works carried out during the period of this regular inspection were the change of the degree of enrichment from 3.15 ...

CERN Document Server

The traditional way of estimating the gravitational field from observed motions of test objects is based on the virial relation between their kinetic and potential energy. We find a more efficient method. It is based on the natural presumption that the objects are observed at a random moment of time and therefore have random orbital time phases. The proposed estimator, which we call "orbital roulette", checks the randomness of the phases. The method has the following advantages: (1) It estimates accurately Keplerian (point-mass) potentials as well as non-Keplerian potentials where the unknown gravitating mass is distributed in space. (2) It is a complete statistical estimator: it checks a trial potential and accepts it or rules it out with a certain significance level; the best-fit measurement is thus supplemented with error bars at any confidence level. (3) It needs no a priori assumptions about the distribution of orbital ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The first offshore wind farm in Sweden; Bockstigen, consists of five 500 kW stall controlled wind turbines on mono pile foundations. The main objectives of the technical evaluation are to verify the original design assumptions made for a load carrying mono pile and bedrock, investigate offshore power production versus onshore ditto as well as to determine park effects and analyse meteorological multi-mast statistics which serve as reference data to a newly developed computer code for offshore wind energy potential mapping. The 'main' measurement system has continuously been acquiring data at 1 and 20 Hz/channel since the summer of 1998. A 40 m meteorological mast was built within the wind farm in the summer of 1999 in order to acquire relatively undisturbed wind speed data from 'free' sectors as well as to enable wake measurements. The mono pile and tower of one of the turbines are equipped with strain gauges ...

Environmental Research Database

ObjectivesThe overall aim of this proposal is to make use of the unique opportunity afforded by the 2010 Amazonian Drought in order to quantify the basin-wide impacts of an intense forest fire season on above and below-ground carbon stocks and ecophysiological changes in forest functioning. The specific objectives relating to our research questions are: O1. Assess the causes and spatial extent of the 2010 drought in terms of basin-wide rainfall anomalies and water deficits and their relationship wi [continued...]DescriptionDespite an 82% decline in deforestation rates in Amazonia, fires are still on the rise. 2010 has been a year of severe drought and fire in Amazonia. Over the last months (July and August) the number of fire counts has reached 80% of the 2005 values, which was characterized as the drought of the century. Through the beginning of September, fire outbreaks have intensified in southwest Amazonia, including ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This summary denotes the progress made by the Exploratory Technology Research (ETR) Program for Electrochemical Energy Storage during calendar year 1992. The primary objective of the ETR Program, which is sponsored by the US Department of Energy (DOE) and managed by Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL), is to identify electrochemical technologies that can satisfy stringent performance, durability and economic requirements for electric vehicles (EVs). The ultimate goal is to transfer the most-promising electrochemical technologies to the private sector or to another DOE program (e.g., SNL`s Electric Vehicle Advanced Battery Systems Development Program, EVABS) for further development and scale-up. Besides LBL, which has overall responsibility for the ETR Program, LANL and BNL have participated in the ETR Program by providing key research support in several of the program elements. Program consists of three major elements: Exploratory Research; Applied Science Research; ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

A method has been developed for calibration of CT-numbers to volumetric electron density distributions using tissue substitutes of known elemental composition and experimentally determined electron density. This information have been used in a dose calculation method based on photon and electron interaction processes. The method utilizes a convolution integral between the photon fluence matrix and dose distribution kernels. Inhomogeneous media are accounted for using the theorems of Fano and O'Connor for scaling dose distribution kernels in proportion to electron density. For clinical application of a calculated dose plan, a method for prediction of accelerator output have been developed. The methods gives the number of monitor units that has to be given to obtain a certain absorbed dose to a point inside an irregular, inhomogeneous object. The method for verification of dose distributions outlined in this study makes it possible to exclude the treatment ...

Science.gov (United States)

PMID:4472709

CERN Document Server

Breakthrough

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The objective of the three-phase Holly Sugar Geothermal Project was to replace fossil fuels with geothermal energy for sugar beet processing at the Holly Sugar plant located in Brawley, California, in a technically straightforward, economically sound and environmentally acceptable manner. The first phase of the project, discussed in this final report, encompassed the design and analysis of a geothermal industrial heat system for Holly Sugar and addresses: (1) assessment of the geothermal resource; (2) development of a preliminary system design; (3) analysis and publication of an environmental analysis and monitoring report; (4) preliminary economic analyses; (5) dissemination of project related information; and (6) the development of a proposal for the follow-on phases.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The direct injection of steam into a water pool is a method of heat transfer used in many process industries. The amount of research in this area however is limited to the nuclear industry, with applications relating to reactor cooling systems. Electrical resistance tomography (ERT), a low cost, non-invasive and which has high temporal resolution characteristics, can be used as a visualization tool for the resistivity distribution for the steam injection into water pool such as IRWST. In this paper, three dimensional resistivity distribution of the process is obtained through ERT using iterative Gauss-Newton method. Numerical experiments are performed by assuming different resistive objects in the water pool. Numerical results show that ERT is successful in estimating the resistivity distribution for the injection of steam in the water pool

CERN Document Server

The diffuse morphology and transient nature of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) make them difficult to identify and track using traditional image processing techniques. We apply multiscale methods to enhance the visibility of the faint CME front. This enables an ellipse characterisation to objectively study the changing morphology and kinematics of a sample of events imaged by the Large Angle Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and the Sun Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation (SECCHI) onboard the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO). The accuracy of these methods allows us to test the CMEs for non-constant acceleration and expansion. We exploit the multiscale nature of CMEs to extract structure with a multiscale decomposition, akin to a Canny edge detector. Spatio-temporal filtering highlights the CME front as it propagates in time. We apply an ellipse ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

November 1989, marked the beginning of a new three-year cycle of DOE grant support, in connection with which the program underwent a major reorganization. This document presents the progress on the three objectives of the present program which are: to isolate by the technique of two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-D PAGE), proteins of special interest because of the relative mutability of the corresponding gene, establish the identity of the protein, and, for selected proteins, move to a characterization of the corresponding gene; to develop a more efficient approach, based on 2-D PAGE, for the detection of variants in DNA, with special reference to the identification of mutations in the parents of the individual whose DNA is being examined; and, to continue an effective interface with the genetic studies on the children of atomic bomb survivors in Japan, with reference to both the planning and implementation of new studies at ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Backgrounds and Aims The stem growth habit, determinate or indeterminate, of soybean, Glycine max, varieties affects various plant morphological and developmental traits. The objective of this study is to identify the effect of stem growth habit in soybean on the stomatal conductance of single leaves in relation to their leaf morphology in order to better understand the ecological and agronomic significance of this plant trait. Methods The stomatal conductance of leaves on the main stem was measured periodically under favourable field conditions to evaluate gmax, defined as the maximum stomatal conductance at full leaf expansion, for four varieties of soybean and their respective determinate or indeterminate near isogenic lines (NILs). Leaf morphological traits including stomatal density, ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The Heat Cycle Research Program, which is conducted for the Department of Energy, has as its objective the development of the technology for effecting the improved utilization of moderate temperature geothermal resources. The current testing involves the investigation of the performance of binary power cycles utilizing mixtures of non-adjacent hydrocarbons as the working fluids, with supercritical vaporization and in-tube condensation. The utilization of these concepts will improve the net geofluid effectiveness (net plant output per unit mass of geofluid) about 20% over that of a conventional binary power plant. The major prerequisite for this improvement is the achievement of integral, countercurrent condensation. Results are presented for testing of the performance of the condenser at different tube inclinations. The performance in the vertical orientation is better than in either the horizontal or inclined orientations. 7 refs., 8 figs.

CERN Document Server

This Chapter develops a realist information-theoretic interpretation of the nonclassical features of quantum probabilities. On this view, what is fundamental in the transition from classical to quantum physics is the recognition that \\emph{information in the physical sense has new structural features}, just as the transition from classical to relativistic physics rests on the recognition that space-time is structurally different than we thought. Hilbert space, the event space of quantum systems, is interpreted as a kinematic (i.e., pre-dynamic) framework for an indeterministic physics, in the sense that the geometric structure of Hilbert space imposes objective probabilistic or information-theoretic constraints on correlations between events, just as the geometric structure of Minkowski space in special relativity imposes spatio-temporal kinematic constraints on events. The interpretation of quantum probabilities is more subjectivist in spirit ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Purpose: To evaluate a simple method for quantification of focal activity in bone scintigraphy (BS). Material and methods: The gamma camera was calibrated using a phantom. Quantitative bone scintigraphy (QBS) was performed on 11 men recently diagnosed with prostate cancer (PCa), for whom routine BS showed involvement of the skeleton. Following endocrine therapy for 4 to 8 months, a second QBS was performed. Changes in QBS values were then compared to changes in serum levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA). Results: PSA response indicating regression of PCa was accompanied by a decrease in the QBS value in 8 of the 11 patients. The overall mean error of the QBS values was 15%. conclusion: QBS according to this method is a relatively simple procedure that might contribute to objective evaluation of therapeutic effects in skeletal metastases, although its validity must be tested in a larger clinical material

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The goal of this research program is to determine whether pulsed laser deposition is an effective alternative method for growing TiCN thin films. Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) is chosen because of its well-documented capability for growing uniform, stoichiometric films in ultra-high vacuum or gaseous environments. Processing of thin films by PLD is also achieved at relatively low temperatures compared with CVD processing. Given these attributes, the primary objectives in this article are to determine whether nitrogen may be readily incorporated into films resulting from the laser-ablation of TiC in an N{sub 2} environment, determine what effect nitrogen has on mechanical properties, and determine whether nitrogen incorporation is strongly influenced by processes unrelated to laser deposition (e.g., thermally-activated surface reactions).

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

DOE invites small business firms to submit proposals in this sixth annual solicitation for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Firms with strong research capabilities in science or engineering in any of the topic areas described are encouraged to participate. DOE will support high-quality research or research and development (R and D) on advanced concepts concerning important energy related scientific or engineering problems and opportunities that could lead to significant public benefit if the research is successful. Objectives of this program include stimulating technological innovation in the private sector, strengthening the role of small business in meeting Federal R and D needs, increasing the commercial application of DOE-supported research results, and improving the return on investment from Federally funded research for economic and social benefits to the Nation.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

This conference examined the potential role of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) which are gaining interest around the world. Emerging PHEV technologies were reviewed along with the role that biofuels and electricity play in their widespread use. It was attended by members of industry, academia, utilities, government and institutions to review on-going research and demonstrations of PHEV projects across North America. The purpose was to understand how PHEV technologies can be integrated into current and future transportation systems and the electrical power grid. Other objectives were to establish a primarily-Canadian network focused on PHEV-related issues to promote public engagement for the plug-in highway. The possible role of government support for PHEV research, development and commercialization was also discussed. In addition to workshops and poster sessions, this conference featured 75 presentations, of which 37 have been ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Objectives Vietnamese patients? views on healthcare are changing as surgical interventions become more commonplace, but their views on perioperative care have remained largely unstudied during this period of rapid change. This study assesses Vietnamese patients? impression of anesthesia safety and postoperative pain in relation to clinical outcomes with the aim of improving patient-centered perioperative care. Methods The study cohort consisted of 180 hospitalized patients who were followed for 24?h following abdominal surgery. The assessments of these patients on the use of anesthesia and postoperative pain were measured by means of a 5-point Likert scale survey. Perioperative events were recorded on standardized forms by medical staff. The relationship between relevant factors affecting ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Introduction: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is defined as the inability to achieve or maintain an erection sufficient for sexual activity. Objectives: ED is a common condition in psychiatric patients, which can modify their quality of life. Aims: The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence and the severity of ED in psychiatric patients. Methods: This naturalistic, observational study was conducted during a six months period. The International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) 15-item questionnaire was used to assess 144 male inpatients with different psychiatric disorders. IIEF is a brief, cross-culturally valid, self-administered scale for detecting treatment-related changes in patients with erectile dysfunction and addresses the relevant domains of male sexual function: erectile functi...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

During this quarter, work began on the regional structural and geologic analysis of the greater Green River basin (GGRB) in southwestern Wyoming, northwestern Colorado and northeastern Utah. The ultimate objective of the regional analysis is to apply the techniques developed and demonstrated during earlier phases of the project to sweet-spot delineation in a relatively new and underexplored play: tight gas from continuous-type Upper Cretaceous reservoirs of the GGRB. The primary goal of this work is to partition and high-grade the greater Green River basin for exploration efforts in the Cretaceous tight gas play. The work plan for the quarter of January 1, 1998--March 31, 1998 consisted of three tasks: (1) Acquire necessary data and develop base map of study area; (2) Process data for analysis; and (3) Initiate structural study. The first task and second tasks were completed during this reporting period. The third task was initiated and work ...

Science.gov (United States)

We present here a study based on the migration of protoplanets in an accretion disc of a forming star, as the mainly proposed scenario for the formation of planetary systems. Attention is here focused on the mutual interactions between two protoplanets, both embedded in the accretion disc, as a function of the protoplanets masses, their relative positions, the dynamic properties of the accretion disc particles. The study is performed through a 2D SPH code and preliminary results show an oscillation of the distance between the two protoplanets, together with a slow migration of the two planets towards the central star when two Jupiter-like planets are considered. Less correlated behaviour is observed when at least one of the two protoplanets has an Earth-like mass. The role played by the disc particles initial angular momentum is discussed.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

In order to promote environmental damage monitoring and environmental impacts assessment caused by mining in China, the most significant project that uses advanced Earth Observation technology to assess environmental impacts caused by mining, namely MINEO (assessment and monitoring the environmental impact of mining activities in Europe using advanced Earth Observation technology) was introduced and its enlightenment to China were investigated. It was proposed that an integrated technical framework of monitoring environmental impacts caused by mining be designed, quantitative inversion of biological and environmental parameters from RS data be emphasised, hyperspectral Remote Sensing be applied, RS and GIS be integrated with professional models, multi-object applications of RS be implemented, and related standards and specification be drawn up based on typical case study sites. 23 refs., 1 fig.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The objective of this research is to replace the current flow regime dependent interfacial area correlations in the thermal-hydraulic system analysis codes with an interfacial area transport equation, which dynamically models two-phase flow regime transitions. The interfacial area transport equation applicable to bubbly flows has been developed based on mechanistic modeling of bubble interaction. Detailed experiments have been performed for bubbly conditions in 2.54, 5.08 and 10.16-cm ID pipes to benchmark the model. This new approach predicts the continuous changes of the interfacial area and will eliminate artificial bifurcations stemming from the use of the static flow regime transition criteria. This paper presents the preliminary results of incorporating the one-group transport equation into the USNRC consolidated code, currently under development. The framework for the two-group transport equation and the necessary constitutive relations ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

In this paper, we develop a batch fuzzy learning vector quantization algorithm that attempts to solve certain problems related to the implementation of fuzzy clustering in image compression. The algorithm's structure encompasses two basic components. First, a modified objective function of the fuzzy c-means method is reformulated and then is minimized by means of an iterative gradient-descent procedure. Second, the overall training procedure is equipped with a systematic strategy for the transition from fuzzy mode, where each training vector is assigned to more than one codebook vectors, to crisp mode, where each training vector is assigned to only one codebook vector. The algorithm is fast and easy to implement. Finally, the simulation results show that the method is efficient and appears...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The EU-home team is in charge of the R and D related to the ITER baffle first wall. Five small-scale mock-ups, using Be, CFC and W tiles and different armour/heat-sink material joints under development, have been fabricated and thermomechanically tested in FE200 (Le Creusot) and JUDITH (Juelich) electron beam facilities. The small-scale mock-ups have been submitted to thermo-mechanical fatigue tests (up to failure using accelerating techniques). The objective was to determine the performances of the armour material joints under high heat flux cycles. (orig.)

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

ObjectiveTo address the characteristics of hearing loss in patients with Turner syndrome (TS), we evaluated hearing levels of patients with TS and analyzed causative factors.Study designThirty-three patients with TS (8 to 40 years of age) were studied through the use of audiological measurements, and causative factors were explored.ResultsTwenty cases (35 of 66 ears tested) showed high-frequency (8 kHz) sensory neural hearing loss (HFQ-SNHL). Fifteen cases (26 ears) and 15 cases (24 ears) of the impaired 20 cases were unresponsive to distortion-product otoacoustic emissions and transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions, respectively. HFQ-SNHL showed little relation to the history of middle ear infection and puberty, although middle ear infections were seen in 11 of the 20 cases. The hearing t...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Objective.The interest of dental research in metal-free restorations has been rising in the last 20 years following the introduction of innovative all-ceramic materials in the daily practice. In particular, high strength ceramics and related CAD/CAM techniques have widely increased the clinical indications of metal-free prostheses, showing more favourable mechanical characteristics compared to the early ceramic materials.The purpose of the present paper is providing a brief review on the all-ceramic dental materials, evaluating pros and cons in the light of the most recent scientific results and of the authors? clinical experience.Materials. A structured review of the literature was given on the basis of medical and engineering papers published in the last decades on the use of dental cera...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

I. S. Kirbis, P. Maxwell, M. S. Flear, K. Miller and M. Ibrahim External quality control for immunocytochemistry on cytology samples: a review of UK NEQAS ICC (cytology module) results Objective:- To date, external quality control for immunocytochemistry on cytology samples is provided only by the United Kingdom national external quality assessment service for immunocytochemistry and in situ hybridisation (UK NEQAS ICC & ISH). For the purpose of this study a retrospective analysis of a comprehensive collection of quality-related data regarding immunocytochemistry on cytology samples collected through this service was analysed. Methods:- The quality of immunocytochemical reactions, using on-line collected data, was analysed for the last 23 UK NEQAS ICC cytology module external quality asses...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

'The overall objective of the basic research grant is to characterize the potential of common hydrocarbon contaminants in ecosystems to act as endocrine disruptors. The three major lines of research include (1) a biotechnology based screening system to identify potential hormone mimics and antagonists; (2) an animal screening system to identify biomarkers of endocrine effects. and (3) a literature review to identify compounds at a variety of DOE sites that need to be examined for endocrine disrupting effects. By relating results obtained from this research project to contamination problems at various DOE sites. CBR will provide data and information on endocrine disrupting contaminants to DOE for consideration in risk analyses for determining clean-up levels and priorities needed at the sites.'

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Gastrointestinal patches represent a novel multiparticulate drug delivery system able to increase the intestinal absorption of drugs with poor bioavailability. The number of patches to administer is a critical issue since it is related to the surface and drug concentration at the absorption site. The objective of this article is to evaluate the effect of the number of administered patches on the final absorption of leuprolide, a peptide chosen as model drug, assuming complete adhesion of all the devices to the intestinal membrane. The same dose of leuprolide was encapsulated into 2, 4 and 6 patches; the resulting intestinal absorption profiles were measured with the Ussing chamber ex vivo experimental setup and compared between them. The results showed that varying the number of patches, t...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Objective: Sarcopenia of legs is an important cause of physical dysfunctions, frailty and dependence. Many predisposing and underlying mechanisms of sarcopenia, including age, sedentary life style, oxidative stress, insulin resistance, and low testosterone levels, are also known to be related to atherosclerosis, which is another leading cause of morbidity and mortality in elderly subjects. In this study, we investigated our hypothesis that sarcopenia and atherosclerosis are associated with each other to facilitate mutual abnormalities. Methods: Study was performed in apparently healthy 496 middle-aged to elderly persons recruited consecutively among the visitors to the medical check-up program, Anti-Aging Doc, in a University hospital, from March 2006 to December 2007. Mid-thigh muscle cro...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Adventure based counselling is a short-term experiential psychotherapeutic approach, which utilises adventurous activities and being in natural environmental in order to facilitate therapeutic change in clients. The present paper critically appraises the results of a qualitative study that investigated how clients with self-reported anxiety and depression experienced participating in an innovative counselling intervention with combined individual counselling with such an adventurous outdoor transaction. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, as described by Smith and Osborn (2008), was used in order record and analyse the experiences of four male and six female students who were treated at the Teesside's University Counselling Service. Interviewees perceived the counselling sessions as ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Background: As the global population ages, support for family caregivers who provide the bulk of care to community-dwelling older people is becoming ever more important. However, in many countries, homecare-service practitioners currently do not follow a systematic approach to assessing and responding to caregiver needs. Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of caregivers and practitioners who took part in a field test of the Family Caregivers Support Agreement (FCSA) tool, a modified version of the Carers Outcome Agreement Tool (COAT) initially developed as the result of an Anglo-Swedish study. Both the COAT and the FCSA are designed to facilitate partnerships between caregivers and practitioners so that needs assessment and subsequent support services are negot...

Environmental Research Database

Objectives~%~ To quantify the volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions arising from the composting of a range of municipal and~%~ industrial wastes.~%~~%~ To relate the VOC emissions to the material being processed and the process conditions.~%~~%~ To confirm the findings of the above activites by monitoring full-scale composting operations.~%~~%~ To develop predictive models of VOC emissions in relation to waste feedstock and process conditions.~%~~%~ To produce guidance for plant designers, operators a [continued...]DescriptionA recent study of three composting plants undertaken for the Environment Agency has confirmed earlier work suggesting that waste composting can be a source of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. However, these experiments were restricted to garden and kitchen waste composting schemes and it was not possible to measure ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Polyethylene gas piping is expected to be in service for times on the order of 50 years depending on service conditions. Therefore research research on piping materials and pipes has two principal objectives: (a) developing methods for predicting when a pipe will fail and (b) improving the material for piping. The prediction of long time failure hinges on the development of short time test methods which relate to long time failure. The improvement in the behavior of current materials also hinges on the use of test methods of short duration relative to the anticipated life time of the pipe in service. One of the primary criterion for an acceptable test method is that it produces the same type of failure as is observed after long time failure in service. It has been found that P.E. pipe material fails in a brittle mode after long periods of time. The failure mode is called brittle because there is little microscopic ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Abstract Objective: This study aims to gain an overview of hot topics related to research focused on Chinese herbal drugs by authors inside China and outside of China in the past 10 years. Methods: PubMed/MEDLINE was utilized in order to investigate and select research that was published on ?Chinese herbal drugs?? from 1998 to 2007, by authors located both inside and outside of China (MeSH terms were downloaded and ranked). MeSH terms that frequently appeared were identified and co-word analysis was carried out for two groups: (1) authors located in China, and (2) authors based outside of China, respectively. The hot topics concerning research into Chinese herbal drugs were concluded after cluster analysis and related document analysis. Results: For authors in the China group versus those ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The object of this Regulation is to provide for those matters that may be, or that are required to be, the subject of regulations under the Explosives Act 2003, The Regulation deals with the following maters: a) a register of authorised and prohibited explosives (Part. 2), b) the classification of explosives (Part. 3), c) matters related to licences under the Explosives Act 2003, including the types of licences, requirements for obtaining licences, certain prescribed licence conditions and certain exemptions from the requirement to have a licences (Part. 4), d) specific control measures relating to the handling of explosives (Part. 5), e) matters of a savings, transitional or administrative nature (Part. 1 and 6). This Regulation refers to the following documents: a) AS 2187, Explosives-storage, transport and use, as published by Standards Australia and in force from time to time, b) the Australian Code for the Transport of ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The objective of this report was to evaluate four possible alternative methods of preparing and packaging spent fuel assemblies for geologic disposal against the Reference Process of unmodified spent fuel. The four alternative processes were: (1) End fitting removal, (2) Fission gas venting and resealing, (3) Fuel bundle disassembly and close packing of fuel pins, and (4) Fuel shearing and immobilization. Systems analysis was used to develop a basis of comparison of the alternatives. Conceptual processes and facility layouts were devised for each of the alternatives, based on technology deemed feasible for the purpose. Assessments were made of 15 principal attributes from the technical, operational, safety/risk, and economic considerations related to each of the alternatives, including both the surface packaging and underground repository operations. Specific attributes of the alternative processes were evaluated by assigning a number for each ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This Maintenance Implementation Plan (MIP)was developed for implementation of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Order 4330.4A, A Maintenance Implementation Program (DOE 1990) which has been replaced by 4330.4B (DOE 1994) at the Hanford Site SWM complex. It addresses maintenance functions associated with SWM, which includes the field operational group and the facilities operational group. An assessment of the existing maintenance programs for SWM was performed, and the results of this assessment were evaluated to determine corrective actions required to bring Solid Waste Maintenance into compliance with the order. The objective of this MIP is to provide baseline information for the control and execution of SWM Maintenance activities relative to the requirements of Order 4330.4B, Chapter II. (Nuclear Facilities) It also describes actions that are planned to achieve compliance. Section 2.0 of this MIP summarizes the mission, history, and future ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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 ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The generation of thermal energy is the great importance for the agribusiness of dairy industry to conservation the quality of milk, taking into account that the electricity is the main source currently used for the thermal energy input. The small agribusiness dairy industry currently practiced in Brazil faces several problems related to the cost of electricity and the distance of rural properties of networks of power. In the current scenario of Brazilian dairy production, there is need for the generation of cold for the milk cooling, and also the heat for the production of hot water around 50 deg C to 60 deg C and also for cleaning of equipment used for milk production and processing. The main objective of this study is the modeling and simulation of integrated recovery process of solid waste, effluents and bioconversion. The specific project objectives are: comparison study of options and technological routes of low cost ...

CERN Document Server

Neutrosphic methods in general relativity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Full text of publication follows: General simulation objectives of any fire analysis are macroscopic in nature and deals with the grass data in respect of fire/smoke spread, structural behaviour, environmental conditions etc. However, the accuracy of predicting such macroscopic parameters is a strong function of several other microscopic parameters which govern the overall macroscopic behaviour. Some of the microscopic parameters of interesting such analysis could be buoyancy induced stable/unstable flows, relative flame behaviour, baroclinic velocity distribution etc. Only the field based fire modelling approach is capable of calculating several of these by way of detailed CFD based field modelling. One of the best known tool that could be employed for such studies is the Fire Dynamics simulator (FDS) from NIST with its popular LES based fire modelling approach. Advanced LES based fire modelling scores over the conventional RANS based ...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

When we perceive a visual object, we implicitly or explicitly associate it with an object category we know. Recent research has shown that the visual system can use local, informative image fragments...Full Text Available

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

We use UV/optical and X-ray observations of 272 radio-quiet Type 1 active galactic nuclei and quasars to investigate the C IV Baldwin Effect (BEff). The UV/optical spectra are drawn from the Hubble Space Telescope, International Ultraviolet Explorer and Sloan Digital Sky Survey archives. The X-ray spectra are from the Chandra and XMM-Newton archives. We apply correlation and partial-correlation analyses to the equivalent widths (EWs), continuum monochromatic luminosities, and ?ox, which characterizes the relative X-ray to UV brightness. The EW of the C IV ?1549 emission line is correlated with both ?ox and luminosity. We find that by regressing l?(2500 A) with EW(C IV) and ?ox, we can obtain tighter correlations than by regressing l?(2500 A) with only EW(C IV). Both correlation and regression analyses imply that l?(2500 A) is not the only factor controlling the changes of EW(C IV); ?ox (or, equivalently, the soft X-ray emission) plays a fundamental role in the ...

CERN Document Server

Real-time digital libraries based on widely distributed, high performance management of large-data-objects

CERN Document Server

We present deep images of dust continuum emission at 450, 800, and 850 micron of the dark cloud LDN 1689N which harbors the low-mass young stellar objects (YSOs) IRAS 16293-2422A and B (I16293A and I16293B) and the cold prestellar object I16293E. Toward the positions of I16293A and E we also obtained spectra of CO-isotopomers and deep submillimeter observations of chemically related molecules with high critical densities. To I16293A we report the detection of the HDO 1_01 - 0_00 and H2O 1_10 - 1_01 ground-state transitions as broad self-reversed emission profiles with narrow absorption, and a tentative detection of H2D+ 1_10 - 1_11. To I16293E we detect weak emission of subthermally excited HDO 1_01 - 0_00. Based on this set of submillimeter continuum and line data we model the envelopes around I16293A and E. The density and velocity structure of I16293A is fit by an inside-out collapse model, yielding a sound speed of ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

An outline of Manitoba Hydro's Earth Power program was presented. Details of the heat pump market in Manitoba were provided, including details of residential and commercial sales. Total residential heat pump sales amounted to 577 units in 2004, equivalent to over $11.2 million in sales. Commercial installations amounted to approximately $12.7 million. An outline of industry players was presented. The goals of Manitoba Hydro were outlined in relation to geothermal energy and the Power Smart program. Their objectives included increasing awareness of geothermal energy, making heat pumps more accessible, and improving industry infrastructure. Other objectives included educating the public about life-cycle cost implications, residential loans and commercial incentives. To date, the residential power loan has provided financing to over 300 Manitoba home owners for installations, with electrical savings of over 1.34 Gwh and ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nuclear fuel cycle activities of the former Soviet Union (FSU) have resulted in massive contamination of the environment in western Siberia. We are developing three-dimensional numerical models of the hydrogeology and potential contaminant migration in the West Siberian Basin. Our long-term goal at Pacific Northwest Laboratory is to help determine future environmental and human impacts given the releases that have occurred to date and the current waste management practices. In FY 1993, our objectives were to (1) refine and implement the hydrogeologic conceptual models of the regional hydrogeology of western Siberia developed in FY 1992 and develop the detailed, spatially registered digital geologic and hydrologic databases to test them, (2) calibrate the computer implementation of the conceptual models developed in FY 1992, and (3) develop general geologic and hydrologic information and preliminary hydrogeologic conceptual models relevant to the more detailed ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Background and objectives.Thymidylate synthase (TS) expression levels appear to be related to response to 5-fluorouracil-(5-FU)-based chemotherapy in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. Three polymorphisms have been proposed as modulators of TS expression: a tandemly repeated sequence (2R/3R) in the 5? UTR, a SNP (G > C) within the 3R allele and a 6 bp deletion in the 3' UTR.To evaluate the influence of TS expression and polymorphisms on clinical outcome of 5-FU-treated patients we performed a comprehensive genetic analysis on 63 CRC patients.Methods.TS expression levels were analyzed in normal and tumor tissues. TS coding sequence and UTR polymorphisms were investigated on DNA from normal tissue. LOH analysis was performed to determine tumor genotype.Results.A difference in disease-free sur...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A clean benchmark experiment on beryllium was performed with D-T neutrons at the FNS facility of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency. The main objective was to verify the integral data related to the tritium production on lithium isotopes. Tritium production rates, as well as activation reaction rates were measured inside the beryllium assembly that was shaped as a pseudo-cylindrical slab with an area-equivalent diameter of 628 mm and a thickness of 355 mm. Experimental results were analyzed with a three-dimensional Monte Carlo transport code MCNP-4C and FENDL/MC-2.0, JENDL-3.2/3.3 neutron transport libraries. Evaluation of reaction rates was based on the cross section data taken from the JENDL Dosimetry File and ENDF B-VI data libraries. Analysis shows that all calculation combinations (transport and activation cross section libraries) used for evaluation of reaction rates give data that is agreeable with measured values within 10%.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The Electrochemical Program at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) provides technical and programmatic support to DOE's Electric and Hybrid Propulsion Division (DOE-EHP). The goal of DOE-EHP is to advance promising electric-vehicle (EV) propulsion technologies to levels where industry will continue their commercial development and thereby. significantly reduce petroleum consumption in the transportation sector of the economy. In support of this goal, ANL provides research, development, testing/evaluation, post-test analysis, modeling, database management, and technical management of industrial R D contracts on advanced battery and fuel cell technologies for DOE-EHP. This report summarizes the battery-related activities undertaken during the period of October 1, 1991 through March 31, 1992. In this report, the objective, background, technical progress, and status are described for each task. These tasks are structured into the following ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The Electrochemical Technology Program at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) provides technical and programmatic support to DOE's Electric and Hybrid Propulsion Division (DOE-EHP). The goal of DOE-EHP is to advance promising electric-vehicle (EV) propulsion technologies to levels where industry will continue their commercial development and thereby significantly reduce petroleum consumption in the transportation sector of the economy. In support of this goal, ANL provides research, development, testing/evaluation, post-test analysis, modeling, database management, and technical management of industrial R D contracts on advanced battery technologies for DOE-EHP. This report summarizes the battery-related activities undertaken during the period of July 1, 1992 through September 30, 1992. In this report, the objective, background, technical progress, and status are described for each task. The work is organized into the following task ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

In the WWER-440 reactor the primary piping consists of six horizontal loops going radially from the pressure vessel, each loop having a horizontal steam generator. In this reactor type the relatively long primary piping with many curved sections requires special attention in order to successfully eliminate the consequences of the design basis accident. Emergency supports are located in appropriate places to restrict the movements of the pipe in 1, 2, 3 or 4 directions depending on the geometry of the pipe near the support. Under normal conditions there is a gap of some centimeters between the pipe and a support so that the pipe can be deformed freely under changing loads. In order to analyse the behaviour of the broken piping system with the support structures a computer code called PIPEBREAK has been written. The main objects in the analyses have been to calculate the deformations of the supports and to evaluate the stresses in the pipe. The ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The nuclear power industry has many applications where electrical equipment is required to operate in environments which contain high relative humidity, steam and water or chemical sprays. Equipment is susceptible to these environments by moisture entering through inherent design provisions such as O-rings and through the electrical interface. The objective of this research is to review electrical interface sealing techniques and to recommend methods for providing effective electrical interface sealing. The most common methods of sealing are the use of electrical fittings containing sealants, add-on assemblies and hardware changeout. The experience gained in several years of testing electrical interface seals on such devices as limit switches, solenoid valves and transmitters is presented to provide information on seal effectiveness and preferred application. The effectiveness of various sealing methods is discussed, each of which is dependent ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ice jamming, known to cause high water levels at even moderate river flows, is described as both the main and least understood source of ice-related bridge damages. This paper describes a joint study by the New Brunswick Department of Transportation, the Department of the Environment, local governments, and the National Water Research Institute, designed to address problems associated with the interaction of ice jams and bridges. The study consists of collecting information at each of four sites in New Brunswick including: historical data on ice jam locations, causes, and water levels; channel bathymetry, width and slope within each study centred at the respective bridge; and documentation of ice conditions throughout the ice season, including measurement of ice cover thickness, observation of breakup mechanisms, times, causes, characteristics and possible impacts of ice jam release. Data analysis will include determination of high stages due to ice jams or surges ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The objective of this study was to assess the feasibility for propane as an automotive fuel in Manitoba, by comparing the overall performance and operating costs of a test fleet operating on propane with that of a control fleet operating on unleaded gasoline. The performance of gasoline and propane was compared by using two specific tests: general driveability and relative fleet fuel consumption were determined by driver surveys and gross fuel use data from normal urban and rural vehicle operation. Specific fuel consumption was determined by controlled chassis dynamometer tests on a series of selected vehicles utilizing representative driving cycles. Fleet drivers operating propane fueled vehicles were satisfied with vehicle operation and reported similar vehicle performance with either gasoline or propane. Although there was no significant difference in specific fuel consumption, the specific energy consumption of similar vehicles was lower ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This patent discloses an oil-filled, multi-core, electric cable having three cores within a metal sheath suitable for underwater applications. Each core has a conductor surrounded by insulation and has substantially the same outer dimensions as the other cores. One conductor is made of copper and has a central oil duct. The other conductors are made of stranded aluminum wires in side-by-side and contacting relation and the ratio of the cross-sectional area of the metal of the copper conductor to the cross-sectional area of the metal of each aluminum conductor is the reciprocal of the ratio of the electrical conductivities thereof. One object of this invention is that of overcoming the drawbacks existing in the known oil-filled, multi-core cables, i.e. to provide cable which, in case of a rupture of the cable sheath, has fairly small leakages of insulating, fluid oil from the cable and at the same time permits a reduction in the weight of the ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Two of the US Department of Energy's (DOE) nuclear waste management-related goals are to ensure that waste management is not an obstacle to the further development of light-water reactors and the closure of the nuclear fuel cycle and to fulfill its institutional responsibility for providing safe storage and disposal of existing and future nuclear wastes. As part of its approach to achieving these goals, the Office of Remedial Action and Waste Technology of DOE established what is now called the Nuclear Waste Treatment Program (NWTP) at the Pacific Northwest Laboratory during the second half of FY 1982. To support DOE's attainment of its goals, the NWTP is to provide technology necessary for the design and operation of nuclear waste treatment facilities by commercial enterprises as part of a licensed waste management system and problem-specific treatment approaches, waste form and treatment process adaptations, equipment designs, and ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

This document presents the way which the 8th principle of the quality management system 'Process approach' is applied, the principle that is identified and used by international standard ISO 9000. In order to understand the evolution of the management system requirements, as used today in different activities namely, industry, services, and nuclear activities, the authors present an evolution of the quality concept and its traceability to different standards, applicable in time. There are described the requirements of ISO 9001 standard, that represents the most widely spread model for modern organization management and the IAEA concerns related to integration of the above standard requirements into the most recent safety IAEA standard 'The Management System for facilities and activities'. The IAEA Safety Standard GS-R-3 describes a management model considering both the evolution of the quality requirements into the modern management and the recovery of the ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

To dispose the radioactive waste drums, the waste form's integrity and the nuclides inventories must be assured according to the national and site waste acceptance criteria. Because they might be would gravely affected the performance objectives of disposal site. Our national regulation for the waste inventory related to 'Radioactive Waste Acceptance Criteria' requires that the activities of 13 nuclides and gross #alpha# must be measured and the 95 % of nuclides incorporated in the drum must be identified. It is very difficult to measure the radioactivity with accuracy from the regulated waste drum(200L), and have a large error in the analysis results. In present, there are two system, SGS (Segmented Gamma Scanning System) and TGS (Tomographic Gamma Scanning System) for the analysis of radionuclides from the waste drums. In general, it is known that the accuracy of TGS is below 20 % and that of SGS is below 30 %. The accuracy of TGS is better ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

In response to the need for a comprehensive and consistent approach to the complex issue of mixed waste management, a generalized methodology for remediation of a mixed waste site has been developed. The methodology is based on requirements set forth in the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and incorporates ``lessons learned`` from process design, remediation methodologies, and remediation projects. The methodology is applied to the treatment of 32,000 drums of mixed waste sludge at the Oak Ridge K-25 Site. Process technology options are developed and evaluated, first with regard to meeting system requirements and then with regard to CERCLA performance criteria. The following process technology options are investigated: (1) no action, (2) separation of hazardous and radioactive species, (3) dewatering, (4) drying, and (5) solidification/stabilization. The first two options were eliminated ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This study examines, in general, the transformation of the role of the Brazilian state to intervener in supervisory of the services, through the delegation of responsibility for the exploitation of public services to private enterprise, and the creation of regulatory agencies. The study pointing to the necessity of a legal and regulatory stable scenario in the regulation of these services, as enables of private investment mechanisms and, as a consequence of sustainable economic development. The success of the neo liberal state model is examined, specifically in relation to the market of pipeline gas distribution, showing the environmental, economic and social benefits that brought in this sector, the private investment and stability so far reasonably observed in this segment. The work also indicating, in general, the risks and issues most relevant, from the investor and markets point of view, to attract and maintain investment and to reduce the cost of private ...

CERN Document Server

We derive spin-orbit coupling effects on the gravitational field and equations of motion of compact binaries in the 2.5 post-Newtonian approximation to general relativity, one PN order beyond where spin effects first appear. Our method is based on that of Blanchet, Faye, and Ponsot, who use a post-Newtonian metric valid for general (continuous) fluids and represent pointlike compact objects with a delta-function stress-energy tensor, regularizing divergent terms by taking the Hadamard finite part. To obtain post-Newtonian spin effects, we use a different delta-function stress-energy tensor introduced by Bailey and Israel. In a future paper we will use the 2.5PN equations of motion for spinning bodies to derive the gravitational-wave luminosity and phase evolution of binary inspirals, which will be useful in constructing matched filters for signal analysis. The gravitational field derived here may help in posing initial data for numerical ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The Melt Vessel Interaction (MVI) project is concerned with the consequences of the interactions that a core melt, generated during a postulated severe accident in a light water reactor, may have with the pressure vessel. In particular, the issues concerned with the failure of the vessel bottom head are the focus of the research. The specific objectives of the project are to obtain data and develop validated models, which could be applied to prototypic plants, and accident conditions, for resolution of issues related to the melt vessel interactions. The project work has been performed by nine partners having varied responsibility. The work included a large number of experiments, with simulant materials, whose observations and results are employed, respectively, to understand the physical mechanisms and to develop validated models. Applications to the prototypic geometry and conditions have also been performed. This report is volume 1 of the ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Although the Federal Facility Agreement (FFA) addresses the entire Oak Ridge Reservation, specific requirements are set forth for the liquid low-level radioactive waste (LLLW) storage tanks and their associated piping and equipment, tank systems, at ORNL. The stated objected of the FFA as it relates to these tank systems is to ensure that structural integrity, containment and detection of releases, and source control are maintained pending final remedial action at the site. The FFA requires that leaking LLLW tank systems be immediately removed from service. It also requires the LLLW tank systems that do not meet the design and performance requirements established for secondary containment and leak detection be either upgraded or replaced. The FFA establishes a procedural framework for implementing the environmental laws. For the LLLW tank systems, this framework requires the specified plans and schedules be submitted to EPA and TDEC for ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The main object of the present study was to obtain the relationship of primary, secondary and index properties; compressibility; and angle of repose of coal ash. Representative samples of coal ash from different storage locations of Ropar thermal power plant, Punjab, were analysed. Based on test results of various primary characteristics of ash, the following observations have been made. (1) Ashes sampled for the study have a common mineralogical origin. The uniformity coefficient increases for ash collected near location of discharge compared to ash collected far from the location. (2) The void ratio extent, that is, a different of emax. or a ratio of emax. and emin. decreases with an increase of mean size. The maximum dry density obtained in dry vibration and proctor test differs for fine ash. Maximum dry density decreases and optimum moisture content increases with increase in mean size. Permeability of ash at proctor density is more, appropriately ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The objectives of this study are to make a biosensor on a trial basis which can instantaneously measure the nitrogen in wastewater, and to develop a wastewater treatment system which is capable of on-line measurement and controlling. The system provides easier operational control relating to such a high efficient treatment as the removal of nitrogen content in wastewater, serving as a solution to the eutrophication problem. It can be applied also to the analysis of fertilizer components for agriculture. Ammonia oxidizing bacteria were immobilized with cellulose acetate film, which is mounted on a diaphragm type oxygen electrode to make a sensor, and its responsibility was studied. The gradient is slow in high concentration but sharp in low concentration, and it seems possible to use it for the measurement for less than 20 ppm nitrogen concentration. The dependence of the sensor including electrodes and activity of bacteria on temperature is ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Abstract The objective of this study was to determine the functional properties of cartilaginous tissues generated by porcine MSCs isolated from different tissue sources, and to compare these properties to those derived from chondrocytes (CCs). MSCs were isolated from bone marrow (BM) and infrapatellar fat pad (FP), while CCs were harvested from the articular surface of the femoro-patellar joint. Culture-expanded CCs and MSCs were encapsulated in agarose hydrogels and cultured in the presence of TGF3. Samples were analysed biomechanically, biochemically and histologically at days 0, 21 and 42. After 42 days in free swelling culture, mean GAG content was 1.50% w/w in CC-seeded constructs, compared to 0.95% w/w in FP- and 0.43% w/w in BM-seeded constructs. Total collagen accumulation was hig...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The present work's objective is to test sampling methodologies applied on the bioremediation processes in situ, involving the establishment of sample replicates, specific laboratory procedures and its results, inedited on the referred technique. Agricultural fertilizers were used, NPK and OSMOCOTE, as biostimulants on mangroves substrates affected by petroleum activities. The tested methodology used on the experiment was based on the monitoring of this technology in aquarium with water from Sao Paulo's river and sediment contaminated by oil, realized in three steps (first pre-test, second pre-test and third pre-test) that happened between the months of August and November of 2007. The physical-chemical parameters were measured with portable devices carefully calibrated and the oil analyzed with gas chromatography. The saturated hydrocarbons (n-alkenes) had an increase on the concentrations for some aquariums and these found results do not permit ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The carbon dioxide concentration has been measured in air samples collected approximately once per week at 22 globally distributed sites during 1981-1984. All samples were analyzed on the same non-dispersive infrared analyzer apparatus. The measured concentrations are directly traceable to the WMO primary CO/sub 2/ standards. Samples which do not contain well-mixed, regionally representative air or which have been contaminated during or subsequent to sampling, have been identified. The selected data have been analyzed using an objective curve fitting method which enables improved estimation of uncertainties associated with derived parameters. The latitudinal distribution of annual mean CO/sub 2/ concentration at the network sites shows significant interannual variability possibly related to the 1982-1983 El NinoSouthern Oscillation event. No evidence was found for significant interannnual variations or trend in the phase or amplitude of the ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The DOE is conducting a comprehensive technical analysis of a flexible-fuel transportation system in the United States -- that is, a system that could easily switch between petroleum and another fuel, depending on price and availability. The DOE Alternative Fuels Assessment is aimed directly at questions of energy security and fuel availability, but covers a wide range of issues. This report examines environmental, health, and safety concerns associated with a switch to alternative- and flexible-fuel vehicles. Three potential alternatives to oil-based fuels in the transportation sector are considered: methanol, compressed natural gas (CNG), and electricity. The objective is to describe and discuss qualitatively potential environmental, health, and safety issues that would accompany widespread use of these three fuels. This report presents the results of exhaustive literature reviews; discussions with specialists in the vehicular and fuel-production industries and ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A number of binary geothermal cycles utilizing mixed hydrocarbon working fluids were analyzed with the overall objective of finding a working fluid which can produce low-cost electrical energy using a moderately-low temperature geothermal resource. Both boiling and supercritical shell-and-tube cycles were considered. The performance of a dual-boiling isobutane cycle supplied by a 280/sup 0/F hydrothermal resource (corresponding to the 5 MW pilot plant at the Raft River site in Idaho) was selected as a reference. To investigate the effect of resource temperature on the choice of working fluid, several analyses were conducted for a 360/sup 0/F hydrothermal resource, which is representative of the Heber resource in California. The hydrocarbon working fluids analyzed included methane, ethane, propane, isobutane, isopentane, hexane, heptane, and mixtures of those pure hydrocarbons. For comparison, two fluorocarbon refrigerants were also analyzed. These fluorocarbons, ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Objective was to develop a glass utilizing the silica waste material from geothermal energy production, and to supply local artists with this glass to make artistic objects. A glass composed of 93% indigenous Hawaiian materials was developed; 24 artists made 110 objects from this glass. A market was found for art objects made from this material.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Problems of classification and regression estimation in which objects are represented by multidimensional arrays of features are considered. Many practical statements can be reduced to such problems, for example, the popular approach to the description of images as a set of patches and a set of descriptors in each patch or the description of an object in the form of a set of distances from it to certain support objects selected based on a set of features. For solving problems concerning the objects thus described, a generalization of the relevance vector model is proposed. In this generalization, specific regularization coefficients are defined for each dimension of the multidimensional array of the object description; the resultant regularization coefficient for a given element in the mul...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

One example of basic and applied research at LLNL that has produced major, highly visible scientific and engineering advances has been the research related to controlled fusion energy. Continuing experimentation at LLNL and elsewhere is likely to demonstrate that fusion is a viable, inexhaustible alternative source of energy. Having conducted major fusion energy experiments for over 30 years at LLNL, it scientists and engineers recognized the enormous challenges that lay ahead in this important endeavor. To be successful, it was clear that collaborative efforts with universities, private industry, and other national laboratories would need to be greatly expanded. Along with invention and scientific discovery would come the challenge of transferring the myriad of new technologies from the laboratories to the private sector for commercialization of the fusion energy process and the application of related technologies to yet unimagined new ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

With regard to the operation of nuclear power plants, Electricite de France formally recognized in 1973 that it was necessary for safety reasons and economically acceptable to adopt organizational principles of quality assurance that would be applicable both to its own activities and to those of its suppliers. Generally speaking, the form and spirit of the quality assurance programme chosen is based largely on the Code of Practice No. 50-C-QA. In particular, the programme focuses on the flexible character of quality assurance requirements and stresses that in the final analysis product quality depends above all on those to whom the project has been assigned, because it is they who are responsible for meeting the quality objectives set. Ten years of experience with the suppliers of Electricite de France has shown that these suppliers, after some initial difficulty, have been able to adapt the application of quality assurance so as to achieve satisfactory quality as ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Promoting the exchange of information related to implementation of the As Low as Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) philosophy is a continuing objective for the Department of Energy (DOE). This report was prepared by the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) ALARA Center for the DOE Office of Health. It contains the fifth in a series of bibliographies on dose reduction at DOE facilities. The BNL ALARA Center was originally established in 1983 under the sponsorship of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to monitor dose-reduction research and ALARA activities at nuclear power plants. This effort was expanded in 1988 by the DOE`s Office of Environment, Safety and Health, to include DOE nuclear facilities. This bibliography contains abstracts relating to various aspects of ALARA program implementation and dose-reduction activities, with a specific focus on DOE facilities. Abstracts included in this bibliography were selected from ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The advantages offered by green roofs range from improvement in architectural and landscape aesthetics to reductions in building energy costs. Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) is encouraging sustainable community development through new policies and regulations that promote green roof installation on public and commercial rooftops in Seattle's urban center. An understanding of climate-specific green roof performance is required in order to develop an accurate representation of the stormwater benefits of green roofs. This paper explored the relative importance of green roofs in storm water management and low impact development (LID) in various areas of Seattle. It also examined the relative effectiveness and applicability of green roofs under various conditions and in various parts of the city compared to other LID strategies such as Seattle's natural drainage systems (NDS) designs, swales and ponds, rain gardens, rainwater ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Objective: To apply the obtained results from 3 stages of research in Chinese radiation protection field. Methods: Based on the identification of physical, chemical and biological qualities for element and its radionuclides under equilibrium condition, main application of these results in Chinese radiation protection field have been discussed by using reported methods in literature. Results: Based on developing elemental reference values of organs or tissues, whole body burdens and their distribution for Chinese Reference Man, discussed in the above 3 articles, current dietary elemental intakes of 42 elements have been updated, and related basis for certain important parameters of bio-kinetic model for use in radiation protection (for example, f_l, T_e and T_b) have been provided. The internal doses from primordial radionuclides and transfer coefficients of elements from environment into the critical organs of Chinese adult men have been ...

CERN Document Server

Pro SQL Server 2008 relational database design and implementation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

One of the refinements of modern Nuclear Medicine is the capacity of providing dynamic and kinetics images of the administered radiopharmaceutical, reproducing its transport mechanism, action sites, receptor binding and excretion route. With the continues technological advances new radiopharmaceuticals have been developed in order to express higher specificity and with higher characters of affinity between receptor/complex. One radiopharmaceutical is formed by a reagent or bio molecule that has in its structure a radioisotope, that has the objectives of carrying it to the organs of affinity or to benign or malign tumoral process. Somatostatin inhibits the growing and proliferation of several tumoral cells. Somatostatin analogs bind to somatostatic receptors that are expressed in different kind of neoplasia DOTA-LANREOTIDE (DOTALAN) is an octapeptide analog to somatostatin. The interest of labeling the bio conjugate with gallium-67 in Nuclear Medicine comes from its ...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to identify patterns of brain activation elicited by erotic visual stimuli in patients treated with either Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

To understand the function of edges in perception of moving objects, we defined four questions to answer. Is the focus point in visual motion detection of a moving object: (1) the body or the edge of...Full Text Available

Environmental Research Database

ObjectivesObjectives Not AvailableDescriptionA collaborative study of the anaerobic treatment of wastes containing recalcitrant and inhibitory compounds using the SERC Anaerobic facility, in particular biomass structure, monitoring and control, catabolism and toxicity, pre-acidification and microbial growth and mesophilic and thermophilic lignocellulose degradation.~%~

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Background and objectives: The objective of this study was to describe the prevalence of ocular fundus pathology in the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) study, a multicenter, longitudinal study...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

The looming potential of deformable alignment tools to play an integral role in adaptive radiotherapy suggests a need for objective assessment of these complex algorithms. Previous studies in this area...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

We studied multi-joint coordination during tasks of transporting real and imaginary objects with two arms. One of the arms was unexpectedly arrested in one third of trials performed. In the...Full Text Available

CERN Document Server

This paper describes a new method, HGV2C, for pattern analysis. The HGV2C method involves the construction of a computer ego (CE) based on an individual object that can be either a part of the system under analysis or a newly created object based on a certain hypothesis. The CE provides a capability to analyze data from a specific standpoint, e.g. from a viewpoint of a certain object. The CE is constructed from two identical copies of a query object, and its functioning mechanism involves: a hypothesis-parameter (HP) and infothyristor (IT). HP is a parameter that is introduced into an existing set of parameters. The HP value for one of the clones of a query object is set to equal 1, whereas for another clone it is greater than 1. The IT is based on the previously described algorithm of iterative averaging and performs three functions: 1) computation of a similarity matrix for the ...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

ObjectivesThe objectives of this study were to describe the levels of daily spiritual experiences in community-dwelling older adults, to compare levels of spiritual...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Objective:The main objective of this work was to study the antipyretic and antibacterial activity of C. erectus (Buch.-Ham.) Verdcourt leaf extract in an...Full Text Available

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Within its competence for energy research, the Bundesministerium fuer Wirtschaft und Arbeit (BMWA) (Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology) sponsors investigations into the safety of nuclear power plants. The objective of these investigations is to provide fundamental knowledge, procedures and methods to contribute to realistic safety assessments of nuclear installations, to the further development of safety technology and to make use of the potential of innovative safety-related approaches. The Gesellschaft fuer Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS) mbH, by order to the BMWi, continuously issues information on the status of such investigations by publishing semi-annual and annual progress reports within the series of GRS-F-Fortschrittsberichte (GRS-F-Progress Reports). Each progress report represents a compilation of individual reports about the objectives, work performed, results achieved, next steps of the work etc. ...

Science.gov (United States)

... operations. Of these two divisions, only the paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division can conduct a strategic forcible entry into a ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1975. USSR Zabrodskij, VA Nedavnij, OI INIS-mf--3677. Available from

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Published online before print October 4

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

ObjectivesTo examine the relationship between ordinal and cardinal valuation of health states.Study Design and...Full Text Available

Science.gov (United States)

The objective of this animation is to develop a QTL mapping population for locating and characterizing the genes responsible for resistance to tan spot disease of wheat.

Science.gov (United States)

Main purpose of mapping observations of the cloud is to make clear the mechanism of star formation and star evolution. Scientific objectives are summarized ...

Science.gov (United States)

... order probabilistic modelling, multisensor monitoring of ... object recognition, image registration and point ... of the Berkeley Continuous Media Toolkit. ...

Science.gov (United States)

The chemical analysis of lipids of Prochloron isolated from several hosts is discussed. The object

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A summary is given of the 1983 NRPB-GS1 Report on the 'Radiological protection objectives for the disposal of solid radioactive wastes'. The two principal difficulties in applying the ICRP system of dose limitation to some solid waste disposal methods are outlined. Despite these difficulties three radiological protection objectives for waste disposal were recommended based on the same fundamental principle as ICRP recommendations.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nickel-titanium alloys may coexist in more than one crystalline structure. There is a high temperature phase, austenite, and a low temperature phase, martensite. The metallurgical basis for the superelasticity and the shape memory effect relies in the ability of these alloys to transform easily from one phase to another. There are three essential factors for the orthodontist to understand nickel-titanium alloys behaviour: stress; deflection; and temperature. These three factors are related to each other by the stress-deflection, stress-temperature and deflection-temperature diagrams. This work was undertaken with the objective to analyse commercial nickel-titanium alloys for orthodontics application, using the dynamical mechanical analyser - DMA. Four NiTi 0,017 X 0,025'' archwires were studied. The archwires were Copper NiTi 35 deg C (Ormco), Neo Sentalloy F200 (GAC), Nitinol Superelastic (Unitek) and NiTi (GAC). The ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

We have studied the application of direct aperture optimization (DAO) as an inverse planning tool for breast IMRT. Additionally, we have analysed the impact of respiratory motion on the quality of the delivered dose distribution. From this analysis, we have developed guidelines for balancing the desire for a high-quality optimized plan with the need to create a plan that will not degrade significantly in the presence of respiratory motion. For a DAO optimized breast IMRT plan, the tangential fields incorporate a flash field to cover the range of respiratory motion. The inverse planning algorithm then optimizes the shapes and weights of additional segments that are delivered in combination with the open fields. IMRT plans were generated using DAO with the relative weights of the open segments varied from 0% to 95%. To assess the impact of breathing motion, the dose distribution for the optimized IMRT plan was recalculated with the isocentre sampled from a predefined ...

CERN Document Server

In recent years, with the development of microarray technique, discovery of useful knowledge from microarray data has become very important. Biclustering is a very useful data mining technique for discovering genes which have similar behavior. In microarray data, several objectives have to be optimized simultaneously and often these objectives are in conflict with each other. A Multi Objective model is capable of solving such problems. Our method proposes a Hybrid algorithm which is based on the Multi Objective Particle Swarm Optimization for discovering biclusters in gene expression data. In our method, we will consider a low level of overlapping amongst the biclusters and try to cover all elements of the gene expression matrix. Experimental results in the bench mark database show a significant improvement in both overlap among biclusters and coverage of elements in the gene expression matrix.

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This report summarises nearly 20 biosphere reports and gives a synthesis of the work performed within the SR-Site Biosphere project, i.e. the biosphere part of SR-Site. SR-Site Biosphere provides the main project with dose conversion factors (LDFs), given a unit release rate, for calculation of human doses under different release scenarios, and assesses if a potential release from the repository would have detrimental effects on the environment. The intention of this report is to give sufficient details for an overview of methods, results and major conclusions, with references to the biosphere reports where methods, data and results are presented and discussed in detail. The philosophy of the biosphere assessment was to make estimations of the radiological risk for humans and the environment as realistic as possible, based on the knowledge of present-day conditions at Forsmark and the past and expected future development of the site. This was achieved by using the best available ...

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A system for real-time neutron radiography of moving objects is described. It comprise a source adapted to generate a continuous uninterrupted series of neutron pulses. Each pulse has a predetermined peak power and duration compatible with the framing times of a real-time video imaging system. A transporter moves an object to be examined to bring sequentially position selected portions of the object in the path of the pulses. Where the object itself has moving components, pulses are sequentially incident on the object. According to any dissimilarities, the object will alter the intensity of the neutrons passing therethrough. In order to record separately the changes in the neutron intensity, for each pulse, an imager is positioned to receive the neutron beam pulses which have been altered by their passage through the object and produce ...

Science.gov (United States)

A technical committee reported on: (1) proposed water quality objectives for the San Joaquin River Basin; (2) proposed effluent limitations for agricultural drainage discharges in the basin to achieve these objectives; and (3) a proposal to regulate these discharges. The costs and economic impact of achieving various alternative water quality objectives were also evaluated. The information gathered by the technical committee will be used by the Regional Board along with other information in their review of the San Joaquin River Basin Water Quality Control Plan and their actions to regulate agricultural drainage in the San Joaquin Valley. The results of the Technical Committee's efforts as reported in Regulation of Agricultural Drainage to the San Joaquin River, August 1987. Based on the available information, the improvement in water quality resulting from implementation of the interim selenium ...

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Two-phase flow patterns and frictional pressure gradients in flow in small, rectangular channels are being studies as part of a larger research program addressing phase-change heat transfer of pure refrigerants and refrigerant mixtures in plate-fin heat exchangers. Small rectangular flow channels were selected as representative of plain fin geometries. The particular channel reported herein has dimensions of 19.05 {times} 3.18 mm. Adiabatic flows of air/water mixtures, with the flow channel horizontal and the channel exit at near-atmospheric conditions, were utilized in the experiments. Analysis and interpretation of the pressure data relative to observed flow pattern transitions led to an objective method for determining the plug/bubble-to-slug flow transition. This method, together with visual observations, supplemented with photographic data, was used to develop a flow pattern man. A comparison of existing flow pattern maps for circular ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The objectives of this research were (1) to analyze the transfers of 137Cs and 60Co in a retention pond, with emphasis on aquatic insects and (2) to determine if detectable concentrations of these radionuclides are exported by emerging aquatic insects. We analyzed the radionuclide concentrations in the following components: water solution, bottom sediments, suspended particulate matter, plankton, floating mats of filamentous algae, benthic macroinvertebrates, and emerging aquatic insects. Samples were collected quarterly from June 1981 to April 1982. The lowest concentrations (in picocuries per milliliter) occurred in solution (range: 1.4 X 10(2) to 3.2 X 10(2) for 137Cs and 8.1 X 10(-1) to 2.2 X 10(0) for 60Co). The highest concentrations (in picocuries per gram dry weight) occurred in the sediments (range: 1.5 X 10(4) to 1.1 X 10(8) for 137Cs and 1.0 X 10(2) to 4.3 X 10(6) for 60Co). The primary producers and aquatic insect consumers had concentrations of both ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Better understanding and modelling of three-phase flow through porous media is of great interest, especially for improved oil recovery methods such as gas injection processes. Early theoretical and experimental studies have already demonstrated that the wettability characteristics of the solid surface and the spreading characteristics of the fluid system hold the key roles. This observation is confirmed by our theoretical results using DLP theory on the stability and the thickness of static oil films. In most of the works related to three-phase flow processes, homogeneous wettability is assumed. There exist only a few studies demonstrating the tremendous impact of the wettability heterogeneities on gas injection. The objective of the present work is twofold: to demonstrate the effect of small scale wettability heterogeneities on gas injection efficiency, and to develop a tool to predict this impact for various patterns and spatial ...

Science.gov (United States)

The identification and characterization of carbonaceous materials (CMs) that control hydrophobic organic chemical (HOC) sorption is essential to predict the fate and transport of HOCs in soils and sediments. The objectives of this paper are to determine the types of CMs that control HOC sorption in the oxidized and reduced zones of a glacially deposited groundwater sediment in central Illinois, with a special emphasis on the roles of kerogen and black carbon. After collection, the sediments were treated to obtain fractions of the sediment samples enriched in different types of CMs (e.g., humic acid, kerogen, black carbon), and selected fractions were subject to quantitative petrographic analysis. The original sediments and their enrichment fractions were evaluated for their ability to sorb trichloroethene (TCE), a common groundwater pollutant. Isotherm results and mass fractions of CM enrichments were used to calculate sorption contributions of different CMs. The ...

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In the discussion of environmental architecture, we are conjoining two disciplines, the subject of architecture and that of ecology. At their best, green buildings are examples of applied ecology, where designers understand the constitution, organization, and structure of ecosystems, and the impacts of architecture are considered from an environmental perspective. By utilizing the concepts, methods, and language of ecology, designers can create architecture that intentionally engages the natural systems of a site. The establishment of assessment criteria implies the definition of building design criteria. If we establish criteria that are based on our best scientific understanding of environmental capacity, we will begin to develop a building stock that is sustainable. To do this we must quantify the link between the resulting environmental impacts and their cause in building production and use. This is not done in traditional building environmental impact assessment methods, which are ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1 - Description of program or function: T-HEMP3D (Transportable HEMP3D) is a derivative of the STEALTH three-dimensional thermodynamics code developed by Science Applications, Inc. Changes were made primarily in three areas: material specification, coordinate generation, and the addition of sliding surface boundary conditions. STEALTH itself is based entirely on the HEMP3D code written at LLNL. HEMP3D solves problems in solid mechanics involving dynamic plasticity and time-dependent material behavior and problems in gas dynamics. 2 - Method of solution: The equations of motion, conservation equations, and constitutive relations for stresses, strains, hydrostatic pressure, the von Mises yield condition, and artificial viscosity are solved by finite difference methods following the format of the HEMP code (NESC Abstract 775). The physical object is divided into zones defined by 8 grid points. The grid (i,j,k) moves with the material, and the mass ...

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The objectives of the project were to demonstrate and evaluate several small-scale methods of harvesting small (200 mm or less) trees and chipping them for fuel, as well as a method of processing such chips for use in dry chip-fired heating appliances. Nine field trials were conducted using various combinations of equipment. The trials consisted of 2 slash reclamation tests, 2 thinning tests, and 5 clear-cutting tests. The tests were conducted on various sites ranging from 0.2 to 1.8 hectares in area. The trees harvested were small; their average stem diameter was 70 mm. Every site was measured before harvest to predict the amount of biomass present. The amount of material obtained from the sites varied from 50% to 80% of the biomass present. Harvesting consisted of chain-saw felling and delimbing, skidding to roadside using winch, and then chipping into a 30 m{sup 3} portable bin. At the processing facility, the chips were weighed and dumped, reclaimed, metered, ...

Science.gov (United States)

Practitioners who care for pregnant women face dilemmas when their patients use illicit drugs, reject medical recommendations, or cause fetal harm. Many ethics scholars characterize those situations as maternal-fetal conflicts. In conflict-based models, maternal rights are considered to conflict with fetal rights, or moral obligations owed to pregnant women are considered to conflict with those owed to their fetuses. I offer an alternative model of pregnancy ethics by applying relational and equality-based moral theories to situations of fetal harm by pregnant women. In this model, clinicians faced with ethical dilemmas should attempt to understand pregnant women and their decisions within their broad social networks and communities, ask how the clinician's personal standpoint influences outcomes judged to be ethical, and determine whether the clinician's ethical formulations reduce or enhance existing gender, class, or racial inequality. This model focuses on the ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The objective of this research is to determine the role of DNA repair in mutagenesis and carcinogenesis in mammalian cells. Use of the host-cell reactivation viral suicide enrichment procedure was initiated in the isolation of repair-deficient mutants. Lightly mutagenized BHK cells were infected with irradiated Herpes simplex virus (HSV); several radiation-sensitive strains were isolated among the survivors of the infection. The characterization of these strains is progressing and the enrichments are continuing. That alterations in the frequency of mutation of C3H/10T 1/2 cells, occurring as a result of holding the cells in a confluent state following treatment with ethylmethane sulfonate, parallel the alterations in the frequency of neoplastic transformation was found. The repair capabilities of BHK cells were found to be intermediate in comparison to repair-proficient and -deficient human cells with regard to the reactivation of HSV treated with various ...

Science.gov (United States)

As part of the Wisconsin road weather safety initiative, the objective of this study is to assess the effects of rainfall on the severity of single-vehicle crashes on Wisconsin interstate highways utilizing polychotomous response models. Weather-related factors considered in this study include estimated rainfall intensity for 15 min prior to a crash occurrence, water film depth, temperature, wind speed/direction, stopping sight distance and deficiency of car-following distance at the crash moment. For locations with unknown weather information, data were interpolated using the inverse squared distance method. Non-weather factors such as road geometrics, traffic conditions, collision types, vehicle types, and driver and temporal attributes were also considered. Two types of polychotomous response models were compared: ordinal logistic and sequential logistic regressions. The sequential logistic regression was tested with forward and backward ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This report is the culmination of approximately three and one-half years of research on the design and demonstration of a mineral endowment appraisal system which has as its foundation a formalization of geological decisions within a probabilistic framework. Basically, the probabilistic decision structure of a geologist or team of geologists is captured in a system of computer programs which can be used by a geologist for the estimation of the magnitude of uranium endowment by providing information to this system about the states of earth processes and geologic conditions that pertain to that region being evaluated. Research performed under this contract had two main objectives: demonstration of the endowment appraisal system on the San Juan Basin of New Mexico; a comparison of estimates by the appraisal system with estimates made using other methodologies. The scope of this report is restricted to a demonstration of the appraisal system and the comparison of ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Photographic surface photometry in the BV system was carried out two Southern SO's galaxies, NGC 2855 and NGC 6771. B and V isophote maps were obtained as well as geometric and integrated parameters as position angles, inclination, diameters, magnitudes and integrated colors. Each luminosity profile was decomposed into bulge and disk contributions, each component being fitted to convenient laws. For NGC 2855 de Vaucouleurs law described well the bulge whereas the disk showed an exponential distribution. For NGC 6771 the barred nuclear bulge as well as the disk was best fitted by exponential laws. Additional luminosity components due to an inner fragmented ring were identified in NGC 2855 and due to both a quite prominent lens and well defined ring in NGC 6771. In this galaxy the minor axis, oriented almost edge-on, present clues of another luminosity component besides the bulge and the thin disk. For both galaxies the disk central surface brightness was found to be fainter than the ...

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This Site Maintenance Plan has been developed for Pacific Northwest Laboratory`s (PNL) Nonnuclear Facilities. It is based on requirements specified by US Department of Energy (DOE) Order 4330.4A, Chapter I, Change No. 4. The objective of this maintenance plan is to provide baseline information for compliance to the DOE Order 4330.4A, to identify needed improvements, and to document the planned maintenance budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 1993 and to estimate maintenance budgets for FY 1994 and FY 1995 for all PNL facilities. Using the results of the self-assessment, PNL has selected 12 of the 36 elements of the Maintenance Program defined by DOE Order 4330.4A, Chapter I, for improvement. The elements selected for improvement are: Facility Condition Inspections; Work Request (Order) System; Formal Job Planning and Estimating; Work Performance (Time) Standards; Priority System; Maintenance Procedures and Other Work-Related Documents; Scheduling ...

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A bottom-up approach is used here to combine carbon nanotubes synthesized by CVD and organically capped platinum nanoparticles electrocatalyst exhibiting a direct electrochemical activity towards oxygen reduction. Both nano-objects are handled in liquid suspension and are associated together in a controlled way. The nanocomposite liquid dispersions can be precisely controlled in terms of platinum nanoparticles to carbon nanotubes weight ratios (NP/NT) which correspond to different coverages of nanotubes by nanoparticles. Electrodes with low to ultra-low platinum loadings can then be prepared on porous fuel cell carbon supports by filtration. The direct electrochemical activity towards aqueous oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) of electrodes with platinum loadings ranging from about 1 to 60 {mu}g/cm{sup 2} is reported without any activation step in order to keep the features of the nanoparticles intact. Before that, we studied the responses obtained when impregnating ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alter both oil crisis, of 1973 and 1979, a bad effect of the elevated costs and continuously increment of the oil prices was noted, for this reason, the interest for renewable energies sources widely available in developing countries was increased. All over the world, governments have formulated main objectives for energies savings and search for friendly technologies, taking into account the effects related with the environment. The imminent scarcity of fossil fuels has made humanity the rational use of primary energies, as a result of these; new plants with improved technology have been conceived taking into account energy savings and efficiency improvement. In this context, biomass gasification technologies are important, since they consist in techniques of parallel production of electricity and heat from just one fuel. This work consists in the development of a gasifier down draft of 100 kW for an internal combustion engine, which includes ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Studies conducted at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington have focused on developing and evaluating the reliability of nondestructive testing (NDT) approaches for coarse-grained stainless steel reactor components. The objective of this work is to provide information to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on the utility, effectiveness and limitation of NDT techniques as related to inservice testing of primary system piping components in pressurized water reactors. We examined cast stainless steel pipe specimens containing thermal and mechanical fatigue cracks located close to the weld roots and having inner and outer diameter surface geometrical conditions that simulate several water reactor primary piping configurations. In addition, segments of vintage centrifugally cast piping were examined to characterize the inherent acoustic noise and scattering caused by grain structures and to ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

We have studied the dissolution behavior of uraninite, becquerelite, schoepite and uranophane. The information obtained under a variety of experimental conditions has been combined with extensive solid phase characterizations, performed in both leached and unleached samples. The overall objective is to construct a thermodynamic and kinetic model for the long-term oxidation alteration of UO{sub 2}(s), as an analogy of the spent nuclear fuel matrix. We have determined the solubility product for becquerelite (logK{sub s0} 32.7{+-}1.3) and uranophane (logK{sub s0} = 7.8{+-}0.8). In some experiments, the reaction progress has shown initial dissolution of uranophane followed by precipitation of a secondary solid phase, characterized as soddyite. The solubility production for this phase has been determined (logK{sub s0} = 3.0{+-}2.9). We have studied the kinetics of dissolution of uraninite, uranophane and schoepite under oxidizing conditions in synthetic granitic ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

As for Wolsung NPP unit 1, radiation shielding analysis was performed by using neutron diffusion codes, one-dimensional discrete ordinates code ANISN, and analytical methods. But for Wolsung NPP unit 2, 3, and 4, two-dimensional discrete ordinates code DOT substituted for neutron diffusion codes. In other words, the method of analysis and computer codes used for radiation shielding of CANDU 6 type reactor have been improved. Recently Monte Carlo MCNP code has been widely utilized in the field of radiation physics and other radiation related areas because it can describe an object sophisticately by use of three-dimensional modelling and can adopt continuous energy cross-section library. Nowadays Monte Carlo method has been reported to be competitive to discrete ordinate method in the field of radiation shielding and the former has been known to be superior to the latter for complex geometry problem. However, Monte Carlo method had not been used ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This study evaluated potential hydrogeologic mechanisms that may account for increasing moisture content conditions within the sediments of hydroelectric earth dams. Many such dams in Canada are reaching their life spans of approximately 40 years, therefore this study is considered to be an important and timely undertaking. The objective was to develop a method to numerically assess transient groundwater flow processes within old earth structures. The focus of this study was central Manitoba's Grand Rapids Generating Station where progressive movement within the till overburden has been observed since 1977. The possible source of water which is causing higher moisture content and weakness in the overburden material may be the slow wetting-up of the core and progressive increase in seepage to the downstream side. The evolution of flow through the core was evaluated with a modelling program called FRAC3D-VS which accounts for transient groundwater flow under ...