British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

In this study, we investigate the relationship between income and environmental quality for Turkey at two levels. First, the relationship between the CO2 emissions and per capita income is examined by the help of a time series model using cointegration techniques. In the second stage, the relationship between income and air pollution is investigated by using PM10 and SO2 measurements in Turkish provinces. In this part of the study panel data estimation techniques are utilized. The time series model covers 1968-2003, and the panel data model covers 1992-2001 including observations from 58 provinces. A monotonically increasing relationship between CO2 and income is found in the long-run according to time series analysis. On the other hand, panel data analysis indicates an N-shape relationshi...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

In this study, we investigate the relationship between income and environmental quality for Turkey at two levels. First, the relationship between the CO2 emissions and per capita income is examined by the help of a time series model using cointegration techniques. In the second stage, the relationship between income and air pollution is investigated by using PM10 and SO2 measurements in Turkish provinces. In this part of the study panel data estimation techniques are utilized. The time series model covers 1968-2003, and the panel data model covers 1992-2001 including observations from 58 provinces. A monotonically increasing relationship between CO2 and income is found in the long-run according to time series analysis. On the other hand, panel data analysis indicates an N-shape relationship for SO2 and PM10 emissions. Therefore, the results ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

An important aspect of water quality modeling is forecasting water quality variables for real-time management and control applications to enhance, maintain and sustain desirable water qualities. The major objective of this research is to develop daily time series models for forecasting river dissolved-oxygen (DO). The modeling approach adopted herein combines deterministic and stochastic concepts for determining properties of the DO process based on time series data and dynamic mechanisms governing the said process. This is accomplished by deriving a general DO stochastic model structure based on a modified Streeter-Phelps DO-BOD dynamic model. Then some types of nonlinear models namely, self-exciting threshold autoregressive-moving average (SETARMA), amplitude-dependent autoregressive (ADAR) and bilinear (BL) models, ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

No abstract prepared.

KoreaScience (Korea)

Full Text Available

Science.gov (United States)

... 15 minutes Time lapse video Time Lapse Recorder (Panasonic) SVHS 4-seconds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The quality insurance in radiotherapy in the frame of highly complex technical process as Intensity modulated radiotherapy (I.M.R.T.) needs independent control of the delivered dose to the patient. Actually, up to now, most of the radiotherapy treatments rely only on computed dosimetry through a rather complicated series of linked simulation tool. This dosimetry approach requires also qualified treatment means based on cautious quality insurance procedures. However, erroneous parameters could be difficult to detect and systematical errors could happen leading to radiotherapy accidents. In this context, in vivo dosimetry has a critical role of final control of the delivered dose. As many beam incidences and ports are used for any photon therapy treatment, external control could be very tedious and time consuming. Therefore, innovations are needed for in vivo dosimetry to provide ergonomic and efficient ...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

BackgroundOver the past decade, many investigators have used sophisticated time series tools for the analysis of genomic sequences. Specifically, the correlation of the nucleotide...Full Text Available

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Purpose - Holding the number of outside directorships constant, this paper aims to test whether executive directors from superior performing firms are subsequently rewarded with better quality outside directorships. Design/methodology/approach - The quality of new outside directorship appointments is modelled using a two-step Heckman selection procedure to control for the probability of acquiring a new outside board seat. Outside directorship quality is estimated using an index formed from series of observable firm-specific characteristics proxying for the following three latent aspects of quality: prestige, reputational risk and monetary rewards. The index aggregates across these three dimensions to produce an overall quality score, with higher scores signifying higher quality directorshi...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

BackgroundStatistical autoregressive analyses of direct and delayed density dependence are widespread in ecological research. The models suggest that changes in ecological factors...Full Text Available

CERN Document Server

For the last years, time-series mining has become a challenging issue for researchers. An important application lies in most monitoring purposes, which require analyzing large sets of time-series for learning usual patterns. Any deviation from this learned profile is then considered as an unexpected situation. Moreover, complex applications may involve the temporal study of several heterogeneous parameters. In that paper, we propose a method for mining heterogeneous multivariate time-series for learning meaningful patterns. The proposed approach allows for mixed time-series -- containing both pattern and non-pattern data -- such as for imprecise matches, outliers, stretching and global translating of patterns instances in time. We present the early results of our approach in the context of monitoring the health status of a person at home. The purpose is to build a behavioral profile ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The paper describes the latest approach to quality engineering in the design process as applied by Ontario Hydro throughout the various phases of the project life cycle for Ontario Hydro generating stations and related facilities. Ontario Hydro has long recognized that the high quality and performance required in nuclear generating stations start in the design process and can best be achieved through an adequate and proper quality engineering programme in design. The current approach has evolved over a period of six years and represents a meaningful and effective series of requirements, functions and activities, which are used to ensure safety, reliability, economy and environmental acceptability of nuclear generating stations. (author).

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Recently, the forecasting technologies for network traffic have played a significant role in network management, congestion control and network security. Forecasting algorithms have also been investigated for decades along with the development of Time Series Analysis (TSA). Chaotic Time Series Analysis (CTSA) may be used to model and forecast the time series by Chaos Theory. As one of the prevailing intelligent forecasting algorithms, it is worthwhile to integrate CTSA and Support Vector Machine (SVM). In this paper, after the vulnerabilities of Local Support Vector Machine (LSVM) in forecasting modeling are analyzed, the Dynamic Time Wrapping (DTW) and the ?Dynamic K? strategy are introduced, as well as a short-term network traffic forecasting algorithm LSVM-DTW-K based on Chaos Theory an...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Real-time neutron radiography (NTV) has been used for practical applications at the Kyoto University Reactor (KUR). At present, however, the direct image from the TV system is still poor in resolution and low in contrast. In this paper several image improvements are demonstrated, such as a frame summing technique, which are effective in increasing image quality in neutron radiography. Image integration before the A/D converter has a beneficial effect on image quality and the high quality image reveals details invisible in direct images, such as: small holes by a reversed image, defects in a neutron converter screen through a high quality image, a moving object in a contoured image, a slight difference between two low-contrast images by a subtraction technique, and so on. For the real-time application a contouring operation and an averaging approach can also be ...

CERN Document Server

We propose a numerical method for resummation of perturbative series, which is based on the stochastic perturbative solution of Schwinger-Dyson equations. The method stochastically estimates the coefficients of perturbative series, and incorporates Borel resummation in a natural way. Similarly to the "worm" algorithm, the method samples open Feynman diagrams, but with an arbitrary number of external legs. As a test of our numerical algorithm, we study the scale dependence of the renormalized coupling constant in a theory of one-component scalar field with quartic interaction. We confirm the triviality of this theory in four and five space-time dimensions, and the instability of the trivial fixed point in three dimensions.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

The sediment content of the Yellow River is resulted from the interactions of natural, economic, and social factors, so it includes some evolutive information of the Yellow River Basin system. Sediment contents from 1952 to 2007 on Toudaoguai, Tongguan, Huayuankou and Lijin sections along the river are chosen as the study time series, and correlation dimensions (D 2), Kolmogorov entropies (K 2), and Hurst indexes (H) of the time series were calculated. Correlation dimensions on Toudaoguai, Tongguan, Huayuankou, and Lijin sections are 3.24, 5.69, 6.57 and 7.34 respectively, and the Kolmogorov entropies are 0.13, 0.37, 0.40 and 0.38 respectively, which indicates that the systems controlled by different sections along the Yellow River are chaotic systems and the chaotic degrees increase gradu...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This report is the conclusion of a three-part series that describes and attempts to explain regional coal quality variations within the foothills/mountains region of Alberta. Proximate and ultimate analysis variables, plus some vitrinite reflectance and maceral analyses, are examined for the Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous Kootenay Group, Lower Cretaceous Luscar Group, the Lower Paleocene Coalspur Formation, and the Upper Paleocene Obed-Marsh coal-bearing units. The study has two major components: a statistical analysis and mapping of coal quality data provided by the Energy Resources Conservation Board; and a 'geologic models' section, in which regional and local in-seam coal quality variations are examined from a geological perspective. The first component is designed to describe, characterize, and set limits for the coal quality variables, while the second component ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This article illustrates what typical accept/reject curves might look like and discusses progress made in developing the required inspection techniques for flaw dimensioning. Consideration is given to the relative significance of blunt versus planar types of flaws, and of inherent limitations to the depths of certain types of flaws. Finally, consideration is given to the realities of implementing proposed procedures under field conditions. These are summarized in a series of technical options for implementation of program results.

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

BackgroundIt has been reported that the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) influences the interannual variation of endemic cholera in Bangladesh. There is increased...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

BackgroundCells dynamically adapt their gene expression patterns in response to various stimuli. This response is orchestrated into a number of gene expression modules consisting...Full Text Available

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

The aim of a joint effort by different research teams was to provide an improved procedure for enzyme activity profiling of field-sampled ectomycorrhizae, including recommendations on the best conditions and maximum duration for storage of ectomycorrhizal samples. A more simplified and efficient protocol compared to formerly published procedures was achieved by using manufactured 96-filter plates in combination with a vacuum manifold and by optimizing incubation times. Major improvements were achieved by performing the series of eight enzyme assays with a single series of root samples instead of two series, reducing the time needed for sample preparation, minimizing error-prone steps such as pipetting and morphotyping, and facilitating subsequent DNA analyses due to the reduced sequencing ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Radon concentrations were continuously measured outdoors, in living room and basement in 10-minute intervals for a month. The radon time series were analyzed by comparing algorithms to extract phase-space dynamical information. The application of fractal methods enabled to explore the chaotic nature of radon in the atmosphere. The computed fractal dimensions, such as Hurst exponent (H) from the rescaled range analysis, Lyapunov exponent (#lambda# ) and attractor dimension, provided estimates of the degree of chaotic behavior. The obtained low values of the Hurst exponent (0time series, but the positive values of the #lambda# pointed out the grate sensitivity on initial conditions and appearing deterministic chaos by radon time variations. The calculated fractal dimensions of attractors indicated more ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Westinghouse Electric Corporation is aggressively applying cost-time management to bolster timely, cost-effective cleanup and waste management activities at sites it manages for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Cost-time management is a diagnostic technique which is applicable to virtually any process. It identifies opportunities to reduce cycle-times and costs. When applied to cleanup and waste management at DOE facilities, cost-time profile analysis helps identify actions to improve productivity and quality. Moreover, by reducing cycle-times and costs, it achieves significant savings to taxpayers. (author)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

During earlier work rapid and highly sensitive Jet-REMPI (resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization) mass spectrometry was applied for monitoring the effluent from thermal treatment of a filter dust during a de novo test under laboratory conditions. The sample, from ESP-Field 2 of an iron ore sintering plant, was already loaded with dioxins ({sigma}PCDD/F = 132 ng/g), their precursors (PCBz, PCPh) and other products of incomplete combustion. Heating filter dust in a temperature window 200-350 C under a flow of air results in further formation of these pollutants. As described elsewhere, on-line detection was mostly carried out using a non-selective ionization mode, to measure a wide range of compounds simultaneously. The changes of output suggest that the reaction products increase in chlorination level with time. Another explanation is that higherchlorinated compounds appear later as a consequence of lower volatility and stronger adsorption. However, due to mass ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The Ordos Basin of north-central China is well known for vast energy resources. This nonmarine interior basin developed on the North China-Korean platform following the Late Triassic Indochina orogeny and, for a time, contained a large freshwater lake prior to being uplifted into its present form at the close of the Mesozoic. Lower to Middle Jurassic coal occurs in the fluviolacustrine Yan'an Formation along the southern margin of the basin in the Huanglong coalfield. In the northeast part of the field, the formation ranges from 0 to 180 m in thickness and is divided into five fining-upward members, each representing a regressive-transgressive lacustrine cycle. Low-sulfur, high-volatile bituminous coal is complexly distributed in the lowest member of the Yan'an Formation. Deposition of this member was influenced by two tectonic events that controlled coal occurrence. First, regional uplifts were produced by the Late Triassic Indochina orogeny and ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A study was conducted under the auspices of the Coordinating Research Council, Inc. (CRC) to assess the potential effects of gasoline octane quality on vehicle acceleration performance. Twelve participating laboratories, representing both the oil and the automotive industries, tested a total of 182 vehicles as part of the 1989 CRC Octane Number Requirement Survey. The vehicles consisted of 78 with electronic knock control systems and 104 without. All testing was performed using the 1989/1990 CRC FBRU fuel series. The results showed that acceleration performance of vehicles with knock sensors was significantly affected by gasoline octane quality. Octane effects on acceleration performance were most pronounced at maximum-throttle (detent) conditions and at octane levels below the vehicles' octane requirements; however, some knock-sensor vehicles did show improved acceleration performance with fuels at octane levels ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

For more than thirty years, the IAEA has published a set of documents aimed at the limitation of the radiation exposure of the population from various nuclear activities. In particular, in 1994 the IAEA published Technical Reports Series No. 364, Handbook of Parameter Values for the Prediction of Radionuclide Transfer in Temperate Environments. Over the years, it has proved to be a valuable reference for radioecologists, modellers and authorities in Member States, and has been quoted in numerous impact assessments. Technical Reports Series No. 364 was based on a review of available data up to the end of 1992. However, a number of high quality critical reviews have been produced in recent years for some of the transfer parameter values which merit consideration. Thus, it was assumed that there is sufficient new information available to warrant reconsideration of a significant proportion of the values given in Technical ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This work presents a method to monitor the stability of a power system, after a major disturbance, using of adaptive time series approach. The model parameters are updated every time the prediction stage is completed. Besides, according to the values of the parameters, one may conclude the system will be unstable, will go to be a damped sine wave or even a damped exponential. (author) 29 refs., 12 figs., 3 tabs.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Changes in soil properties and vegetable growth were quantified on a low-fertility tropical soil. Four treatments (two composts, urea, and control) were applied to an Oxisol (Rhodic Haplustox, Wahiawa series) in a field on Oahu, Hawaii. Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa, Chinensis group) and eggplant (Solanum melongena) were grown sequentially as test crops. Soil quality as measured by hot-water-soluble carbon, dehydrogenase activity, and cation exchange capacity (CEC) increased by compost amendments. Total organic carbon or carbon dioxide (CO2) respiration rate did not correlate with the soil amendments. Nitrogen (N) nutrition was the main factor that improved growth and carotenoid content in cabbage. The urea treatment promoted better growth in cabbage, whereas good-quality compost, made of...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Surface quality is one of the most important criteria for establishing the optimum cutting parameters needed to perform a machining process. Usually, the evaluation of the degree of the surface finishing requires to apply metrological techniques which involve times out in the production. As a consequence of this, a loss in both the economy of the process and the fiability of the tests reproducibility can be produced. In this work a relation between cutting force and surface roughness has been studied for the turning process of an Al-Cu alloy. From this relation, the surface quality of the machined samples can be evaluated by using the cutting forces values acquired during the cutting process. (Author) 8 refs.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

This paper present the results of a series of calculations made to determine the "2"3"8Pu production potential of several advanced target assembly designs in the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF). These calculations show that by using advanced target designs the intimately mix the "2"3"7Np target material with an yttrium hydride moderator, the FFTF has the potential of producing up to 30 kg of high-quality "2"3"8Pu per year.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

The objectives of this paper are to: quickly outline the extent of the care gap in osteoporosis; define T-2 (knowledge) translation and its relationship to quality improvement; discuss the barriers to best practice in osteoporosis care after a fracture; convey the importance of rigor in design and evaluation of translational interventions by drawing upon examples from the broader literature; describe in some detail a series of post-fracture intervention trials conducted in Alberta, Canada; and make some conclusions specifically about osteoporosis interventions and more generally about T-2 translational research.

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Incidence of esophageal cancer (EC) is rising more rapidly in the Western world than that of any other cancer. Despite advances in therapy, more than 50% of patients have incurable disease at the time...Full Text Available

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

A few studies have found poor semen quality in sons whose mothers have received fertility treatment, but it is unknown whether the poor semen quality is related to the infertility treatment or to infertility per se, for example, whether it is caused by hereditable factors. Using data from a population-based, Danish follow-up study conducted in 2005-2006, the authors of the present study examined whether sons of subfertile couples who had not received fertility treatment had poorer semen quality than sons of fertile couples. Among the 311 participants, an inverse association between parental waiting time to pregnancy and both semen volume and total sperm count was observed (p trend = 0.04 and p trend = 0.046, respectively). Semen volume in sons of subfertile parents (pregnant after ?1 ye...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This study estimates the electricity demand function for the residential sector of South Korea with the aim of examining the effects of improved energy efficiency, structural factors and household lifestyles on electricity consumption. In the study, time series data for the period from 1973 to 2007 is used in a structural time series model to estimate the long-term price and income elasticities and annual growth of underlying energy demand trend (UEDT) at the end of the estimation period. The result shows a long-term income elasticity of 1.33 and a long-term price elasticity of -0.27% with -0.93% as the percentage growth of UEDT at the end of the estimation period. This result suggests that, in order to encourage energy efficiency in the residential sector, the government should complement the market based pricing policies with non-market policies such as minimum energy efficiency standards and public ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

This study estimates the electricity demand function for the residential sector of South Korea with the aim of examining the effects of improved energy efficiency, structural factors and household lifestyles on electricity consumption. In the study, time series data for the period from 1973 to 2007 is used in a structural time series model to estimate the long-term price and income elasticities and annual growth of underlying energy demand trend (UEDT) at the end of the estimation period. The result shows a long-term income elasticity of 1.33 and a long-term price elasticity of -0.27% with -0.93% as the percentage growth of UEDT at the end of the estimation period. This result suggests that, in order to encourage energy efficiency in the residential sector, the government should complement...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and a group of expert collaborators are using the U.S. Department of Energy Hanford Site 300 Area uranium plume within the footprint of the 300-FF-5 groundwater operable unit as a site for an Integrated Field-Scale Subsurface Research Challenge (IFRC). The IFRC is entitled Multi-Scale Mass Transfer Processes Controlling Natural Attenuation and Engineered Remediation: An IFRC Focused on the Hanford Site 300 Area Uranium Plume Project. The theme is investigation of multi-scale mass transfer processes. A series of forefront science questions on mass transfer are posed for research that relate to the effect of spatial heterogeneities; the importance of scale; coupled interactions between biogeochemical, hydrologic, and mass transfer processes; and measurements/approaches needed to characterize and model a mass transfer-dominated system. This Quality Assurance Project Plan provides the ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Exploding bridgewire detonators with fine PETN powder were fabricated by the almost same method as the assembling process of ordinary electric detonators and the relationship between the detonating condition (bridge current waveform) in the single detonator initiation and the transmission time was studied. In addition, its jitter was also examined by simultaneous initiation of the detonators connected in series. It was revealed that the transmission time varied almost linearly against the inverse number of the rate of current rise and this variation was mainly due to the time needed for the bridgewire explosion. The jitter of the transmission time was within 0.1 microsecond. Although the cause of the jitter could not be determined, it was considered feasible to reduce the time jitter further by minimizing dimentional tolerances of fixing plugs and improving the ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Objective: To evaluate the effect of PTBD in treating malignant biliary obstruction caused by hilar cholangiocarcinoma. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data of 103 patients(M:62,F:41)with malignant obstructive jaundice caused by hilar cholangiocarcinoma. After taking percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography, metallic stent or plastic external catheter or external-internal catheter for drainage was deployed and then followed up was undertaken with clinical and radiographic evaluation and laboratory. examination. Results: All patients went though PTBD successfully (100%). According to Bismuth classification, all 103 cases consisted of I type(N=30), II type (N=30), III type (N=26) and IV type (N=17). Thirty-nine cases were placed with 47 stents and 64 eases with drainage tubes. 4 cases installed two stems for bilateral drainage, 2 cases installed two stents because of long segmental strictures with stent in stent, 1 case was placed with three stents, and 3 cases installed stent ...

CERN Document Server

Involving effects of media, opinion leader and other agents on the opinion of individuals of market society, a trader based model is developed and utilized to simulate price via supply and demand. Pronounced effects are considered with several weights and some personal differences between traders are taken into account. Resulting time series and probabilty distribution function involving a power law for price come out similar to the real ones.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

We report the homodyne detection of phase modulation sidebands induced on a laser beam by a coherently bunched electron beam. This provides a sensitive and nonperturbing measurement of complex Fourier time series components of the electron density. A proof-of-principle measurement of the microwave frequency component of electron density in a crossed-field device, which agrees well with a calculation of the same quantity, is reported.

Wastenet

... (restricted)] 98-118 Oil prices and competitiveness: time series evidence from six oil-producing countries by Mohammad R. Jahan-Parvar & Hassan Mohammadi [Downloadable! (restricted)] 2008, Volume 35, Issue 6 444-485 The S-shaped labor supply schedule: evidence from industrialized countries by Maryke ...

Science.gov (United States)

This report considers the use of a submillimeter wavelength space-based imaging radar. The main application envisioned is midcourse decoy discrimination for strategic defense, for which it would have the capability of producing a series of images, in real time, at strategic ranges, with less than meter scale resolution and with modest power requirements. Undoubtedly, there are other applications. The requirements for a SAR and ISAR imaging radar at submillimeter wavelength are determined, and the prospect for the development of RF sources to power the radar is examined.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

PurposeTo evaluate the effect of vitrectomy timing on outcomes for patients with crystalline retained lens fragments receiving vitrectomy 3+ days after cataract surgery. DesignSystematic review and meta-analysis of retrospective interventional cases series. MethodsSearches of MEDLINE (English, 1/1/85 through 7/30/2010) and article reference lists. Articles were screened for patients with crystalline retained lens fragments after surgery for age-related cataracts, discussion of vitrectomy timing, and, for the meta-analysis, patient totals for at least 1 outcome and multiple time periods, 10+ patients, and mean follow-up ?3 months. Outcomes included visual acuity, retinal detachment, increased intraocular pressure, intraocular infection/inflammation, cystoid macular edema, and corneal...

CERN Document Server

The measurements performed at CERN on prototypes and first pre-series main dipole magnets confirm the need of an active control of the Large Hadron Collider to compensate the dynamic field changes during the proton beam injection and acceleration. This control requires in turn an accurate forecast of the magnetic field in the accelerator. We plan to predict the field on the basis of two elements: theoretical field models tailored through the accumulated knowledge of the main magnets during series tests, and an on-line measurement system running on few reference magnets tracking the LHC current cycle. Data coming from this "Multipoles Factory" will result from the fusion of the two sources. Based on this system we foresee to deliver calibration information for pre-defined accelerator cycles as well as real time information for the active control. In this paper we report the conceptual design of the system, and we discuss the ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) is a 400 Mwt sodium-cooled fast reactor operating at the Hanford Engineering Development Laboratory, Richland, Washington, to conduct fuels and materials testing in support of the US Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR) program. Startup and initial power testing included a comprehensive series of nonnuclear and nuclear tests to verify the thermal, hydraulic, and neutronic characteristics of the plant. A specially designed series of natural circulation tests were then performed to demonstrate the inherent safety features of the plant. Early in 1982, the FFTF began its first 100-day irradiation cycle. Since that time the plant has operated very well, achieving a cycle capacity factor of 94% in the most recent irradiation cycle. Seventy-five specific test assemblies and 25,000 individual fuel pins have been irradiated, some in excess of 80 MWd/Kg.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

There exist certain systems which generate real-time data at high bandwidth, but do not necessarily require the long-term retention of that data in normal conditions. In some cases, the data may not actually be useful, and in others, there may be too much data to permanently retain in long-term storage whether it is useful or not. However, certain portions of the data may be identified as being vitally important from time to time, and must therefore be retained for further analysis or permanent storage without interrupting the ongoing collection of new data. We have developed a system, Mahanaxar, intended to address this problem. It provides quality of service guarantees for incoming real-time data streams and simultaneous access to already-recorded data on a best-effort basis utilizing any spare bandwidth. It has built in mechanisms for reliability and indexing, can scale upwards ...

Science.gov (United States)

By gas-source molecular-beam epitaxy, we obtained a device-quality GaInP epitaxial layer lattice matched to (100)-GaAs substrates, with a photoluminescence efficiency comparable to that of a crystal grown by liquid-phase epitaxy. A GaInP/AlInP double heterostructure laser with a GaInP active layer was fabricated, and pulsed lasing operation was achieved at room temperature for, we believe, the first time.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The Council for Research in Agriculture, Agricultural Engineering Research Unit (CRA-ING) in Rome, Italy has developed an innovative short-rotation forestry (SRF) harvesting system. The system involves a 2 step operation, notably the tree felling and inter-row windrowing performed by a feller windrower equipment; and subsequent chipping performed by a harvester equipped with a pick-up device. The low moisture content of the windrowed trees at harvesting time affects their physical qualities and mechanical strength throughout the chipping operation. The purpose of this study was to analyze the moisture losses of windrowed trees, in relation to the windrow location, on field storage and weather condition. In addition, the study characterized chips quality changes during on field storage by the 2 different harvesting systems. The innovative 2-step system was compared with the traditional 1-step harvesting system.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Two series of diffusion tests were performed to examine the degradation of dichloromethane (DCM) as it diffuses through clay. The first series showed the use of a synthetic leachate with no significant initial bacterial population diffusing through a plug of intact clay; there was an induction period of 95--135 d, during which diffusion was as expected in the absence of degradation, followed by a second stage, where degradation occurred with an apparent half-life of less than 55 d at a temperature of 24 C. The second series of tests examined the diffusion of an actual leachate from the Keele Valley Landfill (KVL) (which provided both nutrients and a source of bacteria), through a compacted clay. In these tests, the induction period was reduced to 40--60 d, after which the apparent half-life was 20 d or less at 27 C. The diffusion coefficient for DCM was approximately 8 {times} 10{sup {minus}10} m{sup ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Production costs for commercial-sized Populus plantations were developed from a series of research programs sponsored by the US Department of Energy's Short Rotation Woody Crops Program. Populus hybrid planted on good quality agricultural sites at a density of 2100 cuttings ha{sup {minus}1} was projected to yield an average of 16 Mg (OD) ha{sup {minus}1}yr{sup {minus}1}. Discounted cash flow analysis of multiple rotations showed pre-harvest production costs of $17 (US) Mg{sup {minus}1}(OD). 19 refs., 1 fig., 3 tabs.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ground-water monitoring near the Raft River site was initiated in 1974 by the IDWR. This effort consisted of semiannual chemical sampling of 22 irrigation wells near the Raft River geothermal development area. This program yielded useful baseline chemical data; however, several problems were inherent. For example, access to water pumped from the wells is limited to the irrigation season (April through September). All the wells are not continuously pumped; thus, some wells that are sampled one season cannot be sampled the next. In addition, information on well construction, completion, and production is often unreliable or not available. These data are to be supplemented by establishing a series of monitor wells in the proposed geothermal withdrawal and injection area. These wells were to be located and designed to provide data necessary for evaluating and predicting the impact of geothermal development on the Shallow Aquifer system.

Science.gov (United States)

Digital audio sampling is explained, and some of its implications in digital sound applications are discussed. Digital sound equipment is rapidly replacing analog recording devices as the state-of-the-art in audio technology. The philosophy of digital recording involves doing away with the continuously variable analog waveforms and turning the patterns into numbers. A digital recording device rapidly samples the incoming sounds, quantifying the signal into a series of numerical values (binary codes). Although digital sound eliminates many of the traditional analog problems, digital signal processing presents key problems in sampling rates and synchronization. Careful control is necessary to check signals through each step in the audio chain. The advantages of digital audio processing include increased signal-to-noise ratio, no flutter, transparent generation of copies, and sound manipulation. These benefits come with increased quality control ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This work concerns the development of a methodology the objective of which is to characterize and diagnose two-phase flow regime transitions. The approach is based on the fundamental assumption that a transition flow is less stationary than a flow with an established regime. During the first time, the efforts focused on: (1) the design and construction of an experimental loop, allowing to reproduce the main horizontal two-phase flow patterns, in a stable and controlled way; (2) the design and construction of an electrical impedance probe, providing an imaged information of the spatial phase distribution in the pipe; and (3) the systematic study of the joint time-frequency and time-scale analysis methods, which permitted to define an adequate parameter quantifying the unstationarity degree. During the second time, in order to verify the fundamental assumption, a series of experiments ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Previous studies have found that classrooms are often inadequately ventilated, with the resultant increased risk of negative impacts on the pupils. This paper describes a series of field measurements that investigated the indoor air quality, thermal comfort and acoustic performance of nine recently built secondary schools in England. The most significant conclusion is that the complex interaction between ventilation, thermal comfort and acoustics presents considerable challenges for designers. The study showed that while the acoustic standards are demanding it was possible to achieve natural ventilation designs that met the criteria for indoor ambient noise levels when external noise levels were not excessive. Most classrooms in the sample met the requirement of limiting the daily average CO{sub 2} concentration to below 1500 ppm but just a few met the need to readily provide 8 l/s per person of fresh air under the easy control of the ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

There are many factors affecting diffusion bonding in order to obtain high quality joining. Therefore, in the beginning, we constructed diffusion bonding model based on void growth mechanism to predict bonding pressures and times. In addition, in order to compare theoretical values with experimental values, diffusion bonding tests were carried out by using commercial AZ31 magnesium alloy sheets with different grain sizes, 16 and 130 {mu}m. The present AZ31 alloys were successfully diffusion bonded at several conditions, and the bonding strength was more than 0.8 of each parent materials. The experimental bonding conditions in high quality joining, times and pressures, were good agreed with prediction analysis. (orig.)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The standard protocol in multislice spiral CT (MSCT) angiography for coronary arteries with fixed tube current-time settings leads to an overexposure and thus to an unnecessary high radiation dose in patients with lower weight when compared to heavier patients. The purpose of this study was to estimate the effect of reducing the radiation dose by adapting the tube current-time settings individually. Fifty patients underwent retrospectively ECG-gated MSCT of the heart. In 25 patients (group A{sub 1}) a standard protocol with constant tube current-time settings was used (4 x 1-mm collimation, 120 kV, 400 mAs{sub eff}). Subsequently, artificial image noise was added to the data of these patients simulating a directive for weight-adapted tube current-time settings (group A{sub 2}). In the other 25 patients (group B) an alternative protocol with individually weight-adapted tube ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Within the United Kingdom, the regulatory body having responsibility for the licensing of nuclear installations is the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) is that part of HSE which administers this function. Discussions on the applicability of quality assurance (QA) to licensed sites began in 1974, and an internal report was published in 1975. In parallel with work going on at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to prepare Quality Assurance for Safety in Nuclear Power Plants: A Code of Practice, Safety Series No. 50-C-QA, NII published a second report in 1978 entitled A Guide to the Quality Assurance Programme for Nuclear Power Plants. In 1980, the construction of advanced gas cooled reactors at Heysham 2 and at Torness was licensed, and a condition was attached to the licences requiring the licensees to submit their QA arrangements to the NII for ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

''The LLNL Site-Specific Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASCI) Software Quality Engineering Recommended Practices VI.I'' document describes a set of recommended software quality engineering (SQE) practices for ASCI code projects at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). In this context, SQE is defined as the process of building quality into software products by applying the appropriate guiding principles and management practices. Continual code improvement and ongoing process improvement are expected benefits. Certain practices are recommended, although projects may select the specific activities they wish to improve, and the appropriate time lines for such actions. Additionally, projects can rely on the guidance of this document when generating ASCI Verification and Validation (VSrV) deliverables. ASCI program managers will gather information about their ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

This paper describes an approach to solve air quality problems which frequently occur during iterations of the baseline change process. From a schedule standpoint, it is desirable to perform this evaluation in as short a time as possible while budgetary pressures limit the size of the staff available to do the work. Without a method in place to deal with baseline change proposal requests the environment analysts may not be able to produce the analysis results in the time frame expected. Using a concept called the Rapid Response Air Quality Analysis System (RAAS), the problems of timing and cost become tractable. The system could be adapted to assess other atmospheric pathway impacts, e.g., acoustics or visibility. The air quality analysis system used to perform the EA analysis (EA) for the Salt Repository Project (part of the Civilian Radioactive Waste ...

CERN Document Server

Kepler Mission results are rapidly contributing to fundamentally new discoveries in both the exoplanet and asteroseismology fields. The data returned from Kepler are unique in terms of the number of stars observed, precision of photometry for time series observations, and the temporal extent of high duty cycle observations. As the first mission to provide extensive time series measurements on thousands of stars over months to years at a level hitherto possible only for the Sun, the results from Kepler will vastly increase our knowledge of stellar variability for quiet solar-type stars. Here we report on the stellar noise inferred on the timescale of a few hours of most interest for detection of exoplanets via transits. By design the data from moderately bright Kepler stars are expected to have roughly comparable levels of noise intrinsic to the stars and arising from a combination of fundamental ...

CERN Document Server

The airborne traffic monitoring system forms a novel technology of detecting vehicle motion. An optical digital camera located on an airborne platform produces a series of images which then are processed to recognized the fixed vehicles. In this way the video data are converted into the time sequence of frames containing the vehicle coordinates. In the present work a three-frame algorithm is developed to identify the succeeding vehicle positions. It is based on finding the neighboring points in the frame sequence characterized by minimal acceleration. To verify and optimize the developed algorithm a ``Virtual Road'' simulator was created. Finally available empirical data are analyzed using the created algorithm.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Abstract This paper proposes and analyses the autoregressive conditional root (ACR) time-series model. This multivariate dynamic mixture autoregression allows for non-stationary epochs. It proves to be an appealing alternative to existing nonlinear models, e.g. the threshold autoregressive or Markov switching class of models, which are commonly used to describe nonlinear dynamics as implied by arbitrage in presence of transaction costs. Simple conditions on the parameters of the ACR process and its innovations are shown to imply geometric ergodicity, stationarity and existence of moments. Furthermore, consistency and asymptotic normality of the maximum likelihood estimators are established. An application to real exchange rate data illustrates the analysis.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The multi-frequency binary sequence experimental technique has been implemented at the Fast Flux Test Facility for routine surveillance activities. The frequency content of the standard rod-movement sequence has been shown to be sufficient to normalize the data at moderate frequencies. This obviates the need for auxiliary calibration measurements and provides the reactivity worth of the test control rod. Analyses of a series of tests conducted in 1986 illustrate that the rod worths inferred from the tests are consistent with zero-power measurements. Also, the dependence of the prompt feedback time constant on reactor conditions was determined.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Energy productivity and energy intensity within the industrial sector of the economy are examined. Results suggest that relative prices and other economic factors can explain much of the variation in both energy productivity and energy intensity for manufacturing and mining and for the industrial sector as a whole. Cyclical factors, seasonal factors and trend variables are also useful in explaining variation in these data, both for annual and monthly time series. Of the variables examined, it appears that the relative price of energy is a highly significant factor in accounting for the difference between actual industrial energy intensity and that which might have been expected had pre-1973 trends continued.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Non-linear autoregressive Markov regime-switching models are intuitive. Time-series approaches for the modelling of electricity spot prices are frequently proposed. In this paper, such models are compared with an ordinary linear autoregressive model with regard to their forecast performances. The study is carried out using German daily spot-prices from the European Energy Exchange in Leipzig. Four non-linear models are used for the forecast study. The results of the study suggest that Markov regime-switching models provide better forecasts than linear models. (author)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This paper uses multi-pass iteration particle swarm optimization (MIPSO) to solve short term hydroelectric generation scheduling of a power system with wind turbine generators. MIPSO is a new algorithm for solving nonlinear optimal scheduling problems. A new index called iteration best (IB) is incorporated into particle swarm optimization (PSO) to improve solution quality. The concept of multi-pass dynamic programming is applied to modify PSO further and improve computation efficiency. The feasible operational regions of the hydro units and pumped storage plants over the whole scheduling time range must be determined before applying MIPSO to the problem. Wind turbine power generation then shaves the power system load curves. Next, MIPSO calculates hydroelectric generation scheduling. It begins with a coarse time stage and searching space and refines the time interval between two ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The superplastic characteristics and diffusion bonding behaviors were investigated in commercial 7475 aluminum alloy and AZ31 magnesium alloy sheets. In this study, the presently used materials behaved in a superplastic manner at {proportional_to} 773 K (7475Al) and {proportional_to} 523 K (AZ31). Then, by the theoretical relationship between pressure and time, these materials were successfully diffusion bonded at the superplastic temperatures. The bonding strength was more than 65 MPa. The experimental bonding conditions in high quality joining, times and pressures, were good agreed with prediction analysis. (orig.)

Wastenet

... Reduce partner costs, save time, and overcome delays in data transmission. Data Exchanges States are currently submitting data to each other and to the EPA in the exchanges listed below. Data Exchanges are typically referred to by their acronyms, which are listed below. To find out more about EPA data exchanges, please follow the links to EPA Web sites. AQS - Air Quality Sub-system (...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

In Spiral CT, the pitch is the ratio of the distance to tabletop travels per 360 degrees rotation to nominal slice width, expressed in mm. Performing Spiral CT examination with pitch 2 allows to reduce examination time, exposure and contrast dose, and X-ray tube overload. The authors investigated the yield of pitch 2 in lung parenchyma studies, particular relative to diagnostic image quality.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Conventional, recirculating, and intermittent type peanut dryers were compared in a three-year study. Comparisons indicate that partial recirculation of peanut drying air may reduce energy consumption per unit of water removed by approximately 25% while also reducing required drying time and maintaining high quality.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A thermal neutron imaging facility for real-time neutron radiography and computed tomography has recently been developed and built at the University of Texas TRIGA reactor. Herein the authors present preliminary results of radiography and tomography test experiments. These preliminary results showed that the beam is of high quality and is suitable for radiography and tomography applications. A more detailed description of the facility is given elsewhere.

CERN Document Server

The statistical properties of the bid-ask spread of a frequently traded Chinese stock listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange are investigated using the limit-order book data. Three different definitions of spread are considered based on the time right before transactions, the time whenever the highest buying price or the lowest selling price changes, and a fixed time interval. The results are qualitatively similar no matter linear prices or logarithmic prices are used. The average spread exhibits evident intraday patterns consisting of a big L-shape in the morning and a small L-shape in the afternoon. The distributions of the spread with different definitions decay as power laws. The tail exponents of spreads at transaction level are well within the interval $(2,3)$ and that of average spreads are well in line with the inverse cubic law for different time intervals. Based on the detrended fluctuation ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

A series of SiAlON materials with a cordierite-based matrix were annealed for different lengths of time to cause crystallization of the glass phase. Their fracture toughness, hardness, and elastic modulus were measured from room temperature up to 1100"0C. The fracture toughness generally decreased with temperature. Short time annealing raised toughness at lower temperatures, while further annealing lowered it back to the value for as-hot pressed materials. At higher test temperatures annealing had no effect on toughness. This annealing behavior is significantly different from that previously reported in the system SaAlON-YAG. Hardness decreased monotonically with temperature for all samples. Both hardness and the elastic modulus were not affected by the annealing treatment. At elevated temperatures appreciable scatter of modulus results allowed only a rough trend of decrease with temperature to be observed.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Droughts in Moldova were evaluated using meteorological data since 1955 and a long time series (1891?2009). In addition, yields for corn (Zea mays L.), a crop widely grown in Moldova, were used to demonstrate drought impact. The main aim is to propose use of the S i (S i-a and S i-m) drought index while discussing its potential use in studying the evolution of drought severity in Moldova. Also, a new multi-scalar drought index, the standardized precipitation?evapotranspiration index (SPEI), is tested for the first time in identifying drought variability in Moldova while comparing it with the commonly used standardized precipitation index (SPI). S i-m, SPI, SPEI, and S i-a indices show an increasing tendency toward more intensive and prolonged severely dry and extremely dry summer months. D...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Villarrica (Chile) is one of the most active volcanoes in South America having erupted about 60 times in the last 460years. Although its historical eruptive activity has been mainly effusive and weakly explosive, it had strong explosive behaviour in postglacial times. Chaimilla (<3.1ka) is one of the best exposed and widely dispersed pyroclastic deposits, related to both fall and flow activity. The deposit is dispersed over an area of 250km^2 and consists of 8 units (A-H) which were grouped into four sequences. Stratigraphic data suggest that the eruption had a relatively short duration and evolved from i) an Opening phase, dispersing ash, lapilli clasts, accretionary lapilli, blocks and bombs, to ii) a Pulsatory phase, originating a series of magmatic explosions, to iii) a Collapsing phas...

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

A few studies have found poor semen quality in sons whose mothers have received fertility treatment, but it is unknown whether the poor semen quality is related to the infertility treatment or to infertility per se, for example, whether it is caused by hereditable factors. Using data from a population-based, Danish follow-up study conducted in 2005-2006, the authors of the present study examined whether sons of subfertile couples who had not received fertility treatment had poorer semen quality than sons of fertile couples. Among the 311 participants, an inverse association between parental waiting time to pregnancy and both semen volume and total sperm count was observed (p trend = 0.04 and p trend = 0.046, respectively). Semen volume in sons of subfertile parents (pregnant after > or =1 years) was 19% lower in comparison with that in sons ofparents whose waiting time to ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

No abstract prepared.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Objective: To explore the feasibility of real-time monitoring exposure dose and image quality by using the data stored in the DICOM image archive of direct digital radiography system. Methods: Model TO. 16 was exposed, the current increased gradually from 0.5 to 125 mAs. The displayed number of model A( diameter 11.1 mm), D (diameter 4.0 mm) and J( diameter 0.7 mm) were recorded, and the detect factors (H_T) was also calculated. Images were sent to workstation before the end of DR examination. An automatic procedure was implemented to extract dose data and exposure parameters from the DICOM header file. Maximum, minimum and 3rd quartile values were preinstalled. Mean values exceeding the threshold trigger alarm signal to guide radiologist to explore the cause. Results: When the current of point A was less than 10 mAs and the current of point D and J were less than 16 mAs, the detect factor (H_T) increased with the rise of current. While point A ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Purpose - The article discusses how care programmes and integrated care pathways can be linked, finding ways to improve healthcare process professional and logistical quality from a supply chain and a network point-of-view. Design/methodology/approach - The authors argue that owing to cost containment goals and increasing healthcare demand, healthcare services systems are challenged to improve service quality, whilst at the same time finding ways to improve delivery processes. It explores if the combination of two instruments, care programmes and integrated care pathways, can meet both goals. This combination is illustrated by an example from the Institute of Mental Health Care Eindhoven en de Kempen. Findings - Analysis suggests that care programmes can be combined with integrated care pa...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

In the Mediterranean arc, vines for wine production are mainly grown without the support of irrigation. Under such conditions, site variables affecting the extent and seasonal timing of water deficits are the dominant environmental constraints for grape production. Moreover, water availability and vine water status are the factors most comprehensively determining fruit composition and, thus, wine quality. Therefore, monitoring the extent of water stress in vines might be a valuable tool for the optimisation of grape yield and quality. The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of using the reflectance based Water Index (WI) to estimate vine water status at the leaf and canopy levels. The study was conducted on Vitis vinifera cv. Chardonnay potted plants submitted to contra...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Some diagnostics at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), including the Gamma Reaction History (GRH) diagnostic, require multiple channels of data to achieve the required dynamic range. These channels need to be stitched together into a single time series, and they may have non-uniform and redundant time samples. We chose to apply the popular cubic smoothing spline technique to our stitching problem because we needed a general non-parametric method. We adapted one of the algorithms in the literature, by Hutchinson and deHoog, to our needs. The modified algorithm and the resulting code perform a cubic smoothing spline fit to multiple data channels with redundant time samples and missing data points. The data channels can have different, time-varying, zero-mean white noise characteristics. The method we employ automatically determines an optimal smoothing level by minimizing the ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

As a series of experimental determinations of the thermal diffusivity of molten alkali halides, this paper describes measurements on five molten alkali metal chlorides (LiCl, NaCl, KCl, RbCl, and CsCl) in the temperature range up to 1440 K by the forced Rayleigh scattering method. K[sub 2]Cr[sub 2]O[sub 7] is employed as a dye substance to color the transparent molten salts. In comparison with the present results converted into thermal conductivity, most of the previous experimental data obtained by steady-state methods show larger values, up to about five times, which may be due to the systematic error caused by the presence of convection and radiation. It is found that the thermal conductivity of these series of molten alkali metal chlorides decreases with increasing molecular weight, and their temperature coefficients are weakly negative. 24 refs., 9 figs., 6 tabs.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Decreasing the aperture of a solar central receiver operating at high temperatures contributes significantly to the increase of the efficiency of energy absorption. However, decreasing the aperture also decreases the collection efficiency. A simple solution is using a 3D-CPC as secondary element for augmenting the energy collection, while the aperture can remain relatively small. Nevertheless, the receiver aperture as well as the secondary concentrator are usually rather large. For practical considerations an approximate solution may be chosen at times, designing the concentrator by a series of truncated cones. However, in particular cases, the solution of truncated cones remains expensive and unpractical and therefore the authors designed a CPC approximated by a series of trapezoidal planar facets. Under technical restrictions, there is an optimum for choosing the partition of the pure-CPC in truncated pyramids and the ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

By using this doping method, silicon semiconductors with extremely uniform dopant distributions can be produced, and this is the dominant advantage of NTD compared with a conventional chemical doping. Good uniformity of a dopant concentration is usually required for high power applications such as thyristor (SCR), IGBT, IGCT and GTO and for special sensors. Achieving an accurate neutron fluence corresponding to a target resistivity as well as a uniform irradiation is the prime target of a neutron irradiation for NTD. Generally, in order to reach an accurate neutron fluence, a real time neutron flux is monitored by a neutron detector such as a Self-powered Neutron Detector(SPND). And, after an irradiation, the total irradiation fluence is confirmed by measuring the absolute activity of a neutron activation sample that has been irradiated with a silicon ingot, and thus the SPND can be properly calibrated. Excellent irradiation uniformity and a high accuracy for a ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The electron-beam qualities with and without free electron laser (FEL) oscillations were investigated in the compact storage ring NIJI-IV. The peak-electron density in a bunch was suppressed by beam instabilities, so that it was limited to about 1.0 x 10"1"7 m"-"3. The maximum FEL gain estimated for 215 and 300 nm using a well-known one-dimension theory was about 2.8% and 4.6%. The cavity loss at 300 nm was evaluated to be about 2% from the threshold beam current. The bunch length and energy spread with FEL oscillations increased by 1.3 times or more due to bunch heating. The ratio of the FEL gain to a cavity loss estimated from the beam qualities with and without FEL oscillations was almost in accord with the ratio evaluated directly with the measured data of the FEL gain and the cavity loss. (author)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The real-time neutron radiography system of the Kyoto University Reactor (KUR) has been practically applied to penetrating the side plates containing boron burnable poison to test MTR type reactor fuels and to investigation of moving objects. Compared with the image obtained by the direct film method, however, the image from the TV system is in low-contrast and poor-resolution. This paper presents some digital processing approaches to improve the image quality and the neutron TV system is successfully applied to neutron computed tomography (NCT). The frame summing technique is effective to increase the quality of the radiographic image. By using the NTV system in NCT, the projection data are able to be acquired in a single measurement as observing the projection image on a CRT monitor. Two weighting functions based on the Fourier-convolution algorithm are employed to obtain the reconstructed image. The image ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The ultrafine fibers based on the composites of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and a series of fatty acids, lauric acid (LA), myristic acid (MA), palmitic acid (PA), and stearic acid (SA), were prepared successfully via electrospinning as form-stable phase change materials (PCMs). The morphology and thermal properties of the composite fibers were studied by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), respectively. It was found that the average fiber diameter increased generally with the content of fatty acid (LA) in the LA/PET composite fibers. The fibers with the low mass ratio maintained cylindrical shape with smooth surface while the quality became worse when the mass ratio is too high (more than 100/100). Moreover, the latent heat of the composite fibers increased with the increase of LA content and the phase transition temperature of the fibers have no obvious variations compared with ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Electricite de France, (EDF) in the late sixties and China through 10. 5-year Plan adopted the same approach of standardized NPPs to benefit from the series effect and to increase and speed up self reliance and localization. This approach also allows to continuously gather the feedback from design, construction and operation and to use it to constantly improve future and present nuclear power plants, by optimizing design features, construction phase and generation performances for safety, quality, cost and schedule aspects. Daya Bay NPP put into commercial operation in 1994 is posting high level safety and operation results. At Ling Ao NPP Chinese engineers of LANPC, with the contribution of the Chinese industry, have efficiency and successfully managed engineering, construction and operation preparation. GNPJVC / LANPC and EDF are developing permanent and mutual experience feedback exchanges in all areas of engineering, maintenance and ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

This report is in accordance with Phase I of the United States Department of Energy and Bureau of Mines Contract No. USDOE DE-AC01-77QQ90147. A thorough literature search was conducted and the current mining practice at nine coal stripping operations reviewed in detail. A review of the state of the art of blast design using current theory and practice is presented. Based upon this information, a series of recommendations are presented and a detailed test program is outlined for three operations. The recommendations to increase dragline productivity by improved blast design are directed at filling the bucket more quickly, with greater consistency and with a better fill factor: (a) overburden fragmentation, (b) muckpile displacements, and (c) blasting reliability. Recommended blast design concepts and operating procedures to provide the desired blast performance include: (1) Increase energy input per BCY by 40 to 100 percent and improve the effective powder ...

Science.gov (United States)

AIDE (Activity and Internal Dose Estimates) is a software for calculating activities in compartments and committed doses due to occupational exposures, and for performing intake and dose estimates using bioassay data. It has been continuously developed and tested for more than 20 years. Its calculation core has been applied in several situations, like performing all dose estimates due to (137)Cs intakes, which occurred during the Goiania accident in 1987; performing quality assurance of the ICRP Task Group on Dose Calculations regarding calculations of activities in compartments and generation of dose coefficients for adults due to intakes by inhalation, ingestion and injection of several radionuclides; and producing the tables of activities in compartments and dose coefficients using the NCRP Wound Model for the NCRP report. It provides several capabilities like performing calculations using modified Human Respiratory Tract Model parameters for the mechanical ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The globalization of markets has generated more options of purchase of all type of goods and services, these options have generated opportunities and threats for all the companies and have looked for the satisfaction of the client as a strategy to remain or incursion into the global market. The Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas (IIE) is not the exception and therefore it looks for the identification of the qualitative aspects and to systematize its application in the projects that executes by means of the implantation of a system of quality assurance based on the series of ISO 9000 Standards. Some examples are described to identify the qualitative aspects of the projects that are developed in the Institute. [Spanish] La globalizacion de los mercados ha generado mas opciones de compra de todo tipo de bienes y servicios, dichas opciones han generado oportunidades y amenazas para todas las empresas y se ha buscado satisfacer al cliente como ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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 images indicating intensity alterations. A refrigerated beryllium ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The role of the unsaturated properties of sand as a drainage layer in a composite liner system for landfills is investigated. The effect of the unsaturated properties of coarse-grained soil on contaminant migration was evaluated by means of a series of simulations using a one-dimensional model of a two- and a three-layer soil liner system for advection and diffusion, respectively. The results showed that under seepage conditions, the effect of an unsaturated sand layer on the advancement of the concentration front was quite insignificant. The arrival time of the C/C{sub o} = 0.5 concentration front increased from 651 days for the case with no sand layer to approximately 951 days for the case with a 1.0-m sand layer. A steady-state flow condition was ultimately established in the sand, and this fact suggests that the capillary action might not be effective. For diffusion, the arrival time of the concentration front increased ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This paper describes an approach to the reliability engineering in aerospace technology. To promote development, configuration management (clarifies the base line of technology), reliability management, quality control, safety management, progress management, and cost management are very important. The following example related to reliability was contained for the development of an N-1 rocket in Japan. A timer and amplifier that are old-fashioned but have actual results were supplied from abroad. The induction system that was purchased from abroad contained faulty components in quality control. The improvement in reliability has priority and the first-stage tank was changed to a home-made aluminum alloy that is superior in stress-resistant corrosiveness. An H-II rocket was completely developed in Japan by self-technology. The number of faults to be generated in the H-II rocket decreases as compared with the N-1 rocket. In the combustion test of ...

Science.gov (United States)

In this study, flue gas desulfurization (FGD) byproducts are used to ameliorate alkali soil. The average application rates for soils with low exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP), mid ESP, and high ESP are 20.9, 30.6, and 59.3 Mg ha(-1), respectively. The experimental results obtained for 3 consecutive years reveal that the emergence ratios and yields of the crops were 1.1-7.6 times and 1.1-13.9 times those of the untreated control, respectively. The concentrations of Cr, Pb, Cd, As, and Hg in the treated soils are far below the background values stipulated by the Environmental Quality Standard for Soils (GB15618-1995). Their concentrations in the seeds of corn and alfalfa grown in the treated soils are far below the tolerance limits regulated by National Food Standards of China. The results of this research demonstrate that the amelioration of alkali soils using FGD byproducts is promising. PMID:17412469

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Four classrooms of two secondary schools located around Lyon in France have been monitored. The objectives are to analyse the quality of the indoor air and the thermal comfort and also the behaviour of the occupants towards opening of the windows. This paper briefly describes the context and the nature of the monitoring campaign, and presents the results of the measurements with direct interpretation of the ventilation needs. Results from this study show that allowable CO{sub 2} levels are overpassed several times in a school day. The presence of a mechanical ventilation system leads to lower peaks but the fresh airflow is too small to prevent an indoor confining, that is also revealed by the aerobiological analysis. (author)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Factors influencing the rooting-potential of stem cuttings of conifers were studied for the purpose of improving methods of rapid vegetative propagation. Within the bounds of hereditary limits, root regeneration depends, to a considerable extent, on the qualities of rooting-media, date of cutting excision, age and physiological conditions of the stock plant, age of the cutting-wood, its position on the plant, and chemical treatment. Hardwood cuttings, which have a relatively high content of endogenous auxin and carbohydrates, and morphological root initials, gave the best results. This method made it possible to increase the growth rate of cuttings 2.5-5 times that of cuttings taken from shoots of current growth. (Refs. 21).

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

AFFF has fabricated the (U, Pu)O_2 mixed oxide fuels for PHWRs, BWRs, PFBRs and FBTRs. The quantitative dissolution of the fuel samples are required within time for accurate determination of uranium-plutonium in chemical quality control laboratory. This paper describes the use of microwave heating technique in quantitative dissolution of (U, Pu)O_2 MOX (from 0.4% to 44% PuO_2). (author)

Science.gov (United States)

The introduction of large blast furnaces, oxygen-enriched blast and natural gas firing means that the coke rate is determined mainly by the ability of the coke charge to loosen up the burden and ensure a high level of permeability. Coke strength is now of great importance to the steelmaker, alongside ash and sulphur contents. The article suggests that moisture still offers a useful negotiating base for furnace operators and suppliers. It is important to know the moisture content and a sampling procedure is recommended for determining the moisture desorption time. Such tests also indicate any relationship between different quenching plants and the product.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A thermal neutron imaging facility for real-time neutron radiography and computed tomography has been developed at the University of Texas reactor. The facility produced good-quality radiographs and two-dimensional tomograms. Further developments have been recently accomplished. A computer software has been developed to automate and expedite the data acquisition and reconstruction processes. Volume tomographic visualization using Interactive Data Language (IDL) software has been demonstrated and will be further developed. Volume tomography provides the additional flexibility of producing slices of the object using software and thus avoids redoing the measurements.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Recently the real-time neutron radiography system of the Kyoto University Reactor (KUR) has been developed and practically applied to penetrating the side plates of the MTR type reactor fuels and investigation of moving objects. In this paper an application of the KUR neutron TV system to neutron computed tomography (NCT) is described. By using the NTV system, projection data can be acquired in a single measurement and simultaneously the projection image can be observed on a CRT monitor. The Fourier-convolution technique is used to produce the reconstructed image and its image has a good enough quality for revealing water in a small hole of 1.5 mm in diameter.

Science.gov (United States)

Patients with end stage renal failure (ESRD) require renal replacement therapy in the form of dialysis or renal transplantation. There is an increasing number of people receiving maintenance dialysis as patients with ESRD are increasing faster than the supply of transplantable organs. The mortality rate on dialysis is 4-6 times that of the general population and is substantially reduced by transplantation. For the past 8 years, dialysis research has focused on improving patient outcomes and quality of life on dialysis. This review examines recent advances in haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis in a historical context and considers future research possibilities. PMID:19329705

Science.gov (United States)

Russian field surgery with its long history and distinctive characteristics has accumulated great experience in the long-time practice of warfare. Chinese field surgery was established and developed on the basis of studying from the Russian model, which opened up new areas of traffic medicine, molecular traumatology and assessment of biological effects on weapon destruction and carried out in-depth research on wound ballistics, blast injury, burns and combined injury etc. through decades of construction with continuous development and innovation, and a series of major achievements have been made in these fields. By making comparative study on the historical evolution, structure system, characteristics of campaigns and development of society between Chinese and Russian field surgery, it can be found that there are great gaps between them and we should strengthen the research for more rapid development. PMID:20510098

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

HAMILTON is a computer code performing all algebraic operations necessary for an analytic determination of the power series of the Hamiltonian equations of motion in the electromagnetic fields with at least one plane of symmetry. It is written entirely in FORTRAN in order to achieve fast machine performance, a requirement which is essential due to the complexity of the equations of motion in higher orders. HAMILTON is considerably faster than common more versatile formula manipulators and uses noticeably less storage. Besides the mere solution of the equations of motion, HAMILTON also produces FORTRAN code compatible with the program COSY 5.0 allowing the computation of matrix elements of individual optical elements and their concatenation. The produced FORTRAN code is highly optimized and on average requires only 30% of the execution time of a handwritten comparable code. (orig.).

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The pollution of the aquatic zones grows with the time, principally due to industrial and urban settlements, among others, in the surroundings of these sites. The sources of this pollution can be identified by the study of the characteristics of the sediment, this gives relevant information to evaluate any aquatic system. Once the sediment is obtained, a series of preliminary tests are carry out (loss of ignition, 210{sup P}b dating) to be sure that we have a sedimentary core that hans .t be mixed, once this has be done we determine radionuclides, heavy metals and organic compounds. (Author) 2 refs.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This experiment is carried out in the series of the investigation on the damage mechanism of carbon steel. In this paper, the damage situation is considered by structure observations. The test were carried out in 600degC-1200degC temperature range, in blowing an argon gas. The reagents are Na{sub 2}O, Na{sub 2}O{sub 2} and NaOH. From structure observations, the holes are observed on the surface of iron-base material in some test conditions. This result is indicated that the selective reaction occurs. The selective reaction is more obvious as the time exposed to the high temperature is longer. It is considered that the selective reaction occurs after the chemical reaction between iron-base material and sodium compound. The areas, in which Mn-concentration is higher, are observed in products on the surface of specimen. (author)

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

The agricultural sector is probably the one that will suffer most directly from the climatic variations expected at the global level. In particular, the analysis of the changes expected in water availability and demand is fundamental in order to correctly establish both the present water resource management and the definition of new strategies. In this paper the time series of some climatic and agro-climatic indices in the Region of Umbria (Central Italy) have been analyzed with the aim of finding signs of climate changes and identifying the potential impacts on the agricultural water balance. The aforesaid indices include the precipitation, the mean maximum and minimum temperatures (Tmin, Tmax), the mean temperature range (DT), the reference evapotranspiration (ET0) and two drought indice...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

PurposeTo evaluate pathologic features of the photoreceptors in myopic foveoschisis with the Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT).DesignObservational case series.MethodsSeventeen eyes of 15 patients with myopic foveoschisis (foveal detachment type, six eyes; foveoschisis type, 11 eyes) were included. We observed the photoreceptor inner and outer segments (IS/OS) and evaluated the morphologic status using FD-OCT. Fundus photographs and time-domain OCT (TD-OCT) images also were obtained.ResultsIS/OS defects, which are uncommon in retinal detachments in eyes with myopia, were seen clearly in five eyes (three eyes [50%] with the foveal detachment type; two eyes [18%] with the foveal schisis type). Fundus photographs showed myopic chorioretinal atrophy in eight study eyes (47%),...

CERN Document Server

The effect of the wind on the sustain of extreme water waves is investigated experimentally and numerically. A series of experiments conducted in the Large Air-Sea Interactions Facility (LASIF) showed that a wind blowing over a strongly nonlinear short wave group due to the linear focusing of a modulated wave train may increase the life time of the extreme wave event. The expriments suggested that the air flow separation that occurs on the leeward side of the steep crests may sustain longer the maximum of modulation of the focusing-defocusing cycle. Based on a Boundary-Integral Equation Method and a pressure distribution over the steep crests given by the Jeffreys'sheltering theory, similar numerical simulations have confirmed the experimental results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This report, the eighth in a series of annual reports, was prepared in response to congressional inquiries concerning how nuclear regulatory research is used. It summarizes the accomplishments of the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research during FY 1992. A special emphasis on accomplishments in nuclear power plant aging research reflects recognition that a number of plants are entering the final portion of their original 40-year operating licenses and that, in addition to current aging effects, a focus on safety considerations for license renewal becomes timely. The primary purpose of performing regulatory research is to develop and provide the Commission and its staff with the technical bases for regulatory decisions on the safe operation of licensed nuclear reactors and facilities, to find unknown or unexpected safety problems, and to develop data and related information for the purpose of revising the Commission`s rules, regulatory guides, or ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Animal studies demonstrated the powerful impact of maternal-infant social contact on the infant's physiological systems, yet the online effects of social interactions on the human infant's physiology remain poorly understood. Mothers and their 3-month old infants were observed during face-to-face interactions while cardiac output was collected from mother and child. Micro-analysis of the partners' behavior marked episodes of gaze, affect, and vocal synchrony. Time-series analysis showed that mother and infant coordinate heart rhythms within lags of less than 1s. Bootstrapping analysis indicated that the concordance between maternal and infant biological rhythms increased significantly during episodes of affect and vocal synchrony compared to non-synchronous moments. Humans, like other mamm...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Within the framework of the Bianchi type-IX homogeneous space, we set up a system of coupled equations for the cosmic scale factors, scalar field, and radiative energy density. At the tree level, the equations are written in a self-consistent, Hartree-Fock form. For phi"4 theory, the system of nine first-order differential equations is solved numerically for a varying ratio of the energy of anisotropy to the vacuum energy. As the vacuum energy increases, there appears to be less reheating, since the energy of anisotropy is more efficiently converted into isotropic expansion. If the energy of anisotropy is large enough, the inflationary phase is prevented. In this case, a series of cosmological phase transitions will take place each time the square of the effective mass changes its sign.

CERN Document Server

We empirically investigated the relationships between the degree of efficiency and the predictability in financial time-series data. The Hurst exponent was used as the measurement of the degree of efficiency, and the hit rate calculated from the nearest-neighbor prediction method was used for the prediction of the directions of future price changes. We used 60 market indexes of various countries. We empirically discovered that the relationship between the degree of efficiency (the Hurst exponent) and the predictability (the hit rate) is strongly positive. That is, a market index with a higher Hurst exponent tends to have a higher hit rate. These results suggested that the Hurst exponent is useful for predicting future price changes. Furthermore, we also discovered that the Hurst exponent and the hit rate are useful as standards that can distinguish emerging capital markets from mature capital markets.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

PurposeTo characterize the morphology of outer retinal holes caused by solar maculopathy, using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). DesignThis study is an observational case series. MethodsThe SD-OCT findings of 3 patients (6 eyes) with chronic solar maculopathy are presented. ResultsSD-OCT demonstrates a characteristic appearance of partial-thickness hole(s) in the outer retina at the fovea. In 3 of 6 eyes, there is 1 hole directly beneath the umbo. In the remaining 3 eyes, there are multifocal holes spread across the fovea. Holes in more restricted layers, as had been previously reported with time-domain OCT, were not seen. In addition, advanced visualization of SD-OCT data demonstrates a hyperreflective ring around the outer retinal hole. ConclusionsSD-OCT can be used...

Science.gov (United States)

FIRESET is a PC-based computer code which calculates current as a function of time for an RLC circuit containing up to fifteen series conductors which undergo rapid heating and subsequent explosion as a consequence of an electric current which passes through them. In its original form, the code was developed to model electrical waveforms measured when a large, typically 25.4 x 25.4 x 0.051-mm, aluminum foil was exploded using a capacitor bank with tens of kilojoules of stored energy. The code proved to be useful for this purpose, and it was recognized that it could also be used for modeling the electrical response of detonator bridgewires. In view of the increasing use of slapper detonators for DOD applications, we wish to make the latest version of the code, available to DOD laboratories and contractors for use in designing firing systems which employ slapper or exploding bridgewire detonators. This document provides instructions for the code.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Background: This study was conducted to examine the effects of prophylactic misoprostol prior to intrauterine device (IUD) placement in nulliparous women. Study Design: Nulliparous, reproductive-aged women desiring an IUD for contraception were randomized to receive 400 mcg of buccal misoprostol or placebo 90 min prior to IUD insertion. Subjects completed a series of 100-mm visual analogue scales (VAS, anchors: 0=none, 100 mm=worst imaginable) to measure their perceived pain at several times points (anticipated pain, leg positioning, speculum placement, tenaculum placement, IUD insertion, equipment removal and 5 min postinsertion). Secondary outcomes included provider ''ease of placement'' (100-mm VAS, anchors: 0=easy, 100 mm=extremely difficult), side effects and retention of the IUD afte...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The present work focuses on investigations of a highly selective ligand for Am(III)/Ln(III) separation: bis-triazinyl-pyridine (BTP). By means of nano-electro-spray mass spectrometry, complex formation of BTP with selected elements of the lanthanide series is investigated. We show that the diluent drastically influences complex speciation. Measurements obtained in the extraction-relevant diluent 1-octanol show the occurrence of Ln(BTP){sub i} (i 1-3) species in different relative abundances, depending on the lanthanide used. Here, the relative abundances of the Ln(BTP){sub 3} complexes correlate with the distribution ratios for extraction to the organic phase of the respective lanthanide. (authors)

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Background Aluminium phosphide tablets popularly known, as ?celphos? is a highly toxic fumigant used as insecticide for preservation of food grains. India is an agricultural country and celphos tablets are easily available to psychologically vulnerable young people. It is swallowed with suicidal intent and death comes in minutes. Patients and methods In this series there were seven patients with tracheo esophageal complications out of 342 patients reviewed. Four patients had esophageal stricture and three had stricture plus tracheo esophageal fistulas. Types of symptoms including progressive dyshagia and extent of respiratory symptoms were evaluated. Nutrition status and success or failure of dilatation at the time of endoscopy was taken into account. The criteria for oesophageal replaceme...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The purpose of this project was to build a long-range, parallel hybrid gas/electric vehicle capable of driving beyond the communter capabilities of series hybrid vehicles. It was envisioned that since the gas engine would be able to independently propel the car when needed and that the electric motor would be capable of doing the same, then you have a very desirable situation where this car can operate much more cheaply on electricity for the short distance runs under approximately 60 miles and also be able to propel the vehicle via the gas engine on the long-distance trips. During the time the car would be operating in the gas engine mode, it would be also recharging the 16 deep cycle batteries via the electric motor now being used as a generator. Then, even on long-distance trips, the electric motor could be used, after having been fully or partially recharged, to even further reduce cost per mile.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Purpose: To quantify left ventricular function derived from retrospectively ECG-gated multislice spiral CT (MSCT) data sets in comparison to MRI. Materials and Methods: In 16 patients (14 males, 2 females, mean age 56.8 #+-# 11.5 years), retrospectively ECG-gated MSCT angiography of the coronary arteries and breath-hold steady state free precession cine MRI were performed. From MSCT data-sets, 20 axial image series were reconstructed every 5% of the RR interval. Multiplanar images were reformatted in the short axis orientation from axial images. End-systolic and end-diastolic images were selected. From these images end-systolic volume (ESV), end-diastolic volume (EDV) and stroke volume (SV) as well as the ejection fraction (EF) and myocardial mass (MM) were determined using the Simpson's method and compared with MRI. Furthermore, image quality was assessed for both imaging modalities using a four point grading scale. Results: All parameters ...

Science.gov (United States)

Based on the view that major changes in the social and economic context in the United States require major policy changes related to early childhood education, this paper examines the factors supporting public policy changes and how advocates for change in early childhood education might incorporate effective strategies. The paper is presented in two parts. Part 1 reviews the research on state policy settings and the factors that tend to support policy change. This part focuses attention on the ways that state policymakers appear to learn from what is going on elsewhere and incorporate new ideas into their policy agendas. Several strategic implications for advocates of policy change are presented, such as brainstorming a list of potential obstacles to the introduction of a policy innovation or shaping the debate so the public will support change. Part 2 of the paper takes these general strategic implications and considers their relevance to efforts to achieve early childhood education ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

It is necessary to remove chlorine efficiently from municipal waste plastics (MWP) that contain polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and other plastics containing chlorine. In this article we consider thermal degradation liquefaction technology. In Japan, the chlorine content of reclamation oil products must be kept below 100 ppm owing to the quality standard for pyrolysis oil. Liquefaction dechlorination technology for MWP is still an important issue to study. The twin-screw extruder that has been developed as dechlorination technology for blast furnaces and coke ovens has a shorter residence time for dechlorination than other dechlorination technologies. In this article, we used a single-screw extruder for the dechlorination process because it also has a short residence time. Experiments on the dech...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Urban heritage areas throughout the world have experienced cycles of neglect and upgrade that were at times intentional and at other times due to economic difficulties or an unbalanced ideological focus on technological, social or political developments. Modernism of the early and mid-1900s was clearly against keeping heritage areas as they were perceived to hinder future developments. Postmodernist thinking afterwards was more sympathetic to heritage as a means of countering the 'placelessness' of the modern city. Global appreciation of urban heritage and the world's cultural diversity at the end of the century made the occurrence of 'physical neglect' cycles very unlikely in the future. This research paper takes the stand that urban planners and designers face cycles of higher or lower u...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Laboratory tests have been done to assess the feasibility of using microwaves to manufacture refractory liner boards as used in the steel industry. Results show that microwaves cured and dried the product about ten times faster than the conventional gas-oven process. The quality of boards dried with microwaves appears to be as good or better than of those dried with gas. The potential for fast, energy-optimized drying in a small space has been demonstrated. Economically, the energy-cost of using microwaves is comparable to using gas when drying the last 30% moisture content, that is, for about the last 50% of the present gas-drying time. For higher moisture contents, such as encountered in the early stages of drying, the energy can be supplied at a lower cost by gas. 8 figs.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

To estimate the success criteria of an operators action time for a probabilistic safety/risk assessment (PSA/PRA) of a nuclear power plant, the information from a safety analysis report (SAR) and/or that by using a simplified simulation code such as the MAAP code has been used in a conventional PSA. However, the information from these is often too conservative to perform a realistic PSA for a risk-informed application. To reduce the undue conservatism, the use of a best-estimate thermal hydraulic code has become an essential issue in the latest PSA and it is now recognized as a suitable tool. In the same context, the `ASME PRA standard' also recommends the use of a best-estimate code to improve the quality of a PSA. In Korea, a platform to use a best-estimate thermal hydraulic code called ...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Series of concentrations of 15 aliphatic alcohols were presented in 0.1 M sucrose to the tarsi of antennectomized-labellectomized blowflies (Phormia regina Meigen). With the...Full Text Available

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

We are developing a laterally variable velocity model of the crust and upper mantle across Eurasia and North Africa to reduce event location error by improving regional travel-time prediction accuracy. The model includes both P and S velocities and we describe methods to compute travel-times for Pn, Sn, Pg, and Lg phases. For crustal phases Pg and Lg we assume that the waves travel laterally at mid-crustal depths, with added ray segments from the event and station to the mid crustal layer. Our work on Pn and Sn travel-times extends the methods described by Zhao and Xie (1993). With consideration for a continent scale model and application to seismic location, we extend the model parameterization of Zhao and Xie (1993) by allowing the upper-mantle velocity gradient to vary laterally. This extension is needed to accommodate the large variation in gradient that is known to exist across Eurasia and North African. Further, we ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

An automated Time Resolved Aerosol Collector (TRAC) has been developed for sequential sampling of field-collected aerosols for laboratory-based Computer Controlled Scanning Electron Microscopy/Energy Dispersed X-ray (CCSEM/EDX) single particle analysis. The collector is optimized for use of grid-supported 20 nm carbon films as deposition substrates. The carbon films have low enough X-ray background to permit EDX analysis down to 0.1-0.2 ?m particles, including detection of low-Z elements: C, N, & O. The TRAC provides unattended sampling onto a set of 151 individual grids, at sequential time intervals as short as 1 min. After collection, the samples are sealed and refrigerated pending analysis. The utility of the TRAC-CCSEM/EDX approach is exemplified using the aerosol samples collected during the Texas 2000 Air Quality Studies (Aug. 15 ? Sept. 15, 2000). We are able to quantitatively follow the time ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Much of the current technology on 3D-prestack depth migration is based on the Kirchhoff method and the traveltime information needed for this purpose is obtained by the ray-theory approximation. The main motivation driving these options is to reduce computations but it can also have an adverse effect on the quality of results. Experience with real data indicates that the corresponding poststack data migrated by the reverse-time method often yields superior results. Considerable computational efficiency can be obtained by employing nonuniform coarse grid spacing during the reverse-time migration. We followed this strategy for developing a parallel scheme for doing 3D- prestack depth migration. However, we worked only on a small subset of shot gathers whose determined by the Quasi-Monte Carlo method. The results were indistinguishable from those obtained by using a much larger population of uniformly spaced shot gathers. We ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

This handbook provides guidance in the application of quality assurance to measurement activities. It is intended to help those persons making measurements in applying quality assurance to their work activities by showing how laboratory practices and quality assurance requirements are integrated to provide control within those activities. The use of the guidance found in this handbook should help provide consistency in the interpretation of quality assurance requirements across all types of measurement laboratories. This handbook also can assist quality assurance personnel in understanding the relationships between laboratory practices and quality assurance requirements. The handbook is composed of three chapters and several appendices. Basic guidance is provided by the three chapters. In Chapter 1, the role of quality assurance in obtaining ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The needs of large industrial, commercial, and institutional energy consumers are more closely connected with the needs of power utilities and energy services companies, a result of the evolving global energy environment. Consumer choice, competition amongst energy suppliers, and increased demand are brought about in some regions by deregulation. Increasingly, large energy consumers expect high levels of quality and reliability from the energy delivered. As a result, management of the cost and the quality of the energy product and the energy assets that produce, deliver, control and consume it requires different strategies. Three major challenges must be overcome: (1) requirement to support economic and efficient delivery, purchasing and use of energy, (2) requirement to guarantee higher levels of power quality and reliability, and (3) requirement to supply the growing demand for energy while establishing a market-based ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The objective of this project is to develop improved seismic event location techniques that can be used to generate more and better quality reference events using data from local and regional seismic networks. Their approach is to extend existing methods of multiple-event location with more general models of the errors affecting seismic arrival time data, including picking errors and errors in model-based travel-times (path corrections). Toward this end, they are integrating a grid-search based algorithm for multiple-event location (GMEL) with a new parameterization of travel-time corrections and new kriging method for estimating the correction parameters from observed travel-time residuals. Like several other multiple-event location algorithms, GMEL currently assumes event-independent path corrections and is thus restricted to small event clusters. The new parameterization assumes ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

This report deals with the preliminary results of trials in the DATECA project with stage I, II and III patients with non-seminomatous germ cell tumours. Stage 1 patients were randomized between infradiaphragmatic irradiation and observation. No significant difference in recurrence rates has been observed as yet. Eighteen of 95 patients had recurrence with a median time to relapse of 3 months. Fifteen patients achieved complete remission after treatment by combiantion chemotherapy while 3 patients are still undergoing treatment. Stage II patients received 6 series of cis-platinum, bleomycin, and vinblastine. The patients were initially randomized to receive chemotherapy alone versus chemotherapy plus irradiation. Irradiation led to increased toxicity and decreased doses of the antineoplastic drugs. Fifty-one patients were studied. The overall complete remission rate was 89 per cent including 7 patients who achieved complete remission after ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Earth`s history has been witness to recurrently alternating phases of catastrophic evolution and dominant tectonic deformations, contractions and extension of rifting and spreading leading to quasi-cyclic changes in sedimentary environment and various earth processes. Recent studies have shown quasi-periodicities of 32{+-}2 Million years (Myr) in various endogenic (geomagnetic reversals, magmatic events, mantle convection, various tectonic activities, climate change and biological extinctions) and exogenic (impact catering) processes indicating a remarkable kinship. A time series analysis is presented of the available CO{sub 2} record over the past 250 Myr decoded from global CaCO{sub 3} accumulation rates in sedimentary environment. The time series analysis reveals an intriguing evidence of a dominant periodicity of 33{+-}2 Myr which matches closely with a `common catastrophic periodicity` of 32 Myr ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The standing-wave free-electron laser (FEL) differs from a conventional linear-wiggler microwave FEL in using irises along the wiggler to form a series of standing-wave cavities and in reaccelerating the beam between cavities to maintain the average energy. The device has been proposed for use in a two-beam accelerator (TBA) because microwave power can be extracted more effectively than from a traveling-wave FEL. The standing-wave FEL is modeled in the continuum limit by a set of equations describing the coupling of a one-dimensional beam to a TE{sub 01} rectangular-waveguide mode. Analytic calculations and numerical simulations are used to determine the time variation of the reacceleration field and the prebunching required so that the final microwave energy is the same in all cavities. The microwave energy and phase are found to be insensitive to modest spreads in the beam energy and phase and to errors in the reacceleration field and the ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

A series of 27 reflood experiments has been carried out in a full-length electrically heated rod bundle facility. The primary objective of these tests was to study the effects of a simultaneous upper plenum and downcomer coolant injection and to provide data for the verification of computer codes. The experimental results indicate that an upper plenum injection alone cools the test rods slowly, a simultaneous coolant injection to the downcomer improves cooling significantly, and a downcomer injection alone cools the test rod bundle best if the total value of the coolant flow rate is the same in these three different cases. If the coolant injected to the upper plenum increases the total flow rate, the quench time of the test rods decreases at all elevations. Quenching time and clad temperature histories calculated with the computer codes NORCOOL-I and FLOOD4 are in a reasonable quantitative agreement with experiments in the ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The paper develops a new design procedure for simultaneous coordinated designing of the thyristor controlled series capacitor (TCSC) damping controller and power system stabilizer (PSS) in multi-machine power system. The coordinated design problem of PSS and TCSC damping controllers over a wide range of loading conditions is converted to an optimization problem with the time domain-based objective function that is solved by a particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique which has a strong ability to find the most optimistic results. By minimizing the proposed fitness function in which oscillatory characteristics between areas are included and thus the interactions among the TCSC controller and PSS under transient conditions in the multi-machine power system are improved. To ensure the robustness of the proposed stabilizers, the design process takes a wide range of operating conditions into account. The effectiveness of the proposed controller is ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This paper analyses the complex, non-linear effects of spot price drivers in wholesale electricity markets: their intra-day dynamics and transient irregularities. The context is the UK market, after the reforms introduced in March 2001, analysed with an original set of price drivers reflecting economic, technical, strategic, risk, behavioural and market design effects. Models are estimated separately as daily time-series of the 48 half-hourly trading periods. All coefficients exhibit substantial intra-day variation, relating to the heterogeneity of operating plants and market design aspects. This reveals a market responding to economic fundamentals and plant operating properties, with learning and emergent financial characteristics, as well as some strategic manipulation of capacity, most effectively exercised by the more flexible plants. Using regime-switching parameters, the effects of capacity margin and inter-day capacity adjustment are elucidated, suggesting ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A series of experiments involving high explosives and radioactive materials were conducted at Los Alamos, New Mexico, primarily to understand certain safety aspects of operational nuclear weapons. The experiments were conducted underground in large diameter holes as deep as 120 ft. The location was selected because it had geologic and hydrologic characteristics that assured complete containment of the experiments and precluded any possible contamination of groundwater. Important features verified by the USGS included the absence of any recharge and about 1200 feet of dry rock above the groundwater aquifer. Residual materials dispersed by detonation of the high explosives remain at the bottom of the experimental holes. The materials of significance from an environmental standpoint include about 40 kg of plutonium, 93 kg of enriched uranium, at least 82 kg of depleted uranium, 13 kg of beryllium, and an undetermined amount of lead. Environmental monitoring has been ...

CERN Document Server

We develop and demonstrate the methodology of testing multi-dimensional supernova models against observations by studying the properties of one example of the detonation from failed deflagration (DFD) explosion model of thermonuclear supernovae. Using time-dependent multi-dimensional radiative transfer calculations, we generate the synthetic broadband optical light curves, near-infrared light curves, color evolution curves, full spectral time-series, and spectropolarization of the model, as seen from various viewing angles. All model observables are critically evaluated against examples of well-observed, standard Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). We explore the consequences of the intrinsic model asphericity by studying the dependence of the model emission on viewing angle, and by quantifying the resulting dispersion in (and internal correlations between) various model observables. These statistical properties of the model are also evaluated against ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The kinetics of {sup 14}C-photosynthate import by developing wheat grains was followed after pulse-labeling the flag leaf with {sup 14}CO{sub 2}. Samples were collected from four successive points along the transport pathway to and within the grain: exuding aphid stylets on the peduncle, exuding grain pedicels, the grain crease tissues, and the liquid contents of the endosperm cavity. In addition, microautoradiographs were prepared of the grain crease tissues during movement of the {sup 14}C pulse into the grain. At all times, sucrose accounted for 93 to 97% of the total {sup 14}C present at all four sampling sites. The main features of the {sup 14}C kinetics could be accounted for by a simple compartmental model consisting of sucrose pools in series. Microautoradiographs of the crease tissues showed fairly uniform labeling of vascular parenchyma at all times, with a sharp gradient in labeling across the chalaza to the ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Numerical models based on finite-difference or finite-element methods are used by various research groups in studies of radon-222 transport through soil and building materials. Applications range from design of radon remediation systems to more fundamental studies of radon transport. To ascertain that results obtained with these models are of good quality, it is necessary that such models are tested. This document reports on a benchmark test organized by the EU project ERRICCA: European Research into Radon in Construction Concerted Action. The test comprises the following cases: 1) Steady-state diffusive radon profiles in dry and wet soils, 2) steady-state entry of soil gas and radon into a house, 3) time-dependent radon exhalation from a building-material sample. These cases cover features such as: soil heterogeneity, anisotropy, 3D-effects, time dependency, combined advective and diffusive transport of radon, flux ...

KoreaScience (Korea)

Full Text Available

KoreaScience (Korea)

Full Text Available

KoreaScience (Korea)

Full Text Available

KoreaScience (Korea)

Full Text Available

International Science & Technology Center (ISTC)

Development the New Effective Pesticides in the Series of Pyrimine and Sym-Triazine Derivatives

Science.gov (United States)

Archived Web resource. Information about the impacts of global warming on the environmental quality and recreation, such as ... ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

A real-time neutron radiography facility was constructed including the capability of neutron tomography. The neutron beam was measured for total neutron flux ((1.0 +/- 0.2) x 10"1"1 m/(m"2-sec)), gold cadmium ratio (52 +/- 3) and effective neutron temperature (83"0C +/- 8"0C). The angular divergence or nonparallelism of the neutron beam was measured to be 2.3"0 +/- 0.1"0 thereby providing a means of quantifying the collimator effectiveness. The resolution capabilities of both static film and real-time neutron radiographs were quantified using a Fourier transform algorithm to calculate the modulation transfer function of both types of radiographs. The contrast sensitivity of both types of radiographs. The contrast sensitivity of both types of radiographs was measured as 3.1% for film and 4.0% for real-time radiographs. Two tomography algorithms, the simultaneous iterative reconstruction technique (SIRT) and the convolution ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meteorological and air-quality data, as well as surface tracer concentration values, were collected during 1990 to assess the impact of Navajo Generating Station (NGS) emissions on Grand Canyon National Park (GCNP) air quality. These data have been used in the present investigation to determine between direct and indirect transport routes taken by the NGS plume to produce measured high-tracer concentration events at GCNP. Results show that complex-terrain features affect local wind-flow patterns during winter in the Grand Canyon area. Local channelling, decoupled canyon winds, and slope and valley flows dominate in the region when synoptic systems are weak. Direct NGS plume transport to GCNP occurs with northeasterly plume-height winds, while indirect transport to the park is caused by wind direction shifts associated with passing synoptic systems. Calculated polluted airmass positions along the modeled streak lines match measured ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

As the surroundings of objects of oil exploration grow more complicated, seismic survey methods have turned 3-dimensional and, in this report, several models are examined using the 3-dimensional simulation technology. The result obtained by the conventional wave tracking method is different from actual wavefields, and is unrealistic. The difference method among the fullwave modelling methods demands an exorbitantly long computation time and high cost. A pseudospectral method has been developed which is superior to the difference method, and has been put to practical use thanks to the advent of parallel computers. It is found that a 3-dimensional survey is mandatory in describing faults. After examining the SEG/EAGE Salt model, it is learned that the salt is well-developed and that 3-dimensional depth migration is required for sub-salt exploration. It is also found through simulation of the EAGE/S Overthrust model, which is an elastic model, that no ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

In the production of heavy-sectioned ferritic spheroidal graphite iron castings for such parts as spent fuel shipping container (cask), undesirable structures like abnormal graphite lamella, pearlite or so-called chinese script type of inclusions tend to appear, deteriorating the mechanical properties at the central part of the section where molten iron freezes last. 500 mm thick cylindrical vessels with bottom, weighing 18 tons and 33 tons, were poured as trial products of casks. Solidification structure and mechanical properties were examined at many portions of the castings. By controlling chemical composition, solidification time and inoculation process the structure and the mechanical properties in the last portion of the section to solidify were improved. Sufficiently homogeneous heavy-sectioned ferritic spheroidal graphite iron castings were successfully produced in the as-cast state. In addition, quality assurance process by using test ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The Electric Power Monthly (EPM) presents monthly electricity statistics for a wide audience including congress, Federal and State agencies, the electric utility industry, and the general public. The purpose of this publication is to provide energy decisionmakers with accurate and timely information that may be used in forming various perspectives on electric issues that lie ahead. This publication provides monthly statistics at the State, Census division, and US levels for net generation, fossil fuel consumption and stocks, quantity and quality of fossil fuels, cost of fossil fuels, electricity retail sales, associated revenue, and average revenue per kilowatthour of electricity sold. In addition, data on net generation, fuel consumption, fuel stocks, quantity and cost of fossil fuels are also displayed for the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) regions. The EIA publishes statistics in the EPM on net generation by energy ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Two-phase pressure drop and fluctuating static pressures were measured in a small horizontal rectangular channel (hydraulic diameter = 5.44 mm). The two-phase fluid was an air/water mixture at atmospheric pressure tested over a mass flux range of 50 to 2,000 kg/m[sup 2] [center dot] s. Two-phase flow patterns were identified and an objective method was found for determining the flow pattern transition from bubble or plug flow to slug flow. The method is based on an RMS static pressure measurement. In particular, it is shown that the transition is accompanied by a clear and abrupt increase in the RMS pressure when plotted as a function of mass quality. Use of the RMS pressure as a two-phase flow pattern transition indicator is shown to have advantages over pressure-versus-time trace evaluations reported in the literature. The transition is substantiated by a clear local change in slope in the curve of two-phase pressure drop plotted as a ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

VSP data are usually recorded in common-shot gather and contain less informations. It is difficult, therefore, to obtain good migration result by using conventional migration methods. Both inner interface reflections and interformational multiples can be removed by reverse-time migration with the use of two-way nonreflection wave equation: besides, boundary reflection in VSP can be eliminated using Clayton's absorption boundary condition. It is proved that reverse-time migration is able to improve migration quality. The imaging condition is still obtained by generalizing Claerbout's imaging principle and solving eikonal equation. This is a very practical wave equation migration method. This method is applicable to prestack VSP data, conventional multiple-offset shot gather and the simultaneous migration of VSP data and surface seismic data. Besides, it is adaptable to various velocity variations. Before ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This dissertation concerns a study of the utilization of sorghum biomass as the fuel for a methane production system. The objective of this research is to determine an optimal sorghum-methane production system based on anaerobic batch digestion technology. The system is described as the interaction of three components: estimation of available biomass, storage of biomass, and the gas production. Levelized costs are obtained for each component. The biomass supply is assumed to decay exponentially in quality with storage time. The gas production process is a batch type of digestion with an exponential production rate. Gas production is formulated for a fixed planning horizon (one year) as a function of the number of batches and the batch residence times. The cost equation is then described as a function of these gas production equations and their levelized costs. The structure of this resulting equation is exploited to obtain ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

In 1959 Zeldovich pointed out to the possibility of storage in a closed vessel of very slow neutrons with energies below less than or equal to 10"-"7 eV noting that one may achieve the storage time up to the lifetime of a free neutron before #beta#-decay (approx.10"3 sec). This possibility is due to the effective repulsing potential which describes the interaction of slow neutrons with many substances employing a strong suppression of inelastic processes in the reflection of ultracold neutrons (UCN). In a series of experiments beginning 1968 the effective methods were developed of obtaining pure UCN beams from the maxwellian spectrum of thermal neutrons. The UCN beams of intensity about 10"3 n/sec and density up to 10"2 n/liter were obtained at the reactors with thermal neutron flux of 5 x 10"1"3 n/cm"2 sec. Such UCN beam parameters allow to measure easily the UCN storage time in different vessels and under different ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The puborectalis syndrome is a defecation disorder supported by the nonrelaxation of puborectalis sling with consequent dyschezia. They report on a series of 98 patients submitted to clinical examination, defecography, anorectal manometry, electromyography and intestinal transit time studies. The main symptoms of puborectalis syndrome in their patients were incomplete defecation (89 %) and intermittent evacuation (63 %); 28 % of patients turned to finger defecation. In all patients, defecography showed an abnormal increase in puborectalis impression on the posterior anorectal wall, reduced anorectal angle opening under straining (mean value: 113 deg) and prolonged expulsion time with barium pooling in the ampulla (mean evacuation time: 38 seconds). Such anorectal abnormalities as rectal mucosal prolapse (47 cases) and anterior rectocele (36 cases) were also associated. In 33 of 98 patients (34 % of ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This paper identifies the event sequences that require thermal-hydraulic analyses for the success criteria of probabilistic safety analysis (PSA). The selection of the sequences is performed based on the review of the NEI Peer Review Process Guidance and ASME PRA Standard. Success criteria are the important element of PSA quality. Success criteria decide the success or failure of the key function in the PSA event tree. It is defined as a minimum set of components/trains of system required to mitigate an accident. Thermal-hydraulic codes are generally used to derive time-related criteria in the PSA, such as operator action time used in human reliability analysis (HRA), event timing, and time to recover the component or the power. This paper suggests the use of the MARS code for the T-H analysis to obtain the success criteria and sequence timing, and operator ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The ROP margin in a CANDU reactor is decreasing over time due to the Primary Heat-Transport System (PHTS) aging effect. Adjustment of the ROP trip setpoint is required to maintain a high trip-probability and ROP trip effectiveness. Especially, for Wolsong-1, which is scheduled to change the old pressure tubes in 2009, the trend of ROPT after the retubing should be reevaluated. Before setting a ROPT, the main thermal characteristics including Critical Channel Power (CCP) should be calculated by the NUCIRC code. In this paper, the thermalhydraulic evaluation for Wolsung-1 was conducted with the updated Wolsung-1 PHTS data. Specifically, for the case of 0 EFPY (Effective Full Power Year) and 11 EFPY after the retubing, the distribution of the channel flow rate, channel exit quality, critical channel power, and critical power ratio (CPR) of the Wolsong-1 aged plant are calculated

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

This paper uses multi-pass iteration particle swarm optimization (MIPSO) to solve short term hydroelectric generation scheduling of a power system with wind turbine generators. MIPSO is a new algorithm for solving nonlinear optimal scheduling problems. A new index called iteration best (IB) is incorporated into particle swarm optimization (PSO) to improve solution quality. The concept of multi-pass dynamic programming is applied to modify PSO further and improve computation efficiency.The feasible operational regions of the hydro units and pumped storage plants over the whole scheduling time range must be determined before applying MIPSO to the problem. Wind turbine power generation then shaves the power system load curves. Next, MIPSO calculates hydroelectric generation scheduling. It beg...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Manual drilling in titanium structures is a tedious and labor-intensive work. To reduce man-hour requirements while concurrently improving hole quality, we developed a robotic drilling system for this application. The lean system contains the product holding fixture, the industrial robot, the end effector, the control and sensor system, and the offline programming. The system functions include locating workpiece with a calibration stick or the vision system, weld mark inspection, one-sided clamping, drilling and reaming hole in material stack combinations of titanium and aluminum, and real-time thrust force feedback. The positional accuracy and the repeatability of the system have successfully been placed within the specification?s 0.3?mm tolerance and 0.2?mm tolerance, respectively. The d...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

One of the significant factors of neutron radiographic image degradation is scattering blur from the object. A practical method is described to enhance image quality by eliminating the overlapping of scattered thermal neutrons component from the objects in ETRR-2 neutron radiography facility, using aluminum Gd-coated antiscatter grid. The MCNP code was used to determine the optimum grid dimensions that will reduce the scattered thermal neutrons from the object. An experiment was performed to determine the optimum grid height and irradiation time that gives the best image with acceptable geometric unsharpness. Using the MCNP code it was found that 97% of the scattered neutrons were removed by the grid. The wall dimensions and Gd coating are so small that the facility resolution cannot detect the image pattern superposition on the film.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Developing models for the electrical behavior of exploding bridgewire circuits requires high-quality data of a type not usually generated in routine tests of detonator hardware. To obtain a precise measurement of the time of bridgewire burst relative to current start, one must simultaneously record the current, i, and either di/dt or the voltage across the bridgewire. To fully develop and test a model it is also necessary to vary the bridgewire cross sections and geometry, firing circuit characteristics and charging voltage for the firing circuits over as wide a range as possible. As a part of developing an electrical model for aluminum and copper bridgewires, we have conducted parameter studies on some flat copper and aluminum bridgewires. Most of the work was done on aluminum bridgewires, with a few experiments on copper. We will report the experimental results from these studies and compare them with model predictions.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Isolation of functional and intact mitochondria from solid tissue is crucial for studies that focus on the elucidation of normal mitochondrial physiology and/or mitochondrial dysfunction in conditions such as aging, diabetes, and cancer. There is growing recognition of the importance of mitochondria both as targets for drug development and as off-target mediators of drug side effects. Unfortunately, mitochondrial isolation from tissue is generally carried out using homogenizer-based methods that require extensive operator experience to obtain reproducible high-quality preparations. These methods limit dissemination, impede scale-up, and contribute to difficulties in reproducing experimental results over time and across laboratories. Here we describe semiautomated methods to disrupt tissue ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

In this work, chromatographic separation of niacin and niacinamide using pure water as the sole component in the mobile phase has been investigated. The separation and analysis of niacinamide have been optimized using three columns at different temperatures and various flow rates. Our results clearly demonstrate that separation and analysis of niacinamide from skincare products can be achieved using pure water as the eluent at 60^oC on a Waters XTerra MS C18 column, a Waters XBridge C18 column, or at 80^oC on a Hamilton PRP-1 column. The separation efficiency, quantification quality, and analysis time of this new method are at least comparable with those of the traditional HPLC methods. Compared with traditional HPLC, the major advantage of this newly developed green chromatography techniq...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This book is mainly a comparison of the cost of pollution with the cost of environmental protection. As to the causes of pollution, a difference is made between pollutants that accumulate and pollutants that do not accumulate. Because of pollutant accumulation it is necessary to carry out both subsequent pollution abatement measures and to take preventive action which helps to avoid pollutant emission. Growth models serve to substantiate why such preventive action is both ecologically and economically useful as a rule. Finally the study makes a comparison between some tools of environmental protection. It stresses in particular that, if a duty on emissions is levied, the polluter has to bear all the cost of the pollution, while at the same time the quality of the environment can be more successfully improved than by emission standards alone.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This final report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) examines a project that aimed to define standard solutions for use in buildings built to meet Minergie low energy consumption standards. These standard solutions are to provide a way of meeting Minergie standards in an easy way and thus further the use of the standard and also assure quality at the same time. The report describes how the solutions were developed on the basis of a selection of existing Minergie buildings. For various combinations of heating systems - wood, wood/solar, heat pumps (brine-water and air-water), gas/solar and oil/solar - the appropriate U-values for various building elements are listed. The resulting Minergie forms and guides are listed.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Poplar breeding in Europe is in a more advanced state than breeding programmes of other species. In Europe, poplars are part of the scenery and are integrated in the economy. Traditionally poplar stands are established in lowland areas. But an increasing interest in their use moved them to upland sites. Poplar uses are multiple: lumber, industrial wood, wind-breaks and landscape plantations, etc. Selection characteristics are classified in different groups: vegetative propagation ability, vigor, adaptation to sites and climate, resistance to diseases and insect pests, wood quality, and coppicing ability. Strategies have improved with time. The most efficient strategies for the long term involve constitution of base populations, selection of parents for intra- and interspecific hybridizations, selection within the progenies, and vegetative propagation. Short term strategies are also applied simultaneously. Advanced breeding techniques with ...

CERN Document Server

A large hadron machine like the LHC with its high track multiplicities always asks for powerful tools that drastically reduce the large background while selecting signal events efficiently. Actually such tools are widely needed and used in all parts of particle physics. Regarding the huge amount of data that will be produced at the LHC, the process of training as well as the process of applying these tools to data, must be time efficient. Such tools can be multivariate analysis -- also called data mining -- tools. In this contribution we present the results for the application of the multivariate analysis, rule growing algorithm RIPPER on a problem of particle selection. It turns out that the meta-methods bagging and cost-sensitivity are essential for the quality of the outcome. The results are compared to other multivariate analysis techniques.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Developing a test standard/protocol for solar box type cookers has drawn a considerable interest among the researchers throughout the world. Recent publications on solar cookers emphasize the need of introducing the thermal performance indicators determined through exergy analysis. In the present paper, the time variation of instantaneous exergy output and energy output as function of its temperature and also of the instantaneous ambient temperature have been reported for truncated pyramid type solar box cooker and compared with those of box type cooker. Further, variations in the exergy lost with temperature difference have been depicted for the selected water temperature range from 60 degreeC to 95 degreeC. Based on this study, quality factor, exergy temperature difference gap product, a...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

In the present scenario of market driven business, power supply has become more like a commodity. Reliable and quality power need to be ensured to meet customer requirements. In such a situation, it is extremely important that transmission line faults be identified accurately, reliably and in quick time. Advanced signal processing tools such as discrete wavelet transform (DWT) can be used very effectively for parameterisation and characterization of the fault signals. On the other hand, properly configured neural network (NN) can be utilized for classification of the faults based on the DWT signal. The present contribution uses electromagnetic transient program (EMTP) for modeling of a real transmission system and MATLAB for DWT and NN. Various types of faults have been simulated at different locations along the transmission line and an attempt has been made to correctly identify and locate the fault. (author)

Science.gov (United States)

As coal becomes more and more important as a power plant fuel in this time of energy shortage and the combustion of high-sulfur coals that would impair air quality, efforts have been made to devise efficient processes to control sulfur dioxide emission. Besides desulfurization before combustion, flue gas desulfurization is considered the most promising method that could also be applicable to all other fossil fuels. In this article, the flue gas desulfurization processes are briefly reviewed, and processes with highest use and with high potential for future use are compared from technical and economical points of view. In the selection of a desulfurization process, it is very important to consider the capacity of the plant, fuel type and fuel-to-sulfur ratio, availability and price of the reagent to be used, type, price, and market of side products, disposal problems of wastes, and environmental factors.

CERN Document Server

The amdlib AMBER data reduction software is meant to produce AMBER data products from the raw data files that are sent to the PIs of different proposals or that can be found in the ESO data archive. The way defined by ESO to calibrate the data is to calibrate one science data file with a calibration one, observed as close in time as possible. Therefore, this scheme does not take into account instrumental drifts, atmospheric variations or visibility-loss corrections, in the current AMBER data processing software, amdlib. In this article, we present our approach to complement this default calibration scheme, to perform the final steps of data reduction, and to produce fully calibrated AMBER data products. These additional steps include: an overnight view of the data structure and data quality, the production of night transfer functions from the calibration stars observed during the night, the correction of additional effects not taken into ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) is a 400-MW(t) sodium-cooled fast reactor operating at the Hanford Engineering Development Laboratory in Richland, Washington, to conduct fuels and materials testing in support of the US liquid-metal fast breeder reactor program. Startup and initial power testing included a comprehensive series of nuclear and nonnuclear tests to verify the thermal and neutronic characteristics of the plant and to demonstrate its inherent safety features. Extensive reactor core characterization measurements were completed to provide the neutron and gamma spectra, fission rates, and other physics data needed to design and evaluate tests irradiated in the FFTF. A specially designed series of natural-circulation tests was performed to demonstrate the inherent safety features of the plant. Early in 1982 the FFTF began its first 100-d irradiation cycle. Since that time the plant has operated beyond expectations; ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This document is the final report for Cooperative Agreement DE-FC26-04NT42314, 'Kinetics Study of Mercury Reactions in FGD Liquors'. The project was co-funded by the U.S. DOE National Energy Technology Laboratory and EPRI. The objective of the project has been to determine the mechanisms and kinetics of the aqueous reactions of mercury absorbed by wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems, and develop a kinetics model to predict mercury reactions in wet FGD systems. The model may be used to determine optimum wet FGD design and operating conditions to maximize mercury capture in wet FGD systems. Initially, a series of bench-top, liquid-phase reactor tests were conducted and mercury species concentrations were measured by UV/visible light spectroscopy to determine reactant and byproduct concentrations over time. Other measurement methods, such as atomic absorption, were used to measure concentrations of vapor-phase elemental ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This document is intended as an addendum to the Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS) Work Plan for the Salmon Site (SS) (formerly the Tatum Dome Test Site) Lamar County, Mississippi. The original work plan - Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study of the Tatum Dome Test Site, Lamar County, Mississippi (herein after called the Work Plan) was approved by the state of Mississippi in 1992 and was intended as the operative document for investigative activities at the Tatum Dome Test Site. Subsequent to the approval of the document a series of activities were undertaken under the auspices of the work plan. This document is organized in the same manner as the original work plan: (1) Introduction; (2) Site Background and History; (3) Initial Evaluation; (4) Data Quality Objectives; (5) RI/FS Tasks; (6) Project Schedule; (7) Project Management; and (8) Reference. This addendum will identify changes to the original work plan that are ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) modular stellarator is under construction at the Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik in Greifswald, Germany. The W7-X magnet system contains 70 coils made up from helium cooled superconducting cables in aluminium alloy (EN AW-6063) jackets. Several hundred connections of the jacket to the cable joints are made by aluminium-to-aluminium welds. Due to geometrical and thermal boundary conditions these welds cannot be accomplished free from defects. Microscopic analyses of the welds show that a variety of small flaws such as cracks and pores develop during welding. The welds have thus to be dimensioned accordingly, and appropriate weld qualification, investigation and testing has to be done in order not to jeopardise the structural integrity and leak tightness. The weld is mechanically loaded during cool-down due to the difference in thermal contractions between the GRP insulation and the aluminium, and during operation by bending moments from electromagnetic ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

An electron moving over the surface of a diffraction grating will transfer a part of its kinetic energy to radiation via a velocity synchronous coupling with a slow space harmonic component of the field. Since the phase velocity of a slow space harmonic is less than the speed of light, the slow components decay exponentially, or evanesce, with distance above the grating and the evanescence scale is determined by the product of the relative velocity, #beta#, the relative energy, #gamma#, and the wavelength #lambda#. Thus, in the relativistic regime, good electron - grating coupling can be maintained at beam heights that are greater than the emitted wavelength. In order to explore this regime a series of experiments have been carried out with moderately energetic beams and an experiment with the 70-MeV beam at the Accelerator Test Facility is in the planning stage. The work has two basic goals: the first is to explore the characteristics of the spontaneous emission ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The Fredericksberg of South Florida may have a great oil potential that has been overlooked as a primary target in past decades. Previous exploration in the area has targeted the Lower Cretaceous oil-producing Sunniland Formation lower in the stratigraphic section. The Fredericksberg Dollar Bay Formation has hydrocarbon shows in many wells occurring in limestone biohermal deposits as well as in an upper dolomitic section. The Dollar Bay Formation is part of the Big Cypress Group of the Comanchean Series of the Lower Cretaceous. The Lower Cretaceous lithology is composed of evaporitic-carbonate cycles consisting of anhydrites, dolomites, and limestones. There are also present some calcareous shales, mudstones, salt, lignitic material, and carbonaceous material, especially in the anhydrite and limestone intervals. The limestones are usually micritic, chalky, calcarenitic, sometimes argillaceous, containing skeletal particles of gastropods, pelecypods, ostracods, ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Background and purpose: A series of phase I/II clinical trials are being initiated in several UK centres to explore the use of dose-escalated schedules for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Among them the IDEAL-CRT trial (ISRCTN12155469) will investigate the introduction of individualised 'isotoxic' treatment schedules based on the relative mean lung normalised total dose (rNTDmean), an estimator related to lung toxicity. Since treatment planning will be performed using different treatment planning systems (TPSs), for the quality assurance of the trial we have carried out work to quantify the influence of dose calculation algorithms based on the determination of rNTDmean and on the choice of individualised prescription doses. Material and methods: Twenty-five patient plans with stage I, II and III NSCLC were calculated, with the same prescription dose, using the Adaptive Convolve (AC) and Collapsed Cone (CC) algorithms of the ...

Science.gov (United States)

Groups are assigned or formed to perform tasks that one person cannot accomplish alone. This lesson describes the classification of work groups, group unity, leadership, motivation, recognition, conflict resolution, and remediation associated with managing groups and their activities. Advantages associated with group process include 1) the generation of better ideas, 2) ability to assume greater risks; make fewer errors; 3) the capacity for greater knowledge and 4) information, and for some problems, production of better decisions. Groups may be formal or informal. Formal groups may be organic, task-directed, or committees. Informal groups arise when it becomes obvious that a group will work better or may be formed by a discipline within the organization or through friendships. The size of the group its status within the organization, the goals established, and the dependence of the members on the group all may affect the cohesiveness of the group. Leadership of the group must keep the ...

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 estimated. Conclusions: The ...