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  1. Characteristics of complaints resulting in disciplinary actions against Danish GPs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    S, Birkeland; RD, Christensen; N, Damsbo

    2013-01-01

    The risk of being disciplined in connection with a complaint case causes distress to most general practitioners. The present study examined the characteristics of complaint cases resulting in disciplinary action.......The risk of being disciplined in connection with a complaint case causes distress to most general practitioners. The present study examined the characteristics of complaint cases resulting in disciplinary action....

  2. Clinicopathogical characteristics and mammographic features of breast cancer showing architectural distortion on a mammogram

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kanzaki, Masao; Hirose, Naoko; Suwa, Kaori; Yoshida, Masayuki; Otuki, Yoshiro; Kobayashi, Hiroshi

    2012-01-01

    Seven hundred and twenty-seven cases of breast cancer were diagnosed in this clinic between January 2003 and December 2010. Of those, 97 patients who showed architectural distortion on mammography were examined regarding the clinicopathological characteristics and mammographic features. The overall rate of architectural distortion was 13.3%, which became higher with progression of the clinical stage. The rate of lymph node metastasis was 50.5% histologically, and the most common histological type was scirrhous carcinoma at 36.2%, papillotubular carcinoma at 33%, invasive lobular carcinoma at 12.1%, and ductal carcinoma in situ at 11%. Cases of extensive ductal spread beyond the breast quadrant, accompanied by microcalcifications or showing architectural distortion in two views on mammography, were present at significantly high rates. Cases showing architectural distortion in two views on mammography accounted for 66% of the total, and, when these cases were not associated with any other mammographic findings, the most suspected histology of the lesion was invasive lobular carcinoma or carcinoma in situ. (author)

  3. Application of the DSA preconditioned GMRES formalism to the method of characteristics - First results

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Le Tellier, R.; Hebert, A.

    2004-01-01

    The method of characteristics is well known for its slow convergence; consequently, as it is often done for SN methods, the Generalized Minimal Residual approach (GMRES) has been investigated for its practical implementation and its high reliability. GMRES is one of the most effective Krylov iterative methods to solve large linear systems. Moreover, the system has been 'left preconditioned' with the Algebraic Collapsing Acceleration (ACA) a variant of the Diffusion Synthetic Acceleration (DSA) based on I. Suslov's former works. This paper presents the first numerical results of these methods in 2D geometries with material discontinuities. Indeed, previous investigations have shown a degraded effectiveness of Diffusion Synthetic Accelerations with this kind of geometries. Results are presented for 9 x 9 Cartesian assemblies in terms of the speed of convergence of the inner iterations (fixed source) of the method of characteristics. It shows a significant improvement on the convergence rate. (authors)

  4. Characteristics of prompt fission gamma-ray emission - Experimental results and predictions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oberstedt, Andreas; Billnert, Robert; Oberstedt, Stephan

    2014-01-01

    Systematics from 2001, describing prompt fission gamma-ray spectra (PFGS) characteristics as function of mass and atomic number of the fissioning system, has been revisited and parameters have been revised based on recent experimental results. Although originally expressed for spontaneous and thermal neutron-induced fission, validity for fast neutrons was assumed and applied to predict PFGS characteristics for the reaction n + 238 U up to incident neutron energies of E n = 20 MeV. The results from this work are in good agreement with corresponding results from both model calculations and experiments. (authors)

  5. MICROBIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MILK FROM DONKEYS FARMED IN CAMPANIA REGION: PRELIMINARY RESULTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. Sarno

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Interest in donkey’s milk destined to human consumption is increasing owing to its complex composition and unique functional properties. The microbiological profile of donkeys’ raw milk was investigated. Individual donkey milk samples were collected from 8 asses after mechanical milking and filtration in a farm of Campania region. A total of 133 samples were analyzed. Total plate count bacteria and Enterobacteriaceae were enumerated. Other microbiological characteristics were monitored as established by legislation in force on the sale of raw milk. Results showed a low contamination level of the raw milk in accordance with other authors. No correlations were evidenced between milk contamination and lactation stage.

  6. Gun Shows and Gun Violence: Fatally Flawed Study Yields Misleading Results

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hemenway, David; Webster, Daniel; Pierce, Glenn; Braga, Anthony A.

    2010-01-01

    A widely publicized but unpublished study of the relationship between gun shows and gun violence is being cited in debates about the regulation of gun shows and gun commerce. We believe the study is fatally flawed. A working paper entitled “The Effect of Gun Shows on Gun-Related Deaths: Evidence from California and Texas” outlined this study, which found no association between gun shows and gun-related deaths. We believe the study reflects a limited understanding of gun shows and gun markets and is not statistically powered to detect even an implausibly large effect of gun shows on gun violence. In addition, the research contains serious ascertainment and classification errors, produces results that are sensitive to minor specification changes in key variables and in some cases have no face validity, and is contradicted by 1 of its own authors’ prior research. The study should not be used as evidence in formulating gun policy. PMID:20724672

  7. Phenolic composition and mouthfeel characteristics resulting from blending Chilean red wines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cáceres-Mella, Alejandro; Peña-Neira, Alvaro; Avilés-Gálvez, Pamela; Medel-Marabolí, Marcela; Del Barrio-Galán, Rubén; López-Solís, Remigio; Canals, Joan Miquel

    2014-03-15

    The blending of wine is a common practice in winemaking to improve certain characteristics that are appreciated by consumers. The use of some cultivars may contribute phenolic compounds that modify certain characteristics in blended wines, particularly those related to mouthfeel. The aim of this work was to study the effect of Carménère, Merlot and Cabernet Franc on the phenolic composition, proanthocyanidin profile and mouthfeel characteristics of Cabernet Sauvignon blends. Significant differences in chemical composition were observed among the monovarietal wines. Separation using Sep-Pak C₁₈ cartridges revealed differences in the concentration but not in the proportion of various proanthocyanidins. Blending reduced polyphenol concentration differences among the various monovarietal wines. Although no major overall differences were observed after blending the monovarietal wines, this oenological practice produced clear differences in mouthfeel characteristics in such a way that the quality of the perceived astringency was different. This study showed that the use of a particular wine variety (Cabernet Sauvignon) in a higher proportion in wine blending produced blends that were less differentiable from the monovarietal wine, owing to a suppression effect, producing an apparent standardization of the wines regarding chemical composition. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry.

  8. Anti-Jo-1 antibody-positive patients show a characteristic necrotizing perifascicular myositis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mescam-Mancini, Lénaig; Allenbach, Yves; Hervier, Baptiste; Devilliers, Hervé; Mariampillay, Kuberaka; Dubourg, Odile; Maisonobe, Thierry; Gherardi, Romain; Mezin, Paulette; Preusse, Corinna; Stenzel, Werner; Benveniste, Olivier

    2015-09-01

    Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies can be classified as polymyositis, dermatomyositis, immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy, sporadic inclusion body myositis or non-specific myositis. Anti-Jo-1 antibody-positive patients are assigned to either polymyositis or dermatomyositis suggesting overlapping pathological features. We aimed to determine if anti-Jo-1 antibody-positive myopathy has a specific morphological phenotype. In a series of 53 muscle biopsies of anti-Jo-1 antibody-positive patients, relevant descriptive criteria defining a characteristic morphological pattern were identified. They were tested in a second series of anti-Jo-1 antibody-positive patients and compared to 63 biopsies from patients suffering from other idiopathic inflammatory myopathies. In anti-Jo-1 antibody-positive patients, necrotic fibres, which strongly clustered in perifascicular regions, were frequently observed. Sarcolemmal complement deposition was detected specifically in perifascicular areas. Inflammation was mainly located in the perimysium and around vessels in 90.6%. Perimysial fragmentation was observed in 90% of cases. Major histocompatibility complex class I staining was diffusely positive, with a perifascicular reinforcement. Multivariate analysis showed that criteria defining perifascicular pathology: perifascicular necrosis, atrophy, and perimysial fragmentation allow the distinction of anti-Jo-1 antibody-positive patients, among patients suffering from other idiopathic inflammatory myopathies. Anti-Jo-1 antibody-positive patients displayed perifascicular necrosis, whereas dermatomyositis patients exhibited perifascicular atrophy. © The Author (2015). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  9. Comb-push ultrasound shear elastography of breast masses: initial results show promise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Denis, Max; Mehrmohammadi, Mohammad; Song, Pengfei; Meixner, Duane D; Fazzio, Robert T; Pruthi, Sandhya; Whaley, Dana H; Chen, Shigao; Fatemi, Mostafa; Alizad, Azra

    2015-01-01

    To evaluate the performance of Comb-push Ultrasound Shear Elastography (CUSE) for classification of breast masses. CUSE is an ultrasound-based quantitative two-dimensional shear wave elasticity imaging technique, which utilizes multiple laterally distributed acoustic radiation force (ARF) beams to simultaneously excite the tissue and induce shear waves. Female patients who were categorized as having suspicious breast masses underwent CUSE evaluations prior to biopsy. An elasticity estimate within the breast mass was obtained from the CUSE shear wave speed map. Elasticity estimates of various types of benign and malignant masses were compared with biopsy results. Fifty-four female patients with suspicious breast masses from our ongoing study are presented. Our cohort included 31 malignant and 23 benign breast masses. Our results indicate that the mean shear wave speed was significantly higher in malignant masses (6 ± 1.58 m/s) in comparison to benign masses (3.65 ± 1.36 m/s). Therefore, the stiffness of the mass quantified by the Young's modulus is significantly higher in malignant masses. According to the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), the optimal cut-off value of 83 kPa yields 87.10% sensitivity, 82.61% specificity, and 0.88 for the area under the curve (AUC). CUSE has the potential for clinical utility as a quantitative diagnostic imaging tool adjunct to B-mode ultrasound for differentiation of malignant and benign breast masses.

  10. Characteristics of complaints resulting in disciplinary actions against Danish GPs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Birkeland, Søren; Depont Christensen, Rene; Damsbo, Niels; Kragstrup, Jakob

    2013-09-01

    The risk of being disciplined in connection with a complaint case causes distress to most general practitioners. The present study examined the characteristics of complaint cases resulting in disciplinary action. The Danish Patients' Complaints Board's decisions concerning general practice in 2007 were examined. Information on the motives for complaining, as well as patient and general practitioner characteristics, was extracted and the association with case outcome (disciplinary or no disciplinary action) was analysed. Variables included complaint motives, patient gender and age, urgency of illness, cancer diagnosis, healthcare settings (daytime or out-of-hours services), and general practitioner gender and professional seniority. Cases where the complaint motives involved a wish for placement of responsibility (OR = 2.35, p = 0.01) or a wish for a review of the general practitioner's competence (OR = 1.95, p = 0.02) were associated with increased odds of the general practitioner being disciplined. The odds of discipline decreased when the complaint was motivated by a feeling of being devalued (OR = 0.39, p = 0.02) or a request for an explanation (OR = 0.46, p = 0.01). With regard to patient and general practitioner characteristics, higher general practitioner professional seniority was associated with increased odds of discipline (OR = 1.97 per 20 additional years of professional seniority, p = 0.01). None of the other characteristics was statistically significantly associated with discipline in the multiple logistic regression model. Complaint motives and professional seniority were associated with decision outcomes. Further research is needed on the impact of professional seniority on performance.

  11. Comb-push ultrasound shear elastography of breast masses: initial results show promise.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Max Denis

    Full Text Available To evaluate the performance of Comb-push Ultrasound Shear Elastography (CUSE for classification of breast masses.CUSE is an ultrasound-based quantitative two-dimensional shear wave elasticity imaging technique, which utilizes multiple laterally distributed acoustic radiation force (ARF beams to simultaneously excite the tissue and induce shear waves. Female patients who were categorized as having suspicious breast masses underwent CUSE evaluations prior to biopsy. An elasticity estimate within the breast mass was obtained from the CUSE shear wave speed map. Elasticity estimates of various types of benign and malignant masses were compared with biopsy results.Fifty-four female patients with suspicious breast masses from our ongoing study are presented. Our cohort included 31 malignant and 23 benign breast masses. Our results indicate that the mean shear wave speed was significantly higher in malignant masses (6 ± 1.58 m/s in comparison to benign masses (3.65 ± 1.36 m/s. Therefore, the stiffness of the mass quantified by the Young's modulus is significantly higher in malignant masses. According to the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC, the optimal cut-off value of 83 kPa yields 87.10% sensitivity, 82.61% specificity, and 0.88 for the area under the curve (AUC.CUSE has the potential for clinical utility as a quantitative diagnostic imaging tool adjunct to B-mode ultrasound for differentiation of malignant and benign breast masses.

  12. A Novel Non-Planar Transverse Stretching Process for Micro-Porous PTFE Membranes and Resulting Characteristics

    KAUST Repository

    Chang, Y.-H.

    2018-02-26

    Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) micro-porous membranes were prepared from PTFE fine powder through extruding, rolling, and uniaxial longitudinally stretching. In contrast to conventional planar transverse stretching, a novel 3D mold design of non-planar transverse stretching process was employed in this study to produce micro-porous structure. The morphology, membrane thickness, mean pore size, and porosity of the PTFE membrane were investigated. The results show that the non-planar transverse stretched membranes exhibit more uniform average pore diameter with thinner membrane thickness. Morphological changes induced by planar and non-planar transverse stretching for pore characteristics were investigated. The stretching conditions, stretching temperature and rate, affect the stretched membrane. Increasing temperature facilitated the uniformity of pore size and uniformity of membrane thickness. Moreover, increase in stretching rate resulted in finer pore size and thinner membrane.

  13. Thermal surface characteristics of coal fires 1 results of in-situ measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Jianzhong; Kuenzer, Claudia

    2007-12-01

    Natural underground coal fires are fires in coal seams occurring subsurface. The fires are ignited through a process named spontaneous combustion, which occurs based on a natural reaction but is usually triggered through human interaction. Coal mining activities expose coal to the air. This leads to the exothermal oxidation of the carbon in the coal with the air's oxygen to CO 2 and - under certain circumstances - to spontaneous combustion. Coal fires occur in many countries world wide - however, currently the Chinese coal mining industry faces the biggest problems with coal fires. Coal fires destroy the valuable resource coal and furthermore lead to many environmental degradation phenomena such as the deterioration of surrounding vegetation, land subsidence and the emission of toxic gasses (CO, N 2O). They additionally contribute to the emission of green house relevant gasses such as CO 2 and CH 4 to the atmosphere. In this paper we present thermal characteristics of coal fires as measured in-situ during a field campaign to the Wuda coal fire area in south-central Inner Mongolia, China. Thermal characteristics include temperature anomaly measurements at the surface, spatial surface temperature profiles of fire areas and unaffected background areas, diurnal temperature profiles, and temperature measurements inside of coal fire induced cracks in the overlying bedrock. For all the measurements the effects of uneven solar heating through influences of slope and aspect are considered. Our findings show that coal fires result in strong or subtle thermal surface anomalies. Especially the latter can easily be influenced by heating of the surrounding background material through solar influences. Temperature variation of background rocks with different albedo, slope, aspect or vegetation cover can substantially influence the detectability of thermal anomalies. In the worst case coal fire related thermal anomalies can be completely masked by solar patterns during the daytime

  14. Statistical evaluation of characteristic SDDLV-induced stress resultants to discriminate between undamaged and damaged elements

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Lasse Majgaard; Johansen, Rasmus Johan; Ulriksen, Martin Dalgaard

    2015-01-01

    of modified characteristic stress resultants, which are compared to a pre-defined tolerance value, without any thorough statistical evaluation. In the present paper, it is tested whether three widely-used statistical pattern-recognition-based damage-detection methods can provide an effective statistical...... evaluation of the characteristic stress resultants, hence facilitating general discrimination between damaged and undamaged elements. The three detection methods in question enable outlier analysis on the basis of, respectively, Euclidian distance, Hotelling’s statistics, and Mahalanobis distance. The study...... alternately to an undamaged reference model with known stiffness matrix, hereby, theoretically, yielding characteristic stress resultants approaching zero in the damaged elements. At present, the discrimination between potentially damaged elements and undamaged ones is typically conducted on the basis...

  15. The Test for Flow Characteristics of Tubular Fuel Assembly(II) - Experimental results and CFD analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Jong Hark; Chae, H. T.; Park, C.; Kim, H.

    2006-12-01

    A test facility had been established for the experiment of velocity distribution and pressure drop in a tubular fuel. A basic test had been conducted to examine the performance of the test loop and to verify the accuracy of measurement by pitot-tube. In this report, test results and CFD analysis for the hydraulic characteristics of a tubular fuel, following the previous tests, are described. Coolant velocities in all channels were measured using pitot-tube and the effect of flow rate change on the velocity distribution was also examined. The pressure drop through the tubular fuel was measured for various flow rates in range of 1 kg/s to 21 kg/s to obtain a correlation of pressure drop with variation of flow rate. In addition, a CFD(Computational Fluid Dynamics) analysis was also done to find out the hydraulic characteristics of tubular fuel such as velocity distribution and pressure drop. As the results of CFD analysis can give us a detail insight on coolant flow in the tubular fuel, the CFD method is a very useful tool to understand the flow structure and phenomena induced by fluid flow. The CFX-10, a commercial CFD code, was used in this study. The two results by the experiment and the CFD analysis were investigated and compared with each other. Overall trend of velocity distribution by CFD analysis was somewhat different from that of experiment, but it would be reasonable considering measurement uncertainties. The CFD prediction for pressure drop of a tubular fuel shows a tolerably good agreement with experiment within 8% difference

  16. Testing Delays Resulting in Increased Identification Accuracy in Line-Ups and Show-Ups.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dekle, Dawn J.

    1997-01-01

    Investigated time delays (immediate, two-three days, one week) between viewing a staged theft and attempting an eyewitness identification. Compared lineups to one-person showups in a laboratory analogue involving 412 subjects. Results show that across all time delays, participants maintained a higher identification accuracy with the showup…

  17. Body characteristics, [corrected] dietary protein and body weight regulation. Reconciling conflicting results from intervention and observational studies?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mikkel Z Ankarfeldt

    Full Text Available Physiological evidence indicates that high-protein diets reduce caloric intake and increase thermogenic response, which may prevent weight gain and regain after weight loss. Clinical trials have shown such effects, whereas observational cohort studies suggest an association between greater protein intake and weight gain. In both types of studies the results are based on average weight changes, and show considerable diversity in both directions. This study investigates whether the discrepancy in the evidence could be due to recruitment of overweight and obese individuals into clinical trials.Data were available from the European Diet, Obesity and Genes (DiOGenes post-weight-loss weight-maintenance trial and the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health (DCH cohort. Participants of the DCH cohort were matched with participants from the DiOGenes trial on gender, diet, and body characteristics. Different subsets of the DCH-participants, comparable with the trial participants, were analyzed for weight maintenance according to the randomization status (high or low protein of the matched trial participants.Trial participants were generally heavier, had larger waist circumference and larger fat mass than the participants in the entire DCH cohort. A better weight maintenance in the high-protein group compared to the low protein group was observed in the subgroups of the DCH cohort matching body characteristics of the trial participants.This modified observational study, minimized the differences between the RCT and observational data with regard to dietary intake, participant characteristics and statistical analysis. Compared with low protein diet the high protein diet was associated with better weight maintenance when individuals with greater body mass index and waist circumference were analyzed. Selecting subsets of large-scale observational cohort studies with similar characteristics as participants in clinical trials may reconcile the otherwise conflicting

  18. Time dependent patient no-show predictive modelling development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Yu-Li; Hanauer, David A

    2016-05-09

    Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to develop evident-based predictive no-show models considering patients' each past appointment status, a time-dependent component, as an independent predictor to improve predictability. Design/methodology/approach - A ten-year retrospective data set was extracted from a pediatric clinic. It consisted of 7,291 distinct patients who had at least two visits along with their appointment characteristics, patient demographics, and insurance information. Logistic regression was adopted to develop no-show models using two-thirds of the data for training and the remaining data for validation. The no-show threshold was then determined based on minimizing the misclassification of show/no-show assignments. There were a total of 26 predictive model developed based on the number of available past appointments. Simulation was employed to test the effective of each model on costs of patient wait time, physician idle time, and overtime. Findings - The results demonstrated the misclassification rate and the area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic gradually improved as more appointment history was included until around the 20th predictive model. The overbooking method with no-show predictive models suggested incorporating up to the 16th model and outperformed other overbooking methods by as much as 9.4 per cent in the cost per patient while allowing two additional patients in a clinic day. Research limitations/implications - The challenge now is to actually implement the no-show predictive model systematically to further demonstrate its robustness and simplicity in various scheduling systems. Originality/value - This paper provides examples of how to build the no-show predictive models with time-dependent components to improve the overbooking policy. Accurately identifying scheduled patients' show/no-show status allows clinics to proactively schedule patients to reduce the negative impact of patient no-shows.

  19. PISC II: Parametric studies. Effect of defect characteristics on immersion focusing probe testing results

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dombret, P.

    1989-09-01

    The results of the Round-Robin trials conducted under the PISC I exercise (1976-1980) showed large discrepancies in the defect detection and sizing capability among different flaws. To identify the causes of such dispersions and quantify the effects, a Parametric Study was included in the PISC II project, taking into consideration most characteristics of planar flaws. A number of steel specimens containing various artificial defects was made available for the measurements. The defects were ultrasonically scanned by standard methods and by some advanced techniques the high performance of which had been established in the PISC Round-Robin Tests. This report deals with the beam focusing technique: 2 MHz 45 0 shear wave transducers have been used in immersion to collect the signals generated by the reference reflectors. The results show that the depth and the size of a defect do not affect significantly its detection and sizing, provided that the natural variation of sensitivity and of beam diameter along the propagation axis is taken into account. On the other hand, parameters such as the orientation and the roughness modify the conditions of impact and interference of the acoustic beam with the defect surface, and therefore strongly influence the energy partition in diffracted and specularly reflected rays. As an example, sharp smooth defects insonified under an angle of 45 0 return to the transducer signals approximately 10 times smaller than the ASME code calibration level

  20. Assessment of characteristic failure envelopes for intact rock using results from triaxial tests

    OpenAIRE

    Muralha, J.; Lamas, L.

    2014-01-01

    The paper presents contributions to the statistical study of the parameters of the Mohr-Coulomb and Hoek-Brown strength criteria, in order to assess the characteristic failure envelopes for intact rock, based on the results of several sets of triaxial tests performed by LNEC. 10p DBB/NMMR

  1. Study of core characteristics on fuel and coolant type. Results of F/S phase-I

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ikegami, Tetsuo; Hayashi, Hideyuki; Sasaki, Makoto; Mizuno, Tomoyasu; Yamadate, Megumi; Takaki, Naoyuki; Kurosawa, Norifumi; Sakashita, Yoshiaki; Naganuma, Masayuki

    2001-03-01

    The phase-I of the Feasibility Study of Commercialized Fast Reactor Cycle Systems (F/S) were started from July, 1999 and terminated at the end of FY2000 in order to executed examination about technology alternatives of various commercialized fast reactor (FR) recycle concepts, in response to the JNC middle long term enterprise plan. In the phase-I of this F/S, a number of conceptual candidates have been selected from the following 5 viewpoints: a) ensuring safety, b) economic competitiveness to future LWRs, c) efficient utilization of resources, d) reduction of environmental burden, e) enhancement of nuclear non-proliferation. As for this study from the above viewpoints, core characteristics of many kinds of reactors have been investigated, analyzed and examined a core / a fuel characteristic in the combinations of fuel and coolant types and power output scales. Based on these results, R and D plans of the phase-II to be performed have been proposed, and a database to select candidate reactor concepts has been prepared. The conclusions have been obtained in the phase-I are as follows: (1) Evaluation of a fuel form in every each coolant was compared. A promising fuel form was extracted as follows: an oxide and a metal fuel for sodium coolant cores, a metal and a nitride fuel for heavy metal coolant cores, an oxide and a nitride fuel for carbon dioxide coolant cores and a nitride fuel for He gas coolant cores. (2) As the general idea that performance of a core nucleus can be compatible with re-criticality evasion in sodium coolant large-sized oxide fuel cores, a axial blanket particle elimination radial heterogeneous core is one influential candidate. (3) In case of Pb-Bi coolant nature circulation medium size core with an oxide fuel, it is difficult to simultaneously achieve higher discharged burn-up and higher breeding ratio according to the viewpoints of the phase-I. (4) Core characteristics of a carbon dioxide coolant core shows to be almost equivalent to that of

  2. Comportamento agressivo em shows musicais: analisando notícias de jornal impresso

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlos Eduardo Pimentel

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper reports a content analysis of the newspaper articles dealing with aggressive behavior in music shows. This analysis permits an understanding of the characteristics of these situations, the aggressive behaviors in shows, and the way in which the print media treat the subject. Despite of the newspapers’ influence on public opinion formation, that is, the transmission of attitudes and behavior repertoires, this kind of analysis is rarely reported in Brazilian social psychological literature. Some 31 newspaper articles were content analyzed as to aggressive behavior during music shows. Results indicate that aggressive behaviors occur in shows of most varied musical styles. Results are discussed on the basis of social cognitive theory.

  3. Research on the operation characteristics of a free-piston linear generator: Numerical model and experimental results

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guo, Chendong; Feng, Huihua; Jia, Boru; Zuo, Zhengxing; Guo, Yuyao; Roskilly, Tony

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • The operation process of free-piston linear generator is investigated. • The larger the motor force at the starting process, the fewer circulations of the piston reciprocating to meet ignition condition. • The “gradually switching strategy” is the best strategy in the intermediate process. • During the generating process, engines indicated power is 2.9 kW with an efficiency of 37.3% under medium load. - Abstract: Free piston linear generator (FPLG) shows unique operation characteristics due to the elimination of crankshaft and connecting rod mechanism. This paper investigates its operation characteristics during each operating process based on the simulation and experiment results. During the starting process, the larger motor force during the starting process, the fewer times of reciprocating pistons which meet the condition of ignition. When the motor force reached 300 N, the prototype could adopt one-stroke starting strategy. During the intermediate process, it was found that the “gradually switching strategy” could help to achieve a smoother operation during the intermediate process. And the values of the operation parameters after the intermediate process were lower than those before the intermediate process. During the generating process, cycle-to-cycle variations were observed for piston TDC and in-cylinder gas pressure from the experimental results. According to the experimental results of the FPLG during the generating process, the calculated engine indicated power is 2.9 kW, and the corresponding indicated thermal efficiency is 37.3%. Additionally, based on the comparison of the FPLG performance, it is found that the parameters of the FPLG during the generating process are smaller than those when it was operated during the second stage of the starting process, while much higher than those during the first stage of the starting process.

  4. QTL mapping of sake brewing characteristics of yeast.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katou, Taku; Namise, Masahiro; Kitagaki, Hiroshi; Akao, Takeshi; Shimoi, Hitoshi

    2009-04-01

    A haploid sake yeast strain derived from the commercial diploid sake yeast strain Kyokai no. 7 showed better characteristics for sake brewing compared to the haploid laboratory yeast strain X2180-1B, including higher production of ethanol and aromatic components. A hybrid of these two strains showed intermediate characteristics in most cases. After sporulation of the hybrid strain, we obtained 100 haploid segregants of the hybrid. Small-scale sake brewing tests of these segregants showed a smooth continuous distribution of the sake brewing characteristics, suggesting that these traits are determined by multiple quantitative trait loci (QTLs). To examine these sake brewing characteristics at the genomic level, we performed QTL analysis of sake brewing characteristics using 142 DNA markers that showed heterogeneity between the two parental strains. As a result, we identified 25 significant QTLs involved in the specification of sake brewing characteristics such as ethanol fermentation and the production of aromatic components.

  5. The Clinical Characteristics of Acute Cerebrovascular Accidents Resulting from Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Shuna; Yuan, Junliang; Qin, Wei; Li, Yue; Yang, Lei; Hu, Wenli

    2017-01-01

    Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) is a serious complication that occurs after the ovarian-induction treatment. Acute cerebrovascular accident is one of the most dangerous manifestations of the syndrome. However, the characteristics of stroke resulting from OHSS have so far not been well summarised in any study. We reported 2 cases of acute cerebrovascular accidents secondary to OHSS. And then we performed a literature search for reports on this type of stroke, and summarised their characteristics. Thirty-six published cases of this type of stroke were reviewed. Thirty two out of 36 (88.9%) of the women were 35 years old or younger. Stroke in 28 out of 36 (77.8%) of these cases was caused by arterial thrombosis. In 17 out of 28 cases, the involved cerebral vascular branches were mainly middle cerebral artery (MCA) and internal carotid artery (ICA). The acute cerebrovascular accidents happened 7 and 9.25 days after embryo transplantation or 8 and 8.33 days after last human chorionic gonadotropin treatment respectively. The prognosis of patients was relatively good after anticoagulation and some supportive treatments. The MCA and ICA are easily involved in stroke resulting from OHSS. The young age may be a risk factor for developing stroke secondary to OHSS. Once thromboembolism develops, administering appropriate therapy is crucial. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  6. Thermoluminescent characteristics of synthetic hydroxyapatite (SHAp)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alvarez, R.; Rivera, T.; Guzman, J.; Piña-Barba, M.C.; Azorin, J.

    2014-01-01

    This paper presents the experimental results of the thermoluminescent (TL) characteristics of synthetic hydroxyapatite (SHAp) obtained by the sol–gel method. For preparation of the SHAp powders, phosphorus pentoxide (P 2 O 5 ) and calcium nitrate tetrahydrated (Ca(NO 3 ) 2 –4H 2 O) were used. The powders obtained were submitted at different temperatures. The structural and morphological characterization were carried out using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy techniques. TL glow curve exhibited two peaks centered at around 200 °C and 300 °C. TL response of SHAp as a function of gamma absorbed dose was linear over a wide dose range. Fading of the storage information in the samples irradiated was also studied. The experimental results show that the synthetic hydroxyapatite obtained by the sol–gel method may have used in gamma radiation dosimetry applications. - highlights: • Dosimetric characteristics of SHAp under gamma irradiation effect were analyzed • SHAp powders were obtained by Sol–Gel method • Fading anomalous of HAp was performed showing 15% during 90 days • SHAp showed good dosimetric characteristics. • Dosimetric characteristics of SHAp have not been reported yet in the literature before this paper

  7. Test results and operational characteristics of prototype SSCL half cell

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McInturff, A.D.; Burgett, W.; Carter, H.

    1994-01-01

    The SSCL Accelerator System's String Test (ASST) has had several cool down, subsequent operational test series, and warm up cycles. The first cycle of these was rather limited in scope as mandated by Congress. The subsequent tests have been performed to obtain more complete information about parameters of, or operating experience with, the ensemble of magnets and spools when operating serially as in accelerator operations. The tests and procedures performed to date have emphasized cryogenic, mechanical, and electrical operations. These have included running, as well as upset conditions, i.e., superconducting to normal transition of the string (quench). This paper represents a summary of the operational test results and characteristics seen to date. A limited discussion will be included as to their implications with respect to a successful accelerator operation

  8. MODEL OF EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT NURSE PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT BASED ON ASSOCIATION OF INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTIC, ORGANIZATION CHARACTERISTIC AND JOB CHARACTERISTIC

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Margaretha Bogar

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Nursing care is integral part of health care and having important role in management of patient with emergency condition. The purpose of this research was to develop nurse performance improvement model based on individual, organization and job characteristics association in Emergency Department of RSUD dr TC Hillers Maumere. Method: This was an explanative survey by cross sectional approach held on July -August 2012. Respondents in this study were 22 nurses and 44 patients were obtained by purposive sampling technique. Data were analyzed by partial least square test and signi fi cant t value > 1.64 (alpha 10%. Result: Results showed that individual characteristic had effect on nurse performance (t = 7.59, organization characteristic had effect on nurse performance (t = 2.03 and job characteristic didn’t have effect on nurse performance (t = 0.88. Nurse performance had effect on patient satisfaction (t = 6.54 but nurse satisfaction didn’t have effect on nurse performance (t = 1.31, and nurse satisfaction didn’t have effect either on patient satisfaction (t = 0.94. Discussion: This research concluded that individual characteristics which in fl uence nurse performance in nursing care were ability and skill, experience, age, sex, attitude and motivation. Organization characteristic that influence nurse performance was reward while job characteristic that include job design and feedback didn’t influence nurse performance in nursing care. Nurse performance influenced patient satisfaction but nurse satisfaction didn’t influence patient satisfaction and nurse performance.

  9. Airfoil characteristics for wind turbines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bak, C; Fuglsang, P; Soerensen, N N; Aagaard Madsen, H [Risoe National Lab., Roskilde (Denmark); Shen, Wen Zhong; Noerkaer Soerensen, J [Technical Univ. of Denmark, Lyngby (Denmark)

    1999-03-01

    Airfoil characteristics for use in the Blade Element Momentum (BEM) method calculating the forces on Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWT) are derived by use of systematic methods. The investigation and derivation of the airfoil characteristics are based on four different methods: 1) Inverse momentum theory, 2) Actuator disc theory, 3) Numerical optimisation and 4) Quasi-3D CFD computations. The two former methods are based on 3D CFD computations and wind tunnel measurements on a 41-m full-scale rotor with LM 19.1 blades. The derived airfoil characteristics show that the lift coefficient in stall at the tip is low and that it is high at the root compared to 2D airfoil characteristics. The use of these characteristics in aeroelastic calculations shows a good agreement in power and flap moments with measurements. Furthermore, a fatigue analysis shows a reduction in the loads of up to 15 % compared to a commonly used set of airfoil characteristics. The numerical optimisation is based on both the 3D CFD computations and measurements on a 41-m rotor with LM 19.1 and LM 19.0 blades, respectively. The method requires power and loads from a turbine and is promising since a set of lift and drag curves is derived that can be used to calculate mean values of power and loads. The lift in stall at the tip is low and at the root it is high compared to 2D airfoil characteristics. In particular the power curves were well calculated by use of the optimised airfoil characteristics. In the quasi-3D CFD computations, the airfoil characteristics are derived directly. This Navier-Stokes model takes into account rotational and 3D effects. The model enables the study of the rotational effect of a rotor blade at computing costs similar to what is typical for 2D airfoil calculations. The depicted results show that the model is capable of determining the correct qualitative behaviour for airfoils subject to rotation. The method shows that lift is high at the root compared to 2D airfoil

  10. Show Horse Welfare: Horse Show Competitors' Understanding, Awareness, and Perceptions of Equine Welfare.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Voigt, Melissa A; Hiney, Kristina; Richardson, Jennifer C; Waite, Karen; Borron, Abigail; Brady, Colleen M

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of stock-type horse show competitors' understanding of welfare and level of concern for stock-type show horses' welfare. Data were collected through an online questionnaire that included questions relating to (a) interest and general understanding of horse welfare, (b) welfare concerns of the horse show industry and specifically the stock-type horse show industry, (c) decision-making influences, and (d) level of empathic characteristics. The majority of respondents indicated they agree or strongly agree that physical metrics should be a factor when assessing horse welfare, while fewer agreed that behavioral and mental metrics should be a factor. Respondent empathy levels were moderate to high and were positively correlated with the belief that mental and behavioral metrics should be a factor in assessing horse welfare. Respondents indicated the inhumane practices that most often occur at stock-type shows include excessive jerking on reins, excessive spurring, and induced excessive unnatural movement. Additionally, respondents indicated association rules, hired trainers, and hired riding instructors are the most influential regarding the decisions they make related to their horses' care and treatment.

  11. Characteristics associated with being overweight among the population of Ukraine, results of 2000 survey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chagarna, Natalia

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND. Being overweight is considered among major risk factors of chronic non-communicable diseases. The goal of this study was to investigate main determinants associated with being overweight and obese among the population of Ukraine in transitional period.METHODS. Data from the survey “Health and Well-being in the Transitions” (2000 were used. Body mass index (BMI was used to estimate the level of overweight. Binary dependent variable was computed by setting BMI of 25 as the borderline between normal weight and overweight. Risk of being overweight was compared by educational groups, demographic characteristics, occupation, level of physical activity, and behavioral and eating habits, after adjustment for age and stratification by gender.RESULTS. Among men, those overweight were less likely to smoke (adjusted odds ratio 2,5, while more likely to eat meat more often (AOR=2,3 and to consume more vegetable oil. However, among women being overweight was associated with eating more potatoes (AOR = 0,4 and with frequent vodka intake (AOR = 1,7. Those women who drank beer were less likely to be overweight (AOR = 0,3. Risk of being overweight was related to occupation: those unemployed, housekeepers, and self-employed people were less likely to be overweight than those employed with salaries. Obesity risk was greater in those older than 30. Education and physical activity did not show significant associations with risk of being overweight.CONCLUSION. Eating habits, occupational status, and unhealthy habits were associated with obesity among men and women in different ways. Age was found to be an important factor of being overweight both for males and females. Some of the associated characteristics may be considered causes of being overweight and the others as consequences.

  12. n-Characteristic Vector Fields of Contact Manifoldss

    OpenAIRE

    Hassanzadeh, Babak

    2017-01-01

    In present paper we define and study $n$-characteristic vector fields. We present definition of Tanaka-Webster connection, then use it for studying the behavior of $n$-characteristic vector fields. Also we show some results about of these vector fields by Tanaka-Webster connection.

  13. NCR1+ cells in dogs show phenotypic characteristics of natural killer cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grøndahl-Rosado, Christine; Bønsdorff, Tina B; Brun-Hansen, Hege C; Storset, Anne K

    2015-03-01

    No specific markers for natural killer (NK) cells in dogs have currently been described. NCR1 (NKp46, CD355) has been considered a pan species NK cell marker and is expressed on most or all NK cells in all species investigated except for the pig which has both a NCR1(+) and a NCR1(-) population. In this study peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 14 healthy dogs, 37 dogs with a clinical diagnosis, including a dog diagnosed with LGL leukemia, and tissue samples from 8 dogs were evaluated for NCR1(+) expression by a cross reacting anti bovine NCR1 antibody. CD3(-)NCR1(+) cells were found in the blood of 93 % of healthy dogs and comprised up to 2.5 % of lymphocytes in PBMC. In a selection of healthy dogs, sampling and immunophenotyping were repeated throughout a period of 1 year revealing a substantial variation in the percentage of CD3(-)NCR1(+) over time. Dogs allocated to 8 disease groups had comparable amounts of CD3(-)NCR1(+) cells in PBMC to the healthy individuals. All organs examined including liver, spleen and lymph nodes contained CD3(-)NCR1(+) cells. Circulating CD3(-)NCR1(+) cells were further characterized as CD56(-)GranzymeB(+)CD8(-). A CD3(+)NCR1(+) population was observed in PBMC in 79 % of the healthy dogs examined representing at the most 4.8 % of the lymphocyte population. In canine samples examined for CD56 expression, CD56(+) cells were all CD3(+) and NCR1(-). To our knowledge, this is the first examination of NCR1 expression in the dog. The study shows that this NK cell associated receptor is expressed both on populations of CD3(+) and CD3(-) blood lymphocytes in dogs and the receptor is found on a CD3(+) GranzymeB(+) CD8(+) leukemia. Our results support that CD56 is expressed only on CD3(+) cells in dogs and shows that NCR1 defines a different CD3(+) lymphocyte population than CD56(+)CD3(+) cells in this species. CD3(-)NCR1(+) cells may represent canine NK cells.

  14. The Influence of Household Socio-Economic Characteristics and ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The Influence of Household Socio-Economic Characteristics and Awareness on Aflatoxin Contamination of Maize in Makueni County, Kenya. ... East African Medical Journal ... The results further showed significant associations of some socio-economic characteristics and awareness with aflatoxin contamination of maize.

  15. Tsunami sediments and their grain size characteristics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sulastya Putra, Purna

    2018-02-01

    Characteristics of tsunami deposits are very complex as the deposition by tsunami is very complex processes. The grain size characteristics of tsunami deposits are simply generalized no matter the local condition in which the deposition took place. The general characteristics are fining upward and landward, poor sorting, and the grain size distribution is not unimodal. Here I review the grain size characteristics of tsunami deposit in various environments: swale, coastal marsh and lagoon/lake. Review results show that although there are similar characters in some environments and cases, but in detail the characteristics in each environment can be distinguished; therefore, the tsunami deposit in each environment has its own characteristic. The local geological and geomorphological condition of the environment may greatly affect the grain size characteristics.

  16. Characteristics of reversible-pump turbines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Olimstad, Grunde

    2012-07-01

    The primary goal for this PhD project has been to investigate instability of reversible-pump turbines (RPTs) as a phenomenon and to find remedies to solve it. The instability occurs for turbines with s-shaped characteristics, unfavourable waterway and limited rotating inertia. It is only observed for certain operation pints at either high speed or low load. These correspond to ether high values of Ned or low values of Qed. The work done in this PhD thesis can be divided in to the three following categories. Investigate and understand the behaviour of a pump turbine: A model was designed in order to investigate the pump turbine behaviour related to its characteristics. This model was manufactured and measurements were performed in the laboratory. By using throttling valves or torque as input the full s-shaped characteristics was measured. When neither of these techniques is used, the laboratory system has unstable operation points which result in hysteresis behaviour. Global behaviour of the RPT in power plant system was investigated through analytical stability analysis and dynamic system simulations. The latter included both rigid and elastic representation of the water column. Turbine internal flow: The flow inside the runner was investigated by computer simulations (CFD). Two-dimensional analysis was used to study the inlet part of the runner. This showed that a vortex forming at the inlet is one of the causes for the unstable operation range. Measurements at different pressure levels showed that the characteristics were dependent on the Reynolds number at high Ned values in turbine mode. This means that the similarity of flows is not sufficiently described by constant Qed and Ned values at this part of the characteristics. Design modifications: The root of the stability problem was considered to be the runners geometric design at the inlet in turbine mode. Therefore different design parameters were investigated to find relations to the characteristics. Methods

  17. Early Period Results and Clinical Characteristics of Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy in Sivrihisar State Hospital

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ozgur Turk

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Aim: Our aim was to identify the characteristics of the patient that performed upper gastrointestinal endoscopy in a new established endoscopy unit of a state hospital. We want to present the spectrum of gastrointestinal diseases in our hospitals region. Material and Method: We analyzed patients upper endoscopy results according to age, sex, complaints, clinical characteristics, type of anesthesia, and the necessity of biopsy. We reviewed 256 patients data between 2013 December-2014 July. All endoscopies were performed by same surgeon. Results: The highest complaint was epigastric pain (n=112, 43, 8%. Other complaints were followed as dyspepsia (n=84, 32.8%, heartburn (n=42, 16.4%, nausea (n=4, 1.6%, vomiting (n=2, 0.8%, dysphagia (n=6, 2.3%. We determined 218 gastritis (85.2%, 64 hiatal hernia (25%, 120 esophagitis (46.9%, 76 duodenitis (29.7%, 4 gastric ulcer (1.6%, 18 duodenal ulcers (7%, 20 bile reflux (7.8%, 26 Gastro esophageal reflux disease (GERD in patients (10.2%. 10 patients reported as normal (3.9%. Biopsy was performed in 186 of the patients. Discussion: Endoscopy can become an early diagnostic examination by increasing the availability of endoscopy. Also alarm symptoms should not be ignored and endoscopy should perform immediately in symptomatic patients. As an early result of upper gastrointestinal endoscopies that performed in this study; gastritis, esophagitis, duodenitis and hiatal hernia are common gastrointestinal diseases in our region.

  18. Bilateral femoral neck fractures resulting from pregnancy-associated osteoporosis showed bone marrow edema on magnetic resonance imaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kasahara, Kyoko; Kita, Nobuyuki; Kawasaki, Taku; Morisaki, Shinsuke; Yomo, Hiroko; Murakami, Takashi

    2017-06-01

    Femoral neck fractures resulting from pregnancy-associated osteoporosis is a rare condition. Herein, we report an undoubted case of pregnancy-associated osteoporosis in a 38-year-old primiparous patient with pre-existing anorexia nervosa who suffered bilateral femoral neck fractures in the third trimester and early post-partum period. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed femoral neck fractures as well as diffuse marrow edema involving both femoral heads, which are considered under ordinary circumstances as characteristic imaging findings of transient osteoporosis of the hip. Based on our experience, we propose that pregnancy-associated osteoporosis might be present in femoral neck fractures attributed to transient osteoporosis of the hip in pregnancy. Conversely, bone status should be carefully and accurately estimated in cases of potential transient osteoporosis of the hip in pregnancy to reduce future fracture risk. © 2017 The Authors Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Research published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

  19. Cold thyroid nodules show a marked increase in proliferation markers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krohn, Knut; Stricker, Ingo; Emmrich, Peter; Paschke, Ralf

    2003-06-01

    Thyroid follicular adenomas and adenomatous thyroid nodules are a frequent finding in geographical areas with iodine deficiency. They occur as hypofunctioning (scintigraphically cold) or hyperfunctioning (scintigraphically hot) nodules. Their predominant clonal origin suggests that they result from clonal expansion of a single cell, which is very likely the result of a prolonged increase in proliferation compared with non-affected surrounding cells. To test whether increased cell proliferation is detectable in cold thyroid nodules, we studied paraffin-embedded tissue from 40 cold thyroid nodules and their surrounding normal thyroid tissue for the occurrence of the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and Ki-67 (MIB-1 antibody) epitopes as markers for cell proliferation. All 40 thyroid nodules were histologically well characterized and have been studied for molecular characteristics before. The labeling index (number of labeled cells versus total cell number) for nodular and surrounding tissue was calculated. In 33 cold thyroid nodules a significant (p thyroid nodules a significant (p thyroid epithelial cell proliferation is a uniform feature common to most cold nodules. However, the increase of proliferation markers shows a heterogeneity that is not correlated with histopathologic, molecular, or clinical characteristics.

  20. The characteristics of a pneumatic muscle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pietrala Dawid

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The article presents static and dynamic characteristics of pneumatic muscles. It presents the structure of the laboratory stand used to test pneumatic muscles. It discusses the methodology for determination of static and dynamic characteristics. The paper also illustrates characteristics showing the relationship of pneumatic muscles length and operating pressure, at a constant loading force (isotonic characteristics. It presents characteristics showing the relationship of pneumatic muscles shortening and values of loading forces, at a constant operational pressure (isobaric characteristics. It also shows the dependence of force generated by the muscle on the operating pressure, at a constant value of pneumatic muscles shortening (isometric characteristics. The paper also presents dynamic characteristics of a pneumatic muscle showing the response of an object to a gradual change in the operating pressure, at a constant loading force acting on the pneumatic muscle.

  1. The characteristics of a pneumatic muscle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pietrala, Dawid

    The article presents static and dynamic characteristics of pneumatic muscles. It presents the structure of the laboratory stand used to test pneumatic muscles. It discusses the methodology for determination of static and dynamic characteristics. The paper also illustrates characteristics showing the relationship of pneumatic muscles length and operating pressure, at a constant loading force (isotonic characteristics). It presents characteristics showing the relationship of pneumatic muscles shortening and values of loading forces, at a constant operational pressure (isobaric characteristics). It also shows the dependence of force generated by the muscle on the operating pressure, at a constant value of pneumatic muscles shortening (isometric characteristics). The paper also presents dynamic characteristics of a pneumatic muscle showing the response of an object to a gradual change in the operating pressure, at a constant loading force acting on the pneumatic muscle.

  2. Phonemic Characteristics of Apraxia of Speech Resulting from Subcortical Hemorrhage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peach, Richard K.; Tonkovich, John D.

    2004-01-01

    Reports describing subcortical apraxia of speech (AOS) have received little consideration in the development of recent speech processing models because the speech characteristics of patients with this diagnosis have not been described precisely. We describe a case of AOS with aphasia secondary to basal ganglia hemorrhage. Speech-language symptoms…

  3. Manufacturing methods and magnetic characteristics of magnetic wood

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oka, H.; Hojo, A.; Osada, H.; Namizaki, Y.; Taniuchi, H.

    2004-01-01

    The relationship between wood construction and DC magnetic characteristics for three types of magnetic wood was experimentally investigated. The results show that the magnetic characteristics of each type of magnetic wood are dependent on the magnetic materials, the density of the magnetic material and the construction of the wood. Furthermore, it was determined that the relationship between the fiber direction and the magnetic path direction of the magnetic wood influenced the wood's magnetic characteristics

  4. Dynamic load-sharing characteristic analysis of face gear power-split gear system based on tooth contact characteristics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, Hao; Hu, Yahui

    2018-04-01

    The bend-torsion coupling dynamics load-sharing model of the helicopter face gear split torque transmission system is established by using concentrated quality standard, to analyzing the dynamic load-sharing characteristic. The mathematical models include nonlinear support stiffness, time-varying meshing stiffness, damping, gear backlash. The results showed that the errors collectively influenced the load sharing characteristics, only reduce a certain error, it is never fully reached the perfect loading sharing characteristics. The system load-sharing performance can be improved through floating shaft support. The above-method will provide a theoretical basis and data support for its dynamic performance optimization design.

  5. Defining Dynamic Characteristics of Multilink Pendulum System with Comparison of the Calculated and Experimental Results

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. A. Gribkov

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available We consider the multilink pendulum system consisting of six physical pendulums. A pendulum (carrier has inertia parameters, which significantly exceed the remaining (carried ones placed on the carrier. In addition to the system under analysis, in particular, the paper presents a design scheme for a two-stage liquid fuel rocket using pendulums as the analogues of fluctuating fuel. Pendulum models also find application to solve problems of stabilization of space tether systems. The objective of the study is to determine dynamic characteristics of the said sixmembered pendulum system, as well as to identify specific dynamic properties inherent in objects of this kind. Dynamic characteristics of the system are determined by calculations. A physical model of the pendulum allowed us to compare the calculated and experimental results. To conduct the frequency tests of the pendulum model three pilot units have been created. The first two units turned out to be inappropriate for fulfilling the experimental tasks for various reasons. The third unit enabled us to obtain desirable experimental results. The "calculation–experiment” discrepancy on the natural frequencies of the pendulum model for the majority of frequencies was less than 5%. We analyzed the dynamic features of multilink pendulum systems "carried by the carrier unit links". The analysis results are applicable to the above-noted object classes of rocket and space technology.

  6. The characteristics and stability of a range of Cox's Orange Pippin apple mutants showing different growth habits

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lacey, C.N.D.; Campbell, A.I.

    1979-01-01

    Seven hundred and fifty gamma-irradiated scions of Cox's Orange Pippin apple were grown to produce a V 1 generation and were then multiplied to produce a V 2 of 13158 individual trees. 272 obvious vegetative mutants, mainly dwarf or compact types, were found in this population and classified according to growth habit. These were propagated to produce clones of the mutant types (V 3 ) and a study of these clonal mutants as compared with their original (V 2 ) characteristics showed that while the vast majority of the selected mutants produced dwarf or compact clones, no clear indication of final cropping performance could be drawn from the original phenotype of the selected V 2 mutants. The majority of mutants produced were not of commercial value, and the main reasons for the rejection of V 3 clones depended, in many cases, on the phenotype of the V 2 selection. Thus while all types of V 2 mutant produced approximately the same proportion of acceptable trees, the reason for the rejection of the V 3 clones varies with the V 2 phenotype. Therefore selection can be carried out at an early stage in a mutation breeding programme to reduce the proportion of certain unwanted types such as mericlinal chimaeras as that otherwise are carried forward to yield trials. From the orchard trials of 82 mutant clones. 24 were short-listed for possible commercial introduction. All were derived from the less extreme mutant types. (Auth.)

  7. Gravitational wave extraction based on Cauchy-characteristic extraction and characteristic evolution

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Babiuc, Maria [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (United States); Szilagyi, Bela [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (United States); Max-Planck-Institut fuer Gravitationsphysik, Albert-Einstein-Institut, Am Muehlenberg 1, D-14476 Golm (Germany); Hawke, Ian [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Gravitationsphysik, Albert-Einstein-Institut, Am Muehlenberg 1, D-14476 Golm (Germany); School of Mathematics, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ (United Kingdom); Zlochower, Yosef [Department of Physics and Astronomy, and Center for Gravitational Wave Astronomy, University of Texas at Brownsville, Brownsville, TX 78520 (United States)

    2005-12-07

    We implement a code to find the gravitational news at future null infinity by using data from a Cauchy code as boundary data for a characteristic code. This technique of Cauchy-characteristic extraction (CCE) allows for the unambiguous extraction of gravitational waves from numerical simulations. We first test the technique on non-radiative spacetimes: Minkowski spacetime, perturbations of Minkowski spacetime and static black hole spacetimes in various gauges. We show the convergence and limitations of the algorithm and illustrate its success in cases where other wave extraction methods fail. We further apply our techniques to a standard radiative test case for wave extraction, a linearized Teukolsky wave, presenting our results in comparison to the Zerilli technique, and we argue for the advantages of our method of extraction.

  8. Modelling of dc characteristics for granular semiconductors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Varpula, Aapo; Sinkkonen, Juha; Novikov, Sergey

    2010-01-01

    The dc characteristics of granular n-type semiconductors are calculated analytically with the drift-diffusion theory. Electronic trapping at the grain boundaries (GBs) is taken into account. The use of quadratic and linear GB potential profiles in the calculation is compared. The analytical model is verified with numerical simulation performed by SILVACO ATLAS. The agreement between the analytical and numerical results is excellent in a large voltage range. The results show that electronic trapping at the GBs has a remarkable effect on the highly nonlinear I-V characteristics of the material.

  9. Modelling of dc characteristics for granular semiconductors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Varpula, Aapo; Sinkkonen, Juha; Novikov, Sergey, E-mail: aapo.varpula@tkk.f [Department of Micro and Nanosciences, Aalto University, PO Box 13500, FI-00076 Aalto, Espoo (Finland)

    2010-11-01

    The dc characteristics of granular n-type semiconductors are calculated analytically with the drift-diffusion theory. Electronic trapping at the grain boundaries (GBs) is taken into account. The use of quadratic and linear GB potential profiles in the calculation is compared. The analytical model is verified with numerical simulation performed by SILVACO ATLAS. The agreement between the analytical and numerical results is excellent in a large voltage range. The results show that electronic trapping at the GBs has a remarkable effect on the highly nonlinear I-V characteristics of the material.

  10. Effect of season on characteristics of pecorino cheese and ricotta of Pistoiese Appennine: first results

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. Giustini

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available The “Pecorino pistoiese” is made from milk of Massese Sheep. The flocks are reared by grazing on natural pastures of Pistoiese Appennine. The farms product cheeses by milk without pasteurization. The handmade cheeses are characterized by a remarkable variability due to farm and to season. The aim of this work is to study the effect of season on characteristics of the pecorino e ricotta pistoiese with particular attention for the determination of the yield. One trial was run in each season (4 trials and in 3 farms. Every phases of the cheesemaking were controlled and milk, cheese and ricotta were weighed and analysed. The season showed some significant effects on the chemical composition of milk: lactose and SNF showed lower values in summer. The pecorino cheese showed 18.5% of fat and 24.7% of protein on average. In spring and in summer the yield in pecorino cheese (15.8% was significantly worse than in winter (19.3%. The ricotta cheese was fatter in summer (27.6% than in winter (17.5%. The yield of ricotta at 24 hours was 13.5% on average.

  11. Examining upper echelons managers’ characteristics on financial restatements

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Syarifah Saffa’ Najwa Tuan Besar

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available This study examines the effect of manager’s characteristics on financial restatements among Malaysian public listed firms. Manager’s characteristics in this study refer to the Chief Executive Officer’s (CEO and Chairman of Audit Committee’s (CAC characteristics in an organisation. Using content analysis on 750 annual reports of 150 public listed firms in Bursa Malaysia, this study analyses the relationship between CEO and CAC's characteristics and financial restatements. The results show that only CEO’s characteristics in terms of educational and functional background significantly affect the financial restatements of the listed firms but the results are positive. The implication of this study is that more thorough recruitment of top managers is needed as their specific characteristics affect the financial restatement decisions. This study provides new data for the regulatory bodies which can be used further in setting rules and regulations in relation to managers for preventing aggressive financial restatements among the public listed firms.

  12. The characteristics of a pneumatic muscle

    OpenAIRE

    Pietrala Dawid

    2017-01-01

    The article presents static and dynamic characteristics of pneumatic muscles. It presents the structure of the laboratory stand used to test pneumatic muscles. It discusses the methodology for determination of static and dynamic characteristics. The paper also illustrates characteristics showing the relationship of pneumatic muscles length and operating pressure, at a constant loading force (isotonic characteristics). It presents characteristics showing the relationship of pneumatic muscles s...

  13. Are the results of questionnaires measuring non-cognitive characteristics during the selection procedure for medical school application biased by social desirability?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Obst, Katrin U; Brüheim, Linda; Westermann, Jürgen; Katalinic, Alexander; Kötter, Thomas

    2016-01-01

    Introduction: A stronger consideration of non-cognitive characteristics in Medical School application procedures is desirable. Psychometric tests could be used as an economic supplement to face-to-face interviews which are frequently conducted during university internal procedures for Medical School applications (AdH, Auswahlverfahren der Hochschulen). This study investigates whether the results of psychometric questionnaires measuring non-cognitive characteristics such as personality traits, empathy, and resilience towards stress are vulnerable to distortions of social desirability when used in the context of selection procedures at Medical Schools. Methods: This study took place during the AdH of Lübeck University in August 2015. The following questionnaires have been included: NEO-FFI, SPF, and AVEM. In a 2x1 between-subject experiment we compared the answers from an alleged application condition and a control condition. In the alleged application condition we told applicants that these questionnaires were part of the application procedure. In the control condition applicants were informed about the study prior to completing the questionnaires. Results: All included questionnaires showed differences which can be regarded as social-desirability effects. These differences did not affect the entire scales but, rather, single subscales. Conclusion: These results challenge the informative value of these questionnaires when used for Medical School application procedures. Future studies may investigate the extent to which the differences influence the actual selection of applicants and what implications can be drawn from them for the use of psychometric questionnaires as part of study-place allocation procedures at Medical Schools.

  14. Are the results of questionnaires measuring non-cognitive characteristics during the selection procedure for medical school application biased by social desirability?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Obst, Katrin U.

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: A stronger consideration of non-cognitive characteristics in Medical School application procedures is desirable. Psychometric tests could be used as an economic supplement to face-to-face interviews which are frequently conducted during university internal procedures for Medical School applications (AdH, Auswahlverfahren der Hochschulen. This study investigates whether the results of psychometric questionnaires measuring non-cognitive characteristics such as personality traits, empathy, and resilience towards stress are vulnerable to distortions of social desirability when used in the context of selection procedures at Medical Schools.Methods: This study took place during the AdH of Lübeck University in August 2015. The following questionnaires have been included: NEO-FFI, SPF, and AVEM. In a 2x1 between-subject experiment we compared the answers from an alleged application condition and a control condition. In the alleged application condition we told applicants that these questionnaires were part of the application procedure. In the control condition applicants were informed about the study prior to completing the questionnaires.Results: All included questionnaires showed differences which can be regarded as social-desirability effects. These differences did not affect the entire scales but, rather, single subscales.Conclusion: These results challenge the informative value of these questionnaires when used for Medical School application procedures. Future studies may investigate the extent to which the differences influence the actual selection of applicants and what implications can be drawn from them for the use of psychometric questionnaires as part of study-place allocation procedures at Medical Schools.

  15. Product Characteristics and Internet Shopping Intentions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vijayasarathy, Leo R.

    2002-01-01

    Discussion of electronic commerce and online marketing focuses on an empirical study that investigated differences between Internet shopping intentions for products categorized by cost and tangibility. Highlights include hypotheses; respondent characteristics; results that showed that intentions to shop using the Internet differ by tangibility of…

  16. A Unique Autothermal Thermophilic Aerobic Digestion Process Showing a Dynamic Transition of Physicochemical and Bacterial Characteristics from the Mesophilic to the Thermophilic Phase.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tashiro, Yukihiro; Kanda, Kosuke; Asakura, Yuya; Kii, Toshihiko; Cheng, Huijun; Poudel, Pramod; Okugawa, Yuki; Tashiro, Kosuke; Sakai, Kenji

    2018-03-15

    capacity, a short treatment period, and inactivation of pathogens, one of the factors limiting its broad application is the high electric power consumption for aerators with a full-scale bioreactor. We elucidated the dynamics of the bacterial community structures, as well as the physicochemical characteristics, in the ATAD process with a full-scale bioreactor from human excreta for 3 weeks. Our results indicated that this unique process can be divided into three distinguishable phases by an aerator with complete aeration and showed a possibility of shortening the digestion period to approximately 10 days. This research not only helps to identify which bacteria play significant roles and how the process can be improved and controlled but also demonstrates an efficient ATAD process with less electric power consumption for worldwide application. Copyright © 2018 American Society for Microbiology.

  17. Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome and encephalomyelitis disseminata/multiple sclerosis show remarkable levels of similarity in phenomenology and neuroimmune characteristics

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Background ‘Encephalomyelitis disseminata’ (multiple sclerosis) and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) are both classified as diseases of the central nervous system by the World Health Organization. This review aims to compare the phenomenological and neuroimmune characteristics of MS with those of ME/CFS. Discussion There are remarkable phenomenological and neuroimmune overlaps between both disorders. Patients with ME/CFS and MS both experience severe levels of disabling fatigue and a worsening of symptoms following exercise and resort to energy conservation strategies in an attempt to meet the energy demands of day-to-day living. Debilitating autonomic symptoms, diminished cardiac responses to exercise, orthostatic intolerance and postural hypotension are experienced by patients with both illnesses. Both disorders show a relapsing-remitting or progressive course, while infections and psychosocial stress play a large part in worsening of fatigue symptoms. Activated immunoinflammatory, oxidative and nitrosative (O+NS) pathways and autoimmunity occur in both illnesses. The consequences of O+NS damage to self-epitopes is evidenced by the almost bewildering and almost identical array of autoantibodies formed against damaged epitopes seen in both illnesses. Mitochondrial dysfunctions, including lowered levels of ATP, decreased phosphocreatine synthesis and impaired oxidative phosphorylation, are heavily involved in the pathophysiology of both MS and ME/CFS. The findings produced by neuroimaging techniques are quite similar in both illnesses and show decreased cerebral blood flow, atrophy, gray matter reduction, white matter hyperintensities, increased cerebral lactate and choline signaling and lowered acetyl-aspartate levels. Summary This review shows that there are neuroimmune similarities between MS and ME/CFS. This further substantiates the view that ME/CFS is a neuroimmune illness and that patients with MS are immunologically primed to

  18. Relations between Anthropometric Characteristics and Motor Abilities of 14 – 15U Female Swimmers on 50m Result for each Technique

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Goran Dimitrić

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available In aim of correlation between antropometric characteristics, motor abilities and results of swimming 50m in all swimming techniques, a group of 22 swimmers (girls of Serbian national team, aged 14-15, underwent some anthropometric measurements as well as some motor abilities. Observed longitudinal dimensions were: body height, body mass, arm span and torax circumference and observed motor abilities were: body strength (arms, legs, stomach and flexibility (trunk and arms. Regression analisys showed that arm span corellated with 50m butterfly and free style score as well as strenght of body and legs corellated with 50m backstroke and free style score. Other measures didn΄t corelatted significantly on this sample. Study results confirms importance of arm span and some segments of body strenhgt of swimmers (girls for successful swimm on 50m in butterfly, backstroke and freestyle techniques in the age 14-15 years.

  19. The effects of job characteristics and individual characteristics on job satisfaction and burnout in community nursing.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jansen, P.G.M.; Kerkstra, A.; Huijer-Abu Saad, H.; Zee, J. van der

    1996-01-01

    The aim of this article is to describe job satisfaction and burnout among two categories of community-based nurses (N = 402) in the Netherlands taking account of job and individual characteristics. Results show that these nurses are moderately satisfied with their jobs and the effects of burnout are

  20. The association between e-cigarette use characteristics and combustible cigarette consumption and dependence symptoms: Results from a national longitudinal study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buu, Anne; Hu, Yi-Han; Piper, Megan E; Lin, Hsien-Chang

    2018-09-01

    Existing longitudinal surveys focused on the association between ever use of e-cigarettes and combustible cigarette consumption, making it difficult to infer what characteristics of e-cigarette use could potentially change combustible cigarette use behavior, which may have long-term health consequences. Although e-cigarettes' efficacy of alleviating dependence symptoms was supported by studies conducted in laboratory settings, whether the results can be translated into symptom reduction in the real world and over time is an open question. This study conducted secondary analysis on the Waves 1-2 data of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study to examine the association between e-cigarette use characteristics (frequency, flavoring, and voltage adjustment) and combustible cigarette use outcomes (frequency, quantity, and symptoms), using the Heckman 2-step selection procedure with the selection bias controlled. The inclusion criteria ensured that we followed an adult cohort of exclusive combustible cigarette users at Wave 1. The result shows that higher frequency of e-cigarette use was associated with lower combustible cigarette consumption and dependence symptoms, controlling for the corresponding baseline cigarette use variable and other confounders. Given the frequency of e-cigarette use, the feature of voltage adjustment was not significantly associated with any of the cigarette use outcomes. Flavoring, on the other hand, was associated with lower quantity of cigarette use. Exclusive smokers who start using e-cigarettes do indeed change the frequency and quantity with which they smoke cigarettes. E-cigarette use may also help reduce dependence symptoms. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Characteristics of a Sensitive Well Showing Pre-Earthquake Water-Level Changes

    Science.gov (United States)

    King, Chi-Yu

    2018-04-01

    Water-level data recorded at a sensitive well next to a fault in central Japan between 1989 and 1998 showed many coseismic water-level drops and a large (60 cm) and long (6-month) pre-earthquake drop before a rare local earthquake of magnitude 5.8 on 17 March 1997, as well as 5 smaller pre-earthquake drops during a 7-year period prior to this earthquake. The pre-earthquake changes were previously attributed to leakage through the fault-gouge zone caused by small but broad-scaled crustal-stress increments. These increments now seem to be induced by some large slow-slip events. The coseismic changes are attributed to seismic shaking-induced fissures in the adjacent aquitards, in addition to leakage through the fault. The well's high-sensitivity is attributed to its tapping a highly permeable aquifer, which is connected to the fractured side of the fault, and its near-critical condition for leakage, especially during the 7 years before the magnitude 5.8 earthquake.

  2. Characteristic-Based, Task-Based, and Results-Based: Three Value Systems for Assessing Professionally Produced Technical Communication Products.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carliner, Saul

    2003-01-01

    Notes that technical communicators have developed different methodologies for evaluating the effectiveness of their work, such as editing, usability testing, and determining the value added. Explains that at least three broad value systems underlie the assessment practices: characteristic-based, task-based, and results-based. Concludes that the…

  3. The Epidemiological Characteristics of Hepatitis B in Croatia: The Results of the Prevention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kljajić, Zlatko; Petricević, Josko; Poljak, Nikola Kolja; Pranić, Shelly; Mulić, Rosanda

    2015-09-01

    This study shows epidemiological characteristics and preventive measures implemented for the prevention and control of hepatitis B infections in Croatia. We analyzed the data from obligatory infectious disease reports and notifications of death due to infectious diseases, data on the hepatitis B infections in Croatia, and data collected by survey of the population. The average prevalence of the disease is 3.67 per 100,000 annually. All age groups are affected, but still a higher rate of the disease is found in the age groups from 15-19 and 20-29 years of age. Hepatitis B disease is 1.4 times more likely in men than in women. For the past 18 years, the average rate of mortality was 0.2%. The incidence of HbsAg-positive donors of blood is within the range of 0.65% in 1992 to 0.012% in 2011. The largest part of preventive measures implemented in Croatia against hepatitis B is predicted and required by legislation. The registrations of acute and chronic carriers of the virus are obligatory. High-risk groups have started being vaccinated since 1992. The obligatory vaccination of infants was introduced in the mandatory vaccination program in 2007. Routine testing of blood exclusively from voluntary donors for HbsAg presence is obligatory. The non-governmental organization "Help" created for intravenous drug users, along with the "Harm reduction" program implemented hepatitis B, C, and HIV/AIDS prevention program in 1995. In order to gain a better understanding of epidemiological characteristics of hepatitis B in Croatia, the specifics of its dynamics in small communities are required since the research of Croatian public health officials and researchers have shown that hepatitis B is spread in different ways.

  4. CT and MRI characteristics of vertebral tuberculosis (34 cases)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lu Wenbing; Liao Qinghou; Wu Shiqiang; Huang Tao; Deng Yufang; Liu Jianming

    2007-01-01

    Objective: To explore CT and MRI characteristics of vertebral tuberculosis. Methods: 34 patients with vertebral tuberculosis proved by clinic or pathology were analyzed retrospectively. Of these patients, 20 were performed with CT examination and 24 with MRI, 10 with both CT and MRI. The results were compared mutually. Results: The CT features of vertebral tuberculosis were bone destruction, paraspinal abscess, spinal canal involvement. The MRI features of vertebral tuberculosis were bone destruction, intervertebral disc destruction, paraspinal abscess, spinal canal involvement, sub-ligamental spread. Conclusion: Vertebral tuberculosis showed multiple characteristics on CT and MRI. CT is useful in showing sequester and calcification, and MRI is useful in showing sub-ligamental spread, epidural and spinal cord involvement. Combining CT with and MRI is helpful for the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of vertebral tuberculosis. (authors)

  5. Determination of the mechanical characteristics of irradiated metals from the results of microhardness tests

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hofman, A.

    1999-01-01

    To predict the possibilities of using structural materials in nuclear and thermonuclear reactors, it is important to have data on changes of the mechanical characteristics and irradiation obtained from full-scale or simulation tests. Materials are irradiated in nuclear reactors with fast neutrons, the sources of high-energy neutrons with an energy of 14 MeV and the accelerators of charged particles. The restricted volumes for irradiation of these specimens in the systems and also the need to test large numbers of specimens under the same conditions make it necessary to reduce the size of irradiated specimens. To solve this problem, work is being carried out to develop various methods of testing miniature specimens, including tension extrusion of disc-shaped micro-specimens, microhardness, and the Charpy Method. In examination of the irradiation hardening of the materials, the main advantage of the microhardness method is that it makes it possible to examine small specimens. In single microhardness tests, only a small area of the irradiated specimens is examined. This makes it possible to increase the radiation dose and carry out subsequent tests of microhardness on the same specimens. The aim of this work was to determine the possibilities of using the microhardness measurement method for evaluating the mechanical characteristics of metallic materials. The comparison of the data, obtained in microhardness tests and in tensile loading specimens of 0Kh18N10Tsteel, irradiated with neutrons, shows the efficiency of the microhardness method as a tool for investigating the irradiation hardening of reactor materials

  6. Phenomenological Characteristics of Future Thinking in Alzheimer's Disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moustafa, Ahmed A; El Haj, Mohamad

    2018-05-11

    This study investigates phenomenological reliving of future thinking in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and matched controls. All participants were asked to imagine in detail a future event, and afterward, were asked to rate phenomenological characteristics of their future thinking. As compared to controls, AD participants showed poor rating for reliving, travel in time, visual imagery, auditory imagery, language, and spatiotemporal specificity. However, no significant differences were observed between both groups in emotion and importance of future thinking. Results also showed lower rating for visual imagery relative to remaining phenomenological features in AD participants compared to controls; conversely, these participants showed higher ratings for emotion and importance of future thinking. AD seems to compromise some phenomenological characteristics of future thinking, especially, visual imagery; however, other phenomenological characteristics, such as emotion, seem to be relatively preserved in these populations. By highlighting the phenomenological experience of future thinking in AD, our paper opens a unique window into the conscious experience of the future in AD patients.

  7. Directional Scanning as a Function of Stimulus Characteristics, Reading Habits, and Directional Set

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nachshon, Israel; And Others

    1977-01-01

    "32 English readers and 32 Hebrew readers were shown stimuli with directional characteristics (English and Hebrew letters) and stimuli with no directional characteristics (arrays of different circles, bars, colors, and geometric figures) for scanning. The results showed that, while directional stimulus characteristics affected the direction…

  8. The electric power market in Spain characteristics, evolution and results from January 1998 to February 2009

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gonzalez Fernandez-Castaneda, J. J.

    2009-01-01

    The article presents the organized spanish Electricity production market. The main characteristics of the Day-ahead and Intra day spo to markets, and the evolution and results achieved along the more than 11 years of operations are presented. The relations between the Spanish market and the rest of the European electricity markets, with especial emphasis on those markets interconnected with the Spanish system, are also described. (Author)

  9. A Pharmaceutical Bioethics Consultation Service: Six-Year Descriptive Characteristics and Results of a Feedback Survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Campen, Luann E; Allen, Albert J; Watson, Susan B; Therasse, Donald G

    2015-04-03

    Background : Bioethics consultations are conducted in varied settings, including hospitals, universities, and other research institutions, but there is sparse information about bioethics consultations conducted in corporate settings such as pharmaceutical companies. The purpose of this article is to describe a bioethics consultation service at a pharmaceutical company, to report characteristics of consultations completed by the service over a 6-year period, and to share results of a consultation feedback survey. Methods : Data on the descriptive characteristics of bioethics consultations were collected from 2008 to 2013 and analyzed in Excel 2007. Categorical data were analyzed via the pivot table function, and time-based variables were analyzed via formulas. The feedback survey was administered to consultation requesters from 2009 to 2012 and also analyzed in Excel 2007. Results : Over the 6-year period, 189 bioethics consultations were conducted. The number of consultations increased from five per year in 2008 to approximately one per week in 2013. During this time, the format of the consultation service was changed from a committee-only approach to a tiered approach (tailored to the needs of the case). The five most frequent topics were informed consent, early termination of a clinical trial, benefits and risks, human biological samples, and patient rights. The feedback survey results suggest the consultation service is well regarded overall and viewed as approachable, helpful, and responsive. Conclusions : Pharmaceutical bioethics consultation is a unique category of bioethics consultation that primarily focuses on pharmaceutical research and development but also touches on aspects of clinical ethics, business ethics, and organizational ethics. Results indicate there is a demand for a tiered bioethics consultation service within this pharmaceutical company and that advice was valued. This company's experience indicates that a bioethics consultation service

  10. Characteristics of Tables for Disseminating Biobehavioral Results.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schneider, Barbara St Pierre; Nagelhout, Ed; Feng, Du

    2018-01-01

    To report the complexity and richness of study variables within biological nursing research, authors often use tables; however, the ease with which consumers understand, synthesize, evaluate, and build upon findings depends partly upon table design. To assess and compare table characteristics within research and review articles published in Biological Research for Nursing and Nursing Research. A total of 10 elements in tables from 48 biobehavioral or biological research or review articles were analyzed. To test six hypotheses, a two-level hierarchical linear model was used for each of the continuous table elements, and a two-level hierarchical generalized linear model was used for each of the categorical table elements. Additionally, the inclusion of probability values in statistical tables was examined. The mean number of tables per article was 3. Tables in research articles were more likely to contain quantitative content, while tables in review articles were more likely to contain both quantitative and qualitative content. Tables in research articles had a greater number of rows, columns, and column-heading levels than tables in review articles. More than one half of statistical tables in research articles had a separate probability column or had probability values within the table, whereas approximately one fourth had probability notes. Authors and journal editorial staff may be generating tables that better depict biobehavioral content than those identified in specific style guidelines. However, authors and journal editorial staff may want to consider table design in terms of audience, including alternative visual displays.

  11. Physical characteristics related to bra fit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Chin-Man; LaBat, Karen; Bye, Elizabeth

    2010-04-01

    Producing well-fitting garments has been a challenge for retailers and manufacturers since mass production began. Poorly fitted bras can cause discomfort or pain and result in lost sales for retailers. Because body contours are important factors affecting bra fit, this study analyses the relationship of physical characteristics to bra-fit problems. This study has used 3-D body-scanning technology to extract upper body angles from a sample of 103 college women; these data were used to categorise physical characteristics into shoulder slope, bust prominence, back curvature and acromion placement. Relationships between these physical categories and bra-fit problems were then analysed. Results show that significant main effects and two-way interactions of the physical categories exist in the fit problems of poor bra support and bra-motion restriction. The findings are valuable in helping the apparel industry create better-fitting bras. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: Poorly fitted bras can cause discomfort or pain and result in lost sales for retailers. The findings regarding body-shape classification provide researchers with a statistics method to quantify physical characteristics and the findings regarding the relationship analysis between physical characteristics and bra fit offer bra companies valuable information about bra-fit perceptions attributable to women with figure variations.

  12. MORPHOLOGICAL AND AGRONOMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SOME WILD AND CULTIVATED ISATIS SPECIES

    OpenAIRE

    KIZIL, Süleyman

    2006-01-01

    The study evaluated Isatis tinctoria, I. constricta, I. glauca, I. cochlearis, I. aucheri and I. demiriziana during 2002-03 and 2003-04 growing seasons for different agronomic characteristics affecting the percentage of dye in them. The results showed wide variations in the agronomic characteristics of Isatis constricta, Isatis cochlearis, Isatis aucheri, Isatis demiriziana collected from wild; compared to culture Isatis tinctoria and Isatis glauca. I. tinctoria showed early emergence (36 day...

  13. Psychological characteristics of aggressors of young couple

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María Jesús Hernández Jiménez

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Violence against women in relationships young people has become in recent years a public health problem of major social. This article, with a view to the prevention, seeks to address the psychological characteristics of the perpetrator of pair in young relations. An initial review of the personality features investigated in previous studies and their influence on violent behaviour was carried out. Following this, an empirical study on a sample of young people was performed. Methods: We conducted a study with 100 young people of Valencia. Of these, 50 are young offenders and 50 couple, young students of compulsory secondary education. Data are obtained and analyzed psychological characteristics differences between groups. Results: The study conducted shows that in general, young offenders have one hand high scores on neuroticism, impulsivity, external locus of control, psychoticism and antisocial behavior. Furthermore show low scores on self-control, empathy, selfesteem and frustration tolerance. Conclusions: The results of this paper make it abundantly clear that violence in young relationships is important enough to be considered from different sectors of society and justifies the need to develop and implement prevention programs adapted adolescents and their characteristics.

  14. Global morphological analysis of marine viruses shows minimal regional variation and dominance of non-tailed viruses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brum, Jennifer R; Schenck, Ryan O; Sullivan, Matthew B

    2013-09-01

    Viruses influence oceanic ecosystems by causing mortality of microorganisms, altering nutrient and organic matter flux via lysis and auxiliary metabolic gene expression and changing the trajectory of microbial evolution through horizontal gene transfer. Limited host range and differing genetic potential of individual virus types mean that investigations into the types of viruses that exist in the ocean and their spatial distribution throughout the world's oceans are critical to understanding the global impacts of marine viruses. Here we evaluate viral morphological characteristics (morphotype, capsid diameter and tail length) using a quantitative transmission electron microscopy (qTEM) method across six of the world's oceans and seas sampled through the Tara Oceans Expedition. Extensive experimental validation of the qTEM method shows that neither sample preservation nor preparation significantly alters natural viral morphological characteristics. The global sampling analysis demonstrated that morphological characteristics did not vary consistently with depth (surface versus deep chlorophyll maximum waters) or oceanic region. Instead, temperature, salinity and oxygen concentration, but not chlorophyll a concentration, were more explanatory in evaluating differences in viral assemblage morphological characteristics. Surprisingly, given that the majority of cultivated bacterial viruses are tailed, non-tailed viruses appear to numerically dominate the upper oceans as they comprised 51-92% of the viral particles observed. Together, these results document global marine viral morphological characteristics, show that their minimal variability is more explained by environmental conditions than geography and suggest that non-tailed viruses might represent the most ecologically important targets for future research.

  15. Electron field emission characteristics of carbon nanotube on tungsten tip

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Phan Ngoc Hong; Bui Hung Thang; Nguyen Tuan Hong; Phan Ngoc Minh; Lee, Soonil

    2009-01-01

    Electron field emission characteristic of carbon nanotubes on tungsten tip was investigated in 2x10 -6 Torr vacuum. The measurement results showed that the CNTs/W tip could emit electron at 0.7 V/μm (nearly 10 times lower than that of the W tip itself) and reach up to 26 μA at the electric field of 1 V/μm. The emission characteristic follows the Fowler-Nordheim mechanism. Analysis of the emission characteristic showed that the CNTs/W tip has a very high value of field enhancement factor (β = 4.1 x 10 4 cm -1 ) that is much higher than that of the tungsten tip itself. The results confirmed the excellent field emission behavior of the CNTs materials and the CNTs/W tip is a prospective candidate for advanced electron field emitter.

  16. Are Educational Shows Teaching Our Children to Become Life-Long Learners?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sullins, Jeremiah; Howard, Tiffany; Goza, Kimberly

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate various textual characteristics of popular children television shows. More specifically, researchers examined both the quantity and quality of question asked (i.e., question training). Furthermore, several readability components among the different shows (e.g., narrativity, syntactic simplicity,…

  17. Influence of steam parameters on static and dynamic characteristics of labyrinth seal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    HE Wenqiang

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available [Objectives] In order to study the influence of working medium parameters on the static and dynamic characteristics of seals in turbomachinery,[Methods] a three-dimensional model of a labyrinth seal was created, and air and steam were applied in the numerical simulation. The Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD method and a rotating frame were applied to analyze the influence of different steam parameters on the leakage characteristics and dynamic characteristic coefficients.[Results] The results show that great differences in leakage flow rate are apparent under different air and steam conditions, and the fluid-induced force shows linear and nonlinear variation with the increasing whirl speed. When the steam temperature increases, the system stability decreases as the dynamic characteristic coefficients change.[Conclusions] In consequence, working medium parameters are of great significance for turbine stability, and the influence of working medium parameters on the static and dynamic characteristics of seals should be given great attention in practical application.

  18. Research on Characteristics, Antioxidant and Antitumor Activities of Dihydroquercetin and Its Complexes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yan Zhang

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Dihydroquercetin is a kind of dihydroflavonol compounds with antioxidant, antitumor, antivirus and radioresistance activities. This study attempted to produce the dihydroquercetin complexes with lecithin and β-cyclodextrin, and research their characteristics and bioactivities via ultraviolet spectrum (UV, infrared spectroscopy (IR, scanning electron microscope (SEM, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC, X-ray diffraction spectrum (XRD, and MTT assay. Results showed that the complexes with lecithin and β-cyclodextrin could improve the solubility and dissolution rate, and remove the characteristic endothermic peak of dihydroquercetin. IR spectra proved their interaction, and results of SEM and XRD showed the amorphous characteristics of the dihydroquercetin compounds. These results indicated that dihydroquercetin was combined by lecithin or β-cyclodextrin with better physical and chemical properties, which would effectively improve the application value in the food and drug industries.

  19. Clinical Characteristics and Results of Laser Peripheral Iridotomy of Pigment Dispersion Syndrome

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Şerife Bayraktar

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Aims: To report the clinical findings, characteristics and the results of peripheral laser iridotomy in pigment dispersion syndrome (PDS patients.Methods: Medical records of 30 patients who had been diagnosed with PDS were evaluated retrospectively at Glaucoma Department of Istanbul Faculty of Medicine at Istanbul University.Results: Sixty eyes of these 30 patients enrolled in the study. 18 of them (60% were male and 12 (40% were female with mean age of 42.4 ±12.3 years (range: 22 to 73 years. Forty-six eyes of the 23 patients had myopia, 12 eyes of 6 patients had hyperopia, 2 eyes of 1 patient had emmetropia. All patients except 2 eyes of the 1 patient had (96.6% Krukenberg spindles. Homogeneous trabecular meshwork(TM pigmentation was seen in all patients. Thirty-two eyes of 17 patients (53.3 % had iris transillumination defects. Neodymium:yttrium–aluminum–garnet (Nd:YAG peripheral laser iridotomy was performed in 44 eyes of 60 eyes (73.3%.Conclusion: The most common clinical findings in Turkish PDS patients were Krukenberg spindles and homogeneous TM pigmentation. If PDS hasn’t advanced in pigmentary ocular hypertension or pigmentary glaucoma, progression can be stabilized by laser iridotomy and medical treatment.

  20. Characteristics of Bone Injuries Resulting from Knife Wounds Incised with Different Forces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Humphrey, Caitlin; Kumaratilake, Jaliya; Henneberg, Maciej

    2017-11-01

    The aim of this research was to experimentally determine the characteristics of incised bone wounds, which are commonly found in defense injuries. A specially constructed pivoting arm device was used to inflict wounds with controlled forces and direction. Five knives were selected to inflict the wounds on porcine forelimbs. Eight incised wounds were made per knife per force. A larger knife and a greater force caused longer and wider bone wounds. Comparisons of individual knives at the two forces produced varying results in the bone wounds. A correlation was seen between the force and the length (r = 0.69), width (r = 0.63), and depth (r = 0.57) of bone wounds. Serrated-edge and nonserrated knives can be distinguished from the appearance of the wound. The outcomes may be applicable in forensic investigations to ascertain the forces associated with incised wounds and identify the specific knife used. © 2017 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

  1. Moduli and Characteristics of Monotonicity in Some Banach Lattices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Miroslav Krbec

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available First the characteristic of monotonicity of any Banach lattice X is expressed in terms of the left limit of the modulus of monotonicity of X at the point 1. It is also shown that for Köthe spaces the classical characteristic of monotonicity is the same as the characteristic of monotonicity corresponding to another modulus of monotonicity δ^m,E. The characteristic of monotonicity of Orlicz function spaces and Orlicz sequence spaces equipped with the Luxemburg norm are calculated. In the first case the characteristic is expressed in terms of the generating Orlicz function only, but in the sequence case the formula is not so direct. Three examples show why in the sequence case so direct formula is rather impossible. Some other auxiliary and complemented results are also presented. By the results of Betiuk-Pilarska and Prus (2008 which establish that Banach lattices X with ε0,m(X<1 and weak orthogonality property have the weak fixed point property, our results are related to the fixed point theory (Kirk and Sims (2001.

  2. Entrepreneurship Psychological Characteristics of Nurses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dehghanzadeh, Mohammad Reza; Kholasehzadeh, Golrasteh; Birjandi, Masoumeh; Antikchi, Ensieh; Sobhan, Mohamad Reza; Neamatzadeh, Hossein

    2016-09-01

    Nurses are full partners with other health care professionals. Until fairly recently the scope of nurses potential in entrepreneurship has not been widely recognized. The present study tries to evaluate entrepreneurship psychological characteristics among nurses. The survey instrument included scales measuring entrepreneurship psychological characteristics including locus of control, need for achievement, risk taking propensity, ambiguity tolerance, and innovation, among nurses in the Shahid Sadoughi Hospital, Yazd, Iran in 2013. In this study average of entrepreneurship psychological characteristics of nurses which are higher than standard mark. The majority of the nurses have average entrepreneurship (20.4%). It means that they have some strong entrepreneurship. The result show that average of the need for achievement is 34.5%, the locus of control 33.8%, risk taking propensity 33.2%, ambiguity tolerance 34.2%, and innovation 41.6%. The results indicate that the 4 dimensions of the need for achievement, risk taking, Ambiguity Tolerance, and Innovation were significant. However, the locus of control is not significant at a 0.05 significance level. In terms, entrepreneurially nurses are comparatively more innovative, have risk taking attitudes, need for achievement, Ambiguity Tolerance, and Innovation. Results largely support significant positive relationships between psychological traits and entrepreneurial orientations.

  3. Entrepreneurship Psychological Characteristics of Nurses

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad Reza Dehghanzadeh

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Nurses are full partners with other health care professionals. Until fairly recently the scope of nurses potential in entrepreneurship has not been widely recognized. The present study tries to evaluate entrepreneurship psychological characteristics among nurses. The survey instrument included scales measuring entrepreneurship psychological characteristics including locus of control, need for achievement, risk taking propensity, ambiguity tolerance, and innovation, among nurses in the Shahid Sadoughi Hospital, Yazd, Iran in 2013. In this study average of entrepreneurship psychological characteristics of nurses which are higher than standard mark. The majority of the nurses have average entrepreneurship (20.4%. It means that they have some strong entrepreneurship. The result show that average of the need for achievement is 34.5%, the locus of control 33.8%, risk taking propensity 33.2%, ambiguity tolerance 34.2%, and innovation 41.6%. The results indicate that the 4 dimensions of the need for achievement, risk taking, Ambiguity Tolerance, and Innovation were significant. However, the locus of control is not significant at a 0.05 significance level. In terms, entrepreneurially nurses are comparatively more innovative, have risk taking attitudes, need for achievement, Ambiguity Tolerance, and Innovation. Results largely support significant positive relationships between psychological traits and entrepreneurial orientations.

  4. Boundary-Layer Characteristics Over a Coastal Megacity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Melecio-Vazquez, D.; Ramamurthy, P.; Arend, M.; Moshary, F.; Gonzalez, J.

    2017-12-01

    Boundary-layer characteristics over New York City are analyzed for various local and synoptic conditions over several seasons. An array of vertical profilers, including a Doppler LiDAR, a micro-pulse LiDAR and a microwave radiometer are used to observe the structure and evolution of the boundary-layer. Additionally, an urbanized Weather Research and Forecasting (uWRF) model coupled to a high resolution landcover/land-use database is used to study the spatial variability in boundary layer characteristics. The summer daytime averaged potential temperature profile from the microwave radiometer shows the presence of a thermal internal boundary layer wherein a superadiabatic layer lies underneath a stable layer instead of a mixed-layer. Both the winter daytime and nighttime seasonal averages show that the atmosphere remains unstable near the surface and does not reach stable conditions during the nighttime. The mixing ratio seasonal averages show peaks in humidity near 200-m and 1100-m, above instrument level, which could result from sea breeze and anthropogenic sources. Ceilometer measurements show a high degree of variability in boundary layer height depending on wind direction. Comparison with uWRF results show that the model tends to overestimate convective efficiency for selected summer and winter cases and therefore shows a much deeper thermal boundary layer than the observed profiles. The model estimates a less humid atmosphere than seen in observations.

  5. Experimental study on spray characteristics of alternate jet fuels using Phase Doppler Anemometry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kannaiyan, Kumaran; Sadr, Reza

    2013-11-01

    Gas-to-Liquid (GTL) fuels have gained global attention due to their cleaner combustion characteristics. The chemical and physical properties of GTL jet fuels are different from conventional jet fuels owing to the difference in their production methodology. It is important to study the spray characteristics of GTL jet fuels as the change of physical properties can affect atomization, mixing, evaporation and combustion process, ultimately affecting emission process. In this work, spray characteristics of two GTL synthetic jet fuels are studied using a pressure-swirl nozzle at different injection pressures and atmospheric ambient condition. Phase Doppler Anemometry (PDA) measurements of droplet size and velocity are compared with those of regular Jet A-1 fuel at several axial and radial locations downstream of the nozzle exit. Experimental results show that although the GTL fuels have different physical properties such as viscosity, density, and surface tension, among each other the resultant change in the spray characteristics is insignificant. Furthermore, the presented results show that GTL fuel spray characteristics exhibit close similarity to those of Jet A-1 fuel. Funded by Qatar Science and Technology Park.

  6. Assessing soil hydraulic characteristics using HYPROP and BEST: a comparison

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leitinger, Georg; Obojes, Nikolaus; Lassabatère, Laurent

    2015-04-01

    Knowledge of ecohydrological characteristics with high spatial resolution is a prerequisite for large-scale hydrological modelling. Data on soil hydraulic characteristics are of major importance, but measurements are often seen as time consuming and costly. In order to accurately model grassland productivity and in particular evapotranspiration, soil sampling and infiltration experiments at 25 grassland sites ranging from 900m to 2300m a.s.l. were conducted in the long term socio-ecological research (LTSER) site Stubai Valley, Tyrolean Alps, Austria, covering 265 km². Here we present a comparison of two methods to determine important hydrological properties of soils: (1) the evaporation method HYPROP (Hydraulic Property Analyzer; UMS Munich, 2010), and (2) the BEST-model (Beerkan Estimation of Soil Transfer Parameters; Lassabatère et al. (2006)), each determining the soil hydraulic characteristics and in particular the water retention curve. For the most abundant soil types we compared the pf-curves calculated from HYPROP data suing the Van Genuchten equation to the ones resulting from the comparatively time efficient BEST approach to find out if the latter is a suitable method to determine pf curves of alpine grassland soils. Except for the soil type Rendzina, the comparison of HYPROP and BEST showed slightly variations in the pF curves and resulting hydraulic characteristics. At the starting point BEST curves presented a slower dehydration, HYPROP a fast and continuous water loss. HYPROP analyses showed the highest variability in the measured values of Rendzina. Regarding BEST, the Alluvial Soils showed the highest variability. To assess equivalence between HYPROP and BEST we deduced several hydraulic characteristics from the pF curves, e.g. saturated water content, field capacity, permanent wilting point, pore size distribution, and minimum water retention. The comparison of HYPROP and BEST revealed that the results of soil water characteristics may depend on

  7. Personal networks in Saudi Arabia : The role of ascribed and achieved characteristics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Tubergen, Frank|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/271429534; Ali Al-Modaf, Obaid; Almosaed, Nora F.; Said Al-Ghamdi, Mohammed Ben

    2016-01-01

    This study examines how ascribed characteristics (gender and nationality) and achieved characteristics (SES) are related to the extensity and occupational resources of personal networks in Saudi Arabia. Using large-scale survey data from Jeddah, results show that networks of women are smaller and

  8. Cigarette smoking, tooth brushing characteristics, and perceived ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This study was conducted among four hundred non-dental undergraduates of University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria to assess the prevalence of cigarette smoking, tooth brushing characteristics, perceived efficacy in oral self-care and preventing gingivodental diseases among them. The result showed that the perceived ...

  9. Analysis for RSG-GAS operational characteristics of reactor cooling system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nurhappy, T.

    1998-01-01

    Analysis of operational characteristics of reactor cooling systems (JE01 and PA) is aimed at determining the effects of operation and maintenance patterns to the operational characteristic of the system. Analysis is carried out by virtue of the operating and maintenance data from 1987 to 1997, comprising the operating hours (duration) and data on operating failures of the systems. Results of study show that, either separately or jointly, the operating and maintenance patterns will qualitatively affect the operational characteristic of the systems

  10. Experimental Study on Noise Characteristic of Centrifugal Compressor Surge

    OpenAIRE

    Yang, Qichao; Zhao, Yuanyang; SHU, Yue; LI, Xiaosa; LI, Liansheng

    2016-01-01

    The centrifugal air compressor test rig is was designed and established. The experimental study was carried out on the surge characteristics of centrifugal compressor including the pressure in the pipe and the noise characteristics under different rotation speed. The tested results showed that both the suction pressure and discharge pressure fluctuation increase under surge condition and the amplitude of discharge pressure fluctuation is significantly higher than that of suction pressure. In ...

  11. Analysis of Compositions and Physical Characteristics of Different Rice From Heilongjiang China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Fenglian; Li, Xinming; Lv, Mingshou; Shi, Yanguo

    2018-03-01

    Diversity and correlation between composition, texture characteristics and sensory features of twenty kinds of purebred rice from Heilongjiang China were studied. Experimental results showed significant differences in content of fat, amylose and protein, however those differences were not extended to perceived taste evaluation by sensory evaluation. More protein led to lower viscosity but better hardness and springiness, higher amylose content resulted lower taste but higher springiness. Moisture content was significantly negatively correlated with resilience; the content of protein was significantly positively correlated with resilience. The adhesiveness of texture characteristic and the viscosity of taste showed significant positive correlation.

  12. Thermoluminescent characteristics of ZrO2:Nd films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vera B, G.; Rivera M, T.; Azorin N, J.; Falcony G, C.; Garcia H, M.; Martinez S, E.

    2002-01-01

    In this work it is exposed the obtained results after analysing the photo luminescent and thermoluminescent characteristics of activated zirconium oxide with neodymium (ZrO 2 :Nd) and its possible application in the UV radiation dosimetry. The realized experiments had as objective to study the characteristics such as the optimum thermal erased treatment, the influence of light on the response, the response depending on the wavelength, the fadeout of the information, the temperature effect, the response depending on the time and the recurring of the response. The results show that the ZrO 2 :Nd is a promising material to be used as Tl dosemeter for the UV radiation. (Author)

  13. Radiation characteristics of helical tomotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jeraj, Robert; Mackie, Thomas R.; Balog, John; Olivera, Gustavo; Pearson, Dave; Kapatoes, Jeff; Ruchala, Ken; Reckwerdt, Paul

    2004-01-01

    Helical tomotherapy is a dedicated intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) system with on-board imaging capability (MVCT) and therefore differs from conventional treatment units. Different design goals resulted in some distinctive radiation field characteristics. The most significant differences in the design are the lack of flattening filter, increased shielding of the collimators, treatment and imaging operation modes and narrow fan beam delivery. Radiation characteristics of the helical tomotherapy system, sensitivity studies of various incident electron beam parameters and radiation safety analyses are presented here. It was determined that the photon beam energy spectrum of helical tomotherapy is similar to that of more conventional radiation treatment units. The two operational modes of the system result in different nominal energies of the incident electron beam with approximately 6 MeV and 3.5 MeV in the treatment and imaging modes, respectively. The off-axis mean energy dependence is much lower than in conventional radiotherapy units with less than 5% variation across the field, which is the consequence of the absent flattening filter. For the same reason the transverse profile exhibits the characteristic conical shape resulting in a 2-fold increase of the beam intensity in the center. The radiation leakage outside the field was found to be negligible at less than 0.05% because of the increased shielding of the collimators. At this level the in-field scattering is a dominant source of the radiation outside the field and thus a narrow field treatment does not result in the increased leakage. The sensitivity studies showed increased sensitivity on the incident electron position because of the narrow fan beam delivery and high sensitivity on the incident electron energy, as common to other treatment systems. All in all, it was determined that helical tomotherapy is a system with some unique radiation characteristics, which have been to a large extent

  14. Comparing the characteristics of highly cited titles and highly alted titles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Didegah, F.; Bowman, T.D.; Bowman, S.; Hartley, J.

    2016-07-01

    This study examines differences in the types of titles for articles that show high altmetric activity (highly alted articles) versus highly cited articles. This work expands on previous research on document titles in combination with a grounded theory approach to develop a codebook in which articles were manually coded based on 11 characteristics. The results show that there are differences and similarities in titles across many of the examined characteristics; highly cited titles and highly mentioned titles on Wikipedia have some similar characteristics such as they have the the highest percentage of substantive words; in addition, there are no or very few titles referencing outside or with humor/lightness on both platforms. Twitter and Facebook also showed some similarities having the highest percentage of humorous/light titles and lowest percentage of substantive words in their titles. (Author)

  15. Impact of parental ages and other characteristics at childbearing on congenital anomalies: Results for the Czech Republic, 2000-2007

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jitka Rychtarikova

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND If the impact of maternal age at childbearing on congenital anomalies is well-known for the occurrence of Down syndrome, less is known concerning its effects on other major anomalies. Information is even scarcer for the possible effects of other maternal characteristics and of age of the father. OBJECTIVE We present new results on the associations between parental ages and other maternal characteristics, on the one hand, and congenital anomalies, on the other hand, using data linkage between three Czech registries on mother, newborn, and malformations, for the period 2000-2007. METHODS As the variables are in categorical format, binary logistic regression is used in order to investigate the relationship between presence/absence of a congenital anomaly, for each of the eleven types of anomalies considered, and the set of predictors. RESULTS This research confirms the impact of a higher age of the mother on Down syndrome and on other chromosomal anomalies. Paternal age is not associated with chromosomal anomalies and, in this Czech population, has a rather slight effect on some of the congenital anomalies examined. Another finding of the present study is the possible role of various other maternal characteristics on congenital malformations. CONCLUSIONS Based on a large data set, this study concludes that both parental ages can be associated with congenital anomalies of the child, and that maternal characteristics other than age have also to be considered. COMMENTS Risk factors can be tentatively proposed if they are based on a plausible and suitably tested explanatory mechanism. Unfortunately, in the majority of individual cases of congenital anomaly, the cause of the condition is still unknown and suspected to be an interaction of multiple environmental and genetic factors.

  16. PREDICTIVE CONTRIBUTION OF MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND MOTOR ABILITIES ON THE RESULT OF RUNNING THE 60m HURDLES IN BOYS AGED 12 - 13 YEARS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zana Bujak

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The subject of this study is to determine predictive contributions of morphological characteristics and motor abilities on the 60m hurdles, with an aim to form a group of easily applicable field tests so as to identify boys who are talented in hurdl e racing . The subject sample of this study was comprised of 60 boys aged 12 - 13. The variable sample consisted of a 60m hurdles criterion variable and a set of 13 p re dictor variables comprising of morphological characteristics, speed - strength abilities and the subjects' coordina tion qualities . Applying the regression analysis , the predictive contribution of a complete variable s et of morpholog ical characteristics and motor abilities was determined as an above average statistical significance, influencing 60m hurdle outcome. The greatest individual statistically significant predictive contribution was achieved by the variables of speed - strength quality assessment: 20m flying start r ace result with a standing long jump; and only one variable from the field of morphological characteristics: the shin length. The results support the following conclusion: the two specific variables of speed - strength quality, and 20m flying start race results along with standing long jump , can be relevant predictors of successful outcome in hurdle races .

  17. [First results of a German second opinion program show high patient satisfaction and large discrepancies between initial therapy recommendations and second opinion].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weyerstraß, Jan; Prediger, Barbara; Neugebauer, Edmund; Pieper, Dawid

    2018-02-23

    Although legally anchored, there are no empirical results from German second opinion programs. In this study, various aspects within a population of a second opinion program are examined. In this study patients were analyzed who sought a second opinion in the period from August 2011 to December 2016. Differences in patient characteristics, differentiated by agreement of first and second opinion, were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression. Patients' satisfaction and quality of life were examined one, three and six months after obtaining the second opinion. In total, 1,414 patients sought a second opinion. Most frequent medical indications were the knee (38.7 %), the back (26.8 %), the hip (11.7 %), and the shoulder (10.2 %). Except for the indication (p=0.035), no patient characteristic had influence on the conformation of the second opinion. Approximately two out of three initial recommendations were not confirmed by the specialists. 89 % of the patients were satisfied or very satisfied with the second opinion and the service offered. The second opinion offers patients the opportunity to seek an additional independent medical opinion and thus provide support for decision making. Further research is needed to examine the reasons for the high discrepancies between the first and second opinions. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

  18. Pet Bottle Design, Correlation Analysis Of Pet Bottle Characteristics Subjective Judgment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Darko Avramović

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available Ability to predict consumer’s reaction to particular design solution of the product is very important. Gathering andanalysis of subjective judgments of particular characteristics, based on which the aesthetic of the product is judged,is one of predicting the consumer’s reaction in the future. Knowledge gathered this manner can serve as a referencefor further studies of determining factors for aesthetic results and design quality. There are two opposed opinionsregarding prediction of aesthetic impression. One opinion is that taste of individual cannot be discussed because itis extremely variable and the possibility of meaningful analysis of aesthetic impression is rejected. Other opinionstates that there is a consistent preference of certain aesthetic characteristics despite individual and group differences.Main goal of this paper is to examine the correlation between subjective judgments of certain PET bottlecharacteristics. Analysis showed meaningful correlation between some of the PET bottle characteristics while othercharacteristics showed less correlation. It can be concluded that not all of the characteristics have the same influenceon the aesthetics and design quality of the PET bottle form. Emphasizing the characteristics relative to aesthetics ofthe product can produce better market results, taking in to account that consumer’s buy the product they consider tobe more attractive if other parameters of the product are similar.

  19. THE ROLE OF STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS IN PROBLEM BASED LEARNING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mia Damiyanti

    2006-04-01

    Full Text Available To reach the effectiveness of study, it is recommended to work on active learning method. The learning activity must be done with emphasis on the students’ characteristics. The characteristic means internal factors (cognitive entry behavior and affective entry characteristics, which are considered important as solving problems. The previous studies have shown that there is a correlation between achievement test and students’ characteristic entry behavior. At the beginning of the academic year of 2003, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Indonesia started active learning with PBL curriculum for the BDS degree. From a study about the correlation between the achievement and students’ entry behavior (previous knowledge, self concept, attitude, and anxiety during attending the test the study showed that characteristic entry behavior contributes to the student’s achievement test. The results supported the previous study.

  20. Characteristics of Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs at Veterans Affairs Hospitals: Results of a Nationwide Survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chou, Ann F; Graber, Christopher J; Jones, Makoto; Zhang, Yue; Goetz, Matthew Bidwell; Madaras-Kelly, Karl; Samore, Matthew; Kelly, Allison; Glassman, Peter A

    2016-06-01

    BACKGROUND Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) are variably implemented. OBJECTIVE To characterize variations of antimicrobial stewardship structure and practices across all inpatient Veterans Affairs facilities in 2012 and correlate key characteristics with antimicrobial usage. DESIGN A web-based survey regarding stewardship activities was administered to each facility's designated contact. Bivariate associations between facility characteristics and inpatient antimicrobial use during 2012 were determined. SETTING Total of 130 Veterans Affairs facilities with inpatient services. RESULTS Of 130 responding facilities, 29 (22%) had a formal policy establishing an ASP, and 12 (9%) had an approved ASP business plan. Antimicrobial stewardship teams were present in 49 facilities (38%); 34 teams included a clinical pharmacist with formal infectious diseases (ID) training. Stewardship activities varied across facilities, including development of yearly antibiograms (122 [94%]), formulary restrictions (120 [92%]), stop orders for antimicrobial duration (98 [75%]), and written clinical pathways for specific conditions (96 [74%]). Decreased antimicrobial usage was associated with having at least 1 full-time ID physician (P=.03), an ID fellowship program (P=.003), and a clinical pharmacist with formal ID training (P=.006) as well as frequency of systematic patient-level reviews of antimicrobial use (P=.01) and having a policy to address antimicrobial use in the context of Clostridium difficile infection (P=.01). Stop orders for antimicrobial duration were associated with increased use (P=.03). CONCLUSIONS ASP-related activities varied considerably. Decreased antibiotic use appeared related to ID presence and certain select practices. Further statistical assessments may help optimize antimicrobial practices. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2016;37:647-654.

  1. Analysis of gender stereotypic characteristics in leaders and subordinates

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María Laura Lupano Perugini

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available An investigation was realized to analyze the way leaders and subordinates describe themselves in relation to perceived gender stereotypic characteristics and, to verify if exists differences in these characteristics according position (leader/ subordinate. Participate 612 individuals, 329 male (54% y 283 female (46%, age average = 37,54 years (DE=11,88. 59 % of the participants occupied executive positions and the rest were subordinates. It was utilized and abbreviate version of the Bem Sex Roles (Bem, 1974 to data recollection. The obtained results show that male leaders describe themselves mainly with agentic-masculine attributes (e.g. dominant, compared with subordinates who describe themselves with communal- feminine characteristics (e.g. submission. On the other hand, the female leaders describe themselves mainly with androgyny attributes combining qualities of both genders (e.g. dominant and sensible to the needs of others; however the female subordinates show communal attributes (e.g. submission

  2. Wellness Tourism among Seniors in Taiwan: Previous Experience, Service Encounter Expectations, Organizational Characteristics, Employee Characteristics, and Customer Satisfaction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kaung-Hwa Chen

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available This study aimed to investigate the influence of the service encounter expectations of senior customers during wellness tours on customer satisfaction. The organizational attributes of hotels, organizational characteristics and employee characteristics, were adopted as mediating variables. A total of 346 valid questionnaires were retrieved from 50 year-old and above seniors in Taiwan. The results showed that the service encounter expectations of seniors had an indirect influence on customer satisfaction and the organizational attributes mediated the service encounter expectations of seniors and customer satisfaction. The moment of truth in the interactions between service staff members and seniors represents the pivotal management implication of this study.

  3. Results of Laboratory Tests of the Filtration Characteristics of Clay-Cement Concrete

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sol’skii, S. V., E-mail: solskiysv@vniig.ru; Lopatina, M. G., E-mail: LoptainaMG@vniig.ru; Legina, E. E.; Orishchuk, R. N.; Orlova, N. L. [B. E. Vedeneev All-Russia Research Institute of Hydraulic Engineering (VNIIG) (Russian Federation)

    2017-01-15

    Laboratory studies of the filtration characteristics of clay-cement concrete materials for constructing filtering diaphragms of earth dams by the method of secant piles are reported. Areas for further study aimed at improving the quality of construction, increasing operational safety, and developing a standards base for the design, construction, and operation of these systems are discussed.

  4. The Relationship between Road Characteristics and Speed Collected from Floating Car Data

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Camilla Sloth; Reinau, Kristian Hegner; Agerholm, Niels

    2016-01-01

    and driver characteristics. The analysis is based on big data on speed and driver characteristics combined with data on road characteristics on 49 secondary rural two-lane roads in Denmark. Data is modelled using multivariate linear regression. The results show a primarily influence from road and shoulder......Speed is of great importance to the safety level of a road. Speed choice is strongly influenced by the road environment and the drivers’ assessment of safe speed level at a specific location. This paper presents an analysis of the relationships between speed and road characteristics and speed...

  5. Experimental study of the pressure characteristics in the Stirling refrigerator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hong, Yong Ju; Park, Seong Je; Kim, Hyo Bong; Koh, Deuk Yong

    2001-01-01

    The linear compressor have been widely used for pressure wave generation in the Stirling cryocooler and Stirling type pulse tube cryocooler for tactical purpose. The linear compressor has small and compact structure, and long life due to having non-contact sealing mechanism and the pressure drop through regenerator was ver important role in the motion of displacer in the expander of the Stirling cryocooler. In this study, the characteristic of the linear compressor and the pressure drop through regenerator in the expander was experimentally investigated. The results show resonance of the compressor is very important to get maximum performance and the gas spring force in the compression space of the compressor has effect on the characteristic of resonance and the results show the pressure drop through regenerator is very small than operating pressure change

  6. Psychometric characteristics of The Self-Perception Profile for Children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Petra Dolenc

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of the study was to examine the psychometric characteristics of the Slovene version of the Self-Perception Profile for Children (Harter, 1985. Results on a sample of 480 students showed that the Slovene version of the questionnaire had construct validity and reliability comparable of those found in the original version. Although the scale represents a useful instrument to ascertain self-concept in school settings, it requires further examination and some improvements of its metric characteristics.

  7. Preliminary results of characteristic seismic anisotropy beneath Sunda-Banda subduction-collision zone

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wiyono, Samsul H., E-mail: samsul.wiyono@bmkg.go.id [Study Program of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Earth Sciences and Technology, Institute of Technology Bandung, Bandung 40132 (Indonesia); Indonesia’s Agency for Meteorology Climatology and Geophysics, Jakarta 10610 (Indonesia); Nugraha, Andri Dian, E-mail: nugraha@gf.itb.ac.id [Indonesia’s Agency for Meteorology Climatology and Geophysics, Jakarta 10610 (Indonesia); Global Geophysics Research Group, Faculty of Mining and Petroleum Engineering, Institute of Technology Bandung, Bandung 40132, Indonesia, Phone: +62-22 2534137 (Indonesia)

    2015-04-24

    Determining of seismic anisotropy allowed us for understanding the deformation processes that occured in the past and present. In this study, we performed shear wave splitting to characterize seismic anisotropy beneath Sunda-Banda subduction-collision zone. For about 1,610 XKS waveforms from INATEWS-BMKG networks have been analyzed. From its measurements showed that fast polarization direction is consistent with trench-perpendicular orientation but several stations presented different orientation. We also compared between fast polarization direction with absolute plate motion in the no net rotation and hotspot frame. Its result showed that both absolute plate motion frame had strong correlation with fast polarization direction. Strong correlation between the fast polarization direction and the absolute plate motion can be interpreted as the possibility of dominant anisotropy is in the asthenosphere.

  8. Analysis of Vehicle Steering and Driving Bifurcation Characteristics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xianbin Wang

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The typical method of vehicle steering bifurcation analysis is based on the nonlinear autonomous vehicle model deriving from the classic two degrees of freedom (2DOF linear vehicle model. This method usually neglects the driving effect on steering bifurcation characteristics. However, in the steering and driving combined conditions, the tyre under different driving conditions can provide different lateral force. The steering bifurcation mechanism without the driving effect is not able to fully reveal the vehicle steering and driving bifurcation characteristics. Aiming at the aforementioned problem, this paper analyzed the vehicle steering and driving bifurcation characteristics with the consideration of driving effect. Based on the 5DOF vehicle system dynamics model with the consideration of driving effect, the 7DOF autonomous system model was established. The vehicle steering and driving bifurcation dynamic characteristics were analyzed with different driving mode and driving torque. Taking the front-wheel-drive system as an example, the dynamic evolution process of steering and driving bifurcation was analyzed by phase space, system state variables, power spectral density, and Lyapunov index. The numerical recognition results of chaos were also provided. The research results show that the driving mode and driving torque have the obvious effect on steering and driving bifurcation characteristics.

  9. Entropy production analysis of hysteresis characteristic of a pump-turbine model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Deyou; Wang, Hongjie; Qin, Yonglin; Han, Lei; Wei, Xianzhu; Qin, Daqing

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • An interesting hysteresis phenomenon was analyzed using entropy production theory. • A function was used to calculate the entropy production in the wall region. • Generation mechanism of the hump and hysteresis characteristics was obtained. - Abstract: The hydraulic loss due to friction and unstable flow patterns in hydro-turbines causes a drop in their efficiency. The traditional method for analyzing the hydraulic loss is by evaluating the pressure drop, which has certain limitations and cannot determine the exact locations at which the high hydraulic loss occurs. In this study, entropy production theory was adopted to obtain a detailed distribution of the hydraulic loss in a pump-turbine in the pump mode. In the past, the wall effects of entropy production were not considered, which caused larger errors as compared with the method of pressure difference. First, a wall equation was proposed to calculate the hydraulic loss in the wall region. The comparison of hydraulic loss calculated by entropy production and pressure difference revealed a better result. Then, through the use of the entropy production theory, the performance characteristics were determined for a pump-turbine with 19 mm guide vane opening, and the variation in the entropy production was obtained. Recently, an interesting phenomenon, i.e., a hysteresis characteristic, was observed in the hump region in pump-turbines. Research shows that the hysteresis characteristic is a result of the Euler momentum and hydraulic loss; the hydraulic loss accounts for a major portion of the hysteresis characteristic. Finally, the hysteresis characteristic in the hump region was analyzed in detail through the entropy production. The results showed that the hump characteristic and the accompanying hysteresis phenomenon are caused by backflow at the runner inlet and the presence of separation vortices close to the hub and the shroud in the stay/guide vanes, which is dependent on the direction of

  10. Characteristics of Programs for Children with Deaf-Blindness: Results of a National Survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bullis, Michael; Otos, Maurine

    1988-01-01

    A national survey of state coordinators of specialized service programs for children with deaf-blindness examined program characteristics including administrative structure, teacher certification requirements, technical assistance, eligibility determination, educational placement, curricula/instructional settings, transition, and unmet educational…

  11. Biodegradation and growth characteristics of a toluene-degrading ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    A toluene-degrading strain was isolated from active sludge in this study. Both growth characteristic and the performance to degrade toluene by the strain in batch culture mode were evaluated. Results showed that the isolated strain presented a good ability to remove toluene with the maximum removal efficiency of 93.8%.

  12. Human colon cancer profiles show differential microRNA expression depending on mismatch repair status and are characteristic of undifferentiated proliferative states

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sarver, Aaron L; Cunningham, Julie M; Subramanian, Subbaya; Wang, Liang; Smyrk, Tom C; Rodrigues, Cecilia MP; Thibodeau, Stephen N; Steer, Clifford J; French, Amy J; Borralho, Pedro M; Thayanithy, Venugopal; Oberg, Ann L; Silverstein, Kevin AT; Morlan, Bruce W; Riska, Shaun M; Boardman, Lisa A

    2009-01-01

    Colon cancer arises from the accumulation of multiple genetic and epigenetic alterations to normal colonic tissue. microRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding regulatory RNAs that post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression. Differential miRNA expression in cancer versus normal tissue is a common event and may be pivotal for tumor onset and progression. To identify miRNAs that are differentially expressed in tumors and tumor subtypes, we carried out highly sensitive expression profiling of 735 miRNAs on samples obtained from a statistically powerful set of tumors (n = 80) and normal colon tissue (n = 28) and validated a subset of this data by qRT-PCR. Tumor specimens showed highly significant and large fold change differential expression of the levels of 39 miRNAs including miR-135b, miR-96, miR-182, miR-183, miR-1, and miR-133a, relative to normal colon tissue. Significant differences were also seen in 6 miRNAs including miR-31 and miR-592, in the direct comparison of tumors that were deficient or proficient for mismatch repair. Examination of the genomic regions containing differentially expressed miRNAs revealed that they were also differentially methylated in colon cancer at a far greater rate than would be expected by chance. A network of interactions between these miRNAs and genes associated with colon cancer provided evidence for the role of these miRNAs as oncogenes by attenuation of tumor suppressor genes. Colon tumors show differential expression of miRNAs depending on mismatch repair status. miRNA expression in colon tumors has an epigenetic component and altered expression that may reflect a reversion to regulatory programs characteristic of undifferentiated proliferative developmental states

  13. Atmospheric boundary layer characteristics over the Pearl River Delta, China, during the summer of 2006: measurement and model results

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. J. Fan

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available As part of the PRIDE-PRD2006 intensive campaign, atmospheric boundary layer (ABL measurements were performed in Qingyuan, Panyu, and Xinken over the Pearl River Delta (PRD on 1–30 July 2006. During the summer, the surface winds over the PRD are generally controlled by the south, usually with vertical wind shear at a height of approximately 800 m. Subsidence and precipitation from a tropical cyclone affects the air quality of the PRD. Under subsidence, wind speed in the ABL and the height of the ABL decrease and result in high-level concentrations. When the background wind speed is small or calm, the wind profile in Panyu and Xinken changes dramatically with height, which is perhaps caused by local circulation, such as sea-land breezes. To better understand the ABL of the PRD, simulations that used the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF mesoscale model were utilized to analyze the ABL characteristics over the PRD. Based on three types of weather condition simulations (i.e., subsidence days, rainy days, and sunny days, the WRF model revealed that the simulated temperature and wind fields in these three cases were moderately consistent with the measurements. The results showed that diurnal variations of the ABL height on subsidence days and sunny days were obvious, but diurnal variations of the ABL height on rainy days were not apparent. The ABL is obviously affected by local circulation, and the ABL features are different at various stations. A simulation focused on a high pollution episode during the subsidence days on 12–15 July 2006, occurred under high-pressure conditions, accompanied by the tropical cyclone "Bilis". A comparison of the simulated vertical wind fields and temperature structure with the ABL measurements at Xinken, Panyu, and Qingyuan stations found that the modeled and measured atmospheric fields revealed two different types of ABL characteristics over the PRD. When the surface winds over the PRD were light or nearly calm

  14. Fish can show emotional fever: stress-induced hyperthermia in zebrafish.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rey, Sonia; Huntingford, Felicity A; Boltaña, Sebastian; Vargas, Reynaldo; Knowles, Toby G; Mackenzie, Simon

    2015-11-22

    Whether fishes are sentient beings remains an unresolved and controversial question. Among characteristics thought to reflect a low level of sentience in fishes is an inability to show stress-induced hyperthermia (SIH), a transient rise in body temperature shown in response to a variety of stressors. This is a real fever response, so is often referred to as 'emotional fever'. It has been suggested that the capacity for emotional fever evolved only in amniotes (mammals, birds and reptiles), in association with the evolution of consciousness in these groups. According to this view, lack of emotional fever in fishes reflects a lack of consciousness. We report here on a study in which six zebrafish groups with access to a temperature gradient were either left as undisturbed controls or subjected to a short period of confinement. The results were striking: compared to controls, stressed zebrafish spent significantly more time at higher temperatures, achieving an estimated rise in body temperature of about 2-4°C. Thus, zebrafish clearly have the capacity to show emotional fever. While the link between emotion and consciousness is still debated, this finding removes a key argument for lack of consciousness in fishes. © 2015 The Authors.

  15. Design and Polarization Characteristics Analysis of Dihedral Based on Salisbury Screen

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhang Ran

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Salisbury screens have a number of unique electromagnetic scattering characteristics. When appropriately designed, the Salisbury screen can reach the radar target signature transform. Based on the electromagnetic scattering characteristics of the Salisbury screen, we designed a novel dihedral corner, and theoretically analyzed and simulated its electromagnetic scattering characteristics in this study. The results reveal the monostatic radar cross section curves of the 90°and 60° Salisbury screen dihedral and metal dihedral, respectively. Taking an orthogonal dihedral corner as an example, we obtained the polarization scattering matrixes for different incident degrees. In addition, we investigated the influence of illumination frequency, target gestures, and other key factors on the polarization characteristics of the Salisbury screen dihedral corner. The theoretical and simulation analysis results show that compared with the conventional metal dihedral corner, the Salisbury screen dihedral corner significantly influences the scattering characteristics and will have potential application in electronic warfare.

  16. Analysis of the current-voltage characteristics lineshapes of resonant tunneling diodes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rivera, P.H.; Schulz, P.A.

    1996-01-01

    It is discussed the influence of a two dimensional electron gas at the emitter-barrier interface on the current-voltage characteristics of a Ga As-Al Ga As double-barrier quantum well resonant tunneling diode. This effect is characterized by the modification of the space charge distribution along the structure. Within the framework of a self-consistent calculation we analyse the current-voltage characteristics of the tunneling diodes. This analysis permits us to infer different tunneling ways, related to the formation of confined states in the emitter region, and their signatures in the current-voltage characteristics. We show that varying the spacer layer, together with barrier heights, changes drastically the current density-voltage characteristics lineshapes. We compare our results with a variety of current-voltage characteristics lineshapes. We compare our results with a variety of current-voltage characteristics reported in the literature. The general trend of experimental lineshapes can be reproduced and interpreted with our model. The possibility of tunneling paths is predicted for a range that has not yet been explored experimentally. (author). 12 refs., 4 figs

  17. Mechanical characteristic evaluation of the mid grid spring in PWR fuel assembly

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eum, K. B.; Lee, S. H.; Jeon, S. Y.; Kweon, Y. B.; Jeon, K. R.

    2001-01-01

    The spring load-deflection characteristic tests were performed for Westinghouse type 17x17 and 14x14 fuel assembly mid grids to evaluate the mechanical characteristics of the springs. Six kinds of prototype mid grids manufactured by KNFC were tested and two kinds of test methods were used: block test and in-grid test. The test results showed that all tested mid grid springs satisfied the criteria required at the beginning of fuel assembly life. In addition, the variation of spring characteristics resulting from the difference in the mechanical properties of spring material and spring shapes was investigated. And the validity of the test methods was discussed

  18. Neighborhood characteristics and lifestyle intervention outcomes: Results from the Special Diabetes Program for Indians.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Luohua; Chang, Jenny; Beals, Janette; Bullock, Ann; Manson, Spero M

    2018-06-01

    Growing evidence reveals various neighborhood conditions are associated with the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. It is unknown, however, whether the effectiveness of diabetes prevention interventions is also influenced by neighborhood characteristics. The purpose of the current study is to examine the impact of neighborhood characteristics on the outcomes of a lifestyle intervention to prevent diabetes in American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs). Year 2000 US Census Tract data were linked with those from the Special Diabetes Program for Indians Diabetes Prevention Program (SDPI-DP), an evidence-based lifestyle intervention implemented in 36 AI/AN grantee sites across the US. A total of 3394 participants started the intervention between 01/01/2006 and 07/31/2009 and were followed by 07/31/2016. In 2016-2017, data analyses were conducted to evaluate the relationships of neighborhood characteristics with intervention outcomes, controlling for individual level socioeconomic status. AI/ANs from sites located in neighborhoods with higher median household income had 38% lower risk of developing diabetes than those from sites with lower neighborhood income (adjusted hazard ratio = 0.65, 95% CI: 0.47-0.90). Further, those from sites with higher neighborhood concentrations of AI/ANs achieved less BMI reduction and physical activity increase. Meanwhile, participants from sites with higher neighborhood level of vehicle occupancy made more improvement in BMI and diet. Lifestyle intervention effectiveness was not optimal when the intervention was implemented at sites with disadvantaged neighborhood characteristics. Meaningful improvements in socioeconomic and other neighborhood disadvantages of vulnerable populations could be important in stemming the global epidemic of diabetes. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Study on natural convection characteristics in a narrow annular gap, 2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Naohara, Nobuyuki; Uotani, Masaki; Kinoshita, Izumi; Arazeki, Hideo

    1987-01-01

    To clarify the characteristics of natural convection in a narrow annular gap at the roof-slab penetration in pool-type LMFBR, experimental study was carried out. Experiment is to investigate the effect of annular gap width. The results are summarized as follows. (1) A chart showing the presence of natural convection was drawn, and it was showed that the natural convection in an annular gap was influenced by gap width. (2) Dimensionless circumferential temperature in annular wall could be rearranged by new parameter taking account of the annular gap width and a characteristics curve was obtained. (author)

  20. Control characteristics of inert gas recovery plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mikawa, Hiroji; Kato, Yomei; Kamiya, Kunio

    1980-01-01

    This paper presents a dynamic simulator and the control characteristics for a radioactive inert gas recovery plant which uses a cryogenic liquefying process. The simulator was developed to analyze the operational characteristics and is applicable to gas streams which contain nitrogen, argon, oxygen and krypton. The characteristics analysis of the pilot plant was performed after the accuracy of the simulator was checked using data obtained in fundamental experiments. The relationship between the reflux ratio and krypton concentration in the effluent gas was obtained. The decontamination factor is larger than 10 9 when the reflux ratio is more than 2. 0. The control characteristics of the plant were examined by changing its various parameters. These included the amount of gas to be treated, the heater power inside the evaporator and the liquid nitrogen level in the condenser. These characteristics agreed well with the values obtained in the pilot plant. The results show that the krypton concentration in the effluent gas increases when the liquid nitrogen level is decreased. However, in this case, the krypton concentration can be minimized by applying a feed forward control to the evaporator liquid level controller. (author)

  1. [Absorption Characteristics and Simulation of LLM-105 in the Terahertz Range].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meng, Zeng-rui; Shang, Li-ping; Du, Yu; Deng, Hu

    2015-07-01

    2,6-diamino-3,5-dinitropyrazine-1-oxide (LLM-105), a novel explosive with high energy and low sensibility. In order to study the molecular structure characteristics of the explosive, the absorption spectra of LLM-105 in the frequency range of 0.2-2.4 THz were detected by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS). The results showed that a number of characteristic absorption peaks with different intensity located at 1.27, 1.59, 2.00, 2.08, 2.20, 2.29 THz. The article also simulated the absorption spectra of LLM-105 molecular crystal within 0.2-2.5 THz region by using Materials Studio 6.0 software based on density functional theory (DFT), and the simulated results agreed well with the experimental data except for the peak at 2.29 THz, which verified theoretically the accuracy of the experimental data. In addition, the vibrational modes of the characteristic peaks in the experimental absorption spectra were analyzed and identified, the results showed that the forming of the characteristic absorption peaks and the molecular vibration were closely related, which further provided important laboratory and technology support for the study of the transformation of molecule structure of LLM-105. There was no simulated frequency agreed with the experimental absorption peak at 2.29 THz, which may be caused by the vibration of the crystal lattice or other reasons.

  2. The differential effects of position, ad and reader characteristics on readers' processing of newspaper ads

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Smit, E.G.; Neijens, P.C.; Heath, R.

    2013-01-01

    Building on previous research on the processing of newspaper ads, this comprehensive field study, with 26,556 newspaper readers and 290 unique advertisements, investigated the combined effects of position in the newspaper, ad characteristics and reader characteristics. The results show a

  3. A duck hepatitis B virus strain with a knockout mutation in the putative X ORF shows similar infectivity and in vivo growth characteristics to wild-type virus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meier, P.; Scougall, C.A.; Will, H.; Burrell, C.J.; Jilbert, A.R.

    2003-01-01

    Hepadnaviruses including human hepatitis B virus (HBV) and duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) express X proteins, HBx and DHBx, respectively. Both HBx and DHBx are transcriptional activators and modulate cellular signaling in in vitro assays. To test whether the DHBx protein plays a role in virus infection, we compared the in vivo infectivity and growth characteristics of a DHBV3 strain with a stop codon in the X-like ORF (DHBV3-X-K.O.) to those of the wild-type DHBV3 strain. Here we report that the two strains showed no significant difference in (i) their ability to induce infection that resulted in stable viraemia measured by serum surface antigen (DHBsAg) and DHBV DNA, and detection of viral proteins and replicative DNA intermediates in the liver; (ii) the rate of spread of infection in liver and extrahepatic sites after low-dose virus inoculation; and (iii) the ability to produce transient or persistent infection under balanced age/dose conditions designed to detect small differences between the strains. Thus, none of the infection parameters assayed were detectably affected by the X-ORF knockout mutation, raising the question whether DHBx expression plays a physiological role during in vivo infection with wild-type DHBV

  4. [Spectroscopic characteristics of novel Psidium meroterpenoids isolated from guava leaves].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ouyang, Wen; Zhu, Xiao-ai; Liu, Xiao-juan; Yie, Shu-min; Zhao, Litchao; Su, Lei; Cao, Yong

    2015-07-01

    Recently, novel Psidium meroterpenoids were reported in the guava leaves. According to careful analysis of the spectral data of literatures, the spectroscopic characteristics and biosynthetic pathway of Psidium meroterpenoids were summarized in this paper. The results showed that Psidium meroterpenoids had distinct spectroscopic features and reasonable biosynthetic routines, however the number order of carbon atoms was not consistent in the reported literatures. It was concluded that Psidium meroterpenoids were the characteristic chemical constituents of Psidium guajava Linn.

  5. Stem cells show promising results for lymphoedema treatment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Toyserkani, Navid Mohamadpour; Quaade, Marlene Louise; Sheikh, Søren Paludan

    2015-01-01

    Abstract Lymphoedema is a debilitating condition, manifesting in excess lymphatic fluid and swelling of subcutaneous tissues. Lymphoedema is as of yet still an incurable condition and current treatment modalities are not satisfactory. The capacity of mesenchymal stem cells to promote angiogenesis......, secrete growth factors, regulate the inflammatory process, and differentiate into multiple cell types make them a potential ideal therapy for lymphoedema. Adipose tissue is the richest and most accessible source of mesenchymal stem cells and they can be harvested, isolated, and used for therapy...... in a single stage procedure as an autologous treatment. The aim of this paper was to review all studies using mesenchymal stem cells for lymphoedema treatment with a special focus on the potential use of adipose-derived stem cells. A systematic search was performed and five preclinical and two clinical...

  6. Portrayal of medical decision making around medical interventions life-saving encounters on three medical television shows.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwei, Rebecca J; Jacobs, Elizabeth A; Wingert, Katherine; Montague, Enid

    2015-07-01

    Previous literature has shown that patients obtain information about the medical system from television shows. Additionally, shared decision making is regularly cited as the ideal way to make decisions during a medical encounter. Little information exists surrounding the characteristics of medical decision-making, such as who makes the decision, on medical television shows. We evaluate the characteristics of medical decisions in lifesaving encounters on medical television shows and evaluate if these characteristics were different on staged and reality television shows. We coded type of medical intervention, patient's ability to participate in decision, presence of patient advocate during decision, final decision maker, decision to use intervention, and controversy surrounding decision on three television shows. Frequencies by show were calculated and differences across the three television shows and between staged (ER) and reality ( BostonMed and Hopkins ) television shows were assessed with chi-square tests. The final data set included 37 episodes, 137 patients and 593 interventions. On ER, providers were significantly more likely to make the decision about the medical intervention without informing the patient when a patient was capable of making a decision compared to BostonMed or Hopkins (ptelevision shows we analyzed. It is possible that what patients see on television influences their expectations surrounding the decision making process and the use of medical interventions in everyday healthcare encounters.

  7. Test results of the SMES model coil. Cool-down and thermal characteristics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hamada, Kazuya; Kato, Takashi; Kawano, Katsumi

    1998-01-01

    A model coil of a superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) device, which is a forced-cooled Nb-Ti coil, has been fabricated and a performance test at cryogenic temperatures has been carried out. The SMES model coil is composed of 4 dual pancakes and its total weight is 4.5 t. The applied conductors are cable-in-conduit conductors cooled by supercritical helium (SHe) at 4.5 K and 0.7 MPa. SHe is supplied to the SMES model coil and the structure by a reciprocating bellows pump. The test facility is located at the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) common test facility, was constructed for the testing of an ITER central solenoid model coil. In the experiments, cool-down was finished within 10 days under controlled temperature differences in the SMES model coil. During cool-down and 4.5 K operation, pressure drop characteristics of the conductor were measured and the friction factor estimated. The pressure drop characteristics of the SMES model coil were in good agreement with those of the previous cable-in-conduit conductor. During static operation without current, the heat load and refrigerator operation conditions were measured. The heat load of the SMES model coil is 7.5 W, which is within the expected value. (author)

  8. Experimental Study on the Characteristics of Polymer Concrete With Epoxy Resin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Harja Ioniţă

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available In the paper are presented the results of some experimental researches concerning polymer mortars and concretes realized of epoxy resin, silica fume and crushed aggregates. The mechanical characteristics of hardened concrete were determined. The silica fume content varied between 6.5% and 30% to polymer mortar and 6.4% and 9.6% to polymer concrete. The obtained results show maximum characteristics for a dosage of 24% resin and maximum dosage of silica fume to the polymer mortar, and for the polymer concrete the mechanical characteristics are influenced by all mixture factors: the compressive strength increases with the increase of silica fume dosage, and the flexure strength and split strength increase with the decreasing of silica fume dosage.

  9. Experimental results showing the internal three-component velocity field and outlet temperature contours for a model gas turbine combustor

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Meyers, BC

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc. All rights reserved ISABE-2011-1129 EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS SHOWING THE INTERNAL THREE-COMPONENT VELOCITY FIELD AND OUTLET TEMPERATURE CONTOURS FOR A MODEL GAS TURBINE COMBUSTOR BC Meyers*, GC... identifier c Position identifier F Fuel i Index L (Combustor) Liner OP Orifice plate Introduction There are often inconsistencies when comparing experimental and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations for gas turbine combustors [1...

  10. Coincident effect characteristic in a thermoacoustic regenerator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Yicai; Xin Tianlong; Huang Qian; Shi Xiangnan; Chen Siming; Chen Lixin

    2011-01-01

    Many previous studies on characteristics of thermoacoustic regenerator are based on fluid micro-groups and their compression-expansion cycle. In this paper, coincident frequency is introduced to evaluate its acoustic characteristics by combining structural acoustic with structural vibration theories. The relationship among structure wave radiation and regenerator position, slab thickness, and properties of material are analyzed by numerical calculation. The results show that in the low-frequency thermoacoustic system, the coincident effect generated by higher frequency wave weakens the fundamental sound wave. While in the high-frequency thermoacoustic system, where the oscillating fundamental frequency is higher than the coincident frequency, the sound field strength is enhanced by stronger structure wave radiation because of the coincident effect.

  11. performance characteristics of an armature voltage controlled dc motor

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Dr Obe

    obtained by digital computer analysis. The results show that closed loop operation, with appropriate control ... Using digital computer analysis, the driver characteristics of a test motor is investigated. In the closed loop ... system circuit failure especially with respect to the semiconductor devices that may be used in varying ...

  12. Experimental results obtained with the simulated cold moderator system. System characteristics and technical issues

    CERN Document Server

    Aso, T; Hino, R; Kaminaga, M; Kinoshita, H; Takahashi, T

    2002-01-01

    The Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute and the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization have been developing a Mega-Watt scale spallation target system. In the system, neutrons generated in a target are sorted out their energy to the proper values in liquid-hydrogen moderators. Then, the liquid-hydrogen is forced to circulate in order to suppress hydrogen temperature increase. In the operation of moderators, it is very important to establish a safety protection system against emergency shutdown of the accelerator or accidents of the cold moderator system. In order to obtain a technical data for design and safety review of the liquid-hydrogen system, we have fabricated an experimental apparatus simulated the cold moderator system using liquid nitrogen (max. 1.5 MPa, mini. 77 K) instead of liquid hydrogen. The experiments on a controllability of the system were carried out to investigate dynamic characteristics of the system. This report presents the experimental results and technical issues for the co...

  13. The Role of Intellectual Capital and Entrepreneurial Characteristics as Innovation Drivers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nadia Ugalde-Binda

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Innovation and entrepreneurship are essential organizational strategies to find a way out of the world crisis affecting today’s firms. Thus, the study of how organizational factors, like intellectual capital or entrepreneur characteristics, affects the success of an innovative entrepreneurial project is of utmost importance in helping current organizations find a solution to this problem. Intellectual capital involves investment in human, structural and relational capital. Consequently, our research goal centres on analyzing the influence of intellectual capital as well as the personal characteristics of entrepreneurs on the innovation results. This phenomenon remains unexplored in the case of micro and small firms. Our paper focuses on a particular context where small firms represent a key role in the industry: the case of Costa Rica. We used both quantitative and qualitative methodologies in order to develop the analysis. Our first results show a positive and significant relationship between structural and relational capital and innovation results; also, we can observe a positive relationship between a general measure of intellectual capital and innovation results. The case study illustrates how human capital and, specifically, the characteristics of the entrepreneur have an important influence on firm results. Our work contributes to show the relevance of intellectual capital on innovation success, and results encourage practitioners to invest in structural and relational capital and also improve the degree of planning of activities to obtain better results in the long term.

  14. The characteristic of spray using diesel water emulsified fuel in a diesel engine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Sangki; Woo, Seungchul; Kim, Hyungik; Lee, Kihyung

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Water in oil emulsion is produced using ceramic membrane. • Surfactant type affect stability performance and droplet size distribution. • Evaporation characteristic of DE is poor compared with neat diesel. • Coefficient of variation maintains below 2.0% both DE and neat diesel. - Abstract: In this study, it was applied to the diesel–water emulsified (DE) fuel that carried out the experiment for the characteristic of sprat using diesel water emulsified fuel in a diesel engine, and the possibility of its application to conventional diesel engines was evaluated from the fundamental characteristics of diesel–water emulsified fuel. According to the results of the spray characteristics such as spray penetration and spray distribution were measured in the experiment, and then analyzed through digital image processing. The DEs were applied to actual diesel engines and their combustion, emission, and fuel consumption characteristics were compared with those of diesel. The results showed that the experiments were confirmed as the spray atomization characteristics at the various emulsified fuels.

  15. Portrait of a Cult Film Audience: "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."

    Science.gov (United States)

    Austin, Bruce A.

    1981-01-01

    Examines the phenomenon of the cult film and the characteristics of the audiences of the "Rocky Horror Picture Show." Suggests that the preparation, waiting, and finally the active participation in the viewing of the film itself appear to be part of a group ritual which characterizes the cult film as an event. (JMF)

  16. Cauchy problem for differential operators with double characteristics non-effectively hyperbolic characteristics

    CERN Document Server

    Nishitani, Tatsuo

    2017-01-01

    Combining geometrical and microlocal tools, this monograph gives detailed proofs of many well/ill-posed results related to the Cauchy problem for differential operators with non-effectively hyperbolic double characteristics. Previously scattered over numerous different publications, the results are presented from the viewpoint that the Hamilton map and the geometry of bicharacteristics completely characterizes the well/ill-posedness of the Cauchy problem. A doubly characteristic point of a differential operator P of order m (i.e. one where Pm = dPm = 0) is effectively hyperbolic if the Hamilton map FPm has real non-zero eigenvalues. When the characteristics are at most double and every double characteristic is effectively hyperbolic, the Cauchy problem for P can be solved for arbitrary lower order terms. If there is a non-effectively hyperbolic characteristic, solvability requires the subprincipal symbol of P to lie between − Pµj and P µj , where iµj are the positive imaginary eigenvalues of FPm ....

  17. Analysis research on mixing characteristics of lower plenum of Qinshan phase Ⅱ NPP by CFD method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mao Huihui; He Peifeng; Lu Chuan; Zhang Hongliang

    2015-01-01

    The flowing and mixing characteristics of the lower plenum of Qinshan Phase n NPP were analyzed by CFD method. The calculation results were compared with the results of the reactor hydraulic simulation test. On core inlet mass flow distributions, both upwind and high resolution advection schemes show good agreements with test results. While on lower plenum mixing characteristics, the calculation results from either upwind or high resolution advection schemes show relatively large differences to the test data. Relatively, upwind advection schemes predict better anticipations on maximum and minimum mixing factors. Furthermore, whether or not considering helix flow by main pump is the most possible key factor that leads to difference between CFD calculation and test results. (authors)

  18. Saint Venant's equation and theory of characteristics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Daubert, Andre

    1978-01-01

    This theory, in its general scope, will be dealt with through the concrete example of Saint Venant's equations which govern the waves in channels. 1. Finding the characteristic directions. The aim is to interpret the hyperbolic sort of equations to show that there is a way of combining them in order to shape them so that they express a linear relation between the variations of the unknowns when moving along particular differential paths. In certain cases, this differential relation can integrate to lead to Rieman's invariants. 2. Relation between the theory of characteristics and the wave equation. In the linear systems case, it is worthwhile showing simply, how the method of characteristics is linked to the conventional treatment of the wave equation. 3. Relation between the theory of characteristics and the Cauchy problem. The theory of characteristics is frequently introduced as from the Cauchy problem, the characteristics forming the conditions of indetermination of the Cauchy problem [fr

  19. Analysis of the pump-turbine S characteristics using the detached eddy simulation method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Hui; Xiao, Ruofu; Wang, Fujun; Xiao, Yexiang; Liu, Weichao

    2015-01-01

    Current research on pump-turbine units is focused on the unstable operation at off-design conditions, with the characteristic curves in generating mode being S-shaped. Unlike in the traditional water turbines, pump-turbine operation along the S-shaped curve can lead to difficulties during load rejection with unusual increases in the water pressure, which leads to machine vibrations. This paper describes both model tests and numerical simulations. A reduced scale model of a low specific speed pump-turbine was used for the performance tests, with comparisons to computational fluid dynamics(CFD) results. Predictions using the detached eddy simulation(DES) turbulence model, which is a combined Reynolds averaged Naviers-Stokes(RANS) and large eddy simulation(LES) model, are compared with the two-equation turbulence mode results. The external characteristics as well as the internal flow are for various guide vane openings to understand the unsteady flow along the so called S characteristics of a pump-turbine. Comparison of the experimental data with the CFD results for various conditions and times shows that DES model gives better agreement with experimental data than the two-equation turbulence model. For low flow conditions, the centrifugal forces and the large incident angle create large vortices between the guide vanes and the runner inlet in the runner passage, which is the main factor leading to the S-shaped characteristics. The turbulence model used here gives more accurate simulations of the internal flow characteristics of the pump-turbine and a more detailed force analysis which shows the mechanisms controlling of the S characteristics.

  20. Changes of attachment characteristics during psychotherapy of patients with social anxiety disorder: Results from the SOPHO-Net trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strauß, Bernhard; Altmann, Uwe; Manes, Susanne; Tholl, Anne; Koranyi, Susan; Nolte, Tobias; Beutel, Manfred E; Wiltink, Jörg; Herpertz, Stephan; Hiller, Wolfgang; Hoyer, Jürgen; Joraschky, Peter; Nolting, Björn; Ritter, Viktoria; Stangier, Ulrich; Willutzki, Ulrike; Salzer, Simone; Leibing, Eric; Leichsenring, Falk; Kirchmann, Helmut

    2018-01-01

    Within a randomized controlled trial contrasting the outcome of manualized cognitive-behavioral (CBT) and short term psychodynamic therapy (PDT) compared to a waiting list condition (the SOPHO-Net trial), we set out to test whether self-reported attachment characteristics change during the treatments and if these changes differ between treatments. 495 patients from the SOPHO-Net trial (54.5% female, mean age 35.2 years) who were randomized to either CBT, PDT or waiting list (WL) completed the partner-related revised Experiences in Close Relationships Questionnaire (ECR-R) before and after treatment and at 6 and 12 months follow-up. The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) was administered at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and at 6-month and 1-year follow-up. ECR-R scores were first compared to a representative healthy sample (n = 2508) in order to demonstrate that the clinical sample differed significantly from the non-clinical sample with respect to attachment anxiety and avoidance. LSAS scores correlated significantly with both ECR-R subscales. Post-therapy, patients treated with CBT revealed significant changes in attachment anxiety and avoidance whereas patients treated with PDT showed no significant changes. Changes between post-treatment and the two follow-ups were significant in both conditions, with minimal (insignificant) differences between treatments at the 12- month follow-up. The current study supports recent reviews of mostly naturalistic studies indicating changes in attachment as a result of psychotherapy. Although there were differences between conditions at the end of treatment, these largely disappeared during the follow-up period which is line with the other results of the SOPHO-NET trial. Controlled-trials.com ISRCTN53517394.

  1. The Interaction of Learning Disability Status and Student Demographic Characteristics on Mathematics Growth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stevens, Joseph J; Schulte, Ann C

    This study examined mathematics achievement growth of students without disabilities (SWoD) and students with learning disabilities (LD) and tested whether growth and LD status interacted with student demographic characteristics. Growth was estimated in a statewide sample of 79,554 students over Grades 3 to 7. The LD group was significantly lower in achievement in each grade and had less growth than the SWoD group. We also found that student demographic characteristics were significantly related to mathematics growth, but only three demographic characteristics were statistically significant as interactions. We found that LD-SWoD differences at Grade 3 were moderated by student sex, while Black race/ethnicity and free or reduced lunch (FRL) status moderated LD-SWoD differences at all grades. These results provide practitioners and policy makers with more specific information about which particular LD students show faster or slower growth in mathematics. Our results show that simply including predictors in a regression equation may produce different results than direct testing of interactions and achievement gaps may be larger for some LD subgroups of students than previously reported.

  2. Migration characteristics and early clinical results of the NANOS® short-stem hip arthroplasty.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaipel, Martin; Grabowiecki, Phillip; Sinz, Katrina; Farr, Sebastian; Sinz, Günter

    2015-05-01

    Femoral short stems promise essential advantages in total hip arthroplasty. Up to now, only short- and midterm clinical studies exist. Data on early stem migration that could predict later aseptic loosening at an early stage are rare. The purpose of this study was to assess migration patterns and clinical outcome 2 years after hip replacement by a metaphyseal anchored cementless short stem. Migration data and clinical results were prospectively assessed in 49 patients. Clinical outcome was measured using the Harris Hip Score (HHS). Migration analyses were performed using the computer-assisted Einzel-Bild-Roentgen-Analyse (EBRA) system. At 2 years after surgery, none of the implants needed revision, and HHS increased from 47.9 up to 98.1. Of 49 patients, 5 (10%) showed increased vertical stem migration (1.5 mm/2a) that might predict late aseptic loosening. Of 49 stems, 44 (90%) showed stable migration patterns indicating a beneficial long-term outcome. Results of this study confirm the excellent clinical data of previous works. Migration patterns strongly suggest that short-stem arthroplasty is not only an innovative but also a reliable strategy in total hip replacement.

  3. Characteristics and stability analyses of transient one-dimensional two-phase flow equations and their finite difference approximations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lyczkowski, R.W.; Gidaspow, D.; Solbrig, C.W.; Hughes, E.D.

    1975-01-01

    Equation systems describing one-dimensional, transient, two-phase flow with separate continuity, momentum, and energy equations for each phase are classified by use of the method of characteristics. Little attempt is made to justify the physics of these equations. Many of the equation systems possess complex-valued characteristics and hence, according to well-known mathematical theorems, are not well-posed as initial-value problems (IVPs). Real-valued characteristics are necessary but not sufficient to insure well-posedness. In the absence of lower order source or sink terms (potential type flows), which can affect the well-posedness of IVPs, the complex characteristics associated with these two-phase flow equations imply unbounded exponential growth for disturbances of all wavelengths. Analytical and numerical examples show that the ill-posedness of IVPs for the two-phase flow partial differential equations which possess complex characteristics produce unstable numerical schemes. These unstable numerical schemes can produce apparently stable and even accurate results if the growth rate resulting from the complex characteristics remains small throughout the time span of the numerical experiment or if sufficient numerical damping is present for the increment size used. Other examples show that clearly nonphysical numerical instabilities resulting from the complex characteristics can be produced. These latter types of numerical instabilities are shown to be removed by the addition of physically motivated differential terms which eliminate the complex characteristics. (auth)

  4. Studies on the radiation absorption characteristics of various rocks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rahman, K.N.; Abdullah, S.A.; Gazzaz, M.A.

    1984-05-01

    Radiation absorption characteristics of nine different rocks, namely, ferrugenous quartz, metabasalt, larvikite, coarse grained diorite, coarse grained granite, coarse grained alkali granite, marble, quartz mica schist, and metamorphosed rock are studied. The rocks were collected from Jeddah, Makkah, Mina and Taif areas. Special attention was given on the availability, compactness, physical formation and uniform composition in selecting the rocks. The rocks were identified by optical method and their elemental composition determined by chemical analysis. The data were used to calculate the effective atomic numbers, half value layers mass and linear attenuation coefficients. The half value layers and the linear attenuation coefficientsof these rocks were determined experimentally using Am-241, Cs-137,and Co-60 sources. The results are compared with those obtained by theoretical calculations and agrre within 10%. Most of the rocks show much higher radiation attenuation characteristics than the standard concrete. Rocks containing higher percentage of Fe, Ca, Ti, and Mn show much higher radiation absorption characteristics than concrete. Only granites are found to be almost equivalent to concrete. 12 Ref

  5. Body Characteristics, Dietary Protein and Body Weight Regulation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ankarfeldt, Mikkel Zøllner; Ängquist, Lars; Stocks, Tanja

    2014-01-01

    between greater protein intake and weight gain. In both types of studies the results are based on average weight changes, and show considerable diversity in both directions. This study investigates whether the discrepancy in the evidence could be due to recruitment of overweight and obese individuals...... with greater body mass index and waist circumference were analyzed. Selecting subsets of large-scale observational cohort studies with similar characteristics as participants in clinical trials may reconcile the otherwise conflicting results....

  6. Clinical characteristics and treatment results of large cell lung cancer-62 case report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Dongfu; Ou Guangfei; Cheng Guiyu; Zhou Zongmei; Zhao Lujun; Wang Lvhua

    2004-01-01

    Objective: Objective To evaluate the clinical characteristics and treatment results of 60 patients with large cell lung cancer (LCLC). Methods: All sixty-two patients were diagnosed histopathologically with 5 in stage I, 13 in stage II, 30 in stage III and 14 in stage IV. Forty-five patients received primary surgical resection with 38 radical resection and 7 palliative resection. Non-surgical treatment was given to 17 patients. Mediastinum and ipsilateral hilum were treated to the total dose of 40-60 Gy in 4-6 weeks in 16 patients as postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy. For patients treated by radiation alone, the primary tumor bed, bilateral mediastinum and ipsilateral hilum were treated to the total dose of 36-70 Gy in 4-7 weeks. Results: The overall 1-, 3- and 5- year survival rates were 25.7%, 15.4% and 11.6%, respectively with the median survival time of 11.6 months. In the radically resected patients, the 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates and the median survival time were 51.3%, 24.7%, 24.7% and 13 months, compared to those of 0%, 0%, 0% and 2 months in the palliatively resected group. In non-surgical treatment group, the 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates and the median survival time were 41.2%, 21.2%, 7.0% and 11 months, respectively. Conclusions: The prognosis of large cell lung cancer is poor due to high distant metastasis rate. The long-term survival rate after radical resection is worse than the other lung cancers, but similar to the non-surgical treatment. (authors)

  7. Nonlinear Vibroimpact Characteristics of a Planetary Gear Transmission System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jianxing Zhou

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available In order to research the vibroimpact characteristics of a planetary gear transmission system under high speed and lightly loaded conditions, a new modeling method is proposed. In the modeling process, linear spring was used to simulate gear mesh elasticity under heavy load cases, and Hertz contact theory was used to calculate the contact force of gear pair under light load cases. Then, effects of the working conditions on the system vibroimpact characteristics are analyzed. The results show that, with input speed growing, the mesh force produced obvious fluctuations on the resonance frequencies of the sun gear and carrier torsion vibration, ring gear’s transverse vibration under the heavy load. Under light load condition, the collision vibration occurs in the gear pair; the changing trend of the contact force shows strongly nonlinear characteristics. The time of mesh-apart in gears pair decreases gradually as the load is increased; until it reaches collision vibration threshold value, the gear pair is no longer mesh-apart. With increasing of the input speed, the time of mesh-apart is decreased gradually; the fluctuation amplitude of contact force shows a linearly increasing trend. The study provides useful theoretical guideline for planetary gear transmission low-noise design.

  8. [Organic carbon and carbon mineralization characteristics in nature forestry soil].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Tian; Dai, Wei; An, Xiao-Juan; Pang, Huan; Zou, Jian-Mei; Zhang, Rui

    2014-03-01

    Through field investigation and indoor analysis, the organic carbon content and organic carbon mineralization characteristics of six kinds of natural forest soil were studied, including the pine forests, evergreen broad-leaved forest, deciduous broad-leaved forest, mixed needle leaf and Korean pine and Chinese pine forest. The results showed that the organic carbon content in the forest soil showed trends of gradual decrease with the increase of soil depth; Double exponential equation fitted well with the organic carbon mineralization process in natural forest soil, accurately reflecting the mineralization reaction characteristics of the natural forest soil. Natural forest soil in each layer had the same mineralization reaction trend, but different intensity. Among them, the reaction intensity in the 0-10 cm soil of the Korean pine forest was the highest, and the intensities of mineralization reaction in its lower layers were also significantly higher than those in the same layers of other natural forest soil; comparison of soil mineralization characteristics of the deciduous broad-leaved forest and coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest found that the differences of litter species had a relatively strong impact on the active organic carbon content in soil, leading to different characteristics of mineralization reaction.

  9. Characteristic odor components of essential oil from Scutellaria laeteviolacea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miyazawa, Mitsuo; Nomura, Machi; Marumoto, Shinsuke; Mori, Kiyoshige

    2013-01-01

    The essential oils from aerial parts of Scutellaria laeteviolacea was analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The characteristic odor components were also detected in the oil using gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O) analysis and aroma extraction dilution analysis (AEDA). As a result, 100 components (accounting for 99.11 %) of S. laeteviolacea, were identified. The major components of S. laeteviolacea oil were found to be 1-octen-3-ol (27.72 %), germacrene D (21.67 %),and β-caryophyllene (9.18 %). The GC-O and AEDA results showed that 1-octen-3-ol, germacrene D, germacrene B, and β-caryophyllene were the most characteristic odor components of the oil. These compounds are thought to contribute to the unique flavor of this plant.

  10. The influences of consumer characteristics on the amount of rice consumption

    Science.gov (United States)

    Supriana, T.; Pane, TC

    2018-02-01

    This study aimed to analyze the characteristics of rice consumers and the influences of consumer characteristics on the amount of rice consumption. The research areas were determined purposively in the sub-districts with the most significant population in Medan City. The analytical methods used were descriptive and multiple linear regression analysis. The results showed that consumers in the study areas have various characteristics, concerning age, income, family size, health, and education. Simultaneously, characteristics of rice consumers have the significant effect on the amount of rice consumed. Partially, age and the number of family members have the significant effect on the amount of rice consumed. The implications of this research are, need different policies toward consumers of rice based on their income strata. Rice policies cannot be generalized.

  11. Effect of Cattle Breeds on Milk Composition and Technological Characteristics in China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. X. Yang

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Cattle breeds have a striking effect on milk, including milk composition and technological characteristics. This study aims to compare milk composition, acidification activity, viscosity, milk dispersion system stability and casein molecular weight among three buffalo breeds in China. The technological characteristics of milk produced by three cattle breeds of river buffalo (Murrah, crossbreed 1st generation (F1, crossbreed multiple generation (FH, H≥3 buffaloes were investigated. Cattle breeds showed evident effect on milk protein, fat and total solids content, but little effect on most of buffalo casein molecular weight. Milk fat, protein content and the viscosity of buffalo milk from river buffalo were lower than those of F1 and FH, so was the buffer capacity. The viscosity was negatively correlated to temperature and concentration. Results of stability coefficient showed that milk dispersion system had the best dynamic stability characteristics under pH 6.6 and 6 times dilution, while zeta potential of Murrah milk was slightly higher than that of hybrid offspring (F1, FH. SDS-PAGE results showed that buffalo αs-casein had a slightly faster mobility than standard αs-casein; while buffalo β-casein showed a slightly slower mobility than standard β-casein. There is no clear differences in molecular weight of αs-, β-, and κ-casein among Murrah, F1 and FH.

  12. The characteristics of failure among students who experienced pseudo thinking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anggraini, D.; Kusmayadi, T. A.; Pramudya, I.

    2018-04-01

    The purpose of this research is to describe the thinking process of students who experienced pseudo thinking when solving the straight line equation. The result of this study shows the characteristics of error that caused students to experience pseudo thinking when solving the problem and their relation with students’ metacognition skill. This qualitative research was conducted in State 16 Junior High School in Surakarta, Indonesia during the odd semester of 2017/2018 academic year. The subjects of the study were students Junior High School students of 8th grade chosen using purposive sampling technique. Data were collected through the administration of think aloud method. The result showed that the characteristics of errors among the subjects are: 1) the answers resulted from pseudo thinking when solving the problem were obtained from the spontaneous, fast, unconscious and uncontrolled thinking process; 2) students had misconception; 3) students had tendency to memorize the formula and imitate the completion procedure; 4) students experienced fuzzy memory when solving the problem. From the mistakes among students who experienced pseudo thinking, their metacognition ability could be inferred.

  13. A model of characteristic earthquakes and its implications for regional seismicity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    López-Ruiz, R.; Vázquez-Prada, M.; Pacheco, A.F.

    2004-01-01

    Regional seismicity (i.e. that averaged over large enough areas over long enough periods of time) has a size-frequency relationship, the Gutenberg-Richter law, which differs from that found for some seismic faults, the Characteristic Earthquake relationship. But all seismicity comes in the end from...... active faults, so the question arises of how one seismicity pattern could emerge from the other. The recently introduced Minimalist Model of Vázquez-Prada et al. of characteristic earthquakes provides a simple representation of the seismicity originating from a single fault. Here, we show...... that a Characteristic Earthquake relationship together with a fractal distribution of fault lengths can accurately describe the total seismicity produced in a region. The resulting earthquake catalogue accounts for the addition of both all the characteristic and all the non-characteristic events triggered in the faults...

  14. Combustion characteristics of the mustard methyl esters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bannikov, M.G.; Vasilev, I.P.

    2011-01-01

    Mustard Methyl Esters (further bio diesel) and regular diesel fuel were tested in direct injection diesel engine. Analysis of experimental data was supported by an analysis of fuel injection and combustion characteristics. Engine fuelled with bio diesel had increased brake specific fuel consumption, reduced nitrogen oxides emission and smoke opacity, moderate increase in carbon monoxide emission with essentially unchanged unburned hydrocarbons emission. Increase in fuel consumption was attributed to lesser heating value of bio diesel and partially to decreased fuel conversion efficiency. Analysis of combustion characteristics revealed earlier start of injection and shorter ignition delay period of bio diesel. Resulting decrease in maximum rate of heat release and cylinder pressure was the most probable reason for reduced emission of nitrogen oxides. Analysis of combustion characteristics also showed that cetane index determined by ASTM Method D976 is not a proper measure of ignition quality of bio diesel. Conclusion was made on applicability of mustard oil as a source for commercial production of bio diesel in Pakistan. Potentialities of on improving combustion and emissions characteristics of diesel engine by reformulating bio diesel were discussed. (author)

  15. Are Men's Perceptions of Sexually Dimorphic Vocal Characteristics Related to Their Testosterone Levels?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michal Kandrik

    Full Text Available Feminine physical characteristics in women are positively correlated with markers of their mate quality. Previous research on men's judgments of women's facial attractiveness suggests that men show stronger preferences for feminine characteristics in women's faces when their own testosterone levels are relatively high. Such results could reflect stronger preferences for high quality mates when mating motivation is strong and/or following success in male-male competition. Given these findings, the current study investigated whether a similar effect of testosterone occurs for men's preferences for feminine characteristics in women's voices. Men's preferences for feminized versus masculinized versions of women's and men's voices were assessed in five weekly test sessions and saliva samples were collected in each test session. Analyses showed no relationship between men's voice preferences and their testosterone levels. Men's tendency to perceive masculinized men's and women's voices as more dominant was also unrelated to their testosterone levels. Together, the results of the current study suggest that testosterone-linked changes in responses to sexually dimorphic characteristics previously reported for men's perceptions of faces do not occur for men's perceptions of voices.

  16. Quality Characteristics of a Graduate Teacher Education Program in Graphic Communications: Results from a Delphi Research Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, Aaron C.; Scales, Alice Y.

    2000-01-01

    Investigates characteristics of a quality program in graphic communications teacher education with involvement of professionals in the field. Uses the Delphi technique to achieve consensus on the characteristics that they felt compromised a good educational program for future graphics teachers. (Contains 27 references.) (Author/YDS)

  17. Characteristic gene selection via weighting principal components by singular values.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jin-Xing Liu

    Full Text Available Conventional gene selection methods based on principal component analysis (PCA use only the first principal component (PC of PCA or sparse PCA to select characteristic genes. These methods indeed assume that the first PC plays a dominant role in gene selection. However, in a number of cases this assumption is not satisfied, so the conventional PCA-based methods usually provide poor selection results. In order to improve the performance of the PCA-based gene selection method, we put forward the gene selection method via weighting PCs by singular values (WPCS. Because different PCs have different importance, the singular values are exploited as the weights to represent the influence on gene selection of different PCs. The ROC curves and AUC statistics on artificial data show that our method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods. Moreover, experimental results on real gene expression data sets show that our method can extract more characteristic genes in response to abiotic stresses than conventional gene selection methods.

  18. A theoretical study of resonant tunneling characteristics in triangular double-barrier diodes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Hongmei; Xu Huaizhe; Zhang Yafei

    2006-01-01

    Resonant tunneling characteristics of triangular double-barrier diodes have been investigated systematically in this Letter, using Airy function approach to solve time-independent Schroedinger function in triangular double-barrier structures. Originally, the exact analytic expressions of quasi-bound levels and quasi-level lifetime in symmetrical triangular double-barrier structures have been derived within the effective-mass approximation as a function of structure parameters including well width, slope width and barrier height. Based on our derived analytic expressions, numerical results show that quasi-bound levels and quasi-level lifetime vary nearly linearly with the structure parameters except that the second quasi-level lifetime changes parabolically with slope width. Furthermore, according to our improved transmission coefficient of triangular double-barrier structures under external electric field, the current densities of triangular double-barrier diodes with different slope width at 0 K have been calculated numerically. The results show that the N-shaped negative differential resistance behaviors have been observed in current-voltage characteristics and current-voltage characteristics depend on the slope width

  19. Gender differences in Finnish homicide offence characteristics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Häkkänen-Nyholm, Helinä; Putkonen, Hanna; Lindberg, Nina; Holi, Matti; Rovamo, Tuija; Weizmann-Henelius, Ghitta

    2009-04-15

    Approximately 10% of the homicides in Finland are committed by females. This study was designed to compare offence circumstances and crime scene behaviour among female and male homicide offenders. The forensic examination reports and crime reports of all female offenders prosecuted for a homicide between 1995 and 2004 were collected and content analysed (n=91). A sample of male offenders was selected for a comparison group. In addition to several bivariate analyses, two multidimensional scaling analyses were conducted to identify the underlying structure of the offence characteristics-related variables in male and female offenders. The results showed that family members were the victims of female offenders more frequently than of male offenders. Child victims were almost always killed by females. No significant difference emerged between the gender groups in the proportion of victims being former intimate partners. The results also showed that different offence characteristics relate to offender gender and type of victim. In male offenders, covering the body relates to moving and hiding an acquaintance victim's body, while in females it relates to emotional detachment and family member victim. For females, post-offence behaviours that relate to seek for help and regret were more frequent than for males. There were only marginal differences in the use of violence between females and males.

  20. Can individual health differences be explained by workplace characteristics?--A multilevel analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marklund, Staffan; Bolin, Malin; von Essen, Jan

    2008-02-01

    Research on work-related health has mainly focused on individual factors. The present study expands the focus by exploring the role of organizational characteristics of workplaces for different individual health outcomes. The aim of the study was to look at differences in relative effect of workplace variations on five health outcomes, and to explain those differences in health outcomes by organizational characteristics. The sample encompassed 90 workplaces in Sweden and about 4300 individuals employed within these workplaces. Measurement of the workplace characteristics was carried out independently of the measurement of the individual's working conditions and health. Organizational data were collected by interviews with local managers at participating workplaces, and individual data were obtained by means of a survey of the employees. The results showed that a significant proportion of the variance in sickness absence, work ability, general health, and musculoskeletal disorders was attributed to the workplace. Of eight tested organizational characteristics, customer adaptation, lean production, and performance control could explain some of this workplace variance. The results also showed that only one organizational effect remained significant when controlled for the individual confounder of age and gender. High customer adaptation is associated with higher sickness absence. This association is not mediated via differences in mental and physical job strain.

  1. Combustion characteristics of crude jatropha oil droplets using rhodium liquid as a homogeneous combustion catalyst

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nanlohy, Hendry Y.; Wardana, I. N. G.; Hamidi, N.; Yuliati, L.

    2018-01-01

    Combustion characteristics of crude jatropha oil droplet at room temperature with and without catalyst have been studied experimentally. Its combustion characteristics have been observed by igniting the oil droplet on a junction of a thermocouple, and the combustion characteristics of oil droplets are observed using a high-speed camera. The results show that the uniqueness of crude jatropha oil as alternative fuel is evidenced by the different stages of combustion caused by thermal cracking in burning droplets. The results also show that the role of the catalyst is not only an accelerator agent, but there are other unique functions and roles as a stabilizer. Moreover, the results also found that the catalyst was able to shorten the ignition timing and burnout time. This phenomenon proves that the presence of catalysts alters and weakens the structure of the triglyceride geometry so that the viscosity and flash point is reduced, the fuel absorbs heat well and flammable.

  2. Inductively coupled plasma-induced defects in n-type GaN studied from Schottky diode characteristics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakamura, W.; Tokuda, Y.; Ueda, H.; Kachi, T.

    2006-01-01

    Inductively coupled plasma-(ICP-)induced defects in n-type GaN have been studied from current-voltage (I-V) characteristics and deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) for Schottky diodes fabricated on etched surfaces. The samples after ICP etching show the ohmic I-V characteristics. Schottky characteristics are obtained after annealing at 600 and 800 deg. C in N 2 , but are not restored to that of the control samples. DLTS shows that the effect of ICP etching is small on the region beyond 80 nm from the surface. These results suggest that there remain ICP-induced damage in the near-surface region after thermal annealing

  3. The Influence of Top Management Team Characteristics on BPD Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joy Elly Tulung

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Based on ”upper echelons theory”, this paper investigates the relation between top management team composition and BPD performance. For top management team characteristics, we employ age, level of education, background of education, gender, and functional background, while for measured the BPD performance we employ return on asset (ROA, return on equity (ROE, capital adequacy ratio (CAR, net interest margin (NIM, loan to deposit ratio (LDR, non-performing loan (NPL and operation expenses to operation income (BOPO. The results show that all characteristics have positive significant influences on BPD performance.

  4. The Relationship Between Structural Game Characteristics and Gambling Behavior: A Population-Level Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leino, Tony; Torsheim, Torbjørn; Blaszczynski, Alex; Griffiths, Mark; Mentzoni, Rune; Pallesen, Ståle; Molde, Helge

    2015-12-01

    The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between the structural characteristics and gambling behavior among video lottery terminal (VLT) gamblers. The study was ecological valid, because the data consisted of actual gambling behavior registered in the participants natural gambling environment without intrusion by researchers. Online behavioral tracking data from Multix, an eight game video lottery terminal, were supplied by Norsk-Tipping (the state owned gambling company in Norway). The sample comprised the entire population of Multix gamblers (N = 31,109) who had gambled in January 2010. The individual number of bets made across games was defined as the dependent variable, reward characteristics of a game (i.e., payback percentage, hit frequency, size of winnings and size of jackpot) and bet characteristics of a game (i.e., range of betting options and availability of advanced betting options) served as the independent variables. Control variables were age and gender. Two separate cross-classified multilevel random intercepts models were used to analyze the relationship between bets made, reward characteristics and bet characteristics, where the number of bets was nested within both individuals and within games. The results show that the number of bets is positively associated with payback percentage, hit frequency, being female and age, and negatively associated with size of wins and range of available betting options. In summary, the results show that the reward characteristics and betting options explained 27% and 15% of the variance in the number of bets made, respectively. It is concluded that structural game characteristics affect gambling behavior. Implications of responsible gambling are discussed.

  5. I-V Characteristics of a Static Random Access Memory Cell Utilizing Ferroelectric Transistors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laws, Crystal; Mitchell, Cody; Hunt, Mitchell; Ho, Fat D.; MacLeod, Todd C.

    2012-01-01

    I-V characteristics for FeFET different than that of MOSFET Ferroelectric layer features hysteresis trend whereas MOSFET behaves same for both increasing and decreasing VGS FeFET I-V characteristics doesn't show dependence on VDS A Transistor with different channel length and width as well as various resistance and input voltages give different results As resistance values increased, the magnitude of the drain current decreased.

  6. Experimental results obtained with the simulated cold moderator system. System characteristics and technical issues

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aso, Tomokazu; Kaminaga, Masanori; Haga, Katsuhiro; Kinoshita, Hidetaka; Takahashi, Toshio; Hino, Ryutaro [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Tokai Research Establishment

    2002-12-01

    The Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute and the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization have been developing a Mega-Watt scale spallation target system. In the system, neutrons generated in a target are sorted out their energy to the proper values in liquid-hydrogen moderators. Then, the liquid-hydrogen is forced to circulate in order to suppress hydrogen temperature increase. In the operation of moderators, it is very important to establish a safety protection system against emergency shutdown of the accelerator or accidents of the cold moderator system. In order to obtain a technical data for design and safety review of the liquid-hydrogen system, we have fabricated an experimental apparatus simulated the cold moderator system using liquid nitrogen (max. 1.5 MPa, mini. 77 K) instead of liquid hydrogen. The experiments on a controllability of the system were carried out to investigate dynamic characteristics of the system. This report presents the experimental results and technical issues for the construction of a practical liquid-hydrogen moderator system of the Mega-Watt scale target system. (author)

  7. A qualitative study on physicians' perceptions of specialty characteristics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kwi Hwa Park

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: There has been limited research on physicians’ perceptions of the specialty characteristics that are needed to sustain a successful career in medical specialties in Korea. Medical Specialty Preference Inventory in the United States or SCI59 (specialty choice inventory in the United Kingdom are implemented to help medical students plan their careers. The purpose of this study was to explore the characteristics of the major specialties in Korea. Methods: Twelve physicians from different specialties participated in an exploratory study consisting of qualitative interviews about the personal ability and emotional characteristics and job attributes of each specialty. The collected data were analysed with content analysis methods. Results: Twelve codes were extracted for ability & skill attributes, 23 codes for emotion & attitude attributes, and 12 codes for job attributes. Each specialty shows a different profile in terms of its characteristic attributes. Conclusion: The findings have implications for the design of career planning programs for medical students.

  8. The effect of hospital organizational characteristics on postoperative complications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knight, Margaret

    2013-12-01

    To determine if there is a relationship between the risk of postoperative complications and the nonclinical hospital characteristics of bed size, ownership structure, relative urbanicity, regional location, teaching status, and area income status. This study involved a secondary analysis of 2006 administrative hospital data from a number of U.S. states. This data, gathered annually by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) via the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) Healthcare Utilization Project (HCUP), was analyzed using probit regressions to measure the effects of several nonclinical hospital categories on seven diagnostic groupings. The study model included postoperative complications as well as additional potentially confounding variables. The results showed mixed outcomes for each of the hospital characteristic groupings. Subdividing these groupings to correspond with the HCUP data analysis allowed a greater understanding of how hospital characteristics' may affect postoperative outcomes. Nonclinical hospital characteristics do affect the various postoperative complications, but they do so inconsistently.

  9. BIOMASS AND WOOD CHARACTERISTICS OF THE Sclerolobium paniculatum IN DIFFERENT LEVELS OF FERTILIZATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iuri da Rocha Marmo de Oliveira

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available The present work studied the production of biomass and the anatomical, physical and energy characteristics ofSclerolobium paniculatum Vogel var. subvelutinum wood of a plantation of 18 years old, under different levels of soil fertilization. Theinfluences of fertilization in the production of biomass and the anatomical, physical and energy characteristics showed no significantresults. The results showed an average production of biomass per hectare of 92.55t. The results disclose that the cultivated carvoeiro,with 18 years old, have fibers with 14.03mm of diameter; 3.41mm of thickness and 708mm length; basic specific gravity of 0.52g/cm3;83.84% of volatile material; 15.65% of fixed carbon; calorific power of 4,671kcal/kg.

  10. Assessing production characteristics, influential factors and administrative policies in a multicenter dental organization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patterson, Charles W

    2012-06-01

    In multicenter service organizations, managers often make centralized decisions without considering the effects of differing production characteristics and influential factors on each center. In this study, the author examines differences in production characteristics and factors that influence production, as well as their likely effect on policy formulation, in a large, six-center dental group in the Chicago area. The results of the study show that the six centers (in two groups) exhibited two distinct production patterns, with three having logarithmic distributions and three having normal distributions. Production differences between the groups likely resulted from differences in managed care, staffing and dental procedures performed. Instead of being monolithic, the organization exhibited two types of centers, each with its own production characteristics and factors that influenced production. The study results suggest that large service corporations and }partnerships would benefit from conducting analyses of production characteristics and factors that influence production before making policy decisions that affect the entire organization.

  11. Characteristics of activated carbon resulted from pyrolysis of the oil palm fronds powder

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maulina, S.; Iriansyah, M.

    2018-02-01

    Activated carbon is the product of a charcoal impregnation process that has a higher absorption capacity and has more benefits than regular char. Therefore, this study aims to cultivate the powder of oil palm fronds into activated carbon that meets the requirements of Standard National Indonesia 06-3730-1995. To do so, the carbonization process of the powder of oil palm fronds was carried out using a pyrolysis reactor for 30 minutes at a temperature of 150 °C, 200 °C, and 250 °C in order to produce activated char. Then, the char was impregnated using Phosphoric Acid activator (H3PO4) for 24 hours. Characteristics of activated carbon indicate that the treatment of char by chemical activation of oil palm fronds powder has an effect on the properties of activated carbon. The activated carbons that has the highest absorption properties to Iodine (822.91 mg/g) were obtained from the impregnation process with 15% concentration of Phosphoric Acid (H3PO4) at pyrolysis temperature of 200 °C. Furthermore, the activation process resulted in activated carbon with water content of 8%, ash content of 4%, volatile matter 39%, and fixed carbon 75%, Iodine number 822.91 mg/g.

  12. Aerodynamic Characteristic of the Active Compliant Trailing Edge Concept

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nie, Rui; Qiu, Jinhao; Ji, Hongli; Li, Dawei

    2016-06-01

    This paper introduces a novel Morphing Wing structure known as the Active Compliant Trailing Edge (ACTE). ACTE structures are designed using the concept of “distributed compliance” and wing skins of ACTE are fabricated from high-strength fiberglass composites laminates. Through the relative sliding between upper and lower wing skins which are connected by a linear guide pairs, the wing is able to achieve a large continuous deformation. In order to present an investigation about aerodynamics and noise characteristics of ACTE, a series of 2D airfoil analyses are established. The aerodynamic characteristics between ACTE and conventional deflection airfoil are analyzed and compared, and the impacts of different ACTE structure design parameters on aerodynamic characteristics are discussed. The airfoils mentioned above include two types (NACA0012 and NACA64A005.92). The computing results demonstrate that: compared with the conventional plane flap airfoil, the morphing wing using ACTE structures has the capability to improve aerodynamic characteristic and flow separation characteristic. In order to study the noise level of ACTE, flow field analysis using LES model is done to provide noise source data, and then the FW-H method is used to get the far field noise levels. The simulation results show that: compared with the conventional flap/aileron airfoil, the ACTE configuration is better to suppress the flow separation and lower the overall sound pressure level.

  13. Combustion Characteristics Of Agricultural Waste-Coal Char Blends

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Akpabio, I. O; Danbature W

    2002-01-01

    Shortage of petroleum products, depletion of huge forest reserves for fuel purposes with its attendant erosion problems and other environmental considerations have necessitated investigations into other sources of fuel. In this wise. a set of seven types of briquettes were prepared from agricultural wastes such as rice husk, maize husk and saw-dust and blends of carbonized coal char. Strong and well-formed briquettes with good combustion characteristics were obtained. The results obtained from water boiling tests show that 2 litres of water could be boiled just under 23 minutes. Moisture contents and strengths of these briquettes were also determined and are discussed. The results show that wastes could be converted into useful fuel

  14. Direct-current polarization characteristics of various AlGaAs laser diodes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fuhr, P. L.

    1984-01-01

    Polarization characteristics of AlGaAs laser diodes having various device geometries have been measured. Measurements were performed with the laser diodes operating under dc conditions. Results show that laser diodes having different device geometries have optical outputs that exhibit varying degrees of polarization purity. Implications of this result, with respect to incoherent polarization-beam combining, are addressed.

  15. Description of selected characteristics of familial glioma patients – Results from the Gliogene Consortium

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sadetzki, Siegal; Bruchim, Revital; Oberman, Bernice

    2013-01-01

    While certain inherited syndromes (e.g. Neurofibromatosis or Li-Fraumeni) are associated with an increased risk of glioma, most familial gliomas are non-syndromic. This study describes the demographic and clinical characteristics of the largest series of non-syndromic glioma families ascertained ...

  16. Investigation of vibration characteristics of electric motors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bakshis, A. K.; Tamoshyunas, Y. K.

    1973-01-01

    The vibration characteristics of electric motors were analyzed using mathematical statistics methods. The equipment used and the method of conducting the test are described. Curves are developed to show the visualization of the electric motor vibrations in the vertical direction. Additional curves are included to show the amplitude-phase frequency characteristic of dynamic rotor-housing vibrations at the first lug and the same data for the second lug of the electric motor. Mathematical models were created to show the transmission function of the dynamic rotor housing system.

  17. A goods characteristics model of the hedonic ageing equation: evidence from a French marriage bureau

    OpenAIRE

    Sam Cameron; Nicolas Vaillant

    2005-01-01

    The present paper adopts a modelling perspective derived from goods characteristics analysis [Lancaster (1971)] and the general ideas of transactions costs. This is implemented in estimated equations, which feature the age of partner sought as the dependent variable and own age and various other personal characteristics, and characteristics desired in a partner, as the right-hand side variables. The results show a very strong relationship between age and desired partner age. More interestingl...

  18. Tumor location and patient characteristics of colon and rectal adenocarcinomas in relation to survival and TNM classes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hemminki, Kari; Santi, Irene; Weires, Marianne; Thomsen, Hauke; Sundquist, Jan; Bermejo, Justo Lorenzo

    2010-01-01

    Old age at diagnosis is associated with poor survival in colorectal cancer (CRC) for unknown reasons. Recent data show that colonoscopy is efficient in preventing left-sided cancers only. We examine the association of Tumor Node Metastasis (TNM) classes with diagnostic age and patient characteristics. The Swedish Family-Cancer Database has data on TNM classes on 6,105 CRC adenocarcinoma patients. Ordinal logistic regression analysis was performed to model tumor characteristics according to age at diagnosis, tumor localization, gender, socioeconomic status, medical region and family history. The results were compared to results from survival analysis. The only parameters systematically associated with TNM classes were age and tumor localization. Young age at diagnosis was a risk factor for aggressive CRC, according to stage, N and M with odds ratios (ORs) ranging from 1.80 to 1.93 for diagnosis before age 50 years compared to diagnosis at 80+ years. All tumor characteristics, particularly T, were worse for colon compared to rectal tumors. Right-sided tumors showed worse characteristics for all classifiers but M. The survival analysis on patients diagnosed since 2000 showed a hazard ratio of 0.55 for diagnosis before age 50 years compared to diagnosis at over 80 years and a modestly better prognosis for left-sided compared to right-sided tumors. The results showed systematically more aggressive tumors in young compared to old patients. The poorer survival of old patients in colon cancer was not related to the available tumor characteristics. However, these partially agreed with the limited colonoscopic success with right-sided tumors

  19. Analysis and experimental study on hydraulic balance characteristics in density lock

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gu Haifeng; Yan Changqi; Sun Furong

    2009-01-01

    Through the simplified theoretical model, the hydraulic balance condition which should be met in the density lock is obtained, when reactor operates normally and density lock is closed. The main parameters influencing this condition are analyzed, and the results show that the hydraulic balance in the density lock is characterized with self-stability in a certain range. Meantime, a simulating experimental loop is built and experimental verification on the self-stability characteristic is done. Moreover, experimental study is done on the conditions of flow change of work fluids in the primary circuit in the process of stable operations. The experimental results show that the hydraulic balance in the density lock can recovered quickly, depending on the self-stability characteristic without influences on the sealing performance of density lock and normal operation of reactor, after the change of operation parameters breaks the hydraulic balance. (authors)

  20. Motion characteristic of a free piston linear engine

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xiao, Jin; Li, Qingfeng; Huang, Zhen [Key Laboratory for Power Machinery and Engineering of Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240 (China)

    2010-04-15

    A mathematical model of a free piston linear engine is established. The motion characteristics as well as the natural frequency map of the free piston are established. Then, its motion characteristics are successfully explained from the oscillation point. The full simulation model is built up in Matlab/Simulink for a better understanding of its motion features. The results show that the free piston system is a forced vibration system with variable damping coefficient and stiffness. Its steady-state response of periodical excitation is convergent which means that the system is stable under the periodical combustion. Furthermore, it has some unique features which are different from those of traditional Internal Combustion (IC) engines. (author)

  1. ERP differences between processing of physical characteristics and personality attributes

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Background Limited data from behavioral and brain-imaging studies indicate that personality traits and physical characteristics are processed differently by the brain. Additionally, electrophysiological results of studies comparing the processing of positive and negative words have produced mixed results. It is therefore not clear how physical and personality attributes with emotional valence (i.e., positive and negative valence) are processed. Thus, this study aimed to examine the neural activity associated with words describing personality traits and physical characteristics with positive or negative emotional valence using Event Related Potentials (ERPs). Methods A sample of 15 healthy adults (7 men, 8 women) participated in a computerized word categorization task. Participants were asked to categorize visual word stimuli as physical characteristics or personality traits, while ERPs were recorded synchronously. Results Behavioral reaction times to negative physical stimuli were shorter compared to negative personality words, however reaction times did not significantly differ for positive stimuli. Electrophysiological results showed that personality stimuli elicited larger P2 and LPC (Late Positive Component) amplitudes compared to physical stimuli, regardless of negative or positive valence. Moreover, negative as compared with positive stimuli elicited larger P2 and LPC amplitudes. Conclusion Personality and physical stimuli were processed differently regardless of positive or negative valence. These findings suggest that personality traits and physical characteristics are differentially classified and are associated with different motivational significance. PMID:22967478

  2. Research on Radiation Characteristic of Plasma Antenna through FDTD Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jianming Zhou

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The radiation characteristic of plasma antenna is investigated by using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD approach in this paper. Through using FDTD method, we study the propagation of electromagnetic wave in free space in stretched coordinate. And the iterative equations of Maxwell equation are derived. In order to validate the correctness of this method, we simulate the process of electromagnetic wave propagating in free space. Results show that electromagnetic wave spreads out around the signal source and can be absorbed by the perfectly matched layer (PML. Otherwise, we study the propagation of electromagnetic wave in plasma by using the Boltzmann-Maxwell theory. In order to verify this theory, the whole process of electromagnetic wave propagating in plasma under one-dimension case is simulated. Results show that Boltzmann-Maxwell theory can be used to explain the phenomenon of electromagnetic wave propagating in plasma. Finally, the two-dimensional simulation model of plasma antenna is established under the cylindrical coordinate. And the near-field and far-field radiation pattern of plasma antenna are obtained. The experiments show that the variation of electron density can introduce the change of radiation characteristic.

  3. Research on radiation characteristic of plasma antenna through FDTD method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Jianming; Fang, Jingjing; Lu, Qiuyuan; Liu, Fan

    2014-01-01

    The radiation characteristic of plasma antenna is investigated by using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) approach in this paper. Through using FDTD method, we study the propagation of electromagnetic wave in free space in stretched coordinate. And the iterative equations of Maxwell equation are derived. In order to validate the correctness of this method, we simulate the process of electromagnetic wave propagating in free space. Results show that electromagnetic wave spreads out around the signal source and can be absorbed by the perfectly matched layer (PML). Otherwise, we study the propagation of electromagnetic wave in plasma by using the Boltzmann-Maxwell theory. In order to verify this theory, the whole process of electromagnetic wave propagating in plasma under one-dimension case is simulated. Results show that Boltzmann-Maxwell theory can be used to explain the phenomenon of electromagnetic wave propagating in plasma. Finally, the two-dimensional simulation model of plasma antenna is established under the cylindrical coordinate. And the near-field and far-field radiation pattern of plasma antenna are obtained. The experiments show that the variation of electron density can introduce the change of radiation characteristic.

  4. The Fractal Characteristics of the Landslides by Box-Counting and P-A Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Zhiwang; Zhou, Fangfang; Cao, Hao

    2018-01-01

    The landslide is a kind of complicated phenomenon with nonlinear inter-reaction. The traditional theories and methods are difficult to study the uncertainty characteristics of dynamic evolution of the landslides. This paper applies box-counting and P-A model to study the fractal characteristics of geometric shape and spatial distribution of the landslide hazards in the study area from Badong county to Zigui county in TGP reservoir region. The data obtained from the study area shows power-law distributions of geometric shape and spatial distribution of the landslides, and thus reveals some fractal or self-similarity properties. The fractral dimensions DAP of the spatial distribution of landslides by P-A model shows that DAP of the western landslides in the study area are smaller than those of the east, which shows that the geometry of the eastern landslide is more irregular and complicated than the western ones. The results show box-counting model and P-A model can be used to characterize the fractal characteristics of geometric shape and spatial distribution of the landslides.

  5. Self-Esteem of Rural Teens: Results for Three Family Types.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, Anita M.; Rowe, George P.

    1991-01-01

    A total of 108 (of 200) adolescents completed the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory and family characteristics questionnaire. Results showed that it is not the structure of the family but the degree of discord within the family that influences self-esteem. (Author/JOW)

  6. MORPHOLOGICAL AND AGRONOMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SOME WILD AND CULTIVATED ISATIS SPECIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Süleyman KIZIL

    2007-04-01

    Full Text Available The study evaluated Isatis tinctoria, I. constricta, I. glauca, I. cochlearis, I. aucheri and I. demiriziana during 2002-03 and 2003-04 growing seasons for different agronomic characteristics affecting the percentage of dye in them. The results showed wide variations in the agronomic characteristics of Isatis constricta, Isatis cochlearis, Isatis aucheri, Isatis demiriziana collected from wild; compared to culture Isatis tinctoria and Isatis glauca. I. tinctoria showed early emergence (36 day compared to other species, and I. glauca was determined as late fl owering (512 day species. Among Isatis species, I. glauca showed the maximum plant height (113.4 cm, stem diameter (10.84 mm seed yield per plant (103.0 g . Whereas, I. tinctoria produced the largest number of branches per plant (16.8 plant-1 and the maximum number of seeds (17918 per plant.

  7. Actual and preferred personality characteristics of physical educators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saša Cecić Erpič

    2002-12-01

    Full Text Available The Five-Factor Model of personality, which includes dimensions energy, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness, gained a growing acceptance by personality researchers. In the present study the actual personality characteristics of physical educators and the personality profile of an ideal (according to subjective evaluations of experts physical educator were investigated. The aim of the study was to examine differences between profiles of actual and preferred personality characteristics and to present differences in personality characteristics between male and female physical educators of different ages. The study included 76 (40 male, 36 female 24 to 58 year-old physical educators (mean age 39.7 years. 34 experts from the field of sport, physical education, and kinesiology evaluated the preferred personality structure of an ideal physical educator. The Big Five Observer (BFO was used to assess actual and preferred personality structures. These results show that the actual personality profile of physical educators is described with all five moderately high dimensions, which is relatively congruent with the social type from Holland's typology, characteristic of educators. In comparison with participants, an ideal physical educator should have equally expressed agreeableness, while other four dimensions should be highly expressed. Gender differences in energy and agreeableness (women have higher results in both dimensions were found significant. No significant age differences in the personality structure were obtained by a cross-sectional comparison.

  8. Brewing characteristics of piezosensitive sake yeasts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nomura, Kazuki; Hoshino, Hirofumi; Igoshi, Kazuaki; Onozuka, Haruka; Tanaka, Erika; Hayashi, Mayumi; Yamazaki, Harutake; Takaku, Hiroaki; Iguchi, Akinori; Shigematsu, Toru

    2018-04-01

    Application of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) treatment to food processing is expected as a non-thermal fermentation regulation technology that supresses over fermentation. However, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae used for Japanese rice wine (sake) brewing shows high tolerance to HHP. Therefore, we aimed to generate pressure-sensitive (piezosensitive) sake yeast strains by mating sake with piezosensitive yeast strains to establish an HHP fermentation regulation technology and extend the shelf life of fermented foods. The results of phenotypic analyses showed that the generated yeast strains were piezosensitive and exhibited similar fermentation ability compared with the original sake yeast strain. In addition, primary properties of sake brewed using these strains, such as ethanol concentration, sake meter value and sake flavor compounds, were almost equivalent to those obtained using the sake yeast strain. These results suggest that the piezosensitive strains exhibit brewing characteristics essentially equivalent to those of the sake yeast strain.

  9. [Etiological and molecular characteristics of diarrhea caused Proteus mirabilis].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Xiaolu; Hu, Qinghua; Lin, Yiman; Qiu, Yaqun; Li, Yinghui; Jiang, Min; Chen, Qiongcheng

    2014-06-01

    To analyze the etiological characteristics, virulence genes and plasmids that carrying diarrhea-causing Proteus mirabilis and to assess their relationship with drug resistance and pathogenicity. Proteus mirabilis coming from six different sources (food poisoning, external environment and healthy people) were analyzed biochemically, on related susceptibility and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Virulence genes were detected by PCR. Plasmids were extracted and sequenced after gel electrophoresis purification. The biochemical characteristics of Proteus mirabilis from different sources seemed basically the same, and each of them showed having common virulence genes, as ureC, rsmA, hpmA and zapA. However, the PFGE patterns and susceptibility of these strains were different, so as the plasmids that they carried. Plasmid that presented in the sequenced strain showed that the 2 683 bp length plasmid encodes qnrD gene was associated with the quinolone resistance. Etiological characteristics and molecular characteristics of Proteus mirabilis gathered from different sources, were analyzed. Results indicated that traditional biochemical analysis and common virulence gene identification might be able to distinguish the strains with different sources. However, PFGE and plasmids analysis could distinguish the sources of strains and to identify those plasmids that commonly carried by the drug-resistant strains. These findings also provided theoretical basis for further study on the nature of resistance and pathogenicity in Proteus mirabilis.

  10. Investigating co-combustion characteristics of bamboo and wood.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liang, Fang; Wang, Ruijuan; Jiang, Changle; Yang, Xiaomeng; Zhang, Tao; Hu, Wanhe; Mi, Bingbing; Liu, Zhijia

    2017-11-01

    To investigate co-combustion characteristics of bamboo and wood, moso bamboo and masson pine were torrefied and mixed with different blend ratios. The combustion process was examined by thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). The results showed the combustion process of samples included volatile emission and oxidation combustion as well as char combustion. The main mass loss of biomass blends occurred at volatile emission and oxidation combustion stage, while that of torrefied biomass occurred at char combustion stage. With the increase of bamboo content, characteristic temperatures decreased. Compared with untreated biomass, torrefied biomass had a higher initial and burnout temperature. With the increase of heating rates, combustion process of samples shifted to higher temperatures. Compared with non-isothermal models, activation energy obtained from isothermal model was lower. The result is helpful to promote development of co-combustion of bamboo and masson pine wastes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Study on evaluation methods for Rayleigh wave dispersion characteristic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, L.; Tao, X.; Kayen, R.; Shi, H.; Yan, S.

    2005-01-01

    The evaluation of Rayleigh wave dispersion characteristic is the key step for detecting S-wave velocity structure. By comparing the dispersion curves directly with the spectra analysis of surface waves (SASW) method, rather than comparing the S-wave velocity structure, the validity and precision of microtremor-array method (MAM) can be evaluated more objectively. The results from the China - US joint surface wave investigation in 26 sites in Tangshan, China, show that the MAM has the same precision with SASW method in 83% of the 26 sites. The MAM is valid for Rayleigh wave dispersion characteristic testing and has great application potentiality for site S-wave velocity structure detection.

  12. A Triaxial Characteristic State Model for Sand

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Krenk, S.; Borup, M.; Hedegaard, J.

    the loading surfaces approach the zero-tension planes asymptotically, generating a nearly triangular contour in the deviator ic stress plane. The gradient of the flow potential is generated directly from the gradient of the loading potential by scaling of the mean stress component. Two hardening rules...... that permit ultimate stress states beyond the characteristic line have been proposed. Results from drained triaxial tests show good agreement with the model, usi ng a weighted work hardening rule....

  13. Characteristics and application potential of municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) bottom ashes from two waste-to-energy plants

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tang, P.; Florea, M.V.A.; Spiesz, P.R.; Brouwers, H.J.H.

    2015-01-01

    This study focuses on municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) bottom ash characteristics, its heterogeneity, environmental properties, and their stability in time. The physical and chemical characteristics of bottom ashes from two plants were determined over time; results show that their

  14. Show-Bix &

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    2014-01-01

    The anti-reenactment 'Show-Bix &' consists of 5 dias projectors, a dial phone, quintophonic sound, and interactive elements. A responsive interface will enable the Dias projectors to show copies of original dias slides from the Show-Bix piece ”March på Stedet”, 265 images in total. The copies are...

  15. THE INFLUENCE OF EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION ON MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MALE PUPILS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nevenka Zrnzević

    2008-08-01

    Full Text Available The research purpose was to determine the effects of the experimental program of physical education on morphological characteristics of male pupils from the first-grade of primary school. The experimental program was carried out on the sample of 50 male pupils of the primary schools in Leposavic and Zvecan, age of 7 years ± 6 months. Morphological characteristics were estimated according to 13 variables (body height, total arm length, leg length, biacromial diameter, biiliocristal diameter, wrist width, chest circum ference, upper arm circum ference, upper leg circum ference, triceps skin fold, subscapular skin fold, abdomen skin fold and body mass. The results of the research were processed through standard procedures and basic descriptive parameters were calculated, and variations were determined using multi-variable analysis of variance (MAN′s and uni-variable analysis of variance (AN′s. Multivariable analysis of variance showed a significant statistic difference in morphological characteristics showed at initial and final measuring. On the basis of the results and discussion, it can be concluded that the experimental program has statistically significant effects on the changes of some morphological characteristics.

  16. Visual attention: the interplay between ad characteristics and context factors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boerman, S.; Smit, E.; van Meurs, A.

    2011-01-01

    Using eye-tracking data, we tested what elements of the ad are able to catch the eye and whether the context of the ad can draw visual attention away. Characteristics of 183 magazine ads and their direct context were systematically coded and linked to eye-tracking data. Results showed that indeed ad

  17. Evolution of spatio-temporal drought characteristics: validation, projections and effect of adaptation scenarios

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vidal, J.-P.; Martin, E.; Kitova, N.; Najac, J.; Soubeyroux, J.-M.

    2012-08-01

    Drought events develop in both space and time and they are therefore best described through summary joint spatio-temporal characteristics, such as mean duration, mean affected area and total magnitude. This paper addresses the issue of future projections of such characteristics of drought events over France through three main research questions: (1) Are downscaled climate projections able to simulate spatio-temporal characteristics of meteorological and agricultural droughts in France over a present-day period? (2) How such characteristics will evolve over the 21st century? (3) How to use standardized drought indices to represent theoretical adaptation scenarios? These questions are addressed using the Isba land surface model, downscaled climate projections from the ARPEGE General Circulation Model under three emissions scenarios, as well as results from a previously performed 50-yr multilevel and multiscale drought reanalysis over France. Spatio-temporal characteristics of meteorological and agricultural drought events are computed using the Standardized Precipitation Index and the Standardized Soil Wetness Index, respectively, and for time scales of 3 and 12 months. Results first show that the distributions of joint spatio-temporal characteristics of observed events are well simulated by the downscaled hydroclimate projections over a present-day period. All spatio-temporal characteristics of drought events are then found to dramatically increase over the 21st century, with stronger changes for agricultural droughts. Two theoretical adaptation scenarios are eventually built based on hypotheses of adaptation to evolving climate and hydrological normals, either retrospective or prospective. The perceived spatio-temporal characteristics of drought events derived from these theoretical adaptation scenarios show much reduced changes, but they call for more realistic scenarios at both the catchment and national scale in order to accurately assess the combined effect of

  18. Research on Dynamic Coupled Characteristics of A Tracked Vehicle Gearbox

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hui Liu

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available A tracked vehicle gearbox is divided into two subsystems-housing and gear train. Dynamic behaviors of the two subsystems are coupled practically. And the coupled characteristics describe the integrative dynamic behaviors of gearbox. This study proposes a coupled simulation model to investigate the interrelationship between dynamics of two subsystems. Multi-source excitations are numerically calculated to provide boundary conditions. The flexibility of transmission shafts and housing is mathematically described based on mode superposition. The coupled dynamic characteristics are analyzed with dynamics simulation computation. The flexibility of housing is one of the main causes to induce the fluctuation of dynamic responses of transmission shafts. The experimental results show that the proposed method is accurate through comparison of simulation results and test data.

  19. Field emission characteristics of a small number of carbon fiber emitters

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wilkin W. Tang

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper reports an experiment that studies the emission characteristics of small number of field emitters. The experiment consists of nine carbon fibers in a square configuration. Experimental results show that the emission characteristics depend strongly on the separation between each emitter, providing evidence of the electric field screening effects. Our results indicate that as the separation between the emitters decreases, the emission current for a given voltage also decreases. The authors compare the experimental results to four carbon fiber emitters in a linear and square configurations as well as to two carbon fiber emitters in a paired array. Voltage-current traces show that the turn-on voltage is always larger for the nine carbon fiber emitters as compared to the two and four emitters in linear configurations, and approximately identical to the four emitters in a square configuration. The observations and analysis reported here, based on Fowler-Nordheim field emission theory, suggest the electric field screening effect depends critically on the number of emitters, the separation between them, and their overall geometric configuration.

  20. Determination of weld defect characteristics using focused probes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saglio, Robert; Touffait, A.-M.; Prot, A.-C.

    1977-01-01

    A method is described which allows, by means of an experimentally discovered law, the determination of the geometrical characteristics of the detected defects. This determination is based on the properties of focused probes, and particularly on what is called their 'effective ultrasonic beam'. The main result is the ability to describe a defect with a given and known accuracy. Examples are given which show practical applications of the method [fr

  1. Compression Characteristics of Solid Wastes as Backfill Materials

    OpenAIRE

    Meng Li; Jixiong Zhang; Rui Gao

    2016-01-01

    A self-made large-diameter compression steel chamber and a SANS material testing machine were chosen to perform a series of compression tests in order to fully understand the compression characteristics of differently graded filling gangue samples. The relationship between the stress-deformation modulus and stress-compression degree was analyzed comparatively. The results showed that, during compression, the deformation modulus of gangue grew linearly with stress, the overall relationship bet...

  2. Temporal and spatial evolution characteristics of gas-liquid two-phase flow pattern based on image texture spectrum descriptor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Xi-Guo; Jin, Ning-De; Wang, Zhen-Ya; Zhang, Wen-Yin

    2009-11-01

    The dynamic image information of typical gas-liquid two-phase flow patterns in vertical upward pipe is captured by a highspeed dynamic camera. The texture spectrum descriptor is used to describe the texture characteristics of the processed images whose content is represented in the form of texture spectrum histogram, and four time-varying characteristic parameter indexes which represent image texture structure of different flow patterns are extracted. The study results show that the amplitude fluctuation of texture characteristic parameter indexes of bubble flow is lowest and shows very random complex dynamic behavior; the amplitude fluctuation of slug flow is higher and shows intermittent motion behavior between gas slug and liquid slug, and the amplitude fluctuation of churn flow is the highest and shows better periodicity; the amplitude fluctuation of bubble-slug flow is from low to high and oscillating frequence is higher than that of slug flow, and includes the features of both slug flow and bubble flow; the slug-churn flow loses the periodicity of slug flow and churn flow, and the amplitude fluctuation is high. The results indicate that the image texture characteristic parameter indexes of different flow pattern can reflect the flow characteristics of gas-liquid two-phase flow, which provides a new approach to understand the temporal and spatial evolution of flow pattern dynamics.

  3. Potentiodynamic characteristics of cadmium and silver in alkaline solutions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saidman, S.B.; Vilche, J.R.; Arvia, A.J.; Lopes Teijelo, M.

    1984-01-01

    The potentiodynamic and ellipsometric characteristics of cadmium and silver in alkaline solutions are studied. The phenomenology of both electrodes shows some common features which are interpreted in termo of a complex hydrated oxide anodic film structure resulting from simultaneous electrochemical and chemical reactions. The kinetics of film growth fits the predictions of nucleation and growth models. (C.L.B.) [pt

  4. Composition and characteristics of Libyan flora

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ying Feng

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The composition, life forms and the distribution of plants in Libya were studied. The results show that in Libya there are 2103 species that belong to 856 genera and 155 families. The distribution among Libyan seed plants was characterized by a high proportion of herbs (annual to perennial, unlike the low number of woody (tree and shrub species; these have an important influence on the structure of floral composition. The geographic element of the flora was predominantly tropical and Mediterranean. The local plants belong to representative tropical desert flora. The presence and distribution characteristics of flora in Libya show that climate, environmental condition, ecological amplitude and adaptive capacity of the plants have a determinative influence on the floristic stock in the area studies.

  5. Effects of nurses' personality traits and their environmental characteristics on their workplace learning and nursing competence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takase, Miyuki; Yamamoto, Masako; Sato, Yoko

    2018-04-01

    A good fit between an individual's personality traits and job characteristics motivates employees, and thus enhances their work behavior. However, how nurses' personality traits and their environmental characteristics relate to nurses' engagement in workplace learning, which improves their competence, has not been investigated. The aim of this study was to investigate how nurses' personality traits, environmental characteristics, and workplace learning were related to nursing competence. A cross-sectional survey design was used. Questionnaires were distributed to 1167 Japanese registered nurses. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the relationships between nurses' personality traits, the environmental characteristics, the nurses' engagement in workplace learning, and their competence. A total of 315 nurses returned questionnaires (i.e., a return rate of 27.0%). The results showed that both the personality traits (extraversion, conscientiousness, openness to experience) and environmental characteristics (autonomy at work and feedback given) were related to workplace learning and self-rated nursing competence. The results also showed that the relationship between extraversion (active, adventurous and ambitious dispositions of an individual) and self-rated nursing competence was moderated by environmental characteristics, and partially mediated by workplace learning. Positive personality traits, such as extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness to experience could enhance workplace learning and nursing competence. Moreover, environmental characteristics that allow nurses to express their personality traits have the potential to improve their learning and competence further. © 2017 Japan Academy of Nursing Science.

  6. Simulation of diode characteristics of carbon nanotube field-effect transistors with symmetric source and drain contacts

    KAUST Repository

    Li, Jingqi; Zhang, Xixiang

    2011-01-01

    The diode characteristics of carbon nanotube field-effect transistors (CNTFETs) with symmetric source and drain contacts have been experimentally found at zero gate voltage (Li J. et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., 92 (2008) 133111). We calculate this characteristic using a semiclassical method based on Schottky barrier transistor mechanism. The influences of metal work function, the diameter of the carbon nanotubes and the dielectric thickness on the rectification behavior have been studied. The calculation results show that the metal with a higher work function results in a better diode characteristics for a p-type CNTFET. For single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) with different band gaps, both forward current and reverse current increase with decreasing band gap, but the ratio of forward current to reverse current decreases with decreasing band gap. This result is well consistent with the experimental observations reported previously. The simulation of the dielectric thickness effect indicates that the thinner the dielectric layer, the better the rectification behavior. The CNTFETs without a bottom gate could not show the diode characteristics, which is consistent with the reported experimental observation. © 2011 Europhysics Letters Association.

  7. Simulation of diode characteristics of carbon nanotube field-effect transistors with symmetric source and drain contacts

    KAUST Repository

    Li, Jingqi

    2011-09-01

    The diode characteristics of carbon nanotube field-effect transistors (CNTFETs) with symmetric source and drain contacts have been experimentally found at zero gate voltage (Li J. et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., 92 (2008) 133111). We calculate this characteristic using a semiclassical method based on Schottky barrier transistor mechanism. The influences of metal work function, the diameter of the carbon nanotubes and the dielectric thickness on the rectification behavior have been studied. The calculation results show that the metal with a higher work function results in a better diode characteristics for a p-type CNTFET. For single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) with different band gaps, both forward current and reverse current increase with decreasing band gap, but the ratio of forward current to reverse current decreases with decreasing band gap. This result is well consistent with the experimental observations reported previously. The simulation of the dielectric thickness effect indicates that the thinner the dielectric layer, the better the rectification behavior. The CNTFETs without a bottom gate could not show the diode characteristics, which is consistent with the reported experimental observation. © 2011 Europhysics Letters Association.

  8. Compressibility characteristics of Sabak Bernam Marine Clay

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lat, D. C.; Ali, N.; Jais, I. B. M.; Baharom, B.; Yunus, N. Z. M.; Salleh, S. M.; Azmi, N. A. C.

    2018-04-01

    This study is carried out to determine the geotechnical properties and compressibility characteristics of marine clay collected at Sabak Bernam. The compressibility characteristics of this soil are determined from 1-D consolidation test and verified by existing correlations by other researchers. No literature has been found on the compressibility characteristics of Sabak Bernam Marine Clay. It is important to carry out this study since this type of marine clay covers large coastal area of west coast Malaysia. This type of marine clay was found on the main road connecting Klang to Perak and the road keeps experiencing undulation and uneven settlement which jeopardise the safety of the road users. The soil is indicated in the Generalised Soil Map of Peninsular Malaysia as a CLAY with alluvial soil on recent marine and riverine alluvium. Based on the British Standard Soil Classification and Plasticity Chart, the soil is classified as a CLAY with very high plasticity (CV). Results from laboratory test on physical properties and compressibility parameters show that Sabak Bernam Marine Clay (SBMC) is highly compressible, has low permeability and poor drainage characteristics. The compressibility parameters obtained for SBMC is in a good agreement with other researchers in the same field.

  9. [Correlation of substrate structure and hydraulic characteristics in subsurface flow constructed wetlands].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bai, Shao-Yuan; Song, Zhi-Xin; Ding, Yan-Li; You, Shao-Hong; He, Shan

    2014-02-01

    The correlation of substrate structure and hydraulic characteristics was studied by numerical simulation combined with experimental method. The numerical simulation results showed that the permeability coefficient of matrix had a great influence on hydraulic efficiency in subsurface flow constructed wetlands. The filler with a high permeability coefficient had a worse flow field distribution in the constructed wetland with single layer structure. The layered substrate structure with the filler permeability coefficient increased from surface to bottom could avoid the short-circuited flow and dead-zones, and thus, increased the hydraulic efficiency. Two parallel pilot-scale constructed wetlands were built according to the numerical simulation results, and tracer experiments were conducted to validate the simulation results. The tracer experiment result showed that hydraulic characteristics in the layered constructed wetland were obviously better than that in the single layer system, and the substrate effective utilization rates were 0.87 and 0.49, respectively. It was appeared that numerical simulation would be favorable for substrate structure optimization in subsurface flow constructed wetlands.

  10. Experimental investigation of spray characteristics of alternative aviation fuels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kannaiyan, Kumaran; Sadr, Reza

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Physical properties of GTL fuel are different from those of conventional jet fuels. • Spray characteristics of GTL and Jet A-1 fuels are experimentally investigated using phase Doppler anemometry. • Regions near the nozzle are influenced by differences in fuel physical properties. • Spray characteristics of GTL can be predicted by empirical relations developed for conventional jet fuels. - Abstract: Synthetic fuels derived from non-oil feedstock are gaining importance due to their cleaner combustion characteristics. This work investigates spray characteristics of two Gas-to-Liquid (GTL) synthetic jet fuels from a pilot-scale pressure swirl nozzle and compares them with those of the conventional Jet A-1 fuel. The microscopic spray parameters are measured at 0.3 and 0.9 MPa injection pressures at several points in the spray using phase Doppler anemometry. The results show that the effect of fuel physical properties on the spray characteristics is predominantly evident in the regions close to the nozzle exit at the higher injection pressure. The lower viscosity and surface tension of GTL fuel seems to lead to faster disintegration and dispersion of the droplets when compared to those of Jet A-1 fuel under atmospheric conditions. Although the global characteristics of the fuels are similar, the effects of fuel properties are evident on the local spray characteristics at the higher injection pressure

  11. Dynamic voltage-current characteristics for a water jet plasma arc

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang Jiaxiang; Lan Sheng; Xu Zuoming

    2008-01-01

    A virtual instrument technology is used to measure arc current, arc voltage, dynamic V-I characteristics, and nonlinear conductance for a cone-shaped water jet plasma arc under ac voltage. Experimental results show that ac arc discharge mainly happens in water vapor evaporated from water when heated. However, due to water's cooling effect and its conductance, arc conductance, reignition voltage, extinguish voltage, and current zero time are very different from those for ac arc discharge in gas work fluid. These can be valuable to further studies on mechanism and characteristics of plasma ac discharge in water, and even in gas work fluid

  12. The study on a development and characteristics of EIT system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hyun, J. K.; Lee, H. J.; Lee, Y. J.; Kim, S.; Lee, B. A.; Ko, S. T.; Han, C. K.

    2000-01-01

    EIT(Electrical Impedance Tomography) system is one of instruments to show the inner construction of two phase flow by electrical signal. In this study, we developed a circuit of EIT system, perform current signal generation and voltage measurement, and examined the characteristics. We measured voltages when resistance isn't in the phantom. And then, we compared with the result of forward problem. And found the characteristics when the resistance is in the phantom and a position of the resistance changes in the phantom. Through that, we verified that this EIT system be able to used reconstruct the inner construction of two-phase flow

  13. A study on the flow characteristics in ejector by PIV and CFD

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Haeng Nam; Park, Gil Moon; Park, Ji Man; Lee, Duk Gu; Sul, Jae Lim

    2003-01-01

    The ejector is used to get low pressure, and it has been applied to a lot of industry field like the heat engine, the fluid instrument power plant, the food industry, environment industry etc... because there are not any problem even it is mixed with a any kind of liquid, gas, and solid. The flow characteristics in ejector are investigated by PIV and CFD. The experiment using PIV measurement for mixing pipe's flow characteristics acquired velocity distribution, kinetic energy distribution, and whirlpool. Based on the PIV and the CFD results, the flow characteristics in ejector are discussed, and it shows the validity of this study

  14. The impact of software quality characteristics on healthcare outcome: a literature review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aghazadeh, Sakineh; Pirnejad, Habibollah; Moradkhani, Alireza; Aliev, Alvosat

    2014-01-01

    The aim of this study was to discover the effect of software quality characteristics on healthcare quality and efficiency indicators. Through a systematic literature review, we selected and analyzed 37 original research papers to investigate the impact of the software indicators (coming from the standard ISO 9126 quality characteristics and sub-characteristics) on some of healthcare important outcome indicators and finally ranked these software indicators. The results showed that the software characteristics usability, reliability and efficiency were mostly favored in the studies, indicating their importance. On the other hand, user satisfaction, quality of patient care, clinical workflow efficiency, providers' communication and information exchange, patient satisfaction and care costs were among the healthcare outcome indicators frequently evaluated in relation to the mentioned software characteristics. Regression Logistic Method was the most common assessment methodology, and Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling were performed to test the structural model's fit. The software characteristics were considered to impact the healthcare outcome indicators through other intermediate factors (variables).

  15. Research the Gait Characteristics of Human Walking Based on a Robot Model and Experiment

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, H. J.; Zhang, D. N.; Yin, Z. W.; Shi, J. H.

    2017-02-01

    In order to research the gait characteristics of human walking in different walking ways, a robot model with a single degree of freedom is put up in this paper. The system control models of the robot are established through Matlab/Simulink toolbox. The gait characteristics of straight, uphill, turning, up the stairs, down the stairs up and down areanalyzed by the system control models. To verify the correctness of the theoretical analysis, an experiment was carried out. The comparison between theoretical results and experimental results shows that theoretical results are better agreement with the experimental ones. Analyze the reasons leading to amplitude error and phase error and give the improved methods. The robot model and experimental ways can provide foundation to further research the various gait characteristics of the exoskeleton robot.

  16. [The dentinal smear layer. Characteristics and interactions. 2].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Negri, P L; Eramo, S; Lotito, M; De Pino, C

    1991-03-15

    The Authors, after the presentation (in the first part of the Dossier) of a large literature review about the physical, chemical and clinical characteristics of formation, interaction, remotion of "smear layer" during cavity preparation in hard tooth tissue, describe the results of a scanning microelectronic research about the action as cleanser (for the dentinal cavity wall) of the CK101 (Caridex) versus wather, Tubulicid and phosphoric acid. The experimental results obtained "in vitro" show that the substance has relative action, without removing the tubular portion of "smear layer".

  17. Database on Wind Characteristics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Højstrup, J.; Ejsing Jørgensen, Hans; Lundtang Petersen, Erik

    1999-01-01

    his report describes the work and results of the project: Database on Wind Characteristics which was sponsered partly by the European Commision within the framework of JOULE III program under contract JOR3-CT95-0061......his report describes the work and results of the project: Database on Wind Characteristics which was sponsered partly by the European Commision within the framework of JOULE III program under contract JOR3-CT95-0061...

  18. Non-linear characteristics and long-range correlations in Asian stock markets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, J.; Ma, K.; Cai, X.

    2007-05-01

    We test several non-linear characteristics of Asian stock markets, which indicates the failure of efficient market hypothesis and shows the essence of fractal of the financial markets. In addition, by using the method of detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) to investigate the long range correlation of the volatility in the stock markets, we find that the crossover phenomena exist in the results of DFA. Further, in the region of small volatility, the scaling behavior is more complicated; in the region of large volatility, the scaling exponent is close to 0.5, which suggests the market is more efficient. All these results may indicate the possibility of characteristic multifractal scaling behaviors of the financial markets.

  19. Flow field and load characteristics of the whole MEXICO wind turbine

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Xu, Haoran; Yang, Hua; Liu, Chao

    2017-01-01

    CFD(Computational Fluid Dynamics) method was used to perform steady numerical simulation investigation on the flow field and load characteristics of MEXICO(Model EXperiment In Controlled cOnditions) wind turbine under non-yawed condition. Circumferentially-Averaged method was used to extract...... characteristics around the blade was analyzed and the points of flow separation were found along the blade, the results show that the points of flow separation move towards trailing edge with the increase of radius. The distribution of vorticity in the wake of MEXICO rotor was also analyzed. The distribution...

  20. Antibacterial characteristics of thermal plasma spray system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goudarzi, M; Saviz, Sh; Ghoranneviss, M; Salar Elahi, A

    2018-03-15

    The objective of this study is to investigate antibacterial characteristics of a thermal plasma spray system. For this purpose, copper powder was coated on a handmade atmospheric plasma spraying system made by the stainless steel 316 substrate, which is preheated at different temperatures before spraying. A number of deposition characteristics such as antibacterial characteristics, adhesion strength and hardness of coating, was investigated. All of the spray parameters are fixed except the substrate temperature. The chemical composition was analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). A scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and back scattering electron microscopy (BSE) were used to show the coating microstructure, its thickness and also the powder micrograph. The energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) was used to analyze the coating particles. Hardness of the deposition was examined by Vickers tester (HV0.1). Its adhesion strength was declared by cross cut tester (TQC). In addition, the percentage of bactericidal coating was evidenced with Staphylococcus aurous and Escherichia coli bacteria. Study results show that as the substrates temperature increases, the number of splats in the shape of pancake increases, the greatness and percentage of the deposition porosity both decrease. The increment of the substrate temperature leads to more oxidation and makes thicker dendrites on the splat. The enhancement of the substrate temperature also enlarges thickness and efficiency of coating. The interesting results are that antibacterial properties of coatings against the Escherichia coli are more than Staphylococcus aurous bacteria. However the bactericidal percentage of the coatings against Staphylococcus aurous and Escherichia coli bacteria roughly does not change with increasing the substrate temperature. Furthermore, by increment of the substrate temperature, coatings with both high adhesion and hardness are obtained. Accordingly, the temperature of substrate can be an

  1. Measuring the Dynamic Characteristics of a Low Specific Speed Pump—Turbine Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eve Cathrin Walseth

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents results from an experiment performed to obtain the dynamic characteristics of a reversible pump-turbine model. The characteristics were measured in an open loop system where the turbine initially was run on low rotational speed before the generator was disconnected allowing the turbine to go towards runaway. The measurements show that the turbine experience damped oscillations in pressure, speed and flow rate around runaway corresponding with presented stability criterion in published literature. Results from the experiment is reproduced by means of transient simulations. A one dimensional analytical turbine model for representation of the pump-turbine is used in the calculations. The simulations show that it is possible to reproduce the physics in the measurement by using a simple analytical model for the pump-turbine as long as the inertia of the water masses in the turbine are modeled correctly.

  2. Prediction Method for the Complete Characteristic Curves of a Francis Pump-Turbine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Huang

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Complete characteristic curves of a pump-turbine are essential for simulating the hydraulic transients and designing pumped storage power plants but are often unavailable in the preliminary design stage. To solve this issue, a prediction method for the complete characteristics of a Francis pump-turbine was proposed. First, based on Euler equations and the velocity triangles at the runners, a mathematical model describing the complete characteristics of a Francis pump-turbine was derived. According to multiple sets of measured complete characteristic curves, explicit expressions for the characteristic parameters of characteristic operating point sets (COPs, as functions of a specific speed and guide vane opening, were then developed to determine the undetermined coefficients in the mathematical model. Ultimately, by combining the mathematical model with the regression analysis of COPs, the complete characteristic curves for an arbitrary specific speed were predicted. Moreover, a case study shows that the predicted characteristic curves are in good agreement with the measured data. The results obtained by 1D numerical simulation of the hydraulic transient process using the predicted characteristics deviate little from the measured characteristics. This method is effective and sufficient for a priori simulations before obtaining the measured characteristics and provides important support for the preliminary design of pumped storage power plants.

  3. Mexican-American Adolescents’ Gender-Typed Characteristics: The Role of Sibling and Friend Characteristics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wheeler, Lorey A.; Updegraff, Kimberly A.; Schaefer, David R.

    2016-01-01

    This study examined the role of sibling and friend characteristics in Mexican-American youth’s gender-typed characteristics (i.e., attitudes, interests, and leisure activities) in early versus middle adolescence using a sibling design. Mexican-American 7th graders (M = 12.51 years; SD = .58) and their older siblings (M = 15.48 years; SD = 1.57) from 246 families participated in home interviews and a series of seven nightly phone calls. Results revealed that younger/early adolescent siblings reported more traditional gender role attitudes than their older/middle adolescent siblings and older brothers were more traditional in their attitudes than older sisters. When comparing siblings’ gender-typed interests and leisure activities, boys reported more masculine orientations than girls and girls reported more feminine orientations than boys. Older brothers’ gender-typed characteristics were associated with the amount of time spent with and gender characteristics of their friendship group, but for younger brothers, sibling characteristics were associated with their gender-typed characteristics. In contrast, both sibling and friendship characteristics were significantly associated with older and younger sisters’ gender-typed characteristics. The discussion addressed the different correlates of older and younger sisters’ and brothers’ gender-typed characteristics. PMID:25539774

  4. Mexican-American Adolescents' Gender-Typed Characteristics: The Role of Sibling and Friend Characteristics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perez-Brena, Norma J; Wheeler, Lorey A; Updegraff, Kimberly A; Schaefer, David R

    2015-07-01

    This study examined the role of sibling and friend characteristics in Mexican-American youth's gender-typed characteristics (i.e., attitudes, interests, and leisure activities) in early versus middle adolescence using a sibling design. Mexican-American 7th graders (M = 12.51 years; SD = .58) and their older siblings (M = 15.48 years; SD = 1.57) from 246 families participated in home interviews and a series of seven nightly phone calls. Results revealed that younger/early adolescent siblings reported more traditional gender role attitudes than their older/middle adolescent siblings and older brothers were more traditional in their attitudes than older sisters. When comparing siblings' gender-typed interests and leisure activities, boys reported more masculine orientations than girls and girls reported more feminine orientations than boys. Older brothers' gender-typed characteristics were associated with the amount of time spent with and gender characteristics of their friendship group, but for younger brothers, sibling characteristics were associated with their gender-typed characteristics. In contrast, both sibling and friendship characteristics were significantly associated with older and younger sisters' gender-typed characteristics. The discussion addressed the different correlates of older and younger sisters' and brothers' gender-typed characteristics.

  5. What are we drinking? Beverages shown in adolescents’ favorite TV shows

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eisenberg, Marla E.; Larson, Nicole I.; Gollust, Sarah E.; Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne

    2016-01-01

    Background Media use has been shown to contribute to poor dietary intake; however, little attention has been paid to programming content. The portrayal of health behaviors in television (TV) programming contributes to social norms among viewers, which have been shown to influence adolescent behavior. Objective This study reports on a content analysis of beverages shown in a sample of TV shows popular with a large, diverse group of adolescents, with attention to the types of beverages and differences across shows and characters. Design Favorite TV shows were assessed in an in-school survey in 2010. Three episodes of each of the top 25 shows were analyzed using a detailed coding instrument. Key measures Beverage incidents (i.e. beverage shown or described) were recorded. Beverage types included milk, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB), diet beverages, juice, water, alcoholic drinks and coffee. Characters were coded with regards to gender, age group, race, and weight status. Shows were rated for a youth, general or adult audience. Statistical analyses Chi-square tests were used to compare the prevalence of each type of beverage across show ratings (youth, general, adult), and to compare characteristics of those involved in each type of beverage incident. Results Beverage incidents were common (mean=7.4 incidents/episode, range=0–25). Alcohol was the most commonly shown (38.8%); milk (5.8%) and juice (5.8%) were least common; 11.0% of incidents included SSB. Significant differences in all types of beverage were found across age groups. Almost half of young adults’ (49.2%) or adults’ (42.0%) beverage incidents included alcohol. Conclusions Beverages are often portrayed on TV shows viewed by adolescents, and common beverages (alcohol, SSB) may have adverse consequences for health. The portrayal of these beverages likely contributes to social norms regarding their desirability; nutrition and health professionals should talk with youth about TV portrayals to prevent the

  6. Neighborhood Variation of Sustainable Urban Morphological Characteristics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Si; Stimson, Robert

    2018-01-01

    Compact cities and their urban forms have implications on sustainable city development because of high density urban settlement, increased accessibility, and a balanced land use mix. This paper uses quantitative means of understanding urban morphological characteristics with reference to the differing qualities of the urban form (i.e., street patterns, building volumes, land uses and greenery). The results, based on 89 neighborhood communities of Hong Kong, show varying degrees of regional differences in the urban built form supported by numerical statistics and graphical illustrations. This paper offers empirical evidence on some morphological characteristics that can be estimated objectively using modern geospatial technologies and applied universally to inform urban planning. However, more studies linking these quantifiable measures of the physical form with sustainable urban living are needed to account for human comfort in the totality of environmental, social, and economic responsibilities. PMID:29518956

  7. Neighborhood Variation of Sustainable Urban Morphological Characteristics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Poh-Chin Lai

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Compact cities and their urban forms have implications on sustainable city development because of high density urban settlement, increased accessibility, and a balanced land use mix. This paper uses quantitative means of understanding urban morphological characteristics with reference to the differing qualities of the urban form (i.e., street patterns, building volumes, land uses and greenery. The results, based on 89 neighborhood communities of Hong Kong, show varying degrees of regional differences in the urban built form supported by numerical statistics and graphical illustrations. This paper offers empirical evidence on some morphological characteristics that can be estimated objectively using modern geospatial technologies and applied universally to inform urban planning. However, more studies linking these quantifiable measures of the physical form with sustainable urban living are needed to account for human comfort in the totality of environmental, social, and economic responsibilities.

  8. Neighborhood Variation of Sustainable Urban Morphological Characteristics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lai, Poh-Chin; Chen, Si; Low, Chien-Tat; Cerin, Ester; Stimson, Robert; Wong, Pui Yun Paulina

    2018-03-07

    Compact cities and their urban forms have implications on sustainable city development because of high density urban settlement, increased accessibility, and a balanced land use mix. This paper uses quantitative means of understanding urban morphological characteristics with reference to the differing qualities of the urban form (i.e., street patterns, building volumes, land uses and greenery). The results, based on 89 neighborhood communities of Hong Kong, show varying degrees of regional differences in the urban built form supported by numerical statistics and graphical illustrations. This paper offers empirical evidence on some morphological characteristics that can be estimated objectively using modern geospatial technologies and applied universally to inform urban planning. However, more studies linking these quantifiable measures of the physical form with sustainable urban living are needed to account for human comfort in the totality of environmental, social, and economic responsibilities.

  9. Sociodemographic Characteristics and Secondhand Smoke Exposure among Women

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baheiraei, Azam; Nedjat, Saharnaz; Rahimi Foroushani, Abbas

    2013-01-01

    Background Exposure to secondhand cigarette smoke is an important health hazard. This study was designed to assess the sociodemographic risk factors related to women's exposure to secondhand smoke. Materials and Methods A case-control analysis of data collected as part of a prospective cohort study was conducted. Participants were 340 female Tehran residents exposed to cigarette smoke. Women consented to participate in this study and completed a questionnaire containing socio-demographic characteristics, household characteristics and smoking status at home through a face-to-face interview. Factors related to women's exposure to secondhand smoke were assessed using the multivariate logistic regression model. Results The final multivariate logistic regression model showed that lower levels of education (p = 0.002) and social class (p = 0.03) increase the risk of exposure to secondhand smoke in women. Conclusion These results support the effect of women's educational level and social class on their exposure to secondhand smoke. PMID:25191461

  10. Can recurrence networks show small-world property?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jacob, Rinku; Harikrishnan, K.P.; Misra, R.; Ambika, G.

    2016-01-01

    Recurrence networks are complex networks, constructed from time series data, having several practical applications. Though their properties when constructed with the threshold value ϵ chosen at or just above the percolation threshold of the network are quite well understood, what happens as the threshold increases beyond the usual operational window is still not clear from a complex network perspective. The present Letter is focused mainly on the network properties at intermediate-to-large values of the recurrence threshold, for which no systematic study has been performed so far. We argue, with numerical support, that recurrence networks constructed from chaotic attractors with ϵ equal to the usual recurrence threshold or slightly above cannot, in general, show small-world property. However, if the threshold is further increased, the recurrence network topology initially changes to a small-world structure and finally to that of a classical random graph as the threshold approaches the size of the strange attractor. - Highlights: • Properties of recurrence networks at intermediate-to-large values of recurrence threshold are analyzed from a complex network perspective. • Using a combined plot of characteristic path length and clustering coefficient, it is shown that the recurrence network constructed with recurrence threshold equal to or just above the percolation threshold cannot, in general, display small-world property. • As the recurrence threshold is increased from its usual operational window, the resulting network makes a smooth transition initially to a small-world network for an intermediate range of thresholds and finally to the classical random graph as the threshold becomes comparable to the size of the attractor.

  11. Can recurrence networks show small-world property?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jacob, Rinku, E-mail: rinku.jacob.vallanat@gmail.com [Department of Physics, The Cochin College, Cochin, 682002 (India); Harikrishnan, K.P., E-mail: kp_hk2002@yahoo.co.in [Department of Physics, The Cochin College, Cochin, 682002 (India); Misra, R., E-mail: rmisra@iucaa.in [Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune, 411007 (India); Ambika, G., E-mail: g.ambika@iiserpune.ac.in [Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune, 411008 (India)

    2016-08-12

    Recurrence networks are complex networks, constructed from time series data, having several practical applications. Though their properties when constructed with the threshold value ϵ chosen at or just above the percolation threshold of the network are quite well understood, what happens as the threshold increases beyond the usual operational window is still not clear from a complex network perspective. The present Letter is focused mainly on the network properties at intermediate-to-large values of the recurrence threshold, for which no systematic study has been performed so far. We argue, with numerical support, that recurrence networks constructed from chaotic attractors with ϵ equal to the usual recurrence threshold or slightly above cannot, in general, show small-world property. However, if the threshold is further increased, the recurrence network topology initially changes to a small-world structure and finally to that of a classical random graph as the threshold approaches the size of the strange attractor. - Highlights: • Properties of recurrence networks at intermediate-to-large values of recurrence threshold are analyzed from a complex network perspective. • Using a combined plot of characteristic path length and clustering coefficient, it is shown that the recurrence network constructed with recurrence threshold equal to or just above the percolation threshold cannot, in general, display small-world property. • As the recurrence threshold is increased from its usual operational window, the resulting network makes a smooth transition initially to a small-world network for an intermediate range of thresholds and finally to the classical random graph as the threshold becomes comparable to the size of the attractor.

  12. Impact characteristics for high-pressure large-flow water-based emulsion pilot operated check valve reverse opening

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Lei; Huang, Chuanhui; Yu, Ping; Zhang, Lei

    2017-10-01

    To improve the dynamic characteristics and cavitation characteristics of large-flow pilot operated check valve, consider the pilot poppet as the research object, analyses working principle and design three different kinds of pilot poppets. The vibration characteristics and impact characteristics are analyzed. The simulation model is established through flow field simulation software. The cavitation characteristics of large-flow pilot operated check valve are studied and discussed. On this basis, high-pressure large-flow impact experimental system is used for impact experiment, and the cavitation index is discussed. Then optimal structure is obtained. Simulation results indicate that the increase of pilot poppet half cone angle can effectively reduce the cavitation area, reducing the generation of cavitation. Experimental results show that the pressure impact is not decreasing with increasing of pilot poppet half cone angle in process of unloading, but the unloading capacity, response speed and pilot poppet half cone angle are positively correlated. The impact characteristics of 60° pilot poppet, and its cavitation index is lesser, which indicates 60° pilot poppet is the optimal structure, with the theory results are basically identical.

  13. Innovative Characteristics of Small and Medium Enterprises

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barbara Bigliardi

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of the paper is to investigate the technological innovative characteristics in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs belonging to the Italian manufacturing sector. A survey based on e-mail and fax questionnaire of 285 SMEs was conducted with a response rate of about 45%. On the basis of this survey, the innovative profile of SMEs has been highlighted as well as the factors and problems of innovative process analyzed. The methodology consisted in a descriptive analysis on general data and in a discriminant analysis on data related to the innovative activity and aimed at determine the factors distinguishing more and less innovative companies. The results show that innovative firms are market anticipation and customer focus, point to product enrichment in terms of different characteristics in respect to competitors’ products in order to obtain a superior product in terms of quality. Innovation results to be part of their business strategy and is based more around developing new ways of working than new product innovations.

  14. Association between substance use and psychosocial characteristics among adolescents of the Seychelles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paccaud Fred

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background We examined the associations between substance use (cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, and cannabis use and psychosocial characteristics at the individual and family levels among adolescents of the Seychelles, a rapidly developing small island state in the African region. Methods A school survey was conducted in a representative sample of 1432 students aged 11-17 years from all secondary schools. Data came from a self-administered anonymous questionnaire conducted along a standard methodology (Global School-based Health Survey, GSHS. Risk behaviors and psychosocial characteristics were dichotomized. Association analyses were adjusted for a possible classroom effect. Results The prevalence of cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking and cannabis use was higher in boys than in girls and increased with age. Age-adjusted and multivariate analyses showed that several individual level characteristics (e.g. suicidal ideation and truancy and family level characteristics (e.g. poor parental monitoring were associated with substance use among students. Conclusions Our results suggest that health promotion programs should simultaneously address multiple risk behaviors and take into account a wide range of psychosocial characteristics of the students at the individual and family levels.

  15. Birth characteristics and female sex hormone concentrations during adolescence: results from the Dietary Intervention Study in Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruder, Elizabeth H; Hartman, Terryl J; Rovine, Michael J; Dorgan, Joanne F

    2011-04-01

    Birth characteristics and adult hormone concentrations influence breast cancer risk, but little is known about the influence of birth characteristics on hormone concentrations, particularly during adolescence. We evaluated the association of birth characteristics (birth weight, birth length, and gestational age) with serum sex hormone concentrations during late childhood and adolescence in 278 female participants of the Dietary Intervention Study in Children. Repeated measures analysis of variance models were used to assess the relationships of birth characteristics and serum estrogens and androgens at five different time points over a mean period of 7 years. In analyses that did not take into account time from blood draw until menarche, birth weight was inversely associated with pre-menarche concentrations of estradiol, estrone sulfate, androstenedione, testosterone, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS). In the post-menarche analyses, birth weight was not significantly associated with concentration of any of the hormones under investigation. Birth length and gestational age were not associated with hormone concentrations before or after menarche. Birth weight is inversely associated with sex hormone concentrations before menarche in the model unadjusted for time from blood draw until menarche. The in utero environment has long-term influences on the hormonal milieu, which could potentially contribute to breast cancer risk.

  16. Is Older Age Associated with Higher Self- and Other-Rated ASD Characteristics?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lever, Anne G; Geurts, Hilde M

    2018-06-01

    Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) characteristics seem to abate over time, but whether this protracts until late adulthood is largely unknown. We cross-sectionally investigated self- and other-reported ASD characteristics of adults with (ASD: N max-self  = 237, N max-other  = 130) and without ASD (COM: N max-self  = 198, N max-other  = 148) aged 19-79 years. Within the ASD group, self-reported ASD characteristics, and sensory sensitivities were highest in middle adulthood, while age was not associated to empathy. Sex differences were also found. However, age-and sex-related differences were not revealed by others and self- and other-report were poorly concordant. These results show that ASD characteristics in adulthood are differently perceived across age, sex, and informants and suggest that it is important to repeatedly assess self-reported ASD characteristics during adulthood.

  17. Epidemiological characteristics of human brucellosis in Hamadan Province during 2009-2015: results from the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nematollahi, Shahrzad; Ayubi, Erfan; Karami, Manoochehr; Khazaei, Salman; Shojaeian, Masoud; Zamani, Reza; Mansori, Kamyar; Gholamaliee, Behzad

    2017-08-01

    Human brucellosis and recurrent brucellosis is an ever-increasing public health concern, especially in endemic areas like Iran. Nevertheless, little is known regarding the epidemiology and determinants of recurrent brucellosis. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate epidemiological patterns and potential determinants of recurrent brucellosis in Hamadan Province during the years 2009-2015. Data on reported cases of new and recurrent brucellosis from 2009 to 2015 were obtained from the provincial Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System at Hamadan University of Medical Sciences. Incidence rates per 100000 were estimated at the county level. Binary logistic regression was used to estimate the effects of background characteristics and recurrent brucellosis. The power of discrimination of the model for recurrent brucellosis was assessed using the area under the curve (AUC). Among 7318 brucellosis cases, the total frequency (%) of recurrent cases was 472 (6.45%). The rate of recurrent brucellosis was higher in females, people aged 50 years and over, people with a history of consuming unpasteurized dairy products with no history of contact with animals, and in the winter season. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that female sex (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.36, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.13-1.65), age ≥55 years (AOR 4.15, 95% CI 2.32-7.42), consumption of unpasteurized dairy products (AOR 1.16, 95% CI 0.96-1.40), and winter season (AOR 1.32, 95% CI 1.03-1.71) are potential risk factors for recurrent brucellosis. The final model that involved all the determinants showed moderate discrimination (AUC 0.61). Female sex, older age, and winter months were found to be significant determinants of recurrent human brucellosis. Enhanced surveillance systems with an emphasis on these population characteristics will allow effective preventive and protective measures to be implemented and might alleviate the recurrence of brucellosis in the

  18. Discharge characteristics of an ablative pulsed plasma thruster with non-volatile liquid propellant

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ling, William Yeong Liang; Schönherr, Tony; Koizumi, Hiroyuki

    2017-07-01

    Pulsed plasma thrusters (PPTs) are a form of electric spacecraft propulsion. They have an extremely simple structure and are highly suitable for nano/micro-spacecraft with weights in the kilogram range. Such small spacecraft have recently experienced increased growth but still lack suitable efficient propulsion systems. PPTs operate in a pulsed mode (one discharge = one shot) and typically use solid polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) as a propellant. However, new non-volatile liquids in the perfluoropolyether (PFPE) family have recently been found to be promising alternatives. A recent study presented results on the physical characteristics of PFPE vs. PTFE, showing that PFPE is superior in terms of physical characteristics such as its resistance to carbon deposition. This letter will examine the electrical discharge characteristics of PFPE vs. PTFE. The results demonstrate that PFPE has excellent shot-to-shot repeatability and a lower discharge resistance when compared with PTFE. Taken together with its physical characteristics, PFPE appears to be a strong contender to PTFE as a PPT propellant.

  19. Spatio-Temporal Characteristics of Resident Trip Based on Poi and OD Data of Float CAR in Beijing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mou, N.; Li, J.; Zhang, L.; Liu, W.; Xu, Y.

    2017-09-01

    Due to the influence of the urban inherent regional functional distribution, the daily activities of the residents presented some spatio-temporal patterns (periodic patterns, gathering patterns, etc.). In order to further understand the spatial and temporal characteristics of urban residents, this paper research takes the taxi trajectory data of Beijing as a sample data and studies the spatio-temporal characteristics of the residents' activities on the weekdays. At first, according to the characteristics of the taxi trajectory data distributed along the road network, it takes the Voronoi generated by the road nodes as the research unit. This paper proposes a hybrid clustering method - based on grid density, which is used to cluster the OD (origin and destination) data of taxi at different times. Then combining with the POI data of Beijing, this research calculated the density of the POI data in the clustering results, and analyzed the relationship between the activities of residents in different periods and the functional types of the region. The final results showed that the residents were mainly commuting on weekdays. And it found that the distribution of travel density showed a concentric circle of the characteristics, focusing on residential areas and work areas. The results of cluster analysis and POI analysis showed that the residents' travel had experienced the process of "spatial relative dispersion - spatial aggregation - spatial relative dispersion" in one day.

  20. Study of the method to estimate the hydraulic characteristics in rock masses by using elastic wave

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Katsu, Kenta; Ohnishi, Yuzo; Nishiyama, Satoshi; Yano, Takao; Ando, Kenichi; Yoshimura, Kimitaka

    2008-01-01

    In the area of radioactive waste repository, estimating radionuclide migration through the rock mass is an important factor for assessment of the repository. The purpose of this study is to develop a method to estimate hydraulic characteristics of rock masses by using elastic wave velocity dispersion. This method is based on dynamics poroelastic relations such as Biot and BISQ theories. These theories indicate relations between velocity dispersion and hydraulic characteristics. In order to verify the validity of these theories in crystalline rocks, we performed laboratory experiments. The results of experiments show the dependency of elastic wave velocity on its frequency. To test the applicability of this method to real rock masses, we performed in-situ experiment for tuff rock masses. The results of in-situ experiment show the possibility as a practical method to estimate the hydraulic characteristics by using elastic wave velocity dispersion. (author)

  1. SDI and Markov Chains for Regional Drought Characteristics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chen-Feng Yeh

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, global climate change has altered precipitation patterns, causing uneven spatial and temporal distribution of precipitation that gradually induces precipitation polarization phenomena. Taiwan is located in the subtropical climate zone, with distinct wet and dry seasons, which makes the polarization phenomenon more obvious; this has also led to a large difference between river flows during the wet and dry seasons, which is significantly influenced by precipitation, resulting in hydrological drought. Therefore, to effectively address the growing issue of water shortages, it is necessary to explore and assess the drought characteristics of river systems. In this study, the drought characteristics of northern Taiwan were studied using the streamflow drought index (SDI and Markov chains. Analysis results showed that the year 2002 was a turning point for drought severity in both the Lanyang River and Yilan River basins; the severity of rain events in the Lanyang River basin increased after 2002, and the severity of drought events in the Yilan River basin exhibited a gradual upward trend. In the study of drought severity, analysis results from periods of three months (November to January and six months (November to April have shown significant drought characteristics. In addition, analysis of drought occurrence probabilities using the method of Markov chains has shown that the occurrence probabilities of drought events are higher in the Lanyang River basin than in the Yilan River basin; particularly for extreme events, the occurrence probability of an extreme drought event is 20.6% during the dry season (November to April in the Lanyang River basin, and 3.4% in the Yilan River basin. This study shows that for analysis of drought/wet occurrence probabilities, the results obtained for the drought frequency and occurrence probability using short-term data with the method of Markov chains can be used to predict the long-term occurrence

  2. Characteristics of Ti-Ni-Pd shape memory alloy thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Congchun; Yang Chunsheng; Ding Duifu; Qian Shiqiang; Wu Jiansheng

    2005-01-01

    Ti-Ni-Pd thin films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering. Microstructure and phase transformation behaviors were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), by transmission electron microscopy and by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). Also tensile tests and the internal friction characteristics were examined. Annealing at 750 deg. C followed by subsequent annealing at 450 deg. C resulted in relatively homogeneous microstructure and uniform martensite/austenite transformation. The results from DSC showed clearly the martensitic transformation upon heating and cooling, the transformation temperatures are 112 deg. C (M* peak) and 91 deg. C (M peak), respectively. The transformation characteristics are also found in strain-temperature curves and internal friction-temperature curves. The film had shape memory effect. The frequency had no effect on the modulus, but the internal friction decreased with increasing frequency

  3. The effect of boost pressure on the performance characteristics of a diesel engine: A neuro-fuzzy approach

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Al-Hinti, I.; Sakhrieh, A. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Hashemite University, Zarqa 13115 (Jordan); Samhouri, M.; Al-Ghandoor, A. [Department of Industrial Engineering, The Hashemite University, Zarqa 13115 (Jordan)

    2009-01-15

    This paper uses a neuro-fuzzy interface system (ANFIS) to study the effect of boost pressure on the efficiency, brake mean effective pressure (BMEP), and the brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) of a single cylinder diesel engine. Experimental data were used as inputs to ANFIS to simulate the engine performance characteristics. The experimental as well as the model results emphasize the role of boost pressure in improving the different engine characteristics. The results show that the ANFIS technique can be used adequately to identify the effect of boost pressure on the different engine characteristics. In addition, different data points that were not used for ANFIS training were used to validate the developed models. The results suggest that ANFIS can be used accurately to predict the effect of boost pressure on the different engine characteristics. (author)

  4. Bankfull discharge and channel characteristics of streams in New York State

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mulvihill, Christiane I.; Baldigo, Barry P.; Miller, Sarah J.; DeKoskie, Douglas; DuBois, Joel

    2009-01-01

    curves for region 3 were significantly different p(≤0.05) from the other six regions.It was hypothesized that some regional variability could be reduced by creating models for streams with similar physiographic and climatic characteristics. Available data on streamflow patterns and previous regional-curve research suggested that mean annual runoff, Rosgen stream type, and water-surface slope were the variables most likely to influence regional bankfull discharge and channel characteristics to drainage-area size relations. Results showed that although all of these factors had an influence on regional relations, most stratified models have lower 2 values and higher standard errors of estimate than the regional models.The New York statewide (pooled) bankfull-discharge equation and equations for regions 4 and 7 were compared with equations for four other regions in the Northeast to evaluate region-to-region differences, and assess the ability of individual curves to produce results more accurate than those that would be obtained from one model of the northeastern United States. Results indicated that model slopes lack significant diferences, though intercepts are significantly different. Comparison of bankfull-discharge estimates using different models shows that results could vary by as much as 100 percent depending on which model was used and indicated that regionalization improved model accuracy.

  5. Characteristics of neonatal units that care for very preterm infants in Europe: results from the MOSAIC study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Van Reempts, Patrick; Gortner, Ludwig; Milligan, David

    2007-01-01

    OBJECTIVES: We sought to compare guidelines for level III units in 10 European regions and analyze the characteristics of neonatal units that care for very preterm infants. METHODS: The MOSAIC (Models of Organising Access to Intensive Care for Very Preterm Births) project combined a prospective...... cohort study on all births between 22 and 31 completed weeks of gestation in 10 European regions and a survey of neonatal unit characteristics. Units that admitted > or = 5 infants at

  6. Reading space characteristics in campus environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tampubolon, A. C.; Kusuma, H. E.

    2018-03-01

    Reading activity is a part of daily learning activities that are usually done by college students and takes place in the facilities that are provided by the campus. However, students tend to have a perception of a particular location that is considered appropriate with the activities undertaken. This study identified students’ perceptions of reading space characteristics in campus environment which are considered able to accommodate reading activity. Exploratory qualitative research methods were used to collect data from selected types of space and the reasons for the students in choosing the specifics space to do their reading. The results showed that students do not only use library facilities as a support unit of academic activities. This study found that students tend to use some places with non-library function, such as students’ union room, hallway, and classroom. Students perceive reading space by its physical and social characteristics. The physical consist of ambiance, quiet place, tranquility, availability of facilities, the level of coolness, lighting, location accessibility, connection with nature, convenience furniture, air quality, aesthetics, the flexibility of activities, the crowd of place, the level of shade, outdoor, ownership, and indoor. While the social characteristics of the reading space are to have privacy, favorable reading position, and the presence of others.

  7. An approach to burnout and job characteristics of Spanish emigrants in European countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Macarena Vallejo-Martín

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Job characteristics (both external and job content in Spanish migrant population in European countries (The United Kingdom and Germany and their connection with the three dimensions of burnout syndrome were analyzed in this study. It was also assessed whether these variables were predictors of life satisfaction. Using a sample made up of 679 people, results showed that the worse the job characteristics (external and job content characteristics, the higher the levels of emotional exhaustion and cynicism and the lower the professional efficacy (and vice versa. Likewise, among other findings, differences in burnout dimensions and job content characteristics according to the match between job and training level and time of residence in the country of destination were observed. Finally, job characteristics, cynicism, and professional efficacy were found to be predictors of life satisfaction, but not emotional exhaustion.

  8. Compressive Load Resistance Characteristics of Rice Grain

    OpenAIRE

    Sumpun Chaitep; Chaiy R. Metha Pathawee; Pipatpong Watanawanyoo

    2008-01-01

    Investigation was made to observe the compressive load property of rice gain both rough rice and brown grain. Six rice varieties (indica and japonica) were examined with the moisture content at 10-12%. A compressive load with reference to a principal axis normal to the thickness of the grain were conducted at selected inclined angles of 0°, 15°, 30°, 45°, 60° and 70°. The result showed the compressive load resistance of rice grain based on its characteristic of yield s...

  9. Experimental research on the electromagnetic radiation (EMR) characteristics of cracked rock.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Xiaoyan; Li, Xuelong; Li, Zhonghui; Cheng, Fuqi; Zhang, Zhibo; Niu, Yue

    2018-03-01

    Coal rock would emit the electromagnetic radiation (EMR) while deformation and fracture, and there exists structural body in the coal rock because of mining and geological structure. In this paper, we conducted an experimental test the EMR characteristics of cracked rock under loading. Results show that crack appears firstly in the prefabricated crack tip then grows stably parallel to the maximum principal stress, and the coal rock buckling failure is caused by the wing crack tension. Besides, the compressive strength significantly decreases because of the precrack, and the compressive strength increases with the crack angle. Intact rock EMR increases with the loading, and the cracked rock EMR shows stage and fluctuant characteristics. The bigger the angle, the more obvious the stage and fluctuant characteristics, that is EMR becomes richer. While the cracked angle is little, EMR is mainly caused by the electric charge rapid separates because of friction sliding. While the cracked angle is big, there is another significant contribution to EMR, which is caused by the electric dipole transient of crack expansion. Through this, we can know more clear about the crack extends route and the corresponding influence on the EMR characteristic and mechanism, which has important theoretical and practical significance to monitor the coal rock dynamical disasters.

  10. [Stochastic characteristics of daily precipitation and its spatiotemporal difference over China based on information entropy].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xin Xin; Sang, Yan Fang; Xie, Ping; Liu, Chang Ming

    2018-04-01

    Daily precipitation process in China showed obvious randomness and spatiotemporal variation. It is important to accurately understand the influence of precipitation changes on control of flood and waterlogging disaster. Using the daily precipitation data measured at 520 stations in China during 1961-2013, we quantified the stochastic characteristics of daily precipitation over China based on the index of information entropy. Results showed that the randomness of daily precipitation in the southeast region were larger than that in the northwest region. Moreover, the spatial distribution of stochastic characteristics of precipitation was different at various grades. Stochastic characteri-stics of P 0 (precipitation at 0.1-10 mm) was large, but the spatial variation was not obvious. The stochastic characteristics of P 10 (precipitation at 10-25 mm) and P 25 (precipitation at 25-50 mm) were the largest and their spatial difference was obvious. P 50 (precipitation ≥50 mm) had the smallest stochastic characteristics and the most obviously spatial difference. Generally, the entropy values of precipitation obviously increased over the last five decades, indicating more significantly stochastic characteristics of precipitation (especially the obvious increase of heavy precipitation events) in most region over China under the scenarios of global climate change. Given that the spatial distribution and long-term trend of entropy values of daily precipitation could reflect thespatial distribution of stochastic characteristics of precipitation, our results could provide scientific basis for the control of flood and waterlogging disaster, the layout of agricultural planning, and the planning of ecological environment.

  11. Socio-demographic characteristics affecting sport tourism choices: A structural model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nataša Slak Valek

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Background: Effective tourism management in the field of sports tourism requires an understanding of differences in socioeconomic characteristics both within and between different market segments. Objective: In the broad tourism market demographic characteristics have been extensively analyzed for differences in destination choices, however little is known about demographic factors affecting sport tourists' decisions. Methods: A sample of Slovenian sports tourists was analyzed using data from a comprehensive survey of local and outbound tourist activity conducted by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia in 2008. After data weighting the information for 353,783 sports related trips were available for analysis. The research model adopted suggests that four socio-demographic characteristics (gender, age, level of education and income significantly affect a tourist's choice of sports related travel either locally within Slovenia or to a foreign country. Furthermore the destination (local or foreign has an influence on the choice of the type of accommodation selected and the tourist's total expenditure for the trip. For testing the first part of our model (the socio-demographic characteristics effects a linear regression was used, and for the final part of the model (the selection of accommodation type and travel expenditure t-test were applied. Results: The result shows the standardized β regression coefficients are all statistically significant at the .001 level for the tested socio-demographic characteristics and also the overall regression model was statistically significant at .001 level. Conclusions: With these results the study confirmed that all the selected socio-demographic characteristics have a significant influence on the sport-active tourist when choosing between a domestic and foreign tourism destination which in turn affect the type of accommodation chosen and the level of expenditure while travelling.

  12. Rheological characteristics of cell suspension and cell culture of Perilla frutescens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhong, J J; Seki, T; Kinoshita, S; Yoshida, T

    1992-12-05

    Physical properties such as viscosity, fluid dynamic behavior of cell suspension, and size distribution of cell aggregates of a plant, Perilla frustescens, cultured in a liquid medium were studied. As a result of investigations using cells harvester after 12 days of cultivation in a flask, it was found that the apparent viscosity of the cell suspension did not change with any variation of cell concentration below 5 g dry cell/L but markedly increased when the cell concentration increased over 12.8 g dry cell/L. The cell suspension exhibited the characteristics of a Bingham plastic fluid with a small yield stress. The size of cell aggregates in the range 74 to 500 mum did not influence the rheological characteristics of the cell suspension. The rheological characteristics of cultivation mixtures of P. frutescens cultivated in a flask and in a bioreactor were also investigated. The results showed that the flow characteristics of the cell culture could be described by a Bingham plastic model. At the later stage of cultivation, the apparent viscosity increased steadily, even though the biomass concentration (by dry weight) decreased, due to the increase of individual cell size. (c) 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

  13. Plasma and serum lipidomics of healthy white adults shows characteristic profiles by subjects' gender and age.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masaki Ishikawa

    Full Text Available Blood is a commonly used biofluid for biomarker discovery. Although blood lipid metabolites are considered to be potential biomarker candidates, their fundamental properties are not well characterized. We aimed to (1 investigate the matrix type (serum vs. plasma that may be preferable for lipid biomarker exploration, (2 elucidate age- and gender-associated differences in lipid metabolite levels, and (3 examine the stability of lipid metabolites in matrix samples subjected to repeated freeze-thaw cycles. Using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, we performed lipidomic analyses for fasting plasma and serum samples for four groups (15 subjects/group of young and elderly (25-34 and 55-64 years old, respectively males and females and for an additional aliquot of samples from young males, which were subjected to repeated freeze-thaw cycles. Lysophosphatidylcholine and diacylglycerol levels were higher in serum than in plasma samples, suggesting that the clotting process influences serum lipid metabolite levels. Gender-associated differences highlighted that the levels of many sphingomyelin species were significantly higher in females than in males, irrespective of age and matrix (plasma and serum. Age-associated differences were more prominent in females than in males, and in both matrices, levels of many triacylglycerols were significantly higher in elderly females than in young females. Plasma and serum levels of most lipid metabolites were reduced by freeze-thawing. Our results indicate that plasma is an optimal matrix for exploring lipid biomarkers because it represents the original properties of an individual's blood sample. In addition, the levels of some blood lipid species of healthy adults showed gender- and age-associated differences; thus, this should be considered during biomarker exploration and its application in diagnostics. Our fundamental findings on sample selection and handling procedures for measuring blood lipid metabolites

  14. Research on infrared radiation characteristics of Pyromark1200 high-temperature coating

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Xuyao; Huan, Kewei; Dong, Wei; Wang, Jinghui; Zang, Yanzhe; Shi, Xiaoguang

    2014-11-01

    Pyromark 1200 (Tempil Co, USA), which is a type of high-temperature high-emissivity coating, is silicon-based with good thermal radiation performance. Its stably working condition is at the temperature range 589~922 K thus a wide range of applications in industrial, scientific research, aviation, aerospace and other fields. Infrared emissivity is one of the most important factors in infrared radiation characteristics. Data on infrared spectral emissivity of Pyromark 1200 is in shortage, as well as the reports on its infrared radiation characteristics affected by its spray painting process, microstructure and thermal process. The results of this research show that: (1) The coating film critical thickness on the metal base is 10μm according to comparison among different types of spray painting process, coating film thickness, microstructure, which would influence the infrared radiation characteristics of Pyromark 1200 coating. The infrared spectral emissivity will attenuate when the coating film thickness is lower or much higher than that. (2) Through measurements, the normal infrared radiation characteristics is analyzed within the range at the temperature range 573~873 K under normal atmospheric conditions, and the total infrared spectral emissivity of Pyromark 1200 coating is higher than 0.93 in the 3~14 μm wavelength range. (3) The result of 72-hour aging test at the temperature 673 K which studied the effect of thermal processes on the infrared radiation characteristics of the coating shows that the infrared spectral emissivity variation range is approximately 0.01 indicating that Pyromark 1200 coating is with good stability. Compared with Nextel Velvet Coating (N-V-C) which is widely used in optics field, Pyromark 1200 high-temperature coating has a higher applicable temperature and is more suitable for spraying on the material surface which is in long-term operation under high temperature work conditions and requires high infrared spectral emissivity.

  15. Installation of borehole seismometer for earthquake characteristics in deep geological environment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Park, Dong Hee; Choi, Weon Hack; Cho, Sung Il; Chang, Chun Joong [KHNP CRI, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-10-15

    Deep geological disposal is currently accepted as the most appropriate method for permanently removing spent nuclear fuel from the living sphere of humans. For implementation of deep geological disposal, we need to understand the geological changes that have taken place over the past 100,000 years, encompassing active faults, volcanic activity, elevation, ubsidence, which as yet have not been considered in assessing the site characteristics for general facilities, as well as to investigate and analyze the geological structures, fracture systems and seismic responses regarding deep geological environment about 500 meters or more underground. In regions with high seismic activity, such as Japan, the Western United States and Taiwan, borehole seismometers installed deep underground are used to monitor seismic activity during the course of seismic wave propagation at various depths and to study the stress changes due to earthquakes and analyze the connection to fault movements. Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. (KHNP) have installed the deep borehole earthquake observatory at depths of about 300 to 600 meters in order to study the seismic response characteristics in deep geological environment on June, 2014 in Andong area. This paper will show the status of deep borehole earthquake observatory and the results of background noise response characteristics of these deep borehole seismic data as a basic data analysis. We present here the status of deep borehole seismometer installation by KHNP. In order to basic data analysis for the borehole seismic observation data, this study shows the results of the orientation of seismometer and background noise characteristics by using a probability density function. Together with the ground motion data recorded by the borehole seismometers can be utilized as basic data for seismic response characteristics studies with regard to spent nuclear fuel disposal depth and as the input data for seismic hazard assessment that

  16. Chemical characteristic of salt fermented meat inoculated with Pediococcus ssp

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pramono, Y. B.; Rahayu, E. S.; Suparmo; Utami, T.; Nurwantoro; Yunianto, V. D.

    2018-01-01

    The research goal is knowing of the characteristict of salt fermented meat by Pediococcus ssp. There were microbiological, chemical, and off-flavor compound during fermentation. This study was conducted on research of influence of salt-meat fermentation inoculated used starter. They were included microbiological characteristics, and chemical characteristics. Microbiological characteristics observed were total bacteria, number of coliform groups, bacteria producing bioamine, and total lactic acid bacteria. The result showed that decreasing of coliform and bioamine producer bacteria, and total lactic acid bacteria decreased 3 log cycle. While the soluble protein increased of 7-8% and bioamine increased of 5-6 mg/100 g. And then Off-flavour compound, TVN and TMA increased of 36-20 mg/100g and 16-30 mg/100g, respectively. Conclusion of the research that Pedioccoccus ssp. influenced salt fermented meat.

  17. Spatiotemporal Characteristics for the Depth from Luminance Contrast

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kazuya Matsubara

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Images with higher luminance contrast tend to be perceived closer in depth. To investigate a spatiotemporal characteristic of this effect, we evaluated subjective depth of a test stimulus with various spatial and temporal frequencies. For the purpose, the depth of a reference stimulus was matched to that of the test stimulus by changing the binocular disparity. The results showed that the test stimulus was perceived closer with higher luminance contrast for all conditions. Contrast efficiency was obtained from the contrast that provided the subjective depth for each spatiotemporal frequency. The shape of the contrast efficiency function was spatially low-pass and temporally band-pass. This characteristic is different from the one measure for a detection task. This suggests that only subset of contrast signals are used for depth from contrast.

  18. Hanseniaspora uvarum from winemaking environments show spatial and temporal genetic clustering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Warren eAlbertin

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Hanseniaspora uvarum is one of the most abundant yeast species found on grapes and in grape must, at least before the onset of alcoholic fermentation which is usually performed by Saccharomyces species. The aim of this study was to characterise the genetic and phenotypic variability within the H. uvarum species. One hundred and fifteen strains isolated from winemaking environments in different geographical origins were analysed using 11 microsatellite markers and a subset of 47 strains were analysed by AFLP. H. uvarum isolates clustered mainly on the basis of their geographical localisation as revealed by microsatellites. In addition, a strong clustering based on year of isolation was evidenced, indicating that the genetic diversity of Hanseniaspora uvarum isolates was related to both spatial and temporal variations. Conversely, clustering analysis based on AFLP data provided a different picture with groups showing no particular characteristics, but provided higher strain discrimination. This result indicated that AFLP approaches are inadequate to establish the genetic relationship between individuals, but allowed good strain discrimination. At the phenotypic level, several extracellular enzymatic activities of enological relevance (pectinase, chitinase, protease, β-glucosidase were measured but showed low diversity. The impact of environmental factors of enological interest (temperature, anaerobia and copper addition on growth was also assessed and showed poor variation. Altogether, this work provided both new analytical tool (microsatellites and new insights into the genetic and phenotypic diversity of H. uvarum, a yeast species that has previously been identified as a potential candidate for co-inoculation in grape must, but whose intraspecific variability had never been fully assessed.

  19. Mice lacking hippocampal left-right asymmetry show non-spatial learning deficits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shimbo, Akihiro; Kosaki, Yutaka; Ito, Isao; Watanabe, Shigeru

    2018-01-15

    Left-right asymmetry is known to exist at several anatomical levels in the brain and recent studies have provided further evidence to show that it also exists at a molecular level in the hippocampal CA3-CA1 circuit. The distribution of N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor NR2B subunits in the apical and basal synapses of CA1 pyramidal neurons is asymmetrical if the input arrives from the left or right CA3 pyramidal neurons. In the present study, we examined the role of hippocampal asymmetry in cognitive function using β2-microglobulin knock-out (β2m KO) mice, which lack hippocampal asymmetry. We tested β2m KO mice in a series of spatial and non-spatial learning tasks and compared the performances of β2m KO and C57BL6/J wild-type (WT) mice. The β2m KO mice appeared normal in both spatial reference memory and spatial working memory tasks but they took more time than WT mice in learning the two non-spatial learning tasks (i.e., a differential reinforcement of lower rates of behavior (DRL) task and a straight runway task). The β2m KO mice also showed less precision in their response timing in the DRL task and showed weaker spontaneous recovery during extinction in the straight runway task. These results indicate that hippocampal asymmetry is important for certain characteristics of non-spatial learning. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. The Effect of Persian Gums and Tragacanth on Texture and Sensory Characteristics of Non-Gluten ‎Cakes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Afrooz Ghasemi

    2017-08-01

    Methods: The effect of addition of Persian gums, Tragacanth, and a combination of both of these compounds at levels of 0.5, 1, and 1.5% on texture, color, and sensory characteristics of these cakes was evaluated in this study. Results: The results showed that solidity and viscosity factors were elevated by addition of gum to cake. Using of gums in cakes leads to moisture maintenance inside the cake texture and thus improves mastication property. Furthermore, the results of porosity evaluation showed that addition of Persian gums and Tragacanth decreases the size and increases the number of gas cells inside the cake texture and improves porosity. The best porosity was related to the sample containing 1.5% Persian gum and Tragacanth. The treatment that contained 0.75% Persian gum and 0.75% Tragacanth had the highest acceptability among consumers. Conclusions: Results showed that Persian and Tragacanth gums, whether used independently or in combination, can improve the quality and organoleptic characteristics of gluten-free cakes.

  1. Characteristics of Buoyant Flow from Open Windows in Naturally Ventilated Rooms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Peter V.; Dam, Henrik; Sørensen, Lars C.

    An important element in the natural ventilation design procedure is the flow-pressure characteristics of a window with a -given opening area. The flow in the room is another important element that is often ignored in the design phase due to lack of relevant information on the air movement....... This paper shows the outcome of experiments with the room air distribution. The results show that the velocity distribution in the occupied zone can be described by a semiempirical model....

  2. Temporal and spatial distribution characteristics and influencing factors of air quality index in Xuchang

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Zhenghua; Tian, Zhihui

    2018-01-01

    In recent years, the problem of air pollution becomes more and more serious. Based on the geographic and seasonal climatic characteristics of Xuchang City, this paper studies the temporal and spatial distribution characteristics of air quality index. The results show that: from the time point of view, air quality index shows seasonal difference. Air quality index is highest in winter and is lowest in summer. From the space point of view, there are differences between the north and the south to a certain extent. Changge City, Yuzhou city and central Xuchang county is higher than the southeast of Xiangcheng county and Yanling county. The spatial and temporal variation characteristics of air quality index in Xuchang are influenced by natural factors and human activities, and the economic development and population are the important factors affecting the urban air quality.

  3. Study on the Variation Characteristic of Precipitation in Liaoning Province in Recent 48 Years

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2011-01-01

    [Objective] The aim was to study the variation characteristic of precipitation in Liaoning Province in recent 48 years. [Method] According to monthly precipitation data from meteorological observation station in Liaoning Province from 1961 to 2008, the variation characteristic of precipitation in Liaoning was analyzed by means of one-dimensional linear estimation, 5-year moving average and wavelet transform method in our paper. [Result] Annual mean precipitation in Liaoning from 1961 to 2008 showed decrease...

  4. Electromiographic and kinematic characteristics of Kung Fu Yau-Man palm strike.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neto, O P; Magini, Marcio

    2008-12-01

    A kinematic and electromyographic analysis of Kung Fu (KF) Yau-Man palm strikes without impact is presented. An empirical model applied to data obtained by a high-speed camera describes the kinematic characteristics of the movement. The electromyographic patterns of the biceps brachii, brachioradialis and triceps brachii muscles were studied during the strike in the time (root mean square) and frequency (wavelet transform) domains. Eight KF practitioners participated in the investigation. A wooden board was placed in front of the subjects, and they were asked to perform the strike imagining a target above the board. The results show that the Yau-Man KF palm strike has very similar kinematic characteristics to a simple moderate speed elbow extension movement. All practitioners positioned themselves in relation to the wooden board in a way to achieve their highest hand speeds in the instant their hands crossed the board. The analyses of the electromyography data shows a well developed muscle coordination of the practitioners in agreement with kinematic results. The results of this paper are important not only for improving the performance of practitioners but also to demonstrate the applicability of KF in the process of motor control development.

  5. Identifications of Carcass Characteristic for Estimating the Composition of Beef Carcass

    OpenAIRE

    Hafid, H; Gurnadi, R.E; Priyanto, R; Saefuddin, A

    2010-01-01

    The research aimed to identify carcass characteristic that can be used for estimating composition ofbeef carcass. It was used 165 Brahman crossbred cattle in this research. Carcass characteristics wereweight of a half cold carcass (WC) ranged from 96 to 151 kg, loin eye area (LEA) ranged from 22.09 to304.8 mm2, 12th rib fat thickness (FT12) ranged from 0.80 to 2.90 mm, meat ranged from 53.55 to 90.10kg and carcass fat ranged from 5.54 to 39.72 kg. Result showed that a half weight cold carcass...

  6. Thermal characteristics during hydrogen fueling process of type IV cylinder

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Sung Chan [Department of Fire and Disaster Prevention, Kyungil University, 33, Buhori, Hayang, Kyungsan 712-701 (Korea); Lee, Seung Hoon; Yoon, Kee Bong [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chung Ang University, 221, Huksuk, Dongjak, Seoul 156-756 (Korea)

    2010-07-15

    Temperature increase during hydrogen fueling process is a significant safety concern of a high pressure hydrogen vessel. Hence, thermal characteristics of a Type IV cylinder during hydrogen filling process need to be understood. In this study, a series of experiments were conducted to quantify the temperature change of the cylinder during hydrogen filling to 35 MPa. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was also conducted to simulate the conditions of the experiments. The results predicted by the CFD analysis show reasonable agreement with the experiments and the discrepancy between the CFD results and experimental results decrease with higher initial gas pressures. The upper and the lower parts of the vessel showed a temperature difference in the vertical direction. The upper gas temperature was higher than that of the lower part due to the buoyancy effect in the vessel. The maximum gas temperature was higher than the maximum temperature allowed in the ISO safety code (85 C) for the case in which the vessel was pressurized from 0 MPa to 35 MPa. This work contributes to the understanding of the thermal flow characteristics of the hydrogen filling process and notes that additional efforts should be made to guarantee the safety of a type IV cylinder during the hydrogen fueling process. (author)

  7. Analysis of a MOX-UO2 interface by the method of characteristics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chetaine, A.; Erradi, L.; Sanchez, R.; Zmijarevic, I.; Aniel-Buchheit, S.

    2005-01-01

    In the last few years many studies have been done to improve the ability of core reactors (PWR and BWR) to burn Plutonium fuel, either in mixed UO 2 /MOX pattern or full MOX pattern. The analysis of a MOX-UO 2 interface with the method of characteristics has been carried out. Comparisons with Monte Carlo and collision-probability calculations show that our results are in good agreement with those obtained by reference methods and qualify the method of characteristic as a reliable technique for such calculations. (authors)

  8. Vortex and characteristics of prestrained type-II deformable superconductors under magnetic fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ma, Zeling; Wang, Xingzhe; Zhou, Youhe

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • A numerical investigation of magnetic vortex dynamics of a deformable superconductor with prestrains is presented. • The prestrain has a remarkable influence on the magnetic vortex distribution and dynamics. • The different prestrains, i.e., pre-given compression and tension strains, result in dissimilar characteristics. • The energy density and spectrum in the deformable superconductor are demonstrated. - Abstract: Based on the time-dependent Ginzburg–Landau (TDGL) theory and the linear deformation theory, we present a numerical investigation of magnetic vortex characteristics of a type-II deformable superconductor with prestrain. The effect of prestrain on the wave function, vortex dynamics and energy density of a superconducting film is analyzed by solving the nonlinear TDGL equations in the presence of magnetic field. The results show that the prestrain has a remarkable influence on the magnetic vortex distribution and the vortex dynamics, as well as value of wave function of the superconductor. The different prestrains, i.e., pre-given compression and tension strains, result in dissimilar characteristics on a half-plane of deformable superconductor in an applied magnetic field, and the vortex distribution and entrance in a two dimensional superconducting film. The studies demonstrated that the compression prestrain may speed up the vortexes entering into the region of the superconducting film and increases the vortex number in comparison with those of free-prestrain case, while the tension prestrain shows the reversal features. The energy density and spectrum in the superconductor are further demonstrated numerically and discussed. The present investigation is an attempt to give insight into the superconductivity and electromagnetic characteristics taking into account the elastic deformation in superconductors.

  9. Extraction of microseismic waveforms characteristics prior to rock burst using Hilbert-Huang transform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xuelong; Li, Zhonghui; Wang, Enyuan; Feng, Junjun; Chen, Liang; Li, Nan; Kong, Xiangguo

    2016-09-01

    This study provides a new research idea concerning rock burst prediction. The characteristics of microseismic (MS) waveforms prior to and during the rock burst were studied through the Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT). In order to demonstrate the advantage of the MS features extraction based on HHT, the conventional analysis method (Fourier transform) was also used to make a comparison. The results show that HHT is simple and reliable, and could extract in-depth information about the characteristics of MS waveforms. About 10 days prior to the rock burst, the main frequency of MS waveforms transforms from the high-frequency to low-frequency. What's more, the waveforms energy also presents accumulation characteristic. Based on our study results, it can be concluded that the MS signals analysis through HHT could provide valuable information about the coal or rock deformation and fracture.

  10. Grab That Mike: communicative issues in French Talk Show "Grab That Mike": questões comunicativas em um "Talk Show" Francês

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ludwina Van Son

    2004-12-01

    Full Text Available In this analysis we have chosen a recent French talk show to illustrate how communication is turned into some new kind of "ideology"nowadays: in other words, you have to communicate if you consider yourself a citizen of today's world. The main characteristic of issue-centered talk shows being the destabilization of the implicit rules and participation framework, we observe how the so-called democratic right to express ourselves is (misused by the talk show host to secure the dynamics of the show. In order to reveal the host's manipulations, we have examined the verbal interactions between host and guests on the following issues: topic choice, turn-taking mechanisms and identity construction of the talk show's guests. In the perspective that this kind of talk show presents itself as a public space where direct democracy can be exercised, the analysis of the discursive strategies of the talk show host reveals the impact of a mediatic participation framework.Para a presente análise escolhemos um "talk show" francês recente para ilustrar como a comunicação se transforma em um novo tipo de ideologia: em outras palavras, você deve se comunicar se você se considera um cidadão do mundo de hoje. Sendo a principal característica do talk show a desestabilização das regras implícitas e o framework de participação, observamos como o tal direito democrático de expressão é interpretado pelo apresentador para manter a dinâmica do programa. Para revelar suas manipulações, examinamos as interações verbais entre apresentador e convidados nos seguintes temas: escolha do tópico, mecanismos de tomada de turno e construção de identidade dos convidados. É nessa perspectiva que este tipo de programa se apresenta como um espaço público onde a democracia direta pode ser exercitada; a análise das estratégias discursivas do apresentador do talk show revela o impacto de um framework de participação mediada.

  11. The Developmental Characteristics of Engagement in Service-Learning for Chinese College Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Fangfang; Yao, Meilin; Zong, Xiaoli; Yan, Wenfan

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the development characteristics of Chinese college students' engagement during a service-learning project with a case study method: 273 reflective journals from 31 college students who participated in service-learning were analyzed. Results indicated that students' overall engagement showed 4…

  12. Characteristics of prescribers whose patients shop for opioids: results from a cohort study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cepeda, M Soledad; Fife, Daniel; Berlin, Jesse A; Mastrogiovanni, Gregory; Yuan, Yingli

    2012-01-01

    Little is known about the prevalence of opioid shoppers in clinical practices and the relation between prescriber characteristics and the risk of having opioid shoppers. Describe the prevalence of opioid shoppers in prescribers' practices. Assess the relation between prescribers' characteristics and patient opioid shopping behavior. Retrospective cohort study using a large US retail prescription database. Patients with ≥1 opioid dispensing were followed 18 months. These patients' prescribers are the focus of the study. A patient was a "shopper" if he or she had opioid prescriptions written by ≥1 prescriber with ≥1 day of overlap filled at ≥3 pharmacies and a "heavy shopper" if he or she had ≥5 shopping episodes. The proportions of shoppers by prescriber and the proportion of prescribers with ≥1 shopper or heavy shopper were calculated. Among 858,290 opioid prescribers, most (87 percent) had no shoppers and 98 percent had no heavy shoppers. Prescribers who were aged 70-79 years, male, or who prescribed schedule II opioids had an increased likelihood of having shoppers. As the number of patients for whom a prescriber prescribed opioids increased, the proportion of shoppers also increased. Prescribers with 66 or more patients receiving opioids, who represented 25 percent of prescribers, prescribed for 82 percent of all shoppers. The great majority of opioid prescribers appear to have no shoppers in their practice. Any educational program will be more cost effective if targeted to prescribers of schedule II opioids with a large volume of patients requiring opioids.

  13. Chaotic characteristics of corona discharges in atmospheric air

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tan Xiangyu; Zhang Qiaogen; Wang Xiuhuan; Sun Fu; Zha Wei; Jia Zhijie

    2008-01-01

    A point-plane electrode system in atmospheric air is established to investigate the mechanism of the corona discharge. By using this system, the current pulses of the corona discharges under the 50 Hz ac voltage are measured using partial discharge (PD) measurement instrument and constitute the point-plane voltage-current (V-I) characteristic equation together with the voltage. Then, this paper constructs the nonlinear circuit model and differential equations of the system in an attempt to give the underlying dynamic mechanism based on the nonlinear V-I characteristics of the point-plane corona discharges. The results show that the chaotic phenomenon is found in the corona circuit by the experimental study and nonlinear dynamic analysis. The basic dynamic characteristics, including the Lyapunov exponent, the existence of the strange attractors, and the equilibrium points, are also found and analyzed in the development process of the corona circuit. Moreover, the time series of the corona current pulses obtained in the experiment is used to demonstrate the chaotic characteristics of the corona current based on the nonlinear dynamic circuit theory and the experimental basis. It is pointed out that the corona phenomenon is not a purely stochastic phenomenon but a short term deterministic chaotic activity

  14. Thermoset-cellulose nanocomposites: Flammability characteristics

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Mngomezulu, Mfiso E

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available . They have remarkable combination of properties including light weight, high mechanical, thermal and thermo-mechanical characteristics, excellent dielectric properties, dimensional stability and are easy to process. Furthermore, these composite materials show...

  15. Comparing plume characteristics inferred from cross-borehole geophysical data

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Haarder, Eline Bojsen; Binley, Andrew; Zibar, Majken Caroline Looms

    2012-01-01

    significantly influences results of the moment analysis. We compare results of three cross-borehole geophysical approaches for imaging tracer migration arising from a point injection of water in the unsaturated zone: three-dimensional electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), two-dimensional ground......-penetrating radar (GPR) tomography and quasi-three-dimensional GPR tomography. In the studied field experiment, a tracer was injected for a period of 5 d and was monitored both during injection and for 5 d during the subsequent redistribution. The three methods show similar characteristics of the plume development...

  16. Characteristic analysis on UAV-MIMO channel based on normalized correlation matrix.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Xi jun; Chen, Zi li; Hu, Yong Jiang

    2014-01-01

    Based on the three-dimensional GBSBCM (geometrically based double bounce cylinder model) channel model of MIMO for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the simple form of UAV space-time-frequency channel correlation function which includes the LOS, SPE, and DIF components is presented. By the methods of channel matrix decomposition and coefficient normalization, the analytic formula of UAV-MIMO normalized correlation matrix is deduced. This formula can be used directly to analyze the condition number of UAV-MIMO channel matrix, the channel capacity, and other characteristic parameters. The simulation results show that this channel correlation matrix can be applied to describe the changes of UAV-MIMO channel characteristics under different parameter settings comprehensively. This analysis method provides a theoretical basis for improving the transmission performance of UAV-MIMO channel. The development of MIMO technology shows practical application value in the field of UAV communication.

  17. Current-voltage characteristic of a resonant tunneling diode under electromagnetic radiation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N Hatefi Kargan

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available  In this paper, current-voltage characteristic of a resonant tunneling diode under electromagnetic radiation has been calculated and compared with the results when there is no electromagnetic radiation. For calculating current -voltage characteristic, it is required to calculate the transmission coefficient of electrons from the well and barrier structures of this device. For calculating the transmission coefficient of electrons at the presence of electromagnetic radiation, Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD method has been used and when there is no electromagnetic radiation Transfer Matrix Method (TMM and finite diffirence time domain method have been used. The results show that the presence of electromagnetic radiation causes resonant states other than principal resonant state (without presence of electromagnetic radiation to appear on the transmition coefficient curve where they are in distances from the principal peak and from each other. Also, the presence of electromagnetic radiation causes peaks other than principal peak to appear on the current-voltage characteristics of the device. Under electromagnetic radiation, the number of peaks on the current-voltage curve is smaller than the number of peaks on the current-voltage transmission coefficient. This is due to the fact that current-voltage curve is the result of integration on the energy of electrons, Thus, the sharper and low height peaks on the transmission coefficient do not appear on the current-voltage characteristic curve.

  18. Corrosion Fatigue Characteristics of 12Cr Alloy Steel in Na2SO4 Solution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bae, D. H.; Cho, S. Y.

    In order to estimate reliability of 12Cr alloy steel using as the turbine blade material of the steam power plant, its corrosion fatigue characteristics in Na2SO4 solution considering its percentage and temperature that were determined from the polarization test results were investigated, and compared with the results in air. The corrosion characteristic of 12Cr alloy steel was remarkably susceptible in 12.7wt.% (IM) Na2SO4 solution, and its susceptibility increased with the solution temperature increase. The corrosion fatigue characteristics in 12.7wt.% Na2SO4 solution were similar to that of in air at 25°C. The crack growth rate was however increased with the temperature of solution increase. The reasons showing such results are due to the difference of the crack growth mechanism according to the electro-chemical activity of the corrosion factors.

  19. Physico-chemical characteristics of high performance polymer modified by low and atmospheric pressure plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bhatnagar, Nitu; Sangeeta, Jha; Bhowmik, Shantanu; Gupta, Govind; Moon, J.B.; Kim, C.G.

    2012-01-01

    In this work, the effect of low pressure plasma and atmospheric p ressure plasma treatment on surface properties and adhesion characteristics of high performance polymer, Polyether Ether Ketone (PEEK) are investigated in terms of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). The experimental results show that the PEEK surface treated by atmospheric pressure plasma lead to an increase in the polar component of the surface energy, resulting in improving the adhesion characteristics of the PEEK/Epoxy adhesive system. Also, the roughness of the treated surfaces is largely increased as confirmed by AFM observation. These results can be explained by the fact that the atmospheric pressure plasma treatment of PEEK surface yields several oxygen functionalities on hydrophobic surface, which play an important role in increasing the surface polarity, wettability, and the adhesion characteristics of the PEEK/Epoxy adhesive system. (authors)

  20. Thermal-hydraulic characteristics of reacting zone for TWR bundles based on CFD method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lu Chuan; Yan Mingyu; Lu Jianchao

    2013-01-01

    Thermal-hydraulic characteristics of reacting zone for TWR (travelling wave reactor) bundles were analysed by CFD method. The calculation results of 7, 19 and 37 fuel pin bundles show the similar characteristics. The hot coolant seems to congregate into the centre as flowing to the downstream area. The high temperature coolant always distributes in the inner area while the temperature shows distinct gradation in the outer area. The temperature difference is more than 100 ℃ for the bundle whose diameter is about 26 cm. The major temperature gradations mainly locate in the outermost fuel rods of two circles while other circles show much smaller temperature gradients. This conclusion is estimated to be true for more fuel pin bundles such as 217 fuel pin bundles. The fuel assembly structure of the existing TWR design should be optimized in future. (authors)

  1. SPATIO-TEMPORAL CHARACTERISTICS OF RESIDENT TRIP BASED ON POI AND OD DATA OF FLOAT CAR IN BEIJING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. Mou

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Due to the influence of the urban inherent regional functional distribution, the daily activities of the residents presented some spatio-temporal patterns (periodic patterns, gathering patterns, etc.. In order to further understand the spatial and temporal characteristics of urban residents, this paper research takes the taxi trajectory data of Beijing as a sample data and studies the spatio-temporal characteristics of the residents' activities on the weekdays. At first, according to the characteristics of the taxi trajectory data distributed along the road network, it takes the Voronoi generated by the road nodes as the research unit. This paper proposes a hybrid clustering method – based on grid density, which is used to cluster the OD (origin and destination data of taxi at different times. Then,combining with the POI data of Beijing, this research calculated the density of the POI data in the clustering results, and analyzed the relationship between the activities of residents in different periods and the functional types of the region. The final results showed that the residents were mainly commuting on weekdays. And it found that the distribution of travel density showed a concentric circle of the characteristics, focusing on residential areas and work areas. The results of cluster analysis and POI analysis showed that the residents' travel had experienced the process of "spatial relative dispersion – spatial aggregation – spatial relative dispersion" in one day.

  2. Family Characteristics of Anxious ADHD Children: Preliminary Results

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kepley, Hayden O.; Ostrander, Rick

    2007-01-01

    Objective: To investigate the family environments of children in a community sample with ADHD and co-occurring anxiety. Method: Family Environment Scale, Behavioral Assessment System for Children, and Structured Clinical Interview are administered to parents of children with ADHD with and without anxiety. Results: ADHD families are uniformly less…

  3. LEAKAGE CHARACTERISTICS OF BASE OF RIVERBANK BY SELF POTENTIAL METHOD AND EXAMINATION OF EFFECTIVENESS OF SELF POTENTIAL METHOD TO HEALTH MONITORING OF BASE OF RIVERBANK

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matsumoto, Kensaku; Okada, Takashi; Takeuchi, Atsuo; Yazawa, Masato; Uchibori, Sumio; Shimizu, Yoshihiko

    Field Measurement of Self Potential Method using Copper Sulfate Electrode was performed in base of riverbank in WATARASE River, where has leakage problem to examine leakage characteristics. Measurement results showed typical S-shape what indicates existence of flow groundwater. The results agreed with measurement results by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport with good accuracy. Results of 1m depth ground temperature detection and Chain-Array detection showed good agreement with results of the Self Potential Method. Correlation between Self Potential value and groundwater velocity was examined model experiment. The result showed apparent correlation. These results indicate that the Self Potential Method was effective method to examine the characteristics of ground water of base of riverbank in leakage problem.

  4. Characteristic test results of reduced-scale lead and 3D laminated rubber bearings for seismic isolation design of liquid metal reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoo, B.; Lee, Jae Han; Kwon, H. S.

    1999-06-01

    Through the fabrications and the tests of reduced scale rubber bearing by several times since 1995, the technology related to the bearings has been improved. In this report, several lead rubber bearings (LLRB) with different lead plug diameters, high damping rubber bearing (HLRB), and 3D-LRB made of UNISON NR (natural rubber) compounds are tested to get the hysteretic characteristics of rubber bearings. Specially, the HLRB and 3D-LRB are tested for the vertical deformation characteristics. All the test data are plotted and analyzed to be compared with design target values such as equivalent horizontal stiffness and equivalent damping ration. The variations of the equivalent horizontal stiffness and damping for the lead and the 3D-LRB are evaluated from test data in the range of 25% to 150% of shear strain in horizontal direction. As increasing the lead plug diameter up to 48 mm, the values of yield load, equivalent stiffness, and equivalent damping are increased, and the maximum damping of 31 % are horizontal performance during compression and shear tests. Through the vertical performance tests of HLRB and 3D-LRB, it is reveal that the vertical stiffness of HLRB is 15.57 ton/mm, which is much lower than target value by 1/4, and the vertical stiffness of 3D-LRB show in the range of 2.17 ton/mm to 4.4 ton/mm, which are higher than the design target 1.25 ton/mm by about 2 times. The vertical equivalent damping of HLRB is 11.48%, but the ones of 3D-LRB show large variations between 8 % and 54%. There are no difference between the first and after curves of the vertical hysteresis of 3D-LRB and no dependency of test speed because the dish springs take the vertical behaviors of 3D-LRB. (author). 8 refs., 38 tabs., 47 figs

  5. Airfoil characteristics for wind turbines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bak, C.; Fuglsang, P.; Sørensen, Niels N.

    1999-01-01

    Airfoil characteristics for use in the Blade Element Momentum (BEM) method calculating the forces on Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWT) are derived by use of systematic methods. The investigation and derivation of the airfoil characteristics are basedon four different methods: 1) Inverse momentum...... theory, 2) Actuator disc theory, 3) Numerical optimisation and 4) Quasi-3D CFD computations. The two former methods are based on 3D CFD computations and wind tunnel measurements on a 41-m full-scale rotorwith LM 19.1 blades. The derived airfoil characteristics show that the lift coefficient in stall...... to a commonly used set of airfoil characteristics. The numerical optimisation is based on both the 3D CFDcomputations and measurements on a 41-m rotor with LM 19.1 and LM 19.0 blades, respectively. The method requires power and loads from a turbine and is promising since a set of lift and drag curves is derived...

  6. Transmission Characteristics of a Generalized Parallel Plate Dielectric Waveguide at THz Frequencies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ye Long-Fang; Xu Rui-Min; Zhang Yong; Lin Wei-Gan

    2011-01-01

    A generalized parallel-plate dielectric waveguide (G-PPDW) is proposed as a new guiding medium for terahertz wave. A theoretical analysis of the transmission characteristics for the TE modes of this generalized structure is performed. Equations are presented for the field components, dispersion, power ratio, transmission loss and characteristic impedance as functions of the operating frequencies, dimensions and material constants. In the case of the lowest-order mode TE 10 , design curves covering frequencies and dimensions for the given material constants in the THz region are presented. The theoretical results of transmission characteristics obtained from these equations are verified by the finite-element method with a good agreement. The investigation results show that by selecting proper dimensions and dielectric materials, G-PPDW can be used to guide THz waves efficiently with high power confinement and low attenuation. These outstanding properties may open up a way to many important applications for THz integrated circuits and systems. (fundamental areas of phenomenology(including applications))

  7. Plane boundary effects on characteristics of propeller jets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wei, Maoxing; Chiew, Yee-Meng; Hsieh, Shih-Chun

    2017-10-01

    The flow properties of a propeller jet in the presence of a plane bed boundary were investigated using the particle image velocimetry technique. Three clearance heights, Z b = 2 D p, D p, and 0.5 D p, where D p = propeller diameter, were used to examine boundary effects on the development of the jet. In each case, the mean flow properties and turbulence characteristics were measured in a larger field of view than those used in past studies. Both the streamwise and transverse flow fields were measured to obtain the three-dimensional characteristics of the propeller jet. Similar to a confined offset jet, the propeller jet also exhibits a wall attachment behavior when it is placed near a plane boundary. As a result, in contrast to its unconfined counterpart, the confined propeller jet features three regions, namely the free jet, impingement and wall jet regions. The study shows that the extent of each region varies under different clearance heights. The development of the mean flow and turbulence characteristics associated with varying clearance heights are compared to illustrate boundary effects in these regions. In the impingement region, the measured transverse flow fields provide new insights on the lateral motions induced by the impingement of the swirling jet. In the wall jet region, observations reveal that the jet behaves like a typical three-dimensional wall jet and its axial velocity profiles show good agreement with the classical wall jet similarity function.

  8. A study on the pressure ripple characteristics in a bent-axis type oil hydraulic piston pump

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cho, Ihn Sung; Jung, Jae Youn

    2013-01-01

    To improve the performance of a bent-axis type axial piston pump driven by tapered pistons, it is necessary to know the pressure ripple characteristics. The purpose of this paper is to understand the effect on the pressure ripple characteristics, and to predict by comparing experimental and theoretical analysis results. The simulation model of a bent-axis type axial piston pump is developed in the AMESim environment using the geometrical dimension, and the driving mechanism of the piston pump, such as the stroke of pump, the velocity of piston, the instantaneous volumetric flow, the overlap area of valve plate opening to cylinder bore, the angle of notch, and so on. The results show that theoretical analysis results of the bent-axis type axial piston pump by using the AMESim approximate the pressure ripple characteristic of the test pump, and through this, simulations can be obtained that predict the performance characteristics of a bentaxis type axial piston pump.

  9. The geography of happiness: connecting twitter sentiment and expression, demographics, and objective characteristics of place.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lewis Mitchell

    Full Text Available We conduct a detailed investigation of correlations between real-time expressions of individuals made across the United States and a wide range of emotional, geographic, demographic, and health characteristics. We do so by combining (1 a massive, geo-tagged data set comprising over 80 million words generated in 2011 on the social network service Twitter and (2 annually-surveyed characteristics of all 50 states and close to 400 urban populations. Among many results, we generate taxonomies of states and cities based on their similarities in word use; estimate the happiness levels of states and cities; correlate highly-resolved demographic characteristics with happiness levels; and connect word choice and message length with urban characteristics such as education levels and obesity rates. Our results show how social media may potentially be used to estimate real-time levels and changes in population-scale measures such as obesity rates.

  10. The geography of happiness: connecting twitter sentiment and expression, demographics, and objective characteristics of place.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell, Lewis; Frank, Morgan R; Harris, Kameron Decker; Dodds, Peter Sheridan; Danforth, Christopher M

    2013-01-01

    We conduct a detailed investigation of correlations between real-time expressions of individuals made across the United States and a wide range of emotional, geographic, demographic, and health characteristics. We do so by combining (1) a massive, geo-tagged data set comprising over 80 million words generated in 2011 on the social network service Twitter and (2) annually-surveyed characteristics of all 50 states and close to 400 urban populations. Among many results, we generate taxonomies of states and cities based on their similarities in word use; estimate the happiness levels of states and cities; correlate highly-resolved demographic characteristics with happiness levels; and connect word choice and message length with urban characteristics such as education levels and obesity rates. Our results show how social media may potentially be used to estimate real-time levels and changes in population-scale measures such as obesity rates.

  11. The Geography of Happiness: Connecting Twitter Sentiment and Expression, Demographics, and Objective Characteristics of Place

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell, Lewis; Frank, Morgan R.; Harris, Kameron Decker; Dodds, Peter Sheridan; Danforth, Christopher M.

    2013-01-01

    We conduct a detailed investigation of correlations between real-time expressions of individuals made across the United States and a wide range of emotional, geographic, demographic, and health characteristics. We do so by combining (1) a massive, geo-tagged data set comprising over 80 million words generated in 2011 on the social network service Twitter and (2) annually-surveyed characteristics of all 50 states and close to 400 urban populations. Among many results, we generate taxonomies of states and cities based on their similarities in word use; estimate the happiness levels of states and cities; correlate highly-resolved demographic characteristics with happiness levels; and connect word choice and message length with urban characteristics such as education levels and obesity rates. Our results show how social media may potentially be used to estimate real-time levels and changes in population-scale measures such as obesity rates. PMID:23734200

  12. The characteristics of family functioning with mentally ill children and adolescents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jelkić Milica

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Background/Aim. The family functioning and characteristics are the major risk factors in the genesis and persistence of mental disorders in children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of functioning of family with mentally ill children and adolescents. Methods. This study explored 47 families with a child/adolescent suffering from mental disorders and 47 families of age matched healthy children/adolescents. The socio-demographic questionnaire, Social Adaptation Self-evaluation scale (SASS and Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale (FACES III (Olson, 1983 were completed by parents. Results. For all three FACES III dimensions multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA showed significant differences between groups ( Wilks λ = .887; F = 3.839; df = 3; p = 0.012. Univariate analysis results showed significant differences for cohesiveness F = 6.99 p = 0.001 and adaptability F = 10.07 p = 0 .001. The analysis of the social adaption (SASS assessment showed that the mean score for clinical vs. non-clinical group was 39.66 ± 6.82 vs. 38.06 ± 8.44 without significant difference between groups (p = 0.32. The families of mentally ill children showed frequently lower socioeconomic status and education level, higher number of children per family, and broken home. Conclusion. The results suggested that cohesiveness and adaptability were significantly more prominent among families with mentaly ill children, but adaptation was similar to families with healthy children. It would be useful to evaluate adaptability, cohesiveness and adaptation of primary families when planning prevention and rehabillitation of mentally ill children and adolescent.

  13. Does Financial Literacy Moderate the Relationship among Demographic Characteristics and Financial Risk Tolerance? Evidence from Egypt

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amir Ali Shusha

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Financial risk tolerance is certainly an important topic for researchers, investors and personal financial planners or consultants. This study purposed to investigate the effect of demographic characteristics on financial risk tolerance among Egyptians. A literature review of demographic determinants of financial risk tolerance showed dialectical results. Therefore, this study attempts to clarify the debatable issues in these results by studying the moderating role of financial literacy in relationships among demographic characteristics and financial risk tolerance. The study sample included 386 respondents representing different segments of Egyptian people. Using the hierarchical regression analysis, the results demonstrated that there were significant effects of gender, age, educational level and annual income on financial risk tolerance. Moreover, the financial literacy moderates the relationships among demographic characteristics of individuals and their tendency to take a risk.

  14. Digital characteristics of CMOS devices at cryogenic temperatures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Deen, M.J.

    1989-01-01

    This paper presents the results of measurements of the digital characteristics of CMOS devices as a function of temperature between 77 and 300 K and a supply voltage between 3 and 20 V. Using a fixed supply of 5 V, the low noise margin (NM L decreased from 2.54 to 2.11 V, but the high noise margin NM H ) increased from 2.18 to 2.40 V as the temperature was increased from 77 to 300 K. On lowering the temperature from 300 to 77 K, both V 1L and V 1H increased and the transition between these input logic voltages became more abrupt. These and other digital characteristics including noise immunity, V H - V L , and V 1H - V 1L all showed a smooth monotonic improvement as the temperature decreased. These results can be qualitatively explained as due to the increase in the absolute threshold voltages of the NMOS and PMOS transistors and to the decrease in the β N /β rho ratio as the temperature is lowered

  15. Personal characteristics and job satisfaction among nurses in Lebanon.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yaktin, Umayma S; Azoury, Nuhad Bou-Raad; Doumit, Myrna A A

    2003-01-01

    This study investigates the level of satisfaction of Lebanese nurses in their job and the influence of their personal characteristics. Given the current difficulties experienced by Lebanese hospitals in recruiting and retaining a sufficient number of nurses, the need to understand the reasons of nurses' dissatisfaction became urgent. Moreover, satisfaction at work is essentially a personal experience also affected by cultural factors. Therefore, it was necessary to study the links between personal characteristics and nurses' dissatisfaction. The study included 421 registered nurses. A modified version of Measure of Job Satisfaction, developed by Taynor and Wade, was used to assess the effect of the personal characteristics, namely educational level, age, years of work experience, position, and marital and parental status, on 5 dimensions of satisfaction: personal satisfaction, workload, professional support, pay and prospect, and training. The findings suggest that personal characteristics have important influences on nurses' job perceptions. University graduate nurses reported more dissatisfaction with the quality of supervision and with respect and treatment they receive from their superiors. Nurses younger than 30 years and the technically trained were more dissatisfied with the available opportunities to attend continuing education courses. Results of staff nurses and unmarried nurses showed trends of more dissatisfaction than the married and nurses of higher positions. Moreover, the whole sample perceived that nursing provided a high level of personal satisfaction, but nurses were most dissatisfied with salary and lack of prospects for promotion. The results indicate the importance of personal characteristics on nurses' retention. Furthermore, intrinsic factors related to the nature and experience of nursing are more job satisfying than extrinsic factors.

  16. Biological Characteristics and Medical Treatment of Breast Cancer in Young Women—A Featured Population: Results from the NORA Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. Pronzato

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. The present paper described the biological characteristics and clinical behavior of young women in the cohort NORA study Patients and Methods. From 2000–2002, patients (>3500 were enrolled at 77 Italian hospitals. Women aged ≤50 years (=1013 were stratified into age groups (≤35, 36–40, 41–45, and 46–50 years. The relationship between age and patient characteristics, cancer presentation, and treatment was analyzed. Results. Younger women more frequently had tumors with ER/PgR-negative(2=7.07; =.008, HER2 amplification (2=5.76; =.01, and high (≥10% Ki67 labelling index (2=9.53; =.002. Positive nodal status, large tumors, and elevated Ki67 all associated with the choice for chemotherapy followed by endocrine therapy in hormone receptor-positive patients (40 versus ≤40, <.0001, resp.. At multivariate analysis, after adjustment for significant clinical and pathological factors, age remains a significant prognostic variable (HR=0.93, =.0021. Conclusion. This cohort study suggests that age per sè is an important prognostic factor. The restricted role of early diagnosis and the aggressive behavior of cancer in this population make necessary the application of targeted medical strategies crucial.

  17. Biological Characteristics and Medical Treatment of Breast Cancer in Young Women-A Featured Population: Results from the Nora Study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pronzato, P.; Mustacchi, G.; De Matteis, A.; Di Costanzo, F.; Rulli, E.; Floriani, I; Cazzaniga, M.E.

    2011-01-01

    Background. The present paper described the biological characteristics and clinical behavior of young women in the cohort NORA study Patients and Methods. From 2000-2002, patients (N>3500) were enrolled at 77 Italian hospitals. Women aged =50 years (N=1013) were stratified into age groups (=35, 36-40, 41-45, and 46-50 years). The relationship between age and patient characteristics, cancer presentation, and treatment was analyzed. Results. Younger women more frequently had tumors with ER/PgR-negative(x 2 =7.07; P=.008), HER2 amplification (x 2 =5.76; P=.01), and high (≤10%) Ki67 labelling index (x 2 =9.53; P=.002). Positive nodal status, large tumors, and elevated Ki67 all associated with the choice for chemotherapy followed by endocrine therapy in hormone receptor-positive patients (P 40 versus =40, P<.0001, resp.). At multivariate analysis, after adjustment for significant clinical and pathological factors, age remains a significant prognostic variable (HR=0.93, P=.0021). Conclusion. This cohort study suggests that age per se is an important prognostic factor. The restricted role of early diagnosis and the aggressive behavior of cancer in this population make necessary the application of targeted medical strategies crucial. human epidermal growth factor receptor

  18. Physical characteristics of cinnamon oil microcapsule

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hermanto, R. F.; Khasanah, L. U.; Kawiji; Atmaka, W.; Manuhara, G. J.; Utami, R.

    2016-02-01

    Cinnamon (Cinnamomum burmanii) oil products can be obtained from the bark by steam distillation. Essential oils are susceptible to high temperatures, oxidation, UV light, and humidity. Microencapsulation may change essential oils into powder, protect the sensitive core material and reduce the amount of flavor which lost during storage. In the microencapsulation, one of the important factors is the type of coating agent. The objective of this work was to characterize the cinnamon oil microcapsule. Ratio variations of coating agent maltodextrin and gum arabic were (1:0); (0:1); (1:1); (2:3). Physical characteristics such as water content, solubility, bulk density, surface oil, and microencapsulation efficiency of samples were investigated. Results showed that the ratio variations of the coating agent significantly affected the water content, bulk density, surface oil and microencapsulation efficiency but significantly affected the water solubility. Characteristics of selected microcapsule were 6.13% water content; 96.33% solubility; 0.46 g/cm3 bulk density; 2.68% surface oil; 70.68% microencapsulation efficiency and microstructures were rather good.

  19. MAX Provider Characteristics

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — The MAX Provider Characteristics (PC) File Implementation Report describes the design, implementation, and results of the MAXPC prototype, which was based on three...

  20. Characteristics of near-field earthquake ground motion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, H. K.; Choi, I. G.; Jeon, Y. S.; Seo, J. M.

    2002-01-01

    The near-field ground motions exhibit special response characteristics that are different from those of ordinary ground motions in the velocity and displacement response. This study first examines the characteristics of near-field ground motion depending on fault directivity and fault normal and parallel component. And the response spectra of the near field ground motion are statistically processed, and are compared with the Regulatory Guide 1.60 spectrum that is present design spectrum of the nuclear power plant. The response spectrum of the near filed ground motions shows large spectral velocity and displacement in the low frequency range. The spectral accelerations of near field ground motion are greatly amplified in the high frequency range for the rock site motions, and in the low frequency range for the soil site motions. As a result, the near field ground motion effects should be considered in the seismic design and seismic safety evaluation of the nuclear power plant structures and equipment

  1. Effect of gamma-irradiation pretreatment on improvement of anaerobic digestive characteristic of sludge

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mou Yanyan; Yuan Shoujun; Yu Xin; Zheng Zheng; Cui Lei; Zhao Yongfu

    2005-01-01

    A comparative study was made about main anaerobic digestive characteristics of sludge which was subjected to a 60 Co gamma-irradiation pretreatment. The results showed the gamma-irradiation pretreatment can clearly improve anaerobic digestibility of sludge and pick up the anaerobic digestion speed of sludge. (authors)

  2. Investigation of the characteristics of 252Cf-detectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karlsson, Erik

    2004-12-01

    In the first chapter the characteristic behaviors of two Cf detectors have been investigated by performing pilot measurements. The detector with the stronger source gives an unstable signal with a low signal/noise ratio. Therefore this detector has not been further investigated. The ionization chamber reacts on both fission products and alpha decay. An energy experiment showed that there were large difficulties to separate those decays. A plastic scintillator, which reacts on both photons and neutrons, was used for neutron detection. Energy spectrums were performed and the result showed that it is difficult to set an energy threshold to separate the neutrons and the photons. The discrimination will rather be achieved by time of flight methods which is discussed under the second chapter in this thesis; Experimental results. An other experiment was done in order to investigate whether it is possible to detect any delayed components from the spontaneous fission of Cf. The result showed that delayed components existed. Either they are delayed neutrons from exited fission products, or it is some delay related to the charge collection in the Cf detector. Correlation measurements showed that few events are coincident. Only 50% of the signals from the plastic scintillator are correlated with the Cf source

  3. Performance characteristics of CdTe drift ring detector

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alruhaili, A.; Sellin, P. J.; Lohstroh, A.; Veeramani, P.; Kazemi, S.; Veale, M. C.; Sawhney, K. J. S.; Kachkanov, V.

    2014-03-01

    CdTe and CdZnTe material is an excellent candidate for the fabrication of high energy X-ray spectroscopic detectors due to their good quantum efficiency and room temperature operation. The main material limitation is associated with the poor charge transport properties of holes. The motivation of this work is to investigate the performance characteristics of a detector fabricated with a drift ring geometry that is insensitive to the transport of holes. The performance of a prototype Ohmic CdTe drift ring detector fabricated by Acrorad with 3 drift rings is reported; measurements include room temperature current voltage characteristics (IV) and spectroscopic performance. The data shows that the energy resolution of the detector is limited by leakage current which is a combination of bulk and surface leakage currents. The energy resolution was studied as a function of incident X-ray position with an X-ray microbeam at the Diamond Light Source. Different ring biasing schemes were investigated and the results show that by increasing the lateral field (i.e. the bias gradient across the rings) the active area, evaluated by the detected count rate, increased significantly.

  4. Novel Simplified Model for Asynchronous Machine with Consideration of Frequency Characteristic

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Changchun Cai

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The frequency characteristic of electric equipment should be considered in the digital simulation of power systems. The traditional asynchronous machine third-order transient model excludes not only the stator transient but also the frequency characteristics, thus decreasing the application sphere of the model and resulting in a large error under some special conditions. Based on the physical equivalent circuit and Park model for asynchronous machines, this study proposes a novel asynchronous third-order transient machine model with consideration of the frequency characteristic. In the new definitions of variables, the voltages behind the reactance are redefined as the linear equation of flux linkage. In this way, the rotor voltage equation is not associated with the derivative terms of frequency. However, the derivative terms of frequency should not always be ignored in the application of the traditional third-order transient model. Compared with the traditional third-order transient model, the novel simplified third-order transient model with consideration of the frequency characteristic is more accurate without increasing the order and complexity. Simulation results show that the novel third-order transient model for the asynchronous machine is suitable and effective and is more accurate than the widely used traditional simplified third-order transient model under some special conditions with drastic frequency fluctuations.

  5. Effects of Robot Facial Characteristics and Gender in Persuasive Human-Robot Interaction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aimi S. Ghazali

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available The growing interest in social robotics makes it relevant to examine the potential of robots as persuasive agents and, more specifically, to examine how robot characteristics influence the way people experience such interactions and comply with the persuasive attempts by robots. The purpose of this research is to identify how the (ostensible gender and the facial characteristics of a robot influence the extent to which people trust it and the psychological reactance they experience from its persuasive attempts. This paper reports a laboratory study where SociBot™, a robot capable of displaying different faces and dynamic social cues, delivered persuasive messages to participants while playing a game. In-game choice behavior was logged, and trust and reactance toward the advisor were measured using questionnaires. Results show that a robotic advisor with upturned eyebrows and lips (features that people tend to trust more in humans is more persuasive, evokes more trust, and less psychological reactance compared to one displaying eyebrows pointing down and lips curled downwards at the edges (facial characteristics typically not trusted in humans. Gender of the robot did not affect trust, but participants experienced higher psychological reactance when interacting with a robot of the opposite gender. Remarkably, mediation analysis showed that liking of the robot fully mediates the influence of facial characteristics on trusting beliefs and psychological reactance. Also, psychological reactance was a strong and reliable predictor of trusting beliefs but not of trusting behavior. These results suggest robots that are intended to influence human behavior should be designed to have facial characteristics we trust in humans and could be personalized to have the same gender as the user. Furthermore, personalization and adaptation techniques designed to make people like the robot more may help ensure they will also trust the robot.

  6. Energy characteristics of Darrieus rotor ( review)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gorelov, D. N.

    2010-09-01

    Presented below is the review of the results of experimental studies of energy characteristics of Darrieus rotor with vertical rotation axis. Influence of main geometry parameters of the rotor on its energy characteristics has been analyzed. It is shown that Darrieus rotor may have the higher level of energy characteristics than the best propeller wind turbines.

  7. Implementation and investigation of circular slot UWB antenna with dual-band-notched characteristics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    DadashZadeh Gholamreza

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract The design and analysis of an ultra wideband aperture antenna with dual-band-notched characteristics are presented. The proposed antenna consists of a circular ring exciting stub on the front side and a circular slot on the back ground plane. By utilizing a parasitic strip and a T-shaped stub on the antenna structure, two notched bands of 850 MHz (3.5-4.35 GHz and 900 MHz (5.05-5.95 GHz are achieved. The proposed antenna is fabricated and measured. Measured results show that this antenna operates from 2.3 GHz to upper 11 GHz for voltage standing wave ratio less than 2, except two frequency notched bands of 3.5-4.35 and 5.05-5.95 GHz. Moreover, the experimental results show that proposed antenna has stable radiation patterns and constant gain. A conceptual circuit model, which is based on the measured impedance of the proposed antenna, is also shown to investigate the dual-band-notched characteristics.

  8. Vertical propagation characteristics and seasonal variability of tidal wind oscillations in the MLT region over Trivandrum (8.5° N, 77° E: first results from SKiYMET Meteor Radar

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. N. Sasi

    2006-11-01

    Full Text Available Tidal activity in the Mesospheric Lower Thermosphere (MLT region over Trivandrum (8.5° N, 77° E is investigated using the observations from newly installed SKiYMET Meteor Radar. The seasonal variability and vertical propagation characteristics of atmospheric tides in the MLT region are addressed in the present communication. The observations revealed that the diurnal tide is more prominent than the semi/terdiurnal components over this latitude. It is also observed that the amplitudes of meridional components are stronger than that of zonal ones. The amplitude and phase structure shows the vertical propagation of diurnal tides with vertical wavelength of ~25 km. However, the vertical wavelength of the semidiurnal tide showed considerable variations. The vertical propagation characteristics of the terdiurnal tide showed some indications of their generating mechanisms. The observed features of tidal components are compared with Global Scale Wave Model (GSWM02 values and they showed a similar amplitude and phase structure for diurnal tides. Month-to-month variations in the tidal amplitudes have shown significant seasonal variation. The observed seasonal variation is discussed in light of the variation in tidal forcing and dissipation.

  9. Does the corpus iuris civilis show characteristics of an abstract ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This means that ownership will pass from the transferor to the transferee even though the underlying ... Can it be said that Savigny based his theory on Roman law? ... Because of the dual nature of the contract of sale in Roman law (it

  10. Different Achilles Tendon Pathologies Show Distinct Histological and Molecular Characteristics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Franka Klatte-Schulz

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Reasons for the development of chronic tendon pathologies are still under debate and more basic knowledge is needed about the different diseases. The aim of the present study was therefore to characterize different acute and chronic Achilles tendon disorders. Achilles tendon samples from patients with chronic tendinopathy (n = 7, chronic ruptures (n = 6, acute ruptures (n = 13, and intact tendons (n = 4 were analyzed. The histological score investigating pathological changes was significantly increased in tendinopathy and chronic ruptures compared to acute ruptures. Inflammatory infiltration was detected by immunohistochemistry in all tendon pathology groups, but was significantly lower in tendinopathy compared to chronic ruptures. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR analysis revealed significantly altered expression of genes related to collagens and matrix modeling/remodeling (matrix metalloproteinases, tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases in tendinopathy and chronic ruptures compared to intact tendons and/or acute ruptures. In all three tendon pathology groups markers of inflammation (interleukin (IL 1β, tumor necrosis factor α, IL6, IL10, IL33, soluble ST2, transforming growth factor β1, cyclooxygenase 2, inflammatory cells (cluster of differentaition (CD 3, CD68, CD80, CD206, fat metabolism (fatty acid binding protein 4, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ, CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein α, adiponectin, and innervation (protein gene product 9.5, growth associated protein 43, macrophage migration inhibitory factor were detectable, but only in acute ruptures significantly regulated compared to intact tendons. The study gives an insight into structural and molecular changes of pathological processes in tendons and might be used to identify targets for future therapy of tendon pathologies.

  11. 47 CFR 73.160 - Vertical plane radiation characteristics, f(θ).

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Vertical plane radiation characteristics, f(Î... SERVICES RADIO BROADCAST SERVICES AM Broadcast Stations § 73.160 Vertical plane radiation characteristics, f(θ). (a) The vertical plane radiation characteristics show the relative field being radiated at a...

  12. Revealing household characteristics from smart meter data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beckel, Christian; Sadamori, Leyna; Staake, Thorsten; Santini, Silvia

    2014-01-01

    Utilities are currently deploying smart electricity meters in millions of households worldwide to collect fine-grained electricity consumption data. We present an approach to automatically analyzing this data to enable personalized and scalable energy efficiency programs for private households. In particular, we develop and evaluate a system that uses supervised machine learning techniques to automatically estimate specific “characteristics” of a household from its electricity consumption. The characteristics are related to a household's socio-economic status, its dwelling, or its appliance stock. We evaluate our approach by analyzing smart meter data collected from 4232 households in Ireland at a 30-min granularity over a period of 1.5 years. Our analysis shows that revealing characteristics from smart meter data is feasible, as our method achieves an accuracy of more than 70% over all households for many of the characteristics and even exceeds 80% for some of the characteristics. The findings are applicable to all smart metering systems without making changes to the measurement infrastructure. The inferred knowledge paves the way for targeted energy efficiency programs and other services that benefit from improved customer insights. On the basis of these promising results, the paper discusses the potential for utilities as well as policy and privacy implications. - Highlights: • Many household characteristics can be automatically inferred from smart meter data. • We develop a system to infer employment status and number of occupants, for instance. • We evaluate our system analyzing data collected from 4232 households in Ireland. • The insights enable personalized and scalable efficiency campaigns for utilities. • Energy efficiency measures must be complemented by privacy protection

  13. Intification and modelling of flight characteristics for self-build shock flyer type UAV

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rashid., Z. A.; Dardin, A. S. F. Syed.; Azid, A. A.; Ahmad, K. A.

    2018-02-01

    The development of an autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) requires a fundamentals studies of the UAV's flight characteristic. The aim of this study is to identify and model the flight characteristic of a conventional fixed-wing type UAV. Subsequence to this, the mode of flight of the UAV can be investigated. One technique to identify the characteristic of a UAV is a flight test where it required specific maneuvering to be executed while measuring the attitude sensor. In this study, a simple shock flyer type UAV was used as the aircraft. The result shows that the modeled flight characteristic has a significant relation with actual values but the fitting value is rather small. It is suggested that the future study is conducted with an improvement of the physical UAV, data filtering and better system identification methods.

  14. Comparative Study on the Leaching Characteristics of Industrial Sludge and Fly Ash using KSLP and TCLP Techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, B.K.; Hwang, H.W.

    2010-01-01

    Leaching characteristics of industrial sludge and fly ash using Korean Standard Leaching Procedure (KSLP) and Toxicity Characteristics Leaching Procedure (TCLP) were studied. Possibilities of re-adsorption of heavy metal ions on the surface of sludge and ash during the course of leaching were also investigated. KSLP looked relatively more aggressive than the TCLP in leaching heavy metal ions. Concentrations of metal ions leached in both the methods, however, were found very low in comparison to the concentration of ions present in the original samples. In case of sludge, heavy metal ions showed relatively high rate of leaching at fourth and fifth stages of sequential extraction while ash showed high rate of leaching at the first three stages of extraction. Some of the concentrations of heavy metal ions leached out in the tests also found to be adsorbed on the surface of sludge and ash. Heavy metal ions present in high concentrations in the sample showed lower rate of adsorption than their leaching rate. No distinct difference in the results of KSLP and TCLP was observed. However, variations in the leaching results could be due to the different nature of hazardous waste and leaching conditions. More information like kinetics of leaching, mineralogical characteristics of waste and site characteristics of landfill were required to predict more accurate leaching behavior of ions in natural conditions. (author)

  15. On the relationship between magnetostatic wave energy and dispersion characteristics in ferrite structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vashkovsky, Anatolii V; Lock, Edwin H

    2011-01-01

    The energy and dispersion characteristics of a dipole spin wave in a ferrite-dielectric-metal structure are calculated. An analysis of spin wave dispersion characteristics with extreme points demonstrates how fundamental relationships among the propagation constant, phase and group velocities, Poynting vector, and power flux manifest themselves when the wavenumber changes near these points. A comparison of magnetostatic approximation results with calculations using Maxwell's equations shows the inadequacy of the magnetostatic approximation formulas currently used for calculating the Poynting vector and power flux of dipole spin waves. A correct alternative is proposed. (methodological notes)

  16. Forecasting characteristics of flood effects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khamutova, M. V.; Rezchikov, A. F.; Kushnikov, V. A.; Ivaschenko, V. A.; Bogomolov, A. S.; Filimonyuk, L. Yu; Dolinina, O. N.; Kushnikova, E. V.; Shulga, T. E.; Tverdokhlebov, V. A.; Fominykh, D. S.

    2018-05-01

    The article presents the development of a mathematical model of the system dynamics. Mathematical model allows forecasting the characteristics of flood effects. Model is based on a causal diagram and is presented by a system of nonlinear differential equations. Simulated characteristics are the nodes of the diagram, and edges define the functional relationships between them. The numerical solution of the system of equations using the Runge-Kutta method was obtained. Computer experiments to determine the characteristics on different time interval have been made and results of experiments have been compared with real data of real flood. The obtained results make it possible to assert that the developed model is valid. The results of study are useful in development of an information system for the operating and dispatching staff of the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters (EMERCOM).

  17. (ajst) pedological characteristics, general fertility

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Administrator

    Key words: Pedological characteristics, fertility, soil classification, benchmark soils, Morogoro. District, Tanzania ... rigorous soil mapping to show their spatial distribution. Although at the ... experience bimodal rainfall pattern characterized by two .... evaluated based on the standards set by EUROCONSULT ... crop growth.

  18. Influence of current and temperature on discharge characteristics of electrochemical nickel−cadmium system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Todorović Andreja

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper elaborates determination of characteristic values in the discharging process of non-hermetic nickel-cadmium galvanic battery with nominal voltage Un = 60 V and nominal capacity qn = C5 = 190 Ah and its dependence from current and temperature. Study has been performed with the set of experimental metering of voltages, electromotive force, current from discharge time range and electromotive force in steady state regime before and after battery charging. Electromotive force characteristics are obtained by using the Nernst’s equation, while the least square method was used to determine the average values of internal electrical resistivity, power losses and efficiency level. These results were used in the approximate exponential functions to determine the range dependence of the efficiency level from the internal electrical resistance of discharge current in reliance from the temperature range. Obtained results show that, in accordance to the given voltage variation of 10% Un, this type of battery holds maximal full load current of one hour capacity at the temperature of 25°C and maximal full load current of two hours capacity at the temperature of −30°C. The methodology used in the case study covers determination of the electromotive force in time range based on the metered results of values during complete battery fullness and emptiness with prior determination of equilibrium constants of galvanic battery reaction through method suggested by the author of this paper. Further process, using the electromotive force values obtained through the aforementioned process, the metered current, and approximate polynomial function of the nominal discharge voltage characteristic determines range of battery internal electric resistance from time, followed by the selection of discharge cases with average values for: voltage, electromotive force, internal electrical resistance, available and utilized power, power losses, and battery efficiency

  19. Investors’ Risk Preference Characteristics and Conditional Skewness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fenghua Wen

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Perspective on behavioral finance, we take a new look at the characteristics of investors’ risk preference, building the D-GARCH-M model, DR-GARCH-M model, and GARCHC-M model to investigate their changes with states of gain and loss and values of return together with other time-varying characteristics of investors’ risk preference. Based on a full description of risk preference characteristic, we develop a GARCHCS-M model to study its effect on the return skewness. The top ten market value stock composite indexes from Global Stock Exchange in 2012 are adopted to make the empirical analysis. The results show that investors are risk aversion when they gain and risk seeking when they lose, which effectively explains the inconsistent risk-return relationship. Moreover, the degree of risk aversion rises with the increasing gain and that of risk seeking improves with the increasing losses. Meanwhile, we find that investors’ inherent risk preference in most countries displays risk seeking, and their current risk preference is influenced by last period’s risk preference and disturbances. At last, investors’ risk preferences affect the conditional skewness; specifically, their risk aversion makes return skewness reduce, while risk seeking makes the skewness increase.

  20. Association between substance use and psychosocial characteristics among adolescents of the Seychelles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alwan, Heba; Viswanathan, Bharathi; Rousson, Valentin; Paccaud, Fred; Bovet, Pascal

    2011-10-11

    We examined the associations between substance use (cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, and cannabis use) and psychosocial characteristics at the individual and family levels among adolescents of the Seychelles, a rapidly developing small island state in the African region. A school survey was conducted in a representative sample of 1432 students aged 11-17 years from all secondary schools. Data came from a self-administered anonymous questionnaire conducted along a standard methodology (Global School-based Health Survey, GSHS). Risk behaviors and psychosocial characteristics were dichotomized. Association analyses were adjusted for a possible classroom effect. The prevalence of cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking and cannabis use was higher in boys than in girls and increased with age. Age-adjusted and multivariate analyses showed that several individual level characteristics (e.g. suicidal ideation and truancy) and family level characteristics (e.g. poor parental monitoring) were associated with substance use among students. Our results suggest that health promotion programs should simultaneously address multiple risk behaviors and take into account a wide range of psychosocial characteristics of the students at the individual and family levels.

  1. Clamping characteristics study on different types of clamping unit

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jiao, Zhiwei; Liu, Haichao; Xie, Pengcheng [College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing China 100029 (China); Yang, Weimin [College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing China 100029 (China); State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing China 100029 (China)

    2015-05-22

    Plastic products are becoming more and more widely used in aerospace, IT, digital electronics and many other fields. With the development of technology, the requirement of product precision is getting higher and higher. However, type and working performance of clamping unit play a decisive role in product precision. Clamping characteristics of different types of clamping unit are discussed in this article, which use finite element numerical analysis method through the software ABAQUS to study the clamping uniformity, and detect the clamping force repeatability precision. The result shows that compared with toggled three-platen clamping unit, clamping characteristics of internal circulation two-platen clamping unit are better, for instance, its mold cavity deformation and force that bars and mold parting surface suffered are more uniform, and its clamping uniformity and repeatability precision is also better.

  2. Fall-related gait characteristics on the treadmill and in daily life.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rispens, Sietse M; Van Dieën, Jaap H; Van Schooten, Kimberley S; Cofré Lizama, L Eduardo; Daffertshofer, Andreas; Beek, Peter J; Pijnappels, Mirjam

    2016-02-02

    Body-worn sensors allow assessment of gait characteristics that are predictive of fall risk, both when measured during treadmill walking and in daily life. The present study aimed to assess differences as well as associations between fall-related gait characteristics measured on a treadmill and in daily life. In a cross-sectional study, trunk accelerations of 18 older adults (72.3 ± 4.5 years) were recorded during walking on a treadmill (Dynaport Hybrid sensor) and during daily life (Dynaport MoveMonitor). A comprehensive set of 32 fall-risk-related gait characteristics was estimated and compared between both settings. For 25 gait characteristics, a systematic difference between treadmill and daily-life measurements was found. Gait was more variable, less symmetric, and less stable during daily life. Fourteen characteristics showed a significant correlation between treadmill and daily-life measurements, including stride time and regularity (0.48  0.25). Gait characteristics revealed less stable, less symmetric, and more variable gait during daily life than on a treadmill, yet about half of the characteristics were significantly correlated between conditions. These results suggest that daily-life gait analysis is sensitive to static personal factors (i.e., physical and cognitive capacity) as well as dynamic situational factors (i.e., behavior and environment), which may both represent determinants of fall risk.

  3. Psychometric characteristics of The Self-Perception Profile for Children

    OpenAIRE

    Petra Dolenc

    2007-01-01

    The purpose of the study was to examine the psychometric characteristics of the Slovene version of the Self-Perception Profile for Children (Harter, 1985). Results on a sample of 480 students showed that the Slovene version of the questionnaire had construct validity and reliability comparable of those found in the original version. Although the scale represents a useful instrument to ascertain self-concept in school settings, it requires further examination and some improvements of its metri...

  4. Current-voltage characteristics of porous-silicon structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Diligenti, A.; Nannini, A.; Pennelli, G.; Pieri, F.; Fuso, F.; Allegrini, M.

    1996-01-01

    I-V DC characteristics have been measured on metal/porous-silicon structures. In particular, the measurements on metal/free-standing porous-silicon film/metal devices confirmed the result, already obtained, that the metal/porous-silicon interface plays a crucial role in the transport of any device. Four-contacts measurements on free-standing layers showed that the current linearly depends on the voltage and that the conduction process is thermally activated, the activation energy depending on the porous silicon film production parameters. Finally, annealing experiments performed in order to improve the conduction of rectifying contacts, are described

  5. Noise characteristics of U. S. synchrotron radiation sources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Powers, L.

    1986-01-01

    Noise characteristics of the U. S. x-ray synchrotron sources are compared in the 0--2.5-kHz region. In general, little difference is found in the characteristic frequencies of the noise on focused and unfocused beamlines of a particular source, but the magnitude and white-noise levels differ. The National Synchrotron Light Source shows the least characteristic noise and the noise that is observed is small in magnitude (2--3 times the white-noise level)

  6. Job characteristics and burnout: The moderating roles of emotional intelligence, motivation and pay among bank employees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salami, Samuel O; Ajitoni, Sunday O

    2016-10-01

    This study investigated the prediction of burnout from job characteristics, emotional intelligence, motivation and pay among bank employees. It also examined the interactions of emotional intelligence, motivation, pay and job characteristics in the prediction of burnout. Data obtained from 230 (Males = 127, Females = 103) bank employees were analysed using Pearson's Product Moment Correlation and multiple regression analysis. Results showed that theses variables jointly and separately negatively predicted burnout components. The results further indicated that emotional intelligence, motivation and pay separately interacted with some job characteristic components to negatively predict some burnout components. The findings imply that emotional intelligence, motivation and pay could be considered by counsellors when designing interventions to reduce burnout among bank employees. © 2015 International Union of Psychological Science.

  7. Spectral scattering characteristics of space target in near-UV to visible bands.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bai, Lu; Wu, Zhensen; Cao, Yunhua; Huang, Xun

    2014-04-07

    In this study, the spectral scattering characteristics of a space target are calculated in the near-UV to visible bands on the basis of measured data of spectral hemispheric reflectivity in the upper half space. Further, the bidirectional reflection distribution function (BRDF) model proposed by Davies is modified to describe the light scattering properties of a target surface. This modification aims to improve the characteristics identifying ability for different space targets. By using this modified Davies spectrum BRDF model, the spectral scattering characteristics of each subsurface can be obtained. A mathematical model of spectral scattering properties of the space target is built by summing all the contributing surface grid reflection scattering components, considering the impact of surface shadow effect.Moreover, the spectral scattering characteristics of the space target calculated with both the traditional and modified Davies BRDF models are compared. The results show that in the fixed and modified cases, the hemispheric reflectivity significantly affects the spectral scattering irradiance of the target.

  8. Study on Effects of The Shape of Cavitator on Supercavitation Flow Field Characteristics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Rui; Dang, Jianjun; Yao, Zhong

    2018-03-01

    The cavitator is the key part of the nose of the vehicle to induce the formation of supercavity, which has an important influence in the cavity formation rate, cavity shape and cavity stability. To study the influence of the shape on the supercavitation flew field characteristics, the cavity characteristics and the resistance characteristics of different shapes of cavitator under different working conditions are obtained by combining technical methods of numerical simulation and experimental research in water tunnel. The simulation results are contrast and analyzed with the test results. The analysis results show that : in terms of the cavity size, the inverted-conic cavitator can form the biggest cavity size, followed by the disk cavitator, and the truncated-conic cavitator is the least; in terms of the cavity formation speed, the inverted-conic cavitator has the fastest cavity formation speed, then is the truncated-conic cavitator, and the disk cavitator is the least; in terms of the drag characteristic, the truncated-conic cavitator has the maximum coefficient, disk cavitator is the next, the inverted-conic cavitator is the minimal. The research conclusion can provide reference and basis for the head shape design of supercavitating underwater ordnance and the design of hydrodynamic layout.

  9. SUBMARINE VOLCANO CHARACTERISTICS IN SABANG WATERS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hananto Kurnio

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the study is to understand the characteristics of a volcano occurred in marine environment, as Weh Island where Sabang City located is still demonstrated its volcanic cone morphology either through satellite imagery or bathymetric map. Methods used were marine geology, marine geophysics and oceanography. Results show that surface volcanism (sea depth less than 50 m take place as fumaroles, solfataras, hot ground, hot spring, hot mud pool and alteration in the vicinities of seafloor and coastal area vents. Seismic records also showed acoustic turbidity in the sea water column due to gas bubblings produced by seafloor fumaroles. Geochemical analyses show that seafloor samples in the vicinities of active and non-active fumarole vent are abundances with rare earth elements (REE. These were interpreted that the fumarole bring along REE through its gases and deposited on the surrounding seafloor surface. Co-existence between active fault of Sumatra and current volcanism produce hydrothermal mineralization in fault zone as observed in Serui and Pria Laot-middle of Weh Island which both are controlled by normal faults and graben.

  10. State ownership and efficiency characteristics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexander Abramov

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available This study examines the influence of state participation in the ownership structure of companies on their financial efficiency using a sample of 114 largest companies in Russia. As an indirect indicator of efficiency, we used a variety of financial indicators: revenue per employee (gross margin, return on equity, profit margin and debt burden. The effects of direct and indirect state ownership are considered separately. Using econometric analysis, we conclude that the dominance of the block of shares owned by the state has a negative effect on the performance characteristics, and its increase is associated with an increase in the debt burden of the companies. According to our criteria, state-owned enterprises (SOEs perform worse on average than private companies. The mechanism of how changes in the “real sector” affect profitability is examined particularly closely. The study shows that a change in the profitability of private companies is characterized by a significant dependence on the movement of labor productivity characteristics. At the same time, for SOEs, a similar correlation was not revealed. These companies demonstrated no visible relationship between their profitability and performance characteristics. The study shows that increases in the size of direct government ownership lead to lower labor productivity and profitability; the impact of indirect ownership is, seemingly, more complicated.

  11. Ataxia telangiectasia derived iPS cells show preserved x-ray sensitivity and decreased chromosomal instability

    OpenAIRE

    Fukawatase, Yoshihiro; Toyoda, Masashi; Okamura, Kohji; Nakamura, Ken-ichi; Nakabayashi, Kazuhiko; Takada, Shuji; Yamazaki-Inoue, Mayu; Masuda, Akira; Nasu, Michiyo; Hata, Kenichiro; Hanaoka, Kazunori; Higuchi, Akon; Takubo, Kaiyo; Umezawa, Akihiro

    2014-01-01

    Ataxia telangiectasia is a neurodegenerative inherited disease with chromosomal instability and hypersensitivity to ionizing radiation. iPS cells lacking ATM (AT-iPS cells) exhibited hypersensitivity to X-ray irradiation, one of the characteristics of the disease. While parental ataxia telangiectasia cells exhibited significant chromosomal abnormalities, AT-iPS cells did not show any chromosomal instability in vitro for at least 80 passages (560 days). Whole exome analysis also showed a compa...

  12. Impact of sludge retention time on sludge characteristics and microbial community in MBR.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Su, Yuchun; Pan, Jill Ruhsing; Huang, Chihpin; Chang, Chialing

    2011-01-01

    In this study, the impact of sludge retention time (SRT) on sludge characteristics and microbial community and the effect on membrane fouling in membrane bioreactor (MBR) was investigated. The results show that MBR with longer SRT has less fouling propensity, in agreement with other studies, despite the fact that the MBR with longer SRT contained higher MLSS and smaller particle size. However, much more soluble microbial products (SMPs) were released in MBR with shorter SRT. More slime on the membrane surface was observed in MBR with shorter SRT while sludge cakes formed on the membrane surface in MBR with longer SRT. The results show that SMP contributes to the severe fouling observed in MBR with shorter SRT, which is in agreement with other studies showing that SMPs were the major foulants in MBR. Under different SRTs of operation, the bacterial community structures of the sludge obtained by use of polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) were almost identical, but those on the membrane surface differed substantially. It suggests that, although SRT has impact on sludge characteristics, it doesn't affect the microbial community in the suspension.

  13. Sensory characteristics and consumer preference for chicken meat in Guinea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sow, T M A; Grongnet, J F

    2010-10-01

    This study identified the sensory characteristics and consumer preference for chicken meat in Guinea. Five chicken samples [live village chicken, live broiler, live spent laying hen, ready-to-cook broiler, and ready-to-cook broiler (imported)] bought from different locations were assessed by 10 trained panelists using 19 sensory attributes. The ANOVA results showed that 3 chicken appearance attributes (brown, yellow, and white), 5 chicken odor attributes (oily, intense, medicine smell, roasted, and mouth persistent), 3 chicken flavor attributes (sweet, bitter, and astringent), and 8 chicken texture attributes (firm, tender, juicy, chew, smooth, springy, hard, and fibrous) were significantly discriminating between the chicken samples (Pchicken, the live spent laying hen, and the ready-to-cook broiler (imported) were very well represented and clearly distinguished from the live broiler and the ready-to-cook broiler. One hundred twenty consumers expressed their preferences for the chicken samples using a 5-point Likert scale. The hierarchical cluster analysis of the preference data identified 4 homogenous consumer clusters. The hierarchical cluster analysis results showed that the live village chicken was the most preferred chicken sample, whereas the ready-to-cook broiler was the least preferred one. The partial least squares regression (PLSR) type 1 showed that 72% of the sensory data for the first 2 principal components explained 83% of the chicken preference. The PLSR1 identified that the sensory characteristics juicy, oily, sweet, hard, mouth persistent, and yellow were the most relevant sensory drivers of the Guinean chicken preference. The PLSR2 (with multiple responses) identified the relationship between the chicken samples, their sensory attributes, and the consumer clusters. Our results showed that there was not a chicken category that was exclusively preferred from the other chicken samples and therefore highlight the existence of place for development of

  14. Nupec thermal hydraulic test to evaluate post-DNB characteristics for PWR fuel assemblies (1. general test plan and results)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Norio, Kono; Kenji, Murai; Kaichiro, Misima; Takayuki, Suemura; Yoshiei, Akiyama; Keiichi, Hori

    2001-01-01

    In the present thermal hydraulic design of Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR), a departure from nucleate boiling (DNB) under anticipated transient conditions is not allowed. However, it is recognized that the DNB dose not cause a fuel rod failure immediately, and a suitable reactor trip can prevent the core from severe damages. If the fuel rod temperature under the post-DNB conditions can be accurately evaluated, the potentially existing margin in the present design method will be quantitatively assessed. To establish the heat transfer evaluation method on post-DNB event for PWR thermal hydraulic design, Nuclear Power Engineering Corporation (NUPEC) started a program, NUPEC Thermal Hydraulic Test to Evaluate Post-DNB Characteristics for PWR Fuel Assemblies (NUPEC-TH-P), in 1995 (hereinafter the year means fiscal year) under the sponsorship of Ministry of Economy, Trade and industry (METI). This program is now under going until 2001. This paper is to show the overall plan and the status of NUPEC-TH-P. (authors)

  15. Characteristics of several equilibrium fuel cycles of PWR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Waris, Abdul; Sekimoto, Hiroshi

    2001-01-01

    This paper evaluated the influence of neutron spectrum on characteristics of several equilibrium fuel cycles of pressurized water reactor (PWR). In this study, five kinds of fuel cycles were investigated. Required uranium enrichment, required natural uranium amount, and toxicity of heavy metals (HMs) in spent fuel were presented for comparison. The results showed that the enrichment and the required amount of natural uranium decrease significantly with increasing number of confined heavy nuclides when uranium is discharged from the reactor. On the other hand, when uranium is totally confined, the enrichment becomes extremely high. The confinement of plutonium and minor actinides (MA) seems effective in reducing radio-toxicity of discharged wastes. By confining all heavy nuclides except uranium those three characteristics could be reduced considerably. For this fuel cycle the toxicity of HMs in spent fuel become nearly equal to or less than that of loaded uranium. (author)

  16. Heteromeric Slick/Slack K+ channels show graded sensitivity to cell volume changes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tejada, Maria A; Hashem, Nadia; Calloe, Kirstine; Klaerke, Dan A

    2017-01-01

    Slick and Slack high-conductance K+ channels are found in the CNS, kidneys, pancreas, among other organs, where they play an important role in cell excitability as well as in ion transport processes. They are both activated by Na+ and Cl- but show a differential regulation by cell volume changes. Slick has been shown to be regulated by cell volume changes, whereas Slack is insensitive. α-subunits of these channels form homomeric as well as heteromeric channels. It is the aim of this work to explore whether the subunit composition of the Slick/Slack heteromeric channel affects the response to osmotic challenges. In order to provide with the adequate water permeability to the cell membrane of Xenopus laevis oocytes, mRNA of aquaporin 1 was co-expressed with homomeric or heteromeric Slick and Slack α-subunits. Oocytes were superfused with hypotonic or hypertonic buffers and changes in currents were measured by two-electrode voltage clamp. This work presents the first heteromeric K+ channel with a characteristic graded sensitivity to small and fast changes in cell volume. Our results show that the cell volume sensitivity of Slick/Slack heteromeric channels is dependent on the number of volume sensitive Slick α-subunits in the tetrameric channels, giving rise to graded cell volume sensitivity. Regulation of the subunit composition of a channel may constitute a novel mechanism to determine volume sensitivity of cells.

  17. Vibration characteristics analysis for HANARO fuel assembly

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ryu, Jeong Soo; Yoon, Doo Byung

    2001-06-01

    For investigating the vibration characteristics of HANARO fuel assembly, the finite element models of the in-air fuel assemblies and flow tubes were developed. By calculating the hydrodynamic mass and distributing it on the in-air models, the in-water models of the flow tubes and the fuel assemblies were developed. Then, modal analysis of the developed models was carried out. The analysis results show that the fundamental vibration modes of the in-air 18-element and 36-element fuel assemblies are lateral bending modes and its corresponding natural frequencies are 26.4Hz and 27.7Hz, respectively. The fundamental natural frequency of the in-water 18-element and 36-element fuel assemblies were obtained as 16.1Hz and 16.5Hz. For the verification of the developed finite element models, modal analysis results were compared with those obtained from the modal test. These results demonstrate that the natural frequencies of lower order modes obtained from finite element analysis agree well with those of the modal test and the estimation of the hydrodynamic mass is appropriate. It is expected that the analysis results will be applied as a basic data for the operation and management of the HANARO. In addition, when it is necessary to improve the design of the fuel assembly, the developed finite element models will be utilized as a base model for the vibration characteristic analysis of the modified fuel assembly

  18. Partial discharge characteristics and mechanism in voids at impulse voltages

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao, X F; Guo, Z F; Wang, Y Y; Li, J H; Li, Y M; Yao, X

    2011-01-01

    Partial discharge (PD) characteristics and mechanism in artificial cavities in an epoxy plate have been investigated for different void dimensions and impulse voltage waveforms. A differential measurement system was developed in order to detect PD current pulses effectively. Experimental results showed that the 50% probability PD inception voltage (PDIV 50 ) increases initially as the cavity diameter decreases at constant depth for double exponential impulses as well as oscillating impulses, but after aging, it becomes independent of the cavity diameter. Moreover, some distinctive characteristics of PD (e.g. main discharge and reverse discharge during the rise and fall phases of the applied voltage) were also investigated. The differences of the PD propagation and the mechanism between double exponential impulses and oscillating impulse were discussed

  19. Board characteristics: An empirical study of listed companies in Malaysia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cyril Ponnu

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigates five important characteristics of board committee members of various committees in public listed companies in Malaysia. The five characteristics include director type, tenure, age, internal activity and external activity. Sample of 111 listed companies were collected using simple random five sampling of the annual reports based on financial year 2005 posted online. Sample includes 6 committees with the highest frequency of occurrences – audit, remuneration, nomination, stock option, risk management and executive. Data collected was analyzed using tests of correlation, analysis of variance and regression. The results, however, do not support the hypothesis that members of committees tend to be non-executive directors, older, have longer tenure and show greater evidence of internal and external activities.

  20. Job characteristics, flow, and performance: the moderating role of conscientiousness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Demerouti, Evangelia

    2006-07-01

    The present article aims to show the importance of positive work-related experiences within occupational health psychology by examining the relationship between flow at work (i.e., absorption, work enjoyment, and intrinsic work motivation) and job performance. On the basis of the literature, it was hypothesized that (a) motivating job characteristics are positively related to flow at work and (b) conscientiousness moderates the relationship between flow and other ratings of (in-role and out-of-role) performance. The hypotheses were tested on a sample of 113 employees from several occupations. Results of moderated structural equation modeling analyses generally supported the hypotheses. Motivating job characteristics were predictive of flow, and flow predicted in-role and extra-role performance, for only conscientious employees.

  1. Clinical characteristics associated with Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato skin culture results in patients with erythema migrans.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Franc Strle

    Full Text Available Clinical characteristics associated with isolation of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato from skin have not been fully evaluated. To gain insight into predictors for a positive EM skin culture, we compared basic demographic, epidemiologic, and clinical data in 608 culture-proven and 501 culture-negative adult patients with solitary EM. A positive Borrelia spp. skin culture was associated with older age, a time interval of >2 days between tick bite and onset of the skin lesion, EM ≥ 5 cm in diameter, and location of the lesion on the extremities, whereas several other characteristics used as clinical case definition criteria for the diagnosis of EM (such as tick bite at the site of later EM, information on expansion of the skin lesion, central clearing were not. A patient with a 15-cm EM lesion had almost 3-fold greater odds for a positive skin culture than patients with a 5-cm lesion. Patients with a free time interval between the tick bite and onset of EM had the same probability of a positive skin culture as those who did not recall a tick bite (OR=1.02; however, the two groups had >3-fold greater odds for EM positivity than patients who reported a tick bite with no interval between the bite and onset of the lesion. In conclusion, several yet not all clinical characteristics used in EM case definitions were associated with positive Borrelia spp. skin culture. The findings are limited to European patients with solitary EM caused predominantly by B. afzelii but may not be valid for other situations.

  2. Effect of Family Education and Social Environment to Student Characteristic

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Charina Oktaviani

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The research aims to know whether or not an influence of family education and social environment on the characteristics of students during the accounting lesson at class XI IPS SMA Negeri I Pati; to know whether or not an influence of social environment on the characteristics of students during the accounting lesson at class XI IPS SMA Negeri I Pati; and to know whether or not an influence between family education and social environment on the characteristics of students during the accounting lesson at class XI IPS SMA Negeri I Pati. The population in this research is 71 students of class XI SMA Negeri I Pati. Method of data analysis in this research consists of percentage descriptive analysis, descriptive statistic, prerequisite test covering normality test and linearity test, multiple linear regression analysis, classical assumption test covering multicollinearity test and heteroscedasticity test, hypothesis test covering simultaneous test (F, coefficient of simultaneous determination (R2, partial test (t, and partial determinant coefficient (r2. Results shows that family education and social environment both simultaneously and individually have positive impacts on the student characteristics.

  3. Employees' Job Satisfaction: A Test of the Job Characteristics Model Among Social Work Practitioners.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blanz, Mathias

    2017-01-01

    The present article describes an investigation of the Job Characteristics Model (JCM) by Hackman and Oldham (1976) for the prediction of job satisfaction of employees in social work areas. While there is considerable evidence for the JCM with respect to profit-oriented organizations, it was tested whether it can also be applied to the non-profit sector. The present study surveyed 734 holders of jobs in social work in Germany in order to assess their job satisfaction and the core variables of the JCM (i.e., the five job characteristics and the three psychological states). Regression and mediation analyses were used to examine the relations between these variables. The results showed that the expected relations were remarkably in accordance with the findings from the for-profit sector. All model variables correlated positively with job satisfaction, with the psychological states showing higher coefficients than the job characteristics. In addition, the influence of job characteristics on job satisfaction was significantly mediated through the psychological states. These findings were supported by a replication study. Implications of the JCM for practice, in particular for assessment and interventions in social work organizations, are discussed.

  4. On hybridising lettuce seedlings with nanoparticles and the resultant effects on the organisms' electrical characteristics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gizzie, Nina; Mayne, Richard; Patton, David; Kendrick, Paul; Adamatzky, Andrew

    2016-09-01

    Lettuce seedlings are attracting interest in the computing world due to their capacity to become hybrid circuit components, more specifically, in the creation of living 'wires'. Previous studies have shown that seedlings can be hybridised with gold nanoparticles and withstand mild electrical currents. In this study, lettuce seedlings were hybridised with a variety of metallic and non-metallic nanomaterials: carbon nanotubes, graphene oxide, aluminium oxide and calcium phosphate. Toxic effects and the following electrical properties were monitored: mean potential, resistance and capacitance. Macroscopic observations revealed only slight deleterious health effects after administration with one variety of particle, aluminium oxide. Mean potential in calcium phosphate-hybridised seedlings showed a considerable increase when compared with the control, whereas those administered with graphene oxide showed a small decrease; there were no notable variations across the remaining treatments. Electrical resistance decreased substantially in graphene oxide-treated seedlings whereas slight increases were shown following calcium phosphate and carbon nanotubes applications. Capacitance showed no considerable variation across treated seedlings. These results demonstrate that use of some nanomaterials, specifically graphene oxide and calcium phosphate, may be towards biohybridisation purposes including the generation of living 'wires'. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Analytical results of variance reduction characteristics of biased Monte Carlo for deep-penetration problems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murthy, K.P.N.; Indira, R.

    1986-01-01

    An analytical formulation is presented for calculating the mean and variance of transmission for a model deep-penetration problem. With this formulation, the variance reduction characteristics of two biased Monte Carlo schemes are studied. The first is the usual exponential biasing wherein it is shown that the optimal biasing parameter depends sensitively on the scattering properties of the shielding medium. The second is a scheme that couples exponential biasing to the scattering angle biasing proposed recently. It is demonstrated that the coupled scheme performs better than exponential biasing

  6. THE RELATIONS BETWEEN MORPHOLOGICAL SPACE AND THE ATHLETES’ JUMPING AND THROWING EVENTS RESULT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Igor Stanojević

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The sample included 200 primary school students in the region of Prokuplje, male, aged 13 and 14 years, who, in addition to regular physical education classes, were included in the sports clubs training activities. The variables sample included 13 anthropometric measures as a set of predictors and four specific-motor tests of jumping (high jump and long jump and throwing events (shot put and javelin, as well as a set of criteria. The aim of this research was to examine the relation of morphological characteristics with the jumping and throwing events results, with elementary school students as athletes. Determining the relations and influence between the morphological characteristics and the specific motor skills was obtained by applying the canonical-correlation and regression analysis. The research of canonical correlation analysis results showed that there are statistically significant interlinks between canonical factors of morphological dimension Can. 0.81% (p = .000 and the results of examinee’s specific-motor skills in a long running jump, running high jump, shot put and javelin. Regression analysis results show that the morphological dimensions have an important prediction of the results of examinee’s specific-motor skills.

  7. A web-based survey of the relationship between buddhist religious practices, health, and psychological characteristics: research methods and preliminary results.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiist, W H; Sullivan, B M; Wayment, H A; Warren, M

    2010-03-01

    A Web-based survey was conducted to study the religious and health practices, medical history and psychological characteristics among Buddhist practitioners. This report describes the development, advertisement, administration and preliminary results of the survey. Over 1200 Buddhist practitioners responded. Electronic advertisements were the most effective means of recruiting participants. Survey participants were mostly well educated with high incomes and white. Participants engaged in Buddhist practices such as meditation, attending meetings and obtaining instruction from a monk or nun, and practiced healthful behaviors such as regular physical activity and not smoking. Buddhist meditative practice was related to psychological mindfulness and general health.

  8. Analysis of Survey Results in Terms of Selection of Characteristics of the Mining Rescuer to the Ranks of Rapid Response

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grodzicka, Aneta; Szlązak, Jan

    2016-06-01

    The authors of the current study undertook the subject of the analysis features of the mining rescuer as a member of the ranks of the rescue, with particular emphasis on the following parameters: heart rate, body weight, height, BMI, age and seniority in the mining and rescue. This publication concerns the analysis of the test results of these characteristics rescuer as a potential member of the ranks of the rescue, taking into account its risk appetite, stress resistance, attitude towards life, the role of the team, teamwork, attitude to work, motivation to work and physical fitness.

  9. ANALYSIS OF SURVEY RESULTS IN TERMS OF SELECTION OF CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MINING RESCUER TO THE RANKS OF RAPID RESPONSE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aneta GRODZICKA

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available The authors of the current study undertook the subject of the analysis features of the mining rescuer as a member of the ranks of the rescue, with particular emphasis on the following parameters: heart rate, body weight, height, BMI, age and seniority in the mining and rescue. This publication concerns the analysis of the test results of these characteristics rescuer as a potential member of the ranks of the rescue, taking into account its risk appetite, stress resistance, attitude towards life, the role of the team, teamwork, attitude to work, motivation to work and physical fitness.

  10. Effect of wind fluctuating on self-starting aerodynamics characteristics of VAWT

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    朱建阳; 蒋林; 赵慧

    2016-01-01

    The present work deals with an investigation of the self-starting aerodynamic characteristics of VAWT under fluctuating wind. In contrast to the previous studies, the rotational speed of the turbine is not fixed, the rotation of the turbine is determined by the dynamic interaction between the fluctuating wind and turbine. A weak coupling method is developed to simulate the dynamic interaction between the fluctuating wind and passive rotation turbine, and the results show that if the fluctuating wind with appropriate fluctuation amplitude and frequency, the self-starting aerodynamic characteristics of VAWT will be enhanced. It is also found that compared with the fluctuation amplitude, the fluctuation frequency of the variation in wind velocity is shown to have a minor effect on the performance of the turbine. The analysis will provide straightforward physical insight into the self-starting aerodynamic characteristics of VAWT under fluctuating wind.

  11. Calculation for Primary Combustion Characteristics of Boron-Based Fuel-Rich Propellant Based on BP Neural Network

    OpenAIRE

    Wan'e, Wu; Zuoming, Zhu

    2012-01-01

    A practical scheme for selecting characterization parameters of boron-based fuel-rich propellant formulation was put forward; a calculation model for primary combustion characteristics of boron-based fuel-rich propellant based on backpropagation neural network was established, validated, and then was used to predict primary combustion characteristics of boron-based fuel-rich propellant. The results show that the calculation error of burning rate is less than ± 7 . 3 %; in the formulation rang...

  12. Non-Destructive Analysis of Basic Surface Characteristics of Titanium Dental Implants Made by Miniature Machining

    Science.gov (United States)

    Babík, Ondrej; Czán, Andrej; Holubják, Jozef; Kameník, Roman; Pilc, Jozef

    2016-12-01

    One of the most best-known characteristic and important requirement of dental implant is made of biomaterials ability to create correct interaction between implant and human body. The most implemented material in manufacturing of dental implants is titanium of different grades of pureness. Since most of the implant surface is in direct contact with bone tissue, shape and integrity of said surface has great influence on the successful osseointegration. Among other characteristics of titanium that predetermine ideal biomaterial, it shows a high mechanical strength making precise machining miniature Increasingly difficult. The article is focused on evaluation of the resulting quality, integrity and characteristics of dental implants surface after machining.

  13. Vehicle operation characteristic under different ramp entrance conditions in underground road: Analysis, simulation and modelling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yao, Qiming; Liu, Shuo; Liu, Yang

    2018-05-01

    An experimental design was used to study the vehicle operation characteristics of different ramp entrance conditions in underground road. With driving simulator, the experimental scenarios include left or right ramp with first, second and third service level, respectively, to collect vehicle speed, acceleration, lateral displacement and location information at the ramp entrance section. By using paired t-test and ANOVA, the influence factors of vehicle operating characteristics are studied. The result shows that effects of ramp layout and mainline traffic environment on vehicle operation characteristics are significant. The regression model of vehicle traveling distance on acceleration lane is established. Suggestions are made for ramp entrance design of underground road.

  14. Experimental research on the structural characteristics of high organic soft soil in different deposition ages

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Fei; Lin, Guo-he

    2018-03-01

    High organic soft soil, which is distributed at Ji Lin province in China, has been studied by a lot of scholars. In the paper, structural characteristics with different deposition ages have been researched by experimental tests. Firstly, the characteristics of deposition age, degree of decompositon, high-pressure consolidation and microstructure have been measured by a series of tests. Secondly, structural strengths which were deposited in different ages, have been carried out to test the significant differences of stress-strain relations between remoulded and undisturbed high organic soft soil samples. Results showed that high organic soft soil which is deposited at different ages will influence its structural characteristics.

  15. Chaotic characteristic of electromagnetic radiation time series of coal or rock under different scales

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhen-Tang Liu; En-Lai Zhao; En-Yuan Wang; Jing Wang [China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou (China). School of Safety Engineering

    2009-02-15

    Based on chaos theory, the chaotic characteristics of electromagnetic radiation time series of coal or rock under different loads was studied. The results show that the correlation of electromagnetic radiation time series of small-scale coal or rock and coal mine converges to a stable saturation value, which shows that these electromagnetic radiation time series have chaos characteristics. When there is danger of coal seam burst, the value of the saturation correlation dimension D{sub 2} of the electromagnetic radiation time series is bigger and it changes greatly; when there is no danger, its value is smaller and changes smoothly. The change of saturation correlation of electromagnetic radiation time series can be used to forecast coal or rock dynamic disasters. 11 refs., 4 figs.

  16. Flight Measurements of the Flying Qualities of a Lockheed P-80A Airplane (Army No. 44-85099) - Stalling Characteristics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Seth B.; Cooper, George E.

    1947-01-01

    This report contains the flight-test results of the stalling characteristics measured during the flying-qualities investigation of the Lockheed P-8OA airplane (Army No. 44-85099). The tests were conducted in straight and turning flight with and without wing-tip tanks. These tests showed satisfactory stalling characteristics and adequate stall warning for all configurations and conditions tested.

  17. Flow and Noise Characteristics of Centrifugal Fan under Different Stall Conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lei Zhang

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available An implicit, time-accurate 3D Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS solver is used to simulate the rotating stall phenomenon in a centrifugal fan. The goal of the present work is to shed light on the flow field and particularly the aerodynamic noise at different stall conditions. Aerodynamic characteristics, frequency domain characteristics, and the contours of sound power level under two different stall conditions are discussed in this paper. The results show that, with the decrease of valve opening, the amplitude of full pressure and flow fluctuations tends to be larger and the stall frequency remains the same. The flow field analysis indicates that the area occupied by stall cells expands with the decrease of flow rate. The noise calculation based on the simulation underlines the role of vortex noise after the occurrence of rotating stall, showing that the high noise area rotates along with the stall cell in the circumferential direction.

  18. Model-based Adjustment of Droplet Characteristic for 3D Electronic Printing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lin Na

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The major challenge in 3D electronic printing is the print resolution and accuracy. In this paper, a typical mode - lumped element modeling method (LEM - is adopted to simulate the droplet jetting characteristic. This modeling method can quickly get the droplet velocity and volume with a high accuracy. Experimental results show that LEM has a simpler structure with the sufficient simulation and prediction accuracy.

  19. Characteristic Asphalt Concrete Wearing Course (ACWC) Using Variation Lime Filler

    Science.gov (United States)

    Permana, R. A.; Pramesti, F. P.; Setyawan, A.

    2018-03-01

    This research use of lime filler Sukaraja expected add durability layers of concrete pavement is asphalt damage caused by the weather and load traffic. This study attempts to know how much value characteristic Marshall on a mixture of concrete asphalt using lime filler. This research uses experimental methods that is with a pilot to get results, thus will look filler utilization lime on construction concrete asphalt variation in filler levels 2 %, 3 %, 4 %.The results showed that the use of lime filler will affect characteristic a mixture of concrete asphalt. The more filler chalk used to increase the value of stability. On the cretaceous filler 2 % value of stability is 1067,04 kg. When lime filler levels added to the levels of filler 4 %, the value of stability increased to 1213,92 kg. The flexibility increased the number of filler as levels lime 2 % to 4 % suggests that are conducted more stiff mix.

  20. Essential Characteristics of Plasma Antennas Filled with He-Ar Penning Gases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sun Naifeng; Li Wenzhong; Wang Shiqing; Li Jian; Ci Jiaxiang

    2012-01-01

    Based on the essential theory of Penning gases, the discharge characteristics of He-Ar Penning gases in insulating tubes were analyzed qualitatively. The relation between the effective length of an antenna column filled with He-Ar Penning gases and the applied radio frequency (RF) power was investigated both theoretically and experimentally. The distribution of the plasma density along the antenna column in different conditions was studied. The receiving characteristics of local frequency modulated (FM) electromagnetic waves by the plasma antenna filled with He-Ar Penning gases were compared with those by an aluminum antenna with the same dimensions. Results show that it is feasible to take plasma antennas filled with He-Ar Penning gases as receiving antennas.

  1. Realization of method of characteristics based on customization of AutoCAD

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Qichang; Wu Hongchun; Cao Liangzhi

    2009-01-01

    The method of characteristics (MOC) solves the neutron transport equation along each characteristics line. Theoretically, it is independent of the geometry shape of boundary and region. However, the geometry should be described, and ray tracing should be carried out firstly. In most of the existing MOC codes, the geometry description and ray tracing still have more or less limitation. To wipe off these geometry limitations for using MOC in more complex fuel assembly calculation, a new MOC code AutoMOC based on the customization of AutoCAD was developed. The numerical results show that AutoMOC not only has high flexibility in geometry but also gives accurate solutions in comparison with state-of-the-art methodologies. (authors)

  2. Storage characteristics of hydrogen by titanium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, S. H.; Kang, H. S.; Back, S. W.; Choi, H. J.; Kim, K. R.; An, D. H.; Lee, H. S.; Jung, H. S.

    2000-01-01

    Hydrogen absorption experiments were performed by the sponge, strip and rod types of titanium(Ti) for investigating the absorption characteristics of hydrogen. From experimental results, Ti sponge showed the high hydrogen absorption capacity inspite of low reaction temperature(25 .deg. C), the H/M, which mean the capacity of hydrogen absorption was measured 2.0 for Ti sponge at 25 .deg. C. However, in case of strip and rod type of Ti, the hydrogen absorption capacities were very low in the experimental condition of 25 .deg. C. The pulverizing phenomena after metal hydriding reaction was observed in both Ti strip and Ti rod. However, the pulverizing phenomena was not observed in the Ti sponges because of high surface area

  3. CLIMATIC CHARACTERISTICS OF TYPHOON PRECIPITATION OVER CHINA

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    WANG Yong-mei; REN Fu-min; LI Wei-jing; WANG Xiao-ling

    2008-01-01

    The spatio-temporal characteristics of typhoon precipitation over China are analyzed in this study. The results show that typhoon precipitation covers most of central-eastern China. Typhoon precipitation gradually decreases from the southeastern coastal regions to the northwestern mainland. The maximum annual typhoon precipitation exceeds 700 mm in central-eastern Taiwan and part of Hainan, while the minimum annual typhoon precipitation occurs in parts of Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi and Sichuan, with values less than 10 mm. Generally, typhoons produce precipitation over China during April - December with a peak in August. The annual typhoon precipitation time series for observation stations are examined for long-term trends. The results show that decreasing trends exist in most of the stations from 1957 to 2004 and are statistically significant in parts of Taiwan, Hainan, coastal Southeast China and southern Northeast China. The anomaly of typhoon precipitation mainly results from that of the general circulation over Asia and the Walker Cell circulation over the equatorial central and eastern Pacific. Typhoon torrential rain is one of the extreme rainfall events in the southeastern coastal regions and parts of central mainland. In these regions, torrential rains are mostly caused by typhoons.

  4. Bone cells in birds show exceptional surface area, a characteristic tracing back to saurischian dinosaurs of the late Triassic.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John M Rensberger

    Full Text Available Dinosaurs are unique among terrestrial tetrapods in their body sizes, which range from less than 3 gm in hummingbirds to 70,000 kg or more in sauropods. Studies of the microstructure of bone tissue have indicated that large dinosaurs, once believed to be slow growing, attained maturity at rates comparable to or greater than those of large mammals. A number of structural criteria in bone tissue have been used to assess differences in rates of osteogenesis in extinct taxa, including counts of lines of arrested growth and the density of vascular canals.Here, we examine the density of the cytoplasmic surface of bone-producing cells, a feature which may set an upper limit to the rate of osteogenesis. Osteocyte lacunae and canaliculi, the cavities in bone containing osteocytes and their extensions, were measured in thin-sections of primary (woven and parallel fibered bone in a diversity of tetrapods. The results indicate that bone cell surfaces are more densely organized in the Saurischia (extant birds, extinct Mesozoic Theropoda and Sauropodomorpha than in other tetrapods, a result of denser branching of the cell extensions. The highest postnatal growth rates among extant tetrapods occur in modern birds, the only surviving saurischians, and the finding of exceptional cytoplasmic surface area of the cells that produce bone in this group suggests a relationship with bone growth rate. In support of this relationship is finding the lowest cell surface density among the saurischians examined in Dinornis, a member of a group of ratites that evolved in New Zealand in isolation from mammalian predators and show other evidence of lowered maturation rates.

  5. Bone cells in birds show exceptional surface area, a characteristic tracing back to saurischian dinosaurs of the late Triassic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rensberger, John M; Martínez, Ricardo N

    2015-01-01

    Dinosaurs are unique among terrestrial tetrapods in their body sizes, which range from less than 3 gm in hummingbirds to 70,000 kg or more in sauropods. Studies of the microstructure of bone tissue have indicated that large dinosaurs, once believed to be slow growing, attained maturity at rates comparable to or greater than those of large mammals. A number of structural criteria in bone tissue have been used to assess differences in rates of osteogenesis in extinct taxa, including counts of lines of arrested growth and the density of vascular canals. Here, we examine the density of the cytoplasmic surface of bone-producing cells, a feature which may set an upper limit to the rate of osteogenesis. Osteocyte lacunae and canaliculi, the cavities in bone containing osteocytes and their extensions, were measured in thin-sections of primary (woven and parallel fibered) bone in a diversity of tetrapods. The results indicate that bone cell surfaces are more densely organized in the Saurischia (extant birds, extinct Mesozoic Theropoda and Sauropodomorpha) than in other tetrapods, a result of denser branching of the cell extensions. The highest postnatal growth rates among extant tetrapods occur in modern birds, the only surviving saurischians, and the finding of exceptional cytoplasmic surface area of the cells that produce bone in this group suggests a relationship with bone growth rate. In support of this relationship is finding the lowest cell surface density among the saurischians examined in Dinornis, a member of a group of ratites that evolved in New Zealand in isolation from mammalian predators and show other evidence of lowered maturation rates.

  6. Study of locations’characteristics for stabilization of street vendors in Surakarta City

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahayu, M. J.; Buchori, I.; Widjajanti, R.

    2018-01-01

    Street vendors are usually centered around particular areas where they have made adaptations based on their activities, instead of scattered all over the city. These locations tend to be close to street vendors’ primary activities and consumers, occupy the public lands, and are productive and accessible. The Municipality of Surakarta has managed the street vendors in the form of stabilization and relocation. In Surakarta, there are 24 areas used for stabilization of street vendors varying in characteristics and quantities. This study uses a spatial analysis aiming to explain the characteristics of locations used for stabilization of street vendors and to identify their physical condition and arrangement. Furthermore, all of the research results will be used as the criteria in choosing the new locations that are suitable for the street vendors’ characteristics and consumers’ preference. The results show that the locations are on the roadsides of the neighborhood, local, and secondary collector roads. The traffic conditions in the stabilization areas are ranging from the very busy until relatively busy level since they are close to activities for trade, education, recreation, offices, and settlements.

  7. The Field Emission Characteristics of Titanium-Doped Nano-Diamonds

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    YANG Yan-Ning; ZHANG Zhi-Yong; ZHANG Fu-Chun; DONG Jun-Tang; ZHAO Wu; ZHAI Chun-Xue; ZHANG Wei-Hu

    2012-01-01

    An electrophoresis solution,prepared in a specific ratio of titanium (Ti)-doped nano-diamond,is dispersed by ultrasound and the nano-diamond coating is then deposited on a polished Ti substrate by electrophoresis.After high-temperature vacuum annealing,the appearance of the surface and the microstructures of the coating are observed by a metallomicroscope,scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy.The field emission characteristics and luminescence features are also tested,and the mechanism of the field emission characteristics of the Ti-doped nano-diamond is analyzed.The experimental results show that under the same conditions,the diamond-coated surface (by deposition) is more uniform after doping with 5 mg of Ti powder.Compared with the undoped nano-diamond cathode,the turn-on fields decline from 6.95 to 5.95 V/μm.When the electric field strength is 13.80 V/μm,the field emission current density increases to 130.00 μA/cm2.Under the applied fields,the emission current is stable and the luminescence is at its best,while the field emission characteristics of the 10 mg Ti-doped coating become worse,as does the luminescence.The reason for this could be that an excessive amount of TiC is generated on the surface of the coating.%An electrophoresis solution, prepared in a speciGc ratio of titanium (Ti)-doped nano-diamond, is dispersed by ultrasound and the nano-diamond coating is then deposited on a polished Ti substrate by electrophoresis. After high-temperature vacuum annealing, the appearance of the surface and the microstructures of the coating are observed by a metallomicroscope, scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The field emission characteristics and luminescence features are also tested, and the mechanism of the field emission characteristics of the Ti-doped nano-diamond is analyzed. The experimental results show that under the same conditions, the diamond-coated surface (by deposition) is more uniform after doping with 5 mg of Ti

  8. Family characteristics of stuttering children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simić-Ružić Budimirka

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available INTRODUCTION Stuttering is a functional impairment of speech, which is manifested by conscious, but nonintentionally interrupted, disharmonic and disrhythmic fluctuation of sound varying in frequency and intensity. Aetiology of this disorder has been conceived within the frame of theoretical models, which tend to connect genetic and epigenetic factors. OBJECTIVE The goal of the paper was to study the characteristics of the family functioning of stuttering children in comparison to the family functioning of children without speech disorder, which confirmed the justification of the introduction of family orientated therapeutic interventions into the therapy spectrum of child stuttering. METHOD Seventy-nine nucleus families of 3 to 6 year-old children were examined; of these, 39 families had stuttering children and 40 had children without speech disorder. The assessment of family characteristics was made using the Family Health Scale, an observer-rating scale which according to semistructured interview and operational criteria, measures 6 basic dimensions of family functioning: Emotional State, Communication, Borders, Alliances, Adaptability & Stability, Family Skills. A total score calculated from the basic dimensions, is considered as a global index of family health. RESULTS Families with stuttering children compared to families with children without speech disorder showed significantly lower scores in all the basic dimension of family functioning, as well as in the total score on the Family Health Scale. CONCLUSION Our research results have shown that stuttering children in comparison with children without speech disorder live in families with unfavorable emotional atmosphere, impaired communication and worse control over situational and developmental difficulties, which affect children's development and well-being. In the light of previous research, the application of family therapy modified according to the child's needs is now considered

  9. Assessment of the relationships between morphometric characteristics of relief with quantitative and qualitative characteristics of forests using ASTER and SRTM digital terrain models

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. M. Chernikhovsky

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available In the article are shown results of assessment of relationships between quantitative and qualitative characteristics of forests and morphometric characteristics of relief on an example model plot in Nanayskoe forest district of Khabarovsk Territory. The relevance of the investigation is connected with need for improvement of the system of forest evaluation operations in the Russian Federation, including with use of the landscape approach. The tasks of the investigation were assessment of relationships between characteristics of relief and characteristics of forest vegetation cover on different levels of forest management; evaluation of morphometric characteristics of relief are important for structure and productivity of forests; comparison of the results obtained through the use of digital terrain models ASTER and SRTM. Geoinformatic projects were formed for a model plot on the basis of digital terrain models and data of forest mensuration and State (National Forest Inventory. On the basis of the developed method with use geoinformatic technologies were estimated morphometric characteristics of relief (average height, standard deviation of height, entropy, exposition and gradient of slopes, indexes of ruggedness and roughness, quantitative and qualitative characteristics of forests. The multifactor regression analysis, where characteristics of forests (as dependent variables and morphometric characteristics of relief (as independent variables were used, have been done. As a result of research, the set of morphometric characteristics of relief able to influence to variability of quantitative and qualitative characteristics of forests was identified. The set of linear regression equations able to explain 30–50 % of variability of dependent variables was obtained. The regression equations, obtained on base of digital terrain models ASTER and SRTM, comparable to each other in strength of relations (coefficients of determination, but includes the

  10. Tsunami hazard assessments with consideration of uncertain earthquakes characteristics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sepulveda, I.; Liu, P. L. F.; Grigoriu, M. D.; Pritchard, M. E.

    2017-12-01

    The uncertainty quantification of tsunami assessments due to uncertain earthquake characteristics faces important challenges. First, the generated earthquake samples must be consistent with the properties observed in past events. Second, it must adopt an uncertainty propagation method to determine tsunami uncertainties with a feasible computational cost. In this study we propose a new methodology, which improves the existing tsunami uncertainty assessment methods. The methodology considers two uncertain earthquake characteristics, the slip distribution and location. First, the methodology considers the generation of consistent earthquake slip samples by means of a Karhunen Loeve (K-L) expansion and a translation process (Grigoriu, 2012), applicable to any non-rectangular rupture area and marginal probability distribution. The K-L expansion was recently applied by Le Veque et al. (2016). We have extended the methodology by analyzing accuracy criteria in terms of the tsunami initial conditions. Furthermore, and unlike this reference, we preserve the original probability properties of the slip distribution, by avoiding post sampling treatments such as earthquake slip scaling. Our approach is analyzed and justified in the framework of the present study. Second, the methodology uses a Stochastic Reduced Order model (SROM) (Grigoriu, 2009) instead of a classic Monte Carlo simulation, which reduces the computational cost of the uncertainty propagation. The methodology is applied on a real case. We study tsunamis generated at the site of the 2014 Chilean earthquake. We generate earthquake samples with expected magnitude Mw 8. We first demonstrate that the stochastic approach of our study generates consistent earthquake samples with respect to the target probability laws. We also show that the results obtained from SROM are more accurate than classic Monte Carlo simulations. We finally validate the methodology by comparing the simulated tsunamis and the tsunami records for

  11. [Diagnostic imaging of high-grade astrocytoma: heterogeneity of clinical manifestation, image characteristics, and histopathological findings].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okajima, Kaoru; Ohta, Yoshio

    2012-10-01

    Recent developments in diagnostic radiology, which have enabled accurate differential diagnoses of brain tumors, have been well described in the last three decades. MR and PET imaging can also provide information to predict histological grades and prognoses that might influence treatment strategies. However, high-grade astrocytomas consist of many different subtypes that are associated with different imaging and histological characteristics. Hemorrhage and necrosis results in a variety of imaging features, and infiltrative tumor growth entrapping normal neurons may cause different clinical manifestations. We reviewed patients with high-grade astrocytomas that showed various imaging characteristics, with special emphasis on initial symptoms and histological features. Clinicopathological characteristics of astrocytomas were also compared with other malignant tumors. Neurological deficits were not notable in patients with grade 3-4 astrocytomas when they showed infiltrative tumor growth, while brain metastases with compact cellular proliferation caused more neurological symptoms. Infiltrative tumors did not show any enhancing masses on MR imaging, but these tumors may show intratumor heterogeneity. Seizures were reported to be more frequent in low-grade glioma and in secondary glioblastoma. Tumor heterogeneity was also reported in molecular genetic profile, and investigators identified some subsets of astrocytomas. They investigated IHD1/2 mutation, EGFR amplification, TP53 mutation, Ki-67 index, etc. In summary, high-grade astrocytomas are not homogenous groups of tumors, and this is associated with the heterogeneity of clinical manifestation, image characteristics, and histopathological findings. Molecular studies may explain the tumor heterogeneity in the near future.

  12. From preferred to actual mate characteristics: the case of human body shape.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexandre Courtiol

    Full Text Available The way individuals pair to produce reproductive units is a major factor determining evolution. This process is complex because it is determined not only by individual mating preferences, but also by numerous other factors such as competition between mates. Consequently, preferred and actual characteristics of mates obtained should differ, but this has rarely been addressed. We simultaneously measured mating preferences for stature, body mass, and body mass index, and recorded corresponding actual partner's characteristics for 116 human couples from France. Results show that preferred and actual partner's characteristics differ for male judges, but not for females. In addition, while the correlation between all preferred and actual partner's characteristics appeared to be weak for female judges, it was strong for males: while men prefer women slimmer than their actual partner, those who prefer the slimmest women also have partners who are slimmer than average. This study therefore suggests that the influences of preferences on pair formation can be sex-specific. It also illustrates that this process can lead to unexpected results on the real influences of mating preferences: traits considered as highly influencing attractiveness do not necessarily have a strong influence on the actual pairing, the reverse being also possible.

  13. Image Quality Characteristics of Handheld Display Devices for Medical Imaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamazaki, Asumi; Liu, Peter; Cheng, Wei-Chung; Badano, Aldo

    2013-01-01

    Handheld devices such as mobile phones and tablet computers have become widespread with thousands of available software applications. Recently, handhelds are being proposed as part of medical imaging solutions, especially in emergency medicine, where immediate consultation is required. However, handheld devices differ significantly from medical workstation displays in terms of display characteristics. Moreover, the characteristics vary significantly among device types. We investigate the image quality characteristics of various handheld devices with respect to luminance response, spatial resolution, spatial noise, and reflectance. We show that the luminance characteristics of the handheld displays are different from those of workstation displays complying with grayscale standard target response suggesting that luminance calibration might be needed. Our results also demonstrate that the spatial characteristics of handhelds can surpass those of medical workstation displays particularly for recent generation devices. While a 5 mega-pixel monochrome workstation display has horizontal and vertical modulation transfer factors of 0.52 and 0.47 at the Nyquist frequency, the handheld displays released after 2011 can have values higher than 0.63 at the respective Nyquist frequencies. The noise power spectra for workstation displays are higher than 1.2×10−5 mm2 at 1 mm−1, while handheld displays have values lower than 3.7×10−6 mm2. Reflectance measurements on some of the handheld displays are consistent with measurements for workstation displays with, in some cases, low specular and diffuse reflectance coefficients. The variability of the characterization results among devices due to the different technological features indicates that image quality varies greatly among handheld display devices. PMID:24236113

  14. Electrical and structural characteristics of spray deposited (Zn O)x-(Cd O)1-x

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alarcon F, G.; Pelaez R, A.; Villa G, M.; Carmona T, S.; Luna G, J. A.; Aguilar F, M.; Vasquez P, B.; Falcony, C.

    2013-01-01

    (Zn O) x (Cd O) 1-x thin films were deposited on glass substrates at 300 and 400 C by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis with compositions ranging from Cd O to Zn O. The electrical properties were obtained by impedance spectroscopy and Hall Effect measurements. Scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction, were used to study the structural characteristics of the films. Ellipsometry, in addition, was used to confirm the structural characteristics. The films as deposited resulted mainly polycrystalline and dense, depending on the substrate temperature and on their relative composition. All the films showed n-type conductivity and the films with intermediate compositions resulted in a mixture of both phases; Cd O and Zn O. Hall Effect measurements showed that the highest conductivity of Cd O was close to 1 x 10 3 (Ω-cm) -1 , the highest value obtained for Cd O, without doping. Impedance spectroscopy confirmed the Hall Effect results, showing that the highly conducting character of Cd O influenced dramatically the conductivity of the (Zn O) x (Cd O) 1-x films. In addition, depending on the substrate temperature and on the relative composition of the films, both, the bulk or grains, as well as the grain boundaries properties limit the conductivity in them. (Author)

  15. Utilization of the national Portland cement for immobilizing radioactive wastes - Physical characteristics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rzyski, B.M.; Suarez, A.A.

    1988-01-01

    This paper shows the results obtained in the study of the national Portland cement, P320, as matrix for radioactive nitric waste incorporation. Cement use practice in other countries is common for this purposes and demonstrates to be cheap and accessible when low and medium level wastes are immobilized. Some of physical characteristics as: homogeneity,mechanical strenght, setting and porosity are analysed due to water-cement ratio and salt contents. Those characteristics which are proper of the final product, must be controlled in such way to assure a long time integrity of the wasteform. The establishment of process and quality control criteria are based in such kind of data. (author) [pt

  16. Voltage-current characteristics of a pin-plate system with different plate configurations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Feng, Zhuangbo; Long, Zhengwei

    2013-01-01

    In this paper, the voltage-current (V-I) characteristics of a pin-plate system with four types of collection plate configurations are studied experimentally. The collection plates consider a single metal plate, a metal plate with a fly ash cake layer, a metal plate with a clean filter media and a metal plate with a dirty filter media. The results show that the clean filter media has no obvious effect on the V-I characteristics. But the dirty filter media reduces the current density because of its high resistance. The thick fly ash cake layer increase current density because of the anti-corona effect but the increment is not very obvious.

  17. Evaluating the atmospheric dispersion characteristics of Suez Canal area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aly, A.I.M.; Sabek, G.; Abd El-Aal, M.; El-Ghamry, M.

    1988-01-01

    The atmospheric dispersion characteristics of Suez Canal area were determined for subsequent estimation of the environmental impacts of transporting radioactive or hazardous material through the Suez Canal and for the study of environmental pollution resulting from fossil power plants. The atmospheric stability classes were determined at three stations: Port Said, Ismailia and Port Tawfiek (Suez). For achieving this purpose, a computer program was developed through which the atmospheric stability classes A - F and insolation were determined by combining the measured meteorological parameters and the sun elevation which was calculated by another developed computer program with the help of astronomical tables. The results show that the most frequent stability class at Port-Said and Suez is stability class D (neutral condition), whereas at Ismailia area the moderately stable class F, which is the inversion condition with unfavourable dispersion characteristics, is prevailing. The determination of the frequency of stability classes will make it possible to calculate the concentration of a pollutant at a given distance from the source and therefore will be used in dose assessment

  18. A numerical analysis on the heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of welding type plate heat exchangers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jeong, Jong Yun; Kang, Yong Tae; Nam, Sang Chul

    2008-01-01

    Numerical analysis was carried out to examine the heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of plate heat exchangers for absorption application using computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD) technique. A commercial CFD software package, FLUENT was used to predict the characteristics of heat transfer, pressure drop and flow distribution within plate heat exchangers. In this paper, a welded plate heat exchanger with the plate of chevron embossing type was numerically analyzed by controlling mass flow rate, solution concentration, and inlet temperatures. The working fluid is H 2 O/LiBr solution with the LiBr concentration of 50∼60% in mass. The numerical simulation show reasonably good agreement with the experimental results. Also, the numerical results show that plate of the chevron shape gives better results than plate of the elliptical shape from the view points of heat transfer and pressure drop. These results provide a guideline to apply the welded PHE for the solution heat exchanger of absorption systems

  19. Physical Characteristics of Cocoa Butter and Palm Stearin Mixture in Milk Chocolate System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Misnawi Jati

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available Chocolate products for consumption in tropical areas frequently become soft and tend to bloom due to melting and migration of fat contained, the product becomes dully and less interesting. Fat fraction determines chocolate texture, appearance and its handling. Objective of this research is to study the characteristic of mixed fat of cocoa butter, milk fat and stearin; in which the latest was added into a chocolate formula expected to increase its physical characteristic. Response Surface Methodology design was used for the study at stearin concentration of 10–60 g kg-1 and lecithin of 1–7 g kg-1. Parameters of the study were fat melting point, chocolate hardness and preference on chocolate texture and overall acceptance. Result of the study showed that the stearin concentration significantly altered chocolate physical characteristic, where the lecithin concentration did not influence. The presence of stearin in milk chocolate system showed fat eutectic phenomenon. Substitution of cocoa butter with stearin up to concentration of 35 g kg-1 in the formulation showed a clear eutectic; however, at higher concentrations the phenomenon was compensated by the increase in stearin crystal seed which raised melting point and hardness. This result also clearly indicated that cocoa butter substitution with palm stearin to obtain resistant chocolate should be designed in a range of 43–60 g kg-1 in its formulation, equal to 15–18% from cocoa butter added.Key words : chocolate, cocoa butter, stearin, eutectic, solidifier, emulsifier, melting point, texture.

  20. Stray light characteristics of the diffractive telescope system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Dun; Wang, Lihua; Yang, Wei; Wu, Shibin; Fan, Bin; Wu, Fan

    2018-02-01

    Diffractive telescope technology is an innovation solution in construction of large light-weight space telescope. However, the nondesign orders of diffractive optical elements (DOEs) may affect the imaging performance as stray light. To study the stray light characteristics of a diffractive telescope, a prototype was developed and its stray light analysis model was established. The stray light characteristics including ghost, point source transmittance, and veiling glare index (VGI) were analyzed. During the star imaging test of the prototype, the ghost images appeared around the star image as the exposure time of the charge-coupled device improving, consistent with the simulation results. The test result of VGI was 67.11%, slightly higher than the calculated value 57.88%. The study shows that the same order diffraction of the diffractive primary lens and correcting DOE is the main factor that causes ghost images. The stray light sources outside the field of view can illuminate the image plane through nondesign orders diffraction of the primary lens and contributes to more than 90% of the stray light flux on the image plane. In summary, it is expected that these works will provide some guidance for optimizing the imaging performance of diffractive telescopes.

  1. Study on precursory characteristics of granite failure based on infrasonic energy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jian-ping Wei

    Full Text Available To study signal characteristics of precursory infrasound of granite failure, coal-rock stress loading device and infrasound acquisition device were adopted to perform infrasound test in uniaxial loading process for granite samples. Wavelet filtering, infrasonic energy methods were used to process and analyze the test results. The results show that the infrasonic waves caused by the failure of rock samples are mainly in the middle and low frequency. Moreover, in the loading process, the ratio of relative energy of infrasound in different frequency sections and the total relative energy of the whole low frequency section both exhibit significant regularity of stage change, which is in consistent with the compaction stage, elastic stage, plastic stage of rock deformation. Additionally, the precursory characteristics of infrasound before rock failures are prominent and easy to be recognized. Meanwhile, infrasonic wave has the advantage of low attenuation in propagation process, which grants the superiority of infrasound prediction technology. A new method of rock failure prediction based on infrasound is formed, which provides an important reference for rock damage prediction in coal mining process. Keywords: Infrasonic energy, Wavelet filtering, Precursory characteristics, Failure prediction

  2. The Influence of Top Management Team Characteristics on BPD Performance (P.155-166

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joy Elly Tulung

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Based on ”upper echelons theory”, this paper investigates the relation between top management team composition and BPD performance. For top management team characteristics, we employ age, level of education, background of education, gender, and functional background, while for measured the BPD performance we employ return on asset (ROA, return on equity (ROE, capital adequacy ratio (CAR, net interest margin (NIM, loan to deposit ratio (LDR, non-performing loan (NPL and operation expenses to operation income (BOPO. The results show that all characteristics have positive significant influences on BPD performance.Keywords: Top Management Team,BPD Performance, Upper Echelons Theory 

  3. Singular characteristic tracking algorithm for improved solution accuracy of the discrete ordinates method with isotropic scattering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Duo, J. I.; Azmy, Y. Y.

    2007-01-01

    A new method, the Singular Characteristics Tracking algorithm, is developed to account for potential non-smoothness across the singular characteristics in the exact solution of the discrete ordinates approximation of the transport equation. Numerical results show improved rate of convergence of the solution to the discrete ordinates equations in two spatial dimensions with isotropic scattering using the proposed methodology. Unlike the standard Weighted Diamond Difference methods, the new algorithm achieves local convergence in the case of discontinuous angular flux along the singular characteristics. The method also significantly reduces the error for problems where the angular flux presents discontinuous spatial derivatives across these lines. For purposes of verifying the results, the Method of Manufactured Solutions is used to generate analytical reference solutions that permit estimating the local error in the numerical solution. (authors)

  4. Emission characteristics of dispenser cathodes with a fine-grained tungsten top layer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kimura, S.; Higuchi, T.; Ouchi, Y.; Uda, E.; Nakamura, O.; Sudo, T.; Koyama, K.

    1997-02-01

    In order to improve the emission stability of the Ir-coated dispenser cathode under ion bombardment, a fine-grained tungsten top layer was applied on the substrate porous tungsten plug before Ir coating. The emission characteristics were studied after being assembled in a CRT gun. Cathode current was measured under pulse operation in a range of 0.1-9% duty. Remarkable anti-ion bombardment characteristics were observed over the range of 1-6% duty. The improved cathode showed 1.5 times higher emission current than that of a conventional Ir-coated dispenser cathode at 4% duty. AES analysis showed that the recovering rates of surface Ba and O atoms after ion bombardment were 2.5 times higher. From these results it is confirmed that the Ir coated cathode with a fine-grained tungsten top layer is provided with a good tolerance against the ion bombardment.

  5. On Corestriction Principle in non-abelian Galois cohomology over local and global fields. II: Characteristic p > 0

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nguyen Quoc Thang

    2004-08-01

    We show the validity of te Corestriction Principle for non-abelian cohomology of connected reductive groups over local ad global fields of characteristic p > 0 , by extending some results by Kneser and Douai. (author)

  6. Individual class evaluation and effective teaching characteristics in integrated curricula.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hwang, Jung Eun; Kim, Na Jin; Song, Meiying; Cui, Yinji; Kim, Eun Ju; Park, In Ae; Lee, Hye In; Gong, Hye Jin; Kim, Su Young

    2017-12-12

    In an integrated curriculum, multiple instructors take part in a course in the form of team teaching. Accordingly, medical schools strive to manage each course run by numerous instructors. As part of the curriculum management, course evaluation is conducted, but a single, retrospective course evaluation does not comprehensively capture student perception of classes by different instructors. This study aimed to demonstrate the need for individual class evaluation, and further to identify teaching characteristics that instructors need to keep in mind when preparing classes. From 2014 to 2015, students at one medical school left comments on evaluation forms after each class. Courses were also assessed after each course. Their comments were categorized by connotation (positive or negative) and by subject. Within each subject category, test scores were compared between positively and negatively mentioned classes. The Mann-Whitney U test was performed to test group differences in scores. The same method was applied to the course evaluation data. Test results for course evaluation showed group difference only in the practice/participation category. However, test results for individual class evaluation showed group differences in six categories: difficulty, main points, attitude, media/contents, interest, and materials. That is, the test scores of classes positively mentioned in six domains were significantly higher than those of negatively mentioned classes. It was proved that individual class evaluation is needed to manage multi-instructor courses in integrated curricula of medical schools. Based on the students' extensive feedback, we identified teaching characteristics statistically related to academic achievement. School authorities can utilize these findings to encourage instructors to develop effective teaching characteristics in class preparation.

  7. The water kefir grain inoculum determines the characteristics of the resulting water kefir fermentation process.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laureys, D; De Vuyst, L

    2017-03-01

    To investigate the influence of the water kefir grain inoculum on the characteristics of the water kefir fermentation process. Three water kefir fermentation processes were started with different water kefir grain inocula and followed as a function of time regarding microbial species diversity, community dynamics, substrate consumption profile and metabolite production course. The inoculum determined the water kefir grain growth, the viable counts on the grains, the time until total carbohydrate exhaustion, the final metabolite concentrations and the microbial species diversity. There were always 2-10 lactic acid bacterial cells for every yeast cell and the majority of these micro-organisms was always present on the grains. Lactobacillus paracasei, Lactobacillus hilgardii, Lactobacillus nagelii and Saccharomyces cerevisiae were always present and may be the key micro-organisms during water kefir fermentation. Low water kefir grain growth was associated with small grains with high viable counts of micro-organisms, fast fermentation and low pH values, and was not caused by the absence of exopolysaccharide-producing lactic acid bacteria. The water kefir grain inoculum influences the microbial species diversity and characteristics of the fermentation process. A select group of key micro-organisms was always present during fermentation. This study allows a rational selection of a water kefir grain inoculum. © 2016 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

  8. Physicochemical and Sensory Characteristics of Sponge Cakes with Rubus coreanus Powder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Jun Ho

    2015-09-01

    To develop new type of sponge cake, the effects of partial (0~40%) replacement with Rubus coreanus powder (RCP) on the quality characteristics of sponge cakes were investigated. The pH level and moisture content ranged from 4.05~8.23 and 28.49~36.59, respectively, and significantly decreased upon addition of RCP (PBaking loss rate and cake firmness significantly increased with higher RCP content in the formulation, whereas morphological characteristics of cakes such as height, volume, and symmetry indices significantly decreased (P<0.05). For crumb color values, L*- and b*-values significantly decreased while a*-value significantly increased as a result of RCP substitution (P<0.05). Hedonic sensory results indicated that sponge cakes supplemented with 30~40% RCP showed the most favorable acceptance scores for most of the sensory attributes evaluated. Overall, Rubus coreanus sponge cake could be developed with comparable physicochemical qualities without sacrificing consumer acceptability.

  9. Finite Element Analysis and Experimental Study on Elbow Vibration Transmission Characteristics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qing-shan, Dai; Zhen-hai, Zhang; Shi-jian, Zhu

    2017-11-01

    Pipeline system vibration is one of the significant factors leading to the vibration and noise of vessel. Elbow is widely used in the pipeline system. However, the researches about vibration of elbow are little, and there is no systematic study. In this research, we firstly analysed the relationship between elbow vibration transmission characteristics and bending radius by ABAQUS finite element simulation. Then, we conducted the further vibration test to observe the vibration transmission characteristics of different elbows which have the same diameter and different bending radius under different flow velocity. The results of simulation calculation and experiment both showed that the vibration acceleration levels of the pipeline system decreased with the increase of bending radius of the elbow, which was beneficial to reduce the transmission of vibration in the pipeline system. The results could be used as reference for further studies and designs for the low noise installation of pipeline system.

  10. Sound absorption and morphology characteristic of porous concrete paving blocks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Halim, N. H. Abd; Nor, H. Md; Ramadhansyah, P. J.; Mohamed, A.; Hassan, N. Abdul; Ibrahim, M. H. Wan; Ramli, N. I.; Nazri, F. Mohamed

    2017-11-01

    In this study, sound absorption and morphology characteristic of Porous Concrete Paving Blocks (PCPB) at different sizes of coarse aggregate were presented. Three different sizes of coarse aggregate were used; passing 10 mm retained 5 mm (as Control), passing 8 mm retained 5 mm (8 - 5) and passing 10 mm retained 8 mm (10 - 8). The sound absorption test was conducted through the impedance tube at different frequency. It was found that the size of coarse aggregate affects the level of absorption of the specimens. It also shows that PCPB 10 - 8 resulted in high sound absorption compared to the other blocks. On the other hand, microstructure morphology of PCPB shows a clearer version of existing micro-cracks and voids inside the specimens which affecting the results of sound absorption.

  11. Observational Analysis of Variation Characteristics of GPS-Based TEC Fluctuation over China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xifeng Liu

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available In this study, the characteristics of the total electron content (TEC fluctuations and their regional differences over China were analyzed by utilizing the rate of the TEC index (ROTI based on GPS data from 21 reference stations across China during a solar cycle. The results show that there were significant regional differences at different latitudes. Strong ionospheric TEC fluctuations were usually observed at lower latitudes in southern China, where the occurrence of TEC fluctuations demonstrated typical nighttime- and season-dependent (equinox months features. This phenomenon was consistent with the ionospheric scintillation characteristics of this region. Additionally, compared to low-latitude China, the intensity of TEC fluctuations over mid-latitude China was significantly weaker, and the occurrence of TEC fluctuations was not a nighttime-dependent phenomenon. Moreover, the intensity of TEC fluctuations was much stronger during high solar activity than during low solar activity. Furthermore, the summer-dependent characteristics of TEC fluctuations gradually emerged over lower mid-latitude areas as equinox characteristics weakened. Similar to the equinox characteristics, the summer-dependent characteristics gradually weakened or even disappeared with the increasing latitude. Relevant discussions of this phenomenon are still relatively rare, and it requires further study and analysis.

  12. Flood-frequency characteristics of Wisconsin streams

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walker, John F.; Peppler, Marie C.; Danz, Mari E.; Hubbard, Laura E.

    2017-05-22

    Flood-frequency characteristics for 360 gaged sites on unregulated rural streams in Wisconsin are presented for percent annual exceedance probabilities ranging from 0.2 to 50 using a statewide skewness map developed for this report. Equations of the relations between flood-frequency and drainage-basin characteristics were developed by multiple-regression analyses. Flood-frequency characteristics for ungaged sites on unregulated, rural streams can be estimated by use of the equations presented in this report. The State was divided into eight areas of similar physiographic characteristics. The most significant basin characteristics are drainage area, soil saturated hydraulic conductivity, main-channel slope, and several land-use variables. The standard error of prediction for the equation for the 1-percent annual exceedance probability flood ranges from 56 to 70 percent for Wisconsin Streams; these values are larger than results presented in previous reports. The increase in the standard error of prediction is likely due to increased variability of the annual-peak discharges, resulting in increased variability in the magnitude of flood peaks at higher frequencies. For each of the unregulated rural streamflow-gaging stations, a weighted estimate based on the at-site log Pearson type III analysis and the multiple regression results was determined. The weighted estimate generally has a lower uncertainty than either the Log Pearson type III or multiple regression estimates. For regulated streams, a graphical method for estimating flood-frequency characteristics was developed from the relations of discharge and drainage area for selected annual exceedance probabilities. Graphs for the major regulated streams in Wisconsin are presented in the report.

  13. Teacher's sleep quality: linked to social job characteristics?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kottwitz, Maria U; Gerhardt, Christin; Pereira, Diana; Iseli, Lionel; Elfering, Achim

    2018-02-07

    Besides dealing with high workload, being a teacher is challenging with respect to the social context. There is increasing evidence that adverse social job characteristics challenge sleep quality. The current study tests whether restraint sleep quality (defined as worse sleep quality before than during vacation) is related to time-related job stressors, job resources, and social job characteristics. Forty-eight elementary school teachers (42% women) participated both during the last week before and the first week after vacation. Before vacation, teachers were asked for demographics and working conditions with reference to the last 30 d, and sleep quality with reference to the last 7 d. After vacation sleep quality during vacation was assessed and used as reference for working time sleep quality. Results showed mean levels of sleep quality increased during vacation. In teachers with restrained working time sleep quality (38%), experiences of failure at work, social exclusion, and emotional dissonance were more frequent than in teachers with unrestrained working time sleep quality (Psquality in teachers.

  14. Human influences on streamflow drought characteristics in England and Wales

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tijdeman, Erik; Hannaford, Jamie; Stahl, Kerstin

    2018-02-01

    Human influences can affect streamflow drought characteristics and propagation. The question is where, when and why? To answer these questions, the impact of different human influences on streamflow droughts were assessed in England and Wales, across a broad range of climate and catchments conditions. We used a dataset consisting of catchments with near-natural flow as well as catchments for which different human influences have been indicated in the metadata (Factors Affecting Runoff) of the UK National River Flow Archive (NRFA). A screening approach was applied on the streamflow records to identify human-influenced records with drought characteristics that deviated from those found for catchments with near-natural flow. Three different deviations were considered, specifically deviations in (1) the relationship between streamflow drought duration and the base flow index, BFI (specifically, BFIHOST, the BFI predicted from the hydrological properties of soils), (2) the correlation between streamflow and precipitation and (3) the temporal occurrence of streamflow droughts compared to precipitation droughts, i.e. an increase or decrease in streamflow drought months relative to precipitation drought months over the period of record. The identified deviations were then related to the indicated human influences. Results showed that the majority of catchments for which human influences were indicated did not show streamflow drought characteristics that deviated from those expected under near-natural conditions. For the catchments that did show deviating streamflow drought characteristics, prolonged streamflow drought durations were found in some of the catchments affected by groundwater abstractions. Weaker correlations between streamflow and precipitation were found for some of the catchments with reservoirs, water transfers or groundwater augmentation schemes. An increase in streamflow drought occurrence towards the end of their records was found for some of the

  15. Human influences on streamflow drought characteristics in England and Wales

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. Tijdeman

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Human influences can affect streamflow drought characteristics and propagation. The question is where, when and why? To answer these questions, the impact of different human influences on streamflow droughts were assessed in England and Wales, across a broad range of climate and catchments conditions. We used a dataset consisting of catchments with near-natural flow as well as catchments for which different human influences have been indicated in the metadata (Factors Affecting Runoff of the UK National River Flow Archive (NRFA. A screening approach was applied on the streamflow records to identify human-influenced records with drought characteristics that deviated from those found for catchments with near-natural flow. Three different deviations were considered, specifically deviations in (1 the relationship between streamflow drought duration and the base flow index, BFI (specifically, BFIHOST, the BFI predicted from the hydrological properties of soils, (2 the correlation between streamflow and precipitation and (3 the temporal occurrence of streamflow droughts compared to precipitation droughts, i.e. an increase or decrease in streamflow drought months relative to precipitation drought months over the period of record. The identified deviations were then related to the indicated human influences. Results showed that the majority of catchments for which human influences were indicated did not show streamflow drought characteristics that deviated from those expected under near-natural conditions. For the catchments that did show deviating streamflow drought characteristics, prolonged streamflow drought durations were found in some of the catchments affected by groundwater abstractions. Weaker correlations between streamflow and precipitation were found for some of the catchments with reservoirs, water transfers or groundwater augmentation schemes. An increase in streamflow drought occurrence towards the end of their records was found for

  16. [Characteristics of art therapists in rehabilitative therapy].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oster, Jörg

    2017-09-01

    Characteristics of art therapists in rehabilitative therapy Objectives: This study examines the sociodemographic, qualification- and activity-related characteristics of art therapists working in the field of rehabilitation. In 2013, an analysis of occupational groups was carried out in Germany, with the objective of describing the art therapists working there.A total of 2,303 complete datasets were submitted. From this group, those therapists mainly working in the field of rehabilitation/follow-up care/participation of disabled persons (according to Social Security Code VI and IX, n = 302) were selected and described. Most art therapists are female (average age 45 years) and largelywork part-time. Music and art therapy are the most common venues.More than 80% have a graduate degree. Methods of quality management are used.More than half of the therapists working in rehabilitation hospitals are employed in the field of psychosomatic medicine. Both individual and group therapy (each patient attending 1-2 times a week) are common. The results provide an overview of art therapy in the field of rehabilitation and show the spread in rehabilitation. Further research is indicated.

  17. Characteristics of cerebral glucose utilization in dementia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Matsuzawa, Taiju; Matsui, Hiroshige; Meguro, Kenichi; Ueda, Masamichi; Yamada, Kenji; Yamaguchi, Tatsuo; Itoh, Masatoshi; Hatazawa, Jun; Kinomura, Shigeo (Tohoku Univ., Sendai (Japan). Research Inst. for Tuberculosis and Cancer)

    1990-12-01

    To make clear the characteristics of cerebral glucose utilization in dementia, PET studies with 18F-FDG were carried out. Taking the pattern of 18F-FDG utilization, dementia can be subdivided into two types. One type shows a simultaneous and symmetrical reduction glucose utilization in the posterior part of neocortex covering the temporal, parietal and occipital association cortices. This is referred to as type I. Although this type constitutes only about 1/5 of all dementia patients, it is considered the fundamental type of dementia. Aside from this, there is type wherein a simultaneous and symmetrical reduction in glucose utilization of the neocortex. This is type II. It constitutes about 4/5 of all dementia patients which is far more type I. There are no essential difference in the characteristics of cerebral glucose utilization in AD and MID. However, with regards the mean, AD is lower than MID. Various organic defect in neocortex do not correlate with the global reduction in glucose utilization in dementia patients. These results suggest that the reduction in glucose utilization in dementia may be functional disorder. (author).

  18. Characteristics of cerebral glucose utilization in dementia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsuzawa, Taiju; Matsui, Hiroshige; Meguro, Kenichi; Ueda, Masamichi; Yamada, Kenji; Yamaguchi, Tatsuo; Itoh, Masatoshi; Hatazawa, Jun; Kinomura, Shigeo

    1990-01-01

    To make clear the characteristics of cerebral glucose utilization in dementia, PET studies with 18F-FDG were carried out. Taking the pattern of 18F-FDG utilization, dementia can be subdivided into two types. One type shows a simultaneous and symmetrical reduction glucose utilization in the posterior part of neocortex covering the temporal, parietal and occipital association cortices. This is referred to as type I. Although this type constitutes only about 1/5 of all dementia patients, it is considered the fundamental type of dementia. Aside from this, there is type wherein a simultaneous and symmetrical reduction in glucose utilization of the neocortex. This is type II. It constitutes about 4/5 of all dementia patients which is far more type I. There are no essential difference in the characteristics of cerebral glucose utilization in AD and MID. However, with regards the mean, AD is lower than MID. Various organic defect in neocortex do not correlate with the global reduction in glucose utilization in dementia patients. These results suggest that the reduction in glucose utilization in dementia may be functional disorder. (author)

  19. The Comparison of Defense Mechanism Styles and Personality Characteristics in Addicts and Healthy Individuals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohsen Ahmadi

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Aim: The purpose of this study was to comprise of psychological defense mechanism styles and personality characteristics in addicts and healthy individuals. Method: In this causal-comparative study, 70 addicts person (with an average age of 37.29±9.81and the age range 23 to 58 years were selected via accessible sampling method of clinics and Hamadan’s addicted self-representing center during the Autumn of 2011, The number of 70 relatives of these people that demographic variables were matched as possible with the comparison group were selected. Both groups were asked to respond to the defense mechanism style and Eysenk personality Questionnaires. Results: The result of this study showed that the scores mean of addicts were higher than healthy people on immature defense mechanism style, neourotism, and neurotic and extraversion personality characteristics and lower than in mature defense style variables. Conclusion: Based on the result of this study there was a significant difference between addict individuals and healthy people in defense mechanism and personality characteristics.

  20. Evaluation of Propagation Characteristics Using the Human Body as an Antenna.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jingzhen; Nie, Zedong; Liu, Yuhang; Wang, Lei; Hao, Yang

    2017-12-11

    In this paper, an inhomogeneous human body model was presented to investigate the propagation characteristics when the human body was used as an antenna to achieve signal transmission. Specifically, the channel gain of four scenarios, namely, (1) both TX electrode and RX electrode were placed in the air, (2) TX electrode was attached on the human body, and RX electrode was placed in the air, (3) TX electrode was placed in the air, and RX electrode was attached on the human body, (4) both the TX electrode and RX electrode were attached on the human body, were studied through numerical simulation in the frequency range 1 MHz to 90 MHz. Furthermore, the comparisons of input efficiency, accepted efficiency, total efficiency, absorption power of human body, and electric field distribution of different distances of four aforementioned scenarios were explored when the frequency was at 44 MHz. In addition, the influences of different human tissues, electrode position, and the distance between electrode and human body on the propagation characteristics were investigated respectively at 44 MHz. The results showed that the channel gain of Scenario 4 was the maximum when the frequency was from 1 MHz to 90 MHz. The propagation characteristics were almost independent of electrode position when the human body was using as an antenna. However, as the distance between TX electrode and human body increased, the channel gain decreased rapidly. The simulations were verified by experimental measurements. The results showed that the simulations were in agreement with the measurements.

  1. External built residential environment characteristics that affect mental health of adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ochodo, Charles; Ndetei, D M; Moturi, W N; Otieno, J O

    2014-10-01

    External built residential environment characteristics include aspects of building design such as types of walls, doors and windows, green spaces, density of houses per unit area, and waste disposal facilities. Neighborhoods that are characterized by poor quality external built environment can contribute to psychosocial stress and increase the likelihood of mental health disorders. This study investigated the relationship between characteristics of external built residential environment and mental health disorders in selected residences of Nakuru Municipality, Kenya. External built residential environment characteristics were investigated for 544 residents living in different residential areas that were categorized by their socioeconomic status. Medically validated interview schedules were used to determine mental health of residents in the respective neighborhoods. The relationship between characteristics of the external built residential environment and mental health of residents was determined by multivariable logistic regression analyses and chi-square tests. The results show that walling materials used on buildings, density of dwelling units, state of street lighting, types of doors, states of roofs, and states of windows are some built external residential environment characteristics that affect mental health of adult males and females. Urban residential areas that are characterized by poor quality external built environment substantially expose the population to daily stressors and inconveniences that increase the likelihood of developing mental health disorders.

  2. Bridging Social Circles: Need for Cognition, Prejudicial Judgments, and Personal Social Network Characteristics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Petru L. Curşeu

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Various factors pertaining to the social context (availability of plausible social contacts as well as personality traits influence the emergence of social ties that ultimately compose one’s personal social network. We build on a situational selection model to argue that personality traits influence the cognitive processing of social cues that in turn influences the preference for particular social ties. More specifically, we use a cross-lagged design to test a mediation model explaining the effects of need for cognition (NFC on egocentric network characteristics. We used the data available in the LISS panel, in which a probabilistic sample of Dutch participants were asked to fill in surveys annually. We tested our model on data collected in three successive years and our results show that people scoring high in NFC tend to revolve in information-rich egocentric networks, characterized by high demographic diversity, high interpersonal dissimilarity, and high average education. The results also show that the effect of NFC on social network characteristics is mediated by non-prejudicial judgments.

  3. Influence of coupling parameter on current-voltage characteristics of intrinsic Josephson junctions in high-T c superconductors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shukrinov, Yu.M.; Mahfouzi, F.

    2006-01-01

    We study the current-voltage characteristics of intrinsic Josephson junctions in high-T c superconductors by numerical calculations and in framework of capacitively coupled Josephson junctions model we obtain the total number of branches. The influence of the coupling parameter α on the current-voltage characteristics at fixed parameter β (β 2 1/β c , where β c is McCumber parameter) and the influence of α on β-dependence of the current-voltage characteristics are investigated. We obtain the α-dependence of the branch's slopes and branch's endpoints. The presented results show new features of the coupling effect on the scheme of hysteresis jumps in current-voltage characteristics of intrinsic Josephson junctions in high-T c superconductors

  4. CALCIUM OXIDE CHARACTERISTICS PREPARED FROM AMBUNTEN’S CALCINED LIMESTONE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fatimatul Munawaroh

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Calcium oxide (CaO and calcium carbonate (CaCO3 are widely used in industry. CaO and CaCO3 can be synthesized or derived from limestone. The purpose of this study to determine the characteristics of CaO calcined limestone from Ambunten Sumenep. Lime in calcined at 850 ° C for 6 hours. Characterization of X-ray fluorescence (XRF was conducted to determine the chemical composition of limestone, X-ray diffraction test (XRD to find the lime crystalline phase and FTIR test to determine the absorption of wave number. XRF test results showed that the limestone chemical composition consisted of Ca of 95.37% as the dominant element, Mg of 4.1%, Fe 0.17% and Y by 0.39%. The XRD test results showed that the limestone crystal phase is ankerite (Ca [Fe, Mg] [CO3] 2 and after the calcined phase calcination is vaterite (Ca [OH] 2, calcite (CaO and calcite (CaCO3. While the FTIR test results show that the CaO spectra are seen at 3741.24, 1417.12 and 874.14 cm-1.

  5. Radiative characteristics of CVL pumped dye laser

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kubo, Uichi; Ishiguro, Takahide

    1987-09-01

    This paper describes the radiative characteristics of CVL pumped dye laser. It is compared YAG-SH (530 nm) with CVL (511, 578 nm) and CVL (511 nm) for pumping source. Influence of solvent in dye laser power was examined. The present experimental results show that efficiency of CVL (511 nm) pumped dye laser was most high. When the dye solution is at a standstill, the efficiency of dye laser with water and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (S.L.S., 2 %wt.) was most high among the four kinds of solvent. In the condition of dye solution flow, the water and S.L.S. or ethylene glycol was useful solvent for dye laser.

  6. Analysis of characteristics associated with reinjection of icatibant: Results from the icatibant outcome survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Longhurst, Hilary J; Aberer, Werner; Bouillet, Laurence; Caballero, Teresa; Fabien, Vincent; Zanichelli, Andrea; Maurer, Marcus

    2015-01-01

    Phase 3 icatibant trials showed that most hereditary angioedema (HAE) (C1 inhibitor deficiency) acute attacks were treated successfully with one injection of icatibant, a selective bradykinin B2 receptor antagonist. We conducted a post hoc analysis of icatibant reinjection for HAE type I and II attacks in a real-world setting by using data from the Icatibant Outcome Survey, an ongoing observational study that monitors the safety and effectiveness of icatibant treatment. Descriptive retrospective analyses of icatibant reinjection were performed on Icatibant Outcome Survey data (February 2008 to December 2012). New attacks were defined as the onset of new symptoms after full resolution of the previous attack. Potential associations between the patient and attack characteristics and reinjection were explored by using logistic regression analysis. Icatibant was administered for 652 attacks in 170 patients with HAE type I or II. Most attacks (89.1%) were treated with a single icatibant injection. For attacks that required two or three injections, the second injection was given a median of 11.0 hours after the first injection, with 90.4% of second injections administered ≥6 hours after the first injection. Time to resolution and attack duration were significantly longer for two or three injections versus one icatibant injection (p < 0.0001 and p < 0.05, respectively). Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified sex, attack severity, and laryngeal attacks as significantly correlated with reinjection (all p ≤ 0.05). These factors did not remain predictors for reinjection when two outlier patients with distinct patterns of icatibant use were excluded. In this real-world setting, most HAE attacks resolved with one icatibant injection. There was no distinct profile for patients or attacks that required reinjection when outliers with substantially different patterns of use were excluded. Because new attacks were not distinguished from the recurrence of symptoms

  7. Variable Rate Characteristic Waveform Interpolation Speech Coder Based on Phonetic Classification

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    WANG Jing; KUANG Jing-ming; ZHAO Sheng-hui

    2007-01-01

    A variable-bit-rate characteristic waveform interpolation (VBR-CWI) speech codec with about 1.8kbit/s average bit rate which integrates phonetic classification into characteristic waveform (CW) decomposition is proposed.Each input frame is classified into one of 4 phonetic classes.Non-speech frames are represented with Bark-band noise model.The extracted CWs become rapidly evolving waveforms (REWs) or slowly evolving waveforms (SEWs) in the cases of unvoiced or stationary voiced frames respectively, while mixed voiced frames use the same CW decomposition as that in the conventional CWI.Experimental results show that the proposed codec can eliminate most buzzy and noisy artifacts existing in the fixed-bit-rate characteristic waveform interpolation (FBR-CWI) speech codec, the average bit rate can be much lower, and its reconstructed speech quality is much better than FS 1016 CELP at 4.8kbit/s and similar to G.723.1 ACELP at 5.3kbit/s.

  8. Analysis of the thermal balance characteristics for multiple-connected piezoelectric transformers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Joung-Hu; Cho, Bo-Hyung; Choi, Sung-Jin; Lee, Sang-Min

    2009-08-01

    Because the amount of power that a piezoelectric transformer (PT) can handle is limited, multiple connections of PTs are necessary for the power-capacity improvement of PT-applications. In the connection, thermal imbalance between the PTs should be prevented to avoid the thermal runaway of each PT. The thermal balance of the multiple-connected PTs is dominantly affected by the electrothermal characteristics of individual PTs. In this paper, the thermal balance of both parallel-parallel and parallel-series connections are analyzed by electrical model parameters. For quantitative analysis, the thermal-balance effects are estimated by the simulation of the mechanical loss ratio between the PTs. The analysis results show that with PTs of similar characteristics, the parallel-series connection has better thermal balance characteristics due to the reduced mechanical loss of the higher temperature PT. For experimental verification of the analysis, a hardware-prototype test of a Cs-Lp type 40 W adapter system with radial-vibration mode PTs has been performed.

  9. [Drusen characteristics after internal limiting membrane peeling].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lehmann, F; Jenisch, T; Helbig, H; Gamulescu, M A

    2015-05-01

    There are some reports showing isolated cases of drusen regression after pars plana vitrectomy (ppV) with peeling of the internal limiting membrane (iLM). Drusen characteristics after iLM peeling was investigated in this study. The data of 527 patients who had received iLM peeling between 2004 and 2012 were retrospectively collected and those patients with retinal drusen were selected for the study. Fundus photographs before and after vitrectomy due to a macular hole or epiretinal gliosis were compared and drusen arrangement in the peeling site was analyzed. The aim of the study was to show whether there was drusen regression 2-5 months after surgery. Out of the 527 patients 11 showed central macular drusen, 4 with confluent large drusen (> 63 µm diameter) and 7 with small hard drusen (≤ 63 µm diameter). One patient showed drusen regression after iLM peeling without any changes in the other eye and all other patients showed no differences in the drusen findings (n = 6) or even some additional drusen (n = 4) without drusen alterations in the other eye. The results of this study could not confirm some reports showing drusen regression after iLM peeling in the peeling site in general and there was only one single case of central drusen regression.

  10. Acoustic characteristics of sand sediment with circular cylindrical pores

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roh, Heui-Seol; Lee, Kang-Il; Yoon, Suk-Wang

    2004-01-01

    The acoustic pressure transmission coefficient and the phase velocity are experimentally measured as functions of the frequency and the porosity in sand sediment slabs with circular cylindrical pores filled with water and air. They are also theoretically estimated with the modified Biot-Attenborough (MBA) model, which uses a separate treatment of the viscous and the thermal effects in a non-rigid porous medium with water- and air-filled cylindrical pores. In this study, the fast (first kind) wave and the slow (second kind) wave are not separated in the transmitted signals through a sediment slab without the circular cylindrical pores, but they are separated in the transmitted signals through a sediment slab with pores. Both the phase velocities and the transmission coefficients of the fast wave and the slow wave in the sediment slabs with water- and air-filled cylindrical pores are sensitive to the air and the water porosities. It is proposed that the fast and the slow waves have opposite behaviors for several acoustic characteristics. The generalized tortuosity factor and the dynamic shape factor are introduced from the acoustic characteristics of the fast wave. The experimental results show reasonable agreement with the theoretical results estimated with the MBA model. These results suggest the possibility of predicting the acoustic characteristics of a sediment as functions of arbitrary water and air porosities. This study may also be applicable to understanding acoustic wave propagations in a bubbly liquid sediment for underwater applications and in cancellous bone for the diagnosis of osteoporosis.

  11. Organizational identification and the communication of identity: Effects of message characteristics on cognitive and affective identification.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tanis, M.A.; Beukeboom, C.J.

    2011-01-01

    This paper reports an experimental study (N= 321) that tests how the cognitive and affective component of organizational identification (OI) can be affected by peripheral characteristics of organizational communication. Results show that adding cues in emails that signal organizational identity,

  12. Discrete Second-Order Sliding Mode Adaptive Controller Based on Characteristic Model for Servo Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhihong Wang

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Considering the varying inertia and load torque in high speed and high accuracy servo systems, a novel discrete second-order sliding mode adaptive controller (DSSMAC based on characteristic model is proposed, and a command observer is also designed. Firstly, the discrete characteristic model of servo systems is established. Secondly, the recursive least square algorithm is adopted to identify time-varying parameters in characteristic model, and the observer is applied to predict the command value of next sample time. Furthermore, the stability of the closed-loop system and the convergence of the observer are analyzed. The experimental results show that the proposed method not only can adapt to varying inertia and load torque, but also has good disturbance rejection ability and robustness to uncertainties.

  13. Effect of landslides on the structural characteristics of land-cover based on complex networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Jing; Tang, Chuan; Liu, Gang; Li, Weile

    2017-09-01

    Landslides have been widely studied by geologists. However, previous studies mainly focused on the formation of landslides and never considered the effect of landslides on the structural characteristics of land-cover. Here we define the modeling of the graph topology for the land-cover, using the satellite images of the earth’s surface before and after the earthquake. We find that the land-cover network satisfies the power-law distribution, whether the land-cover contains landslides or not. However, landslides may change some parameters or measures of the structural characteristics of land-cover. The results show that the linear coefficient, modularity and area distribution are all changed after the occurence of landslides, which means the structural characteristics of the land-cover are changed.

  14. A Study on the Developmental Characteristics of Adverbial Conjuncts by Chinese Non-English Majors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Junmei, Jiang

    2015-01-01

    Based on the Chinese Learner English Corpus, the present study seeks to investigate the developmental characteristics of the use of adverbial conjuncts. And the results show that at different learning stages Non-English majors use all kinds of adverbial conjuncts, but their occurrence frequencies are quite different, the enumerative adverbials are…

  15. Evaluating Music Discovery Tools on Spotify: The Role of User Preference Characteristics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muh-Chyun Tang

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available An experimental study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the four music discovery tools available on Spotify, a popular music streaming service, namely: radio recommendation, regional charts, genres and moods, as well as following Facebook friends. Both subjective judgment of user experience and objective measures of search effectiveness were used as the performance criteria. Other than comparison of these four tools, we also compared how consistent are these performance measures. The results show that user experience criteria were not necessarily corresponded to search effectiveness. Furthermore, three user preference characteristics: preference diversity, preference insight, and openness to novelty were introduced as mediating variables, with an aim to investigating how these attributes might interact with these four music discovery tools on performance. The results suggest that users’ preference characteristics did have an impact on the performance of these music discovery tools.

  16. [Chemical characteristics of precipitation in South China Sea].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiao, Hong-Wei; Long, Ai-Min; Xie, Lu-Hua; Xiao, Hua-Yun; Liu, Cong-Qiang

    2014-02-01

    Rainwater samples were collected in the summer on "Shiyan 3" during the 2012 South China Sea Sectional Scientific Survey. The concentrations of anion and cation, and pH in precipitation were determined and backward trajectories of air mass were simulated to analyze the chemical characteristics of ions and examine the source of ions. The results indicated that the mean pH value of precipitation was 6.3, with 5.6 of minimal value in summer in South China Sea. The order of anion and cation abundance was Cl(-) > S04(2-) > NO3(-) and Na(+) > Mg(2+) > Ca(2+) > K(+). Cl(-) was the major anion and Na(+) was the major cation, with concentrations of 2 637.5 microeq x L(-1) and 2095.5 microeq x L(-1), respectively, showing that they were the characteristics of marine atmospheric precipitation. There was a good linear relationship between each pair of 7 ions, with correlation coefficient above 0.9, suggesting that they may have a common source. However, the correlation coefficients were lower between NO3(-) and other ions than the others, suggesting that NO3(-) had more complex sources. The concentrations of Ca(2+) and K(+) in precipitation may be related to coral environment in South China Sea. The backward trajectories in 6 stations showed that the air mass was from south and southwest of South China Sea, without passing through above the continent. These results suggested that precipitation affected by human ion source can be ignored in summer in South China Sea.

  17. The life review experience: Qualitative and quantitative characteristics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katz, Judith; Saadon-Grosman, Noam; Arzy, Shahar

    2017-02-01

    The life-review experience (LRE) is a most intriguing mental phenomenon that fascinated humans from time immemorial. In LRE one sees vividly a succession of one's own life-events. While reports of LRE are abundant in the medical, psychological and popular literature, not much is known about LRE's cognitive and psychological basis. Moreover, while LRE is known as part of the phenomenology of near-death experience, its manifestation in the general population and in other circumstances is still to be investigated. In a first step we studied the phenomenology of LRE by means of in-depth qualitative interview of 7 people who underwent full LRE. In a second step we extracted the main characters of LRE, to develop a questionnaire and an LRE-score that best reflects LRE phenomenology. This questionnaire was then run on 264 participants of diverse ages and backgrounds, and the resulted score was further subjected to statistical analyses. Qualitative analysis showed the LRE to manifest several subtypes of characteristics in terms of order, continuity, the covered period, extension to the future, valence, emotions, and perspective taking. Quantitative results in the normal population showed normal distribution of the LRE-score over participants. Re-experiencing one's own life-events, so-called LRE, is a phenomenon with well-defined characteristics, and its subcomponents may be also evident in healthy people. This suggests that a representation of life-events as a continuum exists in the cognitive system, and maybe further expressed in extreme conditions of psychological and physiological stress. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Characteristic and non-characteristic X-ray yields produced from thick Ti element by sub-relativistic electrons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yadav, Namita; Kumar, Sunil; Bhatt, Pragya; Singh, Raj; Singh, B.K.; Shanker, R.

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► The X-ray spectra of a thick Ti element by 10–25 keV electron impact are obtained. ► Measured Ti K α yields are found to be in good agreement with PWBA theory. ► Doubly differential bremsstrahlung yields agree reasonably with MC simulation. ► Average value of the ratio K α /(K α + K β ) of Ti is found to be 0.881 ± 0.003. -- Abstract: Measurements are performed to study the electron impact energy dependence of doubly differential bremsstrahlung yields (DDBY) and of characteristic Ti K α line yields produced from sub-relativistic electrons (10–25 keV) colliding with a thick Ti (Z = 22) target. The emitted radiation is detected by a Si-PIN photo-diode detector with energy resolution (FWHM) of 180 eV at 5.9 keV. The measured data of DDBY are compared with the results predicted by Monte-Carlo (MC) simulations using the general purpose PENELOPE code. A reasonable agreement is found between experimental and simulation results within the experimental uncertainty of measurements of 12%. Characteristic Ti K α yields are obtained for the considered impact energy range and they are compared with the existing theoretical results. A good agreement is found between the present measurements and the theoretical calculations. Furthermore, data are presented for impact energy dependence of the ratio K α /(K α + K β ) of a thick Ti target under impact of 10–25 keV electrons. The ratio shows a very weak dependence on impact energy in the studied range. The average value of the ratio is found to be 0.881 ± 0.003.

  19. Effect of host and food availability on the biological characteristics of Trichogramma galloi Zucchi (Hymenoptera, Trichogrammatidae)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pratissoli, Dirceu; Oliveira, Harley N. de; Oliveira, Regiane C. de; Zago, Hugo B.; Vieira, Stella M.J.

    2004-01-01

    Effect of host and food availability on the biological characteristics of Trichogramma galloi Zucchi (Hymenoptera, Trichogrammatidae). Biological characteristics of Trichogramma galloi Zucchi, 1988 were evaluated in laboratory where these parasitoids were reared on eggs of Diatraea saccharalis (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae) with or without honey, and exposed to eggs of the host after 0, 6, 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72 and 84 hours of emergence. The parasitism rate and viability showed higher for individuals that received food. The sex ratio was not influenced by food. The number of individuals per egg only showed difference for those adults that did not receive food and stayed six hours without the host eggs. Checking the effect of the availability of eggs, only the sex ratio, with or without honey, did not show differences. The results show that T. galloi needs a carbohydrate supply and the time can influence the reproductive capacity. (author)

  20. Effects of groove shape of notch on the flow characteristics of spool valve

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ye, Yi; Yin, Chen-Bo; Li, Xing-Dong; Zhou, Wei-jin; Yuan, Feng-feng

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Flow characteristics of notches are studied using CFD simulation and experiment. • Test data is fitted by least square method to analyze discharge coefficient. • The stable value of discharge coefficient is deduced. • Effects of groove shape on steady flow force and throttling stiffness are performed. • The groove shape has significant effects on the flow characteristics. - Abstract: The grooves of notches of hydraulic spool valves are usually designed into various shapes for their desired flow characteristics. The aim of this paper is to clarify the effects of the groove shape on the flow characteristics through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and experimental investigations. The RNG k–ε turbulence model is used to simulate the pressure distributions of the flow fields inside three notches with their corresponding typical structural grooves in order to analyze the changes of restricted locations along with the openings and, furthermore, to calculate the flow areas of the notches. The accuracy of the employed model is demonstrated by comparing the computational results with the experimental data. Additionally, the flow rate vs. pressure drop data obtained from the experiment is fitted by least square method. On this basis, the discharge coefficient as a function of groove geometry, flow condition, fitting coefficients and its stable value is deduced, proving to be quite consistent with the experimental result. Thanks to the jet flow angles estimated by CFD simulation, the steady flow forces are calculated, which show good agreement with the experimental results except for some small differences. Finally, the throttling stiffness of the three notches is investigated, with that of divergent U-shape groove falls between spheroid-shape groove and triangle-shape groove. Similar results are found for steady flow force. The results indicate that the groove shape has significant effects on the flow characteristics (flow area, discharge

  1. Clinical characteristics of depressed patients with a history of suicide attempts: results from the CRESCEND study in South Korea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Min-Hyeon; Kim, Tae-Suk; Yim, Hyeon-Woo; Jeong, Seung Hee; Lee, Chul; Lee, Chang-Uk; Kim, Jae-Min; Jung, Sung-Won; Lee, Min-Soo; Jun, Tae-Youn

    2010-10-01

    South Korea is a country with one of the highest suicide rates in the world, and the suicide rate is still on the rise. The purpose of this study was to determine the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of suicide attempts and risk factors related to suicide attempts among depressed patients in South Korea. Among the 1183 participants, 21.4% had a history of a suicide attempt. When the severity of depression was controlled, the risk factors for patients who attempted suicide included younger age, experienced significant life events before 12 years of age, psychotic symptoms, and previous depressive episodes. The characteristics of attempted suicide in depressed patients in South Korea can be summarized as a high suicide attempt rate with no difference in the number of suicide attempts and lethality between males and females. This unique tendency is probably related to the sociodemographic and cultural characteristics of South Korea.

  2. The mediating role of job involvement in the relationship between job characteristics and organizational citizenship behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Chien-Cheng; Chiu, Su-Fen

    2009-08-01

    Past researchers have found that motivating job characteristics can increase employee display of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). In this study, the authors extended previous research by investigating the mediating process of job involvement in the relationship between job characteristics and OCB. The authors collected data from 323 employees and their supervisors from 7 companies in Taiwan. Results show that, through the mediating process of job involvement, the 3 job characteristics (i.e., task identity, task significance, and autonomy) positively influenced the display of an employee's OCB, whereas skill variety had a negative effect on OCB. The authors discuss implications of their findings, contributions, limitations, and future research directions.

  3. Brewing characteristics of haploid strains isolated from sake yeast Kyokai No. 7.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katou, Taku; Kitagaki, Hiroshi; Akao, Takeshi; Shimoi, Hitoshi

    2008-11-01

    Sake yeast exhibit various characteristics that make them more suitable for sake brewing compared to other yeast strains. Since sake yeast strains are Saccharomyces cerevisiae heterothallic diploid strains, it is likely that they have heterozygous alleles on homologous chromosomes (heterozygosity) due to spontaneous mutations. If this is the case, segregation of phenotypic traits in haploid strains after sporulation and concomitant meiosis of sake yeast strains would be expected to occur. To examine this hypothesis, we isolated 100 haploid strains from Kyokai No. 7 (K7), a typical sake yeast strain in Japan, and compared their brewing characteristics in small-scale sake-brewing tests. Analyses of the resultant sake samples showed a smooth and continuous distribution of analytical values for brewing characteristics, suggesting that K7 has multiple heterozygosities that affect brewing characteristics and that these heterozygous alleles do segregate after sporulation. Correlation and principal component analyses suggested that the analytical parameters could be classified into two groups, indicating fermentation ability and sake flavour. (c) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  4. Personality characteristics of children in an orphanage as criteria for the developing of proactive attitude and successful social integration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Larin A.N.

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The article presents the results of a personality characteristics study of orphans and children left without parental care growing up in an orphanage. It is assumed that examined personality characteristics have an effect on the socialization and integration processes after graduating from the orphanage. The paper gives a comparative analysis of personality characteristics in 18 boys and 14 girls aged from 12 to 17 years in orphanages, as well as finds out the personality characteristics undermining the developing of child’s proactive attitude. The study used a children's version of "Individual typological questionnaire" by L.N. Sobchik and Cattell 14 PF method of multivariate personality study. Statistical significance of the results is due to Mann–Whitney U test and Student t-test for nonrandom access. Cattell 14PF study shows that boys and girls in the test groups have personality differences (p≤0.05. A pattern of the results may indicate a general trend of personal characteristics negatively affecting the success of adaptation after graduating from the orphanage.

  5. A descriptive study of psoriasis characteristics, severity and impact among 3,269 patients: Results of a Belgian cross sectional study (BELPSO)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    J. Lambert (Julien); E.A. Dowlatshahi (Emmilia); M. de la Brassinne (Michel); T.E.C. Nijsten (Tamar)

    2012-01-01

    textabstractBackground: Although several large observational studies have reported on psoriasis characteristics, very few have included severity assessments by dermatologists and validated health related quality of life measures. Objective: To describe psoriasis characteristics, clinical severity

  6. THE IMPACT OF ENTREPRENEURIAL CHARACTERISTICS ON BRIBERY INCIDENCE IN TRANSITION ECONOMIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Phan Anh Tu

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Entrepreneurs in Asian economies face many difficulties in starting up and running their businesses. Relationships with government officials help to, e.g., mobilise resources and cope with the constraints imposed by bureaucratic structures. In this context, bribery can be regarded as an investment that entrepreneurs need to make in order to operate successfully in an institutionally weak transition economy. However, not all entrepreneurs pay a bribe. In this paper the relationship between demographic characteristic and bribery incidence has been investigated. This relationship was estimated using unique data derived from a survey of 606 Vietnamese entrepreneurs. The author controlled for various organisational and industrial characteristics. The exploratory results show that in particular well-educated entrepreneurs are more inclined to bribe than others.

  7. Numerical Investigation of Pressure Fluctuation Characteristics in a Centrifugal Pump with Variable Axial Clearance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lei Cao

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Clearance flows in the sidewall gaps of centrifugal pumps are unsteady as well as main flows in the volute casing and impeller, which may cause vibration and noise, and the corresponding pressure fluctuations are related to the axial clearance size. In this paper, unsteady numerical simulations were conducted to predict the unsteady flows within the entire flow passage of a centrifugal pump operating in the design condition. Pressure fluctuation characteristics in the volute casing, impeller, and sidewall gaps were investigated with three axial clearance sizes. Results show that an axial clearance variation affects the pressure fluctuation characteristics in each flow domain by different degree. The greatest pressure fluctuation occurs at the blade pressure surface and is almost not influenced by the axial clearance variation which has a certainly effect on the pressure fluctuation characteristics around the tongue. The maximum pressure fluctuation amplitude in the sidewall gaps is larger than that in the volute casing, and different spectrum characteristics show up in the three models due to the interaction between the clearance flow and the main flow as well as the rotor-stator interaction. Therefore, clearance flow should be taken into consideration in the hydraulic design of centrifugal pumps.

  8. Habitat characteristic of two selected locations for sea cucumber ranching purposes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartati, Retno; Trianto, Agus; Widianingsih

    2017-02-01

    Sea cucumbers face heavily overfished because of their high prices and very strong market demand. One effort suggested to overcome this problem is sea ranching. The objectives of present works were to determine biological, physical, and chemical characteristics of prospective location for sea ranching of sea cucumber Holothuria atra. Two location at Jepara Waters (Teluk Awur and Bandengan WateRs of Jepara Regency) were selected. The determination of chemical (salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen of water, phosphate, nitrate, nitrite and ammonium of water and sediment, organic matters of sediment), physical (transparancy, sedimen grains size, water current direction and its velocity), biologycal characteristic (coverage of seagrass and its macroalgae associated, phytoplankton as well as chlorophyl-a and phaeopytin of water and sediment) ware determined. The result of present work showed that some characteristic were matched with requirement as sea ranching location of sea cucumber because the density of sea cucumber in the sea is a function of habitat features. For sediment feeding holothurians of the family Aspidochirotida, the biologycal characteristic act as very important considerations by providing sea cucumber food. High cholophyl-a and phaeopytin in sediment also represent a prosperous habitat for sea cucumber ranching.

  9. Synthesis of Room Impulse Responses for Variable Source Characteristics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Kunkemoeller

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Every acoustic source, e.g. a speaker, a musical instrument or a loudspeaker, generally has a frequency dependent characteristic radiation pattern, which is preeminent at higher frequencies. Room acoustic measurements nowadays only account for omnidirectional source characteristics. This motivates a measurement method that is capable of obtaining room impulse responses for these specific radiation patterns by using a superposition approach of several measurements with technically well-defined sound sources. We propose a method based on measurements with a 12-channel independentlydriven dodecahedron loudspeaker array rotated by an automatically controlled turntable.Radiation patterns can be efficiently described with the use of spherical harmonics representation. We propose a method that uses this representation for the spherical loudspeaker array used for the measurements and the target radiation pattern to be used for the synthesis.We show validating results for a deterministic test sound source inside in a small lecture hall.

  10. Transgenic plants with enhanced growth characteristics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Unkefer, Pat J.; Anderson, Penelope S.; Knight, Thomas J.

    2018-01-09

    The invention relates to transgenic plants exhibiting dramatically enhanced growth rates, greater seed and fruit/pod yields, earlier and more productive flowering, more efficient nitrogen utilization, increased tolerance to high salt conditions, and increased biomass yields. In one embodiment, transgenic plants engineered to over-express both glutamine phenylpyruvate transaminase (GPT) and glutamine synthetase (GS) are provided. The GPT+GS double-transgenic plants of the invention consistently exhibit enhanced growth characteristics, with T0 generation lines showing an increase in biomass over wild type counterparts of between 50% and 300%. Generations that result from sexual crosses and/or selfing typically perform even better, with some of the double-transgenic plants achieving an astounding four-fold biomass increase over wild type plants.

  11. Transgenic plants with enhanced growth characteristics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Unkefer, Pat J.; Anderson, Penelope S.; Knight, Thomas J.

    2016-09-06

    The invention relates to transgenic plants exhibiting dramatically enhanced growth rates, greater seed and fruit/pod yields, earlier and more productive flowering, more efficient nitrogen utilization, increased tolerance to high salt conditions, and increased biomass yields. In one embodiment, transgenic plants engineered to over-express both glutamine phenylpyruvate transaminase (GPT) and glutamine synthetase (GS) are provided. The GPT+GS double-transgenic plants of the invention consistently exhibit enhanced growth characteristics, with T0 generation lines showing an increase in biomass over wild type counterparts of between 50% and 300%. Generations that result from sexual crosses and/or selfing typically perform even better, with some of the double-transgenic plants achieving an astounding four-fold biomass increase over wild type plants.

  12. Clinical characteristics in patients showing ischemic electrocardiographic changes during adenosine triphosphate loading single-photon emission computed tomography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ohtaki, Yuka; Chikamori, Taishiro; Hida, Satoshi; Tanaka, Hirokazu; Igarashi, Yuko; Hatano, Tsuguhisa; Usui, Yasuhiro; Miyagi, Manabu; Yamashina, Akira

    2010-01-01

    Although ischemic electrocardiographic (ECG) changes during dipyridamole or adenosine infusion have been reported as a marker for severe coronary artery disease (CAD), few studies have focused on ST-segment changes with adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-loading myocardial single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Between January 2003 and August 2008, 4650 consecutive patients underwent ATP-loading SPECT. After 1412 patients with left bundle branch block, pacemaker rhythm, or previous coronary revascularization were excluded, 16 out of 3238 patients (0.5%) showed ischemic ST-segment depression during ATP-loading myocardial SPECT. They were aged 67±11 years; 10 were men and 6 women. Of these patients, 8 demonstrated perfusion abnormalities, whereas the remaining 8 showed normal myocardial perfusion imaging. In 6 of the 8 patients with abnormal SPECT, coronary angiography was performed, revealing left main trunk disease in 1 patient, 3-vessel disease in 4, 1-vessel disease with proximal left ascending artery occlusion in 1, and an insignificant lesion in 1. By contrast, no major cardiac event was observed in the 8 patients with normal SPECT during follow-up for an average of 2 years. The prevalence of ischemic ST-segment changes during ATP loading is very rare. However, this finding should be taken into account since almost half of the patients, particularly those with perfusion abnormalities, may have severe CAD which requires coronary revascularization. (author)

  13. Psycho-Social Characteristics of Cannabis Abusing Youth

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ifeta Ličanin

    2005-02-01

    Full Text Available It is a well known fact that drug abuse is most common in early adolescence. The most popular substances among youth are cannabis products (made from Cannabis sativa L., Cannaba-ceae. The majority of heroin and cocaine addicts have started with marijuana. The aim of this study is to show some psycho-social characteristics of adolescents who abuse cannabis. Research conducted during the year 2001 was epidemiological and prospective. The study group included 600 adolescents of equal gender and age distribution. Q 2000 questionnaire was used, as a comprehensive tool for all aspects of adolescent life. The results show strong peer impact on one’s behavior. Youth who use cannabis had 2-3 friends of the same behavior, compared to others who had none. We found positive correlation between life stressful events and cannabis abuse. We also noticed tendency to delinquent behavior related to cannabis abuse (35%.

  14. The evaluation of rainfall influence on combined sewer overflows characteristics: the Berlin case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sandoval, S; Torres, A; Pawlowsky-Reusing, E; Riechel, M; Caradot, N

    2013-01-01

    The present study aims to explore the relationship between rainfall variables and water quality/quantity characteristics of combined sewer overflows (CSOs), by the use of multivariate statistical methods and online measurements at a principal CSO outlet in Berlin (Germany). Canonical correlation results showed that the maximum and average rainfall intensities are the most influential variables to describe CSO water quantity and pollutant loads whereas the duration of the rainfall event and the rain depth seem to be the most influential variables to describe CSO pollutant concentrations. The analysis of partial least squares (PLS) regression models confirms the findings of the canonical correlation and highlights three main influences of rainfall on CSO characteristics: (i) CSO water quantity characteristics are mainly influenced by the maximal rainfall intensities, (ii) CSO pollutant concentrations were found to be mostly associated with duration of the rainfall and (iii) pollutant loads seemed to be principally influenced by dry weather duration before the rainfall event. The prediction quality of PLS models is rather low (R² < 0.6) but results can be useful to explore qualitatively the influence of rainfall on CSO characteristics.

  15. The impact of demographic and psychological characteristics and cost behaviors on views towards the luxury restaurant

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nazanin Haji Mirza Hossein Yazdi

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available This study examines the impact of psychological characteristics, materialism, unity, uniqueness, hedonism, and perfectionism, and demographic characteristics including gender, age and income as well as the costing behavior (price on the views towards the luxury restaurant. The results show that perfectionism and uniqueness had a direct impact on the consumer's views towards luxury restaurant. On the other hand, the demographic characteristics such as age, income and education had a positive relationship with the consumer's views towards the luxury restaurant. Finally, a new hypothesis as the relationship between price and service quality and customer atti-tudes was examined in this study and it was concluded that there was a significant positive rela-tionship between price and customer’s views. The results of the research data also confirmed the relationship between price and service quality.

  16. Fretting wear characteristic tests of X2-GEN midgrid for SMART under a FIV rod trace

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Young Ho; Lee, Kang Hee; Kim, Jae Yong; Kim, Hyung Kyu [KAERI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2011-12-15

    The KEPCO Nuclear Fuel Co. requested the fretting wear characteristic tests of a X2-GEN midgrid under a FIV rod trace at room temperature air. The following results were obtained for the fretting wear test. {center_dot} Fretting wear tests under a FIV rod trace Based on the result of the fretting wear tests of the X2-GEN and 17ACE7 1x1 mid-grid under a FIV rod trace, X2-GEN mid-grid showed a slightly severe wear volume rather than 17ACE7 spring. But, maximum wear depth shows an opposite behavior. This is due to spring shape effect. The fretting wear mechanisms at each mid-grid were influenced by each spring shape, that are depended on the different impacting behavior under a FIV rod motion. Up to 5x105 cycles, wear characteristics of each mid-grid shows a relatively similar wear rate. Consequently, it is necessary to further study for examining exact fretting wear behavior under a FIV rod tra

  17. Study on infrasonic characteristics of coal samples in failure process under uniaxial loading

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bing Jia

    Full Text Available To study the precursory failure infrasonic characteristics of coal samples, coal rock stress loading system and infrasonic wave acquisition system were adopted, and infrasonic tests in uniaxial loading process were made for the coal samples in the studied area. Wavelet filtering, fast Fourier transform, and relative infrasonic energy methods were used to analyze the characteristics of the infrasonic waves in the loading process, including time domain characteristics, and relative energy. The analysis results demonstrated that the frequencies of the infrasonic signals in the loading process mainly distribute within 5–10 Hz, which are significantly different from noise signals. The changes of the infrasonic signals show clear periodic characters in time domain. Meanwhile, the relative energy changes of the infrasonic wave also show periodic characters, which are divided into two stages by the yield limit of coal samples, and are clear and easy to be recognized, so that they can be used as the precursory characteristics for recognizing coal sample failures. Moreover, the infrasonic waves generated by coal samples have low frequency and low attenuation, which can be collected without coupling and transmitted in long distance. This study provides an important support for the further in-situ prediction of coal rock failures. Keywords: Infrasound, Relative energy, Time-frequency analysis, Failure prediction, Identification feature

  18. Incidence and characteristics of chemical burns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koh, Dong-Hee; Lee, Sang-Gil; Kim, Hwan-Cheol

    2017-05-01

    Chemical burns can lead to serious health outcomes. Previous studies about chemical burns have been performed based on burn center data so these studies have provided limited information about the incidence of chemical burns at the national level. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence and characteristics of chemical burns using nationwide databases. A cohort representing the Korean population, which was established using a national health insurance database, and a nationwide workers' compensation database were used to evaluate the incidence and characteristics of chemical burns. Characteristics of the affected body region, depth of burns, industry, task, and causative agents were analyzed from two databases. The incidence of chemical burns was calculated according to employment status. The most common regions involving chemical burns with hospital visits were the skin followed by the eyes. For skin lesions, the hands and wrists were the most commonly affected regions. Second degree burns were the most common in terms of depth of skin lesions. The hospital visit incidence was 1.96 per 10,000 person-year in the general population. The compensated chemical burns incidence was 0.17 per 10,000 person-year. Employees and the self-employed showed a significantly increased risk of chemical burns undergoing hospital visits compared to their dependents. Chemical burns on the skin and eyes are almost equally prevalent. The working environment was associated with increased risk of chemical burns. Our results may aid in estimating the size of the problem and prioritizing prevention of chemical burns. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

  19. Demography and life history characteristics of two honey bee races (Apis mellifera).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winston, Mark L; Dropkin, Jennifer A; Taylor, Orley R

    1981-03-01

    Intra-colony demography and life history characteristics of neotropical Africanized and temperate European honey bearaces were compared under simulated feral conditions. Major differences in colony demography were found which nevertheless resulted in some similar reproductive characteristics. European colonies were larger than Africanized colonies, had more rapid initral growth rates of worker populations, showed better survivorship of brood and adult workers, and differed in patterns of worker age distribution. However, both races were similar in the brood and adult populations when colonies swarmed, the frequency and timing of swarming, and the number of workers in prime swarms. The factors most important in determining these colony growth and reproductive patterns were likely worker mortality rates, climate, and resource availability.

  20. Calculation for Primary Combustion Characteristics of Boron-Based Fuel-Rich Propellant Based on BP Neural Network

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wu Wan'e

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available A practical scheme for selecting characterization parameters of boron-based fuel-rich propellant formulation was put forward; a calculation model for primary combustion characteristics of boron-based fuel-rich propellant based on backpropagation neural network was established, validated, and then was used to predict primary combustion characteristics of boron-based fuel-rich propellant. The results show that the calculation error of burning rate is less than ±7.3%; in the formulation range (hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene 28%–32%, ammonium perchlorate 30%–35%, magnalium alloy 4%–8%, catocene 0%–5%, and boron 30%, the variation of the calculation data is consistent with the experimental results.

  1. Additivity for parametrized topological Euler characteristic and Reidemeister torsion

    OpenAIRE

    Badzioch, Bernard; Dorabiala, Wojciech

    2005-01-01

    Dwyer, Weiss, and Williams have recently defined the notions of parametrized topological Euler characteristic and parametrized topological Reidemeister torsion which are invariants of bundles of compact topological manifolds. We show that these invariants satisfy additivity formulas paralleling the additive properties of the classical Euler characteristic and Reidemeister torsion of finite CW-complexes.

  2. Care package for anxiety disorders: no-show and dropout of standardised, time restricted treatment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tranberg, Hanne; Mortensen, Erik Lykke; Lau, Marianne Engelbrecht

    Background: Psychotherapy has shown to be efficacious but therapy effectiveness in mental health services is compromised by patients who fail to show up for assessment, treatment start and stay in treatment. Predictors for patient non-attendance (no-show and dropout) have been identified as patient...... or therapist characteristics. Organisational variables are sparsely studied although waiting time may affect no-show and dropout. In order to reduce waiting time the Mental Health Services in Denmark have introduced care packages in the treatment of non-psychotic disorders. Care packages are courses...... and if demographic and clinical variables were predictors for no-show and dropout. Methods: The study was a quasi-experimental pre-post study in a naturalistic setting in the Mental Health Services, Capital Region of Denmark. Two samples of patients, aged above 18 years and referred for treatment for anxiety...

  3. CFD approach to modelling, hydrodynamic analysis and motion characteristics of a laboratory underwater glider with experimental results

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yogang Singh

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Underwater gliders are buoyancy propelled vehicle which make use of buoyancy for vertical movement and wings to propel the glider in forward direction. Autonomous underwater gliders are a patented technology and are manufactured and marketed by corporations. In this study, we validate the experimental lift and drag characteristics of a glider from the literature using Computational fluid dynamics (CFD approach. This approach is then used for the assessment of the steady state characteristics of a laboratory glider designed at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Madras. Flow behaviour and lift and drag force distribution at different angles of attack are studied for Reynolds numbers varying from 105 to 106 for NACA0012 wing configurations. The state variables of the glider are the velocity, gliding angle and angle of attack which are simulated by making use of the hydrodynamic drag and lift coefficients obtained from CFD. The effect of the variable buoyancy is examined in terms of the gliding angle, velocity and angle of attack. Laboratory model of glider is developed from the final design asserted by CFD. This model is used for determination of static and dynamic properties of an underwater glider which were validated against an equivalent CAD model and simulation results obtained from equations of motion of glider in vertical plane respectively. In the literature, only empirical approach has been adopted to estimate the hydrodynamic coefficients of the AUG that are required for its trajectory simulation. In this work, a CFD approach has been proposed to estimate the hydrodynamic coefficients and validated with experimental data. A two-mass variable buoyancy engine has been designed and implemented. The equations of motion for this two-mass engine have been obtained by modifying the single mass version of the equations described in the literature. The objectives of the present study are to understand the glider dynamics adopting a CFD approach

  4. Audit result and its users

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shalimova Nataliya S.

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The article identifies essence of the “audit result” and “users of audit result” notions and characteristics of the key audit results user. It shows that in order to give a wide characteristic of users it is expedient to unite all objects, which could be used (audit report, fact of refusal to conduct audit and information that is submitted to managers in the process of audit with the term “audit result” and classify it depending on the terms of submission by final and intermediate result. The article offers to define audit results user as a person, persons or category of persons for whom the auditor prepares the audit report and, in cases, envisaged by international standards of the audit and domestic legislative and regulatory acts, provides other additional information concerning audit issues. In order to identify the key audit results user the article distributes all audit tasks into two groups depending on possibilities of identification of users. The article proves that the key user should be identified especially in cases of a mandatory audit and this process should go in interconnection with the mechanism of allocation of a key user of financial reports. It offers to consider external users with direct financial interests, who cannot request economic subjects directly to provide information and who should rely on general financial reports and audit report when receiving significant portion of information they need, as the key user. The article makes proposals on specification of the categorical mechanism in the sphere of audit, which are the basis for audit quality assessment, identification of possibilities and conditions of appearance of the necessary and sufficient trust to the auditor opinion.

  5. Theory and analysis of accuracy for the method of characteristics direction probabilities with boundary averaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Zhouyu; Collins, Benjamin; Kochunas, Brendan; Downar, Thomas; Xu, Yunlin; Wu, Hongchun

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • The CDP combines the benefits of the CPM’s efficiency and the MOC’s flexibility. • Boundary averaging reduces the computation effort with losing minor accuracy. • An analysis model is used to justify the choice of optimize averaging strategy. • Numerical results show the performance and accuracy. - Abstract: The method of characteristic direction probabilities (CDP) combines the benefits of the collision probability method (CPM) and the method of characteristics (MOC) for the solution of the integral form of the Botlzmann Transport Equation. By coupling only the fine regions traversed by the characteristic rays in a particular direction, the computational effort required to calculate the probability matrices and to solve the matrix system is considerably reduced compared to the CPM. Furthermore, boundary averaging is performed to reduce the storage and computation but the capability of dealing with complicated geometries is preserved since the same ray tracing information is used as in MOC. An analysis model for the outgoing angular flux is used to analyze a variety of outgoing angular flux averaging methods for the boundary and to justify the choice of optimize averaging strategy. The boundary average CDP method was then implemented in the Michigan PArallel Characteristic based Transport (MPACT) code to perform 2-D and 3-D transport calculations. The numerical results are given for different cases to show the effect of averaging on the outgoing angular flux, region scalar flux and the eigenvalue. Comparison of the results with the case with no averaging demonstrates that an angular dependent averaging strategy is possible for the CDP to improve its computational performance without compromising the achievable accuracy

  6. TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF RADICAL PROSTATECTOMY FOR EARLY CONTINENCE RECOVERY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. A. Perepechay

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents the technical characteristics of radical prostatectomy (RPE for early continence recovery in patients with prostate cancer. Restoration of the fascial structures of the small pelvis after RPE has been found to promote early urinary continence recovery. A method for total restoration of the fascial structures of the small pelvis (an operation after A. Tewari and a procedure for performing posterior suspension of urethrocystic neoanastomosis in Denonvilliers’ fascia length deficit are considered, which show the similar results in the time of continence recovery.

  7. Lateral stress-induced propagation characteristics in photonic crystal fibres

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Tian Hong-Da; Yu Zhong-Yuan; Han Li-Hong; Liu Yu-Min

    2009-01-01

    Using the finite element method, this paper investigates lateral stress-induced propagation characteristics in a pho-tonic crystal fibre of hexagonal symmetry. The results of simulation show the strong stress dependence of effective index of the fundamental guided mode, phase modal birefringence and confinement loss. It also finds that the contribution of the geometrical effect that is related only to deformation of the photonic crystal fibre and the stress-related contribution to phase modal birefringence and confinement loss are entirely different. Furthermore, polarization-dependent stress sensitivity of confinement loss is proposed in this paper.

  8. The effects of the structure characteristics on Magnetic Barkhausen noise in commercial steels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deng, Yu; Li, Zhe; Chen, Juan; Qi, Xin

    2018-04-01

    This study has been done by separately measuring Magnetic Barkhausen noise (MBN) under different structure characteristics, namely the carbon content, hardness, roughness, and elastic modulus in commercial steels. The result of the experiments shows a strong dependence of MBN parameters (peak height, Root mean square (RMS), and average value) on structure characteristics. These effects, according to this study, can be explained by two kinds of source mechanisms of the MBN, domain wall nucleation and wall propagation. The discovery obtained in this paper can provide basic knowledge to understand the existing surface condition problem of Magnetic Barkhausen noise as a non-destructive evaluation technique and bring MBN into wider application.

  9. Physical parameters and organoleptic characteristics of propolis from the province of Misiones, Argentina

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sosa-López Ángela Antonia

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available The propolises are complex resinous substances of nature origin, source whose characteristics confer him antibiotic proprieties and multiples applications. It was raised the propolis study of three locations of Misiones province, in order to determine the color, smell, taste and appearance organoleptic characteristics, ash percentage, waxes and impurities and microscopic characterization of such propolis. Various methods are applied to achieve, obtaining the organoleptic characterization of color, smell, taste and appearance, ash percentage, waxes and impurities differ according to place of origin, in both the microscopic characterization propolis also they showed different results according to the liquid used as a vehicle for suspension.

  10. Structural Modeling and Analysis on Dynamic Characteristics of Antenna Pedestal in Airborne SAR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    He Li-ping

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available Finite element modeling and structural dynamic characteristics of antenna pedestal in airborne SAR were studied in this paper. The Finite element model of antenna pedestal in airborne SAR was set up on the basis of structural dynamic theory, then, the key technologies of dynamic simulation were pointed out, and the modal analysis and transient analysis were carried out. Simulation results show that the dynamic characteristics of antenna pedestal in airborne SAR can meet the requirements of servo bandwidth and structural strength. The fast finite element modeling and simulation method proposed in this paper are of great significance to the weight reducing design of antenna pedestal in airborne SAR.

  11. Effects of microwave irradiation treatment on physicochemical characteristics of Chinese low-rank coals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ge, Lichao; Zhang, Yanwei; Wang, Zhihua; Zhou, Junhu; Cen, Kefa

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: • Typical Chinese lignites with various ranks are upgraded through microwave. • The pore distribution extends to micropore region, BET area and volume increase. • FTIR show the change of microstructure and improvement in coal rank after upgrading. • Upgraded coals exhibit weak combustion similar to Da Tong bituminous coal. • More evident effects are obtained for raw brown coal with relative lower rank. - Abstract: This study investigates the effects of microwave irradiation treatment on coal composition, pore structure, coal rank, function groups, and combustion characteristics of typical Chinese low-rank coals. Results showed that the upgrading process (microwave irradiation treatment) significantly reduced the coals’ inherent moisture, and increased their calorific value and fixed carbon content. It was also found that the upgrading process generated micropores and increased pore volume and surface area of the coals. Results on the oxygen/carbon ratio parameter indicated that the low-rank coals were upgraded to high-rank coals after the upgrading process, which is in agreement with the findings from Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Unstable components in the coal were converted into stable components during the upgrading process. Thermo-gravimetric analysis showed that the combustion processes of upgraded coals were delayed toward the high-temperature region, the ignition and burnout temperatures increased, and the comprehensive combustion parameter decreased. Compared with raw brown coals, the upgraded coals exhibited weak combustion characteristics similar to bituminous coal. The changes in physicochemical characteristics became more notable when processing temperature increased from 130 °C to 160 °C or the rank of raw brown coal was lower. Microwave irradiation treatment could be considered as an effective dewatering and upgrading process

  12. Structure and chemical bond characteristics of LaB6

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bai Lina; Ma Ning; Liu Fengli

    2009-01-01

    The structure and chemical bond characteristics of LaB 6 have been achieved by means of the density functional theory using the state-of-the-art full-potential linearized augmented plane wave (FPLAPW) method, which are implemented within the EXCITING code. The results show our optimized lattice constant a (4.158 A), parameter z (0.1981) and bulk modulus B (170.4 GPa) are in good agreement with the corresponding experimental data. Electron localization function (ELF) shows the La-La bond mainly is ionic bond, La-B bond is between ionic and covalent bond while the covalent bond between the nearest neighbor B atoms (B2 and B3) is a little stronger than that between the nearer neighbor B atoms (B1 and B4).

  13. EGRADATION CHARACTERISTICS OF SOME SUDANESE GRASSES AND GAS PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES

    OpenAIRE

    A.O. Idris; C. Kijora; A.M. Salih; I. Bushara; H.A.A. Elbukhary

    2012-01-01

    Eighteen plant species, three ingredients, and six diets were studied for their degradation characteristics, using gas production techniques. The palatable grasses were selected during the rainy season from the range land of Kordofan, Sudan. The ingredients were Roselle seeds, Sorghum grain and Groundnut cake. The samples were incubated for 4, 8, 12, 24, 48, 72 and 96 h, using rumen inoculum of three of the sheep used for the nylon bag. The results showed a large variation between the differe...

  14. Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis: Clinical and Demographic Characteristics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rafique, A.; Amjad, N.; Chand, P.; Ahmed, K.; Ibrahim, S.; Zaidi, S. S. Z.; Rana, M. S.

    2014-01-01

    Objective: To determine the clinical and demographic characteristics of children diagnosed with Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE). Study Design: Case series. Place and Duration of Study: The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, from January 2000 to June 2012. Methodology: A retrospective analysis was done, regarding medical charts of 43 children under the age of 16 years with a discharge diagnosis of SSPE. Demographic and clinical characteristics were recorded. Results were expressed as percentages. Results: Most of the 43 patients were male (72%). The average age at presentation was 8.7 years with average duration of symptoms being 100.6 days. History of measles was present in 17 patients (39.5%). All children had seizures at presentation and 65% had cognitive impairment. Most patients required poly therapy for control of seizures. Sodium valproate was the most commonly used anti-epileptic agent; Isoprinosine was tried in 22 (51%) patients. CSF for antimeasles antibodies was positive in approximately 86% of the 40 (93%) children. EEG showed burst suppression pattern in 36 (83.7%) cases. Forty-two patients (97.6%) were discharged home in a vegetative state. Conclusion: SSPE is progressive neurodegenerative disorder. It can be prevented by timely immunization against measles. Measles antibody in the CSF is diagnostic for SSPE and is helpful in early diagnosis. Most patients experience a gradual but progressive decline in motor and cognitive functions. (author)

  15. Experimental Study of Vibration Isolation Characteristics of a Geometric Anti-Spring Isolator

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lixun Yan

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available In order to realize low-frequency vibration isolation, a novel geometric anti-spring isolator consisting of several cantilever blade springs are developed in this paper. The optimal design parameters of the geometric anti-spring isolator for different nonlinear geometric parameters are theoretically obtained. The transmissibility characteristic of the geometric anti-spring isolator is investigated through mathematical simulation. A geometric anti-spring isolator with a nonlinear geometric parameter of 0.92 is designed and its vibration isolation performance and nonlinearity characteristic is experimentally studied. The experiment results show that the designed isolator has good low-frequency vibration isolation performance, of which the initial isolation frequency is less than 3.6 Hz when the load weight is 21 kg. The jump phenomena of the response of the isolator under linear frequency sweep excitation are observed, and this result demonstrates that the geometric anti-spring isolator has a complex nonlinearity characteristics with the increment of excitation amplitude. This research work provides a theoretical and experimental basis for the application of the nonlinear geometric anti-spring low-frequency passive vibration isolation technology in engineering practice.

  16. New results on the E(1420)/iota(1460) meson in hadroproduction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chung, S.U.

    1987-01-01

    A mini-review, with emphasis on new results, is given on the status of the hadroproduced E(1420)/iota (1460) meson in the decay channels etaππ and KK-barπ. The BNL data at twice the statistics of the previously published event sample show clearly a J/sup PG/ = 0/sup -+/ δ(980)π state with a phase motion characteristic of a resonance

  17. Vibration characteristics of an inclined flip-flow screen panel in banana flip-flow screens

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiong, Xiaoyan; Niu, Linkai; Gu, Chengxiang; Wang, Yinhua

    2017-12-01

    A banana flip-flow screen is an effective solution for the screening of high-viscosity, high-water and fine materials. As one of the key components, the vibration characteristics of the inclined flip-flow screen panel largely affects the screen performance and the processing capacity. In this paper, a mathematical model for the vibration characteristic of the inclined flip-flow screen panel is proposed based on Catenary theory. The reasonability of Catenary theory in analyzing the vibration characteristic of flip-flow screen panels is verified by a published experiment. Moreover, the effects of the rotation speed of exciters, the incline angle, the slack length and the characteristics of the screen on the vertical deflection, the vertical velocity and the vertical acceleration of the screen panel are investigated parametrically. The results show that the rotation speed of exciters, the incline angle, the slack length and the characteristics of the screen have significant effects on the vibrations of an inclined flip-flow screen panel, and these parameters should be optimized.

  18. Experimental study of underwater transmission characteristics of high-frequency 30 MHz polyurea ultrasonic transducer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakazawa, Marie; Aoyagi, Takahiro; Tabaru, Masaya; Nakamura, Kentaro; Ueha, Sadayuki

    2014-02-01

    In this paper, we present the transmission characteristics of a polyurea ultrasonic transducer operating in water. In this study, we used a polyurea transducer with fundamental resonance at approximately 30 MHz. Firstly, acoustic pressure radiated from the transducer was measured using a hydrophone, which has a diameter of 0.2 mm. The transmission characteristics such as relative bandwidth, pulse width, and acoustic sensitivity were calculated from the experimental results. The results of the experiment showed a relative bandwidth of 50% and a pulse width of 0.061 μs. The acoustic sensitivity was 0.60 kPa/V with good linearity, where the correlation coefficient R in the fitting calculation was 0.996. A maximum pressure of 13.1 kPa was observed when the transducer was excited at a zero-to-peak voltage of 21 V. Moreover, we experimentally verified the results. The results of the pulse/echo experiment showed that the estimated diameters of the copper wires were 458 and 726 μm, where the differences between the actual and measured values were 15% and 4%, respectively. Acoustic streaming was also observed so that a particle velocity map was estimated by particle image velocimetry (PIV). The sound pressure calculated from the particle velocity obtained by PIV showed good agreement with the acoustic pressure measured using the hydrophone, where the differences between the calculated and measured values were 12-19%. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. A Procedure for Determining Tire-Road Friction Characteristics Using a Modification of the Magic Formula Based on Experimental Results.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cabrera, Juan A; Castillo, Juan J; Pérez, Javier; Velasco, Juan M; Guerra, Antonio J; Hernández, Pedro

    2018-03-17

    Knowledge of tire-road friction characteristics is essential for the proper performance of most relevant vehicle active safety systems. Therefore, its determination is necessary to improve the effectiveness of these systems and to avoid or reduce the consequences of traffic accidents. For this reason, there is a great deal of literature concerning methods and devices for measuring and modeling tire-road friction. Most of these methods have focused on determining the road friction resistance, taking only road composition and making measurements in wet conditions into account. However, friction forces are also dependent on the tire type, since the contact is established between the tire and the road in real driving conditions. Thus, the type and characteristics of the tire have to be considered in the study of the interaction between the vehicle and the road. The aim of this work is to unify the study of the friction coefficient, taking into consideration the two existing bodies involved in the contact, i.e., the tire and road and the main factors that influence the forces in the contact. To this end, a modification of the Pacejka Magic Formula is proposed to include the effects of the main parameters that influence the contact, such as road composition and its state, tire type, vehicle speed, and slip between the tire and the road. To do so, real tests have been conducted on several roads and with different operating conditions. As a result, a more accurate tire-road friction model has been obtained.

  20. A Procedure for Determining Tire-Road Friction Characteristics Using a Modification of the Magic Formula Based on Experimental Results

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pérez, Javier; Velasco, Juan M.; Guerra, Antonio J.; Hernández, Pedro

    2018-01-01

    Knowledge of tire-road friction characteristics is essential for the proper performance of most relevant vehicle active safety systems. Therefore, its determination is necessary to improve the effectiveness of these systems and to avoid or reduce the consequences of traffic accidents. For this reason, there is a great deal of literature concerning methods and devices for measuring and modeling tire-road friction. Most of these methods have focused on determining the road friction resistance, taking only road composition and making measurements in wet conditions into account. However, friction forces are also dependent on the tire type, since the contact is established between the tire and the road in real driving conditions. Thus, the type and characteristics of the tire have to be considered in the study of the interaction between the vehicle and the road. The aim of this work is to unify the study of the friction coefficient, taking into consideration the two existing bodies involved in the contact, i.e., the tire and road and the main factors that influence the forces in the contact. To this end, a modification of the Pacejka Magic Formula is proposed to include the effects of the main parameters that influence the contact, such as road composition and its state, tire type, vehicle speed, and slip between the tire and the road. To do so, real tests have been conducted on several roads and with different operating conditions. As a result, a more accurate tire-road friction model has been obtained. PMID:29562623

  1. A Procedure for Determining Tire-Road Friction Characteristics Using a Modification of the Magic Formula Based on Experimental Results

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juan A. Cabrera

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Knowledge of tire-road friction characteristics is essential for the proper performance of most relevant vehicle active safety systems. Therefore, its determination is necessary to improve the effectiveness of these systems and to avoid or reduce the consequences of traffic accidents. For this reason, there is a great deal of literature concerning methods and devices for measuring and modeling tire-road friction. Most of these methods have focused on determining the road friction resistance, taking only road composition and making measurements in wet conditions into account. However, friction forces are also dependent on the tire type, since the contact is established between the tire and the road in real driving conditions. Thus, the type and characteristics of the tire have to be considered in the study of the interaction between the vehicle and the road. The aim of this work is to unify the study of the friction coefficient, taking into consideration the two existing bodies involved in the contact, i.e., the tire and road and the main factors that influence the forces in the contact. To this end, a modification of the Pacejka Magic Formula is proposed to include the effects of the main parameters that influence the contact, such as road composition and its state, tire type, vehicle speed, and slip between the tire and the road. To do so, real tests have been conducted on several roads and with different operating conditions. As a result, a more accurate tire-road friction model has been obtained.

  2. Results of the PERI survey of SciDAC applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Supinski, Bronis R de; Hollingworth, Jeffrey K; Moore, Shirley; Worley, Patrick H

    2007-01-01

    The Performance Engineering Research Institute (PERI) project focuses on achieving superior performance for Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC) applications on leadership class machines through cutting-edge research in performance modeling and automated performance tuning. This focus requires coordinated activities to engage SciDAC application teams. The initial application engagement activity was a survey of these teams to determine their performance goals, the criticality of those goals, current performance of their applications, application characteristics relevant to performance and their plans for future optimization. Using a web-based questionnaire, PERI researchers have worked with application developers to provide this information for over twenty-five applications. This paper describes the initial analysis of the application characteristics and performance goals, as well as current and future application engagement activities driven by these results. While the survey was conducted primarily to meet PERI needs, the results represent a snapshot of the state of SciDAC code development and may be of use to the DOE community at large. Overall, the results show that SciDAC application teams are engaged in significant new code development, which will require flexible performance optimization techniques that can improve performance as the applications evolve

  3. Designing the organizational creativity based on job characteristics and job involvement among physical education units’ employees of Technology University

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seyed Hossein Alavi

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the present study was designing the organizational creativity based on job characteristics and job involvement among physical education employees of Technology University. The statistical population of the present study consisted of all employees, experts, and physical education units’ managers. The statistical samples were 389 people reduced to 338 employees after eliminating the incomplete and useless questionnaires. The research method of the present study was descriptive-correlative. Three questionnaires of job characteristics, job involvement, and organizational creativity were used to evaluate the research variables which were distributed and gathered among research samples after translation and comparison with research samples via face validity (views of 12 sport management experts and construct validity. The research results were analyzed by Partial Least Square (PLS and showed that the best predictor of job involvement among physical education units’ employees of Technology University was problem solving (ES= 0.41. However, the job characteristics of autonomy (0.26 and job feedback (.024 had more effects on employees’ creativity. Other results showed that managers reported lower scores of job characteristics and creativity than sport employees. According to research findings, in order to achieve creativity in the workplace within physical education units of Technology University, the managers should stimulate the autonomy and feedback characteristics. Of course, it should not be neglected that this mechanism would be facilitated by creating the problem solving in job.

  4. Aging characteristic and mechanical properties of TiC/2618 composite

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    龙春光; 张厚安; 庞佑霞; 刘厚才

    2001-01-01

    TiC/2618 composite was prepared by XD method . The constituent and microstructure of the composite have been investigated by X-ray diffraction and TEM technique. The aging characteristics and mechanical properties at high and room temperatures were studied. The results show that: 1 ) it is possible to prepare multiple alloy matrix TiC/2618composite by XD method; 2) the TiC particles in TiC/2618 composite have the characteristics of fine size, clean appearance and a good bond with the matrix; 3) the aging law of the TiC/2618 composite has been changed by the addition of TiC particles. Two-peak value phenomenon has been observed when it was aged at 190 ℃; 4) TiC/2618 composite has better mechanical properties than those of the matrix both at room and high temperatures.

  5. Chemical and physicochemical characteristics changes during passion fruit juice processing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aline Gurgel Fernandes

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Passion fruit is widely consumed due to its pleasant flavour and aroma acidity, and it is considered very important a source of minerals and vitamins. It is used in many products such as ice-cream, mousses and, especially, juices. However, the processing of passion fruit juice may modify the composition and biodisponibility of the bioactive compounds. Investigations of the effects of processing on nutritional components in tropical juices are scarce. Frequently, only losses of vitamin C are evaluated. The objective of this paper is to investigate how some operations of passion fruit juice processing (formulation/homogeneization/thermal treatment affect this product's chemical and physicochemical characteristics. The results showed that the chemical and physicochemical characteristics are little affected by the processing although a reduction in vitamin C contents and anthocyanin, large quantities of carotenoids was verified even after the pasteurization stage.

  6. Airline Overbooking Problem with Uncertain No-Shows

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chunxiao Zhang

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper considers an airline overbooking problem of a new single-leg flight with discount fare. Due to the absence of historical data of no-shows for a new flight, and various uncertain human behaviors or unexpected events which causes that a few passengers cannot board their aircraft on time, we fail to obtain the probability distribution of no-shows. In this case, the airlines have to invite some domain experts to provide belief degree of no-shows to estimate its distribution. However, human beings often overestimate unlikely events, which makes the variance of belief degree much greater than that of the frequency. If we still regard the belief degree as a subjective probability, the derived results will exceed our expectations. In order to deal with this uncertainty, the number of no-shows of new flight is assumed to be an uncertain variable in this paper. Given the chance constraint of social reputation, an overbooking model with discount fares is developed to maximize the profit rate based on uncertain programming theory. Finally, the analytic expression of the optimal booking limit is obtained through a numerical example, and the results of sensitivity analysis indicate that the optimal booking limit is affected by flight capacity, discount, confidence level, and parameters of the uncertainty distribution significantly.

  7. Spatial characteristics of tree diameter distributions in a temperate old-growth forest.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Chunyu; Wei, Yanbo; Zhao, Xiuhai; von Gadow, Klaus

    2013-01-01

    This contribution identifies spatial characteristics of tree diameter in a temperate forest in north-eastern China, based on a fully censused observational study area covering 500×600 m. Mark correlation analysis with three null hypothesis models was used to determine departure from expectations at different neighborhood distances. Tree positions are clumped at all investigated scales in all 37 studied species, while the diameters of most species are spatially negatively correlated, especially at short distances. Interestingly, all three cases showing short-distance attraction of dbh marks are associated with light-demanding shrub species. The short-distance attraction of dbh marks indicates spatially aggregated cohorts of stems of similar size. The percentage of species showing significant dbh suppression peaked at a 4 m distance under the heterogeneous Poisson model. At scales exceeding the peak distance, the percentage of species showing significant dbh suppression decreases sharply with increasing distances. The evidence from this large observational study shows that some of the variation of the spatial characteristics of tree diameters is related variations of topography and soil chemistry. However, an obvious interpretation of this result is still lacking. Thus, removing competitors surrounding the target trees is an effective way to avoid neighboring competition effects reducing the growth of valuable target trees in forest management practice.

  8. Serbs, the craziest of all – TV comedy show "Kursadžije" by Grand Production

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marija Krstić

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper is the result of research done on the TV comedy show (series "Kursadžije" by Grand Production. The attention is directed towards understanding the motives of the Fool (buffoon which appears as the characteristic of the main characters in the show. Kursadžije (a rough translation would be Course-attending-people are attendants of a course for Special Balkan Forces and they are the representatives of the countries that constituted the former Socialistic Federative Republic of Yugoslavia. By using the theoretic guidelines of Klappe’s about the Fool as a social type, and the analysis of V.Trifunovic, I will demonstrate why all of the Kursadžija’s are Fools and how they are different one from the other based on their different follies (buffoonery, craziness. Having in mind that this is a Serbian TV show and that the Serbian attendant of that course, Gedža Crazy Milojko (the American equivalent of Gedža could be Redneck or Hillbilly, is the only one who has the term "Crazy" (Fool in his name, I will particularly pay attention to the motive of "Serbian craziness", and examine is it a way to emphasize how special the Serbs are, how unique and unbeatably exotic, i.e., why is the "Serbian craziness" valued as a positive one.

  9. Live Reporting in a News / Current Affairs TV Show as a Factor of (Non Credibility

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tena Perišin

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Only a perfunctory glance at the content of current aff airs/news programs makes it clear that in just a few years time, live reporting on Croatian TV news shows has increased dramatically. Technologicaladvancements, the equipping of TV stations with mobile satellite vans, and the pressure of competition have all resulted in increased instances of live reporting. When investigating news values, pictureand sound, as well as the possibility of immediate, timely reporting represent the key characteristics of TV journalism. In this context, live reports, as part of a news segment, should add to the authenticity and credibility of the program. Currently, however, TV broadcasting houses attempt to best one another in the number of live broadcasts as a means to purport a higher quality of their program. The direct address to the camera turns a reporter from an anonymous bearer of information into the “main star”. The figures accumulated on the extent of this form used in a news show do not determine the professional level of the editorial policy. Live reporting cannot be regarded as news value if other news values are neglected in the process. Recent research shows that live reports, in most cases, have been stripped of the initial notion of reporting on important and recent events. As such, they are becoming less of a justifi ed element in the creation of news.

  10. Microencapsulation by spray drying of Lannea microcarpa extract: Technological characteristics and antioxidant activity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francesca Sansone

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Context: A functional extract from Lannea microcarpa (Lm, possess interesting antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. However, the unprocessed dried extract occurs as sticky and low-water-soluble material showing critical properties for industrial applications. The unprocessed dried extract is not always enough stable to preserve its functional properties, also giving practical difficulties for the manufacturing. Aims: This research aimed to produce Lm extract microparticles with enhanced functional stability and technological characteristics by spray-drying. Methods: Lm extract was microencapsulated by spray-drying using a sodium-carboxymethylcellulose (NaCMC based matrix. Physicochemical and technological characteristics (determined by UV, HPLC, LLS, SEM, DSC, and in vitro dissolution tests, as well as antioxidant properties (DPPH-test of the resulting powder (LmC were examined. Results: The produced spray dried microparticles showed satisfying encapsulation efficiency, good functional stability and enhanced technological properties. The selected carrier and process conditions led to a stable and handling microencapsulated powder form with improved water dissolution rate. Moreover, the matrix was also able to preserve the antioxidant activity of the phenolic compounds-rich extract. Conclusions: The made-up powder resulted in a functional component that can be used with great potential in cosmetics, foods or nutraceutical products.

  11. Characteristic Chromatogram: A Method of Discriminate and Quantitative Analysis for Quality Evaluation of Uncaria Stem with Hooks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hou, Jinjun; Feng, Ruihong; Zhang, Yibei; Pan, Huiqin; Yao, Shuai; Han, Sumei; Feng, Zijin; Cai, Luying; Wu, Wanying; Guo, De-An

    2018-04-01

    It remains a challenge to establish new monographs for herbal drugs derived from multiple botanical sources. Specifically, the difficulty involves discriminating and quantifying these herbs with components whose levels vary markedly among different samples. Using Uncaria stem with hooks as an example, a characteristic chromatogram was proposed to discriminate its five botanical origins and to quantify its characteristic components in the chromatogram. The characteristic chromatogram with respect to the components of Uncaria stem with hooks with the five botanical origins was established using 0.02% diethylamine and acetonitrile as the mobile phase. The total analysis time was 50 min and the detection wavelength was 245 nm. Using the same chromatogram parameters, the single standard to determine multicomponents method was validated to simultaneously quantify nine indole alkaloids, including vincosamide, 3 α -dihydrocadambine, isocorynoxeine, corynoxeine, isorhynchophylline, rhynchophylline, hirsuteine, hirsutine, and geissoschizine methyl ether. The results showed that only the Uncaria stem with hooks from Uncaria rhynchophylla , the most widely used in the herbal market, showed the presence of these nine alkaloids. The conversion factors were 1.27, 2.32, 0.98, 1.04, 1.00, 1.02, 1.26, 1.33, and 1.25, respectively. The limits of quantitation were lower than 700 ng/mL. The total contents of 31 batches of Uncaria stem with hooks were in the range of 0.1 - 0.6%, except for Uncaria hirsuta Havil and Uncaria sinensis (Oliv.) Havil. The results also showed that the total content of indole alkaloids tended to decrease with an increase in the hook diameter. This showed that the characteristic chromatogram is practical for controlling the quality of traditional Chinese medicines with multiple botanical origins. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

  12. [Clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of pulmonary tuberculosis with concurrent lung cancer].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gu, Yingchun; Song, Yelin; Liu, Yufeng

    2014-09-30

    To explore the clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of pulmonary tuberculosis with concurrent lung cancer. Comprehensive analyses were conducted for 58 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis patients with lung cancer. Their clinical symptoms, signs and imaging results were analyzed between January 1998 and January 2005 at Qingdao Chest Hospital. Kaplan-Meier method was utilized to calculate their survival rates. Nine prognostic characteristics were analyzed. Single factor analysis was performed with Logrank test and multi-factor analysis with Cox regression model. The initial symptoms were cough, chest tightness, fever and hemoptysis. Chest radiology showed the coexistence of two diseases was 36 in the same lobe and 22 in different lobes. And there were pulmonary nodules (n = 24), cavities (n = 19), infiltration (n = 8) and atelectasis (n = 7). According to the pathological characteristics, there were squamous carcinoma (n = 33), adenocarcinoma (n = 17), small cell carcinoma (n = 4) and unidentified (n = 4) respectively. The TNM stages were I (n = 13), II(n = 22), III (n = 16) and IV (n = 7) respectively. The median survival period was 24 months. And the 1, 3, 5-year survival rates were 65.5%, 65.5% and 29.0% respectively. Single factor analysis showed that lung cancer TNM staging (P = 0.000) and tuberculosis activity (P = 0.024) were significantly associated with patient prognosis. And multi-factor analysis showed that lung cancer TNM staging (RR = 2.629, 95%CI: 1.759-3.928, P = 0.000) and tuberculosis activity (RR = 1.885, 95%CI: 1.023-3.471, P = 0.042) were relatively independent prognostic factors. The clinical and radiological characteristics contribute jointly to early diagnosis and therapy of tuberculosis with concurrent lung cancer. And TNM staging of lung cancer and activity of tuberculosis are major prognostic factors.

  13. Effect of different probiotics on breast quality characteristics of broilers under Salmonella challenge

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdullah N. Al-Owaimer

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available The current study was performed to investigate the influence of probiotics or antibiotic on breast quality characteristics of broiler chickens that were subjected to Salmonella challenge. Two hundred, one-day-old Cobb 500 chicks were allocated in five experimental treatments for 42 d. Ten cages of birds received one of the following treatments: T1=positive control (+CONT, unsupplemented, unchallenged; T2=negative control (-CONT, unsupplemented, challenged; T3=supplemented with antibiotic neoxyval (NEOX, challenged; T4=supplemented with probiotic Toyocerin (TOYO, challenged; and T5=supplemented with probiotic CloSTATTM (CLOS, challenged. Birds in treatments T2 to T5 were challenged with 3×109 CFU/mL of Salmonella enterica subsp. typhimurium on day 16. Nine birds per treatment were sampled at the end of the trial for breast characteristics. Overall, pH and temperature values of the breast muscle were similar among all groups tested. Cooking loss results indicated that breasts from T3 birds had the highest degree of shrinkage upon cooking while those of the probiotic group had similar control values (P<0.0001. Probiotic supplementation reduced the extent of destruction of myofibrils caused by homogenisation (P<0.0001. Warner-Bratzler shear test and texture profile analysis showed that neither treatments nor Salmonella challenge had any negative impact on texture or sensory attributes of chicken breast. In conclusion, results show that breast characteristics were better when probiotics were supplemented in the diets.

  14. Evaluation of physical and chemical characteristics of xanthan gums

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claire Tondo Vendruscolo

    2007-03-01

    Full Text Available This work aimed at evaluating the physical and chemical characteristics of the xanthan produced by Xanthomonas arboricola pv pruni strain 115, and at comparing it with two xanthans obtained from commercial sources – Kelzan e Roeper. The analyzed xanthans showed specified patterns mentioned in the literature, except for low pyruvic acid content in the xanthan produced by strain 115, low monovalent salt content in the Roeper sample and high divalent salt content in both commercial samples. The low pyruvic acid content in the xanthan produced by X. arboricola pv pruni 115 did not affect the aqueous solution viscosity. Thus, the xanthan produced by strain 115 show physical and chemical characteristics that allow its use by the petroleum industry, as well as, in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics products. Xanthomonas arboricola pv pruni. Xanthan. Physical and chemical characteristics.

  15. Current-Voltage Characteristic of Nanosecond - Duration Relativistic Electron Beam

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andreev, Andrey

    2005-10-01

    The pulsed electron-beam accelerator SINUS-6 was used to measure current-voltage characteristic of nanosecond-duration thin annular relativistic electron beam accelerated in vacuum along axis of a smooth uniform metal tube immersed into strong axial magnetic field. Results of these measurements as well as results of computer simulations performed using 3D MAGIC code show that the electron-beam current dependence on the accelerating voltage at the front of the nanosecond-duration pulse is different from the analogical dependence at the flat part of the pulse. In the steady-state (flat) part of the pulse), the measured electron-beam current is close to Fedosov current [1], which is governed by the conservation law of an electron moment flow for any constant voltage. In the non steady-state part (front) of the pulse, the electron-beam current is higher that the appropriate, for a giving voltage, steady-state (Fedosov) current. [1] A. I. Fedosov, E. A. Litvinov, S. Ya. Belomytsev, and S. P. Bugaev, ``Characteristics of electron beam formed in diodes with magnetic insulation,'' Soviet Physics Journal (A translation of Izvestiya VUZ. Fizika), vol. 20, no. 10, October 1977 (April 20, 1978), pp.1367-1368.

  16. Radiative characteristics of CVL pumped dye laser

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kubo, Uichi; Ishiguro, Takahide.

    1987-01-01

    This paper describes the radiative characteristics of CVL pumped dye laser. It is compared YAG-SH (530 nm) with CVL (511, 578 nm) and CVL (511 nm) for pumping source. Influence of solvent in dye laser power was examined. The present experimental results show that efficiency of CVL (511 nm) pumped dye laser was most high. When the dye solution is at a standstill, the efficiency of dye laser with water and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (S.L.S., 2 %wt.) was most high among the four kinds of solvent. In the condition of dye solution flow, the water and S.L.S. or Ethylene Glycol was useful solvent for dye laser. (author)

  17. Settlement characteristics of major infrastructures in Shanghai

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    X. Jiao

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Critical infrastructures in Shanghai have undergone uneven settlement since their operation, which plays an important role in affecting the security of Shanghai. This paper, taking rail transportation as example, investigates settlement characteristics and influencing factors of this linear engineering, based on long-term settlement monitoring data. Results show that rail settlement is related to geological conditions, regional ground subsidence, surrounding construction activities and structural differences in the rail systems. In order to effectively decrease the impact of regional ground subsidence, a monitoring and early-warning mechanism for critical infrastructure is established by the administrative department and engineering operators, including monitoring network construction, settlement monitoring, information sharing, settlement warning, and so on.

  18. Angst for tandbehandling. Prevalens og karakteristika blandt voksne danskere [Fear of dental treatment. Prevalence and characteristics among adult Danes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Moore, R.; Brødsgaard, I.; Scheutz, F.

    1995-01-01

    A telephone survey using random sample of residents of the municipality of Aarhus were interviewed about dental treatment fear and characteristics of any pre-existing anxiety. Results showed that 4.2% of 539 residents surveyed had extreme anxiety and 6% were moderately afraid. Results of dental...... anxiety, especially in the odontophobiia group, were years of avoidance of treatment and associated poor subjective perceptions of oral health. Logistic analyses revealed that although dental drilling was the identifying feature of dental anxiety characteristics, the drill could be symbolic for the many...

  19. Characteristics, finite element analysis, test description, and preliminary test results of the STM4-120 kinematic Stirling engine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Linker, K. L.; Rawlinson, K. S.; Smith, G.

    1991-10-01

    The Department of Energy's Solar Thermal Program has, as one of its program elements, the development and evaluation of conversion device technologies applicable to dish-electric systems. The primary research and development combines a conversion device (heat engine), solar receiver, and generator mounted at the focus of a parabolic dish concentrator. The Stirling-cycle heat engine was identified as the conversion device for dish-electric with the most potential for meeting the program's goals for efficiency, reliability, and installed cost. To advance the technology toward commercialization, Sandia National Laboratories has acquired a Stirling Thermal Motors, Inc. kinematic Stirling engine, STM4-120, for evaluation. The engine is being bench-tested at Sandia's Engine Test Facility and will be combined later with a solar receiver for on-sun evaluation. This report presents the engine characteristics, finite element analyses of critical engine components, test system layout, instrumentation, and preliminary performance results from the bench test.

  20. Structural-chemical characteristics of implanted metals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kozejkin, B.V.; Pavlov, P.V.; Pitirimova, E.A.; Frolov, A.I.

    1988-01-01

    Corrosion and structural characteristics of metallic layers implanted by ions of chemically active impurities and noble gases are studied. Dependence of experimental results on parameters of initial materials and technological conditions of implantation is established. In studying corrosion characteristics of implanted metals a strong dependence of chemical passivation effect on technological conditions of ion-implantation and structure of initial material is stated. On the basis of developed mathematical model of chemical passivation effect it is shown that increase of corrosion characteristics of implanted metals is defined by superposition of surface and volumetric mechanisms

  1. Measurement of characteristic to total spectrum ratio of tungsten X-ray spectra for the validation of the modified Tbc model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lopez G, A. H.; Costa, P. R.; Tomal, A.

    2014-08-01

    Primary X-ray spectra were measured in the range of 80 to 150 kV in order to validate a computer program based on a semiempirical model for X-ray spectra evaluation(tbc and mod). The ratio between the characteristic lines and total spectrum was considered for comparing the simulated results and experimental data. The raw spectra measured by the Cd Te detector were corrected by the detector efficiency, Compton effects and characteristic Cd and Te X-rays escape peaks, using a software specifically developed. The software Origin 8.5.1 was used to calculate the spectra and characteristic peaks areas. The obtained result shows that the experimental spectra have higher effective energy than the simulated spectra computed with tbc and mod software. The behavior of the ratio between the characteristic lines and total spectrum for simulated data presents discrepancy with the experimental result. Computed results are in good agreement with theoretical data published by Green, for spectra obtained with 3.04 mm of additional aluminum filtration. The difference of characteristic to total spectrum ratio between experimental and simulated data increases with the tube voltage. (Author)

  2. Measurement of characteristic to total spectrum ratio of tungsten X-ray spectra for the validation of the modified Tbc model

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lopez G, A. H.; Costa, P. R. [University of Sao Paulo, Institute of Physics, Laboratory of Radiation Dosimetry and Medical Physics, Matao Street, alley R, 187, 66318 Sao Paulo (Brazil); Tomal, A., E-mail: ahlopezg@usp.br [Universidade Federal de Goias, Physics Institute, Campus Samambaia, 131 Goiania, Goias (Brazil)

    2014-08-15

    Primary X-ray spectra were measured in the range of 80 to 150 kV in order to validate a computer program based on a semiempirical model for X-ray spectra evaluation(tbc and mod). The ratio between the characteristic lines and total spectrum was considered for comparing the simulated results and experimental data. The raw spectra measured by the Cd Te detector were corrected by the detector efficiency, Compton effects and characteristic Cd and Te X-rays escape peaks, using a software specifically developed. The software Origin 8.5.1 was used to calculate the spectra and characteristic peaks areas. The obtained result shows that the experimental spectra have higher effective energy than the simulated spectra computed with tbc and mod software. The behavior of the ratio between the characteristic lines and total spectrum for simulated data presents discrepancy with the experimental result. Computed results are in good agreement with theoretical data published by Green, for spectra obtained with 3.04 mm of additional aluminum filtration. The difference of characteristic to total spectrum ratio between experimental and simulated data increases with the tube voltage. (Author)

  3. Geomorphological condition and sea bottom sediment characteristics of Sebagin coast for NPP site evaluation in South Bangka

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yuliastuti; Heni Susiati; Yarianto Sugeng Budi Susilo

    2015-01-01

    Study on geomorphological condition and sea bottom sediment in the coastal area of Sebagin, South Bangka Regency, Bangka Belitung Province has been performed. Geomorphological of the seabed was valuable to identify geological structures that exist on the seabed layers. Whereas, sediments seabed characteristics was useful to provide portrait of seabed layer due to the stability of NPP site concerning the seismic aspect and the determination of water intake position. The objective of the study was to evaluate geomorphological condition and sea bed sediment characteristics in the South Bangka sea. Methodology used for evaluating geomorphological of the sea bed were Multi Beam Echo Sounder (MBES) and Single Beam Echo Sounder (SBES), while for sea bottom sediment characteristics, high resolution seismic reflection using SBP together with sediment sample analysis were used. The result of the study showed that the study area was a shallow water sea with a depth range of 1-59 m. Geomorphological profile of the sea bed tend to be irregular and based on the seismic interpretation, there were no fault exists. Result analysis on the sea bottom sediment showed that clay distribution dominated the study area. (author)

  4. Experimental test of static and dynamic characteristics of tilting-pad thrust bearings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Annan Guo

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available The axial vibration in turbine machine has attracted more and more interest. Tilting-pad thrust bearings are widely used in turbine machines to support the axial load. The dynamic properties generated by oil film of the thrust pad have important effects on the axial vibration of the rotor-bearing system. It is necessary to develop the method to test the dynamic characteristics of thrust bearings. A new rig has been developed. The facility allows a complete set of bearing operating parameters to be measured. Parameters measured include oil temperatures, oil-film thickness, and pressure. The static load and dynamic load can be added on the thrust bearing in the vertical direction at the same time. The relative and absolute displacement vibrations of the test experimental bearing with the changes of dynamic force are measured, and the dynamic characteristics of the test bearing are obtained. The experimental results show clearly that the operating conditions influence largely on the pad static and dynamic characteristics.

  5. Comparative corrosive characteristics of petroleum diesel and palm biodiesel for automotive materials

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fazal, M.A.; Haseeb, A.S.M.A.; Masjuki, H.H. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)

    2010-10-15

    Corrosive characteristics of biodiesel are important for long term durability of engine parts. The present study aims to compare the corrosion behavior of aluminum, copper and stainless steel in both petroleum diesel and palm biodiesel. Immersion tests in biodiesel (B100) and diesel (B0) were carried out at 80 C for 1200 h. At the end of the test, corrosion characteristic was investigated by weight loss measurements and changes on the exposed metal surface. Surface morphology was examined by optical microscope and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM/EDS). Fuels were analyzed by using TAN analyzer, FTIR, GCMS and ICP in order to investigate the acid concentration, oxidation level with water content, compositional characteristics and presence of metal species respectively. Results show that the extent of corrosion and change in fuel properties upon exposure to metals are more in biodiesel than that in diesel. Copper and aluminum were susceptible to attack by biodiesel whereas stainless steel was not. (author)

  6. RELATIONS OF CONSTITUTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS AND MOTORIC ABILITIES OF SERBIA AND MONTENEFRO AND MONTENEGRO

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivan Terzić

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available Handball is the one of the most important sports in this region for many years. Althought being a host of European chamiponship 2010, Montenegro didn’t fulfill expectations, neither of fans, neither of professional comunity, only reaching 17th place. Couple of years before, male cadet handball selection Sebia and Montenegro had achieved great succes conquered the title of European (2004 and World champion (2005. Since representatives of Montenegro have consisted a significant part of that team, we tried to compare some of constitutional characteristics (weight, height and planimetry of hand and 10 motorical abilities of these two selections. Sample consisted of 20 representatives male cadet handball selection of Sebia and Montenegro and 16 male cadet handball selection Montenegro. We used t test for independent samples. Our results showed that there were statisticaly significant differences at planimetry of hand, agility test, speed test, long jump, triple jump, repetitive trunk flexor strength and hand taping. Representatives of Montenego had better results only on the test of hand taping. Also, we tried to find out, by use of Pearson correlation coefficient, which of anthropometic characteristics and motorical abilities could participate in succes of Serbia and Montenegro team and compare them with relationships obtained at the sample of Montenegro’s representatives. Results showed that there were some statisticaly significant correlations between anthropometrical characteristics and motorical abilities. Only one correlation was the common at both samples, the one between long jump and triple jump, and it was stronger at sample of Montenegro cadets. These results confirmed our assumption about usefulness of standards which were created by trophy cadet selection of Sebia and Montenegro for planing and creating work programmes for Montenegro handball team and also in process of selection of players for national team

  7. Historical Delineation of Landscape Units Using Physical Geographic Characteristics and Land Use/Cover Change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campos-Campos, Oswaldo; Cruz-Cárdenas, Gustavo; Aquino, Roque Juan Carrasco; Moncayo-Estrada, Rodrigo; Machuca, Martha Alicia Velázquez; Meléndez, Luis Arturo Ávila

    2018-03-01

    Landscape units are conceived as a part of the territory that share similar physical and geographic characteristics. Their delineation can contribute to identify the physical and social dynamics that emerge in the spatial environment and to propose strategies of planning and management of the territory. The main objective was to make a historical delineation of landscape units in the Duero river basin that demonstrate the dynamics of changes in the territory, the description of the actors involved, and the affectations in the natural and social environment. We analyzed the vegetation change and urban growth from 1983 to 2014, incorporating climatic, edaphic, and topographic variables. A Principal Component Analysis was performed with the information and results were used in Maximum Likelihood procedure to define different clusters based on environmental characteristics. We defined five categories from the Landsat images. Results showed landscape units with homogeneous environmental characteristics and some differences in the units' delineation were mainly influenced by political and socioeconomic factors. Temporally there was an increased tendency of landscape units, three in 1983, nine in 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2011, and eight in 2014. This increase resulted from territory fragmentation because of berries and avocado cultivars expansion over wooded area.

  8. Wood construction and magnetic characteristics of impregnated type magnetic wood

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oka, Hideo; Hojo, Atsushi; Seki, Kyoushiro; Takashiba, Toshio

    2002-01-01

    The results of experiments involving the AC and DC magnetic characteristics of impregnated type magnetic wood were studied by taking into consideration the wood construction and fiber direction. The experimental results show that the sufficient amount of impregnated magnetic fluid varies depending on the fiber direction and length, and the grain face of the wood material. The impregnated type magnetic wood sample that is fully impregnated by magnetic fluid has a 60% saturation magnetization compared to the saturation magnetization of magnetic fluid. Samples for which the wood fiber direction was the same as the direction of the magnetic path had a higher magnetization intensity and permeability

  9. Natural Circulation Characteristics at Low-Pressure Conditions through PANDA Experiments and ATHLET Simulations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Domenico Paladino

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Natural circulation characteristics at low pressure/low power have been studied by performing experimental investigations and numerical simulations. The PANDA large-scale facility was used to provide valuable, high quality data on natural circulation characteristics as a function of several parameters and for a wide range of operating conditions. The new experimental data allow for testing and improving the capabilities of the thermal-hydraulic computer codes to be used for treating natural circulation loops in a range with increased attention. This paper presents a synthesis of a part of the results obtained within the EU-Project NACUSP “natural circulation and stability performance of boiling water reactors.” It does so by using the experimental results produced in PANDA and by showing some examples of numerical simulations performed with the thermal-hydraulic code ATHLET.

  10. Characteristics of Poverty in Rural Communities of Gold Mining District Area West Sumbawa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ibrahim Ibrahim

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The research is conducted in rural areas of gold mining with the aim to find out the characteristics of poverty in the rural area of gold mining in West Sumbawa regency. The survey method is used in this study, focusing on the rural mining area. Sample of respondents are 167 households, selected by purposive sampling from four villages, which are determined based on the first ma slope. The data analysis uses cross tabulation and frequency tables. The results showes that the poverty rate in the research area is still low. The results of the combined value of the characteristic size of the hilly topography of poverty are 84 per cent and 83.7 per cent flat topography caused by low levels of income, quality of houses, agricultural land ownership, livestock ownership, ownership of valuables

  11. Estimation of the peak factor based on watershed characteristics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gauthier, Jean; Nolin, Simon; Ruest, Benoit [BPR Inc., Quebec, (Canada)

    2010-07-01

    Hydraulic modeling and dam structure design require the river flood flow as a primary input. For a given flood event, the ratio of peak flow over mean daily flow defines the peak factor. The peak factor value is dependent on the watershed and location along the river. The main goal of this study consisted in finding a relationship between watershed characteristics and this peak factor. Regression analyses were carried out on 53 natural watersheds located in the southern part of the province of Quebec using data from the Centre d'expertise hydrique du Quebec (CEHQ). The watershed characteristics included in the analyses were the watershed area, the maximum flow length, the mean slope, the lake proportion and the mean elevation. The results showed that watershed area and length are the major parameters influencing the peak factor. Nine natural watersheds were also used to test the use of a multivariable model in order to determine the peak factor for ungauged watersheds.

  12. Psychological characteristics of juvenile offenders with constant integration problems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Démuthová Slávka

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study is to identify the typical psychological, demographic, socio-economical, educational, health, and criminological characteristics of juvenile delinquents who tend to continue in their criminal career to adulthood and therefore obstruct the possibility of successful, non-offending integration to society. Subjects of research were young male prisoners jailed in the Juvenile imprisonment house that completed the test battery. By ex-post analysis after a period of five years, the differences between offenders and non-offenders were identified. Results show significant differences in the age of prisoners, length of imprisonment, presence of violent offence (esp. robbery in the criminal history, number of previous offences recorded, differences in factors i, h, and q1 from the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire, responses within the Hand test characteristic (affection, dependence, and communication, and in several signs of the drawings in a Draw-A-Person test. The importance and influence of listed factors is discussed.

  13. Reverse Current Characteristics of InP Gunn Diodes for W-Band Waveguide Applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Hyun-Seok; Heo, Jun-Woo; Chol, Seok-Gyu; Ko, Dong-Sik; Rhee, Jin-Koo

    2015-07-01

    InP is considered as the most promising material for millimeter-wave laser-diode applications owing to its superior noise performance and wide operating frequency range of 75-110 GHz. In this study, we demonstrate the fabrication of InP Gunn diodes with a current-limiting structure using rapid thermal annealing to modulate the potential height formed between an n-type InP active layer and a cathode contact. We also explore the reverse current characteristics of the InP Gunn diodes. Experimental results indicate a maximum anode current and an oscillation frequency of 200 mA and 93.53 GHz, respectively. The current-voltage characteristics are modeled by considering the Schottky and ohmic contacts, work function variations, negative differential resistance (NDR), and tunneling effect. Although no direct indication of the NDR is observed, the simulation results match the measured data well. The modeling results show that the NDR effect is always present but is masked because of electron emission across the shallow Schottky barrier.

  14. Characteristic Modeling and Control of Servo Systems with Backlash and Friction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yifei Wu

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available A novel approach for modeling and control of servo systems with backlash and friction is proposed based on the characteristic model. Firstly, to deal with friction-induced nonlinearities, a smooth Stribeck friction model is introduced. The backlash is modeled by a continuous and derivable mathematical function. Secondly, a characteristic model in the form of a second-order slowly time-varying difference equation is established and verified by simulations. Thirdly, a composite controller including the golden-section adaptive control law and the integral control law is designed and the stability of the closed-loop system is analyzed. The simulation and experimental results show that the proposed control scheme is effective and can improve the steady-state precision and the dynamic performance of the servo system with backlash and friction.

  15. Research on Harmonic Characteristics Influence for Distribution Network with Renewable Energy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huang Wei

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available In order to study the influence on harmonic characteristics of distribution network with renewable energy, a simplified model of distribution network is established to analyse theory while considering the influence of cable on the system capacitive current. Establishing an actual distribution network model by Digsilent to research the harmonic characteristics impact when photovoltaic power with PV incorporated the distribution network in a variety of different access , while using constant current source model as harmonic source model which often been used in engineering practices. The simulation results show that: optimizing the access location and dispersion of PV can decrease the waveform distortion levels in distribution network and a certain number of high-order harmonic will magnify by a specific grid structure, deteriorating the distribution network power quality.

  16. Experimental investigation on Performance and Emission Characteristics of J20, P20, N20 Biodiesel blends and Sound Characteristics of P20 Biodiesel blend Used in Single Cylinder Diesel Engine

    Science.gov (United States)

    rajasekar, R.; karthik, N.; Xavier, Goldwin

    2017-05-01

    Present work provides the effect of biodiesel blends and Sound Characteristics of P20 Biodiesel blend compared with Performance and emission Characteristics of diesel. Methods and analysis biodiesel blends was prepared by the Transesterification Process. Experiments were conducted in single cylinder constant speed direct injection diesel engine for various test fuels. Research is mainly focused on pongamia oil. It was observed that a 20% Pongamia oil blends and its properties were similar to diesel. The results showed that 20% Pongamia oil blends gave better performance, less in noise and emission compared with ester of Jatropha and neem oil blends. Hence Pongamia blends can be used in existing diesel engine without compromising the engine performance.

  17. Importance of growth characteristics for yield of barley in different growing systems: will growth characteristics describe yield diffently in different growing systems?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kristensen, Kristian; Ericson, Lars

    2008-01-01

    The interest in organic grown cereals has increased the need for variety tests under organic growing systems and/or the knowledge on whether growth characteristics describe yield differently under conventional and organic conditions. This paper is a contribution to that question by examining...... the relationships between some important growth characteristics in barley trials in both systems in Northern Sweden and in Denmark. Mixed model analyses were used for regressions of growth characteristics (or transformations of those) on yield (and log-transformed yield), allowing the slope to depend on the growing...... system. The analyses showed that diseases seemed to have a less negative effect on yield in the organic growing system than in the conventional growing system if pesticides were not applied. For other characteristics the effect depended on the country. This was the case for grain characteristics where...

  18. Effect of capacitor loss on discharging characteristics of xenon flash lamp

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Chu; Lin Dejiang; Xu Chunmei; Shen Hongbin; Chen Xiaohan

    2012-01-01

    The effect of storage capacitor's loss on the discharging characteristics of the xenon flash lamp was studied, and the xenon flash lamp discharging circuit was analyzed and improved. The capacitor can be equivalent to a series of an ideal capacitor and loss resistance. The improved formula of the xenon lamp discharging characteristics was given when actual capacitance loss is not zero, and the xenon lamp discharging current and discharging power are calculated and analyzed in detail with the increase of the capacitor loss. The results show that the increase of loss will lead to the decrease of xenon lamp discharging current and peak power and the xenon lamp flash time, and influence laser pumping efficiency. The loss will also lead to the capacitor inverse charging in LC discharging circuit; this will influence normal working of the capacitor and decrease the lift of the xenon lamp. The actual energy storage capacitor charging and discharging experiments show that the increase of capacitor loss will lead to the decrease of xenon lamp light-emitting waveform peak, shortening of the flash time and increase of the electrode sputter, thus verity, the reasonableness of theoretical analysis. In addition, the experiments show that environmental factors have very significant impact on the increase of the storage capacitor loss. (authors)

  19. Experimental Investigation on Deformation Failure Characteristics of Crystalline Marble Under Triaxial Cyclic Loading

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Sheng-Qi; Tian, Wen-Ling; Ranjith, P. G.

    2017-11-01

    The deformation failure characteristics of marble subjected to triaxial cyclic loading are significant when evaluating the stability and safety of deep excavation damage zones. To date, however, there have been notably few triaxial experimental studies on marble under triaxial cyclic loading. Therefore, in this research, a series of triaxial cyclic tests was conducted to analyze the mechanical damage characteristics of a marble. The post-peak deformation of the marble changed gradually from strain softening to strain hardening as the confining pressure increased from 0 to 10 MPa. Under uniaxial compression, marble specimens showed brittle failure characteristics with a number axial splitting tensile cracks; in the range of σ 3 = 2.5-7.5 MPa, the marble specimens assumed single shear fracture characteristics with larger fracture angles of about 65°. However, at σ 3 = 10 MPa, the marble specimens showed no obvious shear fracture surfaces. The triaxial cyclic experimental results indicate that in the range of the tested confining pressures, the triaxial strengths of the marble specimens under cyclic loading were approximately equal to those under monotonic loading. With the increase in cycle number, the elastic strains of the marble specimens all increased at first and later decreased, achieving maximum values, but the plastic strains of the marble specimens increased nonlinearly. To evaluate quantitatively the damage extent of the marble under triaxial cyclic loading, a damage variable is defined according to the irreversible deformation for each cycle. The evolutions of the elastic modulus for the marble were characterized by four stages: material strengthening, material degradation, material failure and structure slippage. Based on the experimental results of the marble specimens under complex cyclic loading, the cohesion of the marble decreased linearly, but the internal friction angles did not depend on the damage extent. To describe the peak strength

  20. The rainfall plot: its motivation, characteristics and pitfalls.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Domanska, Diana; Vodák, Daniel; Lund-Andersen, Christin; Salvatore, Stefania; Hovig, Eivind; Sandve, Geir Kjetil

    2017-05-18

    A visualization referred to as rainfall plot has recently gained popularity in genome data analysis. The plot is mostly used for illustrating the distribution of somatic cancer mutations along a reference genome, typically aiming to identify mutation hotspots. In general terms, the rainfall plot can be seen as a scatter plot showing the location of events on the x-axis versus the distance between consecutive events on the y-axis. Despite its frequent use, the motivation for applying this particular visualization and the appropriateness of its usage have never been critically addressed in detail. We show that the rainfall plot allows visual detection even for events occurring at high frequency over very short distances. In addition, event clustering at multiple scales may be detected as distinct horizontal bands in rainfall plots. At the same time, due to the limited size of standard figures, rainfall plots might suffer from inability to distinguish overlapping events, especially when multiple datasets are plotted in the same figure. We demonstrate the consequences of plot congestion, which results in obscured visual data interpretations. This work provides the first comprehensive survey of the characteristics and proper usage of rainfall plots. We find that the rainfall plot is able to convey a large amount of information without any need for parameterization or tuning. However, we also demonstrate how plot congestion and the use of a logarithmic y-axis may result in obscured visual data interpretations. To aid the productive utilization of rainfall plots, we demonstrate their characteristics and potential pitfalls using both simulated and real data, and provide a set of practical guidelines for their proper interpretation and usage.