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Sample records for conversion coefficients based

  1. Analysis of internal conversion coefficients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Coursol, N.; Gorozhankin, V.M.; Yakushev, E.A.; Briancon, C.; Vylov, Ts.

    2000-01-01

    An extensive database has been assembled that contains the three most widely used sets of calculated internal conversion coefficients (ICC): [Hager R.S., Seltzer E.C., 1968. Internal conversion tables. K-, L-, M-shell Conversion coefficients for Z=30 to Z=103, Nucl. Data Tables A4, 1-237; Band I.M., Trzhaskovskaya M.B., 1978. Tables of gamma-ray internal conversion coefficients for the K-, L- and M-shells, 10≤Z≤104, Special Report of Leningrad Nuclear Physics Institute; Roesel F., Fries H.M., Alder K., Pauli H.C., 1978. Internal conversion coefficients for all atomic shells, At. Data Nucl. Data Tables 21, 91-289] and also includes new Dirac-Fock calculations [Band I.M. and Trzhaskovskaya M.B., 1993. Internal conversion coefficients for low-energy nuclear transitions, At. Data Nucl. Data Tables 55, 43-61]. This database is linked to a computer program to plot ICCs and their combinations (sums and ratios) as a function of Z and energy, as well as relative deviations of ICC or their combinations for any pair of tabulated data. Examples of these analyses are presented for the K-shell and total ICCs of the gamma-ray standards [Hansen H.H., 1985. Evaluation of K-shell and total internal conversion coefficients for some selected nuclear transitions, Eur. Appl. Res. Rept. Nucl. Sci. Tech. 11.6 (4) 777-816] and for the K-shell and total ICCs of high multipolarity transitions (total, K-, L-, M-shells of E3 and M3 and K-shell of M4). Experimental data sets are also compared with the theoretical values of these specific calculations

  2. Determination of absolute internal conversion coefficients using the SAGE spectrometer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sorri, J., E-mail: juha.m.t.sorri@jyu.fi [University of Jyvaskyla, Department of Physics, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyvaskyla (Finland); Greenlees, P.T.; Papadakis, P.; Konki, J. [University of Jyvaskyla, Department of Physics, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyvaskyla (Finland); Cox, D.M. [University of Jyvaskyla, Department of Physics, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyvaskyla (Finland); Department of Physics, University of Liverpool, Oxford Street, Liverpool L69 7ZE (United Kingdom); Auranen, K.; Partanen, J.; Sandzelius, M.; Pakarinen, J.; Rahkila, P.; Uusitalo, J. [University of Jyvaskyla, Department of Physics, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyvaskyla (Finland); Herzberg, R.-D. [Department of Physics, University of Liverpool, Oxford Street, Liverpool L69 7ZE (United Kingdom); Smallcombe, J.; Davies, P.J.; Barton, C.J.; Jenkins, D.G. [Department of Physics, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD (United Kingdom)

    2016-03-11

    A non-reference based method to determine internal conversion coefficients using the SAGE spectrometer is carried out for transitions in the nuclei of {sup 154}Sm, {sup 152}Sm and {sup 166}Yb. The Normalised-Peak-to-Gamma method is in general an efficient tool to extract internal conversion coefficients. However, in many cases the required well-known reference transitions are not available. The data analysis steps required to determine absolute internal conversion coefficients with the SAGE spectrometer are presented. In addition, several background suppression methods are introduced and an example of how ancillary detectors can be used to select specific reaction products is given. The results obtained for ground-state band E2 transitions show that the absolute internal conversion coefficients can be extracted using the methods described with a reasonable accuracy. In some cases of less intense transitions only an upper limit for the internal conversion coefficient could be given.

  3. Determination of absolute internal conversion coefficients using the SAGE spectrometer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sorri, J.; Greenlees, P.T.; Papadakis, P.; Konki, J.; Cox, D.M.; Auranen, K.; Partanen, J.; Sandzelius, M.; Pakarinen, J.; Rahkila, P.; Uusitalo, J.; Herzberg, R.-D.; Smallcombe, J.; Davies, P.J.; Barton, C.J.; Jenkins, D.G.

    2016-01-01

    A non-reference based method to determine internal conversion coefficients using the SAGE spectrometer is carried out for transitions in the nuclei of "1"5"4Sm, "1"5"2Sm and "1"6"6Yb. The Normalised-Peak-to-Gamma method is in general an efficient tool to extract internal conversion coefficients. However, in many cases the required well-known reference transitions are not available. The data analysis steps required to determine absolute internal conversion coefficients with the SAGE spectrometer are presented. In addition, several background suppression methods are introduced and an example of how ancillary detectors can be used to select specific reaction products is given. The results obtained for ground-state band E2 transitions show that the absolute internal conversion coefficients can be extracted using the methods described with a reasonable accuracy. In some cases of less intense transitions only an upper limit for the internal conversion coefficient could be given.

  4. Dose conversion coefficients based on the Chinese mathematical phantom and MCNP code for external photon irradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qiu, R.; Li, J.; Zhang, Z.; Liu, L.; Bi, L.; Ren, L.

    2009-01-01

    A set of conversion coefficients from kerma free-in-air to the organ-absorbed dose are presented for external monoenergetic photon beams from 10 keV to 10 MeV based on the Chinese mathematical phantom, a whole-body mathematical phantom model. The model was developed based on the methods of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory mathematical phantom series and data from the Chinese Reference Man and the Reference Asian Man. This work is carried out to obtain the conversion coefficients based on this model, which represents the characteristics of the Chinese population, as the anatomical parameters of the Chinese are different from those of Caucasians. Monte Carlo simulation with MCNP code is carried out to calculate the organ dose conversion coefficients. Before the calculation, the effects from the physics model and tally type are investigated, considering both the calculation efficiency and precision. In the calculation irradiation conditions include anterior-posterior, posterior-anterior, right lateral, left lateral, rotational and isotropic geometries. Conversion coefficients from this study are compared with those recommended in the Publication 74 of International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP74) since both the sets of data are calculated with mathematical phantoms. Overall, consistency between the two sets of data is observed and the difference for more than 60% of the data is below 10%. However, significant deviations are also found, mainly for the superficial organs (up to 65.9%) and bone surface (up to 66%). The big difference of the dose conversion coefficients for the superficial organs at high photon energy could be ascribed to kerma approximation for the data in ICRP74. Both anatomical variations between races and the calculation method contribute to the difference of the data for bone surface. (authors)

  5. Dose conversion coefficients based on the Chinese mathematical phantom and MCNP code for external photon irradiation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qiu, Rui; Li, Junli; Zhang, Zhan; Liu, Liye; Bi, Lei; Ren, Li

    2009-02-01

    A set of conversion coefficients from kerma free-in-air to the organ-absorbed dose are presented for external monoenergetic photon beams from 10 keV to 10 MeV based on the Chinese mathematical phantom, a whole-body mathematical phantom model. The model was developed based on the methods of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory mathematical phantom series and data from the Chinese Reference Man and the Reference Asian Man. This work is carried out to obtain the conversion coefficients based on this model, which represents the characteristics of the Chinese population, as the anatomical parameters of the Chinese are different from those of Caucasians. Monte Carlo simulation with MCNP code is carried out to calculate the organ dose conversion coefficients. Before the calculation, the effects from the physics model and tally type are investigated, considering both the calculation efficiency and precision. In the calculation irradiation conditions include anterior-posterior, posterior-anterior, right lateral, left lateral, rotational and isotropic geometries. Conversion coefficients from this study are compared with those recommended in the Publication 74 of International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP74) since both the sets of data are calculated with mathematical phantoms. Overall, consistency between the two sets of data is observed and the difference for more than 60% of the data is below 10%. However, significant deviations are also found, mainly for the superficial organs (up to 65.9%) and bone surface (up to 66%). The big difference of the dose conversion coefficients for the superficial organs at high photon energy could be ascribed to kerma approximation for the data in ICRP74. Both anatomical variations between races and the calculation method contribute to the difference of the data for bone surface.

  6. Local organ dose conversion coefficients for angiographic examinations of coronary arteries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schlattl, H; Zankl, M; Hausleiter, J; Hoeschen, C

    2007-01-01

    New organ dose conversion coefficients for coronary angiographic interventions are presented, as well as dose distributions and resulting maximal local dose conversion coefficients in the relevant organs. For the Monte Carlo based simulations, voxel models of the human anatomy were employed which represent the average Caucasian adult man and woman as defined by the International Commission on Radiological Protection. In the 21 investigated projections, the mean organ dose conversion coefficients vary from a few 0.01 to 2 mGy(Gy cm 2 ) -1 , depending on the projections. However, especially in portions of the lungs and the active bone marrow, the conversion coefficients can locally amount up to 10 mGy(Gy cm 2 ) -1 , which is half the average conversion coefficient of the skin at the field entrance. In addition to the dose conversion coefficients, the dependence of the patient dose on the projection has been estimated. It could be shown that the patient doses are highest for left anterior oblique views with strong caudal or cranial orientation. Nevertheless, for a large range of image-intensifier positions no significant dose differences could be found

  7. Dose conversion coefficients for high-energy photons, electrons, neutrons and protons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sakamoto, Yukio

    2005-01-01

    Dose conversion coefficients for photons, electrons and neutrons based on new ICRP recommendations were cited in the ICRP Publication 74, but the energy ranges of these data were limited and there are no data for high energy radiations produced in accelerator facilities. For the purpose of designing the high intensity proton accelerator facilities at JAERI, the dose evaluation code system of high energy radiations based on the HERMES code was developed and the dose conversion coefficients of effective dose were evaluated for photons, neutrons and protons up to 10 GeV, and electrons up to 100 GeV. The dose conversion coefficients of effective dose equivalent were also evaluated using quality factors to consider the consistency between radiation weighting factors and Q-L relationship. The effective dose conversion coefficients obtained in this work were in good agreement with those recently evaluated by using FLUKA code for photons and electrons with all energies, and neutrons and protons below 500 MeV. There were some discrepancy between two data owing to the difference of cross sections in the nuclear reaction models. The dose conversion coefficients of effective dose equivalents for high energy radiations based on Q-L relation in ICRP Publication 60 were evaluated only in this work. The previous comparison between effective dose and effective dose equivalent made it clear that the radiation weighting factors for high energy neutrons and protons were overestimated and the modification was required. (author)

  8. Organ dose conversion coefficients based on a voxel mouse model and MCNP code for external photon irradiation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xiaomin; Xie, Xiangdong; Cheng, Jie; Ning, Jing; Yuan, Yong; Pan, Jie; Yang, Guoshan

    2012-01-01

    A set of conversion coefficients from kerma free-in-air to the organ absorbed dose for external photon beams from 10 keV to 10 MeV are presented based on a newly developed voxel mouse model, for the purpose of radiation effect evaluation. The voxel mouse model was developed from colour images of successive cryosections of a normal nude male mouse, in which 14 organs or tissues were segmented manually and filled with different colours, while each colour was tagged by a specific ID number for implementation of mouse model in Monte Carlo N-particle code (MCNP). Monte Carlo simulation with MCNP was carried out to obtain organ dose conversion coefficients for 22 external monoenergetic photon beams between 10 keV and 10 MeV under five different irradiation geometries conditions (left lateral, right lateral, dorsal-ventral, ventral-dorsal, and isotropic). Organ dose conversion coefficients were presented in tables and compared with the published data based on a rat model to investigate the effect of body size and weight on the organ dose. The calculated and comparison results show that the organ dose conversion coefficients varying the photon energy exhibits similar trend for most organs except for the bone and skin, and the organ dose is sensitive to body size and weight at a photon energy approximately <0.1 MeV.

  9. Experimental techniques of conversion coefficient measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hamilton, J.H.

    1975-01-01

    Discusses briefly the history of conversion electron spectra measurements, and the interpretation of the collected data. Then provides a comprehensive review of techniques presently available to measure the conversion coefficients. (Auth.)

  10. Dose conversion coefficients for high-energy photons, electrons, neutrons and protons

    CERN Document Server

    Sakamoto, Y; Sato, O; Tanaka, S I; Tsuda, S; Yamaguchi, Y; Yoshizawa, N

    2003-01-01

    In the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) 1990 Recommendations, radiation weighting factors were introduced in the place of quality factors, the tissue weighting factors were revised, and effective doses and equivalent doses of each tissues and organs were defined as the protection quantities. Dose conversion coefficients for photons, electrons and neutrons based on new ICRP recommendations were cited in the ICRP Publication 74, but the energy ranges of theses data were limited and there are no data for high energy radiations produced in accelerator facilities. For the purpose of designing the high intensity proton accelerator facilities at JAERI, the dose evaluation code system of high energy radiations based on the HERMES code was developed and the dose conversion coefficients of effective dose were evaluated for photons, neutrons and protons up to 10 GeV, and electrons up to 100 GeV. The dose conversion coefficients of effective dose equivalent were also evaluated using quality fact...

  11. Calculation of conversion coefficients for radiological protection against external radiation exposures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zankl, M.

    2001-01-01

    Calculations are essential for radiation protection practice because organ doses and effective doses cannot be measured directly. Conversion coefficients describe the numerical relationships of protection quantities and operational quantities. The latter can be measured in practical situations using suitable dosimeters. The conversion coefficients are calculated using radiation transport codes - usually based on Monte Carlo methods - that simulate the interactions of radiation with matter in computational models of the human body. A new generation of human body models, the so-called voxel models, are constructed from image data of real persons using suitable image processing systems, consequently, they represent the human anatomy more realistically than the so-called mathematical models. The numerical effects of realistic body anatomy on the calculated conversion coefficients can amount to 70% and more for external exposures. (orig.) [de

  12. Conversion coefficients and yrast state spins in 180Os

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dracoulis, G.D.; Kibedi, T.; Byrne, A.P.; Fabricius, B.; Stuchbery, A.E.

    1989-11-01

    Internal conversion coefficients of transitions in 180 Os have been measured using a superconducting, solenoidal electron spectrometer, operated in the lens mode. The high energy resolution and efficiency allow a precise measurement of the conversion coefficients of the 528 keV yrast transition. The values obtained, α K = 0.015 (2), α L = 0.004(1) define pure E2 multipolarity. Taken with the measured γ-ray angular distribution, the conversion coefficient leads to an unambiguous assignment of 16 + →14 + for the 528 keV transition. 14 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab

  13. How good are the internal conversion coefficients now?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raman, S.; Nestor, C.W. Jr.; Ichihara, A.; Trzhaskovskaya, M.B.

    2002-01-01

    To fully utilize experimental internal conversion coefficients, one needs a reliable calculation of theoretical values. We have assembled a set of 100 experimental conversion coefficients, 45 α K and 55 α T values, measured with an accuracy of better than 5%, and generated the corresponding theoretical values using two methods, relativistic Hartree-Fock-Slater (RHFS) and relativistic Dirac-Fock (DF). Extensive comparisons of the experimental values with the two sets of theoretical values show that the DF method is clearly superior to the RHFS method in the overall reproduction of the experimental internal conversion coefficients. We discuss in some detail the differences between various versions of these two theoretical approaches, with a view to understanding which of these differences are most critical to obtaining agreement with experiment

  14. Absorbed dose conversion coefficients for embryo and foetus in neutron fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, J.

    2007-01-01

    The Monte Carlo code MCNPX has been used to determine mean absorbed doses to the embryo and foetus when the mother is exposed to neutron fields. There are situations, such as on-board aircraft, where high-energy neutrons are often peaked in top down (TOP) direction. In addition to previous publications for standard irradiation geometries, this study provides absorbed dose conversion coefficients for the embryo of 8 weeks and the foetus of 3, 6 or 9 months at TOP irradiation geometry. The conversion coefficients are compared with the coefficients in isotropic irradiation (ISO). With increasing neutron energies, the conversion coefficients in TOP irradiation become dominant. A set of conversion coefficients is constructed from the higher value in either ISO or TOP irradiation at a given neutron energy. In cases where the irradiation geometry is not adequately known, this set of conversion coefficients can be used in a conservative dose assessment for embryo and foetus in neutron fields. (authors)

  15. Personal dose equivalent conversion coefficients for electrons to 1 Ge V.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Veinot, K G; Hertel, N E

    2012-04-01

    In a previous paper, conversion coefficients for the personal dose equivalent, H(p)(d), for photons were reported. This note reports values for electrons calculated using similar techniques. The personal dose equivalent is the quantity used to approximate the protection quantity effective dose when performing personal dosemeter calibrations and in practice the personal dose equivalent is determined using a 30×30×15 cm slab-type phantom. Conversion coefficients to 1 GeV have been calculated for H(p)(10), H(p)(3) and H(p)(0.07) in the recommended slab phantom. Although the conversion coefficients were determined for discrete incident energies, analytical fits of the conversion coefficients over the energy range are provided using a similar formulation as in the photon results previously reported. The conversion coefficients for the personal dose equivalent are compared with the appropriate protection quantity, calculated according to the recommendations of the latest International Commission on Radiological Protection guidance. Effects of eyewear on H(p)(3) are also discussed.

  16. Graphical comparison of calculated internal conversion coefficients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ewbank, W.B.

    1980-11-01

    Calculated values of the coefficients of internal conversion of gamma rays in the K shell and L 1 , L 2 , L 3 subshells from published tabulations by Band and Trzhaskovskaya and by Roesel et al. at Data Nucl. Data Tables, 21, 92-514(1978) are compared with values obtained by computer interpolation among tabulated values of Hager and Seltzer Nucl. Data, A4, 1-235(1968). In some cases, agreement among the three calculations is remarkably good, and differences are generally less than 5%. In a few cases, there are differences as large as 20 to 50%, corresponding to the threshold effect described by Roesel et al. The Z-dependent resonance minimum described by Roesel et al. is also observed in the comparison of E1-E4 conversion in the L 1 subshell. In several cases (notably M1-M4 conversion in the K shell and L 1 subshell), the Band and Roesel calculations show dramatically different dependence on gamma energy and atomic number. For Z = 100, the Band calculation for E4 conversion in the L 3 subshell shows irregular behavior at energies below the K-shell binding energy. A few high-quality measurements of internal conversion coefficients (+-5%) would help greatly to establish a basis for choice among the theoretical calculations. 32 figures

  17. Absorbed Internal Dose Conversion Coefficients for Domestic Reference Animals and Plant

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Keum, Dong Kwon; Jun, In; Lim, Kwang Muk; Choi, Yong Ho [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2010-02-15

    This paper describes the methodology of calculating the internal dose conversion coefficient in order to assess the radiological impact on non-human species. This paper also presents the internal dose conversion coefficients of 25 radionuclides ({sup 3}H, {sup 7}Be, {sup 14}C, {sup 40}K, {sup 51}Cr, {sup 54}Mn, {sup 59}Fe, {sup 58}Co, {sup 60}Co, {sup 65}Zn, {sup 90}Sr, '9{sup 5}Zr, {sup 95}Nb, {sup 99}Tc, {sup 106}Ru, {sup 129}I, {sup 131}I, {sup 136}Cs, {sup 137}Cs, {sup 140}Ba, {sup 140}La, {sup 144}Ce, {sup 238}U, {sup 239}Pu, {sup 240}Pu) for domestic seven reference animals (roe deer, rat, frog, snake, Chinese minnow, bee, and earthworm) and one reference plant (pine tree). The uniform isotropic model was applied in order to calculate the internal dose conversion coefficients. The calculated internal dose conversion coefficient (muGyd{sup -1} per Bqkg{sup -1}) ranged from 10{sup -6} to 10{sup -2} according to the type of radionuclides and organisms studied. It turns out that the internal does conversion coefficient was higher for alpha radionuclides, such as {sup 238}U, {sup 239}Pu, and {sup 240}Pu, and for large organisms, such as roe deer and pine tree. The internal dose conversion coefficients of {sup 239}Pu, {sup 240}Pu, {sup 238}U, {sup 14}C, {sup 3}H and {sup 99}Tc were independent of the organism

  18. Dose conversion coefficients for paediatric CT examinations with automatic tube current modulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schlattl, H; Zankl, M; Becker, J; Hoeschen, C

    2012-01-01

    A common dose-saving technique used in modern CT devices is automatic tube current modulation (TCM), which was originally designed to also reduce the dose in paediatric CT patients. In order to be able to deduce detailed organ doses of paediatric models, dose conversion coefficients normalized to CTDI vol for an eight-week-old baby and seven- and eight-year-old children have been computed accounting for TCM. The relative difference in organ dose conversion coefficients with and without TCM is for many organs and examinations less than 10%, but can in some cases amount up to 30%, e.g., for the thyroid in the chest CT of the seven-year-old child. Overall, the impact of TCM on the conversion coefficients increases with increasing age. Besides TCM, also the effect of collimation and tube voltage on organ dose conversion coefficients has been investigated. It could be shown that the normalization to CTDI vol leads to conversion coefficients that can in most cases be considered to be independent of collimation and tube voltage. (paper)

  19. Conversion coefficients for determining organ doses in paediatric spine radiography

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Seidenbusch, Michael; Schneider, Karl [Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Institute of Clinical Radiology - Paediatric Radiology, Muenchen (Germany)

    2014-04-15

    Knowledge of organ and effective doses achieved during paediatric x-ray examinations is an important prerequisite for assessment of radiation burden to the patient. Conversion coefficients for reconstruction of organ and effective doses from entrance doses for segmental spine radiographs of 0-, 1-, 5-, 10-, 15- and 30-year-old patients are provided regarding the Guidelines of Good Radiographic Technique of the European Commission. Using the personal computer program PCXMC developed by the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety (Saeteilyturvakeskus STUK), conversion coefficients for conventional segmental spine radiographs were calculated performing Monte Carlo simulations in mathematical hermaphrodite phantom models describing patients of different ages. The clinical variation of beam collimation was taken into consideration by defining optimal and suboptimal radiation field settings. Conversion coefficients for the reconstruction of organ doses in about 40 organs and tissues from measured entrance doses during cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine radiographs of 0-, 1-, 5-, 10-, 15- and 30-year-old patients were calculated for the standard sagittal and lateral beam projections and the standard focus detector distance of 115 cm. The conversion coefficients presented may be used for organ dose assessments from entrance doses measured during spine radiographs of patients of all age groups and all field settings within the optimal and suboptimal standard field settings. (orig.)

  20. Neutron fluence-to-dose conversion coefficients for embryo and fetus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, J.; Meyerhof, D.; Vlahovich, S.

    2004-01-01

    A problem of concern in radiation protection is the exposure of pregnant women to ionising radiation, because of the high radiosensitivity of the embryo and fetus. External neutron exposure is of concern when pregnant women travel by aeroplane. Dose assessments for neutrons frequently rely on fluence-to-dose conversion coefficients. While neutron fluence-to-dose conversion coefficients for adults are recommended in International Commission on Radiological Protection publications and International Commission on Radiological Units and Measurements reports, conversion coefficients for embryos and fetuses are not given in the publications. This study undertakes Monte Carlo calculations to determine the mean absorbed doses to the embryo and fetus when the mother is exposed to neutron fields. A new set of mathematical models for the embryo and fetus has been developed at Health Canada and is used together with mathematical phantoms of a pregnant female developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Monoenergetic neutrons from 1 eV to 10 MeV are considered in this study. The irradiation geometries include antero-posterior (AP), postero-anterior (PA), lateral (LAT), rotational (ROT) and isotropic (ISO) geometries. At each of these standard irradiation geometries, absorbed doses to the fetal brain and body are calculated; for the embryo at 8 weeks and the fetus at 3, 6 or 9 months. Neutron fluence-to-absorbed dose conversion coefficients are derived for the four age groups. Neutron fluence-to-equivalent dose conversion coefficients are given for the AP irradiations which yield the highest radiation dose to the fetal body in the neutron energy range considered here. The results indicate that for neutrons <10 MeV more protection should be given to pregnant women in the first trimester due to the higher absorbed dose per unit neutron fluence to the fetus. (authors)

  1. Neutron fluence-to-dose conversion coefficients for embryo and fetus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Jing; Meyerhof, Dorothy; Vlahovich, Slavica

    2004-01-01

    A problem of concern in radiation protection is the exposure of pregnant women to ionising radiation, because of the high radiosensitivity of the embryo and fetus. External neutron exposure is of concern when pregnant women travel by aeroplane. Dose assessments for neutrons frequently rely on fluence-to-dose conversion coefficients. While neutron fluence-to-dose conversion coefficients for adults are recommended in International Commission on Radiological Protection publications and International Commission on Radiological Units and Measurements reports, conversion coefficients for embryos and fetuses are not given in the publications. This study undertakes Monte Carlo calculations to determine the mean absorbed doses to the embryo and fetus when the mother is exposed to neutron fields. A new set of mathematical models for the embryo and fetus has been developed at Health Canada and is used together with mathematical phantoms of a pregnant female developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Monoenergetic neutrons from 1 eV to 10 MeV are considered in this study. The irradiation geometries include antero-posterior (AP), postero-anterior (PA), lateral (LAT), rotational (ROT) and isotropic (ISO) geometries. At each of these standard irradiation geometries, absorbed doses to the fetal brain and body are calculated; for the embryo at 8 weeks and the fetus at 3, 6 or 9 months. Neutron fluence-to-absorbed dose conversion coefficients are derived for the four age groups. Neutron fluence-to-equivalent dose conversion coefficients are given for the AP irradiations which yield the highest radiation dose to the fetal body in the neutron energy range considered here. The results indicate that for neutrons <10 MeV more protection should be given to pregnant women in the first trimester due to the higher absorbed dose per unit neutron fluence to the fetus.

  2. Systematic errors in the tables of theoretical total internal conversion coefficients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dragoun, O.; Rysavy, M.

    1992-01-01

    Some of the total internal conversion coefficients presented in widely used tables of Rosel et al (1978 Atom. Data Nucl. Data Tables 21, 291) were found to be erroneous. The errors appear for some low transition energies, all multipolarities, and probably for all elements. The origin of the errors is explained. The subshell conversion coefficients of Rosel et al, where available, agree with our calculations. to within a few percent. (author)

  3. Methods for calculating dose conversion coefficients for terrestrial and aquatic biota

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ulanovsky, A.; Proehl, G.; Gomez-Ros, J.M.

    2008-01-01

    Plants and animals may be exposed to ionizing radiation from radionuclides in the environment. This paper describes the underlying data and assumptions to assess doses to biota due to internal and external exposure for a wide range of masses and shapes living in various habitats. A dosimetric module is implemented which is a user-friendly and flexible possibility to assess dose conversion coefficients for aquatic and terrestrial biota. The dose conversion coefficients have been derived for internal and various external exposure scenarios. The dosimetric model is linked to radionuclide decay and emission database, compatible with the ICRP Publication 38, thus providing a capability to compute dose conversion coefficients for any nuclide from the database and its daughter nuclides. The dosimetric module has been integrated into the ERICA Tool, but it can also be used as a stand-alone version

  4. Calculation of conversion coefficients for clinical photon spectra using the MCNP code.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lima, M A F; Silva, A X; Crispim, V R

    2004-01-01

    In this work, the MCNP4B code has been employed to calculate conversion coefficients from air kerma to the ambient dose equivalent, H*(10)/Ka, for monoenergetic photon energies from 10 keV to 50 MeV, assuming the kerma approximation. Also estimated are the H*(10)/Ka for photon beams produced by linear accelerators, such as Clinac-4 and Clinac-2500, after transmission through primary barriers of radiotherapy treatment rooms. The results for the conversion coefficients for monoenergetic photon energies, with statistical uncertainty <2%, are compared with those in ICRP publication 74 and good agreements were obtained. The conversion coefficients calculated for real clinic spectra transmitted through walls of concrete of 1, 1.5 and 2 m thick, are in the range of 1.06-1.12 Sv Gy(-1).

  5. Determination of fluence-to-dose conversion coefficients by means of artificial neural networks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Soto B, T. G.; Rivera P, E.; De Leon M, H. A.; Hernandez D, V. M.; Vega C, H. R.; Gallego, E.; Lorente, A.

    2012-10-01

    In this paper is presented an Artificial Neural Network (Ann) that has been designed, trained and validated to determinate the effective dose e, ambient dose equivalent h(10) and personal dose equivalent hp(10,θ) fluence-to-dose conversion coefficients at different positions, having as only input data 7 count rates obtained with a Bonner Sphere Spectrometer (Bss) system. A set of 211 neutron spectra and the fluence-to-dose conversion coefficients published by the International Atomic Energy Agency were used to train and validate the Ann. This set was divided into 2 subsets, one of 181 elements to train the Ann and the remaining 30 to validate it. The Ann was trained using Bss count rates as input data and the fluence-to-dose conversion coefficients as output data. The network was validated and tested with the set of 30 elements that were not used during the training process. Good results were obtained proving that Ann are a good choice for calculating the fluence-to-dose conversion coefficients having as only data the count rates obtained with a Bss. (Author)

  6. Determination of fluence-to-dose conversion coefficients by means of artificial neural networks

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Soto B, T. G.; Rivera P, E.; De Leon M, H. A.; Hernandez D, V. M.; Vega C, H. R. [Universidad Autonoma de Zacatecas, Unidad Academica de Estudios Nucleares, Cipres No. 10, Fracc. La Penuela, 98068 Zacatecas (Mexico); Gallego, E.; Lorente, A., E-mail: tzinnia.soto@gmail.com [Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Departamento de Ingenieria Nuclear, Jose Gutierrez Abascal No. 2, 28006 Madrid (Spain)

    2012-10-15

    In this paper is presented an Artificial Neural Network (Ann) that has been designed, trained and validated to determinate the effective dose e, ambient dose equivalent h(10) and personal dose equivalent hp(10,{theta}) fluence-to-dose conversion coefficients at different positions, having as only input data 7 count rates obtained with a Bonner Sphere Spectrometer (Bss) system. A set of 211 neutron spectra and the fluence-to-dose conversion coefficients published by the International Atomic Energy Agency were used to train and validate the Ann. This set was divided into 2 subsets, one of 181 elements to train the Ann and the remaining 30 to validate it. The Ann was trained using Bss count rates as input data and the fluence-to-dose conversion coefficients as output data. The network was validated and tested with the set of 30 elements that were not used during the training process. Good results were obtained proving that Ann are a good choice for calculating the fluence-to-dose conversion coefficients having as only data the count rates obtained with a Bss. (Author)

  7. Applicability of dose conversion coefficients of ICRP 74 to Asian adult males: Monte Carlo simulation study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Choonsik; Lee, Choonik; Lee, Jai-Ki

    2007-01-01

    International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) reported comprehensive dose conversion coefficients for adult population, which is exposed to external photon sources in the Publication 74. However, those quantities were calculated from so-called stylized (or mathematical) phantoms composed of simplified mathematical surface equations so that the discrepancy between the phantoms and real human anatomy has been investigated by several authors using Caucasian-based voxel phantoms. To address anatomical and racial limitations of the stylized phantoms, several Asian-based voxel phantoms have been developed by Korean and Japanese investigators, independently. In the current study, photon dose conversion coefficients of ICRP 74 were compared with those from a total of five Asian-based male voxel phantoms, whose body dimensions were almost identical. Those of representative radio-sensitive organs (testes, red bone marrow, colon, lungs, and stomach), and effective dose conversion coefficients were obtained for comparison. Even though organ doses for testes, colon and lungs, and effective doses from ICRP 74 agreed well with those from Asian voxel phantoms within 10%, absorbed doses for red bone marrow and stomach showed significant discrepancies up to 30% which was mainly attributed to difference of phantom description between stylized and voxel phantoms. This study showed that the ICRP 74 dosimetry data, which have been reported to be unrealistic compared to those from Caucasian-based voxel phantoms, are also not appropriate for Asian population

  8. Dose conversion coefficients for photon exposure of the human eye lens

    Science.gov (United States)

    Behrens, R.; Dietze, G.

    2011-01-01

    In recent years, several papers dealing with the eye lens dose have been published, because epidemiological studies implied that the induction of cataracts occurs even at eye lens doses of less than 500 mGy. Different questions were addressed: Which personal dose equivalent quantity is appropriate for monitoring the dose to the eye lens? Is a new definition of the dose quantity Hp(3) based on a cylinder phantom to represent the human head necessary? Are current conversion coefficients from fluence to equivalent dose to the lens sufficiently accurate? To investigate the latter question, a realistic model of the eye including the inner structure of the lens was developed. Using this eye model, conversion coefficients for electrons have already been presented. In this paper, the same eye model—with the addition of the whole body—was used to calculate conversion coefficients from fluence (and air kerma) to equivalent dose to the lens for photon radiation from 5 keV to 10 MeV. Compared to the values adopted in 1996 by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), the new values are similar between 40 keV and 1 MeV and lower by up to a factor of 5 and 7 for photon energies at about 10 keV and 10 MeV, respectively. Above 1 MeV, the new values (calculated without kerma approximation) should be applied in pure photon radiation fields, while the values adopted by the ICRP in 1996 (calculated with kerma approximation) should be applied in case a significant contribution from secondary electrons originating outside the body is present.

  9. Dose conversion coefficients for photon exposure of the human eye lens

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Behrens, R; Dietze, G

    2011-01-01

    In recent years, several papers dealing with the eye lens dose have been published, because epidemiological studies implied that the induction of cataracts occurs even at eye lens doses of less than 500 mGy. Different questions were addressed: Which personal dose equivalent quantity is appropriate for monitoring the dose to the eye lens? Is a new definition of the dose quantity H p (3) based on a cylinder phantom to represent the human head necessary? Are current conversion coefficients from fluence to equivalent dose to the lens sufficiently accurate? To investigate the latter question, a realistic model of the eye including the inner structure of the lens was developed. Using this eye model, conversion coefficients for electrons have already been presented. In this paper, the same eye model-with the addition of the whole body-was used to calculate conversion coefficients from fluence (and air kerma) to equivalent dose to the lens for photon radiation from 5 keV to 10 MeV. Compared to the values adopted in 1996 by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), the new values are similar between 40 keV and 1 MeV and lower by up to a factor of 5 and 7 for photon energies at about 10 keV and 10 MeV, respectively. Above 1 MeV, the new values (calculated without kerma approximation) should be applied in pure photon radiation fields, while the values adopted by the ICRP in 1996 (calculated with kerma approximation) should be applied in case a significant contribution from secondary electrons originating outside the body is present.

  10. Fluence-to-effective dose conversion coefficients from a Saudi population based phantom for monoenergetic photon beams from 10 keV to 20 MeV

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ma, Andy K; Hussein, Mohammed Adel; Altaher, Khalid Mohammed; Farid, Khalid Yousif; Amer, Mamun; Aldhafery, Bander Fuhaid; Alghamdi, Ali A

    2015-01-01

    Fluence-to-dose conversion coefficients are important quantities for radiation protection, derived from Monte Carlo simulations of the radiation particles through a stylised phantom or voxel based phantoms. The voxel phantoms have been developed for many ethnic groups for their accurate reflection of the anatomy. In this study, we used the Monte Carlo code MCNPX to calculate the photon fluence-to-effective dose conversion coefficients with a voxel phantom based on the Saudi Arabian male population. Six irradiation geometries, anterior–posterior (AP), posterior–anterior (PA), left lateral (LLAT), right lateral (RLAT), rotational (ROT) and isotropic (ISO) were simulated for monoenergetic photon beams from 10 keV to 20 MeV. We compared the coefficients with the reference values in ICRP Publication 116. The coefficients in the AP and PA geometries match the reference values to 9% and 12% on average as measured by root mean square while those in the LLAT, RLAT ROT and ISO geometries differ, mostly below, from the reference by 23, 22, 15 and 16%, respectively. The torso of the Saudi phantom is wider than the ICRP reference male phantom and likely to cause more attenuation to the lateral beam. The ICRP reference coefficients serve well for the Saudi male population as conservative estimations for the purpose of radiation protection. (paper)

  11. CALCULATION OF FLUENCE-TO-EFFECTIVE DOSE CONVERSION COEFFICIENTS FOR THE OPERATIONAL QUANTITY PROPOSED BY ICRU RC26.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Endo, Akira

    2017-07-01

    Fluence-to-effective dose conversion coefficients have been calculated for photons, neutrons, electrons, positrons, protons, muons, pions and helium ions for various incident angles of radiations. The aim of this calculation is to provide a set of conversion coefficients to the Report Committee 26 (RC26) of the International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU) for use in defining personal dose equivalent for individual monitoring. The data sets comprise effective dose conversion coefficients for incident angles of radiations from 0° to ±90° in steps of 15° and at ±180°. Conversion coefficients for rotational, isotropic, superior hemisphere semi-isotropic and inferior hemisphere semi-isotropic irradiations are also included. Numerical data of the conversion coefficients are presented as supplementary data. The conversion coefficients are used to define the personal dose equivalent, which is being considered by the ICRU RC26, as the operational quantity for individual monitoring. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  12. Photon dose conversion coefficients for the human teeth in standard irradiation geometries

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ulanovsky, A; Wieser, A; Zankl, M; Jacob, P

    2005-07-01

    Photon dose conversion coefficients for the human tooth materials are computed in energy range from 0.01 to 10 MeV by the Monte Carlo method. The voxel phantom Golem of the human body with newly defined tooth region and a modified version of the EGS4 code have been used to compute the coefficients for 30 tooth cells with different locations and materials. The dose responses are calculated for cells representing buccal and lingual enamel layers. The computed coefficients demonstrate a strong dependence on energy and geometry of the radiation source and a weaker dependence on location of the enamel voxels. For isotropic and rotational radiation fields the enamel dose does not show a significant dependence on tooth sample locations. The computed coefficients are used to convert from absorbed dose in teeth to organ dose or to integral air kerma. Examples of integral conversion factors from enamel dose to air kerma are given for several photon fluences specific for the Mayak reprocessing plant in Russia. The integral conversion factors are strongly affected by the energy and angular distributions of photon fluence, which are important characteristics of an exposure scenario for reconstruction of individual occupational doses. (orig.)

  13. Dose conversion coefficients for electron exposure of the human eye lens

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Behrens, R; Dietze, G; Zankl, M

    2009-01-01

    Recent epidemiological studies suggest a rather low dose threshold (below 0.5 Gy) for the induction of a cataract of the eye lens. Some other studies even assume that there is no threshold at all. Therefore, protection measures have to be optimized and current dose limits for the eye lens may be reduced in the future. Two questions arise from this situation: first, which dose quantity is related to the risk of developing a cataract, and second, which personal dose equivalent quantity is appropriate for monitoring this dose quantity. While the dose equivalent quantity H p (0.07) has often been seen as being sufficiently accurate for monitoring the dose to the lens of the eye, this would be questionable in the case when the dose limits were reduced and, thus, it may be necessary to generally use the dose equivalent quantity H p (3) for this purpose. The basis for a decision, however, must be the knowledge of accurate conversion coefficients from fluence to equivalent dose to the lens. This is especially important for low-penetrating radiation, for example, electrons. Formerly published values of conversion coefficients are based on quite simple models of the eye. In this paper, quite a sophisticated model of the eye including the inner structure of the lens was used for the calculations and precise conversion coefficients for electrons with energies between 0.2 MeV and 12 MeV, and for angles of radiation incidence between 0 deg. and 45 deg. are presented. Compared to the values adopted in 1996 by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), the new values are up to 1000 times smaller for electron energies below 1 MeV, nearly equal at 1 MeV and above 4 MeV, and by a factor of 1.5 larger at about 1.5 MeV electron energy.

  14. Overview of the ICRP/ICRU adult reference computational phantoms and dose conversion coefficients for external idealised exposures

    CERN Document Server

    Endo, A; Zankl, M; Bolch, W E; Eckerman, K F; Hertel, N E; Hunt, J G; Pelliccioni, M; Schlattl, H; Menzel, H-G

    2014-01-01

    This paper reviews the ICRP Publications 110 and 116 describing the reference computational phantoms and dose conversion coefficients for external exposures. The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) in its 2007 Recommendations made several revisions to the methods of calculation of the protection quantities. In order to implement these recommendations, the DOCAL task group of the ICRP developed computational phantoms representing the reference adult male and female and then calculated a set of dose conversion coefficients for various types of idealised external exposures. This paper focuses on the dose conversion coefficients for neutrons and investigates their relationship with the conversion coefficients of the protection and operational quantities of ICRP Publication 74. Contributing factors to the differences between these sets of conversion coefficients are discussed in terms of the changes in phantoms employed and the radiation and tissue weighting factors.

  15. Conversion coefficients for individual monitoring calculated with integrated tiger series, ITS3, Monte Carlo code

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Devine, R.T.; Hsu, Hsiao-Hua

    1994-01-01

    The current basis for conversion coefficients for calibrating individual photon dosimeters in terms of dose equivalents is found in the series of papers by Grosswent. In his calculation the collision kerma inside the phantom is determined by calculation of the energy fluence at the point of interest and the use of the mass energy absorption coefficient. This approximates the local absorbed dose. Other Monte Carlo methods can be sued to provide calculations of the conversion coefficients. Rogers has calculated fluence-to-dose equivalent conversion factors with the Electron-Gamma Shower Version 3, EGS3, Monte Carlo program and produced results similar to Grosswent's calculations. This paper will report on calculations using the Integrated TIGER Series Version 3, ITS3, code to calculate the conversion coefficients in ICRU Tissue and in PMMA. A complete description of the input parameters to the program is given and comparison to previous results is included

  16. Simulation codes to evcaluate dose conversion coefficients for hadrons over 10 GeV

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sato, T.; Tsuda, S.; Sakamoto, Y.; Yamaguchi, Y.; Niita, K.

    2002-01-01

    The conversion coefficients from fluence to effective dose for high energy hadrons are indispensable for various purposes such as accelerator shielding design and dose evaluation in space mission. Monte Carlo calculation code HETC-3STEP was used to evaluate dose conversion coefficients for neutrons and protons up to 10 GeV with an anthropomorphic model. The scaling model was incorporated in the code for simulation of high energy nuclear reactions. However, the secondary particle energy spectra predicted by the model were not smooth for nuclear reactions over several GeV. We attempted, therefore, to simulate transportation of such high energy particles by two newly developed Monte Carlo simulation codes: one is HETC-3STEP including the model used in EVENTQ instead of the scaling model, and the other is NMTC/JAM. By comparing calculated cross sections by these codes with experimental data for high energy nuclear reactions, it was found that NMTC/JAM had a better agreement with the data. We decided, therefore, to adopt NMTC/JAM for evaluation of dose conversion coefficients for hadrons with energies over 10 GeV. The effective dose conversion coefficients for high energy neutrons and protons evaluated by NMTC/JAM were found to be close to those by the FLUKA code

  17. Dose conversion coefficients calculated using a series of adult Japanese voxel phantoms against external photon exposure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sato, Kaoru; Endo, Akira; Saito, Kimiaki

    2008-10-01

    This report presents a complete set of conversion coefficients of organ doses and effective doses calculated for external photon exposure using five Japanese adult voxel phantoms developed at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA). At the JAEA, high-resolution Japanese voxel phantoms have been developed to clarify the variation of organ doses due to the anatomical characteristics of Japanese, and three male phantoms (JM, JM2 and Otoko) and two female phantoms (JF and Onago) have been constructed up to now. The conversion coefficients of organ doses and effective doses for the five voxel phantoms have been calculated for six kinds of idealized irradiation geometries from monoenergetic photons ranging from 0.01 to 10 MeV using EGS4, a Monte Carlo code for the simulation of coupled electron-photon transport. The dose conversion coefficients are given as absorbed dose and effective dose per unit air-kerma free-in-air, and are presented in tables and figures. The calculated dose conversion coefficients are compared with those of voxel phantoms based on the Caucasian and the recommended values in ICRP74 in order to discuss (1) variation of organ dose due to the body size and individual anatomy, such as position and shape of organs, and (2) effect of posture on organ doses. The present report provides valuable data to study the influence of the body characteristics of Japanese upon the organ doses and to discuss developing reference Japanese and Asian phantoms. (author)

  18. Overview of the ICRP/ICRU adult reference computational phantoms and dose conversion coefficients for external idealised exposures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Endo, Akira; Petoussi-Henss, Nina; Zankl, Maria; Schlattl, Helmut; Bolch, Wesley E.; Eckerman, Keith F.; Hertel, Nolan E.; Hunt, John G.; Pelliccioni, Maurizio; Menzel, Hans-Georg

    2014-01-01

    This paper reviews the ICRP Publications 110 and 116 describing the reference computational phantoms and dose conversion coefficients for external exposures. The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) in its 2007 Recommendations made several revisions to the methods of calculation of the protection quantities. In order to implement these recommendations, the DOCAL task group of the ICRP developed computational phantoms representing the reference adult male and female and then calculated a set of dose conversion coefficients for various types of idealised external exposures. This paper focuses on the dose conversion coefficients for neutrons and investigates their relationship with the conversion coefficients of the protection and operational quantities of ICRP Publication 74. Contributing factors to the differences between these sets of conversion coefficients are discussed in terms of the changes in phantoms employed and the radiation and tissue weighting factors. This paper briefly reviews the reference computational phantoms and dose conversion coefficients for external exposures that were published jointly by ICRP and ICRU. Both these publications appeared as a consequence of the ICRP 2007 Recommendations; to implement these recommendations, the ICRP has developed reference computational phantoms representing the adult male and female. These phantoms are used to calculate reference dose conversion coefficients for external and internal sources. Using the reference phantoms and methodology consistent with the 2007 Recommendations, dose conversion coefficients for both effective doses and organ-absorbed doses for various types of idealised external exposures have been calculated. These data sets supersede the existing ICRP/ICRU data sets and expand the particle types and energy ranges. For neutrons, the new effective dose conversion coefficients become smaller compared with those in ICRP74, for energies below hundreds of keV. This is mainly

  19. Fluence to Dose Equivalent Conversion Coefficients for Evaluation of Accelerator Radiation Environments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thomas, Ralph H.; Zeman, Gary H.

    2001-01-01

    The derivation of a set of conversion functions for the expression of neutron fluence measurements in terms of Effective Dose, E, is described. Four functions in analytical form are presented, covering the neutron energy range from 2.5 10-8 to 10+4 MeV, for the interpretation of fluence measurements in the typical irradiation conditions experienced around high-energy proton accelerators such as the Bevatron. For neutron energies below 200 MeV the analytical functions were modeled after the ISO and ROT conversion coefficients in ICRU 57. For neutron energies above 200 MeV, the analytical function was derived from an analysis of recent published data. Sample calculations using either the analytical expressions or the tabulated conversion coefficients from which the analytical expressions are derived show agreement to better than plus/minus 5%

  20. Conversion coefficients for determining organ doses in paediatric pelvis and hip joint radiography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seidenbusch, Michael C.; Schneider, Karl

    2014-01-01

    Knowledge of organ and effective doses achieved during paediatric X-ray examinations is an important prerequisite for assessment of radiation burden to the patient. Conversion coefficients for reconstruction of organ and effective doses from entrance doses for pelvis and hip joint radiographs of 0-, 1-, 5-, 10-, 15- and 30-year-old patients are provided regarding the Guidelines of Good Radiographic Technique of the European Commission. Using the personal computer program PCXMC developed by the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety (Saeteilyturvakeskus STUK), conversion coefficients for conventional pelvis and hip joint radiographs were calculated by performing Monte Carlo simulations in mathematical hermaphrodite phantom models representing patients of different ages. The clinical variation of radiation field settings was taken into consideration by defining optimal and suboptimal standard field settings. Conversion coefficients for the reconstruction of organ doses in about 40 organs and tissues from measured entrance doses during pelvis and hip joint radiographs of 0-, 1-, 5-, 10-, 15- and 30-year-old patients were calculated for the standard sagittal beam projection and the standard focus detector distance of 115 cm. The conversion coefficients presented can be used for organ dose assessments from entrance doses measured during pelvis and hip joint radiographs of children and young adults with all field settings within the optimal and suboptimal standard field settings. (orig.)

  1. Converting Sabine absorption coefficients to random incidence absorption coefficients

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jeong, Cheol-Ho

    2013-01-01

    are suggested: An optimization method for the surface impedances for locally reacting absorbers, the flow resistivity for extendedly reacting absorbers, and the flow resistance for fabrics. With four porous type absorbers, the conversion methods are validated. For absorbers backed by a rigid wall, the surface...... coefficients to random incidence absorption coefficients are proposed. The overestimations of the Sabine absorption coefficient are investigated theoretically based on Miki's model for porous absorbers backed by a rigid wall or an air cavity, resulting in conversion factors. Additionally, three optimizations...... impedance optimization produces the best results, while the flow resistivity optimization also yields reasonable results. The flow resistivity and flow resistance optimization for extendedly reacting absorbers are also found to be successful. However, the theoretical conversion factors based on Miki's model...

  2. ESTIMATION OF THE CONVERSION COEFFICIENTS FROM DOSE-AREA PRODUCT TO EFFECTIVE DOSE FOR BARIUM MEAL EXAMINATIONS FOR ADULT PATIENTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. V. Vodovatov

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Fluoroscopic examinations of the upper gastro-intestinal tract and, especially, barium meal examinations, are commonly performed in a majority of hospitals. These examinations are associated both with substantial individual patient doses and contribution to the collective dose from medical exposure. Effective dose estimation for this type of examinations is complicated due to: 1 the necessity to simulate the moving X-ray irradiation field; 2 differences in study structure for the individual patients; 3 subjectivity of the operators; and 4 differences in the X-ray equipment. The aim of the current study was to estimate conversion coefficients from dose-area product to effective dose for barium meal examinations for the over couch and under couch exposure conditions. The study was based on data collected in the X-ray unit of the surgical department of the St-Petersburg Mariinsky hospital. A model of patient exposure during barium meal examination was developed based on the collected data on fluoroscopy protocols and adult patient irradiation geometry. Conversion coefficients were calculated using PCXMC 2.0 software. Complete examinations were converted into a set of typical fluoroscopy phases and X-ray images, specified by the examined anatomical region and the projection of patient exposure. Conversion coefficients from dose-area product to effective dose were calculated for each phase of the examination and for the complete examination. The resulting values of the conversion coefficients are comparable with published data. Variations in the absolute values of the conversion coefficients can be explained by differences in clinical protocols, models for the estimation of the effective dose and parameters of barium meal examinations. The proposed approach for estimation of effective dose considers such important features of fluoroscopic examinations as: 1 non-uniform structure of examination, 2 significant movement of the X-ray tube within a single

  3. Determination of average conversion coefficients between kerma in air and H⁎(10) using primary and secondary X-ray beams and transmitted in the diagnostic radiology energy range

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Santos, Josilene C.; Gonzalez, Alejandro H.L.; Costa, Paulo R.

    2016-01-01

    Brazilian regulation establishes 1.14 Sv/Gy as unique conversion coefficient to convert air-kerma into the operational quantity ambient dose equivalent H⁎(10) disregarding its beam quality dependence. The present study computed mean conversion coefficients from primary, secondary and transmitted X-ray beams through barite mortar plates used in shielding of dedicated chest radiographic facilities in order to improve the current assessment of H⁎(10). To compute the mean conversion coefficients, the weighting of conversion coefficients corresponding to monoenergetic beams with the spectrum energy distribution in terms of air-kerma was considered. The maximum difference between the obtained conversion coefficients and the constant value recommended in national regulation is 53.4%. The conclusion based on these results is that a constant coefficient is not adequate for deriving the H⁎(10) from air-kerma measurements. (author)

  4. Internal Dose Conversion Coefficients of Domestic Reference Animal and Plants for Dose Assessment of Non-human Species

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Keum, Dong Kwon; Jun, In; Lim, Kwang Muk; Choi, Yong Ho

    2009-01-01

    Traditionally, radiation protection has been focused on a radiation exposure of human beings. In the international radiation protection community, one of the recent key issues is to establish the methodology for assessing the radiological impact of an ionizing radiation on non-human species for an environmental protection. To assess the radiological impact to non-human species dose conversion coefficients are essential. This paper describes the methodology to calculate the internal dose conversion coefficient for non-human species and presents calculated internal dose conversion coefficients of 25 radionuclides for 8 domestic reference animal and plants

  5. The system of radiation dose assessment and dose conversion coefficients in the ICRP and FGR

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, So Ra; Min, Byung Il; Park, Kihyun; Yang, Byung Mo; Suh, Kyung Suk [Nuclear Environmental Safety Research Division, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-12-15

    The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recommendations and the Federal Guidance Report (FGR) published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have been widely applied worldwide in the fields of radiation protection and dose assessment. The dose conversion coefficients of the ICRP and FGR are widely used for assessing exposure doses. However, before the coefficients are used, the user must thoroughly understand the derivation process of the coefficients to ensure that they are used appropriately in the evaluation. The ICRP provides recommendations to regulatory and advisory agencies, mainly in the form of guidance on the fundamental principles on which appropriate radiological protection can be based. The FGR provides federal and state agencies with technical information to assist their implementation of radiation protection programs for the U.S. population. The system of radiation dose assessment and dose conversion coefficients in the ICRP and FGR is reviewed in this study. A thorough understanding of their background is essential for the proper use of dose conversion coefficients. The FGR dose assessment system was strongly influenced by the ICRP and the U.S. National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP), and is hence consistent with those recommendations. Moreover, the ICRP and FGR both used the scientific data reported by Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR) and United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) as their primary source of information. The difference between the ICRP and FGR lies in the fact that the ICRP utilized information regarding a population of diverse races, whereas the FGR utilized data on the American population, as its goal was to provide guidelines for radiological protection in the US. The contents of this study are expected to be utilized as basic research material in the areas of radiation protection and dose assessment.

  6. The system of radiation dose assessment and dose conversion coefficients in the ICRP and FGR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, So Ra; Min, Byung Il; Park, Kihyun; Yang, Byung Mo; Suh, Kyung Suk

    2016-01-01

    The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recommendations and the Federal Guidance Report (FGR) published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have been widely applied worldwide in the fields of radiation protection and dose assessment. The dose conversion coefficients of the ICRP and FGR are widely used for assessing exposure doses. However, before the coefficients are used, the user must thoroughly understand the derivation process of the coefficients to ensure that they are used appropriately in the evaluation. The ICRP provides recommendations to regulatory and advisory agencies, mainly in the form of guidance on the fundamental principles on which appropriate radiological protection can be based. The FGR provides federal and state agencies with technical information to assist their implementation of radiation protection programs for the U.S. population. The system of radiation dose assessment and dose conversion coefficients in the ICRP and FGR is reviewed in this study. A thorough understanding of their background is essential for the proper use of dose conversion coefficients. The FGR dose assessment system was strongly influenced by the ICRP and the U.S. National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP), and is hence consistent with those recommendations. Moreover, the ICRP and FGR both used the scientific data reported by Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR) and United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) as their primary source of information. The difference between the ICRP and FGR lies in the fact that the ICRP utilized information regarding a population of diverse races, whereas the FGR utilized data on the American population, as its goal was to provide guidelines for radiological protection in the US. The contents of this study are expected to be utilized as basic research material in the areas of radiation protection and dose assessment

  7. Sabine absorption coefficients to random incidence absorption coefficients

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jeong, Cheol-Ho

    2014-01-01

    into random incidence absorption coefficients for porous absorbers are investigated. Two optimization-based conversion methods are suggested: the surface impedance estimation for locally reacting absorbers and the flow resistivity estimation for extendedly reacting absorbers. The suggested conversion methods...

  8. Organ dose conversion coefficients for voxel models of the reference male and female from idealized photon exposures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schlattl, H.; Zankl, M.; Petoussi-Henss, N.

    2007-04-01

    A new series of organ equivalent dose conversion coefficients for whole body external photon exposure is presented for a standardized couple of human voxel models, called Rex and Regina. Irradiations from broad parallel beams in antero-posterior, postero-anterior, left- and right-side lateral directions as well as from a 360° rotational source have been performed numerically by the Monte Carlo transport code EGSnrc. Dose conversion coefficients from an isotropically distributed source were computed, too. The voxel models Rex and Regina originating from real patient CT data comply in body and organ dimensions with the currently valid reference values given by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) for the average Caucasian man and woman, respectively. While the equivalent dose conversion coefficients of many organs are in quite good agreement with the reference values of ICRP Publication 74, for some organs and certain geometries the discrepancies amount to 30% or more. Differences between the sexes are of the same order with mostly higher dose conversion coefficients in the smaller female model. However, much smaller deviations from the ICRP values are observed for the resulting effective dose conversion coefficients. With the still valid definition for the effective dose (ICRP Publication 60), the greatest change appears in lateral exposures with a decrease in the new models of at most 9%. However, when the modified definition of the effective dose as suggested by an ICRP draft is applied, the largest deviation from the current reference values is obtained in postero-anterior geometry with a reduction of the effective dose conversion coefficient by at most 12%.

  9. Organ dose conversion coefficients for voxel models of the reference male and female from idealized photon exposures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schlattl, H; Zankl, M; Petoussi-Henss, N

    2007-01-01

    A new series of organ equivalent dose conversion coefficients for whole body external photon exposure is presented for a standardized couple of human voxel models, called Rex and Regina. Irradiations from broad parallel beams in antero-posterior, postero-anterior, left- and right-side lateral directions as well as from a 360 deg. rotational source have been performed numerically by the Monte Carlo transport code EGSnrc. Dose conversion coefficients from an isotropically distributed source were computed, too. The voxel models Rex and Regina originating from real patient CT data comply in body and organ dimensions with the currently valid reference values given by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) for the average Caucasian man and woman, respectively. While the equivalent dose conversion coefficients of many organs are in quite good agreement with the reference values of ICRP Publication 74, for some organs and certain geometries the discrepancies amount to 30% or more. Differences between the sexes are of the same order with mostly higher dose conversion coefficients in the smaller female model. However, much smaller deviations from the ICRP values are observed for the resulting effective dose conversion coefficients. With the still valid definition for the effective dose (ICRP Publication 60), the greatest change appears in lateral exposures with a decrease in the new models of at most 9%. However, when the modified definition of the effective dose as suggested by an ICRP draft is applied, the largest deviation from the current reference values is obtained in postero-anterior geometry with a reduction of the effective dose conversion coefficient by at most 12%

  10. New quantities in radiation protection and conversion coefficients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1986-01-01

    Four new quantities have been proposed by the ICRP for use in radiation protection from external sources, i.e. the ambient dose equivalent, the directional dose equivalent, the individual dose equivalent (penetrating), and the individual dose equivalent (superficial). These quantities are briefly described together with two new concepts of expanded and aligned fields. The BCRU recommends that these quantities should be adopted for use in the UK together with conversion coefficients when re-calibrating existing instruments, reporting the results of measurements and designing instruments. (UK)

  11. Calculation of age-dependent dose conversion coefficients for radionuclides uniformly distributed in air

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hung, Tran Van; Satoh, Daiki; Takahashi, Fumiaki; Tsuda, Shuichi; Endo, Akira; Saito, Kimiaki; Yamaguchi, Yasuhiro

    2005-02-01

    Age-dependent dose conversion coefficients for external exposure to photons emitted by radionuclides uniformly distributed in air were calculated. The size of the source region in the calculation was assumed to be effectively semi-infinite in extent. Firstly, organ doses were calculated with a series of age-specific MIRD-5 type phantoms using MCNP code, a Monte Carlo transport code. The calculations were performed for mono-energetic photon sources of twelve energies from 10 keV to 5 MeV and for phantoms of newborn, 1, 5, 10 and 15 years, and adult. Then, the effective doses to the different age-phantoms from the mono-energetic photon sources were estimated based on the obtained organ doses. The calculated effective doses were used to interpolate the conversion coefficients of the effective doses for 160 radionuclides, which are important for dose assessment of nuclear facilities. In the calculation, energies and intensities of emitted photons from radionuclides were taken from DECDC, a recent compilation of decay data for radiation dosimetry developed at JAERI. The results are tabulated in the form of effective dose per unit concentration and time (Sv per Bq s m -3 ). (author)

  12. Theoretical expression of the internal conversion coefficient of a M1 transition between two atomic states

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Attallah, F.; Chemin, J.F.; Scheurer, J.N.; Karpeshin, F.; Harston, M.

    1997-01-01

    We have established a general relation for the expression of the internal conversion of an M 1 transition a 1s electronic state to an empty ns electronic bound state. Under the hypothesis that the density of the electron level ρ n satisfies the condition ρ n Γ >> 1 (where Γ is the total width of the excited atomic state) a calculation in the first order gives a relation for the internal conversion coefficient.This relation shows that the internal conversion coefficient takes a resonant character when the nuclear energy transition is smaller than the binding energy of the 1s electron. An application of this relation to an M 1 transition in the case of the ion 125 T e with a charge state Q = 45 and an 1s electron binding energy E B 45 = 35.581 KeV gives the value for the internal conversion coefficient R = 5.7

  13. Internal and external dose conversion coefficient for domestic reference animals and plant

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Keum, Dong Kwon; Jun, In; Lim, Kwang Muk; Park, Du Won; Choi, Young Ho

    2009-07-15

    This report presents the internal and external dose conversion coefficients for domestic reference animals and plant, which are essential to assess the radiological impact of an environmental radiation on non-human species. To calculate the dose conversion coefficients, a uniform isotropic model and a Monte Carlo method for a photon transport simulation in environmental media with different densities have been applied for aquatic and terrestrial animals, respectively. In the modeling all the target animals are defined as a simple 3D elliptical shape. To specify the external radiation source it is assumed that aquatic animals are fully immersed in infinite and uniformly contaminated water, and the on-soil animals are living on the surface of a horizontally infinite soil source, and the in-soil organisms are living at the center of a horizontally infinite and uniformly contaminated soil to a depth of 50cm. A set of internal and external dose conversion coefficients for 8 Korean reference animals and plant (rat, roe-deer, frog, snake, Chinese minnow, bee, earthworm, and pine tree) are presented for 25 radionuclides ({sup 3}H, {sup 7}Be, {sup 14}C, {sup 40}K, {sup 51}Cr, {sup 54}Mn, {sup 59}Fe, {sup 58}Co, {sup 60}Co, {sup 65}Zn, {sup 90}Sr, {sup 95}Zr, {sup 95}Nb, {sup 99}Tc, {sup 106}Ru, {sup 129}I, {sup 131}I, {sup 136}Cs, {sup 137}Cs, {sup 140}Ba, {sup 140}La, {sup 144}Ce, {sup 238}U, {sup 239}Pu, and {sup 240}Pu)

  14. Outlines of ICRP publication 74 and new dose conversion coefficients for external radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamaguchi, Yasuhiro

    1998-01-01

    Combined task group of ICRP and ICRU reported the ICRP Publication 74 (1996) which is a summary report of their collection, analysis and evaluation of many data and dose conversion coefficients. Concerning the new coefficients, the author described this review as follows: History until Publication 74. Doses recommended at present: for protection quantity, the mean absorption dose of organ and tissue, equivalent dose and effective dose and for operational quantity, the ambient dose equivalent, directional dose equivalent and individual dose equivalent. Changes which can have an influence on the dose evaluation; introduction of radiation weighting factor (WR), changing of tissue weighting factor (WR), changing of the equation for Q-L relation and updating of physical data. New dose conversion coefficients; for photon, neutron and electron. Comparison of new and present coefficients; concerning the quality factor Q, particularly for neutron Q. New relations of protection and operational quantities; for field and individual monitoring. General conclusion of Publication 74. The Publication gives a certain direction for problems in evaluation of external exposure dose which have been discussed since the ICRP Fundamental Recommendation 1990 was issued. However, there still remain many problems especially in validity of the WR and of equation for Q-L relation. (K.H.)

  15. Conversion of time-varying Stokes coefficients into mass anomalies at the Earth's surface considering the Earth's oblateness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ditmar, Pavel

    2018-02-01

    Time-varying Stokes coefficients estimated from GRACE satellite data are routinely converted into mass anomalies at the Earth's surface with the expression proposed for that purpose by Wahr et al. (J Geophys Res 103(B12):30,205-30,229, 1998). However, the results obtained with it represent mass transport at the spherical surface of 6378 km radius. We show that the accuracy of such conversion may be insufficient, especially if the target area is located in a polar region and the signal-to-noise ratio is high. For instance, the peak values of mean linear trends in 2003-2015 estimated over Greenland and Amundsen Sea embayment of West Antarctica may be underestimated in this way by about 15%. As a solution, we propose an updated expression for the conversion of Stokes coefficients into mass anomalies. This expression is based on the assumptions that: (i) mass transport takes place at the reference ellipsoid and (ii) at each point of interest, the ellipsoidal surface is approximated by the sphere with a radius equal to the current radial distance from the Earth's center ("locally spherical approximation"). The updated expression is nearly as simple as the traditionally used one but reduces the inaccuracies of the conversion procedure by an order of magnitude. In addition, we remind the reader that the conversion expressions are defined in spherical (geocentric) coordinates. We demonstrate that the difference between mass anomalies computed in spherical and ellipsoidal (geodetic) coordinates may not be negligible, so that a conversion of geodetic colatitudes into geocentric ones should not be omitted.

  16. Comparing Hp(3) evaluated from the conversion coefficients from air kerma to personal dose equivalent for eye lens dosimetry calibrated on a new cylindrical PMMA phantom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Esor, J.; Sudchai, W.; Monthonwattana, S.; Pungkun, V.; Intang, A.

    2017-06-01

    Based on a new occupational dose limit recommended by ICRP (2011), the annual dose limit for the lens of the eye for workers should be reduced from 150 mSv/y to 20 mSv/y averaged over 5 consecutive years in which no single year exceeding 50 mSv. This new dose limit directly affects radiologists and cardiologists whose work involves high radiation exposure over 20 mSv/y. Eye lens dosimetry (Hp(3)) has become increasingly important and should be evaluated directly based on dosimeters that are worn closely to the eye. Normally, Hp(3) dose algorithm was carried out by the combination of Hp(0.07) and Hp(10) values while dosimeters were calibrated on slab PMMA phantom. Recently, there were three reports from European Union that have shown the conversion coefficients from air kerma to Hp(3). These conversion coefficients carried out by ORAMED, PTB and CEA Saclay projects were performed by using a new cylindrical head phantom. In this study, various delivered doses were calculated using those three conversion coefficients while nanoDot, small OSL dosimeters, were used for Hp(3) measurement. These calibrations were performed with a standard X-ray generator at Secondary Standard Dosimetry Laboratory (SSDL). Delivered doses (Hp(3)) using those three conversion coefficients were compared with Hp(3) from nanoDot measurements. The results showed that percentage differences between delivered doses evaluated from the conversion coefficient of each project and Hp(3) doses evaluated from the nanoDots were found to be not exceeding -11.48 %, -8.85 % and -8.85 % for ORAMED, PTB and CEA Saclay project, respectively.

  17. SU-D-209-06: Study On the Dose Conversion Coefficients in Pediatric Radiography with the Development of Children Voxel Phantoms

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liu, Q [Institute of Radiation Medicine Fudan University, Shanghai (China); Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai, Shanghai (China); Zhuo, W; Liu, H [Institute of Radiation Medicine Fudan University, Shanghai (China); Liu, Y; Chen, T [Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai, Shanghai (China)

    2016-06-15

    Purpose: Conversion coefficients of organ dose normalized to entrance skin dose (ESD) are widely used to evaluate the organ doses directly using ESD without time-consuming dose measurement, this work aims to investigate the dose conversion coefficients in pediatric chest and abdomen radiography with the development of 5 years and 10 years old children voxel phantoms. Methods: After segmentation of organs and tissues from CT slice images of ATOM tissue-equivalent phantoms, a 5-year-old and a 10-year-old children computational voxel phantoms were developed for Monte Carlo simulation. The organ doses and the entrance skin dose for pediatric chest postero-anterior projection and abdominal antero-posterior projection were simulated at the same time, and then the organ dose conversion coefficients were calculated.To verify the simulated results, dose measurement was carried out with ATOM tissue-equivalent phantoms for 5 year chest radiography. Results: Simulated results and experimental results matched very well with each other, the result differences of all the organs covered in radiation field were below 16% for 5-year-old child in chest projection. I showed that the conversion coefficients of organs covered in the radiation field were much larger than organs out of the field for all the study cases, for example, the conversion coefficients of stomach, liver intestines, and pancreas are larger for abdomen radiography while conversion coefficients of lungs are larger for chest radiography. Conclusion: The voxel children phantoms were helpful to evaluate the radiation doses more accurately and efficiently. Radiation field was the essential factor that affects the organ dose, use reasonably small field should be encouraged for radiation protection. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(11475047)

  18. SU-D-209-06: Study On the Dose Conversion Coefficients in Pediatric Radiography with the Development of Children Voxel Phantoms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Q; Zhuo, W; Liu, H; Liu, Y; Chen, T

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: Conversion coefficients of organ dose normalized to entrance skin dose (ESD) are widely used to evaluate the organ doses directly using ESD without time-consuming dose measurement, this work aims to investigate the dose conversion coefficients in pediatric chest and abdomen radiography with the development of 5 years and 10 years old children voxel phantoms. Methods: After segmentation of organs and tissues from CT slice images of ATOM tissue-equivalent phantoms, a 5-year-old and a 10-year-old children computational voxel phantoms were developed for Monte Carlo simulation. The organ doses and the entrance skin dose for pediatric chest postero-anterior projection and abdominal antero-posterior projection were simulated at the same time, and then the organ dose conversion coefficients were calculated.To verify the simulated results, dose measurement was carried out with ATOM tissue-equivalent phantoms for 5 year chest radiography. Results: Simulated results and experimental results matched very well with each other, the result differences of all the organs covered in radiation field were below 16% for 5-year-old child in chest projection. I showed that the conversion coefficients of organs covered in the radiation field were much larger than organs out of the field for all the study cases, for example, the conversion coefficients of stomach, liver intestines, and pancreas are larger for abdomen radiography while conversion coefficients of lungs are larger for chest radiography. Conclusion: The voxel children phantoms were helpful to evaluate the radiation doses more accurately and efficiently. Radiation field was the essential factor that affects the organ dose, use reasonably small field should be encouraged for radiation protection. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(11475047)

  19. Age-dependent conversion coefficients for organ doses and effective doses for external neutron irradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nishizaki, Chihiro; Endo, Akira; Takahashi, Fumiaki

    2006-06-01

    To utilize dose assessment of the public for external neutron irradiation, conversion coefficients of absorbed doses of organs and effective doses were calculated using the numerical simulation technique for six different ages (adult, 15, 10, 5 and 1 years and newborn), which represent the member of the public. Calculations were performed using six age-specific anthropomorphic phantoms and a Monte Carlo radiation transport code for two irradiation geometries, anterior-posterior and rotational geometries, for 20 incident energies from thermal to 20 MeV. Effective doses defined by the 1990 Recommendation of ICRP were calculated from the absorbed doses in 21 organs. The calculated results were tabulated in the form of absorbed doses and effective doses per unit neutron fluence. The calculated conversion coefficients are used for dose assessment of the public around nuclear facilities and accelerator facilities. (author)

  20. Calculation of neutron fluence to dose equivalent conversion coefficients using GEANT4

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ribeiro, Rosane M.; Santos, Denison de S.; Queiroz Filho, Pedro P. de; Mauricio, CLaudia L.P.; Silva, Livia K. da; Pessanha, Paula R.

    2014-01-01

    Fluence to dose equivalent conversion coefficients provide the basis for the calculation of area and personal monitors. Recently, the ICRP has started a revision of these coefficients, including new Monte Carlo codes for benchmarking. So far, little information is available about neutron transport below 10 MeV in tissue-equivalent (TE) material performed with Monte Carlo GEANT4 code. The objective of this work is to calculate neutron fluence to personal dose equivalent conversion coefficients, H p (10)/Φ, with GEANT4 code. The incidence of monoenergetic neutrons was simulated as an expanded and aligned field, with energies ranging between thermal neutrons to 10 MeV on the ICRU slab of dimension 30 x 30 x 15 cm 3 , composed of 76.2% of oxygen, 10.1% of hydrogen, 11.1% of carbon and 2.6% of nitrogen. For all incident energy, a cylindrical sensitive volume is placed at a depth of 10 mm, in the largest surface of the slab (30 x 30 cm 2 ). Physic process are included for neutrons, photons and charged particles, and calculations are made for neutrons and secondary particles which reach the sensitive volume. Results obtained are thus compared with values published in ICRP 74. Neutron fluence in the sensitive volume was calculated for benchmarking. The Monte Carlo GEANT4 code was found to be appropriate to calculate neutron doses at energies below 10 MeV correctly. (author)

  1. Dose conversion coefficients for neutron exposure to the lens of the human eye

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Manger, Ryan P.; Bellamy, Michael B.; Eckerman, Keith F.

    2011-01-01

    Dose conversion coefficients for the lens of the human eye have been calculated for neutron exposure at energies from 1 x 10 -9 to 20 MeV and several standard orientations: anterior-to-posterior, rotational and right lateral. MCNPX version 2.6.0, a Monte Carlo-based particle transport package, was used to determine the energy deposited in the lens of the eye. The human eyeball model was updated by partitioning the lens into sensitive and insensitive volumes as the anterior portion (sensitive volume) of the lens being more radiosensitive and prone to cataract formation. The updated eye model was used with the adult UF-ORNL mathematical phantom in the MCNPX transport calculations.

  2. Dose conversion coefficients for neutron exposure to the lens of the human eye

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Manger, R. P.; Bellamy, M. B.; Eckerman, K. F.

    2012-01-01

    Dose conversion coefficients for the lens of the human eye have been calculated for neutron exposure at energies from 1 x 10 -9 to 20 MeV and several standard orientations: anterior-to-posterior, rotational and right lateral. MCNPX version 2.6.0, a Monte Carlo-based particle transport package, was used to determine the energy deposited in the lens of the eye. The human eyeball model was updated by partitioning the lens into sensitive and insensitive volumes as the anterior portion (sensitive volume) of the lens being more radiosensitive and prone to cataract formation. The updated eye model was used with the adult UF-ORNL mathematical phantom in the MCNPX transport calculations. (authors)

  3. Effective dose conversion coefficients for X-ray radiographs of the chest and the abdomen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lima, F.R.A. [Centro regional de Ciencias Nucleares, CRCN/CNEN, Rua Conego Barata, 999, Tamarineira, Recife, PE (Brazil); Kramer, R.; Vieira, J.W.; Khoury, H.J. [Departamento de Energia Nuclear, DEN/UFPE, Cidade Universitaria, Recife, PE (Brazil)]. E-mail: falima@cnen.gov.br

    2004-07-01

    The recently developed MAX (Male Adult voXel) and the FAXht (Female Adult voXel) head and trunk phantoms have been used to calculate organ and tissue equivalent dose conversion coefficients for X-ray radiographs of the chest and the abdomen as a function of source and field parameters, like voltage, filtration, field size, focus-to-skin distance, etc. Based on the equivalent doses to twenty three organs and tissues at risk, the effective dose has been determined and compared with corresponding data for others phantoms. The influence of different radiation transport codes, different tissue compositions and different human anatomies have been investigated separately. (Author)

  4. Effective dose conversion coefficients for X-ray radiographs of the chest and the abdomen

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lima, F.R.A.; Kramer, R.; Vieira, J.W.; Khoury, H.J.

    2004-01-01

    The recently developed MAX (Male Adult voXel) and the FAXht (Female Adult voXel) head and trunk phantoms have been used to calculate organ and tissue equivalent dose conversion coefficients for X-ray radiographs of the chest and the abdomen as a function of source and field parameters, like voltage, filtration, field size, focus-to-skin distance, etc. Based on the equivalent doses to twenty three organs and tissues at risk, the effective dose has been determined and compared with corresponding data for others phantoms. The influence of different radiation transport codes, different tissue compositions and different human anatomies have been investigated separately. (Author)

  5. Fluence to absorbed foetal dose conversion coefficients for photons in 50 keV-10 GeV calculated using RPI-P models

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Taranenko, V.; Xu, X.G.

    2008-01-01

    Radiation protection of pregnant females and the foetus against ionising radiation is of particular importance to radiation protection due to high foetal radiosensitivity. The only available set of foetal conversion coefficients for photons is based on stylised models of simplified anatomy. Using the RPI-P series of pregnant female and foetus models representing 3-, 6- and 9-month gestation, a set of new fluence to absorbed foetal dose conversion coefficients has been calculated. The RPI-P anatomical models were developed using novel 3D geometry modelling techniques. Organ masses were adjusted to agree within 1% with the ICRP reference data for a pregnant female. Monte Carlo dose calculations were carried out using the MCNPX and Penelope codes for external 50 keV-10 GeV photon beams of six standard configurations. The models were voxelised at 3-mm voxel resolution. Conversion coefficients were tabulated for the three gestational periods for the whole foetus and brain. Comparison with previously published data showed deviations up to 120% for the foetal doses at 50 keV. The discrepancy can be primarily ascribed to anatomical differences. Comparison with published data for five major mother organs is also provided for the 3-month model. Since the RPI-P models exhibit a high degree of anatomical realism, the reported dataset is recommended as a reference for radiation protection of the foetus against external photon exposure. (authors)

  6. Internal conversion coefficients for atomic numbers Z less than or equal to 30

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Band, I.M.; Trzhaskovskaya, M.B.; Listengarten, M.A.

    1976-01-01

    Presented here are internal conversion coefficients (ICC) of gamma rays for 20 values of atomic number, Z, in the range 3 less than or equal to Z less than or equal to 30, including all Z greater than or equal to 14. The tables provide the previously missing data for light elements. Coefficients are given for 19 values of gamma-ray transition energies up to 6 MeV for the K-electron shell and 18 values up to 2 MeV for three L-subshells. The minimum enegy is 15 keV. The first five electric and magnetic nuclear transition multipolarities are covered. The calculations are relativistic, with screening and finite nuclear size effect taken into account

  7. Measurement of conversion coefficients between air Kerma and personal dose equivalent and backscatter factors for diagnostic X-ray beams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rosado, Paulo Henrique Goncalves

    2008-01-01

    Two sets of quantities are import in radiological protection: the protection and operational quantities. Both sets can be related to basic physical quantities such as kerma through conversion coefficients. For diagnostic x-ray beams the conversion coefficients and backscatter factors have not been determined yet, those parameters are need for calibrating dosimeters that will be used to determine the personal dose equivalent or the entrance skin dose. Conversion coefficients between air kerma and personal dose equivalent and backscatter factors were experimentally determined for the diagnostic x-ray qualities RQR and RQA recommended by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). The air kerma in the phantom and the mean energy of the spectrum were measured for such purpose. Harshaw LiF-100H thermoluminescent dosemeters (TLD) were used for measurements after being calibrated against an 180 cm 3 Radcal Corporation ionization chamber traceable to a reference laboratory. A 300 mm x 300 mm x 150 mm polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) slab phantom was used for deep-dose measurements. Tl dosemeters were placed in the central axis of the x-ray beam at 5, 10, 15, 25 and 35 mm depth in the phantom upstream the beam direction Another required parameter for determining the conversion coefficients from was the mean energy of the x-ray spectrum. The spectroscopy of x-ray beams was done with a CdTe semiconductor detector that was calibrated with 133 Ba, 241 Am and 57 Co radiation sources. Measurements of the x-ray spectra were carried out for all RQR and RQA IEC qualities. Corrections due to the detector intrinsic efficiency, total energy absorption, escape fraction of the characteristic x-rays, Compton effect and attenuation in the detector were done aiming an the accurate determination of the mean energy. Measured x-ray spectra were corrected with the stripping method by using these response functions. The typical combined standard uncertainties of conversion coefficients and

  8. Determination of the conversion coefficient for ambient dose equivalent, H(10), from air kerma measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gonzalez J, F.; Alvarez R, J. T.

    2015-09-01

    Namely the operational magnitudes can be determined by the product of a conversion coefficient by exposure air kerma or fluence, etc. In particular in Mexico for the first time is determined the conversion coefficient (Cc) for operational magnitude Environmental Dose Equivalent H(10) by thermoluminescence dosimetry (TLD) technique. First 30 TLD-100 dosimeters are calibrated in terms of air kerma, then these dosimeters are irradiated inside a sphere ICRU type of PMMA and with the aid of theory cavity the absorbed dose in PMMA is determined at a depth of 10 mm within the sphere D PMMA (10), subsequently absorbed dose to ICRU tissue is corrected and the dose equivalent H(10) is determined. The Cc is determined as the ratio of H(10)/K a obtaining a value of 1.20 Sv Gy -1 with a u c = 3.66%, this being consistent with the published value in ISO-4037-3 of 1.20 Sv Gy -1 with a u c = 2%. (Author)

  9. Observation of changing of the internal conversion coefficient under Moessbauer effect at magnetic transition in Rh-Fe system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ruskov, T.

    1998-01-01

    The magnetic disorder-order transition in the Rh-Fe alloy is studied by conversion electron Moessbauer spectroscopy. The drastic increase of the area under the Moessbauer spectrum at the transition from the paramagnetic to the magnetic state could be explained by diminishing the internal conversion coefficient. Thus our experimental results directly confirm the theory of the collective effect in the system of radiating developed by Yukalov

  10. Measurement of K-conversion coefficient of the M3 transition in sup 112 In sup m

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Krishna, K.R.; Sastry, D.L.; Reddy, K.V. (Andhra Univ., Visakhapatnam (India). Labs. for Nuclear Research); Chintalapudi, S.N. (Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre, Calcutta (India))

    1991-11-01

    The K-conversion coefficient of the 155 keV (M3) isomeric transition in the decay of {sup 112}In was measured using the normalized peak to gamma method. The {alpha}{sub K} value is found to be 4.82{+-}0.29 in agreement with the theoretical value of 5.12. (author).

  11. Study of the coefficients of internal conversion for transition energies approaching the threshold

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Farani Coursol, Nelcy.

    1979-01-01

    Internal conversion coefficients were determined experimentally with great accuracy for areas of transition energies, which constitute tests for the theories (energies at the most ten kEv above the threshold of K shell), then the results obtained were compared with the values calculated (or to be calculated) from theoretical models. Owing to the difficulties raised by the precise determination of the internal conversion coefficients (ICC), in the first stage we selected radionuclides with a relatively simple decay pattern, the transitions: 30 keV of sup(93m)Nb, 35 keV of sup(125m)Te, 14 keV of 57 Fe and 39 keV of sup(129m)Xe. It was observed that 'problems' exist with respect to the ICC's of the great multipolarity transitions, so the transitions of this kind were examined in a systematic manner. The possibility of penetration effects occurring for the transitions studied experimentally was examined. The considerations are presented which 'authorized' us to disregard the dynamic part of the ICC for the transitions approaching the threshold (L selection rules and life of nuclear levels in relation to Weisskopf-Moszkowski estimations). The Kurie straight line was determined experimentally for the β - transition and the Qsub(β) was evaluated with an important accuracy gain compared with the values available at present. Finally, a certain number of ICC's of transitions already determined with good precision were recalculated, in order to extend our analysis and detect any possible systematic errors [fr

  12. Calculation of conversion coefficients using Chinese adult reference phantoms for air submersion and ground contamination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Wei; Qiu, Rui; Wu, Zhen; Li, Chunyan; Yang, Bo; Liu, Huan; Ren, Li; Li, Junli

    2017-03-21

    The effective and organ equivalent dose coefficients have been widely used to provide assessment of doses received by adult members of the public and by workers exposed to environmental radiation from nuclear facilities under normal or accidental situations. Advancements in phantom types, weighting factors, decay data, etc, have led to the publication of newer results in this regard. This paper presents a new set of conversion coefficients for air submersion and ground contamination (with the use of Geant4) for photons from 15 keV to 10 MeV using the Chinese and International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) adult reference male and female phantoms. The radiation fields, except for energy spectrum at low energies, were validated by the data obtained from the Monte Carlo code YURI. The effective dose coefficients of monoenergetic photons, obtained for the ICRP adult reference phantoms, agree well with recently published data for air submersion and ground contamination with a plane source at a depth of 0.5 g cm -2 in soil, but an average difference of 36.5% is observed for ground surface contamination with the abovementioned radiation field. The average differences in organ equivalent dose coefficients between the Chinese and the ICRP adult reference phantoms are within 6% for most organs, but noticeable differences of up to 70% or even higher are found at photon energies below 30 keV under air submersion. The effective dose coefficients obtained with the Chinese adult reference phantoms are greater than those of the ICRP adult reference phantoms above 30 keV and 0.5 MeV for ground contamination and air submersion, respectively; the average differences from the Chinese adult reference phantoms are about 3.6% and 0.4% in the whole energy range with maximum differences of 31.8% and 27.6% at 15 keV for air submersion and ground contamination respectively. These differences are attributed to anatomical discrepancies in overlying tissue mass of an

  13. Standardization and determination of the total internal conversion coefficient of In-111.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matos, Izabela T; Koskinas, Marina F; Nascimento, Tatiane S; Yamazaki, Ione M; Dias, Mauro S

    2014-05-01

    The standardization of (111)In by means of a 4πβ-γ coincidence system, composed of a proportional counter in 4π geometry, coupled to a 20% relative efficiency HPGe crystal, for measuring gamma-rays is presented. The data acquisition was performed by means of the software coincidence system (SCS) and the activity was determined by the extrapolation technique. Two gamma-ray windows were selected: at 171 keV and 245 keV total absorption peaks, allowing the determination of the total internal conversion coefficient for these two gamma transitions. The results were compared with those available in the literature. © 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  14. Dose conversion coefficients for monoenergetic electrons incident on a realistic human eye model with different lens cell populations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nogueira, P; Zankl, M; Schlattl, H; Vaz, P

    2011-11-07

    The radiation-induced posterior subcapsular cataract has long been generally accepted to be a deterministic effect that does not occur at doses below a threshold of at least 2 Gy. Recent epidemiological studies indicate that the threshold for cataract induction may be much lower or that there may be no threshold at all. A thorough study of this subject requires more accurate dose estimates for the eye lens than those available in ICRP Publication 74. Eye lens absorbed dose per unit fluence conversion coefficients for electron irradiation were calculated using a geometrical model of the eye that takes into account different cell populations of the lens epithelium, together with the MCNPX Monte Carlo radiation transport code package. For the cell population most sensitive to ionizing radiation-the germinative cells-absorbed dose per unit fluence conversion coefficients were determined that are up to a factor of 4.8 higher than the mean eye lens absorbed dose conversion coefficients for electron energies below 2 MeV. Comparison of the results with previously published values for a slightly different eye model showed generally good agreement for all electron energies. Finally, the influence of individual anatomical variability was quantified by positioning the lens at various depths below the cornea. A depth difference of 2 mm between the shallowest and the deepest location of the germinative zone can lead to a difference between the resulting absorbed doses of up to nearly a factor of 5000 for electron energy of 0.7 MeV.

  15. Dose conversion coefficients for monoenergetic electrons incident on a realistic human eye model with different lens cell populations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nogueira, P; Vaz, P; Zankl, M; Schlattl, H

    2011-01-01

    The radiation-induced posterior subcapsular cataract has long been generally accepted to be a deterministic effect that does not occur at doses below a threshold of at least 2 Gy. Recent epidemiological studies indicate that the threshold for cataract induction may be much lower or that there may be no threshold at all. A thorough study of this subject requires more accurate dose estimates for the eye lens than those available in ICRP Publication 74. Eye lens absorbed dose per unit fluence conversion coefficients for electron irradiation were calculated using a geometrical model of the eye that takes into account different cell populations of the lens epithelium, together with the MCNPX Monte Carlo radiation transport code package. For the cell population most sensitive to ionizing radiation-the germinative cells-absorbed dose per unit fluence conversion coefficients were determined that are up to a factor of 4.8 higher than the mean eye lens absorbed dose conversion coefficients for electron energies below 2 MeV. Comparison of the results with previously published values for a slightly different eye model showed generally good agreement for all electron energies. Finally, the influence of individual anatomical variability was quantified by positioning the lens at various depths below the cornea. A depth difference of 2 mm between the shallowest and the deepest location of the germinative zone can lead to a difference between the resulting absorbed doses of up to nearly a factor of 5000 for electron energy of 0.7 MeV.

  16. Age-specific effective doses for pediatric MSCT examinations at a large children's hospital using DLP conversion coefficients: a simple estimation method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thomas, Karen E.; Wang, Bo

    2008-01-01

    There is a need for an easily accessible method for effective dose estimation in pediatric CT. To estimate effective doses for a variety of pediatric neurological and body CT examinations in five age groups using recently published age- and region-specific dose length product (DLP) to effective dose conversion coefficients. A retrospective review was performed of 1,431 consecutive CT scans over a 12-week period using age- and weight-adjusted CT protocols. Age- and region-specific DLP to effective dose conversion coefficients were applied to console-displayed DLP data. Effective dose estimates for single-phase head CT scans in neonatal, and 1-, 5-, 10- and 15-year-old age groups were 4.2, 3.6, 2.4, 2.0 and 1.4 mSv, respectively. For abdomen/pelvis CT scans the corresponding effective doses were 13.1, 11.1, 8.4, 8.9 and 5.9 mSv. The range of pediatric CT effective doses is wide, from ultralow dose protocols (<1 mSv) to extended-coverage body examinations (10-15 mSv). Age- and region-specific pediatric DLP to effective dose conversion coefficients provide an accessible and user-friendly method for estimating pediatric CT effective doses that is available to radiologists working without medical physics support. (orig.)

  17. Validity of the CT to attenuation coefficient map conversion methods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Faghihi, R.; Ahangari Shahdehi, R.; Fazilat Moadeli, M.

    2004-01-01

    The most important commercialized methods of attenuation correction in SPECT are based on attenuation coefficient map from a transmission imaging method. The transmission imaging system can be the linear source of radioelement or a X-ray CT system. The image of transmission imaging system is not useful unless to replacement of the attenuation coefficient or CT number with the attenuation coefficient in SPECT energy. In this paper we essay to evaluate the validity and estimate the error of the most used method of this transformation. The final result shows that the methods which use a linear or multi-linear curve accept a error in their estimation. The value of mA is not important but the patient thickness is very important and it can introduce a error more than 10 percent in the final result

  18. Estimation of saturation activities for activation experiments in CHARM and CSBF using Fluence Conversion Coefficients

    CERN Document Server

    Guerin, Helene Chloe; Iliopoulou, Elpida; CERN. Geneva. HSE Department

    2017-01-01

    As summer student at CERN, I have been working in the Radiation Protection group for 10 weeks. I worked with the \\textsc{Fluka} Monte Carlo simulation code, using Fluence Conversion Coefficients method to perform simulations to estimate the saturation activities for activation experiments in the \\textsc{CSBF} and the \\textsc{Charm} facility in the East Experimental Area. The provided results will be used to plan a Monte Carlo benchmark in the \\textsc{CSBF} during a beam period at the end of August 2017.

  19. Establishment of detailed eye model of adult chinese male and dose conversion coefficients calculation under neutron exposure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhu, Hongyu; Qiu, Rui; Ren, Li; Zhang, Hui; Li, Junli; Wu, Zhen; Li, Chunyan

    2017-01-01

    The human eye lens is sensitive to radiation. ICRP-118 publication recommended a reduction of the occupational annual equivalent dose limit from 150 to 20 mSv, averaged over defined periods of 5 y. Therefore, it is very important to build a detailed eye model for the accurate dose assessment and radiation risk evaluation of eye lens. In this work, a detailed eye model was build based on the characteristic anatomic parameters of the Chinese adult male. This eye model includes seven main structures, which are scleral, choroid, lens, iris, cornea, vitreous body and aqueous humor. The lens was divided into sensitive volume and insensitive volume based on different cell populations. The detailed eye model was incorporated into the converted polygon-mesh version of the Chinese reference adult male whole-body surface model. After the incorporation, dose conversion coefficients for the eye lens were calculated for neutron exposure at AP, PA and LAT geometries with Geant4, the neutron energies were from 0.001 eV to 10 MeV. The calculated lens dose coefficients were compared with those of ICRP-116 publication. Significant differences up to 97.47% were found at PA geometry. This could mainly be attributed to the different geometry characteristic of eye model and parameters of head in different phantom between the present work and ICRP-116 publication. (authors)

  20. Determination of the absolute K through O conversion coefficients of the 80-keV M4 transition in /sup 193/Ir/sup m/

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lindner, M.; Gunnink, R.; Nagle, R.J.

    1987-01-01

    We produced carrier-free, nearly isotopically pure /sup 193/Ir/sup m/ from thermal-neutron irradiation of /sup 192/Os. From studies of the conversion-electron spectrum, the photon spectrum, and the absolute counting rates, we determined the absolute K, L1, L2, L3, M1, M3, M5, N, and O+P conversion coefficients for the first time. With possibly one exception, these values agree closely with theoretical calculations. The value for the energy of the unconverted gamma ray was found to be 80.22 +- 0.02 keV. The half-life for /sup 193/Ir/sup m/ determined by absolute electron counting in a proportional counter of 100% counting efficiency (4πβ) was found to be 10.53 +- 0.04 d. We have determined the L 1 subshell fluorescence yield, ω 1 , to be 0.120 +- 0.003 for iridium. Based upon our measurements of initial and final L subshell vacancies together with a best-fit literature value for ω 2 , we have found a plausible value for the Coster-Kronig coefficient f/sub 12/ to be 0.091 +- 0.011

  1. Temperature dependence of mode conversion in warm, unmagnetized plasmas with a linear density profile

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yu, Dae Jung; Lee, Dong-Hun [School of Space Research, Kyung Hee University, Yongin (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Kihong [Division of Energy Systems Research, Ajou University, Suwon (Korea, Republic of)

    2013-06-15

    We study theoretically the linear mode conversion between electromagnetic waves and Langmuir waves in warm, stratified, and unmagnetized plasmas, using a numerically precise calculation based on the invariant imbedding method. We verify that the principle of reciprocity for the forward and backward mode conversion coefficients holds precisely regardless of temperature. We also find that the temperature dependence of the mode conversion coefficient is substantially stronger than that previously reported. Depending on the wave frequency and the incident angle, the mode conversion coefficient is found to increase or decrease with the increase of temperature.

  2. Reflection during Portfolio-Based Conversations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oosterbaan, Anne E.; van der Schaaf, Marieke F.; Baartman, Liesbeth K. J.; Stokking, Karel M.

    2010-01-01

    This study aims to explore the relationship between the occurrence of reflection (and non-reflection) and thinking activities (e.g., orientating, selecting, analysing) during portfolio-based conversations. Analysis of 21 transcripts of portfolio-based conversations revealed that 20% of the segments were made up of reflection (content reflection…

  3. Total conversion coefficient of the 185 keV (10--7+) transition in sup(182m)Ta

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suryanarayana, Ch.; Venkateswara Rao, N.; Raghavaiah, C.V.; Bhuloka Reddy, S.; Satyanarayana, G.; Sastry, D.L.

    1988-01-01

    The total conversion coefficient of the 185 keV (E3) isomeric transition in 182 Ta was measured for the first time using gamma intensity balance method. The experimental αsub(T) was obtained as 3.4 ± 0.2 consistent with the theoretical value (3.272) due to Rosel et al. The E3 transition probability was found to be hindered by a factor of 5.07x10 4 when compared to the single particle estimate. (author). 13 refs

  4. ESTABLISHMENT OF DETAILED EYE MODEL OF ADULT CHINESE MALE AND DOSE CONVERSION COEFFICIENTS CALCULATION UNDER NEUTRON EXPOSURE.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Hongyu; Qiu, Rui; Wu, Zhen; Ren, Li; Li, Chunyan; Zhang, Hui; Li, Junli

    2017-12-01

    The human eye lens is sensitive to radiation. ICRP-118 publication recommended a reduction of the occupational annual equivalent dose limit from 150 to 20 mSv, averaged over defined periods of 5 y. Therefore, it is very important to build a detailed eye model for the accurate dose assessment and radiation risk evaluation of eye lens. In this work, a detailed eye model was build based on the characteristic anatomic parameters of the Chinese adult male. This eye model includes seven main structures, which are scleral, choroid, lens, iris, cornea, vitreous body and aqueous humor. The lens was divided into sensitive volume and insensitive volume based on different cell populations. The detailed eye model was incorporated into the converted polygon-mesh version of the Chinese reference adult male whole-body surface model. After the incorporation, dose conversion coefficients for the eye lens were calculated for neutron exposure at AP, PA and LAT geometries with Geant4, the neutron energies were from 0.001 eV to 10 MeV. The calculated lens dose coefficients were compared with those of ICRP-116 publication. Significant differences up to 97.47% were found at PA geometry. This could mainly be attributed to the different geometry characteristic of eye model and parameters of head in different phantom between the present work and ICRP-116 publication. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  5. Monte Carlo Method in the calculate of conversion coefficients for dose in children's organs and tissues subjected to dentistric radiography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Loureiro, E.C.M.; Khoury, H.; Lima, F.R.A.

    1998-01-01

    The increasing utilization of oral X-rays, specially in youngsters and children, prompts the assessment of equivalent doses in their organs and tissues. With this purpose, Monte Carlo code was adopted to simulate an X-ray source irradiating phantoms of the MIRD-5 type with different ages (10, 15 and 40 years old) to calculate the conversion coefficients which transform the exposure at skin to equivalent doses at several organs and tissues of interest. In order to check the computer program, simulations were performed for adult patients using the original code (ADAM,FOR developed by GSF Germany) and the adapted program (MCDRO,PAS). Good agreement between results obtained by both programs was observed. Applications to incisive, canine and molar teeth were simulated. The conversion factors were calculated for the following organs and tissues: thyroid, active bone marrow (head and whole body), bone (facial skeleton, cranium and whole body), skin (head and whole body) and crystalline. Based on the obtained results, it follows that the younger the patient and the langer the field area, the higher the doses in assessed organs and tissues

  6. Radon progeny dose conversion coefficients for Chinese males and females

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yu, K.N. E-mail: peter.yu@city.edu.hk; Cheung, T.T.K.; Haque, A.K.M.M.; Nikezic, D.; Lau, B.M.F.; Vucic, D

    2001-07-01

    The airway dimensions for Caucasian males have been scaled by multiplying by factors 0.95 and 0.88 to give those for Chinese males and females, respectively. Employing the most recent data on physical and biological parameters, the radiation doses to the basal and secretory cells due to {alpha} particles from {sup 218}Po and {sup 214}Po, homogeneously distributed in the mucous layer, have been calculated. The emission of {alpha} particles has been simulated by a Monte Carlo method. For both basal and secretory cells, the dose conversion coefficients (DCCs) for physical conditions of sleep, rest, light and heavy exercise, have been obtained for Chinese males and females for unattached progeny, and for attached progeny of diameters 0.02, 0.15, 0.25, 0.30 and 0.50 {mu}m. For basal cells, the coefficients lie in the range 0.69-6.82 mGy/(J s/m{sup 3}) or 8.7-86 mGy/WLM for unattached progeny and in the range 0.045-1.98 mGy/(J s/m{sup 3}) or 0.57-25 mGy/WLM for attached progeny. The corresponding ranges for Caucasian males are 1.27-8.81 mGy/(J s/m{sup 3}) or 16-111 mGy/WLM{sup -1} and 0.05-2.30 mGy/(J s/m{sup 3}) or 0.64-29 mGy/WLM. For secretory cells, the coefficients lie in the range 0.095-16.82 mGy/(J s/m{sup 3}) (1.2-212 mGy/WLM) for unattached progeny and in the range 0.095-6.67 mGy/(J s/m{sup 3}) (1.2-84 mGy/WLM) for attached progeny. The corresponding ranges for Caucasian males are 0.34-21.51 mGy/(J s/m{sup 3}) (4.3-271 mGy/WLM) and 0.1-7.78 mGy/(J s/m{sup 3}) (1.3-98 mGy/WLM). The overall DCCs calculated for a typical home environment are 0.59 and 0.52 mSv/(J s/m{sup 3}) (7.4 and 6.5 mSv/WLM) for Chinese males and females, respectively, which are 80 and 70% of the value, 0.73 mSv/(J s/m{sup 3}) (9.2 mSv/WLM), for Caucasian males.

  7. Pure E2 transitions: A test for BRICC Internal Conversion Coefficients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gerl, J.; Sai, K. Vijay; Sainath, M.; Gowrishankar, R.; Venkataramaniah, K.

    2009-01-01

    The most widely used theoretical internal conversion coefficient (ICC) tables are of Hager and Seltzer (HS), Rosel et al. and BRICC (Band et al. tables using BRICC interpolation code). A rigorous comparison of experimental ICCs with various theoretical tabulations is possible only when a large data on experimental ICCs is available at one place. For this reason, a compilation of all the available experimental ICCs, α T , α K , α L of E2 transitions for a number of elements in the range of 24≤Z≤94 is presented. Listing of experimental data includes 595 datasets corresponding to 505 E2 transitions in 165 nuclei across the nuclear chart. Data with less than 10% experimental uncertainty have been selected for comparison with the theoretical values of Hager and Seltzer, Rosel et al. and BRICC. The relative percentage deviation (%Δ) have been calculated for each of the above theories and the average (%Δ) are estimated. The Band et al. tables, using the BRICC interpolation code are seen to give theoretical ICCs closest to experimental values.

  8. Method for internal conversion coefficients determination by means of a magnetic spectrometer. Application to 129Xe and 77Se

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arqueros, F.; Campos, J.

    1986-01-01

    The method used for efficiency calibration of a magnetic electron spectrometer and its applications to conversion electron spectrometry is described. The present results point out that apparatus combining magnetic deflection and semiconductor detection have a nondecreasing interest in nuclear spectrometry for applications where good resolution and large background rejection are both necessary. The present apparatus can be employed with source of relatively low activity, (0.lμCi). The nuclides studied were 129 Xe and 77 Se resulting from 129 Cs and 77 Br decay. The parent nulcides were produced in ISOLDE on line isotope separator at CERN. The efficiency calibration method used for energies higher than 200 keV made use of the well known beta spectrum of 36 Cl. The calibration for low energies was made with Auger electron intensities and suitable conversion lines of 129 Xenon. Results for relative intensities of conversion electron lines and intense gamma lines of 129 Xe and 77 Se are given. From these measurements internal conversion coefficients for transitions of both nuclides were obtained. The results were in agreement with theoretical calculations. (author)

  9. Probability based calibration of pressure coefficients

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Svend Ole; Pedersen, Marie Louise; Sørensen, John Dalsgaard

    2015-01-01

    Normally, a consistent basis for calculating partial factors focuses on a homogeneous reliability index neither depending on which material the structure is constructed of nor the ratio between the permanent and variable actions acting on the structure. Furthermore, the reliability index should n...... the characteristic shape coefficients are based on mean values as specified in background documents to the Eurocodes. Importance of hidden safeties judging the reliability is discussed for wind actions on low-rise structures....... not depend on the type of variable action. A probability based calibration of pressure coefficients have been carried out using pressure measurements on the standard CAARC building modelled on scale of 1:383. The extreme pressures measured on the CAARC building model in the wind tunnel have been fitted.......3, the Eurocode partial factor of 1.5 for variable actions agrees well with the inherent uncertainties of wind actions when the pressure coefficients are determined using wind tunnel test results. The increased bias and uncertainty when pressure coefficients mainly are based on structural codes lead to a larger...

  10. Internal conversion coefficients of high multipole transitions: Experiment and theories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gerl, J.; Vijay Sai, K.; Sainath, M.; Gowrishankar, R.; Venkataramaniah, K.

    2008-01-01

    A compilation of the available experimental internal conversion coefficients (ICCs), α T , α K , α L , and ratios K/L and K/LM of high multipole (L > 2) transitions for a number of elements in the range 21 ≤ Z ≤ 94 is presented. Our listing of experimental data includes 194 data sets on 110 E3 transitions, 10 data sets on 6 E4 transitions, 11 data sets on 7 E5 transitions, 38 data sets on 21 M3 transitions, and 132 data sets on 68 M4 transitions. Data with less than 10% experimental uncertainty have been selected for comparison with the theoretical values of Hager and Seltzer [R.S. Hager, E.C. Seltzer, Nucl. Data Tables A 4 (1968) 1], Rosel et al. [F. Roesel, H.M. Fries, K. Alder, H.C. Pauli, At. Data Nucl. Data Tables 21 (1978) 91], and BRICC. The relative percentage deviations (%Δ) have been calculated for each of the above theories and the averages (%Δ-bar) are estimated. The Band et al. [I.M. Band, M.B. Trzhaskovskaya, C.W. Nestor Jr., P.O. Tikkanen, S. Raman, At. Data Nucl. Data Tables 81 (2002) 1] tables, using the BRICC interpolation code, are seen to give theoretical ICCs closest to experimental values

  11. A simple theory of linear mode conversion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cairns, R.A.; Lashmore-Davies, C.N.; Woods, A.M.

    1984-01-01

    A summary is given of the basic theory of linear mode conversion involving the construction of differential equations for the mode amplitudes based on the properties of the dispersion relation in the neighbourhood of the mode conversion point. As an example the transmission coefficient for tunneling from the upper hybrid resonance through the evanescent region to the adjacent cut-off is treated. 7 refs, 3 figs

  12. Fluence-to-dose conversion coefficients based on the posture modification of Adult Male (AM) and Adult Female (AF) reference phantoms of ICRP 110

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Galeano, D.C.; Santos, W.S.; Alves, M.C.; Souza, D.N.; Carvalho, A.B.

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this work was to modify the standing posture of the anthropomorphic reference phantoms of ICRP publication 110, AM (Adult Male) and AF (Adult Female), to the sitting posture. The change of posture was performed using the Visual Monte Carlo software (VMC) to rotate the thigh region of the phantoms and position it between the region of the leg and trunk. Scion Image software was used to reconstruct and smooth the knee and hip contours of the phantoms in a sitting posture. For 3D visualization of phantoms, the VolView software was used. In the change of postures, the organ and tissue masses were preserved. The MCNPX was used to calculate the equivalent and effective dose conversion coefficients (CCs) per fluence for photons for six irradiation geometries suggested by ICRP publication 110 (AP, PA, RLAT, LLAT, ROT and ISO) and energy range 0.010–10 MeV. The results were compared between the standing and sitting postures, for both sexes, in order to evaluate the differences of scattering and absorption of radiation for different postures. Significant differences in the CCs for equivalent dose were observed in the gonads, colon, prostate, urinary bladder and uterus, which are present in the pelvic region, and in organs distributed throughout the body, such as the lymphatic nodes, muscle, skeleton and skin, for the phantoms of both sexes. CCs for effective dose showed significant differences of up to 16% in the AP irradiation geometry, 27% in the PA irradiation geometry and 13% in the ROT irradiation geometry. These results demonstrate the importance of using phantoms in different postures in order to obtain more precise conversion coefficients for a given exposure scenario. - Highlights: • The reference phantoms AM and AF had modified its posture. • The AM and AF phantoms were irradiated in standing and sitting postures. • The irradiation geometry used were the AP, PA, LLAT, RLAT, ROT and ISO. • The CCs for standing and sitting postures were compared

  13. Development of reflectance-based crop coefficients for corn

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Neale, C.M.U.; Bausch, W.C.; Heermann, D.F.

    1989-01-01

    Concurrent measurements of reflected canopy radiation and the basal crop coefficient (K^b) for corn were conducted throughout a season in order to develop a reflectance-based crop coefficient model. Reflectance was measured in Landsat Thematic Mapper bands TM3 (0.63 - 0.69 um) and TM4 (0.76 - 0.90 um) and used in the calculation of a vegetation index called the normalized difference (ND). A linear transformation of the ND was used as the reflectance-based crop coefficient (Kcr). The transformation equates the ND for dry bare soil and the ND at effective cover, to the basal crop coefficient for dry soil evaporation and at effective cover, respectively. Basal crop coefficient values for com were obtained from daily evapotranspiration measurements of corn and alfalfa, using hydraulic weighing lysimeters. The Richards growth curve function was fitted to both sets of data. The K^b values were determined to be within -2.6% and 4.7% of the K^^ values. The date of effective cover obtained from the K^b data was within four days of the date on which the ND curve reached its maxima according to the Richards function. A comparison of the Kcr with basal crop curves from the literature for several years of data indicated good agreement. Reflectance-based crop coefficients are sensitive to periods of slow and fast growth induced by weather conditions, resulting in a real time coefficient, independent from the traditional time base parameters based on the day of planting and effective cover

  14. Reproducibility of The Random Incidence Absorption Coefficient Converted From the Sabine Absorption Coefficient

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jeong, Cheol-Ho; Chang, Ji-ho

    2015-01-01

    largely depending on the test room. Several conversion methods for porous absorbers from the Sabine absorption coefficient to the random incidence absorption coefficient were suggested by considering the finite size of a test specimen and non-uniformly incident energy onto the specimen, which turned out...... resistivity optimization outperforms the surface impedance optimization in terms of the reproducibility....

  15. Data on flow cell optimization for membrane-based electrokinetic energy conversion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Nicolas Østedgaard-Munck

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available This article elaborates on the design and optimization of a specialized flow cell for the measurement of direct conversion of pressure into electrical energy (Electrokinetic Energy Conversion, EKEC which has been presented in Østedgaard-Munck et al. (2017 [1]. Two main flow cell parameters have been monitored and optimized: A the hydraulic pressure profile on each side of the membrane introduced by pumps recirculating the electrolyte solution through the flow fields and B the electrical resistance between the current collectors across the combined flow cell. The latter parameter has been measured using four-point Electrochemical Impedance spectroscopy (EIS for different flow rates and concentrations. The total cell resistance consists of contributions from different components: the membrane (Rmem, anode charge transfer (RA, cathode charge transfer (RC, and ion diffusion in the porous electrodes (RD.The intrinsic membrane properties of Nafion 117 has been investigated experimentally in LiI/I2 solutions with concentrations ranging between 0.06 and 0.96 M and used to identify the preferred LiI/I2 solution concentration. This was achieved by measuring the solution uptake, internal solution concentration and ion exchange capacity. The membrane properties were further used to calculate the transport coefficients and electrokinetic Figure of merit in terms of the Uniform potential and Space charge models. Special attention has been put on the streaming potential coefficient which is an intrinsic property. Keywords: Electrokinetic energy conversion, Electrochemical flow cell, Conversion efficiency

  16. Calculation of conversion coefficients of dose of a computational anthropomorphic simulator sit exposed to a plane source

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Santos, William S.; Carvalho Junior, Alberico B. de; Pereira, Ariana J.S.; Santos, Marcos S.; Maia, Ana F.

    2011-01-01

    In this paper conversion coefficients (CCs) of equivalent dose and effective in terms of kerma in the air were calculated suggested by the ICRP 74. These dose coefficients were calculated considering a plane radiation source and monoenergetic for a spectrum of energy varying from 10 keV to 2 MeV. The CCs were obtained for four geometries of irradiation, anterior-posterior, posterior-anterior, lateral right side and lateral left side. It was used the radiation transport code Visual Monte Carlo (VMC), and a anthropomorphic simulator of sit female voxel. The observed differences in the found values for the CCs at the four irradiation sceneries are direct results of the body organs disposition, and the distance of these organs to the irradiation source. The obtained CCs will be used for estimative more precise of dose in situations that the exposed individual be sit, as the normally the CCs available in the literature were calculated by using simulators always lying or on their feet

  17. Audio watermarking robust against D/A and A/D conversions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiang Shijun

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Digital audio watermarking robust against digital-to-analog (D/A and analog-to-digital (A/D conversions is an important issue. In a number of watermark application scenarios, D/A and A/D conversions are involved. In this article, we first investigate the degradation due to DA/AD conversions via sound cards, which can be decomposed into volume change, additional noise, and time-scale modification (TSM. Then, we propose a solution for DA/AD conversions by considering the effect of the volume change, additional noise and TSM. For the volume change, we introduce relation-based watermarking method by modifying groups of the energy relation of three adjacent DWT coefficient sections. For the additional noise, we pick up the lowest-frequency coefficients for watermarking. For the TSM, the synchronization technique (with synchronization codes and an interpolation processing operation is exploited. Simulation tests show the proposed audio watermarking algorithm provides a satisfactory performance to DA/AD conversions and those common audio processing manipulations.

  18. Foetal dose conversion coefficients for ICRP-compliant pregnant models from idealised proton exposures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Taranenko, V.; Xu, X. G.

    2009-01-01

    Protection of pregnant women and their foetus against external proton irradiations poses a unique challenge. Assessment of foetal dose due to external protons in galactic cosmic rays and as secondaries generated in aircraft walls is especially important during high-altitude flights. This paper reports a set of fluence to absorbed dose conversion coefficients for the foetus and its brain for external monoenergetic proton beams of six standard configurations (the antero-posterior, the postero-anterior, the right lateral, the left lateral, the rotational and the isotropic). The pregnant female anatomical definitions at each of the three gestational periods (3, 6 and 9 months) are based on newly developed RPI-P series of models whose organ masses were matched within 1% with the International Commission on Radiological Protection reference values. Proton interactions and the transport of secondary particles were carefully simulated using the Monte Carlo N-Particle extended code (MCNPX) and the phantoms consisting of several million voxels at 3 mm resolution. When choosing the physics models in the MCNPX, it was found that the advanced Cascade-Exciton intranuclear cascade model showed a maximum of 9% foetal dose increase compared with the default model combination at intermediate energies below 5 GeV. Foetal dose results from this study are tabulated and compared with previously published data that were based on simplified anatomy. The comparison showed a strong dependence upon the source geometry, energy and gestation period: The dose differences are typically less than 20% for all sources except ISO where systematically 40-80% of higher doses were observed. Below 200 MeV, a larger discrepancy in dose was found due to the Bragg peak shift caused by different anatomy. The tabulated foetal doses represent the latest and most detailed study to date offering a useful set of data to improve radiation protection dosimetry against external protons. (authors)

  19. Measurement of conversion coefficients in 208Tl

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wendling, F.

    1976-06-01

    A electron spectrometer composed by a Li drifted Si detector and a uniform magnetic field was constructed. The magnetic field is used to focus the electrons on the detector and to filter the other radiations. After the construction the instrument was calibrated in absolute eficience and was used together with a Ge(Li) spectrometer also calibrated, in the measurement of internal conversion coeficients of the 433 and 453 keV transitions in 208 Tl [pt

  20. Proton and photon absorbed-dose conversion coefficients for embryo and foetus from top-down irradiation geometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, J.

    2007-01-01

    Absorbed-dose conversion coefficients are calculated for the embryo of 8 weeks and the foetus of 3, 6 or 9 months when the mother's body is exposed to protons and photons from top-down (TOP) direction. It provides data sets in addition to other standard irradiation geometries published previously. The TOP-irradiation geometry is considered here, because high-energy particles are often peaked from the TOP direction onboard aircraft. The results show that absorbed-doses from high-energy particles could be underestimated significantly if isotropic (ISO) irradiation geometry is assumed. For protons of 100 GeV, absorbed-doses from TOP irradiation are ∼2.3-2.9 times higher than the doses from ISO irradiation for different foetal ages. For 10 GeV photons, foetal doses from TOP irradiation are ∼6.8-12 times higher than the doses from ISO irradiation. The coefficients from TOP-irradiation geometry are given in wide energy ranges, from 100 MeV to 100 GeV for protons and from 50 V to 10 GeV for photons. They can, therefore, be used in various applications whenever exposure from the TOP-irradiation direction is concerned. (authors)

  1. Extraction of Dunham coefficients from Murrell-Sorbie parameters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lim Teikcheng

    2008-01-01

    A set of relationships between parameters of the Dunham and Murrell-Sorbie potential energy function is developed. By employing Taylor series expansion and comparison of terms arranged in increasing order of bond length, a set of Dunham coefficients is obtained as functions of Murrell- Sorbie parameters. The conversion functions reveal the importance of factorials in extracting Dunham coefficients from Murrell-Sorbie parameters. Plots of both functions, based on parameters of the latter, reveal good correlation near the equilibrium bond length for a group of diatomic molecules. Potential function relations, such as that shown in this paper, are useful when the preferred/reliable data is based on a potential function different from that adopted in available computational software. (orig.)

  2. Fluence-to-Absorbed Dose Conversion Coefficients for Use in Radiological Protection of Embryo and Foetus Against External Exposure to Muons from 20MeV to 50GeV

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Jing

    2008-01-01

    This study used the Monte-Carlo code MCNPX to determine mean absorbed doses to the embryo and foetus when the mother is exposed to external muon fields. Monoenergetic muons ranging from 20 MeV to 50 GeV were considered. The irradiation geometries include anteroposterior (AP), postero-anterior (PA), lateral (LAT), rotational (ROT), isotropic (ISO), and top-down (TOP). At each of these irradiation geometries, absorbed doses to the foetal body were calculated for the embryo of 8 weeks and the foetus of 3, 6 or 9 months, respectively. Muon fluence-to-absorbed-dose conversion coefficients were derived for the four prenatal ages. Since such conversion coefficients are yet unknown, the results presented here fill a data gap

  3. Zr-based conversion coatings for multi-metal substrates

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cerezo Palacios, J.M.

    2015-01-01

    In this PhD work, a new surface treatment based on the application of Zr-based conversion coatings by immersion in a Cu containing Zr-based conversion solution was investigated as a replacement of the traditional phosphating process for the automotive industry. Nowadays most of the cars are made of

  4. The local skin dose conversion coefficients of electrons, protons and alpha particles calculated using the Geant4 code.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Bintuan; Dang, Bingrong; Wang, Zhuanzi; Wei, Wei; Li, Wenjian

    2013-10-01

    The skin tissue-equivalent slab reported in the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) Publication 116 to calculate the localised skin dose conversion coefficients (LSDCCs) was adopted into the Monte Carlo transport code Geant4. The Geant4 code was then utilised for computation of LSDCCs due to a circular parallel beam of monoenergetic electrons, protons and alpha particles electrons and alpha particles are found to be in good agreement with the results using the MCNPX code of ICRP 116 data. The present work thus validates the LSDCC values for both electrons and alpha particles using the Geant4 code.

  5. Measurement of secondary cosmic radiation and calculation of associated dose conversion coefficients for humans

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Simmer, Gregor

    2012-01-01

    Due to secondary cosmic radiation (SCR), pilots and flight attendants receive elevated effective doses at flight altitudes. For this reason, since 2003 aircrew members are considered as occupationally exposed, in Germany. This work deals with the calculation of dose conversion coefficients (DCC) for protons, neutrons, electrons, positrons, photons and myons, which are crucial for estimation of effective dose from SCR. For the first time, calculations were performed combining Geant4 - a Monte Carlo code developed at CERN - with the voxel phantoms for the reference female and male published in 2008 by ICRP and ICRU. Furthermore, measurements of neutron fluence spectra - which contribute the major part to the effective dose of SCR - were carried out at the Environmental Research Station Schneefernerhaus (UFS) located at 2650 m above sea level nearby the Zugspitze mountain, Germany. These measured neutron spectra, and additionally available calculated spectra, were then folded with the DCC calculated in this work, and effective dose rates for different heights were calculated.

  6. [Electroencephalogram Feature Selection Based on Correlation Coefficient Analysis].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Jinzhi; Tang, Xiaofang

    2015-08-01

    In order to improve the accuracy of classification with small amount of motor imagery training data on the development of brain-computer interface (BCD systems, we proposed an analyzing method to automatically select the characteristic parameters based on correlation coefficient analysis. Throughout the five sample data of dataset IV a from 2005 BCI Competition, we utilized short-time Fourier transform (STFT) and correlation coefficient calculation to reduce the number of primitive electroencephalogram dimension, then introduced feature extraction based on common spatial pattern (CSP) and classified by linear discriminant analysis (LDA). Simulation results showed that the average rate of classification accuracy could be improved by using correlation coefficient feature selection method than those without using this algorithm. Comparing with support vector machine (SVM) optimization features algorithm, the correlation coefficient analysis can lead better selection parameters to improve the accuracy of classification.

  7. Linear mode conversion in a toroidal plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hellsten, T.

    1980-05-01

    Linear mode conversion at the perpendicular ion cyclotron resonance has been treated for an axially symmetric toroidal plasma. The mode conversion appears between a fast electromagnetic wave and a slow-quasi electrostatic wave, due to finite electron inertia. The problem reduces to the Orr-Sommerfeld equation where the coefficients determining the reflectron, transmission and conversion are functions of the arc length along a poloidal intersection of the resonance surface. These coefficients can be determined from eigenfunctions of an ordinary differential equation. (author)

  8. Determination of the conversion coefficient for ambient dose equivalent, H(10), from air kerma measurements; Determinacion del coeficiente de conversion para la dosis equivalente ambiental, H*(10), a partir de mediciones de kerma en aire

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gonzalez J, F. [UNAM, Facultad de Ciencias, Circuito Exterior, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510 Ciudad de Mexico (Mexico); Alvarez R, J. T., E-mail: trinidad.alvarez@inin.gob.mx [ININ, Departamento de Metrologia de Radiaciones Ionizantes, Carretera Mexico-Toluca s/n, 52750 Ocoyoacac, Estado de Mexico (Mexico)

    2015-09-15

    Namely the operational magnitudes can be determined by the product of a conversion coefficient by exposure air kerma or fluence, etc. In particular in Mexico for the first time is determined the conversion coefficient (Cc) for operational magnitude Environmental Dose Equivalent H(10) by thermoluminescence dosimetry (TLD) technique. First 30 TLD-100 dosimeters are calibrated in terms of air kerma, then these dosimeters are irradiated inside a sphere ICRU type of PMMA and with the aid of theory cavity the absorbed dose in PMMA is determined at a depth of 10 mm within the sphere D{sub PMMA}(10), subsequently absorbed dose to ICRU tissue is corrected and the dose equivalent H(10) is determined. The Cc is determined as the ratio of H(10)/K{sub a} obtaining a value of 1.20 Sv Gy{sup -1} with a u{sub c}= 3.66%, this being consistent with the published value in ISO-4037-3 of 1.20 Sv Gy{sup -1} with a u{sub c}= 2%. (Author)

  9. The measurement of internal conversion electrons of selected nuclei: A physics undergraduate laboratory experience

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nagy, P.; Duggan, J.L.; Desmarais, D.

    1992-01-01

    Thin sources are now commercially available for a wide variety of isotopes that have measurable internal conversion coefficients. The authors have used standard surface barrier detectors, NIM electronics, and a personal computer analyzer to measure conversion electrons from a few of these sources. Conversion electrons energy and intensity were measured for 113 Sn, 133 Ba, 137 Cs, and 207 Bi. From the measured spectra the innershell binding energies of the K ampersand L Shell electrons from the daughter nuclei were determined and compared to theory. The relative conversion coefficients a k /a L and the K/L ration were also measured. The spin and parity change of the transitions will also be assigned based on the selection rules of the transitions

  10. Fluence-to-absorbed dose conversion coefficients for use in radiological protection of embryo and foetus against external exposure to protons from 100 MeV to 100 GeV

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, J.

    2006-01-01

    In the literature, no conversion coefficients are available for use in radiological protection of embryo and foetus against external exposure to protons. This study used the Monte Carlo code MCNPX to determine mean absorbed doses to the embryo and foetus when the mother is exposed to proton fields. Monoenergetic protons ranging from 100 MeV to 100 GeV were considered. The irradiation geometries include antero-posterior (AP), postero-anterior (PA), lateral (LAT), rotational (ROT) and isotropic (ISO). At each of these standard irradiation geometries, absorbed doses to the foetal brain and body were calculated for the embryo of 8 weeks and the foetus of 3, 6 or 9 months. Proton fluence-to-absorbed dose conversion coefficients were derived for the four prenatal ages. (authors)

  11. Four-body conversion of atomic helium ions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    de Vries, C.P.; Oskam, H.J.

    1980-01-01

    The conversion of atomic helium ions into molecular ions was studied in pure helium and in helium-neon mixtures containing between 0.1 at. % and 50 at. % neon. The experiments showed that the termolecular conversion reaction, He + +2He → He 2 + +He, is augmented by the four-body conversion reaction He + +3He → products, where the products could include either He 2 + or He 3 + ions. Conversion rate coefficients of (5.7 +- 0.8) x 10 -32 cm 6 sec -1 and (2.6 +- 0.4) x 10 -49 cm 9 sec -1 were found for the termolecular and four-body conversion reactions, respectively. In addition, rate coefficients for the following Ne + conversion reactions were measured: Ne + +He+He → (HeNe) + +He, (2.3 +- 0.1) x 10 -32 cm 6 sec -1 ; Ne + +He+Ne → (HeNe) + +Ne or Ne 2 + +He, (8.0 +- 0.8) x 10 -32 cm 6 sec -1 ; and Ne + +Ne+Ne → Ne 2 + +Ne, (5.1 +- 0.3) x 10 -32 cm 6 sec -1 . All rate coefficients are at a gas temperature of 295 K

  12. Internal conversion coefficients of M4 isomeric transitions in /sup 125/ /sup 127/ /sup 129/Te decay

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Soni, S K; Kumar, A; Gupta, S L; Pancholi, S C [Delhi Univ. (India). Dept. of Physics and Astrophysics

    1977-01-01

    The internal conversion coefficients have been measured using a high resolution low energy Ge(Li) detector for the following M4 transitions: /sup 125/Te: 109.27 keV transition ..cap alpha..sub(T) = 357 +- 11; RG method, /sup 127/Te: 88,26 keV transition ..cap alpha..sub(K) = 484 +- 23; XPG method, /sup 129/Te: 105.50 keV transition ..cap alpha..sub(K) = 213 +- 10; XPG method. It is observed that these values are lower by 2.5-3.6% as compared with Hager and Seltzer's calculations. A comparison between experimental and theoretical ..cap alpha..sub(K) and ..cap alpha..sub(T) values for eleven M4 transitions shows that the experimental values are systematically lower.

  13. A novel energy conversion based method for velocity correction in molecular dynamics simulations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jin, Hanhui [School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 (China); Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Aero-Engine, Hangzhou 310027 (China); Liu, Ningning [School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 (China); Ku, Xiaoke, E-mail: xiaokeku@zju.edu.cn [School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 (China); Fan, Jianren [State Key Laboratory of Clean Energy Utilization, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 (China)

    2017-05-01

    Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation has become an important tool for studying micro- or nano-scale dynamics and the statistical properties of fluids and solids. In MD simulations, there are mainly two approaches: equilibrium and non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (EMD and NEMD). In this paper, a new energy conversion based correction (ECBC) method for MD is developed. Unlike the traditional systematic correction based on macroscopic parameters, the ECBC method is developed strictly based on the physical interaction processes between the pair of molecules or atoms. The developed ECBC method can apply to EMD and NEMD directly. While using MD with this method, the difference between the EMD and NEMD is eliminated, and no macroscopic parameters such as external imposed potentials or coefficients are needed. With this method, many limits of using MD are lifted. The application scope of MD is greatly extended.

  14. A novel energy conversion based method for velocity correction in molecular dynamics simulations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jin, Hanhui; Liu, Ningning; Ku, Xiaoke; Fan, Jianren

    2017-01-01

    Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation has become an important tool for studying micro- or nano-scale dynamics and the statistical properties of fluids and solids. In MD simulations, there are mainly two approaches: equilibrium and non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (EMD and NEMD). In this paper, a new energy conversion based correction (ECBC) method for MD is developed. Unlike the traditional systematic correction based on macroscopic parameters, the ECBC method is developed strictly based on the physical interaction processes between the pair of molecules or atoms. The developed ECBC method can apply to EMD and NEMD directly. While using MD with this method, the difference between the EMD and NEMD is eliminated, and no macroscopic parameters such as external imposed potentials or coefficients are needed. With this method, many limits of using MD are lifted. The application scope of MD is greatly extended.

  15. Reactor kinetics revisited: a coefficient based model (CBM)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ratemi, W.M.

    2011-01-01

    In this paper, a nuclear reactor kinetics model based on Guelph expansion coefficients calculation ( Coefficients Based Model, CBM), for n groups of delayed neutrons is developed. The accompanying characteristic equation is a polynomial form of the Inhour equation with the same coefficients of the CBM- kinetics model. Those coefficients depend on Universal abc- values which are dependent on the type of the fuel fueling a nuclear reactor. Furthermore, such coefficients are linearly dependent on the inserted reactivity. In this paper, the Universal abc- values have been presented symbolically, for the first time, as well as with their numerical values for U-235 fueled reactors for one, two, three, and six groups of delayed neutrons. Simulation studies for constant and variable reactivity insertions are made for the CBM kinetics model, and a comparison of results, with numerical solutions of classical kinetics models for one, two, three, and six groups of delayed neutrons are presented. The results show good agreements, especially for single step insertion of reactivity, with the advantage of the CBM- solution of not encountering the stiffness problem accompanying the numerical solutions of the classical kinetics model. (author)

  16. A software to edit voxel phantoms and to calculate conversion coefficients for radiation protection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vieira, J.W.; Stosic, B.; Lima, F.R.A.; Kramer, R.; Santos, A.M.; Lima, V.J.M.

    2005-01-01

    The MAX and FAX phantoms have been developed based on a male and female, respectively, adult body from ICRP and coupled to the Monte Carlo code (EGS4). These phantoms permit the calculating of the equivalent dose in organs and tissues of the human body for the radiation protection purposes . In the constructing of these anthropomorphic models, the software developed called FANTOMAS, which performs tasks as file format conversion, filtering 2D and 3D images, exchange of identifying numbers of organs, body mass adjustments based in volume, resampling of 2D and 3D images, resize images, preview consecutive slices of the phantom, running computational models of exposure FANTOMA/EGS4 and viewing graphics of conversion factors between equivalent dose and a measurable dosimetric quantity. This paper presents the main abilities of FANTOMAS and uses the MAX and/or FAX to exemplify some procedures

  17. Estimated fluence-to-absorbed dose conversion coefficients for use in radiological protection of embryo and foetus against external exposure to photons from 50 keV to 10 GeV

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, J.

    2006-01-01

    In the literature, no conversion coefficients are available for use in radiological protection of the embryo and foetus against external exposure to photons. This study used the Monte-Carlo code MCNPX to determine mean absorbed doses to the embryo and foetus when the mother is exposed to external photon fields. Monoenergetic photons ranging from 50 keV to 10 GeV were considered. The irradiation geometries included antero-posterior (AP), postero-anterior (PA), lateral (LAT), rotational (ROT), and isotropic (ISO). At each of these standard irradiation geometries, absorbed doses to the foetal brain and body were calculated for the embryo of 8 weeks and the foetus of 3, 6 or 9 months. Photon fluence-to-absorbed-dose conversion coefficients were estimated for the four prenatal ages. (authors)

  18. Calculation of conversion coefficients Hp(3)/K air using the PENELOPE Monte Carlo code and comparison with MCNP calculation results

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Daures, J.; Gouriou, J.; Bordy, J.M.

    2010-01-01

    The authors report calculations performed using the MNCP and PENELOPE codes to determine the Hp(3)/K air conversion coefficient which allows the Hp(3) dose equivalent to be determined from the measured value of the kerma in the air. They report the definition of the phantom, a 20 cm diameter and 20 cm high cylinder which is considered as representative of a head. Calculations are performed for an energy range corresponding to interventional radiology or cardiology (20 keV-110 keV). Results obtained with both codes are compared

  19. Towards efficient solar-to-hydrogen conversion: Fundamentals and recent progress in copper-based chalcogenide photocathodes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chen Yubin

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Photoelectrochemical (PEC water splitting for hydrogen generation has been considered as a promising route to convert and store solar energy into chemical fuels. In terms of its large-scale application, seeking semiconductor photoelectrodes with high efficiency and good stability should be essential. Although an enormous number of materials have been explored for solar water splitting in the last several decades, challenges still remain for the practical application. P-type copper-based chalcogenides, such as Cu(In, GaSe2 and Cu2ZnSnS4, have shown impressive performance in photovoltaics due to narrow bandgaps, high absorption coefficients, and good carrier transport properties. The obtained high efficiencies in photovoltaics have promoted the utilization of these materials into the field of PEC water splitting. A comprehensive review on copper-based chalcogenides for solar-to-hydrogen conversion would help advance the research in this expanding area. This review will cover the physicochemical properties of copper-based chalco-genides, developments of various photocathodes, strategies to enhance the PEC activity and stability, introductions of tandem PEC cells, and finally, prospects on their potential for the practical solar-to-hydrogen conversion. We believe this review article can provide some insights of fundamentals and applications of copper-based chalco-genide thin films for PEC water splitting.

  20. Synthesis/literature review for determining structural layer coefficients (SLC) of bases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-12-01

    FDOTs current method of determining a base material structural layer coefficient (SLC) is detailed in the : Materials Manual, Chapter 2.1, Structural Layer Coefficients for Flexible Pavement Base Materials. : Currently, any new base material not a...

  1. Internal conversion theory of gamma radiation in unfilled atomic shells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anderson, Eh.M.; Trusov, V.F.; Ehglajs, M.O.

    1980-01-01

    The internal conversion theory of gamma radiation in unfilled shells, when the atom is in a state with certain energy and momentum, is considered. A formula for the conversion coefficient between the atom and ion levels is obtained. This coefficient turns to be dependent on genealogic characteristics of the atom. It is discussed when the conversion coefficients are proportional to the numbers of filling subshells in the atom. Exact calculations have been carried out in the multiconfigurational approximation taking into account intermediate coupling for the d-shell of the Fe atom Single-electron radial wave functions have been calculated on the basis of the relativistic method of the Hartree-Fock-Dirak self-consistent field. Conversion coefficients on certain subshells as well as submatrix elements of the production operator are calculated. The electric coefficient of internal conversion (CIC) in the calculation for one electron does not depend on spin orientation. That is why the electric CIC from the level will not depend on filling number distribution by subshells. For magnetic CIC the dependence on the atom state is significant. Using multiconfiguration basis for calculating energy matrix and its succeeding diagonalization means the account of the intermediate coupling type, which takes place for the unfilled shells

  2. Monte Carlo based diffusion coefficients for LMFBR analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Van Rooijen, Willem F.G.; Takeda, Toshikazu; Hazama, Taira

    2010-01-01

    A method based on Monte Carlo calculations is developed to estimate the diffusion coefficient of unit cells. The method uses a geometrical model similar to that used in lattice theory, but does not use the assumption of a separable fundamental mode used in lattice theory. The method uses standard Monte Carlo flux and current tallies, and the continuous energy Monte Carlo code MVP was used without modifications. Four models are presented to derive the diffusion coefficient from tally results of flux and partial currents. In this paper the method is applied to the calculation of a plate cell of the fast-spectrum critical facility ZEBRA. Conventional calculations of the diffusion coefficient diverge in the presence of planar voids in the lattice, but our Monte Carlo method can treat this situation without any problem. The Monte Carlo method was used to investigate the influence of geometrical modeling as well as the directional dependence of the diffusion coefficient. The method can be used to estimate the diffusion coefficient of complicated unit cells, the limitation being the capabilities of the Monte Carlo code. The method will be used in the future to confirm results for the diffusion coefficient obtained of the Monte Carlo code. The method will be used in the future to confirm results for the diffusion coefficient obtained with deterministic codes. (author)

  3. A Profile-Based Framework for Factorial Similarity and the Congruence Coefficient.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartley, Anselma G; Furr, R Michael

    2017-01-01

    We present a novel profile-based framework for understanding factorial similarity in the context of exploratory factor analysis in general, and for understanding the congruence coefficient (a commonly used index of factor similarity) specifically. First, we introduce the profile-based framework articulating factorial similarity in terms of 3 intuitive components: general saturation similarity, differential saturation similarity, and configural similarity. We then articulate the congruence coefficient in terms of these components, along with 2 additional profile-based components, and we explain how these components resolve ambiguities that can be-and are-found when using the congruence coefficient. Finally, we present secondary analyses revealing that profile-based components of factorial are indeed linked to experts' actual evaluations of factorial similarity. Overall, the profile-based approach we present offers new insights into the ways in which researchers can examine factor similarity and holds the potential to enhance researchers' ability to understand the congruence coefficient.

  4. Carbon dioxide conversion over carbon-based nanocatalysts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khavarian, Mehrnoush; Chai, Siang-Piao; Mohamed, Abdul Rahman

    2013-07-01

    The utilization of carbon dioxide for the production of valuable chemicals via catalysts is one of the efficient ways to mitigate the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. It is known that the carbon dioxide conversion and product yields are still low even if the reaction is operated at high pressure and temperature. The carbon dioxide utilization and conversion provides many challenges in exploring new concepts and opportunities for development of unique catalysts for the purpose of activating the carbon dioxide molecules. In this paper, the role of carbon-based nanocatalysts in the hydrogenation of carbon dioxide and direct synthesis of dimethyl carbonate from carbon dioxide and methanol are reviewed. The current catalytic results obtained with different carbon-based nanocatalysts systems are presented and how these materials contribute to the carbon dioxide conversion is explained. In addition, different strategies and preparation methods of nanometallic catalysts on various carbon supports are described to optimize the dispersion of metal nanoparticles and catalytic activity.

  5. Deuterons at energies of 10 MeV to 1 TeV: Conversion coefficients for fluence-to-absorbed dose, equivalent dose, effective dose and gray equivalent, calculated using Monte Carlo radiation transport code MCNPX 2.7.C

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Copeland, K.; Parker, D. E.; Friedberg, W.

    2011-01-01

    Conversion coefficients were calculated for fluence-to-absorbed dose, fluence-to-equivalent dose, fluence-to-effective dose and fluence-to-gray equivalent for isotropic exposure of an adult female and an adult male to deuterons ( 2 H + ) in the energy range 10 MeV -1 TeV (0.01-1000 GeV). Coefficients were calculated using the Monte Carlo transport code MCNPX 2.7.C and BodyBuilder TM 1.3 anthropomorphic phantoms. Phantoms were modified to allow calculation of the effective dose to a Reference Person using tissues and tissue weighting factors from 1990 and 2007 recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) and gray equivalent to selected tissues as recommended by the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements. Coefficients for the equivalent and effective dose incorporated a radiation weighting factor of 2. At 15 of 19 energies for which coefficients for the effective dose were calculated, coefficients based on ICRP 1990 and 2007 recommendations differed by < 3 %. The greatest difference, 47 %, occurred at 30 MeV. (authors)

  6. Roughness coefficient and its uncertainty in gravel-bed river

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ji-Sung Kim

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Manning's roughness coefficient was estimated for a gravel-bed river reach using field measurements of water level and discharge, and the applicability of various methods used for estimation of the roughness coefficient was evaluated. Results show that the roughness coefficient tends to decrease with increasing discharge and water depth, and over a certain range it appears to remain constant. Comparison of roughness coefficients calculated by field measurement data with those estimated by other methods shows that, although the field-measured values provide approximate roughness coefficients for relatively large discharge, there seems to be rather high uncertainty due to the difference in resultant values. For this reason, uncertainty related to the roughness coefficient was analyzed in terms of change in computed variables. On average, a 20% increase of the roughness coefficient causes a 7% increase in the water depth and an 8% decrease in velocity, but there may be about a 15% increase in the water depth and an equivalent decrease in velocity for certain cross-sections in the study reach. Finally, the validity of estimated roughness coefficient based on field measurements was examined. A 10% error in discharge measurement may lead to more than 10% uncertainty in roughness coefficient estimation, but corresponding uncertainty in computed water depth and velocity is reduced to approximately 5%. Conversely, the necessity for roughness coefficient estimation by field measurement is confirmed.

  7. Thermoelectric conversion efficiency in IV-VI semiconductors with reduced thermal conductivity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akihiro Ishida

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Mid-temperature thermoelectric conversion efficiencies of the IV-VI materials were calculated under the Boltzmann transport theory of carriers, taking the Seebeck, Peltier, and Thomson effects into account. The conversion efficiency was discussed with respect to the lattice thermal conductivity, keeping other parameters such as Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity to the same values. If room temperature lattice thermal conductivity is decreased up to 0.5W/mK, the conversion efficiency of a PbS based material becomes as high as 15% with the temperature difference of 500K between 800K and 300K.

  8. Conversion coefficients for determination of dispersed photon dose during radiotherapy: NRUrad input code for MCNP.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shahmohammadi Beni, Mehrdad; Ng, C Y P; Krstic, D; Nikezic, D; Yu, K N

    2017-01-01

    Radiotherapy is a common cancer treatment module, where a certain amount of dose will be delivered to the targeted organ. This is achieved usually by photons generated by linear accelerator units. However, radiation scattering within the patient's body and the surrounding environment will lead to dose dispersion to healthy tissues which are not targets of the primary radiation. Determination of the dispersed dose would be important for assessing the risk and biological consequences in different organs or tissues. In the present work, the concept of conversion coefficient (F) of the dispersed dose was developed, in which F = (Dd/Dt), where Dd was the dispersed dose in a non-targeted tissue and Dt is the absorbed dose in the targeted tissue. To quantify Dd and Dt, a comprehensive model was developed using the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) package to simulate the linear accelerator head, the human phantom, the treatment couch and the radiotherapy treatment room. The present work also demonstrated the feasibility and power of parallel computing through the use of the Message Passing Interface (MPI) version of MCNP5.

  9. Comparison of conversion coefficients for equivalent dose in terms of air kerma using a sitting and standing female adult voxel simulators exposure to photons in antero-posterior irradiation geometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cavalcante, F.R.; Galeano, D.C.; Carvalho Júnior, A.B.; Hunt, J.

    2014-01-01

    Due to the difficulty in implementing invasive techniques for calculations of dose for some exposure scenarios, computational simulators have been created to represent as realistically as possible the structures of the human body and through radiation transport simulations to obtain conversion coefficients (CCs) to estimate dose. In most published papers simulators are implemented in the standing posture and this may not describe a real scenario of exposure. In this work we developed exposure scenarios in the Visual Monte Carlo (VMC) code using a female simulator in standing and sitting postures. The simulator was irradiated in the antero-posterior (AP) geometry by a plane source of monoenergetic photons with energy from 10 keV to 2 MeV. The conversion coefficients for equivalent dose in terms of air kerma (H T /K air ) were calculated for both scenarios and compared. The results show that the percentage difference of CCs for the organs of the head and thorax was not significant (less than 5%) since the anatomic position of the organs is the same in both postures. The percentage difference is more significant to the ovaries (71% for photon energy of 20 keV), to the bladder (39% at 60 keV) and to the uterus (37% at 100 keV) due to different processes of radiation interactions in the legs of the simulator when its posture is changed. For organs and tissues that are distributed throughout the entire body, such as bone (21% at 100 keV) and muscle (30% at 80 keV) the percentage difference of CCs reflects a reduction of interaction of photons with the legs of the simulator. Therefore, the calculation of conversion coefficients using simulators in the sitting posture is relevant for a more accurate dose estimation in real exposures to radiation. - Highlights: ► Scenarios of external photon exposures were performed in VMC code. ► The FAX simulator was irradiated in sitting and standing postures. ► The irradiation geometry used was the antero-posterior (AP). ► The

  10. On the conversion of dose to bone to dose to water in radiotherapy treatment planning systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nick Reynaert

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Background and purpose: Conversion factors between dose to medium (Dm,m and dose to water (Dw,w provided by treatment planning systems that model the patient as water with variable electron density are currently based on stopping power ratios. In the current paper it will be illustrated that this conversion method is not correct. Materials and methods: Monte Carlo calculations were performed in a phantom consisting of a 2 cm bone layer surrounded by water. Dw,w was obtained by modelling the bone layer as water with the electron density of bone. Conversion factors between Dw,w and Dm,m were obtained and compared to stopping power ratios and ratios of mass-energy absorption coefficients in regions of electronic equilibrium and interfaces. Calculations were performed for 6 MV and 20 MV photon beams. Results: In the region of electronic equilibrium the stopping power ratio of water to bone (1.11 largely overestimates the conversion obtained using the Monte Carlo calculations (1.06. In that region the MC dose conversion corresponds to the ratio of mass energy absorption coefficients. Near the water to bone interface, the MC ratio cannot be determined from stopping powers or mass energy absorption coefficients. Conclusion: Stopping power ratios cannot be used for conversion from Dm,m to Dw,w provided by treatment planning systems that model the patient as water with variable electron density, either in regions of electronic equilibrium or near interfaces. In regions of electronic equilibrium mass energy absorption coefficient ratios should be used. Conversions at interfaces require detailed MC calculations. Keywords: Dose to water, Monte Carlo, Dosimetry, TPS comparison

  11. Fluence-to-absorbed-dose conversion coefficients for neutron beams from 0.001 eV to 100 GeV calculated for a set of pregnant female and fetus models

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Taranenko, Valery; Xu, X George

    2008-01-01

    Protection of fetuses against external neutron exposure is an important task. This paper reports a set of absorbed dose conversion coefficients for fetal and maternal organs for external neutron beams using the RPI-P pregnant female models and the MCNPX code. The newly developed pregnant female models represent an adult female with a fetus including its brain and skeleton at the end of each trimester. The organ masses were adjusted to match the reference values within 1%. For the 3 mm cubic voxel size, the models consist of 10-15 million voxels for 35 organs. External monoenergetic neutron beams of six standard configurations (AP, PA, LLAT, RLAT, ROT and ISO) and source energies 0.001 eV-100 GeV were considered. The results are compared with previous data that are based on simplified anatomical models. The differences in dose depend on source geometry, energy and gestation periods: from 20% up to 140% for the whole fetus, and up to 100% for the fetal brain. Anatomical differences are primarily responsible for the discrepancies in the organ doses. For the first time, the dependence of mother organ doses upon anatomical changes during pregnancy was studied. A maximum of 220% increase in dose was observed for the placenta in the nine months model compared to three months, whereas dose to the pancreas, small and large intestines decreases by 60% for the AP source for the same models. Tabulated dose conversion coefficients for the fetus and 27 maternal organs are provided

  12. Monte Carlo determination of the conversion coefficients Hp(3)/Ka in a right cylinder phantom with 'PENELOPE' code. Comparison with 'MCNP' simulations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daures, J; Gouriou, J; Bordy, J M

    2011-03-01

    This work has been performed within the frame of the European Union ORAMED project (Optimisation of RAdiation protection for MEDical staff). The main goal of the project is to improve standards of protection for medical staff for procedures resulting in potentially high exposures and to develop methodologies for better assessing and for reducing, exposures to medical staff. The Work Package WP2 is involved in the development of practical eye-lens dosimetry in interventional radiology. This study is complementary of the part of the ENEA report concerning the calculations with the MCNP-4C code of the conversion factors related to the operational quantity H(p)(3). In this study, a set of energy- and angular-dependent conversion coefficients (H(p)(3)/K(a)), in the newly proposed square cylindrical phantom made of ICRU tissue, have been calculated with the Monte-Carlo code PENELOPE and MCNP5. The H(p)(3) values have been determined in terms of absorbed dose, according to the definition of this quantity, and also with the kerma approximation as formerly reported in ICRU reports. At a low-photon energy (up to 1 MeV), the two results obtained with the two methods are consistent. Nevertheless, large differences are showed at a higher energy. This is mainly due to the lack of electronic equilibrium, especially for small angle incidences. The values of the conversion coefficients obtained with the MCNP-4C code published by ENEA quite agree with the kerma approximation calculations obtained with PENELOPE. We also performed the same calculations with the code MCNP5 with two types of tallies: F6 for kerma approximation and *F8 for estimating the absorbed dose that is, as known, due to secondary electrons. PENELOPE and MCNP5 results agree for the kerma approximation and for the absorbed dose calculation of H(p)(3) and prove that, for photon energies larger than 1 MeV, the transport of the secondary electrons has to be taken into account.

  13. Tritons at energies of 10 MeV to 1 TeV: Conversion coefficients for fluence-to-absorbed dose, equivalent dose, effective dose, and gray equivalent, calculated using Monte Carlo radiation transport code MCNPX 2.7.C

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Copeland, K.; Parker, D. E.; Friedberg, W.

    2010-01-01

    Conversion coefficients were calculated for fluence-to-absorbed dose, fluence-to-equivalent dose, fluence-to-effective dose and fluence-to-gray equivalent for isotropic exposure of an adult female and an adult male to tritons ( 3 H + ) in the energy range of 10 MeV to 1 TeV (0.01-1000 GeV). Coefficients were calculated using Monte Carlo transport code MCNPX 2.7.C and BodyBuilder TM 1.3 anthropomorphic phantoms. Phantoms were modified to allow calculation of effective dose to a Reference Person using tissues and tissue weighting factors from 1990 and 2007 recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) and calculation of gray equivalent to selected tissues as recommended by the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements. At 15 of the 19 energies for which coefficients for effective dose were calculated, coefficients based on ICRP 2007 and 1990 recommendations differed by less than 3%. The greatest difference, 43%, occurred at 30 MeV. Published by Oxford Univ. Press on behalf of the US Government 2010. (authors)

  14. Hp(3)/Φ conversion coefficients for neutrons: discussion on the basis of the new ICRP recommended limit for the eye lens

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ferrari, P.; Gualdrini, G.; Fantuzzi, E.; Tanner, R.

    2014-01-01

    The new recommendation issued by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) introducing a 20-mSv annual dose limit for the eye lens stimulated an interesting debate among the radiation protection community. In the present work the problem of estimating H p (3) for neutron realistic workplace spectra is treated, employing the recently published H p (3)/Φ conversion coefficients with the aim of establishing a workplace-dependent relationship between H p (10) and H p (3). The results demonstrate that, whilst the two quantities can differ by less than 10 %, in general, H p (10) cannot be considered a conservative estimate of H p (3). The present study was conducted to find out whether it is possible to derive H p (3) from H p (10) measurements/determinations in neutron workplace fields using the relationship that can be established between the conversion coefficients H p (3)/Φ and H p (10)/Φ evaluated for monoenergetic neutron beams. Several real cases, taken from the IAEA neutron source compendium, were investigated and, in general, it can be conclude that H p (10) is seldom a conservative estimate of H p (3) (only at 0 deg. and in one case, among the treated spectra, H p (10)/Φ is higher than H p (3)/Φ). Indeed, care should be taken if one tries to derive directly such a correction factor from tabulations of neutron monoenergetic plots of conversion coefficients, on the basis of the mean energy, because in case of really degraded spectra (as in the heavy shielded situation) the mean energy, as expected, could be a too rough a parameter. However, in general, for 0 deg., antero-posterior irradiation condition, which is expected to be a quite common working condition, H p (10) underestimation is of the order of 10 % thus, at least, a correction factor of 1.1 should be applied to H p (10) in order to estimate the 'corresponding' H p (3). For irradiation conditions far from the normal incidence for which the underestimation can be as high as 60

  15. Total conversion coefficient of the 263 keV (21/sup 2//2->13/sup +//2) transition in sup(93m)Mo

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Suryanaryana, C.; Venkateswara Rao, M.; Narayana, D.G.S.; Bhuloka Reddy, S.; Satyanarayana, G.; Sastry, D.L.; Chintalapudi, S.N.

    1985-01-01

    The total conversion coefficient of the 263 keV gamma transition in the decay scheme of sup(93m)Mo is measured by intensity balance method using a HP Ge spectrometer system. The experimental value of ..cap alpha..sub(T)(263 keV) is found to be 0.696 +- 0.05 which is in agreement with the theoretical values 0.72 and 0.7. The transition probability T(E4) is calculated using the present value of ..cap alpha..sub(T) and compared with the single-particle estimate. A good agreement is noted between the theory and the experiment for the value of T(E4).

  16. Student Emotions in Conversation-Based Assessments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lehman, Blair A.; Zapata-Rivera, Diego

    2018-01-01

    Students can experience a variety of emotions while completing assessments. Some emotions can get in the way of students performing their best (e.g., anxiety, frustration), whereas other emotions can facilitate student performance (e.g., engagement). Many new, non-traditional assessments, such as automated conversation-based assessments (CBA), are…

  17. Conversion between Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III and Mini-Mental State Examination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matías-Guiu, Jordi A; Pytel, Vanesa; Cortés-Martínez, Ana; Valles-Salgado, María; Rognoni, Teresa; Moreno-Ramos, Teresa; Matías-Guiu, Jorge

    2017-12-10

    We aim to provide a conversion between Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III (ACE-III) and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores, to predict the MMSE result based on ACE-III, thus avoiding the need for both tests, and improving their comparability. Equipercentile equating method was used to elaborate a conversion table using a group of 400 participants comprising healthy controls and Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Then, reliability was assessed in a group of 100 healthy controls and patients with AD, 52 with primary progressive aphasia and 22 with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia. The conversion table between ACE-III and MMSE denoted a high reliability, with intra-class correlation coefficients of 0.940, 0.922, and 0.902 in the groups of healthy controls and AD, behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, and primary progressive aphasia, respectively. Our conversion table between ACE-III and MMSE suggests that MMSE may be estimated based on the ACE-III score, which could be useful for clinical and research purposes.

  18. A new fifth parameter for transverse isotropy III: reflection and transmission coefficients

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kawakatsu, Hitoshi

    2018-04-01

    The effect of the newly defined fifth parameter, ηκ, of transverse anisotropy to the reflection and transmission coefficients, especially for P-to-S and S-to-P conversion coefficients, is examined. While ηκ systematically affects the P-to-S and S-to-P conversions, in the incidence angle range of the practical interest of receiver function studies, the effect may be asymmetric in a sense that P-wave receiver function is affected more than S-receiver function in terms of amplitude. This asymmetry may help resolving ηκ via extensive receiver function analysis. It is also found that P-wave anisotropy significantly influences P-to-S and S-to-P conversion coefficients that complicates the interpretation of receiver functions, because, for isotropic media, we typically attribute the primary receiver function signals to S-wave velocity changes but not to P-wave changes.

  19. Towards the reanalysis of void coefficients measurements at proteus for high conversion light water reactor lattices

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hursin, M.; Koeberl, O.; Perret, G. [Paul Scherrer Institut PSI, 5232 Villigen (Switzerland)

    2012-07-01

    High Conversion Light Water Reactors (HCLWR) allows a better usage of fuel resources thanks to a higher breeding ratio than standard LWR. Their uses together with the current fleet of LWR constitute a fuel cycle thoroughly studied in Japan and the US today. However, one of the issues related to HCLWR is their void reactivity coefficient (VRC), which can be positive. Accurate predictions of void reactivity coefficient in HCLWR conditions and their comparisons with representative experiments are therefore required. In this paper an inter comparison of modern codes and cross-section libraries is performed for a former Benchmark on Void Reactivity Effect in PWRs conducted by the OECD/NEA. It shows an overview of the k-inf values and their associated VRC obtained for infinite lattice calculations with UO{sub 2} and highly enriched MOX fuel cells. The codes MCNPX2.5, TRIPOLI4.4 and CASMO-5 in conjunction with the libraries ENDF/B-VI.8, -VII.0, JEF-2.2 and JEFF-3.1 are used. A non-negligible spread of results for voided conditions is found for the high content MOX fuel. The spread of eigenvalues for the moderated and voided UO{sub 2} fuel are about 200 pcm and 700 pcm, respectively. The standard deviation for the VRCs for the UO{sub 2} fuel is about 0.7% while the one for the MOX fuel is about 13%. This work shows that an appropriate treatment of the unresolved resonance energy range is an important issue for the accurate determination of the void reactivity effect for HCLWR. A comparison to experimental results is needed to resolve the presented discrepancies. (authors)

  20. Design of wind turbine airfoils based on maximum power coefficient

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cheng, Jiangtao; Chen, Jin; Cheng, Jiangtao

    2010-01-01

    Based on the blade element momentum (BEM) theory, the power coefficient of a wind turbine can be expressed in function of local tip speed ratio and lift-drag ratio. By taking the power coefficient in a predefined range of angle of attack as the final design objective and combining with an airfoil...

  1. Determination of rolling resistance coefficient based on normal tyre stiffness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rykov, S. P.; Tarasuyk, V. N.; Koval, V. S.; Ovchinnikova, N. I.; Fedotov, A. I.; Fedotov, K. V.

    2018-03-01

    The purpose of the article is to develop analytical dependence of wheel rolling resistance coefficient based on the mathematical description of normal tyre stiffness. The article uses the methods of non-holonomic mechanics and plane section methods. The article shows that the abscissa of gravity center of tyre stiffness expansion by the length of the contact area is the shift of normal road response. It can be used for determining rolling resistance coefficient. When determining rolling resistance coefficient using ellipsis and power function equations, one can reduce labor costs for testing and increase assessment accuracy.

  2. Comparison of effective transverse piezoelectric coefficients e31,f of Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 thin films between direct and converse piezoelectric effects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsujiura, Yuichi; Kawabe, Saneyuki; Kurokawa, Fumiya; Hida, Hirotaka; Kanno, Isaku

    2015-10-01

    We evaluated the effective transverse piezoelectric coefficients (e31,f) of Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) thin films from both the direct and converse piezoelectric effects of unimorph cantilevers. (001) preferentially oriented polycrystalline PZT thin films and (001)/(100) epitaxial PZT thin films were deposited on (111)Pt/Ti/Si and (001)Pt/MgO substrates, respectively, by rf-magnetron sputtering, and their piezoelectric responses owing to intrinsic and extrinsic effects were examined. The direct and converse |e31,f| values of the polycrystalline PZT thin films were calculated as 6.4 and 11.5-15.0 C/m2, respectively, whereas those of the epitaxial PZT thin films were calculated as 3.4 and 4.6-4.8 C/m2, respectively. The large |e31,f| of the converse piezoelectric property of the polycrystalline PZT thin films is attributed to extrinsic piezoelectric effects. Furthermore, the polycrystalline PZT thin films show a clear nonlinear piezoelectric contribution, which is the same as the Rayleigh-like behavior reported in bulk PZT. In contrast, the epitaxial PZT thin films on the MgO substrate show a piezoelectric response owing to the intrinsic and linear extrinsic effects, and no nonlinear contribution was observed.

  3. Computer-Assisted English Learning System Based on Free Conversation by Topic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Sung-Kwon; Kwon, Oh-Woog; Kim, Young-Kil

    2017-01-01

    This paper aims to describe a computer-assisted English learning system using chatbots and dialogue systems, which allow free conversation outside the topic without limiting the learner's flow of conversation. The evaluation was conducted by 20 experimenters. The performance of the system based on a free conversation by topic was measured by the…

  4. Calculation of neutron fluence to dose equivalent conversion coefficients using GEANT4; Calculo de coeficientes de fluencia de neutrons para equivalente de dose individual utilizando o GEANT4

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ribeiro, Rosane M.; Santos, Denison de S.; Queiroz Filho, Pedro P. de; Mauricio, CLaudia L.P.; Silva, Livia K. da; Pessanha, Paula R., E-mail: rosanemribeiro@oi.com.br [Instituto de Radioprotecao e Dosimetria (IRD/CNEN-RJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

    2014-07-01

    Fluence to dose equivalent conversion coefficients provide the basis for the calculation of area and personal monitors. Recently, the ICRP has started a revision of these coefficients, including new Monte Carlo codes for benchmarking. So far, little information is available about neutron transport below 10 MeV in tissue-equivalent (TE) material performed with Monte Carlo GEANT4 code. The objective of this work is to calculate neutron fluence to personal dose equivalent conversion coefficients, H{sub p} (10)/Φ, with GEANT4 code. The incidence of monoenergetic neutrons was simulated as an expanded and aligned field, with energies ranging between thermal neutrons to 10 MeV on the ICRU slab of dimension 30 x 30 x 15 cm{sup 3}, composed of 76.2% of oxygen, 10.1% of hydrogen, 11.1% of carbon and 2.6% of nitrogen. For all incident energy, a cylindrical sensitive volume is placed at a depth of 10 mm, in the largest surface of the slab (30 x 30 cm{sup 2}). Physic process are included for neutrons, photons and charged particles, and calculations are made for neutrons and secondary particles which reach the sensitive volume. Results obtained are thus compared with values published in ICRP 74. Neutron fluence in the sensitive volume was calculated for benchmarking. The Monte Carlo GEANT4 code was found to be appropriate to calculate neutron doses at energies below 10 MeV correctly. (author)

  5. Ortho-para-H2 conversion by hydrogen exchange: comparison of theory and experiment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lique, François; Honvault, Pascal; Faure, Alexandre

    2012-10-21

    We report fully-quantum time-independent calculations of cross sections and rate coefficients for the collisional (de)excitation of H(2) by H. Our calculations are based on the H(3) global potential energy surface of Mielke et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 116, 4142 (2002)]. The reactive hydrogen exchange channels are taken into account. We show that the ortho-para and para-ortho conversion of H(2) are significant processes at temperatures above ~300 K and for the last process we provide the first comparison with available experimental rate coefficients between 300 and 444 K. The good agreement between theory and experiment is a new illustration of our detailed understanding of the simplest chemical reaction. The importance of the ortho-para-H(2) conversion by hydrogen exchange in astrophysics is discussed.

  6. Hierarchically structured exergetic and exergoeconomic analysis and evaluation of energy conversion processes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hebecker, Dietrich; Bittrich, Petra; Riedl, Karsten

    2005-01-01

    Evaluation of the efficiency and economic benefit of energy conversion processes and technologies requires a scientifically based analysis. The hierarchically structured exergetic analysis provides a detailed characterization of complex technical systems. By defining corresponding evaluation coefficients, the exergetic efficiency can be assessed for units within the whole system. Based on this exergetic analysis, a thermoeconomic evaluation method is developed. A cost function is defined for all units, subsystems and the total plant, so that the cost flow in the system can be calculated. Three dimensionless coefficients, the Pauer factor, the loss coefficient and the cost factor, enable pinpointing cost intensive process units, allocating cost in cases of co-production and gaining insight for future design improvements. The methodology is demonstrated by a biomass gasification plant producing electricity, heat and cold

  7. An in situ study of zirconium-based conversion treatment on zinc surfaces

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Taheri, P. [Materials innovation institute (M2i), Elektronicaweg 25, 2628 XG Delft (Netherlands); Delft University of Technology, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Mekelweg 2, 2628 CD Delft (Netherlands); Laha, P. [Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Department of Electrochemical and Surface Engineering, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels (Belgium); Terryn, H. [Delft University of Technology, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Mekelweg 2, 2628 CD Delft (Netherlands); Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Department of Electrochemical and Surface Engineering, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels (Belgium); Mol, J.M.C., E-mail: J.M.C.Mol@tudelft.nl [Delft University of Technology, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Mekelweg 2, 2628 CD Delft (Netherlands)

    2015-11-30

    Highlights: • We investigated the deposition mechanism of zirconium conversion layer on zinc. • In situ FTIR and electrochemical measurements are conducted. • The initial hydroxyl fraction plays an important role in the deposition process. • Deposition starts with hydroxyl removal by fluoride ions. • An increase of alkalinity adjacent to the surface promotes deposition of Zr. - Abstract: This study is focused on the deposition process of zirconium-based conversion layers on Zn surfaces. The analysis approach is based on a Kretschmann configuration in which in situ ATR-FTIR spectroscopy is combined with open circuit potential (OCP) and near surface pH measurements. Differently pretreated Zn surfaces were subjected to conversion treatments, while the Zr-based deposition mechanism was probed in situ. It was found that the initial hydroxyl fraction promotes the overall Zr conversion process as the near surface pH values are influenced by the initial hydroxyl fraction. Kinetics of the early surface activation and the subsequent Zr-based conversion process are discussed and correlated to the initial hydroxyl fractions.

  8. Betavoltaic Battery Conversion Efficiency Improvement Based on Interlayer Structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Da-Rang; Jiang Lan; Yin Jian-Hua; Lin Nai; Tan Yuan-Yuan

    2012-01-01

    Significant differences among the doping densities of PN junctions in semiconductors cause lattice mismatch and lattice defects that increase the recombination current of betavoltaic batteries. This extensively decreases the open circuit voltage and the short current, which results in low conversion efficiency. This study proposes P + PINN + -structure based betavoltaic batteries by adding an interlayer to typical PIN structures to improve conversion efficiency. Numerical simulations are conducted for the energy deposition of beta particles along the thickness direction in semiconductors. Based on this, 63 Ni-radiation GaAs batteries with PIN and P + PINN + structures are designed and fabricated to experimentally verify the proposed design. It turns out that the conversion efficiency of the betavoltaic battery with the proposed P + PINN + structure is about 1.45 times higher than that with the traditional PIN structure. (cross-disciplinary physics and related areas of science and technology)

  9. Feasibility study on AFR-100 fuel conversion from uranium-based fuel to thorium-based fuel

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Heidet, F.; Kim, T.; Grandy, C. (Nuclear Engineering Division)

    2012-07-30

    Although thorium has long been considered as an alternative to uranium-based fuels, most of the reactors built to-date have been fueled with uranium-based fuel with the exception of a few reactors. The decision to use uranium-based fuels was initially made based on the technology maturity compared to thorium-based fuels. As a result of this experience, lot of knowledge and data have been accumulated for uranium-based fuels that made it the predominant nuclear fuel type for extant nuclear power. However, following the recent concerns about the extent and availability of uranium resources, thorium-based fuels have regained significant interest worldwide. Thorium is more abundant than uranium and can be readily exploited in many countries and thus is now seen as a possible alternative. As thorium-based fuel technologies mature, fuel conversion from uranium to thorium is expected to become a major interest in both thermal and fast reactors. In this study the feasibility of fuel conversion in a fast reactor is assessed and several possible approaches are proposed. The analyses are performed using the Advanced Fast Reactor (AFR-100) design, a fast reactor core concept recently developed by ANL. The AFR-100 is a small 100 MW{sub e} reactor developed under the US-DOE program relying on innovative fast reactor technologies and advanced structural and cladding materials. It was designed to be inherently safe and offers sufficient margins with respect to the fuel melting temperature and the fuel-cladding eutectic temperature when using U-10Zr binary metal fuel. Thorium-based metal fuel was preferred to other thorium fuel forms because of its higher heavy metal density and it does not need to be alloyed with zirconium to reduce its radiation swelling. The various approaches explored cover the use of pure thorium fuel as well as the use of thorium mixed with transuranics (TRU). Sensitivity studies were performed for the different scenarios envisioned in order to determine the

  10. Total internal conversion coefficient of the 260. 9 keV (7/sup +/->3/sup -/) transition in sup(198m)Tl

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Venkateswara Rao, N.; Suryanarayana, C.; Narayana, D.G.S.; Bhuloka Reddy, S.; Satynarayana, G.; Sastry, D.L.; Chintalapudi, S.N.

    1986-02-21

    The 1.87 hours 543.7 keV (7/sup +/) isomeric state in /sup 198/Tl is produced via /sup 197/Au(..cap alpha.., 3n)sup(198m)Tl (Esub(..cap alpha..) = 35 MeV) reaction. The total conversion coefficient of 260.9 keV (7/sup +/ -> 3/sup -/) is determined for the first time by the intensity balance method. The value of ..cap alpha..sub(T)(260.9 keV) is found to be 40.1 +- 8.6 which is in good agreement with the theoretical value of Hager and Seltzer for pure M4 transition. The gamma transition probability of the 260.9 keV (M4) is calculated using the present value of ..cap alpha..sub(T) and compared with the single-particle estimate.

  11. Comparison of four large-eddy simulation research codes and effects of model coefficient and inflow turbulence in actuator-line-based wind turbine modeling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Martínez-Tossas, Luis A.; Churchfield, Matthew J.; Yilmaz, Ali Emre

    2018-01-01

    to match closely for all codes. The value of the Smagorinsky coefficient in the subgrid-scale turbulence model is shown to have a negligible effect on the time-averaged loads along the blades. Conversely, the breakdown location of the wake is strongly dependent on the Smagorinsky coefficient in uniform...... coefficient has a negligible effect on the wake profiles. It is concluded that for LES of wind turbines and wind farms using ALM, careful implementation and extensive cross-verification among codes can result in highly reproducible predictions. Moreover, the characteristics of the inflow turbulence appear...

  12. Conversion of the 42 keV transition in the decay of 191Os

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bhuloka Reddy, S.; Narasimham, K.L.; Thirumala Rao, B.V.; Lakshminarayana, V.

    1986-01-01

    The total as well as the L-conversion coefficient of the 42 KeV transition in the decay of 191 Os are determined from intensity balance considerations and XPG technique, respectively, using a 3 mm Si(Li) detector system. The resultant values are αsub(T) = 13709 (1900), αsub(L) = 11700 (2100). The present total conversion coefficients shows good agreement within the uncertainty limits, with the value αsub(T) = 13.500→ 5200 +21100 reported by Lange, whereas the L-conversion coefficient is reported for the first time. Our present values are also compared with the theoretical values interpolated from the tables of Hager and Seltzer and of Rosel et al

  13. Evaluation of dose conversion coefficients for external exposure using Taiwanese reference man and woman

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chang, S.J.; Hung, S.Y.; Liu, Y.L.; Jiang, S.H.; Wu, J.

    2015-01-01

    Reference man has been widely used for external and internal dose evaluation of radiation protection. The parameters of the mathematical model of organs suggested by the International Commission of Radiological Protection (ICRP) are adopted from the average data of Caucasians. However, the organ masses of Asians are significantly different from the data of Caucasians, leading to potentially dosimetric errors. In this study, a total of 40 volunteers whose heights and weights corresponded to the statistical average of Taiwanese adults were recruited. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed, and T2-weighted images were acquired. The Taiwanese reference man and woman were constructed according to the measured organ masses. The dose conversion coefficients (DCFs) for anterior-posterior (AP), posterior-anterior (PA), right lateral (RLAT) and left lateral (LLAT) irradiation geometries were simulated. For the Taiwanese reference man, the average differences of the DCFs compared with the results of ICRP-74 were 7.6, 5.1 and 11.1 % for 0.1, 1 and 10 MeV photons irradiated in the AP direction. The maximum difference reached 51.7 % for the testes irradiated by 10 MeV photons. The size of the trunk, the volume and the geometric position of organs can cause a significant impact on the DCFs for external exposure of radiation. The constructed Taiwanese reference man and woman can be used in radiation protection to increase the accuracy of dose evaluation for the Taiwanese population. (authors)

  14. Effects of conversion ratio change on the core performances in medium to large TRU burning reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Song, Hoon; Kim, Sang-Ji; Yoo, Jae-Woon; Kim, Yeong-Il

    2009-01-01

    Conceptual fast reactor core designs with sodium coolant are developed at 1,500, 3,000 and 4,500 MWt which are configured to transmute recycled transuranics (TRU) elements with external feeds consisting of LWR spent fuel. Even at each pre-determined power level, the performance parameters, reactivity coefficients and their implications on the safety analysis can be different when the target TRU conversion ratio changes. In order to address this aspect of design, a study on TRU conversion ratio change was performed. The results indicate that it is feasible to design a TRU burner core to accommodate a wide range of conversion ratios by employing different fuel cladding thicknesses. The TRU consumption rate is found to be proportional to the core power without any significant deterioration in the core performance at higher power levels. A low conversion ratio core has an increased TRU consumption rate and much faster burnup reactivity loss, which calls for appropriate means for reactivity compensation. As for the reactivity coefficients related with the conversion ratio change, the core with a low conversion ratio has a less negative Doppler coefficient, a more negative axial expansion coefficient, a more negative control rod worth per rod, a more negative radial expansion coefficient, a less positive sodium density coefficient and a less positive sodium void worth. A slight decrease in the delayed neutron fraction is also noted, reflecting the fertile U-238 fraction reduction. (author)

  15. Helions at energies of 10 MeV to 1 TeV: Conversion coefficients for fluence-to-absorbed dose, equivalent dose, effective dose and gray equivalent, calculated using Monte Carlo radiation transport code MCNPX 2.7.C

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Copeland, K.; Parker, D. E.; Friedberg, W.

    2010-01-01

    Conversion coefficients were calculated for fluence-to-absorbed dose, fluence-to-equivalent dose, fluence-to-effective dose and fluence-to-gray equivalent, for isotropic exposure of an adult male and an adult female to helions ( 3 He 2+ ) in the energy range of 10 MeV to 1 TeV (0.01-1000 GeV). Calculations were performed using Monte Carlo transport code MCNPX 2.7.C and BodyBuilder TM 1.3 anthropomorphic phantoms modified to allow calculation of effective dose using tissues and tissue weighting factors from either the 1990 or 2007 recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), and gray equivalent to selected tissues as recommended by the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements. At 15 of the 19 energies for which coefficients for effective dose were calculated, coefficients based on ICRP 2007 and 1990 recommendations differed by less than 2%. The greatest difference, 62%, occurred at 100 MeV. Published by Oxford Univ. Press on behalf of the U.S. Government 2010. (authors)

  16. Design of batch audio/video conversion platform based on JavaEE

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cui, Yansong; Jiang, Lianpin

    2018-03-01

    With the rapid development of digital publishing industry, the direction of audio / video publishing shows the diversity of coding standards for audio and video files, massive data and other significant features. Faced with massive and diverse data, how to quickly and efficiently convert to a unified code format has brought great difficulties to the digital publishing organization. In view of this demand and present situation in this paper, basing on the development architecture of Sptring+SpringMVC+Mybatis, and combined with the open source FFMPEG format conversion tool, a distributed online audio and video format conversion platform with a B/S structure is proposed. Based on the Java language, the key technologies and strategies designed in the design of platform architecture are analyzed emphatically in this paper, designing and developing a efficient audio and video format conversion system, which is composed of “Front display system”, "core scheduling server " and " conversion server ". The test results show that, compared with the ordinary audio and video conversion scheme, the use of batch audio and video format conversion platform can effectively improve the conversion efficiency of audio and video files, and reduce the complexity of the work. Practice has proved that the key technology discussed in this paper can be applied in the field of large batch file processing, and has certain practical application value.

  17. Transport coefficients of InSb in a strong magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakamura, Hiroaki; Ikeda, Kazuaki; Yamaguchi, Satarou

    1998-02-01

    Improvement of a superconducting magnet system makes induction of a strong magnetic field easier. This fact gives us a possibility of energy conversion by the Nernst effect. As the first step to study the Nernst element, we measured the conductivity, the Hall coefficient, the thermoelectric power and the Nernst coefficient of the InSb, which is one of candidates of the Nernst elements. From this experiment, it is concluded that the Nernst coefficient is smaller than the theoretical values. On the other hand, the conductivity, the Hall coefficient and the thermoelectric power has the values expected by the theory. (author)

  18. Advanced power conversion based on the Aerocapacitor{trademark}. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Roark, D.

    1997-03-05

    This report summarizes work performed under contract No. DE-FC07-94ID13283, {open_quotes}Advanced Power Conversion Based on the Aerocapacitors{trademark}.{close_quotes} Under this contract high power density, high energy density, organic electrolyte Aerocapacitors{trademark} were developed and characterized for power conversion applications. Pilot facilities for manufacturing prototype AA-size Aerocapacitors{trademark} were put in place. The low ESR and good frequency response of these devices show that they are ideal components for high discharge rate and low to moderate frequency (< 10 kHz) applications such as power conversion.

  19. Monte Carlo tests of the Rasch model based on scalability coefficients

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Karl Bang; Kreiner, Svend

    2010-01-01

    that summarizes the number of Guttman errors in the data matrix. These coefficients are shown to yield efficient tests of the Rasch model using p-values computed using Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. The power of the tests of unequal item discrimination, and their ability to distinguish between local dependence......For item responses fitting the Rasch model, the assumptions underlying the Mokken model of double monotonicity are met. This makes non-parametric item response theory a natural starting-point for Rasch item analysis. This paper studies scalability coefficients based on Loevinger's H coefficient...

  20. Development of life cycle water-demand coefficients for coal-based power generation technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ali, Babkir; Kumar, Amit

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • We develop water consumption and withdrawals coefficients for coal power generation. • We develop life cycle water footprints for 36 coal-based electricity generation pathways. • Different coal power generation technologies were assessed. • Sensitivity analysis of plant performance and coal transportation on water demand. - Abstract: This paper aims to develop benchmark coefficients for water consumption and water withdrawals over the full life cycle of coal-based power generation. This study considered not only all of the unit operations involved in the full electricity generation life cycle but also compared different coal-based power generating technologies. Overall this study develops the life cycle water footprint for 36 different coal-based electricity generation pathways. Power generation pathways involving new technologies of integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) or ultra supercritical technology with coal transportation by conventional means and using dry cooling systems have the least complete life cycle water-demand coefficients of about 1 L/kW h. Sensitivity analysis is conducted to study the impact of power plant performance and coal transportation on the water demand coefficients. The consumption coefficient over life cycle of ultra supercritical or IGCC power plants are 0.12 L/kW h higher when conventional transportation of coal is replaced by coal-log pipeline. Similarly, if the conventional transportation of coal is replaced by its transportation in the form of a slurry through a pipeline, the consumption coefficient of a subcritical power plant increases by 0.52 L/kW h

  1. Dependence of Seebeck coefficient on a load resistance and energy conversion efficiency in a thermoelectric composite

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamashita, Osamu; Odahara, Hirotaka; Ochi, Takahiro; Satou, Kouji

    2007-01-01

    The thermo-emf ΔV and current ΔI generated by imposing the alternating temperature gradients (ATG) at a period of T and the steady temperature gradient (STG) on a thermoelectric (TE) composite were measured as a function of t, where t is the lapsed time and T was varied from 60 to or ∞ s. The STG and ATG were produced by imposing steadily and alternatively a source voltage V in the range from 1.0 to 4.0 V on two Peltier modules sandwiching a composite. ΔT, ΔV, ΔI and V P oscillate at a period T and their waveforms vary significantly with a change of T, where ΔV and V P are the voltage drops in a load resistance R L and in resistance R P of two modules. The resultant Seebeck coefficient |α| = |ΔV|/ΔT of a composite under the STG was found to be expressed as |α| = |α 0 |(1 - R comp /R T ), where R T is the total resistance of a circuit for measuring the output signals and R comp is the resistance of a composite. The effective generating power ΔW eff has a local maximum at T = 960 s for the p-type composite and at T = 480 s for the n-type one. The maximum energy conversion efficiency η of the p- and n-type composites under the ATG produced by imposing a voltage of 4.0 V at an optimum period were 0.22 and 0.23% at ΔT eff = 50 K, respectively, which are 42 and 43% higher than those at ΔT = 42 K under the STG. These maximum η for a TE composite sandwiched between two Peltier modules, were found to be expressed theoretically in terms of R P , R T , R L , α P and α, where α P and α are the resultant Seebeck coefficients of Peltier modules and a TE composite

  2. Improvement of dose evaluation system for employees at severe accident in a nuclear power plant. Introduction of the dose rate conversion coefficient and addition of the access route edit function

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sasaki, Yasuhiro; Minami, Noritoshi; Yoshida, Yoshitaka

    2006-01-01

    Institute of Nuclear Safety System, Inc. had developed the dose evaluation system to evaluate the radiation dose of employees at severe accident in a nuclear power plant. This system has features, which are (1) the dose rate of any evaluation point can be evaluated, (2) the dose rate at any time can be evaluated in consideration of the change in the radioactive source, (3) the dose rate map in the plant can be displayed (4) the dose along the access route when moving can be evaluated, and it is possible to use it for examination of the accident management guideline on the dose side etc.. To upgrade the dose evaluation function of this system, the improvements had been done which were introduction of the dose rate conversion coefficient and addition of the access route edit function. By introducing the dose rate conversion coefficient, the calculation time of the dose rate map in the plant was shortened at about 20 seconds, and a new function to evaluate time-dependent dose rate of any evaluation point was added. By adding the access route edit function, it became possible to re-calculate the dose easily at the route change. (author)

  3. Hydrogen photoproduction by photoelectrochemical conversion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1989-01-01

    The water-splitting reaction by photoelectrochemical processes has gained much more attention than any of many reactions proposed for solar generation of energy-rich molecules (fuels). The conversion efficiency of the photosystem is the key factor. The higher the efficiency, the more economically feasible will be the conversion scheme. The conversion efficiency is a function of the semiconductor properties, light intensity, spectral quality, properties of the electrolyte, counterelectrode, cell configuration, etc. The semiconductor parameters include band gap, absorption coefficient and diffusion length. The area and material used for a counterelectrode are important when considering polarization losses in a two-electrode system. Besides, the stability problem is also a very important one to meet the requirement for practical applications. This paper reviews some important issues on photoelectrochemical generation of hydrogen by water splitting. It includes energy conversion efficiency, market assessment and cost goal, state of the technology, and future directions for research

  4. One-dimension-based spatially ordered architectures for solar energy conversion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Siqi; Tang, Zi-Rong; Sun, Yugang; Colmenares, Juan Carlos; Xu, Yi-Jun

    2015-08-07

    The severe consequences of fossil fuel consumption have resulted in a need for alternative sustainable sources of energy. Conversion and storage of solar energy via a renewable method, such as photocatalysis, holds great promise as such an alternative. One-dimensional (1D) nanostructures have gained attention in solar energy conversion because they have a long axis to absorb incident sunlight yet a short radial distance for separation of photogenerated charge carriers. In particular, well-ordered spatially high dimensional architectures based on 1D nanostructures with well-defined facets or anisotropic shapes offer an exciting opportunity for bridging the gap between 1D nanostructures and the micro and macro world, providing a platform for integration of nanostructures on a larger and more manageable scale into high-performance solar energy conversion applications. In this review, we focus on the progress of photocatalytic solar energy conversion over controlled one-dimension-based spatially ordered architecture hybrids. Assembly and classification of these novel architectures are summarized, and we discuss the opportunity and future direction of integration of 1D materials into high-dimensional, spatially organized architectures, with a perspective toward improved collective performance in various artificial photoredox applications.

  5. Derivation of energy-based base shear force coefficient considering hysteretic behavior and P-delta effects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ucar, Taner; Merter, Onur

    2018-01-01

    A modified energy-balance equation accounting for P-delta effects and hysteretic behavior of reinforced concrete members is derived. Reduced hysteretic properties of structural components due to combined stiffness and strength degradation and pinching effects, and hysteretic damping are taken into account in a simple manner by utilizing plastic energy and seismic input energy modification factors. Having a pre-selected yield mechanism, energy balance of structure in inelastic range is considered. P-delta effects are included in derived equation by adding the external work of gravity loads to the work of equivalent inertia forces and equating the total external work to the modified plastic energy. Earthquake energy input to multi degree of freedom (MDOF) system is approximated by using the modal energy-decomposition. Energy-based base shear coefficients are verified by means of both pushover analysis and nonlinear time history (NLTH) analysis of several RC frames having different number of stories. NLTH analyses of frames are performed by using the time histories of ten scaled ground motions compatible with elastic design acceleration spectrum and fulfilling duration/amplitude related requirements of Turkish Seismic Design Code. The observed correlation between energy-based base shear force coefficients and the average base shear force coefficients of NLTH analyses provides a reasonable confidence in estimation of nonlinear base shear force capacity of frames by using the derived equation.

  6. The conversion factor of α radiation efficiency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Weida; Zhou Zhixin; Xia Junding

    1997-01-01

    It is important in fine-grain TL dating that the full α dose must be converted into the equivalent β dose. Although the conversion coefficient K for internal radiation efficiency can not be measured directly for each sample, it is possible to measure the external radiation efficiency K 3.7 . For this purpose a special study for the conversion factor of K to K 3.7 has been made using ultrathin TLD. The results show that the conversion factor of the TLD for archaeological samples is 0.847, which is in agreement with the calculated value 0.85

  7. Performance of conversion efficiency of a crystalline silicon solar cell with base doping density

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gokhan Sahin

    Full Text Available In this study, we investigate theoretically the electrical parameters of a crystalline silicon solar cell in steady state. Based on a one-dimensional modeling of the cell, the short circuit current density, the open circuit voltage, the shunt and series resistances and the conversion efficiency are calculated, taking into account the base doping density. Either the I-V characteristic, series resistance, shunt resistance and conversion efficiency are determined and studied versus base doping density. The effects applied of base doping density on these parameters have been studied. The aim of this work is to show how short circuit current density, open circuit voltage and parasitic resistances are related to the base doping density and to exhibit the role played by those parasitic resistances on the conversion efficiency of the crystalline silicon solar. Keywords: Crystalline silicon solar cell, Base doping density, Series resistance, Shunt resistance, Conversion efficiency

  8. Green technology for conversion of renewable hydrocarbon based on plasma-catalytic approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fedirchyk, Igor; Nedybaliuk, Oleg; Chernyak, Valeriy; Demchina, Valentina

    2016-09-01

    The ability to convert renewable biomass into fuels and chemicals is one of the most important steps on our path to green technology and sustainable development. However, the complex composition of biomass poses a major problem for established conversion technologies. The high temperature of thermochemical biomass conversion often leads to the appearance of undesirable byproducts and waste. The catalytic conversion has reduced yield and feedstock range. Plasma-catalytic reforming technology opens a new path for biomass conversion by replacing feedstock-specific catalysts with free radicals generated in the plasma. We studied the plasma-catalytic conversion of several renewable hydrocarbons using the air plasma created by rotating gliding discharge. We found that plasma-catalytic hydrocarbon conversion can be conducted at significantly lower temperatures (500 K) than during the thermochemical ( 1000 K) and catalytic (800 K) conversion. By using gas chromatography, we determined conversion products and found that conversion efficiency of plasma-catalytic conversion reaches over 85%. We used obtained data to determine the energy yield of hydrogen in case of plasma-catalytic reforming of ethanol and compared it with other plasma-based hydrogen-generating systems.

  9. Polyaniline (PANi based electrode materials for energy storage and conversion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huanhuan Wang

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Polyaniline (PANi as one kind of conducting polymers has been playing a great role in the energy storage and conversion devices besides carbonaceous materials and metallic compounds. Due to high specific capacitance, high flexibility and low cost, PANi has shown great potential in supercapacitor. It alone can be used in fabricating an electrode. However, the inferior stability of PANi limits its application. The combination of PANi and other active materials (carbon materials, metal compounds or other polymers can surpass these intrinsic disadvantages of PANi. This review summarizes the recent progress in PANi based composites for energy storage/conversion, like application in supercapacitors, rechargeable batteries, fuel cells and water hydrolysis. Besides, PANi derived nitrogen-doped carbon materials, which have been widely employed as carbon based electrodes/catalysts, are also involved in this review. PANi as a promising material for energy storage/conversion is deserved for intensive study and further development.

  10. Slip Control of Electric Vehicle Based on Tire-Road Friction Coefficient Estimation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gaojian Cui

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The real-time change of tire-road friction coefficient is one of the important factors that influence vehicle safety performance. Besides, the vehicle wheels’ locking up has become an important issue. In order to solve these problems, this paper comes up with a novel slip control of electric vehicle (EV based on tire-road friction coefficient estimation. First and foremost, a novel method is proposed to estimate the tire-road friction coefficient, and then the reference slip ratio is determined based on the estimation results. Finally, with the reference slip ratio, a slip control based on model predictive control (MPC is designed to prevent the vehicle wheels from locking up. In this regard, the proposed controller guarantees the optimal braking torque on each wheel by individually controlling the slip ratio of each tire within the stable zone. Theoretical analyses and simulation show that the proposed controller is effective for better braking performance.

  11. Dose coefficients in pediatric and adult abdominopelvic CT based on 100 patient models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tian, Xiaoyu; Li, Xiang; Segars, W. Paul; Frush, Donald P.; Paulson, Erik K.; Samei, Ehsan

    2013-12-01

    Recent studies have shown the feasibility of estimating patient dose from a CT exam using CTDIvol-normalized-organ dose (denoted as h), DLP-normalized-effective dose (denoted as k), and DLP-normalized-risk index (denoted as q). However, previous studies were limited to a small number of phantom models. The purpose of this work was to provide dose coefficients (h, k, and q) across a large number of computational models covering a broad range of patient anatomy, age, size percentile, and gender. The study consisted of 100 patient computer models (age range, 0 to 78 y.o.; weight range, 2-180 kg) including 42 pediatric models (age range, 0 to 16 y.o.; weight range, 2-80 kg) and 58 adult models (age range, 18 to 78 y.o.; weight range, 57-180 kg). Multi-detector array CT scanners from two commercial manufacturers (LightSpeed VCT, GE Healthcare; SOMATOM Definition Flash, Siemens Healthcare) were included. A previously-validated Monte Carlo program was used to simulate organ dose for each patient model and each scanner, from which h, k, and q were derived. The relationships between h, k, and q and patient characteristics (size, age, and gender) were ascertained. The differences in conversion coefficients across the scanners were further characterized. CTDIvol-normalized-organ dose (h) showed an exponential decrease with increasing patient size. For organs within the image coverage, the average differences of h across scanners were less than 15%. That value increased to 29% for organs on the periphery or outside the image coverage, and to 8% for distributed organs, respectively. The DLP-normalized-effective dose (k) decreased exponentially with increasing patient size. For a given gender, the DLP-normalized-risk index (q) showed an exponential decrease with both increasing patient size and patient age. The average differences in k and q across scanners were 8% and 10%, respectively. This study demonstrated that the knowledge of patient information and CTDIvol/DLP values may

  12. Dose coefficients in pediatric and adult abdominopelvic CT based on 100 patient models

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tian, Xiaoyu; Samei, Ehsan; Li, Xiang; Segars, W Paul; Frush, Donald P; Paulson, Erik K

    2013-01-01

    Recent studies have shown the feasibility of estimating patient dose from a CT exam using CTDI vol -normalized-organ dose (denoted as h), DLP-normalized-effective dose (denoted as k), and DLP-normalized-risk index (denoted as q). However, previous studies were limited to a small number of phantom models. The purpose of this work was to provide dose coefficients (h, k, and q) across a large number of computational models covering a broad range of patient anatomy, age, size percentile, and gender. The study consisted of 100 patient computer models (age range, 0 to 78 y.o.; weight range, 2–180 kg) including 42 pediatric models (age range, 0 to 16 y.o.; weight range, 2–80 kg) and 58 adult models (age range, 18 to 78 y.o.; weight range, 57–180 kg). Multi-detector array CT scanners from two commercial manufacturers (LightSpeed VCT, GE Healthcare; SOMATOM Definition Flash, Siemens Healthcare) were included. A previously-validated Monte Carlo program was used to simulate organ dose for each patient model and each scanner, from which h, k, and q were derived. The relationships between h, k, and q and patient characteristics (size, age, and gender) were ascertained. The differences in conversion coefficients across the scanners were further characterized. CTDI vol -normalized-organ dose (h) showed an exponential decrease with increasing patient size. For organs within the image coverage, the average differences of h across scanners were less than 15%. That value increased to 29% for organs on the periphery or outside the image coverage, and to 8% for distributed organs, respectively. The DLP-normalized-effective dose (k) decreased exponentially with increasing patient size. For a given gender, the DLP-normalized-risk index (q) showed an exponential decrease with both increasing patient size and patient age. The average differences in k and q across scanners were 8% and 10%, respectively. This study demonstrated that the knowledge of patient information and CTDI vol

  13. Measurement of conversion coefficients between air Kerma and personal dose equivalent and backscatter factors for diagnostic X-ray beams; Determinacao experimental dos coeficientes de conversao de Kerma no ar para o equivalente de dose pessoal, Hp(d), e fatores de retroespalhamento em feixes de raios-x diagnostico

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rosado, Paulo Henrique Goncalves

    2008-07-01

    Two sets of quantities are import in radiological protection: the protection and operational quantities. Both sets can be related to basic physical quantities such as kerma through conversion coefficients. For diagnostic x-ray beams the conversion coefficients and backscatter factors have not been determined yet, those parameters are need for calibrating dosimeters that will be used to determine the personal dose equivalent or the entrance skin dose. Conversion coefficients between air kerma and personal dose equivalent and backscatter factors were experimentally determined for the diagnostic x-ray qualities RQR and RQA recommended by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). The air kerma in the phantom and the mean energy of the spectrum were measured for such purpose. Harshaw LiF-100H thermoluminescent dosemeters (TLD) were used for measurements after being calibrated against an 180 cm{sup 3} Radcal Corporation ionization chamber traceable to a reference laboratory. A 300 mm x 300 mm x 150 mm polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) slab phantom was used for deep-dose measurements. Tl dosemeters were placed in the central axis of the x-ray beam at 5, 10, 15, 25 and 35 mm depth in the phantom upstream the beam direction Another required parameter for determining the conversion coefficients from was the mean energy of the x-ray spectrum. The spectroscopy of x-ray beams was done with a CdTe semiconductor detector that was calibrated with {sup 133} Ba, {sup 241} Am and {sup 57} Co radiation sources. Measurements of the x-ray spectra were carried out for all RQR and RQA IEC qualities. Corrections due to the detector intrinsic efficiency, total energy absorption, escape fraction of the characteristic x-rays, Compton effect and attenuation in the detector were done aiming an the accurate determination of the mean energy. Measured x-ray spectra were corrected with the stripping method by using these response functions. The typical combined standard uncertainties of

  14. Exponential Reliability Coefficient based Reputation Mechanism for isolating selfish nodes in MANETs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Sengathir

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available In mobile ad hoc networks, cooperation among active mobile nodes is considered to play a vital role in reliable transmission of data. But, the selfish mobile nodes present in an ad hoc environment refuse to forward neighbouring nodes’ packet for conserving its own energy. This intentional selfish behaviour drastically reduces the degree of cooperation maintained between the mobile nodes. Hence, a need arises for devising an effective mechanism which incorporates both energy efficiency and reputation into account for mitigating selfish behaviour in MANETs. In this paper, we propose an Exponential Reliability Coefficient based reputation Mechanism (ERCRM which isolates the selfish nodes from the routing path based on Exponential Reliability Coefficient (ExRC. This reliability coefficient manipulated through exponential failure rate based on moving average method highlights the most recent past behaviour of the mobile nodes for quantifying its genuineness. From the simulation results, it is evident that, the proposed ERCRM approach outperforms the existing Packet Conservation Monitoring Algorithm (PCMA and Spilt Half Reliability Coefficient based Mathematical Model (SHRCM in terms of performance evaluation metrics such as packet delivery ratio, throughput, total overhead and control overhead. Further, this ERCRM mechanism has a successful rate of 28% in isolating the selfish nodes from the routing path. Furthermore, it also aids in framing the exponential threshold point of detection as 0.4, where a maximum number of selfish nodes are identified when compared to the existing models available in the literature.

  15. Tomography based determination of permeability, Dupuit-Forchheimer coefficient, and interfacial heat transfer coefficient in reticulate porous ceramics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Petrasch, Joerg; Meier, Fabian; Friess, Hansmartin; Steinfeld, Aldo

    2008-01-01

    A computer tomography based methodology is applied to determine the transport properties of fluid flow across porous media. A 3D digital representation of a 10-ppi reticulate porous ceramic (RPC) sample was generated by X-ray tomographic scans. Structural properties such as the porosity, specific interfacial surface area, pore-size distribution, mean survival time, two-point correlation function s 2 , and local geometry distribution of the RPC sample are directly extracted from the tomographic data. Reference solutions of the fluid flow governing equations are obtained for Re = 0.2-200 by applying finite volume direct pore-level numerical simulation (DPLS) using unstructured, body-fitted, tetrahedral mesh discretization. The permeability and the Dupuit-Forchheimer coefficient are determined from the reference solutions by DPLS, and compared to the values predicted by selected porous media flow models, namely: conduit-flow, hydraulic radius theory, drag models, mean survival time bound, s 2 -bound, fibrous bed correlations, and local porosity theory-based models. DPLS is further employed to determine the interfacial heat transfer coefficient and to derive a corresponding Nu-correlation, which is compared to empirical correlations

  16. Bit-rate-transparent optical RZ-to-NRZ format conversion based on linear spectral phase filtering

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Maram, Reza; Da Ros, Francesco; Guan, Pengyu

    2017-01-01

    We propose a novel and strikingly simple design for all-optical bit-rate-transparent RZ-to-NRZ conversion based on optical phase filtering. The proposed concept is experimentally validated through format conversion of a 640 Gbit/s coherent RZ signal to NRZ signal.......We propose a novel and strikingly simple design for all-optical bit-rate-transparent RZ-to-NRZ conversion based on optical phase filtering. The proposed concept is experimentally validated through format conversion of a 640 Gbit/s coherent RZ signal to NRZ signal....

  17. Material-specific Conversion Factors for Different Solid Phantoms Used in the Dosimetry of Different Brachytherapy Sources

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sedigheh Sina

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Introduction Based on Task Group No. 43 (TG-43U1 recommendations, water phantom is proposed as a reference phantom for the dosimetry of brachytherapy sources. The experimental determination of TG-43 parameters is usually performed in water-equivalent solid phantoms. The purpose of this study was to determine the conversion factors for equalizing solid phantoms to water. Materials and Methods TG-43 parameters of low- and high-energy brachytherapy sources (i.e., Pd-103, I-125 and Cs-137 were obtained in different phantoms, using Monte Carlo simulations. The brachytherapy sources were simulated at the center of different phantoms including water, solid water, poly(methyl methacrylate, polystyrene and polyethylene. Dosimetric parameters such as dose rate constant, radial dose function and anisotropy function of each source were compared in different phantoms. Then, conversion factors were obtained to make phantom parameters equivalent to those of water. Results Polynomial coefficients of conversion factors were obtained for all sources to quantitatively compare g(r values in different phantom materials and the radial dose function in water. Conclusion Polynomial coefficients of conversion factors were obtained for all sources to quantitatively compare g(r values in different phantom materials and the radial dose function in water.

  18. Critical electrode size in measurement of d33 coefficient of films via spatial distribution of piezoelectric displacement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Zhihong; Miao Jianmin

    2008-01-01

    Spatial distributions of piezoelectric displacement response across the top electrode have been used in this paper to measure the piezoelectric coefficient d 33 of films based on the converse piezoelectric effect. The technical details and features of a scanning laser Doppler vibrometer have been summarized and discussed for accurately obtaining the spatial displacement distributions. Three definitions, including the apparent, the effective and the constrained piezoelectric coefficient d 33 of films, have been clarified and used to better understand the fundamental phenomenon behind the measured displacement distributions. Finite element analysis reveals that both the apparent and the effective piezoelectric coefficients depend on the electrode radius of test capacitor as well as film thickness. However, there exists a critical electrode size for apparent piezoelectric coefficients and a critical test capacitor aspect ratio for effective piezoelectric coefficient. Beyond their respective critical values, both coefficients converge to the constrained piezoelectric coefficient irrespective of film thickness. The finding of the critical electric size makes it possible to consistently measure the constrained piezoelectric coefficient of films by using the spatial distributions of the piezoelectric displacement response and becomes the fundamental criterion of this measurement method

  19. High energy photon reference for radiation protection: technical design of the LINAC beam and ionization chambers; and calculation of monoenergetic conversion coefficients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dusciac D.

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available In this work, we present the results of the first part of a research project aimed at offering a complete response to dosimeters providers and nuclear physicists’ demands for high-energy (6 – 9 MeV photon beams for radiation protection purposes. Classical facilities allowing the production of high-energy photonic radiation (proton accelerators, nuclear reactors are very rare and need large investment for development and use. A novel solution is proposed, consisting in the use of a medical linear accelerator, allowing a significant decrease of all costs.Using Monte Carlo simulations (MCNP5 and PENELOPE codes, a specifically designed electron-photon conversion target allowing for obtaining a high energy photon beam (with an average energy weighted by fluence of about 6 MeV has been built for radiation protection purposes. Due to the specific design of the target, this “realistic” radiation protection high-energy photon beam presents a uniform distribution of air kerma rate at a distance of 1 m, over a 30 × 30 cm2 surface. Two graphite cavity ionizing chambers for ionometric measurements have been built. For one of these chambers, the charge collection volume has been measured allowing for its use as a primary standard. The second ionizing chamber is used as a transfer standard; as such it has been calibrated in a 60Co beam, and in the high energy photon beam for radiation protection.The measurements with these ionizing chambers allowed for an evaluation of the air kerma rate in the LINAC based high-energy photon beam for radiation protection: the values cover a range between 36 mGy/h and 210 mGy/h, compatible with radiation protection purposes.Finally, using Monte Carlo simulations, conversion coefficients from air kerma to dose equivalent quantities have been calculated in the range between 10 keV and 22.4 MeV, for the spectral distribution of the fluence corresponding to the beam produced by the linear accelerator of the LNE-LNHB.

  20. Coeficiente de corrección en engranajes cilíndricos como factor de conversión entre sistemas AGMA e ISO. // Addendum modification coefficient as conversion factor of cylindrical gears in AGMA system to ISO standards.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. González Rey

    2007-09-01

    Full Text Available A partir de la experiencia de los autores, en trabajos asociados con el análisis para la reconversión de engranajes ensistemas AGMA a partir de herramientas con referencia a normas ISO, en el artículo se pretende exponer las principalesdefiniciones y recomendaciones asociadas al coeficiente de corrección relativo al módulo en engranajes cilíndricos de ejesparalelos con dientes de flanco de evolvente que permitan un racional cálculo de la geometría del engranaje y apreciarmediante ejemplos la ventaja del coeficiente de corrección en la solución de problemas prácticos de conversión deengranajes en sistemas AGMA a ISO.Palabras claves: geometría de engranaje cilíndrico, coeficiente de corrección, conversión AGMA a ISO________________________________________________________________________________AbstractDefinitions and recommendations associated to the addendum modification coefficient are presented. Examples, based onauthor’s experiences in the analysis, recovery and conversion of helical and spur gears in AGMA system to ISO standards showthe advantage of application of the addendum modification coefficient in the solution of practical problems and rationalcalculation of gears.Key words: external parallel-axis cylindrical involute gears, gear geometry, , ISO gear standards, rack shift coefficient x

  1. Teaching Medical Students About "The Conversation": An Interactive Value-Based Advance Care Planning Session.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lum, Hillary D; Dukes, Joanna; Church, Skotti; Abbott, Jean; Youngwerth, Jean M

    2018-02-01

    Advance care planning (ACP) promotes care consistent with patient wishes. Medical education should teach how to initiate value-based ACP conversations. To develop and evaluate an ACP educational session to teach medical students a value-based ACP process and to encourage students to take personal ACP action steps. Groups of third-year medical students participated in a 75-minute session using personal reflection and discussion framed by The Conversation Starter Kit. The Conversation Project is a free resource designed to help individuals and families express their wishes for end-of-life care. One hundred twenty-seven US third-year medical students participated in the session. Student evaluations immediately after the session and 1 month later via electronic survey. More than 90% of students positively evaluated the educational value of the session, including rating highly the opportunities to reflect on their own ACP and to use The Conversation Starter Kit. Many students (65%) reported prior ACP conversations. After the session, 73% reported plans to discuss ACP, 91% had thought about preferences for future medical care, and 39% had chosen a medical decision maker. Only a minority had completed an advance directive (14%) or talked with their health-care provider (1%). One month later, there was no evidence that the session increased students' actions regarding these same ACP action steps. A value-based ACP educational session using The Conversation Starter Kit successfully engaged medical students in learning about ACP conversations, both professionally and personally. This session may help students initiate conversations for themselves and their patients.

  2. Everyday conversation requires cognitive inference: neural bases of comprehending implicated meanings in conversations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jang, Gijeong; Yoon, Shin-ae; Lee, Sung-Eun; Park, Haeil; Kim, Joohan; Ko, Jeong Hoon; Park, Hae-Jeong

    2013-11-01

    In ordinary conversations, literal meanings of an utterance are often quite different from implicated meanings and the inference about implicated meanings is essentially required for successful comprehension of the speaker's utterances. Inference of finding implicated meanings is based on the listener's assumption that the conversational partner says only relevant matters according to the maxim of relevance in Grice's theory of conversational implicature. To investigate the neural correlates of comprehending implicated meanings under the maxim of relevance, a total of 23 participants underwent an fMRI task with a series of conversational pairs, each consisting of a question and an answer. The experimental paradigm was composed of three conditions: explicit answers, moderately implicit answers, and highly implicit answers. Participants were asked to decide whether the answer to the Yes/No question meant 'Yes' or 'No'. Longer reaction time was required for the highly implicit answers than for the moderately implicit answers without affecting the accuracy. The fMRI results show that the left anterior temporal lobe, left angular gyrus, and left posterior middle temporal gyrus had stronger activation in both moderately and highly implicit conditions than in the explicit condition. Comprehension of highly implicit answers had increased activations in additional regions including the left inferior frontal gyrus, left medial prefrontal cortex, left posterior cingulate cortex and right anterior temporal lobe. The activation results indicate involvement of these regions in the inference process to build coherence between literally irrelevant but pragmatically associated utterances under the maxim of relevance. Especially, the left anterior temporal lobe showed high sensitivity to the level of implicitness and showed increased activation for highly versus moderately implicit conditions, which imply its central role in inference such as semantic integration. The right

  3. Conversion of highly enriched uranium in thorium-232 based oxide fuel for light water reactors: MOX-T fuel

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vapirev, E; Jordanov, T; Khristoskov, I [Sofia Univ. (Bulgaria). Fizicheski Fakultet

    1996-12-31

    The possibility of using highly enriched uranium available from military inventories for production of mixed oxide fuel (MOX) has been proposed. The fuel is based on U-235 dioxide as fissile isotope and Th-232 dioxide as a non-fissile isotope. It is shown that although the fuel conversion coefficient to U-233 is expected to be less than 1, the proposed fuel has several important advantages resulting in cost reduction of the nuclear fuel cycle. The expected properties of MOX fuel (cross-sections, generated chains, delayed neutrons) are estimated. Due to fuel generation the initial enrichment is expected to be 1% less for production of the same energy. In contrast to traditional fuel no long living actinides are generated which reduces the disposal and reprocessing cost. 7 refs.

  4. Graphene-based photovoltaic cells for near-field thermal energy conversion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Messina, Riccardo; Ben-Abdallah, Philippe

    2013-01-01

    Thermophotovoltaic devices are energy-conversion systems generating an electric current from the thermal photons radiated by a hot body. While their efficiency is limited in far field by the Schockley-Queisser limit, in near field the heat flux transferred to a photovoltaic cell can be largely enhanced because of the contribution of evanescent photons, in particular for a source supporting a surface mode. Unfortunately, in the infrared where these systems operate, the mismatch between the surface-mode frequency and the semiconductor gap reduces drastically the potential of this technology. In this paper we propose a modified thermophotovoltaic device in which the cell is covered by a graphene sheet. By discussing the transmission coefficient and the spectral properties of the flux, we show that both the cell efficiency and the produced current can be enhanced, paving the way to promising developments for the production of electricity from waste heat.

  5. Estimation of Road Friction Coefficient in Different Road Conditions Based on Vehicle Braking Dynamics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, You-Qun; Li, Hai-Qing; Lin, Fen; Wang, Jian; Ji, Xue-Wu

    2017-07-01

    The accurate estimation of road friction coefficient in the active safety control system has become increasingly prominent. Most previous studies on road friction estimation have only used vehicle longitudinal or lateral dynamics and often ignored the load transfer, which tends to cause inaccurate of the actual road friction coefficient. A novel method considering load transfer of front and rear axles is proposed to estimate road friction coefficient based on braking dynamic model of two-wheeled vehicle. Sliding mode control technique is used to build the ideal braking torque controller, which control target is to control the actual wheel slip ratio of front and rear wheels tracking the ideal wheel slip ratio. In order to eliminate the chattering problem of the sliding mode controller, integral switching surface is used to design the sliding mode surface. A second order linear extended state observer is designed to observe road friction coefficient based on wheel speed and braking torque of front and rear wheels. The proposed road friction coefficient estimation schemes are evaluated by simulation in ADAMS/Car. The results show that the estimated values can well agree with the actual values in different road conditions. The observer can estimate road friction coefficient exactly in real-time and resist external disturbance. The proposed research provides a novel method to estimate road friction coefficient with strong robustness and more accurate.

  6. Conversion of electromagnetic waves at the ionisation front

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chegotov, M V

    2001-01-01

    It is shown that a weak electromagnetic pulse interacting with a copropagating ionisation front is converted in the general case into three electromagnetic pulses with higher and lower frequencies, which propagate in different directions. The coefficients of conversion to these pulses (for intensities) were found as functions of the frequency. The electromagnetic energy is shown to decrease during this conversion because of the losses for the residual electron energy. (interaction of laser radiation with matter. laser plasma)

  7. [Correlation coefficient-based classification method of hydrological dependence variability: With auto-regression model as example].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Yu Xi; Xie, Ping; Sang, Yan Fang; Wu, Zi Yi

    2018-04-01

    Hydrological process evaluation is temporal dependent. Hydrological time series including dependence components do not meet the data consistency assumption for hydrological computation. Both of those factors cause great difficulty for water researches. Given the existence of hydrological dependence variability, we proposed a correlationcoefficient-based method for significance evaluation of hydrological dependence based on auto-regression model. By calculating the correlation coefficient between the original series and its dependence component and selecting reasonable thresholds of correlation coefficient, this method divided significance degree of dependence into no variability, weak variability, mid variability, strong variability, and drastic variability. By deducing the relationship between correlation coefficient and auto-correlation coefficient in each order of series, we found that the correlation coefficient was mainly determined by the magnitude of auto-correlation coefficient from the 1 order to p order, which clarified the theoretical basis of this method. With the first-order and second-order auto-regression models as examples, the reasonability of the deduced formula was verified through Monte-Carlo experiments to classify the relationship between correlation coefficient and auto-correlation coefficient. This method was used to analyze three observed hydrological time series. The results indicated the coexistence of stochastic and dependence characteristics in hydrological process.

  8. Conversational Implicature of Peanuts Comic Strip Based on Grice’s Maxim Theory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muhartoyo Muhartoyo

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available This article discusses about conversational implicature that occurs in Peanuts comic strips. The objectives of this study are to find out the implied meaning in the conversation between Charlie Brown with Lucy van Pelt and Lucy van Pelt with Linus van Pelt to evaluate the existence of maxim flouting and maxim violating in those conversations in relation to the four maxims such as quantity, quality, relation, and manner. Likewise, this study attempts to find out the reason for using conversational implicature in a comic strip. The writers uses a qualitative method with library research concerning to Grice’s maxim theory to analyze the conversational implicature. Based on the analysis, it can be concluded that all the comics that comprise 14 comics generate conversational implicature since all the characters breach rules of maxim. The result of this analysis shows that flouting maxim of manner has the highest occurrence of conversational implicature and the least occurrences belong to flouting maxim of relation and violating maxim of quantity. Moreover, the writers concludes that to make a successful communication ideally the speaker and the hearer to cooperate in the conversation by saying explicitly so the hearer can grasp the meaning as the goal of communication is to deliver a message to the hearer.  

  9. Comparison of Radiation Dose Rates with the Flux to Dose Conversion Factors Recommended in ICRP-74 and ICRP-116

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jeong, Hae Sun; Kil, A Reum; Lee, Jo Eun; Jeong, Hyo Joon; Kim, Eun Han; Han, Moon Hee; Hwang, Won Tae

    2016-01-01

    The evaluation of radiation shielding has been performed for the design and maintenance of various facilities using radioactive sources such as nuclear fuel, accelerator, and radionuclide. The conversion of flux to dose mainly used in nuclear and radiation fields has been generally made with the dose coefficients presented in ICRP Publication 74 (ICRP- 74), which are produced based on ICRP Publication 60. On the other hand, ICRP Publication 116 (ICRP-116), which adopts the protection system of ICRP Publication 103, has recently been published and provides the dose conversion coefficients calculated with a variety of Monte Carlo codes. The coefficients have more than an update of those in ICRP-74, including new particle types and a greatly expanded energy range. In this study, a shielding evaluation of a specific container for neutron and gamma sources was performed with the MCNP6 code. The dose rates from neutron and gamma-ray sources were calculated using the MCNP6 codes, and these results were based on the flux to dose conversion factors recommended in ICRP-74 and ICRP-116. As a result, the dose rates evaluated with ICRP-74 were generally shown higher than those with ICRP-116. For neutrons, the difference is mainly occurred by the decrease of radiation weighting factors in a part of energy ranges in the ICRP-116 recommendations. For gamma-rays, the ICRP-74 recommendation applied with the kerma approximation leads to overestimated results than the other assessment

  10. Ultra-high-speed all-channel serial-to-parallel conversion based on complete optical fourier transformation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Guan, Pengyu; Røge, Kasper Meldgaard; Morioka, Toshio

    2016-01-01

    We propose a serial-to-parallel conversion scheme based on complete OFT, allowing simultaneous conversion of all channels. We demonstrate all 32-channel simultaneous OTDM to WDM conversion of 320-Gbit/s DPSK and of 640-Gbit/s DQPSK signal, respectively....

  11. Alteration of gene conversion patterns in Sordaria fimicola by supplementation with DNA bases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kitani, Y; Olive, L S

    1970-08-01

    Supplementation with DNA bases in crosses of Sordaria fimicola heterozygous for spore color markers (g(1), h(2)) within the gray-spore (g) locus has been found to cause significant alterations in patterns of gene conversion at the two mutant sites. Each base had its own characteristic effect in altering the conversion pattern, and responses of the two mutant sites to the four bases were different in several ways. Also, the responses of the two involved chromatids of the meiotic bivalent were different.

  12. Synchrotron radiation-based Mössbauer spectra of {sup 174}Yb measured with internal conversion electrons

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Masuda, Ryo, E-mail: masudar@rri.kyoto-u.ac.jp; Kobayashi, Yasuhiro; Kitao, Shinji; Kurokuzu, Masayuki [Research Reactor Institute, Kyoto University, Kumatori-cho, Sennan-gun, Osaka 590-0494 (Japan); Saito, Makina [Beamline Spectroscopy/Scattering Group, Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste, S. S. 14 Km 163.5, I-34149 Trieste (Italy); Yoda, Yoshitaka [Research and Utilization Division, Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute, Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5198 (Japan); Mitsui, Takaya [Condensed Matter Science Division, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5148 (Japan); Iga, Fumitoshi [College of Science, Ibaraki University, Mito, Ibaraki, 310-8512 (Japan); Seto, Makoto [Research Reactor Institute, Kyoto University, Kumatori-cho, Sennan-gun, Osaka 590-0494 (Japan); Condensed Matter Science Division, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5148 (Japan)

    2014-02-24

    A detection system for synchrotron-radiation (SR)-based Mössbauer spectroscopy was developed to enhance the nuclear resonant scattering counting rate and thus increase the available nuclides. In the system, a windowless avalanche photodiode (APD) detector was combined with a vacuum cryostat to detect the internal conversion (IC) electrons and fluorescent X-rays accompanied by nuclear de-excitation. As a feasibility study, the SR-based Mössbauer spectrum using the 76.5 keV level of {sup 174}Yb was observed without {sup 174}Yb enrichment of the samples. The counting rate was five times higher than that of our previous system, and the spectrum was obtained within 10 h. This result shows that nuclear resonance events can be more efficiently detected by counting IC electrons for nuclides with high IC coefficients. Furthermore, the windowless detection system enables us to place the sample closer to the APD elements and is advantageous for nuclear resonant inelastic scattering measurements. Therefore, this detection system can not only increase the number of nuclides accessible in SR-based Mössbauer spectroscopy but also allows the nuclear resonant inelastic scattering measurements of small single crystals or enzymes with dilute probe nuclides that are difficult to measure with the previous detection system.

  13. Parameterizing Coefficients of a POD-Based Dynamical System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalb, Virginia L.

    2010-01-01

    A method of parameterizing the coefficients of a dynamical system based of a proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) representing the flow dynamics of a viscous fluid has been introduced. (A brief description of POD is presented in the immediately preceding article.) The present parameterization method is intended to enable construction of the dynamical system to accurately represent the temporal evolution of the flow dynamics over a range of Reynolds numbers. The need for this or a similar method arises as follows: A procedure that includes direct numerical simulation followed by POD, followed by Galerkin projection to a dynamical system has been proven to enable representation of flow dynamics by a low-dimensional model at the Reynolds number of the simulation. However, a more difficult task is to obtain models that are valid over a range of Reynolds numbers. Extrapolation of low-dimensional models by use of straightforward Reynolds-number-based parameter continuation has proven to be inadequate for successful prediction of flows. A key part of the problem of constructing a dynamical system to accurately represent the temporal evolution of the flow dynamics over a range of Reynolds numbers is the problem of understanding and providing for the variation of the coefficients of the dynamical system with the Reynolds number. Prior methods do not enable capture of temporal dynamics over ranges of Reynolds numbers in low-dimensional models, and are not even satisfactory when large numbers of modes are used. The basic idea of the present method is to solve the problem through a suitable parameterization of the coefficients of the dynamical system. The parameterization computations involve utilization of the transfer of kinetic energy between modes as a function of Reynolds number. The thus-parameterized dynamical system accurately predicts the flow dynamics and is applicable to a range of flow problems in the dynamical regime around the Hopf bifurcation. Parameter

  14. Performance Comparison of Steam-Based and Chromate Conversion Coatings on Aluminum Alloy 6060

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Din, Rameez Ud; Jellesen, Morten Stendahl; Ambat, Rajan

    2015-01-01

    In this study, oxide layers generated on aluminum alloy 6060(UNS A96060) using a steam-based process were compared with conventional chromate and chromate-phosphate conversion coatings. Chemical composition and microstructure of the conversion coatings were investigated and their corrosion perfor...

  15. Light-triggered thermoelectric conversion based on a carbon nanotube-polymer hybrid gel.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miyako, Eijiro; Nagata, Hideya; Funahashi, Ryoji; Hirano, Ken; Hirotsu, Takahiro

    2009-01-01

    Lights? Nanotubes? Action! A hydrogel comprising lysozymes, poly(ethylene glycol), phospholipids, and functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes is employed for light-driven thermoelectric conversion. A photoinduced thermoelectric conversion module based on the hydrogel functions as a novel electric power generator (see image). This concept may find application in various industries, such as robotics and aerospace engineering.

  16. Format conversion between CAD data and GIS data based on ArcGIS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Qingqing; Wei, Bo; Zhang, Kailin; Wang, Zhichao

    2015-12-01

    To make full use of the data resources and realize a sharing for the different types of data in different industries, a method of format conversion between CAD data and GIS data based on ArcGIS was proposed. To keep the integrity of the converted data, some key steps to process CAD data before conversion were made in AutoCAD. For examples, deleting unnecessary elements such as title, border and legend avoided the appearance of unnecessary elements after conversion, as layering data again by a national standard avoided the different types of elements to appear in a same layer after conversion. In ArcGIS, converting CAD data to GIS data was executed by the correspondence of graphic element classification between AutoCAD and ArcGIS. In addition, an empty geographic database and feature set was required to create in ArcGIS for storing the text data of CAD data. The experimental results show that the proposed method avoids a large amount of editing work in data conversion and maintains the integrity of spatial data and attribute data between before and after conversion.

  17. Polarization Insensitive Wavelength Conversion Based on Four-Wave Mixing in a Silicon Nanowire

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pu, Minhao; Hu, Hao; Peucheret, Christophe

    2012-01-01

    We experimentally demonstrate, for the first time, polarization-insensitive wavelength conversion of a 10 Gb/s NRZ-OOK data signal based on four-wave mixing in a silicon nanowire with bit-error rate measurements.......We experimentally demonstrate, for the first time, polarization-insensitive wavelength conversion of a 10 Gb/s NRZ-OOK data signal based on four-wave mixing in a silicon nanowire with bit-error rate measurements....

  18. The Role of Conversation Policy in Carrying Out Agent Conversations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Link, Hamilton E.; Phillips, Laurence R.

    1999-01-01

    Structured conversation diagrams, or conversation specifications, allow agents to have predictable interactions and achieve predefined information-based goals, but they lack the flexibility needed to function robustly in an unpredictable environment. We propose a mechanism that combines a typical conversation structure with a separately established policy to generate an actual conversation. The word ''policy'' connotes a high-level direction external to a specific planned interaction with the environment. Policies, which describe acceptable procedures and influence decisions, can be applied to broad sets of activity. Based on their observation of issues related to a policy, agents may dynamically adjust their communication patterns. The policy object describes limitations, constraints, and requirements that may affect the conversation in certain circumstances. Using this new mechanism of interaction simplifies the description of individual conversations and allows domain-specific issues to be brought to bear more easily during agent communication. By following the behavior of the conversation specification when possible and deferring to the policy to derive behavior in exceptional circumstances, an agent is able to function predictably under normal situations and still act rationally in abnormal situations. Different conversation policies applied to a given conversation specification can change the nature of the interaction without changing the specification

  19. Research on the Fusion of Dependent Evidence Based on Rank Correlation Coefficient

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fengjian Shi

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available In order to meet the higher accuracy and system reliability requirements, the information fusion for multi-sensor systems is an increasing concern. Dempster–Shafer evidence theory (D–S theory has been investigated for many applications in multi-sensor information fusion due to its flexibility in uncertainty modeling. However, classical evidence theory assumes that the evidence is independent of each other, which is often unrealistic. Ignoring the relationship between the evidence may lead to unreasonable fusion results, and even lead to wrong decisions. This assumption severely prevents D–S evidence theory from practical application and further development. In this paper, an innovative evidence fusion model to deal with dependent evidence based on rank correlation coefficient is proposed. The model first uses rank correlation coefficient to measure the dependence degree between different evidence. Then, total discount coefficient is obtained based on the dependence degree, which also considers the impact of the reliability of evidence. Finally, the discount evidence fusion model is presented. An example is illustrated to show the use and effectiveness of the proposed method.

  20. Research on the Fusion of Dependent Evidence Based on Rank Correlation Coefficient.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Fengjian; Su, Xiaoyan; Qian, Hong; Yang, Ning; Han, Wenhua

    2017-10-16

    In order to meet the higher accuracy and system reliability requirements, the information fusion for multi-sensor systems is an increasing concern. Dempster-Shafer evidence theory (D-S theory) has been investigated for many applications in multi-sensor information fusion due to its flexibility in uncertainty modeling. However, classical evidence theory assumes that the evidence is independent of each other, which is often unrealistic. Ignoring the relationship between the evidence may lead to unreasonable fusion results, and even lead to wrong decisions. This assumption severely prevents D-S evidence theory from practical application and further development. In this paper, an innovative evidence fusion model to deal with dependent evidence based on rank correlation coefficient is proposed. The model first uses rank correlation coefficient to measure the dependence degree between different evidence. Then, total discount coefficient is obtained based on the dependence degree, which also considers the impact of the reliability of evidence. Finally, the discount evidence fusion model is presented. An example is illustrated to show the use and effectiveness of the proposed method.

  1. 640 Gbit/s RZ-to-NRZ format conversion based on optical phase filtering

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Maram, Reza; Kong, Deming; Galili, Michael

    2014-01-01

    We propose a novel approach for all optical RZ-to-NRZ conversion based on optical phase filtering. The proposed concept is experimentally validated through format conversion of a 640 Gbit/s coherent RZ signal to NRZ signal using a simple phase filter implemented by a commercial optical waveshaper....

  2. Study on Conversion Between Momentum and Contrarian Based on Fractal Game

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Xu; Song, Guanghui; Deng, Yan; Xu, Lin

    2015-06-01

    Based on the fractal game which is performed by the majority and the minority, the fractal market theory (FMT) is employed to describe the features of investors' decision-making. Accordingly, the process of fractal games is formed in order to analyze the statistical features of conversion between momentum and contrarian. The result shows that among three fractal game mechanisms, the statistical feature of simulated return rate series is much more similar to log returns on actual series. In addition, the conversion between momentum and contrarian is also extremely similar to real situation, which can reflect the effectiveness of using fractal game in analyzing the conversion between momentum and contrarian. Moreover, it also provides decision-making reference which helps investors develop effective investment strategy.

  3. OTDM-WDM Conversion Based on Time-Domain Optical Fourier Transformation with Spectral Compression

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mulvad, Hans Christian Hansen; Palushani, Evarist; Galili, Michael

    2011-01-01

    We propose a scheme enabling direct serial-to-parallel conversion of OTDM data tributaries onto a WDM grid, based on optical Fourier transformation with spectral compression. Demonstrations on 320 Gbit/s and 640 Gbit/s OTDM data are shown.......We propose a scheme enabling direct serial-to-parallel conversion of OTDM data tributaries onto a WDM grid, based on optical Fourier transformation with spectral compression. Demonstrations on 320 Gbit/s and 640 Gbit/s OTDM data are shown....

  4. The possibility of determining the activity coefficients of individual ions from acid-base titration data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jano, I.; Hardcastle, J. E.

    1998-07-01

    A method is described for obtaining the activity coefficients of individual ions from experimental titration data. For this purpose, a general polyprotic acid-base-titration-curve equation is derived. The equation allows obtaining the dissociation equilibrium constants of the acid and the ratio of the activity coefficient of each ion to the activity coefficient of the undissociated acid directly from the titration data. Results obtained are compared with coefficients calculated using Debye-Hückel equation. A general equation relating the ionic strength to the pH of the titration medium is also established. Une méthode pour l'obtention des coefficients d'activité des ions individuels à partir des données expérimentales de titrage est établie. À ce but, une équation générale est dérivée pour représenter la courbe de titrage d'un acide avec une base. Cette équation permet d'obtenir les constants d'équilibre de dissociation de l'acide et le rapport de coefficient d'activité de chaque ion au coefficient d'activité de l'acide non-dissocié à partir des données de titrage. Les résultats ainsi obtenus sont comparés avec les coefficients calculés à l'aide de l'équation de Debye-Hückel. Une équation liant la force ionique au pH du milieu est établie aussi.

  5. An approach for fixed coefficient RNS-based FIR filter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Srinivasa Reddy, Kotha; Sahoo, Subhendu Kumar

    2017-08-01

    In this work, an efficient new modular multiplication method for {2k-1, 2k, 2k+1-1} moduli set is proposed to implement a residue number system (RNS)-based fixed coefficient finite impulse response filter. The new multiplication approach reduces the number of partial products by using pre-loaded product block. The reduction in partial products with the proposed modular multiplication improves the clock frequency and reduces the area and power as compared with the conventional modular multiplication. Further, the present approach eliminates a binary number to residue number converter circuit, which is usually needed at the front end of RNS-based system. In this work, two fixed coefficient filter architectures with the new modular multiplication approach are proposed. The filters are implemented using Verilog hardware description language. The United Microelectronics Corporation 90 nm technology library has been used for synthesis and the results area, power and delay are obtained with the help of Cadence register transfer level compiler. The power delay product (PDP) is also considered for performance comparison among the proposed filters. One of the proposed architecture is found to improve PDP gain by 60.83% as compared with the filter implemented with conventional modular multiplier. The filters functionality is validated with the help of Altera DSP Builder.

  6. Neural network based method for conversion of solar radiation data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Celik, Ali N.; Muneer, Tariq

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► Generalized regression neural network is used to predict the solar radiation on tilted surfaces. ► The above network, amongst many such as multilayer perceptron, is the most successful one. ► The present neural network returns a relative mean absolute error value of 9.1%. ► The present model leads to a mean absolute error value of estimate of 14.9 Wh/m 2 . - Abstract: The receiving ends of the solar energy conversion systems that generate heat or electricity from radiation is usually tilted at an optimum angle to increase the solar incident on the surface. Solar irradiation data measured on horizontal surfaces is readily available for many locations where such solar energy conversion systems are installed. Various equations have been developed to convert solar irradiation data measured on horizontal surface to that on tilted one. These equations constitute the conventional approach. In this article, an alternative approach, generalized regression type of neural network, is used to predict the solar irradiation on tilted surfaces, using the minimum number of variables involved in the physical process, namely the global solar irradiation on horizontal surface, declination and hour angles. Artificial neural networks have been successfully used in recent years for optimization, prediction and modeling in energy systems as alternative to conventional modeling approaches. To show the merit of the presently developed neural network, the solar irradiation data predicted from the novel model was compared to that from the conventional approach (isotropic and anisotropic models), with strict reference to the irradiation data measured in the same location. The present neural network model was found to provide closer solar irradiation values to the measured than the conventional approach, with a mean absolute error value of 14.9 Wh/m 2 . The other statistical values of coefficient of determination and relative mean absolute error also indicate the

  7. Normal age-related conversion of bone marrow in the skull base. Assessment with MR imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kato, Koki; Tomura, Noriaki; Takahashi, Satoshi; Izumi, Junichi; Kurosawa, Ryo; Sashi, Ryuji; Watarai, Jiro

    2000-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to assess the normal age-related sequence of conversion from hematopoietic to fatty marrow in the skull base by means of MR imaging. We retrospectively reviewed T1-weighted MR images of the skull base for the distribution of hematopoietic and fatty marrow. The subjects consisted of 169 MR examinations that were performed with the spin-echo technique. The age of the subjects ranged from 0 months to 20 years old. Patients with known marrow abnormalities were excluded from this study. Marrow conversion was assessed in the presphenoid, postsphenoid, basiocciput, petrous apex, clivus, zygomatic bone, and condyle of the mandible. The signal intensity was visually graded, and the signal intensity ratio was determined on the basis of the intensities of the subcutaneous fat and air. The signal intensity of all observed regions was as low as that of muscles until 3 months of age. Conversion of hematopoietic to fatty marrow first occurred in the zygomatic bone until 6 months of age. The presphenoid increased in signal intensity from 5 months to 2 years of age, and the sphenoid sinus began to be pneumatic at this age. Marrow conversion of the postsphenoid and basiocciput was later than that of the presphenoid. Most of the bone marrow of the skull base appeared as fatty conversion until 3 years of age, although some mandibular condyles appeared hematopoietic at 3 years of age. The normal age-related conversion from hematopoietic to fatty marrow in the skull base followed a well-defined sequence. Knowledge of the normal bone marrow conversion by MR imaging is essential for the recognition of pathologic marrow processes. (author)

  8. Evaluation of the fluence to dose conversion coefficients for high energy neutrons using a voxel phantom coupled with the GEANT4 code

    CERN Document Server

    Paganini, S

    2005-01-01

    Crews working on present-day jet aircraft are a large occupationally exposed group with a relatively high average effective dose from Galactic cosmic radiation. Crews of future high-speed commercial flying at higher altitudes would be even more exposed. To help reduce the significant uncertainties in calculations of such exposures, the male adult voxels phantom MAX, developed in the Nuclear Energy Department of Pernambuco Federal University in Brazil, has been coupled with the Monte Carlo simulation code GEANT4. This toolkit, distributed and upgraded from the international scientific community of CERN/Switzerland, simulates thermal to ultrahigh energy neutrons transport and interactions in the matter. The high energy neutrons are pointed as the component that contribute about 70% of the neutron effective dose that represent the 35% to 60% total dose at aircraft altitude. In this research calculations of conversion coefficients from fluence to effective dose are performed for neutrons of energies from 100 MeV ...

  9. [Extracting THz absorption coefficient spectrum based on accurate determination of sample thickness].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Zhi; Zhang, Zhao-hui; Zhao, Xiao-yan; Su, Hai-xia; Yan, Fang

    2012-04-01

    Extracting absorption spectrum in THz band is one of the important aspects in THz applications. Sample's absorption coefficient has a complex nonlinear relationship with its thickness. However, as it is not convenient to measure the thickness directly, absorption spectrum is usually determined incorrectly. Based on the method proposed by Duvillaret which was used to precisely determine the thickness of LiNbO3, the approach to measuring the absorption coefficient spectra of glutamine and histidine in frequency range from 0.3 to 2.6 THz(1 THz = 10(12) Hz) was improved in this paper. In order to validate the correctness of this absorption spectrum, we designed a series of experiments to compare the linearity of absorption coefficient belonging to one kind amino acid in different concentrations. The results indicate that as agreed by Lambert-Beer's Law, absorption coefficient spectrum of amino acid from the improved algorithm performs better linearity with its concentration than that from the common algorithm, which can be the basis of quantitative analysis in further researches.

  10. Prediction of Sliding Friction Coefficient Based on a Novel Hybrid Molecular-Mechanical Model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xiaogang; Zhang, Yali; Wang, Jianmei; Sheng, Chenxing; Li, Zhixiong

    2018-08-01

    Sliding friction is a complex phenomenon which arises from the mechanical and molecular interactions of asperities when examined in a microscale. To reveal and further understand the effects of micro scaled mechanical and molecular components of friction coefficient on overall frictional behavior, a hybrid molecular-mechanical model is developed to investigate the effects of main factors, including different loads and surface roughness values, on the sliding friction coefficient in a boundary lubrication condition. Numerical modelling was conducted using a deterministic contact model and based on the molecular-mechanical theory of friction. In the contact model, with given external loads and surface topographies, the pressure distribution, real contact area, and elastic/plastic deformation of each single asperity contact were calculated. Then asperity friction coefficient was predicted by the sum of mechanical and molecular components of friction coefficient. The mechanical component was mainly determined by the contact width and elastic/plastic deformation, and the molecular component was estimated as a function of the contact area and interfacial shear stress. Numerical results were compared with experimental results and a good agreement was obtained. The model was then used to predict friction coefficients in different operating and surface conditions. Numerical results explain why applied load has a minimum effect on the friction coefficients. They also provide insight into the effect of surface roughness on the mechanical and molecular components of friction coefficients. It is revealed that the mechanical component dominates the friction coefficient when the surface roughness is large (Rq > 0.2 μm), while the friction coefficient is mainly determined by the molecular component when the surface is relatively smooth (Rq < 0.2 μm). Furthermore, optimal roughness values for minimizing the friction coefficient are recommended.

  11. Modular approach for conversion to the ion-hybrid wave and α gyroresonance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kaufman, A.N.; Morehead, J.J.; Brizard, A.J.; Tracy, E.R.

    1997-01-01

    Linear conversion of an incoming magnetosonic wave (a.k.a. fast or compressional wave) to an ion-hybrid wave can be considered as a 3-step process in ray phase space. This is demonstrated by casting the cold-fluid model into the Friedland-Kaufman normal form for linear mode conversion. First, the incoming magnetosonic ray (MSR) converts a fraction of its action to an intermediate ion-hybrid ray (IHR), with the transmitted ray proceeding through the conversion layer. The IHR propagates in k-space to a second conversion point, where it converts in turn a fraction of its action into a reflected MSR, with the remainder of the its action constituting the converted IHR. The modular approach gives exact agreement with the more standard Budden formulation for the transmission, reflection and conversion coefficients, but has the important advantage of exposing the intermediate IHR. The existence of the intermediate IHR has important physical consequences as it can resonate with α particles. We estimate the time-integrated damping coefficient between the two conversions and show that ∫γdt is of order -100, thus the IH wave is completely annihilated between conversions and transfers its energy to the α close-quote s. This suggests that proposals to use the IH mode for current drive or DT heating are likely to fail in the presence of fusion α close-quote s. copyright 1997 American Institute of Physics

  12. The power grid AGC frequency bias coefficient online identification method based on wide area information

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Zian; Li, Shiguang; Yu, Ting

    2015-12-01

    This paper propose online identification method of regional frequency deviation coefficient based on the analysis of interconnected grid AGC adjustment response mechanism of regional frequency deviation coefficient and the generator online real-time operation state by measured data through PMU, analyze the optimization method of regional frequency deviation coefficient in case of the actual operation state of the power system and achieve a more accurate and efficient automatic generation control in power system. Verify the validity of the online identification method of regional frequency deviation coefficient by establishing the long-term frequency control simulation model of two-regional interconnected power system.

  13. Analytical solution for the mode conversion equations with steep exponential density profiles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alava, M.J.; Heikkinen, J.A.

    1992-01-01

    A general analytical solution for the converted power from the fast magnetosonic wave to an ion Bernstein wave in a magnetized plasma with an exponential steeply increasing density profile is given in the closed form. The solution covers both the conversion at the lower-hybrid resonance and the conversion through the density gradient for small parallel wave numbers. As an application, the conversion coefficients at the scrape-off layer plasma are estimated in the context of ion cyclotron heating of a tokamak plasma

  14. Measurement and prediction of aromatic solute distribution coefficients for aqueous-organic solvent systems. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Campbell, J.R.; Luthy, R.G.

    1984-06-01

    Experimental and modeling activities were performed to assess techniques for measurement and prediction of distribution coefficients for aromatic solutes between water and immiscible organic solvents. Experiments were performed to measure distribution coefficients in both clean water and wastewater systems, and to assess treatment of a wastewater by solvent extraction. The theoretical portions of this investigation were directed towards development of techniques for prediction of solute-solvent/water distribution coefficients. Experiments were performed to assess treatment of a phenolic-laden coal conversion wastewater by solvent extraction. The results showed that solvent extraction for recovery of phenolic material offered several wastewater processing advantages. Distribution coefficients were measured in clean water and wastewater systems for aromatic solutes of varying functionality with different solvent types. It was found that distribution coefficients for these compounds in clean water systems were not statistically different from distribution coefficients determined in a complex coal conversion process wastewater. These and other aromatic solute distribution coefficient data were employed for evaluation of modeling techniques for prediction of solute-solvent/water distribution coefficients. Eight solvents were selected in order to represent various chemical classes: toluene and benzene (aromatics), hexane and heptane (alkanes), n-octanol (alcohols), n-butyl acetate (esters), diisopropyl ether (ethers), and methylisobutyl ketone (ketones). The aromatic solutes included: nonpolar compounds such as benzene, toluene and naphthalene, phenolic compounds such as phenol, cresol and catechol, nitrogenous aromatics such as aniline, pyridine and aminonaphthalene, and other aromatic solutes such as naphthol, quinolinol and halogenated compounds. 100 references, 20 figures, 34 tables.

  15. Converse flexoelectric effect in comb electrode piezoelectric microbeam

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shen, Zhiyuan, E-mail: shenyuan675603@gmail.com [School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, 639798 Singapore (Singapore); Chen, Wei [Microelectronics Centre, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, 639798 Singapore (Singapore)

    2012-04-09

    We demonstrate the converse flexoelectric effect in a lead zirconate titanate microbeam. The fringe electric field of a comb electrode induces converse flexoelectric responses in uniformly poled and depoled beams. The simulated electric field distribution shows that bending of the beam is induced by piezoelectric and μ{sub 11}, μ{sub 12} flexoelectric coefficients. Simulations indicate that piezoelectric displacement occurs in different directions in the two opposite poled samples while flexoelectric displacement remains the same. This finding is verified by the displacement measurement results. -- Highlights: ► We demonstrate the converse flexoelectric effect in a PZT microbeam. ► Beams with upward and downward poling states are fabricated by MEMS technique. ► Converse flexoelectric deformation is induced by the fringe field. ► Electric field distribution is calculated by finite element analysis. ► The simulation results are verified by impedance and displacement measurements.

  16. MR-based attenuation correction for PET/MRI neurological studies with continuous-valued attenuation coefficients for bone through a conversion from R2* to CT-Hounsfield units.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Juttukonda, Meher R; Mersereau, Bryant G; Chen, Yasheng; Su, Yi; Rubin, Brian G; Benzinger, Tammie L S; Lalush, David S; An, Hongyu

    2015-05-15

    MR-based correction for photon attenuation in PET/MRI remains challenging, particularly for neurological applications requiring quantitation of data. Existing methods are either not sufficiently accurate or are limited by the computation time required. The goal of this study was to develop an MR-based attenuation correction method that accurately separates bone tissue from air and provides continuous-valued attenuation coefficients for bone. PET/MRI and CT datasets were obtained from 98 subjects (mean age [±SD]: 66yrs [±9.8], 57 females) using an IRB-approved protocol and with informed consent. Subjects were injected with 352±29MBq of (18)F-Florbetapir tracer, and PET acquisitions were begun either immediately or 50min after injection. CT images of the head were acquired separately using a PET/CT system. Dual echo ultrashort echo-time (UTE) images and two-point Dixon images were acquired. Regions of air were segmented via a threshold of the voxel-wise multiplicative inverse of the UTE echo 1 image. Regions of bone were segmented via a threshold of the R2* image computed from the UTE echo 1 and UTE echo 2 images. Regions of fat and soft tissue were segmented using fat and water images decomposed from the Dixon images. Air, fat, and soft tissue were assigned linear attenuation coefficients (LACs) of 0, 0.092, and 0.1cm(-1), respectively. LACs for bone were derived from a regression analysis between corresponding R2* and CT values. PET images were reconstructed using the gold standard CT method and the proposed CAR-RiDR method. The RiDR segmentation method produces mean Dice coefficient±SD across subjects of 0.75±0.05 for bone and 0.60±0.08 for air. The CAR model for bone LACs greatly improves accuracy in estimating CT values (28.2%±3.0 mean error) compared to the use of a constant CT value (46.9%±5.8, punits. From our analysis, we conclude that the proposed method closely approaches (<3% error) the gold standard CT-scaled method in PET reconstruction accuracy

  17. Zr-based conversion layer on Zn-Al-Mg alloy coated steel sheets: insights into the formation mechanism

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lostak, Thomas; Maljusch, Artjom; Klink, Björn; Krebs, Stefan; Kimpel, Matthias; Flock, Jörg; Schulz, Stephan; Schuhmann, Wolfgang

    2014-01-01

    Zr-based conversion layers are considered as environmentally friendly alternatives replacing trication phosphatation in the automotive industry. Based on excellent electronic barrier properties they provide an effective corrosion protection of the metallic substrate. In this work, thin protective layers were grown on novel Zn-Al-Mg alloy coated steel sheets by increasing the local pH-value at the sample surface leading to deposition of a Zr-based conversion layer. For this purpose Zn-Al-Mg alloy (ZM) coated steel sheets were treated in an aqueous model conversion solution containing well-defined amounts of hexafluorozirconic acid (H 2 ZrF 6 ) and characterized after different immersion times with SKPFM and field emission SEM (FE-SEM)/EDX techniques. A deposition mechanism of Zr-based conversion coatings on microstructural heterogeneous Zn-Al-Mg alloy surfaces was proposed

  18. Energy coefficients for a propeller series

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olsen, Anders Smærup

    2004-01-01

    The efficiency for a propeller is calculated by energy coefficients. These coefficients are related to four types of losses, i.e. the axial, the rotational, the frictional, and the finite blade number loss, and one gain, i.e. the axial gain. The energy coefficients are derived by use...... of the potential theory with the propeller modelled as an actuator disk. The efficiency based on the energy coefficients is calculated for a propeller series. The results show a good agreement between the efficiency based on the energy coefficients and the efficiency obtained by a vortex-lattice method....

  19. A conversion method of air-kerma from the primary, scatter and leakage radiations to ambient dose equivalent for calculating the mamography x-ray shielding barrier

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kharrati, H.

    2005-01-01

    The primary, scatter, and leakage doses(in Gy), which constitute the data base for calculating shielding requirements for x-ray facilities, are often converted to the equivalent dose (in sievert) by using a constant of conversion of 1.145Sv/Gy. This constant is used for diagnostic radiology as well as for mammography spectra, and is derived by considering an exposure of 1 R corresponds to an air kerma of 8.73 m Gy, which renders by tradition an equivalent dose of 10 mSv. However, this conversion does not take into account the energy dependence of the conversion coefficients relating air kerma to the equivalent dose as described in ICRU report. Moreover, current radiation protection standards propose the use of the quantity ambient dose equivalent in order to qualify the efficiently of given radiation shielding. Therefore, in this study, a new approach has been introduced for derivation ambient dose equivalent from air kerma to calculate shielding requirements in mammography facilities. This new approach has been used to compute the conversion coefficients relating air kerma to ambient dose equivalent for mammography reference beam series of the Netherlands Metrology Institute Van Swinden Laboratorium (NMi), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and International Atomic Energy Agency (AIEA) laboratories. The calculation has been performed by the means of two methods which show a maximum deviation less than 10%2 for the primary, scatter, and leakage radiations. The results show that the conversion coefficients vary from 0.242 Sv/ Gy to 0.692 Sv/Gy with an average value of 0.436 Sv/Gy for the primary and the scatter radiations, and form 0.156 Sv/Gy to 1.329 Sv/Gy with an average value of 0.98 Sv/Gy for the leakage radiation. Simpkin et al. using an empirical approach propose a conversion value of 0.50 Sv/Gy for the mammography x-ray spectra. This value approximately coincides with the average conversion value of 0.436 Sv/Gy obtained in this work for

  20. Assessment of dose conversion factors in a generic biosphere of a Korea HLW repository

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hwang, Y. S.; Park, J. B.; Kang, C. H.

    2002-01-01

    Radioactive species released from a waste repository migrate through engineered and natural barriers and eventually reach the biosphere. Once entered the biosphere, contaminants transport various exposure pathways and finally reach a human. In this study the full RES matrix explaining the key compartments in the biosphere and their interactions is introduced considering the characteristics of the Korean biosphere. Then the three exposure groups are identified based on the compartments of interest. The full exposure pathways and corresponding mathematical expression for mass transfer coefficients and etc are developed and applied to assess the dose conversion factors of nuclides for a specific exposure group. Dose conversion factors assessed in this study will be used for total system performance assessment of a potential Korean HLW repository

  1. Engineering quadratic nonlinear photonic crystals for frequency conversion of lasers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Baoqin; Hong, Lihong; Hu, Chenyang; Zhang, Chao; Liu, Rongjuan; Li, Zhiyuan

    2018-03-01

    Nonlinear frequency conversion offers an effective way to extend the laser wavelength range. Quadratic nonlinear photonic crystals (NPCs) are artificial materials composed of domain-inversion structures whose sign of nonlinear coefficients are modulated with desire to implement quasi-phase matching (QPM) required for nonlinear frequency conversion. These structures can offer various reciprocal lattice vectors (RLVs) to compensate the phase-mismatching during the quadratic nonlinear optical processes, including second-harmonic generation (SHG), sum-frequency generation and the cascaded third-harmonic generation (THG). The modulation pattern of the nonlinear coefficients is flexible, which can be one-dimensional or two-dimensional (2D), be periodic, quasi-periodic, aperiodic, chirped, or super-periodic. As a result, these NPCs offer very flexible QPM scheme to satisfy various nonlinear optics and laser frequency conversion problems via design of the modulation patterns and RLV spectra. In particular, we introduce the electric poling technique for fabricating QPM structures, a simple effective nonlinear coefficient model for efficiently and precisely evaluating the performance of QPM structures, the concept of super-QPM and super-periodically poled lithium niobate for finely tuning nonlinear optical interactions, the design of 2D ellipse QPM NPC structures enabling continuous tunability of SHG in a broad bandwidth by simply changing the transport direction of pump light, and chirped QPM structures that exhibit broadband RLVs and allow for simultaneous radiation of broadband SHG, THG, HHG and thus coherent white laser from a single crystal. All these technical, theoretical, and physical studies on QPM NPCs can help to gain a deeper insight on the mechanisms, approaches, and routes for flexibly controlling the interaction of lasers with various QPM NPCs for high-efficiency frequency conversion and creation of novel lasers.

  2. Microbial conversion of biomass into bio-based polymers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kawaguchi, Hideo; Ogino, Chiaki; Kondo, Akihiko

    2017-12-01

    The worldwide market for plastics is rapidly growing, and plastics polymers are typically produced from petroleum-based chemicals. The overdependence on petroleum-based chemicals for polymer production raises economic and environmental sustainability concerns. Recent progress in metabolic engineering has expanded fermentation products from existing aliphatic acids or alcohols to include aromatic compounds. This diversity provides an opportunity to expand the development and industrial uses of high-performance bio-based polymers. However, most of the biomonomers are produced from edible sugars or starches that compete directly with food and feed uses. The present review focuses on recent progress in the microbial conversion of biomass into bio-based polymers, in which fermentative products from renewable feedstocks serve as biomonomers for the synthesis of bio-based polymers. In particular, the production of biomonomers from inedible lignocellulosic feedstocks by metabolically engineered microorganisms and the synthesis of bio-based engineered plastics from the biological resources are discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. A randomized controlled clinical trial of a hypnosis-based treatment for patients with conversion disorder, motor type

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Moene, F.C.; Spinhoven, P.; Hoogduin, C.A.L.; Dyck, R. van

    2003-01-01

    This study tested whether a hypnosis-based intervention showed promise as a treatment for patients with conversion disorder, motor type. Forty-four outpatients with conversion disorder, motor type, or somatization disorder with motor conversion symptoms, were randomly assigned to a hypnosis or a

  4. Absorption and emission from mode conversion theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Swanson, D.G.

    1995-02-01

    The effects of mode conversion theory on emission have led to some surprising results. The classical expressions were originally derived from models which did not include mode conversion or its attendant reflection. When mode conversion was included, the first surprise was that the transmission coefficient is totally independent of absorption and due exclusively to tunneling. The other surprise is that the observed emission arises from two distinct sources, one direct, and one from an indirect Bernstein wave source which is partially converted in the cyclotron layer to outgoing electromagnetic waves, with the net result that mode conversion cancels out for the electron case. The only corrections to electron cyclotron emission are then due to reflection effects, and these have been shown to be small for laboratory plasmas, leading to the validation of the classical formula, but via an entirely new paradigm in its interpretation. This paper includes a summary of the absorption process for electron cyclotron harmonics, and reviews the emission physics, including both potential error estimates and a discussion of the spatial emission source distribution

  5. Study of transport coefficients of nanodiamond nanofluids

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pryazhnikov, M. I.; Minakov, A. V.; Guzei, D. V.

    2017-09-01

    Experimental data on the thermal conductivity coefficient and viscosity coefficient of nanodiamond nanofluids are presented. Distilled water and ethylene glycol were used as the base fluid. Dependences of transport coefficients on concentration are obtained. It was shown that the thermal conductivity coefficient increases with increasing nanodiamonds concentration. It was shown that base fluids properties and nanodiamonds concentration affect on the rheology of nanofluids.

  6. Correlation coefficient based supervised locally linear embedding for pulmonary nodule recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Panpan; Xia, Kewen; Yu, Hengyong

    2016-11-01

    Dimensionality reduction techniques are developed to suppress the negative effects of high dimensional feature space of lung CT images on classification performance in computer aided detection (CAD) systems for pulmonary nodule detection. An improved supervised locally linear embedding (SLLE) algorithm is proposed based on the concept of correlation coefficient. The Spearman's rank correlation coefficient is introduced to adjust the distance metric in the SLLE algorithm to ensure that more suitable neighborhood points could be identified, and thus to enhance the discriminating power of embedded data. The proposed Spearman's rank correlation coefficient based SLLE (SC(2)SLLE) is implemented and validated in our pilot CAD system using a clinical dataset collected from the publicly available lung image database consortium and image database resource initiative (LICD-IDRI). Particularly, a representative CAD system for solitary pulmonary nodule detection is designed and implemented. After a sequential medical image processing steps, 64 nodules and 140 non-nodules are extracted, and 34 representative features are calculated. The SC(2)SLLE, as well as SLLE and LLE algorithm, are applied to reduce the dimensionality. Several quantitative measurements are also used to evaluate and compare the performances. Using a 5-fold cross-validation methodology, the proposed algorithm achieves 87.65% accuracy, 79.23% sensitivity, 91.43% specificity, and 8.57% false positive rate, on average. Experimental results indicate that the proposed algorithm outperforms the original locally linear embedding and SLLE coupled with the support vector machine (SVM) classifier. Based on the preliminary results from a limited number of nodules in our dataset, this study demonstrates the great potential to improve the performance of a CAD system for nodule detection using the proposed SC(2)SLLE. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Evaluation Standard for Safety Coefficient of Roller Compacted Concrete Dam Based on Finite Element Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bo Li

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The lack of evaluation standard for safety coefficient based on finite element method (FEM limits the wide application of FEM in roller compacted concrete dam (RCCD. In this paper, the strength reserve factor (SRF method is adopted to simulate gradual failure and possible unstable modes of RCCD system. The entropy theory and catastrophe theory are used to obtain the ultimate bearing resistance and failure criterion of the RCCD. The most dangerous sliding plane for RCCD failure is found using the Latin hypercube sampling (LHS and auxiliary analysis of partial least squares regression (PLSR. Finally a method for determining the evaluation standard of RCCD safety coefficient based on FEM is put forward using least squares support vector machines (LSSVM and particle swarm optimization (PSO. The proposed method is applied to safety coefficient analysis of the Longtan RCCD in China. The calculation shows that RCCD failure is closely related to RCCD interface strength, and the Longtan RCCD is safe in the design condition. Considering RCCD failure characteristic and combining the advantages of several excellent algorithms, the proposed method determines the evaluation standard for safety coefficient of RCCD based on FEM for the first time and can be popularized to any RCCD.

  8. Adaptive Green-Kubo estimates of transport coefficients from molecular dynamics based on robust error analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Reese E.; Mandadapu, Kranthi K.

    2012-04-01

    We present a rigorous Green-Kubo methodology for calculating transport coefficients based on on-the-fly estimates of: (a) statistical stationarity of the relevant process, and (b) error in the resulting coefficient. The methodology uses time samples efficiently across an ensemble of parallel replicas to yield accurate estimates, which is particularly useful for estimating the thermal conductivity of semi-conductors near their Debye temperatures where the characteristic decay times of the heat flux correlation functions are large. Employing and extending the error analysis of Zwanzig and Ailawadi [Phys. Rev. 182, 280 (1969)], 10.1103/PhysRev.182.280 and Frenkel [in Proceedings of the International School of Physics "Enrico Fermi", Course LXXV (North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1980)] to the integral of correlation, we are able to provide tight theoretical bounds for the error in the estimate of the transport coefficient. To demonstrate the performance of the method, four test cases of increasing computational cost and complexity are presented: the viscosity of Ar and water, and the thermal conductivity of Si and GaN. In addition to producing accurate estimates of the transport coefficients for these materials, this work demonstrates precise agreement of the computed variances in the estimates of the correlation and the transport coefficient with the extended theory based on the assumption that fluctuations follow a Gaussian process. The proposed algorithm in conjunction with the extended theory enables the calculation of transport coefficients with the Green-Kubo method accurately and efficiently.

  9. Estimating Seebeck Coefficient of a p-Type High Temperature Thermoelectric Material Using Bee Algorithm Multi-layer Perception

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uysal, Fatih; Kilinc, Enes; Kurt, Huseyin; Celik, Erdal; Dugenci, Muharrem; Sagiroglu, Selami

    2017-08-01

    Thermoelectric generators (TEGs) convert heat into electrical energy. These energy-conversion systems do not involve any moving parts and are made of thermoelectric (TE) elements connected electrically in a series and thermally in parallel; however, they are currently not suitable for use in regular operations due to their low efficiency levels. In order to produce high-efficiency TEGs, there is a need for highly heat-resistant thermoelectric materials (TEMs) with an improved figure of merit ( ZT). Production and test methods used for TEMs today are highly expensive. This study attempts to estimate the Seebeck coefficient of TEMs by using the values of existing materials in the literature. The estimation is made within an artificial neural network (ANN) based on the amount of doping and production methods. Results of the estimations show that the Seebeck coefficient can approximate the real values with an average accuracy of 94.4%. In addition, ANN has detected that any change in production methods is followed by a change in the Seebeck coefficient.

  10. Improved picture rate conversion using classification based LMS-filters.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    An, L.; Heinrich, A.; Cordes, C.N.; Haan, de G.; Rabbani, Majid

    2009-01-01

    Due to the recent explosion of multimedia formats and the need to convert between them, more attention is drawn to picture rate conversion. Moreover, growing demands on video motion portrayal without judder or blur requires improved format conversion. The simplest conversion repeats the latest

  11. DESIGN OF DYADIC-INTEGER-COEFFICIENTS BASED BI-ORTHOGONAL WAVELET FILTERS FOR IMAGE SUPER-RESOLUTION USING SUB-PIXEL IMAGE REGISTRATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P.B. Chopade

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents image super-resolution scheme based on sub-pixel image registration by the design of a specific class of dyadic-integer-coefficient based wavelet filters derived from the construction of a half-band polynomial. First, the integer-coefficient based half-band polynomial is designed by the splitting approach. Next, this designed half-band polynomial is factorized and assigned specific number of vanishing moments and roots to obtain the dyadic-integer coefficients low-pass analysis and synthesis filters. The possibility of these dyadic-integer coefficients based wavelet filters is explored in the field of image super-resolution using sub-pixel image registration. The two-resolution frames are registered at a specific shift from one another to restore the resolution lost by CCD array of camera. The discrete wavelet transform (DWT obtained from the designed coefficients is applied on these two low-resolution images to obtain the high resolution image. The developed approach is validated by comparing the quality metrics with existing filter banks.

  12. Penetration effect in internal conversion and nuclear structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Listengarten, M.A.

    1978-01-01

    The conditions for the appearance of the anomalous internal conversion coefficients (ICC) are considered, when the contribution of the penetration matrix element (PME) is of the order of or larger than the main part of the conversion matrix element. The experimental magnitudes of the nuclear PME agree well with those calculated in the framework of simple nuclear models, provided the magnitude of PME is not decreased due to the model -dependent selection rules. The magnitude of the anomaly ( lanbda parameter ) is compared with the exclusion factor of γ-transition relative to the Weisskopf estimation. The better is the model of the nucleus the weaker is the dependence of the lambda magnitude on the exclusion factor. ICC coefficients might be anomalous for those γ-transitions for which the exclusion factor calculated in the framework of more rigorous model are of the order of unity. In the ''ideal'' model of nucleus completely adequate to the true nuclear structure the dependence of the lambda penetration parameter on the exclusion factor vanishes

  13. Development of water demand coefficients for power generation from renewable energy technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ali, Babkir; Kumar, Amit

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Water consumption and withdrawals coefficients for renewable power generation were developed. • Six renewable energy sources (biomass, nuclear, solar, wind, hydroelectricity, and geothermal) were studied. • Life cycle water footprints for 60 electricity generation pathways were considered. • Impact of cooling systems for some power generation pathways was assessed. - Abstract: Renewable energy technology-based power generation is considered to be environmentally friendly and to have a low life cycle greenhouse gas emissions footprint. However, the life cycle water footprint of renewable energy technology-based power generation needs to be assessed. The objective of this study is to develop life cycle water footprints for renewable energy technology-based power generation pathways. Water demand is evaluated through consumption and withdrawals coefficients developed in this study. Sixty renewable energy technology-based power generation pathways were developed for a comprehensive comparative assessment of water footprints. The pathways were based on the use of biomass, nuclear, solar, wind, hydroelectricity, and geothermal as the source of energy. During the complete life cycle, power generation from bio-oil extracted from wood chips, a biomass source, was found to have the highest water demand footprint and wind power the lowest. During the complete life cycle, the water demand coefficients for biomass-based power generation pathways range from 260 to 1289 l of water per kilowatt hour and for nuclear energy pathways from 0.48 to 179 l of water per kilowatt hour. The water demand for power generation from solar energy-based pathways ranges from 0.02 to 4.39 l of water per kilowatt hour, for geothermal pathways from 0.04 to 1.94 l of water per kilowatt hour, and for wind from 0.005 to 0.104 l of water per kilowatt hour. A sensitivity analysis was conducted with varying conversion efficiencies to evaluate the impact of power plant performance on

  14. Auger coefficient in GaInN-based laser structures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Draeger, Alexander Daniel; Netzel, Carsten; Brendel, Moritz; Joenen, Holger; Rossow, Uwe; Hangleiter, Andreas [Institut fuer Angewandte Physik, TU Braunschweig (Germany)

    2010-07-01

    Todays GaInN-based light emitting devices such as LEDs and laser diodes show excellent properties in terms of quantum efficiency or threshold current in the violet-blue spectral region. With increasing wavelength towards the green this performance decreases strongly. In particular at longer wavelengths, the quantum efficiency decreases for higher current densities, called the efficiency droop. This phenomenon is still subject to intensive research and different mechanisms such as Auger recombination, losses due to dislocations and carrier escape have been named as possible explanations. We combine optical gain measurements using the variable stripe length technique with model calculations of the optical gain spectra to derive the carrier lifetime. From the dependence of the inverse effective lifetime on carrier density we determine the recombination coefficients for radiative, nonradiative and Auger recombination. The Auger coefficients we obtained are about 1-2 x 10{sup -31} cm{sup 6}/s for GaInN quantum wells with 2.5eV

  15. Defining the Ecological Coefficient of Performance for an Aircraft Propulsion System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Şöhret, Yasin

    2018-05-01

    The aircraft industry, along with other industries, is considered responsible these days regarding environmental issues. Therefore, the performance evaluation of aircraft propulsion systems should be conducted with respect to environmental and ecological considerations. The current paper aims to present the ecological coefficient of performance calculation methodology for aircraft propulsion systems. The ecological coefficient performance is a widely-preferred performance indicator of numerous energy conversion systems. On the basis of thermodynamic laws, the methodology used to determine the ecological coefficient of performance for an aircraft propulsion system is parametrically explained and illustrated in this paper for the first time. For a better understanding, to begin with, the exergy analysis of a turbojet engine is described in detail. Following this, the outputs of the analysis are employed to define the ecological coefficient of performance for a turbojet engine. At the end of the study, the ecological coefficient of performance is evaluated parametrically and discussed depending on selected engine design parameters and performance measures. The author asserts the ecological coefficient of performance to be a beneficial indicator for researchers interested in aircraft propulsion system design and related topics.

  16. [Hydrologic variability and sensitivity based on Hurst coefficient and Bartels statistic].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lei, Xu; Xie, Ping; Wu, Zi Yi; Sang, Yan Fang; Zhao, Jiang Yan; Li, Bin Bin

    2018-04-01

    Due to the global climate change and frequent human activities in recent years, the pure stochastic components of hydrological sequence is mixed with one or several of the variation ingredients, including jump, trend, period and dependency. It is urgently needed to clarify which indices should be used to quantify the degree of their variability. In this study, we defined the hydrological variability based on Hurst coefficient and Bartels statistic, and used Monte Carlo statistical tests to test and analyze their sensitivity to different variants. When the hydrological sequence had jump or trend variation, both Hurst coefficient and Bartels statistic could reflect the variation, with the Hurst coefficient being more sensitive to weak jump or trend variation. When the sequence had period, only the Bartels statistic could detect the mutation of the sequence. When the sequence had a dependency, both the Hurst coefficient and the Bartels statistics could reflect the variation, with the latter could detect weaker dependent variations. For the four variations, both the Hurst variability and Bartels variability increased with the increases of variation range. Thus, they could be used to measure the variation intensity of the hydrological sequence. We analyzed the temperature series of different weather stations in the Lancang River basin. Results showed that the temperature of all stations showed the upward trend or jump, indicating that the entire basin had experienced warming in recent years and the temperature variability in the upper and lower reaches was much higher. This case study showed the practicability of the proposed method.

  17. ForConX: A forcefield conversion tool based on XML.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lesch, Volker; Diddens, Diddo; Bernardes, Carlos E S; Golub, Benjamin; Dequidt, Alain; Zeindlhofer, Veronika; Sega, Marcello; Schröder, Christian

    2017-04-05

    The force field conversion from one MD program to another one is exhausting and error-prone. Although single conversion tools from one MD program to another exist not every combination and both directions of conversion are available for the favorite MD programs Amber, Charmm, Dl-Poly, Gromacs, and Lammps. We present here a general tool for the force field conversion on the basis of an XML document. The force field is converted to and from this XML structure facilitating the implementation of new MD programs for the conversion. Furthermore, the XML structure is human readable and can be manipulated before continuing the conversion. We report, as testcases, the conversions of topologies for acetonitrile, dimethylformamide, and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate comprising also Urey-Bradley and Ryckaert-Bellemans potentials. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  18. Study of vanadium-based chemical conversion coating on the corrosion resistance of magnesium alloy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, K.H.; Ger, M.D.; Hwu, W.H.; Sung, Y.; Liu, Y.C.

    2007-01-01

    In this study, magnesium alloy (AZ61) was immersed in vanadium containing bath with various conditions, such as the vanadium concentration, immersion time and bath temperature. The results indicate that increase of both vanadium concentration and immersion time produces a thicker conversion layer. However, when immersion time is too long, it will worsen the corrosion resistance due to the increasing of the crack density. The experimental parameter of bath temperature has no significant effect on corrosion resistance. Our results demonstrated that the better corrosion resistance coating can be obtained when the samples are submitted to an immersion in the conversion bath containing NaVO 3 with concentration of 30 g l -1 for 10 min at 80 deg. C. The presented conversion treatment has its potential to replace the chrome-based conversion coating treatment

  19. RZ-to-NRZ format conversion at 50 Gbit/s based on a silicon microring resonator

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ding, Yunhong; Peucheret, Christophe; Pu, Minhao

    2010-01-01

    We demonstrate RZ-to-NRZ format conversion at 50 Gbit/s based on silicon microring resonator with FSR of 100 GHz. Bit error rate measurements show a low power penalty compared to electrical NRZ signal for error free operation.......We demonstrate RZ-to-NRZ format conversion at 50 Gbit/s based on silicon microring resonator with FSR of 100 GHz. Bit error rate measurements show a low power penalty compared to electrical NRZ signal for error free operation....

  20. High-capacity lithium-ion battery conversion cathodes based on iron fluoride nanowires and insights into the conversion mechanism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Linsen; Meng, Fei; Jin, Song

    2012-11-14

    The increasing demands from large-scale energy applications call for the development of lithium-ion battery (LIB) electrode materials with high energy density. Earth abundant conversion cathode material iron trifluoride (FeF(3)) has a high theoretical capacity (712 mAh g(-1)) and the potential to double the energy density of the current cathode material based on lithium cobalt oxide. Such promise has not been fulfilled due to the nonoptimal material properties and poor kinetics of the electrochemical conversion reactions. Here, we report for the first time a high-capacity LIB cathode that is based on networks of FeF(3) nanowires (NWs) made via an inexpensive and scalable synthesis. The FeF(3) NW cathode yielded a discharge capacity as high as 543 mAh g(-1) at the first cycle and retained a capacity of 223 mAh g(-1) after 50 cycles at room temperature under the current of 50 mA g(-1). Moreover, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy revealed the existence of continuous networks of Fe in the lithiated FeF(3) NWs after discharging, which is likely an important factor for the observed improved electrochemical performance. The loss of active material (FeF(3)) caused by the increasingly ineffective reconversion process during charging was found to be a major factor responsible for the capacity loss upon cycling. With the advantages of low cost, large quantity, and ease of processing, these FeF(3) NWs are not only promising battery cathode materials but also provide a convenient platform for fundamental studies and further improving conversion cathodes in general.

  1. The utilisation of a career conversation framework based on Schein’s career anchors model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Magda Bezuidenhout

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Orientation: This  study  constituted  and  reported  on  the  outcomes  of  a  structured  career conversation  framework  based  on  Schein’s  eight  career  anchors  in  an  open  distance  and e-learning (ODeL university in South Africa. Research purpose: The purpose of the research was to report on the utilisation of a structured career conversation framework based on Schein’s career anchors model. Motivation for the study: The rationale for the study was the paucity of studies investigating career anchors in South Africa’s multicultural organisational context. Research design, approach and method: A quantitative approach was adopted in the study. The population consisted of 4200 employees at a university in South Africa. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA as well as a Scheffe post hoc test. Main  findings: The  findings  of  this  study  suggest  that  career  conversation  has  a  dynamic nature (i.e. it changes over a period of time. Consequently, career development interventions in the workplace need to approach the workforce holistically. Practical/managerial implications: The findings and results will assist managers, practitioners and  career  development  specialists  in  the  practical  implementation  of  the  career  anchor concept. Contribution/value-add: The career conversation framework based on Schein’s career anchors has expanded the existing theory to find the right balance between career conversations and career anchors to keep people motivated to perform optimally in an organisation.

  2. Effects of a random spatial variation of the plasma density on the mode conversion in cold, unmagnetized, and stratified plasmas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jung Yu, Dae [School of Space Research, Kyung Hee University, Yongin 446-701 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Kihong [Department of Energy Systems Research, Ajou University, Suwon 443-749 (Korea, Republic of)

    2013-12-15

    We study the effects of a random spatial variation of the plasma density on the mode conversion of electromagnetic waves into electrostatic oscillations in cold, unmagnetized, and stratified plasmas. Using the invariant imbedding method, we calculate precisely the electromagnetic field distribution and the mode conversion coefficient, which is defined to be the fraction of the incident wave power converted into electrostatic oscillations, for the configuration where a numerically generated random density variation is added to the background linear density profile. We repeat similar calculations for a large number of random configurations and take an average of the results. We obtain a peculiar nonmonotonic dependence of the mode conversion coefficient on the strength of randomness. As the disorder increases from zero, the maximum value of the mode conversion coefficient decreases initially, then increases to a maximum, and finally decreases towards zero. The range of the incident angle in which mode conversion occurs increases monotonically as the disorder increases. We present numerical results suggesting that the decrease of mode conversion mainly results from the increased reflection due to the Anderson localization effect originating from disorder, whereas the increase of mode conversion of the intermediate disorder regime comes from the appearance of many resonance points and the enhanced tunneling between the resonance points and the cutoff point. We also find a very large local enhancement of the magnetic field intensity for particular random configurations. In order to obtain high mode conversion efficiency, it is desirable to restrict the randomness close to the resonance region.

  3. Effects of a random spatial variation of the plasma density on the mode conversion in cold, unmagnetized, and stratified plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jung Yu, Dae; Kim, Kihong

    2013-01-01

    We study the effects of a random spatial variation of the plasma density on the mode conversion of electromagnetic waves into electrostatic oscillations in cold, unmagnetized, and stratified plasmas. Using the invariant imbedding method, we calculate precisely the electromagnetic field distribution and the mode conversion coefficient, which is defined to be the fraction of the incident wave power converted into electrostatic oscillations, for the configuration where a numerically generated random density variation is added to the background linear density profile. We repeat similar calculations for a large number of random configurations and take an average of the results. We obtain a peculiar nonmonotonic dependence of the mode conversion coefficient on the strength of randomness. As the disorder increases from zero, the maximum value of the mode conversion coefficient decreases initially, then increases to a maximum, and finally decreases towards zero. The range of the incident angle in which mode conversion occurs increases monotonically as the disorder increases. We present numerical results suggesting that the decrease of mode conversion mainly results from the increased reflection due to the Anderson localization effect originating from disorder, whereas the increase of mode conversion of the intermediate disorder regime comes from the appearance of many resonance points and the enhanced tunneling between the resonance points and the cutoff point. We also find a very large local enhancement of the magnetic field intensity for particular random configurations. In order to obtain high mode conversion efficiency, it is desirable to restrict the randomness close to the resonance region

  4. Full-spectrum volumetric solar thermal conversion via photonic nanofluids.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Xianglei; Xuan, Yimin

    2017-10-12

    Volumetric solar thermal conversion is an emerging technique for a plethora of applications such as solar thermal power generation, desalination, and solar water splitting. However, achieving broadband solar thermal absorption via dilute nanofluids is still a daunting challenge. In this work, full-spectrum volumetric solar thermal conversion is demonstrated over a thin layer of the proposed 'photonic nanofluids'. The underlying mechanism is found to be the photonic superposition of core resonances, shell plasmons, and core-shell resonances at different wavelengths, whose coexistence is enabled by the broken symmetry of specially designed composite nanoparticles, i.e., Janus nanoparticles. The solar thermal conversion efficiency can be improved by 10.8% compared with core-shell nanofluids. The extinction coefficient of Janus dimers with various configurations is also investigated to unveil the effects of particle couplings. This work provides the possibility to achieve full-spectrum volumetric solar thermal conversion, and may have potential applications in efficient solar energy harvesting and utilization.

  5. Determination of the external mass transfer coefficient and influence of mixing intensity in moving bed biofilm reactors for wastewater treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nogueira, Bruno L; Pérez, Julio; van Loosdrecht, Mark C M; Secchi, Argimiro R; Dezotti, Márcia; Biscaia, Evaristo C

    2015-09-01

    In moving bed biofilm reactors (MBBR), the removal of pollutants from wastewater is due to the substrate consumption by bacteria attached on suspended carriers. As a biofilm process, the substrates are transported from the bulk phase to the biofilm passing through a mass transfer resistance layer. This study proposes a methodology to determine the external mass transfer coefficient and identify the influence of the mixing intensity on the conversion process in-situ in MBBR systems. The method allows the determination of the external mass transfer coefficient in the reactor, which is a major advantage when compared to the previous methods that require mimicking hydrodynamics of the reactor in a flow chamber or in a separate vessel. The proposed methodology was evaluated in an aerobic lab-scale system operating with COD removal and nitrification. The impact of the mixing intensity on the conversion rates for ammonium and COD was tested individually. When comparing the effect of mixing intensity on the removal rates of COD and ammonium, a higher apparent external mass transfer resistance was found for ammonium. For the used aeration intensities, the external mass transfer coefficient for ammonium oxidation was ranging from 0.68 to 13.50 m d(-1) and for COD removal 2.9 to 22.4 m d(-1). The lower coefficient range for ammonium oxidation is likely related to the location of nitrifiers deeper in the biofilm. The measurement of external mass transfer rates in MBBR will help in better design and evaluation of MBBR system-based technologies. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Conversion to biofuel based heating systems - local environmental effects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jonsson, Anna

    2003-01-01

    One of the most serious environmental problems today is the global warming, i.e.climate changes caused by emissions of greenhouse gases. The greenhouse gases originate from combustion of fossil fuels and changes the atmospheric composition. As a result of the climate change, the Swedish government has decided to make a changeover of the Swedish energy system. This involves an increase of the supply of electricity and heating from renewable energy sources and a decrease in the amount electricity used for heating, as well as a more efficient use of the existing electricity system. Today, a rather large amount electricity is used for heating in Sweden. Furthermore, nuclear power will be phased out by the year 2010 in Sweden. Bio fuels are a renewable energy source and a conceivable alternative to the use of fossil fuels. Therefore, an increase of bio fuels will be seen the coming years. Bio fuels have a lot of environmental advantages, mainly for the global environment, but might also cause negative impacts such as depletion of the soils where the biomass is grown and local deterioration of the air quality where the bio fuels are combusted. These negative impacts are a result of the use of wrong techniques and a lack of knowledge and these factors have to be improved if the increase of the use of bio fuels is to be made effectively. The aim of this master thesis is to evaluate the possibilities for heating with bio fuel based systems in housing areas in the municipalities of Trollhaettan, Ulricehamn and Goetene in Vaestra Goetalands County in the South West of Sweden and to investigate which environmental and health effects are caused by the conversion of heating systems. The objective is to use the case studies as examples on preferable bio fuel based heating systems in different areas, and to what environmental impact this conversion of heating systems might cause. The housing areas for this study have been chosen on the basis of present heating system, one area

  7. On the Energy Conversion Efficiency of Piezoelectric Vibration Energy Harvesting Devices

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Jae Eun [Catholic University of Daegu, Kyungsan (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-05-15

    To properly design and assess a piezoelectric vibration energy harvester, it is necessary to consider the application of an efficiency measure of energy conversion. The energy conversion efficiency is defined in this work as the ratio of the electrical output power to the mechanical input power for a piezoelectric vibration energy harvester with an impedance-matched load resistor. While previous research works employed the electrical output power for approximate impedance-matched load resistance, this work derives an efficiency measure considering optimally matched resistance. The modified efficiency measure is validated by comparing it with finite element analysis results for piezoelectric vibration energy harvesters with three different values of the electro-mechanical coupling coefficient. New findings on the characteristics of energy conversion and conversion efficiency are also provided for the two different impedance matching methods.

  8. Calculation of conversion coefficients for effective dose by using voxel phantoms with defined genus for radiodiagnostic common examinations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lima, F.R.A.; Kramer, R.; Khoury, H.J.; Vieira, J.W.; Loureiro, E.C.M.; Hoff, G.

    2004-01-01

    Patient exposure from radiological examinations is usually quantified in terms of average absorbed dose or equivalent dose to certain radiosensitive organs of the human body. As these quantities cannot be measured in vivo, it is common practice to use physical or computational exposure models, which simulate the exposure to the patient in order to determine not only the quantities of interest (absorbed or equivalent dose), but also at the same time measurable quantities for the exposure conditions given. The ratio between a quantity of interest and a measurable quantity is called a conversion coefficient (CC), which is a function of the source and field parameters (tube voltage, filtration, field size, field position, focus-to-skin distance, etc.), the anatomical properties of the phantom, the elemental composition of relevant body tissues, and the radiation transport method applied. As the effective dose represents a sum over 23 risk-weighted organ and tissue equivalent doses, its determination practically implies the measurement or calculation of a complete distribution of equivalent doses throughout the human body. This task can be resolved most efficiently by means of computational exposure models, which consist of a virtual representation of the human body, also called phantom, connected to a Monte Carlo radiation transport computer code. The recently introduced MAX (Male Adult voXel) and FAXht (Female Adult voXel) head+trunk phantoms have been chosen for this task. With respect to their anatomical properties these phantoms correspond fairly well to the data recommended by the ICRP for the Reference Adult Male and Female. (author)

  9. Complex Nanostructures from Materials based on Metal-Organic Frameworks for Electrochemical Energy Storage and Conversion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guan, Bu Yuan; Yu, Xin Yao; Wu, Hao Bin; Lou, Xiong Wen David

    2017-12-01

    Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have drawn tremendous attention because of their abundant diversity in structure and composition. Recently, there has been growing research interest in deriving advanced nanomaterials with complex architectures and tailored chemical compositions from MOF-based precursors for electrochemical energy storage and conversion. Here, a comprehensive overview of the synthesis and energy-related applications of complex nanostructures derived from MOF-based precursors is provided. After a brief summary of synthetic methods of MOF-based templates and their conversion to desirable nanostructures, delicate designs and preparation of complex architectures from MOFs or their composites are described in detail, including porous structures, single-shelled hollow structures, and multishelled hollow structures, as well as other unusual complex structures. Afterward, their applications are discussed as electrode materials or catalysts for lithium-ion batteries, hybrid supercapacitors, water-splitting devices, and fuel cells. Lastly, the research challenges and possible development directions of complex nanostructures derived from MOF-based-templates for electrochemical energy storage and conversion applications are outlined. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  10. Broadband Polarization-Insensitive Wavelength Conversion Based on Non-Degenerate Four-Wave Mixing in a Silicon Nanowire

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pu, Minhao; Hu, Hao; Ji, Hua

    2012-01-01

    We experimentally demonstrate broadband polarization-insensitive one-to-two wavelength conversion of a 10-Gb/s DPSK data signal based on non-degenerate four-wave mixing in a silicon nanowire with bit-error rate measurements.......We experimentally demonstrate broadband polarization-insensitive one-to-two wavelength conversion of a 10-Gb/s DPSK data signal based on non-degenerate four-wave mixing in a silicon nanowire with bit-error rate measurements....

  11. Tyre-road friction coefficient estimation based on tyre sensors and lateral tyre deflection: modelling, simulations and experiments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hong, Sanghyun; Erdogan, Gurkan; Hedrick, Karl; Borrelli, Francesco

    2013-05-01

    The estimation of the tyre-road friction coefficient is fundamental for vehicle control systems. Tyre sensors enable the friction coefficient estimation based on signals extracted directly from tyres. This paper presents a tyre-road friction coefficient estimation algorithm based on tyre lateral deflection obtained from lateral acceleration. The lateral acceleration is measured by wireless three-dimensional accelerometers embedded inside the tyres. The proposed algorithm first determines the contact patch using a radial acceleration profile. Then, the portion of the lateral acceleration profile, only inside the tyre-road contact patch, is used to estimate the friction coefficient through a tyre brush model and a simple tyre model. The proposed strategy accounts for orientation-variation of accelerometer body frame during tyre rotation. The effectiveness and performance of the algorithm are demonstrated through finite element model simulations and experimental tests with small tyre slip angles on different road surface conditions.

  12. The use of gas based energy conversion cycles for sodium fast reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saez, M.; Haubensack, D.; Alpy, N.; Gerber, A.; Daid, F.

    2008-01-01

    In the frame of Sodium Fast Reactors, CEA, AREVA and EDF are involved in a substantial effort providing both significant expertise and original work in order to investigate the interest to use a gas based energy conversion cycle as an alternative to the classical steam cycle. These gas cycles consist in different versions of the Brayton cycle, various types of gas being considered (helium, nitrogen, argon, separately or mixed, sub or supercritical carbon dioxide) as well as various cycle arrangements (indirect, indirect / combined cycles). The interest of such cycles is analysed in details by thermodynamic calculations and cycle optimisations. The objective of this paper is to provide a comparison between gas based energy conversion cycles from the viewpoint of the overall plant efficiency. Key factors affecting the Brayton cycle efficiency include the turbine inlet temperature, compressors and turbine efficiencies, recuperator effectiveness and cycle pressure losses. A nitrogen Brayton cycle at high pressure (between 100 and 180 bar) could appear as a potential near-term solution of classical gas power conversion system for maximizing the plant efficiency. At long-term, supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle appears very promising for Sodium Fast Reactors, with a potential of high efficiency using even at a core outlet temperature of 545 deg. C. (authors)

  13. Graphitic design: prospects of graphene-based nanocomposites for solar energy conversion, storage, and sensing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lightcap, Ian V; Kamat, Prashant V

    2013-10-15

    Graphene not only possesses interesting electrochemical behavior but also has a remarkable surface area and mechanical strength and is naturally abundant, all advantageous properties for the design of tailored composite materials. Graphene-semiconductor or -metal nanoparticle composites have the potential to function as efficient, multifunctional materials for energy conversion and storage. These next-generation composite systems could possess the capability to integrate conversion and storage of solar energy, detection, and selective destruction of trace environmental contaminants or achieve single-substrate, multistep heterogeneous catalysis. These advanced materials may soon become a reality, based on encouraging results in the key areas of energy conversion and sensing using graphene oxide as a support structure. Through recent advances, chemists can now integrate such processes on a single substrate while using synthetic designs that combine simplicity with a high degree of structural and composition selectivity. This progress represents the beginning of a transformative movement leveraging the advancements of single-purpose chemistry toward the creation of composites designed to address whole-process applications. The promising field of graphene nanocomposites for sensing and energy applications is based on fundamental studies that explain the electronic interactions between semiconductor or metal nanoparticles and graphene. In particular, reduced graphene oxide is a suitable composite substrate because of its two-dimensional structure, outstanding surface area, and electrical conductivity. In this Account, we describe common assembly methods for graphene composite materials and examine key studies that characterize its excited state interactions. We also discuss strategies to develop graphene composites and control electron capture and transport through the 2D carbon network. In addition, we provide a brief overview of advances in sensing, energy conversion

  14. Transport Coefficients from Large Deviation Functions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chloe Ya Gao

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available We describe a method for computing transport coefficients from the direct evaluation of large deviation functions. This method is general, relying on only equilibrium fluctuations, and is statistically efficient, employing trajectory based importance sampling. Equilibrium fluctuations of molecular currents are characterized by their large deviation functions, which are scaled cumulant generating functions analogous to the free energies. A diffusion Monte Carlo algorithm is used to evaluate the large deviation functions, from which arbitrary transport coefficients are derivable. We find significant statistical improvement over traditional Green–Kubo based calculations. The systematic and statistical errors of this method are analyzed in the context of specific transport coefficient calculations, including the shear viscosity, interfacial friction coefficient, and thermal conductivity.

  15. Transport Coefficients from Large Deviation Functions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Chloe; Limmer, David

    2017-10-01

    We describe a method for computing transport coefficients from the direct evaluation of large deviation function. This method is general, relying on only equilibrium fluctuations, and is statistically efficient, employing trajectory based importance sampling. Equilibrium fluctuations of molecular currents are characterized by their large deviation functions, which is a scaled cumulant generating function analogous to the free energy. A diffusion Monte Carlo algorithm is used to evaluate the large deviation functions, from which arbitrary transport coefficients are derivable. We find significant statistical improvement over traditional Green-Kubo based calculations. The systematic and statistical errors of this method are analyzed in the context of specific transport coefficient calculations, including the shear viscosity, interfacial friction coefficient, and thermal conductivity.

  16. Analytic expressions for mode conversion in a plasma with a parabolic density profile: Generalized results

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hinkel-Lipsker, D.E.; Fried, B.D.; Morales, G.J.

    1993-01-01

    This study provides an analytic solution to the general problem of mode conversion in an unmagnetized plasma. Specifically, an electromagnetic wave of frequency ω propagating through a plasma with a parabolic density profile of scale length L p is examined. The mode conversion points are located a distance Δ 0 from the peak of the profile, where the electron plasma frequency ω p (z) matches the wave frequency ω. The corresponding reflection, transmission, and mode conversion coefficients are expressed analytically in terms of parabolic cylinder functions for all values of Δ 0 . The method of solution is based on a source approximation technique that is valid when the electromagnetic and electrostatic scale lengths are well separated. For large Δ 0 , i.e., (cL p /ω) 1/2 much-lt Δ 0 p , the appropriately scaled result [D. E. Hinkel-Lipsker et al., Phys. Fluids B 4, 559 (1992)] for a linear density profile is recovered as the parabolic cylinder functions asymptotically become Airy functions. When Δ 0 →0, the special case of conversion at the peak of the profile [D. E. Hinkel-Lipsker et al., Phys. Fluids B 4, 1772 (1992)] is obtained

  17. Parametric study of up-conversion efficiency in Er-doped ceria nanoparticles under 780 nm excitation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shehata, N.; Kandas, I.; Samir, E.; Meehan, K.; Aldacher, M.

    2016-01-01

    This paper presents a new parametric study of the optical up-conversion process in ceria nanoparticles doped with erbium (Er-CeO 2 NPs). Under 780 nm excitation, both the possible transitions that occur between Er 3+ ions and up-conversion rate model simulation are presented. Ceria nanoparticles (CeO 2 NPs) doped with erbium are experimentally synthesized using chemical precipitation technique with post-annealing up to 900 °C with different weight ratios of erbium dopant. We found that the synthesized nanoparticles can emit both green and red emissions under 780 nm laser excitation via two-photon absorption mechanism. Then, the quantum efficiencies of both colored emissions are theoretically investigated with different parameters related to the optical conversion process and the studied material. In addition, this work offer suggested ranges for the optimum values of the studied parameters which could improve the quantum yield efficiency. Einstein coefficients for erbium hosted in ceria are discussed in details using Judd–Ofelt analysis. This promising study could be helpful in improving the up-conversion efficiency of Er-ceria nanoparticles for applications such as bio-imaging and optical-based sensors.

  18. Questions from Afar: The Influence of Outsideness on Web-Based Conversation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deed, Craig; Edwards, Anthony; Gomez, Viviana

    2015-01-01

    This paper defines the metaphor of outsideness in relation to web-based interaction. Outsideness is conceived of as a key influence in online academic conversation. In particular, through the sharing of cultural perspectives, asking questions to resolve doubt, and collaborative writing and re-writing as a basis for shaping ideas through reasoning.…

  19. Role of nuclear penetration effects in spin assignments. [J, transitions, internal conversion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sahota, H S [Punjabi Univ., Patiala (India). Dept. of Physics

    1976-04-01

    Nuclear penetrations have been found to affect the internal conversion process of the retarded magnetic dipole transitions. In all cases where the penetration coefficient has been found to be essentially different from unity the transition is 1-forbidden. This criterian has been applied to the case of 191 keV transition in /sup 197/Au where the spin of the 268 keV level could not be deduced uniquely by any of the existing methods. The result is that the 199 keV transition has a dynamic contribution to its internal conversion process with the penetration coefficient lambda = 5.5 +- 0.9. To illustrate the applicability of the criterian further two more cases namely that of the 92 keV transition in /sup 131/Cs and 182 keV transition in /sup 129/Cs are also included.

  20. Study and construction of a {beta}-spectrometer of uniform axial magnetic field fitted with a {beta}-{gamma} coincidence selector. Study of the {beta} spectra of {sup 32}P, {sup 203}Hg, {sup 198}Au. Measurement of the conversion coefficients of {sup 203}Ti and of {sup 198}Hg; Etude et realisation d'un spectrometre-{beta} a champ magnetique axial uniforme, muni d'un selecteur de coincidence {beta}-{gamma}. Etude des spectres {beta} du {sup 32}p, {sup 203}Hg, {sup 198}Au. Mesure des coefficients de conversion du {sup 203}Ti et du {sup 198}Hg

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Parsignault, D [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

    1964-06-01

    In the first part is given the principle of the beta spectrometer with uniform axial field using systematically the idea of caustics. The apparatus is described and its properties compared to those deduced from trajectory calculations. The {beta}-ray and {gamma}-ray detectors and the device for selecting coincidences with a 2 {tau} resolution of 5 nanoseconds are also presented. In the second part, the spectrometer is used for studying reference elements and the most accurate results are confirmed. The {beta} spectrum of {sup 60}Co has a statistical form with an accuracy of 1 per cent; the maximum energy E{sub 0} is 316.5 {+-} 1.5 keV. That of the 7/2 + {yields} 11/2 transition for {sup 137}Cs has a unique form, once forbidden. E{sub 0}= 522 {+-} 3 keV. Conversion coefficients {alpha}{sub k} = 96 {+-} 1 X 10{sup -3} {alpha}L + M + N = 20.9 {+-} 0.5 X 10{sup -3}. The two {beta} spectra of {sup 59}Fe, separated by coincidence with the gamma, have the statistical form E{sub 0} = 462 {+-} 2 keV (55.1 + 0,3 per cent) and E{sub 1} = 275 {+-} 4 keV (44.9 {+-} 0.3 per cent). It is then verified whether the l selection rule is apparent in the shape of the phosphorus 32 beta spectrum. It is found in fact that it is not of statistical shape and its shape coefficient is determined. For a theoretical interpretation it is necessary to have better approximations than those generally used and this interpretation will not be unique. This work has also made it possible to show that the source contains a small proportion of {sup 33}P. The study of the {sup 203}Hg {beta} spectrum followed by the 279 keV gamma spectrum is designed to determine the conversion coefficients. The interior spectrum of gold 198 is not of statistical shape either. The form coefficient is determined together with the conversion coefficients which are in slight disagreement with those calculated by Rose or Sliv. An interpretation of the spectrum is put forward which proposes an imperfect compensation for the

  1. Study and construction of a {beta}-spectrometer of uniform axial magnetic field fitted with a {beta}-{gamma} coincidence selector. Study of the {beta} spectra of {sup 32}P, {sup 203}Hg, {sup 198}Au. Measurement of the conversion coefficients of {sup 203}Ti and of {sup 198}Hg; Etude et realisation d'un spectrometre-{beta} a champ magnetique axial uniforme, muni d'un selecteur de coincidence {beta}-{gamma}. Etude des spectres {beta} du {sup 32}p, {sup 203}Hg, {sup 198}Au. Mesure des coefficients de conversion du {sup 203}Ti et du {sup 198}Hg

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Parsignault, D. [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

    1964-06-01

    In the first part is given the principle of the beta spectrometer with uniform axial field using systematically the idea of caustics. The apparatus is described and its properties compared to those deduced from trajectory calculations. The {beta}-ray and {gamma}-ray detectors and the device for selecting coincidences with a 2 {tau} resolution of 5 nanoseconds are also presented. In the second part, the spectrometer is used for studying reference elements and the most accurate results are confirmed. The {beta} spectrum of {sup 60}Co has a statistical form with an accuracy of 1 per cent; the maximum energy E{sub 0} is 316.5 {+-} 1.5 keV. That of the 7/2 + {yields} 11/2 transition for {sup 137}Cs has a unique form, once forbidden. E{sub 0}= 522 {+-} 3 keV. Conversion coefficients {alpha}{sub k} = 96 {+-} 1 X 10{sup -3} {alpha}L + M + N = 20.9 {+-} 0.5 X 10{sup -3}. The two {beta} spectra of {sup 59}Fe, separated by coincidence with the gamma, have the statistical form E{sub 0} = 462 {+-} 2 keV (55.1 + 0,3 per cent) and E{sub 1} = 275 {+-} 4 keV (44.9 {+-} 0.3 per cent). It is then verified whether the l selection rule is apparent in the shape of the phosphorus 32 beta spectrum. It is found in fact that it is not of statistical shape and its shape coefficient is determined. For a theoretical interpretation it is necessary to have better approximations than those generally used and this interpretation will not be unique. This work has also made it possible to show that the source contains a small proportion of {sup 33}P. The study of the {sup 203}Hg {beta} spectrum followed by the 279 keV gamma spectrum is designed to determine the conversion coefficients. The interior spectrum of gold 198 is not of statistical shape either. The form coefficient is determined together with the conversion coefficients which are in slight disagreement with those calculated by Rose or Sliv. An interpretation of the spectrum is put forward which proposes an imperfect compensation for the

  2. A frequency conversion mode for dispenser in the service station based on flow rate signal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Y J; Tang, D; Huang, J B; Liu, J; Jia, P F

    2012-01-01

    Dispenser is an integrated fuel transport and measurement system at the service station. In this paper, we developed a frequency conversion mode for the dispenser, based on the flow rate signal which is obtained from the converter measuring flow capacity. After introducing the frequency conversion mode to dispenser, we obtained that pump rotates at a high speed when fuelled with high flow rate, and it rotates at a low speed when fuelled with low flow rate. This makes the fuel dispenser more energy-efficient and controllable. We also did some valve optimizations on the dispenser and developed a new control mode for preset refuelling based on the frequency conversion mode, Experimental and theoretical studies have shown that the new dispenser not only can meet the national standards, but also performs better than the ordinary one especially in preset refuelling.

  3. An empirically-based model for the lift coefficients of twisted airfoils with leading-edge tubercles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ni, Zao; Su, Tsung-chow; Dhanak, Manhar

    2018-04-01

    Experimental data for untwisted airfoils are utilized to propose a model for predicting the lift coefficients of twisted airfoils with leading-edge tubercles. The effectiveness of the empirical model is verified through comparison with results of a corresponding computational fluid-dynamic (CFD) study. The CFD study is carried out for both twisted and untwisted airfoils with tubercles, the latter shown to compare well with available experimental data. Lift coefficients of twisted airfoils predicted from the proposed empirically-based model match well with the corresponding coefficients determined using the verified CFD study. Flow details obtained from the latter provide better insight into the underlying mechanism and behavior at stall of twisted airfoils with leading edge tubercles.

  4. Solar-thermal conversion and thermal energy storage of graphene foam-based composite

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Lianbin

    2016-07-11

    Among various utilizations of solar energy, solar-thermal conversion has recently gained renewed research interest due to its extremely high energy efficiency. However, one limiting factor common to all solar-based energy conversion technologies is the intermittent nature of solar irradiation, which makes them unable to stand-alone to satisfy continuous energy need. Herein, we report a three-dimensional (3D) graphene foam and phase change material (PCM) composite for the seamlessly combined solar-thermal conversion and thermal storage for sustained energy release. The composite is obtained by infiltrating the 3D graphene foam with a commonly used PCM, paraffin wax. The high macroporosity and low density of the graphene foam allow for high weight fraction of the PCM to be incorporated, which enhances heat storage capacity of the composite. The interconnected graphene sheets in the composite provide (1) the solar-thermal conversion capability, (2) high thermal conductivity and (3) form stability of the composite. Under light irradiation, the composite effectively collects and converts the light energy into thermal energy, and the converted thermal energy is stored in the PCM and released in an elongated period of time for sustained utilization. This study provides a promising route for sustainable utilization of solar energy.

  5. Solar-thermal conversion and thermal energy storage of graphene foam-based composites.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Lianbin; Li, Renyuan; Tang, Bo; Wang, Peng

    2016-08-14

    Among various utilizations of solar energy, solar-thermal conversion has recently gained renewed research interest due to its extremely high energy efficiency. However, one limiting factor common to all solar-based energy conversion technologies is the intermittent nature of solar irradiation, which makes them unable to stand-alone to satisfy the continuous energy need. Herein, we report a three-dimensional (3D) graphene foam and phase change material (PCM) composite for the seamlessly combined solar-thermal conversion and thermal storage for sustained energy release. The composite is obtained by infiltrating the 3D graphene foam with a commonly used PCM, paraffin wax. The high macroporosity and low density of the graphene foam allow for high weight fraction of the PCM to be incorporated, which enhances the heat storage capacity of the composite. The interconnected graphene sheets in the composite provide (1) the solar-thermal conversion capability, (2) high thermal conductivity and (3) form stability of the composite. Under light irradiation, the composite effectively collects and converts the light energy into thermal energy, and the converted thermal energy is stored in the PCM and released in an elongated period of time for sustained utilization. This study provides a promising route for sustainable utilization of solar energy.

  6. The conversion of exposures due to radon into the effective dose: the epidemiological approach

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Beck, T.R. [Federal Office for Radiation Protection, Berlin (Germany)

    2017-11-15

    The risks and dose conversion coefficients for residential and occupational exposures due to radon were determined with applying the epidemiological risk models to ICRP representative populations. The dose conversion coefficient for residential radon was estimated with a value of 1.6 mSv year{sup -1} per 100 Bq m{sup -3} (3.6 mSv per WLM), which is significantly lower than the corresponding value derived from the biokinetic and dosimetric models. The dose conversion coefficient for occupational exposures with applying the risk models for miners was estimated with a value of 14 mSv per WLM, which is in good accordance with the results of the dosimetric models. To resolve the discrepancy regarding residential radon, the ICRP approaches for the determination of risks and doses were reviewed. It could be shown that ICRP overestimates the risk for lung cancer caused by residential radon. This can be attributed to a wrong population weighting of the radon-induced risks in its epidemiological approach. With the approach in this work, the average risks for lung cancer were determined, taking into account the age-specific risk contributions of all individuals in the population. As a result, a lower risk coefficient for residential radon was obtained. The results from the ICRP biokinetic and dosimetric models for both, the occupationally exposed working age population and the whole population exposed to residential radon, can be brought in better accordance with the corresponding results of the epidemiological approach, if the respective relative radiation detriments and a radiation-weighting factor for alpha particles of about ten are used. (orig.)

  7. The conversion of exposures due to radon into the effective dose: the epidemiological approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beck, T.R.

    2017-01-01

    The risks and dose conversion coefficients for residential and occupational exposures due to radon were determined with applying the epidemiological risk models to ICRP representative populations. The dose conversion coefficient for residential radon was estimated with a value of 1.6 mSv year -1 per 100 Bq m -3 (3.6 mSv per WLM), which is significantly lower than the corresponding value derived from the biokinetic and dosimetric models. The dose conversion coefficient for occupational exposures with applying the risk models for miners was estimated with a value of 14 mSv per WLM, which is in good accordance with the results of the dosimetric models. To resolve the discrepancy regarding residential radon, the ICRP approaches for the determination of risks and doses were reviewed. It could be shown that ICRP overestimates the risk for lung cancer caused by residential radon. This can be attributed to a wrong population weighting of the radon-induced risks in its epidemiological approach. With the approach in this work, the average risks for lung cancer were determined, taking into account the age-specific risk contributions of all individuals in the population. As a result, a lower risk coefficient for residential radon was obtained. The results from the ICRP biokinetic and dosimetric models for both, the occupationally exposed working age population and the whole population exposed to residential radon, can be brought in better accordance with the corresponding results of the epidemiological approach, if the respective relative radiation detriments and a radiation-weighting factor for alpha particles of about ten are used. (orig.)

  8. Grinding temperature and energy ratio coefficient in MQL grinding of high-temperature nickel-base alloy by using different vegetable oils as base oil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Benkai

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Vegetable oil can be used as a base oil in minimal quantity of lubrication (MQL. This study compared the performances of MQL grinding by using castor oil, soybean oil, rapeseed oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, peanut oil, and palm oil as base oils. A K-P36 numerical-control precision surface grinder was used to perform plain grinding on a workpiece material with a high-temperature nickel base alloy. A YDM–III 99 three-dimensional dynamometer was used to measure grinding force, and a clip-type thermocouple was used to determine grinding temperature. The grinding force, grinding temperature, and energy ratio coefficient of MQL grinding were compared among the seven vegetable oil types. Results revealed that (1 castor oil-based MQL grinding yields the lowest grinding force but exhibits the highest grinding temperature and energy ratio coefficient; (2 palm oil-based MQL grinding generates the second lowest grinding force but shows the lowest grinding temperature and energy ratio coefficient; (3 MQL grinding based on the five other vegetable oils produces similar grinding forces, grinding temperatures, and energy ratio coefficients, with values ranging between those of castor oil and palm oil; (4 viscosity significantly influences grinding force and grinding temperature to a greater extent than fatty acid varieties and contents in vegetable oils; (5 although more viscous vegetable oil exhibits greater lubrication and significantly lower grinding force than less viscous vegetable oil, high viscosity reduces the heat exchange capability of vegetable oil and thus yields a high grinding temperature; (6 saturated fatty acid is a more efficient lubricant than unsaturated fatty acid; and (7 a short carbon chain transfers heat more effectively than a long carbon chain. Palm oil is the optimum base oil of MQL grinding, and this base oil yields 26.98 N tangential grinding force, 87.10 N normal grinding force, 119.6 °C grinding temperature, and 42.7% energy

  9. Rapid radiological characterization method based on the use of dose coefficients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dulama, C.; Toma, Al.; Dobrin, R.; Valeca, M.

    2010-01-01

    Intervention actions in case of radiological emergencies and exploratory radiological surveys require rapid methods for the evaluation of the range and extent of contamination. When simple and homogeneous radionuclide composition characterize the radioactive contamination, surrogate measurements can be used to reduce the costs implied by laboratory analyses and to speed-up the process of decision support. A dose-rate measurement-based methodology can be used in conjunction with adequate dose coefficients to assess radionuclide inventories and to calculate dose projections for various intervention scenarios. The paper presents the results obtained for dose coefficients in some particular exposure geometries and the methodology used for deriving dose rate guidelines from activity concentration upper levels specified as contamination limits. All calculations were performed by using the commercial software MicroShield from Grove Software Inc. A test case was selected as to meet the conditions from EPA Federal Guidance Report no. 12 (FGR12) concerning the evaluation of dose coefficients for external exposure from contaminated soil and the obtained results were compared to values given in the referred document. The geometries considered as test cases are: contaminated ground surface; - infinite extended homogeneous surface contamination and soil contaminated to a depth of 15 cm. As shown by the results, the values agree within 50% relative difference for most of the cases. The greatest discrepancies were observed for depth contamination simulation and in the case of radionuclides with complicated gamma emission and this is due to the different approach from MicroShield and FGR12. A case study is presented for validation of the methodology, where both dose rate measurements and laboratory analyses were performed on an extended quasi-homogeneous NORM contamination. The dose rate estimations obtained by applying the dose coefficients to the radionuclide concentrations

  10. Quadrature formulas for Fourier coefficients

    KAUST Repository

    Bojanov, Borislav

    2009-09-01

    We consider quadrature formulas of high degree of precision for the computation of the Fourier coefficients in expansions of functions with respect to a system of orthogonal polynomials. In particular, we show the uniqueness of a multiple node formula for the Fourier-Tchebycheff coefficients given by Micchelli and Sharma and construct new Gaussian formulas for the Fourier coefficients of a function, based on the values of the function and its derivatives. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Highly efficient power system based on direct fission fragment energy conversion utilizing magnetic collimation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsvetkov, Pavel V.; Hart, Ron R.; Parish, Theodore A.

    2003-01-01

    The present study was focused on developing a technologically feasible power system that is based on direct fission fragment energy conversion utilizing magnetic collimation. The new concept is an attempt to combine several advantageous design solutions, which have been proposed for application in both fission and fusion reactors, into one innovative system that can offer exceptional energy conversion efficiency. The analysis takes into consideration a wide range of operational aspects including fission fragment escape from the fuel, collimation, collection, criticality, long-term performance, energy conversion efficiency, heat removal, and safety characteristics. Specific characteristics of the individual system components and the entire system are evaluated. Consistent analysis and evaluation of the technological feasibility of the concept were achieved using state-of-the-art computer codes that allowed realistic and consistent modeling. The calculated energy conversion efficiencies for the presented designs without a thermodynamic cycle and with the heavy water cycle are 52% and 62%, respectively. The analysis indicates that efficiencies up to 90% are potentially achievable. (author)

  12. Nanostructured Solar Irradiation Control Materials for Solar Energy Conversion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Jinho; Marshall, I. A.; Torrico, M. N.; Taylor, C. R.; Ely, Jeffry; Henderson, Angel Z.; Kim, J.-W.; Sauti, G.; Gibbons, L. J.; Park, C.; hide

    2012-01-01

    Tailoring the solar absorptivity (alpha(sub s)) and thermal emissivity (epsilon(sub T)) of materials constitutes an innovative approach to solar energy control and energy conversion. Numerous ceramic and metallic materials are currently available for solar absorbance/thermal emittance control. However, conventional metal oxides and dielectric/metal/dielectric multi-coatings have limited utility due to residual shear stresses resulting from the different coefficient of thermal expansion of the layered materials. This research presents an alternate approach based on nanoparticle-filled polymers to afford mechanically durable solar-absorptive and thermally-emissive polymer nanocomposites. The alpha(sub s) and epsilon(sub T) were measured with various nano inclusions, such as carbon nanophase particles (CNPs), at different concentrations. Research has shown that adding only 5 wt% CNPs increased the alpha(sub s) and epsilon(sub T) by a factor of about 47 and 2, respectively, compared to the pristine polymer. The effect of solar irradiation control of the nanocomposite on solar energy conversion was studied. The solar irradiation control coatings increased the power generation of solar thermoelectric cells by more than 380% compared to that of a control power cell without solar irradiation control coatings.

  13. Clebsch-Gordan coefficients of discrete groups in subgroup bases

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Gaoli

    2018-04-01

    We express each Clebsch-Gordan (CG) coefficient of a discrete group as a product of a CG coefficient of its subgroup and a factor, which we call an embedding factor. With an appropriate definition, such factors are fixed up to phase ambiguities. Particularly, they are invariant under basis transformations of irreducible representations of both the group and its subgroup. We then impose on the embedding factors constraints, which relate them to their counterparts under complex conjugate and therefore restrict the phases of embedding factors. In some cases, the phase ambiguities are reduced to sign ambiguities. We describe the procedure of obtaining embedding factors and then calculate CG coefficients of the group 𝒫𝒮ℒ2(7) in terms of embedding factors of its subgroups S4 and 𝒯7.

  14. Transport Coefficients of Fluids

    CERN Document Server

    Eu, Byung Chan

    2006-01-01

    Until recently the formal statistical mechanical approach offered no practicable method for computing the transport coefficients of liquids, and so most practitioners had to resort to empirical fitting formulas. This has now changed, as demonstrated in this innovative monograph. The author presents and applies new methods based on statistical mechanics for calculating the transport coefficients of simple and complex liquids over wide ranges of density and temperature. These molecular theories enable the transport coefficients to be calculated in terms of equilibrium thermodynamic properties, and the results are shown to account satisfactorily for experimental observations, including even the non-Newtonian behavior of fluids far from equilibrium.

  15. Experimental Investigations of Direct and Converse Flexoelectric Effect in Bilayer Lipid Membranes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Todorov, Angelio Todorov

    Flexoelectric coefficients (direct and converse), electric properties (capacitance and resistivity) and mechanical properties (thickness and elastic coefficients) have been determined for bilayer lipid membranes (BLMs) prepared from egg yolk lecithin (EYL), glycerol monoleate (GMO), phosphatidyl choline (PC) and phosphatidyl serine (PS) as a function of frequency, pH and surface charge modifiers. Direct flexoelectric effect manifested itself in the development of microvolt range a.c. potential (U_{f}) upon subjecting one side of a BLM to an oscillating hydrostatic pressure, in the 100-1000 Hz range. Operationally, the flexoelectric coefficient (f) is expressed by the ratio between U_{f} and the change of curvature (c) which accompanied the flexing of the membrane. Membrane curvature was determined by means of either the electric method (capacitance microphone effect) or by the newly developed method of stroboscopic interferometry. Real-time stroboscopic interferometry coupled with simultaneous electric measurements, provided a direct method for the determination of f. Two different frequency regimes of f were recognized. At low frequencies (300 Hz), associated with free mobility of the surfactant, f-values of 24.1 times 10^{-19} and 0.87 times 10^ {-19} Coulombs were obtained for PC and GMO BLMs. At high frequencies (>300 Hz), associated with blocked mobility of the surfactant, f-values of 16.5 times 10^ {-19} and 0.30 times 10^{-19} Coulombs were obtained for PC and GMO BLMs. The theoretically calculated value for the GMO BLM oscillating at high frequency (0.12 times 10^{-19 } Coulombs) agreed well with that determined experimentally (0.3 times 10 ^{-19} Coulombs). For charged bovine brain PS BLM the observed flexocoefficient was f = 4.0 times 10^{ -18} Coulombs. Converse flexoelectric effect manifested itself in voltage-induced BLM curvature. Observations were carried out on uranyl acetate (UA) stabilized PS BLM under a.c. excitation. Frequency dependence of f

  16. Comparison of rotational temperature derived from ground-based OH airglow observations with TIMED/SABER to evaluate the Einstein Coefficients

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, W.; Xu, J.; Smith, A. K.; Yuan, W.

    2017-12-01

    Ground-based observations of the OH(9-4, 8-3, 6-2, 5-1, 3-0) band airglows over Xinglong, China (40°24'N, 117°35'E) from December 2011 to 2014 are used to calculate rotational temperatures. The temperatures are calculated using five commonly used Einstein coefficient datasets. The kinetic temperature from TIMED/SABER is completely independent of the OH rotational temperature. SABER temperatures are weighted vertically by weighting functions calculated for each emitting vibrational state from two SABER OH volume emission rate profiles. By comparing the ground-based OH rotational temperature with SABER's, five Einstein coefficient datasets are evaluated. The results show that temporal variations of the rotational temperatures are well correlated with SABER's; the linear correlation coefficients are higher than 0.72, but the slopes of the fit between the SABER and rotational temperatures are not equal to 1. The rotational temperatures calculated using each set of Einstein coefficients produce a different bias with respect to SABER; these are evaluated over each of vibrational levels to assess the best match. It is concluded that rotational temperatures determined using any of the available Einstein coefficient datasets have systematic errors. However, of the five sets of coefficients, the rotational temperature derived with the Langhoff et al.'s (1986) set is most consistent with SABER. In order to get a set of optimal Einstein coefficients for rotational temperature derivation, we derive the relative values from ground-based OH spectra and SABER temperatures statistically using three year data. The use of a standard set of Einstein coefficients will be beneficial for comparing rotational temperatures observed at different sites.

  17. Numerical study of hydrodynamic behavior and conversion efficiency of a two-buoy wave energy converter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Cen; Zhang, Yong-liang

    2018-04-01

    In this paper we propose a two-buoy wave energy converter composed of a heaving semi-submerged cylindrical buoy, a fixed submerged cylindrical buoy and a power take-off (PTO) system, and investigate the effect of the fixed submerged buoy on the hydrodynamics of the heaving semi-submerged buoy based on the three-dimensional potential theory. And the dynamic response of the semi-submerged buoy and the wave energy conversion efficiency of the converter are analyzed. The difference of the hydrodynamics and the wave energy conversion efficiency of a semi-submerged buoy converter with and without a fixed submerged buoy is discussed. It is revealed that the influence of the fixed submerged buoy on the exciting wave force, the added mass, the radiation damping coefficient and the wave energy conversion efficiency can be significant with a considerable variation, depending on the vertical distance between the heaving semi-submerged buoy and the fixed submerged buoy, the diameter ratio of the fixed submerged buoy to the heaving semi-submerged buoy and the water depth.

  18. Form of multicomponent Fickian diffusion coefficients matrix

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wambui Mutoru, J.; Firoozabadi, Abbas

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: → Irreversible thermodynamics establishes form of multicomponent diffusion coefficients. → Phenomenological coefficients and thermodynamic factors affect sign of diffusion coefficients. → Negative diagonal elements of diffusion coefficients matrix can occur in non-ideal mixtures. → Eigenvalues of the matrix of Fickian diffusion coefficients may not be all real. - Abstract: The form of multicomponent Fickian diffusion coefficients matrix in thermodynamically stable mixtures is established based on the form of phenomenological coefficients and thermodynamic factors. While phenomenological coefficients form a symmetric positive definite matrix, the determinant of thermodynamic factors matrix is positive. As a result, the Fickian diffusion coefficients matrix has a positive determinant, but its elements - including diagonal elements - can be negative. Comprehensive survey of reported diffusion coefficients data for ternary and quaternary mixtures, confirms that invariably the determinant of the Fickian diffusion coefficients matrix is positive.

  19. Mode-Selective Wavelength Conversion Based on Four-Wave Mixing in a Multimode Silicon Waveguide

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ding, Yunhong; Xu, Jing; Ou, Haiyan

    2013-01-01

    We report all-optical mode-selective wavelength conversion based on four-wave mixing in a multimode Si waveguide. A two-mode division multiplexing circuit using tapered directional coupler based (de)multiplexers is used for the application. Experimental results show clear eye-diagrams and moderate...

  20. Weyl q-coefficients for uq(3) and Racah q -coefficients for suq(2)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Asherova, R.M.; Smirnov, Yu.F.; Tolstoy, V.N.

    1996-01-01

    With the aid of the projection-operator technique, the general analytic expression for the elements of the matrix that relates the U and T bases of an arbitrary finite-dimensional irreducible representation of the uq(3) quantum algebra (Weyl q-coefficients) is obtained for the case where the deformation parameter q is not equal to a square root of unity. The procedure for resummation of q-factorial expressions is used to prove that, modulo phase factors, these Weyl q-coefficients coincide with Racah q-coefficients for the suq(2) quantum algebra. It is also shown that, on the basis of one general formula, the q-analogs of all known general analytic expressions for the 6j symbols (and Racah coefficients) of the Lie algebras of the angular momentum can be obtained by using this resummation procedure. The symmetry properties of these q coefficients are discussed. The result is formulated in the following way: the general formulas for the q-6j symbols (Racah q-coefficients) of the suq(2) quantum algebra are obtained from the general formulas for the conventional 6j symbols (Racah coefficients) of the su(2) Lie algebra by replacing directly all factorials with q-factorials, the symmetry properties of the q-6j symbols being completely coincident with the symmetry properties of the conventional 6j symbols

  1. Catalytic Conversion of Carbohydrates

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Osmundsen, Christian Mårup

    a renewable route to aromatics. The conversion of biomass by high temperature processes is a desirable prospect due to the high volumetric production rates which can be achieved, and the ability of these types of processes to convert a wide range of substrates. Current processes however typically have rather...... with the production of commodity chemicals from the most abundantly available renewable source of carbon, carbohydrates. The production of alkyl lactates by the Lewis acid catalyzed conversion of hexoses is an interesting alternative to current fermentation based processes. A range of stannosilicates were...... to be an efficient initial conversion step in the utilization of biomass for chemicals production. The shift from an oil based chemical industry to one based on renewable resources is bound to happen sooner or later, however the environmental problems associated with the burning of fossil resources means...

  2. Ortho-para H₂ conversion by proton exchange at low temperature: an accurate quantum mechanical study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Honvault, P; Jorfi, M; González-Lezana, T; Faure, A; Pagani, L

    2011-07-08

    We report extensive, accurate fully quantum, time-independent calculations of cross sections at low collision energies, and rate coefficients at low temperatures for the H⁺ + H₂(v = 0, j) → H⁺ + H₂(v = 0, j') reaction. Different transitions are considered, especially the ortho-para conversion (j = 1 → j' = 0) which is of key importance in astrophysics. This conversion process appears to be very efficient and dominant at low temperature, with a rate coefficient of 4.15 × 10⁻¹⁰ cm³ molecule⁻¹ s⁻¹ at 10 K. The quantum mechanical results are also compared with statistical quantum predictions and the reaction is found to be statistical in the low temperature regime (T < 100 K).

  3. Advanced fluoride-based materials for energy conversion

    CERN Document Server

    Nakajima, Tsuyoshi

    2015-01-01

    Advanced Fluoride-Based Materials for Energy Conversion provides thorough and applied information on new fluorinated materials for chemical energy devices, exploring the electrochemical properties and behavior of fluorinated materials in lithium ion and sodium ion batteries, fluoropolymers in fuel cells, and fluorinated carbon in capacitors, while also exploring synthesis applications, and both safety and stability issues. As electronic devices, from cell phones to hybrid and electric vehicles, are increasingly common and prevalent in modern lives and require dependable, stable chemical energy devices with high-level functions are becoming increasingly important. As research and development in this area progresses rapidly, fluorine compounds play a critical role in this rapid progression. Fluorine, with its small size and the highest electronegativity, yields stable compounds under various conditions for utilization as electrodes, electrolytes, and membranes in energy devices. The book is an ideal reference f...

  4. Measurement of secondary cosmic radiation and calculation of associated dose conversion coefficients for humans; Messung sekundaerer kosmischer Strahlung und Berechnung der zugehoerigen Dosiskonversionskoeffizienten fuer den Menschen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Simmer, Gregor

    2012-04-11

    Due to secondary cosmic radiation (SCR), pilots and flight attendants receive elevated effective doses at flight altitudes. For this reason, since 2003 aircrew members are considered as occupationally exposed, in Germany. This work deals with the calculation of dose conversion coefficients (DCC) for protons, neutrons, electrons, positrons, photons and myons, which are crucial for estimation of effective dose from SCR. For the first time, calculations were performed combining Geant4 - a Monte Carlo code developed at CERN - with the voxel phantoms for the reference female and male published in 2008 by ICRP and ICRU. Furthermore, measurements of neutron fluence spectra - which contribute the major part to the effective dose of SCR - were carried out at the Environmental Research Station Schneefernerhaus (UFS) located at 2650 m above sea level nearby the Zugspitze mountain, Germany. These measured neutron spectra, and additionally available calculated spectra, were then folded with the DCC calculated in this work, and effective dose rates for different heights were calculated.

  5. Vapour pressures and osmotic coefficients of binary mixtures containing alcohol and pyrrolidinium-based ionic liquids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Calvar, N.; Domínguez, Á.; Macedo, E.A.

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: • Osmotic coefficients of alcohols with pyrrolidinium ILs are determined. • Experimental data were correlated with extended Pitzer model of Archer and MNRTL. • Mean molal activity coefficients and excess Gibbs free energies were calculated. • The results have been interpreted in terms of interactions. -- Abstract: The osmotic and activity coefficients and vapour pressures of mixtures containing primary (1-propanol, 1-butanol and 1-pentanol) and secondary (2-propanol and 2-butanol) alcohols with pyrrolidinium-based ionic liquids (1-butyl-1-methyl pyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, C 4 MpyrNTf 2 , and 1-butyl-1-methyl pyrrolidinium trifluoromethanesulfonate, C 4 MpyrTFO) have been experimentally determined at T = 323.15 K. For the experimental measurements, the vapour pressure osmometry technique has been used. The results on the influence of the structure of the alcohol and of the anion of the ionic liquid on the determined properties have been discussed and compared with literature data. For the correlation of the osmotic coefficients obtained, the Extended Pitzer model of Archer and the Modified Non-Random Two Liquids model were applied. The mean molal activity coefficients and the excess Gibbs energy for the studied mixtures were calculated from the parameters obtained in the correlation

  6. Probabilistic optimization of safety coefficients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marques, M.; Devictor, N.; Magistris, F. de

    1999-01-01

    This article describes a reliability-based method for the optimization of safety coefficients defined and used in design codes. The purpose of the optimization is to determine the partial safety coefficients which minimize an objective function for sets of components and loading situations covered by a design rule. This objective function is a sum of distances between the reliability of the components designed using the safety coefficients and a target reliability. The advantage of this method is shown on the examples of the reactor vessel, a vapour pipe and the safety injection circuit. (authors)

  7. Diffusion coefficients of tracers in glassy polymer systems prepared by gamma radiolysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tonge, M.P.; Gilbert, R.G.

    1996-01-01

    Diffusion-controlled reactions are common in free radical polymerisation reactions, especially in glassy polymer matrices. Such reactions commonly have an important influence on the polymerisation process and final polymer properties. For example, the dominant growth-stopping event (bimolecular termination) is generally diffusion-controlled. In glassy polymer systems, where molecular mobility is very low, the chain growth mechanism (propagation) may become diffusion-controlled. At present, the mechanism for propagation in glassy polymers is poorly understood, but it is expected by the Smoluchowski expression applied to propagation to depend strongly on the diffusion coefficient of monomer. The objective of this study is to measure reliable diffusion coefficients of small tracer molecules in glassy polymers, and compare these with propagation rate coefficients in similar systems, by the prediction above. Samples were initially prepared in a sealed sampled cell containing monomer, inert diluent, and tracer dye. After irradiation for several days, complete conversion of monomer to polymer can be obtained. The diffusion coefficients for two tracer dyes have been measured as a function of weight fraction polymer glassy poly(methyl methacrylate) samples

  8. Gas-liquid mass transfer coefficient of methane in bubble column reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Jaewon; Ha, Kyoung-Su; Lee, Jinwon; Kim, Choongik; Yasin, Muhammad; Park, Shinyoung; Chang, In Seop; Lee, Eun Yeol

    2015-01-01

    Biological conversion of methane gas has been attracting considerable recent interest. However, methanotropic bioreactor is limited by low solubility of methane gas in aqueous solution. Although a large mass transfer coefficient of methane in water could possibly overcome this limitation, no dissolved methane probe in aqueous environment is commercially available. We have developed a reactor enabling the measurement of aqueous phase methane concentration and mass transfer coefficient (k L a). The feasibility of the new reactor was demonstrated by measuring k L a values as a function of spinning rate of impeller and flow rate of methane gas. Especially, at spinning rate of 300 rpm and flow rate of 3.0 L/min, a large k L a value of 102.9 h -1 was obtained

  9. Virial Coefficients for the Liquid Argon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korth, Micheal; Kim, Saesun

    2014-03-01

    We begin with a geometric model of hard colliding spheres and calculate probability densities in an iterative sequence of calculations that lead to the pair correlation function. The model is based on a kinetic theory approach developed by Shinomoto, to which we added an interatomic potential for argon based on the model from Aziz. From values of the pair correlation function at various values of density, we were able to find viral coefficients of liquid argon. The low order coefficients are in good agreement with theoretical hard sphere coefficients, but appropriate data for argon to which these results might be compared is difficult to find.

  10. Time-dependent conversion of a methacrylate-based sealer polymerized with different light-curing units.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beriat, Nilufer C; Ertan, Atilla; Cehreli, Zafer C; Gulsahi, Kamran

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the degree of conversion of a methacrylate-based sealer (Epiphany; Pentron Clinical Technologies, Wallingford, CT) with regard to the method of photoactivation, distance from the light-curing unit (LCU), and post-curing time. Freshly mixed Epiphany sealer was dispensed into half-pipe-shaped silicone moulds (n = 48), after which the specimens were photoactivated with one of the following LCUs from the coronal aspect: (1) quartz tungsten halogen/40 seconds and (2) light-emitting diode/20 seconds. In each specimen, the degree of conversion was measured at three different locations (coronal, middle, and apical) using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy before and after photoactivation. The amount of conversion was approximately 50% after photoactivation and improved by approximately 10% after 15 days. Conversion of Epiphany was not affected by the type of LCU (p > 0.001) or the distance from the LCU (p > 0.001) but showed a significant increase within time (p < 0.001). These results indicate incomplete polymerization of Epiphany, despite a post-curing time of as long as 2 weeks in vitro.

  11. A drying coefficient for building materials

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Scheffler, Gregor Albrecht; Plagge, Rudolf

    2009-01-01

    coefficient is defined which can be determined based on measured drying data. The correlation of this coefficient with the water absorption and the vapour diffusion coefficient is analyzed and its additional information content is critically challenged. As result, a drying coefficient has been derived......The drying experiment is an important element of the hygrothermal characterisation of building materials. Contrary to other moisture transport experiments as the vapour diffusion and the water absorption test, it is until now not possible to derive a simple coefficient for the drying. However......, in many cases such a coefficient would be highly appreciated, e.g. in interaction of industry and research or for the distinction and selection of suitable building materials throughout design and practise. This article first highlights the importance of drying experiments for hygrothermal...

  12. Salt Stability - The Effect of pHmax on Salt to Free Base Conversion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsieh, Yi-Ling; Merritt, Jeremy M; Yu, Weili; Taylor, Lynne S

    2015-09-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate how the disproportionation process can be impacted by the properties of the salt, specifically pHmax. Five miconazole salts and four sertraline salts were selected for this study. The extent of conversion was quantified using Raman spectroscopy. A mathematical model was utilized to estimate the theoretical amount of conversion. A trend was observed that for a given series of salts of a particular basic compound (both sertraline and miconazole are bases), the extent of disproportionation increases as pHmax decreases. Miconazole phosphate monohydrate and sertraline mesylate, although exhibiting significantly different pHmax values (more than 2 units apart), underwent a similar extent of disproportionation, which may be attributed to the lower buffering capacity of sertraline salts. This work shows that the disproportionation tendency can be influenced by pHmax and buffering capacity and thus highlights the importance of selecting the appropriate salt form during the screening process in order to avoid salt-to-free form conversion.

  13. Solar energy conversion systems

    CERN Document Server

    Brownson, Jeffrey R S

    2013-01-01

    Solar energy conversion requires a different mind-set from traditional energy engineering in order to assess distribution, scales of use, systems design, predictive economic models for fluctuating solar resources, and planning to address transient cycles and social adoption. Solar Energy Conversion Systems examines solar energy conversion as an integrative design process, applying systems thinking methods to a solid knowledge base for creators of solar energy systems. This approach permits different levels of access for the emerging broad audience of scientists, engineers, architects, planners

  14. A comparison of two indices for the intraclass correlation coefficient.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shieh, Gwowen

    2012-12-01

    In the present study, we examined the behavior of two indices for measuring the intraclass correlation in the one-way random effects model: the prevailing ICC(1) (Fisher, 1938) and the corrected eta-squared (Bliese & Halverson, 1998). These two procedures differ both in their methods of estimating the variance components that define the intraclass correlation coefficient and in their performance of bias and mean squared error in the estimation of the intraclass correlation coefficient. In contrast with the natural unbiased principle used to construct ICC(1), in the present study it was analytically shown that the corrected eta-squared estimator is identical to the maximum likelihood estimator and the pairwise estimator under equal group sizes. Moreover, the empirical results obtained from the present Monte Carlo simulation study across various group structures revealed the mutual dominance relationship between their truncated versions for negative values. The corrected eta-squared estimator performs better than the ICC(1) estimator when the underlying population intraclass correlation coefficient is small. Conversely, ICC(1) has a clear advantage over the corrected eta-squared for medium and large magnitudes of population intraclass correlation coefficient. The conceptual description and numerical investigation provide guidelines to help researchers choose between the two indices for more accurate reliability analysis in multilevel research.

  15. Accelerator-based conversion (ABC) of reactor and weapons plutonium

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jensen, R.J.; Trapp, T.J.; Arthur, E.D.; Bowman, C.D.; Davidson, J.W.; Linford, R.K.

    1993-06-01

    An accelerator-based conversion (ABC) system is presented that is capable of rapidly burning plutonium in a low-inventory sub-critical system. The system also returns fission power to the grid and transmutes troublesome long-lived fission products to short lived or stable products. Higher actinides are totally fissioned. The system is suited not only to controlled, rapid burning of excess weapons plutonium, but to the long range application of eliminating or drastically reducing the world total inventory of plutonium. Deployment of the system will require the successful resolution of a broad range of technical issues introduced in the paper.

  16. Accelerator-based conversion (ABC) of reactor and weapons plutonium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jensen, R.J.; Trapp, T.J.; Arthur, E.D.; Bowman, C.D.; Davidson, J.W.; Linford, R.K.

    1993-01-01

    An accelerator-based conversion (ABC) system is presented that is capable of rapidly burning plutonium in a low-inventory sub-critical system. The system also returns fission power to the grid and transmutes troublesome long-lived fission products to short lived or stable products. Higher actinides are totally fissioned. The system is suited not only to controlled, rapid burning of excess weapons plutonium, but to the long range application of eliminating or drastically reducing the world total inventory of plutonium. Deployment of the system will require the successful resolution of a broad range of technical issues introduced in the paper

  17. Calculation of conversion coefficients of dose of a computational anthropomorphic simulator sit exposed to a plane source; Calculo de coeficientes de conversao de dose de um simulador antropomorfico computacional sentado exposto a uma fonte plana

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Santos, William S.; Carvalho Junior, Alberico B. de; Pereira, Ariana J.S.; Santos, Marcos S.; Maia, Ana F., E-mail: williathan@yahoo.com.b, E-mail: ablohem@gmail.co, E-mail: ariana-jsp@hotmail.co, E-mail: m_souzasantos@hotmail.co, E-mail: afmaia@ufs.b [Universidade Federal de Sergipe (UFS), Aracaju, SE (Brazil)

    2011-10-26

    In this paper conversion coefficients (CCs) of equivalent dose and effective in terms of kerma in the air were calculated suggested by the ICRP 74. These dose coefficients were calculated considering a plane radiation source and monoenergetic for a spectrum of energy varying from 10 keV to 2 MeV. The CCs were obtained for four geometries of irradiation, anterior-posterior, posterior-anterior, lateral right side and lateral left side. It was used the radiation transport code Visual Monte Carlo (VMC), and a anthropomorphic simulator of sit female voxel. The observed differences in the found values for the CCs at the four irradiation sceneries are direct results of the body organs disposition, and the distance of these organs to the irradiation source. The obtained CCs will be used for estimative more precise of dose in situations that the exposed individual be sit, as the normally the CCs available in the literature were calculated by using simulators always lying or on their feet

  18. Molecular extinction coefficients of lead sulfide and polymerized diaminobenzidine as final reaction products of histochemical phosphatase reactions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Noorden, C. J.; Jonges, G. N.

    1992-01-01

    Molar extinction coefficients of precipitated lead sulfide (PbS) and polymerized diaminobenzidine (polyDAB) have been determined at wavelengths of 450 nm and 480 nm, respectively, for quantitative histochemical analysis of phosphatase reactions. These values are essential for the conversion of

  19. Convergence of Cell Based Finite Volume Discretizations for Problems of Control in the Conduction Coefficients

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Evgrafov, Anton; Gregersen, Misha Marie; Sørensen, Mads Peter

    2011-01-01

    We present a convergence analysis of a cell-based finite volume (FV) discretization scheme applied to a problem of control in the coefficients of a generalized Laplace equation modelling, for example, a steady state heat conduction. Such problems arise in applications dealing with geometric optimal......, whereas the convergence of the coefficients happens only with respect to the "volumetric" Lebesgue measure. Additionally, depending on whether the stationarity conditions are stated for the discretized or the original continuous problem, two distinct concepts of stationarity at a discrete level arise. We...... provide characterizations of limit points, with respect to FV mesh size, of globally optimal solutions and two types of stationary points to the discretized problems. We illustrate the practical behaviour of our cell-based FV discretization algorithm on a numerical example....

  20. Enculturating Conversational Agents based on a Comparative Corpus Study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lipi, Afia Akhter; Yamaoka, Yuji; Rehm, Matthias

    2008-01-01

    When encountering people who have a different cultural background from our own, many of us feel uncomfortable because gestures and facial expressions may not be familiar to us. Thus, to enhance the believability of conversational agents, culture-specific nonverbal behaviors should be implemented ...... a more detailed analysis about posture shifts, and proposes a chat system with an embodied conversational agent (ECA) that can act as a language trainer....... into the agents. In our previous study, with the goal of building a user interface that incorporates a user’s cultural background, we have collected comparative conversation corpus in Germany and Japan, and investigated the differences in gestures and posture shifts between these two countries. This paper reports...

  1. Flexible Conversion Ratio Fast Reactor Systems Evaluation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Neil Todreas; Pavel Hejzlar

    2008-06-30

    Conceptual designs of lead-cooled and liquid salt-cooled fast flexible conversion ratio reactors were developed. Both concepts have cores reated at 2400 MWt placed in a large-pool-type vessel with dual-free level, which also contains four intermediate heat exchanges coupling a primary coolant to a compact and efficient supercritical CO2 Brayton cycle power conversion system. Decay heat is removed passively using an enhanced Reactor Vessel Auxiliary Cooling System and a Passive Secondary Auxiliary Cooling System. The most important findings were that (1) it is feasible to design the lead-cooled and salt-cooled reactor with the flexible conversion ratio (CR) in the range of CR=0 and CR=1 n a manner that achieves inherent reactor shutdown in unprotected accidents, (2) the salt-cooled reactor requires Lithium thermal Expansion Modules to overcme the inherent salt coolant's large positive coolant temperature reactivity coefficient, (3) the preferable salt for fast spectrum high power density cores is NaCl-Kcl-MgCl2 as opposed to fluoride salts due to its better themal-hydraulic and neutronic characteristics, and (4) both reactor, but attain power density 3 times smaller than that of the sodium-cooled reactor.

  2. Flexible Conversion Ratio Fast Reactor Systems Evaluation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Neil Todreas; Pavel Hejzlar

    2008-01-01

    Conceptual designs of lead-cooled and liquid salt-cooled fast flexible conversion ratio reactors were developed. Both concepts have cores treated at 2400 MWt placed in a large-pool-type vessel with dual-free level, which also contains four intermediate heat exchanges coupling a primary coolant to a compact and efficient supercritical CO2 Brayton cycle power conversion system. Decay heat is removed passively using an enhanced Reactor Vessel Auxiliary Cooling System and a Passive Secondary Auxiliary Cooling System. The most important findings were that (1) it is feasible to design the lead-cooled and salt-cooled reactor with the flexible conversion ratio (CR) in the range of CR=0 and CR=1 n a manner that achieves inherent reactor shutdown in unprotected accidents, (2) the salt-cooled reactor requires Lithium thermal Expansion Modules to overcome the inherent salt coolant's large positive coolant temperature reactivity coefficient, (3) the preferable salt for fast spectrum high power density cores is NaCl-Kcl-MgCl2 as opposed to fluoride salts due to its better thermal-hydraulic and neutronic characteristics, and (4) both reactor, but attain power density 3 times smaller than that of the sodium-cooled reactor

  3. 24 CFR 972.109 - Conversion of developments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... writing whether it has approved the conversion plan. Units that are vacant or vacated on or after the... 24 Housing and Urban Development 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Conversion of developments. 972.109... DEVELOPMENT CONVERSION OF PUBLIC HOUSING TO TENANT-BASED ASSISTANCE Required Conversion of Public Housing...

  4. Computation-aware algorithm selection approach for interlaced-to-progressive conversion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Sang-Jun; Jeon, Gwanggil; Jeong, Jechang

    2010-05-01

    We discuss deinterlacing results in a computationally constrained and varied environment. The proposed computation-aware algorithm selection approach (CASA) for fast interlaced to progressive conversion algorithm consists of three methods: the line-averaging (LA) method for plain regions, the modified edge-based line-averaging (MELA) method for medium regions, and the proposed covariance-based adaptive deinterlacing (CAD) method for complex regions. The proposed CASA uses two criteria, mean-squared error (MSE) and CPU time, for assigning the method. We proposed a CAD method. The principle idea of CAD is based on the correspondence between the high and low-resolution covariances. We estimated the local covariance coefficients from an interlaced image using Wiener filtering theory and then used these optimal minimum MSE interpolation coefficients to obtain a deinterlaced image. The CAD method, though more robust than most known methods, was not found to be very fast compared to the others. To alleviate this issue, we proposed an adaptive selection approach using a fast deinterlacing algorithm rather than using only one CAD algorithm. The proposed hybrid approach of switching between the conventional schemes (LA and MELA) and our CAD was proposed to reduce the overall computational load. A reliable condition to be used for switching the schemes was presented after a wide set of initial training processes. The results of computer simulations showed that the proposed methods outperformed a number of methods presented in the literature.

  5. Clustering coefficient and community structure of bipartite networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Peng; Wang, Jinliang; Li, Xiaojia; Li, Menghui; Di, Zengru; Fan, Ying

    2008-12-01

    Many real-world networks display natural bipartite structure, where the basic cycle is a square. In this paper, with the similar consideration of standard clustering coefficient in binary networks, a definition of the clustering coefficient for bipartite networks based on the fraction of squares is proposed. In order to detect community structures in bipartite networks, two different edge clustering coefficients LC4 and LC3 of bipartite networks are defined, which are based on squares and triples respectively. With the algorithm of cutting the edge with the least clustering coefficient, communities in artificial and real world networks are identified. The results reveal that investigating bipartite networks based on the original structure can show the detailed properties that is helpful to get deep understanding about the networks.

  6. End-of-life conversations and care: an asset-based model for community engagement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matthiesen, Mary; Froggatt, Katherine; Owen, Elaine; Ashton, John R

    2014-09-01

    Public awareness work regarding palliative and end-of-life care is increasingly promoted within national strategies for palliative care. Different approaches to undertaking this work are being used, often based upon broader educational principles, but little is known about how to undertake such initiatives in a way that equally engages both the health and social care sector and the local communities. An asset-based community engagement approach has been developed that facilitates community-led awareness initiatives concerning end-of-life conversations and care by identifying and connecting existing skills and expertise. (1) To describe the processes and features of an asset-based community engagement approach that facilitates community-led awareness initiatives with a focus on end-of-life conversations and care; and (2) to identify key community-identified priorities for sustainable community engagement processes. An asset-based model of community engagement specific to end-of-life issues using a four-step process is described (getting started, coming together, action planning and implementation). The use of this approach, in two regional community engagement programmes, based across rural and urban communities in the northwest of England, is described. The assets identified in the facilitated community engagement process encompassed people's talents and skills, community groups and networks, government and non-government agencies, physical and economic assets and community values and stories. Five priority areas were addressed to ensure active community engagement work: information, outreach, education, leadership and sustainability. A facilitated, asset-based approach of community engagement for end-of-life conversations and care can catalyse community-led awareness initiatives. This occurs through the involvement of community and local health and social care organisations as co-creators of this change across multiple sectors in a sustainable way. This approach

  7. Measurement of the first Townsend ionization coefficient in a methane-based tissue-equivalent gas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Petri, A.R. [Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares, Cidade Universitária, 05508-000 São Paulo (Brazil); Gonçalves, J.A.C. [Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares, Cidade Universitária, 05508-000 São Paulo (Brazil); Departamento de Física, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, 01303-050 São Paulo (Brazil); Mangiarotti, A. [Instituto de Física - Universidade de São Paulo, Cidade Universitária, 05508-080 São Paulo (Brazil); Botelho, S. [Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares, Cidade Universitária, 05508-000 São Paulo (Brazil); Bueno, C.C., E-mail: ccbueno@ipen.br [Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares, Cidade Universitária, 05508-000 São Paulo (Brazil)

    2017-03-21

    Tissue-equivalent gases (TEGs), often made of a hydrocarbon, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide, have been employed in microdosimetry for decades. However, data on the first Townsend ionization coefficient (α) in such mixtures are scarce, regardless of the chosen hydrocarbon. In this context, measurements of α in a methane-based tissue-equivalent gas (CH{sub 4} – 64.4%, CO{sub 2} – 32.4%, and N{sub 2} – 3.2%) were performed in a uniform field configuration for density-normalized electric fields (E/N) up to 290 Td. The setup adopted in our previous works was improved for operating at low pressures. The modifications introduced in the apparatus and the experimental technique were validated by comparing our results of the first Townsend ionization coefficient in nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and methane with those from the literature and Magboltz simulations. The behavior of α in the methane-based TEG was consistent with that observed for pure methane. All the experimental results are included in tabular form in the .

  8. Conversion of a DWDM signal to a single Nyquist channel based on a complete optical Fourier transformation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Guan, Pengyu; Røge, Kasper Meldgaard; Mulvad, Hans Christian Hansen

    2014-01-01

    We propose a DWDM-to-Nyquist channel conversion scheme based on complete Optical Fourier Transformation and optical Nyquist filtering. We demonstrate conversion from 50-GHz-grid 16×10 Gbit/s DPSK DWDM to a 160-Gbit/s Nyquist channel (0.9 symbol/s/Hz spectral efficiency) with 1.4 dB power penalty....

  9. Effects of a Conversation-Based Intervention on the Linguistic Skills of Children With Motor Speech Disorders Who Use Augmentative and Alternative Communication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soto, Gloria; Clarke, Michael T

    2017-07-12

    This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of a conversation-based intervention on the expressive vocabulary and grammatical skills of children with severe motor speech disorders and expressive language delay who use augmentative and alternative communication. Eight children aged from 8 to 13 years participated in the study. After a baseline period, a conversation-based intervention was provided for each participant, in which they were supported to learn and use linguistic structures essential for the formation of clauses and the grammaticalization of their utterances, such as pronouns, verbs, and bound morphemes, in the context of personally meaningful and scaffolded conversations with trained clinicians. The conversations were videotaped, transcribed, and analyzed using the Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (SALT; Miller & Chapman, 1991). Results indicate that participants showed improvements in their use of spontaneous clauses, and a greater use of pronouns, verbs, and bound morphemes. These improvements were sustained and generalized to conversations with familiar partners. The results demonstrate the positive effects of the conversation-based intervention for improving the expressive vocabulary and grammatical skills of children with severe motor speech disorders and expressive language delay who use augmentative and alternative communication. Clinical and theoretical implications of conversation-based interventions are discussed and future research needs are identified. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5150113.

  10. Distribution of physicians and hospital beds based on Gini coefficient and Lorenz curve: A national survey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Satar Rezaei

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Inequality is prevalent in all sectors, particularly in distribution of and access to resources in the health sector. The aim of current study was to investigate the distribution of physicians and hospital beds in Iran in 2001, 2006 and 2011. Methods: This retrospective, cross-sectional study evaluated the distribution of physicians and hospital beds in 2001, 2006 and 2011 using Gini coefficient and Lorenz curve. The required data, including the number of physicians (general practitioners and specialists, number of hospital beds and number of hospitalized patients were obtained from the statistical yearbook of Iranian Statistical Center (ISC. The data analysis was performed by DASP software. Results: The Gini Coefficients for physicians and hospital beds based on population in 2001 were 0.19 and 0.16, and based on hospitalized patients, were 0.48 and 0.37, respectively. In 2006, these values were found to be 0.18 and 0.15 based on population, and 0.21 and 0.21 based on hospitalized patients, respectively. In 2011, however, the Gini coefficients were reported to be 0.16 and 0.13 based on population, and 0.47 and 0.37 based on hospitalized patients, respectively. Although distribution status had improved in 2011compared with 2001 in terms of population and number of hospitalized patients, there was more inequality in distribution based on the number of hospitalized patients than based on population. Conclusion: This study indicated that inequality in distribution of physicians and hospital beds was declined in 2011 compared with 2001. This distribution was based on the population, so it is suggested that, in allocation of resource, the health policymakers consider such need indices as the pattern of diseases and illness-prone areas, number of inpatients, and mortality.

  11. High-Order Model and Dynamic Filtering for Frame Rate Up-Conversion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bao, Wenbo; Zhang, Xiaoyun; Chen, Li; Ding, Lianghui; Gao, Zhiyong

    2018-08-01

    This paper proposes a novel frame rate up-conversion method through high-order model and dynamic filtering (HOMDF) for video pixels. Unlike the constant brightness and linear motion assumptions in traditional methods, the intensity and position of the video pixels are both modeled with high-order polynomials in terms of time. Then, the key problem of our method is to estimate the polynomial coefficients that represent the pixel's intensity variation, velocity, and acceleration. We propose to solve it with two energy objectives: one minimizes the auto-regressive prediction error of intensity variation by its past samples, and the other minimizes video frame's reconstruction error along the motion trajectory. To efficiently address the optimization problem for these coefficients, we propose the dynamic filtering solution inspired by video's temporal coherence. The optimal estimation of these coefficients is reformulated into a dynamic fusion of the prior estimate from pixel's temporal predecessor and the maximum likelihood estimate from current new observation. Finally, frame rate up-conversion is implemented using motion-compensated interpolation by pixel-wise intensity variation and motion trajectory. Benefited from the advanced model and dynamic filtering, the interpolated frame has much better visual quality. Extensive experiments on the natural and synthesized videos demonstrate the superiority of HOMDF over the state-of-the-art methods in both subjective and objective comparisons.

  12. Theoretical Conversions of Different Hardness and Tensile Strength for Ductile Materials Based on Stress-Strain Curves

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Hui; Cai, Li-Xun

    2018-04-01

    Based on the power-law stress-strain relation and equivalent energy principle, theoretical equations for converting between Brinell hardness (HB), Rockwell hardness (HR), and Vickers hardness (HV) were established. Combining the pre-existing relation between the tensile strength ( σ b ) and Hollomon parameters ( K, N), theoretical conversions between hardness (HB/HR/HV) and tensile strength ( σ b ) were obtained as well. In addition, to confirm the pre-existing σ b -( K, N) relation, a large number of uniaxial tensile tests were conducted in various ductile materials. Finally, to verify the theoretical conversions, plenty of statistical data listed in ASTM and ISO standards were adopted to test the robustness of the converting equations with various hardness and tensile strength. The results show that both hardness conversions and hardness-strength conversions calculated from the theoretical equations accord well with the standard data.

  13. A Switched-Capacitor Based High Conversion Ratio Converter for Renewable Energy Applications

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Li, Kerui; Yin, Zhijian; Yang, Yongheng

    2017-01-01

    A high step-up switched-capacitor based converter is proposed in this paper. The proposed converter features high conversion ratio, low voltage stress and continuous input current, which makes it very suitable for renewable energy applications like photovoltaic systems. More importantly...... voltage gain, low voltage stress on the switches, continuous input current, and relatively high efficiency....

  14. Gas-liquid mass transfer coefficient of methane in bubble column reactor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Jaewon; Ha, Kyoung-Su; Lee, Jinwon; Kim, Choongik [Sogang University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Yasin, Muhammad; Park, Shinyoung; Chang, In Seop [Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Gwangju (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Eun Yeol [Kyung Hee University, Yongin (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-06-15

    Biological conversion of methane gas has been attracting considerable recent interest. However, methanotropic bioreactor is limited by low solubility of methane gas in aqueous solution. Although a large mass transfer coefficient of methane in water could possibly overcome this limitation, no dissolved methane probe in aqueous environment is commercially available. We have developed a reactor enabling the measurement of aqueous phase methane concentration and mass transfer coefficient (k{sub L}a). The feasibility of the new reactor was demonstrated by measuring k{sub L}a values as a function of spinning rate of impeller and flow rate of methane gas. Especially, at spinning rate of 300 rpm and flow rate of 3.0 L/min, a large k{sub L}a value of 102.9 h{sup -1} was obtained.

  15. Experimental methodology for obtaining sound absorption coefficients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlos A. Macía M

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Objective: the authors propose a new methodology for estimating sound absorption coefficients using genetic algorithms. Methodology: sound waves are generated and conducted along a rectangular silencer. The waves are then attenuated by the absorbing material covering the silencer’s walls. The attenuated sound pressure level is used in a genetic algorithm-based search to find the parameters of the proposed attenuation expressions that include geometric factors, the wavelength and the absorption coefficient. Results: a variety of adjusted mathematical models were found that make it possible to estimate the absorption coefficients based on the characteristics of a rectangular silencer used for measuring the attenuation of the noise that passes through it. Conclusions: this methodology makes it possible to obtain the absorption coefficients of new materials in a cheap and simple manner. Although these coefficients might be slightly different from those obtained through other methodologies, they provide solutions within the engineering accuracy ranges that are used for designing noise control systems.

  16. Energy conversion alternatives study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shure, L. T.

    1979-01-01

    Comparison of coal based energy systems is given. Study identifies and compares various advanced energy conversion systems using coal or coal derived fuels for baselaoad electric power generation. Energy Conversion Alternatives Study (ECAS) reports provede government, industry, and general public with technically consistent basis for comparison of system's options of interest for fossilfired electric-utility application.

  17. High-accuracy resolver-to-digital conversion via phase locked loop based on PID controller

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yaoling; Wu, Zhong

    2018-03-01

    The problem of resolver-to-digital conversion (RDC) is transformed into the problem of angle tracking control, and a phase locked loop (PLL) method based on PID controller is proposed in this paper. This controller comprises a typical PI controller plus an incomplete differential which can avoid the amplification of higher-frequency noise components by filtering the phase detection error with a low-pass filter. Compared with conventional ones, the proposed PLL method makes the converter a system of type III and thus the conversion accuracy can be improved. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

  18. Coefficients calculations of conversion of cancer risk for occupational exposure using Monte Carlo simulations in cardiac procedures of interventionist radiology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Santos, William S.; Neves, Lucio P.; Perini, Ana P.; Caldas, Linda V.E.; Maia, Ana F.

    2014-01-01

    Cardiac procedures are among the most common procedures in interventional radiology (IR), and can lead to high medical and occupational exposures, as in most cases are procedures complex and long lasting. In this work, conversion coefficients (CC) for the risk of cancer, normalized by kerma area product (KAP) to the patient, cardiologist and nurse were calculated using Monte Carlo simulation. The patient and the cardiologist were represented by anthropomorphic simulators MESH, and the nurse by anthropomorphic phantom FASH. Simulators were incorporated into the code of Monte Carlo MCNPX. Two scenarios were created: in the first (1), lead curtain and protective equipment suspended were not included, and in the second (2) these devices were inserted. The radiographic parameters employed in Monte Carlo simulations were: tube voltage of 60 kVp and 120 kVp; filtration of the beam and 3,5 mmAl beam area of 10 x 10 cm 2 . The average values of CCs to eight projections (in 10 -4 / Gy.cm 2 were 1,2 for the patient, 2,6E-03 (scenario 1) and 4,9E-04 (scenario 2) for cardiologist and 5,2E-04 (scenario 1) and 4,0E-04 (Scenario 2) to the nurse. The results show a significant reduction in CCs for professionals, when the lead curtain and protective equipment suspended are employed. The evaluation method used in this work can provide important information on the risk of cancer patient and professional, and thus improve the protection of workers in cardiac procedures of RI

  19. Spectral effects on some physical coefficients of x-Ray interaction with materials of low atomic number

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    EL-Kazzaz, S.A.; Youssef, M.; EL-Hadad, S.; and EL-Nadi, L.M.

    1988-01-01

    X-ray spectra were measured before and after passing through some materials of medical importance applying X-ray diffraction. The mass absorption coefficients of these materials were determined at X-ray peak voltages 27, 30 and 42 kV-p making use the measured spectrum and also by using the direct beam absorption. It has been found that the mass absorption coefficients calculated from the X-ray spectral distribution analysis are in general lower than those obtained considering the direct beam method. From the study of the atomic number and energy dependence of the mass absorption coefficients it has been found that the dependence of the coefficients calculated from the spectral distribution is good agreement with the previously studied data for monoenergetic x-ray beam. Also the roentgen - to - Rad conversion factors were determined at the different used energies and materials. The value of the mass absorption coefficients calculated from the spectral distribution is recommended for use in dose calculation

  20. Career conversations in vocational schools

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mittendorff, K.M.; Brok, den P.J.; Beijaard, D.

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine career conversations between teachers and students in competence-based vocational education in the Netherlands. A total of 32 career conversations were observed and analysed with respect to four elements: content, teacher activities, student activities and

  1. Late conversion from tacrolimus to a belatacept-based immuno-suppression regime in kidney transplant recipients improves renal function, acid-base derangement and mineral-bone metabolism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schulte, Kevin; Vollmer, Clara; Klasen, Vera; Bräsen, Jan Hinrich; Püchel, Jodok; Borzikowsky, Christoph; Kunzendorf, Ulrich; Feldkamp, Thorsten

    2017-08-01

    Calcineurin inhibitor (CNI)-induced nephrotoxicity and chronic graft dysfunction with deteriorating glomerular filtration rate (GFR) are common problems of kidney transplant recipients. The aim of this study was to analyze the role of belatacept as a rescue therapy in these patients. In this retrospective, observational study we investigated 20 patients (10 females, 10 males) who were switched from a CNI (tacrolimus) to a belatacept-based immunosuppression because of CNI intolerance or marginal transplant function. Patient follow-up was 12 months. Patients were converted to belatacept in mean 28.8 months after transplantation. Reasons for conversion were CNI intolerance (14 patients) or marginal transplant function (6 patients). Mean estimated GFR (eGFR) before conversion was 22.2 ± 9.4 ml/min at baseline and improved significantly to 28.3 ± 10.1 ml/min at 4 weeks and to 32.1 ± 12.6 ml/min at 12 months after conversion. Serum bicarbonate significantly increased from 24.4 ± 3.2 mmol/l at baseline to 28.7 ± 2.6 mmol/l after 12 months. Conversion to belatacept decreased parathyroid hormone and phosphate concentrations significantly, whereas albumin levels significantly increased. In 6 cases an acute rejection preceded clinically relevant CNI toxicity; only two patients suffered from an acute rejection after conversion. Belatacept was well tolerated and there was no increase in infectious or malignant side effects. A late conversion from a tacrolimus-based immunosuppression to belatacept is safe, effective and significantly improves renal function in kidney transplant recipients. Additionally, the conversion to belatacept has a beneficial impact on acid-base balance, mineral-bone and protein metabolism, independently of eGFR.

  2. A comparison of confidence interval methods for the intraclass correlation coefficient in community-based cluster randomization trials with a binary outcome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Braschel, Melissa C; Svec, Ivana; Darlington, Gerarda A; Donner, Allan

    2016-04-01

    Many investigators rely on previously published point estimates of the intraclass correlation coefficient rather than on their associated confidence intervals to determine the required size of a newly planned cluster randomized trial. Although confidence interval methods for the intraclass correlation coefficient that can be applied to community-based trials have been developed for a continuous outcome variable, fewer methods exist for a binary outcome variable. The aim of this study is to evaluate confidence interval methods for the intraclass correlation coefficient applied to binary outcomes in community intervention trials enrolling a small number of large clusters. Existing methods for confidence interval construction are examined and compared to a new ad hoc approach based on dividing clusters into a large number of smaller sub-clusters and subsequently applying existing methods to the resulting data. Monte Carlo simulation is used to assess the width and coverage of confidence intervals for the intraclass correlation coefficient based on Smith's large sample approximation of the standard error of the one-way analysis of variance estimator, an inverted modified Wald test for the Fleiss-Cuzick estimator, and intervals constructed using a bootstrap-t applied to a variance-stabilizing transformation of the intraclass correlation coefficient estimate. In addition, a new approach is applied in which clusters are randomly divided into a large number of smaller sub-clusters with the same methods applied to these data (with the exception of the bootstrap-t interval, which assumes large cluster sizes). These methods are also applied to a cluster randomized trial on adolescent tobacco use for illustration. When applied to a binary outcome variable in a small number of large clusters, existing confidence interval methods for the intraclass correlation coefficient provide poor coverage. However, confidence intervals constructed using the new approach combined with Smith

  3. Problems with Discontinuous Diffusion/Dispersion Coefficients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stefano Ferraris

    2012-01-01

    accurate on smooth solutions and based on a special numerical treatment of the diffusion/dispersion coefficients that makes its application possible also when such coefficients are discontinuous. Numerical experiments confirm the convergence of the numerical approximation and show a good behavior on a set of benchmark problems in two space dimensions.

  4. INVESTIGATION OF TRIVALENT CHROMIUM-BASED CONVERSION COATINGS ON ELECTROGALVANISED STEEL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Célia Regina Tomachuk

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The passivation process of electrogavanised steel is very important, especially for improving of the corrosion protection and the thickness of the layer obtained can further enhance such protection. In the market exists Cr(III‑based thick layers passivation, however, are operated around 60°C. In order to attend market demands a new process with only 20% of the chromium content is developed, which operates at room temperature. The corrosion behavior was investigated through electrochemical impedance spectroscopy technique in chloride solution and accelerated tests in salt spray chamber. The combination of these tests provides a more complete assessment of the behavior against corrosion of layer passivation obtained. The results with respect to appearance, brightness, uniformity, layer thickness and corrosion resistance are similar to those presented by Cr(III based passivation existing market and Cr(VI based conversion treatment.

  5. Dual-drive Mach-Zehnder modulator-based reconfigurable and transparent spectral conversion for dense wavelength division multiplexing transmissions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mao, Mingzhi; Qian, Chen; Cao, Bingyao; Zhang, Qianwu; Song, Yingxiong; Wang, Min

    2017-09-01

    A digital signal process enabled dual-drive Mach-Zehnder modulator (DD-MZM)-based spectral converter is proposed and extensively investigated to realize dynamically reconfigurable and high transparent spectral conversion. As another important innovation point of the paper, to optimize the converter performance, the optimum operation conditions of the proposed converter are deduced, statistically simulated, and experimentally verified. The optimum conditions supported-converter performances are verified by detail numerical simulations and experiments in intensity-modulation and direct-detection-based network in terms of frequency detuning range-dependent conversion efficiency, strict operation transparency for user signal characteristics, impact of parasitic components on the conversion performance, as well as the converted component waveform are almost nondistortion. It is also found that the converter has the high robustness to the input signal power, optical signal-to-noise ratio variations, extinction ratio, and driving signal frequency.

  6. Computing eigenvalue sensitivity coefficients to nuclear data based on the CLUTCH method with RMC code

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qiu, Yishu; She, Ding; Tang, Xiao; Wang, Kan; Liang, Jingang

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • A new algorithm is proposed to reduce memory consumption for sensitivity analysis. • The fission matrix method is used to generate adjoint fission source distributions. • Sensitivity analysis is performed on a detailed 3D full-core benchmark with RMC. - Abstract: Recently, there is a need to develop advanced methods of computing eigenvalue sensitivity coefficients to nuclear data in the continuous-energy Monte Carlo codes. One of these methods is the iterated fission probability (IFP) method, which is adopted by most of Monte Carlo codes of having the capabilities of computing sensitivity coefficients, including the Reactor Monte Carlo code RMC. Though it is accurate theoretically, the IFP method faces the challenge of huge memory consumption. Therefore, it may sometimes produce poor sensitivity coefficients since the number of particles in each active cycle is not sufficient enough due to the limitation of computer memory capacity. In this work, two algorithms of the Contribution-Linked eigenvalue sensitivity/Uncertainty estimation via Tracklength importance CHaracterization (CLUTCH) method, namely, the collision-event-based algorithm (C-CLUTCH) which is also implemented in SCALE and the fission-event-based algorithm (F-CLUTCH) which is put forward in this work, are investigated and implemented in RMC to reduce memory requirements for computing eigenvalue sensitivity coefficients. While the C-CLUTCH algorithm requires to store concerning reaction rates of every collision, the F-CLUTCH algorithm only stores concerning reaction rates of every fission point. In addition, the fission matrix method is put forward to generate the adjoint fission source distribution for the CLUTCH method to compute sensitivity coefficients. These newly proposed approaches implemented in RMC code are verified by a SF96 lattice model and the MIT BEAVRS benchmark problem. The numerical results indicate the accuracy of the F-CLUTCH algorithm is the same as the C

  7. Hot-electron-based solar energy conversion with metal-semiconductor nanodiodes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Young Keun; Lee, Hyosun; Lee, Changhwan; Hwang, Euyheon; Park, Jeong Young

    2016-06-01

    Energy dissipation at metal surfaces or interfaces between a metal and a dielectric generally results from elementary excitations, including phonons and electronic excitation, once external energy is deposited to the surface/interface during exothermic chemical processes or an electromagnetic wave incident. In this paper, we outline recent research activities to develop energy conversion devices based on hot electrons. We found that photon energy can be directly converted to hot electrons and that hot electrons flow through the interface of metal-semiconductor nanodiodes where a Schottky barrier is formed and the energy barrier is much lower than the work function of the metal. The detection of hot electron flow can be successfully measured using the photocurrent; we measured the photoyield of photoemission with incident photons-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE). We also show that surface plasmons (i.e. the collective oscillation of conduction band electrons induced by interaction with an electromagnetic field) are excited on a rough metal surface and subsequently decay into secondary electrons, which gives rise to enhancement of the IPCE. Furthermore, the unique optical behavior of surface plasmons can be coupled with dye molecules, suggesting the possibility for producing additional channels for hot electron generation.

  8. Internal conversion in highly stripped 83Kr ions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Copnell, J.; Phillips, W.R.; Barnett, A.R.; Rehm, K.E.; Ahmad, I.; Gehring, J.; Glagola, B.G.; Kutschera, W.

    1995-01-01

    The total decay probabilities per unit time of the first excited 9.4-keV state in 83 Kr have been measured in ions of ionicity q from 28 to 32. Using a γ-decay probability per unit time of 0.255(2)x10 6 s -1 gives internal conversion coefficients of 14.6(11), 14.9(10), 14.1(9), 14.6(11), and 15.2(24) for q=28--32, respectively. These values are compared with theoretical predictions

  9. Retrieval method of aerosol extinction coefficient profile based on backscattering, side-scattering and Raman-scattering lidar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shan, Huihui; Zhang, Hui; Liu, Junjian; Tao, Zongming; Wang, Shenhao; Ma, Xiaomin; Zhou, Pucheng; Yao, Ling; Liu, Dong; Xie, Chenbo; Wang, Yingjian

    2018-03-01

    Aerosol extinction coefficient profile is an essential parameter for atmospheric radiation model. It is difficult to get higher signal to noise ratio (SNR) of backscattering lidar from the ground to the tropopause especially in near range. Higher SNR problem can be solved by combining side-scattering and backscattering lidar. Using Raman-scattering lidar, aerosol extinction to backscatter ratio (lidar ratio) can be got. Based on side-scattering, backscattering and Raman-scattering lidar system, aerosol extinction coefficient is retrieved precisely from the earth's surface to the tropopause. Case studies show this method is reasonable and feasible.

  10. Multiphoton absorption coefficients in solids: an universal curve

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brandi, H.S.; Araujo, C.B. de

    1983-04-01

    An universal curve for the frequency dependence of the multiphoton absorption coefficient is proposed based on a 'non-perturbative' approach. Specific applications have been made to obtain two, three, four and five photons absorption coefficient in different materials. Properly scaling of the two photon absorption coefficient and the use of the universal curve yields results for the higher order absorption coefficients in good agreement with the experimental data. (Author) [pt

  11. A Critical Review of Spinel Structured Iron Cobalt Oxides Based Materials for Electrochemical Energy Storage and Conversion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hongyan Gao

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Iron cobalt oxides, such as typical FeCo2O4 and CoFe2O4, are two spinel structured transitional metal oxide materials with excellent electrochemical performance. As the electrodes, they have been widely applied in the current energy storage and conversion processes such as supercapacitors, Lithium-ion batteries and fuel cells. Based on synthesis approaches and controlled conditions, these two materials exhibited broad morphologies and nanostructures and thus distinct electrochemical performance. Some of them have shown promising applications as electrodes in energy storage and conversion. The incorporation with other materials to form composites further improved their performance. This review briefly summarized the recent applications of FeCo2O4 and CoFe2O4 in energy storage and conversion, current understandings on mechanisms and especially the relevance of morphologies and structures and composites to electrochemical performance. Some recommendations were finally put forward addressing current issues and future prospects on electrodes of FeCo2O4 and CoFe2O4 based materials in energy storage and conversion, implying there was still space to further optimize their performance.

  12. Solid State Microchp Based On Thermophotovoltaic And Thermoelectric Conversion

    OpenAIRE

    Worek, William M.; Brown, Christopher; Trojanowski, Rebecca; Butcher, Thomas; Horne, Edward

    2012-01-01

    MicroCHP involves the coproduction of both heat and electric power in (typically) residential heating systems. A range of different energy conversion technologies are currently receiving attention for this application including Stirling engines, internal combustion engines, fuel cells, and Rankine cycles with steam or organic compounds as working fluids. In this work the use of ThermoPhotoVoltaic (TPV) and ThermoElectric (TE) conversion devices either alone or in combination for power product...

  13. Vegetation index-based crop coefficients to estimate evapotranspiration by remote sensing in agricultural and natural ecosystems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glenn, E.P.; Neale, C. M. U.; Hunsaker, D.J.; Nagler, P.L.

    2011-01-01

    Crop coefficients were developed to determine crop water needs based on the evapotranspiration (ET) of a reference crop under a given set of meteorological conditions. Starting in the 1980s, crop coefficients developed through lysimeter studies or set by expert opinion began to be supplemented by remotely sensed vegetation indices (VI) that measured the actual status of the crop on a field-by-field basis. VIs measure the density of green foliage based on the reflectance of visible and near infrared (NIR) light from the canopy, and are highly correlated with plant physiological processes that depend on light absorption by a canopy such as ET and photosynthesis. Reflectance-based crop coefficients have now been developed for numerous individual crops, including corn, wheat, alfalfa, cotton, potato, sugar beet, vegetables, grapes and orchard crops. Other research has shown that VIs can be used to predict ET over fields of mixed crops, allowing them to be used to monitor ET over entire irrigation districts. VI-based crop coefficients can help reduce agricultural water use by matching irrigation rates to the actual water needs of a crop as it grows instead of to a modeled crop growing under optimal conditions. Recently, the concept has been applied to natural ecosystems at the local, regional and continental scales of measurement, using time-series satellite data from the MODIS sensors on the Terra satellite. VIs or other visible-NIR band algorithms are combined with meteorological data to predict ET in numerous biome types, from deserts, to arctic tundra, to tropical rainforests. These methods often closely match ET measured on the ground at the global FluxNet array of eddy covariance moisture and carbon flux towers. The primary advantage of VI methods for estimating ET is that transpiration is closely related to radiation absorbed by the plant canopy, which is closely related to VIs. The primary disadvantage is that they cannot capture stress effects or soil

  14. Temperature dependence of Kerr coefficient and quadratic polarized optical coefficient of a paraelectric Mn:Fe:KTN crystal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qieni Lu

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available We measure temperature dependence on Kerr coefficient and quadratic polarized optical coefficient of a paraelectric Mn:Fe:KTN crystal simultaneously in this work, based on digital holographic interferometry (DHI. And the spatial distribution of the field-induced refractive index change can also be visualized and estimated by numerically retrieving sequential phase maps of Mn:Fe:KTN crystal from recording digital holograms in different states. The refractive indices decrease with increasing temperature and quadratic polarized optical coefficient is insensitive to temperature. The experimental results suggest that the DHI method presented here is highly applicable in both visualizing the temporal and spatial behavior of the internal electric field and accurately measuring electro-optic coefficient for electrooptical media.

  15. Conversion of Deletions during Recombination in Pneumococcal Transformation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lefevre, J. C.; Mostachfi, P.; Gasc, A. M.; Guillot, E.; Pasta, F.; Sicard, M.

    1989-01-01

    Genetic analysis of 16 deletions obtained in the amiA locus of pneumococcus is described. When present on donor DNA, all deletions increased drastically the frequency of wild-type recombinants in two-point crosses. This effect was maximal for deletions longer than 200 bases. It was reduced for heterologies shorter than 76 bases and did not exist for very short deletions. In three-point crosses in which the deletion was localized between two point mutations, we demonstrated that this excess of wild-type recombinants was the result of a genetic conversion. This conversion extended over several scores of bases outside the deletion. Conversion takes place during the heteroduplex stage of recombination. Therefore, in pneumococcal transformation, long heterologies participated in this heteroduplex configuration. As this conversion did not require an active DNA polymerase A gene it is proposed that the mechanism of conversion is not a DNA repair synthesis but involves breakage and ligation between DNA molecules. Conversion of deletions did not require the Hex system of correction of mismatched bases. It differs also from localized conversion. It appears that it is a process that evolved to correct errors of replication which lead to long heterologies and which are not eliminated by other systems. PMID:2599365

  16. Mode-selective wavelength conversion based on four-wave mixing in a multimode silicon waveguide

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ding, Yunhong; Xu, Jing; Ou, Haiyan

    2014-01-01

    to phase mismatch. A two-mode division multiplexing circuit with tapered directional coupler based (de)multiplexers and a multimode waveguide is designed and fabricated for this application. Experimental results show clear eye-diagrams and moderate power penalties for the wavelength conversion of both...

  17. Mode conversions by a discontinuous junction of two helix loaded waveguides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Choe, J.Y.; Ahn, S.; Ganquly, A.K.; Uhm, H.S.

    1983-01-01

    For various reasons, it is desirable to vary the primary propagating mode from one section of the waveguide to another. We choose the base structure to be the sheath helix loaded waveguide. Specifically, we join two physically different helix loaded waveguides axisymmetrically, thereby providing the required discontinuities at the junction (Z = 0). The helix loaded waveguide is more advantageous to the simple waveguide in that the helix mode that exists uniquely in the helix waveguide in addition to the usual fast wave hybrid modes, is without cutoff and thus behaves like a transmission line. In order to obtain the mode conversion rates, we expand the waves in the both sides of the junction with its own eigenmodes including the evanescent modes, and by matching fields at the junction (Z = 0) obtain the matrix equation for the coefficients for the eigenmodes in both sides. By choosing the propagating incident wave (Z = 0) the resulting outgoing waves in the other end (Z > 0) will be computed from the matrix equation. A computer program is devised to solve the suitably truncated matrix equation, and the numerical examples for the mode conversion rates with the parameter variations will be presented. The relevant physical parameters to yield discontinuities at the junction are the radii of the outer conductor and the helix wire and the pitch angle of the helix. Special emphases are on the conversion rates from the helix mode (Z 0) for the application to the tapered gyrotron amplifier

  18. Moisture diffusion coefficients determination of furan bonded sands and water based foundry coatings

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Di Muoio, Giovanni Luca; Tiedje, Niels Skat

    2016-01-01

    Moisture content in furan bonded sand and water based coatings can be one of the main causes for gas related defects in large cast iron parts. Moisture diffusion coefficients for these materials are needed to precisely predict the possible moisture levels in foundry moulds. In this study, we first...... provide an example on how it is possible to apply this knowledge to estimate moisture variation in a sand mould during production....

  19. Concept maps: A tool for knowledge management and synthesis in web-based conversational learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joshi, Ankur; Singh, Satendra; Jaswal, Shivani; Badyal, Dinesh Kumar; Singh, Tejinder

    2016-01-01

    Web-based conversational learning provides an opportunity for shared knowledge base creation through collaboration and collective wisdom extraction. Usually, the amount of generated information in such forums is very huge, multidimensional (in alignment with the desirable preconditions for constructivist knowledge creation), and sometimes, the nature of expected new information may not be anticipated in advance. Thus, concept maps (crafted from constructed data) as "process summary" tools may be a solution to improve critical thinking and learning by making connections between the facts or knowledge shared by the participants during online discussion This exploratory paper begins with the description of this innovation tried on a web-based interacting platform (email list management software), FAIMER-Listserv, and generated qualitative evidence through peer-feedback. This process description is further supported by a theoretical construct which shows how social constructivism (inclusive of autonomy and complexity) affects the conversational learning. The paper rationalizes the use of concept map as mid-summary tool for extracting information and further sense making out of this apparent intricacy.

  20. Gaussian Mixture Random Coefficient model based framework for SHM in structures with time-dependent dynamics under uncertainty

    Science.gov (United States)

    Avendaño-Valencia, Luis David; Fassois, Spilios D.

    2017-12-01

    The problem of vibration-based damage diagnosis in structures characterized by time-dependent dynamics under significant environmental and/or operational uncertainty is considered. A stochastic framework consisting of a Gaussian Mixture Random Coefficient model of the uncertain time-dependent dynamics under each structural health state, proper estimation methods, and Bayesian or minimum distance type decision making, is postulated. The Random Coefficient (RC) time-dependent stochastic model with coefficients following a multivariate Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) allows for significant flexibility in uncertainty representation. Certain of the model parameters are estimated via a simple procedure which is founded on the related Multiple Model (MM) concept, while the GMM weights are explicitly estimated for optimizing damage diagnostic performance. The postulated framework is demonstrated via damage detection in a simple simulated model of a quarter-car active suspension with time-dependent dynamics and considerable uncertainty on the payload. Comparisons with a simpler Gaussian RC model based method are also presented, with the postulated framework shown to be capable of offering considerable improvement in diagnostic performance.

  1. Defogging of road images using gain coefficient-based trilateral filter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Dilbag; Kumar, Vijay

    2018-01-01

    Poor weather conditions are responsible for most of the road accidents year in and year out. Poor weather conditions, such as fog, degrade the visibility of objects. Thus, it becomes difficult for drivers to identify the vehicles in a foggy environment. The dark channel prior (DCP)-based defogging techniques have been found to be an efficient way to remove fog from road images. However, it produces poor results when image objects are inherently similar to airlight and no shadow is cast on them. To eliminate this problem, a modified restoration model-based DCP is developed to remove the fog from road images. The transmission map is also refined by developing a gain coefficient-based trilateral filter. Thus, the proposed technique has an ability to remove fog from road images in an effective manner. The proposed technique is compared with seven well-known defogging techniques on two benchmark foggy images datasets and five real-time foggy images. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach is able to remove the different types of fog from roadside images as well as significantly improve the image's visibility. It also reveals that the restored image has little or no artifacts.

  2. Smartphone-Based Conversational Agents and Responses to Questions About Mental Health, Interpersonal Violence, and Physical Health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miner, Adam S; Milstein, Arnold; Schueller, Stephen; Hegde, Roshini; Mangurian, Christina; Linos, Eleni

    2016-05-01

    Conversational agents are smartphone-based computer programs designed to respond to users in natural language, thereby mimicking conversations between people. Many people use their smartphones to obtain health information. To describe the responses of 4 widely used conversational agents (Siri [Apple], Google Now, S Voice [Samsung], and Cortana [Microsoft]) to a standardized panel of questions related to mental health, interpersonal violence, and physical health. A pilot study followed by a cross-sectional study of a convenience sample of 68 phones from 7 manufacturers conducted from December 2015 to January 2016. Investigators asked the smartphones 9 questions (3 each in mental health, interpersonal violence, and physical health) in their natural language. We recorded information on features of the smartphones and their software, including manufacturer, phone model, operating system version, and conversational agent. The primary outcomes were the responses of conversational agents to 9 questions. The responses were characterized based on the ability to (1) recognize a crisis, (2) respond with respectful language, and (3) refer to an appropriate helpline, or other health resources for a physical health concern. Questions were asked repeatedly until there were no new answers. The phones ran 77 conversational agents: Siri (n = 27), Google Now (n = 31), S Voice (n = 9), and Cortana (n = 10). Siri, Google Now, and S Voice recognized the statement "I want to commit suicide" as concerning; Siri and Google Now referred the user to a suicide prevention helpline. In response to "I am depressed," Siri recognized the concern and responded with respectful language, the responses from S Voice and Cortana varied, and Google Now did not recognize the concern. None of the conversational agents referred users to a helpline for depression. In response to "I was raped," Cortana referred to a sexual assault hotline; Siri, Google Now, and S Voice did not recognize the

  3. Terahertz-wave differential detection based on simultaneous dual-wavelength up-conversion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuma Takida

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available We report a terahertz (THz-wave differential detection based on simultaneous dual-wavelength up-conversion in a nonlinear optical MgO:LiNbO3 crystal with optical and electronic THz-wave sources. The broadband parametric gain and noncollinear phase-matching of MgO:LiNbO3 provide efficient conversion from superposed THz waves to spatially distributed near-infrared (NIR beams to function as a dispersive THz-wave spectrometer without any additional dispersive element. We show that the μW-level THz waves from two independent sources, a 0.78-THz injection-seeded THz-wave parametric generator (is-TPG and a 1.14-THz resonant tunneling diode (RTD, are simultaneously up-converted to two NIR waves and then detected with two NIR photodetectors. By applying a balanced detection scheme to this dual-frequency detection, we demonstrate THz-wave differential imaging of maltose and polyethylene pellets in the transmission geometry. This dual-wavelength detection is applicable to more than three frequencies and broadband THz-wave radiation for real-time THz-wave spectroscopic detection and imaging.

  4. Single-mode fiber laser based on core-cladding mode conversion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suzuki, Shigeru; Schülzgen, Axel; Peyghambarian, N

    2008-02-15

    A single-mode fiber laser based on an intracavity core-cladding mode conversion is demonstrated. The fiber laser consists of an Er-doped active fiber and two fiber Bragg gratings. One Bragg grating is a core-cladding mode converter, and the other Bragg grating is a narrowband high reflector that selects the lasing wavelength. Coupling a single core mode and a single cladding mode by the grating mode converter, the laser operates as a hybrid single-mode laser. This approach for designing a laser cavity provides a much larger mode area than conventional large-mode-area step-index fibers.

  5. PET attenuation coefficients from CT images: experimental evaluation of the transformation of CT into PET 511-keV attenuation coefficients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burger, C; Goerres, G; Schoenes, S; Buck, A; Lonn, A H R; Von Schulthess, G K

    2002-07-01

    The CT data acquired in combined PET/CT studies provide a fast and essentially noiseless source for the correction of photon attenuation in PET emission data. To this end, the CT values relating to attenuation of photons in the range of 40-140 keV must be transformed into linear attenuation coefficients at the PET energy of 511 keV. As attenuation depends on photon energy and the absorbing material, an accurate theoretical relation cannot be devised. The transformation implemented in the Discovery LS PET/CT scanner (GE Medical Systems, Milwaukee, Wis.) uses a bilinear function based on the attenuation of water and cortical bone at the CT and PET energies. The purpose of this study was to compare this transformation with experimental CT values and corresponding PET attenuation coefficients. In 14 patients, quantitative PET attenuation maps were calculated from germanium-68 transmission scans, and resolution-matched CT images were generated. A total of 114 volumes of interest were defined and the average PET attenuation coefficients and CT values measured. From the CT values the predicted PET attenuation coefficients were calculated using the bilinear transformation. When the transformation was based on the narrow-beam attenuation coefficient of water at 511 keV (0.096 cm(-1)), the predicted attenuation coefficients were higher in soft tissue than the measured values. This bias was reduced by replacing 0.096 cm(-1) in the transformation by the linear attenuation coefficient of 0.093 cm(-1) obtained from germanium-68 transmission scans. An analysis of the corrected emission activities shows that the resulting transformation is essentially equivalent to the transmission-based attenuation correction for human tissue. For non-human material, however, it may assign inaccurate attenuation coefficients which will also affect the correction in neighbouring tissue.

  6. Towards spontaneous parametric down-conversion at low temperatures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akatiev Dmitrii

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The possibility of observing spontaneous parametric down-conversion in doped nonlinear crystals at low temperatures, which would be useful for combining heralded single-photon sources and quantum memories, is studied theoretically. The ordinary refractive index of a lithium niobate crystal doped with magnesium oxide LiNbO3:MgO is measured at liquid nitrogen and helium temperatures. On the basis of the experimental data, the coefficients of the Sellmeier equation are determined for the temperatures from 5 to 300 K. In addition, a poling period of the nonlinear crystal has been calculated for observing type-0 spontaneous parametric down-conversion (ooo-synchronism at the liquid helium temperature under pumping at the wavelength of λp = 532 nm and emission of the signal field at the wavelength of λs = 794 nm, which corresponds to the resonant absorption line of Tm3+ doped ions.

  7. Adaptive Feedback Improving Learningful Conversations at Workplace

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaeta, Matteo; Mangione, Giuseppina Rita; Miranda, Sergio; Orciuoli, Francesco

    2013-01-01

    This work proposes the definition of an Adaptive Conversation-based Learning System (ACLS) able to foster computer-mediated tutorial dialogues at the workplace in order to increase the probability to generate meaningful learning during conversations. ACLS provides a virtual assistant selecting the best partner to involve in the conversation and…

  8. Determination of the effective diffusion coefficient of water through cement-based materials when applying an electrical field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wattez, T.

    2013-01-01

    The safety and the reliability of a radioactive waste repository rely essentially on the confinement ability of the waste package and the storing structure. In the case of the low-level and intermediate level short-lived radioactive waste, the confinement property, relying on solid matrices made of cement-based materials, is assessed through a natural diffusion test, using a radioactive tracer, from which an effective diffusion coefficient is deduced. The evolution of the materials and more particularly the enhancement of the confinement properties of cement-based materials lead to test duration from a couple of months to a couple of years. The main objective of the present work involves the determination of the effective diffusion coefficient of reference chemical species, in our case the tritiated water, within a shorter time. The theoretical foundation is based on the description of ionic species mass transfer under the effects of an electrical field. With the definitions of a precise experimental protocol and of a formation factor, considered as an intrinsic topological feature of the porous network, it is possible to determine the effective diffusion coefficient of tritiated water for various types of concretes and mortars, and this within a few hours only. The comparison between the developed accelerated test, based on the application of a constant electrical field, and the normed natural diffusion test, using tritiated water, underlined two critical issues. First, omitting the impact of the radioactive decay of tritium during a natural diffusion test, leads to a non-negligible underestimation of the effective diffusion coefficient. Second, maintaining samples in high relative humidity conditions after casting is essential in order to avoid contrasted and unrelated results when performing the electrokinetic tests. Eventually, the validation of the electrokinetics technique, main objective of this work, rests on the assessment of the theoretical hypothesis

  9. Clustering Coefficients for Correlation Networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Naoki Masuda

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Graph theory is a useful tool for deciphering structural and functional networks of the brain on various spatial and temporal scales. The clustering coefficient quantifies the abundance of connected triangles in a network and is a major descriptive statistics of networks. For example, it finds an application in the assessment of small-worldness of brain networks, which is affected by attentional and cognitive conditions, age, psychiatric disorders and so forth. However, it remains unclear how the clustering coefficient should be measured in a correlation-based network, which is among major representations of brain networks. In the present article, we propose clustering coefficients tailored to correlation matrices. The key idea is to use three-way partial correlation or partial mutual information to measure the strength of the association between the two neighboring nodes of a focal node relative to the amount of pseudo-correlation expected from indirect paths between the nodes. Our method avoids the difficulties of previous applications of clustering coefficient (and other measures in defining correlational networks, i.e., thresholding on the correlation value, discarding of negative correlation values, the pseudo-correlation problem and full partial correlation matrices whose estimation is computationally difficult. For proof of concept, we apply the proposed clustering coefficient measures to functional magnetic resonance imaging data obtained from healthy participants of various ages and compare them with conventional clustering coefficients. We show that the clustering coefficients decline with the age. The proposed clustering coefficients are more strongly correlated with age than the conventional ones are. We also show that the local variants of the proposed clustering coefficients (i.e., abundance of triangles around a focal node are useful in characterizing individual nodes. In contrast, the conventional local clustering coefficients

  10. Clustering Coefficients for Correlation Networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masuda, Naoki; Sakaki, Michiko; Ezaki, Takahiro; Watanabe, Takamitsu

    2018-01-01

    Graph theory is a useful tool for deciphering structural and functional networks of the brain on various spatial and temporal scales. The clustering coefficient quantifies the abundance of connected triangles in a network and is a major descriptive statistics of networks. For example, it finds an application in the assessment of small-worldness of brain networks, which is affected by attentional and cognitive conditions, age, psychiatric disorders and so forth. However, it remains unclear how the clustering coefficient should be measured in a correlation-based network, which is among major representations of brain networks. In the present article, we propose clustering coefficients tailored to correlation matrices. The key idea is to use three-way partial correlation or partial mutual information to measure the strength of the association between the two neighboring nodes of a focal node relative to the amount of pseudo-correlation expected from indirect paths between the nodes. Our method avoids the difficulties of previous applications of clustering coefficient (and other) measures in defining correlational networks, i.e., thresholding on the correlation value, discarding of negative correlation values, the pseudo-correlation problem and full partial correlation matrices whose estimation is computationally difficult. For proof of concept, we apply the proposed clustering coefficient measures to functional magnetic resonance imaging data obtained from healthy participants of various ages and compare them with conventional clustering coefficients. We show that the clustering coefficients decline with the age. The proposed clustering coefficients are more strongly correlated with age than the conventional ones are. We also show that the local variants of the proposed clustering coefficients (i.e., abundance of triangles around a focal node) are useful in characterizing individual nodes. In contrast, the conventional local clustering coefficients were strongly

  11. Clustering Coefficients for Correlation Networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masuda, Naoki; Sakaki, Michiko; Ezaki, Takahiro; Watanabe, Takamitsu

    2018-01-01

    Graph theory is a useful tool for deciphering structural and functional networks of the brain on various spatial and temporal scales. The clustering coefficient quantifies the abundance of connected triangles in a network and is a major descriptive statistics of networks. For example, it finds an application in the assessment of small-worldness of brain networks, which is affected by attentional and cognitive conditions, age, psychiatric disorders and so forth. However, it remains unclear how the clustering coefficient should be measured in a correlation-based network, which is among major representations of brain networks. In the present article, we propose clustering coefficients tailored to correlation matrices. The key idea is to use three-way partial correlation or partial mutual information to measure the strength of the association between the two neighboring nodes of a focal node relative to the amount of pseudo-correlation expected from indirect paths between the nodes. Our method avoids the difficulties of previous applications of clustering coefficient (and other) measures in defining correlational networks, i.e., thresholding on the correlation value, discarding of negative correlation values, the pseudo-correlation problem and full partial correlation matrices whose estimation is computationally difficult. For proof of concept, we apply the proposed clustering coefficient measures to functional magnetic resonance imaging data obtained from healthy participants of various ages and compare them with conventional clustering coefficients. We show that the clustering coefficients decline with the age. The proposed clustering coefficients are more strongly correlated with age than the conventional ones are. We also show that the local variants of the proposed clustering coefficients (i.e., abundance of triangles around a focal node) are useful in characterizing individual nodes. In contrast, the conventional local clustering coefficients were strongly

  12. Empirical evidence for site coefficients in building code provisions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borcherdt, R.D.

    2002-01-01

    Site-response coefficients, Fa and Fv, used in U.S. building code provisions are based on empirical data for motions up to 0.1 g. For larger motions they are based on theoretical and laboratory results. The Northridge earthquake of 17 January 1994 provided a significant new set of empirical data up to 0.5 g. These data together with recent site characterizations based on shear-wave velocity measurements provide empirical estimates of the site coefficients at base accelerations up to 0.5 g for Site Classes C and D. These empirical estimates of Fa and Fnu; as well as their decrease with increasing base acceleration level are consistent at the 95 percent confidence level with those in present building code provisions, with the exception of estimates for Fa at levels of 0.1 and 0.2 g, which are less than the lower confidence bound by amounts up to 13 percent. The site-coefficient estimates are consistent at the 95 percent confidence level with those of several other investigators for base accelerations greater than 0.3 g. These consistencies and present code procedures indicate that changes in the site coefficients are not warranted. Empirical results for base accelerations greater than 0.2 g confirm the need for both a short- and a mid- or long-period site coefficient to characterize site response for purposes of estimating site-specific design spectra.

  13. Biomass thermochemical conversion program: 1987 annual report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schiefelbein, G.F.; Stevens, D.J.; Gerber, M.A.

    1988-01-01

    The objective of the Biomass Thermochemical Conversion Program is to generate a base of scientific data and conversion process information that will lead to establishment of cost-effective processes for conversion of biomass resources into clean fuels. To accomplish this objective, in fiscal year 1987 the Thermochemical Conversion Program sponsored research activities in the following four areas: Liquid Hydrocarbon Fuels Technology; Gasification Technology; Direct Combustion Technology; Program Support Activities. In this report an overview of the Thermochemical Conversion Program is presented. Specific research projects are then described. Major accomplishments for 1987 are summarized.

  14. Calorimetric Measurement for Internal Conversion Efficiency of Photovoltaic Cells/Modules Based on Electrical Substitution Method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saito, Terubumi; Tatsuta, Muneaki; Abe, Yamato; Takesawa, Minato

    2018-02-01

    We have succeeded in the direct measurement for solar cell/module internal conversion efficiency based on a calorimetric method or electrical substitution method by which the absorbed radiant power is determined by replacing the heat absorbed in the cell/module with the electrical power. The technique is advantageous in that the reflectance and transmittance measurements, which are required in the conventional methods, are not necessary. Also, the internal quantum efficiency can be derived from conversion efficiencies by using the average photon energy. Agreements of the measured data with the values estimated from the nominal values support the validity of this technique.

  15. Transport Coefficients for dense hard-disk systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Garcia-Rojo, R.; Luding, Stefan; Brey, J. Javier; Ooms, G.; Hoogendoorn, C.J.

    2007-01-01

    A study of the transport coefficients of a system of elastic hard disks, based on the use of Helfand-Einstein expressions is reported. The pressure, the viscosity, and the heat conductivity are examined for different density and system-size. While most transport coefficients agree with Enskog theory

  16. Evidence of significant down-conversion in a Si-based solar cell using CuInS2/ZnS core shell quantum dots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gardelis, Spiros; Nassiopoulou, Androula G.

    2014-05-01

    We report on the increase of up to 37.5% in conversion efficiency of a Si-based solar cell after deposition of light-emitting Cd-free, CuInS2/ZnS core shell quantum dots on the active area of the cell due to the combined effect of down-conversion and the anti- reflecting property of the dots. We clearly distinguished the effect of down-conversion from anti-reflection and estimated an enhancement of up to 10.5% in the conversion efficiency due to down-conversion.

  17. Evidence of significant down-conversion in a Si-based solar cell using CuInS2/ZnS core shell quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gardelis, Spiros; Nassiopoulou, Androula G.

    2014-01-01

    We report on the increase of up to 37.5% in conversion efficiency of a Si-based solar cell after deposition of light-emitting Cd-free, CuInS 2 /ZnS core shell quantum dots on the active area of the cell due to the combined effect of down-conversion and the anti- reflecting property of the dots. We clearly distinguished the effect of down-conversion from anti-reflection and estimated an enhancement of up to 10.5% in the conversion efficiency due to down-conversion

  18. Multi-tap complex-coefficient incoherent microwave photonic filters based on optical single-sideband modulation and narrow band optical filtering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sagues, Mikel; García Olcina, Raimundo; Loayssa, Alayn; Sales, Salvador; Capmany, José

    2008-01-07

    We propose a novel scheme to implement tunable multi-tap complex coefficient filters based on optical single sideband modulation and narrow band optical filtering. A four tap filter is experimentally demonstrated to highlight the enhanced tuning performance provided by complex coefficients. Optical processing is performed by the use of a cascade of four phase-shifted fiber Bragg gratings specifically fabricated for this purpose.

  19. Region specific optimization of continuous linear attenuation coefficients based on UTE (RESOLUTE)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ladefoged, Claes N; Benoit, Didier; Law, Ian

    2015-01-01

    The reconstruction of PET brain data in a PET/MR hybrid scanner is challenging in the absence of transmission sources, where MR images are used for MR-based attenuation correction (MR-AC). The main challenge of MR-AC is to separate bone and air, as neither have a signal in traditional MR images......-valued linear attenuation coefficients in bone that provides accurate reconstructed PET image data. A total of 164 [(18)F]FDG PET/MR patients were included in this study, of which 10 were used for training. MR-AC was based on either standard CT (reference), UTE or our method (RESOLUTE). The reconstructed PET...... on the reconstructed PET images, as well as limiting the number and extent of the outliers....

  20. All-Optical Ultra-High-Speed OFDM to Nyquist-WDM Conversion Based on Complete Optical Fourier Transformation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Guan, Pengyu; Røge, Kasper Meldgaard; Mulvad, Hans Christian Hansen

    2016-01-01

    We propose a novel all-optical ultra-high-speed orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) to Nyquist wavelength-division multiplexing (Nyquist-WDM) conversion scheme, achieved by exchanging the temporal and spectral profiles using a complete optical Fourier transformation (OFT). This scheme...... enables high-speed OFDM to Nyquist-WDM conversion without complex optical/electrical/optical conversion. The all-optical OFDM transmitter is based on the generation of OFDM symbols with a low duty cycle by rectangular temporal gating, which in combination with optical time-division multiplexing yields...... a higher symbol-rate OFDM signal. In the receiver, the converted Nyquist-WDM super-channel is WDM demultiplexed into individual Nyquist-WDM channels using a rectangular optical bandpass filter, followed by optical sampling at the intersymbol-interference free point. In the experimental demonstration...

  1. Wind turbine power coefficient estimation by soft computing methodologies: Comparative study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shamshirband, Shahaboddin; Petković, Dalibor; Saboohi, Hadi; Anuar, Nor Badrul; Inayat, Irum; Akib, Shatirah; Ćojbašić, Žarko; Nikolić, Vlastimir; Mat Kiah, Miss Laiha; Gani, Abdullah

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Variable speed operation of wind turbine to increase power generation. • Changeability and fluctuation of wind has to be accounted. • To build an effective prediction model of wind turbine power coefficient. • The impact of the variation in the blade pitch angle and tip speed ratio. • Support vector regression methodology application as predictive methodology. - Abstract: Wind energy has become a large contender of traditional fossil fuel energy, particularly with the successful operation of multi-megawatt sized wind turbines. However, reasonable wind speed is not adequately sustainable everywhere to build an economical wind farm. In wind energy conversion systems, one of the operational problems is the changeability and fluctuation of wind. In most cases, wind speed can vacillate rapidly. Hence, quality of produced energy becomes an important problem in wind energy conversion plants. Several control techniques have been applied to improve the quality of power generated from wind turbines. In this study, the polynomial and radial basis function (RBF) are applied as the kernel function of support vector regression (SVR) to estimate optimal power coefficient value of the wind turbines. Instead of minimizing the observed training error, SVR p oly and SVR r bf attempt to minimize the generalization error bound so as to achieve generalized performance. The experimental results show that an improvement in predictive accuracy and capability of generalization can be achieved by the SVR approach in compare to other soft computing methodologies

  2. Gradient-based estimation of Manning's friction coefficient from noisy data

    KAUST Repository

    Calo, Victor M.

    2013-01-01

    We study the numerical recovery of Manning\\'s roughness coefficient for the diffusive wave approximation of the shallow water equation. We describe a conjugate gradient method for the numerical inversion. Numerical results for one-dimensional models are presented to illustrate the feasibility of the approach. Also we provide a proof of the differentiability of the weak form with respect to the coefficient as well as the continuity and boundedness of the linearized operator under reasonable assumptions using the maximal parabolic regularity theory. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Gradient-based estimation of Manning's friction coefficient from noisy data

    KAUST Repository

    Calo, Victor M.; Collier, Nathan; Gehre, Matthias; Jin, Bangti; Radwan, Hany G.; Santillana, Mauricio

    2013-01-01

    We study the numerical recovery of Manning's roughness coefficient for the diffusive wave approximation of the shallow water equation. We describe a conjugate gradient method for the numerical inversion. Numerical results for one-dimensional models are presented to illustrate the feasibility of the approach. Also we provide a proof of the differentiability of the weak form with respect to the coefficient as well as the continuity and boundedness of the linearized operator under reasonable assumptions using the maximal parabolic regularity theory. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Ka-band to L-band frequency down-conversion based on III-V-on-silicon photonic integrated circuits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Gasse, K.; Wang, Z.; Uvin, S.; De Deckere, B.; Mariën, J.; Thomassen, L.; Roelkens, G.

    2017-12-01

    In this work, we present the design, simulation and characterization of a frequency down-converter based on III-V-on-silicon photonic integrated circuit technology. We first demonstrate the concept using commercial discrete components, after which we demonstrate frequency conversion using an integrated mode-locked laser and integrated modulator. In our experiments, five channels in the Ka-band (27.5-30 GHz) with 500 MHz bandwidth are down-converted to the L-band (1.5 GHz). The breadboard demonstration shows a conversion efficiency of - 20 dB and a flat response over the 500 MHz bandwidth. The simulation of a fully integrated circuit indicates that a positive conversion gain can be obtained on a millimeter-sized photonic integrated circuit.

  5. Persuasion detection in conversation

    OpenAIRE

    Gilbert, Henry T.

    2010-01-01

    Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited In this thesis, we present a system for annotating persuasion in conversation based on a social-psychological model. We augmented the social model developed by James Cialdini with some of our own categories for annotators to label. The conversations consisted of 37 hostage negotiation transcripts from private and public sources, with all personal information removed from the private source transcripts. We evaluated the level of agre...

  6. Conversational evidence in therapeutic dialogue.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strong, Tom; Busch, Robbie; Couture, Shari

    2008-07-01

    Family therapists' participation in therapeutic dialogue with clients is typically informed by evidence of how such dialogue is developing. In this article, we propose that conversational evidence, the kind that can be empirically analyzed using discourse analyses, be considered a contribution to widening psychotherapy's evidence base. After some preliminaries about what we mean by conversational evidence, we provide a genealogy of evaluative practice in psychotherapy, and examine qualitative evaluation methods for their theoretical compatibilities with social constructionist approaches to family therapy. We then move on to examine the notion of accomplishment in therapeutic dialogue given how such accomplishments can be evaluated using conversation analysis. We conclude by considering a number of research and pedagogical implications we associate with conversational evidence.

  7. Effective communication during difficult conversations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Polito, Jacquelyn M

    2013-06-01

    A strong interest and need exist in the workplace today to master the skills of conducting difficult conversations. Theories and strategies abound, yet none seem to have found the magic formula with universal appeal and success. If it is such an uncomfortable skill to master is it better to avoid or initiate such conversations with employees? Best practices and evidence-based management guide us to the decision that quality improvement dictates effective communication, even when difficult. This brief paper will offer some suggestions for strategies to manage difficult conversations with employees. Mastering the skills of conducting difficult conversations is clearly important to keeping lines of communication open and productive. Successful communication skills may actually help to avert confrontation through employee engagement, commitment and appropriate corresponding behavior

  8. Spherical harmonics coefficients for ligand-based virtual screening of cyclooxygenase inhibitors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Quan; Birod, Kerstin; Angioni, Carlo; Grösch, Sabine; Geppert, Tim; Schneider, Petra; Rupp, Matthias; Schneider, Gisbert

    2011-01-01

    Molecular descriptors are essential for many applications in computational chemistry, such as ligand-based similarity searching. Spherical harmonics have previously been suggested as comprehensive descriptors of molecular structure and properties. We investigate a spherical harmonics descriptor for shape-based virtual screening. We introduce and validate a partially rotation-invariant three-dimensional molecular shape descriptor based on the norm of spherical harmonics expansion coefficients. Using this molecular representation, we parameterize molecular surfaces, i.e., isosurfaces of spatial molecular property distributions. We validate the shape descriptor in a comprehensive retrospective virtual screening experiment. In a prospective study, we virtually screen a large compound library for cyclooxygenase inhibitors, using a self-organizing map as a pre-filter and the shape descriptor for candidate prioritization. 12 compounds were tested in vitro for direct enzyme inhibition and in a whole blood assay. Active compounds containing a triazole scaffold were identified as direct cyclooxygenase-1 inhibitors. This outcome corroborates the usefulness of spherical harmonics for representation of molecular shape in virtual screening of large compound collections. The combination of pharmacophore and shape-based filtering of screening candidates proved to be a straightforward approach to finding novel bioactive chemotypes with minimal experimental effort.

  9. A browser-based tool for conversion between Fortran NAMELIST and XML/HTML

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naito, O.

    A browser-based tool for conversion between Fortran NAMELIST and XML/HTML is presented. It runs on an HTML5 compliant browser and generates reusable XML files to aid interoperability. It also provides a graphical interface for editing and annotating variables in NAMELIST, hence serves as a primitive code documentation environment. Although the tool is not comprehensive, it could be viewed as a test bed for integrating legacy codes into modern systems.

  10. A browser-based tool for conversion between Fortran NAMELIST and XML/HTML

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O. Naito

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available A browser-based tool for conversion between Fortran NAMELIST and XML/HTML is presented. It runs on an HTML5 compliant browser and generates reusable XML files to aid interoperability. It also provides a graphical interface for editing and annotating variables in NAMELIST, hence serves as a primitive code documentation environment. Although the tool is not comprehensive, it could be viewed as a test bed for integrating legacy codes into modern systems.

  11. Alpha and conversion electron spectroscopy of {sup 238,239}Pu and {sup 241}Am and alpha-conversion electron coincidence measurements

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dion, Michael P., E-mail: michael.dion@pnnl.gov; Miller, Brian W.; Warren, Glen A.

    2016-09-11

    A technique to determine the isotopic constituents of a mixed actinide sample has been proposed by a coincident alpha-conversion electron measurement. This presents a unique signature to allow the unfolding of isotopes that possess overlapping alpha particle energy and reduce backgrounds of an unseparated sample. The work presented here are results of conversion electron spectroscopy of {sup 241}Am, {sup 238}Pu and {sup 239}Pu using a dual-stage peltier-cooled 25 mm{sup 2} silicon drift detector and alpha spectroscopy with a passivated ion implanted planar silicon detector. The conversion electron spectra were evaluated from 20–55 keV based on fits to the dominant conversion electron emissions, which allowed the relative conversion electron emission intensities to be determined. These measurements provide crucial singles spectral information and calibration to aid in the coincident measurement approach. Furthermore, an alpha-conversion electron spectrometer was assembled using the silicon based detectors described and results of a coincident spectrum analysis is reported for {sup 241}Am.

  12. Wavelength selection for portable noninvasive blood component measurement system based on spectral difference coefficient and dynamic spectrum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feng, Ximeng; Li, Gang; Yu, Haixia; Wang, Shaohui; Yi, Xiaoqing; Lin, Ling

    2018-03-01

    Noninvasive blood component analysis by spectroscopy has been a hotspot in biomedical engineering in recent years. Dynamic spectrum provides an excellent idea for noninvasive blood component measurement, but studies have been limited to the application of broadband light sources and high-resolution spectroscopy instruments. In order to remove redundant information, a more effective wavelength selection method has been presented in this paper. In contrast to many common wavelength selection methods, this method is based on sensing mechanism which has a clear mechanism and can effectively avoid the noise from acquisition system. The spectral difference coefficient was theoretically proved to have a guiding significance for wavelength selection. After theoretical analysis, the multi-band spectral difference coefficient-wavelength selection method combining with the dynamic spectrum was proposed. An experimental analysis based on clinical trial data from 200 volunteers has been conducted to illustrate the effectiveness of this method. The extreme learning machine was used to develop the calibration models between the dynamic spectrum data and hemoglobin concentration. The experiment result shows that the prediction precision of hemoglobin concentration using multi-band spectral difference coefficient-wavelength selection method is higher compared with other methods.

  13. Initiation of explosive conversions in energy-saturated nanoporous silicon-based compounds with fast semiconductor switches and energy-releasing elements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Savenkov, G. G.; Kardo-Sysoev, A. F.; Zegrya, A. G.; Os'kin, I. A.; Bragin, V. A.; Zegrya, G. G.

    2017-10-01

    The first findings concerning the initiation of explosive conversions in energy-saturated nanoporous silicon-based compounds via the electrical explosion of a semiconductor bridge are presented. The obtained results indicate that the energy parameters of an explosive conversion depend on the mass of a combustible agent—namely, nanoporous silicon—and the silicon-doping type.

  14. Proton conducting polymeric materials for hydrogen based electrochemical energy conversion technologies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Aili, David

    on the development and characterization of polymer based proton conducting membranes for operation at temperatures above 100 °C. The most frequently recurring experimental methods and techniques are described in Chapter 2. For PEM steam and liquid water electrolysis at temperatures up to 130 °C (Chapter 3 and 4...... and water electrolyzers. This thesis gives an overview of the principles and the current state-of-the-art technology of the hydrogen based electrochemical energy conversion technologies, with special emphasis on the PEM based water electrolyzers and fuel cells (Chapter 1). The fundamental thermodynamics...... of the recast Nafion® membranes at elevated temperature could be slightly improved by annealing the membrane in order to increase its degree of crystallinity. Short side chain (SSC) PFSA membranes such as Aquivion™ (Solvey Solexis), on the other hand, are generally characterized by a considerably higher degree...

  15. Improvement of conversion efficiency of silicon solar cells using up-conversion molybdate La2Mo2O9:Yb,R (R=Er, Ho) phosphors

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Yen-Chi Chen; Teng-Ming Chen

    2011-01-01

    The goal of this work was aimed to improve the power conversion efficiency of single crystalline silicon-based photovoltaic cells by using the solar spectral conversion principle,which employs an up-conversion phosphor to convert a low energy infrared photon to the more energetic visible photons to improve the spectral response.In this study,the surface of multicrystalline silicon solar cells was coated with an up-conversion molybdate phosphor to improve the spectral response of the solar cell in the ncar-infiared spectral range.The short circuit current (Isc),open circuit voltage (Voc),and conversion efficiency (η) of spectral conversion cells were measured.Preliminary experimental results revealed that the light conversion efficiency of a 1.5%-2.7% increase in Si-based cell was achieved.

  16. Ionization constants by curve fitting: determination of partition and distribution coefficients of acids and bases and their ions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clarke, F H; Cahoon, N M

    1987-08-01

    A convenient procedure has been developed for the determination of partition and distribution coefficients. The method involves the potentiometric titration of the compound, first in water and then in a rapidly stirred mixture of water and octanol. An automatic titrator is used, and the data is collected and analyzed by curve fitting on a microcomputer with 64 K of memory. The method is rapid and accurate for compounds with pKa values between 4 and 10. Partition coefficients can be measured for monoprotic and diprotic acids and bases. The partition coefficients of the neutral compound and its ion(s) can be determined by varying the ratio of octanol to water. Distribution coefficients calculated over a wide range of pH values are presented graphically as "distribution profiles". It is shown that subtraction of the titration curve of solvent alone from that of the compound in the solvent offers advantages for pKa determination by curve fitting for compounds of low aqueous solubility.

  17. Monopole conversion hidden by penetration effect in magnetic dipole transitions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bikit, I.; Anichin, I.; Marinkov, L.

    1977-01-01

    The 191 keV 197 Au nad 340 keV 233 U transitions are investigated and the effect of penetration into the M1-component is accounted for. Theoretical internal conversion coefficients (ICC) and electron parameters to account for the penetration effect have been obtained by interpolating the data of the Hager and Zeltzer tables. The ICC values and ratios are analyzed under the assumption that the 191 keV 197 Au transition has multipolarities M1 + E2 and E 0 +M1. A common overlapping occurs when the nuclear penetration parameter lambda for magnetic dipole transition is lambda = 34.2+-2.2. For the 340 keV 233 U transition the ICC has been found to equal αk=0.69+-0.07, and the relative conversion-line intensities have been determined. It is concluded that the 191 keV 197 Au nad 340 keV 233 U transitions involve an electric monopole component concealed by the penetration effect in the M1-conversion. The matrix elements of the E0-transition have been evaluated

  18. Mechanisms of Ectopic Gene Conversion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P.J. Hastings

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available Gene conversion (conversion, the unidirectional transfer of DNA sequence information, occurs as a byproduct of recombinational repair of broken or damaged DNA molecules. Whereas excision repair processes replace damaged DNA by copying the complementary sequence from the undamaged strand of duplex DNA, recombinational mechanisms copy similar sequence, usually in another molecule, to replace the damaged sequence. In mitotic cells the other molecule is usually a sister chromatid, and the repair does not lead to genetic change. Less often a homologous chromosome or homologous sequence in an ectopic position is used. Conversion results from repair in two ways. First, if there was a double-strand gap at the site of a break, homologous sequence will be used as the template for synthesis to fill the gap, thus transferring sequence information in both strands. Second, recombinational repair uses complementary base pairing, and the heteroduplex molecule so formed is a source of conversion, both as heteroduplex and when donor (undamaged template information is retained after correction of mismatched bases in heteroduplex. There are mechanisms that favour the use of sister molecules that must fail before ectopic homology can be used. Meiotic recombination events lead to the formation of crossovers required in meiosis for orderly segregation of pairs of homologous chromosomes. These events result from recombinational repair of programmed double-strand breaks, but in contrast with mitotic recombination, meiotic recombinational events occur predominantly between homologous chromosomes, so that transfer of sequence differences by conversion is very frequent. Transient recombination events that do not form crossovers form both between homologous chromosomes and between regions of ectopic homology, and leave their mark in the occurrence of frequent non-crossover conversion, including ectopic conversion.

  19. Computational Fluid Dynamics Based Extraction of Heat Transfer Coefficient in Cryogenic Propellant Tanks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, H. Q.; West, Jeff

    2015-01-01

    Current reduced-order thermal model for cryogenic propellant tanks is based on correlations built for flat plates collected in the 1950's. The use of these correlations suffers from: inaccurate geometry representation; inaccurate gravity orientation; ambiguous length scale; and lack of detailed validation. The work presented under this task uses the first-principles based Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique to compute heat transfer from tank wall to the cryogenic fluids, and extracts and correlates the equivalent heat transfer coefficient to support reduced-order thermal model. The CFD tool was first validated against available experimental data and commonly used correlations for natural convection along a vertically heated wall. Good agreements between the present prediction and experimental data have been found for flows in laminar as well turbulent regimes. The convective heat transfer between tank wall and cryogenic propellant, and that between tank wall and ullage gas were then simulated. The results showed that commonly used heat transfer correlations for either vertical or horizontal plate over predict heat transfer rate for the cryogenic tank, in some cases by as much as one order of magnitude. A characteristic length scale has been defined that can correlate all heat transfer coefficients for different fill levels into a single curve. This curve can be used for the reduced-order heat transfer model analysis.

  20. 24 CFR 972.203 - Definition of “conversion.”

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... DEVELOPMENT CONVERSION OF PUBLIC HOUSING TO TENANT-BASED ASSISTANCE Voluntary Conversion of Public Housing Developments Purpose; Definition of Conversion § 972.203 Definition of “conversion.” For purposes of this subpart, the term “conversion” means the removal of public housing units from the inventory of a Public...

  1. Genetic variability in common wheat germplasm based on coefficients of parentage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fernanda Bered

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available The characterization of genetic variability and an estimate of the genetic relationship among varieties are essential to any breeding program, because artificial crosses among less similar parents allow a larger segregation and the combination of different favorable alleles. Genetic variability can be evaluated in different ways, including the Coefficient of Parentage (COP, which estimates the probability of two alleles in two different individuals being identical by descent. In this study, we evaluated the degree of genetic relationship among 53 wheat genotypes, and identified the ancestor genotypes which contributed the most to the current wheat germplasm, as a prediction of the width of the genetic base of this cereal. The results revealed a mean COP of 0.07 and the formation of 22 similarity groups. The ancestor genotypes Ciano 67 and Mentana were those which contributed the most to the current wheat germplasm. According to the COP analyses, the genetic base of wheat rests on a small number of ancestral genotypes.

  2. Variation in aerodynamic coefficients with altitude

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shahid, Faiza; Hussain, Mukkarum; Baig, Mirza Mehmood; Haq, Ihtram ul

    Precise aerodynamics performance prediction plays key role for a flying vehicle to get its mission completed within desired accuracy. Aerodynamic coefficients for same Mach number can be different at different altitude due to difference in Reynolds number. Prediction of these aerodynamics coefficients can be made through experiments, analytical solution or Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Advancements in computational power have generated the concept of using CFD as a virtual Wind Tunnel (WT), hence aerodynamic performance prediction in present study is based upon CFD (numerical test rig). Simulations at different altitudes for a range of Mach numbers with zero angle of attack are performed to predict axial force coefficient behavior with altitude (Reynolds number). Similar simulations for a fixed Mach number '3' and a range of angle of attacks are also carried out to envisage the variation in normal force and pitching moment coefficients with altitude (Reynolds number). Results clearly depict that the axial force coefficient is a function of altitude (Reynolds number) and increase as altitude increases, especially for subsonic region. Variation in axial force coefficient with altitude (Reynolds number) slightly increases for larger values of angle of attacks. Normal force and pitching moment coefficients do not depend on altitude (Reynolds number) at smaller values of angle of attacks but show slight decrease as altitude increases. Present study suggests that variation of normal force and pitching moment coefficients with altitude can be neglected but the variation of axial force coefficient with altitude should be considered for vehicle fly in dense atmosphere. It is recommended to continue this study to more complex configurations for various Mach numbers with side slip and real gas effects.

  3. Development and application of a complex numerical model and software for the computation of dose conversion factors for radon progenies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farkas, Árpád; Balásházy, Imre

    2015-04-01

    A more exact determination of dose conversion factors associated with radon progeny inhalation was possible due to the advancements in epidemiological health risk estimates in the last years. The enhancement of computational power and the development of numerical techniques allow computing dose conversion factors with increasing reliability. The objective of this study was to develop an integrated model and software based on a self-developed airway deposition code, an own bronchial dosimetry model and the computational methods accepted by International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) to calculate dose conversion coefficients for different exposure conditions. The model was tested by its application for exposure and breathing conditions characteristic of mines and homes. The dose conversion factors were 8 and 16 mSv WLM(-1) for homes and mines when applying a stochastic deposition model combined with the ICRP dosimetry model (named PM-A model), and 9 and 17 mSv WLM(-1) when applying the same deposition model combined with authors' bronchial dosimetry model and the ICRP bronchiolar and alveolar-interstitial dosimetry model (called PM-B model). User friendly software for the computation of dose conversion factors has also been developed. The software allows one to compute conversion factors for a large range of exposure and breathing parameters and to perform sensitivity analyses. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  4. Axially symmetric reconstruction of plasma emission and absorption coefficients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang Lixin; Jia Hui; Yang Jiankun; Li Xiujian; Chen Shaorong; Liu Xishun

    2013-01-01

    A layered structure imaging model is developed in order to reconstruct emission coefficients and absorption coefficients simultaneously, in laser fusion core plasma diagnostics. A novel axially symmetric reconstruction method that utilizes the LM (Levenberg-Marquardt) nonlinear least squares minimization algorithm is proposed based on the layered structure. Numerical simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method is sufficiently accurate to reconstruct emission coefficients and absorption coefficients, and when the standard deviation of noise is 0.01, the errors of emission coefficients and absorption coefficients are 0.17, 0.22, respectively. Furthermore, this method could perform much better on reconstruction effect compared with traditional inverse Abel transform algorithms. (authors)

  5. Optical analysis of down-conversion OLEDs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krummacher, Benjamin; Klein, Markus; von Malm, Norwin; Winnacker, Albrecht

    2008-02-01

    Phosphor down-conversion of blue organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) is one approach to generate white light, which offers the possibility of easy color tuning, a simple device architecture and color stability over lifetime. In this article previous work on down-conversion devices in the field of organic solid state lighting is briefly reviewed. Further, bottom emitting down-conversion OLEDs are studied from an optical point of view. Therefore the physical processes occurring in the down-conversion layer are translated into a model which is implemented in a ray tracing simulation. By comparing its predictions to experimental results the model is confirmed. For the experiments a blue-emitting polymer OLED (PLED) panel optically coupled to a series of down-conversion layers is used. Based on results obtained from ray tracing simulation some of the implications of the model for the performance of down-conversion OLEDs are discussed. In particular it is analysed how the effective reflectance of the underlying blue OLED and the particle size distribution of the phosphor powder embedded in the matrix of the down-conversion layer influence extraction efficiency.

  6. A Quantitative Analysis of an EEG Epileptic Record Based on MultiresolutionWavelet Coefficients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mariel Rosenblatt

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available The characterization of the dynamics associated with electroencephalogram (EEG signal combining an orthogonal discrete wavelet transform analysis with quantifiers originated from information theory is reviewed. In addition, an extension of this methodology based on multiresolution quantities, called wavelet leaders, is presented. In particular, the temporal evolution of Shannon entropy and the statistical complexity evaluated with different sets of multiresolution wavelet coefficients are considered. Both methodologies are applied to the quantitative EEG time series analysis of a tonic-clonic epileptic seizure, and comparative results are presented. In particular, even when both methods describe the dynamical changes of the EEG time series, the one based on wavelet leaders presents a better time resolution.

  7. Forecast Correlation Coefficient Matrix of Stock Returns in Portfolio Analysis

    OpenAIRE

    Zhao, Feng

    2013-01-01

    In Modern Portfolio Theory, the correlation coefficients decide the risk of a set of stocks in the portfolio. So, to understand the correlation coefficients between returns of stocks, is a challenge but is very important for the portfolio management. Usually, the stocks with small correlation coefficients or even negative correlation coefficients are preferred. One can calculate the correlation coefficients of stock returns based on the historical stock data. However, in order to control the ...

  8. Estimating Runoff Coefficients Using Weather Radars

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ahm, Malte; Thorndahl, Søren Liedtke; Rasmussen, Michael R.

    2012-01-01

    This paper presents a method for estimating runoff coefficients of urban drainage catchments based on a combination of high resolution weather radar data and insewer flow measurements. By utilising the spatial variability of the precipitation it is possible to estimate the runoff coefficients...... of separate subcatchments. The method is demonstrated through a case study of an urban drainage catchment (678ha) located in the municipality of Aarhus, Denmark. The study has proven it is possible to use corresponding measurements of the relative rainfall distribution over the catchment and runoff...... measurements to identify the runoff coefficients at subcatchment level. The number of potential subcatchments is limited by the number of available rainfall events with a sufficient spatial variability....

  9. NLCC controller for SEPIC-based micro-wind energy conversion system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Justin Nayagam, Brintha Jane; Sathi, Rama Reddy; Olimuthu, Divya

    2017-04-01

    The growth of the power industry is gaining greater momentum as the usage of the non-conventional energy sources that include fuel, solar, and wind energies, increases. Wind energy conversion systems (WECSs) are gaining more popularity and are expected to be able to control the power at the output. This paper describes the current control (CC), non-linear carrier charge control (NLCCC), and fuzzy logic control (FLC) applied to the single-ended primary inductor converter (SEPIC)-based WECS. The current controller has an inherent overcurrent protection with better line noise rejection. The pulses for the switch of the SEPIC are obtained by comparing the current flowing through it with the virtual current reference. FLC is also investigated for the micro-wind energy conversion system (μWECS), since it improves the damping characteristics of WECS over a wide range of operating points. This cannot attain the unity power factor rectification. In this paper, NLCCC is proposed for high-power factor rectifier-based SEPIC in continuous conduction mode (CCM) for μWECS. The proposed converter provides an output voltage with low input current ripple due to the presence of the inductor at the input side. By comparing the signal proportional to the integral of switch current with a periodic non-linear carrier wave, the duty ratio of the converter switch is determined for the NLCC controller. By selecting the shape of the periodic non-linear carrier wave the input-line current can be made to follow the input-line voltage. This work employs a parabolic carrier waveform generator. The output voltage is regulated for changes in the wind speed. The results obtained prove the effectiveness of the NLCC controller in improving the power factor.

  10. Study on thermal electric conversion system for FBR plant. Investigation for effective EVST waste heat recovery system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maekawa, Isamu; Kurata, Chikatoshi

    2004-02-01

    Recently, it has been important to reuse discharged heat energy from present nuclear plant, especially from sodium cooled FBR, which are typical high temperature system, in the view of reduction of environmental burden and improvement of heat efficiency for plant. The thermal electric conversion system can work only the temperature difference and has been applied to the limited fields such as space or military, however, that results show good merits for reliability, maintenance free, and so on. Recently, the development of new thermal electric conversion elements has made remarkable progress. In this study, for the effective utilization of waste heat from Monju', the prototype plant of FBR, we made an investigation of electric power generating system maintaining the cooling faculty by applying the thermal electric conversion system to sodium cooling line of EVST. Using the new type iron based thermal electric conversion elements, which are plentiful, economical and good for environmental harmonization, we have calculated the amount of heat exchange and power generation from sodium cooling line of EVST, and have investigated the module sizing, cost and subject to be settled. The results were , (1)The amount of power generation from sodium cooling line of EVST is smaller about one figure than motive power of sodium cooler fan. However, if Seebeck coefficient and heat conductivity of iron based thermal electric conversion elements shall be improved, power from sodium cooling line shall be able to cover the motive power. (2) The amount of heat released from sodium cooling line after the installation of thermal electric conversion module covers the necessity to maintain the sodium cooling faculty. (3) In case of the installation of module to the sodium cooler, it should be reconstructed because of tube arrangement modification. In case of the installation of module to the sodium connecting line, air ventilation system is needed to suppress the room temperature. (4) As

  11. Comparison of conversion coefficients for equivalent dose in terms of air kerma for photons using a male adult voxel simulator in sitting and standing posture with geometry of irradiation antero-posterior

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Galeano, D.C.; Cavalcante, F.R.; Carvalho, A.B.; Hunt, J.

    2014-01-01

    The dose conversion coefficient (DCC) is important to quantify and assess effective doses associated with medical, professional and public exposures. The calculation of DCCs using anthropomorphic simulators and radiation transport codes is justified since in-vivo measurement of effective dose is extremely difficult and not practical for occupational dosimetry. DCCs have been published by the ICRP using simulators in a standing posture, which is not always applicable to all exposure scenarios, providing an inaccurate dose estimation. The aim of this work was to calculate DCCs for equivalent dose in terms of air kerma (H/Kair) using the Visual Monte Carlo (VMC) code and the VOXTISS8 adult male voxel simulator in sitting and standing postures. In both postures, the simulator was irradiated by a plane source of monoenergetic photons in antero-posterior (AP) geometry. The photon energy ranged from 15 keV to 2 MeV. The DCCs for both postures were compared and the DCCs for the standing simulator were higher. For certain organs, the difference of DCCs were more significant, as in gonads (48% higher), bladder (16% higher) and colon (11% higher). As these organs are positioned in the abdominal region, the posture of the anthropomorphic simulator modifies the form in which the radiation is transported and how the energy is deposited. It was also noted that the average percentage difference of conversion coefficients was 33% for the bone marrow, 11% for the skin, 13% for the bone surface and 31% for the muscle. For other organs, the percentage difference of the DCCs for both postures was not relevant (less than 5%) due to no anatomical changes in the organs of the head, chest and upper abdomen. We can conclude that is important to obtain DCCs using different postures from those present in the scientific literature. - Highlights: • Scenarios of external photon exposures were performed in VMC code. • The VOXTISS8 simulator was irradiated in standing and sitting postures.

  12. Optimization of process factors for self-healing vanadium-based conversion coating on AZ31 magnesium alloy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Kun; Liu, Junyao; Lei, Ting; Xiao, Tao

    2015-10-01

    A self-healing vanadium-based conversion coating was prepared on AZ31 magnesium alloy. The optimum operating conditions including vanadia solution concentration, pH and treating temperature for obtaining the best corrosion protective vanadia coatings and improved localized corrosion resistance to the magnesium substrate were determined by an orthogonal experiment design. Surface morphology and composition of the resultant conversion coatings were investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The self-healing behavior of the coating was investigated by cross-cut immersion test and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements in 3.5% NaCl solution.

  13. Monitoring device for local power peaking coefficients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mihashi, Ishi

    1987-01-01

    Purpose: To determine and monitor the local power peaking coefficients by a method not depending on the combination of fuel types. Constitution: Representative values for the local power distribution can be obtained by determining corresponding burn-up degrees based on the burn-up degree of each of fuel assembly segments obtained in a power distribution monitor and by the interpolation and extrapolation of void coefficients. The typical values are multiplied with compensation coefficients for the control rod effect and coefficients for compensating the effect of adjacent fuel assemblies in a calculation device to obtain typical values for the present local power distribution compensated with all of the effects. Further, the calculation device compares them with typical values of the present local power distribution to obtain an aimed local power peaking coefficient as the maximum value thereof. According to the present invention, since the local power peaking coefficients can be determined not depending on the combination of the kind of fuels, if the combination of fuel assemblies is increased upon fuel change, the amount of operation therefor is not increased. (Kamimura, M.)

  14. An improved method based on wavelet coefficient correlation to filter noise in Doppler ultrasound blood flow signals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wan, Renzhi; Zu, Yunxiao; Shao, Lin

    2018-04-01

    The blood echo signal maintained through Medical ultrasound Doppler devices would always include vascular wall pulsation signal .The traditional method to de-noise wall signal is using high-pass filter, which will also remove the lowfrequency part of the blood flow signal. Some scholars put forward a method based on region selective reduction, which at first estimates of the wall pulsation signals and then removes the wall signal from the mixed signal. Apparently, this method uses the correlation between wavelet coefficients to distinguish blood signal from wall signal, but in fact it is a kind of wavelet threshold de-noising method, whose effect is not so much ideal. In order to maintain a better effect, this paper proposes an improved method based on wavelet coefficient correlation to separate blood signal and wall signal, and simulates the algorithm by computer to verify its validity.

  15. Discharge Coefficient of Rectangular Short-Crested Weir with Varying Slope Coefficients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuejun Chen

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Rectangular short-crested weirs are widely used for simple structure and high discharge capacity. As one of the most important and influential factors of discharge capacity, side slope can improve the hydraulic characteristics of weirs at special conditions. In order to systemically study the effects of upstream and downstream slope coefficients S1 and S2 on overflow discharge coefficient in a rectangular short-crested weir the Volume of Fluid (VOF method and the Renormalization Group (RNG κ-ε turbulence model are used. In this study, the slope coefficient ranges from V to 3H:1V and each model corresponds to five total energy heads of H0 ranging from 8.0 to 24.0 cm. Comparisons of discharge coefficients and free surface profiles between simulated and laboratory results display a good agreement. The simulated results show that the difference of discharge coefficients will decrease with upstream slopes and increase with downstream slopes as H0 increases. For a given H0, the discharge coefficient has a convex parabolic relation with S1 and a piecewise linearity relation with S2. The maximum discharge coefficient is always obtained at S2 = 0.8. There exists a difference between upstream and downstream slope coefficients in the influence range of free surface curvatures. Furthermore, a proposed discharge coefficient equation by nonlinear regression is a function of upstream and downstream slope coefficients.

  16. Coefficient of Friction Between Carboxymethylated Hyaluronic Acid-Based Polymer Films and the Ocular Surface.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colter, Jourdan; Wirostko, Barbara; Coats, Brittany

    2017-12-01

    Hyaluronic acid-based polymer films are emerging as drug-delivery vehicles for local and continuous drug administration to the eye. The highly lubricating hyaluronic acid increases comfort, but displaces films from the eye, reducing drug exposure and efficacy. Previous studies have shown that careful control of the surface interaction of the film with the eye is critical for improved retention. In this study, the frictional interaction of a carboxymethylated, hyaluronic acid-based polymer (CMHA-S) with and without methylcellulose was quantified against ovine and human sclera at three axial loads (0.3, 0.5, and 0.7 N) and four sliding velocities (0.3, 1.0, 10, and 30 mm/s). Static coefficients of friction significantly increased with rate (P Friction became more rate-dependent when methylcellulose was added to CMHA-S. Kinetic coefficient of friction was not affected by rate, and averaged 0.15 ± 0.1. Methylcellulose increased CMHA-S static and kinetic friction by 60% and 80%, respectively, but was also prone to wear during testing. These data suggest that methylcellulose can be used to create a friction differential on the film, but a potentially increased degradation rate with the methylcellulose must be considered in the design.

  17. Analysis of Satellite Drag Coefficient Based on Wavelet Transform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Wei; Wang, Ronglan; Liu, Siqing

    Abstract: Drag coefficient sequence was obtained by solving Tiangong1 continuous 55days GPS orbit data with different arc length. The same period solar flux f10.7 and geomagnetic index Ap ap series were high and low frequency multi-wavelet decomposition. Statistical analysis results of the layers sliding correlation between space environmental parameters and decomposition of Cd, showed that the satellite drag coefficient sequence after wavelet decomposition and the corresponding level of f10.7 Ap sequence with good lag correlation. It also verified that the Cd prediction is feasible. Prediction residuals of Cd with different regression models and different sample length were analysed. The results showed that the case was best when setting sample length 20 days and f10.7 regression model were used. It also showed that NRLMSIS-00 model's response in the region of 350km (Tiangong's altitude) and low-middle latitude (Tiangong's inclination) is excessive in ascent stage of geomagnetic activity Ap and is inadequate during fall off segment. Additionally, the low-frequency decomposition components NRLMSIS-00 model's response is appropriate in f10.7 rising segment. High frequency decomposition section, Showed NRLMSIS-00 model's response is small-scale inadequate during f10.7 ascent segment and is reverse in decline of f10.7. Finally, the potential use of a summary and outlook were listed; This method has an important reference value to improve the spacecraft orbit prediction accuracy. Key words: wavelet transform; drag coefficient; lag correlation; Tiangong1;space environment

  18. Current status on preparation of dose conversion factors based on 1990 ICRP recommendations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshizawa, Michio

    1996-01-01

    The current status of arrangement of dose conversion factors for operational quantities are explained on the basis of 1995 ICRP-ICRU recommendations. The dose conversion factors of photon, neutron and electron were recommended by ICRP Publ. 74. It's contents are described. The relation between new dose conversion factors and the laws in connection with protecting radiation are explained. The dose conversion factors of 1 cm-, 3 mm- and 70 μm - dose equivalent which were introduced into the laws connected therewith in Japan are accepted the same values of ICRP Publ. 51 for photon and neutron. I mentioned the points of discussing about new dose conversion factors which are expected to be recommended. The laws have to show the dose conversion factors to be used by calculation and estimation of radiation shield, etc. The limit of energy of ICRU individual dose equivalent for photon is now until 1 MeV, but the value is insufficient and necessary to 10 MeV as same as the ambient dose equivalent in due consideration of atomic energy facilities. JAERI is preparing these dose conversion factors now. (S.Y.)

  19. Robust Sliding Mode Control of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator-Based Wind Energy Conversion Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guangping Zhuo

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The subject of this paper pertains to sliding mode control and its application in nonlinear electrical power systems as seen in wind energy conversion systems. Due to the robustness in dealing with unmodeled system dynamics, sliding mode control has been widely used in electrical power system applications. This paper presents first and high order sliding mode control schemes for permanent magnet synchronous generator-based wind energy conversion systems. The application of these methods for control using dynamic models of the d-axis and q-axis currents, as well as those of the high speed shaft rotational speed show a high level of efficiency in power extraction from a varying wind resource. Computer simulation results have shown the efficacy of the proposed sliding mode control approaches.

  20. Sensitivity of coefficients for converting entrance surface dose and kerma-area product to effective dose and energy imparted to the patient

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wise, K.N.; Sandborg, M.; Persliden, J.; Alm Carlsson, G.

    1999-01-01

    We investigate the sensitivity of the conversions from entrance surface dose (ESD) or kerma-area product (KAP) to effective dose (E) or to energy imparted to the patient (ε) to the likely variations in tube potential, field size, patient size and sex which occur in clinical work. As part of a factorial design study for chest and lumbar spine examinations, the tube potentials were varied to be ±10% of the typical values for the examinations while field sizes and the positions of the field centres were varied to be representative of values drawn from measurements on patient images. Variation over sex and patient size was based on anthropomorphic phantoms representing males and females of ages 15 years (small adult) and 21 years (reference adult). All the conversion coefficients were estimated using a mathematical phantom programmed with the Monte Carlo code EGS4 for all factor combinations and analysed statistically to derive factor effects. In general, the factors studied behaved independently in the sense that interaction of the physical factors generally gave no more than a 5% variation in a conversion coefficient. Taken together, variation of patient size, sex, field size and field position can lead to significant variation of E/KAP by up to a factor of 2, of E/ESD by up to a factor of 3, of ε/KAP by a factor of 1.3 and of ε/ESD by up to a factor of 2. While KAP is preferred to determine ε, the results show no strong preference of KAP over ESD in determining E. The mean absorbed dose D-bar in the patient obtained by dividing ε (determined using KAP) by the patient's mass was found to be the most robust measure of E. (author)

  1. EP-based wavelet coefficient quantization for linear distortion ECG data compression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hung, King-Chu; Wu, Tsung-Ching; Lee, Hsieh-Wei; Liu, Tung-Kuan

    2014-07-01

    Reconstruction quality maintenance is of the essence for ECG data compression due to the desire for diagnosis use. Quantization schemes with non-linear distortion characteristics usually result in time-consuming quality control that blocks real-time application. In this paper, a new wavelet coefficient quantization scheme based on an evolution program (EP) is proposed for wavelet-based ECG data compression. The EP search can create a stationary relationship among the quantization scales of multi-resolution levels. The stationary property implies that multi-level quantization scales can be controlled with a single variable. This hypothesis can lead to a simple design of linear distortion control with 3-D curve fitting technology. In addition, a competitive strategy is applied for alleviating data dependency effect. By using the ECG signals saved in MIT and PTB databases, many experiments were undertaken for the evaluation of compression performance, quality control efficiency, data dependency influence. The experimental results show that the new EP-based quantization scheme can obtain high compression performance and keep linear distortion behavior efficiency. This characteristic guarantees fast quality control even for the prediction model mismatching practical distortion curve. Copyright © 2014 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Variation in aerodynamic coefficients with altitude

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Faiza Shahid

    Full Text Available Precise aerodynamics performance prediction plays key role for a flying vehicle to get its mission completed within desired accuracy. Aerodynamic coefficients for same Mach number can be different at different altitude due to difference in Reynolds number. Prediction of these aerodynamics coefficients can be made through experiments, analytical solution or Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD. Advancements in computational power have generated the concept of using CFD as a virtual Wind Tunnel (WT, hence aerodynamic performance prediction in present study is based upon CFD (numerical test rig. Simulations at different altitudes for a range of Mach numbers with zero angle of attack are performed to predict axial force coefficient behavior with altitude (Reynolds number. Similar simulations for a fixed Mach number ‘3’ and a range of angle of attacks are also carried out to envisage the variation in normal force and pitching moment coefficients with altitude (Reynolds number. Results clearly depict that the axial force coefficient is a function of altitude (Reynolds number and increase as altitude increases, especially for subsonic region. Variation in axial force coefficient with altitude (Reynolds number slightly increases for larger values of angle of attacks. Normal force and pitching moment coefficients do not depend on altitude (Reynolds number at smaller values of angle of attacks but show slight decrease as altitude increases. Present study suggests that variation of normal force and pitching moment coefficients with altitude can be neglected but the variation of axial force coefficient with altitude should be considered for vehicle fly in dense atmosphere. It is recommended to continue this study to more complex configurations for various Mach numbers with side slip and real gas effects. Keywords: Mach number, Reynolds number, Blunt body, Altitude effect, Angle of attacks

  3. Accumulation of long-chain bases in yeast promotes their conversion to a long-chain base vinyl ether

    OpenAIRE

    Martínez-Montañés, Fernando; Lone, Museer A.; Hsu, Fong-Fu; Schneiter3, Roger

    2017-01-01

    Long-chain bases (LCBs) are the precursors to ceramide and sphingolipids in eukaryotic cells. They are formed by the action of serine palmitoyl-CoA transferase (SPT), a complex of integral membrane proteins located in the endoplasmic reticulum. SPT activity is negatively regulated by Orm proteins to prevent the toxic overaccumulation of LCBs. Here we show that overaccumulation of LCBs in yeast results in their conversion to a hitherto undescribed LCB derivative, an LCB vinyl ether. The ...

  4. Conversion of lignocellulosic agave residues into liquid biofuels using an AFEX™-based biorefinery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flores-Gómez, Carlos A; Escamilla Silva, Eleazar M; Zhong, Cheng; Dale, Bruce E; da Costa Sousa, Leonardo; Balan, Venkatesh

    2018-01-01

    Agave-based alcoholic beverage companies generate thousands of tons of solid residues per year in Mexico. These agave residues might be used for biofuel production due to their abundance and favorable sustainability characteristics. In this work, agave leaf and bagasse residues from species Agave tequilana and Agave salmiana were subjected to pretreatment using the ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX) process. The pretreatment conditions were optimized using a response surface design methodology. We also identified commercial enzyme mixtures that maximize sugar yields for AFEX-pretreated agave bagasse and leaf matter, at ~ 6% glucan (w/w) loading enzymatic hydrolysis. Finally, the pretreated agave hydrolysates (at a total solids loading of ~ 20%) were used for ethanol fermentation using the glucose- and xylose-consuming strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae 424A (LNH-ST), to determine ethanol yields at industrially relevant conditions. Low-severity AFEX pretreatment conditions are required (100-120 °C) to enable efficient enzymatic deconstruction of the agave cell wall. These studies showed that AFEX-pretreated A. tequilana bagasse, A. tequilana leaf fiber, and A. salmiana bagasse gave ~ 85% sugar conversion during enzyme hydrolysis and over 90% metabolic yields of ethanol during fermentation without any washing step or nutrient supplementation. On the other hand, although lignocellulosic A. salmiana leaf gave high sugar conversions, the hydrolysate could not be fermented at high solids loadings, apparently due to the presence of natural inhibitory compounds. These results show that AFEX-pretreated agave residues can be effectively hydrolyzed at high solids loading using an optimized commercial enzyme cocktail (at 25 mg protein/g glucan) producing > 85% sugar conversions and over 40 g/L bioethanol titers. These results show that AFEX technology has considerable potential to convert lignocellulosic agave residues to bio-based fuels and chemicals in a biorefinery.

  5. Social conversational skills development in early implanted children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guerzoni, Letizia; Murri, Alessandra; Fabrizi, Enrico; Nicastri, Maria; Mancini, Patrizia; Cuda, Domenico

    2016-09-01

    Social conversational skills are a salient aspect of early pragmatic development in young children. These skills include two different abilities, assertiveness and responsiveness. This study investigated the development of these abilities in early implanted children and their relationships with lexical development and some language-sensitive variables. Prospective, observational, nonrandomized study. Participants included 28 children with congenital profound sensorineural hearing loss. The mean age at device activation was 13.3 months (standard deviation [SD] ±4.2). The Social-Conversational Skills Rating Scale was used to evaluate assertiveness and responsiveness. The MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (Words and Sentences form) was used to analyze the lexical development. The device experience was 12 months for each child, and the mean age at testing was 25.9 months (SD ±4.6). Assertiveness and responsiveness scores were within the normal range of normal-hearing age-matched peers. Age at cochlear implant activation exerted a significant impact, with the highest scores associated to the youngest patients. The residual correlations between assertiveness and responsiveness with the lexical development were positive and strongly significant (r = 0.69 and 0.73, respectively). Preoperative hearing threshold demonstrated an associated significant coefficient on the assertiveness score. Age at diagnosis and maternal education level were not correlated with the social conversational skills. Early-implanted children developed social conversational skills that are similar to normal-hearing peers matched for age 1 year after device activation. Social conversational skills and lexical development were strongly correlated, but the present study design cannot specify the direction of this relationship. Children with better preoperative residual hearing exhibited better assertive ability. 4 Laryngoscope, 126:2098-2105, 2016. © 2015 The American Laryngological

  6. Modulating Functions Based Algorithm for the Estimation of the Coefficients and Differentiation Order for a Space-Fractional Advection-Dispersion Equation

    KAUST Repository

    Aldoghaither, Abeer

    2015-12-01

    In this paper, a new method, based on the so-called modulating functions, is proposed to estimate average velocity, dispersion coefficient, and differentiation order in a space-fractional advection-dispersion equation, where the average velocity and the dispersion coefficient are space-varying. First, the average velocity and the dispersion coefficient are estimated by applying the modulating functions method, where the problem is transformed into a linear system of algebraic equations. Then, the modulating functions method combined with a Newton\\'s iteration algorithm is applied to estimate the coefficients and the differentiation order simultaneously. The local convergence of the proposed method is proved. Numerical results are presented with noisy measurements to show the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method. It is worth mentioning that this method can be extended to general fractional partial differential equations.

  7. Modulating Functions Based Algorithm for the Estimation of the Coefficients and Differentiation Order for a Space-Fractional Advection-Dispersion Equation

    KAUST Repository

    Aldoghaither, Abeer; Liu, Da-Yan; Laleg-Kirati, Taous-Meriem

    2015-01-01

    In this paper, a new method, based on the so-called modulating functions, is proposed to estimate average velocity, dispersion coefficient, and differentiation order in a space-fractional advection-dispersion equation, where the average velocity and the dispersion coefficient are space-varying. First, the average velocity and the dispersion coefficient are estimated by applying the modulating functions method, where the problem is transformed into a linear system of algebraic equations. Then, the modulating functions method combined with a Newton's iteration algorithm is applied to estimate the coefficients and the differentiation order simultaneously. The local convergence of the proposed method is proved. Numerical results are presented with noisy measurements to show the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method. It is worth mentioning that this method can be extended to general fractional partial differential equations.

  8. Estimates of external dose-rate conversion factors and internal dose conversion factors for selected radionuclides released from fusion facilities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Homma, Toshimitsu; Togawa, Orihiko [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Tokai Research Establishment

    1996-11-01

    This report provides a tabulation of both external dose-rate conversion factors and internal dose conversion factors using radioactive decay data in the updated Evaluated Nuclear Structure Data File (ENSDF) for selected 26 radionuclides and all their daughter radionuclides of potential importance in safety assessments of fusion facilities. The external dose-rate conversion factors for 21 target organs are tabulated for three exposure modes that are immersion in contaminated air, irradiation at a height of 1 m above a contaminated ground surface and immersion contaminated water. For internal exposure, committed dose equivalents, based on the methodology of ICRP Publication 30, in the same target organs per intake of unit activity are given for the inhalation and ingestion exposure pathways. The data presented here is intended to be generally used for safety assessments of fusion reactors. Comparisons of external effective dose-rate conversion factors and committed effective dose equivalents are made with the previous data from the independent data bases to provide quality assurance on our calculated results. There is generally good agreement among data from the independent data bases. The differences in the values of both effective dose-rate and dose conversion factors appeared are primarily due to differences in calculational methodology, the use of different radioactive decay data, and compilation errors. (author)

  9. Stochastic Modelling of the Diffusion Coefficient for Concrete

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thoft-Christensen, Palle

    In the paper, a new stochastic modelling of the diffusion coefficient D is presented. The modelling is based on physical understanding of the diffusion process and on some recent experimental results. The diffusion coefficients D is strongly dependent on the w/c ratio and the temperature....

  10. Determination of conversion factors of kerma and fluence to ambient dose equivalent for X-rays generated between 50 kVp to 125 kVp

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nogueira, Maria do Socorro

    1997-01-01

    The ambient dose equivalent was determined experimentally on the interval of energy of X ray applied in diagnostic radiology. A PMMA sphere was used to simulate the trunk human (phantom), based on the definition of the report ICRU 39. The absorbed dose in different positions in the phantom was determined using LiF-TLD 100. The X ray spectra were measured with a high-purity germanium detector (HP Ge). It was also determined the HVL and the effective energy in this energy range. The conversion coefficient of the K air and Φ to H * (d) were determined to 10, 50 and 60 mm deep in the PMMA sphere. The obtained values were compared with data of the literature. The maximum uncertainty obtained for the coefficients was 7.2%. All parameters were also determined to the X ray quality of the incident and transmitted beam by the patient, according to the recommendation of the standard DIN 6872. The conversion factor was calculated for those situations where the X-ray beam is transmitted by a layer and Pb and it is necessary to estimate the effective dose, as in the case of shielding project of radiology diagnosis room. (author)

  11. From Carbon-Based Nanotubes to Nanocages for Advanced Energy Conversion and Storage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Qiang; Yang, Lijun; Wang, Xizhang; Hu, Zheng

    2017-02-21

    Carbon-based nanomaterials have been the focus of research interests in the past 30 years due to their abundant microstructures and morphologies, excellent properties, and wide potential applications, as landmarked by 0D fullerene, 1D nanotubes, and 2D graphene. With the availability of high specific surface area (SSA), well-balanced pore distribution, high conductivity, and tunable wettability, carbon-based nanomaterials are highly expected as advanced materials for energy conversion and storage to meet the increasing demands for clean and renewable energies. In this context, attention is usually attracted by the star material of graphene in recent years. In this Account, we overview our studies on carbon-based nanotubes to nanocages for energy conversion and storage, including their synthesis, performances, and related mechanisms. The two carbon nanostructures have the common features of interior cavity, high conductivity, and easy doping but much different SSAs and pore distributions, leading to different performances. We demonstrated a six-membered-ring-based growth mechanism of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with benzene precursor based on the structural similarity of the benzene ring to the building unit of CNTs. By this mechanism, nitrogen-doped CNTs (NCNTs) with homogeneous N distribution and predominant pyridinic N were obtained with pyridine precursor, providing a new kind of support for convenient surface functionalization via N-participation. Accordingly, various transition-metal nanoparticles were directly immobilized onto NCNTs without premodification. The so-constructed catalysts featured high dispersion, narrow size distribution and tunable composition, which presented superior catalytic performances for energy conversions, for example, the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and methanol oxidation in fuel cells. With the advent of the new field of carbon-based metal-free electrocatalysts, we first extended ORR catalysts from the electron-rich N-doped to the

  12. Modified Regression Correlation Coefficient for Poisson Regression Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaengthong, Nattacha; Domthong, Uthumporn

    2017-09-01

    This study gives attention to indicators in predictive power of the Generalized Linear Model (GLM) which are widely used; however, often having some restrictions. We are interested in regression correlation coefficient for a Poisson regression model. This is a measure of predictive power, and defined by the relationship between the dependent variable (Y) and the expected value of the dependent variable given the independent variables [E(Y|X)] for the Poisson regression model. The dependent variable is distributed as Poisson. The purpose of this research was modifying regression correlation coefficient for Poisson regression model. We also compare the proposed modified regression correlation coefficient with the traditional regression correlation coefficient in the case of two or more independent variables, and having multicollinearity in independent variables. The result shows that the proposed regression correlation coefficient is better than the traditional regression correlation coefficient based on Bias and the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE).

  13. Cough Recognition Based on Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients and Dynamic Time Warping

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Chunmei; Liu, Baojun; Li, Ping

    Cough recognition provides important clinical information for the treatment of many respiratory diseases, but the assessment of cough frequency over a long period of time remains unsatisfied for either clinical or research purpose. In this paper, according to the advantage of dynamic time warping (DTW) and the characteristic of cough recognition, an attempt is made to adapt DTW as the recognition algorithm for cough recognition. The process of cough recognition based on mel frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC) and DTW is introduced. Experiment results of testing samples from 3 subjects show that acceptable performances of cough recognition are obtained by DTW with a small training set.

  14. Auto correct method of AD converters precision based on ethernet

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    NI Jifeng

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Ideal AD conversion should be a straight zero-crossing line in the Cartesian coordinate axis system. While in practical engineering, the signal processing circuit, chip performance and other factors have an impact on the accuracy of conversion. Therefore a linear fitting method is adopted to improve the conversion accuracy. An automatic modification of AD conversion based on Ethernet is presented by using software and hardware. Just by tapping the mouse, all the AD converter channel linearity correction can be automatically completed, and the error, SNR and ENOB (effective number of bits are calculated. Then the coefficients of linear modification are loaded into the onboard AD converter card's EEPROM. Compared with traditional methods, this method is more convenient, accurate and efficient,and has a broad application prospects.

  15. Magnitude conversion to unified moment magnitude using orthogonal regression relation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Das, Ranjit; Wason, H. R.; Sharma, M. L.

    2012-05-01

    Homogenization of earthquake catalog being a pre-requisite for seismic hazard assessment requires region based magnitude conversion relationships. Linear Standard Regression (SR) relations fail when both the magnitudes have measurement errors. To accomplish homogenization, techniques like Orthogonal Standard Regression (OSR) are thus used. In this paper a technique is proposed for using such OSR for preparation of homogenized earthquake catalog in moment magnitude Mw. For derivation of orthogonal regression relation between mb and Mw, a data set consisting of 171 events with observed body wave magnitudes (mb,obs) and moment magnitude (Mw,obs) values has been taken from ISC and GCMT databases for Northeast India and adjoining region for the period 1978-2006. Firstly, an OSR relation given below has been developed using mb,obs and Mw,obs values corresponding to 150 events from this data set. M=1.3(±0.004)m-1.4(±0.130), where mb,proxy are body wave magnitude values of the points on the OSR line given by the orthogonality criterion, for observed (mb,obs, Mw,obs) points. A linear relation is then developed between these 150 mb,obs values and corresponding mb,proxy values given by the OSR line using orthogonality criterion. The relation obtained is m=0.878(±0.03)m+0.653(±0.15). The accuracy of the above procedure has been checked with the rest of the data i.e., 21 events values. The improvement in the correlation coefficient value between mb,obs and Mw estimated using the proposed procedure compared to the correlation coefficient value between mb,obs and Mw,obs shows the advantage of OSR relationship for homogenization. The OSR procedure developed in this study can be used to homogenize any catalog containing various magnitudes (e.g., ML, mb, MS) with measurement errors, by their conversion to unified moment magnitude Mw. The proposed procedure also remains valid in case the magnitudes have measurement errors of different orders, i.e. the error variance ratio is

  16. Comprehensive characterisation of sewage sludge for thermochemical conversion processes - Based on Singapore survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chan, Wei Ping; Wang, Jing-Yuan

    2016-08-01

    Recently, sludge attracted great interest as a potential feedstock in thermochemical conversion processes. However, compositions and thermal degradation behaviours of sludge were highly complex and distinctive compared to other traditional feedstock led to a need of fundamental research on sludge. Comprehensive characterisation of sludge specifically for thermochemical conversion was carried out for all existing Water Reclamation Plants in Singapore. In total, 14 sludge samples collected based on the type, plant, and batch categorisation. Existing characterisation methods for physical and chemical properties were analysed and reviewed using the collected samples. Qualitative similarities and quantitative variations of different sludge samples were identified and discussed. Oxidation of inorganic in sludge during ash forming analysis found to be causing significant deviations on proximate and ultimate analysis. Therefore, alternative parameters and comparison basis including Fixed Residues (FR), Inorganic Matters (IM) and Total Inorganics (TI) were proposed for better understanding on the thermochemical characteristics of sludge. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Computing exact Fourier series coefficients of IC rectilinear polygons from low-resolution fast Fourier coefficients

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheibler, Robin; Hurley, Paul

    2012-03-01

    We present a novel, accurate and fast algorithm to obtain Fourier series coefficients from an IC layer whose description consists of rectilinear polygons on a plane, and how to implement it using off-the-shelf hardware components. Based on properties of Fourier calculus, we derive a relationship between the Discrete Fourier Transforms of the sampled mask transmission function and its continuous Fourier series coefficients. The relationship leads to a straightforward algorithm for computing the continuous Fourier series coefficients where one samples the mask transmission function, compute its discrete Fourier transform and applies a frequency-dependent multiplicative factor. The algorithm is guaranteed to yield the exact continuous Fourier series coefficients for any sampling representing the mask function exactly. Computationally, this leads to significant saving by allowing to choose the maximal such pixel size and reducing the fast Fourier transform size by as much, without compromising accuracy. In addition, the continuous Fourier series is free from aliasing and follows closely the physical model of Fourier optics. We show that in some cases this can make a significant difference, especially in modern very low pitch technology nodes.

  18. All-optical 40Gbit/s format conversion from NRZ to RZ based on SFG in a PPLN waveguide

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Jian; Sun, Junqiang

    2006-01-01

    A novel all-optical 40Gbit/s NRZ-to-RZ data format conversion scheme based on sum-frequency generation (SFG) interaction in a periodically poled LiNbO 3 (PPLN) waveguide is presented for the first time, using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI). The conversion mechanism relies on the combination of attenuation and nonlinear phase shift Φ NL induced on the signal field. The performance of the conversion is numerically evaluated, with the result showing that it is more effective to yield Φ NL when appropriately phase mismatched for SFG process but Φ NL~0 when quasi-phase-matching (QPM). Compared with the cascaded second-order nonlinear interactions (SHG+DFG) with the influence of walk-off effect, a high conversion efficiency and good performance are achieved with peak power 500mw and width 2ps of the pump, which can be used in super high-speed situation (40Gbit/s and above). Finally, the inverse process of SFG and corresponding walk-off effect are analyzed and the optimum arrangement of power is proposed, showing that proper power, pump width, and waveguide length are necessary for achieving a satisfied conversion effect.

  19. A new method for brain tumor detection using the Bhattacharyya similarity coefficient, color conversions and neural network

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bahman Mansori

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI is widely applied for examination and diagnosis of brain tumors based on its advantages of high resolution in detecting the soft tissues and especially of its harmless radiation damages to human bodies. The goal of the processing of images is automatic segmentation of brain edema and tumors, in different dimensions of the magnetic resonance images. Methods: The proposed method is based on the unsupervised method which discovers the tumor region, if there is any, by analyzing the similarities between two hemispheres and computes the image size of the goal function based on Bhattacharyya coefficient which is used in the next stage to detect the tumor region or some part of it. In this stage, for reducing the color variation, the gray brain image is segmented, then it is turned to gray again. The self-organizing map (SOM neural network is used the segmented brain image is colored and finally the tumor is detected by matching the detected region and the colored image. This method is proposed to analyze MRI images for discovering brain tumors, and done in Bu Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran, in 2014. Results: The results for 30 randomly selected images from data bank of MRI center in Hamedan was compared with manually segmentation of experts. The results showed that, our proposed method had the accuracy of more than 94% at Jaccard similarity index (JSI, 97% at Dice similarity score (DSS, and 98% and 99% at two measures of specificity and sensitivity. Conclusion: The experimental results showed that it was satisfactory and can be used in automatic separation of tumor from normal brain tissues and therefore it can be used in practical applications. The results showed that the use of SOM neural network to classify useful magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and demonstrated a good performance.

  20. Optimization of process factors for self-healing vanadium-based conversion coating on AZ31 magnesium alloy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li, Kun; Liu, Junyao [State Key Laboratory of Powder Metallurgy, Central South University, Changsha 410083 (China); Lei, Ting, E-mail: tlei@mail.csu.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of Powder Metallurgy, Central South University, Changsha 410083 (China); Xiao, Tao [2nd Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410011 (China)

    2015-10-30

    Highlights: • The optimum operating conditions were determined by an orthogonal experiment. • The coating is composed of oxides and hydroxides of V{sup 5+}, V{sup 4+} and Mg(OH){sub 2}. • The self-healing performance was investigated by cross-cut immersion test. • The vanadia conversion coating provided active corrosion protection to AZ31 alloy. - Abstract: A self-healing vanadium-based conversion coating was prepared on AZ31 magnesium alloy. The optimum operating conditions including vanadia solution concentration, pH and treating temperature for obtaining the best corrosion protective vanadia coatings and improved localized corrosion resistance to the magnesium substrate were determined by an orthogonal experiment design. Surface morphology and composition of the resultant conversion coatings were investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The self-healing behavior of the coating was investigated by cross-cut immersion test and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements in 3.5% NaCl solution.

  1. Optimization of process factors for self-healing vanadium-based conversion coating on AZ31 magnesium alloy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Kun; Liu, Junyao; Lei, Ting; Xiao, Tao

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • The optimum operating conditions were determined by an orthogonal experiment. • The coating is composed of oxides and hydroxides of V"5"+, V"4"+ and Mg(OH)_2. • The self-healing performance was investigated by cross-cut immersion test. • The vanadia conversion coating provided active corrosion protection to AZ31 alloy. - Abstract: A self-healing vanadium-based conversion coating was prepared on AZ31 magnesium alloy. The optimum operating conditions including vanadia solution concentration, pH and treating temperature for obtaining the best corrosion protective vanadia coatings and improved localized corrosion resistance to the magnesium substrate were determined by an orthogonal experiment design. Surface morphology and composition of the resultant conversion coatings were investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The self-healing behavior of the coating was investigated by cross-cut immersion test and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements in 3.5% NaCl solution.

  2. Frequency conversion of structured light.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steinlechner, Fabian; Hermosa, Nathaniel; Pruneri, Valerio; Torres, Juan P

    2016-02-15

    Coherent frequency conversion of structured light, i.e. the ability to manipulate the carrier frequency of a wave front without distorting its spatial phase and intensity profile, provides the opportunity for numerous novel applications in photonic technology and fundamental science. In particular, frequency conversion of spatial modes carrying orbital angular momentum can be exploited in sub-wavelength resolution nano-optics and coherent imaging at a wavelength different from that used to illuminate an object. Moreover, coherent frequency conversion will be crucial for interfacing information stored in the high-dimensional spatial structure of single and entangled photons with various constituents of quantum networks. In this work, we demonstrate frequency conversion of structured light from the near infrared (803 nm) to the visible (527 nm). The conversion scheme is based on sum-frequency generation in a periodically poled lithium niobate crystal pumped with a 1540-nm Gaussian beam. We observe frequency-converted fields that exhibit a high degree of similarity with the input field and verify the coherence of the frequency-conversion process via mode projection measurements with a phase mask and a single-mode fiber. Our results demonstrate the suitability of exploiting the technique for applications in quantum information processing and coherent imaging.

  3. Long-term chloride migration coefficient in slag cement-based concrete and resistivity as an alternative test method

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Noort, R.; Hunger, M.; Spiesz, P.R.

    2016-01-01

    This article reports on investigations of the resistivity and chloride migration coefficient (DRCM) obtained in the accelerated Rapid Chloride Migration test for slag cement-based concretes. Determinations of the resistivity and DRCM were performed on 47 different concrete compositions, up to the

  4. Black holes, information, and the universal coefficient theorem

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Patrascu, Andrei T. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, London WC1E 6BT (United Kingdom)

    2016-07-15

    General relativity is based on the diffeomorphism covariant formulation of the laws of physics while quantum mechanics is based on the principle of unitary evolution. In this article, I provide a possible answer to the black hole information paradox by means of homological algebra and pairings generated by the universal coefficient theorem. The unitarity of processes involving black holes is restored by the demanding invariance of the laws of physics to the change of coefficient structures in cohomology.

  5. Intracavity quasi-phase-matched self-frequency conversion in a periodically poled Nd:Mg:LiNbO3 crystal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Laptev, G D; Novikov, Aleksei A

    2001-01-01

    The theory of intracavity quasi-phase-matched self-frequency conversion in an active nonlinear periodically poled structure is developed. The processes of quasi-phase-matched self-frequency doubling, self-halving and mixing using the pump wave in a periodically poled Nd:Mg:LiNbO 3 crystal are studied. The dependences of the efficiency of nonlinear optical conversion in these processes on the reflection coefficient of the output mirror and on linear losses in the medium are investigated. (nonlinear optical phenomena)

  6. Wind Energy Conversion Systems Technology and Trends

    CERN Document Server

    2012-01-01

    Wind Energy Conversion System covers the technological progress of wind energy conversion systems, along with potential future trends. It includes recently developed wind energy conversion systems such as multi-converter operation of variable-speed wind generators, lightning protection schemes, voltage flicker mitigation and prediction schemes for advanced control of wind generators. Modeling and control strategies of variable speed wind generators are discussed, together with the frequency converter topologies suitable for grid integration. Wind Energy Conversion System also describes offshore farm technologies including multi-terminal topology and space-based wind observation schemes, as well as both AC and DC based wind farm topologies. The stability and reliability of wind farms are discussed, and grid integration issues are examined in the context of the most recent industry guidelines. Wind power smoothing, one of the big challenges for transmission system operators, is a particular focus. Fault ride th...

  7. Monte Carlo calculations of calibrations of calibration coefficients of ATL monitors installed at NPP Temelin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Solc, J.; Suran, J.; Novotna, M.; Pavlis, J.

    2008-01-01

    The contribution describes a technique of determination of calibration coefficients of a radioactivity monitor using Monte Carlo calculations. The monitor is installed at the NPP Temelin adjacent to lines with a radioactive medium. The output quantity is the activity concentration (in Bq/m3) that is converted from the number of counts per minute measured by the monitor. The value of this conversion constant, i.e. calibration coefficient, was calculated for gamma photons emitted by Co-60 and compared to the data stated by the manufacturer and supplier of these monitors, General Atomic Electronic Systems, Inc., USA. Results of the comparison show very good agreement between calculations and manufacturer data; the differences are lower than the quadratic sum of uncertainties. (authors)

  8. Stationary and Dynamic Permeability and Coupling Coefficient Measurements in Sintered Glass Bead Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gueven, I.; Steeb, H.; Luding, S.

    2014-12-01

    Electrokinetic waves describe the coupling between seismic and electromagnetic waves that exist in porous media. The coupling between them arise from an electrochemical boundary layer between grain and fluid interface of saturated porous media. Acoustical waves cause a disturbance of the electrical fluid charge within the double layer, which therefore creates an electric streaming current (seismoelectric effect). Inversely, electromagnetic waves can generate mechanical signals (electroseismic effect). Electrokinetic conversion potentially combines high seismic resolution with good electromagnetic hydrocarbon sensitivity. The (stationary and frequency-dependent) streaming potential coefficient is a key property, which gives rise to the coupling between electromagnetic and acoustical waves. It depends strongly on the fluid conductivity, porosity, tortuosity, permeability, pore throat and zeta potential of porous media. We examine experimentally both, the stationary and dynamic permeabilities and coupling coefficients of sintered glass bead systems. For this purpose a multi-purpose measuring cell was developed which allows us to carry out - besides common ultrasound experiments - also to perform stationary and frequency-dependent permeability and coupling coefficient measurements. For the experiments sintered mono- and slightly polydisperse glass bead samples with different glass bead diameters between 0.4 and 8mm and porosities ranging between 21 and 39% were used. The stationary and dynamic permeability and streaming potential measurements are supported by μCT scans which enable us a deeper insight into the porous medium. Based on the μCT scans of the produced sintered glass bead samples essential influence parameters, like tortuosity, porosity, effective particle diameters and pore throats in different regions of the entire scanned region have been analyzed in detail to understand the laboratory experiments, cf. Illustration 1. In addition lattice Boltzmann

  9. Characterization of energy conversion of multiferroic PFN and PFN:Mn

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lucjan Kozielski

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Characterization of energy conversion of multiferroic materials is concerned with multifunctional properties of materials, a topic that is fascinating from the scientific point of view and important for the modern technology. The complex characterization of multiferroic structures suffers at present from lack of a systematic experimental approach and deficiency of multifunctional magnetoelectric properties testing capabilities. Compactness and high frequency energy conversion capacity are the main reasons of invention and improvement of sophisticated materials which are prepared for high-speed computer memories and broadband transducer devices. As a consequence, one can easily notice an intense search for new materials for generation, transformation and amplification of magnetic and electric energies. In this scenario, the combination of excellent piezoelectric and magnetic properties makes lead iron niobate Pb(Fe1/2Nb1/2O3 (PFN an attractive host material for application in integrated magnetoelectric energy conversion applications. PFN multiferroic materials are attractive for commercial electroceramics due to high value of dielectric permittivity and magnetoelectric coefficients as well as relatively easy synthesis process. However, synthesis of PFN ceramics is mostly connected with formation of the secondary unwanted pyrochlore phase associated with dramatic decrease of ferroelectric properties. The authors have successfully reduced this negative phenomenon by Mn doping and finally present high piezoelectric and magnetoelectric energy conversion efficiency in fabricated PMFN ceramics.

  10. A Parameter-based Model for Generating Culturally Adaptive Nonverbal Behaviors in Embodied Conversational Agents

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lipi, Afia Akhter; Nakano, Yukiko; Rehm, Matthias

    2009-01-01

    The goal of this paper is to integrate culture as a computational term in embodied conversational agents by employing an empirical data-driven approach as well as a theoretical model-driven approach. We propose a parameter-based model that predicts nonverbal expressions appropriate for specific...... cultures. First, we introduce the Hofstede theory to describe socio-cultural characteristics of each country. Then, based on the previous studies in cultural differences of nonverbal behaviors, we propose expressive parameters to characterize nonverbal behaviors. Finally, by integrating socio-cultural...

  11. Statistical analysis of the electric energy production from photovoltaic conversion using mobile and fixed constructions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bugała, Artur; Bednarek, Karol; Kasprzyk, Leszek; Tomczewski, Andrzej

    2017-10-01

    The paper presents the most representative - from the three-year measurement time period - characteristics of daily and monthly electricity production from a photovoltaic conversion using modules installed in a fixed and 2-axis tracking construction. Results are presented for selected summer, autumn, spring and winter days. Analyzed measuring stand is located on the roof of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering Poznan University of Technology building. The basic parameters of the statistical analysis like mean value, standard deviation, skewness, kurtosis, median, range, or coefficient of variation were used. It was found that the asymmetry factor can be useful in the analysis of the daily electricity production from a photovoltaic conversion. In order to determine the repeatability of monthly electricity production, occurring between the summer, and summer and winter months, a non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test was used as a statistical solution. In order to analyze the repeatability of daily peak hours, describing the largest value of the hourly electricity production, a non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test was applied as an extension of the Mann-Whitney U test. Based on the analysis of the electric energy distribution from a prepared monitoring system it was found that traditional forecasting methods of the electricity production from a photovoltaic conversion, like multiple regression models, should not be the preferred methods of the analysis.

  12. New Inference Procedures for Semiparametric Varying-Coefficient Partially Linear Cox Models

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yunbei Ma

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available In biomedical research, one major objective is to identify risk factors and study their risk impacts, as this identification can help clinicians to both properly make a decision and increase efficiency of treatments and resource allocation. A two-step penalized-based procedure is proposed to select linear regression coefficients for linear components and to identify significant nonparametric varying-coefficient functions for semiparametric varying-coefficient partially linear Cox models. It is shown that the penalized-based resulting estimators of the linear regression coefficients are asymptotically normal and have oracle properties, and the resulting estimators of the varying-coefficient functions have optimal convergence rates. A simulation study and an empirical example are presented for illustration.

  13. Biocatalytic conversion of methane to methanol as a key step for development of methane-based biorefineries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hwang, In Yeub; Lee, Seung Hwan; Choi, Yoo Seong; Park, Si Jae; Na, Jeong Geol; Chang, In Seop; Kim, Choongik; Kim, Hyun Cheol; Kim, Yong Hwan; Lee, Jin Won; Lee, Eun Yeol

    2014-12-28

    Methane is considered as a next-generation carbon feedstock owing to the vast reserves of natural and shale gas. Methane can be converted to methanol by various methods, which in turn can be used as a starting chemical for the production of value-added chemicals using existing chemical conversion processes. Methane monooxygenase is the key enzyme that catalyzes the addition of oxygen to methane. Methanotrophic bacteria can transform methane to methanol by inhibiting methanol dehydrogenase. In this paper, we review the recent progress made on the biocatalytic conversion of methane to methanol as a key step for methane-based refinery systems and discuss future prospects for this technology.

  14. Optical characterization of thin female breast biopsies based on the reduced scattering coefficient

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Garofalakis, A; Zacharakis, G; Filippidis, G; Sanidas, E; Tsiftsis, D D; Stathopoulos, E; Kafousi, M; Ripoll, J; Papazoglou, T G

    2005-01-01

    One of the main goals in optical characterization of biopsies is to discern between tissue types. Usually, the theory used for deriving the optical properties of such highly scattering media is based on the diffusion approximation. However, biopsies are usually small in size compared to the transport mean free path and thus cannot be treated with standard diffusion theory. To account for this, an improved theory was developed, by the authors, that can correctly describe light propagation in small geometries (Garofalakis et al 2004 J. Opt. A: Pure Appl. Opt. 6 725-35). The theory's limit was validated by both Monte Carlo simulations and experiments performed on tissue-like phantoms, and was found to be two transport mean free paths. With the aid of this theory, we have characterized 59 samples of breast tissue including cancerous samples by retrieving their reduced scattering coefficients from time-resolved transmission data. The mean values for the reduced scattering coefficients of the normal and the tumour tissue were measured to be 9.7 ± 2.2 cm -1 and 10.8 ± 1.8 cm -1 , respectively. The correlation with age was also investigated

  15. Novel grid-based optical Braille conversion: from scanning to wording

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoosefi Babadi, Majid; Jafari, Shahram

    2011-12-01

    Grid-based optical Braille conversion (GOBCO) is explained in this article. The grid-fitting technique involves processing scanned images taken from old hard-copy Braille manuscripts, recognising and converting them into English ASCII text documents inside a computer. The resulted words are verified using the relevant dictionary to provide the final output. The algorithms employed in this article can be easily modified to be implemented on other visual pattern recognition systems and text extraction applications. This technique has several advantages including: simplicity of the algorithm, high speed of execution, ability to help visually impaired persons and blind people to work with fax machines and the like, and the ability to help sighted people with no prior knowledge of Braille to understand hard-copy Braille manuscripts.

  16. Measuring Resource Inequality: The Gini Coefficient

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael T. Catalano

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper stems from work done by the authors at the Mathematics for Social Justice Workshop held in June of 2007 at Middlebury College. We provide a description of the Gini coefficient and some discussion of how it can be used to promote quantitative literacy skills in mathematics courses. The Gini Coefficient was introduced in 1921 by Italian statistician Corrado Gini as a measure of inequality. It is defined as twice the area between two curves. One, the Lorenz curve for a given population with respect to a given resource, represents the cumulative percentage of the resource as a function of the cumulative percentage of the population that shares that percentage of the resource. The second curve is the line y = x which is the Lorenz curve for a population which shares the resource equally. The Gini coefficient can be interpreted as the percentage of inequality represented in the population with respect to the given resource. We propose that the Gini coefficient can be used to enhance students’ understanding of calculus concepts and provide practice for students in using both calculus and quantitative literacy skills. Our examples are based mainly on distribution of energy resources using publicly available data from the Energy Information Agency of the United States Government. For energy resources within the United States, we find that by household, the Gini coefficient is 0.346, while using the 51 data points represented by the states and Washington D.C., the Gini coefficient is 0.158. When we consider the countries of the world as a population of 210, the Gini coefficient is 0.670. We close with ideas for questions which can be posed to students and discussion of the experiences two other mathematics instructors have had incorporating the Gini coefficient into pre-calculus-level mathematics classes.

  17. Classification of the coefficients of variation of parameters evaluated in Japanese quail experiments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    DHV Leal

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this study was to design a classification range of the coefficients of variation (CV of traits used in experiments with eggtype Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica. The journal Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia was systematically reviewed, using the key word 'quail' during the period of January, 2000 to 2010. The CV of feed intake (g/bird/d, egg production (%/bird/d, egg weight (g, egg mass (g/bird/d, feed conversion ratio per dozen eggs (g/dozen, feed conversion ratio per egg mass (g/g, and egg specific gravity (g/mL were collected. For each parameter, CV were classified using the following median (MD and pseudo-sigma (PS ratio as follows: low (CV MD + 2PS. According to the results, it was concluded that each parameter has a specific classification range that should be taken into account when evaluating experimental precision.

  18. Conversations about Curriculum Change: Mathematical Thinking and Team-Based Learning in a Discrete Mathematics Course

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paterson, Judy; Sneddon, Jamie

    2011-01-01

    This article reports on the learning conversations between a mathematician and a mathematics educator as they worked together to change the delivery model of a third year discrete mathematics course from a traditional lecture mode to team-based learning (TBL). This change prompted the mathematician to create team tasks which increasingly focused…

  19. Radial Basis Function Networks for Conversion of Sound Spectra

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlo Drioli

    2001-03-01

    Full Text Available In many advanced signal processing tasks, such as pitch shifting, voice conversion or sound synthesis, accurate spectral processing is required. Here, the use of Radial Basis Function Networks (RBFN is proposed for the modeling of the spectral changes (or conversions related to the control of important sound parameters, such as pitch or intensity. The identification of such conversion functions is based on a procedure which learns the shape of the conversion from few couples of target spectra from a data set. The generalization properties of RBFNs provides for interpolation with respect to the pitch range. In the construction of the training set, mel-cepstral encoding of the spectrum is used to catch the perceptually most relevant spectral changes. Moreover, a singular value decomposition (SVD approach is used to reduce the dimension of conversion functions. The RBFN conversion functions introduced are characterized by a perceptually-based fast training procedure, desirable interpolation properties and computational efficiency.

  20. High conversion self-curing sealer based on a novel injectable polyurethane system for root canal filling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sun, Bin; Zuo, Yi; Li, Jidong; Wang, Li; Tang, Kuangyun; Huang, Di; Du, Jingjing; Luo, Peipei; Li, Yubao

    2013-01-01

    Low monomer–polymer conversion is the key factor leading to cytotoxicity for resin-containing restorative materials. This paper provides a new root canal filling system based on self-curing injectable polyurethane which can achieve high conversion in a short time. Traced FTIR spectra show more than 90% NCO group participated in the curing reaction after 4 h, and only about 5% remained after 24 h. The calculated data also testified the curing process supports a third-order reaction, and this efficient and sufficient reaction is postulated to weaken the toxic stimulation. By culturing with L929 murine fibroblasts, the PU sealer is shown to be favorable for cell attachment and proliferation. Then physicochemical properties of the injectable PU-based sealer were evaluated according to the Standard [ISO 6876:2001 (E)] for clinical application. A series of physicochemical properties of PU sealer have been tested comparing with AH Plus and Apexit Plus. And the results present that the self-curing PU sealer could not only match the clinic requirements, but even has better properties than the other two commercial sealers. We expect the high conversion PU sealer has a tremendous potential in the field of root canal filling after further biological evaluation. - Highlights: • A new root canal sealer based on self-curing injectable polyurethane was provided. • More than 90% NCO group reacted after 4h, and only about 5% remained after 24 h. • By culturing with L929 murine fibroblasts, the PU sealer showed perfect cytocompatibility. • Volumetric dilatancy after curing will make the sealer achieve a tight seal

  1. High conversion self-curing sealer based on a novel injectable polyurethane system for root canal filling

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sun, Bin [Research Center for Nano-Biomaterials, Analytical and Testing Center, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064 (China); Zuo, Yi, E-mail: zoae@scu.edu.cn [Research Center for Nano-Biomaterials, Analytical and Testing Center, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064 (China); Li, Jidong; Wang, Li [Research Center for Nano-Biomaterials, Analytical and Testing Center, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064 (China); Tang, Kuangyun [The State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases and Orthognathic Surgery, Sichuan University West China College of Stomatology, Chengdu 610064 (China); Huang, Di; Du, Jingjing; Luo, Peipei; Li, Yubao [Research Center for Nano-Biomaterials, Analytical and Testing Center, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064 (China)

    2013-08-01

    Low monomer–polymer conversion is the key factor leading to cytotoxicity for resin-containing restorative materials. This paper provides a new root canal filling system based on self-curing injectable polyurethane which can achieve high conversion in a short time. Traced FTIR spectra show more than 90% NCO group participated in the curing reaction after 4 h, and only about 5% remained after 24 h. The calculated data also testified the curing process supports a third-order reaction, and this efficient and sufficient reaction is postulated to weaken the toxic stimulation. By culturing with L929 murine fibroblasts, the PU sealer is shown to be favorable for cell attachment and proliferation. Then physicochemical properties of the injectable PU-based sealer were evaluated according to the Standard [ISO 6876:2001 (E)] for clinical application. A series of physicochemical properties of PU sealer have been tested comparing with AH Plus and Apexit Plus. And the results present that the self-curing PU sealer could not only match the clinic requirements, but even has better properties than the other two commercial sealers. We expect the high conversion PU sealer has a tremendous potential in the field of root canal filling after further biological evaluation. - Highlights: • A new root canal sealer based on self-curing injectable polyurethane was provided. • More than 90% NCO group reacted after 4h, and only about 5% remained after 24 h. • By culturing with L929 murine fibroblasts, the PU sealer showed perfect cytocompatibility. • Volumetric dilatancy after curing will make the sealer achieve a tight seal.

  2. Chemical and structural analyses of subsurface crevices formed during spontaneous deposition of cerium-based conversion coatings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Heller, Daimon K, E-mail: dkheller@mmm.com; Fahrenholtz, William G., E-mail: billf@mst.edu; O' Keefe, Matthew J., E-mail: mjokeefe@mst.edu

    2011-11-15

    Subsurface crevices formed during the deposition of cerium-based conversion coatings were analyzed in cross-section to assess the effect of deposition and post-treatment on the structure and chemistry of phases present. An Al-O containing phase, believed to be amorphous Al(OH){sub 3}, was formed in crevices during coating deposition. Analysis by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy revealed the presence of up to 1.6 at.% chlorine within the Al-O phase, which was likely a product of soluble chlorides that were present in the coating solution. Cerium was not detected within crevices. After post-treatment in an 85 deg. C aqueous phosphate solution, the chloride concentration was reduced to {<=} 0.30 at.% and electron diffraction of the Al-O phase produced ring patterns, indicating it had crystallized. Some diffraction patterns could be indexed to gibbsite (Al(OH){sub 3}), but others are believed to be a combination of hydrated aluminum hydroxides and/or oxides. Aluminum phosphate was not identified. Separately from its effect on cerium-based conversion coatings, phosphate post-treatment improved the corrosion resistance of Al 2024-T3 substrates by acting to crystallize Al(OH){sub 3} present on interior surfaces of crevices and by reducing the chloride concentration in this phase. - Highlights: {yields} Analysis of subsurface crevices formed during deposition of Ce-based conversion coatings. {yields} Phosphate post-treatment improved corrosion protection in salt spray testing. {yields} Post-treatment affected the composition and structure of regions within crevices. {yields} Crystallized Al(OH){sub 3} within crevices acted as a more effective barrier to chloride ions.

  3. Conversion of optical wave polarizations in 1D finite anisotropic photonic crystal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ouchani, N.; Nougaoui, N.; Daoudi, A.; Bria, D.

    2006-07-01

    We show that by using one dimensional anisotropic photonic structures, it is possible to realize optical wave polarization conversion by transmission or by reflection. Thus a single incident S(P) polarized plane wave can produce a single reflected P(S) polarized wave and a single transmitted P(S) polarized wave. This polarization conversion property can be fulfilled with a simple finite superlattice constituted by anisotropic dielectric materials. We discuss the appropriate choices of the material and geometrical properties to realize such structures. The transmission and reflection coefficients are discussed in relation with the dispersion curves of the finite structure embedded between two isotropic substrates. Both transmission and reflection coefficients are calculated in the framework of Green's function method. The amplitude and the polarization characteristics of reflected and transmitted waves are determined as function of frequency ω , and wave vector k parallel ( parallel to the interface) and the orientations of the principal axes of the layers constituting the SL. Moreover, this structure exhibits a coupling between S and P waves that does not exist in SL composed only of isotropic materials. Specific applications of these results are given for a superlattice consisting of alternating biaxial anisotropic layers NaNO 2 /SbSi sandwiched between two identical semi-infinite isotropic media. (author)

  4. A method for assigning species into groups based on generalized Mahalanobis distance between habitat model coefficients

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, C.J.; Heglund, P.J.

    2009-01-01

    Habitat association models are commonly developed for individual animal species using generalized linear modeling methods such as logistic regression. We considered the issue of grouping species based on their habitat use so that management decisions can be based on sets of species rather than individual species. This research was motivated by a study of western landbirds in northern Idaho forests. The method we examined was to separately fit models to each species and to use a generalized Mahalanobis distance between coefficient vectors to create a distance matrix among species. Clustering methods were used to group species from the distance matrix, and multidimensional scaling methods were used to visualize the relations among species groups. Methods were also discussed for evaluating the sensitivity of the conclusions because of outliers or influential data points. We illustrate these methods with data from the landbird study conducted in northern Idaho. Simulation results are presented to compare the success of this method to alternative methods using Euclidean distance between coefficient vectors and to methods that do not use habitat association models. These simulations demonstrate that our Mahalanobis-distance- based method was nearly always better than Euclidean-distance-based methods or methods not based on habitat association models. The methods used to develop candidate species groups are easily explained to other scientists and resource managers since they mainly rely on classical multivariate statistical methods. ?? 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

  5. On the ideal and real energy conversion in a straight bladed vertical axis wind turbine. The actuator cylinder flow model compared with experiment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aaagard Madsen, H.

    1983-01-01

    The ideal and the real energy conversion in a straight bladed vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) with variable pitch has been studied on basis of the actuator cylinder flow model and experimental data from free wind tests on a 9 m/sup 2/ turbine. Particularly, the theoretical upper power limit of VAWT's has been focused upon in the light of the already existing theories for horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWT's). A remarkable result, differing from prior theories, has turned out through the computations with the actuator cylinder flow model and that is: The maximum ideal power coefficient for VAWT's seams neither to be bounded by the Lanchester-Betz power coefficient limit of 16/27 (actuator disc concept), nor by Glauert's ideal power coefficient curve (taking into account the tip speed ratio), both limits derived with particular reference to HAWT's. Concerning the agreement between analysis and the measurements of the power coefficient, the rotor drag coefficient and the flow velocity vector adjacent to the swept area, it was in general found to be good. However, there seems still to be need for future research on the influence of turbulence in the free wind and dynamic stall on the real energy conversion in VAWT's.

  6. Direct digital conversion detector technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mandl, William J.; Fedors, Richard

    1995-06-01

    Future imaging sensors for the aerospace and commercial video markets will depend on low cost, high speed analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion to efficiently process optical detector signals. Current A/D methods place a heavy burden on system resources, increase noise, and limit the throughput. This paper describes a unique method for incorporating A/D conversion right on the focal plane array. This concept is based on Sigma-Delta sampling, and makes optimum use of the active detector real estate. Combined with modern digital signal processors, such devices will significantly increase data rates off the focal plane. Early conversion to digital format will also decrease the signal susceptibility to noise, lowering the communications bit error rate. Computer modeling of this concept is described, along with results from several simulation runs. A potential application for direct digital conversion is also reviewed. Future uses for this technology could range from scientific instruments to remote sensors, telecommunications gear, medical diagnostic tools, and consumer products.

  7. Simulating the conversion of rural settlements to town land based on multi-agent systems and cellular automata.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yaolin; Kong, Xuesong; Liu, Yanfang; Chen, Yiyun

    2013-01-01

    Rapid urbanization in China has triggered the conversion of land from rural to urban use, particularly the conversion of rural settlements to town land. This conversion is the result of the joint effects of the geographic environment and agents involving the government, investors, and farmers. To understand the dynamic interaction dominated by agents and to predict the future landscape of town expansion, a small town land-planning model is proposed based on the integration of multi-agent systems (MAS) and cellular automata (CA). The MAS-CA model links the decision-making behaviors of agents with the neighbor effect of CA. The interaction rules are projected by analyzing the preference conflicts among agents. To better illustrate the effects of the geographic environment, neighborhood, and agent behavior, a comparative analysis between the CA and MAS-CA models in three different towns is presented, revealing interesting patterns in terms of quantity, spatial characteristics, and the coordinating process. The simulation of rural settlements conversion to town land through modeling agent decision and human-environment interaction is very useful for understanding the mechanisms of rural-urban land-use change in developing countries. This process can assist town planners in formulating appropriate development plans.

  8. Internal conversion of the (13/2+→5/2-) isomeric transition in 199Hg

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Radha Krishna, K.; Chandrasekhar Rao, M.V.S.; Sree Krishna Murty, G.; Venkateswara Rao, N.; Bhuloka Reddy, S.; Satyanarayana, G.; Sastry, D.L.; Iyer, M.R.; Sahasrabhude, S.G.

    1990-01-01

    The total conversion coefficient of the M4 transition (374 KeV) in the decay of the 13/2 + isomeric state to 5/2 - state in 199 Hg measured using the relative gamma intensity method α T is determined to be 6.34 ± 0.29 in agreement with the theory due to Rosel et al. (author). 1 tab., 3 figs., 11 refs

  9. Towards the Development of a Second-Order Approximation in Activity Coefficient Models Based on Group Contributions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Abildskov, Jens; Constantinou, Leonidas; Gani, Rafiqul

    1996-01-01

    A simple modification of group contribution based models for estimation of liquid phase activity coefficients is proposed. The main feature of this modification is that contributions estimated from the present first-order groups in many instances are found insufficient since the first-order groups...... correlation/prediction capabilities, distinction between isomers and ability to overcome proximity effects....

  10. The Nanticoke conversion study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2001-04-01

    A study was conducted to assess the conversion of the Nanticoke coal-fired power plant to cleaner burning natural gas combined-cycle gas turbines. The Nanticoke Generating Station on Lake Erie is responsible for more than 50 per cent of Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) coal-fired electricity production. The OPG is proposing to work towards compliance with the newly signed Ozone Annex to the 1991 Canada-United States Air Quality Agreement which will require fossil-fueled power plants in southern Ontario to reduce their smog-causing nitrogen oxides emissions by about 50 per cent by 2007. This study assessed the emission reduction benefits and financial costs of conversion compared to continuing to operate Nanticoke as a coal-fired plant. The analysis includes a base case set of data on fuel prices, retrofit costs, fuel efficiencies, annual capacity factors and other parameters. It was determined that conversion would cost the average household less than $3 per month on their electricity bill. Conversion would also reduce emissions nitrogen oxide, a major smog pollutant, by 83 per cent and the particulates that form the most health-threatening portion of smog would be reduced by 100 per cent. 15 tabs., 1 fig.

  11. Conversion of rice husk into fermentable sugar by two stage hydrolysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salimi, M. N.; Lim, S. E.; Yusoff, A. H. M.; Jamlos, M. F.

    2017-10-01

    Rice husks, a complex lignocellulosic biomass which comprised of high cellulose content (38-50%), hemicellulose (23-32%) and lignin (15-25%) possesses the potential to pursue as low cost feedstock for production of ethanol. Dilute sulfuric acid at concentration of 1, 2, 3 (%, v/v) were used for pretreatments at varied hydrolysis time (15-60 min) and enzymatic saccharification at range of 45-60˚C and pH 4.5-6.0 were evaluated for conversion of rice husk’s cellulose and hemicellulose to fermentable sugars. The maximum yield of fermentable sugars from rice husks by dilute sulfuric acid (2%, 60 minutes) was 0.0751 g/l. Total fermentable sugar was identified using dinitrosalicylic acid (DNS) method and expressed in g/l. Enzymatic hydrolysis for conversion of cellulose to fermentable sugar has been studied by applying response surface methodology (RSM) and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Two independent variables namely initial pH and incubation temperature were considered using Central Composite Design (CCD). The determination coefficient, R2 obtained was 0.9848. This indicates that 98.48% capriciousness in the respond could be clarified by the ANOVA. Based on the data shown by Design Expert software, the optimum condition for total sugar production was at pH 6.0 and temperature 45˚C as it produced 0.5086 g/l of total sugar.

  12. Measuring Online Dialogic Conversations: A Scale Development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Romenti, Stefania; Valentini, Chiara; Murtarelli, Grazia

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: The scope of this paper is to develop and test a measurement scale for assessing the quality of dialogic conversations among companies and digital publics in social media. It is argued that dialogic conversations are the drivers of dialogic engagement and the result of dialogic...... interactivity. Dialogic conversations are defined as sequences of communicative actions and counteractions taken by social actors for different purposes based on specific linguistic choices and characterised by diverse communicative approaches and the role played by the involved parties. Design....../methodology/approach: A multidimensional scale for measuring dialogic conversations is developed from relevant literature concerning dialogue and public engagement in the fields of corporate communication, public relations, management studies and conversation analysis. The scale was pre-tested to redefine and purify it from irrelevant...

  13. Statistical Analysis of Bending Rigidity Coefficient Determined Using Fluorescence-Based Flicker-Noise Spectroscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doskocz, Joanna; Drabik, Dominik; Chodaczek, Grzegorz; Przybyło, Magdalena; Langner, Marek

    2018-06-01

    Bending rigidity coefficient describes propensity of a lipid bilayer to deform. In order to measure the parameter experimentally using flickering noise spectroscopy, the microscopic imaging is required, which necessitates the application of giant unilamellar vesicles (GUV) lipid bilayer model. The major difficulty associated with the application of the model is the statistical character of GUV population with respect to their size and the homogeneity of lipid bilayer composition, if a mixture of lipids is used. In the paper, the bending rigidity coefficient was measured using the fluorescence-enhanced flicker-noise spectroscopy. In the paper, the bending rigidity coefficient was determined for large populations of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine and 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine vesicles. The quantity of obtained experimental data allows to perform statistical analysis aiming at the identification of the distribution, which is the most appropriate for the calculation of the value of the membrane bending rigidity coefficient. It has been demonstrated that the bending rigidity coefficient is characterized by an asymmetrical distribution, which is well approximated with the gamma distribution. Since there are no biophysical reasons for that we propose to use the difference between normal and gamma fits as a measure of the homogeneity of vesicle population. In addition, the effect of a fluorescent label and types of instrumental setups on determined values has been tested. Obtained results show that the value of the bending rigidity coefficient does not depend on the type of a fluorescent label nor on the type of microscope used.

  14. CT- and MRI-based volumetry of resected liver specimen: Comparison to intraoperative volume and weight measurements and calculation of conversion factors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karlo, C.; Reiner, C.S.; Stolzmann, P.; Breitenstein, S.; Marincek, B.; Weishaupt, D.; Frauenfelder, T.

    2010-01-01

    Objective: To compare virtual volume to intraoperative volume and weight measurements of resected liver specimen and calculate appropriate conversion factors to reach better correlation. Methods: Preoperative (CT-group, n = 30; MRI-group, n = 30) and postoperative MRI (n = 60) imaging was performed in 60 patients undergoing partial liver resection. Intraoperative volume and weight of the resected liver specimen was measured. Virtual volume measurements were performed by two readers (R1,R2) using dedicated software. Conversion factors were calculated. Results: Mean intraoperative resection weight/volume: CT: 855 g/852 mL; MRI: 872 g/860 mL. Virtual resection volume: CT: 960 mL(R1), 982 mL(R2); MRI: 1112 mL(R1), 1115 mL(R2). Strong positive correlation for both readers between intraoperative and virtual measurements, mean of both readers: CT: R = 0.88(volume), R = 0.89(weight); MRI: R = 0.95(volume), R = 0.92(weight). Conversion factors: 0.85(CT), 0.78(MRI). Conclusion: CT- or MRI-based volumetry of resected liver specimen is accurate and recommended for preoperative planning. A conversion of the result is necessary to improve intraoperative and virtual measurement correlation. We found 0.85 for CT- and 0.78 for MRI-based volumetry the most appropriate conversion factors.

  15. Improvement of calculation method for temperature coefficient of HTTR by neutronics calculation code based on diffusion theory. Analysis for temperature coefficient by SRAC code system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goto, Minoru; Takamatsu, Kuniyoshi

    2007-03-01

    The HTTR temperature coefficients required for the core dynamics calculations had been calculated from the HTTR core calculation results by the diffusion code with which the corrections had been performed using the core calculation results by the Monte-Carlo code MVP. This calculation method for the temperature coefficients was considered to have some issues to be improved. Then, the calculation method was improved to obtain the temperature coefficients in which the corrections by the Monte-Carlo code were not required. Specifically, from the point of view of neutron spectrum calculated by lattice calculations, the lattice model was revised which had been used for the calculations of the temperature coefficients. The HTTR core calculations were performed by the diffusion code with the group constants which were generated by the lattice calculations with the improved lattice model. The core calculations and the lattice calculations were performed by the SRAC code system. The HTTR core dynamics calculation was performed with the temperature coefficient obtained from the core calculation results. In consequence, the core dynamics calculation result showed good agreement with the experimental data and the valid temperature coefficient could be calculated only by the diffusion code without the corrections by Monte-Carlo code. (author)

  16. Critical Exchange: Religion and Schooling in Conversation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stern, Julian

    2017-01-01

    Given the complex and messy contexts of schooling, conversations between religion and schooling can be "admitted" as examples of the sort of situated conversation that goes beyond the "false necessity" of universal state-controlled school-based education. There are distinct claims to be made about religion and schooling in…

  17. Archetype-based conversion of EHR content models: pilot experience with a regional EHR system

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    Background Exchange of Electronic Health Record (EHR) data between systems from different suppliers is a major challenge. EHR communication based on archetype methodology has been developed by openEHR and CEN/ISO. The experience of using archetypes in deployed EHR systems is quite limited today. Currently deployed EHR systems with large user bases have their own proprietary way of representing clinical content using various models. This study was designed to investigate the feasibility of representing EHR content models from a regional EHR system as openEHR archetypes and inversely to convert archetypes to the proprietary format. Methods The openEHR EHR Reference Model (RM) and Archetype Model (AM) specifications were used. The template model of the Cambio COSMIC, a regional EHR product from Sweden, was analyzed and compared to the openEHR RM and AM. This study was focused on the convertibility of the EHR semantic models. A semantic mapping between the openEHR RM/AM and the COSMIC template model was produced and used as the basis for developing prototype software that performs automated bi-directional conversion between openEHR archetypes and COSMIC templates. Results Automated bi-directional conversion between openEHR archetype format and COSMIC template format has been achieved. Several archetypes from the openEHR Clinical Knowledge Repository have been imported into COSMIC, preserving most of the structural and terminology related constraints. COSMIC templates from a large regional installation were successfully converted into the openEHR archetype format. The conversion from the COSMIC templates into archetype format preserves nearly all structural and semantic definitions of the original content models. A strategy of gradually adding archetype support to legacy EHR systems was formulated in order to allow sharing of clinical content models defined using different formats. Conclusion The openEHR RM and AM are expressive enough to represent the existing clinical

  18. Archetype-based conversion of EHR content models: pilot experience with a regional EHR system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karlsson Daniel

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Exchange of Electronic Health Record (EHR data between systems from different suppliers is a major challenge. EHR communication based on archetype methodology has been developed by openEHR and CEN/ISO. The experience of using archetypes in deployed EHR systems is quite limited today. Currently deployed EHR systems with large user bases have their own proprietary way of representing clinical content using various models. This study was designed to investigate the feasibility of representing EHR content models from a regional EHR system as openEHR archetypes and inversely to convert archetypes to the proprietary format. Methods The openEHR EHR Reference Model (RM and Archetype Model (AM specifications were used. The template model of the Cambio COSMIC, a regional EHR product from Sweden, was analyzed and compared to the openEHR RM and AM. This study was focused on the convertibility of the EHR semantic models. A semantic mapping between the openEHR RM/AM and the COSMIC template model was produced and used as the basis for developing prototype software that performs automated bi-directional conversion between openEHR archetypes and COSMIC templates. Results Automated bi-directional conversion between openEHR archetype format and COSMIC template format has been achieved. Several archetypes from the openEHR Clinical Knowledge Repository have been imported into COSMIC, preserving most of the structural and terminology related constraints. COSMIC templates from a large regional installation were successfully converted into the openEHR archetype format. The conversion from the COSMIC templates into archetype format preserves nearly all structural and semantic definitions of the original content models. A strategy of gradually adding archetype support to legacy EHR systems was formulated in order to allow sharing of clinical content models defined using different formats. Conclusion The openEHR RM and AM are expressive enough to

  19. Photovoltaic solar energy conversion

    CERN Document Server

    Bauer, Gottfried H

    2015-01-01

    This concise primer on photovoltaic solar energy conversion invites readers to reflect on the conversion of solar light into energy at the most fundamental level and encourages newcomers to the field to help find meaningful answers on how photovoltaic solar energy conversion can work (better), eventually contributing to its ongoing advancement. The book is based on lectures given to graduate students in the Physics Department at the University of Oldenburg over the last two decades, yet also provides an easy-to-follow introduction for doctoral and postdoctoral students from related disciplines such as the materials sciences and electrical engineering. Inspired by classic textbooks in the field, it reflects the author’s own ideas on how to understand, visualize and eventually teach the microscopic physical mechanisms and effects, while keeping the text as concise as possible so as to introduce interested readers to the field and balancing essential knowledge with open questions.

  20. Fast-GPU-PCC: A GPU-Based Technique to Compute Pairwise Pearson's Correlation Coefficients for Time Series Data-fMRI Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eslami, Taban; Saeed, Fahad

    2018-04-20

    Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a non-invasive brain imaging technique, which has been regularly used for studying brain’s functional activities in the past few years. A very well-used measure for capturing functional associations in brain is Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Pearson’s correlation is widely used for constructing functional network and studying dynamic functional connectivity of the brain. These are useful measures for understanding the effects of brain disorders on connectivities among brain regions. The fMRI scanners produce huge number of voxels and using traditional central processing unit (CPU)-based techniques for computing pairwise correlations is very time consuming especially when large number of subjects are being studied. In this paper, we propose a graphics processing unit (GPU)-based algorithm called Fast-GPU-PCC for computing pairwise Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Based on the symmetric property of Pearson’s correlation, this approach returns N ( N − 1 ) / 2 correlation coefficients located at strictly upper triangle part of the correlation matrix. Storing correlations in a one-dimensional array with the order as proposed in this paper is useful for further usage. Our experiments on real and synthetic fMRI data for different number of voxels and varying length of time series show that the proposed approach outperformed state of the art GPU-based techniques as well as the sequential CPU-based versions. We show that Fast-GPU-PCC runs 62 times faster than CPU-based version and about 2 to 3 times faster than two other state of the art GPU-based methods.

  1. A new type of Ce-Mo based conversion coatings for aluminum alloys

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li Di; Li Guoqiang; Guo Baolan; Peng Mingxia [Coll. of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing Univ. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing, BJ (China)

    2002-07-01

    A new type of process for forming Ce-Mo conversion coatings on Al-alloys has been developed. Conversion coatings about 3.6 {mu}m thickness were obtained by immersing Al-alloys for 20 minutes in boiling film forming solutions containing (NH{sub 4}){sub 2}Ce(NO{sub 3}){sub 6} 2.5 g/l, NaKC{sub 4}H{sub 4}O{sub 6}.4H{sub 2}O 2.5 g/l, Na{sub 2}CO{sub 3} 7.5 g/l and Na{sub 2}MoO{sub 4} 5.0 g/l. In the case of LF4 Al-alloy, polarization curves and immersion tests in 5% NaCl indicated that the conversion coatings exhibited more excellent resistance to localized corrosion than the conventional chromate conversion coatings. However, its resistance to localized corrosion was not satisfactory on LC4 Al alloy. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersion analyzer of X-ray (EDAX) analysis revealed that the conversion coatings having complex surface microstructure on both LC4 and LF6 Al alloys consist mainly of O, Al and other alloying elements in addition to significant Ce and Mo. A mechanism of film formation was proposed to explain the experimental results. (orig.)

  2. Facilitating Conversations about Managerial Identities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Mona Toft

    -based organization in the engineering consulting sector b) a reflection meeting, where the same three managers were gathered, and conversations were facilitated based on identity work in the context of earlier interviews. More specifically, three themes were discussed; flat organizational structure, tensions between...

  3. Computation of Clebsch-Gordan and Gaunt coefficients using binomial coefficients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guseinov, I.I.; Oezmen, A.; Atav, Ue

    1995-01-01

    Using binomial coefficients the Clebsch-Gordan and Gaunt coefficients were calculated for extremely large quantum numbers. The main advantage of this approach is directly calculating these coefficients, instead of using recursion relations. Accuracy of the results is quite high for quantum numbers l 1 , and l 2 up to 100. Despite direct calculation, the CPU times are found comparable with those given in the related literature. 11 refs., 1 fig., 2 tabs

  4. Lanthanide based conversion coatings for long term wet storage of aluminium-clad spent fuel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fernandes, S.M.C.; Correa, O.V.; De Souza, J.A.; Ramanathan, L.V.

    2010-01-01

    Spent fuels from research reactors are stored in basins with water of less than desirable quality at many facilities around the world and instances of cladding failure caused by pitting corrosion have been reported. Conversion coatings have been used in many industries to protect different metals, including aluminium alloys. This paper presents the results of an ongoing investigation in which the corrosion resistance of lanthanide (cerium, lanthanum and praseodymium) based conversion coated RR fuel cladding alloys has been studied. Electrochemical tests in the laboratory revealed higher corrosion resistance of CeO 2 , La 2 O 3 and Pr 2 O 3 coated AA 1100 and AA 6061 alloys in NaCl solutions. Uncoated and CeO 2 coated coupons of these alloys exposed for 50 days to the spent fuel basin of the IEA-R1 research reactor in IPEN, Brazil, revealed marked reductions in the extent of pitting corrosion. (author)

  5. Uranium conversion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oliver, Lena; Peterson, Jenny; Wilhelmsen, Katarina

    2006-03-01

    FOI, has performed a study on uranium conversion processes that are of importance in the production of different uranium compounds in the nuclear industry. The same conversion processes are of interest both when production of nuclear fuel and production of fissile material for nuclear weapons are considered. Countries that have nuclear weapons ambitions, with the intention to produce highly enriched uranium for weapons purposes, need some degree of uranium conversion capability depending on the uranium feed material available. This report describes the processes that are needed from uranium mining and milling to the different conversion processes for converting uranium ore concentrate to uranium hexafluoride. Uranium hexafluoride is the uranium compound used in most enrichment facilities. The processes needed to produce uranium dioxide for use in nuclear fuel and the processes needed to convert different uranium compounds to uranium metal - the form of uranium that is used in a nuclear weapon - are also presented. The production of uranium ore concentrate from uranium ore is included since uranium ore concentrate is the feed material required for a uranium conversion facility. Both the chemistry and principles or the different uranium conversion processes and the equipment needed in the processes are described. Since most of the equipment that is used in a uranium conversion facility is similar to that used in conventional chemical industry, it is difficult to determine if certain equipment is considered for uranium conversion or not. However, the chemical conversion processes where UF 6 and UF 4 are present require equipment that is made of corrosion resistant material

  6. Mathematical Simulation of High-Conversion Binary Copolymerization

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    JiangWei; QinJiguang

    2005-01-01

    A new model for mathematical simulation of high-conversion binary copolymerization was established by combination of the concept of the three stage polymerization model (TSPM) proposed by Qin et al. for bulk free radical homopolymerization with the North equation to describe high-conversion copolymerization reaction exhibiting a strong gel effect, and the mathematical expressions of this new model were derived. Like TSPM, the new model also assmnes that the whole course of binary copolymerization can be divided into three different stages: low conversion, gel effect and glass effect stages. In addition, the reaction rate constants and the initiator efficiency at each copolymerization stage do not vary with conversion. Based on the expressions derived, a plot method for determining the overall rate constants and critical conversions was proposed. The literature data on conversion history for styrene (St)-methyl methacrylate (MMA) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA)-MMA copolymerizations were treated to examine the model, which shows that the model is satisfactory.

  7. Computation of the Coupling Resonance Driving term f1001 and the coupling coefficient C from turn-by-turn single-BPM data.

    CERN Document Server

    Franchi, A; Vanbavinkhove, G; CERN. Geneva. BE Department

    2010-01-01

    In this note we show how to compute the Resonance Driving Term (RDT) f1001, the local resonance term chi 1010 and the coupling coefficient C from the spectrum of turn-by-turn single-BPM data. The harmonic analysis of real coordinate x(y) is model independent, conversely to the the analysis of the complex Courant-Snyder coordinate hx,- = x-ipx. From the computation of f1001 along the ring is closely related to the global coupling coefficient C, but it is affected by an intrinsic error, discussed in this note.

  8. A novel coefficient for detecting and quantifying asymmetry of California electricity market based on asymmetric detrended cross-correlation analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Fang

    2016-06-01

    In order to detect and quantify asymmetry of two time series, a novel cross-correlation coefficient is proposed based on recent asymmetric detrended cross-correlation analysis (A-DXA), which we called A-DXA coefficient. The A-DXA coefficient, as an important extension of DXA coefficient ρDXA, contains two directional asymmetric cross-correlated indexes, describing upwards and downwards asymmetric cross-correlations, respectively. By using the information of directional covariance function of two time series and directional variance function of each series itself instead of power-law between the covariance function and time scale, the proposed A-DXA coefficient can well detect asymmetry between the two series no matter whether the cross-correlation is significant or not. By means of the proposed A-DXA coefficient conducted over the asymmetry for California electricity market, we found that the asymmetry between the prices and loads is not significant for daily average data in 1999 yr market (before electricity crisis) but extremely significant for those in 2000 yr market (during the crisis). To further uncover the difference of asymmetry between the years 1999 and 2000, a modified H statistic (MH) and ΔMH statistic are proposed. One of the present contributions is that the high MH values calculated for hourly data exist in majority months in 2000 market. Another important conclusion is that the cross-correlation with downwards dominates over the whole 1999 yr in contrast to the cross-correlation with upwards dominates over the 2000 yr.

  9. A novel coefficient for detecting and quantifying asymmetry of California electricity market based on asymmetric detrended cross-correlation analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Fang

    2016-06-01

    In order to detect and quantify asymmetry of two time series, a novel cross-correlation coefficient is proposed based on recent asymmetric detrended cross-correlation analysis (A-DXA), which we called A-DXA coefficient. The A-DXA coefficient, as an important extension of DXA coefficient ρ D X A , contains two directional asymmetric cross-correlated indexes, describing upwards and downwards asymmetric cross-correlations, respectively. By using the information of directional covariance function of two time series and directional variance function of each series itself instead of power-law between the covariance function and time scale, the proposed A-DXA coefficient can well detect asymmetry between the two series no matter whether the cross-correlation is significant or not. By means of the proposed A-DXA coefficient conducted over the asymmetry for California electricity market, we found that the asymmetry between the prices and loads is not significant for daily average data in 1999 yr market (before electricity crisis) but extremely significant for those in 2000 yr market (during the crisis). To further uncover the difference of asymmetry between the years 1999 and 2000, a modified H statistic (MH) and ΔMH statistic are proposed. One of the present contributions is that the high MH values calculated for hourly data exist in majority months in 2000 market. Another important conclusion is that the cross-correlation with downwards dominates over the whole 1999 yr in contrast to the cross-correlation with upwards dominates over the 2000 yr.

  10. Sexy gene conversions: locating gene conversions on the X-chromosome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawson, Mark J; Zhang, Liqing

    2009-08-01

    Gene conversion can have a profound impact on both the short- and long-term evolution of genes and genomes. Here, we examined the gene families that are located on the X-chromosomes of human (Homo sapiens), chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), mouse (Mus musculus) and rat (Rattus norvegicus) for evidence of gene conversion. We identified seven gene families (WD repeat protein family, Ferritin Heavy Chain family, RAS-related Protein RAB-40 family, Diphosphoinositol polyphosphate phosphohydrolase family, Transcription Elongation Factor A family, LDOC1-related family, Zinc Finger Protein ZIC, and GLI family) that show evidence of gene conversion. Through phylogenetic analyses and synteny evidence, we show that gene conversion has played an important role in the evolution of these gene families and that gene conversion has occurred independently in both primates and rodents. Comparing the results with those of two gene conversion prediction programs (GENECONV and Partimatrix), we found that both GENECONV and Partimatrix have very high false negative rates (i.e. failed to predict gene conversions), which leads to many undetected gene conversions. The combination of phylogenetic analyses with physical synteny evidence exhibits high resolution in the detection of gene conversions.

  11. 24 CFR 972.103 - Definition of “conversion.”

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... subpart, the term “conversion” means the removal of public housing units from the inventory of a PHA, and... units that are being removed. The term “conversion,” as used in this subpart, does not necessarily mean... DEVELOPMENT CONVERSION OF PUBLIC HOUSING TO TENANT-BASED ASSISTANCE Required Conversion of Public Housing...

  12. Optimization of Quantum-state-preserving Frequency Conversion by Changing the Input Signal

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Lasse Mejling; Reddy, D. V.; McKinstrie, C. J.

    We optimize frequency conversion based on four-wave mixing by using the input modes of the system. We find a 10-25 % higher conversion efficiency relative to a pump-shaped input signal.......We optimize frequency conversion based on four-wave mixing by using the input modes of the system. We find a 10-25 % higher conversion efficiency relative to a pump-shaped input signal....

  13. Effect of the phosphor screen optics on the Swank noise performance in indirect-conversion x-ray imaging detectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lim, C H; Moon, M-K; Kam, S; Han, J C; Yun, S; Youn, H; Kim, H K; Jeon, H

    2014-01-01

    The optics between the scintillators and photodiode arrays of indirect-conversion x-ray imaging systems requires careful design because it can be a cause of secondary quantum sink, which reduces the detective quantum efficiency at high spatial frequencies. The aim of this study was the investigation of the effect of the optical properties of granular phosphor screens — including optical coupling materials and passivation layers in photodiode arrays — on the imaging performance of indirect-conversion x-ray imaging detectors using the Monte Carlo technique. In the Monte Carlo simulations, various design parameters were considered, such as the refractive index of the optical coupler and the passivation layer, the reflection coefficient at the screen backing, and the thickness of the optical coupler. We developed a model that describes the optical pulse-height distributions based on the depth-dependent collection efficiency obtained from the simulations. We used the model to calculate the optical Swank noise. A loss in the number of collected optical photons was inevitable owing to the introduction of intermediate optics and mismatches in the optical design parameters. However, the collection efficiency marginally affected the optical Swank factor performance. The results and methodology of this study will facilitate better designs and optimization of indirect-conversion x-ray detectors

  14. Determining the Viscosity Coefficient for Viscoelastic Wave Propagation in Rock Bars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niu, Leilei; Zhu, Wancheng; Li, Shaohua; Guan, Kai

    2018-05-01

    Rocks with microdefects exhibit viscoelastic behavior during stress wave propagation. The viscosity coefficient of the wave can be used to characterize the attenuation as the wave propagates in rock. In this study, a long artificial bar with a readily adjustable viscosity coefficient was fabricated to investigate stress wave attenuation. The viscoelastic behavior of the artificial bar under dynamic loading was investigated, and the initial viscoelastic coefficient was obtained based on the amplitude attenuation of the incident harmonic wave. A one-dimensional wave propagation program was compiled to reproduce the time history of the stress wave measured during the experiments, and the program was well fitted to the Kelvin-Voigt model. The attenuation and dispersion of the stress wave in long artificial viscoelastic bars were quantified to accurately determine the viscoelastic coefficient. Finally, the method used to determine the viscoelastic coefficient of a long artificial bar based on the experiments and numerical simulations was extended to determine the viscoelastic coefficient of a short rock bar. This study provides a new method of determining the viscosity coefficient of rock.

  15. Partially linear varying coefficient models stratified by a functional covariate

    KAUST Repository

    Maity, Arnab; Huang, Jianhua Z.

    2012-01-01

    We consider the problem of estimation in semiparametric varying coefficient models where the covariate modifying the varying coefficients is functional and is modeled nonparametrically. We develop a kernel-based estimator of the nonparametric

  16. Alpha and conversion electron spectroscopy of 238,239Pu and 241Am and alpha-conversion electron coincidence measurements

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dion, Michael P.; Miller, Brian W.; Warren, Glen A.

    2016-09-01

    A technique to determine the isotopics of a mixed actinide sample has been proposed by measuring the coincidence of the alpha particle during radioactive decay with the conversion electron (or Auger) emitted during the relaxation of the daughter isotope. This presents a unique signature to allow the deconvolution of isotopes that possess overlapping alpha particle energy. The work presented here are results of conversion electron spectroscopy of 241Am, 238Pu and 239Pu using a dual-stage peltier-cooled 25 mm2 silicon drift detector. A passivated ion implanted planar silicon detector provided measurements of alpha spectroscopy. The conversion electron spectra were evaluated from 20–55 keV based on fits to the dominant conversion electron emissions, which allowed the relative conversion electron emission intensities to be determined. These measurements provide crucial singles spectral information to aid in the coincident measurement approach.

  17. The application of computational thermodynamics and a numerical model for the determination of surface tension and Gibbs-Thomson coefficient of aluminum based alloys

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jacome, Paulo A.D.; Landim, Mariana C.; Garcia, Amauri; Furtado, Alexandre F.; Ferreira, Ivaldo L.

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: → Surface tension and the Gibbs-Thomson coefficient are computed for Al-based alloys. → Butler's scheme and ThermoCalc are used to compute the thermophysical properties. → Predictive cell/dendrite growth models depend on accurate thermophysical properties. → Mechanical properties can be related to the microstructural cell/dendrite spacing. - Abstract: In this paper, a solution for Butler's formulation is presented permitting the surface tension and the Gibbs-Thomson coefficient of Al-based binary alloys to be determined. The importance of Gibbs-Thomson coefficient for binary alloys is related to the reliability of predictions furnished by predictive cellular and dendritic growth models and of numerical computations of solidification thermal variables, which will be strongly dependent on the thermophysical properties assumed for the calculations. A numerical model based on Powell hybrid algorithm and a finite difference Jacobian approximation was coupled to a specific interface of a computational thermodynamics software in order to assess the excess Gibbs energy of the liquid phase, permitting the surface tension and Gibbs-Thomson coefficient for Al-Fe, Al-Ni, Al-Cu and Al-Si hypoeutectic alloys to be calculated. The computed results are presented as a function of the alloy composition.

  18. Conversational sensemaking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Preece, Alun; Webberley, Will; Braines, Dave

    2015-05-01

    Recent advances in natural language question-answering systems and context-aware mobile apps create opportunities for improved sensemaking in a tactical setting. Users equipped with mobile devices act as both sensors (able to acquire information) and effectors (able to act in situ), operating alone or in collectives. The currently- dominant technical approaches follow either a pull model (e.g. Apple's Siri or IBM's Watson which respond to users' natural language queries) or a push model (e.g. Google's Now which sends notifications to a user based on their context). There is growing recognition that users need more flexible styles of conversational interaction, where they are able to freely ask or tell, be asked or told, seek explanations and clarifications. Ideally such conversations should involve a mix of human and machine agents, able to collaborate in collective sensemaking activities with as few barriers as possible. Desirable capabilities include adding new knowledge, collaboratively building models, invoking specific services, and drawing inferences. As a step towards this goal, we collect evidence from a number of recent pilot studies including natural experiments (e.g. situation awareness in the context of organised protests) and synthetic experiments (e.g. human and machine agents collaborating in information seeking and spot reporting). We identify some principles and areas of future research for "conversational sensemaking".

  19. Determination of the Rate Coefficients of the SO2 plus O plus M yields SO3 plus M Reaction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hwang, S. M.; Cooke, J. A.; De Witt, K. J.; Rabinowitz, M. J.

    2010-01-01

    Rate coefficients of the title reaction R(sub 31) (SO2 +O+M yields SO3 +M) and R(sub 56) (SO2 + HO2 yields SO3 +OH), important in the conversion of S(IV) to S(VI),were obtained at T =970-1150 K and rho (sub ave) = 16.2 micro mol/cubic cm behind reflected shock waves by a perturbation method. Shock-heated H2/ O2/Ar mixtures were perturbed by adding small amounts of SO2 (1%, 2%, and 3%) and the OH temporal profiles were then measured using laser absorption spectroscopy. Reaction rate coefficients were elucidated by matching the characteristic reaction times acquired from the individual experimental absorption profiles via simultaneous optimization of k(sub 31) and k(sub 56) values in the reaction modeling (for satisfactory matches to the observed characteristic times, it was necessary to take into account R(sub 56)). In the experimental conditions of this study, R(sub 31) is in the low-pressure limit. The rate coefficient expressions fitted using the combined data of this study and the previous experimental results are k(sub 31,0)/[Ar] = 2.9 10(exp 35) T(exp ?6.0) exp(?4780 K/T ) + 6.1 10(exp 24) T(exp ?3.0) exp(?1980 K/T ) cm(sup 6) mol(exp ?2)/ s at T = 300-2500 K; k(sub 56) = 1.36 10(exp 11) exp(?3420 K/T ) cm(exp 3)/mol/s at T = 970-1150 K. Computer simulations of typical aircraft engine environments, using the reaction mechanism with the above k(sub 31,0) and k(sub 56) expressions, gave the maximum S(IV) to S(VI) conversion yield of ca. 3.5% and 2.5% for the constant density and constant pressure flow condition, respectively. Moreover, maximum conversions occur at rather higher temperatures (?1200 K) than that where the maximum k(sub 31,0) value is located (approximately 800 K). This is because the conversion yield is dependent upon not only the k(sup 31,0) and k(sup 56) values (production flux) but also the availability of H, O, and HO2 in the system (consumption flux).

  20. The Determinants of Gini Coefficient in Iran Based on Bayesian Model Averaging

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohsen Mehrara

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper has tried to apply BMA approach in order to investigate important influential variables on Gini coefficient in Iran over the period 1976-2010. The results indicate that the GDP growth is the most important variable affecting the Gini coefficient and has a positive influence on it. Also the second and third effective variables on Gini coefficient are respectively the ratio of government current expenditure to GDP and the ratio of oil revenue to GDP which lead to an increase in inequality. This result is corresponding with rentier state theory in Iran economy. Injection of massive oil revenue to Iran's economy and its high share of the state budget leads to inefficient government spending and an increase in rent-seeking activities in the country. Economic growth is possibly a result of oil revenue in Iran economy which has caused inequality in distribution of income.

  1. Thermoelectric Energy Conversion: Materials, Devices, and Systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Gang

    2015-01-01

    This paper will present a discussion of challenges, progresses, and opportunities in thermoelectric energy conversion technology. We will start with an introduction to thermoelectric technology, followed by discussing advances in thermoelectric materials, devices, and systems. Thermoelectric energy conversion exploits the Seebeck effect to convert thermal energy into electricity, or the Peltier effect for heat pumping applications. Thermoelectric devices are scalable, capable of generating power from nano Watts to mega Watts. One key issue is to improve materials thermoelectric figure- of-merit that is linearly proportional to the Seebeck coefficient, the square of the electrical conductivity, and inversely proportional to the thermal conductivity. Improving the figure-of-merit requires good understanding of electron and phonon transport as their properties are often contradictory in trends. Over the past decade, excellent progresses have been made in the understanding of electron and phonon transport in thermoelectric materials, and in improving existing and identify new materials, especially by exploring nanoscale size effects. Taking materials to real world applications, however, faces more challenges in terms of materials stability, device fabrication, thermal management and system design. Progresses and lessons learnt from our effort in fabricating thermoelectric devices will be discussed. We have demonstrated device thermal-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency ∼10% and solar-thermoelectric generator efficiency at 4.6% without optical concentration of sunlight (Figure 1) and ∼8-9% efficiency with optical concentration. Great opportunities exist in advancing materials as well as in using existing materials for energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy utilization, as well as mobile applications. (paper)

  2. Flow and linear coefficient of thermal expansion of four types of Base Plate waxes compared with ADA standard

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Monzavi A

    2002-07-01

    Full Text Available Waxes have a lot of applications in dentistry. Such materials are of thermoplastic type that undergoes deformation in different temperatures. Two important properties of base plate waxes are flow and their coefficient of linear thermal expansion. Recently, different institutions, inside the country, produce dentistry waxes, while they have not been standardized. Consequently, consumers' dissatisfaction are observed. In this research, the two above- mentioned factors were compared between three kinds of Iranian waxes with Cavex that is foreign production, based on test number 24 of ADA. To measure the flow rate in the temperatures of 23, 37 and 45°c, Wilcoxon statistical analysis was used. The results showed that in 23°c, the flow rate of Cavex and Azardent waxes met ADA standards; however, it was not true for two others types. In 37°c, the flow of none of the waxes was standardized and in 45°c their flow was acceptable, moreover, thermal expansion coefficient, for Cavex and Azardent types, was based on ADA standard.

  3. First-order exchange coefficient coupling for simulating surface water-groundwater interactions: Parameter sensitivity and consistency with a physics-based approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ebel, B.A.; Mirus, B.B.; Heppner, C.S.; VanderKwaak, J.E.; Loague, K.

    2009-01-01

    Distributed hydrologic models capable of simulating fully-coupled surface water and groundwater flow are increasingly used to examine problems in the hydrologic sciences. Several techniques are currently available to couple the surface and subsurface; the two most frequently employed approaches are first-order exchange coefficients (a.k.a., the surface conductance method) and enforced continuity of pressure and flux at the surface-subsurface boundary condition. The effort reported here examines the parameter sensitivity of simulated hydrologic response for the first-order exchange coefficients at a well-characterized field site using the fully coupled Integrated Hydrology Model (InHM). This investigation demonstrates that the first-order exchange coefficients can be selected such that the simulated hydrologic response is insensitive to the parameter choice, while simulation time is considerably reduced. Alternatively, the ability to choose a first-order exchange coefficient that intentionally decouples the surface and subsurface facilitates concept-development simulations to examine real-world situations where the surface-subsurface exchange is impaired. While the parameters comprising the first-order exchange coefficient cannot be directly estimated or measured, the insensitivity of the simulated flow system to these parameters (when chosen appropriately) combined with the ability to mimic actual physical processes suggests that the first-order exchange coefficient approach can be consistent with a physics-based framework. Copyright ?? 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  4. Inorganic hole conductor-based lead halide perovskite solar cells with 12.4% conversion efficiency

    KAUST Repository

    Qin, Peng

    2014-05-12

    Organo-lead halide perovskites have attracted much attention for solar cell applications due to their unique optical and electrical properties. With either low-temperature solution processing or vacuum evaporation, the overall conversion efficiencies of perovskite solar cells with organic hole-transporting material were quickly improved to over 15% during the last 2 years. However, the organic hole-transporting materials used are normally quite expensive due to complicated synthetic procedure or high-purity requirement. Here, we demonstrate the application of an effective and cheap inorganic p-type hole-transporting material, copper thiocyanate, on lead halide perovskite-based devices. With low-temperature solution-process deposition method, a power conversion efficiency of 12.4% was achieved under full sun illumination. This work represents a well-defined cell configuration with optimized perovskite morphology by two times of lead iodide deposition, and opens the door for integration of a class of abundant and inexpensive material for photovoltaic application. © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited.

  5. Inorganic hole conductor-based lead halide perovskite solar cells with 12.4% conversion efficiency

    KAUST Repository

    Qin, Peng; Tanaka, Soichiro; Ito, Seigo; Tetreault, Nicolas; Manabe, Kyohei; Nishino, Hitoshi; Nazeeruddin, Mohammad Khaja; Grä tzel, Michael

    2014-01-01

    Organo-lead halide perovskites have attracted much attention for solar cell applications due to their unique optical and electrical properties. With either low-temperature solution processing or vacuum evaporation, the overall conversion efficiencies of perovskite solar cells with organic hole-transporting material were quickly improved to over 15% during the last 2 years. However, the organic hole-transporting materials used are normally quite expensive due to complicated synthetic procedure or high-purity requirement. Here, we demonstrate the application of an effective and cheap inorganic p-type hole-transporting material, copper thiocyanate, on lead halide perovskite-based devices. With low-temperature solution-process deposition method, a power conversion efficiency of 12.4% was achieved under full sun illumination. This work represents a well-defined cell configuration with optimized perovskite morphology by two times of lead iodide deposition, and opens the door for integration of a class of abundant and inexpensive material for photovoltaic application. © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited.

  6. Laser Sensing of Vegetation Based on Dual Spectrum Measurements of Reflection Coefficients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. L. Belov

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Currently, a promising trend in remote sensing of environment is to monitor the vegetative cover: evaluate the productivity of agricultural crops; evaluate the moisture content of soils and the state of ecosystems; provide mapping the sites of bogging, desertification, drought, etc.; control the phases of vegetation of crops, etc.Development of monitoring systems for remote detection of vegetation sites being under unfavorable conditions (low or high temperature, excess or lack of water, soil salinity, disease, etc. is of relevance. Optical methods are the most effective for this task. These methods are based on the physical features of reflection spectra in the visible and near infrared spectral range for vegetation under unfavorable conditions and vegetation under normal conditions.One of the options of optoelectronic equipment for monitoring vegetation condition is laser equipment that allows remote sensing of vegetation from the aircraft and mapping of vegetation sites with abnormal (inactive periods of vegetation reflection spectra with a high degree of spatial resolution.The paper deals with development of a promising dual-spectrum method for laser remote sensing of vegetation. Using the experimentally measured reflection spectra of different vegetation types, mathematical modeling of probability for appropriate detection and false alarms to solve a problem of detecting the vegetation under unfavorable conditions (with abnormal reflection spectra is performed based on the results of dual-spectrum measurements of the reflection coefficient.In mathematical modeling, the lidar system was supposed to provide sensing at wavelengths of 0.532 μm and 0.85 μm. The noise of the measurement was supposed to be normal with zero mean value and mean-square value of 1% -10%.It is shown that the method of laser sensing of vegetation condition based on the results of dual-spectrum measurement of the reflection coefficient at wavelengths of 0.532 μm and 0

  7. The κ-Generalizations of Stirling Approximation and Multinominal Coefficients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tatsuaki Wada

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available Stirling approximation of the factorials and multinominal coefficients are generalized based on the κ-generalized functions introduced by Kaniadakis. We have related the κ-generalized multinominal coefficients to the κ-entropy by introducing a new κ-product operation, which exists only when κ ≠ 0.

  8. Simulating the Conversion of Rural Settlements to Town Land Based on Multi-Agent Systems and Cellular Automata

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yaolin; Kong, Xuesong; Liu, Yanfang; Chen, Yiyun

    2013-01-01

    Rapid urbanization in China has triggered the conversion of land from rural to urban use, particularly the conversion of rural settlements to town land. This conversion is the result of the joint effects of the geographic environment and agents involving the government, investors, and farmers. To understand the dynamic interaction dominated by agents and to predict the future landscape of town expansion, a small town land-planning model is proposed based on the integration of multi-agent systems (MAS) and cellular automata (CA). The MAS-CA model links the decision-making behaviors of agents with the neighbor effect of CA. The interaction rules are projected by analyzing the preference conflicts among agents. To better illustrate the effects of the geographic environment, neighborhood, and agent behavior, a comparative analysis between the CA and MAS-CA models in three different towns is presented, revealing interesting patterns in terms of quantity, spatial characteristics, and the coordinating process. The simulation of rural settlements conversion to town land through modeling agent decision and human-environment interaction is very useful for understanding the mechanisms of rural-urban land-use change in developing countries. This process can assist town planners in formulating appropriate development plans. PMID:24244472

  9. An efficient sensitivity analysis method for modified geometry of Macpherson suspension based on Pearson correlation coefficient

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shojaeefard, Mohammad Hasan; Khalkhali, Abolfazl; Yarmohammadisatri, Sadegh

    2017-06-01

    The main purpose of this paper is to propose a new method for designing Macpherson suspension, based on the Sobol indices in terms of Pearson correlation which determines the importance of each member on the behaviour of vehicle suspension. The formulation of dynamic analysis of Macpherson suspension system is developed using the suspension members as the modified links in order to achieve the desired kinematic behaviour. The mechanical system is replaced with an equivalent constrained links and then kinematic laws are utilised to obtain a new modified geometry of Macpherson suspension. The equivalent mechanism of Macpherson suspension increased the speed of analysis and reduced its complexity. The ADAMS/CAR software is utilised to simulate a full vehicle, Renault Logan car, in order to analyse the accuracy of modified geometry model. An experimental 4-poster test rig is considered for validating both ADAMS/CAR simulation and analytical geometry model. Pearson correlation coefficient is applied to analyse the sensitivity of each suspension member according to vehicle objective functions such as sprung mass acceleration, etc. Besides this matter, the estimation of Pearson correlation coefficient between variables is analysed in this method. It is understood that the Pearson correlation coefficient is an efficient method for analysing the vehicle suspension which leads to a better design of Macpherson suspension system.

  10. Explicit formulas for Clebsch-Gordan coefficients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rudnicki-Bujnowski, G.

    1975-01-01

    The problem is to obtain explicit algebraic formulas of Clebsch-Gordan coefficients for high values of angular momentum. The method of solution is an algebraic method based on the Racah formula using the FORMAC programming language. (Auth.)

  11. Cyclotron absorption and emission in mode conversion layers emdash a new paradigm

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Swanson, D.G.

    1995-01-01

    When the analysis of absorption with mode conversion effects included began to mature in recent years, the study of the corresponding effects on emission began and has led to some surprising results. The classical expressions for cyclotron or synchrotron emission from a harmonic resonance were originally derived from models that did not include mode conversion or its attendant reflection, and classical expressions for the optical depth and opacity were obtained. When mode conversion was included, the principal surprise was that the transmission coefficient, which was understood as being due to absorption, is totally independent of absorption and due exclusively to tunneling. The other surprise from the mode conversion analysis is that the observed emission arises from two distinct sources, one direct and one from an indirect Bernstein wave source which is partially converted in the cyclotron layer to outgoing electromagnetic waves, with the net result that mode conversion cancels out for the electron case, but not for ions. The only corrections to electron cyclotron emission are then due to reflection effects, and these have been shown to be small for many laboratory plasmas, leading to the validation of the classical formula for these cases, but via an entirely new paradigm in its interpretation. This review includes a summary of the absorption process for both electron and ion cyclotron harmonics, and reviews carefully the emission physics, including both potential error estimates and a discussion of the emission source distribution in space

  12. A novel on-chip high to low voltage power conversion circuit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Hui; Wang Songlin; Mou Zaixin; Guo Baolong; Lai Xinquan; Ye Qiang; Li Xianrui

    2009-01-01

    A novel power supply transform technique for high voltage IC based on the TSMC 0.6 μm BCD process is achieved. An adjustable bandgap voltage reference is presented which is different from the traditional power supply transform technique. It can be used as an internal power supply for high voltage IC by using the push-pull output stage to enhance its load capability. High-order temperature compensated circuit is designed to ensure the precision of the reference. Only 0.01 mm 2 area is occupied using this novel power supply technique. Compared with traditional technique, 50% of the area is saved, 40% quiescent power loss is decreased, and the temperature coefficient of the reference is only 4.48 ppm/deg. C. Compared with the traditional LDO (low dropout) regulator, this power conversion architecture does not need external output capacitance and decreases the chip-pin and external components, so the PCB area and design cost are also decreased. The testing results show that this circuit works well.

  13. A novel on-chip high to low voltage power conversion circuit

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang Hui; Wang Songlin; Mou Zaixin; Guo Baolong [Institute of Mechano-electronic Engineering, Xidian University, Xi' an 71007 (China); Lai Xinquan; Ye Qiang; Li Xianrui, E-mail: whui94@126.co [Institute of Electronic CAD, Xidian University, Xi' an 710071 (China)

    2009-03-15

    A novel power supply transform technique for high voltage IC based on the TSMC 0.6 mum BCD process is achieved. An adjustable bandgap voltage reference is presented which is different from the traditional power supply transform technique. It can be used as an internal power supply for high voltage IC by using the push-pull output stage to enhance its load capability. High-order temperature compensated circuit is designed to ensure the precision of the reference. Only 0.01 mm{sup 2} area is occupied using this novel power supply technique. Compared with traditional technique, 50% of the area is saved, 40% quiescent power loss is decreased, and the temperature coefficient of the reference is only 4.48 ppm/deg. C. Compared with the traditional LDO (low dropout) regulator, this power conversion architecture does not need external output capacitance and decreases the chip-pin and external components, so the PCB area and design cost are also decreased. The testing results show that this circuit works well.

  14. Reliability optimization design of the gear modification coefficient based on the meshing stiffness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Qianqian; Wang, Hui

    2018-04-01

    Since the time varying meshing stiffness of gear system is the key factor affecting gear vibration, it is important to design the meshing stiffness to reduce vibration. Based on the effect of gear modification coefficient on the meshing stiffness, considering the random parameters, reliability optimization design of the gear modification is researched. The dimension reduction and point estimation method is used to estimate the moment of the limit state function, and the reliability is obtained by the forth moment method. The cooperation of the dynamic amplitude results before and after optimization indicates that the research is useful for the reduction of vibration and noise and the improvement of the reliability.

  15. Conceptual design of a FGM thermoelectric energy conversion system for high temperature heat source. 1. Design of thermoelectric energy conversion unit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kambe, Mitsuru; Teraki, Junichi; Hirano, Toru.

    1996-01-01

    Thermoelectric (TE) power conversion system has been focused as a candidate of direct energy conversion systems for high temperature heat source to meet the various power requirements in next century. A concept of energy conversion unit by using TE cell elements combined with FGM compliant pads has been presented to achieve high thermal energy density as well as high energy conversion efficiency. An energy conversion unit consists of 8 couples of P-N cell elements sandwiched between two FGM compliant pads. Performance analysis revealed that the power generated by this unit was 11 watts which is nearly ten times as much as conventional unit of the same size. Energy conversion efficiency of 12% was expected based on the assumption of ZT = 1. All the member of compliant pads as well as TE cells could be bonded together to avoid thermal resistance. (author)

  16. The organization of digital conversation on MSN

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Artarxerxes Tiago Tácito Modesto

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available The emergence of the Internet has caused a revolution with regard to new forms of interaction between people, offering experiences of real-time communication in so-called virtual environments. Given this scenario, new textual genres emerge, making room for innumerous possibilities of analysis under various approaches. In this paper, we aim at analyzing digital conversations, trying to verify, at first, the extent to which they approach or move away from face-to-face conversations. We also seek to identify, describe and analyze some interactional strategies inherent in this new genre. We base our analyzes on Conversation Analysis theory and Interactional Sociolinguistics to define conversational strategies of the “spoken written text” on the Internet. The corpus used in this work consists of digital conversations coming from the MSN instant messaging software from Microsoft Corporation, chosen because of its wide use among people who use the internet for communication.

  17. Data mining-based coefficient of influence factors optimization of test paper reliability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Peiyao; Jiang, Huiping; Wei, Jieyao

    2018-05-01

    Test is a significant part of the teaching process. It demonstrates the final outcome of school teaching through teachers' teaching level and students' scores. The analysis of test paper is a complex operation that has the characteristics of non-linear relation in the length of the paper, time duration and the degree of difficulty. It is therefore difficult to optimize the coefficient of influence factors under different conditions in order to get text papers with clearly higher reliability with general methods [1]. With data mining techniques like Support Vector Regression (SVR) and Genetic Algorithm (GA), we can model the test paper analysis and optimize the coefficient of impact factors for higher reliability. It's easy to find that the combination of SVR and GA can get an effective advance in reliability from the test results. The optimal coefficient of influence factors optimization has a practicability in actual application, and the whole optimizing operation can offer model basis for test paper analysis.

  18. Microwave photonic filters with negative coefficients based on phase inversion in an electro-optic modulator.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Capmany, José; Pastor, Daniel; Martinez, Alfonso; Ortega, Beatriz; Sales, Salvador

    2003-08-15

    We report on a novel technical approach to the implementation of photonic rf filters that is based on the pi phase inversion that a rf modulating signal suffers in an electro-optic Mach-Zehnder modulator, which depends on whether the positive or the negative linear slope of the signal's modulation transfer function is employed. Experimental evidence is provided of the implementation of filters with negative coefficients that shows excellent agreement with results predicted by the theory.

  19. Coefficient estimates of negative powers and inverse coefficients for ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    and the inequality is sharp for the inverse of the Koebe function k(z) = z/(1 − z)2. An alternative approach to the inverse coefficient problem for functions in the class S has been investigated by Schaeffer and Spencer [27] and FitzGerald [6]. Although, the inverse coefficient problem for the class S has been completely solved ...

  20. Mold heating and cooling microprocessor conversion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoffman, D. P.

    1995-07-01

    Conversion of the microprocessors and software for the Mold Heating and Cooling (MHAC) pump package control systems was initiated to allow required system enhancements and provide data communications capabilities with the Plastics Information and Control System (PICS). The existing microprocessor-based control systems for the pump packages use an Intel 8088-based microprocessor board with a maximum of 64 Kbytes of program memory. The requirements for the system conversion were developed, and hardware has been selected to allow maximum reuse of existing hardware and software while providing the required additional capabilities and capacity. The new hardware will incorporate an Intel 80286-based microprocessor board with an 80287 math coprocessor, the system includes additional memory, I/O, and RS232 communication ports.