Apparatus and method for modifying the operation of a robotic vehicle in a real environment, to emulate the operation of the robotic vehicle operating in a mixed reality environment

Science.gov (United States)

Garretson, Justin R [Albuquerque, NM; Parker, Eric P [Albuquerque, NM; Gladwell, T Scott [Albuquerque, NM; Rigdon, J Brian [Edgewood, NM; Oppel, III, Fred J.

2012-05-29

Apparatus and methods for modifying the operation of a robotic vehicle in a real environment to emulate the operation of the robotic vehicle in a mixed reality environment include a vehicle sensing system having a communications module attached to the robotic vehicle for communicating operating parameters related to the robotic vehicle in a real environment to a simulation controller for simulating the operation of the robotic vehicle in a mixed (live, virtual and constructive) environment wherein the affects of virtual and constructive entities on the operation of the robotic vehicle (and vice versa) are simulated. These effects are communicated to the vehicle sensing system which generates a modified control command for the robotic vehicle including the effects of virtual and constructive entities, causing the robot in the real environment to behave as if virtual and constructive entities existed in the real environment.

Prediction of software operational reliability using testing environment factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, Hoan Sung; Seong, Poong Hyun

1995-01-01

For many years, many researches have focused on the quantification of software reliability and there are many models developed to quantify software reliability. Most software reliability models estimate the reliability with the failure data collected during the test assuming that the test environments well represent the operation profile. The experiences show that the operational reliability is higher than the test reliability User's interest is on the operational reliability rather than on the test reliability, however. With the assumption that the difference in reliability results from the change of environment, testing environment factors comprising the aging factor and the coverage factor are defined in this study to predict the ultimate operational reliability with the failure data. It is by incorporating test environments applied beyond the operational profile into testing environment factors. The application results are close to the actual data

Advanced Satellite Workstation - An integrated workstation environment for operational support of satellite system planning and analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Hamilton, Marvin J.; Sutton, Stewart A.

A prototype integrated environment, the Advanced Satellite Workstation (ASW), which was developed and delivered for evaluation and operator feedback in an operational satellite control center, is described. The current ASW hardware consists of a Sun Workstation and Macintosh II Workstation connected via an ethernet Network Hardware and Software, Laser Disk System, Optical Storage System, and Telemetry Data File Interface. The central objective of ASW is to provide an intelligent decision support and training environment for operator/analysis of complex systems such as satellites. Compared to the many recent workstation implementations that incorporate graphical telemetry displays and expert systems, ASW provides a considerably broader look at intelligent, integrated environments for decision support, based on the premise that the central features of such an environment are intelligent data access and integrated toolsets.

CMOS Current-mode Operational Amplifier

OpenAIRE

Kaulberg, Thomas

1992-01-01

A fully differential-input differential-output current-mode operational amplifier (COA) is described. The amplifier utilizes three second generation current-conveyors (CCII) as the basic building blocks. It can be configured to provide either a constant gain-bandwidth product in a fully balanced current-mode feedback amplifier or a constant bandwidth in a transimpedance feedback amplifier. The amplifier is found to have a gain bandwidth product of 8 MHz, an offset current of 0.8 ¿A (signal-r...

The nuclear force and the electromagnetic current operator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Riska, D.O.

1985-01-01

The relation between the electromagnetic current operator and the nucleon-nucleon interaction is discussed. The assumptions needed for the construction of the two-body current operator directly from the isospin- and velocity dependent components of the interaction potential are described. The observable consequences of the exchange current operator that is constructed from the interaction are reviewed. (orig.)

Current conserving theory at the operator level

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Jiangtao; Wang, Yin; Wang, Jian

The basic assumption of quantum transport in mesoscopic systems is that the total charge inside the scattering region is zero. This means that the potential deep inside reservoirs is effectively screened and therefore the electric field at interface of scattering region is zero. Thus the current conservation condition can be satisfied automatically which is an important condition in mesoscopic transport. So far the current conserving ac theory is well developed by considering the displacement current which is due to Coulomb interaction if we just focus on the average current. However, the frequency dependent shot noise does not satisfy the conservation condition since we do not consider the current conservation at the operator level. In this work, we formulate a generalized current conserving theory at the operator level using non-equilibrium Green's function theory which could be applied to both average current and frequency dependent shot noise. A displacement operator is derived for the first time so that the frequency dependent correlation of displacement currents could be investigated. Moreover, the equilibrium shot noise is investigated and a generalized fluctuation-dissipation relationship is presented.

Point-form electrodynamics and the construction of conserved current operators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klink, W.H.

2003-01-01

A general procedure for constructing conserved electromagnetic current operators in the presence of hadronic interactions is given. The four-momentum operator in point-form relativistic quantum mechanics is written as the sum of hadronic, photon, and electromagnetic four-momentum operators, where the electromagnetic four-momentum operator is generated from a vertex operator, in which a conserved current operator is contracted with the four-vector potential operator. The current operator is the sum of free, dynamically determined and model-dependent operators. The dynamically determined current operator is formed form a free current operator and the interacting hadronic four-momentum operator, in such a way that the sum of free and dynamically determined current operators is conserved with respect to the hadronic interactions. The model-dependent operator is a many-body current operator, formed as the commutator of an antisymmetric operator with the hadronic four-momentum operator. It is shown that such an operator is also conserved with respect to the hadronic interactions and also does not renormalize the charge. Refs. 9 (author)

Basic properties of the current-current correlation measure for random Schroedinger operators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hislop, Peter D.; Lenoble, Olivier

2006-01-01

The current-current correlation measure plays a crucial role in the theory of conductivity for disordered systems. We prove a Pastur-Shubin-type formula for the current-current correlation measure expressing it as a thermodynamic limit for random Schroedinger operators on the lattice and the continuum. We prove that the limit is independent of the self-adjoint boundary conditions and independent of a large family of expanding regions. We relate this finite-volume definition to the definition obtained by using the infinite-volume operators and the trace-per-unit volume

CMOS Current-mode Operational Amplifier

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaulberg, Thomas

1992-01-01

current-mode feedback amplifier or a constant bandwidth in a transimpedance feedback amplifier. The amplifier is found to have a gain bandwidth product of 8 MHz, an offset current of 0.8 ¿A (signal-range ±700¿A) and a (theoretically) unlimited slew-rate. The amplifier is realized in a standard CMOS 2......A fully differential-input differential-output current-mode operational amplifier (COA) is described. The amplifier utilizes three second generation current-conveyors (CCII) as the basic building blocks. It can be configured to provide either a constant gain-bandwidth product in a fully balanced...

Multiple operating system rotation environment moving target defense

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, Nathaniel; Thompson, Michael

2016-03-22

Systems and methods for providing a multiple operating system rotation environment ("MORE") moving target defense ("MTD") computing system are described. The MORE-MTD system provides enhanced computer system security through a rotation of multiple operating systems. The MORE-MTD system increases attacker uncertainty, increases the cost of attacking the system, reduces the likelihood of an attacker locating a vulnerability, and reduces the exposure time of any located vulnerability. The MORE-MTD environment is effectuated by rotation of the operating systems at a given interval. The rotating operating systems create a consistently changing attack surface for remote attackers.

Current Status of Operation and Management of Dental School Clinics.

Science.gov (United States)

Reinhardt, John W

2017-08-01

This article summarizes the current status of the operation and management of dental school clinics as schools strive to provide excellent patient-centered care in an environment that is educationally sound, efficient, and financially strong. Clinical education is a large component of dental education and an area in which many dental schools have an opportunity to enhance revenue. Clinical efficiencies and alternative models of clinical education are evolving in U.S. dental schools, and this article describes some of those evolutionary changes. This article was written as part of the project "Advancing Dental Education in the 21 st Century."

ISAC target operation with high proton currents

CERN Document Server

Dombsky, M; Schmor, P; Lane, M

2003-01-01

The TRIUMF-ISAC facility target stations were designed for ISOL target irradiations with up to 100 mu A proton beam currents. Since beginning operation in 1998, ISAC irradiation currents have progressively increased from initial values of approx 1 mu A to present levels of up to 40 mu A on refractory metal foil targets. In addition, refractory carbide targets have operated at currents of up to 15 mu A for extended periods. The 1-40 mu A operational regime is achieved by tailoring each target to the thermal requirements dictated by material properties such as beam power deposition, thermal conductivity and maximum operating temperature of the target material. The number of heat shields on each target can be varied in order to match the effective emissivity of the target surface for the required radiative power dissipation. Targets of different thickness, surface area and volume have been investigated to study the effect of diffusion and effusion delays on the yield of radioisotopes. For yields of short-lived p...

Cognitive architectures: choreographing the dance of mental operations with the task environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Gray, Wayne D

2008-06-01

In this article, I present the ideas and trends that have given rise to the use of cognitive architectures in human factors and provide a cognitive engineering-oriented taxonomy of these architectures and a snapshot of their use for cognitive engineering. Architectures of cognition have had a long history in human factors but a brief past. The long history entails a 50-year preamble, whereas the explosion of work in the current decade reflects the brief past. Understanding this history is key to understanding the current and future prospects for applying cognitive science theory to human factors practice. The review defines three formative eras in cognitive engineering research: the 1950s, 1980s, and now. In the first era, the fledging fields of cognitive science and human factors emphasized characteristics of the dancer the limited capacity or bounded rationality view of the mind, and the ballroom, the task environment. The second era emphasized the dance (i.e., the dynamic interaction between mental operations and task environment). The third era has seen the rise of cognitive architectures as tools for choreographing the dance of mental operations within the complex environments posed by human factors practice. Hybrid architectures present the best vector for introducing cognitive science theories into a renewed engineering-based human factors. The taxonomy provided in this article may provide guidance on when and whether to apply a cognitive science or a hybrid architecture to a human factors issue.

Current and Future Flight Operating Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Cudmore, Alan

2007-01-01

This viewgraph presentation reviews the current real time operating system (RTOS) type in use with current flight systems. A new RTOS model is described, i.e. the process model. Included is a review of the challenges of migrating from the classic RTOS to the Process Model type.

Virtualization in the Operations Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Pitts, Lee; Lankford, Kim; Felton, Larry; Pruitt, Robert

2010-01-01

Virtualization provides the opportunity to continue to do "more with less"---more computing power with fewer physical boxes, thus reducing the overall hardware footprint, power and cooling requirements, software licenses, and their associated costs. This paper explores the tremendous advantages and any disadvantages of virtualization in all of the environments associated with software and systems development to operations flow. It includes the use and benefits of the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) specification, and identifies lessons learned concerning hardware and network configurations. Using the Huntsville Operations Support Center (HOSC) at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center as an example, we demonstrate that deploying virtualized servers as a means of managing computing resources is applicable and beneficial to many areas of application, up to and including flight operations.

Basic research on intelligent robotic systems operating in hostile environments: New developments at ORNL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barhen, J.; Babcock, S.M.; Hamel, W.R.; Oblow, E.M.; Saridis, G.N.; deSaussure, G.; Solomon, A.D.; Weisbin, C.R.

1984-01-01

Robotics and artificial intelligence research carried out within the Center for Engineering Systems Advanced Research (CESAR) is presented. Activities focus on the development and demonstration of a comprehensive methodological framework for intelligent machines operating in unstructured hostile environments. Areas currently being addressed include mathematical modeling of robot dynamics, real-time control, ''world'' modeling, machine perception and strategy planning

Clinical Education Environment Experiences of Operating Room Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tahereh khazaei

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background and purpose: The objective of medical education is to train competent and qualified workforce in order to provide services in various health environments. One of the important objectives of Operating Room students is to train workforce who can involve in patient’s health and recovery. Training these students should cause clinical ability and independent decision making during surgery. Since students during internship face with many problems, this study has been conducted to explore and describe the challenges and experiences.Methods: This qualitative study is a phenomenology that was conducted based on 20 students in the last semester of Operating Room associate’s degree with purposive sampling. Deep and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data and data were analyzed by content analysis method.Results: The findings in 5 main themes: (1 Physical space and equipment in the operating room, (2 The student’s position in operating room, (3 Integrating knowledge and action, (4 Managing education environment and 5- Student’s viewpoint about operating room and working in it.Conclusions: Interviews with students revealed the educational environment challenges with which they are faced during their study. Teachers can provide solutions to overcome the challenges and create a positive atmosphere for students' learning using results of this study and students may continue their interest in education and improve the quality of their education.Keywords: CLINICAL EDUCATION, OPERATING ROOM STUDENTS, CHALLENGE

A CMOS current-mode operational amplifier

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaulberg, Thomas

1993-01-01

current-mode feedback amplifier or a constant bandwidth in a transimpedance feedback amplifier. The amplifier is found to have a gain-bandwidth product of 3 MHz, an offset current of 0.8 μA (signal range ±700 μA), and a (theoretically) unlimited slew rate. The amplifier is realized in a standard CMOS 2......A fully differential-input, differential-output, current-mode operational amplifier (COA) is described. The amplifier utilizes three second-generation current conveyors (CCIIs) as the basic building blocks. It can be configured to provide either a constant gain-bandwidth product in a fully balanced...

Current-Voltage Characteristics of DC Discharge in Micro Gas Jet Injected into Vacuum Environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matra, K; Furuta, H; Hatta, A

2013-01-01

A current-voltage characteristic of direct current (DC) gas discharge operated in a micro gas jet injected into a secondary electron microscope (SEM) chamber is presented. Ar gas was injected through a 30 μm orifice gas nozzle (OGN) and was evacuated by an additional pump to keep the high vacuum environment. Gas discharges were ignited between the OGN as anode and a counter electrode of Si wafer. The discharge was self-pulsating in most of the cases while it was stable at lower pressure, larger gap length, and larger time averaged current. The self-pulsating discharge was oscillated by the RC circuit consisting of a stray capacitor and a large ballast resistor. The real time plots of voltage and current during the pulsating was investigated using a discharge model.

Prediction of software operational reliability using testing environment factor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, Hoan Sung

1995-02-01

Software reliability is especially important to customers these days. The need to quantify software reliability of safety-critical systems has been received very special attention and the reliability is rated as one of software's most important attributes. Since the software is an intellectual product of human activity and since it is logically complex, the failures are inevitable. No standard models have been established to prove the correctness and to estimate the reliability of software systems by analysis and/or testing. For many years, many researches have focused on the quantification of software reliability and there are many models developed to quantify software reliability. Most software reliability models estimate the reliability with the failure data collected during the test assuming that the test environments well represent the operation profile. User's interest is on the operational reliability rather than on the test reliability, however. The experiences show that the operational reliability is higher than the test reliability. With the assumption that the difference in reliability results from the change of environment, testing environment factor comprising the aging factor and the coverage factor are defined in this work to predict the ultimate operational reliability with the failure data. It is by incorporating test environments applied beyond the operational profile into testing environment factor Test reliability can also be estimated with this approach without any model change. The application results are close to the actual data. The approach used in this thesis is expected to be applicable to ultra high reliable software systems that are used in nuclear power plants, airplanes, and other safety-critical applications

Artificial intelligence in a mission operations and satellite test environment

Science.gov (United States)

Busse, Carl

1988-01-01

A Generic Mission Operations System using Expert System technology to demonstrate the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) automated monitor and control functions in a Mission Operations and Satellite Test environment will be developed at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Expert system techniques in a real time operation environment are being studied and applied to science and engineering data processing. Advanced decommutation schemes and intelligent display technology will be examined to develop imaginative improvements in rapid interpretation and distribution of information. The Generic Payload Operations Control Center (GPOCC) will demonstrate improved data handling accuracy, flexibility, and responsiveness in a complex mission environment. The ultimate goal is to automate repetitious mission operations, instrument, and satellite test functions by the applications of expert system technology and artificial intelligence resources and to enhance the level of man-machine sophistication.

Tour operators, environment and sustainable development; Tour operator, ambiente e sviluppo sostenibile

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andriola, L.; Chirico, R.; Declich, P. [ENEA, Divisione Caratterizzazione dell' Ambiente e del Territorio, Centro Ricerche Casaccia, Rome (Italy)

2001-07-01

The purpose of this work is to characterize the role of the tour operators in achieving sustainable development meaning a process of development which leaves at least the same amount of capital, natural and man-made, to future generations as current generations have access to. Tourism is one of the largest and fastest growing global industries, creating significant employment and economic development, particularly in many developing countries. Tourism can also have negative environmental and social impact resulting from resource consumption, pollution, generation of wastes and from the compromise of local culture while introducing new activities. Most tour operators has started to recognised that a clean environment is critical to their success, but few tour operators have the management tools or experience to design and conduct tours that minimize their negative environmental and social impacts. A group of tour operators from different parts of the world have joined forces to create the Tour Operators' Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development. With this initiatives, tour operators are moving towards sustainable tourism by committing themselves to address the environmental, social, and cultural aspects of sustainable development within the tourism sector. [Italian] Lo scopo del presente lavoro e' individuare il ruolo dei Tour Operator nel perseguire uno sviluppo sostenibile ossia un processo di sviluppo che lasci alle generazioni future lo stesso capitale, naturale e creato dall'uomo, di cui dispone l'attuale generazione. Il turismo e' tra le industrie globali piu' vaste ed in rapida crescita che crea una occupazione ed uno sviluppo economico significativo, particolarmente in molti paesi in via di sviluppo. Il turismo puo' anche generare impatti sia ambientali che sociali derivanti dallo sfruttamento delle risorse, dall'inquinamento, dalla produzione di rifiuti e dalla compromissione delle culture locali introducendo

Tour operators, environment and sustainable development; Tour operator, ambiente e sviluppo sostenibile

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andriola, L; Chirico, R; Declich, P [ENEA, Divisione Caratterizzazione dell' Ambiente e del Territorio, Centro Ricerche Casaccia, Rome (Italy)

2001-07-01

The purpose of this work is to characterize the role of the tour operators in achieving sustainable development meaning a process of development which leaves at least the same amount of capital, natural and man-made, to future generations as current generations have access to. Tourism is one of the largest and fastest growing global industries, creating significant employment and economic development, particularly in many developing countries. Tourism can also have negative environmental and social impact resulting from resource consumption, pollution, generation of wastes and from the compromise of local culture while introducing new activities. Most tour operators has started to recognised that a clean environment is critical to their success, but few tour operators have the management tools or experience to design and conduct tours that minimize their negative environmental and social impacts. A group of tour operators from different parts of the world have joined forces to create the Tour Operators' Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development. With this initiatives, tour operators are moving towards sustainable tourism by committing themselves to address the environmental, social, and cultural aspects of sustainable development within the tourism sector. [Italian] Lo scopo del presente lavoro e' individuare il ruolo dei Tour Operator nel perseguire uno sviluppo sostenibile ossia un processo di sviluppo che lasci alle generazioni future lo stesso capitale, naturale e creato dall'uomo, di cui dispone l'attuale generazione. Il turismo e' tra le industrie globali piu' vaste ed in rapida crescita che crea una occupazione ed uno sviluppo economico significativo, particolarmente in molti paesi in via di sviluppo. Il turismo puo' anche generare impatti sia ambientali che sociali derivanti dallo sfruttamento delle risorse, dall'inquinamento, dalla produzione di rifiuti e dalla compromissione delle culture locali introducendo nuove attivita'. La maggiore parte dei

Control of the Environment in the Operating Room.

Science.gov (United States)

Katz, Jonathan D

2017-10-01

There is a direct relationship between the quality of the environment of a workplace and the productivity and efficiency of the work accomplished. Components such as temperature, humidity, ventilation, drafts, lighting, and noise each contribute to the quality of the overall environment and the sense of well-being of those who work there.The modern operating room is a unique workplace with specific, and frequently conflicting, environmental requirements for each of the inhabitants. Even minor disturbances in the internal environment of the operating room can have serious ramifications on the comfort, effectiveness, and safety of each of the inhabitants. A cool, well-ventilated, and dry climate is optimal for many members of the surgical team. Any significant deviation from these objectives raises the risk of decreased efficiency and productivity and adverse surgical outcomes. A warmer, more humid, and quieter environment is necessary for the patient. If these requirements are not met, the risk of surgical morbidity and mortality is increased. An important task for the surgical team is to find the correct balance between these 2 opposed requirements. Several of the components of the operating room environment, especially room temperature and airflow patterns, are easily manipulated by the members of the surgical team. In the following discussion, we will examine these elements to better understand the clinical ramifications of adjustments and accommodations that are frequently made to meet the requirements of both the surgical staff and the patient.

Design Considerations for CMOS Current Mode Operational Amplifiers and Current Conveyors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bruun, Erik

implementations of current mode opamps in CMOS technology are described. Also, current conveyor configurations with multiple outputs and flexible feedback connections from outputs to inputs are introduced. The dissertation includes several examples of circuit configurations ranging from simple class A and class......This dissertation is about CMOS current conveyors and current mode operational amplifiers (opamps). They are generic devices for continuous time signal processing in circuits and systems where signals are represented by currents.Substantial advancements are reported in the dissertation, both...... related to circuit implementations and system configurations and to an analysis of the fundamental limitations of the current mode technique.In the field of system configurations and circuit implementations different configurations of high gain current opamps are introduced and some of the first...

Operating tokamaks with steady-state toroidal current

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fisch, N.J.

1981-04-01

Continuous operation of a tokamak requires, among other things, a means of continuously providing the toroidal current. Various methods have been proposed to provide this current including methods which utilize radio-frequency waves in any of several frequency regimes. Here we elaborate on the prospects of incorporating these current-drive techniques in tokamak reactors, concentrating on the theoretical minimization of the power requirements

High field, low current operation of engineering test reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schwartz, J.; Cohn, D.R.; Bromberg, L.; Williams, J.E.C.

1987-06-01

Steady state engineering test reactors with high field, low current operation are investigated and compared to high current, lower field concepts. Illustrative high field ETR parameters are R = 3 m, α ∼ 0.5 m, B ∼ 10 T, β = 2.2% and I = 4 MA. For similar wall loading the fusion power of an illustrative high field, low current concept could be about 50% that of a lower field device like TIBER II. This reduction could lead to a 50% decrease in tritium consumption, resulting in a substantial decrease in operating cost. Furthermore, high field operation could lead to substantially reduced current drive requirements and cost. A reduction in current drive source power on the order of 40 to 50 MW may be attainable relative to a lower field, high current design like TIBER II implying a possible cost savings on the order of $200 M. If current drive is less efficient than assumed, the savings could be even greater. Through larger β/sub p/ and aspect ratio, greater prospects for bootstrap current operation also exist. Further savings would be obtained from the reduced size of the first wall/blanket/shield system. The effects of high fields on magnet costs are very dependent on technological assumptions. Further improvements in the future may lie with advances in superconducting and structural materials

Cost Analysis In A Multi-Mission Operations Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Newhouse, M.; Felton, L.; Bornas, N.; Botts, D.; Roth, K.; Ijames, G.; Montgomery, P.

2014-01-01

Spacecraft control centers have evolved from dedicated, single-mission or single missiontype support to multi-mission, service-oriented support for operating a variety of mission types. At the same time, available money for projects is shrinking and competition for new missions is increasing. These factors drive the need for an accurate and flexible model to support estimating service costs for new or extended missions; the cost model in turn drives the need for an accurate and efficient approach to service cost analysis. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Huntsville Operations Support Center (HOSC) at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) provides operations services to a variety of customers around the world. HOSC customers range from launch vehicle test flights; to International Space Station (ISS) payloads; to small, short duration missions; and has included long duration flagship missions. The HOSC recently completed a detailed analysis of service costs as part of the development of a complete service cost model. The cost analysis process required the team to address a number of issues. One of the primary issues involves the difficulty of reverse engineering individual mission costs in a highly efficient multimission environment, along with a related issue of the value of detailed metrics or data to the cost model versus the cost of obtaining accurate data. Another concern is the difficulty of balancing costs between missions of different types and size and extrapolating costs to different mission types. The cost analysis also had to address issues relating to providing shared, cloud-like services in a government environment, and then assigning an uncertainty or risk factor to cost estimates that are based on current technology, but will be executed using future technology. Finally the cost analysis needed to consider how to validate the resulting cost models taking into account the non-homogeneous nature of the available cost data and the

Space Environments and Effects Concept: Transitioning Research to Operations and Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, David L.; Spann, James; Burns, Howard D.; Schumacher, Dan

2012-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is embarking on a course to expand human presence beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) while expanding its mission to explore the solar system. Destinations such as Near Earth Asteroids (NEA), Mars and its moons, and the outer planets are but a few of the mission targets. NASA has established numerous offices specializing in specific space environments disciplines that will serve to enable these missions. To complement these existing discipline offices, a concept focusing on the development of space environment and effects application is presented. This includes space climate, space weather, and natural and induced space environments. This space environment and effects application is composed of 4 topic areas; characterization and modeling, engineering effects, prediction and operation, and mitigation and avoidance. These topic areas are briefly described below. Characterization and modeling of space environments will primarily focus on utilization during Program mission concept, planning, and design phases. Engineering effects includes materials testing and flight experiments producing data to be used in mission planning and design phases. Prediction and operation pulls data from existing sources into decision-making tools and empirical data sets to be used during the operational phase of a mission. Mitigation and avoidance will develop techniques and strategies used in the design and operations phases of the mission. The goal of this space environment and effects application is to develop decision-making tools and engineering products to support the mission phases of mission concept through operations by focusing on transitioning research to operations. Products generated by this space environments and effects application are suitable for use in anomaly investigations. This paper will outline the four topic areas, describe the need, and discuss an organizational structure for this space environments and effects

Prediction of software operational reliability using testing environment factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, Hoan Sung; Seong, Poong Hyun

1995-01-01

A number of software reliability models have been developed to estimate and to predict software reliability. However, there are no established standard models to quantify software reliability. Most models estimate the quality of software in reliability figures such as remaining faults, failure rate, or mean time to next failure at the testing phase, and they consider them ultimate indicators of software reliability. Experience shows that there is a large gap between predicted reliability during development and reliability measured during operation, which means that predicted reliability, or so-called test reliability, is not operational reliability. Customers prefer operational reliability to test reliability. In this study, we propose a method that predicts operational reliability rather than test reliability by introducing the testing environment factor that quantifies the changes in environments

Current Conditions Risk Assessment for the 300-FF-5 Groundwater Operable Unit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Miley, Terri B.; Bunn, Amoret L.; Napier, Bruce A.; Peterson, Robert E.; Becker, James M.

2007-11-01

This report updates a baseline risk assessment for the 300 Area prepared in 1994. The update includes consideration of changes in contaminants of interest and in the environment that have occurred during the period of interim remedial action, i.e., 1996 to the present, as well as the sub-regions, for which no initial risk assessments have been conducted. In 1996, a record of decision (ROD) stipulated interim remedial action for groundwater affected by releases from 300 Area sources, as follows: (a) continued monitoring of groundwater that is contaminated above health-based levels to ensure that concentrations continue to decrease, and (b) institutional controls to ensure that groundwater use is restricted to prevent unacceptable exposure to groundwater contamination. In 2000, the groundwater beneath the two outlying sub-regions was added to the operable unit. In 2001, the first 5-year review of the ROD found that the interim remedy and remedial action objectives were still appropriate, although the review called for additional characterization activities. This report includes a current conditions baseline ecological and human health risk assessment using maximum concentrations in the environmental media of the 300-FF-5 Operable Unit and downstream conditions at the City of Richland, Washington. The scope for this assessment includes only current measured environmental concentrations and current use scenarios. Future environmental concentrations and future land uses are not considered in this assessment.

Co-current and Counter-Current Operations for Steam Reforming of Heptane in a Novel CFB Membrane Reformer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Z.; Elnashaie, S.S.E.H.

2004-01-01

Hydrogen production by steam reforming of higher hydrocarbon over nickel supported catalyst is investigated in an earlier suggested novel Circulating Fast Fluidized Bed Membrane Reformer (CFFBMR). Palladium hydrogen membranes are used with co-current and counter-current operation modes. It is found that hydrogen production has a non-monotonic dependence upon the reaction temperature in the range of 623-823 K. Between 623 and 723 K. the yields of hydrogen decrease and then increase between 723 and 823 K. This important phenomenon is investigated, discussed and explained. The simulation results shows that the reformer performance can be significantly improved using hydrogen membranes, especially in the counter-current operation mode. At low temperatures around 623 K, both .co-current and counter-current operation modes provide similar yields of hydrogen. While at temperature 723 K and higher, the counter-current operation provides the highest yield of hydrogen

UAV-guided navigation for ground robot tele-operation in a military reconnaissance environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Jessie Y C

2010-08-01

A military reconnaissance environment was simulated to examine the performance of ground robotics operators who were instructed to utilise streaming video from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to navigate his/her ground robot to the locations of the targets. The effects of participants' spatial ability on their performance and workload were also investigated. Results showed that participants' overall performance (speed and accuracy) was better when she/he had access to images from larger UAVs with fixed orientations, compared with other UAV conditions (baseline- no UAV, micro air vehicle and UAV with orbiting views). Participants experienced the highest workload when the UAV was orbiting. Those individuals with higher spatial ability performed significantly better and reported less workload than those with lower spatial ability. The results of the current study will further understanding of ground robot operators' target search performance based on streaming video from UAVs. The results will also facilitate the implementation of ground/air robots in military environments and will be useful to the future military system design and training community.

ITER operational space for full plasma current H-mode operation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mattei, M. [Assoc. Euratom-ENEA-CREATE, Seconda University di Napoli, Aversa (Italy)], E-mail: massimiliano.mattei@unirc.it; Cavinato, M.; Saibene, G.; Portone, A. [Fusion for Energy Joint Undertaking, 08019 Barcelona (Spain); Albanese, R.; Ambrosino, G. [Assoc. Euratom-ENEA-CREATE, University Napoli Federico II, Napoli (Italy); Horton, L.D. [Max Planck-Institut fur Plasmaphysik, EURATOM-Association, Garching (Germany); Kessel, C. [Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University (United States); Koechl, F. [Assoc. EURATOM-OAW/ATI, Vienna (Austria); Lomas, P.J. [Euratom/UKAEA Fusion Assoc., Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Nunes, I. [Assoc. EURATOM/IST, Centro de Fusao Nuclear, Lisbon (Portugal); Parail, V. [Max Planck-Institut fur Plasmaphysik, EURATOM-Association, Garching (Germany); Sartori, R. [Fusion for Energy Joint Undertaking, 08019 Barcelona (Spain); Sips, A.C.C. [Max Planck-Institut fur Plasmaphysik, EURATOM-Association, Garching (Germany); Thomas, P.R. [Fusion for Energy Joint Undertaking, 08019 Barcelona (Spain)

2009-06-15

Sensitivity studies performed as part of the ITER IO design review highlighted a very stiff dependence of the maximum Q attainable on the machine parameters. In particular, in the considered range, the achievable Q scales with I{sub p}{sup 4}. As a consequence, the achievement of the ITER objective of Q = 10 requires the machine to be routinely operated at a nominal current I{sub p} of 15 MA, and at full toroidal field BT of 5.3 T. This paper analyses the capabilities of the poloidal field (PF) system (including the central solenoid) of ITER against realistic full current plasma scenarios. An exploration of the ITER operational space for the 15 and 17 MA inductive scenario is carried out. An extensive analysis includes the evaluation of margins for the closed loop shape control action. The overall results of this analysis indicate that the control of a 15 MA plasma in ITER is likely to be adequate in the range of li 0.7-0.9 whereas, for a 17 MA plasma, control capabilities are strongly reduced. The ITER operational space, provided by the reference pre-2008 PF system, was rather limited if compared to the range of parameters normally observed in present experiment. Proposals for increasing the current and field limits on PF2, PF5 and PF6, adjustment on the number of turns in some of the PF coils, changes to the divertor dome geometry, to the conductor of PF6 to Nb3Sn, moving PF6 radially and/or vertically are described and evaluated in the paper. Some of them have been included in 2008 ITER revised configuration.

Environment-friendly drilling operation technology

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Huaidong; Jing, Ning; Zhang, Yanna; Huang, Hongjun; Wei, Jun

2017-01-01

Under the circumstance that international safety and environmental standards being more and more stringent, drilling engineering is facing unprecedented challenges, the extensive traditional process flow is no longer accepted, the new safe and environment-friendly process is more suitable to the healthy development of the industry. In 2015, CNPCIC adopted environment-friendly drilling technology for the first time in the Chad region, ensured the safety of well control, at the same time increased the environmental protection measure, reduced the risk of environmental pollution what obtain the ratification from local government. This technology carries out recovery and disposal of crude oil, cuttings and mud without falling on the ground. The final products are used in road and well site construction, which realizes the reutilization of drilling waste, reduces the operating cost, and provides a strong technical support for cost-cutting and performance-increase of drilling engineering under low oil price.

Organizing Special Operations Forces: Navigating the Paradoxical Requirements of Institutional-Bureaucratic and operational Environments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dalgaard-Nielsen, Anja

2017-01-01

Increased focus on the potential of special operations has lead several countries to establish dedicated special operations organizations. Analysts have warned against bureaucratization, yet little research has explored the effect of organizational formalization or asked how best to organize....... This article draws from research into high-reliability organizations and interviews in Denmark’s Special Operations Command. It contrasts the demands of the command’s institutional-bureaucratic and operational environments and argues that the ability to straddle them is key to success. The high...

NASA Operational Environment Team (NOET): NASA's key to environmental technology

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, Beth

1993-01-01

NASA has stepped forward to face the environmental challenge to eliminate the use of Ozone-Layer Depleting Substances (OLDS) and to reduce our Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAP) by 50 percent in 1995. These requirements have been issued by the Clean Air Act, the Montreal Protocol, and various other legislative acts. A proactive group, the NASA Operational Environment Team or NOET, received its charter in April 1992 and was tasked with providing a network through which replacement activities and development experiences can be shared. This is a NASA-wide team which supports the research and development community by sharing information both in person and via a computerized network, assisting in specification and standard revisions, developing cleaner propulsion systems, and exploring environmentally-compliant alternatives to current processes.

Lepton Collider Operation With Constant Currents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wienands, U.

2006-01-01

Electron-positron colliders have been operating in a top-up-and-coast fashion with a cycle time depending on the beam life time, typically one or more hours. Each top-up involves ramping detector systems in addition to the actual filling time. The loss in accumulated luminosity may be 20-50%. During the last year, both B-Factories have commissioned a continuous-injection mode of operation in which beam is injected without ramping the detector, thus raising luminosity integration by always operating at peak luminosity. Constant beam currents also reduce thermal drift and trips caused by change in beam loading. To achieve this level of operation, special efforts were made to reduce the injection losses and also to implement gating procedures in the detectors, minimizing dead time. Beam collimation can reduce injection noise but also cause an increase in background rates. A challenge can be determining beam lifetime, important to maintain tuning of the beams

Lepton Collider Operation with Constant Currents

CERN Document Server

Wienands, Ulrich

2005-01-01

Traditionally, electron-positron colliders have been operating in a top-off-and-coast fashion with a cycle time depending on the beam life time, typically on the order of an hour. Each top-off involves ramping detector systems in addition to the actual filling time. The loss in accumulated luminosity is typically 20-50%. During the last year, both B-Factories have commissioned a continuous-injection mode of operation in which beam is injected without ramping the detector, thus raising luminosity integration by constant operation at peak luminosity. Constant beam currents reduce thermal drift and trips caused by change in beam loading. To achieve this level of operation, special efforts were made to reduce the injection losses and also to implement special gating procedures in the detectors, minimizing dead time. Bunch-injection control decides which bunch to inject into next while maintaining small charge variation between bunches. Beam collimation can reduce injection noise but also cause an increase in back...

JPL Space Telecommunications Radio System Operating Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Lux, James P.; Lang, Minh; Peters, Kenneth J.; Taylor, Gregory H.; Duncan, Courtney B.; Orozco, David S.; Stern, Ryan A.; Ahten, Earl R.; Girard, Mike

2013-01-01

A flight-qualified implementation of a Software Defined Radio (SDR) Operating Environment for the JPL-SDR built for the CoNNeCT Project has been developed. It is compliant with the NASA Space Telecommunications Radio System (STRS) Architecture Standard, and provides the software infrastructure for STRS compliant waveform applications. This software provides a standards-compliant abstracted view of the JPL-SDR hardware platform. It uses industry standard POSIX interfaces for most functions, as well as exposing the STRS API (Application Programming In terface) required by the standard. This software includes a standardized interface for IP components instantiated within a Xilinx FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). The software provides a standardized abstracted interface to platform resources such as data converters, file system, etc., which can be used by STRS standards conformant waveform applications. It provides a generic SDR operating environment with a much smaller resource footprint than similar products such as SCA (Software Communications Architecture) compliant implementations, or the DoD Joint Tactical Radio Systems (JTRS).

Operation of commercially-based microcomputer technology in a space radiation environment

Science.gov (United States)

Yelverton, J. N.

This paper focuses on detection and recovery techniques that should enable the reliable operation of commercially-based microprocessor technology in the harsh radiation environment of space and at high altitudes. This approach is especially significant in light of the current shift in emphasis (due to cost) from space hardened Class-S parts qualification to a more direct use of commercial parts. The method should offset some of the concern that the newer high density state-of-the-art RISC and CISC microprocessors can be used in future space applications. Also, commercial aviation, should benefit, since radiation induced transients are a new issue arising from the increased quantities of microcomputers used in aircraft avionics.

The genesis of neurosurgery and the evolution of the neurosurgical operative environment: part II--concepts for future development, 2003 and beyond.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Charles Y; Spicer, Mark; Apuzzo, Michael L J

2003-01-01

The future development of the neurosurgical operative environment is driven principally by concurrent development in science and technology. In the new millennium, these developments are taking on a Jules Verne quality, with the ability to construct and manipulate the human organism and its surroundings at the level of atoms and molecules seemingly at hand. Thus, an examination of currents in technology advancement from the neurosurgical perspective can provide insight into the evolution of the neurosurgical operative environment. In the future, the optimal design solution for the operative environment requirements of specialized neurosurgery may take the form of composites of venues that are currently mutually distinct. Advances in microfabrication technology and laser optical manipulators are expanding the scope and role of robotics, with novel opportunities for bionic integration. Assimilation of biosensor technology into the operative environment promises to provide neurosurgeons of the future with a vastly expanded set of physiological data, which will require concurrent simplification and optimization of analysis and presentation schemes to facilitate practical usefulness. Nanotechnology derivatives are shattering the maximum limits of resolution and magnification allowed by conventional microscopes. Furthermore, quantum computing and molecular electronics promise to greatly enhance computational power, allowing the emerging reality of simulation and virtual neurosurgery for rehearsal and training purposes. Progressive minimalism is evident throughout, leading ultimately to a paradigm shift as the nanoscale is approached. At the interface between the old and new technological paradigms, issues related to integration may dictate the ultimate emergence of the products of the new paradigm. Once initiated, however, history suggests that the process of change will proceed rapidly and dramatically, with the ultimate neurosurgical operative environment of the future

Current Measurements and Overwash Monitoring Using Tilt Current Meters in Three Coastal Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Lowell, N. S.; Sherwood, C. R.; Decarlo, T. M.; Grant, J. R.

2014-12-01

Tilt Current Meters (TCMs) provide accurate, cost effective measurements of near-bottom current velocities. Many studies in coastal environments require current measurements, which are frequently made with Acoustic Doppler Profilers (ADPs). ADPs are expensive, however, and may not be suitable for locations where there is significant risk of damage, loss, or theft or where a large spatial array of measurements is required. TCMs, by contrast, are smaller, less expensive, and easier to deploy. This study tested TCMs in three sites to determine their suitability for use in research applications. TCMs are based on the drag-tilt principle, where the instrument tilts in response to current. The meter consists of a buoyant float with an onboard accelerometer, three-axis tilt sensor, three-axis magnetometer (compass), and a data logger. Current measurements are derived by post processing the tilt and compass values and converting them to velocity using empirical calibration data. Large data-storage capacity (4 GB) and low power requirements allow long deployments (many months) at high sample rates (16 Hz). We demonstrate the utility of TCM current measurements on a reef at Dongsha Atoll in the South China Sea, and in Vineyard Sound off Cape Cod, where the TCM performance was evaluated against ADP measurements. We have also used the TCM to record waves during an overwash event on a Cape Cod barrier beach during a winter storm. The TCM recorded waves as they came through the overwash channel, and the data were in agreement with the water-level record used as a reference. These tests demonstrate that TCMs may be used in a variety of near shore environments and have the potential to significantly increase the density of meters in future studies were current measurements are required.

The Operation Consequence of Nuclear Energy to Environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suhariyono, Gatot; Sutarman

2003-01-01

Objective of the paper is to give information the operation consequence of nuclear energy to environment, so that expected as organizer of PLTN can anticipate or depress as minimum as possible radiology impact to the radiation workers and society in general, and also socialization that operation of nuclear energy do not give the negative impact, if conducted its control to environment seriously. Parts of which it is important to know from this paper are : one. Estimate of equivalent dose of collective effective in a normal condition is the operation cycle for nuclear energy at worker and local or regional resident 10, 100 or 10.000 next years. 2. Equivalent dose of global collective effective is for various the radiation sources. 3. Estimate of dose per cap ut annual of nuclear electric power until year 2500. 4. Aspect of non-radiology is to cooler system, usage of farm, dismissal of chemistry, advantage of hot water waste, its effect to fish, benthos, plankton, vegetation, animal and preparation of nuclear emergency

Prediction of safety critical software operational reliability from test reliability using testing environment factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, Hoan Sung; Seong, Poong Hyun

1999-01-01

It has been a critical issue to predict the safety critical software reliability in nuclear engineering area. For many years, many researches have focused on the quantification of software reliability and there have been many models developed to quantify software reliability. Most software reliability models estimate the reliability with the failure data collected during the test assuming that the test environments well represent the operation profile. User's interest is however on the operational reliability rather than on the test reliability. The experiences show that the operational reliability is higher than the test reliability. With the assumption that the difference in reliability results from the change of environment, from testing to operation, testing environment factors comprising the aging factor and the coverage factor are developed in this paper and used to predict the ultimate operational reliability with the failure data in testing phase. It is by incorporating test environments applied beyond the operational profile into testing environment factors. The application results show that the proposed method can estimate the operational reliability accurately. (Author). 14 refs., 1 tab., 1 fig

Challenging the current strategy of radiological protection of the environment: arguments for an ecosystem approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brechignac, F.; Doi, Masahiro

2009-01-01

The system of radiological protection of the environment that is currently under development is one contribution to the general need to adequately protect the environment against stress. Dominated by operational goals, it emphasizes conceptual and methodological approaches that are readily accessible today: reference organisms supported by individual-based traditional ecotoxicological data. Whilst there are immediate advantages to this approach (pragmatism, consistency with other approaches in use for man and biota), there are also clear limitations, especially in a longer run perspective, that need to be acknowledged and further considered. One can mention a few: uncertainties generated by the need for various extrapolations (from lower to higher levels of biological organisation, ...), various features missed such as potential ecological impact through impairment of ecosystem processes, trans-generational impacts as mediated through genomic instability, indirect effects mediated through trophic interactions or disruption of ecological balances, ... Such limitations have already been faced in other fields of environmental protection against other stressors, pushing a number of environment professionals to assign stronger emphasis on more systemic approaches. This review discusses the advantages and limitations of the current approach designed for the radiological protection of non-human biota in the broader context of environment protection as a whole, with especial reference to upcoming trends and evolutions. This leads in particular to advocating the need to boost scientific and methodological approaches featuring the ecosystem concept as a mean to access a unified goal of protection: preserving life sustainability through protection of ecosystem structure and functioning.

Challenging the current strategy of radiological protection of the environment: arguments for an ecosystem approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brechignac, F., E-mail: francois.brechignac@irsn. [Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), Centre d' Etudes de Cadarache, Blg 229, 13115 Saint-Paul-lez-Durance (France); Doi, Masahiro [National Institute of Radiological Sciences, NIRS, Center for Radiation Protection, Regulatory Sciences Research Group, 4-9-1, Anagawa, Inage, Chiba, 263-8555 (Japan)

2009-12-15

The system of radiological protection of the environment that is currently under development is one contribution to the general need to adequately protect the environment against stress. Dominated by operational goals, it emphasizes conceptual and methodological approaches that are readily accessible today: reference organisms supported by individual-based traditional ecotoxicological data. Whilst there are immediate advantages to this approach (pragmatism, consistency with other approaches in use for man and biota), there are also clear limitations, especially in a longer run perspective, that need to be acknowledged and further considered. One can mention a few: uncertainties generated by the need for various extrapolations (from lower to higher levels of biological organisation, ...), various features missed such as potential ecological impact through impairment of ecosystem processes, trans-generational impacts as mediated through genomic instability, indirect effects mediated through trophic interactions or disruption of ecological balances, ... Such limitations have already been faced in other fields of environmental protection against other stressors, pushing a number of environment professionals to assign stronger emphasis on more systemic approaches. This review discusses the advantages and limitations of the current approach designed for the radiological protection of non-human biota in the broader context of environment protection as a whole, with especial reference to upcoming trends and evolutions. This leads in particular to advocating the need to boost scientific and methodological approaches featuring the ecosystem concept as a mean to access a unified goal of protection: preserving life sustainability through protection of ecosystem structure and functioning.

A novel method of personnel cooling in an operating theatre environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Casha, Aaron R; Manché, Alexander; Camilleri, Liberato; Gauci, Marilyn; Grima, Joseph N; Borg, Michael A

2014-10-01

An optimized theatre environment, including personal temperature regulation, can help maintain concentration, extend work times and may improve surgical outcomes. However, devices, such as cooling vests, are bulky and may impair the surgeon's mobility. We describe the use of a low-cost, low-energy 'bladeless fan' as a personal cooling device. The safety profile of this device was investigated by testing air quality using 0.5- and 5-µm particle counts as well as airborne bacterial counts on an operating table simulating a wound in a thoracic operation in a busy theatre environment. Particle and bacterial counts were obtained with both an empty and full theatre, with and without the 'bladeless fan'. The use of the 'bladeless fan' within the operating theatre during the simulated operation led to a minor, not statistically significant, lowering of both the particle and bacterial counts. In conclusion, the 'bladeless fan' is a safe, effective, low-cost and low-energy consumption solution for personnel cooling in a theatre environment that maintains the clean room conditions of the operating theatre. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.

Game theory: applications for surgeons and the operating room environment.

Science.gov (United States)

McFadden, David W; Tsai, Mitchell; Kadry, Bassam; Souba, Wiley W

2012-11-01

Game theory is an economic system of strategic behavior, often referred to as the "theory of social situations." Very little has been written in the medical literature about game theory or its applications, yet the practice of surgery and the operating room environment clearly involves multiple social situations with both cooperative and non-cooperative behaviors. A comprehensive review was performed of the medical literature on game theory and its medical applications. Definitive resources on the subject were also examined and applied to surgery and the operating room whenever possible. Applications of game theory and its proposed dilemmas abound in the practicing surgeon's world, especially in the operating room environment. The surgeon with a basic understanding of game theory principles is better prepared for understanding and navigating the complex Operating Room system and optimizing cooperative behaviors for the benefit all stakeholders. Copyright © 2012 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Developing and operating a remotely operated work system in hostile and emergency environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thorne, P.M.

1987-01-01

The author presents an overview of the factors that a project manager considering the use of remote work systems must keep in mind during the planning and execution of operations in hostile environments. Interfacing of the remote work system to the task and understanding mission parameters is emphasized. The author's thesis is based on many years of technical operations and project management roles using remote work systems in the subsea oil industry, military and, most recently, space and nuclear applications

Quantum operations that cannot be implemented using a small mixed environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zalka, Christof; Rieffel, Eleanor

2002-01-01

To implement any quantum operation (a.k.a. ''superoperator'' or ''CP map'') on a d-dimensional quantum system, it is enough to apply a suitable overall unitary transformation to the system and a d 2 -dimensional environment which is initialized in a fixed pure state. It has been suggested that a d-dimensional environment might be enough if we could initialize the environment in a mixed state of our choosing. In this note we show with elementary means that certain explicit quantum operations cannot be realized in this way. Our counterexamples map some pure states to pure states, giving strong and easily manageable conditions on the overall unitary transformation. Everything works in the more general setting of quantum operations from d-dimensional to d ' -dimensional spaces, so we place our counterexamples within this more general framework

Integrated Analysis of Environment-driven Operational Effects in Sensor Networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Alfred J [ORNL; Perumalla, Kalyan S [ORNL

2007-07-01

There is a rapidly growing need to evaluate sensor network functionality and performance in the context of the larger environment of infrastructure and applications in which the sensor network is organically embedded. This need, which is motivated by complex applications related to national security operations, leads to a paradigm fundamentally different from that of traditional data networks. In the sensor networks of interest to us, the network dynamics depend strongly on sensor activity, which in turn is triggered by events in the environment. Because the behavior of sensor networks is sensitive to these driving phenomena, the integrity of the sensed observations, measurements and resource usage by the network can widely vary. It is therefore imperative to accurately capture the environmental phenomena, and drive the simulation of the sensor network operation by accounting fully for the environment effects. In this paper, we illustrate the strong, intimate coupling between the sensor network operation and the driving phenomena in their applications with an example sensor network designed to detect and track gaseous plumes.

Significant factors for work attractiveness and how these differ from the current work situation among operating department nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Björn, Catrine; Lindberg, Magnus; Rissén, Dag

2016-01-01

The aim was to examine significant factors for work attractiveness and how these differ from the current work situation among operating department nurses. A second objective was to examine the associations between age, gender, length of employment, work engagement, work ability, self-rated health indicators and attractiveness of the current work situation. The attractiveness of work is rarely taken into account in research on nurse retention. To expand this knowledge, it is relevant to examine factors that make work attractive and their associations with related concepts. Correlational, cross-sectional survey using a convenience sample. Questionnaires were answered by 147 nurses in four operating departments in Sweden. Correlation and regression analyses were conducted. The nurses rated the significance of all factors of work attractiveness higher than they rated those factors in their current work situation; salary, organisation and physical work environment had the largest differences. The most significant attractive factors were relationships, leadership and status. A statistically significant positive correlation between work engagement and attractive work was found. In the multiple regression model, the independent variables work engagement and older age significantly predicted work attractiveness. Several factors should be considered in the effort to increase work attractiveness in operating departments and thereby to encourage nurse retention. Positive aspects of work seem to unite work engagement and attractive work, while work ability and self-rated health indicators are other important dimensions in nurse retention. The great discrepancies between the significance of attractive factors and the current work situation in salary, organisation and physical work environment suggest ways in which work attractiveness may be increased. To discover exactly what needs to be improved may require a deeper look into the construct of the examined factors. © 2015 John

Methodology to Define Delivery Accuracy Under Current Day ATC Operations

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Shivanjli; Robinson, John E., III

2015-01-01

In order to enable arrival management concepts and solutions in a NextGen environment, ground- based sequencing and scheduling functions have been developed to support metering operations in the National Airspace System. These sequencing and scheduling algorithms as well as tools are designed to aid air traffic controllers in developing an overall arrival strategy. The ground systems being developed will support the management of aircraft to their Scheduled Times of Arrival (STAs) at flow-constrained meter points. This paper presents a methodology for determining the undelayed delivery accuracy for current day air traffic control operations. This new method analyzes the undelayed delivery accuracy at meter points in order to understand changes of desired flow rates as well as enabling definition of metrics that will allow near-future ground automation tools to successfully achieve desired separation at the meter points. This enables aircraft to meet their STAs while performing high precision arrivals. The research presents a possible implementation that would allow delivery performance of current tools to be estimated and delivery accuracy requirements for future tools to be defined, which allows analysis of Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) accuracy for Time-Based Flow Management (TBFM) and the FAA's Traffic Management Advisor (TMA). TMA is a deployed system that generates scheduled time-of-arrival constraints for en- route air traffic controllers in the US. This new method of automated analysis provides a repeatable evaluation of the delay metrics for current day traffic, new releases of TMA, implementation of different tools, and across different airspace environments. This method utilizes a wide set of data from the Operational TMA-TBFM Repository (OTTR) system, which processes raw data collected by the FAA from operational TMA systems at all ARTCCs in the nation. The OTTR system generates daily reports concerning ATC status, intent and actions. Due to its

Virtual age model for equipment aging plant based on operation environment and service state

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Liming; Cai Qi; Zhao Xinwen; Chen Ling

2010-01-01

The accelerated life model based on the operation environment and service state was established by taking the virtual age as the equipment aging indices. The effect of different operation environments and service states on the reliability and virtual age under the continuum operation conditions and cycle operation conditions were analyzed, and the sensitivities of virtual age on operational environments and service states were studied. The results of the example application show that the effect of NPP equipment lifetime and the key parameters related to the reliability can be quantified by this model, and the result is in accordance with the reality.(authors)

Next Generation Enterprise Network Business Continuity: Maintaining Operations In A Compromised Environment

Science.gov (United States)

2016-03-01

virtualization, available technology products currently on the market , and tactics for employing virtualized environments, this research explores whether...Evaluating published literature on virtualization, available technology products currently on the market , and tactics for employing virtualized environments...are commercially available and are developed by mature companies. Cisco offers collaboration tailored to virtual environments as part of Business

Environment protection: The current challenge in radioecology

Science.gov (United States)

Bréchignac, F.

2012-04-01

Radioecology, a multifaceted scientific discipline which addresses environmental issues relevant to radioprotection, has for a long time been focused on environmental transfers through the environment to feed the needs of human radioprotection. This quite anthropocentric initial scope is now moving to a more ecocentric view capable of assessing ecological risk mediated by ionising radiation. The central issue consists in reaching an ability to understand the effects of radiation on the environment components, from individual organisms up to populations of species and ecosystems, together with their interaction with the abiotic compartments. Dominated by operational goals, the system of radiological protection of the environment which is under development emphasises a concept based upon reference organisms supported by traditional toxicological data on individual organisms. Whilst there are immediate advantages to this approach (pragmatism, consistency with other approaches in use for man and biota), there are also clear limitations which need to be acknowledged and further considered. The most important probably is to rely on effects data gathered almost exclusively for individual organisms to meet protection goals which are usually set at population and ecosystem levels. Overcoming this limitation leads to scientific and methodological approaches featuring the ecosystem concept.

Optimum Operating Room Environment for the Prevention of Surgical Site Infections.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaines, Sara; Luo, James N; Gilbert, Jack; Zaborina, Olga; Alverdy, John C

Surgical site infections (SSI), whether they be incisional or deep, can entail major morbidity and death to patients and additional cost to the healthcare system. A significant amount of effort has gone into optimizing the surgical patient and the operating room environment to reduce SSI. Relevant guidelines and literature were reviewed. The modern practice of surgical antisepsis involves the employment of strict sterile techniques inside the operating room. Extensive guidelines are available regarding the proper operating room antisepsis as well as pre-operative preparation. The use of pre-operative antimicrobial prophylaxis has become increasingly prevalent, which also presents the challenge of opportunistic and nosocomial infections. Ongoing investigative efforts have brought about a greater appreciation of the surgical patient's endogenous microflora, use of non-bactericidal small molecules, and pre-operative microbial screening. Systematic protocols exist for optimizing the surgical sterility of the operating room to prevent SSIs. Ongoing research efforts aim to improve the precision of peri-operative antisepsis measures and personalize these measures to tailor the patient's unique microbial environment.

The Impact of Military Exercises and Operations on Local Environment

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Among the non-conventional security matters, environment has emerged as a new sphere in which the military has been actively involved; as a benevolent and malevolent agent through its exercises and operations. Despite the notable positive contributions, the negative impact of military exercises and operations in the ...

Spatial Thinking: Precept for Understanding Operational Environments

Science.gov (United States)

2016-06-10

A Computer Movie Simulating Urban Growth in the Detroit Region,” 236. 29 U.S. National Research Council, Learning to Think Spatially: GIS as a... children and spatial language, the article focuses on the use of geospatial information systems (GIS) as a support mechanism for learning to think...Thinking, Cognition, Learning , Geospatial, Operating Environment, Space Perception 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT 18

Compensation techniques for operational amplifier bias current

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silva, M.S.

1981-01-01

Two techniques are proposed for the compensation of the input current on operational amplifiers that can be used on inverting and non-inverting configurations. A qualitative analysis of temperature drift problems is made, and as a practical application, the construction of a voltage follower for high impedance measurements is presented. (Author) [pt

COMPOEX Technology to Assist Leaders in Planning and Executing Campaigns in Complex Operational Environments

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Kott, Alexander; Corpac, Peter S

2007-01-01

... in a complex operational environment. Leaders must understand the operational environment, develop campaign plans that include multiple lines of effort such as security, governance, political-economic development, rule of law and employ...

Qualified operator training in the simulated control room environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ionescu, Teodor; Studineanu, Emil; Radulescu, Catalina; Bolocan, Gabriel

2005-01-01

Full text: Mainly designed for the training of the Cernavoda NPP Unit 2 operators, the virtual simulated environment allows the training of the already qualified operators for Cernavoda NPP Unit 1, adding to the already trained knowledge, the differences which has occurred in the Unit 2 design. Using state-of-the-art computers and displays and qualified software, the virtual simulated panels could offer a viable alternative to classic hardware-based training. This approach allows quick training of the new procedures required by the new configuration of the re-designed operator panels in the main control room of Cernavoda NPP Unit 2. (authors)

Qualified operator training in the simulated control room environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ionescu, Teodor; Studineanu, Emil; Radulescu, Catalina; Bolocan, Gabriel

2005-01-01

Mainly designed for the training of the Cernavoda NPP Unit 2 operators, the virtual simulated environment allows the training of the already qualified operators for Cernavoda NPP Unit 1, adding to the already trained knowledge, the differences which have occurred in the Unit 2 design. Using state-of-the-art computers and displays and qualified software, the virtual simulated panels could offer a viable alternative to classic hardware-based training. This approach allows quick training of the new procedures required by the new configuration of the re-designed operator panels in the main control room of Cernavoda NPP Unit 2. (authors)

A virtual reality environment for telescope operation

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez, Luis A.; Villarreal, José L.; Ángeles, Fernando; Bernal, Abel

2010-07-01

Astronomical observatories and telescopes are becoming increasingly large and complex systems, demanding to any potential user the acquirement of great amount of information previous to access them. At present, the most common way to overcome that information is through the implementation of larger graphical user interfaces and computer monitors to increase the display area. Tonantzintla Observatory has a 1-m telescope with a remote observing system. As a step forward in the improvement of the telescope software, we have designed a Virtual Reality (VR) environment that works as an extension of the remote system and allows us to operate the telescope. In this work we explore this alternative technology that is being suggested here as a software platform for the operation of the 1-m telescope.

Operational validation - current status and opportunities for improvement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davey, E.

2002-01-01

The design of nuclear plant systems and operational practices is based on the application of multiple defenses to minimize the risk of occurrence of safety and production challenges and upsets. With such an approach, the effectiveness of individual or combinations of design and operational features in preventing upset challenges should be known. A longstanding industry concern is the adverse impact errors in human performance can have on plant safety and production. To minimize the risk of error occurrence, designers and operations staff routinely employ multiple design and operational defenses. However, the effectiveness of individual or combinations of defensive features in minimizing error occurrence are generally only known in a qualitative sense. More importantly, the margins to error or upset occurrence provided by combinations of design or operational features are generally not characterized during design or operational validation. This paper provides some observations and comments on current validation practice as it relates to operational human performance concerns. The paper also discusses opportunities for future improvement in validation practice in terms of the resilience of validation results to operating changes and characterization of margins to safety or production challenge. (author)

Simulation of worst-case operating conditions for integrated circuits operating in a total dose environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhuva, B.L.

1987-01-01

Degradations in the circuit performance created by the radiation exposure of integrated circuits are so unique and abnormal that thorough simulation and testing of VLSI circuits is almost impossible, and new ways to estimate the operating performance in a radiation environment must be developed. The principal goal of this work was the development of simulation techniques for radiation effects on semiconductor devices. The mixed-mode simulation approach proved to be the most promising. The switch-level approach is used to identify the failure mechanisms and critical subcircuits responsible for operational failure along with worst-case operating conditions during and after irradiation. For precise simulations of critical subcircuits, SPICE is used. The identification of failure mechanisms enables the circuit designer to improve the circuit's performance and failure-exposure level. Identification of worst-case operating conditions during and after irradiation reduces the complexity of testing VLSI circuits for radiation environments. The results of test circuits for failure simulations using a conventional simulator and the new simulator showed significant time savings using the new simulator. The savings in simulation time proved to be circuit topology-dependent. However, for large circuits, the simulation time proved to be orders of magnitude smaller than simulation time for conventional simulators

Defensive Operations in a Decisive Action Training Environment

Science.gov (United States)

2017-07-01

Operations in a Decisive Action Training Environment Christopher L. Vowels W. Anthony Scroggins U.S. Army Research Institute Captain Kyle T...Daniels Master Sergeant Paul M. Volino Joint Readiness Training Center July 2017 Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited...for distribution: MICHELLE SAMS Director Technical review by Dr. William R. Bickley, U.S. Army Research

Improving Tactical Psyop Video Dissemination in Media-Austere Operating Environments

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Tulak, Arthur

2004-01-01

.... Recent operations demonstrate the requirement for video PSYOP in media-austere environments where the target audience lacks access to television, due to poverty, or lack of supporting infrastructure...

Heuristic Scheduling in Grid Environments: Reducing the Operational Energy Demand

Science.gov (United States)

Bodenstein, Christian

In a world where more and more businesses seem to trade in an online market, the supply of online services to the ever-growing demand could quickly reach its capacity limits. Online service providers may find themselves maxed out at peak operation levels during high-traffic timeslots but too little demand during low-traffic timeslots, although the latter is becoming less frequent. At this point deciding which user is allocated what level of service becomes essential. The concept of Grid computing could offer a meaningful alternative to conventional super-computing centres. Not only can Grids reach the same computing speeds as some of the fastest supercomputers, but distributed computing harbors a great energy-saving potential. When scheduling projects in such a Grid environment however, simply assigning one process to a system becomes so complex in calculation that schedules are often too late to execute, rendering their optimizations useless. Current schedulers attempt to maximize the utility, given some sort of constraint, often reverting to heuristics. This optimization often comes at the cost of environmental impact, in this case CO 2 emissions. This work proposes an alternate model of energy efficient scheduling while keeping a respectable amount of economic incentives untouched. Using this model, it is possible to reduce the total energy consumed by a Grid environment using 'just-in-time' flowtime management, paired with ranking nodes by efficiency.

NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations: Science Operations Development for Human Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, Mary S.

2014-01-01

The purpose of NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) mission 16 in 2012 was to evaluate and compare the performance of a defined series of representative near-Earth asteroid (NEA) extravehicular activity (EVA) tasks under different conditions and combinations of work systems, constraints, and assumptions considered for future human NEA exploration missions. NEEMO 16 followed NASA's 2011 Desert Research and Technology Studies (D-RATS), the primary focus of which was understanding the implications of communication latency, crew size, and work system combinations with respect to scientific data quality, data management, crew workload, and crew/mission control interactions. The 1-g environment precluded meaningful evaluation of NEA EVA translation, worksite stabilization, sampling, or instrument deployment techniques. Thus, NEEMO missions were designed to provide an opportunity to perform a preliminary evaluation of these important factors for each of the conditions being considered. NEEMO 15 also took place in 2011 and provided a first look at many of the factors, but the mission was cut short due to a hurricane threat before all objectives were completed. ARES Directorate (KX) personnel consulted with JSC engineers to ensure that high-fidelity planetary science protocols were incorporated into NEEMO mission architectures. ARES has been collaborating with NEEMO mission planners since NEEMO 9 in 2006, successively building upon previous developments to refine science operations concepts within engineering constraints; it is expected to continue the collaboration as NASA's human exploration mission plans evolve.

Nuclear axial current operators to fourth order in chiral effective field theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Krebs, H., E-mail: hermann.krebs@rub.de [Institut für Theoretische Physik II, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, D-44780 Bochum (Germany); Epelbaum, E., E-mail: evgeny.epelbaum@rub.de [Institut für Theoretische Physik II, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, D-44780 Bochum (Germany); Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93016 (United States); Meißner, U.-G., E-mail: meissner@hiskp.uni-bonn.de [Helmholtz-Institut für Strahlen- und Kernphysik and Bethe Center for Theoretical Physics, Universität Bonn, D-53115 Bonn (Germany); Institut für Kernphysik, Institute for Advanced Simulation, and Jülich Center for Hadron Physics, Forschungszentrum Jülich, D-52425 Jülich (Germany); JARA - High Performance Computing, Forschungszentrum Jülich, D-52425 Jülich (Germany)

2017-03-15

We present the complete derivation of the nuclear axial charge and current operators as well as the pseudoscalar operators to fourth order in the chiral expansion relative to the dominant one-body contribution using the method of unitary transformation. We demonstrate that the unitary ambiguity in the resulting operators can be eliminated by the requirement of renormalizability and by matching of the pion-pole contributions to the nuclear forces. We give expressions for the renormalized single-, two- and three-nucleon contributions to the charge and current operators and pseudoscalar operators including the relevant relativistic corrections. We also verify explicitly the validity of the continuity equation.

Development and application of visual support module for remote operator in 3D virtual environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Kyung Hyun; Cho, Soo Jeong; Yang, Kyung Boo; Bae, Chang Hyun

2006-02-01

In this research, the 3D graphic environment was developed for remote operation, and included the visual support module. The real operation environment was built by employing a experiment robot, and also the identical virtual model was developed. The well-designed virtual models can be used to retrieve the necessary conditions for developing the devices and processes. The integration of 3D virtual models, the experimental operation environment, and the visual support module was used for evaluating the operation efficiency and accuracy by applying different methods such as only monitor image and with visual support module

Development and application of visual support module for remote operator in 3D virtual environment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choi, Kyung Hyun; Cho, Soo Jeong; Yang, Kyung Boo [Cheju Nat. Univ., Jeju (Korea, Republic of); Bae, Chang Hyun [Pusan Nat. Univ., Busan (Korea, Republic of)

2006-02-15

In this research, the 3D graphic environment was developed for remote operation, and included the visual support module. The real operation environment was built by employing a experiment robot, and also the identical virtual model was developed. The well-designed virtual models can be used to retrieve the necessary conditions for developing the devices and processes. The integration of 3D virtual models, the experimental operation environment, and the visual support module was used for evaluating the operation efficiency and accuracy by applying different methods such as only monitor image and with visual support module.

An Analysis of the Operational Environments of Manufacturing Firms ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Our efforts in this research have been geared towards analyzing the operational environments of manufacturing firms in Aba, South-East, Nigeria. Specifically, the case study was Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Abia chapter. Eight five percent of MAN‟s membership was studied. Percentages and test of ...

Developing safer systems in a NPP environment using the operator`s comfort parameters and virtual reality

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brown-VanHoozer, S.A.

1995-07-01

The contents of this paper is based on two studies involving the design of visual displays from the operator`s point of view, and the utilization of virtual reality for operations, training and maintenance repairs. The studies involve a methodology known as Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), and its use in strengthening design choices from the user`s perspective model of the environment. The contents of this paper focuses on the results which may be implemented in nuclear power plants for the purpose of providing systems which are less inherently error prone.

Management of anaphylaxis in an austere or operational environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Ellis, B Craig; Brown, Simon G A

2014-01-01

We present a case report of a Special Operations Soldier who developed anaphylaxis as a consequence of a bee sting, resulting in compromise of the operation. We review the current literature as it relates to the pathophysiology of the disease process, its diagnosis, and its management. An evidence-based field treatment algorithm is suggested. 2014.

Do We Need the Environment to Explain Operant Behavior?

Science.gov (United States)

Overskeid, Geir

2018-01-01

By way of operant conditioning, human behavior is continuously shaped and maintained by its consequences - and understanding this process is important to most fields of psychology and neuroscience. The role of the learning organism's environment has long been contentious, however. Much relevant research is being done by people identifying with the Skinnerian tradition, who tend to agree that the causes of behavior can be found exclusively in the environment. The meaning of this proposition is not clear, however. Some authors say the environment is outside the body, others claim it is also inside it. Among those who say the environment is outside the body, many are of the opinion that events inside the body and hence (in their view) not in the environment can also cause behavior, though they claim that events inside the body cannot be causes in the same sense as events taking place outside it. This is confusing, and the present paper argues that the "environment" may neither be a useful nor a necessary concept in the analysis of behavior. Moreover, abolishing the concept could clear the way for a reintegration of Skinnerian psychology into the mainstream.

The Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) Mission System (JMS) and the Advanced Research, Collaboration, and Application Development Environment (ARCADE)

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, K.; Kim, R.; Echeverry, J.

Energy) and AFRL/RV (Space Vehicles) to create the Advanced Research, Collaboration, and Application Development Environment (ARCADE). The ARCADE formalizes capability development processes that hitherto have been ad hoc, slow to address the evolving space threat environment, and not easily repeatable. Therefore, the purpose of the ARCADE is to: (1) serve as a centralized testbed for all research and development (R&D) activities related to JMS applications, including algorithm development, data source exposure, service orchestration, and software services, and provide developers reciprocal access to relevant tools and data to accelerate technology development, (2) allow the JMS program to communicate user capability priorities and requirements to developers, (3) facilitate collaboration among developers who otherwise would not collaborate due to organizational, policy, or geographical barriers, and (4) support market research efforts by identifying outstanding performers that are available to shepherd into the formal transition process. Over the last several years Scitor Corporation has provided systems engineering support to the JMS Increment 3 Program Office, and has worked with AFRL/RV and AFRL/RD to create a high performance computing environment and SOA at both unclassified and classified levels that together allow developers to develop applications in an environment similar to the version of JMS currently in use by the JSpOC operators. Currently the ARCADE is operational in an unclassified environment via the High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP) Portal on DREN. The ARCADE also exists on SECRET and TOP SECRET environments on multiple networks. This presentation will cover the following topics: (1) Scitors role in shaping the ARCADE into its current form, (2) ARCADEs value proposition for potential technology developers, and (3) ARCADEs value proposition for the Government. These topics will be discussed by way of several case studies: a JMS

A robust optimization based approach for microgrid operation in deregulated environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gupta, R.A.; Gupta, Nand Kishor

2015-01-01

Highlights: • RO based approach developed for optimal MG operation in deregulated environment. • Wind uncertainty modeled by interval forecasting through ARIMA model. • Proposed approach evaluated using two realistic case studies. • Proposed approach evaluated the impact of degree of robustness. • Proposed approach gives a significant reduction in operation cost of microgrid. - Abstract: Micro Grids (MGs) are clusters of Distributed Energy Resource (DER) units and loads. MGs are self-sustainable and generally operated in two modes: (1) grid connected and (2) grid isolated. In deregulated environment, the operation of MG is managed by the Microgrid Operator (MO) with an objective to minimize the total cost of operation. The MG management is crucial in the deregulated power system due to (i) integration of intermittent renewable sources such as wind and Photo Voltaic (PV) generation, and (ii) volatile grid prices. This paper presents robust optimization based approach for optimal MG management considering wind power uncertainty. Time series based Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) model is used to characterize the wind power uncertainty through interval forecasting. The proposed approach is illustrated through a case study having both dispatchable and non-dispatchable generators through different modes of operation. Further the impact of degree of robustness is analyzed in both cases on the total cost of operation of the MG. A comparative analysis between obtained results using proposed approach and other existing approach shows the strength of proposed approach in cost minimization in MG management

Radiological impact of the PARR-1 operation on the environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bakhtyar, S.; Raza, S.S.; Tayyab, M.; Pervez, S.; Salahuddin, A.

2005-01-01

This paper presents a study related to the assessment of the radiological impact on the environment due to the operation of the Pakistan research reactor-1 (PARR-1) at the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Sciences and Technology (PINSTECH), Islamabad. The parameters studied include the radioactivity releases in a gaseous form and also those originating from the liquid and solid wastes produced due to the operation of this research facility. The analysis is based on the environmental monitoring data for the last 10 years (1992-2002) and the conclusions have been drawn for the impact of the PARR-1 operation on the occupational workers as well as the general public living in the vicinity of the reactor site. Further, on the basis of this data, yearly average doses and the cumulative doses for the expected life of PARR-1, due to different radiation sources have been estimated. The analysis indicated that the maximum yearly doses at ground level for the occupational workers as well as for the public are a fraction of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) defined limiting values. It is, therefore, concluded that the impact of the PARR-1 normal operation on the environment is negligible and it can be regarded as ''safe to the public as well as the occupational workers''. (orig.)

Influence of a new generation of operations support systems on current spacecraft operations philosophy: The users feedback

Science.gov (United States)

Darroy, Jean Michel

1993-01-01

Current trends in the spacecraft mission operations area (spacecraft & mission complexity, project duration, required flexibility are requiring a breakthrough for what concerns philosophy, organization, and support tools. A major evolution is related to space operations 'informationalization', i.e adding to existing operations support & data processing systems a new generation of tools based on advanced information technologies (object-oriented programming, artificial intelligence, data bases, hypertext) that automate, at least partially, operations tasks that used be performed manually (mission & project planning/scheduling, operations procedures elaboration & execution, data analysis & failure diagnosis). All the major facets of this 'informationalization' are addressed at MATRA MARCONI SPACE, operational applications were fielded and generic products are becoming available. These various applications have generated a significant feedback from the users (at ESA, CNES, ARIANESPACE, MATRA MARCONI SPACE), which is now allowing us to precisely measure how the deployment of this new generation of tools, that we called OPSWARE, can 'reengineer' current spacecraft mission operations philosophy, how it can make space operations faster, better, and cheaper. This paper can be considered as an update of the keynote address 'Knowledge-Based Systems for Spacecraft Control' presented during the first 'Ground Data Systems for Spacecraft Control' conference in Darmstadt, June 1990, with a special emphasis on these last two years users feedback.

17 CFR 240.17Ad-21T - Operational capability in a Year 2000 environment.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Operational capability in a Year 2000 environment. 240.17Ad-21T Section 240.17Ad-21T Commodity and Securities Exchanges SECURITIES... Company Rules § 240.17Ad-21T Operational capability in a Year 2000 environment. (a) This section applies...

FREEDOM OF PRESS IN CURRENT SOCIO-POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT IN ROMANIA

OpenAIRE

Georgiana STĂNESCU; Ionuț SUCIU

2017-01-01

This study analyses the way journalists’ freedom of expression is protected in current socio/political context. It has started from the fact that Mass Media is the guarantee of any modern democracy, and respect for freedom of expression is essential in the current European environment. We have shown that Romania guarantees through the Constitution, but also through other international treaties to which it is a signatory, the freedom of expression of every citizen, and, implicitly, the freedom...

Operation environment construction of geological information database for high level radioactive waste geological disposal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Peng; Gao Min; Huang Shutao; Wang Shuhong; Zhao Yongan

2014-01-01

To fulfill the requirements of data storage and management in HLW geological disposal, a targeted construction method for data operation environment was proposed in this paper. The geological information database operation environment constructed by this method has its unique features. And it also will be the important support for HLW geological disposal project and management. (authors)

Integrating environment into land-use planning through strategic environmental assessment in China: Towards legal frameworks and operational procedures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tao Tang; Tan Zhu; He Xu

2007-01-01

China currently put forwards 'striving to build an environmentally friendly society' as one of the most important development goals. The land administration authorities are facing the challenge of effectively incorporating environment considerations into their planning system. This paper aims to investigate why and how Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is enacted as an effective tool to integrate the environment into land-use planning during the construction process of an environmentally friendly society in China, and identify factors that influence the integration. It presents characteristics of the land-use planning system, and reviews the progress and current state of SEA in China. Results show that SEA provides many benefits in promoting environmental considerations into the land-use planning process. The legal frameworks and operational procedures, in the context of land-use master planning SEA, are summarized and an assessment made of their effectiveness. Some barriers are highlighted through examination of the latest case studies, and several recommendations are presented to overcome these obstacles

76 FR 38399 - Assessing the Current Research, Policy, and Practice Environment in Public Health Genomics

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-30

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [Docket Number CDC-2011-0008] Assessing the Current Research, Policy, and Practice Environment in Public Health... information helpful to assess the current research, policy, and practice environment in public health genomics...

TransFormers for Ensuring Long-Term Operations in Lunar Extreme Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Mantovani, J. G.; Stoica, A.; Alkalai, L.; Wilcox, B.; Quadrelli, M.

2016-01-01

"Surviving Extreme Space Environments" (EE) is one of NASA's Space Technology Grand Challenges. Power generation and thermal control are the key survival ingredients that allow a robotic explorer to cope with the EE using resources available to it, for example, by harvesting the local solar energy or by utilizing an onboard radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG). TransFormers (TFs) are a new technology concept designed to transform a localized area within a harsh extreme environment into a survivable micro-environment by projecting energy to the precise location where robots or humans operate. For example, TFs placed at a location on the rim of Shackleton Crater, which is illuminated by solar radiation for most of the year, would be able to reflect solar energy onto robots operating in the dark cold crater. TFs utilize a shape transformation mechanism to un-fold from a compact volume to a large reflective surface, and to control how much-and where-the energy is projected, and by adjusting for the changing position of the sun. TFs would enable in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) activities within locations of high interest that would normally be unreachable because of their extreme environment

Do We Need the Environment to Explain Operant Behavior?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Geir Overskeid

2018-03-01

Full Text Available By way of operant conditioning, human behavior is continuously shaped and maintained by its consequences – and understanding this process is important to most fields of psychology and neuroscience. The role of the learning organism’s environment has long been contentious, however. Much relevant research is being done by people identifying with the Skinnerian tradition, who tend to agree that the causes of behavior can be found exclusively in the environment. The meaning of this proposition is not clear, however. Some authors say the environment is outside the body, others claim it is also inside it. Among those who say the environment is outside the body, many are of the opinion that events inside the body and hence (in their view not in the environment can also cause behavior, though they claim that events inside the body cannot be causes in the same sense as events taking place outside it. This is confusing, and the present paper argues that the “environment” may neither be a useful nor a necessary concept in the analysis of behavior. Moreover, abolishing the concept could clear the way for a reintegration of Skinnerian psychology into the mainstream.

The role and importance of UAV within the current theaters of operations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Niculae MARIN

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Current theaters of operations are not limited to battlefields, but they are much morediversified, including the fight against the international terrorism phenomenon, the social conflicts (ofreligious, political, economic and separatist nature within several countries, thus supplying somepolitical-military conflicts within different states and areas of the world. The armed interference mustbe done based on some highly accurate information that must be gathered without endangering thehuman lives. This is the role currently played by the unmanned air vehicles (UAVs; they can performseveral functions: surveillance, information gathering, data storage and their transmission to theground stations, including the function of interference, when needed. This paper presents, within theabove context, the status of the current theaters of operations and of the UAVs performing differentmissions within these theaters, together with their role and importance in warfare operations.

An operating environment with multitasking capabilities for radiochemistry autosynthesizers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feliu, A.L.

1990-01-01

AUTOMATE is an operating environment which has been developed for control of commercially available autosynthesizers of radiopharmaceuticals. The software is a user-friendly multitasking system with graphical display, compatible with standard 80x86 personal computers running MS-DOS. Up to four autosynthesizers may be controlled with the software simultaneously. Applications for both routine use and research are discussed

A software environment to execute automatic operational sequences on the ITER-FEAT DTP facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fermani, G.; Zarfino, M.

2001-01-01

The divertor test platform (DTP) maintenance operations are carried out by means of the remote handling equipments (RHE), each dedicated to perform a set of specialised remote actions. Each RHE is controlled by an RHE control system (RHE-CS) and can be locally operated by an RHE-operator using the local control panel (LOP). To perform the maintenance activity, the DTP-operator coordinates the remote operations of every RHEs, using the supervisory system (DTP S S). Because the remote maintenance activities demand for a high degree of parallelism, automation and cooperation between various RHEs, the development of a software environment (OSAExE) that had the indicated characteristics has been necessary. The OSAExE environment is applicable to any distributed and cooperating system that is modelled as a set of autonomous subsystems. Each maintenance remote sequence needs to be modelled as a modified Petri-net diagram and subsequently 'compiled', in order to be automatically executed on OSAExE environment. The OSAExE architecture allows both, to program 'event driven' automatic sequences, and to maintain unchanged all the existing DTP S S features

Applied Operations Research: Augmented Reality in an Industrial Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Cole, Stuart K.

2015-01-01

Augmented reality is the application of computer generated data or graphics onto a real world view. Its use provides the operator additional information or a heightened situational awareness. While advancements have been made in automation and diagnostics of high value critical equipment to improve readiness, reliability and maintenance, the need for assisting and support to Operations and Maintenance staff persists. AR can improve the human machine interface where computer capabilities maximize the human experience and analysis capabilities. NASA operates multiple facilities with complex ground based HVCE in support of national aerodynamics and space exploration, and the need exists to improve operational support and close a gap related to capability sustainment where key and experienced staff consistently rotate work assignments and reach their expiration of term of service. The initiation of an AR capability to augment and improve human abilities and training experience in the industrial environment requires planning and establishment of a goal and objectives for the systems and specific applications. This paper explored use of AR in support of Operation staff in real time operation of HVCE and its maintenance. The results identified include identification of specific goal and objectives, challenges related to availability and computer system infrastructure.

Quantization of edge currents for continuous magnetic operators

CERN Document Server

Kellendonk, J

2003-01-01

For a magnetic Hamiltonian on a half-plane given as the sum of the Landau operator with Dirichlet boundary conditions and a random potential, a quantization theorem for the edge currents is proven. This shows that the concept of edge channels also makes sense in presence of disorder. Moreover, gaussian bounds on the heat kernel and its covariant derivatives are obtained.

Features of an effective operative dentistry learning environment: students' perceptions and relationship with performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Suksudaj, N; Lekkas, D; Kaidonis, J; Townsend, G C; Winning, T A

2015-02-01

Students' perceptions of their learning environment influence the quality of outcomes they achieve. Learning dental operative techniques in a simulated clinic environment is characterised by reciprocal interactions between skills training, staff- and student-related factors. However, few studies have examined how students perceive their operative learning environments and whether there is a relationship between their perceptions and subsequent performance. Therefore, this study aimed to clarify which learning activities and interactions students perceived as supporting their operative skills learning and to examine relationships with their outcomes. Longitudinal data about examples of operative laboratory sessions that were perceived as effective or ineffective for learning were collected twice a semester, using written critical incidents and interviews. Emergent themes from these data were identified using thematic analysis. Associations between perceptions of learning effectiveness and performance were analysed using chi-square tests. Students indicated that an effective learning environment involved interactions with tutors and peers. This included tutors arranging group discussions to clarify processes and outcomes, providing demonstrations and constructive feedback. Feedback focused on mistakes, and not improvement, was reported as being ineffective for learning. However, there was no significant association between students' perceptions of the effectiveness of their learning experiences and subsequent performance. It was clear that learning in an operative technique setting involved various factors related not only to social interactions and observational aspects of learning but also to cognitive, motivational and affective processes. Consistent with studies that have demonstrated complex interactions between students, their learning environment and outcomes, other factors need investigation. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Lower hybrid heating and current drive in Iter operation scenarios and outline system design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-11-01

Lower Hybrid Waves (LHW) are considered a valid method of plasma heating and the best demonstrated current drive method. Current drive by LHW possesses the unique feature, as compared to the other methods, to retain a good current drive efficiency in plasma regions of low to medium temperature, or in low-β phases of the discharges. This makes them an essential element to realize the so called 'advanced steady-state Tokamak scenarios' in which a hollow current density profile (deep shear reversal) - established during the ramp-up of the plasma current - offers the prospects of improved confinement and an MHD-stable route to continuous burn. This report contains both modelling and design studies of an LHW system for ITER. It aims primarily at the definition of concepts and parameters for steady-state operation using LHW combined with Fast Waves (FW), or other methods of generating a central seed current for high bootstrap current operation. However simulations addressing the use of LHW for current profile control in the high current pulsed operation scenario are also presented. The outline design of a LHW system which covers the needs for both pulsed and steady-state operation is described in detail. (author). 28 refs., 49 figs

47 CFR 32.4100 - Net current deferred operating income taxes.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... SERVICES UNIFORM SYSTEM OF ACCOUNTS FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANIES Instructions for Balance Sheet Accounts § 32.4100 Net current deferred operating income taxes. (a) This account shall include the balance...

Exploration of one-dimensional plasma current density profile for K-DEMO steady-state operation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kang, J.S. [Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742 (Korea, Republic of); Jung, L. [National Fusion Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Byun, C.-S.; Na, D.H.; Na, Y.-S. [Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742 (Korea, Republic of); Hwang, Y.S., E-mail: yhwang@snu.ac.kr [Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742 (Korea, Republic of)

2016-11-01

Highlights: • One-dimensional current density and its optimization for the K-DEMO are explored. • Plasma current density profile is calculated with an integrated simulation code. • The impact of self and external heating profiles is considered self-consistently. • Current density is identified as a reference profile by minimizing heating power. - Abstract: Concept study for Korean demonstration fusion reactor (K-DEMO) is in progress, and basic design parameters are proposed by targeting high magnetic field operation with ITER-sized machine. High magnetic field operation is a favorable approach to enlarge relative plasma performance without increasing normalized beta or plasma current. Exploration of one-dimensional current density profile and its optimization process for the K-DEMO steady-state operation are reported in this paper. Numerical analysis is conducted with an integrated plasma simulation code package incorporating a transport code with equilibrium and current drive modules. Operation regimes are addressed with zero-dimensional system analysis. One-dimensional plasma current density profile is calculated based on equilibrium, bootstrap current analysis, and thermal transport analysis. The impact of self and external heating profiles on those parameters is considered self-consistently, where thermal power balance and 100% non-inductive current drive are the main constraints during the whole exploration procedure. Current and pressure profiles are identified as a reference steady-state profile by minimizing the external heating power with desired fusion power.

Review of current activities to model and measure the orbital debris environment in low-earth orbit

Science.gov (United States)

Reynolds, R. C.

A very active orbital debris program is currently being pursued at the NASA/Johnson Space Center (JSC), with projects designed to better define the current environment, to project future environments, to model the processes contributing to or constraining the growth of debris in the environment, and to gather supporting data needed to improve the understanding of the orbital debris problem and the hazard it presents to spacecraft. This paper is a review of the activity being conducted at JSC, by NASA, Lockheed Engineering and Sciences Company, and other support contractors, and presents a review of current activity, results of current research, and a discussion of directions for future development.

Global Environmental Micro Sensors Test Operations in the Natural Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Mark L.; Buza, Matthew; Manobianco, John; Merceret, Francis J.

2007-01-01

ENSCO, Inc. is developing an innovative atmospheric observing system known as Global Environmental Micro Sensors (GEMS). The GEMS concept features an integrated system of miniaturized in situ, airborne probes measuring temperature, relative humidity, pressure, and vector wind velocity. In order for the probes to remain airborne for long periods of time, their design is based on a helium-filled super-pressure balloon. The GEMS probes are neutrally buoyant and carried passively by the wind at predetermined levels. Each probe contains onboard satellite communication, power generation, processing, and geolocation capabilities. ENSCO has partnered with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) for a project called GEMS Test Operations in the Natural Environment (GEMSTONE) that will culminate with limited prototype flights of the system in spring 2007. By leveraging current advances in micro and nanotechnology, the probe mass, size, cost, and complexity can be reduced substantially so that large numbers of probes could be deployed routinely to support ground, launch, and landing operations at KSC and other locations. A full-scale system will improve the data density for the local initialization of high-resolution numerical weather prediction systems by at least an order of magnitude and provide a significantly expanded in situ data base to evaluate launch commit criteria and flight rules. When applied to launch or landing sites, this capability will reduce both weather hazards and weather-related scrubs, thus enhancing both safety and cost-avoidance for vehicles processed by the Shuttle, Launch Services Program, and Constellation Directorates. The GEMSTONE project will conclude with a field experiment in which 10 to 15 probes are released over KSC in east central Florida. The probes will be neutrally buoyant at different altitudes from 500 to 3000 meters and will report their position, speed, heading, temperature, humidity, and

Towards fully non-inductive current drive operation in JET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Litaudon, X.; Crisanti, F.; Alper, B.

2002-01-01

Quasi-steady operation has been achieved at JET in the high-confinement regime with internal transport barriers (ITBs). The ITB has been maintained up to 11 s. This duration, much larger than the energy confinement time, is already approaching a current resistive time. The high-performance phase is limited only by plant constraints. The radial profiles of the thermal electron and ion pressures have steep gradients typically at mid-plasma radius. A large fraction of non-inductive current (above 80%) is sustained throughout the high-performance phase with a poloidal beta exceeding unity. The safety factor profile plays an important role in sustaining the ITB characteristics. In this regime where the self-generated bootstrap current (up to 1.0 MA) represents 50% of the total current, the resistive evolution of the non-monotonic q-profile is slowed down by using off-axis lower-hybrid current drive. (author)

Towards fully non-inductive current drive operation in JET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Litaudon, X.; Crisanti, F.; Alper, B.

2002-01-01

Quasi steady operation has been achieved at JET in the high confinement regime with Internal Transport Barriers, ITBs. The ITBs' performances are maintained up to 11 s. This duration, much larger than the energy confinement time, is already approaching a current resistive time. The high performance phase is limited only by plant constraints. The radial profiles of the thermal electron and ion pressures have steep gradients typically at mid-plasma radius. A large fraction of non-inductive current (above 80%) is sustained throughout the high performance phase with a poloidal beta exceeding unity. The safety factor profile plays an important role in sustaining the ITB characteristics. In this regime where the self-generated bootstrap current (up to LOMA) represents 50% of the total current, the resistive evolution of the non-monotonic q-profile is slowed down by using off-axis lower hybrid current drive. (authors)

Towards fully non-inductive current drive operation in JET

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Litaudon, X. [Association Euratom-CEA Cadarache, Dept. de Recherches sur la Fusion Controlee, 13 - Saint-Paul-lez-Durance (France); Crisanti, F. [Association Euratom-ENEA sulla Fusione, Centro Ricerche Frascati (Italy); Alper, B. [Euratom-UKAEA Fusion Association, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxon (United Kingdom)] [and others

2002-01-01

Quasi steady operation has been achieved at JET in the high confinement regime with Internal Transport Barriers, ITBs. The ITBs' performances are maintained up to 11 s. This duration, much larger than the energy confinement time, is already approaching a current resistive time. The high performance phase is limited only by plant constraints. The radial profiles of the thermal electron and ion pressures have steep gradients typically at mid-plasma radius. A large fraction of non-inductive current (above 80%) is sustained throughout the high performance phase with a poloidal beta exceeding unity. The safety factor profile plays an important role in sustaining the ITB characteristics. In this regime where the self-generated bootstrap current (up to LOMA) represents 50% of the total current, the resistive evolution of the non-monotonic q-profile is slowed down by using off-axis lower hybrid current drive. (authors)

Challenges and Opportunities of Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom Veterans with Disabilities Transitioning into Learning and Workplace Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Ostovary, Fariba; Dapprich, Janet

2011-01-01

This article presents issues related to disabled military servicemen and women who are transitioning to civilian life. The emphasis is on the experience of veterans serving in the Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) as they reintegrate into civilian workplace and learning environments. The authors begin with an…

Operating Classroom Aesthetic Reading Environment to Raise Children's Reading Motivation

Science.gov (United States)

Chou, Mei-Ju; Cheng, Jui-Ching; Cheng, Ya-Wen

2016-01-01

This research aims to explore how preschool educators understand about raising children's reading motivation through operating classroom aesthetic reading environment. With one year qualitative research, sixteen 4-6 years old young were observed and interviewed. The first stage interviews were undergone with environmental guidance. After the…

New Quartz Crystal Oscillators Using the Current-Feedback Operational Amplifier

OpenAIRE

Muhammad Taher Abuelma'atti; Ahmad Al-Ghazwani

2000-01-01

New crystal oscillators using the current-feedback operational-amplifier (CFOA) are presented. Each circuit uses one CFOA, a crystal and, at most, five externally connected passive elements. Experimental results are included.

Study of harsh environment operation of flexible ferroelectric memory integrated with PZT and silicon fabric

Science.gov (United States)

Ghoneim, M. T.; Hussain, M. M.

2015-08-01

Flexible memory can enable industrial, automobile, space, and smart grid centered harsh/extreme environment focused electronics application(s) for enhanced operation, safety, and monitoring where bent or complex shaped infrastructures are common and state-of-the-art rigid electronics cannot be deployed. Therefore, we report on the physical-mechanical-electrical characteristics of a flexible ferroelectric memory based on lead zirconium titanate as a key memory material and flexible version of bulk mono-crystalline silicon (100). The experimented devices show a bending radius down to 1.25 cm corresponding to 0.16% nominal strain (high pressure of ˜260 MPa), and full functionality up to 225 °C high temperature in ambient gas composition (21% oxygen and 55% relative humidity). The devices showed unaltered data retention and fatigue properties under harsh conditions, still the reduced memory window (20% difference between switching and non-switching currents at 225 °C) requires sensitive sense circuitry for proper functionality and is the limiting factor preventing operation at higher temperatures.

17 CFR 240.15b7-3T - Operational capability in a Year 2000 environment.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Operational capability in a Year 2000 environment. 240.15b7-3T Section 240.15b7-3T Commodity and Securities Exchanges SECURITIES... § 240.15b7-3T Operational capability in a Year 2000 environment. (a) This section applies to every...

A study on operators' cognitive response characteristics to the computerized working environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Yong Hee; Lee, Jang Soo; Suh, Sang Moon; Lee, Hyun Cheol; Jung, Kwang Tae; Lee, Dhong Ha

1998-12-01

Although the introduction of computerized working environment to the nuclear facilities, the study on the human factors impacts of computers and automation has not been enough like the other industries. It is necessary to prepare the way to cope with the negative aspects in spite of many positive aspects of computerization in nuclear. This study is an empirical study including the survey of the human factor concerning, especially to the cognitive response of operators' and the experiments on the error proneness. At first, we survey the design and its changes of operator interface and interaction in nuclear power plants, and conclude five human factor issues. We discuss situation awareness issues as one of the major human factor concerning, and the assessment method. Secondly, a questionnaire and interviews survey to the operator's response characteristics are performed for possible criterion measures tot he in-depth study on the cognitive characteristics. Finally, several experiments are conducted to test the error proneness. The issues and findings of this study could be utilized to any further study on the cognitive characteristic of operators to the computerized work environment

FINITE MARKOV CHAINS IN THE MODEL REPRESENTATION OF THE HUMAN OPERATOR ACTIVITY IN QUASI-FUNCTIONAL ENVIRONMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. V. Serzhantova

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Subject of Research. We analyze the problems of finite Markov chains apparatus application for simulating a human operator activity in the quasi-static functional environment. It is shown that the functional environment stochastic nature is generated by a factor of interval character of human operator properties. Method. The problem is solved in the class of regular (recurrent finite Markov chains with three states of the human operator: with a favorable, median and unfavorable combination of the values of mathematical model parameters of the human operator in a quasi-static functional environment. The finite Markov chain is designed taking into account the factors of human operator tiredness and interval character of parameters of the model representation of his properties. The device is based on the usage of mathematical approximation of the standard curve of the human operator activity performance during work shift. The standard curve of the human operator activity performance is based on the extensive research experience of functional activity of the human operator with the help of photos of the day, his action timing and ergonomic generalizations. Main Results. The apparatus of regular finite Markov chains gave the possibility to evaluate correctly the human operator activity performance in a quasi-static functional environment with the use of the main information component of these chains as a vector of final probabilities. In addition, we managed to build an algorithmic basis for estimating the stationary time (time study for transit of human operator from arbitrary initial functional state into a state corresponding to a vector of final probabilities for a used chain after it reaches the final state based on the analysis of the eigenvalues spectrum of the matrix of transition probabilities for a regular (recurrent finite Markov chain. Practical Relevance. Obtained theoretical results are confirmed by illustrative examples, which

Passive BCI in Operational Environments: Insights, Recent Advances, and Future Trends.

Science.gov (United States)

Arico, Pietro; Borghini, Gianluca; Di Flumeri, Gianluca; Sciaraffa, Nicolina; Colosimo, Alfredo; Babiloni, Fabio

2017-07-01

This minireview aims to highlight recent important aspects to consider and evaluate when passive brain-computer interface (pBCI) systems would be developed and used in operational environments, and remarks future directions of their applications. Electroencephalography (EEG) based pBCI has become an important tool for real-time analysis of brain activity since it could potentially provide covertly-without distracting the user from the main task-and objectively-not affected by the subjective judgment of an observer or the user itself-information about the operator cognitive state. Different examples of pBCI applications in operational environments and new adaptive interface solutions have been presented and described. In addition, a general overview regarding the correct use of machine learning techniques (e.g., which algorithm to use, common pitfalls to avoid, etc.) in the pBCI field has been provided. Despite recent innovations on algorithms and neurotechnology, pBCI systems are not completely ready to enter the market yet, mainly due to limitations of the EEG electrodes technology, and algorithms reliability and capability in real settings. High complexity and safety critical systems (e.g., airplanes, ATM interfaces) should adapt their behaviors and functionality accordingly to the user' actual mental state. Thus, technologies (i.e., pBCIs) able to measure in real time the user's mental states would result very useful in such "high risk" environments to enhance human machine interaction, and so increase the overall safety.

OPERATIONAL SAR DATA PROCESSING IN GIS ENVIRONMENTS FOR RAPID DISASTER MAPPING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Meroni

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Having access to SAR data can be highly important and critical especially for disaster mapping. Updating a GIS with contemporary information from SAR data allows to deliver a reliable set of geospatial information to advance civilian operations, e.g. search and rescue missions. Therefore, we present in this paper the operational processing of SAR data within a GIS environment for rapid disaster mapping. This is exemplified by the November 2010 flash flood in the Veneto region, Italy. A series of COSMO-SkyMed acquisitions was processed in ArcGIS® using a single-sensor, multi-mode, multi-temporal approach. The relevant processing steps were combined using the ArcGIS ModelBuilder to create a new model for rapid disaster mapping in ArcGIS, which can be accessed both via a desktop and a server environment.

Analysis of Advantages and Disadvantages of Current Operational Risk Management Models (AS/NZS 4360, AS/NZS ISO 9000, AS/NZS ISO 14000, AS/NZS 4801, AS/NZS 3806, AS/NZS 4444

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ferry Jie

2002-09-01

Full Text Available This paper will describe about the analysis of advantages and disadvantages of current operational risk management models (AS/NZS 4360: Risk Management, AS/NZS 4801: Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems, AS/NZS ISO 9001: Quality Management System, AS/NZS ISO 14001: Environment Management System, AS/NZS 3806: Compliance Management System, AS/NZS 4444: Information Security Management  based on expert experiences and extracting the literature review. The advantages of most current models are widely adopted by industries of various of sizes as the basis for their operational risk management. In addition, they may help the organizations to improve the operations and competitiveness. However, there are some disadvantages of most current models such as the models are very general (guidance only, not specific to cover particular risks of industries.  And they don’t have the specific tools and processes.  In addition, they may not be able to integrate all elements of the management systems such as safety, health, environment, quality, security, and compliance. 

Assessment of Electron-Cyclotron-Current-Drive-Assisted Operation in DEMO

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marushchenko N.B.

2012-09-01

Full Text Available The achievable efficiency for external current drive through electron-cyclotron (EC waves in a demonstration tokamak reactor is discussed. Two possible reactor designs, one for steady state and one for pulsed operation, are considered. It is found that for midplane injection the achievable current drive efficiency is limited by secondharmonic absorption at levels consistent with previous studies. Propagation through the second-harmonic region can be reduced by moving the launch position to the high-field side (this can be obtained by injecting the beam from an upper port in the vacuum vessel. In this case, beam tracing calculations deliver values for the EC current drive efficiency approaching those usually reported for neutral beam current drive.

Predicting core losses and efficiency of SRM in continuous current mode of operation using improved analytical technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parsapour, Amir; Dehkordi, Behzad Mirzaeian; Moallem, Mehdi

2015-01-01

In applications in which the high torque per ampere at low speed and rated power at high speed are required, the continuous current method is the best solution. However, there is no report on calculating the core loss of SRM in continuous current mode of operation. Efficiency and iron loss calculation which are complex tasks in case of conventional mode of operation is even more involved in continuous current mode of operation. In this paper, the Switched Reluctance Motor (SRM) is modeled using finite element method and core loss and copper loss of SRM in discontinuous and continuous current modes of operation are calculated using improved analytical techniques to include the minor loop losses in continuous current mode of operation. Motor efficiency versus speed in both operation modes is obtained and compared. - Highlights: • Continuous current method for Switched Reluctance Motor (SRM) is explained. • An improved analytical technique is presented for SRM core loss calculation. • SRM losses in discontinuous and continuous current operation modes are presented. • Effect of mutual inductances on SRM performance is investigated

Predicting core losses and efficiency of SRM in continuous current mode of operation using improved analytical technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Parsapour, Amir, E-mail: amirparsapour@gmail.com [Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Isfahan, Isfahan (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Dehkordi, Behzad Mirzaeian, E-mail: mirzaeian@eng.ui.ac.ir [Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Isfahan, Isfahan (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Moallem, Mehdi, E-mail: moallem@cc.iut.ac.ir [Department of Electrical Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2015-03-15

In applications in which the high torque per ampere at low speed and rated power at high speed are required, the continuous current method is the best solution. However, there is no report on calculating the core loss of SRM in continuous current mode of operation. Efficiency and iron loss calculation which are complex tasks in case of conventional mode of operation is even more involved in continuous current mode of operation. In this paper, the Switched Reluctance Motor (SRM) is modeled using finite element method and core loss and copper loss of SRM in discontinuous and continuous current modes of operation are calculated using improved analytical techniques to include the minor loop losses in continuous current mode of operation. Motor efficiency versus speed in both operation modes is obtained and compared. - Highlights: • Continuous current method for Switched Reluctance Motor (SRM) is explained. • An improved analytical technique is presented for SRM core loss calculation. • SRM losses in discontinuous and continuous current operation modes are presented. • Effect of mutual inductances on SRM performance is investigated.

Mission operations management

Science.gov (United States)

Rocco, David A.

1994-01-01

Redefining the approach and philosophy that operations management uses to define, develop, and implement space missions will be a central element in achieving high efficiency mission operations for the future. The goal of a cost effective space operations program cannot be realized if the attitudes and methodologies we currently employ to plan, develop, and manage space missions do not change. A management philosophy that is in synch with the environment in terms of budget, technology, and science objectives must be developed. Changing our basic perception of mission operations will require a shift in the way we view the mission. This requires a transition from current practices of viewing the mission as a unique end product, to a 'mission development concept' built on the visualization of the end-to-end mission. To achieve this change we must define realistic mission success criteria and develop pragmatic approaches to achieve our goals. Custom mission development for all but the largest and most unique programs is not practical in the current budget environment, and we simply do not have the resources to implement all of our planned science programs. We need to shift our management focus to allow us the opportunity make use of methodologies and approaches which are based on common building blocks that can be utilized in the space, ground, and mission unique segments of all missions.

Integrated model of port oil piping transportation system safety including operating environment threats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kołowrocki Krzysztof

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The paper presents an integrated general model of complex technical system, linking its multistate safety model and the model of its operation process including operating environment threats and considering variable at different operation states its safety structures and its components safety parameters. Under the assumption that the system has exponential safety function, the safety characteristics of the port oil piping transportation system are determined.

Integrated model of port oil piping transportation system safety including operating environment threats

OpenAIRE

Kołowrocki, Krzysztof; Kuligowska, Ewa; Soszyńska-Budny, Joanna

2017-01-01

The paper presents an integrated general model of complex technical system, linking its multistate safety model and the model of its operation process including operating environment threats and considering variable at different operation states its safety structures and its components safety parameters. Under the assumption that the system has exponential safety function, the safety characteristics of the port oil piping transportation system are determined.

STS operations planning - Current status and outlook for the future

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, C. M.

1981-01-01

Consideration is given to the status of Space Shuttle operations planning and outlook for the period 1982-94, with some speculations on Shuttle-related space operations early in the next century. Attention is given to the evolution of Shuttle payload capabilities over the next five years. The following list of near-earth environment factors to be exploited by the Space Shuttle is given: (1) easy control of gravity; (2) absence of atmosphere; (3) a comprehensive view of the earth's surface and atmosphere; (4) isolation of hazardous processes from earth biosphere; (5) freely available light, heat and photovoltaic power; (6) an infinite natural reservoir for the disposal of radioactive waste products; and (7) a super-cold heat sink.

Potential and Actual Health Hazards in the Dense Urban Operational Environment: Critical Gaps and Solutions for Military Occupational Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Patterson, Steven L; Dancy, Blair C R; Ippolito, Danielle L; Stallings, Jonathan D

2017-11-01

: This paper presents environmental health risks which are prevalent in dense urban environments.We review the current literature and recommendations proposed by environmental medicine experts in a 2-day symposium sponsored by the Department of Defense and supported by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.Key hazards in the dense urban operational environment include toxic industrial chemicals and materials, water pollution and sewage, and air pollution. Four critical gaps in environmental medicine were identified: prioritizing chemical and environmental concerns, developing mobile decision aids, personalized health assessments, and better real-time health biomonitoring.As populations continue to concentrate in cities, civilian and military leaders will need to meet emerging environmental health concerns by developing and delivering adequate technology and policy solutions.

Implementation of superconducting fault current limiter for flexible operation in the power substation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Song, Chong Suk, E-mail: chong_suk@korea.ac.kr [School of Electrical Engineering, Korea University, Anam dong, Seonbukgu, Seoul 136-713 (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Hansang [School of Railway and Electrical Engineering, Kyungil University, Hayang-eup, Gyeongsan-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do 712-701 (Korea, Republic of); Cho, Yoon-sung [Department of Electric and Energy Engineering, Catholic University of Daegu, Hayang-eup, Gyeongsan-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do 712-702 (Korea, Republic of); Suh, Jaewan [School of Electrical Engineering, Korea University, Anam dong, Seonbukgu, Seoul 136-713 (Korea, Republic of); Jang, Gilsoo, E-mail: gjang@korea.ac.kr [School of Electrical Engineering, Korea University, Anam dong, Seonbukgu, Seoul 136-713 (Korea, Republic of)

2014-09-15

Highlights: • The power load concentrated in load centers results in high levels of fault current. • This paper introduces a fault current reduction scheme using SFCLs in substations. • The SFCL is connected in parallel to the bus tie between the two busbars. • The fault current mitigation using SFCLs is verified through PSS/e simulations. - Abstract: The concentration of large-scale power loads located in the metropolitan areas have resulted in high fault current levels during a fault thereby requiring the substation to operate in the double busbar configuration mode. However, the double busbar configuration mode results in deterioration of power system reliability and unbalanced power flow in the adjacent transmission lines which may result in issues such as overloading of lines. This paper proposes the implementation of the superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) to be installed between the two substation busbars for a more efficient and flexible operation of the substation enabling both single and double busbar configurations depending on the system conditions for guaranteeing power system reliability as well as fault current limitations. Case studies are being performed for the effectiveness of the SFCL installation and results are compared for the cases where the substation is operating in single and double busbar mode and with and without the installation of the SFCL for fault current mitigation.

Additive Manufacturing (AM) in Expeditionary Operations: Current Needs, Technical Challenges, and Opportunities

Science.gov (United States)

2016-06-01

REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED Master’s Thesis 06-30-2014 to 06-17-2016 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING (AM) IN EXPEDITIONARY OPERATIONS: CUR...CODE 13. ABSTRACT (maximum 200 words) Additive manufacturing (AM), or 3D printing, is poised to change the world of military expeditionary operations...unlimited ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING (AM) IN EXPEDITIONARY OPERATIONS: CURRENT NEEDS, TECHNICAL CHALLENGES, AND OPPORTUNITIES Matthew Daniel Friedell Captain

Current understanding of organically bound tritium (OBT) in the environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, S B; Baglan, N; Davis, P A

2013-12-01

It has become increasingly recognized that organically bound tritium (OBT) is the more significant tritium fraction with respect to understanding tritium behaviour in the environment. There are many different terms associated with OBT; such as total OBT, exchangeable OBT, non-exchangeable OBT, soluble OBT, insoluble OBT, tritiated organics, and buried tritium, etc. A simple classification is required to clarify understanding within the tritium research community. Unlike for tritiated water (HTO), the environmental quantification and behaviour of OBT are not well known. Tritiated water cannot bio-accumulate in the environment. However, it is not clear whether or not this is the case for OBT. Even though OBT can be detected in terrestrial biological materials, aquatic biological materials and soil samples, its behaviour is still in question. In order to evaluate the radiation dose from OBT accurately, further study will be required to understand OBT measurements and determine OBT fate in the environment. The relationship between OBT speciation and the OBT/HTO ratio in environmental samples will be useful in this regard, providing information on the previous tritium exposure conditions in the environment and the current tritium dynamics. Crown Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Operation of a semiconductor opening switch at ultrahigh current densities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lyubutin, S. K.; Rukin, S. N.; Slovikovsky, B. G.; Tsyranov, S. N.

2012-01-01

The operation of a semiconductor opening switch (SOS diode) at cutoff current densities of tens of kA/cm 2 is studied. In experiments, the maximum reverse current density reached 43 kA/cm 2 for ∼40 ns. Experimental data on SOS diodes with a p + -p-n-n + structure and a p-n junction depth from 145 to 180 μm are presented. The dynamics of electron-hole plasma in the diode at pumping and current cutoff stages is studied by numerical simulation methods. It is shown that current cutoff is associated with the formation of an electric field region in a thin (∼45 μm) layer of the structure’s heavily doped p-region, in which the acceptor concentration exceeds 10 16 cm −3 , and the current cutoff process depends weakly on the p-n junction depth.

Highly Efficient Spin-Current Operation in a Cu Nano-Ring

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, Benedict A.; Vick, Andrew J.; Samiepour, Marjan; Hirohata, Atsufumi

2016-11-01

An all-metal lateral spin-valve structure has been fabricated with a medial Copper nano-ring to split the diffusive spin-current path. We have demonstrated significant modulation of the non-local signal by the application of a magnetic field gradient across the nano-ring, which is up to 30% more efficient than the conventional Hanle configuration at room temperature. This was achieved by passing a dc current through a current-carrying bar to provide a locally induced Ampère field. We have shown that in this manner a lateral spin-valve gains an additional functionality in the form of three-terminal gate operation for future spintronic logic.

The Joint Master Operational Planner

Science.gov (United States)

2016-04-04

enable commanders to understand the strategic-operational environment and make sound decisions. Current PME and JPME systems attempt to keep pace, but...SAASS, MAWS, SAW), which provides them with a deeper understanding of operational art and science, problem solving, and planning. These programs...to translate new understanding into sound planning methodologies that follow, to include development of operational approaches and campaign plans

Decision support framework for evaluating the operational environment of forest bioenergy production and use: Case of four European countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Pezdevšek Malovrh, Špela; Kurttila, Mikko; Hujala, Teppo; Kärkkäinen, Leena; Leban, Vasja; Lindstad, Berit H; Peters, Dörte Marie; Rhodius, Regina; Solberg, Birger; Wirth, Kristina; Zadnik Stirn, Lidija; Krč, Janez

2016-09-15

Complex policy-making situations around bioenergy production and use require examination of the operational environment of the society and a participatory approach. This paper presents and demonstrates a three-phase decision-making framework for analysing the operational environment of strategies related to increased forest bioenergy targets. The framework is based on SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis and the Simple Multi-Attribute Rating Technique (SMART). Stakeholders of four case countries (Finland, Germany, Norway and Slovenia) defined the factors that affect the operational environments, classified in four pre-set categories (Forest Characteristics and Management, Policy Framework, Technology and Science, and Consumers and Society). The stakeholders participated in weighting of SWOT items for two future scenarios with SMART technique. The first scenario reflected the current 2020 targets (the Business-as-Usual scenario), and the second scenario contained a further increase in the targets (the Increase scenario). This framework can be applied to various problems of environmental management and also to other fields where public decision-making is combined with stakeholders' engagement. The case results show that the greatest differences between the scenarios appear in Germany, indicating a notably negative outlook for the Increase scenario, while the smallest differences were found in Finland. Policy Framework was a highly rated category across the countries, mainly with respect to weaknesses and threats. Intensified forest bioenergy harvesting and utilization has potentially wide country-specific impacts which need to be anticipated and considered in national policies and public dialogue. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Experiments and simulation of high current operation at CEBAF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Merminga, L.; Crawford, K.; Delayen, J.R.; Doolittle, L.; Hovater, C.; Kazimi, R.; Krafft, G.; Reece, C.; Simrock, S.; Tiefenback, M.; Wang, D.X.

1996-01-01

The superconducting rf, cw electron accelerator at CEBAF has achieved the design energy of 4 GeV using 5-pass recirculation through a pair of 400 MeV linacs. Stable beam current of 35 μA has been delivered to the Experimental Hall C. The total beam current that has been recirculated so far is 248 μA. Measurements of the performance of the rf control system have been made in both pulsed and cw mode, and a numerical model has been developed which describes the beam-cavity interaction, includes a realistic representation of low level controls, klystron characteristics and microphonic noise. Experimental data and simulation results on transient beam loading, klystron saturation, a new technique for cavity phasing, and heavy beam loading tests are described; in conclusion, an outlook on full current operation is presented

Direct current microhollow cathode discharges on silicon devices operating in argon and helium

Science.gov (United States)

Michaud, R.; Felix, V.; Stolz, A.; Aubry, O.; Lefaucheux, P.; Dzikowski, S.; Schulz-von der Gathen, V.; Overzet, L. J.; Dussart, R.

2018-02-01

Microhollow cathode discharges have been produced on silicon platforms using processes usually used for MEMS fabrication. Microreactors consist of 100 or 150 μm-diameter cavities made from Ni and SiO2 film layers deposited on a silicon substrate. They were studied in the direct current operating mode in two different geometries: planar and cavity configuration. Currents in the order of 1 mA could be injected in microdischarges operating in different gases such as argon and helium at a working pressure between 130 and 1000 mbar. When silicon was used as a cathode, the microdischarge operation was very unstable in both geometry configurations. Strong current spikes were produced and the microreactor lifetime was quite short. We evidenced the fast formation of blisters at the silicon surface which are responsible for the production of these high current pulses. EDX analysis showed that these blisters are filled with argon and indicate that an implantation mechanism is at the origin of this surface modification. Reversing the polarity of the microdischarge makes the discharge operate stably without current spikes, but the discharge appearance is quite different from the one obtained in direct polarity with the silicon cathode. By coating the silicon cathode with a 500 nm-thick nickel layer, the microdischarge becomes very stable with a much longer lifetime. No current spikes are observed and the cathode surface remains quite smooth compared to the one obtained without coating. Finally, arrays of 76 and 576 microdischarges were successfully ignited and studied in argon. At a working pressure of 130 mbar, all microdischarges are simultaneously ignited whereas they ignite one by one at higher pressure.

Study of harsh environment operation of flexible ferroelectric memory integrated with PZT and silicon fabric

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ghoneim, M. T.; Hussain, M. M., E-mail: muhammadmustafa.hussain@kaust.edu.sa [Integrated Nanotechnology Lab, Electrical Engineering, Computer Electrical Mathematical Science and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900 (Saudi Arabia)

2015-08-03

Flexible memory can enable industrial, automobile, space, and smart grid centered harsh/extreme environment focused electronics application(s) for enhanced operation, safety, and monitoring where bent or complex shaped infrastructures are common and state-of-the-art rigid electronics cannot be deployed. Therefore, we report on the physical-mechanical-electrical characteristics of a flexible ferroelectric memory based on lead zirconium titanate as a key memory material and flexible version of bulk mono-crystalline silicon (100). The experimented devices show a bending radius down to 1.25 cm corresponding to 0.16% nominal strain (high pressure of ∼260 MPa), and full functionality up to 225 °C high temperature in ambient gas composition (21% oxygen and 55% relative humidity). The devices showed unaltered data retention and fatigue properties under harsh conditions, still the reduced memory window (20% difference between switching and non-switching currents at 225 °C) requires sensitive sense circuitry for proper functionality and is the limiting factor preventing operation at higher temperatures.

Study of harsh environment operation of flexible ferroelectric memory integrated with PZT and silicon fabric

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghoneim, M. T.; Hussain, M. M.

2015-01-01

Flexible memory can enable industrial, automobile, space, and smart grid centered harsh/extreme environment focused electronics application(s) for enhanced operation, safety, and monitoring where bent or complex shaped infrastructures are common and state-of-the-art rigid electronics cannot be deployed. Therefore, we report on the physical-mechanical-electrical characteristics of a flexible ferroelectric memory based on lead zirconium titanate as a key memory material and flexible version of bulk mono-crystalline silicon (100). The experimented devices show a bending radius down to 1.25 cm corresponding to 0.16% nominal strain (high pressure of ∼260 MPa), and full functionality up to 225 °C high temperature in ambient gas composition (21% oxygen and 55% relative humidity). The devices showed unaltered data retention and fatigue properties under harsh conditions, still the reduced memory window (20% difference between switching and non-switching currents at 225 °C) requires sensitive sense circuitry for proper functionality and is the limiting factor preventing operation at higher temperatures

Study of harsh environment operation of flexible ferroelectric memory integrated with PZT and silicon fabric

KAUST Repository

Ghoneim, Mohamed T.

2015-08-05

Flexible memory can enable industrial, automobile, space, and smart grid centered harsh/extreme environment focused electronics application(s) for enhanced operation, safety, and monitoring where bent or complex shaped infrastructures are common and state-of-the-art rigid electronics cannot be deployed. Therefore, we report on the physical-mechanical-electrical characteristics of a flexible ferroelectric memory based on lead zirconium titanate as a key memory material and flexible version of bulk mono-crystalline silicon (100). The experimented devices show a bending radius down to 1.25 cm corresponding to 0.16% nominal strain (high pressure of ∼260 MPa), and full functionality up to 225 °C high temperature in ambient gas composition (21% oxygen and 55% relative humidity). The devices showed unaltered data retention and fatigue properties under harsh conditions, still the reduced memory window (20% difference between switching and non-switching currents at 225 °C) requires sensitive sense circuitry for proper functionality and is the limiting factor preventing operation at higher temperatures.

Assessment of an Onboard EO Sensor to Enable Detect-and-Sense Capability for UAVs Operating in a Cluttered Environment

Science.gov (United States)

2017-09-01

rates of accidents. To ensure safe operation in such complex environment , the unmanned systems have to perform accurate and timely detection and...security. C. PROBLEM FORMULATION To ensure the safe operation of unmanned systems in modern complex environment , this thesis strives to answer two...computer vision algorithm work in a complex operating environment with multiple moving objects? This thesis examines the integration of the CV

Cost management in a nuclear operating environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Steckel, J.K.; Gruber, C.O.

1985-01-01

This paper presents an integrated philosophy and program for managing costs in a nuclear operating environment. The ideas presented here are being used by Pennsyvania Power and Light Company (PPandL) at the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station. Three basic ideas necessary to successful cost management are listed and include: recognize the framework that is needed to ''manage'': treat cost as part of an integrated plan; and apply different techniques to different types of work activities. It is the author's opinion that the technical framework of a successful cost management system must include all work activities but recognize types. Project activities should be managed to a defined scope and authorized cost using a well communicated estimating program, aggressive trending and forecasting, and a change identification process

Improvement in operational characteristics of KEPCO’s line-commutation-type superconducting hybrid fault current limiter

Science.gov (United States)

Yim, S.-W.; Park, B.-C.; Jeong, Y.-T.; Kim, Y.-J.; Yang, S.-E.; Kim, W.-S.; Kim, H.-R.; Du, H.-I.

2013-01-01

A 22.9 kV class hybrid fault current limiter (FCL) developed by Korea Electric Power Corporation and LS Industrial Systems in 2006 operates using the line commutation mechanism and begins to limit the fault current after the first half-cycle. The first peak of the fault current is available for protective coordination in the power system. However, it also produces a large electromagnetic force and imposes a huge stress on power facilities such as the main transformer and gas-insulated switchgear. In this study, we improved the operational characteristics of the hybrid FCL in order to reduce the first peak of the fault current. While maintaining the structure of the hybrid FCL system, we developed a superconducting module that detects and limits the fault current during the first half-cycle. To maintain the protective coordination capacity, the hybrid FCL was designed to reduce the first peak value of the fault current by up to approximately 30%. The superconducting module was also designed to produce a minimum AC loss, generating a small, uniform magnetic field distribution during normal operation. Performance tests confirmed that when applied to the hybrid FCL, the superconducting module showed successful current limiting operation without any damage.

The Built Environment and Child Health: An Overview of Current Evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Gascon, Mireia; Vrijheid, Martine; Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark J

2016-09-01

Urbanization and the shaping of the built environment have provided a number of socioeconomic benefits, but they have also brought unwanted side effects on health. We aimed to review the current epidemiological evidence of the associations between the built environment, closely related exposures, and child health. We focused on growth and obesity, neuropsychological development, and respiratory and immune health. We used existing review articles and supplemented these with relevant work published and not included in existing reviews. The present review shows that there is good evidence for an association between air pollution and fetal growth restriction and respiratory health, whereas for other exposure and outcome combinations, further evidence is needed. Future studies should make efforts to integrate the different built environment features and to include the evaluation of environments other than home, as well as accessibility, qualitative and perception assessment of the built environment, and, if possible, with improved and standardized tools to facilitate comparability between studies. Efforts are also needed to conduct longitudinal and intervention studies and to understand potential mechanisms behind the associations observed. Finally, studies in low- and middle-income countries are needed.

Microstructure characterisation of solid oxide electrolysis cells operated at high current density

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bowen, Jacob R.; Bentzen, Janet Jonna; Chen, Ming

degradation of cell components in relation to the loss of electrochemical performance specific to the mode of operation. Thus descriptive microstructure characterization methods are required in combination with electrochemical characterization methods to decipher degradation mechanisms. In the present work......High temperature solid oxide cells can be operated either as fuel cells or electrolysis cells for efficient power generation or production of hydrogen from steam or synthesis gas (H2 + CO) from steam and CO2 respectively. When operated under harsh conditions, they often exhibit microstructural...... quantified using the mean linear intercept method as a function of current density and correlated to increases in serial resistance. The above structural changes are then compared in terms of electrode degradation observed during the co-electrolysis of steam and CO2 at current densities up to -1.5 A cm-2...

Mathematical model of a current of two plastic environments in the forming channel extruders at coextrusion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. N. Vasilenko

2012-01-01

Full Text Available On the basis of the classical equations of an isothermal pressure head current of two rheology the various not mixing up viscou- plastic environments in the cylindrical channel, Ostvald-de-Vil submitting to the law, the model of a current of two viscous-plastic environments in the moulding channel extruder is synthesised at co-extrusion on which basis the technique of a choice of diameter of a dosing out branch pipe on the demanded value of the ratio of volume expenditures of two viscous-plastic environments (extrudat and stuffings is offered.

Measuring Situation Awareness of Operating Team in Different Main Control Room Environments of Nuclear Power Plants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seung Woo Lee

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Environments in nuclear power plants (NPPs are changing as the design of instrumentation and control systems for NPPs is rapidly moving toward fully digital instrumentation and control, and modern computer techniques are gradually introduced into main control rooms (MCRs. Within the context of these environmental changes, the level of performance of operators in a digital MCR is a major concern. Situation awareness (SA, which is used within human factors research to explain to what extent operators of safety-critical systems know what is transpiring in the system and the environment, is considered a prerequisite factor to guarantee the safe operation of NPPs. However, the safe operation of NPPs can be guaranteed through a team effort. In this regard, the operating team's SA in a conventional and digital MCR should be measured in order to assess whether the new design features implemented in a digital MCR affect this parameter. This paper explains the team SA measurement method used in this study and the results of applying this measurement method to operating teams in different MCR environments. The paper also discusses several empirical lessons learned from the results.

A Practice of Secure Development and Operational Environment Plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Jaekwan; Seo, Sangmun; Suh, Yongsukl; Park, Cheol

2017-01-01

This paper suggests a practice of plan for SDOE establishment in a nuclear I and C. First, it is necessary to perform a requirements analysis to define key regulatory issues and determine the target systems. The analysis includes a survey to find out the applicable measures credited internationally. Based on the analysis results, this paper proposes an implementation plan including a process harmonizing security activities with legacy software activities and applicable technical, operational, and management measures for target systems. Recently, nuclear I and C has been faced with two security issues, cyber security (CS) and secure development and operational environment (SDOE). Unlike cyber security, few studies on planning SDOE have been presented. This paper suggests a plan for establishing an SDOE in a nuclear I and C. This paper defines three key considerations to comply with the regulatory position of RG. 1.152(R3) and proposes a process harmonizing the security activities with legacy software activities. In addition, this paper proposes technical, operational, and management measures applicable for SDOE.

Effects of the solar-terrestrial environment on satellite operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baker, D.N.

1984-01-01

Hot plasma and energetic particle populations in space are known to produce spacecraft operational anomalies. In the inner part of the earth's magnetosphere, these effects are primarily due to durably trapped radiation belt particles, and the integrated doses can be calculated quite accurately for any given orbit. In the outer magnetosphere many spacecraft operational problems appear to be due to intense, transient phenomena. It is shown that three types of naturally-occurring, and highly variable, hostile particle radiation environments are encountered at, or near, the geostationary orbit: (1) high-energy protons due to solar flares; (2) very high energy electrons (2-10 MeV) of unknown origin; and (3) energetic ions and electrons produced by magnetospheric substorms. Present particle sensor systems provide energetic particle detection and assessment capabilities during these kinds of high-energy radiation events. Numerous operational anomalies and subsystem problems have occurred during each type of event period and the association of such upsets is demonstrated in this paper. Methods of prediction of magnetospheric disturbances are discussed, and overall recommendations are made for dealing with this continuing problem

Radiation Environment at LEO in the frame of Space Monitoring Data Center at Moscow State University - recent, current and future missions

Science.gov (United States)

Myagkova, Irina; Kalegaev, Vladimir; Panasyuk, Mikhail; Svertilov, Sergey; Bogomolov, Vitaly; Bogomolov, Andrey; Barinova, Vera; Barinov, Oleg; Bobrovnikov, Sergey; Dolenko, Sergey; Mukhametdinova, Ludmila; Shiroky, Vladimir; Shugay, Julia

2016-04-01

Radiation Environment of Near-Earth space is one of the most important factors of space weather. Space Monitoring Data Center of Moscow State University provides operational control of radiation conditions at Low Earth's Orbits (LEO) of the near-Earth space using data of recent (Vernov, CORONAS series), current (Meteor-M, Electro-L series) and future (Lomonosov) space missions. Internet portal of Space Monitoring Data Center of Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics of Lomonosov Moscow State University (SINP MSU) http://swx.sinp.msu.ru/ provides possibilities to control and analyze the space radiation conditions in the real time mode together with the geomagnetic and solar activity including hard X-ray and gamma- emission of solar flares. Operational data obtained from space missions at L1, GEO and LEO and from the Earth's magnetic stations are used to represent radiation and geomagnetic state of near-Earth environment. The models of space environment that use space measurements from different orbits were created. Interactive analysis and operational neural network forecast services are based on these models. These systems can automatically generate alerts on particle fluxes enhancements above the threshold values, both for SEP and relativistic electrons of outer Earth's radiation belt using data from GEO and LEO as input. As an example of LEO data we consider data from Vernov mission, which was launched into solar-synchronous orbit (altitude 640 - 83 0 km, inclination 98.4°, orbital period about 100 min) on July 8, 2014 and began to receive scientific information since July 20, 2014. Vernov mission have provided studies of the Earth's radiation belt relativistic electron precipitation and its possible connection with atmosphere transient luminous events, as well as the solar hard X-ray and gamma-emission measurements. Radiation and electromagnetic environment monitoring in the near-Earth Space, which is very important for space weather study, was also realised

Extension of the TCV Operating Space Towards Higher Elongation and Higher Normalized Current

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hofmann, F.; Coda, S.; Lavanchy, P.; Llobet, X.; Marmillod, Ph.; Martin, Y.; Martynov, A.; Mlynar, J.; Moret, J.-M.; Pochelon, A.; Sauter, O.

2002-01-01

Recently, an experimental campaign has been launched on TCV with the aim of exploring and extending the limits of the operating space. The vertical position control system has been optimized, with the help of extensive model calculations, in order to allow operation at the lowest possible stability margin. In addition, the growth rate of the axisymmetric instability has been minimized by choosing optimum values for the plasma triangularity and squareness and by operating close to the current limit imposed by the n= 1 external kink mode. These measures have allowed us to reach record values of elongation, κ=2.8, and normalized current, I N =3.6, in a tokamak with standard aspect ratio, R/a=3.5. (author)

[Design of an anesthesia and micro-environment information management system in mobile operating room].

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xianwen; Liu, Zhiguo; Zhang, Wenchang; Wu, Qingfu; Tan, Shulin

2013-08-01

We have designed a mobile operating room information management system. The system is composed of a client and a server. A client, consisting of a PC, medical equipments, PLC and sensors, provides the acquisition and processing of anesthesia and micro-environment data. A server is a powerful computer that stores the data of the system. The client gathers the medical device data by using the C/S mode, and analyzes the obtained HL7 messages through the class library call. The client collects the micro-environment information with PLC, and finishes the data reading with the OPC technology. Experiment results showed that the designed system could manage the patient anesthesia and micro-environment information well, and improve the efficiency of the doctors' works and the digital level of the mobile operating room.

The effects of ionizing radiation on commercial power MOSFETs operated at cryogenic temperatures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, G.H.; Kemp, W.T.; Ackermann, M.R.; Pugh, R.D.; Schrimpf, R.D.; Galloway, K.F.

1994-01-01

This is the first report of commercial n- and p-channel power MOSFETs exposed to ionizing radiation while operating in a cryogenic environment. The transistors were exposed to low energy x-rays while placed in a liquid nitrogen-cooled dewar. Results demonstrate significant performance and survivability advantages for space-borne power MOSFETs operated at cryogenic temperatures. The key advantages for low-temperature operation of power MOSFET's in an ionizing radiation environment are: (1) steeper subthreshold current slope before and after irradiation; (2) lower off-state leakage currents before and after irradiation; and (3) larger prerad threshold voltage for n-channel devices. The first two points are also beneficial for devices that are not irradiated, but the advantages are more significant in radiation environments. The third point is only an advantage for commercial devices operated in radiation environments. Results also demonstrate that commercial off-the-shelf power MOSFETs can be used for low-temperature operations in a limited total dose environment (i.e., many space applications)

Conversion of continuous-direct-current TIG welder to pulse-arc operation

Science.gov (United States)

Lien, D. R.

1969-01-01

Electronics package converts a continuous-dc tungsten-inert gas welder for pulse-arc operation. Package allows presetting of the pulse rate, duty cycle, and current value, and enables welding of various alloys and thicknesses of materials.

A current to voltage converter for cryogenics using a CMOS operational amplifier

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayashi, K; Saitoh, K; Shibayama, Y; Shirahama, K

2009-01-01

We have constructed a versatile current to voltage (I-V) converter operating at liquid helium temperature, using a commercially available all-CMOS OPamp. It is valuable for cryogenic measurements of electrical current of nano-pico amperes, for example, in scanning probe microscopy. The I-V converter is thermally linked to liquid helium bath and self-heated up to 10.7 K. We have confirmed its capability of a transimpedance gain of 10 6 V/A and a bandwidth from DC to 200 kHz. In order to test the practical use for a frequency-modulation atomic force microscope, we have measured the resonance frequency shift of a quartz tuning fork at 32 kHz. In the operation of the I-V converter close to the sensor at liquid helium temperature, the signal-to-noise ratio has been improved to a factor of 13.6 compared to the operation at room temperature.

Sustainability of Biomass Utilisation in Changing operational Environment - SUBICHOE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Soimakallio, S.; Hongisto, M.; Koponen, K. (VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Espoo (Finland)), e-mail: sampo.soimakallio@vtt.fi (and others)

2011-11-15

Sustainability is a multi-faceted and challenging target, but at the same time a crucial issue to assess when setting policies and targets for the future. The main objective of the SUBICHOE project is to assist public administration and companies in strategic decision- making in the most sustainable use of biomass, by taking into account the changing operational environment. The project aimed to assess how the sustainability criteria, in particular those set by the EC, ensure the sustainability of biofuels from short and long term perspectives. The project is carried out jointly by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Finnish Environment Institute SYKE, MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metla) and The Government Institute for Economic Research (VATT). The work plan of the project is divided into four Work Packages. In this article, a summary of main findings of the project is presented. (orig.)

Operational computer graphics in the flight dynamics environment

Science.gov (United States)

Jeletic, James F.

1989-01-01

Over the past five years, the Flight Dynamics Division of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Goddard Space Flight Center has incorporated computer graphics technology into its operational environment. In an attempt to increase the effectiveness and productivity of the Division, computer graphics software systems have been developed that display spacecraft tracking and telemetry data in 2-d and 3-d graphic formats that are more comprehensible than the alphanumeric tables of the past. These systems vary in functionality from real-time mission monitoring system, to mission planning utilities, to system development tools. Here, the capabilities and architecture of these systems are discussed.

Harmonic current interaction at a low voltage customer's installations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bhattacharyya, S.; Myrzik, J.M.A.; Kling, W.L.; Cobben, J.F.G.; Casteren, van J.

2009-01-01

The increased uses of power electronics and switching devices in the electricity network have changed the operational environment of the power system. These devices have nonlinear voltage-current characteristics and produce harmonic currents, and consequently distort the voltage waveform. A low

Reliability evaluation of oil pipelines operating in aggressive environment

Science.gov (United States)

Magomedov, R. M.; Paizulaev, M. M.; Gebel, E. S.

2017-08-01

In connection with modern increased requirements for ecology and safety, the development of diagnostic services complex is obligatory and necessary enabling to ensure the reliable operation of the gas transportation infrastructure. Estimation of oil pipelines technical condition should be carried out not only to establish the current values of the equipment technological parameters in operation, but also to predict the dynamics of changes in the physical and mechanical characteristics of the material, the appearance of defects, etc. to ensure reliable and safe operation. In the paper, existing Russian and foreign methods for evaluation of the oil pipelines reliability are considered, taking into account one of the main factors leading to the appearance of crevice in the pipeline material, i.e. change the shape of its cross-section, - corrosion. Without compromising the generality of the reasoning, the assumption of uniform corrosion wear for the initial rectangular cross section has been made. As a result a formula for calculation the probability of failure-free operation was formulated. The proposed mathematical model makes it possible to predict emergency situations, as well as to determine optimal operating conditions for oil pipelines.

Improvement in operational characteristics of KEPCO’s line-commutation-type superconducting hybrid fault current limiter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yim, S.-W.; Park, B.-C.; Jeong, Y.-T.; Kim, Y.-J.; Yang, S.-E.; Kim, W.-S.; Kim, H.-R.; Du, H.-I.

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► A line-commutation type hybrid FCL was modified for 1st peak current limitation. ► A superconducting module of current limitation and fault detection was fabricated. ► The superconducting module was applied to a hybrid FCL system and tested. ► 7.4 kA p fault current was limited to 4.3 kA p at the first-half cycle by the FCL. -- Abstract: A 22.9 kV class hybrid fault current limiter (FCL) developed by Korea Electric Power Corporation and LS Industrial Systems in 2006 operates using the line commutation mechanism and begins to limit the fault current after the first half-cycle. The first peak of the fault current is available for protective coordination in the power system. However, it also produces a large electromagnetic force and imposes a huge stress on power facilities such as the main transformer and gas-insulated switchgear. In this study, we improved the operational characteristics of the hybrid FCL in order to reduce the first peak of the fault current. While maintaining the structure of the hybrid FCL system, we developed a superconducting module that detects and limits the fault current during the first half-cycle. To maintain the protective coordination capacity, the hybrid FCL was designed to reduce the first peak value of the fault current by up to approximately 30%. The superconducting module was also designed to produce a minimum AC loss, generating a small, uniform magnetic field distribution during normal operation. Performance tests confirmed that when applied to the hybrid FCL, the superconducting module showed successful current limiting operation without any damage

Raising of Operating a Motor Vehicle Effects on Environment in Winter

Science.gov (United States)

Ertman, S. A.; Ertman, J. A.; Zakharov, D. A.

2016-08-01

Severe low-temperature conditions, in which considerable part of Russian Motor Park is operated, affect vehicles negatively. Cold weather causes higher fuel consumption and C02 emissions always. It is because of temperature profile changing of automobile motors, other systems and materials. For enhancement of car operation efficiency in severe winter environment the dependency of engine warm-up and cooling time on ambient air temperature and wind speed described by multifactorial mathematical models is established. -On the basis of experimental research it was proved that the coolant temperature constitutes the engine representative temperature and may be used as representative temperature of engine at large. The model of generation of integrated index for vehicle adaptability to winter operating conditions by temperature profile of engines was developed. the method for evaluation of vehicle adaptability to winter operating conditions by temperature profile of engines allows to decrease higher fuel consumption in cold climate.

A comparison of co-current and counter-current modes of operation for a novel hydrogen-permselective membrane dual-type FTS reactor in GTL technology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rahimpour, M.R.; Forghani, A.A.; Mostafazadeh, A. Khosravanipour; Shariati, A. [Chemical Engineering Department, School of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Shiraz University, Shiraz 71345 (Iran)

2010-01-15

In this work, a comparison of co-current and counter-current modes of operation for a novel hydrogen-permselective membrane reactor for Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis (FTS) has been carried out. In both modes of operations, a system with two-catalyst bed instead of one single catalyst bed is developed for FTS reactions. In the first catalytic reactor, the synthesis gas is partly converted to products in a conventional water-cooled fixed-bed reactor, while in the second reactor which is a membrane fixed-bed reactor, the FTS reactions are completed and heat of reaction is used to preheat the feed synthesis gas to the first reactor. In the co-current mode, feed gas is entered into the tubes of the second reactor in the same direction with the reacting gas stream in shell side while in the counter-current mode the gas streams are in the opposite direction. Simulation results for both co-current and counter-current modes have been compared in terms of temperature, gasoline and CO{sub 2} yields, H{sub 2} and CO conversion, selectivity of components as well as permeation rate of hydrogen through the membrane. The results showed that the reactor in the co-current configuration operates with lower conversion and lower permeation rate of hydrogen, but it has more favorable profile of temperature. The counter-current mode of operation decreases undesired products such as CO{sub 2} and CH{sub 4} and also produces more gasoline. (author)

A study on operators' cognitive response characteristics to the computerized working environment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Yong Hee; Lee, Jang Soo; Suh, Sang Moon; Lee, Hyun Cheol; Jung, Kwang Tae; Lee, Dhong Ha

1998-12-01

Although the introduction of computerized working environment to the nuclear facilities, the study on the human factors impacts of computers and automation has not been enough like the other industries. It is necessary to prepare the way to cope with the negative aspects in spite of many positive aspects of computerization in nuclear. This study is an empirical study including the survey of the human factor concerning, especially to the cognitive response of operators' and the experiments on the error proneness. At first, we survey the design and its changes of operator interface and interaction in nuclear power plants, and conclude five human factor issues. We discuss situation awareness issues as one of the major human factor concerning, and the assessment method. Secondly, a questionnaire and interviews survey to the operator's response characteristics are performed for possible criterion measures to the in-depth study on the cognitive characteristics. Finally, several experiments are conducted to test the error proneness. The issues and findings of this study could be utilized to any further study on the cognitive characteristic of operators to the computerized work environment.

Addressing Challenges to the Design & Test of Operational Lighting Environments for the International Space Station

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, Toni A.

2014-01-01

In our day to day lives, the availability of light, with which to see our environment, is often taken for granted. The designers of land based lighting systems use sunlight and artificial light as their toolset. The availability of power, quantity of light sources, and variety of design options are often unlimited. The accessibility of most land based lighting systems makes it easy for the architect and engineer to verify and validate their design ideas. Failures with an implementation, while sometimes costly, can easily be addressed by renovation. Consider now, an architectural facility orbiting in space, 260 miles above the surface of the earth. This human rated architectural facility, the International Space Station (ISS) must maintain operations every day, including life support and appropriate human comforts without fail. The facility must also handle logistics of regular shipments of cargo, including new passengers. The ISS requires accommodations necessary for human control of machine systems. Additionally, the ISS is a research facility and supports investigations performed inside and outside its livable volume. Finally, the facility must support remote operations and observations by ground controllers. All of these architectural needs require a functional, safe, and even an aesthetic lighting environment. At Johnson Space Center, our Habitability and Human Factors team assists our diverse customers with their lighting environment challenges, via physical test and computer based analysis. Because of the complexity of ISS operational environment, our team has learned and developed processes that help ISS operate safely. Because of the dynamic exterior lighting environment, uses computational modeling to predict the lighting environment. The ISS' orbit exposes it to a sunrise every 90 minutes, causing work surfaces to quickly change from direct sunlight to earthshine to total darkness. Proper planning of vehicle approaches, robotics operations, and crewed

Mastering vRealize operations manager analyze and optimize your it environment by gaining a practical understanding of vRealize operations 6.6

CERN Document Server

Kaloferov, Spas; Carnie, Alasdair; Norris, Scott

2018-01-01

Nowadays you can find companies that have virtualized 75%, or even more than 95% of their environment. Having a good forensic tool with comprehensive predictive analysis functionality, to monitor your virtual environment and software, is crucial. vRealize Operations 6.6 offers this and much more to help your business run uninterrupted.

Current Grid operation and future role of the Grid

Science.gov (United States)

Smirnova, O.

2012-12-01

Grid-like technologies and approaches became an integral part of HEP experiments. Some other scientific communities also use similar technologies for data-intensive computations. The distinct feature of Grid computing is the ability to federate heterogeneous resources of different ownership into a seamless infrastructure, accessible via a single log-on. Like other infrastructures of similar nature, Grid functioning requires not only technologically sound basis, but also reliable operation procedures, monitoring and accounting. The two aspects, technological and operational, are closely related: weaker is the technology, more burden is on operations, and other way around. As of today, Grid technologies are still evolving: at CERN alone, every LHC experiment uses an own Grid-like system. This inevitably creates a heavy load on operations. Infrastructure maintenance, monitoring and incident response are done on several levels, from local system administrators to large international organisations, involving massive human effort worldwide. The necessity to commit substantial resources is one of the obstacles faced by smaller research communities when moving computing to the Grid. Moreover, most current Grid solutions were developed under significant influence of HEP use cases, and thus need additional effort to adapt them to other applications. Reluctance of many non-HEP researchers to use Grid negatively affects the outlook for national Grid organisations, which strive to provide multi-science services. We started from the situation where Grid organisations were fused with HEP laboratories and national HEP research programmes; we hope to move towards the world where Grid will ultimately reach the status of generic public computing and storage service provider and permanent national and international Grid infrastructures will be established. How far will we be able to advance along this path, depends on us. If no standardisation and convergence efforts will take place

Current Grid operation and future role of the Grid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smirnova, O

2012-01-01

Grid-like technologies and approaches became an integral part of HEP experiments. Some other scientific communities also use similar technologies for data-intensive computations. The distinct feature of Grid computing is the ability to federate heterogeneous resources of different ownership into a seamless infrastructure, accessible via a single log-on. Like other infrastructures of similar nature, Grid functioning requires not only technologically sound basis, but also reliable operation procedures, monitoring and accounting. The two aspects, technological and operational, are closely related: weaker is the technology, more burden is on operations, and other way around. As of today, Grid technologies are still evolving: at CERN alone, every LHC experiment uses an own Grid-like system. This inevitably creates a heavy load on operations. Infrastructure maintenance, monitoring and incident response are done on several levels, from local system administrators to large international organisations, involving massive human effort worldwide. The necessity to commit substantial resources is one of the obstacles faced by smaller research communities when moving computing to the Grid. Moreover, most current Grid solutions were developed under significant influence of HEP use cases, and thus need additional effort to adapt them to other applications. Reluctance of many non-HEP researchers to use Grid negatively affects the outlook for national Grid organisations, which strive to provide multi-science services. We started from the situation where Grid organisations were fused with HEP laboratories and national HEP research programmes; we hope to move towards the world where Grid will ultimately reach the status of generic public computing and storage service provider and permanent national and international Grid infrastructures will be established. How far will we be able to advance along this path, depends on us. If no standardisation and convergence efforts will take place

Silicon carbide microsystems for harsh environments

CERN Document Server

Wijesundara, Muthu B J

2011-01-01

Silicon Carbide Microsystems for Harsh Environments reviews state-of-the-art Silicon Carbide (SiC) technologies that, when combined, create microsystems capable of surviving in harsh environments, technological readiness of the system components, key issues when integrating these components into systems, and other hurdles in harsh environment operation. The authors use the SiC technology platform suite the model platform for developing harsh environment microsystems and then detail the current status of the specific individual technologies (electronics, MEMS, packaging). Additionally, methods

A current to voltage converter for cryogenics using a CMOS operational amplifier

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hayashi, K; Saitoh, K; Shibayama, Y; Shirahama, K [Department of Physics, Keio University, Yokohama 223-8522 (Japan)], E-mail: khayashi@a2.keio.jp

2009-02-01

We have constructed a versatile current to voltage (I-V) converter operating at liquid helium temperature, using a commercially available all-CMOS OPamp. It is valuable for cryogenic measurements of electrical current of nano-pico amperes, for example, in scanning probe microscopy. The I-V converter is thermally linked to liquid helium bath and self-heated up to 10.7 K. We have confirmed its capability of a transimpedance gain of 10{sup 6} V/A and a bandwidth from DC to 200 kHz. In order to test the practical use for a frequency-modulation atomic force microscope, we have measured the resonance frequency shift of a quartz tuning fork at 32 kHz. In the operation of the I-V converter close to the sensor at liquid helium temperature, the signal-to-noise ratio has been improved to a factor of 13.6 compared to the operation at room temperature.

Current feedback operational amplifiers and their applications

CERN Document Server

Senani, Raj; Singh, A K; Singh, V K

2013-01-01

This book describes a variety of current feedback operational amplifier (CFOA) architectures and their applications in analog signal processing/generation. Coverage includes a comprehensive survey of commercially available, off-the-shelf integrated circuit CFOAs, as well as recent advances made on the design of CFOAs, including design innovations for bipolar and CMOS CFOAs.  This book serves as a single-source reference to the topic, as well as a catalog of over 200 application circuits which would be useful not only for students, educators and researchers in apprising them about the recent developments in the area but would also serve as a comprehensive repertoire of useful circuits for practicing engineers who might be interested in choosing an appropriate CFOA-based topology for use in a given application.

Sustainability of biomass utilisation in changing operational environment - SUBICHOE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Soimakallio, S. [VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Espoo (Finland)], email: sampo.soimakallio@vtt.fi

2012-07-01

The main objective of the project was to assist in strategic decision-making of public administration and companies, as regards the most sustainable use of biomass, by taking into account the changing operational environment. This project continued the work of the BIOVAIKU project by exploring in more details the most critical issues identified in sustainability assessment. These include the need to develop assessment methods and criteria in particular for land use and land-use change due to biomass cultivation and harvesting and indirect impacts due to resource competition.

ORNL radioactive waste operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sease, J.D.; King, E.M.; Coobs, J.H.; Row, T.H.

1982-01-01

Since its beginning in 1943, ORNL has generated large amounts of solid, liquid, and gaseous radioactive waste material as a by-product of the basic research and development work carried out at the laboratory. The waste system at ORNL has been continually modified and updated to keep pace with the changing release requirements for radioactive wastes. Major upgrading projects are currently in progress. The operating record of ORNL waste operation has been excellent over many years. Recent surveillance of radioactivity in the Oak Ridge environs indicates that atmospheric concentrations of radioactivity were not significantly different from other areas in East Tennesseee. Concentrations of radioactivity in the Clinch River and in fish collected from the river were less than 4% of the permissible concentration and intake guides for individuals in the offsite environment. While some radioactivity was released to the environment from plant operations, the concentrations in all of the media sampled were well below established standards

Rugged optical mirrors for the operation of Fourier-Transform Spectrometers in rough environments

Science.gov (United States)

Feist, Dietrich G.

2014-05-01

The Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) and the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC) operate a growing number of Fourier-Transform Spectrometers (FTS) that measure the total column of several atmospheric trace gases. For these measurements, the sun is used as a light source. This is typically achieved by a solar tracker that uses a pair of optical mirrors to guide the sunlight into the instrument. There is a growing demand to operate these instruments in remote locations that fill the gaps in the global observation network. Besides the logistical challenges of running a remote site, the environment at these locations can be very harsh compared to the sheltered environment of the instruments' home institutions. While the FTS itself is usually well protected inside a building or container, the solar tracker and especially its mirrors are exposed to the environment. There they may suffer from - temperature fluctuations - high humidity - sea salt corrosion at coastal sites - dirt and dust - air pollution from anthropogenic sources - deposition from plants or animals The Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry (MPI-BGC) operates a TCCON station on Ascension Island, about 200 m from the sea. Under the rough conditions at this site, typical optical mirrors that are made for laboratory conditions are destroyed by sea salt spray within a few weeks. Besides, typical gold-coated mirrors cannot be cleaned as their soft surface is easily scratched or damaged. To overcome these problems, the MPI-BGC has developed optical mirrors that - offer good reflectivity in the near and mid infrared - are highly resistant to salt and chlorine - have a hard surface so that they can be cleaned often and easily - are not affected by organic solvents - last for months in very harsh environments - can be reused after polishing These mirrors could be applied to most TCCON and NDACC sites. This way, the network could be expanded to regions where operation

Decommissioning and reclamation of the Beaverlodge uranium mine-mill operation: current state of the transition phase

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Phillips, R.L.J.; Himbeault, K.T.; Topp, B.J.; Halbert, B.E.; Fernandes, S.L.

2000-01-01

The Beaverlodge uranium mining and milling facilities were operated from 1952 to 1981 with about 94% of the ore extracted from the main underground mine and 6% from smaller satellite deposits. Decommissioning work occurred from 1982 to 1985 involving periods of shutdown, salvage and reclamation. Transition phase monitoring, leading to eventual delicencing commenced in July 1985. Over the last 15 years, discharge from the tailings management facility (TMF) and a fresh water stream, impacted during the operational phase by tailings spills, has improved in water quality for most parameters of concern. Loadings to the environment of three key contaminants (radium-226, total dissolved solids and uranium) have consistently been less than during the operational phase with radium-226 having the greatest variability. Outstanding environmental issues associated with the recovering drainage system formerly used for tailings disposal, are being addressed in an enhanced environmental monitoring program to commence in 2000. Changes in water chemistry and the natural re-introduction of aquatic organisms are issues of concern. In the meantime, application for release from selected satellite areas commenced in 1999. This paper reviews the issues which have arisen during the transition phase, outlines how they have and are being addressed, and provides a comparison of original and current predictions of the recovery process underway at the former Beaverlodge mine site. (author)

Current correlators in QCD: Operator product expansion versus large distance dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shevchenko, V.I.; Simonov, Yu.A.

2004-01-01

We analyze the structure of current-current correlators in coordinate space in the large N c limit when the corresponding spectral density takes the form of an infinite sum over hadron poles. The latter are computed in the QCD string model with quarks at the ends, including the lowest states, for all channels. The corresponding correlators demonstrate reasonable qualitative agreement with the lattice data without any additional fits. Different issues concerning the structure of the short-distance operator product expansion are discussed

Design of Jet lower hybrid current drive generator and operation of high power test bed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dobbing, J.A.; Bosia, G.; Brandon, M.; Gammelin, M.; Gormezano, C.; Jacquinot, J.; Jessop, G.; Lennholm, M.; Pain, M.; Sibley, A.

1989-01-01

The JET Lower Hybrid Current Drive (LHCD) generator consists of 24 klystrons each rated for 650 KW operating at 3.7 GHz, giving a nominal generator power of 15.6 MW for 10 seconds or 12 MW for 20 seconds. This power will be transmitted through 24 waveguides to a phased array launcher on one of the main ports of the JET machine. In addition, two klystrons are currently being operated on a high power test bed to establish reliable operation of the generators components and test high power microwave components prior to their installation

Characteristics of a high current ion source operated with lithium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bay, H.L.; Dullni, E.; Leismann, P.

1986-05-01

A low pressure arc ion source has been tested for operation with lithium. Currents up to 120 mA could be extracted through a multiple aperture extraction system at energies of 30 keV. The ion beam was neutralized up to 70% in a charge exchange cell filled with lithium vapour. The beam divergence ranged from 20 to 25 mrad full angle deduced from the spatial distribution of the collision induced Li I resonance line. Current densities from 2 to 3 mA/m 2 at a distance of 1.9 m from the source were measured either by laser induced fluorescence or with a Faraday cup. (orig.)

Toward humanoid robots for operations in complex urban environments

Science.gov (United States)

Pratt, Jerry E.; Neuhaus, Peter; Johnson, Matthew; Carff, John; Krupp, Ben

2010-04-01

Many infantry operations in urban environments, such as building clearing, are extremely dangerous and difficult and often result in high casualty rates. Despite the fast pace of technological progress in many other areas, the tactics and technology deployed for many of these dangerous urban operation have not changed much in the last 50 years. While robots have been extremely useful for improvised explosive device (IED) detonation, under-vehicle inspection, surveillance, and cave exploration, there is still no fieldable robot that can operate effectively in cluttered streets and inside buildings. Developing a fieldable robot that can maneuver in complex urban environments is challenging due to narrow corridors, stairs, rubble, doors and cluttered doorways, and other obstacles. Typical wheeled and tracked robots have trouble getting through most of these obstacles. A bipedal humanoid is ideally shaped for many of these obstacles because its legs are long and skinny. Therefore it has the potential to step over large barriers, gaps, rocks, and steps, yet squeeze through narrow passageways, and through narrow doorways. By being able to walk with one foot directly in front of the other, humanoids also have the potential to walk over narrow "balance beam" style objects and can cross a narrow row of stepping stones. We describe some recent advances in humanoid robots, particularly recovery from disturbances, such as pushes and walking over rough terrain. Our disturbance recovery algorithms are based on the concept of Capture Points. An N-Step Capture Point is a point on the ground in which a legged robot can step to in order to stop in N steps. The N-Step Capture Region is the set of all N-Step Capture Points. In order to walk without falling, a legged robot must step somewhere in the intersection between an N-Step Capture Region and the available footholds on the ground. We present results of push recovery using Capture Points on our humanoid robot M2V2.

SEE induced in SRAM operating in a superconducting electron linear accelerator environment

Science.gov (United States)

Makowski, D.; Mukherjee, Bhaskar; Grecki, M.; Simrock, Stefan

2005-02-01

Strong fields of bremsstrahlung photons and photoneutrons are produced during the operation of high-energy electron linacs. Therefore, a mixed gamma and neutron radiation field dominates the accelerators environment. The gamma radiation induced Total Ionizing Dose (TID) effect manifests the long-term deterioration of the electronic devices operating in accelerator environment. On the other hand, the neutron radiation is responsible for Single Event Effects (SEE) and may cause a temporal loss of functionality of electronic systems. This phenomenon is known as Single Event Upset (SEU). The neutron dose (KERMA) was used to scale the neutron induced SEU in the SRAM chips. Hence, in order to estimate the neutron KERMA conversion factor for Silicon (Si), dedicated calibration experiments using an Americium-Beryllium (241Am/Be) neutron standard source was carried out. Single Event Upset (SEU) influences the short-term operation of SRAM compared to the gamma induced TID effect. We are at present investigating the feasibility of an SRAM based real-time beam-loss monitor for high-energy accelerators utilizing the SEU caused by fast neutrons. This paper highlights the effects of gamma and neutron radiations on Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), placed at selected locations near the Superconducting Linear Accelerator driving the Vacuum UV Free Electron Laser (VUVFEL) of DESY.

A Current-Mode Common-Mode Feedback Circuit (CMFB) with Rail-to-Rail Operation

Science.gov (United States)

Suadet, Apirak; Kasemsuwan, Varakorn

2011-03-01

This paper presents a current-mode common-mode feedback (CMFB) circuit with rail-to-rail operation. The CMFB is a stand-alone circuit, which can be connected to any low voltage transconductor without changing or upsetting the existing circuit. The proposed CMFB employs current mirrors, operating as common-mode detector and current amplifier to enhance the loop gain of the CMFB. The circuit employs positive feedback to enhance the output impedance and gain. The circuit has been designed using a 0.18 μm CMOS technology under 1V supply and analyzed using HSPICE with BSIM3V3 device models. A pseudo-differential amplifier using two common sources and the proposed CMFB shows rail to rail output swing (± 0.7 V) with low common-mode gain (-36 dB) and power dissipation of 390 μW.

Dynamic occupational risk model for offshore operations in harsh environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Guozheng; Khan, Faisal; Wang, Hangzhou; Leighton, Shelly; Yuan, Zhi; Liu, Hanwen

2016-01-01

The expansion of offshore oil exploitation into remote areas (e.g., Arctic) with harsh environments has significantly increased occupational risks. Among occupational accidents, slips, trips and falls from height (STFs) account for a significant portion. Thus, a dynamic risk assessment of the three main occupational accidents is meaningful to decrease offshore occupational risks. Bow-tie Models (BTs) were established in this study for the risk analysis of STFs considering extreme environmental factors. To relax the limitations of BTs, Bayesian networks (BNs) were developed based on BTs to dynamically assess risks of STFs. The occurrence and consequence probabilities of STFs were respectively calculated using BTs and BNs, and the obtained probabilities verified BNs' rationality and advantage. Furthermore, the probability adaptation for STFs was accomplished in a specific scenario with BNs. Finally, posterior probabilities of basic events were achieved through diagnostic analysis, and critical basic events were analyzed based on their posterior likelihood to cause occupational accidents. The highlight is systematically analyzing STF accidents for offshore operations and dynamically assessing their risks considering the harsh environmental factors. This study can guide the allocation of prevention resources and benefit the safety management of offshore operations. - Highlights: • A novel dynamic risk model for occupational accidents. • First time consideration of harsh environment in occupational accident modeling. • A Bayesian network based model for risk management strategies.

Aspect Determination Using a Beacon with a Spiral Wave Front: Modeling and Performance Analysis in Operational Environments

Science.gov (United States)

2014-12-19

Modeling and Performance Analysis in Operational Environments.” Encl: (1) Final Report for the subject grant. (2) Publications, (three) and...Modeling and Performance Analysis in operational environments. Brian Todd Hefner Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, 1013 NE 40th...far-field, the phase difference between the refer- ence source and the spiral source can be written linearly in h, DU ¼ / $ p $ 4p Dz k h: (6) If the

The operating room of the future: observations and commentary.

Science.gov (United States)

Satava, Richard M

2003-09-01

The Operating Room of the Future is a construct upon which to develop the next generation of operating environments for the patient, surgeon, and operating team. Analysis of the suite of visions for the Operating Room of the Future reveals a broad set of goals, with a clear overall solution to create a safe environment for high-quality healthcare. The vision, although planned for the future, is based upon iteratively improving and integrating current systems, both technology and process. This must become the Operating Room of Today, which will require the enormous efforts described. An alternative future of the operating room, based upon emergence of disruptive technologies, is also presented.

Influence of operation of national experimental nuclear reactor on the natural environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agnieszka Kaczmarek-Kacprzak

2012-09-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the impact of experimental nuclear reactor operations on the national environment, based on assessment reports of the radiological protection of active nuclear technology sources. Using the analysis of measurements carried out in the last 15 years, the trends are presented in selected elements of the environment on the Świerk Nuclear Centre site and its surroundings. In addition, the impact of research results is presented from the fi fteen year period of environmental analysis on building public confi dence on the eve of the start of construction of the first Polish nuclear power plant.

Global Military Operating Environments (GMOE) Phase I: Linking Natural Environments, International Security, and Military Operations

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-30

diverse range of natural environments and will require that U.S. forces adapt to a wide range of terrain, climate, and associated hazards within these...Synthetic Environment Core Area), baseline terrain information, and application of remote‐sensing technologies for Warfighter and Chameleon . The

Organizational environment and operator culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morisseau, D.S.; Schoenfeld, I.E.

1988-01-01

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has historically reviewed corporate and plant level management and organization against the criteria of NUREG-0800, The Standard Review Plan. These criteria address the organizational structure, management control, lines of authority and communication, the range and level of experience, and the availability of manpower to effectively and safely operate the facility. Now that most nuclear power plants have received their operating licenses, the emphasis for review has shifted to the day-to-day operation of the facilities. Along with this has come greater recognition that hardware and engineering systems, through vitally important, are not the only components needed for safe operation of power plants. The people who run and operate these plants are a vitally important component and are an integral part of the entire system, i.e., machinery does not operate in isolation

Fast current amplifier for background-limited operation of photovoltaic InSb detectors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Altmann, J; Koehler, S; Lahmann, W

1981-01-01

A fast current amplifier for use with photovoltaic indium antimonide detectors is described which was designed for detection of lidar return signals. Near background-limited operation was possible for bandwidths up to 0.8 MHz.

Preserving the Near-Earth Space Environment with Green Engineering and Operations

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Nicholas L.

2009-01-01

Green engineering and operations are essential to preserving the near-Earth space environment for future generations. The U.S. and the international aerospace community have been proactive in addressing the threat of the increasing orbital debris population and the risks to people and property from reentering debris. NASA has led this activity first by devoting resources to thoroughly understand the technical issues and then by developing effective and acceptable policies and guidelines. NASA also worked closely with the international community to ensure that the US aerospace industry was not placed at an economic disadvantage. In the long term, the removal of large orbital debris will be essential to the sustainability of space operations.

Radiological risks in an operational environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castagnet, X.; Lafferrerie, C.; Amabile, J.C.; Cazoulat, A.; Laroche, P.

2010-01-01

A radiological hazard (e. g. a detonating dirty bomb or accidental radionuclide dispersion) leading to a large number of contaminated or irradiated people needing immediate medical assistance is one of the main threats our troops deployed in an operational environment are facing. Immediate first aid anyway shall take precedence over decontamination but the unique nature of these injuries necessitates specific medical knowledge and training. A contaminated victim needs a rapid -clinical physical and biological- medical evaluation which will determine the amount of required medical support. A person with external contamination needs to be rapidly cleansed to limit spreading surface burns as well as limiting the possible contamination internally spreading into the body. A person with internal contamination requires rapid decontamination at the wound point and antidotes to internally cleanse the body. In France, the Military Health Service has developed a centre of expertise at the Percy military hospital near Paris which is geared up to deal with the victims of radiological attacks. It also has a mobile laboratory equipped with full radio toxicology equipment and body dosimeters to enable rapid and effective results when required. (authors)

Plastics, the environment and human health: current consensus and future trends

OpenAIRE

Thompson, Richard C.; Moore, Charles J.; vom Saal, Frederick S.; Swan, Shanna H.

2009-01-01

Plastics have transformed everyday life; usage is increasing and annual production is likely to exceed 300 million tonnes by 2010. In this concluding paper to the Theme Issue on Plastics, the Environment and Human Health, we synthesize current understanding of the benefits and concerns surrounding the use of plastics and look to future priorities, challenges and opportunities. It is evident that plastics bring many societal benefits and offer future technological and medical advances. However...

Robotic security vehicle for exterior environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klarer, P.R.; Workhoven, R.M.

1988-01-01

This paper describes a current effort at Sandia National Labs to develop an outdoor robotic vehicle capable of performing limited security functions autonomously in a structured environment. The present stage of development entails application of algorithms originally developed for the SIR vehicle to a testbed vehicle more appropriate to an outdoor environment. The current effort will culminate in a full scale demonstration of autonomous navigation capabilities on routine patrol and teleoperation by a human operator for alarm assessment and response. Various schemes for implementation of the robot system are discussed, as are plans for further development of the system

Choice of initial operating parameters for high average current linear accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Batchelor, K.

1976-01-01

Recent emphasis on alternative energy sources together with the need for intense neutron sources for testing of materials for CTR has resulted in renewed interest in high current (approximately 100 mA) c.w. proton and deuteron linear accelerators. In desinging an accelerator for such high currents, it is evident that beam losses in the machine must be minimized, which implies well matched beams, and that adequate acceptance under severe space charge conditions must be met. An investigation is presented of the input parameters to an Alvarez type drift-tube accelerator resulting from such factors. The analysis indicates that an accelerator operating at a frequency of 50 MHz is capable of accepting deuteron currents of about 0.4 amperes and proton currents of about 1.2 amperes. These values depend critically on the assumed values of beam emittance and on the ability to properly ''match'' this to the linac acceptance

FB Line Basis for Interim Operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shedrow, B.

1998-01-01

The safety analysis of the FB-Line Facility indicates that the operation of FB-Line to support the current mission does not present undue risk to the facility and co-located workers, general public, or the environment

Operation Poorman

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pruvost, N.; Tsitouras, J.

1981-01-01

The objectives of Operation Poorman were to design and build a portable seismic system and to set up and use this system in a cold-weather environment. The equipment design uses current technology to achieve a low-power, lightweight system that is configured into three modules. The system was deployed in Alaska during wintertime, and the results provide a basis for specifying a mission-ready seismic verification system

Space environment studies for the SZ-4 spacecraft

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ye Zonghai

2004-01-01

The space environment, especially the solar-terrestrial space environment, has close bearings on mankind's astronautical activities. An overview is presented of the space environment and safeguard services on the 'SZ' series of spacecraft, with special reference to the SZ-4 spacecraft. These include monitoring of the space environment on SZ-4, studies on its distribution, variation and effects on astronautical performance, as well as space environment forecasts for safe launching, normal operation and safe return of SZ-4. Current progress both in China and overseas is covered

Current density distribution mapping in PEM fuel cells as an instrument for operational measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Geske, M.; Heuer, M.; Heideck, G.; Styczynski, Z. A. [Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Chair Electric Power Networks and Renewable Energy Sources, Magdeburg (Germany)

2010-07-01

A newly developed measurement system for current density distribution mapping has enabled a new approach for operational measurements in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). Taking into account previously constructed measurement systems, a method based on a multi layer printed circuit board was chosen for the development of the new system. This type of system consists of a sensor, a special electronic device and the control and visualization PC. For the acquisition of the current density distribution values, a sensor device was designed and installed within a multilayer printed circuit board with integrated shunt resistors. Varying shunt values can be taken into consideration with a newly developed and evaluated calibration method. The sensor device was integrated in a PEM fuel cell stack to prove the functionality of the whole measurement system. A software application was implemented to visualize and save the measurement values. Its functionality was verified by operational measurements within a PEMFC system. Measurement accuracy and possible negative reactions of the sensor device during PEMFC operation are discussed in detail in this paper. The developed system enables operational measurements for different operating phases of PEM fuel cells. Additionally, this can be seen as a basis for new opportunities of optimization for fuel cell design and operation modes. (author)

Current Density Distribution Mapping in PEM Fuel Cells as An Instrument for Operational Measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Geske

2010-04-01

Full Text Available A newly developed measurement system for current density distribution mapping has enabled a new approach for operational measurements in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC. Taking into account previously constructed measurement systems, a method based on a multi layer printed circuit board was chosen for the development of the new system. This type of system consists of a sensor, a special electronic device and the control and visualization PC. For the acquisition of the current density distribution values, a sensor device was designed and installed within a multilayer printed circuit board with integrated shunt resistors. Varying shunt values can be taken into consideration with a newly developed and evaluated calibration method. The sensor device was integrated in a PEM fuel cell stack to prove the functionality of the whole measurement system. A software application was implemented to visualize and save the measurement values. Its functionality was verified by operational measurements within a PEMFC system. Measurement accuracy and possible negative reactions of the sensor device during PEMFC operation are discussed in detail in this paper. The developed system enables operational measurements for different operating phases of PEM fuel cells. Additionally, this can be seen as a basis for new opportunities of optimization for fuel cell design and operation modes.

The Operation Consequence of Nuclear Energy to Environment; Konsekuensi Pengoperasian Tenaga Nuklir terhadap Lingkungan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Suhariyono, Gatot; Sutarman, [Center for Research and Development of Radiation Safety and Nuclear Biomedicine, (Indonesia)

2003-08-15

Objective of the paper is to give information the operation consequence of nuclear energy to environment, so that expected as organizer of PLTN can anticipate or depress as minimum as possible radiology impact to the radiation workers and society in general, and also socialization that operation of nuclear energy do not give the negative impact, if conducted its control to environment seriously. Parts of which it is important to know from this paper are : one. Estimate of equivalent dose of collective effective in a normal condition is the operation cycle for nuclear energy at worker and local or regional resident 10, 100 or 10.000 next years. 2. Equivalent dose of global collective effective is for various the radiation sources. 3. Estimate of dose per cap ut annual of nuclear electric power until year 2500. 4. Aspect of non-radiology is to cooler system, usage of farm, dismissal of chemistry, advantage of hot water waste, its effect to fish, benthos, plankton, vegetation, animal and preparation of nuclear emergency.

Combined operation of pellet injection and lower hybrid current drive on ASDEX

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soeldner, F.X.; Mertens, V.; Bosch, H.S.; Kornherr, M.; Lang, R.; Leuterer, F.; Loch, R.; Sandmann, W.; Bartiromo, R.; Ushigusa, K.

1990-10-01

Simultaneous operation of Lower Hybrid-current drive and pellet injection could be successfully achieved. With peripheral ablation of the pellets by suprathermal electrons, the same net inward flux of particles is found as with deep penetration of pellets into ohmically heated plasmas. The density profile n e (r) peaks with the same increment of the peaking factor Q n = n eo / e > in both cases. The global energy confinement time rises with density, τ E ∝ anti n e , in the combined operation. (orig.)

Computational tools for cyclotron design, commissioning, and operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kost, C.J.

1989-05-01

Many support systems are required in the design, commissioning, and normal operation of a modern cyclotron. Presented is an overview of the computing environment developed during these various stages at TRIUMF. The current computing environment is also discussed, with emphasis on how one can provide an integrated system which is user-friendly

Chiral measurements with the Fixed-Point Dirac operator and construction of chiral currents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hasenfratz, P.; Hauswirth, S.; Holland, K.; Joerg, T.; Niedermayer, F.

2002-01-01

In this preliminary study, we examine the chiral properties of the parametrized Fixed-Point Dirac operator D FP , see how to improve its chirality via the Overlap construction, measure the renormalized quark condensate Σ-circumflex and the topological susceptibility χ t , and investigate local chirality of near zero modes of the Dirac operator. We also give a general construction of chiral currents and densities for chiral lattice actions

Sustainability of biomass utilisation in changing operational environment - SUBICHOE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Soimakallio, S.; Hongisto, M.; Koponen, K.; Sokka, L. (VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Espoo (Finland)), Email: sampo.soimakallio@vtt.fi; Antikainen, R.; Manninen, K. (Finnish Environment Inst. SYKE, Helsinki (Finland)); Thun, R.; Sinkko, T. (MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Jokioinen (Finland)); Pasanen, K. (Finnish Forest Research Inst., Joensuu (Finland))

2010-10-15

Sustaibability is a multi-faceted and challenging target, but at the same time a crucial issue to assess when setting policies and targets for the future. The main objective of the SUBICHOE project is to assist in strategic decision- making of public administration and companies, as regards the most sustainable use of biomass, by taking into account the changing operational environment. In the project the sustainability of biofuels and the criteria, in particular those set by the EC, for ensuring that set requirements can and will be fulfilled are being assessed from short and long term perspectives. The project is carried out jointly by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Finnish Environment Institute SYKE, MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metla) and The Government Institute for Economic Research (VATT). The project started in June 2009 and it is scheduled to be finalised in June 2011. The work plan of the project is divided into four Work Packages. In this article, a summary of a critical view on the requirements and challenges related to the implementation of the RES Directive is also provided based on the main findings of the WP1. (orig.)

Radiation Hardened High Speed Integrated Circuits SERDES I/O for Extreme Operating Environments, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Manned and robotic space missions require high-performance electronic control systems capable of operating for extended periods in harsh environments subject to...

Size distributions of aerosols in an indoor environment with engineered nanoparticle synthesis reactors operating under different scenarios

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sahu, Manoranjan; Biswas, Pratim

2010-01-01

Size distributions of nanoparticles in the vicinity of synthesis reactors will provide guidelines for safe operation and protection of workers. Nanoparticle concentrations and size distributions were measured in a research academic laboratory environment with two different types of gas-phase synthesis reactors under a variety of operating conditions. The variation of total particle number concentration and size distribution at different distances from the reactor, off-design state of the fume hood, powder handling during recovery, and maintenance of reactors are established. Significant increases in number concentration were observed at all the locations during off-design conditions (i.e., failure of the exhaust system). Clearance of nanoparticles from the work environment was longer under off-design conditions (20 min) compared to that under normal hood operating conditions (4-6 min). While lower particle number concentrations are observed during operation of furnace aerosol reactors in comparison to flame aerosol reactors, the handling, processing, and maintenance operations result in elevated concentrations in the work area.

Using Web 2.0 Techniques in NASA's Ares Engineering Operations Network (AEON) Environment - First Impressions

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, David W.

2010-01-01

The Mission Operations Laboratory (MOL) at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is responsible for Engineering Support capability for NASA s Ares rocket development and operations. In pursuit of this, MOL is building the Ares Engineering and Operations Network (AEON), a web-based portal to support and simplify two critical activities: Access and analyze Ares manufacturing, test, and flight performance data, with access to Shuttle data for comparison Establish and maintain collaborative communities within the Ares teams/subteams and with other projects, e.g., Space Shuttle, International Space Station (ISS). AEON seeks to provide a seamless interface to a) locally developed engineering applications and b) a Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) collaborative environment that includes Web 2.0 capabilities, e.g., blogging, wikis, and social networking. This paper discusses how Web 2.0 might be applied to the typically conservative engineering support arena, based on feedback from Integration, Verification, and Validation (IV&V) testing and on searching for their use in similar environments.

Degradation of Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells Operated at High Current Densities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tao, Youkun; Ebbesen, Sune Dalgaard; Mogensen, Mogens Bjerg

2014-01-01

In this work the durability of solid oxide cells for co-electrolysis of steam and carbon dioxide (45 % H2O + 45 % CO2 + 10 % H2) at high current densities was investigated. The tested cells are Ni-YSZ electrode supported, with a YSZ electrolyte and either a LSM-YSZ or LSCF-CGO oxygen electrode....... A current density of -1.5 and -2.0 A/cm2 was applied to the cell and the gas conversion was 45 % and 60 %, respectively. The cells were operated for a period of up to 700 hours. The electrochemical analysis revealed significant performance degradation for the ohmic process, oxygen ion interfacial transfer...

Autonomous Mission Operations for Sensor Webs

Science.gov (United States)

Underbrink, A.; Witt, K.; Stanley, J.; Mandl, D.

2008-12-01

We present interim results of a 2005 ROSES AIST project entitled, "Using Intelligent Agents to Form a Sensor Web for Autonomous Mission Operations", or SWAMO. The goal of the SWAMO project is to shift the control of spacecraft missions from a ground-based, centrally controlled architecture to a collaborative, distributed set of intelligent agents. The network of intelligent agents intends to reduce management requirements by utilizing model-based system prediction and autonomic model/agent collaboration. SWAMO agents are distributed throughout the Sensor Web environment, which may include multiple spacecraft, aircraft, ground systems, and ocean systems, as well as manned operations centers. The agents monitor and manage sensor platforms, Earth sensing systems, and Earth sensing models and processes. The SWAMO agents form a Sensor Web of agents via peer-to-peer coordination. Some of the intelligent agents are mobile and able to traverse between on-orbit and ground-based systems. Other agents in the network are responsible for encapsulating system models to perform prediction of future behavior of the modeled subsystems and components to which they are assigned. The software agents use semantic web technologies to enable improved information sharing among the operational entities of the Sensor Web. The semantics include ontological conceptualizations of the Sensor Web environment, plus conceptualizations of the SWAMO agents themselves. By conceptualizations of the agents, we mean knowledge of their state, operational capabilities, current operational capacities, Web Service search and discovery results, agent collaboration rules, etc. The need for ontological conceptualizations over the agents is to enable autonomous and autonomic operations of the Sensor Web. The SWAMO ontology enables automated decision making and responses to the dynamic Sensor Web environment and to end user science requests. The current ontology is compatible with Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC

Elimination of zero sequence circulating current between parallel operating three-level inverters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, Kai; Wang, Xiaodong; Dong, Zhenhua

2016-01-01

In order to suppress the zero sequence circulating currents (ZSCCs) between parallel operating three level voltage source inverters with common AC and DC buses, a common mode voltage reduction PWM (CMVR-PWM) technique and neural point potentials (NPPs) control based method is proposed in this paper...

Psychological biases affecting human cognitive performance in dynamic operational environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takano, Kenichi; Reason, J.

1999-01-01

In order to identify cognitive error mechanisms observed in the dynamic operational environment, the following materials were analyzed giving special attention to psychological biases, together with possible cognitive tasks and these location, and internal and external performance shaping factors: (a) 13 human factors analyses of US nuclear power plant accidents, (b) 14 cases of Japanese nuclear power plant incidents, and (c) 23 cases collected in simulator experiments. In the resulting analysis, the most frequently identified cognitive process associated with error productions was situation assessment, and following varieties were KB processes and response planning, all of that were the higher cognitive activities. Over 70% of human error cases, psychological bias was affecting to cognitive errors, especially those to higher cognitive activities. In addition, several error occurrence patterns, including relations between cognitive process, biases, and PSFs were identified by the multivariate analysis. According to the identified error patterns, functions that an operator support system have to equip were discussed and specified for design base considerations. (author)

Development of monitoring-control methods for heavy remote handling operations in an irradiated environment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Argouac' h, J R [Alsthom-Atlantique, ACB Nantes (France)

1984-11-01

Heavy remote handling equipment units have benefited from the progress made in robotics, but with certain specific constraints linked to the environment in which they are required to operate. Notably, these constraints impose the exclusive use of electrical techniques.

Operating nuclear power stations in a regulated cyber security environment: a roadmap for success

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dorman, E., E-mail: Erik.Dorman@areva.com [AREVA Inc., Cyber Security Solutions, Charlotte, NC (United States)

2015-07-01

The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued 10CFR73.54 to implement a regulated Cyber Security Program at each operating nuclear reactor facility. Milestones were implemented December 31, 2012 to mitigate the attack vectors for the most critical digital assets acknowledged by the industry and the NRC. The NRC inspections have begun. The nuclear Cyber Security Plan, implemented by the site Cyber Security Program (Program), is an element of the operating license at each facility. The Program is designed to protect critical digital assets (CDAs) by applying and maintaining defense-in depth protective strategies to ensure the capability to detect, respond to, and recover from cyber-attacks. The Program references NEI 08-09 R. 6, the Nuclear Energy Institute Template that provides guidance for applying Cyber Security controls derived from NIST 800-53/82 and slightly modified to fit the nuclear environment. Many mature processes are in place at nuclear facilities in response to numerous regulations implemented over the past 30 years. Many of these processes such as the Physical Security Program offer protections that are leveraged to protect the functions of critical digital assets from unauthorized physical access. Other processes and technology such as engineering design control, work management and pre-job briefs, control of portable media and mobile devices, and deterministically segregated networks protect critical digital assets. By leveraging the regulated nuclear environment, integrating NIST type Cyber Security controls, and prudently deploying technology the Cyber Security posture of operating nuclear facilities supports on-demand base load electricity 24/7 with capacity factors exceeding 85%. This paper is designed to provide a glimpse into Cyber Security Programs that support safe operation and reliability in the regulated nuclear environment while supporting the on-demand base load electricity production 24/7. (author)

Operating nuclear power stations in a regulated cyber security environment: a roadmap for success

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dorman, E.

2015-01-01

The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued 10CFR73.54 to implement a regulated Cyber Security Program at each operating nuclear reactor facility. Milestones were implemented December 31, 2012 to mitigate the attack vectors for the most critical digital assets acknowledged by the industry and the NRC. The NRC inspections have begun. The nuclear Cyber Security Plan, implemented by the site Cyber Security Program (Program), is an element of the operating license at each facility. The Program is designed to protect critical digital assets (CDAs) by applying and maintaining defense-in depth protective strategies to ensure the capability to detect, respond to, and recover from cyber-attacks. The Program references NEI 08-09 R. 6, the Nuclear Energy Institute Template that provides guidance for applying Cyber Security controls derived from NIST 800-53/82 and slightly modified to fit the nuclear environment. Many mature processes are in place at nuclear facilities in response to numerous regulations implemented over the past 30 years. Many of these processes such as the Physical Security Program offer protections that are leveraged to protect the functions of critical digital assets from unauthorized physical access. Other processes and technology such as engineering design control, work management and pre-job briefs, control of portable media and mobile devices, and deterministically segregated networks protect critical digital assets. By leveraging the regulated nuclear environment, integrating NIST type Cyber Security controls, and prudently deploying technology the Cyber Security posture of operating nuclear facilities supports on-demand base load electricity 24/7 with capacity factors exceeding 85%. This paper is designed to provide a glimpse into Cyber Security Programs that support safe operation and reliability in the regulated nuclear environment while supporting the on-demand base load electricity production 24/7. (author)

Charged particle beam current monitoring tutorial

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Webber, R.C.

1994-10-01

A tutorial presentation is made on topics related to the measurement of charged particle beam currents. The fundamental physics of electricity and magnetism pertinent to the problem is reviewed. The physics is presented with a stress on its interpretation from an electrical circuit theory point of view. The operation of devices including video pulse current transformers, direct current transformers, and gigahertz bandwidth wall current style transformers is described. Design examples are given for each of these types of devices. Sensitivity, frequency response, and physical environment are typical parameters which influence the design of these instruments in any particular application. Practical engineering considerations, potential pitfalls, and performance limitations are discussed

Failure Mechanisms and Color Stability in Light-Emitting Diodes during Operation in High- Temperature Environments in Presence of Contamination

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lall, Pradeep; Zhang, Hao; Davis, J Lynn

2015-05-26

The energy efficiency of light-emitting diode (LED) technology compared to incandescent light bulbs has triggered an increased focus on solid state luminaries for a variety of lighting applications. Solid-state lighting (SSL) utilizes LEDs, for illumination through the process of electroluminescence instead of heating a wire filament as seen with traditional lighting. The fundamental differences in the construction of LED and the incandescent lamp results in different failure modes including lumen degradation, chromaticity shift and drift in the correlated color temperature. The use of LED-based products for safety-critical and harsh environment applications necessitates the characterization of the failure mechanisms and modes. In this paper, failure mechanisms and color stability has been studied for commercially available vertical structured thin film LED (VLED) under harsh environment conditions with and without the presence of contaminants. The VLED used for the study was mounted on a ceramic starboard in order to connect it to the current source. Contamination sources studied include operation in the vicinity of vulcanized rubber and adhesive epoxies in the presence of temperature and humidity. Performance of the VLEDs has been quantified using the measured luminous flux and color shift of the VLEDs subjected to both thermal and humidity stresses under a forward current bias of 350 mA. Results indicate that contamination can result in pre-mature luminous flux degradation and color shift in LEDs.

Evidence for Anomalous Effects on the Current Evolution in Tokamak Operating Scenarios

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Casper, T; Jayakumar, R; Allen, S; Holcomb, C; Makowski, M; Pearlstein, L; Berk, H; Greenfield, C; Luce, T; Petty, C; Politzer, P; Wade, M; Murakami, M; Kessel, C

2006-10-03

Alternatives to the usual picture of advanced tokamak (AT) discharges are those that form when anomalous effects alter the plasma current and pressure profiles and those that achieve stationary characteristics through mechanisms so that a measure of desired AT features is maintained without external current-profile control. Regimes exhibiting these characteristics are those where the safety factor (q) evolves to a stationary profile with the on-axis and minimum q {approx} 1 and those with a deeply hollow current channel and high values of q. Operating scenarios with high fusion performance at low current and where the inductively driven current density achieves a stationary configuration with either small or non-existing sawteeth may enhance the neutron fluence per pulse on ITER and future burning plasmas. Hollow current profile discharges exhibit high confinement and a strong ''box-like'' internal transport barrier (ITB). We present results providing evidence for current profile formation and evolution exhibiting features consistent with anomalous effects or with self-organizing mechanisms. Determination of the underlying physical processes leading to these anomalous effects is important for scaling of current experiments for application in future burning plasmas.

The high current test facility injector operation to 40 mA dc

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ungrin, J.; Ormrod, J.H.; Michel, W.L.

1976-01-01

The high current test facility injector is a 750 keV proton accelerator designed to investigate the problems involved in the acceleration of intense dc proton beams. The performance of the injector and the experience gained in operation with dc beams up to 40 mA are described. (author)

The thermal comfort, the indoor environment control, and the energy consumption in three types of operating rooms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Melhado, M.D.A.; Beyer, P.O.; Hensen, J.L.M.; Siqueira, L.F.G.

2005-01-01

This research investigated the influence of three layouts of operating rooms on the indoor environment control, on thermal comfort and on energy consumption. It was used the EnergyPlus software. The parameters of the environment were described in accordance with standards. The three layouts had

On Active Current Selection for Lagrangian Profilers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Jouffroy

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Autonomous Lagrangian profilers are now widely used as measurement and monitoring platforms, notably in observation programs as Argo. In a typical mode of operation, the profilers drift passively at their parking depthbefore making a vertical profile to go back to the surface. This paperpresents simple and computationally-efficient control strategies to activelyselect and use ocean currents so that a profiler can autonomously reach adesired destination. After briefly presenting a typical profiler andpossible mechanical modifications for a coastal environment, we introducesimple mathematical models for the profiler and the currents it will use. Wethen present simple feedback controllers that, using the direction of thecurrents and taking into account the configuration of the environment(coastal or deep-sea, is able to steer the profiler to any desiredhorizontal location. To illustrate the approach, a few results are presentedusing both simulated currents and real current velocity profiles from theNorth Sea.

Alertness management in flight operations - Strategic napping

Science.gov (United States)

Rosekind, Mark R.; Gander, Philippa H.; Dinges, David F.

1991-01-01

Strategic napping in two different flight operation environments is considered to illustrate its application as a fatigue countermeasure. Data obtained from commercial short-haul and long-haul operations demonstrated the utility and current practices of strategic napping. A preplanned cockpit nap acted as an acute 'safety valve' for the sleep loss, circadian disruption, and fatigue that occurs in long-haul flying.

Challenges for Transitioning Science Knowledge to an Operational Environment for Space Weather

Science.gov (United States)

Spann, James

2012-01-01

Effectively transitioning science knowledge to an operational environment relevant to space weather is critical to meet the civilian and defense needs, especially considering how technologies are advancing and present evolving susceptibilities to space weather impacts. The effort to transition scientific knowledge to a useful application is not a research task nor is an operational activity, but an effort that bridges the two. Successful transitioning must be an intentional effort that has a clear goal for all parties and measureable outcome and deliverable. This talk will present proven methodologies that have been demonstrated to be effective for terrestrial weather and disaster relief efforts, and how those methodologies can be applied to space weather transition efforts.

Stress training and the new military environment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Delahaij, R.; Gaillard, A.W.K.; Soeters, J.M.L.M.

2006-01-01

The new environment in which current military operations take place is often characterized by unpredictable and ambiguous situations. This places new demands on military personnel. In combination with high levels of violence and threat, these situations will elicit acute stress reactions, which can

External heating and current drive source requirements towards steady-state operation in ITER

Science.gov (United States)

Poli, F. M.; Kessel, C. E.; Bonoli, P. T.; Batchelor, D. B.; Harvey, R. W.; Snyder, P. B.

2014-07-01

Steady state scenarios envisaged for ITER aim at optimizing the bootstrap current, while maintaining sufficient confinement and stability to provide the necessary fusion yield. Non-inductive scenarios will need to operate with internal transport barriers (ITBs) in order to reach adequate fusion gain at typical currents of 9 MA. However, the large pressure gradients associated with ITBs in regions of weak or negative magnetic shear can be conducive to ideal MHD instabilities, reducing the no-wall limit. The E × B flow shear from toroidal plasma rotation is expected to be low in ITER, with a major role in the ITB dynamics being played by magnetic geometry. Combinations of heating and current drive (H/CD) sources that sustain reversed magnetic shear profiles throughout the discharge are the focus of this work. Time-dependent transport simulations indicate that a combination of electron cyclotron (EC) and lower hybrid (LH) waves is a promising route towards steady state operation in ITER. The LH forms and sustains expanded barriers and the EC deposition at mid-radius freezes the bootstrap current profile stabilizing the barrier and leading to confinement levels 50% higher than typical H-mode energy confinement times. Using LH spectra with spectrum centred on parallel refractive index of 1.75-1.85, the performance of these plasma scenarios is close to the ITER target of 9 MA non-inductive current, global confinement gain H98 = 1.6 and fusion gain Q = 5.

Dynamic and adaptive policy models for coalition operations

Science.gov (United States)

Verma, Dinesh; Calo, Seraphin; Chakraborty, Supriyo; Bertino, Elisa; Williams, Chris; Tucker, Jeremy; Rivera, Brian; de Mel, Geeth R.

2017-05-01

It is envisioned that the success of future military operations depends on the better integration, organizationally and operationally, among allies, coalition members, inter-agency partners, and so forth. However, this leads to a challenging and complex environment where the heterogeneity and dynamism in the operating environment intertwines with the evolving situational factors that affect the decision-making life cycle of the war fighter. Therefore, the users in such environments need secure, accessible, and resilient information infrastructures where policy-based mechanisms adopt the behaviours of the systems to meet end user goals. By specifying and enforcing a policy based model and framework for operations and security which accommodates heterogeneous coalitions, high levels of agility can be enabled to allow rapid assembly and restructuring of system and information resources. However, current prevalent policy models (e.g., rule based event-condition-action model and its variants) are not sufficient to deal with the highly dynamic and plausibly non-deterministic nature of these environments. Therefore, to address the above challenges, in this paper, we present a new approach for policies which enables managed systems to take more autonomic decisions regarding their operations.

Limitations Of The Current State Space Modelling Approach In Multistage Machining Processes Due To Operation Variations

Science.gov (United States)

Abellán-Nebot, J. V.; Liu, J.; Romero, F.

2009-11-01

The State Space modelling approach has been recently proposed as an engineering-driven technique for part quality prediction in Multistage Machining Processes (MMP). Current State Space models incorporate fixture and datum variations in the multi-stage variation propagation, without explicitly considering common operation variations such as machine-tool thermal distortions, cutting-tool wear, cutting-tool deflections, etc. This paper shows the limitations of the current State Space model through an experimental case study where the effect of the spindle thermal expansion, cutting-tool flank wear and locator errors are introduced. The paper also discusses the extension of the current State Space model to include operation variations and its potential benefits.

The impact of the operating environment on the design of redundant configurations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marseguerra, M.; Padovani, E.; Zio, E.

1999-01-01

Safety systems are often characterized by substantial redundancy and diversification in safety critical components. In principle, such redundancy and diversification can bring benefits when compared to single-component systems. However, it has also been recognized that the evaluation of these benefits should take into account that redundancies cannot be founded, in practice, on the assumption of complete independence, so that the resulting risk profile is strongly dominated by dependent failures. It is therefore mandatory that the effects of common cause failures be estimated in any probabilistic safety assessment (PSA). Recently, in the Hughes model for hardware failures and in the Eckhardt and Lee models for software failures, it was proposed that the stressfulness of the operating environment affects the probability that a particular type of component will fail. Thus, dependence of component failure behaviors can arise indirectly through the variability of the environment which can directly affect the success of a redundant configuration. In this paper we investigate the impact of indirect component dependence by means of the introduction of a probability distribution which describes the variability of the environment. We show that the variance of the distribution of the number, or times, of system failures can give an indication of the presence of the environment. Further, the impact of the environment is shown to affect the reliability and the design of redundant configurations

Design of the corona current measurement sensor with wide bandwidth under dc ultra-high-voltage environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Yingyi; Yuan, Haiwen; Yang, Qinghua; Cui, Yong

2011-01-01

The research in the field of corona discharge, which is one of the key technologies, can help us to realize ultra-high-voltage (UHV) power transmission. This paper proposes a new sampling resistance sensor to measure the dc UHV corona current in a wide band. By designing the structural and distributed parameters of the sensor, the UHV dielectric breakdown performance and the wide-band measuring characteristics of the sensor are satisfied. A high-voltage discharge test shows that the designed sensor can work under a 1200 kV dc environment without the occurrence of corona discharge. A frequency characteristic test shows that the measuring bandwidth of the sensor can be improved from the current 4.5 to 20 MHz. The test results in an actual dc UHV transmission line demonstrate that the sensor can accurately measure the corona current under the dc UHV environment

Operational Reach: Is Current Army Doctrine Adequate?

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Heintzelman, Scott

2003-01-01

The term operational reach, an element of operational design, is new to U.S. Army doctrine. Operational reach is not found in the previous edition of the Army's basic operational doctrine, Field Manual...

Conductor of high electrical current at high temperature in oxygen and liquid metal environment

Science.gov (United States)

Powell, IV, Adam Clayton; Pati, Soobhankar; Derezinski, Stephen Joseph; Lau, Garrett; Pal, Uday B.; Guan, Xiaofei; Gopalan, Srikanth

2016-01-12

In one aspect, the present invention is directed to apparatuses for and methods of conducting electrical current in an oxygen and liquid metal environment. In another aspect, the invention relates to methods for production of metals from their oxides comprising providing a cathode in electrical contact with a molten electrolyte, providing a liquid metal anode separated from the cathode and the molten electrolyte by a solid oxygen ion conducting membrane, providing a current collector at the anode, and establishing a potential between the cathode and the anode.

Quantities of transuranic elements in the environment from operations relating to nuclear weapons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Facer, G.

1980-01-01

Only nuclear explosions near or above the earth's surface or under water have contributed substantial amounts of transuranic materials to the world bioenvironment. The amounts of transuranics placed in the environment through underground test ventings, accidents involving US nuclear weapons, and releases during weapon production operations have been negligible in comparison with those from atmospheric testing of nuclear explosives. On the order of 10 5 Ci of plutonium has been dispersed within our environment from about 400 nuclear explosive tests, including those by the US, Great Britain, and Russia, between 1945 and 1963, plus more recent nuclear explosive tests in the atmosphere by China, India, and France

The Shrail: A Comparison of a Novel Attachable Rail System With the Current Deployment Operating Table.

Science.gov (United States)

Dilday, Joshua; Sirkin, Maxwell R; Wertin, Thomas; Bradley, Frances; Hiles, Jason

The current forward surgical team (FST) operating table is heavy and burdensome and hinders essential movement flexibility. A novel attachable rail system, the Shrail, has been developed to overcome these obstacles. The Shrail turns a North Atlantic Treaty Organization litter into a functional operating table. A local FST compared the assembly of the FST operating table with assembling the Shrail. Device weight, storage space, and assembly space were directly measured and compared. The mean assembly time required for the Shrail was significantly less compared with the operating table (23.36 versus 151.6 seconds; p ≤ .01). The Shrail weighs less (6.80kg versus 73.03kg) and requires less storage space (0.019m3 versus 0.323m3) compared with the current FST operating table. The Shrail provides an FST with a faster, lighter surgical table assembly. For these reasons, it is better suited for the demands of an FST and the implementation of prolonged field care. 2018.

Heating and current drive requirements towards steady state operation in ITER

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Poli, F. M.; Kessel, C. E.; Gorelenkova, M. [Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, NJ 08543 (United States); Bonoli, P. T. [MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Batchelor, D. B. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6169 (United States); Harvey, B.; Petrov, Y. [CompX, Box 2672, Del Mar, CA 92014 (United States)

2014-02-12

Steady state scenarios envisaged for ITER aim at optimizing the bootstrap current, while maintaining sufficient confinement and stability to provide the necessary fusion yield. Non-inductive scenarios will need to operate with Internal Transport Barriers (ITBs) in order to reach adequate fusion gain at typical currents of 9 MA. However, the large pressure gradients associated with ITBs in regions of weak or negative magnetic shear can be conducive to ideal MHD instabilities, reducing the no-wall limit. The E × B flow shear from toroidal plasma rotation is expected to be low in ITER, with a major role in the ITB dynamics being played by magnetic geometry. Combinations of H/CD sources that maintain weakly reversed magnetic shear profiles throughout the discharge are the focus of this work. Time-dependent transport simulations indicate that, with a trade-off of the EC equatorial and upper launcher, the formation and sustainment of quasi-steady state ITBs could be demonstrated in ITER with the baseline heating configuration. However, with proper constraints from peeling-ballooning theory on the pedestal width and height, the fusion gain and the maximum non-inductive current are below the ITER target. Upgrades of the heating and current drive system in ITER, like the use of Lower Hybrid current drive, could overcome these limitations, sustaining higher non-inductive current and confinement, more expanded ITBs which are ideal MHD stable.

Heating and current drive requirements towards steady state operation in ITER

Science.gov (United States)

Poli, F. M.; Bonoli, P. T.; Kessel, C. E.; Batchelor, D. B.; Gorelenkova, M.; Harvey, B.; Petrov, Y.

2014-02-01

Steady state scenarios envisaged for ITER aim at optimizing the bootstrap current, while maintaining sufficient confinement and stability to provide the necessary fusion yield. Non-inductive scenarios will need to operate with Internal Transport Barriers (ITBs) in order to reach adequate fusion gain at typical currents of 9 MA. However, the large pressure gradients associated with ITBs in regions of weak or negative magnetic shear can be conducive to ideal MHD instabilities, reducing the no-wall limit. The E × B flow shear from toroidal plasma rotation is expected to be low in ITER, with a major role in the ITB dynamics being played by magnetic geometry. Combinations of H/CD sources that maintain weakly reversed magnetic shear profiles throughout the discharge are the focus of this work. Time-dependent transport simulations indicate that, with a trade-off of the EC equatorial and upper launcher, the formation and sustainment of quasi-steady state ITBs could be demonstrated in ITER with the baseline heating configuration. However, with proper constraints from peeling-ballooning theory on the pedestal width and height, the fusion gain and the maximum non-inductive current are below the ITER target. Upgrades of the heating and current drive system in ITER, like the use of Lower Hybrid current drive, could overcome these limitations, sustaining higher non-inductive current and confinement, more expanded ITBs which are ideal MHD stable.

Chalcogenide phase-change memory nanotubes for lower writing current operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, Yeonwoong; Agarwal, Rahul; Yang, Chung-Ying; Agarwal, Ritesh

2011-01-01

We report the synthesis and characterization of Sb-doped Te-rich nanotubes, and study their memory switching properties under the application of electrical pulses. Te-rich nanotubes display significantly low writing currents due to their small cross-sectional areas, which is desirable for power-efficient memory operation. The nanotube devices show limited resistance ratio and cyclic switching capability owing to the intrinsic properties of Te. The observed memory switching properties of this new class of nanostructured memory elements are discussed in terms of fundamental materials properties and extrinsic geometrical effects.

Study of long-term operation of triple-GEM detectors for the high rate environment in CMS

CERN Document Server

Merlin, Jeremie Alexandre

2013-01-01

The CMS GEM collaboration is working on the possible instrumentation of the high-eta region of the CMS Endcap with Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) detectors, a technology capable to sustain the hostile environment that will be encountered at the high-luminosity LHC. To ensure the long-term operation of large triple-GEM detectors in the CMS experiment, we are performing a set of studies in order to measure and understand the aging effect of triple-GEM Muon chambers. The aging includes all the processes that lead to a significant degradation of the performances of the detector gain drop, non-uniformity, dark current, discharges and resolution loss. The project is focused on monitoring continuously the response of the detector when irradiated by a source of Cs 137 at CERN in the Gamma Irradiation Facility (GIF). Moreover, the new technology employed for stretching the GEM foils, so called NS2, introduces new, carefully chosen materials and components in the detectors. Outgassing tests are performed in order to va...

High PRF high current switch

Science.gov (United States)

Moran, Stuart L.; Hutcherson, R. Kenneth

1990-03-27

A triggerable, high voltage, high current, spark gap switch for use in pu power systems. The device comprises a pair of electrodes in a high pressure hydrogen environment that is triggered by introducing an arc between one electrode and a trigger pin. Unusually high repetition rates may be obtained by undervolting the switch, i.e., operating the trigger at voltages much below the self-breakdown voltage of the device.

Analogue Between Dynamic Hamiltonian-Operators of a Mesoscopic Ring Carrying Persistent Current and a Josephson Junction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fan Hongyi; Wang Jisuo

2006-01-01

By making the analogy between the operator Hamiltonians of a mesoscopic ring carrying the persistent current and a Josephson junction we have introduced a phase operator and entangled state representation to establish a theoretical formalism for the ring system.

Computer control of shielded cell operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeffords, W.R. III.

1987-01-01

This paper describes in detail a computer system to remotely control shielded cell operations. System hardware, software, and design criteria are discussed. We have designed a computer-controlled buret that provides a tenfold improvement over the buret currently in service. A computer also automatically controls cell analyses, calibrations, and maintenance. This system improves conditions for the operators by providing a safer, more efficient working environment and is expandable for future growth and development

A subleading power operator basis for the scalar quark current

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Cyuan-Han; Stewart, Iain W.; Vita, Gherardo

2018-04-01

Factorization theorems play a crucial role in our understanding of the strong interaction. For collider processes they are typically formulated at leading power and much less is known about power corrections in the λ ≪ 1 expansion. Here we present a complete basis of power suppressed operators for a scalar quark current at O({λ}^2) in the amplitude level power expansion in the Soft Collinear Effective Theory, demonstrating that helicity selection rules significantly simplify the construction. This basis applies for the production of any color singlet scalar in q\\overline{q} annihilation (such as b\\overline{b}\\to H ). We also classify all operators which contribute to the cross section at O({λ}^2) and perform matching calculations to determine their tree level Wilson coefficients. These results can be exploited to study power corrections in both resummed and fixed order perturbation theory, and for analyzing the factorization properties of gauge theory amplitudes and cross sections at subleading power.

Multi-Attribute Decision-Making Based on Prioritized Aggregation Operator under Hesitant Intuitionistic Fuzzy Linguistic Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peide Liu

2017-11-01

Full Text Available A hesitant intuitionistic fuzzy linguistic set (HIFLS that integrates both qualitative and quantitative evaluations is an extension of the linguistic set, intuitionistic fuzzy set (IFS, hesitant fuzzy set (HFS and hesitant intuitionistic fuzzy set (HIFS. It can describe the qualitative evaluation information given by the decision-makers (DMs and reflect their uncertainty. In this article, we defined some new operational laws and comparative method for HIFLSs. Then, based on these operations, we propose two prioritized aggregation (PA operators for HIFLSs: prioritized weighted averaging operator for HIFLSs (HIFLPWA and prioritized weighted geometric operator for HIFLSs (HIFLPWG. Based on these aggregation operators, an approach for multi-attribute decision-making (MADM is developed under the environment of HIFLSs. Finally, a practical example is given to show the practicality and effectiveness of the developed approach by comparing with the other representative methods.

Overview of real-time operating systems on microprocessor platforms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luong, T.T.

1994-01-01

This paper attempts to overview the real-time operating systems on microprocessor platforms in the field of experimental physics facility controls. The key issues regarding operating systems as well as standards and development environment are discussed. As an illustration, some current industrial products are indicated. Also, real-time systems operating in some institutes of the EPS/EPCS inter divisional group are reviewed. (author). 3 refs., 4 figs

Alteration and Implementation of the CP/M-86 Operating System for a Multi-User Environment.

Science.gov (United States)

1982-12-01

THE CP/M-86 OPERATING SYSTEM FOR A MULTI-USER ENVIRONMENT by Thomas V. Almquist and David S. Stevens C-, December 1982 ,LU Thesis Advisor : U. R. Kodres...tool$ 044, robo O0eA 6^900091 Approved for public release; distribution unlimited Alteration and Implementation of the CP/M-86 Operating System for a...SCIENCE IN COMPUTER SCIENCE from the NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL December 1982 Authors: Approved by: ..... .. . . . . . . . . Thesis Advisor Second

Enhancing Electromagnetic Side-Channel Analysis in an Operational Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Montminy, David P.

Side-channel attacks exploit the unintentional emissions from cryptographic devices to determine the secret encryption key. This research identifies methods to make attacks demonstrated in an academic environment more operationally relevant. Algebraic cryptanalysis is used to reconcile redundant information extracted from side-channel attacks on the AES key schedule. A novel thresholding technique is used to select key byte guesses for a satisfiability solver resulting in a 97.5% success rate despite failing for 100% of attacks using standard methods. Two techniques are developed to compensate for differences in emissions from training and test devices dramatically improving the effectiveness of cross device template attacks. Mean and variance normalization improves same part number attack success rates from 65.1% to 100%, and increases the number of locations an attack can be performed by 226%. When normalization is combined with a novel technique to identify and filter signals in collected traces not related to the encryption operation, the number of traces required to perform a successful attack is reduced by 85.8% on average. Finally, software-defined radios are shown to be an effective low-cost method for collecting side-channel emissions in real-time, eliminating the need to modify or profile the target encryption device to gain precise timing information.

CURRENT ENVIRONMENT FOR INTRODUCING HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT IN GREECE.

Science.gov (United States)

Kani, Chara; Kourafalos, Vasilios; Litsa, Panagiota

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to describe the current regulatory environment in Greece to evaluate the potential introduction of health technology assessment (HTA) for medicinal products for human use. Data sources consist of national legislation on pricing and reimbursement of health technologies to identify the potential need of establishing HTA and its relevant structure. The pricing procedure regarding medicinal products for human use is based on an external reference pricing mechanism which considers the average of the three lowest Euorpean Union prices. Currently, a formal HTA procedure has not been applied in Greece, and the only prerequisite used for the reimbursement of medicinal products for human use is their inclusion in the Positive Reimbursement List. To restrict pharmaceutical expenditure, a variety of measures-such as clawback mechanisms, rebates, monthly budget caps per physician, generics penetration targeting-have been imposed, aiming mainly to regulate the price level rather than control the introduction of medicinal products for human use in the Greek pharmaceutical market. Greece has the opportunity to rapidly build capacity, implement, and take advantage of the application of HTA mechanisms by clearly defining the goals, scope, systems, context, stakeholders, and methods that will be involved in the local HTA processes, taking into account the country's established e-prescription system and the recently adapted legislative framework.

Evaluation of the Physiological Challenges in Extreme Environments: Implications for Enhanced Training, Operational Performance and Sex-Specific Responses

Science.gov (United States)

2017-10-01

Operational Performance and Sex -Specific Responses PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Brent C. Ruby CONTRACTING ORGANIZATION: The University of Montana Missoula...Implications for Enhanced Training, Operational Performance and Sex -Specific Responses 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT...Evaluation of the physiological challenges in extreme environments: Implications for enhanced training, operational performance and sex -specific

The need to redefine the environment in the current scientific debate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gazzano, Ines; Achkar, Marcel

2013-01-01

In the last four decades the environmental thinking has generated a rich theoretical production, forcing the transformation of the group of scientific thought; focusing on theoretical concerns in areas of disciplinary borders, leading to the continuous redefinition of the object of environmental issues in order to orientate interventions. Object that has mutated from the naive definition of environment, environmental system, socio-environmental system, complex system, integrating also operational aspects like: multi scale and inter-disciplinary. Theoretical efforts, articulated with the development of practical aspects helped to progress to understand the environmental object from classical perspectives, built on paradigms of modernity, which in recent years reached a point of exhaustion. The search for a solution to this problem lies in the limit of overcoming the dualistic postulate, attempting the unification of society nature. It is from this problem identification, and trying to connect major theoretical contributions in the discussions which are more or less diffused on the environment, complex systems and trans disciplinary science, that it is proposed a conceptual construction of the environmental system, which enables its redefinition and a new self-referentially, as a condition for a new reading, interpretation and action in specific territories.

Current feedback operational amplifiers as fast charge sensitive preamplifiers for photomultiplier read out

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Giachero, A; Gotti, C; Maino, M; Pessina, G, E-mail: claudio.gotti@mib.infn.it [INFN - Sezione di Milano-Bicocca, I-20126, Milano (Italy)

2011-05-01

Fast charge sensitive preamplifiers were built using commercial current feedback operational amplifiers for fast read out of charge pulses from a photomultiplier tube. Current feedback opamps prove to be particularly well suited for this application where the charge from the detector is large, of the order of one million electrons, and high timing resolution is required. A proper circuit arrangement allows very fast signals, with rise times down to one nanosecond, while keeping the amplifier stable. After a review of current feedback circuit topology and stability constraints, we provide a 'recipe' to build stable and very fast charge sensitive preamplifiers from any current feedback opamp by adding just a few external components. The noise performance of the circuit topology has been evaluated and is reported in terms of equivalent noise charge.

Current status of operation and utilization of the Dalat research reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nguyen Nhi Dien; Le Van So

2004-01-01

The Dalat Nuclear Research Reactor (DNRR) is a 500 kW swimming pool type reactor using the Soviet WWR-SM fuel assembly with 36% enrichment of U-235. It was upgraded from the USA 250 kW TRIGA Mark-II reactor. The first criticality of the renovated reactor was in November 1983 and its regular operation at nominal power of 500 kW has been since March 1984. The DNRR is operated mainly in continuous runs of 100 hrs, once every 4 weeks, for radioisotope production, neutron activation analyses and research purposes. The remaining time between two continuous runs is devoted to maintenance activities and also to short run for physics experiments and training purpose. From the first start-up to the end of December 2002, it totaled about 24,700 hrs of operation and the total energy released was 490 MWd. After 10 years of operation with the core of 89-fuel assembly configuration, in April 1994, the first refueling work was done and the 100-fuel assembly configuration was set-up. The second fuel reloading was executed in March 2002. At present time, the working configuration of the reactor core consists of 104 fuel assemblies. This fuel reloading will ensure efficient exploitation of the reactor for about 3 years with 1200-1300 hrs per year at nominal power. The current status of operation and utilization and some activities related to the reactor core management of the DNRR are presented and discussed in this paper. (author)

Current status of operation and utilization of the Dalat Research Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nguyen Nhi Dien

2006-01-01

The Dalat Nuclear Research Reactor (DNRR) is a 500 kW pool-type reactor using the Soviet VVR-M2 fuel assembly with 36% enrichment of U-235. It was renovated and upgraded from the USA 250 kW TRIGA Mark-II reactor. The first criticality of the renovated reactor was in November 1983 and its regular operation at nominal power of 500 kW has been since March 1984. The DNRR is operated mainly in continuous runs of 100 hrs, once every 4 weeks, for radioisotope production, neutron activation analysis, scientific research and training. The remaining time between two continuous runs is devoted to maintenance activities and also to short run for reactor physics and thermal hydraulics experiments. From the first start-up to the end of December 2003, it totaled about 26,000 hrs of operation and the total energy released was about 515 MWd. After 10 years of operation with the core of 89-fuel assembly configuration, in April 1994, the first refueling work was done and the 100-fuel assembly configuration was set-up. The second fuel reloading was executed in March 2002. At present time, the working configuration of the reactor core consists of 104 fuel assemblies. The next fuel reloading has been planned at the end of 2004. The current status of operation and utilization of the DNRR is presented and discussed in this paper. (author)

Robert E. Lee as Operational Artist During the American Civil War

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-21

the ability to master operational mt and design is invaluable. The current operational environment in which our nation is involved requires us to be...of Antietam, ed. Stephen W. Sears. VoL Compact Disc. Ashland, OR: Blackstone Audiobooks. ---.2003. Gettysburg. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin

Current status of operation and utilization of the Dalat Research Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dien, Nguyen Nhi

2006-01-01

The Dalat Nuclear Research Reactor (DNRR) is a 500 kW pool-type reactor using the HEU (36% enrichment) WWR-M2 fuel assemblies. It was renovated and upgraded from the USA 250 kW TRIGA Mark-II reactor. The first criticality of the renovated reactor was in the 1st November 1983 and its regular operation at nominal power of 500 kW has been since March 1984. The DNRR is operated mainly in continuous runs of 100 hrs, once every 4 weeks, for radioisotope production, neutron activation analysis, scientific research and training. The remaining time between two continuous runs is devoted to maintenance activities and also to short run for reactor physics and thermal hydraulics experiments. From the first start-up to the end of December 2004, it totaled about 27,253 hrs of operation and the total energy released was about 543 MWd. The first fuel reloading was executed in April 1994 after more than 10 years of operation with 89 fuel assemblies (FA). The 11 new FAs were added in the core periphery, at previous beryllium element locations. After reloading the working configuration of reactor core consisted of 100 FAs. The second fuel reloading was executed in March 2002. The 4 new FAs were added in the core periphery, at previous beryllium element locations. The working configuration of 104 FAs ensured efficient exploitation of the DNRR at nominal power for about 3000 hrs since March 2002. In order to provide excess reactivity for the reactor operation without the need to discharge high burned FAs, in June 2004, the fuel shuffling of the reactor core was done. 16 FAs with low burn-up from the core periphery were moved toward the core center and 16 FAs with high-burn-up from the core center were moved toward the core periphery. This operation provided additional reactivity of about 0.85 β eff that the current reactor configuration using re-shuffled HEU fuel is expected to allow normal operation until June 2006. In 1999, the request of returning to Russia HEU fuels from foreign

Overview of steady-state tokamak operation and current drive experiments in TRIAM-1M

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zushi, H.; Nakamura, K.; Hanada, K.

2005-01-01

Experiments aiming at 'day long operation at high performance' have been carried out. The record value of the discharge duration was updated to 5 h and 16 min. Steady-state tokamak operation (SSTO) is studied under the localized PWI conditions. The distributions of the heat load, the particle recycling flux and impurity source are investigated to understand the co-deposition and wall pumping. Formation and sustainment of an internal transport barrier ITB in enhanced current drive mode (ECD) has been investigated by controlling the lower hybrid driven current profile by changing the phase spectrum. An ITER relevant remote steering antenna for electron cyclotron wave ECW injection was installed and a relativistic Doppler resonance of the oblique propagating extraordinary wave with energetic electrons driven by lower hybrid waves was studied. (author)

Operational environments for electrical power wiring on NASA space systems

Science.gov (United States)

Stavnes, Mark W.; Hammoud, Ahmad N.; Bercaw, Robert W.

1994-01-01

Electrical wiring systems are used extensively on NASA space systems for power management and distribution, control and command, and data transmission. The reliability of these systems when exposed to the harsh environments of space is very critical to mission success and crew safety. Failures have been reported both on the ground and in flight due to arc tracking in the wiring harnesses, made possible by insulation degradation. This report was written as part of a NASA Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (Code Q) program to identify and characterize wiring systems in terms of their potential use in aerospace vehicles. The goal of the program is to provide the information and guidance needed to develop and qualify reliable, safe, lightweight wiring systems, which are resistant to arc tracking and suitable for use in space power applications. This report identifies the environments in which NASA spacecraft will operate, and determines the specific NASA testing requirements. A summary of related test programs is also given in this report. This data will be valuable to spacecraft designers in determining the best wiring constructions for the various NASA applications.

Switching the JLab Accelerator Operations Environment from an HP-UX Unix-based to a PC/Linux-based environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mcguckin, Theodore

2008-01-01

The Jefferson Lab Accelerator Controls Environment (ACE) was predominantly based on the HP-UX Unix platform from 1987 through the summer of 2004. During this period the Accelerator Machine Control Center (MCC) underwent a major renovation which included introducing Redhat Enterprise Linux machines, first as specialized process servers and then gradually as general login servers. As computer programs and scripts required to run the accelerator were modified, and inherent problems with the HP-UX platform compounded, more development tools became available for use with Linux and the MCC began to be converted over. In May 2008 the last HP-UX Unix login machine was removed from the MCC, leaving only a few Unix-based remote-login servers still available. This presentation will explore the process of converting an operational Control Room environment from the HP-UX to Linux platform as well as the many hurdles that had to be overcome throughout the transition period

Cyber Operations Virtual Environment

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-01

capability independent of the operator’s willingness to make target responses (See, Macmillan & Creelman , 1991; Parasuraman, Masalonis, & Hancock, 2000...Ma, K-L. (2004). Visualization for security. Computer Graphics, 38, 4-6. Macmillan, N. A., & Creelman , C. D. (1991). Detection theory: A user’s

Species management benchmarking: outcomes over outputs in a changing operating environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Hogg, Carolyn J; Hibbard, Chris; Ford, Claire; Embury, Amanda

2013-03-01

Species management has been utilized by the zoo and aquarium industry, since the mid-1990s, to ensure the ongoing genetic and demographic viability of populations, which can be difficult to maintain in the ever-changing operating environments of zoos. In 2009, the Zoo and Aquarium Association Australasia reviewed their species management services, focusing on addressing issues that had arisen as a result of the managed programs maturing and operating environments evolving. In summary, the project examined resourcing, policies, processes, and species to be managed. As a result, a benchmarking tool was developed (Health Check Report, HCR), which evaluated the programs against a set of broad criteria. A comparison of managed programs (n = 98), between 2008 and 2011, was undertaken to ascertain the tool's effectiveness. There was a marked decrease in programs that were designated as weak (37 down to 13); and an increase in excellent programs (24 up to 49) between the 2 years. Further, there were significant improvements in the administration benchmarking area (submission of reports, captive management plan development) across a number of taxon advisory groups. This HCR comparison showed that a benchmarking tool enables a program's performance to be quickly assessed and any remedial measures applied. The increases observed in program health were mainly due to increased management goals being attained. The HCR will be an ongoing program, as the management of the programs increases and goals are achieved, criteria will be refined to better highlight ongoing issues and ways in which these can be resolved. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Space Environment Effects on Materials at Different Positions and Operational Periods of ISS

Science.gov (United States)

Kimoto, Yugo; Ichikawa, Shoichi; Miyazaki, Eiji; Matsumoto, Koji; Ishizawa, Junichiro; Shimamura, Hiroyuki; Yamanaka, Riyo; Suzuki, Mineo

2009-01-01

A space materials exposure experiment was condcuted on the exterior of the Russian Service Module (SM) of the International Space Station (ISS) using the Micro-Particles Capturer and Space Environment Exposure Device (MPAC&SEED) of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Results reveal artificial environment effects such as sample contamination, attitude change effects on AO fluence, and shading effects of UV on ISS. The sample contamination was coming from ISS components. The particles attributed to micrometeoroids and/or debris captured by MPAC might originate from the ISS solar array. Another MPAC&SEED will be aboard the Exposure Facility of the Japanese Experiment Module, KIBO Exposure Facility (EF) on ISS. The JEM/MPAC&SEED is attached to the Space Environment Data Acquisition Equipment-Attached Payload (SEDA-AP) and is exposed to space. Actually, SEDA-AP is a payload on EF to be launched by Space Shuttle flight 2J/A. In fact, SEDA-AP has space environment monitors such as a high-energy particle monitor, atomic oxygen monitor, and plasma monitor to measure in-situ natural space environment data during JEM/MPAC&SEED exposure. Some exposure samples for JEM/MPAC&SEED are identical to SM/MPAC&SEED samples. Consequently, effects on identical materials at different positions and operation periods of ISS will be evaluated. This report summarizes results from space environment monitoring samples for atomic oxygen analysis on SM/MPAC&SEED, along with experimental plans for JEM/MPAC&SEED.

[PULMONARY COMPLICATIONS IN CHILDREN, OPERATED ON FOR INBORN HEART FAILURES IN THE ARTIFICIAL BLOOD CIRCULATION ENVIRONMENT].

Science.gov (United States)

Moshkivska, L V; Nastenko, E A; Golovenko, O S; Lazoryshynets, V V

2015-11-01

The risk factors of pulmonary complications occurrence were analyzed in children, operated on for inborn heart failures in atrificial blood circulation environment. Pulmonary complications rate and the risk factors of their occurrence were analyzed.

Operating Environment of the Future

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Hanson, Matthew

1997-01-01

...), the Smart Surgical System (SSS), and the Intelligent Virtual Patient Environment (IVPE). The project is one of several targeting reduction in mortality and morbidity of the wounded soldier through improved far-forward combat casualty care...

Risk analysis for autonomous underwater vehicle operations in extreme environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Brito, Mario Paulo; Griffiths, Gwyn; Challenor, Peter

2010-12-01

Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are used increasingly to explore hazardous marine environments. Risk assessment for such complex systems is based on subjective judgment and expert knowledge as much as on hard statistics. Here, we describe the use of a risk management process tailored to AUV operations, the implementation of which requires the elicitation of expert judgment. We conducted a formal judgment elicitation process where eight world experts in AUV design and operation were asked to assign a probability of AUV loss given the emergence of each fault or incident from the vehicle's life history of 63 faults and incidents. After discussing methods of aggregation and analysis, we show how the aggregated risk estimates obtained from the expert judgments were used to create a risk model. To estimate AUV survival with mission distance, we adopted a statistical survival function based on the nonparametric Kaplan-Meier estimator. We present theoretical formulations for the estimator, its variance, and confidence limits. We also present a numerical example where the approach is applied to estimate the probability that the Autosub3 AUV would survive a set of missions under Pine Island Glacier, Antarctica in January-March 2009. © 2010 Society for Risk Analysis.

Entering 'A NEW REALM' of KIBO Payload Operations - Continuous efforts for microgravity experiment environment and lessons learned from real time experiment operations in KIBO -

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakagami, K; Goto, M; Matsumoto, S; Ohkuma, H

2011-01-01

On January 22nd, 2011(JST), KOUNOTORI2 (H-II Transfer Vehicle: HTV2) was successfully launched from Tanegashima Space Center toward the International Space Station (ISS) and two new JAXA payload racks, Kobairo rack and MSPR (Multi-purpose Small Payload Rack) were transferred to ISS/KIBO (Japanese Experiment Module: JEM). In addition to Saibo rack and Ryutai rack which are already in operation in KIBO, in total 4 Japanese experiment payload racks start operations in KIBO. Then KIBO payload operations embark on a new realm, full utilization phase. While the number and variety of microgravity experiments become increasing, simultaneous operation constraints should be considered to achieve multitask payload operations in ISS/KIBO and ever more complicated cooperative operations between crewmember and flight control team/science team are required. Especially for g-jitter improvement in ISS/KIBO, we have greatly advanced cooperative operations with crewmember in the recent increment based on the microgravity data analysis results. In this paper, newly operating Japanese experiment payloads characteristics and some methods to improve g-jitter environment are introduced from the front line of KIBO payload operations.

Operational measurements in radioprotection in the industrial and medical environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodde, S.; Vial, Th.; Truffert, H.; Kramar, R.; Batalla, A.; Roine, Ph.; Pin, A.; Lahaye, Th.; Rodde, S.; Bordy, J.M.; Paquet, F.; Veres, A.; Cadiou, A.; Branthonne, J.Y.; Noel, A.; Laloubere, L.; Moreau, St.; Gensdarmes, F.; Marques, S.; Lestang, M.; Valendru, N.; Tranchant, Ph.; Martel, P.; Bernhard, S.; Chareyre, P.; Gardin, I.; Casanova, Ph.; De Vita, A.; Tenailleau, L.; Masson, B.; Feret, B.; Guerin, M.; Guillot, L.; Gaultier, E.

2009-01-01

This document gathers the slides of the available presentations given during these conference days. Thirty presentations are assembled in the document and deal with: 1 - enforcement circular of the labor code dispositions relative to workers protection against ionizing radiation hazards (T. Lahaye); 2 - context and regulatory evolutions - public health code (S. Rodde); 3 - references and perspectives in external dosimetry (J.M. Bordy); 4 - CIPR's Committee 2 works (F. Paquet); 5 - from protection data to measurement data (A. Pin); 6 - dosimetric control in radiotherapy (A. Veres); 7 - calibration of irradiation measurement devices in industrial environment (A. Cadiou); 8 - calibration and verification of nuclear measurement devices (J.Y. Branthonne); 9 - calibration of measurement devices in medical environment (J.M. Bordy); 10 - quality control in radiotherapy (A. Batalla); 11 - in-vivo dosimetry in radiotherapy (A. Noel); 12 - calibration metrology of fixed post irradiation sensors (L. Laloubere); 13 - design requirements for the radiological zoning and the wastes cleanliness of Flamanville 3 EPR reactor (S. Moreau); 14 - efficiency of aerosol capture systems used in CNPE EDF (F. Gensdarmes); 15 - mobile surveillance means of the atmospheric contamination of CNPE EDF's reactor building (S. Marques and M. Lestang); 16 - experience feedback about the security gates at EDF's nuclear facilities (N. Valendru); 17 - metrology needs for radioprotection technical controls (P. Tranchant); 18 - technical evaluation of a flowmeter/dosemeter in the framework of the regulatory control of X-ray electric generators used in radio-diagnosis (P. Martel); 19 - reinforced natural radioactivity - the case of radon measurement (S. Bernhard); 20 - fires during radioactive materials transport (P. Chareyre); 21 - measurement in the framework of medical examinations: radiology service (A. Noel); 22 - operational measurements in nuclear medicine (I. Gardin); 23 - from the operational

Experimental control versus realism: methodological solutions for simulator studies in complex operating environments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Skraaning, Gyrd Jr.

2004-03-15

This report is a reprint of a dr.philos. thesis written by Gyrd Skraaning Jr. The text was submitted and accepted by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in 2003 (ISBN 82-471-5237-1). The thesis suggests a nonlinear model of the theoretical relationship between experimental control and realism, claiming that high degrees of realism and experimental control can be obtained simultaneously if the experimental methods are utilized strategically and developed further. This is in opposition to the conventional opinion that realism and experimental control are mutually excluding objectives. The thesis debates the impact of the operating task on human performance during simulator studies in HAMMLAB, and suggests how task variation can be experimentally controlled. In a within subject design, every subject is tested under all experimental conditions, and the presentation order of the conditions is counterbalanced to compensate for order effects. In realistic settings, it is essential that the experimental design imposes few artificial constrains on the research environment. At the same time, the design should be able to uncover experimental effects in situations where the number of participants is low. Within-subject design represents a reasonable compromise between these aspirations. In this respect, an alternative counterbalancing method is proposed (dis-ORDER). A theoretical analysis of the human performance concept and a discussion about performance measurement in complex operating environments, are followed by a debate on the shortcomings of traditional performance indicators. Two specialized operator performance assessment techniques are then presented and evaluated (OPAS and ORT). (Author)

Experimental control versus realism: methodological solutions for simulator studies in complex operating environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skraaning, Gyrd Jr.

2004-03-01

This report is a reprint of a dr.philos. thesis written by Gyrd Skraaning Jr. The text was submitted and accepted by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in 2003 (ISBN 82-471-5237-1). The thesis suggests a nonlinear model of the theoretical relationship between experimental control and realism, claiming that high degrees of realism and experimental control can be obtained simultaneously if the experimental methods are utilized strategically and developed further. This is in opposition to the conventional opinion that realism and experimental control are mutually excluding objectives. The thesis debates the impact of the operating task on human performance during simulator studies in HAMMLAB, and suggests how task variation can be experimentally controlled. In a within subject design, every subject is tested under all experimental conditions, and the presentation order of the conditions is counterbalanced to compensate for order effects. In realistic settings, it is essential that the experimental design imposes few artificial constrains on the research environment. At the same time, the design should be able to uncover experimental effects in situations where the number of participants is low. Within-subject design represents a reasonable compromise between these aspirations. In this respect, an alternative counterbalancing method is proposed (dis-ORDER). A theoretical analysis of the human performance concept and a discussion about performance measurement in complex operating environments, are followed by a debate on the shortcomings of traditional performance indicators. Two specialized operator performance assessment techniques are then presented and evaluated (OPAS and ORT). (Author)

Comparison between voltage by turn measured on different tokamaks operating in hybrid wave current drive regime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Briffod, G.; Hoang, G.T.

1987-06-01

On a tokamak in a current drive operation with a hybrid wave, the R.F. current is estimated from the voltage drop by plasma turn generated by R.F. power application. This estimated current is not proportional to the injected power. There still exists in the plasma an electric field corresponding to the current part produced by induction. The role evaluation of this parameter on the current drive efficiency is important. In this report the relation voltage-R.F. current is studied on Petula and results on the voltage evolution by turn on different machines are compared [fr

Current distribution measurements inside an electromagnetic plasma gun operated in a gas-puff mode

OpenAIRE

Poehlmann, Flavio R.; Cappelli, Mark A.; Rieker, Gregory B.

2010-01-01

Measurements are presented of the time-dependent current distribution inside a coaxial electromagnetic plasma gun. The measurements are carried out using an array of six axially distributed dual-Rogowski coils in a balanced circuit configuration. The radial current distributions indicate that operation in the gas-puff mode, i.e., the mode in which the electrode voltage is applied before injection of the gas, results in a stationary ionization front consistent with the presence of a plasma def...

Radiation Hardened High Speed Integrated Circuits Double Data Rate I/O for Extreme Operating Environments, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Manned and robotic space missions require high-performance electronic control systems capable of operating for extended periods in harsh environments that are...

Energy expenditure and intake during Special Operations Forces field training in a jungle and glacial environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Caleb D; Simonson, Andrew J; Darnell, Matthew E; DeLany, James P; Wohleber, Meleesa F; Connaboy, Christopher

2018-04-01

The purpose of this study was to identify and compare energy requirements specific to Special Operations Forces in field training, in both cool and hot environments. Three separate training sessions were evaluated, 2 in a hot environment (n = 21) and 1 in a cool environment (n = 8). Total energy expenditure was calculated using doubly labeled water. Dietary intake was assessed via self-report at the end of each training mission day, and macronutrient intakes were calculated. Across the 3 missions, mean energy expenditure (4618 ± 1350 kcal/day) exceeded mean energy intake (2429 ± 838 kcal/day) by an average of 2200 kcal/day. Macronutrient intakes (carbohydrates (g/(kg·day body weight (bw)) -1 ) = 3.2 ± 1.2; protein (g/(kg·day bw) -1 ) = 1.3 ± 0.7; fat (g/(kg·day bw) -1 ) = 1.2 ± 0.7) showed inadequate carbohydrate and possibly protein intake across the study period, compared with common recommendations. Total energy expenditures were found to be similar between hot (4664 ± 1399 kcal/day) and cool (4549 ± 1221 kcal/day) environments. However, energy intake was found to be higher in the cool (3001 ± 900 kcal/day) compared with hot (2200 ± 711 kcal/day) environments. Based on the identified energy deficit, high variation in energy expenditures, and poor macronutrient intake, a greater attention to feeding practices during similar training scenarios for Special Operations Forces is needed to help maintain performance and health. The differences in environmental heat stress between the 2 climates/environments had no observed effect on energy expenditures, but may have influenced intakes.

FREEDOM OF PRESS IN CURRENT SOCIO-POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT IN ROMANIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Georgiana STĂNESCU

2017-08-01

Full Text Available This study analyses the way journalists’ freedom of expression is protected in current socio/political context. It has started from the fact that Mass Media is the guarantee of any modern democracy, and respect for freedom of expression is essential in the current European environment. We have shown that Romania guarantees through the Constitution, but also through other international treaties to which it is a signatory, the freedom of expression of every citizen, and, implicitly, the freedom of press. But in laws and treaties things seem simple, while in reality in the courts, the situation is completely different and, above all, extremely complicated. The study highlights the case of a journalist from Constanţa, who was sued by the former mayor of the city on the grounds that his image was damaged in a TV show on a local television station. Thus, the views of the Romanian institutions, on the one hand, and the one of the European Court of Human Rights on the other, were analyzed. The ECHR ruled for the journalist in the case against the former mayor of Constanţa (Ghiulfer vs. Romania, instead, two Romanian courts forced the journalist to pay moral damages and make him publicly apologize in a large circulation newspaper.

Improvement of the electromagnetic situation in networks of operational current at nuclear power plant for the purpose of ensuring reliability of monitoring systems, control, RPA and communications, realized on the basis of digital equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fomenko, O.V.; Moloshnaya, E.S.; Ul'yanova, Yu.E.

2014-01-01

The authors propose the technique of designing a portable grounding contour for protection and control systems, relay protection and automation (RPA) systems made on the basis of digital equipment in networks of an operational direct current to increase the reliability of their functioning under the conditions of influence of strong hindrances and improvement of an electromagnetic environment [ru

Current waste-management practices and operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1982

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eisenhower, B.M.; Oakes, T.W.; Coobs, J.H.; Weeter, D.W.

1982-09-01

The need for efficient management of industrial chemical wastes, especially those considered hazardous or radioactive, is receiving increased attention in the United States. During the past five years, several federal laws have addressed the establishment of stronger programs for the control of hazardous and residual wastes. At a facility such as Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), an efficient waste management program is an absolute necessity to ensure protection of human health and compliance with regulatory requirements addressing the treatment and disposal of hazardous, nonhazardous, and radioactive wastes. This report highlights the major regulatory requirements under which the Laboratory must operate and their impact on ORNL facilities. Individual waste streams, estimates of quantities of waste, and current waste management operations are discussed.

Current waste-management practices and operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1982

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eisenhower, B.M.; Oakes, T.W.; Coobs, J.H.; Weeter, D.W.

1982-09-01

The need for efficient management of industrial chemical wastes, especially those considered hazardous or radioactive, is receiving increased attention in the United States. During the past five years, several federal laws have addressed the establishment of stronger programs for the control of hazardous and residual wastes. At a facility such as Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), an efficient waste management program is an absolute necessity to ensure protection of human health and compliance with regulatory requirements addressing the treatment and disposal of hazardous, nonhazardous, and radioactive wastes. This report highlights the major regulatory requirements under which the Laboratory must operate and their impact on ORNL facilities. Individual waste streams, estimates of quantities of waste, and current waste management operations are discussed

Operating environment threats influence on the maritime ferry technical system safety – the numerical approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kuligowska Ewa

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The material given in this paper delivers the procedure for numerical approach that allows finding the main practically important safety characteristics of the complex technical systems at the variable operation conditions including operating environment threats. The obtained results are applied to the safety evaluation of the maritime ferry technical system. It is assumed that the conditional safety functions are different at various operation states and have the exponential forms. Using the procedure and the program written in Mathematica, the considered maritime ferry technical system main characteristics including: the conditional and the unconditional expected values and standard deviations of the system lifetimes, the unconditional safety function and the risk function are determined.

The effect of applied control strategy on the current-voltage correlation of a solid oxide fuel cell stack during dynamic operation

Science.gov (United States)

Szmyd, Janusz S.; Komatsu, Yosuke; Brus, Grzegorz; Ghigliazza, Francesco; Kimijima, Shinji; Ściążko, Anna

2014-09-01

This paper discusses the transient characteristics of the planar type SOFC cell stack, of which the standard output is 300 W. The transient response of the voltage to the manipulation of an electric current was investigated. The effects of the response and of the operating condition determined by the operating temperature of the stack were studied by mapping a current-voltage (I-V) correlation. The current-based fuel control (CBFC) was adopted for keeping the fuel utilization factor at constant while the value of the electric current was ramped at the constant rate. The present experimental study shows that the transient characteristics of the cell voltage are determined by primarily the operating temperature caused by the manipulation of the current. Particularly, the slope of the I-V curve and the overshoot found on the voltage was remarkably influenced by the operating temperature. The different values of the fuel utilization factor influence the height of the settled voltages. The CBFC has significance in determining the slope of the I-V characteristic, but the different values ofthe fuel utilization factor does not affect the slope as the operating temperature does. The CBFC essentially does not alter the amplitude of the overshoot on the voltage response, since this is dominated by the operating temperature and its change is caused by manipulating the current.

The effect of applied control strategy on the current-voltage correlation of a solid oxide fuel cell stack during dynamic operation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Szmyd Janusz S.

2014-09-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the transient characteristics of the planar type SOFC cell stack, of which the standard output is 300 W. The transient response of the voltage to the manipulation of an electric current was investigated. The effects of the response and of the operating condition determined by the operating temperature of the stack were studied by mapping a current-voltage (I-V correlation. The current-based fuel control (CBFC was adopted for keeping the fuel utilization factor at constant while the value of the electric current was ramped at the constant rate. The present experimental study shows that the transient characteristics of the cell voltage are determined by primarily the operating temperature caused by the manipulation of the current. Particularly, the slope of the I-V curve and the overshoot found on the voltage was remarkably influenced by the operating temperature. The different values of the fuel utilization factor influence the height of the settled voltages. The CBFC has significance in determining the slope of the I-V characteristic, but the different values ofthe fuel utilization factor does not affect the slope as the operating temperature does. The CBFC essentially does not alter the amplitude of the overshoot on the voltage response, since this is dominated by the operating temperature and its change is caused by manipulating the current.

A Validated Task Analysis of the Single Pilot Operations Concept

Science.gov (United States)

Wolter, Cynthia A.; Gore, Brian F.

2015-01-01

The current day flight deck operational environment consists of a two-person Captain/First Officer crew. A concept of operations (ConOps) to reduce the commercial cockpit to a single pilot from the current two pilot crew is termed Single Pilot Operations (SPO). This concept has been under study by researchers in the Flight Deck Display Research Laboratory (FDDRL) at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Ames (Johnson, Comerford, Lachter, Battiste, Feary, and Mogford, 2012) and researchers from Langley Research Centers (Schutte et al., 2007). Transitioning from a two pilot crew to a single pilot crew will undoubtedly require changes in operational procedures, crew coordination, use of automation, and in how the roles and responsibilities of the flight deck and ATC are conceptualized in order to maintain the high levels of safety expected of the US National Airspace System. These modifications will affect the roles and the subsequent tasks that are required of the various operators in the NextGen environment. The current report outlines the process taken to identify and document the tasks required by the crew according to a number of operational scenarios studied by the FDDRL between the years 2012-2014. A baseline task decomposition has been refined to represent the tasks consistent with a new set of entities, tasks, roles, and responsibilities being explored by the FDDRL as the move is made towards SPO. Information from Subject Matter Expert interviews, participation in FDDRL experimental design meetings, and study observation was used to populate and refine task sets that were developed as part of the SPO task analyses. The task analysis is based upon the proposed ConOps for the third FDDRL SPO study. This experiment possessed nine different entities operating in six scenarios using a variety of SPO-related automation and procedural activities required to guide safe and efficient aircraft operations. The task analysis presents the roles and

Direct current plasma jet at atmospheric pressure operating in nitrogen and air

Science.gov (United States)

Deng, X. L.; Nikiforov, A. Yu.; Vanraes, P.; Leys, Ch.

2013-01-01

An atmospheric pressure direct current (DC) plasma jet is investigated in N2 and dry air in terms of plasma properties and generation of active species in the active zone and the afterglow. The influence of working gases and the discharge current on plasma parameters and afterglow properties are studied. The electrical diagnostics show that discharge can be sustained in two different operating modes, depending on the current range: a self-pulsing regime at low current and a glow regime at high current. The gas temperature and the N2 vibrational temperature in the active zone of the jet and in the afterglow are determined by means of emission spectroscopy, based on fitting spectra of N2 second positive system (C3Π-B3Π) and the Boltzmann plot method, respectively. The spectra and temperature differences between the N2 and the air plasma jet are presented and analyzed. Space-resolved ozone and nitric oxide density measurements are carried out in the afterglow of the jet. The density of ozone, which is formed in the afterglow of nitrogen plasma jet, is quantitatively detected by an ozone monitor. The density of nitric oxide, which is generated only in the air plasma jet, is determined by means of mass-spectroscopy techniques.

Effect of operating conditions and environment on properties of materials of PWR type nuclear power plant components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vacek, M.

1987-01-01

Operating reliability and service life of PWR type nuclear power plants are discussed with respect to the material properties of the plant components. The effects of the operating environment on the material properties and the methods of their determination are characterized. Discussed are core materials, such as fuel, its cladding and regulating rod materials, and the materials of pipes, steam generators and condensers. The advances in the production of pressure vessel materials and their degradation during operation are treated in great detail. (Z.M.)

Hazardous-environment problems: Mobile robots to the rescue

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meieran, H.B.

1992-01-01

This paper presents a rationale for employing a spectrum of similar mobile robots to conduct appropriate common missions for the following five hazardous-environment issues: (1) dismantlement of nuclear weapons; (2) environmental restoration and waste management of US Department of Energy weapons sites; (3) operations in nuclear power plants and other facilities; (4) waste chemical site remediation and cleanup activities; and (5) assistance in handling toxic chemical/radiation accidents. Mobile robots have been developed for several hazardous-environment industries, the most visible ones being construction/excavation/tunneling, explosive ordnance/bomb disposal (EOD), fire-fighting, military operations, mining, nuclear, and security. A summary of the range of functions that mobile robots are currently capable of conducting is presented

Operational SAR Data Processing in GIS Environments for Rapid Disaster Mapping

Science.gov (United States)

Bahr, Thomas

2014-05-01

The use of SAR data has become increasingly popular in recent years and in a wide array of industries. Having access to SAR can be highly important and critical especially for public safety. Updating a GIS with contemporary information from SAR data allows to deliver a reliable set of geospatial information to advance civilian operations, e.g. search and rescue missions. SAR imaging offers the great advantage, over its optical counterparts, of not being affected by darkness, meteorological conditions such as clouds, fog, etc., or smoke and dust, frequently associated with disaster zones. In this paper we present the operational processing of SAR data within a GIS environment for rapid disaster mapping. For this technique we integrated the SARscape modules for ENVI with ArcGIS®, eliminating the need to switch between software packages. Thereby the premier algorithms for SAR image analysis can be directly accessed from ArcGIS desktop and server environments. They allow processing and analyzing SAR data in almost real time and with minimum user interaction. This is exemplified by the November 2010 flash flood in the Veneto region, Italy. The Bacchiglione River burst its banks on Nov. 2nd after two days of heavy rainfall throughout the northern Italian region. The community of Bovolenta, 22 km SSE of Padova, was covered by several meters of water. People were requested to stay in their homes; several roads, highways sections and railroads had to be closed. The extent of this flooding is documented by a series of Cosmo-SkyMed acquisitions with a GSD of 2.5 m (StripMap mode). Cosmo-SkyMed is a constellation of four Earth observation satellites, allowing a very frequent coverage, which enables monitoring using a very high temporal resolution. This data is processed in ArcGIS using a single-sensor, multi-mode, multi-temporal approach consisting of 3 steps: (1) The single images are filtered with a Gamma DE-MAP filter. (2) The filtered images are geocoded using a reference

Multiplatform Mission Planning and Operations Simulation Environment for Adaptive Remote Sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, G.; Ball, C.; O'Brien, A.; Johnson, J. T.

2017-12-01

We report on the design and development of mission simulator libraries to support the emerging field of adaptive remote sensors. We will outline the current state of the art in adaptive sensing, provide analysis of how the current approach to performing observing system simulation experiments (OSSEs) must be changed to enable adaptive sensors for remote sensing, and present an architecture to enable their inclusion in future OSSEs.The growing potential of sensors capable of real-time adaptation of their operational parameters calls for a new class of mission planning and simulation tools. Existing simulation tools used in OSSEs assume a fixed set of sensor parameters in terms of observation geometry, frequencies used, resolution, or observation time, which allows simplifications to be made in the simulation and allows sensor observation errors to be characterized a priori. Adaptive sensors may vary these parameters depending on the details of the scene observed, so that sensor performance is not simple to model without conducting OSSE simulations that include sensor adaptation in response to varying observational environment. Adaptive sensors are of significance to resource-constrained, small satellite platforms because they enable the management of power and data volumes while providing methods for multiple sensors to collaborate.The new class of OSSEs required to utilize adaptive sensors located on multiple platforms must answer the question: If the physical act of sensing has a cost, how does the system determine if the science value of a measurement is worth the cost and how should that cost be shared among the collaborating sensors?Here we propose to answer this question using an architecture structured around three modules: ADAPT, MANAGE and COLLABORATE. The ADAPT module is a set of routines to facilitate modeling of adaptive sensors, the MANAGE module will implement a set of routines to facilitate simulations of sensor resource management when power and data

Operational Experience and Consolidations for the Current Lead Control Valves of the Large Hadron Collider

CERN Document Server

Perin, A; Pirotte, O; Krieger, B; Widmer, A

2012-01-01

The Large Hadron Collider superconducting magnets are powered by more than 1400 gas cooled current leads ranging from 120 A to 13000 A. The gas flow required by the leads is controlled by solenoid proportional valves with dimensions from DN 1.8 mm to DN 10 mm. During the first months of operation, signs of premature wear were found in the active parts of the valves. This created major problems for the functioning of the current leads threatening the availability of the LHC. Following the detection of the problems, a series of measures were implemented to keep the LHC running, to launch a development program to solve the premature wear problem and to prepare for a global consolidation of the gas flow control system. This article describes first the difficulties encountered and the measures taken to ensure a continuous operation of the LHC during the first year of operation. The development of new friction free valves is then presented along with the consolidation program and the test equipment developed to val...

Neutron radiography characterization of an operating proton exchange membrane fuel cell with localized current distribution measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gagliardo, J.J.; Owejan, J.P.; Trabold, T.A.; Tighe, T.W.

2009-01-01

Neutron radiography has proven to be a powerful tool to study and understand the effects of liquid water in an operating fuel cell. In the present work, this experimental method is coupled with locally resolved current and ohmic resistance measurements, giving additional insight into water management and fuel cell performance under a variety of conditions. The effects of varying the inlet humidification level and the current density of the 50 cm 2 cell are studied by simultaneously monitoring electrochemical performance with a 10x10 matrix of current sensors, and liquid water volumes are measured using the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) neutron imaging facility. A counter flow, straight channel proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell is used to demonstrate localized performance loss corresponds to water-filled channels that impede gas transport to the catalyst layer, thereby creating an area that has low current density. Furthermore, certain operating conditions causing excess water accumulation in the channels can result in localized proton resistance increase, a result that can only be accurately observed with combined radiography and distributed electrochemical measurements.

The physical work environment and end-user requirements: Investigating marine engineering officers' operational demands and ship design.

Science.gov (United States)

Mallam, Steven C; Lundh, Monica

2016-08-12

Physical environments influence how individuals perceive a space and behave within it. Previous research has revealed deficiencies in ship engine department work environments, and their impact on crew productivity, health and wellbeing. Connect operational task demands to pragmatic physical design and layout solutions by implementing a user-centric perspective. Three focus groups, each consisting of three marine engineers participated in this study. Focus groups were divided into two sessions: first, to investigate the end-user's operational requirements and their relationship with ship physical design and layout. Second, criteria formulated from group discussions were applied to a ship design case study. All focus group sessions were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. The data were analyzed using Grounded Theory. Design choices made in a ships general arrangement were described to inherently influence how individuals and teams are able to function within the system. Participants detailed logistical relationships between key areas, stressing that the work environment and physical linkages must allow for flexibility of work organization and task execution. Traditional engine control paradigms do not allow effective mitigation of traditional engine department challenges. The influence of technology and modernization of ship systems can facilitate improvement of physical environments and work organization if effectively utilized.

Operational Risk Defined Through a Complex Operating Environment

Science.gov (United States)

2015-02-26

analysis . But the report noted that “CJTF-HOA’s presence in Africa offers benefits such as its ability to respond to contingencies, provide forces for...18 Analysis ...Development JOPP Joint Operations Planning Process NGO Non-Governmental Organization PRC Profitable Risk Control SWOT Strengths, Weaknesses

Engineering Compensations in Web Service Environment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schäfer, Micahel; Dolog, Peter; Nejdl, Wolfgang

2007-01-01

Business to business integration has recently been performed by employing Web service environments. Moreover, such environments are being provided by major players on the technology markets. Those environments are based on open specifications for transaction coordination. When a failure in such a......Business to business integration has recently been performed by employing Web service environments. Moreover, such environments are being provided by major players on the technology markets. Those environments are based on open specifications for transaction coordination. When a failure...... in such an environment occurs, a compensation can be initiated to recover from the failure. However, current environments have only limited capabilities for compensations, and are usually based on backward recovery. In this paper, we introduce an engineering approach and an environment to deal with advanced...... compensations based on forward recovery principles. We extend the existing Web service transaction coordination architecture and infrastructure in order to support flexible compensation operations. A contract-based approach is being used, which allows the specification of permitted compensations at runtime. We...

Environmental assessment related to the operation of Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1982-08-01

In order to evaluate the environmental impacts of Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) operations, this assessment includes a descriptive section which is intended to provide sufficient detail to allow the various impacts to be viewed in proper perspective. In particular, details are provided on site characteristics, current programs, characterization of the existing site environment, and in-place environmental monitoring programs. In addition, specific facilities and operations that could conceivably impact the environment are described at length. 77 refs., 16 figs., 47 tabs.

Two-loop current–current operator contribution to the non-leptonic QCD penguin amplitude

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Bell

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The computation of direct CP asymmetries in charmless B decays at next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO in QCD is of interest to ascertain the short-distance contribution. Here we compute the two-loop penguin contractions of the current–current operators Q1,2 and provide a first estimate of NNLO CP asymmetries in penguin-dominated b→s transitions.

Development of a high average current polarized electron source with long cathode operational lifetime

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

C. K. Sinclair; P. A. Adderley; B. M. Dunham; J. C. Hansknecht; P. Hartmann; M. Poelker; J. S. Price; P. M. Rutt; W. J. Schneider; M. Steigerwald

2007-02-01

Substantially more than half of the electromagnetic nuclear physics experiments conducted at the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility of the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Laboratory) require highly polarized electron beams, often at high average current. Spin-polarized electrons are produced by photoemission from various GaAs-based semiconductor photocathodes, using circularly polarized laser light with photon energy slightly larger than the semiconductor band gap. The photocathodes are prepared by activation of the clean semiconductor surface to negative electron affinity using cesium and oxidation. Historically, in many laboratories worldwide, these photocathodes have had short operational lifetimes at high average current, and have often deteriorated fairly quickly in ultrahigh vacuum even without electron beam delivery. At Jefferson Lab, we have developed a polarized electron source in which the photocathodes degrade exceptionally slowly without electron emission, and in which ion back bombardment is the predominant mechanism limiting the operational lifetime of the cathodes during electron emission. We have reproducibly obtained cathode 1/e dark lifetimes over two years, and 1/e charge density and charge lifetimes during electron beam delivery of over 2?105???C/cm2 and 200 C, respectively. This source is able to support uninterrupted high average current polarized beam delivery to three experimental halls simultaneously for many months at a time. Many of the techniques we report here are directly applicable to the development of GaAs photoemission electron guns to deliver high average current, high brightness unpolarized beams.

Multi-Attribute Decision-Making Based on Bonferroni Mean Operators under Cubic Intuitionistic Fuzzy Set Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gagandeep Kaur

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Cubic intuitionistic fuzzy (CIF set is the hybrid set which can contain much more information to express an interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy set and an intuitionistic fuzzy set simultaneously for handling the uncertainties in the data. Unfortunately, there has been no research on the aggregation operators on CIF sets so far. Since an aggregation operator is an important mathematical tool in decision-making problems, the present paper proposes some new Bonferroni mean and weighted Bonferroni mean averaging operators between the cubic intuitionistic fuzzy numbers for aggregating the different preferences of the decision-maker. Then, we develop a decision-making method based on the proposed operators under the cubic intuitionistic fuzzy environment and illustrated with a numerical example. Finally, a comparison analysis between the proposed and the existing approaches have been performed to illustrate the applicability and feasibility of the developed decision-making method.

Human-Automation Cooperation for Separation Assurance in Future NextGen Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Mercer, Joey; Homola, Jeffrey; Cabrall, Christopher; Martin, Lynne; Morey, Susan; Gomez, Ashley; Prevot, Thomas

2014-01-01

A 2012 Human-In-The-Loop air traffic control simulation investigated a gradual paradigm-shift in the allocation of functions between operators and automation. Air traffic controllers staffed five adjacent high-altitude en route sectors, and during the course of a two-week experiment, worked traffic under different function-allocation approaches aligned with four increasingly mature NextGen operational environments. These NextGen time-frames ranged from near current-day operations to nearly fully-automated control, in which the ground systems automation was responsible for detecting conflicts, issuing strategic and tactical resolutions, and alerting the controller to exceptional circumstances. Results indicate that overall performance was best in the most automated NextGen environment. Safe operations were achieved in this environment for twice todays peak airspace capacity, while being rated by the controllers as highly acceptable. However, results show that sector operations were not always safe; separation violations did in fact occur. This paper will describe in detail the simulation conducted, as well discuss important results and their implications.

Development of environment radiation database management system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kang, Jong Gyu; Chung, Chang Hwa; Ryu, Chan Ho; Lee, Jin Yeong; Kim, Dong Hui; Lee, Hun Sun [Daeduk College, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1999-03-15

In this development, we constructed a database for efficient data processing and operating of radiation-environment related data. Se developed the source documents retrieval system and the current status printing system that supports a radiation environment dta collection, pre-processing and analysis. And, we designed and implemented the user interfaces and DB access routines based on WWW service policies on KINS Intranet. It is expected that the developed system, which organizes the information related to environmental radiation data systematically can be utilize for the accurate interpretation, analysis and evaluation.

Development of environment radiation database management system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, Jong Gyu; Chung, Chang Hwa; Ryu, Chan Ho; Lee, Jin Yeong; Kim, Dong Hui; Lee, Hun Sun

1999-03-01

In this development, we constructed a database for efficient data processing and operating of radiation-environment related data. Se developed the source documents retrieval system and the current status printing system that supports a radiation environment dta collection, pre-processing and analysis. And, we designed and implemented the user interfaces and DB access routines based on WWW service policies on KINS Intranet. It is expected that the developed system, which organizes the information related to environmental radiation data systematically can be utilize for the accurate interpretation, analysis and evaluation

The Role of the Institutional Environment in the Relationship between CSR and Operational Performance: An Empirical Study in Korean Manufacturing Industries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonio K. W. Lau

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Few studies have been conducted to explore the role of the institutional environment on the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR and operational performance in Korea’s manufacturing industry. Therefore, this study investigates the moderating effects of four institutional uncertainties—law enforcement, regulatory uncertainty, market turbulence and competition intensity—on the relationship between CSR and operational performance. Empirical survey data from 209 Korean manufacturers was collected online and then analyzed through moderated multiple regression analyses. The results show that CSR can significantly affect operational performance, positively moderated by law enforcement and competition intensity, but not by regulatory uncertainty and market turbulence. These results advise that the different institutional environments in which CSR is implemented are particularly important to consider for optimal business operations.

A Multiprocessor Operating System Simulator

Science.gov (United States)

Johnston, Gary M.; Campbell, Roy H.

1988-01-01

This paper describes a multiprocessor operating system simulator that was developed by the authors in the Fall semester of 1987. The simulator was built in response to the need to provide students with an environment in which to build and test operating system concepts as part of the coursework of a third-year undergraduate operating systems course. Written in C++, the simulator uses the co-routine style task package that is distributed with the AT&T C++ Translator to provide a hierarchy of classes that represents a broad range of operating system software and hardware components. The class hierarchy closely follows that of the 'Choices' family of operating systems for loosely- and tightly-coupled multiprocessors. During an operating system course, these classes are refined and specialized by students in homework assignments to facilitate experimentation with different aspects of operating system design and policy decisions. The current implementation runs on the IBM RT PC under 4.3bsd UNIX.

Geospace monitoring for space weather research and operation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nagatsuma Tsutomu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Geospace, a space surrounding the Earth, is one of the key area for space weather. Because geospace environment dynamically varies depending on the solar wind conditions. Many kinds of space assets are operating in geospace for practical purposes. Anomalies of space assets are sometimes happened because of space weather disturbances in geospace. Therefore, monitoring and forecasting of geospace environment is very important tasks for NICT's space weather research and development. To monitor and to improve forecasting model, fluxgate magnetometers and HF radars are operated by our laboratory, and its data are used for our research work, too. We also operate real-time data acquisition system for satellite data, such as DSCOVR, STEREO, and routinely received high energy particle data from Himawari-8. Based on these data, we are monitoring current condition of geomagnetic disturbances, and that of radiation belt. Using these data, we have developed empirical models for relativistic electron flux at GEO and inner magnetosphere. To provide userfriendly information , we are trying to develop individual spacecraft anomaly risk estimation tool based on combining models of space weather and those of spacecraft charging, Current status of geospace monitoring, forecasting, and research activities are introduced.

Geospace monitoring for space weather research and operation

Science.gov (United States)

Nagatsuma, Tsutomu

2017-10-01

Geospace, a space surrounding the Earth, is one of the key area for space weather. Because geospace environment dynamically varies depending on the solar wind conditions. Many kinds of space assets are operating in geospace for practical purposes. Anomalies of space assets are sometimes happened because of space weather disturbances in geospace. Therefore, monitoring and forecasting of geospace environment is very important tasks for NICT's space weather research and development. To monitor and to improve forecasting model, fluxgate magnetometers and HF radars are operated by our laboratory, and its data are used for our research work, too. We also operate real-time data acquisition system for satellite data, such as DSCOVR, STEREO, and routinely received high energy particle data from Himawari-8. Based on these data, we are monitoring current condition of geomagnetic disturbances, and that of radiation belt. Using these data, we have developed empirical models for relativistic electron flux at GEO and inner magnetosphere. To provide userfriendly information , we are trying to develop individual spacecraft anomaly risk estimation tool based on combining models of space weather and those of spacecraft charging, Current status of geospace monitoring, forecasting, and research activities are introduced.

Lagrangian statistics of mesoscale turbulence in a natural environment: The Agulhas return current.

Science.gov (United States)

Carbone, Francesco; Gencarelli, Christian N; Hedgecock, Ian M

2016-12-01

The properties of mesoscale geophysical turbulence in an oceanic environment have been investigated through the Lagrangian statistics of sea surface temperature measured by a drifting buoy within the Agulhas return current, where strong temperature mixing produces locally sharp temperature gradients. By disentangling the large-scale forcing which affects the small-scale statistics, we found that the statistical properties of intermittency are identical to those obtained from the multifractal prediction in the Lagrangian frame for the velocity trajectory. The results suggest a possible universality of turbulence scaling.

TPE upgrade for enhancing operational safety and improving in-vessel tritium inventory assessment in fusion nuclear environment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shimada, M., E-mail: Masashi.Shimada@inl.gov [Fusion Safety Program, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID 83415 (United States); Taylor, C.N.; Moore-McAteer, L.; Pawelko, R.J. [Fusion Safety Program, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID 83415 (United States); Kolasinski, R.D.; Buchenauer, D.A. [Sandia National Laboratories, Hydrogen and Materials Science Department, Livermore, CA 94550 (United States); Cadwallader, L.C.; Merrill, B.J. [Fusion Safety Program, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID 83415 (United States)

2016-11-01

The Tritium Plasma Experiment (TPE) is a unique high-flux linear plasma device that can handle beryllium, tritium, and neutron-irradiated plasma facing materials, and is the only existing device dedicated to evaluate in-vessel tritium inventory in the nuclear environment for fusion safety. The electrical upgrade were recently carried out to enhance operational safety and to improve plasma performance. New DC power supplies and a new control center enable remote plasma operations from outside of the contamination area for tritium, minimizing the possible exposure risk with tritium and beryllium and eliminating heat stress issue. In November 2015, the TPE successfully achieved first deuterium plasma via remote operation after a significant three-year upgrade. Simple linear scaling estimate showed that the TPE is expected to achieve Γ{sub i}{sup max} of >1.0 × 10{sup 23} m{sup −2} s{sup −1} and q{sub heat} of >1 MW m{sup −2} with new power supplies. This upgrade not only improves operational safety of the worker, but also enhances plasma performance to better simulate extreme plasma-material conditions expected in ITER, FNSF, and DEMO for improving in-vessel tritium inventory assessment in fusion nuclear environment.

Comparing performance and situation awareness in USAR unit tasks in a virtual and real environment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Horsch, C.H.G.; Smets, N.J.J.M.; Neerincx, M.A.; Cuijpers, R.H.

2013-01-01

A convenient way to test Urban Search And Rescue (USAR) robots would be in virtual environments (VEs). Evaluations in VEs are generally accepted as alternative for real scenarios. There are obvious differences between operation in a real and virtual environment. Nonetheless, the current experiment

Current Operational Use of and Future Needs for Microwave Imagery at NOAA

Science.gov (United States)

Goldberg, M.; McWilliams, G.; Chang, P.

2017-12-01

There are many applications of microwave imagery served by NOAA's operational products and services. They include the use of microwave imagery and derived products for monitoring precipitation, tropical cyclones, sea surface temperature under all weather conditions, wind speed, snow and ice cover, and even soil moisture. All of NOAA's line offices including the National Weather Service, National Ocean Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, and Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research rely on microwave imagery. Currently microwave imagery products used by NOAA come from a constellation of satellites that includes Air Force's Special Sensor Microwave Imager Sounder (SSMIS), the Japanese Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR), the Navy's WindSat, and NASA's Global Precipitation Monitoring (GPM) Microwave Imager (GMI). Follow-on missions for SSMIS are very uncertain, JAXA approval for a follow-on to AMSR2 is still pending, and GMI is a research satellite (lacking high-latitude coverage) with no commitment for operational continuity. Operational continuity refers to a series of satellites, so when one satellite reaches its design life a new satellite is launched. EUMETSAT has made a commitment to fly a microwave imager in the mid-morning orbit. China and Russia have demonstrated on-orbit microwave imagers. Of utmost importance to NOAA, however, is the quality, access, and latency of the data This presentation will focus on NOAA's current requirements for microwave imagery data which, for the most part, are being fulfilled by AMSR2, SSMIS, and WindSat. It will include examples of products and applications of microwave imagery at NOAA. We will also discuss future needs, especially for improved temporal resolution which hopefully can be met by an international constellation of microwave imagers. Finally, we will discuss what we are doing to address the potential gap in imagery.

Integration of a browser based operator manual in the system environment of a process computer system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weber, Andreas; Erfle, Robert; Feinkohl, Dirk

2012-01-01

The integration of a browser based operator manual in the system environment of a process computer system is an optimization of the operating procedure in the control room and a safety enhancement due to faster and error-free access to the manual contents. Several requirements by the authorities have to be fulfilled: the operating manual has to be available as hard copy, the format has to be true to original, protection against manipulation has to be provided, the manual content of the browser-based version and the hard copy have to identical, and the display presentation has to be consistent with ergonomic principals. The integration of the on-line manual in the surveillance process computer system provides the operator with the relevant comments to the surveillance signal. The described integration of the on-line manual is an optimization of the operator's everyday job with respect to ergonomics and safety (human performance).

Observer-based scheme for tuning the control of variable speed wind turbines operating in hostile environments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Caruana, Cedric; Al-Durra, Ahmed; Blaabjerg, Frede

2016-01-01

the control law. The proposed observer identifies variations in the power coefficient surface over time due to the effect of the environment on the rotor blades. Simulations for both open- and closed-loop operations are shown. The proposed technique shows the potential to alleviate the performance degradation...

Impact of radioactivity on the environment: problems, state of current knowledge and approaches for identification of radioprotection criteria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brechignac, F.

2001-01-01

There is currently a revitalized concern about the potential impact of ionizing radiation on the environment that calls for the construction of a system ensuring an adequate radioprotection of the non-human biota and their associated biotopes. This paper first sets the context of the problem both, with respect to the general philosophy of environmental protection as a whole, but also with respect to the consideration of the environment achieved so far in the purpose of human radioprotection. The current accumulated knowledge on the effects of ionizing radiation to biota (fauna and flora) is then briefly reviewed, encompassing effects at individual and community/ecosystem level, situations of acute and chronic exposure to high and low doses, finally leading to the identification of the most critical gaps in scientific knowledge: effects of mixed low dose rates in chronic exposure to communities and ecosystems. The most significant current international efforts towards the identification of environmental radioprotection criteria and standards are finally presented along with some relevant national examples. (author)

Plastics, the environment and human health: current consensus and future trends.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Richard C; Moore, Charles J; vom Saal, Frederick S; Swan, Shanna H

2009-07-27

Plastics have transformed everyday life; usage is increasing and annual production is likely to exceed 300 million tonnes by 2010. In this concluding paper to the Theme Issue on Plastics, the Environment and Human Health, we synthesize current understanding of the benefits and concerns surrounding the use of plastics and look to future priorities, challenges and opportunities. It is evident that plastics bring many societal benefits and offer future technological and medical advances. However, concerns about usage and disposal are diverse and include accumulation of waste in landfills and in natural habitats, physical problems for wildlife resulting from ingestion or entanglement in plastic, the leaching of chemicals from plastic products and the potential for plastics to transfer chemicals to wildlife and humans. However, perhaps the most important overriding concern, which is implicit throughout this volume, is that our current usage is not sustainable. Around 4 per cent of world oil production is used as a feedstock to make plastics and a similar amount is used as energy in the process. Yet over a third of current production is used to make items of packaging, which are then rapidly discarded. Given our declining reserves of fossil fuels, and finite capacity for disposal of waste to landfill, this linear use of hydrocarbons, via packaging and other short-lived applications of plastic, is simply not sustainable. There are solutions, including material reduction, design for end-of-life recyclability, increased recycling capacity, development of bio-based feedstocks, strategies to reduce littering, the application of green chemistry life-cycle analyses and revised risk assessment approaches. Such measures will be most effective through the combined actions of the public, industry, scientists and policymakers. There is some urgency, as the quantity of plastics produced in the first 10 years of the current century is likely to approach the quantity produced in the

Plastics, the environment and human health: current consensus and future trends

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Richard C.; Moore, Charles J.; vom Saal, Frederick S.; Swan, Shanna H.

2009-01-01

Plastics have transformed everyday life; usage is increasing and annual production is likely to exceed 300 million tonnes by 2010. In this concluding paper to the Theme Issue on Plastics, the Environment and Human Health, we synthesize current understanding of the benefits and concerns surrounding the use of plastics and look to future priorities, challenges and opportunities. It is evident that plastics bring many societal benefits and offer future technological and medical advances. However, concerns about usage and disposal are diverse and include accumulation of waste in landfills and in natural habitats, physical problems for wildlife resulting from ingestion or entanglement in plastic, the leaching of chemicals from plastic products and the potential for plastics to transfer chemicals to wildlife and humans. However, perhaps the most important overriding concern, which is implicit throughout this volume, is that our current usage is not sustainable. Around 4 per cent of world oil production is used as a feedstock to make plastics and a similar amount is used as energy in the process. Yet over a third of current production is used to make items of packaging, which are then rapidly discarded. Given our declining reserves of fossil fuels, and finite capacity for disposal of waste to landfill, this linear use of hydrocarbons, via packaging and other short-lived applications of plastic, is simply not sustainable. There are solutions, including material reduction, design for end-of-life recyclability, increased recycling capacity, development of bio-based feedstocks, strategies to reduce littering, the application of green chemistry life-cycle analyses and revised risk assessment approaches. Such measures will be most effective through the combined actions of the public, industry, scientists and policymakers. There is some urgency, as the quantity of plastics produced in the first 10 years of the current century is likely to approach the quantity produced in the

Monitoring of radioactivity in the UK environment. An annotated bibliography of current programmes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2001-01-01

With the continuing use of radioactive materials in industry, research and medicine, the public's awareness about the potential impact on human health and safety of any enhanced levels of radiation in the environment has heightened. All those involved recognise this concern and there has developed over the years a network of comprehensive monitoring systems designed to determine the levels of radiation to which members of the public are exposed. In the UK, many organisations carry out regular radioactivity monitoring programmes, and summaries of these programmes have been published in 1983, 1988 and 1992. The number of organisations carrying out monitoring, particularly in the local authority sector, increased rapidly following the Chernobyl incident in 1986 and later levelled off. This report updates those previous summaries, giving synopses of regular UK programmes whose results are published in report form, and of which the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions is currently aware

Strategies for operation of containment related ESFs in managing activity release to the environment during accident conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhawal, R.N.; Bajaj, S.S.

1998-01-01

In Indian PHWR design, a double containment concept with passive vapour suppression pool (to limit peak pressure) system has been adopted. In addition to it, various Engineered Safety Features (ESFs) have been incorporated to limit the release of radioactivity to the environment. They are: Reactor building emergency coolers for cooling which results in fast reduction of overpressure; Primary Containment Filtration and Pump Back System (PCFPBS) for reduction in iodine concentration inside RB atmosphere during post LOCA period; and, Primary Containment Controlled Discharge System (PCCDS) for the rapid reduction of over-pressure tail. Due to operation of secondary containment purge system, which maintain negative pressure in the annulus, the ground level release is negligibly small. However, if non- availability of negative pressure in secondary containment space is assumed, then operation of PCFPBS and PCCDS system reduces the ground level release significantly. In this situation, depending upon time of operation of the PCFPBS, it can effectively reduce the iodine release, both in stack level and ground level by trapping it in charcoal filters. It is seen that delay time of PCFPBS operation in conjunction with prevailing weather condition can be manipulated to reduce the effect of stack level release of iodine. In this paper the containment related ESFs used in Indian PHWR is discussed in brief and the effectiveness of operator actions and management strategies in actuation of the ESFs in reducing the activity release to environment (during postulated accident conditions) will be brought out. (author)

Pitting Corrosion of the Resistance Welding Joints of Stainless Steel Ventilation Grille Operated in Swimming Pool Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mirosław Szala

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This work focuses on the pitting corrosion of ventilation grilles operated in swimming pool environments. The ventilation grille was made by resistance welding of stainless steel rods. Based on the macroscopic and microscopic examinations, the mechanism of the pitting corrosion was confirmed. Chemical composition microanalysis of sediments as well as base metal using scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS method was carried out. The weldments did not meet the operating conditions of the swimming pool environment. The wear due to the pitting corrosion was identified in heat affected zones of stainless steel weldment and was more severe than the corrosion of base metal. The low quality finish of the joints and influence of the welding process on the weld metal microstructure lead to accelerated deposition of corrosion effecting elements such as chlorine.

Algorithm for evaluating the effectiveness of a high-rise development project based on current yield

Science.gov (United States)

Soboleva, Elena

2018-03-01

The article is aimed at the issues of operational evaluation of development project efficiency in high-rise construction under the current economic conditions in Russia. The author touches the following issues: problems of implementing development projects, the influence of the operational evaluation quality of high-rise construction projects on general efficiency, assessing the influence of the project's external environment on the effectiveness of project activities under crisis conditions and the quality of project management. The article proposes the algorithm and the methodological approach to the quality management of the developer project efficiency based on operational evaluation of the current yield efficiency. The methodology for calculating the current efficiency of a development project for high-rise construction has been updated.

Development of a high average current polarized electron source with long cathode operational lifetime

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. K. Sinclair

2007-02-01

Full Text Available Substantially more than half of the electromagnetic nuclear physics experiments conducted at the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility of the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Laboratory require highly polarized electron beams, often at high average current. Spin-polarized electrons are produced by photoemission from various GaAs-based semiconductor photocathodes, using circularly polarized laser light with photon energy slightly larger than the semiconductor band gap. The photocathodes are prepared by activation of the clean semiconductor surface to negative electron affinity using cesium and oxidation. Historically, in many laboratories worldwide, these photocathodes have had short operational lifetimes at high average current, and have often deteriorated fairly quickly in ultrahigh vacuum even without electron beam delivery. At Jefferson Lab, we have developed a polarized electron source in which the photocathodes degrade exceptionally slowly without electron emission, and in which ion back bombardment is the predominant mechanism limiting the operational lifetime of the cathodes during electron emission. We have reproducibly obtained cathode 1/e dark lifetimes over two years, and 1/e charge density and charge lifetimes during electron beam delivery of over 2×10^{5}   C/cm^{2} and 200 C, respectively. This source is able to support uninterrupted high average current polarized beam delivery to three experimental halls simultaneously for many months at a time. Many of the techniques we report here are directly applicable to the development of GaAs photoemission electron guns to deliver high average current, high brightness unpolarized beams.

Visual operations control in administrative environments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carson, M.L.; Levine, L.O.

1995-03-01

When asked what comes to mind when they think of ``controlling work`` in the office, people may respond with ``overbearing boss,`` ``no autonomy,`` or ``Theory X management.`` The idea of controlling work in white collar or administrative environments can have a negative connotation. However, office life is often chaotic and miserable precisely because the work processes are out of control, and managers must spend their time looking over people`s shoulders and fighting fires. While management styles and structures vary, the need for control of work processes does not. Workers in many environments are being reorganized into self-managed work teams. These teams are expected to manage their own work through increased autonomy and empowerment. However, even empowered work teams must manage their work processes because of process variation. The amount of incoming jobs vary with both expected (seasonal) and unexpected demand. The mixture of job types vary over time, changing the need for certain skills or knowledge. And illness and turnover affect the availability of workers with needed skills and knowledge. Clearly, there is still a need to control work, whether the authority for controlling work is vested in one person or many. Visual control concepts provide simple, inexpensive, and flexible mechanisms for managing processes in work teams and continuous improvement administrative environments.

Optical Estimation of Depth and Current in a Ebb Tidal Delta Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Holman, R. A.; Stanley, J.

2012-12-01

A key limitation to our ability to make nearshore environmental predictions is the difficulty of obtaining up-to-date bathymetry measurements at a reasonable cost and frequency. Due to the high cost and complex logistics of in-situ methods, research into remote sensing approaches has been steady and has finally yielded fairly robust methods like the cBathy algorithm for optical Argus data that show good performance on simple barred beach profiles and near immunity to noise and signal problems. In May, 2012, data were collected in a more complex ebb tidal delta environment during the RIVET field experiment at New River Inlet, NC. The presence of strong reversing tidal currents led to significant errors in cBathy depths that were phase-locked to the tide. In this paper we will test methods for the robust estimation of both depths and vector currents in a tidal delta domain. In contrast to previous Fourier methods, wavenumber estimation in cBathy can be done on small enough scales to resolve interesting nearshore features.

Extending the Operational Relevance of the Current Heavy Mechanized and Armor Force to 2020 and Beyond

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Boston, Gerald

2003-01-01

Can the U.S. Army's current heavy mechanized and armor force adapt emerging Joint Vision 2020 operational concepts, in order to remain relevant to the land power requirements of combatant commanders across...

Deep-well injection of liquid radwaste in Russia - current status and operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bradley, D.J.; Foley, M.G.; Rybal'chenko, A.I.

1995-01-01

This paper is submitted as part of a coordinated effort to present the topic of deep-well injection. The companion paper, open-quotes Deep-Well Injection of Liquid Radwaste in Russia - Background and Technical Basis,close quotes focuses on the original decision to inject liquid radwaste, the research behind that decision, and the design and construction of the injection facilities. The emphasis in this paper is on the current status and operation of the well facilities and the control systems used to minimize environmental impact

A State Cyber Hub Operations Framework

Science.gov (United States)

2016-06-01

current and future decision support. Finally, the Hub operations team must track and report key performance indictors ( KPIs ) (established by the state...Region); then mutually agreed-upon core KPIs should be identified and reported at this time. The goal of the Act Element is to implement the decision...Force Headquarters Page 58 JIE Joint Information Environment JMC JIE Management Construct KPI Key Performance Indicator LEA Law Enforcement

Zero-Bias Offsets in the Low-Temperature Dark Current of Quantum-Well Infrared Photodetectors

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Singh, Anjali

1999-01-01

.... In this environment, the detector arrays may need to be operated at temperatures lower then 77 K. At these temperatures, tunneling mechanisms such as Fowler-Nordheim and trap-assisted tunneling could dominate the dark current...

Current Operative Management of Breast Cancer: An Age of Smaller Resections and Bigger Cures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rostas, J.W.; Dyess, D.L.

2012-01-01

Surgical resection was the first effective treatment for breast cancer and remains the most important treatment modality for curative intent. Refinements in operative techniques along with the use of adjuvant radiotherapy and advanced chemotherapeutic agents have facilitated increasingly focused breast cancer operations. Surgical management of breast cancer has shifted from extensive and highly morbid procedures, to the modern concept obtaining the best possible cosmetic result in tandem with the appropriate oncological resection. An ever-growing comprehension of breast cancer biology has led to substantial advances in molecular diagnosis and targeted therapies. An emerging frontier involves the breast cancer microenvironment, as a thorough understanding, while currently lacking, represents a critical opportunity for diagnosis and treatment. Collectively, these improvements will continue to push all therapeutic interventions, including operative, toward the goal of becoming more focused, targeted, and less morbid

A Multiagent System for Autonomous Operation of Islanded Microgrids Based on a Power Market Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Myong-Chul Shin

2010-12-01

Full Text Available One of the most important requirements of microgrid operation is to maintain a constant frequency such as 50 Hz or 60 Hz, which is closely related to a power balance between supply and demand. In general, microgrids are connected to power grids and surplus/shortage power of microgrids is traded with power grids. Since islanded microgrids are isolated from any power grids, the decrease in generation or load-shedding can be used to maintain the frequency when a power imbalance between supply and demand occurs. The power imbalance restricts the electricity use of consumers in the case of supply shortage and the power supply of suppliers in the case of supply surplus. Therefore, the islanded microgrid should be operated to reduce power imbalance conditions. Meanwhile, the microgrid is a small-scale power system and the employment of skillful operators for effective operation of its components requires high costs. Therefore, automatic operation of the components is effective realistically. In addition, the components are distributed in the microgrid and their operation should consider their owners’ profits. For these reasons, a multiagent system application can be a good alternative for microgrid operation. In this paper, we present a multiagent system for autonomous operation of the islanded microgrid on a power market environment. The proposed multiagent system is designed based on a cooperative operation scheme. We show the functionality and the feasibility of the proposed multiagent system through several tests.

A multiagent system for autonomous operation of islanded microgrids based on a power market environment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, H.-M. [Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Incheon/12-1, Sondo-dong, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, 406-840 (Korea, Republic of); Kinoshita, T. [Graduate School of Information Science, Tohoku University/2-1-1, Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8577 (Japan); Shin, M.-Ch. [School of Information and Communication Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University/300, Cheoncheon-dong, Jangan-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, 440-746 (Korea, Republic of)

2010-12-15

One of the most important requirements of microgrid operation is to maintain a constant frequency such as 50 Hz or 60 Hz, which is closely related to a power balance between supply and demand. In general, microgrids are connected to power grids and surplus/shortage power of microgrids is traded with power grids. Since islanded microgrids are isolated from any power grids, the decrease in generation or load-shedding can be used to maintain the frequency when a power imbalance between supply and demand occurs. The power imbalance restricts the electricity use of consumers in the case of supply shortage and the power supply of suppliers in the case of supply surplus. Therefore, the islanded microgrid should be operated to reduce power imbalance conditions. Meanwhile, the microgrid is a small-scale power system and the employment of skillful operators for effective operation of its components requires high costs. Therefore, automatic operation of the components is effective realistically. In addition, the components are distributed in the microgrid and their operation should consider their owners' profits. For these reasons, a multiagent system application can be a good alternative for microgrid operation. In this paper, we present a multiagent system for autonomous operation of the islanded microgrid on a power market environment. The proposed multiagent system is designed based on a cooperative operation scheme. We show the functionality and the feasibility of the proposed multiagent system through several tests. (authors)

Reactor operation environmental information document

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haselow, J.S.; Price, V.; Stephenson, D.E.; Bledsoe, H.W.; Looney, B.B.

1989-12-01

The Savannah River Site (SRS) produces nuclear materials, primarily plutonium and tritium, to meet the requirements of the Department of Defense. These products have been formed in nuclear reactors that were built during 1950--1955 at the SRS. K, L, and P reactors are three of five reactors that have been used in the past to produce the nuclear materials. All three of these reactors discontinued operation in 1988. Currently, intense efforts are being extended to prepare these three reactors for restart in a manner that protects human health and the environment. To document that restarting the reactors will have minimal impacts to human health and the environment, a three-volume Reactor Operations Environmental Impact Document has been prepared. The document focuses on the impacts of restarting the K, L, and P reactors on both the SRS and surrounding areas. This volume discusses the geology, seismology, and subsurface hydrology. 195 refs., 101 figs., 16 tabs.

Current dietary supplement use of Australian military veterans of Middle East operations.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Pols, Jolieke C; Kanesarajah, Jeeva; Bell, Alison; Lui, Chi-Wai

2017-12-01

To assess patterns and levels of dietary supplement use among Australian Defence Forces, previously deployed to the Middle East Area of Operations. A cross-sectional study. Participants of a large survey self-completed questions about dietary supplement use, health status, personal and job-related characteristics, and lifestyle factors. Frequency of current use of supplements was assessed in three categories (bodybuilding, energy and weight loss). Middle East Area of Operations post-deployment health survey. Current and ex-serving Australian Defence Force personnel (n 14 032) who deployed to the Middle East between 2001 and 2009. Bodybuilding supplements were used by 17·5 % of participants, energy supplements by 24·5 % and weight-loss supplements by 7·6 %. Overall, 32·3 % of participants used any of these supplements. Bodybuilding and energy supplements were more often used by men, younger persons and those in the Army, while weight-loss supplements were more commonly used by women and Navy personnel. Supplements in all three categories were more commonly used by persons in lower ranks, active service and combat roles. Users of bodybuilding supplements had healthier lifestyles and better health status, while users of energy and weight-loss supplements had less healthy lifestyles and poorer mental and physical health status. Overall, 11·7 % of participants used supplements containing caffeine and 3·6 % used a creatine-containing product. Use of dietary supplements among Australian Defence Force personnel is common, and patterned by lifestyle factors and health status.

Technologies for improving current and future light water reactor operation and maintenance: Development on the basis of experience. Proceedings of a technical committee meeting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2000-09-01

Application of efficient technologies for improving operation and maintenance of nuclear power plants is an important element for assuring their economic competitiveness with other means of generating electricity. The competitive environment, which nuclear power plant operators face in many countries as a result of de-regulation of the electricity market, imposes cost pressures that must be met while at the same time satisfying stringent safety requirements. Further, as currently operating plants age, proper management includes development and application of better technologies for inspection, maintenance and repair. For future plants, the opportunity exists during the design phase to incorporate design features for performing efficient inspection, maintenance and repairs. Despite the prevailing low prices of fossil fuels, the generation costs of nuclear electricity continue to be competitive with electricity generation costs from fossil-fuelled plants for base load generation in several countries. For nuclear power, the capital investment component of electricity generation cost is relatively high, while the nuclear fuel cycle cost is - and is expected to remain - relatively low. The prices of fossil fuels are fairly low today but are likely to increase over the long term because the resource is limited. Moreover, governments may introduce incentives to reduce the use of fossil fuels in order to protect the environment. In many countries, nuclear utilities are experiencing increased competition with other sources of electricity production due to deregulation of the electricity market, and nuclear plant operators can no longer pass along the generation costs to consumers through regulated electricity rates. This competitive environment has significant implications for plant operations to achieve efficient use of all resources, and to effectively manage plant activities including outages and maintenance. Over the past several years, steady improvements have been

Technologies for improving current and future light water reactor operation and maintenance: Development on the basis of experience. Proceedings of a technical committee meeting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2000-09-01

Application of efficient technologies for improving operation and maintenance of nuclear power plants is an important element for assuring their economic competitiveness with other means of generating electricity. The competitive environment, which nuclear power plant operators face in many countries as a result of de-regulation of the electricity market, imposes cost pressures that must be met while at the same time satisfying stringent safety requirements. Further, as currently operating plants age, proper management includes development and application of better technologies for inspection, maintenance and repair. For future plants, the opportunity exists during the design phase to incorporate design features for performing efficient inspection, maintenance and repairs. Despite the prevailing low prices of fossil fuels, the generation costs of nuclear electricity continue to be competitive with electricity generation costs from fossil-fuelled plants for base load generation in several countries. For nuclear power, the capital investment component of electricity generation cost is relatively high, while the nuclear fuel cycle cost is - and is expected to remain - relatively low. The prices of fossil fuels are fairly low today but are likely to increase over the long term because the resource is limited. Moreover, governments may introduce incentives to reduce the use of fossil fuels in order to protect the environment. In many countries, nuclear utilities are experiencing increased competition with other sources of electricity production due to deregulation of the electricity market, and nuclear plant operators can no longer pass along the generation costs to consumers through regulated electricity rates. This competitive environment has significant implications for plant operations to achieve efficient use of all resources, and to effectively manage plant activities including outages and maintenance. Over the past several years, steady improvements have been

Torque harmonics of an asynchronous motor supplied by a voltage- or current-sourced inverter quasi-square operation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kyyrae, J. [Helsinki University of Technology, Institute of Intelligent Power Electronics, Espoo (Finland)

1997-12-31

Voltage- and current-sourced dc-ac converters operating in quasi-square area are compared. Their characteristics are calculated with switching vector, which is space-vector of switching functions. When the load is an asynchronous motor various analytical equations, including torque, are calculated efficiently. Motor current and torque approximations are compared with the simulated ones. (orig.) 6 refs.

Improving Integrated Operation in the Joint Integrated Mission Model (JIMM) and the Simulated Warfare Environment Data Transfer (SWEDAT) Protocol

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Mutschler, David W

2005-01-01

...). It allows integrated operation of resources whereby the JIMM threat environment, stimulators virtual cockpits, systems under test, and other agents are combined within the same simulation exercise...

Particle interaction and displacement damage in silicon devices operated in radiation environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leroy, Claude; Rancoita, Pier-Giorgio

2007-01-01

Silicon is used in radiation detectors and electronic devices. Nowadays, these devices achieving submicron technology are parts of integrated circuits of large to very large scale integration (VLSI). Silicon and silicon-based devices are commonly operated in many fields including particle physics experiments, nuclear medicine and space. Some of these fields present adverse radiation environments that may affect the operation of the devices. The particle energy deposition mechanisms by ionization and non-ionization processes are reviewed as well as the radiation-induced damage and its effect on device parameters evolution, depending on particle type, energy and fluence. The temporary or permanent damage inflicted by a single particle (single event effect) to electronic devices or integrated circuits is treated separately from the total ionizing dose (TID) effect for which the accumulated fluence causes degradation and from the displacement damage induced by the non-ionizing energy-loss (NIEL) deposition. Understanding of radiation effects on silicon devices has an impact on their design and allows the prediction of a specific device behaviour when exposed to a radiation field of interest

Power demand operation - environment and potential. Proposals for main project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wathne, M.

1995-01-01

This report discusses proposals for a main project on environmental and other problems arising when hydroelectric power stations supply energy at gigawatt levels. The project aims in particular to identify environmental problems where too little is known today for proper planning of this type of operation. The proposals emphasize the consequences which cannot be adequately analysed in terms of current techniques. These techniques presuppose steady state conditions. One proposal concerns market terms for power sales. Other proposals deal with hydrological data and uncertainty, capacity of watercourses, ice and temperature, aquatic eco-systems, erosion, supersaturation of water with air, flooding and dam breaks, impact on climate, inflow of fresh water in fjords and impact on algae. 33 refs., 4 tabs

Current means for plasma diagnostics and their application for materials and environment control. Materials of IV Russian seminar

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-01-01

The collection contains reports made at the Fourth Russian seminar Current means of plasma diagnostics and their application for materials and environment control. The seminar took place in Moscow, November 12-14, 2003. The content of the collection covers both questions of plasma diagnostics in thermonuclear reactors and problems of diagnostics of pulsed and stationary gas discharges in research and technological installations. The reports on plasma diagnostics applied for some tasks of medicine and environment control are presented [ru

A novel current mode operating beam counter based on not preamplified HPDs

CERN Document Server

Fujiwara, M.C.

2002-01-01

A novel system to monitor the intensity and the stability of a bunched beam of $\\simeq 1.2\\times 10^{7}$ antiprotons ($\\bar{p}$s) with a length of $\\simeq$ 250 ns (FWHM) and to measure its trapping efficiency in a Penning trap is described. This system operates parasitically detecting the pions from the annihilation of part of the beam in a degrader. Six plastic scintillators have been coupled from one side to six proximity focused HPDs without preamplifiers and operating in current mode. This device works in the stray field of the ATHENA magnet with no loss of efficiency; the gain can be varied from zero to a few thousands with a precision better than 0.1% and the dynamic range is larger than 8 orders of magnitude. Linearity and stability have been measured up to charge responses of 100 nC, corresponding to the beam completely dumped. The beam counter has been calibrated in two different and independent ways giving consistent results.

Field intercomparison of three current meters in an environment free from high frequency motion

Science.gov (United States)

Larouche, Pierre; Deguise, Jean-Claude

1989-06-01

An intercomparison of three different types of current meter was performed in an Arctic environment where wave action was absent, permitting the evaluation of the instruments under natural conditions of weak currents and cold water. The instruments were an Aanderaa RCMS4S, an Inter Ocean S4 and an EG&G-Neil Brown Smart Acoustic Current Meter (SACM). The S4 and the SACM both showed their ability to measure very small currents as opposed to the RCM4S which is limited by a mechanical rotor threshold. The agreement of the direction was better between the RCM4S and the SACM than between the RCM4S and the S4. Due to the misalignment of the Aanderaa vane in very weak currents, direction differences between the instruments of either pair can, however, reach 180°. The misalignment also shields the Aanderaa rotor leading to underestimation of current speed. The threshold for a good speed reading for the Aanderaa can be put conservatively at 5 cm s -1. Above this value, the RCM4S over-responded compared to both the S4 and the SACM. The source of that problem seems to be related to different calibrations of the instruments. Finally a power spectrum analysis showed that the RCM4S, when not influenced by wave action, can produce a measure of the energy as good as that of a vector averaging instrument.

Voltage- and current-activated metal–insulator transition in VO2-based electrical switches: a lifetime operation analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aurelian Crunteanu, Julien Givernaud, Jonathan Leroy, David Mardivirin, Corinne Champeaux, Jean-Christophe Orlianges, Alain Catherinot and Pierre Blondy

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Vanadium dioxide is an intensively studied material that undergoes a temperature-induced metal–insulator phase transition accompanied by a large change in electrical resistivity. Electrical switches based on this material show promising properties in terms of speed and broadband operation. The exploration of the failure behavior and reliability of such devices is very important in view of their integration in practical electronic circuits. We performed systematic lifetime investigations of two-terminal switches based on the electrical activation of the metal–insulator transition in VO2 thin films. The devices were integrated in coplanar microwave waveguides (CPWs in series configuration. We detected the evolution of a 10 GHz microwave signal transmitted through the CPW, modulated by the activation of the VO2 switches in both voltage- and current-controlled modes. We demonstrated enhanced lifetime operation of current-controlled VO2-based switching (more than 260 million cycles without failure compared with the voltage-activated mode (breakdown at around 16 million activation cycles. The evolution of the electrical self-oscillations of a VO2-based switch induced in the current-operated mode is a subtle indicator of the material properties modification and can be used to monitor its behavior under various external stresses in sensor applications.

[Current value, technic and indications for obstetrical operations].

Science.gov (United States)

Bayer, H

1983-01-01

Starting point of this survey is the 1954 paper about obstetrical operations from H. Kraatz. It is demonstrated, that there were and there are defined principles, which continue to exist unchanged. They are the fundamentals of indication and technique of operations in obstetrics. Nevertheless there are distinct changes, too, caused by two factors, progress in medicine (development of antibiotics, anaesthesiology and neonatology) as well as change of aspect in obstetrics (e.g. toxemias of pregnancy, preterm labour). The methods are discussed in detail. Operations by vaginal route come in the foreground in the last years more again. They should be preferred in maternal interest. The enlarged indication for caesarean section was not able to succeed on a large scale. An uniform procedure is proposed both in cephalic and breech presentation, and the new formulated preconditions to these operations are discussed. All three techniques two abdominal ones and one vaginal one) are demanded in caesarean sections, because they come into question in special situations. There is a change in operative indications in cases of bleeding, because of an early diagnosis by ultrasound. The qualification and experience of the obstetrician is more decisive than the selected method of operation or the instrument's type. Therefore there should not be any cut in instruction and training. The versatility of operative technique is a prerequisite to a qualified indication.

An operational coupled wave-current forecasting system for the northern Adriatic Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Russo, A.; Coluccelli, A.; Deserti, M.; Valentini, A.; Benetazzo, A.; Carniel, S.

2012-04-01

Since 2005 an Adriatic implementation of the Regional Ocean Modeling System (AdriaROMS) is being producing operational short-term forecasts (72 hours) of some hydrodynamic properties (currents, sea level, temperature, salinity) of the Adriatic Sea at 2 km horizontal resolution and 20 vertical s-levels, on a daily basis. The main objective of AdriaROMS, which is managed by the Hydro-Meteo-Clima Service (SIMC) of ARPA Emilia Romagna, is to provide useful products for civil protection purposes (sea level forecasts, outputs to run other forecasting models as for saline wedge, oil spills and coastal erosion). In order to improve the forecasts in the coastal area, where most of the attention is focused, a higher resolution model (0.5 km, again with 20 vertical s-levels) has been implemented for the northern Adriatic domain. The new implementation is based on the Coupled-Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport Modeling System (COAWST)and adopts ROMS for the hydrodynamic and Simulating WAve Nearshore (SWAN) for the wave module, respectively. Air-sea fluxes are computed using forecasts produced by the COSMO-I7 operational atmospheric model. At the open boundary of the high resolution model, temperature, salinity and velocity fields are provided by AdriaROMS while the wave characteristics are provided by an operational SWAN implementation (also managed by SIMC). Main tidal components are imposed as well, derived from a tidal model. Work in progress is oriented now on the validation of model results by means of extensive comparisons with acquired hydrographic measurements (such as CTDs or XBTs from sea-truth campaigns), currents and waves acquired at observational sites (including those of SIMC, CNR-ISMAR network and its oceanographic tower, located off the Venice littoral) and satellite-derived wave-heights data. Preliminary results on the forecast waves denote how, especially during intense storms, the effect of coupling can lead to significant variations in the wave

Progress Toward Steady State Tokamak Operation Exploiting the high bootstrap current fraction regime

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Q.

2015-11-01

Recent DIII-D experiments have advanced the normalized fusion performance of the high bootstrap current fraction tokamak regime toward reactor-relevant steady state operation. The experiments, conducted by a joint team of researchers from the DIII-D and EAST tokamaks, developed a fully noninductive scenario that could be extended on EAST to a demonstration of long pulse steady-state tokamak operation. Fully noninductive plasmas with extremely high values of the poloidal beta, βp >= 4 , have been sustained at βT >= 2 % for long durations with excellent energy confinement quality (H98y,2 >= 1 . 5) and internal transport barriers (ITBs) generated at large minor radius (>= 0 . 6) in all channels (Te, Ti, ne, VTf). Large bootstrap fraction (fBS ~ 80 %) has been obtained with high βp. ITBs have been shown to be compatible with steady state operation. Because of the unusually large ITB radius, normalized pressure is not limited to low βN values by internal ITB-driven modes. βN up to ~4.3 has been obtained by optimizing the plasma-wall distance. The scenario is robust against several variations, including replacing some on-axis with off-axis neutral beam injection (NBI), adding electron cyclotron (EC) heating, and reducing the NBI torque by a factor of 2. This latter observation is particularly promising for extension of the scenario to EAST, where maximum power is obtained with balanced NBI injection, and to a reactor, expected to have low rotation. However, modeling of this regime has provided new challenges to state-of-the-art modeling capabilities: quasilinear models can dramatically underpredict the electron transport, and the Sauter bootstrap current can be insufficient. The analysis shows first-principle NEO is in good agreement with experiments for the bootstrap current calculation and ETG modes with a larger saturated amplitude or EM modes may provide the missing electron transport. Work supported in part by the US DOE under DE-FC02-04ER54698, DE-AC52-07NA

Conditioning of BPM pickup signals for operations of the Duke storage ring with a wide range of single-bunch current

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Wei; Li, Jing-Yi; Huang, Sen-Lin; Z. Wu, W.; Hao, H.; P., Wang; K. Wu, Y.

2014-10-01

The Duke storage ring is a dedicated driver for the storage ring based oscillator free-electron lasers (FELs), and the High Intensity Gamma-ray Source (HIGS). It is operated with a beam current ranging from about 1 mA to 100 mA per bunch for various operations and accelerator physics studies. High performance operations of the FEL and γ-ray source require a stable electron beam orbit, which has been realized by the global orbit feedback system. As a critical part of the orbit feedback system, the electron beam position monitors (BPMs) are required to be able to precisely measure the electron beam orbit in a wide range of the single-bunch current. However, the high peak voltage of the BPM pickups associated with high single-bunch current degrades the performance of the BPM electronics, and can potentially damage the BPM electronics. A signal conditioning method using low pass filters is developed to reduce the peak voltage to protect the BPM electronics, and to make the BPMs capable of working with a wide range of single-bunch current. Simulations and electron beam based tests are performed. The results show that the Duke storage ring BPM system is capable of providing precise orbit measurements to ensure highly stable FEL and HIGS operations.

Current safety issues related to research reactor operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alcala-Ruiz, F.

2000-01-01

The Agency has included activities on research reactor safety in its Programme and Budget (P and B) since its inception in 1957. Since then, these activities have traditionally been oriented to fulfil the Agency's functions and obligations. At the end of the decade of the eighties, the Agency's Research Reactor Safety Programme (RRSP) consisted of a limited number of tasks related to the preparation of safety related publications and the conduct of safety missions to research reactor facilities. It was at the beginning of the nineties when the RRSP was upgraded and expanded as a subprogramme of the Agency's P and B. This subprogramme continued including activities related to the above subjects and started addressing an increasing number of issues related to the current situation of research reactors (in operation and shut down) around the world such as reactor ageing, modifications and decommissioning. The present paper discusses some of the above issues as recognised by various external review or advisory groups (e.g., Peer Review Groups under the Agency's Performance Programme Appraisal System (PPAS) or the standing International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group (INSAG)) and the impact of their recommendations on the preparation and implementation of the part of the Agency's P and B relating to the above subject. (author)

THE ESTIMATION OF HUMAN-OPERATOR CYBERNETIC ABILITIES DURING THE IMPACT OF DESTABILIZING FACTORS OF EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergii T. Polishchuk

2009-04-01

Full Text Available  The method of estimation of human-operator cybernetics abilities during of the impacting of destabilizing factors of external environment is suggested. It was proved that up-to-date biomedical approach for periodical health examination of pilots in civil aviation isn’t guarantees theirs cybernetics abilities in cases of influence of destabilizing factors.

8. report of the Standing Senate Committee on energy, the environment and natural resources : facts do not justify banning Canada's current offshore drilling operations : a Senate review in the wake of BP's Deepwater Horizon incident

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Angus, W.D.; Mitchell, G. (comps.)

2010-08-15

The blowout of BP's Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico has prompted many drilling practice reviews worldwide. This review by Canada's Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources investigated Canadian offshore drilling practices. It showed that the risk of an offshore accident is quite low, partly because of the small amount of drilling currently underway in Canada. As a result, the committee recommended against a moratorium on offshore drilling. The study found that Canada's regulations for safety are more stringent than regulations in the United States. This report has elicited further reviews of liability and responsibility issues regarding offshore drilling. The Canadian legislation specifies that oil and gas companies are responsible for all spill clean-up costs and damage compensation. A $30 million absolute liability fund covers blowout costs for drilling in Canada's east offshore coast. A second civil liability fund requires drilling companies to provide Canadian regulators access to $70 million to cover damages from fault or negligence in offshore drilling. In addition, well operators may be required to provide evidence that they have a minimum of $250 million to fund well control, well safety and spill cleanup expenses. This report recommended a comprehensive review of liability, including whether thresholds should be adjusted to reflect current economic realities. refs., tabs., figs.

Radioactivation of silicon tracker modules in high-luminosity hadron collider radiation environments

CERN Document Server

Dawson, I; Buttar, C; Cindro, V; Mandic, I

2003-01-01

One of the consequences of operating detector systems in harsh radiation environments will be radioactivation of the components. This will certainly be true in experiments such as ATLAS and CMS, which are currently being built to exploit the physics potential at CERN's Large Hadron Collider. If the levels of radioactivity and corresponding dose rates are significant, then there will be implications for any access or maintenance operations. This paper presents predictions for the radioactivation of ATLAS's Semi- Conductor Tracker (SCT) barrel system, based on both calculations and measurements. It is shown that both neutron capture and high-energy hadron reactions must be taken into account. The predictions also show that the SCT barrel-module should not pose any serious radiological problems after operation in high radiation environments.

An integrated GIS environment enhancing the operation and planning of power utilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yared, George Antoine

1996-05-01

The evolution of electrical power systems was tightly geared by the development of two fields: power engineering, with the advanced technology of physical elements comprising all parts of a power system, and information processing tools to manage the performance of electric power utilities. Compared to power engineering that has gone through tremendous developments, information technology applications for electrical power systems are relatively young. The possible improvements of these applications are in their graphical, mapping an data analysis capabilities. State-of-the art information technology such as Geographic Information Systems provides these facilities. The objective of this thesis is to devise a technique that combines power system software tools with the Geographic Information Systems software to enhance the operation, control and planning of electrical transmission systems. The load flow, voltage control and fault analysis models for the transmission system will be re-engineered in a Geographic Information System environment.The research is generic, special attention is given to its application to the Lebanese electrical power system, which is recovering from an infrastructure devastating war. The research entails integrating power systems analysis and control package, or PSACP developed at the AUB within a Geographic Information Systems environment. This will enhance the power modeling capabilities by the use of powerful thematic mapping, geographic and data analysis and user interface techniques that come with Geographic Information Systems. An overview of the two technologies involved is presented, followed by a detailed description of the integration technique before describing the integrated system. Moving to a higher level, the features of the system are presented, followed by sample applications of the integrated system on the Lebanese electrical power system. The thesis contributes to the research arena by developing a software re

Present and future of vision systems technologies in commercial flight operations

Science.gov (United States)

Ward, Jim

2016-05-01

The development of systems to enable pilots of all types of aircraft to see through fog, clouds, and sandstorms and land in low visibility has been widely discussed and researched across aviation. For military applications, the goal has been to operate in a Degraded Visual Environment (DVE), using sensors to enable flight crews to see and operate without concern to weather that limits human visibility. These military DVE goals are mainly oriented to the off-field landing environment. For commercial aviation, the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) implemented operational regulations in 2004 that allow the flight crew to see the runway environment using an Enhanced Flight Vision Systems (EFVS) and continue the approach below the normal landing decision height. The FAA is expanding the current use and economic benefit of EFVS technology and will soon permit landing without any natural vision using real-time weather-penetrating sensors. The operational goals of both of these efforts, DVE and EFVS, have been the stimulus for development of new sensors and vision displays to create the modern flight deck.

Radiological operating experience at FFTF [Fast Flux Test Facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bunch, W.L.; Prevo, P.R.

1986-11-01

The Fast Flux Test Facility has been in operation for approximately five years, including about one thousand days of full power operation of the Fast Test Reactor. During that time the collective dose equivalents received by operating personnel have been about two orders of magnitude lower than those typically received at commercial light water reactors. No major contamination problems have been encountered in operating and maintaining the plant, and release of radioactive gas to the environment has been minimal and well below acceptable limits. All shields have performed satisfactorily. Experience to date indicates an apparent radiological superiority of liquid metal reactor systems over current light water plants

Current distribution measurements inside an electromagnetic plasma gun operated in a gas-puff mode.

Science.gov (United States)

Poehlmann, Flavio R; Cappelli, Mark A; Rieker, Gregory B

2010-12-01

Measurements are presented of the time-dependent current distribution inside a coaxial electromagnetic plasma gun. The measurements are carried out using an array of six axially distributed dual-Rogowski coils in a balanced circuit configuration. The radial current distributions indicate that operation in the gas-puff mode, i.e., the mode in which the electrode voltage is applied before injection of the gas, results in a stationary ionization front consistent with the presence of a plasma deflagration. The effects of varying the bank capacitance, transmission line inductance, and applied electrode voltage were studied over the range from 14 to 112 μF, 50 to 200 nH, and 1 to 3 kV, respectively.

Lessons learned on solar powered wireless sensor network deployments in urban, desert environments

KAUST Repository

Dehwah, Ahmad H.

2015-05-01

The successful deployment of a large scale solar powered wireless sensor network in an urban, desert environment is a very complex task. Specific cities of such environments cause a variety of operational problems, ranging from hardware faults to operational challenges, for instance due to the high variability of solar energy availability. Even a seemingly functional sensor network created in the lab does not guarantee reliable long term operation, which is absolutely necessary given the cost and difficulty of accessing sensor nodes in urban environments. As part of a larger traffic flow wireless sensor network project, we conducted several deployments in the last two years to evaluate the long-term performance of solar-powered urban wireless sensor networks in a desert area. In this article, we share our experiences in all domains of sensor network operations, from the conception of hardware to post-deployment analysis, including operational constraints that directly impact the software that can be run. We illustrate these experiences using numerous experimental results, and present multiple unexpected operational problems as well as some possible solutions to address them. We also show that current technology is far from meeting all operational constraints for these demanding applications, in which sensor networks are to operate for years to become economically appealing.

Current sheet characteristics of a parallel-plate electromagnetic plasma accelerator operated in gas-prefilled mode

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Shuai; Huang, Yizhi; Guo, Haishan; Lin, Tianyu; Huang, Dong; Yang, Lanjun

2018-05-01

The axial characteristics of a current sheet in a parallel-plate electromagnetic plasma accelerator operated in gas-prefilled mode are reported. The accelerator is powered by a fourteen stage pulse forming network. The capacitor and inductor in each stage are 1.5 μF and 300 nH, respectively, and yield a damped oscillation square wave of current with a pulse width of 20.6 μs. Magnetic probes and photodiodes are placed at various axial positions to measure the behavior of the current sheet. Both magnetic probe and photodiode signals reveal a secondary breakdown when the current reverses the direction. An increase in the discharge current amplitude and a decrease in pressure lead to a decrease in the current shedding factor. The current sheet velocity and thickness are nearly constant during the run-down phase under the first half-period of the current. The current sheet thicknesses are typically in the range of 25 mm to 40 mm. The current sheet velocities are in the range of 10 km/s to 45 km/s when the discharge current is between 10 kA and 55 kA and the gas prefill pressure is between 30 Pa and 800 Pa. The experimental velocities are about 75% to 90% of the theoretical velocities calculated with the current shedding factor. One reason for this could be that the idealized snowplow analysis model ignores the surface drag force.

Playing in Operations Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Guitart-Tarrés

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The current model of competency-based learning requires new tools that allow students to develop these competencies and become active subjects of their learning (rather than passive receivers of a contents. Gamification or ludification is becoming an innovative trend in many areas, also in higher education. Games can provide a useful environment for students to acquire professional skills, a fact that is much more difficult to acquire through traditional learning methods. In that sense, this paper presents the experience of designing a game for Operations Management students.

ISS Local Environment Spectrometers (ISLES)

Science.gov (United States)

Krause, Linda Habash; Gilchrist, Brian E.

2014-01-01

In order to study the complex interactions between the space environment surrounding the ISS and the ISS surface materials, we propose to use lowcost, high-TRL plasma sensors on the ISS robotic arm to probe the ISS space environment. During many years of ISS operation, we have been able to condut effective (but not perfect) extravehicular activities (both human and robotic) within the perturbed local ISS space environment. Because of the complexity of the interaction between the ISS and the LEO space environment, there remain important questions, such as differential charging at solar panel junctions (the so-called "triple point" between conductor, dielectric, and space plasma), increased chemical contamination due to ISS surface charging and/or thruster activation, water dumps, etc, and "bootstrap" charging of insulating surfaces. Some compelling questions could synergistically draw upon a common sensor suite, which also leverages previous and current MSFC investments. Specific questions address ISS surface charging, plasma contactor plume expansion in a magnetized drifting plasma, and possible localized contamination effects across the ISS.

An environment for operation planning of electrical energy distribution systems; Um ambiente para planejamento da operacao de sistemas de distribuicao de energia eletrica

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hashimoto, Kleber

1997-07-01

The aim of operation planning of electrical energy distribution systems is to define a group of interventions in the distribution network in a way to reach a global optimization. Both normal operation and emergency conditions are considered including scheduled interventions in the network. Under normal conditions, some aspects as voltage drop and loss minimization, for example, are considered; under emergency conditions, the minimization of non-distributed energy and interruption time are taken into account. This proposes the development of a computer environment for operation planning studies. The design and implementation of a specific operation planning database, based on a relational database model, was carried out so that new information modules could be easily included. A statistical approach has been applied to the load model including consumption habits and seasonal information, for each consumer category. A group of operation planning functions is proposed, which includes simulation modules responsible for system analysis. These functions and the database should be designed together. The developed computer environment allows the inclusion of new functions, due to the standardized query language used to access the database. Two functions have been implemented for illustration. The development of the proposed environment constitutes a step towards an open operation planning system, an integration with other information systems and an easy-to-use system based on graphical interface. (author)

Thermal Operating Modes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bechtel SAIC Company

2002-01-01

Higher and lower temperature operating modes (e.g., above and below the boiling point of water) are alternative approaches to managing the heat produced by the radioactive decay of spent nuclear fuel. Current analyses indicate that a repository at the Yucca Mountain site is likely to comply with applicable safety standards regardless of the particular thermal operating mode. Both modes have potential advantages and disadvantages. With a higher temperature operating mode (HTOM), waste packages (WPs) can be placed closer together. This reduces the number of drifts, the required emplacement area, construction costs, and occupational risks to construction workers. In addition, the HTOM would minimize the amount of water that might contact the waste for hundreds of years after closure. On the other hand, higher temperatures introduce uncertainties in the understanding of the long-term performance of the repository because of uncertainties in the thermal effects on WP lifetime and the near-field environment around the drifts. A lower temperature operating mode (LTOM) has the potential to reduce uncertainties in long-term performance of the repository by limiting the effects of temperature on WP lifetime and on the near-field environment around the drifts. Depending on the combination of operating parameters, a LTOM could require construction of additional drifts, a larger emplacement area, increased construction costs, increased occupational risks to construction works, and a longer period of ventilation than a HTOM. The repository design for the potential Yucca Mountain site is flexible and can be constructed and operated in various operating modes to achieve specific technical objectives, accommodate future policy decisions, and use of new information. For example, the flexible design can be operated across a range of temperatures and can be tailored to achieve specific thermal requirements in the future. To accommodate future policy decisions, the repository can be

Nordic Model of Subregional Co-Operation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grzela Joanna

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Nordic co-operation is renowned throughout the world and perceived as the collaboration of a group of countries which are similar in their views and activities. The main pillars of the Nordic model of co-operation are the tradition of constitutional principles, activity of public movements and organisations, freedom of speech, equality, solidarity, and respect for the natural environment. In connection with labour and entrepreneurship, these elements are the features of a society which favours efficiency, a sense of security and balance between an individual and a group. Currently, the collaboration is a complex process, including many national, governmental and institutional connections which form the “Nordic family”.

Environment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Valentini, Chiara

2017-01-01

The term environment refers to the internal and external context in which organizations operate. For some scholars, environment is defined as an arrangement of political, economic, social and cultural factors existing in a given context that have an impact on organizational processes and structures....... For others, environment is a generic term describing a large variety of stakeholders and how these interact and act upon organizations. Organizations and their environment are mutually interdependent and organizational communications are highly affected by the environment. This entry examines the origin...... and development of organization-environment interdependence, the nature of the concept of environment and its relevance for communication scholarships and activities....

Current evolutionary stage of L/ILW management at operating NPP in the USA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miller, C.C.

2001-01-01

The volume of Low and Intermediate Level Waste (L/ILW) from commercial nuclear power plants (NPP) buried annually in the USA has decreased dramatically over the last two decades. The reduction in disposal volume has occurred for both dry active wastes (DAW) and wet wastes (e.g., resins, filters and sludges). Decreased disposal volume has occurred at both Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs) and Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs). The reduction in disposal volume occurred in stages. The major driver to reduce disposal volume in the commercial sector of the USA has been increasing burial costs. The current drive to further reduce overall NPP operating costs to meet a deregulated electric market in the USA has unexpectedly resulted in further waste reductions. This paper will review the stages of waste reduction and describe the current stage for NPP in the USA. (author)

Integration operators for generating RDF/OWL-based user defined mediator views in a grid environment

OpenAIRE

Tawil, Abdel-Rahman H.; Taweel, Adel; Naeem, Usman; Montebello, Matthew; Bashroush, Rabih; Al-Nemrat, Ameer

2014-01-01

Research and development activities relating to the grid have generally focused on applications where data is stored in files. However, many scientific and commercial applications are highly dependent on Information Servers (ISs) for storage and organization of their data. A data-information system that supports operations on multiple information servers in a grid environment is referred to as an interoperable grid system. Different perceptions by end-users of interoperable systems in a grid ...

The structure of the clouds distributed operating system

Science.gov (United States)

Dasgupta, Partha; Leblanc, Richard J., Jr.

1989-01-01

A novel system architecture, based on the object model, is the central structuring concept used in the Clouds distributed operating system. This architecture makes Clouds attractive over a wide class of machines and environments. Clouds is a native operating system, designed and implemented at Georgia Tech. and runs on a set of generated purpose computers connected via a local area network. The system architecture of Clouds is composed of a system-wide global set of persistent (long-lived) virtual address spaces, called objects that contain persistent data and code. The object concept is implemented at the operating system level, thus presenting a single level storage view to the user. Lightweight treads carry computational activity through the code stored in the objects. The persistent objects and threads gives rise to a programming environment composed of shared permanent memory, dispensing with the need for hardware-derived concepts such as the file systems and message systems. Though the hardware may be distributed and may have disks and networks, the Clouds provides the applications with a logically centralized system, based on a shared, structured, single level store. The current design of Clouds uses a minimalist philosophy with respect to both the kernel and the operating system. That is, the kernel and the operating system support a bare minimum of functionality. Clouds also adheres to the concept of separation of policy and mechanism. Most low-level operating system services are implemented above the kernel and most high level services are implemented at the user level. From the measured performance of using the kernel mechanisms, we are able to demonstrate that efficient implementations are feasible for the object model on commercially available hardware. Clouds provides a rich environment for conducting research in distributed systems. Some of the topics addressed in this paper include distributed programming environments, consistency of persistent data

Operational security in a grid environment

CERN Document Server

CERN. Geneva

2008-01-01

This talk presents the main goals of computer security in a grid environment, by using a FAQ approach. It details the evolution of the risks in the recent years, likely objectives for attackers and the progress made by the malware toolkits and frameworks. Finally, recommendations to deal with these threats are proposed.

Operating Characteristics of Statistical Methods for Detecting Gene-by-Measured Environment Interaction in the Presence of Gene-Environment Correlation under Violations of Distributional Assumptions.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Hulle, Carol A; Rathouz, Paul J

2015-02-01

Accurately identifying interactions between genetic vulnerabilities and environmental factors is of critical importance for genetic research on health and behavior. In the previous work of Van Hulle et al. (Behavior Genetics, Vol. 43, 2013, pp. 71-84), we explored the operating characteristics for a set of biometric (e.g., twin) models of Rathouz et al. (Behavior Genetics, Vol. 38, 2008, pp. 301-315), for testing gene-by-measured environment interaction (GxM) in the presence of gene-by-measured environment correlation (rGM) where data followed the assumed distributional structure. Here we explore the effects that violating distributional assumptions have on the operating characteristics of these same models even when structural model assumptions are correct. We simulated N = 2,000 replicates of n = 1,000 twin pairs under a number of conditions. Non-normality was imposed on either the putative moderator or on the ultimate outcome by ordinalizing or censoring the data. We examined the empirical Type I error rates and compared Bayesian information criterion (BIC) values. In general, non-normality in the putative moderator had little impact on the Type I error rates or BIC comparisons. In contrast, non-normality in the outcome was often mistaken for or masked GxM, especially when the outcome data were censored.

Environmental program with operational cases to reduce risk to the marine environment significantly

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cline, J.T.; Forde, R.

1991-01-01

In this paper Amoco Norway Oil Company's environmental program is detailed, followed by example operational programs and achievements aimed to minimize environmental risks to the marine environment at Valhall platform. With a corporate goal to be a leader in protecting the environment, the appropriate strategies and policies that form the basis of the environmental management system are incorporated in the quality assurance programs. Also, included in the program are necessary organizational structures, responsibilities of environmental affairs and line organization personnel, compliance procedures and a waste task force obliged to implement operations improvements. An internal environmental audit system has been initiated, in addition to corporate level audits, which, when communicated to the line organization closes the environmental management loop through experience feed back. Environmental projects underway are significantly decreasing the extent and/or risk of pollution from offshore activities. The cradle to grave responsibility is assumed with waste separated offshore and onshore followed by disposal in audited sites. A $5 MM program is underway to control produced oily solids and reduce oil in produced water aiming to less than 20 ppm. When oil-based mud is used in deeper hole sections, drill solids disposed at sea average less than 60 g oil/kg dry cuttings using appropriate shaker screens, and a washing/centrifuge system to remove fines. Certain oily liquid wastes are being injected down hole whereas previously they were burned using a mud burner. Finally, a program is underway with a goal to eliminate sea discharge of oil on cuttings through injection disposal of oily wastes, drilling with alternative muds such as a cationic water base mud, and/or proper onshore disposal of oily wastes

O espaço da cooperativa "amigos do meio ambiente": cooperativa de trabalho ou cooperfraude? "Friends of the environment" co-operative: work co-operative or fraud co-operative?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shirla Patrícia Weber Sterchile

2011-06-01

Full Text Available O presente artigo é resultado de pesquisa acadêmica que tem como objeto de estudo-pesquisa "A forma de existir e de ser da Cooperativa dos Agentes Ambientais de Santa Helena 'Amigos do Meio Ambiente' e sua imbricação na Usina de Beneficiamento de Resíduos Sólidos do município de Santa Helena-PR". Verificando o cotidiano profissional, o descontentamento de trabalhadores catadores de matérias recicláveis, o incentivo do gestor municipal para a instalação da usina e a formação da cooperativa, aliado aos postulados do capitalismo, em sua fase tardia, propusemos desconstruir e reconstruir o movimento do objeto em questão a partir da pesquisa teórica e empírica. Para coletar os dados utilizando a técnica de gravação, recorremos à análise documental e à observação. Após esse processo descrevemos e analisamos os conteúdos presentes. Concluímos em nosso estudo-pesquisa, que a Cooperativa - "Amigos do Meio Ambiente", é uma "cooperfraude", legitimada pelo Estado, que suprime os princípios do cooperativismo e exime o capital da raiz da exploração da força de trabalhoThis article resulted from a research aiming at "The form of existence and being of the Co-operative of Environmental Agents from St. Helena - 'Friends of the Environment' - and its imbrication in the Processing Plant of Solid Waste in the city of Santa Helena-PR". Checking the professional practice, the dissatisfaction of workers who collect recycling materials and the City Hall's encouragement to install the plant and to form the Co-operative, together with the tenets of capitalism in its late stage, we proposed to deconstruct and reconstruct the motion of the object studied from the empirical research. After analyzing our data we concluded that the "Friends of the Environment" Co-operative is a "fraud co-operative" legitimized by the State, that suppressed the principles of co-operativism and exempted the capital from the root of exploitation of the workforce

Computers in nuclear medicine - current trends and future directions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1994-01-01

Previously, a decision to purchase computing equipment for nuclear medicine usually required evaluation of the 'local' needs. With the advent of Pacs and state of the art computer techniques for image acquisition and manipulation, purchase and subsequent application is to become much more complex. Some of the current trends and future possibilities which may influence the choice and operation of computers within and outside the nuclear medicine environment is discussed. (author)

Current status and prospect of plasma control system for steady-state operation on QUEST

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hasegawa, Makoto; Nakamura, Kazuo; Zushi, Hideki; Hanada, Kazuaki; Fujisawa, Akihide; Tokunaga, Kazutoshi; Idei, Hiroshi; Nagashima, Yoshihiko; Kawasaki, Shoji; Nakashima, Hisatoshi; Higashijima, Aki

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Overall configuration of plasma control system on QUEST are presented. • Multi core system and reflective memories are used for the real-time control. • Hall sensors are used for the identification of plasma current and its position. • Repetitive gas fueling with the feed-back control of Hα signal is implemented. - Abstract: The plasma control system (PCS) of QUEST is developed according to the progress of QUEST project. Since one of the critical goals of the project is to achieve the steady-state operation with high temperature vacuum vessel wall, the PCS is also required to have the capability to control the plasma for a long period. For the increase of the loads to processing power of the PCS, the PCS is decentralized with the use of reflective memories (RFMs). The PCS controls the plasma edge position with the real-time identification of plasma current and its position. This identification is done with not only flux loops but also hall sensors. The gas fueling method by piezo valve with monitoring the Hα signal filtered by a digital low-pass filter are proposed and suitable for the steady-state operation on QUEST. The present status and prospect of the PCS are presented with recent topics.

Current status and prospect of plasma control system for steady-state operation on QUEST

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hasegawa, Makoto, E-mail: hasegawa@triam.kyushu-u.ac.jp; Nakamura, Kazuo; Zushi, Hideki; Hanada, Kazuaki; Fujisawa, Akihide; Tokunaga, Kazutoshi; Idei, Hiroshi; Nagashima, Yoshihiko; Kawasaki, Shoji; Nakashima, Hisatoshi; Higashijima, Aki

2016-11-15

Highlights: • Overall configuration of plasma control system on QUEST are presented. • Multi core system and reflective memories are used for the real-time control. • Hall sensors are used for the identification of plasma current and its position. • Repetitive gas fueling with the feed-back control of Hα signal is implemented. - Abstract: The plasma control system (PCS) of QUEST is developed according to the progress of QUEST project. Since one of the critical goals of the project is to achieve the steady-state operation with high temperature vacuum vessel wall, the PCS is also required to have the capability to control the plasma for a long period. For the increase of the loads to processing power of the PCS, the PCS is decentralized with the use of reflective memories (RFMs). The PCS controls the plasma edge position with the real-time identification of plasma current and its position. This identification is done with not only flux loops but also hall sensors. The gas fueling method by piezo valve with monitoring the Hα signal filtered by a digital low-pass filter are proposed and suitable for the steady-state operation on QUEST. The present status and prospect of the PCS are presented with recent topics.

Current problems of VVER-1000 reactor core operation in Ukraine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bykov, A.

2000-01-01

Planned control rod drop time registration was passed two times a year per reactor unit. In 1992-1993 some control rods at almost all WWER-1000 units exceed the prescribed 4 second time limit. More than 7000 individual control rod time tests were made from the main correction measures. The following conclusions have been made from the current statistics data: (a) The main role of the vibration factor is proven in the fuel assembly (FA) bowing process. The greatest drop times and maximum of bowing values are concentrated at the vibration zone (2-4 FA rows from the reactor partition). The first FA row seems to be stable due to the interaction with the reactor partition; (b) Bowing relaxation will proceed during several fuel cycles (estimated value is 4-6), and depends on previous FA use history. It seems to be proven that previously bowed FAs effect the new FA, so previously bowed FAs are straightened until the middle of the fuel cycle. At some reactor units small drop time reduction is observed up to half of the fuel cycle from the start time values; (c) Control rod drop medium time (t) has almost linear dependence on operation time (τ) (t=k x τ + b]. Estimated by the method of least squares, values of k and b differ from unit to unit and from cycle to cycle. Values of k and b are in following ranges: b=2.0 - 2.6 seconds, k=5-50x10 -4 seconds per effective operation day; (d) Control rod drop time distribution changes through operation time. The position of maximum starts to shift after 240 effective days, and the form of the distribution start to change at the same time. Before 240 effective days, the distribution essentially does not change. To guarantee that the control rod system reliability is now within prescribed limits, we should continue testing. Additional analysis is needed. Test frequency can be reduced to avoid additional unreasonable transients. (authors)

Crack Growth Monitoring in Harsh Environments by Electric Potential Measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lloyd, Wilson Randolph; Reuter, Walter Graham; Weinberg, David Michael

1999-01-01

Electric potential measurement (EPM) technology offers an attractive alternative to conventional nondestructive evaluation (NDE) for monitoring crack growth in harsh environments. Where conventional NDE methods typically require localized human interaction, the EPM technique developed at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) can be operated remotely and automatically. Once a crack-like defect is discovered via conventional means, EPM can be applied to monitor local crack size changes. This is of particular interest in situations where an identified structural defect is not immediately rejectable from a fitness-for-service viewpoint, but due to operational and environmental conditions may grow to an unsafe size with continuing operation. If the location is in a harsh environment where periodic monitoring by normal means is either too costly or not possible, a very expensive repair may be immediately mandated. However, the proposed EPM methodology may offer a unique monitoring capability that would allow for continuing service. INEEL has developed this methodology, supporting equipment, and calibration information to apply EPM in a field environment for just this purpose. Laboratory and pilot scale tests on full-size engineering structures (pressure vessels and piping) have been successfully performed. The technique applicable is many severe environments because the sensitive equipment (electronics, operators) can be situated in a remote location, with only current and voltage probe electrical leads entering into the harsh environment. Experimental results showing the utility of the methodology are presented, and unique application concepts that have been examined by multiple experiments are discussed

Collaborative design in virtual environments

CERN Document Server

Wang, Xiangyu

2011-01-01

Collaborative virtual environments (CVEs) are multi-user virtual realities which actively support communication and co-operation. This book offers a comprehensive reference volume to the state-of-the-art in the area of design studies in CVEs. It is an excellent mix of contributions from over 25 leading researcher/experts in multiple disciplines from academia and industry, providing up-to-date insight into the current research topics in this field as well as the latest technological advancements and the best working examples. Many of these results and ideas are also applicable to other areas su

Research on budget management under IT environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wenchang Li

2017-03-01

Full Text Available IT technology has become a key element of core competitiveness of enterprises, and also the basis for its daily operation. The budget is a management process of forecasting and planning of the future operation and financial activities under the guidance of the strategic objectives, and completion of the strategic objectives to a maximum extent. Whether both of them can be effectively combined with is the key to effective implementation of the budget. Through analysis of the existing problems of the traditional budget of the enterprise and the budget under the information technology environment, analysis of the internal and external influencing factors of the budget management of the large and medium sized enterprises under the current environment with SWOT, factor quantization and weight with AHP, development of the strategic program according to the priority of weight, and finally verification with a case, this paper concludes that, the budget management work can be more strategic and forward-looking through combination with AHP and SWOT analysis.

Estimation of Operating Condition of Appliances Using Circuit Current Data on Electric Distribution Boards

Science.gov (United States)

Iwafune, Yumiko; Ogimoto, Kazuhiko; Yagita, Yoshie

The Energy management systems (EMS) on demand sides are expected as a method to enhance the capability of supply and demand balancing of a power system under the anticipated penetration of renewable energy generation such as Photovoltaics (PV). Elucidation of energy consumption structure in a building is one of important elements for realization of EMS and contributes to the extraction of potential energy saving. In this paper, we propose the estimation method of operating condition of household appliances using circuit current data on an electric distribution board. Circuit current data are broken down by their shape using a self-organization map method and aggregated by appliance based on customers' information of appliance possessed. Proposed method is verified using residential energy consumption measurement survey data.

Enhancing Global Competitiveness: Benchmarking Airline Operational Performance in Highly Regulated Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Bowen, Brent D.; Headley, Dean E.; Kane, Karisa D.

1998-01-01

Enhancing competitiveness in the global airline industry is at the forefront of attention with airlines, government, and the flying public. The seemingly unchecked growth of major airline alliances is heralded as an enhancement to global competition. However, like many mega-conglomerates, mega-airlines will face complications driven by size regardless of the many recitations of enhanced efficiency. Outlined herein is a conceptual model to serve as a decision tool for policy-makers, managers, and consumers of airline services. This model is developed using public data for the United States (U.S.) major airline industry available from the U/S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board, and other public and private sector sources. Data points include number of accidents, pilot deviations, operational performance indicators, flight problems, and other factors. Data from these sources provide opportunity to develop a model based on a complex dot product equation of two vectors. A row vector is weighted for importance by a key informant panel of government, industry, and consumer experts, while a column vector is established with the factor value. The resulting equation, known as the national Airline Quality Rating (AQR), where Q is quality, C is weight, and V is the value of the variables, is stated Q=C[i1-19] x V[i1-19]. Looking at historical patterns of AQR results provides the basis for establishment of an industry benchmark for the purpose of enhancing airline operational performance. A 7 year average of overall operational performance provides the resulting benchmark indicator. Applications from this example can be applied to the many competitive environments of the global industry and assist policy-makers faced with rapidly changing regulatory challenges.

Method, apparatus and system for managing queue operations of a test bench environment

Science.gov (United States)

Ostler, Farrell Lynn

2016-07-19

Techniques and mechanisms for performing dequeue operations for agents of a test bench environment. In an embodiment, a first group of agents are each allocated a respective ripe reservation and a second set of agents are each allocated a respective unripe reservation. Over time, queue management logic allocates respective reservations to agents and variously changes one or more such reservations from unripe to ripe. In another embodiment, an order of servicing agents allocated unripe reservations is based on relative priorities of the unripe reservations with respect to one another. An order of servicing agents allocated ripe reservations is on a first come, first served basis.

Toho Gas accepts the challenge of operational reform creation of an integrated OA environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kato, Hisaatsu; Ito, Mari; Goto, Akihito

1997-01-01

Toho Gas Co., Ltd. is Japan's third largest city gas supplier. In response to changes in the industrial environment, the company began the Integrated OA Project in 1994 promoting use of information technology while reforming its systems and culture. We made a proposal to distribute one personal computer connected to a company-wide network to each office worker. In addition, we attached importance to the creation of a database, which can integrate all information systems with a flexible structure and also play a central role in end user computing. A data model for the entire company has been already made and implemented into some operational systems and data-warehouses. Furthermore, to reform our business we are offering incremental goals, including the first step such as achieving a paper less working environment with a little effort. This methodology has achieved a great success. In the near future, we will expand the infrastructure with mobile computers and implementation of a database. (au)

Current operating practices of nuclear insurance pools

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Connell, J.M.

1993-01-01

This paper discusses the nuclear pooling system and co-operation between the pools, present practice and capacity, with a breakdown of the limits for third party liability and material damage. The author also describes the relationship between the pools and the nuclear operators (the policyholders), and concludes that the nuclear pools have been successful in serving the interests of their member companies, their policyholders and the governments as they have provided a stable insurance market by making available capacity in amounts that had never before been assembled and placed at risk in a single location. 2 tabs

Cesium in the Savannah River Site environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carlton, W.H.; Bauer, L.R.; Evans, A.G.; Geary, L.A.; Murphy, C.E. Jr.; Pinder, J.E.; Strom, R.N.

1992-03-01

Cesium in the Savannah River Site Environment is published as a part of the Radiological Assessment Program (RAP). It is the fourth in a series of eight documents on individual radioisotopes released to the environment as a result of Savannah River Site (SRS) operations. The earlier documents describe the environmental consequences of tritium, iodine, and uranium. Documents on plutonium, strontium, carbon, and technetium will be published in the future. These are dynamic documents and current plans call for revising and updating each one on a two-year schedule.Radiocesium exists in the environment as a result of above-ground nuclear weapons tests, the Chernobyl accident, the destruction of satellite Cosmos 954, small releases from reactors and reprocessing plants, and the operation of industrial, medical, and educational facilities. Radiocesium has been produced at SRS during the operation of five production reactors. Several hundred curies of 137 Cs was released into streams in the late 50s and 60s from leaking fuel elements. Smaller quantities were released from the fuel reprocessing operations. About 1400 Ci of 137 Cs was released to seepage basins where it was tightly bound by clay in the soil. A much smaller quantity, about four Ci. was released to the atmosphere. Radiocesium concentration and mechanisms for atmospheric, surface water, and groundwater have been extensively studied by Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC) and ecological mechanisms have been studied by Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL). The overall radiological impact of SRS releases on the offsite maximum individual can be characterized by total doses of 033 mrem (atmospheric) and 60 mrem (liquid), compared with a dose of 12,960 mrem from non-SRS sources during the same period of time. Isotope 137 Cs releases have resulted in a negligible risk to the environment and the population it supports

Cesium in the Savannah River Site environment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carlton, W.H.; Bauer, L.R.; Evans, A.G.; Geary, L.A.; Murphy, C.E. Jr.; Pinder, J.E.; Strom, R.N.

1992-03-01

Cesium in the Savannah River Site Environment is published as a part of the Radiological Assessment Program (RAP). It is the fourth in a series of eight documents on individual radioisotopes released to the environment as a result of Savannah River Site (SRS) operations. The earlier documents describe the environmental consequences of tritium, iodine, and uranium. Documents on plutonium, strontium, carbon, and technetium will be published in the future. These are dynamic documents and current plans call for revising and updating each one on a two-year schedule.Radiocesium exists in the environment as a result of above-ground nuclear weapons tests, the Chernobyl accident, the destruction of satellite Cosmos 954, small releases from reactors and reprocessing plants, and the operation of industrial, medical, and educational facilities. Radiocesium has been produced at SRS during the operation of five production reactors. Several hundred curies of [sup 137]Cs was released into streams in the late 50s and 60s from leaking fuel elements. Smaller quantities were released from the fuel reprocessing operations. About 1400 Ci of [sup 137]Cs was released to seepage basins where it was tightly bound by clay in the soil. A much smaller quantity, about four Ci. was released to the atmosphere. Radiocesium concentration and mechanisms for atmospheric, surface water, and groundwater have been extensively studied by Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC) and ecological mechanisms have been studied by Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL). The overall radiological impact of SRS releases on the offsite maximum individual can be characterized by total doses of 033 mrem (atmospheric) and 60 mrem (liquid), compared with a dose of 12,960 mrem from non-SRS sources during the same period of time. Isotope [sup 137]Cs releases have resulted in a negligible risk to the environment and the population it supports.

Cesium in the Savannah River Site environment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carlton, W.H.; Bauer, L.R.; Evans, A.G.; Geary, L.A.; Murphy, C.E. Jr.; Pinder, J.E.; Strom, R.N.

1992-03-01

Cesium in the Savannah River Site Environment is published as a part of the Radiological Assessment Program (RAP). It is the fourth in a series of eight documents on individual radioisotopes released to the environment as a result of Savannah River Site (SRS) operations. The earlier documents describe the environmental consequences of tritium, iodine, and uranium. Documents on plutonium, strontium, carbon, and technetium will be published in the future. These are dynamic documents and current plans call for revising and updating each one on a two-year schedule.Radiocesium exists in the environment as a result of above-ground nuclear weapons tests, the Chernobyl accident, the destruction of satellite Cosmos 954, small releases from reactors and reprocessing plants, and the operation of industrial, medical, and educational facilities. Radiocesium has been produced at SRS during the operation of five production reactors. Several hundred curies of {sup 137}Cs was released into streams in the late 50s and 60s from leaking fuel elements. Smaller quantities were released from the fuel reprocessing operations. About 1400 Ci of {sup 137}Cs was released to seepage basins where it was tightly bound by clay in the soil. A much smaller quantity, about four Ci. was released to the atmosphere. Radiocesium concentration and mechanisms for atmospheric, surface water, and groundwater have been extensively studied by Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC) and ecological mechanisms have been studied by Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL). The overall radiological impact of SRS releases on the offsite maximum individual can be characterized by total doses of 033 mrem (atmospheric) and 60 mrem (liquid), compared with a dose of 12,960 mrem from non-SRS sources during the same period of time. Isotope {sup 137}Cs releases have resulted in a negligible risk to the environment and the population it supports.

Axial mercury segregation in direct current operated low-pressure argon-mercury gas discharge: Part I. Experimental

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gielen, J.W.A.M.; de Groot, S.; Dijk, van J.; Mullen, van der J.J.A.M.

2004-01-01

Due to cataphoresis, axial segregation of mercury will occur when the gas discharge of a fluorescent lamp is operated by means of a direct current. A consequence of this is a non-uniform axial luminance distribution along the lamp. To determine the degree of axial mercury segregation experimentally,

Remote operation of microwave systems for solids content analysis and chemical dissolution in highly radioactive environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sturcken, E.F.; Floyd, T.S.; Manchester, D.P.

1986-10-01

Microwave systems provide quick and easy determination of solids content of samples in high-level radioactive cells. In addition, dissolution of samples is much faster when employing microwave techniques. These are great advantages because work in cells,using master-slave manipulators through leaded glass walls, is normally slower by an order of magnitude than direct contact methods. This paper describes the modifiction of a moisture/solids analyzer microwave system and a drying/digestion microwave system for remote operation in radiation environments. The moisture/solids analyzer has operated satisfactorily for over a year in a gamma radiation field of 1000 roentgens per hour and the drying/digestion system is ready for installation in a cell

The Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS), Higher Volume Operations (HVO) Off-Nominal Operations

Science.gov (United States)

Baxley, B.; Williams, D.; Consiglio, M.; Conway, S.; Adams, C.; Abbott, T.

2005-01-01

The ability to conduct concurrent, multiple aircraft operations in poor weather, at virtually any airport, offers an important opportunity for a significant increase in the rate of flight operations, a major improvement in passenger convenience, and the potential to foster growth of charter operations at small airports. The Small Aircraft Transportation System, (SATS) Higher Volume Operations (HVO) concept is designed to increase traffic flow at any of the 3400 nonradar, non-towered airports in the United States where operations are currently restricted to one-in/one-out procedural separation during Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC). The concept's key feature is pilots maintain their own separation from other aircraft using procedures, aircraft flight data sent via air-to-air datalink, cockpit displays, and on-board software. This is done within the Self-Controlled Area (SCA), an area of flight operations established during poor visibility or low ceilings around an airport without Air Traffic Control (ATC) services. The research described in this paper expands the HVO concept to include most off-nominal situations that could be expected to occur in a future SATS environment. The situations were categorized into routine off-nominal operations, procedural deviations, equipment malfunctions, and aircraft emergencies. The combination of normal and off-nominal HVO procedures provides evidence for an operational concept that is safe, requires little ground infrastructure, and enables concurrent flight operations in poor weather.

Virtual Business Operating Environment in the Cloud: Conceptual Architecture and Challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Nezhad, Hamid R. Motahari; Stephenson, Bryan; Singhal, Sharad; Castellanos, Malu

Advances in service oriented architecture (SOA) have brought us close to the once imaginary vision of establishing and running a virtual business, a business in which most or all of its business functions are outsourced to online services. Cloud computing offers a realization of SOA in which IT resources are offered as services that are more affordable, flexible and attractive to businesses. In this paper, we briefly study advances in cloud computing, and discuss the benefits of using cloud services for businesses and trade-offs that they have to consider. We then present 1) a layered architecture for the virtual business, and 2) a conceptual architecture for a virtual business operating environment. We discuss the opportunities and research challenges that are ahead of us in realizing the technical components of this conceptual architecture. We conclude by giving the outlook and impact of cloud services on both large and small businesses.

Current Electric Distribution Network Operation and Grid Tariffs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wu, Qiuwei

2012-01-01

The aim of EcoGridEU task 1.4 is to extend the real‐time price approach with an integrated optimization of the distribution system operation. This will be achieved by extending the basic real‐time market concept with local location‐dependant prices that reflect the grid operation, especially...

Aviator's night vision system (ANVIS) in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF): user acceptability survey

Science.gov (United States)

Hiatt, Keith L.; Trollman, Christopher J.; Rash, Clarence E.

2010-04-01

In 1973, the U.S. Army adopted night vision devices for use in the aviation environment. These devices are based on the principle of image intensification (I2) and have become the mainstay for the aviator's capability to operate during periods of low illumination, i.e., at night. In the nearly four decades that have followed, a number of engineering advancements have significantly improved the performance of these devices. The current version, using 3rd generation I2 technology is known as the Aviator's Night Vision Imaging System (ANVIS). While considerable experience with performance has been gained during training and peacetime operations, no previous studies have looked at user acceptability and performance issues in a combat environment. This study was designed to compare Army Aircrew experiences in a combat environment to currently available information in the published literature (all peacetime laboratory and field training studies) and to determine if the latter is valid. The purpose of this study was to identify and assess aircrew satisfaction with the ANVIS and any visual performance issues or problems relating to its use in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). The study consisted of an anonymous survey (based on previous validated surveys used in the laboratory and training environments) of 86 Aircrew members (64% Rated and 36% Non-rated) of an Aviation Task Force approximately 6 months into their OEF deployment. This group represents an aggregate of >94,000 flight hours of which ~22,000 are ANVIS and ~16,000 during this deployment. Overall user acceptability of ANVIS in a combat environment will be discussed.

The thermal comfort, the indoor environment control, and the energy consumption in three types of operating rooms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Melhado, M.A.; Hensen, J.M. [Eindhoven Technical Univ., Eindhoven (Netherlands). Center for Building and Systems; Beyer, P.O. [Rio Grande do Sul Federal Univ., Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; Siqueira, L.F.G. [Sao Paulo Univ., Sao Paulo (Brazil). Dept. of Epidemiology

2005-07-01

This paper investigated the influence of layout on the thermal comfort, indoor environment and energy consumption in different types of operating rooms (OR) in Brazil. Three different types of layout were evaluated: (1) a hallway and a surgery room; (2) a clean hallway, an operating room, and another hallway; and (3) a hallway, an anteroom and an operating room. The dimensions of the environments were established by Ministerio da Saude regulations. Modeling was achieved with EnergyPlus software. Orthopaedic and abdominal surgeries were considered. The type of surgery defined the dimensions of the environment, patient requirements and the number of people, as well as the amount and type of equipment and hours spent in the ORs, and these parameters were used in the simulation. Two types of software were used: Cterm version 2002 and EnergyPlus version 1.03. The results in of the simulation were in agreement with previous experiments in the literature. Cterm was used to calculate the levels of activity of different people, the thermal resistance of clothes and work activity. Data included the relative humidity and wind speed. The data were then used in the EnergyPlus simulation. Heat source variables included medical equipment, lighting and cleaning activities, as well as temperatures for neighbouring environments and climatic conditions. Results indicated that out of 60 cases simulated, 88 per cent presented a relative humidity above acceptable limits. Dehumidifiers were added to the simulation, which in turn influenced overall energy consumption. Patient discomfort was measured, as well the comfort levels of the anesthesiologist. Details of annual energy consumption for the different scenarios were presented. It was concluded that layout had a significant impact on the thermal comfort of the ORs, as well as on relative humidity and temperature. Case 2 presented the most significant advantages relating to environmental control. However, case 2 was also the most

Space station operations management

Science.gov (United States)

Cannon, Kathleen V.

1989-01-01

Space Station Freedom operations management concepts must be responsive to the unique challenges presented by the permanently manned international laboratory. Space Station Freedom will be assembled over a three year period where the operational environment will change as significant capability plateaus are reached. First Element Launch, Man-Tended Capability, and Permanent Manned Capability, represent milestones in operational capability that is increasing toward mature operations capability. Operations management concepts are being developed to accomodate the varying operational capabilities during assembly, as well as the mature operational environment. This paper describes operations management concepts designed to accomodate the uniqueness of Space Station Freedoom, utilizing tools and processes that seek to control operations costs.

Revitalizing Nuclear Operations in the Joint Environment

Science.gov (United States)

2014-02-01

height of the Cold War, US schol - ars and joint operational planners were working simultaneously on weapons development and operational art to employ...leadership’s large-target- category withholds thought necessary to maintain stability in a strategic crisis. The inclusion of nuclear effects and...escalation. The inclusion of these points in tomorrow’s doctrine as well as an intellec- tual discussion on the topic will inform Joint Staff planners

International co-operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klinda, J.; Lieskovska, Z.

1998-01-01

Within the Union Nations (UN) framework, the Slovak Republic participated in following activities on environment protection co-operation: UN European Economic Commission, UN Industrial Development Organization, UN Development Programme, UN Human Habitat Organization, UN Environment Programme, and UN Commission on Sustainable Development. Relevant activities of the Slovak Republic in these co-operations as well as in European Union and OECD activities are reviewed. International conventions and other forms of multilateral co-operation, bilateral co-operation, and international programmes and projects in which the Slovak Republic took participate are presented

Operating modes of high-Tc composite superconductors and thermal runaway conditions under current charging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Romanovskii, V R; Watanabe, K

2006-01-01

The operating thermal and electric modes of a high-T c superconducting composite in partially and fully penetrated states induced by the charging current are investigated. They were studied under conditions in which the current charging rate, the volume fraction of the superconductor in a composite or the temperature of the cooling bath were changed. The transient behaviour of the voltage-current dependence, which is characteristic during stable and unstable increases in electric field inside the composite under a continuous current charging, is discussed. Simulations were done using zero- and one-dimensional steady and unsteady thermoelectric models with a power equation describing the virgin voltage-current characteristic of a superconductor. It is found that some thermoelectric trends underlie the shape of the voltage-current characteristic of the high-T c superconducting composite. These have to be considered during experiments in which the critical or quench currents are defined. First, in the initial stage of the fully penetrated regime (in the low voltage range), the electric field distribution does not have a uniform character. These states depend on the volume fraction of the superconductor and the current charging rate: the higher these quantities, the higher the heterogeneity of the electric field. Second, during the stable over-critical regime (in the high voltage range) occurring in complete penetration modes, the evolution of the electric field may depend on the relevant temperature increase of a composite according to the corresponding increase in its temperature-dependent heat capacity. Consequently, the shape of the voltage-current characteristic of a composite high-T c superconductor during continuous current charging, both before and after thermal runaway, has only a positive slope. Moreover, it is proved that the growth of the fully penetrated part of the voltage-current characteristic becomes less intensive when the current charging rate or the

CP-5 reactor remote dismantlement activities: Lessons learned in the integration of new technology in an operations environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noakes, M.W.

1998-01-01

This paper presents the developer's perspective on lessons learned from one example of the integration of new prototype technology into a traditional operations environment. The dual arm work module was developed by the Robotics Technology Development Program as a research and development activity to examine manipulator controller modes and deployment options. It was later reconfigured for the dismantlement of the Argonne National Laboratory Chicago Pile No. 5 reactor vessel as the crane-deployed dual arm work platform. Development staff worked along side operations staff during a significant part of the deployment to provide training, maintenance, and tooling support. Operations staff completed all actual remote dismantlement tasks. At the end of available development support funding, the Dual Arm Work Platform was turned over to the operations staff, who are still using it to complete their dismantlement tasks

Electrical and non-electrical environment of wind turbine main components

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holboell, J.; Henriksen, M.; Olsen, R.S.

of the electrical components or even lead to catastrophic component failure. In the present paper, results are presented from investigations on existing standards which give detailed descriptions of the environmental and operational conditions of wind turbine components. It is found that there is currently a lack...... of application standards for wind turbine electrical equipment. Component-level environmental requirements as given in equipment-specific standards are compared with the environment described in the IEC's 61400 series concerning wind turbines. Based on methods defined in IEC 60721, the non-electrical environment...... of wind turbine is described by means of specific classes. In the paper, new class combinations are suggested covering the different operating conditions the components are exposed to. The class combinations include factors of climatic, mechanical and chemical character. The factors occur in different...

Crew behavior and performance in space analog environments

Science.gov (United States)

Kanki, Barbara G.

1992-01-01

The objectives and the current status of the Crew Factors research program conducted at NASA-Ames Research Center are reviewed. The principal objectives of the program are to determine the effects of a broad class of input variables on crew performance and to provide guidance with respect to the design and management of crews assigned to future space missions. A wide range of research environments are utilized, including controlled experimental settings, high fidelity full mission simulator facilities, and fully operational field environments. Key group processes are identified, and preliminary data are presented on the effect of crew size, type, and structure on team performance.

A High-Sensitivity Flexible Eddy Current Array Sensor for Crack Monitoring of Welded Structures under Varying Environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Tao; He, Yuting; Du, Jinqiang

2018-06-01

This paper develops a high-sensitivity flexible eddy current array (HS-FECA) sensor for crack monitoring of welded structures under varying environment. Firstly, effects of stress, temperature and crack on output signals of the traditional flexible eddy current array (FECA) sensor were investigated by experiments that show both stress and temperature have great influences on the crack monitoring performance of the sensor. A 3-D finite element model was established using Comsol AC/DC module to analyze the perturbation effects of crack on eddy currents and output signals of the sensor, which showed perturbation effect of cracks on eddy currents is reduced by the current loop when crack propagates. Then, the HS-FECA sensor was proposed to boost the sensitivity to cracks. Simulation results show that perturbation effect of cracks on eddy currents excited by the HS-FECA sensor gradually grows stronger when the crack propagates, resulting in much higher sensitivity to cracks. Experimental result further shows that the sensitivity of the new sensor is at least 19 times that of the original one. In addition, both stress and temperature variations have little effect on signals of the new sensor.

Space Weather Impacts on Spacecraft Operations: Identifying and Establishing High-Priority Operational Services

Science.gov (United States)

Lawrence, G.; Reid, S.; Tranquille, C.; Evans, H.

2013-12-01

Space Weather is a multi-disciplinary and cross-domain system defined as, 'The physical and phenomenological state of natural space environments. The associated discipline aims, through observation, monitoring, analysis and modelling, at understanding and predicting the state of the Sun, the interplanetary and planetary environments, and the solar and non-solar driven perturbations that affect them, and also at forecasting and nowcasting the potential impacts on biological and technological systems'. National and Agency-level efforts to provide services addressing the myriad problems, such as ESA's SSA programme are therefore typically complex and ambitious undertakings to introduce a comprehensive suite of services aimed at a large number and broad range of end users. We focus on some of the particular threats and risks that Space Weather events pose to the Spacecraft Operations community, and the resulting implications in terms of User Requirements. We describe some of the highest-priority service elements identified as being needed by the Operations community, and outline some service components that are presently available, or under development. The particular threats and risks often vary according to orbit, so the particular User Needs for Operators at LEO, MEO and GEO are elaborated. The inter-relationship between these needed service elements and existing service components within the broader Space Weather domain is explored. Some high-priority service elements and potential correlation with Space Weather drivers include: solar array degradation and energetic proton storms; single event upsets at GEO and solar proton events and galactic cosmic rays; surface charging and deep dielectric charging at MEO and radiation belt dynamics; SEUs at LEO and the South Atlantic Anomaly and its variability. We examine the current capability to provide operational services addressing such threats and identify some advances that the Operations community can expect to benefit

Quantum operation for a one-qubit system under a non-Markovian environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xue Shibei; Zhang Jing; Wu Rebing; Li Chunwen; Tarn, Tzyh-Jong

2011-01-01

This paper introduces a simple alternating-current (AC) control strategy to perform quantum state manipulations under non-Markovian noise. A genetic algorithm is adopted to optimize the parameters of the AC control, which can be further used to fulfil one-qubit quantum operations at a given final time. Theoretical analysis and simulations show that our method works almost equally well for 1/f noise, ohmic, sub-ohmic and super-ohmic noise, which demonstrates the robustness of our strategy for noise with various spectra. In comparison with the Markovian cases, our method is more suitable to be used to suppress non-Markovian noise.

Dark current spectroscopy of space and nuclear environment induced displacement damage defects in pinned photodiode based CMOS image sensors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belloir, Jean-Marc

2016-01-01

CMOS image sensors are envisioned for an increasing number of high-end scientific imaging applications such as space imaging or nuclear experiments. Indeed, the performance of high-end CMOS image sensors has dramatically increased in the past years thanks to the unceasing improvements of microelectronics, and these image sensors have substantial advantages over CCDs which make them great candidates to replace CCDs in future space missions. However, in space and nuclear environments, CMOS image sensors must face harsh radiation which can rapidly degrade their electro-optical performances. In particular, the protons, electrons and ions travelling in space or the fusion neutrons from nuclear experiments can displace silicon atoms in the pixels and break the crystalline structure. These displacement damage effects lead to the formation of stable defects and to the introduction of states in the forbidden bandgap of silicon, which can allow the thermal generation of electron-hole pairs. Consequently, non ionizing radiation leads to a permanent increase of the dark current of the pixels and thus a decrease of the image sensor sensitivity and dynamic range. The aim of the present work is to extend the understanding of the effect of displacement damage on the dark current increase of CMOS image sensors. In particular, this work focuses on the shape of the dark current distribution depending on the particle type, energy and fluence but also on the image sensor physical parameters. Thanks to the many conditions tested, an empirical model for the prediction of the dark current distribution induced by displacement damage in nuclear or space environments is experimentally validated and physically justified. Another central part of this work consists in using the dark current spectroscopy technique for the first time on irradiated CMOS image sensors to detect and characterize radiation-induced silicon bulk defects. Many types of defects are detected and two of them are identified

Performance confirmation operation of water environment control facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Magome, Hirokatsu; Okada, Yuji; Tomita, Kenji; Iida, Kazuhiro; Ando, Hitoshi; Yonekawa, Akihisa; Ueda, Haruyasu; Hanawa, Hiroshi; Kanno, Masaru; Sakuta, Yoshiyuki

2015-09-01

In Japan Atomic Energy Agency, in order to solve the problem in the long-term operation of a light water reactor, preparation which does the irradiation experiment of light-water reactor fuel and material was advanced. JMTR stopped after the 165th operation cycle in August 2006, and is advancing renewal of the irradiation facility towards re-operation. The material irradiation test facility was installed from 2008 fiscal year to 2012 fiscal year in JMTR. The material irradiation test facility is used for IASCC study, and consists of mainly three equipments. This report described performance operating test of the water environmental control facilities for IASCC study carried out 2013 fiscal year. (author)

Low-level radioactive waste disposal operations at Los Alamos National Laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stanford, A.R.

1997-01-01

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) generates Low-Level Radioactive Waste (LLW) from various activities: research and development, sampling and storage of TRU wastes, decommissioning and decontamination of facilities, and from LANL's major role in stockpile stewardship. The Laboratory has its own active LLW disposal facility located at Technical Area 54, Area G. This paper will identify the current operations of the facility and the issues pertaining to operating a disposal facility in today's compliance and cost-effective environment

Energy, economy, and environment analysis and optimization on manufacturing plant energy supply system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feng, Lujia; Mears, Laine; Beaufort, Cleveland; Schulte, Joerg

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Single objective and multicriteria optimization approaches are proposed. • Objectives of energy, economy, and environment are proved conflicting. • 3-input-5-output energy supply system of an automotive plant is studied. - Abstract: Increasing attention has recently been drawn to energy consumption in manufacturing plants. Facing the challenges from reducing emissions coupled with rising raw material prices and energy costs, manufacturers are trying to balance the energy usage strategy among the total energy consumption, economy, and environment, which can be self-conflicting at times. In this paper, energy systems in manufacturing environments are reviewed, and the current status of onsite energy system and renewable energy usage are discussed. Single objective and multicriteria optimization approaches are effectively formulated for making the best use of energy delivered to the production processes. Energy supply operation suggestions based on the optimization results are obtained. Finally, an example from an automotive assembly manufacturer is described to demonstrate the energy usage in the current manufacturing plants and how the optimization approaches can be applied to satisfy the energy management objectives. According to the optimization results, in an energy oriented operation, it takes 35% more in monetary cost; while in an economy oriented operation, it takes 17% more in megawatt hour energy supply and tends to rely more on the inexpensive renewable energy.

Development of artificial radioactivity in the French environment during the past 50 years and related doses; effect of the current operation of nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Renaud, Ph.; Roussel-Debet, S.

2010-01-01

The activities of artificial radionuclides in the environment have being strongly decreasing since 50 years. Nowadays the activities of 3 H and 14 C widely predominate, but they cannot be still considered as artificial radionuclides, except nearby the nuclear installations where they constitute the most abundant radioactive releases. In terrestrial environment this influence is limited to the surroundings of 5 sites, although most of nuclear sites and nuclear medical centers are involved in the contamination of the aquatic environment downstream the releases and in the Channel. Since 1987 the doses to the French population have been mainly induced by 14 C and 137 Cs. (author)

Guest Editorial: Flexible Operation and Control for Medium Voltage Direct-Current (MVDC) Grid

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, Yong; Guerrero, Josep M.; Siano, Pierluigi

2017-01-01

We appreciate very much the support from the IET Power Electronics editorial board for this Special Issue on ‘Flexible Operation and Control for Medium Voltage Direct-Current (MVDC) Grid’. In this final version for publication, 15 papers have been selected for this Special Issue. Three papers...... relate to the topology of MVDC converter, four papers relate to the control of MVDC converter, four papers relate to the introduction of application fields of MVDC grid, and four papers relate to the semiconductor power device and drives towards the application in the medium- and high-voltage DC grid....

[Team training and assessment in mixed reality-based simulated operating room : Current state of research in the field of simulation in spine surgery exemplified by the ATMEOS project].

Science.gov (United States)

Stefan, P; Pfandler, M; Wucherer, P; Habert, S; Fürmetz, J; Weidert, S; Euler, E; Eck, U; Lazarovici, M; Weigl, M; Navab, N

2018-04-01

Surgical simulators are being increasingly used as an attractive alternative to clinical training in addition to conventional animal models and human specimens. Typically, surgical simulation technology is designed for the purpose of teaching technical surgical skills (so-called task trainers). Simulator training in surgery is therefore in general limited to the individual training of the surgeon and disregards the participation of the rest of the surgical team. The objective of the project Assessment and Training of Medical Experts based on Objective Standards (ATMEOS) is to develop an immersive simulated operating room environment that enables the training and assessment of multidisciplinary surgical teams under various conditions. Using a mixed reality approach, a synthetic patient model, real surgical instruments and radiation-free virtual X‑ray imaging are combined into a simulation of spinal surgery. In previous research studies, the concept was evaluated in terms of realism, plausibility and immersiveness. In the current research, assessment measurements for technical and non-technical skills are developed and evaluated. The aim is to observe multidisciplinary surgical teams in the simulated operating room during minimally invasive spinal surgery and objectively assess the performance of the individual team members and the entire team. Moreover, the effectiveness of training methods and surgical techniques or success critical factors, e. g. management of crisis situations, can be captured and objectively assessed in the controlled environment.

Autonomous driving in urban environments: approaches, lessons and challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, Mark; Egerstedt, Magnus; How, Jonathan P; Murray, Richard M

2010-10-13

The development of autonomous vehicles for urban driving has seen rapid progress in the past 30 years. This paper provides a summary of the current state of the art in autonomous driving in urban environments, based primarily on the experiences of the authors in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge (DUC). The paper briefly summarizes the approaches that different teams used in the DUC, with the goal of describing some of the challenges that the teams faced in driving in urban environments. The paper also highlights the long-term research challenges that must be overcome in order to enable autonomous driving and points to opportunities for new technologies to be applied in improving vehicle safety, exploiting intelligent road infrastructure and enabling robotic vehicles operating in human environments.

Protection of the Environment: Current ICRP Work and EC-Funded Research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larsson, C.M.; Holm, L.E.

2003-01-01

The requirement for assessments of the environmental effects of radiation, i.e. effects on non-human biota, is increasing due to growing public concern for environmental protection issues and integration of environmental impact assessments into the regulatory process. Thus, there is a strong need to establish a framework for the assessment of environmental impact of ionising radiation, as well as a system for protection of the environment from ionising radiation. These ambitions are reflected in a number of international efforts and various 'systems' have been proposed or are under development. This paper considers the current discussions on environmental protection within the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), as part of the Commission's ongoing revision of its recommendations as laid out in Publication 60. Furthermore, the paper reviews work within the EC-funded FASSET (Framework for ASSessment of Environmental impacT) project. The concepts developed both by ICRP and FASSET are similar, and the FASSET approach and results may illustrate how forthcoming ICRP recommendations could be turned into practical application. (orig.)

Operation of ICRF antennas in a full tungsten environment in ASDEX Upgrade

Science.gov (United States)

Bobkov, Vl.; Braun, F.; Dux, R.; Giannone, L.; Herrmann, A.; Kallenbach, A.; Müller, H. W.; Neu, R.; Noterdaeme, J.-M.; Pütterich, Th.; Rohde, V.; ASDEX Upgrade Team

2009-06-01

In the 2007 and early part of 2008 experimental campaigns, ASDEX Upgrade operated with full tungsten (W) wall without boronization. Use of ICRF power results in a significant increase of W source. Low temperature conditions at the plasma facing components, achieved by a large clearance between the separatrix and the antenna (>6 cm) and by elevated gas puff rates (>5×1021 s) help to lower W sputtering yield during ICRF. Operation of neighboring ICRF antennas at the phase difference close to -90° can lead to a reduction in the W source. However, a reduction of parallel near-fields by antenna design is needed to further minimize the W source. A relation has been established between the HFSS code calculations predicting a dominant role of box currents in the formation of parallel antenna near-fields and the experiment. The shapes of the measured vertical profile of effective sputtering yields and the calculated sheath driving voltages show a qualitative agreement. This confirms that the existing tools are a good basis to design an improved antenna.

Operation of ICRF antennas in a full tungsten environment in ASDEX Upgrade

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bobkov, Vl.; Braun, F.; Dux, R.; Giannone, L.; Herrmann, A.; Kallenbach, A.; Mueller, H.W.; Neu, R.; Noterdaeme, J.-M.; Puetterich, Th.; Rohde, V.

2009-01-01

In the 2007 and early part of 2008 experimental campaigns, ASDEX Upgrade operated with full tungsten (W) wall without boronization. Use of ICRF power results in a significant increase of W source. Low temperature conditions at the plasma facing components, achieved by a large clearance between the separatrix and the antenna (>6 cm) and by elevated gas puff rates (>5x10 21 s -1 ) help to lower W sputtering yield during ICRF. Operation of neighboring ICRF antennas at the phase difference close to -90 deg. can lead to a reduction in the W source. However, a reduction of parallel near-fields by antenna design is needed to further minimize the W source. A relation has been established between the HFSS code calculations predicting a dominant role of box currents in the formation of parallel antenna near-fields and the experiment. The shapes of the measured vertical profile of effective sputtering yields and the calculated sheath driving voltages show a qualitative agreement. This confirms that the existing tools are a good basis to design an improved antenna.

The development of beam current monitors in the APS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, X.; Lenkszus, F.; Rotela, E.

1995-01-01

The Advanced Photon Source (APS) is a third-generation 7-GeV synchrotron radiation source. The precision measurement of beam current is a challenging task in high energy accelerators, such as the APS, with a wide range of beam parameters and complicated noise, radiation, and thermal environments. The beam pulses in the APS injector and storage ring have charge ranging from 50pC to 25nC with pulse durations varying from 30ps to 30ns. A total of nine non- intercepting beam current monitors have been installed in the APS facility (excluding those in the linac) for general current measurement. In addition, several independent current monitors with specially designed redundant interlock electronics are installed for personnel safety and machine protection. This paper documents the design and development of current monitors in the APS,. discusses the commissioning experience in the past year, and presents the results of recent operations

Actions for the environment

CERN Document Server

Colloca, C

2003-01-01

As an International Organization, one the most important issues that CERN has to respect and guarantee is the protection of the environment. Several of ST activities and operations have a direct impact on the environment: civil engineering works, electrical (transformers) and air-cooling operation, chemical products storage, various waste disposal etc.... Important measures, taken in the past, have to be kept and new ones should be applied in order to insure the conformity of the infrastructure with existing legislation, the correct operation of equipment and systems, the constant monitoring of the different situations and the traceability of the events. Moreover good management of the environment would bring large savings to CERN.

High peak current operation of x-ray free-electron laser multiple beam lines by suppressing coherent synchrotron radiation effects

Science.gov (United States)

Hara, Toru; Kondo, Chikara; Inagaki, Takahiro; Togawa, Kazuaki; Fukami, Kenji; Nakazawa, Shingo; Hasegawa, Taichi; Morimoto, Osamu; Yoshioka, Masamichi; Maesaka, Hirokazu; Otake, Yuji; Tanaka, Hitoshi

2018-04-01

The parallel operation of multiple beam lines is an important means to expand the opportunity of user experiments at x-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) facilities. At SPring-8 Angstrom free-electron laser (SACLA), the multi-beam-line operation had been tested using two beam lines, but transverse coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) effects at a dogleg beam transport severely limited the laser performance. To suppress the CSR effects, a new beam optics based on two double bend achromat (DBA) structures was introduced for the dogleg. After the replacement of the beam optics, high peak current bunches of more than 10 kA are now stably transported through the dogleg and the laser pulse output is increased by a factor of 2-3. In the multi-beam-line operation of SACLA, the electron beam parameters, such as the beam energy and peak current, can be adjusted independently for each beam line. Thus the laser output can be optimized and wide spectral tunability is ensured for all beam lines.

Commonalities in Russian Military Operations in Urban Environments

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Smith, Dale

2003-01-01

.... In doing so it advantage in technology will be significantly reduced. By conducting a study of the Russian operations in Chechnya and comparing it to operations in Stalingrad some enduring traits began to emerge...

Assessment, mechanisms, prevention, and measures for quick recovery of military operation-associated fatigue

OpenAIRE

Zhao-shen LI; Wen HUANG

2012-01-01

Fatigue is a worldwide problem. Military members frequently feel fatigue in military operations, which hinders the successful completion of their tasks. In complicated international military environments, military fatigue has received great attention from the armed forces in all countries. The present paper elaborates the performances, assessment, and mechanism of fatigue in military operations. In addition, the current study discusses the prevention and rapid recovery of fatigue, aiming at p...

Expertise and Power: Agencies Operating in Complex Environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anthony R. Zito

2015-03-01

Full Text Available This contribution investigates the strategies that environmental agencies develop to enhance their policy autonomy, in order to fulfil their organisational missions for protecting the environment. This article asks whether there are particular strategic moves that an agency can make to augment this policy autonomy in the face of the principals. Critiquing principal agent theory, it investigates the evolution of three environmental agencies (the European Environment Agency, the England and Wales Environment Agency and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, focusing on the case study of climate change. The contribution examines how the agencies influence environmental policy on domestic, regional and global levels, with a special focus on the principals that constrain agency autonomy. A greater focus on different multi-level contexts, which the three agencies face, may create other possible dynamics and opportunities for agency strategies. Agencies can use particular knowledge, network and alliance building to strengthen their policy/political positions.

Augmented reality aided operation and maintenance system for indoor environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tamura, Yuichi; Umetani, Tomohiro; Kubo, Shin

2013-01-01

This paper proposes an Augmented Reality (AR) system to assist operation and maintenance tasks in an indoor environment, such as a nuclear fusion reactor and its building. AR is a technology that enhances real information by adding 3D virtual objects, images, sounds, or movies via a web camera. The AR system often uses “markers” such as QR code to detect the place where the virtual content should appear. However, these markers are unnatural and they can disturb the scenery. We propose an AR system that can detect natural markers, which provides AR content via a network. This system stores the information related to markers and virtual objects on a server. A device connected to this system automatically downloads this content so that the user can watch the AR content via a web camera. We add a real-time numerical simulation function that allows us to simulate physical phenomena by touching AR contents. It also enables us to observe simulation results by downloading a movie of numerical simulation results from the simulation server. Overall, this system allows us to watch the same content with multiple devices and to simulate physical phenomena using various parameters. (author)

Advanced solar irradiances applied to satellite and ionospheric operational systems

Science.gov (United States)

Tobiska, W. Kent; Schunk, Robert; Eccles, Vince; Bouwer, Dave

Satellite and ionospheric operational systems require solar irradiances in a variety of time scales and spectral formats. We describe the development of a system using operational grade solar irradiances that are applied to empirical thermospheric density models and physics-based ionospheric models used by operational systems that require a space weather characterization. The SOLAR2000 (S2K) and SOLARFLARE (SFLR) models developed by Space Environment Technologies (SET) provide solar irradiances from the soft X-rays (XUV) through the Far Ultraviolet (FUV) spectrum. The irradiances are provided as integrated indices for the JB2006 empirical atmosphere density models and as line/band spectral irradiances for the physics-based Ionosphere Forecast Model (IFM) developed by the Space Environment Corporation (SEC). We describe the integration of these irradiances in historical, current epoch, and forecast modes through the Communication Alert and Prediction System (CAPS). CAPS provides real-time and forecast HF radio availability for global and regional users and global total electron content (TEC) conditions.

A monitor for the laboratory evaluation of control integrity in digital control systems operating in harsh electromagnetic environments

Science.gov (United States)

Belcastro, Celeste M.; Fischl, Robert; Kam, Moshe

1992-01-01

This paper presents a strategy for dynamically monitoring digital controllers in the laboratory for susceptibility to electromagnetic disturbances that compromise control integrity. The integrity of digital control systems operating in harsh electromagnetic environments can be compromised by upsets caused by induced transient electrical signals. Digital system upset is a functional error mode that involves no component damage, can occur simultaneously in all channels of a redundant control computer, and is software dependent. The motivation for this work is the need to develop tools and techniques that can be used in the laboratory to validate and/or certify critical aircraft controllers operating in electromagnetically adverse environments that result from lightning, high-intensity radiated fields (HIRF), and nuclear electromagnetic pulses (NEMP). The detection strategy presented in this paper provides dynamic monitoring of a given control computer for degraded functional integrity resulting from redundancy management errors, control calculation errors, and control correctness/effectiveness errors. In particular, this paper discusses the use of Kalman filtering, data fusion, and statistical decision theory in monitoring a given digital controller for control calculation errors.

Integrated Simulation Environment for Unmanned Autonomous Systems—Towards a Conceptual Framework

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. G. Perhinschi

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The paper initiates a comprehensive conceptual framework for an integrated simulation environment for unmanned autonomous systems (UAS that is capable of supporting the design, analysis, testing, and evaluation from a “system of systems” perspective. The paper also investigates the current state of the art of modeling and performance assessment of UAS and their components and identifies directions for future developments. All the components of a comprehensive simulation environment focused on the testing and evaluation of UAS are identified and defined through detailed analysis of current and future required capabilities and performance. The generality and completeness of the simulation environment is ensured by including all operational domains, types of agents, external systems, missions, and interactions between components. The conceptual framework for the simulation environment is formulated with flexibility, modularity, generality, and portability as key objectives. The development of the conceptual framework for the UAS simulation reveals important aspects related to the mechanisms and interactions that determine specific UAS characteristics including complexity, adaptability, synergy, and high impact of artificial and human intelligence on system performance and effectiveness.

Occupant Responses and Office Work Performance in Environments with Moderately Drifting Operative Temperatures (RP-1269)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kolarik, Jakub; Toftum, Jørn; Olesen, Bjarne W.

2009-01-01

of 21.4°C (70.5°F) (for 6 h) were examined. Subjects assessed their thermal sensation, acceptability of the thermal environment, perceived air quality, and intensity of sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms. Subjects’ performance was measured by simulated office work, including tasks such as addition...... found, while intensity of headache, concentration ability, and general well-being were significantly affected in most of the ramps. Linear dependence of perceived air quality on operative temperature was noted. No significantly consistent effects of individual temperature ramps on office work...... performance were found....

The use of processes evaporation and condensation to provide a suitable operating environment of systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kolková, Zuzana, E-mail: zuzana.kolkova@rc.uniza.sk [University of Žilina, Research centre, Univerzitná 8215/1, 010 26 Žilina (Slovakia); Holubčík, Michal, E-mail: michal.holubcik@fstroj.uniza.sk; Malcho, Milan, E-mail: milan.malcho@fstroj.uniza.sk [University of Žilina, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Power Engineering, Univerzitná 8215/1, 010 26 Žilina (Slovakia)

2016-06-30

All electronic components which exhibit electrical conductor resistance, generates heat when electricity is passed (Joule - Lenz’s Law). The generated heat is necessary to take into surrounding environment. To reduce the operating temperature of electronic components are used various types of cooling in electronic devices. The released heat is removed from the outside of the device in several ways, either alone or in combination. Intensification of cooling electronic components is in the use of heat transfer through phase changes. From the structural point of view it is important to create a cooling system which would be able to drain the waste heat converter for each mode of operation device. Another important criterion is the reliability of the cooling, and it is appropriate to choose cooling system, which would not contain moving elements. In this article, the issue tackled by the phase change in the heat pipe.

The use of processes evaporation and condensation to provide a suitable operating environment of systems

Science.gov (United States)

Kolková, Zuzana; Holubčík, Michal; Malcho, Milan

2016-06-01

All electronic components which exhibit electrical conductor resistance, generates heat when electricity is passed (Joule - Lenz's Law). The generated heat is necessary to take into surrounding environment. To reduce the operating temperature of electronic components are used various types of cooling in electronic devices. The released heat is removed from the outside of the device in several ways, either alone or in combination. Intensification of cooling electronic components is in the use of heat transfer through phase changes. From the structural point of view it is important to create a cooling system which would be able to drain the waste heat converter for each mode of operation device. Another important criterion is the reliability of the cooling, and it is appropriate to choose cooling system, which would not contain moving elements. In this article, the issue tackled by the phase change in the heat pipe.

ENHANCING THE OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY OF DIRECT CURRENT DRIVE BASED ON USE OF SUPERCONDENSER POWER STORAGE UNITS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

А. M. Mukha

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Purpose.The scientific work is intended to analyse the expansion of the load range and the implementation of regeneration braking (RB of the direct current drive by using the supercondenser power storage units. Methodology.To solve the problem, we use the methods of the electric drive theory, impulse electronics and the method of calculation of transient electromagnetic processes in linear electric circuits in the presence of super-condensers therein. Findings.The stiffness of the mechanical and electromechanical characteristics of a series motor is significantly increased, which makes it possible to use a DC drive under load, much smaller than 15…20% of the nominal one. Numerical calculations of the operation process of the supercondenser power storage unit were fulfilled with a sharp decrease in the load of a traction electric motor of a direct current electric locomotive. The possibility of RB of the direct current drive with the series motor is substantiated. The equations of the process of charging and discharging of super-condenser storage unit in RB mode are solved. The authors examined the effect of capacitance on the nature of maintaining the excitation current of an electric motor in the mode of small loads.Originality.The paper developed theoretical approaches for the transformation of soft (mechanical and electromechanical characteristics into hard ones of DC series motors. For the first time a new, combined method of the series motor RB is proposed and substantiated. Further development obtained the methods for evaluating the storage unit parameters, taking into account the criteria for reliable parallel operation of super-condensers with an electric motor field. Practical value.The proposed and substantiated transformation of soft characteristics into stiff ones allows us to use general-purpose electric drives with series motors and at low loads, and in traction electric drives - to reduce the intensity of electric stockwheel

Alternate current interference in pipeline; Interferencia por corrente alternada em dutos

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oliver, Joao Hipolito de Lima [TRANSPETRO - PETROBRAS Transporte S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2003-07-01

This paper regards to the concerning that the pipeline operators should take in to account to better understand and control the alternate current interference (AC- interference). Pipelines sharing rights-of-way with AC high voltage power lines are subjected to AC interference that can cause risk for personnel, operational safety and environment. The AC-interference shall be evaluated, in such way that mitigating action can be applied in order to assure the pipeline is operated in a safety way. The AC-interference evaluation should take in to account the pipeline and the electrical generation/transmission design data. Three approaches are considered: the coating integrity, the personnel chock hazards and the pipeline integrity. The coating integrity is affected by the possibility of high-voltage be induced on the pipeline during power line current fault. The operation and maintenance personnel can be prone to chock hazards (touch voltage and step voltage), depending upon the level of the induced voltage on the pipeline and the ground current. An induced voltage evaluation is then necessary to identify AC potentials in pipeline higher than the safe criteria. The pipeline integrity is concerning to the possibility of occurring alternate current corrosion (AC-corrosion) on the pipe wall. This kind of corrosion is still been investigated, and although it is less critical than the direct current corrosion, it can happen in specific situation. Parameters that affect AC-corrosion are discussed in this paper. Finely it is presented a brief guide to evaluate the possibility of occurring AC- interference in a pipeline and a mitigation measures summary. (author)

Current status of multimodel superensemble and operational NWP ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

global climate and weather modeling branch for. January 2006. .... homogeneity of land surface, orography, water bod- ..... batic and the cloud-environment sounding intersect). ..... the influence of cumulus convection on large-scale flow;.

Direct Drive Generator for Renewable Power Conversion from Water Currents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Segergren, Erik

2005-01-01

In this thesis permanent magnet direct drive generator for power conversion from water currents is studied. Water currents as a power source involves a number of constrains as well as possibilities, especially when direct drive and permanent magnets are considered. The high power fluxes and low current velocities of a water current, in combination with its natural variations, will affect the way the generator is operated and, flowingly, the appearance of the generator. The work in this thesis can, thus, be categorized into two general topics, generator technology and optimization. Under the first topic, fundamental generator technology is used to increase the efficiency of a water current generator. Under the latter topic, water current generators are optimized to a specific environment. The conclusion drawn from this work is that it is possible to design very low speed direct drive generators with good electromagnetic properties and wide efficiency peak

Improving CANDU annunciation - Current R and D and future directions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lupton, L.R.; Feher, M.P.; Davey, E.C.; Guo, K.Q.; Bhuiyan, S.H.

1994-01-01

Annunciation is used to ensure that control room staff are promptly alerted to important changes in plant conditions that may impact on safety and production goals. We are carrying out research and development to improve CANDU annunciation, in partnership with Canadian CANDU utility and design organizations. The main goal is to solve the ''information overload'' problem that occurs during major plant upsets, while providing operators with annunciation information needed to prevent, mitigate, and accommodate plant disturbances. To data, a set of annunciation concepts has been developed based on operational needs in a complex supervisory control environment. A prototype annunciation system has been developed and demonstrated with Point Lepreau Generating Station operations staff. Preliminary evaluations show that the system has the potential to solve many of the current problems associated with upset management. Further evaluation of this system is planned for 1994/95. This paper summarizes the project, including the current status, lessons learned to data, future directions of the research, and implementation by plants. (author). 9 refs, 3 figs, 1 tab

Improving sensitivity of residual current transformers to high frequency earth fault currents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Czapp Stanislaw

2017-09-01

Full Text Available For protection against electric shock in low voltage systems residual current devices are commonly used. However, their proper operation can be interfered when high frequency earth fault current occurs. Serious hazard of electrocution exists then. In order to detect such a current, it is necessary to modify parameters of residual current devices, especially the operating point of their current transformer. The authors proposed the modification in the structure of residual current devices. This modification improves sensitivity of residual current devices when high frequency earth fault current occurs. The test of the modified residual current device proved that the authors’ proposition is appropriate.

Optimization of OH coil recharging scenario of quasi-steady operation in tokamak fusion reactor by lower hybrid wave current drive