Thermal effects of divertor sweeping in ITER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wesley, J.C.

1992-01-01

In this paper, thermal effects of magnetically sweeping the separatrix strike point on the outer divertor target of the International Thermonuclear Fusion Reactor (ITER) are calculated. For the 0. 2 Hz x ± 12 cm sweep scenario proposed for ITER operations, the thermal capability of a generic target design is found to be slightly inadequate (by ∼ 5%) to accommodate the full degree of plasma scrape-off peaking postulated as a design basis. The principal problem identified is that the 5 s sweep period is long relative to the 1. 4 s thermal time constant of the divertor target. An increase of the sweep frequency to ∼ 1 Hz is suggested: this increase would provide a power handling margin of ∼ 25% relative to present operational criteria

On detecting incomplete soft or hard selective sweeps using haplotype structure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ferrer-Admetlla, Anna; Liang, Mason; Korneliussen, Thorfinn Sand

2014-01-01

We present a new haplotype-based statistic (nSL) for detecting both soft and hard sweeps in population genomic data from a single population. We compare our new method with classic single-population haplotype and site frequency spectrum (SFS)-based methods and show that it is more robust, particu......We present a new haplotype-based statistic (nSL) for detecting both soft and hard sweeps in population genomic data from a single population. We compare our new method with classic single-population haplotype and site frequency spectrum (SFS)-based methods and show that it is more robust......, particularly to recombination rate variation. However, all statistics show some sensitivity to the assumptions of the demographic model. Additionally, we show that nSL has at least as much power as other methods under a number of different selection scenarios, most notably in the cases of sweeps from standing...

Investigation of Spiral and Sweeping Holes

Science.gov (United States)

Thurman, Douglas; Poinsatte, Philip; Ameri, Ali; Culley, Dennis; Raghu, Surya; Shyam, Vikram

2015-01-01

Surface infrared thermography, hotwire anemometry, and thermocouple surveys were performed on two new film cooling hole geometries: spiral/rifled holes and fluidic sweeping holes. The spiral holes attempt to induce large-scale vorticity to the film cooling jet as it exits the hole to prevent the formation of the kidney shaped vortices commonly associated with film cooling jets. The fluidic sweeping hole uses a passive in-hole geometry to induce jet sweeping at frequencies that scale with blowing ratios. The spiral hole performance is compared to that of round holes with and without compound angles. The fluidic hole is of the diffusion class of holes and is therefore compared to a 777 hole and Square holes. A patent-pending spiral hole design showed the highest potential of the non-diffusion type hole configurations. Velocity contours and flow temperature were acquired at discreet cross-sections of the downstream flow field. The passive fluidic sweeping hole shows the most uniform cooling distribution but suffers from low span-averaged effectiveness levels due to enhanced mixing. The data was taken at a Reynolds number of 11,000 based on hole diameter and freestream velocity. Infrared thermography was taken for blowing rations of 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 at a density ration of 1.05. The flow inside the fluidic sweeping hole was studied using 3D unsteady RANS.

Cooperative Research Twin Trawl Sweep Comparison Study

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The "Twin-Trawl Sweep Efficiency Study" was intended to compare the sweep efficiency and selectivity of the NEFSC standardized bottom trawl to that of a standardized...

Bipolar programmable current supply for superconducting nuclear magnetic resonance magnets

Science.gov (United States)

Koivuniemi, Jaakko; Luusalo, Reeta; Hakonen, Pertti

1998-09-01

In high resolution continuous-wave nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) work well-reproducible, linear sweeps of current are needed. We have developed a microcontroller based programmable current supply, tested with superconducting magnets with inductance of 10 mH and 10 H. We achieved a resolution and noise of 4 ppm. The supply has an internal sweep with programmable ramping rate and a possibility for remote operation from a computer with either GPIB or RS232 interface. It is based on an 18-bit D/A converter. The maximum output current is ±10 A, the sweep rate can be set between 1 μA/s-140 mA/s, and the maximum output voltage is ±2.5 V. In work at ultralow temperatures, especially in superconducting quantum interference device NMR, all rf interference to the experiment should be avoided. One of the sources of this kind of unwanted input is the digital switching noise of fast logic devices. We discuss this problem in the context of our design.

A field-sweep/field-lock system for superconducting magnets--Application to high-field EPR.

Science.gov (United States)

Maly, Thorsten; Bryant, Jeff; Ruben, David; Griffin, Robert G

2006-12-01

We describe a field-lock/field-sweep system for the use in superconducting magnets. The system is based on a commercially available field mapping unit and a custom designed broad-band 1H NMR probe. The NMR signal of a small water sample is used in a feedback loop to set and control the magnetic field to high accuracy. The current instrumental configuration allows field sweeps of +/-0.4 T and a resolution of up to 10(-5) T (0.1 G) and the performance of the system is demonstrated in a high-field electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) application. The system should also be of utility in other experiments requiring precise and reproducible sweeps of the magnetic field such as DNP, ENDOR or PELDOR.

A Field-Sweep/Field-Lock System for Superconducting Magnets-Application to High-Field EPR

Science.gov (United States)

Maly, Thorsten; Bryant, Jeff; Ruben, David; Griffin, Robert G.

2007-01-01

We describe a field-lock/field-sweep system for the use in superconducting magnets. The system is based on a commercially available field mapping unit and a custom designed broad-band 1H-NMR probe. The NMR signal of a small water sample is used in a feedback loop to set and control the magnetic field to high accuracy. The current instrumental configuration allows field sweeps of ± 0.4 T and a resolution of up to 10-5 T (0.1 G) and the performance of the system is demonstrated in a high-field electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) application. The system should also be of utility in other experiments requiring precise and reproducible sweeps of the magnetic field such as DNP, ENDOR or PELDOR. PMID:17027306

Sweeping at the Martin boundary of a fine domain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

El Kadiri, Mohamed; Fuglede, Bent

2016-01-01

We study sweeping on a subset of the Riesz-Martin space of a fine domain in R n   (n≥2), both with respect to the natural topology and the minimal-fine topology, and show that the two notions of sweeping are identical.......We study sweeping on a subset of the Riesz-Martin space of a fine domain in R n   (n≥2), both with respect to the natural topology and the minimal-fine topology, and show that the two notions of sweeping are identical....

The sweep-line state space exploration method

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Kurt; Kristensen, Lars M.; Mailund, Thomas

2012-01-01

. The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, we provide a coherent presentation of the sweep-line theory and the many variants of the method that have been developed over the past 10 years since the basic idea of the method was conceived. Second, we survey a selection of case studies where the sweep...

Interaction between current imbalance and magnetization in LHC cables

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Haverkamp, M.; Kuijper, A.; Kuijper, A.; den Ouden, A.; ten Haken, Bernard; Bottura, L.; ten Kate, Herman H.J.

2001-01-01

The quality of the magnetic field in superconducting accelerator magnets is associated with the properties of the superconducting cable. Current imbalances due to coupling currents ¿I, as large as 100 A, are induced by spatial variations of the field sweep rate and contact resistances. During

TIME CALIBRATED OSCILLOSCOPE SWEEP CIRCUIT

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, V.L.; Carstensen, H.K.

1959-11-24

An improved time calibrated sweep circuit is presented, which extends the range of usefulness of conventional oscilloscopes as utilized for time calibrated display applications in accordance with U. S. Patent No. 2,832,002. Principal novelty resides in the provision of a pair of separate signal paths, each of which is phase and amplitude adjustable, to connect a high-frequency calibration oscillator to the output of a sawtooth generator also connected to the respective horizontal deflection plates of an oscilloscope cathode ray tube. The amplitude and phase of the calibration oscillator signals in the two signal paths are adjusted to balance out feedthrough currents capacitively coupled at high frequencies of the calibration oscillator from each horizontal deflection plate to the vertical plates of the cathode ray tube.

Maintenance measures for preservation and recovery of permeable pavement surface infiltration rate--The effects of street sweeping, vacuum cleaning, high pressure washing, and milling.

Science.gov (United States)

Winston, Ryan J; Al-Rubaei, Ahmed M; Blecken, Godecke T; Viklander, Maria; Hunt, William F

2016-03-15

The surface infiltration rates (SIR) of permeable pavements decline with time as sediment and debris clog pore spaces. Effective maintenance techniques are needed to ensure the hydraulic functionality and water quality benefits of this stormwater control. Eight different small-scale and full-scale maintenance techniques aimed at recovering pavement permeability were evaluated at ten different permeable pavement sites in the USA and Sweden. Maintenance techniques included manual removal of the upper 2 cm of fill material, mechanical street sweeping, regenerative-air street sweeping, vacuum street sweeping, hand-held vacuuming, high pressure washing, and milling of porous asphalt. The removal of the upper 2 cm of clogging material did not significantly improve the SIR of concrete grid paves (CGP) and permeable interlocking concrete pavers (PICP) due to the inclusion of fines in the joint and bedding stone during construction, suggesting routine maintenance cannot overcome improper construction. For porous asphalt maintenance, industrial hand-held vacuum cleaning, pressure washing, and milling were increasingly successful at recovering the SIR. Milling to a depth of 2.5 cm nearly restored the SIR for a 21-year old porous asphalt pavement to like-new conditions. For PICP, street sweepers employing suction were shown to be preferable to mechanical sweepers; additionally, maintenance efforts may become more intensive over time to maintain a threshold SIR, as maintenance was not 100% effective at removing clogging material. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automatic sweep circuit

Science.gov (United States)

Keefe, Donald J.

1980-01-01

An automatically sweeping circuit for searching for an evoked response in an output signal in time with respect to a trigger input. Digital counters are used to activate a detector at precise intervals, and monitoring is repeated for statistical accuracy. If the response is not found then a different time window is examined until the signal is found.

Provably optimal parallel transport sweeps on regular grids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adams, M. P.; Adams, M. L.; Hawkins, W. D.; Smith, T.; Rauchwerger, L.; Amato, N. M.; Bailey, T. S.; Falgout, R. D.

2013-01-01

We have found provably optimal algorithms for full-domain discrete-ordinate transport sweeps on regular grids in 3D Cartesian geometry. We describe these algorithms and sketch a 'proof that they always execute the full eight-octant sweep in the minimum possible number of stages for a given P x x P y x P z partitioning. Computational results demonstrate that our optimal scheduling algorithms execute sweeps in the minimum possible stage count. Observed parallel efficiencies agree well with our performance model. An older version of our PDT transport code achieves almost 80% parallel efficiency on 131,072 cores, on a weak-scaling problem with only one energy group, 80 directions, and 4096 cells/core. A newer version is less efficient at present-we are still improving its implementation - but achieves almost 60% parallel efficiency on 393,216 cores. These results conclusively demonstrate that sweeps can perform with high efficiency on core counts approaching 10 6 . (authors)

Provably optimal parallel transport sweeps on regular grids

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adams, M. P.; Adams, M. L.; Hawkins, W. D. [Dept. of Nuclear Engineering, Texas A and M University, 3133 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-3133 (United States); Smith, T.; Rauchwerger, L.; Amato, N. M. [Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering, Texas A and M University, 3133 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-3133 (United States); Bailey, T. S.; Falgout, R. D. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (United States)

2013-07-01

We have found provably optimal algorithms for full-domain discrete-ordinate transport sweeps on regular grids in 3D Cartesian geometry. We describe these algorithms and sketch a 'proof that they always execute the full eight-octant sweep in the minimum possible number of stages for a given P{sub x} x P{sub y} x P{sub z} partitioning. Computational results demonstrate that our optimal scheduling algorithms execute sweeps in the minimum possible stage count. Observed parallel efficiencies agree well with our performance model. An older version of our PDT transport code achieves almost 80% parallel efficiency on 131,072 cores, on a weak-scaling problem with only one energy group, 80 directions, and 4096 cells/core. A newer version is less efficient at present-we are still improving its implementation - but achieves almost 60% parallel efficiency on 393,216 cores. These results conclusively demonstrate that sweeps can perform with high efficiency on core counts approaching 10{sup 6}. (authors)

Adiabatic sweep pulses for earth's field NMR with a surface coil

Science.gov (United States)

Conradi, Mark S.; Altobelli, Stephen A.; Sowko, Nicholas J.; Conradi, Susan H.; Fukushima, Eiichi

2018-03-01

Adiabatic NMR sweep pulses are described for inversion and excitation in very low magnetic fields B0 and with broad distribution of excitation field amplitude B1. Two aspects distinguish the low field case: (1) when B1 is comparable to or greater than B0, the rotating field approximation fails and (2) inversion sweeps cannot extend to values well below the Larmor frequency because they would approach or pass through zero frequency. Three approaches to inversion are described. The first is a conventional tangent frequency sweep down to the Larmor frequency, a 180° phase shift, and a sweep back up to the starting frequency. The other two are combined frequency and amplitude sweeps covering a narrower frequency range; one is a symmetric sweep from above to below the Larmor frequency and the other uses a smooth decrease of B1 immediately before and after the 180° phase shift. These two AM/FM sweeps show excellent inversion efficiencies over a wide range of B1, a factor of 30 or more. We also demonstrate an excitation sweep that works well in the presence of the same wide range of B1. We show that the primary effect of the counter-rotating field (i.e., at low B0) is that the magnetization suffers large, periodic deviations from where it would be at large B0. Thus, successful sweep pulses must avoid any sharp features in the amplitude, phase, or frequency.

Sweeping Jet Actuators - A New Design Tool for High Lift Generation

Science.gov (United States)

Graff, Emilio; Seele, Roman; Lin, John C.; Wygnanski, Israel

2013-01-01

Active Flow Control (AFC) experiments performed at the Caltech Lucas Wind Tunnel on a generic airplane vertical tail model proved the effectiveness of sweeping jets in improving the control authority of a rudder. The results indicated that a momentum coefficient (C(sub u)) of approximately 2% increased the side force in excess of 50% at the maximum conventional rudder deflection angle in the absence of yaw. However, sparsely distributed actuators providing a collective C(sub u) approx. = 0.1% were able to increase the side force in excess of 20%. This result is achieved by reducing the spanwise flow along the swept back rudder and its success is attributed to the large sweep back angle of the vertical tail. This current effort was sponsored by the NASA Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) project.

A Compositional Sweep-Line State Space Exploration Method

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristensen, Lars Michael; Mailund, Thomas

2002-01-01

State space exploration is a main approach to verification of finite-state systems. The sweep-line method exploits a certain kind of progress present in many systems to reduce peak memory usage during state space exploration. We present a new sweep-line algorithm for a compositional setting where...

Acoustic emission in a superconductor (Nb-Ti) during magnetic field and current sweep

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nomura, Harehiko

1980-01-01

Though superconducting magnets are indispensable in the fields of nuclear fusion, MHD power generation, high energy technology, and the trains using magnetic levitation, the safety of the magnets used for those fields is required to be fully investigated because their accumulating energy reaches up to several GJ. For this purpose, the improvement of monitoring techniques is extremely important to grasp exactly the magnetization of such large energy magnets. Although the detection of the terminal voltage of the magnets has been mainly used so far, the purpose has not yet been fulfilled because various phenomena appear in the form of noises in the terminal voltage. The authors have found the monitoring method using acoustic emission in a system completely independent from voltage observation. From this viewpoint, the experiments have been performed aiming at the generation of acoustic emission in conjunction with magnetization out of the fine structure of super-conductors, taking notice of the emitted sound frequency ranging over several hundred kHz. The results and investigation revealed that the superconductor itself emitted ultrasonic sound. It was found that the observation of this acoustic power intensity was able to monitor not only the magnetization of superconductors but also its current sweep. Since the motion of the magnetic flux is converted into the signal of acoustic field, this measuring method is less affected by noise disturbance from electromagnetic systems, and is expected to be useful for the researches on analyzing superconductor characteristics. (Wakatsuki, Y.)

Automatic sweep circuit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keefe, D.J.

1980-01-01

An automatically sweeping circuit for searching for an evoked response in an output signal in time with respect to a trigger input is described. Digital counters are used to activate a detector at precise intervals, and monitoring is repeated for statistical accuracy. If the response is not found then a different time window is examined until the signal is found

HB-Line Dissolution of Glovebox Floor Sweepings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gray, J.H.

1998-02-01

Two candidate flowsheets for dissolving glovebox floor sweepings in the HB-Line Phase I geometrically favorable dissolver have been developed.Dissolving conditions tested and modified during the laboratory program were based on the current processing scheme for dissolving high-fired Pu-238 oxide in HB-Line. Subsequent adjustments made to the HB-Line flowsheet reflected differences in the dissolution behavior between high-fired Pu-238 oxide and the MgO sand/PuF 4 /PuO 2 mixture in glovebox floor sweepings. Although both candidate flowsheets involved two separate dissolving steps and resulted incomplete dissolution of all solids, the one selected for use in HB-Line will require fewer processing operations and resembles the initial flowsheet proposed for dissolving sand, slag, and crucible material in F-Canyon dissolvers. Complete dissolution of glovebox floor sweepings was accomplished in the laboratory by initially dissolving between 55 and 65 degree in a 14 molar nitric acid solution. Under these conditions, partial dissolution of PuF 4 and complete dissolution of PuO 2 and MgO sand were achieved in less than one hour. The presence of free fluoride in solution,uncomplexed by aluminum, was necessary for complete dissolution of the PuO 2 .The remaining PuF 4 dissolved following addition of aluminum nitrate nonahydrate (ANN) to complex the fluoride and heating between 75 and 85 degree C for an additional hour. Precipitation of magnesium and/or aluminum nitrates could occur before, during, and after transfer of product solutions. Both dilution and/or product solution temperature controls may be necessary to prevent precipitation of these salts. Corrosion of the dissolver should not be an issue during these dissolving operations. Corrosion is minimized when dissolving at 55-65 degree C for one to three hours at a maximum uncomplexed free fluoride concentration of 0.07 molar and by dissolving at 75-85 degree C at a one to one aluminum to fluoride mole ratio for another

A Generalised Sweep-Line Method for Safety Properties

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mailund; Kristensen, Lars Michael

2002-01-01

The recently developed sweep-line method exploits progress present in many concurrent systems to explore the full state space of the system while storing only small fragments of the state space in memory at a time. A disadvantage of the sweep-line method is that it relies on a monotone and global...

Automatically sweeping dual-channel boxcar integrator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keefe, D.J.; Patterson, D.R.

1978-01-01

An automatically sweeping dual-channel boxcar integrator has been developed to automate the search for a signal that repeatedly follows a trigger pulse by a constant or slowly varying time delay when that signal is completely hidden in random electrical noise and dc-offset drifts. The automatically sweeping dual-channel boxcar integrator improves the signal-to-noise ratio and eliminates dc-drift errors in the same way that a conventional dual-channel boxcar integrator does, but, in addition, automatically locates the hidden signal. When the signal is found, its time delay is displayed with 100-ns resolution, and its peak value is automatically measured and displayed. This relieves the operator of the tedious, time-consuming, and error-prone search for the signal whenever the time delay changes. The automatically sweeping boxcar integrator can also be used as a conventional dual-channel boxcar integrator. In either mode, it can repeatedly integrate a signal up to 990 times and thus make accurate measurements of the signal pulse height in the presence of random noise, dc offsets, and unsynchronized interfering signals

Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP) Final Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Geller, Howard [Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP), Boulder, CO (United States); Meyers, Jim [Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP), Boulder, CO (United States)

2018-01-29

SWEEP worked with Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) programs to foster greater energy efficiency throughout the Southwest. SWEEP accomplished this through a combination of analysis and support; preparation and distribution of materials on best practice technologies, policies and programs; and technical assistance and information dissemination to states and municipalities in the southwest supporting BTO, AMO, OWIP for advancement of efficiency in products and practices. These efforts were accomplished during the period 2012 through 2017.

Flow field characteristics of impinging sweeping jets: TR-PIV measurement

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Xin; Peng, Di; Liu, Yingzheng; Tang, Hui

2017-11-01

Influence of Reynolds number of sweeping jets on its impinging flow fields was extensively investigated in a water tank. Toward this end, a fluidic oscillator was specially designed to produce spatially sweeping jets which imping on a flat plate. Six Reynolds numbers were tested by controlling the supply flow rate of the fluidic oscillator. Impinging flow fields were captured by time-resolved Particle Image Velocimetry (TR-PIV) measurement. Reference signals were extracted from the flow fields for phase reconstruction. The oscillating flow fields with super-harmonic frequency at different regions were discussed in term of the phase-averaged velocity, vorticity and turbulent velocity. Dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) was used to capture the most-energetic flow patterns with distinct frequencies. By projecting the phase-averaged flow fields onto a reduced basis of DMD modes, the phase correlation between the distinct flow patterns were analyzed under different Reynolds numbers.

Sweep devices for picosecond image-converter streak cameras

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cunin, B.; Miehe, J.A.; Sipp, B.; Schelev, M.Ya.; Serduchenko, J.N.; Thebault, J.

1979-01-01

Four different sweep devices based on microwave tubes, avalanche transistors, krytrons, and laser-triggered spark gaps are treated in detail. These control circuits are developed for picosecond image-converter cameras and generate sweep pulses providing streak speeds in the range of 10 7 to 5x10 10 cm/sec with maximum time resolution better than 10 -12 sec. Special low-jitter triggering schemes reduce the jitter to less than 5x10 -11 sec. Some problems arising in the construction and matching of the sweep devices and image-streak tube are discussed. Comparative parameters of nanosecond switching elements are presented. The results described can be used by other authors involved in streak camera development

Development of sealing plug for sweep gas line

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kikuchi, Taiji; Yamada, Hirokazu; Saitoh, Takashi; Nakamichi, Masaru; Tsuchiya, Kunihiko; Kawamura, Hiroshi

2004-03-01

On the irradiation capsule for neutron irradiation test of the tritium breeder, the sealing plug is necessary to prevent a leak of tritium gas when the tritium breeder is picked up from the irradiation capsule after irradiation test. However, the general valve and plug cannot apply to sealing of the sweep gas line because of the following factors, the neutron irradiation effect, limited space in the irradiation capsule, high sealing efficiency, simple method and operation for control. Therefore, the sealing plug for sweep gas line has to be developed. This paper reports the development of the sealing plug for sweep gas line and the operating procedure of the sealing plug in the irradiation capsule. (author)

Analysis of Massively Parallel Discrete-Ordinates Transport Sweep Algorithms with Collisions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bailey, T.S.; Falgout, R.D.

2008-01-01

We present theoretical scaling models for a variety of discrete-ordinates sweep algorithms. In these models, we pay particular attention to the way each algorithm handles collisions. A collision is defined as a processor having multiple angles with ready to be swept during one stage of the sweep. The models also take into account how subdomains are assigned to processors and how angles are grouped during the sweep. We describe a data driven algorithm that resolves collisions efficiently during the sweep as well as other algorithms that have been designed to avoid collisions completely. Our models are validated using the ARGES and AMTRAN transport codes. We then use the models to study and predict scaling trends in all of the sweep algorithms

Lipschitz continuous data dependence of sweeping processes in BV spaces

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Krejčí, Pavel; Roche, T.

2011-01-01

Roč. 15, č. 3 (2011), s. 637-650 ISSN 1531-3492 R&D Projects: GA ČR GAP201/10/2315; GA MŠk LC06052 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10190503 Keywords : rate independence * discontinuous sweeping process * Kurzweil integral Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 0.921, year: 2011 http://aimsciences.org/journals/pdfs.jsp?paperID=5943&mode=full

Study of Near-Stall Flow Behavior in a Modern Transonic Fan with Composite Sweep

Science.gov (United States)

Hah, Chunill; Shin, Hyoun-Woo

2011-01-01

Detailed flow behavior in a modern transonic fan with a composite sweep is investigated in this paper. Both unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) and Large Eddy Simulation (LES) methods are applied to investigate the flow field over a wide operating range. The calculated flow fields are compared with the data from an array of high-frequency response pressure transducers embedded in the fan casing. The current study shows that a relatively fine computational grid is required to resolve the flow field adequately and to calculate the pressure rise across the fan correctly. The calculated flow field shows detailed flow structure near the fan rotor tip region. Due to the introduction of composite sweep toward the rotor tip, the flow structure at the rotor tip is much more stable compared to that of the conventional blade design. The passage shock stays very close to the leading edge at the rotor tip even at the throttle limit. On the other hand, the passage shock becomes stronger and detaches earlier from the blade passage at the radius where the blade sweep is in the opposite direction. The interaction between the tip clearance vortex and the passage shock becomes intense as the fan operates toward the stall limit, and tip clearance vortex breakdown occurs at near-stall operation. URANS calculates the time-averaged flow field fairly well. Details of measured RMS static pressure are not calculated with sufficient accuracy with URANS. On the other hand, LES calculates details of the measured unsteady flow features in the current transonic fan with composite sweep fairly well and reveals the flow mechanism behind the measured unsteady flow field.

Vertical-horizontal wells for depletion and sweep

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Muraikhi, A. J.; Pham, T. R.; Liu, J. S.; Khatib, M. R.; Muhaish, A. S. [Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabia)

1998-12-31

A well completion scheme currently in use in a thick, large, elongated carbonate anticline Middle-East oil reservoir is described. This method of well completion calls for a combination of an open hole horizontal section penetrating the top 10 feet of the reservoir and a cased or undisturbed vertical segment through the thick formation. The horizontal section is used for producing and the vertical segment is used for monitoring purposes. Field experience and supported reservoir simulation exercises have shown that the horizontal application is superior to conventional vertical completion both from the economic and from the sweep point of view. 4 refs., 12 figs.

Acidic sweep gas with carbonic anhydrase coated hollow fiber membranes synergistically accelerates CO2 removal from blood.

Science.gov (United States)

Arazawa, D T; Kimmel, J D; Finn, M C; Federspiel, W J

2015-10-01

The use of extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal (ECCO2R) is well established as a therapy for patients suffering from acute respiratory failure. Development of next generation low blood flow (carbonic anhydrase (CA) immobilized bioactive hollow fiber membrane (HFM) which significantly accelerates CO2 removal from blood in model gas exchange devices by converting bicarbonate to CO2 directly at the HFM surface. This present study tested the hypothesis that dilute sulfur dioxide (SO2) in oxygen sweep gas could further increase CO2 removal by creating an acidic microenvironment within the diffusional boundary layer adjacent to the HFM surface, facilitating dehydration of bicarbonate to CO2. CA was covalently immobilized onto poly (methyl pentene) (PMP) HFMs through glutaraldehyde activated chitosan spacers, potted in model gas exchange devices (0.0151 m(2)) and tested for CO2 removal rate with oxygen (O2) sweep gas and a 2.2% SO2 in oxygen sweep gas mixture. Using pure O2 sweep gas, CA-PMP increased CO2 removal by 31% (258 mL/min/m(2)) compared to PMP (197 mL/min/m(2)) (Premoval by 17% (230 mL/min/m(2)) compared to pure oxygen sweep gas control (Premoval increased by 109% (411 mL/min/m(2)) (Premoval, and when used in combination with bioactive CA-HFMs has a synergistic effect to more than double CO2 removal while maintaining physiologic pH. Through these technologies the next generation of intravascular and paracorporeal respiratory assist devices can remove more CO2 with smaller blood contacting surface areas. A clinical need exists for more efficient respiratory assist devices which utilize low blood flow rates (removal efficiency by shifting equilibrium from bicarbonate to gaseous CO2, through either a bioactive carbonic anhydrase enzyme coating or bulk blood acidification with lactic acid. In this study we demonstrate a novel approach to local blood acidification using an acidified sweep gas in combination with a bioactive coating to more than double CO2 removal

Design and optimization of a bend-and-sweep compliant mechanism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tummala, Y; Frecker, M I; Wissa, A A; Hubbard Jr, J E

2013-01-01

A novel contact aided compliant mechanism called bend-and-sweep compliant mechanism is presented in this paper. This mechanism has nonlinear stiffness properties in two orthogonal directions. An angled compliant joint (ACJ) is the fundamental element of this mechanism. Geometric parameters of ACJs determine the stiffness of the compliant mechanism. This paper presents the design and optimization of bend-and-sweep compliant mechanism. A multi-objective optimization problem was formulated for design optimization of the bend-and-sweep compliant mechanism. The objectives of the optimization problem were to maximize or minimize the bending and sweep displacements, depending on the situation, while minimizing the von Mises stress and mass of each mechanism. This optimization problem was solved using NSGA-II (a genetic algorithm). The results of this optimization for a single ACJ during upstroke and downstroke are presented in this paper. Results of two different loading conditions used during optimization of a single ACJ for upstroke are presented. Finally, optimization results comparing the performance of compliant mechanisms with one and two ACJs are also presented. It can be inferred from these results that the number of ACJs and the design of each ACJ determines the stiffness of the bend-and-sweep compliant mechanism. These mechanisms can be used in various applications. The goal of this research is to improve the performance of ornithopters by passively morphing their wings. In order to achieve a bio-inspired wing gait called continuous vortex gait, the wings of the ornithopter need to bend, and sweep simultaneously. This can be achieved by inserting the bend-and-sweep compliant mechanism into the leading edge wing spar of the ornithopters. (paper)

Simulation of Sweep-Jet Flow Control, Single Jet and Full Vertical Tail

Science.gov (United States)

Childs, Robert E.; Stremel, Paul M.; Garcia, Joseph A.; Heineck, James T.; Kushner, Laura K.; Storms, Bruce L.

2016-01-01

This work is a simulation technology demonstrator, of sweep jet flow control used to suppress boundary layer separation and increase the maximum achievable load coefficients. A sweep jet is a discrete Coanda jet that oscillates in the plane parallel to an aerodynamic surface. It injects mass and momentum in the approximate streamwise direction. It also generates turbulent eddies at the oscillation frequency, which are typically large relative to the scales of boundary layer turbulence, and which augment mixing across the boundary layer to attack flow separation. Simulations of a fluidic oscillator, the sweep jet emerging from a nozzle downstream of the oscillator, and an array of sweep jets which suppresses boundary layer separation are performed. Simulation results are compared to data from a dedicated validation experiment of a single oscillator and its sweep jet, and from a wind tunnel test of a full-scale Boeing 757 vertical tail augmented with an array of sweep jets. A critical step in the work is the development of realistic time-dependent sweep jet inflow boundary conditions, derived from the results of the single-oscillator simulations, which create the sweep jets in the full-tail simulations. Simulations were performed using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver Overow, with high-order spatial discretization and a range of turbulence modeling. Good results were obtained for all flows simulated, when suitable turbulence modeling was used.

An Algorithm for Parallel Sn Sweeps on Unstructured Meshes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pautz, Shawn D.

2002-01-01

A new algorithm for performing parallel S n sweeps on unstructured meshes is developed. The algorithm uses a low-complexity list ordering heuristic to determine a sweep ordering on any partitioned mesh. For typical problems and with 'normal' mesh partitionings, nearly linear speedups on up to 126 processors are observed. This is an important and desirable result, since although analyses of structured meshes indicate that parallel sweeps will not scale with normal partitioning approaches, no severe asymptotic degradation in the parallel efficiency is observed with modest (≤100) levels of parallelism. This result is a fundamental step in the development of efficient parallel S n methods

Sweeping Gas Membrane Desalination Using Commercial Hydrophobic Hollow Fiber Membranes; TOPICAL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

EVANS, LINDSEY; MILLER, JAMES E.

2002-01-01

Water shortages affect 88 developing countries that are home to half of the world's population. In these places, 80-90% of all diseases and 30% of all deaths result from poor water quality. Furthermore, over the next 25 years, the number of people affected by severe water shortages is expected to increase fourfold. Low cost methods of purifying freshwater, and desalting seawater are required to contend with this destabilizing trend. Membrane distillation (MD) is an emerging technology for separations that are traditionally accomplished via conventional distillation or reverse osmosis. As applied to desalination, MD involves the transport of water vapor from a saline solution through the pores of a hydrophobic membrane. In sweeping gas MD, a flowing gas stream is used to flush the water vapor from the permeate side of the membrane, thereby maintaining the vapor pressure gradient necessary for mass transfer. Since liquid does not penetrate the hydrophobic membrane, dissolved ions are completely rejected by the membrane. MD has a number of potential advantages over conventional desalination including low temperature and pressure operation, reduced membrane strength requirements, compact size, and 100% rejection of non-volatiles. The present work evaluated the suitability of commercially available technology for sweeping gas membrane desalination. Evaluations were conducted with Celgard Liqui-Cel(reg s ign) Extra-Flow 2.5X8 membrane contactors with X-30 and X-40 hydrophobic hollow fiber membranes. Our results show that sweeping gas membrane desalination systems are capable of producing low total dissolved solids (TDS) water, typically 10 ppm or less, from seawater, using low grade heat. However, there are several barriers that currently prevent sweeping gas MD from being a viable desalination technology. The primary problem is that large air flows are required to achieve significant water yields, and the costs associated with transporting this air are prohibitive. To

Beam pinging, sweeping, shaking, and electron/ion collecting, at the Proton Storage Ring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hardek, T.W.; Macek, R.J.; Plum, M.A.; Wang, T.S.F.

1993-01-01

We have built, installed and tested a pinger for use as a general diagnostic at the Los Alamos Proton Storage Ring (PSR). Two 4-m-long parallel-plate electrodes with a plate spacing of 10.2 cm provide kicks of up to 1.1 mrad. A pair of solid-state pulsers may be operated in a single-pulse mode for beam pinging (tune measurements) or in a burst mode at up to 700 kHz pulse rates for beam sweeping. During our 1992 operating period we used the pinger for beam sweeping, for beam shaking, for measuring the tune shift, and we have used it as an ion chamber. Using the pinger as an ion chamber during production conditions has yielded some surprising results

Encoding of frequency-modulation (FM) rates in human auditory cortex.

Science.gov (United States)

Okamoto, Hidehiko; Kakigi, Ryusuke

2015-12-14

Frequency-modulated sounds play an important role in our daily social life. However, it currently remains unclear whether frequency modulation rates affect neural activity in the human auditory cortex. In the present study, using magnetoencephalography, we investigated the auditory evoked N1m and sustained field responses elicited by temporally repeated and superimposed frequency-modulated sweeps that were matched in the spectral domain, but differed in frequency modulation rates (1, 4, 16, and 64 octaves per sec). The results obtained demonstrated that the higher rate frequency-modulated sweeps elicited the smaller N1m and the larger sustained field responses. Frequency modulation rate had a significant impact on the human brain responses, thereby providing a key for disentangling a series of natural frequency-modulated sounds such as speech and music.

Alternating direction transport sweeps for linear discontinuous SN method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yavuz, M.; Aykanat, C.

1993-01-01

The performance of Alternating Direction Transport Sweep (ADTS) method is investigated for spatially differenced Linear Discontinuous S N (LD-S N ) problems on a MIMD multicomputer, Intel IPSC/2. The method consists of dividing a transport problem spatially into sub-problems, assigning each sub-problem to a separate processor. Then, the problem is solved by performing transport sweeps iterating on the scattering source and interface fluxes between the sub-problems. In each processor, the order of transport sweeps is scheduled such that a processor completing its computation in a quadrant of a transport sweep is able to use the most recent information (exiting fluxes of neighboring processor) as its incoming fluxes to start the next quadrant calculation. Implementation of this method on the Intel IPSC/2 multicomputer displays significant speedups over the one-processor method. Also, the performance of the method is compared with those reported previously for the Diamond Differenced S N (DD-S N ) method. Our experimental experience illustrates that the parallel performance of both the ADTS LD- and DD-S N methods is the same. (orig.)

Fast backprojection-based reconstruction of spectral-spatial EPR images from projections with the constant sweep of a magnetic field.

Science.gov (United States)

Komarov, Denis A; Hirata, Hiroshi

2017-08-01

In this paper, we introduce a procedure for the reconstruction of spectral-spatial EPR images using projections acquired with the constant sweep of a magnetic field. The application of a constant field-sweep and a predetermined data sampling rate simplifies the requirements for EPR imaging instrumentation and facilitates the backprojection-based reconstruction of spectral-spatial images. The proposed approach was applied to the reconstruction of a four-dimensional numerical phantom and to actual spectral-spatial EPR measurements. Image reconstruction using projections with a constant field-sweep was three times faster than the conventional approach with the application of a pseudo-angle and a scan range that depends on the applied field gradient. Spectral-spatial EPR imaging with a constant field-sweep for data acquisition only slightly reduces the signal-to-noise ratio or functional resolution of the resultant images and can be applied together with any common backprojection-based reconstruction algorithm. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Autonomous Planning and Replanning for Mine-Sweeping Unmanned Underwater Vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Gaines, Daniel M.

2010-01-01

This software generates high-quality plans for carrying out mine-sweeping activities under resource constraints. The autonomous planning and replanning system for unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) takes as input a set of prioritized mine-sweep regions, and a specification of available UUV resources including available battery energy, data storage, and time available for accomplishing the mission. Mine-sweep areas vary in location, size of area to be swept, and importance of the region. The planner also works with a model of the UUV, as well as a model of the power consumption of the vehicle when idle and when moving.

Fast sweeping method for the factored eikonal equation

Science.gov (United States)

Fomel, Sergey; Luo, Songting; Zhao, Hongkai

2009-09-01

We develop a fast sweeping method for the factored eikonal equation. By decomposing the solution of a general eikonal equation as the product of two factors: the first factor is the solution to a simple eikonal equation (such as distance) or a previously computed solution to an approximate eikonal equation. The second factor is a necessary modification/correction. Appropriate discretization and a fast sweeping strategy are designed for the equation of the correction part. The key idea is to enforce the causality of the original eikonal equation during the Gauss-Seidel iterations. Using extensive numerical examples we demonstrate that (1) the convergence behavior of the fast sweeping method for the factored eikonal equation is the same as for the original eikonal equation, i.e., the number of iterations for the Gauss-Seidel iterations is independent of the mesh size, (2) the numerical solution from the factored eikonal equation is more accurate than the numerical solution directly computed from the original eikonal equation, especially for point sources.

Performance Comparison of Sweeping/Steady Jet Actuators

Science.gov (United States)

Hirsch, Damian; Mercier, Justin; Noca, Flavio; Gharib, Morteza

2015-11-01

Flow control through the use of steady jet actuators has been used on various aircraft models since the late 1950's. However, the focus of recent studies has shifted towards the use of sweeping jets (fluidic oscillators) rather than steady jet actuators. In this work, experiments using various jet actuator designs were conducted at GALCIT's Lucas Wind Tunnel on a NACA 0012 vertical tail model similar to that of the Boeing 767 vertical stabilizer at Reynolds numbers ranging from 0.5 to 1.2 million. The rudder angle was fixed at 20 degrees. A total of 32 jet actuators were installed along the wingspan perpendicular to the trailing edge and the rudder shoulder of the vertical stabilizer. It is known that these types of flow control prevent separation. However, the goal of this work is to compare different jet designs and evaluate their performance. Parameters such as the number of actuators, their volumetric flow, and the wind tunnel speed were varied. The lift generation capabilities of steady and sweeping jet actuators were then compared. Another set of experiments was conducted to compare a new sweeping jet actuator design with one of the standard versions. Supported by Boeing.

Effect of elasticity during viscoelastic polymer flooding : a possible mechanism of increasing the sweep efficiency

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Urbissinova, T.S.; Trivedi, J.J.; Kuru, E. [Alberta Univ., Edmonton, AB (Canada). Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering

2010-12-15

This paper discussed a laboratory experiment undertaken to study how the elasticity of polymer-based fluids affects microscopic sweep efficiency, which has implications for enhanced oil recovery processes. In a series of experiments, polymer solutions with the same shear viscosity but notably different elastic characteristics were injected through a mineral-oil-saturated sandpack. The experiments involved a special core holder that was designed to simulate radial flow. The solution was injected via a perforated injection line located in the centre of the cell, and fluids were produced by way of 2 production lines located at the periphery. The shear rate used in the experiments was within the range of field applications. Using polymer solutions with similar shear viscosity behaviour and different elasticity allowed the effect of elasticity on sweep efficiency to be singled out. It was concluded that adjusting the molecular weight distribution of the solution at a constant shear viscosity and polymer concentration could improve the sweep efficiency of a polymeric fluid. The higher-elasticity polymer solution had a higher resistance to flow through porous media, resulting in better sweep efficiency and lower residual oil saturation. The objective of the study was to isolate elasticity from the other parameters that affect displacement efficiency to show the individual effect of elasticity on oil recovery. 20 refs., 5 tabs., 14 figs.

Analyser of sweeping electron beam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strasser, A.

1993-01-01

The electron beam analyser has an array of conductors that can be positioned in the field of the sweeping beam, an electronic signal treatment system for the analysis of the signals generated in the conductors by the incident electrons and a display for the different characteristics of the electron beam

Mitigation of divertor heat loads by strike point sweeping in high power JET discharges

Science.gov (United States)

Silburn, S. A.; Matthews, G. F.; Challis, C. D.; Frigione, D.; Graves, J. P.; Mantsinen, M. J.; Belonohy, E.; Hobirk, J.; Iglesias, D.; Keeling, D. L.; King, D.; Kirov, K.; Lennholm, M.; Lomas, P. J.; Moradi, S.; Sips, A. C. C.; Tsalas, M.; Contributors, JET

2017-12-01

Deliberate periodic movement (sweeping) of the high heat flux divertor strike lines in tokamak plasmas can be used to manage the heat fluxes experienced by exhaust handling plasma facing components, by spreading the heat loads over a larger surface area. Sweeping has recently been adopted as a routine part of the main high performance plasma configurations used on JET, and has enabled pulses with 30 MW plasma heating power and 10 MW radiation to run for 5 s without overheating the divertor tiles. We present analysis of the effectiveness of sweeping for divertor temperature control on JET, using infrared camera data and comparison with a simple 2D heat diffusion model. Around 50% reduction in tile temperature rise is obtained with 5.4 cm sweeping compared to the un-swept case, and the temperature reduction is found to scale slower than linearly with sweeping amplitude in both experiments and modelling. Compatibility of sweeping with high fusion performance is demonstrated, and effects of sweeping on the edge-localised mode behaviour of the plasma are reported and discussed. The prospects of using sweeping in future JET experiments with up to 40 MW heating power are investigated using a model validated against existing experimental data.

Mitigation of divertor heat loads by strike point sweeping in high power JET discharges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silburn, S A; Matthews, G F; Challis, C D; Belonohy, E; Iglesias, D; Keeling, D L; King, D; Kirov, K; Lomas, P J; Frigione, D; Graves, J P; Mantsinen, M J; Hobirk, J; Lennholm, M; Moradi, S; Sips, A C C; Tsalas, M

2017-01-01

Deliberate periodic movement (sweeping) of the high heat flux divertor strike lines in tokamak plasmas can be used to manage the heat fluxes experienced by exhaust handling plasma facing components, by spreading the heat loads over a larger surface area. Sweeping has recently been adopted as a routine part of the main high performance plasma configurations used on JET, and has enabled pulses with 30 MW plasma heating power and 10 MW radiation to run for 5 s without overheating the divertor tiles. We present analysis of the effectiveness of sweeping for divertor temperature control on JET, using infrared camera data and comparison with a simple 2D heat diffusion model. Around 50% reduction in tile temperature rise is obtained with 5.4 cm sweeping compared to the un-swept case, and the temperature reduction is found to scale slower than linearly with sweeping amplitude in both experiments and modelling. Compatibility of sweeping with high fusion performance is demonstrated, and effects of sweeping on the edge-localised mode behaviour of the plasma are reported and discussed. The prospects of using sweeping in future JET experiments with up to 40 MW heating power are investigated using a model validated against existing experimental data. (paper)

A new method for calculating volumetric sweeps efficiency using streamline simulation concepts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hidrobo, E A

2000-01-01

One of the purposes of reservoir engineering is to quantify the volumetric sweep efficiency for optimizing reservoir management decisions. The estimation of this parameter has always been a difficult task. Until now, sweep efficiency correlations and calculations have been limited to mostly homogeneous 2-D cases. Calculating volumetric sweep efficiency in a 3-D heterogeneous reservoir becomes difficult due to inherent complexity of multiple layers and arbitrary well configurations. In this paper, a new method for computing volumetric sweep efficiency for any arbitrary heterogeneity and well configuration is presented. The proposed method is based on Datta-Gupta and King's formulation of streamline time-of-flight (1995). Given the fact that the time-of-flight reflects the fluid front propagation at various times, then the connectivity in the time-of-flight represents a direct measure of the volumetric sweep efficiency. The proposed approach has been applied to synthetic as well as field examples. Synthetic examples are used to validate the volumetric sweep efficiency calculations using the streamline time-of-flight connectivity criterion by comparison with analytic solutions and published correlations. The field example, which illustrates the feasibility of the approach for large-scale field applications, is from the north Robertson unit, a low permeability carbonate reservoir in west Texas

Grain boundary sweeping and dissolution effects on fission product behaviour under severe fuel damage accident conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rest, J.

1986-01-01

The theoretical FASTGRASS-VFP model has been used in the interpretation of fission gas, iodine, tellurium, and cesium release from severe-fuel-damage (SFD) tests performed in the PBF reactor in Idaho. A theory of grain boundary sweeping of gas bubbles, gas bubble behavior during fuel liquefaction (destruction of grain boundaries due to formation of a U-rich melt phase), and during U-Zr eutectic melting has been included within the FASTGRASS-VFP formalism. The grain-boundary-sweeping theory considers the interaction between the moving grain boundary and two distinct size classes of bubbles, those on grain faces and on grain edges. The theory of the effects of fuel liquefaction and U-Zr eutectic melting on fission product behaviour considers the migration and coalescence of fission gas bubbles in either molten uranium, or a Zircaloy-Uranium eutectic melt. Results of the analyses demonstrate that intragranular fission product behavior during the tests can be interpreted in terms of a grain-growth/grain-boundary-sweeping mechanism that enhances the flow of fission products from within the grains to the grain boundaries. Whereas fuel liquefaction leads to an enhanced release of fission products in trace-irradiated fuel, the occurrence of fuel liquefaction in normally-irradiated fuel can degrade fission product release. This phenomenon is due in part to reduced gas-bubble mobilities in a viscous medium as compared to vapor transport, and in part to a degradation of grain growth rates and the subsequent decrease in grain-boundary sweeping of intragranular fission products into the liquified lamina. The analysis shows that total UO 2 dissolution due to eutectic melting leads to increased release for both trace-irradiated and normally-irradiated fuel. The FASTGRASS-VFP predictions, measured release rates from the above tests, and previously published release rates are compared and differences between fission product behavior in trace-irradiated and in normally

Field Experience with Sweep Frequency Response Analysis for Power Transformer Diagnosis

OpenAIRE

Ambuj Kumar; Sunil Kumar Singh; Shrikant Singh

2015-01-01

Sweep frequency response analysis has been turning out a powerful tool for investigation of mechanical as well as electrical integration of transformers. In this paper various aspect of practical application of SFRA has been studied. Open circuit and short circuit measurement were done on different phases of high voltage and low voltage winding. A case study was presented for the transformer of rating 31.5 MVA for various frequency ranges. A clear picture was presented fo...

Soft Sweeps Are the Dominant Mode of Adaptation in the Human Genome.

Science.gov (United States)

Schrider, Daniel R; Kern, Andrew D

2017-08-01

The degree to which adaptation in recent human evolution shapes genetic variation remains controversial. This is in part due to the limited evidence in humans for classic "hard selective sweeps", wherein a novel beneficial mutation rapidly sweeps through a population to fixation. However, positive selection may often proceed via "soft sweeps" acting on mutations already present within a population. Here, we examine recent positive selection across six human populations using a powerful machine learning approach that is sensitive to both hard and soft sweeps. We found evidence that soft sweeps are widespread and account for the vast majority of recent human adaptation. Surprisingly, our results also suggest that linked positive selection affects patterns of variation across much of the genome, and may increase the frequencies of deleterious mutations. Our results also reveal insights into the role of sexual selection, cancer risk, and central nervous system development in recent human evolution. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

Interactions between oxygen permeation and homogeneous-phase fuel conversion on the sweep side of an ion transport membrane

KAUST Repository

Hong, Jongsup

2013-02-01

The interactions between oxygen permeation and homogeneous fuel oxidation reactions on the sweep side of an ion transport membrane (ITM) are examined using a comprehensive model, which couples the dependency of the oxygen permeation rate on the membrane surface conditions and detailed chemistry and transport in the vicinity of the membrane. We assume that the membrane surface is not catalytic to hydrocarbon or syngas oxidation. Results show that increasing the sweep gas inlet temperature and fuel concentration enhances oxygen permeation substantially. This is accomplished through promoting oxidation reactions (oxygen consumption) and the transport of the products and reaction heat towards the membrane, which lowers the oxygen concentration and increases the gas temperature near the membrane. Faster reactions at higher fuel concentration and higher inlet gas temperature support substantial fuel conversion and lead to a higher oxygen permeation flux without the contribution of surface catalytic activity. Beyond a certain maximum in the fuel concentration, extensive heat loss to the membrane (and feed side) reduces the oxidation kinetic rates and limits oxygen permeation as the reaction front reaches the membrane. The sweep gas flow rate and channel height have moderate impacts on oxygen permeation and fuel conversion due to the residence time requirements for the chemical reactions and the location of the reaction zone relative to the membrane surface. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

Single-sweep spectral analysis of contact heat evoked potentials

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Tine M; Graversen, Carina; Frøkjaer, Jens B

2015-01-01

AIMS: The cortical response to nociceptive thermal stimuli recorded as contact heat evoked potentials (CHEPs) may be altered by morphine. However, previous studies have averaged CHEPs over multiple stimuli, which are confounded by jitter between sweeps. Thus, the aim was to assess single-sweep ch......AIMS: The cortical response to nociceptive thermal stimuli recorded as contact heat evoked potentials (CHEPs) may be altered by morphine. However, previous studies have averaged CHEPs over multiple stimuli, which are confounded by jitter between sweeps. Thus, the aim was to assess single...... by 13% (P = 0.04) and 9% (P = 0.007), while the beta and gamma bands were increased by 10% (P = 0.006) and 24% (P = 0.04). CONCLUSION: The decreases in the delta and theta band are suggested to represent a decrease in the pain specific morphology of the CHEPs, which indicates a diminished pain response...

A Sweeping Jet Application on a High Reynolds Number Semispan Supercritical Wing Configuration

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Gregory S.; Milholen, William E., II; Chan, David T.; Melton, Latunia; Goodliff, Scott L.; Cagle, C. Mark

2017-01-01

The FAST-MAC circulation control model was modified to test an array of unsteady sweeping-jet actuators at realistic flight Reynolds numbers in the National Transonic Facility at the NASA Langley Research Center. Two types of sweeping jet actuators were fabricated using rapid prototype techniques, and directed over a 15% chord simple-hinged flap. The model was configured for low-speed high-lift testing with flap deflections of 30 deg and 60 deg, and a transonic cruise configuration having a 0 deg flap deflection. For the 30 deg flap high-lift configuration, the sweeping jets achieved comparable lift performance in the separation control regime, while reducing the mass flow by 54% as compared to steady blowing. The sweeping jets however were not effective for the 60 deg flap. For the transonic cruise configuration, the sweeping jets reduced the drag by 3.3% at an off-design condition. The drag reduction for the design lift coefficient for the sweeping jets offer is only half the drag reduction shown for the steady blowing case (6.5%), but accomplished this with a 74% reduction in mass flow.

Laminar/transition sweeping flow-mixing model for wire-wrapped LMFBR assemblies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burns, K.F.; Rohsenow, W.M.; Todreas, N.E.

1980-07-01

Recent interest in analyzing the thermal hydraulic characteristics of LMFBR assemblies operating in the mixed convection regime motivates the extension of the aforementioned turbulent sweeping flow model to low Reynolds number flows. The accuracy to which knowledge of the mixing parameters is required has not been well determined, due to the increased influence of conduction and buoyancy effects with respect to energy transport at low Reynolds numbers. This study represents a best estimate attempt to correlate the existing low Reynolds number sweeping flow data. The laminar/transition model which is presented is expected to be useful in anayzing mixed convection conditions. However, the justification for making additional improvemements is contingent upon two factors. First, the ability of the proposed laminar/transition model to predict additional low Reynolds number sweeping flow data for other geometries needs to be investigated. Secondly, the sensitivity of temperature predictions to uncertainties in the values of the sweeping flow parameters should be quantified

Acupuncture and/or sweeping of the fetal membranes before induction of labor

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Bodil Birgitte; Knudsen, Birthe; Lyndrup, Jens

2013-01-01

To evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture, and sweeping of the fetal membranes, as methods for induction of labor.......To evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture, and sweeping of the fetal membranes, as methods for induction of labor....

From sweeping to the caress: similarities and discrepancies between human and non-human primates' pleasant touch

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Clara Grandi

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Affective touch plays a key role in affiliative behavior, offering a mechanism for the formation and maintenance of social bonds among conspecifics, both in humans and non-human primates. Furthermore, it has been speculated that the CT fiber system is a specific coding channel for affiliative touch that occurs during skin-to-skin interactions with conspecifics. In humans, this touch is commonly referred to as the caress, and its correlation with the CT fiber system has been widely demonstrated. It has been hypothesized that the sweeping touch that occurs during grooming in non-human primates may modulate the CT fibers, with recent preliminary studies on rhesus monkeys supporting this hypothesis. The present mini-review proposes a comparison between the pleasant touch, caress and sweeping of humans and non-human primates, respectively. The currently available data was therefore reviewed regarding i the correlation between pleasant touch and CT fibers both in humans and non-human primates, ii the autonomic effects, iii the encoding at the central nervous system, iv the development from early life to adulthood, and v the potential applications of pleasant touch in the daily lives of both humans and non-human primates. Moreover, by considering both the similarities and discrepancies between the human caress and non-human primate sweeping, a possible evolutionary mechanism can be proposed that has developed from sweeping as a utilitarian action with affiliative meaning among monkeys, to the caress as a purely affective gesture associated with humans.

Second order evolution inclusions governed by sweeping process in Banach spaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. G. Ibrahim

2009-11-01

Full Text Available In this paper we prove two existence theorems concerning the existence of solutions for second order evolution inclusions governed by sweeping process with closed convex sets depending on time and state in Banach spaces. This work extends some recent existence theorems cncerning sweeping process from Hilbert spaces to Banach spaces.

1 μs broadband frequency sweeping reflectometry for plasma density and fluctuation profile measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Clairet, F.; Bottereau, C.; Medvedeva, A.; Molina, D.; Conway, G. D.; Silva, A.; Stroth, U.; ASDEX Upgrade Team; Tore Supra Team; Eurofusion Mst1 Team

2017-11-01

Frequency swept reflectometry has reached the symbolic value of 1 μs sweeping time; this performance has been made possible, thanks to an improved control of the ramp voltage driving the frequency source. In parallel, the memory depth of the acquisition system has been upgraded and can provide up to 200 000 signals during a plasma discharge. Additional improvements regarding the trigger delay determination of the acquisition and the voltage ramp linearity required by this ultra-fast technique have been set. While this diagnostic is traditionally dedicated to the plasma electron density profile measurement, such a fast sweeping rate can provide the study of fast plasma events and turbulence with unprecedented time and radial resolution from the edge to the core. Experimental results obtained on ASDEX Upgrade plasmas are presented to demonstrate the performances of the diagnostic.

R2d2 Drives Selfish Sweeps in the House Mouse.

Science.gov (United States)

Didion, John P; Morgan, Andrew P; Yadgary, Liran; Bell, Timothy A; McMullan, Rachel C; Ortiz de Solorzano, Lydia; Britton-Davidian, Janice; Bult, Carol J; Campbell, Karl J; Castiglia, Riccardo; Ching, Yung-Hao; Chunco, Amanda J; Crowley, James J; Chesler, Elissa J; Förster, Daniel W; French, John E; Gabriel, Sofia I; Gatti, Daniel M; Garland, Theodore; Giagia-Athanasopoulou, Eva B; Giménez, Mabel D; Grize, Sofia A; Gündüz, İslam; Holmes, Andrew; Hauffe, Heidi C; Herman, Jeremy S; Holt, James M; Hua, Kunjie; Jolley, Wesley J; Lindholm, Anna K; López-Fuster, María J; Mitsainas, George; da Luz Mathias, Maria; McMillan, Leonard; Ramalhinho, Maria da Graça Morgado; Rehermann, Barbara; Rosshart, Stephan P; Searle, Jeremy B; Shiao, Meng-Shin; Solano, Emanuela; Svenson, Karen L; Thomas-Laemont, Patricia; Threadgill, David W; Ventura, Jacint; Weinstock, George M; Pomp, Daniel; Churchill, Gary A; Pardo-Manuel de Villena, Fernando

2016-06-01

A selective sweep is the result of strong positive selection driving newly occurring or standing genetic variants to fixation, and can dramatically alter the pattern and distribution of allelic diversity in a population. Population-level sequencing data have enabled discoveries of selective sweeps associated with genes involved in recent adaptations in many species. In contrast, much debate but little evidence addresses whether "selfish" genes are capable of fixation-thereby leaving signatures identical to classical selective sweeps-despite being neutral or deleterious to organismal fitness. We previously described R2d2, a large copy-number variant that causes nonrandom segregation of mouse Chromosome 2 in females due to meiotic drive. Here we show population-genetic data consistent with a selfish sweep driven by alleles of R2d2 with high copy number (R2d2(HC)) in natural populations. We replicate this finding in multiple closed breeding populations from six outbred backgrounds segregating for R2d2 alleles. We find that R2d2(HC) rapidly increases in frequency, and in most cases becomes fixed in significantly fewer generations than can be explained by genetic drift. R2d2(HC) is also associated with significantly reduced litter sizes in heterozygous mothers, making it a true selfish allele. Our data provide direct evidence of populations actively undergoing selfish sweeps, and demonstrate that meiotic drive can rapidly alter the genomic landscape in favor of mutations with neutral or even negative effects on overall Darwinian fitness. Further study will reveal the incidence of selfish sweeps, and will elucidate the relative contributions of selfish genes, adaptation and genetic drift to evolution. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

Hybrid massively parallel fast sweeping method for static Hamilton–Jacobi equations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Detrixhe, Miles, E-mail: mdetrixhe@engineering.ucsb.edu [Department of Mechanical Engineering (United States); University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106 (United States); Gibou, Frédéric, E-mail: fgibou@engineering.ucsb.edu [Department of Mechanical Engineering (United States); University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106 (United States); Department of Computer Science (United States); Department of Mathematics (United States)

2016-10-01

The fast sweeping method is a popular algorithm for solving a variety of static Hamilton–Jacobi equations. Fast sweeping algorithms for parallel computing have been developed, but are severely limited. In this work, we present a multilevel, hybrid parallel algorithm that combines the desirable traits of two distinct parallel methods. The fine and coarse grained components of the algorithm take advantage of heterogeneous computer architecture common in high performance computing facilities. We present the algorithm and demonstrate its effectiveness on a set of example problems including optimal control, dynamic games, and seismic wave propagation. We give results for convergence, parallel scaling, and show state-of-the-art speedup values for the fast sweeping method.

Hybrid massively parallel fast sweeping method for static Hamilton–Jacobi equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Detrixhe, Miles; Gibou, Frédéric

2016-01-01

The fast sweeping method is a popular algorithm for solving a variety of static Hamilton–Jacobi equations. Fast sweeping algorithms for parallel computing have been developed, but are severely limited. In this work, we present a multilevel, hybrid parallel algorithm that combines the desirable traits of two distinct parallel methods. The fine and coarse grained components of the algorithm take advantage of heterogeneous computer architecture common in high performance computing facilities. We present the algorithm and demonstrate its effectiveness on a set of example problems including optimal control, dynamic games, and seismic wave propagation. We give results for convergence, parallel scaling, and show state-of-the-art speedup values for the fast sweeping method.

Variants of Moreau's sweeping process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Siddiqi, A.H.; Manchanda, P.

2001-07-01

In this paper we prove the existence and uniqueness of two variants of Moreau's sweeping process -u'(t) is an element of Nc (t) (u(t)), where in one variant we replace u(t) by u'(t) in the right-hand side of the inclusion and in the second variant u'(t) and u(t) are respectively replaced by u''(t) and u'(t). (author)

Evaluation of two sweeping methods for estimating the number of immature Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae in large containers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Margareth Regina Dibo

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Introduction Here, we evaluated sweeping methods used to estimate the number of immature Aedes aegypti in large containers. Methods III/IV instars and pupae at a 9:1 ratio were placed in three types of containers with, each one with three different water levels. Two sweeping methods were tested: water-surface sweeping and five-sweep netting. The data were analyzed using linear regression. Results The five-sweep netting technique was more suitable for drums and water-tanks, while the water-surface sweeping method provided the best results for swimming pools. Conclusions Both sweeping methods are useful tools in epidemiological surveillance programs for the control of Aedes aegypti.

Enhancing the mathematical properties of new haplotype homozygosity statistics for the detection of selective sweeps.

Science.gov (United States)

Garud, Nandita R; Rosenberg, Noah A

2015-06-01

Soft selective sweeps represent an important form of adaptation in which multiple haplotypes bearing adaptive alleles rise to high frequency. Most statistical methods for detecting selective sweeps from genetic polymorphism data, however, have focused on identifying hard selective sweeps in which a favored allele appears on a single haplotypic background; these methods might be underpowered to detect soft sweeps. Among exceptions is the set of haplotype homozygosity statistics introduced for the detection of soft sweeps by Garud et al. (2015). These statistics, examining frequencies of multiple haplotypes in relation to each other, include H12, a statistic designed to identify both hard and soft selective sweeps, and H2/H1, a statistic that conditional on high H12 values seeks to distinguish between hard and soft sweeps. A challenge in the use of H2/H1 is that its range depends on the associated value of H12, so that equal H2/H1 values might provide different levels of support for a soft sweep model at different values of H12. Here, we enhance the H12 and H2/H1 haplotype homozygosity statistics for selective sweep detection by deriving the upper bound on H2/H1 as a function of H12, thereby generating a statistic that normalizes H2/H1 to lie between 0 and 1. Through a reanalysis of resequencing data from inbred lines of Drosophila, we show that the enhanced statistic both strengthens interpretations obtained with the unnormalized statistic and leads to empirical insights that are less readily apparent without the normalization. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A beam sweeping system for the Fermilab antiproton production target

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bieniosek, F.M.

1993-08-01

In the Main Injector era beam intensities high enough to damage the antiproton production target will be available. In order to continue to operate with a tightly-focused primary beam spot on the target, and thus maintain yield, it will be necessary to spread the hot spot on the target by use of a beam sweeping system. This report summarizes the requirements for such a system, and addresses the issues involved in the design of a sweeping system

Detection and reconstruction of freeform sweeps

KAUST Repository

Barton, Michael

2014-05-01

We study the difficult problem of deciding if parts of a freeform surface can be generated, or approximately generated, by the motion of a planar profile through space. While this task is basic for understanding the geometry of shapes as well as highly relevant for manufacturing and building construction, previous approaches were confined to special cases like kinematic surfaces or "moulding" surfaces. The general case remained unsolved so far. We approach this problem by a combination of local and global methods: curve analysis with regard to "movability", curve comparison by common substring search in curvature plots, an exhaustive search through all planar cuts enhanced by quick rejection procedures, the ordering of candidate profiles and finally, global optimization. The main applications of our method are digital reconstruction of CAD models exhibiting sweep patches, and aiding in manufacturing freeform surfaces by pointing out those parts which can be approximated by sweeps. © 2014 The Author(s) Computer Graphics Forum © 2014 The Eurographics Association and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Selective sweeps of mitochondrial DNA can drive the evolution of uniparental inheritance.

Science.gov (United States)

Christie, Joshua R; Beekman, Madeleine

2017-08-01

Although the uniparental (or maternal) inheritance of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is widespread, the reasons for its evolution remain unclear. Two main hypotheses have been proposed: selection against individuals containing different mtDNAs (heteroplasmy) and selection against "selfish" mtDNA mutations. Recently, uniparental inheritance was shown to promote adaptive evolution in mtDNA, potentially providing a third hypothesis for its evolution. Here, we explore this hypothesis theoretically and ask if the accumulation of beneficial mutations provides a sufficient fitness advantage for uniparental inheritance to invade a population in which mtDNA is inherited biparentally. In a deterministic model, uniparental inheritance increases in frequency but cannot replace biparental inheritance if only a single beneficial mtDNA mutation sweeps through the population. When we allow successive selective sweeps of mtDNA, however, uniparental inheritance can replace biparental inheritance. Using a stochastic model, we show that a combination of selection and drift facilitates the fixation of uniparental inheritance (compared to a neutral trait) when there is only a single selective mtDNA sweep. When we consider multiple mtDNA sweeps in a stochastic model, uniparental inheritance becomes even more likely to replace biparental inheritance. Our findings thus suggest that selective sweeps of beneficial mtDNA haplotypes can drive the evolution of uniparental inheritance. © 2017 The Author(s). Evolution © 2017 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Threshold received sound pressure levels of single 1-2 kHz and 6-7 kHz up-sweeps and down-sweeps causing startle responses in a harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kastelein, R.A.; Steen, N.; Gransier, R.; Wensveen, P.J.; Jong, C.A.F. de

2012-01-01

Mid-frequency and low-frequency sonar systems produce frequency-modulated sweeps which may affect harbor porpoises. To study the effect of sweeps on behavioral responses (specifically startle responses, which we define as sudden changes in swimming speed and/or direction), a harbor porpoise in a

Distinguishing between Selective Sweeps from Standing Variation and from a De Novo Mutation

Science.gov (United States)

Peter, Benjamin M.; Huerta-Sanchez, Emilia; Nielsen, Rasmus

2012-01-01

An outstanding question in human genetics has been the degree to which adaptation occurs from standing genetic variation or from de novo mutations. Here, we combine several common statistics used to detect selection in an Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) framework, with the goal of discriminating between models of selection and providing estimates of the age of selected alleles and the selection coefficients acting on them. We use simulations to assess the power and accuracy of our method and apply it to seven of the strongest sweeps currently known in humans. We identify two genes, ASPM and PSCA, that are most likely affected by selection on standing variation; and we find three genes, ADH1B, LCT, and EDAR, in which the adaptive alleles seem to have swept from a new mutation. We also confirm evidence of selection for one further gene, TRPV6. In one gene, G6PD, neither neutral models nor models of selective sweeps fit the data, presumably because this locus has been subject to balancing selection. PMID:23071458

Distinguishing between selective sweeps from standing variation and from a de novo mutation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benjamin M Peter

Full Text Available An outstanding question in human genetics has been the degree to which adaptation occurs from standing genetic variation or from de novo mutations. Here, we combine several common statistics used to detect selection in an Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC framework, with the goal of discriminating between models of selection and providing estimates of the age of selected alleles and the selection coefficients acting on them. We use simulations to assess the power and accuracy of our method and apply it to seven of the strongest sweeps currently known in humans. We identify two genes, ASPM and PSCA, that are most likely affected by selection on standing variation; and we find three genes, ADH1B, LCT, and EDAR, in which the adaptive alleles seem to have swept from a new mutation. We also confirm evidence of selection for one further gene, TRPV6. In one gene, G6PD, neither neutral models nor models of selective sweeps fit the data, presumably because this locus has been subject to balancing selection.

Application of the WEPS and SWEEP models to non-agricultural disturbed lands

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Tatarko

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Wind erosion not only affects agricultural productivity but also soil, air, and water quality. Dust and specifically particulate matter ≤10 μm (PM-10 has adverse effects on respiratory health and also reduces visibility along roadways, resulting in auto accidents. The Wind Erosion Prediction System (WEPS was developed by the USDA-Agricultural Research Service to simulate wind erosion and provide for conservation planning on cultivated agricultural lands. A companion product, known as the Single-Event Wind Erosion Evaluation Program (SWEEP, has also been developed which consists of the stand-alone WEPS erosion submodel combined with a graphical interface to simulate soil loss from single (i.e., daily wind storm events. In addition to agricultural lands, wind driven dust emissions also occur from other anthropogenic sources such as construction sites, mined and reclaimed areas, landfills, and other disturbed lands. Although developed for agricultural fields, WEPS and SWEEP are useful tools for simulating erosion by wind for non-agricultural lands where typical agricultural practices are not employed. On disturbed lands, WEPS can be applied for simulating long-term (i.e., multi-year erosion control strategies. SWEEP on the other hand was developed specifically for disturbed lands and can simulate potential soil loss for site- and date-specific planned surface conditions and control practices. This paper presents novel applications of WEPS and SWEEP for developing erosion control strategies on non-agricultural disturbed lands. Erosion control planning with WEPS and SWEEP using water and other dust suppressants, wind barriers, straw mulch, re-vegetation, and other management practices is demonstrated herein through the use of comparative simulation scenarios. The scenarios confirm the efficacy of the WEPS and SWEEP models as valuable tools for supporting the design of erosion control plans for disturbed lands that are not only cost-effective but

Application of the WEPS and SWEEP models to non-agricultural disturbed lands.

Science.gov (United States)

Tatarko, J; van Donk, S J; Ascough, J C; Walker, D G

2016-12-01

Wind erosion not only affects agricultural productivity but also soil, air, and water quality. Dust and specifically particulate matter ≤10 μm (PM-10) has adverse effects on respiratory health and also reduces visibility along roadways, resulting in auto accidents. The Wind Erosion Prediction System (WEPS) was developed by the USDA-Agricultural Research Service to simulate wind erosion and provide for conservation planning on cultivated agricultural lands. A companion product, known as the Single-Event Wind Erosion Evaluation Program (SWEEP), has also been developed which consists of the stand-alone WEPS erosion submodel combined with a graphical interface to simulate soil loss from single (i.e., daily) wind storm events. In addition to agricultural lands, wind driven dust emissions also occur from other anthropogenic sources such as construction sites, mined and reclaimed areas, landfills, and other disturbed lands. Although developed for agricultural fields, WEPS and SWEEP are useful tools for simulating erosion by wind for non-agricultural lands where typical agricultural practices are not employed. On disturbed lands, WEPS can be applied for simulating long-term (i.e., multi-year) erosion control strategies. SWEEP on the other hand was developed specifically for disturbed lands and can simulate potential soil loss for site- and date-specific planned surface conditions and control practices. This paper presents novel applications of WEPS and SWEEP for developing erosion control strategies on non-agricultural disturbed lands. Erosion control planning with WEPS and SWEEP using water and other dust suppressants, wind barriers, straw mulch, re-vegetation, and other management practices is demonstrated herein through the use of comparative simulation scenarios. The scenarios confirm the efficacy of the WEPS and SWEEP models as valuable tools for supporting the design of erosion control plans for disturbed lands that are not only cost-effective but also incorporate

Grain boundary sweeping and dissolution effects on fission product behavior under severe fuel damage accident conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rest, J.

1985-10-01

The theoretical FASTGRASS-VFP model has been used in the interpretation of fission gas, iodine, tellurium, and cesium release from severe-fuel-damage (SFD) tests performed in the PBF reactor in Idaho. A theory of grain boundary sweeping of gas bubbles, gas bubble behavior during fuel liquefaction (destruction of grain boundaries due to formation of a U-rich melt phase), and during U-Zr eutectic melting has been included within the FASTGRASS-VFP formalism. The grain-boundary-sweeping theory considers the interaction between the moving grain boundary and two distinct size classes of bubbles, those on grain faces and on grain edges. The theory of the effects of fuel liquefaction and U-Zr eutectic melting on fission product behavior considers the migration and coalescence of fission gas bubbles in either molten uranium, or a zircaloy-uranium eutectic melt. The FASTGRASS-VFP predictions, measured release rates from the above tests, and previously published release rates are compared and differences between fission product behavior in trace-irradiated and in normally irradiated fuel are highlighted

Investigation of the Hydrodynamics of Sweep Blade in Hi-Speed Axial Fuel Pump Impeller

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ran Tao

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Fuel pump is a crucial component in aircraft engine ignition system. For the hi-speed axial fuel pumps, rotating stall triggers vortex and affects the operation stability and security. Sweep blade is widely used to solve the stability problems in aerodynamics field. Investigation on the hydrodynamics was conducted in this study. Based on the typical straight blade pump, positive and negative sweep blade pumps were modeled. With the large eddy simulation method, CFD simulations were conducted to calculate and analyze the flow characteristics in the pump models. To verify the simulation, experiments were also launched on the hydraulic test rig. Results show that the vortex occurs at the suction surface of blade and gathers near the blade tip region. Positive sweep blade is effective to reduce the hydraulic losses by driving the stalled fluid into the mid-part of blade. By applying the positive sweep blade on the axial fuel pump, the instability operating region will be diminished. Adopting sweep blade provides an effective means for stability and security of axial fuel pumps.

Reduction of non-point source contaminants associated with road-deposited sediments by sweeping.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Do-Gun; Kang, Hee-Man; Ko, Seok-Oh

2017-09-19

Road-deposited sediments (RDS) on an expressway, residual RDS collected after sweeping, and RDS removed by means of sweeping were analyzed to evaluate the degree to which sweeping removed various non-point source contaminants. The total RDS load was 393.1 ± 80.3 kg/km and the RDS, residual RDS, and swept RDS were all highly polluted with organics, nutrients, and metals. Among the metals studied, Cu, Zn, Pb, Ni, Ca, and Fe were significantly enriched, and most of the contaminants were associated with particles within the size range from 63 μm to 2 mm. Sweeping reduced RDS and its associated contaminants by 33.3-49.1% on average. We also measured the biological oxygen demand (BOD) of RDS in the present work, representing to our knowledge the first time that this has been done; we found that RDS contains a significant amount of biodegradable organics and that the reduction of BOD by sweeping was higher than that of other contaminants. Significant correlations were found between the contaminants measured, indicating that the organics and the metals originated from both exhaust and non-exhaust particles. Meanwhile, the concentrations of Cu and Ni were higher in 63 μm-2 mm particles than in smaller particles, suggesting that some metals in RDS likely exist intrinsically in particles, rather than only as adsorbates on particle surfaces. Overall, the results in this study showed that sweeping to collect RDS can be a good alternative for reduction of contaminants in runoff.

Soft sweeps III: the signature of positive selection from recurrent mutation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pleuni S Pennings

2006-12-01

Full Text Available Polymorphism data can be used to identify loci at which a beneficial allele has recently gone to fixation, given that an accurate description of the signature of selection is available. In the classical model that is used, a favored allele derives from a single mutational origin. This ignores the fact that beneficial alleles can enter a population recurrently by mutation during the selective phase. In this study, we present a combination of analytical and simulation results to demonstrate the effect of adaptation from recurrent mutation on summary statistics for polymorphism data from a linked neutral locus. We also analyze the power of standard neutrality tests based on the frequency spectrum or on linkage disequilibrium (LD under this scenario. For recurrent beneficial mutation at biologically realistic rates, we find substantial deviations from the classical pattern of a selective sweep from a single new mutation. Deviations from neutrality in the level of polymorphism and in the frequency spectrum are much less pronounced than in the classical sweep pattern. In contrast, for levels of LD, the signature is even stronger if recurrent beneficial mutation plays a role. We suggest a variant of existing LD tests that increases their power to detect this signature.

Using Computational Fluid Dynamics and Experiments to Design Sweeping Jets for High Reynolds Number Cruise Configurations

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Gregory S.; Milholen, William E., II; Fell, Jared S.; Webb, Sandy R.; Cagle, C. Mark

2016-01-01

The application of a sweeping jet actuator to a circulation control system was initiated by a risk reduction series of experiments to optimize the authority of a single sweeping jet actuator. The sweeping jet design was integrated into the existing Fundamental Aerodynamic Subsonic Transonic- Modular Active Control (FAST-MAC) model by replacing the steady blowing system with an array of thirty-nine sweeping jet cartridges. A constant slot height to wing chord ratio was similar to the steady blowing configuration resulting in each actuator having a unique in size for the sweeping jet configuration. While this paper will describe the scaling and optimization of the actuators for future high Reynolds number applications, the major focus of this effort was to target the transonic flight regime by increasing the amplitude authority of the actuator. This was accomplished by modifying the diffuser of the sweeping jet actuator, and this paper highlights twelve different diffuser designs. The experimental portion of this work was completed in the NASA Langley National Transonic Facility.

Topography of sound level representation in the FM sweep selective region of the pallid bat auditory cortex.

Science.gov (United States)

Measor, Kevin; Yarrow, Stuart; Razak, Khaleel A

2018-05-26

Sound level processing is a fundamental function of the auditory system. To determine how the cortex represents sound level, it is important to quantify how changes in level alter the spatiotemporal structure of cortical ensemble activity. This is particularly true for echolocating bats that have control over, and often rapidly adjust, call level to actively change echo level. To understand how cortical activity may change with sound level, here we mapped response rate and latency changes with sound level in the auditory cortex of the pallid bat. The pallid bat uses a 60-30 kHz downward frequency modulated (FM) sweep for echolocation. Neurons tuned to frequencies between 30 and 70 kHz in the auditory cortex are selective for the properties of FM sweeps used in echolocation forming the FM sweep selective region (FMSR). The FMSR is strongly selective for sound level between 30 and 50 dB SPL. Here we mapped the topography of level selectivity in the FMSR using downward FM sweeps and show that neurons with more monotonic rate level functions are located in caudomedial regions of the FMSR overlapping with high frequency (50-60 kHz) neurons. Non-monotonic neurons dominate the FMSR, and are distributed across the entire region, but there is no evidence for amplitopy. We also examined how first spike latency of FMSR neurons change with sound level. The majority of FMSR neurons exhibit paradoxical latency shift wherein the latency increases with sound level. Moreover, neurons with paradoxical latency shifts are more strongly level selective and are tuned to lower sound level than neurons in which latencies decrease with level. These data indicate a clustered arrangement of neurons according to monotonicity, with no strong evidence for finer scale topography, in the FMSR. The latency analysis suggests mechanisms for strong level selectivity that is based on relative timing of excitatory and inhibitory inputs. Taken together, these data suggest how the spatiotemporal

The frequency and level of sweep in mixed hardwood saw logs in the eastern United States

Science.gov (United States)

Peter Hamner; Marshall S. White; Philip A. Araman

2007-01-01

Hardwood sawmills traditionally saw logs in a manner that either orients sawlines parallel to the log central axis (straight sawing) or the log surface (allowing for taper). Sweep is characterized as uniform curvature along the entire length of a log. For logs with sweep, lumber yield losses from straight and taper sawing increase with increasing levels of sweep. Curve...

Measurements of the eigenfunction of reversed shear Alfvén eigenmodes that sweep downward in frequency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heidbrink, W. W.; Austin, M. E.; Spong, D. A.; Tobias, B. J.; Van Zeeland, M. A.

2013-01-01

Reversed shear Alfvén eigenmodes (RSAEs) usually sweep upward in frequency when the minimum value of the safety factor q min decreases in time. On rare occasions, RSAEs sweep downward prior to the upward sweep. Electron cyclotron emission measurements show that the radial eigenfunction during the downsweeping phase is similar to the eigenfunction of normal, upsweeping RSAEs

Numerical simulation of incidence and sweep effects on delta wing vortex breakdown

Science.gov (United States)

Ekaterinaris, J. A.; Schiff, Lewis B.

1994-01-01

The structure of the vortical flowfield over delta wings at high angles of attack was investigated. Three-dimensional Navier-Stokes numerical simulations were carried out to predict the complex leeward-side flowfield characteristics, including leading-edge separation, secondary separation, and vortex breakdown. Flows over a 75- and a 63-deg sweep delta wing with sharp leading edges were investigated and compared with available experimental data. The effect of variation of circumferential grid resolution grid resolution in the vicinity of the wing leading edge on the accuracy of the solutions was addressed. Furthermore, the effect of turbulence modeling on the solutions was investigated. The effects of variation of angle of attack on the computed vortical flow structure for the 75-deg sweep delta wing were examined. At moderate angles of attack no vortex breakdown was observed. When a critical angle of attack was reached, bubble-type vortex breakdown was found. With further increase in angle of attack, a change from bubble-type breakdown to spiral-type vortex breakdown was predicted by the numerical solution. The effects of variation of sweep angle and freestream Mach number were addressed with the solutions on a 63-deg sweep delta wing.

Characterization of Residuals Collected from Street Sweeping Operations

Science.gov (United States)

2018-02-01

Street sweeping is a routine roadway maintenance activity conducted by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). It also provides an added benefit as a non-structural stormwater best management practice implemented by VDOT to meet total maxim...

Load consequences when sweeping blades - A case study of a 5 MW pitch controlled wind turbine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Verelst, D.R.S.; Larsen, Torben J.

2010-08-15

The generic 5 MW NREL wind turbine model is used in Risoe's aeroelastic simulator HAWC2 to investigate 120 different swept blade configurations (forward and backward sweep). Sensitivity for 2 different controllers is considered as well. Backward sweep results in a pitch to feather torsional moment of the blade, effectively reducing blade twist angles under increased loading. This behaviour results in decreased flap-wise fatigue and extreme loads, an increase for edge-wise fatigue loading and status quo or slight decrease in extreme loads (depending on the controller). Tower base and shaft-end bending moments are reduced as well. Forward sweep leads to an increase in angle of attack under loading. For a pitch controlled turbine this leads to an increase in fatigue and extreme loading in all cases. A controller inflicted instability is present for the more extreme forward swept cases. Due to the shape of considered sweep curves, an inherent and significant increase in torsional blade root bending moment is noted. A boomerang shaped sweep curve is proposed to counteract this problematic increased loading. Controller sensitivity shows that adding sweep affects some loadings differently. Power output is reduced for backward sweep since the blade twist is optimized as a rigid structure, ignoring the torsional deformations which for a swept blade can be significant. (author)

Effect of blade sweep on inlet flow in axial compressor cascades

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hao Chang

2015-02-01

Full Text Available This paper presents comparative numerical studies to investigate the effects of blade sweep on inlet flow in axial compressor cascades. A series of swept and straight cascades was modeled in order to obtain a general understanding of the inlet flow field that is induced by sweep. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD package was used to simulate the cascades and obtain the required three-dimensional (3D flow parameters. A circumferentially averaged method was introduced which provided the circumferential fluctuation (CF terms in the momentum equation. A program for data reduction was conducted to obtain a circumferentially averaged flow field. The influences of the inlet flow fields of the cascades were studied and spanwise distributions of each term in the momentum equation were analyzed. The results indicate that blade sweep does affect inlet radial equilibrium. The characteristic of radial fluid transfer is changed and thus influencing the axial velocity distributions. The inlet flow field varies mainly due to the combined effect of the radial pressure gradient and the CF component. The axial velocity varies consistently with the incidence variation induced by the sweep, as observed in the previous literature. In addition, factors that might influence the radial equilibrium such as blade camber angles, solidity and the effect of the distance from the leading edge are also taken into consideration and comparatively analyzed.

Sweep-twist adaptive rotor blade : final project report.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ashwill, Thomas D.

2010-02-01

Knight & Carver was contracted by Sandia National Laboratories to develop a Sweep Twist Adaptive Rotor (STAR) blade that reduced operating loads, thereby allowing a larger, more productive rotor. The blade design used outer blade sweep to create twist coupling without angled fiber. Knight & Carver successfully designed, fabricated, tested and evaluated STAR prototype blades. Through laboratory and field tests, Knight & Carver showed the STAR blade met the engineering design criteria and economic goals for the program. A STAR prototype was successfully tested in Tehachapi during 2008 and a large data set was collected to support engineering and commercial development of the technology. This report documents the methodology used to develop the STAR blade design and reviews the approach used for laboratory and field testing. The effort demonstrated that STAR technology can provide significantly greater energy capture without higher operating loads on the turbine.

Sweep excitation with order tracking: A new tactic for beam crack analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Dongdong; Wang, KeSheng; Zhang, Mian; Zuo, Ming J.

2018-04-01

Crack detection in beams and beam-like structures is an important issue in industry and has attracted numerous investigations. A local crack leads to global system dynamics changes and produce non-linear vibration responses. Many researchers have studied these non-linearities for beam crack diagnosis. However, most reported methods are based on impact excitation and constant frequency excitation. Few studies have focused on crack detection through external sweep excitation which unleashes abundant dynamic characteristics of the system. Together with a signal resampling technique inspired by Computed Order Tracking, this paper utilize vibration responses under sweep excitations to diagnose crack status of beams. A data driven method for crack depth evaluation is proposed and window based harmonics extracting approaches are studied. The effectiveness of sweep excitation and the proposed method is experimentally validated.

Influence of high-conductivity buffer composition on field-enhanced sample injection coupled to sweeping in CE.

Science.gov (United States)

Anres, Philippe; Delaunay, Nathalie; Vial, Jérôme; Thormann, Wolfgang; Gareil, Pierre

2013-02-01

The aim of this work was to clarify the mechanism taking place in field-enhanced sample injection coupled to sweeping and micellar EKC (FESI-Sweep-MEKC), with the utilization of two acidic high-conductivity buffers (HCBs), phosphoric acid or sodium phosphate buffer, in view of maximizing sensitivity enhancements. Using cationic model compounds in acidic media, a chemometric approach and simulations with SIMUL5 were implemented. Experimental design first enabled to identify the significant factors and their potential interactions. Simulation demonstrates the formation of moving boundaries during sample injection, which originate at the initial sample/HCB and HCB/buffer discontinuities and gradually change the compositions of HCB and BGE. With sodium phosphate buffer, the HCB conductivity increased during the injection, leading to a more efficient preconcentration by staking (about 1.6 times) than with phosphoric acid alone, for which conductivity decreased during injection. For the same injection time at constant voltage, however, a lower amount of analytes was injected with sodium phosphate buffer than with phosphoric acid. Consequently sensitivity enhancements were lower for the whole FESI-Sweep-MEKC process. This is why, in order to maximize sensitivity enhancements, it is proposed to work with sodium phosphate buffer as HCB and to use constant current during sample injection. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Michelson mode selector for spectral range stabilization in a self-sweeping fiber laser.

Science.gov (United States)

Tkachenko, A Yu; Vladimirskaya, A D; Lobach, I A; Kablukov, S I

2018-04-01

We report on spectral range stabilization in a self-sweeping laser by adding a narrowband fiber Bragg grating (FBG) to the output mirror in the Michelson configuration. The effects of FBG reflectivity and optical path difference in the Michelson interferometer on the laser spectral dynamics are investigated. Optimization of the interferometer allows us to demonstrate broadband (over 16 nm) self-sweeping operation and reduction of the start and stop wavelength fluctuations by two orders and one order of magnitude (∼100 and 15 times) for start and stop bounds, respectively (down to several picometers). The proposed approaches significantly improve quality of the spectral dynamics and facilitate application of the self-sweeping lasers.

Solar Wind Earth Exchange Project (SWEEP)

Science.gov (United States)

2016-10-28

highly charged ions of the solar wind. The main challenge in predicting the resultant photon flux in the X-ray energy bands is due to the...Newton, an X-ray astronomical observatory. We use OMNI solar wind conditions, heavy ion composition data from ACE, the Hodges neutral hydrogen model...of SWEEP was to compare theoretical models of X-ray emission in the terrestrial magnetosphere caused by the Solar Wind Charge Exchange

Enhancement of the conductivity detection signal in capillary electrophoresis systems using neutral cyclodextrins as sweeping agents.

Science.gov (United States)

Boublík, Milan; Riesová, Martina; Dubský, Pavel; Gaš, Bohuslav

2018-06-01

Conductivity detection is a universal detection technique often encountered in electrophoretic separation systems, especially in modern chip-electrophoresis based devices. On the other hand, it is sparsely combined with another contemporary trend of enhancing limits of detection by means of various preconcentration strategies. This can be attributed to the fact that a preconcentration experimental setup usually brings about disturbances in a conductivity baseline. Sweeping with a neutral sweeping agent seems a good candidate for overcoming this problem. A neutral sweeping agent does not hinder the conductivity detection while a charged analyte may preconcentrate on its boundary due to a decrease in its effective mobility. This study investigates such sweeping systems theoretically, by means of computer simulations, and experimentally. A formula is provided for the reliable estimation of the preconcentration factor. Additionally, it is demonstrated that the conductivity signal can significantly benefit from slowing down the analyte and thus the overall signal enhancement can easily overweight amplification caused solely by the sweeping process. The overall enhancement factor can be deduced a priori from the linearized theory of electrophoresis implemented in the PeakMaster freeware. Sweeping by neutral cyclodextrin is demonstrated on an amplification of a conductivity signal of flurbiprofen in a real drug sample. Finally, a possible formation of unexpected system peaks in systems with a neutral sweeping agent is revealed by the computer simulation and confirmed experimentally. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

S/HIC: Robust Identification of Soft and Hard Sweeps Using Machine Learning.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel R Schrider

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Detecting the targets of adaptive natural selection from whole genome sequencing data is a central problem for population genetics. However, to date most methods have shown sub-optimal performance under realistic demographic scenarios. Moreover, over the past decade there has been a renewed interest in determining the importance of selection from standing variation in adaptation of natural populations, yet very few methods for inferring this model of adaptation at the genome scale have been introduced. Here we introduce a new method, S/HIC, which uses supervised machine learning to precisely infer the location of both hard and soft selective sweeps. We show that S/HIC has unrivaled accuracy for detecting sweeps under demographic histories that are relevant to human populations, and distinguishing sweeps from linked as well as neutrally evolving regions. Moreover, we show that S/HIC is uniquely robust among its competitors to model misspecification. Thus, even if the true demographic model of a population differs catastrophically from that specified by the user, S/HIC still retains impressive discriminatory power. Finally, we apply S/HIC to the case of resequencing data from human chromosome 18 in a European population sample, and demonstrate that we can reliably recover selective sweeps that have been identified earlier using less specific and sensitive methods.

Plasma turbulence measured by fast sweep reflectometry on Tore Supra

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clairet, F.; Vermare, L.; Leclert, G.

2004-01-01

Traditionally devoted to electron density profile measurement we show that fast frequency sweeping reflectometry technique can bring valuable and innovative measurements onto plasma turbulence. While fast frequency sweeping technique is traditionally devoted to electron density radial profile measurements we show in this paper how we can handle the fluctuations of the reflected signal to recover plasma density fluctuation measurements with a high spatial and temporal resolution. Large size turbulence related to magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) activity and the associated magnetic islands can be detected. The radial profile of the micro-turbulence, which is responsible for plasma anomalous transport processes, is experimentally determined through the fluctuation of the reflected phase signal. (authors)

Plasma turbulence measured by fast sweep reflectometry on Tore Supra

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clairet, F.; Vermare, L.; Heuraux, S.; Leclert, G.

2004-01-01

Traditionally devoted to electron density profile measurement we show that fast frequency sweeping reflectometry technique can bring valuable and innovative measurements onto plasma turbulence. While fast frequency sweeping technique is traditionally devoted to electron density radial profile measurements we show in this paper how we can handle the fluctuations of the reflected signal to recover plasma density fluctuation measurements with a high spatial and temporal resolution. Large size turbulence related to magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) activity and the associated magnetic islands can be detected. The radial profile of the micro-turbulence, which is responsible for plasma anomalous transport processes, is experimentally determined through the fluctuation of the reflected phase signal

3D flow visualizations by means of laser beam sweeps

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prenel, J.P.; Porcar, R.; Diemunsch, G.

1987-01-01

A method in which two-dimensional aperiodic or periodic sweeps are used to produce three-dimensional light sweeps makes possible the quasi-simultaneous recording of different specific planes of a flow, or the characterization of a fluid without revolution symmetry. The optical device consists of two scanners (whose axes are orthogonal) set into a telescope, allowing fine focusing of the light sheets in the study zone. The method also allows visualizations on skewed surfaces, particularly those of flows without a cylindrical geometry; it is applicable from low velocity, as in heat convection, to supersonic velocity, as in the analysis of a nonaxisymmetric ejector. 8 references

Grain boundary sweeping and liquefaction-induced fission product behavior in nuclear fuel under severe-core damage accident conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rest, J.

1984-05-01

The theoretical FASTGRASS-VFP model has been used in the interpretation of fission gas, iodine, tellurium, and cesium release from: (1) irradiated high-burnup LWR fuel in a flowing steam atmosphere during high-temperature, in-cell heating tests performed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory; and (2) trace-irradiated and high-burnup LWR fuel during severe-fuel-damage (SFD) tests performed in the PBF reactor in Idaho. A theory of grain boundary sweeping of gas bubbles, gas bubble behavior during fuel liquefaction (destruction of grain boundaries due to formation of a U-rich melt phase), and U-Zr eutectic melting has been included within the FASTGRASS-VFP formalism. Results of the analyses demonstrate that intragranular fission product behavior during both types of tests can be interpreted in terms of a grain-growth/grain-boundary-sweeping mechanism that enhances the flow of fission products from within the grains to the grain boundaries. Whereas fuel liquefaction leads to an enhanced release of fission products in trace-irradiated fuel, the occurrence of fuel liquefaction in high-burnup fuel can degrade fission product release. This phenomenon is due in part to reduced gas-bubble mobilities in a viscous medium as compared to vapor transport, and in part to a degradation of grain growth rates and the subsequent decrease in grain-boundary sweeping of intragranular fission products into the liquefied lamina. The analysis shows that total UO 2 dissolution due to eutectic melting leads to increased release for both trace-irradiated and high-burnup fuel. The FASTGRASS-VFP predictions, measured release rates from the above tests, and previously published release rates are compared and differences between fission product behavior in trace-irradiated and in high-burnup fuel are highlighted

Ka-Band Digital Beamforming and SweepSAR Demonstration for Ice and Solid Earth Topography

Science.gov (United States)

Sadowy, Gregory; Ghaemi, Hirad; Heavy, Brandon; Perkovic, Dragana; Quddus, Momin; Zawadzki, Mark; Moller, Delwyn

2010-01-01

GLISTIN is an instrument concept for a single-pass interferometric SAR operating at 35.6 GHz. To achieve large swath widths using practical levels of transmitter power, a digitally-beamformed planar waveguide array is used. This paper describes results from a ground-based demonstration of a 16-receiver prototype. Furthermore, SweepSAR is emerging as promising technique for achieving very wide swaths for surface change detection. NASA and DLR are studying this approach for the DESDynI and Tandem-L missions. SweepSAR employs a reflector with a digitally-beamformed array feed. We will describe development of an airborne demonstration of SweepSAR using the GLISTIN receiver array and a reflector.

Toward Cooling Uniformity: Investigation of Spiral, Sweeping Holes, and Unconventional Cooling Paradigms

Science.gov (United States)

Shyam, Vikram; Thurman, Douglas R.; Poinsatte, Philip E.; Ameri, Ali A.; Culley, Dennis E.

2018-01-01

Surface infrared thermography, hotwire anemometry, and thermocouple surveys were performed on two new film cooling hole geometries: spiral/rifled holes and fluidic sweeping holes. Ways to quantify the efficacy of novel cooling holes that are asymmetric, not uniformly spaced or that show variation from hole to hole are presented. The spiral holes attempt to induce large-scale vorticity to the film cooling jet as it exits the hole to prevent the formation of the kidney shaped vortices commonly associated with film cooling jets. The fluidic sweeping hole uses a passive in-hole geometry to induce jet sweeping at frequencies that scale with blowing ratios. The spiral hole performance is compared to that of round holes with and without compound angles. The fluidic hole is of the diffusion class of holes and is therefore compared to a 777 hole and square holes. A patent-pending spiral hole design showed the highest potential of the nondiffusion type hole configurations. Velocity contours and flow temperature were acquired at discreet cross-sections of the downstream flow field. The passive fluidic sweeping hole shows the most uniform cooling distribution but suffers from low span-averaged effectiveness levels due to enhanced mixing. The data was taken at a Reynolds number of 11,000 based on hole diameter and freestream velocity. Infrared thermography was taken for blowing ratios of 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 at a density ratio of 1.05. The flow inside the fluidic sweeping hole was studied using 3D unsteady RANS. A section on ideas for future work is included that addresses issues of quantifying cooling uniformity and provides some ideas for changing the way we think about cooling such as changing the direction of cooling or coupling acoustic devices to cooling holes to regulate frequency.

Using temperature sweeps to investigate rheology of bioplastics

Science.gov (United States)

As part of research toward production of protein-based bioplastics, small amplitude oscillatory shear analyses were performed in the temperature sweep mode to examine protein blends in the presence of wheat flour and glycerol. The elastic modulus (G') of these samples was much higher than the visco...

Solving the Capacitive Effect in the High-Frequency sweep for Langmuir Probe in SYMPLE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pramila; Patel, J J; Rajpal, R; Hansalia, C J; Anitha, V P; Sathyanarayana, K

2017-01-01

Langmuir Probe based measurements need to be routinely carried out to measure various plasma parameters such as the electron density (n e ), the electron temperature (T e ), the floating potential (V f ), and the plasma potential (V p ). For this, the diagnostic electronics along with the biasing power supplies is installed in standard industrial racks with a 2KV isolation transformer. The Signal Conditioning Electronics (SCE) system is populated inside the 4U-chassis based system with the front-end electronics, designed using high common mode differential amplifiers which can measure small differential signal in presence of high common mode dc- bias or ac ramp voltage used for biasing the probes. DC-biasing of the probe is most common method for getting its I-V characteristic but method of biasing the probe with a sweep at high frequency encounters the problem of corruption of signal due to capacitive effect specially when the sweep period and the discharge time is very fast and die down in the order of μs or lesser. This paper presents and summarises the method of removing such effects encountered while measuring the probe current. (paper)

Solving the Capacitive Effect in the High-Frequency sweep for Langmuir Probe in SYMPLE

Science.gov (United States)

Pramila; Patel, J. J.; Rajpal, R.; Hansalia, C. J.; Anitha, V. P.; Sathyanarayana, K.

2017-04-01

Langmuir Probe based measurements need to be routinely carried out to measure various plasma parameters such as the electron density (ne), the electron temperature (Te), the floating potential (Vf), and the plasma potential (Vp). For this, the diagnostic electronics along with the biasing power supplies is installed in standard industrial racks with a 2KV isolation transformer. The Signal Conditioning Electronics (SCE) system is populated inside the 4U-chassis based system with the front-end electronics, designed using high common mode differential amplifiers which can measure small differential signal in presence of high common mode dc- bias or ac ramp voltage used for biasing the probes. DC-biasing of the probe is most common method for getting its I-V characteristic but method of biasing the probe with a sweep at high frequency encounters the problem of corruption of signal due to capacitive effect specially when the sweep period and the discharge time is very fast and die down in the order of μs or lesser. This paper presents and summarises the method of removing such effects encountered while measuring the probe current.

EFFECT OF SWEEP ANGLE ON THE VORTICAL FLOW OVER DELTA WINGS AT AN ANGLE OF ATTACK OF 10°

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

JAMES BRETT

2014-12-01

Full Text Available CFD simulations have been used to analyse the vortical flows over sharp edged delta wings with differing sweep angles under subsonic conditions at an angle of attack of 10°. RANS simulations were validated against experimental data for a 65° sweep wing, with a flat cross-section, and the steadiness of the flow field was assessed by comparing the results against unsteady URANS and DES simulations. To assess the effect of sweep angle on the flow field, a range of sweep angles from 65° to 43° were simulated. For moderate sweep wings the primary vortex was observed to detach from the leading edge, undergoing vortex breakdown, and a weaker, replacement, "shadow" vortex was formed. The shadow vortex was observed for sweep angles of 50° and less, and resulted in reduced lift production near the wing tips loss of the stronger primary vortex.

Linear sweep polarographic determination of nucleic acids using acridine orange as a bioprobe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

WEI SUN

2007-11-01

Full Text Available The interaction of acridine orange (AO with double-stranded (ds DNA in aqueous solution was investigated by linear sweep polarography (LSP on a dropping mercury working electrode (DME. In pH 2.5 Britton–Robinson (B–R buffer solution, AO had a sensitive linear sweep polarographic reductive peak at –0.89 V (vs. SCE, which could be greatly inhibited by the addition of dsDNA, with a positive shift of the peak potential. Based on the decrease of the reductive peak current, a new quantitative electrochemical determination method for dsDNA was developed with a linear range of 2.0−20.0 mg l-1 and the linear regression equation: ΔIp” (nA = 111.90 C (mg l-1+125.32 (n = 9, γ = 0.997. The influences of commonly co-existing substances, such as metal ions, amino acid, etc., on the determination were also investigated. The method is sensitive, rapid and simple with good selectivity. The new proposed method was further applied to the detection of RNA and three synthetic samples containing dsDNA with satisfactory results. The binding number and the equilibrium constant between dsDNA and AO were calculated by an electrochemical method.

Effects of Sweep Angle on the Boundary-Layer Stability Characteristics of an Untapered Wing at Low Speeds

Science.gov (United States)

Boltz, Frederick W.; Kenyon, George C.; Allen, Clyde Q.

1960-01-01

An investigation was conducted in the Ames 12-Foot Low-Turbulence Pressure Tunnel to determine the effects of sweep on the boundary-layer stability characteristics of an untapered variable-sweep wing having an NACA 64(2)A015 section normal to the leading edge. Pressure distribution and transition were measured on the wing at low speeds at sweep angles of 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 deg. and at angles of attack from -3 to 3 deg. The investigation also included flow-visualization studies on the surface at sweep angles from 0 to 50 deg. and total pressure surveys in the boundary layer at a sweep angle of 30 deg. for angles of attack from -12 to 0 deg. It was found that sweep caused premature transition on the wing under certain conditions. This effect resulted from the formation of vortices in the boundary layer when a critical combination of sweep angle, pressure gradient, and stream Reynolds number was attained. A useful parameter in indicating the combined effect of these flow variables on vortex formation and on beginning transition is the crossflow Reynolds number. The critical values of crossflow Reynolds number for vortex formation found in this investigation range from about 135 to 190 and are in good agreement with those reported in previous investigations. The values of crossflow Reynolds number for beginning transitions were found to be between 190 and 260. For each condition (i.e., development of vortices and initiation of transition at a given location) the lower values in the specified ranges were obtained with a light coating of flow-visualization material on the surface. A method is presented for the rapid computation of crossflow Reynolds number on any swept surface for which the pressure distribution is known. From calculations based on this method, it was found that the maximum values of crossflow Reynolds number are attained under conditions of a strong pressure gradient and at a sweep angle of about 50 deg. Due to the primary dependence on pressure

Simulation and theory of spontaneous TAE frequency sweeping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Ge; Berk, H.L.

2012-01-01

A simulation model, based on the linear tip model of Rosenbluth, Berk and Van Dam (RBV), is developed to study frequency sweeping of toroidal Alfvén eigenmodes (TAEs). The time response of the background wave in the RBV model is given by a Volterra integral equation. This model captures the properties of TAE waves both in the gap and in the continuum. The simulation shows that phase space structures form spontaneously at frequencies close to the linearly predicted frequency, due to resonant particle–wave interactions and background dissipation. The frequency sweeping signals are found to chirp towards the upper and lower continua. However, the chirping signals penetrate only the lower continuum, whereupon the frequency chirps and mode amplitude increases in synchronism to produce an explosive solution. An adiabatic theory describing the evolution of a chirping signal is developed which replicates the chirping dynamics of the simulation in the lower continuum. This theory predicts that a decaying chirping signal will terminate at the upper continuum though in the numerical simulation the hole disintegrates before the upper continuum is reached. (paper)

Simulation and theory of spontaneous TAE frequency sweeping

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ge; Berk, H. L.

2012-09-01

A simulation model, based on the linear tip model of Rosenbluth, Berk and Van Dam (RBV), is developed to study frequency sweeping of toroidal Alfvén eigenmodes (TAEs). The time response of the background wave in the RBV model is given by a Volterra integral equation. This model captures the properties of TAE waves both in the gap and in the continuum. The simulation shows that phase space structures form spontaneously at frequencies close to the linearly predicted frequency, due to resonant particle-wave interactions and background dissipation. The frequency sweeping signals are found to chirp towards the upper and lower continua. However, the chirping signals penetrate only the lower continuum, whereupon the frequency chirps and mode amplitude increases in synchronism to produce an explosive solution. An adiabatic theory describing the evolution of a chirping signal is developed which replicates the chirping dynamics of the simulation in the lower continuum. This theory predicts that a decaying chirping signal will terminate at the upper continuum though in the numerical simulation the hole disintegrates before the upper continuum is reached.

A new interpretation of distortion artifacts in sweep measurements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Torras Rosell, Antoni; Jacobsen, Finn

2011-01-01

The characterization of acoustical spaces by means of impulse response measurements is often biased by the nonlinear behavior of the loudspeaker used to excite the system under test. In this context the distortion immunity provided by the sweep technique has been investigated. The results show...

Detection of undistorted continuous wave (CW) electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra with non-adiabatic rapid sweep (NARS) of the magnetic field

Science.gov (United States)

Kittell, Aaron W.; Camenisch, Theodore G.; Ratke, Joseph J.; Sidabras, Jason W.; Hyde, James S.

2011-01-01

A continuous wave (CW) electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrum is typically displayed as the first harmonic response to the application of 100 kHz magnetic field modulation, which is used to enhance sensitivity by reducing the level of 1/f noise. However, magnetic field modulation of any amplitude causes spectral broadening and sacrifices EPR spectral intensity by at least a factor of two. In the work presented here, a CW rapid-scan spectroscopic technique that avoids these compromises and also provides a means of avoiding 1/f noise is developed. This technique, termed non-adiabatic rapid sweep (NARS) EPR, consists of repetitively sweeping the polarizing magnetic field in a linear manner over a spectral fragment with a small coil at a repetition rate that is sufficiently high that receiver noise, microwave phase noise, and environmental microphonics, each of which has 1/f characteristics, are overcome. Nevertheless, the rate of sweep is sufficiently slow that adiabatic responses are avoided and the spin system is always close to thermal equilibrium. The repetitively acquired spectra from the spectral fragment are averaged. Under these conditions, undistorted pure absorption spectra are obtained without broadening or loss of signal intensity. A digital filter such as a moving average is applied to remove high frequency noise, which is approximately equivalent in bandwidth to use of an integrating time constant in conventional field modulation with lock-in detection. Nitroxide spectra at L- and X-band are presented. PMID:21741868

A Parallel Sweeping Preconditioner for Heterogeneous 3D Helmholtz Equations

KAUST Repository

Poulson, Jack

2013-05-02

A parallelization of a sweeping preconditioner for three-dimensional Helmholtz equations without large cavities is introduced and benchmarked for several challenging velocity models. The setup and application costs of the sequential preconditioner are shown to be O(γ2N4/3) and O(γN logN), where γ(ω) denotes the modestly frequency-dependent number of grid points per perfectly matched layer. Several computational and memory improvements are introduced relative to using black-box sparse-direct solvers for the auxiliary problems, and competitive runtimes and iteration counts are reported for high-frequency problems distributed over thousands of cores. Two open-source packages are released along with this paper: Parallel Sweeping Preconditioner (PSP) and the underlying distributed multifrontal solver, Clique. © 2013 Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.

The Effects of Sweeping Jet Actuator Parameters on Flow Separation Control

Science.gov (United States)

Koklu, Mehti

2015-01-01

A parametric experimental study was performed with sweeping jet actuators (fluidic oscillators) to determine their effectiveness in controlling flow separation on an adverse pressure gradient ramp. Actuator parameters that were investigated include blowing coefficients, operation mode, pitch and spreading angles, streamwise location, aspect ratio, and scale. Surface pressure measurements and surface oil flow visualization were used to characterize the effects of these parameters on the actuator performance. 2D Particle Image Velocimetry measurements of the flow field over the ramp and hot-wire measurements of the actuator's jet flow were also obtained for selective cases. In addition, the sweeping jet actuators were compared to other well-known flow control techniques such as micro-vortex generators, steady blowing, and steady vortex-generating jets. The results confirm that the sweeping jet actuators are more effective than steady blowing and steady vortex-generating jets. The results also suggest that an actuator with a larger spreading angle placed closer to the location where the flow separates provides better performance. For the cases tested, an actuator with an aspect ratio, which is the width/depth of the actuator throat, of 2 was found to be optimal. For a fixed momentum coefficient, decreasing the aspect ratio to 1 produced weaker vortices while increasing the aspect ratio to 4 reduced coverage area. Although scaling down the actuator (based on the throat dimensions) from 0.25 inch x 0.125 inch to 0.15 inch x 0.075 inch resulted in similar flow control performance, scaling down the actuator further to 0.075 inch x 0.0375 inch reduced the actuator efficiency by reducing the coverage area and the amount of mixing in the near-wall region. The results of this study provide insight that can be used to design and select the optimal sweeping jet actuator configuration for flow control applications.

Fast sweeping methods for hyperbolic systems of conservation laws at steady state II

Science.gov (United States)

Engquist, Björn; Froese, Brittany D.; Tsai, Yen-Hsi Richard

2015-04-01

The idea of using fast sweeping methods for solving stationary systems of conservation laws has previously been proposed for efficiently computing solutions with sharp shocks. We further develop these methods to allow for a more challenging class of problems including problems with sonic points, shocks originating in the interior of the domain, rarefaction waves, and two-dimensional systems. We show that fast sweeping methods can produce higher-order accuracy. Computational results validate the claims of accuracy, sharp shock curves, and optimal computational efficiency.

Thermal transients due to sweeping of the separatrix on the monoblock divertor concept for ITER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Renda, V.; Papa, L.; Soria, A.

1991-01-01

The ITER divertor plate considered in the present study is the monoblock design option, consisting of an armour of CFC-SEP-Carb graphite tiles, crossed by the tubes of the water cooling system made in Mo-Re alloy. Preliminary steady-state calculations for a peak flux of 15 MW/m 2 showed that the allowable thickness to limit the maximum temperature to 1273 K (1000degC) is about 5 mm. This small value reduces the lifetime of the plate, due to the expected erosion rate, to an unacceptable value from the engineering standpoint. A sweeping of the separatrix has been proposed to reduce the erosion of the protective armour and to lessen the thermomechanical effects of the localized peak surface heat flux. A rotation of the null points of the separatrix of 30 mm radius with a frequency of 0.3 Hz for a surface heat flux of 15 MW/m 2 was assumed as nominal working condition. Several scenarios were considered as off-normal conditions: the loss of sweeping accident, the change in frequency from 0.3 to 0.1 Hz and the change of the peak of the surface heat flux from 15 to 30 MW/m 2 . The results related to the nominal condition show that a 16 mm thick armour could be allowed; this value should ensure an acceptable lifetime for the divertor plate. The loss of sweeping accident leads the surface temperature to reach about 2273 K in few seconds; the change in frequency raises the maximum temperature of 423 K, but its range doubles; the change in peak flux leads to a maximum temperature of about 2373 K. (author)

A discrete element model for soil-sweep interaction in three different soils

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chen, Y; Munkholm, Lars Juhl; Nyord, Tavs

2013-01-01

. To serve the model development, the sweep was tested in three different soils (coarse sand, loamy sand, and sandy loam). In the tests, soil cutting forces (draught and vertical forces) and soil disturbance characteristics (soil cross-section disturbance and surface deformation) resulting from the sweep...... were measured. The measured draught and vertical forces were used in calibrations of the most sensitive model parameter, particle stiffness. The calibrated particle stiffness was 0.75 × 103 N m−1 for the coarse sand, 2.75 × 103 N m−1 for the loamy sand, and 6 × 103 N m−1 for the sandy loam...

Spin-Label CW Microwave Power Saturation and Rapid Passage with Triangular Non-Adiabatic Rapid Sweep (NARS) and Adiabatic Rapid Passage (ARP) EPR Spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Kittell, Aaron W.; Hyde, James S.

2015-01-01

Non-adiabatic rapid passage (NARS) electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy was introduced by Kittell, A.W., Camenisch, T.G., Ratke, J.J. Sidabras, J.W., Hyde, J.S., 2011 as a general purpose technique to collect the pure absorption response. The technique has been used to improve sensitivity relative to sinusoidal magnetic field modulation, increase the range of inter-spin distances that can be measured under near physiological conditions, and enhance spectral resolution in copper (II) spectra. In the present work, the method is extended to CW microwave power saturation of spin-labeled T4 Lysozyme (T4L). As in the cited papers, rapid triangular sweep of the polarizing magnetic field was superimposed on slow sweep across the spectrum. Adiabatic rapid passage (ARP) effects were encountered in samples undergoing very slow rotational diffusion as the triangular magnetic field sweep rate was increased. The paper reports results of variation of experimental parameters at the interface of adiabatic and non-adiabatic rapid sweep conditions. Comparison of the forward (up) and reverse (down) triangular sweeps is shown to be a good indicator of the presence of rapid passage effects. Spectral turning points can be distinguished from spectral regions between turning points in two ways: differential microwave power saturation and differential passage effects. Oxygen accessibility data are shown under NARS conditions that appear similar to conventional field modulation data. However, the sensitivity is much higher, permitting, in principle, experiments at substantially lower protein concentrations. Spectral displays were obtained that appear sensitive to rotational diffusion in the range of rotational correlation times of 10−3 to 10−7 s in a manner that is analogous to saturation transfer spectroscopy. PMID:25917132

Procedures for waste management from street sweeping and stormwater systems.

Science.gov (United States)

2016-05-01

Street sweeping and storm water system cleaning activities are conducted regularly by ODOT to comply with NPDES permit requirements and to ensure roadway safety. Once collected, these materials are classified as solid waste and require cost-effective...

Influence of additives and impurities in sweep gas and solid tritium release behaviour from lithium ceramics (review)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanaka, Satoru

1991-01-01

Tritium release from solid breeding material is affected by small amounts of additives or impurities in the sweep gas or solid itself. Addition of hydrogen or water vapor to the sweep gas is reported to enhance the surface reaction of tritium release. Doping to solid breeder with elements of different valence from lithium has a possibility to improve tritium diffusion in the solid. Surface reaction and migration behavior in bulk are believed to be also affected by impurities in the sweep gas and in the solid. In order to model tritium release behavior in the blanket of fusion reactor, the mechanism of interaction with these additives or impurities must be quantitatively formulated. However, the mechanism of these remains to be elucidated. In this paper effects of these additives and impurities on tritium migration are reviewed. The mechanism of surface reaction for He+H 2 sweep gas is also discussed. (orig.)

Selective sweeps in growing microbial colonies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Korolev, Kirill S; Müller, Melanie J I; Murray, Andrew W; Nelson, David R; Karahan, Nilay; Hallatschek, Oskar

2012-01-01

Evolutionary experiments with microbes are a powerful tool to study mutations and natural selection. These experiments, however, are often limited to the well-mixed environments of a test tube or a chemostat. Since spatial organization can significantly affect evolutionary dynamics, the need is growing for evolutionary experiments in spatially structured environments. The surface of a Petri dish provides such an environment, but a more detailed understanding of microbial growth on Petri dishes is necessary to interpret such experiments. We formulate a simple deterministic reaction–diffusion model, which successfully predicts the spatial patterns created by two competing species during colony expansion. We also derive the shape of these patterns analytically without relying on microscopic details of the model. In particular, we find that the relative fitness of two microbial strains can be estimated from the logarithmic spirals created by selective sweeps. The theory is tested with strains of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae for spatial competitions with different initial conditions and for a range of relative fitnesses. The reaction–diffusion model also connects the microscopic parameters like growth rates and diffusion constants with macroscopic spatial patterns and predicts the relationship between fitness in liquid cultures and on Petri dishes, which we confirmed experimentally. Spatial sector patterns therefore provide an alternative fitness assay to the commonly used liquid culture fitness assays. (paper)

Selective sweeps in growing microbial colonies

Science.gov (United States)

Korolev, Kirill S.; Müller, Melanie J. I.; Karahan, Nilay; Murray, Andrew W.; Hallatschek, Oskar; Nelson, David R.

2012-04-01

Evolutionary experiments with microbes are a powerful tool to study mutations and natural selection. These experiments, however, are often limited to the well-mixed environments of a test tube or a chemostat. Since spatial organization can significantly affect evolutionary dynamics, the need is growing for evolutionary experiments in spatially structured environments. The surface of a Petri dish provides such an environment, but a more detailed understanding of microbial growth on Petri dishes is necessary to interpret such experiments. We formulate a simple deterministic reaction-diffusion model, which successfully predicts the spatial patterns created by two competing species during colony expansion. We also derive the shape of these patterns analytically without relying on microscopic details of the model. In particular, we find that the relative fitness of two microbial strains can be estimated from the logarithmic spirals created by selective sweeps. The theory is tested with strains of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae for spatial competitions with different initial conditions and for a range of relative fitnesses. The reaction-diffusion model also connects the microscopic parameters like growth rates and diffusion constants with macroscopic spatial patterns and predicts the relationship between fitness in liquid cultures and on Petri dishes, which we confirmed experimentally. Spatial sector patterns therefore provide an alternative fitness assay to the commonly used liquid culture fitness assays.

Electromigration kinetics and critical current of Pb-free interconnects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lu, Minhua; Rosenberg, Robert [IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598 (United States)

2014-04-07

Electromigration kinetics of Pb-free solder bump interconnects have been studied using a single bump parameter sweep technique. By removing bump to bump variations in structure, texture, and composition, the single bump sweep technique has provided both activation energy and power exponents that reflect atomic migration and interface reactions with fewer samples, shorter stress time, and better statistics than standard failure testing procedures. Contact metallurgies based on Cu and Ni have been studied. Critical current, which corresponds to the Blech limit, was found to exist in the Ni metallurgy, but not in the Cu metallurgy. A temperature dependence of critical current was also observed.

Residual sweeping errors in turbulent particle pair diffusion in a Lagrangian diffusion model.

Science.gov (United States)

Malik, Nadeem A

2017-01-01

Thomson, D. J. & Devenish, B. J. [J. Fluid Mech. 526, 277 (2005)] and others have suggested that sweeping effects make Lagrangian properties in Kinematic Simulations (KS), Fung et al [Fung J. C. H., Hunt J. C. R., Malik N. A. & Perkins R. J. J. Fluid Mech. 236, 281 (1992)], unreliable. However, such a conclusion can only be drawn under the assumption of locality. The major aim here is to quantify the sweeping errors in KS without assuming locality. Through a novel analysis based upon analysing pairs of particle trajectories in a frame of reference moving with the large energy containing scales of motion it is shown that the normalized integrated error [Formula: see text] in the turbulent pair diffusivity (K) due to the sweeping effect decreases with increasing pair separation (σl), such that [Formula: see text] as σl/η → ∞; and [Formula: see text] as σl/η → 0. η is the Kolmogorov turbulence microscale. There is an intermediate range of separations 1 < σl/η < ∞ in which the error [Formula: see text] remains negligible. Simulations using KS shows that in the swept frame of reference, this intermediate range is large covering almost the entire inertial subrange simulated, 1 < σl/η < 105, implying that the deviation from locality observed in KS cannot be atributed to sweeping errors. This is important for pair diffusion theory and modeling. PACS numbers: 47.27.E?, 47.27.Gs, 47.27.jv, 47.27.Ak, 47.27.tb, 47.27.eb, 47.11.-j.

Effect of Sweep on Cavity Flow Fields at Subsonic and Transonic Speeds

Science.gov (United States)

Tracy, Maureen B.; Plentovich, Elizabeth B.; Hemsch, Michael J.; Wilcox, Floyd J.

2012-01-01

An experimental investigation was conducted in the NASA Langley 7 x 10-Foot High Speed Tunnel (HST) to study the effect of leading- and trailing-edge sweep on cavity flow fields for a range of cavity length-to-height (l/h) ratios. The free-stream Mach number was varied from 0.2 to 0.8. The cavity had a depth of 0.5 inches, a width of 2.5 inches, and a maximum length of 12.0 inches. The leading- and trailing-edge sweep was adjusted using block inserts to achieve leading edge sweep angles of 65 deg, 55 deg, 45 deg, 35 deg, and 0 deg. The fore and aft cavity walls were always parallel. The aft wall of the cavity was remotely positioned to achieve a range of length-to-depth ratios. Fluctuating- and static-pressure data were obtained on the floor of the cavity. The fluctuating pressure data were used to determine whether or not resonance occurred in the cavity rather than to provide a characterization of the fluctuating pressure field. Qualitative surface flow visualization was obtained using a technique in which colored water was introduced into the model through static-pressure orifices. A complete tabulation of the mean static-pressure data for the swept leading edge cavities is included.

Lock-free parallel and concurrent garbage collection by mark&sweep

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gao, H.; Groote, J. F.; Hesselink, W. H.

2007-01-01

This paper presents a lock-free algorithm for mark&sweep garbage collection (GC) in a realistic model using synchronization primitives load-linked/store-conditional (LL/SC) or compare-and-swap (CAS) offered by machine arch i lectures. The algorithm is concurrent in the sense that garbage collection

Eddy-current flow rate meter for measuring sodium flow rates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knaak, J.

1976-01-01

For safety reasons flow rate meters for monitoring coolant flow rates are inserted in the core of sodium-cooled fast breeder reactors. These are so-called eddy-current flow rate meters which can be mounted directly above the fuel elements. In the present contribution the principle of measurement, the mechanical construction and the circuit design of the flow rate measuring device are described. Special problems and their solution on developing the measuring system are pointed out. Finally, results of measurement and experience with the apparatus in several experiments are reported, where also further possibilities of application were tested. (orig./TK) [de

Suppression of nonlinear frequency-sweeping of resonant interchange modes in a magnetic dipole with applied radio frequency fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maslovsky, D.; Levitt, B.; Mauel, M. E.

2003-01-01

Interchange instabilities excited by energetic electrons trapped by a magnetic dipole nonlinearly saturate and exhibit complex, coherent spectral characteristics and frequency sweeping [H. P. Warren and M. E. Mauel, Phys. Plasmas 2, 4185 (1995)]. When monochromatic radio frequency (rf) fields are applied in the range of 100-1000 MHz, the saturation behavior of the interchange instability changes dramatically. For applied fields of sufficient intensity and pulse-length, coherent interchange fluctuations are suppressed and frequency sweeping is eliminated. When rf fields are switched off, coherent frequency sweeping reappears. Since low frequency interchange instabilities preserve the electron's first and second adiabatic invariants, these observations can be interpreted as resulting from nonlinear resonant wave-particle interactions described within a particle phase-space, (ψ,φ), comprised of the third adiabatic invariant and the azimuthal angle. Self-consistent numerical simulation is used to study (1) the nonlinear development of the instability, (2) the radial mode structure of the interchange instability, and (3) the suppression of frequency sweeping. When the applied rf heating is modeled as an 'rf collisionality', the simulation reproduces frequency sweeping suppression and suggests an explanation for the observations that is consistent with Berk and co-workers [H. L. Berk et al., Phys. Plasmas 6, 3102 (1999)

Analysing Infinite-State Systems by Combining Equivalence Reduction and the Sweep-Line Method

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mailund, Thomas

2002-01-01

The sweep-line method is a state space exploration method for on-the-fly verification aimed at systems exhibiting progress. Presence of progress in the system makes it possible to delete certain states during state space generation, which reduces the memory used for storing the states. Unfortunat......The sweep-line method is a state space exploration method for on-the-fly verification aimed at systems exhibiting progress. Presence of progress in the system makes it possible to delete certain states during state space generation, which reduces the memory used for storing the states....... Unfortunately, the same progress that is used to improve memory performance in state space exploration often leads to an infinite state space: The progress in the system is carried over to the states resulting in infinitely many states only distinguished through the progress. A finite state space can...... property essential for the sweep-line method. We evaluate the new method on two case studies, showing significant improvements in performance, and we briefly discuss the new method in the context of Timed Coloured Petri Nets, where the “increasing global time” semantics can be exploited for more efficient...

Modelling for near-surface interaction of lithium ceramics and sweep-gas by use of cellular automation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimura, K.; Terai, T.; Yamawaki, M.; Yamaguchi, K.

2003-01-01

Tritium release from the lithium ceramics as a fusion reactor breeder material is strongly affected by the composition of the sweep-gas as result of its influences with the material's surface. The typical surface processes which play important roles are adsorption, desorption and interaction between vacancy site and the constituents of the sweep-gas. Among a large number of studies and models, yet it seems to be difficult to model the overall behaviour of those processes due to its complex time-transient nature. In the present work the coarse grained atomic simulation based on the Cellular Automaton (CA) is used to model the dynamics of near-surface interaction between Li 2 O surface and sweep-gas that is consisting of a noble gas, hydrogen gas and water vapour. (author)

Influence of hydrogen addition to a sweep gas on tritium behavior in a blanket module containing Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3} pebbles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Katayama, K., E-mail: kadzu@nucl.kyushu-u.ac.jp [Department of Advanced Energy Engineering Science, Kyushu University 6-1, Kasugakoen, Kasuga-shi, Fukuoka 816-8580 (Japan); Someya, Y.; Tobita, K. [National Institutes for Quantum and radiological Science and Technology, 2-166 Omotedate, Obuchi, Rokkasho-mura, Kamikita-gun, Aomori 039-3212 (Japan); Fukada, S. [Department of Advanced Energy Engineering Science, Kyushu University 6-1, Kasugakoen, Kasuga-shi, Fukuoka 816-8580 (Japan); Hatano, Y. [Hydrogen Isotope Research Center, University of Toyama, Gofuku 3190, Toyama 930-8555 (Japan); Chikada, T. [Department of Chemistry, Graduate school of Science, Shizuoka University, 836 Ohya, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka, 422-8529 (Japan)

2016-12-15

Highlights: • Mass balance equations of H{sub 2}, H{sub 2}O, T{sub 2} and T{sub 2}O in a Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3} pebble bed were numerically calculated. • In the temperature rising process, the pebbles were exposed to water vapor of relatively high concentration. • Tritium permeation rate to cooling water reduced with increasing hydrogen concentration in the sweep gas. • Tritium inventory in the grain bulk and the grain surface occupied 99.6% of total inventory. - Abstract: Hydrogen addition to a sweep gas of a solid breeder blanket module has been proposed to enhance tritium recovery from the surface of the breeders. However, the influence of hydrogen addition on the bred tritium behavior is not understood completely. Tritium behavior in the simplified blanket module of Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3} pebbles was numerically calculated considering diffusion in the grain bulk, surface reactions on the grain surface and permeation through the cooling pipe. Although a partial pressure of T{sub 2} increases with increasing a partial pressure of H{sub 2} in the sweep gas, it was estimated that tritium permeation rate to the cooling water decreases. Additionally, the release duration of water vapor generated by the reaction of the pebbles and hydrogen is shortened with increasing a partial pressure of H{sub 2}. Tritium inventory in the grain bulk and the grain surface occupies 99.6 % of total tritium inventory in the blanket module.

Lax-Friedrichs sweeping scheme for static Hamilton-Jacobi equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kao, C.Y.; Osher, Stanley; Qian Jianliang

2004-01-01

We propose a simple, fast sweeping method based on the Lax-Friedrichs monotone numerical Hamiltonian to approximate viscosity solutions of arbitrary static Hamilton-Jacobi equations in any number of spatial dimensions. By using the Lax-Friedrichs numerical Hamiltonian, we can easily obtain the solution at a specific grid point in terms of its neighbors, so that a Gauss-Seidel type nonlinear iterative method can be utilized. Furthermore, by incorporating a group-wise causality principle into the Gauss-Seidel iteration by following a finite group of characteristics, we have an easy-to-implement, sweeping-type, and fast convergent numerical method. However, unlike other methods based on the Godunov numerical Hamiltonian, some computational boundary conditions are needed in the implementation. We give a simple recipe which enforces a version of discrete min-max principle. Some convergence analysis is done for the one-dimensional eikonal equation. Extensive 2-D and 3-D numerical examples illustrate the efficiency and accuracy of the new approach. To our knowledge, this is the first fast numerical method based on discretizing the Hamilton-Jacobi equation directly without assuming convexity and/or homogeneity of the Hamiltonian

Lax-Friedrichs sweeping scheme for static Hamilton-Jacobi equations

Science.gov (United States)

Kao, Chiu Yen; Osher, Stanley; Qian, Jianliang

2004-05-01

We propose a simple, fast sweeping method based on the Lax-Friedrichs monotone numerical Hamiltonian to approximate viscosity solutions of arbitrary static Hamilton-Jacobi equations in any number of spatial dimensions. By using the Lax-Friedrichs numerical Hamiltonian, we can easily obtain the solution at a specific grid point in terms of its neighbors, so that a Gauss-Seidel type nonlinear iterative method can be utilized. Furthermore, by incorporating a group-wise causality principle into the Gauss-Seidel iteration by following a finite group of characteristics, we have an easy-to-implement, sweeping-type, and fast convergent numerical method. However, unlike other methods based on the Godunov numerical Hamiltonian, some computational boundary conditions are needed in the implementation. We give a simple recipe which enforces a version of discrete min-max principle. Some convergence analysis is done for the one-dimensional eikonal equation. Extensive 2-D and 3-D numerical examples illustrate the efficiency and accuracy of the new approach. To our knowledge, this is the first fast numerical method based on discretizing the Hamilton-Jacobi equation directly without assuming convexity and/or homogeneity of the Hamiltonian.

30 CFR 77.801-1 - Grounding resistors; continuous current rating.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Grounding resistors; continuous current rating... OF UNDERGROUND COAL MINES Surface High-Voltage Distribution § 77.801-1 Grounding resistors; continuous current rating. The ground fault current rating of grounding resistors shall meet the “extended...

30 CFR 77.901-1 - Grounding resistor; continuous current rating.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Grounding resistor; continuous current rating. 77.901-1 Section 77.901-1 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF... resistor; continuous current rating. The ground fault current rating of grounding resistors shall meet the...

Sweeping total reflection X-ray fluorescence optimisation to monitor the metallic contamination into IC manufacturing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borde, Yannick; Danel, Adrien; Roche, Agnes; Veillerot, Marc

2008-01-01

Among the methods available on the market today to control as metallic contamination in integrated circuit manufacturing, Sweeping Total reflection X-ray Fluorescence mode appears a very good method, providing fast and entire wafer mapping. With the goal of a pertinent use of Sweeping Total reflection X-ray Fluorescence in advanced Integrated Circuit manufacturing this work discusses how acceptable levels of contamination specified by the production (low levels to be detected) can be taken into account. The relation between measurement results (surface coverage, throughput, low limit of detection, limit of quantification, quantification of localized contamination) and Sweeping Total reflection X-ray Fluorescence parameters (number of measurement points and integration time per point) is presented in details. In particular, a model is proposed to explain the mismatch between actual surface contamination in a localized spot on wafer and Total reflection X-ray Fluorescence reading. Both calibration and geometric issues have been taken into account

A second order discontinuous Galerkin fast sweeping method for Eikonal equations

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Fengyan; Shu, Chi-Wang; Zhang, Yong-Tao; Zhao, Hongkai

2008-09-01

In this paper, we construct a second order fast sweeping method with a discontinuous Galerkin (DG) local solver for computing viscosity solutions of a class of static Hamilton-Jacobi equations, namely the Eikonal equations. Our piecewise linear DG local solver is built on a DG method developed recently [Y. Cheng, C.-W. Shu, A discontinuous Galerkin finite element method for directly solving the Hamilton-Jacobi equations, Journal of Computational Physics 223 (2007) 398-415] for the time-dependent Hamilton-Jacobi equations. The causality property of Eikonal equations is incorporated into the design of this solver. The resulting local nonlinear system in the Gauss-Seidel iterations is a simple quadratic system and can be solved explicitly. The compactness of the DG method and the fast sweeping strategy lead to fast convergence of the new scheme for Eikonal equations. Extensive numerical examples verify efficiency, convergence and second order accuracy of the proposed method.

A convergence analysis for a sweeping preconditioner for block tridiagonal systems of linear equations

KAUST Repository

Bagci, Hakan; Pasciak, Joseph E.; Sirenko, Kostyantyn

2014-01-01

We study sweeping preconditioners for symmetric and positive definite block tridiagonal systems of linear equations. The algorithm provides an approximate inverse that can be used directly or in a preconditioned iterative scheme. These algorithms are based on replacing the Schur complements appearing in a block Gaussian elimination direct solve by hierarchical matrix approximations with reduced off-diagonal ranks. This involves developing low rank hierarchical approximations to inverses. We first provide a convergence analysis for the algorithm for reduced rank hierarchical inverse approximation. These results are then used to prove convergence and preconditioning estimates for the resulting sweeping preconditioner.

A convergence analysis for a sweeping preconditioner for block tridiagonal systems of linear equations

KAUST Repository

Bagci, Hakan

2014-11-11

We study sweeping preconditioners for symmetric and positive definite block tridiagonal systems of linear equations. The algorithm provides an approximate inverse that can be used directly or in a preconditioned iterative scheme. These algorithms are based on replacing the Schur complements appearing in a block Gaussian elimination direct solve by hierarchical matrix approximations with reduced off-diagonal ranks. This involves developing low rank hierarchical approximations to inverses. We first provide a convergence analysis for the algorithm for reduced rank hierarchical inverse approximation. These results are then used to prove convergence and preconditioning estimates for the resulting sweeping preconditioner.

Current Account and Real Exchange Rate Dynamics in Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Firman Mochtar

2015-07-01

Full Text Available We analyze the role of both permanent and temporary factors in affecting the Indonesian current account and real exchange dynamics before and after 2000. Adopting Lee and Chinn (1998; 2006 approach as well as Chinn et al. (2007, two results stand out. First, we confirm that the behavior of the real exchange rate has altered since 2000. Identifications show that permanent shocks are the primary causes for the movement of the real exchange rate after 2000, while in the period before 2000, the Indonesian real exchange rate changes are characterized by greater dominance of temporary shocks. The apparent change in the real exchange rate behavior may be strongly justified by the implementation of free-floating exchange rate system since August 1997. Second, the shift of the real exchange rate behavior after 2000 does not necessarily affect the current account dynamics. Empirical evidence confirms that the variance of current account post 2000 remains largely due to temporary shocks. Albeit having increasing influence, permanent shocks have insignificant effect in explaining fluctuations of the current account. In this sense, the current account surplus after 2000 is attributed largely to nominal variables such as price increase, while the impact of productivity improvement is still limited.

Rate control for electron gun evaporation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schellingerhout, A.J.G.; Janocko, M.A.; Klapwijk, T.M.; Mooij, J.E.

1989-01-01

Principles for obtaining high-quality rate control for electron gun evaporation are discussed. The design criteria for rate controllers are derived from this analysis. Results are presented which have been obtained with e-guns whose evaporation rate is controlled by a Wehnelt electrode or by sweeping of the electron beam. Further improvements of rate stability can be obtained by improved design of e-guns and power supplies

The Optimal Interest Rates and the Current Interest Rate System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ioannis N. Kallianiotis

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The paper discusses the current target interest rate, which is closed to zero with the new experiment of quantitative easing since 2009 and has reduced the rate of return and the income and has made the real savings rate negative. This target rate has not reduced unemployment and has not improved growth (it is not optimal, but has increased the debt of individuals and the low taxes on businesses have magnified the budget deficits and the national debt. People were borrowing the present value of their uncertain future wealth and their high debt and low income raise the risk and this high risk premium heighten the interest rate on loans, especially on credit cards. The current monetary system needs to be changed and an interest rate floor on deposits (savings and an interest rate ceiling on individuals‟ loans (borrowings is necessary to improve social welfare, fairness, and justice in our society and not to support only disintermediation (financial markets. The middle class cannot work only to pay taxes and interest on its debt (redistribution of their wealth to government and banks or worse to be in chronic unemployment. Many home owners defaulted on their loans payments and their homes are foreclosed. They will end up without property (real assets. The unconcern towards the middle class will affect negatively the entire socio-economic structure of the nation and after losing its productive power, it will start declining, as history has shown to us with so many empires that do not exist anymore. We hope the leaders (the democratic governments to improve public policies, to regulate the financial market and institutions, and to satisfy their policy ultimate objective, which is citizens‟ perfection and the nation‟s highest point of prosperity.

Femtosecond Laser Tagging Characterization of a Sweeping Jet Actuator Operating in the Compressible Regime

Science.gov (United States)

Peters, Christopher J.; Miles, Richard B.; Burns, Ross A.; Bathel, Brett F.; Jones, Gregory S.; Danehy, Paul M.

2016-01-01

A sweeping jet (SWJ) actuator operating over a range of nozzle pressure ratios (NPRs) was characterized with femtosecond laser electronic excitation tagging (FLEET), single hot-wire anemometry (HWA) and high-speed/phase-averaged schlieren. FLEET velocimetry was successfully demonstrated in a highly unsteady, oscillatory flow containing subsonic through supersonic velocities. Qualitative comparisons between FLEET and HWA (which measured mass flux since the flow was compressible) showed relatively good agreement in the external flow profiles. The spreading rate was found to vary from 0.5 to 1.2 depending on the pressure ratio. The precision of FLEET velocity measurements in the external flow field was poorer (is approximately equal to 25 m/s) than reported in a previous study due to the use of relatively low laser fluences, impacting the velocity fluctuation measurements. FLEET enabled velocity measurements inside the device and showed that choking likely occurred for NPR = 2.0, and no internal shockwaves were present. Qualitative oxygen concentration measurements using FLEET were explored in an effort to gauge the jet's mixing with the ambient. The jet was shown to mix well within roughly four throat diameters and mix fully within roughly eight throat diameters. Schlieren provided visualization of the internal and external flow fields and showed that the qualitative structure of the internal flow does not vary with pressure ratio and the sweeping mechanism observed for incompressible NPRs also probably holds for compressible NPRs.

Parallel Sn Sweeps on Unstructured Grids: Algorithms for Prioritization, Grid Partitioning, and Cycle Detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Plimpton, Steven J.; Hendrickson, Bruce; Burns, Shawn P.; McLendon, William III; Rauchwerger, Lawrence

2005-01-01

The method of discrete ordinates is commonly used to solve the Boltzmann transport equation. The solution in each ordinate direction is most efficiently computed by sweeping the radiation flux across the computational grid. For unstructured grids this poses many challenges, particularly when implemented on distributed-memory parallel machines where the grid geometry is spread across processors. We present several algorithms relevant to this approach: (a) an asynchronous message-passing algorithm that performs sweeps simultaneously in multiple ordinate directions, (b) a simple geometric heuristic to prioritize the computational tasks that a processor works on, (c) a partitioning algorithm that creates columnar-style decompositions for unstructured grids, and (d) an algorithm for detecting and eliminating cycles that sometimes exist in unstructured grids and can prevent sweeps from successfully completing. Algorithms (a) and (d) are fully parallel; algorithms (b) and (c) can be used in conjunction with (a) to achieve higher parallel efficiencies. We describe our message-passing implementations of these algorithms within a radiation transport package. Performance and scalability results are given for unstructured grids with up to 3 million elements (500 million unknowns) running on thousands of processors of Sandia National Laboratories' Intel Tflops machine and DEC-Alpha CPlant cluster

SWEEP, a computer program for the analysis of CDA energetics in liquid metal reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suk, Soo Dong; Lee, Yong Bum; Hahn, Do Hee

2003-12-01

The SWEEP computer code was developed in this study to evaluate the work energy arising from two-phase expansion of fuel or sodium during core disruptive accidents in KALIMER. In the SWEEP program, scoping calculations with a modified Bethe-Tait method is first carried out using SCHAMBETA module to provide the initial thermodynamic conditions for the subsequent analyses to estimate the mechanical work energy generated in the reactor system. To estimate the work energy due to fuel-vapor expansion, a bounding approach is adopted to calculate the work potential assuming isentropic expansion to atmospheric pressure during super-prompt critical power excursions. Work potentials are also calculated in the SWEEP code for sodium expansion using the simple thermodynamic models including the infinite heat transfer model during expansion(Hicks and Menzies method) or more realistic zero heat transfer model for a typical initial condition of core disruptive accident. Core disruptive accidents have been investigated at Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute(KAERI) as part of the work to demonstrate the inherent and ultimate safety of conceptual design of the Korea Advanced Liquid Metal Reactor(KALIMER), a 150 MWe pool-type sodium cooled prototype fast reactor that uses U-TRU-Zr metallic fuel

Wind turbine rotor blade with in-plane sweep and devices using the same, and methods for making the same

Science.gov (United States)

Wetzel, Kyle Kristopher

2014-06-24

A wind turbine includes a rotor having a hub and at least one blade having a torsionally rigid root, an inboard section, and an outboard section. The inboard section has a forward sweep relative to an elastic axis of the blade and the outboard section has an aft sweep.

Life assessment of PVD based hard coatings by linear sweep voltammetry for high performance industrial application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malik, M.; Alam, S.; Irfan, M.; Hassan, Z.

2006-01-01

PVD based hard coatings have remarkable achievements in order to improve Tribological and surface properties of coating tools and dies. As PVD based hard coatings have a wide range of industrial applications especially in aerospace and automobile parts where they met different chemical attacks and in order to improve industrial performance these coatings must provide an excellent resistance against corrosion, high temperature oxidation and chemical reaction. This paper focuses on study of behaviour of PVD based hard coatings under different corrosive environments like as H/sub 2/SO/sub 4/, HCl, NaCl, KCl, NaOH etc. Corrosion rate was calculate under linear sweep voltammetry method where the Tafel extrapolation curves used for continuously monitoring the corrosion rate. The results show that these coatings have an excellent resistance against chemical attack. (author)

75 FR 65710 - Current Value of Funds Rate

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-26

... percentage rate to be used in assessing interest charges for outstanding debts owed to the Government... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Fiscal Service Current Value of Funds Rate AGENCY: Financial Management Service, Fiscal Service, Treasury. ACTION: Notice of rate for use in Federal debt collection and discount...

Reverse spontaneous laser line sweeping in ytterbium fiber laser

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Navrátil, Petr; Peterka, Pavel; Honzátko, Pavel; Kubeček, V.

2017-01-01

Roč. 14, č. 3 (2017), č. článku 035102. ISSN 1612-2011 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA16-13306S Institutional support: RVO:67985882 ; RVO:68378271 Keywords : laser line sweeping * ytterbium * fiber lasers Subject RIV: BH - Optics, Masers, Lasers; BH - Optics, Masers, Lasers (FZU-D) OBOR OECD: Optics (including laser optics and quantum optics); Optics (including laser optics and quantum optics) (FZU-D) Impact factor: 2.537, year: 2016

Determination of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in mouse blood by capillary electrophoresis/ fluorescence spectroscopy with sweeping techniques in micellar electrokinetic chromatography.

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, Ching; Liu, Ju-Tsung; Chou, Shiu-Huey; Lin, Cheng-Huang

2003-03-01

The separation and on-line concentration of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in mouse blood was achieved by means of capillary electrophoresis/fluorescence spectroscopy using sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as the surfactant. Techniques involving on-line sample concentration, including sweeping micellar electrokinetic chromatography (sweeping-MEKC) and cation-selective exhaustive injection-sweep-micellar electrokinetic chromatography (CSEI-sweep-MEKC) were applied; the optimum on-line concentration and separation conditions were determined. In the analysis of an actual sample, LSD was found in a blood sample from a test mouse (0.1 mg LSD fed to a 20 g mouse; approximately 1/10 to the value of LD(50)). As a result, 120 and 30 ng/mL of LSD was detected at 20 and 60 min, respectively, after ingestion of the doses.

Development of high current beam ns pulsed system

CERN Document Server

Shen Guan Ren; Gao Fu; Guan Xia Ling; LiuNaiYi

2001-01-01

The development of high current beam ns pulsed system of CPNG and its characteristic, main technological performance and application are introduced. Firstly, important parameters of the system are calculated using theoretical model, the design requirements of some important parts are understood. Some mistakes in physics conception are corrected. Second, the chopper is designed for parallel plate deflector, chopping aperture and sine wave voltage sweeping device. It is emphasized that the conception of parallel plate load impedance is the capacitance load, but not the 50 ohm load impedance. The dynamic capacitance value has been measured. The output emphasizes the output voltage amplitude, but not the output power for sweeping device. The display system of output sweeping voltage was set up and it is sure that the maximum output voltage(V-V) is >=4000 V. The klystron buncher are re-designed. It is emphasized to overcome difficulty of support high voltage electrode in the klystron and insulator of input sine wa...

The Grid[Way] Job Template Manager, a tool for parameter sweeping

Science.gov (United States)

Lorca, Alejandro; Huedo, Eduardo; Llorente, Ignacio M.

2011-04-01

Parameter sweeping is a widely used algorithmic technique in computational science. It is specially suited for high-throughput computing since the jobs evaluating the parameter space are loosely coupled or independent. A tool that integrates the modeling of a parameter study with the control of jobs in a distributed architecture is presented. The main task is to facilitate the creation and deletion of job templates, which are the elements describing the jobs to be run. Extra functionality relies upon the GridWay Metascheduler, acting as the middleware layer for job submission and control. It supports interesting features like multi-dimensional sweeping space, wildcarding of parameters, functional evaluation of ranges, value-skipping and job template automatic indexation. The use of this tool increases the reliability of the parameter sweep study thanks to the systematic bookkeeping of job templates and respective job statuses. Furthermore, it simplifies the porting of the target application to the grid reducing the required amount of time and effort. Program summaryProgram title: Grid[Way] Job Template Manager (version 1.0) Catalogue identifier: AEIE_v1_0 Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/AEIE_v1_0.html Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen's University, Belfast, N. Ireland Licensing provisions: Apache license 2.0 No. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 3545 No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 126 879 Distribution format: tar.gz Programming language: Perl 5.8.5 and above Computer: Any (tested on PC x86 and x86_64) Operating system: Unix, GNU/Linux (tested on Ubuntu 9.04, Scientific Linux 4.7, centOS 5.4), Mac OS X (tested on Snow Leopard 10.6) RAM: 10 MB Classification: 6.5 External routines: The GridWay Metascheduler [1]. Nature of problem: To parameterize and manage an application running on a grid or cluster. Solution method: Generation of job templates as a cross product of

Signatures of soft sweeps across the Dt1 locus underlying determinate growth habit in soya bean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhong, Limei; Yang, Qiaomei; Yan, Xin; Yu, Chao; Su, Liu; Zhang, Xifeng; Zhu, Youlin

2017-09-01

Determinate growth habit is an agronomically important trait associated with domestication in soya bean. Previous studies have demonstrated that the emergence of determinacy is correlated with artificial selection on four nonsynonymous mutations in the Dt1 gene. To better understand the signatures of the soft sweeps across the Dt1 locus and track the origins of the determinate alleles, we examined patterns of nucleotide variation in Dt1 and the surrounding genomic region of approximately 800 kb. Four local, asymmetrical hard sweeps on four determinate alleles, sized approximately 660, 120, 220 and 150 kb, were identified, which constitute the soft sweeps for the adaptation. These variable-sized sweeps substantially reflected the strength and timing of selection and indicated that the selection on the alleles had been completed rapidly within half a century. Statistics of EHH, iHS, H12 and H2/H1 based on haplotype data had the power to detect the soft sweeps, revealing distinct signatures of extensive long-range LD and haplotype homozygosity, and multiple frequent adaptive haplotypes. A haplotype network constructed for Dt1 and a phylogenetic tree based on its extended haplotype block implied independent sources of the adaptive alleles through de novo mutations or rare standing variation in quick succession during the selective phase, strongly supporting multiple origins of the determinacy. We propose that the adaptation of soya bean determinacy is guided by a model of soft sweeps and that this model might be indispensable during crop domestication or evolution. © 2017 The Authors. Molecular Ecology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Acetate and phosphate anion adsorption linear sweep voltammograms simulated using density functional theory

KAUST Repository

Savizi, Iman Shahidi Pour

2011-04-01

Specific adsorption of anions to electrode surfaces may alter the rates of electrocatalytic reactions. Density functional theory (DFT) methods are used to predict the adsorption free energy of acetate and phosphate anions as a function of Pt(1 1 1) electrode potential. Four models of the electrode potential are used including a simple vacuum slab model, an applied electric field model with and without the inclusion of a solvating water bi-layer, and the double reference model. The linear sweep voltammogram (LSV) due to anion adsorption is simulated using the DFT results. The inclusion of solvation at the electrochemical interface is necessary for accurately predicting the adsorption peak position. The Langmuir model is sufficient for predicting the adsorption peak shape, indicating coverage effects are minor in altering the LSV for acetate and phosphate adsorption. Anion adsorption peak positions are determined for solution phase anion concentrations present in microbial fuel cells and microbial electrolysis cells and discussion is provided as to the impact of anion adsorption on oxygen reduction and hydrogen evolution reaction rates in these devices. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Current-voltage-temperature characteristics of DNA origami

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bellido, Edson P; Bobadilla, Alfredo D; Rangel, Norma L; Seminario, Jorge M [Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77843 (United States); Zhong Hong; Norton, Michael L [Department of Chemistry, Marshall University, Huntington, WV 25755 (United States); Sinitskii, Alexander [Department of Chemistry, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005 (United States)

2009-04-29

The temperature dependences of the current-voltage characteristics of a sample of triangular DNA origami deposited in a 100 nm gap between platinum electrodes are measured using a probe station. Below 240 K, the sample shows high impedance, similar to that of the substrate. Near room temperature the current shows exponential behavior with respect to the inverse of temperature. Sweep times of 1 s do not yield a steady state; however sweep times of 450 s for the bias voltage secure a steady state. The thermionic emission and hopping conduction models yield similar barriers of {approx}0.7 eV at low voltages. For high voltages, the hopping conduction mechanism yields a barrier of 0.9 eV and the thermionic emission yields 1.1 eV. The experimental data set suggests that the dominant conduction mechanism is hopping in the range 280-320 K. The results are consistent with theoretical and experimental estimates of the barrier for related molecules.

Current-voltage-temperature characteristics of DNA origami

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bellido, Edson P; Bobadilla, Alfredo D; Rangel, Norma L; Seminario, Jorge M; Zhong Hong; Norton, Michael L; Sinitskii, Alexander

2009-01-01

The temperature dependences of the current-voltage characteristics of a sample of triangular DNA origami deposited in a 100 nm gap between platinum electrodes are measured using a probe station. Below 240 K, the sample shows high impedance, similar to that of the substrate. Near room temperature the current shows exponential behavior with respect to the inverse of temperature. Sweep times of 1 s do not yield a steady state; however sweep times of 450 s for the bias voltage secure a steady state. The thermionic emission and hopping conduction models yield similar barriers of ∼0.7 eV at low voltages. For high voltages, the hopping conduction mechanism yields a barrier of 0.9 eV and the thermionic emission yields 1.1 eV. The experimental data set suggests that the dominant conduction mechanism is hopping in the range 280-320 K. The results are consistent with theoretical and experimental estimates of the barrier for related molecules.

Performance of the SWEEP model affected by estimates of threshold friction velocity

Science.gov (United States)

The Wind Erosion Prediction System (WEPS) is a process-based model and needs to be verified under a broad range of climatic, soil, and management conditions. Occasional failure of the WEPS erosion submodel (Single-event Wind Erosion Evaluation Program or SWEEP) to simulate erosion in the Columbia Pl...

Acetate and phosphate anion adsorption linear sweep voltammograms simulated using density functional theory

KAUST Repository

Savizi, Iman Shahidi Pour; Janik, Michael J.

2011-01-01

) electrode potential. Four models of the electrode potential are used including a simple vacuum slab model, an applied electric field model with and without the inclusion of a solvating water bi-layer, and the double reference model. The linear sweep

Combustion systems and power plants incorporating parallel carbon dioxide capture and sweep-based membrane separation units to remove carbon dioxide from combustion gases

Science.gov (United States)

Wijmans, Johannes G [Menlo Park, CA; Merkel, Timothy C [Menlo Park, CA; Baker, Richard W [Palo Alto, CA

2011-10-11

Disclosed herein are combustion systems and power plants that incorporate sweep-based membrane separation units to remove carbon dioxide from combustion gases. In its most basic embodiment, the invention is a combustion system that includes three discrete units: a combustion unit, a carbon dioxide capture unit, and a sweep-based membrane separation unit. In a preferred embodiment, the invention is a power plant including a combustion unit, a power generation system, a carbon dioxide capture unit, and a sweep-based membrane separation unit. In both of these embodiments, the carbon dioxide capture unit and the sweep-based membrane separation unit are configured to be operated in parallel, by which we mean that each unit is adapted to receive exhaust gases from the combustion unit without such gases first passing through the other unit.

Gas separation process using membranes with permeate sweep to remove CO.sub.2 from gaseous fuel combustion exhaust

Science.gov (United States)

Wijmans, Johannes G [Menlo Park, CA; Merkel, Timothy C [Menlo Park, CA; Baker, Richard W [Palo Alto, CA

2012-05-15

A gas separation process for treating exhaust gases from the combustion of gaseous fuels, and gaseous fuel combustion processes including such gas separation. The invention involves routing a first portion of the exhaust stream to a carbon dioxide capture step, while simultaneously flowing a second portion of the exhaust gas stream across the feed side of a membrane, flowing a sweep gas stream, usually air, across the permeate side, then passing the permeate/sweep gas back to the combustor.

Cross-calibrating Spatial Positions of Light-viewing Diagnostics using Plasma Edge Sweeps in DIII-D

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Solomon, W.M.; Burrell, K.H.; Gohil, P.; Groebner, R.; Kaplan, D.

2003-01-01

An experimental technique is presented that permits diagnostics viewing light from the plasma edge to be spatially calibrated relative to one another. By sweeping the plasma edge, each chord of each diagnostic sweeps out a portion of the light emission profile. A nonlinear least-squares fit to such data provides superior cross-calibration of diagnostics located at different toroidal locations compared with simple surveying. Another advantage of the technique is that it can be used to monitor the position of viewing chords during an experimental campaign to ensure that alignment does not change over time. Moreover, should such a change occur, the data can still be cross-calibrated and its usefulness retained

Initial tests of the dual-sweep streak camera system planned for APS particle-beam diagnostics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lumpkin, A.; Yang, B.; Gai, W.; Cieslik, W.

1995-01-01

Initial tests of a dual-sweep streak system planned for use on the Advanced Photon Source (APS) have been performed using assets of the Argonne Wakefield Accelerator (AWA) facility. The short light pulses from the photoelectric injector drive laser in both the visible (λ=496 nm, Δt∼1.5 ps (FWHM)), and the ultraviolet (λ=248 nm, Δt∼5 ps (FWHM)) were used. Both a UV-visible S20 photocathode streak tube and a UV-to-x-ray Au photocathode streak tube were tested. Calibration data with an etalon were also obtained. A sample of dual-sweep streak data using optical synchrotron radiation on the APS injector synchrotron is also presented

Spall behaviors of high purity copper under sweeping detonation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Yang, E-mail: yangyanggroup@163.com [School of Material Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083 (China); Institute of Fluid Physics, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621900 (China); National Key Laboratory of Explosion Science and Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081 (China); Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metals Material Science and Engineering of Ministry of Education, Central South University, Changsha 410083 (China); Zhi-qiang, Peng; Xing-zhi, Chen [School of Material Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083 (China); Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metals Material Science and Engineering of Ministry of Education, Central South University, Changsha 410083 (China); Zhao-liang, Guo; Tie-gang, Tang; Hai-bo, Hu [Institute of Fluid Physics, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621900 (China); Qing-ming, Zhang [National Key Laboratory of Explosion Science and Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081 (China)

2016-01-10

Suites of sweeping detonation experiments were conducted to assess the spall behavior of high purity copper samples with different heat treatment histories. Incipient spall samples were obtained at different sweeping detonation condition. Metallographic and Electron Backscattered Diffraction (EBSD) analyses were performed on the soft-recovered samples. The effects of grain boundaries, grain size, crystal orientation and loading direction on the spall behaviors were discussed. Spall plane branching was found in the main spall plane of the damage samples. For similar microstructure, the area of voids increase with the increase of shock stress, and the coalescence of voids also become more obvious. Results from EBSD analysis show that the grain sizes were decreased and the grains were elongated along the direction of the plate width. Triple junctions composed of two or more general high angle boundaries are the preferred locations for intergranular damage. Voids prefer to nucleate in the grain boundaries composed of grain with high Taylor Factor (TF) than other grains. The damage areas in the grains with high TF are more severe. Boundaries close to perpendicular to the loading direction are more susceptible to void nucleation than the boundaries close to parallel to the loading direction, but the difference of voids nucleated in these two boundaries is less significant than the results obtained by plate impact experiment. It would be caused by the obliquity between the shock loading direction and the plate normal.

Phylogeography of Nasonia vitripennis (Hymenoptera) indicates a mitochondrial-Wolbachia sweep in North America

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Raychoudhury, R.; Grillenberger, B. K.; Gadau, J.; Bijlsma, R.; van de Zande, L.; Werren, J. H.; Beukeboom, L. W.

Here we report evidence of a mitochondrial-Wolbachia sweep in North American populations of the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis, a cosmopolitan species and emerging model organism for evolutionary and genetic studies. Analysis of the genetic variation of 89 N. vitripennis specimens from Europe

On the effects of nonlinearities in room impulse response measurements with exponential sweeps

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ciric, Dejan; Markovic, Milos; Mijic, Miomir

2013-01-01

In room impulse response measurements, there are some common disturbances that affect the measured results. These disturbances include nonlinearity, noise and time variance. In this paper, the effects of nonlinearities in the measurements with exponential sweep-sine signals are analyzed from diff...

Potential effects of structural controls and street sweeping on stormwater loads to the lower Charles River, Massachusetts

Science.gov (United States)

Zarriello, Phillip J.; Breault, Robert F.; Weiskel, Peter K.

2002-01-01

The water quality of the lower Charles River is periodically impaired by combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and non-CSO stormwater runoff. This study examined the potential non-CSO load reductions of suspended solids, fecal coliform bacteria, total phosphorus, and total lead that could reasonably be achieved by implementation of stormwater best management practices, including both structural controls and systematic street sweeping. Structural controls were grouped by major physical or chemical process; these included infiltration-filtration (physical separation), biofiltration-bioretention (biological mechanisms), or detention-retention (physical settling). For each of these categories, upper and lower quartiles, median, and average removal efficiencies were compiled from three national databases of structural control performance. Removal efficiencies obtained indicated a wide range of performance. Removal was generally greatest for infiltration-filtration controls and suspended solids, and least for biofiltration-bioretention controls and fecal coliform bacteria. Street sweeping has received renewed interest as a water-quality control practice because of reported improvements in sweeper technology and the recognition that opportunities for implementing structural controls are limited in highly urbanized areas. The Stormwater Management Model that was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey for the lower Charles River Watershed was modified to simulate the effects of street sweeping in a single-family land-use basin. Constituent buildup and washoff variable values were calibrated to observed annual and storm-event loads. Once calibrated, the street sweeping model was applied to various permutations of four sweeper efficiencies and six sweeping frequencies that ranged from every day to once every 30 days. Reduction of constituent loads to the lower Charles River by the combined hypothetical practices of structural controls and street sweeping was estimated for a range

Acetylene Black Induced Heterogeneous Growth of Macroporous CoV2O6 Nanosheet for High-Rate Pseudocapacitive Lithium-Ion Battery Anode.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Lei; Zhao, Kangning; Luo, Yanzhu; Dong, Yifan; Xu, Wangwang; Yan, Mengyu; Ren, Wenhao; Zhou, Liang; Qu, Longbing; Mai, Liqiang

2016-03-23

Metal vanadates suffer from fast capacity fading in lithium-ion batteries especially at a high rate. Pseudocapacitance, which is associated with surface or near-surface redox reactions, can provide fast charge/discharge capacity free from diffusion-controlled intercalation processes and is able to address the above issue. In this work, we report the synthesis of macroporous CoV2O6 nanosheets through a facile one-pot method via acetylene black induced heterogeneous growth. When applied as lithium-ion battery anode, the macroporous CoV2O6 nanosheets show typical features of pseudocapacitive behavior: (1) currents that are mostly linearly dependent on sweep rate and (2) redox peaks whose potentials do not shift significantly with sweep rate. The macroporous CoV2O6 nanosheets display a high reversible capacity of 702 mAh g(-1) at 200 mA g(-1), excellent cyclability with a capacity retention of 89% (against the second cycle) after 500 cycles at 500 mA g(-1), and high rate capability of 453 mAh g(-1) at 5000 mA g(-1). We believe that the introduction of pseudocapacitive properties in lithium battery is a promising direction for developing electrode materials with high-rate capability.

Sweep visually evoked potentials and visual findings in children with West syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

de Freitas Dotto, Patrícia; Cavascan, Nívea Nunes; Berezovsky, Adriana; Sacai, Paula Yuri; Rocha, Daniel Martins; Pereira, Josenilson Martins; Salomão, Solange Rios

2014-03-01

West syndrome (WS) is a type of early childhood epilepsy characterized by progressive neurological development deterioration that includes vision. To demonstrate the clinical importance of grating visual acuity thresholds (GVA) measurement by sweep visually evoked potentials technique (sweep-VEP) as a reliable tool for evaluation of the visual cortex status in WS children. This is a retrospective study of the best-corrected binocular GVA and ophthalmological features of WS children referred for the Laboratory of Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision of UNIFESP from 1998 to 2012 (Committee on Ethics in Research of UNIFESP n° 0349/08). The GVA deficit was calculated by subtracting binocular GVA score (logMAR units) of each patient from the median values of age norms from our own lab and classified as mild (0.1-0.39 logMAR), moderate (0.40-0.80 logMAR) or severe (>0.81 logMAR). Associated ophthalmological features were also described. Data from 30 WS children (age from 6 to 108 months, median = 14.5 months, mean ± SD = 22.0 ± 22.1 months; 19 male) were analyzed. The majority presented severe GVA deficit (0.15-1.44 logMAR; mean ± SD = 0.82 ± 0.32 logMAR; median = 0.82 logMAR), poor visual behavior, high prevalence of strabismus and great variability in ocular positioning. The GVA deficit did not vary according to gender (P = .8022), WS type (P = .908), birth age (P = .2881), perinatal oxygenation (P = .7692), visual behavior (P = .8789), ocular motility (P = .1821), nystagmus (P = .2868), risk of drug-induced retinopathy (P = .4632) and participation in early visual stimulation therapy (P = .9010). The sweep-VEP technique is a reliable tool to classify visual system impairment in WS children, in agreement with the poor visual behavior exhibited by them. Copyright © 2013 European Paediatric Neurology Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sensitive Detection of Organophosphorus Pesticides in Medicinal Plants Using Ultrasound-Assisted Dispersive Liquid-Liquid Microextraction Combined with Sweeping Micellar Electrokinetic Chromatography.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Jin-Chao; Hu, Ji; Cao, Ji-Liang; Wan, Jian-Bo; He, Cheng-Wei; Hu, Yuan-Jia; Hu, Hao; Li, Peng

2016-02-03

A simple, rapid, and sensitive method using ultrasound-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (UA-DLLME) combined with sweeping micellar electrokinetic chromatography (sweeping-MEKC) has been developed for the determination of nine organophosphorus pesticides (chlorfenvinphos, parathion, quinalphos, fenitrothion, azinphos-ethyl, parathion-methyl, fensulfothion, methidathion, and paraoxon). The important parameters that affect the UA-DLLME and sweeping efficiency were investigated. Under the optimized conditions, the proposed method provided 779.0-6203.5-fold enrichment of the nine pesticides compared to the normal MEKC method. The limits of detection ranged from 0.002 to 0.008 mg kg(-1). The relative standard deviations of the peak area ranged from 1.2 to 6.5%, indicating the good repeatability of the method. Finally, the developed UA-DLLME-sweeping-MEKC method has been successfully applied to the analysis of the investigated pesticides in several medicinal plants, including Lycium chinense, Dioscorea opposite, Codonopsis pilosula, and Panax ginseng, indicating that this method is suitable for the determination of trace pesticide residues in real samples with complex matrices.

Comparison of measured and simulated friction velocity and threshold friction velocity using SWEEP

Science.gov (United States)

The Wind Erosion Prediction System (WEPS) was developed by the USDA Agricultural Research Service as a tool to predict wind erosion and assess the influence of control practices on windblown soil loss. Occasional failure of the WEPS erosion submodel (SWEEP) to simulate erosion in the Columbia Platea...

Sweeping-window arc therapy: an implementation of rotational IMRT with automatic beam-weight calculation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cameron, C

2005-01-01

Sweeping-window arc therapy (SWAT) is a variation of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) with direct aperture optimization (DAO) that is initialized with a leaf sequence of sweeping windows that move back and forth periodically across the target as the gantry rotates. This initial sequence induces modulation in the dose and is assumed to be near enough to a minimum to allow successful optimization, done with simulated annealing, without requiring excessive leaf speeds. Optimal beam weights are calculated analytically, with easy extension to allow for variable beam weights. In this paper SWAT is tested on a phantom model and clinical prostate case. For the phantom, constant and variable beam weights are used. Although further work (in particular, improving the dose model) is required, the results show SWAT to be a feasible approach to generating deliverable dynamic arc treatments that are optimized

Sweeping-window arc therapy: an implementation of rotational IMRT with automatic beam-weight calculation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cameron, C [Division of Radiation Physics, Department of Radiation Oncology, Stanford Cancer Center, 875 Blake Wilbur Drive, Rm G-233, Stanford, CA 94305-5847 (United States)

2005-09-21

Sweeping-window arc therapy (SWAT) is a variation of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) with direct aperture optimization (DAO) that is initialized with a leaf sequence of sweeping windows that move back and forth periodically across the target as the gantry rotates. This initial sequence induces modulation in the dose and is assumed to be near enough to a minimum to allow successful optimization, done with simulated annealing, without requiring excessive leaf speeds. Optimal beam weights are calculated analytically, with easy extension to allow for variable beam weights. In this paper SWAT is tested on a phantom model and clinical prostate case. For the phantom, constant and variable beam weights are used. Although further work (in particular, improving the dose model) is required, the results show SWAT to be a feasible approach to generating deliverable dynamic arc treatments that are optimized.

Activated carbon derived from melaleuca barks for outstanding high-rate supercapacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Qiu-Ping; Huang, Liang; Gao, Xiang; Cheng, Yongliang; Yao, Bin; Hu, Zhimi; Wan, Jun; Xiao, Xu; Zhou, Jun

2015-07-01

Activated carbon (AC) was prepared via carbonizing melaleuca bark in an argon atmosphere at 600 °C followed with KOH activation for high-rate supercapacitors. This AC electrode has a high capacitance of 233 F g-1 at a scan rate of 2 mV s-1 and an excellent rate capability of ˜80% when increasing the sweep rate from 2 to 500 mV s-1. The symmetric supercapacitor assembled by the above electrode can deliver a high energy density of 4.2 Wh kg-1 with a power density of 1500 W kg-1 when operated in the voltage range of 0-1 V in 1 M H2SO4 aqueous electrolyte while maintaining great cycling stability (less than 5% capacitance loss after 10 000 cycles at sweep rate of 100 mV s-1). All the outstanding electrochemical performances make this AC electrode a promising candidate for potential energy storage application.

Exponential rate of convergence in current reservoirs

OpenAIRE

De Masi, Anna; Presutti, Errico; Tsagkarogiannis, Dimitrios; Vares, Maria Eulalia

2015-01-01

In this paper, we consider a family of interacting particle systems on $[-N,N]$ that arises as a natural model for current reservoirs and Fick's law. We study the exponential rate of convergence to the stationary measure, which we prove to be of the order $N^{-2}$.

Wingbeat frequency-sweep and visual stimuli for trapping male Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae)

Science.gov (United States)

Combinations of female wingbeat acoustic cues and visual cues were evaluated to determine their potential for use in male Aedes aegypti (L.) traps in peridomestic environments. A modified Centers for Disease control (CDC) light trap using a 350-500 Hz frequency-sweep broadcast from a speaker as an a...

Singlet Oxygen Production by Illuminated Road Dust and Winter Street Sweepings

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, S.; Gan, L.; Gao, S.; Hoy, K. S.; Kwasny, J. R.; Styler, S. A.

2017-12-01

Road dust is an important urban source of primary particulate matter, especially in cities where sand and other traction materials are applied to roadways in winter. Although the composition and detrimental health effects of road dust are reasonably well characterized, little is currently known regarding its chemical behaviour. Motivated by our previous work, in which we showed that road dust is a photochemical source of singlet oxygen (1O2), we investigated 1O2 production by bulk winter street sweepings and by road dust collected in a variety of urban, industrial, and suburban locations in both autumn and spring. In all cases, the production of 1O2 by road dust was greater than that by Arizona test dust and desert-sourced dust, which highlights the unique photochemical environment afforded by this substrate. Mechanistically, we observed correlations between 1O2 production and the UV absorbance properties of dust extracts, which suggests the involvement of chromophoric dissolved organic matter in the observed photochemistry. Taken together, this work provides evidence that road dust-mediated photochemistry may influence the environmental lifetime of pollutants that react via 1O2-mediated pathways, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Sweep efficiency improvement of waterfloods in Steelman Units V and VII through the application of computer models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Woods, W S

1967-01-01

The use of a digital computer program as a tool to investigate the position of flood fronts in 2 Steelman units is described. The program involves a simulated potentiometric analyzer. Several years of historical performance were utilized and alterations to the model were made to match the historical performance until a satisfactory prediction is obtained. Subsequent to matching the historical performance, future predictions were obtained to evaluate the efficiency of the ultimate sweep configuration in the reservoir. These data are used as directives for improving the operation of the waterfloods. Rather than the complicated and elaborate computer techniques currently in use, it is suggested that the results obtained in this particular application of simple techniques provide sufficient economic operating directives.

On gas sweeping from central regions of galaxies with active nuclei

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silich, S.A.; Fomin, P.I.

1980-01-01

A mechanism of gas sweeping by shock waves from central regions of plane galaxies with active nuclei which is connected with the angular moment transfer from a stellar-cloud component to a gas one is considered. It is shown that shock waves are capable to form the observable density profile with the maximum at a distance of some kpc from galaxy centre for the time of the order of 10 9 years

Textural and rheological properties of Pacific whiting surimi as affected by nano-scaled fish bone and heating rates.

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Tao; Park, Jae W

2015-08-01

Textural and rheological properties of Pacific whiting (PW) surimi were investigated at various heating rates with the use of nano-scaled fish bone (NFB) and calcium chloride. Addition of NFB and slow heating improved gel strength significantly. Activity of endogenous transglutaminase (ETGase) from PW surimi was markedly induced by both NFB calcium and calcium chloride, showing an optimal temperature at 30°C. Initial storage modulus increased as NFB calcium concentration increased and the same trend was maintained throughout the temperature sweep. Rheograms with temperature sweep at slow heating rate (1°C/min) exhibited two peaks at ∼ 35°C and ∼ 70°C. However, no peak was observed during temperature sweep from 20 to 90°C at fast heating rate (20°C/min). Protein patterns of surimi gels were affected by both heating rate and NFB calcium concentration. Under slow heating, myosin heavy chain intensity decreased with NFB calcium concentration, indicating formation of ε-(γ-glutamyl) lysine cross-links by ETGase and NFB calcium ion. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

NGC 3312: A victim of ram pressure sweeping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mcmahon, P.M.; Richter, O.G.; Vangorkom, J.H.; Ferguson, H.C.

1990-01-01

Researchers are undertaking a volume limited survey of the Hydra I cluster in neutral hydrogen using the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Large Array (VLA). The main purpose is to study the effects of a dense environment on the gaseous component of the galaxies. Observational evidence has been accumulating recently that ram pressure sweeping does occur in the centers of clusters, but it is possible that tidal interactions play a role as well. Results of high resolution HI imaging of NGC 3312, the large peculiar spiral near the cluster center are presented. Hydra I (= A1060) is the nearest rich cluster beyond Virgo and, as such, presents a unique opportunity to do a complete survey of a cluster. It is similar to the Virgo cluster in many of its general physical characteristics, such as size, x ray luminosity, velocity dispersion, and galaxy content (high spiral fraction). However, Hydra I appears to be more regular and relaxed. This is evident in the x ray distribution in its central region, which is radially symmetric and centered on the dominant galaxy, NGC 3311, a cD-like elliptical. The observed x ray luminosity implies a central gas density of 4.5 x 10 to the 3rd power cm(-3). Gallagher (1978) argued from optical images of NGC 3312 that this galaxy might be an ideal candidate to directly study effects of the ram pressure process; it might currently be undergoing stripping of its interstellar medium. The researchers' data are consistent with this suggestion, but other origins of the peculiar appearance cannot yet be ruled out

Influence of sweeping detonation-wave loading on damage evolution during spallation loading of tantalum in both a planar and curved geometry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gray, George Thompson III [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Hull, Lawrence Mark [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Livescu, Veronica [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Faulkner, James [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Briggs, Matthew E. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Meyer, Ross Keith [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Andrews, Heather Lynn [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Hare, Steven John [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Jakulewicz, Micah Shawn [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Shinas, Michael A. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2015-03-30

Widespread research over the past five decades has provided a wealth of experimental data and insight concerning the shock hardening, damage evolution, and the spallation response of materials subjected to square-topped shock-wave loading profiles. However, fewer quantitative studies have been conducted on the effect of direct, in-contact, high explosive (HE)-driven Taylor wave (unsupported shocks) loading on the shock hardening, damage evolution, or spallation response of materials. Systematic studies quantifying the effect of sweeping-detonation wave loading are yet sparser. In this study, the damage evolution and spallation response of Ta is shown to be critically dependent on the peak shock stress, the geometry of the sample (flat or curved plate geometry), and the shock obliquity during sweeping-detonation-wave shock loading. Sweepingwave loading in the flat-plate geometry is observed to: a) yield a lower spall strength than previously documented for 1-D supported-shock-wave loading, b) exhibit increased shock hardening as a function of increasing obliquity, and c) lead to an increased incidence of deformation twin formation with increasing shock obliquity. Sweeping-wave loading of a 10 cm radius curved Ta plate is observed to: a) lead to an increase in the shear stress as a function of increasing obliquity, b) display a more developed level of damage evolution, extensive voids and coalescence, and lower spall strength with obliquity in the curved plate than seen in the flat-plate sweeping-detonation wave loading for an equivalent HE loading, and c) no increased propensity for deformation twin formation with increasing obliquity as seen in the flat-plate geometry. The overall observations comparing and contrasting the flat versus curved sweeping-wave spall experiments with 1D loaded spallation behavior suggests a coupled influence of obliquity and geometry on dynamic shock-induced damage evolution and spall strength. Coupled experimental and modeling research

A Support Vector Machine Approach for Truncated Fingerprint Image Detection from Sweeping Fingerprint Sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Chi-Jim; Pai, Tun-Wen; Cheng, Mox

2015-01-01

A sweeping fingerprint sensor converts fingerprints on a row by row basis through image reconstruction techniques. However, a built fingerprint image might appear to be truncated and distorted when the finger was swept across a fingerprint sensor at a non-linear speed. If the truncated fingerprint images were enrolled as reference targets and collected by any automated fingerprint identification system (AFIS), successful prediction rates for fingerprint matching applications would be decreased significantly. In this paper, a novel and effective methodology with low time computational complexity was developed for detecting truncated fingerprints in a real time manner. Several filtering rules were implemented to validate existences of truncated fingerprints. In addition, a machine learning method of supported vector machine (SVM), based on the principle of structural risk minimization, was applied to reject pseudo truncated fingerprints containing similar characteristics of truncated ones. The experimental result has shown that an accuracy rate of 90.7% was achieved by successfully identifying truncated fingerprint images from testing images before AFIS enrollment procedures. The proposed effective and efficient methodology can be extensively applied to all existing fingerprint matching systems as a preliminary quality control prior to construction of fingerprint templates. PMID:25835186

A Support Vector Machine Approach for Truncated Fingerprint Image Detection from Sweeping Fingerprint Sensors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chi-Jim Chen

2015-03-01

Full Text Available A sweeping fingerprint sensor converts fingerprints on a row by row basis through image reconstruction techniques. However, a built fingerprint image might appear to be truncated and distorted when the finger was swept across a fingerprint sensor at a non-linear speed. If the truncated fingerprint images were enrolled as reference targets and collected by any automated fingerprint identification system (AFIS, successful prediction rates for fingerprint matching applications would be decreased significantly. In this paper, a novel and effective methodology with low time computational complexity was developed for detecting truncated fingerprints in a real time manner. Several filtering rules were implemented to validate existences of truncated fingerprints. In addition, a machine learning method of supported vector machine (SVM, based on the principle of structural risk minimization, was applied to reject pseudo truncated fingerprints containing similar characteristics of truncated ones. The experimental result has shown that an accuracy rate of 90.7% was achieved by successfully identifying truncated fingerprint images from testing images before AFIS enrollment procedures. The proposed effective and efficient methodology can be extensively applied to all existing fingerprint matching systems as a preliminary quality control prior to construction of fingerprint templates.

Use of exhaust gas as sweep flow to enhance air separation membrane performance

Science.gov (United States)

Dutart, Charles H.; Choi, Cathy Y.

2003-01-01

An intake air separation system for an internal combustion engine is provided with purge gas or sweep flow on the permeate side of separation membranes in the air separation device. Exhaust gas from the engine is used as a purge gas flow, to increase oxygen flux in the separation device without increasing the nitrogen flux.

Higher-order turbulence statistics of wave–current flow over a submerged hemisphere

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barman, Krishnendu; Debnath, Koustuv; Mazumder, Bijoy S, E-mail: debnath_koustuv@yahoo.com [Department of Aerospace Engineering and Applied Mechanics, Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur, Howrah 711103, West Bengal (India)

2017-04-15

Higher-order turbulence characteristics such as turbulence production, turbulence kinetic energy flux, third order moments and velocity spectra associated with turbulent bursting events due to the influence of a submerged hemisphere under wave–current interactions are presented. The velocity components were measured using three dimensional (3D) 16 MHz micro-acoustic Doppler velocimetry (Micro-ADV). In the wave–current interactions, the contributions of turbulent bursting events such as ejections and sweeps significantly reduce in comparison to the current-only case. The distributions of the mean time intervals of ejection and sweeping events are found to alter due to the superposition of surface waves. Results also depict that the turbulence production in the wake region of the hemisphere reduces remarkably, due to the superposition of surface waves on the current. Further, spectral and co-spectral analysis demonstrates that there is a significant reduction of power spectral peak for both longitudinal and bottom-normal velocities upon superposition of surface waves, which signifies a remarkable change in energy distribution between different frequencies of waves. (paper)

Negative charging effect of traps on the gate leakage current of an AlGaN/GaN HEMT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, J. J.; Lim, J. H.; Yang, J. W. [Chonbuk National University, Jeonju (Korea, Republic of); Stanchina, W. [University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

2014-08-15

The negative charging effect of surface traps on the gate leakage current of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) was investigated. The gate leakage current could be decreased by two orders of magnitude by using a photo-electrochemical process to treat of the source and the drain region, but current flowed into the gate even at a negative voltage in a limited region when the measurement was executed with a gate voltage sweep from negative to positive voltage. Also the electrical characteristics of the HEMT were degraded by pulsed operation of the gate. Traps newly generated on the surface were regarded as sources for the current that flowed against the applied voltage, and the number of traps was estimated. Also, a slow transient in the drain current was confirmed based on the results of delayed sweep measurements.

Ring current energy injection rate and solar wind-magnetosphere energy coupling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, L.C.; Kan, J.R.; Akasofu, S.-I.

1982-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to (i) formulate the ring current injection rate Usub(R) in terms of phisub(CT) (cross-tail potential drop) by assuming that the ring current formation is a direct consequence of an enhanced convection, (ii) examine the relationship between the injection rate Usub(R) and the power transferred from the solar wind to the magnetosphere and (iii) demonstrate that an enhanced convection indeed leads to the formation of the ring current. (author)

Oscillation of Critical Current by Gate Voltage in Cooper Pair Transistor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, N.; Cheong, Y.; Song, W.

2010-01-01

We measured the critical current of a Cooper pair transistor consisting of two Josephson junctions and a gate electrode. The Cooper pair transistors were fabricated by using electron-beam lithography and double-angle evaporation technique. The Gate voltage dependence of critical current was measured by observing voltage jumps at various gate voltages while sweeping bias current. The observed oscillation was 2e-periodic, which shows the Cooper pair transistor had low level of quasiparticle poisoning.

Frequency comb calibrated frequency-sweeping interferometry for absolute group refractive index measurement of air.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Lijun; Wu, Xuejian; Wei, Haoyun; Li, Yan

2017-04-10

The absolute group refractive index of air at 194061.02 GHz is measured in real time using frequency-sweeping interferometry calibrated by an optical frequency comb. The group refractive index of air is calculated from the calibration peaks of the laser frequency variation and the interference signal of the two beams passing through the inner and outer regions of a vacuum cell when the frequency of a tunable external cavity diode laser is scanned. We continuously measure the refractive index of air for 2 h, which shows that the difference between measured results and Ciddor's equation is less than 9.6×10-8, and the standard deviation of that difference is 5.9×10-8. The relative uncertainty of the measured refractive index of air is estimated to be 8.6×10-8. The data update rate is 0.2 Hz, making it applicable under conditions in which air refractive index fluctuates fast.

Signatures of positive selection: from selective sweeps at individual loci to subtle allele frequency changes in polygenic adaptation.

Science.gov (United States)

Stephan, Wolfgang

2016-01-01

In the past 15 years, numerous methods have been developed to detect selective sweeps underlying adaptations. These methods are based on relatively simple population genetic models, including one or two loci at which positive directional selection occurs, and one or two marker loci at which the impact of selection on linked neutral variation is quantified. Information about the phenotype under selection is not included in these models (except for fitness). In contrast, in the quantitative genetic models of adaptation, selection acts on one or more phenotypic traits, such that a genotype-phenotype map is required to bridge the gap to population genetics theory. Here I describe the range of population genetic models from selective sweeps in a panmictic population of constant size to evolutionary traffic when simultaneous sweeps at multiple loci interfere, and I also consider the case of polygenic selection characterized by subtle allele frequency shifts at many loci. Furthermore, I present an overview of the statistical tests that have been proposed based on these population genetics models to detect evidence for positive selection in the genome. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Current rate of nucleosynthesis and its implications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mallik, D C.V.

1981-06-01

Comparisons among stellar birthrate figures for stars of 05-9 and B0, 0.5 and 1 spectral type show that the current rate of nucleosynthesis is compatible with the idea of massive stars producing most of the metals only in the event that the stellar birthrate decreased with time. The current stellar evolution data, as well as observations, do not support the premise that intermediate mass stars are the source of the bulk of the nucleosynthesis in the galaxy. It is concluded that the limits of the Simple Model must be surpassed with the supposition of prompt initial enrichment, in order foo the stellar birthrate to be constant while the metals originate in the massive stars.

Single feature polymorphism (SFP-based selective sweep identification and association mapping of growth-related metabolic traits in Arabidopsis thaliana

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stitt Mark

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Natural accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana are characterized by a high level of phenotypic variation that can be used to investigate the extent and mode of selection on the primary metabolic traits. A collection of 54 A. thaliana natural accession-derived lines were subjected to deep genotyping through Single Feature Polymorphism (SFP detection via genomic DNA hybridization to Arabidopsis Tiling 1.0 Arrays for the detection of selective sweeps, and identification of associations between sweep regions and growth-related metabolic traits. Results A total of 1,072,557 high-quality SFPs were detected and indications for 3,943 deletions and 1,007 duplications were obtained. A significantly lower than expected SFP frequency was observed in protein-, rRNA-, and tRNA-coding regions and in non-repetitive intergenic regions, while pseudogenes, transposons, and non-coding RNA genes are enriched with SFPs. Gene families involved in plant defence or in signalling were identified as highly polymorphic, while several other families including transcription factors are depleted of SFPs. 198 significant associations between metabolic genes and 9 metabolic and growth-related phenotypic traits were detected with annotation hinting at the nature of the relationship. Five significant selective sweep regions were also detected of which one associated significantly with a metabolic trait. Conclusions We generated a high density polymorphism map for 54 A. thaliana accessions that highlights the variability of resistance genes across geographic ranges and used it to identify selective sweeps and associations between metabolic genes and metabolic phenotypes. Several associations show a clear biological relationship, while many remain requiring further investigation.

Estimates of wave decay rates in the presence of turbulent currents

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thais, L. [Universite des Sciences et Technologies de Lille, URA-CNRS 1441, Villenauve d' Ascq (France). Lab. de Mecanique; Chapalain, G. [Universite des Sciences et Technologies de Lille, URA-CNRS 8577, Villenauve d' Ascq (France). Sedimentologie et Geodynamique; Klopman, G. [Albatros Flow Research, Vollenhove (Netherlands); Simons, R.R. [University College, London (United Kingdom). Civil and Environmental Engineering; Thomas, G.P. [University College, Cork (Ireland). Dept. of Mathematical Physics

2001-06-01

A full-depth numerical model solving the free surface flow induced by linear water waves propagating with collinear vertically sheared turbulent currents is presented. The model is used to estimate the wave amplitude decay rate in combined wave current flows. The decay rates are compared with data collected in wave flumes by Kemp and Simons [J Fluid Mech, 116 (1982) 227; 130 (1983) 73] and Mathisen and Madsen [J Geophys Res, 101 (C7) (1996) 16,533]. We confirm the main experimental finding of Kemp and Simons that waves propagating downstream are less damped, and waves propagating upstream significantly more damped than waves on fluid at rest. A satisfactory quantitative agreement is found for the decay rates of waves propagating upstream, whereas not more than a qualitative agreement has been observed for waves propagating downstream. Finally, some wave decay rates in the presence of favourable and adverse currents are provided in typical field conditions. (Author)

Objective quantification of the tinnitus decompensation by synchronization measures of auditory evoked single sweeps.

Science.gov (United States)

Strauss, Daniel J; Delb, Wolfgang; D'Amelio, Roberto; Low, Yin Fen; Falkai, Peter

2008-02-01

Large-scale neural correlates of the tinnitus decompensation might be used for an objective evaluation of therapies and neurofeedback based therapeutic approaches. In this study, we try to identify large-scale neural correlates of the tinnitus decompensation using wavelet phase stability criteria of single sweep sequences of late auditory evoked potentials as synchronization stability measure. The extracted measure provided an objective quantification of the tinnitus decompensation and allowed for a reliable discrimination between a group of compensated and decompensated tinnitus patients. We provide an interpretation for our results by a neural model of top-down projections based on the Jastreboff tinnitus model combined with the adaptive resonance theory which has not been applied to model tinnitus so far. Using this model, our stability measure of evoked potentials can be linked to the focus of attention on the tinnitus signal. It is concluded that the wavelet phase stability of late auditory evoked potential single sweeps might be used as objective tinnitus decompensation measure and can be interpreted in the framework of the Jastreboff tinnitus model and adaptive resonance theory.

Planetesimal formation by sweep-up coagulation

Science.gov (United States)

Windmark, Fredrik; Birnstiel, Til; Ormel, Chris W.; Dullemond, Cornelis P.

2013-07-01

The formation of planetesimals is often accredited to collisional sticking of dust grains in the protoplanetary disk. The exact process is however unknown, as collisions between larger aggregates tend to lead to fragmentation or bouncing rather than sticking. These growth barriers tend to halt the dust growth already at millimeters or centimeters in size, which is far below the kilometer-sizes that are needed for gravity to aid in the accretion. To study how far dust coagulation can proceed, we have developed a new collision model based on the latest laboratory experiments, and have used it together with a dust-size evolution code capable of resolving all grain interactions in the protoplanetary disk. We find that for the general dust population, bouncing and fragmenting collisions prevent the growth above millimeter-sizes. However, a small number of lucky particles can grow larger than the rest by only interacting at low, sticky velocities. As they grow, they become increasingly resilient to fragmentation caused by the small grains. In this way, two populations are formed: One which remains small due to the collisional barriers, and one that continues to grow by sweeping up the smaller grains around them.

Private selective sweeps identified from next-generation pool-sequencing reveal convergent pathways under selection in two inbred Schistosoma mansoni strains.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julie A J Clément

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The trematode flatworms of the genus Schistosoma, the causative agents of schistosomiasis, are among the most prevalent parasites in humans, affecting more than 200 million people worldwide. In this study, we focused on two well-characterized strains of S. mansoni, to explore signatures of selection. Both strains are highly inbred and exhibit differences in life history traits, in particular in their compatibility with the intermediate host Biomphalaria glabrata. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We performed high throughput sequencing of DNA from pools of individuals of each strain using Illumina technology and identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP and copy number variations (CNV. In total, 708,898 SNPs were identified and roughly 2,000 CNVs. The SNPs revealed low nucleotide diversity (π = 2 × 10(-4 within each strain and a high differentiation level (Fst = 0.73 between them. Based on a recently developed in-silico approach, we further detected 12 and 19 private (i.e. specific non-overlapping selective sweeps among the 121 and 151 sweeps found in total for each strain. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Functional annotation of transcripts lying in the private selective sweeps revealed specific selection for functions related to parasitic interaction (e.g. cell-cell adhesion or redox reactions. Despite high differentiation between strains, we identified evolutionary convergence of genes related to proteolysis, known as a key virulence factor and a potential target of drug and vaccine development. Our data show that pool-sequencing can be used for the detection of selective sweeps in parasite populations and enables one to identify biological functions under selection.

Reducing Side-Sweep Accidents with Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gamini Bulumulle

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Side-sweep accidents are one of the major causes of loss of life and property damage on highways. This type of accident is caused by a driver initiating a lane change while another vehicle is blocking the road in the target lane. In this article, we are trying to quantify the degree to which different implementations of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V communication could reduce the occurrence of such accidents. We present the design of a simulator that takes into account common sources of lack of driver awareness such as blind-spots and lack of attention. Then, we study the impact of both traditional, non-technological communication means such as turning signals as well as unidirectional and bidirectional V2V communications.

Theoretical study of electronic transfer current rate at dye-sensitized solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

AL-Agealy, Hadi J. M.; AlMaadhede, Taif Saad; Hassooni, Mohsin A.; Sadoon, Abbas K.; Ashweik, Ahmed M.; Mahdi, Hind Abdlmajeed; Ghadhban, Rawnaq Qays

2018-05-01

In this research, we present a theoretical study of electronic transfer kinetics rate in N719/TiO2 and N719/ZnO dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) systems using a simple model depending on the postulate of quantum mechanics theory. The evaluation of the electronic transition current rate in DSSC systems are function of many parameters such that; the reorientation transition energies ΛSe m D y e , the transition coupling parameter ℂT(0), potential exponential effect e-(E/C-EF ) kBT , unit cell volume VSem, and temperature T. Furthermore, the analysis of electronic transfer current rate in N719/TiO2 and N719/ZnO systems show that the rate upon dye-sensitization solar cell increases with increases of transition coupling parameter, decreasing potential that building at interface a results of different material in this devices and increasing with reorientation transition energy. On the other hand, we can find the electronic transfer behavior is dependent of the dye absorption spectrum and mainly depending on the reorientation of transition energy. The replacement of the solvents in both DSSC system caused increasing of current rates dramatically depending on polarity of solvent in subset devices. This change in current rate of electron transfer were attributed to much more available of recombination sites introduced by the solvents medium. The electronic transfer current dynamics are shown to occurs in N719/TiO2 system faster many time compare to ocuures at N719/ZnO system, this indicate that TiO2 a is a good and active material compare with ZnO to using in dye sensitized solar cell devices. In contrast, the large current rate in N719/TiO2 comparing to ZnO of N719/ZnO systems indicate that using TiO2 with N719 dye lead to increasing the efficiency of DSSC.

Genome-wide Selective Sweeps in Natural Bacterial Populations Revealed by Time-series Metagenomics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chan, Leong-Keat; Bendall, Matthew L.; Malfatti, Stephanie; Schwientek, Patrick; Tremblay, Julien; Schackwitz, Wendy; Martin, Joel; Pati, Amrita; Bushnell, Brian; Foster, Brian; Kang, Dongwan; Tringe, Susannah G.; Bertilsson, Stefan; Moran, Mary Ann; Shade, Ashley; Newton, Ryan J.; Stevens, Sarah; McMcahon, Katherine D.; Mamlstrom, Rex R.

2014-05-12

Multiple evolutionary models have been proposed to explain the formation of genetically and ecologically distinct bacterial groups. Time-series metagenomics enables direct observation of evolutionary processes in natural populations, and if applied over a sufficiently long time frame, this approach could capture events such as gene-specific or genome-wide selective sweeps. Direct observations of either process could help resolve how distinct groups form in natural microbial assemblages. Here, from a three-year metagenomic study of a freshwater lake, we explore changes in single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) frequencies and patterns of gene gain and loss in populations of Chlorobiaceae and Methylophilaceae. SNP analyses revealed substantial genetic heterogeneity within these populations, although the degree of heterogeneity varied considerably among closely related, co-occurring Methylophilaceae populations. SNP allele frequencies, as well as the relative abundance of certain genes, changed dramatically over time in each population. Interestingly, SNP diversity was purged at nearly every genome position in one of the Chlorobiaceae populations over the course of three years, while at the same time multiple genes either swept through or were swept from this population. These patterns were consistent with a genome-wide selective sweep, a process predicted by the ecotype model? of diversification, but not previously observed in natural populations.

Genome-wide Selective Sweeps in Natural Bacterial Populations Revealed by Time-series Metagenomics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chan, Leong-Keat; Bendall, Matthew L.; Malfatti, Stephanie; Schwientek, Patrick; Tremblay, Julien; Schackwitz, Wendy; Martin, Joel; Pati, Amrita; Bushnell, Brian; Foster, Brian; Kang, Dongwan; Tringe, Susannah G.; Bertilsson, Stefan; Moran, Mary Ann; Shade, Ashley; Newton, Ryan J.; Stevens, Sarah; McMahon, Katherine D.; Malmstrom, Rex R.

2014-06-18

Multiple evolutionary models have been proposed to explain the formation of genetically and ecologically distinct bacterial groups. Time-series metagenomics enables direct observation of evolutionary processes in natural populations, and if applied over a sufficiently long time frame, this approach could capture events such as gene-specific or genome-wide selective sweeps. Direct observations of either process could help resolve how distinct groups form in natural microbial assemblages. Here, from a three-year metagenomic study of a freshwater lake, we explore changes in single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) frequencies and patterns of gene gain and loss in populations of Chlorobiaceae and Methylophilaceae. SNP analyses revealed substantial genetic heterogeneity within these populations, although the degree of heterogeneity varied considerably among closely related, co-occurring Methylophilaceae populations. SNP allele frequencies, as well as the relative abundance of certain genes, changed dramatically over time in each population. Interestingly, SNP diversity was purged at nearly every genome position in one of the Chlorobiaceae populations over the course of three years, while at the same time multiple genes either swept through or were swept from this population. These patterns were consistent with a genome-wide selective sweep, a process predicted by the ‘ecotype model’ of diversification, but not previously observed in natural populations.

Cross-polarization phenomena in the NMR of fast spinning solids subject to adiabatic sweeps

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wi, Sungsool, E-mail: sungsool@magnet.fsu.edu, E-mail: lucio.frydman@weizmann.ac.il; Gan, Zhehong [National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Tallahassee, Florida 32304 (United States); Schurko, Robert [Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor N9B 3P4, Ontario (Canada); Frydman, Lucio, E-mail: sungsool@magnet.fsu.edu, E-mail: lucio.frydman@weizmann.ac.il [National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Tallahassee, Florida 32304 (United States); Department of Chemical Physics, Weizmann Institute of Sciences, 76100 Rehovot (Israel)

2015-02-14

Cross-polarization magic-angle spinning (CPMAS) experiments employing frequency-swept pulses are explored within the context of obtaining broadband signal enhancements for rare spin S = 1/2 nuclei at very high magnetic fields. These experiments employ adiabatic inversion pulses on the S-channel ({sup 13}C) to cover a wide frequency offset range, while simultaneously applying conventional spin-locking pulse on the I-channel ({sup 1}H). Conditions are explored where the adiabatic frequency sweep width, Δν, is changed from selectively irradiating a single magic-angle-spinning (MAS) spinning centerband or sideband, to sweeping over multiple sidebands. A number of new physical features emerge upon assessing the swept-CP method under these conditions, including multiple zero- and double-quantum CP transfers happening in unison with MAS-driven rotary resonance phenomena. These were examined using an average Hamiltonian theory specifically designed to tackle these experiments, with extensive numerical simulations, and with experiments on model compounds. Ultrawide CP profiles spanning frequency ranges of nearly 6⋅γB{sub 1}{sup s} were predicted and observed utilizing this new approach. Potential extensions and applications of this extremely broadband transfer conditions are briefly discussed.

The characteristics of void distribution in spalled high purity copper cylinder under sweeping detonation

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Yang; Jiang, Zhi; Chen, Jixinog; Guo, Zhaoliang; Tang, Tiegang; Hu, Haibo

2018-03-01

The effects of different peak compression stresses (2-5 GPa) on the spallation behaviour of high purity copper cylinder during sweeping detonation were examined by Electron Backscatter Diffraction Microscopy, Doppler Pins System and Optical Microscopy techniques. The velocity history of inner surface and the characteristics of void distributions in spalled copper cylinder were investigated. The results indicated that the spall strength of copper in these experiments was less than that revealed in previous reports concerning plate impact loading. The geometry of cylindrical copper and the obliquity of incident shock during sweeping detonation may be the main reasons. Different loading stresses seemed to be responsible for the characteristics of the resultant damage fields, and the maximum damage degree increased with increasing shock stress. Spall planes in different cross-sections of sample loaded with the same shock stress of 3.29 GPa were found, and the distance from the initiation end has little effect on the maximum damage degree (the maximum damage range from 12 to 14%), which means that the spallation behaviour was stable along the direction parallel to the detonation propagation direction under the same shock stress.

High-sweeping-speed optically synchronized dual-channel terahertz-signal generator for driving a superconducting tunneling mixer and its application to active gas sensing.

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Kyoung-Hwan; Shimizu, Naofumi; Kohjiro, Satoshi; Kikuchi, Ken'ichi; Wakatsuki, Atsushi; Kukutsu, Naoya; Kado, Yuichi

2009-10-12

We propose a high-sweeping-speed optically synchronized dual-channel terahertz (THz) signal generator for an active gas-sensing system with a superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixer. The generator can sweep a frequency range from 200 to 500 GHz at a speed of 375 GHz/s and a frequency resolution of 500 MHz. With the developed gas-sensing system, a gas-absorption-line measurement was successfully carried out with N(2)O gas in that frequency range.

Experimental transonic flutter characteristics of two 72 deg-sweep delta-wing models

Science.gov (United States)

Doggett, Robert V., Jr.; Soistmann, David L.; Spain, Charles V.; Parker, Ellen C.; Silva, Walter A.

1989-01-01

Transonic flutter boundaries are presented for two simple, 72 deg. sweep, low-aspect-ratio wing models. One model was an aspect-ratio 0.65 delta wing; the other model was an aspect-ratio 0.54 clipped-delta wing. Flutter boundaries for the delta wing are presented for the Mach number range of 0.56 to 1.22. Flutter boundaries for the clipped-delta wing are presented for the Mach number range of 0.72 to 0.95. Selected vibration characteristics of the models are also presented.

An Adaptive Sweep-Circle Spatial Clustering Algorithm Based on Gestalt

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qingming Zhan

2017-08-01

Full Text Available An adaptive spatial clustering (ASC algorithm is proposed in this present study, which employs sweep-circle techniques and a dynamic threshold setting based on the Gestalt theory to detect spatial clusters. The proposed algorithm can automatically discover clusters in one pass, rather than through the modification of the initial model (for example, a minimal spanning tree, Delaunay triangulation, or Voronoi diagram. It can quickly identify arbitrarily-shaped clusters while adapting efficiently to non-homogeneous density characteristics of spatial data, without the need for prior knowledge or parameters. The proposed algorithm is also ideal for use in data streaming technology with dynamic characteristics flowing in the form of spatial clustering in large data sets.

Thermo-mechanical design of a CW sweep plate emittance scanner

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rathke, J.; Peacock, M.; Sredniawski, J.

1996-01-01

A sweep plate emittance scanner for use with high power, continuous wave (CW) beams has been designed, fabricated and commissioned at Northrop Grumman. The design is capable of scanning beams of up to 20 kW beam power with a spot diameter as small as 2 cm. The scanner pod is mounted on a ball screw driven linear bearing table that is driven through the beam by a stepper motor at velocities up to 30 cm/sec. This paper presents the thermo-mechanical analysis of the pod moving through a gaussian beam and the details of the mechanical design of the pod and motion system. Analyses to determine scanner cooling schemes and structural materials are presented. (author)

Fast grid layout algorithm for biological networks with sweep calculation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kojima, Kaname; Nagasaki, Masao; Miyano, Satoru

2008-06-15

Properly drawn biological networks are of great help in the comprehension of their characteristics. The quality of the layouts for retrieved biological networks is critical for pathway databases. However, since it is unrealistic to manually draw biological networks for every retrieval, automatic drawing algorithms are essential. Grid layout algorithms handle various biological properties such as aligning vertices having the same attributes and complicated positional constraints according to their subcellular localizations; thus, they succeed in providing biologically comprehensible layouts. However, existing grid layout algorithms are not suitable for real-time drawing, which is one of requisites for applications to pathway databases, due to their high-computational cost. In addition, they do not consider edge directions and their resulting layouts lack traceability for biochemical reactions and gene regulations, which are the most important features in biological networks. We devise a new calculation method termed sweep calculation and reduce the time complexity of the current grid layout algorithms through its encoding and decoding processes. We conduct practical experiments by using 95 pathway models of various sizes from TRANSPATH and show that our new grid layout algorithm is much faster than existing grid layout algorithms. For the cost function, we introduce a new component that penalizes undesirable edge directions to avoid the lack of traceability in pathways due to the differences in direction between in-edges and out-edges of each vertex. Java implementations of our layout algorithms are available in Cell Illustrator. masao@ims.u-tokyo.ac.jp Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Current distribution characteristics of superconducting parallel circuits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mori, K.; Suzuki, Y.; Hara, N.; Kitamura, M.; Tominaka, T.

1994-01-01

In order to increase the current carrying capacity of the current path of the superconducting magnet system, the portion of parallel circuits such as insulated multi-strand cables or parallel persistent current switches (PCS) are made. In superconducting parallel circuits of an insulated multi-strand cable or a parallel persistent current switch (PCS), the current distribution during the current sweep, the persistent mode, and the quench process were investigated. In order to measure the current distribution, two methods were used. (1) Each strand was surrounded with a pure iron core with the air gap. In the air gap, a Hall probe was located. The accuracy of this method was deteriorated by the magnetic hysteresis of iron. (2) The Rogowski coil without iron was used for the current measurement of each path in a 4-parallel PCS. As a result, it was shown that the current distribution characteristics of a parallel PCS is very similar to that of an insulated multi-strand cable for the quench process

Rated-voltage enhancement by fast-breaking of the fault current for a resistive superconducting fault current limiter component

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, C.-R.; Kim, M.-J.; Yu, S.-D.; Yim, S.-W.; Kim, H.-R.; Hyun, O.-B.

2010-01-01

Performance of a resistive superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) component is usually limited by temperature rise associated with energy input by fault current application during a fault. Therefore, it is expected that short application of the fault current may enhance the power ratings of the component. This can be accomplished by a combination of a HTS component and a mechanical switch. The fast switch (FS) developed recently enables the fault duration to be as short as 1/2 cycle after a fault. Various second-generation (2G) high temperature superconductors (HTS) and YBCO thin films have been tested. The relation between the rated voltage V and the fault duration time t was found to be V 2 ∼ t -1 . Based upon the relation, we predict that when the FS break the fault current within 1/2 cycle after a fault, the amount of HTS components required to build an SFCL can be reduced by as much as about 60%, of that when breaking the fault current at three cycles.

Improving the sweeping efficiency of permanganate into low permeable zones to treat TCE: experimental results and model development.

Science.gov (United States)

Chokejaroenrat, Chanat; Kananizadeh, Negin; Sakulthaew, Chainarong; Comfort, Steve; Li, Yusong

2013-11-19

The residual buildup and treatment of dissolved contaminants in low permeable zones (LPZs) is a particularly challenging issue for injection-based remedial treatments. Our objective was to improve the sweeping efficiency of permanganate into LPZs to treat dissolved-phase TCE. This was accomplished by conducting transport experiments that quantified the ability of xanthan-MnO4(-) solutions to penetrate and cover (i.e., sweep) an LPZ that was surrounded by transmissive sands. By incorporating the non-Newtonian fluid xanthan with MnO4(-), penetration of MnO4(-) into the LPZ improved dramatically and sweeping efficiency reached 100% in fewer pore volumes. To quantify how xanthan improved TCE removal, we spiked the LPZ and surrounding sands with (14)C-lableled TCE and used a multistep flooding procedure that quantified the mass of (14)C-TCE oxidized and bypassed during treatment. Results showed that TCE mass removal was 1.4 times greater in experiments where xanthan was employed. Combining xanthan with MnO4(-) also reduced the mass of TCE in the LPZ that was potentially available for rebound. By coupling a multiple species reactive transport model with the Brinkman equation for non-Newtonian flow, the simulated amount of (14)C-TCE oxidized during transport matched experimental results. These observations support the use of xanthan as a means of enhancing MnO4(-) delivery into LPZs for the treatment of dissolved-phase TCE.

ASU nitrogen sweep gas in hydrogen separation membrane for production of HRSG duct burner fuel

Science.gov (United States)

Panuccio, Gregory J.; Raybold, Troy M.; Jamal, Agil; Drnevich, Raymond Francis

2013-04-02

The present invention relates to the use of low pressure N2 from an air separation unit (ASU) for use as a sweep gas in a hydrogen transport membrane (HTM) to increase syngas H2 recovery and make a near-atmospheric pressure (less than or equal to about 25 psia) fuel for supplemental firing in the heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) duct burner.

Ultrasonic flow-through filtration of microparticles in a microfluidic channel using frequency sweep technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seo, Dae Cheol; Ahn, Bong Young; Cho, Seung Hyun; Siddique, A. K. M. Ariful Haque; Kim, Cheol Gi

2013-01-01

Many studies have been conducted on the filtration of microparticles using the acoustic radiation force of ultrasonic standing wave. The present work concerns a flow-through particle filtration method by utilizing frequency varying ultrasound. The periodical frequency sweep of the ultrasonic standing wave translocates particles across a microchannel, where particles in fluid flow are filtrated without barriers. The present filtration technique in a microfluidic channel was proposed conceptually in the 1990s. However, its experimental realization on actual particles in a microfluidic channel has not been carried out in a notable way. Several sizes of polystyrene microspheres (10 µm to 90 µm) and silicon carbide (SiC) particles (37 µm) suspended in water were applied as a test sample. For filtration of those particles, a Y-branched microfluidic channel with one inlet and two outlets was made out of steel and acrylic as a form of modulized device. Ultrasound of a few MHz in band frequency (1.75 MHz to 3.05 MHz) was transmitted into one side of the channel wall to generate a standing wave field in fluid flow. The periodical frequency sweep operation showed successful filtration performance, whereby particles in water flowed into one outlet and purified water flowed into the other outlet of the Y branch of the channel.

Clearance rate of Mytilus edulis (L.) as a function of current velocity and mussel aggregation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Pernille; Vismann, Bent

2014-01-01

by current velocities up to 1.4 m/sec, whereas experiments with 3 mussels showed that clearance of the mussels decreased progressively at current velocities greater than 0.2 m/sec, and reached 0 L/h per individual at current velocities greater than 0.6 m/sec. The constant feeding at all current velocities......The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of water current velocities on the clearance rate of Mytilus edulis when different numbers of mussels were used in the experiments. An automatic setup, which controlled and monitored the algal concentration continually, was used to measure...... the effect of increasing current velocity (0.05-1.4 m/sec) on the M. edulis clearance rate. Clearance rate measurements were performed under constant food concentrations of 3,000 cells/mL of Rhodomonas salina on either 3 mussels or 20 mussels. We found that the clearance rate of 20 mussels was unaffected...

Quarter-Sweep Iteration Concept on Conjugate Gradient Normal Residual Method via Second Order Quadrature - Finite Difference Schemes for Solving Fredholm Integro-Differential Equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aruchunan, E.

2015-01-01

In this paper, we have examined the effectiveness of the quarter-sweep iteration concept on conjugate gradient normal residual (CGNR) iterative method by using composite Simpson's (CS) and finite difference (FD) discretization schemes in solving Fredholm integro-differential equations. For comparison purposes, Gauss- Seidel (GS) and the standard or full- and half-sweep CGNR methods namely FSCGNR and HSCGNR are also presented. To validate the efficacy of the proposed method, several analyses were carried out such as computational complexity and percentage reduction on the proposed and existing methods. (author)

The Relation between Recombination Rate and Patterns of Molecular Evolution and Variation in Drosophila melanogaster

Science.gov (United States)

Campos, José L.; Halligan, Daniel L.; Haddrill, Penelope R.; Charlesworth, Brian

2014-01-01

Genetic recombination associated with sexual reproduction increases the efficiency of natural selection by reducing the strength of Hill–Robertson interference. Such interference can be caused either by selective sweeps of positively selected alleles or by background selection (BGS) against deleterious mutations. Its consequences can be studied by comparing patterns of molecular evolution and variation in genomic regions with different rates of crossing over. We carried out a comprehensive study of the benefits of recombination in Drosophila melanogaster, both by contrasting five independent genomic regions that lack crossing over with the rest of the genome and by comparing regions with different rates of crossing over, using data on DNA sequence polymorphisms from an African population that is geographically close to the putatively ancestral population for the species, and on sequence divergence from a related species. We observed reductions in sequence diversity in noncrossover (NC) regions that are inconsistent with the effects of hard selective sweeps in the absence of recombination. Overall, the observed patterns suggest that the recombination rate experienced by a gene is positively related to an increase in the efficiency of both positive and purifying selection. The results are consistent with a BGS model with interference among selected sites in NC regions, and joint effects of BGS, selective sweeps, and a past population expansion on variability in regions of the genome that experience crossing over. In such crossover regions, the X chromosome exhibits a higher rate of adaptive protein sequence evolution than the autosomes, implying a Faster-X effect. PMID:24489114

An angularly refineable phase space finite element method with approximate sweeping procedure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kophazi, J.; Lathouwers, D.

2013-01-01

An angularly refineable phase space finite element method is proposed to solve the neutron transport equation. The method combines the advantages of two recently published schemes. The angular domain is discretized into small patches and patch-wise discontinuous angular basis functions are restricted to these patches, i.e. there is no overlap between basis functions corresponding to different patches. This approach yields block diagonal Jacobians with small block size and retains the possibility for S n -like approximate sweeping of the spatially discontinuous elements in order to provide efficient preconditioners for the solution procedure. On the other hand, the preservation of the full FEM framework (as opposed to collocation into a high-order S n scheme) retains the possibility of the Galerkin interpolated connection between phase space elements at arbitrary levels of discretization. Since the basis vectors are not orthonormal, a generalization of the Riemann procedure is introduced to separate the incoming and outgoing contributions in case of unstructured meshes. However, due to the properties of the angular discretization, the Riemann procedure can be avoided at a large fraction of the faces and this fraction rapidly increases as the level of refinement increases, contributing to the computational efficiency. In this paper the properties of the discretization scheme are studied with uniform refinement using an iterative solver based on the S 2 sweep order of the spatial elements. The fourth order convergence of the scalar flux is shown as anticipated from earlier schemes and the rapidly decreasing fraction of required Riemann faces is illustrated. (authors)

Jumps of the local magnetic field near CICC during external magnetic field ramp and their connection with the ramp rate limitation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vysotsky, V.S.; Takayasu, M.; Minervini, J.V.

1997-01-01

A new method has been developed to study Ramp Rate Limitation (RRL) phenomena. Samples of ITER-type cable-in-conduit (CICC) subcable were instrumented with local field sensors such as Hall probes and pick-up coils and then subjected to rapidly changing external magnetic field. The authors found that during fast field sweeps some discontinuous changes, or jumps occur in the local field. They believe that these jumps indicate a fast current redistribution processes inside CICC. Detailed information about local magnetic field jumps during changing field is presented. Possible origin of the jumps and their connection with RRL are discussed

Current Account Surpluses and the Interest Rate Island in Switzerland

OpenAIRE

Paolo Mauro

1995-01-01

This paper describes some long-run aspects of the Swiss balance of payments, highlighting two macroeconomic phenomena that make Switzerland stand out among other countries: first, it has had a persistent current account surplus and the largest ratio of net foreign assets to GDP in the world; second, its real interest rates have been significantly lower than those of most other industrialized countries, earning it the label “interest rate island”. These two distinctive features may be related,...

PH Sensitive Polymers for Improving Reservoir Sweep and Conformance Control in Chemical Flooring

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mukul Sharma; Steven Bryant; Chun Huh

2008-03-31

There is an increasing opportunity to recover bypassed oil from depleted, mature oilfields in the US. The recovery factor in many reservoirs is low due to inefficient displacement of the oil by injected fluids (typically water). The use of chemical flooding methods to increase recovery efficiencies is severely constrained by the inability of the injected chemicals to contact the bypassed oil. Low sweep efficiencies are the primary cause of low oil recoveries observed in the field in chemical flooding operations even when lab studies indicate high oil recovery efficiency. Any technology that increases the ability of chemical flooding agents to better contact the remaining oil and reduce the amount of water produced in conjunction with the produced oil will have a significant impact on the cost of producing oil domestically in the US. This translates directly into additional economically recoverable reserves, which extends the economic lives of marginal and mature wells. The objective of this research project was to develop a low-cost, pH-triggered polymer for use in IOR processes to improve reservoir sweep efficiency and reservoir conformance in chemical flooding. Rheological measurements made on the polymer solution, clearly show that it has a low viscosity at low pH and exhibits a sudden increase in viscosity (by 2 orders of magnitude or more) at a pH of 3.5 to 4. This implies that the polymer would preferentially flow into zones containing water since the effective permeability to water is highest in these zones. As the pH of the zone increases due to the buffering capacity of the reservoir rock, the polymer solution undergoes a liquid to gel transition causing a sharp increase in the viscosity of the polymer solution in these zones. This allows operationally robust, in-depth conformance treatment of such water bearing zones and better mobility control. The rheological properties of HPAM solutions were measured. These include: steady-shear viscosity and

Probing neutrino mass hierarchy by comparing the charged-current and neutral-current interaction rates of supernova neutrinos

OpenAIRE

Lai, Kwang-Chang; Lee, Fei-Fan; Lee, Feng-Shiuh; Lin, Guey-Lin; Liu, Tsung-Che; Yang, Yi

2016-01-01

The neutrino mass hierarchy is one of the neutrino fundamental properties yet to be determined. We introduce a method to determine neutrino mass hierarchy by comparing the interaction rate of neutral current (NC) interactions, $\

Monitoring current rates of salt dome movement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thoms, R.L.; Manning, T.A.

1977-01-01

The tectonic stability of salt domes is a major concern for long-term domal storage of noxious wastes. A necessary phase of the many faceted dome storage study includes obtaining a measure of current vertical movement of any potential storage dome. This information then can be combined with data obtained from studies involving geologic time scales so as to provide a history of dome movement that includes present time. A system of instrumentation for monitoring current rates of dome movement is described. Complimentary finite element modelling of plausible dome movement also is presented. The proposed instrumentation system includes tiltmeters, precise levelling, laser ranging, and monitoring of microseisms. Thus, components of rotation and vertical and horizontal movements at the ground surface over a dome can be monitored. In addition, a measure of dome movement also may be obtained acoustically. The finite element modelling furnishes an aid for: (1) locating instrument sites over a dome so as to maximize instrument sensitivity, and (2) interpreting data obtained from the instrumentation system. An example of tiltmeter installation and operation over a dome in northwest Louisiana is included. Typical tiltmeter output is presented and discussed

Dynamic control of low-Z material deposition and tungsten erosion by strike point sweeping on DIII-D

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Guterl

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Carbon deposition on tungsten between ELMs was investigated in DIII-D in semi-attached/detached H-mode plasma conditions using fixed outer strike point (OSP positions. Carbon deposition during plasma exposure of tungsten was monitored in-situ by measuring the reflectivity of the tungsten sample surface. No significant carbon deposition, i.e., without strong variations of the reflectivity, was observed during these experiments including discharges at high densities. In contrast, ERO modeling predicts a significant carbon deposition on the tungsten surface for those high density plasma conditions. The surface reflectivity decreases with methane injection, consistent with increased carbon coverage, as expected. The sweeping of OSP leads to a pronounced increase of the surface reflectivity, suggesting that the strike point sweeping may provide an effective means to remove carbon coating from tungsten surface. The ERO modeling however predicts again a regime of carbon deposition for these experiments. The discrepancies between carbon deposition regime predicted by the ERO model and the experimental observations suggest that carbon erosion during ELMs may significantly affect carbon deposition on tungsten.

Government Spending Shocks, the Current Account and the Real Exchange Rate in OECD Countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soyoung Kim

2008-06-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the effects of government spending shocks on the current account and the real exchange rate for 20 OECD countries using panel VAR model, in order to provide empirical stylized facts. The countries were grouped based on openness and size, and the influence of openness and size on the effects of government spending shocks. The main findings are as follows. First, in the analysis of all 20 countries, in response to government spending shocks, the worsening of the current account is significant, but real exchange rate appreciation is not significant. Second, real exchange rate appreciation is more significant and worsening of the current account is more temporary in the group of countries with higher openness than in those with low openness. Third, the worsening of the current account is more significant in the group of large countries than in the group of small countries. Although real exchange rate depreciation under fiscal expansion is not consistent with traditional theories, the results are broadly consistent with the existing theories that incorporate openness and the size of the country.

A parallel sweeping preconditioner for frequency-domain seismic wave propagation

KAUST Repository

Poulson, Jack

2012-09-01

We present a parallel implementation of Engquist and Ying\\'s sweeping preconditioner, which exploits radiation boundary conditions in order to form an approximate block LDLT factorization of the Helmholtz operator with only O(N4/3) work and an application (and memory) cost of only O(N logN). The approximate factorization is then used as a preconditioner for GMRES, and we show that essentially O(1) iterations are required for convergence, even for the full SEG/EAGE over-thrust model at 30 Hz. In particular, we demonstrate the solution of said problem in a mere 15 minutes on 8192 cores of TACC\\'s Lonestar, which may be the largest-scale 3D heterogeneous Helmholtz calculation to date. Generalizations of our parallel strategy are also briefly discussed for time-harmonic linear elasticity and Maxwell\\'s equations.

Advances in Current Rating Techniques for Flexible Printed Circuits

Science.gov (United States)

Hayes, Ron

2014-01-01

Twist Capsule Assemblies are power transfer devices commonly used in spacecraft mechanisms that require electrical signals to be passed across a rotating interface. Flexible printed circuits (flex tapes, see Figure 2) are used to carry the electrical signals in these devices. Determining the current rating for a given trace (conductor) size can be challenging. Because of the thermal conditions present in this environment the most appropriate approach is to assume that the only means by which heat is removed from the trace is thru the conductor itself, so that when the flex tape is long the temperature rise in the trace can be extreme. While this technique represents a worst-case thermal situation that yields conservative current ratings, this conservatism may lead to overly cautious designs when not all traces are used at their full rated capacity. A better understanding of how individual traces behave when they are not all in use is the goal of this research. In the testing done in support of this paper, a representative flex tape used for a flight Solar Array Drive Assembly (SADA) application was tested by energizing individual traces (conductors in the tape) in a vacuum chamber and the temperatures of the tape measured using both fine-gauge thermocouples and infrared thermographic imaging. We find that traditional derating schemes used for bundles of wires do not apply for the configuration tested. We also determine that single active traces located in the center of a flex tape operate at lower temperatures than those on the outside edges.

Study of plasma turbulence by ultrafast sweeping reflectometry on the Tore Supra Tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hornung, Gregoire

2013-01-01

The performance of a fusion reactor is closely related to the turbulence present in the plasma. The latter is responsible for anomalous transport of heat and particles that degrades the confinement. The measure and characterization of turbulence in tokamak plasma is therefore essential to the understanding and control of this phenomenon. Among the available diagnostics, the sweeping reflectometer installed on Tore Supra allows to access the plasma density fluctuations from the edge to the centre of the plasma discharge with a fine spatial (mm) and temporal resolution (μs), that is of the order of the characteristic turbulence scales.This thesis consisted in the characterization of plasma turbulence in Tore Supra by ultrafast sweeping reflectometry measurements. Correlation analyses are used to quantify the spatial and temporal scales of turbulence as well as their radial velocity. In the first part, the characterization of turbulence properties from the reconstructed plasma density profiles is discussed, in particular through a comparative study with Langmuir probe data. Then, a parametric study is presented, highlighting the effect of collisionality on turbulence, an interpretation of which is proposed in terms of the stabilization of trapped electron turbulence in the confined plasma. Finally, it is shown how additional heating at ion cyclotron frequency produces a significant though local modification of the turbulence in the plasma near the walls, resulting in a strong increase of the structure velocity and a decrease of the correlation time. The supposed effect of rectified potentials generated by the antenna is investigated via numerical simulations. (author) [fr

Calculating qP-wave traveltimes in 2-D TTI media by high-order fast sweeping methods with a numerical quartic equation solver

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Song; Zhang, Wei; Zhang, Jie

2017-09-01

A fast sweeping method (FSM) determines the first arrival traveltimes of seismic waves by sweeping the velocity model in different directions meanwhile applying a local solver. It is an efficient way to numerically solve Hamilton-Jacobi equations for traveltime calculations. In this study, we develop an improved FSM to calculate the first arrival traveltimes of quasi-P (qP) waves in 2-D tilted transversely isotropic (TTI) media. A local solver utilizes the coupled slowness surface of qP and quasi-SV (qSV) waves to form a quartic equation, and solve it numerically to obtain possible traveltimes of qP-wave. The proposed quartic solver utilizes Fermat's principle to limit the range of the possible solution, then uses the bisection procedure to efficiently determine the real roots. With causality enforced during sweepings, our FSM converges fast in a few iterations, and the exact number depending on the complexity of the velocity model. To improve the accuracy, we employ high-order finite difference schemes and derive the second-order formulae. There is no weak anisotropy assumption, and no approximation is made to the complex slowness surface of qP-wave. In comparison to the traveltimes calculated by a horizontal slowness shooting method, the validity and accuracy of our FSM is demonstrated.

Connecting the failure of K-theory inside and above vegetation canopies and ejection-sweep cycles by a large eddy simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Banerjee, Tirtha; De Roo, Frederik; Mauder, Matthias

2017-01-01

Parameterizations of biosphere-atmosphere interaction processes in climate models and other hydrological applications require characterization of turbulent transport of momentum and scalars between vegetation canopies and the atmosphere, which is often modeled using a turbulent analogy to molecular diffusion processes. However, simple flux-gradient approaches (K-theory) fail for canopy turbulence. One cause is turbulent transport by large coherent eddies at the canopy scale, which can be linked to sweep-ejection events, and bear signatures of non-local organized eddy motions. K-theory, that parameterizes the turbulent flux or stress proportional to the local concentration or velocity gradient, fails to account for these non-local organized motions. The connection to sweep-ejection cycles and the local turbulent flux can be traced back to the turbulence triple moment (C ′ W ′ W ′ )-bar. In this work, we use large-eddy simulation to investigate the diagnostic connection between the failure of K-theory and sweep-ejection motions. Analyzed schemes are quadrant analysis (QA) and a complete and incomplete cumulant expansion (CEM and ICEM) method. The latter approaches introduce a turbulence timescale in the modeling. Furthermore, we find that the momentum flux needs a different formulation for the turbulence timescale than the sensible heat flux. In conclusion, accounting for buoyancy in stratified conditions is also deemed to be important in addition to accounting for non-local events to predict the correct momentum or scalar fluxes.

Ion source plasma parameters measurement based on Langmuir probe with commercial frequency sweep

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xie, Y.H.; Hu, C.D.; Liu, S.; Shong, S.H.; Jiang, C.C.; Liu, Z.M.

2010-01-01

Langmuir probe is one of the main diagnostic tools to measure the plasma parameters in the ion source. In this article, the commercial frequency power, which is sine wave of 50 Hz, was supplied on the Langmuir probe to measure the plasma parameters. The best feature of this probe sweep voltage is that it does not need extra design. The probe I-V characteristic curve can be got in less than 5 ms and the plasma parameters, the electron temperature and the electron density, varying with the time can be got in one plasma discharge of 400 ms.

The strong selective sweep candidate gene ADRA2C does not explain domestication related changes in the stress response of chickens.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Magnus Elfwing

Full Text Available Analysis of selective sweeps to pinpoint causative genomic regions involved in chicken domestication has revealed a strong selective sweep on chromosome 4 in layer chickens. The autoregulatory α-adrenergic receptor 2C (ADRA2C gene is the closest to the selective sweep and was proposed as an important gene in the domestication of layer chickens. The ADRA2C promoter region was also hypermethylated in comparison to the non-selected ancestor of all domesticated chicken breeds, the Red Junglefowl, further supporting its relevance. In mice the receptor is involved in the fight-or-flight response as it modulates epinephrine release from the adrenals. To investigate the involvement of ADRA2C in chicken domestication, we measured gene expression in the adrenals and radiolabeled receptor ligand in three brain regions comparing the domestic White Leghorn strain with the wild ancestor Red Junglefowl. In adrenals ADRA2C was twofold greater expressed than the related receptor gene ADRA2A, indicating that ADRA2C is the predominant modulator of epinephrine release but no strain differences were measured. In hypothalamus and amygdala, regions associated with the stress response, and in striatum, receptor binding pIC50 values ranged between 8.1-8.4, and the level was not influenced by the genotyped allele. Because chicken strains differ in morphology, physiology and behavior, differences attributed to a single gene may be lost in the noise caused by the heterogeneous genetic background. Therefore an F10 advanced intercross strain between White Leghorn and Red Junglefowl was used to investigate effects of ADRA2C alleles on fear related behaviors and fecundity. We did not find compelling genotype effects in open field, tonic immobility, aerial predator, associative learning or fecundity. Therefore we conclude that ADRA2C is probably not involved in the domestication of the stress response in chicken, and the strong selective sweep is probably caused by selection

A selective sweep on a deleterious mutation in CPT1A in Arctic populations

KAUST Repository

Clemente, Florian J.

2014-11-01

Arctic populations live in an environment characterized by extreme cold and the absence of plant foods for much of the year and are likely to have undergone genetic adaptations to these environmental conditions in the time they have been living there. Genome-wide selection scans based on genotype data from native Siberians have previously highlighted a 3 Mb chromosome 11 region containing 79 protein-coding genes as the strongest candidates for positive selection in Northeast Siberians. However, it was not possible to determine which of the genes might be driving the selection signal. Here, using whole-genome high-coverage sequence data, we identified the most likely causative variant as a nonsynonymous G>A transition (rs80356779; c.1436C>T [p.Pro479Leu] on the reverse strand) in CPT1A, a key regulator of mitochondrial long-chain fatty-acid oxidation. Remarkably, the derived allele is associated with hypoketotic hypoglycemia and high infant mortality yet occurs at high frequency in Canadian and Greenland Inuits and was also found at 68% frequency in our Northeast Siberian sample. We provide evidence of one of the strongest selective sweeps reported in humans; this sweep has driven this variant to high frequency in circum-Arctic populations within the last 6-23 ka despite associated deleterious consequences, possibly as a result of the selective advantage it originally provided to either a high-fat diet or a cold environment.

A selective sweep on a deleterious mutation in CPT1A in Arctic populations

KAUST Repository

Clemente, Florian J.; Cardona, Alexia; Inchley, Charlotte E.; Peter, Benjamin M.; Jacobs, Guy; Pagani, Luca; Lawson, Daniel John; Antã o, Tiago; Vicente, Má rio; Mitt, Mario; Degiorgio, Michael; Faltyskova, Zuzana; Xue, Yali; Ayub, Qasim; Szpak, Michal; Mä gi, Reedik; Eriksson, Anders; Manica, Andrea; Raghavan, Maanasa; Rasmussen, Morten Arendt Rendt; Rasmussen, Simon B.; Willerslev, Eske; Vidal-Puig, Antonio J.; Tyler-Smith, Chris; Villems, Richard; Nielsen, Rasmus Wedel; Metspalu, Mait; Malyarchuk, Boris A.; Derenko, Miroslava V.; Kivisild, Toomas

2014-01-01

Arctic populations live in an environment characterized by extreme cold and the absence of plant foods for much of the year and are likely to have undergone genetic adaptations to these environmental conditions in the time they have been living there. Genome-wide selection scans based on genotype data from native Siberians have previously highlighted a 3 Mb chromosome 11 region containing 79 protein-coding genes as the strongest candidates for positive selection in Northeast Siberians. However, it was not possible to determine which of the genes might be driving the selection signal. Here, using whole-genome high-coverage sequence data, we identified the most likely causative variant as a nonsynonymous G>A transition (rs80356779; c.1436C>T [p.Pro479Leu] on the reverse strand) in CPT1A, a key regulator of mitochondrial long-chain fatty-acid oxidation. Remarkably, the derived allele is associated with hypoketotic hypoglycemia and high infant mortality yet occurs at high frequency in Canadian and Greenland Inuits and was also found at 68% frequency in our Northeast Siberian sample. We provide evidence of one of the strongest selective sweeps reported in humans; this sweep has driven this variant to high frequency in circum-Arctic populations within the last 6-23 ka despite associated deleterious consequences, possibly as a result of the selective advantage it originally provided to either a high-fat diet or a cold environment.

Nanoarchitectured current collector for high rate capability of polyaniline based supercapacitor electrode

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sumboja, Afriyanti; Wang Xu; Yan Jian; Lee, Pooi See

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Preparation of organic/inorganic coaxial nanowires. ► Modifying current collector to improve both capacitance and rate capability simultaneously. ► Improvement in the charge transport process resulted in the superior rate capability. - Abstract: Indium tin oxide (ITO) nanowires array was used as current collector and building block for polyaniline based supercapacitor. Thin polyaniline coating was deposited on the nanowires and resulted in the formation of polyaniline ITO coaxial nanowires. This hybrid heterostructure design improved the specific capacitance, rate capability, and cycling stability of the supercapacitor electrode. Good conductivity harnessed by these directly grown ITO nanowires is useful to improve the charge transport during the charge discharge processes which were confirmed by the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurement. Electrochemical test in 1 M H 2 SO 4 at 4 A g −1 delivered specific capacitance as high as 738 F g −1 . In addition, sub-micron size of the intercoaxial nanowires spacing ensures the fast penetration of electrolyte ions which resulted in the superior rate capability (98% capacitance retention when applied current was varied from 4 to 25 A g −1 ). The capacitance retention is significantly higher as compared to other polyaniline composite electrodes and it is one of the best reported performances to date for polyaniline based supercapacitor electrodes. This work illustrates a promising platform that can be adopted for other redox nanocomposite materials while reaping the benefit as low cost and binder free electrode material for supercapacitor application.

MHz repetition rate solid-state driver for high current induction accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brooksby, C; Caporaso, G; Goerz, D; Hanks, R; Hickman, B; Kirbie, H; Lee, B; Saethre, R.

1999-01-01

A research team from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Bechtel Nevada Corporation is developing an all solid-state power source for high current induction accelerators. The original power system design, developed for heavy-ion fusion accelerators, is based on the simple idea of using an array of field effect transistors to switch energy from a pre-charged capacitor bank to an induction accelerator cell. Recently, that idea has been expanded to accommodate the greater power needs of a new class of high-current electron accelerators for advanced radiography. For this purpose, we developed a 3-stage induction adder that uses over 4,000 field effect transistors to switch peak voltages of 45 kV at currents up to 4.8 kA with pulse repetition rates of up to 2 MHz. This radically advanced power system can generate a burst of five or more pulses that vary from 200 ns to 2 ampersand micro;s at a duty cycle of up to 25%. Our new source is precise, robust, flexible, and exceeds all previous drivers for induction machines by a factor of 400 in repetition rate and a factor of 1000 in duty cycle

Determination of underivatized amino acids to evaluate quality of beer by capillary electrophoresis with online sweeping technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Tian; Ke, Jing; Xie, Yunfei; Dong, Yuming

2017-10-01

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) with ultraviolet detection was applied to determine underivatized amino acids in beer, based on the coordination interaction of copper ions and amino acids. An online sweeping technique was combined with CE to improve detection sensitivity. Using the United Nations Food Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization model of essential amino acid pattern and flavor of amino acids, the quality and taste in three kinds of beer were evaluated. It was found that Beer2 had higher quality than the other two kinds and the content of phenylalanine, proline, serine, and isoleucine was relatively large in all three kinds of beers with a great influence on beer flavor. Optimal conditions for separation were as follows: 50mM CuSO 4 at pH 4.40 as buffer; total length of fused silica capillary, 73 cm; effective length, 65 cm; separation voltage, 22.5 kV; and optimized sweeping condition, 70 seconds. In the appropriate range, linearity (r 2  > 0.9989), precision with a relative standard deviation amino acids in beer and to perform quantitative analysis directly without derivatization for the first time. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Surfaces Relief Profilometry of Solid Objects by Sweeping of a Laser Line

Science.gov (United States)

Salas-Peimbert, Didia P.; Trujillo-Schiaffino, Gerardo; Mendoza-Villegas, Paloma G.; Ojeda-González, Daniel; Almazán-Cuellar, Saúl; Corral-Martínez, Luis F.

2008-04-01

This paper describes the development of a laser system for the digitalization and three-dimensional reconstruction of solid objects. The first step consists of applying on the object a linear sweeping of a thin laser line using a laser diode with 635 nm and 5 mW, a motorized stage for linear displacement of 138 mm, and a controller with RS232 interface. The next step consists of capturing and transmitting the image of the deformed line on the object to a computer. For this step was used a monochrome camera CCD, and an image acquisition board. The last step consists of the three-dimensional reconstruction of the solid object. All the corresponding algorithms were implemented using the programming language LabVIEW.

Genomic Footprints of Selective Sweeps from Metabolic Resistance to Pyrethroids in African Malaria Vectors Are Driven by Scale up of Insecticide-Based Vector Control.

Science.gov (United States)

Barnes, Kayla G; Weedall, Gareth D; Ndula, Miranda; Irving, Helen; Mzihalowa, Themba; Hemingway, Janet; Wondji, Charles S

2017-02-01

Insecticide resistance in mosquito populations threatens recent successes in malaria prevention. Elucidating patterns of genetic structure in malaria vectors to predict the speed and direction of the spread of resistance is essential to get ahead of the 'resistance curve' and to avert a public health catastrophe. Here, applying a combination of microsatellite analysis, whole genome sequencing and targeted sequencing of a resistance locus, we elucidated the continent-wide population structure of a major African malaria vector, Anopheles funestus. We identified a major selective sweep in a genomic region controlling cytochrome P450-based metabolic resistance conferring high resistance to pyrethroids. This selective sweep occurred since 2002, likely as a direct consequence of scaled up vector control as revealed by whole genome and fine-scale sequencing of pre- and post-intervention populations. Fine-scaled analysis of the pyrethroid resistance locus revealed that a resistance-associated allele of the cytochrome P450 monooxygenase CYP6P9a has swept through southern Africa to near fixation, in contrast to high polymorphism levels before interventions, conferring high levels of pyrethroid resistance linked to control failure. Population structure analysis revealed a barrier to gene flow between southern Africa and other areas, which may prevent or slow the spread of the southern mechanism of pyrethroid resistance to other regions. By identifying a genetic signature of pyrethroid-based interventions, we have demonstrated the intense selective pressure that control interventions exert on mosquito populations. If this level of selection and spread of resistance continues unabated, our ability to control malaria with current interventions will be compromised.

Genomic Footprints of Selective Sweeps from Metabolic Resistance to Pyrethroids in African Malaria Vectors Are Driven by Scale up of Insecticide-Based Vector Control.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kayla G Barnes

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Insecticide resistance in mosquito populations threatens recent successes in malaria prevention. Elucidating patterns of genetic structure in malaria vectors to predict the speed and direction of the spread of resistance is essential to get ahead of the 'resistance curve' and to avert a public health catastrophe. Here, applying a combination of microsatellite analysis, whole genome sequencing and targeted sequencing of a resistance locus, we elucidated the continent-wide population structure of a major African malaria vector, Anopheles funestus. We identified a major selective sweep in a genomic region controlling cytochrome P450-based metabolic resistance conferring high resistance to pyrethroids. This selective sweep occurred since 2002, likely as a direct consequence of scaled up vector control as revealed by whole genome and fine-scale sequencing of pre- and post-intervention populations. Fine-scaled analysis of the pyrethroid resistance locus revealed that a resistance-associated allele of the cytochrome P450 monooxygenase CYP6P9a has swept through southern Africa to near fixation, in contrast to high polymorphism levels before interventions, conferring high levels of pyrethroid resistance linked to control failure. Population structure analysis revealed a barrier to gene flow between southern Africa and other areas, which may prevent or slow the spread of the southern mechanism of pyrethroid resistance to other regions. By identifying a genetic signature of pyrethroid-based interventions, we have demonstrated the intense selective pressure that control interventions exert on mosquito populations. If this level of selection and spread of resistance continues unabated, our ability to control malaria with current interventions will be compromised.

EQUATIONS OF RADIATION TRANSFER IN INFRARED TOMOGRAPHY IN THE CASE OF ACTIVE-PASSIVE DIAGNOSIS AND SWEEPING SCANNING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. A. Makarova

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Sweeping scanning scheme of a hot gas in the task of infrared tomography is formulated. Two diagnosis regimes are used: the active one (ON – with included source and the passive one (OFF – without it. Two integral equations are deduced concerning the absorption coefficient k and the Planck function B of a medium (by which it is possible to calculate the temperature profile of a medium T.

Hysteresis of critical currents of superconducting bridges in low perpendicular magnetic fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aomine, T.; Tanaka, E.; Yamasaki, S.; Tani, K.; Yonekura, A.

1989-01-01

Hysteresis of critical currents I c of superconducting bridges with In, Nb, and NbN has been studied in low perpendicular magnetic fields. Influences of bridge geometry, small field sweep, trapped flux, and bombardment of argon ions on the hysteresis were made clear. The experimental results suggest that the edge pinning and trapped flux in the bank of bridges are associated with the hysteresis. The peak value of I c of NbN bridges, as well as granular Al and In bridges reported before, in decreasing fields agrees with the calculated pair-breaking current. The origin of the hysteresis is discussed

Microcephaly Case Fatality Rate Associated with Zika Virus Infection in Brazil: Current Estimates.

Science.gov (United States)

Cunha, Antonio José Ledo Alves da; de Magalhães-Barbosa, Maria Clara; Lima-Setta, Fernanda; Medronho, Roberto de Andrade; Prata-Barbosa, Arnaldo

2017-05-01

Considering the currently confirmed cases of microcephaly and related deaths associated with Zika virus in Brazil, the estimated case fatality rate is 8.3% (95% confidence interval: 7.2-9.6). However, a third of the reported cases remain under investigation. If the confirmation rates of cases and deaths are the same in the future, the estimated case fatality rate will be as high as 10.5% (95% confidence interval: 9.5-11.7).

Generation of constant-amplitude radio-frequency sweeps at a tunnel junction for spin resonance STM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paul, William; Lutz, Christopher P.; Heinrich, Andreas J.; Baumann, Susanne

2016-01-01

We describe the measurement and successful compensation of the radio-frequency transfer function of a scanning tunneling microscope over a wide frequency range (15.5–35.5 GHz) and with high dynamic range (>50 dB). The precise compensation of cabling resonances and attenuations is critical for the production of constant-voltage frequency sweeps for electric-field driven electron spin resonance (ESR) experiments. We also demonstrate that a well-calibrated tunnel junction voltage is necessary to avoid spurious ESR peaks that can arise due to a non-flat transfer function.

Generation of constant-amplitude radio-frequency sweeps at a tunnel junction for spin resonance STM

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Paul, William; Lutz, Christopher P.; Heinrich, Andreas J. [IBM Research Division, Almaden Research Center, 650 Harry Road, San Jose, California 95120 (United States); Baumann, Susanne [IBM Research Division, Almaden Research Center, 650 Harry Road, San Jose, California 95120 (United States); Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, CH-4056 Basel (Switzerland)

2016-07-15

We describe the measurement and successful compensation of the radio-frequency transfer function of a scanning tunneling microscope over a wide frequency range (15.5–35.5 GHz) and with high dynamic range (>50 dB). The precise compensation of cabling resonances and attenuations is critical for the production of constant-voltage frequency sweeps for electric-field driven electron spin resonance (ESR) experiments. We also demonstrate that a well-calibrated tunnel junction voltage is necessary to avoid spurious ESR peaks that can arise due to a non-flat transfer function.

Farfield Ion Current Density Measurements before and after the NASA HiVHAc EDU2 Vibration Test

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Wensheng; Kamhawi, Hani; Shastry, Rohit

2012-01-01

There is an increasing need to characterize the plasma plume of the NASA HiVHAc thruster in order to better understand the plasma physics and to obtain data for spacecraft interaction studies. To address this need, the HiVHAc research team is in the process of developing a number of plume diagnostic systems. This paper presents the initial results of the farfield current density probe diagnostic system. Farfield current density measurements were carried out before and after a vibration test of the HiVHAc engineering development unit 2 that simulate typical launch conditions. The main purposes of the current density measurements were to evaluate the thruster plume divergence and to investigate any changes in the plasma plume that may occur as a result of the vibration test. Radial sweeps, as opposed to the traditional polar sweeps, were performed during these tests. The charged-weighted divergence angles were found to vary from 16 to 28 degrees. Charge density profiles measured pre- and post-vibration-test were found to be in excellent agreement. This result, alongside thrust measurements reported in a companion paper, confirm that the operation of the HiVHAc engineering development unit 2 were not altered by full-level/random vibration testing.

Unsteady Flow Simulation of a Sweeping Jet Actuator Using a Lattice-Boltzmann Method

Science.gov (United States)

Duda, B.; Wessels, M.; Fares, E.; Vatsa, V.

2016-01-01

Active flow control technology is increasingly used in aerospace applications to control flow separation and to improve aerodynamic performance. In this paper, PowerFLOW is used to simulate the flow through a sweeping jet actuator at two different pressure ratios. The lower pressure ratio leads to a high subsonic flow, whereas the high pressure ratio produces a choked flow condition. Comparison of numerical results with experimental data is shown, which includes qualitatively good agreement of pressure histories and spectra. PIV measurements are also available but the simulation overestimates mean and fluctuation quantities outside the actuator. If supply pressure is matched at one point inside the mixing chamber a good qualitative agreement is achieved at all other monitor points.

Continuous sweep versus discrete step protocols for studying effects of wearable robot assistance magnitude.

Science.gov (United States)

Malcolm, Philippe; Rossi, Denise Martineli; Siviy, Christopher; Lee, Sangjun; Quinlivan, Brendan Thomas; Grimmer, Martin; Walsh, Conor J

2017-07-12

Different groups developed wearable robots for walking assistance, but there is still a need for methods to quickly tune actuation parameters for each robot and population or sometimes even for individual users. Protocols where parameters are held constant for multiple minutes have traditionally been used for evaluating responses to parameter changes such as metabolic rate or walking symmetry. However, these discrete protocols are time-consuming. Recently, protocols have been proposed where a parameter is changed in a continuous way. The aim of the present study was to compare effects of continuously varying assistance magnitude with a soft exosuit against discrete step conditions. Seven participants walked on a treadmill wearing a soft exosuit that assists plantarflexion and hip flexion. In Continuous-up, peak exosuit ankle moment linearly increased from approximately 0 to 38% of biological moment over 10 min. Continuous-down was the opposite. In Discrete, participants underwent five periods of 5 min with steady peak moment levels distributed over the same range as Continuous-up and Continuous-down. We calculated metabolic rate for the entire Continuous-up and Continuous-down conditions and the last 2 min of each Discrete force level. We compared kinematics, kinetics and metabolic rate between conditions by curve fitting versus peak moment. Reduction in metabolic rate compared to Powered-off was smaller in Continuous-up than in Continuous-down at most peak moment levels, due to physiological dynamics causing metabolic measurements in Continuous-up and Continuous-down to lag behind the values expected during steady-state testing. When evaluating the average slope of metabolic reduction over the entire peak moment range there was no significant difference between Continuous-down and Discrete. Attempting to correct the lag in metabolics by taking the average of Continuous-up and Continuous-down removed all significant differences versus Discrete. For kinematic and

Vertically oriented graphene bridging active-layer/current-collector interface for ultrahigh rate supercapacitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Bo, Zheng; Zhu, Weiguang; Ma, Wei; Wen, Zhenhai; Shuai, Xiaorui; Chen, Junhong; Yan, Jianhua; Wang, Zhihua; Cen, Kefa; Feng, Xinliang

2013-10-25

Dense networks of graphene nanosheets standing vertically on a current collector can work as numerous electrically conductive bridges to facilitate charge transport and mitigate the constriction/spreading resistance at the interface between the active material and the current collector. The vertically oriented graphene-bridged supercapacitors present excellent rate and power capabilities. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

THE RATE OF CURRENT CHANGE DURING A SHORT CIRCUIT IN THE POWER CIRCUITS OF THE ELECTRIC ROLLING STOCK WITH REGARD TO EDDY CURRENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. V. Dubinets

2010-04-01

Full Text Available In the article the issue of influence of vortical currents on rate of change of short circuit current is considered, a mathematical model for the calculation of short circuit currents in the traction mode in the power circuits of DC electric rolling stock is presented, and the research results are given.

Inhibition linearizes firing rate responses in human motor units: implications for the role of persistent inward currents.

Science.gov (United States)

Revill, Ann L; Fuglevand, Andrew J

2017-01-01

Motor neurons are the output neurons of the central nervous system and are responsible for controlling muscle contraction. When initially activated during voluntary contraction, firing rates of motor neurons increase steeply but then level out at modest rates. Activation of an intrinsic source of excitatory current at recruitment onset may underlie the initial steep increase in firing rate in motor neurons. We attempted to disable this intrinsic excitatory current by artificially activating an inhibitory reflex. When motor neuron activity was recorded while the inhibitory reflex was engaged, firing rates no longer increased steeply, suggesting that the intrinsic excitatory current was probably responsible for the initial sharp rise in motor neuron firing rate. During graded isometric contractions, motor unit (MU) firing rates increase steeply upon recruitment but then level off at modest rates even though muscle force continues to increase. The mechanisms underlying such firing behaviour are not known although activation of persistent inward currents (PICs) might be involved. PICs are intrinsic, voltage-dependent currents that activate strongly when motor neurons (MNs) are first recruited. Such activation might cause a sharp escalation in depolarizing current and underlie the steep initial rise in MU firing rate. Because PICs can be disabled with synaptic inhibition, we hypothesized that artificial activation of an inhibitory pathway might curb this initial steep rise in firing rate. To test this, human subjects performed slow triangular ramp contractions of the ankle dorsiflexors in the absence and presence of tonic synaptic inhibition delivered to tibialis anterior (TA) MNs by sural nerve stimulation. Firing rate profiles (expressed as a function of contraction force) of TA MUs recorded during these tasks were compared for control and stimulation conditions. Under control conditions, during the ascending phase of the triangular contractions, 93% of the firing

Probing neutrino mass hierarchy by comparing the charged-current and neutral-current interaction rates of supernova neutrinos

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lai, Kwang-Chang [Center for General Education, Chang Gung University,Kwei-Shan, Taoyuan, 333, Taiwan (China); Leung Center for Cosmology and Particle Astrophysics (LeCosPA), National Taiwan University, Taipei, 106, Taiwan (China); Lee, Fei-Fan [Institute of Physics, National Chiao Tung University,Hsinchu, 300, Taiwan (China); Lee, Feng-Shiuh [Department of Electrophysics, National Chiao Tung University,Hsinchu, 300, Taiwan (China); Lin, Guey-Lin [Leung Center for Cosmology and Particle Astrophysics (LeCosPA), National Taiwan University, Taipei, 106, Taiwan (China); Institute of Physics, National Chiao Tung University,Hsinchu, 300, Taiwan (China); Liu, Tsung-Che [Leung Center for Cosmology and Particle Astrophysics (LeCosPA), National Taiwan University, Taipei, 106, Taiwan (China); Yang, Yi [Department of Electrophysics, National Chiao Tung University,Hsinchu, 300, Taiwan (China)

2016-07-22

The neutrino mass hierarchy is one of the neutrino fundamental properties yet to be determined. We introduce a method to determine neutrino mass hierarchy by comparing the interaction rate of neutral current (NC) interactions, ν(ν-bar)+p→ν(ν-bar)+p, and inverse beta decays (IBD), ν-bar{sub e}+p→n+e{sup +}, of supernova neutrinos in scintillation detectors. Neutrino flavor conversions inside the supernova are sensitive to neutrino mass hierarchy. Due to Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein effects, the full swapping of ν-bar{sub e} flux with the ν-bar{sub x} (x=μ, τ) one occurs in the inverted hierarchy, while such a swapping does not occur in the normal hierarchy. As a result, more high energy IBD events occur in the detector for the inverted hierarchy than the high energy IBD events in the normal hierarchy. By comparing IBD interaction rate with the mass hierarchy independent NC interaction rate, one can determine the neutrino mass hierarchy.

Probing neutrino mass hierarchy by comparing the charged-current and neutral-current interaction rates of supernova neutrinos

Science.gov (United States)

Lai, Kwang-Chang; Lee, Fei-Fan; Lee, Feng-Shiuh; Lin, Guey-Lin; Liu, Tsung-Che; Yang, Yi

2016-07-01

The neutrino mass hierarchy is one of the neutrino fundamental properties yet to be determined. We introduce a method to determine neutrino mass hierarchy by comparing the interaction rate of neutral current (NC) interactions, ν(bar nu) + p → ν(bar nu) + p, and inverse beta decays (IBD), bar nue + p → n + e+, of supernova neutrinos in scintillation detectors. Neutrino flavor conversions inside the supernova are sensitive to neutrino mass hierarchy. Due to Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein effects, the full swapping of bar nue flux with the bar nux (x = μ, τ) one occurs in the inverted hierarchy, while such a swapping does not occur in the normal hierarchy. As a result, more high energy IBD events occur in the detector for the inverted hierarchy than the high energy IBD events in the normal hierarchy. By comparing IBD interaction rate with the mass hierarchy independent NC interaction rate, one can determine the neutrino mass hierarchy.

Probing neutrino mass hierarchy by comparing the charged-current and neutral-current interaction rates of supernova neutrinos

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lai, Kwang-Chang; Lee, Fei-Fan; Lee, Feng-Shiuh; Lin, Guey-Lin; Liu, Tsung-Che; Yang, Yi

2016-01-01

The neutrino mass hierarchy is one of the neutrino fundamental properties yet to be determined. We introduce a method to determine neutrino mass hierarchy by comparing the interaction rate of neutral current (NC) interactions, ν(ν-bar)+p→ν(ν-bar)+p, and inverse beta decays (IBD), ν-bar_e+p→n+e"+, of supernova neutrinos in scintillation detectors. Neutrino flavor conversions inside the supernova are sensitive to neutrino mass hierarchy. Due to Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein effects, the full swapping of ν-bar_e flux with the ν-bar_x (x=μ, τ) one occurs in the inverted hierarchy, while such a swapping does not occur in the normal hierarchy. As a result, more high energy IBD events occur in the detector for the inverted hierarchy than the high energy IBD events in the normal hierarchy. By comparing IBD interaction rate with the mass hierarchy independent NC interaction rate, one can determine the neutrino mass hierarchy.

Measuring the corrosion rate of steel in concrete – effect of measurement technique, polarisation time and current

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nygaard, Peter Vagn; Geiker, Mette Rica

2012-01-01

, are in some studies considered the main reasons for the variations. This paper presents an experimental study on the quantitative effect of polarisation time and current on the measured polarisation resistance – and thus the corrosion current density – of passively and actively corroding steel. Two...... electrochemical techniques often used in instruments for on-site corrosion rate measurements are investigated. On passively corroding reinforcement the measured polarisation resistance was for both techniques found to be highly affected by the polarisation time and current and no plateaus at either short or long...... rate for actively corroding steel. For both techniques guidelines for polarisation times and currents are given for (on-site) non-destructive corrosion rate measurements on reinforcement steel in concrete....

Critical system issues and modeling requirements - the problem of beam energy sweep in an electron linear induction accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turner, W.C.; Barrett, D.M.; Sampayan, S.E.

1991-01-01

In this paper the authors attempt to motivate the development of modeling tools for linear induction accelerator components by giving examples of performance limitations related to energy sweep. The most pressing issues is the development of an accurate model of the switching behavior of large magnetic cores at high dB/dt in the accelerator and magnetic compression modulators. Ideally one would like to have a model with as few parameters as possible that allows the user to choose the core geometry and magnetic material and perhaps a few parameters characterizing the switch model. Beyond this, the critical modeling tasks are: simulation of a magnetic compression modulator, modeling the reset dynamics of a magnetic compression modulator, modeling the loading characteristics of a linear induction accelerator cell, and modeling the electron injector current including the dynamics of feedback modulation and beam loading in an accelerator cell. Of course in the development of these models care should be given to benchmarking them against data from experimental systems. Beyond that one should aim for tools that have predictive power so that they can be used as design tools and not merely to replicate existing data

Selective sweep on human amylase genes postdates the split with Neanderthals

Science.gov (United States)

Inchley, Charlotte E.; Larbey, Cynthia D. A.; Shwan, Nzar A. A.; Pagani, Luca; Saag, Lauri; Antão, Tiago; Jacobs, Guy; Hudjashov, Georgi; Metspalu, Ene; Mitt, Mario; Eichstaedt, Christina A.; Malyarchuk, Boris; Derenko, Miroslava; Wee, Joseph; Abdullah, Syafiq; Ricaut, François-Xavier; Mormina, Maru; Mägi, Reedik; Villems, Richard; Metspalu, Mait; Jones, Martin K.; Armour, John A. L.; Kivisild, Toomas

2016-01-01

Humans have more copies of amylase genes than other primates. It is still poorly understood, however, when the copy number expansion occurred and whether its spread was enhanced by selection. Here we assess amylase copy numbers in a global sample of 480 high coverage genomes and find that regions flanking the amylase locus show notable depression of genetic diversity both in African and non-African populations. Analysis of genetic variation in these regions supports the model of an early selective sweep in the human lineage after the split of humans from Neanderthals which led to the fixation of multiple copies of AMY1 in place of a single copy. We find evidence of multiple secondary losses of copy number with the highest frequency (52%) of a deletion of AMY2A and associated low copy number of AMY1 in Northeast Siberian populations whose diet has been low in starch content. PMID:27853181

Effects of pilot injection parameters on low temperature combustion diesel engines equipped with solenoid injectors featuring conventional and rate-shaped main injection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

D’Ambrosio, S.; Ferrari, A.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • The influence of the principal pilot injection parameters is discussed for low-temperature combustion systems. • Swirl-sweep and dwell-time sweep results are combined to analyze soot emissions. • The pilot injection effects are investigated in injection profiles featuring rate-shaped main injections. - Abstract: The potential of pilot injection has been assessed on a low-temperature combustion diesel engine for automotive applications, which was characterized by a reduced compression-ratio, high EGR rates and postponed main injection timings. Dwell time sweeps have been carried out for pilot injections with distinct energizing times under different representative steady-state working conditions of the medium load and speed area of the New European Driving Cycle. The results of in-cylinder analyses of the pressure, heat-release rate, temperature and emissions are presented. Combustion noise has been shown to decrease significantly when the pilot injected mass increases, while it is scarcely affected by the dwell time between the pilot and main injections. The HC, CO and fuel consumption trends, with respect to both the pilot injection dwell time and mass, are in line with those of conventional combustion systems, and in particular decreasing trends occur as the pilot injection energizing time is increased. Furthermore, a reduced sensitivity of NO_x emissions to both dwell time and pilot injected mass has been found, compared to conventional combustion systems. Finally, it has been observed that soot emissions diminish as the energizing time is shortened, and their dependence on dwell time is influenced to a great extent by the presence of local zones with reduced air-to-fuel ratios within the cylinder. A combined analysis of the results of swirl sweeps and dwell time sweeps is here proposed as a methodology for the detection of any possible interference between pilot combustion burned gases and the main injected fuel. The effect of pilot

A selective sweep in a Varroa destructor resistant honeybee (Apis mellifera) population.

Science.gov (United States)

Lattorff, H Michael G; Buchholz, Josephine; Fries, Ingemar; Moritz, Robin F A

2015-04-01

The mite Varroa destructor is one of the most dangerous parasites of the Western honeybee (Apis mellifera) causing enormous colony losses worldwide. Various chemical treatments for the control of the Varroa mite are currently in use, which, however, lead to residues in bee products and often to resistance in mites. This facilitated the exploration of alternative treatment methods and breeding for mite resistant honeybees has been in focus for breeders in many parts of the world with variable results. Another approach has been applied to a honeybee population on Gotland (Sweden) that was exposed to natural selection and survived Varroa-infestation for more than 10years without treatment. Eventually this population became resistant to the parasite by suppressing the reproduction of the mite. A previous QTL mapping study had identified a region on chromosome 7 with major loci contributing to the mite resistance. Here, a microsatellite scan of the significant candidate QTL regions was used to investigate potential footprints of selection in the original population by comparing the study population on Gotland before (2000) and after selection (2007). Genetic drift had caused an extreme loss of genetic diversity in the 2007 population for all genetic markers tested. In addition to this overall reduction of heterozygosity, two loci on chromosome 7 showed an even stronger and significant reduction in diversity than expected from genetic drift alone. Within the selective sweep eleven genes are annotated, one of them being a putative candidate to interfere with reduced mite reproduction. A glucose-methanol-choline oxidoreductase (GMCOX18) might be involved in changing volatiles emitted by bee larvae that might be essential to trigger oogenesis in Varroa. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Total dose and dose-rate effects on start-up current in anti-fuse FPGA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, J.; Wong, W.; McCollum, J.; Cronquist, B.; Katz, R.; Kleyner, I.; Kleyner, F.

1999-01-01

Radiation enhanced start-up current (RESC) in an anti-fuse FPGA, A1280A, is thoroughly investigated and a comprehensive transistor-level mechanism is proposed. Low dose-rate testing, appropriate for civilian space applications, and annealing at room temperature shows RESC to be negligible for the lot of parts tested with a fixed power supply slew rate. (authors)

DOES COUNTRY CREDIT RATING AFFECT CURRENT DEFICIT ACCOUNT: THE CASE OF TURKEY (1992-2014

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmet Gulmez

2017-07-01

Full Text Available In this study the presence and direction of the relationship between the current account deficit and credit rating index for Turkey has been tested using Gregory-Hansen co-integration test, which considers structural breaks and Toda-Yamamoto causality analysis for the period of 1992-2014. Based on the results of empirical applications, it has been concluded that both series are not stable and there is a long-term relationship between the variables. As a result of the Toda-Yamamoto method based on the Granger causality analysis, it has been determined that there is a one-way causal relationship between the variables from current account deficit towards credit rating index.

Evaluation on sweep gas pressure drop in fusion blanket mock-up for in-pile test

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishitsuka, Etsuo; Kawamura, Hiroshi; Sagawa, Hisashi; Nagakura, Masaaki; Kanzawa, Toru.

1993-03-01

In the ITER/CDA (Conceptual Design Activity) of a tritium breeding blanket, Japan have proposed the pebble-typed blanket. The in-pile mock-up test will be preparing in JMTR (Japan Materials Testing Reactor) for Japanese engineering design with the pebble-typed blanket. Therefore, the He sweep gas pressure drop in the pebble bed was measured for the design of the mock-up used on in-pile test. From the results of this test, it was clear that the pressure drop was predicted on Kozeny- Carman's equation within +25 ∼ -60 %, and that the pressure drop was not affected by moisture concentration (< 100 ppm). (author)

Evaluation on sweep gas pressure drop in fusion blanket mock-up for in-pile test

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ishitsuka, Etsuo; Kawamura, Hiroshi; Sagawa, Hisashi (Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Oarai, Ibaraki (Japan). Oarai Research Establishment); Nagakura, Masaaki; Kanzawa, Toru.

1993-03-01

In the ITER/CDA (Conceptual Design Activity) of a tritium breeding blanket, Japan have proposed the pebble-typed blanket. The in-pile mock-up test will be preparing in JMTR (Japan Materials Testing Reactor) for Japanese engineering design with the pebble-typed blanket. Therefore, the He sweep gas pressure drop in the pebble bed was measured for the design of the mock-up used on in-pile test. From the results of this test, it was clear that the pressure drop was predicted on Kozeny- Carman's equation within +25 [approx] -60 %, and that the pressure drop was not affected by moisture concentration (< 100 ppm). (author).

Evaluation on sweep gas pressure drop in fusion blanket mock-up for in-pile test

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ishitsuka, Etsuo; Kawamura, Hiroshi; Sagawa, Hisashi [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Oarai, Ibaraki (Japan). Oarai Research Establishment; Nagakura, Masaaki; Kanzawa, Toru

1993-03-01

In the ITER/CDA (Conceptual Design Activity) of a tritium breeding blanket, Japan have proposed the pebble-typed blanket. The in-pile mock-up test will be preparing in JMTR (Japan Materials Testing Reactor) for Japanese engineering design with the pebble-typed blanket. Therefore, the He sweep gas pressure drop in the pebble bed was measured for the design of the mock-up used on in-pile test. From the results of this test, it was clear that the pressure drop was predicted on Kozeny- Carman`s equation within +25 {approx} -60 %, and that the pressure drop was not affected by moisture concentration (< 100 ppm). (author).

30 CFR 75.601-3 - Short circuit protection; dual element fuses; current ratings; maximum values.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Short circuit protection; dual element fuses... Trailing Cables § 75.601-3 Short circuit protection; dual element fuses; current ratings; maximum values. Dual element fuses having adequate current-interrupting capacity shall meet the requirements for short...

Mass transfer inside a flux hood for the sampling of gaseous emissions from liquid surfaces - Experimental assessment and emission rate rescaling

Science.gov (United States)

Prata, Ademir A.; Lucernoni, Federico; Santos, Jane M.; Capelli, Laura; Sironi, Selena; Le-Minh, Nhat; Stuetz, Richard M.

2018-04-01

This study assesses the mass transfer of compounds inside the US EPA flux hood, one of the enclosure devices most commonly employed for the direct measurement of atmospheric emissions from liquid surfaces in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Experiments comprised the evaporation of water and the volatilisation of a range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Special attention was given to the evaluation of the mass transfer coefficients in the microenvironment created by the flux hood and the effects of concentration build up in the hood's headspace. The VOCs emission rates and the water evaporation rates generally increased with the sweep air flow rate, as did the mass transfer coefficients for all compounds. The emission of compounds whose volatilisation is significantly influenced by the gas phase was greatly affected by concentration build up, whereas this effect was not significant for liquid phase-controlled compounds. The gas-film mass transfer coefficient (kG) estimated inside the US EPA flux hood was of the same order as the respective kG reported in the literature for wind tunnel-type devices, but the emission rates measured by the flux hood can be expected to be lower, due to the concentration build-up. Compared against an emission model for the passive surfaces in WWTPs, the mass transfer of acetic acid (representing a gas phase-dominated compound) inside the US EPA flux hood was equivalent to conditions of wind speeds at 10 m height (U10) of 0.27, 0.51 and 0.99 m s-1, respectively, for sweep air flow rates of 2, 5 and 10 L min-1. On the other hand, for higher wind speeds, the emission rates of gas phase-controlled compounds obtained with the flux hood can be considerably underestimated: for instance, at U10 = 5 m s-1, the emission rates of acetic acid inside the flux hood would be approximately 23, 12 and 6 times lower than the emission rates in the field, for sweep air flow rates of 2, 5 and 10 L min-1, respectively. A procedure is presented in

Simulating Linear Sweep Voltammetry from First-Principles: Application to Electrochemical Oxidation of Water on Pt(111) and Pt₃Ni(111)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Viswanathan, Venkatasubramanian; Hansen, Heine Anton; Rossmeisl, Jan

2012-01-01

Cyclic voltammetry is a fundamental experimental method for characterizing adsorbates on electrochemical surfaces. We present a model for the electrochemical solid–liquid interface, and we simulate the linear sweep voltammogram of the electrochemical oxidation of H2O on Pt(111) and Pt3Ni(111...

Detection Rate and Sweep Width in Visual Search

Science.gov (United States)

1979-11-01

Assessment of Miliftery Ceers- See~൶ p1, Fab 1973, published In Whoe Pro. 8in 1et-erA In the USSR," 13 pp., Uep 1073. pi "w**eOn,, ohn s Laweene Hirsi led...Sep 1077, 67 pp., AD A045 676 1077, AD A043 50 99161pp 202 bpp t Stpe1.ad tl91ae. A netr PP 100 Feldman. Poel, ’Why Regulation Dool"’t work." %Wt.s~n

Measurements of the reverse current of highly irradiated silicon sensors to determine the effective energy and current related damage rate

Science.gov (United States)

Wiehe, Moritz; Wonsak, S.; Kuehn, S.; Parzefall, U.; Casse, G.

2018-01-01

The reverse current of irradiated silicon sensors leads to self heating of the sensor and degrades the signal to noise ratio of a detector. Precise knowledge of the expected reverse current during detector operation is crucial for planning and running experiments in High Energy Physics. The dependence of the reverse current on sensor temperature and irradiation fluence is parametrized by the effective energy and the current related damage rate, respectively. In this study 18 n-in-p mini silicon strip sensors from companies Hamamatsu Photonics and Micron Semiconductor Ltd. were deployed. Measurements of the reverse current for different bias voltages were performed at temperatures of -32 ° C, -27 ° C and -23 ° C. The sensors were irradiated with reactor neutrons in Ljubljana to fluences ranging from 2 × 1014neq /cm2 to 2 × 1016neq /cm2. The measurements were performed directly after irradiation and after 10 and 30 days of room temperature annealing. The aim of the study presented in this paper is to investigate the reverse current of silicon sensors for high fluences of up to 2 × 1016neq /cm2 and compare the measurements to the parametrization models.

[Heart rate variability and physical exercise. Current status].

Science.gov (United States)

Hottenrott, Kuno; Hoos, Olaf; Esperer, Hans Dieter

2006-09-01

Heart rate variability (HRV) has long been used in risk stratification for sudden cardiac death and diabetic autonomic neuropathy. In recent years, both time and frequency domain indices of HRV also gained increasing interest in sports and training sciences. In these fields, HRV is currently used for the noninvasive assessment of autonomic changes associated with short-term and long-term endurance exercise training in both leisure sports activity and high-performance training. Furthermore, HRV is being investigated as a diagnostic marker of overreaching and overtraining.A large body of evidence shows that, in healthy subjects and cardiovascular patients of all ages (up to an age of 70 years), regular aerobic training usually results in a significant improvement of overall as well as instantaneous HRV. These changes, which are accompanied by significant reductions in heart rates both at rest and during submaximal exercise, reflect an increase in autonomic efferent activity and a shift in favor of enhanced vagal modulation of the cardiac rhythm. Regular aerobic training of moderate volume and intensity over a minimum period of 3 months seems to be necessary to ensure these effects, which might be associated with a prognostic benefit regarding overall mortality.At present, available data does not allow for final conclusions with respect to the usefulness of traditional HRV indices in assessing an individual's exercise performance and monitoring training load. The discrepant results published so far are due to several factors including insufficient study size and design, and different HRV methods. Large-sized and prospectively designed studies are necessary for clarification. It also remains to be seen, whether the traditional HRV indices prove useful in the diagnosis of overreaching and overtraining. Preliminary results, though promising, need to be confirmed in larger cohorts.A basic problem in HRV analysis is nonstationarity of the heart rate signal, which holds

An empirical model for salt removal percentage in water under the effect of different current intensities of current carrying coil at different flow rates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rameen S. AbdelHady

2011-10-01

Full Text Available The magnetic treatment of hard water is an alternative, simple approach by which the hard water that needs to be treated flows through a magnetic field. This field is created by inducing current in a coil wrapped around a pipe. Consequently some of its properties, such as total dissolved salts (TDS, conductivity (Ec and PH change. The primary purpose of hard water treatment is to decrease TDS in the incoming liquid stream. Using performance data from the application of different magnetic field densities on the different flow levels of water, empirical mathematical models were developed relating the salt removal percentage (SRP to operating flow rate and current of the coil. The obtained experimental results showed that the SRP increased with increasing the current at low flow rates (up to 0.75 ml/s.

Investigation at Low Speeds of the Effect of Aspect Ratio and Sweep on Rolling Stability Derivatives of Untapered Wings

Science.gov (United States)

Goodman, Alex; Fisher, Lewis R

1950-01-01

A low-scale wind-tunnel investigation was conducted in rolling flow to determine the effects of aspect ratio and sweep (when varied independently) on the rolling stability derivatives for a series of untapered wings. The rolling-flow equipment of the Langley stability tunnel was used for the tests. The data of the investigation have been used to develop a method of accounting for the effects of the drag on the yawing moment due to rolling throughout the lift range.

Experimental investigations on the vortex instability and time effects of YBa2Cu3O7−x coated conductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Xingyi; Zhou, Jun; Yue, Donghua; Liu, Wei; Zhou, Youhe

2014-01-01

Highlights: •Influences of the current sweep rate on the I–V and V–t curves are investigated. •Significant voltages jumps including increase and drop are observed. •With an increase of magnetic field, the maximum voltage increases. -- Abstract: We have investigated the effect of the current sweep rate (CSR) on the vortex dynamic in the YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7–x coated conductors (YBCO CCs). It is found that the CSR has several effects on vortex motion in that it gives rise to enhancement of dissipation as the CSR decreases, significant time effects and instabilities are observed in current–voltage (I–V) and voltage–time (V–t) curves. Thus, the CSR on practical applications of the YBCO CCs can be optimized, and relevant CSR which is designing superconducting devices made by the YBCO CCs should be considered in future

Método de varredura para exame de criadouros de vetores de dengue e febre amarela urbana Sweeping method to scan breeding places for dengue and urban yellow fever vectors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roseane Lieko Kubota

2003-04-01

Full Text Available Com objetivo de estimar o número mínimo de varreduras para coletar uma amostra representativa das larvas presentes em um grande recipiente, foram adicionadas 200 larvas de quarto estádio em um tambor de 80 litros de água. Com auxílio de peneira plástica, foram feitas dez varreduras em cada réplica do experimento. Os resultados indicaram que oito varreduras foram suficientes para coletar até 72% do total de 200 larvas de quarto estadio presentes no criadouro, ou seja, uma média de 143±1,97. A técnica mostrou ser de fácil e eficiente execução quanto à inspeção de criadouros com grande volume de água. Isto reforça sua utilização como instrumento com grande potencial para vigilância vetorial na rotina dos programas de controle de vetores do dengue e febre amarela.To estimate the minimum numbers of "sweepings" for a representative sampling of larvae in a large container. 200 larvae in 4th stage were added in an 80-liter drum to carry out the experiment, in each retort was made 10 sweepings using a plastic sieve. Two hundred larvae in stage 4 were added to an 80-liter-drum and using a plastic sieve10 sweepings were carried out in each experiment replicate. The results showed that 8 sweepings were enough to collect up to 72% of the total sample in the container, i.e., an average of 143±1.97. The proposed method proved to be easily and effectively implemented and allowed for the inspection of containers with large water volumes. These findings reinforce its use as an important potential tool in the routine vectorial surveillance of control programs of dengue and yellow fever.

Poole Frenkel current and Schottky emission in SiN gate dielectric in AlGaN/GaN metal insulator semiconductor heterostructure field effect transistors

Science.gov (United States)

Hanna, Mina J.; Zhao, Han; Lee, Jack C.

2012-10-01

We analyze the anomalous I-V behavior in SiN prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition for use as a gate insulator in AlGaN/GaN metal insulator semiconductor heterostructure filed effect transistors (HFETs). We observe leakage current across the dielectric with opposite polarity with respect to the applied electric field once the voltage sweep reaches a level below a determined threshold. This is observed as the absolute minimum of the leakage current does not occur at minimum voltage level (0 V) but occurs earlier in the sweep interval. Curve-fitting analysis suggests that the charge-transport mechanism in this region is Poole-Frenkel current, followed by Schottky emission due to band bending. Despite the current anomaly, the sample devices have shown a notable reduction of leakage current of over 2 to 6 order of magnitudes compared to the standard Schottky HFET. We show that higher pressures and higher silane concentrations produce better films manifesting less trapping. This conforms to our results that we reported in earlier publications. We found that higher chamber pressure achieves higher sheet carrier concentration that was found to be strongly dependent on the trapped space charge at the SiN/GaN interface. This would suggest that a lower chamber pressure induces more trap states into the SiN/GaN interface.

Impact of village-based health education of tobacco control on the current smoking rate in Chinese rural areas.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jian-miao; Xiong, Wei-ning; Xie, Jun-gang; Liu, Xian-sheng; Zhao, Jian-ping; Zhang, Zhen-xiang; Xu, Yong-jian

2016-02-01

The number of smokers in Chinese rural areas is more than 200 million, which is twice that in cities. It is very significant to carry out tobacco control interventions in rural areas. We performed this community intervention study to evaluate the efficacy of village-based health education of tobacco control on the male current smoking rate in rural areas. The population of this study was the males above 15 years old from 6 villages in rural areas. The villages were randomly assigned to intervention group or control group (3 villages in each group). Self-designed smoking questionnaire was applied. The intervention group received the village-based health education of tobacco control for one year. The primary outcome measurement was the male current smoking rate. In the baseline investigation, completed surveys were returned by 814 male residents from the control group and 831 male residents from the intervention group. The male current smoking rate in the control group and the intervention group was 61.2% and 58.5%, respectively, before intervention. There was no significant difference between these two groups (P>0.05). After one-year intervention, the current smoking rate in the intervention group (51.2%) was significantly lower than that in the control group (62.8%) (Peducation of tobacco control was effective in lowering the male current smoking rate in rural areas, which could be a suitable and feasible way for tobacco control in the Chinese rural areas.

Verification of Bwo Model of Vlf Chorus Generation Using Magion 5 Data

Science.gov (United States)

Titova, E. E.; Kozelov, B. V.; Jiricek, F.; Smilauer, J.; Demekhov, A. G.; Trakhtengerts, V. Yu.

We present a detailed study of chorus emissions in the magnetosphere detected on- board the Magion 5, when the satellite was at low magnetic latitudes. We determine the frequency sweep rate and the periods of electromagnetic VLF chorus emissions. These results are considered within the concept of the backward wave oscillator (BWO) regime of chorus generation. Comparison of the frequency sweep rate of chorus el- ements shows: (i) There is a correlation between the frequency sweep rates and the chorus amplitudes. The frequency sweep rate increases with chorus amplitude in ac- cord with expectations from the BWO model. (ii) The chorus growth rate, estimated from the frequency sweep rate, is in accord with that inferred from the BWO gener- ation mechanism. (iii) The BWO regime of chorus generation ensures the observed decrease in the frequency sweep rate of the chorus elements with increasing L shell. We also discuss the relationship between the observed periods of chorus elements with the predictions following from the BWO model of chorus generation.

The Influence of Sweep on the Aerodynamic Loading of an Oscillating NACA0012 Airfoil. Volume 2: Data Report

Science.gov (United States)

St.hilaire, A. O.; Carta, F. O.

1979-01-01

The effect of sweep on the dynamic response of the NACA 0012 airfoil was investigated. Unsteady chordwise distributed pressure data were obtained from a tunnel spanning wing equipped with 21 single surface transducers (13 on the suction side and 8 on the pressure side of the airfoil). The pressure data were obtained at pitching amplitudes of 8 and 10 degrees over a tunnel Mach number range of 0.10 to 0.46 and a pitching frequency range of 2.5 to 10.6 cycles per second. The wing was oscillated in the unswept and swept positions about the quarter-chord pivot axis relative to mean incidence angle settings of 0, 9, 12, and 15 degrees. A compilation of all the response data obtained during the test program is presented. These data are in the form of normal force, chord force, lift force, pressure drag, and moment hysteresis loops derived from chordwise integrations of the unsteady pressure distributions. The hysteresis loops are organized in two main sections. In the first section, the loop data are arranged to show the effect of sweep (lambda = 0 and 30 deg) for all available combinations of mean incidence angle, pitching amplitude, reduced frequency, and chordwise Mach number. The second section shows the effect of chordwise Mach number (MC = 0.30 and MC = 0.40) on the swept wing response for all available combinations of mean incidence angle, pitching amplitude, and reduced frequency.

Hitchhiking and Selective Sweeps of Plasmodium falciparum Sulfadoxine and Pyrimethamine Resistance Alleles in a Population from Central Africa▿ †

Science.gov (United States)

McCollum, Andrea M.; Basco, Leonardo K.; Tahar, Rachida; Udhayakumar, Venkatachalam; Escalante, Ananias A.

2008-01-01

Sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) resistance in Plasmodium falciparum is encoded by a number of mutations in the dihydrofolate reductase (dhfr) and dihydropteroate synthetase (dhps) genes. Here, we have characterized point mutations in dhfr and dhps and microsatellite loci around dhfr on chromosome 4 and dhps on chromosome 8 as well as neutral markers on chromosomes 2 and 3 in 332 samples from Yaoundé, Cameroon. The triple mutant dhfr haplotype that originated in Southeast Asia is the most predominant in this sample set, but we also find additional independent haplotypes at low frequency and an incipient process of genetic differentiation among alleles of Southeast Asian origin. As reported for other African populations, we find evidence of a selective sweep for resistant dhfr mutants in this Cameroonian population due to drug selection. Although we find evidence for a selective sweep in dhps mutants associated with SP resistance, the dynamics of dhps mutants appear different than those observed for dhfr mutants. Overall, our results yield support for the use of microsatellite markers to track resistant parasites; however, the detection of resistant dhfr alleles in low frequency, the evidence of divergence among dhfr alleles that share a common evolutionary origin, and the distinct dynamics of resistant dhps alleles emphasize the importance of comprehensive, population-based investigations to evaluate the effects of drug selection on parasite populations. PMID:18765692

Production of artificial ionospheric layers by frequency sweeping near the 2nd gyroharmonic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Pedersen

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Artificial ionospheric plasmas descending from the background F-region have been observed on multiple occasions at the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP facility since it reached full 3.6 MW power. Proximity of the transmitter frequency to the 2nd harmonic of the electron gyrofrequency (2fce has been noted as a requirement for their occurrence, and their disappearance after only a few minutes has been attributed to the increasing frequency mismatch at lower altitudes. We report new experiments employing frequency sweeps to match 2fce in the artificial plasmas as they descend. In addition to revealing the dependence on the 2fce resonance, this technique reliably produces descending plasmas in multiple transmitter beam positions and appears to increase their stability and lifetime. High-speed ionosonde measurements are used to monitor the altitude and density of the artificial plasmas during both the formation and decay stages.

Inter-symbol interference and beat noise in flexible data-rate coherent OCDMA and the BER improvement by using optical thresholding.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xu; Wada, Naoya; Kitayama, Ken-Ichi

2005-12-26

Impairments of inter-symbol interference and beat noise in coherent time-spreading optical code-division-multiple-access are investigated theoretically and experimentally by sweeping the data-rate from 622 Mbps up to 10 Gbps with 511-chip superstructured fiber Bragg grating. The BER improvement by using optical thresholding technique has been verified in the experiment.

On the energy release rate in a turbulent current sheet on the Sun

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bardakov, V.M.

1986-01-01

It is shown that turbulent current sheets on the Sun, realizing in the form of the Parker - Sweet flow, are in quasilinear regime of turbulence (or in the regime of instability threshold). The energy release rate in such sheets does not exceed 10 26 erg/s for typical plasma parameters in active regions

Genetic variation in glia-neuron signalling modulates ageing rate.

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Jiang-An; Gao, Ge; Liu, Xi-Juan; Hao, Zi-Qian; Li, Kai; Kang, Xin-Lei; Li, Hong; Shan, Yuan-Hong; Hu, Wen-Li; Li, Hai-Peng; Cai, Shi-Qing

2017-11-08

The rate of behavioural decline in the ageing population is remarkably variable among individuals. Despite the considerable interest in studying natural variation in ageing rate to identify factors that control healthy ageing, no such factor has yet been found. Here we report a genetic basis for variation in ageing rates in Caenorhabditis elegans. We find that C. elegans isolates show diverse lifespan and age-related declines in virility, pharyngeal pumping, and locomotion. DNA polymorphisms in a novel peptide-coding gene, named regulatory-gene-for-behavioural-ageing-1 (rgba-1), and the neuropeptide receptor gene npr-28 influence the rate of age-related decline of worm mating behaviour; these two genes might have been subjected to recent selective sweeps. Glia-derived RGBA-1 activates NPR-28 signalling, which acts in serotonergic and dopaminergic neurons to accelerate behavioural deterioration. This signalling involves the SIR-2.1-dependent activation of the mitochondrial unfolded protein response, a pathway that modulates ageing. Thus, natural variation in neuropeptide-mediated glia-neuron signalling modulates the rate of ageing in C. elegans.

Spin tunnelling dynamics for spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensates in a swept magnetic field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Guanfang; Fu Libin; Liu Jie

2008-01-01

We investigate the spin tunnelling of spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensates in a linearly swept magnetic field with a mean-field treatment. We focus on the two typical alkali Bose atoms 87 Rb and 23 Na condensates and study their tunnelling dynamics according to the sweep rates of the external magnetic fields. In the adiabatic (i.e. slowly sweeping) and sudden (i.e. fast sweeping) limits, no tunnelling is observed. For the case of moderate sweep rates, the tunnelling dynamics is found to be very sensitive to the sweep rates, so the plots of tunnelling probability versus sweep rate only become resolvable at a resolution of 10 -4 G s -1 . Moreover, a conserved quantity standing for the magnetization in experiments is found to affect dramatically the dynamics of the spin tunnelling. Theoretically we have given a complete interpretation of the above findings, and our studies could stimulate the experimental study of spinor Bose-Einstein condensates

High-resolution genetic map for understanding the effect of genome-wide recombination rate on nucleotide diversity in watermelon.

Science.gov (United States)

Reddy, Umesh K; Nimmakayala, Padma; Levi, Amnon; Abburi, Venkata Lakshmi; Saminathan, Thangasamy; Tomason, Yan R; Vajja, Gopinath; Reddy, Rishi; Abburi, Lavanya; Wehner, Todd C; Ronin, Yefim; Karol, Abraham

2014-09-15

We used genotyping by sequencing to identify a set of 10,480 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers for constructing a high-resolution genetic map of 1096 cM for watermelon. We assessed the genome-wide variation in recombination rate (GWRR) across the map and found an association between GWRR and genome-wide nucleotide diversity. Collinearity between the map and the genome-wide reference sequence for watermelon was studied to identify inconsistency and chromosome rearrangements. We assessed genome-wide nucleotide diversity, linkage disequilibrium (LD), and selective sweep for wild, semi-wild, and domesticated accessions of Citrullus lanatus var. lanatus to track signals of domestication. Principal component analysis combined with chromosome-wide phylogenetic study based on 1563 SNPs obtained after LD pruning with minor allele frequency of 0.05 resolved the differences between semi-wild and wild accessions as well as relationships among worldwide sweet watermelon. Population structure analysis revealed predominant ancestries for wild, semi-wild, and domesticated watermelons as well as admixture of various ancestries that were important for domestication. Sliding window analysis of Tajima's D across various chromosomes was used to resolve selective sweep. LD decay was estimated for various chromosomes. We identified a strong selective sweep on chromosome 3 consisting of important genes that might have had a role in sweet watermelon domestication. Copyright © 2014 Reddy et al.

Vented fuel experiment for gas-cooled fast reactor application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Longest, A.W.; Gat, U.; Conlin, J.A.; Campana, R.J.

1976-01-01

A pressure-equalized and vented fuel rod is being irradiated in an instrumented capsule designated GB-10 to approximately 100MWd/kg-heavy metal. The fuel is a sol-gel-derived 88 at.% uranium (approximately 9% 235 U) and 12 at.% plutonium oxide, and the cladding is 20% cold-worked 316 stainless steel. The capsule is being irradiated in the Oak Ridge Research Reactor (ORR) and has exceeded a burnup of 70MWd/kg. The fuel has been operated at linear power rates of 39 and 44kW/m, and peak outer cladding temperature of 565 and 630 0 C respectively. A similar fuel rod in a previous capsule (GB-9) was subjected to 48kW/m (685 0 C). Helium gas sweeps through any portion of the three regions of the fuel rod, namely: fuel, blanket, and charcoal trap. The charcoal trap is operated at about 300 0 C. An on-line Ge(Li) detector is used to analyse release rates of several gamma-emitting noble gas isotopes. Analyses are performed primarily on sweep gas flowing through the entire fuel rod, and for sweeps over the top of the charcoal trap. Sweep gas samples are analyzed for stable noble gas isotopes. Results in the form of ratios of release rate over birth rate (R/B) and venting rate over birth rate (V/B) are derived. R/B rates range from 10 -4 % to 30% while V/B ranges from 10 -6 % to 30%. Flow conductance in the capsule was monitored by recording the flow rate and pressure drop across the fuel rod and inlet sweep line. The flow conductance has been falling with increasing burnup, currently restricting the flow to about 20ml (s.t.p.)/min at a pressure difference of about 1.5MPa. Venting rates of the gaseous fission products as a function of gas pressure in the range 6.9 to 1.4MPa have also been measured. Planned future experiments include the monitoring of tritium release, venting and cladding permeation rates, and its molecular form. First measurements have been made. A simulated leak experiment will determine the mixture of fission gases as a function of flow rate and the most

SIMPLE-2: a computer code for calculation of steady-state thermal behavior of rod bundles with flow sweeping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, O.C. Jr.; Yao, S.; Henry, R.E.

1976-01-01

A computer code has been developed for use in making single-phase thermal hydraulic calculations in rod bundle arrays with flow sweeping due to spiral wraps as the predominant crossflow mixing effect. This code, called SIMPLE-2, makes the assumption that the axial pressure gradient is identical for each subchannel over a given axial increment, and is unique in that no empirical coefficients must be specified for its use. Results from this code have been favorably compared with experimental data for both uniform and highly nonuniform power distributions. Typical calculations for various bundle sizes applicable to the LMBR program are included

Frequency sweep of the field scattered by an inhomogeneous structure using method of moments and asymptotic waveform evaluation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Troelsen, Jens; Meincke, Peter; Breinbjerg, Olav

2000-01-01

into account. To the knowledge of the authors the AWE technique has not previously been applied to a MoM solution based on this kind of integral equation. It is the purpose of this paper to investigate the use of the AWE technique as a tool to obtain a fast frequency sweep of the field scattered......In many radar applications it is necessary to determine the scattering from an object over a wide frequency band. The asymptotic waveform evaluation (AWE), which is a moment matching (MM) technique, constitutes a method to this end. In general, MM techniques provide a reduced-order model...

Summary of Almost 20 Years of Storm Overflight Electric Field, Conductivity, Flash Rates, and Electric Current Statistics

Science.gov (United States)

Blakeslee, Richard J.; Mach, Douglas M.; Bateman, Monte J.; Bailey, Jeffrey C.

2011-01-01

We determined total conduction currents and flash rates for around 900 high-altitude aircraft overflights of electrified clouds over 17 years. The overflights include a wide geographical sample of storms over land and ocean, with and without lightning, and with positive (i.e., upward-directed) and negative current. Peak electric field, with lightning transients removed, ranged from -1.0 kV m(sup -1) to 16. kV m(sup -1), with mean (median) of 0.9 kV m(sup -1) (0.29 kV m(sup -1)). Total conductivity at flight altitude ranged from 0.6 pS m(sup -1) to 3.6 pS m(sup -1), with mean and median of 2.2 pS m(sup -1). Peak current densities ranged from -2.0 nA m(sup -2) to 33.0 nA m(sup -2) with mean (median) of 1.9 nA m(sup -2) (0.6 nA m(sup -2)). Total upward current flow from storms in our dataset ranged from -1.3 to 9.4 A. The mean current for storms with lightning is 1.6 A over ocean and 1.0 A over land. The mean current for electrified shower clouds (i.e. electrified storms without lightning) is 0.39 A for ocean and 0.13 A for land. About 78% (43%) of the land (ocean) storms have detectable lightning. Land storms have 2.8 times the mean flash rate as ocean storms (2.2 versus 0.8 flashes min(sup -1), respectively). Approximately 7% of the overflights had negative current. The mean and median currents for positive (negative) polarity storms are 1.0 and 0.35 A (-0.30 and -0.26 A). We found no regional or latitudinal-based patterns in our storm currents, nor support for simple scaling laws between cloud top height and lightning flash rate.

Accurate characterization of organic thin film transistors in the presence of gate leakage current

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vinay K. Singh

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The presence of gate leakage through polymer dielectric in organic thin film transistors (OTFT prevents accurate estimation of transistor characteristics especially in subthreshold regime. To mitigate the impact of gate leakage on transfer characteristics and allow accurate estimation of mobility, subthreshold slope and on/off current ratio, a measurement technique involving simultaneous sweep of both gate and drain voltages is proposed. Two dimensional numerical device simulation is used to illustrate the validity of the proposed technique. Experimental results obtained with Pentacene/PMMA OTFT with significant gate leakage show a low on/off current ratio of ∼ 102 and subthreshold is 10 V/decade obtained using conventional measurement technique. The proposed technique reveals that channel on/off current ratio is more than two orders of magnitude higher at ∼104 and subthreshold slope is 4.5 V/decade.

Broadband W-band Rapid Frequency Sweep Considerations for Fourier Transform EPR.

Science.gov (United States)

Strangeway, Robert A; Hyde, James S; Camenisch, Theodore G; Sidabras, Jason W; Mett, Richard R; Anderson, James R; Ratke, Joseph J; Subczynski, Witold K

2017-12-01

A multi-arm W-band (94 GHz) electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometer that incorporates a loop-gap resonator with high bandwidth is described. A goal of the instrumental development is detection of free induction decay following rapid sweep of the microwave frequency across the spectrum of a nitroxide radical at physiological temperature, which is expected to lead to a capability for Fourier transform electron paramagnetic resonance. Progress toward this goal is a theme of the paper. Because of the low Q-value of the loop-gap resonator, it was found necessary to develop a new type of automatic frequency control, which is described in an appendix. Path-length equalization, which is accomplished at the intermediate frequency of 59 GHz, is analyzed. A directional coupler is favored for separation of incident and reflected power between the bridge and the loop-gap resonator. Microwave leakage of this coupler is analyzed. An oversize waveguide with hyperbolic-cosine tapers couples the bridge to the loop-gap resonator, which results in reduced microwave power and signal loss. Benchmark sensitivity data are provided. The most extensive application of the instrument to date has been the measurement of T 1 values using pulse saturation recovery. An overview of that work is provided.

Hydroxychloroquine reduces heart rate by modulating the hyperpolarization-activated current If: Novel electrophysiological insights and therapeutic potential

Science.gov (United States)

Capel, Rebecca A.; Herring, Neil; Kalla, Manish; Yavari, Arash; Mirams, Gary R.; Douglas, Gillian; Bub, Gil; Channon, Keith; Paterson, David J.; Terrar, Derek A.; Burton, Rebecca-Ann B.

2015-01-01

Background Bradycardic agents are of interest for the treatment of ischemic heart disease and heart failure, as heart rate is an important determinant of myocardial oxygen consumption. Objectives The purpose of this study was to investigate the propensity of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to cause bradycardia. Methods We assessed the effects of HCQ on (1) cardiac beating rate in vitro (mice); (2) the “funny” current (If) in isolated guinea pig sinoatrial node (SAN) myocytes (1, 3, 10 µM); (3) heart rate and blood pressure in vivo by acute bolus injection (rat, dose range 1–30 mg/kg), (4) blood pressure and ventricular function during feeding (mouse, 100 mg/kg/d for 2 wk, tail cuff plethysmography, anesthetized echocardiography). Results In mouse atria, spontaneous beating rate was significantly (P < .05) reduced (by 9% ± 3% and 15% ± 2% at 3 and 10 µM HCQ, n = 7). In guinea pig isolated SAN cells, HCQ conferred a significant reduction in spontaneous action potential firing rate (17% ± 6%, 1 μM dose) and a dose-dependent reduction in If (13% ± 3% at 1 µM; 19% ± 2% at 3 µM). Effects were also observed on L-type calcium ion current (ICaL) (12% ± 4% reduction) and rapid delayed rectifier potassium current (IKr) (35% ± 4%) at 3 µM. Intravenous HCQ decreased heart rate in anesthetized rats (14.3% ± 1.1% at 15mg/kg; n = 6) without significantly reducing mean arterial blood pressure. In vivo feeding studies in mice showed no significant change in systolic blood pressure nor left ventricular function. Conclusions We have shown that HCQ acts as a bradycardic agent in SAN cells, in atrial preparations, and in vivo. HCQ slows the rate of spontaneous action potential firing in the SAN through multichannel inhibition, including that of If. PMID:26025323

Summary of Almost 20 Years of Storm Overflight Electric Field, Conductivity, Flash Rate, and Current Statistics

Science.gov (United States)

Blakeslee, Richard J.; Mach, Douglas M.; Bateman, Monte J.; Bailey, Jeffrey C.

2011-01-01

We present total conduction (Wilson) currents for more than 1000 high-altitude aircraft overflights of electrified clouds acquired over nearly two decades. The overflights include a wide geographical sample of storms over land and ocean, with and without lightning, and with positive (i.e., upward-directed) and negative current. Peak electric field, with lightning transients removed, ranged from -1.0 kV/m to 16. kV/m, with mean (median) of 0.9 kV/m (0.29 kV/m). Total conductivity at flight altitude ranged from 0.6 pS/m to 3.6 pS/m, with mean and median of 2.2 pS/m. Peak current densities ranged from -2.0 nA m(exp -2) to 33.0 nA m(exp -2) with mean (median) of 1.9 nA m(exp -2) (0.6 nA m(exp -2)). Total upward current flow from storms in our dataset ranged from -1.3 to 9.4 A. The mean current for storms with lightning is 1.7 A over ocean and 1.0 A over land. The mean current for electrified shower clouds (i.e. electrified storms without lightning) is 0.41 A for ocean and 0.13 A for land. About 78% (43%) of the land (ocean) storms have detectable lightning. Land storms have 2.8 times the mean flash rate as ocean storms (2.2 versus 0.8 flashes min-1, respectively). Approximately 7% of the overflights had negative current. The mean and median currents for positive (negative) polarity storms are 1.0 and 0.35 A (-0.30 and -0.26 A). We found no regional or latitudinal-based patterns in our storm currents, nor support for simple scaling laws between cloud top height and lightning flash rate.

Phenomenological scattering-rate model for the simulation of the current density and emission power in mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kurlov, S. S. [Department of Physics, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Newtonstraße 15, 12489 Berlin (Germany); Institute of Semiconductor Physics, National Academy of Sciences, pr. Nauki 45, Kiev-03028 (Ukraine); Flores, Y. V.; Elagin, M.; Semtsiv, M. P.; Masselink, W. T. [Department of Physics, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Newtonstraße 15, 12489 Berlin (Germany); Schrottke, L.; Grahn, H. T. [Paul-Drude-Institut für Festkörperelektronik, Hausvogteiplatz 5–7, 10117 Berlin (Germany); Tarasov, G. G. [Institute of Semiconductor Physics, National Academy of Sciences, pr. Nauki 45, Kiev-03028 (Ukraine)

2016-04-07

A phenomenological scattering-rate model introduced for terahertz quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) [Schrottke et al., Semicond. Sci. Technol. 25, 045025 (2010)] is extended to mid-infrared (MIR) QCLs by including the energy dependence of the intersubband scattering rates for energies higher than the longitudinal optical phonon energy. This energy dependence is obtained from a phenomenological fit of the intersubband scattering rates based on published lifetimes of a number of MIR QCLs. In our approach, the total intersubband scattering rate is written as the product of the exchange integral for the squared moduli of the envelope functions and a phenomenological factor that depends only on the transition energy. Using the model to calculate scattering rates and imposing periodical boundary conditions on the current density, we find a good agreement with low-temperature data for current-voltage, power-current, and energy-photon flux characteristics for a QCL emitting at 5.2 μm.

Composição de resíduos de varrição e resíduos carreados pela rede de drenagem, em uma bacia hidrográfica urbana Litter composition delivered by street sweeping and by the storm drainage network, in an urban catchment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marllus Gustavo Ferreira Passos das Neves

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Apresentam-se aqui resultados de estudo sobre a composição física de resíduos sólidos de varrição e também daqueles vindos por uma rede de drenagem, em uma bacia hidrográfica urbana, identificando, dentre outros, influências da frequência do serviço de varrição e da época do ano. Os resíduos de varrição foram provenientes de várias partes do solo da bacia e os da rede de drenagem eram retirados de um poço de casa de bombas, para onde convergia todo o escoamento da rede. Alguns resultados interessantes: em média, 23% da massa de varrição são de lixo seco, predominando plásticos moles. Mais presença de plásticos duros ocorreu nas áreas de varrição diária. Com a análise dos resíduos vindos pela drenagem: o plástico Pet apareceu mais na rede em precipitações intensas do que nos sacos de varrição. Plásticos moles sempre ocorrem na varrição e na drenagem ao longo do ano.This paper presents results of a study about physical composition of litter from street sweeping and also those delivered by a storm drainage network urban catchment, identifying, among others, influences of the frequency of sweeping service and the season. The litter from sweeping came from several parts of the catchment and those delivered by a storm drainage network were taken from a well pump house, convergence point of the flow. Some interesting results: on average, 23% of the street sweeping mass is dry litter, predominantly soft plastics. More presence of hard plastics occurred at areas of daily sweeping. With the analysis of litter in the storm drainage network: pet plastics are more delivered by storm drainage network in intense rainfall than appear in bags sweeping. Soft plastics always occur in the bags sweeping and into storm drainage network throughout the year.

A raster scanning power supply system for controlling relativistic heavy ion beams at the Bevalac Biomedical Facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stover, G.; Nyman, M.; Halliwell, J.; Lutz, I.; Dwinell, R.

1987-03-01

A power supply system is currently being designed and constructed to sweep an 8.0 Tesla-meter relativistic heavy ion beam in a raster scanning mode for radiotherapy use. Two colinear dipole magnets with orthogonally oriented magnetic fields are driven by the system to produce a rectangular field (40 x 40 cm max.) with a uniform dose (+-2.5%) to a target volume 6 meters away. The ''fast'' horizontal scanning magnet is driven by a single power supply which in conjunction with a triac bridge network and a current regulated linear actuator will produce a 1200 cm/sec max. sweep rate. The ''slow'' (40 cm/sec) vertical scanning magnet will be controlled by dual current regulated linear actuators in a push-pull configuration. The scanner system can provide off-axis treatment profiles with large aspect ratios and unusual dimensions

Field-amplified sample stacking-sweeping of vitamins B determination in capillary electrophoresis.

Science.gov (United States)

Dziomba, Szymon; Kowalski, Piotr; Bączek, Tomasz

2012-12-07

A capillary electrophoretic method for determination of five water soluble vitamins B along with baclofen as an internal standard has been developed and assessed in context of precision, accuracy, sensitivity, freedom from interference, linearity, detection and quantification limits. On-line preconcentration technique, namely field-amplified sample stacking (FASS)-sweeping, has been employed in respect to obtain more sensitive analysis. Separation conditions received after optimization procedure were as following background electrolyte (BGE), 10 mM NaH(2)PO(4), 80 mM SDS, (pH 7.25); sample matrix (SM), 10 mM NaH(2)PO(4) (pH 4.60); uncoated fused silica capillary (50 μm i.d. × 67 cm length); UV spectrophotometric detection at 200 nm; injection times: 10s and 30s at 3.45 kPa; applied voltage 22 kV; temperature 22°C. Validation parameters, namely precision, accuracy and linearity, were considered as satisfactory. Under the optimized conditions, it has been also successfully applied for vitamins B determination in bacterial growth medium and commercially available Ilex paraguariensis leaves. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Engasgamento em bebês após busca às cegas com os dedos Infants choking following blind finger sweep

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hasan A. Abder-Rahman

2009-06-01

Full Text Available OBJETIVO: Em situações estressantes, as pessoas geralmente usam os dedos para retirar corpos estranhos de faringe da boca. Este artigo relata três casos de óbito de bebês após o uso dessa técnica. MÉTODOS: Um total de 26 casos de engasgamento causado por aspiração de corpos estranhos nas vias respiratórias superiores e inferiores envolvendo crianças menores de 11 anos submetidas a autopsia no Departamento de Medicina Forense da Universidade da Jordânia entre 1996 e 2006 foram revisados. RESULTADOS: O uso de busca às cegas com os dedos para retirar corpos estranhos de faringe foi relatado em três bebês durante o choro. Todas as crianças eram menores de 1 ano e haviam se engasgado com grãos-de-bico, uma bola de gude e um lápis curto. A diversidade, o tamanho, a forma, e a maciez da superfície são as principais características que fazem com que esses corpos estranhos sejam mais difíceis de ser removidos com os dedos e facilitam sua entrada via respiratória. CONCLUSÃO: Esses casos mostraram que a busca às cegas com os dedos na boca de bebês durante o choro não é somente uma manobra perigosa, mas também pode ser fatal.OBJECTIVE: In stressful situations, people usually use finger sweep to remove pharyngeal foreign bodies from the mouth. This article reports on three cases of death of infants following the use of this technique. METHODS: A total of 26 cases of choking caused by foreign bodies aspiration in the upper and lower respiratory passages involving children younger than 11 years of age autopsied at the Forensic Department of University of Jordânia between 1996 and 2006 were reviewed. RESULTS: Blind finger sweep to remove pharyngeal foreign bodies were reported in three crying infants. All of these cases were younger than 1 year of age and choked on a chickpea, a marble and a short pencil. Diversity, size, shape and smoothness of the surface are the main characteristics that render the foreign bodies less easily

Mechanistic Understanding of Microbial Plugging for Improved Sweep Efficiency

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Steven Bryant; Larry Britton

2008-09-30

Microbial plugging has been proposed as an effective low cost method of permeability reduction. Yet there is a dearth of information on the fundamental processes of microbial growth in porous media, and there are no suitable data to model the process of microbial plugging as it relates to sweep efficiency. To optimize the field implementation, better mechanistic and volumetric understanding of biofilm growth within a porous medium is needed. In particular, the engineering design hinges upon a quantitative relationship between amount of nutrient consumption, amount of growth, and degree of permeability reduction. In this project experiments were conducted to obtain new data to elucidate this relationship. Experiments in heterogeneous (layered) beadpacks showed that microbes could grow preferentially in the high permeability layer. Ultimately this caused flow to be equally divided between high and low permeability layers, precisely the behavior needed for MEOR. Remarkably, classical models of microbial nutrient uptake in batch experiments do not explain the nutrient consumption by the same microbes in flow experiments. We propose a simple extension of classical kinetics to account for the self-limiting consumption of nutrient observed in our experiments, and we outline a modeling approach based on architecture and behavior of biofilms. Such a model would account for the changing trend of nutrient consumption by bacteria with the increasing biomass and the onset of biofilm formation. However no existing model can explain the microbial preference for growth in high permeability regions, nor is there any obvious extension of the model for this observation. An attractive conjecture is that quorum sensing is involved in the heterogeneous bead packs.

Probing Temperature Inside Planar SOFC Short Stack, Modules, and Stack Series

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Rong; Guan, Wanbing; Zhou, Xiao-Dong

2017-02-01

Probing temperature inside a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack lies at the heart of the development of high-performance and stable SOFC systems. In this article, we report our recent work on the direct measurements of the temperature in three types of SOFC systems: a 5-cell short stack, a 30-cell stack module, and a stack series consisting of two 30-cell stack modules. The dependence of temperature on the gas flow rate and current density was studied under a current sweep or steady-state operation. During the current sweep, the temperature inside the 5-cell stack decreased with increasing current, while it increased significantly at the bottom and top of the 30-cell stack. During a steady-state operation, the temperature of the 5-cell stack was stable while it was increased in the 30-cell stack. In the stack series, the maximum temperature gradient reached 190°C when the gas was not preheated. If the gas was preheated and the temperature gradient was reduced to 23°C in the stack series with the presence of a preheating gas and segmented temperature control, this resulted in a low degradation rate.

Estimate of the global-scale joule heating rates in the thermosphere due to time mean currents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roble, R.G.; Matsushita, S.

1975-01-01

An estimate of the global-scale joule heating rates in the thermosphere is made based on derived global equivalent overhead electric current systems in the dynamo region during geomagnetically quiet and disturbed periods. The equivalent total electric field distribution is calculated from Ohm's law. The global-scale joule heating rates are calculated for various monthly average periods in 1965. The calculated joule heating rates maximize at high latitudes in the early evening and postmidnight sectors. During geomagnetically quiet times the daytime joule heating rates are considerably lower than heating by solar EUV radiation. However, during geomagnetically disturbed periods the estimated joule heating rates increase by an order of magnitude and can locally exceed the solar EUV heating rates. The results show that joule heating is an important and at times the dominant energy source at high latitudes. However, the global mean joule heating rates calculated near solar minimum are generally small compared to the global mean solar EUV heating rates. (auth)

Numerical investigation of collector cooling for a 1 MW ITER gyrotron operated with vertical sweeping

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Savoldi, Laura; Bertani, Cristina [Dipartimento Energia, Politecnico di Torino (Italy); Cau, Francesca; Cismondi, Fabio [Fusion for Energy, Barcelona (Spain); Gantenbein, Gerd; Illy, Stefan [KIT, Karlsruhe (Germany); Monni, Grazia [Dipartimento Energia, Politecnico di Torino (Italy); Zanino, Roberto, E-mail: roberto.zanino@polito.it [Dipartimento Energia, Politecnico di Torino (Italy)

2015-11-15

The present gyrotron designs for EC plasma heating in nuclear fusion reactors require the safe exhaust of a power comparable to that injected into the plasma, in order to keep the maximum temperature below the acceptable value of 300 °C. In this paper, the commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software STAR-CCM+{sup ®} is used to analyze the thermal performance of the annular copper collector of a 1 MW ITER gyrotron, equipped with a hypervapotron structure made of annular fins with rectangular cavities of aspect ratio (depth/width) = 3, cooled by highly subcooled (90–100 °C) pressurized water flowing at ∼4 m/s. It is assumed that the simple vertical sweeping strategy is used to reduce the very high peak heat flux on the collector (up to 30 MW/m{sup 2} transient, 5 MW/m{sup 2} time average), due to the spent electron beam. The 2D steady-state conjugate heat transfer problem is solved assuming azimuthal symmetry and accounting for 2-phase flow. The single-cavity flow and heat transfer problem is considered first, to optimize the mesh and the selection of the turbulence model. For the operating conditions considered in this paper, the full collector (100+ cavities) solution shows that boiling occurs only in a limited number of cavities close to the peaks of the heat flux, with the vapor remaining trapped in the bottom of the cavities, i.e. no full hypervapotron regime should be achieved in these operating conditions. The steady-state analysis allows the numerical evaluation of the heat transfer coefficients between Cu and water; these are then used as input for the simplified, purely thermal (solid only) analysis of the actual transient problem for the full collector. The results of the simplified model, which allows a huge reduction of the computational effort, are successfully benchmarked against those of a comprehensive thermal–hydraulic simulation. The computed peak Cu temperature is below the acceptable limit under the steady-state (time averaged

A sweep plate emittance scanner for high-power CW ion beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Debiak, T.W.; Ng, Y.; Sredniawski, J.; Stasi, W.

1996-01-01

Sweep plate scanners are preferred for emittance measurement due to their versatility, simplicity, and precision. At the Advanced Technology and Development Center of Northrop Grumman, we have routinely used these devices for characterization of injector beams with less than 20 W/cm 2 average power density. To characterize higher power beams, like those required for production of tritium or for radioactive waste transmutation, the scanner pod and data collection algorithm must be redesigned due to the possibility of melting the scanner's protective front face or distorting the precision entrance knife edges. Among the methods we have used to mitigate these effects, one consists of drastically reducing the amount of time required for data collection. In this method, the emittance scanner pod traverses the beam in two passes, each requiring less than 0.5 second. In the first pass, the phase space limits of the beam are determined. In the second pass, data is collected primarily within the phase space region limits determined in the first pass. In this way, enough points are collected to assure that the precision of the measurement is high, even though the data collection time for each scan is less than 0.5 second. This paper will describe the layout of the scanner components, the data collection electronics and algorithm, and the data analysis. (author)

Toward enhanced hydrogen generation from water using oxygen permeating LCF membranes

KAUST Repository

Wu, Xiao-Yu

2015-01-01

© the Owner Societies. Hydrogen production from water thermolysis can be enhanced by the use of perovskite-type mixed ionic and electronic conducting (MIEC) membranes, through which oxygen permeation is driven by a chemical potential gradient. In this work, water thermolysis experiments were performed using 0.9 mm thick La0.9Ca0.1FeO3-δ (LCF-91) perovskite membranes at 990 °C in a lab-scale button-cell reactor. We examined the effects of the operating conditions such as the gas species concentrations and flow rates on the feed and sweep sides on the water thermolysis rate and oxygen flux. A single step reaction mechanism is proposed for surface reactions, and three-resistance permeation models are derived. Results show that water thermolysis is facilitated by the LCF-91 membrane especially when a fuel is added to the sweep gas. Increasing the gas flow rate and water concentration on the feed side or the hydrogen concentration on the sweep side enhances the hydrogen production rate. In this work, hydrogen is used as the fuel by construction, so that a single-step surface reaction mechanism can be developed and water thermolysis rate parameters can be derived. Both surface reaction rate parameters for oxygen incorporation/dissociation and hydrogen-oxygen reactions are fitted at 990 °C. We compare the oxygen fluxes in water thermolysis and air separation experiments, and identify different limiting steps in the processes involving various oxygen sources and sweep gases for this 0.9 mm thick LCF-91 membrane. In the air feed-inert sweep case, the bulk diffusion and sweep side surface reaction are the two limiting steps. In the water feed-inert sweep case, surface reaction on the feed side dominates the oxygen permeation process. Yet in the water feed-fuel sweep case, surface reactions on both the feed and sweep sides are rate determining when hydrogen concentration in the sweep side is in the range of 1-5 vol%. Furthermore, long term studies show that the surface

Parallel ray tracing for one-dimensional discrete ordinate computations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jarvis, R.D.; Nelson, P.

1996-01-01

The ray-tracing sweep in discrete-ordinates, spatially discrete numerical approximation methods applied to the linear, steady-state, plane-parallel, mono-energetic, azimuthally symmetric, neutral-particle transport equation can be reduced to a parallel prefix computation. In so doing, the often severe penalty in convergence rate of the source iteration, suffered by most current parallel algorithms using spatial domain decomposition, can be avoided while attaining parallelism in the spatial domain to whatever extent desired. In addition, the reduction implies parallel algorithm complexity limits for the ray-tracing sweep. The reduction applies to all closed, linear, one-cell functional (CLOF) spatial approximation methods, which encompasses most in current popular use. Scalability test results of an implementation of the algorithm on a 64-node nCube-2S hypercube-connected, message-passing, multi-computer are described. (author)

Parameters governing tritium extraction rates from lithiated ceramics. The case of lithium aluminate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roth, E.; Botter, F.; Briec, M.; Rasneur, B.; Roux, N.

1986-10-01

Significant discrepancies between results of authors comparing tritium extraction rates from different lithiated ceramics are found in the literature. Recent results obtained at C.E.A., principally on lithium aluminates, show that, for a given ceramic, parameters other than textural (grain size, porosity, etc...) may play a predominant role. Enhancements of extraction rates have been induced by adding MgO to the solid or H 2 and CO to the sweep gas, but other factors, probably related to the surface condition of samples, may produce even greater effects. Results of investigations of the influence of exposure to air at given partial pressures of water vapor or of CO 2 show that strict preirradiation procedures must be adopted for preparation, storage and handling of ceramic tritium breeders

Critical currents and energy dissipation in Y1Ba2Cu3O7-δ films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Windte, C.V.

1993-09-01

The critical current density j c of patterned YBaCuO thin film samples and the electric field E seen by the superconductor were calculated from data of magnetization loops, external magnetic field sweeps and relaxation, respectively. Data were taken at 77 K up to external magnetic fields of 150 mT with a sensitive Hall probe detecting the magnetic fields of the screening currents of the sample. The E(j) characteristic could be determined over six decades of magnitude of E (10 -7 μV/cm -1 μV/cm). These characteristics permit the comparison with theoretical pictures: They are incompatible with Kim-Andersons flux-creep and a power law behaviour. The characteristics are compatible with the vortex-glass or the collective pinning ansatz. There exists a limiting critical current beyond no known theoretical picture describes the E(j) characteristic. (orig.) [de

Magnetic and optical properties of airborne dust and settling rates of dust at the Phoenix landing site

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Drube...[], Line; Leer, Kristoffer; Madsen, Morten Bo

2010-01-01

The Magnetic Properties Experiment (referred to as iSweep or Caltarget) onboard the Phoenix lander was executed in the arctic region of Mars during the mission's 152 sols lifetime. The iSweep experiment involved periodic multispectral imaging of a series of permanent ring magnets. It was designed...

Vanishing current hysteresis under competing nuclear spin pumping processes in a quadruplet spin-blockaded double quantum dot

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Amaha, S., E-mail: s-amaha@riken.jp [Quantum Spin Information Project, Japan Science and Technology Agency, ICORP, 3-1, Morinosato Wakamiya, Atsugi-shi, Kanagawa 243-0198 (Japan); Quantum Functional System Research Group, RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science, RIKEN, 3-1 Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198 (Japan); Hatano, T. [Quantum Spin Information Project, Japan Science and Technology Agency, ICORP, 3-1, Morinosato Wakamiya, Atsugi-shi, Kanagawa 243-0198 (Japan); Department of Physics, Tohoku University, Sendai-shi, Miyagi 980-8578 (Japan); Tarucha, S. [Quantum Spin Information Project, Japan Science and Technology Agency, ICORP, 3-1, Morinosato Wakamiya, Atsugi-shi, Kanagawa 243-0198 (Japan); Quantum Functional System Research Group, RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science, RIKEN, 3-1 Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198 (Japan); Department of Applied Physics, School of Engineering, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656 (Japan); Gupta, J. A.; Austing, D. G. [National Research Council of Canada, M50, Montreal Road, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R6 (Canada)

2015-04-27

We investigate nuclear spin pumping with five-electron quadruplet spin states in a spin-blockaded weakly coupled vertical double quantum dot device. Two types of hysteretic steps in the leakage current are observed on sweeping the magnetic field and are associated with bidirectional polarization of nuclear spin. Properties of the steps are understood in terms of bias-voltage-dependent conditions for the mixing of quadruplet and doublet spin states by the hyperfine interaction. The hysteretic steps vanish when up- and down-nuclear spin pumping processes are in close competition.

Determination of phthalic acid esters in Chinese white spirit using dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction coupled with sweeping β-cyclodextrin-modified micellar electrokinetic chromatography.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Jianzhi; He, Hui; Liu, Shuhui

2014-07-01

A simple method that consumes low organic solvent is proposed for the analysis of phthalic acid esters in Chinese white spirit using dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction coupled with sweeping-micellar electrokinetic chromatography. Tetrachloromethane and white-spirit-containing ethanol were used as the extraction and dispersing solvents, respectively. The electrophoresis separation buffer was composed of 5 mM β-cyclodextrin, 50 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate and 25 mM borate buffer (pH 9.2) with 9% acetonitrile, enabling the baseline resolution of the analytes within 13 min. Under the optimum conditions, satisfactory linearities (5-1000 ng/mL, r ≥ 0.9909), good reproducibility (RSD ≤ 6.7% for peak area, and RSD ≤ 2.8% for migration time), low detection limits (0.4-0.8 ng/mL) and acceptable recovery rates (89.6-105.7%) were obtained. The proposed method was successfully applied to 22 Chinese white spirits, and the content of dibutyl phthalate in 55% of the samples exceeded the Specific Migration Limit of 0.3 mg/kg established by the domestic and international regulations. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Order of current variance and diffusivity in the rate one totally asymmetric zero range process

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Balázs, M.; Komjáthy, J.

2008-01-01

We prove that the variance of the current across a characteristic is of order t 2/3 in a stationary constant rate totally asymmetric zero range process, and that the diffusivity has order t 1/3. This is a step towards proving universality of this scaling behavior in the class of one-dimensional

Identification of X-linked quantitative trait loci affecting cold tolerance in Drosophila melanogaster and fine mapping by selective sweep analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Svetec, Nicolas; Werzner, Annegret; Wilches, Ricardo; Pavlidis, Pavlos; Alvarez-Castro, José M; Broman, Karl W; Metzler, Dirk; Stephan, Wolfgang

2011-02-01

Drosophila melanogaster is a cosmopolitan species that colonizes a great variety of environments. One trait that shows abundant evidence for naturally segregating genetic variance in different populations of D. melanogaster is cold tolerance. Previous work has found quantitative trait loci (QTL) exclusively on the second and the third chromosomes. To gain insight into the genetic architecture of cold tolerance on the X chromosome and to compare the results with our analyses of selective sweeps, a mapping population was derived from a cross between substitution lines that solely differed in the origin of their X chromosome: one originates from a European inbred line and the other one from an African inbred line. We found a total of six QTL for cold tolerance factors on the X chromosome of D. melanogaster. Although the composite interval mapping revealed slightly different QTL profiles between sexes, a coherent model suggests that most QTL overlapped between sexes, and each explained around 5-14% of the genetic variance (which may be slightly overestimated). The allelic effects were largely additive, but we also detected two significant interactions. Taken together, this provides evidence for multiple QTL that are spread along the entire X chromosome and whose effects range from low to intermediate. One detected transgressive QTL influences cold tolerance in different ways for the two sexes. While females benefit from the European allele increasing their cold tolerance, males tend to do better with the African allele. Finally, using selective sweep mapping, the candidate gene CG16700 for cold tolerance colocalizing with a QTL was identified. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Evaporation Rates for Liquid Water and Ice Under Current Martian Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Sears, D. W. G.; Moore, S. R.; Meier, A.; Chittenden, J.; Kareev, M.; Farmer, C. B.

2004-01-01

A number of studies have been concerned with the evaporation rates under martian conditions in order to place limits on the possible survival time of both liquid water and ice exposed on the surface of Mars. Such studies also aid in assessing the efficacy of an overlying layer of dust or loose regolith material in providing a barrier to free evaporation and thus prolong the lifetime of water in locations where its availability to putative living organisms would be significant. A better quantitative understanding of the effects of phase changes of water in the near surface environment would also aid the evaluation of the possible role of water in the formation of currently observed features, such as gullies in cliff walls and relatively short-term changes in the albedo of small surface areas ('dark stains'). Laboratory measurements aimed at refinement of our knowledge of these values are described here. The establishment of accurate values for evaporation rates and their dependence on the physical conditions of temperature, pressure and energy input, is an important benchmark for the further investigation of the efficacy of barriers to free evaporation in providing a prolonged period of survival of the water, particularly as a liquid.

Generation of frequency-chirped optical pulses with felix

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Knippels, G.M.H.; Meer, A.F.G. van der; Mols, R.F.X.A.M. [FOM-Institute for Plasma Physics, Nieuwegein (Netherlands)] [and others

1995-12-31

Frequency-chirped optical pulses have been produced in the picosecond regime by varying the energy of the electron beam on a microsecond time scale. These pulses were then compressed close to their bandwidth limit by an external pulse compressor. The amount of chirp can be controlled by varying the sweep rate on the electron beam energy and by cavity desynchronisation. To examine the generated chirp we used the following diagnostics: a pulse compressor, a crossed beam autocorrelator, a multichannel electron spectrometer and multichannel optical spectrometer. The compressor is build entirely using reflective optics to permit broad band operation. The autocorrelator is currently operating from 6 {mu}m to 30 {mu}m with one single crystal. It has been used to measure pulses as short as 500 fs. All diagnostics are evacuated to prevent pulse shape distortion or pulse lengthening caused by absorption in ambient water vapour. Pulse length measurements and optical spectra will be presented for different electron beam sweep rates, showing the presence of a frequency chirp. Results on the compression of the optical pulses to their bandwidth limit are given for different electron sweep rates. More experimental results showing the dependence of the amount of chirp on cavity desynchronisation will be presented.

Determining Plane-Sweep Sampling Points in Image Space Using the Cross-Ratio for Image-Based Depth Estimation

Science.gov (United States)

Ruf, B.; Erdnuess, B.; Weinmann, M.

2017-08-01

With the emergence of small consumer Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), the importance and interest of image-based depth estimation and model generation from aerial images has greatly increased in the photogrammetric society. In our work, we focus on algorithms that allow an online image-based dense depth estimation from video sequences, which enables the direct and live structural analysis of the depicted scene. Therefore, we use a multi-view plane-sweep algorithm with a semi-global matching (SGM) optimization which is parallelized for general purpose computation on a GPU (GPGPU), reaching sufficient performance to keep up with the key-frames of input sequences. One important aspect to reach good performance is the way to sample the scene space, creating plane hypotheses. A small step size between consecutive planes, which is needed to reconstruct details in the near vicinity of the camera may lead to ambiguities in distant regions, due to the perspective projection of the camera. Furthermore, an equidistant sampling with a small step size produces a large number of plane hypotheses, leading to high computational effort. To overcome these problems, we present a novel methodology to directly determine the sampling points of plane-sweep algorithms in image space. The use of the perspective invariant cross-ratio allows us to derive the location of the sampling planes directly from the image data. With this, we efficiently sample the scene space, achieving higher sampling density in areas which are close to the camera and a lower density in distant regions. We evaluate our approach on a synthetic benchmark dataset for quantitative evaluation and on a real-image dataset consisting of aerial imagery. The experiments reveal that an inverse sampling achieves equal and better results than a linear sampling, with less sampling points and thus less runtime. Our algorithm allows an online computation of depth maps for subsequences of five frames, provided that the relative

DETERMINING PLANE-SWEEP SAMPLING POINTS IN IMAGE SPACE USING THE CROSS-RATIO FOR IMAGE-BASED DEPTH ESTIMATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Ruf

2017-08-01

Full Text Available With the emergence of small consumer Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs, the importance and interest of image-based depth estimation and model generation from aerial images has greatly increased in the photogrammetric society. In our work, we focus on algorithms that allow an online image-based dense depth estimation from video sequences, which enables the direct and live structural analysis of the depicted scene. Therefore, we use a multi-view plane-sweep algorithm with a semi-global matching (SGM optimization which is parallelized for general purpose computation on a GPU (GPGPU, reaching sufficient performance to keep up with the key-frames of input sequences. One important aspect to reach good performance is the way to sample the scene space, creating plane hypotheses. A small step size between consecutive planes, which is needed to reconstruct details in the near vicinity of the camera may lead to ambiguities in distant regions, due to the perspective projection of the camera. Furthermore, an equidistant sampling with a small step size produces a large number of plane hypotheses, leading to high computational effort. To overcome these problems, we present a novel methodology to directly determine the sampling points of plane-sweep algorithms in image space. The use of the perspective invariant cross-ratio allows us to derive the location of the sampling planes directly from the image data. With this, we efficiently sample the scene space, achieving higher sampling density in areas which are close to the camera and a lower density in distant regions. We evaluate our approach on a synthetic benchmark dataset for quantitative evaluation and on a real-image dataset consisting of aerial imagery. The experiments reveal that an inverse sampling achieves equal and better results than a linear sampling, with less sampling points and thus less runtime. Our algorithm allows an online computation of depth maps for subsequences of five frames, provided that

Dual-gate polysilicon nanoribbon biosensors enable high sensitivity detection of proteins

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zeimpekis, I; Sun, K; Hu, C; Ditshego, N M J; De Planque, M R R; Chong, H M H; Morgan, H; Ashburn, P; Thomas, O

2016-01-01

We demonstrate the advantages of dual-gate polysilicon nanoribbon biosensors with a comprehensive evaluation of different measurement schemes for pH and protein sensing. In particular, we compare the detection of voltage and current changes when top- and bottom-gate bias is applied. Measurements of pH show that a large voltage shift of 491 mV pH"−"1 is obtained in the subthreshold region when the top-gate is kept at a fixed potential and the bottom-gate is varied (voltage sweep). This is an improvement of 16 times over the 30 mV pH"−"1 measured using a top-gate sweep with the bottom-gate at a fixed potential. A similar large voltage shift of 175 mV is obtained when the protein avidin is sensed using a bottom-gate sweep. This is an improvement of 20 times compared with the 8.8 mV achieved from a top-gate sweep. Current measurements using bottom-gate sweeps do not deliver the same signal amplification as when using bottom-gate sweeps to measure voltage shifts. Thus, for detecting a small signal change on protein binding, it is advantageous to employ a double-gate transistor and to measure a voltage shift using a bottom-gate sweep. For top-gate sweeps, the use of a dual-gate transistor enables the current sensitivity to be enhanced by applying a negative bias to the bottom-gate to reduce the carrier concentration in the nanoribbon. For pH measurements, the current sensitivity increases from 65% to 149% and for avidin sensing it increases from 1.4% to 2.5%. (paper)

Burden of type 2 diabetes in Mexico: past, current and future prevalence and incidence rates.

Science.gov (United States)

Meza, Rafael; Barrientos-Gutierrez, Tonatiuh; Rojas-Martinez, Rosalba; Reynoso-Noverón, Nancy; Palacio-Mejia, Lina Sofia; Lazcano-Ponce, Eduardo; Hernández-Ávila, Mauricio

2015-12-01

Mexico diabetes prevalence has increased dramatically in recent years. However, no national incidence estimates exist, hampering the assessment of diabetes trends and precluding the development of burden of disease analyses to inform public health policy decision-making. Here we provide evidence regarding current magnitude of diabetes in Mexico and its future trends. We used data from the Mexico National Health and Nutrition Survey, and age-period-cohort models to estimate prevalence and incidence of self-reported diagnosed diabetes by age, sex, calendar-year (1960-2012), and birth-cohort (1920-1980). We project future rates under three alternative incidence scenarios using demographic projections of the Mexican population from 2010-2050 and a Multi-cohort Diabetes Markov Model. Adult (ages 20+) diagnosed diabetes prevalence in Mexico increased from 7% to 8.9% from 2006 to 2012. Diabetes prevalence increases with age, peaking around ages 65-68 to then decrease. Age-specific incidence follows similar patterns, but peaks around ages 57-59. We estimate that diagnosed diabetes incidence increased exponentially during 1960-2012, roughly doubling every 10 years. Projected rates under three age-specific incidence scenarios suggest diabetes prevalence among adults (ages 20+) may reach 13.7-22.5% by 2050, affecting 15-25 million individuals, with a lifetime risk of 1 in 3 to 1 in 2. Diabetes prevalence in Mexico will continue to increase even if current incidence rates remain unchanged. Continued implementation of policies to reduce obesity rates, increase physical activity, and improve population diet, in tandem with diabetes surveillance and other risk control measures is paramount to substantially reduce the burden of diabetes in Mexico. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

THE CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT AND THE FIXED EXCHANGE RATE. ADJUSTING MECHANISMS AND MODELS.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

HATEGAN D.B. Anca

2010-07-01

Full Text Available The main purpose of the paper is to explain what measures can be taken in order to fix the trade deficit, and the pressure that is upon a country by imposing such measures. The international and the national supply and demand conditions change rapidly, and if a country doesn’t succeed in keeping a tight control over its deficit, a lot of factors will affect its wellbeing. In order to reduce the external trade deficit, the government needs to resort to several techniques. The desired result is to have a balanced current account, and therefore, the government is free to use measures such as fixing its exchange rate, reducing government spending etc. We have shown that all these measures will have a certain impact upon an economy, by allowing its exports to thrive and eliminate the danger from excessive imports, or vice-versa. The main conclusion our paper is that government intervention is allowed in order to maintain the balance of the current account.

Chemical Method to Improve CO{sub 2} Flooding Sweep Efficiency for Oil Recovery Using SPI-CO{sub 2} Gels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Burns, Lyle D.

2009-04-14

The problem in CO{sub 2} flooding lies with its higher mobility causing low conformance or sweep efficiency. This is an issue in oilfield applications where an injected fluid or gas used to mobilize and produce the oil in a marginal field has substantially higher mobility (function of viscosity and density and relative permeability) relative to the crude oil promoting fingering and early breakthrough. Conformance is particularly critical in CO{sub 2} oilfield floods where the end result is less oil recovered and substantially higher costs related to the CO{sub 2}. The SPI-CO{sub 2} (here after called “SPI”) gel system is a unique silicate based gel system that offers a technically effective solution to the conformance problem with CO{sub 2} floods. This SPI gel system remains a low viscosity fluid until an external initiator (CO{sub 2}) triggers gelation. This is a clear improvement over current technologies where the gels set up as a function of time, regardless of where it is placed in the reservoir. In those current systems, the internal initiator is included in the injected fluid for water shut off applications. In this new research effort, the CO{sub 2} is an external initiator contacted after SPI gel solution placement. This concept ensures in the proper water wet reservoir environment that the SPI gel sets up in the precise high permeability path followed by the CO{sub 2}, therefore improving sweep efficiency to a greater degree than conventional systems. In addition, the final SPI product in commercial quantities is expected to be low cost over the competing systems. This Phase I research effort provided “proof of concept” that SPI gels possess strength and may be formed in a sand pack reducing the permeability to brine and CO{sub 2} flow. This SPI technology is a natural extension of prior R & D and the Phase I effort that together show a high potential for success in a Phase II follow-on project. Carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) is a major by-product of

Study on pulsed-discharge devices with high current rising rate for point spot short-wavelength source in dense plasma observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tachinami, Fumitaka; Anzai, Nobuyuki; Sasaki, Toru; Kikuchi, Takashi; Harada, Nob.

2014-01-01

A pulsed-power generator with high current rise based on a pulse-forming-network was studied toward generating intense point-spot X-ray source. To obtain the high rate of current rise, we have designed the compact discharge device with low circuit inductance. The results indicate that the inductance of the compact discharge device was dominated by a gap switch inductance. To reduce the gap switch inductance and operation voltage, the feasible gap switch inductance in the vacuum chamber has been estimated by the circuit simulation. The gap switch inductance can be reduced by the lower pressure operation. It means that the designed discharge device achieves the rate of current rise of 10 12 A/s

Decreased suicide rate after induced abortion, after the Current Care Guidelines in Finland 1987-2012.

Science.gov (United States)

Gissler, Mika; Karalis, Elina; Ulander, Veli-Matti

2015-02-01

Women with a recent induced abortion have a 3-fold risk for suicide, compared to non-pregnant women. The increased risk was recognised in unofficial guidelines (1996) and Current Care Guidelines (2001) on abortion treatment, highlighting the importance of a check-up 2 - 3 weeks after the termination, to monitor for mental health disorders. We studied the suicide trends after induced abortion in 1987 - 2012 in Finland. We linked the Register on Induced Abortions (N = 284,751) and Cause-of-Death Register (N = 3798 suicides) to identify women who had committed suicide within 1 year after an induced abortion (N = 79). The abortion rates per 100,000 person-years were calculated for 1987 - 1996 (period with no guidelines), 1997 - 2001 (with unofficial guidelines) and 2002 - 2012 (with Current Care Guidelines). The suicide rate after induced abortion declined by 24%, from 32.4/100,000 in 1987 - 1996 to 24.3/100,000 in 1997 - 2001 and then 24.8/100,000 in 2002 - 2012. The age-adjusted suicide rate among women aged 15 - 49 decreased by 13%; from 11.4/100,000 to 10.4/100,000 and 9.9/100,000, respectively. After induced abortions, the suicide rate increased by 30% among teenagers (to 25/100,000), stagnated for women aged 20 - 24 (at 32/100,000), but decreased by 43% (to 21/100,000) for women aged 25 - 49. The excess risk for suicide after induced abortion decreased, but the change was not statistically significant. Women with a recent induced abortion still have a 2-fold suicide risk. A mandatory check-up may decrease this risk. The causes for the increased suicide risk, including mental health prior to pregnancy and the social circumstances, should be investigated further. © 2014 the Nordic Societies of Public Health.

Calculation of induced current densities and specific absorption rates (SAR) for pregnant women exposed to hand-held metal detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kainz, Wolfgang; Chan, Dulciana D; Casamento, Jon P; Bassen, Howard I

2003-01-01

The finite difference time domain (FDTD) method in combination with a well established frequency scaling method was used to calculate the internal fields and current densities induced in a simple model of a pregnant woman and her foetus, when exposed to hand-held metal detectors. The pregnant woman and foetus were modelled using a simple semi-heterogeneous model in 10 mm resolution, consisting of three different types of tissue. The model is based on the scanned shape of a pregnant woman in the 34th gestational week. Nine different representative models of hand-held metal detectors operating in the frequency range from 8 kHz to 2 MHz were evaluated. The metal detectors were placed directly on the abdomen of the computational model with a spacing of 1 cm. Both the induced current density and the specific absorption rate (SAR) are well below the recommended limits for exposure of the general public published in the ICNIRP Guidelines and the IEEE C95.1 Standard. The highest current density is 8.3 mA m -2 and the highest SAR is 26.5 μW kg -1 . Compared to the limits for the induced current density recommended in the ICNIRP Guidelines, a minimum safety factor of 3 exists. Compared to the IEEE C95.1 Standard, a safety factor of 60,000 for the specific absorption rate was found. Based on the very low specific absorption rate and an induced current density below the recommended exposure limits, significant temperature rise or nerve stimulation in the pregnant woman or in the foetus can be excluded

The yule approximation for the site frequency spectrum after a selective sweep.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sebastian Bossert

Full Text Available In the area of evolutionary theory, a key question is which portions of the genome of a species are targets of natural selection. Genetic hitchhiking is a theoretical concept that has helped to identify various such targets in natural populations. In the presence of recombination, a severe reduction in sequence diversity is expected around a strongly beneficial allele. The site frequency spectrum is an important tool in genome scans for selection and is composed of the numbers S(1,...,S(n-1, where S(k is the number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs present in k from n individuals. Previous work has shown that both the number of low- and high-frequency variants are elevated relative to neutral evolution when a strongly beneficial allele fixes. Here, we follow a recent investigation of genetic hitchhiking using a marked Yule process to obtain an analytical prediction of the site frequency spectrum in a panmictic population at the time of fixation of a highly beneficial mutation. We combine standard results from the neutral case with the effects of a selective sweep. As simulations show, the resulting formula produces predictions that are more accurate than previous approaches for the whole frequency spectrum. In particular, the formula correctly predicts the elevation of low- and high-frequency variants and is significantly more accurate than previously derived formulas for intermediate frequency variants.

Moving Difference (MDIFF) Non-adiabatic rapid sweep (NARS) EPR of copper(II)

Science.gov (United States)

Hyde, James S.; Bennett, Brian; Kittell, Aaron W.; Kowalski, Jason M.; Sidabras, Jason W.

2014-01-01

Non Adiabatic Rapid Sweep (NARS) EPR spectroscopy has been introduced for application to nitroxide-labeled biological samples (AW Kittell et al, (2011)). Displays are pure absorption, and are built up by acquiring data in spectral segments that are concatenated. In this paper we extend the method to frozen solutions of copper-imidazole, a square planar copper complex with four in-plane nitrogen ligands. Pure absorption spectra are created from concatenation of 170 5-gauss segments spanning 850 G at 1.9 GHz. These spectra, however, are not directly useful since nitrogen superhyperfine couplings are barely visible. Application of the moving difference (MDIFF) algorithm to the digitized NARS pure absorption spectrum is used to produce spectra that are analogous to the first harmonic EPR. The signal intensity is about 4 times higher than when using conventional 100 kHz field modulation, depending on line shape. MDIFF not only filters the spectrum, but also the noise, resulting in further improvement of the SNR for the same signal acquisition time. The MDIFF amplitude can be optimized retrospectively, different spectral regions can be examined at different amplitudes, and an amplitude can be used that is substantially greater than the upper limit of the field modulation amplitude of a conventional EPR spectrometer, which improves the signal-to-noise ratio of broad lines. PMID:24036469

Oil spill encounter rate: A means of estimating advancing skimmer performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schulze, R.

1993-01-01

A high rate of oil spill recovery can only be achieved if the spilled oil can be collected fast enough for the skimming and pumping systems to operate at their rated capacity. For advancing skimmers, recovery capacity depends on the rate at which the skimming system encounters the oil slick. For these systems, encounter rate depends on skimming speed, sweep width, and the amount of oil available, in this case measured in terms of slick thickness. The computation of the spill encounter rate is described, and a chart is provided that permits the user to determine encounter rate for candidate skimming systems by inspection. Furthermore, a contingency planning worksheet for advancing skimmers is provided that allows the user to evaluate a particular response system. The resulting data can be used to determine the oil slick area that can be covered in a period of time, the volume of oil that can be expected to be recovered in that time based on oil spill planning scenarios, the pumping capacity required for skimming and transfer systems, and the storage requirements for recovered oil. Finally, suggestions are presented on how computations of oil spill encounter rate can be used to make important decisions in procuring advancing skimmers for specific applications. 1 fig., 1 tab

Precision and broadband frequency swept laser source based on high-order modulation-sideband injection-locking.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Fang; Lu, Bin; Wang, Jian; Xu, Dan; Pan, Zhengqing; Chen, Dijun; Cai, Haiwen; Qu, Ronghui

2015-02-23

A precision and broadband laser frequency swept technique is experimentally demonstrated. Using synchronous current compensation, a slave diode laser is dynamically injection-locked to a specific high-order modulation-sideband of a narrow-linewidth master laser modulated by an electro-optic modulator (EOM), whose driven radio frequency (RF) signal can be agilely, precisely controlled by a frequency synthesizer, and the high-order modulation-sideband enables multiplied sweep range and tuning rate. By using 5th order sideband injection-locking, the original tuning range of 3 GHz and tuning rate of 0.5 THz/s is multiplied by 5 times to 15 GHz and 2.5 THz/s respectively. The slave laser has a 3 dB-linewidth of 2.5 kHz which is the same to the master laser. The settling time response of a 10 MHz frequency switching is 2.5 µs. By using higher-order modulation-sideband and optimized experiment parameters, an extended sweep range and rate could be expected.

Consistent reconstruction of 4D fetal heart ultrasound images to cope with fetal motion.

Science.gov (United States)

Tanner, Christine; Flach, Barbara; Eggenberger, Céline; Mattausch, Oliver; Bajka, Michael; Goksel, Orcun

2017-08-01

4D ultrasound imaging of the fetal heart relies on reconstructions from B-mode images. In the presence of fetal motion, current approaches suffer from artifacts, which are unrecoverable for single sweeps. We propose to use many sweeps and exploit the resulting redundancy to automatically recover from motion by reconstructing a 4D image which is consistent in phase, space, and time. An interactive visualization framework to view animated ultrasound slices from 4D reconstructions on arbitrary planes was developed using a magnetically tracked mock probe. We first quantified the performance of 10 4D reconstruction formulations on simulated data. Reconstructions of 14 in vivo sequences by a baseline, the current state-of-the-art, and the proposed approach were then visually ranked with respect to temporal quality on orthogonal views. Rankings from 5 observers showed that the proposed 4D reconstruction approach significantly improves temporal image quality in comparison with the baseline. The 4D reconstructions of the baseline and the proposed methods were then inspected interactively for accessibility to clinically important views and rated for their clinical usefulness by an ultrasound specialist in obstetrics and gynecology. The reconstructions by the proposed method were rated as 'very useful' in 71% and were statistically significantly more useful than the baseline reconstructions. Multi-sweep fetal heart ultrasound acquisitions in combination with consistent 4D image reconstruction improves quality as well as clinical usefulness of the resulting 4D images in the presence of fetal motion.

Effects of asymmetric nuclear introgression, introgressive mitochondrial sweep, and purifying selection on phylogenetic reconstruction and divergence estimates in the Pacific clade of Locustella warblers.

Science.gov (United States)

Drovetski, Sergei V; Semenov, Georgy; Red'kin, Yaroslav A; Sotnikov, Vladimir N; Fadeev, Igor V; Koblik, Evgeniy A

2015-01-01

When isolated but reproductively compatible populations expand geographically and meet, simulations predict asymmetric introgression of neutral loci from a local to invading taxon. Genetic introgression may affect phylogenetic reconstruction by obscuring topology and divergence estimates. We combined phylogenetic analysis of sequences from one mtDNA and 12 nuDNA loci with analysis of gene flow among 5 species of Pacific Locustella warblers to test for presence of genetic introgression and its effects on tree topology and divergence estimates. Our data showed that nuDNA introgression was substantial and asymmetrical among all members of superspecies groups whereas mtDNA showed no introgression except a single species pair where the invader's mtDNA was swept by mtDNA of the local species. This introgressive sweep of mtDNA had the opposite direction of the nuDNA introgression and resulted in the paraphyly of the local species' mtDNA haplotypes with respect to those of the invader. Тhe multilocus nuDNA species tree resolved all inter- and intraspecific relationships despite substantial introgression. However, the node ages on the species tree may be underestimated as suggested by the differences in node age estimates based on non-introgressing mtDNA and introgressing nuDNA. In turn, the introgressive sweep and strong purifying selection appear to elongate internal branches in the mtDNA gene tree.

Determination of corrosion rate of reinforcement with a modulated guard ring electrode; analysis of errors due to lateral current distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wojtas, H.

2004-01-01

The main source of errors in measuring the corrosion rate of rebars on site is a non-uniform current distribution between the small counter electrode (CE) on the concrete surface and the large rebar network. Guard ring electrodes (GEs) are used in an attempt to confine the excitation current within a defined area. In order to better understand the functioning of modulated guard ring electrode and to assess its effectiveness in eliminating errors due to lateral spread of current signal from the small CE, measurements of the polarisation resistance performed on a concrete beam have been numerically simulated. Effect of parameters such as rebar corrosion activity, concrete resistivity, concrete cover depth and size of the corroding area on errors in the estimation of polarisation resistance of a single rebar has been examined. The results indicate that modulated GE arrangement fails to confine the lateral spread of the CE current within a constant area. Using the constant diameter of confinement for the calculation of corrosion rate may lead to serious errors when test conditions change. When high corrosion activity of rebar and/or local corrosion occur, the use of the modulated GE confinement may lead to significant underestimation of the corrosion rate

Enhancing the Frequency Adaptability of Periodic Current Controllers with a Fixed Sampling Rate for Grid-Connected Power Converters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yang, Yongheng; Zhou, Keliang; Blaabjerg, Frede

2016-01-01

Grid-connected power converters should employ advanced current controllers, e.g., Proportional Resonant (PR) and Repetitive Controllers (RC), in order to produce high-quality feed-in currents that are required to be synchronized with the grid. The synchronization is actually to detect...... of the resonant controllers and by approximating the fractional delay using a Lagrange interpolating polynomial for the RC, respectively, the frequency-variation-immunity of these periodic current controllers with a fixed sampling rate is improved. Experiments on a single-phase grid-connected system are presented...... the instantaneous grid information (e.g., frequency and phase of the grid voltage) for the current control, which is commonly performed by a Phase-Locked-Loop (PLL) system. Hence, harmonics and deviations in the estimated frequency by the PLL could lead to current tracking performance degradation, especially...

Rates and impact of trauma and current stressors among Darfuri refugees in Eastern Chad.

Science.gov (United States)

Rasmussen, Andrew; Nguyen, Leanh; Wilkinson, John; Vundla, Sikhumbuzo; Raghavan, Sumithra; Miller, Kenneth E; Keller, Allen S

2010-04-01

Darfur refugees face hardships associated with chronic displacement, including lack of basic needs and safety concerns. Psychiatric research on refugees has focused on trauma, but daily stressors may contribute more to variance in distress. This article reports rates of past trauma and current stressors among Darfur refugees and gauges the contribution of each to psychological distress and functional impairment. A representative sample of 848 Darfuris in 2 refugee camps were interviewed about traumatic events, stressors faced in the camps, psychological distress, and functional impairment. Basic needs and safety concerns were more strongly correlated with measures of distress (rs = .19-.31) than were war-related traumatic events (rs = .09-.20). Hierarchical regression supported models in which effects of trauma on distress were mediated by current stressors. Although war-related traumatic events are the initial causes of refugees' hardship, findings suggest that the day-to-day challenges and concerns in camps mediate psychological distress associated with these events.

Wave-current generated turbulence over hemisphere bottom roughness

Science.gov (United States)

Barman, Krishnendu; Roy, Sayahnya; Debnath, Koustuv

2018-03-01

The present paper explores the effect of wave-current interaction on the turbulence characteristics and the distribution of eddy structure over artificially crammed rough bed prepared with hemispheres. The effect of the surface wave on temporal and spatial-averaged mean velocity, intensity, Reynolds shear stress over, within cavity and above the hemispherical bed are discussed. Detailed three-dimensional time series velocity components were measured in a tilting flume using 3-D Micro-Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV) at a Reynolds number, 62 × 103. This study reports the fractional contributions of burst-sweep cycles dominating the total shear stress near hemispherical rough surface both for current only flow as well as for wave-induced cases. Wavelet analysis of the fluctuating velocity signal shows that the superimposed wave of frequency 1 Hz is capable of modulating the energy containing a range of velocity fluctuations at the mid-depth of the cavity region (formed due to the crammed arrangement of the hemispheres). As a result, the large-scale eddies (with large values of wavelet coefficients) are concentrated at a pseudo-frequency which is equal to the wave oscillating frequency. On the other hand, it is observed that the higher wave frequency (2 Hz) is incapable of modulating the eddy structures at that particular region.

Design of current source for multi-frequency simultaneous electrical impedance tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Bing; Xu, Yanbin; Dong, Feng

2017-09-01

Multi-frequency electrical impedance tomography has been evolving from the frequency-sweep approach to the multi-frequency simultaneous measurement technique which can reduce measuring time and will be increasingly attractive for time-varying biological applications. The accuracy and stability of the current source are the key factors determining the quality of the image reconstruction. This article presents a field programmable gate array-based current source for a multi-frequency simultaneous electrical impedance tomography system. A novel current source circuit was realized by combining the classic current mirror based on the feedback amplifier AD844 with a differential topology. The optimal phase offsets of harmonic sinusoids were obtained through the crest factor analysis. The output characteristics of this current source were evaluated by simulation and actual measurement. The results include the following: (1) the output impedance was compared with one of the Howland pump circuit in simulation, showing comparable performance at low frequencies. However, the proposed current source makes lower demands for resistor tolerance but performs even better at high frequencies. (2) The output impedance in actual measurement below 200 kHz is above 1.3 MΩ and can reach 250 KΩ up to 1 MHz. (3) An experiment based on a biological RC model has been implemented. The mean error for the demodulated impedance amplitude and phase are 0.192% and 0.139°, respectively. Therefore, the proposed current source is wideband, biocompatible, and high precision, which demonstrates great potential to work as a sub-system in the multi-frequency electrical impedance tomography system.

ICON, a current model preamplifier in CMOS technology for use with high rate particle detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anghinolfi, F.; Aspell, P.; Campbell, M.; Heijne, E.H.M.; Jarron, P.; Meddeler, G.; Santiard, J.C.

1993-01-01

The ICON current mode preamplifier is intended for use in experiments at high rate hadron colliders. The transient response and noise performance have been analyzed. One chip has been made using an ICON circuit with resistive feedback to produce a preamplifier with a peaking time of below 10 ns. This fast preamplifier has a gain of 870 mV/pC and a power dissipation of around 1 mW. Another chip was made which uses the ICON circuit as the front-end to a dual port analog memory. The noise measured is between 2,400 e - and 3,000 e - . An important characteristic of ICON is that it can tolerate a detector leakage current of 10 μA at the DC coupled input. Therefore, it is very suitable for silicon detector systems under severe radiation conditions

Higher success rate with transcranial electrical stimulation of motor-evoked potentials using constant-voltage stimulation compared with constant-current stimulation in patients undergoing spinal surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Shigematsu, Hideki; Kawaguchi, Masahiko; Hayashi, Hironobu; Takatani, Tsunenori; Iwata, Eiichiro; Tanaka, Masato; Okuda, Akinori; Morimoto, Yasuhiko; Masuda, Keisuke; Tanaka, Yuu; Tanaka, Yasuhito

2017-10-01

During spine surgery, the spinal cord is electrophysiologically monitored via transcranial electrical stimulation of motor-evoked potentials (TES-MEPs) to prevent injury. Transcranial electrical stimulation of motor-evoked potential involves the use of either constant-current or constant-voltage stimulation; however, there are few comparative data available regarding their ability to adequately elicit compound motor action potentials. We hypothesized that the success rates of TES-MEP recordings would be similar between constant-current and constant-voltage stimulations in patients undergoing spine surgery. The objective of this study was to compare the success rates of TES-MEP recordings between constant-current and constant-voltage stimulation. This is a prospective, within-subject study. Data from 100 patients undergoing spinal surgery at the cervical, thoracic, or lumbar level were analyzed. The success rates of the TES-MEP recordings from each muscle were examined. Transcranial electrical stimulation with constant-current and constant-voltage stimulations at the C3 and C4 electrode positions (international "10-20" system) was applied to each patient. Compound muscle action potentials were bilaterally recorded from the abductor pollicis brevis (APB), deltoid (Del), abductor hallucis (AH), tibialis anterior (TA), gastrocnemius (GC), and quadriceps (Quad) muscles. The success rates of the TES-MEP recordings from the right Del, right APB, bilateral Quad, right TA, right GC, and bilateral AH muscles were significantly higher using constant-voltage stimulation than those using constant-current stimulation. The overall success rates with constant-voltage and constant-current stimulations were 86.3% and 68.8%, respectively (risk ratio 1.25 [95% confidence interval: 1.20-1.31]). The success rates of TES-MEP recordings were higher using constant-voltage stimulation compared with constant-current stimulation in patients undergoing spinal surgery. Copyright © 2017

On the dynamics of the power spectrum during lower hybrid current drive in Tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bizarro, J.P.

1993-01-01

An investigation is provided on the propagation and absorption of the power spectrum during lower hybrid current drive in Tokamaks. A combined ray tracing and Fokker-Planck code is utilized and stochastic effects induced by toroidicity are correctly taken into account by using a large number of rays. It is shown that when strong wave damping prevails the absorbed spectrum is very similar in shape to the launched one, although some broadening and shifting in parallel wave index generally occur, and power deposition is localized. If the wave damping is weak and stochastic effects are important, rays end up sweeping the entire plasma cross-section, power deposition turns out to be extended, and the absorbed spectrum is much broader than the launched one

Determination of strobilurin fungicide residues in fruits and vegetables by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography with sweeping.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Kun; Chen, Guan-hua; Wu, Xian; Shi, Jie; Guo, Dong-shan

2014-02-01

A new assay of micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography with sweeping was developed to determine azoxystrobin, kresoxim-methyl and pyraclostrobin in fruits and vegetables. The key factors affecting resolution and peak height were studied and the optimum conditions were obtained for separation and enrichment. The running buffer consisted of 40 mM borate, 25 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate and 15% acetonitrile, and its pH was adjusted to 8.4. The sample was injected for 677 nL and the separation voltage was 25 kV. Under the optimum conditions, the enrichment factors of azoxystrobin, kresoxim-methyl and pyraclostrobin were 861, 550 and 403; the linear dynamic ranges were all 0.01-5.0 mg/L; the limits of detection were 0.002, 0.001 and 0.002 mg/kg; the recoveries of spiked samples were 85.1-98.5%, 87.5-97.0% and 89.1-99.1%, respectively. The assay can meet the requirement of maximum residue limits for these three strobilurin fungicides, and has been applied for determining their residues in fruits and vegetables.

Adjustable direct current and pulsed circuit fault current limiter

Science.gov (United States)

Boenig, Heinrich J.; Schillig, Josef B.

2003-09-23

A fault current limiting system for direct current circuits and for pulsed power circuit. In the circuits, a current source biases a diode that is in series with the circuits' transmission line. If fault current in a circuit exceeds current from the current source biasing the diode open, the diode will cease conducting and route the fault current through the current source and an inductor. This limits the rate of rise and the peak value of the fault current.

Improving H-Q rating curves in temprorary streams by using Acoustic Doppler Current meters

Science.gov (United States)

Marchand, P.; Salles, C.; Rodier, C.; Hernandez, F.; Gayrard, E.; Tournoud, M.-G.

2012-04-01

Intermittent rivers pose different challenges to stream rating due to high spatial and temporal gradients. Long dry periods, cut by short duration flush flood events explain the difficulty to obtain reliable discharge data, for low flows as well as for floods: problems occur with standard gauging, zero flow period, etc. Our study aims to test the use of an acoustic Doppler currentmeter (ADC) for improving stream rating curves in small catchments subject to large variations of discharge, solid transport and high eutrophication levels. The study is conducted at the outlet of the river Vène, a small coastal river (67 km2) located close to the city of Montpellier (France). The low flow period lasts for more than 6 month; during this period the river flow is sustained by effluents from urban sewage systems, which allows development of algae and macrophytes in the riverbed. The ADC device (Sontek ®Argonaut SW) is a pulsed Doppler current profiling system designed for measuring water velocity profiles and levels that are used to compute volumetric flow rates. It is designed for shallow waters (less than 4 meter depth). Its main advantages are its low cost and high accuracy (±1% of the measured velocity or ±0.05 m/sec, as reported by the manufacturer). The study will evaluate the improvement in rating curves in an intermittent flow context and the effect of differences in sensitivity between low and high water level, by comparing mean flow velocity obtained by ADC to direct discharges measurements. The study will also report long-term use of ADC device, by considering effects of biofilms, algae and macrophytes, as well as solid transport on the accuracy of the measurements. In conclusion, we show the possibility to improve stream rating and continuous data collection of an intermittent river by using a ADC with some precautions.

Current-induced metal-insulator transition in VO x thin film prepared by rapid-thermal-annealing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, Choong-Rae; Cho, SungIl; Vadim, Sidorkin; Jung, Ranju; Yoo, Inkyeong

2006-01-01

The phenomenon of metal-insulator transition (MIT) in polycrystalline VO x thin films and their preparations have been studied. The films were prepared by sputtering of vanadium thin films succeeded by Rapid Thermal Annealing (RTA) in oxygen ambient at 500 deg. C. Crystalline, compositional, and morphological characterizations reveal a continuous change of phase from vanadium metal to the highest oxide phase, V 2 O 5 , with the time of annealing. Electrical MIT switching has been observed in these films. Sweeping mode, electrode area, and temperature dependent MIT has been studied in Pt/VO x /Pt vertical structure. The important parameters for MIT in VO x have been found to be the current density and the electric field, which depend on carrier density in the films

The sports science of curling: a practical review.

Science.gov (United States)

Bradley, John L

2009-01-01

Curling is a sport played on ice in which two teams each deliver 8 granite stones towards a target, or 'house'. It is the only sport in which the trajectory of the projectile can be influenced after it has been released by the athlete. This is achieved by sweeping the ice in front of the stone to change the stone-ice friction and thereby enable to stone to travel further, curl more or stay straight. Hard sweeping is physically demanding. Different techniques of sweeping can also have different effects on the stone. This paper will review the current research behind sweeping a curling stone, outline the physiological demands of sweeping, the associated performance effects and suggest potential strategies of sweeping that can be used by both coaches and curling teams. Key pointsSweeping a curling stone can be highly physically demanding.Effective sweeping requires a combination of downward force and brush head speed, determined by the stone velocity.Sweeping on the left or right of a stone can help the stone to remain straight or curl more depending on the rotation of the stone.This can lead to the development of sweeping and playing tactics and contribute to team selection.

Dynamic and rate-dependent yielding behavior of Co{sub 0.9}Ni{sub 0.1} microcluster based magnetorheological fluids

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arief, Injamamul; Mukhopadhyay, P.K., E-mail: pkm@bose.res.in

2016-01-01

In this paper we performed steady shear and oscillatory magnetorheological (MR) studies in magnetic fluids containing CoNi sub-micron sized clusters of 450 nm in diameter. Such Co-rich nanoclusters were synthesized by conventional homogeneous nucleation without any external surfactant or reducing agent in liquid polyol at elevated temperature. The x-ray diffraction, energy dispersive x-ray analysis, scanning and transmission electron microscopy studies were done for analyzing the sample composition and morphology. Two variants of fluid samples were prepared by dispersing 15 vol% and 20 vol% of CoNi powders in castor oil. Room temperature steady magnetoshear studies indicate viscoplastic behavior with stronger dependence of static yield stress on magnetization than a dipolar coupling that was operational in the dynamic yield stress. Magnetosweep measurements at constant shear rate showed interesting viscous relaxation at high magnetic fields. We also explored dynamical elastic behavior through oscillatory magnetorheological studies under both strain sweep and frequency sweep modes, and showed glass transition like phenomenon occurring in them above critical shear amplitudes. - Highlights: • A typical polymer/surfactant free polyol reduction method was used to synthesize large-scale Co{sub 0.9}Ni{sub 0.1} nanoclusters. • Room temperature rate-dependent magnetorheology of CoNi-nanoclusters based MR fluids revealed viscoplastic behavior. • Magnetic fields were replaced by powder particle magnetization (M) for better yield stress scaling. • In addition to previously reported M{sup 2}-dependence, higher order relations (~M{sup 3}) were also noted for static yield stress. • An interesting viscous relaxation phenomenon occurred at higher magnetic fields.

Reducing hospital readmission rates: current strategies and future directions.

Science.gov (United States)

Kripalani, Sunil; Theobald, Cecelia N; Anctil, Beth; Vasilevskis, Eduard E

2014-01-01

New financial penalties for institutions with high readmission rates have intensified efforts to reduce rehospitalization. Several interventions that involve multiple components (e.g., patient needs assessment, medication reconciliation, patient education, arranging timely outpatient appointments, and providing telephone follow-up) have successfully reduced readmission rates for patients discharged to home. The effect of interventions on readmission rates is related to the number of components implemented; single-component interventions are unlikely to reduce readmissions significantly. For patients discharged to postacute care facilities, multicomponent interventions have reduced readmissions through enhanced communication, medication safety, advanced care planning, and enhanced training to manage medical conditions that commonly precipitate readmission. To help hospitals direct resources and services to patients with greater likelihood of readmission, risk-stratification methods are available. Future work should better define the roles of home-based services, information technology, mental health care, caregiver support, community partnerships, and new transitional care personnel.

Electroanalysis of cardioselective beta-adrenoreceptor blocking agent acebutolol by disposable graphite pencil electrodes with detailed redox mechanism

OpenAIRE

Atmanand M. Bagoji; Shreekant M. Patil; Sharanappa T. Nandibewoor

2016-01-01

A simple economic graphite pencil electrode (GPE) was used for analysis of cardioselective, hydrophilic-adrenoreceptor blocking agent, acebutolol (ACBT) using the cyclic voltammetric, linear sweep voltammetric, differential pulse voltammetric (DPV), and square-wave voltammetric (SWV) techniques. The dependence of the current on pH, concentration, and scan rate was investigated to optimize the experimental condition for determination of ACBT. The electrochemical behavior of the ACBT at GPE was...

Current situation of high-dose-rate brachytherapy for cervical cancer in Brazil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Silva, Rogerio Matias Vidal da; Souza, Divanizia do Nascimento, E-mail: rmv.fisica@gmail.com [Universidade Federal de Sergipe (UFS), Sao Cristovao, SE (Brazil); Pinezi, Juliana Castro Dourado [Pontificia Universidade Catolica de Goias (PUC-Goias), Goiania, GO (Brazil); Macedo, Luiz Eduardo Andrade [Hospital Chama, Arapiraca, AL (Brazil)

2014-05-15

To assess the current situation of high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy for cancer of the cervix in Brazil, regarding apparatuses, planning methods, prescription, fractionation schedule and evaluation of dose in organs at risk. Materials and methods: in the period between March/2012 and May/2013, a multiple choice questionnaire was developed and sent to 89 Brazilian hospitals which perform HDR brachytherapy. Results: sixty-one services answered the questionnaire. All regions of the country experienced a sharp increase in the number of HDR brachytherapy services in the period from 2001 to 2013. As regards planning, although a three-dimensional planning software was available in 91% of the centers, conventional radiography was mentioned by 92% of the respondents as their routine imaging method for such a purpose. Approximately 35% of respondents said that brachytherapy sessions are performed after teletherapy. The scheme of four 7 Gy intracavitary insertions was mentioned as the most frequently practiced. Conclusion: the authors observed that professionals have difficulty accessing adjuvant three-dimensional planning tools such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. (author)

Harnessing electro driven separation technique for the separation of selected agrochemicals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wan Aini Wan Ibrahim; Alam, S.M. Monjurul; Azli Sulaiman

2008-01-01

Electro driven separation techniques offer a different approach to the analysis of complex mixtures than do traditional pressure-driven chromatographic system; it may rely on electrophoresis, the transport of charged species through a medium by an applied field or may rely on electro driven mobile phase to provide a true chromatographic separation. In the current work the potential of an electro driven separation technique viz. Micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC), is harnessed for the separation of selected agrochemicals (organophosphorus pesticides, OPPs) widely used in the agriculture sector in Malaysia. The current study compares the use of MEKC in normal mode (NM) and reverse mode (RM) for the separation of the selected OPPS. This study also highlights the difference in separations produced by performing separations in normal mode-MEKC (NM-MEKC) and reverse mode-MEKC (RM-MEKC) for the selected OPPs. In RM-MEKC, separation is conducted at acidic pH (pH 2.5 in the current work) where the electro osmotic flow (EOF) is weak whereas in NM-MEKC, the separation is carried out under basic pH (9.3 in this work) where the EOF is strong. A reverse migration order of the OPPs was observed under RM-MEKC. Separation under NM-MEKC was found to be superior to those of RM- MEKC. A comparison is also made between separations performed under sweeping-NM-MEKC and sweeping-RM-MEKC. In sweeping, the OPPs are prepared in the same background solution (BGS) minus the micelles and is adjusted to the same conductivity as the BGS. The study showed that NM-MEKC is more sensitive than RM-MEKC but sweeping-RM-MEKC is superior to sweeping-NM-MEKC. However, sweeping-RM-MEKC only separates two of the OPPs in a single run whereas sweeping-NM-MEKC separates four OPPs in a single run. The better choice of separation mode would be sweeping-NM- MEKC for more OPPs separation in a single run. (author)

Current use of equations for estimating glomerular filtration rate in Spanish laboratories.

Science.gov (United States)

Gràcia-Garcia, Sílvia; Montañés-Bermúdez, Rosario; Morales-García, Luis J; Díez-de Los Ríos, M José; Jiménez-García, Juan Á; Macías-Blanco, Carlos; Martínez-López, Rosalina; Ruiz-Altarejos, Joaquín; Ruiz-Martín, Guadalupe; Sanz-Hernández, Sonia; Ventura-Pedret, Salvador

2012-07-17

In 2006 the Spanish Society of Clinical Biochemistry and Molecular Pathology (SEQC) and the Spanish Society of Nephrology (S.E.N.) developed a consensus document in order to facilitate the diagnosis and monitoring of chronic kidney disease with the incorporation of equations for estimating glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) into laboratory reports. The current national prevalence of eGFR reporting and the degree of adherence to these recommendations among clinical laboratories is unknown. We administered a national survey in 2010-11 to Spanish clinical laboratories. The survey was through e-mail or telephone to laboratories that participated in the SEQC’s Programme for External Quality Assurance, included in the National Hospitals Catalogue 2010, including both primary care and private laboratories. A total of 281 laboratories answered to the survey. Of these, 88.2% reported on the eGFR, with 61.9% reporting on the MDRD equation and 31.6% using the MDRD-IDMS equation. A total of 42.5% of laboratories always reported serum creatinine values, and other variables only when specifically requested. Regarding the way results were presented, 46.2% of laboratories reported the exact numerical value only when the filtration rate was below 60mL/min/1.73m2, while 50.6% reported all values regardless. In 56.3% of the cases reporting eGFR, an interpretive commentary of it was enclosed. Although a high percentage of Spanish laboratories have added eGFR in their reports, this metric is not universally used. Moreover, some aspects, such as the equation used and the correct expression of eGFR results, should be improved.

Photo-induced tunneling currents in MOS structures with various HfO2/SiO2 stacking dielectrics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chin-Sheng Pang

2014-04-01

Full Text Available In this study, the current conduction mechanisms of structures with tandem high-k dielectric in illumination are discussed. Samples of Al/SiO2/Si (S, Al/HfO2/SiO2/Si (H, and Al/3HfO2/SiO2/Si (3H were examined. The significant observation of electron traps of sample H compares to sample S is found under the double bias capacitance-voltage (C-V measurements in illumination. Moreover, the photo absorption sensitivity of sample H is higher than S due to the formation of HfO2 dielectric layer, which leads to larger numbers of carriers crowded through the sweep of VG before the domination of tunneling current. Additionally, the HfO2 dielectric layer would block the electrons passing through oxide from valance band, which would result in less electron-hole (e−-h+ pairs recombination effect. Also, it was found that both of the samples S and H show perimeter dependency of positive bias currents due to strong fringing field effect in dark and illumination; while sample 3H shows area dependency of positive bias currents in strong illumination. The non-uniform tunneling current through thin dielectric and through HfO2 stacking layers are importance to MOS(p tunneling photo diodes.

Flavin as an Indicator of the Rate-Limiting Factor for Microbial Current Production in Shewanella oneidensis MR-1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saito, Junki; Hashimoto, Kazuhito; Okamoto, Akihiro

2016-01-01

Microbial electrode catalysis such as microbial fuel cells or electrosynthesis involves electron exchange with the electrodes located at the cell exterior; i.e., extracellular electron transport (EET). Despite the vast amount of research on the kinetics of EET to optimize the catalysis rate, the relevance of other factors, including upstream metabolic reactions, has scarcely been investigated. Herein, we report an in vivo electrochemical assay to confirm whether EET limits anodic current production (j) for the lactate oxidation of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1. Addition of riboflavin, which specifically enhances the EET rate, increased j only in the early phase before j saturation. In contrast, when we removed a trace metal ion necessary for upstream reactions from the electrolyte, a significant decrease in j and the lactate consumption rate was observed only after j saturation. These data suggest that the limiting factor for j shifted from EET to upstream reactions, highlighting the general importance of enhancing, for example, microbial metabolism, especially for long-standing practical applications. Our concept to specifically control the rate of EET could be applicable to other bioelectrode catalysis systems as a strategy to monitor their rate-limiting factors.

Recovery of volatile fruit juice aroma compounds by membrane technology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bagger-Jørgensen, Rico; Meyer, Anne S.; Pinelo, Manuel

2011-01-01

The influence of temperature (10–45°C), feed flow rate (300–500L/h) and sweeping gas flow rate (1.2–2m3/h) on the recovery of berry fruit juice aroma compounds by sweeping gas membrane distillation (SGMD) was examined on an aroma model solution and on black currant juice in a lab scale membrane...... distillation set up. The data were compared to recovery of the aroma compounds by vacuum membrane distillation (VMD). The flux of SGMD increased with an increase in temperature, feed flow rate or sweeping gas flow rate. Increased temperature and feed flow rate also increased the concentration factors...... the degradation of anthocyanins and polyphenolic compounds in the juice. Industrial relevanceHigh temperature evaporation is the most widely used industrial technique for aroma recovery and concentration of juices, but membrane distillation (MD) may provide for gentler aroma stripping and lower energy consumption...

High rate deposition of thin film cadmium sulphide by pulsed direct current magnetron sputtering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lisco, F., E-mail: F.Lisco@lboro.ac.uk [Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST), School of Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering, Loughborough University, Leicestershire LE11 3TU (United Kingdom); Kaminski, P.M.; Abbas, A.; Bowers, J.W.; Claudio, G. [Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST), School of Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering, Loughborough University, Leicestershire LE11 3TU (United Kingdom); Losurdo, M. [Institute of Inorganic Methodologies and of Plasmas, IMIP-CNR, via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari (Italy); Walls, J.M. [Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST), School of Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering, Loughborough University, Leicestershire LE11 3TU (United Kingdom)

2015-01-01

Cadmium Sulphide (CdS) is an important n-type semiconductor widely used as a window layer in thin film photovoltaics Copper Indium Selenide, Copper Indium Gallium (di)Selenide, Copper Zinc Tin Sulphide and Cadmium Telluride (CdTe). Cadmium Sulphide has been deposited using a number of techniques but these techniques can be slow (chemical bath deposition and Radio Frequency sputtering) or the uniformity and the control of thickness can be relatively difficult (close space sublimation). In this paper we report on the development of a process using pulsed Direct Current magnetron sputtering which allows nanometre control of thin film thickness using time only. The CdS thin films deposited in this process are highly uniform and smooth. They exhibit the preferred hexagonal structure at room temperature deposition and they have excellent optical properties. Importantly, the process is highly stable despite the use of a semi-insulating magnetron target. Moreover, the process is very fast. The deposition rate using 1.5 kW of power to a 6-inch circular magnetron was measured to be greater than 8 nm/s. This makes the process suitable for industrial deployment. - Highlights: • Pulsed DC magnetron sputtering of CdS • High deposition rate deposition • Uniform, pinhole free films.

High rate deposition of thin film cadmium sulphide by pulsed direct current magnetron sputtering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lisco, F.; Kaminski, P.M.; Abbas, A.; Bowers, J.W.; Claudio, G.; Losurdo, M.; Walls, J.M.

2015-01-01

Cadmium Sulphide (CdS) is an important n-type semiconductor widely used as a window layer in thin film photovoltaics Copper Indium Selenide, Copper Indium Gallium (di)Selenide, Copper Zinc Tin Sulphide and Cadmium Telluride (CdTe). Cadmium Sulphide has been deposited using a number of techniques but these techniques can be slow (chemical bath deposition and Radio Frequency sputtering) or the uniformity and the control of thickness can be relatively difficult (close space sublimation). In this paper we report on the development of a process using pulsed Direct Current magnetron sputtering which allows nanometre control of thin film thickness using time only. The CdS thin films deposited in this process are highly uniform and smooth. They exhibit the preferred hexagonal structure at room temperature deposition and they have excellent optical properties. Importantly, the process is highly stable despite the use of a semi-insulating magnetron target. Moreover, the process is very fast. The deposition rate using 1.5 kW of power to a 6-inch circular magnetron was measured to be greater than 8 nm/s. This makes the process suitable for industrial deployment. - Highlights: • Pulsed DC magnetron sputtering of CdS • High deposition rate deposition • Uniform, pinhole free films

The critical state stability in textured Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ superconductor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nabialek, A.; Niewczas, M.

2006-01-01

The influence of parameters such as temperature, density of the critical current j c , sample dimensions and heat exchange conditions on the critical state stability has been studied in thin samples of textured Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O 8+δ (BSCCO) superconductor, in an external magnetic field perpendicular to the wide surface of the samples. The results show that stability of the superconductor against flux jumps increases with decreasing sample thickness. A composite-like sample consisting of two superconducting slabs glued together exhibits critical state stability as a bulk sample of the same thickness while it is less stable against flux jumping than the unit slab. The field of the first flux jump H fj1 decreases with increasing magnetic field sweep rate. For a given temperature there exists a critical sweep rate below which flux jumps vanish. These observations are interpreted in terms of the current distribution in thin superconducting samples characterized by a strong demagnetizing factor. The results are compared with a model developed for samples characterized by negligible demagnetizing effects. The critical state stability in BSCCO has been discussed in terms of the diffusion of heat and of the magnetic flux within the superconductor and the influence of heat exchange on these conditions

Experimental study of the surface thermal signature of gravity currents: application to the assessment of lava flow effusion rate

Science.gov (United States)

Garel, F.; Kaminski, E.; Tait, S.; Limare, A.

2011-12-01

During an effusive volcanic eruption, the crisis management is mainly based on the prediction of lava flows advance and its velocity. As the spreading of lava flows is mainly controlled by its rheology and the eruptive mass flux, the key question is how to evaluate them during the eruption (rather than afterwards.) A relationship between the heat flux lost by the lava at its surface and the eruption rate is likely to exist, based on the first-order argument that higher eruption rates should correspond to larger power radiated by a lava flow. The semi-empirical formula developed by Harris and co-workers (e.g. Harris et al., Bull. Volc. 2007) is currently used to estimate lava flow rate from satellite surveys yielding the surface temperatures and area of the lava flow field. However, this approach is derived from a static thermal budget of the lava flow and does not explicitly model the time-evolution of the surface thermal signal. Here we propose laboratory experiments and theoretical studies of the cooling of a viscous axisymmetric gravity current fed at constant flux rate. We first consider the isoviscous case, for which the spreading is well-know. The experiments using silicon oil and the theoretical model both reveal the establishment of a steady surface thermal structure after a transient time. The steady state is a balance between surface cooling and heat advection in the flow. The radiated heat flux in the steady regime, a few days for a basaltic lava flow, depends mainly on the effusion rate rather than on the viscosity. In this regime, one thermal survey of the radiated power could provide a consistent estimate of the flow rate if the external cooling conditions (wind) are reasonably well constrained. We continue to investigate the relationship between the thermal radiated heat flux and the effusion rate by using in the experiments fluids with temperature-dependent viscosity (glucose syrup) or undergoing solidification while cooling (PEG wax). We observe a

Biopolymer system for permeability modification in porous media

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stepp, A.K.; Bryant, R.S.; Llave, F.M. [BMD-Oklahoma, Inc., Bartlesville, OK (United States)] [and others

1995-12-31

New technologies are needed to reduce the current high rate of well abandonment. Improved sweep efficiency, reservoir conformance, and permeability modification can have a significant impact on oil recovery processes. Microorganisms can be used to selectively plug high-permeability zones to improve sweep efficiency and impart conformance control. Studies of a promising microbial system for polymer production were conducted to evaluate reservoir conditions in which this system would be effective. Factors which can affect microbial growth and polymer production include salinity, pH, temperature, divalent ions, presence of residual oil, and rock matrix. Flask tests and coreflooding experiments were conducted to optimize and evaluate the effectiveness of this system. Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (NMRI) was used to visualize microbial polymer production in porous media. Changes in fluid distribution within the pore system of the core were detected.

Impaired Na⁺-dependent regulation of acetylcholine-activated inward-rectifier K⁺ current modulates action potential rate dependence in patients with chronic atrial fibrillation.

Science.gov (United States)

Voigt, Niels; Heijman, Jordi; Trausch, Anne; Mintert-Jancke, Elisa; Pott, Lutz; Ravens, Ursula; Dobrev, Dobromir

2013-08-01

Shortened action-potential duration (APD) and blunted APD rate adaptation are hallmarks of chronic atrial fibrillation (cAF). Basal and muscarinic (M)-receptor-activated inward-rectifier K(+) currents (IK1 and IK,ACh, respectively) contribute to regulation of human atrial APD and are subject to cAF-dependent remodeling. Intracellular Na(+) ([Na(+)]i) enhances IK,ACh in experimental models but the effect of [Na(+)]i-dependent regulation of inward-rectifier K(+) currents on APD in human atrial myocytes is currently unknown. Here, we report a [Na(+)]i-dependent inhibition of outward IK1 in atrial myocytes from sinus rhythm (SR) or cAF patients. In contrast, IK,ACh activated by carbachol, a non-selective M-receptor agonist, increased with elevation of [Na(+)]i in SR. This [Na(+)]i-dependent IK,ACh regulation was absent in cAF. Including [Na(+)]i dependence of IK1 and IK,ACh in a recent computational model of the human atrial myocyte revealed that [Na(+)]i accumulation at fast rates inhibits IK1 and blunts physiological APD rate dependence in both groups. [Na(+)]i-dependent IK,ACh augmentation at fast rates increased APD rate dependence in SR, but not in cAF. These results identify impaired Na(+)-sensitivity of IK,ACh as one potential mechanism contributing to the blunted APD rate dependence in patients with cAF. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "Na(+) Regulation in Cardiac Myocytes". Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Measurement of the Current Related Damage Rate at {-}50(°) C and Consequences on Macropixel Detector Operation in Space Experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Segneri, Gabriele; Brown, Craig; Carpenter, James-D.; Kuhnle, Bernd; Lauf, Thomas; Lechner, Peter; Lutz, Gerhard; Rummel, Stefan; Struder, Lothar; Treis, Johannes; Whitford, Chris

2009-12-01

A diode irradiation with 10-MeV protons was performed to measure the silicon current related damage rate at a temperature of -50°C. This measurement was fundamental to predict the performance of the detectors which will be used in the X-ray spectrometers of the Simbol-X and BepiColombo space missions. These detectors consist of arrays of large area silicon drift chambers with integrated depleted p-channel field effect transistors. The leakage current increase due to radiation damage and its consequent energy resolution degradation can be critical for these missions, specially for BepiColombo. These effects cannot be predicted because, during the whole missions, the sensors will be kept at temperatures below -40°C, and the existing models are based on measurements on structures which underwent annealing at higher temperatures. An irradiation experiment was performed to measure the current related damage rate at - 50°C, and the obtained value was (11.1 ± 0.2) X 10-17 A/cm. This result implies that it will be possible to achieve the Simbol-X energy resolution, whereas some annealing strategies will be needed for the BepiColombo mission. The annealing behaviour at 60°C was studied as well and the results are in agreement with the already available measurements.

Energy transmission transformer for a wireless capsule endoscope: analysis of specific absorption rate and current density in biological tissue.

Science.gov (United States)

Shiba, Kenji; Nagato, Tomohiro; Tsuji, Toshio; Koshiji, Kohji

2008-07-01

This paper reports on the electromagnetic influences on the analysis of biological tissue surrounding a prototype energy transmission system for a wireless capsule endoscope. Specific absorption rate (SAR) and current density were analyzed by electromagnetic simulator in a model consisting of primary coil and a human trunk including the skin, fat, muscle, small intestine, backbone, and blood. First, electric and magnetic strength in the same conditions as the analytical model were measured and compared to the analytical values to confirm the validity of the analysis. Then, SAR and current density as a function of frequency and output power were analyzed. The validity of the analysis was confirmed by comparing the analytical values with the measured ones. The SAR was below the basic restrictions of the International Commission on Nonionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). At the same time, the results for current density show that the influence on biological tissue was lowest in the 300-400 kHz range, indicating that it was possible to transmit energy safely up to 160 mW. In addition, we confirmed that the current density has decreased by reducing the primary coil's current.

Breeding blanket development. Tritium release from breeder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsuchiya, Kunihiko; Kawamura, Hiroshi; Nagao, Yoshiharu

2006-01-01

Engineering data on neutron irradiation performance of tritium breeders are needed to design the breeding blanket of fusion reactor. In this study, tritium release experiments of the breeders were carried out to examine the effects of various parameters (such as sweep gas flow rate, hydrogen content in sweep gas, irradiation temperature and thermal neutron flux) on tritium generation and release behavior. Lithium titanate (Li 2 TiO 3 ) is considered as a candidate tritium breeder in the blanket design of International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). As for the shape of the breeder material, a small spherical form is preferred to reduce the thermal stress induced in the breeder. Li 2 TiO 3 pebbles of about 170g in total weight and with 0.3 and 2 mm in diameter were manufactured by a wet process, and an assembly packed with the binary Li 2 TiO 3 pebbles was irradiated in Japan Materials Testing Reactor (JMTR). The tritium was generated in the Li 2 TiO 3 pebble bed and released from the pebble bed, and was swept downstream using the sweep gas for on-line analysis of tritium content. Concentration of total tritium and gaseous tritium (HT or T 2 gas) released from the Li 2 TiO 3 pebble bed were measured by ionization chambers, and the ratio of (gaseous tritium)/(total tritium) was evaluated. The sweep gas flow rate was changed from 100 to 900cm 3 /min, and hydrogen content in the sweep gas was changed from 100 to 10000 ppm. Furthermore, thermal neutron flux was changed using a window made of hafnium (Hf) neutron absorber. The irradiation temperature at an outer region of the Li 2 TiO 3 pebble bed was held between 200 and 400degC. The main results of this experiment are summarized as follows. 1) When the temperature at the outside edge of the Li 2 TiO 3 pebble bed exceeded 100degC, the tritium release from the Li 2 TiO 3 pebble bed started. The ratio of the tritium release rate and the tritium generation rate (normalized tritium release rate: R/G) reached

Combined Aircraft and Satellite-Derived Storm Electric Current and Lightning Rates Measurements and Implications for the Global Electric Circuit

Science.gov (United States)

Mach, Douglas M.; Blakeslee, Richard J.; Bateman, Monte G.

2010-01-01

Using rotating vane electric field mills and Gerdien capacitors, we measured the electric field profile and conductivity during 850 overflights of electrified shower clouds and thunderstorms spanning regions including the Southeastern United States, the Western Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, Central America and adjacent oceans, Central Brazil, and the South Pacific. The overflights include storms over land and ocean, with and without lightning, and with positive and negative fields above the storms. The measurements were made with the NASA ER-2 and the Altus-II high altitude aircrafts. Peak electric fields, with lightning transients removed, ranged from -1.0 kV/m to 16 kV/m, with a mean value of 0.9 kV/m. The median peak field was 0.29 kV/m. Integrating our electric field and conductivity data, we determined total conduction currents and flash rates for each overpass. With knowledge of the storm location (land or ocean) and type (with or without lightning), we determine the mean currents by location and type. The mean current for ocean storms with lightning is 1.6 A while the mean current for land storms with lightning is 1.0 A. The mean current for oceanic storms without lightning (i.e., electrified shower clouds) is 0.39 A and the mean current for land storms without lightning is 0.13 A. Thus, on average, land storms with or without lightning have about half the mean current as their corresponding oceanic storm counterparts. Over three-quarters (78%) of the land storms had detectable lightning, while less than half (43%) of the oceanic storms had lightning. We did not find any significant regional or latitudinal based patterns in our total conduction currents. By combining the aircraft derived storm currents and flash rates with diurnal lightning statistics derived from the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) and Optical Transient Detector (OTD) low Earth orbiting satellites, we reproduce the diurnal variation in the global electric circuit (i.e., the Carnegie

Integrating river incision rates over timescales in the Ecuadorian Andes: from uplift history to current erosion rates

Science.gov (United States)

Campforts, Benjamin; Govers, Gerard; Vanacker, Veerle; Tenorio, Gustavo

2013-04-01

River profile development is studied at different timescales, from the response to uplift over millions of years over steady state erosion rates over millennia to the response to a single event, such as a major landslide. At present, few attempts have been made to compare data obtained over various timescales. Therefore we do not know to what extent data and model results are compatible: do long-term river profile development models yield erosion rates that are compatible with information obtained over shorter time spans, both in terms of absolute rates and spatial patterns or not? Such comparisons could provide crucial insights into the nature of river development and allow us to assess the confidence we may have when predicting river response at different timescales (e.g. Kirchner et al., 2001). A major issue hampering such comparison is the uncertainty involved in the calibration of long-term river profile development models. Furthermore, calibration data on different timescales are rarely available for a specific region. In this research, we set up a river profile development model similar to the one used by Roberts & White (2010) and successfully calibrated it for the northern Ecuadorian Andes using detailed uplift and sedimentological data. Subsequently we used the calibrated model to simulate river profile development in the southern Ecuadorian Andes. The calibrated model allows to reconstruct the Andean uplift history in southern Ecuador, which is characterized by a very strong uplift phase during the last 5 My. Erosion rates derived from the modeled river incision rates were then compared with 10Be derived basin-wide erosion rates for a series of basins within the study area. We found that the model-inferred erosion rates for the last millennia are broadly compatible with the cosmogenic derived denudation rates, both in terms of absolute erosion rates as well as in terms of their spatial distribution. Hence, a relatively simple river profile development

BEATRIX-II: In-situ tritium recovery data correction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Slagle, O.D.; Hollenberg, G.W.; Kurasawa, T.; Verrall, R.A.

1993-09-01

BEATRIX-II was an in-situ tritium recovery experiment in a fast reactor to characterize the irradiation behavior of fusion ceramic breeder materials. Correcting and compiling the in-situ tritium recovery data involved correcting the ion chamber response for the effect of sweep gas composition or amount of hydrogen in the helium sweep gas and for the buildup of background. The effect of sweep gas composition was addressed in the previous workshop. During the operation of Phase I of the experiment the backgrounds of the ion chambers were found to reach significant levels relative to the tritium recovery concentrations in the sweep gas from the specimen canisters. The measured tritium concentrations were corrected for background by comparing the tritium recovery rate during reference conditions with the predicted tritium generation rate. Background increases were found to be associated with tritium recovery peaks and elevated levels of moisture in the sweep gas. These conditions typically occurred when the hydrogen concentration in the sweep gas was increased to 0.1% after extended operation in He or He-0.01% H 2 . Three examples of this increase in ionization chamber background are described. The final corrected BEATRIX-II, Phase I tritium recovery data provide a valuable resource to be used for predicting the performance of Li 2 O in a fusion blanket application

Streak-Camera Measurements with High Currents in PEP-II and Variable Optics in SPEAR3

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cheng, Weixeng; Fisher, Alan, a Corbett, Jeff; /SLAC

2008-06-05

A dual-axis, synchroscan streak camera was used to measure longitudinal bunch profiles in three storage rings at SLAC: the PEP-II low- and high-energy rings, and SPEAR3. At high currents, both PEP rings exhibit a transient synchronous-phase shift along the bunch train due to RF-cavity beam loading. Bunch length and profile asymmetry were measured along the train for a range of beam currents. To avoid the noise inherent in a dual-axis sweep, we accumulated single-axis synchroscan images while applying a 50-ns gate to the microchannel plate. To improve the extinction ratio, an upstream mirror pivoting at 1 kHz was synchronized with the 2kHz MCP gate to deflect light from other bunches off the photocathode. Bunch length was also measured on the HER as a function of beam energy. For SPEAR3 we measured bunch length as a function of single-bunch current for several lattices: achromatic, low-emittance and low momentum compaction. In the first two cases, resistive and reactive impedance components can be extracted from the longitudinal bunch profiles. In the low-alpha configurations, we observed natural bunch lengths approaching the camera resolution, requiring special care to remove instrumental effects, and saw evidence of periodic bursting.

The point spread function of the human head and its implications for transcranial current stimulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dmochowski, Jacek P; Bikson, Marom; Parra, Lucas C

2012-01-01

Rational development of transcranial current stimulation (tCS) requires solving the ‘forward problem’: the computation of the electric field distribution in the head resulting from the application of scalp currents. Derivation of forward models has represented a major effort in brain stimulation research, with model complexity ranging from spherical shells to individualized head models based on magnetic resonance imagery. Despite such effort, an easily accessible benchmark head model is greatly needed when individualized modeling is either undesired (to observe general population trends as opposed to individual differences) or unfeasible. Here, we derive a closed-form linear system which relates the applied current to the induced electric potential. It is shown that in the spherical harmonic (Fourier) domain, a simple scalar multiplication relates the current density on the scalp to the electric potential in the brain. Equivalently, the current density in the head follows as the spherical convolution between the scalp current distribution and the point spread function of the head, which we derive. Thus, if one knows the spherical harmonic representation of the scalp current (i.e. the electrode locations and current intensity to be employed), one can easily compute the resulting electric field at any point inside the head. Conversely, one may also readily determine the scalp current distribution required to generate an arbitrary electric field in the brain (the ‘backward problem’ in tCS). We demonstrate the simplicity and utility of the model with a series of characteristic curves which sweep across a variety of stimulation parameters: electrode size, depth of stimulation, head size and anode–cathode separation. Finally, theoretically optimal montages for targeting an infinitesimal point in the brain are shown. (paper)

Current rates of publication for podium and poster presentations at the american society for surgery of the hand annual meetings.

Science.gov (United States)

Abzug, Joshua M; Osterman, Meredith; Rivlin, Michael; Paryavi, Ebrahim; Osterman, A Lee

2014-09-01

Research projects are presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH). It is unknown how many achieve publication in peer-reviewed journals. We sought to determine current rates of publication of podium and poster presentations. All ASSH podium and poster presentations from 2000 to 2005 were reviewed, and an Internet-based search using PubMed and Google was conducted to determine whether the presented studies had been published. Times to publication and journal names were recorded. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics. Fisher's exact test was conducted to compare current trends with previous trends. Of 1127 podium and poster presentations reviewed, 46% were published in peer-reviewed journals. Forty-seven percent of published presentations (242 presentations) were in Journal of Hand Surgery, and 11% (59 presentations) were in Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. Forty-five percent of presentations were published within 2 years and 66% within 3 years. The publication rate for podium presentations was significantly higher than that previously reported for Journal of Hand Surgery, at 54% compared with 44% (P=0.004). Currently, fewer than half of the studies presented at Annual Meetings of the ASSH achieve publication in peer-reviewed journals. Presentations are most likely to be published within 3 years, and almost half are published in Journal of Hand Surgery.

Recently-Derived Variants of Brain-Size Genes "ASPM", "MCPH1", "CDK5RAP" and "BRCA1" Not Associated with General Cognition, Reading or Language

Science.gov (United States)

Bates, Timothy C.; Luciano, Michelle; Lind, Penelope A.; Wright, Margaret J.; Montgomery, Grant W.; Martin, Nicholas G.

2008-01-01

Derived changes in genes associated with primary microcephaly (MCPH) have been suggested to be "currently sweeping to fixation" i.e., increasing in frequency in most populations, with the likely outcome that the derived allele will completely displace the ancestral allele over time. Possible causes for this sweep include effects on human reasoning…

The influence of Mo and S on the passivating properties of stainless steels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eklund, G.; Qvarfort, R.

1979-01-01

In order to study the influence of sulfur, molybdenum and pH on the rate of dissolution and the kinetics of passive layer formation, different samples have been polarized between -400 and + 600 mV SCE at various sweep rates. The measurements at different pH have been carried out in 1 M NaCl solutions, pH has been adjusted by adding HCl. The measurements at different sweep rates have been carried out in 2 MHC1. All measurements were made in an inert atmosphere. (author)

The foreign exchange rate rate exposure of nations

OpenAIRE

Entorf, Horst; Moebert, Jochen; Sonderhof, Katja

2007-01-01

Following the well-known approach by Adler and Dumas (1984) we evaluate the foreign exchange rate exposure of nations. Results based on data from 27 countries show that national foreign exchange rate exposures are significantly related to the current trade balance variables of corresponding economies.

Satisfaction rates with the current Special Type Consultation (STC) reimbursement scheme among General Practitioners – A Mixed Methods Study.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Kiely, A

2017-03-01

The Special Type Consultation (STC) scheme is a fee-for-service reimbursement scheme for General Practitioners (GPs) in Ireland. Introduced in 1989, the scheme includes specified patient services involving the application of a learned skill, e.g. suturing. This study aims to establish the extent to which GPs believe this scheme is appropriate for current General Practice. This is an embedded mixed-methods study combining quantitative data on GPs working experience of and qualitative data on GPs attitudes towards the scheme. Data were collected by means of an anonymous postal questionnaire. The response rate was 60.4% (n=159.) Twenty-nine percent (n=46) disagreed and 65% (n=104) strongly disagreed that the current list of special items is satisfactory. Two overriding themes were identified: economics and advancement of the STC process. This study demonstrates an overwhelming consensus among GPs that the current STC scheme is outdated and in urgent need of revision to reflect modern General Practice.

Temporal Entropy Generation in the Viscous Layers of Laterally-converging Duct Flows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McEligot, Donald M.; Brodkey, Robert S.; Eckelmann, Helmut

2008-01-01

Since insight into entropy generation is a key to increasing efficiency and thereby reducing fuel consumption and/or waste and--for wall-bounded flows--most entropy is generated in the viscous layer, we examine the transient behavior of its dominant contributor there for a non-canonical flow. New measurements in oil flow are presented for the effects of favorable streamwise mean pressure gradients on temporal entropy generation rates and, in the process, on key Reynolds-stress-producing events such as sweep front passage and on the deceleration/outflow phase of the overall bursting process. Two extremes have been considered: (1) a high pressure gradient, nearing 'laminarization', and (2), for comparison, a low pressure gradient corresponding to many earlier experiments. In both cases, the peak temporal entropy generation rate occurs shortly after passage of the ejection/sweep interface. Whether sweep and ejection rates appear to decrease or increase with the pressure gradient depends on the feature examined and the manner of sampling. When compared using wall coordinates for velocities, distances and time, the trends and magnitudes of the transient behaviors are mostly the same. The main effects of the higher pressure gradient are (1) changes in the time lag between detections--representing modification of the shape of the sweep front and the sweep angle with the wall, (2) modification of the magnitude of an instantaneous Reynolds shear stress with wall distance and (3) enlarging the sweeps and ejections. Results new for both low and high pressure gradients are the temporal behaviors of the dominant contribution to entropy generation; it is found to be much more sensitive to distance from the wall than to streamwise pressure gradient

Standoff detection of turbulent chemical mixture plumes using a swept external cavity quantum cascade laser

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Phillips, Mark C. [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington; Brumfield, Brian E. [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington

2017-08-21

We demonstrate standoff detection of turbulent mixed-chemical plumes using a broadly-tunable external cavity quantum cascade laser (ECQCL). The ECQCL was directed through plumes of mixed methanol/ethanol vapor to a partially-reflective surface located 10 m away. The reflected power was measured as the ECQCL was swept over its tuning range of 930-1065 cm-1 (9.4-10.8 µm) at rates up to 200 Hz. Analysis of the transmission spectra though the plume was performed to determine chemical concentrations with time resolution of 0.005 s. Comparison of multiple spectral sweep rates of 2 Hz, 20 Hz, and 200 Hz shows that higher sweep rates reduce effects of atmospheric and source turbulence, resulting in lower detection noise and more accurate measurement of the rapidly-changing chemical concentrations. Detection sensitivities of 0.13 ppm*m for MeOH and 1.2 ppm*m for EtOH are demonstrated for a 200 Hz spectral sweep rate, normalized to 1 s detection time.

Nonlinear effect in vibroseis data; Vibroseis kiroku ni oite mitomerareru hisenkei koka

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saeki, T [Japan National Oil Corp., Tokyo (Japan)

1997-05-27

This paper describes nonlinear effect recognized in Vibroseis data. Harmonics is a wave of frequency in integer factors generated in association with basic sweep vibrated by Vibroseis. Harmonics is generated because vibration in the vicinity of seismic source contains nonlinear terms. Seismic exploration using the reflection method often discusses propagation of seismic waves hypothesized as a linear phenomenon. Vibroseis data analysis, however, requires evaluation of the effect of the harmonics on accuracy. Vibroseis investigation measures may be taken by eliminating n-order harmonics by using the phase control method, and generating seismic source sweep in which the phase is shifted by 180/(n-1) each time in order to leave the basic sweep. Methods to increase the sweep length include a method to expel strain to a location outside the range of the subject travel time. Up-sweep (a sweep changing from low frequencies to higher frequencies) is also a means capable of avoiding harmonics effects. Vibroseis investigations currently performed adopt this method frequently because of it having little technological and economic problems. 10 refs., 3 figs.

On-line identification of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in tablets using a combination of a sweeping technique and micellar electrokinetic chromatography/77 K fluorescence spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, Ching; Liu, Ju-Tsung; Lin, Cheng-Huang

2003-03-01

This work describes a novel method for the accurate determination of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in tablets. A technique involving sweeping-micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) was used for the initial on-line concentration and separation, after which a cryogenic molecular fluorescence experiment was performed at 77 K. Using this approach, not only the separation of LSD from the tablet extract was achieved, but on-line spectra were readily distinguishable and could be unambiguously assigned. The results are in agreement with analyses by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Thus, this method, which was found to be accurate, sensitive and rapid, has the potential for use as a reliable complementary method to GC-MS in such analyses.

Characterization of plasma current quench at JET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Riccardo, V; Barabaschi, P; Sugihara, M

2005-01-01

Eddy currents generated during the fastest disruption current decays represent the most severe design condition for medium and small size in-vessel components of most tokamaks. Best-fit linear and instantaneous plasma current quench rates have been extracted for a set of recent JET disruptions. Contrary to expectations, the current quench rate spectrum of high and low thermal energy disruptions is not substantially different. For most of the disruptions with the highest instantaneous current quench rate an exponential fit of the early phase of the current decay provides a more accurate estimate of the maximum current decay velocity. However, this fit is only suitable to model the fastest events, for which the current quench is dominated by radiation losses rather than the plasma motion

Analysis of The Corporate Effective Tax Rate in Brazil: A study focusing on ETR and Current ETR.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guilherme Otávio Monteiro Guimarães

2016-05-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to analyze the effective tax rate of public companies operating in stock market in Brazil over a period between 2003 and 2013, both to the total effective tax rate (ETRt as the curren (ETRc, seeking to verify evidence of the presence of tax management. This analysis consists of (i to assess whether average tax burden is upper, equal or less than the statutory rate of 34%; (ii verify that the ETR suffered influence of RTT adjustments arising from the introduction of IFRS; (iii identify proxies (size; profitability; inventory; properties, plants and equipment; debt; and deferred tax expenses which may explain the variation in ETR. The results showed that: (i companies have a significantly lower ETR than the statutory tax rate; (ii companies reported a lower ETR on the full adoption of IFRS period; (iii the ETR has relation to size (negative, debt (positive and components of assets (positive; and (iv there are deferral strategies considering the negative sign of deferred taxes in relation to the current ETR. The results confirm the practice of tax management and also demonstrate that the resulting RTT adjustments resulted in a lower tax burden, confirming previous studies that estimated less conservative earnings after the beginning of the convergence process. Finally, we observed that larger companies have a lower tax burden and that in general companies adopt choices that allow the deferral of taxes on income.

Density, temperature, and potential fluctuation measurements by the swept Langmuir probe technique in Wendelstein 7-AS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giannone, L.; Balbin, R.; Niedermeyer, H.; Endler, M.; Herre, G.; Hidalgo, C.; Rudyj, A.; Theimer, G.; Verplanke, P.

1994-01-01

In the Wendelstein 7-AS stellarator (W7-AS) [Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 33, 1591 (1991)], current-voltage characteristics of the Langmuir probe at sweep frequencies in the range 400 kHz to 1 MHz were measured and it was found that the mean and fluctuation values of the ion saturation current, floating potential, and electron temperature were independent of the sweep frequency. A radial scan in the vicinity of the velocity shear layer was performed. The simultaneous sweeping of 3 probe tips showed a statistically significant spatial coherence of the fluctuations in the poloidal direction and a decrease in spatial coherence of the fluctuations with increasing tip separation could be demonstrated. The observation of a change in the propagation direction of fluctuations as the shear layer was crossed and a calculation of the transport spectrum show that the swept probe method is capable of reproducing known results. Apparent temperature fluctuations, due to variations of density and potential during a sweep, are shown by simulations to be only of importance at frequencies above half the Nyquist frequency

High current, high bandwidth laser diode current driver

Science.gov (United States)

Copeland, David J.; Zimmerman, Robert K., Jr.

1991-01-01

A laser diode current driver has been developed for free space laser communications. The driver provides 300 mA peak modulation current and exhibits an optical risetime of less than 400 ps. The current and optical pulses are well behaved and show minimal ringing. The driver is well suited for QPPM modulation at data rates up to 440 Mbit/s. Much previous work has championed current steering circuits; in contrast, the present driver is a single-ended on/off switch. This results in twice the power efficiency as a current steering driver. The driver electrical efficiency for QPPM data is 34 percent. The high speed switch is realized with a Ku-band GaAsFET transistor, with a suitable pre-drive circuit, on a hybrid microcircuit adjacent to the laser diode.

A Compact Two-Stage 120 W GaN High Power Amplifier for SweepSAR Radar Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Thrivikraman, Tushar; Horst, Stephen; Price, Douglas; Hoffman, James; Veilleux, Louise

2014-01-01

This work presents the design and measured results of a fully integrated switched power two-stage GaN HEMT high-power amplifier (HPA) achieving 60% power-added efficiency at over 120Woutput power. This high-efficiency GaN HEMT HPA is an enabling technology for L-band SweepSAR interferometric instruments that enable frequent repeat intervals and high-resolution imagery. The L-band HPA was designed using space-qualified state-of-the-art GaN HEMT technology. The amplifier exhibits over 34 dB of power gain at 51 dBm of output power across an 80 MHz bandwidth. The HPA is divided into two stages, an 8 W driver stage and 120 W output stage. The amplifier is designed for pulsed operation, with a high-speed DC drain switch operating at the pulsed-repetition interval and settles within 200 ns. In addition to the electrical design, a thermally optimized package was designed, that allows for direct thermal radiation to maintain low-junction temperatures for the GaN parts maximizing long-term reliability. Lastly, real radar waveforms are characterized and analysis of amplitude and phase stability over temperature demonstrate ultra-stable operation over temperature using integrated bias compensation circuitry allowing less than 0.2 dB amplitude variation and 2 deg phase variation over a 70 C range.

The current mortality rates of A-bomb survivors in Nagasaki-city

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mine, Mariko; Nakamura, Tsuyoshi; Mori, Hiroyuki; Kondo, Hisayoshi; Okajima, Shunzo

1981-01-01

The purpose of the paper is to describe and investigate the death rate of about 110,000 A-Bomb survivors who have been registered in Nagasaki-city since 1957. There were 7,780 deaths among the A-Bomb survivors during 1970 -- 76 from which the age-specific death rates are calculated and compared with those of non-exposed controls in Nagasaki-city. The results are as follows: (1) The age-specific death rates by all causes of A-Bomb survivors are lower than those of the controls. (2) The age-specific death rates by the cerebrovascular disease (ICD 430 - 438) are also lower in A-Bomb survivors than in others. (3) The age-specific death rates by all malignant neoplasms are nearly the same between A-Bomb survivors and the controls. It is strongly suggested from these results that, although there may still exist a number of A-Bomb survivors having been suffered from the late effects of radiation, financial or medical aid supplied by the ministry and other organizations have done good work in advancing the health care of A-Bomb survivors. (author)

Frequency-Controlled Current-Fed Resonant Converter with No Input Ripple Current

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bor-Ren Lin

2018-02-01

Full Text Available This paper studies a frequency-controlled current-fed resonant circuit. The adopted direct current (DC-to-DC converter contains two boost circuits and a resonant circuit on the primary side. First, two boost circuits are connected in parallel to achieve voltage step-up and reduce input ripple current by using interleaved pulse-width modulation. Therefore, the size and current rating of boost inductors are decreased in the proposed converter. Second, the boost voltage is connected to the resonant circuit to realize the mechanism of the zero-voltage switching of all active switches and zero-current switching of all diodes. Two boost circuits and a resonant circuit use the same power devices in order to lessen the switch counts. The voltage doubler topology is adopted on the secondary side (high-voltage side. Therefore, the voltage rating of diodes on the high-voltage side is clamped at output voltage. The feasibility of the studied circuit is confirmed by the experimental tests with a 1 kW prototype circuit.

Current Rates of Publication for Podium and Poster Presentations at the American Society for Surgery of the Hand Annual Meetings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joshua M. Abzug

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Background:  Research projects are presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH. It is unknown how many achieve publication in peer-reviewed journals. We sought to determine current rates of publication of podium and poster presentations.   Methods:  All ASSH podium and poster presentations from 2000 to 2005 were reviewed, and an Internet-based search using PubMed and Google was conducted to determine whether the presented studies had been published. Times to publication and journal names were recorded. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics. Fisher’s exact test was conducted to compare current trends with previous trends. Results:  Of 1127 podium and poster presentations reviewed, 46% were published in peer-reviewed journals. Forty-seven percent of published presentations (242 presentations were in Journal of Hand Surgery , and 11% (59 entations were in Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery . Forty-five percent of presentations were published within 2 years and 66% within 3 years. The publication rate for podium presentations was significantly higher than that previously reported for Journal of Hand Surgery, at 54% compared with 44% (P=0.004.  Conclusions:  Currently, fewer than half of the studies presented at Annual Meetings of the ASSH achieve publication in peer-eviewed journals. Presentations are most likely to be published within 3 years, and almost half are published in Journal of Hand Surgery .

Age norms for monocular grating acuity measured by sweep-VEP in the first three years of age Estudo normativo de acuidade visual de resolução de grades medido pelo PVE de varredura nos três primeiros anos de vida

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Solange Rios Salomão

2008-08-01

Full Text Available PURPOSE: To determine age norms for grating visual acuity and interocular acuity differences measured by the sweep-visually evoked potentials (VEP technique in the first three years of life. METHODS: Monocular grating visual acuity was measured using the sweep-VEP in 67 healthy normal infants and children in the first 36 months of life. RESULTS: Sweep-VEP grating acuity ranged from 0.80 logMAR (20/125 Snellen equivalent in the first month of life to 0.06 logMAR (20/20 Snellen equivalent at 36 months of age. Lower normal limits (95th percentile limit ranged from 0.95 logMAR (20/180 to 0.12 logMAR (20/25 with a progression of approximately 3 octaves in the first 36 months of age. The largest acceptable interocular acuity difference for clinical purposes was 0.10 logMAR. CONCLUSIONS: Age norms for grating acuity along with interocular acuity differences were determined using the sweep-VEP technique. These norms should be incorporated in clinical practice for precise diagnosis of visual status in infants and preverbal children.OBJETIVOS: Propor valores normativos de acuidade visual de grades e sua respectiva diferença interocular medidas pelo potencial visual evocado de varredura nos primeiros três anos de vida. MÉTODOS: Foram avaliadas 67 crianças sadias, sem doenças oculares, que tiveram a acuidade visual medida pelos potenciais evocados visuais de varredura. RESULTADOS: A acuidade visual média variou de 0,80 logMAR (equivalente de Snellen de 20/125 no primeiro mês de vida a 0,06 logMAR (equivalente de Snellen de 20/20 aos 36 meses. Os limites normais inferiores (percentil 95% variaram de 0,95 logMAR (20/180 a 0,12 logMAR (20/25 com progressão de aproximadamente 3 oitavas nos primeiros 36 meses de vida. A diferença interocular máxima aceitável foi de 0,10 logMAR. CONCLUSÕES: Os valores normativos de acuidade visual e de diferença interocular de acuidade foram obtidos pela técnica do potencial visual evocado de varredura. Prop

Effects of current education on second- and third-birth rates among Norwegian women and men born in 1964: Substantive interpretations and methodological issues

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Øystein Kravdal

2007-11-01

Full Text Available A variety of approaches have been employed to assess the importance of women's education for their second- or third-birth rates. Some researchers have included the educational level measured at a relatively high age in their models, whereas others have included current education. A few have taken selection into account by modelling first-, second-, and higher-order birth rates jointly, with a common unobserved factor. The corresponding education-fertility relationships among men, however, has not attracted any attention. In this study, based on Norwegian register data for the 1964 cohort, a high current educational level for a woman is found to stimulate her second- and third-birth rates. Controlling for selection through joint modelling turns out to be quite unimportant, but the results are very different if the educational level attained by age 39 is included instead of current education. It is important to be aware of such sensitivity to the specification of education. The corresponding effects for men are also positive, but not more strongly positive than those for women. These results may suggest that we should not take for granted that women's education generally reduces fertility, and that it does so because of higher opportunity costs for the better educated. However, it is also possible that a high current educational level is linked with modest aspirations for further schooling, which would tend to stimulate subsequent fertility, that it is partly caused by some individual, family or community characteristics that also lead to high fertility, or that it even to some extent is a result of plans to have a child fairly soon. These alternative interpretations are discussed.

Plasma magnetic field measurement by intracavity absorption. Progress report, June 1, 1983-May 31, 1984

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brink, G.O.

1984-01-01

Dye laser intracavity absorption (ICA) is being studied as a potential diagnostic for plasma or neutral beam systems. For magnetic field measurements it is necessary to make Zeeman effect measurements on the resonance transition of atomic lithium on a millisecond time scale. To do this it is necessary to sweep the dye laser in wavelength at a rapid rate so that the absorber can be sampled many times during the measurement. Our results indicate that the ICA signal becomes small at high sweep rates limiting the rate at which such sweeping may be carried out. It may be possible to avoid this limitation by chopping the pump laser. The studies of coupled cavity ICA are continuing, and are discussed in detail in an appendix. An ICA system using a dye cell has been designed, and supplementary experiments involving the observation of ICA in a ring dye laser are discussed

Development of the temperature measurement device for the positive ion insensitive to the probe contamination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Minami, Shigeyuki; Tsutsumi, Shiro; Takeya, Yoshio

1978-01-01

The contamination effect to the d.c. probe in the plasma diagnostics is quite serious in the low density plasma. It causes the distortion or hysterisis curves on the probe characteristics. In order to escape it, for the Langmuir probe measurements, methods of high speed sweeping of probe voltage and using the cleaned probe are reported. In this paper, we dealed with the results of experimental examinations of the possibilities and the limitation of the application of above sweeping to the ion temperature measurement. The essential difficulties of the ion parameter measurements to the d.c. probe of the electrons that very small signal currents and the strong capacitance of the electrodes makes the large time constant, is solved by the use of the neutralization circuits. By this neutralization, high speed voltage sweeping can be possible, and high time resolution of the parameters can be obtained. Using this merits, when the probe is boarded on the space craft, this high space resolution of this probe has additive merits about the possibilities of the aspect measurements of plasma flow and the probe. It is concluded that the high scan rate ion trap is useful of the space craft to the erronious probing by the use of uncleaned probe. (author)

What could have caused pre-industrial biomass burning emissions to exceed current rates?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. R. van der Werf

2013-01-01

current situation; satellite data indicates that the majority of savannas have not burned in the past 10 yr, even in Africa, which is considered "the burning continent". Although we have not considered increased charcoal burning or changes in OH concentrations as potential causes for the elevated CO concentrations found at SPO, it is unlikely they can explain the large increase found in the CO concentrations in ice core data. Confirmation of the CO ice core data would therefore call for radical new thinking about causes of variable global fire rates over recent centuries.

Trace analysis of three antihistamines in human urine by on-line single drop liquid-liquid-liquid microextraction coupled to sweeping micellar electrokinetic chromatography and its application to pharmacokinetic study.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Wenhua; Chen, Yunsheng; Chen, Gaopan; Xi, Jing; Chen, Yaowen; Yang, Jianying; Xu, Ning

2012-09-01

A rapid and efficient dual preconcentration method of on-line single drop liquid-liquid-liquid microextraction (SD-LLLME) coupled to sweeping micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) was developed for trace analysis of three antihistamines (mizolastine, chlorpheniramine and pheniramine) in human urine. Three analytes were firstly extracted from donor phase (4 mL urine sample) adjusted to alkaline condition (0.5 M NaOH). The unionized analytes were subsequently extracted into a drop of n-octanol layered over the urine sample, and then into a microdrop of acceptor phase (100 mM H(3)PO(4)) suspended from a capillary inlet. The enriched acceptor phase was on-line injected into capillary with a height difference and then analyzed directly by sweeping MEKC. Good linear relationships were obtained for all analytes in a range of 6.25 × 10(-6) to 2.5 × 10(-4)g/L with correlation coefficients (r) higher than 0.987. The proposed method achieved limits of detections (LOD) varied from 1.2 × 10(-7) to 9.5 × 10(-7)g/L based on a signal-to-noise of 3 (S/N=3) with 751- to 1372-fold increases in detection sensitivity for analytes, and it was successfully applied to the pharmacokinetic study of three antihistamines in human urine after an oral administration. The results demonstrated that this method was a promising combination for the rapid trace analysis of antihistamines in human urine with the advantages of operation simplicity, high enrichment factor and little solvent consumption. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Study on the sweep gas effect on the surface of Li{sub 4}SiO{sub 4} by means of work function measurement

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Suzuki, Atsushi; Yamaguchi, Kenji; Yamawaki, Michio [Tokyo Univ. (Japan)

1998-03-01

In the establishment of fuel cycle of tritium, it is important to make research on how the sweep gas composition affects the surface properties of breeder materials and the release of tritium from the surface of them. In this study, the change of contact potential difference (CPD) between Li{sub 4}SiO{sub 4} and Pt was measured in various gas compositions with a high temperature Kelvin probe. The work function change of Li{sub 4}SiO{sub 4} was obtained from the measured CPD and the work function change of Pt which was estimated from blank tests. From the results, the effect of oxygen deficient layer near the surface of Li{sub 4}SiO{sub 4} was observed, and the effect of OH{sup -} at the surface of Li{sub 4}SiO{sub 4} was considered. (author)

Enhancing co-production of H2 and syngas via water splitting and POM on surface-modified oxygen permeable membranes

KAUST Repository

Wu, Xiao-Yu

2016-09-26

In this article, we report a detailed study on co-production of H2 and syngas on La0.9Ca0.1FeO3−δ (LCF-91) membranes via water splitting and partial oxidation of methane, respectively. A permeation model shows that the surface reaction on the sweep side is the rate limiting step for this process on a 0.9 mm-thick dense membrane at 990°C. Hence, sweep side surface modifications such as adding a porous layer and nickel catalysts were applied; the hydrogen production rate from water thermolysis is enhanced by two orders of magnitude to 0.37 μmol/cm2•s compared with the results on the unmodified membrane. At the sweep side exit, syngas (H2/CO = 2) is produced and negligible solid carbon is found. Yet near the membrane surface on the sweep side, methane can decompose into solid carbon and hydrogen at the surface, or it may be oxidized into CO and CO2, depending on the oxygen permeation flux.

Electrochemical determination of oxygen stoichiometry and entropy in oxides

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zachau-Christiansen, Birgit; Jacobsen, Torben; Skaarup, Steen

1996-01-01

in the temperature range 800-1000 degrees C. With scan rates of 2 mu V/s potential sweeps on CeO2 are reversible. The change in entropy is determined by either subtraction of e.m.f. curves obtained by potential sweeps of different temperatures or by measuring the e.m.f. during a temperature scan. The latter method...

Analysis of the influence of well spacing on the injection rate behaviour for water injection under fracturing conditions; Analise da influencia do espacamento de pocos na determinacao da vazao de injecao para o processo de injecao com pressao cima da pressao de fratura

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Munoz Mazo, Eduin Orlando [Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), SP (Brazil). Centro de Estudo do Petroleo. Lab. de Simulacao de Fluxo em Meios Porosos (UNISIM); Costa, Odair Jose; Schiozer, Denis Jose [Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), SP (Brazil). Faculdade de Engenharia Mecanica. Dept. de Engenharia de Petroleo

2008-07-01

Water injection under fracturing conditions is a proved manner of overcoming injectivity loss in reservoirs affected by formation damage. Nevertheless, as shown by Munoz Mazo et al. (2006), there is the possibility of the generated and propagated fractures intercept the producer wells making that the injected water shall be re-circulated into the reservoir instead of its main function which is to drive the oil contained in the reservoir pore space. The objective of this work is to determine the influence of well spacing on the determination of the water injection rate under fracturing conditions, aiming to study its effects on the production performance and the sweep efficiency. To accomplish the work, an analytical model for representing the absolute permeability reduction near the wellbore and a model which reproduces the fracture propagation in a coupled manner are used. In this way the model sensitivity to several well spacing and the injection rate effects are analyzed using the Net Present Value and the sweep efficiency is evaluated as a function of the Recovery Factor. The results show that the water injection under fracturing conditions is an effective way of overcoming the injectivity loss problem and evidence its sensitivity to different spacing between the injector and the producer wells. (author)

Basic priority rating model 2.0: current applications for priority setting in health promotion practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Neiger, Brad L; Thackeray, Rosemary; Fagen, Michael C

2011-03-01

Priority setting is an important component of systematic planning in health promotion and also factors into the development of a comprehensive evaluation plan. The basic priority rating (BPR) model was introduced more than 50 years ago and includes criteria that should be considered in any priority setting approach (i.e., use of predetermined criteria, standardized comparisons, and a rubric that controls bias). Although the BPR model has provided basic direction in priority setting, it does not represent the broad array of data currently available to decision makers. Elements in the model also give more weight to the impact of communicable diseases compared with chronic diseases. For these reasons, several modifications are recommended to improve the BPR model and to better assist health promotion practitioners in the priority setting process. The authors also suggest a new name, BPR 2.0, to represent this revised model.

Effect of Flow Velocity on Corrosion Rate and Corrosion Protection Current of Marine Material

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Seong Jong [Kunsan National University, Kunsan (Korea, Republic of); Han, Min Su; Jang, Seok Ki; Kim, Seong Jong [Mokpo National Maritime University, Mokpo (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-15

In spite of highly advanced paint coating techniques, corrosion damage of marine metal and alloys increase more and more due to inherent micro-cracks and porosities in coatings formed during the coating process. Furthermore, flowing seawater conditions promote the breakdown of the protective oxide of the materials introducing more oxygen into marine environments, leading to the acceleration of corrosion. Various corrosion protection methods are available to prevent steel from marine corrosion. Cathodic protection is one of the useful corrosion protection methods by which the potential of the corroded metal is intentionally lowered to an immune state having the advantage of providing additional protection barriers to steel exposed to aqueous corrosion or soil corrosion, in addition to the coating. In the present investigation, the effect of flow velocity was examined for the determination of the optimum corrosion protection current density in cathodic protection as well as the corrosion rate of the steel. It is demonstrated from the result that the material corrosion under dynamic flowing conditions seems more prone to corrosion than under static conditions.

Power grid current harmonics mitigation drawn on low voltage rated switching devices with effortless control

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marques, Hugo S.; Anunciada, Victor; Borges, Beatriz V. [Power Electronics Group, Instituto de Telecomunicacoes, Lisbon (Portugal); Instituto Superior Tecnico - Universidade Tecnica de Lisboa, Lisbon (Portugal)

2010-01-15

The great majority of the existing hybrid active power filter solutions is normally focused in 3{phi} systems and, in general, concentrates its domain of application in specific loads with deterministic behavior. Because common use grids do not exhibit these characteristics, it is mandatory to develop solutions for more generic scenarios, encouraging the use of less classical hybrid solutions. In fact, due to the widely use of switch mode converters in a great variety of consumer electronics, the problematic of mains current harmonic mitigation is no longer an exclusive matter of 3{phi} systems. The contribution of this paper is to present a shunt hybrid active power filter topology, initially conceived to work in 1{phi} domestic grids, able to operate the inverter at a voltage rate that can be lower than 10% of the mains voltage magnitude, even under nonspecific working conditions. In addition, the results shown in this paper demonstrate that this topology can, without lack of generality, be suitable to medium voltage (1{phi} or 3{phi}) systems. A new control approach for the proposed topology is discussed in this paper. The control method exhibits an extremely simple architecture requiring single point current sensing only, with no need for any kind of reference. Its practical implementation can be fulfilled by using very few, common use, operational amplifiers. The principle of operation, design criteria, simulation predictions and experimental results are presented and discussed. (author)

The current mortality rates of a-bomb survivors in Nagasaki-city

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okajima, Shunzo; Mine, Mariko; Nakamura, Tsuyoshi; Mori, Hiroyuki; Kondo, Hisayoshi

1980-01-01

The causes of death for 9814 a-bomb survivors in Nagasaki-city from '70 to '76 were investigated. The mortality rates of the survivors in the aged group were slightly lower than those of both unexposed citizens in Nagasaki and the national average. No difference of the mortality ratios with respect to sex and the distance from a-bomb at exposure was observed. For the cause of death, the cerebrovascular diseases came next to malignant neoplasms in the a-bomb survivors, which order was reverse in the non-exposed population. The mortality rate of the cerebrovascular diseases in the survivors was lower than the expected value. The mortality rate of survivors due to neoplasms was slightly higher than the national average, although almost the same as that of unexposed citizens in Nagasaki. (Nakanishi, T.)

Greater dietary acculturation (dietary change) is associated with poorer current self-rated health among African immigrant adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Okafor, Maria-Theresa C; Carter-Pokras, Olivia D; Zhan, Min

2014-01-01

Investigate the relationship between dietary acculturation and current self-rated health (SRH) among African immigrants, by country or region of origin. Cross-sectional, mixed-methods design using baseline data from longitudinal study of immigrants granted legal permanent residence May to November, 2003, and interviewed June, 2003 to June, 2004. 2003 New Immigrant Survey. African immigrants from a nationally representative sample (n = 763) averaged 34.7 years of age and 5.5 years' US residency; 56.6% were male, 54.1% were married, 26.1% were Ethiopian, and 22.5% were Nigerian. Current SRH (dependent variable) was measured using 5-point Likert scale questions; dietary acculturation (independent variable) was assessed using a quantitative dietary change scale. Multivariate logistic regression tested the relationship of dietary acculturation with current SRH (α = .05; P food/beverages consumed pre-/post-migration. African immigrants reporting moderate dietary change since arrival in the US had higher odds of poorer SRH status than immigrants reporting low dietary change (odds ratio, 1.903; 95% confidence interval, 1.143-3.170; P = .01). Among most dietary change groups, there was an increase in fast food consumption and decrease in fruit and vegetable consumption. Nutrition educators and public health practitioners should develop targeted nutrition education for African immigrants who are older, less educated, and at increased health risk. Copyright © 2014 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effectiveness of common fish screen materials for protecting lamprey ammocoetes—Influence of sweeping velocities and decreasing flows

Science.gov (United States)

Mesa, Matthew G.; Liedtke, Theresa L.; Weiland, Lisa K.; Christiansen, Helena E.

2017-12-14

In previous tests of the effectiveness of four common fish screen materials for excluding lamprey ammocoetes, we determined that woven wire (WW) allowed substantially more entrainment than perforated plate (PP), profile bar (PB), or Intralox (IL) material. These tests were simplistic because they used small vertically-oriented screens positioned perpendicular to the flow without a bypass or a sweeping velocity (SV). In the subsequent test discussed in this report, we exposed ammocoetes to much larger (2.5-m-wide) screen panels with flows up to 10 ft3 /s, a SV component, and a simulated bypass channel. The addition of a SV modestly improved protection of lamprey ammocoetes for all materials tested. A SV of 35 cm/s with an approach velocity (AV) of 12 cm/s, was able to provide protection for fish about 5–15 mm smaller than the protection provided by an AV of 12 cm/s without a SV component. The best-performing screen panels (PP, IL, and PB) provided nearly complete protection from entrainment for fish greater than 50-mm toal length, but the larger openings in the WW material only protected fish greater than 100-mm total length. Decreasing the AV and SV by 50 percent expanded the size range of protected lampreys by about 10–15 mm for those exposed to IL and WW screens, and it decreased the protective ability of PP screens by about 10 mm. Much of the improvement for IL and WW screens under the reduced flow conditions resulted from an increase in the number of lampreys swimming away from the screen. Fish of all sizes became impinged (that is, stuck on the screen surface for more than 1 s) on the screens, with the rate of impingement highest on PP (39– 72 percent) and lowest on WW (7–22 percent). Although impingements were common, injuries were rare, and 24-h post-test survival was greater than 99 percent. Our results refined the level of protection provided by these screen materials when both an AV and SV are present and confirmed our earlier recommendation that

Comparison of least squares and exponential sine sweep methods for Parallel Hammerstein Models estimation

Science.gov (United States)

Rebillat, Marc; Schoukens, Maarten

2018-05-01

Linearity is a common assumption for many real-life systems, but in many cases the nonlinear behavior of systems cannot be ignored and must be modeled and estimated. Among the various existing classes of nonlinear models, Parallel Hammerstein Models (PHM) are interesting as they are at the same time easy to interpret as well as to estimate. One way to estimate PHM relies on the fact that the estimation problem is linear in the parameters and thus that classical least squares (LS) estimation algorithms can be used. In that area, this article introduces a regularized LS estimation algorithm inspired on some of the recently developed regularized impulse response estimation techniques. Another mean to estimate PHM consists in using parametric or non-parametric exponential sine sweeps (ESS) based methods. These methods (LS and ESS) are founded on radically different mathematical backgrounds but are expected to tackle the same issue. A methodology is proposed here to compare them with respect to (i) their accuracy, (ii) their computational cost, and (iii) their robustness to noise. Tests are performed on simulated systems for several values of methods respective parameters and of signal to noise ratio. Results show that, for a given set of data points, the ESS method is less demanding in computational resources than the LS method but that it is also less accurate. Furthermore, the LS method needs parameters to be set in advance whereas the ESS method is not subject to conditioning issues and can be fully non-parametric. In summary, for a given set of data points, ESS method can provide a first, automatic, and quick overview of a nonlinear system than can guide more computationally demanding and precise methods, such as the regularized LS one proposed here.

Compton current detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carvalho Campos, J.S. de.

1984-01-01

The project and construction of a Compton current detector, with cylindrical geometry using teflon as dielectric material; for electromagnetic radiation in range energy between 10 KeV and 2 MeV are described. The measurements of Compton current in teflon were obtained using an electrometer. The Compton current was promoted by photon flux proceeding from X ray sources (MG 150 Muller device) and gamma rays of 60 Co. The theory elaborated to explain the experimental results is shown. The calibration curves for accumulated charge and current in detector in function of exposition rates were obtained. (M.C.K.) [pt

Plasma's sweeping arc

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pichon, Max

2010-01-01

Montgomery, currently undergoing a feasibility study. If successful, the Missouri city would be the first in the world to use graphite arc plasma to gasify household waste.

Ionomer equivalent weight structuring in the cathode catalyst layer of automotive fuel cells: Effect on performance, current density distribution and electrochemical impedance spectra

Science.gov (United States)

Herden, Susanne; Hirschfeld, Julian A.; Lohri, Cyrill; Perchthaler, Markus; Haase, Stefan

2017-10-01

To improve the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells, membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) with segmented cathode electrodes have been manufactured. Electrodes with a higher and lower ionomer equivalent weight (EW) were used and analyzed using current density and temperature distribution, polarization curve, temperature sweep and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements. These were performed using automotive metallic bipolar plates and operating conditions. Measurement data were used to manufacture an optimized segmented cathode electrode. We were able to show that our results are transferable from a small scale hardware to automotive application and that an ionomer EW segmentation of the cathode leads to performance improvement in a broad spectrum of operating conditions. Furthermore, we confirmed our results by using in-situ electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.

Rule-Based Reasoning Is Fast and Belief-Based Reasoning Can Be Slow: Challenging Current Explanations of Belief-Bias and Base-Rate Neglect

Science.gov (United States)

Newman, Ian R.; Gibb, Maia; Thompson, Valerie A.

2017-01-01

It is commonly assumed that belief-based reasoning is fast and automatic, whereas rule-based reasoning is slower and more effortful. Dual-Process theories of reasoning rely on this speed-asymmetry explanation to account for a number of reasoning phenomena, such as base-rate neglect and belief-bias. The goal of the current study was to test this…

Current extinction rates of reptiles and amphibians.

Science.gov (United States)

Alroy, John

2015-10-20

There is broad concern that a mass extinction of amphibians and reptiles is now underway. Here I apply an extremely conservative Bayesian method to estimate the number of recent amphibian and squamate extinctions in nine important tropical and subtropical regions. The data stem from a combination of museum collection databases and published site surveys. The method computes an extinction probability for each species by considering its sighting frequency and last sighting date. It infers hardly any extinction when collection dates are randomized and it provides underestimates when artificial extinction events are imposed. The method also appears to be insensitive to trends in sampling; therefore, the counts it provides are absolute minimums. Extinctions or severe population crashes have accumulated steadily since the 1970s and 1980s, and at least 3.1% of frog species have already disappeared. Based on these data and this conservative method, the best estimate of the global grand total is roughly 200 extinctions. Consistent with previous results, frog losses are heavy in Latin America, which has been greatly affected by the pathogenic chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. Extinction rates are now four orders-of-magnitude higher than background, and at least another 6.9% of all frog species may be lost within the next century, even if there is no acceleration in the growth of environmental threats.

Influence of the cooling rate on the main factors affecting current-carrying ability in pure and SiC-doped MgB2 superconductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shcherbakova, O V; Pan, A V; Soltanian, S; Dou, S X; Wexler, D

2007-01-01

We have systematically studied and compared the effect of cooling rate on microstructure, critical current density, upper critical field and irreversibility field in pure and 10 wt% SiC-added MgB 2 superconductors. The sintering process was carried out on the samples at a temperature of 750 deg. C for 1 h followed by quenching or cooling to room temperature in 0.3 h (2433 deg. C h -1 ), 14 h (52 deg. C h -1 ) and 25 h (30 deg. C h -1 ). Changes in the microstructure due to variations in cooling rate have been studied with the help of scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Correlations between microstructure and superconducting properties have been observed, identified and explained for both pure and SiC-added MgB 2 samples. Modifications to the pinning environment and grain boundary transparency are considered to be responsible for variations in the current-carrying ability. The dominant pinning on grain boundaries in the pure MgB 2 samples and on nano-inclusions (inducing accompanying defects) in the SiC-doped samples is clearly distinguished. On the basis of our experimental results, we have concluded that the cooling rate can be an important parameter influencing the superconducting properties of MgB 2 samples

Low-Li2O Frits: Selecting Glasses that Support the Melt Rate Studies and Challenge the Current Durability Model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peeler, D. K.; Edwards, T. B.

2005-01-01

During the progressive development of the cold cap model (as it applies to a potential melt rate predictive tool), the formation of an Al-Li-silicate phase was identified as an intermediate reaction phase that could possibly hinder melt rate for SB4. To test this theory, six glasses were designed (using Frit 320's composition as the baseline) to maintain a constant 20 wt% sum of alkali content (in frit) by varying Na 2 O to Li 2 O ratios. The Li 2 O concentration ranged from 8 wt% down to 0% in either 2% or 1% increments with the differences being accounted for by an increase in Na 2 O concentration. Although the primary objective of the ''lower Li 2 O'' frits was to evaluate the potential for melt rate improvements, assessments of durability (as measured by the Product Consistency Test (PCT)) were also performed. The results suggest that durable glasses can be produced with these ''lower Li 2 O'' frits should it be necessary to pursue this option for improving melt rate. In addition to the series of glasses to support melt rate assessments, a series of frits were also developed to challenge the current durability model based on the limits proposed by Edwards et al. (2004). Although the ''new'' limits allow access into compositional regions of interest (i.e., higher alkali systems) which can improve melt rate and/or waste loading, there may still be ''additional'' conservatism. In this report, two series of glasses were developed to challenge the ''new'' durability limits for the SB4 system. In the first series, the total alkali of the Frit 320-based glasses (designed to support the melt rate program) was increased from 20 wt% to 21 wt% (in the frit), but the series also evaluated the possible impact of various Na 2 O and Li 2 O mass ratio differences. The second series pushed the alkali limit in the frit even further with frits containing either 22 or 24 wt% total alkali as well as various Na 2 O and Li 2 O mass ratios. The results of the PCT evaluation indicated

Electronic constant current and current pulse signal generator for nuclear instrumentation testing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, R.A.

1994-01-01

Circuitry is described for testing the ability of an intermediate range nuclear instrument to detect and measure a constant current and a periodic current pulse. The invention simulates the resistance and capacitance of the signal connection of a nuclear instrument ion chamber detector and interconnecting cable. An LED flasher/oscillator illuminates an LED at a periodic rate established by a timing capacitor and circuitry internal to the flasher/oscillator. When the LED is on, a periodic current pulse is applied to the instrument. When the LED is off, a constant current is applied. An inductor opposes battery current flow when the LED is on. 1 figures

The Effect of Temperature and Injection Rate during Water Flooding Using Carbonate Core Samples: An Experimental Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yaser Ahmadi

2016-10-01

Full Text Available In many reservoirs, after water flooding, a large volume of oil is still left behind. Hot water injection is the most basic type of thermal recovery which increase recovery by improved sweep efficiency and thermal expansion of crude.In the present work, the effects of injection rate and the temperature of the injected water were surveyed by using core flooding apparatus. Water flooding was performed at different rates (0.2, 0.3, and 0.4 cc/min and temperatures (20 and 90 °C, and the reservoir temperature was about 63 °C. Oil recovery during hot water injection was more than water injection. Moreover, it was concluded that at injection rates of 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4 cc/min breakthrough time in hot water injection occurred 10 min later in comparison to water injection. The results showed that higher oil recovery and longer breakthrough time were obtained as a result of reducing injection rate. In the first 50 minutes, the oil recovery at injection rates of 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 cc/min was 27.5, 34, and 46% respectively. It was found that at the beginning of injection, thermal and non-thermal injection recovery factors are approximately equal. Moreover, according to the results, recovery factor at the lowest rate in hot water (T=90 °C and q=0.2 cc/min is the best condition to obtain the highest recovery.

Conceptual design of a novel instrument for producing intense pulses of 10 ps X-rays for ultra-fast fluorescence measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gruber, G.J.

1996-05-01

A novel bench-top device for producing intense, fast pulses of x-rays has been designed with 10 ps fwhm (full-width at half-maximum) x-ray pulse width, 120 keV maximum energy, 100 kHz repetition rate, and 1 A peak current onto the x-ray anode. The device includes three sections: (1) an electron gun that generates 5 ns wide pulses of 120 keV electrons at 100 kHz; (2) solenoidal magnetic lenses and deflection plates that focus the electrons onto an aperture plate and sweep the pulsed beam past the aperture, respectively; and (3) a tungsten anode onto which the post-aperture electrons are focused, producing pulses of x-rays. At a sweeping rate of 10{sup 13} V/s, the electron pulses and resulting x-ray pulses are reduced to about 10 ps. The design process used EGUN (an electron optics and gun design program) electron trajectory simulations, including calculation of important space charge effects. When built, this instrument will be used to excite new, fast, bright scintillator samples in crystal or powdered form, allowing fluorescent lifetimes and spectra to be measured with a microchannel PMT. The very narrow 10 ps x-ray pulse width is necessary for accurate measurements of the risetimes of very fast scintillators (e.g., BaF{sub 2}). In addition, the large x-ray flux (1 A peak current) is advantageous when using a reflection grating monochromator to measure decay times at different wavelengths.

Conceptual design of a novel instrument for producing intense pulses of 10 ps X-rays for ultra-fast fluorescence measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gruber, G.J.

1996-05-01

A novel bench-top device for producing intense, fast pulses of x-rays has been designed with 10 ps fwhm (full-width at half-maximum) x-ray pulse width, 120 keV maximum energy, 100 kHz repetition rate, and 1 A peak current onto the x-ray anode. The device includes three sections: (1) an electron gun that generates 5 ns wide pulses of 120 keV electrons at 100 kHz; (2) solenoidal magnetic lenses and deflection plates that focus the electrons onto an aperture plate and sweep the pulsed beam past the aperture, respectively; and (3) a tungsten anode onto which the post-aperture electrons are focused, producing pulses of x-rays. At a sweeping rate of 10 13 V/s, the electron pulses and resulting x-ray pulses are reduced to about 10 ps. The design process used EGUN (an electron optics and gun design program) electron trajectory simulations, including calculation of important space charge effects. When built, this instrument will be used to excite new, fast, bright scintillator samples in crystal or powdered form, allowing fluorescent lifetimes and spectra to be measured with a microchannel PMT. The very narrow 10 ps x-ray pulse width is necessary for accurate measurements of the risetimes of very fast scintillators (e.g., BaF 2 ). In addition, the large x-ray flux (1 A peak current) is advantageous when using a reflection grating monochromator to measure decay times at different wavelengths

Conversion of spin current into charge current in a topological insulator: Role of the interface

Science.gov (United States)

Dey, Rik; Prasad, Nitin; Register, Leonard F.; Banerjee, Sanjay K.

2018-05-01

Three-dimensional spin current density injected onto the surface of a topological insulator (TI) produces a two-dimensional charge current density on the surface of the TI, which is the so-called inverse Edelstein effect (IEE). The ratio of the surface charge current density on the TI to the spin current density injected across the interface defined as the IEE length was shown to be exactly equal to the mean free path in the TI determined to be independent of the electron transmission rate across the interface [Phys. Rev. B 94, 184423 (2016), 10.1103/PhysRevB.94.184423]. However, we find that the transmission rate across the interface gives a nonzero contribution to the transport relaxation rate in the TI as well as to the effective IEE relaxation rate (over and above any surface hybridization effects), and the IEE length is always less than the original mean free path in the TI without the interface. We show that both the IEE relaxation time and the transport relaxation time in the TI are modified by the interface transmission time. The correction becomes significant when the transmission time across the interface becomes comparable to or less than the original momentum scattering time in the TI. This correction is similar to experimental results in Rashba electron systems in which the IEE relaxation time was found shorter in the case of direct interface with metal in which the interface transmission rate will be much higher, compared to interfaces incorporating insulating oxides. Our results indicate the continued importance of the interface to obtain a better spin-to-charge current conversion and a limitation to the conversion efficiency due to the quality of the interface.

Sensitive determination of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in Tussilago farfara L. by field-amplified, sample-stacking, sweeping micellar electrokinetic chromatography.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Kun; Xu, Yi; Mu, Xiuni; Zhang, Qing; Wang, Renjie; Lv, Junjiang

2016-11-01

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids are the toxic components in Tussilago farfara L. Due to the lack of standard substances for quantitative analysis and traces of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in total alkaloids, the full quality control of Tussilago farfara L has been limited. In this study, we aimed to solve the difficulty of determination of pyrrolizidine alkaloids and identify more components in the total alkaloids. An on-line preconcentration method has been applied to improve determining sensitivity of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in Tussilago farfara L. in which included field-amplified sample stacking and sweeping in micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography. The main parameters that affected separation and stacking efficiency were investigated in details. Under the optimal conditions, the sensitivity enhancement factors obtained by the developed method for the analytes were from 15- to 12-fold, the limits of detection of senkirkine and senecionine were 2∼5 μg/L. Senkirkine and senecionine have been detected in alkaloids (c) of Tussilago farfara L, along ferulic acid methyl ester and methyl caffeate. The developed method was also applied to the analysis of acid extraction (a) of Tussilago farfara L, and senkirkine could be detected directly. The results indicated that the developed method is feasible for the analysis of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in Tussilago farfara L with good recoveries. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

'Leak Current' correction for critical current measurement of no-insulation HTS coil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Song, Jung Bin [Laboratoire National des Champs Magnétiques Intenses, CNRS, Grenoble (France); Hahn, Seung Yong [Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2017-06-15

Discrepancy between a power supply current and an actual “spiral” coil current makes the conventional 4-probe measurement of a critical current (I{sub c}) of a no-insulation (NI) high temperature superconductor (HTS) coil inaccurate and time-consuming. This paper presents a fast and accurate approach for I{sub c} measurement of NI HTS coils. With an NI HTS coil energized at a constant ramping rate, a complete analytic expression for the spiral coil current was obtained from a first-order partial differential equation that derived from an equivalent circuit model of the NI coil. From the analytic solution, both spiral coil current and radial leak current can be obtained simultaneously, which enables fast and accurate measurement of the NI coil I{sub c}. To verify the proposed approach, an NI double-pancake (DP) coil, wound with GdBCO tapes of 6 mm × 0.1 mm, was constructed and its Ic was repeatedly measured with various ramping rates in a bath of liquid nitrogen at 77 K. The measured results agreed well with the calculated ones, which validates the proposed approach to measure I{sub c} of an NI HTS coil.

Baseline restoration using current conveyors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morgado, A.M.L.S.; Simoes, J.B.; Correia, C.M.

1996-01-01

A good performance of high resolution nuclear spectrometry systems, at high pulse rates, demands restoration of baseline between pulses, in order to remove rate dependent baseline shifts. This restoration is performed by circuits named baseline restorers (BLRs) which also remove low frequency noise, such as power supply hum and detector microphonics. This paper presents simple circuits for baseline restoration based on a commercial current conveyor (CCII01). Tests were performed, on two circuits, with periodic trapezoidal shaped pulses in order to measure the baseline restoration for several pulse rates and restorer duty cycles. For the current conveyor based Robinson restorer, the peak shift was less than 10 mV, for duty cycles up to 60%, at high pulse rates. Duty cycles up to 80% were also tested, being the maximum peak shift 21 mV. The peak shift for the current conveyor based Grubic restorer was also measured. The maximum value found was 30 mV at 82% duty cycle. Keeping the duty cycle below 60% improves greatly the restorer performance. The ability of both baseline restorer architectures to reject low frequency modulation is also measured, with good results on both circuits

The Structure and Dynamics of GRB Jets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Granot, Jonathan; /KIPAC, Menlo Park

2006-10-25

There are several lines of evidence which suggest that the relativistic outflows in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are collimated into narrow jets. The jet structure has important implications for the true energy release and the event rate of GRBs, and can constrain the mechanism responsible for the acceleration and collimation of the jet. Nevertheless, the jet structure and its dynamics as it sweeps up the external medium and decelerates, are not well understood. In this review I discuss our current understanding of GRB jets, stressing their structure and dynamics.

Sensitive voltammetric detection of yeast RNA based on its interaction with Victoria Blue B

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

WEI SUN

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Voltammetric studies of the interaction of yeast RNA (y-RNA with Victoria Blue B (VBB are described in this paper. Furthermore, a linear sweep voltammetric method for the detection of y-RNA was established. The reaction conditions, such as acidity and amount of buffer solution, the concentration of VBB, the reaction time and temperature, etc., were carefully investigated by second order derivative linear sweep voltammetry. Under the optimal conditions, the reduction peak current of VBB at –0.75 V decreased greatly after the addition of y-RNA to the solution without any shift of the reduction peak potential. Based on the decrease of the peak current, a new quantitative method for the determination of y-RNA was developed. The effects of co-existing substances on the determination were carefully investigated and three synthetic samples were determined with satisfactory results. The stoichiometry of the VBB–y-RNA complex was calculated by linear sweep voltammetry and the interaction mechanism is discussed.

Automated Identification and Shape Analysis of Chorus Elements in the Van Allen Radiation Belts

Science.gov (United States)

Sen Gupta, Ananya; Kletzing, Craig; Howk, Robin; Kurth, William; Matheny, Morgan

2017-12-01

An important goal of the Van Allen Probes mission is to understand wave-particle interaction by chorus emissions in terrestrial Van Allen radiation belts. To test models, statistical characterization of chorus properties, such as amplitude variation and sweep rates, is an important scientific goal. The Electric and Magnetic Field Instrument Suite and Integrated Science (EMFISIS) instrumentation suite provides measurements of wave electric and magnetic fields as well as DC magnetic fields for the Van Allen Probes mission. However, manual inspection across terabytes of EMFISIS data is not feasible and as such introduces human confirmation bias. We present signal processing techniques for automated identification, shape analysis, and sweep rate characterization of high-amplitude whistler-mode chorus elements in the Van Allen radiation belts. Specifically, we develop signal processing techniques based on the radon transform that disambiguate chorus elements with a dominant sweep rate against hiss-like chorus. We present representative results validating our techniques and also provide statistical characterization of detected chorus elements across a case study of a 6 s epoch.

Airline Quality Rating 1996

OpenAIRE

Bowen, Brent D.; Headley, Dean E.

1996-01-01

The Airline Quality Rating (AQR) was developed and first announced in early 1991 as an objective method of comparing airline performance on combined multiple factors important to consumers. Development history and calculation details for the AQR rating system are detailed in The Airline Quality Rating issued in April, 1991, by the National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State University. This current report, Airline Quality Rating 1996, contains monthly Airline Quality Rating scor...

Measurement of quasi-static and low frequency electric fields on the Viking satellite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Block, L.P.; Faelthammar, C.G.; Lindqvist, P.A.; Marklund, G.T.; Mozer, F.S.; Pedersen, A.

1987-03-01

The instrument for measurement of quasi-static and low frequency (dc and slow varying) electric fields on the Viking satellite is described. The instrument uses three spherical probe pairs to measure the full three-dimensional electric field vector with 18.75 ms time resolution. The probes are kept near plasma potential by means of a controllable bias current. A guard covering part of the booms is biased to a negative voltage to prevent photoelectrons escaping from the probes from reaching the satellite body. Current-voltage sweeps are performed to determine the plasma density and temperature and to select the optimal bias current. The bias currents to the probes and the voltage offset on the guards as well as the current-voltage sweeps are controlled by an on-board microprocessor which can be programmed from the ground and allows great flexibility. (authors)

Elevated resting heart rate is associated with greater risk of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in current and former smokers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Magnus T; Marott, Jacob L; Jensen, Gorm B

2010-01-01

. Current and former smokers had, irrespective of tobacco consumption, greater relative risk of elevated RHR compared to never smokers. The relative risk of all-cause mortality per 10bpm increase in RHR was (95% CI): 1.06 (1.01-1.10) in never smokers, 1.11 (1.07-1.15) in former smokers, 1.13 (1......BACKGROUND: Elevated resting heart rate is associated with mortality in general populations. Smokers may be at particular risk. The association between resting heart rate (RHR), smoking status and cardiovascular and total mortality was investigated in a general population. METHODS: Prospective.......09-1.16) in moderate smokers, and 1.13 (1.10-1.16) in heavy smokers. There was no gender difference. The risk estimates for cardiovascular and all-cause mortality were essentially similar. In univariate analyses, the difference in survival between a RHR in the highest (>80bpm) vs lowest quartile (...

Elevated resting heart rate is associated with greater risk of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in current and former smokers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Magnus T; Marott, Jacob L; Jensen, Gorm B

2010-01-01

BACKGROUND: Elevated resting heart rate is associated with mortality in general populations. Smokers may be at particular risk. The association between resting heart rate (RHR), smoking status and cardiovascular and total mortality was investigated in a general population. METHODS: Prospective....... Current and former smokers had, irrespective of tobacco consumption, greater relative risk of elevated RHR compared to never smokers. The relative risk of all-cause mortality per 10bpm increase in RHR was (95% CI): 1.06 (1.01-1.10) in never smokers, 1.11 (1.07-1.15) in former smokers, 1.13 (1.......09-1.16) in moderate smokers, and 1.13 (1.10-1.16) in heavy smokers. There was no gender difference. The risk estimates for cardiovascular and all-cause mortality were essentially similar. In univariate analyses, the difference in survival between a RHR in the highest (>80bpm) vs lowest quartile (...

Uncertain discount rates in climate policy analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Newell, R.G.; Pizer, W.A.

2004-01-01

Consequences in the distant future - such as those from climate change--have little value today when discounted using conventional rates. This result contradicts our 'gut feeling' about such problems and often leads to ad hoc application of lower rates for valuations over longer horizons - a step facilitated by confusion and disagreement over the correct rate even over short horizons. We review the theory and intuition behind the choice of discount rates now and, importantly, the impact of likely variation in rates in the future. Correlated changes in future rates imply that the distant future should be discounted at much lower rates than suggested by the current rate, thereby raising the value of future consequences - regardless of opinions concerning the current rate. Using historic data to quantity the likely changes and correlation in changes in future rates, we find that future valuations rise by a factor of many thousands at horizons of 300 years or more, almost doubling the expected present value of climate mitigation benefits relative to constant 4% discounting. Ironically, uncertainty about future rates reduces the ratio of valuations based on alternate choices of the current rate

A thorough investigation of the progressive reset dynamics in HfO{sub 2}-based resistive switching structures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lorenzi, P., E-mail: lorenzi@die.uniroma1.it; Rao, R.; Irrera, F. [Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell' Informazione, Elettronica e Telecomunicazioni, Università di Roma “Sapienza,” 00184 Rome (Italy); Suñé, J.; Miranda, E. [Departament d' Enginyeria Electrònica, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra (Spain)

2015-09-14

According to previous reports, filamentary electron transport in resistive switching HfO{sub 2}-based metal-insulator-metal structures can be modeled using a diode-like conduction mechanism with a series resistance. Taking the appropriate limits, the model allows simulating the high (HRS) and low (LRS) resistance states of the devices in terms of exponential and linear current-voltage relationships, respectively. In this letter, we show that this simple equivalent circuit approach can be extended to represent the progressive reset transition between the LRS and HRS if a generalized logistic growth model for the pre-exponential diode current factor is considered. In this regard, it is demonstrated here that a Verhulst logistic model does not provide accurate results. The reset dynamics is interpreted as the sequential deactivation of multiple conduction channels spanning the dielectric film. Fitting results for the current-voltage characteristics indicate that the voltage sweep rate only affects the deactivation rate of the filaments without altering the main features of the switching dynamics.

A thorough investigation of the progressive reset dynamics in HfO2-based resistive switching structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lorenzi, P.; Rao, R.; Irrera, F.; Suñé, J.; Miranda, E.

2015-01-01

According to previous reports, filamentary electron transport in resistive switching HfO 2 -based metal-insulator-metal structures can be modeled using a diode-like conduction mechanism with a series resistance. Taking the appropriate limits, the model allows simulating the high (HRS) and low (LRS) resistance states of the devices in terms of exponential and linear current-voltage relationships, respectively. In this letter, we show that this simple equivalent circuit approach can be extended to represent the progressive reset transition between the LRS and HRS if a generalized logistic growth model for the pre-exponential diode current factor is considered. In this regard, it is demonstrated here that a Verhulst logistic model does not provide accurate results. The reset dynamics is interpreted as the sequential deactivation of multiple conduction channels spanning the dielectric film. Fitting results for the current-voltage characteristics indicate that the voltage sweep rate only affects the deactivation rate of the filaments without altering the main features of the switching dynamics

Anodic Dissolution of Spheroidal Graphite Cast Iron with Different Pearlite Areas in Sulfuric Acid Solutions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yoshikazu Miyata

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The rate equation of anodic dissolution reaction of spheroidal graphite cast iron in sulfuric acid solutions at 298 K has been studied. The cast irons have different areas of pearlite. The anodic Tafel slope of 0.043 V decade−1 and the reaction order with respect to the hydroxyl ion activity of 1 are obtained by the linear potential sweep technique. The anodic current density does not depend on the area of pearlite. There is no difference in the anodic dissolution reaction mechanisms between pure iron and spheroidal graphite cast iron. The anodic current density of the cast iron is higher than that of the pure iron.

Empirical Studies of Exchange Rates: Price Behavior, Rate Determinationand Market Efficiency

OpenAIRE

Richard M. Levich

1983-01-01

Theoretical and empirical research completed over the last decade has dramatically increased our understanding of exchange rate behavior. The major insight to come from this decade of research is that foreign exchange is a financial asset. In an asset pricing framework, current exchange rates reflect the expected values of future exogenous variables. The purpose of this paper is to survay the empirical evidence on exchange rate behavior, market efficiency and related topics. Section 2 present...

Evaluation of a membrane desolvator for LC-ICPMS analysis of selenium and platinum species for application to peptides and proteins

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller, Laura Hyrup; Dam, Celina Støving; Nguyen, Tam T. T. N.

2015-01-01

no species dependent behavior. Linearity was obtained for flow injection analysis of SeMet, TMSe and a selenopeptide in 50% methanol and of inorganic Pt, cisplatin and oxaliplatin in 50% acetonitrile. The optimized system was applied for gradient elution LC-ICP-MS of a cisplatin-albumin adduct and lysate...... to sweep gas and nitrogen gas flow rates. Sensitivity was highly dependent on the combination of sweep gas flow and N2 addition, and the desolvator system should be optimized for each element. After optimization, 100% methanol and acetonitrile were tolerated by the ICP-MS with an eluent flow rate of 0.2 m...

Relative Price Levels and Current Accounts: An Exploration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joshua Aizenman

2008-12-01

Full Text Available This paper studies the links between current accounts and relative price levels, finding that current account changes are associated with sizable future relative price levels effects. This is done in panel regressions of the Penn effect, adding a lagged current account/GDP and other explanatory variables. Higher GDP/ capita and a greater export share of manufacturing tend to mitigate the real exchange rate impact of lagged current accounts. Active management of current accounts may provide a powerful adjustment channel, mitigating the real exchange rate effects of volatile terms of trade, and may explain the growing proliferation of Sovereign Wealth Funds.

Tuning of Synchronous-Frame PI Current Controllers in Grid-Connected Converters Operating at a Low Sampling Rate by MIMO Root Locus

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fernandez, Francisco Daniel Freijedo; Vidal, Ana; Yepes, Alejandro G.

2015-01-01

Current controller performance is key in gridconnected power converters for renewable energy applications. In this context, a challenging scenario is arising in multi-MW wind turbines, where sampling and switching frequencies tend to be lower and lower as power ratings increase. This strongly...... of the system are calculated with explicit consideration of time-delay and cross-coupling terms, two factors which clearly impair the system dynamics when considering a low sampling frequency. The proposed methodology is summarized as follows. Firstly, the plant and controller matrices are modeled in state......-space. Subsequently, the characteristic polynomial of the closed-loop system is obtained and a computer-aided parametric analysis is performed to calculate the MIMO root locus as a function of the control gain. By its inspection, it is possible to identify the gain which minimizes the current closed-loop time...

MPACT Subgroup Self-Shielding Efficiency Improvements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stimpson, Shane; Liu, Yuxuan; Collins, Benjamin S.; Clarno, Kevin T.

2016-01-01

Recent developments to improve the efficiency of the MOC solvers in MPACT have yielded effective kernels that loop over several energy groups at once, rather that looping over one group at a time. These kernels have produced roughly a 2x speedup on the MOC sweeping time during eigenvalue calculation. However, the self-shielding subgroup calculation had not been reevaluated to take advantage of these new kernels, which typically requires substantial solve time. The improvements covered in this report start by integrating the multigroup kernel concepts into the subgroup calculation, which are then used as the basis for further extensions. The next improvement that is covered is what is currently being termed as ''Lumped Parameter MOC''. Because the subgroup calculation is a purely fixed source problem and multiple sweeps are performed only to update the boundary angular fluxes, the sweep procedure can be condensed to allow for the instantaneous propagation of the flux across a spatial domain, without the need to sweep along all segments in a ray. Once the boundary angular fluxes are considered to be converged, an additional sweep that will tally the scalar flux is completed. The last improvement that is investigated is the possible reduction of the number of azimuthal angles per octant in the shielding sweep. Typically 16 azimuthal angles per octant are used for self-shielding and eigenvalue calculations, but it is possible that the self-shielding sweeps are less sensitive to the number of angles than the full eigenvalue calculation.

Experience of superconducting current feeders system of SST-1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gupta, N.C.; Garg, A.; Sonara, D.

2014-01-01

The superconducting current feeder system for SST-1 which has been installed and commissioned recently along with SST-1, felicitates to energize the SST-1. The CFS consists of ten pairs of 10,000 Ampere (A) rating helium vapor cooled conventional current leads, interconnecting Cu-SC joints, three numbers of cryo-compatible SC feeders ducts, current leads assembly chamber, hydraulic network and three numbers of joint boxes operated at different current rating to charge Toroidal Field and Poloidal Field coils separately. During the last three campaigns, it was possible to achieve a controlled cool down up to 4 K and showed its rated operational performance. Actively cooled liquid nitrogen shield showed temperature profile in the temperature range of 80-85K and the whole system was evacuated up to 6x10 -6 mbar. The measured LHe consumption rates from TF VCCL were 0.3 g/s and 0.35 g/s at zero current and 1 kA respectively. (author)

Airline Quality Rating 2003

OpenAIRE

Bowen, Brent D.; Headley, Dean E.

2003-01-01

The Airline Quality Rating (AQR) was developed and first announced in early 1991 as an objective method of comparing airline quality on combined multiple performance criteria. This current report, the Airline Quality Rating 2003, reflects monthly Airline Quality Rating scores for 2002. AQR scores for the calendar year 2002 are based on 15 elements that focus on airline performance areas important to air travel consumers. The Airline Quality Rating 2003 is a summary of month-by-month qualit...

Airline Quality Rating 2001

OpenAIRE

Bowen, Brent D.; Headley, Dean E.

2001-01-01

The Airline Quality Rating (AQR) was developed and first announced in early 1991 as an objective method of comparing airline quality on combined multiple performance criteria. This current report, Airline Quality Rating 2001, reflects monthly Airline Quality Rating scores for 2000. AQR scores for the calendar year 2000 are based on 15 elements that focus on airline performance areas important to air travel consumers. The Airline Quality Rating 2001 is a summary of month-by-month quality ra...

Hysteresis analysis of graphene transistor under repeated test and gate voltage stress

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Jie; Jia Kunpeng; Su Yajuan; Zhao Chao; Chen Yang

2014-01-01

The current transport characteristic is studied systematically based on a back-gate graphene field effect transistor, under repeated test and gate voltage stress. The interface trapped charges caused by the gate voltage sweep process screens the gate electric field, and results in the neutral point voltage shift between the forth and back sweep direction. In the repeated test process, the neutral point voltage keeps increasing with test times in both forth and back sweeps, which indicates the existence of interface trapped electrons residual and accumulation. In gate voltage stress experiment, the relative neutral point voltage significantly decreases with the reducing of stress voltage, especially in −40 V, which illustrates the driven-out phenomenon of trapped electrons under negative voltage stress. (semiconductor devices)

Wave form of current quench during disruptions in tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugihara, Masayoshi; Gribov, Yuri; Shimada, Michiya; Lukash, Victor; Kawano, Yasunori; Yoshino, Ryuji; Miki, Nobuharu; Ohmori, Junji; Khayrutdinov, Rustam

2003-01-01

The time dependence of the current decay during the current quench phase of disruptions, which can significantly influence the electro-magnetic force on the in-vessel components due to the induced eddy currents, is investigated using data obtained in JT-60U experiments in order to derive a relevant physics guideline for the predictive simulations of disruptions in ITER. It is shown that an exponential decay can fit the time dependence of current quench for discharges with large quench rate (fast current quench). On the other hand, for discharges with smaller quench rate (slow current quench), a linear decay can fit the time dependence of current quench better than exponential. (author)

High-current-density electrodeposition using pulsed and constant currents to produce thick CoPt magnetic films on silicon substrates

Science.gov (United States)

Ewing, Jacob; Wang, Yuzheng; Arnold, David P.

2018-05-01

This paper investigates methods for electroplating thick (>20 μm), high-coercivity CoPt films using high current densities (up to 1 A/cm2) and elevated bath temperatures (70 °C). Correlations are made tying current-density and temperature process parameters with plating rate, elemental ratio and magnetic properties of the deposited CoPt films. It also investigates how pulsed currents can increase the plating rate and film to substrate adhesion. Using 500 mA/cm2 and constant current, high-quality, dense CoPt films were successfully electroplated up to 20 μm thick in 1 hr on silicon substrates (0.35 μm/min plating rate). After standard thermal treatment (675°C, 30 min) to achieve the ordered L10 crystalline phase, strong magnetic properties were measured: coercivities up 850 kA/m, remanences >0.5 T, and maximum energy products up to 46 kJ/m3.

Composition and crystal structure of N doped TiO2 film deposited at different O2 flow rate by direct current sputtering.

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Wanyu; Ju, Dongying; Chai, Weiping

2011-06-01

N doped Ti02 films were deposited by direct current pulse magnetron sputtering system at room temperature. The influence of 02 flow rate on the crystal structure of deposited films was studied by Stylus profilometer, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and X-ray diffractometer. The results indicate that the 02 flow rate strongly controls the growth behavior and crystal structure of N doped Ti02 film. It is found that N element mainly exists as substitutional doped state and the chemical stiochiometry is near to TiO1.68±0.06N0.11±0.01 for all film samples. N doped Ti02 film deposited with 2 sccm (standard-state cubic centimeter per minute) 02 flow rate is amorphous structure with high growth rate, which contains both anatase phase and rutile phase crystal nucleuses. In this case, the film displays the mix-phase of anatase and rutile after annealing treatment. While N doped Ti02 film deposited with 12 cm(3)/min 02 flow rate displays anatase phase before and after annealing treatment. And it should be noticed that no TiN phase appears for all samples before and after annealing treatment. Copyright © 2011 The Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Veno-venous extracorporeal CO2 removal for the treatment of severe respiratory acidosis: pathophysiological and technical considerations.

Science.gov (United States)

Karagiannidis, Christian; Kampe, Kristin Aufm; Sipmann, Fernando Suarez; Larsson, Anders; Hedenstierna, Goran; Windisch, Wolfram; Mueller, Thomas

2014-06-17

While non-invasive ventilation aimed at avoiding intubation has become the modality of choice to treat mild to moderate acute respiratory acidosis, many severely acidotic patients (pH respiratory acidosis was only feasible when blood flow rates of 750 to 1000 mL/minute (19Fr catheter) were used. Maximal CO2-elimination was 146.1 ± 22.6 mL/minute, while pH increased from 7.13 ± 0.08 to 7.41 ± 0.07 (blood flow of 1000 mL/minute; sweep gas flow 16 L/minute). Accordingly, a sweep gas flow of 8 L/minute resulted in a maximal CO2-elimination rate of 138.0 ± 16.9 mL/minute. The 14.5Fr catheter allowed a maximum CO2 elimination rate of 77.9 mL/minute, which did not result in the normalization of pH. Veno-venous ECCO2R may serve as a treatment option for severe respiratory acidosis. In this porcine model, ECCO2R was most effective when using blood flow rates ranging between 750 and 1000 mL/minute, while an increase in sweep gas flow from 8 to 16 L/minute had less impact on ECCO2R in this setting.

H2-assisted CO2 thermochemical reduction on La0.9Ca0.1FeO3-δ membranes: a kinetics study

KAUST Repository

Wu, Xiao-Yu; Ghoniem, Ahmed F.

2017-01-01

Kinetics data for CO2 thermochemical reduction in an isothermal membrane reactor is required to identify the rate-limiting steps. Here, we report a detailed reaction kinetics study on this process supported by an La0.9Ca0.1FeO3-δ (LCF-91) membrane. The dependence of CO2 reduction rate on various operating conditions is examined such as CO2 concentration on the feed side, fuel concentrations on the sweep side and temperatures. CO2 reduction rate is proportional to the oxygen flux across the membrane, and the measured maximum fluxes are 0.191 and 0.164 μmol cm-2 s-1 with 9.5% H2 and 11.6% CO on the sweep side at 990oC, respectively. Fuel is used to maintain the chemical potential gradient across the membrane and CO is used by construction to derive the surface reaction kinetics. This membrane also exhibits stable performances for 106 hours. A resistance-network model is developed to describe the oxygen transport process and the kinetics data are parameterized using the experimental values. The model shows a transition of the rate limiting step between the surface reactions on the feed side and the sweep side depending on the operating conditions.

H2-assisted CO2 thermochemical reduction on La0.9Ca0.1FeO3-δ membranes: a kinetics study

KAUST Repository

Wu, Xiao-Yu

2017-11-04

Kinetics data for CO2 thermochemical reduction in an isothermal membrane reactor is required to identify the rate-limiting steps. Here, we report a detailed reaction kinetics study on this process supported by an La0.9Ca0.1FeO3-δ (LCF-91) membrane. The dependence of CO2 reduction rate on various operating conditions is examined such as CO2 concentration on the feed side, fuel concentrations on the sweep side and temperatures. CO2 reduction rate is proportional to the oxygen flux across the membrane, and the measured maximum fluxes are 0.191 and 0.164 μmol cm-2 s-1 with 9.5% H2 and 11.6% CO on the sweep side at 990oC, respectively. Fuel is used to maintain the chemical potential gradient across the membrane and CO is used by construction to derive the surface reaction kinetics. This membrane also exhibits stable performances for 106 hours. A resistance-network model is developed to describe the oxygen transport process and the kinetics data are parameterized using the experimental values. The model shows a transition of the rate limiting step between the surface reactions on the feed side and the sweep side depending on the operating conditions.

High current densities enable exoelectrogens to outcompete aerobic heterotrophs for substrate

KAUST Repository

Ren, Lijiao

2014-08-05

© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rates could be described by first-order kinetics with respect to COD concentration at different current densities, even under open circuit conditions with no current generation. The COD concentration was reduced more quickly with current generation due to the greater consumption of substrate by exoelectrogens, and less substrate was lost to aerobic heterotrophs. Higher current densities enabled exoelectrogens to outcompete aerobic heterotrophs for substrate, allowing for increased coulombic efficiencies with current densities. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. In mixed-culture microbial fuel cells (MFCs), exoelectrogens and other microorganisms compete for substrate. It has previously been assumed that substrate losses to other terminal electron acceptors over a fed-batch cycle, such as dissolved oxygen, are constant. However, a constant rate of substrate loss would only explain small increases in coulombic efficiencies (CEs, the fraction of substrate recovered as electrical current) with shorter cycle times, but not the large increases in CE that are usually observed with higher current densities and reduced cycle times. To better understand changes in CEs, COD concentrations were measured over time in fed-batch, single-chamber, air-cathode MFCs at different current densities (external resistances). COD degradation rates were all found to be first-order with respect to COD concentration, even under open circuit conditions with no current generation (first-order rate constant of 0.14±0.01h-1). The rate of COD removal increased when there was current generation, with the highest rate constant (0.33±0.02h-1) obtained at the lowest external resistance (100Ω). Therefore, as the substrate concentration was reduced more quickly due to current generation, the rate of loss of substrate to non-exoelectrogens decreased due to this first-order substrate-concentration dependence. As a result, coulombic

High current densities enable exoelectrogens to outcompete aerobic heterotrophs for substrate

KAUST Repository

Ren, Lijiao; Zhang, Xiaoyuan; He, Weihua; Logan, Bruce E.

2014-01-01

© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rates could be described by first-order kinetics with respect to COD concentration at different current densities, even under open circuit conditions with no current generation. The COD concentration was reduced more quickly with current generation due to the greater consumption of substrate by exoelectrogens, and less substrate was lost to aerobic heterotrophs. Higher current densities enabled exoelectrogens to outcompete aerobic heterotrophs for substrate, allowing for increased coulombic efficiencies with current densities. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. In mixed-culture microbial fuel cells (MFCs), exoelectrogens and other microorganisms compete for substrate. It has previously been assumed that substrate losses to other terminal electron acceptors over a fed-batch cycle, such as dissolved oxygen, are constant. However, a constant rate of substrate loss would only explain small increases in coulombic efficiencies (CEs, the fraction of substrate recovered as electrical current) with shorter cycle times, but not the large increases in CE that are usually observed with higher current densities and reduced cycle times. To better understand changes in CEs, COD concentrations were measured over time in fed-batch, single-chamber, air-cathode MFCs at different current densities (external resistances). COD degradation rates were all found to be first-order with respect to COD concentration, even under open circuit conditions with no current generation (first-order rate constant of 0.14±0.01h-1). The rate of COD removal increased when there was current generation, with the highest rate constant (0.33±0.02h-1) obtained at the lowest external resistance (100Ω). Therefore, as the substrate concentration was reduced more quickly due to current generation, the rate of loss of substrate to non-exoelectrogens decreased due to this first-order substrate-concentration dependence. As a result, coulombic

Tritium extraction from neutron-irradiated lithium aluminate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garcia H, F.

1995-01-01

Lithium aluminate is being strongly considered as a breeder material because of its thermophysical, chemical and mechanical stability at high temperatures and its favorable irradiation behavior. Furthermore, it is compatible with other blanket and structural materials. In this work, the effects of calcination temperature during preparation, extraction temperature and sweep gas composition were observed. Lithium aluminate prepared by four different methods, was neutron irradiated for 30 minutes at a flux of 10 12 -10 13 n/cm 2 s in the TRIGA Mark III reactor at Salazar, Mexico; and the tritium extraction rate was measured. Calcination temperature do not affect the tritium extraction rate. However, using high calcination temperature, gamma lithium aluminate was formed. The tritium extraction at 600 Centigrade degrees was lower than at 800 Centigrade degrees and the tritium amount extracted by distillation of the solid sample was higher. The sweep gas composition showed that tritium extraction was less with Ar plus 0.5 % H 2 that with Ar plus 0.1 % H 2 . This result was contrary to expected, where the tritium extraction rate could be higher when hydrogen is added to the sweep gas. Probably this effect could be attributed to the gas purity. (Author)

Predictive Accuracy of Sweep Frequency Impedance Technology in Identifying Conductive Conditions in Newborns.

Science.gov (United States)

Aithal, Venkatesh; Kei, Joseph; Driscoll, Carlie; Murakoshi, Michio; Wada, Hiroshi

2018-02-01

Diagnosing conductive conditions in newborns is challenging for both audiologists and otolaryngologists. Although high-frequency tympanometry (HFT), acoustic stapedial reflex tests, and wideband absorbance measures are useful diagnostic tools, there is performance measure variability in their detection of middle ear conditions. Additional diagnostic sensitivity and specificity measures gained through new technology such as sweep frequency impedance (SFI) measures may assist in the diagnosis of middle ear dysfunction in newborns. The purpose of this study was to determine the test performance of SFI to predict the status of the outer and middle ear in newborns against commonly used reference standards. Automated auditory brainstem response (AABR), HFT (1000 Hz), transient evoked otoacoustic emission (TEOAE), distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE), and SFI tests were administered to the study sample. A total of 188 neonates (98 males and 90 females) with a mean gestational age of 39.4 weeks were included in the sample. Mean age at the time of testing was 44.4 hr. Diagnostic accuracy of SFI was assessed in terms of its ability to identify conductive conditions in neonates when compared with nine different reference standards (including four single tests [AABR, HFT, TEOAE, and DPOAE] and five test batteries [HFT + DPOAE, HFT + TEOAE, DPOAE + TEOAE, DPOAE + AABR, and TEOAE + AABR]), using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis and traditional test performance measures such as sensitivity and specificity. The test performance of SFI against the test battery reference standard of HFT + DPOAE and single reference standard of HFT was high with an area under the ROC curve (AROC) of 0.87 and 0.82, respectively. Although the HFT + DPOAE test battery reference standard performed better than the HFT reference standard in predicting middle ear conductive conditions in neonates, the difference in AROC was not significant. Further analysis revealed that the

HUBBLE CLICKS IMAGES OF IO SWEEPING ACROSS JUPITER

Science.gov (United States)

2002-01-01

While hunting for volcanic plumes on Io, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured these images of the volatile moon sweeping across the giant face of Jupiter. Only a few weeks before these dramatic images were taken, the orbiting telescope snapped a portrait of one of Io's volcanoes spewing sulfur dioxide 'snow.' These stunning images of the planetary duo are being released to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the Hubble telescope's launch on April 24, 1990. All of these images were taken with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2. The three overlapping snapshots show in crisp detail Io passing above Jupiter's turbulent clouds. The close-up picture of Io (bottom right) reveal a 120-mile-high (200-kilometer) plume of sulfur dioxide 'snow' emanating from Pillan, one of the moon's active volcanoes. 'Other observations have inferred sulfur dioxide 'snow' in Io's plumes, but this image offers direct observational evidence for sulfur dioxide 'snow' in an Io plume,' explains John R. Spencer of Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz. A Trip Around Jupiter The three snapshots of the volcanic moon rounding Jupiter were taken over a 1.8-hour time span. Io is roughly the size of Earth's moon but 2,000 times farther away. In two of the images, Io appears to be skimming Jupiter's cloud tops, but it's actually 310,000 miles (500,000 kilometers) away. Io zips around Jupiter in 1.8 days, whereas the moon circles Earth every 28 days. The conspicuous black spot on Jupiter is Io's shadow and is about the size of the moon itself (2,262 miles or 3,640 kilometers across). This shadow sails across the face of Jupiter at 38,000 mph (17 kilometers per second). The smallest details visible on Io and Jupiter measure 93 miles (150 kilometers) across, or about the size of Connecticut. These images were further sharpened through image reconstruction techniques. The view is so crisp that one would have to stand on Io to see this much detail on Jupiter with the naked eye. The bright patches on Io

Magnetoresistance in La0.7Ca0.3MnO3-YBa2Cu3O7 F/S/F trilayers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pena, V.; Visani, C.; Bruno, F.; Garcia-Barriocanal, J.; Arias, D.; Rivera, A.; Sefrioui, Z.; Leon, C.; Te Velthuis, S.G.E.; Hoffmann, A.; Nemes, N.; Garcia-Hernandez, M.; Martinez, J.L.; Santamaria, J.

2007-01-01

We report large magnetoresistance in ferromagnet/superconductor/ferromagnet structures made of La 0.7 Ca 0.3 MnO 3 and YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 at temperatures along the resistive transition. We find that the magnetoresistance phenomenon is independent on the orientation of electric current versus field. Furthermore, the effect is also independent on the sweep rate of the magnetic field. This excludes interpretations in terms of spontaneous vortices or anisotropic magnetoresistance of the ferromagnetic layers and supports the view that the magnetoresistance phenomenon originates at the spin-dependent transport of quasiparticles transmitted from the ferromagnetic electrodes into the superconductor

The effects of sweep numbers per average and protocol type on the accuracy of the p300-based concealed information test.

Science.gov (United States)

Dietrich, Ariana B; Hu, Xiaoqing; Rosenfeld, J Peter

2014-03-01

In the first of two experiments, we compared the accuracy of the P300 concealed information test protocol as a function of numbers of trials experienced by subjects and ERP averages analyzed by investigators. Contrary to Farwell et al. (Cogn Neurodyn 6(2):115-154, 2012), we found no evidence that 100 trial based averages are more accurate than 66 or 33 trial based averages (all numbers led to accuracies of 84-94 %). There was actually a trend favoring the lowest trial numbers. The second study compared numbers of irrelevant stimuli recalled and recognized in the 3-stimulus protocol versus the complex trial protocol (Rosenfeld in Memory detection: theory and application of the concealed information test, Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 63-89, 2011). Again, in contrast to expectations from Farwell et al. (Cogn Neurodyn 6(2):115-154, 2012), there were no differences between protocols, although there were more irrelevant stimuli recognized than recalled, and irrelevant 4-digit number group stimuli were neither recalled nor recognized as well as irrelevant city name stimuli. We therefore conclude that stimulus processing in the P300-based complex trial protocol-with no more than 33 sweep averages-is adequate to allow accurate detection of concealed information.

Sensitivity of the downward to sweeping velocity ratio to the bypass flow percentage along a guide wall for downstream fish passage

Science.gov (United States)

Mulligan, Kevin; Towler, Brett; Haro, Alexander J.; Ahlfeld, David P.

2017-01-01

Partial-depth impermeable guidance structures (or guide walls) are used as a method to assist in the downstream passage of fish at a hydroelectric facility. However, guide walls can result in a strong downward velocity causing the approaching fish to pass below the wall and into the direction of the turbine intakes. The objective of this study was to describe how the ratio of the vertical velocity to the sweeping velocity magnitude changes along the full length and depth of a guide wall under a wide range of bypass flow percentages within a power canal. This paper focused on two guide wall configurations, each set at an angle of 45 ° to the approaching flow field and at a depth of 10 and 20 ft (3.05 and 6.10 m). The hydraulic conditions upstream of each guide wall configuration were shown to be impacted by a change in the bypass flow percentage, not only near the bypass but also at upstream sections of the guide wall. Furthermore, the effect of changing the bypass flow percentage was similar for both guide wall depths. In both cases, the effect of increasing the bypass flow percentage was magnified closer to the bypass and deeper in the water column along the guide wall.

High-current power supply for accelerator magnets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bourkland, K.R.; Winje, R.A.

1978-01-01

A power supply for controlling the current to accelerator magnets produces a high current at a precisely controlled time rate of change by varying the resonant frequency of an RLC circuit that includes the magnet and applying the current to the magnet during a predetermined portion of the waveform of an oscillation. The current is kept from going negative despite the reverse-current characteristics of thyristors by a quenching circuit

Critical quench dynamics in confined systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Collura, Mario; Karevski, Dragi

2010-05-21

We analyze the coherent quantum evolution of a many-particle system after slowly sweeping a power-law confining potential. The amplitude of the confining potential is varied in time along a power-law ramp such that the many-particle system finally reaches or crosses a critical point. Under this protocol we derive general scaling laws for the density of excitations created during the nonadiabatic sweep of the confining potential. It is found that the mean excitation density follows an algebraic law as a function of the sweeping rate with an exponent that depends on the space-time properties of the potential. We confirm our scaling laws by first order adiabatic calculation and exact results on the Ising quantum chain with a varying transverse field.

Prediction of Tungsten CMP Pad Life Using Blanket Removal Rate Data and Endpoint Data Obtained from Process Temperature and Carrier Motor Current Measurments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hetherington, Dale L.; Stein, David J.

1999-01-01

Several techniques to predict pad failure during tungsten CMP were investigated for a specific consumable set. These techniques include blanket polish rate measurements and metrics derived from two endpoint detection schemes. Blanket polish rate decreased significantly near pad failure. Metrics from the thermal endpoint technique included change in peak temperature, change in the time to reach peak temperature, and the change in the slope of the temperature trace just prior to peak temperature all as a function of pad life. Average carrier motor current before endpoint was also investigated. Changes in these metrics were observed however these changes, excluding time to peak process temperature, were either not consistent between pads or too noisy to be reliable predictors of pad failure

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...

The relationship of temperature rise to specific absorption rate and current in the human leg for exposure to electromagnetic radiation in the high frequency band

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wainwright, P R

2003-01-01

Of the biological effects of human exposure to radiofrequency and microwave radiation, the best-established are those due to elevation of tissue temperature. To prevent harmful levels of heating, restrictions have been proposed on the specific absorption rate (SAR). However, the relationship between SAR and temperature rise is not an invariant, since not only the heat capacity but also the efficiency of heat dissipation varies between different tissues and exposure scenarios. For small enough SAR, the relationship is linear and may be characterized by a 'heating factor'. Under whole-body irradiation the SAR may be particularly high in the ankles due to the concentration of current flowing through a relatively small cross-sectional area. In a previous paper, the author has presented calculations of the SAR distribution in a human leg in the high frequency (HF) band. In this paper, the heating factor for this situation is derived using a finite element approximation of the Pennes bio-heat equation. The sensitivity of the results to different blood perfusion rates is investigated, and a simple local thermoregulatory model is applied. Both time-dependent and steady-state solutions are considered. Results confirm the appropriateness of the ICNIRP reference level of 100 mA on current through the leg, but suggest that at higher currents significant thermoregulatory adjustments to muscle blood flow will occur

Enhancing Breastfeeding Rates Among African American Women: A Systematic Review of Current Psychosocial Interventions

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Angela; Kirk, Rosalind; Rosenblum, Katherine Lisa

2015-01-01

Abstract The goals of this article are to provide a review of key interventions and strategies that impact initiation and duration of breastfeeding with particular focus on low-income African American mothers' maternal psychological vulnerabilities during the early postpartum period using a social ecological perspective as a guiding framework. Although modest gains have been achieved in breastfeeding initiation rates in the United States, a projected gap remains between infant feeding practices and national Healthy People breastfeeding goals set for 2020, particularly among African Americans. These disparities raise concerns that socially disadvantaged mothers and babies may be at increased risk for poor postnatal outcomes because of poorer mental health and increased vulnerability to chronic health conditions. Breastfeeding can be a protective factor, strengthening the relationship between mother and baby and increasing infant health and resilience. Evidence suggests that no single intervention can sufficiently address the multiple breastfeeding barriers faced by mothers. Effective intervention strategies require a multilevel approach. A social ecological perspective highlights that individual knowledge, behavior, and attitudes are shaped by interactions between the individual woman, her friends and family, and her wider historical, social, political, economic, institutional, and community contexts, and therefore effective breastfeeding interventions must reflect all these aspects. Current breastfeeding interventions are disjointed and inadequately meet all African American women's social and psychological breastfeeding needs. Poor outcomes indicate a need for an integrative approach to address the complexity of interrelated breastfeeding barriers mothers' experience across layers of the social ecological system. PMID:25423601

Electromagnetic current in weak interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma, E.

1983-01-01

In gauge models which unify weak and electromagnetic interactions, the weak neutral-current interaction also involves the electromagnetic current. The exact nature of such a component can be explored using e + e - experimental data. In recent years, the existence of a new component of the weak interaction has become firmly established, i.e., the neutral-current interaction. As such, it competes with the electromagnetic interaction whenever the particles involved are also charged, but at a very much lower rate because its effective strength is so small. Hence neutrino processes are best for the detection of the neutral-current interaction. However, in any gauge model which unifies weak and electromagnetic interactions, the weak neutral-current interaction also involves the electromagnetic current

Convergence properties of halo merger trees; halo and substructure merger rates across cosmic history

Science.gov (United States)

Poole, Gregory B.; Mutch, Simon J.; Croton, Darren J.; Wyithe, Stuart

2017-12-01

We introduce GBPTREES: an algorithm for constructing merger trees from cosmological simulations, designed to identify and correct for pathological cases introduced by errors or ambiguities in the halo finding process. GBPTREES is built upon a halo matching method utilizing pseudo-radial moments constructed from radially sorted particle ID lists (no other information is required) and a scheme for classifying merger tree pathologies from networks of matches made to-and-from haloes across snapshots ranging forward-and-backward in time. Focusing on SUBFIND catalogues for this work, a sweep of parameters influencing our merger tree construction yields the optimal snapshot cadence and scanning range required for converged results. Pathologies proliferate when snapshots are spaced by ≲0.128 dynamical times; conveniently similar to that needed for convergence of semi-analytical modelling, as established by Benson et al. Total merger counts are converged at the level of ∼5 per cent for friends-of-friends (FoF) haloes of size np ≳ 75 across a factor of 512 in mass resolution, but substructure rates converge more slowly with mass resolution, reaching convergence of ∼10 per cent for np ≳ 100 and particle mass mp ≲ 109 M⊙. We present analytic fits to FoF and substructure merger rates across nearly all observed galactic history (z ≤ 8.5). While we find good agreement with the results presented by Fakhouri et al. for FoF haloes, a slightly flatter dependence on merger ratio and increased major merger rates are found, reducing previously reported discrepancies with extended Press-Schechter estimates. When appropriately defined, substructure merger rates show a similar mass ratio dependence as FoF rates, but with stronger mass and redshift dependencies for their normalization.

Development of an Intelligent Maximum Power Point Tracker Using an Advanced PV System Test Platform

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Spataru, Sergiu; Amoiridis, Anastasios; Beres, Remus Narcis

2013-01-01

The performance of photovoltaic systems is often reduced by the presence of partial shadows. The system efficiency and availability can be improved by a maximum power point tracking algorithm that is able to detect partial shadow conditions and to optimize the power output. This work proposes...... an intelligent maximum power point tracking method that monitors the maximum power point voltage and triggers a current-voltage sweep only when a partial shadow is detected, therefore minimizing power loss due to repeated current-voltage sweeps. The proposed system is validated on an advanced, flexible...... photovoltaic inverter system test platform that is able to reproduce realistic partial shadow conditions, both in simulation and on hardware test system....

Porous carbons prepared by direct carbonization of MOFs for supercapacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Xinlong; Li, Xuejin; Yan, Zifeng; Komarneni, Sridhar

2014-07-01

Three porous carbons were prepared by direct carbonization of HKUST-1, MOF-5 and Al-PCP without additional carbon precursors. The carbon samples obtained by carbonization at 1073 K were characterized by XRD, TEM and N2 physisorption techniques followed by testing for electrochemical performance. The BET surface areas of the three carbons were in the range of 50-1103 m2/g. As electrode materials for supercapacitor, the MOF-5 and Al-PCP derived carbons displayed the ideal capacitor behavior, whereas the HKUST-1 derived carbon showed poor capacitive behavior at various sweep rates and current densities. Among those carbon samples, Al-PCP derived carbons exhibited highest specific capacitance (232.8 F/g) in 30% KOH solution at the current density of 100 mA/g.

Current irritability robustly related to current and prior anxiety in bipolar disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Yuen, Laura D; Miller, Shefali; Wang, Po W; Hooshmand, Farnaz; Holtzman, Jessica N; Goffin, Kathryn C; Shah, Saloni; Ketter, Terence A

2016-08-01

Although current irritability and current/prior anxiety have been associated in unipolar depression, these relationships are less well understood in bipolar disorder (BD). We investigated relationships between current irritability and current/prior anxiety as well as other current emotions and BD illness characteristics. Outpatients referred to the Stanford Bipolar Disorders Clinic during 2000-2011 were assessed with the Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for BD (STEP-BD) Affective Disorders Evaluation. Prevalence and clinical correlates of current irritability and current/prior anxiety and other illness characteristics were examined. Among 497 BD outpatients (239 Type I, 258 Type II; 58.1% female; mean ± SD age 35.6 ± 13.1 years), 301 (60.6%) had baseline current irritability. Patients with versus without current irritability had significantly higher rates of current anxiety (77.1% versus 42.9%, p anxiety disorder (73.1% versus 52.6%, p anxiety than to current anhedonia, sadness, or euphoria (all p anxiety associations persisted across current predominant mood states. Current irritability was more robustly related to past anxiety than to all other assessed illness characteristics, including 1° family history of mood disorder, history of alcohol/substance use disorder, bipolar subtype, and current syndromal/subsyndromal depression (all p anxiety. Further studies are warranted to assess longitudinal clinical implications of relationships between irritability and anxiety in BD. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Fast Method for Measuring Psychophysical Thresholds Across the Cochlear Implant Array

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julie A. Bierer

2015-02-01

Full Text Available A rapid threshold measurement procedure, based on Bekesy tracking, is proposed and evaluated for use with cochlear implants (CIs. Fifteen postlingually deafened adult CI users participated. Absolute thresholds for 200-ms trains of biphasic pulses were measured using the new tracking procedure and were compared with thresholds obtained with a traditional forced-choice adaptive procedure under both monopolar and quadrupolar stimulation. Virtual spectral sweeps across the electrode array were implemented in the tracking procedure via current steering, which divides the current between two adjacent electrodes and varies the proportion of current directed to each electrode. Overall, no systematic differences were found between threshold estimates with the new channel sweep procedure and estimates using the adaptive forced-choice procedure. Test–retest reliability for the thresholds from the sweep procedure was somewhat poorer than for thresholds from the forced-choice procedure. However, the new method was about 4 times faster for the same number of repetitions. Overall the reliability and speed of the new tracking procedure provides it with the potential to estimate thresholds in a clinical setting. Rapid methods for estimating thresholds could be of particular clinical importance in combination with focused stimulation techniques that result in larger threshold variations between electrodes.

Airline Quality Rating 2013

OpenAIRE

Bowen, Brent D.; Headley, Dean E.

2013-01-01

The Airline Quality Rating (AQR) was developed and first announced in early 1991 as an objective method for assessing airline quality on combined multiple performance criteria. This current report, the Airline Quality Rating 2013, reflects monthly Airline Quality Rating scores for calendar year 2012. AQR scores for 2013 are based on 15 elements in four major areas that focus on airline performance aspects important to air travel consumers over the calendar year of 2012. The Airline Quality...

Current noise in a vibrating quantum dot array

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Flindt, Christian; Novotny, Tomas; Jauho, Antti-Pekka

2004-01-01

of extensive numerical calculations for current and current noise (Fano factor), based on a solution of a Markovian generalized master equation. The results for the current and noise are further analyzed in terms of Wigner functions, which help to distinguish different transport regimes (in particular......, shuttling versus cotunneling). In the case of weak interdot coupling, the electron transport proceeds via sequential tunneling between neighboring dots. A simple rate equation with the rates calculated analytically from the P(E) theory is developed and shown to agree with the full numerics....

77 FR 44571 - Rate Regulation Reforms

Science.gov (United States)

2012-07-30

... current T-bill rate to the U.S. Prime Rate, as published in The Wall Street Journal. Additional... ``exponential'' approach, the total cumulative reparations payment (including interest) is calculated by...

Intracellular responses to frequency modulated tones in the dorsal cortex of the mouse inferior colliculus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruediger eGeis

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Frequency modulations occur in many natural sounds, including vocalizations. The neuronal response to frequency modulated (FM stimuli has been studied extensively in different brain areas, with an emphasis on the auditory cortex and the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus. Here, we measured the responses to FM sweeps in whole-cell recordings from neurons in the dorsal cortex of the mouse inferior colliculus. Both up- and downward logarithmic FM sweeps were presented at two different speeds to both the ipsi- and the contralateral ear. Based on the number of action potentials that were fired, between 10-24% of cells were selective for rate or direction of the FM sweeps. A somewhat lower percentage of cells, 6-21%, showed selectivity based on EPSP size. To study the mechanisms underlying the generation of FM selectivity, we compared FM responses with responses to simple tones in the same cells. We found that if pairs of neurons responded in a similar way to simple tones, they generally also responded in a similar way to FM sweeps. Further evidence that FM selectivity can be generated within the dorsal cortex was obtained by reconstructing FM sweeps from the response to simple tones using three different models. In about half of the direction selective neurons the selectivity was generated by spectrally asymmetric synaptic inhibition. In addition, evidence for direction selectivity based on the timing of excitatory responses was also obtained in some cells. No clear evidence for the local generation of rate selectivity was obtained. We conclude that FM direction selectivity can be generated within the dorsal cortex of the mouse inferior colliculus by multiple mechanisms.

Toward enhanced hydrogen generation from water using oxygen permeating LCF membranes

KAUST Repository

Wu, Xiao-Yu; Chang, Le; Uddi, Mruthunjaya; Kirchen, Patrick; Ghoniem, Ahmed F.

2015-01-01

and flow rates on the feed and sweep sides on the water thermolysis rate and oxygen flux. A single step reaction mechanism is proposed for surface reactions, and three-resistance permeation models are derived. Results show that water thermolysis

The (1+λ) evolutionary algorithm with self-adjusting mutation rate

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Doerr, Benjamin; Witt, Carsten; Gießen, Christian

2017-01-01

We propose a new way to self-adjust the mutation rate in population-based evolutionary algorithms. Roughly speaking, it consists of creating half the offspring with a mutation rate that is twice the current mutation rate and the other half with half the current rate. The mutation rate is then upd......We propose a new way to self-adjust the mutation rate in population-based evolutionary algorithms. Roughly speaking, it consists of creating half the offspring with a mutation rate that is twice the current mutation rate and the other half with half the current rate. The mutation rate...... is then updated to the rate used in that subpopulation which contains the best offspring. We analyze how the (1 + A) evolutionary algorithm with this self-adjusting mutation rate optimizes the OneMax test function. We prove that this dynamic version of the (1 + A) EA finds the optimum in an expected optimization...... time (number of fitness evaluations) of O(nA/log A + n log n). This time is asymptotically smaller than the optimization time of the classic (1 + A) EA. Previous work shows that this performance is best-possible among all A-parallel mutation-based unbiased black-box algorithms. This result shows...

Characterization of plasma current quench during disruptions at HL-2A

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Jinxia; Zhang, Yipo; Dong, Yunbo; HL-2A Team

2017-05-01

The most essential assumptions of physics for the evaluation of electromagnetic forces on the plasma-facing components due to a disruption-induced eddy current are characteristics of plasma current quenches including the current quench rate or its waveforms. The characteristics of plasma current quenches at HL-2A have been analyzed during spontaneous disruptions. Both linear decay and exponential decay are found in the disruptions with the fastest current quenches. However, there are two stages of current quench in the slow current quench case. The first stage with an exponential decay and the second stage followed by a rapid linear decay. The faster current quench rate corresponds to the faster movement of plasma displacement. The parameter regimes on the current quench time and the current quench rates have been obtained from disruption statistics at HL-2A. There exists no remarkable difference for distributions obtained between the limiter and the divertor configuration. This data from HL-2A provides basic data of the derivation of design criteria for a large-sized machine during the current decay phase of the disruptions.

Experimental research on electric field jump in low magnetic fields: Detection of damage in new ex-situ MgB{sub 2} barriers in MgB{sub 2} wires

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gajda, D., E-mail: dangajda@op.pl [International Laboratory of High Magnetic Fields and Low Temperatures, Gajowicka 95, 53-421 Wroclaw (Poland); Morawski, A. [Institute of High Pressure Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Sokolowska 29/37, 01-142 Warszawa (Poland); Zaleski, A. [Institute of Low Temperature and Structure Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, Okólna 2, 50-422 Wroclaw (Poland); Hossain, M.S.A. [Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials, AIIM, University of Wollongong, North Wollongong, NSW 2519 (Australia); Rindfleisch, M. [Hyper Tech Research, Inc, 1275 Kinnear Road, Columbus, OH 43212 (United States); Cetner, T. [Institute of High Pressure Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Sokolowska 29/37, 01-142 Warszawa (Poland)

2015-10-25

We explored the incorporation of field sweep (constant current and rapidly increasing magnetic field) into the four-probe method as a new technique to detect defects in barrier layers in superconducting MgB{sub 2} wires. This method allows us to observe jumps in the electric field in low magnetic fields. The scanning electron microscopy results indicate that such a jump originates from cracks in Nb barriers and ex-situ MgB{sub 2} barriers. Our research indicates that the field sweep allows us to detect damage to barriers that are made of superconducting materials. This method can be the basis for an industrial method for detecting damages in MgB{sub 2} wires. These defects reduce the critical current of MgB{sub 2} wire. Detection and removal of these defects will allow us to produce MgB{sub 2} wires with ex-situ MgB{sub 2} and Nb barriers that will have improved critical current density. Manufacturing of MgB{sub 2} wires with new ex-situ MgB{sub 2} barriers is a new technological concept. This type of barrier is cheaper and easier to manufacture, leading to cheaper MgB{sub 2} wires. Moreover, we show that critical current can be measured by two methods: current sweep (constant magnetic field and quickly increasing current) and field sweep. - Graphical abstract: Our results indicate that the jump electric field low magnetic fields. This jump indicates damage in Nb and ex situ MgB{sub 2} barrier. Detection and removal of defects will increase J{sub c} in MgB{sub 2} wires and will increase the applicability of MgB{sub 2} wire. - Highlights: • Jump electric field in the 1 T indicates damage to the Nb barrier. • Jump resistance at 9 K indicates damage to the Nb barrier. • Jump electric field in low magnetic field indicates damage to ex situ MgB{sub 2} barrier. • Damage Nb and ex situ MgB{sub 2} barrier significantly reduces the critical current density in the MgB{sub 2} wire.