Fuel cycle centers revisited: Consolidation of fuel cycle activities in a few countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kratzer, M.B.

1996-01-01

Despite varied expressions, the general impression remains that the international fuel cycle center concept, whatever its merits, is visionary. It also is quite possibly unattainable in light of strong national pressures toward independence and self-sufficiency in all things nuclear. Is the fuel cycle center an idea that has come and gone? Is it an idea whose time has not yet come? Or is it, as this paper suggests, an idea that has already arrived on the scene, attracting little attention or even acknowledgement of its presence? The difficult in answering this questions arises, in part, from the fact that despite its long and obvious appeal, there has been very little systematic analysis of the concept itself. Such obvious questions as how many and where fuel cycle centers should be located; what characteristics should the hot country or countries possess; and what are the institutional forms or features that endow the concept with enhanced proliferation protection have rarely been seriously and systematically addressed. The title of this paper focuses on limiting the geographic spread of fuel cycle facilities, and some may suggest that doing so does not necessarily call for any type of international or multinational arrangements applicable to those that exist. It is a premise of this paper, however, that a restriction on the number of countries possessing sensitive fuel cycle facilities necessarily involves some degree of multinationalization. This is not only because in every instance a nonproliferation pledge and international or multinational safeguards, or both, will be applied to the facility, but also because a restriction on the number of countries possessing these facilities implies that those in existence will serve a multinational market. This feature in itself is an important form of international auspices. Thus, the two concepts--limitation and multinationalization--if not necessarily one and the same, are at least de facto corollaries

Cycle energy control of magnetorheological dampers on cables

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weber, F; Feltrin, G; Motavalli, M; Distl, H

2009-01-01

The dissipated cycle energy of magnetorheological (MR) dampers operated at constant current results from controllable hysteretic damping and from almost current independent, small viscous damping. Thus, the emulation of Coulomb friction and linear viscous damping necessitates current modulation during one vibration cycle and therefore current drivers. To avoid this drawback, a cycle energy control (CEC) approach is presented which controls the hysteretic MR damper part such that the total MR damper energy equals the energy of optimal linear viscous damping by constant current during one cycle. The excited higher modes due to the hysteretic damping part are partially damped by the MR damper viscous part. Simulations show that CEC copes better with damper force dynamics and constraints than emulated linear viscous damping due to the slow control force dynamics of CEC which are given by cable amplitude dynamics. It is demonstrated that CEC of MR dampers with viscosity of approximately 4.65% of the optimal modal viscosity performs better than optimal linear viscous damping. The reason is that this damper viscosity represents an optimal compromise between maximum energy spillover to higher modes due to the controllable hysteretic part which produces more cable damping and maximum viscous damping of these higher modes. Damping tests on a cable with an MR damper validate the CEC approach

Effects of a Structured Discharge Planning Program on Perceived Functional Status, Cardiac Self-efficacy, Patient Satisfaction, and Unexpected Hospital Revisits Among Filipino Cardiac Patients: A Randomized Controlled Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Cajanding, Ruff Joseph

Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among Filipinos and are responsible for a very large number of hospital readmissions. Comprehensive discharge planning programs have demonstrated positive benefits among various populations of patients with cardiovascular disease, but the clinical and psychosocial effects of such intervention among Filipino patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) have not been studied. In this study we aimed to determine the effectiveness of a nurse-led structured discharge planning program on perceived functional status, cardiac self-efficacy, patient satisfaction, and unexpected hospital revisits among Filipino patients with AMI. A true experimental (randomized control) 2-group design with repeated measures and data collected before and after intervention and at 1-month follow-up was used in this study. Participants were assigned to either the control (n = 68) or the intervention group (n = 75). Intervention participants underwent a 3-day structured discharge planning program implemented by a cardiovascular nurse practitioner, which is comprised of a series of individualized lecture-discussion, provision of feedback, integrative problem solving, goal setting, and action planning. Control participants received standard routine care. Measures of functional status, cardiac self-efficacy, and patient satisfaction were measured at baseline; cardiac self-efficacy and patient satisfaction scores were measured prior to discharge, and perceived functional status and number of revisits were measured 1 month after discharge. Participants in the intervention group had significant improvement in functional status, cardiac self-efficacy, and patient satisfaction scores at baseline and at follow-up compared with the control participants. Furthermore, participants in the intervention group had significantly fewer hospital revisits compared with those who received only standard care. The results demonstrate that a

The heat engine cycle, the heat removal cycle, and ergonomics of the control room displays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beltracchi, L.

1986-01-01

This paper discusses and illustrates the ergonomics of an integrated display, which will allow operators to monitor the heat engine cycle during normal operation of the plant, and the heat removal cycle during emergency operation of the plant. A computer-based iconic display is discussed as an overview to monitor these cycles. Specific emphasis is placed upon the process variables and process functions within each cycle, and the action of control systems and engineered safeguard systems within each cycle. This paper contains examples of display formats for the heat engine cycle and the heat removal cycle in a pressurized water reactor

Configurbanist : Urban Configuration Analysis for Walking and Cycling via Easiest Paths

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nourian Ghadikolaee, P.; Rezvani, S.; Sariyildiz, I.S.; Van der Hoeven, F.D.

In a quest for promoting sustainable modes of mobility, we have revisited how feasible and suitable is it for people to walk or cycle to their destinations in a neighbourhood. We propose a few accessibility measures based on an 'Easiest Path' algorithm that provides also actual temporal distance

The Importance of Being a Complement: CED Effects Revisited

Science.gov (United States)

Jurka, Johannes

2010-01-01

This dissertation revisits subject island effects (Ross 1967, Chomsky 1973) cross-linguistically. Controlled acceptability judgment studies in German, English, Japanese and Serbian show that extraction out of specifiers is consistently degraded compared to extraction out of complements, indicating that the Condition on Extraction domains (CED,…

A Two Dimensional Prediction of Solar Cycle 25

Science.gov (United States)

Munoz-Jaramillo, A.; Martens, P. C.

2017-12-01

To this date solar cycle most cycle predictions have focused on the forecast of solar cycle amplitude and cycle bell-curve shape. However, recent intriguing observational results suggest that all solar cycles follow the same longitudinal path regardless of their amplitude, and have a very similar decay once they reach a sufficient level of maturity. Cast in the light of our current understanding, these results suggest that the toroidal fields inside the Sun are subject to a very high turbulent diffusivity (of the order of magnitude of mixing-length estimates), and their equatorward propagation is driven by a steady meridional flow. Assuming this is the case, we will revisit the relationship between the polar fields at minimum and the amplitude of the next cycle and deliver a new generation of polar-field based predictions that include the depth of the minimum, as well as the latitude and time of the first active regions of solar cycle 25.

Strong hydrological control on nutrient cycling of subtropical rainforests

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, T. C.; Chang, C. T.; Huang, J. C.; Wang, L.; Lin, N. H.

2016-12-01

Forest nutrient cycling is strongly controlled by both biological and hydrological factors. However, based on a close examination of earlier reports, we highlight the role of hydrological control on nutrient cycling at a global scale and is more important at humid tropical and subtropical forests. we analyzed the nutrient budget of precipitation input and stream water output from 1994 to 2013 in a subtropical forest in Taiwan and conducted a data synthesis using results from 32 forests across the globe. The results revealed that monthly input and output of ions were positively correlated with water quantity, indicating hydrological control on nutrient cycling. Hydrological control is also evident from the greater ions export via stream water during the warm and wet growing season. The synthesis also illustrates that strong hydrological control leads to lower nitrogen retention and greater net loss of base cations in humid regions, particularly in the humid tropical and subtropical forests. Our result is of great significance in an era of global climate change because climate change could directly affect ecosystem nutrient cycling particularly in the tropics through changes in patterns of precipitation regime.

Control system options and strategies for supercritical CO2 cycles.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moisseytsev, A.; Kulesza, K. P.; Sienicki, J. J.; Nuclear Engineering Division; Oregon State Univ.

2009-06-18

The Supercritical Carbon Dioxide (S-CO{sub 2}) Brayton Cycle is a promising alternative to Rankine steam cycle and recuperated gas Brayton cycle energy converters for use with Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactors (SFRs), Lead-Cooled Fast Reactors (LFRs), as well as other advanced reactor concepts. The S-CO{sub 2} Brayton Cycle offers higher plant efficiencies than Rankine or recuperated gas Brayton cycles operating at the same liquid metal reactor core outlet temperatures as well as reduced costs or size of key components especially the turbomachinery. A new Plant Dynamics Computer Code has been developed at Argonne National Laboratory for simulation of a S-CO{sub 2} Brayton Cycle energy converter coupled to an autonomous load following liquid metal-cooled fast reactor. The Plant Dynamics code has been applied to investigate the effectiveness of a control strategy for the S-CO{sub 2} Brayton Cycle for the STAR-LM 181 MWe (400 MWt) Lead-Cooled Fast Reactor. The strategy, which involves a combination of control mechanisms, is found to be effective for controlling the S-CO{sub 2} Brayton Cycle over the complete operating range from 0 to 100 % load for a representative set of transient load changes. While the system dynamic analysis of control strategy performance for STARLM is carried out for a S-CO{sub 2} Brayton Cycle energy converter incorporating an axial flow turbine and compressors, investigations of the S-CO{sub 2} Brayton Cycle have identified benefits from the use of centrifugal compressors which offer a wider operating range, greater stability near the critical point, and potentially further cost reductions due to fewer stages than axial flow compressors. Models have been developed at Argonne for the conceptual design and performance analysis of centrifugal compressors for use in the SCO{sub 2} Brayton Cycle. Steady state calculations demonstrate the wider operating range of centrifugal compressors versus axial compressors installed in a S-CO{sub 2} Brayton Cycle as

Control system options and strategies for supercritical CO2 cycles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moisseytsev, A.; Kulesza, K.P.; Sienicki, J.J.

2009-01-01

The Supercritical Carbon Dioxide (S-CO 2 ) Brayton Cycle is a promising alternative to Rankine steam cycle and recuperated gas Brayton cycle energy converters for use with Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactors (SFRs), Lead-Cooled Fast Reactors (LFRs), as well as other advanced reactor concepts. The S-CO 2 Brayton Cycle offers higher plant efficiencies than Rankine or recuperated gas Brayton cycles operating at the same liquid metal reactor core outlet temperatures as well as reduced costs or size of key components especially the turbomachinery. A new Plant Dynamics Computer Code has been developed at Argonne National Laboratory for simulation of a S-CO 2 Brayton Cycle energy converter coupled to an autonomous load following liquid metal-cooled fast reactor. The Plant Dynamics code has been applied to investigate the effectiveness of a control strategy for the S-CO 2 Brayton Cycle for the STAR-LM 181 MWe (400 MWt) Lead-Cooled Fast Reactor. The strategy, which involves a combination of control mechanisms, is found to be effective for controlling the S-CO 2 Brayton Cycle over the complete operating range from 0 to 100 % load for a representative set of transient load changes. While the system dynamic analysis of control strategy performance for STARLM is carried out for a S-CO 2 Brayton Cycle energy converter incorporating an axial flow turbine and compressors, investigations of the S-CO 2 Brayton Cycle have identified benefits from the use of centrifugal compressors which offer a wider operating range, greater stability near the critical point, and potentially further cost reductions due to fewer stages than axial flow compressors. Models have been developed at Argonne for the conceptual design and performance analysis of centrifugal compressors for use in the SCO 2 Brayton Cycle. Steady state calculations demonstrate the wider operating range of centrifugal compressors versus axial compressors installed in a S-CO 2 Brayton Cycle as well as the benefits in expanding the range

Plutonium fuel cycles in the spectral shift controlled reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sider, F.M.; Matzie, R.A.

1980-01-01

The spectral shift controlled reactor (SSCR) controls excess core reactivity during an operating cycle through the use of variable heavy water concentrations in the moderator. With heavy water in the coolant, the neutron spectrum is shifted to higher energy levels, thus increasing fertile conversion. In addition, since heavy water obviates the need for soluble boron, neutron losses to control poison are eliminated. As a result, better resource utilization is obtained in the SSCR employing plutonium fuel cycles compared to similarly fueled pressurized water reactors (PWRs). The SSCR, however, is not competitive with the PWR due to higher capital costs, operation and maintenance costs, and the heavy water costs, which outweigh the fuel cycle cost savings. The SSCR may become an attractive alternative to the PWR if uranium prices increase substantially

Architecture and inherent robustness of a bacterial cell-cycle control system.

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Xiling; Collier, Justine; Dill, David; Shapiro, Lucy; Horowitz, Mark; McAdams, Harley H

2008-08-12

A closed-loop control system drives progression of the coupled stalked and swarmer cell cycles of the bacterium Caulobacter crescentus in a near-mechanical step-like fashion. The cell-cycle control has a cyclical genetic circuit composed of four regulatory proteins with tight coupling to processive chromosome replication and cell division subsystems. We report a hybrid simulation of the coupled cell-cycle control system, including asymmetric cell division and responses to external starvation signals, that replicates mRNA and protein concentration patterns and is consistent with observed mutant phenotypes. An asynchronous sequential digital circuit model equivalent to the validated simulation model was created. Formal model-checking analysis of the digital circuit showed that the cell-cycle control is robust to intrinsic stochastic variations in reaction rates and nutrient supply, and that it reliably stops and restarts to accommodate nutrient starvation. Model checking also showed that mechanisms involving methylation-state changes in regulatory promoter regions during DNA replication increase the robustness of the cell-cycle control. The hybrid cell-cycle simulation implementation is inherently extensible and provides a promising approach for development of whole-cell behavioral models that can replicate the observed functionality of the cell and its responses to changing environmental conditions.

Lakatos Revisited.

Science.gov (United States)

Court, Deborah

1999-01-01

Revisits and reviews Imre Lakatos' ideas on "Falsification and the Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes." Suggests that Lakatos' framework offers an insightful way of looking at the relationship between theory and research that is relevant not only for evaluating research programs in theoretical physics, but in the social…

Configurbanist : Easiest paths, fuzzy accessibility, and network centrality for walking and cycling in cities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nourian Ghadikolaee, P.; Rezvani, S.; Sariyildiz, I.S.; Van der Hoeven, F.D.

2015-01-01

In a quest for promoting sustainable modes of mobility, we have revisited how feasible and suitable is it for people to walk or cycle to their destinations in a neighbourhood. We propose a few accessibility measures based on an 'Easiest Path' algorithm that provides also actual temporal distance

The control system of the ecological hybrid two stages refrigerating cycle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cyklis Piotr

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The compression anticlockwise cycle is mostly used for refrigeration. However due to the environmental regulations, the use of classic refrigerants: F-gases is limited by international agreements. Therefore the combined compression-adsorption hybrid cycle with natural liquids: water/carbon dioxide working as the energy carriers is a promising solution. This allows to utilize the solar or waste energy for the refrigeration purpose. In this paper application of the solar collectors as the energy source for the adsorption cycle, coupled with the low temperature (LT refrigerating carbon dioxide compression cycle is shown. The control of the system is an essential issue to reduce the electric power consumption. The control of the solar heat supply and water sprayed cooling tower, for the adsorption cycle re-cooling, is presented in this paper. The designed control system and algorithm is related to the LT compression cycle, which operates according to the need of cold for the refrigeration chamber. The results of the laboratory investigations of the full system, showing the reduction of the energy consumption and maximum utilization of the solar heat for different control methods are presented.

Short or Long End of the Lever? Associations between Provider Communication of the "Asthma-Action Plan" and Outpatient Revisits for Pediatric Asthma.

Science.gov (United States)

Rangachari, Pavani; Mehta, Renuka; Rethemeyer, R Karl; Ferrang, Carole; Dennis, Clifton; Redd, Vickie

2015-10-01

At the Children's Hospital of Georgia (CHOG), we found that outpatient revisits for pediatric asthma were significantly above national norms. According to the NIH, costly hospital revisits for asthma can be prevented through guidelines-based self-management of asthma, central to which, is the use of a written Asthma-Action Plan (AAP). The asthma services literature has emphasized the role of the healthcare provider in promoting asthma self-management using the AAP, to prevent hospital revisits. On the other hand, the asthma policy literature has emphasized the need for community-based interventions to promote asthma self-management. A gap remains in understanding the extent of leverage that healthcare providers may have in preventing hospital revisits for asthma, through effective communication of AAP in the outpatient setting. Our study sought to address this gap. We conducted a 6-month intervention to implement "patient-and-family-centered communication of the AAP" in CHOG outpatient clinics, based on the "change-management" theoretical framework. Provider communication of AAP was assessed through a survey of "Parent Understanding of the Child's AAP." A quasi-experimental approach was used to measure outpatient revisits for pediatric asthma, pre- and post-intervention. Survey results showed that provider communication of the AAP was unanimously perceived highly positively by parents of pediatric asthma patients, across various metrics of patient-centered care. However, there were no statistically significant differences in outpatient "revisit behavior" for pediatric asthma between pre- and post-intervention periods after controlling for several demographic variables. Additionally, revisits remained significantly above national norms. Results suggest limited potential of "effective provider communication of AAP," in reducing outpatient revisits for pediatric asthma; and indicate need for broader community-based interventions to address patient life variables

Oxidative phosphorylation revisited

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nath, Sunil; Villadsen, John

2015-01-01

The fundamentals of oxidative phosphorylation and photophosphorylation are revisited. New experimental data on the involvement of succinate and malate anions respectively in oxidative phosphorylation and photophosphorylation are presented. These new data offer a novel molecular mechanistic...

Hospital revisit rate after a diagnosis of conversion disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Merkler, Alexander E; Parikh, Neal S; Chaudhry, Simriti; Chait, Alanna; Allen, Nicole C; Navi, Babak B; Kamel, Hooman

2016-04-01

To estimate the hospital revisit rate of patients diagnosed with conversion disorder (CD). Using administrative data, we identified all patients discharged from California, Florida and New York emergency departments (EDs) and acute care hospitals between 2005 and 2011 with a primary discharge diagnosis of CD. Patients discharged with a primary diagnosis of seizure or transient global amnesia (TGA) served as control groups. Our primary outcome was the rate of repeat ED visits and hospital admissions after initial presentation. Poisson regression was used to compare rates between diagnosis groups while adjusting for demographic characteristics. We identified 7946 patients discharged with a primary diagnosis of CD. During a mean follow-up of 3.0 (±1.6) years, patients with CD had a median of three (IQR, 1-9) ED or inpatient revisits, compared with 0 (IQR, 0-2) in patients with TGA and 3 (IQR, 1-7) in those with seizures. Revisit rates were 18.25 (95% CI, 18.10 to 18.40) visits per 100 patients per month in those with CD, 3.90 (95% CI, 3.84 to 3.95) in those with TGA and 17.78 (95% CI, 17.75 to 17.81) in those with seizures. As compared to CD, the incidence rate ratio for repeat ED visits or hospitalisations was 0.89 (95% CI, 0.86 to 0.93) for seizure disorder and 0.32 (95% CI 0.31 to 0.34) for TGA. CD is associated with a substantial hospital revisit rate. Our findings suggest that CD is not an acute, time-limited response to stress, but rather that CD is a manifestation of a broader pattern of chronic neuropsychiatric disease. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Calcium constrains plant control over forest ecosystem nitrogen cycling.

Science.gov (United States)

Groffman, Peter M; Fisk, Melany C

2011-11-01

Forest ecosystem nitrogen (N) cycling is a critical controller of the ability of forests to prevent the movement of reactive N to receiving waters and the atmosphere and to sequester elevated levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). Here we show that calcium (Ca) constrains the ability of northern hardwood forest trees to control the availability and loss of nitrogen. We evaluated soil N-cycling response to Ca additions in the presence and absence of plants and observed that when plants were present, Ca additions "tightened" the ecosystem N cycle, with decreases in inorganic N levels, potential net N mineralization rates, microbial biomass N content, and denitrification potential. In the absence of plants, Ca additions induced marked increases in nitrification (the key process controlling ecosystem N losses) and inorganic N levels. The observed "tightening" of the N cycle when Ca was added in the presence of plants suggests that the capacity of forests to absorb elevated levels of atmospheric N and CO2 is fundamentally constrained by base cations, which have been depleted in many areas of the globe by acid rain and forest harvesting.

Characterizing Observed Limit Cycles in the Cassini Main Engine Guidance Control System

Science.gov (United States)

Rizvi, Farheen; Weitl, Raquel M.

2011-01-01

The Cassini spacecraft dynamics-related telemetry during long Main Engine (ME) burns has indicated the presence of stable limit cycles between 0.03-0.04 Hz frequencies. These stable limit cycles cause the spacecraft to possess non-zero oscillating rates for extended periods of time. This indicates that the linear ME guidance control system does not model the complete dynamics of the spacecraft. In this study, we propose that the observed limit cycles in the spacecraft dynamics telemetry appear from a stable interaction between the unmodeled nonlinear elements in the ME guidance control system. Many nonlinearities in the control system emerge from translating the linear engine gimbal actuator (EGA) motion into a spacecraft rotation. One such nonlinearity comes from the gear backlash in the EGA system, which is the focus of this paper. The limit cycle characteristics and behavior can be predicted by modeling this gear backlash nonlinear element via a describing function and studying the interaction of this describing function with the overall dynamics of the spacecraft. The linear ME guidance controller and gear backlash nonlinearity are modeled analytically. The frequency, magnitude, and nature of the limit cycle are obtained from the frequency response of the ME guidance controller and nonlinear element. In addition, the ME guidance controller along with the nonlinearity is simulated. The simulation response contains a limit cycle with similar characterstics as predicted analytically: 0.03-0.04 Hz frequency and stable, sustained oscillations. The analytical and simulated limit cycle responses are compared to the flight telemetry for long burns such as the Saturn Orbit Insertion and Main Engine Orbit Trim Maneuvers. The analytical and simulated limit cycle characteristics compare well with the actual observed limit cycles in the flight telemetry. Both have frequencies between 0.03-0.04 Hz and stable oscillations. This work shows that the stable limit cycles occur

Short or Long End of the Lever? Associations between Provider Communication of the “Asthma-Action Plan” and Outpatient Revisits for Pediatric Asthma

Science.gov (United States)

Rangachari, Pavani; Mehta, Renuka; Rethemeyer, R. Karl; Ferrang, Carole; Dennis, Clifton; Redd, Vickie

2017-01-01

Background At the Children’s Hospital of Georgia (CHOG), we found that outpatient revisits for pediatric asthma were significantly above national norms. According to the NIH, costly hospital revisits for asthma can be prevented through guidelines-based self-management of asthma, central to which, is the use of a written Asthma-Action Plan (AAP). Purpose The asthma services literature has emphasized the role of the healthcare provider in promoting asthma self-management using the AAP, to prevent hospital revisits. On the other hand, the asthma policy literature has emphasized the need for community-based interventions to promote asthma self-management. A gap remains in understanding the extent of leverage that healthcare providers may have in preventing hospital revisits for asthma, through effective communication of AAP in the outpatient setting. Our study sought to address this gap. Methods We conducted a 6-month intervention to implement “patient-and-family-centered communication of the AAP” in CHOG outpatient clinics, based on the “change-management” theoretical framework. Provider communication of AAP was assessed through a survey of “Parent Understanding of the Child’s AAP.” A quasi-experimental approach was used to measure outpatient revisits for pediatric asthma, pre- and post-intervention. Results Survey results showed that provider communication of the AAP was unanimously perceived highly positively by parents of pediatric asthma patients, across various metrics of patient-centered care. However, there were no statistically significant differences in outpatient “revisit behavior” for pediatric asthma between pre- and post-intervention periods after controlling for several demographic variables. Additionally, revisits remained significantly above national norms. Conclusions Results suggest limited potential of “effective provider communication of AAP,” in reducing outpatient revisits for pediatric asthma; and indicate need for

Neuromuscular control and running economy is preserved in elite international triathletes after cycling.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonacci, Jason; Saunders, Philo U; Alexander, Mark; Blanch, Peter; Vicenzino, Bill

2011-03-01

Running is the most important discipline for Olympic triathlon success. However, cycling impairs running muscle recruitment and performance in some highly trained triathletes; though it is not known if this occurs in elite international triathletes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of cycling in two different protocols on running economy and neuromuscular control in elite international triathletes. Muscle recruitment and sagittal plane joint angles of the left lower extremity and running economy were compared between control (no preceding cycle) and transition (preceded by cycling) runs for two different cycle protocols (20-minute low-intensity and 50-minute high-intensity cycles) in seven elite international triathletes. Muscle recruitment and joint angles were not different between control and transition runs for either cycle protocols. Running economy was also not different between control and transition runs for the low-intensity (62.4 +/- 4.5 vs. 62.1 +/- 4.0 ml/min/kg, p > 0.05) and high-intensity (63.4 +/- 3.5 vs. 63.3 +/- 4.3 ml/min/kg, p > 0.05) cycle protocols. The results of this study demonstrate that both low- and high-intensity cycles do not adversely influence neuromuscular control and running economy in elite international triathletes.

Absorption Cycle Heat Pump Model for Control Design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vinther, Kasper; Just Nielsen, Rene; Nielsen, Kirsten Mølgaard

2015-01-01

Heat pumps have recently received increasing interest due to green energy initiatives and increasing energy prices. In this paper, a nonlinear dynamic model of a single-effect LiBr-water absorption cycle heat pump is derived for simulation and control design purposes. The model is based on an act......Heat pumps have recently received increasing interest due to green energy initiatives and increasing energy prices. In this paper, a nonlinear dynamic model of a single-effect LiBr-water absorption cycle heat pump is derived for simulation and control design purposes. The model is based...... to operational data and different scenarios are simulated to investigate the operational stability of the heat pump. Finally, this paper provides suggestions and examples of derivation of lower order linear models for control design. © Copyright IEEE - All rights reserved....

Neuromuscular Control and Coordination during Cycling

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Li

2004-01-01

The neuromuscular control aspect of cycling has been investigated through the effects of modifying posture and cadence. These studies show that changing posture has a more profound influence on neuromuscular coordination than does changing slope. Most of the changes with standing posture occur late in the downstroke: increased ankle and knee joint…

Tune-control improvements on the rapid-cycling synchrotron

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Potts, C.; Faber, M.; Gunderson, G.; Knott, M.; Voss, D.

1981-01-01

The as-built lattice of the Rapid-Cycling Synchrotron (RCS) had two sets of correction sextupoles and two sets of quadrupoles energized by dc power supplies to control the tune and the tune tilt. With this method of powering these magnets, adjustment of tune conditions during the accelerating cycle as needed was not possible. A set of dynamically programmable power supplies has been built and operated to provide the required chromaticity adjustment. The short accelerating time (16.7 ms) of the RCS and the inductance of the magnets dictated large transistor amplifier power supplies. The required time resolution and waveform flexibility indicated the desirability of computer control. Both the amplifiers and controls are described, along with resulting improvements in the beam performance. A set of octupole magnets and programmable power supplies with similar dynamic qualities have been constructed and installed to control the anticipated high-intensity transverse instability. This system will be operational in the spring of 1981

Cell cycle control by a minimal Cdk network.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claude Gérard

2015-02-01

Full Text Available In present-day eukaryotes, the cell division cycle is controlled by a complex network of interacting proteins, including members of the cyclin and cyclin-dependent protein kinase (Cdk families, and the Anaphase Promoting Complex (APC. Successful progression through the cell cycle depends on precise, temporally ordered regulation of the functions of these proteins. In light of this complexity, it is surprising that in fission yeast, a minimal Cdk network consisting of a single cyclin-Cdk fusion protein can control DNA synthesis and mitosis in a manner that is indistinguishable from wild type. To improve our understanding of the cell cycle regulatory network, we built and analysed a mathematical model of the molecular interactions controlling the G1/S and G2/M transitions in these minimal cells. The model accounts for all observed properties of yeast strains operating with the fusion protein. Importantly, coupling the model's predictions with experimental analysis of alternative minimal cells, we uncover an explanation for the unexpected fact that elimination of inhibitory phosphorylation of Cdk is benign in these strains while it strongly affects normal cells. Furthermore, in the strain without inhibitory phosphorylation of the fusion protein, the distribution of cell size at division is unusually broad, an observation that is accounted for by stochastic simulations of the model. Our approach provides novel insights into the organization and quantitative regulation of wild type cell cycle progression. In particular, it leads us to propose a new mechanistic model for the phenomenon of mitotic catastrophe, relying on a combination of unregulated, multi-cyclin-dependent Cdk activities.

Finding shortest non-trivial cycles in directed graphs on surfaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergio Cabello

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Let $D$ be a weighted directed graph cellularly embedded in a surface of genus $g$, orientable or not, possibly with boundary.  We describe algorithms to compute shortest non-contractible and shortest surface non-separating cycles in $D$, generalizing previous results that dealt with undirected graphs.Our first algorithm computes such cycles in $O(n^2\\log n$ time, where $n$ is the total number of vertices and edges of $D$, thus matching the complexity of the best general algorithm in the undirected case.  It revisits and extends Thomassen's 3-path condition; the technique applies to other families of cycles as well.We also provide more efficient algorithms in special cases, such as graphs with small genus or bounded treewidth, using a divide-and-conquer technique that simplifies the graph while preserving the topological properties of its cycles.  Finally, we give an efficient output-sensitive algorithm, whose running time depends on the length of the shortest non-contractible or non-separating cycle.

Control system to a Rankine cycle with a Tesla turbine using arduino

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Medeiros, Josenei G.; Guimaraes, Lamartine F.; Placco, Guilherme M.

2013-01-01

The thermal Rankine cycle is a thermodynamic cycle which converts heat in energy. This cycle occurs in steady state, in other words the cycle is a closed loop circuit with continuous feedback, which guarantees the reuse process one energy transformed in the various stages of the cycle. This cycle is used to drive a turbine type TESLA designed for the system. The objective of this work is to create the control and automation of this cycle using an micro-controlled system with Arduino that will hold the collection of sensors and the system will act to maintain the balance of the cycle causing it to behave continuously and with less interference from human operation for maintenance. Data will be collected and further processed, where it will display all the sensors and the situation of the actuators involved. Using Arduino system ensures the stability and reliability with a low cost of implementation

Control system to a Rankine cycle with a Tesla turbine using arduino

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Medeiros, Josenei G., E-mail: joseneigodoi@yahoo.com.br [Faculdade de Tecnologia Sao Francisco (FATESF), Jacarei, SP (Brazil); Guimaraes, Lamartine F.; Placco, Guilherme M., E-mail: guimarae@ieav.cta.br, E-mail: placco@ieav.cta.br [Instituto de Estudos Avancados (ENU/IEAv/DCTA), Sao Jose dos Campos, SP (Brazil). Departamento de Energia Nuclear

2013-07-01

The thermal Rankine cycle is a thermodynamic cycle which converts heat in energy. This cycle occurs in steady state, in other words the cycle is a closed loop circuit with continuous feedback, which guarantees the reuse process one energy transformed in the various stages of the cycle. This cycle is used to drive a turbine type TESLA designed for the system. The objective of this work is to create the control and automation of this cycle using an micro-controlled system with Arduino that will hold the collection of sensors and the system will act to maintain the balance of the cycle causing it to behave continuously and with less interference from human operation for maintenance. Data will be collected and further processed, where it will display all the sensors and the situation of the actuators involved. Using Arduino system ensures the stability and reliability with a low cost of implementation.

Revisiting Okun's Relationship

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dixon, R.; Lim, G.C.; van Ours, Jan

2016-01-01

Our paper revisits Okun's relationship between observed unemployment rates and output gaps. We include in the relationship the effect of labour market institutions as well as age and gender effects. Our empirical analysis is based on 20 OECD countries over the period 1985-2013. We find that the

Effect of endometrial biopsy on intrauterine insemination outcome in controlled ovarian stimulation cycle.

Science.gov (United States)

Wadhwa, Leena; Pritam, Amrita; Gupta, Taru; Gupta, Sangeeta; Arora, Sarika; Chandoke, Rajkumar

2015-01-01

The objective was to evaluate the effect of endometrial biopsy (EB) on intrauterine insemination (IUI) outcome in controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) cycle. Prospective randomized control study. Tertiary care center. A total of 251 subjects were enrolled in the study. Subjects undergoing COS with IUI were randomly allocated into three groups. Group A: EB was taken between D19 and 24 of the spontaneous menstrual cycles that precedes the fertility treatment and IUI, which was done in next cycle (n = 86). Group B: EB was taken before D6 of the menstrual cycle, and fertility treatment and IUI was done in the same cycle (n = 90). Group C: (control group) no EB in previous 3 cycle (n = 75). Clinical pregnancy rate (CPR). Clinical pregnancy rate was 19.77%, 31.11%, and 9.3% for Group A, Group B, and Group C, respectively. The results show a highly significant value for the paired t-test of intervention Group B and control Group C of the cases (P = 0.000957). CPR was maximum after first cycle of ovulation induction and IUI following EB scratch in both Groups A and in Group B (P Endometrial biopsy done in early follicular phase in the same cycle of stimulation with IUI gives better CPR as compared with EB done in the luteal phase of the previous cycle.

Fuel cycle and quality control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stoll, W.

1979-01-01

The volume of the fuel cycle is described in its economic importance and its through put, as it is envisaged for the Federal Republic of Germany. Definitions are given for quality continuing usefulness of an object and translated into quality criteria. Requirements on performance of fuel elements are defined. The way in which experimental results are translated into mass production of fuel rods, is described. The economic potential for further quality effort is derived. Future ways of development for quality control organisation and structure are outlined. (Auth.)

Control points within the cell cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van't Hof, J.

1984-01-01

Evidence of the temporal order of chromosomal DNA replication argues favorably for the view that the cell cycle is controlled by genes acting in sequence whose time of expression is determined by mitosis and the amount of nuclear DNA (2C vs 4C) in the cell. Gl and G2 appear to be carbohydrate dependent in that cells starved of either carbohydrate of phosphate fail to make these transitions. Cells deprived of nitrate, however, fail only at Gl to S transition indicating that the controls that operate in G1 differ from those that operate in G2. 46 references, 5 figures

Analytical Model for LLC Resonant Converter With Variable Duty-Cycle Control

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shen, Yanfeng; Wang, Huai; Blaabjerg, Frede

2016-01-01

are identified and discussed. The proposed model enables a better understanding of the operation characteristics and fast parameter design of the LLC converter, which otherwise cannot be achieved by the existing simulation based methods and numerical models. The results obtained from the proposed model......In LLC resonant converters, the variable duty-cycle control is usually combined with a variable frequency control to widen the gain range, improve the light-load efficiency, or suppress the inrush current during start-up. However, a proper analytical model for the variable duty-cycle controlled LLC...... converter is still not available due to the complexity of operation modes and the nonlinearity of steady-state equations. This paper makes the efforts to develop an analytical model for the LLC converter with variable duty-cycle control. All possible operation models and critical operation characteristics...

Variable cycle control model for intersection based on multi-source information

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Zhi-Yuan; Li, Yue; Qu, Wen-Cong; Chen, Yan-Yan

2018-05-01

In order to improve the efficiency of traffic control system in the era of big data, a new variable cycle control model based on multi-source information is presented for intersection in this paper. Firstly, with consideration of multi-source information, a unified framework based on cyber-physical system is proposed. Secondly, taking into account the variable length of cell, hysteresis phenomenon of traffic flow and the characteristics of lane group, a Lane group-based Cell Transmission Model is established to describe the physical properties of traffic flow under different traffic signal control schemes. Thirdly, the variable cycle control problem is abstracted into a bi-level programming model. The upper level model is put forward for cycle length optimization considering traffic capacity and delay. The lower level model is a dynamic signal control decision model based on fairness analysis. Then, a Hybrid Intelligent Optimization Algorithm is raised to solve the proposed model. Finally, a case study shows the efficiency and applicability of the proposed model and algorithm.

Tourists' perceptions and intention to revisit Norway

OpenAIRE

Lazar, Ana Florina; Komolikova-Blindheim, Galyna

2016-01-01

Purpose - The overall purpose of this study is to explore tourists' perceptions and their intention to revisit Norway. The aim is to find out what are the factors that drive the overall satisfaction, the willingness to recommend and the revisit intention of international tourists that spend their holiday in Norway. Design-Method-Approach - the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen 1991), is used as a framework to investigate tourists' intention and behavior towards Norway as destination. The o...

DMPD: CSF-1 and cell cycle control in macrophages. [Dynamic Macrophage Pathway CSML Database

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available 8981359 CSF-1 and cell cycle control in macrophages. Hamilton JA. Mol Reprod Dev. 1...997 Jan;46(1):19-23. (.png) (.svg) (.html) (.csml) Show CSF-1 and cell cycle control in macrophages. PubmedI...D 8981359 Title CSF-1 and cell cycle control in macrophages. Authors Hamilton JA. Publication Mol Reprod Dev

Effect of endometrial biopsy on intrauterine insemination outcome in controlled ovarian stimulation cycle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leena Wadhwa

2015-01-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: The objective was to evaluate the effect of endometrial biopsy (EB on intrauterine insemination (IUI outcome in controlled ovarian stimulation (COS cycle. DESIGN: Prospective randomized control study. SETTING: Tertiary care center. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 251 subjects were enrolled in the study. Subjects undergoing COS with IUI were randomly allocated into three groups. Group A: EB was taken between D19 and 24 of the spontaneous menstrual cycles that precedes the fertility treatment and IUI, which was done in next cycle (n = 86. Group B: EB was taken before D6 of the menstrual cycle, and fertility treatment and IUI was done in the same cycle (n = 90. Group C: (control group no EB in previous 3 cycle (n = 75. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Clinical pregnancy rate (CPR. RESULTS: Clinical pregnancy rate was 19.77%, 31.11%, and 9.3% for Group A, Group B, and Group C, respectively. The results show a highly significant value for the paired t-test of intervention Group B and control Group C of the cases (P = 0.000957. CPR was maximum afterfirst cycle of ovulation induction and IUI following EB scratch in both Groups A and in Group B (P < 0.001. CONCLUSIONS: Endometrial biopsy done in early follicular phase in the same cycle of stimulation with IUI gives better CPR as compared with EB done in the luteal phase of the previous cycle.

Temporal controls of the asymmetric cell division cycle in Caulobacter crescentus.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shenghua Li

2009-08-01

Full Text Available The asymmetric cell division cycle of Caulobacter crescentus is orchestrated by an elaborate gene-protein regulatory network, centered on three major control proteins, DnaA, GcrA and CtrA. The regulatory network is cast into a quantitative computational model to investigate in a systematic fashion how these three proteins control the relevant genetic, biochemical and physiological properties of proliferating bacteria. Different controls for both swarmer and stalked cell cycles are represented in the mathematical scheme. The model is validated against observed phenotypes of wild-type cells and relevant mutants, and it predicts the phenotypes of novel mutants and of known mutants under novel experimental conditions. Because the cell cycle control proteins of Caulobacter are conserved across many species of alpha-proteobacteria, the model we are proposing here may be applicable to other genera of importance to agriculture and medicine (e.g., Rhizobium, Brucella.

Temporal controls of the asymmetric cell division cycle in Caulobacter crescentus.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Shenghua; Brazhnik, Paul; Sobral, Bruno; Tyson, John J

2009-08-01

The asymmetric cell division cycle of Caulobacter crescentus is orchestrated by an elaborate gene-protein regulatory network, centered on three major control proteins, DnaA, GcrA and CtrA. The regulatory network is cast into a quantitative computational model to investigate in a systematic fashion how these three proteins control the relevant genetic, biochemical and physiological properties of proliferating bacteria. Different controls for both swarmer and stalked cell cycles are represented in the mathematical scheme. The model is validated against observed phenotypes of wild-type cells and relevant mutants, and it predicts the phenotypes of novel mutants and of known mutants under novel experimental conditions. Because the cell cycle control proteins of Caulobacter are conserved across many species of alpha-proteobacteria, the model we are proposing here may be applicable to other genera of importance to agriculture and medicine (e.g., Rhizobium, Brucella).

Predictors and Outcomes of Revisits in Older Adults Discharged from the Emergency Department.

Science.gov (United States)

de Gelder, Jelle; Lucke, Jacinta A; de Groot, Bas; Fogteloo, Anne J; Anten, Sander; Heringhaus, Christian; Dekkers, Olaf M; Blauw, Gerard J; Mooijaart, Simon P

2018-04-01

To study predictors of emergency department (ED) revisits and the association between ED revisits and 90-day functional decline or mortality. Multicenter cohort study. One academic and two regional Dutch hospitals. Older adults discharged from the ED (N=1,093). At baseline, data on demographic characteristics, illness severity, and geriatric parameters (cognition, functional capacity) were collected. All participants were prospectively followed for an unplanned revisit within 30 days and for functional decline and mortality 90 days after the initial visit. The median age was 79 (interquartile range 74-84), and 114 participants (10.4%) had an ED revisit within 30 days of discharge. Age (hazard ratio (HR)=0.96, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.92-0.99), male sex (HR=1.61, 95% CI=1.05-2.45), polypharmacy (HR=2.06, 95% CI=1.34-3.16), and cognitive impairment (HR=1.71, 95% CI=1.02-2.88) were independent predictors of a 30-day ED revisit. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve to predict an ED revisit was 0.65 (95% CI=0.60-0.70). In a propensity score-matched analysis, individuals with an ED revisit were at higher risk (odds ratio=1.99 95% CI=1.06-3.71) of functional decline or mortality. Age, male sex, polypharmacy, and cognitive impairment were independent predictors of a 30-day ED revisit, but no useful clinical prediction model could be developed. However, an early ED revisit is a strong new predictor of adverse outcomes in older adults. © 2018 The Authors. The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The American Geriatrics Society.

Non-MTC gait cycles: An adaptive toe trajectory control strategy in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Santhiranayagam, Braveena K; Sparrow, W A; Lai, Daniel T H; Begg, Rezaul K

2017-03-01

Minimum-toe-clearance (MTC) above the walking surface is a critical representation of toe-trajectory control due to its association with tripping risk. Not all gait cycles exhibit a clearly defined MTC within the swing phase but there have been few previous accounts of the biomechanical characteristics of non-MTC gait cycles. The present report investigated the within-subject non-MTC gait cycle characteristics of 15 older adults (mean 73.1 years) and 15 young controls (mean 26.1 years). Participants performed the following tasks on a motorized treadmill: preferred speed walking, dual task walking (carrying a glass of water) and a dual-task speed-matched control. Toe position-time coordinates were acquired using a 3 dimensional motion capture system. When MTC was present, toe height at MTC (MTC height ) was extracted. The proportion of non-MTC gait cycles was computed for the age groups and individuals. For non-MTC gait cycles an 'indicative' toe height at the individual's average swing phase time (MTC time ) for observed MTC cycles was averaged across multiple non-MTC gait cycles. In preferred-speed walking Young demonstrated 2.9% non-MTC gait cycles and Older 18.7%. In constrained walking conditions both groups increased non-MTC gait cycles and some older adults revealed over 90%, confirming non-MTC gait cycles as an ageing-related phenomenon in lower limb trajectory control. For all participants median indicative toe-height on non-MTC gait cycles was greater than median MTC height . This result suggests that eliminating the biomechanically hazardous MTC event by adopting more of the higher-clearance non-MTC gait cycles, is adaptive in reducing the likelihood of toe-ground contact. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sensemaking Revisited

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holt, Robin; Cornelissen, Joep

2014-01-01

We critique and extend theory on organizational sensemaking around three themes. First, we investigate sense arising non-productively and so beyond any instrumental relationship with things; second, we consider how sense is experienced through mood as well as our cognitive skills of manipulation ...... research by revisiting Weick’s seminal reading of Norman Maclean’s book surrounding the tragic events of a 1949 forest fire at Mann Gulch, USA....

Material control and accountability in nuclear fuel cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rumyantsev, A.N.

2006-01-01

It is proposed to unify the complexes, used in the systems for control and accountability of nuclear materials, and to use the successful experience of developing these complexes. It is shown that the problem of control, accountability and physical protection may by achieved by using the developed complex Probabilistic expert-advising system, permitting to analyse the safety in nuclear fuel cycles [ru

Effects of the Menstrual Cycle and Oral Contraception on Singers' Pitch Control

Science.gov (United States)

La, Filipa M. B.; Sundberg, Johan; Howard, David M.; Sa-Couto, Pedro; Freitas, Adelaide

2012-01-01

Purpose: Difficulties with intonation and vibrato control during the menstrual cycle have been reported by singers; however, this phenomenon has not yet been systematically investigated. Method: A double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial assessing effects of the menstrual cycle and use of a combined oral contraceptive pill (OCP) on pitch…

Revisiting valuation practices throughout the business cycle: some symmetry is needed.

OpenAIRE

Caruana, J.; Pazarbasioglu, C.

2008-01-01

The current crisis exposed weaknesses in the application of accounting standards and gaps associated with the valuation of financial products. During the upturn, the revaluation of assets, build-up of off-balance sheet claims, and booking of unrealised gains obscured risk exposures taken by financial institutions. But as we have learned, when the cycles turn, the downward trends and uncertainties in the value of assets may lead to negative dynamics that may exaggerate the trough of the cycle....

Control rod studies for alternative fuel cycles in the GA 1160 MW(e) high temperature reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Neef, H. J.

1975-06-15

The control system, which is investigated in this paper for both the low enriched uranium high enriched uranium/thorium fuel cycles, has been developed to control the General Atomics (GA) thorium fuel cycle 1160 MW(e) reactor. It has been shown in this investigation that its effectiveness in the low enriched and subsequent thorium cycle switch-over reactor is equivalent to the effectiveness in the thorium cycle. The shutdown margin in the low enriched core is even higher compared to the thorium core, mainly due to the presence of Pa-233 in the thorium cycle. As long as the fuel cycle for the thorium cycle is not closed with the recycling of U-233, the low enriched cycle will offer an attractive alternative. It was found that the GA 1160 MW(e) control system has enough built-in control rod capacity to accommodate the low enriched uranium cycle and to perform a later switch-over to a thorium-based fuel cycle.

A Structural Equation Model of Risk Perception of Rockfall for Revisit Intention

OpenAIRE

Ya-Fen Lee; Yun-Yao Chi

2014-01-01

The study aims to explore the relationship between risk perception of rockfall and revisit intention using a Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis. A total of 573 valid questionnaires are collected from travelers to Taroko National Park, Taiwan. The findings show the majority of travelers have the medium perception of rockfall risk, and are willing to revisit the Taroko National Park. The revisit intention to Taroko National Park is influenced by hazardous preferences, willingness-to-pa...

Controlling spark timing for consecutive cycles to reduce the cyclic variations of SI engines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaleli, Alirıza; Ceviz, Mehmet Akif; Erenturk, Köksal

2015-01-01

Minimization of the cyclic variations is one of the most important design goal for spark-ignited engines. Primary motivation of this study is to reduce the cyclic variations in spark ignition engines by controlling the spark timing for consecutive cycles. A stochastic model was performed between spark timing and in–cylinder maximum pressure by using the system identification techniques. The incylinder maximum pressure of the next cycle was predicted with this model. Minimum variance and generalized minimum variance controllers were designed to regulate the in–cylinder maximum pressure by changing the spark timing for consecutive cycles of the test engine. The produced control algorithms were built in LabView environment and installed to the Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) chassis. According to the test results, the in–cylinder maximum pressure of the next pressure cycle can be predicted fairly well, and the spark timing can be regulated to keep the in–cylinder maximum pressure in a desired band to reduce the cyclic variations. At fixed spark timing experiments, the COV Pmax and COV imep were 3.764 and 0.677%, whereas they decreased to 3.208 and 0.533% when GMV controller was applied, respectively. - Highlights: • Cycle per cycle spark timing control was carried out. • A stochastic process model was described between P max and the spark timing. • The cyclic variations in P max was decreased by keeping it in a desired band. • Different controllers were used to adjust spark timing signal of the next cycle. • COV Pmax was decreased by about 15% by using GMV controller

Development of a control system for compression and expansion cycles of critical valve for high vacuum systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Agarwal, Jyoti, E-mail: jagarwal@ipr.res.in; Sharma, H.; Patel, Haresh; Gangradey, R.; Lambade, Vrushabh

2016-11-15

Highlights: • Control system with feedback loop of pressure gauge is developed for measuring the life cycle of vacuum isolation valve. • GUI based software developed for easy use and handling of control system. • Control system tested with an experiment showcasing the capability of the control system. • Control system can operate valve based on pressure inside the chamber, which helps to know the degradation of sealing capabilities of valve. • Control system can monitor the total closing and opening time of valve, cycles and pressure inside the vessel. - Abstract: A control system with feedback loop is designed, developed and tested to monitor the life cycles of the axial valve and bellows used in vacuum valves. The control system monitors number of compression cycles of any bellow or closing and opening cycle of a valve. It also interfaces vacuum gauges or pressure gauges to get pressure values inside the system. To find life cycle of valve, the developed control and monitoring system is integrated with an axial valve experimental test set up. In this system, feedback from the vacuum gauge attached to valve enclosure, is given and the life cycle test is automated. This paper describes the control and monitoring system in details and briefs the experiment carried out for valve life cycle. The same system can be used for life cycle estimate for bellows. A suitable GUI is also developed to control the function of the components and resister the number of cycles.

The Faraday effect revisited

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cornean, Horia; Nenciu, Gheorghe

2009-01-01

This paper is the second in a series revisiting the (effect of) Faraday rotation. We formulate and prove the thermodynamic limit for the transverse electric conductivity of Bloch electrons, as well as for the Verdet constant. The main mathematical tool is a regularized magnetic and geometric...

Remembered Experiences and Revisit Intentions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barnes, Stuart; Mattsson, Jan; Sørensen, Flemming

2016-01-01

Tourism is an experience-intensive sector in which customers seek and pay for experiences above everything else. Remembering past tourism experiences is also crucial for an understanding of the present, including the predicted behaviours of visitors to tourist destinations. We adopt a longitudinal...... approach to memory data collection from psychological science, which has the potential to contribute to our understanding of tourist behaviour. In this study, we examine the impact of remembered tourist experiences in a safari park. In particular, using matched survey data collected longitudinally and PLS...... path modelling, we examine the impact of positive affect tourist experiences on the development of revisit intentions. We find that longer-term remembered experiences have the strongest impact on revisit intentions, more so than predicted or immediate memory after an event. We also find that remembered...

Predictive Duty Cycle Control of Three-Phase Active-Front-End Rectifiers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Song, Zhanfeng; Tian, Yanjun; Chen, Wei

2016-01-01

This paper proposed an on-line optimizing duty cycle control approach for three-phase active-front-end rectifiers, aiming to obtain the optimal control actions under different operating conditions. Similar to finite control set model predictive control strategy, a cost function previously...

Resistance Torque Based Variable Duty-Cycle Control Method for a Stage II Compressor

Science.gov (United States)

Zhong, Meipeng; Zheng, Shuiying

2017-07-01

The resistance torque of a piston stage II compressor generates strenuous fluctuations in a rotational period, and this can lead to negative influences on the working performance of the compressor. To restrain the strenuous fluctuations in the piston stage II compressor, a variable duty-cycle control method based on the resistance torque is proposed. A dynamic model of a stage II compressor is set up, and the resistance torque and other characteristic parameters are acquired as the control targets. Then, a variable duty-cycle control method is applied to track the resistance torque, thereby improving the working performance of the compressor. Simulated results show that the compressor, driven by the proposed method, requires lower current, while the rotating speed and the output torque remain comparable to the traditional variable-frequency control methods. A variable duty-cycle control system is developed, and the experimental results prove that the proposed method can help reduce the specific power, input power, and working noise of the compressor to 0.97 kW·m-3·min-1, 0.09 kW and 3.10 dB, respectively, under the same conditions of discharge pressure of 2.00 MPa and a discharge volume of 0.095 m3/min. The proposed variable duty-cycle control method tracks the resistance torque dynamically, and improves the working performance of a Stage II Compressor. The proposed variable duty-cycle control method can be applied to other compressors, and can provide theoretical guidance for the compressor.

Cycle-time determination and process control of sequencing batch membrane bioreactors.

Science.gov (United States)

Krampe, J

2013-01-01

In this paper a method to determine the cycle time for sequencing batch membrane bioreactors (SBMBRs) is introduced. One of the advantages of SBMBRs is the simplicity of adapting them to varying wastewater composition. The benefit of this flexibility can only be fully utilised if the cycle times are optimised for the specific inlet load conditions. This requires either proactive and ongoing operator adjustment or active predictive instrument-based control. Determination of the cycle times for conventional sequencing batch reactor (SBR) plants is usually based on experience. Due to the higher mixed liquor suspended solids concentrations in SBMBRs and the limited experience with their application, a new approach to calculate the cycle time had to be developed. Based on results from a semi-technical pilot plant, the paper presents an approach for calculating the cycle time in relation to the influent concentration according to the Activated Sludge Model No. 1 and the German HSG (Hochschulgruppe) Approach. The approach presented in this paper considers the increased solid contents in the reactor and the resultant shortened reaction times. This allows for an exact calculation of the nitrification and denitrification cycles with a tolerance of only a few minutes. Ultimately the same approach can be used for a predictive control strategy and for conventional SBR plants.

Revisiting the Okun relationship

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dixon, R. (Robert); Lim, G.C.; J.C. van Ours (Jan)

2017-01-01

textabstractOur article revisits the Okun relationship between observed unemployment rates and output gaps. We include in the relationship the effect of labour market institutions as well as age and gender effects. Our empirical analysis is based on 20 OECD countries over the period 1985–2013. We

Bounded Intention Planning Revisited

OpenAIRE

Sievers Silvan; Wehrle Martin; Helmert Malte

2014-01-01

Bounded intention planning provides a pruning technique for optimal planning that has been proposed several years ago. In addition partial order reduction techniques based on stubborn sets have recently been investigated for this purpose. In this paper we revisit bounded intention planning in the view of stubborn sets.

Cell Cycle Control by PTEN.

Science.gov (United States)

Brandmaier, Andrew; Hou, Sheng-Qi; Shen, Wen H

2017-07-21

Continuous and error-free chromosome inheritance through the cell cycle is essential for genomic stability and tumor suppression. However, accumulation of aberrant genetic materials often causes the cell cycle to go awry, leading to malignant transformation. In response to genotoxic stress, cells employ diverse adaptive mechanisms to halt or exit the cell cycle temporarily or permanently. The intrinsic machinery of cycling, resting, and exiting shapes the cellular response to extrinsic stimuli, whereas prevalent disruption of the cell cycle machinery in tumor cells often confers resistance to anticancer therapy. Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) is a tumor suppressor and a guardian of the genome that is frequently mutated or deleted in human cancer. Moreover, it is increasingly evident that PTEN deficiency disrupts the fundamental processes of genetic transmission. Cells lacking PTEN exhibit cell cycle deregulation and cell fate reprogramming. Here, we review the role of PTEN in regulating the key processes in and out of cell cycle to optimize genomic integrity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Emerging market business cycles revisited: learning about the trend

OpenAIRE

Boz, Emine; Daude, Christian; Durdu, C. Bora

2011-01-01

The data reveal that emerging markets do not differ from developed countries with regards to the variance of permanent TFP shocks relative to transitory. They do differ, however, in the degree of uncertainty agents face when formulating expectations. Based on these observations, we build an equilibrium business cycle model in which the agents cannot perfectly distinguish between the permanent and transitory components of TFP shocks. When formulating expectations, they assign some probability ...

The power reinforcement framework revisited

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Jeppe; Andersen, Kim Normann; Danziger, James N.

2016-01-01

Whereas digital technologies are often depicted as being capable of disrupting long-standing power structures and facilitating new governance mechanisms, the power reinforcement framework suggests that information and communications technologies tend to strengthen existing power arrangements within...... public organizations. This article revisits the 30-yearold power reinforcement framework by means of an empirical analysis on the use of mobile technology in a large-scale programme in Danish public sector home care. It explores whether and to what extent administrative management has controlled decision......-making and gained most benefits from mobile technology use, relative to the effects of the technology on the street-level workers who deliver services. Current mobile technology-in-use might be less likely to be power reinforcing because it is far more decentralized and individualized than the mainly expert...

Revisiting Nursing Research in Nigeria

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2016-08-18

Aug 18, 2016 ... health care research, it is therefore pertinent to revisit the state of nursing research in the country. .... platforms, updated libraries with electronic resource ... benchmarks for developing countries of 26%, [17] the amount is still ...

Time functions revisited

Science.gov (United States)

Fathi, Albert

2015-07-01

In this paper we revisit our joint work with Antonio Siconolfi on time functions. We will give a brief introduction to the subject. We will then show how to construct a Lipschitz time function in a simplified setting. We will end with a new result showing that the Aubry set is not an artifact of our proof of existence of time functions for stably causal manifolds.

Life cycle - a wide vision of the control valves maintenance; Life cycle - uma visao ampla de manutencao de valvulas de controle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Souza, Jorge Marcos de [Metso Automation do Brasil, ES (Brazil)

2005-07-01

Nowadays the industry search more and more contracts which involve the total responsibility by the maintenance of its equipment. What could not be different for the control valves because of its importance and critic to the process. Because of this, the maintenance concept Life Cycle targets to involve all the phases of the life of each control valve, since the project until the day to day maintenance activities, maximizing the performance and generating benefits to the process. (author)

Revisiting tourist behavior via destination brand worldness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Murat Kayak

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Taking tourists’ perspective rather than destination offerings as its core concept, this study introduces “perceived destination brand worldness” as a variable. Perceived destination brand worldness is defined as the positive perception that a tourist has of a country that is visited by tourists from all over the world. Then, the relationship between perceived destination brand worldness and intention to revisit is analyzed using partial least squares regression. This empirical study selects Taiwanese tourists as its sample, and the results show that perceived destination brand worldness is a direct predictor of intention to revisit. In light of these empirical findings and observations, practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

Improvement of chemical control in the water-steam cycle of thermal power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rajakovic-Ognjanovic, Vladana N.; Zivojinovic, Dragana Z.; Grgur, Branimir N.; Rajakovic, Ljubinka V.

2011-01-01

A more effective chemical control in the water-steam cycle (WSC) of thermal power plants (TPP) is proposed in this paper. Minimization of corrosion effects by the production of ultra pure water and its strict control is the basis of all the investigated processes. The research involved the analysis of water samples in the WSC through key water quality parameters and by the most convenient analytical tools. The necessity for the stricter chemical control is demonstrated through a concrete example of the TPP Nikola Tesla, Serbia. After a thorough analysis of the chemical control system of the WSC, diagnostic and control parameters were chosen for continuous systematic measurements. Sodium and chloride ions were recognized as the ions which indicate the corrosion potential of the water and give insight into the proper production and maintenance of water within the WSC. Chemical transformations of crucial corrosion elements, iron and silica, were considered and related to their quantitative values. - Research highlights: → The more effective chemical control in the water-steam cycle of thermal power plant Nikola Tesla, Serbia. → In chemical control the diagnostic and control parameters were optimized and introduced for the systematic measurements in the water-steam cycle. → Sodium and chloride ions were recognized as ions which indicate corrosion potential of water and give insight to proper function of production and maintenance of water within water-team cycle. → Chemical transformations of crucial corrosion elements, iron and silica are considered and related with their quantitative values.

Revisiting adoption of high transmission PSM: pros, cons and path forward

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Z. Mark; McDonald, Steve; Progler, Chris

2009-12-01

High transmission attenuated phase shift masks (Hi-T PSM) have been successfully applied in volume manufacturing for certain memory devices. Moreover, numerous studies have shown the potential benefits of Hi-T PSM for specific lithography applications. In this paper, the potential for extending Hi-T PSM to logic devices, is revisited with an emphasis on understanding layout, transmission, and manufacturing of Hi-T PSM versus traditional 6% embedded attenuated phase shift mask (EAPSM). Simulations on various layouts show Hi-T PSM has advantage over EAPSM in low duty cycle line patterns and high duty cycle space patterns. The overall process window can be enhanced when Hi- T PSM is combined with optimized optical proximity correction (OPC), sub-resolution assist features (SRAF), and source illumination. Therefore, Hi-T PSM may be a viable and lower cost alternative to other complex resolution enhancement technology (RET) approaches. Aerial image measurement system (AIMS) results on test masks, based on an inverse lithography technology (ILT) generated layout, confirm the simulation results. New advancement in high transmission blanks also make low topography Hi-T PSM a reality, which can minimize scattering effects in high NA lithography.

Revisiting the quantum Szilard engine with fully quantum considerations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Hai [School of Physics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081 (China); School of Information and Electronics Engineering, Shandong Institute of Business and Technology, Yantai 264000 (China); Zou, Jian, E-mail: zoujian@bit.edu.cn [School of Physics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081 (China); Li, Jun-Gang; Shao, Bin [School of Physics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081 (China); Wu, Lian-Ao [Department of Theoretical Physics and History of Science, The Basque Country University (EHU/UPV), P.O. Box 644, ES-48080 Bilbao (Spain); IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, ES-48011 Bilbao (Spain)

2012-12-15

By considering level shifting during the insertion process we revisit the quantum Szilard engine (QSZE) with fully quantum consideration. We derive the general expressions of the heat absorbed from thermal bath and the total work done to the environment by the system in a cycle with two different cyclic strategies. We find that only the quantum information contributes to the absorbed heat, and the classical information acts like a feedback controller and has no direct effect on the absorbed heat. This is the first demonstration of the different effects of quantum information and classical information for extracting heat from the bath in the QSZE. Moreover, when the well width L{yields}{infinity} or the temperature of the bath T{yields}{infinity} the QSZE reduces to the classical Szilard engine (CSZE), and the total work satisfies the relation W{sub tot}=k{sub B}Tln2 as obtained by Sang Wook Kim et al. [S.W. Kim, T. Sagawa, S. De Liberato, M. Ueda, Phys. Rev. Lett. 106 (2011) 070401] for one particle case. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer For the first time analyze the QSZE by considering energy level shifts. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Find different roles played by classical and quantum information in the QSZE. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The amount of work extracted depends on the cyclic strategies of the QSZE. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Verify that the QSZE will reduce to the CSZE in the classical limits.

Revisiting Inter-Genre Similarity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sturm, Bob L.; Gouyon, Fabien

2013-01-01

We revisit the idea of ``inter-genre similarity'' (IGS) for machine learning in general, and music genre recognition in particular. We show analytically that the probability of error for IGS is higher than naive Bayes classification with zero-one loss (NB). We show empirically that IGS does...... not perform well, even for data that satisfies all its assumptions....

A Hydrostatic Paradox Revisited

Science.gov (United States)

Ganci, Salvatore

2012-01-01

This paper revisits a well-known hydrostatic paradox, observed when turning upside down a glass partially filled with water and covered with a sheet of light material. The phenomenon is studied in its most general form by including the mass of the cover. A historical survey of this experiment shows that a common misunderstanding of the phenomenon…

THE INFLUENCE OF DESTINATION IMAGE AND TOURIST SATISFACTION TOWARD REVISIT INTENTION OF SETU BABAKAN BETAWI CULTURAL VILLAGE

OpenAIRE

Wibowo, Setyo Ferry; Sazali, Adnan; Kresnamurti R. P., Agung

2016-01-01

The purpose of this research are: 1) To find out the description of destination image, tourist satisfaction, and revisit intention of Betawi cultural village Setu Babakan, 2) test empirically the influence of destination image toward revisit intention of Betawi cultural village Setu Babakan, 3) test empirically the influence of tourist satisfaction toward revisit intention of Betawi cultural village Setu Babakan, 4) test empirically the influence of destination image toward revisit intention ...

Optimal decoupling controllers revisited

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Kučera, Vladimír

2013-01-01

Roč. 42, č. 1 (2013), s. 1-16 ISSN 0324-8569 R&D Projects: GA TA ČR(CZ) TE01020197 Institutional support: RVO:67985556 Keywords : linear systems * fractional representations * decoupling control lers * stabilizing control lers * optimal control lers Subject RIV: BC - Control Systems Theory

Seven Issues, Revisited

OpenAIRE

Whitehead, Jim; De Bra, Paul; Grønbæk, Kaj; Larsen, Deena; Legget, John; schraefel, monica m.c.

2002-01-01

It has been 15 years since the original presentation by Frank Halasz at Hypertext'87 on seven issues for the next generation of hypertext systems. These issues are: Search and Query Composites Virtual Structures Computation in/over hypertext network Versioning Collaborative Work Extensibility and Tailorability Since that time, these issues have formed the nucleus of multiple research agendas within the Hypertext community. Befitting this direction-setting role, the issues have been revisited ...

'Felson Signs' revisited

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

George, Phiji P.; Irodi, Aparna; Keshava, Shyamkumar N.; Lamont, Anthony C.

2014-01-01

In this article we revisit, with the help of images, those classic signs in chest radiography described by Dr Benjamin Felson himself, or other illustrious radiologists of his time, cited and discussed in 'Chest Roentgenology'. We briefly describe the causes of the signs, their utility and the differential diagnosis to be considered when each sign is seen. Wherever possible, we use CT images to illustrate the basis of some of these classic radiographic signs.

Limit cycles and stiffness control with variable stiffness actuators

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Carloni, Raffaella; Marconi, L.

2012-01-01

Variable stiffness actuators realize highly dynamic systems, whose inherent mechanical compliance can be properly exploited to obtain a robust and energy-efficient behavior. The paper presents a control strategy for variable stiffness actuators with the primarily goal of tracking a limit cycle

Outside-in control -Does plant cell wall integrity regulate cell cycle progression?

Science.gov (United States)

Gigli-Bisceglia, Nora; Hamann, Thorsten

2018-04-13

During recent years it has become accepted that plant cell walls are not inert objects surrounding all plant cells but are instead highly dynamic, plastic structures. They are involved in a large number of cell biological processes and contribute actively to plant growth, development and interaction with environment. Therefore, it is not surprising that cellular processes can control plant cell wall integrity while, simultaneously, cell wall integrity can influence cellular processes. In yeast and animal cells such a bi-directional relationship also exists between the yeast/animal extra-cellular matrices and the cell cycle. In yeast, the cell wall integrity maintenance mechanism and a dedicated plasmamembrane integrity checkpoint are mediating this relationship. Recent research has yielded insights into the mechanism controlling plant cell wall metabolism during cytokinesis. However, knowledge regarding putative regulatory pathways controlling adaptive modifications in plant cell cycle activity in response to changes in the state of the plant cell wall are not yet identified. In this review, we summarize similarities and differences in regulatory mechanisms coordinating extra cellular matrices and cell cycle activity in animal and yeast cells, discuss the available evidence supporting the existence of such a mechanism in plants and suggest that the plant cell wall integrity maintenance mechanism might also control cell cycle activity in plant cells. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Loading Path and Control Mode Effects During Thermomechanical Cycling of Polycrystalline Shape Memory NiTi

Science.gov (United States)

Nicholson, D. E.; Benafan, O.; Padula, S. A.; Clausen, B.; Vaidyanathan, R.

2018-01-01

Loading path dependencies and control mode effects in polycrystalline shape memory NiTi were investigated using in situ neutron and synchrotron X-ray diffraction performed during mechanical cycling and thermal cycling at constant strain. Strain-controlled, isothermal, reverse loading (to ± 4%) and stress-controlled, isothermal, cyclic loading (to ± 400 MPa for up to ten cycles) at room temperature demonstrated that the preferred martensite variants selected correlated directly with the macroscopic uniaxial strain and did not correlate with the compressive or tensile state of stress. During cyclic loading (up to ten cycles), no significant cycle-to-cycle evolution of the variant microstructure corresponding to a given strain was observed, despite changes in the slope of the stress-strain response with each cycle. Additionally, thermal cycling (to above and below the phase transformation) under constant strain (up to 2% tensile strain) showed that the martensite variant microstructure correlated directly with strain and did not evolve following thermal cycling, despite relaxation of stress in both martensite and austenite phases. Results are presented in the context of variant reorientation and detwinning processes in martensitic NiTi, the fundamental thermoelastic nature of such processes and the ability of the variant microstructure to accommodate irreversible deformation processes.

THE INFLUENCE OF DESTINATION IMAGE AND TOURIST SATISFACTION TOWARD REVISIT INTENTION OF SETU BABAKAN BETAWI CULTURAL VILLAGE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Setyo Ferry Wibowo

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research are: 1 To find out the description of destination image, tourist satisfaction, and revisit intention of Betawi cultural village Setu Babakan, 2 test empirically the influence of destination image toward revisit intention of Betawi cultural village Setu Babakan, 3 test empirically the influence of tourist satisfaction toward revisit intention of Betawi cultural village Setu Babakan, 4 test empirically the influence of destination image toward revisit intention of Betawi cultural village Setu Babakan. The object of this research was 200 respondents who have ever visit to Betawi cultural village Setu Babakan at one time. The results of descriptive test explained that the destination image provided is good according to the tourist, so that the tourist is satisfied and want to revisit intention of Betawi cultural village Setu Babakan. The hypothesis test shows: 1 the influence of destination image toward revisit intention by -30%, 2 the influence of tourist satisfaction toward revisit intention by 118%, 3 the influence of destination image toward tourist satisfaction by 92%.

The Recalibrated Sunspot Number: Impact on Solar Cycle Predictions

Science.gov (United States)

Clette, F.; Lefevre, L.

2017-12-01

Recently and for the first time since their creation, the sunspot number and group number series were entirely revisited and a first fully recalibrated version was officially released in July 2015 by the World Data Center SILSO (Brussels). Those reference long-term series are widely used as input data or as a calibration reference by various solar cycle prediction methods. Therefore, past predictions may now need to be redone using the new sunspot series, and methods already used for predicting cycle 24 will require adaptations before attempting predictions of the next cycles.In order to clarify the nature of the applied changes, we describe the different corrections applied to the sunspot and group number series, which affect extended time periods and can reach up to 40%. While some changes simply involve constant scale factors, other corrections vary with time or follow the solar cycle modulation. Depending on the prediction method and on the selected time interval, this can lead to different responses and biases. Moreover, together with the new series, standard error estimates are also progressively added to the new sunspot numbers, which may help deriving more accurate uncertainties for predicted activity indices. We conclude on the new round of recalibration that is now undertaken in the framework of a broad multi-team collaboration articulated around upcoming ISSI workshops. We outline the future corrections that can still be expected in the future, as part of a permanent upgrading process and quality control. From now on, future sunspot-based predictive models should thus be made more adaptable, and regular updates of predictions should become common practice in order to track periodic upgrades of the sunspot number series, just like it is done when using other modern solar observational series.

Leadership and Management Theories Revisited

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Mona Toft

2001-01-01

The goal of the paper is to revisit and analyze key contributions to the understanding of leadership and management. As a part of the discussion a role perspective that allows for additional and/or integrated leader dimensions, including a change-centered, will be outlined. Seemingly, a major...

Schroedinger's variational method of quantization revisited

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yasue, K.

1980-01-01

Schroedinger's original quantization procedure is revisited in the light of Nelson's stochastic framework of quantum mechanics. It is clarified why Schroedinger's proposal of a variational problem led us to a true description of quantum mechanics. (orig.)

On the Automatic Generation of Plans for Life Cycle Assembly Processes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

CALTON,TERRI L.

2000-01-01

Designing products for easy assembly and disassembly during their entire life cycles for purposes including product assembly, product upgrade, product servicing and repair, and product disposal is a process that involves many disciplines. In addition, finding the best solution often involves considering the design as a whole and by considering its intended life cycle. Different goals and manufacturing plan selection criteria, as compared to initial assembly, require re-visiting significant fundamental assumptions and methods that underlie current assembly planning techniques. Previous work in this area has been limited to either academic studies of issues in assembly planning or to applied studies of life cycle assembly processes that give no attention to automatic planning. It is believed that merging these two areas will result in a much greater ability to design for, optimize, and analyze the cycle assembly processes. The study of assembly planning is at the very heart of manufacturing research facilities and academic engineering institutions; and, in recent years a number of significant advances in the field of assembly planning have been made. These advances have ranged from the development of automated assembly planning systems, such as Sandia's Automated Assembly Analysis System Archimedes 3.0{copyright}, to the startling revolution in microprocessors and computer-controlled production tools such as computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), flexible manufacturing systems (EMS), and computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM). These results have kindled considerable interest in the study of algorithms for life cycle related assembly processes and have blossomed into a field of intense interest. The intent of this manuscript is to bring together the fundamental results in this area, so that the unifying principles and underlying concepts of algorithm design may more easily be implemented in practice.

An analytic algorithm for global coverage of the revisiting orbit and its application to the CFOSAT satellite

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Ming; Huang, Li

2014-08-01

This paper addresses a new analytic algorithm for global coverage of the revisiting orbit and its application to the mission revisiting the Earth within long periods of time, such as Chinese-French Oceanic Satellite (abbr., CFOSAT). In the first, it is presented that the traditional design methodology of the revisiting orbit for some imaging satellites only on the single (ascending or descending) pass, and the repeating orbit is employed to perform the global coverage within short periods of time. However, the selection of the repeating orbit is essentially to yield the suboptimum from the rare measure of rational numbers of passes per day, which will lose lots of available revisiting orbits. Thus, an innovative design scheme is proposed to check both rational and irrational passes per day to acquire the relationship between the coverage percentage and the altitude. To improve the traditional imaging only on the single pass, the proposed algorithm is mapping every pass into its ascending and descending nodes on the specified latitude circle, and then is accumulating the projected width on the circle by the field of view of the satellite. The ergodic geometry of coverage percentage produced from the algorithm is affecting the final scheme, such as the optimal one owning the largest percentage, and the balance one possessing the less gradient in its vicinity, and is guiding to heuristic design for the station-keeping control strategies. The application of CFOSAT validates the feasibility of the algorithm.

Thermodynamic control-oriented modeling of cycle-to-cycle exhaust gas temperature in an HCCI engine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dehghani Firoozabadi, M.; Shahbakhti, M.; Koch, C.R.; Jazayeri, S.A.

2013-01-01

Highlights: • First thermodynamic model in the literature to predict exhaust temperature in HCCI engines. • The model can be used for integrated control of HCCI combustion and exhaust temperature. • The model is experimentally validated at over 300 steady state and transient conditions. • Results show a good agreement between predicted and measured exhaust temperatures. • Sensitivity of exhaust gas temperature to variation of engine variables is shown. - Abstract: Model-based control of Homogenous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) engine exhaust temperature is a viable solution to optimize efficiency of both engine and the exhaust aftertreatment system. Low exhaust temperature in HCCI engines can limit the abatement of hydrocarbon (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions in an exhaust aftertreatment system. A physical–empirical model is described for control of exhaust temperature in HCCI engines. This model captures cycle-to-cycle dynamics affecting exhaust temperature and is based on thermodynamic relations and semi-empirical correlations. It incorporates intake and exhaust gas flow dynamics, residual gas mixing, and fuel burn rate and is validated with experimental data from a single cylinder engine at over 300 steady state and transient conditions. The validation results indicate a good agreement between predicted and measured exhaust gas temperature

Classical Biological Control of Invasive Legacy Crop Pests: New Technologies Offer Opportunities to Revisit Old Pest Problems in Perennial Tree Crops

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark S. Hoddle

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Advances in scientific disciplines that support classical biological control have provided “new tools” that could have important applications for biocontrol programs for some long-established invasive arthropod pests. We suggest that these previously unavailable tools should be used in biological control programs targeting “legacy pests”, even if they have been targets of previously unsuccessful biocontrol projects. Examples of “new tools” include molecular analyses to verify species identities and likely geographic area of origin, climate matching and ecological niche modeling, preservation of natural enemy genetic diversity in quarantine, the use of theory from invasion biology to maximize establishment likelihoods for natural enemies, and improved understanding of the interactions between natural enemy and target pest microbiomes. This review suggests that opportunities exist for revisiting old pest problems and funding research programs using “new tools” for developing biological control programs for “legacy pests” could provide permanent suppression of some seemingly intractable pest problems. As a case study, we use citricola scale, Coccus pseudomagnoliarum, an invasive legacy pest of California citrus, to demonstrate the potential of new tools to support a new classical biological control program targeting this insect.

A pH-Regulated Quality Control Cycle for Surveillance of Secretory Protein Assembly

Science.gov (United States)

Vavassori, Stefano; Cortini, Margherita; Masui, Shoji; Sannino, Sara; Anelli, Tiziana; Caserta, Imma R.; Fagioli, Claudio; Mossuto, Maria F.; Fornili, Arianna; van Anken, Eelco; Degano, Massimo; Inaba, Kenji; Sitia, Roberto

2013-01-01

Summary To warrant the quality of the secretory proteome, stringent control systems operate at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-Golgi interface, preventing the release of nonnative products. Incompletely assembled oligomeric proteins that are deemed correctly folded must rely on additional quality control mechanisms dedicated to proper assembly. Here we unveil how ERp44 cycles between cisGolgi and ER in a pH-regulated manner, patrolling assembly of disulfide-linked oligomers such as IgM and adiponectin. At neutral, ER-equivalent pH, the ERp44 carboxy-terminal tail occludes the substrate-binding site. At the lower pH of the cisGolgi, conformational rearrangements of this peptide, likely involving protonation of ERp44’s active cysteine, simultaneously unmask the substrate binding site and −RDEL motif, allowing capture of orphan secretory protein subunits and ER retrieval via KDEL receptors. The ERp44 assembly control cycle couples secretion fidelity and efficiency downstream of the calnexin/calreticulin and BiP-dependent quality control cycles. PMID:23685074

A practical method of predicting client revisit intention in a hospital setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Kyun Jick

2005-01-01

Data mining (DM) models are an alternative to traditional statistical methods for examining whether higher customer satisfaction leads to higher revisit intention. This study used a total of 906 outpatients' satisfaction data collected from a nationwide survey interviews conducted by professional interviewers on a face-to-face basis in South Korea, 1998. Analyses showed that the relationship between overall satisfaction with hospital services and outpatients' revisit intention, along with word-of-mouth recommendation as intermediate variables, developed into a nonlinear relationship. The five strongest predictors of revisit intention were overall satisfaction, intention to recommend to others, awareness of hospital promotion, satisfaction with physician's kindness, and satisfaction with treatment level.

The critical catastrophe revisited

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Mulatier, Clélia; Rosso, Alberto; Dumonteil, Eric; Zoia, Andrea

2015-01-01

The neutron population in a prototype model of nuclear reactor can be described in terms of a collection of particles confined in a box and undergoing three key random mechanisms: diffusion, reproduction due to fissions, and death due to absorption events. When the reactor is operated at the critical point, and fissions are exactly compensated by absorptions, the whole neutron population might in principle go to extinction because of the wild fluctuations induced by births and deaths. This phenomenon, which has been named critical catastrophe, is nonetheless never observed in practice: feedback mechanisms acting on the total population, such as human intervention, have a stabilizing effect. In this work, we revisit the critical catastrophe by investigating the spatial behaviour of the fluctuations in a confined geometry. When the system is free to evolve, the neutrons may display a wild patchiness (clustering). On the contrary, imposing a population control on the total population acts also against the local fluctuations, and may thus inhibit the spatial clustering. The effectiveness of population control in quenching spatial fluctuations will be shown to depend on the competition between the mixing time of the neutrons (i.e. the average time taken for a particle to explore the finite viable space) and the extinction time

Effect of endometrial biopsy on intrauterine insemination outcome in controlled ovarian stimulation cycle

OpenAIRE

Wadhwa, Leena; Pritam, Amrita; Gupta, Taru; Gupta, Sangeeta; Arora, Sarika; Chandoke, Rajkumar

2015-01-01

OBJECTIVE: The objective was to evaluate the effect of endometrial biopsy (EB) on intrauterine insemination (IUI) outcome in controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) cycle. DESIGN: Prospective randomized control study. SETTING: Tertiary care center. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 251 subjects were enrolled in the study. Subjects undergoing COS with IUI were randomly allocated into three groups. Group A: EB was taken between D19 and 24 of the spontaneous menstrual cycles that precedes the ferti...

Does local endometrial injury in the nontransfer cycle improve the IVF-ET outcome in the subsequent cycle in patients with previous unsuccessful IVF? A randomized controlled pilot study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sachin A Narvekar

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Management of repeated implantation failure despite transfer of good-quality embryos still remains a dilemma for ART specialists. Scrapping of endometrium in the nontransfer cycle has been shown to improve the pregnancy rate in the subsequent IVF/ET cycle in recent studies. Aim: The objective of this randomized controlled trial (RCT was to determine whether endometrial injury caused by Pipelle sampling in the nontransfer cycle could improve the probability of pregnancy in the subsequent IVF cycle in patients who had previous failed IVF outcome. Setting: Tertiary assisted conception center. Design: Randomized controlled study. Materials and Methods: 100 eligible patients with previous failed IVF despite transfer of good-quality embryos were randomly allocated to the intervention group and control groups. In the intervention group, Pipelle endometrial sampling was done twice: One in the follicular phase and again in the luteal phase in the cycle preceding the embryo transfer cycle. Outcome Measure: The primary outcome measure was live birth rate. The secondary outcome measures were implantation and clinical pregnancy rates. Results: The live birth rate was significantly higher in the intervention group compared to control group (22.4% and 9.8% P = 0.04. The clinical pregnancy rate in the intervention group was 32.7%, while that in the control group was 13.7%, which was also statistically significant ( P = 0.01. The implantation rate was significantly higher in the intervention group as compared to controls (13.07% vs 7.1% P = 0.04. Conclusions: Endometrial injury in nontransfer cycle improves the live birth rate,clinical pregnancy and implantation rates in the subsequent IVF-ET cycle in patients with previous unsuccessful IVF cycles.

New Spill Control for the Slow Extraction in the Multi-Cycling SPS

CERN Document Server

Kain, Verena; Effinger, Ewald

2016-01-01

The flux of particles slow extracted with the 1/3 integer resonance from the Super Proton Synchrotron at CERN was previously controlled with a servo-spill feedback system which acted on the horizontal tune such as to keep the spill rate as constant as possible during the whole extraction time. The current in two servo-quadrupoles was modulated as a function of the difference between the measured and the desired spill rate. With servo quadrupoles at a single location in the SPS ring and the SPS in multi-cycling mode, the trajectory of the slow extracted beam was seen to change from cycle to cycle depending on the current applied by the servo feedback. Hence this system was replaced by a feed-forward tune correction using the main SPS quadrupoles. In this way the spill control can now be guaranteed without changing the trajectory of the extracted beam. This paper presents the algorithm and implementation in the control system and summarizes the advantages of the new approach. The obtained spill characteristics ...

Optimization of in-core fuel management and control rod strategy in equilibrium fuel cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sekimizu, Koichi

1975-01-01

An in-core fuel management problem is formulated for the equilibrium fuel cycle in an N-region nuclear reactor model. The formulation shows that the infinite multiplication factor k infinity requisite for newly charged fuel can be separated into two terms - one corresponding to the average k infinity at the end of the cycle and the other representing the direct contribution of the shuffling scheme and control rod programming. This formulation is applied to a three-region cylindrical reactor to obtain simultaneous optimization of shuffling and control rod programming. It is demonstrated that this formulation aids greatly in gaining a better understanding of the effects of changes in the shuffling scheme and control rod programming on equilibrium fuel cycle performance. (auth.)

Increased 30-Day Emergency Department Revisits Among Homeless Patients with Mental Health Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chun Nok Lam

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Patients with mental health conditions frequently use emergency medical services. Many suffer from substance use and homelessness. If they use the emergency department (ED as their primary source of care, potentially preventable frequent ED revisits and hospital readmissions can worsen an already crowded healthcare system. However, the magnitude to which homelessness affects health service utilization among patients with mental health conditions remains unclear in the medical community. This study assessed the impact of homelessness on 30-day ED revisits and hospital readmissions among patients presenting with mental health conditions in an urban, safety-net hospital. Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of administrative data on all adult ED visits in 2012 in an urban safety-net hospital. Patient demographics, mental health status, homelessness, insurance coverage, level of acuity, and ED disposition per ED visit were analyzed using multilevel modeling to control for multiple visits nested within patients. We performed multivariate logistic regressions to evaluate if homelessness moderated the likelihood of mental health patients’ 30-day ED revisits and hospital readmissions. Results: Study included 139,414 adult ED visits from 92,307 unique patients (43.5±15.1 years, 51.3% male, 68.2% Hispanic/Latino. Nearly 8% of patients presented with mental health conditions, while 4.6% were homeless at any time during the study period. Among patients with mental health conditions, being homeless contributed to an additional 28.0% increase in likelihood (4.28 to 5.48 odds of 30-day ED revisits and 38.2% increase in likelihood (2.04 to 2.82 odds of hospital readmission, compared to non-homeless, non-mental health (NHNM patients as the base category. Adjusted predicted probabilities showed that homeless patients presenting with mental health conditions have a 31.1% chance of returning to the ED within 30-day post discharge and a 3

Method for Controlling Space Transportation System Life Cycle Costs

Science.gov (United States)

McCleskey, Carey M.; Bartine, David E.

2006-01-01

A structured, disciplined methodology is required to control major cost-influencing metrics of space transportation systems during design and continuing through the test and operations phases. This paper proposes controlling key space system design metrics that specifically influence life cycle costs. These are inclusive of flight and ground operations, test, and manufacturing and infrastructure. The proposed technique builds on today's configuration and mass properties control techniques and takes on all the characteristics of a classical control system. While the paper does not lay out a complete math model, key elements of the proposed methodology are explored and explained with both historical and contemporary examples. Finally, the paper encourages modular design approaches and technology investments compatible with the proposed method.

Controlled rate cooling of fungi using a stirling cycle freezer.

Science.gov (United States)

Ryan, Matthew J; Kasulyte-Creasey, Daiva; Kermode, Anthony; San, Shwe Phue; Buddie, Alan G

2014-01-01

The use of a Stirling cycle freezer for cryopreservation is considered to have significant advantages over traditional methodologies including N2 free operation, application of low cooling rates, reduction of sample contamination risks and control of ice nucleation. The study assesses the suitability of an 'N2-free' Stirling Cycle controlled rate freezer for fungi cryopreservation. In total, 77 fungi representing a broad taxonomic coverage were cooled using the N2 free cooler following a cooling rate of -1 degrees C min(-1). Of these, 15 strains were also cryopreserved using a traditional 'N2 gas chamber' controlled rate cooler and a comparison of culture morphology and genomic stability against non-cryopreserved starter cultures was undertaken. In total of 75 fungi survived cryopreservation, only a recalcitrant Basidiomycete and filamentous Chromist failed to survive. No changes were detected in genomic profile after preservation, suggesting that genomic function is not adversely compromised as a result of using 'N2 free' cooling. The results demonstrate the potential of 'N2-free' cooling for the routine cryopreservation of fungi in Biological Resource Centres.

Combined cycle plant controls retrofit case history

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tenney, D.; Pieszchala, T.

1991-01-01

The Comanche Power Station, Public Service of Oklahoma's combined cycle generating facility, underwent a controls and operator panel retrofit at the end of 1988. The plant consists of two gas turbines, two heat recovery boilers and a steam turbine along with three generators. This paper examines the extent to which the original goals and specifications were met. Costs, operating principles and modifications since the original installation are discussed. Operating procedures are compared with the original system. The future of the plant is discussed and the impact on the power system grid is analyzed

The Faraday effect revisited: General theory

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cornean, Horia Decebal; Nenciu, Gheorghe; Pedersen, Thomas Garm

This paper is the first in a series revisiting the Faraday effect, or more generally, the theory of electronic quantum transport/optical response in bulk media in the presence of a constant magnetic field. The independent electron approximation is assumed. For free electrons, the transverse...

Revisited

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tegtmeier, Silke; Meyer, Verena; Pakura, Stefanie

2017-01-01

were captured when they described entrepreneurs. Therefore, this paper aims to revisit gender role stereotypes among young adults. Design/methodology/approach: To measure stereotyping, participants were asked to describe entrepreneurs in general and either women or men in general. The Schein......Purpose: Entrepreneurship is shaped by a male norm, which has been widely demonstrated in qualitative studies. The authors strive to complement these methods by a quantitative approach. First, gender role stereotypes were measured in entrepreneurship. Second, the explicit notions of participants......: The images of men and entrepreneurs show a high and significant congruence (r = 0.803), mostly in those adjectives that are untypical for men and entrepreneurs. The congruence of women and entrepreneurs was low (r = 0.152) and insignificant. Contrary to the participants’ beliefs, their explicit notions did...

Cell Cycle Control in the Early Embryonic Development of Aquatic Animal Species

Science.gov (United States)

Siefert, Joseph C.; Clowdus, Emily A.; Sansam, Christopher L.

2016-01-01

The cell cycle is integrated with many aspects of embryonic development. Not only is proper control over the pace of cell proliferation important, but also the timing of cell cycle progression is coordinated with transcription, cell migration, and cell differentiation. Due to the ease with which the embryos of aquatic organisms can be observed and manipulated, they have been a popular choice for embryologists throughout history. In the cell cycle field, aquatic organisms have been extremely important because they have played a major role in the discovery and analysis of key regulators of the cell cycle. In particular, the frog Xenopus laevis has been instrumental for understanding how the basic embryonic cell cycle is regulated. More recently, the zebrafish has been used to understand how the cell cycle is remodeled during vertebrate development and how it is regulated during morphogenesis. This review describes how some of the unique strengths of aquatic species have been leveraged for cell cycle research and suggests how species such as Xenopus and zebrafish will continue to reveal the roles of the cell cycle in human biology and disease. PMID:26475527

Hydromorphological control of nutrient cycling in complex river floodplain systems

Science.gov (United States)

Hein, T.; Bondar-Kunze, E.; Felkl, M.; Habersack, H.; Mair, M.; Pinay, G.; Tritthart, M.; Welti, N.

2009-04-01

Riparian zones and floodplains are key components within river ecosystems controlling nutrient cycling by promoting transformation processes and thus, act as biogeochemical hot spots. The intensity of these processes depends on the exchange conditions (the connectivity) with the main channel and the morphological setting of the water bodies. At the landscape scale, three interrelated principles of hydromorphological dynamics can be formulated regarding the cycling and transfer of carbon and nutrients in large rivers ecosystems: a) The mode of carbon and nutrient delivery affects ecosystem functioning; b) Increasing residence time and contact area impact nutrient transformation; c) Floods and droughts are natural events that strongly influence pathways of carbon and nutrient cycling. These three principles of hydromorphological dynamics control the nutrient uptake and retention and are linked over different temporal and spatial scales. All three factors can be strongly affected by natural disturbances or anthropogenic impacts, through a change in either the water regime or the geomorphologic setting of the river valley. Any change in natural water regimes will affect the biogeochemistry of riparian zones and floodplains as well as their ability to cycle and mitigate nutrient fluxes originating from upstream and/or upslope. Especially these areas have been altered by river regulation and land use changes over the last 200 years leading to the deterioration of the functioning of these compartments within the riverine landscape. The resulting deficits have prompted rehabilitation and restoration measures aiming to increase the spatial heterogeneity, the complexity, of these ecosystems. Yet, a more integrated approach is needed considering the present status of nutrient dynamics and the effects of restoration measures at different scales. The present paper analyses the effects of river side-arm restoration on ecosystem functions within the side-arm and highlights

Who should do the dishes now? Revisiting gender and housework in contemporary urban South Wales

OpenAIRE

Mannay, Dawn

2016-01-01

This chapter revisits Jane Pilcher’s (1994) seminal work ‘Who should do the dishes? Three generations of Welsh women talking about men and housework’, which was originally published in Our Sister’s Land: the changing identities of women in Wales. As discussed in the introductory chapter, I began revisiting classic Welsh studies as part of my doctoral study Mothers and daughters on the margins: gender, generation and education (Mannay, 2012); this lead to the later publication of a revisiting ...

The Faraday effect revisited: General theory

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cornean, Horia Decebal; Nenciu, Gheorghe; Pedersen, Thomas Garm

2006-01-01

This paper is the first in a series revisiting the Faraday effect, or more generally, the theory of electronic quantum transport/optical response in bulk media in the presence of a constant magnetic field. The independent electron approximation is assumed. At zero temperature and zero frequency...

Stabilization of business cycles of finance agents using nonlinear optimal control

Science.gov (United States)

Rigatos, G.; Siano, P.; Ghosh, T.; Sarno, D.

2017-11-01

Stabilization of the business cycles of interconnected finance agents is performed with the use of a new nonlinear optimal control method. First, the dynamics of the interacting finance agents and of the associated business cycles is described by a modeled of coupled nonlinear oscillators. Next, this dynamic model undergoes approximate linearization round a temporary operating point which is defined by the present value of the system's state vector and the last value of the control inputs vector that was exerted on it. The linearization procedure is based on Taylor series expansion of the dynamic model and on the computation of Jacobian matrices. The modelling error, which is due to the truncation of higher-order terms in the Taylor series expansion is considered as a disturbance which is compensated by the robustness of the control loop. Next, for the linearized model of the interacting finance agents, an H-infinity feedback controller is designed. The computation of the feedback control gain requires the solution of an algebraic Riccati equation at each iteration of the control algorithm. Through Lyapunov stability analysis it is proven that the control scheme satisfies an H-infinity tracking performance criterion, which signifies elevated robustness against modelling uncertainty and external perturbations. Moreover, under moderate conditions the global asymptotic stability features of the control loop are proven.

Revisiting the Life Cycle of Dung Fungi, Including Sordaria fimicola.

Science.gov (United States)

Newcombe, George; Campbell, Jason; Griffith, David; Baynes, Melissa; Launchbaugh, Karen; Pendleton, Rosemary

2016-01-01

Dung fungi, such as Sordaria fimicola, generally reproduce sexually with ascospores discharged from mammalian dung after passage through herbivores. Their life cycle is thought to be obligate to dung, and thus their ascospores in Quaternary sediments have been interpreted as evidence of past mammalian herbivore activity. Reports of dung fungi as endophytes would seem to challenge the view that they are obligate to dung. However, endophyte status is controversial because surface-sterilization protocols could fail to kill dung fungus ascospores stuck to the plant surface. Thus, we first tested the ability of representative isolates of three common genera of dung fungi to affect plant growth and fecundity given that significant effects on plant fitness could not result from ascospores merely stuck to the plant surface. Isolates of S. fimicola, Preussia sp., and Sporormiella sp. reduced growth and fecundity of two of three populations of Bromus tectorum, the host from which they had been isolated. In further work with S. fimicola we showed that inoculations of roots of B. tectorum led to some colonization of aboveground tissues. The same isolate of S. fimicola reproduced sexually on inoculated host plant tissues as well as in dung after passage through sheep, thus demonstrating a facultative rather than an obligate life cycle. Finally, plants inoculated with S. fimicola were not preferred by sheep; preference had been expected if the fungus were obligate to dung. Overall, these findings make us question the assumption that these fungi are obligate to dung.

Examining Relationships of Destination Image, Service Quality, e-WOM, and Revisit Intention to Sabang Island, Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rangga Restu Prayogo

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research is to study the relationship among destination image, service quality, e-WOM, and revisit intentions in the tourism industry. A questionnaire given to tourists who visit one of the farrest island in western part of Indonesia, Sabang Island and using sampling through the convenience sampling. A structural equation model (SEM test with WarpPLS 3.0 was used to test the relationship between research variables. This research gathered from 150 respondents. The empirical results from PLS-SEM showed that; the destination image positive affect e-WOM and revisit intention; service quality affect e-WOM and revisit intention; e-WOM positive affect to revisit intention tourists. The implications and future research issues were discussed.

Revisiting the Life Cycle of Dung Fungi, Including Sordaria fimicola.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

George Newcombe

Full Text Available Dung fungi, such as Sordaria fimicola, generally reproduce sexually with ascospores discharged from mammalian dung after passage through herbivores. Their life cycle is thought to be obligate to dung, and thus their ascospores in Quaternary sediments have been interpreted as evidence of past mammalian herbivore activity. Reports of dung fungi as endophytes would seem to challenge the view that they are obligate to dung. However, endophyte status is controversial because surface-sterilization protocols could fail to kill dung fungus ascospores stuck to the plant surface. Thus, we first tested the ability of representative isolates of three common genera of dung fungi to affect plant growth and fecundity given that significant effects on plant fitness could not result from ascospores merely stuck to the plant surface. Isolates of S. fimicola, Preussia sp., and Sporormiella sp. reduced growth and fecundity of two of three populations of Bromus tectorum, the host from which they had been isolated. In further work with S. fimicola we showed that inoculations of roots of B. tectorum led to some colonization of aboveground tissues. The same isolate of S. fimicola reproduced sexually on inoculated host plant tissues as well as in dung after passage through sheep, thus demonstrating a facultative rather than an obligate life cycle. Finally, plants inoculated with S. fimicola were not preferred by sheep; preference had been expected if the fungus were obligate to dung. Overall, these findings make us question the assumption that these fungi are obligate to dung.

Deterministic Graphical Games Revisited

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersson, Daniel; Hansen, Kristoffer Arnsfelt; Miltersen, Peter Bro

2008-01-01

We revisit the deterministic graphical games of Washburn. A deterministic graphical game can be described as a simple stochastic game (a notion due to Anne Condon), except that we allow arbitrary real payoffs but disallow moves of chance. We study the complexity of solving deterministic graphical...... games and obtain an almost-linear time comparison-based algorithm for computing an equilibrium of such a game. The existence of a linear time comparison-based algorithm remains an open problem....

Method for controlling start-up and steady state performance of a closed split flow recompression brayton cycle

Science.gov (United States)

Pasch, James Jay

2017-02-07

A method of resolving a balanced condition that generates control parameters for start-up and steady state operating points and various component and cycle performances for a closed split flow recompression cycle system. The method provides for improved control of a Brayton cycle thermal to electrical power conversion system. The method may also be used for system design, operational simulation and/or parameter prediction.

Patterns and controls on nitrogen cycling of biological soil crusts

Science.gov (United States)

Barger, Nichole N.; Zaady, Eli; Weber, Bettina; Garcia-Pichel, Ferran; Belnap, Jayne

2016-01-01

Biocrusts play a significant role in the nitrogen [N ] cycle within arid and semi-arid ecosystems, as they contribute major N inputs via biological fixation and dust capture, harbor internal N transformation processes, and direct N losses via N dissolved, gaseous and erosional loss processes (Fig. 1). Because soil N availability in arid and semi-arid ecosystems is generally low and may limit net primary production (NPP), especially during periods when adequate water is available, understanding the mechanisms and controls of N input and loss pathways in biocrusts is critically important to our broader understanding of N cycling in dryland environments. In particular, N cycling by biocrusts likely regulates short-term soil N availability to support vascular plant growth, as well as long-term N accumulation and maintenance of soil fertility. In this chapter, we review the influence of biocrust nutrient input, internal cycling, and loss pathways across a range of biomes. We examine linkages between N fixation capabilities of biocrust organisms and spatio-temporal patterns of soil N availability that may influence the longer-term productivity of dryland ecosystems. Lastly, biocrust influence on N loss pathways such as N gas loss, leakage of N compounds from biocrusts, and transfer in wind and water erosion are important to understand the maintenance of dryland soil fertility over longer time scales. Although great strides have been made in understanding the influence of biocrusts on ecosystem N cycling, there are important knowledge gaps in our understanding of the influence of biocrusts on ecosystem N cycling that should be the focus of future studies. Because work on the interaction of N cycling and biocrusts was reviewed in Belnap and Lange (2003), this chapter will focus primarily on research findings that have emerged over the last 15 years (2000-2015).

Revisiting Hansen Solubility Parameters by Including Thermodynamics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Louwerse, Manuel J; Fernández-Maldonado, Ana María; Rousseau, Simon; Moreau-Masselon, Chloe; Roux, Bernard; Rothenberg, Gadi

2017-01-01

The Hansen solubility parameter approach is revisited by implementing the thermodynamics of dissolution and mixing. Hansen's pragmatic approach has earned its spurs in predicting solvents for polymer solutions, but for molecular solutes improvements are needed. By going into the details of entropy

Bottomonium spectrum revisited

CERN Document Server

Segovia, Jorge; Entem, David R.; Fernández, Francisco

2016-01-01

We revisit the bottomonium spectrum motivated by the recently exciting experimental progress in the observation of new bottomonium states, both conventional and unconventional. Our framework is a nonrelativistic constituent quark model which has been applied to a wide range of hadronic observables from the light to the heavy quark sector and thus the model parameters are completely constrained. Beyond the spectrum, we provide a large number of electromagnetic, strong and hadronic decays in order to discuss the quark content of the bottomonium states and give more insights about the better way to determine their properties experimentally.

Revisiting of Stommel's model for the understanding of the abrupt climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scatamacchia, R.; Purini, R.; Rafanelli, C.

2010-01-01

Despite the enormous number of papers devoted to modelling climate changes, the pionieristic Stommel paper (1961) remains a still valid tool for the understanding of the basic mechanism that governs the abrupt climate change, i.e. the existence of multipla equilibria in the governing non-linear equations. Using non-dimensional quantities, Stommel did not provide any explicit information about the temporal scale affecting the process under examination when the control parameters are varied. On the basis of this consideration, the present paper revisits the Stommel theory putting some emphasis on the quantitative estimate of how the variations of the control system parameters system modify the fundamental motor of the climate change, i.e. the thermohaline circulation.

Cycling infrastructure for reducing cycling injuries in cyclists.

Science.gov (United States)

Mulvaney, Caroline A; Smith, Sherie; Watson, Michael C; Parkin, John; Coupland, Carol; Miller, Philip; Kendrick, Denise; McClintock, Hugh

2015-12-10

Cycling is an attractive form of transport. It is beneficial to the individual as a form of physical activity that may fit more readily into an individual's daily routine, such as for cycling to work and to the shops, than other physical activities such as visiting a gym. Cycling is also beneficial to the wider community and the environment as a result of fewer motorised journeys. Cyclists are seen as vulnerable road users who are frequently in close proximity to larger and faster motorised vehicles. Cycling infrastructure aims to make cycling both more convenient and safer for cyclists. This review is needed to guide transport planning. To:1. evaluate the effects of different types of cycling infrastructure on reducing cycling injuries in cyclists, by type of infrastructure;2. evaluate the effects of cycling infrastructure on reducing the severity of cycling injuries in cyclists;3. evaluate the effects of cycling infrastructure on reducing cycling injuries in cyclists with respect to age, sex and social group. We ran the most recent search on 2nd March 2015. We searched the Cochrane Injuries Group Specialised Register, CENTRAL (The Cochrane Library), MEDLINE (OvidSP), Embase Classic + Embase(OvidSP), PubMed and 10 other databases. We searched websites, handsearched conference proceedings, screened reference lists of included studies and previously published reviews and contacted relevant organisations. We included randomised controlled trials, cluster randomised controlled trials, controlled before-after studies, and interrupted time series studies which evaluated the effect of cycling infrastructure (such as cycle lanes, tracks or paths, speed management, roundabout design) on cyclist injury or collision rates. Studies had to include a comparator, that is, either no infrastructure or a different type of infrastructure. We excluded studies that assessed collisions that occurred as a result of competitive cycling. Two review authors examined the titles and

The Future of Engineering Education--Revisited

Science.gov (United States)

Wankat, Phillip C.; Bullard, Lisa G.

2016-01-01

This paper revisits the landmark CEE series, "The Future of Engineering Education," published in 2000 (available free in the CEE archives on the internet) to examine the predictions made in the original paper as well as the tools and approaches documented. Most of the advice offered in the original series remains current. Despite new…

Technological and life cycle assessment of organics processing odour control technologies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bindra, Navin [School of Engineering, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, Ontario N1G2W1 (Canada); Dubey, Brajesh, E-mail: bkdubey@civil.iitkgp.ernet.in [School of Engineering, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, Ontario N1G2W1 (Canada); Environmental Engineering Division, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal 721302 (India); Dutta, Animesh [School of Engineering, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, Ontario N1G2W1 (Canada)

2015-09-15

As more municipalities and communities across developed world look towards implementing organic waste management programmes or upgrading existing ones, composting facilities are emerging as a popular choice. However, odour from these facilities continues to be one of the most important concerns in terms of cost & effective mitigation. This paper provides a technological and life cycle assessment of some of the different odour control technologies and treatment methods that can be implemented in organics processing facilities. The technological assessment compared biofilters, packed tower wet scrubbers, fine mist wet scrubbers, activated carbon adsorption, thermal oxidization, oxidization chemicals and masking agents. The technologies/treatment methods were evaluated and compared based on a variety of operational, usage and cost parameters. Based on the technological assessment it was found that, biofilters and packed bed wet scrubbers are the most applicable odour control technologies for use in organics processing faculties. A life cycle assessment was then done to compare the environmental impacts of the packed-bed wet scrubber system, organic (wood-chip media) bio-filter and inorganic (synthetic media) bio-filter systems. Twelve impact categories were assessed; cumulative energy demand (CED), climate change, human toxicity, photochemical oxidant formation, metal depletion, fossil depletion, terrestrial acidification, freshwater eutrophication, marine eutrophication, terrestrial eco-toxicity, freshwater eco-toxicity and marine eco-toxicity. The results showed that for all impact categories the synthetic media biofilter had the highest environmental impact, followed by the wood chip media bio-filter system. The packed-bed system had the lowest environmental impact for all categories. - Highlights: • Assessment of odour control technologies for organics processing facilities. • Comparative life cycle assessment of three odour control technologies was conducted

Revisiting Weak Simulation for Substochastic Markov Chains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jansen, David N.; Song, Lei; Zhang, Lijun

2013-01-01

of the logic PCTL\\x, and its completeness was conjectured. We revisit this result and show that soundness does not hold in general, but only for Markov chains without divergence. It is refuted for some systems with substochastic distributions. Moreover, we provide a counterexample to completeness...

Analysis of Decentralized Control for Absorption Cycle Heat Pumps

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vinther, Kasper; Just Nielsen, Rene; Nielsen, Kirsten Mølgaard

2015-01-01

Email Print Request Permissions This paper investigates decentralized control structures for absorption cycle heat pumps and a dynamic nonlinear model of a single-effect LiBr-water absorption system is used as case study. The model has four controllable inputs, which can be used to stabilize...... the operation of the heat pump under different load conditions. Different feasible input-output pairings are analyzed by computation of relative gain array matrices and scaled condition numbers, which indicate the best pairing choice and the potential of each input-output set. Further, it is possible...... to minimize the effect of cross couplings and improve stability with the right pairing of input and output. Simulation of selected candidate input-output pairings demonstrate that decentralized control can provide stable operation of the heat pump....

New pressure control method of mixed gas in a combined cycle power plant of a steel mill

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Yudong; Wang, Yong

2017-08-01

The enterprise production concept is changing with the development of society. A steel mill requires a combined-cycle power plant, which consists of both a gas turbine and steam turbine. It can recycle energy from the gases that are emitted from coke ovens and blast furnaces during steel production. This plant can decrease the overall energy consumption of the steel mill and reduce pollution to our living environment. To develop a combined-cycle power plant, the pressure in the mixed-gas transmission system must be controlled in the range of 2.30-2.40 MPa. The particularity of the combined-cycle power plant poses a challenge to conventional controllers. In this paper, a composite control method based on the Smith predictor and cascade control was proposed for the pressure control of the mixed gases. This method has a concise structure and can be easily implemented in actual industrial fields. The experiment has been conducted to validate the proposed control method. The experiment illustrates that the proposed method can suppress various disturbances in the gas transmission control system and sustain the pressure of the gas at the desired level, which helps to avoid abnormal shutdowns in the combined-cycle power plant.

A multi-tank storage facility to effect power control in the PBMR power cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matimba, T.A.D.; Krueger, D.L.W.; Mathews, E.H.

2007-01-01

This article presents the concept of a storage facility used to effect power control in South Africa's PBMR power cycle. The concept features a multiple number of storage vessels whose purpose is to contain the working medium, helium, as it is withdrawn from the PBMR's closed loop power cycle, at low energy demand. This helium is appropriately replenished to the power cycle as the energy demand increases. Helium mass transfer between the power cycle and the storage facility, henceforth known as the inventory control system (ICS), is carried out by way of the pressure differential that exists between these two systems. In presenting the ICS concept, emphasis is placed on storage effectiveness; hence the discussion in this paper is centred on those features which accentuate storage effectiveness, namely:- Storage vessel multiplicity; - Unique initial pressures for each vessel arranged in a cascaded manner; and - A heat sink placed in each vessel to provide thermal inertia. Having presented the concept, the objective is to qualitatively justify the presence of each of the above-mentioned features using thermodynamics as a basis

Revisiting the formal foundation of Probabilistic Databases

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wanders, B.; van Keulen, Maurice

2015-01-01

One of the core problems in soft computing is dealing with uncertainty in data. In this paper, we revisit the formal foundation of a class of probabilistic databases with the purpose to (1) obtain data model independence, (2) separate metadata on uncertainty and probabilities from the raw data, (3)

Revisitando a teoria do ciclo do produto Revisiting the product cycle theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eneuton Pessoa

2007-08-01

Full Text Available Este artigo busca refletir sobre uma questão-chave que perpassa grande parte da literatura crítica à teoria do ciclo do produto: o que foi superado e o que permanece vivo nessa teoria. Após sistematizar o mecanismo básico do ciclo do produto, discutem-se algumas principais insuficiências apontadas e/ou sugeridas pela literatura. Argumenta-se que, se não mais se sustenta a hipótese de que a dinâmica das inovações e dos investimentos diretos externos responde à cronologia do ciclo de vida do produto, por outro lado, a hipótese de que as vantagens comparativas possuem um caráter dinâmico, cuja natureza e importância relativa se modificam ao longo do tempo, em resposta a mudanças nos condicionantes da produção, e conforme o estágio de desenvolvimento e complexidade do produto, permanece viva e mais atual do que nunca.This article aims to think about a key-question that involves the majority of the critic literature in respect to the product-cycle theory. What is over and what remains alive in this theory? After systematizing the basic mechanism of the product-cycle theory, it discusses some of its main insufficiencies, how it is appointed or suggested by the literature. Summarily, we argue that, if it is over the hypothesis which argues that the dynamics of innovations, and the foreign direct investments depends on the product life cycle chronology, on the other side, it remains alive and does up-to-date the hypothesis which argues that the comparative advantages have a dynamic character, which nature and relative account is modified along time in response to changes in the production conditions, in accordance to the product evolution and its complexity.

Revisiting Mutual Fund Performance Evaluation

OpenAIRE

Angelidis, Timotheos; Giamouridis, Daniel; Tessaromatis, Nikolaos

2012-01-01

Mutual fund manager excess performance should be measured relative to their self-reported benchmark rather than the return of a passive portfolio with the same risk characteristics. Ignoring the self-reported benchmark introduces biases in the measurement of stock selection and timing components of excess performance. We revisit baseline empirical evidence in mutual fund performance evaluation utilizing stock selection and timing measures that address these biases. We introduce a new factor e...

Deterministic Graphical Games Revisited

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersson, Klas Olof Daniel; Hansen, Kristoffer Arnsfelt; Miltersen, Peter Bro

2012-01-01

Starting from Zermelo’s classical formal treatment of chess, we trace through history the analysis of two-player win/lose/draw games with perfect information and potentially infinite play. Such chess-like games have appeared in many different research communities, and methods for solving them......, such as retrograde analysis, have been rediscovered independently. We then revisit Washburn’s deterministic graphical games (DGGs), a natural generalization of chess-like games to arbitrary zero-sum payoffs. We study the complexity of solving DGGs and obtain an almost-linear time comparison-based algorithm...

Metamorphosis in Craniiformea revisited

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Altenburger, Andreas; Wanninger, Andreas; Holmer, Lars E.

2013-01-01

We revisited the brachiopod fold hypothesis and investigated metamorphosis in the craniiform brachiopod Novocrania anomala. Larval development is lecithotrophic and the dorsal (brachial) valve is secreted by dorsal epithelia. We found that the juvenile ventral valve, which consists only of a thin...... brachiopods during metamorphosis to cement their pedicle to the substrate. N. anomala is therefore not initially attached by a valve but by material corresponding to pedicle cuticle. This is different to previous descriptions, which had led to speculations about a folding event in the evolution of Brachiopoda...

Rapid alterations of cell cycle control proteins in human T lymphocytes in microgravity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thiel Cora S

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract In our study we aimed to identify rapidly reacting gravity-responsive mechanisms in mammalian cells in order to understand if and how altered gravity is translated into a cellular response. In a combination of experiments using "functional weightlessness" provided by 2D-clinostats and real microgravity provided by several parabolic flight campaigns and compared to in-flight-1g-controls, we identified rapid gravity-responsive reactions inside the cell cycle regulatory machinery of human T lymphocytes. In response to 2D clinorotation, we detected an enhanced expression of p21 Waf1/Cip1 protein within minutes, less cdc25C protein expression and enhanced Ser147-phosphorylation of cyclinB1 after CD3/CD28 stimulation. Additionally, during 2D clinorotation, Tyr-15-phosphorylation occurred later and was shorter than in the 1 g controls. In CD3/CD28-stimulated primary human T cells, mRNA expression of the cell cycle arrest protein p21 increased 4.1-fold after 20s real microgravity in primary CD4+ T cells and 2.9-fold in Jurkat T cells, compared to 1 g in-flight controls after CD3/CD28 stimulation. The histone acetyltransferase (HAT inhibitor curcumin was able to abrogate microgravity-induced p21 mRNA expression, whereas expression was enhanced by a histone deacetylase (HDAC inhibitor. Therefore, we suppose that cell cycle progression in human T lymphocytes requires Earth gravity and that the disturbed expression of cell cycle regulatory proteins could contribute to the breakdown of the human immune system in space.

Revisit ocean thermal energy conversion system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, J.C.; Krock, H.J.; Oney, S.K.

2003-01-01

The earth, covered more than 70.8% by the ocean, receives most of its energy from the sun. Solar energy is transmitted through the atmosphere and efficiently collected and stored in the surface layer of the ocean, largely in the tropical zone. Some of the energy is re-emitted to the atmosphere to drive the hydrologic cycle and wind. The wind field returns some of the energy to the ocean in the form of waves and currents. The majority of the absorbed solar energy is stored in vertical thermal gradients near the surface layer of the ocean, most of which is in the tropical region. This thermal energy replenished each day by the sun in the tropical ocean represents a tremendous pollution-free energy resource for human civilization. Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) technology refers to a mechanical system that utilizes the natural temperature gradient that exists in the tropical ocean between the warm surface water and the deep cold water, to generate electricity and produce other economically valuable by-products. The science and engineering behind OTEC have been studied in the US since the mid-seventies, supported early by the U.S. Government and later by State and private industries. There are two general types of OTEC designs: closed-cycle plants utilize the evaporation of a working fluid, such as ammonia or propylene, to drive the turbine-generator, and open-cycle plants use steam from evaporated sea water to run the turbine. Another commonly known design, hybrid plants, is a combination of the two. OTEC requires relatively low operation and maintenance costs and no fossil fuel consumption. OTEC system possesses a formidable potential capacity for renewable energy and offers a significant elimination of greenhouse gases in producing power. In addition to electricity and drinking water, an OTEC system can produce many valuable by-products and side-utilizations, such as: hydrogen, air-conditioning, ice, aquaculture, and agriculture, etc. The potential of these

Integrated gasification combined cycle for acid rain control

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Simbeck, D.R.; Dickenson, R.L.

1986-10-01

The role of integrated coal gasification combined-cycle power plants in the abatement of emission of SO/sub 2/ and NO/sub 2/ which lead to acid rain is discussed. The economics of this IGCC approach are assessed for a nominal 500 MW plant size. Phased construction of IGCC plants is recommended as a means of reducing SO/sub 2/ and NO/sub x/ emissions noting that high-sulfur coals could continue to be used. It is also noted that phased construction IGCC is the only acid rain control technology that greatly reduces NO/sub x/. 17 references.

Skip cycle method with a valve-control mechanism for spark ignition engines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baykara, Cemal; Akin Kutlar, O.; Dogru, Baris; Arslan, Hikmet

2017-01-01

Highlights: • A normal four-stroke cycle followed by a skip cycle without gas exchange is tested. • The normal and skipped mode results are compared at equal power levels. • The throttle valve is opened wider, thereby resulting in a higher volumetric efficiency. • The pumping work during the gas exchange decreases significantly. • The fuel consumption (BSFC) is reduced by approximately 14–26% under part load conditions. - Abstract: The efficiency decrease of spark ignition (SI) engines under part-load conditions is a considerable issue. Changing the effective stroke volume based on the load level is one of the methods using to improve the part-load efficiency. In this study, a novel alternative engine valve control technique in order to perform a cycle without gas exchange (skip cycle), is examined. The goal of skip cycle strategy is to reduce the effective stroke volume of an engine under part load conditions by skipping several of the four stroke cycles by cutting off the fuel injection and simultaneously deactivating the inlet and exhaust valves. To achieve the same power level in the skip cycle, the cylinder pressure level reaches higher values compared to those in a normal four stroke cycle operation, but inherently not higher than the maximum one at full load of normal cycle. According to the experimental results, the break specific fuel consumption (BSFC) was reduced by 14–26% at a 1–3 bar break mean effective pressure (BMEP) and a 1200–1800 rpm engine speed of skip cycle operation, in comparison to normal engine operation. The significant decrease in the pumping work from the gas exchange is one of the primary factors for an increase in efficiency under part load conditions. As expected, the fuel consumption reduction rate at lower load conditions was higher. These experimental results indicate a promising potential of the skip cycle system for reducing the fuel consumption under part load conditions.

Ethylene Control of Fruit Ripening: Revisiting the Complex Network of Transcriptional Regulation1

Science.gov (United States)

Chervin, Christian; Bouzayen, Mondher

2015-01-01

The plant hormone ethylene plays a key role in climacteric fruit ripening. Studies on components of ethylene signaling have revealed a linear transduction pathway leading to the activation of ethylene response factors. However, the means by which ethylene selects the ripening-related genes and interacts with other signaling pathways to regulate the ripening process are still to be elucidated. Using tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) as a reference species, the present review aims to revisit the mechanisms by which ethylene regulates fruit ripening by taking advantage of new tools available to perform in silico studies at the genome-wide scale, leading to a global view on the expression pattern of ethylene biosynthesis and response genes throughout ripening. Overall, it provides new insights on the transcriptional network by which this hormone coordinates the ripening process and emphasizes the interplay between ethylene and ripening-associated developmental factors and the link between epigenetic regulation and ethylene during fruit ripening. PMID:26511917

The hard-core model on random graphs revisited

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barbier, Jean; Krzakala, Florent; Zhang, Pan; Zdeborová, Lenka

2013-01-01

We revisit the classical hard-core model, also known as independent set and dual to vertex cover problem, where one puts particles with a first-neighbor hard-core repulsion on the vertices of a random graph. Although the case of random graphs with small and very large average degrees respectively are quite well understood, they yield qualitatively different results and our aim here is to reconciliate these two cases. We revisit results that can be obtained using the (heuristic) cavity method and show that it provides a closed-form conjecture for the exact density of the densest packing on random regular graphs with degree K ≥ 20, and that for K > 16 the nature of the phase transition is the same as for large K. This also shows that the hard-code model is the simplest mean-field lattice model for structural glasses and jamming

Randomized controlled trial of the effect of endometrial injury on implantation and clinical pregnancy rates during the first ICSI cycle.

Science.gov (United States)

Maged, Ahmed M; Rashwan, Hamsa; AbdelAziz, Suzy; Ramadan, Wafaa; Mostafa, Walaa A I; Metwally, Ahmed A; Katta, Maha

2018-02-01

To assess whether endometrial injury in the cycle preceding controlled ovarian hyperstimulation during intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) improves the implantation and pregnancy rates. Between January 1, 2016, and March 31, 2017, a randomized controlled trial was conducted at a center in Egypt among 300 women who met inclusion criteria (first ICSI cycle, aged endometrial scratch in the cycle preceding controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (n=150) or to a control group (n=150). Only data analysts were masked to group assignment. The primary outcomes were the implantation and clinical pregnancy rates at 14 days and 4 weeks after embryo transfer, respectively. Analyses were by intention to treat. The implantation rate was significantly higher in the endometrial scratch group (41.3% [90/218]) than in the control group (30.0% [63/210]; Pendometrial scratch group (44.2% [61/138]) than in the control group (30.4% [41/135]; PEndometrial injury in the cycle preceding the stimulation cycle improved implantation and pregnancy rates during ICSI. CLINICALTRIALS.GOV: NCT02660125. © 2017 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.

Exogenous lactate interferes with cell-cycle control in BALB/3T3 mouse fibroblasts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rutz, H. Peter; Little, John B.

1995-01-01

Purpose: Previous studies have shown that exogenous lactate may influence proliferation rates, radiation sensitivity, and postirradiation repair capacity of mammalian cells. In the present study, we addressed the question of potential underlying mechanisms and, therefore, examined effects of exogenous lactate on proliferation rates and cell-cycle distribution in immortal but nontumorigenic mammalian cells. Methods and Materials: Cells were grown at 37 deg. C in an incubator with 5% CO 2 and 95% air, in a culture medium supplemented or not with lactate at a 10 mM concentration. Daily, we changed the culture medium and counted cells per dish. On selected days, cell-cycle distribution was determined by flow cytometry. Balb/3T3 mouse fibroblasts were used. Results: During the exponential phase of cell proliferation, mean population doubling time was significantly increased from 17.7 to 19.9 h, due to selective prolongation of G 2 /M. However, in density-inhibited cultures, exogenous lactate stimulated entry into S and proliferation to a significantly higher saturation density. Conclusions: These findings indicate that exogenous lactate interferes with mechanisms of cell-cycle control at two different points in the cell-cycle, depending on cell density and the resulting absence or presence of inhibition of cell proliferation. Interference with cell-cycle control may underlay the modification by exogenous lactate of radiosensitivity and postirradiation repair capacity in mammalian cells

Solar cycle modulation of ENSO variability

Science.gov (United States)

Kodera, Kunihiko; Thiéblemont, Rémi

2016-04-01

Inspired by the work of Labitzke and van Loon on solar/QBO modulation in the stratosphere, Barnett (1989) conducted an investigation on the relationship between the the biannual component of the sea surface temperature (SST) in the equatorial eastern Pacific and the solar activity. He found that the amplitude of biannual component of the SST (BO) is modulated by the 11-year solar cycle: the amplitude of the BO is large during a period of low solar activity, but small during high solar activity. More than 25-years or two solar cycle has passed since his finding, but the relationship still holds. In order to get an insight into the mechanism of the solar modulation of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), here we have revisited this problem. Solar cycle modulation of the BO in the tropical SST is discernible since the end of the 19th centuries, but the amplitude modulation is particularly clear after 1960's. The composite analysis of the SST based on the amplitude of the BO during 1958-2012, indicates that the amplitude of BO is larger when the equatorial Pacific temperature anomalies are high in the central Pacific, but low in the eastern Pacific. Central Pacific anomalies extend to the northern hemisphere, while those in the central Pacific spread toward the southern hemisphere. In short, this anomalous SST pattern is similar to the El Niño modoki. In this connection, it should be noted that the solar signal in the tropical SST also exhibits a similar pattern. This suggests that the modulation of the ENSO variability by the solar cycle originates through a modulation of the El Niño Modoki rather than the canonical El Nino.

Best possible cycle chemistry control in steam turbine plants; Baesta moejliga oevervakning av vattenkemin i anlaeggningar med aangturbin

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hellman, Mats [Hellman Vatten AB, Stockholm (Sweden)

2004-11-01

A project has been conducted of a large number of power and pulp plants in Sweden. Production managers and those responsible for water quality control were visited and interviewed. In addition, a research of cycle chemistry literature has been conducted to determine what has been done in other countries. The review of this literature shows that the Electric Power Research Institute in the USA and ESKOM in South Africa are in the forefront regarding QA/QC and have come a long way in water control management. A key requirement for successful plant cycle chemistry is corporate management support. The project makes it clear that cycle chemistry control was best at plants where production management was aware of the importance of high water quality. There is a real need for feed water technique and water quality education at all company levels. The objective should be that 'everyone should know the importance of right water quality'. Personnel without an education in chemistry often regard cycle chemistry as somewhat complicated. Better understanding and better working cycle chemistry control can be obtained by making the control easier and clearer for persons without training in chemistry. Extensive on-line instrumentation with well-designed systems for presenting the data, by-far, gives the best cycle chemistry control. It is important to have a holistic view when water treatment systems and on-line instrumentation are planned. It is not the amount of instruments or the number of chemistry personnel that is important. The important thing is to ensure that all functions needed fit together in the best way possible. Today, when cycle chemistry monitoring is heavily dependent on on-line instrumentation, the reliability of the instruments is crucial. Therefore, it is important to have well-established routines for maintenance, calibration and service. In order to decrease forced outages of plants due to poor cycle chemistry, the focus of chemistry control should

The Effects of Korean Medical Service Quality and Satisfaction on Revisit Intention of the United Arab Emirates Government Sponsored Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Seoyoung; Kim, Eun-Kyung

2017-06-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate medical service quality, satisfaction and to examine factors influencing hospital revisit intention of the United Arab Emirates government sponsored patients in Korea. A total of 152 UAE government sponsored patients who visited Korean hospitals participated in the questionnaire survey from August to November 2016. Stepwise multiple regression was used to identify the factors that affected the revisit intention of the participants. The mean scores of medical service quality, satisfaction, and revisit intention were 5.72 out of 7, 88.88 out of 100, 4.59 out of 5, respectively. Medical service quality and satisfaction, Medical service quality and revisit intention, satisfaction and revisit intention were positively correlated. Medical service of physician, visiting routes and responsiveness of medical service quality explained about 23.8% of revisit intention. There are needs for physicians to communicate with patients while ensuring sufficient consultation time based on excellent medical skills and nurses to respond immediately for the patients' needs through an empathic encounter in order to improve medical service quality and patient satisfaction so that to increase the revisit intention of the United Arab Emirates government sponsored patients. Further, it is necessary for the hospitals to have support plans for providing country specialized services in consideration of the UAE culture to ensure that physicians' and nurses' competencies are not undervalued by non-medical service elements such as interpreters and meals. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Preliminary study of S-CO{sub 2} cycle control logic for part load operation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ahn, Yoonhan; Lee, Jeong Ik [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-05-15

The benefits of S-CO{sub 2} cycle are relatively high efficiency under the mild turbine inlet temperature region, simple layout configuration and small foot-print. In addition, the safety of the SFR system can be inherently enhanced as the violent sodium-water reaction can be substituted with the mild sodium-CO{sub 2} reaction. 75MWe S-CO{sub 2} recompression cycle with radial type turbomachineries and PCHE was designed. Under various part load conditions (30-100% thermal load), off-design performance of the designed system was assessed, and different control logics were first tested. It was identified that the inventory control strategy is the most efficient logic for the part load operation. In the system operation, the compressor surge condition is seriously considered and controlled to avoid the system damage.

Chapter 10 the primary cilium coordinates signaling pathways in cell cycle control and migration during development and tissue repair

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Søren T; Pedersen, Stine F; Satir, Peter

2008-01-01

Cell cycle control and migration are critical processes during development and maintenance of tissue functions. Recently, primary cilia were shown to take part in coordination of the signaling pathways that control these cellular processes in human health and disease. In this review, we present...... an overview of the function of primary cilia and the centrosome in the signaling pathways that regulate cell cycle control and migration with focus on ciliary signaling via platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRalpha). We also consider how the primary cilium and the centrosome interact...... with the extracellular matrix, coordinate Wnt signaling, and modulate cytoskeletal changes that impinge on both cell cycle control and cell migration....

Controlling the radiological impact in the nuclear fuel cycle: a cost/benefit analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blanco, R.E.

1976-01-01

Methods that are used to control the radiological impact of the nuclear fuel cycle are discussed. This control is exercised through the application of a series of Federal laws and regulations that are used as the basis for licensing nuclear facilities. These licenses contain technical specifications which define the limits for the release of radioactive materials. The control is exercised more directly in a technical sense by the use of radwaste treatment equipment at the nuclear facilities to limit the release of radioactive materials. The first part of this paper contains a summary of the principal Federal laws and regulations that apply to nuclear fuel cycle facilities and a description of how they are applied in licensing procedures. A detailed discussion is presented of the amounts of radioactive materials that may be released from licensed facilities, and the radiological doses that individuals and populations surrounding these facilities would receive from these releases. These doses are then compared with the radiological doses received from natural background radiation to put them in perspective. Cost/benefit engineering surveys which are being made to determine the cost (in dollars) and the effectiveness of radwaste systems for decreasing the release of radioactive materials from model fuel cycle facilities, and to determine the benefits in terms of reduction in dose commitment to individuals and populations in surrounding areas are described

Coccolithophorids in polar waters: Wigwamma spp. revisited

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thomsen, Helge Abildhauge; Østergaard, Jette B.; Heldal, Mikal

2013-01-01

A contingent of weakly calcified coccolithophorid genera and species were described from polar regions almost 40 years ago. In the interim period a few additional findings have been reported enlarging the realm of some of the species. The genus Wigwamma is revisited here with the purpose of provi...... appearance of the coccolith armour of the cell...

Main cycle controls for the AGS Booster synchrotron

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Culwick, B.B.; Yen, S.

1991-01-01

The AGS Booster is a separated function synchrotron with the main excitation coils of the dipoles and quadrupoles connected electrically in series. This circuit is driven by a complex modular power supply with current and voltage reference functions to obtain the desired magnetic fields as a function of time. The dipole cycle is defined by algebraic functions specifying the desired field profile as a function of time. These functions are processed through successive phases to convert to the signals needed to provide the power supply with one current and six voltage references. The user interface and algorithms to derive the control variables are described. 4 refs., 3 figs

Optimization of controlled processes in combined-cycle plant (new developments and researches)

Science.gov (United States)

Tverskoy, Yu S.; Muravev, I. K.

2017-11-01

All modern complex technical systems, including power units of TPP and nuclear power plants, work in the system-forming structure of multifunctional APCS. The development of the modern APCS mathematical support allows bringing the automation degree to the solution of complex optimization problems of equipment heat-mass-exchange processes in real time. The difficulty of efficient management of a binary power unit is related to the need to solve jointly at least three problems. The first problem is related to the physical issues of combined-cycle technologies. The second problem is determined by the criticality of the CCGT operation to changes in the regime and climatic factors. The third problem is related to a precise description of a vector of controlled coordinates of a complex technological object. To obtain a joint solution of this complex of interconnected problems, the methodology of generalized thermodynamic analysis, methods of the theory of automatic control and mathematical modeling are used. In the present report, results of new developments and studies are shown. These results allow improving the principles of process control and the automatic control systems structural synthesis of power units with combined-cycle plants that provide attainable technical and economic efficiency and operational reliability of equipment.

The significance test controversy revisited the fiducial Bayesian alternative

CERN Document Server

Lecoutre, Bruno

2014-01-01

The purpose of this book is not only to revisit the “significance test controversy,”but also to provide a conceptually sounder alternative. As such, it presents a Bayesian framework for a new approach to analyzing and interpreting experimental data. It also prepares students and researchers for reporting on experimental results. Normative aspects: The main views of statistical tests are revisited and the philosophies of Fisher, Neyman-Pearson and Jeffrey are discussed in detail. Descriptive aspects: The misuses of Null Hypothesis Significance Tests are reconsidered in light of Jeffreys’ Bayesian conceptions concerning the role of statistical inference in experimental investigations. Prescriptive aspects: The current effect size and confidence interval reporting practices are presented and seriously questioned. Methodological aspects are carefully discussed and fiducial Bayesian methods are proposed as a more suitable alternative for reporting on experimental results. In closing, basic routine procedures...

The Adder Phenomenon Emerges from Independent Control of Pre- and Post-Start Phases of the Budding Yeast Cell Cycle.

Science.gov (United States)

Chandler-Brown, Devon; Schmoller, Kurt M; Winetraub, Yonatan; Skotheim, Jan M

2017-09-25

Although it has long been clear that cells actively regulate their size, the molecular mechanisms underlying this regulation have remained poorly understood. In budding yeast, cell size primarily modulates the duration of the cell-division cycle by controlling the G1/S transition known as Start. We have recently shown that the rate of progression through Start increases with cell size, because cell growth dilutes the cell-cycle inhibitor Whi5 in G1. Recent phenomenological studies in yeast and bacteria have shown that these cells add an approximately constant volume during each complete cell cycle, independent of their size at birth. These results seem to be in conflict, as the phenomenological studies suggest that cells measure the amount they grow, rather than their size, and that size control acts over the whole cell cycle, rather than specifically in G1. Here, we propose an integrated model that unifies the adder phenomenology with the molecular mechanism of G1/S cell-size control. We use single-cell microscopy to parameterize a full cell-cycle model based on independent control of pre- and post-Start cell-cycle periods. We find that our model predicts the size-independent amount of cell growth during the full cell cycle. This suggests that the adder phenomenon is an emergent property of the independent regulation of pre- and post-Start cell-cycle periods rather than the consequence of an underlying molecular mechanism measuring a fixed amount of growth. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analysis of limit cycling on a boiler feedwater control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomas, P.J.; Harrison, T.A.; Hollywell, P.D.

1986-01-01

During operation of the UKAEA Prototype Fast Reactor, it was found that oscillations sometimes occurred in the boiler feedwater systems. These were normally of relatively low amplitude, but led to the adoption of low controller gains so that control was rather slack. While control performance proved generally adequate for steady running, the lack of tight control of steam drum levels sometimes led to difficulties during periods when plant conditions were undergoing major change. The paper discusses the methods used to gain a full understanding of the phenomena occurring, and describes how that knowledge is being used to improve the control system so as to eliminate the limit cycling modes and ensure good control of steam drum levels. A noteworthy feature of the study was the use of two independent representations of plant behaviour: (i) a frequency response model, FWRFREQ, and (ii) a time-domain simulation model, PFRTDM. The simplified analysis of FWRFREQ proved to be of enormous value in identifying modes of system behaviour; PFRTDM was used as a detailed check on the accuracy and validity of the results obtained. (author)

Gait-Cycle-Driven Transmission Power Control Scheme for a Wireless Body Area Network.

Science.gov (United States)

Zang, Weilin; Li, Ye

2018-05-01

In a wireless body area network (WBAN), walking movements can result in rapid channel fluctuations, which severely degrade the performance of transmission power control (TPC) schemes. On the other hand, these channel fluctuations are often periodic and are time-synchronized with the user's gait cycle, since they are all driven from the walking movements. In this paper, we propose a novel gait-cycle-driven transmission power control (G-TPC) for a WBAN. The proposed G-TPC scheme reinforces the existing TPC scheme by exploiting the periodic channel fluctuation in the walking scenario. In the proposed scheme, the user's gait cycle information acquired by an accelerometer is used as beacons for arranging the transmissions at the time points with the ideal channel state. The specific transmission power is then determined by using received signal strength indication (RSSI). An experiment was conducted to evaluate the energy efficiency and reliability of the proposed G-TPC based on a CC2420 platform. The results reveal that compared to the original RSSI/link-quality-indication-based TPC, G-TPC reduces energy consumption by 25% on the sensor node and reduce the packet loss rate by 65%.

Multilateral controls of nuclear fuel-cycle in Asia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Jor-Shan

2010-01-01

To meet increasing energy demand and climate change issues, nuclear energy is expected to expand during the next decades in both developed and developing countries. This expansion, most visibly in Asian countries would no doubt be accompanied with complex and intractable challenges to global peace and security, notably in the back-end of the nuclear fuel cycle. What to do with the growing stocks of spent fuel in existing nuclear programs? And how to reduce proliferation concerns when spent fuels are generated in less stable regions of the world? The answers to these questions may lie in the possibility of multilateral (or regional) control of nuclear materials and technologies in the back-end of nuclear fuel cycle. One of the areas of interest is technology, e.g., spent fuel treatment (reprocessing) for long term sustainability and environmental-friendly disposal of radioactive wastes, as an alternative to directly disposing spent fuel in geologic repository. The other is to seek for regional centers for centralized interim spent fuel storage which can eventually turn into disposal facilities. Such centers could help facilitate the possibilities of spent fuel take-back/take-away from countries located in less stable regions for fix-period storage. (author)

Division of labour between Myc and G1 cyclins in cell cycle commitment and pace control.

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Peng; Maddali, Manoj V; Srimani, Jaydeep K; Thélot, François; Nevins, Joseph R; Mathey-Prevot, Bernard; You, Lingchong

2014-09-01

A body of evidence has shown that the control of E2F transcription factor activity is critical for determining cell cycle entry and cell proliferation. However, an understanding of the precise determinants of this control, including the role of other cell-cycle regulatory activities, has not been clearly defined. Here, recognizing that the contributions of individual regulatory components could be masked by heterogeneity in populations of cells, we model the potential roles of individual components together with the use of an integrated system to follow E2F dynamics at the single-cell level and in real time. These analyses reveal that crossing a threshold amplitude of E2F accumulation determines cell cycle commitment. Importantly, we find that Myc is critical in modulating the amplitude, whereas cyclin D/E activities have little effect on amplitude but do contribute to the modulation of duration of E2F activation, thereby affecting the pace of cell cycle progression.

Satellite failures revisited

Science.gov (United States)

Balcerak, Ernie

2012-12-01

In January 1994, the two geostationary satellites known as Anik-E1 and Anik-E2, operated by Telesat Canada, failed one after the other within 9 hours, leaving many northern Canadian communities without television and data services. The outage, which shut down much of the country's broadcast television for hours and cost Telesat Canada more than $15 million, generated significant media attention. Lam et al. used publicly available records to revisit the event; they looked at failure details, media coverage, recovery effort, and cost. They also used satellite and ground data to determine the precise causes of those satellite failures. The researchers traced the entire space weather event from conditions on the Sun through the interplanetary medium to the particle environment in geostationary orbit.

Pockets of Participation: Revisiting Child-Centred Participation Research

Science.gov (United States)

Franks, Myfanwy

2011-01-01

This article revisits the theme of the clash of interests and power relations at work in participatory research which is prescribed from above. It offers a possible route toward solving conflict between adult-led research carried out by young researchers, funding requirements and organisational constraints. The article explores issues of…

Faraday effect revisited: sum rules and convergence issues

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cornean, Horia; Nenciu, Gheorghe

2010-01-01

This is the third paper of a series revisiting the Faraday effect. The question of the absolute convergence of the sums over the band indices entering the Verdet constant is considered. In general, sum rules and traces per unit volume play an important role in solid-state physics, and they give...

The effect of endometrial scratch on natural-cycle cryopreserved embryo transfer outcomes: a randomized controlled study.

Science.gov (United States)

Mak, Jennifer Sze Man; Chung, Cathy Hoi Sze; Chung, Jacqueline Pui Wah; Kong, Grace Wing Shan; Saravelos, Sotirios H; Cheung, Lai Ping; Li, Tin-Chiu

2017-07-01

The benefit of endometrial scratch (ES) prior to embryo transfer is controversial. Systemic analysis has confirmed its potential benefit, especially in women with repeated IVF failures, yet most studies have focused on fresh embryo transfer, and its effect on vitrified-warmed embryo transfer (FET) cycles is yet to be explored. We hereby present our prospective, double-blind, randomized controlled study on the evaluation of the implantation and pregnancy rate after ES prior to natural-cycle FET. A total of 299 patients underwent natural-cycle FET and were randomized to receive ES (n = 115) or endocervical manipulation as control (n = 114) prior to FET cycle, and a total of 196 patients had embryo transfer (93 patients in each group). Our study showed no significant difference in the implantation and pregnancy rate, as well as the clinical and ongoing pregnancy or live birth rates between the two groups. It appears that ES does not have any beneficial effect on an unselected group of women undergoing FET in natural cycles. Further studies on its effect in women with recurrent implantation failure after IVF are warranted. Copyright © 2017 Reproductive Healthcare Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Potential of Atkinson cycle combined with EGR for pollutant control in a HD diesel engine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benajes, J.; Serrano, J.R.; Molina, S.; Novella, R.

2009-01-01

An experimental investigation has been performed on the potential of the Atkinson cycle and reducing intake oxygen concentration for pollutant control in a heavy-duty diesel engine. In this study the Atkinson cycle has been reproduced advancing the intake valve closing angle towards the intake stroke. In addition, the intake oxygen concentration has been reduced introducing exhaust gas recirculation. This research has been carried out at low engine load (25%), where the Atkinson cycle is known to improve the efficiency of the spark-ignition engines. The main interest of this investigation has been the comparison between the Atkinson cycle and the conventional diesel cycle at the same oxygen concentration in the intake gas. This analysis has been focused on in-cylinder gas thermodynamic conditions, combustion process, exhaust emissions and engine efficiency. In compression ignition engines, the Atkinson cycle basically promotes the premixed combustion, but in the range of these tests, a complete premixed combustion was not attained. Regarding exhaust emissions, the Atkinson cycle reduces notably the nitrous oxides but increases soot emissions. Finally, better global results have been found reducing intake oxygen concentration by the recirculation of exhaust gas than by the operation of an Atkinson cycle

The use of prostaglandins in controlling estrous cycle of the ewe: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Fierro, Sergio; Gil, Jorge; Viñoles, Carolina; Olivera-Muzante, Julio

2013-02-01

This review considers the use of prostaglandin F(2α) and its synthetic analogues (PG) for controlling the estrous cycle of the ewe. Aspects such as phase of the estrus cycle, PG analogues, PG doses, ovarian follicle development pattern, CL formation, progesterone synthesis, ovulation rate, sperm transport, embryo quality, and fertility rates after PG administration are reviewed. Furthermore, protocols for estrus synchronization and their success in timed AI programs are discussed. Based on available information, the ovine CL is refractory to PG treatment for up to 2 days after ovulation. All PG analogues are effective when an appropriate dose is given; in that regard, there is a positive association between the dose administered and the proportion of ewes detected in estrus. Follicular response after PG is dependent on the phase of the estrous cycle at treatment. Altered sperm transport and low pregnancy rates are generally reported. However, reports on alteration of the steroidogenic capacity of preovulatory follicles, ovulation rate, embryo quality, recovery rates, and prolificacy, are controversial. Although various PG-based protocols can be used for estrus synchronization, a second PG injection improves estrus response when the stage of the estrous cycle at the first injection is unknown. The estrus cycle after PG administration has a normal length. Prostaglandin-based protocols for timed AI achieved poor reproductive outcomes, but increasing the interval between PG injections might increase pregnancy rates. Attempts to improve reproductive outcomes have been directed to provide a synchronized LH surge: use of different routes of AI (cervical or intrauterine), different PG doses, and increased intervals between PG injections. Finally we present our point of view regarding future perspectives on the use of PG in programs of controlled sheep reproduction. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Additively homomorphic encryption with a double decryption mechanism, revisited

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Peter, Andreas; Kronberg, M.; Trei, W.; Katzenbeisser, S.

We revisit the notion of additively homomorphic encryption with a double decryption mechanism (DD-PKE), which allows for additions in the encrypted domain while having a master decryption procedure that can decrypt all properly formed ciphertexts by using a special master secret. This type of

Moral Judgment Development across Cultures: Revisiting Kohlberg's Universality Claims

Science.gov (United States)

Gibbs, John C.; Basinger, Karen S.; Grime, Rebecca L.; Snarey, John R.

2007-01-01

This article revisits Kohlberg's cognitive developmental claims that stages of moral judgment, facilitative processes of social perspective-taking, and moral values are commonly identifiable across cultures. Snarey [Snarey, J. (1985). "The cross-cultural universality of social-moral development: A critical review of Kohlbergian research."…

Radiative corrections to double-Dalitz decays revisited

Science.gov (United States)

Kampf, Karol; Novotný, Jiři; Sanchez-Puertas, Pablo

2018-03-01

In this study, we revisit and complete the full next-to-leading order corrections to pseudoscalar double-Dalitz decays within the soft-photon approximation. Comparing to the previous study, we find small differences, which are nevertheless relevant for extracting information about the pseudoscalar transition form factors. Concerning the latter, these processes could offer the opportunity to test them—for the first time—in their double-virtual regime.

A Feminist Revisit to the First-Year Curriculum.

Science.gov (United States)

Bernstein, Anita

1996-01-01

A seminar at Chicago-Kent College of Law (Illinois) that reviews six first-year law school courses by focusing on feminist issues in course content and structure is described. The seminar functions as both a review and a shift in perspective. Courses revisited include civil procedure, contracts, criminal law, justice and the legal system,…

p53 as Batman: using a movie plot to understand control of the cell cycle.

Science.gov (United States)

Gadi, Nikhita; Foley, Sage E; Nowey, Mark; Plopper, George E

2013-04-16

This Teaching Resource provides and describes a two-part classroom exercise to help students understand control of the cell cycle, with a focus on the transcription factor p53, the E3 ubiquitin ligase Mdm2, the Mdm2 inhibitor ARF, the kinases ATM and ATR, the kinase Chk2, and the cell cycle inhibitor p21(Cip1). Students use characters and scenes from the movie The Dark Knight to represent elements of the cell cycle control machinery, then they apply these characters and scenes to translate a primary research article on p53 function into a new movie scene in the "Batman universe." This exercise is appropriate for college-level courses in cell biology and cancer biology and requires students to have a background in introductory cell biology. Explicit learning outcomes and associated assessment methods are provided, as well as slides, student assignments, the primary research article, and an instructor's guide for the exercise.

Quantum duel revisited

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmidt, Alexandre G M; Paiva, Milena M

2012-01-01

We revisit the quantum two-person duel. In this problem, both Alice and Bob each possess a spin-1/2 particle which models dead and alive states for each player. We review the Abbott and Flitney result—now considering non-zero α 1 and α 2 in order to decide if it is better for Alice to shoot or not the second time—and we also consider a duel where players do not necessarily start alive. This simple assumption allows us to explore several interesting special cases, namely how a dead player can win the duel shooting just once, or how can Bob revive Alice after one shot, and the better strategy for Alice—being either alive or in a superposition of alive and dead states—fighting a dead opponent. (paper)

Control of Limit Cycle Oscillations of a Two-Dimensional Aeroelastic System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Ghommem

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Linear and nonlinear static feedback controls are implemented on a nonlinear aeroelastic system that consists of a rigid airfoil supported by nonlinear springs in the pitch and plunge directions and subjected to nonlinear aerodynamic loads. The normal form is used to investigate the Hopf bifurcation that occurs as the freestream velocity is increased and to analytically predict the amplitude and frequency of the ensuing limit cycle oscillations (LCO. It is shown that linear control can be used to delay the flutter onset and reduce the LCO amplitude. Yet, its required gains remain a function of the speed. On the other hand, nonlinear control can be effciently implemented to convert any subcritical Hopf bifurcation into a supercritical one and to significantly reduce the LCO amplitude.

The Circadian Molecular Clock Regulates Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis by Controlling the Timing of Cell-Cycle Entry and Exit

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pascale Bouchard-Cannon

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The subgranular zone (SGZ of the adult hippocampus contains a pool of quiescent neural progenitor cells (QNPs that are capable of entering the cell cycle and producing newborn neurons. The mechanisms that control the timing and extent of adult neurogenesis are not well understood. Here, we show that QNPs of the adult SGZ express molecular-clock components and proliferate in a rhythmic fashion. The clock proteins PERIOD2 and BMAL1 are critical for proper control of neurogenesis. The absence of PERIOD2 abolishes the gating of cell-cycle entrance of QNPs, whereas genetic ablation of bmal1 results in constitutively high levels of proliferation and delayed cell-cycle exit. We use mathematical model simulations to show that these observations may arise from clock-driven expression of a cell-cycle inhibitor that targets the cyclin D/Cdk4-6 complex. Our findings may have broad implications for the circadian clock in timing cell-cycle events of other stem cell populations throughout the body.

Anammox revisited: thermodynamic considerations in early studies of the microbial nitrogen cycle.

Science.gov (United States)

Oren, Aharon

2015-08-01

This paper explores the early literature on the thermodynamics of processes in the microbial nitrogen cycle, evaluating parameters of transfer of energy which depends on the initial and final states of the system, the mechanism of the reactions involved and the rates of these reactions. Processes discussed include the anaerobic oxidation of ammonium (the anammox reaction), the use of inorganic nitrogen compounds as electron donors for anoxygenic photosynthesis, and the mechanism and bioenergetics of biological nitrogen fixation. © FEMS 2015. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Variations upon a theme: Australian lizards provide insights into the endocrine control of vertebrate reproductive cycles.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Susan M

2017-04-01

Australian lizards exhibit a broad array of different reproductive strategies and provide an extraordinary diversity and range of models with which to address fundamental problems in reproductive biology. Studies on lizards have frequently led to new insights into hormonal regulatory pathways or mechanisms of control, but we have detailed knowledge of the reproductive cycle in only a small percentage of known species. This review provides an overview and synthesis of current knowledge of the hormonal control of reproductive cycles in Australian lizards. Agamid lizards have provided useful models with which to test hypotheses about the hormonal regulation of the expression of reproductive behaviors, while research on viviparous skinks is providing insights into the evolution of the endocrine control of gestation. However, in order to better understand the potential risks that environmental factors such as climate change and endocrine disrupting chemicals pose to our fauna, better knowledge is required of the fundamental characteristics of the reproductive cycle in a broader range of lizard species. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Development of a Temperature Controller for a Vuilleumier (VM) Cycle Power Cylinder

Science.gov (United States)

1975-10-01

the system in the event of a shorted sensor; both of these actions turn the power section of the controller "off," and it cannot be repowered until...400-Hz power to a low-level DC with the attendant necessity of using a 400-Hz power transformer . Thus use of DC will allow a less compli- cated...N AFFDL.TR-75-99 7? ^0 00 o o o CQ DEVELOPMENT OF A TEMPERATURE CONTROLLER FOR A VUILLEUMIER (VM) CYCLE POWER CYLINDER i ■ L RTHUR D

The Effect of Brand Equity and Perceived Value on Customer Revisit Intention: A Study in Quick-Service Restaurants in Vietnam

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ly Thi Minh Pham

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to examine how brand equity, from a customer point of view, influences quick-service restaurant revisit intention. The authors propose a conceptual framework in which three dimensions of brand equity including brand associations combined with brand awareness, perceived quality, brand loyalty and perceived value are related to revisit intention. Data from 570 customers who had visited four quick-service restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City were used for the structural equation modelling (SEM analysis. The results show that strong brand equity is significantly correlated with revisit intention. Additionally, the effect of brand equity on revisit intention was mediated by perceived value, among others. Overall, this study emphasizes the importance of perceived value in lodging in the customer’s mind. Finally, managerial implications are presented based on the study results.

Literary Origins of the Term "School Psychologist" Revisited

Science.gov (United States)

Fagan, Thomas K.

2005-01-01

Previous research on the literary origins of the term "school psychologist" is revisited, and conclusions are revised in light of new evidence. It appears that the origin of the term in the American literature occurred as early as 1898 in an article by Hugo Munsterberg, predating the usage by Wilhelm Stern in 1911. The early references to the…

A Multi-Level Model of Moral Functioning Revisited

Science.gov (United States)

Reed, Don Collins

2009-01-01

The model of moral functioning scaffolded in the 2008 "JME" Special Issue is here revisited in response to three papers criticising that volume. As guest editor of that Special Issue I have formulated the main body of this response, concerning the dynamic systems approach to moral development, the problem of moral relativism and the role of…

Modified natural cycle versus controlled ovarian hyperstimulation IVF: a cost-effectiveness evaluation of three simulated treatment scenarios

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Groen, Henk; Tonch, Nino; Simons, Arnold H. M.; van der Veen, Fulco; Hoek, Annemieke; Land, Jolande A.

2013-01-01

Can modified natural cycle IVF or ICSI (MNC) be a cost-effective alternative for controlled ovarian hyperstimulation IVF or ICSI (COH)? The comparison of simulated scenarios indicates that a strategy of three to six cycles of MNC with minimized medication is a cost-effective alternative for one

Modified natural cycle versus controlled ovarian hyperstimulation IVF : a cost-effectiveness evaluation of three simulated treatment scenarios

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Groen, Henk; Tonch, Nino; Simons, Arnold H. M.; van der Veen, Fulco; Hoek, Annemieke; Land, Jolande A.

2013-01-01

STUDY QUESTION: Can modified natural cycle IVF or ICSI (MNC) be a cost-effective alternative for controlled ovarian hyperstimulation IVF or ICSI (COH)? SUMMARY ANSWER: The comparison of simulated scenarios indicates that a strategy of three to six cycles of MNC with minimized medication is a

Coordinated control of a combined cycle thermoelectric central; Control coordinado de una central termoelectrica de ciclo combinado

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sanchez Parra, Marino; Castelo Cuevas, Luis [Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas, Cuernavaca (Mexico)

1998-03-01

In this paper the coordinated control (CC) of the Distributed Control System (Sistema de Control Distribuido) (SICODI) of the Combined Cycle Central of Gomez Palacio, Durango, is presented. The description of the control scheme and its realization in software is made. From the scheme the operation strategies and automation, supervision and control are described in detail. The software components of the programming are described, the program structure and control data and its implementation in working stations VAX 3100 under the operating system VMS (Virtual Memory System), are described. [Espanol] En este articulo se presenta el control coordinado (CC) del Sistema de Control Distribuido (Sicodi) de la central de ciclo combinado Gomez Palacio, Durango. Se describe el esquema de control y su realizacion en software. Del esquema se detallan las estrategias de operacion y automatizacion, supervision y control. Del software se describen los componentes de la programacion, la estructura de programas y datos del control y su implementacion en estaciones de trabajo VAX 3100 bajo el sistema operativo VMS (Virtual Memory System).

Evaluation of spectral shift controlled reactors operating on the uranium fuel cycle. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matzie, R.A.; Sider, F.M.

1979-08-01

The performance of the spectral shift controlled reactor (SSCR) operating on uranium fuel cycles was evaluated and compared with the conventional pressurized water reactor (PWR). In order to analyze the SSCR, the PSR design methodology was extended to include systems moderated by mixtures of light water and heavy water and these methods were validated by comparison with experimental results. Once the design methods had been formulated, the resouce requirements and power costs were determined for the uranium-fueled SSCR. The ore requirements of the UO 2 once-through fuel cycle and the UO 2 fuel cycle with self-generated recycle (SGR) of plutonium were found to be 10% and 19% less than those of similarly fueled PWRs, respectively. A fuel cycle optimization study was performed for the UO 2 once-through SSCR and the SGR SSCR. By individually altering lattice parameters, discharge exposure or number of in-core batches, savings of less than 8% in resource requirements and less than 1% in power costs were obtained

Reframing in dentistry: Revisited

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sivakumar Nuvvula

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The successful practice of dentistry involves a good combination of technical skills and soft skills. Soft skills or communication skills are not taught extensively in dental schools and it can be challenging to learn and at times in treating dental patients. Guiding the child′s behavior in the dental operatory is one of the preliminary steps to be taken by the pediatric dentist and one who can successfully modify the behavior can definitely pave the way for a life time comprehensive oral care. This article is an attempt to revisit a simple behavior guidance technique, reframing and explain the possible psychological perspectives behind it for better use in the clinical practice.

DETECTING ALIEN LIMIT CYCLES NEAR A HAMILTONIAN 2-SADDLE CYCLE

OpenAIRE

LUCA, Stijn; DUMORTIER, Freddy; Caubergh, M.; Roussarie, R.

2009-01-01

This paper aims at providing and example of a cubic Hamiltonian 2-saddle cycle that after bifurcation can give rise to an alien limit cycle; this is a limit cycle that is not controlled by a zero of the related Abelian integral. To guarantee the existence of an alien limit cycle one can verify generic conditions on the Abelian integral and on the transition map associated to the connections of the 2-saddle cycle. In this paper, a general method is developed to compute the first and second der...

Model predictive control system and method for integrated gasification combined cycle power generation

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Aditya; Shi, Ruijie; Kumar, Rajeeva; Dokucu, Mustafa

2013-04-09

Control system and method for controlling an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plant are provided. The system may include a controller coupled to a dynamic model of the plant to process a prediction of plant performance and determine a control strategy for the IGCC plant over a time horizon subject to plant constraints. The control strategy may include control functionality to meet a tracking objective and control functionality to meet an optimization objective. The control strategy may be configured to prioritize the tracking objective over the optimization objective based on a coordinate transformation, such as an orthogonal or quasi-orthogonal projection. A plurality of plant control knobs may be set in accordance with the control strategy to generate a sequence of coordinated multivariable control inputs to meet the tracking objective and the optimization objective subject to the prioritization resulting from the coordinate transformation.

Revisiting the ants of Melanesia and the taxon cycle: historical and human-mediated invasions of a tropical archipelago.

Science.gov (United States)

Economo, Evan P; Sarnat, Eli M

2012-07-01

Understanding the historical evolution of biotas and the dynamics of contemporary human-mediated species introductions are two central tasks of biology. One hypothesis may address both-the taxon cycle. Taxon cycles are phases of range expansion and contraction coupled to ecological and evolutionary niche shifts. These historical invasion processes resemble human-mediated invasions in pattern and possibly mechanism, but both the existence of historical cycles and the roles of recent introductions are in question. We return to the system that originally inspired the taxon cycle-Melanesian ants-and perform novel tests of the hypothesis. We analyze (i) the habitat distributions of Fiji's entire ant fauna (183 species), (ii) ecological shifts associated with the in situ radiation of Fijian Pheidole in a phylogenetic context, and (iii) the ecological structure of a massive exotic ant invasion of the archipelago. Our analyses indicate lineages shift toward primary habitats, higher elevation, rarity, and ecological specialization with increasing level of endemism, consistent with taxon cycle predictions. The marginal habitats that historically formed a dispersal conduit in the Pacific are now mostly replaced by human-modified habitats dominated by a colonization pulse of exotic species. We propose this may represent the first phase of an incipient global cycle of human-mediated colonization, ecological shifts, and diversification.

Revisiting Pocos de Caldas. Application of the co-precipitation approach to establish realistic solubility limits for performance assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bruno, J.; Duro, L.; Jordana, S.; Cera, E.

1996-02-01

Solubility limits constitute a critical parameter for the determination of the mobility of radionuclides in the near field and the geosphere, and consequently for the performance assessment of nuclear waste repositories. Mounting evidence from natural system studies indicate that trace elements, and consequently radionuclides, are associated to the dynamic cycling of major geochemical components. We have recently developed a thermodynamic approach to take into consideration the co-precipitation and co-dissolution processes that mainly control this linkage. The approach has been tested in various natural system studies with encouraging results. The Pocos de Caldas natural analogue was one of the sites where a full testing of our predictive geochemical modelling capabilities were done during the analogue project. We have revisited the Pocos de Caldas data and expanded the trace element solubility calculations by considering the documented trace metal/major ion interactions. This has been done by using the co-precipitation/co-dissolution approach. The outcome is as follows: A satisfactory modelling of the behaviour of U, Zn and REEs is achieved by assuming co-precipitation with ferrihydrite. Strontium concentrations are apparently controlled by its co-dissolution from Sr-rich fluorites. From the performance assessment point of view, the present work indicates that calculated solubility limits using the co-precipitation approach are in close agreement with the actual trace element concentrations. Furthermore, the calculated radionuclide concentrations are 2-4 orders of magnitude lower than conservative solubility limits calculated by assuming equilibrium with individual trace element phases. 34 refs, 18 figs, 13 tabs

Revisiting Pocos de Caldas. Application of the co-precipitation approach to establish realistic solubility limits for performance assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bruno, J.; Duro, L.; Jordana, S.; Cera, E. [QuantiSci, Barcelona (Spain)

1996-02-01

Solubility limits constitute a critical parameter for the determination of the mobility of radionuclides in the near field and the geosphere, and consequently for the performance assessment of nuclear waste repositories. Mounting evidence from natural system studies indicate that trace elements, and consequently radionuclides, are associated to the dynamic cycling of major geochemical components. We have recently developed a thermodynamic approach to take into consideration the co-precipitation and co-dissolution processes that mainly control this linkage. The approach has been tested in various natural system studies with encouraging results. The Pocos de Caldas natural analogue was one of the sites where a full testing of our predictive geochemical modelling capabilities were done during the analogue project. We have revisited the Pocos de Caldas data and expanded the trace element solubility calculations by considering the documented trace metal/major ion interactions. This has been done by using the co-precipitation/co-dissolution approach. The outcome is as follows: A satisfactory modelling of the behaviour of U, Zn and REEs is achieved by assuming co-precipitation with ferrihydrite. Strontium concentrations are apparently controlled by its co-dissolution from Sr-rich fluorites. From the performance assessment point of view, the present work indicates that calculated solubility limits using the co-precipitation approach are in close agreement with the actual trace element concentrations. Furthermore, the calculated radionuclide concentrations are 2-4 orders of magnitude lower than conservative solubility limits calculated by assuming equilibrium with individual trace element phases. 34 refs, 18 figs, 13 tabs.

Revisiting Jack Goody to Rethink Determinisms in Literacy Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Collin, Ross

2013-01-01

This article revisits Goody's arguments about literacy's influence on social arrangements, culture, cognition, economics, and other domains of existence. Whereas some of his arguments tend toward technological determinism (i.e., literacy causes change in the world), other of his arguments construe literacy as a force that shapes and is shaped by…

The circadian molecular clock regulates adult hippocampal neurogenesis by controlling the timing of cell-cycle entry and exit.

Science.gov (United States)

Bouchard-Cannon, Pascale; Mendoza-Viveros, Lucia; Yuen, Andrew; Kærn, Mads; Cheng, Hai-Ying M

2013-11-27

The subgranular zone (SGZ) of the adult hippocampus contains a pool of quiescent neural progenitor cells (QNPs) that are capable of entering the cell cycle and producing newborn neurons. The mechanisms that control the timing and extent of adult neurogenesis are not well understood. Here, we show that QNPs of the adult SGZ express molecular-clock components and proliferate in a rhythmic fashion. The clock proteins PERIOD2 and BMAL1 are critical for proper control of neurogenesis. The absence of PERIOD2 abolishes the gating of cell-cycle entrance of QNPs, whereas genetic ablation of bmal1 results in constitutively high levels of proliferation and delayed cell-cycle exit. We use mathematical model simulations to show that these observations may arise from clock-driven expression of a cell-cycle inhibitor that targets the cyclin D/Cdk4-6 complex. Our findings may have broad implications for the circadian clock in timing cell-cycle events of other stem cell populations throughout the body. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

PENGARUH GUIDE PERFORMANCE DAN QUALITY TOURISM SERVICE TERHADAP REVISIT INTENTION DI KEBUN RAYA BOGOR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rian Andriani

2016-11-01

ABSTRACT Bogor Botanical Gardens is one of tourist destination in Bogor City, West Java, which the geographical in a strategic location between two big cities, Jakarta and Bandung. This location factor is can become an opportunity for Bogor Botanical Gardens to become a favorite tourist destination in Bogor City. Guide Performance and Quality Tourism Service is one of part of the tourism, so the researcher focus to Guide Performance and Quality Tourism Service To Revisit Intention in Bogor Botanical Gardens. In this research, the researcher used quantitative methode with descriptive verificative. The researcher used 100 respondent for a sample. In this research, the researcher used multiple linier regresion analysis with hypotesis test used determination coefficient test and F test. The classical assumption of this research is used normality test, multicollinearity test, heteroskedastisitas test and auto correlation test. In this research, the Guide Performance and Quality Tourism Service factors has an influence 33,2% of Revisit Intention in Bogor Botanical Garden. Keywords: Guide Performance, Quality Tourism Service and Revisit Intention

An optimal multivariable controller for transcritical CO2 refrigeration cycle with an adjustable ejector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He, Yang; Deng, Jianqiang; Yang, Fusheng; Zhang, Zaoxiao

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Dynamic model for transcritical CO 2 ejector refrigeration system is developed. • A model-driven optimal multivariable controller is proposed. • Gas cooler pressure and cooling capacity are tracked independently. • Maximal performance for a given load is achieved by the optimal controller. - Abstract: The fixed ejector has to work under a restricted operating condition to keep its positive effectiveness on the transcritical CO 2 refrigeration cycle, and a controllable ejector will be helpful. In this paper, an optimal multivariable controller based on the dynamic model is proposed to improve transcritical CO 2 refrigeration cycle with an adjustable ejector (TCRAE). A nonlinear dynamic model is first developed to model the dynamic characteristic of TCRAE. The corresponding model linearization is carried out and the simulation results reproduce transient behavior of the nonlinear model very well. Based on the developed model, an optimal multivariable controller with a tracker based linear quadratic state feedback algorithm and a predictor using steepest descent method is designed. The controller is finally applied on the experimental apparatus and the performance is verified. Using the tracker only, the gas cooler pressure and chilled water outlet temperature (cooling capacity) are well tracked rejecting the disturbances from each other. Furthermore, by the predictor, the optimal gas cooler pressure for a constant cooling capacity is actually approached on the experimental apparatus with a settling time about 700 s.

Revisiting the Political Economy of Communication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicholas Garnham

2014-02-01

The task of the paper and the seminar was to revisit some of Nicholas Garnham’s ideas, writings and contributions to the study of the Political Economy of Communication and to reflect on the concepts, history, current status and perspectives of this field and the broader study of political economy today. The topics covered include Raymond Williams’ cultural materialism, Pierre Bourdieu’s sociology of culture, the debate between Political Economy and Cultural Studies, information society theory, Karl Marx’s theory and the critique of capitalism.

Analysis of a Temperature-Controlled Exhaust Thermoelectric Generator During a Driving Cycle

Science.gov (United States)

Brito, F. P.; Alves, A.; Pires, J. M.; Martins, L. B.; Martins, J.; Oliveira, J.; Teixeira, J.; Goncalves, L. M.; Hall, M. J.

2016-03-01

Thermoelectric generators can be used in automotive exhaust energy recovery. As car engines operate under wide variable loads, it is a challenge to design a system for operating efficiently under these variable conditions. This means being able to avoid excessive thermal dilution under low engine loads and being able to operate under high load, high temperature events without the need to deflect the exhaust gases with bypass systems. The authors have previously proposed a thermoelectric generator (TEG) concept with temperature control based on the operating principle of the variable conductance heat pipe/thermosiphon. This strategy allows the TEG modules’ hot face to work under constant, optimized temperature. The variable engine load will only affect the number of modules exposed to the heat source, not the heat transfer temperature. This prevents module overheating under high engine loads and avoids thermal dilution under low engine loads. The present work assesses the merit of the aforementioned approach by analysing the generator output during driving cycles simulated with an energy model of a light vehicle. For the baseline evaporator and condenser configuration, the driving cycle averaged electrical power outputs were approximately 320 W and 550 W for the type-approval Worldwide harmonized light vehicles test procedure Class 3 driving cycle and for a real-world highway driving cycle, respectively.

Study of the cell cycle control for human malignant mesothelioma lines. Interferon and radiations effect

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vivo, C.

1999-01-01

In order to better understand the inhibition mechanisms of the IFN-R-HU on tumoral development, the IFN-R-U effect on MM lines has been studied. Three groups of lines has been distinguished: eight sensitive lines, two intermediate and three resistant. The sensitive lines showed a triple locking of the cell cycle: in phases S, G1 and G2. The study of the cell cycle control points function, realized by the MM lines radiation exposure showed the points function on G1/S and-or on G2/M and the dependence or non dependence of the cycle stop of the protein P53 and P21 W at F1/CIP1. (A.L.B.)

Development of the ANL plant dynamics code and control strategies for the supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle and code validation with data from the Sandia small-scale supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle test loop.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moisseytsev, A.; Sienicki, J. J. (Nuclear Engineering Division)

2011-11-07

Significant progress has been made in the ongoing development of the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) Plant Dynamics Code (PDC), the ongoing investigation and development of control strategies, and the analysis of system transient behavior for supercritical carbon dioxide (S-CO{sub 2}) Brayton cycles. Several code modifications have been introduced during FY2011 to extend the range of applicability of the PDC and to improve its calculational stability and speed. A new and innovative approach was developed to couple the Plant Dynamics Code for S-CO{sub 2} cycle calculations with SAS4A/SASSYS-1 Liquid Metal Reactor Code System calculations for the transient system level behavior on the reactor side of a Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) or Lead-Cooled Fast Reactor (LFR). The new code system allows use of the full capabilities of both codes such that whole-plant transients can now be simulated without additional user interaction. Several other code modifications, including the introduction of compressor surge control, a new approach for determining the solution time step for efficient computational speed, an updated treatment of S-CO{sub 2} cycle flow mergers and splits, a modified enthalpy equation to improve the treatment of negative flow, and a revised solution of the reactor heat exchanger (RHX) equations coupling the S-CO{sub 2} cycle to the reactor, were introduced to the PDC in FY2011. All of these modifications have improved the code computational stability and computational speed, while not significantly affecting the results of transient calculations. The improved PDC was used to continue the investigation of S-CO{sub 2} cycle control and transient behavior. The coupled PDC-SAS4A/SASSYS-1 code capability was used to study the dynamic characteristics of a S-CO{sub 2} cycle coupled to a SFR plant. Cycle control was investigated in terms of the ability of the cycle to respond to a linear reduction in the electrical grid demand from 100% to 0% at a rate of 5

Comparison of control rod effectiveness for thorium and low-enriched fuel cycles in the GA-1, 160 MW(e) design

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Neef, Hans Joachim

1974-03-15

In an investigation of the properties of the Thorium-Uranium (Th) and the Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) fuel cycles it is also necessary to compare the effectiveness of the control rods in a reactor system operating with these sorts of fuel. Furthermore, it is under consideration to start a reactor with LEU fuel and switch-over to a Th cycle. It is also of interest to look at the switch-over phase in respect to the control rod effectiveness. The various fuel cycles have been studied for the same fuel element and control rod design, namely the one of GA's commercially available 1,160 MW(e) reference power station. This paper gives the first results on the control rod calculations and is presented mainly in two parts. Part 1 describes spectral effects which have been investigated by cell calculations with a discrete ordinates transport code. The main result is the higher effectiveness of a rod in a Th-cycle compared with a LEU-cycle. Part 2 reports on reactor calculations with a diffusion code and shows that this advantage can partially disappear in the reactor because of the spatial flux distribution. This effect has to be studied in further investigations for a full understanding.

The vacuum structure, special relativity theory and quantum mechanics revisited: a field theory-no-geometry approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bogolubov, N.N. Jr.; Prykarpatsky, A.K.; Ufuk Taneri

2008-07-01

The main fundamental principles characterizing the vacuum field structure are formulated and the modeling of the related vacuum medium and charged point particle dynamics by means of de- vised field theoretic tools are analyzed. The Maxwell electrodynamic theory is revisited and newly derived from the suggested vacuum field structure principles and the classical special relativity theory relationship between the energy and the corresponding point particle mass is revisited and newly obtained. The Lorentz force expression with respect to arbitrary non-inertial reference frames is revisited and discussed in detail, and some new interpretations of relations between the special relativity theory and quantum mechanics are presented. The famous quantum-mechanical Schroedinger type equations for a relativistic point particle in the external potential and magnetic fields within the quasiclassical approximation as the Planck constant (h/2π) → 0 and the light velocity c → ∞ are obtained. (author)

K Mbugua The Problem of Hell Revisited pp93-103

African Journals Online (AJOL)

K Mbugua

The Problem of Hell Revisited: Towards a Gentler Theology of Hell 93 ... One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear. Him! .... Suppose your spouse or parent or child goes to hell and you go to heaven.

What matters to infrequent customers: a pragmatic approach to understanding perceived value and intention to revisit trendy coffee café.

Science.gov (United States)

Ting, Hiram; Thurasamy, Ramayah

2016-01-01

Notwithstanding the rise of trendy coffee café, little is done to investigate revisit intention towards the café in the context of developing markets. In particular, there is a lack of study which provides theoretical and practical explanation to the perceptions and behaviours of infrequent customers. Hence, the study aims to look into the subject matter by using the theory of reasoned action and social exchange theory as the underpinning basis. The framework proposed by Pine and Gilmore (Strat Leadersh 28:18-23, 2000), which asserts the importance of product quality, service quality and experience quality in a progressive manner, is used to decompose perceived value in the model so as to determine their effects on intention to revisit the café. Given the importance to gain practical insights into revisit intention of infrequent customers, pragmatism stance is assumed. Explanatory sequential mixed-method design is thus adopted whereby qualitative approach is used to confirm and complement quantitative findings. Self-administered questionnaire-based survey is first administered before personal interview is carried out at various cafés. Partial least squares structural equation modelling and content analysis are appropriated successively. In the quantitative findings, although product quality, service quality and experience quality are found to have positive effect on perceived value and revisit intention towards trendy coffee café, experience quality is found to have the greater effect than the others among the infrequent customers. The qualitative findings not only confirm their importance, but most importantly explain the favourable impressions they have at trendy coffee café based on their last in-store experience. While product and service quality might not necessary stimulate them to revisit trendy coffee café, experience quality driven by purposes of visit would likely affect their intention to revisit. As retaining customers is of utmost importance to

Stoichiometric controls of nitrogen and phosphorus cycling in decomposing beech leaf litter.

Science.gov (United States)

Mooshammer, Maria; Wanek, Wolfgang; Schnecker, Jörg; Wild, Birgit; Leitner, Sonja; Hofhansl, Florian; Blöchl, Andreas; Hämmerle, Ieda; Frank, Alexander H; Fuchslueger, Lucia; Keiblinger, Katharina M; Zechmeister-Boltenstern, Sophie; Richter, Andreas

2012-04-01

Resource stoichiometry (C:N:P) is an important determinant of litter decomposition. However, the effect of elemental stoichiometry on the gross rates of microbial N and P cycling processes during litter decomposition is unknown. In a mesocosm experiment, beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) litter with natural differences in elemental stoichiometry (C:N:P) was incubated under constant environmental conditions. After three and six months, we measured various aspects of nitrogen and phosphorus cycling. We found that gross protein depolymerization, N mineralization (ammonification), and nitrification rates were negatively related to litter C:N. Rates of P mineralization were negatively correlated with litter C:P. The negative correlations with litter C:N were stronger for inorganic N cycling processes than for gross protein depolymerization, indicating that the effect of resource stoichiometry on intracellular processes was stronger than on processes catalyzed by extracellular enzymes. Consistent with this, extracellular protein depolymerization was mainly limited by substrate availability and less so by the amount of protease. Strong positive correlations between the interconnected N and P pools and the respective production and consumption processes pointed to feed-forward control of microbial litter N and P cycling. A negative relationship between litter C:N and phosphatase activity (and between litter C:P and protease activity) demonstrated that microbes tended to allocate carbon and nutrients in ample supply into the production of extracellular enzymes to mine for the nutrient that is more limiting. Overall, the study demonstrated a strong effect of litter stoichiometry (C:N:P) on gross processes of microbial N and P cycling in decomposing litter; mineralization of N and P were tightly coupled to assist in maintaining cellular homeostasis of litter microbial communities.

Radiative corrections to neutrino deep inelastic scattering revisited

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arbuzov, Andrej B.; Bardin, Dmitry Yu.; Kalinovskaya, Lidia V.

2005-01-01

Radiative corrections to neutrino deep inelastic scattering are revisited. One-loop electroweak corrections are re-calculated within the automatic SANC system. Terms with mass singularities are treated including higher order leading logarithmic corrections. Scheme dependence of corrections due to weak interactions is investigated. The results are implemented into the data analysis of the NOMAD experiment. The present theoretical accuracy in description of the process is discussed

Doppler Processing with Ultra-Wideband (UWB) Radar Revisited

Science.gov (United States)

2018-01-01

REPORT TYPE Technical Note 3. DATES COVERED (From - To) December 2017 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Doppler Processing with Ultra-Wideband (UWB) Radar...unlimited. 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 14. ABSTRACT This technical note revisits previous work performed at the US Army Research Laboratory related to...target considered previously is proportional to a delayed version of the transmitted signal, up to a complex constant factor. We write the received

78 FR 71532 - Amendments to Material Control and Accounting Regulations and Proposed Guidance for Fuel Cycle...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-11-29

... Accounting Regulations and Proposed Guidance for Fuel Cycle Facility Material Control and Accounting Plans... material control and accounting (MC&A) of special nuclear material (SNM) and the proposed guidance... and how the NRC will review and inspect these plans. DATES: The public meeting will be held on...

Dynamics of Shape Fluctuations of Quasi-spherical Vesicles Revisited

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Miao, L.; Lomholt, Michael Andersen; Kleis, J.

2002-01-01

In this paper, the dynamics of spontaneous shape fluctuations of a single, giant quasi-spherical vesicle formed from a single lipid species is revisited theoretically. A coherent physical theory for the dynamics is developed based on a number of fundamental principles and considerations, and a sy......In this paper, the dynamics of spontaneous shape fluctuations of a single, giant quasi-spherical vesicle formed from a single lipid species is revisited theoretically. A coherent physical theory for the dynamics is developed based on a number of fundamental principles and considerations...... of the phenomenological constants in a canonical continuum description of fluid lipid-bilayer membranes and shown the consequences of this new interpretation in terms of the characteristics of the dynamics of vesicle shape fluctuations. Moreover, we have used the systematic formulation of our theory as a framework...... against which we have discussed the previously existing theories and their discrepancies. Finally, we have made a systematic prediction about the system-dependent characteristics of the relaxation dynamics of shape fluctuations of quasi-spherical vesicles with a view of experimental studies...

Systematic design of an intra-cycle fueling control system for advanced diesel combustion concepts

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kefalidis, L.

2017-01-01

This technical report presents a systematic approach for the design and development of an intra-cycle fueling control system for diesel combustion concepts. A high level system was developed and implemented on an experimental engine setup. Implementation and experimental validation are performed for

Revisiting Constructivist Teaching Methods in Ontario Colleges Preparing for Accreditation

Science.gov (United States)

Schultz, Rachel A.

2015-01-01

At the time of writing, the first community colleges in Ontario were preparing for transition to an accreditation model from an audit system. This paper revisits constructivist literature, arguing that a more pragmatic definition of constructivism effectively blends positivist and interactionist philosophies to achieve both student centred…

Thorbecke Revisited : The Role of Doctrinaire Liberalism in Dutch Politics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Drentje, Jan

2011-01-01

Thorbecke Revisited: The Role of Doctrinaire Liberalism in Dutch Politics In the political history of the nineteenth century Thorbecke played a crucial role. As the architect of the 1848 liberal constitutional reform he led three cabinets. In many ways he dominated the political discourse during the

Revisiting Cementoblastoma with a Rare Case Presentation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vijayanirmala Subramani

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Cementoblastoma is a rare benign odontogenic neoplasm which is characterized by the proliferation of cellular cementum. Diagnosis of cementoblastoma is challenging because of its protracted clinical, radiographic features, and bland histological appearance; most often cementoblastoma is often confused with other cementum and bone originated lesions. The aim of this article is to overview/revisit, approach the diagnosis of cementoblastoma, and also present a unique radiographic appearance of a cementoblastoma lesion associated with an impacted tooth.

Design and reliability assessment of control systems for a nuclear-based hydrogen production plant with copper-chlorine thermochemical cycle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Al-Dabbagh, Ahmad W. [Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, 2000 Simcoe Street North, Oshawa, Ontario, L1H 7K4 (Canada); Lu, Lixuan [Faculty of Energy Systems and Nuclear Science, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, 2000 Simcoe Street North, Oshawa, Ontario, L1H 7K4 (Canada)

2010-02-15

The thermochemical Copper-Chlorine (Cu-Cl) cycle is an emerging new method of nuclear-based hydrogen production. In the process, water is decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen through several physical and chemical processes. In this paper, a Distributed Control System (DCS) is designed for the thermochemical Cu-Cl cycle. The architecture and the communication networks of the DCS are discussed. Reliability of the DCS is assessed using fault trees. In the assessment, the impact of the malfunction of the actuators, sensors, controllers and communication networks on the overall system reliability is investigated. This provides key information for the selection of control system components, and determination of their inspection frequency and maintenance strategy. The hydrogen reactor unit, which is one of the major components in the thermochemical Cu-Cl cycle, is used to demonstrate the detailed design and analysis. (author)

Maid (GCIP) is involved in cell cycle control of hepatocytes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sonnenberg-Riethmacher, Eva; Wüstefeld, Torsten; Miehe, Michaela

2007-01-01

. Therefore, we studied the role of Maid during cell cycle progression after partial hepatectomy (PH). Lack of Maid expression after PH was associated with a delay in G1/S-phase progression as evidenced by delayed cyclinA expression and DNA replication in Maid-deficient mice. However, at later time points......The function of Maid (GCIP), a cyclinD-binding helix-loop-helix protein, was analyzed by targeted disruption in mice. We show that Maid function is not required for normal embryonic development. However, older Maid-deficient mice-in contrast to wild-type controls--develop hepatocellular carcinomas...

78 FR 79328 - Amendments to Material Control and Accounting Regulations and Proposed Guidance for Fuel Cycle...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-30

..., 72, 74, and 150 [NRC-2009-0096 and NRC-2013-0195] RIN 3150-AI61 Amendments to Material Control and Accounting Regulations and Proposed Guidance for Fuel Cycle Facility Material Control and Accounting Plans... of this document. NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): You may access...

Measurement control design and performance assessment in the Integral Fast Reactor fuel cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Orechwa, Y.; Bucher, R.G.

1994-01-01

The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR)--consisting of a metal fueled and liquid metal cooled reactor together with an attendant fuel cycle facility (FCF)--is currently undergoing a phased demonstration of the closed fuel cycle at Argonne National Laboratory. The recycle technology is pyrometalurgical based with incomplete fission product separation and all transuranics following plutonium for recycle. The equipment operates in batch mode at 500 to 1,300 C. The materials are highly radioactive and pyrophoric, thus the FCF requires remote operation. Central to the material control and accounting system for the FCF are the balances for mass measurements. The remote operation of the balances limits direct adjustment. The radiation environment requires that removal and replacement of the balances be minimized. The uniqueness of the facility precludes historical data for design and performance assessment. To assure efficient operation of the facility, the design of the measurement control system has called for procedures which assess the performance of the balances in great detail and will support capabilities for the correction of systematic changes in the performance of the balances through software

Revisiting control establishments for emerging energy hubs

Science.gov (United States)

Nasirian, Vahidreza

Emerging small-scale energy systems, i.e., microgrids and smartgrids, rely on centralized controllers for voltage regulation, load sharing, and economic dispatch. However, the central controller is a single-point-of-failure in such a design as either the controller or attached communication links failure can render the entire system inoperable. This work seeks for alternative distributed control structures to improve system reliability and help to the scalability of the system. A cooperative distributed controller is proposed that uses a noise-resilient voltage estimator and handles global voltage regulation and load sharing across a DC microgrid. Distributed adaptive droop control is also investigated as an alternative solution. A droop-free distributed control is offered to handle voltage/frequency regulation and load sharing in AC systems. This solution does not require frequency measurement and, thus, features a fast frequency regulation. Distributed economic dispatch is also studied, where a distributed protocol is designed that controls generation units to merge their incremental costs into a consensus and, thus, push the entire system to generate with the minimum cost. Experimental verifications and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) simulations are used to study efficacy of the proposed control protocols.

Endogenous and exogenous control of ecosystem function: N cycling in headwater streams

OpenAIRE

Valett, H. M.; Thomas, S. A.; Mulholland, P. J.; Webster, J. R.; Dahm, C. N.; Fellows, C. S.; Crenshaw, C. L.; Peterson, C. G.

2008-01-01

Allochthonous inputs act as resource subsidies to many ecosystems, where they exert strong influences on metabolism and material cycling. At the same time, metabolic theory proposes endogenous thermal control independent of resource supply. To address the relative importance of exogenous and endogenous influences, we quantified spatial and temporal variation in ecosystem metabolism and nitrogen (N) uptake using seasonal releases of (15)N as nitrate in six streams differing in riparian-stream ...

Concepts for Life Cycle Cost Control Required to Achieve Space Transportation Affordability and Sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Rhodes, Russel E.; Zapata, Edgar; Levack, Daniel J. H.; Robinson, John W.; Donahue, Benjamin B.

2009-01-01

Cost control must be implemented through the establishment of requirements and controlled continually by managing to these requirements. Cost control of the non-recurring side of life cycle cost has traditionally been implemented in both commercial and government programs. The government uses the budget process to implement this control. The commercial approach is to use a similar process of allocating the non-recurring cost to major elements of the program. This type of control generally manages through a work breakdown structure (WBS) by defining the major elements of the program. If the cost control is to be applied across the entire program life cycle cost (LCC), the approach must be addressed very differently. A functional breakdown structure (FBS) is defined and recommended. Use of a FBS provides the visibifity to allow the choice of an integrated solution reducing the cost of providing many different elements of like function. The different functional solutions that drive the hardware logistics, quantity of documentation, operational labor, reliability and maintainability balance, and total integration of the entire system from DDT&E through the life of the program must be fully defined, compared, and final decisions made among these competing solutions. The major drivers of recurring cost have been identified and are presented and discussed. The LCC requirements must be established and flowed down to provide control of LCC. This LCC control will require a structured rigid process similar to the one traditionally used to control weight/performance for space transportation systems throughout the entire program. It has been demonstrated over the last 30 years that without a firm requirement and methodically structured cost control, it is unlikely that affordable and sustainable space transportation system LCC will be achieved.

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist use in controlled ovarian stimulation and intrauterine insemination cycles in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Ertunc, Devrim; Tok, Ekrem C; Savas, Aysun; Ozturk, Ilay; Dilek, Saffet

2010-03-01

To observe the effects of ganirelix on controlled ovarian stimulation and intrauterine insemination (COS/IUI) cycles in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Prospective, randomized, controlled clinical study. An academic clinical research center. Women with PCOS and anovulatory infertility undergoing COS/IUI. Recombinant FSH therapy was started on day 3. In women assigned to the control group (n = 47), treatment was continued up to the day of hCG administration. In patients assigned to receive GnRH antagonist (n = 42), ganirelix was added when the leading follicle was > or =14 mm. Pregnancy rates, serum E(2), P, and LH levels, and follicle numbers at hCG day, prevalence of premature luteinization, and cost of stimulation. Serum E(2), P, and LH levels were significantly lower in the ganirelix group. Although premature luteinization and cycle cancellation was encountered less in the ganirelix group, the pregnancy rates per cycle were similar (15.4% vs. 10.7%). Patients would pay 6,153 dollars more for each pregnancy when using ganirelix. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist resulted in more monofollicular development, less premature luteinization, and less cycle cancellation in IUI cycles of patients with PCOS; however, the cost of stimulation increased without an improvement in pregnancy rates. Copyright 2010 American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Revisiting the Survival Mnemonic Effect in Children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Josefa N. S. Pand Eirada

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The survival processing paradigm is designed to explore the adaptive nature of memory functioning. The mnemonic advantage of processing information in fitness-relevant contexts, as has been demonstrated using this paradigm, is now well established, particularly in young adults; this phenomenon is often referred to as the “survival processing effect.” In the current experiment, we revisited the investigation of this effect in children and tested it in a new cultural group, using a procedure that differs from the existing studies with children. A group of 40 Portuguese children rated the relevance of unrelated words to a survival and a new moving scenario. This encoding task was followed by a surprise free-recall task. Akin to what is typically found, survival processing produced better memory performance than the control condition (moving. These data put on firmer ground the idea that a mnemonic tuning to fitness-relevant encodings is present early in development. The theoretical importance of this result to the adaptive memory literature is discussed, as well as potential practical implications of this kind of approach to the study of memory in children.

Energy-efficiency-oriented cascade control for vapor compression refrigeration cycle systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yin, Xiaohong; Wang, Xinli; Li, Shaoyuan; Cai, Wenjian

2016-01-01

The vapor compression refrigeration cycle (VCC) system plays an important role and accounts for a large proportion of energy consumption from the heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system. The traditional control approaches, for example PID control method, however, cannot meet the cooling demands with the satisfactory energy efficiency as well. This paper presents a novel energy-efficiency-oriented cascade control strategy for the VCC systems to improve the energy efficiency and fulfill the cooling requirements of indoor occupants simultaneously. In outer loop, a mathematic model is developed to determine the set point of superheat by a PI controller based on the nonlinear correlation between cooling demands and superheat degree. In inner loop, the pressure difference and superheat degree of evaporator are controlled by a model predictive control (MPC) strategy to track the values which are determined in the outer loop, simultaneously to enhance system efficiency of the VCC systems. Simulation and experiments studies are carried out to show the effectiveness of this proposed cascade control strategy and the results indicate significant tracking performance and energy efficiency improvements on VCC system. Compared to other schemes, the proposed cascade control strategy can improve energy efficiency by up to 5.8%. - Highlights: • Energy-efficiency-oriented cascade control strategy for VCC system is presented. • The correlation between cooling requirements and superheat is analyzed. • A MPC-based controller is developed to maximize system energy efficiency. • Experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.

Control strategies and cycling demands for Li-ion storage batteries in residential micro-cogeneration systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Darcovich, K.; Kenney, B.; MacNeil, D.D.; Armstrong, M.M.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Canadian home energy system modeled with PV, ICE CHP, battery and power grid. • Battery function is modeled on fundamental electrochemical principles. • Techno-economics of control strategies assessed. • Impact of control strategies battery cycles is developed for wear analysis. • Non-monotonic nature of battery cycles with transient renewables is discussed. - Abstract: Energy storage units have become important components in residential micro-cogeneration (MCG) systems. As MCG systems are often connected to single residences or buildings in a wide variety of settings, they are frequently unique and highly customized. Lithium-ion batteries have recently gained some profile as energy storage units of choice, because of their good capacity, high efficiency, robustness and ability to meet the demands of typical residential electrical loads. In the present work, modeled scenarios are explored which examine the performance of a MCG system with an internal combustion engine, photovoltaic input and a Li-ion storage battery. An electricity demand profile from new data collected in Ottawa, Canada is used to provide a full year energy use context for the analyses. The demands placed on the battery are examined to assess the suitability of the battery size and performance, as well as control related functionalities which reveal significantly varying battery use, and led to a quantitative expression for equivalent cycles. The energy use simulations are derived from electrochemical fundamentals adapted for a larger battery pack. Simulation output provides the basis for techno-economic commentary on how to assess large-scale Li-ion batteries for effective electrical storage purposes in MCG systems, and the impact of the nature of the control strategy on the battery service life

Surface tension in soap films: revisiting a classic demonstration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Behroozi, F

2010-01-01

We revisit a classic demonstration for surface tension in soap films and introduce a more striking variation of it. The demonstration shows how the film, pulling uniformly and normally on a loose string, transforms it into a circular arc under tension. The relationship between the surface tension and the string tension is analysed and presented in a useful graphical form. (letters and comments)

The Neutrosophic Logic View to Schrodinger's Cat Paradox, Revisited

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Florentin Smarandache

2008-07-01

Full Text Available The present article discusses Neutrosophic logic view to Schrodinger's cat paradox. We argue that this paradox involves some degree of indeterminacy (unknown which Neutrosophic logic can take into consideration, whereas other methods including Fuzzy logic cannot. To make this proposition clear, we revisit our previous paper by offering an illustration using modified coin tossing problem, known as Parrondo's game.

Surface tension in soap films: revisiting a classic demonstration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Behroozi, F [Department of Physics, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA 50614 (United States)], E-mail: behroozi@uni.edu

2010-01-15

We revisit a classic demonstration for surface tension in soap films and introduce a more striking variation of it. The demonstration shows how the film, pulling uniformly and normally on a loose string, transforms it into a circular arc under tension. The relationship between the surface tension and the string tension is analysed and presented in a useful graphical form. (letters and comments)

Revisiting the quantum harmonic oscillator via unilateral Fourier transforms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nogueira, Pedro H F; Castro, Antonio S de

2016-01-01

The literature on the exponential Fourier approach to the one-dimensional quantum harmonic oscillator problem is revised and criticized. It is shown that the solution of this problem has been built on faulty premises. The problem is revisited via the Fourier sine and cosine transform method and the stationary states are properly determined by requiring definite parity and square-integrable eigenfunctions. (paper)

Transport benchmarks for one-dimensional binary Markovian mixtures revisited

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malvagi, F.

2013-01-01

The classic benchmarks for transport through a binary Markovian mixture are revisited to look at the probability distribution function of the chosen 'results': reflection, transmission and scalar flux. We argue that the knowledge of the ensemble averaged results is not sufficient for reliable predictions: a measure of the dispersion must also be obtained. An algorithm to estimate this dispersion is tested. (author)

Improvement by the Life Cycle Control System of University Production With Use of CALS-Tehnology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuriy I. Dreizis

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The mechanism of management by life cycle of production of university with use of CALS technologies is described. Tasks of service of marketing and the quality management department, connected with university product quality control are defined

Model Predictive Control of Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle Power Plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

B. Wayne Bequette; Priyadarshi Mahapatra

2010-08-31

The primary project objectives were to understand how the process design of an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant affects the dynamic operability and controllability of the process. Steady-state and dynamic simulation models were developed to predict the process behavior during typical transients that occur in plant operation. Advanced control strategies were developed to improve the ability of the process to follow changes in the power load demand, and to improve performance during transitions between power levels. Another objective of the proposed work was to educate graduate and undergraduate students in the application of process systems and control to coal technology. Educational materials were developed for use in engineering courses to further broaden this exposure to many students. ASPENTECH software was used to perform steady-state and dynamic simulations of an IGCC power plant. Linear systems analysis techniques were used to assess the steady-state and dynamic operability of the power plant under various plant operating conditions. Model predictive control (MPC) strategies were developed to improve the dynamic operation of the power plants. MATLAB and SIMULINK software were used for systems analysis and control system design, and the SIMULINK functionality in ASPEN DYNAMICS was used to test the control strategies on the simulated process. Project funds were used to support a Ph.D. student to receive education and training in coal technology and the application of modeling and simulation techniques.

Resolution of Reflection Seismic Data Revisited

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Thomas Mejer; Mosegaard, Klaus; Zunino, Andrea

The Rayleigh Principle states that the minimum separation between two reflectors that allows them to be visually separated is the separation where the wavelet maxima from the two superimposed reflections combine into one maximum. This happens around Δtres = λb/8, where λb is the predominant...... lower vertical resolution of reflection seismic data. In the following we will revisit think layer model and demonstrate that there is in practice no limit to the vertical resolution using the parameterization of Widess (1973), and that the vertical resolution is limited by the noise in the data...

SAMHD1 controls cell cycle status, apoptosis and HIV-1 infection in monocytic THP-1 cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonifati, Serena; Daly, Michele B.; St Gelais, Corine; Kim, Sun Hee; Hollenbaugh, Joseph A.; Shepard, Caitlin; Kennedy, Edward M.; Kim, Dong-Hyun; Schinazi, Raymond F.; Kim, Baek; Wu, Li

2016-01-01

SAMHD1 limits HIV-1 infection in non-dividing myeloid cells by decreasing intracellular dNTP pools. HIV-1 restriction by SAMHD1 in these cells likely prevents activation of antiviral immune responses and modulates viral pathogenesis, thus highlighting a critical role of SAMHD1 in HIV-1 physiopathology. Here, we explored the function of SAMHD1 in regulating cell proliferation, cell cycle progression and apoptosis in monocytic THP-1 cells. Using the CRISPR/Cas9 technology, we generated THP-1 cells with stable SAMHD1 knockout. We found that silencing of SAMHD1 in cycling cells stimulates cell proliferation, redistributes cell cycle population in the G_1/G_0 phase and reduces apoptosis. These alterations correlated with increased dNTP levels and more efficient HIV-1 infection in dividing SAMHD1 knockout cells relative to control. Our results suggest that SAMHD1, through its dNTPase activity, affects cell proliferation, cell cycle distribution and apoptosis, and emphasize a key role of SAMHD1 in the interplay between cell cycle regulation and HIV-1 infection.

SAMHD1 controls cell cycle status, apoptosis and HIV-1 infection in monocytic THP-1 cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bonifati, Serena [Center for Retrovirus Research, Department of Veterinary Biosciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States); Daly, Michele B. [Center for Drug Discovery, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA (United States); St Gelais, Corine; Kim, Sun Hee [Center for Retrovirus Research, Department of Veterinary Biosciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States); Hollenbaugh, Joseph A.; Shepard, Caitlin [Center for Drug Discovery, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA (United States); Kennedy, Edward M. [Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University, Durham, NC (United States); Kim, Dong-Hyun [Department of Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Kyung-Hee University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Schinazi, Raymond F. [Center for Drug Discovery, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA (United States); Kim, Baek, E-mail: baek.kim@emory.edu [Center for Drug Discovery, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA (United States); Department of Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Kyung-Hee University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Wu, Li, E-mail: wu.840@osu.edu [Center for Retrovirus Research, Department of Veterinary Biosciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States)

2016-08-15

SAMHD1 limits HIV-1 infection in non-dividing myeloid cells by decreasing intracellular dNTP pools. HIV-1 restriction by SAMHD1 in these cells likely prevents activation of antiviral immune responses and modulates viral pathogenesis, thus highlighting a critical role of SAMHD1 in HIV-1 physiopathology. Here, we explored the function of SAMHD1 in regulating cell proliferation, cell cycle progression and apoptosis in monocytic THP-1 cells. Using the CRISPR/Cas9 technology, we generated THP-1 cells with stable SAMHD1 knockout. We found that silencing of SAMHD1 in cycling cells stimulates cell proliferation, redistributes cell cycle population in the G{sub 1}/G{sub 0} phase and reduces apoptosis. These alterations correlated with increased dNTP levels and more efficient HIV-1 infection in dividing SAMHD1 knockout cells relative to control. Our results suggest that SAMHD1, through its dNTPase activity, affects cell proliferation, cell cycle distribution and apoptosis, and emphasize a key role of SAMHD1 in the interplay between cell cycle regulation and HIV-1 infection.

p53 functions as a cell cycle control protein in osteosarcomas.

Science.gov (United States)

Diller, L; Kassel, J; Nelson, C E; Gryka, M A; Litwak, G; Gebhardt, M; Bressac, B; Ozturk, M; Baker, S J; Vogelstein, B

1990-11-01

Mutations in the p53 gene have been associated with a wide range of human tumors, including osteosarcomas. Although it has been shown that wild-type p53 can block the ability of E1a and ras to cotransform primary rodent cells, it is poorly understood why inactivation of the p53 gene is important for tumor formation. We show that overexpression of the gene encoding wild-type p53 blocks the growth of osteosarcoma cells. The growth arrest was determined to be due to an inability of the transfected cells to progress into S phase. This suggests that the role of the p53 gene as an antioncogene may be in controlling the cell cycle in a fashion analogous to the check-point control genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

p53 functions as a cell cycle control protein in osteosarcomas.

Science.gov (United States)

Diller, L; Kassel, J; Nelson, C E; Gryka, M A; Litwak, G; Gebhardt, M; Bressac, B; Ozturk, M; Baker, S J; Vogelstein, B

1990-01-01

Mutations in the p53 gene have been associated with a wide range of human tumors, including osteosarcomas. Although it has been shown that wild-type p53 can block the ability of E1a and ras to cotransform primary rodent cells, it is poorly understood why inactivation of the p53 gene is important for tumor formation. We show that overexpression of the gene encoding wild-type p53 blocks the growth of osteosarcoma cells. The growth arrest was determined to be due to an inability of the transfected cells to progress into S phase. This suggests that the role of the p53 gene as an antioncogene may be in controlling the cell cycle in a fashion analogous to the check-point control genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Images PMID:2233717

Classical linear-control analysis applied to business-cycle dynamics and stability

Science.gov (United States)

Wingrove, R. C.

1983-01-01

Linear control analysis is applied as an aid in understanding the fluctuations of business cycles in the past, and to examine monetary policies that might improve stabilization. The analysis shows how different policies change the frequency and damping of the economic system dynamics, and how they modify the amplitude of the fluctuations that are caused by random disturbances. Examples are used to show how policy feedbacks and policy lags can be incorporated, and how different monetary strategies for stabilization can be analytically compared. Representative numerical results are used to illustrate the main points.

Sloan Digital Sky Survey Photometric Calibration Revisited

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marriner, John

2012-01-01

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey calibration is revisited to obtain the most accurate photometric calibration. A small but significant error is found in the flat-fielding of the Photometric telescope used for calibration. Two SDSS star catalogs are compared and the average difference in magnitude as a function of right ascension and declination exhibits small systematic errors in relative calibration. The photometric transformation from the SDSS Photometric Telescope to the 2.5 m telescope is recomputed and compared to synthetic magnitudes computed from measured filter bandpasses.

REVISITING A CLASSIC: THE PARKER–MOFFATT PROBLEM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pezzi, O.; Servidio, S.; Valentini, F.; Malara, F.; Veltri, P.; Parashar, T. N.; Yang, Y.; Matthaeus, W. H.; Vásconez, C. L.

2017-01-01

The interaction of two colliding Alfvén wave packets is described here by means of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) and hybrid kinetic numerical simulations. The MHD evolution revisits the theoretical insights described by Moffatt, Parker, Kraichnan, Chandrasekhar, and Elsässer in which the oppositely propagating large-amplitude wave packets interact for a finite time, initiating turbulence. However, the extension to include compressive and kinetic effects, while maintaining the gross characteristics of the simpler classic formulation, also reveals intriguing features that go beyond the pure MHD treatment.

REVISITING A CLASSIC: THE PARKER–MOFFATT PROBLEM

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pezzi, O.; Servidio, S.; Valentini, F.; Malara, F.; Veltri, P. [Dipartimento di Fisica, Università della Calabria, 87036 Rende (CS) (Italy); Parashar, T. N.; Yang, Y.; Matthaeus, W. H. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, DE 19716 (United States); Vásconez, C. L. [Departamento de Física, Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Quito (Ecuador)

2017-01-10

The interaction of two colliding Alfvén wave packets is described here by means of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) and hybrid kinetic numerical simulations. The MHD evolution revisits the theoretical insights described by Moffatt, Parker, Kraichnan, Chandrasekhar, and Elsässer in which the oppositely propagating large-amplitude wave packets interact for a finite time, initiating turbulence. However, the extension to include compressive and kinetic effects, while maintaining the gross characteristics of the simpler classic formulation, also reveals intriguing features that go beyond the pure MHD treatment.

Sloan Digital Sky Survey Photometric Calibration Revisited

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marriner, John; /Fermilab

2012-06-29

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey calibration is revisited to obtain the most accurate photometric calibration. A small but significant error is found in the flat-fielding of the Photometric telescope used for calibration. Two SDSS star catalogs are compared and the average difference in magnitude as a function of right ascension and declination exhibits small systematic errors in relative calibration. The photometric transformation from the SDSS Photometric Telescope to the 2.5 m telescope is recomputed and compared to synthetic magnitudes computed from measured filter bandpasses.

Spectral shift controlled reactors, denatured U-233/thorium cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1978-05-01

This paper presents technical and economic data on the SSCR which may be of use in the International Fuel Cycle Evaluation Program to intercompare alternative nuclear systems. Included in this paper are data on the denatured U-233/thorium cycle. This cycle shows a proliferation advantage over more classical thorium fuel cycle (e.g., highly-enriched U-235/thorium or plutonium/thorium) due to the elimination of chemically-separable, concentrated fissile material from unirradiated nuclear fuel. The U-233 is denatured by mixing with depleted uranium to a concentration no greater than 12 w/o. An exogenous source of U-233 is assumed in this paper, since U-233 does not occur in nature and only a limited supply has been produced to date for research and development work

Revisiting deforestation in Africa (1990–2010): One more lost ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This spotlight revisits the dynamics and prognosis outlined in the late 1980's published in Déforestation en Afrique. This book on deforestation in Africa utilized available statistical data from the 1980's and was a pioneering self - styled attempt to provide a holistic viewpoint of the ongoing trends pertaining to deforestation in ...

Revisiting Individual Creativity Assessment: Triangulation in Subjective and Objective Assessment Methods

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Namgyoo K.; Chun, Monica Youngshin; Lee, Jinju

2016-01-01

Compared to the significant development of creativity studies, individual creativity research has not reached a meaningful consensus regarding the most valid and reliable method for assessing individual creativity. This study revisited 2 of the most popular methods for assessing individual creativity: subjective and objective methods. This study…

Spectral shift controlled reactor, UO2 once-through cycle optimized

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1978-05-01

This paper presents technical and economic data on the SSCR which may be of use in the International Fuel Cycle Evaluation Program to intercompare alternative nuclear systems. Included in this data is information on the optimized UO 2 once-through fuel cycle. The ''optimized'' cycle refers to a UO 2 once-through cycle which has better fuel resource utilization than the conventional UO 2 cycle employed in current design PWRs. This fuel cycle uses more in-core batches and a higher discharge exposure than current PWR fuel management schemes. The proposed cycle is not optimal in a mathematical sense, however, since additional resource savings can be obtained if the discharge exposure is extended to even higher values and the number of in-core fuel batches is increased further. The present cycle was selected as ''optimal'' based on the assumption that it can be achieved with only an extension of fuel design technology and can therefore be deployed in a relatively short time frame. In the longer term, modification to reactor geometry as well as further extensions of discharge burnup might be considered to realize additional reduction in uranium resource requirements. The data contained in this paper has been developed by an ongoing program which at the present time is only 50% complete. The data presented here should therefore be considered preliminary and will be updated in the future as required

Rankine cycle condenser pressure control using an energy conversion device bypass valve

Science.gov (United States)

Ernst, Timothy C; Nelson, Christopher R; Zigan, James A

2014-04-01

The disclosure provides a waste heat recovery system and method in which pressure in a Rankine cycle (RC) system of the WHR system is regulated by diverting working fluid from entering an inlet of an energy conversion device of the RC system. In the system, an inlet of a controllable bypass valve is fluidly coupled to a working fluid path upstream of an energy conversion device of the RC system, and an outlet of the bypass valve is fluidly coupled to the working fluid path upstream of the condenser of the RC system such that working fluid passing through the bypass valve bypasses the energy conversion device and increases the pressure in a condenser. A controller determines the temperature and pressure of the working fluid and controls the bypass valve to regulate pressure in the condenser.

Logistics Innovation Process Revisited

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gammelgaard, Britta; Su, Shong-Iee Ivan; Yang, Su-Lan

2011-01-01

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to learn more about logistics innovation processes and their implications for the focal organization as well as the supply chain, especially suppliers. Design/methodology/approach – The empirical basis of the study is a longitudinal action research project...... that was triggered by the practical needs of new ways of handling material flows of a hospital. This approach made it possible to revisit theory on logistics innovation process. Findings – Apart from the tangible benefits reported to the case hospital, five findings can be extracted from this study: the logistics...... innovation process model may include not just customers but also suppliers; logistics innovation in buyer-supplier relations may serve as an alternative to outsourcing; logistics innovation processes are dynamic and may improve supplier partnerships; logistics innovations in the supply chain are as dependent...

Life quality index revisited

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ditlevsen, Ove Dalager

2004-01-01

The derivation of the life quality index (LQI) is revisited for a revision. This revision takes into account the unpaid but necessary work time needed to stay alive in clean and healthy conditions to be fit for effective wealth producing work and to enjoyable free time. Dimension analysis...... at birth should not vary between countries. Finally the distributional assumptions are relaxed as compared to the assumptions made in an earlier work by the author. These assumptions concern the calculation of the life expectancy change due to the removal of an accident source. Moreover a simple public...... consistency problems with the standard power function expression of the LQI are pointed out. It is emphasized that the combination coefficient in the convex differential combination between the relative differential of the gross domestic product per capita and the relative differential of the expected life...

Klein's double discontinuity revisited

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Winsløw, Carl; Grønbæk, Niels

2014-01-01

Much effort and research has been invested into understanding and bridging the ‘gaps’ which many students experience in terms of contents and expectations as they begin university studies with a heavy component of mathematics, typically in the form of calculus courses. We have several studies...... of bridging measures, success rates and many other aspects of these “entrance transition” problems. In this paper, we consider the inverse transition, experienced by university students as they revisit core parts of high school mathematics (in particular, calculus) after completing the undergraduate...... mathematics courses which are mandatory to become a high school teacher of mathematics. To what extent does the “advanced” experience enable them to approach the high school calculus in a deeper and more autonomous way ? To what extent can “capstone” courses support such an approach ? How could it be hindered...

Experimental investigation of power peak in vicinity of WWER-440 control rod at end of fuel cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mikus, J.

2004-01-01

This paper presents some results of the axial power (fission density) distribution measurements carried out on the light-water, zero-power reactor LR-0 in a WWER-440 type core in vicinity of the WWER-440 control rod model at zero boron concentration in moderator, modelling the conditions at the end of the WWER-440 fuel cycle. Further information concerns the control rod model description, specification of the LR-0 core, fuel assemblies and measurement conditions. The aim of performed experiment is enlargement of the available power peaking database to enable the validation of the calculation codes by means of the measured data that correspond to the end of WWER-440 fuel cycle. (author)

Dynamic tests and adaptive control of a bottoming organic Rankine cycle of IC engine using swash-plate expander

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Torregrosa, A.; Galindo, J.; Dolz, V.; Royo-Pascual, L.; Haller, R.; Melis, J.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • An experimental testing of a bottoming Rankine Cycle is presented and applied to a 2 l turbocharged gasoline engine. • Both stationary and transient tests were performed, including the NEDC cycle. • Indicated diagrams of the swash-plate expander during these transients were presented and analyzed. - Abstract: This paper deals with the experimental testing of a bottoming Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) integrate in a 2 l turbocharged gasoline engine using ethanol as working fluid. The main components of the cycle are a boiler, a condenser, a pump and a swash-plate expander. Both steady and transient tests were performed in three engine operating points to understand the behavior and inertia of the system. Pressure-Volume diagram during these transients were presented and analyzed. Operating parameters of the expander, such as expander speed and boiler power, were shifted. The objective of these tests is to understand the inertia of the system and to have a robust control in all the possible transient tests. New European Driving Cycle was tested with and without the expander because it is supposed to represent the typical usage of a car in Europe. It was used to validate the control of the ORC in realistic dynamic conditions of the engine. The importance of each parameter was analyzed by fixing all the parameters, changing each time one specific value. The main result of this paper is that using a slightly simple and robust control based on adaptive PIDs, the two dynamic effects of an ORC could be taken into account, i.e. high inertia effects (boiler and condenser) and low inertia effects (pump and volumetric expander).

40 CFR 1033.530 - Duty cycles and calculations.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 32 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Duty cycles and calculations. 1033.530... CONTROLS CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM LOCOMOTIVES Test Procedures § 1033.530 Duty cycles and calculations. This section describes how to apply the duty cycle to measured emission rates to calculate cycle...

Cycling before and after Exhaustion Differently Affects Cardiac Autonomic Control during Heart Rate Matched Exercise

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthias Weippert

2017-11-01

Full Text Available During cycling before (PRE and after exhaustion (POST different modes of autonomic cardiac control might occur due to different interoceptive input and altered influences from higher brain centers. We hypothesized that heart rate variability (HRV is significantly affected by an interaction of the experimental period (PRE vs. POST and exercise intensity (HIGH vs. LOW; HIGH = HR > HR at the lactate threshold (HRLT, LOW = HR ≤ HRLT despite identical average HR.Methods: Fifty healthy volunteers completed an incremental cycling test until exhaustion. Workload started with 30 W at a constant pedaling rate (60 revolutions · min−1 and was gradually increased by 30 W · 5 min−1. Five adjacent 60 s inter-beat (R-R interval segments from the immediate recovery period (POST 1–5 at 30 W and 60 rpm were each matched with their HR-corresponding 60 s-segments during the cycle test (PRE 1–5. An analysis of covariance was carried out with one repeated-measures factor (PRE vs. POST exhaustion, one between-subject factor (HIGH vs. LOW intensity and respiration rate as covariate to test for significant effects (p < 0.050 on the natural log-transformed root mean square of successive differences between adjacent R-R intervals (lnRMSSD60s.Results: LnRMSSD60s was significantly affected by the interaction of experimental period × intensity [F(1, 242 = 30.233, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.111]. LnRMSSD60s was higher during PRE compared to POST at LOW intensity (1.6 ± 0.6 vs. 1.4 ± 0.6 ms; p < 0.001. In contrast, at HIGH intensity lnRMSSD60s was lower during PRE compared to POST (1.0 ± 0.4 vs. 1.2 ± 0.4 ms; p < 0.001.Conclusion: Identical net HR during cycling can result from distinct autonomic modulation patterns. Results suggest a pronounced sympathetic-parasympathetic coactivation immediately after the cessation of peak workload compared to HR-matched cycling before exhaustion at HIGH intensity. On the opposite, at LOW intensity cycling, a stronger coactivational

Rereading Albert B. Lord's The Singer of Tales . Revisiting the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Access to a fresh set of video-recordings of Sesotho praise-poetry made in the year 2000 enabled the author to revisit his adaptation of Albert Lord's definition of the formula as a dynamic compositional device that the oral poet utilizes during delivery. The basic adaptation made in 1983 pertains to heroic praises (dithoko tsa ...

Re-Visit to the School Nurse and Adolescents' Medicine Use

Science.gov (United States)

Borup, Ina K.; Andersen, Anette; Holstein, Bjorn E.

2011-01-01

Objective: To examine if students who re-visit the school nurse use medicines differently than other students when exposed to aches and psychological problems. Methods: The study includes all 11-, 13- and 15-year-old students from a random sample of schools in Denmark, response rate 87 per cent, n = 5,205. The data collection followed the…

A Study on Stability of Limit Cycle Walking Model with Feet: Parameter Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yonggwon Jeon

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, two kinds of feet, namely, curved and flat feet, are added to limit cycle walking model to investigate its stability properties. Although both models are already proposed and are investigated, most previous works are focused on efficiency and gait behaviors. Only the stability properties of the simplest walking model conceived Garcia et al. are well defined. Therefore, there is still a need for a precise research on the effect of feet, especially in the view of local stability, bifurcation route to chaos, global stability, falling boundary and energy balance line. Therefore, this article revisits the stability analysis of limit cycle walking model with various foot shape. To analyze the effects of feet, we re-derive the equation of motion of modified models by adding one more parameter of foot shape than the simplest walking model. Also, the falling boundary and energy balance line of modified models are derived to get proper initial conditions for stable walking and to explain global stability. Simulation results show us that the curved feet can enlarge both stable walking range and area of basin of attraction while the case of flat feet depends on foot shape parameter.

Human chorionic gonadotropin-administered natural cycle versus spontaneous ovulatory cycle in patients undergoing two pronuclear zygote frozen-thawed embryo transfer.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, You-Jung; Kim, Chung-Hoon; Kim, Do-Young; Ahn, Jun-Woo; Kim, Sung-Hoon; Chae, Hee-Dong; Kang, Byung-Moon

2018-03-01

To compare human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG)-administered natural cycle with spontaneous ovulatory cycle in patients undergoing frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FTET) in natural cycles. In this retrospective cohort study, we analyzed the clinical outcome of a total of 166 consecutive FTET cycles that were performed in either natural cycle controlled by HCG for ovulation triggering (HCG group, n=110) or natural cycle with spontaneous ovulation (control group, n=56) in 166 infertile patients between January 2009 and November 2013. There were no differences in patients' characteristics between the 2 groups. The numbers of oocytes retrieved, mature oocytes, fertilized oocytes, grade I or II embryos and frozen embryos in the previous in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle in which embryos were frozen were comparable between the HCG and control groups. Significant differences were not also observed between the 2 groups in clinical pregnancy rate (CPR), embryo implantation rate, miscarriage rate, live birth rate and multiple CPR. However, the number of hospital visits for follicular monitoring was significantly fewer in the HCG group than in the control group ( P cycle reduces the number of hospital visits for follicular monitoring without any detrimental effect on FTET outcome when compared with spontaneous ovulatory cycles in infertile patients undergoing FTET in natural ovulatory cycles.

New low-dose, extended-cycle pills with levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol: an evolutionary step in birth control.

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson, Anita

2010-08-09

To review milestones in development of oral contraceptive pills since their introduction in the US 50 years ago in order to better understand how a new formulation with low-dose estrogen in an extended-cycle pattern fits into the evolution of birth control pills. This is a review of trends in the development of various birth controls pills and includes data from phase III clinical trials for this new formulation. The first birth control pill was a very high-dose monophasic formulation with the prodrug estrogen mestranol and a first-generation progestin. Over the decades, the doses of hormones have been markedly reduced, and a new estrogen and several different progestins were developed and used in different dosing patterns. The final element to undergo change was the 7-day pill-free interval. Many of these same changes have been made in the development of extended-cycle pill formulation. The newest extended-cycle oral contraceptive formulation with 84 active pills, each containing 20 μg ethinyl estradiol and 100 μg levonorgestrel, represents an important evolution in birth control that incorporates lower doses of estrogen (to reduce side effects and possibly reduce risk of thrombosis), fewer scheduled bleeding episodes (to meet women's desires for fewer and shorter menses) and the use of low-dose estrogen in place of placebo pills (to reduce the number of days of unscheduled spotting and bleeding). Hopefully, this unique formation will motivate women to be more successful contraceptors.

Endogenous and exogenous control of ecosystem function: N cycling in headwater streams

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mulholland, Patrick J [ORNL; Valett, H. Maurice [Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech); Thomas, Steve [University of Nebraska; Webster, Jackson [Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech); Dahm, Cliff [University of New Mexico, Albuquerque; Fellows, Christine [Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland, Australia; Crenshaw, Chelsea [University of New Mexico, Albuquerque; Peterson, Chris G. [Loyola University

2008-01-01

Allochthonous inputs act as resource subsidies to many ecosystems, where they exert strong influences on metabolism and material cycling. At the same time, metabolic theory proposes endogenous thermal control independent of resource supply. To address the relative importance of exogenous and endogenous influences, we quantified spatial and temporal variation in ecosystem metabolism and nitrogen (N) uptake using seasonal releases of {sup 15}N as nitrate in six streams differing in riparian-stream interaction and metabolic character. Nitrate removal was quantified using a nutrient spiraling approach based on measurements of downstream decline in {sup 15}N flux. Respiration (R) and gross primary production (GPP) were measured with whole-stream diel oxygen budgets. Uptake and metabolism metrics were addressed as z scores relative to site means to assess temporal variation. In open-canopied streams, areal uptake (U; {micro}g N {center_dot} m{sup -2} {center_dot} s{sup -1}) was closely related to GPP, metabolic rates increased with temperature, and R was accurately predicted by metabolic scaling relationships. In forested streams, N spiraling was not related to GPP; instead, uptake velocity (v{sub f}; mm/s) was closely related to R. In contrast to open-canopied streams, N uptake and metabolic activity were negatively correlated to temperature and poorly described by scaling laws. We contend that streams differ along a gradient of exogenous and endogenous control that relates to the relative influences of resource subsidies and in-stream energetics as determinants of seasonal patterns of metabolism and N cycling. Our research suggests that temporal variation in the propagation of ecological influence between adjacent systems generates phases when ecosystems are alternatively characterized as endogenously and exogenously controlled.

Endogenous and exogenous control of ecosystem function: N cycling in headwater streams.

Science.gov (United States)

Valett, H M; Thomas, S A; Mulholland, P J; Webster, J R; Dahm, C N; Fellows, C S; Crenshaw, C L; Peterson, C G

2008-12-01

Allochthonous inputs act as resource subsidies to many ecosystems, where they exert strong influences on metabolism and material cycling. At the same time, metabolic theory proposes endogenous thermal control independent of resource supply. To address the relative importance of exogenous and endogenous influences, we quantified spatial and temporal variation in ecosystem metabolism and nitrogen (N) uptake using seasonal releases of 15N as nitrate in six streams differing in riparian-stream interaction and metabolic character. Nitrate removal was quantified using a nutrient spiraling approach based on measurements of downstream decline in 15N flux. Respiration (R) and gross primary production (GPP) were measured with whole-stream diel oxygen budgets. Uptake and metabolism metrics were addressed as z scores relative to site means to assess temporal variation. In open-canopied streams, areal uptake (U; microg N x m(-2) x s(-1)) was closely related to GPP, metabolic rates increased with temperature, and R was accurately predicted by metabolic scaling relationships. In forested streams, N spiraling was not related to GPP; instead, uptake velocity (v(f); mm/s) was closely related to R. In contrast to open-canopied streams, N uptake and metabolic activity were negatively correlated to temperature and poorly described by scaling laws. We contend that streams differ along a gradient of exogenous and endogenous control that relates to the relative influences of resource subsidies and in-stream energetics as determinants of seasonal patterns of metabolism and N cycling. Our research suggests that temporal variation in the propagation of ecological influence between adjacent systems generates phases when ecosystems are alternatively characterized as endogenously and exogenously controlled.

The Peter Effect Revisited: Reading Habits and Attitudes of College Students

Science.gov (United States)

Applegate, Anthony J.; Applegate, Mary DeKonty; Mercantini, Martha A.; McGeehan, Catherine M.; Cobb, Jeanne B.; DeBoy, Joanne R.; Modla, Virginia B.; Lewinski, Kimberly E.

2014-01-01

Certainly a primary goal of literacy education is the creation of avid, enthusiastic, and highly motivated readers. However, in this article revisiting the Peter Effect (Applegate & Applegate, 2004), researchers surveyed more than 1,000 college sophomores and found strikingly low levels of enthusiasm for reading. Only 46.6% of surveyed…

Ambulatory thyroidectomy: A multistate study of revisits and complications

OpenAIRE

Orosco, RK; Lin, HW; Bhattacharyya, N

2015-01-01

© 2015 American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Foundation. Objective. Determine rates and reasons for revisits after ambulatory adult thyroidectomy. Study Design. Cross-sectional analysis of multistate ambulatory surgery and hospital databases. Setting. Ambulatory surgery data from the State Ambulatory Surgery Databases of California, Florida, Iowa, and New York for calendar years 2010 and 2011. Subjects and Methods. Ambulatory thyroidectomy cases were linked to state ambul...

Taï chimpanzees anticipate revisiting high-valued fruit trees from further distances.

Science.gov (United States)

Ban, Simone D; Boesch, Christophe; Janmaat, Karline R L

2014-11-01

The use of spatio-temporal memory has been argued to increase food-finding efficiency in rainforest primates. However, the exact content of this memory is poorly known to date. This study investigated what specific information from previous feeding visits chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus), in Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire, take into account when they revisit the same feeding trees. By following five adult females for many consecutive days, we tested from what distance the females directed their travels towards previously visited feeding trees and how previous feeding experiences and fruit tree properties influenced this distance. To exclude the influence of sensory cues, the females' approach distance was measured from their last significant change in travel direction until the moment they entered the tree's maximum detection field. We found that chimpanzees travelled longer distances to trees at which they had previously made food grunts and had rejected fewer fruits compared to other trees. In addition, the results suggest that the chimpanzees were able to anticipate the amount of fruit that they would find in the trees. Overall, our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that chimpanzees act upon a retrieved memory of their last feeding experiences long before they revisit feeding trees, which would indicate a daily use of long-term prospective memory. Further, the results are consistent with the possibility that positive emotional experiences help to trigger prospective memory retrieval in forest areas that are further away and have fewer cues associated with revisited feeding trees.

Revisiting the role of individual variability in population persistence and stability.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew Morozov

Full Text Available Populations often exhibit a pronounced degree of individual variability and this can be important when constructing ecological models. In this paper, we revisit the role of inter-individual variability in population persistence and stability under predation pressure. As a case study, we consider interactions between a structured population of zooplankton grazers and their predators. Unlike previous structured population models, which only consider variability of individuals according to the age or body size, we focus on physiological and behavioural structuring. We first experimentally demonstrate a high degree of variation of individual consumption rates in three dominant species of herbivorous copepods (Calanus finmarchicus, Calanus glacialis, Calanus euxinus and show that this disparity implies a pronounced variation in the consumption capacities of individuals. Then we construct a parsimonious predator-prey model which takes into account the intra-population variability of prey individuals according to behavioural traits: effectively, each organism has a 'personality' of its own. Our modelling results show that structuring of prey according to their growth rate and vulnerability to predation can dampen predator-prey cycles and enhance persistence of a species, even if the resource stock for prey is unlimited. The main mechanism of efficient top-down regulation is shown to work by letting the prey population become dominated by less vulnerable individuals when predator densities are high, while the trait distribution recovers when the predator densities are low.

Revisiting essential hypertension--a "mechanism-based" approach may argue for a better definition of hypertension.

Science.gov (United States)

Calò, L A

2009-08-01

Several major overarching themes have recently emerged in our understanding of the pathophysiology of hypertension which may allow to revisit essential hypertension with an eye towards the possibility of adopting a more rational "mechanistic-based" definition of hypertension and moving away from the unsatisfactory "essential" label for hypertension from unknown cause. As our understanding of the biochemical and physiological mechanisms that control blood pressure rapidly evolves, the "essential" label of hypertension is losing both value as well as utility as it will describe an increasingly small number of hypertensive patients. This paper uses some recently identified pathways central to hypertension and uses this understanding of pathophysiology to argue for a better definition of hypertension.

Long-term litter decomposition controlled by manganese redox cycling.

Science.gov (United States)

Keiluweit, Marco; Nico, Peter; Harmon, Mark E; Mao, Jingdong; Pett-Ridge, Jennifer; Kleber, Markus

2015-09-22

Litter decomposition is a keystone ecosystem process impacting nutrient cycling and productivity, soil properties, and the terrestrial carbon (C) balance, but the factors regulating decomposition rate are still poorly understood. Traditional models assume that the rate is controlled by litter quality, relying on parameters such as lignin content as predictors. However, a strong correlation has been observed between the manganese (Mn) content of litter and decomposition rates across a variety of forest ecosystems. Here, we show that long-term litter decomposition in forest ecosystems is tightly coupled to Mn redox cycling. Over 7 years of litter decomposition, microbial transformation of litter was paralleled by variations in Mn oxidation state and concentration. A detailed chemical imaging analysis of the litter revealed that fungi recruit and redistribute unreactive Mn(2+) provided by fresh plant litter to produce oxidative Mn(3+) species at sites of active decay, with Mn eventually accumulating as insoluble Mn(3+/4+) oxides. Formation of reactive Mn(3+) species coincided with the generation of aromatic oxidation products, providing direct proof of the previously posited role of Mn(3+)-based oxidizers in the breakdown of litter. Our results suggest that the litter-decomposing machinery at our coniferous forest site depends on the ability of plants and microbes to supply, accumulate, and regenerate short-lived Mn(3+) species in the litter layer. This observation indicates that biogeochemical constraints on bioavailability, mobility, and reactivity of Mn in the plant-soil system may have a profound impact on litter decomposition rates.

High precision mass measurements in Ψ and Υ families revisited

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Artamonov, A.S.; Baru, S.E.; Blinov, A.E.

2000-01-01

High precision mass measurements in Ψ and Υ families performed in 1980-1984 at the VEPP-4 collider with OLYA and MD-1 detectors are revisited. The corrections for the new value of the electron mass are presented. The effect of the updated radiative corrections has been calculated for the J/Ψ(1S) and Ψ(2S) mass measurements [ru

Revisiting historical climatic signals to better explore the future: prospects of water cycle changes in Central Sahel

Science.gov (United States)

Leauthaud, C.; Demarty, J.; Cappelaere, B.; Grippa, M.; Kergoat, L.; Velluet, C.; Guichard, F.; Mougin, E.; Chelbi, S.; Sultan, B.

2015-06-01

Rainfall and climatic conditions are the main drivers of natural and cultivated vegetation productivity in the semiarid region of Central Sahel. In a context of decreasing cultivable area per capita, understanding and predicting changes in the water cycle are crucial. Yet, it remains challenging to project future climatic conditions in West Africa since there is no consensus on the sign of future precipitation changes in simulations coming from climate models. The Sahel region has experienced severe climatic changes in the past 60 years that can provide a first basis to understand the response of the water cycle to non-stationary conditions in this part of the world. The objective of this study was to better understand the response of the water cycle to highly variable climatic regimes in Central Sahel using historical climate records and the coupling of a land surface energy and water model with a vegetation model that, when combined, simulated the Sahelian water, energy and vegetation cycles. To do so, we relied on a reconstructed long-term climate series in Niamey, Republic of Niger, in which three precipitation regimes can be distinguished with a relative deficit exceeding 25% for the driest period compared to the wettest period. Two temperature scenarios (+2 and +4 °C) consistent with future warming scenarios were superimposed to this climatic signal to generate six virtual future 20-year climate time series. Simulations by the two coupled models forced by these virtual scenarios showed a strong response of the water budget and its components to temperature and precipitation changes, including decreases in transpiration, runoff and drainage for all scenarios but those with highest precipitation. Such climatic changes also strongly impacted soil temperature and moisture. This study illustrates the potential of using the strong climatic variations recorded in the past decades to better understand potential future climate variations.

Commentary on "Distributed Revisiting: An Analytic for Retention of Coherent Science Learning"

Science.gov (United States)

Hewitt, Jim

2015-01-01

The article, "Distributed Revisiting: An Analytic for Retention of Coherent Science Learning" is an interesting study that operates at the intersection of learning theory and learning analytics. The authors observe that the relationship between learning theory and research in the learning analytics field is constrained by several…

Double digest revisited : Complexity and Approximability in the Presence of Noisy Data

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cieliebak, Mark; Eidenbenz, Stephan; Woeginger, Gerhard; Warnow, Tandy; Zhu, Binhai

2003-01-01

We revisit the Double Digest problem, which occurs in sequencing of large DNA strings and consists of reconstructing the relative positions of cut sites from two different enzymes: we first show that Double Digest is strongly NP-complete, improving upon previous results that only showed weak

Revisit of analytical methods for the process and plant control analyses during reprocessing of fast reactor fuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Subba Rao, R.V.

2016-01-01

CORAL (COmpact facility for Reprocessing of Advanced fuels in Lead cell) is an experimental facility for demonstrating the reprocessing of irradiated fast reactor fuels discharged from the Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR). The objective of the reprocessing plant is to achieve nuclear grade plutonium and uranium oxides with minimum process waste volumes. The process flow sheet for the reprocessing of spent Fast Reactor Fuel consists of Transport of spent fuel, Chopping, Dissolution, Feed conditioning, Solvent Extraction cycle, Partitioning Cycle and Re-conversion of Plutonium nitrate and uranium nitrate to respective oxides. The efficiency and performance of the plant to achieve desired objective depends on the analyses of various species in the different steps adopted during reprocessing of fuels. The analytical requirements in the plant can be broadly classified as 1. Process control Analyses (Analyses which effect the performance of the plant- PCA); 2. Plant control Analyses (Analyses which indicates efficiency of the plant-PLCA); 3. Nuclear Material Accounting samples (Analyses which has bearing on nuclear material accounting in the plant - NUMAC) and Quality control Analyses (Quality of the input bulk chemicals as well as products - QCA). The analytical methods selected are based on the duration of analyses, precision and accuracies required for each type analytical requirement classified earlier. The process and plant control analyses requires lower precision and accuracies as compared to NUMAC analyses, which requires very high precision accuracy. The time taken for analyses should be as lower as possible for process and plant control analyses as compared to NUMAC analyses. The analytical methods required for determining U and Pu in process and plant samples from FRFR will be different as compared to samples from TRFR (Thermal Reactor Fuel Reprocessing) due to higher Pu to U ratio in FRFR as compared TRFR and they should be such that they can be easily

First-principles lattice-gas Hamiltonian revisited: O-Pd(100)

OpenAIRE

Kappus, Wolfgang

2016-01-01

The methodology of deriving an adatom lattice-gas Hamiltonian (LGH) from first principles (FP) calculations is revisited. Such LGH cluster expansions compute a large set of lateral pair-, trio-, quarto interactions by solving a set of linear equations modelling regular adatom configurations and their FP energies. The basic assumption of truncating interaction terms beyond fifth nearest neighbors does not hold when adatoms show longer range interactions, e.g. substrate mediated elastic interac...

Therapeutic Efficacy of Endometrial Scratching in Repeated Controlled Ovarian Stimulation (COS) Failure Cycles

Science.gov (United States)

Wadhwa, Leena; Mishra, Mona

2018-01-01

Objective: The objective of the study was (1) “to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of endometrial scratching in repeated controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) failure cycles.” And (2) “to compare differences in pregnancy outcome by endometrial scratching in early (D2–D4) and late follicular phases (D7–D9) of the same stimulation cycle.” Materials and Methods: Women attending infertility clinic in a tertiary care center and who have two or more repeated COS failure cycles and planned for COS with intrauterine insemination (IUI) were included in the study which is a prospective parallel, interventional, single-blinded, randomized control study, in 1:1 allocation ratio. A total of 165 patients were recruited and randomly allocated into three groups: Group A (n = 55) underwent endometrial scratching on D2–D4 of the same COS cycle, Group B (n = 55) on D7–D9, and Group C (n = 55) no intervention done. All the patients underwent COS according to standard protocol followed by IUI. Results: Clinical pregnancy rate was 12.73% (odds ratio [OR] =0.87 95% confidence interval [CI] =0.288–2.55, P = 1), 16.36% (OR = 1.15; 95% CI = 0.40–3.23, P = 1), and 14.54%, respectively, in Group A, B, and C, respectively (P = 0.86), as per intention to treat analysis. Using Chi-square test, P value between Group A and B was 0.787, between Group A and C was 1.000, and between Group B and C was 1.000. As per protocol analysis, clinical pregnancy rate was 13.46% (OR = 0.83; 95% CI = 0.27–2.5, P = 0.74), 19.57% (OR = 1.3 95%; CI = 0.45–3.73, P = 0.41), and 15.69%. Using Chi-square test, Pvalue between Group A and B was 0.588, between Group A and C was 0.967, and between Group B and C was 0.815. No abortions and multiple pregnancies occurred in either of the groups. Conclusion: The effect found was of good quantum in Group B as per protocol analysis which could be of clinical relevance if larger sample size would have been taken. Endometrial scratching is a cost

Controlled synthesis of porous anhydrous cobalt oxalate nanorods with high reversible capacity and excellent cycling stability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Junmin; He, Lei; Liu, Hui; Han, Tao; Wang, Yongjian; Zhang, Changjin; Zhang, Yuheng

2015-01-01

Graphical abstract: Display Omitted -- Abstract: One-dimensional porous anhydrous cobalt oxalate nanorods are prepared via a facile water-controlled coprecipitate method followed by thermal annealing treatment under N 2 at 300 °C. The nanorods are characterized by using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. When evaluated as an anode material for lithium ion batteries, the nanorods exhibit high reversible specific capacity and excellent cycling stability (924 mA h g −1 at 50 mA g −1 after 100 cycles and 709 mA h g −1 at 200 mA g −1 after 220 cycles). This remarkable electrochemical performance is attributed to the one-dimensional porous nanostructure that can provide large electrode/electrolyte contact area and short lithium-ion diffusion pathway, meanwhile reduce the volume expansion during the repeated discharge/charge process

Advanced Change Theory Revisited: An Article Critique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Scott Pochron

2008-12-01

Full Text Available The complexity of life in 21st century society requires new models for leading and managing change. With that in mind, this paper revisits the model for Advanced Change Theory (ACT as presented by Quinn, Spreitzer, and Brown in their article, “Changing Others Through Changing Ourselves: The Transformation of Human Systems” (2000. The authors present ACT as a potential model for facilitating change in complex organizations. This paper presents a critique of the article and summarizes opportunities for further exploring the model in the light of current trends in developmental and integral theory.

Revisiting fifth forces in the Galileon model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Burrage, Clare [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg (Germany). Gruppe Theorie; Seery, David [Sussex Univ., Brighton (United Kingdom). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy

2010-05-15

A Galileon field is one which obeys a spacetime generalization of the non- relativistic Galilean invariance. Such a field may possess non-canonical kinetic terms, but ghost-free theories with a well-defined Cauchy problem exist, constructed using a finite number of relevant operators. The interactions of this scalar with matter are hidden by the Vainshtein effect, causing the Galileon to become weakly coupled near heavy sources. We revisit estimates of the fifth force mediated by a Galileon field, and show that the parameters of the model are less constrained by experiment than previously supposed. (orig.)

Large J expansion in ABJM theory revisited.

Science.gov (United States)

Dimov, H; Mladenov, S; Rashkov, R C

Recently there has been progress in the computation of the anomalous dimensions of gauge theory operators at strong coupling by making use of the AdS/CFT correspondence. On the string theory side they are given by dispersion relations in the semiclassical regime. We revisit the problem of a large-charge expansion of the dispersion relations for simple semiclassical strings in an [Formula: see text] background. We present the calculation of the corresponding anomalous dimensions of the gauge theory operators to an arbitrary order using three different methods. Although the results of the three methods look different, power series expansions show their consistency.

Experimental opto-mechanics with levitated nanoparticles: towards quantum control and thermodynamic cycles (Presentation Recording)

Science.gov (United States)

Kiesel, Nikolai; Blaser, Florian; Delic, Uros; Grass, David; Dechant, Andreas; Lutz, Eric; Bathaee, Marzieh; Aspelmeyer, Markus

2015-08-01

Combining optical levitation and cavity optomechanics constitutes a promising approach to prepare and control the motional quantum state of massive objects (>10^9 amu). This, in turn, would represent a completely new type of light-matter interface and has, for example, been predicted to enable experimental tests of macrorealistic models or of non-Newtonian gravity at small length scales. Such ideas have triggered significant experimental efforts to realizing such novel systems. To this end, we have recently successfully demonstrated cavity-cooling of a levitated sub-micron silica particle in a classical regime at a pressure of approximately 1mbar. Access to higher vacuum of approx. 10^-6 mbar has been demonstrated using 3D-feedback cooling in optical tweezers without cavity-coupling. Here we will illustrate our strategy towards trapping, 3D-cooling and quantum control of nanoparticles in ultra-high vacuum using cavity-based feedback cooling methods and clean particle loading with hollow-core photonic crystal fibers. We will also discuss the current experimental progress both in 3D-cavity cooling and HCPCF-based transport of nanoparticles. As yet another application of cavity-controlled levitated nanoparticles we will show how to implement a thermodynamic Sterling cycle operating in the underdamped regime. We present optimized protocols with respect to efficiency at maximum power in this little explored regime. We also show that the excellent level of control in our system will allow reproducing all relevant features of such optimized protocols. In a next step, this will enable studies of thermodynamics cycles in a regime where the quantization of the mechanical motion becomes relevant.

Body Temperature Cycles Control Rhythmic Alternative Splicing in Mammals.

Science.gov (United States)

Preußner, Marco; Goldammer, Gesine; Neumann, Alexander; Haltenhof, Tom; Rautenstrauch, Pia; Müller-McNicoll, Michaela; Heyd, Florian

2017-08-03

The core body temperature of all mammals oscillates with the time of the day. However, direct molecular consequences of small, physiological changes in body temperature remain largely elusive. Here we show that body temperature cycles drive rhythmic SR protein phosphorylation to control an alternative splicing (AS) program. A temperature change of 1°C is sufficient to induce a concerted splicing switch in a large group of functionally related genes, rendering this splicing-based thermometer much more sensitive than previously described temperature-sensing mechanisms. AS of two exons in the 5' UTR of the TATA-box binding protein (Tbp) highlights the general impact of this mechanism, as it results in rhythmic TBP protein levels with implications for global gene expression in vivo. Together our data establish body temperature-driven AS as a core clock-independent oscillator in mammalian peripheral clocks. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Replicative stress and alterations in cell cycle checkpoint controls following acetaminophen hepatotoxicity restrict liver regeneration.

Science.gov (United States)

Viswanathan, Preeti; Sharma, Yogeshwar; Gupta, Priya; Gupta, Sanjeev

2018-03-05

Acetaminophen hepatotoxicity is a leading cause of hepatic failure with impairments in liver regeneration producing significant mortality. Multiple intracellular events, including oxidative stress, mitochondrial damage, inflammation, etc., signify acetaminophen toxicity, although how these may alter cell cycle controls has been unknown and was studied for its significance in liver regeneration. Assays were performed in HuH-7 human hepatocellular carcinoma cells, primary human hepatocytes and tissue samples from people with acetaminophen-induced acute liver failure. Cellular oxidative stress, DNA damage and cell proliferation events were investigated by mitochondrial membrane potential assays, flow cytometry, fluorescence staining, comet assays and spotted arrays for protein expression after acetaminophen exposures. In experimental groups with acetaminophen toxicity, impaired mitochondrial viability and substantial DNA damage were observed with rapid loss of cells in S and G2/M and cell cycle restrictions or even exit in the remainder. This resulted from altered expression of the DNA damage regulator, ATM and downstream transducers, which imposed G1/S checkpoint arrest, delayed entry into S and restricted G2 transit. Tissues from people with acute liver failure confirmed hepatic DNA damage and cell cycle-related lesions, including restrictions of hepatocytes in aneuploid states. Remarkably, treatment of cells with a cytoprotective cytokine reversed acetaminophen-induced restrictions to restore cycling. Cell cycle lesions following mitochondrial and DNA damage led to failure of hepatic regeneration in acetaminophen toxicity but their reversibility offers molecular targets for treating acute liver failure. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Power peak in vicinity of WWER-440 control rod at end of fuel cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mikus, J.

2003-01-01

This paper presents some results of the axial power distribution measurements carried out in a WWER-440 type core on the light-water, zero-power reactor LR-O in the vicinity of the WWER-440 control rod model at zero boron concentration in moderator. Further presented information concern the description of the control rod model, LR-0 core arrangement, specification of the fuel assemblies and measurement conditions. The aim of performed experiment is enlargement of the available 'power peaking database' to enable the calculation codes validation also by means of data that correspond to the end of WWER-440 fuel cycle (Authors)

Revisit boundary conditions for the self-adjoint angular flux formulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Yaqi [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Gleicher, Frederick N. [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

2015-03-01

We revisit the boundary conditions for SAAF. We derived the equivalent parity variational form ready for coding up. The more rigorous approach of evaluating odd parity should be solving the odd parity equation coupled with the even parity. We proposed a symmetric reflecting boundary condition although neither positive definiteness nor even-odd decoupling is achieved. A simple numerical test verifies the validity of these boundary conditions.

Place attachment and social legitimacy: Revisiting the sustainable entrepreneurship journey

OpenAIRE

Kibler, E; Fink, M; Lang, R; Munoz, PA

2015-01-01

This paper revisits the sustainable entrepreneurship journey by introducing a ‘place- based’ sustainable venture path model. We suggest that distinguishing between emo- tional (‘caring about the place’) and instrumental (‘using the place’) place attachment of sustainable entrepreneurs deepens our understanding of how place-based challenges of sustainable venture legitimacy are managed over time. We conclude with avenues for future sustainable entrepreneurship research.

Teacher Communication Concerns Revisited: Calling into Question the Gnawing Pull towards Equilibrium

Science.gov (United States)

Dannels, Deanna P.

2015-01-01

This study revisits the long-standing teacher communication concerns framework originating over three decades ago. Analysis of 10 years of contemporary GTA teacher communication concerns reveals a typology of 10 concerns, which taken together construct teaching as a process of negotiating relationships, managing identities, and focusing attention.…

Revisiting Learning in Higher Education--Framing Notions Redefined through an Ecological Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Damsa, Crina; Jornet, Alfredo

2016-01-01

This article employs an ecological perspective as a means of revisiting the notion of learning, with a particular focus on learning in higher education. Learning is reconceptualised as a process entailing mutually constitutive, epistemic, social and affective relations in which knowledge, identity and agency become collective achievements of whole…

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - Interacting Physical, Biogeochemical and Biolological Controls of Nutrient Cycling at Ecohydrological Interfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Krause, S.; Baranov, V. A.; Lewandowski, J.; Blaen, P. J.; Romeijn, P.

2016-12-01

The interfaces between streams, lakes and their bed sediments have for a long time been in the research focus of ecohydrologists, aquatic ecologists and biogeochemists. While over the past decades, critical understanding has been gained of the spatial patterns and temporal dynamics in nutrient cycling at sediment-freshwater interfaces, important question remain as to the actual drivers (physical, biogeochemical and biological) of the often observed hot spots and hot moments of nutrient cycling at these highly reactive systems. This study reports on a combination of laboratory manipulation, artificial stream and field experiments from reach to river network scales to investigate the interplay of physical, biogeochemical and biological drivers of interface nutrient cycling under the impact of and resilience to global environmental change. Our results indicate that biogeochemical hotspots at sediment-freshwater interfaces were controlled not only by reactant mixing ratios and residence time distributions, but strongly affected by patterns in streambed physical properties and bioavailability of organic carbon. Lab incubation experiments revealed that geology, and in particular organic matter content strongly controlled the magnitude of enhanced streambed greenhouse gas production caused by increasing water temperatures. While these findings help to improve our understanding of physical and biogeochemical controls on nutrient cycling, we only start to understand to what degree biological factors can enhance these processes even further. We found that for instance chironomid or brittle star facilitated bioturbation in has the potential to substantially enhance freshwater or marine sediment pore-water flow and respiration. We revealed that ignorance of these important biologically controls on physical exchange fluxes can lead to critical underestimation of whole system respiration and its increase under global environmental change.

Lorentz violation naturalness revisited

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Belenchia, Alessio; Gambassi, Andrea; Liberati, Stefano [SISSA - International School for Advanced Studies, via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste (Italy); INFN, Sezione di Trieste, via Valerio 2, 34127 Trieste (Italy)

2016-06-08

We revisit here the naturalness problem of Lorentz invariance violations on a simple toy model of a scalar field coupled to a fermion field via a Yukawa interaction. We first review some well-known results concerning the low-energy percolation of Lorentz violation from high energies, presenting some details of the analysis not explicitly discussed in the literature and discussing some previously unnoticed subtleties. We then show how a separation between the scale of validity of the effective field theory and that one of Lorentz invariance violations can hinder this low-energy percolation. While such protection mechanism was previously considered in the literature, we provide here a simple illustration of how it works and of its general features. Finally, we consider a case in which dissipation is present, showing that the dissipative behaviour does not percolate generically to lower mass dimension operators albeit dispersion does. Moreover, we show that a scale separation can protect from unsuppressed low-energy percolation also in this case.

Rent Control with Rent Discrimination Revisited.

Science.gov (United States)

Shepherd, A. Ross; McDonald, John F.

1997-01-01

Questions the recently developed arguments (per George Kondor and R. Arnott) that rent controls can increase the quantity of housing supplied. Maintains that tenant favorable regulatory programs constrict profit, mobility, development, and construction. Argues that any subsequent increases in housing are due to price discrimination. (MJP)

Reduced mRNA expression of PTGDS in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of rapid-cycling bipolar disorder patients compared with healthy control subjects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Munkholm, Klaus; Peijs, Lone; Kessing, Lars Vedel

2015-01-01

was measured in 37 rapid-cycling bipolar disorder patients and 40 age- and gender-matched healthy control subjects using reverse transcription quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Repeated measurements of PTGDS and AKR1C3 mRNA expression were obtained in various affective states during 6-12 months...... and compared with repeated measurements in healthy control subjects. RESULTS: Adjusted for age and gender, PTGDS mRNA expression was down-regulated in rapid-cycling bipolar disorder patients in a euthymic, depressive, and manic/hypomanic state compared with healthy control subjects. No difference in PTGDS m...

Paleoclimatology of Upper Triassic Playa Cycles. New Insights Into an Orbital Controlled Monsoon System (Norian, German Basin)

OpenAIRE

Vollmer, Thorsten

2005-01-01

Paleoclimatology of Upper Triassic Playa Cycles: New Insights Into an Orbital Controlled Monsoon System (Norian, German Basin) Abstract The main purpose of the project was to study the rhythmic sediments of the Steinmergel Keuper playa system in the North and South German basin in order to test the hypothesis of possible climate control on sedimentation. Furthermore, in case of there being orbital control on sedimentation, the North/South correlation was tested based on high-resolution cyclos...

Coordination control of discrete-event systems revisited

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Komenda, Jan; Masopust, Tomáš; van Schuppen, J. H.

2015-01-01

Roč. 25, 1-2 (2015), s. 65-94 ISSN 0924-6703 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GPP202/11/P028; GA ČR(CZ) GAP103/11/0517 Institutional support: RVO:67985840 Keywords : coordination control * supervisory control Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 1.268, year: 2015 http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10626-013-0179-x

Vegetation physiology controls continental water cycle responses to climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Lemordant, L. A.; Swann, A. L. S.; Cook, B.; Scheff, J.; Gentine, P.

2017-12-01

Abstract per se:Predicting how climate change will affect the hydrologic cycle is of utmost importance for ecological systems and for human life and activities. A typical perspective is that global warming will cause an intensification of the mean state, the so-called "dry gets drier, wet gets wetter" paradigm. While this result is robust over the oceans, recent works suggest it may be less appropriate for terrestrial regions. Using Earth System Models (ESMs) with decoupled surface (vegetation physiology, PHYS) and atmospheric (radiative, ATMO) CO2 responses, we show that the CO2 physiological response dominates the change in the continental hydrologic cycle compared to radiative and precipitation changes due to increased atmospheric CO2, counter to previous assumptions. Using multiple linear regression analysis, we estimate the individual contribution of each of the three main drivers, precipitation, radiation and physiological CO2 forcing (see attached figure). Our analysis reveals that physiological effects dominate changes for 3 key indicators of dryness and/or vegetation stress (namely LAI, P-ET and EF) over the largest fraction of the globe, except for soil moisture which exhibits a more complex response. This highlights the key role of vegetation in controlling future terrestrial hydrologic response.Legend of the Figure attached:Decomposition along the three main drivers of LAI (a), P-ET (b), EF (c) in the control run. Green quantifies the effect of the vegetation physiology based on the run PHYS; red and blue quantify the contribution of, respectively, net radiation and precipitation, based on multiple linear regression in ATMO. Pie charts show for each variable the fraction (labelled in %) of land under the main influence (more than 50% of the changes is attributed to this driver) of one the three main drivers (green for grid points dominated by vegetation physiology, red for grid points dominated by net radiation, and blue for grid points dominated by the

ITER fuel cycle systems layout

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kveton, O.K.

1990-10-01

The ITER fuel cycle building (FCB) will contain the following systems: fuel purification - permeator based; fuel purification - molecular sieves; impurity treatment; waste water storage and treatment; isotope separation; waste water tritium extraction; tritium extraction from solid breeder; tritium extraction from test modules; tritium storage, shipping and receiving; tritium laboratory; atmosphere detritiation systems; fuel cycle control centre; tritiated equipment maintenance space; control maintenance space; health physics laboratory; access, access control and facilities. The layout of the FCB and the requirements for these systems are described. (10 figs.)

Quark matter revisited with non-extensive MIT bag model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cardoso, Pedro H.G.; Nunes da Silva, Tiago; Menezes, Debora P. [Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Departamento de Fisica, CFM, Florianopolis (Brazil); Deppman, Airton [Instituto de Fisica da Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo (Brazil)

2017-10-15

In this work we revisit the MIT bag model to describe quark matter within both the usual Fermi-Dirac and the Tsallis statistics. We verify the effects of the non-additivity of the latter by analysing two different pictures: the first order phase transition of the QCD phase diagram and stellar matter properties. While the QCD phase diagram is visually affected by the Tsallis statistics, the resulting effects on quark star macroscopic properties are barely noticed. (orig.)

The Life Cycle of Centrioles

OpenAIRE

Hatch, E.; Stearns, T.

2010-01-01

Centrioles organize the centrosome and nucleate the ciliary axoneme, and the centriole life cycle has many parallels to the chromosome cycle. The centriole cycle in animals begins at fertilization with the contribution of two centrioles by the male gamete. In the ensuing cell cycles, the duplication of centrioles is controlled temporally, spatially, and numerically. As a consequence of the duplication mechanism, the two centrioles in a typical interphase cell are of different ages and have di...

Long and irregular menstrual cycles, polycystic ovary syndrome, and ovarian cancer risk in a population-based case-control study.

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, H R; Titus, L J; Cramer, D W; Terry, K L

2017-01-15

Long and irregular menstrual cycles, a hallmark of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), have been associated with higher androgen and lower sex hormone binding globulin levels and this altered hormonal environment may increase the risk of specific histologic subtypes of ovarian cancer. We investigated whether menstrual cycle characteristics and self-reported PCOS were associated with ovarian cancer risk among 2,041 women with epithelial ovarian cancer and 2,100 controls in the New England Case-Control Study (1992-2008). Menstrual cycle irregularity, menstrual cycle length, and PCOS were collected through in-person interview. Unconditional logistic regression models were used to calculate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for ovarian cancer risk overall, and polytomous logistic regression to evaluate whether risk differed between histologic subtypes. Overall, we observed no elevation in ovarian cancer risk for women who reported periods that were never regular or for those reporting a menstrual cycle length of >35 days with ORs of 0.87 (95% CI = 0.69-1.10) and 0.83 (95% CI = 0.44-1.54), respectively. We observed no overall association between self-reported PCOS and ovarian cancer (OR = 0.97; 95% CI = 0.61-1.56). However, we observed significant differences in the association with menstrual cycle irregularity and risk of ovarian cancer subtypes (p heterogeneity  = 0.03) as well as by BMI and OC use (p interaction  < 0.01). Most notable, menstrual cycle irregularity was associated with a decreased risk of high grade serous tumors but an increased risk of serous borderline tumors among women who had never used OCs and those who were overweight. Future research in a large collaborative consortium may help clarify these associations. © 2016 UICC.

My First CMC Article Revisited: A Window on Spanish L2 Interlanguage

Science.gov (United States)

Blake, Robert

2016-01-01

The computer-assisted language learning (CALL) field seems to change overnight with new technological affordances. Blake revisits his 2000 "LLT" article on computer-mediation communication (CMC) in order to reflect on how the field has examined this topic over the past decade or so. While the Interaction Hypothesis continues to guide…

Risk prediction of emergency department revisit 30 days post discharge: a prospective study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shiying Hao

Full Text Available Among patients who are discharged from the Emergency Department (ED, about 3% return within 30 days. Revisits can be related to the nature of the disease, medical errors, and/or inadequate diagnoses and treatment during their initial ED visit. Identification of high-risk patient population can help device new strategies for improved ED care with reduced ED utilization.A decision tree based model with discriminant Electronic Medical Record (EMR features was developed and validated, estimating patient ED 30 day revisit risk. A retrospective cohort of 293,461 ED encounters from HealthInfoNet (HIN, Maine's Health Information Exchange (HIE, between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012, was assembled with the associated patients' demographic information and one-year clinical histories before the discharge date as the inputs. To validate, a prospective cohort of 193,886 encounters between January 1, 2013 and June 30, 2013 was constructed. The c-statistics for the retrospective and prospective predictions were 0.710 and 0.704 respectively. Clinical resource utilization, including ED use, was analyzed as a function of the ED risk score. Cluster analysis of high-risk patients identified discrete sub-populations with distinctive demographic, clinical and resource utilization patterns.Our ED 30-day revisit model was prospectively validated on the Maine State HIN secure statewide data system. Future integration of our ED predictive analytics into the ED care work flow may lead to increased opportunities for targeted care intervention to reduce ED resource burden and overall healthcare expense, and improve outcomes.

Pituitary block with gonadotrophin-releasing hormone antagonist during intrauterine insemination cycles: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

Science.gov (United States)

Vitagliano, A; Saccone, G; Noventa, M; Borini, A; Coccia, M E; Nardelli, G B; Saccardi, C; Bifulco, G; Litta, P S; Andrisani, A

2018-06-03

Several randomised controlled trials (RCTs) have investigated the usefulness of pituitary block with gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonists during intrauterine insemination (IUI) cycles, with conflicting results. The aim of the present systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs was to evaluate the effectiveness of GnRH antagonist administration as an intervention to improve the success of IUI cycles. Electronic databases (MEDLINE, Scopus, EMBASE, Sciencedirect) and clinical registers were searched from their inception until October 2017. Randomised controlled trials of infertile women undergoing one or more IUI stimulated cycles with GnRH antagonists compared with a control group. The primary outcomes were ongoing pregnancy/live birth rate (OPR/LBR) and clinical pregnancy rate (CPR). Pooled results were expressed as odds ratio (OR) or mean differences with 95% confidence interval (95% CI). Sources of heterogeneity were investigated through sensitivity and subgroups analysis. The body of evidence was rated using GRADE methodology. Publication bias was assessed with funnel plot, Begg's and Egger's tests. Fifteen RCTs were included (3253 IUI cycles, 2345 participants). No differences in OPR/LBR (OR 1.14, 95% CI 0.82-1.57, P = 0.44) and CPR (OR 1.28, 95% CI 0.97-1.69, P = 0.08) were found. Sensitivity and subgroup analyses did not provide statistical changes in pooled results. The body of evidence was rated as low (GRADE 2/4). No publication bias was detected. Pituitary block with GnRH antagonists does not improve OPR/LBR and CPR in women undergoing IUI cycles. Pituitary block with GnRH antagonists does not improve the success of IUI cycles. © 2018 Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

The Best and the Rest: Revisiting the Norm of Normality of Individual Performance

Science.gov (United States)

O'Boyle, Ernest, Jr.; Aguinis, Herman

2012-01-01

We revisit a long-held assumption in human resource management, organizational behavior, and industrial and organizational psychology that individual performance follows a Gaussian (normal) distribution. We conducted 5 studies involving 198 samples including 633,263 researchers, entertainers, politicians, and amateur and professional athletes.…

Real-Time Optimization of Organic Rankine Cycle Systems by Extremum-Seeking Control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andres Hernandez

2016-05-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the optimal operation of a stationary sub-critical 11 kW el organic Rankine cycle (ORC unit for waste heat recovery (WHR applications is investigated, both in terms of energy production and safety conditions. Simulation results of a validated dynamic model of the ORC power unit are used to derive a correlation for the evaporating temperature, which maximizes the power generation for a range of operating conditions. This idea is further extended using a perturbation-based extremum seeking (ES algorithm to identify online the optimal evaporating temperature. Regarding safety conditions, we propose the use of the extended prediction self-adaptive control (EPSAC approach to constrained model predictive control (MPC. Since it uses input/output models for prediction, it avoids the need for state estimators, making it a suitable tool for industrial applications. The performance of the proposed control strategy is compared to PID-like schemes. Results show that EPSAC-MPC is a more effective control strategy, as it allows a safer and more efficient operation of the ORC unit, as it can handle constraints in a natural way, operating close to the boundary conditions where power generation is maximized.

Postural reconfiguration and cycle-to-cycle variability in patients with work-related musculoskeletal disorders compared to healthy controls and in relation to pain emerging during a repetitive movement task.

Science.gov (United States)

Longo, Alessia; Meulenbroek, Ruud; Haid, Thomas; Federolf, Peter

2018-05-01

Movement variability in sustained repetitive tasks is an important factor in the context of work-related musculoskeletal disorders. While a popular hypothesis suggests that movement variability can prevent overuse injuries, pain evolving during task execution may also cause variability. The aim of the current study was to investigate, first, differences in movement behavior between volunteers with and without work-related pain and, second, the influence of emerging pain on movement variability. Upper-body 3D kinematics were collected as 22 subjects with musculoskeletal disorders and 19 healthy volunteers performed a bimanual repetitive tapping task with a self-chosen and a given rhythm. Three subgroups were formed within the patient group according to the level of pain the participants experienced during the task. Principal component analysis was applied to 30 joint angle coordinates to characterize in a combined analysis the movement variability associated with reconfigurations of the volunteers' postures and the cycle-to-cycle variability that occurred during the execution of the task. Patients with no task-related pain showed lower cycle-to-cycle variability compared to healthy controls. Findings also indicated an increase in movement variability as pain emerged, manifesting both as frequent postural changes and large cycle-to-cycle variability. The findings suggested a relationship between work-related musculoskeletal disorders and movement variability but further investigation is needed on this issue. Additionally, the findings provided clear evidence that pain increased motor variability. Postural reconfigurations and cycle-to-cycle variability should be considered jointly when investigating movement variability and musculoskeletal disorders. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Proposed megakaryocytic regulon of p53: the genes engaged to control cell cycle and apoptosis during megakaryocytic differentiation

Science.gov (United States)

Apostolidis, Pani A.; Lindsey, Stephan; Miller, William M.

2012-01-01

During endomitosis, megakaryocytes undergo several rounds of DNA synthesis without division leading to polyploidization. In primary megakaryocytes and in the megakaryocytic cell line CHRF, loss or knock-down of p53 enhances cell cycling and inhibits apoptosis, leading to increased polyploidization. To support the hypothesis that p53 suppresses megakaryocytic polyploidization, we show that stable expression of wild-type p53 in K562 cells (a p53-null cell line) attenuates the cells' ability to undergo polyploidization during megakaryocytic differentiation due to diminished DNA synthesis and greater apoptosis. This suggested that p53's effects during megakaryopoiesis are mediated through cell cycle- and apoptosis-related target genes, possibly by arresting DNA synthesis and promoting apoptosis. To identify candidate genes through which p53 mediates these effects, gene expression was compared between p53 knock-down (p53-KD) and control CHRF cells induced to undergo terminal megakaryocytic differentiation using microarray analysis. Among substantially downregulated p53 targets in p53-KD megakaryocytes were cell cycle regulators CDKN1A (p21) and PLK2, proapoptotic FAS, TNFRSF10B, CASP8, NOTCH1, TP53INP1, TP53I3, DRAM1, ZMAT3 and PHLDA3, DNA-damage-related RRM2B and SESN1, and actin component ACTA2, while antiapoptotic CKS1B, BCL2, GTSE1, and p53 family member TP63 were upregulated in p53-KD cells. Additionally, a number of cell cycle-related, proapoptotic, and cytoskeleton-related genes with known functions in megakaryocytes but not known to carry p53-responsive elements were differentially expressed between p53-KD and control CHRF cells. Our data support a model whereby p53 expression during megakaryopoiesis serves to control polyploidization and the transition from endomitosis to apoptosis by impeding cell cycling and promoting apoptosis. Furthermore, we identify a putative p53 regulon that is proposed to orchestrate these effects. PMID:22548738

The Levy sections theorem revisited

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Figueiredo, Annibal; Gleria, Iram; Matsushita, Raul; Silva, Sergio Da

2007-01-01

This paper revisits the Levy sections theorem. We extend the scope of the theorem to time series and apply it to historical daily returns of selected dollar exchange rates. The elevated kurtosis usually observed in such series is then explained by their volatility patterns. And the duration of exchange rate pegs explains the extra elevated kurtosis in the exchange rates of emerging markets. In the end, our extension of the theorem provides an approach that is simpler than the more common explicit modelling of fat tails and dependence. Our main purpose is to build up a technique based on the sections that allows one to artificially remove the fat tails and dependence present in a data set. By analysing data through the lenses of the Levy sections theorem one can find common patterns in otherwise very different data sets

The Levy sections theorem revisited

Science.gov (United States)

Figueiredo, Annibal; Gleria, Iram; Matsushita, Raul; Da Silva, Sergio

2007-06-01

This paper revisits the Levy sections theorem. We extend the scope of the theorem to time series and apply it to historical daily returns of selected dollar exchange rates. The elevated kurtosis usually observed in such series is then explained by their volatility patterns. And the duration of exchange rate pegs explains the extra elevated kurtosis in the exchange rates of emerging markets. In the end, our extension of the theorem provides an approach that is simpler than the more common explicit modelling of fat tails and dependence. Our main purpose is to build up a technique based on the sections that allows one to artificially remove the fat tails and dependence present in a data set. By analysing data through the lenses of the Levy sections theorem one can find common patterns in otherwise very different data sets.

"Rapid Revisit" Measurements of Sea Surface Winds Using CYGNSS

Science.gov (United States)

Park, J.; Johnson, J. T.

2017-12-01

The Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) is a space-borne GNSS-R (GNSS-Reflectometry) mission that launched December 15, 2016 for ocean surface wind speed measurements. CYGNSS includes 8 small satellites in the same LEO orbit, so that the mission provides wind speed products having unprecedented coverage both in time and space to study multi-temporal behaviors of oceanic winds. The nature of CYGNSS coverage results in some locations on Earth experiencing multiple wind speed measurements within a short period of time (a "clump" of observations in time resulting in a "rapid revisit" series of measurements). Such observations could seemingly provide indications of regions experiencing rapid changes in wind speeds, and therefore be of scientific utility. Temporally "clumped" properties of CYGNSS measurements are investigated using early CYGNSS L1/L2 measurements, and the results show that clump durations and spacing vary with latitude. For example, the duration of a clump can extend as long as a few hours at higher latitudes, with gaps between clumps ranging from 6 to as high as 12 hours depending on latitude. Examples are provided to indicate the potential of changes within a clump to produce a "rapid revisit" product for detecting convective activity. Also, we investigate detector design for identifying convective activities. Results from analyses using recent CYGNSS L2 winds will be provided in the presentation.

Cell cycle-dependent transcription factors control the expression of yeast telomerase RNA.

Science.gov (United States)

Dionne, Isabelle; Larose, Stéphanie; Dandjinou, Alain T; Abou Elela, Sherif; Wellinger, Raymund J

2013-07-01

Telomerase is a specialized ribonucleoprotein that adds repeated DNA sequences to the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes to preserve genome integrity. Some secondary structure features of the telomerase RNA are very well conserved, and it serves as a central scaffold for the binding of associated proteins. The Saccharomyces cerevisiae telomerase RNA, TLC1, is found in very low copy number in the cell and is the limiting component of the known telomerase holoenzyme constituents. The reasons for this low abundance are unclear, but given that the RNA is very stable, transcriptional control mechanisms must be extremely important. Here we define the sequences forming the TLC1 promoter and identify the elements required for its low expression level, including enhancer and repressor elements. Within an enhancer element, we found consensus sites for Mbp1/Swi4 association, and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays confirmed the binding of Mbp1 and Swi4 to these sites of the TLC1 promoter. Furthermore, the enhancer element conferred cell cycle-dependent regulation to a reporter gene, and mutations in the Mbp1/Swi4 binding sites affected the levels of telomerase RNA and telomere length. Finally, ChIP experiments using a TLC1 RNA-binding protein as target showed cell cycle-dependent transcription of the TLC1 gene. These results indicate that the budding yeast TLC1 RNA is transcribed in a cell cycle-dependent fashion late in G1 and may be part of the S phase-regulated group of genes involved in DNA replication.

Interventions to promote cycling: systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Lin; Sahlqvist, Shannon; McMinn, Alison; Griffin, Simon J; Ogilvie, David

2010-10-18

To determine what interventions are effective in promoting cycling, the size of the effects of interventions, and evidence of any associated benefits on overall physical activity or anthropometric measures. Systematic review. Published and unpublished reports in any language identified by searching 13 electronic databases, websites, reference lists, and existing systematic reviews, and papers identified by experts in the field. Review methods Controlled "before and after" experimental or observational studies of the effect of any type of intervention on cycling behaviour measured at either individual or population level. Twenty five studies (of which two were randomised controlled trials) from seven countries were included. Six studies examined interventions aimed specifically at promoting cycling, of which four (an intensive individual intervention in obese women, high quality improvements to a cycle route network, and two multifaceted cycle promotion initiatives at town or city level) were found to be associated with increases in cycling. Those studies that evaluated interventions at population level reported net increases of up to 3.4 percentage points in the population prevalence of cycling or the proportion of trips made by bicycle. Sixteen studies assessing individualised marketing of "environmentally friendly" modes of transport to interested households reported modest but consistent net effects equating to an average of eight additional cycling trips per person per year in the local population. Other interventions that targeted travel behaviour in general were not associated with a clear increase in cycling. Only two studies assessed effects of interventions on physical activity; one reported a positive shift in the population distribution of overall physical activity during the intervention. Community-wide promotional activities and improving infrastructure for cycling have the potential to increase cycling by modest amounts, but further controlled

Re-visiting RHIC snakes: OPERA fields, n₀ dance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meot, F. [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Gupta, R. [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Huang, H. [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Ranjbar, V. [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Robert-Demolaize, G. [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

2017-09-22

In this Tech. Note RHIC snakes and stable spin direction $\\vector{n}$₀(s) are re-visited, based on OPERA-computed field maps of the former. The numerical simulations so undertaken provide various outcomes regarding RHIC optics and spin dynamics, in relation with orbital and focusing effects resulting from the use of this realistic 3-D representation of the snakes.

Serotype-specific mortality from invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae disease revisited

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Martens, Pernille; Worm, Signe Westring; Lundgren, Bettina

2004-01-01

Serotype-specific mortality from invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae disease revisited.Martens P, Worm SW, Lundgren B, Konradsen HB, Benfield T. Department of Infectious Diseases 144, Hvidovre University Hospital, DK-2650 Hvidovre, Denmark. pernillemartens@yahoo.com BACKGROUND: Invasive infection...... with Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococci) causes significant morbidity and mortality. Case series and experimental data have shown that the capsular serotype is involved in the pathogenesis and a determinant of disease outcome. METHODS: Retrospective review of 464 cases of invasive disease among adults diagnosed...

Peripheral biomarkers revisited: integrative profiling of peripheral samples for psychiatric research.

Science.gov (United States)

Hayashi-Takagi, Akiko; Vawter, Marquis P; Iwamoto, Kazuya

2014-06-15

Peripheral samples, such as blood and skin, have been used for decades in psychiatric research as surrogates for central nervous system samples. Although the validity of the data obtained from peripheral samples has been questioned and other state-of-the-art techniques, such as human brain imaging, genomics, and induced pluripotent stem cells, seem to reduce the value of peripheral cells, accumulating evidence has suggested that revisiting peripheral samples is worthwhile. Here, we re-evaluate the utility of peripheral samples and argue that establishing an understanding of the common signaling and biological processes in the brain and peripheral samples is required for the validity of such models. First, we present an overview of the available types of peripheral cells and describe their advantages and disadvantages. We then briefly summarize the main achievements of omics studies, including epigenome, transcriptome, proteome, and metabolome analyses, as well as the main findings of functional cellular assays, the results of which imply that alterations in neurotransmission, metabolism, the cell cycle, and the immune system may be partially responsible for the pathophysiology of major psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. Finally, we discuss the future utility of peripheral samples for the development of biomarkers and tailor-made therapies, such as multimodal assays that are used as a battery of disease and trait pathways and that might be potent and complimentary tools for use in psychiatric research. © 2013 Society of Biological Psychiatry Published by Society of Biological Psychiatry All rights reserved.

Variable geometry gas turbines for improving the part-load performance of marine combined cycles - Combined cycle performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haglind, Fredrik

2011-01-01

The part-load performance of combined cycles intended for naval use is of great importance, and it is influenced by the gas turbine configuration and load control strategy. This paper is aimed at quantifying the effects of variable geometry gas turbines on the part-load efficiency for combined...... cycles used for ship propulsion. Moreover, the paper is aimed at developing methodologies and deriving models for part-load simulations suitable for energy system analysis of various components within combined cycle power plants. Two different gas turbine configurations are studied, a two-shaft aero......-derivative configuration and a single-shaft industrial configuration. The results suggest that by the use of variable geometry gas turbines, the combined cycle part-load performance can be improved. In order to minimise the voyage fuel consumption, a combined cycle featuring two-shaft gas turbines with VAN control...

Pediatric endurance and limb strengthening for children with cerebral palsy (PEDALS – a randomized controlled trial protocol for a stationary cycling intervention

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simms Victoria

2007-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In the past, effortful exercises were considered inappropriate for children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP due to concern that they would escalate abnormalities including spasticity and abnormal movement patterns. Current scientific evidence indicates that these concerns were unfounded and that therapeutic interventions focused on muscle strengthening can lead to improved functional ability. However, few studies have examined the potential benefits of cardiorespiratory fitness exercises in this patient population. Methods/design The rationale and design of a randomized controlled trial examining the effects of a stationary cycling intervention for children with CP are outlined here. Sixty children with spastic diplegic CP between the ages of 7 and 18 years and Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS levels of I, II, or III will be recruited for this study. Participants will be randomly assigned to either an intervention (cycling or a control (no cycling group. The cycling intervention will be divided into strengthening and cardiorespiratory endurance exercise phases. During the strengthening phase, the resistance to lower extremity cycling will be progressively increased using a uniquely designed limb-loaded mechanism. The cardiorespiratory endurance phase will focus on increasing the intensity and duration of cycling. Children will be encouraged to exercise within a target heart rate (HR range (70 – 80% maximum HR. Thirty sessions will take place over a 10–12 week period. All children will be evaluated before (baseline and after (follow-up the intervention period. Primary outcome measures are: knee joint extensor and flexor moments, or torque; the Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM; the 600 Yard Walk-Run test and the Thirty-Second Walk test (30 sec WT. Discussion This paper presents the rationale, design and protocol for Pediatric Endurance and Limb Strengthening (PEDALS; a Phase I randomized controlled trial

Influence of Thermal Cycling on Cryogenic Thermometers

CERN Document Server

Balle, C; Rieubland, Jean Michel; Suraci, A; Togny, F; Vauthier, N

1999-01-01

The stringent requirements on temperature control of the superconducting magnets for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), impose that the cryogenic temperature sensors meet compelling demands such as long-term stability, radiation hardness, readout accuracy better than 5 mK at 1.8 K and compatibility with industrial control equipment. This paper presents the results concerning long-term stability of resistance temperature sensors submitted to cryogenic thermal cycles. For this task a simple test facility has been designed, constructed and put into operation for cycling simultaneously 115 cryogenic thermometers between 300 K and 4.2 K. A thermal cycle is set to last 71/4 hours: 3 hours for either cooling down or warming up the sensors and 1 respectively 1/4 hour at steady temperature conditions at each end of the temperature cycle. A Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) drives automatically this operation by reading 2 thermometers and actuating on 3 valves and 1 heater. The first thermal cycle was accomplished in a...

The controllability test for behaviors revisited

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Polderman, Jan W.; Piztek, P.

2005-01-01

Let B = {w 2 Lloc 1 (R,Rq) | R( d/dt )w = 0}. It is well-know that B is controllable if and only if R(λ) has the same rank for all complex λ. We want to re-examen the proof of this fundamental result. Denote by B1 the behavior B intersected with set of smooth functions. For B1 the proof is easy and

Revisiting nitrification in the Eastern Tropical South Pacific: A focus on controls

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Xuefeng; Fuchsman, Clara A.; Jayakumar, Amal; Warner, Mark J.; Devol, Allan H.; Ward, Bess B.

2016-03-01

Nitrification, the oxidation of ammonium (NH4+) to nitrite (NO2-) and to nitrate (NO3-), is a component of the nitrogen (N) cycle internal to the fixed N pool. In oxygen minimum zones (OMZs), which are hotspots for oceanic fixed N loss, nitrification plays a key role because it directly supplies substrates for denitrification and anaerobic ammonia oxidation (anammox), and may compete for substrates with these same processes. However, the control of oxygen and substrate concentrations on nitrification are not well understood. We performed onboard incubations with 15N-labeled substrates to measure rates of NH4+ and NO2- oxidation in the eastern tropical South Pacific (ETSP). The spatial and depth distributions of NH4+ and NO2- oxidation rates were primarily controlled by NH4+ and NO2- availability, oxygen concentration, and light. In the euphotic zone, nitrification was partially photoinhibited. In the anoxic layer, NH4+ oxidation was negligible or below detection, but high rates of NO2- oxidation were observed. NH4+ oxidation displayed extremely high affinity for both NH4+ and oxygen. The positive linear correlations between NH4+ oxidation rates and in situ NH4+ concentrations and ammonia monooxygenase subunit A (amoA) gene abundances in the upper oxycline indicate that the natural assemblage of ammonia oxidizers responds to in situNH4+ concentrations or supply by adjusting their population size, which determines the NH4+ oxidation potential. The depth distribution of archaeal and bacterial amoA gene abundances and N2O concentration, along with independently reported simultaneous direct N2O production rate measurements, suggests that AOA were predominantly responsible for NH4+ oxidation, which was a major source of N2O production at oxygen concentrations > 5 µM.

The Assassination of John F. Kennedy: Revisiting the Medical Data

OpenAIRE

Rohrich, Rod J.; Nagarkar, Purushottam; Stokes, Mike; Weinstein, Aaron; Mantik, David W.; Jensen, J. Arthur

2014-01-01

Thank you for publishing "The Assassination of John F. Kennedy: Revisiting the Medical Data."1 The central conclusion of this study is that the assassination remains controversial and that some of the controversy must be attributable to the "reporting and handling of the medical evidence." With the greatest respect for you and Dr. Robert McClelland, let me argue that your text and on-line interviews perpetuate the central misunderstanding of the assassination and there...

Dispute Resolution and Technology: Revisiting the Justification of Conflict Management

OpenAIRE

Koulu, Riikka

2016-01-01

This study, Dispute Resolution and Technology: Revisiting the Justification of Conflict Management, belongs to the fields of procedural law, legal theory and law and technology studies. In this study the changes in dispute resolution caused by technology are evaluated. The overarching research question of this study is how does implementing technology to dispute resolution challenge the justification of law as a legitimised mode of violence? Before answering such an abstract research question...

Deja vu: The Unified Command Plan of the Future Revisited

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-19

Approved for Public Release; Distribution is Unlimited Déjà vu : The Unified Command Plan of the Future Revisited A Monograph by Lieutenant...DD-MM-YYYY) 19-05-2011 2. REPORT TYPE Monograph 3. DATES COVERED (From - To) JUL 2010 – MAY 2011 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Déjà vu : The Unified...i SCHOOL OF ADVANCED MILITARY STUDIES MONOGRAPH APPROVAL Lieutenant Colonel Edward Francis Martignetti Title of Monograph: Déjà vu : The Unified

Interpretation of transport barriers and of subneoclassical transport in the framework of the revisited neoclassical theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rogister, A.L.

1999-01-01

'Subneoclassical' heat fluxes are predicted in the high collisionality regime by the revisited neoclassical theory, which includes the roles of Finite Larmor Radius effects and Inertia, that we published earlier. Unlike conventional neoclassical theory, the revisited theory further provides a non degenerate ambipolarity constraint which defines unambiguously the radial electric field. Together with the parallel momentum equation, the ambipolarity constraint leads, under some conditions, to radial electric field profiles with high negative shear akin to those observed in spontaneous edge transport barriers. The predictions of the theory are outlined, with emphasis laid on the interpretation of experimental results such as magnitude of the jumps, width of the shear layer, local scaling laws. Extension of the theory to triggered transitions and cold pulse propagation studies is suggested. (author)

How does the Ambience of Cafe Affect the Revisit Intention Among its Patrons? A S on the Cafes in Ipoh, Perak

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

AbuThahir Sharmeela-Banu Syed

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Food service industry is growing rapidly as a result of the changing consumer lifestyle. The food service industry is highly competitive due to the increasing number of new entrants offering inventive food products and services. In order to be outstanding in such competitive industry, retailers nowadays opt to emphasize on their store environment. Past studies discovered that store environment stimulates emotions that significantly boost customer revisit intention. As a result, retailers attempt to differentiate their store by combining various environmental stimuli to create an attractive ambience that will in turn draw in the customers. Hence, this study attempts to investigate the impact of various café ambience factors on the patrons’ revisit intention. The patrons of cafes in Ipoh, Perak were selected using purposive sampling technique to be the respondents of this study. 250 questionnaires were collected and Partial Least Square technique was used to analyse the data collected. Findings show that all the five factors of café ambience namely lighting, music, decoration, cleanliness and layouts were significantly influencing the patrons’ revisit intention. Of these five factors, lighting was most influential while music was the least influential in affecting the patrons’ revisit intention. Accordingly, this study lists several recommendations for practitioners and academics with regards to the store environment and its impact on the repurchase intention.

Stirling Engine Gets Revisited

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Frank

2010-01-01

One of the basic truths regarding energy conversion is that no thermodynamic cycle can be devised that is more efficient than a Carnot cycle operating between the same temperature limits. The efficiency of the Stirling cycle (patented by Rev. Robert Stirling in 1816) can approach that of the Carnot cycle and yet has not had the commercial success…

International security and arms control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ekeus, R.

2000-01-01

The end of the cold war also ended the focus on the bilateral approach to arms control and disarmament. Key concepts of security needed to be revisited, along with their implications for the disarmament and arms control agenda. Though there is currently a unipolar global security environment, there remain important tasks on the multilateral arms control agenda. The major task is that of reducing and eliminating weapons of mass destruction, especially nuclear weapons. The author contends that maintaining reliance on the nuclear-weapons option makes little sense in a time when the major Powers are strengthening their partnerships in economics, trade, peacemaking and building. (author)

BWROPT: A multi-cycle BWR fuel cycle optimization code

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ottinger, Keith E.; Maldonado, G. Ivan, E-mail: Ivan.Maldonado@utk.edu

2015-09-15

Highlights: • A multi-cycle BWR fuel cycle optimization algorithm is presented. • New fuel inventory and core loading pattern determination. • The parallel simulated annealing algorithm was used for the optimization. • Variable sampling probabilities were compared to constant sampling probabilities. - Abstract: A new computer code for performing BWR in-core and out-of-core fuel cycle optimization for multiple cycles simultaneously has been developed. Parallel simulated annealing (PSA) is used to optimize the new fuel inventory and placement of new and reload fuel for each cycle considered. Several algorithm improvements were implemented and evaluated. The most significant of these are variable sampling probabilities and sampling new fuel types from an ordered array. A heuristic control rod pattern (CRP) search algorithm was also implemented, which is useful for single CRP determinations, however, this feature requires significant computational resources and is currently not practical for use in a full multi-cycle optimization. The PSA algorithm was demonstrated to be capable of significant objective function reduction and finding candidate loading patterns without constraint violations. The use of variable sampling probabilities was shown to reduce runtime while producing better results compared to using constant sampling probabilities. Sampling new fuel types from an ordered array was shown to have a mixed effect compared to random new fuel type sampling, whereby using both random and ordered sampling produced better results but required longer runtimes.

Experimental analysis of fuzzy controlled energy efficient demand controlled ventilation economizer cycle variable air volume air conditioning system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rajagopalan Parameshwaran

2008-01-01

Full Text Available In the quest for energy conservative building design, there is now a great opportunity for a flexible and sophisticated air conditioning system capable of addressing better thermal comfort, indoor air quality, and energy efficiency, that are strongly desired. The variable refrigerant volume air conditioning system provides considerable energy savings, cost effectiveness and reduced space requirements. Applications of intelligent control like fuzzy logic controller, especially adapted to variable air volume air conditioning systems, have drawn more interest in recent years than classical control systems. An experimental analysis was performed to investigate the inherent operational characteristics of the combined variable refrigerant volume and variable air volume air conditioning systems under fixed ventilation, demand controlled ventilation, and combined demand controlled ventilation and economizer cycle techniques for two seasonal conditions. The test results of the variable refrigerant volume and variable air volume air conditioning system for each techniques are presented. The test results infer that the system controlled by fuzzy logic methodology and operated under the CO2 based mechanical ventilation scheme, effectively yields 37% and 56% per day of average energy-saving in summer and winter conditions, respectively. Based on the experimental results, the fuzzy based combined system can be considered to be an alternative energy efficient air conditioning scheme, having significant energy-saving potential compared to the conventional constant air volume air conditioning system.

Dosage-sensitive function of retinoblastoma related and convergent epigenetic control are required during the Arabidopsis life cycle.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amal J Johnston

2010-06-01

Full Text Available The plant life cycle alternates between two distinct multi-cellular generations, the reduced gametophytes and the dominant sporophyte. Little is known about how generation-specific cell fate, differentiation, and development are controlled by the core regulators of the cell cycle. In Arabidopsis, RETINOBLASTOMA RELATED (RBR, an evolutionarily ancient cell cycle regulator, controls cell proliferation, differentiation, and regulation of a subset of Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2 genes and METHYLTRANSFERASE 1 (MET1 in the male and female gametophytes, as well as cell fate establishment in the male gametophyte. Here we demonstrate that RBR is also essential for cell fate determination in the female gametophyte, as revealed by loss of cell-specific marker expression in all the gametophytic cells that lack RBR. Maintenance of genome integrity also requires RBR, because diploid plants heterozygous for rbr (rbr/RBR produce an abnormal portion of triploid offspring, likely due to gametic genome duplication. While the sporophyte of the diploid mutant plants phenocopied wild type due to the haplosufficiency of RBR, genetic analysis of tetraploid plants triplex for rbr (rbr/rbr/rbr/RBR revealed that RBR has a dosage-dependent pleiotropic effect on sporophytic development, trichome differentiation, and regulation of PRC2 subunit genes CURLY LEAF (CLF and VERNALIZATION 2 (VRN2, and MET1 in leaves. There were, however, no obvious cell cycle and cell proliferation defects in these plant tissues, suggesting that a single functional RBR copy in tetraploids is capable of maintaining normal cell division but is not sufficient for distinct differentiation and developmental processes. Conversely, in leaves of mutants in sporophytic PRC2 subunits, trichome differentiation was also affected and expression of RBR and MET1 was reduced, providing evidence for a RBR-PRC2-MET1 regulatory feedback loop involved in sporophyte development. Together, dosage-sensitive RBR

A Liquid Desiccant Cycle for Dehumidification and Fresh Water Supply in Controlled Environment Agriculture

KAUST Repository

Lefers, Ryan

2017-12-01

Controlled environment agriculture allows the production of fresh food indoors from global locations and contexts where it would not otherwise be possible. Growers in extreme climates and urban areas produce food locally indoors, saving thousands of food import miles and capitalizing upon the demand for fresh, tasty, and nutritious food. However, the growing of food, both indoors and outdoors, consumes huge quantities of water - as much as 70-80% of global fresh water supplies. The utilization of liquid desiccants in a closed indoor agriculture cycle provides the possibility of capturing plant-transpired water vapor. The regeneration/desalination of these liquid desiccants offers the potential to recover fresh water for irrigation and also to re-concentrate the desiccants for continued dehumidification. Through the utilization of solar thermal energy, the process can be completed with a very small to zero grid-energy footprint. The primary research in this dissertation focused on two areas: the dehumidification of indoor environments utilizing liquid desiccants inside membrane contactors and the regeneration of these desiccants using membrane distillation. Triple-bore PVDF hollow fiber membranes yielded dehumidification permeance rates around 0.25-0.31 g m-2 h-1 Pa-1 in lab-scale trials. A vacuum membrane distillation unit utilizing PVDF fibers yielded a flux of 2.8-7.0 kg m-2 hr-1. When the membrane contactor dehumidification system was applied in a bench scale controlled environment agriculture setup, the relative humidity levels responded dynamically to both plant transpiration and dehumidification rates, reaching dynamic equilibrium levels during day and night cycles. In addition, recovered fresh water from distillation was successfully applied for irrigation of crops and concentrated desiccants were successfully reused for dehumidification. If applied in practice, the liquid desiccant system for controlled environment agriculture offers the potential to reduce

Toward a unifying model for the late Neoproterozoic sulfur cycle

Science.gov (United States)

Johnston, D. T.; Gill, B. C.; Ries, J. B.; OBrien, T.; Macdonald, F. A.

2011-12-01

The latest Proterozoic has always fascinated Earth historians. Between the long identified enigmas surrounding the sudden appearance of animals and the more recent infatuation with large-sale geochemical anomalies (i.e. the Shuram - Wonaka event), the closing 90 million years of the Proterozoic - the Ediacaran - houses a number of important and unanswered questions. Detailed redox geochemistry and stable isotope reconstructions of stratigraphic units covering this time interval have begun to unravel some of it's mysteries, however much remains to be explained. The sulfur cycle, with it's intimate links to both the marine carbon cycle (through remineralization reactions) and overall oxidant budgets (via seawater sulfate), sits poised to provide a sharp tool to track environmental change. Previous work has recognized this potential, and serves as a point of entrance for our current work. However what is lacking - and the goal of this study - is to place quantitative constraints the geochemical evolution of marine basins through this interval. Here we will present multiple sulfur isotope data from pyrite and sulfates through Ediacaran stratigraphy from the Yukon, Russia and Namibia. To maximize the utility of sulfur isotope studies, we have focused on Ediacaran stratigraphic sections from multiple continents that record both the Shuram anomaly and contain rich fossil records. These sections provide, when interpreted together, a fresh opportunity to revisit the geochemical setting that gave rise to animals. Importantly, the inclusion of multiple sulfur isotope data allows us to place further constraints on the mechanisms underpinning isotopic variability. For instance, when coupled with new experimental data, tighter constraints are provided on how fractionation scales with sulfate concentrations. This may allow for decoupling changes in biological fractionations from modifications to the global sulfur cycle (i.e. changes in seawater sulfate concentrations or the vigor

Revisiting reflexology: Concept, evidence, current practice, and practitioner training

OpenAIRE

Embong, Nurul Haswani; Soh, Yee Chang; Ming, Long Chiau; Wong, Tin Wui

2015-01-01

Reflexology is basically a study of how one part of the human body relates to another part of the body. Reflexology practitioners rely on the reflexes map of the feet and hands to all the internal organs and other human body parts. They believe that by applying the appropriate pressure and massage certain spots on the feet and hands, all other body parts could be energized and rejuvenated. This review aimed to revisit the concept of reflexology and examine its effectiveness, practices, and th...

LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT AND HAZARD ANALYSIS AND CRITICAL CONTROL POINTS TO THE PASTA PRODUCT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yulexis Meneses Linares

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The objective of this work is to combine the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP methodologies for the determination of risks that the food production represents to the human health and the ecosystem. The environmental performance of the production of pastas in the “Marta Abreu” Pasta Factory of Cienfuegos is assessed, where the critical control points determined by the biological dangers (mushrooms and plagues and the physical dangers (wood, paper, thread and ferromagnetic particles were the raw materials: flour, semolina and its mixtures, and the disposition and extraction of them. Resources are the most affected damage category due to the consumption of fossil fuels.

Revisiting the Metaphor of the Island: Challenging "World Culture" from an Island Misunderstood

Science.gov (United States)

Rappleye, Jeremy

2015-01-01

This article revisits the newly "discovered" island that world culture theorists have repeatedly utilised to explain their theoretical stance, conceptual preferences and methodological approach. Yet, it seeks to (re)connect world culture with the real world by replacing their imagined atoll with a real one--the island-nation of Japan. In…

Analysis of Factors Controlling Cell Cycle that Can Be Synchronized Nondestructively During Root Cap Development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hawes, Martha

2011-02-04

Publications and presentations during the final funding period, including progress in defining the substrate specificity, the primary goal of the project, are listed below. Both short-term and long-term responses mediated by PsUGT1 have been characterized in transgenic or mutant pea, alfalfa, and Arabidopsis with altered expression of PsUGT1. Additional progress includes evaluation of the relationship between control of the cell cycle by PsUGT1 and other glycosyltransferase and glycosidase enzymes that are co-regulated in the legume root cap during the onset of mitosis and differentiation. Transcriptional profiling and multidimensional protein identification technology ('MudPIT') have been used to establish the broader molecular context for the mechanism by which PsUGT1 controls cell cycle in response to environmental signals. A collaborative study with the Norwegian Forest Research Institute (who provided $10,000.00 in supplies and travel funds for collaborator Dr. Toril Eldhuset to travel to Arizona and Dr. H. H. Woo to travel to Norway) made it possible to establish that the inducible root cap system for studying carbohydrate synthesis and solubilization is expressed in gymnosperm as well as angiosperm species. This discovery provides an important tool to amplify the potential applications of the research in defining conserved cell cycle machinery across a very broad range of plant species and habitats. The final work, published during 2009, revealed an additional surprising parallel with mammalian immune responses: The cells whose production is controlled by PsUGT1 appear to function in a manner which is analogous to that of white blood cells, by trapping and killing in an extracellular manner. This may explain why mutation within the coding region of PsUGT1 and its homolog in humans (UGT1) is lethal to plants and animals. The work has been the subject of invited reviews. A postdoctoral fellow, eight undergraduate students, four M.S. students and

Gene expression profiles of Arabidopsis Cvi seeds during dormancy cycling indicate a common underlying dormancy control mechanism.

Science.gov (United States)

Cadman, Cassandra S C; Toorop, Peter E; Hilhorst, Henk W M; Finch-Savage, William E

2006-06-01

Physiologically dormant seeds, like those of Arabidopsis, will cycle through dormant states as seasons change until the environment is favourable for seedling establishment. This phenomenon is widespread in the plant kingdom, but has not been studied at the molecular level. Full-genome microarrays were used for a global transcript analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana (accession Cvi) seeds in a range of dormant and dry after-ripened states during cycling. Principal component analysis of the expression patterns observed showed that they differed in newly imbibed primary dormant seeds, as commonly used in experimental studies, compared with those in the maintained primary and secondary dormant states that exist during cycling. Dormant and after-ripened seeds appear to have equally active although distinct gene expression programmes, dormant seeds having greatly reduced gene expression associated with protein synthesis, potentially controlling the completion of germination. A core set of 442 genes were identified that had higher expression in all dormant states compared with after-ripened states. Abscisic acid (ABA) responsive elements were significantly over-represented in this set of genes the expression of which was enhanced when multiple copies of the elements were present. ABA regulation of dormancy was further supported by expression patterns of key genes in ABA synthesis/catabolism, and dormancy loss in the presence of fluridone. The data support an ABA-gibberelic acid hormone balance mechanism controlling cycling through dormant states that depends on synthetic and catabolic pathways of both hormones. Many of the most highly expressed genes in dormant states were stress-related even in the absence of abiotic stress, indicating that ABA, stress and dormancy responses overlap significantly at the transcriptome level.

Revisiting R-invariant direct gauge mediation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chiang, Cheng-Wei [Center for Mathematics and Theoretical Physics andDepartment of Physics, National Central University,Taoyuan, Taiwan 32001, R.O.C. (China); Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica,Taipei, Taiwan 11529, R.O.C. (China); Physics Division, National Center for Theoretical Sciences,Hsinchu, Taiwan 30013, R.O.C. (China); Kavli IPMU (WPI), UTIAS, University of Tokyo,Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8583 (Japan); Harigaya, Keisuke [Department of Physics, University of California,Berkeley, California 94720 (United States); Theoretical Physics Group, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory,Berkeley, California 94720 (United States); ICRR, University of Tokyo,Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8582 (Japan); Ibe, Masahiro [Kavli IPMU (WPI), UTIAS, University of Tokyo,Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8583 (Japan); ICRR, University of Tokyo,Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8582 (Japan); Yanagida, Tsutomu T. [Kavli IPMU (WPI), UTIAS, University of Tokyo,Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8583 (Japan)

2016-03-21

We revisit a special model of gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking, the “R-invariant direct gauge mediation.” We pay particular attention to whether the model is consistent with the minimal model of the μ-term, i.e., a simple mass term of the Higgs doublets in the superpotential. Although the incompatibility is highlighted in view of the current experimental constraints on the superparticle masses and the observed Higgs boson mass, the minimal μ-term can be consistent with the R-invariant gauge mediation model via a careful choice of model parameters. We derive an upper limit on the gluino mass from the observed Higgs boson mass. We also discuss whether the model can explain the 3σ excess of the Z+jets+E{sub T}{sup miss} events reported by the ATLAS collaboration.

Revisiting kaon physics in general Z scenario

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Motoi Endo

2017-08-01

Full Text Available New physics contributions to the Z penguin are revisited in the light of the recently-reported discrepancy of the direct CP violation in K→ππ. Interference effects between the standard model and new physics contributions to ΔS=2 observables are taken into account. Although the effects are overlooked in the literature, they make experimental bounds significantly severer. It is shown that the new physics contributions must be tuned to enhance B(KL→π0νν¯, if the discrepancy of the direct CP violation is explained with satisfying the experimental constraints. The branching ratio can be as large as 6×10−10 when the contributions are tuned at the 10% level.

Revisiting the Decision of Death in Hurst v. Florida.

Science.gov (United States)

Cooke, Brian K; Ginory, Almari; Zedalis, Jennifer

2016-12-01

The United States Supreme Court has considered the question of whether a judge or a jury must make the findings necessary to support imposition of the death penalty in several notable cases, including Spaziano v. Florida (1984), Hildwin v. Florida (1989), and Ring v. Arizona (2002). In 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court revisited the subject in Hurst v. Florida Florida Statute § 921.141 allows the judge, after weighing aggravating and mitigating circumstances, to enter a sentence of life imprisonment or death. Before Hurst, Florida's bifurcated sentencing proceedings included an advisory sentence from jurors and a separate judicial hearing without juror involvement. In Hurst, the Court revisited the question of whether Florida's capital sentencing scheme violates the Sixth Amendment, which requires a jury, not a judge, to find each fact necessary to impose a sentence of death in light of Ring In an eight-to-one decision, the Court reversed the judgment of the Florida Supreme Court, holding that the Sixth Amendment requires a jury to find the aggravating factors necessary for imposing the death penalty. The role of Florida juries in capital sentencing proceedings was thereby elevated from advisory to determinative. We examine the Court's decision and offer commentary regarding this shift from judge to jury in the final imposition of the death penalty and the overall effect of this landmark case. © 2016 American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.

Applications and control of air conditioning systems using rapid cycling to modulate capacity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Poort, M.J.; Bullard, C.W. [Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Center, University of Illinois, 1206 W. Green St., Urbana, IL 61801 (United States)

2006-08-15

Rapid cycling the compressor of an air conditioning or refrigeration system can be used to modulate capacity, thus offering an alternative to a variable speed compressor. This paper explores design tradeoffs to optimize rapid cycling performance based on experimental results using two different evaporators and changing other components of an air conditioning system. Rapid cycling has inherent compressor lift penalties associated with larger mass flow rates, which need to be minimized. Preventing dryout (superheating) in the evaporator during the off cycle, a major penalty as cycles are lengthened, is also important. Evaporator dryout is minimized by increasing the refrigerant side area and reducing off cycle drainage. Combining a flash gas bypass with a suction line heat exchanger was found to maximize performance during the off cycle while allowing increased cycle lengths without incurring major penalties. (author)

The life cycle of centrioles.

Science.gov (United States)

Hatch, E; Stearns, T

2010-01-01

Centrioles organize the centrosome and nucleate the ciliary axoneme, and the centriole life cycle has many parallels to the chromosome cycle. The centriole cycle in animals begins at fertilization with the contribution of two centrioles by the male gamete. In the ensuing cell cycles, the duplication of centrioles is controlled temporally, spatially, and numerically. As a consequence of the duplication mechanism, the two centrioles in a typical interphase cell are of different ages and have different functions. Here, we discuss how new centrioles are assembled, what mechanisms limit centriole number, and the consequences of the inherent asymmetry of centriole duplication and segregation.

Magnetic moments revisited

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Towner, I.S.; Khanna, F.C.

1984-01-01

Consideration of core polarization, isobar currents and meson-exchange processes gives a satisfactory understanding of the ground-state magnetic moments in closed-shell-plus (or minus)-one nuclei, A = 3, 15, 17, 39 and 41. Ever since the earliest days of the nuclear shell model the understanding of magnetic moments of nuclear states of supposedly simple configurations, such as doubly closed LS shells +-1 nucleon, has been a challenge for theorists. The experimental moments, which in most cases are known with extraordinary precision, show a small yet significant departure from the single-particle Schmidt values. The departure, however, is difficult to evaluate precisely since, as will be seen, it results from a sensitive cancellation between several competing corrections each of which can be as large as the observed discrepancy. This, then, is the continuing fascination of magnetic moments. In this contribution, we revisit the subjet principally to identify the role played by isobar currents, which are of much concern at this conference. But in so doing we warn quite strongly of the dangers of considering just isobar currents in isolation; equal consideration must be given to competing processes which in this context are the mundane nuclear structure effects, such as core polarization, and the more popular meson-exchange currents

Growth of the firm and foreign trade: Adrian Wood's theory revisited

OpenAIRE

Catermol, Fabrício

2006-01-01

This paper analyzes the growth of the firm by foreign trade. The theory of Adrian Wood is revisited for the analysis of growth and profit trade-off and improved to cope with growth by exports. The main outcome of this paper is that low domestic demand can be a very important factor to firm choices growth by foreign market. However, the growth of domestic demand does not necessarily reduce exports.

Revisiting the description of Protein-Protein interfaces. Part II: Experimental study

OpenAIRE

Cazals , Frédéric; Proust , Flavien

2006-01-01

This paper provides a detailed experimental study of an interface model developed in the companion article F. Cazals and F. Proust, Revisiting the description of Protein-Protein interfaces. Part I: algorithms. Our experimental study is concerned with the usual database of protein-protein complexes, split into five families (Proteases, Immune system, Enzyme Complexes, Signal transduction, Misc.) Our findings, which bear some contradictions with usual statements are the following: (i)Connectivi...

Small-angle scattering theory revisited: Photocurrent and spatial localization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Basse, N.P.; Zoletnik, S.; Michelsen, Poul

2005-01-01

In this paper theory on collective scattering measurements of electron density fluctuations in fusion plasmas is revisited. We present the first full derivation of the expression for the photocurrent beginning at the basic scattering concepts. Thereafter we derive detailed expressions for the auto......- and crosspower spectra obtained from measurements. These are discussed and simple simulations made to elucidate the physical meaning of the findings. In this context, the known methods of obtaining spatial localization are discussed and appraised. Where actual numbers are applied, we utilize quantities from two...

Article Review: Advanced Change Theory Revisited: An Article Critique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Scott Pochron

2008-12-01

Full Text Available The complexity of life in 21st century society requires new models for leadingand managing change. With that in mind, this paper revisits the model for AdvancedChange Theory (ACT as presented by Quinn, Spreitzer, and Brown in their article,“Changing Others Through Changing Ourselves: The Transformation of HumanSystems” (2000. The authors present ACT as a potential model for facilitating change incomplex organizations. This paper presents a critique of the article and summarizesopportunities for further exploring the model in the light of current trends indevelopmental and integral theory.

Creative Experience and Revisit Intention of Handmade Oriental Parasol Umbrella in Kaohsiung

OpenAIRE

Yi-Ju Lee

2015-01-01

This study identified the hypothesised relationship between creative experience, and revisit intention of handmade oriental parasol umbrella in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. A face-to-face questionnaire survey was administered in Meinong town, Kaohsiung. The components of creative experience were found as "sense of achievement", "unique learning" and "interaction with instructors" in creative tourism. The result also revealed significant positive relationships between creative exper...

Characteristics of revisits of children at risk for serious infections in pediatric emergency care

NARCIS (Netherlands)

E. De Vos-Kerkhof (Evelien); D.H.F. Geurts (Dorien); E.W. Steyerberg (Ewout); M. Lakhanpaul (Monica); H.A. Moll (Henriëtte); R. Oostenbrink (Rianne)

2018-01-01

textabstractIn this study, we aimed to identify characteristics of (unscheduled) revisits and its optimal time frame after Emergency Department (ED) discharge. Children with fever, dyspnea, or vomiting/diarrhea (1 month–16 years) who attended the ED of Erasmus MC-Sophia, Rotterdam (2010–2013), the

Sun-controlled spatial and time-dependent cycles in the climatic/weather system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Njau, E.C.

1990-11-01

We show, on the basis of meteorological records, that certain spatial and time-dependent cycles exist in the earth-atmosphere system (EAS). These cycles seem to be associated with sunspot cycles and hence have been referred to in the text as ''data-derived solar cycles''. Our analysis establishes three important characteristics of the data-derived solar cycles (DSC's). Firstly the crests and troughs of these data-derived solar cycles are mostly latitudinally aligned and have (zonal) spatial wavelengths greater than about 7 degrees of longitude. Secondly the DSC's have periods mostly lying between 6 years and 12 years. In certain stations, some DSC's coincide quite well with corresponding sunspot cycles. Thirdly the crests and troughs of the DSC's drift eastwards at speeds exceeding about 1.5 longitude degrees per year. Furthermore, these DSC's display peak-to-peak amplitudes of about 2 deg. C along East Africa. On the basis of earlier work and bearing in mind the considerable temperature-dependence of the stratospheric ozone layer, we predict existence of latitudinally aligned enhancement and depletion structures (corresponding to the DSC's) in the stratospheric ozone layer within cloudless midnight-to-predawn sectors. (author). 9 refs, 5 figs

Some technical aspects of the nuclear material accounting and control at nuclear fuel cycle facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miller, O.A.; Babaev, N.S.; Gryazev, V.M.; Gadzhiev, G.I.; Gabeskiriya, V.Ya.

1977-01-01

The possibilities of nuclear material accounting and control are discussed at nuclear facilities of fuel cycle (WWER-type reactor, fuel fabrication plant, reprocessing plant and uranium enrichment facility) and zero energy fast reactor facility. It is shown that for nuclear material control the main method is the accounting with the application isotopic correlations at the reprocessing plant and enrichment facility. Possibilities and limitations of the application of destructive and non-destructive methods are discussed for nuclear material determinations at fuel facilities and their role in the accounting and safeguards systems as well as possibilities of the application of neutron method at a zero energy fast reactor facility [ru

Post-Inflationary Gravitino Production Revisited

CERN Document Server

Ellis, John; Nanopoulos, Dimitri V.; Olive, Keith A.; Peloso, Marco

2016-01-01

We revisit gravitino production following inflation. As a first step, we review the standard calculation of gravitino production in the thermal plasma formed at the end of post-inflationary reheating when the inflaton has completely decayed. Next we consider gravitino production prior to the completion of reheating, assuming that the inflaton decay products thermalize instantaneously while they are still dilute. We then argue that instantaneous thermalization is in general a good approximation, and also show that the contribution of non-thermal gravitino production via the collisions of inflaton decay products prior to thermalization is relatively small. Our final estimate of the gravitino-to-entropy ratio is approximated well by a standard calculation of gravitino production in the post-inflationary thermal plasma assuming total instantaneous decay and thermalization at a time $t \\simeq 1.2/\\Gamma_\\phi$. Finally, in light of our calculations, we consider potential implications of upper limits on the gravitin...

Effects of rates and time of zeolite application on controlling runoff generation and soil loss from a soil subjected to a freeze-thaw cycle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Morteza Behzadfar

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Many factors such as freeze-thaw (FT cycle influence soil behavior. Application of soil amendments can play an important role on runoff time commencement (RT, volume (RV and soil loss (SL on soils subjected to FT cycles. However, limited studies have been documented on this subject. The present study was therefore carried out under rainfall simulation circumstances to investigate the effect of different rates of zeolite application to control the effects of FT on basic hydrological variables such as runoff production and soil loss. Towards this attempt, the effect of application of different rates of 250, 500 and 750 g m−2 of zeolite applied before, during and after the occurrence of FT cycle on RT, RV and SL was assessed in a completely randomized design. Treatments were set up in two categories viz. control (without zeolite application, and three rates and times of zeolite application in small 0.25 m2-experimental plots in three replications. The results showed that application of zeolite had significant effects on hydrological behavior of soil induced by FT cycles. Application rate of 750 g m−2 prior to FT cycle increased RT and reduced RV and SL at rates of 644%, 68% and 91%, respectively. The results also verified that zeolite could successfully mitigate the impacts of FT cycle on the main soil hydrological variables of soil profile induced by FT cycle. It is accordingly recommended to employ zeolite as an effective amendment to control soil erosion in steep and degraded rangelands where surface soil is exposed to rainfall and runoff.

Life cycle management in product development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skelton, Kristen; Pattis, Anna

2013-01-01

The integration of Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) and Life Cycle Management (LCM) into business operations poses great challenges, as it requires a wider range of environmental responsibility often extending beyond a company's immediate control. Simultaneously, it offers many opportunities...

Menstrual cycle pattern and fertility

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kolstad, Henrik A.; Bonde, Jens Peter; Hjøllund, Niels Henrik

1999-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To characterize how the menstrual cycle pattern relates to fertility regardless of potential biases caused by inappropriate coital timing during the menstrual cycle or early embryonal loss. DESIGN: Prospective follow-up study. SETTING: Healthy couples recruited throughout Denmark....... PATIENT(S): Two hundred ninety-five couples who were planning their first pregnancy were followed up from the discontinuation of birth control until a pregnancy was recognized within six menstrual cycles. Early embryonal losses were detected by changes in urinary hCG levels. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN...... OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The probability of pregnancy occurring within one menstrual cycle (fecundity). RESULT(S): In women who had a cycle length that differed by >10 days from the usual cycle length, fecundity was approximately 25% that of women who had no variation (odds ratio 0.25, 95% confidence interval...

An sRNA and Cold Shock Protein Homolog-Based Feedforward Loop Post-transcriptionally Controls Cell Cycle Master Regulator CtrA.

Science.gov (United States)

Robledo, Marta; Schlüter, Jan-Philip; Loehr, Lars O; Linne, Uwe; Albaum, Stefan P; Jiménez-Zurdo, José I; Becker, Anke

2018-01-01

Adjustment of cell cycle progression is crucial for bacterial survival and adaptation under adverse conditions. However, the understanding of modulation of cell cycle control in response to environmental changes is rather incomplete. In α-proteobacteria, the broadly conserved cell cycle master regulator CtrA underlies multiple levels of control, including coupling of cell cycle and cell differentiation. CtrA levels are known to be tightly controlled through diverse transcriptional and post-translational mechanisms. Here, small RNA (sRNA)-mediated post-transcriptional regulation is uncovered as an additional level of CtrA fine-tuning. Computational predictions as well as transcriptome and proteome studies consistently suggested targeting of ctrA and the putative cold shock chaperone cspA5 mRNAs by the trans- encoded sRNA ( trans- sRNA) GspR (formerly SmelC775) in several Sinorhizobium species. GspR strongly accumulated in the stationary growth phase, especially in minimal medium (MM) cultures. Lack of the gspR locus confers a fitness disadvantage in competition with the wild type, while its overproduction hampers cell growth, suggesting that this riboregulator interferes with cell cycle progression. An eGFP-based reporter in vivo assay, involving wild-type and mutant sRNA and mRNA pairs, experimentally confirmed GspR-dependent post-transcriptional down-regulation of ctrA and cspA5 expression, which most likely occurs through base-pairing to the respective mRNA. The energetically favored secondary structure of GspR is predicted to comprise three stem-loop domains, with stem-loop 1 and stem-loop 3 targeting ctrA and cspA5 mRNA, respectively. Moreover, this work reports evidence for post-transcriptional control of ctrA by CspA5. Thus, this regulation and GspR-mediated post-transcriptional repression of ctrA and cspA5 expression constitute a coherent feed-forward loop, which may enhance the negative effect of GspR on CtrA levels. This novel regulatory circuit involving

Revisiting the Gun Ownership and Violence Link; a multi- level analysis of victimisation survey data.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Kesteren, J.N.

2014-01-01

The link between gun ownership victimisation by violent crime remains one of the most contested issues in criminology. Some authors claim that high gun availability facilitates serious violence. Others claim that gun ownership prevents crime. This article revisits these issues using individual and

Intrauterine Insemination: Fundamentals Revisited.

Science.gov (United States)

Allahbadia, Gautam N

2017-12-01

Intrauterine insemination (IUI) is an assisted conception technique that involves the deposition of a processed semen sample in the upper uterine cavity, overcoming natural barriers to sperm ascent in the female reproductive tract. It is a cost-effective, noninvasive first-line therapy for selected patients with functionally normal tubes, and infertility due to a cervical factor, anovulation, moderate male factor, unexplained factors, immunological factor, and ejaculatory disorders with clinical pregnancy rates per cycle ranging from 10 to 20%. It, however, has limited use in patients with endometriosis, severe male factor infertility, tubal factor infertility, and advanced maternal age ≥ 35 years. IUI may be performed with or without ovarian stimulation. Controlled ovarian stimulation, particularly with low-dose gonadotropins, with IUI offers significant benefit in terms of pregnancy outcomes compared with natural cycle or timed intercourse, while reducing associated COH complications such as multiple pregnancies and ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. Important prognostic indicators of success with IUI include age of patient, duration of infertility, stimulation protocol, infertility etiology, number of cycles, timing of insemination, number of preovulatory follicles on the day of hCG, processed total motile sperm > 10 million, and insemination count > 1 × 106 with > 4% normal spermatozoa. Alternative insemination techniques, such as Fallopian tube sperm perfusion, intracervical insemination, and intratubal insemination, provide no additional benefit compared to IUI. A complete couple workup that includes patient history, physical examination, and clinical and laboratory investigations is mandatory to justify the choice in favor of IUI and guide alternative patient management, while individualizing the treatment protocol according to the patient characteristics with a strict cancelation policy to limit multi-follicular development may help optimize IUI

NP-hardness of the cluster minimization problem revisited

Science.gov (United States)

Adib, Artur B.

2005-10-01

The computational complexity of the 'cluster minimization problem' is revisited (Wille and Vennik 1985 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 18 L419). It is argued that the original NP-hardness proof does not apply to pairwise potentials of physical interest, such as those that depend on the geometric distance between the particles. A geometric analogue of the original problem is formulated, and a new proof for such potentials is provided by polynomial time transformation from the independent set problem for unit disk graphs. Limitations of this formulation are pointed out, and new subproblems that bear more direct consequences to the numerical study of clusters are suggested.

NP-hardness of the cluster minimization problem revisited

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adib, Artur B

2005-01-01

The computational complexity of the 'cluster minimization problem' is revisited (Wille and Vennik 1985 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 18 L419). It is argued that the original NP-hardness proof does not apply to pairwise potentials of physical interest, such as those that depend on the geometric distance between the particles. A geometric analogue of the original problem is formulated, and a new proof for such potentials is provided by polynomial time transformation from the independent set problem for unit disk graphs. Limitations of this formulation are pointed out, and new subproblems that bear more direct consequences to the numerical study of clusters are suggested

NP-hardness of the cluster minimization problem revisited

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adib, Artur B [Physics Department, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912 (United States)

2005-10-07

The computational complexity of the 'cluster minimization problem' is revisited (Wille and Vennik 1985 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 18 L419). It is argued that the original NP-hardness proof does not apply to pairwise potentials of physical interest, such as those that depend on the geometric distance between the particles. A geometric analogue of the original problem is formulated, and a new proof for such potentials is provided by polynomial time transformation from the independent set problem for unit disk graphs. Limitations of this formulation are pointed out, and new subproblems that bear more direct consequences to the numerical study of clusters are suggested.

Rural-Nonrural Disparities in Postsecondary Educational Attainment Revisited

Science.gov (United States)

Byun, Soo-yong; Meece, Judith L.; Irvin, Matthew J.

2013-01-01

Using data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study, this study revisited rural-nonrural disparities in educational attainment by considering a comprehensive set of factors that constrain and support youth's college enrollment and degree completion. Results showed that rural students were more advantaged in community social resources compared to nonrural students, and these resources were associated with a significant increase in the likelihood of bachelor's degree attainment. Yet results confirmed that rural students lagged behind nonrural students in attaining a bachelor's degree largely due to their lower socioeconomic background. The findings present a more comprehensive picture of the complexity of geographic residence in shaping college enrollment and degree attainment. PMID:24285873

An Improvement on LSB Matching and LSB Matching Revisited Steganography Methods

OpenAIRE

Qazanfari, Kazem; Safabakhsh, Reza

2017-01-01

The aim of the steganography methods is to communicate securely in a completely undetectable manner. LSB Matching and LSB Matching Revisited steganography methods are two general and esiest methods to achieve this aim. Being secured against first order steganalysis methods is the most important feature of these methods. On the other hand, these methods don't consider inter pixel dependency. Therefore, recently, several steganalysis methods are proposed that by using co-occurrence matrix detec...

Abiotic versus biotic controls on soil nitrogen cycling in drylands along a 3200 km transect

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Dongwei; Zhu, Weixing; Wang, Xiaobo; Pan, Yuepeng; Wang, Chao; Xi, Dan; Bai, Edith; Wang, Yuesi; Han, Xingguo; Fang, Yunting

2017-03-01

Nitrogen (N) cycling in drylands under changing climate is not well understood. Our understanding of N cycling over larger scales to date relies heavily on the measurement of bulk soil N, and the information about internal soil N transformations remains limited. The 15N natural abundance (δ15N) of ammonium and nitrate can serve as a proxy record for the N processes in soils. To better understand the patterns and mechanisms of N cycling in drylands, we collected soils along a 3200 km transect at about 100 km intervals in northern China, with mean annual precipitation (MAP) ranging from 36 to 436 mm. We analyzed N pools and δ15N of ammonium, dual isotopes (15N and 18O) of nitrate, and the microbial gene abundance associated with soil N transformations. We found that N status and its driving factors were different above and below a MAP threshold of 100 mm. In the arid zone with MAP below 100 mm, soil inorganic N accumulated, with a large fraction being of atmospheric origin, and ammonia volatilization was strong in soils with high pH. In addition, the abundance of microbial genes associated with soil N transformations was low. In the semiarid zone with MAP above 100 mm, soil inorganic N concentrations were low and were controlled mainly by biological processes (e.g., plant uptake and denitrification). The preference for soil ammonium over nitrate by the dominant plant species may enhance the possibility of soil nitrate losses via denitrification. Overall, our study suggests that a shift from abiotic to biotic controls on soil N biogeochemistry under global climate changes would greatly affect N losses, soil N availability, and other N transformation processes in these drylands in China.

Forecasting of Satisfaction and Revisit Intention of Indonesia Shoppers in Shopping Malls

OpenAIRE

Ayuni, Risca Fitri

2017-01-01

. Due to tight competition, changing value proposition of customer and shiftingof mall functions become center for leisure purposes, shopping mall developer mustfocus on create shopper satisfaction to influence their post-transaction behaviors. Thisstudy investigates the relationship between mall personality, self-congruity, perceivedquality, shopping value, shopper satisfaction and revisit intention. Two hundredrespondents participated in this study. In order to achieve the aim of this study...

Optimization of a single stage inverter with one cycle control for photovoltaic power generation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Egiziano, L.; Femia, N.; Granozio, D.; Petrone, G.; Spagnuolo, G. [Salermo Univ., Salermo (Italy); Vitelli, M. [Seconda Univ. di Napoli, Napoli (Italy)

2006-07-01

An optimized one-cycle control (OCC) for maximum power point tracking and power factor correction in grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) applications was described. OCC is a nonlinear control technique that rejects line perturbations and allows both output power factor co-reaction and tracking of input PV fields. An OCC system was analyzed in order to select optimal design parameters. Parameters were refined through the selection of suitable design constraints. A stochastic search was then performed. Criteria were then developed to distinguish appropriate design parameters for the optimized OCC. The optimization was based on advanced heuristic techniques for non-linear constrained optimization. Performance indices were calculated for each feasible set of parameters. A customized perturb and observe control was then applied to the single-stage inverter. Results of the optimization process were validated by a series of time-domain simulations conducted under heavy, varying irradiance conditions. Results of the simulations showed that the optimized controllers showed improved performance in terms of power drawn from the PV field. 7 refs., 1 tab., 5 figs.

Sparse random matrices: The eigenvalue spectrum revisited

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Semerjian, Guilhem; Cugliandolo, Leticia F.

2003-08-01

We revisit the derivation of the density of states of sparse random matrices. We derive a recursion relation that allows one to compute the spectrum of the matrix of incidence for finite trees that determines completely the low concentration limit. Using the iterative scheme introduced by Biroli and Monasson [J. Phys. A 32, L255 (1999)] we find an approximate expression for the density of states expected to hold exactly in the opposite limit of large but finite concentration. The combination of the two methods yields a very simple geometric interpretation of the tails of the spectrum. We test the analytic results with numerical simulations and we suggest an indirect numerical method to explore the tails of the spectrum. (author)

Highway 61 Revisited: Bob Dilan i francuski poststrukturalizam / Highway 61 Revisited: Bob Dilan and French Poststructuralism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nikola Dedić

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The main aim of this text is to show parallels between rock music and poststructuralist philosophy. As a case study one of the most celebrated rock albums of all times – Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited from 1965 is taken. It is one of the crucial albums in the history of popular culture which influenced further development of rock music within American counter culture of the 60s. Dylan’s turn from the politics of American New Left and folk movement, his relation towards the notions of the author and intertextuality, and his connection with experimental usage of language in the manner of avant-garde and neoavant-garde poetry, are juxtaposed with the main philosophical standpoints of Jean-François Lyotard, Jean Baudrillard, Roland Barthes and Julia Kristeva which historically and chronologically coincide with the appearance of Dylan’s album.

Structuralism's Relevance in a Post-Structural Era: Re-Visiting Research on Multicultural Curricular Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Shim, Jenna Min

2011-01-01

At the current historical juncture in which differences and inequalities are surfacing greater than ever in the world, societies, and schools, the main goal of this essay is to revisit the aspects of structuralism that can potentially contribute productively to understanding the invisible structures and forces that everyone carries (mostly…

The skeptical green consumer revisited: testing the relationship between green consumerism and skepticism toward advertising

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Matthes, J.; Wonneberger, A.

2014-01-01

This article revisits the widely believed notion of the skeptical green consumer, in other words, that green consumers tend to distrust green advertising. Study 1, a survey of U.S. consumers, found no positive relationship between green consumerism and general ad skepticism. However, green

Including Life Cycle Assessment for decision-making in controlling wastewater nutrient removal systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Corominas, Lluís; Larsen, Henrik Fred; Flores-Alsina, Xavier

2013-01-01

This paper focuses on the use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to evaluate the performance of seventeen control strategies in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). It tackles the importance of using site-specific factors for nutrient enrichment when decision-makers have to select best operating....../or energy savings present an environmental benefit for N&P and P-deficient systems. This is not the case when addressing N-deficient systems for which the use of chemicals (even for improving N removal efficiencies) is not always beneficial for the environment. A sensitivity analysis on using weighting...... of the impact categories is conducted to assess how value choices (policy decisions) may affect the management of WWTPs. For the scenarios with only N-limitation, the LCA-based ranking of the control strategies is sensitive to the choice of weighting factors, whereas this is not the case for N&P or P...

Molecular biological mechanism II. Molecular mechanisms of cell cycle regulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, T.

2000-01-01

The cell cycle in eukaryotes is regulated by central cell cycle controlling protein kinase complexes. These protein kinase complexes consist of a catalytic subunit from the cyclin-dependent protein kinase family (CDK), and a regulatory subunit from the cyclin family. Cyclins are characterised by their periodic cell cycle related synthesis and destruction. Each cell cycle phase is characterised by a specific set of CDKs and cyclins. The activity of CDK/cyclin complexes is mainly regulated on four levels. It is controlled by specific phosphorylation steps, the synthesis and destruction of cyclins, the binding of specific inhibitor proteins, and by active control of their intracellular localisation. At several critical points within the cell cycle, named checkpoints, the integrity of the cellular genome is monitored. If damage to the genome or an unfinished prior cell cycle phase is detected, the cell cycle progression is stopped. These cell cycle blocks are of great importance to secure survival of cells. Their primary importance is to prevent the manifestation and heritable passage of a mutated genome to daughter cells. Damage sensing, DNA repair, cell cycle control and apoptosis are closely linked cellular defence mechanisms to secure genome integrity. Disregulation in one of these defence mechanisms are potentially correlated with an increased cancer risk and therefore in at least some cases with an increased radiation sensitivity. (orig.) [de

40 CFR 91.410 - Engine test cycle.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Engine test cycle. 91.410 Section 91...) CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM MARINE SPARK-IGNITION ENGINES Gaseous Exhaust Test Procedures § 91.410 Engine test cycle. (a) The 5-mode cycle specified in Table 2 in appendix A to this subpart shall be followed...

The role of brand destination experience in determining revisit intention

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mattsson, Jan; Barnes, Stuart; Sørensen, Flemming

Destination branding has developed considerably as a topic area in the last decade with numerous conceptualizations focusing on different aspects of the brand. However, a unified view has not yet emerged. This paper examines destination branding via a new conceptualization, brand destination...... experience, which provides a more holistic and unified view of the brand destination. The research uses a logistic regression model to determine the role of satisfaction and brand experience in determining revisit intentions. The study also examines differences among subgroups and four brand experience sub...

Refrigerator with variable capacity compressor and cycle priming action through capacity control and associated methods

Science.gov (United States)

Gomes, Alberto Regio; Litch, Andrew D.; Wu, Guolian

2016-03-15

A refrigerator appliance (and associated method) that includes a condenser, evaporator and a multi-capacity compressor. The appliance also includes a pressure reducing device arranged within an evaporator-condenser refrigerant circuit, and a valve system for directing or restricting refrigerant flow through the device. The appliance further includes a controller for operating the compressor upon the initiation of a compressor ON-cycle at a priming capacity above a nominal capacity for a predetermined or calculated duration.

Public health aspects of tobacco control revisited

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gallagher, Jennifer E.; Alajbeg, Ivan; Buechler, Silvia; Carrassi, Antonio; Hovius, Marjolijn; Jacobs, Annelies; Jenner, Maryan; Kinnunen, Taru; Ulbricht, Sabina; Zoitopoulos, Liana

The tobacco epidemic presents a major public health challenge, globally, and within Europe. The aim of the Public Health Work Stream at the 2nd European Workshop on Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation for Oral Health Professionals was to review the public health aspects of tobacco control and make

Explaining tourists satisfaction and intention to revisit Nha Trang, Viet Nam

OpenAIRE

Tran, Thi Ai Cam

2011-01-01

The first purpose of the thesis is to find how visitors evaluate the quality of different facets or attributes of a destination image of Nha Trang, how satisfied they are with Nha Trang, loyalty intention to revisit and willingness to recommend Nha Trang to others. The second is to investigate what “image” is most important to explain global satisfaction with visiting Nha Trang. The third is to investigate how perceived quality, satisfaction and other motivational or dismotivational factors ...

Evaluation of various fuel cycles to control inventories of plutonium and minor in advanced fuel cycles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miller, L.F.; Anderson, T.; Preston, J.; Humberstone, M.; Hou, J.; McConn, J.; Van Den Durpel, L.

2007-01-01

Inventories of Plutonium and minor actinides are important factors in determination of the risk associated with the use of nuclear energy. This includes the potential of exceeding release limits from a repository and the potential for proliferation. The amount of these materials in any given fleet of reactors is determined in large part by the choice of fuel cycle and by the types of reactors selected for operation. Most of the US reactor fleet will need to be replaced within the next 30 years and additional reactors will need to be added if the contribution of power from nuclear energy is expanded. In order to minimize risk and to make judicious use of repository space, inventories of all radionuclides will need to be effectively managed. Use of hard-spectrum reactors to burn excess Plutonium and other actinides is technologically feasible and is most likely less costly than any other options for minimizing various risks. Calculations for the inventories of several categories of radionuclides indicate that introduction of a modest fraction of fast reactors into the US reactor fleet is effective in stabilizing the growth of problematic radioisotopes. Results are obtained from the DANESS (Dynamic Analysis of Nuclear Energy System Strategies)1,2 Code and from the solution of algebraic equations that define steady state inventories. There are various different possible fuel cycle scenarios to utilize in the implementation of fast, thermal and intermediate spectrum reactors into the U.S. fleet. Results include various combinations of reactor types and fuel with varying times of implementations. Mass flows with uncertainties for equilibrium cycles will also be reported. Time-dependent scenarios are modeled with the DANESS code, and algebraic equations for various fuel cycles are derived. Uncertainties are obtained using Monte Carlo simulations based on estimates of parameters in the models. (authors)

Evaluation of various fuel cycles to control inventories of plutonium and minor in advanced fuel cycles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Miller, L.F.; Anderson, T.; Preston, J.; Humberstone, M.; Hou, J.; McConn, J. [Tennessee Univ., Nuclear Engineering Dept., Knoxville, TN (United States); Van Den Durpel, L. [Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL (United States)

2007-07-01

Inventories of Plutonium and minor actinides are important factors in determination of the risk associated with the use of nuclear energy. This includes the potential of exceeding release limits from a repository and the potential for proliferation. The amount of these materials in any given fleet of reactors is determined in large part by the choice of fuel cycle and by the types of reactors selected for operation. Most of the US reactor fleet will need to be replaced within the next 30 years and additional reactors will need to be added if the contribution of power from nuclear energy is expanded. In order to minimize risk and to make judicious use of repository space, inventories of all radionuclides will need to be effectively managed. Use of hard-spectrum reactors to burn excess Plutonium and other actinides is technologically feasible and is most likely less costly than any other options for minimizing various risks. Calculations for the inventories of several categories of radionuclides indicate that introduction of a modest fraction of fast reactors into the US reactor fleet is effective in stabilizing the growth of problematic radioisotopes. Results are obtained from the DANESS (Dynamic Analysis of Nuclear Energy System Strategies)1,2 Code and from the solution of algebraic equations that define steady state inventories. There are various different possible fuel cycle scenarios to utilize in the implementation of fast, thermal and intermediate spectrum reactors into the U.S. fleet. Results include various combinations of reactor types and fuel with varying times of implementations. Mass flows with uncertainties for equilibrium cycles will also be reported. Time-dependent scenarios are modeled with the DANESS code, and algebraic equations for various fuel cycles are derived. Uncertainties are obtained using Monte Carlo simulations based on estimates of parameters in the models. (authors)

Environmental Health Impacts of Nuclear Fuel Cycle With Emphasis to Monitoring and Radiological Safety Control System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gad Allah, A.A.; El- Shanshory, A.I.

2010-01-01

Security of energy supply and global climatic changes due to carbon dioxide gas emission of fissile fuels encouraged many developed countries for planning to introduce nuclear power for energy generation. Recently, nuclear power provides approximately 20 % of the world's electricity, which is equivalent to a reduction in carbon emissions of 0.5 Gt of C/year. This is a modest contribution to the reduction of global carbon emissions, 6.5 Gt C/year. There are three types of nuclear fuel cycles that might be utilized for the increased production of energy: open, closed, or a symbiotic combination of different reactor types (such as thermal and fast neutron reactors). Within each cycle, the volume and composition of the nuclear waste and fissile material depend on the type of nuclear fuel, the amount of burn-up, the extent of radionuclide separation during reprocessing, and the types of material used to immobilize different radionuclides. Most analyses suggest that in order to have a significant impact on carbon emissions. By the year 2050, carbon free sources, such as nuclear power, would have to expand total energy production by a factor of three to ten. A three-fold increase in nuclear power capacity would result in a projected reduction in carbon emissions of 1 to 2 Gt C/year, depending on the type of the carbon-based energy source. This paper reviews, discusses and evaluates the relation between the different types of fuel cycles and their environmental impacts. The paper investigates the environmental impacts of the nuclear fuel cycle compared to fossil fuel energy system.. It also reviews the impact of an expansion of this scale on the generation of nuclear waste and fissile material that might be diverted to the production of nuclear weapons. Investigations of different wastes fissile and fertile mater in the fuel cycle have been estimated. The paper provides an overview of the main contaminates in the waste streams and effluents from nuclear fuel cycle

Modified natural cycle versus controlled ovarian hyperstimulation IVF: a cost-effectiveness evaluation of three simulated treatment scenarios.

Science.gov (United States)

Groen, Henk; Tonch, Nino; Simons, Arnold H M; van der Veen, Fulco; Hoek, Annemieke; Land, Jolande A

2013-12-01

Can modified natural cycle IVF or ICSI (MNC) be a cost-effective alternative for controlled ovarian hyperstimulation IVF or ICSI (COH)? The comparison of simulated scenarios indicates that a strategy of three to six cycles of MNC with minimized medication is a cost-effective alternative for one cycle of COH with strict application of single embryo transfer (SET). MNC is cheaper per cycle than COH but also less effective in terms of live birth rate (LBR). However, strict application of SET in COH cycles reduces effectiveness and up to three MNC cycles can be performed at the same costs as one COH cycle. The cost-effectiveness of MNC versus COH was evaluated in three simulated treatment scenarios: three cycles of MNC versus one cycle of COH with SET or double embryo transfer (DET) and subsequent transfer of cryopreserved embryos (Scenario 1); six cycles of MNC versus one cycle of COH with strictly SET and subsequent transfer of cryopreserved embryos (Scenario 2); six cycles of MNC with minimized medication (hCG ovulation trigger only) versus one cycle of COH with SET or DET and subsequent transfer of cryopreserved embryos (Scenario 3). We used baseline data obtained from two retrospective cohorts of consecutive patients (2005-2008) undergoing MNC in the University Medical Center Groningen (n = 499, maximum six cycles per patient) or their first COH cycle with subsequent transfer of cryopreserved embryos in the Academic Medical Center Amsterdam (n = 392). Data from 1994 MNC cycles (958 MNC-IVF and 1036 MNC-ICSI) and 392 fresh COH cycles (one per patient, 196 COH-IVF and 196 COH-ICSI) with subsequent transfer of cryopreserved embryos (n = 72 and n = 94 in MNC and COH cycles, respectively) in ovulatory, subfertile women cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was calculated, defined as the ratio of the difference in IVF costs up to 6 weeks postpartum to the difference in LBR. Live birth was the primary outcome measure and was defined as the birth of at least one living child

Revisiting Organizational Credibility and Organizational Reputation – A Situational Crisis Communication Approach

OpenAIRE

Jamal Jamilah; Abu Bakar Hassan

2017-01-01

Organizational credibility, the extent of which an organization as the source of messages is perceived as trustworthy and reliable, is one important aspect to determine organization’s survival. The perceived credibility of the messages will either strengthen or worsen an organization reputation. The primary objective of this paper is to revisit the concept of organizational credibility and its interaction with organizational outcomes such as organizational reputation. Based on the situational...

The effect of elevated progesterone levels before HCG triggering in modified natural cycle frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycles

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Groenewoud, Eva R; Macklon, Nick S; Cohlen, Ben J

2017-01-01

follicular phase progesterone levels may occur in unstimulated cycles before frozen-thawed embryo transfer, or what affect they may have on outcomes. In this cohort study, 271 patients randomized to the modified natural cycle arm of a randomized controlled trial comparing two endometrial preparation regimens....... Whether monitoring of progesterone and LH in natural cycle frozen-thawed embryo transfer has added clinical value should studied further....

Service-Learning in Crisis Communication Education: Revisiting Coombs' Objectives for the Crisis Communication Course

Science.gov (United States)

Maresh-Fuehrer, Michelle M.

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to revisit Coombs' suggestions for teaching the crisis communication course using service-learning as a framework. The author sought to assess the effectiveness of using this method in terms of the benefits to both students and the partnering organization and students' perceptions of whether they met the learning…

Revisiting coupled Shukla-Varma and convective cell mode in classical and quantum dusty magnetoplasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Masood, W.; Mirza, Arshad M.; Nargis, Shahida

2010-08-01

The coupled Shukla-Varma (SV) and convective cell mode is revisited in classical and quantum dusty magnetoplasmas. It is shown that the inclusion of electron thermal effects modifies the original coupled SV and convective cell mode. It is also discussed how the quantum effects can be incorporated in the coupled SV and convective cell mode.

The Faraday effect revisited General theory

CERN Document Server

Cornean, H D; Pedersen, T G

2005-01-01

This paper is the first in a series revisiting the Faraday effect, or more generally, the theory of electronic quantum transport/optical response in bulk media in the presence of a constant magnetic field. The independent electron approximation is assumed. For free electrons, the transverse conductivity can be explicitly computed and coincides with the classical result. In the general case, using magnetic perturbation theory, the conductivity tensor is expanded in powers of the strength of the magnetic field $B$. Then the linear term in $B$ of this expansion is written down in terms of the zero magnetic field Green function and the zero field current operator. In the periodic case, the linear term in $B$ of the conductivity tensor is expressed in terms of zero magnetic field Bloch functions and energies. No derivatives with respect to the quasimomentum appear and thereby all ambiguities are removed, in contrast to earlier work.

Re-visiting the electrophysiology of language.

Science.gov (United States)

Obleser, Jonas

2015-09-01

This editorial accompanies a special issue of Brain and Language re-visiting old themes and new leads in the electrophysiology of language. The event-related potential (ERP) as a series of characteristic deflections ("components") over time and their distribution on the scalp has been exploited by speech and language researchers over decades to find support for diverse psycholinguistic models. Fortunately, methodological and statistical advances have allowed human neuroscience to move beyond some of the limitations imposed when looking at the ERP only. Most importantly, we currently witness a refined and refreshed look at "event-related" (in the literal sense) brain activity that relates itself more closely to the actual neurobiology of speech and language processes. It is this imminent change in handling and interpreting electrophysiological data of speech and language experiments that this special issue intends to capture. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Predictors of premenstrual impairment among women undergoing prospective assessment for premenstrual dysphoric disorder: a cycle-level analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmalenberger, K M; Eisenlohr-Moul, T A; Surana, P; Rubinow, D R; Girdler, S S

2017-07-01

Women who experience significant premenstrual symptoms differ in the extent to which these symptoms cause cyclical impairment. This study clarifies the type and number of symptoms that best predict premenstrual impairment in a sample of women undergoing prospective assessment for premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) in a research setting. Central research goals were to determine (1) which emotional, psychological, and physical symptoms of PMDD are uniquely associated with premenstrual impairment, and (2) how many cyclical symptoms optimally predict the presence of a clinically significant premenstrual elevation of impairment. A total of 267 naturally cycling women recruited for retrospective report of premenstrual emotional symptoms completed daily symptom reports using the Daily Record of Severity of Problems (DRSP) and occupational, recreational, and relational impairment for 1-4 menstrual cycles (N = 563 cycles). Multilevel regression revealed that emotional, psychological, and physical symptoms differ in their associations with impairment. The core emotional symptoms of PMDD were predictors of impairment, but not after accounting for secondary psychological symptoms, which were the most robust predictors. The optimal number of premenstrual symptoms for predicting clinically significant premenstrual impairment was four. Results enhance our understanding of the type and number of premenstrual symptoms associated with premenstrual impairment among women being evaluated for PMDD in research contexts. Additional work is needed to determine whether cognitive symptoms should receive greater attention in the study of PMDD, and to revisit the usefulness of the five-symptom diagnostic threshold.

Revisiting the Performance of MACD and RSI Oscillators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Terence Tai-Leung Chong

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Chong and Ng (2008 find that the Moving Average Convergence–Divergence (MACD and Relative Strength Index (RSI rules can generate excess return in the London Stock Exchange. This paper revisits the performance of the two trading rules in the stock markets of five other OECD countries. It is found that the MACD(12,26,0 and RSI(21,50 rules consistently generate significant abnormal returns in the Milan Comit General and the S&P/TSX Composite Index. In addition, the RSI(14,30/70 rule is also profitable in the Dow Jones Industrials Index. The results shed some light on investors’ belief in these two technical indicators in different developed markets.

Revisiting the level scheme of the proton emitter 151Lu

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, F.; Sun, B.H.; Liu, Z.; Scholey, C.; Eeckhaudt, S.; Grahn, T.; Greenlees, P.T.; Jones, P.; Julin, R.; Juutinen, S.; Kettelhut, S.; Leino, M.; Nyman, M.; Rahkila, P.; Saren, J.; Sorri, J.; Uusitalo, J.; Ashley, S.F.; Cullen, I.J.; Garnsworthy, A.B.; Gelletly, W.; Jones, G.A.; Pietri, S.; Podolyak, Z.; Steer, S.; Thompson, N.J.; Walker, P.M.; Williams, S.; Bianco, L.; Darby, I.G.; Joss, D.T.; Page, R.D.; Pakarinen, J.; Rigby, S.; Cullen, D.M.; Khan, S.; Kishada, A.; Gomez-Hornillos, M.B.; Simpson, J.; Jenkins, D.G.; Niikura, M.; Seweryniak, D.; Shizuma, Toshiyuki

2015-01-01

An experiment aiming to search for new isomers in the region of proton emitter 151 Lu was performed at the Accelerator Laboratory of the University of Jyväskylä (JYFL), by combining the high resolution γ-ray array JUROGAM, gas-filled RITU separator and GREAT detectors with the triggerless total data readout acquisition (TDR) system. In this proceeding, we revisit the level scheme of 151 Lu by using the proton-tagging technique. A level scheme consistent with the latest experimental results is obtained, and 3 additional levels are identified at high excitation energies. (author)

The importance of jet bending in gamma-ray AGNs—revisited

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Graham, P. J. [School of Physics, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052 (Australia); Tingay, S. J. [International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, Curtin University, Bentley, WA (Australia)

2014-04-01

We investigate the hypothesis that γ-ray-quiet active galactic nuclei (AGNs) have a greater tendency for jet bending than γ-ray-loud AGNs, revisiting the analysis of Tingay et al. We perform a statistical analysis using a large sample of 351 radio-loud AGNs along with γ-ray identifications from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). Our results show no statistically significant differences in jet-bending properties between γ-ray-loud and γ-ray-quiet populations, indicating that jet bending is not a significant factor for γ-ray detection in AGNs.

Silent cries, dancing tears: the metapsychology of art revisited/revised.

Science.gov (United States)

Aragno, Anna

2011-04-01

Against the backdrop of a broad survey of the literature on applied psychoanalysis, a number of concepts underpinning the metapsychology of art are revisited and revised: sublimation; interrelationships between primary and secondary processes; symbolization; "fantasy"; and "cathexis." Concepts embedded in dichotomous or drive/energic contexts are examined and reformulated in terms of a continuum of semiotic processes. Freudian dream structure is viewed as a biological/natural template for nonrepressive artistic forms of sublimation. The synthesis presented proposes a model of continuous rather than discontinuous processes, in a nonenergic, biosemiotic metatheoretical framework.

Radiation exposure monitoring and control in front-end fuel cycle facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khan, A.H.

2003-01-01

The front end nuclear fuel cycle facilities presently operational in India are the mining and processing of beach mineral sands along the southern coast of Kerala, Tamilnadu and Orissa, mining and processing of uranium ore in Singhbhum-East in Jharkhand and refining and fuel fabrication at Hyderabad and Trombay. Dedicated Health Physics Units set up at each site regularly carry out in-plant and personnel monitoring to ensure safe working conditions and evaluate radiation exposure of workers and advise appropriate control measures. External gamma radiation, radon, thoron, their progeny and airborne long-lived activity due to radioactive dust are monitored. Personal dosimeters are also issued to workers. The total radiation exposure of workers from external and internal sources is evaluated from the plant and personal monitoring data. Provision of adequate ventilation, control of dust and spillage of active solutions, prompt decontamination, use of personal protective appliances and worker education are the key factors in keeping the doses to the workers well within the regulatory limits. It has been observed that the total radiation dose to workers has been well below 20 mSv.y - 1 at all stages of operations. The monitoring methodologies and summary of radiation exposure data for different facilities during the last few years are presented in the paper. (author)

Simulation of Two-Way Pushdown Automata Revisited

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert Glück

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The linear-time simulation of 2-way deterministic pushdown automata (2DPDA by the Cook and Jones constructions is revisited. Following the semantics-based approach by Jones, an interpreter is given which, when extended with random-access memory, performs a linear-time simulation of 2DPDA. The recursive interpreter works without the dump list of the original constructions, which makes Cook's insight into linear-time simulation of exponential-time automata more intuitive and the complexity argument clearer. The simulation is then extended to 2-way nondeterministic pushdown automata (2NPDA to provide for a cubic-time recognition of context-free languages. The time required to run the final construction depends on the degree of nondeterminism. The key mechanism that enables the polynomial-time simulations is the sharing of computations by memoization.

Statistical properties of correlated solar flares and coronal mass ejections in cycles 23 and 24

Science.gov (United States)

Aarnio, Alicia

2018-01-01

Outstanding problems in understanding early stellar systems include mass loss, angular momentum evolution, and the effects of energetic events on the surrounding environs. The latter of these drives much research into our own system's space weather and the development of predictive algorithms for geomagnetic storms. So dually motivated, we have leveraged a big-data approach to combine two decades of GOES and LASCO data to identify a large sample of spatially and temporally correlated solar flares and CMEs. In this presentation, we revisit the analysis of Aarnio et al. (2011), adding 10 years of data and further exploring the relationships between correlated flare and CME properties. We compare the updated data set results to those previously obtained, and discuss the effects of selecting smaller time windows within solar cycles 23 and 24 on the empirically defined relationships between correlated flare and CME properties. Finally, we discuss a newly identified large sample of potentially interesting correlated flares and CMEs perhaps erroneously excluded from previous searches.

An application of the Caputo-Fabrizio operator to replicator-mutator dynamics: Bifurcation, chaotic limit cycles and control

Science.gov (United States)

Doungmo Goufo, Emile Franc

2018-02-01

The physical behaviors of replicator-mutator processes found in theoretical biophysics, physical chemistry, biochemistry and population biology remain complex with unlimited expressibility. People languages, for instance, have impressively and unpredictably changed over the time in human history. This is mainly due to the collection of small changes and collaboration with other languages. In this paper, the Caputo-Fabrizio operator is applied to a replicator-mutator dynamic taking place in midsts with movement. The model is fully analyzed and solved numerically via the Crank-Nicolson scheme. Stability and convergence results are provided. A concrete application to replicator-mutator dynamics for a population with three strategies is performed with numerical simulations provided for some fixed values of the physical position of the population symbolized by r and the grid points. Physically, it happens that limit cycles appear, not only in function of the mutation parameter μ but also in function of the values given to r . The amplitudes of limit cycles also appear to be proportional to r but the stability of the system remains unaffected. However, those limit cycles instead of disappearing as expected, are immediately followed by chaotic and unpredictable behaviors certainly due to the non-singular kernel used in the model and suitable to non-linear dynamics. Hence, the appearance and disappearance of limit cycles might be controlled by the position variable r which can also apprehend chaos.

Distractor dwelling, skipping, and revisiting determine target absent performance in difficult visual search

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gernot Horstmann

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Some targets in visual search are more difficult to find than others. In particular, a target that is similar to the distractors is more difficult to find than a target that is dissimilar to the distractors. Efficiency differences between easy and difficult searches are manifest not only in target-present trials but also in target-absent trials. In fact, even physically identical displays are searched through with different efficiency depending on the searched-for target. Here, we monitored eye movements in search for a target similar to the distractors (difficult search versus a target dissimilar to the distractors (easy search. We aimed to examine three hypotheses concerning the causes of differential search efficiencies in target-absent trials: (a distractor dwelling (b distractor skipping, and (c distractor revisiting. Reaction times increased with target similarity which is consistent with existing theories and replicates earlier results. Eye movement data indicated guidance in target trials, even though search was very slow. Dwelling, skipping, and revisiting contributed to low search efficiency in difficult search, with dwelling being the strongest factor. It is argued that differences in dwell time account for a large amount of total search time differences.

Distractor Dwelling, Skipping, and Revisiting Determine Target Absent Performance in Difficult Visual Search

Science.gov (United States)

Horstmann, Gernot; Herwig, Arvid; Becker, Stefanie I.

2016-01-01

Some targets in visual search are more difficult to find than others. In particular, a target that is similar to the distractors is more difficult to find than a target that is dissimilar to the distractors. Efficiency differences between easy and difficult searches are manifest not only in target-present trials but also in target-absent trials. In fact, even physically identical displays are searched through with different efficiency depending on the searched-for target. Here, we monitored eye movements in search for a target similar to the distractors (difficult search) versus a target dissimilar to the distractors (easy search). We aimed to examine three hypotheses concerning the causes of differential search efficiencies in target-absent trials: (a) distractor dwelling (b) distractor skipping, and (c) distractor revisiting. Reaction times increased with target similarity which is consistent with existing theories and replicates earlier results. Eye movement data indicated guidance in target trials, even though search was very slow. Dwelling, skipping, and revisiting contributed to low search efficiency in difficult search, with dwelling being the strongest factor. It is argued that differences in dwell time account for a large amount of total search time differences. PMID:27574510

Supercritical CO2 Brayton cycle compression and control near the critical point

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wright, S. A.; Fuller, R.; Noall, J.; Radel, R.; Vernon, M. E.; Pickard, P. S.

2008-01-01

This report describes the supercritical compression and control issues, the analysis, and the measured test results of a small-scale supercritical CO 2 (S-CO 2 ) compression test-loop. The test loop was developed by Sandia and is described in a companion paper in this conference. The results of these experiments will for the first time evaluate and experimentally demonstrate supercritical compression and the required compressor inlet control approaches on an appropriate scale in a series of test loops at Sandia National Laboratories. The Sandia effort is focused on the main compressor of a supercritical Brayton loop while a separate DOE Gen lV program focus is on studying similar behavior in re-compression Brayton cycles that have dual compressors. One of the main goals of this program is to develop and demonstrate the ability to design, operate, and control the supercritical compression process near the critical point due to highly non-linear behavior near this point. This Sandia supercritical test-loop uses a 50 kW radial compressor to pump supercritical CO 2 (S-CO 2 ) through an orifice and through a water-cooled gas-chiller. At the design point the compressor flow rate is 3.5 kg/s, the inlet pressure is 7, 690 kPa, the pressure ratio is 1.8, the inlet temperature is 305 K, and the shaft speed is 75, 000 rpm. The purpose of the loop is to study the compression and control issues near the critical point. To study compression we intend to compare the design code predictions for efficiency and change in enthalpy (or pressure ratio / head) of the radial compressor with the measured results from actual tests. In the tests the inlet flow, temperature, and pressure, will be varied around the critical point of CO 2 (Tc=304.2 K, and Pc=7.377 MPa). To study control, the test loop will use a variety of methods including inventory control, shaft speed control, and cooling water flow rate, and cooling water temperature control methods to set the compressor inlet temperature

Transcriptome-wide analysis of the Trypanosoma cruzi proliferative cycle identifies the periodically expressed mRNAs and their multiple levels of control.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Santiago Chávez

Full Text Available Trypanosoma cruzi is the protozoan parasite causing American trypanosomiasis or Chagas disease, a neglected parasitosis with important human health impact in Latin America. The efficacy of current therapy is limited, and its toxicity is high. Since parasite proliferation is a fundamental target for rational drug design, we sought to progress into its understanding by applying a genome-wide approach. Treating a TcI linage strain with hydroxyurea, we isolated epimastigotes in late G1, S and G2/M cell cycle stages at 70% purity. The sequencing of each phase identified 305 stage-specific transcripts (1.5-fold change, p≤0.01, coding for conserved cell cycle regulated proteins and numerous proteins whose cell cycle dependence has not been recognized before. Comparisons with the parasite T. brucei and the human host reveal important differences. The meta-analysis of T. cruzi transcriptomic and ribonomic data indicates that cell cycle regulated mRNAs are subject to sub-cellular compartmentalization. Compositional and structural biases of these genes- including CAI, GC content, UTR length, and polycistron position- may contribute to their regulation. To discover nucleotide motifs responsible for the co-regulation of cell cycle regulated genes, we looked for overrepresented motifs at their UTRs and found a variant of the cell cycle sequence motif at the 3' UTR of most of the S and G2 stage genes. We additionally identified hairpin structures at the 5' UTRs of a high proportion of the transcripts, suggesting that periodic gene expression might also rely on translation initiation in T. cruzi. In summary, we report a comprehensive list of T. cruzi cell cycle regulated genes, including many previously unstudied proteins, we show evidence favoring a multi-step control of their expression, and we identify mRNA motifs that may mediate their regulation. Our results provide novel information of the T. cruzi proliferative proteins and the integrated levels of

Corporate Investment Dynamic Control System Based on Chaos Cycle Perturbations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yanyan Gao

2014-11-01

Full Text Available It exists some issues such as the low predict accuracy and a bad convergence performance to predict business investment with BP neural network algorithm. This paper presents a predictive model of business investment based on improved artificial bee colony and chaos periodic disturbance optimizing BP neural network algorithm. At first, use Boltzmann selection strategy and group behaviour control strategy to optimize the artificial bee colony algorithm, and then use the improved algorithm to transform BP neural network algorithm’s optimized parameters into optimization process of artificial bee colony algorithm to reduce the training error of the original algorithm. Finally, use chaotic optimized Logistic mapping enables BP neural network out of the local minimum point in the training process based on secondary chaotic cycle perturbation strategies. Simulation results show that the proposed predictive model of investment in the enterprise based on improved artificial bee colony and chaos periodic disturbance optimizing BP neural network algorithm shows higher predict accuracy and better convergence than normal BP neural network algorithm.

The Super-GUT CMSSM Revisited

CERN Document Server

Ellis, John

2016-01-01

We revisit minimal supersymmetric SU(5) grand unification (GUT) models in which the soft supersymmetry-breaking parameters of the minimal supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) are universal at some input scale, $M_{in}$, above the supersymmetric gauge coupling unification scale, $M_{GUT}$. As in the constrained MSSM (CMSSM), we assume that the scalar masses and gaugino masses have common values, $m_0$ and $m_{1/2}$ respectively, at $M_{in}$, as do the trilinear soft supersymmetry-breaking parameters $A_0$. Going beyond previous studies of such a super-GUT CMSSM scenario, we explore the constraints imposed by the lower limit on the proton lifetime and the LHC measurement of the Higgs mass, $m_h$. We find regions of $m_0$, $m_{1/2}$, $A_0$ and the parameters of the SU(5) superpotential that are compatible with these and other phenomenological constraints such as the density of cold dark matter, which we assume to be provided by the lightest neutralino. Typically, these allowed regions appear for $m_0$ and $m_{1/...

Critical boundary sine-Gordon revisited

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hasselfield, M.; Lee, Taejin; Semenoff, G.W.; Stamp, P.C.E.

2006-01-01

We revisit the exact solution of the two space-time dimensional quantum field theory of a free massless boson with a periodic boundary interaction and self-dual period. We analyze the model by using a mapping to free fermions with a boundary mass term originally suggested in Ref. [J. Polchinski, L. Thorlacius, Phys. Rev. D 50 (1994) 622]. We find that the entire SL (2, C) family of boundary states of a single boson are boundary sine-Gordon states and we derive a simple explicit expression for the boundary state in fermion variables and as a function of sine-Gordon coupling constants. We use this expression to compute the partition function. We observe that the solution of the model has a strong-weak coupling generalization of T-duality. We then examine a class of recently discovered conformal boundary states for compact bosons with radii which are rational numbers times the self-dual radius. These have simple expression in fermion variables. We postulate sine-Gordon-like field theories with discrete gauge symmetries for which they are the appropriate boundary states

Post-inflationary gravitino production revisited

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ellis, John [Theoretical Particle Physics and Cosmology Group, Department of Physics, King' s College London, London WC2R 2LS (United Kingdom); Garcia, Marcos A.G.; Olive, Keith A. [William I. Fine Theoretical Physics Institute, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, 116 Church Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (United States); Nanopoulos, Dimitri V. [George P. and Cynthia W. Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77843 (United States); Peloso, Marco, E-mail: john.ellis@cern.ch, E-mail: garciagarcia@physics.umn.edu, E-mail: dimitri@physics.tamu.edu, E-mail: olive@physics.umn.edu, E-mail: peloso@physics.umn.edu [School of Physics and Astronomy and Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics, University of Minnesota, 116 Church Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (United States)

2016-03-01

We revisit gravitino production following inflation. As a first step, we review the standard calculation of gravitino production in the thermal plasma formed at the end of post-inflationary reheating when the inflaton has completely decayed. Next we consider gravitino production prior to the completion of reheating, assuming that the inflaton decay products thermalize instantaneously while they are still dilute. We then argue that instantaneous thermalization is in general a good approximation, and also show that the contribution of non-thermal gravitino production via the collisions of inflaton decay products prior to thermalization is relatively small. Our final estimate of the gravitino-to-entropy ratio is approximated well by a standard calculation of gravitino production in the post-inflationary thermal plasma assuming total instantaneous decay and thermalization at a time t ≅ 1.2/Γ{sub φ}. Finally, in light of our calculations, we consider potential implications of upper limits on the gravitino abundance for models of inflation, with particular attention to scenarios for inflaton decays in supersymmetric Starobinsky-like models.

Investigating predictors of visiting, using, and revisiting an online health-communication program: a longitudinal study.

Science.gov (United States)

Van 't Riet, Jonathan; Crutzen, Rik; De Vries, Hein

2010-09-02

Online health communication has the potential to reach large audiences, with the additional advantages that it can be operational at all times and that the costs per visitor are low. Furthermore, research shows that Internet-delivered interventions can be effective in changing health behaviors. However, exposure to Internet-delivered health-communication programs is generally low. Research investigating predictors of exposure is needed to be able to effectively disseminate online interventions. In the present study, the authors used a longitudinal design with the aim of identifying demographic, psychological, and behavioral predictors of visiting, using, and revisiting an online program promoting physical activity in the general population. A webpage was created providing the public with information about health and healthy behavior. The website included a "physical activity check," which consisted of a physical activity computer-tailoring expert system where visitors could check whether their physical activity levels were in line with recommendations. Visitors who consented to participate in the present study (n = 489) filled in a questionnaire that assessed demographics, mode of recruitment, current physical activity levels, and health motivation. Immediately after, participants received tailored feedback concerning their current physical activity levels and completed a questionnaire assessing affective and cognitive user experience, attitude toward being sufficiently physically active, and intention to be sufficiently physically active. Three months later, participants received an email inviting them once more to check whether their physical activity level had changed. Analyses of visiting showed that more women (67.5%) than men (32.5%) visited the program. With regard to continued use, native Dutch participants (odds ratio [OR] = 2.81, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.16-6.81, P = .02) and participants with a strong motivation to be healthy (OR = 1.46, CI = 1

Is high-intensity interval cycling feasible and more beneficial than continuous cycling for knee osteoarthritic patients? Results of a randomised control feasibility trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Keogh, Justin W; Grigg, Josephine; Vertullo, Christopher J

2018-01-01

attributed to one HIIT participant. Pre-post-test analyses indicated both groups significantly improved their WOMAC scores, with the HIIT group also significantly improving in the TUG and STS. The only significant between-group difference was observed in the TUG, whereby the HIIT group improved significantly more than the MICT group. No significant changes were observed in the Lequesne index, gait speed or body composition for either group. An unsupervised home-based HIIT cycle program appears somewhat feasible for middle-aged and older adults with knee OA and may produce similar improvements in health-related quality of life but greater improvements in physical function than MICT. These results need to be confirmed in larger randomised controlled trials to better elucidate the potential for HIIT to improve outcomes for those with knee OA. Additional research needs to identify and modify the potential barriers affecting the initiation and adherence to home-based HIIT cycling exercise programs by individuals with knee OA.

Is high-intensity interval cycling feasible and more beneficial than continuous cycling for knee osteoarthritic patients? Results of a randomised control feasibility trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Justin W. Keogh

2018-05-01

reported, with 24 of these attributed to one HIIT participant. Pre–post-test analyses indicated both groups significantly improved their WOMAC scores, with the HIIT group also significantly improving in the TUG and STS. The only significant between-group difference was observed in the TUG, whereby the HIIT group improved significantly more than the MICT group. No significant changes were observed in the Lequesne index, gait speed or body composition for either group. Discussion An unsupervised home-based HIIT cycle program appears somewhat feasible for middle-aged and older adults with knee OA and may produce similar improvements in health-related quality of life but greater improvements in physical function than MICT. These results need to be confirmed in larger randomised controlled trials to better elucidate the potential for HIIT to improve outcomes for those with knee OA. Additional research needs to identify and modify the potential barriers affecting the initiation and adherence to home-based HIIT cycling exercise programs by individuals with knee OA.

Operator entanglement of two-qubit joint unitary operations revisited: Schmidt number approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xia, Hui-Zhi; Li, Chao; Yang, Qing; Yang, Ming, E-mail: mingyang@ahu.edu.cn [Key Laboratory of Opto-electronic Information Acquisition and Manipulation, Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Material Science, Anhui University Hefei (China); Cao, Zhuo-Liang [School of Electronic Information Engineering, Hefei Normal University (China)

2012-08-15

The operator entanglement of two-qubit joint unitary operations is revisited. The Schmidt number, an important attribute of a two-qubit unitary operation, may have connection with the entanglement measure of the unitary operator. We find that the entanglement measure of a two-qubit unitary operators is classified by the Schmidt number of the unitary operators. We also discuss the exact relation between the operator entanglement and the parameters of the unitary operator. (author)

Revisit the spin-FET: Multiple reflection, inelastic scattering, and lateral size effects

OpenAIRE

Xu, Luting; Li, Xin-Qi; Sun, Qing-feng

2014-01-01

We revisit the spin-injected field effect transistor (spin-FET) by simulating a lattice model based on recursive lattice Green's function approach. In the one-dimensional case and coherent regime, the simulated results reveal noticeable differences from the celebrated Datta-Das model, which motivate thus an improved treatment and lead to analytic and generalized result. The simulation also allows us to address inelastic scattering (using B\\"uttiker's fictitious reservoir approach) and lateral...

Diurnal cycles control the fate of contaminants at an Andean river confluence impacted by legacy mining

Science.gov (United States)

Pasten, P.; Guerra, P. A.; Simonson, K.; Bonilla, C.; Pizarro, G. E.; Escauriaza, C. R.; González, C.

2014-12-01

The importance of hydrologic-geochemical interactions in arid environments is a controlling factor in quality and quantity of water available for human consumption and agriculture. When acid drainage affects these watersheds, water quality is gravely degraded. Despite its effect on watersheds, the relationship between time changes in hydrological variables and water quality in arid regions has not been studied thoroughly. Temporal variations in acid drainage can control when the transport of toxic elements is increased. We performed field work at the Azufre River (pH 2, E.C~10.9 mS/cm) and Caracarani River (pH 8.7, E.C~1.2 mS/cm) confluence, located in the Northern Chilean Altiplano (at 4000 m asl). We registered stream flowrates (total flowrate~430 L/s), temperature and electric conductivity (E.C) hourly using in-stream data loggers during one year. We also measured turbidity and pH during one field survey at different distances from the junction, as a proxy of the formation of iron-aluminum particles that cycle trace elements in these environments. We found turbidity-pH diurnal cycles were caused by upstream hourly changes in upstream flowrate: when the Caracarani River flowrate reached its daily peak, particle formation occurred, while the dissolution of particles occurred when the Azufre River reached its maximum value. This last process occurred due to upstream freeze-thaw cycles. This study shows how the dynamics of natural confluences determines chemical transport. The formation of particles enriched in toxic elements can promote settling as a natural attenuation process, while their dissolution will produce their release and transport long distances downstream. It is important to consider time as an important variable in water quality monitoring and in water management infrastructure where pulses of contamination can have potentially negative effects in its use. Acknowledgements: Funding was provided by "Proyecto Fondecyt 1130936" and "CONICYT

Improvement to the pattern of control rods of the equilibrium cycle of 18 months for the CLV using bio-inspired algorithms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perusquia, R.; Ortiz, J.J.; Montes, J.L.

2003-01-01

Nowadays in the National Institute of Nuclear Research are carried out studies with some bio-inspired optimization techniques to improve the performance of the fuel cycles of the boiling water reactors of the Laguna Verde power plant (CLV). In the present work two bio-inspired techniques were applied with the purpose of improving the performance of a balance cycle of 18 months developed for the CLV: genetic algorithms (AG) and systems based on ants colonies (SCH). The design of the reference cycle it represents in several aspects an optimal cycle proposed starting from the experience of several operation decades with the boiling water reactors (BWR initials for Boiling Water Reactor) in the world. To try to improve their performance is beforehand a difficult challenge and it puts on test the feasibility of the optimization methods in the reloads design. The study of the bio-inspired techniques was centered exclusively on the obtaining of the control rod patterns (PBC) trying to overcome the capacity factor reached in the design of the reference cycle. It was fixed the cycle length such that the decrease of the coast down period would represent an increase of the capacity factor of the cycle; so that, it diminishes the annual cost associated with the capital cost of the plant. As consequence of the study, was found that the algorithm based on the ants colonies reaches to diminish the coast down period in five and half days respect to the original balance cycle, what represents an annual saving of $US 74,000. Since the original cycle was optimized, the above-mentioned, shows the ability of the SCH for the optimization of the cycle design. With the AG it was reach to approach to the original balance cycle with a coast down period greater in seven days estimating an annual penalization of $US 130,000. (Author)

Entropy of measurement and erasure: Szilard's membrane model revisited

Science.gov (United States)

Leff, Harvey S.; Rex, Andrew F.

1994-11-01

It is widely believed that measurement is accompanied by irreversible entropy increase. This conventional wisdom is based in part on Szilard's 1929 study of entropy decrease in a thermodynamic system by intelligent intervention (i.e., a Maxwell's demon) and Brillouin's association of entropy with information. Bennett subsequently argued that information acquisition is not necessarily irreversible, but information erasure must be dissipative (Landauer's principle). Inspired by the ensuing debate, we revisit the membrane model introduced by Szilard and find that it can illustrate and clarify (1) reversible measurement, (2) information storage, (3) decoupling of the memory from the system being measured, and (4) entropy increase associated with memory erasure and resetting.

Remotely controlled biking is associated with improved adherence to prescribed cycling speed.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeong, In Cheol; Finkelstein, Joseph

2015-01-01

Individuals with mobility impairment may benefit from passive exercise mode which can be subsequently enhanced by an active exercise program. However, it is unclear which exercise mode promotes higher adherence to prescribed exercise intensity. The goal of this project was to compare adherence to prescribed speed during passive and active cycling exercise. We used cross-over study design in which subjects followed the same cycling intensity prescription for passive and active exercise modes in a random sequence. Coefficient of variation (CV) and speed differences were used to estimate extent of deviation from the prescribed trajectory. CV varied from 5.2% to 20.4% for the active mode and from 2.8% to 4.5% for the passive mode respectively. Though the CV differences did not reach statistical significance, analysis of cycling speed adherence of 120-second periods showed significantly higher cycling adherence during passive mode for each target cycling speed. Our results indicated that the passive mode may promote exercise safety and efficacy by helping patients who have safety concerns such as the frail elderly, patients with cardiovascular conditions or people with other contraindications for excessive exertion during exercise, in following the optimal intensity trajectory prescribed by their provider.

Progesterone and women's anxiety across the menstrual cycle.

Science.gov (United States)

Reynolds, Tania A; Makhanova, Anastasia; Marcinkowska, Urszula M; Jasienska, Grazyna; McNulty, James K; Eckel, Lisa A; Nikonova, Larissa; Maner, Jon K

2018-04-24

Animal models and a few human investigations suggest progesterone may be associated with anxiety. Progesterone naturally fluctuates across the menstrual cycle, offering an opportunity to understand how within-person increases in progesterone and average progesterone levels across the cycle correspond to women's anxiety. Across two longitudinal studies, we simultaneously modeled the between- and within-person associations between progesterone and anxiety using multilevel modeling. In Study 1, 100 Polish women provided saliva samples and reported their anxiety at three phases of the menstrual cycle: follicular, peri-ovulatory, and luteal. A significant between-person effect emerged, revealing that women with higher average progesterone levels across their cycles reported higher levels of anxiety than women with lower progesterone cycles. This effect held controlling for estradiol. In Study 2, 61 American women provided saliva samples and reported their attachment anxiety during laboratory sessions during the same three cycle phases. A significant between-person and within-person association emerged: women with higher average progesterone levels reported higher levels of attachment anxiety, and as women's progesterone levels increased across their cycles, so too did their attachment anxiety. These effects held controlling for cortisol. In sum, both studies provide support for a link between menstrual cycle progesterone levels and subjective anxiety. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

The cell cycle inhibitor p27Kip¹ controls self-renewal and pluripotency of human embryonic stem cells by regulating the cell cycle, Brachyury and Twist.

Science.gov (United States)

Menchón, Cristina; Edel, Michael J; Izpisua Belmonte, Juan Carlos

2011-05-01

The continued turn over of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) while maintaining an undifferentiated state is dependent on the regulation of the cell cycle. Here we asked the question if a single cell cycle gene could regulate the self-renewal or pluripotency properties of hESC. We identified that the protein expression of the p27(Kip)¹ cell cycle inhibitor is low in hESC cells and increased with differentiation. By adopting a gain and loss of function strategy we forced or reduced its expression in undifferentiating conditions to define its functional role in self-renewal and pluripotency. Using undifferentiation conditions, overexpression of p27(Kip)¹ in hESC lead to a G₁phase arrest with an enlarged and flattened hESC morphology and consequent loss of self-renewal ability. Loss of p27(Kip)¹ caused an elongated/scatter cell-like phenotype involving up-regulation of Brachyury and Twist gene expression. We demonstrate the novel finding that p27(Kip)¹ protein occupies the Twist1 gene promoter and manipulation of p27(Kip)¹ by gain and loss of function is associated with Twist gene expression changes. These results define p27(Kip)¹ expression levels as critical for self-renewal and pluripotency in hESC and suggest a role for p27(Kip)¹ in controlling an epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) in hESC.

Naturalistic drive cycle synthesis for pickup trucks.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zifan; Ivanco, Andrej; Filipi, Zoran

2015-09-01

Future pick-up trucks are meeting much stricter fuel economy and exhaust emission standards. Design tradeoffs will have to be carefully evaluated to satisfy consumer expectations within the regulatory and cost constraints. Boundary conditions will obviously be critical for decision making: thus, the understanding of how customers are driving in naturalistic settings is indispensable. Federal driving schedules, while critical for certification, do not capture the richness of naturalistic cycles, particularly the aggressive maneuvers that often shape consumer perception of performance. While there are databases with large number of drive cycles, applying all of them directly in the design process is impractical. Therefore, representative drive cycles that capture the essence of the naturalistic driving should be synthesized from naturalistic driving data. Naturalistic drive cycles are firstly categorized by investigating their micro-trip components, defined as driving activities between successive stops. Micro-trips are expected to characterize underlying local traffic conditions, and separate different driving patterns. Next, the transitions from one vehicle state to another vehicle state in each cycle category are captured with Transition Probability Matrix (TPM). Candidate drive cycles can subsequently be synthesized using Markov Chain based on TPMs for each category. Finally, representative synthetic drive cycles are selected through assessment of significant cycle metrics to identify the ones with smallest errors. This paper provides a framework for synthesis of representative drive cycles from naturalistic driving data, which can subsequently be used for efficient optimization of design or control of pick-up truck powertrains. Manufacturers will benefit from representative drive cycles in several aspects, including quick assessments of vehicle performance and energy consumption in simulations, component sizing and design, optimization of control strategies, and

Revisit to diffraction anomalous fine structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawaguchi, T.; Fukuda, K.; Tokuda, K.; Shimada, K.; Ichitsubo, T.; Oishi, M.; Mizuki, J.; Matsubara, E.

2014-01-01

The diffraction anomalous fine structure method has been revisited by applying this measurement technique to polycrystalline samples and using an analytical method with the logarithmic dispersion relation. The diffraction anomalous fine structure (DAFS) method that is a spectroscopic analysis combined with resonant X-ray diffraction enables the determination of the valence state and local structure of a selected element at a specific crystalline site and/or phase. This method has been improved by using a polycrystalline sample, channel-cut monochromator optics with an undulator synchrotron radiation source, an area detector and direct determination of resonant terms with a logarithmic dispersion relation. This study makes the DAFS method more convenient and saves a large amount of measurement time in comparison with the conventional DAFS method with a single crystal. The improved DAFS method has been applied to some model samples, Ni foil and Fe 3 O 4 powder, to demonstrate the validity of the measurement and the analysis of the present DAFS method

Mutant p53 transfection of astrocytic cells results in altered cell cycle control, radiation sensitivity, and tumorigenicity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kanady, Kirk E.; Mei Su; Proulx, Gary; Malkin, David M.; Pardo, Francisco S.

1995-01-01

Introduction: Alterations in the p53 tumor suppressor gene are one of the most frequent genetic alterations in malignant gliomas. An understanding of the molecular genetic events leading to glial tumor progression would aid in designing therapeutic vectors for controlling these challenging tumor types. We investigated whether mutations in coding exons of the p53 gene result in functional changes altering cell cycle 'checkpoint' control and the intrinsic radiation sensitivity of glial cells. Methods: An astrocytic cell line was derived from a low grade astrocytoma and characterized to be of human karyotype and GFAP positivity. Additionally, the cellular population has never formed tumors in immune-deficient mice. At early passage ( 2 as parameters. Cell kinetic analyses after 2, 5, and 10 Gy of ionizing radiation were conducted using propidium iodide FACS analyses. Results: Overall levels of p53 expression were increased 5-10 fold in the transfected cellular populations. Astrocytic cellular populations transfected with mutant p53 revealed a statistically significant increase in levels of resistance to ionizing radiation in vitro (2-tailed test, SF2, MID). Astrocytic cellular populations transfected with mutant p53, unlike the parental cells, were tumorigenic in SCID mice. Cell kinetic analyses indicated that the untransfected cell line demonstrated dose dependent G1 and G2 arrests. Following transfection, however, the resultant cellular population demonstrated a predominant G2 arrest. Conclusions: Astrocytic cellular populations derived from low grade astrocytomas, are relatively radiation sensitive, non-tumorigenic, and have intact cell cycle ''checkpoints.'' Cellular populations resulting upon transfection of parental cells with a dominant negative p53 mutation, are relatively radiation resistant, when compared to both parental and mock-transfected cells. Transfected cells demonstrate abnormalities of cell cycle control at the G1/S checkpoint, increases in levels

Microwave radiation effects on the different stages of Sitophilus oryzae (Linne, 1763) (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) evolutive cycle in rice, focusing its control

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Franco, Jose G.; Franco, Suely S.H., E-mail: gilmita@uol.com.br, E-mail: zegilmar60@gmail.com [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNEN-SP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil); Franco, Caio H.; Arthur, Paula B.; Arthur, Valter, E-mail: caiohaddadfranco@lnbio.cnpem.com.br, E-mail: arthur@cena.usp.br [Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (CENA/USP), Piracicaba, SP (Brazil). Lab. de Radiobiologia e Ambiente

2013-07-01

As insects increase in radio tolerance as they develop and usually several developmental stages of pest may present in grain shipped commodity, it is important to know the microwave radiation susceptibility of stages of the target insect before the establishment of microwave radiation quarantine treatments. The current research had the aim to evaluate the microwave radiation effects on several phases of the rice weevil evolution cycle (S.oryzae), focusing its control. This specie is considered as on of the most serious worldwide pests for stored grains. The tests have been done in glass vials with 250 grams of whole grain (brown) rice and the irradiation was done in a 2,450 MHz commercial microwave oven, model Carousel II (potency of 800W). It was determined the exposure time needed to each phase control for the insect evolutive cycle, concluding that the immature phases (larvae and pupae), contained inside the rice, are more sensitive, requiring only 100 seconds to obtain 100% control while the egg phase requires a longer exposure (130 seconds). Referring to the grown phase, the time required to attain the lethal dose was 160 seconds. All the exposure time have been irradiated with a low potency (240 W). It also displayed that to greater quantities of rice (1.0 kg), with egg presence and forming a 2.0-centimeter layer on the microwave plate surface, it required an exposure time of 180 seconds. Therefore, in a more effective way, we can recommend these 180 seconds exposure time to the control of all phases concerning the insect evolutive cycle. (author)

Microwave radiation effects on the different stages of Sitophilus oryzae (Linne, 1763) (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) evolutive cycle in rice, focusing its control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Franco, Jose G.; Franco, Suely S.H.; Franco, Caio H.; Arthur, Paula B.; Arthur, Valter

2013-01-01

As insects increase in radio tolerance as they develop and usually several developmental stages of pest may present in grain shipped commodity, it is important to know the microwave radiation susceptibility of stages of the target insect before the establishment of microwave radiation quarantine treatments. The current research had the aim to evaluate the microwave radiation effects on several phases of the rice weevil evolution cycle (S.oryzae), focusing its control. This specie is considered as on of the most serious worldwide pests for stored grains. The tests have been done in glass vials with 250 grams of whole grain (brown) rice and the irradiation was done in a 2,450 MHz commercial microwave oven, model Carousel II (potency of 800W). It was determined the exposure time needed to each phase control for the insect evolutive cycle, concluding that the immature phases (larvae and pupae), contained inside the rice, are more sensitive, requiring only 100 seconds to obtain 100% control while the egg phase requires a longer exposure (130 seconds). Referring to the grown phase, the time required to attain the lethal dose was 160 seconds. All the exposure time have been irradiated with a low potency (240 W). It also displayed that to greater quantities of rice (1.0 kg), with egg presence and forming a 2.0-centimeter layer on the microwave plate surface, it required an exposure time of 180 seconds. Therefore, in a more effective way, we can recommend these 180 seconds exposure time to the control of all phases concerning the insect evolutive cycle. (author)

Evolution of cell cycle control: same molecular machines, different regulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

de Lichtenberg, Ulrik; Jensen, Thomas Skøt; Brunak, Søren

2007-01-01

Decades of research has together with the availability of whole genomes made it clear that many of the core components involved in the cell cycle are conserved across eukaryotes, both functionally and structurally. These proteins are organized in complexes and modules that are activated or deacti......Decades of research has together with the availability of whole genomes made it clear that many of the core components involved in the cell cycle are conserved across eukaryotes, both functionally and structurally. These proteins are organized in complexes and modules that are activated...... for assembling the same molecular machines just in time for action....

Chromatin dynamics during cell cycle mediate conversion of DNA damage into chromatid breaks and affect formation of chromosomal aberrations: Biological and clinical significance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Terzoudi, Georgia I.; Hatzi, Vasiliki I.; Donta-Bakoyianni, Catherine; Pantelias, Gabriel E.

2011-01-01

The formation of diverse chromosomal aberrations following irradiation and the variability in radiosensitivity at different cell-cycle stages remain a long standing controversy, probably because most of the studies have focused on elucidating the enzymatic mechanisms involved using simple DNA substrates. Yet, recognition, processing and repair of DNA damage occur within the nucleoprotein complex of chromatin which is dynamic in nature, capable of rapid unfolding, disassembling, assembling and refolding. The present work reviews experimental work designed to investigate the impact of chromatin dynamics and chromosome conformation changes during cell-cycle in the formation of chromosomal aberrations. Using conventional cytogenetics and premature chromosome condensation to visualize interphase chromatin, the data presented support the hypothesis that chromatin dynamic changes during cell-cycle are important determinants in the conversion of sub-microscopic DNA lesions into chromatid breaks. Consequently, the type and yield of radiation-induced chromosomal aberrations at a given cell-cycle-stage depends on the combined effect of DNA repair processes and chromatin dynamics, which is cell-cycle-regulated and subject to up- or down-regulation following radiation exposure or genetic alterations. This new hypothesis is used to explain the variability in radiosensitivity observed at various cell-cycle-stages, among mutant cells and cells of different origin, or among different individuals, and to revisit unresolved issues and unanswered questions. In addition, it is used to better understand hypersensitivity of AT cells and to provide an improved predictive G2-assay for evaluating radiosensitivity at individual level. Finally, experimental data at single cell level obtained using hybrid cells suggest that the proposed hypothesis applies only to the irradiated component of the hybrid.

Strategic elements of steam cycle chemistry control practices at TXU's Comanche Peak steam electric station

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fellers, B.; Stevens, J.; Nichols, G.

2002-01-01

Early industry experience defined the critical importance of Chemistry Control Practices to maintaining long-term performance of PWR steam generators. These lessons provided the impetus for a number of innovations and alternate practices at Comanche Peak. For example, advanced amine investigations and implementation of results provided record low iron transport and deposition. The benefits of the surface-active properties of dimethyl-amine exceeded initial expectations. Operation of pre-coat polishers and steam generator blowdown demineralizers in the amine cycle enabled optimization of amine concentrations and stable pH control. The strategy for coordinated control of oxygen and hydrazine dosing complemented the advanced amine program for protective oxide stabilization. Additionally, a proactive chemical cleaning was performed on Unit 1 to prevent degradations from general fouling of steam generator tube-tube support plate (TSP) and top-of-tubesheet (TTS) crevices. This paper shares the results of these innovations and practices. Also, the bases, theory, and philosophy supporting the strategic elements of program will be presented. (authors)

Glucose-ABL1-TOR Signaling Modulates Cell Cycle Tuning to Control Terminal Appressorial Cell Differentiation.

Science.gov (United States)

Marroquin-Guzman, Margarita; Sun, Guangchao; Wilson, Richard A

2017-01-01

The conserved target of rapamycin (TOR) pathway integrates growth and development with available nutrients, but how cellular glucose controls TOR function and signaling is poorly understood. Here, we provide functional evidence from the devastating rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae that glucose can mediate TOR activity via the product of a novel carbon-responsive gene, ABL1, in order to tune cell cycle progression during infection-related development. Under nutrient-free conditions, wild type (WT) M. oryzae strains form terminal plant-infecting cells (appressoria) at the tips of germ tubes emerging from three-celled spores (conidia). WT appressorial development is accompanied by one round of mitosis followed by autophagic cell death of the conidium. In contrast, Δabl1 mutant strains undergo multiple rounds of accelerated mitosis in elongated germ tubes, produce few appressoria, and are abolished for autophagy. Treating WT spores with glucose or 2-deoxyglucose phenocopied Δabl1. Inactivating TOR in Δabl1 mutants or glucose-treated WT strains restored appressorium formation by promoting mitotic arrest at G1/G0 via an appressorium- and autophagy-inducing cell cycle delay at G2/M. Collectively, this work uncovers a novel glucose-ABL1-TOR signaling axis and shows it engages two metabolic checkpoints in order to modulate cell cycle tuning and mediate terminal appressorial cell differentiation. We thus provide new molecular insights into TOR regulation and cell development in response to glucose.

SUSY S4×SU(5) revisited

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hagedorn, Claudia; King, Stephen F.; Luhn, Christoph

2012-01-01

Following the recent results from Daya Bay and RENO, which measure the lepton mixing angle θ 13 l ≈0.15, we revisit a supersymmetric (SUSY) S 4 ×SU(5) model, which predicts tri-bimaximal (TB) mixing in the neutrino sector with θ 13 l being too small in its original version. We show that introducing one additional S 4 singlet flavon into the model gives rise to a sizable θ 13 l via an operator which leads to the breaking of one of the two Z 2 symmetries preserved in the neutrino sector at leading order (LO). The results of the original model for fermion masses, quark mixing and the solar mixing angle are maintained to good precision. The atmospheric and solar mixing angle deviations from TB mixing are subject to simple sum rule bounds.

Neutrino dark energy. Revisiting the stability issue

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eggers Bjaelde, O.; Hannestad, S. [Aarhus Univ. (Denmark). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy; Brookfield, A.W. [Sheffield Univ. (United Kingdom). Dept. of Applied Mathematics and Dept. of Physics, Astro-Particle Theory and Cosmology Group; Van de Bruck, C. [Sheffield Univ. (United Kingdom). Dept. of Applied Mathematics, Astro-Particle Theory and Cosmology Group; Mota, D.F. [Heidelberg Univ. (Germany). Inst. fuer Theoretische Physik]|[Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, Oslo (Norway); Schrempp, L. [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg (Germany); Tocchini-Valentini, D. [Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy

2007-05-15

A coupling between a light scalar field and neutrinos has been widely discussed as a mechanism for linking (time varying) neutrino masses and the present energy density and equation of state of dark energy. However, it has been pointed out that the viability of this scenario in the non-relativistic neutrino regime is threatened by the strong growth of hydrodynamic perturbations associated with a negative adiabatic sound speed squared. In this paper we revisit the stability issue in the framework of linear perturbation theory in a model independent way. The criterion for the stability of a model is translated into a constraint on the scalar-neutrino coupling, which depends on the ratio of the energy densities in neutrinos and cold dark matter. We illustrate our results by providing meaningful examples both for stable and unstable models. (orig.)

Experiments on the Divergence between Willingness to Pay and Willingness to Accept: The Issue Revisited

OpenAIRE

Rodolfo M. Nayga, Jr.; Wipon Aiew; Richard Woodward

2005-01-01

Many empirical studies have discovered large discrepancies between willingness to pay (WTP) and willingness to accept (WTA) measures. This paper revisits the WTP and WTA divergence issue using a non-hypothetical market experiment, actual products, cash, and exchange in a market setting. We find WTA/WTP ratios that are significantly lower than most such studies.

Using destination image to predict visitors' intention to revisit three Hudson River Valley, New York, communities

Science.gov (United States)

Rudy M. Schuster; Laura Sullivan; Duarte Morais; Diane Kuehn

2009-01-01

This analysis explores the differences in Affective and Cognitive Destination Image among three Hudson River Valley (New York) tourism communities. Multiple regressions were used with six dimensions of visitors' images to predict future intention to revisit. Two of the three regression models were significant. The only significantly contributing independent...

Lyapunov-based control of limit cycle oscillations in uncertain aircraft systems

Science.gov (United States)

Bialy, Brendan

Store-induced limit cycle oscillations (LCO) affect several fighter aircraft and is expected to remain an issue for next generation fighters. LCO arises from the interaction of aerodynamic and structural forces, however the primary contributor to the phenomenon is still unclear. The practical concerns regarding this phenomenon include whether or not ordnance can be safely released and the ability of the aircrew to perform mission-related tasks while in an LCO condition. The focus of this dissertation is the development of control strategies to suppress LCO in aircraft systems. The first contribution of this work (Chapter 2) is the development of a controller consisting of a continuous Robust Integral of the Sign of the Error (RISE) feedback term with a neural network (NN) feedforward term to suppress LCO behavior in an uncertain airfoil system. The second contribution of this work (Chapter 3) is the extension of the development in Chapter 2 to include actuator saturation. Suppression of LCO behavior is achieved through the implementation of an auxiliary error system that features hyperbolic functions and a saturated RISE feedback control structure. Due to the lack of clarity regarding the driving mechanism behind LCO, common practice in literature and in Chapters 2 and 3 is to replicate the symptoms of LCO by including nonlinearities in the wing structure, typically a nonlinear torsional stiffness. To improve the accuracy of the system model a partial differential equation (PDE) model of a flexible wing is derived (see Appendix F) using Hamilton's principle. Chapters 4 and 5 are focused on developing boundary control strategies for regulating the bending and twisting deformations of the derived model. The contribution of Chapter 4 is the construction of a backstepping-based boundary control strategy for a linear PDE model of an aircraft wing. The backstepping-based strategy transforms the original system to a exponentially stable system. A Lyapunov-based stability

The evolution and future of Earth's nitrogen cycle.

Science.gov (United States)

Canfield, Donald E; Glazer, Alexander N; Falkowski, Paul G

2010-10-08

Atmospheric reactions and slow geological processes controlled Earth's earliest nitrogen cycle, and by ~2.7 billion years ago, a linked suite of microbial processes evolved to form the modern nitrogen cycle with robust natural feedbacks and controls. Over the past century, however, the development of new agricultural practices to satisfy a growing global demand for food has drastically disrupted the nitrogen cycle. This has led to extensive eutrophication of fresh waters and coastal zones as well as increased inventories of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N(2)O). Microbial processes will ultimately restore balance to the nitrogen cycle, but the damage done by humans to the nitrogen economy of the planet will persist for decades, possibly centuries, if active intervention and careful management strategies are not initiated.

The Evolution and Future of Earth's Nitrogen Cycle

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Canfield, Donald Eugene; Glazer, Alexander N.; Falkowski, Paul G.

2010-01-01

, the development of new agricultural practices to satisfy a growing global demand for food has drastically disrupted the nitrogen cycle. This has led to extensive eutrophication of fresh waters and coastal zones as well as increased inventories of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O). Microbial processes......Atmospheric reactions and slow geological processes controlled Earth's earliest nitrogen cycle, and by similar to 2.7 billion years ago, a linked suite of microbial processes evolved to form the modern nitrogen cycle with robust natural feedbacks and controls. Over the past century, however...... will ultimately restore balance to the nitrogen cycle, but the damage done by humans to the nitrogen economy of the planet will persist for decades, possibly centuries, if active intervention and careful management strategies are not initiated....

In vivo urea cycle flux distinguishes and correlates with phenotypic severity in disorders of the urea cycle

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Brendan; Yu, Hong; Jahoor, Farook; O'Brien, William; Beaudet, Arthur L.; Reeds, Peter

2000-01-01

Urea cycle disorders are a group of inborn errors of hepatic metabolism that result in often life-threatening hyperammonemia and hyperglutaminemia. Clinical and laboratory diagnosis of partial deficiencies during asymptomatic periods is difficult, and correlation of phenotypic severity with either genotype and/or in vitro enzyme activity is often imprecise. We hypothesized that stable isotopically determined in vivo rates of total body urea synthesis and urea cycle-specific nitrogen flux would correlate with both phenotypic severity and carrier status in patients with a variety of different enzymatic deficiencies of the urea cycle. We studied control subjects, patients, and their relatives with different enzymatic deficiencies affecting the urea cycle while consuming a low protein diet. On a separate occasion the subjects either received a higher protein intake or were treated with an alternative route medication sodium phenylacetate/benzoate (Ucephan), or oral arginine supplementation. Total urea synthesis from all nitrogen sources was determined from [18O]urea labeling, and the utilization of peripheral nitrogen was estimated from the relative isotopic enrichments of [15N]urea and [15N]glutamine during i.v. co-infusions of [5-(amide)15N]glutamine and [18O]urea. The ratio of the isotopic enrichments of 15N-urea/15N-glutamine distinguished normal control subjects (ratio = 0.42 ± 0.06) from urea cycle patients with late (0.17 ± 0.03) and neonatal (0.003 ± 0.007) presentations irrespective of enzymatic deficiency. This index of urea cycle activity also distinguished asymptomatic heterozygous carriers of argininosuccinate synthetase deficiency (0.22 ± 0.03), argininosuccinate lyase deficiency (0.35 ± 0.11), and partial ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency (0.26 ± 0.06) from normal controls. Administration of Ucephan lowered, and arginine increased, urea synthesis to the degree predicted from their respective rates of metabolism. The 15N-urea/15N-glutamine ratio

'The Ethiopian famine' revisited: band aid and the antipolitics of celebrity humanitarian action.

Science.gov (United States)

Müller, Tanja R

2013-01-01

In many ways the Ethiopian famine of 1983-85 has served as a watershed with respect to humanitarian action. One of its lasting legacies has been the emergence of Band Aid and the subsequent increase in celebrity humanitarianism. A revisiting of the events of 1983-85 occurred in 2010 during a dispute in which it was alleged that a portion of the donations of Band Aid were spent on arms purchases. This paper takes this controversy as its starting point. It goes on to use the theoretical reflections of Giorgio Agamben to consider the dynamics that unfolded during the Ethiopian famine of 1983-85 and to analyse the underlying conceptualisation behind the emergence of Band Aid-type celebrity humanitarianism. The paper concludes with some wider thoughts on how the in essence antipolitical agenda of celebrity humanitarian action is transported into the everyday understanding of 'African disaster', resulting ultimately in the perpetuation of hegemonic control by the global North. © 2013 The Author(s). Journal compilation © Overseas Development Institute, 2013.

Study of the cell cycle control for human malignant mesothelioma lines. Interferon and radiations effect; Etude de la regulation du cycle cellulaire de lignees de mesotheliome malin humain. Effet de l'interferon et des radiations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vivo, C

1999-07-01

In order to better understand the inhibition mechanisms of the IFN-R-HU on tumoral development, the IFN-R-U effect on MM lines has been studied. Three groups of lines has been distinguished: eight sensitive lines, two intermediate and three resistant. The sensitive lines showed a triple locking of the cell cycle: in phases S, G1 and G2. The study of the cell cycle control points function, realized by the MM lines radiation exposure showed the points function on G1/S and-or on G2/M and the dependence or non dependence of the cycle stop of the protein P53 and P21 W at F1/CIP1. (A.L.B.)

Integrating Menstrual Cycle Data into The Smart Home

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Homewood, Sarah

2017-01-01

Menstrual cycle data gathered through self-tracking apps are increasingly used to understand, control and monitor bodies that menstruate. This work-in-progress explores the effects of representing menstrual cycle data within the smart home through critical design and planned fieldwork. Themes...... presented in this paper include the taboo of menstrual cycles, the question of what kinds of data do we represent in the smart home and menstrual cycle tracking technologies as examples of affective computing....

CO2 cycle

Science.gov (United States)

Titus, Timothy N.; Byrne, Shane; Colaprete, Anthony; Forget, Francois; Michaels, Timothy I.; Prettyman, Thomas H.

2017-01-01

This chapter discusses the use of models, observations, and laboratory experiments to understand the cycling of CO2 between the atmosphere and seasonal Martian polar caps. This cycle is primarily controlled by the polar heat budget, and thus the emphasis here is on its components, including solar and infrared radiation, the effect of clouds (water- and CO2-ice), atmospheric transport, and subsurface heat conduction. There is a discussion about cap properties including growth and regression rates, albedos and emissivities, grain sizes and dust and/or water-ice contamination, and curious features like cold gas jets and araneiform (spider-shaped) terrain. The nature of the residual south polar cap is discussed as well as its long-term stability and ability to buffer atmospheric pressures. There is also a discussion of the consequences of the CO2 cycle as revealed by the non-condensable gas enrichment observed by Odyssey and modeled by various groups.

Descriptions of reference LWR facilities for analysis of nuclear fuel cycles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schneider, K.J.; Kabele, T.J.

1979-09-01

To contribute to the Department of Energy's identification of needs for improved environmental controls in nuclear fuel cycles, a study was made of a light water reactor system. A reference LWR fuel cycle was defined, and each step in this cycle was characterized by facility description and mainline and effluent treatment process performance. The reference fuel cycle uses fresh uranium in light water reactors. Final treatment and ultimate disposition of waste from the fuel cycle steps were not included, and the waste is assumed to be disposed of by approved but currently undefined means. The characterization of the reference fuel cycle system is intended as basic information for further evaluation of alternative effluent control systems.

Descriptions of reference LWR facilities for analysis of nuclear fuel cycles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schneider, K.J.; Kabele, T.J.

1979-09-01

To contribute to the Department of Energy's identification of needs for improved environmental controls in nuclear fuel cycles, a study was made of a light water reactor system. A reference LWR fuel cycle was defined, and each step in this cycle was characterized by facility description and mainline and effluent treatment process performance. The reference fuel cycle uses fresh uranium in light water reactors. Final treatment and ultimate disposition of waste from the fuel cycle steps were not included, and the waste is assumed to be disposed of by approved but currently undefined means. The characterization of the reference fuel cycle system is intended as basic information for further evaluation of alternative effluent control systems

Multinational Firms and Business Cycle Transmission

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Menno, Dominik Francesco

This paper studies the effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) on the transmission of international business cycles. I document for the G7 countries between 1991 and 2006 that increases in bilateral FDI linkages are associated with more synchronized investment cycles. I also find...... that the relation between FDI integration and synchronization of gross domestic product (GDP) is - yet positive - statistically insignificant after controlling for time fixed effects. I then study a model of international business cycles with an essential role for FDI and shocks to multinational activity...

High-precision atom localization via controllable spontaneous emission in a cycle-configuration atomic system.

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Chunling; Li, Jiahua; Yu, Rong; Hao, Xiangying; Wu, Ying

2012-03-26

A scheme for realizing two-dimensional (2D) atom localization is proposed based on controllable spontaneous emission in a coherently driven cycle-configuration atomic system. As the spatial-position-dependent atom-field interaction, the frequency of the spontaneously emitted photon carries the information about the position of the atom. Therefore, by detecting the emitted photon one could obtain the position information available, and then we demonstrate high-precision and high-resolution 2D atom localization induced by the quantum interference between the multiple spontaneous decay channels. Moreover, we can achieve 100% probability of finding the atom at an expected position by choosing appropriate system parameters under certain conditions.

Asian Lifelong Learning in the Context of a Global Knowledge Economy: A Task Re-Visited

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Soonghee

2007-01-01

This article revisits and reinterprets my previous paper. It is a snapshot of the lifelong learning system building in selected Asian countries, reflected in the mirror of the Asian Financial Crisis in the 1997s and the aftermath of that event. I reconsidered the arguments (1) the economic recession had delivered a global dimension of lifelong…

Revisiting "Kindergarten as Academic Boot Camp": A Nationwide Study of Ability Grouping and Psycho-Social Development

Science.gov (United States)

Catsambis, Sophia; Buttaro, Anthony, Jr.

2012-01-01

We revisit Harry L. Gracey's perspective of kindergarten as academic boot camp where, at school entry, children acquire the student role through a structured program of activities. We provide further insights into the crucial mechanisms of socialization that occur in U.S. kindergartens by examining the relationship between within-class ability…

Vestindien Revisited: I kølvandet på kuldampere og cruiseturister

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brichet, Nathalia Sofie; Hastrup, Frida; Ørstedholm, Maroe

2017-01-01

What traces did Denmark officially leave behind when the West Indies were sold to the United States in 1917? And how are the islands still affected today by Denmark’s presence on the islands? The M/S Maritime Museum tries to answer these questions in its special new exhibition, ‘U.S. VIRGIN ISLAN...... special exhibition “U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS REVISITED – in the wake of colliers and cruise tourists,” to commemorate the centennial anniversary of selling the West Indies to the United States of America....

DC-pulsed voltage electrochemical method based on duty cycle self-control for producing TERS gold tips

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vasilchenko, V E; Kharintsev, S S; Salakhov, M Kh

2013-01-01

This paper presents a modified dc-pulsed low voltage electrochemical method in which a duty cycle is self tuned while etching. A higher yield of gold tips suitable for performing tip-enhanced Raman scattering (TERS) measurements is demonstrated. The improvement is caused by the self-control of the etching rate along the full surface of the tip. A capability of the gold tips to enhance a Raman signal is exemplified by TERS spectroscopy of single walled carbon nanotubes bundle, sulfur and vanadium oxide

Generation of multiple analog pulses with different duty cycles within VME control system for ICRH Aditya system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Joshi, Ramesh; Singh, Manoj; Jadav, H M; Misra, Kishor; Kulkarni, S V

2010-01-01

Ion Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ICRH) is a promising heating method for a fusion device due to its localized power deposition profile, a direct ion heating at high density, and established technology for high RF power generation and transmission at low cost. Multiple analog pulse with different duty cycle in master of digital pulse for Data acquisition and Control system for steady state RF ICRH System(RF ICRH DAC) to be used for operating of RF Generator in Aditya to produce pre ionization and second analog pulse will produce heating. The control system software is based upon single digital pulse operation for RF source. It is planned to integrate multiple analog pulses with different duty cycle in master of digital pulse for Data acquisition and Control system for RF ICRH System(RF ICRH DAC) to be used for operating of RF Generator in Aditya tokamak. The task of RF ICRH DAC is to control and acquisition of all ICRH system operation with all control loop and acquisition for post analysis of data with java based tool. For pre ionization startup as well as heating experiments using multiple RF Power of different powers and duration. The experiment based upon the idea of using single RF generator to energize antenna inside the tokamak to radiate power twice, out of which first analog pulse will produce pre ionization and second analog pulse will produce heating. The whole system is based on standard client server technology using tcp/ip protocol. DAC Software is based on linux operating system for highly reliable, secure and stable system operation in failsafe manner. Client system is based on tcl/tk like toolkit for user interface with c/c++ like environment which is reliable programming languages widely used on stand alone system operation with server as vxWorks real time operating system like environment. The paper is focused on the Data acquisition and monitoring system software on Aditya RF ICRH System with analog pulses in slave mode with digital pulse in

Generation of multiple analog pulses with different duty cycles within VME control system for ICRH Aditya system

Science.gov (United States)

Joshi, Ramesh; Singh, Manoj; Jadav, H. M.; Misra, Kishor; Kulkarni, S. V.; ICRH-RF Group

2010-02-01

Ion Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ICRH) is a promising heating method for a fusion device due to its localized power deposition profile, a direct ion heating at high density, and established technology for high RF power generation and transmission at low cost. Multiple analog pulse with different duty cycle in master of digital pulse for Data acquisition and Control system for steady state RF ICRH System(RF ICRH DAC) to be used for operating of RF Generator in Aditya to produce pre ionization and second analog pulse will produce heating. The control system software is based upon single digital pulse operation for RF source. It is planned to integrate multiple analog pulses with different duty cycle in master of digital pulse for Data acquisition and Control system for RF ICRH System(RF ICRH DAC) to be used for operating of RF Generator in Aditya tokamak. The task of RF ICRH DAC is to control and acquisition of all ICRH system operation with all control loop and acquisition for post analysis of data with java based tool. For pre ionization startup as well as heating experiments using multiple RF Power of different powers and duration. The experiment based upon the idea of using single RF generator to energize antenna inside the tokamak to radiate power twise, out of which first analog pulse will produce pre ionization and second analog pulse will produce heating. The whole system is based on standard client server technology using tcp/ip protocol. DAC Software is based on linux operating system for highly reliable, secure and stable system operation in failsafe manner. Client system is based on tcl/tk like toolkit for user interface with c/c++ like environment which is reliable programming languages widely used on stand alone system operation with server as vxWorks real time operating system like environment. The paper is focused on the Data acquisition and monitoring system software on Aditya RF ICRH System with analog pulses in slave mode with digital pulse in

Generation of multiple analog pulses with different duty cycles within VME control system for ICRH Aditya system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Joshi, Ramesh; Singh, Manoj; Jadav, H M; Misra, Kishor; Kulkarni, S V, E-mail: rjoshi@ipr.res.i [Institute for plasma research, Bhat, Gandhinagar- 382428 (India)

2010-02-01

Ion Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ICRH) is a promising heating method for a fusion device due to its localized power deposition profile, a direct ion heating at high density, and established technology for high RF power generation and transmission at low cost. Multiple analog pulse with different duty cycle in master of digital pulse for Data acquisition and Control system for steady state RF ICRH System(RF ICRH DAC) to be used for operating of RF Generator in Aditya to produce pre ionization and second analog pulse will produce heating. The control system software is based upon single digital pulse operation for RF source. It is planned to integrate multiple analog pulses with different duty cycle in master of digital pulse for Data acquisition and Control system for RF ICRH System(RF ICRH DAC) to be used for operating of RF Generator in Aditya tokamak. The task of RF ICRH DAC is to control and acquisition of all ICRH system operation with all control loop and acquisition for post analysis of data with java based tool. For pre ionization startup as well as heating experiments using multiple RF Power of different powers and duration. The experiment based upon the idea of using single RF generator to energize antenna inside the tokamak to radiate power twice, out of which first analog pulse will produce pre ionization and second analog pulse will produce heating. The whole system is based on standard client server technology using tcp/ip protocol. DAC Software is based on linux operating system for highly reliable, secure and stable system operation in failsafe manner. Client system is based on tcl/tk like toolkit for user interface with c/c++ like environment which is reliable programming languages widely used on stand alone system operation with server as vxWorks real time operating system like environment. The paper is focused on the Data acquisition and monitoring system software on Aditya RF ICRH System with analog pulses in slave mode with digital pulse in

A comparative study of patients' and nurses' perceptions of the quality of nursing services, satisfaction and intent to revisit the hospital: a questionnaire survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Mi Aie; Yom, Young-Hee

2007-05-01

Although it is very important to clarify the factors influencing the patients' and nurses' satisfaction with nursing services, very little research has been performed in this area. The purpose of this study was to compare the nursing service quality, satisfaction and intent to revisit the hospital perceived by hospitalized patients and nurses in Korea. SERVQUAL scale, an overall satisfaction and intent to revisit the hospital questionnaires were used. The sample consisted of 272 patients and 282 nurses. The data were collected using paper and pencil self-rating questionnaires and analyzed using frequency, %, mean, standard deviation, t-test and Pearson correlation coefficient. Overall, nurses' expectations and performance were higher than those of patients, while patients' overall satisfaction with nursing and medical care was higher than that of nurses. There was a strong positive relationship between satisfaction with nursing and medical care and intent to revisit the hospital for both groups. The performance was relatively lower than expectations, resulting in poor nursing care quality. Differences between expectations and performance for both patients and nurses need to be further reduced.

Backwardation in energy futures markets: Metalgesellschaft revisited

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Charupat, N.; Deaves, R.

2003-01-01

Energy supply contracts negotiated by the US Subsidiary of Metalgesellschaft Refining and Marketing (MGRM), which were the subject of much subsequent debate, are re-examined. The contracts were hedged by the US Subsidiary barrel-for-barrel using short-dated energy derivatives. When the hedge program experienced difficulties, the derivatives positions were promptly liquidated by the parent company. Revisiting the MGRM contracts also provides the opportunity to explore the latest evidence on backwardation in energy markets. Accordingly, the paper discusses first the theoretical reasons for backwardation, followed by an empirical examination using the MGRM data available at the time of the hedge program in 1992 and a second set of data that became available in 2000. By using a more up-to-date data set covering a longer time period and by controlling the time series properties of the data, the authors expect to provide more reliable empirical evidence on the behaviour of energy futures prices. Results based on the 1992 data suggest that the strategy employed by MGRM could be expected to be profitable while the risks are relatively low. However, analysis based on the 2000 data shows lower, although still significant profits, but higher risks. The final conclusion was that the likelihood of problems similar to those faced by MGRM in 1992 are twice as high with the updated 2000 data, suggesting that the risk-return pattern of the stack-and-roll hedging strategy using short-dated energy future contracts to hedge long-tem contracts is less appealing now than when MGRM implemented its hedging program in 1992. 24 refs., 3 tabs., 6 figs

The transparency associated with the nuclear fuel cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-01-01

This document presents the French national plan for the management of radioactive materials and wastes (PNGMDR - Plan national de gestion des matieres et dechets nucleaires), its elaboration process, its content in terms of nuclear fuel cycle. Then, it describes the control by the ASN of the nuclear fuel cycle, the associated installations, the concerned transports, the 'cycle consistency' approach and its limitations. Propositions are stated aiming at the improvement of the transparency associated with the fuel cycle: to use the PNGMDR, to extend the investigation on the cycle consistency to imported materials and wastes, to improve the transparency on radioactive material transport

40 CFR 86.336-79 - Diesel engine test cycle.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 18 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Diesel engine test cycle. 86.336-79... Diesel engine test cycle. (a) The following 13-mode cycle shall be followed in dynamometer operation... (CONTINUED) CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM NEW AND IN-USE HIGHWAY VEHICLES AND ENGINES Emission Regulations for...

Leukemia and ionizing radiation revisited

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cuttler, J.M. [Cuttler & Associates Inc., Vaughan, Ontario (Canada); Welsh, J.S. [Loyola University-Chicago, Dept. or Radiation Oncology, Stritch School of Medicine, Maywood, Illinois (United States)

2016-03-15

A world-wide radiation health scare was created in the late 19508 to stop the testing of atomic bombs and block the development of nuclear energy. In spite of the large amount of evidence that contradicts the cancer predictions, this fear continues. It impairs the use of low radiation doses in medical diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy. This brief article revisits the second of two key studies, which revolutionized radiation protection, and identifies a serious error that was missed. This error in analyzing the leukemia incidence among the 195,000 survivors, in the combined exposed populations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, invalidates use of the LNT model for assessing the risk of cancer from ionizing radiation. The threshold acute dose for radiation-induced leukemia, based on about 96,800 humans, is identified to be about 50 rem, or 0.5 Sv. It is reasonable to expect that the thresholds for other cancer types are higher than this level. No predictions or hints of excess cancer risk (or any other health risk) should be made for an acute exposure below this value until there is scientific evidence to support the LNT hypothesis. (author)

A Flow Rate Control Approach on Off-Design Analysis of an Organic Rankine Cycle System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ben-Ran Fu

2016-09-01

Full Text Available This study explored effects of off-design heat source temperature (TW,in or flow rate (mW on heat transfer characteristics and performance of an organic Rankine cycle system by controlling the flow rate of working fluid R245fa (i.e., the operation flow rate of R245fa was controlled to ensure that R245fa reached saturation liquid and vapor states at the outlets of the preheater and evaporator, respectively. The results showed that the operation flow rate of R245fa increased with TW,in or mW; higher TW,in or mW yielded better heat transfer performance of the designed preheater and required higher heat capacity of the evaporator; heat transfer characteristics of preheater and evaporator differed for off-design TW,in and mW; and net power output increased with TW,in or mW. The results further indicated that the control strategy should be different for various off-design conditions. Regarding maximum net power output, the flow rate control approach is optimal when TW,in or mW exceeds the design point, but the pressure control approach is better when TW,in or mW is lower than the design point.

Cycle length maximization in PWRs using empirical core models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okafor, K.C.; Aldemir, T.

1987-01-01

The problem of maximizing cycle length in nuclear reactors through optimal fuel and poison management has been addressed by many investigators. An often-used neutronic modeling technique is to find correlations between the state and control variables to describe the response of the core to changes in the control variables. In this study, a set of linear correlations, generated by two-dimensional diffusion-depletion calculations, is used to find the enrichment distribution that maximizes cycle length for the initial core of a pressurized water reactor (PWR). These correlations (a) incorporate the effect of composition changes in all the control zones on a given fuel assembly and (b) are valid for a given range of control variables. The advantage of using such correlations is that the cycle length maximization problem can be reduced to a linear programming problem

Controllable Electrochemical Synthesis of Copper Sulfides as Sodium-Ion Battery Anodes with Superior Rate Capability and Ultralong Cycle Life.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Haomiao; Wang, Kangli; Cheng, Shijie; Jiang, Kai

2018-03-07

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are prospective alternative to lithium-ion batteries for large-scale energy-storage applications, owing to the abundant resources of sodium. Metal sulfides are deemed to be promising anode materials for SIBs due to their low-cost and eco-friendliness. Herein, for the first time, series of copper sulfides (Cu 2 S, Cu 7 S 4 , and Cu 7 KS 4 ) are controllably synthesized via a facile electrochemical route in KCl-NaCl-Na 2 S molten salts. The as-prepared Cu 2 S with micron-sized flakes structure is first investigated as anode of SIBs, which delivers a capacity of 430 mAh g -1 with a high initial Coulombic efficiency of 84.9% at a current density of 100 mA g -1 . Moreover, the Cu 2 S anode demonstrates superior capability (337 mAh g -1 at 20 A g -1 , corresponding to 50 C) and ultralong cycle performance (88.2% of capacity retention after 5000 cycles at 5 A g -1 , corresponding to 0.0024% of fade rate per cycle). Meanwhile, the pseudocapacitance contribution and robust porous structure in situ formed during cycling endow the Cu 2 S anodes with outstanding rate capability and enhanced cyclic performance, which are revealed by kinetics analysis and ex situ characterization.

An optimized Fuzzy Logic Controller by Water Cycle Algorithm for power management of Stand-alone Hybrid Green Power generation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sarvi, Mohammad; Avanaki, Isa Nasiri

2015-01-01

Highlights: • A new method to improve the performance of renewable power management is proposed. • The proposed method is based on Fuzzy Logic optimized by the Water Cycle Algorithm. • The proposed method characteristics are compared with two other methods. • The comparisons confirm that the proposed method is robust and effectiveness one. - Abstract: This paper aims to improve the power management system of a Stand-alone Hybrid Green Power generation based on the Fuzzy Logic Controller optimized by the Water Cycle Algorithm. The proposed Stand-alone Hybrid Green Power consists of wind energy conversion and photovoltaic systems as primary power sources and a battery, fuel cell, and Electrolyzer as energy storage systems. Hydrogen is produced from surplus power generated by the wind energy conversion and photovoltaic systems of Stand-alone Hybrid Green Power and stored in the hydrogen storage tank for fuel cell later using when the power generated by primary sources is lower than load demand. The proposed optimized Fuzzy Logic Controller based power management system determines the power that is generated by fuel cell or use by Electrolyzer. In a hybrid system, operation and maintenance cost and reliability of the system are the important issues that should be considered in studies. In this regard, Water Cycle Algorithm is used to optimize membership functions in order to simultaneously minimize the Loss of Power Supply Probability and operation and maintenance. The results are compared with the particle swarm optimization and the un-optimized Fuzzy Logic Controller power management system to prove that the proposed method is robust and effective. Reduction in Loss of Power Supply Probability and operation and maintenance, are the most advantages of the proposed method. Moreover the level of the State of Charge of the battery in the proposed method is higher than other mentioned methods which leads to increase battery lifetime.

An Examination of the Relationship between Rural Tourists’ Satisfaction, Revisitation and Information Preferences: A Korean Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hee-Sun Cho

2014-09-01

Full Text Available To encourage the sustainability of rural tourism and to achieve success in the tourist industry, an understanding of the factors by which tourists are motivated to visit rural areas is required. This study aims to measure factors affecting rural tourists’ satisfaction in relation to different aspects of a destination and to increase the likelihood of revisitation and recommendation. This study also attempts to examine differences in relation to satisfaction depending on the information source preference. Overall satisfaction was influenced by physical infrastructure, service quality and satisfaction level with tour programs. However, the quality of services was more related to tourists’ intentions to revisit and recommend, suggesting that its qualitative improvement can contribute to vitalizing stagnant domestic tourism. The findings revealed that tourists’ satisfaction was high when people mainly gained tourist information through formal government sources, word-of-mouth and Internet advertising, suggesting that the positive correlation between tourists’ satisfaction and information sources reflects the reliability and credibility of those sources.

Hamster activity and estrous cycles: control by a single versus multiple circadian oscillator(s).

OpenAIRE

Carmichael, M S; Nelson, R J; Zucker, I

1981-01-01

Running activity onset and estrous onset were recorded for hamsters exposed to progressively shorter daily light/dark (T) cycles. The period of the estrous cycle was a quadruple multiple of the period of the activity rhythm during entrainment to T cycles of 23.5-21.5 hr. There was no evidence of desynchronization of the activity and estrus rhythms. The very short estrous periods shown during exposure to short T cycles indicate that an intrinsic 96-hr interval for ovarian follicular maturation...

DC motor operation controlled from a DC/DC power converter in pulse mode with low duty cycle

OpenAIRE

Stefanov, Goce; Kukuseva, Maja; Citkuseva Dimitrovska, Biljana

2016-01-01

In this paper pulse mode of operation of DC motor controlled by DC/DC power converter is analyzed. DC motor operation with time intervals in which the motor operates without output load is of interest. In this mode it is possible the motor to restore energy. Also, in the paper are represented calculations for the amount of the restored energy in the pulse mode operation of the motor for different duty cycles.

The random field Blume-Capel model revisited

Science.gov (United States)

Santos, P. V.; da Costa, F. A.; de Araújo, J. M.

2018-04-01

We have revisited the mean-field treatment for the Blume-Capel model under the presence of a discrete random magnetic field as introduced by Kaufman and Kanner (1990). The magnetic field (H) versus temperature (T) phase diagrams for given values of the crystal field D were recovered in accordance to Kaufman and Kanner original work. However, our main goal in the present work was to investigate the distinct structures of the crystal field versus temperature phase diagrams as the random magnetic field is varied because similar models have presented reentrant phenomenon due to randomness. Following previous works we have classified the distinct phase diagrams according to five different topologies. The topological structure of the phase diagrams is maintained for both H - T and D - T cases. Although the phase diagrams exhibit a richness of multicritical phenomena we did not found any reentrant effect as have been seen in similar models.

Featuring Control Power: Corporate Law and Economics Revisited

NARCIS (Netherlands)

A.M. Pacces (Alessio)

2008-01-01

textabstractThis dissertation reappraises the existing framework for economic analysis of corporate law. The standard approach to the legal foundations of corporate governance is based on the ‘law matters’ thesis, according to which corporate law promotes separation of ownership and control by

Regulatory control of radioactivity and nuclear fuel cycle in Canada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamel, P.E.; Jennekens, J.H.

1977-01-01

The mining of pitchblende for the extraction of radium some four decades ago resulted in a largely unwanted by-product, uranium, which set the stage for Canada to be one of the first countires in the world to embark upon a nuclear energy program. From this somewhat unusual beginning, the Canadian program expanded beyond mining of uranium-bearing ores to include extensive research and development in the field of radio-isotope applications, research and power reactors, nuclear-fuel conversion and fabrication facilities, heavy-water production plants and facilities for the management of radioactive wastes. As in the case of any major technological development, nuclear energy poses certain risks on the part of those directly engaged in the industry and on the part of the general public. What characterizes these risks is not so much their physical nature as the absence of long-term experience and the confidence resulting from it. The early development of regulatory controls in the nuclear field in Canada was very much influenced by security considerations but subsequently evolved to include radiological protection and safety requirements commensurate with the expanding application of nuclear energy to a wide spectrum of peaceful uses. A review of Canadian nuclear regulatory experience will reveal that the risks posed by the peaceful uses of nuclear energy can be controlled in such a manner as to ensure a high level of safety. Recent events and development have shown however that emphasis on the risks associated with low-probability, high-consequence events must not be allowed to mask the importance of health and safety measures covering the entire fuel cycle

PERANAN SERVICE QUALITY TERHADAP PATIENT REVISIT INTENTION MELALUI PATIENT SATISFACTION PADA RUMAH SAKIT UMUM DAN RUMAH SAKIT SWASTA TIPE B

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Febry Adhiana

2008-03-01

Findin s: There are no differences between private and public hospitals in service quality, patient satisf Um and patient revisit intention. Finally the implications of the results are highlighted for health :are managers.

Continuous and Discrete-Time Optimal Controls for an Isolated Signalized Intersection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiyuan Tan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available A classical control problem for an isolated oversaturated intersection is revisited with a focus on the optimal control policy to minimize total delay. The difference and connection between existing continuous-time planning models and recently proposed discrete-time planning models are studied. A gradient descent algorithm is proposed to convert the optimal control plan of the continuous-time model to the plan of the discrete-time model in many cases. Analytic proof and numerical tests for the algorithm are also presented. The findings shed light on the links between two kinds of models.

Racial/Ethnic differences among smokers: revisited and expanded to help seekers.

Science.gov (United States)

Webb Hooper, Monica; Baker, Elizabeth A; McNutt, Marcia D

2014-05-01

Most research on racial/ethnic differences among smokers is outdated and does not focus on help seekers. The purpose of this study was to revisit racial/ethnic differences in variables related to cessation in a sample of smokers enrolled in a randomized trial. Adult smokers (N = 417; n = 126 White; n = 123 Hispanic; n = 168 Black) completed measures of demographics, smoking history, alcohol use, depressive symptoms, and readiness to quit. We found significant differences in these factors across groups. Blacks were more likely to be older, less educated, single, low income, smoke menthol cigarettes, and report greater nicotine dependence. Hispanics were younger, reported fewer years smoking and cigarettes per day, lower nicotine dependence, preferred mentholated cigarettes, and reported greater alcohol use intensity. After controlling for demographics and smoking history, Blacks reported greater depressive symptoms and lower readiness to quit compared with Whites and Hispanics. Help-seeking Blacks may exhibit more risk factors for difficulty quitting compared with other groups. Hispanics may have some protective factors, such as lower dependence, but require attention to alcohol use and menthol smoking. Identifying preintervention racial/ethnic differences in characteristics related to cessation is important for developing evidence-based and culturally specific interventions and for reducing tobacco-related health disparities.

Bipolar mood cycles and lunar tidal cycles.

Science.gov (United States)

Wehr, T A

2018-04-01

In 17 patients with rapid cycling bipolar disorder, time-series analyses detected synchronies between mood cycles and three lunar cycles that modulate the amplitude of the moon's semi-diurnal gravimetric tides: the 14.8-day spring-neap cycle, the 13.7-day declination cycle and the 206-day cycle of perigee-syzygies ('supermoons'). The analyses also revealed shifts among 1:2, 1:3, 2:3 and other modes of coupling of mood cycles to the two bi-weekly lunar cycles. These shifts appear to be responses to the conflicting demands of the mood cycles' being entrained simultaneously to two different bi-weekly lunar cycles with slightly different periods. Measurements of circadian rhythms in body temperature suggest a biological mechanism through which transits of one of the moon's semi-diurnal gravimetric tides might have driven the patients' bipolar cycles, by periodically entraining the circadian pacemaker to its 24.84-h rhythm and altering the pacemaker's phase-relationship to sleep in a manner that is known to cause switches from depression to mania.

Revisited neoclassical transport theory for steep, collisional plasma edge profiles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rogister, A.L.

1994-01-01

Published neoclassical results are misleading as concerns the plasma edge for they do not adequately take the peculiar local conditions into account, in particular the fact that the density and temperature variation length-scales are quite small. Coupled novel neoclassical equations obtain, not only for the evolution of the density and temperatures, but also for the radial electric field and the evolution of the parallel ion momentum: gyro-stresses and inertia indeed upset the otherwise de facto ambipolarity of particle transport and a radial electric field necessarily builds up. The increased nonlinear character of these revisited neoclassical equations widens the realm of possible plasma behaviors. (author)

Revisiting factors controlling methane emissions from high-Arctic tundra

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mastepanov, M.; Sigsgaard, C.; Tagesson, T.

2013-01-01

controlling methane emission, i.e. temperature and water table position. Late in the growing season CH4 emissions were found to be very similar between the study years (except the extremely dry 2010) despite large differences in climatic factors (temperature and water table). Late-season bursts of CH4...... short-term control factors (temperature and water table). Our findings suggest the importance of multiyear studies with a continued focus on shoulder seasons in Arctic ecosystems....

Thermodynamic Modeling for Open Combined Regenerative Brayton and Inverse Brayton Cycles with Regeneration before the Inverse Cycle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lingen Chen

2012-01-01

Full Text Available A thermodynamic model of an open combined regenerative Brayton and inverse Brayton cycles with regeneration before the inverse cycle is established in this paper by using thermodynamic optimization theory. The flow processes of the working fluid with the pressure drops and the size constraint of the real power plant are modeled. There are 13 flow resistances encountered by the working fluid stream for the cycle model. Four of these, the friction through the blades and vanes of the compressors and the turbines, are related to the isentropic efficiencies. The remaining nine flow resistances are always present because of the changes in flow cross-section at the compressor inlet of the top cycle, regenerator inlet and outlet, combustion chamber inlet and outlet, turbine outlet of the top cycle, turbine outlet of the bottom cycle, heat exchanger inlet, and compressor inlet of the bottom cycle. These resistances associated with the flow through various cross-sectional areas are derived as functions of the compressor inlet relative pressure drop of the top cycle, and control the air flow rate, the net power output and the thermal efficiency. The analytical formulae about the power output, efficiency and other coefficients are derived with 13 pressure drop losses. It is found that the combined cycle with regenerator can reach higher thermal efficiency but smaller power output than those of the base combined cycle at small compressor inlet relative pressure drop of the top cycle.

CMOS single-stage input-powered bridge rectifier with boost switch and duty cycle control

Science.gov (United States)

Radzuan, Roskhatijah; Mohd Salleh, Mohd Khairul; Hamzah, Mustafar Kamal; Ab Wahab, Norfishah

2017-06-01

This paper presents a single-stage input-powered bridge rectifier with boost switch for wireless-powered devices such as biomedical implants and wireless sensor nodes. Realised using CMOS process technology, it employs a duty cycle switch control to achieve high output voltage using boost technique, leading to a high output power conversion. It has only six external connections with the boost inductance. The input frequency of the bridge rectifier is set at 50 Hz, while the switching frequency is 100 kHz. The proposed circuit is fabricated on a single 0.18-micron CMOS die with a space area of 0.024 mm2. The simulated and measured results show good agreement.

Instrumentation and Control Life Cycle Management Plan Methodology. Volume 1, Manual: Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quick, D.S.; Murray, S.; Florio, F.; Bliss, M.J.

1995-08-01

This methodology manual describes how to develop a Life Cycle Management Plan (LCMP). An LCMP is a long-term strategic plan that can be developed for a nuclear power plant to cost-effectively maintain and upgrade its aging or obsolete Instrumentation and Control (I ampersand C) systems. An LCMP defines the utility's mission and objectives in regards to long range I ampersand C planning, as well as the plant's present configuration (I ampersand C systems, networks, man machine interfaces, etc.), its desired future I ampersand C systems, a long term I ampersand C maintenance strategy, and initial upgrade priorities and schedules to cost-effectively implement system upgrades. This manual is accompanied by a workbook (EPRI TR-105555-V2) which contains various worksheets, outlines, and generic interview questions that aid in the LCNW development process

Dual-harmonic auto voltage control for the rapid cycling synchrotron of the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fumihiko Tamura

2008-07-01

Full Text Available The dual-harmonic operation, in which the accelerating cavities are driven by the superposition of the fundamental and the second harmonic rf voltage, is useful for acceleration of the ultrahigh intensity proton beam in the rapid cycling synchrotron (RCS of Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC. However, the precise and fast voltage control of the harmonics is necessary to realize the dual-harmonic acceleration. We developed the dual-harmonic auto voltage control system for the J-PARC RCS. We describe details of the design and the implementation. Various tests of the system are performed with the RCS rf system. Also, a preliminary beam test has been done. We report the test results.

Grammatical Relations and Grammatical Categories in Malay; the Indonesian Prefix MeN- Revisited

OpenAIRE

Tjia, Johnny

2015-01-01

The lexical roots of Malay are flexible with regard to their grammatical categories, which presents a problem in providing grammatical evidence for their category determination. This paper attempts to propose the use of affixes as one way to deal with the issue. Data from Indonesian and Ambon (Malay) language are among others given for clarification. The grammatical evidence from Indonesian active meN-, together with other affixes, are revisited as they can contribute to our understanding of ...

Abiotic and biotic controls over biogeochemical cycles in drylands: Insights from climate change and nitrogen deposition experiments on the Colorado Plateau

Science.gov (United States)

Reed, S.; Ferrenberg, S.; Tucker, C.; Rutherford, W. A.; Wertin, T. M.; McHugh, T. A.; Morrissey, E.; Kuske, C.; Mueller, R.; Belnap, J.

2016-12-01

As for all ecosystems, biogeochemical cycling in drylands represents numerous intricate connections between biotic and abiotic controls. However, patterns of many fundamental ecosystem processes that generally hold across global gradients fall apart at the arid and semiarid end of the spectrum, and data point to an exceptionally strong role for abiotic controls in explaining these patterns. Further, there are multiple dryland characteristics - such as extreme aridity and high UV radiation, as well as specialized biological communities - which can point to a conclusion that "drylands are different". Indeed, drylands are often characterized by their harsh environment, by the diverse classes of biota representing a range of traits aimed at surviving such harsh conditions, and, more recently, by the suggestion of dramatic biotic responses to seemingly subtle changes in abiotic factors. In this talk, we will explore a range of biotic and abiotic controls over fundamental biogeochemical cycling in drylands using data from a suite of manipulation experiments on the Colorado Plateau, USA. We will present results from field treatments that speak to the effects of increasing temperature, altered precipitation regimes, increased nitrogen availability via deposition, and the effects of altered litterfall inputs. Biogeochemical processes we explore will include plant photosynthesis, soil photosynthesis and respiration (with a focus on biological soil crusts), litter decomposition, and nutrient cycling. In addition, we will assess how treatments alter dryland community composition, as well as the resultant feedbacks of community shifts to environmental change. Taken together we will use these diverse datasets to ask questions about what makes drylands different or, instead, if a holistic joining of biotic and abiotic perspectives suggests they are not so different after all. These data will not only lend insight into the partitioning of and balance between biotic and abiotic

Revisit complexation between DNA and polyethylenimine — Effect of length of free polycationic chains on gene transfection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yue, Yanan; Jin, Fan; Deng, Rui

2011-01-01

Our revisit of the complexation between DNA and polyethylenimine (PEI) by using a combination of laser light scattering and gel electrophoresis confirms that nearly all the DNA chains are complexed with PEI to form polyplexes when the molar ratio of nitrogen from PEI to phosphate from DNA (N:P) r...

Multi-national knowledge strategies, policy and the upgrading process of regions: Revisiting the automotive industry in Ostrava and Shanghai

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tuijl, E. van; Carvalho, L.; Winden, W. van; Jacobs, W.A.A.

2012-01-01

This paper revisits how and why new multinational knowledge-based strategies and multi-level governmental policies influence the upgrading process of regions in developing economies. Automotive multinationals traditionally exploited local asset conditions, but it is shown that they have also been

Revisiting Johnson and Jackson boundary conditions for granular flows

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Tingwen; Benyahia, Sofiane

2012-07-01

In this article, we revisit Johnson and Jackson boundary conditions for granular flows. The oblique collision between a particle and a flat wall is analyzed by adopting the classic rigid-body theory and a more realistic semianalytical model. Based on the kinetic granular theory, the input parameter for the partial-slip boundary conditions, specularity coefficient, which is not measurable in experiments, is then interpreted as a function of the particle-wall restitution coefficient, the frictional coefficient, and the normalized slip velocity at the wall. An analytical expression for the specularity coefficient is suggested for a flat, frictional surface with a low frictional coefficient. The procedure for determining the specularity coefficient for a more general problem is outlined, and a working approximation is provided.

The Contemporary Carbon Cycle

Science.gov (United States)

Houghton, R. A.

2003-12-01

�C). Additions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere from industrial activity, however, are increasing the concentrations of these gases, enhancing the greenhouse effect, and starting to warm the Earth.The rate and extent of the warming depend, in part, on the global carbon cycle. If the rate at which the oceans remove CO2 from the atmosphere were faster, e.g., concentrations of CO2 would have increased less over the last century. If the processes removing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it on land were to diminish, concentrations of CO2 would increase more rapidly than projected on the basis of recent history. The processes responsible for adding carbon to, and withdrawing it from, the atmosphere are not well enough understood to predict future levels of CO2 with great accuracy. These processes are a part of the global carbon cycle.Some of the processes that add carbon to the atmosphere or remove it, such as the combustion of fossil fuels and the establishment of tree plantations, are under direct human control. Others, such as the accumulation of carbon in the oceans or on land as a result of changes in global climate (i.e., feedbacks between the global carbon cycle and climate), are not under direct human control except through controlling rates of greenhouse gas emissions and, hence, climatic change. Because CO2 has been more important than all of the other greenhouse gases under human control, combined, and is expected to continue so in the future, understanding the global carbon cycle is a vital part of managing global climate.This chapter addresses, first, the reservoirs and natural flows of carbon on the earth. It then addresses the sources of carbon to the atmosphere from human uses of land and energy and the sinks of carbon on land and in the oceans that have kept the atmospheric accumulation of CO2 lower than it would otherwise have been. The chapter describes changes in the distribution of carbon among the atmosphere, oceans, and terrestrial ecosystems over

Revisiting the melting temperature of NpO2 and the challenges associated with high temperature actinide compound measurements

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Böhler, R.; Welland, M.J.; De Bruycker, F.; Boboridis, K.; Janssen, A.; Eloirdi, R.; Konings, R.J.M.; Manara, D.

2012-01-01

This work revisits the melting behaviour of neptunium dioxide, an actinide compound which can be produced in the nuclear fuel during operation, and which has an important impact on the nuclear fuel and waste radioactivity especially on the very long term. The present experimental approach employs