Optimal Risk Reduction in the Railway Industry by Using Dynamic Programming

OpenAIRE

Michael Todinov; Eberechi Weli

2013-01-01

The paper suggests for the first time the use of dynamic programming techniques for optimal risk reduction in the railway industry. It is shown that by using the concept ‘amount of removed risk by a risk reduction option’, the problem related to optimal allocation of a fixed budget to achieve a maximum risk reduction in the railway industry can be reduced to an optimisation problem from dynamic programming. For n risk reduction options and size of the available risk reduction budget B (expres...

Optimization of spatiotemporally fractionated radiotherapy treatments with bounds on the achievable benefit

Science.gov (United States)

Gaddy, Melissa R.; Yıldız, Sercan; Unkelbach, Jan; Papp, Dávid

2018-01-01

Spatiotemporal fractionation schemes, that is, treatments delivering different dose distributions in different fractions, can potentially lower treatment side effects without compromising tumor control. This can be achieved by hypofractionating parts of the tumor while delivering approximately uniformly fractionated doses to the surrounding tissue. Plan optimization for such treatments is based on biologically effective dose (BED); however, this leads to computationally challenging nonconvex optimization problems. Optimization methods that are in current use yield only locally optimal solutions, and it has hitherto been unclear whether these plans are close to the global optimum. We present an optimization framework to compute rigorous bounds on the maximum achievable normal tissue BED reduction for spatiotemporal plans. The approach is demonstrated on liver tumors, where the primary goal is to reduce mean liver BED without compromising any other treatment objective. The BED-based treatment plan optimization problems are formulated as quadratically constrained quadratic programming (QCQP) problems. First, a conventional, uniformly fractionated reference plan is computed using convex optimization. Then, a second, nonconvex, QCQP model is solved to local optimality to compute a spatiotemporally fractionated plan that minimizes mean liver BED, subject to the constraints that the plan is no worse than the reference plan with respect to all other planning goals. Finally, we derive a convex relaxation of the second model in the form of a semidefinite programming problem, which provides a rigorous lower bound on the lowest achievable mean liver BED. The method is presented on five cases with distinct geometries. The computed spatiotemporal plans achieve 12-35% mean liver BED reduction over the optimal uniformly fractionated plans. This reduction corresponds to 79-97% of the gap between the mean liver BED of the uniform reference plans and our lower bounds on the lowest

An entropy approach for evaluating the maximum information content achievable by an urban rainfall network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Ridolfi

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Hydrological models are the basis of operational flood-forecasting systems. The accuracy of these models is strongly dependent on the quality and quantity of the input information represented by rainfall height. Finer space-time rainfall resolution results in more accurate hazard forecasting. In this framework, an optimum raingauge network is essential in predicting flood events.

This paper develops an entropy-based approach to evaluate the maximum information content achievable by a rainfall network for different sampling time intervals. The procedure is based on the determination of the coefficients of transferred and nontransferred information and on the relative isoinformation contours.

The nontransferred information value achieved by the whole network is strictly dependent on the sampling time intervals considered. An empirical curve is defined, to assess the objective of the research: the nontransferred information value is plotted versus the associated sampling time on a semi-log scale. The curve has a linear trend.

In this paper, the methodology is applied to the high-density raingauge network of the urban area of Rome.

APPLICATION OF A GENERALIZED MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD METHOD IN THE REDUCTION OF MULTICOMPONENT LIQUID-LIQUID EQUILIBRIUM DATA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. STRAGEVITCH

1997-03-01

Full Text Available The equations of the method based on the maximum likelihood principle have been rewritten in a suitable generalized form to allow the use of any number of implicit constraints in the determination of model parameters from experimental data and from the associated experimental uncertainties. In addition to the use of any number of constraints, this method also allows data, with different numbers of constraints, to be reduced simultaneously. Application of the method is illustrated in the reduction of liquid-liquid equilibrium data of binary, ternary and quaternary systems simultaneously

Assessing the performance of winter footwear using a new maximum achievable incline method.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Jennifer; Li, Yue; Dutta, Tilak; Fernie, Geoff

2015-09-01

More informative tests of winter footwear performance are required in order to identify footwear that will prevent injurious slips and falls on icy conditions. In this study, eight participants tested four styles of winter boots on smooth wet ice. The surface was progressively tilted to create increasing longitudinal and cross-slopes until participants could no longer continue standing or walking. Maximum achievable incline angles provided consistent measures of footwear slip resistance and demonstrated better resolution than mechanical tests. One footwear outsole material and tread combination outperformed the others on wet ice allowing participants to successfully walk on steep longitudinal slopes of 17.5° ± 1.9° (mean ± SD). By further exploiting the methodology to include additional surfaces and contaminants, such tests could be used to optimize tread designs and materials that are ideal for reducing the risk of slips and falls. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Optimal Velocity to Achieve Maximum Power Output – Bench Press for Trained Footballers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard Billich

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Optimal Velocity to Achieve Maximum Power Output – Bench Press for Trained Footballers In today’s world of strength training there are many myths surrounding effective exercising with the least possible negative effect on one’s health. In this experiment we focus on the finding of a relationship between maximum output, used load and the velocity with which the exercise is performed. The main objective is to find the optimal speed of the exercise motion which would allow us to reach the maximum mechanic muscle output during a bench press exercise. This information could be beneficial to sporting coaches and recreational sportsmen alike in helping them improve the effectiveness of fast strength training. Fifteen football players of the FK Třinec football club participated in the experiment. The measurements were made with the use of 3D cinematic and dynamic analysis, both experimental methods. The research subjects participated in a strength test, in which the mechanic muscle output of 0, 10, 30, 50, 70, 90% and one repetition maximum (1RM was measured. The acquired result values and other required data were modified using Qualisys Track Manager and Visual 3D software (C-motion, Rockville, MD, USA. During the bench press exercise the maximum mechanic muscle output of the set of research subjects was reached at 75% of maximum exercise motion velocity. Optimální rychlost pohybu pro dosažení maxima výstupního výkonu – bench press u trénovaných fotbalistů Dnešní svět silového tréninku přináší řadu mýtů o tom, jak cvičit efektivně a zároveň s co nejmenším negativním vlivem na zdraví člověka. V tomto experimentu se zabýváme nalezením vztahu mezi maximálním výkonem, použitou zátěží a rychlostí. Hlavním úkolem je nalezení optimální rychlosti pohybu pro dosažení maximálního mechanického svalového výkonu při cvičení bench press, což pomůže nejenom trenérům, ale i rekreačním sportovc

Long-Term Planning for Open Pits for Mining Sulphide-Oxide Ores in Order to Achieve Maximum Profit

Science.gov (United States)

Kržanović, Daniel; Conić, Vesna; Stevanović, Dejan; Kolonja, Božo; Vaduvesković, Jovan

2017-12-01

Profitable exploitation of mineralised material from the earth's crust is a complex and difficult task that depends on a comprehensive planning process. Answering the question of how to plan production depends on the geometry of the deposit, as well as the concentration, distribution, and type of minerals in it. The complex nature of mineral deposits largely determines the method of exploitation and profitability of mining operations. In addition to unit operating costs and metal prices, the optimal recovery of and achievement of maximum profit from deposits of sulphide-oxide ores also depend, to a significant extent, on the level of technological recovery achieved in the ore processing procedure. Therefore, in defining a long-term development strategy for open pits, special attention must be paid to the selection of an optimal procedure for ore processing in order to achieve the main objective: maximising the Net Present Value (NPV). The effect of using two different processes, flotation processing and hydrometallurgical methods (bioleaching acid leaching), on determining the ultimate pit is shown in the case of the Kraku Bugaresku-Cementacija sulphide-oxide ore deposit in eastern Serbia. Analysis shows that the application of hydrometallurgical methods of processing sulphide-oxide ore achieved an increase in NPV of 20.42%.

Achieving CO2 reductions in Colombia: Effects of carbon taxes and abatement targets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Calderón, Silvia; Alvarez, Andrés Camilo; Loboguerrero, Ana María; Arango, Santiago; Calvin, Katherine; Kober, Tom; Daenzer, Kathryn; Fisher-Vanden, Karen

2016-01-01

In this paper we investigate CO 2 emission scenarios for Colombia and the effects of implementing carbon taxes and abatement targets on the energy system. By comparing baseline and policy scenario results from two integrated assessment partial equilibrium models TIAM-ECN and GCAM and two general equilibrium models Phoenix and MEG4C, we provide an indication of future developments and dynamics in the Colombian energy system. Currently, the carbon intensity of the energy system in Colombia is low compared to other countries in Latin America. However, this trend may change given the projected rapid growth of the economy and the potential increase in the use of carbon-based technologies. Climate policy in Colombia is under development and has yet to consider economic instruments such as taxes and abatement targets. This paper shows how taxes or abatement targets can achieve significant CO 2 reductions in Colombia. Though abatement may be achieved through different pathways, taxes and targets promote the entry of cleaner energy sources into the market and reduce final energy demand through energy efficiency improvements and other demand-side responses. The electric power sector plays an important role in achieving CO 2 emission reductions in Colombia, through the increase of hydropower, the introduction of wind technologies, and the deployment of biomass, coal and natural gas with CO 2 capture and storage (CCS). Uncertainty over the prevailing mitigation pathway reinforces the importance of climate policy to guide sectors toward low-carbon technologies. This paper also assesses the economy-wide implications of mitigation policies such as potential losses in GDP and consumption. An assessment of the legal, institutional, social and environmental barriers to economy-wide mitigation policies is critical yet beyond the scope of this paper. - Highlights: • Four energy and economy-wide models under carbon mitigation scenarios are compared. • Baseline results show that CO

Maximum power point tracking

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Enslin, J.H.R.

1990-01-01

A well engineered renewable remote energy system, utilizing the principal of Maximum Power Point Tracking can be m ore cost effective, has a higher reliability and can improve the quality of life in remote areas. This paper reports that a high-efficient power electronic converter, for converting the output voltage of a solar panel, or wind generator, to the required DC battery bus voltage has been realized. The converter is controlled to track the maximum power point of the input source under varying input and output parameters. Maximum power point tracking for relative small systems is achieved by maximization of the output current in a battery charging regulator, using an optimized hill-climbing, inexpensive microprocessor based algorithm. Through practical field measurements it is shown that a minimum input source saving of 15% on 3-5 kWh/day systems can easily be achieved. A total cost saving of at least 10-15% on the capital cost of these systems are achievable for relative small rating Remote Area Power Supply systems. The advantages at larger temperature variations and larger power rated systems are much higher. Other advantages include optimal sizing and system monitor and control

Maximum Bandwidth Enhancement of Current Mirror using Series-Resistor and Dynamic Body Bias Technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Niranjan

2014-09-01

Full Text Available This paper introduces a new approach for enhancing the bandwidth of a low voltage CMOS current mirror. The proposed approach is based on utilizing body effect in a MOS transistor by connecting its gate and bulk terminals together for signal input. This results in boosting the effective transconductance of MOS transistor along with reduction of the threshold voltage. The proposed approach does not affect the DC gain of the current mirror. We demonstrate that the proposed approach features compatibility with widely used series-resistor technique for enhancing the current mirror bandwidth and both techniques have been employed simultaneously for maximum bandwidth enhancement. An important consequence of using both techniques simultaneously is the reduction of the series-resistor value for achieving the same bandwidth. This reduction in value is very attractive because a smaller resistor results in smaller chip area and less noise. PSpice simulation results using 180 nm CMOS technology from TSMC are included to prove the unique results. The proposed current mirror operates at 1Volt consuming only 102 µW and maximum bandwidth extension ratio of 1.85 has been obtained using the proposed approach. Simulation results are in good agreement with analytical predictions.

Reduction of hexavalent chromium by Rhizopus Oryzae | Sukumar ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The ability of Rhizopus oryzae to reduce Cr6+ was evaluated in batch microcosms. The optimum pH of R. oryzae growth was between 6.0 and 7.0. The maximum chromium reduction efficiency of 91.15% and biomass growth was achieved at a pH of 7, temperature of 37°C, with an initial Cr6+ concentration of 400 ppm and ...

A Family of Maximum SNR Filters for Noise Reduction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Huang, Gongping; Benesty, Jacob; Long, Tao

2014-01-01

significantly increase the SNR but at the expense of tremendous speech distortion. As a consequence, the speech quality improvement, measured by the perceptual evaluation of speech quality (PESQ) algorithm, is marginal if any, regardless of the number of microphones used. In the STFT domain, the maximum SNR...

Achieving deep reductions in US transport greenhouse gas emissions: Scenario analysis and policy implications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McCollum, David; Yang, Christopher

2009-01-01

This paper investigates the potential for making deep cuts in US transportation greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the long-term (50-80% below 1990 levels by 2050). Scenarios are used to envision how such a significant decarbonization might be achieved through the application of advanced vehicle technologies and fuels, and various options for behavioral change. A Kaya framework that decomposes GHG emissions into the product of four major drivers is used to analyze emissions and mitigation options. In contrast to most previous studies, a relatively simple, easily adaptable modeling methodology is used which can incorporate insights from other modeling studies and organize them in a way that is easy for policymakers to understand. Also, a wider range of transportation subsectors is considered here-light- and heavy-duty vehicles, aviation, rail, marine, agriculture, off-road, and construction. This analysis investigates scenarios with multiple options (increased efficiency, lower-carbon fuels, and travel demand management) across the various subsectors and confirms the notion that there are no 'silver bullet' strategies for making deep cuts in transport GHGs. If substantial emission reductions are to be made, considerable action is needed on all fronts, and no subsectors can be ignored. Light-duty vehicles offer the greatest potential for emission reductions; however, while deep reductions in other subsectors are also possible, there are more limitations in the types of fuels and propulsion systems that can be used. In all cases travel demand management strategies are critical; deep emission cuts will not likely be possible without slowing growth in travel demand across all modes. Even though these scenarios represent only a small subset of the potential futures in which deep reductions might be achieved, they provide a sense of the magnitude of changes required in our transportation system and the need for early and aggressive action if long-term targets are to be met.

Reductions in energy use and environmental emissions achievable with utility-based cogeneration: Simplified illustrations for Ontario

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosen, M.A.

1998-01-01

Significant reductions in energy use and environmental emissions are demonstrated to be achievable when electrical utilities use cogeneration. Simplified illustrations of these reductions are presented for the province of Ontario, based on applying cogeneration to the facilities of the main provincial electrical utility. Three cogeneration illustrations are considered: (i) fuel cogeneration is substituted for fuel electrical generation and fuel heating, (ii) nuclear cogeneration is substituted for nuclear electrical generation and fuel heating, and (iii) fuel cogeneration is substituted for fuel electrical generation and electrical heating. The substitution of cogeneration for separate electrical and heat generation processes for all illustrations considered leads to significant reductions in fuel energy consumption (24-61%), which lead to approximately proportional reductions in emissions. (Copyright (c) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam. All rights reserved.)

How to Achieve CO2 Emission Reduction Goals: What 'Jazz' and 'Symphony' Can Offer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rose, K.

2013-01-01

Achieving CO 2 emission reduction goals remains one of today's most challenging tasks. Global energy demand will grow for many decades to come. In many regions of the world cheap fossil fuels seem to be the way forward to meet ever growing energy demand. However, there are negative consequences to this, most notably increasing emission levels. Politicians and industry therefore must accept that make hard choices in this generation need to be made to bring about real changes for future generations and the planet to limit CO 2 emissions and climate change. In his presentation, prof. Rose will provide an insight into how CO 2 emission reduction goals can be set and achieved and how a balance between future energy needs and supply can be realised in the long run up to 2050 both globally and regionally. This will be done based on WEC's own leading analysis in this area, namely it recently launched World Energy Scenarios: composing energy futures to 2050 report and WEC's scenarios, Jazz and Symphony. WEC's full analysis, the complete report and supporting material is available online at: http://www.worldenergy.org/publications/2013/world-energy-scenarios-composing-energy-futures-to-2050.(author)

Performance of penalized maximum likelihood in estimation of genetic covariances matrices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meyer Karin

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Estimation of genetic covariance matrices for multivariate problems comprising more than a few traits is inherently problematic, since sampling variation increases dramatically with the number of traits. This paper investigates the efficacy of regularized estimation of covariance components in a maximum likelihood framework, imposing a penalty on the likelihood designed to reduce sampling variation. In particular, penalties that "borrow strength" from the phenotypic covariance matrix are considered. Methods An extensive simulation study was carried out to investigate the reduction in average 'loss', i.e. the deviation in estimated matrices from the population values, and the accompanying bias for a range of parameter values and sample sizes. A number of penalties are examined, penalizing either the canonical eigenvalues or the genetic covariance or correlation matrices. In addition, several strategies to determine the amount of penalization to be applied, i.e. to estimate the appropriate tuning factor, are explored. Results It is shown that substantial reductions in loss for estimates of genetic covariance can be achieved for small to moderate sample sizes. While no penalty performed best overall, penalizing the variance among the estimated canonical eigenvalues on the logarithmic scale or shrinking the genetic towards the phenotypic correlation matrix appeared most advantageous. Estimating the tuning factor using cross-validation resulted in a loss reduction 10 to 15% less than that obtained if population values were known. Applying a mild penalty, chosen so that the deviation in likelihood from the maximum was non-significant, performed as well if not better than cross-validation and can be recommended as a pragmatic strategy. Conclusions Penalized maximum likelihood estimation provides the means to 'make the most' of limited and precious data and facilitates more stable estimation for multi-dimensional analyses. It should

Fundamental research on sintering technology with super deep bed achieving energy saving and reduction of emissions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hongliang Han; Shengli Wu; Gensheng Feng; Luowen Ma; Weizhong Jiang

2012-01-01

In the general frame of energy saving, environment protection and the concept of circular economy, the fundamental research on the sintering technology with super deep bed, achieving energy saving and emission reduction, was carried out. At first, the characteristics of the process and exhaust emission in the sintering with super deep bed was mastered through the study of the influence of different bed depths on the sintering process. Then, considering the bed permeability and the fuel combustion, their influence on the sinter yield and quality, their potential for energy saving and emission reduction was studied. The results show that the improvement of the bed permeability and of the fuel combustibility respectively and simultaneously, leads to an improvement of the sintering technical indices, to energy saving and emission reduction in the condition of super deep bed. At 1000 mm bed depth, and taking the appropriate countermeasure, it is possible to decrease the solid fuel consumption and the emission of CO 2 , SO 2 , NO x by 10.08%, 11.20%, 22.62% and 25.86% respectively; and at 700 mm bed depth, it is possible to reduce the solid fuel consumption and the emission of CO 2 , SO 2 , NO x by 20.71%, 22.01%, 58.86% and 13.13% respectively. This research provides the theoretical and technical basis for the new technology of sintering with super deep bed, achieving energy saving and reduction of emission. (authors)

Overview of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Hazardous Air Pollutant Early Reduction Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laznow, J.; Daniel, J.

1992-01-01

Under provision of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 Title III, the EPA has proposed a regulation (Early Reduction Program) to allow a six-year compliance extension from Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) standards for sources that voluntarily reduce emissions of Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs) by 90% or more (95% or more for particulates) from a base year of 1987 or later. The emission reduction must be made before the applicable MACT standard is proposed for the source category or be subject to an enforceable commitment to achieve the reduction by January 1, 1994 for sources subject to MACT standards prior to 1994. The primary purpose of this program is to encourage reduction of HAPs emissions sooner than otherwise required. Industry would be allowed additional time in evaluating emission reduction options and developing more cost-effective compliance strategies, although, under strict guidelines to ensure actual, significant and verifiable emission reductions occur

Influence of MoOx interlayer on the maximum achievable open-circuit voltage in organic photovoltaic cells

Science.gov (United States)

Zou, Yunlong; Holmes, Russell

2013-03-01

Transition metal oxides including molybdenum oxide (MoOx) are characterized by large work functions and deep energy levels relative to the organic semiconductors used in photovoltaic cells (OPVs). These materials have been used in OPVs as interlayers between the indium-tin-oxide anode and the active layers to increase the open-circuit voltage (VOC) and power conversion efficiency. We examine the role of MoOx in determining the maximum achievable VOC in planar heterojunction OPVs based on the donor-acceptor pairing of boron subphthalocyanine chloride (SubPc) and C60. While causing minor changes in VOC at room temperature, the inclusion of MoOx significantly changes the temperature dependence of VOC. Devices containing no interlayer show a maximum VOC\\ of 1.2 V, while devices containing MoOx show no saturation in VOC, reaching a value of >1.4 V at 110 K. We propose that the MoOx-SubPc interface forms a dissociating Schottky junction that provides an additional contribution to VOC at low temperature. Separate measurements of photoluminescence confirm that excitons in SubPc can be quenched by MoOx. Charge transfer at this interface is by hole extraction from SubPc to MoOx, and this mechanism favors donors with a deep highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy level. Consistent with this expectation, the temperature dependence of VOC for devices constructed using a donor with a shallower HOMO level, e.g. copper phthalocyanine, is independent of the presence of MoOx.

Kinetics of reductive dehalogenation of bromobenzene derivatives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mashirova, A.A.; Kaminskij, Yu.L.; Shestakov, A.D.; Kudelin, B.K.

1982-01-01

The catalytic reductive dehalogenation of p-bromoaniline, p-bromobenzonitrile and p-bromobenzene with hydrogen was studied. The decrease of molar ratio bromoderivative/palladium catalyst is shown to change the reaction order from zero to the first. With the decrease of hydrogen pressure the reaction order transition zone shifts towards increased bromoderivative/catalyst ratio. Preliminary saturation of catalyst with hydrogen increases the starting rate of reaction, maximum rate being achieved at saturation during 5-15 minutes. The catalytic reductive dehalogenation with tritium-containing hydrogen shows that the molar activity of the products corresponds to that of the initial gas. Strong adsorption of initial bromoderivatives on catalyst surface is a dominant factor in reaction mechanism [ru

Maximum entropy deconvolution of low count nuclear medicine images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McGrath, D.M.

1998-12-01

obtained than those achieved by a Wiener pre-filtering approach and a scatter-subtracted attenuation corrected filtered back projection method. Maximum entropy optimised for low counts holds promise for nuclear medicine applications where counts are necessarily low, and may facilitate reduction of the administered activity for other applications. The algorithm was in fact deemed advantageous for the processing of low count Poisson data in general. (author)

Developments in greenhouse gas emissions and net energy use in Danish agriculture - How to achieve substantial CO2 reductions?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dalgaard, T.; Olesen, J.E.; Petersen, S.O.; Petersen, B.M.; Jorgensen, U.; Kristensen, T.; Hutchings, N.J.; Gyldenkaerne, S.; Hermansen, J.E.

2011-01-01

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture are a significant contributor to total Danish emissions. Consequently, much effort is currently given to the exploration of potential strategies to reduce agricultural emissions. This paper presents results from a study estimating agricultural GHG emissions in the form of methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide (including carbon sources and sinks, and the impact of energy consumption/bioenergy production) from Danish agriculture in the years 1990-2010. An analysis of possible measures to reduce the GHG emissions indicated that a 50-70% reduction of agricultural emissions by 2050 relative to 1990 is achievable, including mitigation measures in relation to the handling of manure and fertilisers, optimization of animal feeding, cropping practices, and land use changes with more organic farming, afforestation and energy crops. In addition, the bioenergy production may be increased significantly without reducing the food production, whereby Danish agriculture could achieve a positive energy balance. - Highlights: → GHG emissions from Danish agriculture 1990-2010 are calculated, including carbon sequestration. → Effects of measures to further reduce GHG emissions are listed. → Land use scenarios for a substantially reduced GHG emission by 2050 are presented. → A 50-70% reduction of agricultural emissions by 2050 relative to 1990 is achievable. → Via bioenergy production Danish agriculture could achieve a positive energy balance. - Scenario studies of greenhouse gas mitigation measures illustrate the possible realization of CO 2 reductions for Danish agriculture by 2050, sustaining current food production.

OPTIMIZED FUEL INJECTOR DESIGN FOR MAXIMUM IN-FURNACE NOx REDUCTION AND MINIMUM UNBURNED CARBON

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

SAROFIM, A F; LISAUSKAS, R; RILEY, D; EDDINGS, E G; BROUWER, J; KLEWICKI, J P; DAVIS, K A; BOCKELIE, M J; HEAP, M P; PERSHING, D

1998-01-01

Reaction Engineering International (REI) has established a project team of experts to develop a technology for combustion systems which will minimize NO x emissions and minimize carbon in the fly ash. This much need technology will allow users to meet environmental compliance and produce a saleable by-product. This study is concerned with the NO x control technology of choice for pulverized coal fired boilers,"in-furnace NO_x control," which includes: staged low-NO_x burners, reburning, selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) and hybrid approaches (e.g., reburning with SNCR). The program has two primary objectives: 1) To improve the performance of "in-furnace" NO_x control, processes. 2) To devise new, or improve existing, approaches for maximum "in-furnace" NO_x control and minimum unburned carbon. The program involves: 1) fundamental studies at laboratory- and bench-scale to define NO reduction mechanisms in flames and reburning jets; 2) laboratory experiments and computer modeling to improve our two-phase mixing predictive capability; 3) evaluation of commercial low-NO_x burner fuel injectors to develop improved designs, and 4) demonstration of coal injectors for reburning and low-NO_x burners at commercial scale. The specific objectives of the two-phase program are to: 1 Conduct research to better understand the interaction of heterogeneous chemistry and two phase mixing on NO reduction processes in pulverized coal combustion. 2 Improve our ability to predict combusting coal jets by verifying two phase mixing models under conditions that simulate the near field of low-NO_x burners. 3 Determine the limits on NO control by in-furnace NO_x control technologies as a function of furnace design and coal type. 5 Develop and demonstrate improved coal injector designs for commercial low-NO_x burners and coal reburning systems. 6 Modify the char burnout model in REI's coal

How cold was Europe at the Last Glacial Maximum? A synthesis of the progress achieved since the first PMIP model-data comparison

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Ramstein

2007-06-01

Full Text Available The Last Glacial Maximum has been one of the first foci of the Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project (PMIP. During its first phase, the results of 17 atmosphere general circulation models were compared to paleoclimate reconstructions. One of the largest discrepancies in the simulations was the systematic underestimation, by at least 10°C, of the winter cooling over Europe and the Mediterranean region observed in the pollen-based reconstructions. In this paper, we investigate the progress achieved to reduce this inconsistency through a large modelling effort and improved temperature reconstructions. We show that increased model spatial resolution does not significantly increase the simulated LGM winter cooling. Further, neither the inclusion of a vegetation cover compatible with the LGM climate, nor the interactions with the oceans simulated by the atmosphere-ocean general circulation models run in the second phase of PMIP result in a better agreement between models and data. Accounting for changes in interannual variability in the interpretation of the pollen data does not result in a reduction of the reconstructed cooling. The largest recent improvement in the model-data comparison has instead arisen from a new climate reconstruction based on inverse vegetation modelling, which explicitly accounts for the CO₂ decrease at LGM and which substantially reduces the LGM winter cooling reconstructed from pollen assemblages. As a result, the simulated and observed LGM winter cooling over Western Europe and the Mediterranean area are now in much better agreement.

The consequences of a reduction in the administratively applied maximum annual dose equivalent level for an individual in a group of occupationally exposed workers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harrison, N.T.

1980-02-01

An analysis is described for predicting the consequences of a reduction in the administratively applied maximum dose equivalent level to individuals in a group of workers occupationally exposed to ionising radiations, for the situation in which no changes are made to the working environment. This limitation of the maximum individual dose equivalent is accommodated by allowing the number of individuals in the working group to increase. The derivation of the analysis is given, together with worked examples, which highlight the important assumptions that have been made and the conclusions that can be drawn. The results are obtained in the form of the capacity of the particular working environment to accommodate the limitation of the maximum individual dose equivalent, the increase in the number of workers required to carry out the productive work and any consequent increase in the occupational collective dose equivalent. (author)

Reduction of NOx in synthetic diesel exhaust via two-step plasma-catalysis treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tonkyn, R.G.; Barlow, S.E.; Hoard, John W.

2003-01-01

Significant reduction of NO x in synthetic light duty diesel exhaust has been achieved over a broad temperature window by combining atmospheric plasma with appropriate catalysts. The technique relies on the addition of hydrocarbon reductant prior to passing the simulated exhaust through a non-thermal plasma and a catalyst bed. The observed chemistry in the plasma includes conversion of NO to NO 2 as well as the partial oxidation of the hydrocarbon. The overall NO x reduction has a maximum of less than 80%, with this maximum obtained only at high-energy input into the plasma, high concentration of hydrocarbon reductant and low space velocity. We present data in this paper illustrating that a multiple-step treatment strategy, whereby two or more plasma-catalyst reactors are utilized in series, can increase the maximum NO x conversion obtainable. Alternatively, this technique can reduce the energy and/or hydrocarbon requirements for a fixed conversion efficiency. When propene is used as the reductant, the limiting reagent for the overall process is most likely acetaldehyde. The data suggest that acetaldehyde is formed in concert with NO oxidation to NO 2 in the plasma stage. The limited NO x reduction efficiency attained in a single step, even with excess energy, oxygen content and/or hydrocarbon-to-NO x ratio is well explained by this hypothesis, as is the effectiveness of the multiple-step treatment strategy. We present the data here illustrating the advantage of this approach under a wide variety of conditions

Low Complexity V-BLAST MIMO-OFDM Detector by Successive Iterations Reduction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

AHMED, K.

2015-02-01

Full Text Available V-BLAST detection method suffers large computational complexity due to its successive detection of symbols. In this paper, we propose a modified V-BLAST algorithm to decrease the computational complexity by reducing the number of detection iterations required in MIMO communication systems. We begin by showing the existence of a maximum number of iterations, beyond which, no significant improvement is obtained. We establish a criterion for the number of maximum effective iterations. We propose a modified algorithm that uses the measured SNR to dynamically set the number of iterations to achieve an acceptable bit-error rate. Then, we replace the feedback algorithm with an approximate linear function to reduce the complexity. Simulations show that significant reduction in computational complexity is achieved compared to the ordinary V-BLAST, while maintaining a good BER performance.

Developments in greenhouse gas emissions and net energy use in Danish agriculture - How to achieve substantial CO{sub 2} reductions?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dalgaard, T., E-mail: tommy.dalgaard@agrsci.dk [Aarhus University, Department of Agroecology, Blichers Alle 20, P.O. Box 50, DK-8830 Tjele (Denmark); Olesen, J.E.; Petersen, S.O.; Petersen, B.M.; Jorgensen, U.; Kristensen, T.; Hutchings, N.J. [Aarhus University, Department of Agroecology, Blichers Alle 20, P.O. Box 50, DK-8830 Tjele (Denmark); Gyldenkaerne, S. [Aarhus University, National Environmental Research Institute, Frederiksborgvej 399, DK-4000 Roskilde (Denmark); Hermansen, J.E. [Aarhus University, Department of Agroecology, Blichers Alle 20, P.O. Box 50, DK-8830 Tjele (Denmark)

2011-11-15

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture are a significant contributor to total Danish emissions. Consequently, much effort is currently given to the exploration of potential strategies to reduce agricultural emissions. This paper presents results from a study estimating agricultural GHG emissions in the form of methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide (including carbon sources and sinks, and the impact of energy consumption/bioenergy production) from Danish agriculture in the years 1990-2010. An analysis of possible measures to reduce the GHG emissions indicated that a 50-70% reduction of agricultural emissions by 2050 relative to 1990 is achievable, including mitigation measures in relation to the handling of manure and fertilisers, optimization of animal feeding, cropping practices, and land use changes with more organic farming, afforestation and energy crops. In addition, the bioenergy production may be increased significantly without reducing the food production, whereby Danish agriculture could achieve a positive energy balance. - Highlights: > GHG emissions from Danish agriculture 1990-2010 are calculated, including carbon sequestration. > Effects of measures to further reduce GHG emissions are listed. > Land use scenarios for a substantially reduced GHG emission by 2050 are presented. > A 50-70% reduction of agricultural emissions by 2050 relative to 1990 is achievable. > Via bioenergy production Danish agriculture could achieve a positive energy balance. - Scenario studies of greenhouse gas mitigation measures illustrate the possible realization of CO{sub 2} reductions for Danish agriculture by 2050, sustaining current food production.

Possible pathways for dealing with Japan's post-Fukushima challenge and achieving CO2 emission reduction targets in 2030

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Su, Xuanming; Zhou, Weisheng; Sun, Faming; Nakagami, Ken'Ichi

2014-01-01

Considering the unclear nuclear future of Japan after Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant accident since Mar. 11, 2011, this study assesses a series of energy consumption scenarios including the reference scenario, nuclear limited scenarios and current nuclear use level scenario for Japan in 2030 by the G-CEEP (Glocal Century Energy Environment Planning) model. The simulation result for each scenario is firstly presented in terms of primary energy consumption, electricity generation, CO 2 emission, marginal abatement cost and GDP (gross domestic product) loss. According to the results, energy saving contributes the biggest share in total CO 2 emission reduction, regardless of different nuclear use levels and different CO 2 emission reduction levels. A certain amount of coal generation can be retained in the nuclear limited scenarios due to the applying of CCS (carbon capture and storage). The discussion indicates that Japan needs to improve energy use efficiency, increase renewable energy and introduce CCS in order to reduce the dependence on nuclear power and to achieve CO 2 emission reduction target in 2030. In addition, it is ambitious for Japan to achieve the zero nuclear scenario with 30% CO 2 emission reduction which will cause a marginal abatement cost of 383 USD/tC and up to −2.54% GDP loss from the reference scenario. Dealing with the nuclear power issue, Japan is faced with a challenge as well as an opportunity. - Highlights: • Nuclear use limited and carbon emission reduction scenarios for Japan in 2030. • Contributions of different abatement options to carbon emissions. • CCS for reducing dependence on nuclear power

Achieving Realistic Energy and Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions in U.S. Cities

Science.gov (United States)

Blackhurst, Michael F.

2011-12-01

In recognizing that energy markets and greenhouse gas emissions are significantly influences by local factors, this research examines opportunities for achieving realistic energy greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. cities through provisions of more sustainable infrastructure. Greenhouse gas reduction opportunities are examined through the lens of a public program administrator charged with reducing emissions given realistic financial constraints and authority over emissions reductions and energy use. Opportunities are evaluated with respect to traditional public policy metrics, such as benefit-cost analysis, net benefit analysis, and cost-effectiveness. Section 2 summarizes current practices used to estimate greenhouse gas emissions from communities. I identify improved and alternative emissions inventory techniques such as disaggregating the sectors reported, reporting inventory uncertainty, and aligning inventories with local organizations that could facilitate emissions mitigation. The potential advantages and challenges of supplementing inventories with comparative benchmarks are also discussed. Finally, I highlight the need to integrate growth (population and economic) and business as usual implications (such as changes to electricity supply grids) into climate action planning. I demonstrate how these techniques could improve decision making when planning reductions, help communities set meaningful emission reduction targets, and facilitate CAP implementation and progress monitoring. Section 3 evaluates the costs and benefits of building energy efficiency are estimated as a means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Pittsburgh, PA and Austin, TX. Two policy objectives were evaluated: maximize GHG reductions given initial budget constraints or maximize social savings given target GHG reductions. This approach explicitly evaluates the trade-offs between three primary and often conflicting program design parameters: initial capital constraints, social savings

An intensive nurse-led, multi-interventional clinic is more successful in achieving vascular risk reduction targets than standard diabetes care.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

MacMahon Tone, J

2009-06-01

The aim of this research was to determine whether an intensive, nurse-led clinic could achieve recommended vascular risk reduction targets in patients with type 2 diabetes as compared to standard diabetes management.

Reduction and Analysis of Low Temperature Shift Heterogeneous Catalyst for Water Gas Reaction in Ammonia Production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zečević, N.

2013-09-01

Full Text Available In order to obtain additional quantities of hydrogen after the reforming reactions of natural gas and protect the ammonia synthesis catalyst, it is crucial to achieve and maintain maximum possible activity, selectivity and stability of the low temperature shift catalyst for conversion of water gas reaction during its lifetime. Whereas the heterogeneous catalyst comes in oxidized form, it is of the utmost importance to conduct the reduction procedure properly. The proper reduction procedure and continuous analysis of its performance would ensure the required activity, selectivity and stability throughout the catalyst’s service time. For the proper reduction procedure ofthe low temperature shift catalyst, in addition to process equipment, also necessary is a reliable and realistic system for temperature measurements, which will be effective for monitoring the exothermal temperature curves through all catalyst bed layers. For efficiency evaluation of low shift temperature catalyst reduction and its optimization, it is necessary to determine at regular time intervals the temperature approach to equilibrium and temperature profiles of individual layers by means of "S" and "die off" temperature exothermal curves. Based on the obtained data, the optimum inlet temperature could be determined, in order to maximally extend the service life of the heterogeneous catalyst as much as possible, and achieve the optimum equilibrium for conversion of the water gas. This paper presents the methodology for in situ reduction of the low temperature shift heterogeneous catalyst and the developed system for monitoring its individual layers to achieve the minimum possible content of carbon monoxide at the exit of the reactor. The developed system for temperature monitoring through heterogeneous catalyst layers provides the proper procedure for reduction and adjustment of optimum process working conditions for the catalyst by the continuous increase of reactor inlet

Technique for systematic bone reduction for fixed implant-supported prosthesis in the edentulous maxilla.

Science.gov (United States)

Bidra, Avinash S

2015-06-01

Bone reduction for maxillary fixed implant-supported prosthodontic treatment is often necessary to either gain prosthetic space or to conceal the prosthesis-tissue junction in patients with excessive gingival display (gummy smile). Inadequate bone reduction is often a cause of prosthetic failure due to material fractures, poor esthetics, or inability to perform oral hygiene procedures due to unfavorable ridge lap prosthetic contours. Various instruments and techniques are available for bone reduction. It would be helpful to have an accurate and efficient method for bone reduction at the time of surgery and subsequently create a smooth bony platform. This article presents a straightforward technique for systematic bone reduction by transferring the patient's maximum smile line, recorded clinically, to a clear radiographic smile guide for treatment planning using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). The patient's smile line and the amount of required bone reduction are transferred clinically by marking bone with a sterile stationery graphite wood pencil at the time of surgery. This technique can help clinicians to accurately achieve the desired bone reduction during surgery, and provide confidence that the diagnostic and treatment planning goals have been achieved. Copyright © 2015 Editorial Council for the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sharp Reduction in Maximum LEU Fuel Temperatures during Loss of Coolant Accidents in a PBMR DPP-400 core by means of Optimised Placement of Neutron Poisons: Implications for Pu fuel-cycles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Serfontein, Dawid E.

2013-01-01

The optimisation of the power profiles by means of placing an optimised distribution of neutron poison concentrations in the central reflector resulted in a large reduction in the maximum DLOFC temperature, which may produce far reaching safety and licensing benefits. Unfortunately this came at the expense of losing the ability to execute effective load following. The neutron poisons also caused a large reduction of 22% in the average burn-up of the fuel. Further optimisation is required to counter this reduction in burn-up

Maximum coherent superposition state achievement using a non-resonant pulse train in non-degenerate three-level atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deng, Li; Niu, Yueping; Jin, Luling; Gong, Shangqing

2010-01-01

The coherent superposition state of the lower two levels in non-degenerate three-level Λ atoms is investigated using the accumulative effects of non-resonant pulse trains when the repetition period is smaller than the decay time of the upper level. First, using a rectangular pulse train, the accumulative effects are re-examined in the non-resonant two-level atoms and the modified constructive accumulation equation is analytically given. The equation shows that the relative phase and the repetition period are important in the accumulative effect. Next, under the modified equation in the non-degenerate three-level Λ atoms, we show that besides the constructive accumulation effect, the use of the partial constructive accumulation effect can also achieve the steady state of the maximum coherent superposition state of the lower two levels and the latter condition is relatively easier to manipulate. The analysis is verified by numerical calculations. The influence of the external levels in such a case is also considered and we find that it can be avoided effectively. The above analysis is also applicable to pulse trains with arbitrary envelopes.

Coronary ligation reduces maximum sustained swimming speed in Chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Farrell, A P; Steffensen, J F

1987-01-01

The maximum aerobic swimming speed of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) was measured before and after ligation of the coronary artery. Coronary artery ligation prevented blood flow to the compact layer of the ventricular myocardium, which represents 30% of the ventricular mass, and produced...... a statistically significant 35.5% reduction in maximum swimming speed. We conclude that the coronary circulation is important for maximum aerobic swimming and implicit in this conclusion is that maximum cardiac performance is probably necessary for maximum aerobic swimming performance....

Economic total maximum daily load for watershed-based pollutant trading.

Science.gov (United States)

Zaidi, A Z; deMonsabert, S M

2015-04-01

Water quality trading (WQT) is supported by the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) under the framework of its total maximum daily load (TMDL) program. An innovative approach is presented in this paper that proposes post-TMDL trade by calculating pollutant rights for each pollutant source within a watershed. Several water quality trading programs are currently operating in the USA with an objective to achieve overall pollutant reduction impacts that are equivalent or better than TMDL scenarios. These programs use trading ratios for establishing water quality equivalence among pollutant reductions. The inbuilt uncertainty in modeling the effects of pollutants in a watershed from both the point and nonpoint sources on receiving waterbodies makes WQT very difficult. A higher trading ratio carries with it increased mitigation costs, but cannot ensure the attainment of the required water quality with certainty. The selection of an applicable trading ratio, therefore, is not a simple process. The proposed approach uses an Economic TMDL optimization model that determines an economic pollutant reduction scenario that can be compared with actual TMDL allocations to calculate selling/purchasing rights for each contributing source. The methodology is presented using the established TMDLs for the bacteria (fecal coliform) impaired Muddy Creek subwatershed WAR1 in Rockingham County, Virginia, USA. Case study results show that an environmentally and economically superior trading scenario can be realized by using Economic TMDL model or any similar model that considers the cost of TMDL allocations.

Climate-simulated raceway pond culturing: quantifying the maximum achievable annual biomass productivity of Chlorella sorokiniana in the contiguous USA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huesemann, M.; Chavis, A.; Edmundson, S.; Rye, D.; Hobbs, S.; Sun, N.; Wigmosta, M.

2017-09-13

Chlorella sorokiniana (DOE 1412) emerged as one of the most promising microalgae strains from the NAABB consortium project, with a remarkable doubling time under optimal conditions of 2.57 hr-1. However, its maximum achievable annual biomass productivity in outdoor ponds in the contiguous United States remained unknown. In order to address this knowledge gap, this alga was cultured in indoor LED-lighted and temperature-controlled raceways in nutrient replete freshwater (BG-11) medium at pH 7 under conditions simulating the daily sunlight intensity and water temperature fluctuations during three seasons in Southern Florida, an optimal outdoor pond culture location for this organism identified by biomass growth modeling. Prior strain characterization indicated that the average maximum specific growth rate (µmax) at 36 ºC declined continuously with pH, with µmax corresponding to 5.92, 5.83, 4.89, and 4.21 day-1 at pH 6, 7, 8, and 9, respectively. In addition, the maximum specific growth rate declined nearly linearly with increasing salinity until no growth was observed above 35 g/L NaCl. In the climate-simulated culturing studies, the volumetric ash-free dry weight-based biomass productivities during the linear growth phase were 57, 69, and 97 mg/L-day for 30-year average light and temperature simulations for January (winter), March (spring), and July (summer), respectively, which corresponds to average areal productivities of 11.6, 14.1, and 19.9 g/m2-day at a constant pond depth of 20.5 cm. The photosynthetic efficiencies (PAR) in the three climate-simulated pond culturing experiments ranged from 4.1 to 5.1%. The annual biomass productivity was estimated as ca. 15 g/m2-day, nearly double the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) 2015 State of Technology annual cultivation productivity of 8.5 g/m2-day, but this is still significantly below the projected 2022 target of ca. 25 g/m2-day (U.S. DOE, 2016) for economic microalgal biofuel production, indicating the need for

Reduction of radiation exposure for patient and examiner in interventional angiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pecher, G.; Pecher, S.; Gosch, D.; Schulz, H.G.; Koenig, H.; Voigt, P.

1998-01-01

Purpose: In a retrospective analysis of vascular interventional procedures, relations between parameters of the examination and radiation exposure of patient and medical personnel are examined. Material and Method: 1208 vascular interventional procedures are evaluated. Interventional procedures are divided into three groups: Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, implantation of a stent, thrombolysis. Results: Mean values of the radiation dose of patient and radiology personnel are reported for these examinations. The mean value of the radiation dose of the physician was 7 μSv (maximum 24 μSv), that of the patient 1548 cGy.cm 2 (maximum 8485 cGy.cm 2 ). Conclusion: The quantity of X-rays to the patient may be lowered by using pulsed fluoroscopy and by reducing the number of radiographs. Reduction of the number of radiographs may be achieved by using the last-image hold and the road mapping mode. The operator's dose can be decreased by using additional radiation protection systems like a MAVIG trademark -radiation protection wall. The radiation dose reduction was 61% for the physician and 17% for the patient. (orig.) [de

Membraneless laminar flow cell for electrocatalytic CO2 reduction with liquid product separation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Monroe, Morgan M; Lobaccaro, Peter; Lum, Yanwei; Ager, Joel W

2017-01-01

The production of liquid fuel products via electrochemical reduction of CO 2 is a potential path to produce sustainable fuels. However, to be practical, a separation strategy is required to isolate the fuel-containing electrolyte produced at the cathode from the anode and also prevent the oxidation products (i.e. O 2 ) from reaching the cathode. Ion-conducting membranes have been applied in CO 2 reduction reactors to achieve this separation, but they represent an efficiency loss and can be permeable to some product species. An alternative membraneless approach is developed here to maintain product separation through the use of a laminar flow cell. Computational modelling shows that near-unity separation efficiencies are possible at current densities achievable now with metal cathodes via optimization of the spacing between the electrodes and the electrolyte flow rate. Laminar flow reactor prototypes were fabricated with a range of channel widths by 3D printing. CO 2 reduction to formic acid on Sn electrodes was used as the liquid product forming reaction, and the separation efficiency for the dissolved product was evaluated with high performance liquid chromatography. Trends in product separation efficiency with channel width and flow rate were in qualitative agreement with the model, but the separation efficiency was lower, with a maximum value of 90% achieved. (paper)

Low Delay Noise Reduction and Dereverberation for Hearing Aids

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heinrich W. Löllmann

2009-01-01

Full Text Available A new system for single-channel speech enhancement is proposed which achieves a joint suppression of late reverberant speech and background noise with a low signal delay and low computational complexity. It is based on a generalized spectral subtraction rule which depends on the variances of the late reverberant speech and background noise. The calculation of the spectral variances of the late reverberant speech requires an estimate of the reverberation time (RT which is accomplished by a maximum likelihood (ML approach. The enhancement with this blind RT estimation achieves almost the same speech quality as by using the actual RT. In comparison to commonly used post-filters in hearing aids which only perform a noise reduction, a significantly better objective and subjective speech quality is achieved. The proposed system performs time-domain filtering with coefficients adapted in the non-uniform (Bark-scaled frequency-domain. This allows to achieve a high speech quality with low signal delay which is important for speech enhancement in hearing aids or related applications such as hands-free communication systems.

Karatsuba-Ofman Multiplier with Integrated Modular Reduction for GF(2m

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

CUEVAS-FARFAN, E.

2013-05-01

Full Text Available In this paper a novel GF(2m multiplier based on Karatsuba-Ofman Algorithm is presented. A binary field multiplication in polynomial basis is typically viewed as a two steps process, a polynomial multiplication followed by a modular reduction step. This research proposes a modification to the original Karatsuba-Ofman Algorithm in order to integrate the modular reduction inside the polynomial multiplication step. Modular reduction is achieved by using parallel linear feedback registers. The new algorithm is described in detail and results from a hardware implementation on FPGA technology are discussed. The hardware architecture is described in VHDL and synthesized for a Virtex-6 device. Although the proposed field multiplier can be implemented for arbitrary finite fields, the targeted finite fields are recommended for Elliptic Curve Cryptography. Comparing other KOA multipliers, our proposed multiplier uses 36% less area resources and improves the maximum delay in 10%.

Maximum allowable load on wheeled mobile manipulators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Habibnejad Korayem, M.; Ghariblu, H.

2003-01-01

This paper develops a computational technique for finding the maximum allowable load of mobile manipulator during a given trajectory. The maximum allowable loads which can be achieved by a mobile manipulator during a given trajectory are limited by the number of factors; probably the dynamic properties of mobile base and mounted manipulator, their actuator limitations and additional constraints applied to resolving the redundancy are the most important factors. To resolve extra D.O.F introduced by the base mobility, additional constraint functions are proposed directly in the task space of mobile manipulator. Finally, in two numerical examples involving a two-link planar manipulator mounted on a differentially driven mobile base, application of the method to determining maximum allowable load is verified. The simulation results demonstrates the maximum allowable load on a desired trajectory has not a unique value and directly depends on the additional constraint functions which applies to resolve the motion redundancy

The role of anthropogenic aerosol emission reduction in achieving the Paris Agreement's objective

Science.gov (United States)

Hienola, Anca; Pietikäinen, Joni-Pekka; O'Donnell, Declan; Partanen, Antti-Ilari; Korhonen, Hannele; Laaksonen, Ari

2017-04-01

The Paris agreement reached in December 2015 under the auspices of the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) aims at holding the global temperature increase to well below 2◦C above preindustrial levels and "to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5◦C above preindustrial levels". Limiting warming to any level implies that the total amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) - the dominant driver of long-term temperatures - that can ever be emitted into the atmosphere is finite. Essentially, this means that global CO2 emissions need to become net zero. CO2 is not the only pollutant causing warming, although it is the most persistent. Short-lived, non-CO2 climate forcers also must also be considered. Whereas much effort has been put into defining a threshold for temperature increase and zero net carbon emissions, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the non-CO2 climate forcers, including not just the non-CO2 greenhouse gases (methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), halocarbons etc.) but also the anthropogenic aerosols like black carbon (BC), organic carbon (OC) and sulfate. This study investigates the possibility of limiting the temperature increase to 1.5◦C by the end of the century under different future scenarios of anthropogenic aerosol emissions simulated with the very simplistic MAGICC climate carbon cycle model as well as with ECHAM6.1-HAM2.2-SALSA + UVic ESCM. The simulations include two different CO2 scenarios- RCP3PD as control and a CO2 reduction leading to 1.5◦C (which translates into reaching the net zero CO2 emissions by mid 2040s followed by negative emissions by the end of the century); each CO2 scenario includes also two aerosol pollution control cases denoted with CLE (current legislation) and MFR (maximum feasible reduction). The main result of the above scenarios is that the stronger the anthropogenic aerosol emission reduction is, the more significant the temperature increase by 2100 relative to pre

Selection of the Maximum Spatial Cluster Size of the Spatial Scan Statistic by Using the Maximum Clustering Set-Proportion Statistic.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Yue; Yin, Fei; Zhang, Tao; Zhou, Xiaohua Andrew; Li, Xiaosong

2016-01-01

Spatial scan statistics are widely used in various fields. The performance of these statistics is influenced by parameters, such as maximum spatial cluster size, and can be improved by parameter selection using performance measures. Current performance measures are based on the presence of clusters and are thus inapplicable to data sets without known clusters. In this work, we propose a novel overall performance measure called maximum clustering set-proportion (MCS-P), which is based on the likelihood of the union of detected clusters and the applied dataset. MCS-P was compared with existing performance measures in a simulation study to select the maximum spatial cluster size. Results of other performance measures, such as sensitivity and misclassification, suggest that the spatial scan statistic achieves accurate results in most scenarios with the maximum spatial cluster sizes selected using MCS-P. Given that previously known clusters are not required in the proposed strategy, selection of the optimal maximum cluster size with MCS-P can improve the performance of the scan statistic in applications without identified clusters.

Curating NASA's Future Extraterrestrial Sample Collections: How Do We Achieve Maximum Proficiency?

Science.gov (United States)

McCubbin, Francis; Evans, Cynthia; Zeigler, Ryan; Allton, Judith; Fries, Marc; Righter, Kevin; Zolensky, Michael

2016-01-01

The Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office (henceforth referred to herein as NASA Curation Office) at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) is responsible for curating all of NASA's extraterrestrial samples. Under the governing document, NASA Policy Directive (NPD) 7100.10E "Curation of Extraterrestrial Materials", JSC is charged with "The curation of all extraterrestrial material under NASA control, including future NASA missions." The Directive goes on to define Curation as including "... documentation, preservation, preparation, and distribution of samples for research, education, and public outreach." Here we describe some of the ongoing efforts to ensure that the future activities of the NASA Curation Office are working towards a state of maximum proficiency.

Comparative Effectiveness of Personalized Lifestyle Management Strategies for Cardiovascular Disease Risk Reduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Chu, Paula; Pandya, Ankur; Salomon, Joshua A; Goldie, Sue J; Hunink, M G Myriam

2016-03-29

Evidence shows that healthy diet, exercise, smoking interventions, and stress reduction reduce cardiovascular disease risk. We aimed to compare the effectiveness of these lifestyle interventions for individual risk profiles and determine their rank order in reducing 10-year cardiovascular disease risk. We computed risks using the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Pooled Cohort Equations for a variety of individual profiles. Using published literature on risk factor reductions through diverse lifestyle interventions-group therapy for stopping smoking, Mediterranean diet, aerobic exercise (walking), and yoga-we calculated the risk reduction through each of these interventions to determine the strategy associated with the maximum benefit for each profile. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to test the robustness of the results. In the base-case analysis, yoga was associated with the largest 10-year cardiovascular disease risk reductions (maximum absolute reduction 16.7% for the highest-risk individuals). Walking generally ranked second (max 11.4%), followed by Mediterranean diet (max 9.2%), and group therapy for smoking (max 1.6%). If the individual was a current smoker and successfully quit smoking (ie, achieved complete smoking cessation), then stopping smoking yielded the largest reduction. Probabilistic and 1-way sensitivity analysis confirmed the demonstrated trend. This study reports the comparative effectiveness of several forms of lifestyle modifications and found smoking cessation and yoga to be the most effective forms of cardiovascular disease prevention. Future research should focus on patient adherence to personalized therapies, cost-effectiveness of these strategies, and the potential for enhanced benefit when interventions are performed simultaneously rather than as single measures. © 2016 The Authors. Published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wiley Blackwell.

Reduction of variance in spectral estimates for correction of ultrasonic aberration.

Science.gov (United States)

Astheimer, Jeffrey P; Pilkington, Wayne C; Waag, Robert C

2006-01-01

A variance reduction factor is defined to describe the rate of convergence and accuracy of spectra estimated from overlapping ultrasonic scattering volumes when the scattering is from a spatially uncorrelated medium. Assuming that the individual volumes are localized by a spherically symmetric Gaussian window and that centers of the volumes are located on orbits of an icosahedral rotation group, the factor is minimized by adjusting the weight and radius of each orbit. Conditions necessary for the application of the variance reduction method, particularly for statistical estimation of aberration, are examined. The smallest possible value of the factor is found by allowing an unlimited number of centers constrained only to be within a ball rather than on icosahedral orbits. Computations using orbits formed by icosahedral vertices, face centers, and edge midpoints with a constraint radius limited to a small multiple of the Gaussian width show that a significant reduction of variance can be achieved from a small number of centers in the confined volume and that this reduction is nearly the maximum obtainable from an unlimited number of centers in the same volume.

Inaugural Maximum Values for Sodium in Processed Food Products in the Americas.

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, Norm; Legowski, Barbara; Legetic, Branka; Nilson, Eduardo; L'Abbé, Mary

2015-08-01

Reducing dietary salt/sodium is one of the most cost-effective interventions to improve population health. There are five initiatives in the Americas that independently developed targets for reformulating foods to reduce salt/sodium content. Applying selection criteria, recommended by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/World Health Organization (WHO) Technical Advisory Group on Dietary Salt/Sodium Reduction, a consortium of governments, civil society, and food companies (the Salt Smart Consortium) agreed to an inaugural set of regional maximum targets (upper limits) for salt/sodium levels for 11 food categories, to be achieved by December 2016. Ultimately, to substantively reduce dietary salt across whole populations, targets will be needed for the majority of processed and pre-prepared foods. Cardiovascular and hypertension organizations are encouraged to utilize the regional targets in advocacy and in monitoring and evaluation of progress by the food industry. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Comparisons of receive array interference reduction techniques under erroneous generalized transmit beamforming

KAUST Repository

Radaydeh, Redha Mahmoud

2014-02-01

This paper studies generalized single-stream transmit beamforming employing receive array co-channel interference reduction algorithms under slow and flat fading multiuser wireless systems. The impact of imperfect prediction of channel state information for the desired user spatially uncorrelated transmit channels on the effectiveness of transmit beamforming for different interference reduction techniques is investigated. The case of over-loaded receive array with closely-spaced elements is considered, wherein it can be configured to specified interfering sources. Both dominant interference reduction and adaptive interference reduction techniques for statistically ordered and unordered interferers powers, respectively, are thoroughly studied. The effect of outdated statistical ordering of the interferers powers on the efficiency of dominant interference reduction is studied and then compared against the adaptive interference reduction. For the system models described above, new analytical formulations for the statistics of combined signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio are presented, from which results for conventional maximum ratio transmission and single-antenna best transmit selection can be directly deduced as limiting cases. These results are then utilized to obtain quantitative measures for various performance metrics. They are also used to compare the achieved performance of various configuration models under consideration. © 1972-2012 IEEE.

Achieving reductions in greenhouse gases in the US road transportation sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kay, Andrew I.; Noland, Robert B.; Rodier, Caroline J.

2014-01-01

It is well established that GHG emissions must be reduced 50 to 80% by 2050 in order to limit global temperature increase to 2 °C. Achieving reductions of this magnitude in the transportation sector is a challenge and requires a multitude of policies and technology options. The research presented here analyzes three scenarios: changes in the perceived price of travel, land use intensification, and increases in transit. Elasticity estimates are derived using an activity-based travel model for the state of California and broadly representative of the US. The VISION model is used to forecast changes in technology and fuel options that are currently forecast to occur in the US for the period 2000–2040, providing a life-cycle GHG forecast for the road transportation sector. Results suggest that aggressive policy action is required, especially pricing policies, but also more on the technology side, especially increases in the carbon efficiency of medium and heavy-duty vehicles. - Highlights: • Travel elasticities are calculated for policy scenarios using an activity-based travel model. • These elasticities are used to estimate changes in total life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions. • Current technology and fuel policy and the strongest behavioral policy will not meet targets. • Heavy and medium-duty trucks need more aggressive technology and fuel options

Effect of structure height on the drag reduction performance using rotating disk apparatus

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rashed, Musaab K; Salleh, Mohamad Amran Mohd; Ismail, M Halim Shah [Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia (Malaysia); Abdulbari, Hayder A, E-mail: hayder.bari@gmail.com [Center of Excellence for Advanced Research in Fluid Flow, Universiti Malaysia Pahang (Malaysia)

2017-02-15

The drag reduction characteristics in a rotating disk apparatus were investigated by using structured disks with different riblet types and dimensions. Two disk types were fabricated with right angle triangular (RAT) grooves and space v-shape (SV) grooves, with six dimensions for each type. A high-accuracy rotating disk apparatus was fabricated and then used to investigate the turbulent drag reduction characterization of the disk in diesel fuel. In this work, the effects of several parameters are investigated; riblet types, riblet dimensions, and rotational disk speed (rpm) on the drag reduction performance. It was found that the surface structure of the disk reduced the drag, this was clearly seen from the comparison of torque values of smooth and structured disks. Drag reduction for structured disks was higher than that for smooth disks, and SV-grooves showed better drag reduction performance than RAT-grooves. In addition, it was observed that the drag reduction performance increased with decreasing groove height for both groove types. The maximum drag reduction achieved in this study was 37.368% for SV-groove at 1000 rpm, compared with 30% for RAT-groove, at the same rotational speed. (paper)

How long do centenarians survive? Life expectancy and maximum lifespan.

Science.gov (United States)

Modig, K; Andersson, T; Vaupel, J; Rau, R; Ahlbom, A

2017-08-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the pattern of mortality above the age of 100 years. In particular, we aimed to examine whether Scandinavian data support the theory that mortality reaches a plateau at particularly old ages. Whether the maximum length of life increases with time was also investigated. The analyses were based on individual level data on all Swedish and Danish centenarians born from 1870 to 1901; in total 3006 men and 10 963 women were included. Birth cohort-specific probabilities of dying were calculated. Exact ages were used for calculations of maximum length of life. Whether maximum age changed over time was analysed taking into account increases in cohort size. The results confirm that there has not been any improvement in mortality amongst centenarians in the past 30 years and that the current rise in life expectancy is driven by reductions in mortality below the age of 100 years. The death risks seem to reach a plateau of around 50% at the age 103 years for men and 107 years for women. Despite the rising life expectancy, the maximum age does not appear to increase, in particular after accounting for the increasing number of individuals of advanced age. Mortality amongst centenarians is not changing despite improvements at younger ages. An extension of the maximum lifespan and a sizeable extension of life expectancy both require reductions in mortality above the age of 100 years. © 2017 The Association for the Publication of the Journal of Internal Medicine.

Green Infrastructure Simulation and Optimization to Achieve Combined Sewer Overflow Reductions in Philadelphia's Mill Creek Sewershed

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, J. S.; McGarity, A. E.

2017-12-01

The ability for mass deployment of green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) to intercept significant amounts of urban runoff has the potential to reduce the frequency of a city's combined sewer overflows (CSOs). This study was performed to aid in the Overbrook Environmental Education Center's vision of applying this concept to create a Green Commercial Corridor in Philadelphia's Overbrook Neighborhood, which lies in the Mill Creek Sewershed. In an attempt to further implement physical and social reality into previous work using simulation-optimization techniques to produce GSI deployment strategies (McGarity, et al., 2016), this study's models incorporated land use types and a specific neighborhood in the sewershed. The low impact development (LID) feature in EPA's Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) was used to simulate various geographic configurations of GSI in Overbrook. The results from these simulations were used to obtain formulas describing the annual CSO reduction in the sewershed based on the deployed GSI practices. These non-linear hydrologic response formulas were then implemented into the Storm Water Investment Strategy Evaluation (StormWISE) model (McGarity, 2012), a constrained optimization model used to develop optimal stormwater management practices on the watershed scale. By saturating the avenue with GSI, not only will CSOs from the sewershed into the Schuylkill River be reduced, but ancillary social and economic benefits of GSI will also be achieved. The effectiveness of these ancillary benefits changes based on the type of GSI practice and the type of land use in which the GSI is implemented. Thus, the simulation and optimization processes were repeated while delimiting GSI deployment by land use (residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation). The results give a GSI deployment strategy that achieves desired annual CSO reductions at a minimum cost based on the locations of tree trenches, rain gardens, and rain barrels in specified land

Determination of the wind power systems load to achieve operation in the maximum energy area

Science.gov (United States)

Chioncel, C. P.; Tirian, G. O.; Spunei, E.; Gillich, N.

2018-01-01

This paper analyses the operation of the wind turbine, WT, in the maximum power point, MPP, by linking the load of the Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator, PMSG, with the wind speed value. The load control methods at wind power systems aiming an optimum performance in terms of energy are based on the fact that the energy captured by the wind turbine significantly depends on the mechanical angular speed of the wind turbine. The presented control method consists in determining the optimal mechanical angular speed, ωOPTIM, using an auxiliary low power wind turbine, WTAUX, operating without load, at maximum angular velocity, ωMAX. The method relies on the fact that the ratio ωOPTIM/ωMAX has a constant value for a given wind turbine and does not depend on the time variation of the wind speed values.

Dose reduction in CT by on-line tube current control: principles and validation on phantoms and cadavers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kalender, W.A.; Wolf, H.; Suess, C.; Gies, M.; Greess, H.; Bautz, W.A.

1999-01-01

We investigated approaches to reducing the dose in CT without impairing image quality. Dose can be reduced for non-circular object cross-sections without a significant increase in noise if X-ray tube current is reduced at angular tube positions where the X-ray attenuation by the patients is small. We investigated different schemes of current modulation during tube rotation by simulation and phantom measurements. Both pre-programmed sinusoidal modulation functions and attenuation-based on-line control of the tube current were evaluated. All relevant scan parameters were varied, including constraints such as the maximum modulation amplitude. A circular, an elliptical and two oval water phantoms were used. Results were validated on six cadavers. Dose reduction of 10-45 % was obtained both in simulations and in measurements for the different non-circular phantom geometries and current modulation algorithms without an increase in pixel noise values. On-line attenuation-based control yielded higher reductions than modulation by a sinusoidal curve. The maximal dose reduction predicted by simulations could not be achieved due to limits in the modulation amplitude. In cadaver studies, a reduction of typically 20-40 % was achieved for the body and about 10 % for the head. Variations of our technique are possible; a slight increase in nominal tube current for high-attenuation projections combined with attenuation-based current modulation still yields significant dose reduction, but also a reduction in the structured noise that may obscure diagnostic details. We conclude that a significant reduction in dose can be achieved by tube current modulation without compromising image quality. Attenuation-based on-line control and a modulation amplitude of at least 90 % should be employed. (orig.)

Reduction of thyroid volume following radioiodine therapy for functional autonomy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luster, M.; Jacob, M.; Thelen, M.H.; Michalowski, U.; Deutsch, U.; Reiners, C.

1995-01-01

In a retrospective study we evaluated the data of 112 patients who underwent radioiodine treatment for functional autonomy of the thyroid at Essen University Hospital from 1988 to 1993. Therapeutic activities of radioiodine were administered after individual determination of activity for intended radiation doses (150-300 Gy) taking into consideration autonomously functioning volume, maximum uptake, and effective half-life. The achieved dose was calculated by means of measurement of the radioiodine kinetics during therapy. Depending on the type of autonomous function of the thyroid (solitary autonomously functioning nodule, multiple autonomously functioning nodules, autonomously functioning thyroid tissue) volume reductions between 39 and 46% were found approximately 6 months after treatment. (orig.) [de

Parametric optimization of thermoelectric elements footprint for maximum power generation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rezania, A.; Rosendahl, Lasse; Yin, Hao

2014-01-01

The development studies in thermoelectric generator (TEG) systems are mostly disconnected to parametric optimization of the module components. In this study, optimum footprint ratio of n- and p-type thermoelectric (TE) elements is explored to achieve maximum power generation, maximum cost......-performance, and variation of efficiency in the uni-couple over a wide range of the heat transfer coefficient on the cold junction. The three-dimensional (3D) governing equations of the thermoelectricity and the heat transfer are solved using the finite element method (FEM) for temperature dependent properties of TE...... materials. The results, which are in good agreement with the previous computational studies, show that the maximum power generation and the maximum cost-performance in the module occur at An/Ap

Automatic maximum entropy spectral reconstruction in NMR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mobli, Mehdi; Maciejewski, Mark W.; Gryk, Michael R.; Hoch, Jeffrey C.

2007-01-01

Developments in superconducting magnets, cryogenic probes, isotope labeling strategies, and sophisticated pulse sequences together have enabled the application, in principle, of high-resolution NMR spectroscopy to biomolecular systems approaching 1 megadalton. In practice, however, conventional approaches to NMR that utilize the fast Fourier transform, which require data collected at uniform time intervals, result in prohibitively lengthy data collection times in order to achieve the full resolution afforded by high field magnets. A variety of approaches that involve nonuniform sampling have been proposed, each utilizing a non-Fourier method of spectrum analysis. A very general non-Fourier method that is capable of utilizing data collected using any of the proposed nonuniform sampling strategies is maximum entropy reconstruction. A limiting factor in the adoption of maximum entropy reconstruction in NMR has been the need to specify non-intuitive parameters. Here we describe a fully automated system for maximum entropy reconstruction that requires no user-specified parameters. A web-accessible script generator provides the user interface to the system

Reduction of excess sludge production in sequencing batch reactor through incorporation of chlorine dioxide oxidation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Guanghua; Sui Jun; Shen Huishan; Liang Shukun; He Xiangming; Zhang Minju; Xie Yizhong; Li Lingyun; Hu Yongyou

2011-01-01

In this study, chlorine dioxide (ClO 2 ) instead of chlorine (Cl 2 ) was proposed to minimize the formation of chlorine-based by-products and was incorporated into a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) for excess sludge reduction. The results showed that the sludge disintegrability of ClO 2 was excellent. The waste activated sludge at an initial concentration of 15 g MLSS/L was rapidly reduced by 36% using ClO 2 doses of 10 mg ClO 2 /g dry sludge which was much lower than that obtained using Cl 2 based on similar sludge reduction efficiency. Maximum sludge disintegration was achieved at 10 mg ClO 2 /g dry sludge for 40 min. ClO 2 oxidation can be successfully incorporated into a SBR for excess sludge reduction without significantly harming the bioreactor performance. The incorporation of ClO 2 oxidation resulted in a 58% reduction in excess sludge production, and the quality of the effluent was not significantly affected.

Slip resistance of winter footwear on snow and ice measured using maximum achievable incline.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Jennifer; Shaw, Robert; Novak, Alison; Li, Yue; Ormerod, Marcus; Newton, Rita; Dutta, Tilak; Fernie, Geoff

2016-05-01

Protective footwear is necessary for preventing injurious slips and falls in winter conditions. Valid methods for assessing footwear slip resistance on winter surfaces are needed in order to evaluate footwear and outsole designs. The purpose of this study was to utilise a method of testing winter footwear that was ecologically valid in terms of involving actual human testers walking on realistic winter surfaces to produce objective measures of slip resistance. During the experiment, eight participants tested six styles of footwear on wet ice, on dry ice, and on dry ice after walking over soft snow. Slip resistance was measured by determining the maximum incline angles participants were able to walk up and down in each footwear-surface combination. The results indicated that testing on a variety of surfaces is necessary for establishing winter footwear performance and that standard mechanical bench tests for footwear slip resistance do not adequately reflect actual performance. Practitioner Summary: Existing standardised methods for measuring footwear slip resistance lack validation on winter surfaces. By determining the maximum inclines participants could walk up and down slopes of wet ice, dry ice, and ice with snow, in a range of footwear, an ecologically valid test for measuring winter footwear performance was established.

SIMULATION OF NEW SIMPLE FUZZY LOGIC MAXIMUM POWER ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2010-06-30

Jun 30, 2010 ... Basic structure photovoltaic system Solar array mathematic ... The equivalent circuit model of a solar cell consists of a current generator and a diode .... control of boost converter (tracker) such that maximum power is achieved at the output of the solar panel. Fig.11. The membership function of input. Fig.12.

Assessment of maximum available work of a hydrogen fueled compression ignition engine using exergy analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chintala, Venkateswarlu; Subramanian, K.A.

2014-01-01

This work is aimed at study of maximum available work and irreversibility (mixing, combustion, unburned, and friction) of a dual-fuel diesel engine (H 2 (hydrogen)–diesel) using exergy analysis. The maximum available work increased with H 2 addition due to reduction in irreversibility of combustion because of less entropy generation. The irreversibility of unburned fuel with the H 2 fuel also decreased due to the engine combustion with high temperature whereas there is no effect of H 2 on mixing and friction irreversibility. The maximum available work of the diesel engine at rated load increased from 29% with conventional base mode (without H 2 ) to 31.7% with dual-fuel mode (18% H 2 energy share) whereas total irreversibility of the engine decreased drastically from 41.2% to 39.3%. The energy efficiency of the engine with H 2 increased about 10% with 36% reduction in CO 2 emission. The developed methodology could also be applicable to find the effect and scope of different technologies including exhaust gas recirculation and turbo charging on maximum available work and energy efficiency of diesel engines. - Highlights: • Energy efficiency of diesel engine increases with hydrogen under dual-fuel mode. • Maximum available work of the engine increases significantly with hydrogen. • Combustion and unburned fuel irreversibility decrease with hydrogen. • No significant effect of hydrogen on mixing and friction irreversibility. • Reduction in CO 2 emission along with HC, CO and smoke emissions

Efficiency potentials of heat pumps with combined heat and power. For maximum reduction of CO2 emissions and for electricity generation from fossil fuels with CO2 reduction in Switzerland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rognon, F.

2005-06-01

This comprehensive report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) takes a look at how the efficiency potential of heat pumps together with combined heat and power systems can help provide a maximum reduction of CO 2 emissions and provide electricity generation from fossil fuel in Switzerland together with reductions in CO 2 emissions. In Switzerland, approximately 80% of the low-temperature heat required for space-heating and for the heating-up of hot water is produced by burning combustibles. Around a million gas and oil boilers were in use in Switzerland in 2000, and these accounted for approximately half the country's 41.1 million tonnes of CO 2 emissions. The authors state that there is a more efficient solution with lower CO 2 emissions: the heat pump. With the enormous potential of our environment it would be possible to replace half the total number of boilers in use today with heat pumps. This would be equivalent to 90 PJ p.a. of useful heat, or 500,000 systems. The power source for heat pumps should come from the substitution of electric heating systems (electric resistor-based systems) and from the replacement of boilers. This should be done by using combined heat and power systems with full heat utilisation. This means, according to the authors, that the entire required power source can be provided without the need to construct new electricity production plants. The paper examines and discusses the theoretical, technical, market and realisable potentials

Outage reduction of Hamaoka NPS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hida, Shigeru; Anma, Minoru

1999-01-01

In the Hamaoka nuclear power plant, we have worked on the outage reduction since 1993. In those days, the outage length in Hamaoka was 80 days or more, and was largely far apart from excellent results of European and American plants about the 30days. A concrete strategy to achieve the reduction process is the extension of working hours, the changing work schedule control unit for every hour, the equipment improvements, and the improvements of work environments, etc. We executed them one by one reflecting results. As a result, we achieved the outage for 57 days in 1995. Starting from this, we acquired the further outage reduction one by one and achieved the outage for 38 days in 1997 while maintaining safety and reliability of the plant. We advance these strategies further and we will aim at the achievement of the 30·35 days outage in the future. (author)

Maximum power point tracking: a cost saving necessity in solar energy systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Enslin, J H.R. [Stellenbosch Univ. (South Africa). Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

1992-12-01

A well engineered renewable remote energy system, utilizing the principal of Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) can improve cost effectiveness, has a higher reliability and can improve the quality of life in remote areas. A high-efficient power electronic converter, for converting the output voltage of a solar panel, or wind generator, to the required DC battery bus voltage has been realized. The converter is controlled to track the maximum power point of the input source under varying input and output parameters. Maximum power point tracking for relative small systems is achieved by maximization of the output current in a battery charging regulator, using an optimized hill-climbing, inexpensive microprocessor based algorithm. Through practical field measurements it is shown that a minimum input source saving of between 15 and 25% on 3-5 kWh/day systems can easily be achieved. A total cost saving of at least 10-15% on the capital cost of these systems are achievable for relative small rating Remote Area Power Supply (RAPS) systems. The advantages at large temperature variations and high power rated systems are much higher. Other advantages include optimal sizing and system monitor and control. (author).

Analysis and application of a novel three-dimensional energy-saving and emission-reduction dynamic evolution system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fang, Guochang; Tian, Lixin; Sun, Mei; Fu, Min

2012-01-01

A novel three-dimensional energy-saving and emission-reduction chaotic system is proposed, which has not yet been reported in present literature. The system is established in accordance with the complicated relationship between energy-saving and emission-reduction, carbon emissions and economic growth. The dynamic behavior of the system is analyzed by means of Lyapunov exponents and bifurcation diagrams. With undetermined coefficient method, expressions of homoclinic orbits of the system are obtained. The Šilnikov theorem guarantees that the system has Smale horseshoes and the horseshoes chaos. Artificial neural network (ANN) is used to identify the quantitative coefficients in the simulation models according to the statistical data of China, and an empirical study of the real system is carried out with the results in perfect agreement with actual situation. It is found that the sooner and more perfect energy-saving and emission-reduction is started, the easier and sooner the maximum of the carbon emissions will be achieved so as to reduce carbon emissions and energy intensity. Numerical simulations are presented to demonstrate the results. -- Highlights: ► Use non-linear dynamical method to model the energy-saving and emission-reduction system. ► The energy-saving and emission-reduction attractor is obtained. ► Identify the unknown parameters of the energy-saving and emission-reduction system based on the statistical data. ► Evaluating the achievements of energy-saving and emission-reduction by the time-varying energy intensity calculation formula. ► Some statistical results based on the statistical data in China are presented, which are vivid and adherent to the reality.

Vivianite Precipitation and Phosphate Sorption following Iron Reduction in Anoxic Soils

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heiberg, Lisa; Bender Koch, Christian; Kjærgaard, Charlotte

2012-01-01

, the Fe(II) production reached its maximum and 34% of the citrate–bicarbonate–dithionite extractable Fe (FeCBD) was reduced to Fe(II) in the sandy soil. The peat soil showed a much faster reduction of Fe(III) and the maximum reduction of 89% of FeCBD was reached after 200 d. Neoformation...

A quantitative comparison of noise reduction across five commercial (hybrid and model-based) iterative reconstruction techniques: an anthropomorphic phantom study.

Science.gov (United States)

Patino, Manuel; Fuentes, Jorge M; Hayano, Koichi; Kambadakone, Avinash R; Uyeda, Jennifer W; Sahani, Dushyant V

2015-02-01

OBJECTIVE. The objective of our study was to compare the performance of three hybrid iterative reconstruction techniques (IRTs) (ASiR, iDose4, SAFIRE) and their respective strengths for image noise reduction on low-dose CT examinations using filtered back projection (FBP) as the standard reference. Also, we compared the performance of these three hybrid IRTs with two model-based IRTs (Veo and IMR) for image noise reduction on low-dose examinations. MATERIALS AND METHODS. An anthropomorphic abdomen phantom was scanned at 100 and 120 kVp and different tube current-exposure time products (25-100 mAs) on three CT systems (for ASiR and Veo, Discovery CT750 HD; for iDose4 and IMR, Brilliance iCT; and for SAFIRE, Somatom Definition Flash). Images were reconstructed using FBP and using IRTs at various strengths. Nine noise measurements (mean ROI size, 423 mm(2)) on extracolonic fat for the different strengths of IRTs were recorded and compared with FBP using ANOVA. Radiation dose, which was measured as the volume CT dose index and dose-length product, was also compared. RESULTS. There were no significant differences in radiation dose and image noise among the scanners when FBP was used (p > 0.05). Gradual image noise reduction was observed with each increasing increment of hybrid IRT strength, with a maximum noise suppression of approximately 50% (48.2-53.9%). Similar noise reduction was achieved on the scanners by applying specific hybrid IRT strengths. Maximum noise reduction was higher on model-based IRTs (68.3-81.1%) than hybrid IRTs (48.2-53.9%) (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION. When constant scanning parameters are used, radiation dose and image noise on FBP are similar for CT scanners made by different manufacturers. Significant image noise reduction is achieved on low-dose CT examinations rendered with IRTs. The image noise on various scanners can be matched by applying specific hybrid IRT strengths. Model-based IRTs attain substantially higher noise reduction than hybrid

Drag reduction by natural polymeric additives in PMDS microchannel: Effect of types of additives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ling Fiona W.M.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Drag reduction technology was used in medical applications to enhance the blood flow in semiclogged blood streams which can be an alternative treatment for atherosclerosis. In this present study, natural polymeric drag reducing additives (DRA was introduced to replace synthetic polymer which has the possibility of bringing side effects to human health. Three different sources, namely okra, aloe vera and hibiscus were utilized to extract the natural polymeric additives which were then tested in custom made microchannel simulating human heart blood vessels. The performance of different types of additives was evaluated using pressure measurements. The maximum drag reduction up to 63.48% is achieved using 300 ppm of hibiscus mucilage at operating pressure of 50 mbar. In this present work, hibiscus showed the best drag reduction performance, giving the highest %FI in most of the cases. This experimental results proved that these natural polymeric additives could be utilized as DRA in enhancing the blood flow in semiclogged blood streams.

Cocatalysts in Semiconductor-based Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction: Achievements, Challenges, and Opportunities.

Science.gov (United States)

Ran, Jingrun; Jaroniec, Mietek; Qiao, Shi-Zhang

2018-02-01

Ever-increasing fossil-fuel combustion along with massive CO 2 emissions has aroused a global energy crisis and climate change. Photocatalytic CO 2 reduction represents a promising strategy for clean, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly conversion of CO 2 into hydrocarbon fuels by utilizing solar energy. This strategy combines the reductive half-reaction of CO 2 conversion with an oxidative half reaction, e.g., H 2 O oxidation, to create a carbon-neutral cycle, presenting a viable solution to global energy and environmental problems. There are three pivotal processes in photocatalytic CO 2 conversion: (i) solar-light absorption, (ii) charge separation/migration, and (iii) catalytic CO 2 reduction and H 2 O oxidation. While significant progress is made in optimizing the first two processes, much less research is conducted toward enhancing the efficiency of the third step, which requires the presence of cocatalysts. In general, cocatalysts play four important roles: (i) boosting charge separation/transfer, (ii) improving the activity and selectivity of CO 2 reduction, (iii) enhancing the stability of photocatalysts, and (iv) suppressing side or back reactions. Herein, for the first time, all the developed CO 2 -reduction cocatalysts for semiconductor-based photocatalytic CO 2 conversion are summarized, and their functions and mechanisms are discussed. Finally, perspectives in this emerging area are provided. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Reduction of MRI acoustic noise achieved by manipulation of scan parameters – A study using veterinary MR sequences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baker, Martin A.

2013-01-01

Sound pressure levels were measured within an MR scan room for a range of sequences employed in veterinary brain scanning, using a test phantom in an extremity coil. Variation of TR and TE, and use of a quieter gradient mode (‘whisper’ mode) were evaluated to determine their effect on sound pressure levels (SPLs). Use of a human head coil and a human brain sequence was also evaluated. Significant differences in SPL were achieved for T2, T1, T2* gradient echo and VIBE sequences by varying TR or TE, or by selecting the ‘whisper’ gradient mode. An appreciable reduction was achieved for the FLAIR sequence. Noise levels were not affected when a head coil was used in place of an extremity coil. Due to sequence parameters employed, veterinary patients and anaesthetists may be exposed to higher sound levels than those experienced in human MR examinations. The techniques described are particularly valuable in small animal MR scanning where ear protection is not routinely provided for the patient.

Aerojet Energy Conversion Company mobile volume reduction system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, K.R.

1984-01-01

Over the past few years, rapidly increasing costs for the disposal of low level radioactive waste (LLW) have generated the need for utilities to volume-reduce their LLW prior to shipment and burial. Incineration systems have been selected by several utilities to fulfill this need for maximum volume reduction. Until recently, all of the incineration systems selected by utilities were designed to be housed and operated in a facility erected by the utility. Now, however, lack of capital and rising design/erection costs are causing utilities to reevaluate their plans for purchasing incineration systems to process their LLW. The result is a growing demand for incineration services. Once again, Commonwealth Edison Company (Com-Ed) is leading the industry with an ongoing program to utilize incineration services provided by Aerojet Energy Conversion Company (AECC) for the Dresden Quad Cities, LaSalle, and Zion Nuclear Stations. At the stations, combustible dry active waste and contaminated oil will be processed in a Mobile Volume Reduction System (MVRS) designed and fabricated by AECC. The MVRS is a totally self-contained system consisting of a controlled-air incinerator and a liquid offgas cleanup system. No buildings are required to house the system, and the MVRS achieves volume reduction factors similar to systems currently available for permanent in-plant installation. The result is an option for the utility having the benefits of volume reduction without the capital commitment normally required by the utility

Reduction of SO sub 2 emission from a fluidized-bed under staged combustion by coarse limestone

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khan, W.Z.; Gibbbs, B.M.

1998-01-01

A study was performed to investigate the effect of course limestone on the reduction of SO sub 2 emission from a fluidized-bed under staged combustion. The limestone of 1.2-2.5 mm size was premixed with fine coal of 1-3 mm size and fed under bed. The staging levels, bed height, and Ca/S ratio was fixed at 70:30, 30 cm and 3:1, respectively. A maximum of around 50% reduction in SO sub 2 emissions was achieved at both excess air of 20 and 40% and at 830 deg. C. bed temperature. The SO sub 2 emissions were very sensitive to bed temperature. The course limestone was found better in desulfurization efficiency at lower temperature than fine limestone. (author)

Accurate Maximum Power Tracking in Photovoltaic Systems Affected by Partial Shading

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pierluigi Guerriero

2015-01-01

Full Text Available A maximum power tracking algorithm exploiting operating point information gained on individual solar panels is presented. The proposed algorithm recognizes the presence of multiple local maxima in the power voltage curve of a shaded solar field and evaluates the coordinated of the absolute maximum. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is evidenced by means of circuit level simulation and experimental results. Experiments evidenced that, in comparison with a standard perturb and observe algorithm, we achieve faster convergence in normal operating conditions (when the solar field is uniformly illuminated and we accurately locate the absolute maximum power point in partial shading conditions, thus avoiding the convergence on local maxima.

Single-crystal-material-based induced-shear actuation for vibration reduction of helicopters with composite rotor system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pawar, Prashant M; Jung, Sung Nam

2008-01-01

In this study, an assessment is made for the helicopter vibration reduction of composite rotor blades using an active twist control concept. Special focus is given to the feasibility of implementing the benefits of the shear actuation mechanism along with elastic couplings of composite blades for achieving maximum vibration reduction. The governing equations of motion for composite rotor blades with surface bonded piezoceramic actuators are obtained using Hamilton's principle. The equations are then solved for dynamic response using finite element discretization in the spatial and time domains. A time domain unsteady aerodynamic theory with free wake model is used to obtain the airloads. A newly developed single-crystal piezoceramic material is introduced as an actuator material to exploit its superior shear actuation authority. Seven rotor blades with different elastic couplings representing stiffness properties similar to stiff-in-plane rotor blades are used to investigate the hub vibration characteristics. The rotor blades are modeled as a box beam with actuator layers bonded on the outer surface of the top and bottom of the box section. Numerical results show that a notable vibration reduction can be achieved for all the combinations of composite rotor blades. This investigation also brings out the effect of different elastic couplings on various vibration-reduction-related parameters which could be useful for the optimal design of composite helicopter blades

Single-crystal-material-based induced-shear actuation for vibration reduction of helicopters with composite rotor system

Science.gov (United States)

Pawar, Prashant M.; Jung, Sung Nam

2008-12-01

In this study, an assessment is made for the helicopter vibration reduction of composite rotor blades using an active twist control concept. Special focus is given to the feasibility of implementing the benefits of the shear actuation mechanism along with elastic couplings of composite blades for achieving maximum vibration reduction. The governing equations of motion for composite rotor blades with surface bonded piezoceramic actuators are obtained using Hamilton's principle. The equations are then solved for dynamic response using finite element discretization in the spatial and time domains. A time domain unsteady aerodynamic theory with free wake model is used to obtain the airloads. A newly developed single-crystal piezoceramic material is introduced as an actuator material to exploit its superior shear actuation authority. Seven rotor blades with different elastic couplings representing stiffness properties similar to stiff-in-plane rotor blades are used to investigate the hub vibration characteristics. The rotor blades are modeled as a box beam with actuator layers bonded on the outer surface of the top and bottom of the box section. Numerical results show that a notable vibration reduction can be achieved for all the combinations of composite rotor blades. This investigation also brings out the effect of different elastic couplings on various vibration-reduction-related parameters which could be useful for the optimal design of composite helicopter blades.

Portosystemic pressure reduction achieved with TIPPS and impact of portosystemic collaterals for the prediction of the portosystemic-pressure gradient in cirrhotic patients

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grözinger, Gerd, E-mail: gerd.groezinger@med.uni-tuebingen.de [Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Department of Radiology, University of Tübingen (Germany); Wiesinger, Benjamin; Schmehl, Jörg; Kramer, Ulrich [Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Department of Radiology, University of Tübingen (Germany); Mehra, Tarun [Department of Dermatology, University of Tübingen (Germany); Grosse, Ulrich; König, Claudius [Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Department of Radiology, University of Tübingen (Germany)

2013-12-01

Purpose: The portosystemic pressure gradient is an important factor defining prognosis in hepatic disease. However, noninvasive prediction of the gradient and the possible reduction by establishment of a TIPSS is challenging. A cohort of patients receiving TIPSS was evaluated with regard to imaging features of collaterals in cross-sectional imaging and the achievable reduction of the pressure gradient by establishment of a TIPSS. Methods: In this study 70 consecutive patients with cirrhotic liver disease were retrospectively evaluated. Patients received either CT or MR imaging before invasive pressure measurement during TIPSS procedure. Images were evaluated with regard to esophageal and fundus varices, splenorenal collaterals, short gastric vein and paraumbilical vein. Results were correlated with Child stage, portosystemic pressure gradient and post-TIPSS reduction of the pressure gradient. Results: In 55 of the 70 patients TIPSS reduced the pressure gradient to less than 12 mmHg. The pre-interventional pressure and the pressure reduction were not significantly different between Child stages. Imaging features of varices and portosystemic collaterals did not show significant differences. The only parameter with a significant predictive value for the reduction of the pressure gradient was the pre-TIPSS pressure gradient (r = 0.8, p < 0.001). Conclusions: TIPSS allows a reliable reduction of the pressure gradient even at high pre-interventional pressure levels and a high collateral presence. In patients receiving TIPSS the presence and the characteristics of the collateral vessels seem to be too variable to draw reliable conclusions concerning the portosystemic pressure gradient.

Portosystemic pressure reduction achieved with TIPPS and impact of portosystemic collaterals for the prediction of the portosystemic-pressure gradient in cirrhotic patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grözinger, Gerd; Wiesinger, Benjamin; Schmehl, Jörg; Kramer, Ulrich; Mehra, Tarun; Grosse, Ulrich; König, Claudius

2013-01-01

Purpose: The portosystemic pressure gradient is an important factor defining prognosis in hepatic disease. However, noninvasive prediction of the gradient and the possible reduction by establishment of a TIPSS is challenging. A cohort of patients receiving TIPSS was evaluated with regard to imaging features of collaterals in cross-sectional imaging and the achievable reduction of the pressure gradient by establishment of a TIPSS. Methods: In this study 70 consecutive patients with cirrhotic liver disease were retrospectively evaluated. Patients received either CT or MR imaging before invasive pressure measurement during TIPSS procedure. Images were evaluated with regard to esophageal and fundus varices, splenorenal collaterals, short gastric vein and paraumbilical vein. Results were correlated with Child stage, portosystemic pressure gradient and post-TIPSS reduction of the pressure gradient. Results: In 55 of the 70 patients TIPSS reduced the pressure gradient to less than 12 mmHg. The pre-interventional pressure and the pressure reduction were not significantly different between Child stages. Imaging features of varices and portosystemic collaterals did not show significant differences. The only parameter with a significant predictive value for the reduction of the pressure gradient was the pre-TIPSS pressure gradient (r = 0.8, p < 0.001). Conclusions: TIPSS allows a reliable reduction of the pressure gradient even at high pre-interventional pressure levels and a high collateral presence. In patients receiving TIPSS the presence and the characteristics of the collateral vessels seem to be too variable to draw reliable conclusions concerning the portosystemic pressure gradient

The use of radiological guidelines to achieve a sustained reduction in the number of radiographic examinations of the cervical spine, lumbar spine and knees performed for GPs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glaves, J.

2005-01-01

AIM: To determine if the use of request guidelines can achieve a sustained reduction in the number of radiographic examinations of the cervical spine, lumbar spine and knee joints performed for general practitioners (GPs). METHODS: GPs referring to three community hospitals and a district general hospital were circulated with referral guidelines for radiography of the cervical spine, lumbar spine and knee, and all requests for these three examinations were checked. Requests that did not fit the guidelines were returned to the GP with an explanatory letter and a further copy of the guidelines. Where applicable, a large-joint replacement algorithm was also enclosed. If the GP maintained the opinion that the examination was indicated, she or he had the option of supplying further justifying information in writing or speaking to a consultant radiologist. RESULTS: Overall the number of radiographic examinations fell by 68% in the first year, achieving a 79% reduction in the second year. For knees, lumbar spine and cervical spine radiographs the total reductions were 77%, 78% and 86%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The use of referral guidelines, reinforced by request checking and clinical management algorithms, can produce a dramatic and sustained reduction in the number of radiographs of the cervical spine, lumbar spine and knees performed for GPs

Technical analysis on energy conservation and emission reduction of new energy electric vehicle in China

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Chaocheng

2017-10-01

With the global environmental problems and energy crisis continuously emerging, all countries are taking active measures to achieve the benign development of domestic economy and society. Vehicle, as a large oil consumption and emissions of carbon dioxide, nend to be a revolutionary change. Therefore, the development of new energy electric vehicle has become the consensus of the world. On this background, this paper has sorted out the current state and the related development planning of new energy electric vehicles in different countries to predict the car ownership of the new energy electric vehicles using elastic coefficient method and setting different path of development, conclude that under the consideration of energy conservation and emissions reduction factors, our country should mainly promote the BEV to realize the maximum energy conservation and emissions reduction.

Reduction of excess sludge production in sequencing batch reactor through incorporation of chlorine dioxide oxidation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang Guanghua [Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Ecological Remediation for Industrial Agglomeration area, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006 (China); Guangzhou municipal engineering design and research institute, Guangzhou, 510060 (China); Sui Jun [Guangzhou municipal engineering design and research institute, Guangzhou, 510060 (China); Shen Huishan; Liang Shukun [Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Ecological Remediation for Industrial Agglomeration area, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006 (China); He Xiangming; Zhang Minju; Xie Yizhong; Li Lingyun [Nanhai Limited Liability Development Company, Foshan, 528200 (China); Hu Yongyou, E-mail: ppyyhu@scut.edu.cn [Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Ecological Remediation for Industrial Agglomeration area, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006 (China) and State Key Lab of Pulp and Paper Engineering, College of Light Industry and Food Science, South China University of Technology; Guangzhou, 510640 (China)

2011-08-15

In this study, chlorine dioxide (ClO{sub 2}) instead of chlorine (Cl{sub 2}) was proposed to minimize the formation of chlorine-based by-products and was incorporated into a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) for excess sludge reduction. The results showed that the sludge disintegrability of ClO{sub 2} was excellent. The waste activated sludge at an initial concentration of 15 g MLSS/L was rapidly reduced by 36% using ClO{sub 2} doses of 10 mg ClO{sub 2}/g dry sludge which was much lower than that obtained using Cl{sub 2} based on similar sludge reduction efficiency. Maximum sludge disintegration was achieved at 10 mg ClO{sub 2}/g dry sludge for 40 min. ClO{sub 2} oxidation can be successfully incorporated into a SBR for excess sludge reduction without significantly harming the bioreactor performance. The incorporation of ClO{sub 2} oxidation resulted in a 58% reduction in excess sludge production, and the quality of the effluent was not significantly affected.

Vietnam; Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper

OpenAIRE

International Monetary Fund

2004-01-01

This paper assesses the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper of Vietnam, known as the Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy (CPRGS). It is an action program to achieve economic growth and poverty reduction objectives. This paper reviews the objectives and tasks of socio-economic development and poverty reduction. The government of Vietnam takes poverty reduction as a cutting-through objective in the process of country socio-economic development and declares its commitment to impleme...

Report of the working group on achieving a fourfold reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in France by 2050

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-01-01

Achieving a fourfold reduction of in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 is the ambitious and voluntary objective for France that addresses a combination of many different aspects (technical, technological, economic, social) against a backdrop of important issues and choices for public policy-makers. This document is the bilingual version of the factor 4 group report. It discusses the Factor 4 objectives, the different proposed scenario and the main lessons learned, the strategies to support the Factor 4 objectives (fostering changes in behavior and defining the role of public policies), the Factor 4 objective in international and european contexts (experience aboard, strategic behavior, constraints and opportunities, particularly in europe) and recommendations. (A.L.B.)

The Impacts of Budget Reductions on Indiana's Public Schools: The Impact of Budget Changes on Student Achievement, Personnel, and Class Size for Public School Corporations in the State of Indiana

Science.gov (United States)

Jarman, Del W.; Boyland, Lori G.

2011-01-01

In recent years, economic downturn and changes to Indiana's school funding have resulted in significant financial reductions in General Fund allocations for many of Indiana's public school corporations. The main purpose of this statewide study is to examine the possible impacts of these budget reductions on class size and student achievement. This…

The BOS-X approach: achieving drastic cost reduction in CPV through holistic power plant level innovation

Science.gov (United States)

Plesniak, A.; Garboushian, V.

2012-10-01

In 2011, the Amonix Advanced Technology Group was awarded DOE SunShot funding in the amount of 4.5M to design a new Balance of System (BOS) architecture utilizing Amonix MegaModules™ focused on reaching the SunShot goal of 0.06-$0.08/kWhr LCOE. The project proposal presented a comprehensive re-evaluation of the cost components of a utility scale CPV plant and identified critical areas of focus where innovation is needed to achieve cost reduction. As the world's premier manufacturer and most experienced installer of CPV power plants, Amonix is uniquely qualified to lead a rethinking of BOS architecture for CPV. The presentation will focus on the structure of the BOS-X approach, which looks for the next wave of cost reduction in CPV through evaluation of non-module subsystems and the interaction between subsystems during the lifecycle of a solar power plant. Innovation around nonmodule components is minimal to date because CPV companies are just now getting enough practice through completion of large projects to create ideas and tests on how to improve baseline designs and processes. As CPV companies increase their installed capacity, they can utilize an approach similar to the methodology of BOS-X to increase the competitiveness of their product. Through partnership with DOE, this holistic approach is expected to define a path for CPV well aligned with the goals of the SunShot Initiative.

U.S. electric power sector transitions required to achieve 80% reductions in economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions: Results based on a state-level model of the U.S. energy system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Iyer, Gokul C.; Clarke, Leon E.; Edmonds, James A.; Kyle, Gordon P.; Ledna, Catherine M.; McJeon, Haewon C.; Wise, M. A.

2017-05-01

The United States has articulated a deep decarbonization strategy for achieving a reduction in economy-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of 80% below 2005 levels by 2050. Achieving such deep emissions reductions will entail a major transformation of the energy system and of the electric power sector in particular. , This study uses a detailed state-level model of the U.S. energy system embedded within a global integrated assessment model (GCAM-USA) to demonstrate pathways for the evolution of the U.S. electric power sector that achieve 80% economy-wide reductions in GHG emissions by 2050. The pathways presented in this report are based on feedback received during a workshop of experts organized by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis. Our analysis demonstrates that achieving deep decarbonization by 2050 will require substantial decarbonization of the electric power sector resulting in an increase in the deployment of zero-carbon and low-carbon technologies such as renewables and carbon capture utilization and storage. The present results also show that the degree to which the electric power sector will need to decarbonize and low-carbon technologies will need to deploy depends on the nature of technological advances in the energy sector, the ability of end-use sectors to electrify and level of electricity demand.

New shower maximum trigger for electrons and photons at CDF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amidei, D.; Burkett, K.; Gerdes, D.; Miao, C.; Wolinski, D.

1994-01-01

For the 1994 Tevatron collider run, CDF has upgraded the electron and photo trigger hardware to make use of shower position and size information from the central shower maximum detector. For electrons, the upgrade has resulted in a 50% reduction in backgrounds while retaining approximately 90% of the signal. The new trigger also eliminates the background to photon triggers from single-phototube spikes

New shower maximum trigger for electrons and photons at CDF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gerdes, D.

1994-08-01

For the 1994 Tevatron collider run, CDF has upgraded the electron and photon trigger hardware to make use of shower position and size information from the central shower maximum detector. For electrons, the upgrade has resulted in a 50% reduction in backgrounds while retaining approximately 90% of the signal. The new trigger also eliminates the background to photon triggers from single-phototube discharge

Development of intelligent MPPT (maximum power point tracking) control for a grid-connected hybrid power generation system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hong, Chih-Ming; Ou, Ting-Chia; Lu, Kai-Hung

2013-01-01

A hybrid power control system is proposed in the paper, consisting of solar power, wind power, and a diesel-engine. To achieve a fast and stable response for the real power control, an intelligent controller was proposed, which consists of the Wilcoxon (radial basis function network) RBFN and the improved (Elman neural network) ENN for (maximum power point tracking) MPPT. The pitch angle control of wind power uses improved ENN controller, and the output is fed to the wind turbine to achieve the MPPT. The solar array is integrated with an RBFN control algorithm to track the maximum power. MATLAB (MATrix LABoratory)/Simulink was used to build the dynamic model and simulate the solar and diesel-wind hybrid power system. - Highlights: ► To achieve a fast and stable response for the real power control. ► The pitch control of wind power uses improved ENN (Elman neural network) controller to achieve the MPPT (maximum power point tracking). ► The RBFN (radial basis function network) can quickly and accurately track the maximum power output for PV (photovoltaic) array. ► MATLAB was used to build the dynamic model and simulate the hybrid power system. ► This method can reach the desired performance even under different load conditions

Achieving carbon emission reduction through industrial and urban symbiosis: A case of Kawasaki

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dong, Huijuan; Ohnishi, Satoshi; Fujita, Tsuyoshi; Geng, Yong; Fujii, Minoru; Dong, Liang

2014-01-01

Industry and fossil fuel combustion are the main sources for urban carbon emissions. Most studies focus on energy consumption emission reduction and energy efficiency improvement. Material saving is also important for carbon emission reduction from a lifecycle perspective. IS (Industrial symbiosis) and U r S (urban symbiosis) have been effective since both of them encourage byproduct exchange. However, quantitative carbon emission reduction evaluation on applying them is still lacking. Consequently, the purpose of this paper is to fill such a gap through a case study in Kawasaki Eco-town, Japan. A hybrid LCA model was employed to evaluate to the lifecycle carbon footprint. The results show that lifecycle carbon footprints with and without IS and U r S were 26.66 Mt CO 2 e and 30.92 Mt CO 2 e, respectively. The carbon emission efficiency was improved by 13.77% with the implementation of IS and U r S. The carbon emission reduction was mainly from “iron and steel” industry, cement industry and “paper making” industry, with figures of 2.76 Mt CO 2 e, 1.16 Mt CO 2 e and 0.34 Mt CO 2 e, respectively. Reuse of scrape steel, blast furnace slag and waste paper are all effective measures for promoting carbon emission reductions. Finally, policy implications on how to further promote IS and U r S are presented. - Highlights: • We evaluate carbon emission reduction of industrial and urban symbiosis (IS/U r S). • Hybrid LCA model was used to evaluate lifecycle carbon footprint. • Carbon emission efficiency was improved by 13.77% after applying IS/U r S. • The importance of U r S in responding carbon reduction was addressed in the paper

Reduction of sound transmission across plenum windows by incorporating an array of rigid cylinders

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, S. K.

2018-02-01

The potential improvement of plenum window noise reduction by installing rigid circular cylinder arrays into the window cavity is investigated numerically using the finite-element method in this study. A two-dimensional approach is adopted. The sound transmission characteristics and propagation within the plenum window are also examined in detail. Results show that the installation of the cylinders in general gives rise to broadband improvement of noise reduction across a plenum window regardless of the direction of sound incidence. Such acoustical performance becomes better when more cylinder columns are installed, but it is suggested that the number of cylinder rows should not exceed two. Results also show that the cylinder positions relative to the nodal/anti-nodal planes of the acoustic modes are crucial in the noise reduction enhancement mechanisms. Noise reduction can further be enhanced by staggering the cylinder rows, such that each cylinder row supports the development of a different acoustic mode. For the simple cylinder arrangements considered in this study, the traffic noise reduction enhancement observed in this study can be as high as 4-5 dB, which is already comparable to or higher than the maximum achieved by installing sound absorption into a plenum window.

MAXIMUM PRINCIPLE FOR SUBSONIC FLOW WITH VARIABLE ENTROPY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Sizykh Grigory

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Maximum principle for subsonic flow is fair for stationary irrotational subsonic gas flows. According to this prin- ciple, if the value of the velocity is not constant everywhere, then its maximum is achieved on the boundary and only on the boundary of the considered domain. This property is used when designing form of an aircraft with a maximum critical val- ue of the Mach number: it is believed that if the local Mach number is less than unit in the incoming flow and on the body surface, then the Mach number is less then unit in all points of flow. The known proof of maximum principle for subsonic flow is based on the assumption that in the whole considered area of the flow the pressure is a function of density. For the ideal and perfect gas (the role of diffusion is negligible, and the Mendeleev-Clapeyron law is fulfilled, the pressure is a function of density if entropy is constant in the entire considered area of the flow. Shows an example of a stationary sub- sonic irrotational flow, in which the entropy has different values on different stream lines, and the pressure is not a function of density. The application of the maximum principle for subsonic flow with respect to such a flow would be unreasonable. This example shows the relevance of the question about the place of the points of maximum value of the velocity, if the entropy is not a constant. To clarify the regularities of the location of these points, was performed the analysis of the com- plete Euler equations (without any simplifying assumptions in 3-D case. The new proof of the maximum principle for sub- sonic flow was proposed. This proof does not rely on the assumption that the pressure is a function of density. Thus, it is shown that the maximum principle for subsonic flow is true for stationary subsonic irrotational flows of ideal perfect gas with variable entropy.

Reduction of turbidity and chromium content of tannery wastewater by electrocoagulation process.

Science.gov (United States)

2018-02-12

The present study is carried out to remove the chromium and turbidity from tannery wastewater by the electrocoagulationprocess with aluminum electrodes. This experimental study is performed using a batch system. The applied pilot comprises a reactor containing two parallel metal electrodes (Al). The latter are connected as mono polar and a different potential is applied between them. Several working parameters, such as applied potential difference, electrolysis time, active electrode surface, inter-electrode distance and pH of the medium have been studied to achieve higher removal efficiency.The treatment achieved a maximum reduction of 99% for the turbidity and 93% for the chromium under the following conditions: a potential difference: 15V; electrodes surface: 45cm2, inter-electrode distance: 1cm; raw water pH (6.1) and a contact time of 90 min. Considering the obtained efficiency in the present study, electrocoagulation process has the potential to be utilized for the cost-effective removal of pollutants from wastewater.

maximum neutron flux at thermal nuclear reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strugar, P.

1968-10-01

Since actual research reactors are technically complicated and expensive facilities it is important to achieve savings by appropriate reactor lattice configurations. There is a number of papers, and practical examples of reactors with central reflector, dealing with spatial distribution of fuel elements which would result in higher neutron flux. Common disadvantage of all the solutions is that the choice of best solution is done starting from the anticipated spatial distributions of fuel elements. The weakness of these approaches is lack of defined optimization criteria. Direct approach is defined as follows: determine the spatial distribution of fuel concentration starting from the condition of maximum neutron flux by fulfilling the thermal constraints. Thus the problem of determining the maximum neutron flux is solving a variational problem which is beyond the possibilities of classical variational calculation. This variational problem has been successfully solved by applying the maximum principle of Pontrjagin. Optimum distribution of fuel concentration was obtained in explicit analytical form. Thus, spatial distribution of the neutron flux and critical dimensions of quite complex reactor system are calculated in a relatively simple way. In addition to the fact that the results are innovative this approach is interesting because of the optimization procedure itself [sr

Improvement of maximum power point tracking perturb and observe algorithm for a standalone solar photovoltaic system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Awan, M.M.A.; Awan, F.G.

2017-01-01

Extraction of maximum power from PV (Photovoltaic) cell is necessary to make the PV system efficient. Maximum power can be achieved by operating the system at MPP (Maximum Power Point) (taking the operating point of PV panel to MPP) and for this purpose MPPT (Maximum Power Point Trackers) are used. There are many tracking algorithms/methods used by these trackers which includes incremental conductance, constant voltage method, constant current method, short circuit current method, PAO (Perturb and Observe) method, and open circuit voltage method but PAO is the mostly used algorithm because it is simple and easy to implement. PAO algorithm has some drawbacks, one is low tracking speed under rapid changing weather conditions and second is oscillations of PV systems operating point around MPP. Little improvement is achieved in past papers regarding these issues. In this paper, a new method named 'Decrease and Fix' method is successfully introduced as improvement in PAO algorithm to overcome these issues of tracking speed and oscillations. Decrease and fix method is the first successful attempt with PAO algorithm for stability achievement and speeding up of tracking process in photovoltaic system. Complete standalone photovoltaic system's model with improved perturb and observe algorithm is simulated in MATLAB Simulink. (author)

Snubber reduction program at the Byron Station, Unit 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arterburn, J.; Bakhtiari, S.

1987-01-01

Commonwealth Edison Company's (CECo's) Byron Station, unit 1, was originally designed with approximately 1200 snubbers supporting the plant's large- and small-bore piping systems. This relatively large number of snubbers is attributed to excessive conservatism in nuclear piping codes and regulations effective during the original piping design. A recent pilot program at CECo's LaSalle County Station, a boiling water reactor plant, demonstrated that a 50% or greater reduction in total snubber population is achievable in plants of this design vintage. Based on the successful results of the pilot program, CECo initiated a full scale snubber reduction program at Byron, a pressurized water reactor plant of the same vintage at the LaSalle County Station. The benefits from a reduced snubber population are described. To realize the maximum potential benefits, all snubbers in the plant were prioritized in order of desirability for removal. The priority designations are discussed. The major results from phase 1 of the Byron program are summarized. The NRC inspection of the project addressed a variety of issues and is discussed. The conclusions that can be drawn from the phase 1 program are summarized

Assessment of the bacteria reduction in the infected root canal irradiated with diode laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Radaelli, Claudia Amaral Rabello de Mello

2002-01-01

High success rates are achieved in conventional endodontic treatment of vital pulp teeth. However, in cases of non-vital pulp, a decrease in the rate of success occurs due to difficulties in achieving a complete disinfection of the root canals system. Some bacteria, such as Enterococcus faecalis, are frequently found in cases of endodontic treatment failure due to their high resistance to the conventional endodontic treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of a high power diode laser irradiation in bacterial reduction of contaminated canals associated with dressing compose by calcium hydroxide paste propylene glycol and camphorated paramonochlorophenol. Eighty-two root canals were infected in vitro with Enterococcus faecalis in a concentration of 1x10 8 CFU/ml. Specimens were high intensity irradiated with a diode laser model Opus 10, at a wavelength of 830 nm. Two different parameters were employed in continuous mode: 3 W and 2,5 W with a 360 μm optical fiber at an angle of approximately 5 degrees respect to the dentine surface during 5 seconds, in 4 applications, with 20 seconds intervals among them. After these proceedings specimens were vortexed in peptone water and dilutions performed. Aliquots of the dilution were plated on m-Enterococcus agar, incubated, and the Colonies Forming Units (CFU) of ali groups was counted. The results showed a significant reduction of bacteria on ali groups after laser irradiation. A high reduction rate was achieved: 98.5% immediately after the laser irradiation; 48 hours after, the reduction was of 96,73% and, finally, a 100% reduction was achieved through the combination of laser irradiation and a long lasting dressing of calcium hydroxide paste, propylene glycol and camphorated paramonochlorophenol. High rates of bacteria reduction were achieved using the parameter of 3 W in continuous mode with the power of 2,9473 KW/cm 2 . The temperature was monitored with a K-pipe thermocouple placed at the

Noise and physical limits to maximum resolution of PET images

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Herraiz, J.L.; Espana, S. [Dpto. Fisica Atomica, Molecular y Nuclear, Facultad de Ciencias Fisicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Avda. Complutense s/n, E-28040 Madrid (Spain); Vicente, E.; Vaquero, J.J.; Desco, M. [Unidad de Medicina y Cirugia Experimental, Hospital GU ' Gregorio Maranon' , E-28007 Madrid (Spain); Udias, J.M. [Dpto. Fisica Atomica, Molecular y Nuclear, Facultad de Ciencias Fisicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Avda. Complutense s/n, E-28040 Madrid (Spain)], E-mail: jose@nuc2.fis.ucm.es

2007-10-01

In this work we show that there is a limit for the maximum resolution achievable with a high resolution PET scanner, as well as for the best signal-to-noise ratio, which are ultimately related to the physical effects involved in the emission and detection of the radiation and thus they cannot be overcome with any particular reconstruction method. These effects prevent the spatial high frequency components of the imaged structures to be recorded by the scanner. Therefore, the information encoded in these high frequencies cannot be recovered by any reconstruction technique. Within this framework, we have determined the maximum resolution achievable for a given acquisition as a function of data statistics and scanner parameters, like the size of the crystals or the inter-crystal scatter. In particular, the noise level in the data as a limitation factor to yield high-resolution images in tomographs with small crystal sizes is outlined. These results have implications regarding how to decide the optimal number of voxels of the reconstructed image or how to design better PET scanners.

Noise and physical limits to maximum resolution of PET images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herraiz, J.L.; Espana, S.; Vicente, E.; Vaquero, J.J.; Desco, M.; Udias, J.M.

2007-01-01

In this work we show that there is a limit for the maximum resolution achievable with a high resolution PET scanner, as well as for the best signal-to-noise ratio, which are ultimately related to the physical effects involved in the emission and detection of the radiation and thus they cannot be overcome with any particular reconstruction method. These effects prevent the spatial high frequency components of the imaged structures to be recorded by the scanner. Therefore, the information encoded in these high frequencies cannot be recovered by any reconstruction technique. Within this framework, we have determined the maximum resolution achievable for a given acquisition as a function of data statistics and scanner parameters, like the size of the crystals or the inter-crystal scatter. In particular, the noise level in the data as a limitation factor to yield high-resolution images in tomographs with small crystal sizes is outlined. These results have implications regarding how to decide the optimal number of voxels of the reconstructed image or how to design better PET scanners

Harm Reduction as “Continuum Care” in Alcohol Abuse Disorder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Icro Maremmani

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Alcohol abuse is one of the most important risk factors for health and is a major cause of death and morbidity. Despite this, only about one-tenth of individuals with alcohol abuse disorders receive therapeutic intervention and specific rehabilitation. Among the various dichotomies that limit an effective approach to the problem of alcohol use disorder treatment, one of the most prominent is integrated treatment versus harm reduction. For years, these two divergent strategies have been considered to be opposite poles of different philosophies of intervention. One is bound to the search for methods that aim to lead the subject to complete abstinence; the other prioritizes a progressive decline in substance use, with maximum reduction in the damage that is correlated with curtailing that use. Reduction of alcohol intake does not require any particular setting, but does require close collaboration between the general practitioner, specialized services for addiction, alcohology services and psychiatry. In patients who reach that target, significant savings in terms of health and social costs can be achieved. Harm reduction is a desirable target, even from an economic point of view. At the present state of neuroscientific knowledge, it is possible to go one step further in the logic that led to the integration of psychosocial and pharmacological approaches, by attempting to remove the shadows of social judgment that, at present, are aiming for a course of treatment that is directed towards absolute abstention.

Transversals and independence in linear hypergraphs with maximum degree two

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Henning, Michael A.; Yeo, Anders

2017-01-01

, k-uniform hypergraphs with maximum degree 2. It is known [European J. Combin. 36 (2014), 231–236] that if H ∈ Hk, then (k + 1)τ (H) 6 ≤ n + m, and there are only two hypergraphs that achieve equality in the bound. In this paper, we prove a much more powerful result, and establish tight upper bounds...

National environmental targets and international emission reduction instruments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morthorst, P.E.

2003-01-01

According to the agreed burden sharing within the European Union the overall EU emission reduction target as agreed by in the Kyoto protocol is converted into national greenhouse gas reduction-targets for each of the member states. In parallel with national emission reduction initiatives common EU policies for emission reductions are considered. Currently discussed is the introduction of a market for tradable permits for CO 2 -emissions to achieve emission reductions within the power industry and other energy intensive industries. In parallel with this markets for green certificates to deploy renewable energy technologies seem to be appearing in a number of countries, among these Denmark, Italy, Sweden, Belgium (Flanders), England and Australia. Although these national initiatives for a green certificate market are fairly different, they could be a starting point for establishing a common EU certificate market. But interactions between national targets for greenhouse gas emissions and these international instruments for emission reduction are not a trivial matter, especially not seen in relation to the possible contributions of these instruments in achieving national GHG-reduction targets. The paper is split into three parts all taking a liberalised power market as starting point: The first part discusses the consequences of a general deployment of renewable energy technologies, using planning initiatives or national promotion schemes (feed-in tariffs). In the second part an international green certificate market is introduced into the liberalised power market context, substituting other national promotion schemes. Finally, in the third part a combination of an international green certificate market (TGC) and an international emission-trading scheme for CO 2 is analysed within the liberalised international power market set-up. The main conclusion is that neither the use of national renewable support schemes nor the introduction of a TGC-market into a liberalised

Approximate maximum parsimony and ancestral maximum likelihood.

Science.gov (United States)

Alon, Noga; Chor, Benny; Pardi, Fabio; Rapoport, Anat

2010-01-01

We explore the maximum parsimony (MP) and ancestral maximum likelihood (AML) criteria in phylogenetic tree reconstruction. Both problems are NP-hard, so we seek approximate solutions. We formulate the two problems as Steiner tree problems under appropriate distances. The gist of our approach is the succinct characterization of Steiner trees for a small number of leaves for the two distances. This enables the use of known Steiner tree approximation algorithms. The approach leads to a 16/9 approximation ratio for AML and asymptotically to a 1.55 approximation ratio for MP.

Modeling transitions in the California light-duty vehicles sector to achieve deep reductions in transportation greenhouse gas emissions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leighty, Wayne; Ogden, Joan M.; Yang, Christopher

2012-01-01

California’s target for reducing economy-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. We develop transition scenarios for meeting this goal in California’s transportation sector, with focus on light-duty vehicles (LDVs). We explore four questions: (1) what options are available to reduce transportation sector GHG emissions 80% below 1990 levels by 2050; (2) how rapidly would transitions in LDV markets, fuels, and travel behaviors need to occur over the next 40 years; (3) how do intermediate policy goals relate to different transition pathways; (4) how would rates of technological change and market adoption between 2010 and 2050 impact cumulative GHG emissions? We develop four LDV transition scenarios to meet the 80in50 target through a combination of travel demand reduction, fuel economy improvements, and low-carbon fuel supply, subject to restrictions on trajectories of technological change, potential market adoption of new vehicles and fuels, and resource availability. These scenarios exhibit several common themes: electrification of LDVs, rapid improvements in vehicle efficiency, and future fuels with less than half the carbon intensity of current gasoline and diesel. Availability of low-carbon biofuels and the level of travel demand reduction are “swing factors” that influence the degree of LDV electrification required. - Highlights: ► We model change in California LDVs for deep reduction in transportation GHG emissions. ► Reduced travel demand, improved fuel economy, and low-carbon fuels are all needed. ► Transitions must begin soon and occur quickly in order to achieve the 80in50 goal. ► Low-C biofuel supply and travel demand influence the need for rapid LDV electrification. ► Cumulative GHG emissions from LDVs can differ between strategies by up to 40%.

Maximum Power Point Tracking of Photovoltaic System for Traffic Light Application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Riza Muhida

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Photovoltaic traffic light system is a significant application of renewable energy source. The development of the system is an alternative effort of local authority to reduce expenditure for paying fees to power supplier which the power comes from conventional energy source. Since photovoltaic (PV modules still have relatively low conversion efficiency, an alternative control of maximum power point tracking (MPPT method is applied to the traffic light system. MPPT is intended to catch up the maximum power at daytime in order to charge the battery at the maximum rate in which the power from the battery is intended to be used at night time or cloudy day. MPPT is actually a DC-DC converter that can step up or down voltage in order to achieve the maximum power using Pulse Width Modulation (PWM control. From experiment, we obtained the voltage of operation using MPPT is at 16.454 V, this value has error of 2.6%, if we compared with maximum power point voltage of PV module that is 16.9 V. Based on this result it can be said that this MPPT control works successfully to deliver the power from PV module to battery maximally.

Maximum Regional Emission Reduction Potential in Residential Sector Based on Spatial Distribution of Population and Resources

Science.gov (United States)

Winijkul, E.; Bond, T. C.

2011-12-01

In the residential sector, major activities that generate emissions are cooking and heating, and fuels ranging from traditional (wood) to modern (natural gas, or electricity) are used. Direct air pollutant emissions from this sector are low when natural gas or electricity are the dominant energy sources, as is the case in developed countries. However, in developing countries, people may rely on solid fuels and this sector can contribute a large fraction of emissions. The magnitude of the health loss associated with exposure to indoor smoke as well as its concentration among rural population in developing countries have recently put preventive measures high on the agenda of international development and public health organizations. This study focuses on these developing regions: Central America, Africa, and Asia. Current and future emissions from the residential sector depend on both fuel and cooking device (stove) type. Availability of fuels, stoves, and interventions depends strongly on spatial distribution. However, regional emission calculations do not consider this spatial dependence. Fuel consumption data is presented at country level, without information about where different types of fuel are used. Moreover, information about stove types that are currently used and can be used in the future is not available. In this study, we first spatially allocate current emissions within residential sector. We use Geographic Information System maps of temperature, electricity availability, forest area, and population to determine the distribution of fuel types and availability of stoves. Within each country, consumption of different fuel types, such as fuelwood, coal, and LPG is distributed among different area types (urban, peri-urban, and rural area). Then, the cleanest stove technologies which could be used in the area are selected based on the constraints of each area, i.e. availability of resources. Using this map, the maximum emission reduction compared with

Impact of Open Reduction on Surgical Strategies for Missed Monteggia Fracture in Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Hoon; Park, Kwang Won; Park, Kun Bo; Kim, Hyun Woo; Eom, Nam Kyu; Lee, Dong Hoon

2017-07-01

The aims of this study were to review our cases of missed Monteggia fracture treated by open reduction of the radial head with or without ulnar osteotomy and to investigate the indications for open reduction alone in surgical treatment of missed Monteggia fracture. We retrospectively reviewed 22 patients who presented with missed Monteggia fracture. The patients' mean age at the time of surgery was 7.6 years. The mean interval from injury to surgery was 16.1 months. The surgical procedure consisted of open reduction of the radiocapitellar joint followed by ulnar osteotomy without reconstruction of the annular ligament. The mean period of follow-up was 3.8 years. Radiographic assessment was performed for the maximum ulnar bow (MUB) and the location of the MUB. Clinical results were evaluated with the Mayo Elbow Performance Index and Kim's scores. Five patients underwent open reduction alone, and 17 patients underwent open reduction and ulnar osteotomy. When the MUB was less than 4 mm and the location of the MUB was in the distal 40% of the ulna, we could achieve reduction of the radial head without ulnar osteotomy. The radial head was maintained in a completely reduced position in 21 patients and was dislocated in one patient at final follow-up. Open reduction alone can be an attractive surgical option in select patients with missed Monteggia fracture with minimal bowing of the distal ulna. However, ulnar osteotomy should be considered in patients with a definite ulnar deformity. © Copyright: Yonsei University College of Medicine 2017

Development of supported noble metal catalyst for U(VI) to U(IV) reduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tyagi, Deepak; Varma, Salil; Bhattacharyya, K.; Tripathi, A.K.; Bharadwaj, S.R.; Jain, V.K.; Sahu, Avinash; Vincent, Tessy; Jagatap, B.N.; Wattal, P.K.

2015-01-01

Uranium-plutonium separation is an essential step in the PUREX process employed in spent nuclear fuel reprocessing. This partitioning in the PUREX process is achieved by selective reduction of Pu(IV) to Pu(III) using uranous nitrate as reductant and hydrazine as stabilizer. Currently in our Indian reprocessing plants, the requirement of uranous nitrate is met by electrolytic reduction of uranyl nitrate. This process, however, suffers from a major drawback of incomplete reduction with a maximum conversion of ~ 60%. Catalytic reduction of U(VI) to U(IV) is being considered as one of the promising alternatives to the electro-reduction process due to fast kinetics and near total conversion. Various catalysts involving noble metals like platinum (Adams catalyst, Pt/Al 2 O 3 , Pt/SiO 2 etc.) have been reported for the reduction. Sustained activity and stability of the catalyst under harsh reaction conditions are still the issues that need to be resolved. We present here the results on zirconia supported noble metal catalyst that is developed in BARC for reduction of uranyl nitrate to uranous nitrate. Supported noble metal catalysts with varying metal loadings (0.5 - 2 wt%) were prepared via support precipitation and noble metal impregnation. The green catalysts were reduced either by chemical reduction using hydrazine hydrate or by heating in hydrogen flow or combination of both the steps. These catalysts were characterized by various techniques such as, XRD, SEM, TEM, N 2 adsorption and H 2 chemisorption. Performance of these catalysts was evaluated for U(VI) to U(IV) reduction with uranyl nitrate feed using hydrazine as reductant. The results with the most active catalyst are named as 'BARC-CAT', which was developed in our lab. (author)

Efficacies of sodium hypochlorite and quaternary ammonium sanitizers for reduction of norovirus and selected bacteria during ware-washing operations.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lizanel Feliciano

Full Text Available Cross-contamination of ready-to-eat (RTE foods with pathogens on contaminated tableware and food preparation utensils is an important factor associated with foodborne illnesses. To prevent this, restaurants and food service establishments are required to achieve a minimum microbial reduction of 5 logs from these surfaces. This study evaluated the sanitization efficacies of ware-washing protocols (manual and mechanical used in restaurants to clean tableware items. Ceramic plates, drinking glasses and stainless steel forks were used as the food contact surfaces. These were contaminated with cream cheese and reduced-fat milk inoculated with murine norovirus (MNV-1, Escherichia coli K-12 and Listeria innocua. The sanitizing solutions tested were sodium hypochlorite (chlorine, quaternary ammonium (QAC and tap water (control. During the study, the survivability and response to the experimental conditions of the bacterial species was compared with that of MNV-1. The results showed that current ware-washing protocols used to remove bacteria from tableware items were not sufficient to achieve a 5 log reduction in MNV-1 titer. After washing, a maximum of 3 log reduction in the virus were obtained. It was concluded that MNV-1 appeared to be more resistant to both the washing process and the sanitizers when compared with E. coli K-12 and L. innocua.

Determining the Surfactant Consistent with Concrete in order to Achieve the Maximum Possible Dispersion of Multi walled Carbon Nano tubes in Keeping the Plain Concrete Properties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adresi, M.; Hassani, A.; Javadian, S.; Tulliani, J. M.

2016-01-01

A new surfactant combination compatible with concrete formulation is proposed to avoid unwanted air bubbles created during mixing process in the absence of a defoamer and to achieve the uniform and the maximum possible dispersion of multi walled carbon nano tubes (MWCNTs) in water and subsequently in concrete. To achieve this goal, three steps have been defined: (1) concrete was made with different types and amount of surfactants containing a constant amount of MWCNTs (0.05 wt%) and the air bubbles were eliminated with a proper defoamer. (2) Finding a compatible surfactant with concrete compositions and eliminating unwanted air bubbles in the absence of a common defoamer are of fundamental importance to significantly increase concrete mechanical properties. In this step, the results showed that the poly carboxylate super plasticizer (SP-C) (as a compatible surfactant) dispersed MWCNTs worse than SDS/DTAB but unwanted air bubbles were removed, so the defoamer can be omitted in the mixing process. (3) To solve the problem, a new compatible surfactant composition was developed and different ratios of surfactants were tested and evaluated by means of performance criteria mentioned above. The results showed that the new surfactant composition (SDS and SP-C) can disperse MWCNTs around 24% more efficiently than the other surfactant compositions.

Framework for the analysis of the low-carbon scenario 2020 to achieve the national carbon Emissions reduction target: Focused on educational facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koo, Choongwan; Kim, Hyunjoong; Hong, Taehoon

2014-01-01

Since the increase in greenhouse gas emissions has increased the global warming potential, an international agreement on carbon emissions reduction target (CERT) has been formulated in Kyoto Protocol (1997). This study aimed to develop a framework for the analysis of the low-carbon scenario 2020 to achieve the national CERT. To verify the feasibility of the proposed framework, educational facilities were used for a case study. This study was conducted in six steps: (i) selection of the target school; (ii) establishment of the reference model for the target school; (iii) energy consumption pattern analysis by target school; (iv) establishment of the energy retrofit model for the target school; (v) economic and environmental assessment through the life cycle cost and life cycle CO 2 analysis; and (vi) establishment of the low-carbon scenario in 2020 to achieve the national CERT. This study can help facility managers or policymakers establish the optimal retrofit strategy within the limited budget from a short-term perspective and the low-carbon scenario 2020 to achieve the national CERT from the long-term perspective. The proposed framework could be also applied to any other building type or country in the global environment

Jet noise reduction via dispersed phase injection

Science.gov (United States)

Greska, Brent; Krothapalli, Anjaneyulu; Arakeri, Vijay

2001-11-01

A recently developed hot jet aeroacoustics facility at FMRL,FAMU-FSU College of Engineering has been used to study the far field noise characteristics of hot supersonic jets as influenced by the injection of a dispersed phase with low mass loading.The measured SPL from a fully expanded Mach 1.36 hot jet shows a peak value of about 139 dB at 40 deg from the jet axis.By injecting atomized water,the SPL are reduced in the angular region of about 30 deg to 50 deg with the maximum reduction being about 2 dB at 40 deg.However,with the use of non atomized aqueous polymer solution as a dispersed phase the noise levels are reduced over all angular positions by at least 1 dB with the maximum reduction being about 3 dB at 40 deg.The injection of a dispersed phase readily kills the screech; the initial results show promise and optimization studies are underway to find methods of further noise reduction.

Highly concentrated, stable nitrogen-doped graphene for supercapacitors: Simultaneous doping and reduction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jiang Baojiang [College of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin (China); Key Laboratory of Functional Inorganic Material Chemistry, Ministry of Education of the People' s Republic of China, Heilongjiang University, Harbin (China); Tian Chungui; Wang Lei; Sun Li; Chen Chen; Nong Xiaozhen [Key Laboratory of Functional Inorganic Material Chemistry, Ministry of Education of the People' s Republic of China, Heilongjiang University, Harbin (China); Qiao Yingjie, E-mail: qiaoyingjie@hrbeu.edu.cn [College of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin (China); Fu Honggang, E-mail: fuhg@vip.sina.com [Key Laboratory of Functional Inorganic Material Chemistry, Ministry of Education of the People' s Republic of China, Heilongjiang University, Harbin (China)

2012-02-01

In this work, we developed a concentrated ammonia-assisted hydrothermal method to obtain N-doped graphene sheets by simultaneous N-doping and reduction of graphene oxide (GO) sheets. The effects of hydrothermal temperature on the surface chemistry and the structure of N-doped graphene sheets were also investigated. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) study of N-doped graphene reveals that the highest doping level of 7.2% N is achieved at 180 Degree-Sign C for 12 h. N binding configurations of sample consist of pyridine N, quaternary N, and pyridine-N oxides. N doping is accompanied by the reduction of GO with decreases in oxygen levels from 34.8% in GO down to 8.5% in that of N-doped graphene. Meanwhile, the sample exhibits excellent N-doped thermal stability. Electrical measurements demonstrate that products have higher capacitive performance than that of pure graphene, the maximum specific capacitance of 144.6 F/g can be obtained which ascribe the pseudocapacitive effect from the N-doping. The samples also show excellent long-term cycle stability of capacitive performance.

Highly concentrated, stable nitrogen-doped graphene for supercapacitors: Simultaneous doping and reduction

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Baojiang; Tian, Chungui; Wang, Lei; Sun, Li; Chen, Chen; Nong, Xiaozhen; Qiao, Yingjie; Fu, Honggang

2012-02-01

In this work, we developed a concentrated ammonia-assisted hydrothermal method to obtain N-doped graphene sheets by simultaneous N-doping and reduction of graphene oxide (GO) sheets. The effects of hydrothermal temperature on the surface chemistry and the structure of N-doped graphene sheets were also investigated. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) study of N-doped graphene reveals that the highest doping level of 7.2% N is achieved at 180 °C for 12 h. N binding configurations of sample consist of pyridine N, quaternary N, and pyridine-N oxides. N doping is accompanied by the reduction of GO with decreases in oxygen levels from 34.8% in GO down to 8.5% in that of N-doped graphene. Meanwhile, the sample exhibits excellent N-doped thermal stability. Electrical measurements demonstrate that products have higher capacitive performance than that of pure graphene, the maximum specific capacitance of 144.6 F/g can be obtained which ascribe the pseudocapacitive effect from the N-doping. The samples also show excellent long-term cycle stability of capacitive performance.

Achievement Motivation: A Rational Approach to Psychological Education

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Robert L.; Troth, William A.

1975-01-01

Investigated the achievement motivation training component of psychological education. The subjects were 54 late-adolescent pupils. The experimental training program had as its objectives an increase in academic achievement motivation, internal feelings of control, and school performance, and a reduction of test anxiety. Results indicated…

Electrochemical studies on the reduction of uranyl ions in nitric acid-hydrazine media at platinum electrode

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mishra, Satyabrata; Sini, K.; Mallika, C.; Kamachi Mudali, U.; Jagadeeswara Rao, Ch.

2015-01-01

Production of uranous nitrate with good conversion efficiency is one of the major steps in the aqueous reprocessing of spent fuels of nuclear reactors, as U(IV) is used for the separation of Pu from U by the selective reduction of Pu(IV) into practically non-extractable Pu(III) in aqueous streams. Electro-reduction of uranyl ions has the advantage of not introducing corrosive chemicals into the process stream. High current efficiency with maximum conversion of U(VI) to U(IV) can be achieved in continuous as well as batch mode electro-reduction, if the process is voltage-controlled rather than current controlled. As potentiostatic studies reveal the mechanism of reduction of uranyl ions in potential controlled electrolysis, the reduction behavior of uranyl ions (UO 2 2+ ) in nitric acid and nitric acid-hydrazine media were investigated by Cyclic Voltammetric (CV) and Chronopotentiometric (CP) techniques using platinum working electrode at 298 K. Heterogeneous electron transfer rate constant (ks) for uranyl reduction was estimated at a very low concentration of nitric acid (0.05 M) using Klinger and Kochi equation. Values of the diffusion coefficients were determined as a function of acidity with and without hydrazine. Reduction of uranyl ions was found to be under kinetic as well as diffusion control when the concentration of nitric acid was 0.05 M and in the absence of hydrazine. However, as the acidity of the supporting electrolyte increased, the reduction was purely under kinetic control. (author)

PNNL: A Supervised Maximum Entropy Approach to Word Sense Disambiguation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tratz, Stephen C.; Sanfilippo, Antonio P.; Gregory, Michelle L.; Chappell, Alan R.; Posse, Christian; Whitney, Paul D.

2007-06-23

In this paper, we described the PNNL Word Sense Disambiguation system as applied to the English All-Word task in Se-mEval 2007. We use a supervised learning approach, employing a large number of features and using Information Gain for dimension reduction. Our Maximum Entropy approach combined with a rich set of features produced results that are significantly better than baseline and are the highest F-score for the fined-grained English All-Words subtask.

Higher renewable energy integration into the existing energy system of Finland – Is there any maximum limit?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zakeri, Behnam; Syri, Sanna; Rinne, Samuli

2015-01-01

Finland is to increase the share of RES (renewable energy sources) up to 38% in final energy consumption by 2020. While benefiting from local biomass resources Finnish energy system is deemed to achieve this goal, increasing the share of other intermittent renewables is under development, namely wind power and solar energy. Yet the maximum flexibility of the existing energy system in integration of renewable energy is not investigated, which is an important step before undertaking new renewable energy obligations. This study aims at filling this gap by hourly analysis and comprehensive modeling of the energy system including electricity, heat, and transportation, by employing EnergyPLAN tool. Focusing on technical and economic implications, we assess the maximum potential of different RESs separately (including bioenergy, hydropower, wind power, solar heating and PV, and heat pumps), as well as an optimal mix of different technologies. Furthermore, we propose a new index for assessing the maximum flexibility of energy systems in absorbing variable renewable energy. The results demonstrate that wind energy can be harvested at maximum levels of 18–19% of annual power demand (approx. 16 TWh/a), without major enhancements in the flexibility of energy infrastructure. With today's energy demand, the maximum feasible renewable energy for Finland is around 44–50% by an optimal mix of different technologies, which promises 35% reduction in carbon emissions from 2012's level. Moreover, Finnish energy system is flexible to augment the share of renewables in gross electricity consumption up to 69–72%, at maximum. Higher shares of RES calls for lower energy consumption (energy efficiency) and more flexibility in balancing energy supply and consumption (e.g. by energy storage). - Highlights: • By hourly analysis, we model the whole energy system of Finland. • With existing energy infrastructure, RES (renewable energy sources) in primary energy cannot go beyond 50%. �

Active3 noise reduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holzfuss, J.

1996-01-01

Noise reduction is a problem being encountered in a variety of applications, such as environmental noise cancellation, signal recovery and separation. Passive noise reduction is done with the help of absorbers. Active noise reduction includes the transmission of phase inverted signals for the cancellation. This paper is about a threefold active approach to noise reduction. It includes the separation of a combined source, which consists of both a noise and a signal part. With the help of interaction with the source by scanning it and recording its response, modeling as a nonlinear dynamical system is achieved. The analysis includes phase space analysis and global radial basis functions as tools for the prediction used in a subsequent cancellation procedure. Examples are given which include noise reduction of speech. copyright 1996 American Institute of Physics

Hexavalent Chromium reduction by Trichoderma inhamatum

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morales-Battera, L.; Cristiani-Urbina, E.

2009-07-01

Reduction of hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] to trivalent chromium [Cr(III)] is a useful and attractive process for remediation of ecosystems and industrial effluents contaminated with Cr(VI). Cr(VI) reduction to Cr(II) can be achieved by both chemical and biological methods; however, the biological reduction is more convenient than the chemical one since costs are lower, and sludge is generated in smaller amounts. (Author)

Maximum Hours Legislation and Female Employment in the 1920s: A Reasse ssment

OpenAIRE

Claudia Goldin

1986-01-01

The causes and consequences of state maximum hours laws for female workers, passed from the mid-1800s to the 1920s, are explored and are found to differ from a recent reinterpretation. Although maximum hours legislation reduced scheduled hours in 1920, the impact was minimal and it operated equally for men. Legislation affecting only women was symptomatic of a general desire by labor for lower hours, and these lower hours were achieved in the tight, and otherwise special, World War I labor ma...

Spatio-temporal observations of the tertiary ozone maximum

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. F. Sofieva

2009-07-01

Full Text Available We present spatio-temporal distributions of the tertiary ozone maximum (TOM, based on GOMOS (Global Ozone Monitoring by Occultation of Stars ozone measurements in 2002–2006. The tertiary ozone maximum is typically observed in the high-latitude winter mesosphere at an altitude of ~72 km. Although the explanation for this phenomenon has been found recently – low concentrations of odd-hydrogen cause the subsequent decrease in odd-oxygen losses – models have had significant deviations from existing observations until recently. Good coverage of polar night regions by GOMOS data has allowed for the first time to obtain spatial and temporal observational distributions of night-time ozone mixing ratio in the mesosphere.

The distributions obtained from GOMOS data have specific features, which are variable from year to year. In particular, due to a long lifetime of ozone in polar night conditions, the downward transport of polar air by the meridional circulation is clearly observed in the tertiary ozone maximum time series. Although the maximum tertiary ozone mixing ratio is achieved close to the polar night terminator (as predicted by the theory, TOM can be observed also at very high latitudes, not only in the beginning and at the end, but also in the middle of winter. We have compared the observational spatio-temporal distributions of the tertiary ozone maximum with that obtained using WACCM (Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model and found that the specific features are reproduced satisfactorily by the model.

Since ozone in the mesosphere is very sensitive to HO_x concentrations, energetic particle precipitation can significantly modify the shape of the ozone profiles. In particular, GOMOS observations have shown that the tertiary ozone maximum was temporarily destroyed during the January 2005 and December 2006 solar proton events as a result of the HO_x enhancement from the increased ionization.

Low-Carbon Watershed Management: Potential of Greenhouse Gas Reductions from Wastewater Treatment in Rural Vietnam

Science.gov (United States)

Mohan, Geetha; Jian, Pu; Takemoto, Kazuhiko; Fukushi, Kensuke

2016-01-01

Currently in many cities and rural areas of Vietnam, wastewater is discharged to the environment without any treatment, which emits considerable amount of greenhouse gas (GHG), particularly methane. In this study, four GHG emission scenarios were examined, as well as the baseline scenario, in order to verify the potential of GHG reduction from domestic wastewater with adequate treatment facilities. The ArcGIS and ArcHydro tools were employed to visualize and analyze GHG emissions resulting from discharge of untreated wastewater, in rural areas of Vu Gia Thu Bon river basin, Vietnam. By applying the current IPCC guidelines for GHG emissions, we found that a reduction of GHG emissions can be achieved through treatment of domestic wastewater in the studied area. Compared with baseline scenario, a maximum 16% of total GHG emissions can be reduced, in which 30% of households existing latrines are substituted by Japanese Johkasou technology and other 20% of domestic wastewater is treated by conventional activated sludge. PMID:27699202

Energy Information Augmented Community-Based Energy Reduction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark Rembert

2012-06-01

Full Text Available More than one-half of all U.S. states have instituted energy efficiency mandates requiring utilities to reduce energy use. To achieve these goals, utilities have been permitted rate structures to help them incentivize energy reduction projects. This strategy is proving to be only modestly successful in stemming energy consumption growth. By the same token, community energy reduction programs have achieved moderate to very significant energy reduction. The research described here offers an important tool to strengthen the community energy reduction efforts—by providing such efforts energy information tailored to the energy use patterns of each building occupant. The information provided most importantly helps each individual energy customer understand their potential for energy savings and what reduction measures are most important to them. This information can be leveraged by the leading community organization to prompt greater action in its community. A number of case studies of this model are shown. Early results are promising.

Two-Agent Scheduling to Minimize the Maximum Cost with Position-Dependent Jobs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Long Wan

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates a single-machine two-agent scheduling problem to minimize the maximum costs with position-dependent jobs. There are two agents, each with a set of independent jobs, competing to perform their jobs on a common machine. In our scheduling setting, the actual position-dependent processing time of one job is characterized by variable function dependent on the position of the job in the sequence. Each agent wants to fulfil the objective of minimizing the maximum cost of its own jobs. We develop a feasible method to achieve all the Pareto optimal points in polynomial time.

Effect of salt reduction on wheat-dough properties and quality characteristics of puff pastry with full and reduced fat content.

Science.gov (United States)

Silow, Christoph; Zannini, Emanuele; Axel, Claudia; Lynch, Kieran M; Arendt, Elke K

2016-11-01

Puff pastry is a major contributor of fat and sodium intake in many countries. The objective of this research was to determine the impact of salt (0-8.4g/100g flour) on the structure and quality characteristics of puff pastry with full and reduced (-40%) fat content as well as the rheological properties of the resulting dough. Therefore, empirical rheological tests were carried out including dough extensibility, dough stickiness and GlutoPeak test. The quality of the puff pastry was characterized with the VolScan, Texture Analyzer and C-Cell. NaCl reduction significantly changed rheological properties of the basic dough as well as a number of major quality characteristics of the puff pastry. Significant differences due to NaCl addition were found in particular for dough resistance, dough stickiness, Peak Maximum Time and Maximum Torque (ppastry containing full fat. Likewise, maximal lift, specific volume, number of cells and slice brightness increased with increasing NaCl at both fat levels. Although a sensorial comparison of puff pastries revealed that salt reduction (30%) was perceptible, no significant differences were found for all other investigated attributes. Nevertheless, a reduction of 30% salt and 40% fat in puff pastry is achievable as neither the perception and visual impression nor attributes such as volume, firmness and flavour of the final products were significantly affected. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pediatric CT: implementation of ASIR for substantial radiation dose reduction while maintaining pre-ASIR image noise.

Science.gov (United States)

Brady, Samuel L; Moore, Bria M; Yee, Brian S; Kaufman, Robert A

2014-01-01

To determine a comprehensive method for the implementation of adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR) for maximal radiation dose reduction in pediatric computed tomography (CT) without changing the magnitude of noise in the reconstructed image or the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) in the patient. The institutional review board waived the need to obtain informed consent for this HIPAA-compliant quality analysis. Chest and abdominopelvic CT images obtained before ASIR implementation (183 patient examinations; mean patient age, 8.8 years ± 6.2 [standard deviation]; range, 1 month to 27 years) were analyzed for image noise and CNR. These measurements were used in conjunction with noise models derived from anthropomorphic phantoms to establish new beam current-modulated CT parameters to implement 40% ASIR at 120 and 100 kVp without changing noise texture or magnitude. Image noise was assessed in images obtained after ASIR implementation (492 patient examinations; mean patient age, 7.6 years ± 5.4; range, 2 months to 28 years) the same way it was assessed in the pre-ASIR analysis. Dose reduction was determined by comparing size-specific dose estimates in the pre- and post-ASIR patient cohorts. Data were analyzed with paired t tests. With 40% ASIR implementation, the average relative dose reduction for chest CT was 39% (2.7/4.4 mGy), with a maximum reduction of 72% (5.3/18.8 mGy). The average relative dose reduction for abdominopelvic CT was 29% (4.8/6.8 mGy), with a maximum reduction of 64% (7.6/20.9 mGy). Beam current modulation was unnecessary for patients weighing 40 kg or less. The difference between 0% and 40% ASIR noise magnitude was less than 1 HU, with statistically nonsignificant increases in patient CNR at 100 kVp of 8% (15.3/14.2; P = .41) for chest CT and 13% (7.8/6.8; P = .40) for abdominopelvic CT. Radiation dose reduction at pediatric CT was achieved when 40% ASIR was implemented as a dose reduction tool only; no net change to the magnitude

The MCE (Maximum Credible Earthquake) - an approach to reduction of seismic risk

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asmis, G.J.K.; Atchison, R.J.

1979-01-01

It is the responsibility of the Regulatory Body (in Canada, the AECB) to ensure that radiological risks resulting from the effects of earthquakes on nuclear facilities, do not exceed acceptable levels. In simplified numerical terms this means that the frequency of an unacceptable radiation dose must be kept below 10 -6 per annum. Unfortunately, seismic events fall into the class of external events which are not well defined at these low frequency levels. Thus, design earthquakes have been chosen, at the 10 -3 - 10 -4 frequency level, a level commensurate with the limits of statistical data. There exists, therefore, a need to define an additional level of earthquake. A seismic design explicitly and implicitly recognizes three levels of earthquake loading; one comfortably below yield, one at or about yield, and one at ultimate. The ultimate level earthquake, contrary to the first two, has been implicitly addressed by conscientious designers by choosing systems, materials and details compatible with postulated dynamic forces. It is the purpose of this paper to discuss the regulatory specifications required to quantify this third level, or Maximum Credible Earthquake (MCE). (orig.)

Reduction of nuclear waste with ALMRS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bultman, J.H.

1993-10-01

The Advanced Liquid Metal Reactor (ALMR) can operate on LWR discharged material. In the calculation of the reduction of this material in the ALMR the inventory of the core should be taken into account. A high reduction can only be obtained if this inventory is reduced during operation of ALMRs. Then, it is possible to achieve a high reduction upto a factor 100 within a few hundred years. (orig.)

Maximum permissible dose

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1979-01-01

This chapter presents a historic overview of the establishment of radiation guidelines by various national and international agencies. The use of maximum permissible dose and maximum permissible body burden limits to derive working standards is discussed

Delay Reduction for Instantly Decodable Network Coding in Persistent Channels With Feedback Imperfections

KAUST Repository

Douik, Ahmed S.

2015-11-05

This paper considers the multicast decoding delay reduction problem for generalized instantly decodable network coding (G-IDNC) over persistent erasure channels with feedback imperfections. The feedback scenario discussed is the most general situation in which the sender does not always receive acknowledgments from the receivers after each transmission and the feedback communications are subject to loss. The decoding delay increment expressions are derived and employed to express the decoding delay reduction problem as a maximum weight clique problem in the G-IDNC graph. This paper provides a theoretical analysis of the expected decoding delay increase at each time instant. Problem formulations in simpler channel and feedback models are shown to be special cases of the proposed generalized formulation. Since finding the optimal solution to the problem is known to be NP-hard, a suboptimal greedy algorithm is designed and compared with blind approaches proposed in the literature. Through extensive simulations, the proposed algorithm is shown to outperform the blind methods in all situations and to achieve significant improvement, particularly for high time-correlated channels.

Delay Reduction for Instantly Decodable Network Coding in Persistent Channels With Feedback Imperfections

KAUST Repository

Douik, Ahmed S.; Sorour, Sameh; Al-Naffouri, Tareq Y.; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2015-01-01

This paper considers the multicast decoding delay reduction problem for generalized instantly decodable network coding (G-IDNC) over persistent erasure channels with feedback imperfections. The feedback scenario discussed is the most general situation in which the sender does not always receive acknowledgments from the receivers after each transmission and the feedback communications are subject to loss. The decoding delay increment expressions are derived and employed to express the decoding delay reduction problem as a maximum weight clique problem in the G-IDNC graph. This paper provides a theoretical analysis of the expected decoding delay increase at each time instant. Problem formulations in simpler channel and feedback models are shown to be special cases of the proposed generalized formulation. Since finding the optimal solution to the problem is known to be NP-hard, a suboptimal greedy algorithm is designed and compared with blind approaches proposed in the literature. Through extensive simulations, the proposed algorithm is shown to outperform the blind methods in all situations and to achieve significant improvement, particularly for high time-correlated channels.

Sulfate reduction in freshwater peatlands

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oequist, M.

1996-12-31

This text consist of two parts: Part A is a literature review on microbial sulfate reduction with emphasis on freshwater peatlands, and part B presents the results from a study of the relative importance of sulfate reduction and methane formation for the anaerobic decomposition in a boreal peatland. The relative importance of sulfate reduction and methane production for the anaerobic decomposition was studied in a small raised bog situated in the boreal zone of southern Sweden. Depth distribution of sulfate reduction- and methane production rates were measured in peat sampled from three sites (A, B, and C) forming an minerotrophic-ombrotrophic gradient. SO{sub 4}{sup 2-} concentrations in the three profiles were of equal magnitude and ranged from 50 to 150 {mu}M. In contrast, rates of sulfate reduction were vastly different: Maximum rates in the three profiles were obtained at a depth of ca. 20 cm below the water table. In A it was 8 {mu}M h{sup -1} while in B and C they were 1 and 0.05 {mu}M h{sup -1}, respectively. Methane production rates, however, were more uniform across the three nutrient regimes. Maximum rates in A (ca. 1.5 {mu}g d{sup -1} g{sup -1}) were found 10 cm below the water table, in B (ca. 1.0 {mu}g d{sup -1} g{sup -1}) in the vicinity of the water table, and in C (0.75 {mu}g d{sup -1} g{sup -1}) 20 cm below the water table. In all profiles both sulfate reduction and methane production rates were negligible above the water table. The areal estimates of methane production for the profiles were 22.4, 9.0 and 6.4 mmol m{sup -2} d{sup -1}, while the estimates for sulfate reduction were 26.4, 2.5, and 0.1 mmol m{sup -2} d{sup -1}, respectively. The calculated turnover times at the sites were 1.2, 14.2, and 198.7 days, respectively. The study shows that sulfate reducing bacteria are important for the anaerobic degradation in the studied peatland, especially in the minerotrophic sites, while methanogenic bacteria dominate in ombrotrophic sites Examination

Sulfate reduction in freshwater peatlands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oequist, M.

1996-01-01

This text consist of two parts: Part A is a literature review on microbial sulfate reduction with emphasis on freshwater peatlands, and part B presents the results from a study of the relative importance of sulfate reduction and methane formation for the anaerobic decomposition in a boreal peatland. The relative importance of sulfate reduction and methane production for the anaerobic decomposition was studied in a small raised bog situated in the boreal zone of southern Sweden. Depth distribution of sulfate reduction- and methane production rates were measured in peat sampled from three sites (A, B, and C) forming an minerotrophic-ombrotrophic gradient. SO 4 2- concentrations in the three profiles were of equal magnitude and ranged from 50 to 150 μM. In contrast, rates of sulfate reduction were vastly different: Maximum rates in the three profiles were obtained at a depth of ca. 20 cm below the water table. In A it was 8 μM h -1 while in B and C they were 1 and 0.05 μM h -1 , respectively. Methane production rates, however, were more uniform across the three nutrient regimes. Maximum rates in A (ca. 1.5 μg d -1 g -1 ) were found 10 cm below the water table, in B (ca. 1.0 μg d -1 g -1 ) in the vicinity of the water table, and in C (0.75 μg d -1 g -1 ) 20 cm below the water table. In all profiles both sulfate reduction and methane production rates were negligible above the water table. The areal estimates of methane production for the profiles were 22.4, 9.0 and 6.4 mmol m -2 d -1 , while the estimates for sulfate reduction were 26.4, 2.5, and 0.1 mmol m -2 d -1 , respectively. The calculated turnover times at the sites were 1.2, 14.2, and 198.7 days, respectively. The study shows that sulfate reducing bacteria are important for the anaerobic degradation in the studied peatland, especially in the minerotrophic sites, while methanogenic bacteria dominate in ombrotrophic sites Examination paper. 67 refs, 6 figs, 3 tabs

Maximum intensity projection MR angiography using shifted image data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Machida, Yoshio; Ichinose, Nobuyasu; Hatanaka, Masahiko; Goro, Takehiko; Kitake, Shinichi; Hatta, Junicchi.

1992-01-01

The quality of MR angiograms has been significantly improved in past several years. Spatial resolution, however, is not sufficient for clinical use. On the other hand, MR image data can be filled at anywhere using Fourier shift theorem, and the quality of multi-planar reformed image has been reported to be improved remarkably using 'shifted data'. In this paper, we have clarified the efficiency of 'shifted data' for maximum intensity projection MR angiography. Our experimental studies and theoretical consideration showd that the quality of MR angiograms has been significantly improved using 'shifted data' as follows; 1) remarkable reduction of mosaic artifact, 2) improvement of spatial continuity for the blood vessels, and 3) reduction of variance for the signal intensity along the blood vessels. In other words, the angiograms looks much 'finer' than conventional ones, although the spatial resolution is not improved theoretically. Furthermore, we found the quality of MR angiograms dose not improve significantly with the 'shifted data' more than twice as dense as ordinal ones. (author)

A cooperative reduction model for regional air pollution control in China that considers adverse health effects and pollutant reduction costs.

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Yujing; Zhao, Laijun; Xue, Jian; Hu, Qingmi; Xu, Xiang; Wang, Hongbo

2016-12-15

How to effectively control severe regional air pollution has become a focus of global concern recently. The non-cooperative reduction model (NCRM) is still the main air pollution control pattern in China, but it is both ineffective and costly, because each province must independently fight air pollution. Thus, we proposed a cooperative reduction model (CRM), with the goal of maximizing the reduction in adverse health effects (AHEs) at the lowest cost by encouraging neighboring areas to jointly control air pollution. CRM has two parts: a model of optimal pollutant removal rates using two optimization objectives (maximizing the reduction in AHEs and minimizing pollutant reduction cost) while meeting the regional pollution control targets set by the central government, and a model that allocates the cooperation benefits (i.e., health improvement and cost reduction) among the participants according to their contributions using the Shapley value method. We applied CRM to the case of sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) reduction in Yangtze River Delta region. Based on data from 2003 to 2013, and using mortality due to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases as the health endpoints, CRM saves 437 more lives than NCRM, amounting to 12.1% of the reduction under NCRM. CRM also reduced costs by US $65.8×10 6 compared with NCRM, which is 5.2% of the total cost of NCRM. Thus, CRM performs significantly better than NCRM. Each province obtains significant benefits from cooperation, which can motivate them to actively cooperate in the long term. A sensitivity analysis was performed to quantify the effects of parameter values on the cooperation benefits. Results shown that the CRM is not sensitive to the changes in each province's pollutant carrying capacity and the minimum pollutant removal capacity, but sensitive to the maximum pollutant reduction capacity. Moreover, higher cooperation benefits will be generated when a province's maximum pollutant reduction capacity increases. Copyright �

Potential for Landing Gear Noise Reduction on Advanced Aircraft Configurations

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Russell H.; Nickol, Craig L.; Burley, Casey L.; Guo, Yueping

2016-01-01

The potential of significantly reducing aircraft landing gear noise is explored for aircraft configurations with engines installed above the wings or the fuselage. An innovative concept is studied that does not alter the main gear assembly itself but does shorten the main strut and integrates the gear in pods whose interior surfaces are treated with acoustic liner. The concept is meant to achieve maximum noise reduction so that main landing gears can be eliminated as a major source of airframe noise. By applying this concept to an aircraft configuration with 2025 entry-into-service technology levels, it is shown that compared to noise levels of current technology, the main gear noise can be reduced by 10 EPNL dB, bringing the main gear noise close to a floor established by other components such as the nose gear. The assessment of the noise reduction potential accounts for design features for the advanced aircraft configuration and includes the effects of local flow velocity in and around the pods, gear noise reflection from the airframe, and reflection and attenuation from acoustic liner treatment on pod surfaces and doors. A technical roadmap for maturing this concept is discussed, and the possible drag increase at cruise due to the addition of the pods is identified as a challenge, which needs to be quantified and minimized possibly with the combination of detailed design and application of drag reduction technologies.

B-Spline potential function for maximum a-posteriori image reconstruction in fluorescence microscopy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shilpa Dilipkumar

2015-03-01

Full Text Available An iterative image reconstruction technique employing B-Spline potential function in a Bayesian framework is proposed for fluorescence microscopy images. B-splines are piecewise polynomials with smooth transition, compact support and are the shortest polynomial splines. Incorporation of the B-spline potential function in the maximum-a-posteriori reconstruction technique resulted in improved contrast, enhanced resolution and substantial background reduction. The proposed technique is validated on simulated data as well as on the images acquired from fluorescence microscopes (widefield, confocal laser scanning fluorescence and super-resolution 4Pi microscopy. A comparative study of the proposed technique with the state-of-art maximum likelihood (ML and maximum-a-posteriori (MAP with quadratic potential function shows its superiority over the others. B-Spline MAP technique can find applications in several imaging modalities of fluorescence microscopy like selective plane illumination microscopy, localization microscopy and STED.

Large Scale Anthropogenic Reduction of Forest Cover in Last Glacial Maximum Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaplan, Jed O; Pfeiffer, Mirjam; Kolen, Jan C A; Davis, Basil A S

2016-01-01

Reconstructions of the vegetation of Europe during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) are an enigma. Pollen-based analyses have suggested that Europe was largely covered by steppe and tundra, and forests persisted only in small refugia. Climate-vegetation model simulations on the other hand have consistently suggested that broad areas of Europe would have been suitable for forest, even in the depths of the last glaciation. Here we reconcile models with data by demonstrating that the highly mobile groups of hunter-gatherers that inhabited Europe at the LGM could have substantially reduced forest cover through the ignition of wildfires. Similar to hunter-gatherers of the more recent past, Upper Paleolithic humans were masters of the use of fire, and preferred inhabiting semi-open landscapes to facilitate foraging, hunting and travel. Incorporating human agency into a dynamic vegetation-fire model and simulating forest cover shows that even small increases in wildfire frequency over natural background levels resulted in large changes in the forested area of Europe, in part because trees were already stressed by low atmospheric CO2 concentrations and the cold, dry, and highly variable climate. Our results suggest that the impact of humans on the glacial landscape of Europe may be one of the earliest large-scale anthropogenic modifications of the earth system.

Climate Leadership Award for Excellence in GHG Management (Goal Achievement Award)

Science.gov (United States)

Apply to the Climate Leadership Award for Excellence in GHG Management (Goal Achievement Award), which publicly recognizes organizations that achieve publicly-set aggressive greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals.

Do Open Reduction and Internal Fixation With Articular Disc Anatomical Reduction and Rigid Anchorage Manifest a Promising Prospect in the Treatment of Intracapsular Fractures?

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Bo-Lei; Ren, Rong; Yu, Hong-Bo; Liu, Peng-Chao; Shen, Steve G F; Shi, Jun

2018-05-01

In response to the increased attention to soft tissue reduction in the treatment of intracapsular condylar fractures (ICFs), a modified open reduction technique is proposed and its functional and radiographic outcomes were evaluated in this study. This is a retrospective case series study of patients with all ICF types that were treated with open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) with articular disc anatomic reduction and rigid anchorage. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were strictly applied. Preoperative and postoperative clinical examinations of malocclusion, maximum incisor opening (MIO), laterotrusion, and temporomandibular disorder symptoms were recorded and analyzed. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were used to assess articular position and condylar morphology and position. Thirty-four patients with ICFs (47 sides) were treated with the modified ORIF technique. At 6 months of follow-up, no malocclusion was found and the MIO considerably expanded to 3.56 ± 0.13 cm. Only 4 patients (12%) had temporomandibular joint discomfort with mouth opening. Interestingly, for unilateral type B ICFs, the laterotrusion distance to the ORIF sides was notably longer than to the non-ORIF sides. Postoperative CT and MRI showed that all fragments were properly reduced and the condyles were in the normal position. Postoperative anterior disc displacement occurred in 4 sides and condylar morphologic abnormalities (slight surface roughening and articular cartilage absorption) occurred in 3 sides (6.4%). This modified ORIF technique, which achieved good outcomes after treatment of all ICF types, shows promise for the treatment of ICFs. Copyright © 2018 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparative evaluation of the efficacy of occlusal splints fabricated in centric relation or maximum intercuspation in temporomandibular disorders patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcelo Matida Hamata

2009-02-01

Full Text Available Fabrication of occlusal splints in centric relation for temporomandibular disorders (TMD patients is arguable, since this position has been defined for asymptomatic stomatognathic system. Thus, maximum intercuspation might be employed in patients with occlusal stability, eliminating the need for interocclusal records. This study compared occlusal splints fabricated in centric relation and maximum intercuspation in muscle pain reduction of TMD patients. Twenty patients with TMD of myogenous origin and bruxism were divided into 2 groups treated with splints in maximum intercuspation (I or centric relation (II. Clinical, electrognathographic and electromyographic examinations were performed before and 3 months after therapy. Data were analyzed by the Student's t test. Differences at 5% level of probability were considered statistically significant. There was a remarkable reduction in pain symptomatology, without statistically significant differences (p>0.05 between the groups. There was mandibular repositioning during therapy, as demonstrated by the change in occlusal contacts on the splints. Electrognathographic examination demonstrated a significant increase in maximum left lateral movement for group I and right lateral movement for group II (p0.05 in the electromyographic activities at rest after utilization of both splints. In conclusion, both occlusal splints were effective for pain control and presented similar action. The results suggest that maximum intercuspation may be used for fabrication of occlusal splints in patients with occlusal stability without large discrepancies between centric relation and maximum intercuspation. Moreover, this technique is simpler and less expensive.

Comparative evaluation of the efficacy of occlusal splints fabricated in centric relation or maximum intercuspation in temporomandibular disorders patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamata, Marcelo Matida; Zuim, Paulo Renato Junqueira; Garcia, Alicio Rosalino

2009-01-01

Fabrication of occlusal splints in centric relation for temporomandibular disorders (TMD) patients is arguable, since this position has been defined for asymptomatic stomatognathic system. Thus, maximum intercuspation might be employed in patients with occlusal stability, eliminating the need for interocclusal records. This study compared occlusal splints fabricated in centric relation and maximum intercuspation in muscle pain reduction of TMD patients. Twenty patients with TMD of myogenous origin and bruxism were divided into 2 groups treated with splints in maximum intercuspation (I) or centric relation (II). Clinical, electrognathographic and electromyographic examinations were performed before and 3 months after therapy. Data were analyzed by the Student's t test. Differences at 5% level of probability were considered statistically significant. There was a remarkable reduction in pain symptomatology, without statistically significant differences (p>0.05) between the groups. There was mandibular repositioning during therapy, as demonstrated by the change in occlusal contacts on the splints. Electrognathographic examination demonstrated a significant increase in maximum left lateral movement for group I and right lateral movement for group II (p0.05) in the electromyographic activities at rest after utilization of both splints. In conclusion, both occlusal splints were effective for pain control and presented similar action. The results suggest that maximum intercuspation may be used for fabrication of occlusal splints in patients with occlusal stability without large discrepancies between centric relation and maximum intercuspation. Moreover, this technique is simpler and less expensive.

The role of poverty reduction strategies in achieving the millennium development goals

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bezemer, Dirk; Eggen, Andrea

2008-01-01

We provide a literature overview of the linkages between Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) and the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) and use novel data to examine their relation. We find that introduction of a PRSP is associated with progress in four of the nine MDG indicators we study.

An improved maximum power point tracking method for a photovoltaic system

Science.gov (United States)

Ouoba, David; Fakkar, Abderrahim; El Kouari, Youssef; Dkhichi, Fayrouz; Oukarfi, Benyounes

2016-06-01

In this paper, an improved auto-scaling variable step-size Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) method for photovoltaic (PV) system was proposed. To achieve simultaneously a fast dynamic response and stable steady-state power, a first improvement was made on the step-size scaling function of the duty cycle that controls the converter. An algorithm was secondly proposed to address wrong decision that may be made at an abrupt change of the irradiation. The proposed auto-scaling variable step-size approach was compared to some various other approaches from the literature such as: classical fixed step-size, variable step-size and a recent auto-scaling variable step-size maximum power point tracking approaches. The simulation results obtained by MATLAB/SIMULINK were given and discussed for validation.

Canadian options for greenhouse gas emission reduction (COGGER)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robinson, J.; Fraser, M.; Haites, E.; Harvey, D.; Jaccard, M.; Reinsch, A.; Torrie, R.

1993-09-01

A panel was formed to assess the feasibility and cost of energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction in Canada. The panel studies focused on the potential for increased energy efficiency and fuel switching and their effect in reducing CO 2 emissions by reviewing the extensive literature available on those topics and assessing their conclusions. Economically feasible energy savings are estimated mostly in the range of 20-40% savings by the year 2010 relative to a reference-case projection, with a median of 23%. The panel concluded that achieving the identified economic potential for increased energy efficiency by 2010 will depend on development of additional demand-side management or energy efficiency programs that go well beyond current policies and programs. Fuel switching will play a much smaller role in stabilizing energy-related CO 2 emissions than improved energy efficiency. Technology substitution and broader structural change would enable Canada to achieve significant reductions in CO 2 emissions; however, more research is needed on achieving emission reductions that would approach the levels estimated to be required globally for stabilization of atmospheric CO 2 concentrations. Achieving such emissions reductions would likely require a combination of significant improvements in energy efficiency, major changes in energy sources, and substantial changes in economic activity and life styles, relative to that projected in most reference-case forecasts. 5 refs., 1 fig., 10 tabs

Comparative evaluation of the efficacy of occlusal splints fabricated in centric relation or maximum intercuspation in temporomandibular disorders patients

OpenAIRE

Hamata,Marcelo Matida; Zuim,Paulo Renato Junqueira; Garcia,Alicio Rosalino

2009-01-01

Fabrication of occlusal splints in centric relation for temporomandibular disorders (TMD) patients is arguable, since this position has been defined for asymptomatic stomatognathic system. Thus, maximum intercuspation might be employed in patients with occlusal stability, eliminating the need for interocclusal records. This study compared occlusal splints fabricated in centric relation and maximum intercuspation in muscle pain reduction of TMD patients. Twenty patients with TMD of myogenous o...

Mammographic image restoration using maximum entropy deconvolution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jannetta, A; Jackson, J C; Kotre, C J; Birch, I P; Robson, K J; Padgett, R

2004-01-01

An image restoration approach based on a Bayesian maximum entropy method (MEM) has been applied to a radiological image deconvolution problem, that of reduction of geometric blurring in magnification mammography. The aim of the work is to demonstrate an improvement in image spatial resolution in realistic noisy radiological images with no associated penalty in terms of reduction in the signal-to-noise ratio perceived by the observer. Images of the TORMAM mammographic image quality phantom were recorded using the standard magnification settings of 1.8 magnification/fine focus and also at 1.8 magnification/broad focus and 3.0 magnification/fine focus; the latter two arrangements would normally give rise to unacceptable geometric blurring. Measured point-spread functions were used in conjunction with the MEM image processing to de-blur these images. The results are presented as comparative images of phantom test features and as observer scores for the raw and processed images. Visualization of high resolution features and the total image scores for the test phantom were improved by the application of the MEM processing. It is argued that this successful demonstration of image de-blurring in noisy radiological images offers the possibility of weakening the link between focal spot size and geometric blurring in radiology, thus opening up new approaches to system optimization

Efficient algorithms for maximum likelihood decoding in the surface code

Science.gov (United States)

Bravyi, Sergey; Suchara, Martin; Vargo, Alexander

2014-09-01

We describe two implementations of the optimal error correction algorithm known as the maximum likelihood decoder (MLD) for the two-dimensional surface code with a noiseless syndrome extraction. First, we show how to implement MLD exactly in time O (n2), where n is the number of code qubits. Our implementation uses a reduction from MLD to simulation of matchgate quantum circuits. This reduction however requires a special noise model with independent bit-flip and phase-flip errors. Secondly, we show how to implement MLD approximately for more general noise models using matrix product states (MPS). Our implementation has running time O (nχ3), where χ is a parameter that controls the approximation precision. The key step of our algorithm, borrowed from the density matrix renormalization-group method, is a subroutine for contracting a tensor network on the two-dimensional grid. The subroutine uses MPS with a bond dimension χ to approximate the sequence of tensors arising in the course of contraction. We benchmark the MPS-based decoder against the standard minimum weight matching decoder observing a significant reduction of the logical error probability for χ ≥4.

Selective catalytic reduction of nitric oxide with acetaldehyde over NaY zeolite catalyst in lean exhaust feed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmieg, Steven J.; Cho, Byong K.; Oh, Se H.

2004-01-01

Steady-state selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of nitric oxide (NO) was investigated under simulated lean-burn conditions using acetaldehyde (CH 3 CHO) as the reductant. This work describes the influence of catalyst space velocity and the impact of nitric oxide, acetaldehyde, oxygen, sulfur dioxide, and water on NO x reduction activity over NaY zeolite catalyst. Results indicate that with sufficient catalyst volume 90% NO x conversion can be achieved at temperatures relevant to light-duty diesel exhaust (150-350C). Nitric oxide and acetaldehyde react to form N 2 , HCN, and CO 2 . Oxygen is necessary in the exhaust feed stream to oxidize NO to NO 2 over the catalyst prior to reduction, and water is required to prevent catalyst deactivation. Under conditions of excess acetaldehyde (C 1 :N>6:1) and low temperature ( x conversion is apparently very high; however, the NO x conversion steadily declines with time due to catalytic oxidation of some of the stored (adsorbed) NO to NO 2 , which can have a significant impact on steady-state NO x conversion. With 250ppm NO in the exhaust feed stream, maximum NO x conversion at 200C can be achieved with =400ppm of acetaldehyde, with higher acetaldehyde concentrations resulting in production of acetic acid and breakthrough of NO 2 causing lower NO x conversion levels. Less acetaldehyde is necessary at lower NO concentrations, while more acetaldehyde is required at higher temperatures. Sulfur in the exhaust feed stream as SO 2 can cause slow deactivation of the catalyst by poisoning the adsorption and subsequent reaction of nitric oxide and acetaldehyde, particularly at low temperature

Large Scale Anthropogenic Reduction of Forest Cover in Last Glacial Maximum Europe.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jed O Kaplan

Full Text Available Reconstructions of the vegetation of Europe during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM are an enigma. Pollen-based analyses have suggested that Europe was largely covered by steppe and tundra, and forests persisted only in small refugia. Climate-vegetation model simulations on the other hand have consistently suggested that broad areas of Europe would have been suitable for forest, even in the depths of the last glaciation. Here we reconcile models with data by demonstrating that the highly mobile groups of hunter-gatherers that inhabited Europe at the LGM could have substantially reduced forest cover through the ignition of wildfires. Similar to hunter-gatherers of the more recent past, Upper Paleolithic humans were masters of the use of fire, and preferred inhabiting semi-open landscapes to facilitate foraging, hunting and travel. Incorporating human agency into a dynamic vegetation-fire model and simulating forest cover shows that even small increases in wildfire frequency over natural background levels resulted in large changes in the forested area of Europe, in part because trees were already stressed by low atmospheric CO2 concentrations and the cold, dry, and highly variable climate. Our results suggest that the impact of humans on the glacial landscape of Europe may be one of the earliest large-scale anthropogenic modifications of the earth system.

A Novel Linear Programming Formulation of Maximum Lifetime Routing Problem in Wireless Sensor Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cetin, Bilge Kartal; Prasad, Neeli R.; Prasad, Ramjee

2011-01-01

In wireless sensor networks, one of the key challenge is to achieve minimum energy consumption in order to maximize network lifetime. In fact, lifetime depends on many parameters: the topology of the sensor network, the data aggregation regime in the network, the channel access schemes, the routing...... protocols, and the energy model for transmission. In this paper, we tackle the routing challenge for maximum lifetime of the sensor network. We introduce a novel linear programming approach to the maximum lifetime routing problem. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first mathematical programming...

Pediatric cT: Implementation of ASIR for Substantial Radiation Dose Reduction While Maintaining Pre-ASIR Image Noise1

Science.gov (United States)

Brady, Samuel L.; Moore, Bria M.; Yee, Brian S.; Kaufman, Robert A.

2015-01-01

Purpose To determine a comprehensive method for the implementation of adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR) for maximal radiation dose reduction in pediatric computed tomography (CT) without changing the magnitude of noise in the reconstructed image or the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) in the patient. Materials and Methods The institutional review board waived the need to obtain informed consent for this HIPAA-compliant quality analysis. Chest and abdominopelvic CT images obtained before ASIR implementation (183 patient examinations; mean patient age, 8.8 years ± 6.2 [standard deviation]; range, 1 month to 27 years) were analyzed for image noise and CNR. These measurements were used in conjunction with noise models derived from anthropomorphic phantoms to establish new beam current–modulated CT parameters to implement 40% ASIR at 120 and 100 kVp without changing noise texture or magnitude. Image noise was assessed in images obtained after ASIR implementation (492 patient examinations; mean patient age, 7.6 years ± 5.4; range, 2 months to 28 years) the same way it was assessed in the pre-ASIR analysis. Dose reduction was determined by comparing size-specific dose estimates in the pre- and post-ASIR patient cohorts. Data were analyzed with paired t tests. Results With 40% ASIR implementation, the average relative dose reduction for chest CT was 39% (2.7/4.4 mGy), with a maximum reduction of 72% (5.3/18.8 mGy). The average relative dose reduction for abdominopelvic CT was 29% (4.8/6.8 mGy), with a maximum reduction of 64% (7.6/20.9 mGy). Beam current modulation was unnecessary for patients weighing 40 kg or less. The difference between 0% and 40% ASIR noise magnitude was less than 1 HU, with statistically nonsignificant increases in patient CNR at 100 kVp of 8% (15.3/14.2; P = .41) for chest CT and 13% (7.8/6.8; P = .40) for abdominopelvic CT. Conclusion Radiation dose reduction at pediatric CT was achieved when 40% ASIR was implemented as a dose

States of maximum polarization for a quantum light field and states of a maximum sensitivity in quantum interferometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peřinová, Vlasta; Lukš, Antonín

2015-01-01

The SU(2) group is used in two different fields of quantum optics, the quantum polarization and quantum interferometry. Quantum degrees of polarization may be based on distances of a polarization state from the set of unpolarized states. The maximum polarization is achieved in the case where the state is pure and then the distribution of the photon-number sums is optimized. In quantum interferometry, the SU(2) intelligent states have also the property that the Fisher measure of information is equal to the inverse minimum detectable phase shift on the usual simplifying condition. Previously, the optimization of the Fisher information under a constraint was studied. Now, in the framework of constraint optimization, states similar to the SU(2) intelligent states are treated. (paper)

Maximum mutual information regularized classification

KAUST Repository

Wang, Jim Jing-Yan

2014-09-07

In this paper, a novel pattern classification approach is proposed by regularizing the classifier learning to maximize mutual information between the classification response and the true class label. We argue that, with the learned classifier, the uncertainty of the true class label of a data sample should be reduced by knowing its classification response as much as possible. The reduced uncertainty is measured by the mutual information between the classification response and the true class label. To this end, when learning a linear classifier, we propose to maximize the mutual information between classification responses and true class labels of training samples, besides minimizing the classification error and reducing the classifier complexity. An objective function is constructed by modeling mutual information with entropy estimation, and it is optimized by a gradient descend method in an iterative algorithm. Experiments on two real world pattern classification problems show the significant improvements achieved by maximum mutual information regularization.

Maximum mutual information regularized classification

KAUST Repository

Wang, Jim Jing-Yan; Wang, Yi; Zhao, Shiguang; Gao, Xin

2014-01-01

In this paper, a novel pattern classification approach is proposed by regularizing the classifier learning to maximize mutual information between the classification response and the true class label. We argue that, with the learned classifier, the uncertainty of the true class label of a data sample should be reduced by knowing its classification response as much as possible. The reduced uncertainty is measured by the mutual information between the classification response and the true class label. To this end, when learning a linear classifier, we propose to maximize the mutual information between classification responses and true class labels of training samples, besides minimizing the classification error and reducing the classifier complexity. An objective function is constructed by modeling mutual information with entropy estimation, and it is optimized by a gradient descend method in an iterative algorithm. Experiments on two real world pattern classification problems show the significant improvements achieved by maximum mutual information regularization.

Three-level grid-connected photovoltaic inverter with maximum power point tracking

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsang, K.M.; Chan, W.L.

2013-01-01

Highlight: ► This paper reports a novel 3-level grid connected photovoltaic inverter. ► The inverter features maximum power point tracking and grid current shaping. ► The inverter can be acted as an active filter and a renewable power source. - Abstract: This paper presents a systematic way of designing control scheme for a grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) inverter featuring maximum power point tracking (MPPT) and grid current shaping. Unlike conventional design, only four power switches are required to achieve three output levels and it is not necessary to use any phase-locked-loop circuitry. For the proposed scheme, a simple integral controller has been designed for the tracking of the maximum power point of a PV array based on an improved extremum seeking control method. For the grid-connected inverter, a current loop controller and a voltage loop controller have been designed. The current loop controller is designed to shape the inverter output current while the voltage loop controller can maintain the capacitor voltage at a certain level and provide a reference inverter output current for the PV inverter without affecting the maximum power point of the PV array. Experimental results are included to demonstrate the effectiveness of the tracking and control scheme.

Vitrification process for the volume reduction and stabilization of organic resins

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buelt, J.L.

1982-10-01

Pacific Northwest Laboratory has completed a series of experimental tests sponsored by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to determine the feasibility of incinerating and vitrifying organic ion-exchange resins in a single-step process. The resins used in this study were identical to those used for decontaminating auxiliary building water at the Three Mile Island (TMI) Unit 2 reactor. The primarily organic resins were loaded with nonradioactive isotopes of cesium and strontium for processing in a pilot-scale, joule-heated glass melter modified to support resin combustion. The feasibility tests demonstrated an average process rate of 3.0 kg/h. Based on this rate, if 50 organic resin liners were vitrified in a six-month campaign, a melter 2.5 times the size of the pilot scale unit would be adequate. A maximum achievable volume reduction of 91% was demonstrated in these tests

The importance of grid integration for achievable greenhouse gas emissions reductions from alternative vehicle technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tarroja, Brian; Shaffer, Brendan; Samuelsen, Scott

2015-01-01

Alternative vehicles must appropriately interface with the electric grid and renewable generation to contribute to decarbonization. This study investigates the impact of infrastructure configurations and management strategies on the vehicle–grid interface and vehicle greenhouse gas reduction potential with regard to California's Executive Order S-21-09 goal. Considered are battery electric vehicles, gasoline-fueled plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, hydrogen-fueled fuel cell vehicles, and plug-in hybrid fuel cell vehicles. Temporally resolved models of the electric grid, electric vehicle charging, hydrogen infrastructure, and vehicle powertrain simulations are integrated. For plug-in vehicles, consumer travel patterns can limit the greenhouse gas reductions without smart charging or energy storage. For fuel cell vehicles, the fuel production mix must be optimized for minimal greenhouse gas emissions. The plug-in hybrid fuel cell vehicle has the largest potential for emissions reduction due to smaller battery and fuel cells keeping efficiencies higher and meeting 86% of miles on electric travel keeping the hydrogen demand low. Energy storage is required to meet Executive Order S-21-09 goals in all cases. Meeting the goal requires renewable capacities of 205 GW for plug-in hybrid fuel cell vehicles and battery electric vehicle 100s, 255 GW for battery electric vehicle 200s, and 325 GW for fuel cell vehicles. - Highlights: • Consumer travel patterns limit greenhouse gas reductions with immediate charging. • Smart charging or energy storage are required for large greenhouse gas reductions. • Fuel cells as a plug-in vehicle range extender provided the most greenhouse gas reductions. • Energy storage is required to meet greenhouse gas goals regardless of vehicle type. • Smart charging reduces the required energy storage size for a given greenhouse gas goal

Maximum Power Point Tracking for Cascaded PV-Converter Modules Using Two-Stage Particle Swarm Optimization.

Science.gov (United States)

Mao, Mingxuan; Duan, Qichang; Zhang, Li; Chen, Hao; Hu, Bei; Duan, Pan

2017-08-24

The paper presents a novel two-stage particle swarm optimization (PSO) for the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control of a PV system consisting of cascaded PV-converter modules, under partial shading conditions (PSCs). In this scheme, the grouping method of the shuffled frog leaping algorithm (SFLA) is incorporated with the basic PSO algorithm, ensuring fast and accurate searching of the global extremum. An adaptive speed factor is also introduced to improve its convergence speed. A PWM algorithm enabling permuted switching of the PV sources is applied. The method enables this PV system to achieve the maximum power generation for any number of PV and converter modules. Simulation studies of the proposed MPPT scheme are performed on a system having two chained PV buck-converter modules and a dc-ac H-bridge connected at its terminals for supplying an AC load. The results show that this type of PV system allows each module to achieve the maximum power generation according its illumination level without affecting the others, and the proposed new control method gives significantly higher power output compared with the conventional P&O and PSO methods.

Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT Pada Sistem Pembangkit Listrik Tenaga Angin Menggunakan Buck-Boost Converter

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhamad Otong

2017-05-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the implementation of the Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT technique is developed using buck-boost converter. Perturb and observe (P&O MPPT algorithm is used to searching maximum power from the wind power plant for charging of the battery. The model used in this study is the Variable Speed Wind Turbine (VSWT with a Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator (PMSG. Analysis, design, and modeling of wind energy conversion system has done using MATLAB/simulink. The simulation results show that the proposed MPPT produce a higher output power than the system without MPPT. The average efficiency that can be achieved by the proposed system to transfer the maximum power into battery is 90.56%.

Highly efficient maximum power point tracking using DC-DC coupled inductor single-ended primary inductance converter for photovoltaic power systems

Science.gov (United States)

Quamruzzaman, M.; Mohammad, Nur; Matin, M. A.; Alam, M. R.

2016-10-01

Solar photovoltaics (PVs) have nonlinear voltage-current characteristics, with a distinct maximum power point (MPP) depending on factors such as solar irradiance and operating temperature. To extract maximum power from the PV array at any environmental condition, DC-DC converters are usually used as MPP trackers. This paper presents the performance analysis of a coupled inductor single-ended primary inductance converter for maximum power point tracking (MPPT) in a PV system. A detailed model of the system has been designed and developed in MATLAB/Simulink. The performance evaluation has been conducted on the basis of stability, current ripple reduction and efficiency at different operating conditions. Simulation results show considerable ripple reduction in the input and output currents of the converter. Both the MPPT and converter efficiencies are significantly improved. The obtained simulation results validate the effectiveness and suitability of the converter model in MPPT and show reasonable agreement with the theoretical analysis.

Maximum wind energy extraction strategies using power electronic converters

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Quincy Qing

2003-10-01

This thesis focuses on maximum wind energy extraction strategies for achieving the highest energy output of variable speed wind turbine power generation systems. Power electronic converters and controls provide the basic platform to accomplish the research of this thesis in both hardware and software aspects. In order to send wind energy to a utility grid, a variable speed wind turbine requires a power electronic converter to convert a variable voltage variable frequency source into a fixed voltage fixed frequency supply. Generic single-phase and three-phase converter topologies, converter control methods for wind power generation, as well as the developed direct drive generator, are introduced in the thesis for establishing variable-speed wind energy conversion systems. Variable speed wind power generation system modeling and simulation are essential methods both for understanding the system behavior and for developing advanced system control strategies. Wind generation system components, including wind turbine, 1-phase IGBT inverter, 3-phase IGBT inverter, synchronous generator, and rectifier, are modeled in this thesis using MATLAB/SIMULINK. The simulation results have been verified by a commercial simulation software package, PSIM, and confirmed by field test results. Since the dynamic time constants for these individual models are much different, a creative approach has also been developed in this thesis to combine these models for entire wind power generation system simulation. An advanced maximum wind energy extraction strategy relies not only on proper system hardware design, but also on sophisticated software control algorithms. Based on literature review and computer simulation on wind turbine control algorithms, an intelligent maximum wind energy extraction control algorithm is proposed in this thesis. This algorithm has a unique on-line adaptation and optimization capability, which is able to achieve maximum wind energy conversion efficiency through

Catalytic reduction of NOx in gasoline engine exhaust over copper- and nickel-exchanged X-zeolite catalysts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhattacharyya, S.; Das, R.K.

2001-01-01

Catalytic removal of NO x in engine exhaust gases can be accomplished by non-selective reduction, selective reduction and decomposition. Noble metals are extensively used for non-selective reduction of NO x and up to 90% of engine NO x emissions can be reduced in a stoichiometric exhaust. This requirement of having the stoichiometric fuel-air ratio acts against efficiency improvement of engines. Selective NO x reduction in the presence of different reductants such as, NH 3 , urea or hydrocarbons, requires close control of the amount of reductant being injected which otherwise may be emitted as a pollutant. Catalytic decomposition is the best option for NO x removal. Nevertheless, catalysts which are durable, economic and active for NO x reduction at normal engine exhaust temperature ranges are still being investigated. Three catalysts based on X-zeolite have been developed by exchanging the Na+ ion with copper, nickel and copper-nickel metal ions and applied to the exhaust of a stationary gasoline engine to explore their potential for catalytic reduction of NO x under a wide range of engine and exhaust conditions. Some encouraging results have been obtained. The catalyst Cu-X exhibits much better NO x reduction performance at any temperature in comparison to Cu-Ni-X and Ni-X; while Cu-Ni-X catalyst exhibits slightly better performance than Ni-X catalyst. Maximum NO x efficiency achieved with Cu-X catalyst is 59.2% at a space velocity (sv) of 31 000 h -1 ; while for Cu-Ni-X and Ni-X catalysts the equivalent numbers are 60.4% and 56% respectively at a sv of 22 000 h -1 . Unlike noble metals, the doped X-zeolite catalysts exhibit significant NO x reduction capability for a wide range of air/fuel ratio and with a slower rate of decline as well with increase in air/fuel ratio. (author)

Volatile organic compounds and oxides of nitrogen. Further emission reductions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Froste, H [comp.

1997-12-31

This report presents the current status in relation to achievement of the Swedish Environmental target set by Parliament to reduce emission of volatile organic compounds by 50 per cent between 1988 and 2000. It also instructed the Agency to formulate proposed measures to achieve a 50 per cent reduction of emission of nitrogen oxides between 1985 and 2005. The report presents an overall account of emission trends for volatile organic compounds (from all sectors) and nitrogen oxides (from the industry sector) and steps proposed to achieve further emission reductions. 43 refs

Volatile organic compounds and oxides of nitrogen. Further emission reductions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Froste, H. [comp.

1996-12-31

This report presents the current status in relation to achievement of the Swedish Environmental target set by Parliament to reduce emission of volatile organic compounds by 50 per cent between 1988 and 2000. It also instructed the Agency to formulate proposed measures to achieve a 50 per cent reduction of emission of nitrogen oxides between 1985 and 2005. The report presents an overall account of emission trends for volatile organic compounds (from all sectors) and nitrogen oxides (from the industry sector) and steps proposed to achieve further emission reductions. 43 refs

Optimization of filtration for reduction of lung dose from Rn decay products: Part I--Theoretical

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Curling, C.A.; Rudnick, S.N.; Ryan, P.B.; Moeller, D.W.

1990-01-01

A theoretical model was developed for the optimization of filter characteristics that would minimize the dose from the inhalation of Rn decay products. Modified forms of the Jacobi-Porstendorfer room model and the Jacobi-Eisfeld lung dose model were chosen for use in the mathematical simulation. Optimized parameters of the filter were the thickness, solidity, and fiber diameter. For purposes of the calculations, the room dimensions, air exchange rate, particle-size distribution and concentration, and the Rn concentration were specified. The resulting computer-aided optimal design was a thin filter (the minimum thickness used in the computer model was 0.1 mm) having low solidity (the minimum solidity used was 0.5%) and large diameter fibers (the maximum diameter used was 100 microns). The simulation implies that a significant reduction in the dose rate can be achieved using a well-designed recirculating filter system. The theoretical model, using the assumption of ideal mixing, predicts an 80% reduction in the dose rate, although inherent in this assumption is the movement of 230 room volumes per hour through the fan

Design and optimization of automotive thermoelectric generators for maximum fuel efficiency improvement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kempf, Nicholas; Zhang, Yanliang

2016-01-01

Highlights: • A three-dimensional automotive thermoelectric generator (TEG) model is developed. • Heat exchanger design and TEG configuration are optimized for maximum fuel efficiency increase. • Heat exchanger conductivity has a strong influence on maximum fuel efficiency increase. • TEG aspect ratio and fin height increase with heat exchanger thermal conductivity. • A 2.5% fuel efficiency increase is attainable with nanostructured half-Heusler modules. - Abstract: Automotive fuel efficiency can be increased by thermoelectric power generation using exhaust waste heat. A high-temperature thermoelectric generator (TEG) that converts engine exhaust waste heat into electricity is simulated based on a light-duty passenger vehicle with a 4-cylinder gasoline engine. Strategies to optimize TEG configuration and heat exchanger design for maximum fuel efficiency improvement are provided. Through comparison of stainless steel and silicon carbide heat exchangers, it is found that both the optimal TEG design and the maximum fuel efficiency increase are highly dependent on the thermal conductivity of the heat exchanger material. Significantly higher fuel efficiency increase can be obtained using silicon carbide heat exchangers at taller fins and a longer TEG along the exhaust flow direction when compared to stainless steel heat exchangers. Accounting for major parasitic losses, a maximum fuel efficiency increase of 2.5% is achievable using newly developed nanostructured bulk half-Heusler thermoelectric modules.

Development of Flow Accelerated Corrosion Reduction Technology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Heo, Min Bum; Choi, Won Yeol; Lee, Jong Chan; Lim, Dong Seok; Kwon, Byung Il; Ku, Hee Kwon; Kim, Jong Uk [FNC Tech, Yongin (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-15

Development of flow accelerated corrosion reduction technology is necessary for prevent this kind of accidents. This study deals with development of flow accelerated corrosion reduction technology through platinum injection and developed of flow accelerated corrosion reduction technology by imitating water chemical condition in PWR secondary system in practice. In addition, in order to get reliability of water chemical simulator in PWR secondary system, analyzed and compared with test result through CFD analysis. This study composed test device that can simulate water chemical environment in PWR secondary system, in order to develop flow accelerated corrosion reduction , and evaluated the ratio of corrosion in water chemical environment in PWR secondary system. In conclusion, corrosion ratio of low alloy steel material that includes more Cr and Mo was lower. And the results were confirmed to be the maximum corrosion rate in the case that replicate the 90 elbow. Additionally, inserted Pt nano particle for developing flow accelerated corrosion rate reduction technology, the test results, it was confirmed for about 80% of the flow accelerated corrosion rate reduction than before input.

Melting metal waste for volume reduction and decontamination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Copeland, G.L.; Heshmatpour, B.; Heestand, R.L.

1980-01-01

Melt-slagging was investigated as a technique for volume reduction and decontamination of radioactively contaminated scrap metals. Experiments were conducted using several metals and slags in which the partitioning of the contaminant U or Pu to the slag was measured. Concentrations of U or Pu in the metal product of about 1 ppM were achieved for many metals. A volume reduction of 30:1 was achieved for a typical batch of mixed metal scrap. Additionally, the production of granular products was demonstrated with metal shot and crushed slag

Maximum skin hyperaemia induced by local heating: possible mechanisms.

Science.gov (United States)

Gooding, Kim M; Hannemann, Michael M; Tooke, John E; Clough, Geraldine F; Shore, Angela C

2006-01-01

Maximum skin hyperaemia (MH) induced by heating skin to > or = 42 degrees C is impaired in individuals at risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Interpretation of these findings is hampered by the lack of clarity of the mechanisms involved in the attainment of MH. MH was achieved by local heating of skin to 42-43 degrees C for 30 min, and assessed by laser Doppler fluximetry. Using double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled crossover study designs, the roles of prostaglandins were investigated by inhibiting their production with aspirin and histamine, with the H1 receptor antagonist cetirizine. The nitric oxide (NO) pathway was blocked by the NO synthase inhibitor, NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl esther (L-NAME), and enhanced by sildenafil (prevents breakdown of cGMP). MH was not altered by aspirin, cetirizine or sildenafil, but was reduced by L-NAME: median placebo 4.48 V (25th, 75th centiles: 3.71, 4.70) versus L-NAME 3.25 V (3.10, 3.80) (p = 0.008, Wilcoxon signed rank test). Inhibition of NO production (L-NAME) resulted in a more rapid reduction in hyperaemia after heating (p = 0.011), whereas hyperaemia was prolonged in the presence of sildenafil (p = 0.003). The increase in skin blood flow was largely confined to the directly heated area, suggesting that the role of heat-induced activation of the axon reflex was small. NO, but not prostaglandins, histamine or an axon reflex, contributes to the increase in blood flow on heating and NO is also a component of the resolution of MH after heating. Copyright 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Inorganic nitrogen and nitrate reduction in the Arabian Sea

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Naqvi, S.W.A.; Qasim, S.Z.

the secondary nitrite maximum seem to be associated with Persian Gulf water. It is suggested that these originate as a result of biological reduction of nitrate (denitrification) due to the prevailing reducing conditions associated with a pronounced depletion...

Cosmic shear measurement with maximum likelihood and maximum a posteriori inference

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Alex; Taylor, Andy

2017-06-01

We investigate the problem of noise bias in maximum likelihood and maximum a posteriori estimators for cosmic shear. We derive the leading and next-to-leading order biases and compute them in the context of galaxy ellipticity measurements, extending previous work on maximum likelihood inference for weak lensing. We show that a large part of the bias on these point estimators can be removed using information already contained in the likelihood when a galaxy model is specified, without the need for external calibration. We test these bias-corrected estimators on simulated galaxy images similar to those expected from planned space-based weak lensing surveys, with promising results. We find that the introduction of an intrinsic shape prior can help with mitigation of noise bias, such that the maximum a posteriori estimate can be made less biased than the maximum likelihood estimate. Second-order terms offer a check on the convergence of the estimators, but are largely subdominant. We show how biases propagate to shear estimates, demonstrating in our simple set-up that shear biases can be reduced by orders of magnitude and potentially to within the requirements of planned space-based surveys at mild signal-to-noise ratio. We find that second-order terms can exhibit significant cancellations at low signal-to-noise ratio when Gaussian noise is assumed, which has implications for inferring the performance of shear-measurement algorithms from simplified simulations. We discuss the viability of our point estimators as tools for lensing inference, arguing that they allow for the robust measurement of ellipticity and shear.

77 FR 38397 - Agency Information Collection (Interest Rate Reduction Refinancing Loan Worksheet) Activities...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-27

... . Please refer to ``OMB Control No. 2900- 0386.'' SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: Interest Rate Reduction... guaranty on all interest rate reduction refinancing loan and provide a receipt as proof that the funding... ensure lenders computed the funding fee and the maximum permissible loan amount for interest rate...

Maximum-likelihood methods for array processing based on time-frequency distributions

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yimin; Mu, Weifeng; Amin, Moeness G.

1999-11-01

This paper proposes a novel time-frequency maximum likelihood (t-f ML) method for direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation for non- stationary signals, and compares this method with conventional maximum likelihood DOA estimation techniques. Time-frequency distributions localize the signal power in the time-frequency domain, and as such enhance the effective SNR, leading to improved DOA estimation. The localization of signals with different t-f signatures permits the division of the time-frequency domain into smaller regions, each contains fewer signals than those incident on the array. The reduction of the number of signals within different time-frequency regions not only reduces the required number of sensors, but also decreases the computational load in multi- dimensional optimizations. Compared to the recently proposed time- frequency MUSIC (t-f MUSIC), the proposed t-f ML method can be applied in coherent environments, without the need to perform any type of preprocessing that is subject to both array geometry and array aperture.

Distributed maximum power point tracking in wind micro-grids

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Andrés Ramos-Paja

2012-06-01

Full Text Available With the aim of reducing the hardware requirements in micro-grids based on wind generators, a distributed maximum power point tracking algorithm is proposed. Such a solution reduces the amount of current sensors and processing devices to maximize the power extracted from the micro-grid, reducing the application cost. The analysis of the optimal operating points of the wind generator was performed experimentally, which in addition provides realistic model parameters. Finally, the proposed solution was validated by means of detailed simulations performed in the power electronics software PSIM, contrasting the achieved performance with traditional solutions.

Complete bromate and nitrate reduction using hydrogen as the sole electron donor in a rotating biofilm-electrode reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhong, Yu; Li, Xin; Yang, Qi; Wang, Dongbo; Yao, Fubing; Li, Xiaoming; Zhao, Jianwei; Xu, Qiuxiang; Zhang, Chang; Zeng, Guangming

2016-01-01

Graphical abstract: Main mechanism of simultaneous bromate and nitrate removal in the RBER. - Highlights: • Cathode of RBER was designed to automatically rotate. • Simultaneous bromate and nitrate removal was achieved by auto-hydrogenotrophic reduction. • The maximum bromate reduction rate estimated by the Monod equation was 109.12 μg/L h. • An electron transfer process and main reaction mechanism in RBER was explored. - Abstract: Simultaneous reduction of bromate and nitrate was investigated using a rotating biofilm-electrode reactor (RBER) with graphite carbon (GC) rods as anode and activated carbon fiber (ACF) bonded with steel ring as cathode. In RBER, the community of denitrifying bacteria immobilized on the cathode surface could completely utilize hydrogen (H 2 ) as the electron donor, which was internally produced by the electrolysis of water. The short-term test confirmed that the RBER system could reduce 150–800 μg/L bromate to below 10 μg/L under autotrophic conditions. The reduced bromate was considered to be roughly equivalent to the amount of bromide in effluent, indicating that bromate was completely reduced to bromide without accumulation of by-products. The long-term test (over 120 days) showed that the removal fluxes of bromate and nitrate could be improved by increasing the electric current and decreasing the hydraulic retention time (HRT). But nitrite in effluent was significantly accumulated when the electric current was beyond 10 mA and the HRT was less than 6 h. The maximum bromate reduction rate estimated by the Monod equation was 109.12 μg/L h when the electric current was 10 mA and HRT was 12 h. It was proposed that the electron transfer process in RBER produced H 2 on the surface of the ACF cathode, and the microbial cultures attached closely on the cathode which could completely utilize H 2 as electron donors for reduction of bromate and nitrate.

Complete bromate and nitrate reduction using hydrogen as the sole electron donor in a rotating biofilm-electrode reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhong, Yu; Li, Xin [College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082 (China); Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control, Hunan University, Ministry of Education, Changsha 410082 (China); Yang, Qi, E-mail: yangqi@hnu.edu.cn [College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082 (China); Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control, Hunan University, Ministry of Education, Changsha 410082 (China); Wang, Dongbo [College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082 (China); Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control, Hunan University, Ministry of Education, Changsha 410082 (China); Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, QLD 4072 (Australia); Yao, Fubing [College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082 (China); Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control, Hunan University, Ministry of Education, Changsha 410082 (China); Li, Xiaoming, E-mail: xmli@hnu.edu.cn [College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082 (China); Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control, Hunan University, Ministry of Education, Changsha 410082 (China); Zhao, Jianwei; Xu, Qiuxiang; Zhang, Chang; Zeng, Guangming [College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082 (China); Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control, Hunan University, Ministry of Education, Changsha 410082 (China)

2016-04-15

Graphical abstract: Main mechanism of simultaneous bromate and nitrate removal in the RBER. - Highlights: • Cathode of RBER was designed to automatically rotate. • Simultaneous bromate and nitrate removal was achieved by auto-hydrogenotrophic reduction. • The maximum bromate reduction rate estimated by the Monod equation was 109.12 μg/L h. • An electron transfer process and main reaction mechanism in RBER was explored. - Abstract: Simultaneous reduction of bromate and nitrate was investigated using a rotating biofilm-electrode reactor (RBER) with graphite carbon (GC) rods as anode and activated carbon fiber (ACF) bonded with steel ring as cathode. In RBER, the community of denitrifying bacteria immobilized on the cathode surface could completely utilize hydrogen (H{sub 2}) as the electron donor, which was internally produced by the electrolysis of water. The short-term test confirmed that the RBER system could reduce 150–800 μg/L bromate to below 10 μg/L under autotrophic conditions. The reduced bromate was considered to be roughly equivalent to the amount of bromide in effluent, indicating that bromate was completely reduced to bromide without accumulation of by-products. The long-term test (over 120 days) showed that the removal fluxes of bromate and nitrate could be improved by increasing the electric current and decreasing the hydraulic retention time (HRT). But nitrite in effluent was significantly accumulated when the electric current was beyond 10 mA and the HRT was less than 6 h. The maximum bromate reduction rate estimated by the Monod equation was 109.12 μg/L h when the electric current was 10 mA and HRT was 12 h. It was proposed that the electron transfer process in RBER produced H{sub 2} on the surface of the ACF cathode, and the microbial cultures attached closely on the cathode which could completely utilize H{sub 2} as electron donors for reduction of bromate and nitrate.

Hydraulic Limits on Maximum Plant Transpiration

Science.gov (United States)

Manzoni, S.; Vico, G.; Katul, G. G.; Palmroth, S.; Jackson, R. B.; Porporato, A. M.

2011-12-01

Photosynthesis occurs at the expense of water losses through transpiration. As a consequence of this basic carbon-water interaction at the leaf level, plant growth and ecosystem carbon exchanges are tightly coupled to transpiration. In this contribution, the hydraulic constraints that limit transpiration rates under well-watered conditions are examined across plant functional types and climates. The potential water flow through plants is proportional to both xylem hydraulic conductivity (which depends on plant carbon economy) and the difference in water potential between the soil and the atmosphere (the driving force that pulls water from the soil). Differently from previous works, we study how this potential flux changes with the amplitude of the driving force (i.e., we focus on xylem properties and not on stomatal regulation). Xylem hydraulic conductivity decreases as the driving force increases due to cavitation of the tissues. As a result of this negative feedback, more negative leaf (and xylem) water potentials would provide a stronger driving force for water transport, while at the same time limiting xylem hydraulic conductivity due to cavitation. Here, the leaf water potential value that allows an optimum balance between driving force and xylem conductivity is quantified, thus defining the maximum transpiration rate that can be sustained by the soil-to-leaf hydraulic system. To apply the proposed framework at the global scale, a novel database of xylem conductivity and cavitation vulnerability across plant types and biomes is developed. Conductivity and water potential at 50% cavitation are shown to be complementary (in particular between angiosperms and conifers), suggesting a tradeoff between transport efficiency and hydraulic safety. Plants from warmer and drier biomes tend to achieve larger maximum transpiration than plants growing in environments with lower atmospheric water demand. The predicted maximum transpiration and the corresponding leaf water

Effect of phosphorus addition on the reductive transformation of pentachlorophenol (PCP) and iron reduction with microorganism involvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yongkui; Liu, Xianli; Huang, Jiexun; Xiao, Wensheng; Zhang, Jiaquan; Yin, Chunqin

2017-10-01

The transformation of phosphorus added to the soil environment has been proven to be influenced by the Fe biochemical process, which thereby may affect the transformation of organic chlorinated contaminants. However, the amount of related literatures regarding this topic is limited. This study aimed to determine the effects of phosphorus addition on pentachlorophenol (PCP) anaerobic transformation, iron reduction, and paddy soil microbial community structure. Results showed that the transformation of phosphorus, iron, and PCP were closely related to the microorganisms. Moreover, phosphorus addition significantly influenced PCP transformation and iron reduction, which promoted and inhibited these processes at low and high concentrations, respectively. Both the maximum reaction rate of PCP transformation and the maximum Fe(II) amount produced were obtained at 1 mmol/L phosphorus concentration. Among the various phosphorus species, dissolved P and NaOH-P considerably changed, whereas only slight changes were observed for the remaining phosphorus species. Microbial community structure analysis demonstrated that adding low concentration of phosphorus promoted the growth of Clostridium bowmanii, Clostridium hungatei, and Clostridium intestinale and Pseudomonas veronii. By contrast, high-concentration phosphorus inhibited growth of these microorganisms, similar to the curves of PCP transformation and iron reduction. These observations indicated that Clostridium and P. veronii, especially Clostridium, played a vital role in the transformation of related substances in the system. All these findings may serve as a reference for the complicated reactions among the multiple components of soils.

Sex-work harm reduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Rekart, Michael L

2005-12-17

Sex work is an extremely dangerous profession. The use of harm-reduction principles can help to safeguard sex workers' lives in the same way that drug users have benefited from drug-use harm reduction. Sex workers are exposed to serious harms: drug use, disease, violence, discrimination, debt, criminalisation, and exploitation (child prostitution, trafficking for sex work, and exploitation of migrants). Successful and promising harm-reduction strategies are available: education, empowerment, prevention, care, occupational health and safety, decriminalisation of sex workers, and human-rights-based approaches. Successful interventions include peer education, training in condom-negotiating skills, safety tips for street-based sex workers, male and female condoms, the prevention-care synergy, occupational health and safety guidelines for brothels, self-help organisations, and community-based child protection networks. Straightforward and achievable steps are available to improve the day-to-day lives of sex workers while they continue to work. Conceptualising and debating sex-work harm reduction as a new paradigm can hasten this process.

Report on basic survey project for promoting joint implementation in 1999. Feasibility study on energy conservation and reduction of CO2 emission at Balikpapan Refinery

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2000-03-01

With an objective of implementation as the clean development mechanism (CDM), a survey was performed on energy conservation and CO2 reduction at Balikpapan Refinery in Indonesia with respect to reducing emission of greenhouse effect gases. A crude oil atmospheric distillation unit with a capacity of 200,000 BPSD, and a vacuum distillation unit with a capacity of 81,000 BPSD are in operation, which emit carbon dioxide of about 470,000 tons annually from fuels burned and consumed by these units. The result of the survey revealed that there is a room for improvement in heat recovery, and that these units are separated into two groups located far away with each other in distance, resulting in low thermal efficiency and wastes in fuel. Increase in heat recovery should be achieved, and fuel consumption in the heating furnace should be reduced. Energy saving technologies owned by JGC were applied to establish a modification plan. The plan calls for maximum annual reduction of carbon dioxide of about 61,000 tons at a reduction rate of 13%, and maximum annual fuel conservation of 190 times 10{sup 9} kcal at a saving rate of 13%. PERTAMINA also desires the realization thereof if technical and financial assistance is made available. The project has a significance that it would give a great impetus to the entire regions and industries. (NEDO)

Penalised Maximum Likelihood Simultaneous Longitudinal PET Image Reconstruction with Difference-Image Priors.

Science.gov (United States)

Ellis, Sam; Reader, Andrew J

2018-04-26

reconstructions with increased counts levels. In tumour regions each method produces subtly different results in terms of preservation of tumour quantification and reconstruction root mean-squared error (RMSE). In particular, in the two-scan simulations, the DE-PML method produced tumour means in close agreement with MLEM reconstructions, while the DTV-PML method produced the lowest errors due to noise reduction within the tumour. Across a range of tumour responses and different numbers of scans, similar results were observed, with DTV-PML producing the lowest errors of the three priors and DE-PML producing the lowest bias. Similar improvements were observed in the reconstructions of the real longitudinal datasets, although imperfect alignment of the two PET images resulted in additional changes in the difference image that affected the performance of the proposed methods. Reconstruction of longitudinal datasets by penalising difference images between pairs of scans from a data series allows for noise reduction in all reconstructed images. An appropriate choice of penalty term and penalty strength allows for this noise reduction to be achieved while maintaining reconstruction performance in regions of change, either in terms of quantification of mean intensity via DE-PML, or in terms of tumour RMSE via DTV-PML. Overall, improving the image quality of longitudinal datasets via simultaneous reconstruction has the potential to improve upon currently used methods, allow dose reduction, or reduce scan time while maintaining image quality at current levels. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Curating NASA's future extraterrestrial sample collections: How do we achieve maximum proficiency?

Science.gov (United States)

McCubbin, Francis; Evans, Cynthia; Allton, Judith; Fries, Marc; Righter, Kevin; Zolensky, Michael; Zeigler, Ryan

2016-07-01

Introduction: The Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office (henceforth referred to herein as NASA Curation Office) at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) is responsible for curating all of NASA's extraterrestrial samples. Under the governing document, NASA Policy Directive (NPD) 7100.10E "Curation of Extraterrestrial Materials", JSC is charged with "The curation of all extraterrestrial material under NASA control, including future NASA missions." The Directive goes on to define Curation as including "…documentation, preservation, preparation, and distribution of samples for research, education, and public outreach." Here we describe some of the ongoing efforts to ensure that the future activities of the NASA Curation Office are working to-wards a state of maximum proficiency. Founding Principle: Curatorial activities began at JSC (Manned Spacecraft Center before 1973) as soon as design and construction planning for the Lunar Receiving Laboratory (LRL) began in 1964 [1], not with the return of the Apollo samples in 1969, nor with the completion of the LRL in 1967. This practice has since proven that curation begins as soon as a sample return mission is conceived, and this founding principle continues to return dividends today [e.g., 2]. The Next Decade: Part of the curation process is planning for the future, and we refer to these planning efforts as "advanced curation" [3]. Advanced Curation is tasked with developing procedures, technology, and data sets necessary for curating new types of collections as envisioned by NASA exploration goals. We are (and have been) planning for future curation, including cold curation, extended curation of ices and volatiles, curation of samples with special chemical considerations such as perchlorate-rich samples, curation of organically- and biologically-sensitive samples, and the use of minimally invasive analytical techniques (e.g., micro-CT, [4]) to characterize samples. These efforts will be useful for Mars Sample Return

Growth and maximum size of tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) in Hawaii.

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, Carl G; O'Malley, Joseph M; Papastamatiou, Yannis P; Dale, Jonathan J; Hutchinson, Melanie R; Anderson, James M; Royer, Mark A; Holland, Kim N

2014-01-01

Tiger sharks (Galecerdo cuvier) are apex predators characterized by their broad diet, large size and rapid growth. Tiger shark maximum size is typically between 380 & 450 cm Total Length (TL), with a few individuals reaching 550 cm TL, but the maximum size of tiger sharks in Hawaii waters remains uncertain. A previous study suggested tiger sharks grow rather slowly in Hawaii compared to other regions, but this may have been an artifact of the method used to estimate growth (unvalidated vertebral ring counts) compounded by small sample size and narrow size range. Since 1993, the University of Hawaii has conducted a research program aimed at elucidating tiger shark biology, and to date 420 tiger sharks have been tagged and 50 recaptured. All recaptures were from Hawaii except a single shark recaptured off Isla Jacques Cousteau (24°13'17″N 109°52'14″W), in the southern Gulf of California (minimum distance between tag and recapture sites  =  approximately 5,000 km), after 366 days at liberty (DAL). We used these empirical mark-recapture data to estimate growth rates and maximum size for tiger sharks in Hawaii. We found that tiger sharks in Hawaii grow twice as fast as previously thought, on average reaching 340 cm TL by age 5, and attaining a maximum size of 403 cm TL. Our model indicates the fastest growing individuals attain 400 cm TL by age 5, and the largest reach a maximum size of 444 cm TL. The largest shark captured during our study was 464 cm TL but individuals >450 cm TL were extremely rare (0.005% of sharks captured). We conclude that tiger shark growth rates and maximum sizes in Hawaii are generally consistent with those in other regions, and hypothesize that a broad diet may help them to achieve this rapid growth by maximizing prey consumption rates.

Peyronie's Reconstruction for Maximum Length and Girth Gain: Geometrical Principles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paulo H. Egydio

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Peyronie's disease has been associated with penile shortening and some degree of erectile dysfunction. Surgical reconstruction should be based on giving a functional penis, that is, rectifying the penis with rigidity enough to make the sexual intercourse. The procedure should be discussed preoperatively in terms of length and girth reconstruction in order to improve patient satisfaction. The tunical reconstruction for maximum penile length and girth restoration should be based on the maximum length of the dissected neurovascular bundle possible and the application of geometrical principles to define the precise site and size of tunical incision and grafting procedure. As penile rectification and rigidity are required to achieve complete functional restoration of the penis and 20 to 54% of patients experience associated erectile dysfunction, penile straightening alone may not be enough to provide complete functional restoration. Therefore, phosphodiesterase inhibitors, self-injection, or penile prosthesis may need to be added in some cases.

MPBoot: fast phylogenetic maximum parsimony tree inference and bootstrap approximation.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoang, Diep Thi; Vinh, Le Sy; Flouri, Tomáš; Stamatakis, Alexandros; von Haeseler, Arndt; Minh, Bui Quang

2018-02-02

The nonparametric bootstrap is widely used to measure the branch support of phylogenetic trees. However, bootstrapping is computationally expensive and remains a bottleneck in phylogenetic analyses. Recently, an ultrafast bootstrap approximation (UFBoot) approach was proposed for maximum likelihood analyses. However, such an approach is still missing for maximum parsimony. To close this gap we present MPBoot, an adaptation and extension of UFBoot to compute branch supports under the maximum parsimony principle. MPBoot works for both uniform and non-uniform cost matrices. Our analyses on biological DNA and protein showed that under uniform cost matrices, MPBoot runs on average 4.7 (DNA) to 7 times (protein data) (range: 1.2-20.7) faster than the standard parsimony bootstrap implemented in PAUP*; but 1.6 (DNA) to 4.1 times (protein data) slower than the standard bootstrap with a fast search routine in TNT (fast-TNT). However, for non-uniform cost matrices MPBoot is 5 (DNA) to 13 times (protein data) (range:0.3-63.9) faster than fast-TNT. We note that MPBoot achieves better scores more frequently than PAUP* and fast-TNT. However, this effect is less pronounced if an intensive but slower search in TNT is invoked. Moreover, experiments on large-scale simulated data show that while both PAUP* and TNT bootstrap estimates are too conservative, MPBoot bootstrap estimates appear more unbiased. MPBoot provides an efficient alternative to the standard maximum parsimony bootstrap procedure. It shows favorable performance in terms of run time, the capability of finding a maximum parsimony tree, and high bootstrap accuracy on simulated as well as empirical data sets. MPBoot is easy-to-use, open-source and available at http://www.cibiv.at/software/mpboot .

Reduction of Hexavalent Chromium Using Sorbaria sorbifolia Aqueous Leaf Extract

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shashi Prabha Dubey

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Aqueous plant leaves extract (PLE of an abundant shrub, Sorbaria sorbifolia, was explored for the reduction of hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI, to trivalent chromium, Cr(III. The effect of contact time, pH, PLE quantity, ionic strength, hardness, temperature and effective initial Cr(VI ion concentration were tested; Cr(VI reduction followed the pseudo-first order rate kinetics and maximum reduction was observed at pH 2. Significantly, Cr(VI reduction efficacies varied from 97 to 66% over the pH range of 2 to 10, which bodes well for PLE to be used for the reduction of Cr(VI also at a higher pH. PLE-mediated Cr(VI reduction displays considerable efficiency at various ionic strengths; however, hardness strongly affects the reduction ability. Higher temperature significantly enhances the Cr(VI reduction. This study reveals the potential use of PLE as a green reducing agent in aqueous extract for the efficient reduction of Cr(VI to Cr(III.

Achievable rate of spectrum sharing cognitive radio systems over fading channels at low-power regime

KAUST Repository

Sboui, Lokman; Rezki, Zouheir; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2014-01-01

the previously achieved rate at the low-power regime. Interestingly, we show that the low-power regime analysis provides a specific insight into the maximum achievable rate behavior of CR that has not been reported by previous studies.

High-performance oxygen reduction catalysts in both alkaline and acidic fuel cells based on pre-treating carbon material and iron precursor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Song, Ping; Barkholtz, Heather M.; Wang, Ying; Xu, Weilin; Liu, Dijia; Zhuang, Lin

2017-12-01

We demonstrate a new and simple method for pre-treating the carbon material and iron precursor to prepare oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts, which can produce super-high performance and stability in alkaline solution, with high performance in acid solution. This strategy using cheap materials is simply controllable. Moreover, it has achieved smaller uniform nanoparticles to exhibit high stability, and the synergetic effect of Fe and N offered much higher performance in ORR than commercial Pt/C, with high maximum power density in alkaline and acid fuel cell test. So it can make this kind of catalysts be the most promising alternatives of Pt-based catalysts with best performance/price.

Economic analysis of a volume reduction/polyethylene solidification system for low-level radioactive wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kalb, P.D.; Colombo, P.

1985-01-01

A study was conducted at Brookhaven National Laboratory to determine the economic feasibility of a fluidized bed volume reduction/polyethylene solidification system for low-level radioactive wastes. These results are compared with the ''null'' alternative of no volume reduction and solidification of aqueous waste streams in hydraulic cement. The economic analysis employed a levelized revenue requirement (LRR) technique conducted over a ten year period. An interactive computer program was written to conduct the LRR calculations. Both of the treatment/solidification options were considered for a number of scenarios including type of plant (BWR or PWR) and transportation distance to the disposal site. If current trends in the escalation rates of cost components continue, the volume reduction/polyethylene solidification option will be cost effective for both BWRs and PWRs. Data indicate that a minimum net annual savings of $0.8 million per year (for a PWR shipping its waste 750 miles) and a maximum net annual savings of $9 million per year (for a BWR shipping its waste 2500 miles) can be achieved. A sensitivity analysis was performed for the burial cost escalation rate, which indicated that variation of this factor will impact the total levelized revenue requirement. The burial cost escalation rate which yields a break-even condition was determined for each scenario considered. 11 refs., 8 figs., 39 tabs

Maximum Acceleration Recording Circuit

Science.gov (United States)

Bozeman, Richard J., Jr.

1995-01-01

Coarsely digitized maximum levels recorded in blown fuses. Circuit feeds power to accelerometer and makes nonvolatile record of maximum level to which output of accelerometer rises during measurement interval. In comparison with inertia-type single-preset-trip-point mechanical maximum-acceleration-recording devices, circuit weighs less, occupies less space, and records accelerations within narrower bands of uncertainty. In comparison with prior electronic data-acquisition systems designed for same purpose, circuit simpler, less bulky, consumes less power, costs and analysis of data recorded in magnetic or electronic memory devices. Circuit used, for example, to record accelerations to which commodities subjected during transportation on trucks.

Achieving emissions reduction through oil sands cogeneration in Alberta’s deregulated electricity market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ouellette, A.; Rowe, A.; Sopinka, A.; Wild, P.

2014-01-01

The province of Alberta faces the challenge of balancing its commitment to reduce CO 2 emissions and the growth of its energy-intensive oil sands industry. Currently, these operations rely on the Alberta electricity system and on-site generation to satisfy their steam and electricity requirements. Most of the on-site generation units produce steam and electricity through the process of cogeneration. It is unclear to what extent new and existing operations will continue to develop cogeneration units or rely on electricity from the Alberta grid to meet their energy requirements in the near future. This study explores the potential for reductions in fuel usage and CO 2 emissions by increasing the penetration of oil sands cogeneration in the provincial generation mixture. EnergyPLAN is used to perform scenario analyses on Alberta’s electricity system in 2030 with a focus on transmission conditions to the oil sands region. The results show that up to 15–24% of CO 2 reductions prescribed by the 2008 Alberta Climate Strategy are possible. Furthermore, the policy implications of these scenarios within a deregulated market are discussed. - Highlights: • High levels of cogeneration in the oil sands significantly reduce the total fuel usage and CO 2 emissions for the province. • Beyond a certain threshold, the emissions reduction intensity per MW of cogeneration installed is reduced. • The cost difference between scenarios is not significant. • Policy which gives an advantage to a particular technology goes against the ideology of a deregulated market. • Alberta will need significant improvements to its transmission system in order for oil sands cogeneration to persist

Neutron spectra unfolding with maximum entropy and maximum likelihood

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Itoh, Shikoh; Tsunoda, Toshiharu

1989-01-01

A new unfolding theory has been established on the basis of the maximum entropy principle and the maximum likelihood method. This theory correctly embodies the Poisson statistics of neutron detection, and always brings a positive solution over the whole energy range. Moreover, the theory unifies both problems of overdetermined and of underdetermined. For the latter, the ambiguity in assigning a prior probability, i.e. the initial guess in the Bayesian sense, has become extinct by virtue of the principle. An approximate expression of the covariance matrix for the resultant spectra is also presented. An efficient algorithm to solve the nonlinear system, which appears in the present study, has been established. Results of computer simulation showed the effectiveness of the present theory. (author)

Maximum Power from a Solar Panel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Miller

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Solar energy has become a promising alternative to conventional fossil fuel sources. Solar panels are used to collect solar radiation and convert it into electricity. One of the techniques used to maximize the effectiveness of this energy alternative is to maximize the power output of the solar collector. In this project the maximum power is calculated by determining the voltage and the current of maximum power. These quantities are determined by finding the maximum value for the equation for power using differentiation. After the maximum values are found for each time of day, each individual quantity, voltage of maximum power, current of maximum power, and maximum power is plotted as a function of the time of day.

Impact of marine reserve on maximum sustainable yield in a traditional prey-predator system

Science.gov (United States)

Paul, Prosenjit; Kar, T. K.; Ghorai, Abhijit

2018-01-01

Multispecies fisheries management requires managers to consider the impact of fishing activities on several species as fishing impacts both targeted and non-targeted species directly or indirectly in several ways. The intended goal of traditional fisheries management is to achieve maximum sustainable yield (MSY) from the targeted species, which on many occasions affect the targeted species as well as the entire ecosystem. Marine reserves are often acclaimed as the marine ecosystem management tool. Few attempts have been made to generalize the ecological effects of marine reserve on MSY policy. We examine here how MSY and population level in a prey-predator system are affected by the low, medium and high reserve size under different possible scenarios. Our simulation works shows that low reserve area, the value of MSY for prey exploitation is maximum when both prey and predator species have fast movement rate. For medium reserve size, our analysis revealed that the maximum value of MSY for prey exploitation is obtained when prey population has fast movement rate and predator population has slow movement rate. For high reserve area, the maximum value of MSY for prey's exploitation is very low compared to the maximum value of MSY for prey's exploitation in case of low and medium reserve. On the other hand, for low and medium reserve area, MSY for predator exploitation is maximum when both the species have fast movement rate.

Guidance levels, achievable doses and expectation levels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Lianbo; Meng, Bing

2002-01-01

The National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Commission of the European Communities (CEC) published their guidance levels and reference doses for typical X-ray examination and nuclear medicine in their documents in 1993, 1994 and 1996 respectively. From then on, the concept of guidance levels or reference doses have been applied to different examinations in the field of radiology and proved to be effective for reduction of patient doses. But the guidance levels or reference doses are likely to have some shortcomings and can do little to make further reduction of patient dose in the radiology departments where patient dose are already below them. For this reason, the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) proposed a concept named achievable doses which are based on the mean dose observed for a selected sample of radiology departments. This paper will review and discuss the concept of guidance levels and achievable doses, and propose a new concept referred to as Expectation Levels that will encourage the radiology departments where patient dose are already below the guidance levels to keep patient dose as low as reasonably achievable. Some examples of the expectation levels based on the data published by a few countries are also illustrated in this paper

Maximizing the transferred power to electric arc furnace for having maximum production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Samet, Haidar; Ghanbari, Teymoor; Ghaisari, Jafar

2014-01-01

In order to increase production of an EAF (electric arc furnace) by reduction of melting time, one can increase transferred power to the EAF. In other words a certain value of energy can be transferred to the EAF in less time. The transferred power to the EAF reduces when series reactors are utilized in order to have stable arc with desired characteristics. To compensate the reduced transferred power, the secondary voltage of the EAF transformer should be increased by tap changing of the transformer. On the other hand, after any tap changing of the EAF transformer, improved arc stability is degraded. Therefore, the series reactor and EAF transformer tap changing should be simultaneously determined to achieve arc with desired characteristics. In this research, three approaches are proposed to calculate the EAF system parameters, by which the optimal set-points of the different series reactor and EAF transformer taps are determined. The electric characteristics relevant to the EAF for the all transformer and series reactor taps with and without SVC (static VAr compensator) are plotted and based on these graphs the optimal set-points are tabulated. Finally, an economic evaluation is also presented for the methods. - Highlights: • The main goal is to transfer the maximum power to electric arc furnace. • Optimal transformer and series reactor taps are determined. • Arc stability and transferred power to EAF determine the optimal performance. • An economic assessment is done and the number of increased meltings is calculated

Human Capital Formation And Poverty Reduction Strategies In ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study articulates the development thrust of the Nigerian government, (1999 – 2003), in the area of human capital information and poverty reduction. The policies to achieve its objectives and the gains of such policies to the common man in Nigeria. To achieve its objectives, the government emphasized, macroeconomic ...

REDUCTION CAPACITY OF SALTSTONE AND SALTSTONE COMPONENTS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roberts, K.; Kaplan, D.

2009-11-30

The duration that saltstone retains its ability to immobilize some key radionuclides, such as technetium (Tc), plutonium (Pu), and neptunium (Np), depends on its capacity to maintain a low redox status (or low oxidation state). The reduction capacity is a measure of the mass of reductants present in the saltstone; the reductants are the active ingredients that immobilize Tc, Pu, and Np. Once reductants are exhausted, the saltstone loses its ability to immobilize these radionuclides. The reduction capacity values reported here are based on the Ce(IV)/Fe(II) system. The Portland cement (198 {micro}eq/g) and especially the fly ash (299 {micro}eq/g) had a measurable amount of reduction capacity, but the blast furnace slag (820 {micro}eq/g) not surprisingly accounted for most of the reduction capacity. The blast furnace slag contains ferrous iron and sulfides which are strong reducing and precipitating species for a large number of solids. Three saltstone samples containing 45% slag or one sample containing 90% slag had essentially the same reduction capacity as pure slag. There appears to be some critical concentration between 10% and 45% slag in the Saltstone formulation that is needed to create the maximum reduction capacity. Values from this work supported those previously reported, namely that the reduction capacity of SRS saltstone is about 820 {micro}eq/g; this value is recommended for estimating the longevity that the Saltstone Disposal Facility will retain its ability to immobilize radionuclides.

School Segregation and Racial Academic Achievement Gaps

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sean F. Reardon

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Although it is clear that racial segregation is linked to academic achievement gaps, the mechanisms underlying this link have been debated since James Coleman published his eponymous 1966 report. In this paper, I examine sixteen distinct measures of segregation to determine which is most strongly associated with academic achievement gaps. I find clear evidence that one aspect of segregation in particular—the disparity in average school poverty rates between white and black students’ schools—is consistently the single most powerful correlate of achievement gaps, a pattern that holds in both bivariate and multivariate analyses. This implies that high-poverty schools are, on average, much less effective than lower-poverty schools and suggests that strategies that reduce the differential exposure of black, Hispanic, and white students to poor schoolmates may lead to meaningful reductions in academic achievement gaps.

Reduction of Aldehydes and Ketones by Sodium Dithionite

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vries, Johannes G. de; Kellogg, Richard M.

1980-01-01

Conditions have been developed for the effective reduction of aldehydes and ketones by sodium dithionite, Na2S2O4. Complete reduction of simple aldehydes and ketones can be achieved with excess Na2S2O4 in H2O/dioxane mixtures at reflux temperature. Some aliphatic ketones, for example, pentanone and

Why use of interventions targeting outdoor biting mosquitoes will be necessary to achieve malaria elimination

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicodem James Govella

2012-06-01

Full Text Available By definition, elimination of malaria means permanent reduction to zero of locally incidence of infections. Achieving this goal among other reasons, it requires fully understanding on where and when persons are most exposed to malaria vectors as these are fundamental for targeting interventions to achieve maximum impact. While elimination can be possible in some settings with low malaria transmission intensity and dominated with late and indoor biting of vectors using Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLIN and Indoor Residual Spraying (IRs, it’s difficult and even impossible in areas with high and where majority of human exposure to transmission occurs outside human dwellings. Recently in response to wide spread use of LLIN and IRS, human risk of exposure to transmission is increasingly spread across the entire night so that much of it occurs outdoors and before bed time. This modification of vector populations and behaviour has now been reported from across Africa, Asia and from the Solomon Islands. Historical evidence shows that even in areas with intervention coverage exceeding 90% of human population it was so hard to even push prevalence down below the pre elimination threshold of 1% being compromised mainly with the outdoor residual transmission. Malaria control experts must however continue to deliver interventions that tackle indoor transmission but considerable amount of resources that target mosquitoes outside of houses and outside of sleeping hours will therefore be required to sustain and go beyond existing levels of malaria control and achieve elimination.

Welfare Effects of Tariff Reduction Formulas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Guldager, Jan G.; Schröder, Philipp J.H.

WTO negotiations rely on tariff reduction formulas. It has been argued that formula approaches are of increasing importance in trade talks, because of the large number of countries involved, the wider dispersion in initial tariffs (e.g. tariff peaks) and gaps between bound and applied tariff rate....... No single formula dominates for all conditions. The ranking of the three tools depends on the degree of product differentiation in the industry, and the achieved reduction in the average tariff....

Simultaneous nitrate reduction and acetaminophen oxidation using the continuous-flow chemical-less VUV process as an integrated advanced oxidation and reduction process

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moussavi, Gholamreza, E-mail: moussavi@modares.ac.ir; Shekoohiyan, Sakine

2016-11-15

Highlights: • Simultaneous advanced oxidation and reduction processes were explored in VUV system. • Complete reduction of nitrate to N{sub 2} was achieved at the presence of acetaminophen. • Complete degradation of acetaminophen was achieved at the presence of nitrate. • Over 95% of acetaminophen was mineralized in the VUV photoreactor. • VUV is a chemical-less advanced process for treating water emerging contaminants. - Abstract: This work was aimed at investigating the performance of the continuous-flow VUV photoreactor as a novel chemical-less advanced process for simultaneously oxidizing acetaminophen (ACT) as a model of pharmaceuticals and reducing nitrate in a single reactor. Solution pH was an important parameter affecting the performance of VUV; the highest ACT oxidation and nitrate reduction attained at solution pH between 6 and 8. The ACT was oxidized mainly by HO· while the aqueous electrons were the main working agents in the reduction of nitrate. The performance of VUV photoreactor improved with the increase of hydraulic retention time (HRT); the complete degradation of ACT and ∼99% reduction of nitrate with 100% N{sub 2} selectivity achieved at HRT of 80 min. The VUV effluent concentrations of nitrite and ammonium at HRT of 80 min were below the drinking water standards. The real water sample contaminated with the ACT and nitrate was efficiently treated in the VUV photoreactor. Therefore, the VUV photoreactor is a chemical-less advanced process in which both advanced oxidation and advanced reduction reactions are accomplished. This unique feature possesses VUV photoreactor as a promising method of treating water contaminated with both pharmaceutical and nitrate.

Simultaneous nitrate reduction and acetaminophen oxidation using the continuous-flow chemical-less VUV process as an integrated advanced oxidation and reduction process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moussavi, Gholamreza; Shekoohiyan, Sakine

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Simultaneous advanced oxidation and reduction processes were explored in VUV system. • Complete reduction of nitrate to N_2 was achieved at the presence of acetaminophen. • Complete degradation of acetaminophen was achieved at the presence of nitrate. • Over 95% of acetaminophen was mineralized in the VUV photoreactor. • VUV is a chemical-less advanced process for treating water emerging contaminants. - Abstract: This work was aimed at investigating the performance of the continuous-flow VUV photoreactor as a novel chemical-less advanced process for simultaneously oxidizing acetaminophen (ACT) as a model of pharmaceuticals and reducing nitrate in a single reactor. Solution pH was an important parameter affecting the performance of VUV; the highest ACT oxidation and nitrate reduction attained at solution pH between 6 and 8. The ACT was oxidized mainly by HO· while the aqueous electrons were the main working agents in the reduction of nitrate. The performance of VUV photoreactor improved with the increase of hydraulic retention time (HRT); the complete degradation of ACT and ∼99% reduction of nitrate with 100% N_2 selectivity achieved at HRT of 80 min. The VUV effluent concentrations of nitrite and ammonium at HRT of 80 min were below the drinking water standards. The real water sample contaminated with the ACT and nitrate was efficiently treated in the VUV photoreactor. Therefore, the VUV photoreactor is a chemical-less advanced process in which both advanced oxidation and advanced reduction reactions are accomplished. This unique feature possesses VUV photoreactor as a promising method of treating water contaminated with both pharmaceutical and nitrate.

On the maximum-entropy method for kinetic equation of radiation, particle and gas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El-Wakil, S.A.; Madkour, M.A.; Degheidy, A.R.; Machali, H.M.

1995-01-01

The maximum-entropy approach is used to calculate some problems in radiative transfer and reactor physics such as the escape probability, the emergent and transmitted intensities for a finite slab as well as the emergent intensity for a semi-infinite medium. Also, it is employed to solve problems involving spherical geometry, such as luminosity (the total energy emitted by a sphere), neutron capture probability and the albedo problem. The technique is also employed in the kinetic theory of gases to calculate the Poiseuille flow and thermal creep of a rarefied gas between two plates. Numerical calculations are achieved and compared with the published data. The comparisons demonstrate that the maximum-entropy results are good in agreement with the exact ones. (orig.)

Does Class-Size Reduction Close the Achievement Gap? Evidence from TIMSS 2011

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Wei; Konstantopoulos, Spyros

2017-01-01

Policies about reducing class size have been implemented in the US and Europe in the past decades. Only a few studies have discussed the effects of class size at different levels of student achievement, and their findings have been mixed. We employ quantile regression analysis, coupled with instrumental variables, to examine the causal effects of…

Justice policy reform for high-risk juveniles: using science to achieve large-scale crime reduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Skeem, Jennifer L; Scott, Elizabeth; Mulvey, Edward P

2014-01-01

After a distinctly punitive era, a period of remarkable reform in juvenile crime regulation has begun. Practical urgency has fueled interest in both crime reduction and research on the prediction and malleability of criminal behavior. In this rapidly changing context, high-risk juveniles--the small proportion of the population where crime becomes concentrated--present a conundrum. Research indicates that these are precisely the individuals to treat intensively to maximize crime reduction, but there are both real and imagined barriers to doing so. Mitigation principles (during early adolescence, ages 10-13) and institutional placement or criminal court processing (during mid-late adolescence, ages 14-18) can prevent these juveniles from receiving interventions that would best protect public safety. In this review, we synthesize relevant research to help resolve this challenge in a manner that is consistent with the law's core principles. In our view, early adolescence offers unique opportunities for risk reduction that could (with modifications) be realized in the juvenile justice system in cooperation with other social institutions.

Approaches to achieving inherently safe fusion power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Piet, S.J.

1986-01-01

Achieving inherently safe fusion facilities and conceptual designs is a challenge to the fusion community. Success should provide fusion with important competitive advantages versus other energy technologies. Inherent safety should mean a facility designed with passive safety features such that the public is protected from any acute fatalities under all credible accidental circumstances. A key aspect to inherent safety is demonstrability - the ability to prove that a deign is as safe as claimed. Three complementary approaches to achieving inherent safety are examined: toxin inventory reduction, energy source reduction and design fault tolerance. Four levels of assurance are defined, associated with uncertainty in the words ''credible' and ''demonstrable.'' Sound reasons exist for believing that inherent safety puts a modest upper bound on all accident consequences; it should be considered a part of the collection of safety and environmental issues, which also include lower consequence accidents, waste management, and effluent control

Dust fluxes and iron fertilization in Holocene and Last Glacial Maximum climates

Science.gov (United States)

Lambert, Fabrice; Tagliabue, Alessandro; Shaffer, Gary; Lamy, Frank; Winckler, Gisela; Farias, Laura; Gallardo, Laura; De Pol-Holz, Ricardo

2015-07-01

Mineral dust aerosols play a major role in present and past climates. To date, we rely on climate models for estimates of dust fluxes to calculate the impact of airborne micronutrients on biogeochemical cycles. Here we provide a new global dust flux data set for Holocene and Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) conditions based on observational data. A comparison with dust flux simulations highlights regional differences between observations and models. By forcing a biogeochemical model with our new data set and using this model's results to guide a millennial-scale Earth System Model simulation, we calculate the impact of enhanced glacial oceanic iron deposition on the LGM-Holocene carbon cycle. On centennial timescales, the higher LGM dust deposition results in a weak reduction of pump. This is followed by a further ~10 ppm reduction over millennial timescales due to greater carbon burial and carbonate compensation.

Performance evaluation of iterative reconstruction algorithms for achieving CT radiation dose reduction — a phantom study

Science.gov (United States)

Dodge, Cristina T.; Tamm, Eric P.; Cody, Dianna D.; Liu, Xinming; Jensen, Corey T.; Wei, Wei; Kundra, Vikas

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to characterize image quality and dose performance with GE CT iterative reconstruction techniques, adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASiR), and model‐based iterative reconstruction (MBIR), over a range of typical to low‐dose intervals using the Catphan 600 and the anthropomorphic Kyoto Kagaku abdomen phantoms. The scope of the project was to quantitatively describe the advantages and limitations of these approaches. The Catphan 600 phantom, supplemented with a fat‐equivalent oval ring, was scanned using a GE Discovery HD750 scanner at 120 kVp, 0.8 s rotation time, and pitch factors of 0.516, 0.984, and 1.375. The mA was selected for each pitch factor to achieve CTDIvol values of 24, 18, 12, 6, 3, 2, and 1 mGy. Images were reconstructed at 2.5 mm thickness with filtered back‐projection (FBP); 20%, 40%, and 70% ASiR; and MBIR. The potential for dose reduction and low‐contrast detectability were evaluated from noise and contrast‐to‐noise ratio (CNR) measurements in the CTP 404 module of the Catphan. Hounsfield units (HUs) of several materials were evaluated from the cylinder inserts in the CTP 404 module, and the modulation transfer function (MTF) was calculated from the air insert. The results were confirmed in the anthropomorphic Kyoto Kagaku abdomen phantom at 6, 3, 2, and 1 mGy. MBIR reduced noise levels five‐fold and increased CNR by a factor of five compared to FBP below 6 mGy CTDIvol, resulting in a substantial improvement in image quality. Compared to ASiR and FBP, HU in images reconstructed with MBIR were consistently lower, and this discrepancy was reversed by higher pitch factors in some materials. MBIR improved the conspicuity of the high‐contrast spatial resolution bar pattern, and MTF quantification confirmed the superior spatial resolution performance of MBIR versus FBP and ASiR at higher dose levels. While ASiR and FBP were relatively insensitive to changes in dose and pitch, the spatial

An extension theory-based maximum power tracker using a particle swarm optimization algorithm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chao, Kuei-Hsiang

2014-01-01

Highlights: • We propose an adaptive maximum power point tracking (MPPT) approach for PV systems. • Transient and steady state performances in tracking process are improved. • The proposed MPPT can automatically tune tracking step size along a P–V curve. • A PSO algorithm is used to determine the weighting values of extension theory. - Abstract: The aim of this work is to present an adaptive maximum power point tracking (MPPT) approach for photovoltaic (PV) power generation system. Integrating the extension theory as well as the conventional perturb and observe method, an maximum power point (MPP) tracker is made able to automatically tune tracking step size by way of the category recognition along a P–V characteristic curve. Accordingly, the transient and steady state performances in tracking process are improved. Furthermore, an optimization approach is proposed on the basis of a particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm for the complexity reduction in the determination of weighting values. At the end of this work, a simulated improvement in the tracking performance is experimentally validated by an MPP tracker with a programmable system-on-chip (PSoC) based controller

Amorphizing of Cu Nanoparticles toward Highly Efficient and Robust Electrocatalyst for CO2 Reduction to Liquid Fuels with High Faradaic Efficiencies.

Science.gov (United States)

Duan, Yan-Xin; Meng, Fan-Lu; Liu, Kai-Hua; Yi, Sha-Sha; Li, Si-Jia; Yan, Jun-Min; Jiang, Qing

2018-04-01

Conversion of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) into valuable chemicals, especially liquid fuels, through electrochemical reduction driven by sustainable energy sources, is a promising way to get rid of dependence on fossil fuels, wherein developing of highly efficient catalyst is still of paramount importance. In this study, as a proof-of-concept experiment, first a facile while very effective protocol is proposed to synthesize amorphous Cu NPs. Unexpectedly, superior electrochemical performances, including high catalytic activity and selectivity of CO 2 reduction to liquid fuels are achieved, that is, a total Faradaic efficiency of liquid fuels can sum up to the maximum value of 59% at -1.4 V, with formic acid (HCOOH) and ethanol (C 2 H 6 O) account for 37% and 22%, respectively, as well as a desirable long-term stability even up to 12 h. More importantly, this work opens a new avenue for improved electroreduction of CO 2 based on amorphous metal catalysts. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

GHG emission scenarios in Asia and the world: The key technologies for significant reduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akashi, Osamu; Hijioka, Yasuaki; Masui, Toshihiko; Hanaoka, Tatsuya; Kainuma, Mikiko

2012-01-01

In this paper, we explore GHG emission scenarios up to 2050 in Asia and the world as part of the Asian Modeling Exercise and assess technology options for meeting a 2.6 W/m 2 radiative forcing target using AIM/Enduse[Global] and AIM/Impact[Policy]. Global GHG emissions in 2050 are required to be reduced by 72% relative to a reference scenario, which corresponds to a 57% reduction from the 2005 level, in order to meet the above target. Energy intensity improvement contributes a lot to curbing CO 2 emission in the short-term. Meanwhile, carbon intensity reduction and CO 2 capture play a large role for further emission reduction in the mid to long-term. The top five key technologies in terms of reduction amount are CCS, solar power generation, wind power generation, biomass power generation and biofuel, which, in total, account for about 60% of global GHG emissions reduction in 2050. We implement additional model runs, each of which enforced limited availability of one of the key technology. The result shows that the 2.6 W/m 2 target up to 2050 is achievable even if availability of any one of the key technologies is limited to half the level achieved in the default simulation. However, if the use of CCS or biomass is limited, the cumulative GHG abatement cost until 2050 increases considerably. Therefore CCS and biomass have a vital role in curbing costs to achieve significant emission reductions. - Highlights: ► We explore GHG emission scenarios up to 2050 in Asia and the world. ► Significant GHG emission reduction is required to limit radiative forcing at low level. ► We assess technology options for achieving significant GHG emission reduction. ► CCS, solar power, wind power, and biomass are the key technologies for reduction. ► Especially, CCS and biomass play a vital role in curbing costs to achieve significant emission reductions.

40 CFR 471.102 - Effluent limitations representing the degree of effluent reduction attainable by the application...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... treatment wet air pollution control scrubber blowdown. Subpart J—BAT Pollutant or pollutant property Maximum...) Mixing wet air pollution control scrubber blowdown. Subpart J—BAT Pollutant or pollutant property Maximum... degree of effluent reduction attainable by the application of the best available technology economically...

Estimation of the Maximum Theoretical Productivity of Fed-Batch Bioreactors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bomble, Yannick J [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); St. John, Peter C [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Crowley, Michael F [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2017-10-18

A key step towards the development of an integrated biorefinery is the screening of economically viable processes, which depends sharply on the yields and productivities that can be achieved by an engineered microorganism. In this study, we extend an earlier method which used dynamic optimization to find the maximum theoretical productivity of batch cultures to explicitly include fed-batch bioreactors. In addition to optimizing the intracellular distribution of metabolites between cell growth and product formation, we calculate the optimal control trajectory of feed rate versus time. We further analyze how sensitive the productivity is to substrate uptake and growth parameters.

Air Layer Drag Reduction

Science.gov (United States)

Ceccio, Steven; Elbing, Brian; Winkel, Eric; Dowling, David; Perlin, Marc

2008-11-01

A set of experiments have been conducted at the US Navy's Large Cavitation Channel to investigate skin-friction drag reduction with the injection of air into a high Reynolds number turbulent boundary layer. Testing was performed on a 12.9 m long flat-plate test model with the surface hydraulically smooth and fully rough at downstream-distance-based Reynolds numbers to 220 million and at speeds to 20 m/s. Local skin-friction, near-wall bulk void fraction, and near-wall bubble imaging were monitored along the length of the model. The instrument suite was used to access the requirements necessary to achieve air layer drag reduction (ALDR). Injection of air over a wide range of air fluxes showed that three drag reduction regimes exist when injecting air; (1) bubble drag reduction that has poor downstream persistence, (2) a transitional regime with a steep rise in drag reduction, and (3) ALDR regime where the drag reduction plateaus at 90% ± 10% over the entire model length with large void fractions in the near-wall region. These investigations revealed several requirements for ALDR including; sufficient volumetric air fluxes that increase approximately with the square of the free-stream speed, slightly higher air fluxes are needed when the surface tension is reduced, higher air fluxes are required for rough surfaces, and the formation of ALDR is sensitive to the inlet condition.

Accounting for Natural Reduction of Nitrogen

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Højberg, A L; Refsgaard, J. C.; Hansen, A.L.

the same restriction for all areas independent on drainage schemes, hydrogeochemical conditions in the subsurface and retention in surface waters. Although significant reductions have been achieved this way, general measures are not cost-effective, as nitrogen retention (primarily as denitrification...

Maximum concentrations at work and maximum biologically tolerable concentration for working materials 1991

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-01-01

The meaning of the term 'maximum concentration at work' in regard of various pollutants is discussed. Specifically, a number of dusts and smokes are dealt with. The valuation criteria for maximum biologically tolerable concentrations for working materials are indicated. The working materials in question are corcinogeneous substances or substances liable to cause allergies or mutate the genome. (VT) [de

Solar Panel System for Street Light Using Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT Technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wiedjaja A.

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Solar energy is one form of the renewable energy which is very abundant in regions close to the equator. One application of solar energy is for street light. This research focuses on using the maximum power point tracking technique (MPPT, particularly the perturb and observe (P&O algorithm, to charge battery for street light system. The proposed charger circuit can achieve 20.73% higher power efficiency compared to that of non-MPPT charger. We also develop the LED driver circuit for the system which can achieve power efficiency up to 91.9% at a current of 1.06 A. The proposed street lightning system can be implemented with a relatively low cost for public areas.

Cost-Reduction Roadmap for Residential Solar Photovoltaics (PV), 2017-2030

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cook, Jeffrey J. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Ardani, Kristen B. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Margolis, Robert M. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Fu, Ran [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2018-01-03

The installed cost of solar photovoltaics (PV) has fallen rapidly in recent years and is expected to continue declining in the future. In this report, we focus on the potential for continued PV cost reductions in the residential market. From 2010 to 2017, the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for residential PV declined from 52 cents per kilowatt-hour (cents/kWh) to 16 cents/kWh (Fu et al. 2017). The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) recently set new LCOE targets for 2030, including a target of 5 cents/kWh for residential PV. We present a roadmap for achieving the SETO 2030 residential PV target. Because the 2030 target likely will not be achieved under business-as-usual trends (NREL 2017), we examine two key market segments that demonstrate significant opportunities for cost savings and market growth: installing PV at the time of roof replacement and installing PV as part of the new home construction process. Within both market segments, we identify four key cost-reduction opportunities: market maturation, business model integration, product innovation, and economies of scale. To assess the potential impact of these cost reductions, we compare modeled residential PV system prices in 2030 to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) quarter one 2017 (Q1 2017) residential PV system price benchmark (Fu et al. 2017). We use a bottom-up accounting framework to model all component and project-development costs incurred when installing a PV system. The result is a granular accounting for 11 direct and indirect costs associated with installing a residential PV system in 2030. All four modeled pathways demonstrate significant installed-system price savings over the Q1 2017 benchmark, with the visionary pathways yielding the greatest price benefits. The largest modeled cost savings are in the supply chain, sales and marketing, overhead, and installation labor cost categories. When we translate these

Optimal control of a double integrator a primer on maximum principle

CERN Document Server

Locatelli, Arturo

2017-01-01

This book provides an introductory yet rigorous treatment of Pontryagin’s Maximum Principle and its application to optimal control problems when simple and complex constraints act on state and control variables, the two classes of variable in such problems. The achievements resulting from first-order variational methods are illustrated with reference to a large number of problems that, almost universally, relate to a particular second-order, linear and time-invariant dynamical system, referred to as the double integrator. The book is ideal for students who have some knowledge of the basics of system and control theory and possess the calculus background typically taught in undergraduate curricula in engineering. Optimal control theory, of which the Maximum Principle must be considered a cornerstone, has been very popular ever since the late 1950s. However, the possibly excessive initial enthusiasm engendered by its perceived capability to solve any kind of problem gave way to its equally unjustified rejecti...

40 CFR 1042.140 - Maximum engine power, displacement, power density, and maximum in-use engine speed.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... cylinders having an internal diameter of 13.0 cm and a 15.5 cm stroke length, the rounded displacement would... 40 Protection of Environment 32 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Maximum engine power, displacement... Maximum engine power, displacement, power density, and maximum in-use engine speed. This section describes...

Fast maximum likelihood estimation of mutation rates using a birth-death process.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Xiaowei; Zhu, Hongxiao

2015-02-07

Since fluctuation analysis was first introduced by Luria and Delbrück in 1943, it has been widely used to make inference about spontaneous mutation rates in cultured cells. Under certain model assumptions, the probability distribution of the number of mutants that appear in a fluctuation experiment can be derived explicitly, which provides the basis of mutation rate estimation. It has been shown that, among various existing estimators, the maximum likelihood estimator usually demonstrates some desirable properties such as consistency and lower mean squared error. However, its application in real experimental data is often hindered by slow computation of likelihood due to the recursive form of the mutant-count distribution. We propose a fast maximum likelihood estimator of mutation rates, MLE-BD, based on a birth-death process model with non-differential growth assumption. Simulation studies demonstrate that, compared with the conventional maximum likelihood estimator derived from the Luria-Delbrück distribution, MLE-BD achieves substantial improvement on computational speed and is applicable to arbitrarily large number of mutants. In addition, it still retains good accuracy on point estimation. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Credal Networks under Maximum Entropy

OpenAIRE

Lukasiewicz, Thomas

2013-01-01

We apply the principle of maximum entropy to select a unique joint probability distribution from the set of all joint probability distributions specified by a credal network. In detail, we start by showing that the unique joint distribution of a Bayesian tree coincides with the maximum entropy model of its conditional distributions. This result, however, does not hold anymore for general Bayesian networks. We thus present a new kind of maximum entropy models, which are computed sequentially. ...

Superhydrophobic and polymer drag reduction in turbulent Taylor-Couette flow

Science.gov (United States)

Rajappan, Anoop; McKinley, Gareth H.

2017-11-01

We use a custom-built Taylor-Couette apparatus (radius ratio η = 0.75) to study frictional drag reduction by dilute polymer solutions and superhydrophobic (SH) surfaces in turbulent flows for 15000 analysis. We also investigate drag reduction by dilute polymer solutions, and show that natural biopolymers from plant mucilage can be an inexpensive and effective alternative to synthetic polymers in drag reduction applications, approaching the same maximum drag reduction asymptote. Finally we explore combinations of the two methods - one arising from wall slip and the other due to changes in turbulence dynamics in the bulk flow - and find that the two effects are not additive; interestingly, the effectiveness of polymer drag reduction is drastically reduced in the presence of an SH coating on the wall. This study was financially supported by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) through Contract No. 3002453814.

Maximum Entropy in Drug Discovery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chih-Yuan Tseng

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Drug discovery applies multidisciplinary approaches either experimentally, computationally or both ways to identify lead compounds to treat various diseases. While conventional approaches have yielded many US Food and Drug Administration (FDA-approved drugs, researchers continue investigating and designing better approaches to increase the success rate in the discovery process. In this article, we provide an overview of the current strategies and point out where and how the method of maximum entropy has been introduced in this area. The maximum entropy principle has its root in thermodynamics, yet since Jaynes’ pioneering work in the 1950s, the maximum entropy principle has not only been used as a physics law, but also as a reasoning tool that allows us to process information in hand with the least bias. Its applicability in various disciplines has been abundantly demonstrated. We give several examples of applications of maximum entropy in different stages of drug discovery. Finally, we discuss a promising new direction in drug discovery that is likely to hinge on the ways of utilizing maximum entropy.

Long-term reduction in infrared autofluorescence caused by infrared light below the maximum permissible exposure.

Science.gov (United States)

Masella, Benjamin D; Williams, David R; Fischer, William S; Rossi, Ethan A; Hunter, Jennifer J

2014-05-20

Many retinal imaging instruments use infrared wavelengths to reduce the risk of light damage. However, we have discovered that exposure to infrared illumination causes a long-lasting reduction in infrared autofluorescence (IRAF). We have characterized the dependence of this effect on radiant exposure and investigated its origin. A scanning laser ophthalmoscope was used to obtain IRAF images from two macaques before and after exposure to 790-nm light (15-450 J/cm(2)). Exposures were performed with either raster-scanning or uniform illumination. Infrared autofluorescence images also were obtained in two humans exposed to 790-nm light in a separate study. Humans were assessed with direct ophthalmoscopy, Goldmann visual fields, multifocal ERG, and photopic microperimetry to determine whether these measures revealed any effects in the exposed locations. A significant decrease in IRAF after exposure to infrared light was seen in both monkeys and humans. In monkeys, the magnitude of this reduction increased with retinal radiant exposure. Partial recovery was seen at 1 month, with full recovery within 21 months. Consistent with a photochemical origin, IRAF decreases caused by either raster-scanning or uniform illumination were not significantly different. We were unable to detect any effect of the light exposure with any measure other than IRAF imaging. We cannot exclude the possibility that changes could be detected with more sensitive tests or longer follow-up. This long-lasting effect of infrared illumination in both humans and monkeys occurs at exposure levels four to five times below current safety limits. The photochemical basis for this phenomenon remains unknown. Copyright 2014 The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc.

Maximum Potential Score (MPS: An operating model for a successful customer-focused strategy.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cabello González, José Manuel

2015-12-01

Full Text Available One of marketers’ chief objectives is to achieve customer loyalty, which is a key factor for profitable growth. Therefore, they need to develop a strategy that attracts and maintains customers, giving them adequate motives, both tangible (prices and promotions and intangible (personalized service and treatment, to satisfy a customer and make him loyal to the company. Finding a way to accurately measure satisfaction and customer loyalty is very important. With regard to typical Relationship Marketing measures, we can consider listening to customers, which can help to achieve a competitive sustainable advantage. Customer satisfaction surveys are essential tools for listening to customers. Short questionnaires have gained considerable acceptance among marketers as a means to achieve a customer satisfaction measure. Our research provides an indication of the benefits of a short questionnaire (one/three questions. We find that the number of questions survey is significantly related to the participation in the survey (Net Promoter Score or NPS. We also prove that a the three question survey is more likely to have more participants than a traditional survey (Maximum Potential Score or MPS . Our main goal is to analyse one method as a potential predictor of customer loyalty. Using surveys, we attempt to empirically establish the causal factors in determining the satisfaction of customers. This paper describes a maximum potential operating model that captures with a three questions survey, important elements for a successful customer-focused strategy. MPS may give us lower participation rates than NPS but important information that helps to convert unhappy customers or just satisfied customers, into loyal customers.

Maximum Quantum Entropy Method

OpenAIRE

Sim, Jae-Hoon; Han, Myung Joon

2018-01-01

Maximum entropy method for analytic continuation is extended by introducing quantum relative entropy. This new method is formulated in terms of matrix-valued functions and therefore invariant under arbitrary unitary transformation of input matrix. As a result, the continuation of off-diagonal elements becomes straightforward. Without introducing any further ambiguity, the Bayesian probabilistic interpretation is maintained just as in the conventional maximum entropy method. The applications o...

Industrialisation, Trade Policy and Poverty Reduction: Evidence from Asia

OpenAIRE

Peter Warr

2003-01-01

Over recent decades, most of the developing economies of Asia achieved reductions in absolute poverty incidence, but these reductions varied greatly in size. Differences in the rate of aggregate economic growth explain part, but not all of these differences. One factor that would be important is the sectoral composition of the growth. This paper examines the relationship between poverty reduction outcomes and the rate of growth in the agricultural, industrial and services sectors. It assemble...

Reduction operator for wide-SIMDs reconsidered

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Waeijen, L.J.W.; She, D.; Corporaal, H.; He, Y.

2014-01-01

It has been shown that wide Single Instruction Multiple Data architectures (wide-SIMDs) can achieve high energy efficiency, especially in domains such as image and vision processing. In these and various other application domains, reduction is a frequently encountered operation, where multiple input

Insect Repellents and Associated Personal Protection for a Reduction in Human Disease

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

of topical repellents and scrub typhus was reduced through the use of treated clothing. Successful reduction of leishmaniasis was achieved through the...epidemic typhus , scrub typhus , plague and malaria. The result was the development of many of the modern strategies for vector control that we take for...prevent bites and disease. They gave examples that represented well-documented disease reduction achieved with repellent clothing ( scrub typhus ; McCulloch

Weighted Maximum-Clique Transversal Sets of Graphs

OpenAIRE

Chuan-Min Lee

2011-01-01

A maximum-clique transversal set of a graph G is a subset of vertices intersecting all maximum cliques of G. The maximum-clique transversal set problem is to find a maximum-clique transversal set of G of minimum cardinality. Motivated by the placement of transmitters for cellular telephones, Chang, Kloks, and Lee introduced the concept of maximum-clique transversal sets on graphs in 2001. In this paper, we study the weighted version of the maximum-clique transversal set problem for split grap...

Maximum power demand cost

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Biondi, L.

1998-01-01

The charging for a service is a supplier's remuneration for the expenses incurred in providing it. There are currently two charges for electricity: consumption and maximum demand. While no problem arises about the former, the issue is more complicated for the latter and the analysis in this article tends to show that the annual charge for maximum demand arbitrarily discriminates among consumer groups, to the disadvantage of some [it

Dose reduction and optimization studies (ALARA) at nuclear power facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baum, J.W.; Meinhold, C.B.

1983-01-01

Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) has been commissioned by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to study dose-reduction techniques and effectiveness of as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) planning at LWR plants. These studies have the following objectives: identify high-dose maintenance tasks; identify dose-reduction techniques; examine incentives for dose reduction; evaluate cost-effectiveness and optimization of dose-reduction techniques; and compile an ALARA handbook on data, engineering modifications, cost-effectiveness calculations, and other information of interest to ALARA practioners

Critical Low-Noise Technologies Being Developed for Engine Noise Reduction Systems Subproject

Science.gov (United States)

Grady, Joseph E.; Civinskas, Kestutis C.

2004-01-01

NASA's previous Advanced Subsonic Technology (AST) Noise Reduction Program delivered the initial technologies for meeting a 10-year goal of a 10-dB reduction in total aircraft system noise. Technology Readiness Levels achieved for the engine-noise-reduction technologies ranged from 4 (rig scale) to 6 (engine demonstration). The current Quiet Aircraft Technology (QAT) project is building on those AST accomplishments to achieve the additional noise reduction needed to meet the Aerospace Technology Enterprise's 10-year goal, again validated through a combination of laboratory rig and engine demonstration tests. In order to meet the Aerospace Technology Enterprise goal for future aircraft of a 50- reduction in the perceived noise level, reductions of 4 dB are needed in both fan and jet noise. The primary objectives of the Engine Noise Reduction Systems (ENRS) subproject are, therefore, to develop technologies to reduce both fan and jet noise by 4 dB, to demonstrate these technologies in engine tests, and to develop and experimentally validate Computational Aero Acoustics (CAA) computer codes that will improve our ability to predict engine noise.

PNL size reduction and decontamination facilities and capabilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allen, R.P.; Fetrow, L.K.; McCoy, M.W.

1983-07-01

Studies sponsored by the US Department of Energy at Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) have resulted in the development of an effective, integrated size reduction and decontamination system for transuranically contaminated components. Using this system, a reduction of more than 95% in the volume of transuranic waste requiring interim storage and eventual geologic disposal has been achieved for typical plutonium contaminated glove boxes. This paper describes the separate preparation, size reduction, decontamination and waste treatment operations and facilities that have been developed and demonstrated as part of this work

Applying a Consumer Behavior Lens to Salt Reduction Initiatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Regan, Áine; Kent, Monique Potvin; Raats, Monique M; McConnon, Áine; Wall, Patrick; Dubois, Lise

2017-08-18

Reformulation of food products to reduce salt content has been a central strategy for achieving population level salt reduction. In this paper, we reflect on current reformulation strategies and consider how consumer behavior determines the ultimate success of these strategies. We consider the merits of adopting a 'health by stealth', silent approach to reformulation compared to implementing a communications strategy which draws on labeling initiatives in tandem with reformulation efforts. We end this paper by calling for a multi-actor approach which utilizes co-design, participatory tools to facilitate the involvement of all stakeholders, including, and especially, consumers, in making decisions around how best to achieve population-level salt reduction.

What can the food and drink industry do to help achieve the 5% free sugars goal?

Science.gov (United States)

Gibson, Sigrid; Ashwell, Margaret; Arthur, Jenny; Bagley, Lindsey; Lennox, Alison; Rogers, Peter J; Stanner, Sara

2017-07-01

To contribute evidence and make recommendations to assist in achieving free sugars reduction, with due consideration to the broader picture of weight management and dietary quality. An expert workshop in July 2016 addressed options outlined in the Public Health England report 'Sugar reduction: The evidence for action' that related directly to the food industry. Panel members contributed expertise in food technology, public heath nutrition, marketing, communications, psychology and behaviour. Recommendations were directed towards reformulation, reduced portion sizes, labelling and consumer education. These were evaluated based on their feasibility, likely consumer acceptability, efficacy and cost. The panel agreed that the 5% target for energy from free sugars is unlikely to be achievable by the UK population in the near future, but a gradual reduction from average current level of intake is feasible. Progress requires collaborations between government, food industry, non-government organisations, health professionals, educators and consumers. Reformulation should start with the main contributors of free sugars in the diet, prioritising those products high in free sugars and relatively low in micronutrients. There is most potential for replacing free sugars in beverages using high-potency sweeteners and possibly via gradual reduction in sweetness levels. However, reformulation alone, with its inherent practical difficulties, will not achieve the desired reduction in free sugars. Food manufacturers and the out-of-home sector can help consumers by providing smaller portions. Labelling of free sugars would extend choice and encourage reformulation; however, government needs to assist industry by addressing current analytical and regulatory problems. There are also opportunities for multi-agency collaboration to develop tools/communications based on the Eatwell Guide, to help consumers understand the principles of a varied, healthy, balanced diet. Multiple strategies

Design features and cost reduction potential of JSFR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Katoh, Atsushi; Hayafune, Hiroki; Kotake, Shoji

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Japan Sodium Cooled Fast Reactor (JSFR) is designed to reduce plant commodity. • Cost reduction effectiveness by innovative designs is estimated by bottom up method. • JSFR achieves 76% construction cost reduction compared with Monju by design effort. • Commercial JSFR construction cost could be less than that of conventional LWR. - Abstract: To improve the economic competitiveness of the Japan Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (JSFR), several innovative designs have been introduced, e.g. reduction of number of main cooling loop, shorter pipe arrangement by adopting thermally durable material, in fact high chromium ferrite steel, a compact reactor vessel (RV), integration of a primary pump and an intermediate heat exchanger (IHX). Since they had not been introduced in the past and existing reactors, a new approach for construction cost estimation has been introduced to handle innovative technologies, for example, concerning different kinds of material, fabrication processes of equipment etc. As results of JSFR construction cost estimations based on the new method and the latest conceptual JSFR design, economic goals of Generation IV nuclear energy systems can be achieved by expecting the following cost reduction effects: commodity reduction by adopting innovative design, an economy of scale by power generation increase, learning effect etc. It is well analyzed quantitatively that feasibility of innovative designs is essential for economic competitiveness of JSFR

Design features and cost reduction potential of JSFR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Katoh, Atsushi, E-mail: kato.atsushi@jaea.go.jp [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 4002 Narita, Oarai-machi, Higashi-ibaraki-gun, Ibaraki-ken 311-1393 (Japan); Hayafune, Hiroki [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 4002 Narita, Oarai-machi, Higashi-ibaraki-gun, Ibaraki-ken 311-1393 (Japan); Kotake, Shoji [The Japan Atomic Power Company, 1-1 Kanda-midoricyo, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo-to 101-0053 (Japan)

2014-12-15

Highlights: • Japan Sodium Cooled Fast Reactor (JSFR) is designed to reduce plant commodity. • Cost reduction effectiveness by innovative designs is estimated by bottom up method. • JSFR achieves 76% construction cost reduction compared with Monju by design effort. • Commercial JSFR construction cost could be less than that of conventional LWR. - Abstract: To improve the economic competitiveness of the Japan Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (JSFR), several innovative designs have been introduced, e.g. reduction of number of main cooling loop, shorter pipe arrangement by adopting thermally durable material, in fact high chromium ferrite steel, a compact reactor vessel (RV), integration of a primary pump and an intermediate heat exchanger (IHX). Since they had not been introduced in the past and existing reactors, a new approach for construction cost estimation has been introduced to handle innovative technologies, for example, concerning different kinds of material, fabrication processes of equipment etc. As results of JSFR construction cost estimations based on the new method and the latest conceptual JSFR design, economic goals of Generation IV nuclear energy systems can be achieved by expecting the following cost reduction effects: commodity reduction by adopting innovative design, an economy of scale by power generation increase, learning effect etc. It is well analyzed quantitatively that feasibility of innovative designs is essential for economic competitiveness of JSFR.

Efficient Photovoltaic System Maximum Power Point Tracking Using a New Technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehdi Seyedmahmoudian

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Partial shading is an unavoidable condition which significantly reduces the efficiency and stability of a photovoltaic (PV system. When partial shading occurs the system has multiple-peak output power characteristics. In order to track the global maximum power point (GMPP within an appropriate period a reliable technique is required. Conventional techniques such as hill climbing and perturbation and observation (P&O are inadequate in tracking the GMPP subject to this condition resulting in a dramatic reduction in the efficiency of the PV system. Recent artificial intelligence methods have been proposed, however they have a higher computational cost, slower processing time and increased oscillations which results in further instability at the output of the PV system. This paper proposes a fast and efficient technique based on Radial Movement Optimization (RMO for detecting the GMPP under partial shading conditions. The paper begins with a brief description of the behavior of PV systems under partial shading conditions followed by the introduction of the new RMO-based technique for GMPP tracking. Finally, results are presented to demonstration the performance of the proposed technique under different partial shading conditions. The results are compared with those of the PSO method, one of the most widely used methods in the literature. Four factors, namely convergence speed, efficiency (power loss reduction, stability (oscillation reduction and computational cost, are considered in the comparison with the PSO technique.

Bubble-induced skin-friction drag reduction and the abrupt transition to air-layer drag reduction

Science.gov (United States)

Elbing, Brian R.; Winkel, Eric S.; Lay, Keary A.; Ceccio, Steven L.; Dowling, David R.; Perlin, Marc

To investigate the phenomena of skin-friction drag reduction in a turbulent boundary layer (TBL) at large scales and high Reynolds numbers, a set of experiments has been conducted at the US Navy's William B. Morgan Large Cavitation Channel (LCC). Drag reduction was achieved by injecting gas (air) from a line source through the wall of a nearly zero-pressure-gradient TBL that formed on a flat-plate test model that was either hydraulically smooth or fully rough. Two distinct drag-reduction phenomena were investigated; bubble drag reduction (BDR) and air-layer drag reduction (ALDR).The streamwise distribution of skin-friction drag reduction was monitored with six skin-friction balances at downstream-distance-based Reynolds numbers to 220 million and at test speeds to 20.0msinitial zone1. These results indicated that there are three distinct regions associated with drag reduction with air injection: Region I, BDR; Region II, transition between BDR and ALDR; and Region III, ALDR. In addition, once ALDR was established: friction drag reduction in excess of 80% was observed over the entire smooth model for speeds to 15.3ms1 with the surface fully roughened (though approximately 50% greater volumetric air flux was required); and ALDR was sensitive to the inflow conditions. The sensitivity to the inflow conditions can be mitigated by employing a small faired step (10mm height in the experiment) that helps to create a fixed separation line.

Dosimetric Evaluation of Metal Artefact Reduction using Metal Artefact Reduction (MAR) Algorithm and Dual-energy Computed Tomography (CT) Method

Science.gov (United States)

Laguda, Edcer Jerecho

approaches were applied in this research for dosimetric evaluation on CT images with severe metal artefacts. The first part of the research used a water phantom with four iodine syringes. Two sets of plans, multi-arc plans and single-arc plans, using the Volumetric Modulated Arc therapy (VMAT) technique were designed to avoid or minimize influences from high-density objects. The second part of the research used projection-based MAR Algorithm and the Dual-Energy Method. Calculated Doses (Mean, Minimum, and Maximum Doses) to the planning treatment volume (PTV) were compared and homogeneity index (HI) calculated. Results: (1) Without the GSI-based MAR application, a percent error between mean dose and the absolute dose ranging from 3.4-5.7% per fraction was observed. In contrast, the error was decreased to a range of 0.09-2.3% per fraction with the GSI-based MAR algorithm. There was a percent difference ranging from 1.7-4.2% per fraction between with and without using the GSI-based MAR algorithm. (2) A range of 0.1-3.2% difference was observed for the maximum dose values, 1.5-10.4% for minimum dose difference, and 1.4-1.7% difference on the mean doses. Homogeneity indexes (HI) ranging from 0.068-0.065 for dual-energy method and 0.063-0.141 with projection-based MAR algorithm were also calculated. Conclusion: (1) Percent error without using the GSI-based MAR algorithm may deviate as high as 5.7%. This error invalidates the goal of Radiation Therapy to provide a more precise treatment. Thus, GSI-based MAR algorithm was desirable due to its better dose calculation accuracy. (2) Based on direct numerical observation, there was no apparent deviation between the mean doses of different techniques but deviation was evident on the maximum and minimum doses. The HI for the dual-energy method almost achieved the desirable null values. In conclusion, the Dual-Energy method gave better dose calculation accuracy to the planning treatment volume (PTV) for images with metal artefacts than

Achieving a competitive advantage in managed care.

Science.gov (United States)

Stahl, D A

1998-02-01

When building a competitive advantage to thrive in the managed care arena, subacute care providers are urged to be revolutionary rather than reactionary, proactive rather than passive, optimistic rather than pessimistic and growth-oriented rather than cost-reduction oriented. Weaknesses must be addressed aggressively. To achieve a competitive edge, assess the facility's strengths, understand the marketplace and comprehend key payment methods.

Strategies to Improve Students’ Educational Achievement Motivation at Guilan University of Medical Sciences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mahdokht Taheri

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction: In view of the fact that motivation is linked directly to the learning process and educational achievement, this study endeavored to identify strategies to improve students’ educational achievement motivation at Guilan University of Medical Sciences. Methods: To conduct this descriptive-analytical study, 368 students from Guilan University of Medical Sciences were selected using simple random sampling from 2013-2014. All of the Guilan University of Medical Sciences’ students met the general eligibility criteria except guest students. The questionnaire included five domains of economic, socio-cultural, educational, geo-regional, and personality factors in educational achievement motivation. Through using descriptive and inferential statistics (Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests, the compiled data were analyzed at the significance level of 0.05. Results: Data analysis revealed that socio-cultural factors have the maximum score (64.14 ± 9.92 and geo-regional factors have the minimum score (19.01±3.63 on the participants’ educational achievement motivation. What is more, a significant difference was revealed between educational field and educational effective factors as well as educational level and educational effective factors (p<0.011, p<0.004, respectively. Conclusion: Given that the socio-cultural factors had the maximum score on the students’ educational achievement motivation, it is recommended that university officials take these factors into account, and attempt to plan to provide appropriate strategies to enhance their students’ motivation, specifically their educational achievement motivation.

Circuit Simulation for Solar Power Maximum Power Point Tracking with Different Buck-Boost Converter Topologies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaw-Kuen Shiau

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The power converter is one of the essential elements for effective use of renewable power sources. This paper focuses on the development of a circuit simulation model for maximum power point tracking (MPPT evaluation of solar power that involves using different buck-boost power converter topologies; including SEPIC, Zeta, and four-switch type buck-boost DC/DC converters. The circuit simulation model mainly includes three subsystems: a PV model; a buck-boost converter-based MPPT system; and a fuzzy logic MPPT controller. Dynamic analyses of the current-fed buck-boost converter systems are conducted and results are presented in the paper. The maximum power point tracking function is achieved through appropriate control of the power switches of the power converter. A fuzzy logic controller is developed to perform the MPPT function for obtaining maximum power from the PV panel. The MATLAB-based Simulink piecewise linear electric circuit simulation tool is used to verify the complete circuit simulation model.

Multichannel transfer function with dimensionality reduction

KAUST Repository

Kim, Han Suk

2010-01-17

The design of transfer functions for volume rendering is a difficult task. This is particularly true for multi-channel data sets, where multiple data values exist for each voxel. In this paper, we propose a new method for transfer function design. Our new method provides a framework to combine multiple approaches and pushes the boundary of gradient-based transfer functions to multiple channels, while still keeping the dimensionality of transfer functions to a manageable level, i.e., a maximum of three dimensions, which can be displayed visually in a straightforward way. Our approach utilizes channel intensity, gradient, curvature and texture properties of each voxel. The high-dimensional data of the domain is reduced by applying recently developed nonlinear dimensionality reduction algorithms. In this paper, we used Isomap as well as a traditional algorithm, Principle Component Analysis (PCA). Our results show that these dimensionality reduction algorithms significantly improve the transfer function design process without compromising visualization accuracy. In this publication we report on the impact of the dimensionality reduction algorithms on transfer function design for confocal microscopy data.

DFT based spatial multiplexing and maximum ratio transmission for mm-wawe large MIMO

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Phan-Huy, D.-T.; Tölli, A.; Rajatheva, N.

2014-01-01

-SM-MRT). When the DFT-SM scheme alone is used, the data streams are either mapped onto different angles of departures in the case of aligned linear arrays, or mapped onto different orbital angular momentums in the case of aligned circular arrays. Maximum ratio transmission pre-equalizes the channel......By using large point-to-point multiple input multiple output (MIMO), spatial multiplexing of a large number of data streams in wireless communications using millimeter-waves (mm-waves) can be achieved. However, according to the antenna spacing and transmitter-receiver distance, the MIMO channel...... is likely to be ill-conditioned. In such conditions, highly complex schemes such as the singular value decomposition (SVD) are necessary. In this paper, we propose a new low complexity system called discrete Fourier transform based spatial multiplexing (DFT-SM) with maximum ratio transmission (DFT...

49 CFR 230.24 - Maximum allowable stress.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Maximum allowable stress. 230.24 Section 230.24... Allowable Stress § 230.24 Maximum allowable stress. (a) Maximum allowable stress value. The maximum allowable stress value on any component of a steam locomotive boiler shall not exceed 1/4 of the ultimate...

Effects of Sludge Dry Solid Content and Residual Bulking Agents on Volatile Solids Reduction Using Eisenia foetida

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad ali Abdoli

2009-06-01

Full Text Available In the first stage of this study, the compound effects of sludge dry solid content and residual bulking agent type (paper, saw dust, straw mixed with activated sludge (10, 15, and 20% dry solids on volatile solids (V.S. reduction were investigated using Eisenia foetida in pilot scale experiments with batches of fifty earthworms in each of the 10 experimental treatments over a period of 10 weeks. The maximum V.S. reduction was attained in the mixture of sludge and paper, with a D.S. of 15% (0.42 ± 0.03 % day-1 while the minimum V.S. reduction was achieved in the mixture of sludge and straw, with a D.S. of 10% (0.26 ± 0.01 % day-1. In the second stage, the survival of Eisenia foetida in the anaerobic sewage sludge was investigated. In the unmixed raw anaerobic sludge, all the earthworms died during the first 9 weeks of the study period due to acute toxicity. From week 10, however, their survival rate improved so that by week 12 when toxicity reduced to 25.40%, they completely survived. This is while in the mixture of anaerobic sludge with paper (D.S. 15%, 100% of the earthworms survived from week 8 after the volatile solids reduced to 20.42% and 17.40%.

Climate Wise Achievement Awards: A profile of the award winners

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, K.; Milmoe, P.H.; Haydel, J.

1999-01-01

Climate Wise is a partnership initiative sponsored by the US Environmental Protection Agency designed to stimulate the voluntary reduction of greenhouse gas emissions among participating manufacturing companies. Because energy use in the manufacturing sectors accounts for nearly 30% of total US anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, industrial energy-efficiency actions can have a significant effect on reducing these emissions. Climate Wise works with US manufacturers to help them take advantage of the environmental and economic benefits of energy-efficiency improvements. The Climate Wise Partnership, Representing 13% of total US industrial energy use, currently has more than 500 partners that are saving money and energy by implementing a wide range of efficiency and waste reduction projects. In November of 1998, Climate Wise held its first annual partner Achievement Awards, recognizing its leading partners for their exceptional achievements in the areas of Leadership, Innovation, Action Planning, and Results. Fourteen companies were recognized for overall environmental performance, and three others were acknowledged for special achievement in specific areas. This paper summarizes the achievements of the Climate Wise partners recognized for their outstanding accomplishments. These case studies highlight their corporate climate goals and strategies, specific energy-efficiency actions implemented, and the anticipated financial benefits, fuel savings, and environmental impacts of these actions

Catalytic reduction of NO{sub x} in gasoline engine exhaust over copper- and nickel-exchanged X-zeolite catalysts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bhattacharyya, S. [Indian Inst. of Technology, Kharagpur (India). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; Das, R.K. [Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad (India). Dept. of Engineering and Mining Machinery

2001-10-11

Catalytic removal of NO{sub x} in engine exhaust gases can be accomplished by non-selective reduction, selective reduction and decomposition. Noble metals are extensively used for non-selective reduction of NO{sub x} and up to 90% of engine NO{sub x} emissions can be reduced in a stoichiometric exhaust. This requirement of having the stoichiometric fuel-air ratio acts against efficiency improvement of engines. Selective NO{sub x} reduction in the presence of different reductants such as, NH{sub 3}, urea or hydrocarbons, requires close control of the amount of reductant being injected which otherwise may be emitted as a pollutant. Catalytic decomposition is the best option for NO{sub x} removal. Nevertheless, catalysts which are durable, economic and active for NO{sub x} reduction at normal engine exhaust temperature ranges are still being investigated. Three catalysts based on X-zeolite have been developed by exchanging the Na+ ion with copper, nickel and copper-nickel metal ions and applied to the exhaust of a stationary gasoline engine to explore their potential for catalytic reduction of NO{sub x} under a wide range of engine and exhaust conditions. Some encouraging results have been obtained. The catalyst Cu-X exhibits much better NO{sub x} reduction performance at any temperature in comparison to Cu-Ni-X and Ni-X; while Cu-Ni-X catalyst exhibits slightly better performance than Ni-X catalyst. Maximum NO{sub x} efficiency achieved with Cu-X catalyst is 59.2% at a space velocity (sv) of 31 000 h{sup -1}; while for Cu-Ni-X and Ni-X catalysts the equivalent numbers are 60.4% and 56% respectively at a sv of 22 000 h{sup -1}. Unlike noble metals, the doped X-zeolite catalysts exhibit significant NO{sub x} reduction capability for a wide range of air/fuel ratio and with a slower rate of decline as well with increase in air/fuel ratio. (author)

Local wall thickness reductions in operative high-pressure gas pipelines; Lokale Wanddickenminderungen an in Betrieb befindlichen Gashochdruckleitungen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hass, Georg [Netzdienste Rhein-Main GmbH, Frankfurt am Main (Germany); Hoffmann, Ulrich [Verbundnetz Gas AG (VNG), Leipzig (Germany); Konarske, Juergen [RWE Westfalen-Weser-Ems Netzservice GmbH, Recklinghausen (Germany); Soppa, Thorsten [NG Netz Gas+Wasser (Germany); Steiner, Michael [Open Grid Europe GmbH, Essen (Germany)

2011-04-15

TUeV Nord, Salzgitter Mannesmann Forschung and DVGW investigated methods to assess local wall thickness reductions in operative high-pressure gas pipelines. Methods described in the relevant literature were reviewed with regard to the limiting criteria defined for maximum permissible wall thickness reductions. (orig./GL)

A capital cost reduction study on the fast breeder reactor plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taniyama, H.; Kamei, M.; Moriyama, M.

1991-01-01

A capital cost reduction study has been performed for large fast breeder reactor designs. The primary objective of this study is to show a trend of capital cost reduction between FBR plants at the prototype stage, the demonstration stage, and the future commercialization stage. For the FBR plant at the demonstration stage a construction cost comparison with a light water reactor has also been performed, and the target cost of FBR of below 1.5 times that of the light water reactor cost was achieved. To extend the capital cost reduction study, a feasibility study was made to achieve a capital cost of an FBR less than that of a light water reactor. The recommended design is shown as a future commercialization FBR design concept. (author)

A maximum power point tracking for photovoltaic-SPE system using a maximum current controller

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Muhida, Riza [Osaka Univ., Dept. of Physical Science, Toyonaka, Osaka (Japan); Osaka Univ., Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Suita, Osaka (Japan); Park, Minwon; Dakkak, Mohammed; Matsuura, Kenji [Osaka Univ., Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Suita, Osaka (Japan); Tsuyoshi, Akira; Michira, Masakazu [Kobe City College of Technology, Nishi-ku, Kobe (Japan)

2003-02-01

Processes to produce hydrogen from solar photovoltaic (PV)-powered water electrolysis using solid polymer electrolysis (SPE) are reported. An alternative control of maximum power point tracking (MPPT) in the PV-SPE system based on the maximum current searching methods has been designed and implemented. Based on the characteristics of voltage-current and theoretical analysis of SPE, it can be shown that the tracking of the maximum current output of DC-DC converter in SPE side will track the MPPT of photovoltaic panel simultaneously. This method uses a proportional integrator controller to control the duty factor of DC-DC converter with pulse-width modulator (PWM). The MPPT performance and hydrogen production performance of this method have been evaluated and discussed based on the results of the experiment. (Author)

Characteristics of Reduction Gear in Electric Agricultural Vehicle

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, W. S.; Pratama, P. S.; Supeno, D.; Jeong, S. W.; Byun, J. Y.; Woo, J. H.; Lee, E. S.; Park, C. S.

2018-03-01

In electric agricultural machine a reduction gear is needed to convert the high speed rotation motion generated by DC motor to lower speed rotation motion used by the vehicle. The reduction gear consists of several spur gears. Spur gears are the most easily visualized gears that transmit motion between two parallel shafts and easy to produce. The modelling and simulation of spur gears in DC motor reduction gear is important to predict the actual motion behaviour. A pair of spur gear tooth in action is generally subjected to two types of cyclic stress: contact stress and bending stress. The stress may not attain their maximum values at the same point of contact fatigue. These types of failure can be minimized by analysis of the problem during the design stage and creating proper tooth surface profile with proper manufacturing methods. To improve its life expectation in this study modal and stress analysis of reduction gear is simulated using ANSYS workbench based on finite element method (FEM). The modal analysis was done to understand reduction gear deformation behaviour when vibration occurs. FEM static stress analysis is also simulated on reduction gear to simulate the gear teeth bending stress and contact stress behaviour.

Aflatoxins and ochratoxin a reduction in black and white pepper by gamma radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jalili, M.; Jinap, S.; Noranizan, M.A.

2012-01-01

Irradiation is an important means of decontamination of food commodities, especially spices. The aim of the current study was to investigate the efficacy of gamma radiation ( 60 Co) for decontaminating ochratoxin A (OTA) and aflatoxins B 1 (AFB 1 ), B 2 (AFB 2 ), G 1 (AFG 1 ) and G 2 (AFG 2 ) residues in artificially contaminated black and white pepper samples. The moisture content of the pepper samples was set at 12% or 18%, and the applied gamma dose ranged from 5 to 30 kGy. Mycotoxin levels were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) after immunoaffinity column (IAC) chromatography. Both the gamma irradiation dose and moisture content showed significant effects (P<0.05) on mycotoxin reduction. The maximum toxin reductions, found at 18% moisture content and 30 kGy, were 55.2%, 50.6%, 39.2%, 47.7% and 42.9% for OTA, AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2, respectively. - Highlights: ► The effect of gamma ray on the reduction of AFs and OTA in pepper was investigated. ► The gamma dose and moisture showed significant effects on mycotoxin reduction. ► The maximum reduction was found at 18% moisture content and 30 kGy gamma ray. ► The method, even at 30 kGy and 18% moisture, failed to destroy total of mycotoxins.

Applying a Consumer Behavior Lens to Salt Reduction Initiatives

Science.gov (United States)

Potvin Kent, Monique; Raats, Monique M.; McConnon, Áine; Wall, Patrick; Dubois, Lise

2017-01-01

Reformulation of food products to reduce salt content has been a central strategy for achieving population level salt reduction. In this paper, we reflect on current reformulation strategies and consider how consumer behavior determines the ultimate success of these strategies. We consider the merits of adopting a ‘health by stealth’, silent approach to reformulation compared to implementing a communications strategy which draws on labeling initiatives in tandem with reformulation efforts. We end this paper by calling for a multi-actor approach which utilizes co-design, participatory tools to facilitate the involvement of all stakeholders, including, and especially, consumers, in making decisions around how best to achieve population-level salt reduction. PMID:28820449

Are prices enough? The economics of material demand reduction

Science.gov (United States)

Aidt, Toke; Jia, Lili; Low, Hamish

2017-05-01

Recent policy proposals to achieve carbon targets have emphasized material demand reduction strategies aimed at achieving material efficiency. We provide a bridge between the way economists and engineers think about efficiency. We use the tools of economics to think about policies directed at material efficiency and to evaluate the role and rationale for such policies. The analysis highlights when prices (or taxes) can be used to induce changes in material use and when taxes may not work. We argue that the role of taxes is limited by concerns about their distributional consequences, by international trade and the lack of international agreement on carbon prices, and by investment failures. This article is part of the themed issue 'Material demand reduction'.

Noise-based tube current reduction method with iterative reconstruction for reduction of radiation exposure in coronary CT angiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shen, Junlin; Du, Xiangying; Guo, Daode; Cao, Lizhen; Gao, Yan; Bai, Mei; Li, Pengyu; Liu, Jiabin; Li, Kuncheng

2013-01-01

Purpose: To investigate the potential of noise-based tube current reduction method with iterative reconstruction to reduce radiation exposure while achieving consistent image quality in coronary CT angiography (CCTA). Materials and methods: 294 patients underwent CCTA on a 64-detector row CT equipped with iterative reconstruction. 102 patients with fixed tube current were assigned to Group 1, which was used to establish noise-based tube current modulation formulas, where tube current was modulated by the noise of test bolus image. 192 patients with noise-based tube current were randomly assigned to Group 2 and Group 3. Filtered back projection was applied for Group 2 and iterative reconstruction for Group 3. Qualitative image quality was assessed with a 5 point score. Image noise, signal intensity, volume CT dose index, and dose-length product were measured. Results: The noise-based tube current modulation formulas were established through regression analysis using image noise measurements in Group 1. Image noise was precisely maintained at the target value of 35.00 HU with small interquartile ranges for Group 2 (34.17–35.08 HU) and Group 3 (34.34–35.03 HU), while it was from 28.41 to 36.49 HU for Group 1. All images in the three groups were acceptable for diagnosis. A relative 14% and 41% reduction in effective dose for Group 2 and Group 3 were observed compared with Group 1. Conclusion: Adequate image quality could be maintained at a desired and consistent noise level with overall 14% dose reduction using noise-based tube current reduction method. The use of iterative reconstruction further achieved approximately 40% reduction in effective dose

Time required to achieve maximum concentration of amikacin in synovial fluid of the distal interphalangeal joint after intravenous regional limb perfusion in horses.

Science.gov (United States)

Kilcoyne, Isabelle; Nieto, Jorge E; Knych, Heather K; Dechant, Julie E

2018-03-01

OBJECTIVE To determine the maximum concentration (Cmax) of amikacin and time to Cmax (Tmax) in the distal interphalangeal (DIP) joint in horses after IV regional limb perfusion (IVRLP) by use of the cephalic vein. ANIMALS 9 adult horses. PROCEDURES Horses were sedated and restrained in a standing position and then subjected to IVRLP (2 g of amikacin sulfate diluted to 60 mL with saline [0.9% NaCl] solution) by use of the cephalic vein. A pneumatic tourniquet was placed 10 cm proximal to the accessory carpal bone. Perfusate was instilled with a peristaltic pump over a 3-minute period. Synovial fluid was collected from the DIP joint 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 minutes after IVRLP; the tourniquet was removed after the 20-minute sample was collected. Blood samples were collected from the jugular vein 5, 10, 15, 19, 21, 25, and 30 minutes after IVRLP. Amikacin was quantified with a fluorescence polarization immunoassay. Median Cmax of amikacin and Tmax in the DIP joint were determined. RESULTS 2 horses were excluded because an insufficient volume of synovial fluid was collected. Median Cmax for the DIP joint was 600 μg/mL (range, 37 to 2,420 μg/mL). Median Tmax for the DIP joint was 15 minutes. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Tmax of amikacin was 15 minutes after IVRLP in horses and Cmax did not increase > 15 minutes after IVRLP despite maintenance of the tourniquet. Application of a tourniquet for 15 minutes should be sufficient for completion of IVRLP when attempting to achieve an adequate concentration of amikacin in the synovial fluid of the DIP joint.

Solutions and business opportunities to achieve emissions reduction objectives; Solutions et opportunites d'affaires pour atteindre vos objectifs de reduction d'emissions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lefebvre, J.-F. [GRAME, Montreal, PQ (Canada)

2003-07-01

Launched in 1989, GRAME is a non-profit organization dedicated to the development of management and analysis tools for sustainable development. It is involved in greenhouse gas (GHG) management, sustainable transportation, sustainable economy and the environment. The author reviewed the events that led to the development of the Kyoto Protocol. The principal factor influencing the development of the Kyoto Protocol was climate change and global warming, caused in large part by GHG emissions. The ratification of the Kyoto Protocol presents business opportunities in both Canada and Quebec, such as the export of products and services based on the expertise developed in the country; promotion of sustainable transportation options; and, investment in energy efficiency and energy substitution. An action plan must include a combination of complementary measures, take into consideration the impact of those measures on the life cycle, and compare the options offering an equivalent service. There are a number of companies that can assist in energy efficiency and energy demand management, including Hydro-Quebec, Gaz Metropolitain, and the Agence de l'efficacite energetique. GRAME has launched an awareness campaign called ClimAction, designed to promote the implementation of concrete measures for the reduction of GHG emissions and energy savings. Successes have been achieved in the renewable energy sector, such as the Paix des Braves agreement between the Inuit and the Quebec government, Hydro-Quebec's commitment to buy 1000 megawatts of wind energy in 10 years, and recent advances in solar water and space heating. The remaining challenges include: government support, separation of duties, and regulations. The factors influencing a Canadian emissions trading market are price of permits, withdrawal of permits, allocation, and when to begin implementation. tabs., figs.

Dose reduction - the radiologist's view

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Russell, J.G.B.

1984-01-01

The magnitude of the exposure to ionising radiation dominates radiological practice in only three fields, i.e. foetal radiography, mammography and computed tomography. The balance between risk and benefit are briefly examined. The types of hazard considered are carcinogenesis, genetic injury and organogenesis. Ways of achieving a reduction of the dose to the patient are also briefly discussed. (U.K.)

Project in fiscal 1988 for research and development of basic technologies in next generation industries. Achievement report on research and development of bio-reactors; 1988 nendo bio reactor no kenkyu kaihatsu seika hokokusho

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1989-03-01

Research and development has been performed on bio-reactors to substitute the oxidizing reaction process, and on reduction reacting bio-reactors to fix the coenzyme regeneration system. This paper summarizes the achievements in fiscal 1988. In the research of a bio-reactor using bacteria that produce muconic acid from benzoic acid, stable productivity of 60 g/L/day or more was obtained. In the research of a multi-phase based bio-reactor composed of air, oil, water and biomass, discussions were given on the phase inverting film permeation type reactor. In the research of a bio-reactor to produce acetic acid from carbon dioxide and hydrogen, productivity of 149 g/L/day as maximum was achieved by enhancing the production speed by means of pressurization. In the research of a bio-reactor to produce hydroquinone from phenol, up-keeping the duration for 100 hours or longer has become possible at the hydroquinone production speed of 3 g/L/h. In the research of a reduction-based bio-reactor incorporating the regeneration system of coenzyme NAD(P)H, discussions were given on optimizing the continuous enzymatic reaction in the production of sorbitol. (NEDO)

Reduction of beta* and increase of luminosity at RHIC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pilat, F.; Bai, M.; Bruno, D.; Cameron, P.; Della Penna, A.; Drees, A.; Litvinenko, V.; Luo, Y.; Malitsky, N.; Marr, G.; Ptitsyn, V.; Satogata, T.; Tepikian, S.; Trbojevic, D.

2009-01-01

The reduction of β* beyond the 1m design value at RHIC has been consistently achieved over the last 6 years of RHIC operations, resulting in an increase of luminosity for different running modes and species. During the recent 2007-08 deuteron-gold run the reduction to 0.70 from the design 1m achieved a 30% increase in delivered luminosity. The key ingredients allowing the reduction have been the capability of efficiently developing ramps with tune and coupling feedback, orbit corrections on the ramp, and collimation, to minimize beam losses in the final focus triplets, the main aperture limitations for the collision optics. We will describe the operational strategy used to reduce the β*, at first squeezing the beam at store, to test feasibility, followed by the operationally preferred option of squeezing the beam during acceleration, and the resulting luminosity increase. We will conclude with future plans for the beta squeeze

Lake Basin Fetch and Maximum Length/Width

Data.gov (United States)

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources — Linear features representing the Fetch, Maximum Length and Maximum Width of a lake basin. Fetch, maximum length and average width are calcuated from the lake polygon...

Maximum permissible voltage of YBCO coated conductors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wen, J.; Lin, B.; Sheng, J.; Xu, J.; Jin, Z. [Department of Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai (China); Hong, Z., E-mail: zhiyong.hong@sjtu.edu.cn [Department of Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai (China); Wang, D.; Zhou, H.; Shen, X.; Shen, C. [Qingpu Power Supply Company, State Grid Shanghai Municipal Electric Power Company, Shanghai (China)

2014-06-15

Highlights: • We examine three kinds of tapes’ maximum permissible voltage. • We examine the relationship between quenching duration and maximum permissible voltage. • Continuous I{sub c} degradations under repetitive quenching where tapes reaching maximum permissible voltage. • The relationship between maximum permissible voltage and resistance, temperature. - Abstract: Superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) could reduce short circuit currents in electrical power system. One of the most important thing in developing SFCL is to find out the maximum permissible voltage of each limiting element. The maximum permissible voltage is defined as the maximum voltage per unit length at which the YBCO coated conductors (CC) do not suffer from critical current (I{sub c}) degradation or burnout. In this research, the time of quenching process is changed and voltage is raised until the I{sub c} degradation or burnout happens. YBCO coated conductors test in the experiment are from American superconductor (AMSC) and Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU). Along with the quenching duration increasing, the maximum permissible voltage of CC decreases. When quenching duration is 100 ms, the maximum permissible of SJTU CC, 12 mm AMSC CC and 4 mm AMSC CC are 0.72 V/cm, 0.52 V/cm and 1.2 V/cm respectively. Based on the results of samples, the whole length of CCs used in the design of a SFCL can be determined.

Theoretical and experimental investigations of the limits to the maximum output power of laser diodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wenzel, H; Crump, P; Pietrzak, A; Wang, X; Erbert, G; Traenkle, G

2010-01-01

The factors that limit both the continuous wave (CW) and the pulsed output power of broad-area laser diodes driven at very high currents are investigated theoretically and experimentally. The decrease in the gain due to self-heating under CW operation and spectral holeburning under pulsed operation, as well as heterobarrier carrier leakage and longitudinal spatial holeburning, are the dominant mechanisms limiting the maximum achievable output power.

Key Questions for Achieving EU Emission Reductions without Abandoning Other Energy Goals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stang, G.

2014-01-01

What considerations must be addressed to ensure that efforts to achieve the EU's new 2030 emissions and renewables targets are compatible with the other energy goals of the EU and its member states: energy security, and energy affordability? How should these other energy goals be addressed when pursuing energy efficiency improvements, upgrading electricity systems to handle different renewable energy sources, and developing policies to reduce overall CO2 emissions? Markets have been defined as being central to achieving all of Europe's energy goals - both the creation of an EU internal energy market and the use of the Emissions Trading System (ETS) to allow a market for managing a portion of the continent's greenhouse gas emissions. But once these markets are in place and operational, there will still be great variances among the goals, instruments, and level of market integration available for the different countries and regions of Europe. Choosing the most cost effective mechanisms for pursuing the new goals will require effective use of the flexibility that is available - an improved ETS, tradable national targets for non-ETS emissions, and a rapidly widening array of cost-effective renewable energy options. Sufficient use of this flexibility should facilitate the flow of energy investments toward energy system improvements where there is low-hanging fruit - anywhere in the continent - without requiring that local or continental energy security goals be sacrificed. (author).

Completion time reduction in instantly decodable network coding through decoding delay control

KAUST Repository

Douik, Ahmed S.; Sorour, Sameh; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim; Al-Naffouri, Tareq Y.

2014-01-01

For several years, the completion time and the decoding delay problems in Instantly Decodable Network Coding (IDNC) were considered separately and were thought to completely act against each other. Recently, some works aimed to balance the effects of these two important IDNC metrics but none of them studied a further optimization of one by controlling the other. In this paper, we study the effect of controlling the decoding delay to reduce the completion time below its currently best known solution. We first derive the decoding-delay-dependent expressions of the users' and their overall completion times. Although using such expressions to find the optimal overall completion time is NP-hard, we use a heuristic that minimizes the probability of increasing the maximum of these decoding-delay-dependent completion time expressions after each transmission through a layered control of their decoding delays. Simulation results show that this new algorithm achieves both a lower mean completion time and mean decoding delay compared to the best known heuristic for completion time reduction. The gap in performance becomes significant for harsh erasure scenarios.

Completion time reduction in instantly decodable network coding through decoding delay control

KAUST Repository

Douik, Ahmed S.

2014-12-01

For several years, the completion time and the decoding delay problems in Instantly Decodable Network Coding (IDNC) were considered separately and were thought to completely act against each other. Recently, some works aimed to balance the effects of these two important IDNC metrics but none of them studied a further optimization of one by controlling the other. In this paper, we study the effect of controlling the decoding delay to reduce the completion time below its currently best known solution. We first derive the decoding-delay-dependent expressions of the users\\' and their overall completion times. Although using such expressions to find the optimal overall completion time is NP-hard, we use a heuristic that minimizes the probability of increasing the maximum of these decoding-delay-dependent completion time expressions after each transmission through a layered control of their decoding delays. Simulation results show that this new algorithm achieves both a lower mean completion time and mean decoding delay compared to the best known heuristic for completion time reduction. The gap in performance becomes significant for harsh erasure scenarios.

Receiver function estimated by maximum entropy deconvolution

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

吴庆举; 田小波; 张乃铃; 李卫平; 曾融生

2003-01-01

Maximum entropy deconvolution is presented to estimate receiver function, with the maximum entropy as the rule to determine auto-correlation and cross-correlation functions. The Toeplitz equation and Levinson algorithm are used to calculate the iterative formula of error-predicting filter, and receiver function is then estimated. During extrapolation, reflective coefficient is always less than 1, which keeps maximum entropy deconvolution stable. The maximum entropy of the data outside window increases the resolution of receiver function. Both synthetic and real seismograms show that maximum entropy deconvolution is an effective method to measure receiver function in time-domain.

Modeling nitrate-nitrogen load reduction strategies for the Des Moines River, Iowa using SWAT.

Science.gov (United States)

Schilling, Keith E; Wolter, Calvin F

2009-10-01

The Des Moines River that drains a watershed of 16,175 km(2) in portions of Iowa and Minnesota is impaired for nitrate-nitrogen (nitrate) due to concentrations that exceed regulatory limits for public water supplies. The Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was used to model streamflow and nitrate loads and evaluate a suite of basin-wide changes and targeting configurations to potentially reduce nitrate loads in the river. The SWAT model comprised 173 subbasins and 2,516 hydrologic response units and included point and nonpoint nitrogen sources. The model was calibrated for an 11-year period and three basin-wide and four targeting strategies were evaluated. Results indicated that nonpoint sources accounted for 95% of the total nitrate export. Reduction in fertilizer applications from 170 to 50 kg/ha achieved the 38% reduction in nitrate loads, exceeding the 34% reduction required. In terms of targeting, the most efficient load reductions occurred when fertilizer applications were reduced in subbasins nearest the watershed outlet. The greatest load reduction for the area of land treated was associated with reducing loads from 55 subbasins with the highest nitrate loads, achieving a 14% reduction in nitrate loads achieved by reducing applications on 30% of the land area. SWAT model results provide much needed guidance on how to begin implementing load reduction strategies most efficiently in the Des Moines River watershed.

Hand hygiene regimens for the reduction of risk in food service environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Edmonds, Sarah L; McCormack, Robert R; Zhou, Sifang Steve; Macinga, David R; Fricker, Christopher M

2012-07-01

Pathogenic strains of Escherichia coli and human norovirus are the main etiologic agents of foodborne illness resulting from inadequate hand hygiene practices by food service workers. This study was conducted to evaluate the antibacterial and antiviral efficacy of various hand hygiene product regimens under different soil conditions representative of those in food service settings and assess the impact of product formulation on this efficacy. On hands contaminated with chicken broth containing E. coli, representing a moderate soil load, a regimen combining an antimicrobial hand washing product with a 70% ethanol advanced formula (EtOH AF) gel achieved a 5.22-log reduction, whereas a nonantimicrobial hand washing product alone achieved a 3.10log reduction. When hands were heavily soiled from handling ground beef containing E. coli, a wash-sanitize regimen with a 0.5% chloroxylenol antimicrobial hand washing product and the 70% EtOH AF gel achieved a 4.60-log reduction, whereas a wash-sanitize regimen with a 62% EtOH foam achieved a 4.11-log reduction. Sanitizing with the 70% EtOH AF gel alone was more effective than hand washing with a nonantimicrobial product for reducing murine norovirus (MNV), a surrogate for human norovirus, with 2.60- and 1.79-log reductions, respectively. When combined with hand washing, the 70% EtOH AF gel produced a 3.19-log reduction against MNV. A regimen using the SaniTwice protocol with the 70% EtOH AF gel produced a 4.04-log reduction against MNV. These data suggest that although the process of hand washing helped to remove pathogens from the hands, use of a wash-sanitize regimen was even more effective for reducing organisms. Use of a high-efficacy sanitizer as part of a wash-sanitize regimen further increased the efficacy of the regimen. The use of a well-formulated alcohol-based hand rub as part of a wash-sanitize regimen should be considered as a means to reduce risk of infection transmission in food service facilities.

Achieving 80% greenhouse gas reduction target in Saudi Arabia under low and medium oil prices

KAUST Repository

Alshammari, Yousef Mohammad; Sarathy, Mani

2016-01-01

meeting the 80% target, and it would also lower costs of transition to low carbon energy system while maintaining cleaner use of hydrocarbons with CCS. Setting very deep GHG reduction targets may be economically uncompetitive in consideration of the energy

Configuration of LWR fuel enrichment or burnup yielding maximum power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bartosek, V.; Zalesky, K.

1976-01-01

An analysis is given of the spatial distribution of fuel burnup and enrichment in a light-water lattice of given dimensions with slightly enriched uranium, at which the maximum output is achieved. It is based on the spatial solution of neutron flux using a one-group diffusion model in which linear dependence may be expected of the fission cross section and the material buckling parameter on the fuel burnup and enrichment. Two problem constraints are considered, i.e., the neutron flux value and the specific output value. For the former the optimum core configuration remains qualitatively unchanged for any reflector thickness, for the latter the cases of a reactor with and without reflector must be distinguished. (Z.M.)

A New MPPT Control for Photovoltaic Panels by Instantaneous Maximum Power Point Tracking

Science.gov (United States)

Tokushima, Daiki; Uchida, Masato; Kanbei, Satoshi; Ishikawa, Hiroki; Naitoh, Haruo

This paper presents a new maximum power point tracking control for photovoltaic (PV) panels. The control can be categorized into the Perturb and Observe (P & O) method. It utilizes instantaneous voltage ripples at PV panel output terminals caused by the switching of a chopper connected to the panel in order to identify the direction for the maximum power point (MPP). The tracking for the MPP is achieved by a feedback control of the average terminal voltage of the panel. Appropriate use of the instantaneous and the average values of the PV voltage for the separate purposes enables both the quick transient response and the good convergence with almost no ripples simultaneously. The tracking capability is verified experimentally with a 2.8 W PV panel under a controlled experimental setup. A numerical comparison with a conventional P & O confirms that the proposed control extracts much more power from the PV panel.

Performance Analysis of a Maximum Power Point Tracking Technique using Silver Mean Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shobha Rani Depuru

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The proposed paper presents a simple and particularly efficacious Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT algorithm based on Silver Mean Method (SMM. This method operates by choosing a search interval from the P-V characteristics of the given solar array and converges to MPP of the Solar Photo-Voltaic (SPV system by shrinking its interval. After achieving the maximum power, the algorithm stops shrinking and maintains constant voltage until the next interval is decided. The tracking capability efficiency and performance analysis of the proposed algorithm are validated by the simulation and experimental results with a 100W solar panel for variable temperature and irradiance conditions. The results obtained confirm that even without any perturbation and observation process, the proposed method still outperforms the traditional perturb and observe (P&O method by demonstrating far better steady state output, more accuracy and higher efficiency.

Surface-reconstructed Cu Electrode via a Facile Electrochemical Anodization-Reduction Process for Low Overpotential CO 2 reduction

KAUST Repository

Min, Shixiong

2017-03-21

A high-surface-area Cu electrode, fabricated by a simple electrochemical anodization-reduction method, exhibits high activity and selectivity for CO2 reduction at low overpotential in 0.1 M KHCO3 solution. A faradaic efficiency of 37% for HCOOH and 27% for CO production was achieved with the current density of 1.5 mA cm-2 at −0.64 V vs. RHE, much higher than that of polycrystalline Cu. The enhanced catalytic performance is a result of the formation of the high electrochemical active surface area and high density of preferred low-index facets.

Demand reduction in the UK - with a focus on the non-domestic sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toke, D.

2007-01-01

A demand reduction strategy is considered in the context of the UK and in the light of the UK Government's 2006 Energy Review. This paper discusses how a mechanism - a Demand Reduction Obligation (DRO) - can be established to achieve radical energy demand reduction targets in electricity and gas use in the industrial, commercial and public administration sectors. A DRO would require energy suppliers to invest in energy-saving measures so as to reduce energy demand in these sectors. The investment for this activity would be funded by energy suppliers who would increase prices in order to cover the cost of achieving the carbon reductions. Public opinion surveys suggest that a large proportion of the public would prefer to support demand reduction measures compared to other energy options. It may be practical to deliver carbon emission reductions equivalent to around 30% of emissions from the UK electricity sector over a 15-year period through a broad-based demand reduction strategy. Demand reduction is considered in the context of an assessment of costs and resources available from other low carbon options including renewable energy and nuclear power. [Author

Optimization of filtration for the reduction of lung dose from Rn decay products: Part II--Experimental

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Curling, C.A.; Rudnick, S.N.; Harrington, D.P.; Moeller, D.W.

1990-01-01

Research was performed to determine the validity of a model developed to theoretically predict the optimal characteristics of a recirculating filter system for minimizing the lung dose to a person breathing airborne Rn progeny. Four designs, each with different filter thicknesses, solidities, and fiber diameters, were tested to evaluate the accuracy of the model over a range of parameters. Increasing thicknesses were then tested for the most effective filter design to provide a more definitive comparison of experimental data and model predictions for this key parameter. The experimental data supported the conclusion that the most effective design was a thin filter of low solidity composed of coarse fibers. Although the maximum reduction in the dose-equivalent rate observed in these experiments was 50%, this was largely due to constraints on the experimental arrangements. With properly constructed filter units, much better removal efficiencies can undoubtedly be achieved

Fatigue-damage evolution and damage-induced reduction of critical current of a Nb3Al superconducting composite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ochiai, S; Sekino, F; Sawada, T; Ohno, H; Hojo, M; Tanaka, M; Okuda, H; Koganeya, M; Hayashi, K; Yamada, Y; Ayai, N; Watanabe, K

2003-01-01

We have studied the fatigue-damage mechanism of a Nb 3 Al superconducting composite at room temperature, and the influences of the fatigue damages introduced at room temperature on the critical current at 4.2 K and the residual strength at room temperature. The main (largest) fatigue crack arose first in the clad copper and then extended into the inner core with an increasing number of stress cycles. The cracking of the Nb 3 Al filaments in the core region occurred at a late stage (around 60-90% of the fatigue life). Once the fracture of the core occurred, it extended very quickly, resulting in a quick reduction in critical current and the residual strength with increasing stress cycles. Such a behaviour was accounted for by the crack growth calculated from the S-N curves (the relation of the maximum stress to the number of stress cycles at failure) combined with the Paris law. The size and distribution of the subcracks along the specimen length, and therefore the reduction in critical current of the region apart from the main crack, were dependent on the maximum stress level. The large subcracks causing fracture of the Nb 3 Al filaments were formed when the maximum stress was around 300-460 MPa, resulting in large reduction in critical current, but not when the maximum stress was outside such a stress range

A comparison of maximum likelihood and other estimators of eigenvalues from several correlated Monte Carlo samples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beer, M.

1980-01-01

The maximum likelihood method for the multivariate normal distribution is applied to the case of several individual eigenvalues. Correlated Monte Carlo estimates of the eigenvalue are assumed to follow this prescription and aspects of the assumption are examined. Monte Carlo cell calculations using the SAM-CE and VIM codes for the TRX-1 and TRX-2 benchmark reactors, and SAM-CE full core results are analyzed with this method. Variance reductions of a few percent to a factor of 2 are obtained from maximum likelihood estimation as compared with the simple average and the minimum variance individual eigenvalue. The numerical results verify that the use of sample variances and correlation coefficients in place of the corresponding population statistics still leads to nearly minimum variance estimation for a sufficient number of histories and aggregates

A maximum entropy reconstruction technique for tomographic particle image velocimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bilsky, A V; Lozhkin, V A; Markovich, D M; Tokarev, M P

2013-01-01

This paper studies a novel approach for reducing tomographic PIV computational complexity. The proposed approach is an algebraic reconstruction technique, termed MENT (maximum entropy). This technique computes the three-dimensional light intensity distribution several times faster than SMART, using at least ten times less memory. Additionally, the reconstruction quality remains nearly the same as with SMART. This paper presents the theoretical computation performance comparison for MENT, SMART and MART, followed by validation using synthetic particle images. Both the theoretical assessment and validation of synthetic images demonstrate significant computational time reduction. The data processing accuracy of MENT was compared to that of SMART in a slot jet experiment. A comparison of the average velocity profiles shows a high level of agreement between the results obtained with MENT and those obtained with SMART. (paper)

Geometric noise reduction for multivariate time series.

Science.gov (United States)

Mera, M Eugenia; Morán, Manuel

2006-03-01

We propose an algorithm for the reduction of observational noise in chaotic multivariate time series. The algorithm is based on a maximum likelihood criterion, and its goal is to reduce the mean distance of the points of the cleaned time series to the attractor. We give evidence of the convergence of the empirical measure associated with the cleaned time series to the underlying invariant measure, implying the possibility to predict the long run behavior of the true dynamics.

The Maximum Flux of Star-Forming Galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Crocker, Roland M.; Krumholz, Mark R.; Thompson, Todd A.; Clutterbuck, Julie

2018-04-01

The importance of radiation pressure feedback in galaxy formation has been extensively debated over the last decade. The regime of greatest uncertainty is in the most actively star-forming galaxies, where large dust columns can potentially produce a dust-reprocessed infrared radiation field with enough pressure to drive turbulence or eject material. Here we derive the conditions under which a self-gravitating, mixed gas-star disc can remain hydrostatic despite trapped radiation pressure. Consistently taking into account the self-gravity of the medium, the star- and dust-to-gas ratios, and the effects of turbulent motions not driven by radiation, we show that galaxies can achieve a maximum Eddington-limited star formation rate per unit area \\dot{Σ }_*,crit ˜ 10^3 M_{⊙} pc-2 Myr-1, corresponding to a critical flux of F*, crit ˜ 1013L⊙ kpc-2 similar to previous estimates; higher fluxes eject mass in bulk, halting further star formation. Conversely, we show that in galaxies below this limit, our one-dimensional models imply simple vertical hydrostatic equilibrium and that radiation pressure is ineffective at driving turbulence or ejecting matter. Because the vast majority of star-forming galaxies lie below the maximum limit for typical dust-to-gas ratios, we conclude that infrared radiation pressure is likely unimportant for all but the most extreme systems on galaxy-wide scales. Thus, while radiation pressure does not explain the Kennicutt-Schmidt relation, it does impose an upper truncation on it. Our predicted truncation is in good agreement with the highest observed gas and star formation rate surface densities found both locally and at high redshift.

Waste Minimization via Radiological Hazard Reduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stone, K.A.; Coffield, T.; Hooker, K.L.

1998-01-01

The Savannah River Site (SRS), a 803 km 2 U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) facility in south-western South Carolina, incorporates pollution prevention as a fundamental component of its Environmental Management System. A comprehensive pollution prevention program was implemented as part of an overall business strategy to reduce waste generation and pollution releases, minimize environmental impacts, and to reduce future waste management and pollution control costs. In fiscal years 1995 through 1997, the Site focused on implementing specific waste reduction initiatives identified while benchmarking industry best practices. These efforts resulted in greater than $25 million in documented cost avoidance. While these results have been dramatic to date, the Site is further challenged to maximize resource utilization and deploy new technologies and practices to achieve further waste reductions. The Site has elected to target a site-wide reduction of contaminated work spaces in fiscal year 1998 as the primary source reduction initiative. Over 120,900 m 2 of radiologically contaminated work areas (approximately 600 separate inside areas) exist at SRS. Reduction of these areas reduces future waste generation, minimizes worker exposure, and reduces surveillance and maintenance costs. This is a major focus of the Site's As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) program by reducing sources of worker exposure. The basis for this approach was demonstrated during 1997 as part of a successful Enhanced Work Planning pilot conducted at several specific contamination areas at SRS. An economic-based prioritization process was utilized to develop a model for prioritizing areas to reclaim. In the H-Canyon Separation facility, over 3,900 m 2 of potentially contaminated area was rolled back to a Radiation Buffer Area. The facility estimated nearly 420 m 3 of low level radioactive waste will be avoided each year, and overall cost savings and productivity gains will reach approximately $1

Isoflurane minimum alveolar concentration reduction by fentanyl.

Science.gov (United States)

McEwan, A I; Smith, C; Dyar, O; Goodman, D; Smith, L R; Glass, P S

1993-05-01

Isoflurane is commonly combined with fentanyl during anesthesia. Because of hysteresis between plasma and effect site, bolus administration of fentanyl does not accurately describe the interaction between these drugs. The purpose of this study was to determine the MAC reduction of isoflurane by fentanyl when both drugs had reached steady biophase concentrations. Seventy-seven patients were randomly allocated to receive either no fentanyl or fentanyl at several predetermined plasma concentrations. Fentanyl was administered using a computer-assisted continuous infusion device. Patients were also randomly allocated to receive a predetermined steady state end-tidal concentration of isoflurane. Blood samples for fentanyl concentration were taken at 10 min after initiation of the infusion and before and immediately after skin incision. A minimum of 20 min was allowed between the start of the fentanyl infusion and skin incision. The reduction in the MAC of isoflurane by the measured fentanyl concentration was calculated using a maximum likelihood solution to a logistic regression model. There was an initial steep reduction in the MAC of isoflurane by fentanyl, with 3 ng/ml resulting in a 63% MAC reduction. A ceiling effect was observed with 10 ng/ml providing only a further 19% reduction in MAC. A 50% decrease in MAC was produced by a fentanyl concentration of 1.67 ng/ml. Defining the MAC reduction of isoflurane by all the opioids allows their more rational administration with inhalational anesthetics and provides a comparison of their relative anesthetic potencies.

Studying Maximum Plantar Stress per Insole Design Using Foot CT-Scan Images of Hyperelastic Soft Tissues

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Sarikhani

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The insole shape and the resulting plantar stress distribution have a pivotal impact on overall health. In this paper, by Finite Element Method, maximum stress value and stress distribution of plantar were studied for different insoles designs, which are the flat surface and the custom-molded (conformal surface. Moreover, insole thickness, heel’s height, and different materials were used to minimize the maximum stress and achieve the most uniform stress distribution. The foot shape and its details used in this paper were imported from online CT-Scan images. Results show that the custom-molded insole reduced maximum stress 40% more than the flat surface insole. Upon increase of thickness in both insole types, stress distribution becomes more uniform and maximum stress value decreases up to 10%; however, increase of thickness becomes ineffective above a threshold of 1 cm. By increasing heel height (degree of insole, maximum stress moves from heel to toes and becomes more uniform. Therefore, this scenario is very helpful for control of stress in 0.2° to 0.4° degrees for custom-molded insole and over 1° for flat insole. By changing the material of the insole, the value of maximum stress remains nearly constant. The custom-molded (conformal insole which has 0.5 to 1 cm thickness and 0.2° to 0.4° degrees is found to be the most compatible form for foot.

Maximum Gene-Support Tree

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yunfeng Shan

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Genomes and genes diversify during evolution; however, it is unclear to what extent genes still retain the relationship among species. Model species for molecular phylogenetic studies include yeasts and viruses whose genomes were sequenced as well as plants that have the fossil-supported true phylogenetic trees available. In this study, we generated single gene trees of seven yeast species as well as single gene trees of nine baculovirus species using all the orthologous genes among the species compared. Homologous genes among seven known plants were used for validation of the finding. Four algorithms—maximum parsimony (MP, minimum evolution (ME, maximum likelihood (ML, and neighbor-joining (NJ—were used. Trees were reconstructed before and after weighting the DNA and protein sequence lengths among genes. Rarely a gene can always generate the “true tree” by all the four algorithms. However, the most frequent gene tree, termed “maximum gene-support tree” (MGS tree, or WMGS tree for the weighted one, in yeasts, baculoviruses, or plants was consistently found to be the “true tree” among the species. The results provide insights into the overall degree of divergence of orthologous genes of the genomes analyzed and suggest the following: 1 The true tree relationship among the species studied is still maintained by the largest group of orthologous genes; 2 There are usually more orthologous genes with higher similarities between genetically closer species than between genetically more distant ones; and 3 The maximum gene-support tree reflects the phylogenetic relationship among species in comparison.

Catalytic selective reduction of NO with ethylene over a series of copper catalysts on amorphous silicas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carniti, P.; Gervasini, A.; Modica, V.H.; Ravasio, N.

2000-01-01

Catalytic selective reduction of NO to N 2 was studied comparing a series of Cu-based catalysts (ca. 8wt.%) supported over amorphous pure and modified silicas: SiO 2 , SiO 2 -Al 2 O 3 , SiO 2 -TiO 2 , SiO 2 -ZrO 2 . The catalysts were prepared by the chemisorption-hydrolysis method which ensured the formation of a unique copper phase well dispersed over all supports, as confirmed by scanning electron micrographs (SEMs). Temperature-programmed reduction (TPR) analyses confirmed the presence of dispersed copper species which underwent complete reduction at a temperature of about 220C, independently of the support. It was found that the support affects the extent of NO reduction as well as the selectivity to N 2 formation. Maximum N 2 yield was found in the range 275-300C. The catalyst prepared over SiO 2 -Al 2 O 3 was the most active and selective with respect to the other silicas. Competitiveness factors (c.f.'s) as high as 13-20% in the temperature range 200-250C could be calculated. For all catalysts, the temperature of the N 2 peak maximum did not correspond to that of the maximum C 2 H 4 oxidation to CO 2 , suggesting the presence of two different sites for the oxidation and the reduction activity. On the catalyst prepared on SiO 2 -Al 2 O 3 , a kinetic interpretation of catalytic data collected at different contact times and temperatures permitted evaluating the ratio between kinetic coefficients as well as the difference between activation energies of NO reduction by C 2 H 4 and C 2 H 4 oxidation by O 2

Voting strategy for artifact reduction in digital breast tomosynthesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu Tao; Moore, Richard H.; Kopans, Daniel B.

2006-01-01

Artifacts are observed in digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) reconstructions due to the small number of projections and the narrow angular range that are typically employed in tomosynthesis imaging. In this work, we investigate the reconstruction artifacts that are caused by high-attenuation features in breast and develop several artifact reduction methods based on a 'voting strategy'. The voting strategy identifies the projection(s) that would introduce artifacts to a voxel and rejects the projection(s) when reconstructing the voxel. Four approaches to the voting strategy were compared, including projection segmentation, maximum contribution deduction, one-step classification, and iterative classification. The projection segmentation method, based on segmentation of high-attenuation features from the projections, effectively reduces artifacts caused by metal and large calcifications that can be reliably detected and segmented from projections. The other three methods are based on the observation that contributions from artifact-inducing projections have higher value than those from normal projections. These methods attempt to identify the projection(s) that would cause artifacts by comparing contributions from different projections. Among the three methods, the iterative classification method provides the best artifact reduction; however, it can generate many false positive classifications that degrade the image quality. The maximum contribution deduction method and one-step classification method both reduce artifacts well from small calcifications, although the performance of artifact reduction is slightly better with the one-step classification. The combination of one-step classification and projection segmentation removes artifacts from both large and small calcifications

Maximum Power Point tracking algorithm based on I-V characteristic of PV array under uniform and non-uniform conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kouchaki, Alireza; Iman-Eini, H.; Asaei, B.

2012-01-01

This paper presents a new algorithm based on characteristic equation of solar cells to determine the Maximum Power Point (MPP) of PV modules under partially shaded conditions (PSC). To achieve this goal, an analytic condition is introduced to determine uniform or non-uniform atmospheric condition...

Realworld maximum power point tracking simulation of PV system based on Fuzzy Logic control

Science.gov (United States)

Othman, Ahmed M.; El-arini, Mahdi M. M.; Ghitas, Ahmed; Fathy, Ahmed

2012-12-01

In the recent years, the solar energy becomes one of the most important alternative sources of electric energy, so it is important to improve the efficiency and reliability of the photovoltaic (PV) systems. Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) plays an important role in photovoltaic power systems because it maximize the power output from a PV system for a given set of conditions, and therefore maximize their array efficiency. This paper presents a maximum power point tracker (MPPT) using Fuzzy Logic theory for a PV system. The work is focused on the well known Perturb and Observe (P&O) algorithm and is compared to a designed fuzzy logic controller (FLC). The simulation work dealing with MPPT controller; a DC/DC Ćuk converter feeding a load is achieved. The results showed that the proposed Fuzzy Logic MPPT in the PV system is valid.

Invisalign® treatment in the anterior region: were the predicted tooth movements achieved?

Science.gov (United States)

Krieger, Elena; Seiferth, Jörg; Marinello, Ivana; Jung, Britta A; Wriedt, Susanne; Jacobs, Collin; Wehrbein, Heinrich

2012-09-01

Based on our previous pilot study, the objective of this extended study was to compare (a) casts to their corresponding digital ClinCheck® models at baseline and (b) the tooth movement achieved at the end of aligner therapy (Invisalign®) to the predicted movement in the anterior region. Pre- and post-treatment casts as well as initial and final ClinChecks® models of 50 patients (15-63 years of age) were analyzed. All patients were treated with Invisalign® (Align Technology, Santa Clara, CA, USA). Evaluated parameters were: upper/lower anterior arch length and intercanine distance, overjet, overbite, dental midline shift, and the irregularity index according to Little. The comparison achieved/predicted tooth movement was tested for equivalence [adjusted 98.57% confidence interval (- 1.00; + 1.00)]. Before treatment the anterior crowding, according to Little, was on average 5.39 mm (minimum 1.50 mm, maximum 14.50 mm) in the upper dentition and 5.96 mm (minimum 2.00 mm, maximum 11.50 mm) in the lower dentition. After treatment the values were reduced to 1.57 mm (minimum 0 mm, maximum 4.5 mm) in the maxilla and 0.82 mm (minimum 0 mm, maximum 2.50 mm) in the mandible. We found slight deviations between pretreatment casts and initialClinCheck® ranging on average from -0.08 mm (SD ± 0.29) for the overjet and up to -0.28 mm (SD ± 0.46) for the upper anterior arch length. The difference between achieved/predicted tooth movements ranged on average from 0.01 mm (SD ± 0.48) for the lower anterior arch length, up to 0.7 mm (SD ± 0.87) for the overbite. All parameters were significantly equivalent except for the overbite (-1.02; -0.39). Performed with aligners (Invisalign®), the resolvement of the partly severe anterior crowding was successfully accomplished. Resolving lower anterior crowding by protrusion of the anterior teeth (i.e., enlargement of the anterior arch length) seems well predictable. The initial ClinCheck® models provided high accuracy compared to the

Maximum neutron flux in thermal reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strugar, P.V.

1968-12-01

Direct approach to the problem is to calculate spatial distribution of fuel concentration if the reactor core directly using the condition of maximum neutron flux and comply with thermal limitations. This paper proved that the problem can be solved by applying the variational calculus, i.e. by using the maximum principle of Pontryagin. Mathematical model of reactor core is based on the two-group neutron diffusion theory with some simplifications which make it appropriate from maximum principle point of view. Here applied theory of maximum principle are suitable for application. The solution of optimum distribution of fuel concentration in the reactor core is obtained in explicit analytical form. The reactor critical dimensions are roots of a system of nonlinear equations and verification of optimum conditions can be done only for specific examples

Dose reduction at nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baum, J.W.; Dionne, B.J.

1983-01-01

The collective dose equivalent at nuclear power plants increased from 1250 rem in 1969 to nearly 54,000 rem in 1980. This rise is attributable primarily to an increase in nuclear generated power from 1289 MW-y to 29,155 MW-y; and secondly, to increased average plant age. However, considerable variation in exposure occurs from plant to plant depending on plant type, refueling, maintenance, etc. In order to understand the factors influencing these differences, an investigation was initiated to study dose-reduction techniques and effectiveness of as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) planning at light water plants. Objectives are to: identify high-dose maintenance tasks and related dose-reduction techniques; investigate utilization of high-reliability, low-maintenance equipment; recommend improved radioactive waste handling equipment and procedures; examine incentives for dose reduction; and compile an ALARA handbook

75 FR 43840 - Inflation Adjustment of the Ordinary Maximum and Aggravated Maximum Civil Monetary Penalties for...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-27

...-17530; Notice No. 2] RIN 2130-ZA03 Inflation Adjustment of the Ordinary Maximum and Aggravated Maximum... remains at $250. These adjustments are required by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act [email protected] . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990...

Morning reduction of photosynthetic capacity before midday depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Koyama, Kohei; Takemoto, Shuhei

2014-03-17

Midday depression of photosynthesis has important consequences for ecosystem carbon exchange. Recent studies of forest trees have demonstrated that latent reduction of photosynthetic capacity can begin in the early morning, preceding the midday depression. We investigated whether such early morning reduction also occurs in an herbaceous species, Oenothera biennis. Diurnal changes of the photosynthetic light response curve (measured using a light-emitting diode) and incident sunlight intensity were measured under field conditions. The following results were obtained: (1) the light-saturated photosynthetic rate decreased beginning at sunrise; (2) the incident sunlight intensity on the leaves increased from sunrise; and (3) combining (1) and (2), the net photosynthetic rate under natural sunlight intensity increased from sunrise, reached a maximum at mid-morning, and then showed midday depression. Our results demonstrate that the latent morning reduction of photosynthetic capacity begins at sunrise, preceding the apparent midday depression, in agreement with previous studies of forest trees.

Nitrous oxide production kinetics during nitrate reduction in river sediments.

Science.gov (United States)

Laverman, Anniet M; Garnier, Josette A; Mounier, Emmanuelle M; Roose-Amsaleg, Céline L

2010-03-01

A significant amount of nitrogen entering river basins is denitrified in riparian zones. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of nitrate and carbon concentrations on the kinetic parameters of nitrate reduction as well as nitrous oxide emissions in river sediments in a tributary of the Marne (the Seine basin, France). In order to determine these rates, we used flow-through reactors (FTRs) and slurry incubations; flow-through reactors allow determination of rates on intact sediment slices under controlled conditions compared to sediment homogenization in the often used slurry technique. Maximum nitrate reduction rates (R(m)) ranged between 3.0 and 7.1microg Ng(-1)h(-1), and affinity constant (K(m)) ranged from 7.4 to 30.7mg N-NO(3)(-)L(-1). These values were higher in slurry incubations with an R(m) of 37.9microg Ng(-1)h(-1) and a K(m) of 104mg N-NO(3)(-)L(-1). Nitrous oxide production rates did not follow Michaelis-Menten kinetics, and we deduced a rate constant with an average of 0.7 and 5.4ng Ng(-1)h(-1) for FTR and slurry experiments respectively. The addition of carbon (as acetate) showed that carbon was not limiting nitrate reduction rates in these sediments. Similar rates were obtained for FTR and slurries with carbon addition, confirming the hypothesis that homogenization increases rates due to release of and increasing access to carbon in slurries. Nitrous oxide production rates in FTR with carbon additions were low and represented less than 0.01% of the nitrate reduction rates and were even negligible in slurries. Maximum nitrate reduction rates revealed seasonality with high potential rates in fall and winter and low rates in late spring and summer. Under optimal conditions (anoxia, non-limiting nitrate and carbon), nitrous oxide emission rates were low, but significant (0.01% of the nitrate reduction rates). Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Half-width at half-maximum, full-width at half-maximum analysis

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

addition to the well-defined parameter full-width at half-maximum (FWHM). The distribution of ... optical side-lobes in the diffraction pattern resulting in steep central maxima [6], reduc- tion of effects of ... and broad central peak. The idea of.

Bronchoscopic Lung Volume Reduction Coil Treatment of Patients With Severe Heterogeneous Emphysema

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Slebos, Dirk-Jan; Klooster, Karin; Ernst, Armin; Herth, Felix J. F.; Kerstjens, Huib A. M.

Background: The lung volume reduction coil (LVR-coil), a new experimental device to achieve lung volume reduction by bronchoscopy in patients with severe emphysema, works in a manner unaffected by collateral airflow. We investigated the safety and efficacy of LVR-coil treatment in patients with

Photovoltaic High-Frequency Pulse Charger for Lead-Acid Battery under Maximum Power Point Tracking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hung-I. Hsieh

2013-01-01

Full Text Available A photovoltaic pulse charger (PV-PC using high-frequency pulse train for charging lead-acid battery (LAB is proposed not only to explore the charging behavior with maximum power point tracking (MPPT but also to delay sulfating crystallization on the electrode pores of the LAB to prolong the battery life, which is achieved due to a brief pulse break between adjacent pulses that refreshes the discharging of LAB. Maximum energy transfer between the PV module and a boost current converter (BCC is modeled to maximize the charging energy for LAB under different solar insolation. A duty control, guided by a power-increment-aided incremental-conductance MPPT (PI-INC MPPT, is implemented to the BCC that operates at maximum power point (MPP against the random insolation. A 250 W PV-PC system for charging a four-in-series LAB (48 Vdc is examined. The charging behavior of the PV-PC system in comparison with that of CC-CV charger is studied. Four scenarios of charging statuses of PV-BC system under different solar insolation changes are investigated and compared with that using INC MPPT.

Sulfate reduction in an entrained-flow black liquor gasifier

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kymaelaeinen, M.; Janka, K. [Tampella Power, Tampere (Finland); Frederick, W.J.; Littau, M.; Sricharoenchaikul, V.; Jivakanun, N.; Waag, K. [Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States). Dept. of Chemical Engineering

1995-12-31

Sulfate reduction and carbon conversion during pyrolysis and gasification of black liquor particles were experimentally studied in a laminar entrained-flow reactor. A model was also developed to simulate an entrained-flow black liquor gasifier. Experimental results were then compared to model calculations. Results indicated that carbon must be present to get a high degree of sulfate reduction during gasification. It is therefore important to balance the rates of carbon conversion and sulfate reduction. High local temperatures in the reactor should be avoided so that carbon does not convert too rapidly, but temperatures of nearly 1000 degrees C are required to achieve good sulfate reduction. It was suggested that a new equation was needed to adequately predict sulfate reduction in an entrained-flow black liquor gasifier. 12 refs., 8 figs., 5 tabs.

Modeling nitrate-nitrogen load reduction strategies for the des moines river, iowa using SWAT

Science.gov (United States)

Schilling, K.E.; Wolter, C.F.

2009-01-01

The Des Moines River that drains a watershed of 16,175 km2 in portions of Iowa and Minnesota is impaired for nitrate-nitrogen (nitrate) due to concentrations that exceed regulatory limits for public water supplies. The Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was used to model streamflow and nitrate loads and evaluate a suite of basin-wide changes and targeting configurations to potentially reduce nitrate loads in the river. The SWAT model comprised 173 subbasins and 2,516 hydrologic response units and included point and nonpoint nitrogen sources. The model was calibrated for an 11-year period and three basin-wide and four targeting strategies were evaluated. Results indicated that nonpoint sources accounted for 95% of the total nitrate export. Reduction in fertilizer applications from 170 to 50 kg/ha achieved the 38% reduction in nitrate loads, exceeding the 34% reduction required. In terms of targeting, the most efficient load reductions occurred when fertilizer applications were reduced in subbasins nearest the watershed outlet. The greatest load reduction for the area of land treated was associated with reducing loads from 55 subbasins with the highest nitrate loads, achieving a 14% reduction in nitrate loads achieved by reducing applications on 30% of the land area. SWAT model results provide much needed guidance on how to begin implementing load reduction strategies most efficiently in the Des Moines River watershed. ?? 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Two-dimensional maximum entropy image restoration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brolley, J.E.; Lazarus, R.B.; Suydam, B.R.; Trussell, H.J.

1977-07-01

An optical check problem was constructed to test P LOG P maximum entropy restoration of an extremely distorted image. Useful recovery of the original image was obtained. Comparison with maximum a posteriori restoration is made. 7 figures

The estimation of probable maximum precipitation: the case of Catalonia.

Science.gov (United States)

Casas, M Carmen; Rodríguez, Raül; Nieto, Raquel; Redaño, Angel

2008-12-01

A brief overview of the different techniques used to estimate the probable maximum precipitation (PMP) is presented. As a particular case, the 1-day PMP over Catalonia has been calculated and mapped with a high spatial resolution. For this purpose, the annual maximum daily rainfall series from 145 pluviometric stations of the Instituto Nacional de Meteorología (Spanish Weather Service) in Catalonia have been analyzed. In order to obtain values of PMP, an enveloping frequency factor curve based on the actual rainfall data of stations in the region has been developed. This enveloping curve has been used to estimate 1-day PMP values of all the 145 stations. Applying the Cressman method, the spatial analysis of these values has been achieved. Monthly precipitation climatological data, obtained from the application of Geographic Information Systems techniques, have been used as the initial field for the analysis. The 1-day PMP at 1 km(2) spatial resolution over Catalonia has been objectively determined, varying from 200 to 550 mm. Structures with wavelength longer than approximately 35 km can be identified and, despite their general concordance, the obtained 1-day PMP spatial distribution shows remarkable differences compared to the annual mean precipitation arrangement over Catalonia.

Comparison of order reduction algorithms for application to electrical networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lj. Radić-Weissenfeld

2009-05-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses issues related to the minimization of the computational burden in terms of both memory and speed during the simulation of electrical models. In order to achieve a simple and computational fast model the order reduction of its reducible part is proposed. In this paper the overview of the order reduction algorithms and their application are discussed.

Adaptive double-integral-sliding-mode-maximum-power-point tracker for a photovoltaic system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bidyadhar Subudhi

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This study proposed an adaptive double-integral-sliding-mode-controller-maximum-power-point tracker (DISMC-MPPT for maximum-power-point (MPP tracking of a photovoltaic (PV system. The objective of this study is to design a DISMC-MPPT with a new adaptive double-integral-sliding surface in order that MPP tracking is achieved with reduced chattering and steady-state error in the output voltage or current. The proposed adaptive DISMC-MPPT possesses a very simple and efficient PWM-based control structure that keeps switching frequency constant. The controller is designed considering the reaching and stability conditions to provide robustness and stability. The performance of the proposed adaptive DISMC-MPPT is verified through both MATLAB/Simulink simulation and experiment using a 0.2 kW prototype PV system. From the obtained results, it is found out that this DISMC-MPPT is found to be more efficient compared with that of Tan's and Jiao's DISMC-MPPTs.

Direct plasma NO_x reduction using single surface dielectric barrier discharge

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kroushawi, Feisal; Stamate, Eugen

2014-01-01

NOx reduction using direct atmospheric barrier discharge in air-NO mixture at different voltages and flow rates is inversigated. Reduction rate of 80% is achieved at 3.18 W/cm2 power density and gas mixture of 20 slm air and 0.006 slm NO. The ozone for NO reduction is produced by a honeycomb stru...

7 CFR 3565.210 - Maximum interest rate.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Maximum interest rate. 3565.210 Section 3565.210... AGRICULTURE GUARANTEED RURAL RENTAL HOUSING PROGRAM Loan Requirements § 3565.210 Maximum interest rate. The interest rate for a guaranteed loan must not exceed the maximum allowable rate specified by the Agency in...

TH-EF-BRB-03: Significant Cord and Esophagus Dose Reduction by 4π Non-Coplanar Spine Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy and Stereotactic Radiosurgery

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yu, V; Tran, A; Nguyen, D; Woods, K; Cao, M; Kaprealian, T; Chin, R; Low, D; Sheng, K [UCLA, Los Angeles, CA (United States)

2016-06-15

Purpose: To demonstrate significant organ-at-risk (OAR) sparing achievable with 4π non-coplanar radiotherapy on spine SBRT and SRS patients. Methods: Twenty-five stereotactic spine cases previously treated with VMAT (n = 23) or IMRT (n = 2) were included in this study. A computer-aided-design model of a Linac with a 3D-scanned human surface was utilized to determine the feasible beam space throughout the 4π steradian and beam specific source-to-target-distances (STD) required for collision avoidance. 4π radiotherapy plans integrating beam orientation and fluence map optimization were then created using a column-generation algorithm. Twenty optimal beams were selected for each case. To evaluate the tradeoff between dosimetric benefit and treatment complexity, 4π plans including only isocentrically deliverable beams were also created. Beam angles of all standard and isocentric 4π plans were imported into Eclipse to recalculate the dose using the same calculation engine as the clinical plans for unbiased comparison. OAR and PTV dose statistics for the clinical, standard-4π, and isocentric-4π plans were compared. Results: Comparing standard-4π to clinical plans, particularly significant average percent reduction in the [mean, maximum] dose of the cord and esophagus of [41%, 21.7%], and [38.7%, 36.4%] was observed, along with global decrease in all other OAR dose statistics. The average cord volume receiving more than 50% prescription dose was substantially decreased by 76%. In addition, improved PTV coverage was demonstrated with a maximum dose reduction of 0.93% and 1.66% increase in homogeneity index (D95/D5). All isocentric-4π plans achieved dosimetric performance equivalent to that of the standard-4π plans with higher delivery complexity. Conclusion: 4π radiotherapy significantly improves stereotactic spine treatment dosimetry. With the substantial OAR dose sparing, PTV dose escalation is considerably safer. Isocentric-4π is sufficient to achieve the

Multiple models guide strategies for agricultural nutrient reductions

Science.gov (United States)

Scavia, Donald; Kalcic, Margaret; Muenich, Rebecca Logsdon; Read, Jennifer; Aloysius, Noel; Bertani, Isabella; Boles, Chelsie; Confesor, Remegio; DePinto, Joseph; Gildow, Marie; Martin, Jay; Redder, Todd; Robertson, Dale M.; Sowa, Scott P.; Wang, Yu-Chen; Yen, Haw

2017-01-01

In response to degraded water quality, federal policy makers in the US and Canada called for a 40% reduction in phosphorus (P) loads to Lake Erie, and state and provincial policy makers in the Great Lakes region set a load-reduction target for the year 2025. Here, we configured five separate SWAT (US Department of Agriculture's Soil and Water Assessment Tool) models to assess load reduction strategies for the agriculturally dominated Maumee River watershed, the largest P source contributing to toxic algal blooms in Lake Erie. Although several potential pathways may achieve the target loads, our results show that any successful pathway will require large-scale implementation of multiple practices. For example, one successful pathway involved targeting 50% of row cropland that has the highest P loss in the watershed with a combination of three practices: subsurface application of P fertilizers, planting cereal rye as a winter cover crop, and installing buffer strips. Achieving these levels of implementation will require local, state/provincial, and federal agencies to collaborate with the private sector to set shared implementation goals and to demand innovation and honest assessments of water quality-related programs, policies, and partnerships.

Simultaneous maximum a posteriori longitudinal PET image reconstruction

Science.gov (United States)

Ellis, Sam; Reader, Andrew J.

2017-09-01

Positron emission tomography (PET) is frequently used to monitor functional changes that occur over extended time scales, for example in longitudinal oncology PET protocols that include routine clinical follow-up scans to assess the efficacy of a course of treatment. In these contexts PET datasets are currently reconstructed into images using single-dataset reconstruction methods. Inspired by recently proposed joint PET-MR reconstruction methods, we propose to reconstruct longitudinal datasets simultaneously by using a joint penalty term in order to exploit the high degree of similarity between longitudinal images. We achieved this by penalising voxel-wise differences between pairs of longitudinal PET images in a one-step-late maximum a posteriori (MAP) fashion, resulting in the MAP simultaneous longitudinal reconstruction (SLR) method. The proposed method reduced reconstruction errors and visually improved images relative to standard maximum likelihood expectation-maximisation (ML-EM) in simulated 2D longitudinal brain tumour scans. In reconstructions of split real 3D data with inserted simulated tumours, noise across images reconstructed with MAP-SLR was reduced to levels equivalent to doubling the number of detected counts when using ML-EM. Furthermore, quantification of tumour activities was largely preserved over a variety of longitudinal tumour changes, including changes in size and activity, with larger changes inducing larger biases relative to standard ML-EM reconstructions. Similar improvements were observed for a range of counts levels, demonstrating the robustness of the method when used with a single penalty strength. The results suggest that longitudinal regularisation is a simple but effective method of improving reconstructed PET images without using resolution degrading priors.

THESEUS - achieving maximum possible road transport tanker safety by means of experimental accident simulation; THESEUS - Tankfahrzeuge mit hoechsterreichbarer Sicherheit durch experimentelle Unfallsimulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rompe, K.; Heuser, G.

1996-03-01

In spring 1990, the Federal German Minister for Education, Science, Research and Technology (BMBF) commissioned the team from the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), DEKRA, Daimler-Benz, the Federal Road Research Institute (BASt) with the University of Cologne, Ellinghaus and TUeV Rheinland (project leader) to perform the research project `THESEUS` (the acronym THESEUS comes from the German `Tankfahrzeuge mit hoechst erreichbarer Sicherheit durch experimentelle Unfallsimulation`, which translates as `achieving maximum possible road transport tanker safety by means of experimental accident simulation`). Arting from an analysis of road transport tanker accidents, crash tests and overturn tests were performed and supplemented by investigations of road transport tanker components and accompanying complex calculations of the failure processes. Parallel to this, the static side-tilt stability of road transport tankers was determined on a tilting test platform. The causes of and constructive possibilities for avoiding overturning, which is the most common cause of accidents in which hazardous materials escape, wewre analysed in dynamic driving tests with supplementary computer simulation. Various measures for improving the safety of road transport tankers were determined and subjected to a cost-benefit analysis. (orig.) [Deutsch] Das Bundesministerium fuer Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie hat seit 1990 das Forschungsproject `THESEUS` (Tankfahrzeuge mit hoechst erreichbarer Sicherheit durch experimentelle Unfallsimulation) der Arbeitsgemeinschaft aus TUeV Rheinland (Federfuehrung), Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), DEKRA, Daimler Benz, Bundesanstalt fuer Strassenwesen (BASt), Universitaet Koeln und Ellinghaus gefoerdert. Ausgehend von der detaillierten Analyse von 231 Tankfahrzeugunfaellen wurden Tankfahrzeug-Crashversuche und Tankfahrzeug-Umsturzversuche durchgefuehrt. Diese Messungen an kompletten Fahrzeugen

[Balloon osteoplasty as reduction technique in the treatment of tibial head fractures].

Science.gov (United States)

Freude, T; Kraus, T M; Sandmann, G H

2015-10-01

Tibial plateau fractures requiring surgery are severe injuries of the lower extremities. Depending on the fracture pattern, the age of the patient, the range of activity and the bone quality there is a broad variation in adequate treatment.  This article reports on an innovative treatment concept to address split depression fractures (Schatzker type II) and depression fractures (Schatzker type III) of the tibial head using the balloon osteoplasty technique for fracture reduction. Using the balloon technique achieves a precise and safe fracture reduction. This internal osteoplasty combines a minimal invasive percutaneous approach with a gently rise of the depressed area and the associated protection of the stratum regenerativum below the articular cartilage surface. This article lights up the surgical procedure using the balloon technique in tibia depression fractures. Using the balloon technique a precise and safe fracture reduction can be achieved. This internal osteoplasty combines a minimally invasive percutaneous approach with a gentle raising of the depressed area and the associated protection of the regenerative layer below the articular cartilage surface. Fracture reduction by use of a tamper results in high peak forces over small areas, whereas by using the balloon the forces are distributed over a larger area causing less secondary stress to the cartilage tissue. This less invasive approach might help to achieve a better long-term outcome with decreased secondary osteoarthritis due to the precise and chondroprotective reduction technique.

The radiolytic reduction of mercuric chloride in aqueous sugar solutions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnston, F.J.

1991-01-01

The reduction of HgCl 2 has been measured in Co-60 γ-irradiated aqueous glucose, fructose and sucrose solutions. G-values for reduction, G(R), are substantially greater than 6 molecules per 100 eV in all systems from 1% by weight sugar to greater than 50%. Chain reduction occurs in glucose and fructose solutions with maximum G(R) values of 18-20 molecules per 100 eV occurring at 24% (1.0 M) sugar. The results are consistent with a mechanism in which HgCl radicals react with the organic solute to produce chain propagating free radicals. A dose rate independence of the chain length, after a brief ''induction'' period, is explained in terms of a chain termination by the incorporation of HgCl in growing Hg 2 Cl 2 particles. Reduction of Ag(I) and Cu(II) in aqueous sucrose and fructose systems took place with G(R) < 6 indicating the absence of reaction chains in these cases. (author)

Excess Readmission vs Excess Penalties: Maximum Readmission Penalties as a Function of Socioeconomics and Geography.

Science.gov (United States)

Caracciolo, Chris; Parker, Devin; Marshall, Emily; Brown, Jeremiah

2017-08-01

The Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP) penalizes hospitals with "excess" readmissions up to 3% of Medicare reimbursement. Approximately 75% of eligible hospitals received penalties, worth an estimated $428 million, in fiscal year 2015. To identify demographic and socioeconomic disparities between matched and localized maximum-penalty and no-penalty hospitals. A case-control study in which cases included were hospitals to receive the maximum 3% penalty under the HRRP during the 2015 fiscal year. Controls were drawn from no-penalty hospitals and matched to cases by hospital characteristics (primary analysis) or geographic proximity (secondary analysis). A selectiion of 3383 US hospitals eligible for HRRP. Thirty-nine case and 39 control hospitals from the HRRP cohort. Socioeconomic status variables were collected by the American Community Survey. Hospital and health system characteristics were drawn from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, American Hospital Association, and Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care. The statistical analysis was conducted using Student t tests. Thirty-nine hospitals received a maximum penalty. Relative to controls, maximum-penalty hospitals in counties with lower SES profiles are defined by increased poverty rates (19.1% vs 15.5%, = 0.015) and lower rates of high school graduation (82.2% vs 87.5%, = 0.001). County level age, sex, and ethnicity distributions were similar between cohorts. Cases were more likely than controls to be in counties with low socioeconomic status; highlighting potential unintended consequences of national benchmarks for phenomena underpinned by environmental factors; specifically, whether maximum penalties under the HRRP are a consequence of underperforming hospitals or a manifestation of underserved communities. © 2017 Society of Hospital Medicine

On the Use of Maximum Force Criteria to Predict Localised Necking in Metal Sheets under Stretch-Bending

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Domingo Morales-Palma

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The maximum force criteria and their derivatives, the Swift and Hill criteria, have been extensively used in the past to study sheet formability. Many extensions or modifications of these criteria have been proposed to improve necking predictions under only stretching conditions. This work analyses the maximum force principle under stretch-bending conditions and develops two different approaches to predict necking. The first is a generalisation of classical maximum force criteria to stretch-bending processes. The second approach is an extension of a previous work of the authors based on critical distance concepts, suggesting that necking of the sheet is controlled by the damage of a critical material volume located at the inner side of the sheet. An analytical deformation model is proposed to characterise the stretch-bending process under plane-strain conditions. Different parameters are considered, such as the thickness reduction, the gradient of variables through the sheet thickness, the thickness stress and the anisotropy of the material. The proposed necking models have been successfully applied to predict the failure in different materials, such as steel, brass and aluminium.

Plant evaluation activities and O and M cost reduction in U.S

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Itoh, Takeshi

1998-01-01

Although some nuclear power plants face the possibility of premature retirement, most nuclear power plants have achieved substantial reductions in costs, mainly in O and M costs, and appear to be competitive with new gas and coal fired power plants. Improving competitiveness of existing nuclear power plants in the United States has primarily been driven by the electric utility self assessment activities. However, the background of this activity has been provided by the activities of NRC, INPO, NEI, EUCG and other activities being conducted for improvement of the nuclear power industry as a whole. Utility companies that are in the forefront of this activity have already achieved the reductions in staffing and outage time that are generally known to be effective for reducing O and M costs and are moving forward with rationalization and cost reductions in other areas. However, these electric utility companies are also achieving high safety and reliability. The staff of these electric utility companies have a high degree of autonomy, self motivation and self critical attitude and the staffing of these companies is a numerically small elite. This culture is supported by the self evaluation activity established by each company and is nurtured and supported by the management system. This appears to be one of the major elements in cost reduction. As this is based on U.S. information, differences in the system, society and culture in other nations mean that these findings may not be directly applicable. However, from the point of view of the prospects of nuclear power, these findings have an important meaning. This meaning is that the achievements in the United States of cost reduction activities centering on O and M costs are an important experience for other countries including Japan in reestablishing the economic competitiveness of nuclear power. (author)

Landscape planning for agricultural nonpoint source pollution reduction III: Assessing phosphorus and sediment reduction potential

Science.gov (United States)

Diebel, M.W.; Maxted, J.T.; Robertson, Dale M.; Han, S.; Vander Zanden, M. J.

2009-01-01

Riparian buffers have the potential to improve stream water quality in agricultural landscapes. This potential may vary in response to landscape characteristics such as soils, topography, land use, and human activities, including legacies of historical land management. We built a predictive model to estimate the sediment and phosphorus load reduction that should be achievable following the implementation of riparian buffers; then we estimated load reduction potential for a set of 1598 watersheds (average 54 km2) in Wisconsin. Our results indicate that land cover is generally the most important driver of constituent loads in Wisconsin streams, but its influence varies among pollutants and according to the scale at which it is measured. Physiographic (drainage density) variation also influenced sediment and phosphorus loads. The effect of historical land use on present-day channel erosion and variation in soil texture are the most important sources of phosphorus and sediment that riparian buffers cannot attenuate. However, in most watersheds, a large proportion (approximately 70%) of these pollutants can be eliminated from streams with buffers. Cumulative frequency distributions of load reduction potential indicate that targeting pollution reduction in the highest 10% of Wisconsin watersheds would reduce total phosphorus and sediment loads in the entire state by approximately 20%. These results support our approach of geographically targeting nonpoint source pollution reduction at multiple scales, including the watershed scale. ?? 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Transient dwarfism of soil fauna during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Jon J; Hasiotis, Stephen T; Kraus, Mary J; Woody, Daniel T

2009-10-20

Soil organisms, as recorded by trace fossils in paleosols of the Willwood Formation, Wyoming, show significant body-size reductions and increased abundances during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). Paleobotanical, paleopedologic, and oxygen isotope studies indicate high temperatures during the PETM and sharp declines in precipitation compared with late Paleocene estimates. Insect and oligochaete burrows increase in abundance during the PETM, suggesting longer periods of soil development and improved drainage conditions. Crayfish burrows and molluscan body fossils, abundant below and above the PETM interval, are significantly less abundant during the PETM, likely because of drier floodplain conditions and lower water tables. Burrow diameters of the most abundant ichnofossils are 30-46% smaller within the PETM interval. As burrow size is a proxy for body size, significant reductions in burrow diameter suggest that their tracemakers were smaller bodied. Smaller body sizes may have resulted from higher subsurface temperatures, lower soil moisture conditions, or nutritionally deficient vegetation in the high-CO(2) atmosphere inferred for the PETM. Smaller soil fauna co-occur with dwarf mammal taxa during the PETM; thus, a common forcing mechanism may have selected for small size in both above- and below-ground terrestrial communities. We predict that soil fauna have already shown reductions in size over the last 150 years of increased atmospheric CO(2) and surface temperatures or that they will exhibit this pattern over the next century. We retrodict also that soil fauna across the Permian-Triassic and Triassic-Jurassic boundary events show significant size decreases because of similar forcing mechanisms driven by rapid global warming.

Transient dwarfism of soil fauna during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, J.J.; Hasiotis, S.T.; Kraus, M.J.; Woody, D.T.

2009-01-01

Soil organisms, as recorded by trace fossils in paleosols of the Willwood Formation, Wyoming, show significant body-size reductions and increased abundances during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). Paleobotanical, paleopedologic, and oxygen isotope studies indicate high temperatures during the PETM and sharp declines in precipitation compared with late Paleocene estimates. Insect and oligochaete burrows increase in abundance during the PETM, suggesting longer periods of soil development and improved drainage conditions. Crayfish burrows and molluscan body fossils, abundant below and above the PETM interval, are significantly less abundant during the PETM, likely because of drier floodplain conditions and lower water tables. Burrow diameters of the most abundant ichnofossils are 30-46% smaller within the PETM interval. As burrow size is a proxy for body size, significant reductions in burrow diameter suggest that their tracemakers were smaller bodied. Smaller body sizes may have resulted from higher subsurface temperatures, lower soil moisture conditions, or nutritionally deficient vegetation in the high-CO2 atmosphere inferred for the PETM. Smaller soil fauna co-occur with dwarf mammal taxa during the PETM; thus, a common forcing mechanism may have selected for small size in both above- and below-ground terrestrial communities. We predict that soil fauna have already shown reductions in size over the last 150 years of increased atmospheric CO2 and surface temperatures or that they will exhibit this pattern over the next century. We retrodict also that soil fauna across the Permian-Triassic and Triassic-Jurassic boundary events show significant size decreases because of similar forcing mechanisms driven by rapid global warming.

Realworld maximum power point tracking simulation of PV system based on Fuzzy Logic control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmed M. Othman

2012-12-01

Full Text Available In the recent years, the solar energy becomes one of the most important alternative sources of electric energy, so it is important to improve the efficiency and reliability of the photovoltaic (PV systems. Maximum power point tracking (MPPT plays an important role in photovoltaic power systems because it maximize the power output from a PV system for a given set of conditions, and therefore maximize their array efficiency. This paper presents a maximum power point tracker (MPPT using Fuzzy Logic theory for a PV system. The work is focused on the well known Perturb and Observe (P&O algorithm and is compared to a designed fuzzy logic controller (FLC. The simulation work dealing with MPPT controller; a DC/DC Ćuk converter feeding a load is achieved. The results showed that the proposed Fuzzy Logic MPPT in the PV system is valid.

Achieving high field-effect mobility in amorphous indium-gallium-zinc oxide by capping a strong reduction layer.

Science.gov (United States)

Zan, Hsiao-Wen; Yeh, Chun-Cheng; Meng, Hsin-Fei; Tsai, Chuang-Chuang; Chen, Liang-Hao

2012-07-10

An effective approach to reduce defects and increase electron mobility in a-IGZO thin-film transistors (a-IGZO TFTs) is introduced. A strong reduction layer, calcium, is capped onto the back interface of a-IGZO TFT. After calcium capping, the effective electron mobility of a-IGZO TFT increases from 12 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) to 160 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1). This high mobility is a new record, which implies that the proposed defect reduction effect is key to improve electron transport in oxide semiconductor materials. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

MXLKID: a maximum likelihood parameter identifier

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gavel, D.T.

1980-07-01

MXLKID (MaXimum LiKelihood IDentifier) is a computer program designed to identify unknown parameters in a nonlinear dynamic system. Using noisy measurement data from the system, the maximum likelihood identifier computes a likelihood function (LF). Identification of system parameters is accomplished by maximizing the LF with respect to the parameters. The main body of this report briefly summarizes the maximum likelihood technique and gives instructions and examples for running the MXLKID program. MXLKID is implemented LRLTRAN on the CDC7600 computer at LLNL. A detailed mathematical description of the algorithm is given in the appendices. 24 figures, 6 tables

Hydrogen permeation rate reduction by post-oxidation of aluminide coatings on DIN 1.4914 martensitic steel (MANET)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perujo, A.; Sample, T.

1996-01-01

In a previous work, it has been shown that lower aluminium content aluminide, having the same permeation rate reduction as the higher aluminium content, exhibited a lower hardness and greater ductility and therefore greater crack resistance than the higher aluminium content. In this work we combine this characteristic with a post-oxidation to obtain a further deuterium permeation reduction. The post-oxidation was performed in air at 1023 K for 15 h and at 1223 K for 10 h and 1 h. The maximum deuterium permeation rate reduction obtained is very moderate (maximum of a factor 500 for 1 h at 1223 K) as compared to that of the non-oxidised aluminide specimen (two orders of magnitude) and is constant in the temperature range studied (573-800 K). This method has the technological appeal of using air rather than the controlled environment used by other authors. (orig.)

Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the rape cultivation with special consideration of nitrogen fertilization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heilmann, Hubert; Riemer, Doerte

2017-01-01

Involved into the research project ''Mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions in oilseed rape cropping with special consideration of nitrogen fertilizing'' regional specific GHG cropping emissions according to benchmark and regional experts are calculated by using a calculation method developed in cooperation with IFEU and according to IPCC (2006). The following results are achieved for 35 German NUTS2-regions: - nitrogen fertilization is the main influence for GHG emission reduction; - the use of low-emission nitrogen fertilizers is worth for GHG emission reduction; - without increasing the nutrient efficiency of organic fertilizers, GHG emission reductions are difficult to achieve in many regions; - GHG emission reduction/climate protection and realization of the WRRL or N-Saldo reduction come up to the same aim; - economic consequences of restrictive carbon mitigation can be compensated by slight price surcharges for certified raw material.

Spreadsheet tool for estimating noise reduction costs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frank, L.; Senden, V.; Leszczynski, Y.

2009-01-01

The Northeast Capital Industrial Association (NCIA) represents industry in Alberta's industrial heartland. The organization is in the process of developing a regional noise management plan (RNMP) for their member companies. The RNMP includes the development of a noise reduction cost spreadsheet tool to conduct reviews of practical noise control treatments available for individual plant equipment, inclusive of ranges of noise attenuation achievable, which produces a budgetary prediction of the installed cost of practical noise control treatments. This paper discussed the noise reduction cost spreadsheet tool, with particular reference to noise control best practices approaches and spreadsheet tool development such as prerequisite, assembling data required, approach, and unit pricing database. Use and optimization of the noise reduction cost spreadsheet tool was also discussed. It was concluded that the noise reduction cost spreadsheet tool is an easy interactive tool to estimate implementation costs related to different strategies and options of noise control mitigating measures and was very helpful in gaining insight for noise control planning purposes. 2 tabs.

Reduction of metallic coil artefacts in computed tomography body imaging: effects of a new single-energy metal artefact reduction algorithm

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kidoh, Masafumi; Utsunomiya, Daisuke; Ikeda, Osamu; Tamura, Yoshitaka; Oda, Seitaro; Yuki, Hideaki; Nakaura, Takeshi; Hirai, Toshinori; Yamashita, Yasuyuki [Kumamoto University, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto (Japan); Funama, Yoshinori [Kumamoto University, Department of Medical Physics, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto (Japan); Kawano, Takayuki [Kumamoto University Graduate School, Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Life Sciences Research, Kumamoto (Japan)

2016-05-15

We evaluated the effect of a single-energy metal artefact reduction (SEMAR) algorithm for metallic coil artefact reduction in body imaging. Computed tomography angiography (CTA) was performed in 30 patients with metallic coils (10 men, 20 women; mean age, 67.9 ± 11 years). Non-SEMAR images were reconstructed with iterative reconstruction alone, and SEMAR images were reconstructed with the iterative reconstruction plus SEMAR algorithms. We compared image noise around metallic coils and the maximum diameters of artefacts from coils between the non-SEMAR and SEMAR images. Two radiologists visually evaluated the metallic coil artefacts utilizing a four-point scale: 1 = extensive; 2 = strong; 3 = mild; 4 = minimal artefacts. The image noise and maximum diameters of the artefacts of the SEMAR images were significantly lower than those of the non-SEMAR images (65.1 ± 33.0 HU vs. 29.7 ± 10.3 HU; 163.9 ± 54.8 mm vs. 10.3 ± 19.0 mm, respectively; P < 0.001). Better visual scores were obtained with the SEMAR technique (3.4 ± 0.6 vs. 1.0 ± 0.0, P < 0.001). The SEMAR algorithm significantly reduced artefacts caused by metallic coils compared with the non-SEMAR algorithm. This technique can potentially increase CT performance for the evaluation of post-coil embolization complications. (orig.)

Reduction of metallic coil artefacts in computed tomography body imaging: effects of a new single-energy metal artefact reduction algorithm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kidoh, Masafumi; Utsunomiya, Daisuke; Ikeda, Osamu; Tamura, Yoshitaka; Oda, Seitaro; Yuki, Hideaki; Nakaura, Takeshi; Hirai, Toshinori; Yamashita, Yasuyuki; Funama, Yoshinori; Kawano, Takayuki

2016-01-01

We evaluated the effect of a single-energy metal artefact reduction (SEMAR) algorithm for metallic coil artefact reduction in body imaging. Computed tomography angiography (CTA) was performed in 30 patients with metallic coils (10 men, 20 women; mean age, 67.9 ± 11 years). Non-SEMAR images were reconstructed with iterative reconstruction alone, and SEMAR images were reconstructed with the iterative reconstruction plus SEMAR algorithms. We compared image noise around metallic coils and the maximum diameters of artefacts from coils between the non-SEMAR and SEMAR images. Two radiologists visually evaluated the metallic coil artefacts utilizing a four-point scale: 1 = extensive; 2 = strong; 3 = mild; 4 = minimal artefacts. The image noise and maximum diameters of the artefacts of the SEMAR images were significantly lower than those of the non-SEMAR images (65.1 ± 33.0 HU vs. 29.7 ± 10.3 HU; 163.9 ± 54.8 mm vs. 10.3 ± 19.0 mm, respectively; P < 0.001). Better visual scores were obtained with the SEMAR technique (3.4 ± 0.6 vs. 1.0 ± 0.0, P < 0.001). The SEMAR algorithm significantly reduced artefacts caused by metallic coils compared with the non-SEMAR algorithm. This technique can potentially increase CT performance for the evaluation of post-coil embolization complications. (orig.)

Simultaneous administration of glucose and hyperoxic gas achieves greater improvement in tumor oxygenation than hyperoxic gas alone

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Snyder, Stacey A.; Lanzen, Jennifer L.; Braun, Rod D.; Rosner, Gary; Secomb, Timothy W.; Biaglow, John; Brizel, David M.; Dewhirst, Mark W.

2001-01-01

Purpose: To test the feasibility of hyperglycemic reduction of oxygen consumption combined with oxygen breathing (O 2 ), to improve tumor oxygenation. Methods and Materials: Fischer-344 rats bearing 1 cm R3230Ac flank tumors were anesthetized with Nembutal. Mean arterial pressure, heart rate, tumor blood flow ([TBF], laser Doppler flowmetry), pH, and pO 2 were measured before, during, and after glucose (1 or 4 g/kg) and/or O 2 . Results: Mean arterial pressure and heart rate were unaffected by treatment. Glucose at 1 g/kg yielded maximum blood glucose of 400 mg/dL, no change in TBF, reduced tumor pH (0.17 unit), and 3 mm Hg pO 2 rise. Glucose at 4 g/kg yielded maximum blood glucose of 900 mg/dL, pH drop of 0.6 unit, no pO 2 change, and reduced TBF (31%). Oxygen tension increased by 5 mm Hg with O 2 . Glucose (1 g/Kg) + O 2 yielded the largest change in pO 2 (27 mm Hg); this is highly significant relative to baseline or either treatment alone. The effect was positively correlated with baseline pO 2 , but 6 of 7 experiments with baseline pO 2 2 to improve tumor oxygenation. However, some cell lines are not susceptible to the Crabtree effect, and the magnitude is dependent on baseline pO 2 . Additional or alternative manipulations may be necessary to achieve more uniform improvement in pO 2

Review on the processes of reduction and refining of metallic vanadium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mourao, M.B.; Capocchi, J.D.T.

1982-01-01

A literature survey on the processes of vanadium reduction and refining is presented. The results achieved by several research workers are comented. Enphasis is given to the aluminothermic reduction of V 2 O 5 followed by purification of the crude metal in an electron beam melting furnace or by high temperature molten salts electrolitic processes. (Author) [pt

On-line data acquisition and reduction at the magnetic detector PLUTO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Franke, G.; Schmitz, R.

1976-12-01

We present a method for reducing cosmic ray background in a set of cylindrical proportional wire chambers. Data taking and reduction is done by a PDP 11/45 computer. The method is applied in e + e - storage ring experiments with the superconductive solenoid magnet PLUTO. A reduction of about 50% of the incoming events is achieved. (orig.) [de

A Maximum Power Transfer Tracking Method for WPT Systems with Coupling Coefficient Identification Considering Two-Value Problem

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xin Dai

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Maximum power transfer tracking (MPTT is meant to track the maximum power point during the system operation of wireless power transfer (WPT systems. Traditionally, MPTT is achieved by impedance matching at the secondary side when the load resistance is varied. However, due to a loosely coupling characteristic, the variation of coupling coefficient will certainly affect the performance of impedance matching, therefore MPTT will fail accordingly. This paper presents an identification method of coupling coefficient for MPTT in WPT systems. Especially, the two-value issue during the identification is considered. The identification approach is easy to implement because it does not require additional circuit. Furthermore, MPTT is easy to realize because only two easily measured DC parameters are needed. The detailed identification procedure corresponding to the two-value issue and the maximum power transfer tracking process are presented, and both the simulation analysis and experimental results verified the identification method and MPTT.

Selection of full-sib families of Panicum maximum Jacq under low light conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Douglas Mochi Victor

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The silvopastoral system is a viable technological alternative to extensive cattle grazing, however, for it to be successful, forage grass genotypes adapted to reduced light need to be identified. The objective of this study was to select progenies of Panicum maximum tolerant to low light conditions for use in breeding programs and to study the genetic control and performance of some traits associated with shade tolerance. Six full-sib progenies were evaluated in full sun, 50% and 70% of light reduction in pots and subjected to cuttings. Progeny genotypic values ​​(GV increased with light reduction in relation to plant height (H and specific leaf area (SLA. The traits total dry mass accumulation (DM and leaf dry mass accumulation (LDM had GV higher in 50% shade and intermediate in 70% shade. The GV of tiller number (TIL and root dry mass accumulation (RDM decreased with light reduction. The highest positive correlations were obtained for the traits H and RDM with SLA and DM; the highest negative correlations were between TIL and SLA and RDM, and H and LDM. The progenies showed higher tolerance to 50% light reduction and, among them, two stood out and will be used in breeding programs. It was also found that it is not necessary to evaluate some traits under all light conditions. All traits had high broad sense heritability and high genotypic correlation between progenies in all light intensities. There is genetic difference among the progenies regarding the response to different light intensities, which will allow selection for shade tolerance

An investigation of drag reduction on box-shaped ground vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Muirhead, V. U.

1976-01-01

A wind tunnel investigation was conducted to determine the reduction in drag which could be obtained by making various configuration changes to a box-shaped ground vehicle. Tests were conducted at yaw (relative wind) angles of 0, 5, 10, 20, and 30 degrees and Reynolds numbers of 300,000 to 850,000. The power required to overcome the aerodynamic drag was reduced by a maximum of 73% for a head wind for the best configuration relative to the smooth bottom box-shape, or 75% relative to the rough bottom box-shape. The reduction for a 20 MPH wind at 30 deg to the vehicle path was, respectively, 77% and 79%.

Probable Maximum Earthquake Magnitudes for the Cascadia Subduction

Science.gov (United States)

Rong, Y.; Jackson, D. D.; Magistrale, H.; Goldfinger, C.

2013-12-01

The concept of maximum earthquake magnitude (mx) is widely used in seismic hazard and risk analysis. However, absolute mx lacks a precise definition and cannot be determined from a finite earthquake history. The surprising magnitudes of the 2004 Sumatra and the 2011 Tohoku earthquakes showed that most methods for estimating mx underestimate the true maximum if it exists. Thus, we introduced the alternate concept of mp(T), probable maximum magnitude within a time interval T. The mp(T) can be solved using theoretical magnitude-frequency distributions such as Tapered Gutenberg-Richter (TGR) distribution. The two TGR parameters, β-value (which equals 2/3 b-value in the GR distribution) and corner magnitude (mc), can be obtained by applying maximum likelihood method to earthquake catalogs with additional constraint from tectonic moment rate. Here, we integrate the paleoseismic data in the Cascadia subduction zone to estimate mp. The Cascadia subduction zone has been seismically quiescent since at least 1900. Fortunately, turbidite studies have unearthed a 10,000 year record of great earthquakes along the subduction zone. We thoroughly investigate the earthquake magnitude-frequency distribution of the region by combining instrumental and paleoseismic data, and using the tectonic moment rate information. To use the paleoseismic data, we first estimate event magnitudes, which we achieve by using the time interval between events, rupture extent of the events, and turbidite thickness. We estimate three sets of TGR parameters: for the first two sets, we consider a geographically large Cascadia region that includes the subduction zone, and the Explorer, Juan de Fuca, and Gorda plates; for the third set, we consider a narrow geographic region straddling the subduction zone. In the first set, the β-value is derived using the GCMT catalog. In the second and third sets, the β-value is derived using both the GCMT and paleoseismic data. Next, we calculate the corresponding mc

The Red Sea during the Last Glacial Maximum: implications for sea level reconstructions

Science.gov (United States)

Gildor, H.; Biton, E.; Peltier, W. R.

2006-12-01

The Red Sea (RS) is a semi-enclosed basin connected to the Indian Ocean via a narrow and shallow strait, and surrounded by arid areas which exhibits high sensitivity to atmospheric changes and sea level reduction. We have used the MIT GCM to investigate the changes in the hydrography and circulation in the RS in response to reduced sea level, variability in the Indian monsoons, and changes in atmospheric temperature and humidity that occurred during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The model results show high sensitivity to sea level reduction especially in the salinity field (increasing with the reduction in sea level) together with a mild atmospheric impact. Sea level reduction decreases the stratification, increases subsurface temperatures, and alters the circulation pattern at the Strait of Bab el Mandab, which experiences a transition from submaximal flow to maximal flow. The reduction in sea level at LGM alters the location of deep water formation which shifts to an open sea convective site in the northern part of the RS compared to present day situation in which deep water is formed from the Gulf of Suez outflow. Our main result based on both the GCM and on a simple hydraulic control model which takes into account mixing process at the Strait of Bab El Mandeb, is that sea level was reduced by only ~100 m in the Bab El Mandeb region during the LGM, i.e. the water depth at the Hanish sill (the shallowest part in the Strait Bab el Mandab) was around 34 m. This result agrees with the recent reconstruction of the LGM low stand of the sea in this region based upon the ICE-5G (VM2) model of Peltier (2004).

Pollution reduction technology program for small jet aircraft engines, phase 1

Science.gov (United States)

Bruce, T. W.; Davis, F. G.; Kuhn, T. E.; Mongia, H. C.

1977-01-01

A series of combustor pressure rig screening tests was conducted on three combustor concepts applied to the TFE731-2 turbofan engine combustion system for the purpose of evaluating their relative emissions reduction potential consistent with prescribed performance, durability, and envelope contraints. The three concepts and their modifications represented increasing potential for reducing emission levels with the penalty of increased hardware complexity and operational risk. Concept 1 entailed advanced modifications to the present production TFE731-2 combustion system. Concept 2 was based on the incorporation of an axial air-assisted airblast fuel injection system. Concept 3 was a staged premix/prevaporizing combustion system. Significant emissions reductions were achieved in all three concepts, consistent with acceptable combustion system performance. Concepts 2 and 3 were identified as having the greatest achievable emissions reduction potential, and were selected to undergo refinement to prepare for ultimate incorporation within an engine.

Enhanced phosphorus reduction in simulated eutrophic water: a comparative study of submerged macrophytes, sediment microbial fuel cells, and their combination.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Peng; Xiao, Enrong; Xu, Dan; Li, Juan; Zhang, Yi; Dai, Zhigang; Zhou, Qiaohong; Wu, Zhenbin

2018-05-01

The phosphorus reduction in water column was attempted by integrating sediment microbial fuel cells (SMFCs) with the submerged macrophyte Vallisneria spiralis. A comparative study was conducted to treat simulated water rich in phosphate with a control and three treatments: SMFC alone (SMFC), submerged macrophytes alone (macophyte), and combined macrophytes and fuel cells (M-SMFC). All treatments promoted phosphorus flux from the water column to sediments. Maximum phosphorus reduction was obtained in proportion to the highest stable phosphorus level in sediments in M-SMFC. For the initial phosphate concentrations of 0.2, 1, 2, and 4 mg/L, average phosphate values in the overlying water during four phases decreased by 33.3% (25.0%, 8.3%), 30.8% (5.1%, 17.9%), 36.5% (27.8%, 15.7%), and 36.2% (0.7%, 22.1%) for M-SMFC (macrophyte, SMFC), compared with the control. With macrophyte treatment, the obvious phosphorus release from sediments was observed during the declining period. However, such phenomenon was significantly inhibited with M-SMFC. The electrogenesis bacteria achieved stronger phosphorus adsorption and assimilation was significantly enriched on the closed-circuit anodes. The higher abundance of Geobacter and Pseudomonas in M-SMFC might in part explain the highest phosphorus reduction in the water column. M-SMFC treatment could be promising to control the phosphorus in eutrophic water bodies.

[Emissions trading potential : achieving emission reductions in a cost-effective manner

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fay, K.

1998-01-01

The issue of emissions trading as a viable tool to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by developed countries was discussed. The essence of this author's argument was that emissions trading alone will not solve the climate change problem and that the details of the program are hazy at best. In order to have any hope of meeting the emission reductions, it is essential to begin working out the details now, and to coordinate them with the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI) plan since all three of these flexibility mechanisms will be working in and among themselves, therefore they need to be consistent. Work on a general set of draft principles by the International Climate Change Partnership (ICCP), a coalition headquartered in Washington, DC, was summarized. Essentially, ICCP favors voluntary programs, incentives for participation, no quantitative limits on trading, no limits on sources and sinks. ICCP believes that trading should be allowed at the company level, and liability should not devolve on the buyer alone, rather, it should be negotiated between buyers and sellers. Credits for early action should also be tradable and most of all, the trading program should be simple to allow active participation by industry, and be free of bureaucratic impediments

Fluoroscopy-guided hydrostatic reduction of intussusception in infancy: role of pharmacological premedication.

Science.gov (United States)

Esposito, Francesco; Ambrosio, Concetta; De Fronzo, Simona; Panico, Maria Rita; D'Aprano, Marilena; Giugliano, Anna Marcella; Noviello, Domenico; Oresta, Patrizia

2015-06-01

Intussusception is one of the most common causes of paediatric emergency. Fluoroscopy-guided hydrostatic reduction is a common nonoperative management strategy for the treatment of intussusception. The role of pharmacological premedication in increasing the success rate of hydrostatic reduction is still controversial. The purpose of this study was to verify the presence of a possible correlation between pharmacological premedication and the percentage of hydrostatic reduction of intussusception in paediatric patients. This study considered children with a diagnosis of idiopathic intussusception treated at our hospital between January 2007 and June 2013. One group of patients underwent hydrostatic reduction by barium enema without any preliminary therapy. A second group of patients received pharmacological premedication with both a sedative and an anti-oedematous agent before the procedure. A total of 398 patients were treated with barium enema for therapeutic purposes. In the group of patients who received no premedication (n = 254), 165 (65 %) children achieved hydrostatic reduction of the intussusception. Among the patients who received pharmacological premedication prior to barium enema (n = 144), 122 (85 %) children achieved resolution of the intussusception. Our study shows that the use of pharmacological premedication is effective for the reduction of the intussusception, as its limit patient stress, fluoroscopic time and radiation dose.

Minimally invasive non-surgical lung volume reduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shen Liming; Zhou Dayong; Shen Junkang

2006-01-01

Minimally invasive treatment with lung volume reduction is the promising future for severe pulmonary emphysema patients. With emerging and improving of new techniques and instruments, it would become an important choice for managing severe emphysema. A comprehensive review is here documented through the correlative techniques, instruments, new achievements and latest research work. (authors)

EFFECTS OF A SAND RUNNING SURFACE ON THE KINEMATICS OF SPRINTING AT MAXIMUM VELOCITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P E Alcaraz

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Performing sprints on a sand surface is a common training method for improving sprint-specific strength. For maximum specificity of training the athlete’s movement patterns during the training exercise should closely resemble those used when performing the sport. The aim of this study was to compare the kinematics of sprinting at maximum velocity on a dry sand surface to the kinematics of sprinting on an athletics track. Five men and five women participated in the study, and flying sprints over 30 m were recorded by video and digitized using biomechanical analysis software. We found that sprinting on a sand surface was substantially different to sprinting on an athletics track. When sprinting on sand the athletes tended to ‘sit’ during the ground contact phase of the stride. This action was characterized by a lower centre of mass, a greater forward lean in the trunk, and an incomplete extension of the hip joint at take-off. We conclude that sprinting on a dry sand surface may not be an appropriate method for training the maximum velocity phase in sprinting. Although this training method exerts a substantial overload on the athlete, as indicated by reductions in running velocity and stride length, it also induces detrimental changes to the athlete’s running technique which may transfer to competition sprinting.

Online data reduction with FPGA-based track reconstruction for the Belle II DEPFET pixel detector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Deschamps, Bruno; Wessel, Christian; Marinas, Carlos; Dingfelder, Jochen [Physikalisches Institut, Universitaet Bonn (Germany)

2016-07-01

The innermost two layers of the Belle II vertex detector at the KEK facility in Tsukuba, Japan, will be covered by high-granularity DEPFET pixel sensors (PXD). The large number of pixels leads to a maximum data rate of 256 Gbps, which has to be significantly reduced by the Data Acquisition System (DATCON). For the data reduction the hit information of the surrounding Silicon strip Vertex Detector (SVD) is utilized to define so-called Regions of Interest (ROI). Only hit information of the pixels located inside these ROIs are saved. The ROIs for the PXD are computed by reconstructing track segments from SVD data and extrapolation to the PXD. The goal is to achieve a data reduction of at least a factor of 10 with this ROI selection. All the necessary processing stages, the receiving, decoding and multiplexing of SVD data on 48 optical fibers, the track reconstruction and the definition of the ROIs, will be performed by the presented system. The planned hardware design is based on a distributed set of Advanced Mezzanine Cards (AMC) each equipped with a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and 4 optical transceivers. In this talk, the status and plans for the DATCON prototype and the FPGA-based tracking algorithm are introduced as well as the plans for their test in the upcoming test beam at DESY.

Questionnaire survey of current status and reserve for breast cancer screening in Mie prefecture. Achievement of a 50% participation rate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kobayashi, Shigeki; Tanaka, Yukio; Matsuo, Michiko

2012-01-01

Mie Medical Network of Breast Cancer Screening, a NPO, was assigned the task of breast cancer screening in Mie prefecture in April, 2010. For breast cancer screening in Mie prefecture in 2009, a questionnaire survey was performed toward both consigner and consignee. Consigners were local public offices managing breast cancer screening for local inhabitants, and consignees were facilities offering breast cancer screening. The number of breast cancer screening was investigated toward all 29 of consigners in Mie prefecture. The questionnaire survey was conducted toward all 52 of the facilities possessing mammography systems (breast cancer screening being performed at 48 of them) in Mie prefecture in 2009. We investigated the predictive additional number of breast cancer screening and also investigated the requisite number of staff to achieve the predictive maximum number of breast cancer screening. As a result, the total number of breast cancer screenings was 93,525, and the participation rate was 27.5% which was calculated by reduction of continuator in Mie prefecture in 2009. The continuator accounted for over 30% of all breast cancer screenings. The predictive additional number was 126,950, this indicates that a possible participation rate of 75.2% after 2011. To achieve this high participation rate, active support is essential for short-handed facilities, and about 20% increase of medical staff is necessary. To achieve a participation rate of over 50% as a goal, new screenees should be recruited and breast cancer screening of every other year should be enlightened. (author)

Fungi-based treatment of brewery wastewater-biomass production and nutrient reduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Hultberg, M; Bodin, H

2017-06-01

The beer-brewing process produces high amounts of nutrient-rich wastewater, and the increasing number of microbreweries worldwide has created a need for innovative solutions to deal with this waste. In the present study, fungal biomass production and the removal of organic carbon, phosphorus and nitrogen from synthetic brewery wastewater were studied. Different filamentous fungi with a record of safe use were screened for growth, and Trametes versicolor, Pleurotus ostreatus and Trichoderma harzianum were selected for further work. The highest biomass production, 1.78 ± 0.31 g L -1 of dry weight, was observed when P. ostreatus was used for the treatment, while T. harzianum demonstrated the best capability for removing nutrients. The maximum reduction of chemical oxygen demand, 89% of the initial value, was observed with this species. In the removal of total nitrogen and phosphorus, no significant difference was observed between the species, while removal of ammonium varied between the strains. The maximum reduction of ammonium, 66.1% of the initial value, was also found in the T. harzianum treatment. It can be concluded that all treatments provided significant reductions in all water-quality parameters after 3 days of growth and that the utilisation of filamentous fungi to treat brewery wastewater, linked to a deliberate strategy to use the biomass produced, has future potential in a bio-based society.

[An easy, safe and affective method for the treatment of intussusception: ultrasound-guided hydrostatic reduction].

Science.gov (United States)

Ülger, Fatma Esra Bahadır; Ülger, Aykut; Karakaya, Ali Erdal; Tüten, Fatih; Katı, Ömer; Çolak, Mustafa

2014-03-01

Intussusception is one of the important causes of intestinal obstruction in children. Hydrostatic reduction under ultrasound guidance is a popular treatment method for intussusception. In the present study, we aimed to explain the demographic characteristics of and treatment approaches in patients diagnosed with intussusception by ultrasound. Forty-one patients diagnosed with intussusception by ultrasound between August 2011 and May 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. Twenty-four of these patients who had no contraindications had been treated with ultrasound-guided hydrostatic reduction. Twenty-four of the patients were male and 17 were female, a 1.4/1 male-to-female ratio. The majority of the patients were between the ages of 6-24 months and 2-5 years. The mean age was 31.12±26.32 months (range 3-125). Patients were more frequently diagnosed in April and May. Seventeen patients who had clinical contraindications enrolled directly for surgery. In 20 of the 24 patients who underwent ultrasound-guided hydrostatic reduction, reduction was achieved. Three experienced recurrence. In two of these patients, successful reduction was achieved with the second attempt. The remaining patient was enrolled for surgery. Hydrostatic reduction was performed 26 times on these 24 patients, and in 22, success was achieved (84.6%). No procedure-related complications occurred in the patients. Ultrasound-guided hydrostatic reduction, with its high success rates and lack of radiation risk, should be the first choice therapeutic approach for children diagnosed with intussusception.

Reduction of LNG FOB cost

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aoki, Ichizo; Kikkawa, Yoshitsugi

1997-01-01

To achieve a competitive LNG price for the consumers against other energy sources, reduction of LNG FOB (Free on Board) cost i.e. LNG cost at LNG ship flange, will be the key item. It is necessary to perform a many optimization studies (or value engineering) for each stage of the LNG project. These stages are: Feasibility study; Conceptual design - FEED (Front End Engineering and Design); EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction); Operation and maintenance. Since the LNG plant forms one part of the LNG chain, starting from gas production to LNG receiving, and requires several billion US dollar of investment, the consequences of a plant shut down on the LNG chain are clear, it is, therefore, important to get high availability which will also contribute the reduction of LNG FOB cost. (au) 25 refs

Cost-effectiveness of reduction of off-site dose

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McGrath, J.J.; Macphee, R.; Arbeau, N.; Miskin, J.; Scott, C.K.; Winters, E.

1988-03-01

Since the early 1970's, nuclear power plants have been designed and operated with a target of not releasing more than one percent of the licensed limits (derived emission limits) in liquid and gaseous effluents. The AECB initiated this study of the cost-effectiveness of the reduction of off-site doses as part of a review to determine if further measures to reduce off-site doses might be reasonably achievable. Atlantic Nuclear has estimated the cost of existing technology options that can be applied for a further reduction of radioactive effluents from future CANDU nuclear power plants. Detritiation, filtration, ion exchange and evaporation are included in the assessment. The costs are presented in 1987 Canadian dollars, and include capital and operating costs for a reference 50 year plant life. Darlington NGS and Point Lepreau NGS are the reference nuclear power plant types and locations. The effect resulting from the hypothetical application of each technology has been calculated as the resulting reduction in world collective radiation dose detriment. The CSA N288.1 procedure was used for local pathway analysis and the global dispersion model developed by the NEA (OECD) group of experts was used for dose calculations. The reduction in the 'collective effective dose equivalent commitment' was assumed to exist for 10,000 years, the expected life-span of solid waste repositories. No attempt was made to model world population dynamics. The collective dose reductions were calculated for a nominal world population of 10 billion persons. The estimated cost and effect of applying the technology options are summarized in a tabular form for input to further consideration of 'reasonably achievable off-site dose levels'

Recycle and reduction of waste water in ISL operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Du Zhiming; Liu Naizhong; Su Xuebin; Li Jianhua; Zou Maoqing; Xing Yongguo

2014-01-01

Sandstone type uranium resources will be promote the main force of natural uranium production in China. The wastewater produced in the process of in-situ leaching mining need to be studied specially, so as to meet the requirements of green mining and realize the recycling of wastewater and decrement. We have researched and adopted including nature groundwater environmental recycling, liquor of precipitation recycling, optimization of elution process, the transformation waste water reduction, water evaporation reduction and a series of technological measures. The field application results show that the wastewater recycling and reduction in the process of production achieved a good environmental protection effect. (authors)

Ultra-wideband RCS reduction using novel configured chessboard metasurface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhuang Ya-Qiang; Wang Guang-Ming; Xu He-Xiu

2017-01-01

A novel artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) metasurface is proposed with ultra-wideband 180° phase difference for radar cross section (RCS) reduction. It is composed of two dual-resonant AMC cells, which enable a broadband phase difference of 180°±30° from 7.9 GHz to 19.2 GHz to be achieved. A novel strategy is devised by dividing each rectangular grid in a chessboard configuration into four triangular grids, leading to a further reduction of peak bistatic RCS. Both full-wave simulation and measurement results show that the proposed metasurface presents a good RCS reduction property over an ultra-wideband frequency range. (paper)

78 FR 9845 - Minimum and Ordinary Maximum and Aggravated Maximum Civil Monetary Penalties for a Violation of...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-12

... maximum penalty amount of $75,000 for each violation, except that if the violation results in death... the maximum civil penalty for a violation is $175,000 if the violation results in death, serious... Penalties for a Violation of the Hazardous Materials Transportation Laws or Regulations, Orders, Special...

Progress on Footprint Reduction at the Hanford Site - 12406

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McKenney, Dale E. [CH2M HILL, Plateau Remediation Company, Richland, Washington 99352 (United States); Seeley, Paul [Cenibark International, Inc., Richland, Washington 99352 (United States); Farabee, Al [U.S. Department of Energy, Richland Operations Office, Richland, Washington 99352 (United States)

2012-07-01

The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) continues to reduce the footprint of legacy sites throughout the EM complex. Footprint reduction is being accomplished by focusing cleanup activities on decontamination and demolition of excess contaminated facilities, soil and groundwater remediation, and solid waste disposition. All of these initiatives are being accomplished with established technologies in proven regulatory frameworks. Ultimately, completion of these environmental cleanup activities will reduce the monitoring and maintenance costs associated with managing large federal facilities, allowing EM to place more focus on other high priority cleanup efforts and facilitate a successful transition to land-term stewardship of these sites. Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) investment, the Department's cleanup footprint has been reduced by 45 percent to date, from 2411 km{sup 2} (931 mi{sup 2}) to 1336 km{sup 2} (516 mi{sup 2}s). With this significant progress on footprint reduction, the Department is on track towards their goal to reduce its overall footprint by approximately 90 percent by 2015. In addition, some areas cleaned up may become available for alternate uses (i.e. recreation, conservation, preservation, industrialization or development). Much of the work to reduce the complex's footprint occurred at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina and the Hanford Site in Washington, but cleanup continues across the complex. Footprint reduction is progressing well at the Hanford Site, supported predominantly through ARRA investment. To date, 994 km{sup 2} (384 mi{sup 2}) (65%) of footprint reduction have been achieved at Hanford, with a goal to achieve a 90% reduction by Fiscal Year 2015. The DOE EM and DOE Richland Operations Office, continue to make great progress to reduce the legacy footprint of the Hanford Site. Footprint reduction is being accomplished by focusing cleanup activities on

Reversibility of lumbar epidural lipomatosis in obese patients after weight-reduction diet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borstlap, A.C.W.; Rooij, W.J.J. van; Sluzewski, M.; Leyten, A.C.M.; Beute, G.

1995-01-01

We present three obese patients with symptomatic lumbar epidural lipomatosis. All three were treated with a calorie-controlled diet and considerable weight reduction was achieved. MRI demonstrated a reduction in the epidural fat and relief of thecal sac compression in all three; two also improved clinically. (orig.). With 3 figs., 1 tab

Conifers in cold environments synchronize maximum growth rate of tree-ring formation with day length.

Science.gov (United States)

Rossi, Sergio; Deslauriers, Annie; Anfodillo, Tommaso; Morin, Hubert; Saracino, Antonio; Motta, Renzo; Borghetti, Marco

2006-01-01

Intra-annual radial growth rates and durations in trees are reported to differ greatly in relation to species, site and environmental conditions. However, very similar dynamics of cambial activity and wood formation are observed in temperate and boreal zones. Here, we compared weekly xylem cell production and variation in stem circumference in the main northern hemisphere conifer species (genera Picea, Pinus, Abies and Larix) from 1996 to 2003. Dynamics of radial growth were modeled with a Gompertz function, defining the upper asymptote (A), x-axis placement (beta) and rate of change (kappa). A strong linear relationship was found between the constants beta and kappa for both types of analysis. The slope of the linear regression, which corresponds to the time at which maximum growth rate occurred, appeared to converge towards the summer solstice. The maximum growth rate occurred around the time of maximum day length, and not during the warmest period of the year as previously suggested. The achievements of photoperiod could act as a growth constraint or a limit after which the rate of tree-ring formation tends to decrease, thus allowing plants to safely complete secondary cell wall lignification before winter.

Artificial Neural Network-Based Clutter Reduction Systems for Ship Size Estimation in Maritime Radars

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. P. Jarabo-Amores

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The existence of clutter in maritime radars deteriorates the estimation of some physical parameters of the objects detected over the sea surface. For that reason, maritime radars should incorporate efficient clutter reduction techniques. Due to the intrinsic nonlinear dynamic of sea clutter, nonlinear signal processing is needed, what can be achieved by artificial neural networks (ANNs. In this paper, an estimation of the ship size using an ANN-based clutter reduction system followed by a fixed threshold is proposed. High clutter reduction rates are achieved using 1-dimensional (horizontal or vertical integration modes, although inaccurate ship width estimations are achieved. These estimations are improved using a 2-dimensional (rhombus integration mode. The proposed system is compared with a CA-CFAR system, denoting a great performance improvement and a great robustness against changes in sea clutter conditions and ship parameters, independently of the direction of movement of the ocean waves and ships.

Reduction of patient exposure during dental radiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yulek, G.G.; Soydan, E.; Ugur, Z.

1979-01-01

The effect of using additional accessories with a conventional X-ray machine to reduce patient exposure during full-mouth dental radiography was investigated. LiF extruded-rod thermoluminescent dosimeters were placed in 23 anatomical sites of a Randophantom and the phantom was exposed to a Turkish dental X-ray machine operated at 60 kV, 10 mA for 0.5 sec periods. Maximum reductions were observed at the eyes (80%), in the thyroid (70.6%), under the collar bone (59.9% average) and the gonads (44.5%). (author)

Efficiency improvement of the maximum power point tracking for PV systems using support vector machine technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kareim, Ameer A; Mansor, Muhamad Bin

2013-01-01

The aim of this paper is to improve efficiency of maximum power point tracking (MPPT) for PV systems. The Support Vector Machine (SVM) was proposed to achieve the MPPT controller. The theoretical, the perturbation and observation (P and O), and incremental conductance (IC) algorithms were used to compare with proposed SVM algorithm. MATLAB models for PV module, theoretical, SVM, P and O, and IC algorithms are implemented. The improved MPPT uses the SVM method to predict the optimum voltage of the PV system in order to extract the maximum power point (MPP). The SVM technique used two inputs which are solar radiation and ambient temperature of the modeled PV module. The results show that the proposed SVM technique has less Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and higher efficiency than P and O and IC methods.

Radon reduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamilton, M.A.

1990-01-01

During a radon gas screening program, elevated levels of radon gas were detected in homes on Mackinac Island, Mich. Six homes on foundations with crawl spaces were selected for a research project aimed at reducing radon gas concentrations, which ranged from 12.9 to 82.3 pCi/l. Using isolation and ventilation techniques, and variations thereof, radon concentrations were reduced to less than 1 pCi/l. This paper reports that these reductions were achieved using 3.5 mil cross laminated or 10 mil high density polyethylene plastic as a barrier without sealing to the foundation or support piers, solid and/or perforated plastic pipe and mechanical fans. Wind turbines were found to be ineffective at reducing concentrations to acceptable levels. Homeowners themselves installed all materials

Benefits of the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and maximum tolerated concentration (MTC) concept in aquatic toxicology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hutchinson, Thomas H.; Boegi, Christian; Winter, Matthew J.; Owens, J. Willie

2009-01-01

There is increasing recognition of the need to identify specific sublethal effects of chemicals, such as reproductive toxicity, and specific modes of actions of the chemicals, such as interference with the endocrine system. To achieve these aims requires criteria which provide a basis to interpret study findings so as to separate these specific toxicities and modes of action from not only acute lethality per se but also from severe inanition and malaise that non-specifically compromise reproductive capacity and the response of endocrine endpoints. Mammalian toxicologists have recognized that very high dose levels are sometimes required to elicit both specific adverse effects and present the potential of non-specific 'systemic toxicity'. Mammalian toxicologists have developed the concept of a maximum tolerated dose (MTD) beyond which a specific toxicity or action cannot be attributed to a test substance due to the compromised state of the organism. Ecotoxicologists are now confronted by a similar challenge and must develop an analogous concept of a MTD and the respective criteria. As examples of this conundrum, we note recent developments in efforts to validate protocols for fish reproductive toxicity and endocrine screens (e.g. some chemicals originally selected as 'negatives' elicited decreases in fecundity or changes in endpoints intended to be biomarkers for endocrine modes of action). Unless analogous criteria can be developed, the potentially confounding effects of systemic toxicity may then undermine the reliable assessment of specific reproductive effects or biomarkers such as vitellogenin or spiggin. The same issue confronts other areas of aquatic toxicology (e.g., genotoxicity) and the use of aquatic animals for preclinical assessments of drugs (e.g., use of zebrafish for drug safety assessment). We propose that there are benefits to adopting the concept of an MTD for toxicology and pharmacology studies using fish and other aquatic organisms and the

Performance analysis and comparison of an Atkinson cycle coupled to variable temperature heat reservoirs under maximum power and maximum power density conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, P.-Y.; Hou, S.-S.

2005-01-01

In this paper, performance analysis and comparison based on the maximum power and maximum power density conditions have been conducted for an Atkinson cycle coupled to variable temperature heat reservoirs. The Atkinson cycle is internally reversible but externally irreversible, since there is external irreversibility of heat transfer during the processes of constant volume heat addition and constant pressure heat rejection. This study is based purely on classical thermodynamic analysis methodology. It should be especially emphasized that all the results and conclusions are based on classical thermodynamics. The power density, defined as the ratio of power output to maximum specific volume in the cycle, is taken as the optimization objective because it considers the effects of engine size as related to investment cost. The results show that an engine design based on maximum power density with constant effectiveness of the hot and cold side heat exchangers or constant inlet temperature ratio of the heat reservoirs will have smaller size but higher efficiency, compression ratio, expansion ratio and maximum temperature than one based on maximum power. From the view points of engine size and thermal efficiency, an engine design based on maximum power density is better than one based on maximum power conditions. However, due to the higher compression ratio and maximum temperature in the cycle, an engine design based on maximum power density conditions requires tougher materials for engine construction than one based on maximum power conditions

Assessment of the bacteria reduction in the infected root canal irradiated with diode laser; Avaliacao da reducao bacteriana em conduto radicular infectado e irradiado com laser de diodo. Estudo in vitro

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Radaelli, Claudia Amaral Rabello de Mello

2002-07-01

High success rates are achieved in conventional endodontic treatment of vital pulp teeth. However, in cases of non-vital pulp, a decrease in the rate of success occurs due to difficulties in achieving a complete disinfection of the root canals system. Some bacteria, such as Enterococcus faecalis, are frequently found in cases of endodontic treatment failure due to their high resistance to the conventional endodontic treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of a high power diode laser irradiation in bacterial reduction of contaminated canals associated with dressing compose by calcium hydroxide paste propylene glycol and camphorated paramonochlorophenol. Eighty-two root canals were infected in vitro with Enterococcus faecalis in a concentration of 1x10{sup 8} CFU/ml. Specimens were high intensity irradiated with a diode laser model Opus 10, at a wavelength of 830 nm. Two different parameters were employed in continuous mode: 3 W and 2,5 W with a 360 {mu}m optical fiber at an angle of approximately 5 degrees respect to the dentine surface during 5 seconds, in 4 applications, with 20 seconds intervals among them. After these proceedings specimens were vortexed in peptone water and dilutions performed. Aliquots of the dilution were plated on m-Enterococcus agar, incubated, and the Colonies Forming Units (CFU) of ali groups was counted. The results showed a significant reduction of bacteria on ali groups after laser irradiation. A high reduction rate was achieved: 98.5% immediately after the laser irradiation; 48 hours after, the reduction was of 96,73% and, finally, a 100% reduction was achieved through the combination of laser irradiation and a long lasting dressing of calcium hydroxide paste, propylene glycol and camphorated paramonochlorophenol. High rates of bacteria reduction were achieved using the parameter of 3 W in continuous mode with the power of 2,9473 KW/cm{sup 2}. The temperature was monitored with a K-pipe thermocouple placed at

Current strategies for dosage reduction in computed tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

May, M.S.; Wuest, W.; Lell, M.M.; Uder, M.; Kalender, W.A.; Schmidt, B.

2012-01-01

The potential risks of radiation exposure associated with computed tomography (CT) imaging are reason for ongoing concern for both medical staff and patients. Radiation dose reduction is, according to the as low as reasonably achievable principle, an important issue in clinical routine, research and development. The complex interaction of preparation, examination and post-processing provides a high potential for optimization on the one hand but on the other a high risk for errors. The radiologist is responsible for the quality of the CT examination which requires specialized and up-to-date knowledge. Most of the techniques for radiation dose reduction are independent of the system and manufacturer. The basic principle should be radiation dose optimization without loss of diagnostic image quality rather than just reduction. (orig.) [de

Fast Multiscale Reservoir Simulations using POD-DEIM Model Reduction

KAUST Repository

Ghasemi, Mohammadreza

2015-02-23

In this paper, we present a global-local model reduction for fast multiscale reservoir simulations in highly heterogeneous porous media with applications to optimization and history matching. Our proposed approach identifies a low dimensional structure of the solution space. We introduce an auxiliary variable (the velocity field) in our model reduction that allows achieving a high degree of model reduction. The latter is due to the fact that the velocity field is conservative for any low-order reduced model in our framework. Because a typical global model reduction based on POD is a Galerkin finite element method, and thus it can not guarantee local mass conservation. This can be observed in numerical simulations that use finite volume based approaches. Discrete Empirical Interpolation Method (DEIM) is used to approximate the nonlinear functions of fine-grid functions in Newton iterations. This approach allows achieving the computational cost that is independent of the fine grid dimension. POD snapshots are inexpensively computed using local model reduction techniques based on Generalized Multiscale Finite Element Method (GMsFEM) which provides (1) a hierarchical approximation of snapshot vectors (2) adaptive computations by using coarse grids (3) inexpensive global POD operations in a small dimensional spaces on a coarse grid. By balancing the errors of the global and local reduced-order models, our new methodology can provide an error bound in simulations. Our numerical results, utilizing a two-phase immiscible flow, show a substantial speed-up and we compare our results to the standard POD-DEIM in finite volume setup.

Potential for greenhouse gas emission reductions using surplus electricity in hydrogen, methane and methanol production via electrolysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uusitalo, Ville; Väisänen, Sanni; Inkeri, Eero; Soukka, Risto

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Greenhouse gas emission reductions using power-to-x processes are studied using life cycle assessment. • Surplus electricity use led to greenhouse gas emission reductions in all studied cases. • Highest reductions can be achieved by using hydrogen to replace fossil based hydrogen. • High reductions are also achieved when fossil transportation fuels are replaced. - Abstract: Using a life cycle perspective, potentials for greenhouse gas emission reductions using various power-to-x processes via electrolysis have been compared. Because of increasing renewable electricity production, occasionally surplus renewable electricity is produced, which leads to situations where the price of electricity approach zero. This surplus electricity can be used in hydrogen, methane and methanol production via electrolysis and other additional processes. Life cycle assessments have been utilized to compare these options in terms of greenhouse gas emission reductions. All of the power-to-x options studied lead to greenhouse gas emission reductions as compared to conventional production processes based on fossil fuels. The highest greenhouse gas emission reductions can be gained when hydrogen from steam reforming is replaced by hydrogen from the power-to-x process. High greenhouse gas emission reductions can also be achieved when power-to-x products are utilized as an energy source for transportation, replacing fossil transportation fuels. A third option with high greenhouse gas emission reduction potential is methane production, storing and electricity conversion in gas engines during peak consumption hours. It is concluded that the power-to-x processes provide a good potential solution for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in various sectors.

Objective assessment of image quality and dose reduction in CT iterative reconstruction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vaishnav, J. Y., E-mail: jay.vaishnav@fda.hhs.gov; Jung, W. C. [Diagnostic X-Ray Systems Branch, Office of In Vitro Diagnostic Devices and Radiological Health, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, United States Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland 20993 (United States); Popescu, L. M.; Zeng, R.; Myers, K. J. [Division of Imaging and Applied Mathematics, Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, United States Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland 20993 (United States)

2014-07-15

Purpose: Iterative reconstruction (IR) algorithms have the potential to reduce radiation dose in CT diagnostic imaging. As these algorithms become available on the market, a standardizable method of quantifying the dose reduction that a particular IR method can achieve would be valuable. Such a method would assist manufacturers in making promotional claims about dose reduction, buyers in comparing different devices, physicists in independently validating the claims, and the United States Food and Drug Administration in regulating the labeling of CT devices. However, the nonlinear nature of commercially available IR algorithms poses challenges to objectively assessing image quality, a necessary step in establishing the amount of dose reduction that a given IR algorithm can achieve without compromising that image quality. This review paper seeks to consolidate information relevant to objectively assessing the quality of CT IR images, and thereby measuring the level of dose reduction that a given IR algorithm can achieve. Methods: The authors discuss task-based methods for assessing the quality of CT IR images and evaluating dose reduction. Results: The authors explain and review recent literature on signal detection and localization tasks in CT IR image quality assessment, the design of an appropriate phantom for these tasks, possible choices of observers (including human and model observers), and methods of evaluating observer performance. Conclusions: Standardizing the measurement of dose reduction is a problem of broad interest to the CT community and to public health. A necessary step in the process is the objective assessment of CT image quality, for which various task-based methods may be suitable. This paper attempts to consolidate recent literature that is relevant to the development and implementation of task-based methods for the assessment of CT IR image quality.

Objective assessment of image quality and dose reduction in CT iterative reconstruction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vaishnav, J. Y.; Jung, W. C.; Popescu, L. M.; Zeng, R.; Myers, K. J.

2014-01-01

Purpose: Iterative reconstruction (IR) algorithms have the potential to reduce radiation dose in CT diagnostic imaging. As these algorithms become available on the market, a standardizable method of quantifying the dose reduction that a particular IR method can achieve would be valuable. Such a method would assist manufacturers in making promotional claims about dose reduction, buyers in comparing different devices, physicists in independently validating the claims, and the United States Food and Drug Administration in regulating the labeling of CT devices. However, the nonlinear nature of commercially available IR algorithms poses challenges to objectively assessing image quality, a necessary step in establishing the amount of dose reduction that a given IR algorithm can achieve without compromising that image quality. This review paper seeks to consolidate information relevant to objectively assessing the quality of CT IR images, and thereby measuring the level of dose reduction that a given IR algorithm can achieve. Methods: The authors discuss task-based methods for assessing the quality of CT IR images and evaluating dose reduction. Results: The authors explain and review recent literature on signal detection and localization tasks in CT IR image quality assessment, the design of an appropriate phantom for these tasks, possible choices of observers (including human and model observers), and methods of evaluating observer performance. Conclusions: Standardizing the measurement of dose reduction is a problem of broad interest to the CT community and to public health. A necessary step in the process is the objective assessment of CT image quality, for which various task-based methods may be suitable. This paper attempts to consolidate recent literature that is relevant to the development and implementation of task-based methods for the assessment of CT IR image quality

Exposure reduction in panoramic radiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kapa, S.F.; Platin, E.

1990-01-01

Increased receptor speed in panoramic radiography is useful in reducing patient exposure if it doesn't substantially decrease the diagnostic quality of the resultant image. In a laboratory investigation four rare earth screen/film combinations were evaluated ranging in relative speed from 400 to 1200. The results indicated that an exposure reduction of approximately 15 percent can be achieved by substituting a 1200 speed system for a 400 speed system without significantly affecting the diagnostic quality of the image

Incentive aspects of point implementation of greenhouse gas reduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Michaelowa, A.

1996-01-01

The costs of a national climate policy instruments can be reduced if a reduction of greenhouse gas emission achieved abroad can be credited to a national target. Reductions carried through by agents of one country in another country are called Joint Implementation and have been a major topic in the negotiations on the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The first Conference of the parties in Berlin decided that the concept should be tested in a pilot phase without crediting. To induce private investments in Joint Implementation projects, primary instruments such as emission taxes, subsidies, tradeable emission rights or regulation are a necessary condition. Tax concessions, subsidies, additional emission rights or relaxation of regulation act as incentives. These must be proportional to the emission reduction achieved through the projects. Tax concessions and subsidies are preferable to other instruments for efficiency reasons. Examples are given for calculating tax concessions on a range of projects, including the installation of new boilers at a foreign power plant, the building of a new lignite power plant abroad, and the replacement of a coal-fired power plant with a hydroelectric power plant. 18 refs., 7 figs., 1 tab

US Food Industry Progress During the National Salt Reduction Initiative: 2009-2014.

Science.gov (United States)

Curtis, Christine J; Clapp, Jenifer; Niederman, Sarah A; Ng, Shu Wen; Angell, Sonia Y

2016-10-01

To assess the US packaged food industry's progress from 2009 to 2014, when the National Salt Reduction Initiative had voluntary, category-specific sodium targets with the goal of reducing sodium in packaged and restaurant foods by 25% over 5 years. Using the National Salt Reduction Initiative Packaged Food Database, we assessed target achievement and change in sales-weighted mean sodium density in top-selling products in 61 food categories in 2009 (n = 6336), 2012 (n = 6898), and 2014 (n = 7396). In 2009, when the targets were established, no categories met National Salt Reduction Initiative 2012 or 2014 targets. By 2014, 26% of categories met 2012 targets and 3% met 2014 targets. From 2009 to 2014, the sales-weighted mean sodium density declined significantly in almost half of all food categories (43%; 26/61 categories). Overall, sales-weighted mean sodium density declined significantly (by 6.8%; P industry progress was modest. The US Food and Drug Administration's proposed voluntary targets will be an important step in achieving more substantial sodium reductions.

Shinkansen noise: Research and achievements in countermeasures for Shinkansen noise

Science.gov (United States)

Kikuchi, I.

1988-01-01

In 1982, the Tohoku and Joetsu Shinkansen lines were opened. The result is the present Shinkansen network that runs through Japan from north to south, leading to a remarkable improvement in railway services, together with the provision of new, efficient connections with conventional lines. Since the opening of the Tokaido Shinkansen, the high utility of the Shinkansen as a high speed, large volume, and safe mode of transport has been gaining a high reputation. On the other hand, social demands for environmental preservation increased in strength with the advent of the period of Japan's high economic growth. Such demands were posed in the form of complaints about air and water pollution and noise from transportation. The problems of noise and vibration from Shinkansen train operation were posed mainly in relation to railway viaducts in urban areas. The Japanese National Railways (JNR) has made all-out efforts in technical development for noise reduction, obtained many achievements, and put them into practical use one by one on the Shinkansen lines. In the early stage of studies, there were many virgin areas for JNR staff, such as measurement technology, estimation methods, and noise alleviation technology. With the start of full-scale testing at a general test center in 1975, various studies and the development of effective measures made a great step forward. In March 1985, the maximum speed on the Tohoku Shinkansen was increased to 240 km/h, enhancing the Shinkansen reputation and resulting in a considerable growth of traffic. As a matter of course, new measures for noise reduction were taken for this line. In view of the history and results of voluminous studies over many years on the Shinkansen noise problem, and also of the roles and surrounding conditions of the Shinkansen as a mode of transport, however, new tasks are being posed concerning such aspects as how to accomplish environmental preservation in the future.

Impact of reduction of tinnitus intensity on patients' quality of life.

Science.gov (United States)

Drexler, Daniel; López-Paullier, Matías; Rodio, Silvana; González, Manuela; Geisinger, Darío; Pedemonte, Marisa

2016-01-01

Assess the impact of a reduction of tinnitus intensity achieved through sound stimulation during sleep on the improvement in the patients' quality of life. Acoustic stimuli consisted of a highly customized sound that reproduced the spectral and intensity characteristics of the tinnitus in each patient. This stimulus was uploaded into a portable electronic device and delivered through customized ear buds during sleep, every night for three months. Twelve patients with subjective idiopathic chronic tinnitus were studied. Results were assessed through: (1) the measurement in dB SPL of tinnitus intensity reduction over time; (2) the results of three psychometric tests: Tinnitus handicap inventory (THI), Tinnitus reaction questionnaire (TRQ), Tinnitus functional index (TFI); and (3) a Visual analog scale (VAS) for tinnitus annoyance. After three months of treatment, we observed an average decrease in tinnitus intensity of 14.1 dB SPL (p < 0.001), implying a 62% reduction of the perceived sound. This improvement was followed by a statistically significant decrease of TRQ (78%), THI (65%), and TFI (77%). These results suggested that the intensity reduction achieved through the protocol used in this study had a direct impact on the improvement in the patients' quality of life.

Optimized Adaptive Perturb and Observe Maximum Power Point Tracking Control for Photovoltaic Generation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luigi Piegari

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The power extracted from PV arrays is usually maximized using maximum power point tracking algorithms. One of the most widely used techniques is the perturb & observe algorithm, which periodically perturbs the operating point of the PV array, sometime with an adaptive perturbation step, and compares the PV power before and after the perturbation. This paper analyses the most suitable perturbation step to optimize maximum power point tracking performance and suggests a design criterion to select the parameters of the controller. Using this proposed adaptive step, the MPPT perturb & observe algorithm achieves an excellent dynamic response by adapting the perturbation step to the actual operating conditions of the PV array. The proposed algorithm has been validated and tested in a laboratory using a dual input inductor push-pull converter. This particular converter topology is an efficient interface to boost the low voltage of PV arrays and effectively control the power flow when input or output voltages are variable. The experimental results have proved the superiority of the proposed algorithm in comparison of traditional perturb & observe and incremental conductance techniques.

LMFBR technical development: achievements and prospects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hennies, H.H.; Nicholson, R.L.R.; Rapin, M.

1986-10-01

The recent commissioning of the SUPERPHENIX prototype (1200MWe), which is the outcome of a tight cooperation between several European partners, demonstrates the technical feasibility of industrial size Fast Breeder Reactors (FBR) and gives to Europe the leading part in FBR development. This achievement relies on studies which started more than 30 years ago and which have been marked by various realizations in European countries. Taking into account the slowing down of major nuclear programmes throughout the world and the resulting reduction of natural uranium needs the commercial deployment of LMFBRs does not appear presently necessary before the beginning of next century: this delay has to be used to work out a reactor model which will be economically attractive. The importance of efforts which remain to be carried out to achieve this goal, notably for what concern R and D, justifies the strengthening of the European cooperation and the extension of its scope to FBR fuel cycle activities. (author)

Global-scale high-resolution ( 1 km) modelling of mean, maximum and minimum annual streamflow

Science.gov (United States)

Barbarossa, Valerio; Huijbregts, Mark; Hendriks, Jan; Beusen, Arthur; Clavreul, Julie; King, Henry; Schipper, Aafke

2017-04-01

Quantifying mean, maximum and minimum annual flow (AF) of rivers at ungauged sites is essential for a number of applications, including assessments of global water supply, ecosystem integrity and water footprints. AF metrics can be quantified with spatially explicit process-based models, which might be overly time-consuming and data-intensive for this purpose, or with empirical regression models that predict AF metrics based on climate and catchment characteristics. Yet, so far, regression models have mostly been developed at a regional scale and the extent to which they can be extrapolated to other regions is not known. We developed global-scale regression models that quantify mean, maximum and minimum AF as function of catchment area and catchment-averaged slope, elevation, and mean, maximum and minimum annual precipitation and air temperature. We then used these models to obtain global 30 arc-seconds (˜ 1 km) maps of mean, maximum and minimum AF for each year from 1960 through 2015, based on a newly developed hydrologically conditioned digital elevation model. We calibrated our regression models based on observations of discharge and catchment characteristics from about 4,000 catchments worldwide, ranging from 100 to 106 km2 in size, and validated them against independent measurements as well as the output of a number of process-based global hydrological models (GHMs). The variance explained by our regression models ranged up to 90% and the performance of the models compared well with the performance of existing GHMs. Yet, our AF maps provide a level of spatial detail that cannot yet be achieved by current GHMs.

Dimension reduction methods for microarray data: a review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rabia Aziz

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Dimension reduction has become inevitable for pre-processing of high dimensional data. “Gene expression microarray data” is an instance of such high dimensional data. Gene expression microarray data displays the maximum number of genes (features simultaneously at a molecular level with a very small number of samples. The copious numbers of genes are usually provided to a learning algorithm for producing a complete characterization of the classification task. However, most of the times the majority of the genes are irrelevant or redundant to the learning task. It will deteriorate the learning accuracy and training speed as well as lead to the problem of overfitting. Thus, dimension reduction of microarray data is a crucial preprocessing step for prediction and classification of disease. Various feature selection and feature extraction techniques have been proposed in the literature to identify the genes, that have direct impact on the various machine learning algorithms for classification and eliminate the remaining ones. This paper describes the taxonomy of dimension reduction methods with their characteristics, evaluation criteria, advantages and disadvantages. It also presents a review of numerous dimension reduction approaches for microarray data, mainly those methods that have been proposed over the past few years.

LCLS Maximum Credible Beam Power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clendenin, J.

2005-01-01

The maximum credible beam power is defined as the highest credible average beam power that the accelerator can deliver to the point in question, given the laws of physics, the beam line design, and assuming all protection devices have failed. For a new accelerator project, the official maximum credible beam power is determined by project staff in consultation with the Radiation Physics Department, after examining the arguments and evidence presented by the appropriate accelerator physicist(s) and beam line engineers. The definitive parameter becomes part of the project's safety envelope. This technical note will first review the studies that were done for the Gun Test Facility (GTF) at SSRL, where a photoinjector similar to the one proposed for the LCLS is being tested. In Section 3 the maximum charge out of the gun for a single rf pulse is calculated. In Section 4, PARMELA simulations are used to track the beam from the gun to the end of the photoinjector. Finally in Section 5 the beam through the matching section and injected into Linac-1 is discussed

How to Achieve Transparency in Public-Private Partnerships Engaged in Hunger and Malnutrition Reduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Eggersdorfer, Manfred; Bird, Julia K

2016-01-01

Multi-stakeholder partnerships are important facilitators of improving nutrition in developing countries to achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Often, the role of industry is challenged and questions are raised as to the ethics of involving for-profit companies in humanitarian projects. The Second International Conference on Nutrition placed great emphasis on the role of the private sector, including industry, in multi-stakeholder partnerships to reduce hunger and malnutrition. Governments have to establish regulatory frameworks and institutions to guarantee fair competition and invest in infrastructure that makes investments for private companies attractive, eventually leading to economic growth. Civil society organizations can contribute by delivering nutrition interventions and behavioral change-related communication to consumers, providing capacity, and holding governments and private sector organizations accountable. Industry provides technical support, innovation, and access to markets and the supply chain. The greatest progress and impact can be achieved if all stakeholders cooperate in multi-stakeholder partnerships aimed at improving nutrition, thereby strengthening local economies and reducing poverty and inequality. Successful examples of public-private partnerships exist, as well as examples in which these partnerships did not achieve mutually agreed objectives. The key requirements for productive alliances between industry and civil society organizations are the establishment of rules of engagement, transparency and mutual accountability. The Global Social Observatory performed a consultation on conflicts of interest related to the Scaling Up Nutrition movement and provided recommendations to prevent, identify, manage and monitor potential conflicts of interest. Multi-stakeholder partnerships can be successful models in improving nutrition if they meet societal demand with transparent decision-making and execution. Solutions to

Maximizing Output Power of a Solar Panel via Combination of Sun Tracking and Maximum Power Point Tracking by Fuzzy Controllers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohsen Taherbaneh

2010-01-01

Full Text Available In applications with low-energy conversion efficiency, maximizing the output power improves the efficiency. The maximum output power of a solar panel depends on the environmental conditions and load profile. In this paper, a method based on simultaneous use of two fuzzy controllers is developed in order to maximize the generated output power of a solar panel in a photovoltaic system: fuzzy-based sun tracking and maximum power point tracking. The sun tracking is performed by changing the solar panel orientation in horizontal and vertical directions by two DC motors properly designed. A DC-DC converter is employed to track the solar panel maximum power point. In addition, the proposed system has the capability of the extraction of solar panel I-V curves. Experimental results present that the proposed fuzzy techniques result in increasing of power delivery from the solar panel, causing a reduction in size, weight, and cost of solar panels in photovoltaic systems.

The Type-2 Fuzzy Logic Controller-Based Maximum Power Point Tracking Algorithm and the Quadratic Boost Converter for Pv System

Science.gov (United States)

Altin, Necmi

2018-05-01

An interval type-2 fuzzy logic controller-based maximum power point tracking algorithm and direct current-direct current (DC-DC) converter topology are proposed for photovoltaic (PV) systems. The proposed maximum power point tracking algorithm is designed based on an interval type-2 fuzzy logic controller that has an ability to handle uncertainties. The change in PV power and the change in PV voltage are determined as inputs of the proposed controller, while the change in duty cycle is determined as the output of the controller. Seven interval type-2 fuzzy sets are determined and used as membership functions for input and output variables. The quadratic boost converter provides high voltage step-up ability without any reduction in performance and stability of the system. The performance of the proposed system is validated through MATLAB/Simulink simulations. It is seen that the proposed system provides high maximum power point tracking speed and accuracy even for fast changing atmospheric conditions and high voltage step-up requirements.

Full system decontamination (FSD) for sustainable dose reduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stiepani, Christoph; Sempere-Belda, Luis; Topf, Christian; Basu, Ashim

2012-09-01

Nuclear power plants experience an increase in dose rates during operation due to the build-up of the activity inventory. The activity build-up is influenced by the construction materials, past and present water chemistries, and the individual operating history of the plant. Depending on these factors the dose levels in an operating plant may reach a point in which concrete actions to reduce the overall radiation exposure become necessary. In the past dose reduction plans were performed, based on - Modification in coolant water chemistry - Substitution of Cobalt containing materials - Outage optimization program - Installation of permanent shielding - Decontamination The dose rate reduction took several years and today a stagnation of further dose rate reduction can be seen. Therefore AREVA has developed the Concept for Sustainable Dose Reduction in Operating BWRs and PWRs. This is a program of joint corrective measures to minimize dose levels rapidly and keep them low for continued operation. It can be applied in plants from all constructors and designs. The concept is based fully on the application of proven technologies, including: - Full System Decontamination with AREVA's decontamination process HP/CORD UV to minimize the activity inventory - The formation of new, very stable protective oxides on the system surfaces including injection of depleted zinc - Introduction of advanced water chemistry for maintaining the low dose levels achieved during ongoing operation The implementation of this program is particularly interesting for plants with a long operation history, especially when considering life extension. The latest application was performed successfully at the German PWR Grafenrheinfeld in 2010. In this paper the concept for sustainable dose reduction will be outlined and the site application detailed and the achieved results at PWR Grafenrheinfeld will be described. The recontamination after one cycle will be outlined in a second paper. (authors)

GLOBAL GOVERNANCE AND POVERTY REDUCTION THIS MILLENNIUM: NIGERIAN EXPERIENCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John N. N. Ugoani

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Issue of global poverty became very worrisome that the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000 placed it at the heart of global agenda to halve 1990 extreme poverty and hunger rates by the end of 2015. This means that the percentage of improvised people defined by the World Bank as those living on less than $1.25 a day must fall to 25 percent by the end of this year, while the proportion of people without adequate food security must be reduced to 12.5 percent. To achieve the aim, global leaders agreed to set a time-bound and measurable goals and targets. The United Nations believes that achieving the target which involves improvements in standards of living, universal primary education, empowerment of women, reduction in mortality rates, unemployment, among others, requires a global partnership with national governments, multinational agencies through global governance architecture. The ideal of global governance is a process of co-operative leadership that brings together national governments, multilateral public agencies and civil society to achieve commonly accepted goals. It provides strategic direction and then marshals collective energies to address global challenges. It is inclusive, dynamic and operates across national and sectoral boundaries and interests. It is this perspective of global governance that drives the Millennium Development Goals agenda toward global poverty reduction. This perspective is making positive contributions with some regions in the world heading toward the achievement of the target. Even those countries in sub-saharan Africa where most of the global poor live and who are lagging behind, are making frantic efforts to do so, with the assistance of global bodies like the world bank,  IMF, UNIDO, among others. The beauty of global governance is that it appears to be more democratic than authoritarian, more openly political than bureaucratic, and more integrated than specialized. This is the level that drives the

Scenario analysis of energy saving and CO_2 emissions reduction potentials to ratchet up Japanese mitigation target in 2030 in the residential sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wakiyama, Takako; Kuramochi, Takeshi

2017-01-01

This paper assesses to what extent CO_2 emissions from electricity in the residential sector can be further reduced in Japan beyond its post-2020 mitigation target (known as “Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC)”). The paper examines the reduction potential of electricity demand and CO_2 emissions in the residential sector by conducting a scenario analysis. Electricity consumption scenarios are set up using a time-series regression model, and used to forecast the electricity consumption patterns to 2030. The scenario analysis also includes scenarios that reduce electricity consumption through enhanced energy efficiency and energy saving measures. The obtained results show that Japan can reduce electricity consumption and CO_2 emissions in the residential sector in 2030 more than the Japanese post-2020 mitigation target indicates. At the maximum, the electricity consumption could be reduced by 35 TWh, which contributes to 55.4 MtCO_2 of emissions reduction in 2030 compared to 2013 if the voluntarily targeted CO_2 intensity of electricity is achieved. The result implies that Japan has the potential to ratchet up post-2020 mitigation targets discussed under the Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). - Highlights: • Further reduction of electricity consumption is possible beyond Japan's post-2020 mitigation target. • Energy saving efforts by households and incentives to reduce electricity demands are required. • Improvement of CO_2 intensity from electricity is a key factor in the reduction of CO_2 emissions.

On application of a new hybrid maximum power point tracking (MPPT) based photovoltaic system to the closed plant factory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang, Joe-Air; Su, Yu-Li; Shieh, Jyh-Cherng; Kuo, Kun-Chang; Lin, Tzu-Shiang; Lin, Ta-Te; Fang, Wei; Chou, Jui-Jen; Wang, Jen-Cheng

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Hybrid MPPT method was developed and utilized in a PV system of closed plant factory. • The tracking of the maximum power output of PV system can be achieved in real time. • Hybrid MPPT method not only decreases energy loss but increases power utilization. • The feasibility of applying PV system to the closed plant factory has been examined. • The PV system significantly reduced CO 2 emissions and curtailed the fossil fuels. - Abstract: Photovoltaic (PV) generation systems have been shown to have a promising role for use in high electric-load buildings, such as the closed plant factory which is dependent upon artificial lighting. The power generated by the PV systems can be either directly supplied to the buildings or fed back into the electrical grid to reduce the high economic costs and environmental impact associated with the traditional energy sources such as nuclear power and fossil fuels. However, PV systems usually suffer from low energy-conversion efficiency, and it is therefore necessary to improve their performance by tackling the energy loss issues. The maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control technique is essential to the PV-assisted generation systems in order to achieve the maximum power output in real time. In this study, we integrate the previously proposed direct-prediction MPP method with a perturbation and observation (P and O) method to develop a new hybrid MPPT method. The proposed MPPT method is further utilized in the PV inverters in a PV system installed on the roof of a closed plant factory at National Taiwan University. The tested PV system is constructed as a two-stage grid-connected photovoltaic power conditioning (PVPC) system with a boost-buck full bridge design configuration. A control scheme based on the hybrid MPPT method is also developed and implemented in the PV inverters of the PVPC system to achieve tracking of the maximum power output of the PV system in real time. Based on experimental results

Ambient radiation dose reduction within a newly remodeled Nuclear Medicine Department

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lai, Y.C.; Chen, Y.W.; Huang, Y.F.

2008-01-01

Full text: Ambient radiation levels at the patient waiting areas have been greatly reduced after remodeling of our Nuclear Medicine Department (NMD) based on the ALARA consideration. Complete ambient radiation monitoring of our NMD before remodeling had been characterized and published earlier by the same authors elsewhere. The NMD outpatients, with an initial dose of up to 740 MBq (20 mCi) per case, may wait around and incidentally congest in one place that could cause an unexpected higher exposure level in public access areas. In this new surveillance study after remodeling, the ambient radiation time-profile, peak dose rates and daily doses have been re-evaluated by using high sensitivity, digital survey dosimeters. As a preliminary result, with our newly improved facility in operation, we have demonstrated the NMD waiting room average daily dose has dropped from about 3.0 μSv to 0.42 μSv during most of busy days in comparison. The hourly peak dose rate detected in patient waiting areas has also reduced to a factor of more than two, from maximum dose rate of 40.4 μSv/h to 15.4 μSv/h, during one worst case scenario. The great reduction of the environment dose was achieved mainly by using larger room space with thicker lead wall, from previous 2-mm to new 5-mm in lead thickness, and by increasing patient waiting rooms/areas with less chairs available in each seating location. Other NMD administrative control measure of our dose reduction program has also been emphasized in better patient routing, scheduling and less waiting time for the diagnostic patients. (author)

Effect of different processing stages of commercial fruit leather on patulin reduction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M.H Eskandari

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Fruit leather (Lavashak is a high consumption food product especially among children in Iran. This product is being manufactured by low quality fruits that usually are contaminated with molds and patulin mycotoxin.  The objective of this study was to determine the effect of industrial processing stages of leather production (including pre-heating, filtration, evaporation, formulation and final heat boiling and drying on reduction of patulin level. Samples were taken for analysis prior and following each processing steps and patulin level was determined using HPLC technique. The results indicated that the maximum reduction of patulin level was ooccurred during formulation and evaporation steps which was estimated at 24.60 and 18.20%, respectively. Meanwhilewhile after drying, filtration, and pre-heating processes, the main loss of patulin was 8.58, 3.82 and 2.48%, respectively. It was concluded that the amount of residual patulin in final product was higher than 40% of its primary concentration. Besides, various processing stages were found insufficient to eliminate all of patulin or to reduce its level to lower than the maximum acceptable limit.

CuZn Alloy- Based Electrocatalyst for CO2 Reduction

KAUST Repository

Alazmi, Amira

2014-01-01

, especially when the electronic energy is derived from renewable energies, such as solar, wind, geo-thermal and tidal. To achieve this goal, the development of an efficient electrocatalyst for CO2 reduction is essential. In this thesis, studies on CuZn alloys

Analysis of Beamformer Directed Single-Channel Noise Reduction System for Hearing Aid Applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jesper; Pedersen, Michael Syskind

2015-01-01

We study multi-microphone noise reduction systems consisting of a beamformer and a single-channel (SC) noise reduction stage. In particular, we present and analyse a maximum likelihood (ML) method for jointly estimating the target and noise power spectral densities (psd's) entering the SC filter....... We show that the estimators are minimum variance and unbiased, and provide closed-form expressions for their mean-square error (MSE). Furthermore, we show that the MSE of the noise psd estimator is particularly simple: it is independent of target signal characteristics, frequency, and microphone...

Gamma, x-ray reduction system. Volume I: gamma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zimmer, W.H.

1976-01-01

The starting premises for this data reduction system were (a) the individual researcher needs all the accuracy that can be achieved but he has neither the time nor the inclination to learn how to achieve it, and (b) if the data reduction system is to be centralized the people operating it will want to minimize conversation with the computer. This is a working system. All spectral data are stored on Data General 4234 discs after background normalization and strip. Storage is initiated from magnetic tapes loaded by detached pulse height analyzers or directly from Scorpio pulse height analyzers. The only restrictions placed on the individual researchers are that the pulse height analyzer energy scale be set up consistently, that a recovery standard be run at least once every day of use, and the total acquisition system be calibrated to its range of use. In many instances, and if desirable, the latter is provided as a service. At the time of writing this gamma data reduction system is actively being used to calculate net peak areas, activities with or without time correction, activations analysis results, counting precisions, and dynamic limits of detection for the spectral data output of 17 detached pulse height analyzers. To all modes of data reduction are applied background subtraction, random summing correction, detector recovery factor correction, peak interfernce correction (second-order product interference for activation analysis), geometry function correction, acquisition time decay corrections, external and internal sorber correction. All of this is accomplished and a customer report typed in a readable format after a halfline of noninteractive instruction

Restrictions in Model Reduction for Polymer Chain Models in Dissipative Particle Dynamics

KAUST Repository

Moreno Chaparro, Nicolas

2014-06-06

We model high molecular weight homopolymers in semidilute concentration via Dissipative Particle Dynamics (DPD). We show that in model reduction methodologies for polymers it is not enough to preserve system properties (i.e., density ρ, pressure p, temperature T, radial distribution function g(r)) but preserving also the characteristic shape and length scale of the polymer chain model is necessary. In this work we apply a DPD-model-reduction methodology for linear polymers recently proposed; and demonstrate why the applicability of this methodology is limited upto certain maximum polymer length, and not suitable for solvent coarse graining.

Restrictions in Model Reduction for Polymer Chain Models in Dissipative Particle Dynamics

KAUST Repository

Moreno Chaparro, Nicolas; Nunes, Suzana Pereira; Calo, Victor M.

2014-01-01

We model high molecular weight homopolymers in semidilute concentration via Dissipative Particle Dynamics (DPD). We show that in model reduction methodologies for polymers it is not enough to preserve system properties (i.e., density ρ, pressure p, temperature T, radial distribution function g(r)) but preserving also the characteristic shape and length scale of the polymer chain model is necessary. In this work we apply a DPD-model-reduction methodology for linear polymers recently proposed; and demonstrate why the applicability of this methodology is limited upto certain maximum polymer length, and not suitable for solvent coarse graining.

13 CFR 107.840 - Maximum term of Financing.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Maximum term of Financing. 107.840... COMPANIES Financing of Small Businesses by Licensees Structuring Licensee's Financing of An Eligible Small Business: Terms and Conditions of Financing § 107.840 Maximum term of Financing. The maximum term of any...

Some observations on use of siliceous mineral waters in reduction of corrosion in RCC structures

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Venugopal, C.

to cement varied between 0 and 20% with difference of every 5% results of the test show that the blending of gold tailing and flyash to cement significantly improves the corrosion resistance performance of concrete exposed to sea water. Maximum reduction...

Reduction of Total Ownership Costs (R-TOC) Best Practices Guide

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Reed, Danny

2003-01-01

The purpose of the Reduction of Total Ownership Costs (R-TOC) program is to achieve readiness improvements in weapon systems by improving the reliability of the systems or the efficiency of the processes used to support...

Intelligent approach to maximum power point tracking control strategy for variable-speed wind turbine generation system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lin, Whei-Min; Hong, Chih-Ming [Department of Electrical Engineering, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung 80424 (China)

2010-06-15

To achieve maximum power point tracking (MPPT) for wind power generation systems, the rotational speed of wind turbines should be adjusted in real time according to wind speed. In this paper, a Wilcoxon radial basis function network (WRBFN) with hill-climb searching (HCS) MPPT strategy is proposed for a permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) with a variable-speed wind turbine. A high-performance online training WRBFN using a back-propagation learning algorithm with modified particle swarm optimization (MPSO) regulating controller is designed for a PMSG. The MPSO is adopted in this study to adapt to the learning rates in the back-propagation process of the WRBFN to improve the learning capability. The MPPT strategy locates the system operation points along the maximum power curves based on the dc-link voltage of the inverter, thus avoiding the generator speed detection. (author)

20 CFR 226.52 - Total annuity subject to maximum.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Total annuity subject to maximum. 226.52... COMPUTING EMPLOYEE, SPOUSE, AND DIVORCED SPOUSE ANNUITIES Railroad Retirement Family Maximum § 226.52 Total annuity subject to maximum. The total annuity amount which is compared to the maximum monthly amount to...

The reduction of retinal autofluorescence caused by light exposure.

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan, Jessica I W; Hunter, Jennifer J; Merigan, William H; Williams, David R

2009-12-01

A prior study showed that long exposure to 568-nm light at levels below the maximum permissible exposure safety limit produces retinal damage preceded by a transient reduction in the autofluorescence of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells in vivo. The present study shows how the effects of exposure power and duration combine to produce this autofluorescence reduction and find the minimum exposure causing a detectable autofluorescence reduction. Macaque retinas were imaged using a fluorescence adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscope to resolve individual RPE cells in vivo. The retina was exposed to 568-nm light over a square subtending 0.5 degrees with energies ranging from 1 to 788 J/cm(2), where power and duration were independently varied. In vivo exposures of 5 J/cm(2) and higher caused an immediate decrease in autofluorescence followed by either full autofluorescence recovery (exposures or= 247 J/cm(2)). No significant autofluorescence reduction was observed for exposures of 2 J/cm(2) and lower. Reciprocity of exposure power and duration held for the exposures tested, implying that the total energy delivered to the retina, rather than its distribution in time, determines the amount of autofluorescence reduction. That reciprocity held is consistent with a photochemical origin, which may or may not cause retinal degeneration. The implementation of safe methods for delivering light to the retina requires a better understanding of the mechanism causing autofluorescence reduction. Finally, RPE imaging was demonstrated using light levels that do not cause a detectable reduction in autofluorescence.

Netherlands Government decides on additional measures to achieve target

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Merkus, H.; Dijk, D. van

1996-01-01

The Government of the Netherlands recently informed Parliament about a set of additional measured aimed at achieving the Netherlands' climate targets, set in the Second National Environmental Policy Plan of December 1993. These additional measures should be a further guarantee that 3% reduction in CO 2 emissions will be achieved in 2000 compared to 1990 levels. Energy saving in offices and small companies will be further encouraged. Furthermore, two coal-fired power stations will switch fuels to 10% wood. At present the Netherlands has an installed capacity of about 14,000 MW, about one third of which is coal fired. The Netherlands emission inventory will now be created according to the IPCC methodology, except for temperature correction. 3 tabs

A Single Phase Doubly Grounded Semi-Z-Source Inverter for Photovoltaic (PV Systems with Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tofael Ahmed

2014-06-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a single phase doubly grounded semi-Z-source inverter with maximum power point tracking (MPPT is proposed for photovoltaic (PV systems. This proposed system utilizes a single-ended primary inductor (SEPIC converter as DC-DC converter to implement the MPPT algorithm for tracking the maximum power from a PV array and a single phase semi-Z-source inverter for integrating the PV with AC power utilities. The MPPT controller utilizes a fast-converging algorithm to track the maximum power point (MPP and the semi-Z-source inverter utilizes a nonlinear SPWM to produce sinusoidal voltage at the output. The proposed system is able to track the MPP of PV arrays and produce an AC voltage at its output by utilizing only three switches. Experimental results show that the fast-converging MPPT algorithm has fast tracking response with appreciable MPP efficiency. In addition, the inverter shows the minimization of common mode leakage current with its ground sharing feature and reduction of the THD as well as DC current components at the output during DC-AC conversion.

Maximum likely scale estimation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Loog, Marco; Pedersen, Kim Steenstrup; Markussen, Bo

2005-01-01

A maximum likelihood local scale estimation principle is presented. An actual implementation of the estimation principle uses second order moments of multiple measurements at a fixed location in the image. These measurements consist of Gaussian derivatives possibly taken at several scales and/or ...

Neural Network Based Maximum Power Point Tracking Control with Quadratic Boost Converter for PMSG—Wind Energy Conversion System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramji Tiwari

2018-02-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes an artificial neural network (ANN based maximum power point tracking (MPPT control strategy for wind energy conversion system (WECS implemented with a DC/DC converter. The proposed topology utilizes a radial basis function network (RBFN based neural network control strategy to extract the maximum available power from the wind velocity. The results are compared with a classical Perturb and Observe (P&O method and Back propagation network (BPN method. In order to achieve a high voltage rating, the system is implemented with a quadratic boost converter and the performance of the converter is validated with a boost and single ended primary inductance converter (SEPIC. The performance of the MPPT technique along with a DC/DC converter is demonstrated using MATLAB/Simulink.

A core framework and scenario for deep GHG reductions at the city scale

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lazarus, Michael; Chandler, Chelsea; Erickson, Peter

2013-01-01

Trends in increasing urbanization, paired with a lack of ambitious action on larger scales, uniquely position cities to resume leadership roles in climate mitigation. While many cities have adopted ambitious long-term emission reduction goals, few have articulated how to reach them. This paper presents one of the first long-term scenarios of deep greenhouse gas abatement for a major U.S. city. Using a detailed, bottom-up scenario analysis, we investigate how Seattle might achieve its recently stated goal of carbon neutrality by the year 2050. The analysis demonstrates that a series of ambitious strategies could achieve per capita GHG reductions of 34% in 2020, and 91% in 2050 in Seattle's “core” emissions from the buildings, transportation, and waste sectors. We examine the pros and cons of options to get to, or beyond, net zero emissions in these sectors. We also discuss methodological innovations for community-scale emissions accounting frameworks, including a “core” emissions focus that excludes industrial activity and a consumption perspective that expands the emissions footprint and scope of policy solutions. As in Seattle, other communities may find the mitigation strategies and analytical approaches presented here are useful for crafting policies to achieve deep GHG-reduction goals. - Highlights: ► Cities can play a pivotal role in mitigating climate change. ► Strategies modeled achieve per-capita GHG reductions of 91% by 2050 in Seattle. ► We discuss methodological innovations in community-scale accounting frameworks. ► We weigh options for getting to, or beyond, zero GHG emissions. ► Other cities may adapt these measures and analytical approaches to curb emissions

Fumigant dosages below maximum label rate control some soilborne pathogens

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shachaf Triky-Dotan

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The activity of commercial soil fumigants on some key soilborne pathogens was assessed in sandy loam soil under controlled conditions. Seven soil fumigants that are registered in California or are being or have been considered for registration were used in this study: dimethyl disulfide (DMDS mixed with chloropicrin (Pic (79% DMDS and 21% Pic, Tri-Con (50% methyl bromide and 50% Pic, Midas Gold (33% methyl iodide [MI] and 67% Pic, Midas Bronze (50% MI and 50% Pic, Midas (MI, active ingredient [a.i.] 97.8%, Pic (a.i. 99% trichloronitromethane and Pic-Clor 60 (57% Pic and 37% 1,3-dichloropropene [1–3,D]. Dose-response models were calculated for pathogen mortality after 24 hours of exposure to fumigants. Overall, the tested fumigants achieved good efficacy with dosages below the maximum label rate against the tested pathogens. In this study, Pythium ultimum and citrus nematode were sensitive to all the fumigants and Verticillium dahliae was resistant. For most fumigants, California regulations restrict application rates to less than the maximum (federal label rate, meaning that it is possible that the fumigants may not control major plant pathogens. This research provides information on the effectiveness of these alternatives at these lower application rates. The results from this study will help growers optimize application rates for registered fumigants (such as Pic and 1,3-D and will help accelerate the adoption of new fumigants (such as DMDS if they are registered in California.

Maximum gravitational redshift of white dwarfs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shapiro, S.L.; Teukolsky, S.A.

1976-01-01

The stability of uniformly rotating, cold white dwarfs is examined in the framework of the Parametrized Post-Newtonian (PPN) formalism of Will and Nordtvedt. The maximum central density and gravitational redshift of a white dwarf are determined as functions of five of the nine PPN parameters (γ, β, zeta 2 , zeta 3 , and zeta 4 ), the total angular momentum J, and the composition of the star. General relativity predicts that the maximum redshifts is 571 km s -1 for nonrotating carbon and helium dwarfs, but is lower for stars composed of heavier nuclei. Uniform rotation can increase the maximum redshift to 647 km s -1 for carbon stars (the neutronization limit) and to 893 km s -1 for helium stars (the uniform rotation limit). The redshift distribution of a larger sample of white dwarfs may help determine the composition of their cores

Drag Reduction and Performance Improvement of Hydraulic Torque Converters with Multiple Biological Characteristics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liu Chunbao

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Fish-like, dolphin-like, and bionic nonsmooth surfaces were employed in a hydraulic torque converter to achieve drag reduction and performance improvement, which were aimed at reducing profile loss, impacting loss and friction loss, respectively. YJSW335, a twin turbine torque converter, was bionically designed delicately. The biological characteristics consisted of fish-like blades in all four wheels, dolphin-like structure in the first turbine and the stator, and nonsmooth surfaces in the pump. The prediction performance of bionic YJSW335, obtained by computational fluid dynamics simulation, was improved compared with that of the original model, and then it could be proved that drag reduction had been achieved. The mechanism accounting for drag reduction of three factors was also investigated. After bionic design, the torque ratio and the highest efficiencies of YJSW335 were both advanced, which were very difficult to achieve through traditional design method. Moreover, the highest efficiency of the low speed area and high speed area is 85.65% and 86.32%, respectively. By economic matching analysis of the original and bionic powertrains, the latter can significantly reduce the fuel consumption and improve the operating economy of the loader.

Reduction Behaviors of Carbon Composite Iron Oxide Briquette Under Oxidation Atmosphere

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Ki-Woo; Kim, Kang-Min; Kwon, Jae-Hong; Han, Jeong-Whan [Inha University, Incheon (Korea, Republic of); Son, Sang-Han [POSCO, Pohang (Korea, Republic of)

2017-01-15

The carbon composite iron oxide briquette (CCB) is considered a potential solution to the upcoming use of low grade iron resources in the ironmaking process. CCB is able to reduce raw material cost by enabling the use of low grade powdered iron ores and coal. Additionally, the fast reduction of iron oxides by direct contact with coal can be utilized. In this study, the reduction behaviors of CCB were investigated in the temperature range of 200-1200 ℃ under oxidizing atmosphere. Briquettes were prepared by mixing iron ore and coal in a weight ratio of 8:2. Then reduction experiments were carried out in a mixed gas atmosphere of N{sub 2}, O{sub 2}, and CO{sub 2}. Compressive strength tests and quantitative analysis were performed by taking samples at each target temperature. In addition, the reduction degree depending on the reaction time was evaluated by off-gas analysis during the reduction test. It was found that the compressive strength and the metallization degree of the reduced briquettes increased with increases in the reaction temperature and holding time. However, it tended to decrease when the re-oxidation phenomenon was caused by injected oxygen. The degree of reduction reached a maximum value in 26 minutes. Therefore, the re-oxidation phenomenon becomes dominant after 26 minutes.

Optimization Correction Strength Using Contra Bending Technique without Anterior Release Procedure to Achieve Maximum Correction on Severe Adult Idiopathic Scoliosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmad Jabir Rahyussalim

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Adult scoliosis is defined as a spinal deformity in a skeletally mature patient with a Cobb angle of more than 10 degrees in the coronal plain. Posterior-only approach with rod and screw corrective manipulation to add strength of contra bending manipulation has correction achievement similar to that obtained by conventional combined anterior release and posterior approach. It also avoids the complications related to the thoracic approach. We reported a case of 25-year-old male adult idiopathic scoliosis with double curve. It consists of main thoracic curve of 150 degrees and lumbar curve of 89 degrees. His curve underwent direct contra bending posterior approach using rod and screw corrective manipulation technique to achieve optimal correction. After surgery the main thoracic Cobb angle becomes 83 degrees and lumbar Cobb angle becomes 40 degrees, with 5 days length of stay and less than 800 mL blood loss during surgery. There is no complaint at two months after surgery; he has already come back to normal activity with good functional activity.

Revealing the Maximum Strength in Nanotwinned Copper

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lu, L.; Chen, X.; Huang, Xiaoxu

2009-01-01

boundary–related processes. We investigated the maximum strength of nanotwinned copper samples with different twin thicknesses. We found that the strength increases with decreasing twin thickness, reaching a maximum at 15 nanometers, followed by a softening at smaller values that is accompanied by enhanced...

49 CFR 195.406 - Maximum operating pressure.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Maximum operating pressure. 195.406 Section 195.406 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation (Continued) PIPELINE AND HAZARDOUS... HAZARDOUS LIQUIDS BY PIPELINE Operation and Maintenance § 195.406 Maximum operating pressure. (a) Except for...

Effect of Polymer Type and Mixing of Polymers on Drag Reduction in Turbulent Pipe Flow

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salam Hadi Hussein

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The paper reports on studies on effect of the type of polymer on drag reduction. The study conducted through circular pipe using Carboxy Methyl Cellulose (CMC, Xanthan gum (XG and their mixing in equal ratios as additives in pipe of diameter 0.0381m. The study covered range of parameters like concentration, mean velocity and angle of inclination of pipe. The maximum drag reduction observed was about 58%, 46% and 46% for the three polymers respectively. It is found that the drag reduction for the mixture is close to the drag reduction for XG polymer. The SPSS program has been used for correlate the data that have been obtained. The drag reduction percentage is correlated in terms of Reynolds number Re, additive concentration C (ppm and angle of inclination of pipe (deg, and the relations obtained is mentioned.

Determination of kinetic coefficients for the simultaneous reduction of sulfate and uranium by Desulfovibrio desulfuricans bacteria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tucker, M.D.

1995-05-01

Uranium contamination of groundwaters and surface waters near abandoned mill tailings piles is a serious concern in many areas of the western United States. Uranium usually exists in either the U(IV) or the U(VI) oxidation state. U(VI) is soluble in water and, as a result, is very mobile in the environment. U(IV), however, is generally insoluble in water and, therefore, is not subject to aqueous transport. In recent years, researchers have discovered that certain anaerobic microorganisms, such as the sulfate-reducing bacteria Desulfovibrio desulfuricans, can mediate the reduction of U(VI) to U(IV). Although the ability of this microorganism to reduce U(VI) has been studied in some detail by previous researchers, the kinetics of the reactions have not been characterized. The purpose of this research was to perform kinetic studies on Desulfovibrio desulficans bacteria during simultaneous reduction of sulfate and uranium and to determine the phase in which uranium exists after it has been reduced and precipitated from solution. The studies were conducted in a laboratory-scale chemostat under substrate-limited growth conditions with pyruvate as the substrate. Kinetic coefficients for substrate utilization and cell growth were calculated using the Monod equation. The maximum rate of substrate utilization (k) was determined to be 4.70 days -1 while the half-velocity constant (K s ) was 140 mg/l COD. The yield coefficient (Y) was determined to be 0.17 mg cells/mg COD while the endogenous decay coefficient (k d ) was calculated as 0.072 days -1 . After reduction, U(IV) Precipitated from solution in the uraninite (UO 2 ) phase. Uranium removal efficiency as high as 90% was achieved in the chemostat

Proton Fluxes Measured by the PAMELA Experiment from the Minimum to the Maximum Solar Activity for Solar Cycle 24

Science.gov (United States)

Martucci, M.; Munini, R.; Boezio, M.; Di Felice, V.; Adriani, O.; Barbarino, G. C.; Bazilevskaya, G. A.; Bellotti, R.; Bongi, M.; Bonvicini, V.; Bottai, S.; Bruno, A.; Cafagna, F.; Campana, D.; Carlson, P.; Casolino, M.; Castellini, G.; De Santis, C.; Galper, A. M.; Karelin, A. V.; Koldashov, S. V.; Koldobskiy, S.; Krutkov, S. Y.; Kvashnin, A. N.; Leonov, A.; Malakhov, V.; Marcelli, L.; Marcelli, N.; Mayorov, A. G.; Menn, W.; Mergè, M.; Mikhailov, V. V.; Mocchiutti, E.; Monaco, A.; Mori, N.; Osteria, G.; Panico, B.; Papini, P.; Pearce, M.; Picozza, P.; Ricci, M.; Ricciarini, S. B.; Simon, M.; Sparvoli, R.; Spillantini, P.; Stozhkov, Y. I.; Vacchi, A.; Vannuccini, E.; Vasilyev, G.; Voronov, S. A.; Yurkin, Y. T.; Zampa, G.; Zampa, N.; Potgieter, M. S.; Raath, J. L.

2018-02-01

Precise measurements of the time-dependent intensity of the low-energy (solar activity periods, i.e., from minimum to maximum, are needed to achieve comprehensive understanding of such physical phenomena. The minimum phase between solar cycles 23 and 24 was peculiarly long, extending up to the beginning of 2010 and followed by the maximum phase, reached during early 2014. In this Letter, we present proton differential spectra measured from 2010 January to 2014 February by the PAMELA experiment. For the first time the GCR proton intensity was studied over a wide energy range (0.08–50 GeV) by a single apparatus from a minimum to a maximum period of solar activity. The large statistics allowed the time variation to be investigated on a nearly monthly basis. Data were compared and interpreted in the context of a state-of-the-art three-dimensional model describing the GCRs propagation through the heliosphere.

Gas pressure reduction and regulation plants: Acoustic impact

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferrero, G.; Torello, P.

1992-01-01

The paper analyses the impacts of the Italian Decree of 1st March, 1991, regarding 'Maximum limits of sound exposition in premises and outside environment' on gas distribution companies. In particular it deals with how Italgas, concerning gas reduction and regulation plants, has done its best to meet some provisions of this decree. In particular, the following subjects are dealt with: intervention time, reclamation plans, measurements, destination classes of territory, estimates of environmental impact, etc. Finally, an example of a structural intervention for the reclamation of an existing plant is given

Reduction in arterial wall strain with aggressive lipid-lowering therapy in patients with carotid artery disease

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Zhi Yong; Tang, T.Y.; Gillard, J.H.; Jiang Fan; Zhang Yun

2011-01-01

Inflammation and biomechanical factors have been associated with the development of vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques. Lipid-lowering therapy has been shown to be effective in stabilizing them by reducing plaque inflammation. Its effect on arterial wall strain, however, remains unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of high- and low-dose lipid-lowering therapy using an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor, atorvastatin, on arterial wall strain. Forty patients with carotid stenosis >40% were successfully followed up during the Atorvastatin Therapy: Effects on Reduction Of Macrophage Activity (ATHEROMA; ISRCTN64894118) Trial. All patients had plaque inflammation as shown by intraplaque accumulation of ultrasmall super paramagnetic particles of iron oxide on magnetic resonance imaging at baseline. Structural analysis was performed and change of strain was compared between high- and low-dose statin at 0 and 12 weeks. There was no significant difference in strain between the 2 groups at baseline (P=0.6). At 12 weeks, the maximum strain was significantly lower in the 80-mg group than in the 10-mg group (0.085±0.033 vs. 0.169±0.084; P=0.001). A significant reduction (26%) of maximum strain was observed in the 80-mg group at 12 weeks (0.018±0.02; P=0.01). Aggressive lipid-lowering therapy is associated with a significant reduction in arterial wall strain. The reduction in biomechanical strain may be associated with reductions in plaque inflammatory burden. (author)

Reduction in arterial wall strain with aggressive lipid-lowering therapy in patients with carotid artery disease

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yong, Li Zhi [School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast Univ., Nanjing (China); Tang, T Y; Gillard, J H [School of Clinical Medicine, Univ. of Cambridge, Cambridge (United Kingdom); Fan, Jiang; Yun, Zhang [Qilu Hospital, Shandong Univ., Jinan (China)

2011-05-15

Inflammation and biomechanical factors have been associated with the development of vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques. Lipid-lowering therapy has been shown to be effective in stabilizing them by reducing plaque inflammation. Its effect on arterial wall strain, however, remains unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of high- and low-dose lipid-lowering therapy using an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor, atorvastatin, on arterial wall strain. Forty patients with carotid stenosis >40% were successfully followed up during the Atorvastatin Therapy: Effects on Reduction Of Macrophage Activity (ATHEROMA; ISRCTN64894118) Trial. All patients had plaque inflammation as shown by intraplaque accumulation of ultrasmall super paramagnetic particles of iron oxide on magnetic resonance imaging at baseline. Structural analysis was performed and change of strain was compared between high- and low-dose statin at 0 and 12 weeks. There was no significant difference in strain between the 2 groups at baseline (P=0.6). At 12 weeks, the maximum strain was significantly lower in the 80-mg group than in the 10-mg group (0.085{+-}0.033 vs. 0.169{+-}0.084; P=0.001). A significant reduction (26%) of maximum strain was observed in the 80-mg group at 12 weeks (0.018{+-}0.02; P=0.01). Aggressive lipid-lowering therapy is associated with a significant reduction in arterial wall strain. The reduction in biomechanical strain may be associated with reductions in plaque inflammatory burden. (author)

Practical methods of dose reduction to the bladder wall

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, E.M.; Warner, G.G.

1976-01-01

The radiation dose to the bladder wall following the administration of radionuclides to patients can be reduced by a factor between 25 percent and 75 percent when the effective half-life for the radioactivity entering the urine is two hours or less. A significant but smaller reduction in dose to the gonads may also be achieved in situations where the major fraction of the administered activity is rapidly excreted in the urine. This reduction in dose is achieved by ensuring that the patient has between 50 and 150 ml of urine in his bladder when the radioactivity is injected, and is encouraged to void between one and two hours after the activity has been administered. The interrelationship of voiding schedule, effective half-life, initial urine volume, and demand urination has been analyzed in these studies. In addition, the significance of the rate of urine production and volume of urine in the bladder on the radiation dose to the bladder is demonstrated

Monte Carlo variance reduction approaches for non-Boltzmann tallies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Booth, T.E.

1992-12-01

Quantities that depend on the collective effects of groups of particles cannot be obtained from the standard Boltzmann transport equation. Monte Carlo estimates of these quantities are called non-Boltzmann tallies and have become increasingly important recently. Standard Monte Carlo variance reduction techniques were designed for tallies based on individual particles rather than groups of particles. Experience with non-Boltzmann tallies and analog Monte Carlo has demonstrated the severe limitations of analog Monte Carlo for many non-Boltzmann tallies. In fact, many calculations absolutely require variance reduction methods to achieve practical computation times. Three different approaches to variance reduction for non-Boltzmann tallies are described and shown to be unbiased. The advantages and disadvantages of each of the approaches are discussed

Maximum spectral demands in the near-fault region

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Yin-Nan; Whittaker, Andrew S.; Luco, Nicolas

2008-01-01

The Next Generation Attenuation (NGA) relationships for shallow crustal earthquakes in the western United States predict a rotated geometric mean of horizontal spectral demand, termed GMRotI50, and not maximum spectral demand. Differences between strike-normal, strike-parallel, geometric-mean, and maximum spectral demands in the near-fault region are investigated using 147 pairs of records selected from the NGA strong motion database. The selected records are for earthquakes with moment magnitude greater than 6.5 and for closest site-to-fault distance less than 15 km. Ratios of maximum spectral demand to NGA-predicted GMRotI50 for each pair of ground motions are presented. The ratio shows a clear dependence on period and the Somerville directivity parameters. Maximum demands can substantially exceed NGA-predicted GMRotI50 demands in the near-fault region, which has significant implications for seismic design, seismic performance assessment, and the next-generation seismic design maps. Strike-normal spectral demands are a significantly unconservative surrogate for maximum spectral demands for closest distance greater than 3 to 5 km. Scale factors that transform NGA-predicted GMRotI50 to a maximum spectral demand in the near-fault region are proposed.

Determination of kinetic coefficients for the reduction and removal of uranium from water by the Desulfovibrio desulfuricans bacteria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tucker, M.D.; Barton, L.L.; Thomson, B.M.

1996-01-01

Uranium contamination of groundwater and surface water from abandoned uranium mill tailings piles is a serious concern in many areas of the western United States. U(VI) is soluble in water and, as a result, is relatively mobile in the environment. U(IV), however, is generally insoluble in water and, therefore, is not subject to aqueous transport. In recent years, researchers have discovered that certain microorganisms, such as the sulfate-reducing bacteria Desuffiovibrio desulfricans, can mediate the reduction of U(VI) to U(IV) by anaerobic respiration. Although the ability of this microorganism to reduce U(VI) has been studied in some detail by previous researchers, the kinetics of the reaction have not been characterized. The purpose of this research was to perform kinetic studies on Desuffiovibrio desulfricans during simultaneous reduction of sulfate and uranium and to determine the mineral phase of uranium after it has been reduced. The studies were conducted in a laboratory-scale chemostat under substrate-limited growth conditions with pyruvate as the substrate. The maximum rate of substrate utilization (k) was determined to be 4.70 days -1 while the half-velocity constant (Ks) was 140 mg CODA. The yield coefficient (Y) was determined to be 0. 17 mg cells/mg COD while the endogenous decay coefficient (kd) was found to be 0.072 days -1 . After reduction, U(IV) precipitated from solution in the uraninite (UO 2 ) phase as predicted by thermodynamics. Uranium removal efficiency as high as 90% was achieved in the chemostat

Drag reduction in channel flow using nonlinear control

Science.gov (United States)

Keefe, Laurence R.

1993-01-01

Two nonlinear control schemes have been applied to the problem of drag reduction in channel flow. Both schemes have been tested using numerical simulations at a mass flux Reynolds numbers of 4408, utilizing 2D nonlinear neutral modes for goal dynamics. The OGY-method, which requires feedback, reduces drag to 60-80 percent of the turbulent value at the same Reynolds number, and employs forcing only within a thin region near the wall. The H-method, or model-based control, fails to achieve any drag reduction when starting from a fully turbulent initial condition, but shows potential for suppressing or retarding laminar-to-turbulent transition by imposing instead a transition to a low drag, nonlinear traveling wave solution to the Navier-Stokes equation. The drag in this state corresponds to that achieved by the OGY-method. Model-based control requires no feedback, but in experiments to date has required the forcing be imposed within a thicker layer than the OGY-method. Control energy expenditures in both methods are small, representing less than 0.1 percent of the uncontrolled flow's energy.

Maximum Likelihood PSD Estimation for Speech Enhancement in Reverberation and Noise

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kuklasinski, Adam; Doclo, Simon; Jensen, Søren Holdt

2016-01-01

In this contribution we focus on the problem of power spectral density (PSD) estimation from multiple microphone signals in reverberant and noisy environments. The PSD estimation method proposed in this paper is based on the maximum likelihood (ML) methodology. In particular, we derive a novel ML...... instrumental measures and is shown to be higher than when the competing estimator is used. Moreover, we perform a speech intelligibility test where we demonstrate that both the proposed and the competing PSD estimators lead to similar intelligibility improvements......., it is shown numerically that the mean squared estimation error achieved by the proposed method is near the limit set by the corresponding Cram´er-Rao lower bound. The speech dereverberation performance of a multi-channel Wiener filter (MWF) based on the proposed PSD estimators is measured using several...

Early conduct problems, school achievement and later crime: findings from a 30-year longitudinal study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jakobsen, Ida Skytte; Fergusson, David; Horwood, John L.

2012-01-01

This study used dato from a 30-year longitudinal study to esamine the associations between early conduct problems, school achievement and later crime. The analysis showed that, even following extensive adjustment for confounding, both early conduct problems and later educational achievement made...... experimental research is required to ascertain the extent that: a) the educational achievement of young people with early-onset conduct problems can be improved; and b) the extent to which any such improvements translate into reductions in subsequent antisocial behviour....

Robust Maximum Association Estimators

NARCIS (Netherlands)

A. Alfons (Andreas); C. Croux (Christophe); P. Filzmoser (Peter)

2017-01-01

textabstractThe maximum association between two multivariate variables X and Y is defined as the maximal value that a bivariate association measure between one-dimensional projections αX and αY can attain. Taking the Pearson correlation as projection index results in the first canonical correlation

Waste reduction possibilities for manufacturing systems in the industry 4.0

Science.gov (United States)

Tamás, P.; Illés, B.; Dobos, P.

2016-11-01

The industry 4.0 creates some new possibilities for the manufacturing companies’ waste reduction for example by appearance of the cyber physical systems and the big data concept and spreading the „Internet of things (IoT)”. This paper presents in details the fourth industrial revolutions’ more important achievements and tools. In addition there will be also numerous new research directions in connection with the waste reduction possibilities of the manufacturing systems outlined.

Asymmetric Reduction of tert-Butanesulfinyl Ketimines by N-Heterocyclic Carbene Boranes.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Tao; Chen, Ling-yan; Sun, Zhihua

2015-11-20

N-heterocyclic carbene borane (NHC-borane) based on a triazole core is demonstrated for the first time to be efficient for reduction of a variety of tert-butanesulfinyl ketimines. Up to 95% yield and up to >99% diastereomeric excess were achieved. NHC-borane exhibited excellent activities that are more efficient than or comparable to commonly used reductive reagents such as NaBH4, NaBH3CN, l-selectride, Ru catalyst, or BH3-THF.

Novel strategies in glioblastoma surgery aim at safe, supra-maximum resection in conjunction with local therapies.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolbers, John G

2014-01-01

The biggest challenge in neuro-oncology is the treatment of glioblastoma, which exhibits poor prognosis and is increasing in incidence in an increasing aging population. Diverse treatment strategies aim at maximum cytoreduction and ensuring good quality of life. We discuss multimodal neuronavigation, supra-maximum tumor resection, and the postoperative treatment gap. Multimodal neuronavigation allows the integration of preoperative anatomic and functional data with intraoperative information. This approach includes functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion tensor imaging in preplanning and ultrasound, computed tomography (CT), MRI and direct (sub)cortical stimulation during surgery. The practice of awake craniotomy decreases postoperative neurologic deficits, and an extensive supra-maximum resection appears to be feasible, even in eloquent areas of the brain. Intraoperative MRI- and fluorescence-guided surgery assist in achieving this goal of supra-maximum resection and have been the subject of an increasing number of reports. Photodynamic therapy and local chemotherapy are properly positioned to bridge the gap between surgery and chemoradiotherapy. The photosensitizer used in fluorescence-guided surgery persists in the remaining peripheral tumor extensions. Additionally, blinded randomized clinical trials showed firm evidence of extra cytoreduction by local chemotherapy in the tumor cavity. The cutting-edge promise is gene therapy although both the delivery and efficacy of the numerous transgenes remain under investigation. Issues such as the choice of (cell) vector, the choice of therapeutic transgene, the optimal route of administration, and biosafety need to be addressed in a systematic way. In this selective review, we present various evidence and promises to improve survival of glioblastoma patients by supra-maximum cytoreduction via local procedures while minimizing the risk of new neurologic deficit.

Neural Modeling of Fuzzy Controllers for Maximum Power Point Tracking in Photovoltaic Energy Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Lopez-Guede, Jose Manuel; Ramos-Hernanz, Josean; Altın, Necmi; Ozdemir, Saban; Kurt, Erol; Azkune, Gorka

2018-06-01

One field in which electronic materials have an important role is energy generation, especially within the scope of photovoltaic energy. This paper deals with one of the most relevant enabling technologies within that scope, i.e, the algorithms for maximum power point tracking implemented in the direct current to direct current converters and its modeling through artificial neural networks (ANNs). More specifically, as a proof of concept, we have addressed the problem of modeling a fuzzy logic controller that has shown its performance in previous works, and more specifically the dimensionless duty cycle signal that controls a quadratic boost converter. We achieved a very accurate model since the obtained medium squared error is 3.47 × 10-6, the maximum error is 16.32 × 10-3 and the regression coefficient R is 0.99992, all for the test dataset. This neural implementation has obvious advantages such as a higher fault tolerance and a simpler implementation, dispensing with all the complex elements needed to run a fuzzy controller (fuzzifier, defuzzifier, inference engine and knowledge base) because, ultimately, ANNs are sums and products.

Maximum-Likelihood Detection Of Noncoherent CPM

Science.gov (United States)

Divsalar, Dariush; Simon, Marvin K.

1993-01-01

Simplified detectors proposed for use in maximum-likelihood-sequence detection of symbols in alphabet of size M transmitted by uncoded, full-response continuous phase modulation over radio channel with additive white Gaussian noise. Structures of receivers derived from particular interpretation of maximum-likelihood metrics. Receivers include front ends, structures of which depends only on M, analogous to those in receivers of coherent CPM. Parts of receivers following front ends have structures, complexity of which would depend on N.

FEL small signal gain reduction due to phase error of undulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jia Qika

2002-01-01

The effects of undulator phase errors on the Free Electron Laser small signal gain is analyzed and discussed. The gain reduction factor due to the phase error is given analytically for low-gain regimes, it shows that degradation of the gain is similar to that of the spontaneous radiation, has a simple exponential relation with square of the rms phase error, and the linear variation part of phase error induces the position shift of maximum gain. The result also shows that the Madey's theorem still hold in the presence of phase error. The gain reduction factor due to the phase error for high-gain regimes also can be given in a simple way

High precision NC lathe feeding system rigid-flexible coupling model reduction technology

Science.gov (United States)

Xuan, He; Hua, Qingsong; Cheng, Lianjun; Zhang, Hongxin; Zhao, Qinghai; Mao, Xinkai

2017-08-01

This paper proposes the use of dynamic substructure method of reduction of order to achieve effective reduction of feed system for high precision NC lathe feeding system rigid-flexible coupling model, namely the use of ADAMS to establish the rigid flexible coupling simulation model of high precision NC lathe, and then the vibration simulation of the period by using the FD 3D damper is very effective for feed system of bolt connection reduction of multi degree of freedom model. The vibration simulation calculation is more accurate, more quickly.

Thermal neutron measurement using the instrumented test bundle and assessment of maximum linear power in HANARO

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, C. S.; Seo, C. K.; Lee, B. C.; Kim, H. N.; Kang, B. W. [KAERI, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

2000-10-01

The HANARO fuel, U{sub 3}Si-Al, has been developed by AECL and tested in NRU reactor. Due to the lack of the data performed under the high power, the repetitive conduct of the irradiation test was required under the power greater than 108kW/m, which is the estimated maximum linear power in the design stage. Accordingly, the instrumented test bundle with SPND(Self Powered Neutron Detector) was fabricated and its irradiation test was performed in IR2 of HANARO. The measured thermal neutron flux with SPND is compared with calculation results by HANAFMS(HANARO Fuel Management System). The difference in the measured and calculated thermal flux values are below {+-}11% and the accuracy of the linear power predicted by HANAFMS is consequently accompanied. Therefore, it is believed that the maximum linear power above 120kW/m is achieved during the irradiation test of the test bundle.

Quality problems root cause identification and variability reduction in casting processes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Furgał

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Increasing customer requirements and production costs force casting manufacturers to adopt a methodological approach to manufacturingprocesses, in order to deliver increasingly more repeatable, predictable and competitive products. One of the methods of achieving such results is the reduction of variability of manufacturing processes and the optimization of their control. This paper presents the possibilities granted by the Six Sigma methodology in efficient identification of special factors influencing pre-heat of ceramic moulds and castingparameters, in the minimization of the frequency at which they occur, and in the reduction of key process parameters variability. This paper also shows the usability of the method in achieving measurable business advantages for the company using the example of one DMAIC methodology based project realized in the Investment Foundry Department of WSK “PZL-Rzeszow” S.A.

Adaptive EMG noise reduction in ECG signals using noise level approximation

Science.gov (United States)

Marouf, Mohamed; Saranovac, Lazar

2017-12-01

In this paper the usage of noise level approximation for adaptive Electromyogram (EMG) noise reduction in the Electrocardiogram (ECG) signals is introduced. To achieve the adequate adaptiveness, a translation-invariant noise level approximation is employed. The approximation is done in the form of a guiding signal extracted as an estimation of the signal quality vs. EMG noise. The noise reduction framework is based on a bank of low pass filters. So, the adaptive noise reduction is achieved by selecting the appropriate filter with respect to the guiding signal aiming to obtain the best trade-off between the signal distortion caused by filtering and the signal readability. For the evaluation purposes; both real EMG and artificial noises are used. The tested ECG signals are from the MIT-BIH Arrhythmia Database Directory, while both real and artificial records of EMG noise are added and used in the evaluation process. Firstly, comparison with state of the art methods is conducted to verify the performance of the proposed approach in terms of noise cancellation while preserving the QRS complex waves. Additionally, the signal to noise ratio improvement after the adaptive noise reduction is computed and presented for the proposed method. Finally, the impact of adaptive noise reduction method on QRS complexes detection was studied. The tested signals are delineated using a state of the art method, and the QRS detection improvement for different SNR is presented.

Emission Reduction Potential with the Renewal of the Vehicle Fleet in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zidov, B.; Brlek, G.; Brajkovic, J.; Karan, M.

2015-01-01

The European Union has identified the typical areas of application of measures to tackle the problem of pollutants emissions into the air. Road transport is recognized as the largest polluter of the environment and an increase in CO2 emissions is most difficult to suppress in this type of transport. Looking at the projected trend of emission reductions in Croatia, it is clear that for achieving the minimum targets by 2050, as proposed by the European Union, implementation of the very strong measures in the coming period will be inevitable. The main aim of the paper refers to the analysis of potential emission reduction of pollutants generated by passenger vehicles registered in Croatia, assuming the implementation of measures that will result in technological renewal of the fleet at the national level. Generally considering, passenger cars before the Euro 1 standard, Euro 1 and Euro 2 standards together emit nearly 40 percent of all CO2 emissions generated by passenger cars registered in Croatia. Assuming replacement of all cars up to and including Euro 2, with Euro 6 vehicles, and taking into account certain assumptions, the potential reductions in emissions of NOx, CO, CH4 and particles were quantified. The potential reduction in NOx emissions is approximately 3,061 tons, in CO emissions approximately 14482 tons, in CH4 approximately 114 tons and in particulate matter approximately 257 tons. Depending on the engine size, with the replacement of the typical gasoline 20 years old passenger vehicle with the new one, without changing the driving mode, annual savings of up to 209 liters of gasoline fuel and reduction of CO2 emissions by 475 kg could be achieved (according to the assumptions described in the paper). With the replacement of diesel vehicles under the same conditions, the savings of up to 311 liters of diesel fuel annually and reduction of CO2 emissions by 815 kg could be achieved. (author).

A "Carbon Reduction Challenge" as tool for undergraduate engagement on climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Cobb, K. M.; Toktay, B.

2017-12-01

Institutions of higher education must meet the challenges of educating the generation that must make significant progress towards stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gases. However, the interdisciplinary nature of the climate change problem, and the fact that solutions will necessarily involve manipulating natural systems, advancing energy technologies, and developing innovative policy instruments means that traditional disciplinary tracks are not well-suited for the task. Furthermore, institutions must not only equip students with fundamental knowledge about climate and energy, but they must empower a generation of students to become part of the climate change solution. Here we present the cumulative results of the `Carbon Reduction Challenge' - a team-based competition to reduce CO2 that is conducted in an interdisciplinary undergraduate class called "Energy, the Environment, and Society" at Georgia Institute of Technology. Working with 30 undergraduate students from all years and all majors, we demonstrate how student teams move through a highly-structured timeline of deliverables towards achieving their team's end-of-semester goals. We discuss the importance of student creativity, ingenuity, initiative, and perseverance in achieving project outcomes, which in 2017 topped 5 million pounds of CO2 reductions - the all-time record for the class. Student-driven reductions on a year-to-year basis track an exponential growth curve through time. Based on the success of a pilot Carbon Reduction Challenge conducted in the summer of 2017, we present evidence that student-led partnerships with large corporations represents the area of largest potential for student success. Such partnerships deliver significant value added to students (professional conduct, on-the-job training, networking), the corporate partner (cost savings, talent recruitment, and public relations), and to the higher education institution (corporate relations contacts). In summary, the Carbon Reduction

Selective catalytic reduction of NO{sub x} by olefins

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Radtke, F

1997-12-31

The removal of nitrogen oxides from the exhaust of lean-burn gasoline fuelled and diesel-fuelled engines, operating under net oxidizing conditions, has recently attracted considerable attention. In this work, three different catalytic systems (Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}, Cu/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} and Cu/ZSM-5) are investigated for their suitability as catalysts for the selective reduction of nitrogen oxides by hydrocarbons in excess oxygen. Special emphasis is given to the formation of potentially harmful byproducts such as hydrogen cyanide (HCN), cyanic acid (HNCO), ammonia (NH{sub 3}) and nitrous oxide (N{sub 2}O). The effect of reaction temperature, nitrogen oxide (NO, NO{sub 2}), hydrocarbon (ethene, propene) and water on activity and the formation of byproducts is investigated. In situ FTIR spectroscopy and temperature-programmed surface reactions (TPSR) of absorbed species in different atmospheres were used to investigate the nature and reactivity of adsorbates formed under reaction conditions. The catalytic activity was strongly influenced by the presence of water in the feed. The effects of the other parameters were suppressed and the performance generally decreased, except when propene was used for the reduction of NO{sub x} over Cu/ZSM-5. Over Cu/ZSM-5 clearly higher conversion was obtained, when ethene was used as reducing agent, while there was no significant difference when starting from NO or NO{sub 2}. In contrast, with {gamma}-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} NO{sub 2} was reduced more efficiently than NO with both reductants. The impregnation of {gamma}-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} with copper led to an extensive loss of this performance. For dry feeds and with increasing CuO loading, the catalysts reached maximum activity at lower temperature and the maximum yield of nitrogen slightly decreased. (author) figs., tabs., refs.

Maximum Entropy Fundamentals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Topsøe

2001-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract: In its modern formulation, the Maximum Entropy Principle was promoted by E.T. Jaynes, starting in the mid-fifties. The principle dictates that one should look for a distribution, consistent with available information, which maximizes the entropy. However, this principle focuses only on distributions and it appears advantageous to bring information theoretical thinking more prominently into play by also focusing on the "observer" and on coding. This view was brought forward by the second named author in the late seventies and is the view we will follow-up on here. It leads to the consideration of a certain game, the Code Length Game and, via standard game theoretical thinking, to a principle of Game Theoretical Equilibrium. This principle is more basic than the Maximum Entropy Principle in the sense that the search for one type of optimal strategies in the Code Length Game translates directly into the search for distributions with maximum entropy. In the present paper we offer a self-contained and comprehensive treatment of fundamentals of both principles mentioned, based on a study of the Code Length Game. Though new concepts and results are presented, the reading should be instructional and accessible to a rather wide audience, at least if certain mathematical details are left aside at a rst reading. The most frequently studied instance of entropy maximization pertains to the Mean Energy Model which involves a moment constraint related to a given function, here taken to represent "energy". This type of application is very well known from the literature with hundreds of applications pertaining to several different elds and will also here serve as important illustration of the theory. But our approach reaches further, especially regarding the study of continuity properties of the entropy function, and this leads to new results which allow a discussion of models with so-called entropy loss. These results have tempted us to speculate over

Reduction of Fe and Ni in Fe-Ni-O systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhang Y.

2013-01-01

Full Text Available A Cu-Co ore from Katinga Province, the Republic of Congo containing 1.5% Co and 1.6% Cu was tested to determine the leachability of Cu and Co using sulphuric acid and hydrogen peroxide mixtures at different conditions. Without hydrogen peroxide, the maximum extraction of copper and cobalt were found to be ~80% and ~15%, respectively when the acid concentration was varied between 0.36 - 1.1M. When hydrogen peroxide was added (0.008-0.042M, Cu recovery was enhanced to ~90%. Recoveries of ~90% of Co could be achieved at 20ºC, using leachants consisting of 0.36M sulphuric acid and 0.025M hydrogen peroxide after 3 hours. The reaction time to reach 90% Co extraction was reduced to less than 2 hours at 30ºC. Stabcal modelling of the Eh-pH diagrams shows the importance of hydrogen peroxide as a reductant. The decrease of solution potential (300-350 mV by adding hydrogen peroxide was confirmed by Eh measurements during the tests. The leaching follows the shrinking core model kinetics, where the rate constant is linearly dependent on hydrogen peroxide concentration in the range 0-0.025M and proportional to (1/r2 where r is the average radius of the mineral particles. The activation energy for the leaching process is 72.3 kJ/mol.

U.S. Virgin Islands Transportation Petroleum Reduction Plan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Johnson, C.

2011-09-01

This NREL technical report determines a way for USVI to meet its petroleum reduction goal in the transportation sector. It does so first by estimating current petroleum use and key statistics and characteristics of USVI transportation. It then breaks the goal down into subordinate goals and estimates the petroleum impacts of these goals with a wedge analysis. These goals focus on reducing vehicle miles, improving fuel economy, improving traffic flow, using electric vehicles, using biodiesel and renewable diesel, and using 10% ethanol in gasoline. The final section of the report suggests specific projects to achieve the goals, and ranks the projects according to cost, petroleum reduction, time frame, and popularity.

22 CFR 201.67 - Maximum freight charges.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

..., commodity rate classification, quantity, vessel flag category (U.S.-or foreign-flag), choice of ports, and... the United States. (2) Maximum charter rates. (i) USAID will not finance ocean freight under any... owner(s). (4) Maximum liner rates. USAID will not finance ocean freight for a cargo liner shipment at a...

Preparation of hafnium metal by calciothermic reduction of HfO2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharma, I.G.; Vijay, P.L.; Sehra, J.C.; Sundaram, C.V.

1975-01-01

Hafnium metal powder has been produced by the calciothermic reduction of hafnium oxide. The influence of various experimental parameters - such as amount of calcium in excess of stoichiometric requirement, temperature, and time of reduction - on the yield and purity of the metal has been studied. The metal powder obtained by reduction at 960 0 C (two hours) with a calcium excess of 70% analysed 600 ppm of oxygen and 147 ppm of nitrogen. A reduction efficiency of 96% has been achieved under these conditions. The refining of the powder by electron beam melting, fused salt electrolysis, and iodide process has been studied. The oxygen content in the metal could be brought down from 6900 to 148 ppm by electron beam melt-refining. (author)

Investment Strategy of Emission-Reduction Technology in a Supply Chain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gao Xiang Lou

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Greenhouse gas emissions have serious impacts on the natural environment. Therefore, the restrictions imposed on carbon emission force enterprises to take carbon emission into consideration when making production decisions. In this paper, in the context of allowing emission trading and investment of emission reduction technology, models were presented for a two-stage supply chain to analyze the optimal investment and pricing decisions. The results indicate that manufacturer’s endurance capacity of reduction difficulty is higher in the cooperation model than in the Stackelberg game model, and that perfect coordination of supply chains can be realized by a revenue sharing contract. From the perspective of a consumer, low-carbon products mean higher price, so that subsidies or tax exemptions should be provided to keep low prices. Meanwhile, the government can promote investment in emission-reduction technologies and achieve its emission reduction targets by controlling emission trading price, strengthening emission reduction publicity and providing technology investment subsidies.