WorldWideScience

Sample records for pail support structure

  1. Conceptual Design Report Cask Loadout Sys and Cask Drop Redesign for the Immersion Pail Support Structure and Operator Interface Platform at 105 K West

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    LANGEVIN, A.S.

    1999-07-12

    This conceptual design report documents the redesign of the IPSS and the OIP in the 105 KW Basin south loadout pit due to a postulated cask drop accident, as part of Project A.5/A.6, Canister Transfer Facility Modifications. Project A.5/A.6 involves facility modifications needed to transfer fuel from the basin into the cask-MCO. The function of the IPSS is to suspend, guide, and position the immersion pail. The immersion pail protects the cask-MCO from contamination by basin water and acts as a lifting device for the cask-MCO. The OIP provides operator access to the south loadout pit. Previous analyses studied the effects of a cask-MCO drop on the south loadout pit concrete structure and on the IPSS. The most recent analysis considered the resulting loads at the pit slab/wall joint (Kanjilal, 1999). This area had not been modeled previously, and the analysis results indicate that the demand capacity exceeds the allowable at the slab/wall joint. The energy induced on the south loadout pit must be limited such that the safety class function of the basin is maintained. The solution presented in this CDR redesigns the IPSS and the OIP to include impact-absorbing features that will reduce the induced energy. The impact absorbing features of the new design include: Impact-absorbing material at the IPSS base and at the upper portion of the IPSS legs. A sleeve which provides a hydraulic means of absorbing energy. Designing the OIP to act as an impact absorber. The existing IPSS structure in 105 KW will be removed. This conceptual design considers only loads resulting from drops directly over the IPSS and south loadout pit area. Drops in other areas of the basin are not considered, and will be covered as part of a future revision to this CDR.

  2. Prediction of Nepsilon-acetylation on internal lysines implemented in Bayesian Discriminant Method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Ao; Xue, Yu; Jin, Changjiang; Wang, Minghui; Yao, Xuebiao

    2006-12-01

    Protein acetylation is an important and reversible post-translational modification (PTM), and it governs a variety of cellular dynamics and plasticity. Experimental identification of acetylation sites is labor-intensive and often limited by the availability of reagents such as acetyl-specific antibodies and optimization of enzymatic reactions. Computational analyses may facilitate the identification of potential acetylation sites and provide insights into further experimentation. In this manuscript, we present a novel protein acetylation prediction program named PAIL, prediction of acetylation on internal lysines, implemented in a BDM (Bayesian Discriminant Method) algorithm. The accuracies of PAIL are 85.13%, 87.97%, and 89.21% at low, medium, and high thresholds, respectively. Both Jack-Knife validation and n-fold cross-validation have been performed to show that PAIL is accurate and robust. Taken together, we propose that PAIL is a novel predictor for identification of protein acetylation sites and may serve as an important tool to study the function of protein acetylation. PAIL has been implemented in PHP and is freely available on a web server at: http://bioinformatics.lcd-ustc.org/pail.

  3. Prediction of Nε-acetylation on internal lysines implemented in Bayesian Discriminant Method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Ao; Xue, Yu; Jin, Changjiang; Wang, Minghui; Yao, Xuebiao

    2007-01-01

    Protein acetylation is an important and reversible post-translational modification (PTM), and it governs a variety of cellular dynamics and plasticity. Experimental identification of acetylation sites is labor-intensive and often limited by the availability reagents such as acetyl-specific antibodies and optimization of enzymatic reactions. Computational analyses may facilitate the identification of potential acetylation sites and provide insights into further experimentation. In this manuscript, we present a novel protein acetylation prediction program named PAIL, prediction of acetylation on internal lysines, implemented in a BDM (Bayesian Discriminant Method) algorithm. The accuracies of PAIL are 85.13%, 87.97% and 89.21% at low, medium and high thresholds, respectively. Both Jack-Knife validation and n-fold cross validation have been performed to show that PAIL is accurate and robust. Taken together, we propose that PAIL is a novel predictor for identification of protein acetylation sites and may serve as an important tool to study the function of protein acetylation. PAIL has been implemented in PHP and is freely available on a web server at: http://bioinformatics.lcd-ustc.org/pail. PMID:17045240

  4. Support system of a structure on a support base

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arene, G.; Renaux, C.; Minguet, J.L.; Chantot, H.

    1984-01-01

    Two series of strips are fixed to the structure to be supported and to the base to define each one a closed convex envelope; the strips are flexible in the radial direction with regard to the envelope. The two series of strips are connected by a treillis of rigid bars set to form juxtaposed V or X. A good transversal rigidity and a certain radial flexibility are obtained. The invention can be applied to a fast neutron nuclear reactor, the reactor comprising a vertical axis vessel filled with liquid metal; the vessel rests on a support foundation by means of the support system proposed by the invention. The support system allows the supported structure to resist the effects of an eventual earthquake and brutal temperature variations [fr

  5. Structural analysis of support structure for ITER vacuum vessel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takeda, Nobukazu; Ohmori, Junji; Nakahira, Masataka

    2004-12-01

    ITER vacuum vessel (VV) is a safety component confining radioactive materials such as tritium and activated dust. An independent VV support structure with multiple flexible plates located at the bottom of VV lower port is proposed. This independent concept has two advantages: (1) thermal load due to the temperature deference between VV and the lower temperature components such as TF coil becomes lower and (2) the other components such as TF coil is categorized as a non-safety component because of its independence from VV. Stress analyses have been performed to assess the integrity of the VV support structure using a precisely modeled VV structure. As a result, (1) the maximum displacement of the VV corresponding to the relative displacement between VV and TF coil is found to be 15 mm, much less than the current design value of 100 mm, and (2) the stresses of the whole VV system including VV support are estimated to be less than the allowable ones defined by ASME Section III Subsection NF, respectively. Based on these assessments, the feasibility of the proposed independent VV support has been verified as a VV support. (author)

  6. Seismic structural response analysis for multiple support excitation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shaw, D.E.

    1975-01-01

    In the seismic analysis of nuclear power plant equipment such as piping systems situations often arise in which piping systems span between adjacent structures or between different elevations in the same structure. Owing to the differences in the seismic time history response of different structures or different elevations of the same structure, the input support motion will differ for different supports. The concept of a frequency dependent participation factor and rotational response spectra accounting for phase differences between support excitations is developed by using classical equations of motion to formulate the seismic response of a structure subjected to multiple support excitation. The essence of the method lies in describing the seismic excitation of a multiply excited structure in terms of translational and rotational spectra used at every support and a frequency dependent spatial distribution function derived from the phase relationships of the different support time histories. In this manner it is shown that frequency dependent participation factors can be derived from the frequency dependent distribution functions. Examples are shown and discussed relative to closed form solutions and the state-of-the-art techniques presently being used for the solution of problems of multiply excited structures

  7. Cryogenic structural material and design of support structures for the Large Helical Device

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nishimura, Arata; Imagawa, Shinsaku; Tamura, Hitoshi

    1997-01-01

    This paper describes a short history of material selection for the cryogenic support structures for the Large Helical Device (LHD) which has superconducting coils. Since the support structures are cooled down to 4.4 K together with the coils, SUS 316 was chosen because of its stable austenitic phase, sufficient mechanical properties at cryogenic temperature and good weldability. Also, outlines of the design and fabrication processes of the support structures are summarized. On the design of the support structures, a deformation analysis was carried out to maintain the proper magnetic field during operation. Afterwards, a stress analysis was performed. During machining and assembling, tolerance was noticed to keep coil positions accurate. Special welding grooves and fabrication processes were considered and achieved successfully. Finally, a cryogenic supporting post which sustains the cryogenic structures and superconducting coils is presented. CFRP was used in this specially developed supporting post to reduce the heat conduction from ambient 300 K structures. (author)

  8. Community-oriented support and research structures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Attig, Norbert; Eickermann, Thomas; Gibbon, Paul; Lippert, Thomas, E-mail: th.lippert@fz-juelich.d [Institute for Advanced Simulation, Juelich Supercomputing Centre, Forschungszentrum Juelich, 52425 Juelich (Germany)

    2009-07-01

    Coordinated by the Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe (PRACE) Europe is restructuring and strengthening its high-performance computing infrastructure with the aim to create a model HPC ecosystem. At the tip of the pyramid, up to six centres are envisaged that will operate systems of the highest performance class. The HPC Research Infrastructure (HPC-RI) will comprise European, national and regional centres. Science communities are integral partners, strong links will include Grid and Cloud users. The HPC-RI strives at providing scientists all over Europe, on the one hand, with unlimited and independent access to state-of-the-art computer resources in all performance classes and, on the other hand, with a world-class pan-European competence and support network. While the hardware-oriented buildup of the infrastructure is making progress, high-quality user support and software development in the upcoming era of unprecedented parallelism and exascale on the horizon have become the imminent challenges. This has been clearly recognized by the European Commission, who will issue calls for proposals to fund petascale software development in summer 2009. Although traditional support structures are well established in Europe's major supercomputing centres, it is questionable if these structures are able to meet the challenges of the future: in general, support structures are based on cross-disciplinary computer science and mathematics teams; disciplinary computational science support usually is given in an ad-hoc, project-oriented manner. In this paper, we describe our approach to establish a suitable support structure-Simulation Laboratories (SL). SLs are currently being established at the Juelich Supercomputing Centre of the Forschungszentrum Juelich (FZJ) and at the Steinbuch Centre for Computing (SCC) of the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT) in Germany. While SLs are community-oriented, i.e. each SL focusses on a specific community, they are

  9. Community-oriented support and research structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Attig, Norbert; Eickermann, Thomas; Gibbon, Paul; Lippert, Thomas

    2009-01-01

    Coordinated by the Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe (PRACE) Europe is restructuring and strengthening its high-performance computing infrastructure with the aim to create a model HPC ecosystem. At the tip of the pyramid, up to six centres are envisaged that will operate systems of the highest performance class. The HPC Research Infrastructure (HPC-RI) will comprise European, national and regional centres. Science communities are integral partners, strong links will include Grid and Cloud users. The HPC-RI strives at providing scientists all over Europe, on the one hand, with unlimited and independent access to state-of-the-art computer resources in all performance classes and, on the other hand, with a world-class pan-European competence and support network. While the hardware-oriented buildup of the infrastructure is making progress, high-quality user support and software development in the upcoming era of unprecedented parallelism and exascale on the horizon have become the imminent challenges. This has been clearly recognized by the European Commission, who will issue calls for proposals to fund petascale software development in summer 2009. Although traditional support structures are well established in Europe's major supercomputing centres, it is questionable if these structures are able to meet the challenges of the future: in general, support structures are based on cross-disciplinary computer science and mathematics teams; disciplinary computational science support usually is given in an ad-hoc, project-oriented manner. In this paper, we describe our approach to establish a suitable support structure-Simulation Laboratories (SL). SLs are currently being established at the Juelich Supercomputing Centre of the Forschungszentrum Juelich (FZJ) and at the Steinbuch Centre for Computing (SCC) of the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT) in Germany. While SLs are community-oriented, i.e. each SL focusses on a specific community, they are structured

  10. Integrated Multidisciplinary Constrained Optimization of Offshore Support Structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haghi, Rad; Molenaar, David P; Ashuri, Turaj; Van der Valk, Paul L C

    2014-01-01

    In the current offshore wind turbine support structure design method, the tower and foundation, which form the support structure are designed separately by the turbine and foundation designer. This method yields a suboptimal design and it results in a heavy, overdesigned and expensive support structure. This paper presents an integrated multidisciplinary approach to design the tower and foundation simultaneously. Aerodynamics, hydrodynamics, structure and soil mechanics are the modeled disciplines to capture the full dynamic behavior of the foundation and tower under different environmental conditions. The objective function to be minimized is the mass of the support structure. The model includes various design constraints: local and global buckling, modal frequencies, and fatigue damage along different stations of the structure. To show the usefulness of the method, an existing SWT-3.6-107 offshore wind turbine where its tower and foundation are designed separately is used as a case study. The result of the integrated multidisciplinary design optimization shows 12.1% reduction in the mass of the support structure, while satisfying all the design constraints

  11. Structural integrity of graphite core support structures of HTTR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Inagaki, Yoshiyuki; Iyoku, Tatsuo; Toyota, Junji; Sato, Sadao; Shiozawa, Shusaku

    1990-02-01

    The graphite core support structures (GCSSs) of the HTTR (High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor) are an arrangement of graphite blocks and posts that support the core and provide a lower plenum and a hot-leg path for the primary coolant. The GCSSs are designed not to be replaced by new items during plant life time (about twenty years). To maintain structural integrity of the GCSSs, conservative design has been made sufficiently on the basis of structural tests. The present study confirmed that reactor safety was still maintained even if failure and destruction of the GCSSs is supposed to occur. The GCSSs are fabricated under strict quality control and the observation and surveillance programs are planed to examine the structual integrity of the GCSSs during an operation. This paper describes the concept of design and quality control and summarizes structural tests, observation and surveillance programs. (author)

  12. 76 FR 64015 - Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Maryland; Adoption of Control...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-10-17

    ... miscellaneous metal and plastic products in 1978, which includes drum and pail coating, and revised them in 2008... drum and pail coatings, part of the EPA miscellaneous metal and plastic parts coatings CTG. EPA...(b)(2).) List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52 Environmental protection, Air pollution control...

  13. Examining the Support Peer Supporters Provide Using Structural Equation Modeling: Nondirective and Directive Support in Diabetes Management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kowitt, Sarah D; Ayala, Guadalupe X; Cherrington, Andrea L; Horton, Lucy A; Safford, Monika M; Soto, Sandra; Tang, Tricia S; Fisher, Edwin B

    2017-12-01

    Little research has examined the characteristics of peer support. Pertinent to such examination may be characteristics such as the distinction between nondirective support (accepting recipients' feelings and cooperative with their plans) and directive (prescribing "correct" choices and feelings). In a peer support program for individuals with diabetes, this study examined (a) whether the distinction between nondirective and directive support was reflected in participants' ratings of support provided by peer supporters and (b) how nondirective and directive support were related to depressive symptoms, diabetes distress, and Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). Three hundred fourteen participants with type 2 diabetes provided data on depressive symptoms, diabetes distress, and HbA1c before and after a diabetes management intervention delivered by peer supporters. At post-intervention, participants reported how the support provided by peer supporters was nondirective or directive. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), correlation analyses, and structural equation modeling examined the relationships among reports of nondirective and directive support, depressive symptoms, diabetes distress, and measured HbA1c. CFA confirmed the factor structure distinguishing between nondirective and directive support in participants' reports of support delivered by peer supporters. Controlling for demographic factors, baseline clinical values, and site, structural equation models indicated that at post-intervention, participants' reports of nondirective support were significantly associated with lower, while reports of directive support were significantly associated with greater depressive symptoms, altogether (with control variables) accounting for 51% of the variance in depressive symptoms. Peer supporters' nondirective support was associated with lower, but directive support was associated with greater depressive symptoms.

  14. APT/LEDA RFQ and support frame structural analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ellis, S.

    1997-01-01

    This report documents structural analysis of the Accelerator Production of Tritium Low Energy Demonstration Accelerator (APT/LEDA) Radio Frequency Quadrupole (RFQ) accelerator structure and its associated support frame. This work was conducted for the Department of Energy in support of the APT/LEDA. Structural analysis of the RFQ was performed to quantify stress levels and deflections due to both vacuum loading and gravity loading. This analysis also verified the proposed support scheme geometry and quantified interface loads. This analysis also determined the necessary stiffness and strength requirements of the RFQ support frame verifying the conceptual design geometry and allowing specification of individual frame elements. Complete structural analysis of the frame was completed subsequently. This report details structural analysis of the RFQ assembly with regard to gravity and vacuum loads only. Thermally induced stresses from the Radio Frequency (RF) surface resistance heating were not considered

  15. Large coil program support structure conceptual design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Litherland, P.S.

    1977-01-01

    The purpose of the Large Coil Program (LCP) is to perform tests on both pool boiling and force cooled superconducting toroidal field coils. The tests will attempt to approximate conditions anticipated in an ignition tokamak. The test requirements resulted in a coil support design which accommodates up to six (6) test coils and is mounted to a structure capable of resisting coil interactions. The steps leading to the present LCP coil support structure design, details on selected structural components, and the basic assembly sequence are discussed

  16. Design and structural analysis of support structure for ITER vacuum vessel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takeda, Nobukazu; Ohmori, Junji; Nakahira, Masataka; Shibanuma, Kiyoshi

    2004-01-01

    The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) vacuum vessel (VV) is a safety component confining radioactive materials such as tritium and activated dust. An independent VV support structure with multiple flexible plates located at the bottom of VV lower port is proposed as a new concept, which is deferent from the current design, i.e., the VV support is directly connected to the toroidal coils (TF coils). This independent concept has two advantages comparing to the current one: (1) thermal load due to the temperature deference between VV and TF coils becomes lower and (2) the TF coils are categorized as non-safety components because of its independence from VV. Stress Analyses have been performed to assess the integrity of the VV support structure using a precisely modeled VV structure. As a result, (1) the maximum displacement of the VV corresponding to the relative displacement between VV and TF coils is found to be 15 mm, much less than the current design clearance of 100 mm, and (2) the stresses of the whole VV system including VV support are estimated to be less than the allowable ones defined by ASME Section III Subsection NF, respectively. Based on these assessments, the feasibility of the proposed independent VV support has been verified as a VV support. (author)

  17. Liquid metal systems development: reactor vessel support structure evaluation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McEdwards, J.A.

    1981-01-01

    Results of an evaluation of support structures for the reactor vessel are reported. The U ring, box ring, integral ring, tee ring and tangential beam supports were investigated. The U ring is the recommended vessel support structure configuration

  18. Core support structure for nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Steinkamp, E.; Tautz, J.; Ries, H.

    1979-01-01

    A core support structure for nuclear power plants includes a grid of mutually crossing bridges and a support ring surrounding the grid and connected to ends of the outer bridges of the grid, the grid being formed of profile rod crosses having legs of given length, respective legs of pairs of adjacent crosses abutting one another endwise to form together a side of the smallest mesh opening of the grid, and weld means for securing the profile rod crosses to one another at the mutually abutting ends of the legs thereof; and method of producing the foregoing core support structure

  19. Potential Multi-Canister Overpack (MCO) Cask Drop in the K West Basin South Loadout Pit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    POWERS, T.B.

    1999-01-01

    This calculation note documents the probabilistic calculation of a potential drop of a multi-canister overpack (MCO) cask or MCO cask and immersion pail at the K West Basin south loadout pit. The calculations are in support of the cask loading system (CLS) subproject alignment of CLS equipment in the K West Basin south loadout pit

  20. Structural evaluation report of piping and support structure for design-changed hot-water layer system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ryu, Jeong Soo

    1998-05-01

    After hot-water layer system had been installed, the verification tests to reduce the radiation level at the top of reactor pool were performed many times. The major goal of this report is to assess the structural integrity on the piping and the support structures of design-changed hot-water layer system. The piping stress analysis was performed by using ADLPIPE program for the pump suction line and the pump discharge line subjected to dead weight, pressure, thermal expansion and seismic loadings. The stress analysis of the support structure was carried out using the reaction forces obtained from the piping stress analysis. The results of structural evaluation for the pipings and the support structures showed that the structural acceptance criteria were satisfied, in compliance with ASME, subsection ND for the piping and subsection NF for the support structures. Therefore based on the results of the analysis and the design, the structural integrity on the piping and the support structures of design-changed hot-water system was proved. (author). 9 refs., 9 tabs., 14 figs

  1. Structural Analysis of Cabinet Support under Static and Seismic Loads

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jung, Kwangsub; Lee, Sangjin; Oh, Jinho

    2014-01-01

    The cabinet support consists of frames including steel channels and steel square tubes. Four tap holes for screw bolts are located on the support frame of a steel channel to fix the cabinet on the support. The channels and square tubes are assembled by welded joints. The cabinet supports are installed on the outer walls of the reactor concrete island. The KEPIC code, MNF, is used for the design of the cabinet support. In this work, the structural integrity of the cabinet support is analyzed under consideration of static and seismic loads. A 3-D finite element model of the cabinet support was developed. The structural integrity of the cabinet support under postulated service loading conditions was evaluated through a static analysis, modal analysis, and response spectrum analysis. From the structural analysis results, it was concluded that the structural integrity of the cabinet support is guaranteed

  2. STRUCTURE RATIONALIZATION OF TANK CARS SUPPORT DEVICES FOR FLUIDS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. V. Pavliuchenkov

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. Improvement of fluid tank cars structure due to development of new tank bracket support structures and their materials consumption decrease. Methodology. The investigations to search the optimal design of the support structure were conducted in order to solve such problem. At the first stage patent and bibliographic analysis of technical solutions was done, the advantages and disadvantages were revealed and new design options were proposed, the most efficient design was determined. The next step is objective function making for determining its optimal parameters, imposition of restrictions, acquisition of objective function approximation and restrictions in the form of polynomials. At the third stage numerical implementation of function optimization was proposed, optimal design parameters were determined with graphical method. Results methods have coincided. Findings. The most efficient design of support structure was determined; its optimum geometrical dimensions were described. Originality. The author provides the mathematical formulation of optimal design of tank car supports using the minimum materials consumption criteria. The graphic and numerical methods were used during the investigations. Practical value. The author proposed the finite-element models of tank car with different design execution of bracket support structures, which allow estimating the VAT of structure.

  3. Alignment of the MSGC barrel support structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kari, Tammi; Miikka, Kotamaki; Tommi, Vanhala; Antti, Onnela

    1999-01-01

    The MSGC barrel is a sub-part of the tracking system of the CMS experiment at the LHC. The mechanical support structure of the MSGC barrel consists of ladder-like support beams carrying the detector modules and of four disks supporting the ladders. The required alignment precision of the modules, a few tens of micrometers, is designed to be obtained by precise part manufacture and by careful measurement of the alignment during the assembly of the structure. In the paper the use of digital photogrammetry for the measurement of the alignment of the disks and for the structural verification is presented. Digital photogrammetry was chosen from a number of potential methods after a careful evaluation. The use of photogrammetry for the structural verification of a prototype is presented. The displacements were measured both of unloaded and loaded disk by using photogrammetry and linear displacement transducers for verification. The displacements obtained from the two measurement methods corresponded well, not only to each other, but also to the results given by finite element analysis. The structural verification will be done and the alignment procedure will be tested with a full-sized prototype of a half of the MSGC barrel. Preparations for the photogrammetry measurements are presented and the design of the required supplementary equipment is shown. (authors)

  4. Alignment of the MSGC barrel support structure

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kari, Tammi; Miikka, Kotamaki; Tommi, Vanhala [HIP, Helsinki Institute of Physics, CERN/EP, Geneva (Switzerland); Antti, Onnela [CERN, Conseil Europeen pour la recherche nucleaire, Laboratoire europeen pour la physique des particules, Geneve (Switzerland)

    1999-07-01

    The MSGC barrel is a sub-part of the tracking system of the CMS experiment at the LHC. The mechanical support structure of the MSGC barrel consists of ladder-like support beams carrying the detector modules and of four disks supporting the ladders. The required alignment precision of the modules, a few tens of micrometers, is designed to be obtained by precise part manufacture and by careful measurement of the alignment during the assembly of the structure. In the paper the use of digital photogrammetry for the measurement of the alignment of the disks and for the structural verification is presented. Digital photogrammetry was chosen from a number of potential methods after a careful evaluation. The use of photogrammetry for the structural verification of a prototype is presented. The displacements were measured both of unloaded and loaded disk by using photogrammetry and linear displacement transducers for verification. The displacements obtained from the two measurement methods corresponded well, not only to each other, but also to the results given by finite element analysis. The structural verification will be done and the alignment procedure will be tested with a full-sized prototype of a half of the MSGC barrel. Preparations for the photogrammetry measurements are presented and the design of the required supplementary equipment is shown. (authors)

  5. Performance of pile supported sign structures : [brief].

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-05-01

    Sign structures in Wisconsin are typically supported by drilled shaft foundations or spread : footing foundations. However, when the soil conditions are not suitable to be supported on : drilled shafts or spread footings, a group of piles could suppo...

  6. Design and Analysis of Muon Beam Stop Support Structures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Okafor, Udenna [Northern Illinois Univ., DeKalb, IL (United States)

    2015-01-01

    The primary objective of this thesis is to design and analyze support structures to be used in the installation, test and final positioning of the MBS throughout the life of the Mu2e experiment. There several requirements for the MBS imposed by both the scope of the experiment and, other components within the DS bore. The functions of the MBS are: 1. To limit the induced rates in the Tracker, the Calorimeter and the Cosmic Ray Veto due to backsplash-and-secondary interactions, and 2. To reduce radiation levels external to the Detector solenoid. The structures used in supporting the MBS will also adhere to requirements imposed by its functions. These requirements are critical to the support structures and affect design decisions. Other requirements critical to the design are imposed by the weight, positional tolerance and assembly procedure of the MBS, and also, the magnetic field and vacuum dose rate of the DS bore. A detailed breakdown of how each requirement affects the structural design can be found in chapter 2. Chapter 3 describes the design of each support structure and its attachment to the MBS while chapter 4 describes the results from structural analysis of the support structures. Chapter 5 describes evaluation for the design through testing and calculations while the conclusion in chapter 6 reports the current status at the time of this thesis submission with a plan for future work to be completed until final design and installation.

  7. Manufacture and installation of JET MKII divertor support structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Celentano, G.; Altmann, H.; Macklin, B.; Miele, P.; Pick, M.A.; Tait, J.; Moletta, L.; Romagnolo, A.; Shaw, R.

    1995-01-01

    The water cooled support structure, comprising twenty-four modules is the main component of the JET MKII divertor system. It is to be installed in the vacuum vessel with high accuracy with respect to the magnetic center and the other in-vessel components. The paper describes the design and manufacturing cycle including the required tolerances, the assembly and installation method and the material production process required to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the MKII support structure system. The water cooling holes, machined into the support structure require the procurement of special material to prevent risks of leaks inside the vacuum vessel

  8. [Functional characteristics of flexible supporting structures for heart valve bioprosthesis].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dobrova, N B; Agafonov, A V; Barbarash, L S; Zavalishin, N N; Neniukov, A K

    1984-01-01

    Hydraulic characteristics of heart valve bioprostheses mounted on supporting structures of various rigidity have been studied under physiologic conditions. An actual mobility of the supporting structures made of different polymers is determined. Static and dynamic components of the support displacements have been shown to develop as the bioprosthesis is under the load, the dynamic component being strongly dependent upon the rigidity of fastening the bioprosthesis on the axis. It is noted that considerable improvements in hydraulic characteristics of bioprostheses are achieved through the use of flexible supporting structures.

  9. Vertical load analysis of cylindrical ACS support structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kennedy, J.M.; Belytschko, T.B.

    1984-01-01

    A new concept in LMFBR design ACS (above-core structures) supports which has generated some interest is to use a single large radius cylinder. The advantages of a single cylinder are reduced cost of fabrication, increased lateral stiffness, which enhances seismic resistance, and easier access to the fuel. However, the performance of these support structures when submitted to vertical loads from the core area may be substantially different, for the buckling and postbuckling behavior of a cylinder differs substantially from that of cylindrical beams. In this paper, a comparative analysis of an old prototypical support by 4 columns is compared with a cylindrical support. It is assumed that the single cylinder replaces the 4 columns in the original design. The dimensions of the two designs are compared

  10. Organizational Structures that Support Internal Program Evaluation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lambur, Michael T.

    2008-01-01

    This chapter explores how the structure of large complex organizations such as Cooperative Extension affects their ability to support internal evaluation of their programs and activities. Following a literature review of organizational structure and its relation to internal evaluation capacity, the chapter presents the results of interviews with…

  11. Towards a Tool for Computer Supported Structuring of Products

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Claus Thorp

    1997-01-01

    . However, a product possesses not only a component structure but also various organ structures which are superimposed on the component structure. The organ structures carry behaviour and make the product suited for its life phases.Our long-term research goal is to develop a computer-based system...... that is capable of supporting synthesis activities in engineering design, and thereby also support handling of various organ structures. Such a system must contain a product model, in which it is possible to describe and manipulate both various organ structures and the component structure.In this paper we focus...... on the relationships between organ structures and the component structure. By an analysis of an existing product it is shown that a component may contribute to more than one organ. A set of organ structures is identified and their influence on the component strucute is illustrated....

  12. Earthquake-proof support structures for the recycling pump in FBR type reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakagawa, Masaki; Shigeta, Masayuki.

    1984-01-01

    Purpose: To improve the earthquake proofness of the recycling pump for use in FBR type reactors upon earthquake by reducing the vibration response of the pump. Constitution: The outer casing of a recycle pump suspended into liquid sodium is extended to the portion that penetrates a reactor core support structures. Support structures surrounding the outer side of the recycling pump are disposed with a gap not restraining the free thermal deformations of the recycling pump to the inside of the partition wall structures and the portion of the recycling pump penetrating the reator core support structures, to integrate the support structures with the reactor core support structures. Accordingly, there are no interferences between the recycling pump and the support structures with respect to the thermal deformations that change gradually with time. Upon vibrating under the rapidly changing external forces of earthquakes, however, the pressure resulted to the liquid in the gap due to the vibrations of the recycling pump is transmitted with no escape to the support structures, the recycling pump and the support structures integrally resist the vibrations thereby enabling to reduce the vibrations in the recycling pumps. (Horiuchi, T.)

  13. Indicial response test for the support post structure of VHTR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Futakawa, Masatoshi; Kikuchi, Kenji; Tachibana, Katsumi; Muto, Yasushi

    1985-11-01

    Fuel blocks and removable reflector blocks, which constitute a core of VHTR, are supported by support posts. Each support post is in contact with a hot plenum block at the top end and with a lower plenum block at the bottom end through hemispherical seats to absorb a relative displacement generated by the lateral movement of both blocks by means of small inclination or rotation of support posts. Indicial response tests have been carried out by using a specified one-dimensional vibration model in order to estimate the effects of the support post length, the mass of hot plenum block and the hemispherical radii of both support and post seat on the vibrational characteristics in the support post structure. Futhermore the experimental results have been compared with the analytical ones obtained from the Lagrange's equation. The following are the conclusions derived. (1) The hemispherical radii of support post and post seat have a large effect on the frequency of vibration in the support post structure. (2) The frequency of vibration in the support post structure is predictable using the Lagrange's equation. (author)

  14. Effect of support conditions on structural response under dynamic loading

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Akram, T.; Memon, S.A.

    2008-01-01

    In design practice, dynamic structural analysis is carried out with base of structure considered as fixed; this means that foundation is placed on rock like soil material. While conducting this type of analyses the role of foundation and soil behaviour is totally neglected. The actions in members and loads transferred at foundation level obtained in this manner do not depict the true structural behaviour. FEM (Finite Element Methods) analysis where both superstructure and foundation soil are coupled together is quite complicated and expensive for design environments. A simplified model is required to depict dynamic response of structures with foundations based on flexible soils. The primary purpose of this research is to compare the superstructure dynamic responses of structural systems with fixed base to that of simple soil model base. The selected simple soil model is to be suitable for use in a design environment to give more realistic results. For this purpose building models are idealized with various heights and structural systems in both 2D (Two Dimensional) and 3D (Three Dimensional) space. These models are then provided with visco-elastic supports representing three soil bearing capacities and the analysis results are compared to that of fixed supports models. The results indicate that fixed support system underestimates natural time period of the structures. Dynamic behavior and force response of visco-elastic support is different from fixed support model. Fixed support models result in over designed base columns and under designed beams. (author)

  15. Self-centering connections for traffic sign supporting structures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-03-01

    Steel structures supporting traffic sign panels are designed as intended to dissipate energy by : yielding structural members during severe wind loading (ex. strong hurricanes). Yielding results : in inelastic deformations, which are permanent damage...

  16. The development of the design method of nuclear piping system supported by elasto-plastic support structures (Part 1)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Endo, R.; Murota, M.; Kawahata, J.-I.; Sato, T.; Mekomoto, Y.; Takayama, Y.; Kobayashi, H.; Hirose, J.

    1993-01-01

    The conventional aseismic design method of nuclear piping system is very conservative because of the accumulation of various safety factors in the design process, and nuclear piping systems are thought to have a large safety margin. Considering this situation, we promoted research to further rationalize nuclear power plants by reducing the amount of support structures and reducing the piping seismic response through vibration energy absorption resulting from the elasto-plastic behavior of piping support structures. The research has the following three stages. In the first stage, we select conventional piping support structures in Japanese light-water reactors that exhibit elasto-plastic behavior, and study the displacement dependency and the vibration frequency dependency on the stiffness and the energy absorption by testing their model. In the second stage, we make a piping test model with support structures whose characteristics have already been obtained, and perform vibration tests on a shaking table. In this way, we analyze the piping vibration characteristics by sinusoidal wave sweep tests and the piping response characteristics by seismic wave vibration tests, when the support structures are in an elasto-plastic condition. In the third stage, a general method is developed to evaluate the characteristics of the support structures obtained in the tests and it is applied to the evaluation of the characteristics of general support structures. A simplified analysis method is developed to evaluate the piping seismic response using the piping model test result. To expand the results mentioned above, we are developing a seismic design method of piping systems that allows support structures to have elasto-plastic behaviour. This paper reports the results of experiments conducted under the joint research program of Japanese electric power companies with support elements in the first stage and those with piping models in the second stage

  17. Development and Application of an Evaluation Method for the Supporting Structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Young Ho; Lee, Kang Hee; Kim, Jae Yong; Yoon, Kyung Ho; Kim, Hyung Kyu

    2009-01-01

    A dual cooled fuel (i.e. annular fuel) has both internal and external cooling which would allow a substantial increase in power density and safety margins compared to a solid fuel in operating PWR plants. When considering the sufficient cross-sectional area of the internal cooling channel and an acceptable amount of fuel pellet, the diameter of an outer tube should be increased for applying the compatible design concept of the dual cooled fuel to current operating PWRs. However, this results in a narrow gap between a dual cooled fuel rod and its supporting structure due to a fixed fuel assembly size. As all the fuel rods should be supported with safety and reliability for operating periods, any kinds of supporting structures should be installed in a dual cooled fuel assembly. Consequently, the positions of supporting structures around the dual cooled fuel rod should be modified from the rod-to-rod center to subchannel regions of grid structure and their shapes are designed and improved based on the advantages of current spacer grid technologies. Even though the vibration characteristics of the dual cooled fuel rod itself were not systematically evaluated, the characteristics of designed supporting structures and their wear resistances should be evaluated at the initial development stage. In this study, the evaluation method for the characteristics of designed supporting structures is developed by using a new test rig and compared with the analytical results. The final objective is to develop the evaluation method of their fretting wear resistances which accommodates the various shape of supporting structures without actual Zirconium supporting structures

  18. Fuel assembly supporting structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aisch, F.W.; Fuchs, H.P.; Knoedler, D.; Steinke, A.; Steven, J.

    1976-01-01

    For use in forming the core of a pressurized-water reactor, a fuel assembly supporting structure for holding a bundle of interspaced fuel rods, is formed by interspaced end pieces having holes in which the end portions of control rod guide tubes are inserted, fuel rod spacer grids being positioned by these guide tubes between the end pieces. The end pieces are fastened to the end portions of the guide tubes, to integrate the supporting structure, and in the case of at least one of the end pieces, this is done by means which releases that end piece from the guide tubes when the end pieces receive an abnormal thrust force directed towards each other and which would otherwise place the guide tubes under a compressive stress that would cause them to buckle. The spacer grids normally hold the fuel rods interspaced by distances determined by nuclear physics, and buckling of the control rod guide tubes can distort the fuel rod spacer grids with consequent dearrangement of the fuel rod interspacing. A sudden loss of pressure in a pressurized-water reactor pressure vessel can result in the pressurized coolant in the vessel discharging from the vessel at such high velocity as to result in the abnormal thrust force on the end pieces of each fuel assembly, which could cause buckling of the control rod guide tubes when the end pieces are fixed to them in the normal rigid and unyielding manner

  19. Simultaneous topology optimization of structures and supports

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Buhl, Thomas

    2002-01-01

    supported areas. The method is applied to compliance minimization and mechanism design. In the case of mechanism design, the large displacements of the mechanism are modelled using geometrically nonlinear FE-analysis. Examples with minimization of the compliance demonstrate the effects of using variable......The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate a method for and the benefits of simultaneously designing structure and support distribution using topology optimization. The support conditions are included in the topology optimization by introducing, a new set of design variables that represents...... cost of supports in a design domain. Other examples show that more efficient mechanisms are obtained by introducing the support conditions in the topology optimization problem....

  20. Final report WP 4.2 : Support Structure Concepts for Deep Water Sites: Deliverable D4.2.8 (WP4: offshore foundations and support structures)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    De Vries, W.E.; Vemula, N.K.; Passon, P.; Fischer, T.; Kaufer, D.; Matha, D.; Schmidt, B.; Vorpahl, F.

    2011-01-01

    With the number of offshore wind farms rapidly increasing, in a wide variety of site conditions and using different turbine sizes, the need for alternative support structures other than the conventional monopile structure is apparent and several projects have been realised using other support

  1. Self-supporting rhombic infill structures for additive manufacturing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wu, Jun; Wang, Charlie C.L.; Zhang, Xiaoting

    2016-01-01

    Recent work has demonstrated that the interior material layout of a 3D model can be designed to make a fabricated replica satisfy application-specific demands on its physical properties, such as resistance to external loads. A widely used practice to fabricate such models is by layer-based additive...... manufacturing (AM), which however suffers from the problem of adding and removing interior supporting structures. In this paper, we present a novel method for generating application-specific infill structures on rhombic cells so that the resultant structures can automatically satisfy manufacturing requirements...... on overhang-angle and wall-thickness. Additional supporting structures can be avoided entirely in our framework. To achieve this, we introduce the usage of an adaptive rhombic grid, which is built from an input surface model. Starting from the initial sparse set of rhombic cells, via numerical optimization...

  2. The development of design method of nuclear piping system supported by elasto-plastic support structures (part 2)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Endo, R.; Murota, M.; Kawabata, J-I.; Hirose, J.; Nekomoto, Y.; Takayama, Y.; Kobayashi, H.

    1995-01-01

    The conventional seismic design method of nuclear piping system is very conservative because of the accumulation of various safety factors in the design process, and nuclear piping systems are thought to have a large safety margin. Considering this situations, research program was promoted to furthermore rationalize nuclear power plants by reducing the amount of support structures and reducing the piping's seismic response through vibration energy absorption resulting from the elasto-plastic behavior of piping support structures. The research had the following three stages. In the first stage, we selected conventional piping support structures in light-water reactors that exhibited elasto-plastic behavior, and studied the effect of displacement and the vibration frequency on the stiffness and on the energy absorption by testing these models. In the second stage, vibration tests were performed using piping models with support structures on shaking tables. The piping vibration characteristics were clarified by sinusoidal sweep tests and the piping response characteristics by seismic wave vibration tests when the support structures were in an elasto-plastic condition. In the third stage, a general method was developed to evaluate the characteristics of a variety of support structures in the tests. A simplified analysis method was also developed to evaluate the piping seismic response using the piping model test result. To expand the results mentioned above, we also established a new seismic design method of piping systems that allowed support structures to have elasto-plastic behavior. This paper reports the newly developed seismic design method based on the results of experiments conducted under the joint research program of Japanese electric power companies (The Japan Atomic Power Co., Hokkaido EPC, Tohoku EPC, Tokyo EPC, Chubu EPC, Hokuriku EPC, Kansai EPC, Chugoku EPC, Shikoku EPC, Kyushu EPC) and nuclear plant makers (Hitachi Ltd., Toshiba Co., MHI Ltd., HEC Ltd

  3. Structural Integrity Evaluation of the KALIMER-600 Reactor Core Support Structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Chang Gyu; Kim, Jong Bum; Lee, Jae Han

    2005-01-01

    KALIMER-600(Korea Advanced LIquid MEtal Reactor, 600MWe) is a pool type sodium-cooled liquid metal reactor. Since the normal operating temperature of KALIMER-600 is 545 .deg. C, the reactor structures in the hot pool region are designed and evaluated according to the elevated temperature design rules such as the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section III, Subsection NH. Since the core support structure of KALIMER-600 is in the cold pool region under 400 .deg. C, a high temperature inelastic behavior is not expected. Thus the stress and fatigue limits are the main concerns to assure the structural design integrity following the ASME Subsection NG. In this paper, the evaluations of the stress and fatigue damage for the core support structure of KALIMER-600 are carrried out in the case of a normal operation condition using the rules of ASME Subsection NG. To obtain the stress values, a heat transfer analysis and a stress analysis under a combined loading condition are performed. From the stress distribution results, the critical sections are selected and the stress and fatigue limits are evaluated for the selected regions

  4. Structural assessments of plate type support system for APR1400 reactor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nguyen, Anh Tung; Namgung, Ihn, E-mail: inamgung@kings.ac.kr

    2017-04-01

    Highlights: • This paper investigates plate-type support structure for the reactor vessel of the APR 1400. • The tall column supports of APR1400 reactor challenges in seismic and severe accident events. • A plate-type support of reactor vessel was proposed and evaluated based on ASME code. • The plate-type support was assessed to show its higher rigidity than column-type. - Abstract: This paper investigates an alternative form of support structure for the reactor vessel of the APR 1400. The current reactor vessel adopts a four-column support arrangement locating on the cold legs of the vessel. Although having been successfully designed, the tall column structure challenges in seismic events. In addition, for the mitigation of severe accident consequences, the columns inhibit ex-vessel coolant flow, hence the elimination of the support columns proposes extra safety advantages. A plate-type support was proposed and evaluated for the adequacy of meeting the structural stiffness by Finite Element Analysis (FEA) approach. ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code was used to verify the design. The results, which cover thermal and static structural analysis, show stresses are within allowable limits in accordance with the design code. Even the heat conduction area is increased for the plate-type of support system, the results showed that the thermal stresses are within allowable limits. A comparison of natural frequencies and mode shapes for column support and plate-type support were presented as well which showed higher fundamental frequencies for the plate-type support system resulting in greater rigidity of the support system. From the outcome of this research, the plate-type support is proven to be an alternative to current APR column type support design.

  5. Creating a Structured Support System for Postsecondary Success

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, Carol Cutler

    2018-01-01

    For numerous reasons, it can be difficult for foster youth to succeed in postsecondary education. This chapter offers insight into state-level policies and programs, community college programs dedicating to supporting foster youth, and a framework for creating a structured support system to increase student success.

  6. Assessing diabetes support in adolescents: factor structure of the Modified Diabetes Social Support Questionnaire (M-DSSQ-Family)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Malik, J.A.; Koot, H.M.

    2011-01-01

    Objectives: To determine the underlying factor structure of diabetes specific support using a modified diabetes family social support questionnaire, the M-DSSQ-Family, in one half of a sample of adolescents with type 1 diabetes, confirm it in the second half, test invariance in factor structure

  7. Superconducting magnetic energy storage apparatus structural support system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Withers, Gregory J.; Meier, Stephen W.; Walter, Robert J.; Child, Michael D.; DeGraaf, Douglas W.

    1992-01-01

    A superconducting magnetic energy storage apparatus comprising a cylindrical superconducting coil; a cylindrical coil containment vessel enclosing the coil and adapted to hold a liquid, such as liquefied helium; and a cylindrical vacuum vessel enclosing the coil containment vessel and located in a restraining structure having inner and outer circumferential walls and a floor; the apparatus being provided with horizontal compression members between (1) the coil and the coil containment vessel and (2) between the coil containment vessel and the vacuum vessel, compression bearing members between the vacuum vessel and the restraining structure inner and outer walls, vertical support members (1) between the coil bottom and the coil containment vessel bottom and (2) between the coil containment vessel bottom and the vacuum vessel bottom, and external supports between the vacuum vessel bottom and the restraining structure floor, whereby the loads developed by thermal and magnetic energy changes in the apparatus can be accommodated and the structural integrity of the apparatus be maintained.

  8. Metallic and Non-Metallic Materials for the Primary Support Structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    RA Wolf; RP Corson

    2006-01-01

    The primary support structure (PSS) is required for mechanical support of reactor module (RM) components and mounting of the RM to the spacecraft. The PSS would provide support and accept all loads associated with dynamic (e. g., launch and maneuvering) or thermally induced loading. Prior to termination of NRPCT involvement in Project Prometheus, the NRPCT Mechanical Systems team developed preliminary finite element models to gain a basic understanding of the behavior of the structure, but optimization of the models, specification of the final design, and materials selection were not completed. The Space Plant Materials team had evaluated several materials for potential use in the primary support structure, namely titanium alloys, beryllium, aluminum alloys and carbon-carbon composites. The feasibility of application of each material system was compared based on mass, stiffness, thermal expansion, and ease of fabrication. Due to insufficient data on environmental factors, such as temperatures and radiation, and limited modeling support, a final materials selection was not made

  9. Child Support Payment: A Structural Model of Predictive Variables.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wright, David W.; Price, Sharon J.

    A major area of concern in divorced families is compliance with child support payments. Aspects of the former spouse relationship that are predictive of compliance with court-ordered payment of child support were investigated in a sample of 58 divorced persons all of whom either paid or received child support. Structured interviews and…

  10. Additive Manufacturing of Overhang Structures Using Moisture-Cured Silicone with Support Material

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohan Muthusamy

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Additive manufacturing (AM of soft materials has a wide variety of applications, such as customized or wearable devices. Silicone is one popular material for these applications given its favorable material properties. However, AM of silicone parts with overhang structures remains challenging due to the soft nature of the material. Overhang structures are the areas where there is no underlying structure. Typically, a support material is used and built in the underlying space so that the overhang structures can be built upon it. Currently, there is no support structure that has been used for AM of silicone. The goal of this study is to develop an AM process to fabricate silicone parts with overhang structures. We first identified and confirmed poly-vinyl alcohol (PVA, a water-soluble material, as a suitable support material for silicone by evaluating the adhesion strength between silicone and PVA. Process parameters for the support material, including critical overhang angle and minimum infill density for the support material, are identified. However, overhang angle alone is not the only determining factor for support material. As silicone is a soft material, it deflects due to its own weight when the height of the overhang structure increases. A finite element model is developed to estimate the critical overhang height paired with different overhang angles to determine whether the use of support material is needed. Finally, parts with overhang structures are printed to demonstrate the capability of the developed process.

  11. Nuclear fuel assembly incorporating primary and secondary structural support members

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carlson, W.R.; Gjertsen, R.K.; Miller, J.V.

    1987-01-01

    A nuclear fuel assembly, comprising: (a) an upper end structure; (b) a lower end structure; (c) elongated primary structural members extending longitudinally between and rigidly interconnecting the upper and lower end structures, the upper and lower end structures and primary structural members together forming a rigid structural skeleton of the fuel assembly; (d) transverse grids supported on the primary structural members at axially spaced locations therealong between the upper and lower end structures; (e) fuel rods extending through and supported by the grids between the upper and lower end structures so as to extend in generally side-by-side spaced relation to one another and to the primary structural members; and (f) elongated secondary structural members extending longitudinally between but unconnected with the upper and lower end structures, the secondary structural members extending through and rigidly interconnected with the grids to extend in generally side-by-side spaced relation to one another, to the fuel rods and to the primary structural members so as to bolster the stiffness of the structural skeleton of the fuel assembly

  12. Support Schemes and Ownership Structures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ropenus, Stephanie; Schröder, Sascha Thorsten; Costa, Ana

    , Denmark, France and Portugal. Another crucial aspect for the diffusion of the mCHP technology is possible ownership structures. These may range from full consumer ownership to ownership by utilities and energy service companies, which is discussed in Section 6. Finally, a conclusion (Section 7) wraps up......In recent years, fuel cell based micro‐combined heat and power has received increasing attention due to its potential contribution to energy savings, efficiency gains, customer proximity and flexibility in operation and capacity size. The FC4Home project assesses technical and economic aspects...... of support scheme simultaneously affects risk and technological development, which is the focus of Section 4. Subsequent to this conceptual overview, Section 5 takes a glance at the national application of support schemes for mCHP in practice, notably in the three country cases of the FC4Home project...

  13. The Structure and Validity of the Multidimensional Social Support Questionnaire

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hardesty, Patrick H.; Richardson, George B.

    2012-01-01

    The factor structure and concurrent validity of the Multidimensional Social Support Questionnaire, a brief measure of perceived social support for use with adolescents, was examined. Findings suggest that four dimensions of perceived social support may yield more information than assessments of the unitary construct of support. (Contains 8 tables…

  14. Experimental Studies of Turbulent Intensity around a Tidal Turbine Support Structure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stuart Walker

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Tidal stream energy is a low-carbon energy source. Tidal stream turbines operate in a turbulent environment, and the effect of the structure between the turbine and seabed on this environment is not fully understood. An experimental study using 1:72 scale models based on a commercial turbine design was carried out to study the support structure influence on turbulent intensity around the turbine blades. The study was conducted using the wave-current tank at the Laboratory of Maritime Engineering (LABIMA, University of Florence. A realistic flow environment (ambient turbulent intensity = 11% was established. Turbulent intensity was measured upstream and downstream of a turbine mounted on two different support structures (one resembling a commercial design, the other the same with an additional vertical element, in order to quantify any variation in turbulence and performance between the support structures. Turbine drive power was used to calculate power generation. Acoustic Doppler velocimetry (ADV was used to record and calculate upstream and downstream turbulent intensity. In otherwise identical conditions, performance variation of only 4% was observed between two support structures. Turbulent intensity at 1, 3 and 5 blade diameters, both upstream and downstream, showed variation up to 21% between the two cases. The additional turbulent structures generated by the additional element of the second support structure appears to cause this effect, and the upstream propagation of turbulent intensity is believed to be permitted by surface waves. This result is significant for the prediction of turbine array performance.

  15. Structural Characteristics of Bimetallic Catalysts Supported on Nano-Ceria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. F. Bozeman

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Cu-Pt bimetal catalysts supported on nanocrystalline CeO2 (nano-ceria are synthesized via the low-cost sol-gel approach followed by impregnation processing. The average particle size of the catalytic composites is 63 nm. Ceria nanopowders sequentially impregnated in copper solution and then in Pt solution transformed into Pt-skin-structured Cu-Pt/ceria nanocomposite, based on the surface elemental and bulk compositional analyses. The ceria supporter has a fluorite structure, but the structure of Cu and Pt catalytic contents, not detected by X-ray diffraction spectroscopy due to the low loading level, is yet conclusive. The bimetallic catalytic nanocomposites may potentially serve as sulfur-tolerant anode in solid oxide fuel cells.

  16. Structural studies of supported tin catalysts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nava, Noel; Viveros, Tomás

    1999-11-01

    Tin oxide was supported on aluminium oxide, titanium oxide, magnesium oxide and silicon oxide, and the resulting interactions between the components in the prepared samples and after reduction were characterized by Mössbauer spectroscopy. It was observed that in the oxide state, tin is present as SnO2 on alumina, magnesia and silica, but on titania tin occupies Ti sites in the structure. After hydrogen treatment at high temperatures, tin is reduced from Sn(4) to Sn(2) on alumina and titania; it is reduced from Sn(4) to Sn(0) on silica, and is practically not reduced on magnesia. These results reveal the degree of interaction between tin and the different supports studied.

  17. Structural studies of supported tin catalysts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nava, Noel; Viveros, Tomas

    1999-01-01

    Tin oxide was supported on aluminium oxide, titanium oxide, magnesium oxide and silicon oxide, and the resulting interactions between the components in the prepared samples and after reduction were characterized by Moessbauer spectroscopy. It was observed that in the oxide state, tin is present as SnO 2 on alumina, magnesia and silica, but on titania tin occupies Ti sites in the structure. After hydrogen treatment at high temperatures, tin is reduced from Sn(4) to Sn(2) on alumina and titania; it is reduced from Sn(4) to Sn(0) on silica, and is practically not reduced on magnesia. These results reveal the degree of interaction between tin and the different supports studied

  18. Instructional support and implementation structure during elementary teachers' science education simulation use

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonczi, Amanda L.; Chiu, Jennifer L.; Maeng, Jennifer L.; Bell, Randy L.

    2016-07-01

    This investigation sought to identify patterns in elementary science teachers' computer simulation use, particularly implementation structures and instructional supports commonly employed by teachers. Data included video-recorded science lessons of 96 elementary teachers who used computer simulations in one or more science lessons. Results indicated teachers used a one-to-one student-to-computer ratio most often either during class-wide individual computer use or during a rotating station structure. Worksheets, general support, and peer collaboration were the most common forms of instructional support. The least common instructional support forms included lesson pacing, initial play, and a closure discussion. Students' simulation use was supported in the fewest ways during a rotating station structure. Results suggest that simulation professional development with elementary teachers needs to explicitly focus on implementation structures and instructional support to enhance participants' pedagogical knowledge and improve instructional simulation use. In addition, research is needed to provide theoretical explanations for the observed patterns that should subsequently be addressed in supporting teachers' instructional simulation use during professional development or in teacher preparation programs.

  19. Earthquake analysis with nonlinear soil-structure interaction and nonlinear supports of components

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hansson, V.

    1990-01-01

    For the determination of the seismic response of a structure the soil-structure interaction in most cases is modelled by a mass-spring-damper-system. Normally design concepts for components and piping are based on linear calculations and stress limitations. A concept for a reactor building for the HTR 100 consisted of a relatively high structure compared with the dimensions of the foundation. The structure was comparatively deep embedded in the soil, so here the embedment influences significantly the soil-structure interaction. The assembly of reactor vessel, heat exchanger and circulators has a height of about 37 m. Supports are arranged at different levels. Due to temperature deformations of the vessel and of the support constructions small gaps at the supports may only be avoided by complicated constructions of the supports. Nonlinear analyses were performed for soil, building and component with all supports. The finite element analyses used time histories. In order to describe the radiation damping the hysteresis of the soil with 1 percent material damping was considered. Nonlinearities in the interface of soil and foundation and due to gaps and friction at the supports were taken into account. The stiffness of the support constructions influences reactions and accelerations to a high extent. Properly chosen stiffnesses of the support constructions lead to a behaviour similar to linear elastic behaviour. 13 figs

  20. MASS TRANSFER IN PORE STRUCTURES OF SUPPORTED CATALYSTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    F.R.C. Silva

    1997-09-01

    Full Text Available The effects of gas-solid interaction and mass transfer in fixed-bed systems of supported catalysts were analyzed for g -Al2O3 (support and Cu/g -Al2O3 (catalyst systems. Evaluations of the mass transfer coefficients in the macropores and of the diffusivity in the micropores, as formed by the crystallite agglomerates of the metallic phases, were obtained. Dynamic experiments with gaseous tracers permitted the quantification of the parameters based on models for these two pore structures. With a flow in a range of 18 cm3 s-1 to 39.98 cm3 s-1 at 45oC, 65oC and 100oC, mass transfer coefficients km =4.33x10-4 m s-1 to 7.38x10-4 m s-1 for macropore structures and diffusivities Dm =1.29x10-11 m2 s-1 to 5.35x10-11 m2 s-1 for micropore structures were estimated

  1. Support structure concept for integration of ITER diagnostics in the port cell

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Udintsev, V.S., E-mail: victor.udintsev@iter.org [ITER Organization, Route de Vinon sur Verdon, 13115 St. Paul-Lez-Durance (France); Portalès, M.; Giacomin, T.; Darcourt, O.; Direz, M.-F.; Martins, J.P.; Penot, C.; Arumugam, A.P.; Drevon, J.-M.; Friconneau, J.P.; Levesy, B.; Maquet, P.; Patel, K.M.; Pitcher, C.S. [ITER Organization, Route de Vinon sur Verdon, 13115 St. Paul-Lez-Durance (France); Popova, E. [Russian Federation Domestic Agency, Moscow (Russian Federation); Proust, M. [ITER Organization, Route de Vinon sur Verdon, 13115 St. Paul-Lez-Durance (France); Ronden, D.M.S. [DIFFER, Nieuwegein (Netherlands); Walker, C.I.; Walsh, M.J.; Watts, C. [ITER Organization, Route de Vinon sur Verdon, 13115 St. Paul-Lez-Durance (France)

    2013-10-15

    Highlights: ► An interspace support structure to support the diagnostic systems from the back of the upper and equatorial port plugs to the biological shield plug. ► Port cell support structures are foreseen to handle the equipment in the port cell. ► Both ISS and PCSS will be supported by means of RH rail system. ► The structures will be positioned with a certain tolerance. ► The proposed concepts are found to fulfil the needs for support of the diagnostics in ITER. -- Abstract: Development of the diagnostics for ITER tokamak, which is presently under construction by several international partners at Cadarache in France, is a major challenge because of severe environment, strict engineering requirements, and the need for high reliability in the measurements. The diagnostic systems in the upper, equatorial and lower port cells on ITER are designed to be integrated within the interspace and port cell support structures. These structures are interfacing with remote handling rail system for the cask operations, thus facilitating the removal and installation of the diagnostics in the port and hence minimizing time for working close to the tokamak. In this paper, the challenges associated with the integration of the diagnostics in the port interspace and port cell, as well as their solutions will be addressed and presented. The interspace and the port cell support structures, as well as their interfaces with the biological shield, will be discussed.

  2. Design of a far infrared interferometer diagnostic support structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brooksby, C.A.; Rice, B.W.; Peebles, W.A.

    1987-10-01

    The Far Infrared Interferometer (FIR) diagnostic will operate in the 119 to 400 micron range to measure the plasma electron density on the Microwave Tokamak Experiment (MTX) being set up at LLNL. This diagnostic is a multi-channel system which incorporates a long elliptically shaped beam that passes through the plasma and is imaged onto an array of 14 detectors that are located on a table above the machine. The reference beam is brought around the machine and mixed with the plasma beam onto the detectors. The density is measured by a phase shift between these beams and is, therefore, very sensitive to path length changes between the two beam paths due to motion of the support structure. The design goal for allowable phase shifts caused by changes in the path length due to structure movement is 1/50th of a wavelength (2.4 to 8 microns). The structure needs to maintain this stability during the 0.5 second plasma shot. The structure is approximately 5 meters tall to support the optics table above the machine. In order to reduce the structure motion to the required level the forces acting on it were evaluated. The forces evaluated were eddy currents from the pulsed electromagnetic fields, the ambient ground motion, and the floor movement as the magnets are pulsed. The designs for similar diagnostic interferometers on other tokamaks were also reviewed to evaluate the forces and motions that might cause such small deflections in the support structure. Our structure is somewhat unique in that it is designed for operation in relatively large pulsed magnetic fields (100 to 7000 gauss) arising from the air core transformer of MTX. The design chosen incorporates a very rigid structure with high resistive and non-conductive materials. The choice of materials selected is discussed with reference to their response to expected forces. 14 refs., 10 figs

  3. Structural Support of High-Performance Athletes' Education: Supporting Dual Careers in Greece

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pavlidis, George; Gargalianos, Dimitris

    2014-01-01

    This article describes how the current Greek sport-education context seems to offer relatively poor dual-career support in comparison to other available structures in the world. This results in additional obstacles for Greek athletes who wish to educate themselves and an ambiguous prospect for their future. Consequently, the Greek…

  4. Impact of applying hygienic practices at farm on bacteriological quality of raw milk

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. Pandey

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Aim: The present study was carried out to explore the potential source of contamination and the efficacy of different washing practices towards quality milk production. Materials and Methods: Probable sources of contamination viz. stored water, potable water, milker’s hands, milking pail, udder of individual buffalo and milk cans were subjected to different types of bacterial counts before the actual experiment to start. Twenty milch buffaloes thereafter were divided randomly into four treatment groups where washing was performed in each step viz. milker hands, udder of individual buffalo, milking pail and milk cans before milking either with water (T0: stored water, T1: potable water or sanitizers (T2: 200 ppm chlorine solution, T3: 50 ppm iodophore solution for 60 days. Bacterial counts again were performed for last 5 alternate days for all the sources involved along with the microbial load of raw milk. Data obtained were subjected to standard statistical analysis. Results: It was found that for all bacterial count stored water contributed significantly higher as compared to the potable water. Among the other potential sources of contamination (log/6 cm2, standard plate count (SPC and coliform count were significantly highest for milking pail (6.73±0.02 and udder of milch buffaloes (3.77±0.12, respectively, while for Staphylococci count both milking pail (3.24±0.02 and milking can (3.22±0.04 were contributed maximally (p0.05 for most of the parameters, even for the raw milk quality. Conclusion: Study revealed that milker hands, milking pails, udder of animals, milk cans and stored water used for washing of equipment are the potential source of contamination in raw milk. These were counted as critical point which needs attention for the production of high-quality milk. Potable water was found to be better than stored water. The use of either chlorine 200 ppm and iodophor 50 ppm is highly effective in reducing the bacterial population for

  5. A structural design of the multi-ringed seismic support for PCPV

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Muto, Kiyoshi; Ujiie, Koji.

    1979-01-01

    This report describes the multi-ringed cylindrical support newly developed as the supporting structure for a Prestressed Concrete Pressure Vessel. This support is composed of several thin cylinders of concentric circles, which are made of reinforced concrete or steel reinforced concrete. The characteristics of the support is such that it can allow two contradictory conditions to occur. That is, it can follow smoothly the radial displacement of PCPV induced by inner pressure, inner heat and etc. At the same time, it has enough rigidity to bear the earthquake forces from PCPV and to transmit them to the ground with certainty. The shape, characteristics and structural design of the support are described hereunder. (author)

  6. ARE TORNADO-LIKE MAGNETIC STRUCTURES ABLE TO SUPPORT SOLAR PROMINENCE PLASMA?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Luna, M.; Moreno-Insertis, F. [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, E-38200 La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain); Priest, E. [Mathematics Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9SS (United Kingdom)

    2015-07-20

    Recent high-resolution and high-cadence observations have surprisingly suggested that prominence barbs exhibit apparent rotating motions suggestive of a tornado-like structure. Additional evidence has been provided by Doppler measurements. The observations reveal opposite velocities for both hot and cool plasma on the two sides of a prominence barb. This motion is persistent for several hours and has been interpreted in terms of rotational motion of prominence feet. Several authors suggest that such barb motions are rotating helical structures around a vertical axis similar to tornadoes on Earth. One of the difficulties of such a proposal is how to support cool prominence plasma in almost-vertical structures against gravity. In this work we model analytically a tornado-like structure and try to determine possible mechanisms to support the prominence plasma. We have found that the Lorentz force can indeed support the barb plasma provided the magnetic structure is sufficiently twisted and/or significant poloidal flows are present.

  7. ARE TORNADO-LIKE MAGNETIC STRUCTURES ABLE TO SUPPORT SOLAR PROMINENCE PLASMA?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Luna, M.; Moreno-Insertis, F.; Priest, E.

    2015-01-01

    Recent high-resolution and high-cadence observations have surprisingly suggested that prominence barbs exhibit apparent rotating motions suggestive of a tornado-like structure. Additional evidence has been provided by Doppler measurements. The observations reveal opposite velocities for both hot and cool plasma on the two sides of a prominence barb. This motion is persistent for several hours and has been interpreted in terms of rotational motion of prominence feet. Several authors suggest that such barb motions are rotating helical structures around a vertical axis similar to tornadoes on Earth. One of the difficulties of such a proposal is how to support cool prominence plasma in almost-vertical structures against gravity. In this work we model analytically a tornado-like structure and try to determine possible mechanisms to support the prominence plasma. We have found that the Lorentz force can indeed support the barb plasma provided the magnetic structure is sufficiently twisted and/or significant poloidal flows are present

  8. Are Tornado-Like Magnetic Structures Able to Support Solar Prominence Plasma?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ogunjo, S. T.; Luna Bennasar, M.; Moreno-Insertis, F.; Priest, E. R.

    2015-12-01

    Recent high-resolution and high-cadence observations have surprisingly suggested that prominence barbs exhibit apparent rotating motions suggestive of a tornado-like structure. Additional evidence has been provided by Doppler measurements. The observations reveal opposite velocities for both hot and cool plasma on the two sides of a prominence barb. This motion is persistent for several hours and has been interpreted in terms of rotational motion of prominence feet. Several authors suggest that such barb motions are rotating helical structures around a vertical axis similar to tornadoes on Earth. One of the difficulties of such a proposal is how to support cool prominence plasma in almost-vertical structures against gravity. In this work we model analytically a tornado-like structure and try to determine possible mechanisms to support the prominence plasma. We have found that the Lorentz force can indeed support the barb plasma provided the magnetic structure is sufficiently twisted and/or significant poloidal flows are present.

  9. Further HTGR core support structure reliability studies. Interim report No. 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Platus, D.L.

    1976-01-01

    Results of a continuing effort to investigate high temperature gas cooled reactor (HTGR) core support structure reliability are described. Graphite material and core support structure component physical, mechanical and strength properties required for the reliability analysis are identified. Also described are experimental and associated analytical techniques for determining the required properties, a procedure for determining number of tests required, properties that might be monitored by special surveillance of the core support structure to improve reliability predictions, and recommendations for further studies. Emphasis in the study is directed towards developing a basic understanding of graphite failure and strength degradation mechanisms; and validating analytical methods for predicting strength and strength degradation from basic material properties

  10. Evaluating Restorative Justice Circles of Support and Accountability: Can Social Support Overcome Structural Barriers?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bohmert, Miriam Northcutt; Duwe, Grant; Hipple, Natalie Kroovand

    2018-02-01

    In a climate in which stigmatic shaming is increasing for sex offenders as they leave prison, restorative justice practices have emerged as a promising approach to sex offender reentry success and have been shown to reduce recidivism. Criminologists and restorative justice advocates believe that providing ex-offenders with social support that they may not otherwise have is crucial to reducing recidivism. This case study describes the expressive and instrumental social support required and received, and its relationship to key outcomes, by sex offenders who participated in Circles of Support and Accountability (COSAs), a restorative justice, reentry program in Minnesota. In-depth interviews with re-entering sex offenders and program volunteers revealed that 75% of offenders reported weak to moderate levels of social support leaving prison, 70% reported receiving instrumental support in COSAs, and 100% reported receiving expressive support. Findings inform work on social support, structural barriers, and restorative justice programming during sex offender reentry.

  11. Deliverable D74.2. Probabilistic analysis methods for support structures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gintautas, Tomas

    2018-01-01

    Relevant Description: Report describing the probabilistic analysis for offshore substructures and results attained. This includes comparison with experimental data and with conventional design. Specific targets: 1) Estimate current reliability level of support structures 2) Development of basis...... for probabilistic calculations and evaluation of reliability for offshore support structures (substructures) 3) Development of a probabilistic model for stiffness and strength of soil parameters and for modeling geotechnical load bearing capacity 4) Comparison between probabilistic analysis and deterministic...

  12. Assessing diabetes support in adolescents: factor structure of the modified Diabetes Social Support Questionnaire (DSSQ-Friends)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Malik, J.A.; Koot, H.M.

    2012-01-01

    Aims To determine the underlying factor structure of friends' enacted support behaviours for adolescents with Type 1 diabetes, confirm it in a second sample, delineate distinctive aspects of friends' support and test the reliability of resulting scale. Methods The study included a total of 434

  13. Ultrasonic imaging of tube/support structure of power plant steam generators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saniie, J.; Nagle, D.T.

    1987-01-01

    The corrosion and erosion of steam generator tubing in nuclear power plants can present problems of both safety and economics. In steam generators, the inconel tubes are fit loosely through holes drilled in carbon steel support plates. Corrosion is of particular concern with such tube/support plate structures. Non-protective magnetite can build up on the inner surface of the support plate holes, and allowed to continue unchecked, will fill the gap, eventually denting and fracturing the tube walls. Therefore, periodic nondestructive inspection can be valuable in characterizing corrosion and can be used in evaluating the effectiveness of chemical treatments used to control or reduce corrosion. Presently, they are investigating the feasibility and practicality of using ultrasound in routing testing for gap measurement, for evaluating the corrosion and assessing the degree of denting. The tube/support structure can be modeled as a multilayer, reverberant target, which when tested with ultrasound results in two sets of reverberating echoes [1]. One set corresponds to the tube wall and the other to the support plate. These echoes must be decomposed and identified in order to evaluate the tube/support structure. This report presents experimental results along with a discussion of various measurements and processing techniques for decomposing and interpreting tube/support echoes at different stages of corrosion

  14. Thermal–structural analysis of ITER triangular support for dominant load verification

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Yu-Gyeong, E-mail: aspirany@hhi.co.kr [Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd., 1000, Bangeojinsunhwando-ro, Dong-gu, Ulsan (Korea, Republic of); Hwang, Jong-Hyun; Jung, Yung-Jin [Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd., 1000, Bangeojinsunhwando-ro, Dong-gu, Ulsan (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Hyun-Soo; Ahn, Hee-Jae [National Fusion Research Institute, 113 Gwahangno, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon-si (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-12-15

    Highlights: • The load combination method is introduced to thermal–structural analysis for contradictive loads occurred simultaneously. • The one-way coupling analysis also conducted for thermal–structural analysis and its validity is checked by comparing with the load combination. • The dominant load for triangular support bracket is determined as the baking condition. - Abstract: The triangular support is located on the lower inner shell of vacuum vessel of ITER, which should be designed to withstand various loads such as nuclear heat, coolant pressure and so on. The appropriateness of its design is evaluated under the dominant load that could represent the most conservative condition among the design loads. In order to decide the dominant load, a valid method for thermal–structural analysis is firstly verified considering contradictory behaviors between heat and structural loads. In this paper, two approaches; one-way coupling and load combination, are introduced for thermal–structural analysis. The one-way coupling is a method generally used but has a limit to apply on contradictory conditions. The load combination could give a proper solution since it evaluates each load independently and then adds up each result linearly. Based on the results of each case, structural analysis for another load case, baking condition with incident, is conducted to find out which load is dominant for triangular support. Consequently, it is found that the baking condition is the dominant load for triangular support bracket. The proposed load combination method gives a physically reasonable solution which can be used as a reference for checking the validity of other thermal–structural analysis. It is expected that these results could be applied for manufacturing design of the triangular support under various load conditions.

  15. Thermal–structural analysis of ITER triangular support for dominant load verification

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Yu-Gyeong; Hwang, Jong-Hyun; Jung, Yung-Jin; Kim, Hyun-Soo; Ahn, Hee-Jae

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • The load combination method is introduced to thermal–structural analysis for contradictive loads occurred simultaneously. • The one-way coupling analysis also conducted for thermal–structural analysis and its validity is checked by comparing with the load combination. • The dominant load for triangular support bracket is determined as the baking condition. - Abstract: The triangular support is located on the lower inner shell of vacuum vessel of ITER, which should be designed to withstand various loads such as nuclear heat, coolant pressure and so on. The appropriateness of its design is evaluated under the dominant load that could represent the most conservative condition among the design loads. In order to decide the dominant load, a valid method for thermal–structural analysis is firstly verified considering contradictory behaviors between heat and structural loads. In this paper, two approaches; one-way coupling and load combination, are introduced for thermal–structural analysis. The one-way coupling is a method generally used but has a limit to apply on contradictory conditions. The load combination could give a proper solution since it evaluates each load independently and then adds up each result linearly. Based on the results of each case, structural analysis for another load case, baking condition with incident, is conducted to find out which load is dominant for triangular support. Consequently, it is found that the baking condition is the dominant load for triangular support bracket. The proposed load combination method gives a physically reasonable solution which can be used as a reference for checking the validity of other thermal–structural analysis. It is expected that these results could be applied for manufacturing design of the triangular support under various load conditions

  16. Supporting structures of the toroidal field coils of intor-net

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Farfaletti-Casali, F.; Biggio, M.; Macco, A.; Perfumo, A.; Reale, M.

    1984-01-01

    The design of the toroidal field (TF) coil supporting structures for INTOR-NET Phase 2A (European Configuration) is described. In order to identify the proposed design several preliminary evaluations were performed. These evaluations indicated that suitable supporting structures are those shown in the annexed figures, where each coil is guided and centered by a separate reinforcing structure, on which the intercoil structures are attached. A simplified structural analysis was carried out considering only the cyclic out-of-plane loads due to the poloidal field, acting on the coils, since this constitutes the most critical loading condition due to its impact on the fatigue behavior of the material. This analysis was performed with finite element method for displacements and stresses calculations by using the SAP IV-code. The calcaulation model was made with the aid of the GIFTS system. The results show that the maximum equivalent stress does not exceed the stress limit assumed in the INTOR specifications for stainless steel (AISI 316 type) at cryogenic temperature and under cyclic loading, for the operating conditions of INTOR. Consequently the proposed concept for the support of the TF coils can be considered a workable scheme. Further detailed analysis must be done, so as to demonstrate the complete feasibility of the system. (orig.)

  17. Elmo Bumpy Torus proof of principle, Phase II: Title 1 report. Volume IX. Support structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Conlee, J.L.

    1982-01-01

    The EBT-P support structure provides structural support for the 36 mirror coil magnets, magnet protection system, the toroidal vessel, and much of the device ancillary equipment. The structure is comprised of a primary support and a superstructure. The primary support is a reinforced concrete ring located directly inboard of the torus and is supported by nine columns. The toroidal vessel and the mirror coil magnets are cantilevered from the ring with the centerline of the torus located eight feet above the floor. The superstructure is an aluminum truss structure that rests on the concrete ring. The superstructure provides support for the device ancillary equipment. Engineering drawings of the support structure are given

  18. Adhesion and Atomic Structures of Gold on Ceria Nanostructures:The Role of Surface Structure and Oxidation State of Ceria Supports

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lin, Yuyuan [Northwestern University, Evanston; Wu, Zili [ORNL; Wen, Jianguo [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL); Poeppelmeier, Kenneth R [Northwestern University, Evanston; Marks, Laurence D [Northwestern University, Evanston

    2015-01-01

    Recent advances in heterogeneous catalysis have demonstrated that oxides supports with the same material but different shapes can result in metal catalysts with distinct catalytic properties. The shape-dependent catalysis was not well-understood owing to the lack of direct visualization of the atomic structures at metal-oxide interface. Herein, we utilized aberration-corrected electron microscopy and revealed the atomic structures of gold particles deposited on ceria nanocubes and nanorods with {100} or {111} facets exposed. For the ceria nanocube support, gold nanoparticles have extended atom layers at the metal-support interface. In contrast, regular gold nanoparticles and rafts are present on the ceria nanorod support. After hours of water gas shift reaction, the extended gold atom layers and rafts vanish, which is associated with the decrease of the catalytic activities. By understanding the atomic structures of the support surfaces, metal-support interfaces, and morphologies of the gold particles, a direct structure-property relationship is established.

  19. Nonlinear structural damage detection using support vector machines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiao, Li; Qu, Wenzhong

    2012-04-01

    An actual structure including connections and interfaces may exist nonlinear. Because of many complicated problems about nonlinear structural health monitoring (SHM), relatively little progress have been made in this aspect. Statistical pattern recognition techniques have been demonstrated to be competitive with other methods when applied to real engineering datasets. When a structure existing 'breathing' cracks that open and close under operational loading may cause a linear structural system to respond to its operational and environmental loads in a nonlinear manner nonlinear. In this paper, a vibration-based structural health monitoring when the structure exists cracks is investigated with autoregressive support vector machine (AR-SVM). Vibration experiments are carried out with a model frame. Time-series data in different cases such as: initial linear structure; linear structure with mass changed; nonlinear structure; nonlinear structure with mass changed are acquired.AR model of acceleration time-series is established, and different kernel function types and corresponding parameters are chosen and compared, which can more accurate, more effectively locate the damage. Different cases damaged states and different damage positions have been recognized successfully. AR-SVM method for the insufficient training samples is proved to be practical and efficient on structure nonlinear damage detection.

  20. Response spectra for differential motion of structures supports during earthquakes in Egypt

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohamed I.S. Elmasry

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Differential motions of ground supports of stiff structures with large plan dimensions and separate foundations under earthquakes were studied by researchers during the last few decades. Such a type of structural response was previously underestimated. The importance of studying such a response comes up from the fact that usually the structures affected are of strategic importance such as bridges. During their expected life, structures may experience vibrations excited by ground waves of short wavelengths during near-source earthquakes, or during amplified earthquake signals, during explosions, or during vibrations induced from nearby strong vibration sources. This is the case when the differential motion of supports becomes considerable. This paper aims to review the effects of seismic signal variations along the structures dimensions with emphasis on Egypt as a case study. The paper shows some patterns of the damage imposed by such differential motion. A replication of the differential motion in the longitudinal direction is applied on a frame bridge model. The resulting straining actions show the necessity for considering the differential motion of supports in the design of special structures in Egypt. Finally, response spectra for the differential motion of supports, based on the available data from previous earthquakes in Egypt, is derived and proposed for designers to include in the design procedure when accounting for such type of structural response, and especially in long-span bridges.

  1. New approach to the design of core support structures for large LMFBR plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burelbach, J.P.; Kann, W.J.; Pan, Y.C.; Saiveau, J.G.; Seidensticker, R.W.

    1984-01-01

    The paper describes an innovative design concept for a LMFBR Core Support Structure. A hanging Core Support Structure is described and analyzed. The design offers inherent safety features, constructibility advantages, and potential cost reductions

  2. Stress analysis on a PWR pressure vessel support structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cruz, J.R.B.; Mattar Neto, M.; Jesus Miranda, C.A. de.

    1992-01-01

    The paper presents the stress analysis of a research PWR vessel support structure. Different geometries and thermal boundary conditions are evaluated. The finite element analysis is performed using ANSYS program. The ASME Section III criteria are applied for the stress verification and the following points are discussed: stress classification and linearization; jurisdictional boundary between ASME Subsection NB (Class 1 Components) and Subsection NF (Component Supports). (author)

  3. Structural Stability of Light-harvesting Protein LH2 Adsorbed on Mesoporous Silica Supports.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shibuya, Yuuta; Itoh, Tetsuji; Matsuura, Shun-ichi; Yamaguchi, Akira

    2015-01-01

    In the present study, we examined the reversible thermal deformation of the membrane protein light-harvesting complex LH2 adsorbed on mesoporous silica (MPS) supports. The LH2 complex from Thermochromatium tepidum cells was conjugated to MPS supports with a series of pore diameter (2.4 to 10.6 nm), and absorption spectra of the resulting LH2/MPS conjugates were observed over a temperature range of 273 - 313 K in order to examine the structure of the LH2 adsorbed on the MPS support. The experimental results confirmed that a slight ellipsoidal deformation of LH2 was induced by adsorption on the MPS supports. On the other hand, the structural stability of LH2 was not perturbed by the adsorption. Since the pore diameter of MPS support did not influence the structural stability of LH2, it could be considered that the spatial confinement of LH2 in size-matches pore did not improve the structural stability of LH2.

  4. Structure for common access and support of fuel cell stacks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walsh, Michael M.

    2000-01-01

    A structure provides common support and access to multiple fuel cells externally mounted thereto. The structure has openings leading to passages defined therein for providing the access. Various other fuel cell power system components are connected at the openings, such as reactant and coolant sources.

  5. Structured telephone support or non-invasive telemonitoring for patients with heart failure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Inglis, Sally C; Clark, Robyn A; Dierckx, Riet; Prieto-Merino, David; Cleland, John G F

    2015-10-31

    Specialised disease management programmes for heart failure aim to improve care, clinical outcomes and/or reduce healthcare utilisation. Since the last version of this review in 2010, several new trials of structured telephone support and non-invasive home telemonitoring have been published which have raised questions about their effectiveness. To review randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of structured telephone support or non-invasive home telemonitoring compared to standard practice for people with heart failure, in order to quantify the effects of these interventions over and above usual care. We updated the searches of the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE), Health Technology AsseFssment Database (HTA) on the Cochrane Library; MEDLINE (OVID), EMBASE (OVID), CINAHL (EBSCO), Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Conference Proceedings Citation Index- Science (CPCI-S) on Web of Science (Thomson Reuters), AMED, Proquest Theses and Dissertations, IEEE Xplore and TROVE in January 2015. We handsearched bibliographies of relevant studies and systematic reviews and abstract conference proceedings. We applied no language limits. We included only peer-reviewed, published RCTs comparing structured telephone support or non-invasive home telemonitoring to usual care of people with chronic heart failure. The intervention or usual care could not include protocol-driven home visits or more intensive than usual (typically four to six weeks) clinic follow-up. We present data as risk ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Primary outcomes included all-cause mortality, all-cause and heart failure-related hospitalisations, which we analysed using a fixed-effect model. Other outcomes included length of stay, health-related quality of life, heart failure knowledge and self care, acceptability and cost; we described and tabulated these. We performed meta-regression to assess homogeneity (the

  6. Structural damage in masonry : Developing diagnostic decision support

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    De Vent, I.A.E.

    2011-01-01

    This thesis deals with the diagnosis of structural damage in traditional masonry: cracks, deformations and tilts. Establishing the cause of this type of damage can be difficult. This research project has aimed to improve and facilitate the diagnostic process by offering support in the initial phase

  7. Design of the core support and restraint structures for FFTF and CRBRP

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sutton, H.G.; Rylatt, J.A.

    1977-12-01

    This paper presents and compares the design and fabrication of the FFTF and CRBRP reactor structures which support and restrain the reactor core assemblies. The fabrication of the core support structure (CSS) for the FFTF reactor was completed October 1972 and this paper discusses how the fabrication problems encountered with the FFTF were avoided in the subsequent design of the CRBR CSS. The radial core restraint structure of the FFTF was designed and fabricated such that an active system could replace the present passive system which is segmented and relies on the CSS core barrel for total structure integrity to maintain core geometry. The CRBR core restraint structure is designed for passive restraint only, and this paper discusses how the combined strengths of the restraint structure former rings and the CSS core barrel are utilized to maintain core geometry. Whereas the CSS for the FFTF interfaces directly with the reactor core assemblies, the CRBR CSS does not. A comparison is made on how intermediate structures in CRBR (inlet modules) provide the necessary design interfaces for supporting and providing flow distribution to the reactor core assemblies. A discussion is given on how the CRBR CSS satisfied the design requirements of the Equipment Specification, including thermal transient, dynamic and seismic loadings, and results of flow distribution testing that supported the CRBR design effort. The approach taken to simplify fabrication of the CRBR components, and a novel 20 inch deep narrow gap weld joint in the CSS are described

  8. Catalyst support structure, catalyst including the structure, reactor including a catalyst, and methods of forming same

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Norman, Staci A.; Aston, Victoria J.; Weimer, Alan W.

    2017-05-09

    Structures, catalysts, and reactors suitable for use for a variety of applications, including gas-to-liquid and coal-to-liquid processes and methods of forming the structures, catalysts, and reactors are disclosed. The catalyst material can be deposited onto an inner wall of a microtubular reactor and/or onto porous tungsten support structures using atomic layer deposition techniques.

  9. Research success and structured support: Developing early career ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This article discusses the programme structure, participants' evaluation of the year-long intervention and longitudinal data from a follow-up study conducted in 2008. It is evident in studies conducted in South Africa (Geber 2006) and elsewhere (Sorcinelli 2000) that support including mentoring and coaching is necessary for ...

  10. Making Plant-Support Structures From Waste Plant Fiber

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morrow, Robert C.; < oscjmocl. < attjew K/; {ertzbprm. A,amda; Ej (e. Cjad); Hunt, John

    2006-01-01

    Environmentally benign, biodegradable structures for supporting growing plants can be made in a process based on recycling of such waste plant fiber materials as wheat straw or of such derivative materials as paper and cardboard. Examples of structures that can be made in this way include plant plugs, pots, planter-lining mats, plant fences, and root and shoot barriers. No chemical binders are used in the process. First, the plant material is chopped into smaller particles. The particles are leached with water or steam to remove material that can inhibit plant growth, yielding a fibrous slurry. If the desired structures are plugs or sheets, then the slurry is formed into the desired shapes in a pulp molding subprocess. If the desired structures are root and shoot barriers, pots, or fences, then the slurry is compression-molded to the desired shapes in a heated press. The processed materials in these structures have properties similar to those of commercial pressboard, but unlike pressboard, these materials contain no additives. These structures have been found to withstand one growth cycle, even when wet

  11. Fatigue risks in the connections of sign support structures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-05-01

    This research effort develops a reliability-based approach for prescribing inspection intervals for mast-arm sign support : structures corresponding to user-specified levels of fatigue-induced fracture risk. The resulting level of risk for a : partic...

  12. IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUPPORTING STRUCTURE OF PLATFORM CAR FOR HIGHER EFFICIENCY OF CONTAINER TRANSPORTATIONS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. O. Lovska

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. The article is aimed to improve supporting structures of the platform car to increase the efficiency of container transportations. Methodology. In order to achieve the objective, the strength investigations of the universal platform car of the model 13-401 were conducted, strength reserves of the supporting elements were defined, and more optimal profiles of basic longitudinal beams of the frame in terms of the minimum material capacity were proposed. Decision correctness was confirmed by the strength calculation of the platform car supporting structure at basic loading operational modes and fatigue taking into account the research database of 107 cycles. It has been proposed to equip a platform car with swing fitting stops for fastening containers on the frame, which allows transportation of 20ft and 40ft containers. In order to improve container transportation efficiency along international transport corridors running through Ukraine, a platform car of articulated type has been designed on the base of the improved platform car structure. The mathematical simulation of dynamic loads of the platform car with containers (two 1CC containers at operational loading modes has been carried out, the maximum accelerations influencing the support structure have been defined, and their multiple values have been considered in computer simulation of the strength of the platform car of articulated type. Findings. The support structure of the platform car of articulated type on the basis of the standard platform car has been developed. Refined values of dynamic loads influencing supporting structure the platform car of articulated type with containers at operational loading modes have been obtained; the maximum equivalent stresses in the platform car support structure have been defined. Originality and practical value. A mathematical model of displacements for a platform car of articulated type with containers at operational loading modes of

  13. Numerical evaluation of micro-structural parameters of porous supports in metal-supported solid oxide fuel cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Reiss, Georg; Frandsen, Henrik Lund; Brandstätter, Wilhelm

    2014-01-01

    Metallic supported Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) are considered as a durable and cost effective alternative to the state-of-the-art ceramic supported cell designs. In order to understand the mass and charge transport in the metal-support of this new type of cell a novel technique involving X......-ray tomography and micro-structural modelling is presented in this work. The simulation technique comprises a novel treatment of the boundary conditions, which leads to more accurate effective transport parameters compared to those, which can be achieved with the conventional homogenisation procedures....... Furthermore, the porosity distribution in the metal-support was determined, which provided information about the inhomogeneous nature of the material. In addition to that, transport parameters for two identified, different dense layers of the metal-support are evaluated separately. The results...

  14. Development of piping support structure design software based on PDMS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tang Yongtao; Guan Hui; Su Rongfu; Huang Wei; Mao Huihui

    2014-01-01

    In order to enhance the efficiency of nuclear power process system piping support design, the veracity of interface with support, piping and anchor, and decrease the clash between supports and other disciplines, developed piping support structure design software NPHS based on PDMS independently. That achieved the seamless integration of PDMS and NPHS by method of embedded development, reduce the size of program code, improve the running efficiency; That predigested the 3D modeling and information storage for support parts, that increased the support database opening and maintenance using the special mechanism and configuration of database. The support modeling efficiency due to setting of the connection key point of support parts is improved. Practices in several real nuclear power projects proved that NPHS software is provided with such outstanding performances: quick running, strong stability, accurate data, easy to operate and maintain, and output results satisfied the engineering requirements. (authors)

  15. Graduating to Postdoc: Information-Sharing in Support of Organizational Structures and Needs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keller, Richard M.; Lucas, Paul J.; Compton, Michael M.; Stewart, Helen J.; Baya, Vinod; DelAlto, Martha

    1999-01-01

    The deployment of information-sharing systems in large organizations can significantly impact existing policies and procedures with regard to authority and control over information. Unless information-sharing systems explicitly support organizational structures and needs, these systems will be rejected summarily. The Postdoc system is a deployed Web-based information-sharing system created specifically to address organizational needs. Postdoc contains various organizational support features including a shared, globally navigable document space, as well as specialized access control, distributed administration, and mailing list features built around the key notion of hierarchical group structures. We review successes and difficulties in supporting organizational needs with Postdoc

  16. Supporting undergraduate nursing students through structured personal tutoring: Some reflections.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watts, Tessa E

    2011-02-01

    Support is imperative for nursing students worldwide as they face the many challenges associated with learning and working. Moreover enhancing student retention is an increasing concern for institutions across the globe. The personal tutor is a frequently hidden yet potentially significant figure in many students' experience of higher education. This paper offers some critical reflections on a structured approach to personal tutoring within an undergraduate nursing programme in a research focused Welsh university. Structured personal tutoring can provide an organised, coherent and proactive support system throughout students' educational programmes. However the approach changes the shape of personal tutoring and has the potential to increase academics' workloads and with it costs. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Design and heat load analysis of support structure of CR superconducting dipole magnet for FAIR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhu Yinfeng; Wu Songtao; Wu Weiyue; Xu Houchang; Liu Changle

    2008-01-01

    In order to meet the requirement of the Collector ring (CR) dipole superconducting magnet of FAIR in the process of operation, meanwhile, and to ensure the heat loads coming from the support structures to be lower than the design demands, the 3D models of support structures have been constructed with CATIA, then the calculation of low-temperature heat-load and the structure analysis have been done with ANSYS, the support structure material, 316LN+G10, is decided according to the heat-load calculation and the structure optimization, these results are necessary for manufacturing the formal magnet. (authors)

  18. Seismic response analysis of structural system subjected to multiple support excitation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, R.W.; Hussain, F.A.; Liu, L.K.

    1978-01-01

    In the seismic analysis of a multiply supported structural system subjected to nonuniform excitations at each support point, the single response spectrum, the time history, and the multiple response spectrum are the three commonly employed methods. In the present paper the three methods are developed, evaluated, and the limitations and advantages of each method assessed. A numerical example has been carried out for a typical piping system. Considerably smaller responses have been predicted by the time history method than that by the single response spectrum method. This is mainly due to the fact that the phase and amplitude relations between the support excitations are faithfully retained in the time history method. The multiple response spectrum prediction has been observed to compare favourably with the time history method prediction. Based on the present evaluation, the multiple response spectrum method is the most efficient method for seismic response analysis of structural systems subjected to multiple support excitation. (Auth.)

  19. Steady-state response of periodically supported structures to a moving load

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Metrikine, A.V.; Wolfert, A.R.M.; Vrouwenvelder, A.C.W.M.

    1999-01-01

    Steady-state vibrations of periodically supported structures under a moving load are analytically investigated. The following three structures are considered: an overhead power line for a train, a long suspended bridge and a railway track. The study is based on the application of so-called

  20. Seismic Base Isolators For A Silo Supporting Structure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bîtcă Daniel

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available A 3000 tones capacity silo, located in a seismic area with ground acceleration ag = 0,20g and TC =1,0s, was designed in a classical solution The supporting structure has an octagonal shape in planview, and columns with “Maltese cross sections”. The main lateral resisting system is made up of centric bracings with cross-section class I.

  1. Co-Assembled Supported Catalysts: Synthesis of Nano-Structured Supported Catalysts with Hierarchic Pores through Combined Flow and Radiation Induced Co-Assembled Nano-Reactors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Galip Akay

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available A novel generic method of silica supported catalyst system generation from a fluid state is presented. The technique is based on the combined flow and radiation (such as microwave, thermal or UV induced co-assembly of the support and catalyst precursors forming nano-reactors, followed by catalyst precursor decomposition. The transformation from the precursor to supported catalyst oxide state can be controlled from a few seconds to several minutes. The resulting nano-structured micro-porous silica supported catalyst system has a surface area approaching 300 m2/g and X-ray Diffraction (XRD-based catalyst size controlled in the range of 1–10 nm in which the catalyst structure appears as lamellar sheets sandwiched between the catalyst support. These catalyst characteristics are dependent primarily on the processing history as well as the catalyst (Fe, Co and Ni studied when the catalyst/support molar ratio is typically 0.1–2. In addition, Ca, Mn and Cu were used as co-catalysts with Fe and Co in the evaluation of the mechanism of catalyst generation. Based on extensive XRD, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM studies, the micro- and nano-structure of the catalyst system were evaluated. It was found that the catalyst and silica support form extensive 0.6–2 nm thick lamellar sheets of 10–100 nm planar dimensions. In these lamellae, the alternate silica support and catalyst layer appear in the form of a bar-code structure. When these lamellae structures pack, they form the walls of a micro-porous catalyst system which typically has a density of 0.2 g/cm3. A tentative mechanism of catalyst nano-structure formation is provided based on the rheology and fluid mechanics of the catalyst/support precursor fluid as well as co-assembly nano-reactor formation during processing. In order to achieve these structures and characteristics, catalyst support must be in the form of silane coated silica nano

  2. Development of visual inspection technology for HTTR core support graphite structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maruyama, So; Iyoku, Tatsuo; Inagaki, Yoshiyuki; Shiozawa, Shusaku; Masuma, Yoshitaka; Miki, Toshiya.

    1996-01-01

    The Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute is now constructing the High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor (HTTR), which employs a visual inspection of core support graphite structure, as an inservice inspection (ISI). In this inspection, TV camera will be used to investigate the alignment and integrity of the structure. Therefore, the ISI system, a combination of radiation tolerant TV camera and graphic processing system, is developed and examined its detectability and viewing angles using a simulated hot plenum of HTTR, which has artificial defects. As a result of a series of tests, it was confirmed that this system satisfied the requirements and was quite applicable for the ISI system of HTTR core support graphite structure. In addition, further improvement of the system, like a remote control procedure, will be investigated. (author)

  3. Seismic Dynamic Damage Characteristics of Vertical and Batter Pile-supported Wharf Structure Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Jiren

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Considering a typical steel pipe pile-supported wharf as the research object, finite element analytical models of batter and vertical pile structures were established under the same construction site, service, and geological conditions to investigate the seismic dynamic damage characteristics of vertical and batter pile-supported wharf structures. By the numerical simulation and the nonlinear time history response analysis of structure system and the moment–axial force relation curve, we analyzed the dynamic damage characteristics of the two different structures of batter and vertical piles under different seismic ground motions to provide reasonable basis and reference for designing and selecting a pile-supported wharf structure. Results showed that the axial force of batter piles was dominant in the batter pile structure and that batter piles could effectively bear and share seismic load. Under the seismic ground motion with peak ground acceleration (PGA of 350 Gal and in consideration of the factors of the design requirement of horizontal displacement, the seismic performance of the batter pile structure was better than that of the vertical pile structure. Under the seismic ground motion with a PGA of 1000 Gal, plastic failure occurred in two different structures. The contrastive analysis of the development of plastic damage and the absorption and dissipation for seismic energy indicated that the seismic performance of the vertical pile structure was better than that of the batter pile structure.

  4. Support for argument structures review and assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cyra, Lukasz; Gorski, Janusz

    2011-01-01

    Argument structures are commonly used to develop and present cases for safety, security and for other properties of systems. Such structures tend to grow excessively, which causes problems with their review and assessment. Two issues are of particular interest: (1) systematic and explicit assessment of the compelling power of an argument, and (2) communication of the result of such an assessment to relevant recipients. The paper presents a solution to these problems. The method of Visual Assessment of Arguments (VAA), being this solution, is based on the Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence applied to the assessment of the strength of arguments, and a visual mechanism of issuing and presenting assessments, supported by the so-called opinion triangle. In the paper we explain theoretical grounding for the method and provide guidance on its application. The results of some validation experiments are also presented.

  5. Innovating science communication: the structure supporting ATLAS Education & Outreach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldfarb, Steven; Marcelloni, Claudia; Shaw, Kate; ATLAS Experiment

    2016-04-01

    The ATLAS Education & Outreach project has, over the years, developed a strong reputation for supporting innovation. Animated event displays, musical CDs, 3d movies, 3-storey murals, photo books, data sonifications, multi-media art installations, pub slams, masterclasses, documentaries, pop-up books, LEGO® models, and virtual visits are among the many diverse methods being exploited to communicate to the world the goals and accomplishments of the ATLAS Experiment at CERN. This variety of creativity and innovation does not pop out of a vacuum. It requires underlying motivation by the collaboration to communicate with the public; freedom and encouragement to do so in a creative manner; and a support structure for developing, implementing and promoting these activities. The ATLAS Outreach project has built this support structure on a well-defined communication plan, high-quality content, and effective delivery platforms. Most importantly, implementation of the program has been based on the effective engagement of the participating institutes and other key partners, not only to leverage modest human resources and funding, but also to take advantage of the rich imagination and inspiration of a diverse, global human collaboration. We present our current plan, on-going activities, and a few more fun innovations for the future.

  6. Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance of the Need-Supportive Teaching Style Scale for Physical Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Jing-Dong; Chung, Pak-Kwong

    2017-08-01

    The purpose of the current study was to examine the factor structure and measurement invariance of a scale measuring students' perceptions of need-supportive teaching (Need-Supportive Teaching Style Scale in Physical Education; NSTSSPE). We sampled 615 secondary school students in Hong Kong, 200 of whom also completed a follow-up assessment two months later. Factor structure of the scale was examined through exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM). Further, nomological validity of the NSTSSPE was evaluated by examining the relationships between need-supportive teaching style and student satisfaction of psychological needs. Finally, four measurement models-configural, metric invariance, scalar invariance, and item uniqueness invariance-were assessed using multiple group ESEM to test the measurement invariance of the scale across gender, grade, and time. ESEM results suggested a three-factor structure of the NSTSSPE. Nomological validity was supported, and weak, strong, and strict measurement invariance of the NSTSSPE was evidenced across gender, grade, and time. The current study provides initial psychometric support for the NSTSSPE to assess student perceptions of teachers' need-supportive teaching style in physical education classes.

  7. Design study of an IHX support structure for a POOL-TYPE Sodium-cooled fast reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Chang Gyu; Kim, Jong Bum; Lee, Jae Han

    2009-01-01

    The IHX (Intermediate Heat eXchanger) for a pool-type SFR (Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor) system transfers heat from the primary high temperature sodium to the intermediate cold temperature sodium. The upper structure of the IHX is a coaxial structure designed to form a flow path for both the secondary high temperature and low temperature sodium. The coaxial structure of the IHX consists of a central downcomer and riser for the incoming and outgoing intermediate sodium, respectively. The IHX of a pool-type SFR is supported at the upper surface of the reactor head with an IHX support structure that connects the IHX riser cylinder to the reactor head. The reactor head is generally maintained at the low temperature regime, but the riser cylinder is exposed in the elevated temperature region. The resultant complicated temperature distribution of the co-axial structure including the IHX support structure may induce a severe thermal stress distribution. In this study, the structural feasibility of the current upper support structure concept is investigated through a preliminary stress analysis and an alternative design concept to accommodate the IHTS (Intermediate Heat Transport System) piping expansion loads and severe thermal stress is proposed. Through the structural analysis it is found that the alternative design concept is effective in reducing the thermal stress and acquiring structural integrity

  8. Engineering review of the core support structure of the Gas Cooled Fast Breeder Reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1978-09-01

    The review of the core support structure of the gas cooled fast breeder reactor (GCFR) covered such areas as the design criteria, the design and analysis of the concepts, the development plan, and the projected manufacturing costs. Recommendations are provided to establish a basis for future work on the GCFR core support structure

  9. Relating performance of thin-film composite forward osmosis membranes to support layer formation and structure

    KAUST Repository

    Tiraferri, Alberto

    2011-02-01

    Osmotically driven membrane processes have the potential to treat impaired water sources, desalinate sea/brackish waters, and sustainably produce energy. The development of a membrane tailored for these processes is essential to advance the technology to the point that it is commercially viable. Here, a systematic investigation of the influence of thin-film composite membrane support layer structure on forward osmosis performance is conducted. The membranes consist of a selective polyamide active layer formed by interfacial polymerization on top of a polysulfone support layer fabricated by phase separation. By systematically varying the conditions used during the casting of the polysulfone layer, an array of support layers with differing structures was produced. The role that solvent quality, dope polymer concentration, fabric layer wetting, and casting blade gate height play in the support layer structure formation was investigated. Using a 1M NaCl draw solution and a deionized water feed, water fluxes ranging from 4 to 25Lm-2h-1 with consistently high salt rejection (>95.5%) were produced. The relationship between membrane structure and performance was analyzed. This study confirms the hypothesis that the optimal forward osmosis membrane consists of a mixed-structure support layer, where a thin sponge-like layer sits on top of highly porous macrovoids. Both the active layer transport properties and the support layer structural characteristics need to be optimized in order to fabricate a high performance forward osmosis membrane. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.

  10. Evaluation of the Impact of the EU Structural Support on the Competitiveness of Lithuanian Economics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rita Remeikiene

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Increasing amounts of the EU structural support in Lithuania require theoretical and practical research to disclose the determinants that have a significant impact on the competitiveness of Lithuanian economics. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the impact of the EU structural support on the competitiveness of Lithuanian economics. The methods of the research include systematic and comparative analysis of the scientific literature, expert evaluation and linear regression. The research disclosed the main determinants of country’s competitiveness. The results have revealed that EU structural support has the most significant impact on Lithuanian engineering and technological infrastructure. The impact of the support on country’s macroeconomic, scientific and social environment can also be considered as significant. The EU structural support has medium strong impact on education and business environment conditions in Lithuania. It has been established that, in the field of business advancement, Lithuanian should be rated as medium competitive. Hence, the increase in country’s competitiveness by employing EU structural funds should be treated as one of priority aims. In addition, responsible authorities should perform with higher efficiency seeking for higher competitiveness of the country.

  11. Research and Design of Fixed Photovoltaic Support Structure Based on SAP2000

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wang Xingxing

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available In the solar photovoltaic power station project, PV support is one of the main structures, and fixed photovoltaic PV support is one of the most commonly used stents. For the the actual demand in a Japanese photovoltaic power, SAP2000 finite element analysis software is used in this paper, based on Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS C 8955-2011, describing the system of fixed photovoltaic support structure design and calculation method and process. The results show that: (1 according to the general requirements of 4 rows and 5 columns fixed photovoltaic support, the typical permanent load of the PV support is 4679.4 N, the wind load being 1.05 kN/m2, the snow load being 0.89 kN/m2 and the seismic load is 5877.51 N; (2 by theoretical calculation of the two ends extended beam model, the beam span under the rail is determined 2200 mm; (3 by the way of using the single factor experiment, through the calculation and analysis of SAP2000, the three best supporting points of the support of the W stent are determined; (4 by comprehensive simulation, the optimal parameters for the rail, beam, support and bolt are 60× 60× 1.0, 60× 60× 1.0, 40× 50× 2.0, and M10 respectively.

  12. Preliminary structural evaluations of the STAR-LM reactor vessel and the support design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koo, Gyeong-Hoi; Sienicki, James J.; Moisseytsev, Anton

    2007-01-01

    In this paper, preliminary structural evaluations of the reactor vessel and support design of the STAR-LM (The Secure, Transportable, Autonomous Reactor - Liquid Metal variant), which is a lead-cooled reactor, are carried out with respect to an elevated temperature design and seismic design. For an elevated temperature design, the structural integrity of a direct coolant contact to the reactor vessel is investigated by using a detail structural analysis and the ASME-NH code rules. From the results of the structural analyses and the integrity evaluations, it was found that the design concept of a direct coolant contact to the reactor vessel cannot satisfy the ASME-NH rules for a given design condition. Therefore, a design modification with regards to the thermal barrier is introduced in the STAR-LM design. For a seismic design, detailed seismic time history response analyses for a reactor vessel with a consideration of a fluid-structure interaction are carried out for both a top support type and a bottom support type. And from the results of the hydrodynamic pressure responses, an investigation of the minimum thickness design of the reactor vessel is tentatively carried out by using the ASME design rules

  13. Degradation and Reinforcement of Industrial Gas Tank Support Structures. Thirty-Year Long Monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krentowski, Janusz R.; Knyziak, Piotr

    2017-10-01

    An analysis of reinforced concrete supporting structures of more than a dozen liquid gas tanks mounted on tower support structures located at different sites on Poland’s territory is presented. Stability testing of the degraded structures was carried out over a period of 30 years and pointed out significant defects that prevented safe operation of the tanks containing hazardous medium. Analysing complex stress states, as well as displacements of shell structure components, the authors developed a concept of strengthening the structures. Initial repair works, which had been carried out without proper supervision, failed to meet the mandatory requirements and were not compatible with the original design solutions. After several years of operation of the reinforced structures, their degradation states were assessed again. The next stage of repair works was carried out under the supervision of the authors together with authorized representatives of the investors.

  14. Use of volunteers' information to support proactive inspection of hydraulic structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cortes Arevalo, Juliette; Sterlacchini, Simone; Bogaard, Thom; Frigerio, Simone; Junier, Sandra; Schenato, Luca; van den Giesen, Nick

    2016-04-01

    Proactive management is particularly important to deal with the increasing occurrence of hydro-meteorological hazards in mountain areas were threats are often caused by multiple and sudden onset hazards such as debris flows. Citizen volunteers can be involved in supporting technicians on inspecting the structures' functional status. Such collaborative effort between managing organizations and local volunteers becomes more important under limited resources. To consider volunteers' information in support of proactive inspection of hydraulic structures, we developed a methodology applicable in day-to-day risk management. At first, in collaboration with technicians-in-charge, a data collection approach was developed for first level or pre-screening visual inspections that can be performed by volunteers. Methods comprise of a data collection exercise, an inspection forms and a learning session based on existent procedures in the FVG region and neighbouring regions. To systematically evaluate the individual inspection reports, we designed a support method by means of a multi-criteria method with fuzzy terms. The method allows the technicians-in-charge to categorize the reports in one of three levels, each corresponding with a course of action. To facilitate the evaluation of inspection reports, we transformed the decision support method into a prototype Web-GIS application. The design process of the Web-GIS framework followed a user-centred approach. The conceptual design incorporates four modules for managing the inspection reports: 1) Registered users, 2) Inspection planning; 3) Available reports and 4) Evaluation of reports. The development of the prototype focused on the evaluation module and was implemented based on standard and interoperable open source tools. Finally, we organized a workshop with technicians in the study area to test the decision support method and get insights about the usefulness of the Web-GIS framework. Participants that took part of the

  15. Completion of designing and manufacturing of the coil support structure of W7-X

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chauvin, Didier; Koppe, Torsten; Cardella, Antonio; Missal, Bernd; Pilopp, Dirk; Di Bartolo, Giovanni; Camin, Rocio; Gonzales, Ivan; Giordano, Luca; Langone, Stefano

    2011-01-01

    In February 2000, the project called coil support structure for the Wendelstein 7-X fusion machine was started. Since October 2009 the full production of this big (80 tons) and complex component is now completed and delivered at IPP Greifswald. The W7-X coil system consists of 20 planar and 50 non-planar coils. They are supported by a pentagonal 10 m diameter, 2.5 m high called coil support structure (CSS). The CSS is divided into five modules and each module consists of two equal half modules around the radial axis. Currently, the five modules were successfully assembled with the coils meeting the tight manufacturing tolerances. Designing, structural calculation, raw material procurement, welding and soldering technologies, milling, drilling, accurate machining, helium cooling pipe forming, laser metrology, ultra sonic cleaning and vacuum test are some of the key points used all along this successful manufacturing process. The lessons learned in the large scale production of this difficult kind of support structure will be presented as relevant experience for the realization of similar systems for future fusion devices, such as ITER.

  16. Structural support system for a superconducting magnet coil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meuser, R.B.

    1977-01-01

    The purpose of the ESCAR (Experimental Superconducting Accelerator Ring) project, now under way at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, is to gather data and experience in the design and operation of a relatively small synchrotron employing superconducting magnets. Such data are essential to ensure that the design of future large accelerators may proceed in a knowledgeable and responsible manner. One of the many engineering problems associated with a superconducting magnet is the design of the coil suspension system. The coil, maintained at the temperature of liquid helium, must be held rigidly by a structure that does not conduct too much heat into the liquid helium system. The suspension system used on the ESCAR magnets is described. Topics covered include the coil support system requirements, ESCAR magnet support system, and operating experience

  17. Basic studies on design supporting system of offshore structure. Part 2. Implementation of structural design supporting system of offshore structures; Kaiyo kozobutsu wo taisho to shita sekkei shien system ni kansuru kisoteki kenkyu. 2. Kaiyo kozobutsu no kozo sekkei shien system no kochiku

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nomoto, T.; Hamada, K.; Aoyama, K. [The University of Tokyo, Tokyo (Japan)

    1996-12-31

    In order to improve the existing design-supporting system for offshore structures, new functions are added to evaluate information of the products, especially those for structural designs. The structural analysis system should be provided with a function of design modification, to efficiently support the structural analysis of these structures. The new system adds hierarchy of various offshore structure models and three-dimensional dimensions to clarify structural and geometrical constraints and design-modification function. The design-modification function is included by use of the hierarchy. The other new functions are finite element analysis systems for the main structure and components, and rigidity calculation for the main structure. The main structure and functional element models are confirmed to be useful also for utilization of information, and provide necessary information of the product models. 11 refs., 11 figs.

  18. Basic studies on design supporting system of offshore structure. Part 2. Implementation of structural design supporting system of offshore structures; Kaiyo kozobutsu wo taisho to shita sekkei shien system ni kansuru kisoteki kenkyu. 2. Kaiyo kozobutsu no kozo sekkei shien system no kochiku

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nomoto, T; Hamada, K; Aoyama, K [The University of Tokyo, Tokyo (Japan)

    1997-12-31

    In order to improve the existing design-supporting system for offshore structures, new functions are added to evaluate information of the products, especially those for structural designs. The structural analysis system should be provided with a function of design modification, to efficiently support the structural analysis of these structures. The new system adds hierarchy of various offshore structure models and three-dimensional dimensions to clarify structural and geometrical constraints and design-modification function. The design-modification function is included by use of the hierarchy. The other new functions are finite element analysis systems for the main structure and components, and rigidity calculation for the main structure. The main structure and functional element models are confirmed to be useful also for utilization of information, and provide necessary information of the product models. 11 refs., 11 figs.

  19. An innovative bio-engineering retaining structure for supporting unstable soil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gianluca Bella

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents a new prefabricated bio-engineering structure for the support of unstable soil. This prefabricated structure is made of a steel frame which is completely filled with soil and a face made of tree trunks among which scions or autochthonous bushes are planted. Due to the difficulties in interpreting the complex interaction between soil and structure during the installation and lifetime, an in situ test was carried out in order to evaluate the state of stress in the steel frame and to understand the global behavior of the structure under service loads. On the basis of the obtained results, a procedure for checking the structure safety was proposed and discussed. An easy design method was developed during the research. Moreover, the use of this type of prefabricated structure shows several advantages, such as good performances in terms of stabilizing effects, and easy assembly and transport.

  20. Strength Analysis of a Large-Size Supporting Structure for an Offshore Wind Turbine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Niklas Karol

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The offshore wind power industry is the branch of electric energy production from renewable sources which is most intensively developed in EU countries. At present, there is a tendency to install larger-power wind turbines at larger distances from the seashore, on relatively deep waters. Consequently, technological solutions for new supporting structures intended for deeper water regions are undergoing rapid development now. Various design types are proposed and analysed, starting from gravitational supports (GBS, through monopiles and 3D frame structures (jackets, tripods, and ending with floating and submerged supports anchored to the seabed by flexible connectors, including TLP type solutions.

  1. Prototype of a diagnostic decision support tool for structural damage in masonry

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    De Vent, I.A.E.

    2011-01-01

    This prototype of a diagnostic decision support tool for structural damage in traditional masonry is the result of a PhD research project. The research project has aimed to improve and facilitate the diagnostic process by offering support in the initial phase in which hypotheses are generated. The

  2. Effect of adding support structures for overhanging part on fatigue strength in selective laser melting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kajima, Yuka; Takaichi, Atsushi; Nakamoto, Takayuki; Kimura, Takahiro; Kittikundecha, Nuttaphon; Tsutsumi, Yusuke; Nomura, Naoyuki; Kawasaki, Akira; Takahashi, Hidekazu; Hanawa, Takao; Wakabayashi, Noriyuki

    2018-02-01

    Selective laser melting (SLM) technology was recently introduced to fabricate dental prostheses. However, the fatigue strength of clasps in removable partial dentures prepared by SLM still requires improvement. In this study, we attempted to improve the fatigue strength of clasps by adding support structures for overhanging parts, which can generally be manufactured at an angle to be self-supporting. The results show that the fatigue strength of the supported specimens was more than twice that of unsupported specimens. Electron back-scattered diffraction analysis revealed that the supported specimens exhibited lower kernel average misorientation values than the unsupported specimens, which suggested that the support structure reduced the residual strain during the SLM process and helped to prevent micro-cracks led by thermal distortion. In addition, the supported specimens cooled more rapidly, thereby forming a finer grain size compared to that of the unsupported specimens, which contributed to improving the fatigue strength. The results of this study suggest that the fatigue strength of overhanging parts can be improved by intentionally adding support structures. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Dynamic structural disorder in supported nanoscale catalysts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rehr, J. J.; Vila, F. D.

    2014-01-01

    We investigate the origin and physical effects of “dynamic structural disorder” (DSD) in supported nano-scale catalysts. DSD refers to the intrinsic fluctuating, inhomogeneous structure of such nano-scale systems. In contrast to bulk materials, nano-scale systems exhibit substantial fluctuations in structure, charge, temperature, and other quantities, as well as large surface effects. The DSD is driven largely by the stochastic librational motion of the center of mass and fluxional bonding at the nanoparticle surface due to thermal coupling with the substrate. Our approach for calculating and understanding DSD is based on a combination of real-time density functional theory/molecular dynamics simulations, transient coupled-oscillator models, and statistical mechanics. This approach treats thermal and dynamic effects over multiple time-scales, and includes bond-stretching and -bending vibrations, and transient tethering to the substrate at longer ps time-scales. Potential effects on the catalytic properties of these clusters are briefly explored. Model calculations of molecule-cluster interactions and molecular dissociation reaction paths are presented in which the reactant molecules are adsorbed on the surface of dynamically sampled clusters. This model suggests that DSD can affect both the prefactors and distribution of energy barriers in reaction rates, and thus can significantly affect catalytic activity at the nano-scale

  4. Dynamic structural disorder in supported nanoscale catalysts

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rehr, J. J.; Vila, F. D. [Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195 (United States)

    2014-04-07

    We investigate the origin and physical effects of “dynamic structural disorder” (DSD) in supported nano-scale catalysts. DSD refers to the intrinsic fluctuating, inhomogeneous structure of such nano-scale systems. In contrast to bulk materials, nano-scale systems exhibit substantial fluctuations in structure, charge, temperature, and other quantities, as well as large surface effects. The DSD is driven largely by the stochastic librational motion of the center of mass and fluxional bonding at the nanoparticle surface due to thermal coupling with the substrate. Our approach for calculating and understanding DSD is based on a combination of real-time density functional theory/molecular dynamics simulations, transient coupled-oscillator models, and statistical mechanics. This approach treats thermal and dynamic effects over multiple time-scales, and includes bond-stretching and -bending vibrations, and transient tethering to the substrate at longer ps time-scales. Potential effects on the catalytic properties of these clusters are briefly explored. Model calculations of molecule-cluster interactions and molecular dissociation reaction paths are presented in which the reactant molecules are adsorbed on the surface of dynamically sampled clusters. This model suggests that DSD can affect both the prefactors and distribution of energy barriers in reaction rates, and thus can significantly affect catalytic activity at the nano-scale.

  5. Fatigue assessment of central support structure coil jacket of 4.5 MJ SMES

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Akhter, Javed; Bhunia, Uttam; Mondal, Bidhan Chandra; Nandi, Chinmay; Pal, Gautam; Saha, Subimal

    2013-01-01

    The Superconducting coil of 4.5 SMES will be of sector-toroidal type with 8 sectors. The maximum coil current will be 1200 Amperes. During its life time the SMES will be subjected to several cycles of charging and discharging. Thus the structural assessment of coil central support structure and the Liquid Helium Jacket, which comprises of the stress analysis and the fatigue life assessment, is a critical part of the design. In this paper fatigue life assessment of the 4.5 MJ SMES coil central support structure and the Liquid Helium Jacket together with the related stress analysis is presented. Coupled electromagnetic and Structural analysis using the commercial finite element analysis package ANSYS is performed. Considering the cyclic symmetry of the coil assembly, only 1/8th of the assembly is modelled. (author)

  6. Graphite oxidation and structural strength of graphite support column in VHTR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Byung Ha; No, Hee Cheno; Kim, Eung Soo; Oh, Chang H.

    2009-01-01

    The air-ingress event by a large pipe break is an important accident considered in design of very high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (VHTR). Core-collapse prediction is a main safety issue. Structural failure model are technically required. The objective of this study is to develop structural failure model for the supporting graphite material in the lower plenum of the GT-MHR (gas-turbine-modular high temperature reactor). Graphite support column is important for VHTR structural integrity. Graphite support columns are under the axial load. Critical strength of graphite column is related to slenderness ratio and bulk density. Through compression tests for fresh and oxidized graphite columns we show that compressive strength of IG-110 was 79.46 MPa. And, the buckling strength of IG-110 column was expressed by the empirical formula: σ 0 =σ straight-line - C L/r, σ straight-line =91.31 MPa, C=1.01. The results of uniform and non-uniform oxidation tests show that the strength degradation of oxidized graphite column is expressed in the following non-dimensional form: σ/σ 0 =exp(-kd), k=0.111. Also, from the results of the uniform oxidation test with a complicated-shape column, we found out that the above non-dimensional equation obtained from the uniform oxidation test is applicable to a uniform oxidation case with a complicated-shape column. (author)

  7. Vessel supporting structure for liquid metal cooled nuclear reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mahe, Armel; Jullien, Georges

    1974-01-01

    The supporting structure described is for a liquid metal cooled nuclear reactor, the vessel being of the type suspended to the end slab of the reactor. It includes a ring connected at one of its two ends to a single shell and at the other end to two shells. One of these three shells connected to the lower end of the ring forms the upper part of the vessel to be supported. The two other shells are embedded in two sperate parts of the slab. The ring and shell assembly is housed in an annular space provided in the end slab and separating it into two parts, namely a central part and a peripheral part [fr

  8. Tethered and Polymer Supported Bilayer Lipid Membranes: Structure and Function

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jakob Andersson

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Solid supported bilayer lipid membranes are model systems to mimic natural cell membranes in order to understand structural and functional properties of such systems. The use of a model system allows for the use of a wide variety of analytical tools including atomic force microscopy, impedance spectroscopy, neutron reflectometry, and surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy. Among the large number of different types of model membranes polymer-supported and tethered lipid bilayers have been shown to be versatile and useful systems. Both systems consist of a lipid bilayer, which is de-coupled from an underlying support by a spacer cushion. Both systems will be reviewed, with an emphasis on the effect that the spacer moiety has on the bilayer properties.

  9. Seismic reliability assessment of RC structures including soil–structure interaction using wavelet weighted least squares support vector machine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khatibinia, Mohsen; Javad Fadaee, Mohammad; Salajegheh, Javad; Salajegheh, Eysa

    2013-01-01

    An efficient metamodeling framework in conjunction with the Monte-Carlo Simulation (MCS) is introduced to reduce the computational cost in seismic reliability assessment of existing RC structures. In order to achieve this purpose, the metamodel is designed by combining weighted least squares support vector machine (WLS-SVM) and a wavelet kernel function, called wavelet weighted least squares support vector machine (WWLS-SVM). In this study, the seismic reliability assessment of existing RC structures with consideration of soil–structure interaction (SSI) effects is investigated in accordance with Performance-Based Design (PBD). This study aims to incorporate the acceptable performance levels of PBD into reliability theory for comparing the obtained annual probability of non-performance with the target values for each performance level. The MCS method as the most reliable method is utilized to estimate the annual probability of failure associated with a given performance level in this study. In WWLS-SVM-based MCS, the structural seismic responses are accurately predicted by WWLS-SVM for reducing the computational cost. To show the efficiency and robustness of the proposed metamodel, two RC structures are studied. Numerical results demonstrate the efficiency and computational advantages of the proposed metamodel for the seismic reliability assessment of structures. Furthermore, the consideration of the SSI effects in the seismic reliability assessment of existing RC structures is compared to the fixed base model. It shows which SSI has the significant influence on the seismic reliability assessment of structures.

  10. Design integration of favorable geometry, structural support and containment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Purcell, J.A.; McGehee, G.A.

    1991-07-01

    In designs for fissile processes at Savannah River site, different approaches have been used to provide engineered margins of safety for criticality with containment and seismic resistance as additional requirements. These requirements are frequently at odds in engineered systems. This paper proposes a plan to take advantage of vessels with favorable geometry to provide seismic resistance and to support a glovebox for containment. Thin slab tanks, small diameter pencil tanks, annular tanks, and other novel designs have been used for criticality safety. The requirement for DBE seismic resistance and rigid control of dimensions leads the designer to consider annular tanks for meeting these requirements. The high strength of annular tanks may logically be used to support secondary containment. Hands-on access to all instruments, piping etc. within containment can be provided through gloveports, thus a specialized glovebox. This paper examines the advantages of using an annular tank design to provide favorable geometry, structural support and containment

  11. Speakers' assumptions about the lexical flexibility of idioms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gibbs, R W; Nayak, N P; Bolton, J L; Keppel, M E

    1989-01-01

    In three experiments, we examined why some idioms can be lexically altered and still retain their figurative meanings (e.g., John buttoned his lips about Mary can be changed into John fastened his lips about Mary and still mean "John didn't say anything about Mary"), whereas other idioms cannot be lexically altered without losing their figurative meanings (e.g., John kicked the bucket, meaning "John died," loses its idiomatic meaning when changed into John kicked the pail). Our hypothesis was that the lexical flexibility of idioms is determined by speakers' assumptions about the ways in which parts of idioms contribute to their figurative interpretations as a whole. The results of the three experiments indicated that idioms whose individual semantic components contribute to their overall figurative meanings (e.g., go out on a limb) were judged as less disrupted by changes in their lexical items (e.g., go out on a branch) than were nondecomposable idioms (e.g., kick the bucket) when their individual words were altered (e.g., punt the pail). These findings lend support to the idea that both the syntactic productivity and the lexical makeup of idioms are matters of degree, depending on the idioms' compositional properties. This conclusion suggests that idioms do not form a unique class of linguistic items, but share many of the properties of more literal language.

  12. Structural analysis of Wendelstein 7-X magnet weight supports

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Egorov, Konstantin; Bykov, Victor; Schauer, Felix; van Eeten, Paul

    2009-01-01

    The Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) optimized stellarator is presently under construction at the Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik in Greifswald. The goal of W7-X is to verify that the advanced stellarator magnetic confinement concept is a viable option for a fusion reactor. The W7-X coil system consisting of 70 superconducting coils of seven different types is supported by a massive central support structure (CSS), and thermally protected by the cryostat. The magnet system's weight is borne by supports (cryo-legs) which are bolted to the cold CSS. They reach down through the cryostat wall to the warm machine base which means that a small thermal conductivity is important to keep thermal losses at an acceptable level. Therefore, the design of the cryo-legs incorporates glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) tubes which are shrink-fitted into stainless steel flanges at the ends. In order to ensure free thermal shrinkage of the magnet system and to reduce stresses in the cryo-legs, sliding and rotating bearings are used as interfaces to the machine base. Tie rods between the machine base and the warm ends of the cryo-legs prevent toroidal movements of the magnet system with respect to the torus axis. Nevertheless, significant deformation of the CSS during operation results in tilting of the cryo-legs in such a way that toroidal movements of the whole magnet system take place. The number of cryo-legs and their stiffness are chosen such that the toroidal movement is kept within an acceptable range. All these restrictions, as well as requirements concerning simplicity and ease of assembly, make the cryo-leg design and structural analysis quite a complex and challenging task. The paper presents an overview of structural analyses of the W7-X magnet system with cryo-legs, local analyses of a cryo-leg under design loads, and FE simulation of the cryo-leg mechanical test.

  13. The gender gap in student engagement: The role of teachers' autonomy support, structure, and involvement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lietaert, Sofie; Roorda, Debora; Laevers, Ferre; Verschueren, Karine; De Fraine, Bieke

    2015-12-01

    The gender gap in education in favour of girls is a widely known phenomenon. Boys generally have higher dropout rates, obtain lower grades, and show lower engagement. Insight into factors related to these academic outcomes could help to address the gender gap. This study investigated, for Dutch language classes, (1) how boys and girls differ in behavioural engagement, (2) which teacher support dimensions (autonomy support, structure, involvement) may explain gender differences in engagement (mediation hypothesis), and (3) whether and which of these teacher support dimensions matter more for boys' as opposed to girls' engagement (moderation or differential effects hypothesis). A total of 385 Grade 7 students and their 15 language teachers participated in this study. Teacher support was assessed through student reports. Student engagement was measured using student, teacher, and observer reports. By means of structural equation modelling, the mediating role of the teacher support dimensions for gender differences in behavioural engagement was tested. The potential differential role of the teacher support dimensions for boys' and girls' engagement was investigated through multigroup analysis. Boys were less engaged than girls and reported lower support from their teacher. Autonomy support and involvement partially mediated the relationship between gender and behavioural engagement. Autonomy support was demonstrated to be a protective factor for boys' engagement but not for girls'. Structure and involvement contributed equally to engagement for both sexes. Although involvement and autonomy support partly explained the gender gap in engagement (mediation hypothesis), more support was found for differential effects of autonomy support on boys' versus girls' engagement (differential effects hypothesis). © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

  14. Structural analysis of TFTR TF coils and support structure for 6 Tesla operation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zatz, I.J.; Cargulia, G.; Lontai, L.

    1995-01-01

    The Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR), which has been on line since December 1982, has successfully operated at its design Toroidal Field (TF) of 5.2 Tesla. Analysis of test data has indicated that the measured peak D-D neutron power in supershots may be scaled to the fourth power of TF field. Increasing the TF field to 6 Tesla provides the opportunity to explore the possibility of improving the D-T fusion yield, with the use of tritium. This increase in TF field from 5.2 to 6.0 Tesla increases the centering force by 33% and the out-of-plane force by 15% over previous peak operating levels. To examine the impact of the increase in loads on the TF coil, case and supporting structure, finite element analyses (FEA) were performed with and without the presence of loose bolts in the TF case. Note that the loose bolts comprise a fraction of the total number of bolts fastening the TF case sidewalls to the inner and outer rings of the case. Extensive analysis was performed using the FEA results in conjunction with supplementary calculations. Results are presented for the TF case, bolts, copper conductors, insulation, and supporting structure which indicate that the TF coils can successfully operate at 6 Tesla for a reasonable number of pulses

  15. MATHEMATICAL AND INFORMATION SUPPORT FOR CALCULATION AND DESIGN OF TUBE GAS HEATERS LOCATED IN STRUCTURES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    CHORNOMORETS H. Y.

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Raising of problem. For the design and construction of tube gas heaters in building structures to need solve the problems of analysis and synthesis of such heating system. The mathematical model of this system is consists of: mathematical model of the tube gas heater, mathematical model of heat distribution in the building structure and corresponding boundary conditions. To solve the tasks of analysis and synthesis must be appropriate mathematical and information support. Purpose. The purpose of this paper is to describe the developed mathematical and information support that solve the problems of analysis and synthesis of heating systems with gas tube heaters, located in building constructions.Conclusion. Mathematical support includes the development of algorithms and software for the numerical solution of problems analysis and synthesis heating system. Information support includes all the necessary parameters characterizing the thermal properties of materials which used in the heating system, and the parameters characterizing the heat exchange between the coolant and components of the heating system. It was developed algorithms for solving problems of analysis and synthesis heating system with tube gas heater located in structures to use evolutionary search algorithm and software. It was made experimental study and was obtained results allow to calculate the heat transfer from the gas-air mixture to the boundary surface of the building structure. This results and computation will provide full information support for solving problems of analysis and synthesis of the heating system. Was developed mathematical and software support, which allows to solve the problems of analysis and synthesis heating systems with gas tube heaters, located in building structures. Tube gas heaters located in the building structures allows with small capital expenditures to provide space heating. Is necessary to solve the problems of analysis (calculation and

  16. The Flexible Faraday Cage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gluck, Paul

    2004-03-01

    The Faraday ice-pail experiment is performed when studying the distribution of charges in conductors: Inside a hollow conductor the net charge is zero, and any excess charge resides on the outside surface.

  17. Monte Carlo simulation - a powerful tool to support experimental activities in structure reliability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yuritzinn, T.; Chapuliot, S.; Eid, M.; Masson, R.; Dahl, A.; Moinereau, D.

    2003-01-01

    Monte-Carlo Simulation (MCS) can have different uses in supporting structure reliability investigations and assessments. In this paper we focus our interest on the use of MCS as a numerical tool to support the fitting of the experimental data related to toughness experiments. (authors)

  18. The structure of occupational health nurses' support for return-to-work to workers with depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hatanaka, Junko

    2016-07-29

    The present study aimed to explore the structure of occupational health nurses' support for return-to-work to workers with depression. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 occupational health nurses who support workers returning to work. Data were analyzed using the Modified Grounded Theory Approach. The qualitatively analyzed data was grouped into 9 categories. The support for return-to-work was divided into 3 periods: (1) the first priority for recovery, (2) preparation for return-to-work, and (3) adaptation to work. There were indirect supports to workers such as "environmental arrangement for medical treatment," "connection," and "support form parties concerned about workers," and direct supports such as "readiness for medical treatment," "overcoming social and psychological problems," and "working life independence. " Direct support was facilitated by "construction of the relationship. " The occupational health nurses' philosophy was to support "profitable return-to-work for both the worker and the employer. " These processes were "support of confidence recovery process " to regain confidence lost through absence from work because of depression and to accomplish a smooth return-to-work. There were problems in each period corresponding to the return-to-work conditions, and occupational health nurses supported the employees in overcoming each problem. Moreover, it was said that cooperation with the parties concerned in the office would greatly influence the success or failure in the return-to-work support, and it was thought that direct supports and indirect supports to employees with respect to adjustment with the parties concerned in the office were necessary. The structure of occupational health nurses' supports was to support the confidence recovery process of workers by indirect and direct support at each period of return-to-work.

  19. Case study: highly loaded MSE bridge supporting structure, Syncrude NMAPS conveyor overpasses

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Scherger, B.; Brockbank, B. [Reinforced Earth Company Ltd., Edmonton, AB (Canada); Mimura, W. [Syncrude Canada Ltd., Edmonton, AB (Canada)

    2005-07-01

    A crusher and conveyor system was constructed at the Mildred Lake Oil Sands Mine near Fort McMurray, Alberta in order to facilitate ore delivery from Syncrude's North Mine. As part of this North Mine Auxiliary Production System (NMAPS), Syncrude Canada and their consultant Cosyn Technology identified the need for 3 overpasses over conveyors in the North Mine in order to provide unrestricted crossing over the operating conveyor system for the heavy hauler trucks and light vehicle mine traffic. The overpasses were designed to support the dead load of the granular fill and the live load of two loaded heavy hauler trucks, with a design load for each loaded hauler of 670 900 kg. This paper reviewed various aspects of the design from planning, structure selection, and overall stability and bearing capacity considerations. The different designs in the 3 new overpasses accommodated foundation and loading requirements. The designs ranged from the use of precast one-piece reinforced concrete arches, Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) bridge abutment technology, and a combination of the two. The MSE retaining walls directly supported the bridge superstructure without the use of piles or other deep structural foundations. The design was challenging because of the significant vertical stresses transferred onto the wall. All 3 overpasses also used MSE walls for the supporting end wing walls. The main focus of this paper was on the heavily loaded MSE walls supporting the bridge abutment style overpasses. This structure has illustrated the capability of properly designed MSE wall structures with steel soil reinforcement and reinforced precast concrete face panels to successfully carry bridge footing pressure loadings up to 545 kPa. It was concluded that this case has good potential for use in future bridge projects in both the industrial and highway sectors. 2 refs., 7 figs.

  20. Developing and supporting coordinators of structured mentoring schemes in South Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Penny Abbott

    2010-10-01

    Research purpose: The aim of this research is to discover what the characteristics of coordinators of structured mentoring schemes in South Africa are, what is required of such coordinators and how they feel about their role, with a view to improving development and support for them. Motivation for the study: The limited amount of information about role requirements for coordinators which is available in the literature is not based on empirical research. This study aims to supply the empirical basis for improved development and support for coordinators. Research design and method: A purposive sample of 25 schemes was identified and both quantitative and qualitative data, obtained through questionnaires and interviews, were analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Main findings: Functions of coordinators tend to be similar across different types of mentoring schemes. A passion for mentoring is important, as the role involves many frustrations. There is little formalised development and support for coordinators. Practical/managerial implications: The study clarifies the functions of the coordinator, offers a job description and profile and makes suggestions on how to improve the development of the coordinator’s skills. Contribution/value-add: An understanding of what is required from a coordinator, how the necessary knowledge and skills can be developed and how the coordinator can be supported,adds value to an organisation setting up or reviewing its structured mentoring schemes.

  1. Regression analysis of pulsed eddy current signals for inspection of steam generator tube support structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Buck, J.; Underhill, P.R.; Mokros, S.G.; Morelli, J.; Krause, T.W.; Babbar, V.K.; Lepine, B.

    2015-01-01

    Nuclear steam generator (SG) support structure degradation and fouling can result in damage to SG tubes and loss of SG efficiency. Conventional eddy current technology is extensively used to detect cracks, frets at supports and other flaws, but has limited capabilities in the presence of multiple degradation modes or fouling. Pulsed eddy current (PEC) combined with principal components analysis (PCA) and multiple linear regression models was examined for the inspection of support structure degradation and SG tube off-centering with the goal of extending results to include additional degradation modes. (author)

  2. 40 CFR 63.2550 - What definitions apply to this subpart?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ...) Drums, pails, and totes; (7) Flexible elephant trunk systems that draw ambient air (i.e., the system is.../year of liquids that contain organic HAP with a rack-weighted average partial pressure, as defined in...

  3. Giardia: General Information

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... lives in the intestines and is passed in feces (poop). Once outside the body, Giardia can sometimes survive ... changing tables, diaper pails, or toys) that contain feces (poop) from an infected person or animal Drinking ...

  4. Printability Study of Bioprinted Tubular Structures Using Liquid Hydrogel Precursors in a Support Bath

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Houzhu Ding

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Microextrusion-based bioprinting within a support bath material is an emerging additive manufacturing paradigm for complex three-dimensional (3D tissue construct fabrication. Although a support bath medium enables arbitrary in-process geometries to be printed, a significant challenge lies in preserving the shape fidelity upon the extraction of the support bath material. Based on the bioprinting in a support bath paradigm, this paper advances quantitative analyses to systematically determine the printability of cell-laden liquid hydrogel precursors towards filament-based tissue constructs. First, a yield stress nanoclay material is judiciously selected as the support bath medium owing to its insensitivity to temperature and ionic variations that are considered in the context of the current gelatin-alginate bio-ink material formulation. Furthermore, phenomenological observations for the rheology-mediated print outcomes enable the compositions for the bio-ink material (10% gelatin, 3% alginate, in tandem with the support bath medium (4% nanoclay, 0.5% CaCl2, to be identified. To systematically evaluate the performance outcomes for bioprinting within a support bath, this paper advances an experimental parametric study to optimize the 3D structural shape fidelity by varying parameters such as the layer height, extrusion flowrate, printing temperature, and printhead speed, towards fabricating complex 3D structures with the stabilization of the desired shape outcome. Specifically, it is found that the layer height and printhead speed are determinant parameters for the extent of successive layer fusion. Moreover, maintenance of an optimal bath temperature is identified as a key parameter for establishing the printability for the hydrogel bio-ink. Studying this effect is enabled by the custom design of a PID temperature control system with integration with the bioprinter for real-time precision control of the support bath temperature. In order to qualify

  5. Organizational Structures and Processes to Support and Sustain Effective Technical Assistance in a State-Wide Multi-Tiered System of Support Initiative

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morrison, Julie Q.; Russell, Christine; Dyer, Stephanie; Metcalf, Terri; Rahschulte, Rebecca L.

    2014-01-01

    Despite the national proliferation of technical assistance as a driver for school reform and as a model for embedded and sustained professional development, very little is known about the organizational structures and processes needed to support technical assistance. The purpose of this paper is to describe a structured needs assessment process…

  6. Structural analysis of vacuum vessel and blanket support system for International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kitamura, Kazunori; Koizumi, Kouichi; Takatsu, Hideyuki; Tada, Eisuke; Shimane, Hideo.

    1996-11-01

    Structural analyses of vacuum vessel and blanket support system have been performed to examine their integrated structural behavior under the design loads and to assess their structural feasibility, with two kinds of three-dimensional (3-D) FEM models; a detailed model with 18deg sector region to investigate the detailed mechanical behaviors of the blanket and vessel components under the several symmetric loads, and a 180deg torus model with relatively coarser meshes to assess the structural responses under the asymmetric VDE load. The analytical results obtained by both models were also compared for the several symmetric loads to check the equivalent mechanical stiffness of the 180deg torus model. As the results, most of the vessel and blanket components have sufficient mechanical integrities with the stress level below the allowable limit of the materials, while the lower parts of inboard/outboard back plate need to be reinforced by increasing the thickness and/or mounting a toroidal ring support at the lower edge of the back plate. Two types of eigenvalue analyses were also conducted with the 180deg torus model to investigate natural frequencies of the vessel torus support system and to assess the mechanical integrity of the elastic stability under the asymmetric VDE load. Analytical results show that the mechanical stiffness of the vessel gravity support should be higher in the view point of a seismic response, and that those of the blanket support structures should also be increased for the buckling strength against the VDE vertical force. (author)

  7. Dual linear structured support vector machine tracking method via scale correlation filter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Weisheng; Chen, Yanquan; Xiao, Bin; Feng, Chen

    2018-01-01

    Adaptive tracking-by-detection methods based on structured support vector machine (SVM) performed well on recent visual tracking benchmarks. However, these methods did not adopt an effective strategy of object scale estimation, which limits the overall tracking performance. We present a tracking method based on a dual linear structured support vector machine (DLSSVM) with a discriminative scale correlation filter. The collaborative tracker comprised of a DLSSVM model and a scale correlation filter obtains good results in tracking target position and scale estimation. The fast Fourier transform is applied for detection. Extensive experiments show that our tracking approach outperforms many popular top-ranking trackers. On a benchmark including 100 challenging video sequences, the average precision of the proposed method is 82.8%.

  8. 3D printing PLA and silicone elastomer structures with sugar solution support material

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamidi, Armita; Jain, Shrenik; Tadesse, Yonas

    2017-04-01

    3D printing technology has been used for rapid prototyping since 1980's and is still developing in a way that can be used for customized products with complex design and miniature features. Among all the available 3D printing techniques, Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) is one of the most widely used technologies because of its capability to build different structures by employing various materials. However, complexity of parts made by FDM is greatly limited by restriction of using support materials. Support materials are often used in FDM for several complex geometries such as fully suspended shapes, overhanging surfaces and hollow features. This paper describes an approach to 3D print a structure using silicone elastomer and polylactide fiber (PLA) by employing a novel support material that is soluble in water. This support material is melted sugar which can easily be prepared at a low cost. Sugar is a carbohydrate, which is found naturally in plants such as sugarcane and sugar beets; therefore, it is completely organic and eco-friendly. As another advantage, the time for removing this material from the part is considerably less than other commercially available support materials and it can be removed easily by warm water without leaving any trace. Experiments were done using an inexpensive desktop 3D printer to fabricate complex structures for use in soft robots. The results envision that further development of this system would contribute to a method of fabrication of complex parts with lower cost yet high quality.

  9. Dimensional structure of the demand control support questionnaire: a Brazilian context.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hökerberg, Yara Hahr Marques; Aguiar, Odaleia Barbosa; Reichenheim, Michael; Faerstein, Eduardo; Valente, Joaquim Gonçalves; Fonseca, Maria de Jesus; Passos, Sonia Regina Lambert

    2010-04-01

    According to Karasek, job strain results from an interaction between high demands and low decision latitude. To reassess the dimensional structure and evaluate the internal consistency of demand control support questionnaire (DCSQ), a shortened version of job content questionnaire that was not sufficiently evaluated in validation studies. The study investigated 825 workers who completed the DCSQ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; to 399 workers, the questionnaire was self-administered at a hospital (2004-2005), and 426 workers were interviewed at nine restaurants (2006-2007). Confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation models was used to test theoretical structure of dimensionality. Internal consistency was evaluated by composite reliability and convergent validity by average variance extracted. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the instrument in three dimensions: demands, skill discretion and decision authority. The best fit model was achieved by removing social support at work and the item repetitive work (skill discretion). A cross-loading from learning new things on demands and an error measurement correlation between work fast and work intense were confirmed. Composite reliability was acceptable for all dimensions, except for demands (0.58), which also showed inadequate average variance extracted (0.32). This final model was confirmed in separate analyses according to work setting, but the loadings of demands were lower for restaurant workers. Our results indicated that skill discretion and decision authority formed two distinct dimensions. Additionally, the item repetitive work should be removed, as well as one of the items work fast or work intense (demands). Future research is still required to confirm these findings.

  10. Data structures supporting multi-region adaptive isogeometric analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perduta, Anna; Putanowicz, Roman

    2018-01-01

    Since the first paper published in 2005 Isogeometric Analysis (IGA) has gained strong interest and found applications in many engineering problems. Despite the advancement of the method, there are still far fewer software implementations comparing to Finite Element Method. The paper presents an approach to the development of data structures that can support multi-region IGA with local mesh refinement (patch-based) and possible application in IGA-FEM models. The purpose of this paper is to share original design concepts, that authors have created while developing an IGA package, which other researchers may find beneficial for their own simulation codes.

  11. Structural Design and Monitoring Analysis of Foundation Pit Support in Yiwu Huishang Tiandi

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Chunsu

    2017-08-01

    Huishang Tiandi deep foundation pit in Yiwu is a two-story basement,which is located in the downtown area and adjacent to the city center main traffic trunk. The surrounding environment is too com-plex to slope. The excavation depth is large, the formation is weak and complex, and the groundwater level is high.In order to ensure the safety of the foundation wall and the surrounding environment, the deformation of the foundation pit support is strictly controlled, and the deformation and internal force of the foundation supporting structure and the surrounding building are monitored.The deformation law of the foundation pit is obtained through the analysis of the horizontal displacement, the deformation rate of the supporting struc-ture, the surrounding environment of the foundation pit and the internal force of the anchor cable. The relia-bility and rationality of the design of foundation pit support are verified. It is of reference value for the de-sign and construction of other deep foundation pit engineering in Yiwu area.

  12. Water Management: in Africa and the Middle East

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    There too, despite this availability, numerous water-related problems exist. ... The analogy may be particularly useful for Africa, where a relatively high proportion of ...... The water could then be sold by the pail or other conventional container.

  13. Novel parallel plate condenser for single particle electrostatic force measurements in atomic force microscope

    KAUST Repository

    Kwek, Jin Wang; Vakarelski, Ivan Uriev; Ng, Waikiong; Heng, Jerry; Tan, Reginald

    2011-01-01

    and image charges. The method can be used for the rapid evaluation of the charging and polarizability properties of the microparticle as well as an alternative to the conventional Faraday's pail technique. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.

  14. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure and X-ray diffraction studies on supported Ni catalysts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aldea, N.; Marginean, P.; Yaning, Xie; Tiandou, Hu; Tao, Liu; Wu, Zhongua; ZhenYa, Dai

    1999-01-01

    In the first part of this paper, we present a study based on EXAFS spectroscopy. This method can yield structural information about the local environment around a specific atomic constituent in the amorphous materials, the location and chemical state of any catalytic atom on any support or point defect structures, in alloys and composites. EXAFS is a specific technique of the scattering of X-ray on materials. The present study is aimed toward elucidation of the local structure of Ni atoms and their interaction with oxide support. The second goal of the paper consists in X-ray diffraction on the same samples. X-ray diffraction method that is capable to determine average particle size, microstrains, probability of faults as well as particle size distribution function of supported Ni catalysts is presented. The method is based on the Fourier analysis of a single X-Ray diffraction profile. The results obtained on supported nickel catalysts, which are used in H/D isotopic exchange reactions are reported. The global structure is obtained with a new fitting method based on the Generalised Fermi Function facilities for approximation and Fourier transform of the experimental X-Ray line profiles. Both types of measurements were performed on Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facilities (BSRF). (authors)

  15. Aseismatic supporting structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ogasawara, Hideo; Tachi, Yasuo

    1988-01-01

    As one of the large subjects for putting FBRs to practical use, the increase of the economical efficiency is pointed out, and for this purpose, the reduction of the construction cost by the simplification of system and the rationalization of equipment structures becomes an important target of development. The operational condition of FBR cooling system is high temperature above 500 deg C at core exit, and low pressure below 6 kg-cm 2 g. Consequently, the effect of earthquake load in the structural strength design is relatively large, accordingly the reduction of earthquake load is effective from the viewpoint of structural rationalization. Hitachi Ltd. considered that earthquake isolation is an effective means to reduce earthquake response, and has examined the effect and feasibility of introducing earthquake isolation into FBR plants for three years from 1984. In this study, the mechanical characteristics and endurance of the system suitable to the earthquake isolation of FBRs were examined, the effect of reducing earthquake response by earthquake isolation was grasped, and the effect of plant rationalization brought about by the reduction of earthquake input was examined. The summary of these studies is shown. (Kako, I.)

  16. Design and analysis of the vacuum vessel supports and limiting structure on EAST 4.6 GHz LHCD system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Bo; Wu Jiefeng; Zhu Wenhua; Liu Liang

    2013-01-01

    Presently, a remote steering antenna is building for 4.6 GHz lower hybrid wave system on EAST, which needs 100 mm movable distance and very strong basis as well as absolutely reliable limiting stroke. For reliable structure strength better than any section bar, this paper presents 3 kinds of different high-strength welding holder and support, which are named as support frame, fixed foundation, limiting stroke. All of them are made of 316L stainless steel. Three types of welding structures are employed designed as frame structure, plug-welding structure and portal strengthened square steel welding component. Result computed by ANSYS shows that structure strengthen of 3 supports is stable and firmly reliable. (authors)

  17. Generalized Nuclear Data: A New Structure (with Supporting Infrastructure) for Handling Nuclear Data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mattoon, C.M.; Beck, B.R.; Patel, N.R.; Summers, N.C.; Hedstrom, G.W.; Brown, D.A.

    2012-01-01

    The Evaluated Nuclear Data File (ENDF) format was designed in the 1960s to accommodate neutron reaction data to support nuclear engineering applications in power, national security and criticality safety. Over the years, the scope of the format has been extended to handle many other kinds of data including charged particle, decay, atomic, photo-nuclear and thermal neutron scattering. Although ENDF has wide acceptance and support for many data types, its limited support for correlated particle emission, limited numeric precision, and general lack of extensibility mean that the nuclear data community cannot take advantage of many emerging opportunities. More generally, the ENDF format provides an unfriendly environment that makes it difficult for new data evaluators and users to create and access nuclear data. The Cross Section Evaluation Working Group (CSEWG) has begun the design of a new Generalized Nuclear Data (or 'GND') structure, meant to replace older formats with a hierarchy that mirrors the underlying physics, and is aligned with modern coding and database practices. In support of this new structure, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has updated its nuclear data/reactions management package Fudge to handle GND structured nuclear data. Fudge provides tools for converting both the latest ENDF format (ENDF-6) and the LLNL Evaluated Nuclear Data Library (ENDL) format to and from GND, as well as for visualizing, modifying and processing (i.e., converting evaluated nuclear data into a form more suitable to transport codes) GND structured nuclear data. GND defines the structure needed for storing nuclear data evaluations and the type of data that needs to be stored. But unlike ENDF and ENDL, GND does not define how the data are to be stored in a file. Currently, Fudge writes the structured GND data to a file using the eXtensible Markup Language (XML), as it is ASCII based and can be viewed with any text editor. XML is a meta-language, meaning that it

  18. Generalized Nuclear Data: A New Structure (with Supporting Infrastructure) for Handling Nuclear Data

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mattoon, C.M. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore CA (United States); Beck, B.R.; Patel, N.R.; Summers, N.C.; Hedstrom, G.W. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore CA (United States); Brown, D.A. [National Nuclear Data Center, Upton NY (United States)

    2012-12-15

    The Evaluated Nuclear Data File (ENDF) format was designed in the 1960s to accommodate neutron reaction data to support nuclear engineering applications in power, national security and criticality safety. Over the years, the scope of the format has been extended to handle many other kinds of data including charged particle, decay, atomic, photo-nuclear and thermal neutron scattering. Although ENDF has wide acceptance and support for many data types, its limited support for correlated particle emission, limited numeric precision, and general lack of extensibility mean that the nuclear data community cannot take advantage of many emerging opportunities. More generally, the ENDF format provides an unfriendly environment that makes it difficult for new data evaluators and users to create and access nuclear data. The Cross Section Evaluation Working Group (CSEWG) has begun the design of a new Generalized Nuclear Data (or 'GND') structure, meant to replace older formats with a hierarchy that mirrors the underlying physics, and is aligned with modern coding and database practices. In support of this new structure, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has updated its nuclear data/reactions management package Fudge to handle GND structured nuclear data. Fudge provides tools for converting both the latest ENDF format (ENDF-6) and the LLNL Evaluated Nuclear Data Library (ENDL) format to and from GND, as well as for visualizing, modifying and processing (i.e., converting evaluated nuclear data into a form more suitable to transport codes) GND structured nuclear data. GND defines the structure needed for storing nuclear data evaluations and the type of data that needs to be stored. But unlike ENDF and ENDL, GND does not define how the data are to be stored in a file. Currently, Fudge writes the structured GND data to a file using the eXtensible Markup Language (XML), as it is ASCII based and can be viewed with any text editor. XML is a meta-language, meaning that it

  19. Effects of supporting structures on dynamic response of nuclear power plant equipment and piping systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stoykovich, M.

    1982-01-01

    This paper presents the evaluation of the effects of supporting structures in dynamic analysis of equipment or piping systems, which involves formulations for determining reduced stiffness and mass matrices associated with the number of degrees of freedom corresponding to the support nodal points of a finite element model. Also, evaluation of a composite damping matrix associated with different damping properties of supporting structures, equipment, and piping systems is considered. Determination of spring constants, effective masses and mass moments of inertia, and damping values as fractions of critical damping on the basis of the theory of rigid bases on the surfaces of an elastic halfspace is demonstrated

  20. Optimization of offshore wind turbine support structures using analytical gradient-based method

    OpenAIRE

    Chew, Kok Hon; Tai, Kang; Ng, E.Y.K.; Muskulus, Michael

    2015-01-01

    Design optimization of the offshore wind turbine support structure is an expensive task; due to the highly-constrained, non-convex and non-linear nature of the design problem. This report presents an analytical gradient-based method to solve this problem in an efficient and effective way. The design sensitivities of the objective and constraint functions are evaluated analytically while the optimization of the structure is performed, subject to sizing, eigenfrequency, extreme load an...

  1. Restoration solution of increased vibrations of the fan plant's support structure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Varju Đerđ

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a restoration solution of increased vibration of the fan plant's support structure. Based on vibrodiagnostic tests and dynamic analysis, a technical solution of the problem is given with additional steel bracing. There is particular emphasis on the diagnosis and forming of a dynamic model.

  2. A Java Chemical Structure Editor Supporting the Modular Chemical Descriptor Language (MCDL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrei A. Gakh

    2006-03-01

    Full Text Available A compact Modular Chemical Descriptor Language (MCDL chemical structure editor (Java applet is described. The small size (approximately 200 KB of the applet allows its use to display and edit chemical structures in various Internet applications. The editor supports the MCDL format, in which structures are presented in compact canonical form and is capable of restoring bond orders as well as of managing atom and bond drawing overlap. A small database of cage and large cyclic fragment is used for optimal representation of difficult-to-draw molecules. The improved algorithm of the structure diagram generation can be used for other chemical notations that lack atomic coordinates (SMILES, InChI.

  3. Assembly, Loading, and Cool‐down of the FRESCA2 Support Structure

    CERN Document Server

    Muñoz Garcia, J E; Ziemianski, D T; Rondeaux, F; de Rijk, G; Bajas, H; Rifflet, J M; Perez, J C; Durante, M; Charrondiere, M; Bajko, M; Devaux, M; Guinchard, M; Ferracin, P; Fessia, P; Manil, P

    2014-01-01

    This paper reports on the assembly process and cool-down to cryogenic temperature of the support structure of FRESCA2, which is a dipole magnet for upgrading the actual CERN cable test facility FRESCA. The structure of the FRESCA2 magnet is designed to provide the adequate pre-stress, through the use of keys, bladders, and an Al alloy shrinking cylinder. In order to qualify the assembly and loading procedures, the structure was assembled with Al blocks (dummy coils) that replaced the brittle Nb$_{3}$Sn coils, and then cooled-down to 77 K with liquid nitrogen. The evolution of the mechanical behaviour was monitored via strain gauges located on different components of the structure (shell, rods, yokes and dummy coils). We focus on the expected stresses within the structure after assembly, loading and cool-down. The expected stresses were determined from the 3D finite element model of the structure. A comparison of the 3D model stress predictions with the strain gauge data measurements is made. The coherence bet...

  4. Pattern-based Automatic Translation of Structured Power System Data to Functional Models for Decision Support Applications

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Heussen, Kai; Weckesser, Johannes Tilman Gabriel; Kullmann, Daniel

    2013-01-01

    Improved information and insight for decision support in operations and design are central promises of a smart grid. Well-structured information about the composition of power systems is increasingly becoming available in the domain, e.g. due to standard information models (e.g. CIM or IEC61850......) or otherwise structured databases. More measurements and data do not automatically improve decisions, but there is an opportunity to capitalize on this information for decision support. With suitable reasoning strategies data can be contextualized and decision-relevant events can be promoted and identified....... This paper presents an approach to link available structured power system data directly to a functional representation suitable for diagnostic reasoning. The translation method is applied to test cases also illustrating decision support....

  5. Validation of spectral methods for the seismic analysis of multi-supported structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Viola, B.

    1999-01-01

    There are many methodologies for the seismic analysis of buildings. When a seism occurs, structures such piping systems in nuclear power plants are subjected to motions that may be different at each support point. Therefore it is necessary to develop methods that take into account the multi-supported effect. In a first time, a bibliography analysis on the different methods that exist has been carried out. The aim was to find a particular method applicable to the study of piping systems. The second step of this work consisted in developing a program that may be used to test and make comparisons on different selected methods. So spectral methods have the advantage to give an estimation of the maximum values for strain in the structure, in reduced calculation time. The time history analysis is used as the reference for the tests. (author)

  6. Asymmetric actuating structure generates negligible influence on the supporting base for high performance scanning probe microscopies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yi Yan, Gang; Bin Liu, Yong; Hua Feng, Zhi

    2014-02-01

    An asymmetric actuating structure generating negligible influence on the supporting base for high performance scanning probe microscopies is proposed in this paper. The actuator structure consists of two piezostacks, one is used for actuating while the other is for counterbalancing. In contrast with balanced structure, the two piezostacks are installed at the same side of the supporting base. The effectiveness of the structure is proved by some experiments with the actuators fixed to the free end of a cantilever. Experimental results show that almost all of the vibration modes of the cantilever are suppressed effectively at a wide frequency range of 90 Hz-10 kHz.

  7. Using support vector machines to improve elemental ion identification in macromolecular crystal structures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Morshed, Nader [University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Echols, Nathaniel, E-mail: nechols@lbl.gov [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Adams, Paul D., E-mail: nechols@lbl.gov [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)

    2015-05-01

    A method to automatically identify possible elemental ions in X-ray crystal structures has been extended to use support vector machine (SVM) classifiers trained on selected structures in the PDB, with significantly improved sensitivity over manually encoded heuristics. In the process of macromolecular model building, crystallographers must examine electron density for isolated atoms and differentiate sites containing structured solvent molecules from those containing elemental ions. This task requires specific knowledge of metal-binding chemistry and scattering properties and is prone to error. A method has previously been described to identify ions based on manually chosen criteria for a number of elements. Here, the use of support vector machines (SVMs) to automatically classify isolated atoms as either solvent or one of various ions is described. Two data sets of protein crystal structures, one containing manually curated structures deposited with anomalous diffraction data and another with automatically filtered, high-resolution structures, were constructed. On the manually curated data set, an SVM classifier was able to distinguish calcium from manganese, zinc, iron and nickel, as well as all five of these ions from water molecules, with a high degree of accuracy. Additionally, SVMs trained on the automatically curated set of high-resolution structures were able to successfully classify most common elemental ions in an independent validation test set. This method is readily extensible to other elemental ions and can also be used in conjunction with previous methods based on a priori expectations of the chemical environment and X-ray scattering.

  8. Effect of foundation flexibility on the vibrational stability of the National Ignition Facility optical system support structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McCallen, D.

    1997-01-01

    Alignment requirements for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) optical components will require a number of support structures which minimize the system displacements and deformations. The stringent design requirements for this facility will result in a system in which vibrations due to ambient environmental loads (e.g. foundation motion due to typical traffic loads, microseisms or nearby equipment) will have a significant, and perhaps predominant, influence on the design of the supporting structures. When considering the total deformations and displacements of the structural systems, the contribution of the foundation to the overall system flexibility must be addressed. Classical fixed-base structural analyses, which are predicated on an assumption of an infinitely rigid foundation system, neglect the influence of foundation flexibility and for the vibration regime in which the NIF structures reside, may result in significant underestimation of the system ambient vibration displacements. In the work described herein, parametric studies were performed in order to understand the potential contributions of soil-structure- interaction (SSI) to optical system displacements. Time domain finite element analyses were employed to quantify the effect of wave scattering by the mat foundation and the effects of inertial SSI due to the rocking of the massive shear wall support structures. A simplified procedure is recommended for accounting for SSI effects in the design of the special equipment structures. The simplified approach consists of applying a scale factor to displacements obtained from fixed base analyses to approximately account for the effects of soil-structure interaction and variable support input motion

  9. Seismic tests of a pile-supported structure in liquefiable sand using large-scale blast excitation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kamijo, Naotaka; Saito, Hideaki; Kusama, Kazuhiro; Kontani, Osamu; Nigbor, Robert

    2004-01-01

    Extensive, large-amplitude vibration tests of a pile-supported structure in a liquefiable sand deposit have been performed at a large-scale mining site. Ground motions from large-scale blasting operations were used as excitation forces for vibration tests. A simple pile-supported structure was constructed in an excavated 3 m-deep pit. The test pit was backfilled with 100% water-saturated clean uniform sand. Accelerations were measured on the pile-supported structure, in the sand in the test pit, and in the adjacent free field. Excess pore water pressures in the test pit and strains of one pile were also measured. Vibration tests were performed with six different levels of input motions. The maximum horizontal acceleration recorded at the adjacent ground surface varied from 20 Gals to 1353 Gals. These alternations of acceleration provided different degrees of liquefaction in the test pit. Sand boiling phenomena were observed in the test pit with larger input motions. This paper outlines vibration tests and investigates the test results

  10. Contact-Free Support Structures for Part Overhangs in Powder-Bed Metal Additive Manufacturing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kenneth Cooper

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available This study investigates the feasibility of a novel concept, contact-free support structures, for part overhangs in powder-bed metal additive manufacturing. The intent is to develop alternative support designs that require no or little post-processing, and yet, maintain effectiveness in minimizing overhang distortions. The idea is to build, simultaneously during part fabrications, a heat sink (called “heat support”, underneath an overhang to alter adverse thermal behaviors. Thermomechanical modeling and simulations using finite element analysis were applied to numerically research the heat support effect on overhang distortions. Experimentally, a powder-bed electron beam additive manufacturing system was utilized to fabricate heat support designs and examine their functions. The results prove the concept and demonstrate the effectiveness of contact-free heat supports. Moreover, the method was tested with different heat support parameters and applied to various overhang geometries. It is concluded that the heat support proposed has the potential to be implemented in industrial applications.

  11. Tuning the Electronic Structure of Titanium Oxide Support to Enhance the Electrochemical Activity of Platinum Nanoparticles

    KAUST Repository

    Shi, Feifei

    2013-09-11

    Two times higher activity and three times higher stability in methanol oxidation reaction, a 0.12 V negative shift of the CO oxidation peak potential, and a 0.07 V positive shift of the oxygen reaction potential compared to Pt nanoparticles on pristine TiO2 support were achieved by tuning the electronic structure of the titanium oxide support of Pt nanoparticle catalysts. This was accomplished by adding oxygen vacancies or doping with fluorine. Experimental trends are interpreted in the context of an electronic structure model, showing an improvement in electrochemical activity when the Fermi level of the support material in Pt/TiOx systems is close to the Pt Fermi level and the redox potential of the reaction. The present approach provides guidance for the selection of the support material of Pt/TiOx systems and may be applied to other metal-oxide support materials, thus having direct implications in the design and optimization of fuel cell catalyst supports. © 2013 American Chemical Society.

  12. Effective Method for Determining Environmental Loads on Supporting Structures for Offshore Wind Turbines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dymarski Paweł

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a description of an effective method for determining loads due to waves and current acting on the supporting structures of the offshore wind turbines. This method is dedicated to the structures consisting of the cylindrical or conical elements as well as (truncates pyramids of polygon with a large number of sides (8 or more. The presented computational method is based on the Morison equation, which was originally developed only for cylindrically shaped structures. The new algorithm shown here uses the coefficients of inertia and drag forces that were calculated for non-cylindrical shapes. The analysed structure consists of segments which are truncated pyramids on the basis of a hex decagon. The inertia coefficients, CM, and drag coefficients, CD, were determined using RANSE-CFD calculations. The CFD simulations were performed for a specific range of variation of the period, and for a certain range of amplitudes of the velocity. In addition, the analysis of influence of the surface roughness on the inertia and drag coefficients was performed. In the next step, the computations of sea wave, current and wind load on supporting structure for the fifty-year storm were carried out. The simulations were performed in the time domain and as a result the function of forces distribution along the construction elements was obtained. The most unfavourable distribution of forces will be used, to analyse the strength of the structure, as the design load.

  13. Instructional Support and Implementation Structure during Elementary Teachers' Science Education Simulation Use

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonczi, Amanda L.; Chiu, Jennifer L.; Maeng, Jennifer L.; Bell, Randy L.

    2016-01-01

    This investigation sought to identify patterns in elementary science teachers' computer simulation use, particularly implementation structures and instructional supports commonly employed by teachers. Data included video-recorded science lessons of 96 elementary teachers who used computer simulations in one or more science lessons. Results…

  14. In situ X-ray absorption fine structure studies on the structure of nickel phosphide catalyst supported on K-USY

    CERN Document Server

    Kawai, T; Suzuki, S

    2003-01-01

    Local structure around Ni in a nickel phosphide catalyst supported on K-USY was investigated by an situ X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) method during the reduction process of the catalyst and the hydrodesulfurization (HDS) reaction of thiophene. In the passivated sample, Ni phosphide was partially oxidized but after the reduction, 1.1 nm diameter Ni sub 2 P particles were formed with Ni-P and Ni-Ni distances at 0.218 and 0.261 nm, respectively, corresponding to those of bulk Ni sub 2 P. In situ XAFS cleary revealed that the Ni sub 2 P structure was stable under reaction conditions and was an active structure for the HDS process.

  15. Development of in-service inspection system for core support graphite structures in the high temperature engineering test reactor (HTTR)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sumita, Junya; Hanawa, Satoshi; Kikuchi, Takayuki; Ishihara, Masahiro [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Oarai, Ibaraki (Japan). Oarai Research Establishment

    2003-03-01

    Visual inspection of core support graphite structures using TV camera as in-service inspection and measurement of material characteristics using surveillance test specimens are planned in the High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor (HTTR) to confirm structural integrity of the core support graphite structures. For the visual inspection, in-service inspection system developed from September 1996 to June 1998, and pre-service inspection using the system was carried out. As the result of the pre-service inspection, it was validated that high quality of visual inspection with TV camera can be carried out, and also structural integrity of the core support graphite structures at the initial stage of the HTTR operation was confirmed. (author)

  16. Three-dimensional structure of Au nanoparticles supported on amorphous silica and carbon substrates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bruma, A; Li, Z Y

    2012-01-01

    Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope (STEM) has been employed to study the three-dimensional structure of gold (Au) nanoparticles deposited by means of thermal evaporation in high vacuum on amorphous silica (a-SiO 2 ) and amorphous carbon (a-C) supports. By performing quantitative analysis on the evolution of the high angle annular dark field (HAADF) images, we studied the influence of the nature and the temperature of support on the growth mode of gold nanoparticles.

  17. Risk and uncertainty in the structure of management decision support

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Valeca, Serban Constantin

    2002-01-01

    The monograph is structured into five chapters addressing the following subject matters: 1 - The risk descriptor implied by the power systems with nuclear injection; 1.1 - Concepts and operators for describing the nuclear power risk; 1.2 - Risk approach in a holistic conception; 2 - Modelling the risk in the frame of re-engineering concept; 2.1 - Defining and interpreting the power re-engineering; 2.2 - Managerial re-engineering of power production systems; 3 - Informatics system of managing the power objectives with nuclear injection; 3.1 - Informatics systems for risk at the level of CANDU - 600 nuclear plant; 3.2. - Expert function structure applicable to the management of power objectives with nuclear injection; 4 - Assisting support in the operation of nuclear facilities; 4.1 - Assisting support system for nuclear plant operation; 4.2 - Program products for dedicated drivers; 5 - The management decision activities at the level of power systems with nuclear injection; 5.1 - Preliminaries in making power decision; 5.2 - Applications of decision models of sustainable power systems with nuclear injection; 5.3 - Re-engineering of power decision in the frame of maximal utility theory. The successful application of re-engineering concept is based on knowledge and managing capacity of design leadership and its ability of dealing the error generating sources. The main stages of implementing successfully the re-engineering are: - Replacing the pollution processes instead of adjusting measures; - Raising the designer responsibility by radical innovation of processes' architecture; - Re-designing the processes by basic changes at the level of the management functions and structures; - Raising the personnel professionalism by motivation as optimal way of improving the workers mentalities; - Accurate definition of objectives in the frame of re-engineering program; - Application of re-engineering in industrial units starting from the management level; - Selecting as general

  18. Communications tools in research projects to support Semi and Non Structured Information

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Astrid Jaime

    2005-06-01

    Full Text Available Innovation and thus the production of knowledge becomes a factor of competitiveness. In this context quality management could be complemented by knowledge management to aim the improvement of knowledge production by research activities process. To this end, after describing knowledge and informa-tion typologies in engineering activities, a knowledge man-agement system is proposed. The goal is to support: (1 Semi-Structured Information (e.g. reports, etc. thanks to the BASIC-Lab tool functions, which are based on attributing points of view and annotations to documents and document zones, and (2 Non-Structured Information (such as mail, dialogues, etc., thanks to MICA-Graph approach which intends to support ex-change of technical messages that concerns common resolution of research problems within project teams and to capitalise relevant knowledge. For the both approaches, prototype tools have been developed and evaluated, primarily to feed back with manufacturing knowledge in the EADS industrial envi-ronment.

  19. Preliminary design of offshore wind turbine support structures : The importance of proper mode shape estimation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Van der Male, P.

    2013-01-01

    Offshore wind turbines are highly exposed to timevarying loads. For support structures, estimation of the fatigue damage during the lifetime of the structure is an essential design aspect. This already applies for the preliminary design stage. In determining the dynamic amplification in the

  20. Preventing Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Chromobacterium violaceum infections by anti-adhesion-active components of edible seeds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rachmaninov Ofra

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Pseudomonas aeruginosa adhesion to animal/human cells for infection establishment involves adhesive proteins, including its galactose- and fucose-binding lectins PA-IL (LecA and PA-IIL (LecB. The lectin binding to the target-cell receptors may be blocked by compatible glycans that compete with those of the receptors, functioning as anti-adhesion glycodecoys. The anti-adhesion treatment is of the utmost importance for abrogating devastating antibiotic-resistant P. aeruginosa infections in immunodeficient and cystic fibrosis (CF patients. This strategy functions in nature in protecting embryos and neonates. We have shown that PA-IL, PA-IIL, and also CV-IIL (a PA-IIL homolog produced in the related pathogen Chromobacterium violaceum are highly useful for revealing natural glycodecoys that surround embryos in diverse avian eggs and are supplied to neonates in milks and royal jelly. In the present study, these lectins were used as probes to search for seed embryo-protecting glycodecoys. Methods The lectin-blocking glycodecoy activities were shown by the hemagglutination-inhibition test. Lectin-binding glycoproteins were detected by Western blotting with peroxidase-labeled lectins. Results The present work reports the finding - by using PA-IL, PA-IIL, and CV-IIL - of rich glycodecoy activities of low ( 10 kDa compounds (including glycoproteins in extracts of cashew, cocoa, coffee, pumpkin, and tomato seeds, resembling those of avian egg whites, mammal milks, and royal jelly. Conclusions Edible seed extracts possess lectin-blocking glycodecoys that might protect their embryos from infections and also might be useful for hampering human and animal infections.

  1. Surface/structure functionalization of copper-based catalysts by metal-support and/or metal–metal interactions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Konsolakis, Michalis, E-mail: mkonsol@science.tuc.gr [School of Production Engineering and Management, Technical University of Crete, GR-73100 Chania, Crete (Greece); Ioakeimidis, Zisis [Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Western Macedonia, Bakola and Sialvera, GR-50100 Kozani (Greece)

    2014-11-30

    Highlights: • The surface chemistry of Cu-based catalysts is adjusted by metal-support or metal–metal interactions. • Three series of catalysts, i.e., Cu/REOs, Cu/Ce{sub 1−x}Sm{sub x}O{sub δ} and Cu–Co/CeO{sub 2} were prepared. • The local structure of Cu sites is remarkably affected by support or active phase modification. • Useful insights toward the fundamental understanding of Cu-catalyzed reactions are provided. - Abstract: Cu-based catalysts have recently attracted great attention both in catalysis and electro-catalysis fields due to their excellent catalytic performance and low cost. Given that their performance is determined, to a great extent, by Cu sites local environment, considerable efforts have been devoted on the strategic modifications of the electronic and structural properties of Cu sites. In this regard, the feasibility of tuning the local structure of Cu entities by means of metal-support or metal–metal interactions is investigated. More specifically, the physicochemical properties of Cu entities are modified by employing: (i) different oxides (CeO{sub 2}, La{sub 2}O{sub 3}, Sm{sub 2}O{sub 3}), or (ii) ceria-based mixed oxides (Ce{sub 1−x}Sm{sub x}O{sub δ}) as supporting carriers, and (iii) a second metal (Cobalt) adjacent to Cu (bimetallic Cu–Co/CeO{sub 2}). A characterization study, involving BET, XRD, TPR, and XPS, reveal that significant modifications on structural, redox and electronic properties of Cu sites can be induced by adopting either different oxide carriers or bimetallic complexes. Fundamental insights into the tuning of Cu local environment by metal-support or metal–metal interactions are provided, paving the way for real-life industrial applications.

  2. Conceptual Design of a Floating Support Structure and Mooring System for a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Berthelsen, Petter Andreas; Fylling, Ivar; Vita, Luca

    2012-01-01

    This paper deals with the conceptual design of a floating support structure and mooring system for a 5MW vertical axis offshore wind turbine. The work is carried out as part of the DeepWind project, where the main objective is to investigate the feasibility of a floating vertical axis offshore wind...... turbine. The DeepWind concept consists of a Darrieus rotor mounted on a spar buoy support structure. The conceptual design is carried out in an iterative process, involving the different subcomponents. The present work is part of the first design iteration and the objective is to find a feasible floating...... support structure and mooring system for the DeepWind concept. The conceptual design is formulated as an optimization problem: Starting with an initial configuration, the optimization procedure tries to find a cheaper solution while satisfying a set of design requirements. This approach utilizes available...

  3. Probabilistic Calibration of Fatigue Design Factors for Offshore Wind Turbine Support Structures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ramirez, José Rangel; Sørensen, John Dalsgaard

    2010-01-01

    for the considered offshore wind turbines in such a way that the specific uncertainties for the fatigue life are accounted in a rational manner. Similar approaches have been used for offshore oil & gas sub-structures, but the required reliability level for offshore wind turbines is generally lower and the fatigue......This paper describes a reliability-based approach to determine fatigue design factors (FDF) for offshore wind turbine support structures made of steel. The FDF values are calibrated to a specific reliability level and linked to a specific inspection and maintenance (I&M) strategy used...

  4. Earthquake-proof supporting structure in reactor vessel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sakurai, Akio; Sekine, Katsuhisa; Madokoro, Manabu; Katoono, Shin-ichi; Konno, Mutsuo; Suzuki, Takuro.

    1990-01-01

    Conventional earthquake-proof structure comprises a vessel vibration stopper integrated to a reactor vessel, powder for restricting the horizontal displacements, a safety vessel surrounds the outer periphery of the reactor vessel and a safety vessel vibration stopper integrated therewith, which are fixed to buildings. However, there was a problem that a great amount of stresses are generated in the base of the reactor vessel vibration stopper due to reaction of the powders which restrict thermal expansion. In order to remarkably reduce the reaction of the powers, powders are charged into a spaces formed between each of the reactor vessel vibration stopper, the safety vessel vibration stopper and the flexible member disposed between them. According to this constitution, the reactor vessel vibration stopper does not undergo a great reaction of the powers upon thermal expansion of the reactor vessel to moderate the generated stresses, maintain the strength and provide earthquake-proof supporting function. (N.H.)

  5. Reducing support loss in micromechanical ring resonators using phononic band-gap structures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hsu, Feng-Chia; Huang, Tsun-Che; Wang, Chin-Hung; Chang, Pin [Industrial Technology Research Institute-South, Tainan 709, Taiwan (China); Hsu, Jin-Chen, E-mail: fengchiahsu@itri.org.t, E-mail: hsujc@yuntech.edu.t [Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Douliou, Yunlin 64002, Taiwan (China)

    2011-09-21

    In micromechanical resonators, energy loss via supports into the substrates may lead to a low quality factor. To eliminate the support loss, in this paper a phononic band-gap structure is employed. We demonstrate a design of phononic-crystal (PC) strips used to support extensional wine-glass mode ring resonators to increase the quality factor. The PC strips are introduced to stop elastic-wave propagation by the band-gap and deaf-band effects. Analyses of resonant characteristics of the ring resonators and the dispersion relations, eigenmodes, and transmission properties of the PC strips are presented. With the proposed resonator architecture, the finite-element simulations show that the leaky power is effectively reduced and the stored energy inside the resonators is enhanced simultaneously as the operating frequencies of the resonators are within the band gap or deaf bands. Realization of a high quality factor micromechanical ring resonator with minimized support loss is expected.

  6. Reducing support loss in micromechanical ring resonators using phononic band-gap structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hsu, Feng-Chia; Huang, Tsun-Che; Wang, Chin-Hung; Chang, Pin; Hsu, Jin-Chen

    2011-01-01

    In micromechanical resonators, energy loss via supports into the substrates may lead to a low quality factor. To eliminate the support loss, in this paper a phononic band-gap structure is employed. We demonstrate a design of phononic-crystal (PC) strips used to support extensional wine-glass mode ring resonators to increase the quality factor. The PC strips are introduced to stop elastic-wave propagation by the band-gap and deaf-band effects. Analyses of resonant characteristics of the ring resonators and the dispersion relations, eigenmodes, and transmission properties of the PC strips are presented. With the proposed resonator architecture, the finite-element simulations show that the leaky power is effectively reduced and the stored energy inside the resonators is enhanced simultaneously as the operating frequencies of the resonators are within the band gap or deaf bands. Realization of a high quality factor micromechanical ring resonator with minimized support loss is expected.

  7. TRUSSELATOR - On-Orbit Fabrication of High Performance Support Structures for Solar Arrays, Phase II

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Trusselator technology will enable on-orbit fabrication of support structures for high-power solar arrays and large antennas, achieving order-of-magnitude...

  8. Relationships between structure and activity of carbon as a multifunctional support for electrocatalysts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stevanović, Sanja I; Panić, Vladimir V; Dekanski, Aleksandar B; Tripković, Amalija V; Jovanović, Vladislava M

    2012-07-14

    We report on new insights into the relationships between structure and activity of glassy carbon (GC), as a model material for electrocatalyst support, during its anodization in acid solution. Our investigation strongly confirms the role of CFGs in promotion of Pt activity by the "spill-over" effect related to CO(ads) for methanol electrooxidation (MEO) on a carbon-supported Pt catalyst. Combined analysis of voltammetric and impedance behaviour as well as changes in GC surface morphology induced by intensification of anodizing conditions reveal an intrinsic influence of the carbon functionalization and the structure of a graphene oxide (GO) layer on the electrical and electrocatalytic properties of activated GC. Although GO continuously grows during anodization, it structurally changes from being a graphite inter-layer within graphite ribbons toward a continuous GO surface layer that deteriorates the native structure of GC. As a consequence of the increased distance between GO-spaced graphite layers, the GC conductivity decreases until the case of profound GO exfoliation under drastic anodizing conditions. This exposes the native, yet abundantly functionalized, GC texture. While GC capacitance continuously increases with intensification of anodizing conditions, the surface nano-roughness and GO resistance reach the highest values at modest anodizing conditions, and then decrease upon drastic anodization due to the onset of GO exfoliation. We found for the first time that the activity of a GC-supported Pt catalyst in MEO, as one of the promising half-reactions in polymer electrolyte fuel cells, strictly follows the changes in GC nano-roughness and GO-induced GC resistance. The highest GC/Pt MEO activity is reached when optimal distance between graphite layers and optimal degree of GC functionalization bring the highest amount of CFGs into intimate contact with the Pt surface. This confirms the promoting role of CFGs in MEO catalysis.

  9. Maternal Structure and Autonomy Support in Conversations about the Past: Contributions to Children's Autobiographical Memory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cleveland, Emily Sutcliffe; Reese, Elaine

    2005-01-01

    The authors examined the contributions of maternal structure and autonomy support to children's collaborative and independent reminiscing. Fifty mother-child dyads discussed past experiences when the children were 40 and 65 months old. Children also discussed past events with an experimenter at each age. Maternal structure and autonomy support…

  10. Tuning the Electronic Structure of Titanium Oxide Support to Enhance the Electrochemical Activity of Platinum Nanoparticles

    KAUST Repository

    Shi, Feifei; Baker, L. Robert; Hervier, Antoine; Somorjai, Gabor A.; Komvopoulos, Kyriakos

    2013-01-01

    on pristine TiO2 support were achieved by tuning the electronic structure of the titanium oxide support of Pt nanoparticle catalysts. This was accomplished by adding oxygen vacancies or doping with fluorine. Experimental trends are interpreted in the context

  11. Stress analysis of LOFT containment vessel attachments for the mainsteam and feedwater piping support structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Finicle, D.P.

    1977-01-01

    The LOFT Containment Vessel attachments for the Mainsteam and Feedwater Piping Support Structures have been analyzed for operating and faulted loading conditions. This report contains the analysis of the connections to the containment vessel for the most current design and loading. Also contained in this report is the analysis of the piping supports

  12. The Student Perception of University Support and Structure Scale: Development and Validation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wintre, Maxine G.; Gates, Shawn K. E.; Pancer, W. Mark; Pratt, Michael S.; Polivy, Janet; Birnie-Lefcovitch, S.; Adams, Gerald

    2009-01-01

    A new scale, the Student Perception of University Support and Structure Scale (SPUSS), was developed for research on the transition to university. The scale was based on concepts derived from Baumrind's (1971) theory of parenting styles. Data were obtained from two separate cohorts of freshmen (n=759 and 397) attending six Canadian universities of…

  13. Inelastic response of PCRV structure model with star-type support under horizontal loads

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suzuki, T.; Yamaguchi, T.; Takeda, T.

    1978-01-01

    The report presents the test results of scaled models for prestressed concrete reactor vessel (PCRV) structure with star-shaped support under horizontal loads. A scale factor of 1 / 70 to a proto-type PCRV structure for large HTGR is used for both static and dynamic loading test models, while a 1 / 15 scaled model is used for static loading tests. The static behaviors such as a load-deflection envelope of the 1 / 70 model are predicted well by an inelastic analysis in consideration with appearance of concrete cracks and reinforcing bar yielding. It is also ascertained by the test results of the 1 / 15 model under static alternative loads that the same analysis procedure can be applicable to the evaluation of the elastic and inelastic behaviors of PCRV structure with support. Based on the static loading test results of both scaled models, a tri-linearized load-deflection envelope and an equivalent linearized mathematical model for hysteresis loop are assumed in a dynamic analysis. A dynamic response analysis of the 1 / 70 model subjected to earthquake-like base motion is conducted by the similar manner above-mentioned and the calculated results show a good correlation with the test results

  14. A Customizable MR Brain Imaging Atlas of Structure and Function for Decision Support.

    Science.gov (United States)

    U., Sinha; S., El-Saden; G., Duckwiler; L., Thompson; S., Ardekani; H., Kangarloo

    2003-01-01

    We present a MR brain atlas for structure and function (diffusion weighted images). The atlas is customizable for contrast and orientation to match the current patient images. In addition, the atlas also provides normative values of MR parameters. The atlas is designed on informatics principles to provide context sensitive decision support at the time of primary image interpretation. Additional support for diagnostic interpretation is provided by a list of expert created most relevant ‘Image Finding Descriptors’ that will serve as cues to the user. The architecture of the atlas module is integrated into the image workflow of a radiology department to provide support at the time of primary diagnosis. PMID:14728244

  15. 76 FR 51314 - Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Maryland; Adoption of Drum and...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-08-18

    ... publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy during normal business hours at the Air Protection... sources, including drum and pail coatings. In developing these CTGs, EPA, among other things, evaluated...

  16. Surface/structure functionalization of copper-based catalysts by metal-support and/or metal-metal interactions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Konsolakis, Michalis; Ioakeimidis, Zisis

    2014-11-01

    Cu-based catalysts have recently attracted great attention both in catalysis and electro-catalysis fields due to their excellent catalytic performance and low cost. Given that their performance is determined, to a great extent, by Cu sites local environment, considerable efforts have been devoted on the strategic modifications of the electronic and structural properties of Cu sites. In this regard, the feasibility of tuning the local structure of Cu entities by means of metal-support or metal-metal interactions is investigated. More specifically, the physicochemical properties of Cu entities are modified by employing: (i) different oxides (CeO2, La2O3, Sm2O3), or (ii) ceria-based mixed oxides (Ce1-xSmxOδ) as supporting carriers, and (iii) a second metal (Cobalt) adjacent to Cu (bimetallic Cu-Co/CeO2). A characterization study, involving BET, XRD, TPR, and XPS, reveal that significant modifications on structural, redox and electronic properties of Cu sites can be induced by adopting either different oxide carriers or bimetallic complexes. Fundamental insights into the tuning of Cu local environment by metal-support or metal-metal interactions are provided, paving the way for real-life industrial applications.

  17. Webvise: Browser and Proxy support for open hypermedia structuring mechanisms on the WWW

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grønbæk, Kaj; Sloth, Lennard; Ørbæk, Peter

    1999-01-01

    Web pages. Support for providing links to/from parts of non-HTML data, such as sound and movie, will be possible via interfaces to plug-ins and Java-based media players. The hypermedia structures are stored in a hypermedia database, developed from the Devise Hypermedia framework, and the service...... be manipulated and used via special Java applets and a pure proxy server solution is provided for users who only need to browse the structures. A user can create and use the external structures as ‘transparency' layers on top of arbitrary Web pages, the user can switch between viewing pages with one or more...

  18. The Chemical Composition and Structure of Supported Sulfated Zirconia with Regulated Size Nanoparticles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kanazhevskiy, V. V.; Shmachkova, V. P.; Kotsarenko, N. S.; Kochubey, D. I.; Vedrine, J. C.

    2007-01-01

    A set of model skeletal isomerization catalysts - sulfated zirconia nanoparticles of controlled thickness anchored on different supports - was prepared using colloidal solutions of Zr salt on titania as support. The nanoparticles of zirconia (1-5 nm) are epitaxially connected to the support surface, with S/Zr ratio equals to 1.3-1.5. It was shown by EXAFS that nanoparticles of non-stoichiometric zirconium sulfate Zr(SO4)1+x, where x<0.5, are formed on the support surface. Its structure looks like half-period shifted counterdirected chains built-up by zirconium atoms linked by triangle pyramids of sulfate groups. Considering catalytic data of skeletal n-butane isomerisation at 150 deg. C, one can suggest that these species behave as the active component of sulfated zirconia. They are formed in subsurface layers as zirconium hydroxide undergoes sulfation followed by thermal treatment

  19. Influence of the supporting die structures on the fracture strength of all-ceramic materials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yucel, Munir Tolga; Yondem, Isa; Aykent, Filiz; Eraslan, Oğuz

    2012-08-01

    This study investigated the influence of the elastic modulus of supporting dies on the fracture strengths of all-ceramic materials used in dental crowns. Four different types of supporting die materials (dentin, epoxy resin, brass, and stainless steel) (24 per group) were prepared using a milling machine to simulate a mandibular molar all-ceramic core preparation. A total number of 96 zirconia cores were fabricated using a CAD/CAM system. The specimens were divided into two groups. In the first group, cores were cemented to substructures using a dual-cure resin cement. In the second group, cores were not cemented to the supporting dies. The specimens were loaded using a universal testing machine at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min until fracture occurred. Data were statistically analyzed using two-way analysis of variance and Tukey HSD tests (α = 0.05). The geometric models of cores and supporting die materials were developed using finite element method to obtain the stress distribution of the forces. Cemented groups showed statistically higher fracture strength values than non-cemented groups. While ceramic cores on stainless steel dies showed the highest fracture strength values, ceramic cores on dentin dies showed the lowest fracture strength values among the groups. The elastic modulus of the supporting die structure is a significant factor in determining the fracture resistance of all-ceramic crowns. Using supporting die structures that have a low elastic modulus may be suitable for fracture strength tests, in order to accurately reflect clinical conditions.

  20. The structure of social exchange in self-help support groups: development of a measure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Louis D; Tang, Xiaohui; Hollman, Ruth L

    2014-03-01

    Self-help support groups are indigenous community resources designed to help people manage a variety of personal challenges, from alcohol abuse to xeroderma pigmentosum. The social exchanges that occur during group meetings are central to understanding how people benefit from participation. This paper examines the different types of social exchange behaviors that occur during meetings, using two studies to develop empirically distinct scales that reliably measure theoretically important types of exchange. Resource theory informed the initial measurement development efforts. Exploratory factor analyses from the first study led to revisions in the factor structure of the social exchange scales. The revised measure captured the exchange of emotional support, experiential information, humor, unwanted behaviors, and exchanges outside meetings. Confirmatory factor analyses from a follow-up study with a different sample of self-help support groups provided good model fit, suggesting the revised structure accurately represented the data. Further, the scales demonstrated good convergent and discriminant validity with related constructs. Future research can use the scales to identify aspects of social exchange that are most important in improving health outcomes among self-help support group participants. Groups can use the scales in practice to celebrate strengths and address weaknesses in their social exchange dynamics.

  1. A risk-based model for maintenance decision support of civil structures using RAMS

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Viana Da Rocha, T. C.; Stipanovic, I.; Hartmann, A.; Bakker, J.

    2017-01-01

    As a cornerstone of transportation asset management, risk-based approaches have been used to support maintenance decisions of civil structures. However, ambiguous and subjective risk criteria and inconsistency on the use of risk-based approaches can lead to a fuzzy understanding of the risks

  2. Supporting Families to Support Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelly, John; Rossen, Eric; Cowan, Katherine C.

    2018-01-01

    Collaboration between students' families and the school is an essential component to promoting student mental and behavioral health. Many schools structure their mental health services using a Multi-Tiered System of Supports that offers three different tiers of support from universal supports to personalized help for students with serious…

  3. The Orbital Angular Momentum Modes Supporting Fibers Based on the Photonic Crystal Fiber Structure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hu Zhang

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available The orbital angular momentum (OAM of light can be another physical dimension that we exploit to make multiplexing in the spatial domain. The design of the OAM mode supporting fiber attracts many attentions in the field of the space division multiplexing (SDM system. This paper reviews the recent progresses in photonic crystal fiber (PCF supporting OAM modes, and summarizes why a PCF structure can be used to support stable OAM transmission modes. The emphasis is on the circular PCFs, which possess many excellent features of transmission performance, such as good-quality OAM modes, enough separation of the effective indices, low confinement loss, flat dispersion, a large effective area, and a low nonlinear coefficient. We also compare the transmission properties between the circular PCF and the ring core fiber, as well as the properties between the OAM EDFA based on circular PCF and the OAM EDFA based on the ring core fiber. At last, the challenges and prospects of OAM fibers based on the PCF structure are also discussed.

  4. Self-Supporting Nanoclay as Internal Scaffold Material for Direct Printing of Soft Hydrogel Composite Structures in Air.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jin, Yifei; Liu, Chengcheng; Chai, Wenxuan; Compaan, Ashley; Huang, Yong

    2017-05-24

    Three dimensional (3D) bioprinting technology enables the freeform fabrication of complex constructs from various hydrogels and is receiving increasing attention in tissue engineering. The objective of this study is to develop a novel self-supporting direct hydrogel printing approach to extrude complex 3D hydrogel composite structures in air without the help of a support bath. Laponite, a member of the smectite mineral family, is investigated to serve as an internal scaffold material for the direct printing of hydrogel composite structures in air. In the proposed printing approach, due to its yield-stress property, Laponite nanoclay can be easily extruded through a nozzle as a liquid and self-supported after extrusion as a solid. Its unique crystal structure with positive and negative charges enables it to be mixed with many chemically and physically cross-linked hydrogels, which makes it an ideal internal scaffold material for the fabrication of various hydrogel structures. By mixing Laponite nanoclay with various hydrogel precursors, the hydrogel composites retain their self-supporting capacity and can be printed into 3D structures directly in air and retain their shapes before cross-linking. Then, the whole structures are solidified in situ by applying suitable cross-linking stimuli. The addition of Laponite nanoclay can effectively improve the mechanical and biological properties of hydrogel composites. Specifically, the addition of Laponite nanoclay results in a significant increase in the Young's modulus of each hydrogel-Laponite composite: 1.9-fold increase for the poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA)-Laponite composite, 7.4-fold increase for the alginate-Laponite composite, and 3.3-fold increase for the gelatin-Laponite composite.

  5. Structure dynamics with regard to non-linear support behavior; Dynamische Strukturberechnung unter Beruecksichtigung nichtlinearen Lagerverhaltens

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Driessen, W. [Technischer Ueberwachungs-Verein Nord e.V., Hamburg (Germany)

    2000-07-01

    Because of modifications to a feed-water line of a power plant structural calculations of the pipework were performed. As a result of a linear (modal) analysis very high restraint forces on the supports were calculated. In order to reduce conservatisms in the calculation the model was optimized with regard to the support stiffnesses and nonlinear behavior of slide bearings, guides and shock absorbers were taken into account. The main result of the non-linear analysis, which was performed by methods of direct-integration, was that nonlinearity yields evident differences in structural frequencies and in energy dissipation (damping) in comparison to the linear analysis. The high restraint forces on the supports became smaller for most of the supports but at some points the forces of the non-linear analysis were even higher. So the conservatism of the linear analysis is not fully valid for the whole structure. The relevance of the non-linear effects in dynamic piping calculations is shown by comparing the calculation result with measurements which were performed on structures in the plant. (orig.) [German] Im Rahmen der Aenderung der Speisewasserleitung einer Kraftwerksanlage wurde die Struktur neu berechnet. Die Analysen mit einem linearen Modell (modal), das ueblicherweise verwendet wird, ergaben hohe Lasten an Halterungen. Zum Abbau von Konservativitaeten wurde eine realistischere Modellierung durch die Beruecksichtigung des nichtlinearen Verhaltens der in der Anlage befindlichen Gleitlager, Fuehrungen und Stossbremsen in der Berechnung vorgenommen. Die Untersuchungen haben ergeben, dass durch die Nichtlinearitaet das Frequenzverhalten der Struktur und die Dissipation von Energie durch Reibvorgaenge wesentlich beeinflusst werden. Des Weiteren ist festzustellen, dass aus linearen Analysen nicht uneingeschraenkt konservative Ergebnisse gewonnen werden. Die Relevanz der Beruecksichtigung des nichtlinearen Lagerverhaltens bei einer dynamischen Strukturberechnung wird

  6. Safety for Your Child: 6 to 12 Months

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... use. Keep the door to the bathroom closed. NEVER leave your child alone in or near a bathtub, pail of water, ... and away, completely out of sight and reach. Never store lye drain cleaners in your ... your child does eat something that could be poisonous, call the Poison ...

  7. Dense-body aggregates as plastic structures supporting tension in smooth muscle cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Jie; Herrera, Ana M; Paré, Peter D; Seow, Chun Y

    2010-11-01

    The wall of hollow organs of vertebrates is a unique structure able to generate active tension and maintain a nearly constant passive stiffness over a large volume range. These properties are predominantly attributable to the smooth muscle cells that line the organ wall. Although smooth muscle is known to possess plasticity (i.e., the ability to adapt to large changes in cell length through structural remodeling of contractile apparatus and cytoskeleton), the detailed structural basis for the plasticity is largely unknown. Dense bodies, one of the most prominent structures in smooth muscle cells, have been regarded as the anchoring sites for actin filaments, similar to the Z-disks in striated muscle. Here, we show that the dense bodies and intermediate filaments formed cable-like structures inside airway smooth muscle cells and were able to adjust the cable length according to cell length and tension. Stretching the muscle cell bundle in the relaxed state caused the cables to straighten, indicating that these intracellular structures were connected to the extracellular matrix and could support passive tension. These plastic structures may be responsible for the ability of smooth muscle to maintain a nearly constant tensile stiffness over a large length range. The finding suggests that the structural plasticity of hollow organs may originate from the dense-body cables within the smooth muscle cells.

  8. Parentification and Grandparents’ Support from the Perspective of Grandchildren from Families of Various Structures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Napora Elżbieta

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to determine the strength of the relationship between a retrospective evaluation of the experienced social support given by grandparents and the material status of the family with the quality of life of the grown-up grandchildren in families of different structures. The formulated expectations have been verified with the Social Support Scale (SSS, Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale (SLSS and an individual personal survey. The obtained results show that in families of single mothers, the emotional and informative support offered by grandparents was a significant factor improving the quality of the life of the grandchildren. In a complete family, however, the significant forms of support from grandparents were esteem support and its other forms, except for informative support. Moreover, the material wealth of the original family was shown to be an important predictor of the evaluation of the quality of life of the grandchildren; it was judged more negatively by adolescent children of single mothers.

  9. Structural studies of planctomycete Gemmata obscuriglobus support cell compartmentalisation in a bacterium.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Evgeny Sagulenko

    Full Text Available Members of phylum Planctomycetes have been proposed to possess atypical cell organisation for the Bacteria, having a structure of sectioned cells consistent with internal compartments surrounded by membranes. Here via electron tomography we confirm the presence of compartments in the planctomycete Gemmata obscuriglobus cells. Resulting 3-D models for the most prominent structures, nuclear body and riboplasm, demonstrate their entirely membrane - enclosed nature. Immunogold localization of the FtsK protein also supports the internal organisation of G.obscuriglobus cells and their unique mechanism of cell division. We discuss how these new data expand our knowledge on bacterial cell biology and suggest evolutionary consequences of the findings.

  10. Numerical Study on the Seismic Performance of a Steel–Concrete Hybrid Supporting Structure in Thermal Power Plants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bo Wang

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the numerical investigation on the seismic performance of a steel–concrete hybrid structure consisting of reinforced concrete (RC tubular columns and steel braced truss with A-shaped steel frames, which is a novel supporting structural system to house air-cooled condensers (ACC in large-capacity thermal power plants (TPPs. First, the finite element (FE modeling approach for this hybrid structure using the software ABAQUS was validated by a range of pseudo-dynamic tests (PDTs performed on a 1/8-scaled sub-structure. The failure process, lateral displacement responses, changing rules of dynamic characteristic parameters and lateral stiffness with increase of peak ground acceleration (PGA were presented here. Then, nonlinear time-history analysis of the prototype structure was carried out. The dynamic characteristics, base shear force, lateral deformation capacity, stiffness deterioration and damage characteristics were investigated. Despite the structural complexity and irregularity, both experimental and numerical results indicate that the overall seismic performance of this steel–concrete hybrid supporting structure meets the seismic design requirements with respect to the high-intensity earthquakes.

  11. The Impact of the Support System’s Kinematic Structure on Selected Kinematic and Dynamic Quantities of an Experimental Crane

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Trąbka Arkadiusz

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a comparative analysis of two kinematic structures of the support system (with supports with bilateral and unilateral constraints, which were used in an experimental model of a crane. The computational model was developed by using the ADAMS software. The impact of the kinematic structure of the support system on selected kinematic and dynamic values that were recorded during the slewing motion was analysed. It was found, among other things, that an increased number of degrees of freedom of the support system leads to multiple distortions of time characteristics of kinematic and dynamic quantities.

  12. The vibrational behaviour of the generator support structure for Koeberg nuclear power station at high frequencies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, D.E.

    1988-06-01

    The vibrational behaviour of the generator support structure at Koeberg nuclear power station at frequencies primarily in the region of 80 Hz to 110 Hz was examined. The effect of soil-structure interaction and the change in stiffness of the foundation soil was investigated. Vibration tests were performed on the generator support structure and the results were compared with a theoretical finite element analysis of the structure. By varying the soil-cement foundation stiffness it was possible to demonstrate the change in dynamic behaviour of the structure in the higher frequency band 80 Hz to 110 Hz. Comment has been made on the design code DIN 4024 in view of the findings of this thesis. It was concluded that the empirical rules regarding the inclusion of the foundation in an analysis specified by the code do not cover all cases and greater cognisance of the effect of the foundation stiffness on the vibration behaviour of such machine foundations is necessary. Obvious machine frequencies higher than the operational frequencies should be analysed where it is considered necessary. 24 refs., 25 tabs., 83 figs

  13. Ectopic lymphoid structures support ongoing production of class-switched autoantibodies in rheumatoid synovium.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Frances Humby

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Follicular structures resembling germinal centres (GCs that are characterized by follicular dendritic cell (FDC networks have long been recognized in chronically inflamed tissues in autoimmune diseases, including the synovium of rheumatoid arthritis (RA. However, it is debated whether these ectopic structures promote autoimmunity and chronic inflammation driving the production of pathogenic autoantibodies. Anti-citrullinated protein/peptide antibodies (ACPA are highly specific markers of RA, predict a poor prognosis, and have been suggested to be pathogenic. Therefore, the main study objectives were to determine whether ectopic lymphoid structures in RA synovium: (i express activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID, the enzyme required for somatic hypermutation and class-switch recombination (CSR of Ig genes; (ii support ongoing CSR and ACPA production; and (iii remain functional in a RA/severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID chimera model devoid of new immune cell influx into the synovium.Using immunohistochemistry (IHC and quantitative Taqman real-time PCR (QT-PCR in synovial tissue from 55 patients with RA, we demonstrated that FDC+ structures invariably expressed AID with a distribution resembling secondary lymphoid organs. Further, AID+/CD21+ follicular structures were surrounded by ACPA+/CD138+ plasma cells, as demonstrated by immune reactivity to citrullinated fibrinogen. Moreover, we identified a novel subset of synovial AID+/CD20+ B cells outside GCs resembling interfollicular large B cells. In order to gain direct functional evidence that AID+ structures support CSR and in situ manufacturing of class-switched ACPA, 34 SCID mice were transplanted with RA synovium and humanely killed at 4 wk for harvesting of transplants and sera. Persistent expression of AID and Igamma-Cmu circular transcripts (identifying ongoing IgM-IgG class-switching was observed in synovial grafts expressing FDCs/CD21L. Furthermore, synovial mRNA levels of AID

  14. Ectopic lymphoid structures support ongoing production of class-switched autoantibodies in rheumatoid synovium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Humby, Frances; Bombardieri, Michele; Manzo, Antonio; Kelly, Stephen; Blades, Mark C; Kirkham, Bruce; Spencer, Jo; Pitzalis, Costantino

    2009-01-13

    Follicular structures resembling germinal centres (GCs) that are characterized by follicular dendritic cell (FDC) networks have long been recognized in chronically inflamed tissues in autoimmune diseases, including the synovium of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, it is debated whether these ectopic structures promote autoimmunity and chronic inflammation driving the production of pathogenic autoantibodies. Anti-citrullinated protein/peptide antibodies (ACPA) are highly specific markers of RA, predict a poor prognosis, and have been suggested to be pathogenic. Therefore, the main study objectives were to determine whether ectopic lymphoid structures in RA synovium: (i) express activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID), the enzyme required for somatic hypermutation and class-switch recombination (CSR) of Ig genes; (ii) support ongoing CSR and ACPA production; and (iii) remain functional in a RA/severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) chimera model devoid of new immune cell influx into the synovium. Using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and quantitative Taqman real-time PCR (QT-PCR) in synovial tissue from 55 patients with RA, we demonstrated that FDC+ structures invariably expressed AID with a distribution resembling secondary lymphoid organs. Further, AID+/CD21+ follicular structures were surrounded by ACPA+/CD138+ plasma cells, as demonstrated by immune reactivity to citrullinated fibrinogen. Moreover, we identified a novel subset of synovial AID+/CD20+ B cells outside GCs resembling interfollicular large B cells. In order to gain direct functional evidence that AID+ structures support CSR and in situ manufacturing of class-switched ACPA, 34 SCID mice were transplanted with RA synovium and humanely killed at 4 wk for harvesting of transplants and sera. Persistent expression of AID and Igamma-Cmu circular transcripts (identifying ongoing IgM-IgG class-switching) was observed in synovial grafts expressing FDCs/CD21L. Furthermore, synovial mRNA levels of AID were

  15. 3D Bearing Capacity of Structured Cells Supported on Cohesive Soil: Simplified Analysis Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martínez-Galván Sergio Antonio

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available In this paper a simplified analysis method to compute the bearing capacity of structured cell foundations subjected to vertical loading and supported in soft cohesive soil is proposed. A structured cell is comprised by a top concrete slab structurally connected to concrete external walls that enclose the natural soil. Contrary to a box foundation it does not include a bottom slab and hence, the soil within the walls becomes an important component of the structured cell. This simplified method considers the three-dimensional geometry of the cell, the undrained shear strength of cohesive soils and the existence of structural continuity between the top concrete slab and the surrounding walls, along the walls themselves and the walls structural joints. The method was developed from results of numerical-parametric analyses, from which it was found that structured cells fail according to a punching-type mechanism.

  16. Theoretical Investigation of the Structural Stabilities of Ceria Surfaces and Supported Metal Nanocluster in Vapor and Aqueous Phases

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ren, Zhibo [State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China; Institute for Integrated Catalysis, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352, United States; Liu, Ning [State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China; Institute for Integrated Catalysis, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352, United States; Chen, Biaohua [State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China; Li, Jianwei [State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China; Mei, Donghai [Institute for Integrated Catalysis, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352, United States

    2018-01-25

    Understanding the structural stability and dynamics at the interface between the solid metal oxide and aqueous phase is significant in a variety of industrial applications including heterogeneous catalysis and environmental remediation. In the present work, the stabilities of three low-index ceria (CeO2) surfaces, i.e., (111), (110) and (100) in vapor and aqueous phases were studied using ab initio molecular dynamics simulations and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Gibbs surface free energies as a function of temperature, water partial pressure, and water coverages were calculated using DFT based atomistic thermodynamic approach. On the basis of surface free energies, the morphology and exposed surface structures of the CeO2 nanoparticle were predicted using Wulff construction principle. It is found that the partially hydroxylated (111) and (100) are two major surface structures of CeO2 nanoparticles in vapor phase at ambient temperature (300 K). As the temperature increases, the fully dehydrated (111) surface gradually becomes the most dominant surface structure. While in aqueous phase, the exposed surface of the CeO2 nanoparticle is dominated by the hydroxylated (110) structure at 393 K. Finally, the morphology and stability of a cuboctahedron Pt13 nanocluster supported on CeO2 surfaces in both gas and aqueous phases were investigated. In gas phase, the supported Pt13 nanocluster has the tendency to wetting the CeO2 surface due to the strong metal-support interaction. The calculated interaction energies suggest the CeO2(110) surface provides the best stability for the Pt13 nanocluster. The CeO2 supported Pt13 nanoclusters are oxidized. Compared to the gas phase, the morphology of the CeO2 supported Pt13 nanocluster is less distorted due to the solvation effect provided by surrounding water molecules in aqueous phase. More electrons are transferred from the Pt13 nanocluster to the CeO2 support, implying the supported Pt13 nanocluster is further

  17. Preparation of Ultrahigh Molecular Weight Polyethylene/Graphene Nanocomposite In situ Polymerization via Spherical and Sandwich Structure Graphene/Sio2 Support

    Science.gov (United States)

    Su, Enqi; Gao, Wensheng; Hu, Xinjun; Zhang, Caicai; Zhu, Bochao; Jia, Junji; Huang, Anping; Bai, Yongxiao

    2018-04-01

    Reduced graphene oxide/SiO2 (RGO/SiO2) serving as a novel spherical support for Ziegler-Natta (Z-N) catalyst is reported. The surface and interior of the support has a porous architecture formed by RGO/SiO2 sandwich structure. The sandwich structure is like a brick wall coated with a graphene layer of concreted as skeleton which could withstand external pressures and endow the structure with higher support stabilities. After loading the Z-N catalyst, the active components anchor on the surface and internal pores of the supports. When the ethylene molecules meet the active centers, the molecular chains grow from the surface and internal catalytic sites in a regular and well-organized way. And the process of the nascent molecular chains filled in the sandwich structure polymerization could ensure the graphene disperse uniformly in the polymer matrix. Compared with traditional methods, the porous spherical graphene support of this strategy has far more advantages and could maintain an intrinsic graphene performance in the nanocomposites.

  18. Basic performance tests on vibration of support structure with flexible plates for ITER tokamak device

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takeda, Nobukazu; Kakudate, Satoshi; Shibanuma, Kiyoshi

    2005-01-01

    The vibration experiments of the support structures with flexible plates for the ITER major components such as toroidal field coil (TF coil) and vacuum vessel (VV) were performed using small-sized flexible plates aiming to obtain its basic mechanical characteristics such as dependence of the stiffness on the loading angle. The experimental results obtained by the hammering and frequency sweep tests were agreed each other, so that the experimental method is found to be reliable. In addition, the experimental results were compared with the analytical ones in order to estimate an adequate analytical model for ITER support structure with flexible plates. As a result, the bolt connection of the flexible plates on the base plate strongly affected on the stiffness of the flexible plates. After studies of modeling the bolts, it is found that the analytical results modeling the bolts with finite stiffness only in the axial direction and infinite stiffness in the other directions agree well with the experimental ones. Using this adequate model, the stiffness of the support structure with flexible plates for the ITER major components can be calculated precisely in order to estimate the dynamic behaviors such as eigen modes and amplitude of deformation of the major components of the ITER tokamak device. (author)

  19. Engineering Analyses of NCSX Modular Coil and Its Supporting Structure for EM Loads

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fan, H.M.; Williamson, D.

    2003-01-01

    NCSX modular coil is a major parts of the NCSX coil systems that surround the highly shaped plasma and vacuum vessel. The flexible copper cable conductors are used to form modular coil on both sides of the ''tee'' beam, which is cast inside the supporting shell structure. The Engineering analyses comprise sequentially coupled-field analyses that include an electromagnetic analysis to calculate the magnetic fields and EM forces, and a structural analysis to evaluate the structural responses. In the sequential EM-structural analysis, nodal forces obtained from the EM analysis were applied as ''nodal force'' loads in the subsequent stress analysis using the identical nodal points and elements. The shell model was imported directly from Pro/ENGINEER files in order to obtain an accurate structural representation. The Boolean operations provided by the ANSYS preprocessor were then applied to subdivide the solid model for more desirable finite element meshing. Material properties of the modular coil were based on test results. Analyses using the ANSYS program to evaluate structural responses of the complicated modular coil systems provided a clear understanding of the structural behaviors and the directions for improving the structural design

  20. A systematic review of structured versus non-structured breastfeeding programmes to support the initiation and duration of exclusive breastfeeding in acute and primary healthcare settings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beake, Sarah; Pellowe, Carol; Dykes, Fiona; Schmied, Virginia; Bick, Debra

    2011-01-01

    Background: Breastfeeding has many important health benefits for the woman and her baby. Despite evidence of benefit from a large number of well conducted studies, breastfeeding uptake and the duration of exclusive breastfeeding remain low in many countries. In order to improve breastfeeding rates, policy and guidelines at global, individual country level and in local healthcare settings have recommended that structured programmes to support breastfeeding should be introduced. The objective of this review was to consider the evidence of outcomes of structured compared with non-structured breastfeeding programmes in acute maternity care settings to support initiation and duration of exclusive breastfeeding. The definition of structured programme used included a multi-faceted or single intervention approach to support breastfeeding; definition of non-structured included support offered within standard care. The review considered quantitative and qualitative studies which addressed outcomes following the introduction of a structured programme in acute healthcare settings to support breastfeeding compared with no programme. The primary outcomes of interest were uptake of breastfeeding and duration of exclusive breastfeeding (only breast milk, including milk expressed). Studies which only considered community based interventions were not included. A search of the literature published between 1992 and 2010 was conducted, which followed a four step process. After a limited search of MEDLINE and CINAHL to identify key words contained in the title or abstract and index terms to describe relevant interventions, a second extensive search was undertaken using identified key words and index terms. The third step included a search of reference lists and bibliographies of relevant articles and the fourth step included a search of grey and unpublished literature and national databasesMethodological quality: Methodological quality was assessed using checklists developed by the

  1. RADIATION PRESSURE-SUPPORTED ACCRETION DISKS: VERTICAL STRUCTURE, ENERGY ADVECTION, AND CONVECTIVE STABILITY

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gu Weimin

    2012-01-01

    By taking into account the local energy balance per unit volume between the viscous heating and the advective cooling plus the radiative cooling, we investigate the vertical structure of radiation pressure-supported accretion disks in spherical coordinates. Our solutions show that the photosphere of the disk is close to the polar axis and therefore the disk seems to be extremely thick. However, the density profile implies that most of the accreted matter exists in a moderate range around the equatorial plane. We show that the well-known polytropic relation between the pressure and the density is unsuitable for describing the vertical structure of radiation pressure-supported disks. More importantly, we find that the energy advection is significant even for slightly sub-Eddington accretion disks. We argue that the non-negligible advection may help us understand why the standard thin disk model is likely to be inaccurate above ∼0.3 Eddington luminosity, which was found by some works on black hole spin measurement. Furthermore, the solutions satisfy the Solberg-Høiland conditions, which indicate the disk to be convectively stable. In addition, we discuss the possible link between our disk model and ultraluminous X-ray sources.

  2. Design and Strength Calculations of the Tripod Support Structure for Offshore Power Plant

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dymarski C.

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The support structure being the object of the analysis presented in the article is Tripod. According to the adopted assumptions, it is a foundation gravitationally set in the water region of 60 m in depth, not fixed to the seabed, which can be used for installing a 7MW wind turbine. Due to the lack of substantial information on designing and strength calculations of such types of structures in the world literature, authors have made an attempt to solve this problem within the framework of the abovementioned project. In the performed calculations all basic loads acting on the structure were taken into account, including: the self mass of the structure, the masses of the ballast, the tower and the turbine, as well as hydrostatic forces, and aero- and hydrodynamic forces acting on the entire object in extreme operating conditions.

  3. Evaluation of mechanical properties in metal wire mesh supported selective catalytic reduction (SCR) catalyst structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rajath, S.; Siddaraju, C.; Nandakishora, Y.; Roy, Sukumar

    2018-04-01

    The objective of this research is to evaluate certain specific mechanical properties of certain stainless steel wire mesh supported Selective catalytic reduction catalysts structures wherein the physical properties of the metal wire mesh and also its surface treatments played vital role thereby influencing the mechanical properties. As the adhesion between the stainless steel wire mesh and the catalyst material determines the bond strength and the erosion resistance of catalyst structures, surface modifications of the metal- wire mesh structure in order to facilitate the interface bonding is therefore very important to realize enhanced level of mechanical properties. One way to enhance such adhesion properties, the stainless steel wire mesh is treated with the various acids, i.e., chromic acid, phosphoric acid including certain mineral acids and combination of all those in various molar ratios that could generate surface active groups on metal surface that promotes good interface structure between the metal- wire mesh and metal oxide-based catalyst material and then the stainless steel wire mesh is dipped in the glass powder slurry containing some amount of organic binder. As a result of which the said catalyst material adheres to the metal-wire mesh surface more effectively that improves the erosion profile of supported catalysts structure including bond strength.

  4. Emerging models for mobilizing family support for chronic disease management: a structured review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosland, Ann-Marie; Piette, John D

    2010-03-01

    We identify recent models for programmes aiming to increase effective family support for chronic illness management and self-care among adult patients without significant physical or cognitive disabilities. We then summarize evidence regarding the efficacy for each model identified. Structured review of studies published in medical and psychology databases from 1990 to the present, reference review, general Web searches and conversations with family intervention experts. Review was limited to studies on conditions that require ongoing self-management, such as diabetes, chronic heart disease and rheumatologic disease. Programmes with three separate foci were identified: (1) Programmes that guide family members in setting goals for supporting patient self-care behaviours have led to improved implementation of family support roles, but have mixed success improving patient outcomes. (2) Programmes that train family in supportive communication techniques, such as prompting patient coping techniques or use of autonomy supportive statements, have successfully improved patient symptom management and health behaviours. (3) Programmes that give families tools and infrastructure to assist in monitoring clinical symptoms and medications are being conducted, with no evidence to date on their impact on patient outcomes. The next generation of programmes to improve family support for chronic disease management incorporate a variety of strategies. Future research can define optimal clinical situations for family support programmes, the most effective combinations of support strategies, and how best to integrate family support programmes into comprehensive models of chronic disease care.

  5. Boomerang project: structural calculations and verifications of mechanical support of space cryogenic system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zucchini, A.; Orsi, R.

    1995-12-01

    The Boomerang (Ballon Observations of Millimetric Extragalactic radiation ANd Geophysics) experiment is an international effort to measure the Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropy on angular scales of 20' to 4x, with unprecedent sensitivity, sky and spectral coverage. The telescope will be flown from Antarctica by NASA-NSBF with a long duration stratospheric balloon (1-3 weeks), and is scheduled for flight in 1996. Space cryogenic systems need adeguate mechanical support to survive the large accelerations and vibrations induced during launch and landing. Static and modal analyses were carried out in order to assist the design of the mechanical support of the space cryogenic system. This report describes the models and the results of the FEM analyses carried out for different design solutions (kevlar cords or fiber-glass cylinders) of the cryostat support structure

  6. Ontology: A Support Structure for a V-Labs Network: Euronet-Lab

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raul Cordeiro Correia

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Our propose is to build a network of virtual laboratories, based in a Virtual Closet that will contain all the elements and parts that are needed to build the various experiences available in a v-labs network (that we call Euronet-Lab. To build this complex network we need to find a system that supports effectively this structure. This probably will be a enormous database of v-labs and independent elements, where will be possible sometimes to “recycle” some of the elements. This means “re-use” the same element several times in many experiences. To do this is necessary to have a structure that allows us to have several instances of the same element. It’s important that in our structure and virtual environment we can create several “images” of the same reality and this images can be used simultaneously in different circuits/experiments. This means that we can create several instances of the same element, to be used in different experiences and exercises.

  7. NMR strategies to support medicinal chemistry workflows for primary structure determination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oguadinma, Paul; Bilodeau, Francois; LaPlante, Steven R

    2017-01-15

    Central to drug discovery is the correct characterization of the primary structures of compounds. In general, medicinal chemists make great synthetic and characterization efforts to deliver the intended compounds. However, there are occasions which incorrect compounds are presented, such as those reported for Bosutinib and TIC10. This may be due to a variety of reasons such as uncontrolled reaction schemes, reliance on limited characterization techniques (LC-MS and/or 1D 1H NMR spectra), or even the lack of availability or knowledge of characterization strategies. Here, we present practical NMR approaches that support medicinal chemist workflows for addressing compound characterization issues and allow for reliable primary structure determinations. These strategies serve to differentiate between regioisomers and geometric isomers, distinguish between N- versus O-alkyl analogues, and identify rotamers and atropisomers. Overall, awareness and application of these available NMR methods (e.g. HMBC/HSQC, ROESY and VT experiments, to name only a few) should help practicing chemists to reveal chemical phenomena and avoid mis-assignment of the primary structures of compounds. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Processing information about support exchanges in close relationships: The role of a knowledge structure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bulent eTuran

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available People develop knowledge of interpersonal interaction patterns (e.g., prototypes and schemas, which shape how they process incoming information. One such knowledge structure based on attachment theory was examined: the secure base script (the prototypic sequence of events when an attachment figure comforts a close relationship partner in distress. In two studies (N = 53 and N = 119, participants were shown animated film clips in which geometric figures depicted the secure base script and asked to describe the animations. Both studies found that many people readily recognize the secure-base script from these minimal cues quite well, suggesting that this script is not only available in the context of specific relationships (i.e., a relationship-specific knowledge: The generalized (abstract structure of the script is also readily accessible, which would make it possible to apply it to any relationship (including new relationships. Regression analyses suggested that participants who recognized the script were more likely to (a include more animation elements when describing the animations, (b see a common theme in different animations, (c create better organized stories, and (d later recall more details of the animations. These findings suggest that access to this knowledge structure helps a person organize and remember relevant incoming information. Furthermore, in both Study 1 and Study 2, individual differences in the ready recognition of the script were associated with individual differences in having access to another related knowledge: indicators suggesting that a potential relationship partner can be trusted to be supportive and responsive at times of stress. Results of Study 2 also suggest that recognizing the script is associated with those items of an attachment measure that concern giving and receiving support. Thus, these knowledge structures may shape how people process support-relevant information in their everyday lives, potentially

  9. Major achievements in cardiology in the past century : influence on Dutch cardiovascular medicine

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Wall, E. E.; de Boer, M-J; Doevendans, P. A.; Wilde, A. A.; Zijlstra, F.

    At the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Netherlands Society of Cardiology, it is interesting to look back on the major scientific achievements in cardiovascular medicine of the last century, and to pail attention to the impact of these achievements on Dutch Cardiology. It might be a nice

  10. Can You Tell the Density of the Watermelon from This Photograph?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foong, See Kit; Lim, Chim Chai

    2010-01-01

    Based on a photograph, the density of a watermelon floating in a pail of water is estimated with different levels of simplification--with and without consideration of refraction and three-dimensional effects. The watermelon was approximated as a sphere. The results of the theoretical estimations were verified experimentally. (Contains 6 figures.)

  11. Main aspects of the design of a support structure of a LMFBR with particular reference to the explosive accident consequences

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Giuliano, V.; Lazzeri, L.

    1977-01-01

    The aim of this paper is a review of the main aspects of the design of a support structure of a LMFBR tank, with particular reference to the analysis of the non-linear dynamic behavior of the structure in the plastic range under the effect of an explosive accident within the tank. The structure is composed by a L-shaped flange, which supports the tank, connected by means of nine square beams to a rigid box-type ring, fixed to the concrete. The plug of the tank is connected to the L-shaped flange by means of a group of SS bars. The non-linear dynamic analysis of the explosive accident has been carried out on a lumped mass model, with elastic-plastic elements which simulate main components of the support structure and tank. The impulsive load connected to the explosive accident has been modelled (on the basis of extensive comparative studies carried out) as two triangular pressure impulses has been the object of a parametric evaluation. The dynamic transient on the support structure during and after the explosive accident for each couple of pressure impulses has been analyzed by means of modified version of the NON SAP code running on a CDC 7600 computer. A large amount of results, which describe displacements, velocities and accelerations of the plug, of the tank, and of the support structure, together with the forces and stresses acting on the main structural components are presented and discussed, with particular reference to the influence of the various parameters involved in the analysis

  12. Prediction of backbone dihedral angles and protein secondary structure using support vector machines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hirst Jonathan D

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The prediction of the secondary structure of a protein is a critical step in the prediction of its tertiary structure and, potentially, its function. Moreover, the backbone dihedral angles, highly correlated with secondary structures, provide crucial information about the local three-dimensional structure. Results We predict independently both the secondary structure and the backbone dihedral angles and combine the results in a loop to enhance each prediction reciprocally. Support vector machines, a state-of-the-art supervised classification technique, achieve secondary structure predictive accuracy of 80% on a non-redundant set of 513 proteins, significantly higher than other methods on the same dataset. The dihedral angle space is divided into a number of regions using two unsupervised clustering techniques in order to predict the region in which a new residue belongs. The performance of our method is comparable to, and in some cases more accurate than, other multi-class dihedral prediction methods. Conclusions We have created an accurate predictor of backbone dihedral angles and secondary structure. Our method, called DISSPred, is available online at http://comp.chem.nottingham.ac.uk/disspred/.

  13. Basic data for surveillance test on core support graphite structures for the high temperature engineering test reactor (HTTR)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sumita, Junya; Shibata, Taiju; Kikuchi, Takayuki; Iyoku, Tatsuo; Fujimoto, Nozomu; Ishihara, Masahiro; Sawa, Kazuhiro

    2007-02-01

    Both of the visual inspection by a TV camera and the measurement of material properties by surveillance test on core support graphite structures are planned for the High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor (HTTR) to confirm their structural integrity and characteristics. The surveillance test is aimed to investigate the change of material properties by aging effects such as fast neutron irradiation and oxidation. The obtained data will be used not only for evaluating the structural integrity of the core support graphite structures of the HTTR but also for design of advanced Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) discussed at generation IV international forum. This report describes the initial material properties of surveillance specimens before installation and installed position of surveillance specimens in the HTTR. (author)

  14. Super-light and pearl-chain technology for support of ancient structures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hertz, Kristian Dahl; Schmidt, Jacob Wittrup; Goltermann, Per

    2014-01-01

    optimal and often curved paths of strong concrete assembled from smaller segments by prestressing wires, so that expensive curved moulds and supports can be avoided. Pearl-chains can provide a resistance to impact and earthquake of ancient structures. High-strength concrete and prestressed carbon fibre......The patented super-light technology is inspired by ancient Roman concrete structures with strong concrete placed, where the engineer would like the forces to be, and light concrete fills out the shape stabilizing the strong and protecting it. Pearl-chain technology is invented in order to create...... reinforcement may be applied, because the new technology solves the main problems for that, since the light aggregate concrete provides a fire protection needed for both materials and provides a stabilization of the slender cores in compression. The paper explains more about the new technology...

  15. Structure sensitivity in CO oxidation by a single Au atom supported on ceria

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Song, W.; Hensen, E.J.M.

    2013-01-01

    The mechanism of CO oxidation by a CeO2(110)-supported gold atom has been investigated by DFT calculations. A novel stable surface structure has been identified in which one surface O atom of ceria migrates toward the isolated Au atom, resulting in a surface Au–O species that can react with CO.

  16. Optimization of the structural design of HVAC ducts and their supports

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    DeMatias, I.P.; Barrio, M.

    1987-01-01

    This paper describes the computerized process of qualification and design based on experience accumulated in structural designs of HVAC systems in nuclear power plants, using CAD/CAE systems. Such computerization has drastically reduced the number of manhours employed to generate the information necessary to issue duct and support fabrication drawings. During the analysis stage, the requirements for qualification of ducts and supports contained in CONAGT ANSI/ASME AG-1 have been considered. The data package applicable to the process consists of a set of computer programs which may be used independently or combined. A significant portion of such programs governs the graphic design. Moreover, analyses are performed on results of the different types of tests carried out to date, and on those necessary to determine the mechanisms of failures in ducts, and in order to be able to calibrate design criteria currently in use

  17. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) studies of supported catalysts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Joyner, R.W.

    1979-01-01

    Since the rebirth of interest in extended X-ray absorption fine structure there have been several studies of systems of catalytic interest. This note is a preliminary account of an investigation of supported platinum catalysts and NiO/Al 2 O 3 catalysts. Experiments were performed on pressed disc samples at the DESY synchrotron, Hamburg, using the EXAFS spectrometer. The synchrotron operated at 7 GeV energy with a circulating current of approximately 4 mA; spectrum accumulation time was typically 45 minutes. (author)

  18. Rubber bearing and bitumen infill support system for seismic protection of nuclear power plant structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahmed, K.M.

    1981-01-01

    The prestressed concrete pressure vessel (PCPV) for the AGR is of cylindrical type. The whole of the reactor primary circuit is contained within the PCPV vault and includes the reactor core and support structures, boilers and gas circulators. The PCPV is essentially free standing on its foundation raft. In order to transmit gravitational and seismic loads between the PCPV and the foundation raft, a support system is used which consists of concentric rings of neoprene pads and a thin annulus of bitumen infill. In order to assess the importance of both stiffness and damping of the PCPV support system on the overall AGR response, detailed parametric studies were carried out using time-history dynamic analysis in conjunction with the modal superposition technique. The effects of both stiffness and damping are compared in terms of the maximum dynamic response (maximum accelerations and maximum relative displacements) and also floor response spectra at various locations on the nuclear island. It is clearly apparent from these investigations that for an appropriate range of structures on the nuclear island (such as the PCPV and its internals), greater reduction in seismic loading can be achieved by proper selection of stiffnesses and damping of the PCPV support system without resorting to strengthening techniques. (orig./HP)

  19. Investigating the possible effect of electrode support structure on motion artifact in wearable bioelectric signal monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cömert, Alper; Hyttinen, Jari

    2015-05-15

    With advances in technology and increasing demand, wearable biosignal monitoring is developing and new applications are emerging. One of the main challenges facing the widespread use of wearable monitoring systems is the motion artifact. The sources of the motion artifact lie in the skin-electrode interface. Reducing the motion and deformation at this interface should have positive effects on signal quality. In this study, we aim to investigate whether the structure supporting the electrode can be designed to reduce the motion artifact with the hypothesis that this can be achieved by stabilizing the skin deformations around the electrode. We compare four textile electrodes with different support structure designs: a soft padding larger than the electrode area, a soft padding larger than the electrode area with a novel skin deformation restricting design, a soft padding the same size as the electrode area, and a rigid support the same size as the electrode. With five subjects and two electrode locations placed over different kinds of tissue at various mounting forces, we simultaneously measured the motion artifact, a motion affected ECG, and the real-time skin-electrode impedance during the application of controlled motion to the electrodes. The design of the electrode support structure has an effect on the generated motion artifact; good design with a skin stabilizing structure makes the electrodes physically more motion artifact resilient, directly affecting signal quality. Increasing the applied mounting force shows a positive effect up to 1,000 gr applied force. The properties of tissue under the electrode are an important factor in the generation of the motion artifact and the functioning of the electrodes. The relationship of motion artifact amplitude to the electrode movement magnitude is seen to be linear for smaller movements. For larger movements, the increase of motion generated a disproportionally larger artifact. The motion artifact and the induced

  20. Final Environmental Assessment Test Operations at Arnold Engineering Development Center. Volumes 1 & 2

    Science.gov (United States)

    2008-06-01

    collected in sufficient numbers (3-10 fish) to provide a 200-g composite homogenate sample of edible tissue for analysis of recommended target...Number 3411 Metal Cans Yes AA-1 3412 Metal Shipping Barrels, Drums, Kegs, and Pails Yes AA-1 3421 Cutlery Yes AA-1 3423 Hand and Edge Tools, Except

  1. 77 FR 57112 - Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of Defense, Army, Fort Sill Museum, Lawton, OK

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-09-17

    ... Landmark and Museum, U.S. Army Fires Center of Excellence, Fort Sill, OK 73503, telephone (580) 442-6570... trapping, 3 metal rings, 2 metal rivets, 17 metal nails, 53 metal bracelets, 1 metal pail, 1,500 glass... A. Neel, Director, Fort Sill National Historic Landmark and Museum, U.S. Army Fires Center of...

  2. Optimal design of galvanic corrosion protection systems for offshore wind turbine support structures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sarhadi, Ali; Abrahamsen, Asger Bech; Stolpe, Mathias

    2018-01-01

    the optimized anodes on the support structure, and finally evaluating the protective potential on the structure during the lifetime by calling the finite element (FE) software COMSOL. An algorithm based on Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP) is used for optimizing the number and dimensions of the anodes...... the electrical isolation degradation of the structure coating as well as the mass reduction of the anodes during the CP lifetime. The performance of the proposed optimization process is examined on a mono bucket inspired (with some simplifications) by the Dogger Bank metrological mast in England. The optimized......The current work addresses a mass/cost optimization procedure for galvanic anode cathodic protection (GACP) systems based on both cathodic protection (CP) standards and numerical simulation. An approach is developed for optimizing the number and dimensions of the galvanic anodes, distributing...

  3. Data supporting beta-amyloid dimer structural transitions and protein–lipid interactions on asymmetric lipid bilayer surfaces using MD simulations on experimentally derived NMR protein structures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sara Y. Cheng

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available This data article supports the research article entitled “Maximally Asymmetric Transbilayer Distribution of Anionic Lipids Alters the Structure and interaction with Lipids of an Amyloidogenic Protein Dimer Bound to the Membrane Surface” [1]. We describe supporting data on the binding kinetics, time evolution of secondary structure, and residue-contact maps of a surface-absorbed beta-amyloid dimer protein on different membrane surfaces. We further demonstrate the sorting of annular and non-annular regions of the protein/lipid bilayer simulation systems, and the correlation of lipid-number mismatch and surface area per lipid mismatch of asymmetric lipid membranes.

  4. High cycle fatigue analysis of vortex suppression plate and secondary core support structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xue Guohong; Li Yuan; Zhao Feiyun; Feng Shaodong; Yu Hao

    2013-01-01

    Background: Reactor internals are important equipment s in the reactor coolant system, its structure design needs high reliability in the entire lifetime, Reactor internals have occurred breakdown and the damage event due to flow induced vibrations in the domestic and foreign nuclear power plants, which make immediate influence on reactor safe operation and economic efficiency. Purpose: In this work, the dynamic response of reactor internals-vortex suppression plate and secondary core support structure (SCSS) under the loading from pump induced vibrations and flow induced vibrations are studied. Methods: Based on the finite element model of SCSS, Spectrum analysis and the harmonious analysis are performed, in order to get the response of the structure under flow induced vibrations. Then, the high fatigue of the structure is assessed according to the ASME B and PV Code. Results: The results indicate that alternate stresses of all the components satisfy the limiting value in the correlative requirements. Conclusions: The structure of SCSS could bear the vibration induced from the flow and the pump, and the method used in this article provides the reference for other reactor internals structure analysis like this. (authors)

  5. Hydrothermal performance of catalyst supports

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Elam, Jeffrey W.; Marshall, Christopher L.; Libera, Joseph A.; Dumesic, James A.; Pagan-Torres, Yomaira J.

    2018-04-10

    A high surface area catalyst with a mesoporous support structure and a thin conformal coating over the surface of the support structure. The high surface area catalyst support is adapted for carrying out a reaction in a reaction environment where the thin conformal coating protects the support structure within the reaction environment. In various embodiments, the support structure is a mesoporous silica catalytic support and the thin conformal coating comprises a layer of metal oxide resistant to the reaction environment which may be a hydrothermal environment.

  6. Electronic structure of surface-supported bis(phthalocyaninato) terbium(III) single molecular magnets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vitali, Lucia; Fabris, Stefano; Conte, Adriano Mosca; Brink, Susan; Ruben, Mario; Baroni, Stefano; Kern, Klaus

    2008-10-01

    The electronic structure of isolated bis(phthalocyaninato) terbium(III) molecules, a novel single-molecular-magnet (SMM), supported on the Cu(111) surface has been characterized by density functional theory and scanning tunneling spectroscopy. These studies reveal that the interaction with the metal surface preserves both the molecular structure and the large spin magnetic moment of the metal center. The 4f electron states are not perturbed by the adsorption while a strong molecular/metal interaction can induce the suppression of the minor spin contribution delocalized over the molecular ligands. The calculations show that the inherent spin magnetic moment of the molecule is only weakly affected by the interaction with the surface and suggest that the SMM character might be preserved.

  7. Main aspects of the design of a support structure of a LMFBR with particular reference to the explosive accident consequences

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Giuliano, V.; Lazzeri, L.

    1977-01-01

    The aim of this paper is a review of the main aspects of the design of a support structure of a LMFBR tank, with particular reference to the analysis of the non-linear dynamic behaviour of the structure in the plastic range under the effect of an explosive accident within the tank. The structure is composed by a L-shaped flange, which supports the tank, connected by means of nine square beams to a rigid box-type ring, fixed to the concrete. The plug of the tank is connected to the L-shaped figure by means of a group of SS bars. The non-linear dynamic analysis of the explosive accident has been carried out on a lumped mass model, with elastic-plastic elements which simulate main components of the support structure and tank. The impulsive load connected to the explosive accident has been modelled (on the basis of extensive comparative studies carried out) as two triangular pressure impulses acting on the plug and on the botton of the tank. A large amount of results, which describe displacements, velocities and accelerations of the plug, of the tank, and of the support structure, together with the forces and stresses acting on the main structural components are presented and discussed, with particular reference to the influence of the various parameters involved in the analysis. (Auth.)

  8. Concept-Development of a Structure Supported Membrane for Deployable Space Applications - From Nature to Manufacture and Testing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zander, Martin; Belvin, W. K.

    2012-01-01

    Current space applications of membrane structures include large area solar power arrays, solar sails, antennas, and numerous other large aperture devices like the solar shades of the new James Webb Space Telescope. These expandable structural systems, deployed in-orbit to achieve the desired geometry, are used to collect, reflect and/or transmit electromagnetic radiation. This work, a feasibility study supporting a diploma thesis, describes the systematic process for developing a biologically inspired concept for a structure supported (integrated) membrane, that features a rip stop principle, makes self-deployment possible and is part of an ultra-light weight space application. Novel manufacturing of membrane prototypes and test results are presented for the rip-stop concepts. Test data showed that the new membrane concept has a higher tear resistance than neat film of equivalent mass.

  9. Support Vector Machines Trained with Evolutionary Algorithms Employing Kernel Adatron for Large Scale Classification of Protein Structures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arana-Daniel, Nancy; Gallegos, Alberto A; López-Franco, Carlos; Alanís, Alma Y; Morales, Jacob; López-Franco, Adriana

    2016-01-01

    With the increasing power of computers, the amount of data that can be processed in small periods of time has grown exponentially, as has the importance of classifying large-scale data efficiently. Support vector machines have shown good results classifying large amounts of high-dimensional data, such as data generated by protein structure prediction, spam recognition, medical diagnosis, optical character recognition and text classification, etc. Most state of the art approaches for large-scale learning use traditional optimization methods, such as quadratic programming or gradient descent, which makes the use of evolutionary algorithms for training support vector machines an area to be explored. The present paper proposes an approach that is simple to implement based on evolutionary algorithms and Kernel-Adatron for solving large-scale classification problems, focusing on protein structure prediction. The functional properties of proteins depend upon their three-dimensional structures. Knowing the structures of proteins is crucial for biology and can lead to improvements in areas such as medicine, agriculture and biofuels.

  10. High-Temperature Superconductors as Electromagnetic Deployment and Support Structures in Spacecraft. [NASA NIAC Phase I

    Science.gov (United States)

    Getliffe, Gwendolyn V.; Inamdar, Niraj K.; Masterson, Rebecca; Miller, David W.

    2012-01-01

    This report, concluding a one-year NIAC Phase I study, describes a new structural and mechanical technique aimed at reducing the mass and increasing the deployed-to-stowed length and volume ratios of spacecraft systems. This technique uses the magnetic fields generated by electrical current passing through coils of high-temperature superconductors (HTSs) to support spacecraft structures and deploy them to operational configurations from their stowed positions inside a launch vehicle fairing.

  11. A Study in Difference: Structures and Cultures in Registered Training Organisations. Support Document 3

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clayton, Berwyn; Fisher, Thea; Harris, Roger; Bateman, Andrea; Brown, Mike

    2008-01-01

    This document supports the report "A Study in Difference: Structures and Cultures in Registered Training Organisations." The first section outlines the methodology used to undertake the research and covers the design of the research, sample details, the data collection process and the strategy for data analysis and reporting. The…

  12. Optimization of Support Structures for Offshore Wind Turbines Using Genetic Algorithm with Domain-Trimming

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad AlHamaydeh

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The powerful genetic algorithm optimization technique is augmented with an innovative “domain-trimming” modification. The resulting adaptive, high-performance technique is called Genetic Algorithm with Domain-Trimming (GADT. As a proof of concept, the GADT is applied to a widely used benchmark problem. The 10-dimensional truss optimization benchmark problem has well documented global and local minima. The GADT is shown to outperform several published solutions. Subsequently, the GADT is deployed onto three-dimensional structural design optimization for offshore wind turbine supporting structures. The design problem involves complex least-weight topology as well as member size optimizations. The GADT is applied to two popular design alternatives: tripod and quadropod jackets. The two versions of the optimization problem are nonlinearly constrained where the objective function is the material weight of the supporting truss. The considered design variables are the truss members end node coordinates, as well as the cross-sectional areas of the truss members, whereas the constraints are the maximum stresses in members and the maximum displacements of the nodes. These constraints are managed via dynamically modified, nonstationary penalty functions. The structures are subject to gravity, wind, wave, and earthquake loading conditions. The results show that the GADT method is superior in finding best discovered optimal solutions.

  13. Relating performance of thin-film composite forward osmosis membranes to support layer formation and structure

    KAUST Repository

    Tiraferri, Alberto; Yip, Ngai Yin; Phillip, William A.; Schiffman, Jessica D.; Elimelech, Menachem

    2011-01-01

    the technology to the point that it is commercially viable. Here, a systematic investigation of the influence of thin-film composite membrane support layer structure on forward osmosis performance is conducted. The membranes consist of a selective polyamide

  14. The effect of promoters on the electronic structure of ruthenium catalysts supported on carbon

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guraya, Monica; Sprenger, Susanne; Rarog-Pilecka, Wioletta; Szmigiel, Dariusz; Kowalczyk, Zbigniew; Muhler, Martin

    2004-01-01

    Alkali- and earth-alkali-promoted ruthenium catalysts supported on graphitized carbon were investigated by means of X-ray and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS and UPS) in order to study the effect of promoters on the electronic structure of this metal-support system. Samples were measured as prepared and after thorough reduction in hydrogen. The C 1s spectra of reduced alkali-promoted catalysts showed a shift towards higher binding energies and an asymmetric broadening. Neither non-promoted nor Ba-promoted Ru/C samples exhibited such a behaviour after similar treatments. The most important feature in the UP spectra of the reduced alkali-promoted catalysts was the appearance of a well defined Fermi edge absent in the semimetal-like electronic structure of graphite. No significant effects appeared in the case of non-promoted or Ba-promoted catalysts. The increase in the density of occupied states at the Fermi energy indicates a shift of this level into the conduction band, due to a charge transfer from the promoter to the support. This interpretation also provides an explanation for the observed higher C 1s binding energy and asymmetric broadening, due to the off-set introduced in the binding energy scale and the increasing probability of inelastic excitations near the Fermi level. In addition to photoelectron spectroscopy, low energy ion scattering (ISS) was used to obtain information about the localisation of the promoters. Based on the mild sputtering effect during prolonged series of spectra, it was possible to conclude that potassium covers both the carbon support and the Ru metal particles

  15. Granular gel support-enabled extrusion of three-dimensional alginate and cellular structures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jin, Yifei; Compaan, Ashley; Bhattacharjee, Tapomoy; Huang, Yong

    2016-06-03

    Freeform fabrication of soft structures has been of great interest in recent years. In particular, it is viewed as a critical step toward the grand vision of organ printing--the on-demand design and fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) human organ constructs for implantation and regenerative medicine. The objective of this study is to develop a novel granular gel support material-enabled, two-step gelation-based 'printing-then-gelation' approach to fabricate 3D alginate structures using filament extrusion. Specifically, a granular Carbopol microgel bath holds the ungelled alginate structure being extruded, avoiding the instantaneous gelation of each printed layer as well as resultant surface tension-induced nozzle clogging. Since Carbopol microgels react with multivalent cations, which are needed for alginate crosslinking, gelatin is introduced as a sacrificial material to make an alginate and gelatin bioink for extrusion, which gels thermally (step-one gelation) to initially stabilize the printed structure for removal from Carbopol. Then gelatin is melted and diffused away while alginate is ionically crosslinked in a 37 °C calcium chloride bath (step-two gelation), resulting in an alginate structure. The proposed 'printing-then-gelation' approach works for alginate structure fabrication, and it is also applicable for the printing of cellular constructs and other similar homogeneous soft structures using a two-step or even multi-step approach. The main conclusions are: (1) 0.8% (w/v) Carbopol bath with a neutral pH value may be most suitable for soft structure printing; (2) it is most effective to use a 0.9% (w/v) NaCl solution to facilitate the removal of residual Carbopol; and (3) alginate structures fabricated using the proposed approach demonstrate better mechanical properties than those fabricated using the conventional 'gelation-while-printing' approach.

  16. A support structure for biomimetic applications

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vogel, Jörg; Perry, Mark; Hansen, Jesper Søndergaard

    2009-01-01

    Water filtration on the basis of aquaporin molecules incorporated in an artificial lipid bilayer requires a microporous support membrane. We describe a new microfabrication method based on CO2-laser ablation to generate support membranes with homogeneous apertures ranging from 300 mu m down to 84...... to visualize and analyse these bulges. The overall area covered so far has been 4 cm(2) but upscaling to larger footprints, e. g. square metres, is currently being investigated....

  17. Structural Analysis of the Support System for a Large Compressor Driven by a Synchronous Electric Motor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winter, J. R.

    1984-01-01

    For economic reasons, the steam drive for a large compressor was replaced by a large synchronous electric motor. Due to the resulting large increase in mass and because the unit was mounted on a steel frame approximately 18 feet above ground level, it was deemed necessary to determine if a steady state or transient vibration problem existed. There was a definite possibility that a resonant or near resonant condition could be encountered. The ensuing analysis, which led to some structural changes as the analysis proceeded, did not reveal any major steady state vibration problems. However, the analysis did indicate that the system would go through several natural frequencies of the support structure during start-up and shutdown. This led to the development of special start-up and shutdown procedures to minimize the possibility of exciting any of the major structural modes. A coast-down could result in significant support structure and/or equipment damage, especially under certain circumstances. In any event, dynamic field tests verified the major analytical results. The unit has now been operating for over three years without any major vibration problems.

  18. Thermal and structural performance of a single tube support post for the Superconducting Super Collider dipole magnet cryostat

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boroski, W.N.; Nicol, T.H.; Ruschman, M.K.; Schoo, C.J.

    1993-07-01

    The reentrant support post currently incorporated in the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) dipole cryostat has been shown to meet the structural and thermal requirements of the cryostat, both in prototype magnet assemblies and through component testing. However, the reentrant post design has two major drawbacks: tight dimensional control on all components, and cost driven by these tolerance constraints and a complex assembly procedure. A single tube support post has been developed as an alternative to the reentrant post design. Several prototype assemblies have been fabricated and subjected to structural testing. Compressive, tensile, and bending forces were applied to each assembly with deflection measured at several locations. A prototype support post has also been thermally evaluated in a heat leak measurement facility. Heat load to 4.2 K was measured with the intermediate post intercept operating at various temperatures while thermometers positioned along the conductive path of the post mapped thermal gradients. Results from these measurements indicate the single tube support post meets the design criteria for the SSC dipole magnet cryostat support system

  19. Glycerophospholipid Supplementation as a Potential Intervention for Supporting Cerebral Structure in Older Adults

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reddan, Jeffery M.; White, David J.; Macpherson, Helen; Scholey, Andrew; Pipingas, Andrew

    2018-01-01

    Modifying nutritional intake through supplementation may be efficacious for altering the trajectory of cerebral structural decline evident with increasing age. To date, there have been a number of clinical trials in older adults whereby chronic supplementation with B vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, or resveratrol, has been observed to either slow the rate of decline or repair cerebral tissue. There is also some evidence from animal studies indicating that supplementation with glycerophospholipids (GPL) may benefit cerebral structure, though these effects have not yet been investigated in adult humans. Despite this paucity of research, there are a number of factors predicting poorer cerebral structure in older humans, which GPL supplementation appears to beneficially modify or protect against. These include elevated concentrations of homocysteine, unbalanced activity of reactive oxygen species both increasing the risk of oxidative stress, increased concentrations of pro-inflammatory messengers, as well as poorer cardio- and cerebrovascular function. As such, it is hypothesized that GPL supplementation will support cerebral structure in older adults. These cerebral effects may influence cognitive function. The current review aims to provide a theoretical basis for future clinical trials investigating the effects of GPL supplementation on cerebral structural integrity in older adults. PMID:29563868

  20. Modern Theories of Pelvic Floor Support : A Topical Review of Modern Studies on Structural and Functional Pelvic Floor Support from Medical Imaging, Computational Modeling, and Electromyographic Perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peng, Yun; Miller, Brandi D; Boone, Timothy B; Zhang, Yingchun

    2018-02-12

    Weakened pelvic floor support is believed to be the main cause of various pelvic floor disorders. Modern theories of pelvic floor support stress on the structural and functional integrity of multiple structures and their interplay to maintain normal pelvic floor functions. Connective tissues provide passive pelvic floor support while pelvic floor muscles provide active support through voluntary contraction. Advanced modern medical technologies allow us to comprehensively and thoroughly evaluate the interaction of supporting structures and assess both active and passive support functions. The pathophysiology of various pelvic floor disorders associated with pelvic floor weakness is now under scrutiny from the combination of (1) morphological, (2) dynamic (through computational modeling), and (3) neurophysiological perspectives. This topical review aims to update newly emerged studies assessing pelvic floor support function among these three categories. A literature search was performed with emphasis on (1) medical imaging studies that assess pelvic floor muscle architecture, (2) subject-specific computational modeling studies that address new topics such as modeling muscle contractions, and (3) pelvic floor neurophysiology studies that report novel devices or findings such as high-density surface electromyography techniques. We found that recent computational modeling studies are featured with more realistic soft tissue constitutive models (e.g., active muscle contraction) as well as an increasing interest in simulating surgical interventions (e.g., artificial sphincter). Diffusion tensor imaging provides a useful non-invasive tool to characterize pelvic floor muscles at the microstructural level, which can be potentially used to improve the accuracy of the simulation of muscle contraction. Studies using high-density surface electromyography anal and vaginal probes on large patient cohorts have been recently reported. Influences of vaginal delivery on the

  1. Text localization using standard deviation analysis of structure elements and support vector machines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zagoris Konstantinos

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract A text localization technique is required to successfully exploit document images such as technical articles and letters. The proposed method detects and extracts text areas from document images. Initially a connected components analysis technique detects blocks of foreground objects. Then, a descriptor that consists of a set of suitable document structure elements is extracted from the blocks. This is achieved by incorporating an algorithm called Standard Deviation Analysis of Structure Elements (SDASE which maximizes the separability between the blocks. Another feature of the SDASE is that its length adapts according to the requirements of the application. Finally, the descriptor of each block is used as input to a trained support vector machines that classify the block as text or not. The proposed technique is also capable of adjusting to the text structure of the documents. Experimental results on benchmarking databases demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

  2. Silvical characteristics of Atlantic white-cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides)

    Science.gov (United States)

    S. Little

    1959-01-01

    Atlantic white-cedar ((Chamaecyparis thyoides (L.) B.S.P.) has been a highly prized species since Colonial times because of the durability and high quality of its wood. The wood has been used for many purposes: boat boards, shingles and lath, framing, house and boat finish, pails and tanks, cabin logs, posts, and poles. Good white-cedar has always...

  3. Ultra-Stable Zero-CTE HoneySiC and H2CMN Mirror Support Structures, Phase II

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — NASA MSFC, GSFC and JPL are interested in Ultra-Stable Mirror Support Structures for Exoplanet Missions. Telescopes with Apertures of 4-meters or larger and using an...

  4. Experimental research on the structural instability mechanism and the effect of multi-echelon support of deep roadways in a kilometre-deep well.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rui Peng

    Full Text Available We study the structural instability mechanism and effect of a multi-echelon support in very-deep roadways. We conduct a scale model test for analysing the structural failure mechanism and the effect of multi-echelon support of roadways under high horizontal stress. Mechanical bearing structures are classified according to their secondary stress distribution and the strength degradation of the surrounding rock after roadway excavation. A new method is proposed by partitioning the mechanical bearing structure of the surrounding rock into weak, key and main coupling bearing stratums. In the surrounding rock, the main bearing stratum is the plastic reshaping and flowing area. The weak bearing stratum is the peeling layer or the caving part. And the key bearing stratum is the shearing and yielding area. The structural fracture mechanism of roadways is considered in analysing the bearing structure instability of the surrounding rock, and multi-echelon support that considers the structural characteristics of roadway bearings is proposed. Results of the experimental study indicate that horizontal pressure seriously influences the stability of the surrounding rock, as indicated by extension of the weak bearing area and the transfer of the main and key bearing zones. The falling roof, rib spalling, and floor heave indicate the decline of the bearing capacity of surrounding rock, thereby causing roadway structural instability. Multi-echelon support is proposed according to the mechanical bearing structure of the surrounding rock without support. The redesigned support can reduce the scope of the weak bearing area and limit the transfer of the main and key bearing areas. Consequently, kilometre-deep roadway disasters, such as wedge roof caving, floor heave, and rib spalling, can be avoided to a certain degree, and plastic flow in the surrounding rock is relieved. The adverse effect of horizontal stress on the vault, spandrel and arch foot decreases. The

  5. The FORCE: A portable parallel programming language supporting computational structural mechanics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jordan, Harry F.; Benten, Muhammad S.; Brehm, Juergen; Ramanan, Aruna

    1989-01-01

    This project supports the conversion of codes in Computational Structural Mechanics (CSM) to a parallel form which will efficiently exploit the computational power available from multiprocessors. The work is a part of a comprehensive, FORTRAN-based system to form a basis for a parallel version of the NICE/SPAR combination which will form the CSM Testbed. The software is macro-based and rests on the force methodology developed by the principal investigator in connection with an early scientific multiprocessor. Machine independence is an important characteristic of the system so that retargeting it to the Flex/32, or any other multiprocessor on which NICE/SPAR might be imnplemented, is well supported. The principal investigator has experience in producing parallel software for both full and sparse systems of linear equations using the force macros. Other researchers have used the Force in finite element programs. It has been possible to rapidly develop software which performs at maximum efficiency on a multiprocessor. The inherent machine independence of the system also means that the parallelization will not be limited to a specific multiprocessor.

  6. Support Structures in Social Entrepreneurship Ecosystems: Comparing the Swedish and the French Environments.

    OpenAIRE

    Bouges, Alexis

    2015-01-01

    This thesis compares the Swedish and the French social entrepreneurship ecosystems. After an examination of the definitions and current legal frameworks around social enterprises in each country, their levels of social entrepreneurship activity are compared. The existing support structures providing non-financial help to social entrepreneurs (i.e. incubators, accelerators, co-working spaces and networks) are identified in Paris and in Stockholm, while perceptions from social entrepreneurs ben...

  7. Atomic structure of graphene supported heterogeneous model catalysts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Franz, Dirk

    2017-04-01

    the Ir clusters show equal ratio of ABC and ACB stacking. Pt/Rh clusters show mainly (∝75 %) ABC stacking and Ir/Pd clusters show exclusively ABC stacking - note the Ir(111) substrate stacking is chosen to be ABC-like. During gas exposure the clusters gain in height, while simultaneously the ordering of the cluster lattice decreases. The order of ACB stacked Pt/Rh clusters decreases more rapidly, so that a weakening of the cluster binding due to ACB stacking is proposed. In addition a size reduction of the lowest cluster layer to a hexagonal arrangement of 19 atoms was observed, which seems to be the energetically favoured interface area between graphene/Ir(111) and the investigated metal clusters. Platinum clusters containing fewer than 40 atoms have been investigated with surface sensitive X-ray diffraction. The cluster height could be determined and a reduced atom distance among the cluster was observed. CO exposure decreased the in-plane atom distance even more. This effect could be reverted by a subsequent oxygen exposure (2CO + O_2 → 2 CO_2). For Pt/Rh clusters with fewer than 60 atoms the element distribution was investigated and revealed an enrichment of Rh at the two topmost cluster layers. This element distribution was found for co-deposition and sequential deposition of the material and is therefore independent of the order of deposition. Oxygen exposure led to the formation of a rhodium surface oxide, which could be prevented by preceding CO exposure. In case of Ir/Pd clusters containing ∝60 atoms we found preferences for a core/shell structure with iridium atoms at core sites. Exposure to p(H_2)=1 bar did not result in the formation of the palladium β-phase, so that a reduced hydrogen solubility of graphene/Ir(111) supported palladium clusters is assumed. The reduced hydrogen solubility is probably a consequence of substrate induced strain among the cluster atoms.

  8. Atomic structure of graphene supported heterogeneous model catalysts

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Franz, Dirk

    2017-04-15

    , whereupon the Ir clusters show equal ratio of ABC and ACB stacking. Pt/Rh clusters show mainly (∝75 %) ABC stacking and Ir/Pd clusters show exclusively ABC stacking - note the Ir(111) substrate stacking is chosen to be ABC-like. During gas exposure the clusters gain in height, while simultaneously the ordering of the cluster lattice decreases. The order of ACB stacked Pt/Rh clusters decreases more rapidly, so that a weakening of the cluster binding due to ACB stacking is proposed. In addition a size reduction of the lowest cluster layer to a hexagonal arrangement of 19 atoms was observed, which seems to be the energetically favoured interface area between graphene/Ir(111) and the investigated metal clusters. Platinum clusters containing fewer than 40 atoms have been investigated with surface sensitive X-ray diffraction. The cluster height could be determined and a reduced atom distance among the cluster was observed. CO exposure decreased the in-plane atom distance even more. This effect could be reverted by a subsequent oxygen exposure (2CO + O{sub 2} → 2 CO{sub 2}). For Pt/Rh clusters with fewer than 60 atoms the element distribution was investigated and revealed an enrichment of Rh at the two topmost cluster layers. This element distribution was found for co-deposition and sequential deposition of the material and is therefore independent of the order of deposition. Oxygen exposure led to the formation of a rhodium surface oxide, which could be prevented by preceding CO exposure. In case of Ir/Pd clusters containing ∝60 atoms we found preferences for a core/shell structure with iridium atoms at core sites. Exposure to p(H{sub 2})=1 bar did not result in the formation of the palladium β-phase, so that a reduced hydrogen solubility of graphene/Ir(111) supported palladium clusters is assumed. The reduced hydrogen solubility is probably a consequence of substrate induced strain among the cluster atoms.

  9. Supporting and structuring "contributing student pedagogy" in Computer Science curricula

    Science.gov (United States)

    Falkner, Katrina; Falkner, Nickolas J. G.

    2012-12-01

    Contributing student pedagogy (CSP) builds upon social constructivist and community-based learning principles to create engaging and productive learning experiences. What makes CSP different from other, related, learning approaches is that it involves students both learning from and also explicitly valuing the contributions of other students. The creation of such a learning community builds upon established educational psychology that encourages deep learning, reflection and engagement. Our school has recently completed a review and update of its curriculum, incorporating student content-creation and collaboration into the design of key courses across the curriculum. Our experiences, based on several years of experimentation and development, support CSP-based curriculum design to reinforce the value of the student perspective, the clear description of their own transformative pathway to knowledge and the importance of establishing student-to-student networks in which students are active and willing participants. In this paper, we discuss the tools and approaches that we have employed to guide, support and structure student collaboration across a range of courses and year levels. By providing an account of our intentions, our approaches and tools, we hope to provide useful and transferrable knowledge that can be readily used by other academics who are considering this approach.

  10. Enhanced Solubility of the Support in an FDM-Based 3D Printed Structure Using Hydrogen Peroxide under Ultrasonication

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seong Je Park

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Fused deposition modeling (FDM, one of the archetypal 3D printing processes, typically requires support structures matched to printed model parts that principally have undercut or overhung features. Thus, the support removal is an essential postprocessing step after the FDM process. Here, we present an efficient and rapid method to remove the support part of an FDM-manufactured product using the phenomenon of oxidative degradation of hydrogen peroxide. This mechanism was significantly effective on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA, which has been widely used as a support material in the FDM process. Compared to water, hydrogen peroxide provided a two times faster dissolution rate of the PVA material. This could be increased another two times by applying ultrasonication to the solvent. In addition to the rapidness, we confirmed that amount of the support residues removed was enhanced, which was essentially caused by the surface roughness of the FDM-fabricated part. Furthermore, we demonstrated that there was no deterioration with respect to the mechanical properties or shape geometries of the obtained 3D printed parts. Taken together, these results are expected to help enhance the productivity of FDM by reducing the postprocessing time and to allow the removal of complicated and fine support structures, thereby improving the design capability of the FDM technique.

  11. Glycerophospholipid Supplementation as a Potential Intervention for Supporting Cerebral Structure in Older Adults

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeffery M. Reddan

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Modifying nutritional intake through supplementation may be efficacious for altering the trajectory of cerebral structural decline evident with increasing age. To date, there have been a number of clinical trials in older adults whereby chronic supplementation with B vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, or resveratrol, has been observed to either slow the rate of decline or repair cerebral tissue. There is also some evidence from animal studies indicating that supplementation with glycerophospholipids (GPL may benefit cerebral structure, though these effects have not yet been investigated in adult humans. Despite this paucity of research, there are a number of factors predicting poorer cerebral structure in older humans, which GPL supplementation appears to beneficially modify or protect against. These include elevated concentrations of homocysteine, unbalanced activity of reactive oxygen species both increasing the risk of oxidative stress, increased concentrations of pro-inflammatory messengers, as well as poorer cardio- and cerebrovascular function. As such, it is hypothesized that GPL supplementation will support cerebral structure in older adults. These cerebral effects may influence cognitive function. The current review aims to provide a theoretical basis for future clinical trials investigating the effects of GPL supplementation on cerebral structural integrity in older adults.

  12. Layout of PWR in-core instrumentation system tubing and support structure with Bechtel 3D-CADD

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ichikawa, T.; Pfeifer, B.W.; Mulay, J.N.

    1987-01-01

    The optimization study of the PWR In-Core Instrumentation System (ICIS) tubing layout and support structure presented an opportunity to utilize the Bechtel 3D-CADD program to perform this task. This paper provides a brief summary of the Bechtel 3D-CADD program development and capabilities and outlines the process of developing and optimizing the ICIS tube layout. Specific aspects relating to the ICIS tube layout criteria, support, alignment, electronic interference check and erection sequence are provided. (orig.)

  13. Structural Study and Modification of Support Layer for Forward Osmosis Membranes

    KAUST Repository

    Shi, Meixia

    2016-06-01

    Water scarcity is a serious global issue, due to the increasing population and developing economy, and membrane technology is an essential way to address this problem. Forward osmosis (FO) is an emerging membrane process, due to its low energy consumption (not considering the draw solute regeneration). A bottleneck to advance this technology is the design of the support layer for FO membranes to minimize the internal concentration polarization. In this dissertation, we focus on the structural study and modification of the support layer for FO membranes. Firstly, we digitally reconstruct different membrane morphologies in 3D and propose a method for predicting performance in ultrafiltration operations. Membranes with analogous morphologies are later used as substrate for FO membranes. Secondly, we experimentally apply substrates with different potentially suitable morphologies as an FO support layer. We investigate their FO performance after generating a selective polyamide layer on the top, by interfacial polymerization. Among the different substrates we include standard asymmetric porous membranes prepared from homopolymers, such as polysulfone. Additionally block copolymer membrane and Anodisc alumina membrane are chosen based on their exceptional structures, with cylindrical pores at least in part. 3D digitally reconstructed porous substrates, analogous to those investigated for ultrafiltration, are then used to model the performance in FO operation. Finally, we analyze the effect of intermediate layers between the porous substrate and the interfacial polymerized layer. We investigate two materials including chitosan and hydrogel. The main results are the following. Pore-scale modeling for digital membrane generation effectively predicts the velocity profile in different layers of the membrane and the performance in UF experiments. Flow simulations confirm the advantage of finger-like substrates over sponge-like ones, when high water permeance is sought

  14. Regulatory design for RES-E support mechanisms: Learning curves, market structure, and burden-sharing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Batlle, C.; Pérez-Arriaga, I.J.; Zambrano-Barragán, P.

    2012-01-01

    Drawing from relevant experiences in power systems around the world, this paper offers a review of existing policy support mechanisms for RES-E, with a detailed analysis of their regulatory implications. While recent studies provide an account of current RES-E support systems, in this paper we focus on some of the impacts these mechanisms have on the overall energy market structure and its performance. Given the rising importance of RES-E in systems everywhere, these impacts should no longer be overlooked. - Highlights: ► This paper offers a critical review of RES-E support mechanisms and their regulatory implications. ► The discussion focuses on how the different schemes impact the performance of the energy markets. ► We propose to redesign of current RES-E mechanisms to optimize incentives and market performance. ► Our recommendation is also to gradually move from price-based mechanisms to auctions.

  15. Fabrication variables affecting the structure and properties of supported carbon molecular sieve membranes for hydrogen separation

    KAUST Repository

    Briceño, Kelly

    2012-10-01

    A high molecular weight polyimide (Matrimid) was used as a precursor for fabricating supported carbon molecular sieve membranes without crack formation at 550-700°C pyrolysis temperature. A one-step polymer (polyimide) coating method as precursor of carbon layer was used without needing a prior modification of a TiO 2 macroporous support. The following fabrication variables were optimized and studied to determine their effect on the carbon structure: polymeric solution concentration, solvent extraction, heating rate and pyrolysis temperature. Two techniques (Thermogravimetric analysis and Raman spectroscopy) were used to determine these effects on final carbon structure. Likewise, the effect of the support was also reported as an additional and important variable in the design of supported carbon membranes. Atomic force microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry quantified the degree of influence. Pure gas permeation tests were performed using CH 4, CO, CO 2 and H 2. The presence of a molecular sieving mechanism was confirmed after defects were plugged with PDMS solution at 12wt%. Gas selectivities higher than Knudsen theoretical values were reached with membranes obtained over 650°C, showing as best values 4.46, 4.70 and 10.62 for H 2/N 2, H 2/CO and H 2/CH 4 ratio, respectively. Permeance values were over 9.82×10 -9mol/(m 2Pas)during pure hydrogen permeation tests. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

  16. Fabrication variables affecting the structure and properties of supported carbon molecular sieve membranes for hydrogen separation

    KAUST Repository

    Briceñ o, Kelly; Montané , Daniel; Garcia-Valls, Ricard; Iulianelli, Adolfo; Basile, Angelo

    2012-01-01

    A high molecular weight polyimide (Matrimid) was used as a precursor for fabricating supported carbon molecular sieve membranes without crack formation at 550-700°C pyrolysis temperature. A one-step polymer (polyimide) coating method as precursor of carbon layer was used without needing a prior modification of a TiO 2 macroporous support. The following fabrication variables were optimized and studied to determine their effect on the carbon structure: polymeric solution concentration, solvent extraction, heating rate and pyrolysis temperature. Two techniques (Thermogravimetric analysis and Raman spectroscopy) were used to determine these effects on final carbon structure. Likewise, the effect of the support was also reported as an additional and important variable in the design of supported carbon membranes. Atomic force microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry quantified the degree of influence. Pure gas permeation tests were performed using CH 4, CO, CO 2 and H 2. The presence of a molecular sieving mechanism was confirmed after defects were plugged with PDMS solution at 12wt%. Gas selectivities higher than Knudsen theoretical values were reached with membranes obtained over 650°C, showing as best values 4.46, 4.70 and 10.62 for H 2/N 2, H 2/CO and H 2/CH 4 ratio, respectively. Permeance values were over 9.82×10 -9mol/(m 2Pas)during pure hydrogen permeation tests. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

  17. The structural and functional brain networks that support human social networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noonan, M P; Mars, R B; Sallet, J; Dunbar, R I M; Fellows, L K

    2018-02-20

    Social skills rely on a specific set of cognitive processes, raising the possibility that individual differences in social networks are related to differences in specific brain structural and functional networks. Here, we tested this hypothesis with multimodality neuroimaging. With diffusion MRI (DMRI), we showed that differences in structural integrity of particular white matter (WM) tracts, including cingulum bundle, extreme capsule and arcuate fasciculus were associated with an individual's social network size (SNS). A voxel-based morphology analysis demonstrated correlations between gray matter (GM) volume and SNS in limbic and temporal lobe regions. These structural changes co-occured with functional network differences. As a function of SNS, dorsomedial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex showed altered resting-state functional connectivity with the default mode network (DMN). Finally, we integrated these three complementary methods, interrogating the relationship between social GM clusters and specific WM and resting-state networks (RSNs). Probabilistic tractography seeded in these GM nodes utilized the SNS-related WM pathways. Further, the spatial and functional overlap between the social GM clusters and the DMN was significantly closer than other control RSNs. These integrative analyses provide convergent evidence of the role of specific circuits in SNS, likely supporting the adaptive behavior necessary for success in extensive social environments. Crown Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Modeling of Global BEAM Structure for Evaluation of MMOD Impacts to Support Development of a Health Monitoring System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lyle, Karen H.; Vassilakos, Gregory J.

    2015-01-01

    This report summarizes the initial modeling of the global response of the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) to micrometeorite and orbital debris(MMOD) impacts using a structural, nonlinear, transient dynamic, finite element code. These models complement the on-orbit deployment of the Distributed Impact Detection System (DIDS) to support structural health monitoring studies. Two global models were developed. The first focused exclusively on impacts on the soft-goods (fabric-envelop) portion of BEAM. The second incorporates the bulkhead to support understanding of bulkhead impacts. These models were exercised for random impact locations and responses monitored at the on-orbit sensor locations. The report concludes with areas for future study.

  19. Design of the support structure, drive pedestal, and controls for a solar concentrator

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Goldberg, V.R.; Ford, J.L.; Anderson, A.E. (WG Associates, Dallas, TX (United States))

    1991-08-01

    The glass/metal McDonnell-Douglas dish is the state-of-the-art of parabolic dish concentrators. Because of the perceived high production cost of this concentrator, the Department of Energy's Solar Thermal Program is developing stretch-membrane technology for large (75 kWt) solar concentrators for integration with receivers and engines in 25 kWe dish-Stirling systems. The objective of this development effort is to reduce the cost of the concentrator while maintaining the high levels of performance characteristic of glass-metal dishes. Under contract to Sandia National Laboratories, Science Applications International Corporation, Solar Kinetics Inc. and WG Associates are developing a faceted stretched-membrane heliostat technology. This design will result in a low-risk, near-term concentrator for dish-Stirling systems. WG Associates has designed the support structure, drives and tracking controls for this dish. The structure is configured to support 12 stretched-membrane, 3.5-meter diameter facets in a shaped dish configuration. The dish design is sized to power a dish-Stirling system capable of producing 25 kW (electric). In the design of the structure, trade-off studies were conducted to determine the best'' facet arrangement, dish contour, dish focal length, tracking control and walk-off protection. As part of the design, in-depth analyses were performed to evaluate pointing accuracy, compliance with AISC steel design codes, and the economics of fabrication and installation. Detailed fabrication and installation drawings were produced, and initial production cost estimates for the dish were developed. These issues, and the final dish design, are presented in this report. 7 refs., 33 figs., 18 tabs.

  20. Nitric Oxide Reduction by Carbon Monoxide over Supported Hexaruthenium Cluster Catalysts. 1. The Active Site Structure That Depends on Supporting Metal Oxide and Catalytic Reaction Conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Minato, Taketoshi; Izumi, Yasuo; Aika, Ken-Ichi; Ishiguro, Atsushi; Nakajima, Takayuki; Wakatsuki, Yasuo

    2003-08-28

    Ruthenium site structures supported on metal oxide surfaces were designed by reacting organometallic Ru cluster [Ru6C(CO)16](2-) or [Ru6(CO)18](2-) with various metal oxides, TiO2, Al2O3, MgO, and SiO2. The surface Ru site structure, formed under various catalyst preparation and reaction conditions, was investigated by the Ru K-edge extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS). Samples of [Ru6C(CO)16](2-)/TiO2(anatase) and [Ru6C(CO)16](2-)/TiO2(rutile) were found to retain the original Ru6C framework when heated in the presence of NO (2.0 kPa) or NO (2.0 kPa) + CO (2.0 kPa) at 423 K, i.e., catalytic reaction conditions for NO decomposition. At 523 K, the Ru-Ru bonds of the Ru6C framework were cleaved by the attack of NO. In contrast, the Ru site became spontaneously dispersed over TiO2 (anatase). When being supported over TiO2 (mesoporous), MgO, or Al2O3, the Ru6C framework split into fragments in gaseous NO or NO + CO even at 423 K. The Ru6 framework of [Ru6(CO)18](2-) was found to break easily into smaller ensembles in the presence of NO and/or CO at 423 K on support. Taking into consideration the realistic environments in which these catalysts will be used, we also examined the effect of water and oxygen. When water was introduced to the sample [Ru6C(CO)16](2-)/TiO2(anatase) at 423 K, it did not have any effects on the stabilized Ru6C framework structure. In the presence of oxygen gas, however, the Ru hexanuclear structure decomposed into isolated Ru cations bound to surface oxygen atoms of TiO2 (anatase).

  1. Mercury (I) nitroprusside: A 2D structure supported on homometallic interactions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Osiry, H.; Cano, A. [Centro de Investigación en Ciencia Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Unidad Legaria, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, México (Mexico); Reguera, L. [Facultad de Química, Universidad de La Habana (Cuba); Lemus-Santana, A.A. [Centro de Investigación en Ciencia Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Unidad Legaria, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, México (Mexico); Reguera, E., E-mail: edilso.reguera@gmail.com [Centro de Investigación en Ciencia Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Unidad Legaria, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, México (Mexico)

    2015-01-15

    The pentacyanonitrosylferrate complex anion, [Fe(CN){sub 5}NO]{sup 2−}, forms an insoluble solid with Hg(I) ion, of formula unit Hg{sub 2}[Fe(CN){sub 5}NO]·2H{sub 2}O, whose crystal structure and related properties are unknown. This contribution reports the preparation of that compound by the precipitation method and its structural study from X-ray powder patterns complemented with spectroscopic information from IR, Raman, and UV–vis techniques. The crystal structure was solved ab initio and then refined using the Rietveld method. The solid crystallizes with a triclinic unit cell, in the P−1 space group, with cell parameters a=10.1202(12), b=10.1000(13), c=7.4704(11) Å; α=110.664(10), β=110.114(10), γ=104.724(8) °. Within the unit cell, two formula units are accommodated (Z=2). It adopts a layered structure related with the coordination of the equatorial CN groups at their N end to the Hg atoms while the axial CN ligand remains unlinked. Within the layers neighboring Hg{sub 2}[Fe(CN){sub 5}NO] building units remain linked through four relatively strong Hg–Hg interactions, with an interatomic distance of 2.549(3) Å. The charge donation from the equatorial CN groups through their 5σ orbitals results into an increase for the electron density on the Hg atoms, which strengths the Hg–Hg bond. In the Raman spectrum, that metal–metal bond is detected as a stretching vibration band at 167 cm{sup −1}. The available free volume between neighboring layers accommodates two water molecules, which are stabilized within the framework through hydrogen bonds with the N end of the unlinked axial CN group. The removal of these weakly bonded water molecules results in structural disorder for the material 3D framework. - Graphical abstract: Assembling of Hg{sub 2}[Fe(CN){sub 5}NO] units through Hg–Hg interactions. - Highlights: • Homometallic Hg–Hg interactions in metal nitroprusside. • 2D structure supported on metal–metal interactions. • Crystal

  2. Right to know: reducing risks of fecal pathogen exposure for ED patients and staff.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Delaney, Molly Bridget

    2014-07-01

    of human waste to drainage areas, transfer of waste, pre-cleaning, and equipment disinfection. Therefore it is imperative that ED staff have a full understanding of hazardous materials involved, know safer bedside toileting practices, and have safer equipment available to protect all involved. Upgrading our knowledge, equipment, and practices must become a higher priority for ED leadership. The East Bank Emergency Department of the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview, will be moving toward 100% disposable bedside commode pails in addition to disposable bedpans, currently in use. On the basis of a literature review to understand best-practice ED bedside toileting, the following article was created. As a result of our learning, the University of Minnesota Medical Center emergency staff has designed, patented, and developed a landfill-compliant disposable commode pail that absorbs waste while reducing splashes and spills. Disposable commode pails (bags) are conveniently wall mounted for quick availability, and "at-risk behavior" is reduced. Advantages are all point-of-care. Both setup and waste treatment and disposal start and end at the bedside. The advantages are faster response times, reduction of soiled linens and bed changes, prevention of incontinence and skin breakdown events, and reduced splash injuries or pathogen transmission. Patient satisfaction improves with shorter bedside toileting delays. Employee satisfaction increases with reduced human waste handling. The cost of each unit is comparable to an adult overnight diaper. Bariatric commode pails or bags are in the planning phase, and a "green" disposable commode pail, made from biodegradable corn byproducts, will be made available at a higher cost. Copyright © 2014 Emergency Nurses Association. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Pragmatic, consensus-based minimum standards and structured interview to guide the selection and development of cancer support group leaders: a protocol paper.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pomery, Amanda; Schofield, Penelope; Xhilaga, Miranda; Gough, Karla

    2017-06-30

    Across the globe, peer support groups have emerged as a community-led approach to accessing support and connecting with others with cancer experiences. Little is known about qualities required to lead a peer support group or how to determine suitability for the role. Organisations providing assistance to cancer support groups and their leaders are currently operating independently, without a standard national framework or published guidelines. This protocol describes the methods that will be used to generate pragmatic consensus-based minimum standards and an accessible structured interview with user manual to guide the selection and development of cancer support group leaders. We will: (A) identify and collate peer-reviewed literature that describes qualities of support group leaders through a systematic review; (B) content analyse eligible documents for information relevant to requisite knowledge, skills and attributes of group leaders generally and specifically to cancer support groups; (C) use an online reactive Delphi method with an interdisciplinary panel of experts to produce a clear, suitable, relevant and appropriate structured interview comprising a set of agreed questions with behaviourally anchored rating scales; (D) produce a user manual to facilitate standard delivery of the structured interview; (E) pilot the structured interview to improve clinical utility; and (F) field test the structured interview to develop a rational scoring model and provide a summary of existing group leader qualities. The study is approved by the Department Human Ethics Advisory Group of The University of Melbourne. The study is based on voluntary participation and informed written consent, with participants able to withdraw at any time. The results will be disseminated at research conferences and peer review journals. Presentations and free access to the developed structured interview and user manual will be available to cancer agencies. © Article author(s) (or their

  4. Koosolek süvendab ühtekuuluvustunnet / Tiina Kilkson

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Kilkson, Tiina

    2005-01-01

    AS-i Invicta turundusjuht Urmas Pail ja Sideameti klienditeeninduse osakonna juhataja Marge Ensling koosolekute läbiviimisest oma ettevõttes. Lisad: Ajakavast tuleb rangelt kinni pidada; Kõik strateegilised ideed aruta koosolekul läbi; Koosolekule kutsuge vaid asjasse puutuvad inimesed. Vt. ka lk. 15: Karl Multer. Telefonikoosolek aitab hoida töötajate aega kokku. Lisa: Parema tulemuse nimel tuleb valida rahulikum tempo

  5. Support schemes and ownership structures - the policy context for fuel cell based micro-combined heat and power

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schroeder, Sascha Thorsten; Costa, Ana; Obé, Elisabeth

    In recent years, fuel cell based micro-combined heat and power (mCHP) has received increasing attention due to its potential contribution to European energy policy goals, i.e., sustainability, competitiveness and security of supply. Besides technical advances, regulatory framework and ownership structures are of crucial importance in order to achieve greater diffusion of the technology in residential applications. This paper analyses the interplay of policy and ownership structures for the future deployment of mCHP. Furthermore, it regards the three country cases Denmark, France and Portugal. Firstly, the implications of different kinds of support schemes on investment risk and the diffusion of a technology are explained conceptually. Secondly, ownership arrangements are addressed. Then, a cross-country comparison on present support schemes for mCHP and competing technologies discusses the national implementation of European legislation in Denmark, France and Portugal. Finally, resulting implications for ownership arrangements on the choice of support scheme are explained. From a conceptual point of view, investment support, feed-in tariffs and price premiums are the most appropriate schemes for fuel cell mCHP. This can be used for improved analysis of operational strategies. The interaction of this plethora of elements necessitates careful balancing from a private- and socio-economic point of view.

  6. Field reconstruction and estimation of the antenna support structure effect on the measurement uncertainty of the BTS1940 antenna

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cappellin, Cecilia; Pivnenko, Sergey

    2014-01-01

    the effect of the support structure on the measured field, by reconstructing the currents induced on the support frame with DIATOOL. The field obtained by filtering these currents is presented. Moreover, the spatial resolution obtained by the 3D reconstruction is discussed and compared with the one obtained...

  7. Cable Supported Bridges

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gimsing, Niels Jørgen

    Cable supported bridges in the form of suspension bridges and cable-stayed bridges are distinguished by their ability to overcome large spans.The book concentrates on the synthesis of cable supported bridges, covering both design and construction aspects. The analytical part covers simple methods...... to quantify the different structural configurations and allows a preliminary optimization of the main structure.Included are the most recent advances in structural design, corrosion protection of cables, aerodynamic safety, and erection procedures....

  8. Solid-support Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) Studies of Aβ40 Monomers Reveal a Structured State with Three Ordered Segments*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gu, Lei; Ngo, Sam; Guo, Zhefeng

    2012-01-01

    Alzheimer disease is associated with the pathological accumulation of amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) in the brain. Soluble Aβ oligomers formed during early aggregation process are believed to be neurotoxins and causative agents in Alzheimer disease. Aβ monomer is the building block for amyloid assemblies. A comprehensive understanding of the structural features of Aβ monomer is crucial for delineating the mechanism of Aβ oligomerization. Here we investigated the structures of Aβ40 monomer using a solid-support approach, in which Aβ40 monomers are tethered on the solid support via an N-terminal His tag to prevent further aggregation. EPR spectra of tethered Aβ40 with spin labels at 18 different positions show that Aβ40 monomers adopt a completely disordered structure under denaturing conditions. Under native conditions, however, EPR spectra suggest that Aβ40 monomers adopt both a disordered state and a structured state. The structured state of Aβ40 monomer has three more ordered segments at 14–18, 29–30, and 38–40. Interactions between these segments may stabilize the structured state, which likely plays an important role in Aβ aggregation. PMID:22277652

  9. Enhanced Optical Head Tracking for Cranial Radiation Therapy: Supporting Surface Registration by Cutaneous Structures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wissel, Tobias, E-mail: wissel@rob.uni-luebeck.de [Institute for Robotics and Cognitive Systems, University of Lübeck, Lübeck (Germany); Graduate School for Computing in Medicine and Life Science, University of Lübeck, Lübeck (Germany); Stüber, Patrick; Wagner, Benjamin [Institute for Robotics and Cognitive Systems, University of Lübeck, Lübeck (Germany); Graduate School for Computing in Medicine and Life Science, University of Lübeck, Lübeck (Germany); Bruder, Ralf [Institute for Robotics and Cognitive Systems, University of Lübeck, Lübeck (Germany); Erdmann, Christian [Institute for Neuroradiology, Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Hostein, Campus Lübeck, Lübeck (Germany); Deutz, Christin-Sophie [Clinic for Oral and Maxillo-Facial Surgery, Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Hostein, Campus Lübeck, Lübeck (Germany); Sack, Benjamin [Department of Neurology, Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Hostein, Campus Lübeck, Lübeck (Germany); Manit, Jirapong [Institute for Robotics and Cognitive Systems, University of Lübeck, Lübeck (Germany); Graduate School for Computing in Medicine and Life Science, University of Lübeck, Lübeck (Germany); and others

    2016-06-01

    Purpose: To support surface registration in cranial radiation therapy by structural information. The risk for spatial ambiguities is minimized by using tissue thickness variations predicted from backscattered near-infrared (NIR) light from the forehead. Methods and Materials: In a pilot study we recorded NIR surface scans by laser triangulation from 30 volunteers of different skin type. A ground truth for the soft-tissue thickness was segmented from MR scans. After initially matching the NIR scans to the MR reference, Gaussian processes were trained to predict tissue thicknesses from NIR backscatter. Moreover, motion starting from this initial registration was simulated by 5000 random transformations of the NIR scan away from the MR reference. Re-registration to the MR scan was compared with and without tissue thickness support. Results: By adding prior knowledge to the backscatter features, such as incident angle and neighborhood information in the scanning grid, we showed that tissue thickness can be predicted with mean errors of <0.2 mm, irrespective of the skin type. With this additional information, the average registration error improved from 3.4 mm to 0.48 mm by a factor of 7. Misalignments of more than 1 mm were almost thoroughly (98.9%) pushed below 1 mm. Conclusions: For almost all cases tissue-enhanced matching achieved better results than purely spatial registration. Ambiguities can be minimized if the cutaneous structures do not agree. This valuable support for surface registration increases tracking robustness and avoids misalignment of tumor targets far from the registration site.

  10. Enhanced Optical Head Tracking for Cranial Radiation Therapy: Supporting Surface Registration by Cutaneous Structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wissel, Tobias; Stüber, Patrick; Wagner, Benjamin; Bruder, Ralf; Erdmann, Christian; Deutz, Christin-Sophie; Sack, Benjamin; Manit, Jirapong

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: To support surface registration in cranial radiation therapy by structural information. The risk for spatial ambiguities is minimized by using tissue thickness variations predicted from backscattered near-infrared (NIR) light from the forehead. Methods and Materials: In a pilot study we recorded NIR surface scans by laser triangulation from 30 volunteers of different skin type. A ground truth for the soft-tissue thickness was segmented from MR scans. After initially matching the NIR scans to the MR reference, Gaussian processes were trained to predict tissue thicknesses from NIR backscatter. Moreover, motion starting from this initial registration was simulated by 5000 random transformations of the NIR scan away from the MR reference. Re-registration to the MR scan was compared with and without tissue thickness support. Results: By adding prior knowledge to the backscatter features, such as incident angle and neighborhood information in the scanning grid, we showed that tissue thickness can be predicted with mean errors of <0.2 mm, irrespective of the skin type. With this additional information, the average registration error improved from 3.4 mm to 0.48 mm by a factor of 7. Misalignments of more than 1 mm were almost thoroughly (98.9%) pushed below 1 mm. Conclusions: For almost all cases tissue-enhanced matching achieved better results than purely spatial registration. Ambiguities can be minimized if the cutaneous structures do not agree. This valuable support for surface registration increases tracking robustness and avoids misalignment of tumor targets far from the registration site.

  11. A support structure for biomimetic applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vogel, J; Perry, M; Hansen, J S; Bolinger, P-Y; Nielsen, C H; Geschke, O

    2009-01-01

    Water filtration on the basis of aquaporin molecules incorporated in an artificial lipid bilayer requires a microporous support membrane. We describe a new microfabrication method based on CO 2 -laser ablation to generate support membranes with homogeneous apertures ranging from 300 µm down to 84 µm in diameter. They are arranged in arrays with the densest packaging having a perforation level of up to 60%. The apertures are surrounded by a smooth bulge that is formed by melted material ejected from the aperture during laser ablation. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) replicas were used to visualize and analyse these bulges. The overall area covered so far has been 4 cm 2 but upscaling to larger footprints, e.g. square metres, is currently being investigated

  12. Structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging Data Do Not Help Support DSM-5 Autism Spectrum Disorder Category

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pina-Camacho, Laura; Villero, Sonia; Boada, Leticia; Fraguas, David; Janssen, Joost; Mayoral, Maria; Llorente, Cloe; Arango, Celso; Parellada, Mara

    2013-01-01

    This systematic review aims to determine whether or not structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) data support the DSM-5 proposal of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnostic category, and whether or not classical DSM-IV autistic disorder (AD) and Asperger syndrome (AS) categories should be subsumed into it. The most replicated sMRI findings…

  13. Inverse load calculation procedure for offshore wind turbines and application to a 5-MW wind turbine support structure: Inverse load calculation procedure for offshore wind turbines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pahn, T. [Pahn Ingenieure, Am Seegraben 17b 03051 Cottbus Germany; Rolfes, R. [Institut f?r Statik und Dynamik, Leibniz Universit?t Hannover, Appelstra?e 9A 30167 Hannover Germany; Jonkman, J. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 15013 Denver West Parkway Golden Colorado 80401 USA

    2017-02-20

    A significant number of wind turbines installed today have reached their designed service life of 20 years, and the number will rise continuously. Most of these turbines promise a more economical performance if they operate for more than 20 years. To assess a continued operation, we have to analyze the load-bearing capacity of the support structure with respect to site-specific conditions. Such an analysis requires the comparison of the loads used for the design of the support structure with the actual loads experienced. This publication presents the application of a so-called inverse load calculation to a 5-MW wind turbine support structure. The inverse load calculation determines external loads derived from a mechanical description of the support structure and from measured structural responses. Using numerical simulations with the software fast, we investigated the influence of wind-turbine-specific effects such as the wind turbine control or the dynamic interaction between the loads and the support structure to the presented inverse load calculation procedure. fast is used to study the inverse calculation of simultaneously acting wind and wave loads, which has not been carried out until now. Furthermore, the application of the inverse load calculation procedure to a real 5-MW wind turbine support structure is demonstrated. In terms of this practical application, setting up the mechanical system for the support structure using measurement data is discussed. The paper presents results for defined load cases and assesses the accuracy of the inversely derived dynamic loads for both the simulations and the practical application.

  14. Transverse magnetic field penetration through the JET toroidal coil and support structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Core, W.G.F.; Noll, P.

    1988-01-01

    This report contains the results of a study of transverse magnetic field penetration through the JET magnetic field coil systems and supporting structures. The studies were carried out during the initial JET design phase (1973-78) and were part of a major radius compression plasma heating feasibility study. In view of the interest in this problem the authors have decided to re-issue the original work as a JET report. The material basically remains unchanged although better estimates of the penetration times have been obtained and typographical errors which occurred in the original have been corrected. (author)

  15. A structure study of copper oxide for monolayer dispersion of anatase supported

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zi Fenlan; Yu Xiaofeng; Guo Hongyou; Cai Xiaohai; Yang Pengcheng; Wu Nianzu; Xie Yaning; Zang Jing; Hu Tiandou

    2002-01-01

    The monolayer dispersion of copper oxide on the surface of anatase and its effect on the properties have been studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray extended absorption fine structure (EXAFS). XPS results give an utmost dispersion capacity of 7.2 mg/gTiO 2 . Strong interactions between copper oxide and anatase can be seen from EXAFS results. The structure of the supported CuO species is strongly dependent on the amount of CuO loading. When the content of CuO loading is below the utmost dispersion capacity, the surface of CuO/TiO 2 is dominated by the highly dispersed CuO species having no -Cu-O-Cu- chains. The copper ion is located in an octahedral coordination environment, and the Cu-O coordination distance is much longer than that in pure crystalline CuO. When CuO loading is exceeds the utmost dispersion capacity, crystalline CuO is formed on the surface of CuO/TiO 2 . From the result of the structure study, it is Cu-O octahedral coordination and coordination distance change in comparison with pure crystalline CuO on the surface CuO/TiO 2 that have catalytic activity

  16. Structural consideration with respect to the thermal stability of a new platinum supported lanthanum-alumina catalyst

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oudet, F.; Bordes, E.; Courtine, P.; Maxant, G.; Lambert, C.; Guerlet, J.P.

    1987-01-01

    The influence of lanthanum aluminate, LaAlO 3 , on the thermal stability of both alumina and platinum supported alumina catalysts is investigated. In the case of alumina, the stabilization is interpreted in terms of structural coherence between δ-Al 2 O 3 and a three-fold superstructure of LaAlO 3 . The addition of LaAlO 3 , is shown to increase both the dispersion and the resistance to sintering of the platinum supported alumina catalyst. Moreover, lanthanum hexa-aluminate (La-β-Al 2 O 3 ) is present in the platinum catalyst fired at 1150 0 C. These observations are assumed to result for the epitaxial relations between platinum and the lanthanum-alumina support. 23 refs.; 8 figs.; 2 tabs

  17. Impact of Family Structure on Parental Attitudes Toward the Economic Support of Adult Children Over the Transition to Adulthood

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aquilino, William S.

    2005-01-01

    This research explored the influence of family structure on midlife parents' attitudes toward the economic support of adult children and measured change in those attitudes as their oldest child moved from adolescence to young adulthood. Results suggest that family structure has long-term effects on parents' attitudes toward financial obligations…

  18. Geographical data structures supporting regional analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Edwards, R.G.; Durfee, R.C.

    1978-01-01

    In recent years the computer has become a valuable aid in solving regional environmental problems. Over a hundred different geographic information systems have been developed to digitize, store, analyze, and display spatially distributed data. One important aspect of these systems is the data structure (e.g. grids, polygons, segments) used to model the environment being studied. This paper presents eight common geographic data structures and their use in studies of coal resources, power plant siting, population distributions, LANDSAT imagery analysis, and landuse analysis

  19. The influence of partnership centrality on organizational perceptions of support: a case study of the AHLN structure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, Spencer; Smith, Cynthia; Simpson, Tammy; Minke, Sharlene Wolbeck

    2006-10-31

    Knowledge of the structure and character of inter-organizational relationships found among health promotion organizations is a prerequisite for the development of evidence-based network-level intervention activities. The Alberta Healthy Living Network (AHLN) mapped the inter-organizational structure of its members to examine the effects of the network environment on organizational-level perceptions. This exploratory analysis examines whether network structure, specifically partnership ties among AHLN members, influences organizational perceptions of support after controlling for organizational-level attributes. Organizational surveys were conducted with representatives from AHLN organizations as of February 2004 (n = 54). Organizational attribute and inter-organizational data on various network dimensions were collected. Organizations were classified into traditional and non-traditional categories. We examined the partnership network dimension. In- and out-degree centrality scores on partnership ties were calculated for each organization and tested against organizational perceptions of available financial support. Non-traditional organizations are more likely to view financial support as more readily available for their HEALTR programs and activities than traditional organizations (1.57, 95% CI: .34, 2.79). After controlling for organizational characteristics, organizations that have been frequently identified by other organizations as valuable partners in the AHLN network were found significantly more likely to perceive a higher sense of funding availability (In-degree partnership value) (.03, 95% CI: .01, .05). Organizational perceptions of a supportive environment are framed not only by organizational characteristics but also by an organization's position in an inter-organizational network. Network contexts can influence the way that organizations perceive their environment and potentially the actions that organizations may take in light of such perceptions. By

  20. Structural Evolution under Reaction Conditions of Supported (NH43HPMo11VO40 Catalysts for the Selective Oxidation of Isobutane

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fangli Jing

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available When using heteropolycompounds in the selective oxidation of isobutane to methacrolein and methacrylic acid, both the keeping of the primary structure (Keggin units and the presence of acidic sites are necessary to obtain the desired products. The structural evolution of supported (NH43HPMo11VO40 (APMV catalysts under preliminary thermal oxidizing and reducing treatments was investigated. Various techniques, such as TGA/DTG (Thermo-Gravimetric Analysis/Derivative Thermo-Gravimetry, H2-TPR (Temperature Programed Reduction, in situ XRD (X-Ray Diffraction and XPS (X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, were applied. It was clearly evidenced that the thermal stability and the reducibility of the Keggin units are improved by supporting 40% APMV active phase on Cs3PMo12O40 (CPM. The partial degradation of APMV takes place depending on temperature and reaction conditions. The decomposition of ammonium cations (releasing NH3 leads to the formation of vacancies favoring cationic exchanges between vanadium coming from the active phase and cesium coming from the support. In addition, the vanadium expelled from the Keggin structure is further reduced to V4+, species, which contributes (with Mo5+ to activate isobutane. The increase in reducibility of the supported catalyst is assumed to improve the catalytic performance in comparison with those of unsupported APMV.

  1. Demonstration for the Applicability of the EPRI ETSS on the SG Tube Wear Defects Formed at the Tube Support Structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shin, Ki Seok; Cheon, Keun Young; Nam, Min Woo; Min, Kyong Mahn

    2013-01-01

    In this paper, the authorized EPRI ETSS 27906.2 applied to the detection of tapered wear volumetric indications and depth sizing within the free span area, loose part not present was reviewed and applied to the site SG tubes for getting the actual value of the wear depth and providing structural integrity interpretation based on engineering evaluation. The experiment to demonstrate the applicability of EPRI ETSS was performed by the employment of the newly prepared STD tube and resulted in ensuring the effectiveness and equivalency of the EPRI ETSS as well. The authorized EPRI ETSS 27906.2 for getting the actual value of the wear depth and providing structural integrity interpretation based on engineering evaluation was reviewed and applied to the site SG tubes. The testing results were reviewed with the influences of SG tube material and the support structure. The impact of the tube materials was insignificant and that of the tube support structure showed somewhat conservative results. The testing resulted in successful demonstration of applicability of the EPRI ETSS on the SG tube wear defects at the tube support. One of the major flaw mechanisms detected in the currently operating domestic OPR-1000 pressurized water reactors(PWR's) steam generator(SG) tubes is wear defect. In general, wear defect has been constantly detected in the upper tube bundle imposed to the flow induced vibration interaction between tube and its support structure, and the quantity of the affected tubes has also shown the tendency to increase as plant operation life is added. In order to take appropriate measures and maintain the structural integrity for the SG tubes, wear defect is currently categorized as active damage mechanism and the tubes containing 40% or greater wear depth of the nominal tube wall thickness shall be plugged per SGMP(SG Management Program) Recently, a fairly large amplitude of wear defects on the Batwing(BW), one of the upper tube support structures in the SG tubes

  2. Demonstration for the Applicability of the EPRI ETSS on the SG Tube Wear Defects Formed at the Tube Support Structure

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shin, Ki Seok; Cheon, Keun Young; Nam, Min Woo [Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. Ltd, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Min, Kyong Mahn [Universal Monitoring and Inspection Inc., Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2013-10-15

    In this paper, the authorized EPRI ETSS 27906.2 applied to the detection of tapered wear volumetric indications and depth sizing within the free span area, loose part not present was reviewed and applied to the site SG tubes for getting the actual value of the wear depth and providing structural integrity interpretation based on engineering evaluation. The experiment to demonstrate the applicability of EPRI ETSS was performed by the employment of the newly prepared STD tube and resulted in ensuring the effectiveness and equivalency of the EPRI ETSS as well. The authorized EPRI ETSS 27906.2 for getting the actual value of the wear depth and providing structural integrity interpretation based on engineering evaluation was reviewed and applied to the site SG tubes. The testing results were reviewed with the influences of SG tube material and the support structure. The impact of the tube materials was insignificant and that of the tube support structure showed somewhat conservative results. The testing resulted in successful demonstration of applicability of the EPRI ETSS on the SG tube wear defects at the tube support. One of the major flaw mechanisms detected in the currently operating domestic OPR-1000 pressurized water reactors(PWR's) steam generator(SG) tubes is wear defect. In general, wear defect has been constantly detected in the upper tube bundle imposed to the flow induced vibration interaction between tube and its support structure, and the quantity of the affected tubes has also shown the tendency to increase as plant operation life is added. In order to take appropriate measures and maintain the structural integrity for the SG tubes, wear defect is currently categorized as active damage mechanism and the tubes containing 40% or greater wear depth of the nominal tube wall thickness shall be plugged per SGMP(SG Management Program) Recently, a fairly large amplitude of wear defects on the Batwing(BW), one of the upper tube support structures in the SG

  3. A novel self-supporting GEM-based amplification structure for a time projection chamber at the ILC

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Behnke, Ties; Diener, Ralf; Rosemann, Christoph; Steder, Lea

    2012-11-15

    In this paper, a new self-supporting way to mount Gas Electron Multipliers is presented. It has been developed to provide a method to cover large readout areas while ensuring the flatness of the foils and keeping the amount of dead material minimal. The structure has been tested in a Time Projection Chamber prototype, using cosmic muon tracks. The impact of the mounting structure on the track reconstruction and the single point resolution is quantified and its impact on the tracking efficiency and dE/dx measurements is estimated.

  4. CSBB-ConeExclusion, adapting structure based solution virtual screening to libraries on solid support.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shave, Steven; Auer, Manfred

    2013-12-23

    Combinatorial chemical libraries produced on solid support offer fast and cost-effective access to a large number of unique compounds. If such libraries are screened directly on-bead, the speed at which chemical space can be explored by chemists is much greater than that addressable using solution based synthesis and screening methods. Solution based screening has a large supporting body of software such as structure-based virtual screening tools which enable the prediction of protein-ligand complexes. Use of these techniques to predict the protein bound complexes of compounds synthesized on solid support neglects to take into account the conjugation site on the small molecule ligand. This may invalidate predicted binding modes, the linker may be clashing with protein atoms. We present CSBB-ConeExclusion, a methodology and computer program which provides a measure of the applicability of solution dockings to solid support. Output is given in the form of statistics for each docking pose, a unique 2D visualization method which can be used to determine applicability at a glance, and automatically generated PyMol scripts allowing visualization of protein atom incursion into a defined exclusion volume. CSBB-ConeExclusion is then exemplarically used to determine the optimum attachment point for a purine library targeting cyclin-dependent kinase 2 CDK2.

  5. Northwest Manufacturing Initiative

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-07-31

    biodegradable wipes, and bags. The gStyle clothing line consists of various types of stylish clothes for babies. All gDiapers are plastic free...offers recycling services for industrial plastics and non-serviceable containers. Industrial plastics include pails, buckets, pallets, plastic film, and...manufacturer, now recycle used soda bottles, unusable second quality fabrics and worn out garments into polyester fibers to produce many of their clothes

  6. Seismic evaluation of K basin bridge cranes (HOI-320 ampersand HOI-418) and supporting structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Winkel, B.V.; Kanjilad, S.K.

    1996-03-01

    The Safety Class 1 100-K fuel storage basins are vulnerable to impact damage if a bridge crane were to fall during a seismic event. The pupose of this report is to address the adequacy of the K Basin bridge cranes to resist a seismic-induced fall. The approach used to demonstrate adequacy against falling, was to evaluate the crane structural components relative to requirements specified in ASME NOG-1, Rules for Construction of Overhead and Gantry Cranes. Additionally, wheel lift-off and the adequacy of the crane supporting structure, are addressed. Seismic adequacy of the mechanical hoist equipment is not addressed in this report

  7. Response of two structures supported on common foundation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Joshi, M.H.; Kulkarni, M.R.; Subramanian, K.V.; Palekar, S.M.; Warudkar, A.S.

    1995-01-01

    The present paper describes a parametric study of structure-structure interaction. The parameter's selected are stiffness and mass of the structures and stiffness of foundation medium. The paper concludes that in case of weak soils structures do interact through the common foundation and for rock-like foundation conditions there is no interaction between the structures. (author). 1 fig., 6 tabs

  8. Supporting device for Toroidal coils

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Araki, Takao.

    1985-01-01

    Purpose: To reduce the response of a toroidal coil supporting device upon earthquakes and improve the earthquake proofness in a tokamak type thermonuclear device. Constitution: Structural materials having large longitudinal modulus and enduring great stresses, for example, stainless steels are used as the toroidal coil supporting legs and heat insulating structural materials are embedded in a nuclear reactor base mats below the supporting legs. Furthermore, heat insulating concretes are spiked around the heat insulating structural materials to prevent the intrusion of heat to the toroidal coils. The toroidal coils are kept at cryogenic state and superconductive state for the conductors. In this way, the period of proper vibrations of the toroidal coils and the toroidal coil supporting structures can be shortened thereby decreasing the seismic response. Furthermore, since the strength of the supporting legs is increased, the earthquake proofness of the coils can be improved. (Kamimura, M.)

  9. Direct fabrication of metal-free hollow graphene balls with a self-supporting structure as efficient cathode catalysts of fuel cell

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lu, Yanqi; Liu, Mingda; Nie, Huagui, E-mail: huaguinie@126.com; Gu, Cancan; Liu, Ming; Yang, Zhi, E-mail: yang201079@126.com; Yang, Keqin; Chen, Xi’an; Huang, Shaoming, E-mail: smhuang@wzu.edu.cn [Wenzhou University, Nanomaterials and Chemistry Key Laboratory (China)

    2016-06-15

    Despite the good progress in developing carbon catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), the current metal-free carbon catalysts are still far from satisfactory for large-scale applications of fuel cell. Developing hollow graphene balls with a self-supporting structure is considered to be an ideal method to inhibit graphene stacking and improve their catalytic performance. Herein, we fabricated metal-free hollow graphene balls with a self-supporting structure, through using a new strategy that involves direct metal-free catalytic growth from assembly of SiO{sub 2} spheres. To our knowledge, although much researches involving the synthesis of graphene balls have been reported, investigations into the direct metal-free catalytic growth of hollow graphene balls are rare. Furthermore, the electrocatalytic performance shows that the resulting hollow graphene balls have significantly high catalytic activity. More importantly, such catalysts also possess much improved stability and better methanol tolerance in alkaline media during the ORR compared with commercial Pt/C catalysts. The outstanding performances coupled with an easy and inexpensive preparing method indicated the great potential of the hollow graphene balls with a self-supporting structure in large-scale applications of fuel cell.Graphical AbstractHollow graphene balls with a self-supporting structure have been successfully fabricated, through using a new strategy that involves direct metal-free catalytic growth from 3D assembly of SiO{sub 2} spheres. The hollow graphene balls can exhibit a high catalytic activity, long-term stability, and an excellent methanol tolerance for the oxygen reduction reaction.

  10. Direct fabrication of metal-free hollow graphene balls with a self-supporting structure as efficient cathode catalysts of fuel cell

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lu, Yanqi; Liu, Mingda; Nie, Huagui; Gu, Cancan; Liu, Ming; Yang, Zhi; Yang, Keqin; Chen, Xi’an; Huang, Shaoming

    2016-01-01

    Despite the good progress in developing carbon catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), the current metal-free carbon catalysts are still far from satisfactory for large-scale applications of fuel cell. Developing hollow graphene balls with a self-supporting structure is considered to be an ideal method to inhibit graphene stacking and improve their catalytic performance. Herein, we fabricated metal-free hollow graphene balls with a self-supporting structure, through using a new strategy that involves direct metal-free catalytic growth from assembly of SiO_2 spheres. To our knowledge, although much researches involving the synthesis of graphene balls have been reported, investigations into the direct metal-free catalytic growth of hollow graphene balls are rare. Furthermore, the electrocatalytic performance shows that the resulting hollow graphene balls have significantly high catalytic activity. More importantly, such catalysts also possess much improved stability and better methanol tolerance in alkaline media during the ORR compared with commercial Pt/C catalysts. The outstanding performances coupled with an easy and inexpensive preparing method indicated the great potential of the hollow graphene balls with a self-supporting structure in large-scale applications of fuel cell.Graphical AbstractHollow graphene balls with a self-supporting structure have been successfully fabricated, through using a new strategy that involves direct metal-free catalytic growth from 3D assembly of SiO_2 spheres. The hollow graphene balls can exhibit a high catalytic activity, long-term stability, and an excellent methanol tolerance for the oxygen reduction reaction

  11. A Novel High-Performance Beam-Supported Membrane Structure with Enhanced Design Flexibility for Partial Discharge Detection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chenzhao Fu

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available A novel beam-supported membrane (BSM structure for the fiber optic extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometer (EFPI sensors showing an enhanced performance and an improved resistance to the temperature change was proposed for detecting partial discharges (PDs. The fundamental frequency, sensitivity, linear range, and flatness of the BSM structure were investigated by employing the finite element simulations. Compared with the intact membrane (IM structure commonly used by EFPI sensors, BSM structure provides extra geometrical parameters to define the fundamental frequency when the diameter of the whole membrane and its thickness is determined, resulting in an enhanced design flexibility of the sensor structure. According to the simulation results, it is noted that BSM structure not only shows a much higher sensitivity (increased by almost four times for some cases, and a wider working range of fundamental frequency to choose, but also an improved linear range, making the system development much easier. In addition, BSM structure presents a better flatness than its IM counterpart, providing an increased signal-to-noise ratio (SNR. A further improvement of performance is thought to be possible with a step-forward structural optimization. The BSM structure shows a great potential to design the EFPI sensors, as well as others for detecting the acoustic signals.

  12. Structural test and analysis of a model of a BWR suppression chamber support in the plastic regime

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blumer, U.R.; Klaeui, E.; Bosshard, E.P.

    1991-01-01

    A BWR Mark I suppression pool support has been analysed and tested in the laboratory. The aim was the demonstration of the acceptability of hypothetical dynamic loadings resulting from simultaneous steam blowdown through all safety relief valves. The analysis has shown that plastic deformation will locally occur, which is difficult to assess purely theoretical. Therefore tests in reduced scale were performed that show the amount and distribution of plastic flow in the supports. The paper describes the elastic analysis, the theory of the scaling laws for the reduced scale test, the test and its results. It also shows the thermographical method that has been used to determine the plastic material flow in the support structure. (author)

  13. Structure-activity relationship study of oxindole-based inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases based on least-squares support vector machines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Jiazhong; Liu Huanxiang; Yao Xiaojun; Liu Mancang; Hu Zhide; Fan Botao

    2007-01-01

    The least-squares support vector machines (LS-SVMs), as an effective modified algorithm of support vector machine, was used to build structure-activity relationship (SAR) models to classify the oxindole-based inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) based on their activity. Each compound was depicted by the structural descriptors that encode constitutional, topological, geometrical, electrostatic and quantum-chemical features. The forward-step-wise linear discriminate analysis method was used to search the descriptor space and select the structural descriptors responsible for activity. The linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and nonlinear LS-SVMs method were employed to build classification models, and the best results were obtained by the LS-SVMs method with prediction accuracy of 100% on the test set and 90.91% for CDK1 and CDK2, respectively, as well as that of LDA models 95.45% and 86.36%. This paper provides an effective method to screen CDKs inhibitors

  14. A study to ascertain the effect of structured student tutorial support on student stress, self-esteem and coping.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gammon, John; Morgan-Samuel, Heulwen

    2005-05-01

    The overall aim of this intervention study was to investigate, and measure quantitatively, the psychological effects of structured student tutorial support, on undergraduate students' level of stress, self-esteem and cognitive coping. A quantitative research approach was adopted using a quasi-experimental design (post-test only, non-equivalent control group design) in order to ascertain whether there were any significant differences between the experimental conditions (n=25) and a control group (n=25). The independent variable was structured student tutorial support and the dependent variables were student stress, self-esteem and cognitive coping. A total of 50 subjects were randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group. Quantitative data were collected using: the Student Nurse Stress Index (Jones, M.C., Johnston, D.W., 1997a. The derivation of a 22 item Student Nurse Stress Index, using exploratory, confirmatory and multi-sample confirmatory factor analytic techniques. In: Paper Presented at the Annual Nursing Research Conference, 18-20th April, University of Wales, Swansea; Jones, M. C. Johnston, D.W., 1999. Derivation of a brief Student Nurse Stress Index. Work and Stress 13(2), 162-181), the Self Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, M., 1965. Society and the Adolesent Self Image. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ) and a Linear Analogue Coping Scale (Gammon, J., 1998. Analysis of the stressful effects of hospitalisation and source isolation on coping and psychological constructs. International Journal of Nursing Practice 4(2), 84-97). The methods of data analysis were the application of the t-test and descriptive statistics. The results indicated a significantly lower level of stress in the experimental group (t=-3.85, p=0.001) and a significantly higher self esteem (t=4.11, p=0.001). Results also suggested that students who were provided with structured tutorial support perceived they coped more effectively with their studies (t=4.65, p=0.001). The

  15. Research and design of the structure of information support of road transport

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. G. Kozlov

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The main issue is to study the interaction between the system of road transport and security of its information systems. The mechanism of this interaction is studied only on the basis of studies of the learning process. These two interacting systems through training react to each other. Due to the strong correlation between these two systems offer the development of the basics of management information support to carry out complex, without violating the integrity of the systems. As the methods of research used methods of system analysis and probability theory. The criteria for the study of the interaction of systems: full-scale technological and economic indicators. By the technological parameters include: completeness of use of the system (load, and performance of information security; to full-scale - the cost of labor, energy, materials; to the economic - the cost, payback, profit, profit. The stages of the development of the structure of information support: the definition of objectives; study of the problems and the choice of solution to the problem; agreed solutions (thematic plan; approval of decisions; Management and Implementation; verification of the effectiveness of decisions. Established shortcomings in the existing system of information support of decentralization processes interrelated technical planning; territorial, institutional and administrative divisions of organizations taking interdependent solutions; the lack of control most of the organizations operating information support for road transport; incomplete information of the absolute majority of publishing houses in the needs of motorists; duplication of the work of many publishers. There are two mechanisms of control information management system. Control enhances performance management system, improves the output characteristics of the system.

  16. TFTR Inner Support Structure final assembly and installation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rocco, R.E.; Brown, G.; Carglia, G.; Heitzenroeder, P.; Koenig, F.; Mookerjee, S.; Raugh, J.

    1983-01-01

    The Inner Support Structure (ISS) of the TFTR provides a specific level of restraint to the net centering force and overturning moment produced by the Toroidal Field (TF) coils and to the vertical forces produced by the Inner Poloidal Field (PF) coils. This is accomplished consistent with the need for four radial dielectric breaks running the entire length of the ISS to prevent eddy current loops. A brief description of the major components, method of manufacture and material selection of the ISS and PF coils is presented. Particular attention is given to the integration of the PF coils and the ISS components into the total assembly and the installation of strain gauges and crack monitors on the ISS. The requirements of no gaps at the interfaces of the ISS teeth at all three horizontal planes is discussed. The problem encountered with achieving the no gap requirement and the successful resolution of this problem, including its impact on installation of the ISS, is also discussed. The installation of the ISS, including setting in position, preloading with TF coil clips, and final tensioning of the tension bars is discussed. A brief description of the lower and upper lead stem splicing operation is presented. Subsequent to the final assembly, electrical tests were performed prior to and after installation on the TFTR machine. An overview of the tests and their results is presented

  17. Social support for diabetes illness management: supporting adolescents and caregivers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Idalski Carcone, April; Ellis, Deborah A; Weisz, Arlene; Naar-King, Sylvie

    2011-10-01

    The aim of this research study was to examine the relationship between 4 sources of social support (support for the adolescent from family, support for the adolescent from friends, support for the caregiver from another adult, and support to the family from the health care provider) and adolescents' diabetes outcomes (illness management behavior and health status) using a diverse sample of urban adolescents. One hundred forty-one adolescents with insulin-managed diabetes and their primary caregivers completed questionnaires assessing social support and illness management behavior. Glucose meters were downloaded and hemoglobin A1c assays were obtained. Structural equation modeling was used to test a model social support informed by social ecological theory. The results of the structural equation modeling indicated that support for the caregiver from another adult was directly and positively related to support for the adolescent from family and indirectly related to better illness management. Support for the adolescent from family was directly related to better diabetes management and, through better management, to better diabetes health. Support to the family from the health care provider was not related to support for the adolescent and support to the adolescent from friends was not related to illness management, as hypothesized. This study identifies a novel target for social support intervention to improve adolescents' illness management behavior-the caregivers of adolescents with diabetes. By enhancing the social support caregivers receive from other adults in their lives, caregivers' ability to support their adolescent children with diabetes might also be improved which, in turn, improves adolescents' illness outcomes.

  18. The Theoretical Study of the Beams Supported on a Straining Environment as an Interaction Problem Soil - Structure - Infrastructure Interaction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana-Raluca Chiriac

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Between structure, infrastructure (foundation and soil there is an effective interaction, which has to be taken into account as correctly as possible every time we do the calculation. This effective interaction can be analysed in a global form, considering on one hand the entire building, and on the other hand the soil -- establishment surface, or in an analytical form: we consider first the soil -- infrastructure (foundation interaction and then the structure -- infrastructure one. Without considering the interaction, we cannot make neither the calculation (for the soil according to the limiting deformation state which has to be compatible with the structure’s resistance system, nor calculation for the limiting resistance state, because the correct distribution of efforts along the contact surface between the soil and the structure is unknown, so we cannot determine the zones of plastical equilibrium in the soil massive and the conditions of limited equilibrium. Also, without considering the infrastructure, we cannot correctly calculate the efforts and the deformations which may occur in all resistance elements of the building. Therefore, we cannot talk about limiting state calculation without considering the interaction between the soil and the structure itself. The problem of interaction between building, on one hand and soil foundation, on the other hand, is not approached very much in the specialized literature, because of the big difficulties raised by summarizing all the factors that describe the structure and the environment, which would be more accessible to a practical calculation. A lot of buildings or elements of buildings standing on the soil or on another environment with finite rigidity can be taken into account as beams supported on a straining environment, (continuous foundations, resistance walls, longitudinal and transversal membranes of civil and industrial buildings, hydrotechnic works. Therefore, in the present paper we

  19. High Performance Nanocatalysts Supported on Micro/Nano Carbon Structures Using Ethanol Immersion Pretreatment for Micro DMFCs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lin, Liang-You; Wu, Yi-Shiuan; Chang, Chaun; Tseng, Fan-Gang

    2013-01-01

    In this paper, highly dense platinum (Pt) nanocatalysts were successfully deposited on the hydrophilically-treated nano/micro carbon supports with an ethanol (EtOH) immersion pretreatment and an acidic treatment for the performance improvement of methanol oxidation reaction (MOR). In order to thoroughly immerse the three-dimensional, interwoven structures of the carbon cloth fibers with a 6 M sulfuric acid surface modification, which increasing more oxygen-containing functional groups on the surfaces of the carbon supports, the EtOH immersion pretreatment of the carbon supports was utilized prior to the sulfuric acid treatment. Subsequently, Pt catalysts were reduced on the modified carbon supports by a homemade open-loop reduction system (OLRS) [1] For comparisons, carbon cloth (CC) and carbon nanotube on CC (CNT/CC) supports were employed with and without EtOH immersion pretreatments before Pt catalyst reduction. In the cyclic voltammetry (CV) curves, the electrosorption charges of hydrogen ion (Q H ) and the peak current density (I P ) of the fabricated Pt/CC and Pt/CNT/CC electrodes with the EtOH immersion pretreatments can efficiently be enhanced due to more active Pt sites for electrocatalytic reactions

  20. Performance of a novel type of electrolyte-supported solid oxide fuel cell with honeycomb structure

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ruiz-Morales, Juan Carlos; Savvin, Stanislav N.; Nunez, Pedro [Departmento de Quimica Inorganica, Universidad de La Laguna, 38200 Tenerife (Spain); Marrero-Lopez, David [Departamento de Fisica Aplicada I, Universidad de Malaga, 29071 Malaga (Spain); Pena-Martinez, Juan; Canales-Vazquez, Jesus [Instituto de Energias Renovables-Universidad de Castilla la Mancha, 02006 Albacete (Spain); Roa, Joan Josep; Segarra, Merce [DIOPMA, Departamento de Ciencia de los Materiales e Ing. Metalurgica, 08028 Barcelona (Spain)

    2010-01-15

    A novel design, alternative to the conventional electrolyte-supported solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is presented. In this new design, a honeycomb-electrolyte is fabricated from hexagonal cells, providing high mechanical strength to the whole structure and supporting the thin layer used as electrolyte of a SOFC. This new design allows a reduction of {proportional_to}70% of the electrolyte material and it renders modest performances over 320 mW cm{sup -2} but high volumetric power densities, i.e. 1.22 W cm{sup -3} under pure CH{sub 4} at 900 C, with a high OCV of 1.13 V, using the standard Ni-YSZ cermet as anode, Pt as cathode material and air as the oxidant gas. (author)

  1. Structure and functions of SWD-WJ/RODOS -the decision support system in case of nuclear accident

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Borysiewicz, M.; Furtek, A.; Potempski, S.; Wojciechowicz, H.; Zelazny, R.

    1999-01-01

    The paper described the fundamental structure and functions of the decision support system in the case of nuclear emergency SWD-WJ/RODOS. The system has been implemented at the Institute of Atomic Energy and be installed in the Centre for Radiological Events CEZAR of the National Atomic Energy Agency. The system is based on the RODOS system (real-time on-line decision support system), which is being developed within the European Union programmes by some 30 European institutions from the most European countries. All the main elements of the system, including description of the input and output data, have been described and additionally presented in graphical form. (author)

  2. EXAFS Determination of the Structure of Cobalt in Carbon-Supported Cobalt and Cobalt-Molybdenum Sulfide Hydrodesulfurization Catalysts.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Koningsberger, D.C.; Bouwens, S.M.A.M.; Veen, J.A.R. van; Beer, V.H.J. de; Prins, R.

    1991-01-01

    The structure of the cobalt present in carbon-supported Co and Co-Mo sulfide catalysts was studied by means of X-ray absorption spectroscopy at the Co K-edge and by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Thiophene hydrodesulfurization activities were used to measure the catalytic properties of

  3. Testing and diagnosis of the cause of increased vibration of the fan plant's support structure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Varju Đerđ

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a procedure of determining the causes of increased vibration of a fan plant and its support structure in the PUC 'Subotička toplana'. Excessive vibrations were observed following the installation of the frequency converter, thus a methodological approach of testing-analysis-diagnosis has been applied. Based on the definition of the causes of this problem, the paper also suggests possible repair procedures.

  4. Low Earth orbit journey and ground simulations studies point out metabolic changes in the ESA life support organism Rhodospirillum rubrum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mastroleo, Felice; Leys, Natalie; Benotmane, Rafi; Vanhavere, Filip; Janssen, Ann; Hendrickx, Larissa; Wattiez, Ruddy; Mergeay, Max

    ). Other differential expression was observed for genes involved in chemotaxis, flagellum formation and nitrogen metabolism. Except genes related to oxidoreduction system, the same group of genes were found in the simulated microgravity study. Transcriptomic data were combined to LC-MS/MS proteomic data collected from the same R. rubrum samples since parallel profiling of mRNA and protein on a global scale could provide insight into metabolic mechanisms underlying complex biological systems. These results indicate that low doses of ionising radiation and changes in gravity on life-support microorganisms have observable effects and deserve specific attention in the perspective of long term space missions. The presented project was financially supported by the European Space Agency (ESA-PRODEX) and the Belgian Science Policy (Belspo) (PRODEX agreements No C90247 and No 90094). We are grateful to C. Lasseur and C. Pailĺ, both from ESTEC/ESA, e for their constant support and advice.

  5. Support structure for reactor core constituent element

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aida, Yasuhiko.

    1993-01-01

    A connection pipe having an entrance nozzle inserted therein as a reactor core constituent element is protruded above the upper surface of a reactor core support plate. A through hole is disposed to the protruding portion of the connection pipe. The through hole and a through hole disposed to the reactor core support plate are connected by a communication pipe. A shear rod is disposed in a horizontal portion at the inside of the communication pipe and is supported by a spring horizontally movably. Further, a groove is disposed at a position of the entrance nozzle opposing to the shear rod. The shear rod is urged out of the communication pipe by the pressure of the high pressure plenum and the top end portion of the shear rod is inserted to the groove of the entrance nozzle during operation. Accordingly, the shear rod is positioned in a state where it is extended from the through hole of the communication pipe to the groove of the entrance nozzle. This can mechanically constrain the rising of the reactor core constituent elements by the shear rod upon occurrence of earthquakes. (I.N.)

  6. Hierarchically structured MnO2 nanowires supported on hollow Ni dendrites for high-performance supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Zhipeng; Firdoz, Shaik; Ying-Xuan Yap, Esther; Li, Lan; Lu, Xianmao

    2013-05-01

    We report a hierarchical Ni@MnO2 structure consisting of MnO2 nanowires supported on hollow Ni dendrites for high-performance supercapacitors. The Ni@MnO2 structure, which was prepared via a facile electrodeposition method, is highly porous and appears like a forest of pine trees grown vertically on a substrate. At a MnO2 mass loading of 0.35 mg cm-2, the Ni@MnO2 electrode demonstrated a specific capacitance of 1125 F g-1 that is close to the theoretical value. In addition, a remarkable high-rate performance (766 F g-1 at a discharge current density of 100 A g-1) was achieved. Electrochemical tests in a two-electrode configuration for the Ni@MnO2 structure with a high MnO2 loading of 3.6 mg cm-2 showed a low equivalent series resistance (ESR) of 1 Ω and a high specific power of 72 kW kg-1. This superior performance can be attributed to the highly porous and hierarchical structure of Ni@MnO2 that favors rapid diffusion of an electrolyte, highly conductive pathway for electron transport, and efficient material utilization.We report a hierarchical Ni@MnO2 structure consisting of MnO2 nanowires supported on hollow Ni dendrites for high-performance supercapacitors. The Ni@MnO2 structure, which was prepared via a facile electrodeposition method, is highly porous and appears like a forest of pine trees grown vertically on a substrate. At a MnO2 mass loading of 0.35 mg cm-2, the Ni@MnO2 electrode demonstrated a specific capacitance of 1125 F g-1 that is close to the theoretical value. In addition, a remarkable high-rate performance (766 F g-1 at a discharge current density of 100 A g-1) was achieved. Electrochemical tests in a two-electrode configuration for the Ni@MnO2 structure with a high MnO2 loading of 3.6 mg cm-2 showed a low equivalent series resistance (ESR) of 1 Ω and a high specific power of 72 kW kg-1. This superior performance can be attributed to the highly porous and hierarchical structure of Ni@MnO2 that favors rapid diffusion of an electrolyte, highly

  7. Supercritical Fluid (SCF) Technologies: Assessment of Applicability to Installation Restoration Processes

    Science.gov (United States)

    1994-03-10

    for the 3 regeneration of activated carbon which had been used for adsorption of pesticides or other I MKO~RT:22SOI.O4~acbva3 -300314𔄃 U * Table 3-3...Dichloroethane Propanol Ethylbenzene Propionic acid I Furfural Trichloroethane Gasoline Trichloroethylene Heptane Toluene Ketones Vinyl acetate Methyl acetate...during extraction from contaminated soil. The polar modifier addition had the further benefit of displacing PAIl molecules at polar adsorption sites on

  8. Containers of DS-2 Decontaminating Solution

    Science.gov (United States)

    1982-03-01

    percent sodium hydroxide, and the remainder is ethylene glycol monomethyl ether. Because of its reactivity, it must be protected from moisture and... carbon dioxide. It has been demonstrated that DS-2 does not corrode terneplate or steel. However, satisfactory terneplate and steel containers are...not produce a pail with a polyethylene insert. However, Mr. Wood told me that Hedwin Corporation (a subsidiary of Solvay ) does produce this kind of

  9. Structural analysis of online handwritten mathematical symbols based on support vector machines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simistira, Foteini; Papavassiliou, Vassilis; Katsouros, Vassilis; Carayannis, George

    2013-01-01

    Mathematical expression recognition is still a very challenging task for the research community mainly because of the two-dimensional (2d) structure of mathematical expressions (MEs). In this paper, we present a novel approach for the structural analysis between two on-line handwritten mathematical symbols of a ME, based on spatial features of the symbols. We introduce six features to represent the spatial affinity of the symbols and compare two multi-class classification methods that employ support vector machines (SVMs): one based on the "one-against-one" technique and one based on the "one-against-all", in identifying the relation between a pair of symbols (i.e. subscript, numerator, etc). A dataset containing 1906 spatial relations derived from the Competition on Recognition of Online Handwritten Mathematical Expressions (CROHME) 2012 training dataset is constructed to evaluate the classifiers and compare them with the rule-based classifier of the ILSP-1 system participated in the contest. The experimental results give an overall mean error rate of 2.61% for the "one-against-one" SVM approach, 6.57% for the "one-against-all" SVM technique and 12.31% error rate for the ILSP-1 classifier.

  10. Lack of support structures in prioritization decision making concerning patients and resources. Interviews with Swedish physicians.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Werntoft, Elisabet; Edberg, Anna-Karin

    2011-08-01

    To investigate physicians' experiences in relation to prioritization and financing in health care in order to gain a deeper understanding of the reasons behind their standpoints. Eighteen physicians, seven women and eleven men, aged 30 to 69 years were interviewed and the text was analyzed using an inductive approach, also described as conventional qualitative content analysis. Experience of setting healthcare priorities and difficult decision making differed widely among the physicians and seemed to be related to the number of years in professional practice. Their view of how resources should be allocated between disciplines/patients showed that they wanted politicians to make the decisions, with support from medical professions. The overwhelming impression of their reasoning showed that they lacked support structures for their decision making and could be understood under the following categories: prioritisation, easier in theory than in practice, and increasing costs threaten the Swedish welfare model. The findings of this study highlight the importance of practical national guidelines concerning vertical prioritization, also as an important measure to make prioritization more distinct and transparent. The physicians further had a need for tools to increase patients' awareness of their health. The findings of this study also showed that an awareness of the actual costs involved might increase the responsibility among both physicians and patients. The physicians' lack of support structures implies an urgent need for practical national guidelines, especially concerning vertical prioritization. This will also make prioritization appear clear and transparent for citizens.

  11. Effects of Socioeconomic Status and Social Support on Violence against Pregnant Women: A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ribeiro, Marizélia Rodrigues Costa; Silva, Antônio Augusto Moura da; Alves, Maria Teresa Seabra Soares de Britto E; Batista, Rosângela Fernandes Lucena; Ribeiro, Cecília Cláudia Costa; Schraiber, Lilia Blima; Bettiol, Heloisa; Barbieri, Marco Antônio

    2017-01-01

    Few studies have used structural equation modeling to analyze the effects of variables on violence against women. The present study analyzed the effects of socioeconomic status and social support on violence against pregnant women who used prenatal services. This was a cross-sectional study based on data from the Brazilian Ribeirão Preto and São Luís birth cohort studies (BRISA). The sample of the municipality of São Luís (Maranhão/Brazil) consisted of 1,446 pregnant women interviewed in 2010 and 2011. In the proposed model, socioeconomic status was the most distal predictor, followed by social support that determined general violence, psychological violence or physical/sexual violence, which were analyzed as latent variables. Violence was measured by the World Health Organization Violence against Women (WHO VAW) instrument. The São Luis model was estimated using structural equation modeling and validated with 1,378 pregnant women from Ribeirão Preto (São Paulo/Brazil). The proposed model showed good fit for general, psychological and physical/sexual violence for the São Luís sample. Socioeconomic status had no effect on general or psychological violence (p>0.05), but pregnant women with lower socioeconomic status reported more episodes of physical/sexual violence (standardized coefficient, SC = -0.136; p = 0.021). This effect of socioeconomic status was indirect and mediated by low social support (SC = -0.075; psocioeconomic status. Physical/sexual violence was more common for pregnant women with lower socioeconomic status and lower social support. Better social support contributed to reduction of all types of violence. Results were nearly the same for the validation sample of Ribeirão Preto except that SES was not associated with physical/sexual violence.

  12. Internal structure of laser supported detonation waves by two-wavelength Mach-Zehnder interferometer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shimamura, Kohei; Kawamura, Koichi; Fukuda, Akio; Wang Bin; Yamaguchi, Toshikazu; Komurasaki, Kimiya; Hatai, Keigo; Fukui, Akihiro; Arakawa, Yoshihiro

    2011-01-01

    Characteristics of the internal structure of the laser supported detonation (LSD) waves, such as the electron density n e and the electron temperature T e profiles behind the shock wave were measured using a two-wavelength Mach-Zehnder interferometer along with emission spectroscopy. A TEA CO 2 laser with energy of 10 J/pulse produced explosive laser heating in atmospheric air. Results show that the peak values of n e and T e were, respectively, about 2 x 10 24 m -3 and 30 000 K, during the LSD regime. The temporal variation of the laser absorption coefficient profile estimated from the measured properties reveals that the laser energy was absorbed perfectly in a thin layer behind the shock wave during the LSD regime, as predicted by Raizer's LSD model. However, the absorption layer was much thinner than a plasma layer, the situation of which was not considered in Raizer's model. The measured n e at the shock front was not zero while the LSD was supported, which implies that the precursor electrons exist ahead of the shock wave.

  13. Design summary of the magnet support structures for the proton storage ring injection line upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bernardin, J.D.; Ledford, J.E.; Smith, B.G.

    1997-05-01

    This report summarizes the technical engineering and design issues associated with the Proton Storage Ring (PSR) Injection Line upgrade of the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE). The main focus is on the engineering design calculations of several magnet support structures. The general procedure based upon a set number of design criteria is outlined, followed by a case-by-case summary of the engineering design analyses, reutilization or fabrication callouts and design safety factors

  14. Structure and Reactivity of Zeolite- and Carbon-Supported Catalysts for the Oxidative Carbonylation of Alcohols

    OpenAIRE

    Briggs, Daniel Neal

    2010-01-01

    AbstractStructure and Reactivity of Zeolite- and Carbon-Supported Catalysts for the Oxidative Carbonylation of AlcoholsbyDaniel Neal BriggsDoctor of Philosophy in Chemical EngineeringUniversity of California, BerkeleyProfessor Alexis T. Bell, Chair The oxidative carbonylation of alcohols to produce dialkyl carbonates is a process that takes place commercially in a slurry of cuprous chloride in the appropriate alcohol. While this process is chemically efficient, it incurs costs in terms of ene...

  15. Structural and Biochemical Characterization of Chlamydia trachomatis Hypothetical Protein CT263 Supports That Menaquinone Synthesis Occurs through the Futalosine Pathway*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barta, Michael L.; Thomas, Keisha; Yuan, Hongling; Lovell, Scott; Battaile, Kevin P.; Schramm, Vern L.; Hefty, P. Scott

    2014-01-01

    The obligate intracellular human pathogen Chlamydia trachomatis is the etiological agent of blinding trachoma and sexually transmitted disease. Genomic sequencing of Chlamydia indicated this medically important bacterium was not exclusively dependent on the host cell for energy. In order for the electron transport chain to function, electron shuttling between membrane-embedded complexes requires lipid-soluble quinones (e.g. menaquionone or ubiquinone). The sources or biosynthetic pathways required to obtain these electron carriers within C. trachomatis are poorly understood. The 1.58Å crystal structure of C. trachomatis hypothetical protein CT263 presented here supports a role in quinone biosynthesis. Although CT263 lacks sequence-based functional annotation, the crystal structure of CT263 displays striking structural similarity to 5′-methylthioadenosine nucleosidase (MTAN) enzymes. Although CT263 lacks the active site-associated dimer interface found in prototypical MTANs, co-crystal structures with product (adenine) or substrate (5′-methylthioadenosine) indicate that the canonical active site residues are conserved. Enzymatic characterization of CT263 indicates that the futalosine pathway intermediate 6-amino-6-deoxyfutalosine (kcat/Km = 1.8 × 103 m−1 s−1), but not the prototypical MTAN substrates (e.g. S-adenosylhomocysteine and 5′-methylthioadenosine), is hydrolyzed. Bioinformatic analyses of the chlamydial proteome also support the futalosine pathway toward the synthesis of menaquinone in Chlamydiaceae. This report provides the first experimental support for quinone synthesis in Chlamydia. Menaquinone synthesis provides another target for agents to combat C. trachomatis infection. PMID:25253688

  16. Structural Equation Modeling to Assess Discrimination, Stress, Social Support, and Depression among the Elderly Women in South Korea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Hung Sa; Kim, Chunmi

    2016-09-01

    The purpose of this study was to find the relationship and conceptual model of discrimination, stress, support, and depression among the elderly in South Korea. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study involving 207 community-dwelling elders. Data were collected through questionnaires from May 5 to May 31, 2014 in community senior centers, and analyzed using descriptive statistics, t test, analysis of variance, Scheffé test, and structural equation modeling. There were significant effects of discrimination on stress, support on stress and stress on depression. Moreover, there were two significant indirect effects observed between discrimination and depression, and between support and depression. For each indirect effect, the mediating factor was stress. Additionally, there was no direct effect between discrimination and depression or support. This study found that social support and discrimination had indirect effects on depression through stress. More specifically, decreased stress led to a reduction of depression. Therefore, social support based on a thorough understanding of stress is very important for caring elderly who are depressive. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  17. Organization structure as a moderator of the relationship between procedural justice, interactional justice, perceived organizational support, and supervisory trust.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ambrose, Maureen L; Schminke, Marshall

    2003-04-01

    Organizational justice researchers recognize the important role organization context plays in justice perceptions, yet few studies systematically examine contextual variables. This article examines how 1 aspect of context--organizational structure--affects the relationship between justice perceptions and 2 types of social exchange relationships, organizational and supervisory. The authors suggest that under different structural conditions, procedural and interactional justice will play differentially important roles in determining the quality of organizational social exchange (as evidenced by perceived organizational support [POS]) and supervisory social exchange (as evidenced by supervisory trust). In particular, the authors hypothesized that the relationship between procedural justice and POS would be stronger in mechanistic organizations and that the relationship between interactional justice and supervisory trust would be stronger in organic organizations. The authors' results support these hypotheses.

  18. Tank 241C106 structural evaluation in support of Project W320 retrieval

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wallace, D.A.

    1994-10-01

    Tank 241C106 structural evaluation to support W320. It includes ACI code input and riser evaluations. This work uses the in situ conditions established by Julyk to develop a three-dimensional model of the tank. Non-axisymmetric loads associated with retrieval activities are applied to assess their influence on structural integrity of the tank. This study addresses loads associated with normal opertion and credible accident scenarios. The concrete structure of tank C106 is classified as a Safety Class I non-reactor structure in accordance with the definition given in SDC 4.1. The operating specifications document (OSD) limits applicable to tank C106 include a live load limit for the C Tank Farm of 100 tons. For the technical basis of this limit, the OSD references SD-RE-TI-012, which qualifies the 100 tons as that distributed over a 10-ft radius. However, there is no specification for a uniform live load that would accompany natural hazard phenomena such as snow or ash fall. There is no specific guidance on crane loads applied at the surface outside the tank radius. Further, there is no record of any seismic analysis of tanks in the C Tank Farm. The analysis documented in this report evaluates nonseismic conditions that include a concentrated live load, a uniform live load, and a crane load, in addition to the in situ loads. The model documented in this study also is used to provide the nonseismic stress contribution to the seismic load combination documented by Wallace

  19. Milnacipran: recent findings in depression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guest editors: Stuart Montgomery (London

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available EDITORIAL FOREWORDPage 1   Milnacipran: recent findings in depression Stuart Montgomery (London, UK and Mike Briley (Castres, France REVIEWSPage 3   Suicidality: risk factors and the effects of antidepressants. The example of parallel reduction of suicidality and other depressive symptoms during treatment with the SNRI, milnacipran Philippe Courtet (Montpellier, FrancePage 9   Treatment of patients with comorbid depression and diabetes with metformin and milnacipran Peter Hofmann (Graz, AustriaPage 17  Antidepressant therapy with milnacipran and venlafaxine Lucilla Mansuy (Toulouse, FrancePage 23  Milnacipran: a unique antidepressant? Siegfried Kasper and Gerald Pail (Vienna, Austria This supplement is based on a symposium that took place at the 9th International Forum on Mood and Anxiety in Monte Carlo in November 2009 and is supported by an unconditional education grant from Pierre Fabre Médicament.

  20. THE SOUTHERN AEGEAN SYSTEM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ina Berg

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Although world-systems theory was originally formulated with our modern economic system in mind (Wallerstein 1974, it was not long before archaeologists began to apply it to ancient societies. Archaeologists and world-system theorists alike both argued that Wallerstein had disregarded evidence of interconnected, hierarchical systems in prehistoric times (Schneider 1977; Chase-Dunn & Hall 1991, 1997; Kardulias 1999a. Pailes and Whitecotton (1979 were among the first to modify world-systems theory for use in pre-capitalist settings. Since then many archaeologists have looked at data and regions with a world-systems perspective in mind (e.g. Champion 1989; Bilde et al. 1993; Rowlands & Larsen 1987; Kardulias 1999a. Some have attempted to map Wallerstein's theory directly onto prehistory (Kohl 1979; Whitecotton & Pailes 1986; Ekholm & Friedman 1982. Others have found the world systems model heuristically useful but lacking the analytical power needed for their prehistoric cases (Blanton et al. 1981; Upham 1982; Plog 1983; Alcock 1993. Building on the assumption that ancient societies were not qualitatively, but only quantitatively, different from modern capitalist ones (Schneider 1977; Sherratt & Sherratt 1991, this study applies world systems theory to the Southern Aegean during the Middle and Late Bronze Age (ca. 2000-1550 BC.

  1. Thermal assault and polyurethane foam-evaluating protective mechanisms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Williamson, C.L.; Iams, Z.L.

    2004-01-01

    Rigid polyurethane foam utilizes a variety of mechanisms to mitigate the thermal assault of a ''regulatory burn''. Polymer specific heat and foam k-factor are of limited usefulness in predicting payload protection. Properly formulated rigid polyurethane foam provides additional safeguards by employing ablative mechanisms which are effective even when the foam has been crushed or fractured as a result of trauma. The dissociative transitions from polymer to gas and char, and the gas transport of heat from inside the package out into the environment are also thermal mitigators. Additionally, the in-situ production of an intumescent, insulative, carbonaceous char, confers thermal protection even when a package's outer steel skin has been breached. In this test program, 19 liter, ''Five gallon'' steel pails are exposed on one end to the flame of an ''Oil Burner'' as described in the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ''Aircraft Materials Fire Test Handbook''. When burning 2 diesel at a nominal rate of 8.39 kg (18.5 pounds)/hr, the burner generates a high emissivity flame that impinges on the pail face with the thermal intensity of a full scale pool-fire environment. Results of these tests, TGA and MDSC analysis on the subject foams are reported, and their relevance to full size packages and pool fires are discussed

  2. Poor structural social support is associated with an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes mellitus: findings from the MONICA/KORA Augsburg cohort study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Altevers, J; Lukaschek, K; Baumert, J; Kruse, J; Meisinger, C; Emeny, R T; Ladwig, K H

    2016-01-01

    Several psychosocial factors have been shown to increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes mellitus. This study investigated the association between structural social support and incidence of Type 2 diabetes mellitus in men and women. Data were derived from three population-based MONICA/KORA surveys conducted in 1984-1995 in the Augsburg region (southern Germany) and followed up by 2009. The study population comprised 8952 participants (4669 men/4283 women) aged 30-74 years without diabetes at baseline. Structural social support was assessed using the Social Network Index. Sex-specific hazard ratios were estimated from Cox proportional hazard models. Within follow-up, 904 incident Type 2 diabetes mellitus cases (558 men, 346 women) were observed. Crude incidence rates for Type 2 diabetes mellitus per 10 000 person-years were substantially higher in poor compared with good structural social support (men: 94 vs. 69, women: 58 vs. 43). After adjustment for age, survey, parental history of diabetes, smoking status, alcohol intake, physical activity, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, BMI, education, sleep complaints and depressed mood, risk of Type 2 diabetes mellitus for participants with poor compared with good structural social support was 1.31 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.11-1.55] in men and 1.10 (95% CI = 0.88-1.37) in women. Stratified analyses revealed a hazard ratio of 1.50 (95% CI = 1.23-1.83) in men with a low level of education and 0.87 (95% CI = 0.62-1.22) in men with a high level of education (P for interaction: 0.0082). Poor structural social support is associated with Type 2 diabetes mellitus in men. This association is independent of risk factors at baseline and is particularly pronounced in men with a low level of education. © 2015 The Authors. Diabetic Medicine © 2015 Diabetes UK.

  3. A synchronous increase in hydraulic conductive capacity and mechanical support in conifers with relatively uniform xylem structure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jagels, Richard; Visscher, George E

    2006-02-01

    The dual function provided by longitudinal tracheids in conifers has led to a generally held trade-off concept that increasing wall thickness and/or volume of latewood tracheids improves mechanical support, while increasing cell diameter and/or volume of earlywood tracheids enhances conductive potential. Yet, some conifers have either uniform cell structure across the growth ring or, at most, a small amount of latewood. How do these trees accomplish the needs for increasing support and conduction with height growth? We examined Metasequoia glyptostroboides, a species that we previously demonstrated improves its mechanical properties with increasing age without a change in specific gravity or secondary wall microfibril angle. In this paper, we showed that lignin and extractive contents are not contributing factors, and through composite structure analysis, we eliminated a role for tracheid length. Using micromorphometric analysis, we demonstrated that as cell diameter increases, total primary wall decreases, secondary wall increases, and strength and conductive capacity increase with no change in specific gravity. Meta-analysis using other species of Cupressaceae, Podocarpaceae, and Araucariaceae provided strong corroborative evidence for this design strategy.

  4. Application of structured support vector machine backpropagation to a convolutional neural network for human pose estimation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Witoonchart, Peerajak; Chongstitvatana, Prabhas

    2017-08-01

    In this study, for the first time, we show how to formulate a structured support vector machine (SSVM) as two layers in a convolutional neural network, where the top layer is a loss augmented inference layer and the bottom layer is the normal convolutional layer. We show that a deformable part model can be learned with the proposed structured SVM neural network by backpropagating the error of the deformable part model to the convolutional neural network. The forward propagation calculates the loss augmented inference and the backpropagation calculates the gradient from the loss augmented inference layer to the convolutional layer. Thus, we obtain a new type of convolutional neural network called an Structured SVM convolutional neural network, which we applied to the human pose estimation problem. This new neural network can be used as the final layers in deep learning. Our method jointly learns the structural model parameters and the appearance model parameters. We implemented our method as a new layer in the existing Caffe library. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. An ultrasonic methodology for in-service inspection of shell weld of core support structure in a sodium cooled fast reactor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kumar, Anish, E-mail: anish@igcar.gov.in; Rajkumar, K.V.; Sharma, Govind K.; Dhayalan, R.; Jayakumar, T.

    2015-02-15

    Highlights: • We demonstrate a novel ultrasonic methodology for in-service inspection of shell weld of core support structure in a sodium cooled fast breeder reactor. • The methodology comprises of the inspection of shell weld immersed in sodium from the outside surface of the main vessel using ultrasonic guided wave. • The formation and propagation of guided wave modes are validated by finite element simulation of the inspection methodology. • A defect down to 20% of 30 mm thick wall (∼6 mm) in the shell weld can be detected reliably using the developed methodology. - Abstract: The paper presents a novel ultrasonic methodology developed for in-service inspection (ISI) of shell weld of core support structure of main vessel of 500 MWe prototype fast breeder reactor (PFBR). The methodology comprises of the inspection of shell weld immersed in sodium from the outsider surface of the main vessel using a normal beam longitudinal wave ultrasonic transducer. Because of the presence of curvature in the knuckle region of the main vessel, the normal beam longitudinal wave enters the support shell plate at an angle and forms the guided waves by mode conversion and multiple reflections from the boundaries of the shell plate. Hence, this methodology can be used to detect defects in the shell weld of the core support structure. The successful demonstration of the methodology on a mock-up sector made of stainless steel indicated that an artificial defect down to 20% of 30 mm thick wall (∼6 mm) in the shell weld can be detected reliably.

  6. STRUTEX: A prototype knowledge-based system for initially configuring a structure to support point loads in two dimensions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rogers, James L.; Feyock, Stefan; Sobieszczanski-Sobieski, Jaroslaw

    1988-01-01

    The purpose of this research effort is to investigate the benefits that might be derived from applying artificial intelligence tools in the area of conceptual design. Therefore, the emphasis is on the artificial intelligence aspects of conceptual design rather than structural and optimization aspects. A prototype knowledge-based system, called STRUTEX, was developed to initially configure a structure to support point loads in two dimensions. This system combines numerical and symbolic processing by the computer with interactive problem solving aided by the vision of the user by integrating a knowledge base interface and inference engine, a data base interface, and graphics while keeping the knowledge base and data base files separate. The system writes a file which can be input into a structural synthesis system, which combines structural analysis and optimization.

  7. Recent research on structural integrity in support of the european fast reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Acker, D.; Townley, C.H.A.

    1991-01-01

    For the European Fast Reactor, which is being developed jointly in France, Germany and the U.K., qualified material controlled fabrication processes and validated design rules are essential to achieve cost reduction in components, and at the same time, maintain the required standards of safety and reliability. In the framework of an inter-governmental agreement, the R and D organisations: CEA in France, KfK and INTERATOM in Germany and AEA Technology in the UK, have co-ordinated their work to support the EFR project. In the Structural Integrity area, this co-ordination is undertaken by the AGT 9B group, which: The Purpose of the present paper is to review the progress which has been made up to the end of 1990, as recorded by the 35 AGT9B Milestone Reports which had been issued by this date. Only a brief outline of the main results will be given. Detailed descriptions of the work will be found in the papers presented to SMIRT Conferences in 1987, 1989 and 1991 and referenced in chapter 7. The results fall into five areas - General design guidance - Analysis of structures submitted to repeated loading - Fracture mechanics - Buckling - Design rules for specific components

  8. An information offering system for operation support based on plant functional structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ohga, Yukiharu; Seki, Hiroshi

    1995-01-01

    A plant information offering system was proposed to support operators in their selection and confirmation of the required information for plant operation under transient conditions in nuclear power plants. The system features include an automatic selection method for information and a dialog input method. The former selects plant information in response to plant status changes and operators' demands. The selection is performed based on the knowledge and data as structured by the plant functional structure; i.e. a means-ends abstraction hierarchy model. In the latter, both speech and CRT touch inputs are transformed into words in Japanese to realize an arbitrary input mode combination. The words are analyzed as a sentence before transforming them into a demand for related programs. A prototype system was evaluated using a BWR simulator, assuming abnormal transients such as loss of feedwater. The contents of the offered information were checked based on emergency operation guidelines. It was confirmed that appropriate information items are automatically selected in real time. Answers are generated in reply to the operators' demands. They include information added to reflect the plant conditions. As for dialog, simple and quick input is realized by combining speech and CRT touch according to the operating situation. (author)

  9. Are project managers ready for the 21th challenges? A review of problem structuring methods for decision support

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José Mateo

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Numerous contemporary problems that project managers face today can be considered as unstructured decision problems characterized by multiple actors and perspectives, incommensurable and/or conflicting objectives, and important intangibles. This work environment demands that project managers possess not only hard skills but also soft skills with the ability to take a management perspective and, above all, develop real leadership capabilities. In this paper, a family of problem structured methods for decision support aimed at assisting project managers in tackling complex problems are presented. Problem structured methods are a family of soft operations research methods for decision support that assist groups of diverse composition to agree a problem focus and make commitments to consequential action. Project management programs are challenged to implement these methodologies in such a way that it is organized around the key competences that a project manager needs in order to be more effective, work efficiently as members of interdisciplinary teams and successfully execute even a small project.

  10. Biotemplating of Luffa cylindrica sponges to self-supporting hierarchical zeolite macrostructures for bio-inspired structured catalytic reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zampieri, Alessandro; Mabande, Godwin T.P.; Selvam, Thangaraj; Schwieger, Wilhelm; Rudolph, Alexander; Hermann, Ralph; Sieber, Heino; Greil, Peter

    2006-01-01

    Biomorphic self-supporting MFI-type zeolite frameworks with hierarchical porosity and complex architecture were prepared using a 2-step (in-situ seeding and secondary crystal growth) hydrothermal synthesis in the presence of a biological template (Luffa sponge), employed as a macroscale sacrificial structure builder. The bio-inspired zeolitic replica inherited the complex spongy morphology and the intricate open-porous architecture of the biotemplate. Moreover, it exhibited reasonable mechanical stability in order to study the applicability of the biomorphic catalyst in a technical catalytic process. A bio-inspired catalytic reactor utilising the self-supporting ZSM-5 scaffold in monolithic configuration was developed in order to test the catalytic performance of the material

  11. Strength analysis of support structure and characterization of prototype imaging portal monitor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khairul Handono; Alvano Yulian; Muhammad Awwaluddin

    2014-01-01

    The mechanical systems analysis and testing of control systems and data acquisition the prototype Portal Imaging Monitor Container has been conducted. Analysis of the mechanical system includes support holder important to maintain continuity of operations. While the analysis of the data acquisition system and electrically system done on the conveyor drive motor power supply. The purpose of the analysis and characterization for design improvements. The process of static analysis is done through a conveyor frame structure simulation in ANSYS 1.4 software. In the data acquisition system and the electrical system has been tested. From the results of the mechanical analysis showed that the design created has met the criteria of security and safety. While the data acquisition system testing the system can display the data through the Internet with either. (author)

  12. Seismic analysis of offshore wind turbines on bottom-fixed support structures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alati, Natale; Failla, Giuseppe; Arena, Felice

    2015-02-28

    This study investigates the seismic response of a horizontal axis wind turbine on two bottom-fixed support structures for transitional water depths (30-60 m), a tripod and a jacket, both resting on pile foundations. Fully coupled, nonlinear time-domain simulations on full system models are carried out under combined wind-wave-earthquake loadings, for different load cases, considering fixed and flexible foundation models. It is shown that earthquake loading may cause a significant increase of stress resultant demands, even for moderate peak ground accelerations, and that fully coupled nonlinear time-domain simulations on full system models are essential to capture relevant information on the moment demand in the rotor blades, which cannot be predicted by analyses on simplified models allowed by existing standards. A comparison with some typical design load cases substantiates the need for an accurate seismic assessment in sites at risk from earthquakes. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

  13. The effectiveness of an Autonomy-Supportive Teaching Structure in Physical Education. [Eficacia de la estructura de enseñanza con soporte de autonomía en educación física].

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    How Yew Meng

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available PE teachers’ motivational styles have a substantial impact on students’ engagement in learning and can influence children to adopt physically active lifestyles. The Self-Determination Theory (SDT seeks to explain human motivation and behaviour. Central to SDT, three basic psychological needs must be supported (the needs for autonomy, competency and relatedness to enhance intrinsic motivation. Autonomy-support refers to the subjective experience of autonomy. Structure is important in PE as it creates the conditions whereby effective learning can take place. The current study examined the effects of a ten-week, school-based, autonomy-supportive structure (ASTS-PE teacher training intervention in PE, on students’ PE outcomes. Psychological needs satisfaction, perceived autonomy-support, relative autonomy index (RAI, engagement and objective moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA levels in PE were measured. The study consists of two treatment (autonomy-supportive structure and autonomy-support only and one control group. The results indicate that students in the autonomy-supportive structure group show better overall outcomes compared to the other two groups. The findings in this study provide strong evidence that both autonomy-support and structure are needed to maximise effectiveness in PE lessons. We further suggest practical ways in which teachers could implement an autonomy-supportive structure in their lessons.

  14. Identifying Configurations of Perceived Teacher Autonomy Support and Structure: Associations with Self-Regulated Learning, Motivation and Problem Behavior

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vansteenkiste, Maarten; Sierens, Eline; Goossens, Luc; Soenens, Bart; Dochy, Filip; Mouratidis, Athanasios; Aelterman, Nathalie; Haerens, Leen; Beyers, Wim

    2012-01-01

    Grounded in self-determination theory, the aim of this study was (a) to examine naturally occurring configurations of perceived teacher autonomy support and clear expectations (i.e., a central aspect of teacher structure), and (b) to investigate associations with academic motivation, self-regulated learning, and problem behavior. Based on…

  15. Supporting self-management after attending a structured education programme: a qualitative longitudinal investigation of type 1 diabetes patients’ experiences and views

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rankin David

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Structured education programmes for patients with diabetes and other chronic conditions are being widely adopted. However, follow-up studies suggest that course graduates may struggle to sustain the self-care practices taught on their courses over time. This study explored the support needs of patients with type 1 diabetes after attending a structured education programme promoting an empowerment approach and training in use of flexible intensive insulin therapy, a regimen now widely advocated and used to manage this condition. The objective was to inform future support offered to course graduates. Methods Repeat, in-depth interviews with 30 type 1 diabetes patients after attending Dose Adjustment for Normal Eating (DAFNE courses in the UK, and six and 12 months later. Data were analysed using an inductive, thematic approach. Results While the flexible intensive insulin treatment approach taught on DAFNE courses was seen as a logical and effective way of managing one’s diabetes, it was also considered more technically complex than other insulin regimens. To sustain effective disease self-management using flexible intensive insulin treatment over time, patients often expected, and needed, on-going input and support from health care professionals trained in the approach. This included: help determining insulin dose adjustments; reassurance; and, opportunities to trouble-shoot issues of concern. While some benefits were identified to receiving follow-up support in a group setting, most patients stated a preference or need for tailored and individualised support from appropriately-trained clinicians, accessible on an ‘as and when needed’ basis. Conclusions Our findings highlight potential limitations to group-based forms of follow-up support for sustaining diabetes self-management. To maintain the clinical benefits of structured education for patients with type 1 diabetes over time, course graduates may benefit from and

  16. Scientific Support of Construction of Unique Buildings and Structures and Facilities of Increased Danger

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alekhin, V. N.; Antipin, A. A.; Gorodilov, S. N.

    2017-11-01

    A range of works on scientific support for the construction of unique buildings and the structures and facilities of increased danger, such as airport facilities, long-span and high-rise buildings is being implemented at the department “Computer Aided Design in Civil Engineering” of Ural Federal University. The scope of work includes: numerical simulation of wind and snow loads, analysis of progressive collapse and seismic impacts, verification of design solutions. The results of wind, snow loads and progressive collapse of airport buildings in the cities of Orenburg, Rostov-on-Don and Perm are considered in the article.

  17. ESF GROUND SUPPORT - STRUCTURAL STEEL ANALYSIS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    T. Misiak

    1996-06-26

    The purpose and objective of this analysis are to expand the level of detail and confirm member sizes for steel sets included in the Ground Support Design Analysis, Reference 5.20. This analysis also provides bounding values and details and defines critical design attributes for alternative configurations of the steel set. One possible configuration for the steel set is presented. This analysis covers the steel set design for the Exploratory Studies Facility (ESF) entire Main Loop 25-foot diameter tunnel.

  18. A hybrid classroom-online curriculum format for RN-BSN students: cohort support and curriculum structure improve graduation rates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davidson, Susan C; Metzger, Richard; Lindgren, Katherine S

    2011-05-01

    As more registered nurses (RNs) return to school to obtain a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN), innovative ways must be found to support them in this endeavor. Barriers for RNs who return to school include scheduling of coursework and fear of failure. One school of nursing with a traditional BSN program reviewed its RN-BSN track, with its low retention and graduation rates. With input from nursing leaders and nurses in the community, the school applied for and was awarded a 3-year Health Resources and Services Administration grant to redesign the RN-BSN program. A hybrid classroom-online curriculum is offered in a structured, sequential format so that the RNs are admitted once a year and must complete the courses as a group, in a cohort. Data collected from evaluations showed that program support, technology support, and social support from peers encouraged the RNs to "stay the course," and 100% completed the requirements to graduate. Copyright 2011, SLACK Incorporated.

  19. Temperature-controlled structure and kinetics of ripple phases in one- and two-component supported lipid bilayers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kaasgaard, Thomas; Leidy, Chad; Crowe, J.H.

    2003-01-01

    Temperature-controlled atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been used to visualize and study the structure and kinetics of ripple phases in one-component dipalmitoylphosphaticlylcholine (DPPC) and two-component dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine-distearoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC-DSPC) lipid bilayers....... The lipid bilayers are mica-supported double bilayers in which ripple-phase formation occurs in the top bilayer. In one-component DPPC lipid bilayers, the stable and metastable ripple phases were observed. In addition, a third ripple structure with approximately twice the wavelength of the metastable...... ripples was seen. From height profiles of the AFM images, estimates of the amplitudes of the different ripple phases are reported. To elucidate the processes of ripple formation and disappearance, a ripple-phase DPPC lipid bilayer was taken through the pretransition in the cooling and the heating...

  20. Construction of SnO2?Graphene Composite with Half-Supported Cluster Structure as Anode toward Superior Lithium Storage Properties

    OpenAIRE

    Zhu, Chengling; Chen, Zhixin; Zhu, Shenmin; Li, Yao; Pan, Hui; Meng, Xin; Imtiaz, Muhammad; Zhang, Di

    2017-01-01

    Inspired by nature, herein we designed a novel construction of SnO2 anodes with an extremely high lithium storage performance. By utilizing small sheets of graphene oxide, the partitioned-pomegranate-like structure was constructed (SnO2@C@half-rGO), in which the porous clusters of SnO2 nanoparticles are partially supported by reduced graphene oxide sheets while the rest part is exposed (half-supported), like partitioned pomegranates. When served as anode for lithium-ion batteries, SnO2@C@half...

  1. Residents’ Support Intentions and Behaviors Regarding Urban Trees Programs: A Structural Equation Modeling-Multi Group Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zheng Zhao

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Urban trees are more about people than trees. Urban trees programs need public support and engagement, from the intentions to support to implement actions in supporting the programs. Built upon the theory of planned behavior and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM, this study uses Beijing as a case study to investigate how subjective norm (cognition of urban trees, attitude (benefits residents’ believe urban trees can provide, and perceived behavioral control (the believed ability of what residents can do affect intention and its transformation into implemented of supporting action. A total of 800 residents were interviewed in 2016 and asked about their opinion of neighborhood trees, park trees, and historical trees, and analyzed, respectively. The results show that subjective norm has a significant positive effect on intentions pertaining to historical and neighborhood trees. Attitudes influence intentions, but its overall influence is much lower than that of the subjective norm, indicating that residents are more likely to be influenced by external factors. The perceived behavioral control has the strongest effect among the three, suggesting the importance of public participation in strengthening intention. The transformation from intention to behavior seems relatively small, especially regarding neighborhood trees, suggesting that perceptions and participation need to be strengthened.

  2. [Structure of Relationships Formed by Occupational Health Nurses for Co-operating with Managers to Support Workers with Mental Health Concerns].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hatanaka, Junko; Takasaki, Masako; Hatanaka, Michiyo

    2018-05-31

    Occupational health staff and managers play important roles in supporting workers with mental health concerns and mutual co-operation among them is a necessary element. However, when co-operating with other professionals, several problems arise that often make such co-operation a challenge. Effective mutual actions are needed to promote such co-operation, and relationships must be formed for this purpose. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to clarify how occupational health nurses form relationships for facilitating co-operation with managers to provide support to workers with mental health concerns. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with 11 occupational health nurses who provide individualized mental health support and who have at least 5 years of experience as occupational health nurses. Analysis of the recorded interviews was performed using a qualitative statistical method (KJ method). Six elements that constitute the formation of relationships were identified. When occupational health nurses form relationships for facilitating co-operation with a manager to provide support to workers, they "form relationships through strategic communication" with them and when co-operation is required, they form a relationship by "acting in a manner that suits the manager," such as his/her character and the situation. To support this relationship, occupational health nurses "provide mental support to the manager" by listening to his/her anxiety or real intention about supporting the subordinate with mental health concerns and provide relief while understanding their burdens during the co-operation. Occupational health nurses even "provide support to the manager in their activities," which assessed the situation at the workplace as the specialist and advised the manager to understand how to concern to the subordinate specifically. In addition, they "indirectly support the manager" which included coordinating with the concerned persons so as to not excessively

  3. Effects of Co-Worker and Supervisor Support on Job Stress and Presenteeism in an Aging Workforce: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Tianan; Shen, Yu-Ming; Zhu, Mingjing; Liu, Yuanling; Deng, Jianwei; Chen, Qian; See, Lai-Chu

    2015-12-23

    We examined the effects of co-worker and supervisor support on job stress and presenteeism in an aging workforce. Structural equation modelling was used to evaluate data from the 2010 wave of the Health and Retirement Survey in the United States (n = 1649). The level of presenteeism was low and the level of job stress was moderate among aging US workers. SEM revealed that co-worker support and supervisor support were strongly correlated (β = 0.67; p worker support had a significant direct negative effect on job stress (β = -0.10; p employee stress at the workplace, by necessary support at work from colleagues and employers, and by the presence of comfortable interpersonal relationships among colleagues and between employers and employees.

  4. H.V. support structure of 3MVDC generator and its protection from HV discharges in vacuum and SF6 gas for DC electron accelerator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sharma, D.K.; Rajan, R.N.; Srivastava, S.K.; Dewangan, S.; Jayaprakash, D.; Bakhtsingh, R.I.; Acharya, S.; Gantayet, L.M.

    2014-01-01

    Accelerator and Pulse Power Division of BARC has developed a DC electron accelerator for cross linking of polymers, medical sterilisation, preservation of food. The demonstration of stack-gas cleanup for green power generation has been demonstrated successfully. The support structure of the 3MVDC voltage generator is made of Perspex for high dielectric strength, easy availability of raw material, excellent radiation resistance and long term dimensional stability. This paper describes the salient design features of the High voltage support structure in brief. (author)

  5. H.V. support structure of 3MVDC generator and its protection from HV discharges in vacuum and SF6 gas for DC electron accelerator

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sharma, D.K.; Rajan, R.N.; Srivastava, S.K.; Dewangan, S.; Jayaprakash, D.; Bakhtsingh, R.I.; Acharya, S.; Gantayet, L.M., E-mail: dksharma@barc.gov.in [Accelerator and Pulse Power Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai (India)

    2014-07-01

    Accelerator and Pulse Power Division of BARC has developed a DC electron accelerator for cross linking of polymers, medical sterilisation, preservation of food. The demonstration of stack-gas cleanup for green power generation has been demonstrated successfully. The support structure of the 3MVDC voltage generator is made of Perspex for high dielectric strength, easy availability of raw material, excellent radiation resistance and long term dimensional stability. This paper describes the salient design features of the High voltage support structure in brief. (author)

  6. Is age a factor in the success or failure of remote monitoring in heart failure? Telemonitoring and structured telephone support in elderly heart failure patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Inglis, Sally C; Conway, Aaron; Cleland, John Gf; Clark, Robyn A

    2015-06-01

    There are few data regarding the effectiveness of remote monitoring for older people with heart failure. We conducted a post-hoc sub-analysis of a previously published large Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis of relevant randomized controlled trials to determine whether structured telephone support and telemonitoring were effective in this population. A post hoc sub-analysis of a systematic review and meta-analysis that applied the Cochrane methodology was conducted. Meta-analyses of all-cause mortality, all-cause hospitalizations and heart failure-related hospitalizations were performed for studies where the mean or median age of participants was 70 or more years. The mean or median age of participants was 70 or more years in eight of the 16 (n=2659/5613; 47%) structured telephone support studies and four of the 11 (n=894/2710; 33%) telemonitoring studies. Structured telephone support (RR 0.80; 95% CI=0.63-1.00) and telemonitoring (RR 0.56; 95% CI=0.41-0.76) interventions reduced mortality. Structured telephone support interventions reduced heart failure-related hospitalizations (RR 0.81; 95% CI=0.67-0.99). Despite a systematic bias towards recruitment of individuals younger than the epidemiological average into the randomized controlled trials, older people with heart failure did benefit from structured telephone support and telemonitoring. These post-hoc sub-analysis results were similar to overall effects observed in the main meta-analysis. While further research is required to confirm these observational findings, the evidence at hand indicates that discrimination by age alone may be not be appropriate when inviting participation in a remote monitoring service for heart failure. © The European Society of Cardiology 2014.

  7. Offshore code comparison collaboration continuation (OC4), phase I - Results of coupled simulations of an offshore wind turbine with jacket support structure

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Popko, Wojciech; Vorpahl, Fabian; Zuga, Adam

    2012-01-01

    In this paper, the exemplary results of the IEA Wind Task 30 "Offshore Code Comparison Collaboration Continuation" (OC4) Project - Phase I, focused on the coupled simulation of an offshore wind turbine (OWT) with a jacket support structure, are presented. The focus of this task has been the verif......In this paper, the exemplary results of the IEA Wind Task 30 "Offshore Code Comparison Collaboration Continuation" (OC4) Project - Phase I, focused on the coupled simulation of an offshore wind turbine (OWT) with a jacket support structure, are presented. The focus of this task has been...... the verification of OWT modeling codes through code-to-code comparisons. The discrepancies between the results are shown and the sources of the differences are discussed. The importance of the local dynamics of the structure is depicted in the simulation results. Furthermore, attention is given to aspects...

  8. Issues on the Development and Application of Computer Tools to Support Product Structuring and Configuring

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Claus Thorp; Riitahuhta, A.

    2001-01-01

    The aim of this article is to make a balance on the results and challenges in the efforts to develop computer tools to support product structuring and configuring in product development projects. The balance will be made in two dimensions, a design science and an industrial dimension. The design ...... that there are large positive effects to be gained for industrial companies by conscious implementing computer tools based on the results of design science. The positive effects will be measured by e.g. predictable product quality, reduced lead time, and reuse of design solutions....

  9. Breaking wave impact forces on truss support structures for offshore wind turbines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cieślikiewicz, Witold; Gudmestad, Ove T.; Podrażka, Olga

    2014-05-01

    Due to depletion of the conventional energy sources, wind energy is becoming more popular these days. Wind energy is being produced mostly from onshore farms, but there is a clear tendency to transfer wind farms to the sea. The foundations of offshore wind turbines may be truss structures and might be located in shallow water, where are subjected to highly varying hydrodynamic loads, particularly from plunging breaking waves. There are models for impact forces prediction on monopiles. Typically the total wave force on slender pile from breaking waves is a superposition of slowly varying quasi-static force, calculated from the Morison equation and additional dynamical, short duration force due to the impact of the breaker front or breaker tongue. There is not much research done on the truss structures of wind turbines and there are still uncertainties on slamming wave forces, due to plunging breaking waves on those structures. Within the WaveSlam (Wave slamming forces on truss structures in shallow water) project the large scale tests were carried out in 2013 at the Large Wave Flume in Forschungszentrum Küste (FZK) in Hannover, Germany. The following institutions participated in this initiative: the University of Stavanger and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (project management), University of Gdańsk, Poland, Hamburg University of Technology and the University of Rostock, Germany and Reinertsen AS, Norway. This work was supported by the EU 7th Framework Programme through the grant to the budget of the Integrating Activity HYDRALAB IV. The main aim of the experiment was to investigate the wave slamming forces on truss structures, development of new and improvement of existing methods to calculate forces from the plunging breakers. The majority of the measurements were carried out for regular waves with specified frequencies and wave heights as well as for the irregular waves based on JONSWAP spectrum. The truss structure was equipped with both

  10. Heat insulation support device

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takahashi, Hiroyuki; Koda, Tomokazu; Motojima, Osamu; Yamamoto, Junya.

    1994-01-01

    The device of the present invention comprises a plurality of heat insulation legs disposed in a circumferential direction. Each of the heat insulative support legs has a hollow shape, and comprises an outer column and an inner column as support structures having a heat insulative property (heat insulative structure), and a thermal anchor which absorbs compulsory displacement by a thin flat plate (displacement absorber). The outer column, the thermal anchor and the inner column are connected by a support so as to offset the positional change of objects to be supported due to shrinkage when they are shrunk. In addition, the portion between the superconductive coils as the objects to be supported and the inner column is connected by the support. The superconductive thermonuclear device is entirely contained in a heat insulative vacuum vessel, and the heat insulative support legs are disposed on a lower lid of the heat insulative vacuum vessel. With such a constitution, they are strengthened against lateral load and buckling, thereby enabling to reduce the amount of heat intrusion while keeping the compulsory displacement easy to be absorbed. (I.N.)

  11. The role of social support on emotion dysregulation and Internet addiction among Chinese adolescents: A structural equation model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mo, Phoenix K H; Chan, Virginia W Y; Chan, Samuel W; Lau, Joseph T F

    2018-07-01

    Internet addiction is prevalent among adolescents and is associated with various negative outcomes. Relatively few studies examined the role of emotion dysregulation and social support on Internet addiction in this population. The present examined the association between emotion dysregulation, social support, and Internet addiction among junior secondary school students in Hong Kong. The mediating role of emotion dysregulation and Internet use on the relationship between social support and Internet addiction and the gender difference in such association were also tested. A total of 862 junior secondary school students (grade 7 to 8) from 4 schools completed a cross-sectional survey. 10.9% scored above the cut-off for Internet addiction based on the Chen Internet Addiction Scale. Results from structural equation modeling revealed that social support was negatively related to emotion dysregulation and Internet usage, which in turn, were positively related to Internet addiction. Results from multi-group analysis by gender showed that the relationship between social support and emotion dysregulation, Internet usage, and Internet addiction, and those between emotion dysregulation and Internet addiction and between Internet usage and Internet addiction were stronger among female participants. Emotion dysregulation is a potential risk factor while social support is a potential protective factor for Internet addiction. The role of social support on emotion dysregulation and Internet addiction were stronger among female students. Gender-sensitive interventions on Internet Addiction for adolescents are warranted, such interventions should increase social support and improve emotion regulation. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  12. Built structure identification in wildland fire decision support

    Science.gov (United States)

    David E. Calkin; Jon D. Rieck; Kevin D. Hyde; Jeffrey D. Kaiden

    2011-01-01

    Recent ex-urban development within the wildland interface has significantly increased the complexity and associated cost of federal wildland fire management in the United States. Rapid identification of built structures relative to probable fire spread can help to reduce that complexity and improve the performance of incident management teams. Approximate structure...

  13. Electronic Detection of Lectins Using Carbohydrate Functionalized Nanostructures: Graphene versus Carbon Nanotubes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Yanan; Vedala, Harindra; Kotchey, Gregg P.; Audfray, Aymeric; Cecioni, Samy; Imberty, Anne; Vidal, Sébastien; Star, Alexander

    2012-01-01

    Here we investigated the interactions between lectins and carbohydrates using field-effect transistor (FET) devices comprised of chemically converted graphene (CCG) and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). Pyrene- and porphyrin-based glycoconjugates were functionalized noncovalently on the surface of CCG-FET and SWNT-FET devices, which were then treated with 2 µM of nonspecific and specific lectins. In particular, three different lectins (PA-IL, PA-IIL and ConA) and three carbohydrate epitopes (galactose, fucose and mannose) were tested. The responses of 36 different devices were compared and rationalized using computer-aided models of carbon nanostructure/glycoconjugate interactions. Glycoconjugates surface coverage in addition to one-dimensional structures of SWNTs resulted in optimal lectin detection. Additionally, lectin titration data of SWNT- and CCG-based biosensors were used to calculate lectin dissociation constants (Kd) and compare them to the values obtained from the isothermal titration microcalorimetry (ITC) technique. PMID:22136380

  14. Silicon supported lipid-DNA thin film structures at varying temperature studied by energy dispersive X-ray diffraction and neutron reflectivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Domenici, F; Castellano, C; Dell'Unto, F; Albinati, A; Congiu, A

    2011-11-01

    Non-viral gene transfection by means of lipid-based nanosystems, such as solid supported lipid assemblies, is often limited due to their lack of stability and the consequent loss of efficiency. Therefore not only a detailed thermo-lyotropic study of these DNA-lipid complexes is necessary to understand their interaction mechanisms, but it can also be considered as a first step in conceiving and developing new transfection biosystems. The aim of our study is a structural characterization of 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (DOPC)-dimethyl-dioctadecyl-ammonium bromide (DDAB)-DNA complex at varying temperature using the energy dispersive X-ray diffraction (EDXD) and neutron reflectivity (NR) techniques. We have shown the formation of a novel thermo-lyotropic structure of DOPC/DDAB thin film self-organized in multi-lamellar planes on (100)-oriented silicon support by spin coating, thus enlightening its ability to include DNA strands. Our NR measurements indicate that the DOPC/DDAB/DNA complex forms temperature-dependent structures. At 65°C and relative humidity of 100% DNA fragments are buried between single lamellar leaflets constituting the hydrocarbon core of the lipid bilayers. This finding supports the consistency of the hydrophobic interaction model, which implies that the coupling between lipid tails and hypo-hydrated DNA single strands could be the driving force of DNA-lipid complexation. Upon cooling to 25°C, EDXD analysis points out that full-hydrated DOPC-DDAB-DNA can switch in a different metastable complex supposed to be driven by lipid heads-DNA electrostatic interaction. Thermotropic response analysis also clarifies that DOPC has a pivotal role in promoting the formation of our observed thermophylic silicon supported lipids-DNA assembly. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Comparing Civilian Support for Terrorism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Srobana Bhattacharya

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Terrorism is an extreme form of political violence, that is inherently abhorrent in nature. Yet, it continues to attain enough support to continue and survive. The recent proliferation of Islamic State and its ever increasing domestic and international civilian support base urges immediate attention to this question. While most research holds that provision of public goods by terrorist groups is the primary cause for high levels of civilian support, I argue that, terrorist groups are more interested in resource extraction rather than resource provision. Additionally, these studies pay scant attention to existing resource structure, especially territorial and political control to explain terrorist-civilian interaction. This paper emphasizes the bi-directional nature of this interaction – a. perception of civilians by the terrorist group and b. terrorist group’s perception of the civilians. To analyze levels of civilian support for terrorism, I compare fifteen terrorist groups using qualitative comparative analysis and show how territory, political competition, ethnicity, target selection and organizational structure combine to explain conditions that lead terrorist groups to include or exclude civilian population for support. Based on the variance in support networks of terrorist groups, counter-terrorism policies should also differ. High civilian support indicates the need to use non-military methods to decrease the appeal of terrorist groups. However, terrorist groups with more diffused and multiple support structures need more collaborative and coercive measures to intercept all the possible links to the main group.

  16. CLASSIFYING STRUCTURES IN THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM WITH SUPPORT VECTOR MACHINES: THE G16.05-0.57 SUPERNOVA REMNANT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beaumont, Christopher N.; Williams, Jonathan P.; Goodman, Alyssa A.

    2011-01-01

    We apply Support Vector Machines (SVMs)-a machine learning algorithm-to the task of classifying structures in the interstellar medium (ISM). As a case study, we present a position-position-velocity (PPV) data cube of 12 CO J = 3-2 emission toward G16.05-0.57, a supernova remnant that lies behind the M17 molecular cloud. Despite the fact that these two objects partially overlap in PPV space, the two structures can easily be distinguished by eye based on their distinct morphologies. The SVM algorithm is able to infer these morphological distinctions, and associate individual pixels with each object at >90% accuracy. This case study suggests that similar techniques may be applicable to classifying other structures in the ISM-a task that has thus far proven difficult to automate.

  17. Structure and composition of single Pt–Ru electrocatalyst nanoparticles supported on multiwall carbon nanotubes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paraguay-Delgado, Francisco; Malac, Marek; Alonso-Nuñez, Gabriel

    2014-01-01

    Individual Pt-Ru nanoparticles (NPs) supported on multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) synthesized by microemulsion method were characterized by nano beam diffraction (NBD) and high resolution imaging in transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Comparing the TEM images and NBD to simulations provided insight into particle composition, structure and morphology in three dimensions. In particular, the NBD allowed us to detect various components of the individual NPs that would be difficult to observe otherwise. We find that the NPs contain four different components: Pt–RuO 2 , Pt–Ru, RuO 2 and metallic Pt. Often an individual NP is composed of more than one component. The most frequently encountered external morphology is close to a spherical shape and ∼3.7 nm in diameter. The collective properties of NPs’ assemblies were studied by thermogravimetry, differential thermal analysis and x-ray diffraction. The results allowed us to gain some insight into the relation of the NPs’ structure and composition with their catalytic performance, and revealed the presence of components not detectable by bulk methods. The electrocatalytic properties were evaluated by CO stripping, methanol oxidation and oxygen reduction. Bulk characterization methods miss many properties and structures present in the sample due to low volume fraction and due to overlap of reflections. Single NPs should be analyzed to obtain reliable indication of sample composition. (paper)

  18. Evaluation of a hanging core support concept for LMR application

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burelbach, J.P.; Cha, B.K.; Huebotter, P.R.; Kann, W.J.; Pan, Y.C.; Saiveau, J.G.; Seidensticker, R.W.; Wu, T.S.

    1985-01-01

    The paper describes an innovative design concept for a liquid metal reactor (LMR) core support structure (CSS). A hanging core support structure is described and analyzed. The design offers inherent safety features, constructability advantages, and potential cost reductions. Some safety considerations are examined which include the in-service inspection (ISI), the backup support system and the structural behavior in a hypothetical case of a broken beam in the core support structure

  19. Influence of a boatlanding and j-tubes on wave loads and wall thickness of the monopile support structure design

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Segeren, M.L.A.

    2011-01-01

    Support structures for offshore wind turbines play a significant part in the cost of offshore wind energy. With current access systems a conventional boat landing is not necessary. Secondary steel, such as a boat landing and J-tube, influences wave loads. A way of taking the secondary steel items

  20. Nuclear reactor construction with bottom supported reactor vessel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sharbaugh, J.E.

    1987-01-01

    This patent describes an improved liquid metal nuclear reactor construction comprising: (a) a nuclear reactor core having a bottom platform support structure; (b) a reactor vessel for holding a large pool of low pressure liquid metal coolant and housing the core; (c) a containment structure surrounding the reactor vessel and having a sidewall spaced outwardly from the reactor vessel side wall and having a base mat spaced below the reactor vessel bottom end wall; (d) a central small diameter post anchored to the containment structure base mat and extending upwardly to the reactor vessel to axially fix the bottom end wall of the reactor vessel and provide a center column support for the lower end of the reactor core; (e) annular support structure disposed in the reactor vessel on the bottom end wall and extending about the lower end of the core; (f) structural support means disposed between the containment structure base mat and bottom end of the reactor vessel wall and cooperating for supporting the reactor vessel at its bottom end wall on the containment structure base mat to allow the reactor vessel to expand radially but substantially prevent any lateral motions that might be imposed by the occurrence of a seismic event; (g) a bed of insulating material disposed between the containment structure base mat and the bottom end wall of the reactor vessel and uniformly supporting the reactor vessel at its bottom end wall; freely expand radially from the central post as it heats up while providing continuous support thereof; (h) a deck supported upon the wall of the containment vessel above the top open end of the reactor vessel; and (i) extendible and retractable coupling means extending between the deck and the top open end of the reactor vessel and flexibly and sealably interconnecting the reactor vessel at its top end to the deck

  1. The Big-Wheel TGC-1 being moved against the Barrel Muon Spectrometer. The 216 trigger chambers are supported by a thin structure of 22 m diameter and 0.4 m thickness, weighting 44 tons and supported on two rails.

    CERN Multimedia

    Claudia Marcelloni

    2006-01-01

    The Big-Wheel TGC-1 being moved against the Barrel Muon Spectrometer. The 216 trigger chambers are supported by a thin structure of 22 m diameter and 0.4 m thickness, weighting 44 tons and supported on two rails.

  2. Development of support system for nuclear power plant piping

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Horino, Satoshi

    1987-01-01

    Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. has advanced the development of Integrated Nuclear Plant Piping System (INUPPS) for nuclear power plants since 1980, and continued its improvement up to now. This time as its component, a piping support system (PISUP) has been developed. The piping support system deals with the structures such as piping supports and the stands for maintenance and inspection, and as for standard supporting structures, it builds up automatically the structures including the selection of optimum members by utilizing the standard patterns in cooperation with the piping design system including piping stress analysis. As for the supporting structures deviating from the standard, by amending a part of the standard patterns in dialogue from, structures can be built up. By using the data produced in this way, this system draws up consistently a design book, production management data and so on. From the viewpoint of safety, particular consideration is given to the aseismatic capability of nuclear power plants, and piping is fundamentally designed regidly to avoid resonance. It is necessary to make piping supports so as to have sufficient strength and rigidity. The features of the design of piping supports for nuclear power plant, the basic concept of piping support system, the constitution of the software and hardware, the standard patterns and the structural patterns of piping support system and so on are described. (Kako, I.)

  3. Electromagnetic force support for thermonuclear device

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sugimoto, Makoto; Yoshida, Kiyoshi; Tachikawa, Nobuo; Omori, Junji.

    1992-01-01

    The device of the present invention certainly supports electromagnetic force exerted on toroidal magnetic field coils. That is, a pair of support members are disposed being abutted against each other between toroidal magnetic field coils disposed radially in the torus direction of a vacuum vessel. Both of the support members are connected under an insulative state by way of an insulative structural portion having an insulation key. In addition, each of the support members and each of the toroidal magnetic field coils are connected by electromagnetic force support portions having a metal taper key and a metal spacer and supporting the electromagnetic force. With such a constitution, the electromagnetic force exerted on the toroidal magnetic field coils is supported by the electromagnetic force support portion having the metal taper key and the metal spacer. As a result, stable electromagnetic force support can be attained. Further, since the insulative structural portion has the insulation key, it can be assembled easily. (I.S.)

  4. A comparison study of offshore wind support structures with monopiles and jackets for U.S. waters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Damiani, R.; Dykes, K.; Scott, G.

    2016-09-01

    U.S. experience in offshore wind is limited, and high costs are expected unless innovations are introduced in one or multiple aspects of the project, from the installed technology to the balance of system (BOS). The substructure is the main single component responsible for the BOS capital expenditure (CapEx) and thus one that, if improved, could yield significant levelized cost of energy (LCOE) savings. For projects in U.S. waters, multimember lattice structures (also known as jackets) can render required stiffness for transitional water depths at potentially lower costs than monopiles (MPs). In this study, we used a systems engineering approach to evaluate the LCOE of prototypical wind power plants at six locations along the eastern seaboard and the Gulf of Mexico for both types of support structures. Using a reference wind turbine and actual metocean conditions for the selected sites, we calculated loads for a parked and an operational situation, and we optimized the MP- and jacket-based support structures to minimize their overall mass. Using a suite of cost models, we then computed their associated LCOE. For all water depths, the MP-based configurations were heavier than their jacket counterparts, but the overall costs for the MPs were less than they were for jackets up to depths of slightly less than 30m. When the associated manufacturing and installation costs were included, jackets resulted in lower LCOE for depths greater than 40m. These results can be used by U.S. stakeholders to understand the potential for different technologies at different sites, but the methodology illustrated in this study can be further employed to analyze the effects of innovations and design choices throughout wind power plant systems.

  5. The Structural Relationships of Social Support, Mother's Psychological Status, and Maternal Sensitivity to Attachment Security in Children with Disabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Eun Sil; Kim, Byeong Seok

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to explore how social support, mother's psychological status, and maternal sensitivity affected attachment security in children with disabilities by using the structural equation model (SEM). Subjects were 141 pairs of children with disabilities and theirs mothers. Empirical data was obtained through a series of…

  6. Electronic structure of graphene- and BN-supported phosphorene

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davletshin, Artur R.; Ustiuzhanina, Svetlana V.; Kistanov, Andrey A.; Saadatmand, Danial; Dmitriev, Sergey V.; Zhou, Kun; Korznikova, Elena A.

    2018-04-01

    By using first-principles calculations, the effects of graphene and boron nitride (BN) substrates on the electronic properties of phosphorene are studied. Graphene-supported phosphorene is found to be metallic, while the BN-supported phosphorene is a semiconductor with a moderate band gap of 1.02 eV. Furthermore, the effects of the van der Waals interactions between the phosphorene and graphene or BN layers by means of the interlayer distance change are investigated. It is shown that the interlayer distance change leads to significant band gap size modulations and direct-indirect band gap transitions in the phosphorene-BN heterostructure. The presented band gap engineering of phosphorene may be a powerful technique for the fabrication of high-performance phosphorene-based nanodevices.

  7. Sexual Minority Women's Satisfaction with Health Care Providers and State-level Structural Support: Investigating the Impact of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Nondiscrimination Legislation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baldwin, Aleta M; Dodge, Brian; Schick, Vanessa; Sanders, Stephanie A; Fortenberry, J Dennis

    Structural discrimination is associated with negative health outcomes among sexual minority populations. Recent changes to state-level and national legislation provide both the opportunity and the need to further explore the impact of legislation on the health indicators of sexual minorities. Using an ecosocial theory lens, the present research addresses the relationship between structural support or discrimination and satisfaction with one's health care provider among sexual minority women. Data were drawn from an online survey of sexual minority women's health care experiences. Using the Andersen Behavioral Model of Health Services Utilization to operationalize the variables in our model, we examined the relationship between state-level nondiscrimination legislation and satisfaction with provider-a widely used measure of health care quality-through regression analysis. Participants in structurally supportive states (i.e., those with nondiscrimination legislation) were more likely to disclose their sexual identity to their providers and to report higher satisfaction with their providers. The absence of nondiscrimination legislation was associated negatively with satisfaction with providers. Results of our study show that the external environment in which sexual minority women seek health care, characterized by structural support or lack thereof, is related to perceived quality of health care. Copyright © 2017 Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Output-only modal parameter estimator of linear time-varying structural systems based on vector TAR model and least squares support vector machine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Si-Da; Ma, Yuan-Chen; Liu, Li; Kang, Jie; Ma, Zhi-Sai; Yu, Lei

    2018-01-01

    Identification of time-varying modal parameters contributes to the structural health monitoring, fault detection, vibration control, etc. of the operational time-varying structural systems. However, it is a challenging task because there is not more information for the identification of the time-varying systems than that of the time-invariant systems. This paper presents a vector time-dependent autoregressive model and least squares support vector machine based modal parameter estimator for linear time-varying structural systems in case of output-only measurements. To reduce the computational cost, a Wendland's compactly supported radial basis function is used to achieve the sparsity of the Gram matrix. A Gamma-test-based non-parametric approach of selecting the regularization factor is adapted for the proposed estimator to replace the time-consuming n-fold cross validation. A series of numerical examples have illustrated the advantages of the proposed modal parameter estimator on the suppression of the overestimate and the short data. A laboratory experiment has further validated the proposed estimator.

  9. Base-plate effects on pipe-support stiffness

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Winkel, B.V.; LaSalle, F.R.

    1981-01-01

    Present nuclear power plant design methods require that pipe support spring rates be considered in the seismic design of piping systems. Base plate flexibility can have a significant effect on the spring rates of these support structures. This paper describes the field inspection, test, and analytical techniques used to identify and correct excessively flexible base plates on the Fast Flux Test Facility pipe support structures

  10. Support structures for optical components in the Laser Demonstration Facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Finucane, R.G.

    1985-01-01

    The laser system in the Laser Demonstration Facility is mounted on an array of 108 support columns. This milestone report describes the design, analyses, testing, fabrication, installation, and performance characteristics of these supports

  11. Structural design and analysis for the ISX-C/ATF tokamak of the vacuum vessel, coil joints, and supports

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mayhall, J.A.; Cain, W.D.; Hammonds, C.J.; Johnson, R.L.; Gray, W.H.

    1981-01-01

    The ISX-C/ATF is being designed as a test bed for advanced toroidal concepts. Because of numerous design concepts being evaluated, a flexible, easily changeable structural-design math-model was needed to afford quick evalution of the structural feasibility of the many proposed concepts. To satisfy this need, the NASTRAN Automated Multi-Stage Substructures technique was used to build a quick-changeable math model. This technique was especially needed because all the coils, first wall and diagnostic devices are to be supported by the vacuum vessel, requiring the entire structure to be analyzed as a system. Without the use of the substructuring technique, the required man hours and computer core would have made timely design analysis impossible. To illustrate the technique, the detailed design analysis of the concept Torsatron (with helical coils and T.F. coils) is presented

  12. The impact of structured support groups for pregnant South African women recently diagnosed HIV positive.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mundell, Jonathan P; Visser, Maretha J; Makin, Jennifer D; Kershaw, Trace S; Forsyth, Brian W C; Jeffery, Bridget; Sikkema, Kathleen J

    2011-08-31

    The authors of this study evaluated a structured 10-session psychosocial support group intervention for newly HIV-diagnosed pregnant South African women. Participants were expected to display increases in HIV disclosure, self-esteem, active coping and positive social support, and decreases in depression, avoidant coping, and negative social support. Three hundred sixty-one pregnant HIV-infected women were recruited from four antenatal clinics in Tshwane townships from April 2005 to September 2006. Using a quasi-experimental design, assessments were conducted at baseline and two and eight months post-intervention. A series of random effects regression analyses were conducted, with the three assessment points treated as a random effect of time. At both follow-ups, the rate of disclosure in the intervention group was significantly higher than that of the comparison group (p<0.001). Compared to the comparison group at the first follow-up, the intervention group displayed higher levels of active coping (t=2.68, p<0.05) and lower levels of avoidant coping (t=-2.02, p<0.05), and those who attended at least half of the intervention sessions exhibited improved self-esteem (t=2.11, p<0.05). Group interventions tailored for newly HIV positive pregnant women, implemented in resource-limited settings, may accelerate the process of adjusting to one's HIV status, but may not have sustainable benefits over time.

  13. ACED devices and SECAF supports for the control of structure, pipe network and equipment behaviour at seismic movements in order to enhance the safety margin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Serban, Viorel; Prisecaru, I.; Cretu, D.; Moldoveanu, T.

    2002-01-01

    In order to enhance the safety margin of structure, pipe networks and equipment associated to the existing NPPs, the classic consolidation solutions are very expensive and many times, impossible to be implemented. Structures, pipe networks, systems and equipment have geometries imposed by the basic construction requirements, operating and safety requirements and their modifications is not always possible. In order to enhance the strength capacity of (new or old) structures, systems and equipment mechanical devices with controlled elasticity and damping (ACED) have been designed, constructed and experimented. These devices are capable to support very large static loads over which dynamic loads (shock, vibration and seismic movements) overlap (which are damped). To increase the strength capacity of (new or existing) pipe networks and equipment connecting with pipes, SECAF supports that allow displacements from thermal expansions with low reaction force have been designed, constructed and experimented. SECAF supports are capable elastically to take permanent loads over which shocks, vibrations and seismic movements (which are damp) overlap. ACED devices and SECAF supports can be used to rehabilitate the existing NPPs with law financial costs and an increase of their strength capacity up to 100% under seismic movements, shocks and vibrations. ACED devices and SECAF supports do not require maintenance, are not affected by presence of a radiation field and their estimated service-life is similar to the NPPs

  14. Ultra-light and stable composite structure to support and cool the ATLAS pixel detector barrel electronics modules

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olcese, M.; Caso, C.; Castiglioni, G.; Cereseto, R.; Cuneo, S.; Dameri, M.; Gemme, C.; Glitza, K.-W.; Lenzen, G.; Mora, F.; Netchaeva, P.; Ockenfels, W.; Piano, E.; Pizzorno, C.; Puppo, R.; Rebora, A.; Rossi, L.; Thadome, J.; Vernocchi, F.; Vigeolas, E.; Vinci, A.

    2004-01-01

    The design of an ultra light structure, the so-called 'stave', to support and cool the sensitive elements of the Barrel Pixel detector, the innermost part of the ATLAS detector to be installed on the new Large Hadron Collider at CERN (Geneva), is presented. Very high-dimensional stability, minimization of the material and ability of operating 10 years in a high radiation environment are the key design requirements. The proposed solution consists of a combination of different carbon-based materials (impregnated carbon-carbon, ultra high modulus carbon fibre composites) coupled to a thin aluminum tube to form a very light support with an integrated cooling channel. Our design has proven to successfully fulfil the requirements. The extensive prototyping and testing program to fully qualify the design and release the production are discussed

  15. Structured clinical documentation in the electronic medical record to improve quality and to support practice-based research in epilepsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Narayanan, Jaishree; Dobrin, Sofia; Choi, Janet; Rubin, Susan; Pham, Anna; Patel, Vimal; Frigerio, Roberta; Maurer, Darryck; Gupta, Payal; Link, Lourdes; Walters, Shaun; Wang, Chi; Ji, Yuan; Maraganore, Demetrius M

    2017-01-01

    Using the electronic medical record (EMR) to capture structured clinical data at the point of care would be a practical way to support quality improvement and practice-based research in epilepsy. We describe our stepwise process for building structured clinical documentation support tools in the EMR that define best practices in epilepsy, and we describe how we incorporated these toolkits into our clinical workflow. These tools write notes and capture hundreds of fields of data including several score tests: Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 items, Neurological Disorders Depression Inventory for Epilepsy, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Quality of Life in Epilepsy-10 items, Montreal Cognitive Assessment/Short Test of Mental Status, and Medical Research Council Prognostic Index. The tools summarize brain imaging, blood laboratory, and electroencephalography results, and document neuromodulation treatments. The tools provide Best Practices Advisories and other clinical decision support when appropriate. The tools prompt enrollment in a DNA biobanking study. We have thus far enrolled 231 patients for initial visits and are starting our first annual follow-up visits and provide a brief description of our cohort. We are sharing these EMR tools and captured data with other epilepsy clinics as part of a Neurology Practice Based Research Network, and are using the tools to conduct pragmatic trials using subgroup-based adaptive designs. © 2016 The Authors. Epilepsia published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International League Against Epilepsy.

  16. Review. Supporting problem structuring with computer-based tools in participatory forest planning

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hujala, T.; Khadka, C.; Wolfslehner, B.; Vacik, H.

    2013-09-01

    Aim of study: This review presents the state-of-art of using computerized techniques for problem structuring (PS) in participatory forest planning. Frequency and modes of using different computerized tool types and their contribution for planning processes as well as critical observations are described, followed by recommendations on how to better integrate PS with the use of forest decision support systems. Area of study: The reviewed research cases are from Asia, Europe, North-America, Africa and Australia. Material and methods: Via Scopus search and screening of abstracts, 32 research articles from years 2002-2011 were selected for review. Explicit and implicit evidence of using computerized tools for PS was recorded and assessed with content-driven qualitative analysis. Main results: GIS and forest-specific simulation tools were the most prevalent software types whereas cognitive modelling software and spreadsheet and calculation tools were less frequently used, followed by multi-criteria and interactive tools. The typical use type was to provide outputs of simulation–optimization or spatial analysis to negotiation situations or to compile summaries or illustrations afterwards; using software during group negotiation to foster interaction was observed only in a few cases. Research highlights: Expertise in both decision support systems and group learning is needed to better integrate PS and computerized decision analysis. From the knowledge management perspective, it is recommended to consider how the results of PS —e.g. conceptual models— could be stored into a problem perception database, and how PS and decision making could be streamlined by retrievals from such systems. (Author)

  17. Photoreceptor cells with profound structural deficits can support useful vision in mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, Stewart; Blodi, Frederick R; Lee, Swan; Welder, Chris R; Mullins, Robert F; Tucker, Budd A; Stasheff, Steven F; Stone, Edwin M

    2014-03-25

    In animal models of degenerative photoreceptor disease, there has been some success in restoring photoreception by transplanting stem cell-derived photoreceptor cells into the subretinal space. However, only a small proportion of transplanted cells develop extended outer segments, considered critical for photoreceptor cell function. The purpose of this study was to determine whether photoreceptor cells that lack a fully formed outer segment could usefully contribute to vision. Retinal and visual function was tested in wild-type and Rds mice at 90 days of age (Rds(P90)). Photoreceptor cells of mice homozygous for the Rds mutation in peripherin 2 never develop a fully formed outer segment. The electroretinogram and multielectrode recording of retinal ganglion cells were used to test retinal responses to light. Three distinct visual behaviors were used to assess visual capabilities: the optokinetic tracking response, the discrimination-based visual water task, and a measure of the effect of vision on wheel running. Rds(P90) mice had reduced but measurable electroretinogram responses to light, and exhibited light-evoked responses in multiple types of retinal ganglion cells, the output neurons of the retina. In optokinetic and discrimination-based tests, acuity was measurable but reduced, most notably when contrast was decreased. The wheel running test showed that Rds(P90) mice needed 3 log units brighter luminance than wild type to support useful vision (10 cd/m(2)). Photoreceptors that lack fully formed outer segments can support useful vision. This challenges the idea that normal cellular structure needs to be completely reproduced for transplanted cells to contribute to useful vision.

  18. Facies architecture and diagenesis of Belgian Late Frasnian carbonate mounds

    OpenAIRE

    Boulvain, Frédéric

    2001-01-01

    Late Frasnian Petit-Mont Member carbonate mounds occur in the southern pail of the Dinant Synclinorium and in the Philippeville Anticline (SW Belgium). These mounds are 30 to 80 m thick and 100 to 250 m in diameter. They are embedded in shale, nodular shale and argillaceous limestone. Based on facies mapping of 14 buildups and related off-mound sediments, these mounds typically started from below the photic and storm wave base zones and builtup into shallow water environments. Above an argill...

  19. Flight Trainer Digital Computer Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    1951-03-21

    b’e "ä"dö|rtedr rfoS^ hfe "digital airplane simulator is .dependent on the accTuracy demanded for representing airp2ane^mo±i6h---as4 on the method...analogue- quantity such as- a vQ.lt:äfa.:e’ .süit;*.v £jr- äc\\t„ü’at.ing an, inst’riMen’t’.i. Since in gene /paiL " ~ instruments, v^𔃻

  20. Stress corrosion cracking countermeasure observed on Ni-based alloy welds of BWR core support structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sagawa, Wataru; Aoki, Takayuki; Itou, Takashi; Enomoto, Kunio; Hayashi, Eisaku; Ishikawa, Tetsuya

    2009-01-01

    The effect of hydrostatic test on the residual stress re-distribution was simulated by experiment to confirm the residual stress behavior of the cone-shaped shroud support to reactor pressure vessel (RPV) weld, where a number of cracks due to stress corrosion cracking (SCC) were observed on the inner side only. Test specimen with tensile residual stress was loaded and unloaded with axial plus bending load, which simulates the hydrostatic test load, and the strain change was measured during the test to observe the residual stress behavior. The results verify that the residual stresses of the shroud support to the RPV weld were reduced and the stresses on inner and outer sides were reversed by the hydrostatic test. As the SCC countermeasure, the shot peening (SP) technology was applied. Residual stress reduction by SP on the complicated configuration, and improvement of SCC resistance and endurance of the compressive residual stress were experimentally confirmed. Then, SP treatment procedures on the actual structure were confirmed and a field application technique was established

  1. A Structural Equation Modeling of the Relationships between Depression, Drug Abuse and Social Support with Suicidal Ideation among Soldiers in Iran in 2015.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nosratabadi, Mehdi; Halvaiepour, Zohreh

    2016-01-01

    Military service is a crucial period in the lives of young people and during this period soldier facing with multiple psychosocial problems. The present study aimed to explore structural analysis of the relationships between depression, drug abuse, social support and the risk of suicidal ideation among Military Medical University soldiers in Iran. In the present correlational research, a sample of 176 soldiers, from three units, was selected using randomly stratified sampling. Data were collected through the Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ), the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), the Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSS) and the Possibility of Drug Abuse Scale (LDAS). Structural equation modeling was used to test the fit of the model, identify direct and indirect effects of the psychosocial correlates. Data were analyzed using the SPSS and AMOS software (Verson22). out of the whole subjects, 28.4% had suicidal ideation and 65.3% had degrees of depression (mild to severe). A significant reverse relationship was observed between social support and suicidal ideation (pdrug abuse and suicidal ideation. The final structural model indicated that 74% of the variance in suicidal ideation was explained by the three examined variables of depression, social support and drug abuse. The overall results showed that the risk of suicidal ideation, depression and drug abuse are relatively significant in Military Medical University soldiers requiring taking serious actions by the authorities and other relevant organizations in order to improve the psychosocial health status of these soldiers.

  2. Density functional study of structural and catalytic properties of free and supported metal nano cluster; Dichtefunktionalstudie der strukturellen und katalytischen Eigenschaften freier und getraegerter Metallnanocluster

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Huber, B.

    2007-04-11

    The structural and catalytic properties of metal clusters were determined in the framework of density functional theory. The first part of this work investigates the electronic and geometrical structure of sodium clusters with up to 309 atoms. The ground-state structures of the clusters are determined and the corresponding electronic density of states is compared to experimental photoelectron spectras. The excellent agreement to the experimental results indicates that the correct growth motive of the sodium clusters was found. Small clusters from Na{sup -}{sub 20} to Na{sup -}{sub 42} prefer pentagonal and icosahedral structures with anti-Mackay overlayers, while clusters larger than Na{sup -}{sub 50} prefer icosahedral structures with Mackay overlayers. Clusters between the closed-shell Mackay Clusters often exhibit a twist deformation with respect to the regular Mackay positions. The second part of this work investigates the catalytic properties of free and supported palladium clusters. For both cases the oxidation of small Pd{sub N} clusters (N {<=} 9) was studied. It turned out that MgO supported Pd-clusters dissociate oxygen with a significant lower reaction energy than free clusters or supported systems with particles consisting of several thousands of atoms. The reaction with oxygen transforms the non-crystalline Pd-clusters into crystalline Pd{sub x}O{sub y} nano-oxide clusters that are in epitaxy with the underlying support. Simulations of the CO oxidation on the Pd{sub x}O{sub y} cluster predict a low-temperature reaction mechanism. By calculating the electronic density of states and CO stretch frequencies, different ways of verifying the results experimentally are discussed. (orig.)

  3. New synthesis ways of supported metallic catalysts and structure-reactivity relations in catalysis by metals; Nouvelles voies de syntheses de catalyseurs metalliques supportes et relations structure-reactivite en catalyse par les metaux

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Uzio, D.

    2006-01-15

    This work deals with some research studies in the field of supported metallic catalysts. In all these works have been studied the characteristics bound to the active sites and the relations between these characteristics and the catalytic performances. The genesis of colloidal suspensions of transition metallic oxide has been used for the preparation of selective hydrogenation catalysts. At first studied in the case of palladium, this new synthesis way has been used for other metals such as Pt, Ni or Co. These studies have then been developed for preparing bimetallic catalysts (PdSn) with as supplementary aim the control of the homogeneity of the bimetallic character at the scale of nano-metric particles. These works have particularly allowed to specify the chemistry of the solutions of some metallic complexes and to rationalize the chemical processes carried out in the usual fabrication processes. Studies on size effects and the study of the reactivity of the nano and sub nano-metric particle have then been developed. Indeed, the clusters containing some atoms can see their intrinsic properties varied very strongly under the influence of several parameters as the number of atoms, the nature of the support, the reactional atmosphere. Using the knowledge acquired during the preceding works (chemistry of palladium aqueous solutions), the study of new methods of preparation of particles containing very few atoms has brought new data on the properties of hyper dispersed particles as well as on the principle of sensitivity to structure. The contribution of the support to the catalytic process for the hydrogenation of different substrates has been studied too. (O.M.)

  4. Forecast of hourly global horizontal irradiance based on structured Kernel Support Vector Machine: A case study of Tibet area in China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jiang, He; Dong, Yao

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • The structured variable selection in Kernel SVM is implemented using two ways. • The two-way interaction model is considered to enforce Heredity Principle. • SVMIC is used to select the kernel parameter in proposed approaches. • Simple and fast computations algorithms are derived. - Abstract: Various applications of forecasting effective global horizontal irradiance play increasingly vital role in grid-connected photovoltaic installations, but suffer from forecasting inaccuracy and prohibitively expensive computational cost. Although Support Vector Machine (SVM) is one of the most powerful forecasting approaches, it does not provide an interpretable model. This motivates penalized variable selection methods to be introduced to SVM to select important variables. However, in some forecasting problems, there are some underlying logic or hierarchical structure such as heredity principle among the variables. Penalized Kernel SVM approaches do not take heredity principles into consideration when enforcing sparsity. This paper investigates structural variable selection in Kernel SVM based approach which pursues heredity principle and sparsity simultaneously. To achieve heredity principle, both optimization and procedure based structural variable selection approaches are studied in the Kernel SVM. Computationally, we derive fast and simple-to-implement algorithms to perform structural variable selection and solar irradiance forecasting. Furthermore, Support Vector Machines Information Criterion is utilized to select the kernel parameters to guarantee the model consistency. Real data experiments directly reveal that our proposed KSVM-SVS based approach following heredity principle delivers superior performances in terms of forecasting accuracy comparing with other competitors.

  5. Improved nuclear reactor construction with bottom supported reactor vessel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sharbaugh, J.E.

    1987-01-01

    An improved liquid metal nuclear reactor construction has a reactor core and a generally cylindrical reactor vessel for holding liquid metal coolant and housing the core within the pool. A generally cylindrical concrete containment structure surrounds the reactor vessel and a central support pedestal is anchored to the containment structure base mat and supports the bottom wall of the reactor vessel and the reactor core. The periphery of the reactor vessel bore is supported by an annular structure which allows thermal expansion but not seismic motion of the vessel, and a bed of thermally insulating material uniformly supports the vessel base whilst allowing expansion thereof. A guard ring prevents lateral seismic motion of the upper end of the reactor vessel. The periphery of the core is supported by an annular structure supported by the vessel base and keyed to the vessel wall so as to be able to expand but not undergo seismic motion. A deck is supported on the containment structure above the reactor vessel open top by annular bellows, the deck carrying the reactor control rods such that heating of the reactor vessel results in upward expansion against the control rods. (author)

  6. ProCKSI: a decision support system for Protein (Structure Comparison, Knowledge, Similarity and Information

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Błażewicz Jacek

    2007-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background We introduce the decision support system for Protein (Structure Comparison, Knowledge, Similarity and Information (ProCKSI. ProCKSI integrates various protein similarity measures through an easy to use interface that allows the comparison of multiple proteins simultaneously. It employs the Universal Similarity Metric (USM, the Maximum Contact Map Overlap (MaxCMO of protein structures and other external methods such as the DaliLite and the TM-align methods, the Combinatorial Extension (CE of the optimal path, and the FAST Align and Search Tool (FAST. Additionally, ProCKSI allows the user to upload a user-defined similarity matrix supplementing the methods mentioned, and computes a similarity consensus in order to provide a rich, integrated, multicriteria view of large datasets of protein structures. Results We present ProCKSI's architecture and workflow describing its intuitive user interface, and show its potential on three distinct test-cases. In the first case, ProCKSI is used to evaluate the results of a previous CASP competition, assessing the similarity of proposed models for given targets where the structures could have a large deviation from one another. To perform this type of comparison reliably, we introduce a new consensus method. The second study deals with the verification of a classification scheme for protein kinases, originally derived by sequence comparison by Hanks and Hunter, but here we use a consensus similarity measure based on structures. In the third experiment using the Rost and Sander dataset (RS126, we investigate how a combination of different sets of similarity measures influences the quality and performance of ProCKSI's new consensus measure. ProCKSI performs well with all three datasets, showing its potential for complex, simultaneous multi-method assessment of structural similarity in large protein datasets. Furthermore, combining different similarity measures is usually more robust than

  7. Neural systems supporting linguistic structure, linguistic experience, and symbolic communication in sign language and gesture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Newman, Aaron J; Supalla, Ted; Fernandez, Nina; Newport, Elissa L; Bavelier, Daphne

    2015-09-15

    Sign languages used by deaf communities around the world possess the same structural and organizational properties as spoken languages: In particular, they are richly expressive and also tightly grammatically constrained. They therefore offer the opportunity to investigate the extent to which the neural organization for language is modality independent, as well as to identify ways in which modality influences this organization. The fact that sign languages share the visual-manual modality with a nonlinguistic symbolic communicative system-gesture-further allows us to investigate where the boundaries lie between language and symbolic communication more generally. In the present study, we had three goals: to investigate the neural processing of linguistic structure in American Sign Language (using verbs of motion classifier constructions, which may lie at the boundary between language and gesture); to determine whether we could dissociate the brain systems involved in deriving meaning from symbolic communication (including both language and gesture) from those specifically engaged by linguistically structured content (sign language); and to assess whether sign language experience influences the neural systems used for understanding nonlinguistic gesture. The results demonstrated that even sign language constructions that appear on the surface to be similar to gesture are processed within the left-lateralized frontal-temporal network used for spoken languages-supporting claims that these constructions are linguistically structured. Moreover, although nonsigners engage regions involved in human action perception to process communicative, symbolic gestures, signers instead engage parts of the language-processing network-demonstrating an influence of experience on the perception of nonlinguistic stimuli.

  8. Understanding Mediation Support

    OpenAIRE

    Lanz, David; Pring, Jamie; von Burg, Corinne; Zeller, Mathias

    2017-01-01

    Recent decades have witnessed increasing institutionalization of mediation support through the establishment of mediation support structures (MSS) within foreign ministries and secretariats of multilateral organizations. This study sheds light on this trend and aims to better understand the emergence, design and development of different MSS. This study analyzes six MSS, namely those established in the United Nations (UN), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Eu...

  9. Mechanical Qualification of the Support Structure for MQXF, the Nb$_{3}$Sn Low-Beta; Quadrupole for the High Luminosity LHC

    CERN Document Server

    Juchno, M; Anerella, M; Bajas, H; Bajko, M; Bourcey, N; Cheng, D W; Felice, H; Ferracin, P; Grosclaude, P; Guinchard, M; Perez, J C; Prin, H; Schmalzle

    2016-01-01

    Within the scope of the High Luminosity LHC project, the collaboration between CERN and U.S. LARP is developing new low-β quadrupoles using the Nb$_{3}$Sn superconducting technology for the upgrade of the LHC interaction regions. The magnet support structure of the first short model was designed and two units were fabricated and tested at CERN and at LBNL. The structure provides the preload to the collars-coils subassembly by an arrangement of outer aluminum shells pre-tensioned with water-pressurized bladders. For the mechanical qualification of the structure and the assembly procedure, superconducting coils were replaced with solid aluminum “dummy coils”, the structure was preloaded at room temperature, and then cooled-down to 77 K. Mechanical behavior of the magnet structure was monitored with the use of strain gauges installed on the aluminum shells, the dummy coils and the axial preload system. This paper reports on the outcome of the assembly and the cool-down tests with dummy coils, which were per...

  10. Review. Supporting problem structuring with computer-based tools in participatory forest planning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. Hujala

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Aim of study: This review presents the state-of-art of using computerized techniques for problem structuring (PS in participatory forest planning. Frequency and modes of using different computerized tool types and their contribution for planning processes as well as critical observations are described, followed by recommendations on how to better integrate PS with the use of forest decision support systems.Area of study: The reviewed research cases are from Asia, Europe, North-America, Africa and Australia.Materials and methods: Via Scopus search and screening of abstracts, 32 research articles from years 2002–2011 were selected for review. Explicit and implicit evidence of using computerized tools for PS was recorded and assessed with content-driven qualitative analysis.Main results: GIS and forest-specific simulation tools were the most prevalent software types whereas cognitive modelling software and spreadsheet and calculation tools were less frequently used, followed by multi-criteria and interactive tools. The typical use type was to provide outputs of simulation–optimization or spatial analysis to negotiation situations or to compile summaries or illustrations afterwards; using software during group negotiation to foster interaction was observed only in a few cases.Research highlights: Expertise in both decision support systems and group learning is needed to better integrate PS and computerized decision analysis. From the knowledge management perspective, it is recommended to consider how the results of PS – e.g. conceptual models – could be stored into a problem perception database, and how PS and decision making could be streamlined by retrievals from such systems.Keywords: facilitated modeling; group negotiation; knowledge management; natural resource management; PSM; soft OR; stakeholders.

  11. Testing a structural model of young driver willingness to uptake Smartphone Driver Support Systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kervick, Aoife A; Hogan, Michael J; O'Hora, Denis; Sarma, Kiran M

    2015-10-01

    There is growing interest in the potential value of using phone applications that can monitor driver behaviour (Smartphone Driver Support Systems, 'SDSSs') in mitigating risky driving by young people. However, their value in this regard will only be realised if young people are willing to use this technology. This paper reports the findings of a study in which a novel structural model of willingness to use SDSSs was tested. Grounded in the driver monitoring and Technology Acceptance (TA) research literature, the model incorporates the perceived risks and gains associated with potential SDSS usage and additional social cognitive factors, including perceived usability and social influences. A total of 333 smartphone users, aged 18-24, with full Irish driving licenses completed an online questionnaire examining willingness or Behavioural Intention (BI) to uptake a SDSS. Following exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, structural equation modelling indicated that perceived gains and social influence factors had significant direct effects on BI. Perceived risks and social influence also had significant indirect effects on BI, as mediated by perceived gains. Overall, this model accounted for 72.5% of the variance in willingness to uptake SDSSs. Multi-group structural models highlighted invariance of effects across gender, high and low risk drivers, and those likely or unlikely to adopt novel phone app technologies. These findings have implications for our understanding of the willingness of young drivers to adopt and use SDSSs, and highlight potential factors that could be targeted in behavioural change interventions seeking to improve usage rates. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. A Comparison Study of Offshore Wind Support Structures with Monopiles and Jackets for U.S. Waters: Preprint

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Damiani, Rick; Dykes, Katherine; Scott, George

    2016-08-01

    U.S. experience in offshore wind is limited, and high costs are expected unless innovations are introduced in one or multiple aspects of the project, from the installed technology to the balance of system (BOS). The substructure is the main single component responsible for the BOS capital expenditure (CapEx) and thus one that, if improved, could yield significant levelized cost of energy (LCOE) savings. For projects in U.S. waters, multimember, lattice structures (also known as jackets) can render required stiffness for transitional water depths at potentially lower costs than monopiles (MPs). In this study, we used a systems engineering approach to evaluate the LCOE of prototypical wind power plants at six locations along the eastern seaboard and the Gulf of Mexico for both types of support structures. Using a reference wind turbine and actual metocean conditions for the selected sites, we calculated loads for a parked and an operational situation, and we optimized the MP- and jacket-based support structures to minimize their overall mass. Using a suite of cost models, we then computed their associated LCOE. For all water depths, the MP-based configurations were heavier than their jacket counterparts, but the overall costs for the MPs were less than they were for jackets up to depths of slightly less than 30 m. When the associated manufacturing and installation costs were included, jackets resulted in lower LCOE for depths greater than 40 m. These results can be used by U.S. stakeholders to understand the potential for different technologies at different sites, but the methodology illustrated in this study can be further employed to analyze the effects of innovations and design choices throughout wind power plant systems.

  13. Qualification of Type IP-2, Type IP-3 and Type A packages for radioactive liquid shipments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marcu, L.; Sullivan, G.; Lo, K.K.

    2006-01-01

    Commercial products such as pails, drums or bulk containers can be used for radioactive materials transportation if they can be shown to meet the regulatory requirements. Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has successfully tested and qualified several off-the-shelf containers as Type IP-2, Type IP-3 and Type A packages for liquids in accordance with the International and Canadian Regulations. This paper describes the testing and qualification of these commercial products, and discusses the problems encountered and lessons learned during this process. (author)

  14. Geostatistical mapping of Cs-137 contamination depth in building structures by integrating ISOCS measurements of different spatial supports

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Boden, S.; Jacques, D. [Institute for Environment, Health and Safety, Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK-CEN), Boeretang 200, BE-2400, Mol (Belgium); Rogiers, B. [Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven - University of Leuven Celestijnenlaan 200e - bus 2410, BE-3001, Leuven (Belgium)

    2013-07-01

    Reliable methods to determine the contamination depth in nuclear building structures are very much needed for minimizing the radioactive waste volume and the decontamination workload. This paper investigates the geostatistical integration of in situ gamma-ray spectroscopy measurements of different spatial supports. A case study is presented from the BR3 decommissioning project, yielding an estimated reduction of waste volume of ∼35%, and recommendations are made for future application of the proposed methodology. (authors)

  15. Do brain image databanks support understanding of normal ageing brain structure? A systematic review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dickie, David Alexander; Job, Dominic E.; Wardlaw, Joanna M.; Poole, Ian; Ahearn, Trevor S.; Staff, Roger T.; Murray, Alison D.

    2012-01-01

    To document accessible magnetic resonance (MR) brain images, metadata and statistical results from normal older subjects that may be used to improve diagnoses of dementia. We systematically reviewed published brain image databanks (print literature and Internet) concerned with normal ageing brain structure. From nine eligible databanks, there appeared to be 944 normal subjects aged ≥60 years. However, many subjects were in more than one databank and not all were fully representative of normal ageing clinical characteristics. Therefore, there were approximately 343 subjects aged ≥60 years with metadata representative of normal ageing, but only 98 subjects were openly accessible. No databank had the range of MR image sequences, e.g. T2*, fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR), required to effectively characterise the features of brain ageing. No databank supported random subject retrieval; therefore, manual selection bias and errors may occur in studies that use these subjects as controls. Finally, no databank stored results from statistical analyses of its brain image and metadata that may be validated with analyses of further data. Brain image databanks require open access, more subjects, metadata, MR image sequences, searchability and statistical results to improve understanding of normal ageing brain structure and diagnoses of dementia. (orig.)

  16. Adaptive Collaboration Support Systems : Designing Collaboration Support for Dynamic Environments

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Janeiro, J.; Knoll, S.W.; Lukosch, S.G.; Kolfschoten, G.L.

    2012-01-01

    Today, engineering systems offer a variety of local and webbased applications to support collaboration by assisting groups in structuring activities, generating and sharing data, and improving group communication. To ensure the quality of collaboration, engineering system design needs to analyze and

  17. Family Engagement in Literacy Activities: Revised Factor Structure for the Familia--An Instrument Examining Family Support for Early Literacy Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buhs, Eric S.; Welch, Greg; Burt, Jennifer; Knoche, Lisa

    2011-01-01

    This study evaluated a data-set drawn using "The Familia"--a measure originally developed to evaluate shared-reading activities. A newly developed set of conceptual supports and a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were applied to a new factor structure/model. Data were drawn from 219 young children and their families (mean age = 43…

  18. Managers' social support: Facilitators and hindrances for seeking support at work.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lundqvist, Daniel; Fogelberg Eriksson, Anna; Ekberg, Kerstin

    2018-01-01

    Previous research has shown that social support is important for health and performance at work, but there is a lack of research regarding managers' social support at work, and if it needs to be improvedOBJECTIVE:To investigate managers' perception of work-related social support, and facilitators and hindrances that influence their seeking of social support at work. Semi-structured interviews with sixty-two managers in two Swedish organizations. Work-related support, which strengthened their managerial image of being competent, was sought from sources within the workplace. Sensitive and personal support, where there was a risk of jeopardizing their image of being competent, was sought from sources outside the workplace. Access to arenas for support (location of the workplace, meetings, and vocational courses) and the managerial role could facilitate their support-seeking, but could also act as hindrances. Because attending different arenas for support were demanding, they refrained from seeking support if the demands were perceived as too high. Different supportive sources are distinguished based on what supportive function they have and in which arenas they are found, in order to preserve the confidence of the closest organization and to maintain the image of being a competent and performing manager.

  19. Student Computer Use: Its Organizational Structure and Institutional Support.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Juska, Arunas; Paris, Arthur E.

    1993-01-01

    Examines the structure of undergraduate computing at a large private university, including patterns of use, impact of computer ownership and gender, and the bureaucratic structure in which usage is embedded. The profile of computer use uncovered in a survey is compared with reports offered by the institution and the trade press. (10 references)…

  20. Combining ecosystem services assessment with structured decision making to support ecological restoration planning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, David M; Mazzotta, Marisa; Bousquin, Justin

    2018-04-10

    Accounting for ecosystem services in environmental decision making is an emerging research topic. Modern frameworks for ecosystem services assessment emphasize evaluating the social benefits of ecosystems, in terms of who benefits and by how much, to aid in comparing multiple courses of action. Structured methods that use decision analytic-approaches are emerging for the practice of ecological restoration. In this article, we combine ecosystem services assessment with structured decision making to estimate and evaluate measures of the potential benefits of ecological restoration with a case study in the Woonasquatucket River watershed, Rhode Island, USA. We partnered with a local watershed management organization to analyze dozens of candidate wetland restoration sites for their abilities to supply five ecosystem services-flood water retention, scenic landscapes, learning opportunities, recreational opportunities, and birds. We developed 22 benefit indicators related to the ecosystem services as well as indicators for social equity and reliability that benefits will sustain in the future. We applied conceptual modeling and spatial analysis to estimate indicator values for each candidate restoration site. Lastly, we developed a decision support tool to score and aggregate the values for the organization to screen the restoration sites. Results show that restoration sites in urban areas can provide greater social benefits than sites in less urban areas. Our research approach is general and can be used to investigate other restoration planning studies that perform ecosystem services assessment and fit into a decision-making process.

  1. Alternatives of ITER vacuum vessel support system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ohmori, Junji; Kitamura, Kazunori; Araki, Masanori; Ohno, Isamu; Shoji, Teruaki

    2002-07-01

    Optional designs of vacuum vessel (VV) support have been performed for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) to reduce stresses and buckling concern of the flexible plate structure in ITER-FDR. One of the optional designs is hanging type VV support concept that consists of top hanging supports at the top of VV and middle radial stoppers in the middle of outboard VV. The hanging supports are located at the toroidal field (TF) coil inboard top region (R∼5400 mm) using the narrow window space surrounded by a poloidal field coil (PF1) and TF coil. The radial stoppers are located inside TF coil cases in the TF coil outboard middle region (R∼9300 mm). The upper flange connection of the radial stoppers should slide in vertical direction to eliminate thermal stress produced by relative thermal displacement between VV wall and TF coil case. Both supports consist of flexible plates and are mounted on 18 locations in toroidal direction. The radial and toroidal reaction forces are shared with the hanging supports and the radial stoppers. However, the vertical force is sustained by only the hanging supports. The others are compressive type support concept that consists of nine VV supports located in alternate divertor port regions in toroidal direction. Two designs have been performed for the VV support concept. One is mounted on TF inter-coil structures (OIS) and the other is on cryostat ring. The compressive support on TF coil OIS is dependent on TF coil movement but that on cryostat is independent. In the optional designs, the bending stress due to the relative thermal displacement between TF coil and VV is classified to primary stress according to ASME Sec. III NF. The stress due to TF coil displacement is also considered as primary stress. The stress due to non-uniform temperature distribution of the flexible plate is classified to secondary stress. The preliminary structural assessments for the optional designs have been performed for all load

  2. Analytical Study on Dynamic Response of Deep Foundation Pit Support Structure under the Action of Subway Train Vibration Load: A Case Study of Deep Foundation Pit of the New Museum Near Metro Line 2 in Chengdu, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhu Dapeng

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Presently, foundation pit support structures are generally regarded as the temporary structures and the impact of vibration loads is often overlooked. As opposed to static and seismic loads, the vibration loads of subway trains are a type of cyclic load with a relatively long duration of action and a definite cycle; it is of great importance for the design of foundation pit support structures to correctly evaluate the impact of subway train vibrations on deep foundation pit and support works. In this paper, a dynamic three-dimensional numerical model is built that considers the vibration load of subway trains on the basis of the static numerical model for deep foundation pit support structures and simplified train loads to study the impact of train vibrations on deep foundation pit and permanent support structures. Studies have shown that the dynamic response of surface displacement mainly occurs in the early period of dynamic load, the vibration load of subway trains has little impact on ground subsidence, the support pile structure is in an elastic state during dynamic response under the action of subway train vibrations, and the action of train vibration loads is inimical to the safety of foundation pit support structures and should be closely studied.

  3. Can Burt's Theory of Structural Holes be Applied to Study Social Support Among Mid-Age Female Sex Workers? A Multi-Site Egocentric Network Study in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Hongjie

    2017-12-01

    The epidemic of HIV/AIDS continues to spread among older adults and mid-age female sex workers (FSWs) over 35 years old. We used egocentric network data collected from three study sites in China to examine the applicability of Burt's Theory of Social Holes to study social support among mid-age FSWs. Using respondent-driven sampling, 1245 eligible mid-age FSWs were interviewed. Network structural holes were measured by network constraint and effective size. Three types of social networks were identified: family networks, workplace networks, and non-FSW networks. A larger effective size was significantly associated with a higher level of social support [regression coefficient (β) 5.43-10.59] across the three study samples. In contrast, a greater constraint was significantly associated with a lower level of social support (β -9.33 to -66.76). This study documents the applicability of the Theory of Structural Holes in studying network support among marginalized populations, such as FSWs.

  4. Hierarchically structured self-supported latex films for flexible and semi-transparent electronics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Määttänen, Anni; Ihalainen, Petri; Törngren, Björn; Rosqvist, Emil; Pesonen, Markus; Peltonen, Jouko

    2016-01-01

    Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Transparent self-supported latex films were fabricated by a peel-off process. • Various template substrates were used for creating e.g. hierarchically structured latex films. • Ultra-thin and semi-transparent conductive gold electrodes were evaporated on the latex films.Electrochemical experiments were carried out to verify the applicability of the electrodes. - Abstract: Different length scale alterations in topography, surface texture, and symmetry are known to evoke diverse cell behavior, including adhesion, orientation, motility, cytoskeletal condensation, and modulation of intracellular signaling pathways. In this work, self-supported latex films with well-defined isotropic/anisotropic surface features and hierarchical morphologies were fabricated by a peel-off process from different template surfaces. In addition, the latex films were used as substrates for evaporated ultrathin gold films with nominal thicknesses of 10 and 20 nm. Optical properties and topography of the samples were characterized using UV–vis spectroscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) measurements, respectively. The latex films showed high-level transmittance of visible light, enabling the fabrication of semi-transparent gold electrodes. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements were carried out for a number of days to investigate the long-term stability of the electrodes. The effect of 1-octadecanethiol (ODT) and HS(CH_2)_1_1OH (MuOH) thiolation and protein (human serum albumin, HSA) adsorption on the impedance and capacitance was studied. In addition, cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements were carried out to determine active medicinal components, i.e., caffeic acid with interesting biological activities and poorly water-soluble anti-inflammatory drug, piroxicam. The results show that the fabrication procedure presented in this study enables the formation of platforms with hierarchical morphologies for multimodal (optical and

  5. Hierarchically structured self-supported latex films for flexible and semi-transparent electronics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Määttänen, Anni, E-mail: anni.maattanen@abo.fi [Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Center for Functional Materials, Åbo Akademi University, Porthaninkatu 3, 20500, Turku (Finland); Ihalainen, Petri, E-mail: petri.ihalainen@abo.fi [Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Center for Functional Materials, Åbo Akademi University, Porthaninkatu 3, 20500, Turku (Finland); Törngren, Björn, E-mail: bjorn.torngren@abo.fi [Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Center for Functional Materials, Åbo Akademi University, Porthaninkatu 3, 20500, Turku (Finland); Rosqvist, Emil, E-mail: emil.rosqvist@abo.fi [Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Center for Functional Materials, Åbo Akademi University, Porthaninkatu 3, 20500, Turku (Finland); Pesonen, Markus, E-mail: markus.pesonen@abo.fi [Physics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Center for Functional Materials, Åbo Akademi University, Porthaninkatu 3, 20500, Turku (Finland); Peltonen, Jouko, E-mail: jouko.peltonen@abo.fi [Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Center for Functional Materials, Åbo Akademi University, Porthaninkatu 3, 20500, Turku (Finland)

    2016-02-28

    Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Transparent self-supported latex films were fabricated by a peel-off process. • Various template substrates were used for creating e.g. hierarchically structured latex films. • Ultra-thin and semi-transparent conductive gold electrodes were evaporated on the latex films.Electrochemical experiments were carried out to verify the applicability of the electrodes. - Abstract: Different length scale alterations in topography, surface texture, and symmetry are known to evoke diverse cell behavior, including adhesion, orientation, motility, cytoskeletal condensation, and modulation of intracellular signaling pathways. In this work, self-supported latex films with well-defined isotropic/anisotropic surface features and hierarchical morphologies were fabricated by a peel-off process from different template surfaces. In addition, the latex films were used as substrates for evaporated ultrathin gold films with nominal thicknesses of 10 and 20 nm. Optical properties and topography of the samples were characterized using UV–vis spectroscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) measurements, respectively. The latex films showed high-level transmittance of visible light, enabling the fabrication of semi-transparent gold electrodes. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements were carried out for a number of days to investigate the long-term stability of the electrodes. The effect of 1-octadecanethiol (ODT) and HS(CH{sub 2}){sub 11}OH (MuOH) thiolation and protein (human serum albumin, HSA) adsorption on the impedance and capacitance was studied. In addition, cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements were carried out to determine active medicinal components, i.e., caffeic acid with interesting biological activities and poorly water-soluble anti-inflammatory drug, piroxicam. The results show that the fabrication procedure presented in this study enables the formation of platforms with hierarchical morphologies for multimodal

  6. Experimental study of flow patterns near tube support structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rummens, H.E.C.; Turner, C.W.

    1994-07-01

    Extensive blockage of broached support plates in steam generators has occurred at the Bruce A Nuclear Generating Station (NGS), forcing unit derating in 1988 March. Blockage has also been found on the lower broached plates of the Pickering B and Point Lepreau NGSs. Water chemistry and operating conditions are known to influence fouling directly. We suspect that flow patterns also play a role, that these patterns are influenced by the geometry of steam generator (SG) components, and that particularly the broached plate design actively creates an environment favorable to deposition. Experiments are in progress to examine the flow patterns near various tube supports: the broached plate, two types of lattice bars, and the formed bars. Preliminary tests in an air/water loop with 1/2- and 7-tube SG mockups containing the tube supports have been completed. Flow patterns were visualized using injected air bubbles. Local velocities and turbulence levels were measured using a laser technique, which confirmed observations of flow recirculation and stagnation. Axial pressure profiles were measured to determine overall resistance coefficients, and to identify local pressure extremes. Some visualization tests were also carried out on an artificially fouled broached plate. Based on results to date, several deposition mechanisms are proposed: deposition of particles in stagnant regions, deposition of solubles due to flashing in low-pressure regions, and deposition in smaller channels due to steam migration toward larger channels. A qualitative assessment of the tube support designs based on these mechanisms implies that the relative resistances to fouling are: (WORST) broach plate << lattice bars << formed bars (BEST). As the air/water simulation shows only hydraulic flow patterns, further tests will be done in a simple liquid/vapor Freon loop to examine thermal effects. (author). 3 refs., 10 figs

  7. Effects of Co-Worker and Supervisor Support on Job Stress and Presenteeism in an Aging Workforce: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tianan Yang

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available We examined the effects of co-worker and supervisor support on job stress and presenteeism in an aging workforce. Structural equation modelling was used to evaluate data from the 2010 wave of the Health and Retirement Survey in the United States (n = 1649. The level of presenteeism was low and the level of job stress was moderate among aging US workers. SEM revealed that co-worker support and supervisor support were strongly correlated (β = 0.67; p < 0.001. Job stress had a significant direct positive effect on presenteeism (β = 0.30; p < 0.001. Co-worker support had a significant direct negative effect on job stress (β = −0.10; p < 0.001 and presenteeism (β = −0.11; p < 0.001. Supervisor support had a significant direct negative effect on job stress (β = −0.40; p < 0.001 but not presenteeism. The findings suggest that presenteeism is reduced by increased respect and concern for employee stress at the workplace, by necessary support at work from colleagues and employers, and by the presence of comfortable interpersonal relationships among colleagues and between employers and employees.

  8. Stretched membrane heliostats: design and structural analysis of reflectance module and support of a heliostats of 9 m. diaform and 60 m''3 of reflectance surface

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Figarola Torres, J. M.

    1993-01-01

    After having designed and built at CIEMAT a first prototype of a Btretched membrane heliostats of 3 m. diameter, the design and the structural analysis of the different components included in the reflectance module and support of another heliostats, this one of 9 m. diameter and 60 m2. of reflectance surface, are shown In this report. This last heliostats will be mounted on a pedestal and its driving device at the Solar Platform of Almeria. In order to optimize design and performance, the structural analysis of its basic components has been analyzed with the finite elements program ANSYS. The following elements have been subject to analysis: the membrane and their ring supports, stretching system and the structural support. A similar scheme to the one applied to the previous prototype has been used on the focus control system. That includes a linear transducer, a variable frequency and a fan. Finally it has to be pointed out that substantial improvements have been achieved with respect to the first prototype concerning design and cost. (Author) 5 refs

  9. Hydration effects on the molecular structure of silica-supported vanadium oxide catalysts: A combined IR, Raman, UV–vis and EXAFS study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Keller, D.E.; Visser, T.; Soulimani, F.; Koningsberger, D.C.; Weckhuysen, B.M.

    2007-01-01

    The effect of hydration on the molecular structure of silica-supported vanadium oxide catalysts with loadings of 1–16 wt.% V has been systematically investigated by infrared, Raman, UV–vis and EXAFS spectroscopy. IR and Raman spectra recorded during hydration revealed the formation of V–OH groups,

  10. Pipe support for use in a nuclear system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pollono, L.P.; Mello, R.M.

    1976-01-01

    Description is given of a vertical pipe support system. It comprises a tubular pipe support structure having the same inside diameter and the same wall thickness as the pipe, the pipe support structure having a generally triangularly shaped extension formed integral with and extending circumferentially around its outward side, the bottom side of this extension generally forming a ledge; an annular load-bearing insulation formed adjacent to the extension; means for clamping the load-bearing insulation to extension; and means for providing constant vertical support to means for clamping [fr

  11. A Comparison on the Dynamics of a Floating Vertical Axis Wind Turbine on Three Different Floating Support Structures

    OpenAIRE

    Borg, Michael; Collu, Maurizio

    2014-01-01

    To increase the competitiveness of offshore wind energy in the global energy market, it is necessary to identify optimal offshore wind turbine configurations to deliver the lowest cost of energy. For deep waters where floating wind turbines are the feasible support structure option, the vertical axis wind turbine concept might prove to be one of these optimal configurations. This paper carries out a preliminary investigation into the dynamics of a vertical axis wind turbine coupled with three...

  12. Operating System Support for Shared Hardware Data Structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-31

    2.1.4 Systolic Priority Queues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 2.1.5 Abstract Datatype Processors...intelligent software support is necessary to achieve good perfor- mance from HWDSs in the presence of overflow and sharing. 2.1.5 Abstract Datatype ...abstract datatype processors, which accelerate data types with mechanisms and performance similar to HWDSs. Abstract datatype instructions can reduce

  13. Arctic thaw: us-and-them barrier melted by pioneer partnership with natives

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Laverty-Wilson, K.

    2002-05-06

    The story of ATCO Frontec, the frontier technology arm of ATCO Group is told, with emphasis on their success of cooperating with native groups to the mutual benefit of both. ATCO Frontec is best known for providing logistics, facilities and systems management for military operations ranging from NORAD North Warning System to Canada's peacekeeping mission in Bosnia. In 2001, ATCO Frontec employed 1,500, managed more than $3 billion in client assets and generated revenue of $200 million -- 56 per cent of which originated from aboriginal joint ventures. The ventures include a Frontec alliance with four Inuit land claim groups who form Pan Arctic Inuit Logistics (PAIL). Together, PAIL nad ATCO Frontec manage the NORAD North Warning System. The partnership also services and maintains the Alaska Radar System. The staff is about 50 per cent aboriginal and includes technicians, site service workers and fuel handlers. Another successful alliance was formed with the Dog Rib Rae band near Yellowknife, where Tli Cho Logistics provides a full slate of services from fuel management and distribution to environmental protection and equipment supply, operation and maintenance. Other joint ventures include managing the airport at Resolute Bay, handling the fuel supply in Iqualuit, operating a power plant in Alaska and participating in nickel mining in Newfoundland's Voisey's Bay. Training, patience, commitment, discipline and absolute honesty in dealing with native groups are said to be the key to success.

  14. γ-Irradiation assisted synthesis of graphene oxide sheets supported Ag nanoparticles with single crystalline structure and parabolic distribution from interlamellar limitation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yue, Yunhao; Zhou, Baoming; Shi, Jie; Chen, Cheng; Li, Nan; Xu, Zhiwei, E-mail: xuzhiwei@tjpu.edu.cn; Liu, Liangsen; Kuang, Liyun; Ma, Meijun; Fu, Hongjun

    2017-05-01

    Highlights: • Graphene oxide sheets supported Ag nanoparticles composites are successfully prepared via γ-irradiation without surfactant or functional agent. • Ag nanoparticles exhibit single crystalline structure and parabolic distribution on the surface of graphene oxide sheets. • Proposing a view that the growth of intercellular AgNPs can be limited by graphite oxide. - Abstract: This paper reported a method to fabricate graphene oxide sheets supported Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs/GOS) with single crystalline structure and parabolic distribution without surfactant or functional agent. We used imidazole silver nitrate as intercalation precursor into the layers of graphite oxide, and subsequently reduction and growth of interlamellar AgNPs were induced via γ-irradiation. The results illustrated that the synergism of interlamellar limitation of graphite oxide and fragmentation ability of γ-irradiation could prevent coalescent reaction of AgNPs with other oligomeric clusters, and the single crystalline and small-sized (below 13.9 nm) AgNPs were prepared. Moreover, the content and size of AgNPs exhibited parabolic distribution on GOS surface because the graphite oxide exfoliated to GOS from the edge to the central area of layers. In addition, complete exfoliation degree of GOS and large-sized AgNPs were obtained simultaneously under suitable silver ions concentration. Optimized composites exhibited outstanding surface-enhanced Raman scattering properties for crystal violet with enhancement factor of 1.3 × 10{sup 6} and detection limit of 1.0 × 10{sup −7} M, indicating that the AgNPs/GOS composites could be applied to trace detection of organic dyes molecules. Therefore, this study presented a strategy for developing GOS supported nanometal with single crystalline structure and parabolic distribution based on γ-irradiation.

  15. γ-Irradiation assisted synthesis of graphene oxide sheets supported Ag nanoparticles with single crystalline structure and parabolic distribution from interlamellar limitation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yue, Yunhao; Zhou, Baoming; Shi, Jie; Chen, Cheng; Li, Nan; Xu, Zhiwei; Liu, Liangsen; Kuang, Liyun; Ma, Meijun; Fu, Hongjun

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Graphene oxide sheets supported Ag nanoparticles composites are successfully prepared via γ-irradiation without surfactant or functional agent. • Ag nanoparticles exhibit single crystalline structure and parabolic distribution on the surface of graphene oxide sheets. • Proposing a view that the growth of intercellular AgNPs can be limited by graphite oxide. - Abstract: This paper reported a method to fabricate graphene oxide sheets supported Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs/GOS) with single crystalline structure and parabolic distribution without surfactant or functional agent. We used imidazole silver nitrate as intercalation precursor into the layers of graphite oxide, and subsequently reduction and growth of interlamellar AgNPs were induced via γ-irradiation. The results illustrated that the synergism of interlamellar limitation of graphite oxide and fragmentation ability of γ-irradiation could prevent coalescent reaction of AgNPs with other oligomeric clusters, and the single crystalline and small-sized (below 13.9 nm) AgNPs were prepared. Moreover, the content and size of AgNPs exhibited parabolic distribution on GOS surface because the graphite oxide exfoliated to GOS from the edge to the central area of layers. In addition, complete exfoliation degree of GOS and large-sized AgNPs were obtained simultaneously under suitable silver ions concentration. Optimized composites exhibited outstanding surface-enhanced Raman scattering properties for crystal violet with enhancement factor of 1.3 × 10"6 and detection limit of 1.0 × 10"−"7 M, indicating that the AgNPs/GOS composites could be applied to trace detection of organic dyes molecules. Therefore, this study presented a strategy for developing GOS supported nanometal with single crystalline structure and parabolic distribution based on γ-irradiation.

  16. Modeling of Local BEAM Structure for Evaluation of MMOD Impacts to Support Development of a Health Monitoring System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lyle, Karen H.; Vassilakos, Gregory J.

    2015-01-01

    This report summarizes initial modeling of the local response of the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) to micrometeorite and orbital debris (MMOD) impacts using a structural, non-linear, transient dynamic finite element code. Complementary test results for a local BEAM structure are presented for both hammer and projectile impacts. Review of these data provided guidance for the transient dynamic model development. The local model is intended to support predictions using the global BEAM model, described in a companion report. Two types of local models were developed. One mimics the simplified Soft-Goods (fabric envelop) part of the BEAM NASTRAN model delivered by the project. The second investigates through-the-thickness modeling challenges for MMOD-type impacts. Both the testing and the analysis summaries contain lessons learned and areas for future efforts.

  17. Condensation of long-term wave climates for the fatigue design of hydrodynamically sensitive offshore wind turbine support structures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Passon, Patrik; Branner, Kim

    2016-01-01

    important for hydrodynamically sensitive structures since the applied met-ocean parameters have a non-linear influence on calculated fatigue design loads. The present article introduces a new wave lumping method for condensation of the wave climate. The novelty is predominantly based on refined equivalence......Cost-efficient and reliable fatigue designs of offshore wind turbine support structures require an adequate representation of the site-specific wind–wave joint distribution. Establishment of this wind–wave joint distribution for design load calculation purposes requires typically a correlation...... of the marginal wind and wave distribution. This is achieved by condensation of the site-specific wave climate in terms of wave period or wave height lumping, subsequently used as input for a correlation with the corresponding wind climate. The quality of this resulting wind–wave correlation is especially...

  18. The Social Support Inventory (SSI) : A brief scale to assess perceived adequacy of social support

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Timmerman, IGH; Emanuels-Zuurveen, ES; Emmelkamp, PMG

    The development of a brief measure to assess satisfaction with obtained social support using Simultaneous Components Analysis (SCA) is described. In the first study the component structure of the Social Support Questionnaire (Van Sonderen, 1991) was determined in a sample of men (n = 401) and women

  19. The Origin of Sulfur Tolerance in Supported Platinum Catalysts: The Relationship between Structural and Catalytic Properties in Acidic and Alkaline Pt/LTL.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Koningsberger, D.C.; Miller, J.T.

    1996-01-01

    The reactivity, structure, and sulfur tolerance is compared for platinum supported on acidic and alkaline LTL zeolite. In the absence of sulfur, EXAFS spectroscopy indicates that small metallic platinum particles of approximately 6 to 14 atoms/cluster are present. The TOF for neopentane

  20. Adhered Supported Carbon Nanotubes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johnson, Dale F.; Craft, Benjamin J.; Jaffe, Stephen M.

    2001-01-01

    Carbon nanotubes (NTs) in excess of 200 μm long are grown by catalytic pyrolysis of hydrocarbon vapors. The nanotubes grow continuously without the typical extinction due to catalyst encapsulation. A woven metal mesh supports the nanotubes creating a metal supported nanotube (MSNT) structure. The 140 μm wide mesh openings are completely filled by 70 nm diameter multiwalled nanotubes (MWNTs). The MWNTs are straight, uniform and highly crystalline. Their wall thickness is about 10 nm (30 graphite layers). The adherent NTs are not removed from the support in a Scotch tape pull test. A 12.5 cm 2 capacitor made from two MSNT structures immersed in 1 M KCl has a capacitance of 0.35 F and an equivalent series resistance of 0.18 Ω. Water flows through the MSNT at a flow velocity of 1 cm/min with a pressure drop of 15 inches of water. With the support removed, the MWNTs naturally form a carbon nanocomposite (CNC) paper with a specific area of 80 m 2 /gm, a bulk density of 0.21 g/cm 3 , an open pore fraction of 0.81, and a resistivity of 0.16 Ω-cm

  1. Support network and social support for children with special health care need

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thaís Araújo Barbosa

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Objective: to understand and identify the support network and social support from the perspective of families of children with chronic conditions. Methods: a qualitative study, with content analysis of 134 records, followed by ten semi-structured interviews. Results: the analysis has revealed that the primary caregiver, the mother, participates in a network of limited support, only with the help of her husband, children, grandparents and the child´s godparents. They also have a social network through a multidisciplinary team, which in some cases is not effective. Conclusion: families have a deficient and limited support network and the demand for care rely only on the support of the husband, grandparents, children, and godparents. Social networking refers to the philanthropic institutions, while the aid of public service, basic health unit is basic.

  2. Geothermal appearances in connection with the neo-tectonics and magmatism at the territory of the Republic of Macedonia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arsovski, Milan; Stojanov, Risto

    1995-01-01

    The region of the Republic of Macedonia, as a part of the Alpine orogenic zone in late Alpine period was included by intensive neotectonic destructive movements, which is reflected on the high seismic activity in all the geo tectonic units: Serbo Macedonian massif. the Vardar zone, the Pelagonian massif and the West Macedonian zone, but of different intensity. The thermal and hydrothermal springs in Macedonia are connected to the activations of lineal neo tectonic fault structure with the Vardar immeridional direction of extension, as well as with the recently formed dislocations with vertical extension (in a form of orthogonal system) in the marginal parts of the depressions with positive morpho structures. According to the recent studies of the tectonic-magmatic factors, as well as the known thermal and thermo mineral springs in Macedonia, the most potential areas are the east boundary pails of the Vardar zone with the S. M. massif (the Rodopian mass) and the inner parts of the Vardar zone, particularly the marginal parts of the depressions, in the West Macedonia, the marginal parts of the Polog valley and the area of Debar. (Original)

  3. Effects of Co-Worker and Supervisor Support on Job Stress and Presenteeism in an Aging Workforce: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Tianan; Shen, Yu-Ming; Zhu, Mingjing; Liu, Yuanling; Deng, Jianwei; Chen, Qian; See, Lai-Chu

    2015-01-01

    We examined the effects of co-worker and supervisor support on job stress and presenteeism in an aging workforce. Structural equation modelling was used to evaluate data from the 2010 wave of the Health and Retirement Survey in the United States (n = 1649). The level of presenteeism was low and the level of job stress was moderate among aging US workers. SEM revealed that co-worker support and supervisor support were strongly correlated (β = 0.67; p Job stress had a significant direct positive effect on presenteeism (β = 0.30; p job stress (β = −0.10; p job stress (β = −0.40; p < 0.001) but not presenteeism. The findings suggest that presenteeism is reduced by increased respect and concern for employee stress at the workplace, by necessary support at work from colleagues and employers, and by the presence of comfortable interpersonal relationships among colleagues and between employers and employees. PMID:26703705

  4. Understanding the implementation and adoption of an information technology intervention to support medicine optimisation in primary care: qualitative study using strong structuration theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeffries, Mark; Phipps, Denham; Howard, Rachel L; Avery, Anthony; Rodgers, Sarah; Ashcroft, Darren

    2017-05-10

    Using strong structuration theory, we aimed to understand the adoption and implementation of an electronic clinical audit and feedback tool to support medicine optimisation for patients in primary care. This is a qualitative study informed by strong structuration theory. The analysis was thematic, using a template approach. An a priori set of thematic codes, based on strong structuration theory, was developed from the literature and applied to the transcripts. The coding template was then modified through successive readings of the data. Clinical commissioning group in the south of England. Four focus groups and five semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 participants purposively sampled from a range of stakeholder groups (general practitioners, pharmacists, patients and commissioners). Using the system could lead to improved medication safety, but use was determined by broad institutional contexts; by the perceptions, dispositions and skills of users; and by the structures embedded within the technology. These included perceptions of the system as new and requiring technical competence and skill; the adoption of the system for information gathering; and interactions and relationships that involved individual, shared or collective use. The dynamics between these external, internal and technological structures affected the adoption and implementation of the system. Successful implementation of information technology interventions for medicine optimisation will depend on a combination of the infrastructure within primary care, social structures embedded in the technology and the conventions, norms and dispositions of those utilising it. Future interventions, using electronic audit and feedback tools to improve medication safety, should consider the complexity of the social and organisational contexts and how internal and external structures can affect the use of the technology in order to support effective implementation. © Article author(s) (or their

  5. Normal Impingement of a Supersonic Jet on a Plane - A Basic Study of Shock-Interference Heating

    Science.gov (United States)

    1975-12-01

    George Xaler, Pail Zone Dr. H. Lew 28i0 Mr. J. W. Paust A . Mkrtallucci W. Daskin J. D. Cresaswell J. pvttu" J. Cor%.nto C. l!arri, F. GCOrge1. 4...NSWC/WOL/TR 75195 low zE ~ 1 WHITE OAK LABORATORY SNORMAL IMPINGEMENT OF A SUPERSONIC JET ON A PLANE - A BASIC STUDY OF SHOCK-INTERFERENCE HEATING...OF THIS PAGE ("oin DomejaE’ored) __________________ REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE READ INSTRUCTIONS4 2. OV ACE.~ CONTRAT O0GRN NUMBER~ a NS. P ER OR M I

  6. Structures Of Magnetically-Supported Filaments And Their Appearance In The Linear Polarization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tomisaka, Kohji

    2017-10-01

    Dust thermal emissions observed with Herschel have revealed that interstellar molecular clouds consist of many filaments. Polarization observation of interstellar extinctions in the optical and near IR wavelengths shows that the dense filaments are extending perpendicular to the interstellar magnetic field. Magnetohydrostatic structures of such filaments are studied. It is well known that a hydrostatic filament without magnetic field has a maximum line mass of ¥lambda_max=2c_s^2/G (c_s:the isothermal sound speed and G: the gravitational constant). On the other hand, the magnetically-supported maximum line mass increases in proportion to the magnetic flux per unit length threading the filament (¥phi), as ¥lambda_max 2c_s^2/G + ¥phi/(2¥pi G^1/2). Comparison is made with 3D clouds. Stability of these magnetized filaments is studied using time-dependent 3D MHD simulations to discuss star formation in the filaments. Polarization pattern expected for the magnetically subcritical filaments is calculated. The distribution function of the angle between B-field and the axis of the filament, which is obtained with Planck Satellite, is compared with this mock observation.

  7. Using the LOINC Semantic Structure to Integrate Community-based Survey Items into a Concept-based Enterprise Data Dictionary to Support Comparative Effectiveness Research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Co, Manuel C; Boden-Albala, Bernadette; Quarles, Leigh; Wilcox, Adam; Bakken, Suzanne

    2012-01-01

    In designing informatics infrastructure to support comparative effectiveness research (CER), it is necessary to implement approaches for integrating heterogeneous data sources such as clinical data typically stored in clinical data warehouses and those that are normally stored in separate research databases. One strategy to support this integration is the use of a concept-oriented data dictionary with a set of semantic terminology models. The aim of this paper is to illustrate the use of the semantic structure of Clinical LOINC (Logical Observation Identifiers, Names, and Codes) in integrating community-based survey items into the Medical Entities Dictionary (MED) to support the integration of survey data with clinical data for CER studies.

  8. Sustaining the Higher Education Hub Model: The Challenge of Adequate Academic and Social Support Structures for International Students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cameron Richards

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, the Education Hub (EH concept has perhaps become the single most important focus of higher education policy in most Asian countries. A particular Asian Education Hub model (e.g. Cheng, 2010 is now globally influential with its emphasis on how governments can harness direct as well as indirect economic benefits of a higher education system. Such a model aims to prepare students for employment in an emerging global economy and also to attract fee-paying international students in terms of education as not just a public good but a key and increasingly important area of national investment and economic development. In a related paper which focused on a comparison between distinct Malaysian and Singaporean versions of Asian EH l models developed over the last two decades (Richards, 2011c, we investigated the dangers as well as opportunities at stake. In this paper, we investigate the linked idea that sufficient academic and social support structures for supporting international as well as local students provide the crucial key to the factors of sustainability needed to support the various versions of the general strategy of Higher Education internationalisation.

  9. Agents of support: psychometric properties of the Cancer Perceived Agents of Social Support (CPASS) questionnaire.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldzweig, Gil; Hasson-Ohayon, Ilanit; Meirovitz, Amichay; Braun, Michal; Hubert, Ayala; Baider, Lea

    2010-11-01

    The current study presents the development and the evaluation of the psychometric properties of the Cancer Perceived Agents of Social Support (CPASS). The CPASS is a new self-rating instrument devised in order to enable both cancer patients and their spouses to report on the level of perceived social support they get. The CPASS evaluates the support given by different agents of support (spouse, family, friends and spiritual or religious beliefs) in several dimensions (emotional, cognitive and instrumental). The study sample comprised 662 cancer patients and their spouses recruited during a routine medical evaluation from three major cancer centers in Israel. The participants completed the CPASS and two other standardized instruments: The ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Scale (EMS) and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). Principal component analysis confirmed a three-factor structure based upon the agent of support (spouse; friends/family; spiritual/religious beliefs). Cronbach's α coefficients for the agent of support indexes were high (0.80-0.95), while Cronbach's α levels for the kind of support were lower (0.45-0.72). Smallest Space Analysis (SSA) also confirmed the theoretical structure of the CPASS. Pearson correlation coefficients to the other study variables were high and significant. As a whole, the CPASS was found to be a valid tool for the current Israeli sample. Theoretical and practical conclusions and socio-cultural implications are discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  10. Support schemes and ownership structures - The policy context for fuel cell based micro-combined heat and power

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ropenus, S.; Thorsten Schroeder, S.; Costa, A.; Obe, E.

    2010-05-15

    In recent years, fuel cell based micro-combined heat and power has received increasing attention due to its potential contribution to energy savings, efficiency gains, customer proximity and flexibility in operation and capacity size. The FC4Home project assesses technical and economic aspects of the ongoing fuel cell based micro-combined heat and power (mCHP) demonstration projects by addressing the socio-economic and systems analyses perspectives of a large-scale promotion scheme of fuel cells. This document constitutes the deliverable of Work Package 1 of the FC4Home project and provides an introduction to the policy context for mCHP. Section 1 describes the rationale for the promotion of mCHP by explaining its potential contribution to European energy policy goals. Section 2 addresses the policy context at the supranational European level by outlining relevant EU Directives on support schemes for promoting combined heat and power and energy from renewable sources. These Directives are to be implemented at the national level by the Member States. Section 3 conceptually presents the spectrum of national support schemes, ranging from investment support to market-based operational support. The choice of support scheme simultaneously affects risk and technological development, which is the focus of Section 4. Subsequent to this conceptual overview, Section 5 takes a glance at the national application of support schemes for mCHP in practice, notably in the three country cases of the FC4Home project, Denmark, France and Portugal. Another crucial aspect for the diffusion of the mCHP technology is possible ownership structures. These may range from full consumer ownership to ownership by utilities and energy service companies, which is discussed in Section 6. Finally, a conclusion (Section 7) wraps up previous findings and provides a short 'preview' of the quantitative analyses in subsequent Work Packages by giving some food for thought on the way. (author)

  11. Design optimization of tailor-rolled blank thin-walled structures based on ɛ-support vector regression technique and genetic algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duan, Libin; Xiao, Ning-cong; Li, Guangyao; Cheng, Aiguo; Chen, Tao

    2017-07-01

    Tailor-rolled blank thin-walled (TRB-TH) structures have become important vehicle components owing to their advantages of light weight and crashworthiness. The purpose of this article is to provide an efficient lightweight design for improving the energy-absorbing capability of TRB-TH structures under dynamic loading. A finite element (FE) model for TRB-TH structures is established and validated by performing a dynamic axial crash test. Different material properties for individual parts with different thicknesses are considered in the FE model. Then, a multi-objective crashworthiness design of the TRB-TH structure is constructed based on the ɛ-support vector regression (ɛ-SVR) technique and non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II. The key parameters (C, ɛ and σ) are optimized to further improve the predictive accuracy of ɛ-SVR under limited sample points. Finally, the technique for order preference by similarity to the ideal solution method is used to rank the solutions in Pareto-optimal frontiers and find the best compromise optima. The results demonstrate that the light weight and crashworthiness performance of the optimized TRB-TH structures are superior to their uniform thickness counterparts. The proposed approach provides useful guidance for designing TRB-TH energy absorbers for vehicle bodies.

  12. Nuclear education, training and support

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vityazev, Vsevolod; Ushakov Artem

    2016-01-01

    The structure and key elements of the ROSATOM education and training system are presented. Educational and training services and technical support are provided during the NPP lifetime, including nuclear Infrastructure, nuclear power plant personnel training, equipment and post-warranty spare parts, nuclear power plant operation support, maintenance and repair, modernization and lifetime extension

  13. Power structure among the actors of financial support to the poor to access health services: Social network analysis approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Etemadi, Manal; Gorji, Hasan Abolghasem; Kangarani, Hannaneh Mohammadi; Ashtarian, Kioomars

    2017-12-01

    The extent of universal health coverage in terms of financial protection is worrisome in Iran. There are challenges in health policies to guarantee financial accessibility to health services, especially for poor people. Various institutions offer support to ensure that the poor have financial access to health services. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship network among the institutions active in this field. This study is a policy document analysis. It evaluates the country's legal documents in the field of financial support to the poor for healthcare after the Islamic Revolution in Iran. The researchers looked for the documents on the related websites and referred to the related organizations. The social network analysis approach was chosen for the analysis of the documents. Block-modelling and multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) was used to determine the network structures. The UCINET software was employed to analyse the data. Most the main actors of this network are chosen from the government budget. There is no legal communication and cooperation among some of the actors because of their improper position in the network. Seven blocks have been clustered by CONCOR in terms of the actor's degree of similarity. The social distance among the actors of the seven blocks is very short. Power distribution in the field of financial support to the poor has a fragmented structure; however, it is mainly run by a dominant block consisting of The Supreme Council of Welfare and Social Security, Health Insurance Organization, and the Ministry of Health and Medical Education. The financial support for the poor network involves multiple actors. This variety has created a series of confusions in terms of the type, level, and scope of responsibilities among the actors. The weak presence legislative and regulatory institutions and also non-governmental institutions are the main weak points of this network. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Socioeconomic Status, Structural and Functional Measures of Social Support, and Mortality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stringhini, Silvia; Berkman, Lisa; Dugravot, Aline; Ferrie, Jane E.; Marmot, Michael; Kivimaki, Mika; Singh-Manoux, Archana

    2012-01-01

    The authors examined the associations of social support with socioeconomic status (SES) and with mortality, as well as how SES differences in social support might account for SES differences in mortality. Analyses were based on 9,333 participants from the British Whitehall II Study cohort, a longitudinal cohort established in 1985 among London-based civil servants who were 35–55 years of age at baseline. SES was assessed using participant's employment grades at baseline. Social support was assessed 3 times in the 24.4-year period during which participants were monitored for death. In men, marital status, and to a lesser extent network score (but not low perceived support or high negative aspects of close relationships), predicted both all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Measures of social support were not associated with cancer mortality. Men in the lowest SES category had an increased risk of death compared with those in the highest category (for all-cause mortality, hazard ratio = 1.59, 95% confidence interval: 1.21, 2.08; for cardiovascular mortality, hazard ratio = 2.48, 95% confidence interval: 1.55, 3.92). Network score and marital status combined explained 27% (95% confidence interval: 14, 43) and 29% (95% confidence interval: 17, 52) of the associations between SES and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, respectively. In women, there was no consistent association between social support indicators and mortality. The present study suggests that in men, social isolation is not only an important risk factor for mortality but is also likely to contribute to differences in mortality by SES. PMID:22534202

  15. CO adsorption on small Au{sub n} (n = 1–4) structures supported on hematite. I. Adsorption on iron terminated α-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} (0001) surface

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pabisiak, Tomasz; Kiejna, Adam, E-mail: kiejna@ifd.uni.wroc.pl [Institute of Experimental Physics, University of Wrocław, Plac M. Borna 9, 50-204 Wrocław (Poland); Winiarski, Maciej J. [Institute of Experimental Physics, University of Wrocław, Plac M. Borna 9, 50-204 Wrocław (Poland); Institute of Low Temperature and Structure Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Okólna 2, 50-422 Wrocław (Poland)

    2016-01-28

    This is the first of two papers dealing with the adsorption of Au and formation of Au{sub n} nanostructures (n = 1–4) on hematite (0001) surface and adsorption of CO thereon. The stoichiometric Fe-terminated (0001) surface of hematite was investigated using density functional theory in the generalized gradient approximation of Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) form with Hubbard correction U, accounting for strong electron correlations (PBE+U). The structural, energetic, and electronic properties of the systems studied were examined for vertical and flattened configurations of Au{sub n} nanostructures adsorbed on the hematite surfaces. The flattened ones, which can be viewed as bilayer-like structures, were found energetically more favored than vertical ones. For both classes of structures the adsorption binding energy increases with the number of Au atoms in a structure. The adsorption of Au{sub n} induces charge rearrangement at the Au{sub n}/oxide contact which is reflected in work function changes. In most considered cases Au{sub n} adsorption increases the work function. A detailed analysis of the bonding electron charge is presented and the corresponding electron charge rearrangements at the contacts were quantified by a Bader charge analyses. The interaction of a CO molecule with the Au{sub n} nanostructures supported on α-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} (0001) and the oxide support was studied. It is found that the CO adsorption binding to the hematite supported Au{sub n} structures is more than twice as strong as to the bare hematite surface. Analysis of the Bader charges on the atoms showed that in each case CO binds to the most positively charged (cationic) atom of the Au{sub n} structure. Changes in the electronic structure of the Au{sub n} species and of the oxide support, and their consequences for the interactions with CO, are discussed.

  16. Reactor vessel supported by flexure member

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Crawford, J.D.; Pankow, B.

    1977-01-01

    According to the present invention there is provided an improved arrangement for supporting a reactor vessel within a containment structure against static and dynamic vertical loadings capable of being imposed as a result of a serious accident as well as during periods of normal plant operation. The support arrangement of the invention is, at the same time, capable of accommodating radial displacements that normally occur between the reactor vessel and the containment structure due to operational transients. The arrangement comprises a plurality of vertical columns connected between the reactor vessel and a support base within the containment structure. The columns are designed to accommodate relative displacements between the vessel and the containment structure by flexing. This eliminates the need for relative sliding movements and thus enables the columns to be securely fixed to the vessel. This elimination of a provision for relative sliding movements avoids the spaces or gaps between the retention members and the retained elements as occurred in prior art arrangements and, concomitantly, the danger of establishing impact forces on the retention members in the event of an accident is reduced. (author)

  17. Heavy ion accelerating structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pottier, Jacques.

    1977-01-01

    The heavy ion accelerating structure concerned in this invention is of the kind that have a resonance cavity inside which are located at least two longitudinal conducting supports electrically connected to the cavity by one of their ends in such a way that they are in quarter-wavelength resonance and in phase opposition. Slide tubes are electrically connected alternatively to one or the other of the two supports, they being electrically connected respectively to one or the other end of the side wall of the cavity. The feature of the structure is that it includes two pairs of supports symmetrically placed with respect to the centre line of the cavity, the supports of one pair fitted overhanging being placed symmetrically with respect to the centre line of the cavity, each slide tube being connected to the two supports of one pair. These support are connected to the slide wall of the cavity by an insulator located at their electrically free end. The accelerator structure composed of several structures placed end to end, the last one of which is fed by a high frequency field of adjustable amplitude and phase, enables a heavy ion linear accelerator to be built [fr

  18. Cell packing structures

    KAUST Repository

    Pottmann, Helmut

    2015-03-03

    This paper is an overview of architectural structures which are either composed of polyhedral cells or closely related to them. We introduce the concept of a support structure of such a polyhedral cell packing. It is formed by planar quads and obtained by connecting corresponding vertices in two combinatorially equivalent meshes whose corresponding edges are coplanar and thus determine planar quads. Since corresponding triangle meshes only yield trivial structures, we focus on support structures associated with quad meshes or hex-dominant meshes. For the quadrilateral case, we provide a short survey of recent research which reveals beautiful relations to discrete differential geometry. Those are essential for successfully initializing numerical optimization schemes for the computation of quad-based support structures. Hex-dominant structures may be designed via Voronoi tessellations, power diagrams, sphere packings and various extensions of these concepts. Apart from the obvious application as load-bearing structures, we illustrate here a new application to shading and indirect lighting. On a higher level, our work emphasizes the interplay between geometry, optimization, statics, and manufacturing, with the overall aim of combining form, function and fabrication into novel integrated design tools.

  19. Effect of reduction enhancer on a radiolytic synthesis of carbon-supported Pt–Cu nanoparticles and their structural and electrochemical properties

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kugai, Junichiro, E-mail: jkugai@kobe-kosen.ac.jp [Kobe City College of Technology, Department of Applied Chemistry (Japan); Kubota, Chihiro; Okazaki, Tomohisa; Seino, Satoshi; Nakagawa, Takashi [Osaka University, Graduate School of Engineering (Japan); Nitani, Hiroaki [High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, Institute of Materials Structure Science (IMSS) (Japan); Yamamoto, Takao A. [Osaka University, Graduate School of Engineering (Japan)

    2015-06-15

    In order to clarify the effect of reduction enhancer on the nanoparticle formation process and their structural and catalytic properties, carbon-supported Pt–Cu nanoparticles were synthesized by electron beam irradiation on an aqueous precursor solution in the presence/absence of reduction enhancer. In the absence of reduction enhancer, tetravalent platinum oxide particles of approximately 1 nm in diameter were formed on carbon support with copper barely precipitated, while in the presence of 2-propanol or ethylene glycol or glucose both platinum and copper precipitated as few-nanometer-sized alloy particles together with copper oxides. It was suggested that the metal nuclei produced upon electron beam irradiation do not have enough lifetime without reduction enhancer due to fast oxidation of the nuclei by oxidizing radicals, while the reduction enhancer scavenges these oxidizing radicals preventing oxidation of metallic clusters and prolonging their lifetime. Ethylene glycol gave smaller and better alloyed particles with less copper oxides compared to 2-propanol since the carbonyl compounds derived from oxidation of ethylene glycol protect metallic clusters from oxidation further prolonging their lifetime. In the electrochemical measurements, the methanol oxidation activities of Pt–Cu/C catalysts were well explained by their structural characteristics.

  20. The structural relationships between organizational commitment, global job satisfaction, developmental experiences, work values, organizational support, and person-organization fit among nursing faculty.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gutierrez, Antonio P; Candela, Lori L; Carver, Lara

    2012-07-01

    GUTIERAIM: The aim of this correlational study was to examine the relations between organizational commitment, perceived organizational support, work values, person-organization fit, developmental experiences, and global job satisfaction among nursing faculty. The global nursing shortage is well documented. At least 57 countries have reported critical shortages. The lack of faculty is finally being recognized as a major issue directly influencing the ability to admit and graduate adequate numbers of nurses. As efforts increase to both recruit and retain faculty, the concept of organizational commitment and what it means to them is important to consider. A cross-sectional correlational design was used. The present study investigated the underlying structure of various organizational factors using structural equation modelling. Data were collected from a stratified random sample of nurse faculty during the academic year 2006-2007. The final model demonstrated that perceived organizational support, developmental experiences, person-organization fit, and global job satisfaction positively predicted nurse faculty's organizational commitment to the academic organization. Cross-validation results indicated that the final full SEM is valid and reliable. Nursing faculty administrators able to use mentoring skills are well equipped to build positive relationships with nursing faculty, which in turn, can lead to increased organizational commitment, productivity, job satisfaction, and perceived organizational support, among others. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  1. Organizational structure features supporting knowledge management processes

    OpenAIRE

    Claver-Cortés, Enrique; Zaragoza Sáez, Patrocinio del Carmen; Pertusa-Ortega, Eva

    2007-01-01

    Purpose – The idea that knowledge management can be a potential source of competitive advantage has gained strength in the last few years. However, a number of business actions are needed to generate an appropriate environment and infrastructure for knowledge creation, transfer and application. Among these actions there stands out the design of an organizational structure, the link of which with knowledge management is the main concern here. More specifically, the present paper has as its aim...

  2. A new support structure for high field magnets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bish, P.S.; Caspi, S.; Dietderich, D.R.; Gourlay, S.A.; Hafalia, R.R.; Hannaford, R.; Lietzke, A.F.; Liggins, N.; McInturff, A.D.; Sabbi, G.L.; Scanlan, R.M.; O'Neill, J.; Swanson, J.H

    2001-01-01

    Pre-stress of superconducting magnets can be applied directly through the magnet yoke structure. We have replaced the collar functionality in our 14 Tesla R and D Nb 3 Sn dipole magnets with an assembly procedure based on an aluminum shell and bladders. Bladders, placed between the coil pack and surrounding yoke inside the shell, are pressurized up to 10 ksi [70 MPa] to create an interference gap. Keys placed into the interference gap replace the bladder functionality. Following the assembly, the bladders are deflated and removed. Strain gauges mounted directly on the shell are used to monitor the stress of the entire magnet structure, thereby providing a high degree of pre-stress control without the need for high tolerances. During assembly, a force of 8.2 x 10 5 lbs/ft [12 MN/m] is generated by the bladders and the stress in the 1.57 inch [40mm] aluminum shell reaches 20.3 ksi [140 MPa]. During cool-down the thermal expansion difference between shell and yoke generates an additional compressive force of 6.85 x 10 5 lbs/ft [10 MN/m], corresponding to a final stress in the shell of 39.2 ksi [270 MPa]. Pre-stress conditions are sufficient for 16 T before the coils separate at the bore. Bladders have now been used in the assembly and disassembly of two 14 T magnets. This paper describes the magnet structure, assembly procedure and test results

  3. Structures of a Nonribosomal Peptide Synthetase Module Bound to MbtH-like Proteins Support a Highly Dynamic Domain Architecture

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Miller, Bradley R.; Drake, Eric J.; Shi, Ce; Aldrich, Courtney C.; Gulick, Andrew M. (UMM); (HWMRI)

    2016-09-05

    Nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) produce a wide variety of peptide natural products. During synthesis, the multidomain NRPSs act as an assembly line, passing the growing product from one module to the next. Each module generally consists of an integrated peptidyl carrier protein, an amino acid-loading adenylation domain, and a condensation domain that catalyzes peptide bond formation. Some adenylation domains interact with small partner proteins called MbtH-like proteins (MLPs) that enhance solubility or activity. A structure of an MLP bound to an adenylation domain has been previously reported using a truncated adenylation domain, precluding any insight that might be derived from understanding the influence of the MLP on the intact adenylation domain or on the dynamics of the entire NRPS module. Here, we present the structures of the full-length NRPS EntF bound to the MLPs from Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. These new structures, along with biochemical and bioinformatics support, further elaborate the residues that define the MLP-adenylation domain interface. Additionally, the structures highlight the dynamic behavior of NRPS modules, including the module core formed by the adenylation and condensation domains as well as the orientation of the mobile thioesterase domain.

  4. Studies of column supported towers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chauvel, D.; Costaz, J.-L.

    1991-01-01

    As a result of a research and development programme into the civil engineering of cooling towers launched in 1978 by Electricite de France, very high cooling towers were built at Golfech and Chooz, in France, using column supports. This paper discusses the evolution of this new type of support from classical diagonal supports, presents some of the results of design calculations and survey measurements taken during construction of the shell and analyses the behaviour of the structure. (author)

  5. Forming mutually beneficial Aboriginal partnerships

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brewster, L.; Shaw, M. [ATCO Frontec, Edmonton, AB (Canada)

    2002-07-01

    The Alberta-based ATCO Group is engaged in power generation, utilities logistics and energy services and technologies in Alaska, Canada's north, and around the world. In 2001, 56 per cent of ATCO's revenue came from Aboriginal joint ventures. ATCO's foundation for successful partnerships is a mutual trust, an understanding of the environment, and constant communication. The partnerships begin with a long term vision, resulting in community-based northern businesses that benefit Aboriginal partners, shareholders, customers and local staff. This paper described 2 unique joint venture case studies: (1) the north warning system in Cambridge Bay, a radar and communication service for government, and (2) Yellowknife's Tli Cho logistics site for support and municipal services to the mining industry. The north warning system joint venture includes Pan Arctic Inuit Logistics (PAIL), representing Inuvialuit, Labrador, Nunavik and Nunavut, while the Tli Cho joint venture includes participation of the Dog Rib Rae band. Management practices in all joint ventures reflect cultural differences, and Aboriginal people are involved in long term jobs relating to northern pipeline development. 21 figs.

  6. Mechanical and thermal behavior of a prototype support structure for a large silicon vertex detector (BCD)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mulderink, H.; Michels, N.; Joestlein, H.

    1989-01-01

    The Bottom Collider Detector (BCD) has been proposed as a device to study large numbers of events containing B mesons. To identify secondary vertices in hadronic events it will employ the most ambitious silicon strip tracking detector proposed to-date. This report will discuss results from measurements on a first mechanical/thermal model of the vertex detector support structure. The model that was built and used for the studies described here is made of brass. Brass was used because it is readily available and easily assembled by soft soldering, and, for appropriate thicknesses, it will behave similarly to the beryllium that will be used in the actual detector. The trough was built to full scale with the reinforcement webbing and the cooling channels in place. There were no detector modules in place. We plan, however, to install modules in the trough in the future. The purpose of the model was to address two concerns that have arisen about the proposed structure of the detector. The first is whether or not the trough will be stable enough. The trough must be very light in weight yet have a high degree of rigidity. Because of the 3m length of the detector there is question as to the stiffness of the proposed trough. The main concern is that there will sagging or movement of the trough in the middle region. The second problem is the heat load. There will be a great deal of heat generated by the electronics attached to the detector modules. So the question arises as to whether or not the silicon detectors can be kept cool enough so that when the actual experiment is run the readings will be valid. The heat may also induce motion by differential expansion of support components. 26 figs

  7. Cost and Operational Effectiveness Analysis of Aiternative Force Structures for Fulfillment of the United States Marine Corps Operational Support Airlift and Search and Rescue Missions

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Chase, Eric

    2000-01-01

    This thesis provides a preliminary cost and operational effectiveness analysis of alternative force structures for the United States Marine Corps operational support airlift and search and rescue missions...

  8. Design of the Local Instrument for KSTAR Gravity Support

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Her, N. I.; Kim, H. K.; Kim, Y. O.; Sa, J. W.; Kim, G. H.; Kim, K. M.; Park, Y. M.; Hong, G. H.; Choi, C. H.; Bak, J. S.

    2005-01-01

    The gravity support installed between the lower toroidal field (TF) coil cooled by 4.5 K supercritical helium and the cryostat base is the main support structure for the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) superconducting magnet system. This structure should be flexible to absorb thermal shrink of the magnet and also should be rigid to support the magnet weight and the plasma disruptions loads. The gravity support was designed with stainless steel 316LN and Carbon fiber Reinforced Plastics (CFRP) that has low thermal conductivity and high structural strength at low temperature. The fabrication of the support has been completed after engineering design. The gravity support is composed of one toroidal ring and eight supporting posts as shown in Figure 1. The toroidal ring and post are cooled by 4.5 K supercritical helium and 77 K gaseous helium, respectively. The overall dimension of the post is 1 m height and 0.8 m width and depth, respectively. The post is composed of upper block, inner CFRP plate, lower block, flexible plate, thermal anchor block, outer CFRP plate, base block, and strengthen plate. Inner CFRP plate is connected to the upper and lower block using the pin. And the outer CFRP plate is connected to the thermal anchor block and the base block. Inner and outer CFRP plates consist of four and two 20 mm thin plates, respectively. Flexible plates consist of four 8 mm thin stainless steel plates to absorb the magnet shrinkage. These plates are assembled into the thermal anchor block and lower block. The fabrication of the gravity support initiated October 2002 has been completed in October 2003. The supporting post and toroidal ring were fabricated at shop individually and assembled at site. Various of static and dynamic loads will increase the stress level of the structure during the cool-down and plasma operation. After fabrication of the structure, we designed an instrumentation system to monitoring the structural safety. This system

  9. Synthesis of novel O-acylated-D-ribono-1,5-lactones and structural assignment supported by conventional NOESY-NMR and X-ray analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sa, Marcus M.; Silveira, Gustavo P.; Caro, Miguel S.B. [Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), Florianopolis, SC (Brazil). Dept. de Quimica]. E-mail: msa@qmc.ufsc.br; Ellena, Javier [Universidade de Sao Paulo (USP), Sao Carlos, SP (Brazil). Inst. de Fisica

    2008-07-01

    A practical method for the structural assignment of 3,4-O-benzylidene-D-ribono-1,5-lactones and analogues using conventional NMR techniques and NOESY measurements in solution is described. 2-O-Acyl-3,4-O-benzylidene-D-ribono-1,5-lactones were prepared in good yields by acylation of Zinner's lactone with acyl chlorides under mildly basic conditions. Structural determination of 2-O-(4-nitrobenzoyl)-3,4-O-benzylidene-D-ribono-1,5-lactone was achieved by single crystal x-ray diffraction, which supports the results based on spectroscopic data. (author)

  10. Design of Offshore Wind Turbine Support Structures: Selected topics in the field of geotechnical engineering

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bakmar, Christian LeBlanc

    .D. thesis was to enable low-cost and low-risk support structures to be designed in order to improve the economic feasibility of future offshore wind farms. The research work was divided in the following four selected research topics in the field of geotechnical engineering, relating to the monopile......Breaking the dependence on fossil fuels offers many opportunities for strengthened competitiveness, technological development and progress. Offshore wind power is a domestic, sustainable and largely untapped energy resource that provides an alternative to fossil fuels, reduces carbon emissions......, and decreases the economic and supply risks associated with reliance on imported fuels. Today, the modern offshore wind turbine offers competitive production prices for renewable energy and is therefore a key technology in achieving the energy and climate goals of the future. The overall aim of this Ph...

  11. Factor structure and longitudinal measurement invariance of the demand control support model: an evidence from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chungkham, Holendro Singh; Ingre, Michael; Karasek, Robert; Westerlund, Hugo; Theorell, Töres

    2013-01-01

    To examine the factor structure and to evaluate the longitudinal measurement invariance of the demand-control-support questionnaire (DCSQ), using the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH). A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) models within the framework of structural equation modeling (SEM) have been used to examine the factor structure and invariance across time. Four factors: psychological demand, skill discretion, decision authority and social support, were confirmed by CFA at baseline, with the best fit obtained by removing the item repetitive work of skill discretion. A measurement error correlation (0.42) between work fast and work intensively for psychological demands was also detected. Acceptable composite reliability measures were obtained except for skill discretion (0.68). The invariance of the same factor structure was established, but caution in comparing mean levels of factors over time is warranted as lack of intercept invariance was evident. However, partial intercept invariance was established for work intensively. Our findings indicate that skill discretion and decision authority represent two distinct constructs in the retained model. However removing the item repetitive work along with either work fast or work intensively would improve model fit. Care should also be taken while making comparisons in the constructs across time. Further research should investigate invariance across occupations or socio-economic classes.

  12. Factor structure and longitudinal measurement invariance of the demand control support model: an evidence from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Holendro Singh Chungkham

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: To examine the factor structure and to evaluate the longitudinal measurement invariance of the demand-control-support questionnaire (DCSQ, using the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH. METHODS: A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA and multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA models within the framework of structural equation modeling (SEM have been used to examine the factor structure and invariance across time. RESULTS: Four factors: psychological demand, skill discretion, decision authority and social support, were confirmed by CFA at baseline, with the best fit obtained by removing the item repetitive work of skill discretion. A measurement error correlation (0.42 between work fast and work intensively for psychological demands was also detected. Acceptable composite reliability measures were obtained except for skill discretion (0.68. The invariance of the same factor structure was established, but caution in comparing mean levels of factors over time is warranted as lack of intercept invariance was evident. However, partial intercept invariance was established for work intensively. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that skill discretion and decision authority represent two distinct constructs in the retained model. However removing the item repetitive work along with either work fast or work intensively would improve model fit. Care should also be taken while making comparisons in the constructs across time. Further research should investigate invariance across occupations or socio-economic classes.

  13. Social Support in the Structure of Personality Resources in Individuals with Disabilities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D.A. Leontiev

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available The paper focuses on the issues of social support of individuals with disabilities and describes its role in the development and maintenance of subjective well-being of persons in situations of disability. A special external resource for overcoming unfavorable developmental conditions, social support is interlocked in a continuous relationship with psychological resources of personality. One of its distinctive features is that it implies the subject's activity aimed at overcoming difficult life situation on his/her own. When the person's bodily resources are insufficient (as it happens in situations of physical disabilities, the role of macro- and microsocial resources in supporting his/her well-being naturally increases. However, when both social and bodily resources are scarce, it is the individual's personality that stands in the gap. The research described in the paper explored the relationship between microsocial resources (support of family and friends, satisfaction with this support and psychological resources of resistance and self-regulation of personality. The sample consisted of 210 subjects (48 students with disabilities, 162 healthy subjects. The outcomes revealed certain differences between the subsamples with low and high rates of social support which suggest that the subjects' perceptions and evaluations of the support contribute to their psychological resources of coping and self-regulation, activating and/or reinforcing the existing potential of their personalities.

  14. Rigidly framed earth retaining structures thermal soil structure interaction of buildings supporting unbalanced lateral earth pressures

    CERN Document Server

    Aboumoussa, Walid

    2014-01-01

    Structures placed on hillsides often present a number of challenges and a limited number of economical choices for site design. An option sometimes employed is to use the building frame as a retaining element, comprising a Rigidly Framed Earth Retaining Structure (RFERS). The relationship between temperature and earth pressure acting on RFERS, is explored in this monograph through a 4.5 year monitoring program of a heavily instrumented in service structure. The data indicated that the coefficient of earth pressure behind the monitored RFERS had a strong linear correlation with temperature. The study also revealed that thermal cycles, rather than lateral earth pressure, were the cause of failure in many structural elements. The book demonstrates that depending on the relative stiffness of the retained soil mass and that of the structural frame, the developed lateral earth pressure, during thermal expansion, can reach magnitudes several times larger than those determined using classical earth pressure theories....

  15. A comparison of response spectrum and direct integration analysis methods as applied to a nuclear component support structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bryan, B.J.; Flanders, H.E. Jr.

    1992-01-01

    Seismic qualification of Class I nuclear components is accomplished using a variety of analytical methods. This paper compares the results of time history dynamic analyses of a heat exchanger support structure using response spectrum and time history direct integration analysis methods. Dynamic analysis is performed on the detailed component models using the two methods. A nonlinear elastic model is used for both the response spectrum and direct integration methods. A nonlinear model which includes friction and nonlinear springs, is analyzed using time history input by direct integration. The loads from the three cases are compared

  16. Response of subsystems on inelastic structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lin, J.; Mahin, S.A.

    1984-01-01

    Preliminary analysis are performed to obtain insight into the seismic response of subsystems supported on simple structures that yield during severe earthquake ground motions. Current design recommendations for subsystems accounting for yielding of the supporting structures are assessed and found to be unconservative. An amplification factor is defined to quantify the effects of inelastic deformations of the supporting structure on subsystem response. Design guidelines are formulated for predicting the amplification factor based on statistical evaluation of the results generated for ten earthquake ground motions. Using these values, design floor response spectra can be obtained from conventional linear elastic floor response spectra accounting for yielding of the supporting structure without having to perform inelastic analysis. The effects of non-zero subsystem mass are examined. The recommended amplification factors are found to be applicable even when the mass of subsystem approaches that of the supporting structure

  17. Effective work-life balance support for various household structures

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Brummelhuis, L.L. ten; Lippe, T. van der

    2010-01-01

    Today’s workforce encompasses a wide variety of employees with specifi c needs and resources when it comes to balancing work and life roles. Our study explores whether various types of work-life balance support measures improve employee helping behavior and performance among single employees,

  18. Structural Features of Sugars That Trigger or Support Conidial Germination in the Filamentous Fungus Aspergillus niger

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hayer, Kimran; Stratford, Malcolm

    2013-01-01

    The asexual spores (conidia) of Aspergillus niger germinate to produce hyphae under appropriate conditions. Germination is initiated by conidial swelling and mobilization of internal carbon and energy stores, followed by polarization and emergence of a hyphal germ tube. The effects of different pyranose sugars, all analogues of d-glucose, on the germination of A. niger conidia were explored, and we define germination as the transition from a dormant conidium into a germling. Within germination, we distinguish two distinct stages, the initial swelling of the conidium and subsequent polarized growth. The stage of conidial swelling requires a germination trigger, which we define as a compound that is sensed by the conidium and which leads to catabolism of d-trehalose and isotropic growth. Sugars that triggered germination and outgrowth included d-glucose, d-mannose, and d-xylose. Sugars that triggered germination but did not support subsequent outgrowth included d-tagatose, d-lyxose, and 2-deoxy-d-glucose. Nontriggering sugars included d-galactose, l-glucose, and d-arabinose. Certain nontriggering sugars, including d-galactose, supported outgrowth if added in the presence of a complementary triggering sugar. This division of functions indicates that sugars are involved in two separate events in germination, triggering and subsequent outgrowth, and the structural features of sugars that support each, both, or none of these events are discussed. We also present data on the uptake of sugars during the germination process and discuss possible mechanisms of triggering in the absence of apparent sugar uptake during the initial swelling of conidia. PMID:23995938

  19. Structural features of sugars that trigger or support conidial germination in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hayer, Kimran; Stratford, Malcolm; Archer, David B

    2013-11-01

    The asexual spores (conidia) of Aspergillus niger germinate to produce hyphae under appropriate conditions. Germination is initiated by conidial swelling and mobilization of internal carbon and energy stores, followed by polarization and emergence of a hyphal germ tube. The effects of different pyranose sugars, all analogues of d-glucose, on the germination of A. niger conidia were explored, and we define germination as the transition from a dormant conidium into a germling. Within germination, we distinguish two distinct stages, the initial swelling of the conidium and subsequent polarized growth. The stage of conidial swelling requires a germination trigger, which we define as a compound that is sensed by the conidium and which leads to catabolism of d-trehalose and isotropic growth. Sugars that triggered germination and outgrowth included d-glucose, d-mannose, and d-xylose. Sugars that triggered germination but did not support subsequent outgrowth included d-tagatose, d-lyxose, and 2-deoxy-d-glucose. Nontriggering sugars included d-galactose, l-glucose, and d-arabinose. Certain nontriggering sugars, including d-galactose, supported outgrowth if added in the presence of a complementary triggering sugar. This division of functions indicates that sugars are involved in two separate events in germination, triggering and subsequent outgrowth, and the structural features of sugars that support each, both, or none of these events are discussed. We also present data on the uptake of sugars during the germination process and discuss possible mechanisms of triggering in the absence of apparent sugar uptake during the initial swelling of conidia.

  20. Perceived Child Weight Status, Family Structure and Functioning, and Support for Health Behaviors in a Sample of Bariatric Surgery Patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pratt, Keeley J; Ferriby, Megan; Noria, Sabrena; Skelton, Joseph; Taylor, Christopher; Needleman, Bradley

    2018-01-29

    The purpose of this study is to describe the associations between bariatric surgery patients' perspectives of their child's weight status, family support for eating and exercise behavior change, and family structure and functioning. A cross-sectional descriptive design with pre- and postsurgery (N = 224) patients was used. Demographics, perceptions of child weight status, family support for eating habits and exercise, and family functioning were assessed from patients at a University Bariatric Clinic. Patients who perceived their child to be overweight/obese reported more impaired family functioning, less family exercise participation, and more discouragement for eating habit change in the family compared to patients who did not perceive their child to be overweight/obese. Single parents more often perceived their children to be overweight/obese, and had more impaired family functioning, and less support for changing eating habits and family exercise participation. Patients with impaired family functioning reported less support for changing eating habits and family exercise participation. Bariatric patients who perceived their child to be overweight/obese and identified as single parents reported more impaired family functioning and less support for eating habits and family participation in exercise. Assessing pre- and postsurgery measures from parents and children will allow the further identification of relationship variables that can be targeted to promote positive family changes that benefit parents and children long-term. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  1. Core-shell structural nanodiamond@TiN supported Pt nanoparticles as a highly efficient and stable electrocatalyst for direct methanol fuel cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao, Yuling; Wang, Yanhui; Dong, Liang; Zhang, Yan; Huang, Junjie; Zang, Jianbing; Lu, Jing; Xu, Xipeng

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Core-shell structural nanodiamond@TiN was used as a novel support for Pt catalysts. • The ND@TiN support possessed a high electrochemical stability than carbon black. • The Pt/ND@TiN showed a higher catalytic activity for MOR and ORR than the Pt/C. • The Pt/ND@TiN demonstrated a much better durability compared with the Pt/C. - Abstract: A novel core-shell support material was designed with nanodiamond (ND) as core possessed excellent stability and TiN as shell improved the conductivity of support. The nano-TiN shell was decorated on the surface of ND by annealing TiO 2 in nitrogen atmosphere, and the obtained ND@TiN was employed to support Pt nanoparticles (NPs). The ND@TiN support and Pt/ND@TiN electrocatalyst were characterized by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. ND particles were coated uniformly by the TiN layer and Pt NPs with a mean size of 4.2 nm were highly dispersed on the surface of ND@TiN. The electrochemical results confirmed that the ND@TiN support possessed a much more stability than the carbon black and exhibited a bigger background current density than the ND. The Pt/ND@TiN catalyst showed higher catalytic activity and better stability in methanol oxidation and oxygen reduction reactions compared with the Pt/C and Pt/ND

  2. NSF tandem stack support structure deflection characteristics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cook, J.

    1979-12-01

    Results are reported of load tests carried out on the glass legs of the insulating stack of the 30 MV tandem Van de Graaff accelerator now under construction at Daresbury Laboratory. The tests to investigate the vulnerability of the legs when subjected to tensile stresses were designed to; establish the angle of rotation of the pads from which the stresses in the glass legs may be calculated, proof-test the structure and at the same time reveal any asymmetry in pad rotations or deflections, and to confirm the validity of the computer design analysis. (UK)

  3. Role of core support material in veneer failure of brittle layer structures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hermann, Ilja; Bhowmick, Sanjit; Lawn, Brian R

    2007-07-01

    A study is made of veneer failure by cracking in all-ceramic crown-like layer structures. Model trilayers consisting of a 1 mm thick external glass layer (veneer) joined to a 0.5 mm thick inner stiff and hard ceramic support layer (core) by epoxy bonding or by fusion are fabricated for testing. The resulting bilayers are then glued to a thick compliant polycarbonate slab to simulate a dentin base. The specimens are subjected to cyclic contact (occlusal) loading with spherical indenters in an aqueous environment. Video cameras are used to record the fracture evolution in the transparent glass layer in situ during testing. The dominant failure mode is cone cracking in the glass veneer by traditional outer (Hertzian) cone cracks at higher contact loads and by inner (hydraulically pumped) cone cracks at lower loads. Failure is deemed to occur when one of these cracks reaches the veneer/core interface. The advantages and disadvantages of the alumina and zirconia core materials are discussed in terms of mechanical properties-strength and toughness, as well as stiffness. Consideration is also given to the roles of interface strength and residual thermal expansion mismatch stresses in relation to the different joining methods. Copyright 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  4. Social relations: network, support and relational strain

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Due, P; Holstein, B; Lund, Rikke

    1999-01-01

    We introduce a conceptual framework with social relations as the main concept and the structure and the function of social relations as subconcepts. The structure of social relations covers aspects of formal relations and social network. The function of social relations covers social support......,011. The postal questionnaires were answered by a random sample in each of the age groups. The results show marked age and gender differences in both the structure and the function of social relations. The social network, measured as weekly contacts, weakens with age and so does instrumental support. Emotional...... support is unrelated to this decline in contact frequency and appears to be at the same level for younger and older individuals. Relational strain, measured as conflicts, declines with age for all kinds of social relations. The weakening of the social network with age does not seem to affect the level...

  5. Seismic soil structure interaction analysis for asymmetrical buildings supported on piled raft for the 2015 Nepal earthquake

    Science.gov (United States)

    Badry, Pallavi; Satyam, Neelima

    2017-01-01

    Seismic damage surveys and analyses conducted on modes of failure of structures during past earthquakes observed that the asymmetrical buildings show the most vulnerable effect throughout the course of failures (Wegner et al., 2009). Thus, all asymmetrical buildings significantly fails during the shaking events and it is really needed to focus on the accurate analysis of the building, including all possible accuracy in the analysis. Apart from superstructure geometry, the soil behavior during earthquake shaking plays a pivotal role in the building collapse (Chopra, 2012). Fixed base analysis where the soil is considered to be infinitely rigid cannot simulate the actual scenario of wave propagation during earthquakes and wave transfer mechanism in the superstructure (Wolf, 1985). This can be well explained in the soil structure interaction analysis, where the ground movement and structural movement can be considered with the equal rigor. In the present study the object oriented program has been developed in C++ to model the SSI system using the finite element methodology. In this attempt the seismic soil structure interaction analysis has been carried out for T, L and C types piled raft supported buildings in the recent 25th April 2015 Nepal earthquake (M = 7.8). The soil properties have been considered with the appropriate soil data from the Katmandu valley region. The effect of asymmetry of the building on the responses of the superstructure is compared with the author's research work. It has been studied/observed that the shape or geometry of the superstructure governs the response of the superstructure subjected to the same earthquake load.

  6. DEVELOPING MEASURES TO IMPROVE STRENGTH INDICES OF SUPPORTING STRUCTURES FOR HEAD CARS OF DIESEL TRAINS DR1A ON THE BASIS OF EXPERIMENTAL-AND-THEORETICAL WORKS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O. M. Bondarev

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. The objective is to determine the stress-strain state of supporting structures of the head car body and the traction transmission unit, which can be created in the operation of emergency situations, and to develop the measures aimed at improving the stress-strain state of these elements. Methodology. In order to achieve this objective, in performing the work an experimental determination of efforts and stress levels in the most loaded elements of supporting structures as well as the traction transmission units was conducted; design models for the theoretical determination of stress and effort levels were developed. Findings. Based on the analysis of the calculation results the best options for the upgrades, which have been put into the basis of proposals aimed at improving the strength indices, were revealed. Originality. Based on the experimental and theoretical studies, scientific monitoring of development works on modernization and improvement of strength indices of supporting structures of head cars of diesel trains DR1A was performed. Practical value. The technical solution to the measures, which are to be carried out beyond the limits of assigned operation lifetime for diesel train of the series specified was developed and transferred to the Ukrzaliznytsia experts to introduce the proposed measures on improving the strength indices.

  7. Structuring supplemental materials in support of reproducibility.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greenbaum, Dov; Rozowsky, Joel; Stodden, Victoria; Gerstein, Mark

    2017-04-05

    Supplements are increasingly important to the scientific record, particularly in genomics. However, they are often underutilized. Optimally, supplements should make results findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (i.e., "FAIR"). Moreover, properly off-loading to them the data and detail in a paper could make the main text more readable. We propose a hierarchical organization for supplements, with some parts paralleling and "shadowing" the main text and other elements branching off from it, and we suggest a specific formatting to make this structure explicit. Furthermore, sections of the supplement could be presented in multiple scientific "dialects", including machine-readable and lay-friendly formats.

  8. Looking forward, not back: Supporting structuralism in the present.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKenzie, Kerry

    2016-10-01

    The view that the fundamental kind properties are intrinsic properties enjoys reflexive endorsement by most metaphysicians of science. But ontic structural realists deny that there are any fundamental intrinsic properties at all. Given that structuralists distrust intuition as a guide to truth, and given that we currently lack a fundamental physical theory that we could consult instead to order settle the issue, it might seem as if there is simply nowhere for this debate to go at present. However, I will argue that there exists an as-yet untapped resource for arguing for ontic structuralism - namely, the way that fundamentality is conceptualized in our most fundamental physical frameworks. By arguing that physical objects must be subject to the 'Goldilock's principle' if they are to count as fundamental at all, I argue that we can no longer view the majority of properties defining them as intrinsic. As such, ontic structural realism can be regarded as the most promising metaphysics for fundamental physics, and that this is so even though we do not yet claim to know precisely what that fundamental physics is. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Preliminary Stress Analysis of an IHX Tube Support Plate in Prototype SFR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Sung Kyun; Koo, Gyeong Hoi

    2013-01-01

    In this paper, the structural integrity about the conceptual design of IHX tube support plate was reviewed and the design should be changed because of its high stress concentration at the outer rim area. For reducing its maximum stress, two alternatives were proposed and reviewed for the structural integrity point of view. In both proposing support designs, the maximum stress decreases up to the stress design limit. Tube support plates (TSPs) of the intermediate heat exchanger (IHX) in Prototype GenIV Sodium Cooled Fast Reactor (PGSFR) act to horizontally support IHX tubes against hydraulic loadings and they have numerous flow holes where a primary sodium flows downward and secondary sodium flows upward. Due to its many penetrations, its geometric shape is quite complex and structurally its integrity is quite weaker than other parts. In this study, we investigated the structural integrity of the conceptually designed IHX tube support plate. In addition, TSP's supporting concepts were proposed to increase its structural integrity, and confirmed its integrity by using a finite element analysis

  10. A new support structure for high field magnets

    CERN Document Server

    Hafalia, R R; Caspi, S; Dietderich, D R; Gourlay, S A; Hannaford, R; Lietzke, A F; Liggins, N; McInturff, A D; Sabbi, G L; Scanlan, R M; O'Neill, J; Swanson, J H

    2002-01-01

    Pre-stress of superconducting magnets can be applied directly through the magnet yoke structure. We have replaced the collar functionality in our 14 Tesla R&D Nb//3Sn dipole magnets with an assembly procedure based on an aluminum shell and bladders. Bladders, placed between the coil pack and surrounding yoke inside the shell, are pressurized up to 10 ksi left bracket 70 MPa right bracket to create an interference gap. Keys placed into the interference gap replace the bladder functionality. Following the assembly, the bladders are deflated and removed. Strain gauges mounted directly on the shell are used to monitor the stress of the entire magnet structure, thereby providing a high degree of pre-stress control without the need for high tolerances. During assembly, a force of 8.2 multiplied by 10**5 lbs /ft left bracket 12 MN/m right bracket is generated by the bladders and the stress in the 1.57 double prime left bracket 40 mm right bracket aluminum shell reaches 20.3 ksi left bracket 140 MPa right bracket...

  11. Silica-supported, single-site titanium catalysts for olefin epoxidation. A molecular precursor strategy for control of catalyst structure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jarupatrakorn, Jonggol; Don Tilley, T

    2002-07-17

    A molecular precursor approach involving simple grafting procedures was used to produce site-isolated titanium-supported epoxidation catalysts of high activity and selectivity. The tris(tert-butoxy)siloxy titanium complexes Ti[OSi(O(t)Bu)(3)](4) (TiSi4), ((i)PrO)Ti[OSi(O(t)Bu)(3)](3) (TiSi3), and ((t)BuO)(3)TiOSi(O(t)Bu)(3) (TiSi) react with the hydroxyl groups of amorphous Aerosil, mesoporous MCM-41, and SBA-15 via loss of HO(t)Bu and/or HOSi(O(t)Bu)(3) and introduction of titanium species onto the silica surface. Powder X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption/desorption, infrared, and diffuse reflectance ultraviolet spectroscopies were used to investigate the structures and chemical natures of the surface-bound titanium species. The titanium species exist mainly in isolated, tetrahedral coordination environments. Increasing the number of siloxide ligands in the molecular precursor decreases the amount of titanium that can be introduced this way, but also enhances the catalytic activity and selectivity for the epoxidation of cyclohexene with cumene hydroperoxide as oxidant. In addition, the high surface area mesoporous silicas (MCM-41 and SBA-15) are more effective than amorphous silica as supports for these catalysts. Supporting TiSi3 on the SBA-15 affords highly active cyclohexene epoxidation catalysts (0.25-1.77 wt % Ti loading) that provide turnover frequencies (TOFs) of 500-1500 h(-1) after 1 h (TOFs are reduced by about half after calcination). These results demonstrate that oxygen-rich siloxide complexes of titanium are useful as precursors to supported epoxidation catalysts.

  12. Structure to self-structuring: infrastructures and processes in neurobehavioural rehabilitation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jackson, Howard F; Hague, Gemma; Daniels, Leanne; Aguilar, Ralph; Carr, Darren; Kenyon, William

    2014-01-01

    The importance of structure in post-acute brain injury rehabilitation is repeatedly mentioned in clinical practice. However, there has been little exploration of the key elements of structure that promote greater levels of functioning and emotional/behavioural stability and how these elements are optimally integrated within the infrastructure of a rehabilitation service. The nature of structure and why it is helpful is explored initially. Thereafter, the processes involved in transition from externally supported structure to the client 'self-structuring' are described. The infrastructure for facilitating these transitional processes are considered in terms of the design of services for systemic neurorehabilitation encompassing environmental factors (e.g. living environments, vocational and recreational options, step-up services and social milieus), therapeutic alliances (rehabilitation professionals, family, friends), organisational structures (service delivery, rehabilitation coaching, transdisciplinary teams) and rehabilitation philosophies and practice. It is concluded that the process of supporting individuals to transition from the 'structure' of the environment and other people towards self-structuring skills is a critical process in rehabilitation. This is reliant upon a comprehensive and robust organisational infrastructure that can successfully and flexibly integrate the core elements of structure across a transitional pathway towards increased independence and self-structuring.

  13. Structural design of DEALS magnet

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bezler, P.; Hsieh, S.Y.; Balderes, T.; Brown, T.; Bundy, J.

    1979-01-01

    A design for the extraneous magnet structure to support all the magnet loads was developed. The structure consists of two demountable structural systems designed to support the in-plane and out-of-plane loads, respectively. The in-plane loads are resisted by a cold central bucking cylinder and pin connected, plate-beam structural members following the outer periphery of each coil. The out-of-plane, torsional loads are resisted by the concerted action of the central bucking column and a continuous plate structure interconnecting all the coils. The adequacy of the structures were assessed by application of finite element analysis methods. The design study proved the feasibility of resisting the magnetic loadings with a demountable support structure extraneous to the superconducting coil. The resulting magnet system, although estimated to be higher in cost than a continuous coil, incorporates a means for complete coil replacement in a time scale commensurate with conventional nuclear power plant repairs and without the dismantling of the toroidal blanket and plasma shell systems

  14. Interfacial charge distributions in carbon-supported palladium catalysts

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rao, Radhika G.; Blume, Raoul; Hansen, Thomas Willum

    2017-01-01

    Controlling the charge transfer between a semiconducting catalyst carrier and the supported transition metal active phase represents an elite strategy for fine turning the electronic structure of the catalytic centers, hence their activity and selectivity. These phenomena have been theoretically...... and experimentally elucidated for oxide supports but remain poorly understood for carbons due to their complex nanoscale structure. Here, we combine advanced spectroscopy and microscopy on model Pd/C samples to decouple the electronic and surface chemistry effects on catalytic performance. Our investigations reveal...... treatments can be used to tune the interfacial charge distribution, hereby providing a strategy to rationally design carbon-supported catalysts.Control over charge transfer in carbon-supported metal nanoparticles is essential for designing new catalysts. Here, the authors show that thermal treatments...

  15. Computational Biology Support: RECOMB Conference Series (Conference Support)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Michael Waterman

    2006-06-15

    This funding was support for student and postdoctoral attendance at the Annual Recomb Conference from 2001 to 2005. The RECOMB Conference series was founded in 1997 to provide a scientific forum for theoretical advances in computational biology and their applications in molecular biology and medicine. The conference series aims at attracting research contributions in all areas of computational molecular biology. Typical, but not exclusive, the topics of interest are: Genomics, Molecular sequence analysis, Recognition of genes and regulatory elements, Molecular evolution, Protein structure, Structural genomics, Gene Expression, Gene Networks, Drug Design, Combinatorial libraries, Computational proteomics, and Structural and functional genomics. The origins of the conference came from the mathematical and computational side of the field, and there remains to be a certain focus on computational advances. However, the effective use of computational techniques to biological innovation is also an important aspect of the conference. The conference had a growing number of attendees, topping 300 in recent years and often exceeding 500. The conference program includes between 30 and 40 contributed papers, that are selected by a international program committee with around 30 experts during a rigorous review process rivaling the editorial procedure for top-rate scientific journals. In previous years papers selection has been made from up to 130--200 submissions from well over a dozen countries. 10-page extended abstracts of the contributed papers are collected in a volume published by ACM Press and Springer, and are available at the conference. Full versions of a selection of the papers are published annually in a special issue of the Journal of Computational Biology devoted to the RECOMB Conference. A further point in the program is a lively poster session. From 120-300 posters have been presented each year at RECOMB 2000. One of the highlights of each RECOMB conference is a

  16. Hexagonal nanorods of tungsten trioxide: Synthesis, structure, electrochemical properties and activity as supporting material in electrocatalysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salmaoui, Samiha; Sediri, Faouzi; Gharbi, Neji; Perruchot, Christian; Aeiyach, Salah; Rutkowska, Iwona A.; Kulesza, Pawel J.; Jouini, Mohamed

    2011-01-01

    Tungsten trioxide, unhydrated with hexagonal structure (h-WO 3 ), has been prepared by hydrothermal method at a temperature of 180 o C in acidified sodium tungstate solution. Thus prepared h-WO 3 has been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) method and using electrochemical techniques. The morphology has been examined by scanning and transmission electron microscopies (SEM and TEM) and it is consistent with existence of nanorods of 50-70 nm diameter and up to 5 μm length. Cyclic voltammetric characterization of thin films of h-WO 3 nanorods has revealed reversible redox behaviour with charge-discharge cycling corresponding to the reversible lithium intercalation/deintercalation into the crystal lattice of the h-WO 3 nanorods. In propylene carbonate containing LiClO 4 , two successive redox processes of hexagonal WO 3 nanorods are observed at the scan rate of 50 mV/s. Such behaviour shall be attributed to the presence of at least two W atoms of different surroundings in the lattice structure of h-WO 3 nanorods. On the other hand, in aqueous LiClO 4 solution, only one redox process is observed at the scan rate of 10 mV/s. The above observations can be explained in terms of differences in the diffusion of ions inside two types of channel cavities existing in the structure of the h-WO 3 nanorods. Moreover, the material can be applied as active support for the catalytic bi-metallic Pt-Ru nanoparticles during electrooxidation of ethanol in acid medium (0.5 mol dm -3 H 2 SO 4 ).

  17. Hexagonal nanorods of tungsten trioxide: Synthesis, structure, electrochemical properties and activity as supporting material in electrocatalysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salmaoui, Samiha; Sediri, Faouzi; Gharbi, Néji; Perruchot, Christian; Aeiyach, Salah; Rutkowska, Iwona A.; Kulesza, Pawel J.; Jouini, Mohamed

    2011-07-01

    Tungsten trioxide, unhydrated with hexagonal structure (h-WO 3), has been prepared by hydrothermal method at a temperature of 180 °C in acidified sodium tungstate solution. Thus prepared h-WO 3 has been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) method and using electrochemical techniques. The morphology has been examined by scanning and transmission electron microscopies (SEM and TEM) and it is consistent with existence of nanorods of 50-70 nm diameter and up to 5 μm length. Cyclic voltammetric characterization of thin films of h-WO 3 nanorods has revealed reversible redox behaviour with charge-discharge cycling corresponding to the reversible lithium intercalation/deintercalation into the crystal lattice of the h-WO 3 nanorods. In propylene carbonate containing LiClO 4, two successive redox processes of hexagonal WO 3 nanorods are observed at the scan rate of 50 mV/s. Such behaviour shall be attributed to the presence of at least two W atoms of different surroundings in the lattice structure of h-WO 3 nanorods. On the other hand, in aqueous LiClO 4 solution, only one redox process is observed at the scan rate of 10 mV/s. The above observations can be explained in terms of differences in the diffusion of ions inside two types of channel cavities existing in the structure of the h-WO 3 nanorods. Moreover, the material can be applied as active support for the catalytic bi-metallic Pt-Ru nanoparticles during electrooxidation of ethanol in acid medium (0.5 mol dm -3 H 2SO 4).

  18. PAI-1 and IFN-γ in the regulation of innate immune homeostasis during sublethal yersiniosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Zheng; Zhao, Qi; Han, Yuxia; Zhang, Dongxia; Zhang, Liangyan; Luo, Deyan

    2013-03-01

    Plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-l), a key part of the fibrinolytic system, plays a critical host protective role during the acute phase of infection by regulating interferon(IFN)-γ release. IFN-γ regulates PAI-1 expression, which suggests an intricate interplay between PAI-1 and IFN-γ. Here, using the notion of a feedback loop, we report the complicated regulatory relationship between PAI-1 and IFN-γ. Mice were inoculated intravenously with 1×10(3) colony forming units of Yersinia enterocolitica; PAI-1 deficiency enhanced lethality (pimmune homeostasis. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Biomimetic Membrane Arrays on Cast Hydrogel Supports

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Roerdink-Lander, Monique; Ibragimova, Sania; Rein Hansen, Christian

    2011-01-01

    , provides mechanical support but at the cost of small molecule transport through the membrane−support sandwich. To stabilize biomimetic membranes while allowing transport through a membrane−support sandwich, we have investigated the feasibility of using an ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE......)/hydrogel sandwich as the support. The sandwich is realized as a perforated surface-treated ETFE film onto which a hydrogel composite support structure is cast. We report a simple method to prepare arrays of lipid bilayer membranes with low intrinsic electrical conductance on the highly permeable, self......-supporting ETFE/hydrogel sandwiches. We demonstrate how the ETFE/hydrogel sandwich support promotes rapid self-thinning of lipid bilayers suitable for hosting membrane-spanning proteins....

  20. Designing Pd-based supported bimetallic catalysts for environmental applications

    OpenAIRE

    Nowicka, Ewa; Meenakshisundaram, Sankar

    2018-01-01

    Supported bimetallic nanoparticulate catalysts are an important class of heterogeneous catalysts for many reactions including selective oxidation, hydrogenation/hydrogenolysis, reforming, biomass conversion reactions, and many more. The activity, selectivity, and stability of these catalysts depend on their structural features including particle size, composition, and morphology. In this review, we present important structural features relevant to supported bimetallic catalysts focusing on Pd...